12-31-2020, 05:44 PM
01-05-2021, 05:16 AM
OOC: And here we are, the first piece I've gotten to write for this new tag team idea of mine. Not going to lie, I actually had a lot of fun writing this and took to it a lot easier than I thought, which is hopefully a good sign for when I tackle my Blackbourne effort for this week. Maybe this is a bit excessive for this particular scenario, but I figured a good start would be necessary if I'm going to stick to my plan and have something cohesive to build on going forward, and this is essentially a free shot to do just that. This is CD only, and in terms of a time frame this takes place at some point just before the November 11, 2020 edition of Breakdown where they appeared 'onscreen' for the first time. Also ultimately went with a completely different writing structure for this compared to how I've been doing, as I seem to be able to get a good flow going much easier if I treat this like I'm writing a 'proper story' as opposed to something more script-like.
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Four years ago, two young ladies took their first steps into the business of professional wrestling, burdened in different ways by the immense pressure that comes from being the daughters of such iconic names in their respective parts of the world.
Neither one ever imagined that they would be exactly where they are now, but they’re both very grateful that fate led them to one another, because there’s no telling how things would’ve gone if Amelia Blythe and La Pequeña Luz had never crossed paths.
On their own, they are both incredibly talented, to the degree that many often cite them as a prime example of what their respective parts of the world have to offer inside the ring. Even if she didn’t wear a mask, Luz’s fast-paced onslaught and jaw-dropping aerial maneuvers could give even someone new to the sport a very good idea of what Mexico’s lucha libre had to offer, and Amelia’s methodical but fluid mat work was the embodiment of the kind of technical style prominent throughout the continent of Europe. With time, it would be hard to argue that they would both find themselves dedicating an entire room to their respective accomplishments.
If you asked them, however, they’d admit that without one another, the road to get to that level would’ve likely been a lot longer and far less fulfilling. They couldn’t even tell you with a straight face if they’d even still enjoy being part of the business, and for as crazy as that may sound, it was a firm indication of exactly how much they had changed each other for the better.
The Light In The Darkness was more than just a clever name to try and sell the idea of what these two could be to a business that desperately needed someone like them; it was a public declaration of exactly what they were to one another.
In England, it’s become hard to talk about wrestling without discussing the Blythes in some capacity. Aleister and Ophelia made themselves into household names through a combination of their wealth, influence, and overwhelming grappling abilities, and their marriage had the wrestling world buzzing over the prospect of a potential dynasty. It almost became an expectation that two of the most ruthless mat generals you’ve ever seen would give rise to a second generation of Blythe supremacy between the ropes. That expectation caused Amelia no end of emotional trauma over the years, born the youngest of three but burdened by the path her parents demanded she walk as soon as she was old enough to even understand what had made them so infamous in the first place. She had older siblings, but being born as twins apparently cursed them to being relegated to the idea that they had to forever be linked to one another, only allowed to reign supreme as a tandem and never proving what they were capable of on their own. That was the task that fell to Amelia, and by the time she was ready to show the world what she could do, her parents could claim that they’d taken a rough piece of coal and molded it into the most perfect diamond you would ever see.
Amelia didn’t want to be perfect, but it’s hard to fight back when you weren’t even considered a person to your parents, but rather another extension of their name and everything that came with it.
Mexico, on the other hand, could proudly tout the existence of a real-life superhero that could conquer any obstacle thrown at him; the product of how important lucha libre was to the country’s very culture. Very few tecnicos compared to the awe-inspiring actions inside and out of the ring of the man known to fans as El Espíritu Angélico. Many modern-day luchadores cite him as a significant influence for why they broke into the business themselves, and among these was his daughter, a bright bundle of sunshine now known to the world as La Pequeña Luz. Luz was arguably her father’s biggest fan and it was hard to ignore how head-over-heels she was for the idea of being the daughter of a colossal icon revered by an entire country of people, which made it no surprise that she wanted to follow in his footsteps and Angélico was more than happy to work with her in hopes that, one day, he could pass the torch to his precious little light. Fate, however, could be cruel to those who give their heart and soul for the sport they love, and the devastation felt by the in-ring accident that took Angélico from the world left a huge void that Luz was expected to fill. This was a task that became even more difficult when her mother, understandably, became overprotective and resentful of the idea because she refused to lose her only baby to the same sport that had claimed her husband’s life because of just one mistake.
Luz wanted to make a name for herself, but between her mother’s efforts to make her walk a different path in life and her culture constantly comparing her to the man who brought her into the world and questioning if she could ever live up to his name and reputation, the love she had for wrestling was dying almost as soon as her career was getting started.
