Emily was pretty sure she had fallen asleep on her arm. She could feel it beneath her, as well as a warmth pressed against her back, yet as she shifted to get comfortable she didn't start to feel the pins and needles running through her arm that she would have expected to feel if she had slept on it. She tucked both of her arms underneath her head to use as a cushion, but she still felt that arm beneath her. Slowly she peeled her eyes open, trying to figure out what she was lying on. She was met with the sight of the inside of a small rustic cottage. There was a fire still smouldering in the hearth, providing enough light for Emily's eyes to adjust to almost darkness. The thick woollen curtains at the windows were pulled shut, though it didn't look like it was quite light outside.

She was still dreaming. It felt so disorientating to wake up and know she had been sleeping within a dream. Her whole body felt stiff from spending the night sleeping on a table and she had to stretch out to try and shift the crick in her neck. Paige stirred behind her, letting out an incomprehensible mumble as she draped her arm back over Emily's stomach. Her lips found Emily's neck as she started planting slow and lazy kisses against the side of it, letting the other girl know she was awake. "Morning." Paige let out a contented sigh, sending shivers running up and down Emily's spine. She could get used to waking up beside the other girl.

"Good morning." Emily carefully manoeuvred to roll over and face her without falling off the table they had used as a bed. She brought their lips together, offering her a good morning kiss that started to turn in to something more as Paige pulled her in closer, running her hands under Emily's shirt.
"Don't let me interrupt ladies." Emily jumped, startled at the sound of Jenna's voice from behind her. She would have fallen off the table altogether had Paige not grabbed hold of her shirt.

"We won't." Paige shot back and Jenna didn't need to be able to see to hear the smile that was playing on her lips. She tried to pull Emily back against her, but the other girl was uncomfortable around Jenna. She sat up, adjusted her shirt and then slid off the table. Paige followed suit, moving a lot more fluidly than she had the night before. There was still a large rip in the fabric of her tunic, from where the knife had gone in her side, but the skin beneath was smooth and unmarked. "Thanks for healing me. I know how much it must have cost you." She thanked their host as she moved to pick up her sword and holster. Emily had made sure to keep the precious sword by her side the whole time Paige had been unconscious, knowing how important it was to her.

"Which time?" Jenna snapped coldly, sounding more like the Jenna that Emily knew. She had every right to be hostile though. She had lost what was left of her sight in order to save Paige the first time and the young woman hadn't even wanted to live. It had Emily questioning why she would have done it in the first place. She was pretty sure that Jenna would have had her own motives for helping. She didn't seem to do anything without the right motivation.
"Jenna, I know I'm in your debt-" Paige started, holding her head high and her back straight as she addressed the blind woman, looking as regal as a knight.
"No, I was in your father's. I settled that debt the night I saved you from death. It's your girlfriend who owes me for last night. She promised to cleanse the water. I suggest she keeps her side of the bargain, or else Wilden will have her head."

"What the hell did you promise?" It seemed the honeymoon period was over as Paige turned on Emily with a glare. "Youcan't touch their water! If you do you might as well just go and present yourself to A right now! She'll kill you Em…again." Her voice softened as her anger gave way to fear.
"No she won't." Emily sounded certain as she ignored Jenna's presence all together and spoke directly to Paige, slipping her hand in to one of hers with a reassuring squeeze. "Because this time I've got you watching my back."
"Please don't do this Emily." She begged, unable to shake the trepidation that she felt deep in her bones. She couldn't face the thought of losing her. "What happened to taking her by surprise?"
"We'll still have you as our secret weapon. Even if she knows I'm alive, she won't be expecting you; and maybe if we get it out there that I'm alive it could bring Spencer out of hiding. Maybe she'll find us."

"And maybe A will come and slaughter us all in our beds." Jenna chipped in with a false cheeriness that had Emily grinding her teeth. She hadn't asked for her opinion.
"Well if she does you'll be the last to see it coming." Emily snapped at her. She already had her work cut out persuading Paige to agree with her, she didn't need Jenna weighing in too. "I made a deal to save your life and I'm not going to go back on it! It's time we took the fight to A! I'm tired of running scared from that bitch!"
"Alright." Paige finally relented. She had to admit she liked the idea of finally making a move on A. "We'll get Wilden to take us to their water source. I just hope you know what you're doing."
"Me too." Emily gave her a timid smile. She didn't know whether she was doing the right thing or not, all she knew for sure was that she was tired of letting A rule her life.

