The Light in the Darkness vs. Team Desire

[Wisteria Waltz]

It's felt like an eternity since Amelia and Luz have truly known peace.

That, in and of itself, had had the past several weeks feeling strange to them.

For months now, the couple have had to watch their backs as they've been entangled in the plans of the dangerous cult-like group known as The Empire and their deranged leader, Caleb White. To him, they were key to his ultimate goal of trying to instigate a holy war that would, in his mind, save the human race by only allowing the truly pure, at least according to him, to survive, and the only reason they were so important was because by 'saving' them, Caleb reasoned that he would redeem his own soul and truly be welcomed into Heaven upon his inevitable passing as some sort of hero. Luz and Amelia, in some sick, twisted fashion, were meant to be molded into his chosen image of them and carry on his legacy as a symbol of this.

Considering the vile lengths that man was willing to go to in order to have his way, it was hard not to blame them for being so used to having their heads on a swivel anywhere outside the ring.

Caleb had both destroyed and claimed so many lives in his pursuit of what he believed was his God-given mission in this world, and deep down, both Amelia and Luz would forever be scarred by his machinations as their lives had ultimately been shaped by him without their knowledge. Thankfully, they had a found family to support them and help them adjust to this newfound peace that they had started to believe would never truly come.

For all his scheming and manipulation, Caleb had finally been arrested prior to Retribution after an attack on Marilyn Clauson's wrestling school that had seen the two of them abducted by his followers, only for his best effort yet at trying to break their wills and get them on his side to be challenged at every turn. When he had finally lost his patience and decided they were no longer worth the effort, it had been the efforts of his stolen prodigy, his nephew Henry, that had saved their lives and bought them all enough time for the FBI and NCA to finally fight their way through The Empire's forces and surround him. Despite another new scar that he could add to his unfortunate collection at Caleb's hands, Henry was fine, and was slowly but surely starting to find his place and be welcomed into the found family that had started to form around The Light In The Darkness.

One significant benefit about Caleb no longer being a concern for them was that, for the first time in ages, Amelia and Luz could truly put all of their focus into their training, which had made a significant difference when they had finally broken their Retribution curse and prevailed over both Dark Fantasy and Twisted & Sadistic to reclaim the World Tag Team Titles, doing so in a way that seemed definitive and absolute to them that this way truly the end of that chapter of their careers. They wouldn't mind crossing paths with either team again down the line, but at least for right now, they had come out of a war they'd been caught in the crossfire of as the victors, opening the door for what they hoped would be a brighter future for their second run at the top of the tag team mountain in SCW.

In a weird way, that win felt symbolic when it went hand-in-hand with Caleb's downfall, allowing them to move on from two of their biggest issues personally and professionally all at once and just return to focusing on the thing that made them happy: wrestling.

Trying to get settled into a new norm after Retribution hadn't been easy, given everything they were moving on from. It wasn't entirely clear to them who would be the first to step up and challenge their new reign, making it hard to focus their training in any specific direction. It had actually been Edward, to everyone's surprise, who had reasoned that maybe this was a sign they had earned a break and could just relax until they were booked to compete again, giving them a proper chance to reset and maybe direct their attention towards other things that had taken a backseat while The Empire had still been an issue, such as actually planning their wedding.

It had been a struggle at first, considering the couple had justified their continued nervousness by reminding their loved ones that while The Empire was leaderless at the moment, they were still very much out there and very likely to seek vengeance on Caleb's behalf. Avery had thankfully put them at ease by revealing that a large number of their members had either died or been arrested while the agents had made their way inside to arrest Caleb, and any others had since turned themselves in or gone into hiding but were still very much on the radars of both the FBI and NCA, leaving them very little room to actually do anything without their notice. It had been a slow process, but the couple were beginning to adapt to the idea that they didn't have to have eyes in the backs of their heads anymore and could safely make progress on finally tying the knot and taking the next big step in their lives together.

That led them to tonight.

Breakdown had been live at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and while The Light In The Darkness hadn't been booked to compete, they were given some ring time to speak about their title win at Retribution and what they thought was next. While they had hoped to simply have that moment to publicly reflect, in the backs of their minds they were half-expecting to be interrupted by somebody. The fact that the interruption had come from Chance Owens and Kelsai Adamson, who had aggressively made it clear that not only were they flat out claiming the first shot at the couple's new title reign but they were also going to end it before it got a chance to begin, had thrown Luz and Amelia for a loop as they hadn't expected this out of a team they thought held a mutual respect for them.

