Twelve Person Tag Match

[Wisteria Waltz]

Breakdown had certainly been one of the more unique experiences in the career of Amelia Blythe.

She was still torn on whether she wanted to interpret that as a good thing or a bad thing.

She shouldn't have been surprised when Polly didn't give her a straight-up wrestling match and insisted on using her wheel to make things more fun, and while the idea of getting to show what she could do in a Submission Match would have been more appealing, having to wrestle in a giant ball pit would have probably been her second choice in all honesty. Any match that involved being tied to your opponent and having to hit all four corners was tricky at best, and she shuddered at the thought of wrestling under sprinkler heads and 'getting all wet' in the context that Polly had implied.

She and Luz were women who at least had some self-respect, after all.

Going into Breakdown, Amelia would admit that she was still in a slightly fragile state of mind after the panic attack that memories of her past had driven her into, in spite of the immense help that her partner had been in working past those issues and trying to get Amelia a chance to finally come clean and apologize to Ivy at long last. Being made to wrestle in what was probably SCW's first ever Ball Pit Match, while a claim she wasn't sure she wanted to be attached to her name, ultimately went a long way in distracting her from the lingering mess of thoughts rattling around in her brain about her past mistakes. Plus, at the end of it all, she was able to leave that ball pit as the new SCW Television Champion, obtaining the first piece of gold to the name of The Light In The Darkness in this company.

Amelia was grateful that Luz had pulled her out when all was set and done as neither one of them had any interest in getting caught in the middle of the issues between the Playgirls and Cassie and YUYO, even if they wouldn't have much choice come Body, Heart & Soul. They still found themselves left with the mystery of James Evans and his acknowledgment after the fact, but that was something to unpack later once they had a chance to properly celebrate Amelia's title win and get their bearings about another SCW first they'd both be taking part in at the pay-per-view.

With Amelia's match in the books, the two had returned to their locker room to unwind and let it all sink in. Amelia had promptly collapsed into one of the chairs in the room, looking down at the new title belt in her hands in almost disbelief that she was actually holding it, while Luz had set about making sure her stuff was packed up before shifting her attention to her girlfriend's gear. She turned to take in the look on her face with a grin, internally screaming with delight at how much happier Amelia looked after the past week or so.

“You know, I envy you,” she told the new champion carefully.

Amelia snapped out of her euphoria to raise an eyebrow at her girlfriend. “Why? Because I got SCW gold first?”

“No, because you got to play in a ball pit tonight!” Luz exclaimed with the goofiest smile she could manage, which had Amelia doubled over in laughter. “I would've killed to switch places with you!”

“Wrestling in a ball pit was certainly a... unique experience, I'll admit,” Amelia replied. “I'm sure if my parents watched tonight's show they'd be figuring out how to sue SCW for the 'disrespect' that I just allowed to be shown to the family name.”

“What about the twins?” Luz prodded.

“Ed and Em will probably blow up my phone when they wake up about how unfair it is that I got to do something like this first,” Amelia giggled before she slowly trailed off into a sigh. “As much as I hate to admit it because it's not exactly what I would've ever wanted to do in this business, it felt... cathartic getting to do that match, in a way. I'm still annoyed that Polly couldn't just give me a normal match and I'm half-expecting her to complain next time she opens her mouth about losing the title to me in a match that she put on her wheel in the first place, but... it was nice going through with it.”

“Yeah?” Luz replied, hoping it would help Amelia open up more since she was starting to tread the kind of mental waters where it might be needed.

“Yeah,” Amelia agreed with a nod. “Polly wanted me to channel my inner child, ignorant of the fact that I've made no secret of the fact that I barely had much of a childhood at all. As embarrassing as it might be to admit, that was the first time I've ever actually stepped into a ball pit. It took a bit of getting used to, especially since I was supposed to wrestle on top of that, but once I got into it I kind of didn't really want to leave if Cassie and YUYO hadn't dove in to start picking fights. For a few minutes, I actually got to feel like I was living a part of my childhood I never actually got to live.”

“Personally, I think it's a crime that you've never had the chance to experience the joy of swimming through a ball pit as a kid,” Luz noted, “but we've already established several times over that your parents are stuck-up scumbags who probably shouldn't have been allowed to have kids if it didn't mean I'd be without you in my life. I still remember all the times I got to divebomb into ball pits to my mamá's amusement trying to emulate papá's...”