Once they were ready they slipped out of Jenna's cottage. The sun was still hanging low in the sky and a light fog had settled over the village. Despite the early hour the town square was bustling, from the market traders already setting up their stalls to the groups of children running around and giggling. They all seemed to stop and stare as the girls emerged from Jenna's house. Hushed whispers began to stir up within the crowd as all eyes settled on Emily. It felt more intimidating than her first swim meet in front of the whole school. She felt Paige's fingers lace through hers, giving her the confidence she needed. Cutting through the crowd they made their way over to Sherriff Wilden. He was leaning against a huge stone well in the middle of the village, with his arms folded over his chest and an amused smirk playing on his lips. "Come on then goddess. Work your magic." He stepped aside with a grand sweeping gesture of his arm. He didn't believe for one minute that Emily was who she said she was.

Emily let go of Paige's hand as she stepped closer to the well and peered over the side. There was a foul stale smell that punctured the air around it. The stone walls of the well were covered in thick green slime that Emily didn't even want to think about as she pulled on the rope to bring up the water bucket. The full bucket was heavy and the rope bit in to her skin as she struggled to pull it up. Once the wooden bucket emerged from the inky depths below she found the source of the smell. What had once been water was now a thick brown sludge. Emily wasn't really sure what she was doing, so she just went with her instincts. Taking a deep breath she plunged her hand in to the bucket as the entire village watched with rapt attention. Nothing happened.

Wilden sneered down at her as his hand went to the sword at his side and two of his deputies moved in towards them. He'd proven she was a fraud and he had every intention of hauling her straight before A to make an example of her. Their queen would not be happy that some girl was going around claiming to be the water goddess; that kind of thing could easily fan the flames of revolution and his queen would not stand for that. "Wait!" Emily pleaded, her eyes widening at the sight of Wilden's drawn sword. Paige stepped in between them, pulling her own weapon and staring the sheriff down as she growled at him.
"Give her a damn minute!"

The sheriff nodded to his men to stand down as he returned his sword to its holster. He would give the fraud more time to seal her own fate. "You can do this." Paige moved in closer and pressed her hand against the small of the other girl's back as she kept her eyes on Wilden and his men. If it came to it they could fight their way out, but Paige would rather they didn't have to risk their lives again so soon; Jenna wouldn't save her hide a third time. Emily nodded, steeling her nerves as she tried to block out everything around her. She closed her eyes and tried to focus solely on the water, on making it clear, but stray thoughts kept crossing her mind. From meeting Shauna to the memory of Paige's hands running under her shirt as her lips softly caressed her neck…

"She's done it!" Someone on her right called out, startling her eyes open. As she looked down in to the bucket she
saw her fingers moving freely through the crystal clear water. Murmurs began to rip through the crowd and Wilden could sense the unrest building. If the girl really had cured the water then she really was the water goddess; the one the queen was supposed to have killed. It would not sit well with her subjects to find out the goddess was alive and well. He had to get a grip on things before they got out of hand.

"One bucket of water is not going to fix our well!" He moved in, pulling his sword again at the same time as his men moved towards the well. Emily dropped the bucket out of freight as she watched Wilden's sword flying down towards her, only to be met halfway as it clashed against Paige's own. The bucket hit the bottom of the well with a splash before sinking in to the sludge. Seconds later the ground around them began to shake. Emily clung on to the well to keep her on her feet as Wilden and half the villagers fell over from the force of the earthquake. Paige held her own, staying on her feet and continuing to use her own body as a shield for the goddess.

Emily could feel the stone bricks of the well vibrating beneath her fingers. Her touch seemed to be making it worse, so she risked letting go and stepping back against Paige. Within seconds a geyser of water shot up in to the air like fireworks on the fourth of July. The eruption of water carried on flowing impossibly higher until it seemed to disappear in to the clouds. Eventually the water began to fall back down, soaking the village in a cleansing rain. Paige stared up at the tower of water with a mixture of awe and trepidation. "I think that's going to get her attention."
"A's or Spencer's?" Emily quizzed, still amazed herself by what she had managed to do. She had felt her own power vibrating through the stones of the well and soaking in to the water.
"I don't think it matters."

