Here we go...The last chapter. I'm really sorry this took so long. But here it is! Thank you so much for reading! I really hope you enjoyed the story. Let me know what you think!

Much Love, xoxo

It was quiet. Extremely quiet.

Anna didn't dare open her eyes.

She was alive, and she was awake. That was all she knew.

She was also lying down. She was on her back, but not on the ground. She was on something soft. And her head was being supported by what felt like a pillow.

Where am I?

She then decided to open her eyes. I have to.

But when she went to do so, her eyelids were heavy and difficult for her to lift.

But she fought them open. And once she did, she immediately regretted it. She was greeted by the glaringly bright sunlight shining in through a window.

She instinctively moved her arm to shield her eyes from the light, but her arm felt heavy and sore. She lifted, but her arm fell back down to her side almost immediately. She closed her eyes again.

It was then that she realized her head was throbbing. She squeezed her eyes shut, grimacing at the pain. Her ears were also faintly ringing, a now familiar noise to her.

She sighed a shaky breath before dragging her arms behind her and pushing her body up into a sitting position. As she sat upright, the throbbing in her head grew more intense and she became dizzy. She squeezed her eyelids again and tried to focus on not moving.

However, her entire body ached and her head still spun. She felt like she was swaying or spinning and it made her feel nauseous.

Stop.

She took a few deep breaths.

Stop, Anna. You're fine.

She kept her eyes closed and took another deep breath. After a few minutes, the spinning sensations stopped and only the throbbing remained. She tried again to open her eyes. They were still heavy, but she managed to get them open to a squint, allowing time to adjust to the light.

Once the brightness faded and her eyes adjusted to the room around her, her vision cleared and she took in her surroundings.

She looked around, confused.

It's my room…How did I get to my room?

She furrowed her brow as she looked around her. She was surprised to see everything looked exactly the same, but then again, why should anything be different?

How did I get to my room?

She was utterly baffled. She didn't remember going to her room at all. The last thing she remembered was the ballroom.

The ballroom….Was that just a dream?

She looked down at herself. She was dressed in her night gown and sitting in her very own bed.

Have I just been sleeping? Did I dream it all?

She had to know.

She threw the blankets down to the foot of the bed to look at her feet. She gasped aloud when she saw them, covering her mouth with her hand.

They were almost completely bruised. Black and blue and shades of green and purple and yellow. They were swollen immensely as well.

Tears welled up the longer she looked at them. She then tore her eyes away and wiped her tears.

It wasn't a dream.

She shook her head and took in a shaky breath. She choked on the air and more tears fell as she came to the realization that what had happened was real. All of the pain, the anger, the sadness. All of it was real. All of it was a part of her. All of it was inside her.

She went to swing her legs over the side of the bed. As she turned her body her head spun and throbbed but she ignored it. She scooted to the edge so that her feet touched the floor instead of dangling in the air.

She took a breath and held it as the pushed herself up off of the bed and put all of her weight on her feet. Pain then shot up her body and her knees gave out, causing her to fall to the floor.

She violently winced at the pain and fought the urge to scream as she let out the breath she had been holding.

She sat on the floor for a few minutes, taking deep breaths and letting the tears fall. She silently cursed herself.

What's wrong with you? Surely, you can stand up. It's just a little bit of pain. You can deal with it.

But the truth was that the pain she had just felt had hurt much more than any other pain in her life. It was excruciating.

Why is it hurting so much now?

No…I won't let it have power over me. Pain is nothing.

So again, she took in and held a breath as she pushed herself up off of the floor.

As she stood, her legs shook beneath her and the pain never ceased, but she fought it and worked to stay upright. Her face was in a permanent grimace as she winced at the sensations racking her body. She stood still and time stood with her.

After what seemed like an eternity, she let out the breath she held. She then took in and held another as she slid her feet across the floor, making her way towards the mirror in the corner of the room.

Once she got there, she fought to keep her legs still and steady so she could take a close look at herself. She wiped the tears from her eyes that had formed involuntarily from the pain during the short shuffle across the room.

She focused her eyes on her own image in the mirror. She couldn't believe that what she was seeing was really her.

The woman standing before her was thin, and pale. She looked almost emaciated. Her gown hung off of her shoulders but just barely. Her arms were black and blue and purple all over, signs of the distress she had put her own body through. Her hair hung past her shoulders but it was dirty and dull, a polar opposite image from what it used to be.

