The Light in the Darkness vs. Polly Playtime & Aisling

[Wisteria Waltz]

It was over...

Amelia couldn't help but sigh in disappointment as she and Luz made their way through the backstage area, her thoughts already starting to spiral into the abyss even with Luz holding her hand and using her thumb to gently rub circles into the back of it as a means of trying to comfort her.

Amelia had experienced the painful song and dance of having a title run come to an end before. The SCW Television Championship was far from her first taste of gold in the business, after all, and she had no plans on it being the last either. It was always a bitter pill to swallow that would fade with time, especially once she had more matches under her belt to rebuild herself for the next opportunity that awaited her. The fact that she actually knew what that opportunity was already was a nice change of pace, but she had tried her best to prepare herself for the challenge that awaited her tonight and fallen short, which was bothering her more than she wanted to admit mostly because of the woman walking right beside her.

When she had told Glory Braddock that being TV Champion had meant just as much to the couple as a team as it did to just her, she hadn't been lying. Winning that title had felt like the jolt they needed to believe they did belong in the mix around here and had gone a long way in motivating them into the performance they had in that historic twelve-person tag match at Body, Heart & Soul. The idea that they may not even have an opportunity at the Tag Team Titles on the horizon had it not been for that TV Title win loomed large at the forefront of her thoughts, sparking the fear that losing that belt in her very first defense was a bad omen of things to come. In the back of her mind, she could hear the voice of Polly Playtime screaming about how her reign had been better and Amelia was now to blame for something she had begged her to not allow to happen. That voice inevitably gave way to the voice of her mother, scoffing in that haughty manner she always carried before chastising her about her title reign having lasted longer if she didn't have Luz to burden her before it began to echo some of the things Glory had said to her leading into this match.

“Hey, mi amor, listen to my voice, OK? In for four, hold for seven, out for eight.”

Luz's voice managed to cut through the raging maelstrom of thoughts and she followed the command as though she were on autopilot, knowing that she could always trust her girlfriend's word on something. After a few cycles of the breathing technique, the intrusive thoughts had quieted but still lingered on the edge of her thoughts. It was at this point that Amelia realized they had made it back to their locker room and Luz had led her over to one of the benches and sat the both of them down.

“How are you feeling?” she carefully asked.

“Better...” Amelia admitted.

“I saw you were starting to spiral a bit and hurried us back here to our little safe space as fast as I could,” Luz told her. “Centavo for your thoughts?”

Amelia took a deep but shaky breath. “I think I'm just overwhelmed by losing the TV Title tonight... Glory's words to me leading up to this match make me feel like I let you down because she defeated me after everything I told her about what that title meant not just for me, but for us. Combine that with what I know is probably going to happen when Polly gets a chance to open her mouth after she told me to not let this happen, and the whole thing with my mom and whatever she's up to now, knowing far more about me than she really should considering how much I've tried to go no contact with her...”

“If I may?” Luz offered, and Amelia took a second to process before she nodded in understanding at Luz asking for permission to interject her own thoughts. “First off, chinga tu madre. You and I both know that woman is incapable of caring about anybody other than herself and maybe your dad because of what she married into. She likes playing these games and acting like she has any sort of upper hand over everybody because it makes her feel more powerful than she actually is, but she has no control over your life anymore and never will. You are an adult, you are your own person, and if she thinks she can just insert herself back into our lives without resistance then she's not as brilliant as she thinks she is. I don't know how she got her hands on info she really shouldn't have or what she's trying to get at this time, but we'll figure it out and beat her together.”

“R-Right...” Amelia agreed, a bit taken aback by how aggressive Luz was getting on this matter but not arguing with how effective it was. She was the one who had helped show Amelia that emotions were not a bad thing, after all, and it was Luz's more emotional approach to everything that often helped to keep her from putting those walls back up when things were no longer going her way, especially if her mother was to blame for it.