Thankfully, all it took was one chance encounter to save them both.
Even if their first meeting saw the two of them effectively try to beat each other into a bloody pulp.
Over the years, Luz and Amelia both look back on that match where they first crossed paths and everything that followed as a sign that maybe, just maybe, they were destined to be together. After those first few meetings, they found in one another a rival that pushed them both to heights they had never aspired to attain before, driven by similar philosophies despise their styles and attitudes being polar opposites. When the perfection that was demanded of Amelia to maintain at all times was finally shattered by Luz, they found in one another a friend that understood them more than they thought anyone ever would, fitting an empty hole in the other’s puzzle that they thought would never be found. From there, the constant synergy they always seemed to display whether they were facing one another or working together made it no surprise that once they made a few discoveries about themselves, that friendship turned to love and only made them even stronger.
Individually, they were bright future stars suffocating under the burden of being the daughters of giants with all the expectations that came with it. But together, they not only managed to exceed all of that but also forge their own legacies in the process, ensuring that when people talked about Amelia Blythe and La Pequeña Luz, you were actually talking about them and not the legacies they came from.
Now, four years later, the two had effectively done just about everything there is to accomplish in their respective parts of the world. As a tag team and individually with one another’s encouragement, they had conquered not only Mexico but also just about every corner of Europe where they could compete. After everything they’d battled through, they both boasted the kinds of careers that many would happily retire on, and yet there still felt like there was so much more to do. Being in their early-20s and not even having half a decade under their belts yet meant the sky was the limit, and now it was just a matter of trying to figure out what was next for them.
Perhaps setting foot in a new section of the world and attempting to get a foothold in the wrestling industry there would make the picture just a little bit clearer.
“I kind of did, but that comes with one of us having to be the mature one in this relationship.”
“Hey! I’ll have you know that I’m very mature!”
“Says the girl taking a break from unpacking boxes just to play with some of our old fantasy figurines.”
“They deserve a chance to get some fresh air after being packed up for so long.”
“And they’ll get plenty of that once we figure out where to display them, you dork.”
For as stern as she was trying to sound, Amelia knew that without playful arguments like that with Luz, this entire process would’ve probably driven her to start drinking, something both girls agreed was a thing they never wanted to do for as long as they lived.
They had been discussing for months what they wanted to do next once the realization had set in that they’d effectively done all there was to do in their respective parts of the world. Luz had succeeded in becoming an icon all her own and not just the successor to her father’s lucha libre legacy in Mexico while Amelia had fulfilled her prophecy of becoming a far bigger name than her parents had throughout Europe, with the bonus that she’d done so without people talking about it as an accomplishment for the Blythe family but one all her own. It didn’t hurt that their relationship came with the perk that their respective accolades on their home turf were accompanied by the other becoming just as big a star in an area that was ultimately untouched by their respective families, helping them to stand out as their own wrestlers and not just the latest link in the chain.
But now, it was hard to keep pushing themselves to continue growing together as athletes when they were already proverbial megastars.
As they prepared for the farewell match that was set up for them at the latest joint show between the British and Mexican companies whose partnership had brought them together in the first place, they’d made the ultimate decision to try their hand at another area of the world and see what their wrestling had to offer compared to the regions they’d become so accustomed to. Thankfully, they gave themselves plenty of time before attempting to commit anywhere, because the decision to look into a few Canadian and American promotions had come with a ton of unexpected hurdles to jump through that almost seemed to give some credibility to the horror stories of the modern-day citizenship policy in some parts of the world.
A process that might have turned them off if Luz and Amelia weren’t both stubborn and determined to conquer any challenge inside or outside of the ring.
Now, with the month of October drawing to a close, the second-generation talents finally felt like they were making progress towards the next steps of their lives. They’d been cleared to live in the United States and were currently in the middle of moving into their first home together. Granted, maybe what effectively amounted to a small mansion that had recently been constructed for them, complete with a beautiful hilltop view of most of Anaheim, was a bit overkill, but between Amelia still having some wealth leftover from when she was still effectively a part of her family on top of the earnings the two had been sitting on since their journeys began, they had room to splurge a bit. After effectively living in hotels for the past few years between the constant traveling they’d done and their respective childhood homes no longer feeling like such to them, a place where they had full control over everything they wanted in their ideal combined living space and all the room to explore that as they pleased was a welcome change.
“Plus, it gives me a chance to explore the kind of lifestyle you had once upon a time for a change,” Luz had once put it, to which Amelia recalls rolling her eyes at in amusement.
Not that she didn’t miss the way she used to live, but she could definitely do without some of the attitude and problems that had accompanied it.