But what shocked Anna the most was the woman's face.

Her face was pale, and her cheeks had sunken in their frames. There were dark purple half-circles under her eyes which had turned to a dark grey color instead of the bright blue they had been in the past.

But what drew Anna's attention more than anything else was the long, bright red cut along her right cheek bone. The only bright thing about her person. The only bright thing was a remnant of her destruction.

She reached a shaking hand up to her face, searching for the red line. She found it, and gently traced it with her fingertips. Tears rose in her eyes again. She dropped her hand back down to her side, closing her fingers into a fist.

What did I do?

She stared at herself in the mirror, trying to remember anything that had happened. The last thing she could recall was looking at herself in the ballroom mirror. After that, there was nothing.

She winced again and clenched her fists even harder as she felt her tears fall and run across the cut on her face.

But that just made her cry harder. She began to sob. Her body shook and she collapsed on the floor. She sat there, tears flowing, head throbbing, muscles aching, and body shaking.

Then, she could hear footsteps in the hall. She closed a hand around her mouth to contain the sound of her sobs. She waited to hear the footsteps pass, but they stopped in front of her door. The knob turned, and the door was opened slowly by Mrs. Hughes.

She was carrying a tray with what looked like a water basin, some cloths, as well as a glass of milk, a sandwich, and some sort of medicine.

Anna dropped her hands back down to her lap and stared as the housekeeper came into the room. And Mrs. Hughes stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed Anna on the floor. Their eyes met and all Anna could see was pity.

So Anna hung her head, ashamed of herself, and tears fell on her gown.

The housekeeper sat the tray down on the small table in the corner, and walked back towards the fallen maid. She knelt down next to her and placed a hand on her back. Anna looked up at Mrs. Hughes, her eyes overflowing with salty tears.

"Oh, Anna."

The housekeeper pulled Anna close and held her. She rocked the maid back and forth as sobs shook Anna's body.

"I'm sorry," she choked out. "I…I'm so sorry."

Mrs. Hughes continued to rock her, rubbing her back, tears escaping her own eyes. "Shhh…It's alright. Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh. It's all going to be alright"

The two women sat face to face in the small room: Anna on her bed and Mrs. Hughes in a rocking chair.

After helping Anna back into her bed, the housekeeper had gone back downstairs to get some tea, and Anna was now on her third cup as she sat and listened to what had happened.

"How did you know where to find me?"

"Ah. Well, that was Lady Mary. I had no clue where you could have been, but she knew right were to go."

Anna nodded her head and took another sip of her tea. "And…And what exactly was I doing?"

"Well…you were not yourself."

"Mrs. Hughes," Anna looked her directly in the eye. "What was I doing?"

The housekeeper sighed and tightened her grip on her teacup. "Anna…you were not yourself. When Lady Mary and I got to the ballroom, you were…you looked crazed. You were running around, throwing furniture."

"And the cut on my face?"

Mrs. Hughes looked at her and glanced at the red line. "You…you threw a chair at the mirror. It…It shattered."

"And that caused a cut on my face?"

"Well, no. After you threw the chair, it was like all your energy was gone. It was as if you had just given your last bits of strength to break that mirror. And well, you collapsed on the ground. Your face was on a shard of glass. And we couldn't move you."

"Why not?"

"Well…Anna, you passed out. You were unconscious."

Anna looked down at her teacup in her hands, the liquid inside rippling because of her still-shaking hands.

I blacked out.

"So how did I get back to my room?"

"Mr. Crawley and Mr. Branson brought you back."

Anna flushed red at the thought of having Mr. Matthew and Branson carrying her to her bedroom. And she felt ashamed and embarrassed that they had seen her like they did.

I can't believe I let it go this far. I can't believe I let myself get this bad.

Mrs. Hughes could see the look on Anna's face, and she realized what she had been thinking. "Don't worry. Mr. Crawley and Mr. Branson didn't judge. They were concerned. Besides, I think Lady Mary would have Mr. Crawley's head if he had said anything."

Anna had to chuckle at the thought. She smiled into her almost empty teacup. But the happiness didn't last, and another wave of shame came over her. "I just don't want to be a burden."