Emily's second awakening that morning was nowhere near as pleasant as the first. She'd overslept and had rushed about getting ready. She'd left her hair tied back and skipped breakfast and had still ended up arriving after the second bell. At least it meant she didn't have to speak to Paige as she rushed past her to get to her homeroom. She's found a couple of missed calls on her phone when she'd woken up, but even if she'd had time to call Paige back she still wouldn't have done so. She was still mad at her for not being honest with her about seeing someone, for letting her kiss her and pour her heart out to her when she knew full well that she would be meeting her girlfriend later. Emily still couldn't wrap her head around what had happened between them. Paige wasn't a player. She wouldn't try and play Emily off against another girl, it just wasn't her style.

She knew she would have to talk to Paige about it, to find out what was really going on, but she just couldn't bring herself to face the other girl. She kept her head down between classes and pretended she didn't hear Paige calling her name as she headed for her car at lunch time. She was avoiding the rest of her friends just as much as she was avoiding Paige, so she'd decided to grab some lunch off campus. She just needed some time to herself to think things through. She joined the line of people waiting to be served in the Brew and nodded towards one of the guys she worked with. By the time she got to the front of the queue he'd already made her regular coffee order.

Her stomach felt too queasy for her to attempt to eat anything, so she just paid for the coffee and went looking for a seat. She stopped in her tracks as she caught sight of Hanna. The other girl hadn't turned up for school again, yet she seemed fine as she sat on one of the couches at the back, picking at muffin and reading a glossy magazine. "Han?" Emily walked up to her. Hanna looked up at her like she'd just been caught redheaded, which since she was playing hooky she technically had been. "Why haven't you been in school?"
"Uh…I was avoiding you." The blonde answered honestly, unable to think of anything else to say. Emily felt a flash of hurt as she frowned at her so called friend.
"Me? Why?"

Hanna was at a loss for what to say to her, which was a first for the teenager. She glanced nervously over Emily's shoulder and tried to discreetly shake her head, but Emily caught her and turned around to see who she was looking at. Her stomach dropped as she caught sight of Spencer and Aria walking towards them. "I guess we don't need to discuss how we're going to tell Em after all." Spencer quipped, making Emily all the more suspicious.
"Tell me what?" She demanded. "What the hell is going on?" They hadn't had any secret meetings since before Mona had been taken to Radley. Emily instantly feared the worst. Had they let Mona out? Was that why Hanna was hiding out? Why would she tell the others and not Emily though? None of it made sense. She stared Spencer down as she waited for someone to answer her question.

It was Hanna who spoke up though; she placed a hand on Emily's arm and looked up at her with wide pitying eyes. It was the same look she had given her the day of Maya's memorial and she felt her stomach twisting. "It's Paige…we think she's part of the A team." Whatever Emily had been expecting to hear, it hadn't been that. She couldn't even begin to process what Hanna had just said to her.
"What are you talking about?" She let out a nervous laugh as she looked around at the other girls. "This is a joke right? A really bad joke?"
"We're so sorry Em-" Aria started but Emily didn't want to hear it. She didn't want to hear how sorry they were. She wanted some answers.

"Paige is not part of the A team! Mona's in Radley and Paige would never…she wouldn't…" She desperately looked to Hanna to back her up, but the blonde couldn't meet her eye.
"I haven't been in school because I've been avoiding telling you this until I was sure, but Paige is on it. She's with Mona." Emily's first instinct was to protest again, to defend Paige against her friends, but she knew that interrupting Hanna would get her nowhere. She needed to hear what they thought they had on her.

"I've been visiting Mona at Radley over the summer, trying to get her to tell me why she did all of those things to us. When I went to see her last weekend she already had a visitor, so I went to get a coffee and when I came back an hour later I saw Paige leaving Radley."
"That's it?" Emily snapped. It was hardly definitive proof that Paige was their mortal enemy. "She could have been there to see anyone!"
"I checked the register, she'd signed in to see Mona and she used her real name… At least I was using a fake one."
"That was smart." Spencer acknowledged, though she quickly fell silent as Emily glared at her.
"So she went to see Mona one time, that doesn't mean-"
"Three times." Spencer corrected. "I asked Wren. He remembered her because she's the only other visitor that Mona's had…Paige told him she was a friend of Mona's. I'm sorry Emily, but you have to face facts. A was more than just one person."
"Just look at the time Hanna and Mona were out of town riding and A grave you that creepy massage…I can kind of see Paige volunteering for that mission." Aria pointed out, getting nods of agreement from Hanna and Spencer.

