La Pequena Luz vs. Colleen MacDonald

[Wisteria Waltz]

Growing up, the girl who would eventually become known as La Pequeña Luz was often told she was too much.

Looking back on it, she hardly considered it her fault. It wouldn't be until she was a teenager when she'd be diagnosed with ADHD, and while that did help to explain some of her more quirky interests and eccentricities, that didn't mean the world around her was willing to accommodate it. To her peers, she'd already been branded an outcast and a diagnosis wasn't going to suddenly fix that. They didn't want to understand her, they didn't want her to fit in, they just wanted her to believe that she was a loser, a problem child, someone who could always be blamed whenever anything went wrong.

Yeah, maybe Luz was genuinely at fault for a few incidents that got a little more out of hand than she would have liked, but being bullied because she was the “weirdo” and then hearing her teachers and principal blaming her for it instead of the kids who were hurting her? In retrospect, it was no surprise that her self-esteem took such a nosedive that even to this day, she still beat herself up so much more than others probably would for her own mistakes.

She knew she wasn't perfect... but sometimes, not even reassuring herself of that helped to lessen the burden she put on herself far too often.

As Luz got settled into her hotel room in Toronto, she attempted to shift the gears in her brain towards the Breakdown that would be happening here in a few days' time. There was plenty in SCW to worry about right now, from the fact that she was going to be facing Colleen MacDonald in a non-title match (which she found a little odd considering Colleen was the Television Champion right now, and maybe a little annoyed since her own reign with that title only had maybe one break at best the week she and Amelia had defended their Tag Titles on a Breakdown) to the fact that Glory Braddock was once again trying to use The Light In The Darkness as her way into a title picture because she was so certain it was practically a guarantee.

And yet, as Luz sat on her bed, staring down at both World Tag Title belts that were currently in her possession, she couldn't help but think of the bigger issue she was trying to resolve in SCW... which, unfortunately, went hand-in-hand right now with arguably her biggest problem period.

She knew what she saw at Taking Hold of the Flame. While weathering every humiliating tactic and disgusting stunt the Glimmer Sisters had tried to pull to gain any sort of advantage possible, she had held true to her word. The World Title was Amelia's, and Luz made sure that's where it stayed by the time the final bell rang. Sure, she'd slipped up a few times, as was natural of anybody with her level of wrestling instincts, but not only did Amelia not seem to hold that against her, but there had even been moments where Amelia almost felt like the woman she had gotten through to and fallen in love with all those years ago. Amelia had insisted that Luz stand by her side and hold her World Title high alongside her, as if it truly was theirs to defend together. The two of them had found that rhythmic synergy that defined them as a tandem for most of their careers. But most importantly... when Luz was in trouble, about to fall victim to what the Glimmers were certain would be their crowning moment, Amelia had saved her without a second thought.

Not the match or her title, even if she did save those as well... she had well and truly saved Luz, and the kiss she had given her wife was all the proof Luz had needed.

It hadn't been a perfect endeavor, however... despite Amelia retaining her World Title while the two of them also tied the record for most World Tag Title reigns as a team, here Luz sat, staring at both title belts. Amelia had left her belt in Luz's possession, and her recent request hadn't fallen on deaf ears: she had asked Luz to hang onto it for her, not because she was going to leave her wife to defend them alone, but because she needed time. Despite all the vile things that had Luz eager to scrub her skin raw in the shower, that one glimpse of her wife's light shining through the darkness had been all the motivation Luz needed to fight her heart out and push herself harder than she ever had before, trying to secure the one thing she knew, with absolute certainty, would pierce the walls Amelia had thrown up around her heart once more and bring her back.

In the end, though... it hadn't been enough. Like had been the case for Amelia so many times to kickstart this spiral in the first place, Luz had fallen short right at the very end. It was her best friend, Deanna Frost, who had denied her the hope she had fought so hard for, and while it hurt so much to come so close to what she knew could save Amelia... she couldn't find it in her to be mad at Deanna about it.

“If only it really were that simple...” Luz lamented to herself as her fingers traced over the plate bearing Amelia's name.

