Healing the Wounds By Michelle

Disclaimer- The characters of Charmed belong to Aaron Spelling and The WB, I don't own them, but nor am I making any money off using them in this story, so please don't sue!

Author's Notes- This is the last instalment in my "Between Good and Evil" trilogy and follows "One Moment In Time" and "Belthazor's Story". You should read those before reading this one. This switches back and forth between the PoV's of Cole/Belthazor and an original character of mine. Some of the ideas for this came from "The Demon Came In From The Cold" and "Charmed Again", but this is set years after "Just Harried". It's pretty angsty, sorry about that. Well, that's it, enjoy!

Summery- Last in the "Between Good and Evil" trilogy. Piper's great-granddaughters try and help Belthazor find peace.

---

I hadn't been back in San Francisco since Phoebe's death, well over a hundred years ago.

But there I was. The Brotherhood had sent me there on assignment. I think that they wanted to make sure that I was free of whatever it was that made me want to me good. Before that day I would have told them that I was-that the human part of me had been buried with Phoebe.

I tried not to think of her that day, because I didn't any more. I wasn't that man. I knew I'd never be that man again. Then, suddenly, I saw her.

Phoebe. She was standing there in front of me, her eyes locked with mine. As soon as the shock faded, I realized that it wasn't her. But it looked like her. Similar hair, the same eyes, a similar face.

Obviously I was looking at one of Piper's decedents. Even though I knew it wasn't Phoebe, I still couldn't help but stare at her.

God, but looking at her brought back so many emotions I thought were gone forever... Emotions that I never wanted to feel again.

She was staring at me as well. But there was no fear in her gaze, no horror, just shock and curiosity.

"Belthazor." She whispered, still staring at me.

Her voice, and the fact that she recognized me even in human form, brought me out of my stupor and with last one look, I shimmered away, silently berating myself for letting something get to me.

After all these years, I had thought I was cured of any weakness. But I was wrong. The only question was what could I do about it?

---

I knew the instant I set eyes on him, who he was. That face has haunted me since I was fifteen and my sister Prue and I first learned his story. It wasn't his demon face that I saw. It was his human form.

It was the face of the man that my great-great aunt had loved, the face of the man whose soul had died with her.

I wondered why he was in San Francisco and why seeing me stunned him so. I knew there was only one way to find out.

So, I went home, filled Prue in on what had happened, and headed up to the attic.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" She asked, as I looked for the right spell.

"No." I told her honestly. "But I need to know."

"Any idea which spell to use?" Prue asked me.

"Nope." I told her, but just then the book started moving on its own. "But the book does."

I looked down at the page it had called, and then Prue and I gathered the ingredients needed, lit candles, then we said the spell out loud.

"Hear these words, hear my cry, spirit from the other side." We chanted together. "Come to me, I summon thee, cross now, the great divide."

There was a light and then the transparent form of a young woman appeared before us. I was stunned by how much she looked like me.

"Who are you?" Prue asked.

She smiled. "Phoebe Halliwell."

Prue and I exchanged glances.

"You're one of the Charmed Ones." I said softly. "The one who loved Belthazor."

"Yes." She said quietly. "And you must be one of my sister Piper's descendants, otherwise you wouldn't have our Book of Shadows. Why did you summon me?"

"The book... It flipped to this spell." I explained. "But I understand why. Today... Today I saw Belthazor from a distance. He saw me as well and was stunned."

"I understand why." Phoebe, the other Phoebe, said softly. "I've watched him for years. His soul, his human half, is restless. It has been since..."

"Since the die you died." I finished for her. "We know the story. But how does this involve us?"

"I don't know." She told me. "But everything happens for a reason."

She was quiet for a moment. "Maybe, maybe your supposed to reach out to him. To try and help him heal. He's not truly evil."

"We know." Prue and I said together.

"But can it be done?" I continued. "It's been a long time."

"I know." She told me. "But, but I think it can be done. I think it needs to be done, if he'll ever truly find peace and I hope he does."

There was sadness in her voice and I understood why. Even though she had dead for so long, she still loved him and she grieved for the fact that his human soul was restless and had been for so long. That he was in so pain.

"We'll try to help." I promised.

"Thank you." Phoebe said, before she disappeared back into the light.