Luz slowly trailed off as she began to mention her parents, and Amelia quickly set her new title aside to stand up and pull her into a hug that was quickly reciprocated. The painful trade-off of their upbringings was that while Amelia didn't really have a childhood thanks to her parents, it was virtually impossible for Luz to reflect fondly on the childhood she did get to have without remembering the father she'd lost and the mother who she'd been at odds with ever since. While she didn't often admit it considering how strained their relationship had become in the wake of everything, deep down Luz missed having her mom in her life because she truly wasn't a bad parent like Amelia's had been... she had just given up on the kind of person she was before her father's passing in hopes that she could keep her daughter from meeting the same fate, and ultimately it had driven a wedge between them when it became clear that Camila's grief-driven change of heart was going to stop Luna Nevado from becoming La Pequeña Luz and getting to pursue the life she'd always wanted.

“It's OK, Lulu,” Amelia's voice broke through the raging river of thoughts running through her head, helping to ground her. “Take a few deep breaths and focus on me, alright?”

Luz did as her girlfriend instructed, and after a moment she slowly felt the weight that had suddenly been crushing her disappear. She focused on Amelia holding her tightly, hands beneath her hoodie and softly rubbing circles into her back, the sweat that lined her girlfriend's skin and the smell of the work she'd just put in to earn her first SCW championship... whatever it was, no matter how weird, if it reminded her of Amelia then she put her full focus on it. Finally, Luz pulled away enough to give her a grateful smile, one that Amelia returned as she gently wiped away the tears threatening to spill as best as she could through the mask of her beloved.

“Sorry,” Luz choked out. “I didn't mean to rain on your parade tonight.”

“You dummy,” Amelia responded with a playful tone in her voice. “You're always trying to put others before yourself and I greatly appreciate how much you've helped me over the years, but you're allowed to need help for your own problems. I want to be your champion just as much as you've been mine... never forget that.”

Luz just nodded as the two continued holding one another close for a few minutes before she started to regain the happy spark that truly made the woman feel more like herself, which led to the two of them sharing a kiss.

“Gracias, mi amor,” Luz said once their lips parted from one another. “Between that and you not getting a proper post-match celebration of your title win, I think I owe you a nice dinner.”

“You don't have to Luz,” Amelia stated, her tone stern enough to remind her partner of what she'd just told her.

“I know I don't have to, but I want to,” Luz replied. “We could use another nice thing about tonight to pick us back up after the bad mental spirals of the past couple of days. So, why don't you hit the showers because, no offense, but you could kind of use one-” She found herself cut off by Amelia swatting at her shoulder and grumbling about the fact that she actually wrestled tonight, which ultimately got the two of them laughing again. “Anyways, you go get cleaned up and let those muscles relax under some hot water. I'll book us a reservation somewhere and go get the car loaded up and pulled around once you're all done.”

“If you insist, my princesa,” Amelia chuckled as she retrieved a towel and some soap from her bag along with a change of clothes. She spent a moment trying to give her girlfriend a kiss only for Luz to playfully try to avoid it since she hadn't showered yet, but once they finally kissed she was off to the locker room's showers while Luz took an extra moment to make sure her head was all clear before she started grabbing bags and taking them out to the parking lot.

Sure, the show was still in progress right now, but it had to be getting close to main event time and their presence wasn't really needed anymore. As far as Luz was concerned, that was enough clearance to be able to take off and try to make the most of the remainder of their night having a proper celebration of her girlfriend's achievement.

As she found their car and began loading up their bags, Luz found her thoughts drifting toward the announcement that had been made by Mr. D at the start of the show that revealed their plans for Body, Heart & Soul. On one hand, the thought of being able to say that she and Amelia would be participating in SCW's first ever twelve person tag match would be something the two of them could always claim as it was a piece of history that could never be taken away from them, and unlike the Ball Pit Match Amelia had competed in earlier tonight, this was at least a more proper match that wouldn't get the iffy looks that Luz had honestly grown a little sick of seeing throughout her life.

On the other hand, thinking about the team compositions for this match made her feel a little uneasy.