“So, when do you think we might get a call from them?”
Amelia turned away from the box bursting with all the different fantasy novels they loved that were begging to find their way to a bookshelf to glance over at her masked maiden, who seemed to have finally set up a shelf on the opposite side of the living room with all the various other fantasy-oriented memorabilia they had each purchased over the years before merging their respective collections. She was trying to gauge the tone of voice to figure out who exactly Luz was referring to, but she had no hints to work with.
“One of our parents, you mean? Or that company we were briefly talking with?”
“The latter,” Luz clarified as she spun around on her heel, excitement suddenly evident by the ear-splitting grin on her face and the extra bounce in her step. “As much as I know we had a lot to do first just to get here to our new home together, I just can’t wait to get back in the ring again.”
“That makes two of us,” Amelia agreed with a sigh of relief. “It might be a while though, sadly. SCW has a pretty loaded roster as it is by the look of things, and with that Tag League they just started there might not be much room for us at the moment.”
“It kind of sucks that we just barely missed out on that because we had to get all settled in first,” Luz lamented as she found the box where all their gear had been packed away. The slightest downturn in her mood immediately drew her partner away from her current task as she embraced her love from behind in comfort.
“That’s life, as much as it does, indeed, suck,” she explained before planting a kiss on Luz’s masked cheek. “But that just means we get to start at the bottom and work our way up, and you know neither one of us can resist that challenge.”
“You’ve got that right querida,” Luz grinned as she turned her head to capture Amelia’s lips in a soft kiss before they began tag-teaming the box to make sure all their gear was sorted.
Even when the two had been hard at work establishing themselves in their own and each other’s homelands, they had both heard about Supreme Championship Wrestling and often it came up in conversations about potentially being one of the biggest and best international promotions in the world. People constantly applied the old saying of ‘if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere’ to it, and while they hadn’t been able to see enough of the place yet to truly be able to judge for themselves, they couldn’t ignore that when word started to make the rounds that the lovebirds might be wrapping up their current stints and preparing to seek out a new challenge, SCW was among the companies that had scouts following their every match in an effort to make a bid for arguably two of the hottest soon-to-be free agents on the wrestling market.
The thing was… there was so much more to it than simply wanting to tackle the biggest challenge they could find to further improve themselves and add to what they’d already built, and there were a small handful of companies they’d reached out to who had already turned them down because of a bit of extra hassle that contract negotiations would require. As much as it seemed too much for a team that, despite how talented they were, would effectively go back to being small fish in a big pond for the first time in years, there were a few necessary provisions Luz and Amelia wanted as a necessary safety net, not to try and gain some sort of extra advantage over anybody, but to make their inevitable time with wherever they signed as devoid of unnecessary stress as possible on both sides.
“Do you think any of them would be willing to work with us?” Amelia suddenly questioned as she folded the last of her singlets into a neat little pile.
“Why wouldn’t they?” Luz replied, her focus currently being on figuring out how she wanted to organize her masks.
“It’s just that…” Amelia trailed off, which quickly grabbed her girlfriend’s attention as she took a moment to try and find the right words. “In Mexico, you had your father’s friends to help vouch for you despite everything. In Europe, I kind of felt lucky that what we had to offer together was usually more important than what they were trying to pull.”
“Hey, let’s not dwell on any of that, OK?” Luz stood up, taking Amelia’s hands to help her to her feet as well. “I know it’s hard to talk about, but I’m sure someone out there is willing to go the extra mile to give us a place to compete again. I know SCW’s been pretty good about being able to work with their talent, so they especially seem like a good bet. I may be a little impatient to get started, but anything worth having is worth fighting for.”
“We can do this together,” Amelia responded, a smile coming to both girls’ faces as their old mantra that got them through so many rough patches resurfaced.
“That’s the spirit! And on that note, I think we could use a little break. Tea and cuddles sound good?”
Amelia couldn’t help but nod as a little bit of sappy fluff felt like the perfect antidote to the thoughts of problems they knew hadn’t exactly gone away yet and likely never would, but virtually being a world away from all of it now would hopefully make coping with their pasts a little easier.
As Amelia moved to the kitchen to start brewing some tea for both of them, Luz quietly took stock of everything that still needed unpacked, which thankfully wasn’t much. They’d made a lot of progress furnishing their new home and unloading everything over the past few days, and aside from a few miscellaneous things to help finish up the living room and add a little bit more life to a few other already-finished sections of the house, it was all starting to come together and Luz was practically vibrating with how giddy she was at finally had a full-fledged place alongside who she easily considered the most beautiful and incredible woman she’d ever had the pleasure of meeting at long last. Her spirits only seemed to soar higher when her phone began to ring, making her wonder which company was hopefully willing to open up negotiations with them at long last.
