A/N: After all this time, here is the long-promised epilogue. After Vauseman got their happy ending in the show, I figured they should get one here as well. I really hope you enjoy this.

-Ten Years Later-

Piper knew that last moment gift shopping was a certain recipe for disaster and a bunch of disappointed friends and relatives, especially during the Winter Holidays, but she had been too busy to find time during the week. That's how she ended up walking in the snow-covered New York City, hunting the stores on her list with determination and not sharing the holiday spirit like most New Yorkers who were strolling the crowded streets talking loudly and laughing as if they didn't have a single care in the world. Piper hadn't been that happy since-

She hadn't been that happy in a long, long time. Dwelling in the past only hurts you, Piper, Cal's wife, Neri, would say. Piper agreed for the most part. There were a few nights, however, when she couldn't resist locking herself in the bathroom with a bottle of wine in hand, and shedding tears over lost loves (love, actually; there was only one for Piper if she was being honest with herself) quietly so she wouldn't wake Larry up. Larry, who had been a faithful and good husband over the years and who deserved a wife that appreciated him more. Piper didn't dare admit, not even to herself, that she didn't love him. Well, that's not true. She did love him, the way she loved Cal and the way she imagined it felt to love a family pet you had gotten used to. But, it wasn't fair for her to feel that way. Larry was the sensible choice, the right choice (if you asked her mother and everyone else in her social cycle), and it wasn't that he didn't make her happy, because there were days (quite a few, if she was being fair) that he made her feel content. Yet she couldn't help but feel that she had forever lost a part of her heart. Time heals all wounds, but wounds leave scars and Piper didn't know if there would be a day where she could ignore the Alex-shaped one that had been made 10 years ago.

Fuck, she thought. Piper had promised seven years ago after she had married Larry that she would never say or think that name again. One last gift, she told herself, and then you can go home and have a long bath. The thought made her smile despite everything. She had always liked getting clean.

She entered the nearest indie bookstore Google Maps had suggested, already searching blindly in her purse for the piece of paper where she had written the name of the newest book from the author Polly couldn't shut up about. Piper hoped that her best friend hadn't bought it already. Having to find another gift in such notice would be a serious pain in the ass.

"Hello, I'm looking for-" The words along with her breath got stuck in her throat when she looked up and met a pair of striking emerald eyes, eyes that had come to mean everything over a surprising amount of time. No fucking way. "Alex." She exhaled and it sounded like a prayer.

"Holy fuck. Pipes?" The brunette looked such as surprised as Piper. Yet despite her knitted brows, a soft smile was forming on her lips.

There were so many things Piper wanted to tell her, all the possibilities making her dizzy, or perhaps the fault lied in her being in such proximity to the love of her life. "Shit." She said in a low voice. Nothing could ever be the same again. It was terrifying and exciting at the same time. The usual Alex Vause Effect.

"How are you?"

"I'm good, I mean, all things considered. Not much has changed since you last saw me." It was so hard being this close to her and not being able to touch her. Alex pushed her glasses up and Piper felt her heart squeeze at the familiar motion. This isn't your Alex, she had to remind herself. Your Alex doesn't exist anymore. "So, you work at a bookstore. Who would have thought." She let out a pitiful chuckle.

"Actually, I'm the owner."

"What? Wow, that's amazing, Al." The blonde instinctively reached for the other woman but forced herself to keep her hands to herself. She could be in a relationship; hell, Piper was married.

"This is stupid." Alex declared pulling Piper in for an embrace. Minutes or hours or years could have passed while they reveled in the familiar softness and scent of each other.

"I've missed you." Piper confessed, blinking away the tears from her eyes.

"Same here. More than you can imagine." Alex's voice was rough as if she was struggling not to cry as well. Her eyes fell on the golden ring on Piper's finger. "So, who's the lucky guy?"

"Larry." The blonde admitted, embarrassed to meet Alex's eyes.

"For real?" When Piper nodded, Alex laughed. "Wow."

"Come on, say it."

"Say what?"

"Oh, don't play innocent. I know you think I could have done better."

"Not to be a bitch or anything, but don't we both know that?"

Piper couldn't argue with that. Taking a deep breath she asked, "What about you?"