She supposed it made a bit of sense for some of the participants, considering that Polly and her cohorts had ignited a few fights with the likes of Cassie and YUYO over the past several weeks during her TV Title reign. There was also the fact that James and Datura were in the middle of a heated clash of wrestling philosophies and that had not only drawn Bree in as Datura's friend and prospective tag partner, but also her and Amelia to an extent because of the interest he'd taken in them for reasons they could still only speculate on. Still, despite Mr. D's claims that this match would have implications of some kind, likely for the tag division given some of the teams contained within, it felt awkward competing in this match when they had no issues with anyone else involved... aside from maybe the Playgirls considering Amelia just took Polly's title, but they were supposed to be on the same team for this thing.

The idea of the fans that The Light In The Darkness, especially Luz, busted their asses to put on the performances of a lifetime for each and every chance they got turning on them all because they were teaming with a trio who could care less about the fans as long as they got to play their games and a man they had already turned on because he was trying to shove a message against excessive violence down people's throats instead of finding a more appealing approach they could respect bothered her a lot more than she wanted to admit. If this were something akin to Trios, where she found herself teaming with these kinds of individuals against other teams just as mixed as hers, it'd feel more comforting. But knowing she was up against a team full of wrestlers on the same general wavelength as her and Amelia (with the potential exception of Glory, but one person didn't tip those scales enough to even things out) made it clear that the couple were likely to find themselves having to tune out a negative reaction that they'd receive through association.

The Amelia of old could definitely pull that off given that she was trained to ignore the fans and focus only on doing her job in the ring, but the current Amelia would definitely be rattled after all the work she'd put in over the years to improve herself as a person and prove that she was moving on from her awful past. And poor Luz, daughter of one of Mexico's most beloved luchadores and striving to earn every bit of love and praise that he'd earned in his own illustrious career through her own merits...

Before Luz could start spiraling too much again, she was thankfully dragged out of her thoughts by the sound of her phone ringing. Breathing a sigh of relief as she double-checked that she'd at least gotten all the bags loaded up in the car alright while lost in her own head, she started to pull out her phone but hesitated momentarily. The immediate first thought was that her mom might be calling about something that was inevitably going to lead to another argument, and given that she was barely holding on at the moment for several different reasons she couldn't afford such a shouting match right now. That had her start putting her phone back in her pocket to let voicemail handle it, but the memory of Amelia telling her just minutes prior that she didn't have to do things alone and the comfort Luz had given her earlier in the week made her think that the call might be something else entirely. Sure enough, when she finally willed herself to check the caller ID, she found Gage's name and number greeting her eyes. Realizing how long it had been ringing, she quickly answered it before her voicemail could kick in.

“¿Hola? What's up, Gage?”

“Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not Gage,” a female voice answered back with a bit of amusement. “I borrowed his phone since we thought you'd be more likely to answer if you saw his number instead of a random one. He does say hello, though.”

“Hey, Luz!” Gage's voice could be heard shouting in the background to make sure the call picked it up, which got a bit of a chuckle out of Luz.

“So...” Luz carefully continued as she leaned against the side of the car. “This must be Ivy I'm talking to then, huh?”

“Yup, Ivy Plume is my name,” she confirmed. “Sorry if I left a bit of a bad first impression on you back at that First Voyage event. I swear it's nothing against you, it's just that when I saw who you were with...”

“I understand,” Luz admitted. “Amelia kind of told me about what happened.”

“And you're still standing by her side?” Ivy questioned, hints of anger coming through from the other end of the call.

“Ivy, please hear me out for a moment,” Luz carefully responded. “As much as she means to me, I'm not going to defend Amelia because your feelings are just as valid and you have every right to hate her for what she did to you. Lord knows I've been stabbed in the back by people I thought were my friends far too many times growing up to have any right to tell you otherwise. That said... people do change, and all Amelia wants is a chance to tell you the full story you deserve to hear and apologize for everything she did. What you do from there is entirely up to you and I'm not going to try and sway you one way or the other. Just know that no matter what happens, I'm still going to have Amelia in my life because I've watched her evolve over the years into the kind of person she truly wants to be and we've helped one another through some really hard times in our lives, and if that means I can't be friends with you or Gage then I completely understand and respect your decision.”

Things went quiet for a minute after that, with Ivy's breathing from the other end being the only indication that she hadn't just hung up on Luz right then and there. Luz at least took the opportunity to get the car started so it could warm up a bit, giving Ivy the space to think over how she wanted to proceed. Luz knew what kind of person Amelia truly was and that all of her actions growing up weren't decisions she made willingly, but they still caused real harm to real people and that couldn't just be erased overnight.