"What do we do now?" Prue asked.

"The only thing we can." I told her quietly, flipping through the book. "Summon Belthazor."

---

I was standing in the mausoleum, still trying to come to terms with my moment of weakness, when I felt myself being summoned.

The only witches I ever knew who could summon me were the Charmed Ones, and though they were long gone, I was sure that the spell was still remained in their Book of Shadows. So, I wasn't surprised when I appeared in the attic of the manor, which had changed in the many years since I last been there.

Standing there were two young women, the one I had seen and one just a few years older than her, who looked like a cross between Piper and Prue.

"What do you want?" I snarled, not even bothering to revert to my Demon self.

"To help you, Belthazor, Cole." The younger one said softly. "To help you heal."

I stared at her. "Heal me? There's nothing to heal. The human side of me is dead. He has been for a long time."

"Phoebe, I told you this was a bad idea." The older one told me.

Phoebe. The name caused me to stare in shock. So, not only did she look like the woman I had once loved, she had been named after her as well. Seeing my shock, a light filled her eyes, and before I could react she flipped through the book and began to say a spell out loud.

"Hear these words, hear my cry, spirit from the other side. Come to me, I summon thee, cross now, the great divide." She called out loud.

When she finished, there was a bright light and Phoebe, my Phoebe appeared, or at least her ghost did.

"Why did you call me again?" She asked them, then she saw me. "Cole."

"We couldn't help him." The other Phoebe explained. "Only you can."

"Phoebe." I whispered, staring at her.

"Cole." She said again, softly.

As soon as I set eyes on her again, on the only woman I would ever love, it all came rushing back. All the feelings I had tried to suppress for so long. Pain, longing, sadness, and most of all love.

"Cole." She whispered. "You can't hide behind the demon forever, that's not you. You know that. Think about how hard you tried to be good, think about all the good you did those years. Why did you let it go to waste? Why did you have mean nothing?"

"Because without you didn't have a meaning." I told her. "Without you, there was no reason for me to be good. After all, why would I want to help the powers that took you away from me?"

"Oh, Cole." She whispered.

"No." I told her. "Not anymore. Cole died with you."

"No, he didn't." She corrected me. "He still lives, I can see it. No matter how deeply you've buried that side of you, a piece of it is still there. You're still the man I loved, the man who loved me."

I stared at her, not sure what to say.

"Cole, you have to grieve for me. You have to let go of the pain and the anger. You have to heal." She continued.

"It's so hard." I told her. "I don't know how."

The two other witches, moved towards the door, still watching the scene, but I barely noticed.

Phoebe stepped out of the circle then, and when she did, she became solid.

"Cry." She whispered. "Cry for me. That's the only way you'll ever heal, the only way for you to be good again."

I stared at her, then after a moment, the tears came for the first time since I learned of her death.

Phoebe put her arms around me.

I held her close, the tears stopping, as I took in her prescence.

"It's so hard." I whispered.

"I know." She told me. "But by mourning me you can let me go and when you do, you won't have to hide behind your demon form any longer."

"I don't know if I'm strong enough to be good again." I told her honestly. "Before, before I had you a motivation. What do I have now?"

"Me." She said quietly. "Death isn't forever, someday we'll find each other again. Just remember that."

She then kissed me softly and stepped back into the circle and disappearing.

I watched her go, then I turned around.

For the first time since her death some of the emptiness had vanished. I knew it would be hard, but maybe I could do it. Maybe I could be good again. For her.

Before I shimmered away, I looked at the two girls.

"Thank you." I told them, and then I was gone.

---

"That was interesting." Prue said dryly, when it ended.

"Yeah, it was." I said quietly. "And more than that, I think he's at peace at last. Or at least, he's getting there."

"Yeah." Prue agreed. "He's finally accepted her death and maybe, maybe he can be good again."

"Maybe." I agreed. "But it won't be easy. Even, even if he has come to terms with her death. He'll always have to fight the demon, he'll always have to resist the dark side. He gave in to it once, whose to say he won't do it again?"

"No one." Prue told me. "But... I hope he doesn't."

"So do I." I agreed. "But it's not up to us. It's up to him. Only he can win his inner struggle. Only he can beat the demon, and, while it won't be easy, I really hope he does."

The End