Her smile faltered when she saw the number, however.
Almost like a second sense that had developed between them by now, Amelia was at full attention when she saw Luz staring at her phone as it continued to ring. After a moment of contemplation, instead of answering she silently headed in the direction of their bedroom, where she proceeded to chuck the phone through the doorway until it landed safely on the bed before closing the door, making the ring tone impossible to hear when she returned to the living room just as Amelia had finished pouring their cups.
Out of sight, out of mind… she doesn’t know where she picked up that idea from, but sometimes it felt like the only thing she could do.
“Let me guess… Camila?” Amelia carefully asked, and Luz nodded before collapsing onto the couch in a huff. Amelia carefully sat down beside her and a few sips of tea later, the light of her life looked to be feeling at least a little better.
“I know I should talk to her,” Luz said a little solemnly. “I mean, she’s my Mami after all! I get that she’s worried for me and doesn’t want me to end up like my Papi, but that doesn’t give her the right to be so overprotective that she basically tries to do to me what your parents tried to do to you!”
“All the more reason we need someone willing to hear us out in contract negotiations,” Amelia sighed. “Your mom being a pretty highly respected doctor and my parents being so wealthy and influential, especially in wrestling circles, is just begging for disaster before we can even get out of the gate somewhere brand new for us.”
“At least tell me you’ve heard nothing from them,” Luz practically begged as Amelia gulped down some more of her tea before responding.
“Thankfully, things are quiet on that front, though that’s not exactly a good thing. If I know them, they’re probably just waiting until they see my name resurface before they make a move.”
“Does everyone in your family have to be a chessmaster or something?” Luz groaned as she downed the rest of her tea before letting the momentum carry her down until her head was lying on Amelia’s lap.
“I mean, learning how to play isn’t as boring as you think it is querida,” Amelia smirked as she finished her tea before gently bopping Luz on the nose, which elicited a giggle from the Latina.
Moments like these had slowly gotten fewer and farther between over the years once they finally admitted their feelings for one another, mostly because it seemed like when they weren’t competing they were trying to fight off the latest attempt from one of their potentially soon-to-be in-laws to intervene in some way. ‘The curse of awesome heroes with tragic backstories’ Luz had once referred to it, a sentiment that Amelia couldn’t exactly deny given they knew all the tropes of those kinds of tales by heart now.
The harder they tried to fight to become their own women, the stronger the resistance they met from families that refused to let them go for one reason or another.
As the two were starting to get settled in for some long-overdue quality time together to help take their minds off things, Amelia’s phone buzzed with a notification, earning both girls’ attention. They glanced at one another, Amelia especially looking apprehensive as it almost seemed like they were tempting fate given Luz’s mother had just tried getting a hold of her only minutes ago. It would only be perfect cruelty if Amelia got something regarding her own family as well.
Thankfully, balance was a key component of their relationship and helped them through some of the worst storms they’ve had to endure, and at this moment the Englishwoman was grateful for her masked maiden’s general impulsiveness as she reached over to the coffee table and grabbed the device before she could let herself start to spiral with all the possibilities of what could await her eyes. A few moments of careful browsing soon gave way to the familiar brilliant smile of the woman Amelia still swears to this day is a living fragment of the sun itself as she shared what it was:
An e-mail from SCW’s offices.
Even the normally composed Blythe couldn’t keep herself from letting out a squeal of delight as Luz sat up so the two of them could pour over the message, smiles only getting wider as they discovered that the company was willing to open talks with them and hear the two out on what they were after. To top it off, they had been invited to the South Africa leg of the split roster international tour the company was currently on as personal guests of Sasha D. to get an idea of exactly what kind of ‘chaos’ embodies a typical episode of Breakdown.
“We get to go to South Africa? That’s a first! Maybe we can even go on a safari while we’re there!”
“I’ll take it over the England half of that tour,” Amelia said, a bit of venom in her voice despite the grin plastered to her lips that was more a result of Luz’s idea than anything else. “Nothing against my home, but it’s probably for the best if we stay as far away from my parents as possible.”
“Yeah, I think I’ve had my fill of mama and papa Blythe for one lifetime,” Luz spat. “Buuuuuuut, I don’t think I could ever get enough of you Ami.”
“You sappy dork.”
“Oh yeah? Well I’m the sappy dork you love, and we both know you can be just as bad as-”
Luz never got to finish that sentence as Amelia yanked her forward into a kiss, grinning all the while as their lips were locked. They broke apart only because they needed to respond to the e-mail so their accommodations could be arranged, but once that was taken care of they settled into spending the rest of the day unpacking the rest of their stuff and snuggling up on the couch as they watched some of SCW’s previous shows to get a little better idea of exactly what they might be getting themselves into.