"Oh, you could never be! Anna, look at me."

She lifted her head and there were tears in her eyes again. Mrs. Hughes reached over and took her hand. "Everyone here loves you, Anna. Everyone cares about you. We only want to see you well, and happy, and healthy. You are not, and never will be, a burden."

A small smile spread across Anna's face. She loved Mrs. Hughes. The housekeeper was like a mother to her, and she respected and admired and loved her for everything she had done for her.

But the smile faded as the sadness crept back up her spine. "I don't know how to be better. I…I don't know how to make myself better."

"That's okay." Mrs. Hughes squeezed Anna's hand and gave her a soft smile. "You don't have to do it yourself. I'm here too."

Anna looked down at her hands again as she thanked the Lord for allowing her to have someone like Mrs. Hughes in her life. She truly didn't know how she would be able to carry on if it were not for the housekeeper.

"Mrs. Hughes?"

"Mhmm?"

"You once told me that a broken heart can be as painful as a broken limb."

The housekeeper smiled softly. "I remember."

"Well…you can fix broken limbs. For a broken arm, you use a sling and rest the arm to let the bone heal. But…How do you fix…What do you use to heal a broken heart?" Silent tears fell from her eyes as she waited for an answer.

Mrs. Hughes' own heart broke at the sadness she saw etched into Anna's face. She took the teacup from Anna and set it on the small table next to her, alongside her own cup. She then reached and took both of the maid's hands in her own and squeezed them tightly, but gentle.

"Time, Anna. Just give it some time."

Two months later

Things weren't normal, that was for sure, but they were okay. Anna was working again as Lady's maid and she was plenty busy which was something that she was grateful for.

With the help of Mrs. Hughes and Lady Mary, as well as Lady Sybil, she was able to talk about anything, whenever she needed to get something off her chest. She didn't want to bottle anything up anymore.

She still had not received a letter or anything from John. She could not bear the thought of even attempting to visit him. However, from what she heard from Lady Mary, Lord Grantham was working closely with Mr. Murray and they felt they were extremely close to a breakthrough in the case.

Anna didn't ask though. She didn't want to know. If it wasn't true, if they weren't close to letting him out, she didn't want to get her own hopes up for them to come crashing down again. She couldn't handle it.

She still loved him. She loved John more than anything. And it took a while, but she finally convinced herself that he still loved her. She was constantly telling herself that it wasn't his fault; he didn't choose to ignore her. He still loved her.

So at night, she would think about him. Not in the ballroom, but in her bedroom, as she fell asleep each night. She had not been to the ballroom since the incident. She knew she should make a trip to that side of the house, but she couldn't bring herself to do it just yet. Her heart was still mending.

So she went about her days, doing normal work. The glances from people had grown less and less in the passing days, but once in a while she would catch the look of pity in another's eyes. She would shrug it off, knowing it didn't matter. She knew she was doing better.

Then one day, everything changed. It was late afternoon, and Anna had been reading in the servants' hall while she had some down time before dinner.

All of a sudden, Mrs. Hughes came into to room. "Anna? Lord Grantham has requested to see you in the library."

Anna didn't know what was happening. The last time she had been called to the library, she had been told that her husband was sentenced to life imprisonment. But she closed her novel and stood anyways, making her way out of the room and up the stairs.

She got to the library to find Lord Grantham sitting at his desk. When he heard Anna come in, he stood to face her. "Anna. Good. How are you?"

"Holding up, I think." She gave him a small smile and he smiled back.

"Well, I wanted you to be the first to hear. I have just been to see Bates along with Mr. Murray. And…well, Anna, he's coming home."

Anna couldn't believe what she was hearing. He was really coming home to Downton.

He's coming back. He's free.

However the happiness and relief disappeared just as quickly as it came. She was still filled with doubt and concern. She had not yet received any letters or word from him. There was still the chance he didn't want to see her. There was still the chance it was over. How would she know? Would she have to wait until he got there? Would it be weird and awkward once he arrived? Would she have to leave?

"Anna?"

Her attention was brought back to the present at the sound of her name. "Yes? Yes, I'm sorry. That's wonderful news. Truly."

"I understand you might be a bit wary about the situation."

She looked down and fidgeted with her fingers.

"But I think I have something here that might help that."