Even after Taking Hold of the Flame, Luz had continued to see the cracks in Amelia's proverbial mask that Frank Delatosso was forcing her to wear. Any hints of jealousy or bitterness towards Luz herself were long gone now, and even last Breakdown... while Luz had questioned if Amelia truly wanted to win her match the way she did, she saw the way her wife had left the ring in disgust, refusing to celebrate the way Gavin or Polly were. It reminded her of A Taste of Things to Come, when Amelia had been frustrated about her win over Clyde Sutter because it had been by disqualification, proving nothing in her mind. It was another glimpse of the real Amelia trying to break through, and Luz could only hope that if she kept encouraging her from the sidelines, then maybe she wouldn't need a match with Amelia to pull her back from the brink.

The only potential wrench in that plan was the fact that beyond SCW, Amelia was in the clutches of Caleb White... and while she feared for whatever that hypocritical holy man was doing to try and undo all of Luz's efforts in SCW, she felt a much greater weight chaining down her heart: guilt.

“Why didn't I think he'd even consider such an idea?” she lamented to herself for what felt like the millionth time in the span of the past month. “Why was I such an idiot to think I could just help someone with no strings attached and everything would turn out fine!?”

“Hey now, none of that, mija.”

Luz's head whipped towards the door... which she now realized, to her embarrassment, that she'd forgotten to close once she'd made her way in and started unpacking. While it was certainly an indication of where her head had been at ever since that night in Washington, D.C., it tugged at her heartstrings a little bit to see her mom crossing the threshold and making her way over without hesitation. She wasn't alone, either, as she saw just about everybody in her found family crowding into her hotel room as well, and while Camila was the only one who grabbed her in a hug, the rest of them took spots either next to her on the bed or around her, as if to remind her of how much she was truly loved.

The only person missing from this picture was the woman she loved with all her heart... and it only made her feel even guiltier at realizing that she had put not just Amelia, but all of them in danger.

The signs had all been there: the fact that “Paul” had been frequently targeted by The Empire and had no idea why, nor would anybody in the cult that had been arrested divulge exactly why they were after him. The fact that they were conveniently left alone by the religious extremists while “Paul” had earned their trust. The bizarre comments “Paul” made every now and then that made everyone uncomfortable, even when he was warned about it, that he brushed off repeatedly because he was “just an overzealous fan.”

“Hey, kiddo,” Marilyn managed to pierce Luz's crumbling thoughts, having a pretty good idea of what was causing her so much distress. “None of that. We've given you space these past few weeks, but we can tell it's only making things worse and we're here to fix that.”

“How can we fix this!?” Luz shot back, the emotional dam she'd been trying to shore up ever since that final Breakdown before Taking Hold of the Flame finally starting to give. “Not only was I stupid enough to let a spy for The Empire right into our little family, but that spy turned out to be Caleb himself!”

“You're not stupid, Luz,” Avery stated, a firmness to their voice to try and kick that thought right out of Luz's noggin as soon as possible.

“You have a good heart,” Darius added, the concern clear in his own tone. “Unfortunately, someone like Caleb sees that as a weakness and took advantage of it.”

“We know all too well by now that manipulating people to get his way is Caleb's M.O.,” Evie sighed.

“He tricked you,” Henry chimed in, his voice as shaky as he was. Luz wanted to feel even worse over the thought that Henry had been in such close proximity to his own uncle, who had abducted, abused and manipulated him since he was a baby, but Henry was determined to make sure she didn't feel that way through those experiences. “That's what he does... he lies, he tells you exactly what you want to hear, he makes you think that you absolutely need him. He did it to me for most of my life...”

“He did it to me when I had nowhere else to go,” Valentina reminded Luz.

“He did it to me when I was at my lowest point about my wrestling career compared to my sister's,” Lily added, flashing Marilyn a guilty look in the process.

“And he probably did it to Amelia as well...” Luz lamented.

“I'm not so sure...” Ivy mumbled, recalling the night she had encountered Amelia before she went on to reveal her allegiance with Delatosso in SCW. She had meant to keep it under her breath, but her close proximity meant that Luz heard it.