They were fully prepared to return to the grind of having every team in SCW gunning for them, but for the ones they thought respected them to seemingly start showing vitriol towards them had been a shock, to say the least.

Perhaps, in an odd twist of fate, that would make what they wanted to do next before they left for the night a little easier on them.

“I can't believe Chance and Kelsai thought we were disrespecting them,” Luz lamented as she and Amelia stopped in the general women's locker room where they had left their bags tonight, not needing one all to themselves on a night where they weren't planning to wrestle.

“I think I can see where they're coming from, though,” Amelia admitted as she unzipped her bag and carefully dug around for something. “They were kind of in the same boat we were for the past month, being jerked around and caught in the middle of the bad blood between Dark Fantasy and Twisted & Sadistic, being treated as though they weren't a serious threat of any kind.”

“That's still no reason to take it out on us though,” Luz noted as she tucked her title belt into her bag before zipping it back up.

“I know,” Amelia nodded, “but we are the champions and these titles are what they want. Hopefully they come around and realize we didn't intentionally wrong them.”

“I suppose if they don't, we can just teach them a lesson at Taking the Leap and hopefully get them to see reason in defeat,” Luz offered.

Amelia hummed in acknowledgment as she found what she was looking for and gently pulled it out of her bag, taking a moment to follow Luz's lead in packing up her title belt for the night before she rose back to a stand and slung the bag over her shoulder just as her fiancée was doing. After silently making sure they were both ready to go, Amelia unfolded a piece of paper and read through its contents one more time, with Luz reading over her shoulder as a second pair of eyes to make sure her beloved's writing delivered in the way they were hoping for.

Dear Selena,

We apologize for doing this via letter, but it seems like any ways we had to contact you as of the early part of last year no longer work. We felt trying to go this route would be for the best so as not to give the impression that this has anything to do with SCW as it, honestly, does not, and we hope you'll agree with us in trying to keep this as low-key and drama-free as possible, especially by allowing you to set the terms here as a show of trust.

We'll be honest: we haven't exactly been fans of the new attitude you've been displaying since your return, but we also know that we've only seen this of you when appearing for SCW so we have no right to truly judge you if this is just a persona. If this is something that has extended beyond SCW, however... well, it's none of our business to pry into it or how it pertains to your relationship with Deanna, but we're open to hearing you out so we can try to understand where you're coming from at the very least. You do not have to engage with us on this if you do not want to... again, it isn't truly our business, but if you did want to at least offer us the chance to have that conversation and put everything into perspective, the terms are entirely yours to set for when, where, and even if that happens.

Before you begin to believe we've deceived you in any way, please allow us to disclose the real reason why we wanted to open that dialogue if you wish to do so, as it truly does not have anything to do with SCW at all. After some personal issues outside of the ring that we've been trying to sort out for far too long admittedly, the two of us are finally on track with getting our wedding plans together. We haven't gotten too far yet, but we were hoping to try and aim for November 1st or 2nd for the wedding, pending SCW's schedule during that time, to be married during Día de los Muertos so that Luz's father, in spirit as per the tradition of the holiday, can also be on this Earth to attend. We were hopeful that you and Deanna would be willing to attend, as we believe a genuine friendship has formed between our two groups beyond the mere respect of competing against one another and sharing similar wrestling ideals. It would be an honor if you both could attend, and you even have our word that, despite how grand we made our proposal out to be last year at Rise to Greatness, we were aiming to do something far more small and subdued. We have not informed Deanna of this or our desire to have you both attend, out of respect for wanting to hear your side of things to know if inviting you both would be a good idea or not. We are hopeful you will give us the chance to discuss this, and hopefully there will be no issues in giving you both a save the date followed by a proper invitation once we have all the details fully ironed out. Again, the ball is entirely in your court on this... we were simply hopeful to be able to hear you out and come to an understanding as we do not wish to accidentally cause problems if a wedding invitation for you both would not be for the best.

Sincerely,
Amelia Blythe and La Pequeña Luz
The Light In The Darkness

“You think she'll be alright with this?” Luz questioned as Amelia folded it back up before sealing it in a purple envelope that made it clear who it was addressed to and from.

“I can only hope,” Amelia replied as the couple stepped back out into the hall and made their way to where they know Selena's locker room was tonight. “I know things have seemed tense between them, and I hate feeling like I'm prying into other people's lives, but I don't want to cause any issues if things aren't good between them right now.”

“Well, with any luck, Selena would be willing to talk things over and at least give us some sort of hint about what to do,” Luz threw out. “And who knows? If there is something up between them right now, then maybe it'll work itself out before we finally tie the knot.”