She looked up at him to see a small smile on his face. Then, he turned and picked something rather large up off of his desk. When he turned back towards her, Anna couldn't help but smile. In his hands was an extremely tall stack of gray envelopes she could only assume contained John's letters. The pile stood almost a foot tall and was tied together with a piece of twine.

"I believe these belong to you."

For the first time in an extremely long time, Anna smiled. A real smile. She was beaming.

He didn't give up. He didn't lie. He didn't stop loving me.

She could feel the tears begin to rise. But these were happy tears. Not ones of sadness or anger, but happiness. So therefore, she didn't wipe them away. She stepped forward and took the stack of letters from Lord Grantham. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"It's my pleasure. Now it will take some time to finish the arrangements, but he will be home soon, I promise you that."

A smile still spread across her face, Anna held the stack of letters with all of her might. "Thank you, Lord Grantham. Thank you."

With that, she turned and exited the library, and made her way directly to her bedroom. Once there, she sat on the bed and pulled the first envelope off of the top of the stack. She ripped it open, not taking the time to be cautious. She pulled the letter out and unfolded it, tears falling as she recognized John's handwriting.

My Dearest Anna,

I am so sorry. You cannot even imagine how terrible and awful I feel. I love you.

Lord Grantham has been here quite a bit lately and he told me that you are not well. He told me about the incident in the ballroom. Of course, he didn't have all the details. And I don't expect you to tell me everything either.

I just need you to know that I love you. I always have and I always will. I never stopped writing. I never gave up on getting out. I never gave up on us. My letters were not getting to you, nor were yours getting to me. I know why, but that's something I'll explain in person.

Which brings me to the topic of my release. I'm sure you've already heard by now but I've been proven innocent. I'm innocent and I'm coming home. To you.

I don't know exactly what you've been through these past few months but I want you to know you no longer have to suffer. I will be home shortly and we will be able to be together and be happy. I cannot wait until I get to see your face again, hold you, and kiss you.

I love you so much, my Anna. You cannot know how much. I'm sorry. We'll be together again soon.

With all my love,

Your husband, John

Through blurry eyes she read the letter four more times before holding it tight to her chest. She couldn't stop smiling as she imagined having him home.

He's coming home. He's free. And he loves me.

Exactly one week later, Anna sat in the car in front of the prison, waiting for John to be released. She bounced her leg in anticipation, not able to sit still. Knowing that he was only a few thin walls away was all she could think about. It was like she could feel him. He was so close and all she wanted was for him to appear at the door.

All her life, she had been told that patience was a virtue. She had also been told that she had had a lot of patience. But waiting for John was testing that and she didn't know how long she would be able to sit and wait.

Thankfully, it's wasn't more than three more minutes before the wooden door to the prison behind her opened. She hopped out of the car and turned towards the sound of footsteps.

Her breath caught in her throat as she saw first a single foot, and then the rest of John appear through the doorway. She waited for so long to see him, to be with him again, and now there he was, and all she could do was stare.

But as she stared, she saw the corners of his mouth turn up into a small smile. It was then, that she couldn't contain herself. A smile spread across her face and she broke into a run.

John.

He pulled off his hat as she got closer and tears were forming in her eyes yet again. Then, she felt his arms around her and she collapsed into his embrace. She wanted more than anything just to stay there, him holding her, never letting her go.

He's here. He's free.

They remained in their embrace for what seemed like forever before they finally separated. Again, they just stared at each other. Anna couldn't believe he was there.

Then, John's brow furrowed as he took her face in his hands. His eyes bore into hers with such intensity that Anna had to look away. They were so close, her arms wrapped around his waist. She could feel his warmth. A warmth that she had missed more than anything.

He then slid his right hand down her neck, lifting her chin, locking their eyes yet again. Then, with his left thumb, he gently traced the thin pink line across Anna's face, the last remaining, permanent, remnant of the night in the ballroom. She searched his eyes for scrutiny or pity but all she could see was concern and love. Love that had always been there.

She closed her eyes as tears formed and leaned her face into his hand.

"Anna."

She looked at him again as he pulled her to him. Their lips met in a fierce yet gentle kiss. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her tighter against his chest. She never wanted it to stop. She felt as though they were making up for lost time, as they stood wrapped together, lost in each other.

John.

The End