"No." Emily shook her head as she got to her feet. There had to be another explanation for why Paige had gone to see Mona at Radley. Paige had had her problems, nobody could dispute that, but Emily refused to believe that she was anything remotely like Mona. Paige McCullers simply didn't have that kind of evil inside of her. "You've all got this wrong!" She turned her back on the other girls to storm out.
"What are you going to do Em?" She heard Spencer calling after her but she didn't stop to answer her. She was going to do what she should have done in the first place, what she should have done when she'd met Shauna and she'd revealed she was Paige's girlfriend; she was going to go and ask Paige for the truth.

Lunch was halfway over by the time she got back to the campus. She'd tried calling Paige but the other girl hadn't picked up. Emily knew exactly where to find her. She headed straight to the natatorium and sure enough she found Paige in the water. She knelt down by the edge, waiting for her to surface. Less than a day ago she had sat been sitting by the side of the pool and watching Paige cut gracefully through the water, determined to tell her how she really felt. It was amazing how much had changed between them in such a short space of time.

It felt like everything was falling apart; it was a familiar feeling between the two of them, and not for the first time Emily found herself wondering where they would be if she and Paige had made things work the first time around. Would Maya be dead if she'd never come back to Rosewood to see her? Would her friends trust Paige enough to know that she couldn't possibly have anything to do with A? Would she be dreaming about the other girl almost nightly if she had her to herself every day?

Paige reached the side of the pool and pushed her swimming goggles up on top of her head as she offered Emily a wry smile. "Not going to push me under, are you?" It was meant as a joke to break the ice. She knew something was wrong. Emily had been all over her the day before, but after meeting Shauna she hadn't answered her calls or even acknowledged her all day long.
"We need to talk." Emily replied dryly, she didn't sound anything like she had the last time she'd said that and Paige was pretty sure that 'talking' wasn't going to end in them kissing again. She pulled herself up out of the water and took a seat beside Emily, already fearing the worst.

"What did I do?" She asked, genuinely confused as to why Emily was suddenly acting so weird around her. Shauna had refused to tell her what she'd said to her and Emily hadn't answered her calls, so Paige was still in the dark about what her two exes had said to one another. "Is this about Shauna, because-"
"Did you go and visit Mona at Radley this weekend?" Emily didn't want to hear about Shauna. It didn't matter whether Paige was seeing her not if she was working with A. Paige ducked her head and Emily felt a lump forming in her throat; It was her tell. So she had gone to see Mona. "Why?" Emily choked out, fighting back tears as she demanded an explanation. She didn't want to cry. She wasn't the easy target that she had been when A had first started tormenting them and she was determined to prove that as she fought to keep her composure.

"I was angry. I wanted answers. I wanted to know why she did what she did to you. Seeing you like this is killing me Em. I wanted to help." Paige implored. She tried to take Emily's hands in to her own, but the other girl pulled away and wrapped her arms around her chest; as though she were trying to protect herself. She wanted to believe her, she really did; but being persecuted for so long had left her wary of trusting anyone.
"Last weekend wasn't your first visit. So what was your excuse for seeing her twice over the summer?"

Paige sighed as she wrung her hands together and shook her head. "When I first heard what Mona had been doing to you guys, what she'd been putting you through, I was mad as hell. I wanted to find out what had been going on, but you weren't at school and your friends wouldn't tell me anything…so I went straight to the source. I went to see her a few times, but it was like Mona was catatonic or something. She wouldn't talk to me, it didn't seem like she even knew I was there. I saw her doctor at the Grill the other week, when you first told me about your dreams, and he mentioned that Mona was talking. I figured it would be worth a shot going to see her again."

