AN: Hello, my lovelies. Sorry about the wait, I've been insanely busy and this chapter just didn't want to be written. =/ But, I won, and here's the final chapter in the Saturday arc. Sunday will be next, and here's a preview: Maya loses it, big time. Noal shows up. And Hanna is about as happy as a wet cat.

Also, is anyone else seriously pissed about the Hanna/ Caleb thing they've got going on? I mean, what? They build up Hanna/ Lucas for a season and a half, and when Sean finally, FINALLY, gets taken out, Lucas gets shoved to the side for this Caleb guy? Really? Bah! Oh, and don't even get me STARTED about the whole Spencer/Toby thing I've heard rumours of. No. I would never tell people which characters to ship, but for me personally? No. Just no. /end rant.

So, about this chapter, there's some Toby/Emily, which always makes me smile, and another example of just how damn sneaky Ella can be. Enjoy. =)

As always, if you recognize it, I don't own it.

Emily walked in the front door of her parents' house that evening, exhausted. Doing six hours of back to back cardio workouts on a few hours sleep wasn't her brightest move ever, but she'd pushed through it. When she walked into the living room, she threw her workout bag on the couch and then joined it, hugging a throw pillow to her chest. It had been a long day, and Saturday wasn't even over yet.

From the pocket of her jeans, Emily could feel her phone vibrating, signalling that someone was calling her. She groaned, tempted to ignore it and sink into sleep, but then thought that it might be Hanna; her mom and Aria's dad had rushed by the shop in a fury and told Emily what Sean had come by to say. Emily had not been pleased, and Maya had needed to rush over to the near by coffee shop to get her something with caffeine in it before she tried to find Sean.

"Hello?", Emily asked, sounding sleepy even to her own ears.

"Emily?" The fitness instructor's eyes opened and she smiled at the voice.

"Toby! Hi, I wasn't expecting you to call.", Emily greeted, laying on the couch.

"Bad time?", Toby asked, though Emily could tell that he was smiling.

"No, not at all. Just got in the door, actually.", she answered. "How are you? How's New York?"

"New York is fine, same as it was when I left.", Toby replied. "And I'm alright, been busy at the gallery all day. You?"

"Fine. Exhausted, but fine. Had an intense cardio workout planned today that I completely forgot about. How's the gallery?"

"Still standing. I met the new management my agent hired, and they seem to know what they're doing. I'll still have the final say in pretty much everything, but I think I can leave my flagship gallery in their hands while I move back to Rosewood.", Toby explained. Emily had the thought that he was trying to convince both her and himself that he was coming back to stay.

"I'm sure it will be fine.", Emily assured him. "Have you spoken to anybody in town about gallery spaces yet?"

"A couple people, and I have a meeting with Alex Santiago when I get back to town."

"That's great!"

"Isn't it? Listen, Emily, I'm on my way out the door to go see my investors, but I wanted to ask you a couple of things." Emily heard the door slam shut behind him, and felt like a lead weight had just been dropped into her stomach.

"Sure, what's up?", Emily asked.

"This is going to sound strange, but did Jenna drop those papers off with Jason DiLaurentis this morning? The lease?"

"Yeah, she went on her lunch break. Why?"

"Was she acting any different when she got back to the studio?" Toby sounded deadly serious, and Emily rapidly thought back. Jenna hadn't really acted any different, she'd said her stomach was bothering her from too much cappuccino, but other than that, she'd been her usual self.

"No, not that I noticed. Is everything okay?"

"I'm not sure. I just got a call from Mellisa Hastings, she told me to keep an eye on Jason whenever he's near Jenna. Made me panic a little.", Toby admitted, sounding sheepish.

"I can go check on her if it would make you feel any better.", Emily offered.

"No, I'm sure it's nothing." He didn't sound convinced, but Emily wasn't about to call him on it. "I'm going to call her when I get back in from the meeting, but if I'm over reacting, I don't want her getting upset over nothing. I just figured that if anything had happened, you would have picked up on it, but I guess I'm just being paranoid."