"I could have done better, for sure." They both laughed, but the sound was strained, not entirely natural. "But at least I haven't sealed my fate yet." She wiggled her empty fingers. "Single and ready to mingle, baby."

Piper nodded, not knowing what else there was to say, besides I love you and take me back, which would be both very, very bad. She ended up saying, "It was so nice seeing you."

"Yeah, ditto." Was Alex a bit disappointed, or was it just wishful thinking on Piper's behalf? "Now that you know where I work I expect you to swing by from time to time."

"Of course." They hugged again. "Goodbye, Al."

"Nah, don't say goodbye; it sounds so final."

"Okay, then. See you around?"

"See you around."

Piper had been certain all these years that her heart was so broken that it would never properly heal again; the only good thing about this predicament was that she would never be heartbroken by anyone else. And yet, with each step she took from the bookstore, Piper felt her heart being chipped away, while all the painfully happy memories came rushing back. By the time Piper made it home, she felt empty inside. She fell on her bed and cried until her eyes were so drained that she could only dry sob.

Larry came and asked her if she was okay but she lied and said that she had just watched a sad movie. What could she have said? I feel dead inside because I let the woman I love walk away and for what? To be with Larry fucking Bloom?

Piper had read somewhere that happiness didn't magically come to you, you have to work for it. She looked out of the window; darkness had spread across the sky, but it couldn't have been too late since it was only a deep blue opposed to the striking black that signaled nightfall. She checked her watch and then Google Maps. 24 minutes left for the bookstore to close. She couldn't make it. And even if she did, Alex might have already left. It was a fool's plan. And yet Piper wouldn't live with herself if she hadn't at least tried. Putting on her coat felt like a fuck you to the world.

She ran, almost slipping on the ice patches a couple of times and still reached the store three minutes late. It was such an insignificant amount of time but it was capable of changing everything. I could come tomorrow, Piper thought, trying to get over her failure. But deep down she knew that she would never have the guts to do what she did today; to be willing to throw her entire life away to be with Alex. The tears that streamed down her face surprised her; she thought she had run out.

"Piper? What are you doing here?"

Piper didn't think, didn't calculate nor fully comprehend what she was doing and what the consequences might be. Like a magnet, she gave in to the inevitable pull of Alex Vause and kissed her.

Piper could have sworn she was breathing for the first time in ten years. The tears were running down her cheeks again, but this time they were tears of joy, of submission in what was fate that they had both foolishly trying to fight all these years. "I love you." Piper sobbed, clinging to the brunette. "I can't let you go again, Al. Please don't make me."

"Hey, hey, look at me." Alex said so tenderly that it made Piper cry even harder. Alex held her face and looked straight into her eyes. "I let you get away once, ten years ago. I am not making that mistake again. It's all up to you, Pipes." Her eyes fell on the ring again, posing a question the old-Piper would have been too afraid and uncertain to answer.

"Fuck it." She murmured and removed the ring. Throwing it would have been more dramatic, but she supposed she owed Larry returning it, so she stuffed it at her pocked instead. "I love you. I have only ever loved you and everything else is a fucking lie."

Alex smiled. "You were going to get married in seven months." Before Piper had a chance to reassure her that she was certain about her choice, or even ask her how she knew that, the brunette spoke again, "Marry me instead."

That was not what the blonde was expecting. "What?"

"I don't want to spend another miserable day without you, Pipes. We've already been apart for far too long. Marry me. In seven or two or a hundred months, it doesn't matter; just promise you'll spend your life with me."

With tears in her eyes, Piper nodded enthusiastically. "Yes. Yes, yes, yes."

They kissed and despite it having followed many incredible kisses, it felt as if it was their first one. "I don't know if this will work out, maybe we will be sick of each other after a month of domestic life, but I won't be able to live with myself without at least trying."

"Here's to trying."

A/N: I want to thank you for your support and amazing reviews. It means everything to me. To the ones reading this after waiting for it for 3 years, thank you for sticking with me and I sincerely hope it left you satisfied. I would love to get reviews from you, as always. If you have any suggestion or prompts I would love to hear them since I'm thinking of starting a new Vauseman story or writing one-shots. If you would like something like that, let me know by leaving a review or sending me a pm. Again, thank you for reading this story.