Finally free from A, Paige and Hanna settle back into life.

A/N: This is it, the final chapter, hope you liked it. Thank you everyone!

Hanna was nervous Mona might confess something she shouldn't to the police, but she needn't have worried. After they had all told their stories as far as the police knew it all started when Hanna had seen Cece leaving Radley carrying an envelope, and called Paige and Mona, who were studying together.

Mona emphasised Radley, probably because she knew the Rosewood police were a bit slow at times, and they got the hint. They'd found an access card on Cece's body, and less then an hour later the girls were hearing snippets of conversations at the station, about a room found in the abandoned wing of Radley, and what all those documents and recordings might be.

But while Hanna might have been feeling relief that it was over, she could still see Cece's face, her eyes looking up at Hanna one last time before the spark behind them went out.

Hanna was done with all this now. She just wanted to go home.

It was morning by the time they were able to leave, though. As they stood on the pavement outside the station, their parents eager to take them home, their faces filled with unasked questions, Hanna hugged each of the others in turn, Mona, Emily, Spencer, Aria, then Paige.

She couldn't let Paige go. She whispered "I don't want to be alone", and Paige nodded. No words were spoken, but Paige got in the car with Hanna, and Hanna's mom drove them back to their house, Hanna and Paige holding each other the whole time.

When they arrived, the place seemed so quiet. It was just... normal. The sun was coming in through the windows like any other morning, like nothing had happened.

When they had a moment alone, Hanna's mom started to cry.

"Please tell me it's over," she begged. "Please tell me there's no one else out there trying to hurt you."

"There's no one else," Hanna assured her. "It's over."

Soon Hanna and Paige were laying in bed together, and Hanna drifted off, falling asleep in her girlfriend's arms.

They all had a get together the next day, something of a debriefing, over at Spencer's.

Spencer's mom was there, and of course she had all the latest from the police. Yes, they'd found the room with all of Ezra's material, and between that and Cece's folio they now had clear evidence for Ezra and Wren's involvement in a series of murders, as well as their exploitation of a number of underage girls. Half the cases on Rosewood PD's books were being closed, or in some cases reopened then closed.

Hanna kept thinking about Cece. She felt sorry for her. Cece had clearly wanted to put a stop to everything that was going on in Rosewood, and Hanna was almost happy for her that she had managed to achieve that, even at the cost of her own life.

But part of Hanna was mad at her, too. Cece had gone for the dramatic redemption, the spectacular exit, and the emotional farewell. Mona worked behind the scenes, but Cece wanted a grand reveal, and had put them all in danger to get it.

Most of all, though, Hanna just felt sad.

They all said their goodbyes, and asked each of the others if they were OK, and promised to be in touch. Then Hanna left, holding on to Paige.

Hanna wasn't sleeping well. Every night she would lie in bed, thinking about Cece, watching her die over and over again. When she stumbled into the kitchen each morning for breakfast, she could see the concern on her mother's face.

She was off school for a while, though she did go in later that week to see the counsellor. He was pretty good, but she needed time.

She caught up with Paige, who was back in class, and they walked home together. Back in Hanna's room, they talked.

"Did you get anything out of the session today?" Paige asked.

"A little, I guess," Hanna relied. "He asked me how I feel, but I don't know. I mean, how am I supposed to feel?"

"Maybe it doesn't matter how you're supposed to feel," Paige suggested.

"Of course it does," Hanna responded. "Cece's dead, I should just feel sorry for her, and leave it at that."

"But you don't just feel sorry for her," Paige said, her tone even, and matter-of-fact. "How could you?"

"Hell no, I'm angry at her," Hanna agreed, and saying that felt so good. "She set us up to get him, she used us, she could have told us what was going on, and we could have worked together and locked their creepy little asses up for good, but she was too busy on her little vigilante kick to think about anything else."

"Yeah..." Paige began, but Hanna was only just getting going.

"She left us in danger," Hanna continued. "She could have told who was doing this shit a long time ago, she could have just called the cops and let them know about Ezra's little research project, she could have warned us back when she was working for A, but no, she had to do the creepy late-night rendezvous and try to take him out herself."

"Absolutely," Paige agreed.

"She treated us like puppets, like Ali used to." Hanna kept going. "Jeez, even Ali learned her lesson. I..."

That was it. Cece had left them high and dry, like Ali used to. Urgh, of course. They knew Cece was Alison's older, bitchier, double, except Alison had actually got over it.