“Amelia truly means a lot to you, doesn't she?” Ivy finally asked.

“I honestly don't know if I'd be where I am in life without her,” Luz admitted without hesitation.

There was another moment of silence before Ivy spoke again. “I'll be honest... Gage told me a lot about who you were based solely on what he's seen of you in the ring, and I wanted to believe it was all just a gimmick when I first saw you by her side. But I've been watching the things you guys had to say to your opponents in the past few weeks and... even the Amelia I thought I knew when we were kids, as nice as she was during our friendship, would never be caught dead wearing a onesie in front of people. I even noticed during her last video that she even kept the hair tie I made for her right before she broke off our friendship.”

“She told me years ago that hair tie was special to her but always refused to elaborate...” Luz mused, thinking back to when she'd first asked her girlfriend about why she always wore that specific one anytime they either trained or competed.

“I remember watching a few of her first matches once she finally broke into the business, but seeing what she'd become I quickly tuned out entirely. Too many bad memories,” Ivy continued. “But seeing her now... the difference is like night and day. I really want to know how the two of you met, but I don't want to feel like I'm taking up your entire night if you guys have things to do. I will say that you definitely seem like a good person and whatever you've done has been good for her. It really makes me want to give her a chance and hear her out.”

“Really!?” Luz exclaimed, her grin so wide that Ivy could somehow hear it through the phone.

“Really,” Ivy replied with a chuckle. “Your guys' next show is that pay-per-view next Sunday, right?”

“Yup, up in Nashville,” Luz confirmed.

“You think you both could spare some time to meet up over in Charlotte in the next few days?” Ivy asked. “I doubt Amelia knows this, but I did ultimately start wrestling myself a few years ago to kind of prove a few things to myself. It's all freelance independent stuff, nothing big like SCW, but I want you guys to come so Amelia can see what I'm truly capable of. I think it might help us both out with whatever happens next, and Gage and I can definitely get tickets to your pay-per-view to see you both kick ass in person.”

“I don't think that will be an issue,” Luz happily answered, “and I'm sure Amelia will be over the moon at being given a chance to talk this out. It's really been weighing heavy on her mind since we last crossed paths. Which reminds me that she's probably just about done with her post-match shower and wondering where the heck I am so I should probably get back to bringing our car around so she's not freezing out here.”

“You go do that,” Ivy laughed. “And tell her I said congrats on her title win, will you?”

“Absolutely!” Luz responded before the two exchanged goodbyes and the call ended. It took her another minute or two, but she finally pulled the car up near the arena exit and started scrolling through her phone for restaurant reservations just as Amelia walked out with the one bag she kept, quickly tossing it into the back seat with the rest before hopping in the passenger side and planting a kiss on Luz's cheek.

“Everything alright?” she asked. “I didn't think you'd be pulling up right as I got out. Are you having trouble finding a place to eat?”

“No, I just started searching,” Luz honestly admitted. “I think everything will be alright though... Ivy wanted me to tell you congratulations on the TV Title win tonight.”

“You talked to Ivy?” Amelia's jaw dropped as she looked at her partner in shock, and Luz could only turn to give her a comforting smile.

“I did, and she's willing to hear you out,” Luz explained. “The only catch is that we have to go see her wrestle in Charlotte before we head to Nashville for Body, Heart & Soul.”

“She still pursued wrestling? Even after the awful stuff I said to her when I destroyed our friendship?” Amelia struggled to wrap her head around any of what she'd just heard in the last minute.

“Seems like it,” Luz shrugged. “She said it might help if you got to see what she was truly capable of. I'm not going to say we have to go, but considering she's giving you the chance...”

“I'm good with a detour to Charlotte before the chaos that awaits us next Sunday,” Amelia said, her voice now full of determination. “I owe everything to Ivy for giving me this chance, and I'd never forgive myself if I let it slip away, regardless of what happens.”

“I have faith that this will all work out,” Luz told her before punctuating her statement with a soft peck on the side of the mouth. Even throughout their post-show dinner date, Amelia couldn't stop smiling at how much her fortunes seemed to turn around tonight and Luz was relieved to see her girlfriend in a much better headspace.

No promises could be made regarding what would happen when Amelia and Ivy finally talked, but the fact that it was even happening at all was more than enough for now.