For the first time in years, things were starting to feel like home for the two girls in both aspects of their lives, and the change was a very welcome relief from everything they had to endure just to get to this one moment in time.
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Four years ago, two young ladies took their first steps into the business of professional wrestling, burdened in different ways by the immense pressure that comes from being the daughters of such iconic names in their respective parts of the world.
Neither one ever imagined that they would be exactly where they are now, but they’re both very grateful that fate led them to one another, because there’s no telling how things would’ve gone if Amelia Blythe and La Pequeña Luz had never crossed paths.
On their own, they are both incredibly talented, to the degree that many often cite them as a prime example of what their respective parts of the world have to offer inside the ring. Even if she didn’t wear a mask, Luz’s fast-paced onslaught and jaw-dropping aerial maneuvers could give even someone new to the sport a very good idea of what Mexico’s lucha libre had to offer, and Amelia’s methodical but fluid mat work was the embodiment of the kind of technical style prominent throughout the continent of Europe. With time, it would be hard to argue that they would both find themselves dedicating an entire room to their respective accomplishments.
If you asked them, however, they’d admit that without one another, the road to get to that level would’ve likely been a lot longer and far less fulfilling. They couldn’t even tell you with a straight face if they’d even still enjoy being part of the business, and for as crazy as that may sound, it was a firm indication of exactly how much they had changed each other for the better.
The Light In The Darkness was more than just a clever name to try and sell the idea of what these two could be to a business that desperately needed someone like them; it was a public declaration of exactly what they were to one another.
In England, it’s become hard to talk about wrestling without discussing the Blythes in some capacity. Aleister and Ophelia made themselves into household names through a combination of their wealth, influence, and overwhelming grappling abilities, and their marriage had the wrestling world buzzing over the prospect of a potential dynasty. It almost became an expectation that two of the most ruthless mat generals you’ve ever seen would give rise to a second generation of Blythe supremacy between the ropes. That expectation caused Amelia no end of emotional trauma over the years, born the youngest of three but burdened by the path her parents demanded she walk as soon as she was old enough to even understand what had made them so infamous in the first place. She had older siblings, but being born as twins apparently cursed them to being relegated to the idea that they had to forever be linked to one another, only allowed to reign supreme as a tandem and never proving what they were capable of on their own. That was the task that fell to Amelia, and by the time she was ready to show the world what she could do, her parents could claim that they’d taken a rough piece of coal and molded it into the most perfect diamond you would ever see.
Amelia didn’t want to be perfect, but it’s hard to fight back when you weren’t even considered a person to your parents, but rather another extension of their name and everything that came with it.
Mexico, on the other hand, could proudly tout the existence of a real-life superhero that could conquer any obstacle thrown at him; the product of how important lucha libre was to the country’s very culture. Very few tecnicos compared to the awe-inspiring actions inside and out of the ring of the man known to fans as El Espíritu Angélico. Many modern-day luchadores cite him as a significant influence for why they broke into the business themselves, and among these was his daughter, a bright bundle of sunshine now known to the world as La Pequeña Luz. Luz was arguably her father’s biggest fan and it was hard to ignore how head-over-heels she was for the idea of being the daughter of a colossal icon revered by an entire country of people, which made it no surprise that she wanted to follow in his footsteps and Angélico was more than happy to work with her in hopes that, one day, he could pass the torch to his precious little light. Fate, however, could be cruel to those who give their heart and soul for the sport they love, and the devastation felt by the in-ring accident that took Angélico from the world left a huge void that Luz was expected to fill. This was a task that became even more difficult when her mother, understandably, became overprotective and resentful of the idea because she refused to lose her only baby to the same sport that had claimed her husband’s life because of just one mistake.
Luz wanted to make a name for herself, but between her mother’s efforts to make her walk a different path in life and her culture constantly comparing her to the man who brought her into the world and questioning if she could ever live up to his name and reputation, the love she had for wrestling was dying almost as soon as her career was getting started.
Thankfully, all it took was one chance encounter to save them both.
Even if their first meeting saw the two of them effectively try to beat each other into a bloody pulp.