But still, Cece at least still wanted to take out the creeps of Rosewood. They were the ones who caused all this in the first place. Ezra and Wren and Jason and Ian and Garrett and Wilden and every other sleazeball with a thing for young girls and hidden cameras. Fuck them. Fuck the lot of them. Hanna and her friends had made it through, and those fuckers could rot.

Paige was hugging Hanna now, but Hanna was already feeling a whole lot better.

That night Hanna dreamed about Cece again. This time Cece was sitting on the park bench, but it was daytime.

"Look after yourself," Cece called.

"You too," Hanna responded.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," Cece assured her.

Hanna gave her a quick wave and kept walking. It was a nice day, and she had to find her friends.

Hanna and Emily were sitting in the Brew. It had been a while.

"Are you settling in to your classes again?" Emily asked.

"Most of them," Hanna replied. "You know, I am actually starting to get Shakespeare now. I'm reading King Lear and that stuff is so true. Don't get sucked in by smooth talkers, they just want to take your kingdom, or write books about you."

Emily nodded and smiled.

"That's right," she agreed. "Maybe one day one of us will write about all this."

"Aria," Hanna said. "Definitely Aria."

"Anyway, at least it's our story now," Emily pointed out. "We're finally in control."

Hanna got distracted by a familiar face over at the counter. Melissa was standing there, glaring at the two of them.

"What's her problem?" Hanna asked.

Emily looked over.

"She's probably back from visiting Wren, where she's been hearing all about how he killed Cece in self-defence, and now he's being framed for murder," Emily explained.

"She actually believes he's innocent?" Hanna asked.

"Yes, she does," Emily replied, before getting up from her chair and marching over to Melissa.

Emily stood right in Melissa's face, steady and silent. Melissa cowered back, before slinking away, coffee in hand.

Emily came back to the table looking pleased with herself.

Barely a minute later, Paige came in and joined the two of them.

"I just saw Melissa outside," Paige said. "What's with her? She seemed to be in a hurry."

"She's got a plane to catch," Emily explained. "Or at least, she does now."

After everything that had happened, Paige was still getting stressed that her essay wasn't good enough. Apparently facing the spectre of death still hadn't made her any more relaxed about her assignments. If anything, it had made her more determined to get good grades, like they would be some sort of middle finger to Wren and Ezra and everyone who put her through this.

Her phone rang. It was Hanna.

"Hey babe," Hanna's voice came chirpily from the other end.

"Hey Hanna," Paige replied.

Hanna had picked up a lot in the last few days. Paige had been getting worried about her at one point, as Hanna seemed to be struggling to deal with Cece's death, but now she was moving on, and it seemed genuine.

"I was just wondering if you were doing anything," Hanna enquired.

"My essay on the Oklahoma Dust Bowl," Paige replied, realising that probably wasn't what Hanna wanted to hear.

"OK," Hanna replied reluctantly.

"If you like I could..." Paige began.

"No, it's cool," Hanna interrupted. "If you don't get it done you'll just be stress bunny Paige."

"Thanks," Paige responded.

"What I think you need is a system of rewards for studying," Hanna suggested.

"Were you thinking of anything in particular?" Paige asked.

"Well, how much longer do you think you need?" Hanna asked in response.

"About an hour and a half," Paige replied.

"So how about if you get it done in that time, you can come over here," Hanna suggested.

"Cool," Paige said.

"And if you get it done in an hour, I'll be naked when you arrive," Hanna added.

"See you in an hour," Paige said, hanging up. She had to get to work.

Paige couldn't help thinking of Alison. Not just because Alison was in jail while the rest of them were celebrating, but also because Hanna had told Paige what Wren had said, and Paige's picture of Alison before her disappearance had suddenly changed.

So Paige had come in to Rosewood Prison to see Ali. The last time that had spoken things had been so different. Back then all Paige could see was her old tormentor, slithering back into Emily's life. Now Paige saw a much different girl sitting across from her, worn down and vulnerable.

"How are you going?" Paige asked.

"Not bad, not good," Alison replied. "This place sucks, but now the cops have the evidence against Ezra I might be able to get my sentence reduced."

"Are you coping OK in here?' Paige asked.

"Yeah," Alison replied. "I've got a bit of a group together, they look after me."

Paige could picture that. She was glad Alison hadn't lost her old skills. But there was something else she had to say.

"I'm sorry," Paige said.

Alison looked confused for a moment.

"Why?" she asked.

"I had no idea what you were going though," Paige explained.

"You had no way of knowing," Alison responded.

"I just wish I could have reached out to you," Paige continued. "I wish I could have done something to help."

