Queen

Hi again! This is my last kind of canon story, since I'm used to writing after important episodes, from now on I believe I will limit myself to very AU Aimily or Nemily fics… anyway, I saw "Endurance" the other day, and I couldn't take this idea out of my head… I hope you enjoy it, just like I did writing it.

*Emily's POV*

Revenge and all its characters belong to ABC, I'm just borrowing them for some fun.

~A&E~

I shake my head, this cannot be happening… no, no they didn't just take everything from me; they had my past and my present, why? They don't need my future too. I want to scream, I want to watch Victoria's face as I yell once and for all "I am Amanda Clarke" but I'm not strong enough and now, I think I never will…I can't lose anything else…

"Emily?" Charlotte calls me, and I can feel the hesitation in her voice "Can I come in?" she asks, I make a signal for her… if I talk, I won't be able to stop or maybe I'm not able to talk at all. "What's wrong?" she asks truly concerned, I try to smile to cover it up but she doesn't buy it… she sits near me and takes my hands, "Emily?"

"I can't have children" I say softly, once again feeling the pain of those four words in my heart. She closes her eyes, apparently feeling the pain too "I'm so sorry" she hugs me, as tight as she can and we both cry.

I don't realize how long it's been, but I have to admit her support give me some peace, "I think…I used to think I didn't want children you know?" I confess to her and she smiles sadly "But now, the feeling is there… I understand" she says quietly, touching her abdomen "I was the same, until I found out I was pregnant- a silent tear rolls down her cheek and she cleans it quickly- and then, I wasn't a mom anymore" from the look she's giving me, I can tell she's far away. This time I hug her, "You will be an awesome mom Charlotte" I whisper, she looks at me… "You will too Emily"

Niko lets me know about Victoria's plan, and that gives me the perfect ending for this game I'm finally tired to play… I quickly change my box's content, I'm pretty sure she will be glad to discover the copy of Mason's new book, which I must say I took to a publisher myself… my final way to honor my father's name.

Daniel was only supposed to be my way in into the Grayson's household, and somehow he ended up being my final act, the final blow to the already weak floor protecting them from the very high fall. I feel powerful standing in that balcony while the press waits for my statement, "Thank you all for coming, due to my weakened condition my announcement will be a brief one, in the past few days since my in-laws brought me home I have endured more pain than I thought humanly possible…but I believe because of this journey- I take a deep breath and a minute to enjoy the moment- my memory has returned, there's been much speculation as to who shot me and I want to set the record straight… it was Daniel Grayson" Everyone gasps and I enjoy seeing the effect of my words on Victoria's body, "Because I deeply fear for my life, I will be leaving right now… I'll see you in court Daniel, oh and I want a divorce too" After that everything is kind of a blur, the police comes to arrest Daniel, Victoria screams I'm lying and Conrad seems… absent of the whole show; all I know for sure is that the Graysons will never recover from this.

Aiden is waiting for me in Nolan's place, "You remember everything?" he asks without being able to hide his fear from me. "Please, tell me you haven't forgotten about us" I slowly take his hands, "How could I ever forget you?" I say with a smile on my face, taking away his fears… we kiss, slowly, deeply, showing the other how we really feel.

"It's over" I say, the safety of his arms allowing me to speak freely "I told the truth to the press and Mason's book is now on every single bookstore in the states, it's finally over…we don't have to hide anymore" I look up, the way his eyes shine assuring me this is the right decision.

"Mason's book?" He asks, and I realize I forgot to tell him about it. "Yeah, he's telling Amanda's history" surprised, he hugs me tighter, "so, you…" "I'm clean; I promised Amanda I was going to protect her family and I can't do that from prison, and Mason was released a couple of days ago… I gave him all the evidence he needed" He kisses my head, "you're amazing" he says proud and I blush "I try"

While we lay in bed together, everything comes back to me "Aiden…there's something you need to know" he stops playing with my hair "What's going on?" I can tell he is concerned, I look away because I don't know if I'm able to watch his reaction "I… I can't have children…the wounds were too deep" Tears start falling and I don't have the energy to try and stop them, gently he makes me look at him "Emily, I love you" "and I love you too but…wha" "we'll figure it out, right now you're the only one I need, I can't live without you Ems… I don't care about that, besides there are other ways to have a family" He interrupts me, and while I try to absorb his words, he keeps kissing me "I don't know what I would do without you" I say "let's hope we never have to find out…you need to sleep my love" and in his arms I finally let myself rest.

The next morning comes too quickly, I wake up first… Aiden took care of me during the night, slowly I walk into the kitchen "good morning Nolan" I say softly, "Hey Ems, how was your night?" "Good" He puts a coffee in front of me "Thank you" He winks, "It's nothing Ems… Aiden told me you won't need the fake ID's after all" I smile "No… I am free, it's over" He takes my hand "you almost gave me a heart attack Ems" "I know…" "Are you sure this is what you want?" I sigh, this is going to be hard, I take his hand "You know what was the hardest part about losing my identity? At first I thought it was that feeling of having no past and a confusing present but then… the hardest part was remembering all over again, all the pain that I… all the things I did" before I know it I'm crying in his arms, "Shh, Ems… please don't cry, it's over…it's over" He repeats it like a mantra, that strangely calms me down. "You're right, now we have to call my lawyer" Nolan looks at me puzzled, "I need a divorce silly" He laughs "Right"

Aiden carefully wraps his arms around my waist and kisses me, "Good Morning" I get closer to him, "Morning" Nolan looks at us with a smile on his face, "How does it feel?" "what?" Aiden and I ask at the same time "how does it feel to be the new queen of the Hamptons?" We all laugh, in a way it's true… I slowly took Victoria's place and now I made sure she will never take it again.