Over the years, Luz and Amelia both look back on that match where they first crossed paths and everything that followed as a sign that maybe, just maybe, they were destined to be together. After those first few meetings, they found in one another a rival that pushed them both to heights they had never aspired to attain before, driven by similar philosophies despise their styles and attitudes being polar opposites. When the perfection that was demanded of Amelia to maintain at all times was finally shattered by Luz, they found in one another a friend that understood them more than they thought anyone ever would, fitting an empty hole in the other’s puzzle that they thought would never be found. From there, the constant synergy they always seemed to display whether they were facing one another or working together made it no surprise that once they made a few discoveries about themselves, that friendship turned to love and only made them even stronger.
Individually, they were bright future stars suffocating under the burden of being the daughters of giants with all the expectations that came with it. But together, they not only managed to exceed all of that but also forge their own legacies in the process, ensuring that when people talked about Amelia Blythe and La Pequeña Luz, you were actually talking about them and not the legacies they came from.
Now, four years later, the two had effectively done just about everything there is to accomplish in their respective parts of the world. As a tag team and individually with one another’s encouragement, they had conquered not only Mexico but also just about every corner of Europe where they could compete. After everything they’d battled through, they both boasted the kinds of careers that many would happily retire on, and yet there still felt like there was so much more to do. Being in their early-20s and not even having half a decade under their belts yet meant the sky was the limit, and now it was just a matter of trying to figure out what was next for them.
Perhaps setting foot in a new section of the world and attempting to get a foothold in the wrestling industry there would make the picture just a little bit clearer.
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“Who knew trying to make this a reality would be such a headache.”“I kind of did, but that comes with one of us having to be the mature one in this relationship.”
“Hey! I’ll have you know that I’m very mature!”
“Says the girl taking a break from unpacking boxes just to play with some of our old fantasy figurines.”
“They deserve a chance to get some fresh air after being packed up for so long.”
“And they’ll get plenty of that once we figure out where to display them, you dork.”
For as stern as she was trying to sound, Amelia knew that without playful arguments like that with Luz, this entire process would’ve probably driven her to start drinking, something both girls agreed was a thing they never wanted to do for as long as they lived.
They had been discussing for months what they wanted to do next once the realization had set in that they’d effectively done all there was to do in their respective parts of the world. Luz had succeeded in becoming an icon all her own and not just the successor to her father’s lucha libre legacy in Mexico while Amelia had fulfilled her prophecy of becoming a far bigger name than her parents had throughout Europe, with the bonus that she’d done so without people talking about it as an accomplishment for the Blythe family but one all her own. It didn’t hurt that their relationship came with the perk that their respective accolades on their home turf were accompanied by the other becoming just as big a star in an area that was ultimately untouched by their respective families, helping them to stand out as their own wrestlers and not just the latest link in the chain.
But now, it was hard to keep pushing themselves to continue growing together as athletes when they were already proverbial megastars.
As they prepared for the farewell match that was set up for them at the latest joint show between the British and Mexican companies whose partnership had brought them together in the first place, they’d made the ultimate decision to try their hand at another area of the world and see what their wrestling had to offer compared to the regions they’d become so accustomed to. Thankfully, they gave themselves plenty of time before attempting to commit anywhere, because the decision to look into a few Canadian and American promotions had come with a ton of unexpected hurdles to jump through that almost seemed to give some credibility to the horror stories of the modern-day citizenship policy in some parts of the world.
A process that might have turned them off if Luz and Amelia weren’t both stubborn and determined to conquer any challenge inside or outside of the ring.
Now, with the month of October drawing to a close, the second-generation talents finally felt like they were making progress towards the next steps of their lives. They’d been cleared to live in the United States and were currently in the middle of moving into their first home together. Granted, maybe what effectively amounted to a small mansion that had recently been constructed for them, complete with a beautiful hilltop view of most of Anaheim, was a bit overkill, but between Amelia still having some wealth leftover from when she was still effectively a part of her family on top of the earnings the two had been sitting on since their journeys began, they had room to splurge a bit. After effectively living in hotels for the past few years between the constant traveling they’d done and their respective childhood homes no longer feeling like such to them, a place where they had full control over everything they wanted in their ideal combined living space and all the room to explore that as they pleased was a welcome change.
“Plus, it gives me a chance to explore the kind of lifestyle you had once upon a time for a change,” Luz had once put it, to which Amelia recalls rolling her eyes at in amusement.
Not that she didn’t miss the way she used to live, but she could definitely do without some of the attitude and problems that had accompanied it.
“So, when do you think we might get a call from them?”
Amelia turned away from the box bursting with all the different fantasy novels they loved that were begging to find their way to a bookshelf to glance over at her masked maiden, who seemed to have finally set up a shelf on the opposite side of the living room with all the various other fantasy-oriented memorabilia they had each purchased over the years before merging their respective collections. She was trying to gauge the tone of voice to figure out who exactly Luz was referring to, but she had no hints to work with.