"You couldn't," Alison insisted. "And if you'd tried I would have used it against you. You don't owe me anything, Paige, not then and not now. I still feel terrible about what I did to you."

"Please, don't," Paige begged. "It's all over, really. You only did that because..."

"I did it because I enjoyed it," Alison interrupted. "I felt so numb inside, so cold, that was the only thing that made me feel good about myself. I was a monster."

"No, you were a survivor," Paige said.

"The sad thing is, I thought those guys were treating my like an adult," Alison explained. "I thought someone finally understood me, saw how mature I was. But they knew I was still a child, that's why they picked me. I wanted to be in control, but they just passed me around."

Paige's heart was breaking for this girl. She was starting to see why Cece did what she did.

"They broke me, Paige, so I tried to break you, and Mona, and all the others," Alison continued. "I thought no one understood the world like I did. You didn't know the kind of people who were out there. I thought I had to toughen up my friends and destroy my enemies. I thought I was doing everyone a favor. I wish I could take it all back, I really do."

"Just look after yourself," Paige said. "You're a good person."

"You sound like Emily," Alison said.

"You should listen to her," Paige replied.

She could picture Emily trying to get Alison to see the good in herself. It made sense. And now, somehow, after everything that had happened, that picture of Emily caring for Alison made Paige happy.

"You know, when I apologised to you, I really meant it," Alison said.

"I know," Paige assured her.

"And I was trying to impress Em," Alison added.

"I think I knew that too," Paige replied, allowing herself a smile.

Alison clasped her hands nervously in front of her, her eyes fixed on them.

"I know after everything I did to you it's too much to think that we could be friends," Alison said, "but maybe..."

"No, it's not too much at all," Paige said.

Alison grinned a little, but looked away bashfully. It was a smile Paige had never seen before. There was nothing cruel, or calculating, just simple happiness. The demon of Paige's nightmares was replaced by the girl sitting across from her, happy to be friends, happy to be given another chance.

"Paige, there's something of yours I found at home, just before I came here," Alison said, getting serious again now. "Something I never should have taken from you. My father has it now. He can give it to you, then you can do what you want with it."

On the way home, Paige stopped off at the DiLaurentis house. Kenneth was there, and as soon as he saw her he knew what she wanted. He handed it to her, still in Paige's original envelope.

Back in the car, she opened it, and looked at the letter inside.

"Dear Emily..." it began.

"This is pretty good," Hanna said, looking over the letter.

"Thank you, but I didn't need encouragement," Paige responded.

They were back at Paige's house now, Hanna looking over the letter Alison had tricked Paige into writing all those years ago.

"I think you should keep it," Hanna announced. "I mean it's up to you, but I would."

"Yeah?" Paige replied.

"You were so ballsy writing this," Hanna explained. Paige couldn't help but chuckle. "No, I mean really. This was an amazingly brave thing to do. Now, I know Alison threw it back in your face like a little bitch, but it must have taken so much courage to write this."

Paige nodded. She could still remember how she felt back then, working up the courage to write that letter, to take it to where Emily would find it, or so she thought. And she could still remember how her world fell apart when Alison took it from her. That was the start of a dark time for Paige, and she wasn't sure she wanted a keepsake of those days.

"I don't know," she said.

"Hey, totally up to you," Hanna replied. "But you were incredibly brave. You are incredibly brave. You know, baby Paige was up against everything, but she stood up for herself. You should be proud, you know."

Paige looked back to that frightened girl, a girl full of fear and self-loathing. She just wanted to tell her it would be OK, she would make it through, she would be happy. That Paige had so much sorrow ahead of her, but so much happiness as well. And she would learn to stand up for herself, to believe in herself, to be herself. She would learn hope again, and she would let herself fall in love, and fall in love again, even after her heart was broken.

Looking back now, Paige didn't know how she had found that courage within herself, but it was there. And that courage had brought her to this place, where she had fought everything the world had thrown at her, and had won.

"You're right," Paige said. "I don't want to forget that anymore. I'm going to stop wishing it never happened. It means something now, something I could never have imagined it would."

"Should we frame it?" Hanna asked, cheekily.

"No," Paige replied, but couldn't help smiling.

"Well, how about you put that down, and get back to kissing me," Hanna suggested.

"That's an excellent idea," Paige said, placing the letter on the bedside table, then embracing the girl she loved.

They kissed, gently and tenderly, playfully and passionately. They kissed because it just felt right. Every kiss left Paige feeling tingling, and alive. And every kiss felt like a promise, a promise of happiness to come.

The End