A week later I sit in Nolan's office with the divorce papers in my hands, I won't receive a single dollar from Daniel… instead I made him give Margaux his part of Voulez, and of course, she helped me bury Daniel even deeper. "Are those…?" Aiden asks "yeah, I just signed them…now I have to give these to Daniel and I will be single again" I kiss him.

With my lawyer by my side, I enter the police station… I feel Daniel's eyes on me, but I don't let him bother me "Here are the divorce papers, just sign them" I say, not trying too hard to hide the venom in my voice. He's not able to look at me, my lawyer gives him the papers and a pen…a few seconds and it's over "Have a nice life Daniel" I get out of there as quickly as I can, and surprise… "Sara, I didn't expect to see you here so soon" I keep my face as free of emotions as I can, but I can see the hate in hers "YOU! YOU RUINED EVERYTHING, HE'S INNOCENT!" she screams and tries to grab me, "Sara! Listen to me!" I yell at her, she doesn't deserve to live in a lie "He SHOT me… he heard something he didn't like about me and the first thing he does is shoot me, he is the one that wanted to continue this whole show because heaven forbid THE Daniel Grayson does something inappropriate… this could've been as simple as a conversation and getting an annulment or even easier just a simple break up, but no… he had to throw an attempt of murder into the mix" this time my anger hits her hard, "He told me the truth, the fake pregnancy, everything!" "Sadly I could never confirm my pregnancy, remember? The press didn't let me enter my doctor's office…and now, thanks to your lovely Danny I won't be able to have kids again" Her mouth is wide open, "He told me he didn't do it" I laugh "Sara, please… you're smarter than this, he lied to you! Maybe for a minute he thought he would get away with this but now, he confessed Sara…please open your eyes before it's too late for you too" I've done enough damage, I turn around without saying goodbye… I'm sure I gave her a lot to think about.

Aiden is waiting for me by the pool, "Are you ok?" "Yes… he signed them without trouble" "Good" He runs his fingers through my hair "I ran into Sara… poor thing swallowed everything Daniel told her" He doesn't say anything; we enter the house in silence.

The night comes and Nolan gladly opens his door, Jack, Carl and Margaux are here… and what makes me happier is to see a copy of Mason's book Revenge in Jack's hands. Aiden helps me stand up, "Hello" Margaux says shyly, I hug her "Don't be shy, we're all friends around here" she smiles and her eyes light up. Apparently Nolan spent the whole day in the kitchen, "the dinner is wonderful Nolan" She says sincerely, "it was nothing" He says blushing, she takes Jack's hand and I realize she wants to tell us something "Emily… I want to say thank you" I don't say anything and she continues "Daniel's lawyer called me today, I'm the only owner of Voulez" the smile on her face is all the payment I needed "and your story is a success, I… don't know how to thank you" I smile too, "you don't need to thank me, I'm just glad the story is out there…and that Voulez is doing so well" "I just can't believe it yet… all these years being friends with them and I didn't know them at all, I mean…I read Revenge and all the things they did to poor Amanda, to David Clarke…" Aiden squeezes my hand under the table, while Margaux looks at Jack "But now, justice finally caught them" we all smile, "I believe this deserves a toast, for justice, friends, Amanda, David and family" Nolan stands up, "cheers!" we say together.

I'm in the living room with Carl, Nolan trying to convince the guys to do some kind of party to celebrate our victory; Margaux sits beside me and Carl immediately wants to go with her "You wanna be in Margaux arms?" I ask him sweetly while I give her the baby, she smiles at him which makes him smile. "I know Amanda was your best friend…" she's trying to talk about the book "she was my sister" "I'm sorry…for what happened" "don't be, I…was with her, she wasn't alone" she closes her eyes and says, "I love him" almost a whisper but I hear her "I know, and as long as you make each other happy, I am happy and I'm sure Amanda is happy too…I promised her I will always take care of her family and I can't think of someone better than you" she takes one of my hands, touched by my words "You can't imagine how much this means to me, thank you Emily" I smile, and we both keep playing with Carl.

The justice system apparently works faster when you are a millionaire, a month later Daniel's sentence is public knowledge, "25 years isn't so bad…" Nolan smiles, Aiden doesn't really care "what about Conrad and Victoria?" "rest of their lives, especially now that Charlotte found out about what truly happened with Declan and added her own charges into Conrad already very long list" I say quietly, "why that voice?" my friend asks concerned, I sigh "don't get me wrong, I'm happy…but Charlotte, I don't want her to suffer" Aiden sits right beside me "She's a Clarke, she'll get through this" and I believe him, because even if it turns out to be too much for her I'll be by her side, we'll be by her side… like the family we are.

"Miss Thorne, what do you think about your ex-husband relationship with Sara Munello?" a journalist caught me by surprise, but I take off my sunglasses "It's been almost 2 months since our divorce, I truly don't care what he's doing, I stopped caring the day he decided to shoot me… and as far as Miss Munello is concerned, she's a grown woman fully capable to make her own decisions… if she wants to wait for him, then let her" My sunglasses cover the smile on my eyes. Finally, I took the Graysons down… I won the battle against the ice queen.