“One of our parents, you mean? Or that company we were briefly talking with?”
“The latter,” Luz clarified as she spun around on her heel, excitement suddenly evident by the ear-splitting grin on her face and the extra bounce in her step. “As much as I know we had a lot to do first just to get here to our new home together, I just can’t wait to get back in the ring again.”
“That makes two of us,” Amelia agreed with a sigh of relief. “It might be a while though, sadly. SCW has a pretty loaded roster as it is by the look of things, and with that Tag League they just started there might not be much room for us at the moment.”
“It kind of sucks that we just barely missed out on that because we had to get all settled in first,” Luz lamented as she found the box where all their gear had been packed away. The slightest downturn in her mood immediately drew her partner away from her current task as she embraced her love from behind in comfort.
“That’s life, as much as it does, indeed, suck,” she explained before planting a kiss on Luz’s masked cheek. “But that just means we get to start at the bottom and work our way up, and you know neither one of us can resist that challenge.”
“You’ve got that right querida,” Luz grinned as she turned her head to capture Amelia’s lips in a soft kiss before they began tag-teaming the box to make sure all their gear was sorted.
Even when the two had been hard at work establishing themselves in their own and each other’s homelands, they had both heard about Supreme Championship Wrestling and often it came up in conversations about potentially being one of the biggest and best international promotions in the world. People constantly applied the old saying of ‘if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere’ to it, and while they hadn’t been able to see enough of the place yet to truly be able to judge for themselves, they couldn’t ignore that when word started to make the rounds that the lovebirds might be wrapping up their current stints and preparing to seek out a new challenge, SCW was among the companies that had scouts following their every match in an effort to make a bid for arguably two of the hottest soon-to-be free agents on the wrestling market.
The thing was… there was so much more to it than simply wanting to tackle the biggest challenge they could find to further improve themselves and add to what they’d already built, and there were a small handful of companies they’d reached out to who had already turned them down because of a bit of extra hassle that contract negotiations would require. As much as it seemed too much for a team that, despite how talented they were, would effectively go back to being small fish in a big pond for the first time in years, there were a few necessary provisions Luz and Amelia wanted as a necessary safety net, not to try and gain some sort of extra advantage over anybody, but to make their inevitable time with wherever they signed as devoid of unnecessary stress as possible on both sides.
“Do you think any of them would be willing to work with us?” Amelia suddenly questioned as she folded the last of her singlets into a neat little pile.
“Why wouldn’t they?” Luz replied, her focus currently being on figuring out how she wanted to organize her masks.
“It’s just that…” Amelia trailed off, which quickly grabbed her girlfriend’s attention as she took a moment to try and find the right words. “In Mexico, you had your father’s friends to help vouch for you despite everything. In Europe, I kind of felt lucky that what we had to offer together was usually more important than what they were trying to pull.”
“Hey, let’s not dwell on any of that, OK?” Luz stood up, taking Amelia’s hands to help her to her feet as well. “I know it’s hard to talk about, but I’m sure someone out there is willing to go the extra mile to give us a place to compete again. I know SCW’s been pretty good about being able to work with their talent, so they especially seem like a good bet. I may be a little impatient to get started, but anything worth having is worth fighting for.”
“We can do this together,” Amelia responded, a smile coming to both girls’ faces as their old mantra that got them through so many rough patches resurfaced.
“That’s the spirit! And on that note, I think we could use a little break. Tea and cuddles sound good?”
Amelia couldn’t help but nod as a little bit of sappy fluff felt like the perfect antidote to the thoughts of problems they knew hadn’t exactly gone away yet and likely never would, but virtually being a world away from all of it now would hopefully make coping with their pasts a little easier.
As Amelia moved to the kitchen to start brewing some tea for both of them, Luz quietly took stock of everything that still needed unpacked, which thankfully wasn’t much. They’d made a lot of progress furnishing their new home and unloading everything over the past few days, and aside from a few miscellaneous things to help finish up the living room and add a little bit more life to a few other already-finished sections of the house, it was all starting to come together and Luz was practically vibrating with how giddy she was at finally had a full-fledged place alongside who she easily considered the most beautiful and incredible woman she’d ever had the pleasure of meeting at long last. Her spirits only seemed to soar higher when her phone began to ring, making her wonder which company was hopefully willing to open up negotiations with them at long last.
Her smile faltered when she saw the number, however.
Almost like a second sense that had developed between them by now, Amelia was at full attention when she saw Luz staring at her phone as it continued to ring. After a moment of contemplation, instead of answering she silently headed in the direction of their bedroom, where she proceeded to chuck the phone through the doorway until it landed safely on the bed before closing the door, making the ring tone impossible to hear when she returned to the living room just as Amelia had finished pouring their cups.