Emily frowned, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. Toby Cavanaugh's gut feelings were more reassuring to her than a police guard, and if it bothered him enough to make him call from New York, it had to be more than a case of paranoia. It just made Emily realize that even after 15 years apart, the step siblings still knew each other better than most. They were the best of friends, but romantically, as they knew from experience, they were a massive train wreck going somewhere to happen.

"If I hear anything, I'll let you know.", she promised, hoping to try and relieve some of the obvious anxiety. Why men had to try and hide when they were feeling nervous was beyond her.

"Thanks, Emily.", Toby responded, and the smile was back in his voice. "There was one more thing I wanted to talk to you about."

"What is it?"

"You still owe me a dinner date, remember?" Emily blushed, profoundly thankful that he wasn't there to see it.

"I remember something of the sort.", she replied.

"Well, I have an idea that might be worth considering."

"You have my undivided attention.", Emily promised.

She could have sworn she heard a muttered, 'Only took me seventeen years', but didn't comment. "There's going to be a fireworks display in town this week, down by the harbor. If you're not doing anything, we could make a day of it. Movie, dinner, fireworks."

"I'd love to.", she told him quickly, a smile plastering across her face. "You let me know what day it is and I'll make the reservations. Is the Grill okay?"

"The Grill is great. So, how was your day?"

"Shouldn't you be on your way to an investor's meeting?", Emily teased, getting off the couch and walking to the kitchen door.

"They can wait. So?", Toby replied with a laugh.

"My day was good. I went to the studio and did cardio boot camp for a couple hours, went for lunch with Jenna and Spence-"

"Ouch."

"Shush, you. They actually get along to a certain degree now.", Emily chided, grinning. "My mom called, she and my dad are coming home tomorrow afternoon. And I'm waiting to hear about Hanna's reaction to Sean's latest stunt."

"What has he done?", Toby asked.

"Set Hanna up, while she's away on her anniversary trip with Lucas.", Emily replied, diving into an explanation of Sean's latest attempt to ruin Hanna and Lucas.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ella was sitting on the steps of her studio, flicking through her emails on her phone. She glanced at her wristwatch , checking the time for the fourth time in the seven minutes she'd been sitting on her front apartment steps.

'Where is he?', Ella wondered. She jumped when a car pulled into the driveway, and the driver honked at her. The teacher/ gallery owner grinned and stood up, waving to the driver. When the car pulled to a stop, she walked over to the driver side door.

"I was just beginning to wonder where you were. Did you get lost?", Ella commented as the door swung open. The driver let out a laugh as he stepped out of his beat up car.

"I haven't been gone that long. Decided to take a trip around town, see how much has changed.", Ezra Fitz answered, closing the door behind him.

"And what did you think?", Ella asked.

"I feel like I just left yesterday. Hasn't changed.", Ezra replied. "I really appreciate you letting me stay here while I look for an apartment, Ella."

"I wasn't about to let a friend stay in a hotel when I had a perfectly good place. It's good to have you back, Ezra.", Ella assured him, getting a hug from the graying teacher. "How was your trip here?"

"Not bad. Had to pull over twice because I thought I felt a panic attack coming on, but I got here in one piece.", Ezra replied with a nervous smile as he hauled his duffel bags up the stairs of Ella's studio.

"Stop worrying, everything will be okay.", Ella promised him, then turned to find Ezra looking at a picture of Aria, Mike and Ellie that hung on Ella's wall. "That's Ellie, last Christmas."

"She looks exactly like Aria.", he commented. "How old is she now? 12?"

"Turning 13 tomorrow, and yes she does. Are you sure you're going to be able to handle this?", Ella asked softly. She knew how much her friend loved her daughter, and while it had pissed her off beyond all reason when she first found out that her daughter had been dating a teacher in high school, she'd eventually accepted it. She'd always known Aria was far too mature for her age, she just hadn't imagined that it would show up in such a way. The fact that she'd smacked Ezra upside the head with a textbook when she first found out went without mentioning.