"Wren told Spencer that you told him you were Mona's friend." Paige winced at the accusing tone lacing Emily's voice.
"I was, once." She shrugged, knowing there was no way of getting around it. "We were lab partners our freshman year, and I guess we were sort of friends too; before she went all plastic and started acting like Alison DiLarurentis." Paige's lip curled in distaste at the thought of Ali and Emily didn't miss it.
"You and Allison had a thing right? You two hated each other…I'd forgotten about that." Emily suddenly felt uneasy being alone with Paige as things started to fall in to place in her mind. Mona had hated Ali, which was why she had targeted Emily and her friends for payback. Paige hated Ali too, and Emily had experienced her temper first hand. Was it really such a stretch to think that the Paige McCullers who had bullied her last year had also sent threatening text messages and helped Mona in her twisted games?

"You think I helped her?" Paige saw it written all over the other girl's face and she felt a familiar anger washing over her. She had come a long way from the bitter, angry and closeted teen she had been before she'd finally opened up to Emily; but she felt all of that slipping away from her as she got to her feet, her fists clenching at her sides. "How could you even think that?"
"I don't know what to think anymore!" Emily followed suit and got to her feet, she heard her voice rising as she shouted at Paige in retaliation but there was nothing she could do to stop it. It was like they were stuck on a railway line and quickly running out of track.

"Do you know why Allison hated me?" Paige snapped, finally giving up some of her own secrets. "Because I stuck up for my lab partner! She was ragging on Mona one day our freshman year and I told her stop it. After that she made it her mission to make my life a living hell! We've both made some pretty bad choices when it comes our friends Em, but I tried to make things right! I tried to get Mona to tell me why she did what she did! I was trying to help you Em!"
"I'm sorry, I…" Emily faltered. She had wanted to find out the truth for herself, but she had just ended up accusing Paige of something that she had known couldn't possibly be true. "I'm sorry." She repeated again, at a loss for what else to say. She suddenly felt exhausted as the anger drained from her body. She had the beginning of a migraine and she was shaking as she wrapped her arms back around her chest.

"Are you ok? You don't look so good." Part of Paige wanted to hold on to her anger. She couldn't believe that Emily had thought she could have had any part of what Mona had done to her; but something was clearly wrong with the other girl and she couldn't just ignore her suffering. "Here." She fetched her hoodie out of her kitbag from over by the bleachers and pulled it on over Emily's head. Her teeth were chattering as she mumbled her thanks, yet her skin was searing hot as Paige pressed a hand against her forehead.

"You're burning up." Her concern deepened as she realised Emily really was sick. She had been worrying about her for weeks. She constantly seemed to be tired and her times in the pool were getting slower and slower. At first she'd thought maybe it was depression that was responsible for her always being tired. The other girl had certainly been through enough for it to be a possibility; but a fever suggested something else. "Let me drive you home. You shouldn't be here if you're sick." Paige started pulling her warm-ups on over her costume. Emily didn't object. She sat down on the bleachers, holding her head in her hands as she took a few deep breaths. She was trying to fight the nausea that had crept over her.

"I've got you." Paige soothed as she wrapped an arm around Emily's waist, taking on most of the other girl's waist as she helped her to her feet. Emily cringed as they started walking towards the back exit that led out on to the parking lot, the muscles in her legs felt like they were going in to cramp. Paige got her to her car and took her keys from her to drive her home. The pair were silent for the entire drive, with Emily nodding off to sleep and jerking awake every few minutes. Paige helped her inside her empty house and upstairs to her room. She left her to climb in to bed as she went off in search of some aspirin and a glass of water.

By the time she got back to Emily's room she was lying shivering under the covers. She sat up to swallow the pills Paige offered her and sipped at the water before lying back down. She looked pale and her eyes were sunk to the back of her head as she fought to keep them open. Paige perched on the edge of her bed, fraught with worry. "Should I call your mom? Or a doctor?" She didn't like the idea of leaving Emily on her own, so she was in no hurry to go back to school.
"I'll be ok, it's probably just a stomach bug or something…you don't need to stay."

"I want to." Paige pulled her legs up and lay behind Emily on top of the bed covers, running her fingers softly through her hair. "I don't know what happened yesterday, but I know it has something to do with Shauna. Whatever she said to you… well it doesn't matter. She doesn't matter. We went out for a few weeks, but it didn't mean anything; because she wasn't you…I'm in love with you Em, and I have been for so long…Emily?" Paige was pouring her heart out and Emily wasn't saying a word. She glanced down and found her eyes were closed over and her chest was rising and falling in a soft rhythm. She was already sound asleep.