Amelia nods, although it's clear that there's something more on her mind now. Luz doesn't press the issue though, especially not as they find themselves outside of Selena's door. They know she's still out in the ring, competing in the main event, so they're in the clear as Amelia steps inside while Luz keeps an eye out, just in case anyone questions what they're doing. It doesn't take long for Amelia to notice Selena's bag, where she carefully leaves the letter for her to find before she meets Luz back outside. They take a moment to make sure nothing is out of place that would give their friend (at least, they still hoped she was) cause for concern before they started heading out to the parking lot.

“Luz?” Amelia suddenly asked after several minutes of silence as they finally stepped outside.

“¿Sí, hermosa?” Luz replied, causing Amelia to sputter for a moment.

“You...” Amelia coughed out as she recomposed herself, realizing that what she wanted to say was being made a little harder by that cheesy grin she loved so much from her partner.

“Sorry Ames,” Luz shrugged. “You were thinking pretty hard about something, and I just wanted to help you relax a bit.”

“It's alright,” Amelia sighed. “I just... I'm worried...”

Luz raised an eyebrow at this. “About Selena and Deanna?”

“Well... yes... but it's not just them,” Amelia admitted. “It finally seems like we can move ahead with marrying one another without anything else to try and stop us or ruin it all, and... my mind can't help but worry. I don't know if or what is going on between them, but Selena and Deanna's marriage might be in a shaky place right now. I don't know where Syren and Ravyn stand and I'm not about to actually call the latter to find out even if she was going to be honest with us, but I don't think she went through all that trouble when we first took the Tag Titles off of them of trying to compare our relationship to theirs without reason. I know... I know we've had the occasional issue or spat, and... and...”

“You're afraid that once we're married, something like that could be amplified?” Luz seemed to pick up on Amelia's thought process.

“I love you Lulu,” Amelia said, bluntly and honestly. “I love you more than words could ever express. I'm just afraid of us taking that next step and somehow it ultimately leads us off a cliff or something... if something happens that we can't just communicate our way through for once. Now that we don't have Caleb or his Empire as a distraction, it feels like the closer we get to what should be the happiest day of our lives... the more afraid I become of what awaits us once we cross that point of no return.”

Luz frowned as the two of them finally reached their rental car, with her offering to load up their bags so she could ponder how to respond. Truth be told, she had a pretty good idea of why Amelia was worried about this, and she couldn't blame her. Aside from a few arguments about whether or not she should be allowed to follow in her father's footsteps, her dad and mom genuinely loved and cared for each other. Amelia, on the other hand... she honestly didn't know if Aleister and Ophelia Blythe actually loved one another or if their marriage was just as much a business transaction as how they tried to treat their children, so she couldn't look to them for any ideas on how married life with Luz should look like. Selena and Deanna honestly felt like her best option, and even that prospect seemed like it might be on rocky terrain based on what little they could gleam from the Frosts' interactions lately on camera. Luz took a deep breath as she closed the trunk of the car before she walked back over to Amelia and gently cradled her face between her palms.

“Amelia, I mean it when I say I love you with all my heart,” Luz began. “I also mean it when I say that I'm right there with you when it comes to our future being one great big unknown. I won't promise that things will always be perfect, but I will promise you that no matter what happens, I'll be here for you until the very end, no matter what. If we come across any problems that can't be solved with talking it out, then we'll figure out how to handle it together. All I know is that I want to go through the rest of my life with you by my side, no matter what challenges come our way. I swear this to you on my mask, my life, mi papá's grave... anything that means something to me to prove that my words are true.”

Amelia took a shaky breath, her eyes tearing up as Luz made it undeniably clear just how much she truly meant to her, even if she already knew deep down. She had never been good at remembering and rationalizing when put under too much stress even by her own thoughts, but Luz knew that better than anyone and was always patient and understanding with her. That's why there was no judgment when Amelia threw her arms around Luz and gently sobbed into her shoulder, getting gentle back rubs and kisses to the side of her head to further ground her.

“Gracias, Luz,” she finally choked out after a few moments.

“Siempre, mi amor,” Luz softly replied into her ear. “Luz and Amelia against the world, and nothing will ever change that.”

Amelia nodded in agreement, needing a few more minutes until she felt ready as the two prepared to drive back to their hotel. They knew the unknown was always scary, and they had navigated through a lot of that up to this point, but for every first in their relationship they would navigate the waters together, ready and willing to do whatever it took to spend the rest of their lives by each other's side.

Hopefully, they would be able to shake off any of those lingering doubts in due time, but for now, they were more than happy to plan for the future and do their best to adjust accordingly.