Out of sight, out of mind… she doesn’t know where she picked up that idea from, but sometimes it felt like the only thing she could do.
“Let me guess… Camila?” Amelia carefully asked, and Luz nodded before collapsing onto the couch in a huff. Amelia carefully sat down beside her and a few sips of tea later, the light of her life looked to be feeling at least a little better.
“I know I should talk to her,” Luz said a little solemnly. “I mean, she’s my Mami after all! I get that she’s worried for me and doesn’t want me to end up like my Papi, but that doesn’t give her the right to be so overprotective that she basically tries to do to me what your parents tried to do to you!”
“All the more reason we need someone willing to hear us out in contract negotiations,” Amelia sighed. “Your mom being a pretty highly respected doctor and my parents being so wealthy and influential, especially in wrestling circles, is just begging for disaster before we can even get out of the gate somewhere brand new for us.”
“At least tell me you’ve heard nothing from them,” Luz practically begged as Amelia gulped down some more of her tea before responding.
“Thankfully, things are quiet on that front, though that’s not exactly a good thing. If I know them, they’re probably just waiting until they see my name resurface before they make a move.”
“Does everyone in your family have to be a chessmaster or something?” Luz groaned as she downed the rest of her tea before letting the momentum carry her down until her head was lying on Amelia’s lap.
“I mean, learning how to play isn’t as boring as you think it is querida,” Amelia smirked as she finished her tea before gently bopping Luz on the nose, which elicited a giggle from the Latina.
Moments like these had slowly gotten fewer and farther between over the years once they finally admitted their feelings for one another, mostly because it seemed like when they weren’t competing they were trying to fight off the latest attempt from one of their potentially soon-to-be in-laws to intervene in some way. ‘The curse of awesome heroes with tragic backstories’ Luz had once referred to it, a sentiment that Amelia couldn’t exactly deny given they knew all the tropes of those kinds of tales by heart now.
The harder they tried to fight to become their own women, the stronger the resistance they met from families that refused to let them go for one reason or another.
As the two were starting to get settled in for some long-overdue quality time together to help take their minds off things, Amelia’s phone buzzed with a notification, earning both girls’ attention. They glanced at one another, Amelia especially looking apprehensive as it almost seemed like they were tempting fate given Luz’s mother had just tried getting a hold of her only minutes ago. It would only be perfect cruelty if Amelia got something regarding her own family as well.
Thankfully, balance was a key component of their relationship and helped them through some of the worst storms they’ve had to endure, and at this moment the Englishwoman was grateful for her masked maiden’s general impulsiveness as she reached over to the coffee table and grabbed the device before she could let herself start to spiral with all the possibilities of what could await her eyes. A few moments of careful browsing soon gave way to the familiar brilliant smile of the woman Amelia still swears to this day is a living fragment of the sun itself as she shared what it was:
An e-mail from SCW’s offices.
Even the normally composed Blythe couldn’t keep herself from letting out a squeal of delight as Luz sat up so the two of them could pour over the message, smiles only getting wider as they discovered that the company was willing to open talks with them and hear the two out on what they were after. To top it off, they had been invited to the South Africa leg of the split roster international tour the company was currently on as personal guests of Sasha D. to get an idea of exactly what kind of ‘chaos’ embodies a typical episode of Breakdown.
“We get to go to South Africa? That’s a first! Maybe we can even go on a safari while we’re there!”
“I’ll take it over the England half of that tour,” Amelia said, a bit of venom in her voice despite the grin plastered to her lips that was more a result of Luz’s idea than anything else. “Nothing against my home, but it’s probably for the best if we stay as far away from my parents as possible.”
“Yeah, I think I’ve had my fill of mama and papa Blythe for one lifetime,” Luz spat. “Buuuuuuut, I don’t think I could ever get enough of you Ami.”
“You sappy dork.”
“Oh yeah? Well I’m the sappy dork you love, and we both know you can be just as bad as-”
Luz never got to finish that sentence as Amelia yanked her forward into a kiss, grinning all the while as their lips were locked. They broke apart only because they needed to respond to the e-mail so their accommodations could be arranged, but once that was taken care of they settled into spending the rest of the day unpacking the rest of their stuff and snuggling up on the couch as they watched some of SCW’s previous shows to get a little better idea of exactly what they might be getting themselves into.
For the first time in years, things were starting to feel like home for the two girls in both aspects of their lives, and the change was a very welcome relief from everything they had to endure just to get to this one moment in time.