"That's what I'm going to find out, isn't it?", Ezra sighed. "Does she know I'm coming back?"

"No, I promised I wouldn't tell her.", Ella answered. "But, I did tell Byron."

"And he probably wants me run out of town on a rail.", Ezra assumed.

"He was less than thrilled.", Ella told him diplomatically, wondering just how much she should tell him. "He's afraid that you're going to break Aria's heart again. She's gone through enough."

"You know I would never hurt Aria, or Ellie.", Ezra told her firmly. Since the day he found out that Aria was pregnant, Aria and Ellie had been a pair in his mind, and every time he thought of the life he wanted, the two of them were there. He'd wanted to kill Noal for leaving her after Ellie was born, and it was only Ella's pleas that kept him from rushing back to Rosewood to do something, anything, to help Aria through that tough time.

"That's my main concern. Ellie is just like her mother, she's way too mature for her age and she's very sensitive. If you go through with this and get Aria back, Ellie is a part of that package, Ezra. If Aria gets hurt, Ellie will be crushed, and then Byron won't be the only one wanting you run out of town on a rail."

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't understand that. I want her back, Ella."

"I know. And whether she accepts it or not, I'd bet every last dollar I have in the bank that Aria misses you.", Ella guessed. "But getting her back is going to take work."

"I didn't pack up my entire life and come back here because I thought it was going to be easy.", Ezra laughed cynically, his shoulders lax and his hands in his pockets.

"You okay?"

Ezra sighed, brushing back his graying hair. "Thinking about Ellie. If I hadn't left... I wish she was mine.", Ezra said sadly, looking at Aria's smiling face as she sat behind Ellie, her arms wrapped around her daughter's shoulders. "If I hadn't run to Delaware, I might have been able to stop her from going back to Noal. Ellie might be my daughter, not his."

"And you might have been arrested, Ezra.", Ella reminded him gently. "You left because it was the only option you had. Things happened like they were supposed to. Yes, losing you hurt her deeply, but having Ellie brought passion back into Aria's life. Before, she was drifting, but as soon as she found out she was pregnant, it was like the fire in her was re-lit. Right now, she's in a place where I think she could handle a relationship between you two again."

"Ella, tell me honestly. Do I have a chance of getting her back?", Ezra asked. "Am I just wasting my time chasing a dream?"

"You have a very real chance. But, you need to take things slow. You can't just show up at her front door and say, 'Honey, I'm home!'.", Ella told him. "And I think I have a way for you to start things off."

"I'm open to suggestions."

"You start at Rosewood Day on Monday, right?" What classes are you teaching?"

"Yeah, nine o'clock in the morning, and grade nine English. Why?"

"Ellie is starting grade nine on Monday, and I just so happen to have a copy of her schedule. Perks of being the cool grandma to a very studious twelve year old.", Ella answered, picking a piece of paper up from the near by table and handing it to Ezra.

The teacher scanned the paper, his eyes going wide. "I have Ellie in my class. Ella, you're not thinking what I think you are?"

"I'm not thinking anything, I'm just giving you the pieces. It's up to you what you do with them."

"Ella, I'm not manipulating Ellie so I can see Aria. That's wrong on so many levels.", Ezra protested.

"I never said anything about manipulating Ellie. Ezra, you're a good teacher, and Ellie should prove to be a tough student. The written word isn't her best friend.", Ella told him.

"Aria must have been disappointed.", Ezra commented with a smile.

"She was, but Ellie's a fantastic artist. And anyway, I'm sure you'll be seeng Aria sooner or later, her classroom is two down from yours.", Ella replied blithely, and Ezra almost choked.

AN: Welcome back, Ezra. We've missed you.

Thoughts? Comments on the latest episode? Opinions? Criticisms? Lemme know, and please enjoy your Thursday, everyone.

Much love and thank you for reading,
Oracle. (L)