“What do you mean?” Luz asked, her focus entirely on Ivy now. The plant-loving powerhouse's eyes went wide behind her glasses as she realize she'd been heard. “Ivy... did Amelia know? Did you know? Did any of you figure it out and not tell me!?”

“Luz!” Henry called, pushing his way between Luz and her mom to firmly grip Luz's shoulders and force her to look him in the eyes. He turned and gave Camila an apologetic glance, and while she gave him a look that very clearly said pushing her aside was unwarranted, she scooted back to give him and her daughter space before his gaze returned to her. “I... I can't speak for Amelia. Maybe she did figure it out, or at least knew something was up. I think most of us figured out that something was up with Paul because of how weird he acted whenever he wasn't trying to be 'abducted,' but none of us could have seen this coming. I even... I swore the way Paul acted seemed too much like Caleb, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt because I wanted to be better. You gave me that chance, even when you had no reason to do so.”

“Still doesn't change the fact that all of this is Caleb's fault,” Ivy clarified. “Not yours, not Amelia's, not anybody else's.”

“And we're going to make sure you never forget that,” Gage chimed in, making sure his 'threat' sounded playful so as not to send the wrong message.

“You guys...” Luz choked out, trying to fight back tears at how supportive everyone was being towards her, making sure she knew, no matter what, that this wasn't her fault after all, no matter how much her brain insisted that it was.

“Mija,” Camila spoke up. “I'm sure that even if there was any hint that Paul was an undercover agent for The Empire, much less the monster in charge of it, they kept it to themselves because they didn't want you to think this way. It truly isn't your fault, Luz... not when someone out there is so heartless that he would prey upon something you have always been vulnerable about... something I should have been better about combating when you were still a child.”

Luz's breath hitched as her mom spoke those words, acknowledging her own failures from when Luz was growing up. She recalled the therapy session they'd had with Dr. Bolton, how much Camila regretted not sticking up for her daughter more than she should have, even while her father was trying his best to find a compromise that would help her without compromising the brilliant ball of energy she'd always been. For as much as Luz had felt shackled to the mindset that everything that went wrong was somehow her fault because that's how it always was when she was a child, she had forgotten how much her mom had been handcuffed to her own guilt for being led astray on how to “truly help” her daughter.

In that moment, everything began to click. Even if her friends had known something resembling the truth about “Paul,” they didn't want to jump to conclusions without proof. Luz probably would have stuck up for him, tried to give him the benefit of the doubt because that's just the kind of person she was. And even if it had been true, they didn't want Luz to feel this way, blaming herself over such a mistake when she'd been led astray herself, buying into exactly what Caleb wanted her to believe for his plan to work.

That, however, got her thinking about Amelia again. As she wondered what exactly Caleb's goal truly had been, aside from trying to stay one step ahead of the NCA that had been hunting him and his cult by being right under their noses, she also wondered what exactly had led Amelia into Caleb's clutches in the first place. Had Caleb shed the disguise and forced Amelia to join him in order to protect her? Had “Paul” simply preyed on Amelia's deteriorating confidence to persuade her just as Delatosso had done? Or was there another angle Luz perhaps wasn't considering?

“They're not getting away with this,” Luz finally said after a few moments of deeply thinking it over, her change in tone surprising and worrying everyone. “I don't care how much Caleb thinks he got one over on me, just like I don't care how foolproof Delatosso thinks his New Order is. One way or another, I'm going to bring Amelia home... even if I have to-”

Before Luz could finish her statement, one that she knew was probably going to make her loved ones be more concerned than ever, her phone began to ring. Her gaze turned to where she'd sat it on the bedside table, taking a deep breath as she let it ring again. She tore her eyes away to look at everyone, and while they were all worried, they made it clear they were going to stand behind her one thousand percent. Returning the nods they all gave her, she stood up and moved to grab her phone, briefly making note of the usual tactic of a random burner number before she answered, putting the phone on speaker as she did.

“¿Hola?”

“Good afternoon, Luz. Or is it evening where you are? Hard to tell between time zones.”

Luz scoffed at the familiar voice trying to pretend to be nice as everyone else in the room looked just as disgusted, but they held their tongues as Luz glanced towards them.

“What do you want, 'Paul'?” she huffed.

“Oh dear, I do hope you aren't still sore about all of that,” Caleb chuckled.

“You took advantage of my kind nature to hide in plain sight for months,” Luz growled. “Why?”

“Why indeed...” Caleb chuckled again, and it took all of Luz's willpower not to just break her phone right then and there. “'To know your enemy, you must become your enemy.' A brilliant ideology from Sun Tzu... a shame he was such a-”

“Save your racism, you pendejo,” Luz cut him off, stunning her mother and those who did understand Spanish at the fact that she actually swore.

“I'm not even going to pretend to know what you just called me,” Caleb brushed her response off with that arrogant tone that made everyone's blood boil. “I just wanted to call and see how you were doing after... oh, I don't know, the bombshell you were at ground zero for in D.C.”

“You...” Luz growled again, but she cut herself off when she saw Henry place a comforting hand on her shoulder. This was soon joined by Ivy's hand, then Gage's, then her sister's, and eventually her entire found family was literally standing behind her, helping to ground her. After a deep breath, the next words out of her mouth were definitely not what Caleb was expecting to hear. “If you were hoping that would break me, because you took advantage of me and everyone who cares about me, then you made a grave mistake. You have my wife, and not even Hell itself is going to stop me from getting her back.”

The other end of the call was silent for a long moment... long enough for Luz to start feel uncomfortable, as was likely Caleb's plan to try and regain control of this conversation.

“You truly care about her...” Caleb mused. “Even when she turned her back on you-”

“You're not guilt-tripping me again,” Luz fiercely cut him off again. “I know you took advantage of Amelia when she wasn't in a great headspace, just like SCW's CEO did. If you think that's going to stop me from finding a way to get her back-”

“Are you sure you want her back that badly, Luz?” Caleb interrupted this time, his smug tone quickly grating on Luz's nerves. “For all you know, the woman you once loved in that sinful, disgusting way that God frowns upon may be dead.”

Luz audibly exhaled, fighting to keep her emotions in check as Caleb kept trying to get her to break, and she knew it. She opened her mouth to respond-

“And she could find herself dead regardless soon enough.”

-and whatever she was about to say died in her throat at that line, spoken with such sadistic glee that you'd be forgiven for forgetting that Caleb was supposed to be a devoted believer in God and His teachings.

“Let me clarify for you, dear Luz: Amelia has already fulfilled her purpose,” Caleb continued. “I have brought her into my flock, and the efforts to cleanse her of her sinful ways is a work in progress. I truly have no further need of her at this point... you, however, are all that stands between me and my destined ascension to the kingdom of Heaven. That's why I'm willing to offer you a deal: I will return Amelia to you and your hoard of heathens... in exchange for you joining our ranks to be saved, just as she was.”

“And what makes you think she's going to even consider such a deal?” Evie found herself unable to hold her tongue, which got Caleb laughing under his breath.

“I cannot promise that Amelia will be returned to you as she once was,” Caleb claimed, “but as I said: she's already served her purpose to me. I could simply dispose of her tomorrow and nothing would change... not even SCW mourning the loss of its World Champion will ultimately matter once my holy war scorches the Earth and purges humanity of all its wicked souls. If Luz gives herself up, however...”

“Name the time and place,” Luz suddenly said, to the shock and horror of everyone else in the room.

“A wise decision,” Caleb 'praised' her, but Luz's glare at her phone never faltered. “Detroit, Michigan, the weekend of your little Rise to Greatness show. It only seems fitting that you finally see the light just before Amelia proves what a perfect champion she truly is.”

The call ended shortly after, and while everyone else in the room was confused and concerned, Luz held firm to her determination. She didn't care what it took... she had a few weeks to figure out a plan, because one way or another, she was getting her wife back and resolving this Empire problem once and for all.