“As for the others?” Luz continued. “Yeah, Glory could have certainly been kinder about it, but she did have a few points and you can use those to improve for the next time you guys meet. If you want my honest opinion, and I promise I'm being unbiased about this despite being your girlfriend... she's been doing this for far longer than we have and accomplished far more in her career, and you still went hold-for-hold with her until the very end. You left an impression on her, one that she would be wise not to forget the next time around because tonight was anyone's match to win, and you're only going to get better the longer we keep at this. She was better tonight, but that doesn't mean that will always be the case. Heck, I doubt she would've shaken your hand if she didn't respect the fight you just gave her, regardless of who came out on top.”

Amelia couldn't help but wipe a tear from her eye at the pep talk Luz was giving to her, especially as she stood up and got more animated with it in that way that only she could.

“And as for Polly? Last I checked she hasn't been able to beat Glory either, and had she retained against you and been the one defending that title out there tonight, it wouldn't surprise me if she failed to do the same thing she begged you to prevent. Like it or not, Glory is one title away from Supreme Champion status, and that title she's missing means there's a pretty good chance we'll be seeing her again sooner rather than later out in that ring. I think Polly's just jealous that you ended her reign because she couldn't handle your best even in a ball pit and that you got closer to beating Glory on your first solo attempt than she ever has, and you know we'll only keep adapting and evolving from here. Let her say whatever she wants to say... until she beats you or me in the ring, her words are just that at the end of the day.”

The moment Luz finishes her big speech, Amelia practically throws herself into a big hug with the widest grin Luz has seen from her partner yet. She happily returns the hug as the two just stand there, basking in each other's presence as Amelia lets Luz's words settle in and start fighting off the intrusive thoughts that had plagued her just minutes prior.

“Thank you, Luz...” Amelia manages to choke out.

“No need to thank me, hermosa,” Luz replied as she leaned over to kiss Amelia's tear-stained cheek. “We're in this together, no matter what form that takes. I refuse to let you fall back into that old headspace of yours that your parents cultivated because it's what best suited them and them alone, and I know you'll always do the same for me. It's why we make such a great team both in and out of the ring. Now, how about you get cleaned up, then we just chill watching the rest of the show before meeting up with Ivy and Gage to plot our next course of action?”

Amelia couldn't argue with that as she proceeded to take a nice, relaxing shower while Luz turned the show on and even briefly dipped out to grab some snacks from catering to try and create the most comforting atmosphere she possibly could out of their locker room. As Amelia stood under the hot water and embraced the peace and quiet, she couldn't help but think about how much better both her life and career had become once Luz had become a part of it. That ended up causing her thoughts to wander to Luz's own life, leaving her baffled as to why anyone would have an issue with her growing up. Sure, she had her quirks but so did anyone you would meet in life, and she always went out of her way to be so genuinely kind that the idea of anyone hating her for being helpful or even trying to use it for their own purposes just felt downright disgusting to her. Given how much of a hero Luz's father had been because of the culture around lucha libre made the idea of anyone trying to use her to get into his good graces leave a very vile taste in her mouth because it went so much against the kind of man she had heard he was.

The matter of Luz's mother was also one that set fire to her nerves. From what she had heard from her girlfriend, Dr. Camila Nevado had been a loving mother for the most part when she was growing up, aside from what seemed like understandable concern about her daughter taking part in a sport that had definitely taken a toll on her husband that led to them butting heads in a manner that, to an outsider like Amelia, were reasons that seemed to make more sense the more one understood how much reverence lucha libre had in the culture of Mexico. The fact that she had completely closed herself off the way she did after she lost her husband, to the point where she'd been quite harsh in the few times Amelia herself had met the woman, clearly bothered Luz more than she tried to let on at times.

There was a clear difference that Amelia would never ignore, however: Camila Nevado's attitude could easily be attributed to her grief over losing her husband and fearing her daughter was going to end up having that same fate befall her by following in his footsteps, a matter that she believed could be resolved if they could find a way to get the two to simply talk things out like rational adults. Ophelia Blythe was simply a cruel woman who only saw her own children as tools to further the family name and nothing in this or any lifetime would ever change who she was or create any opportunity for a proper mother-daughter relationship.

Amelia could only hope that an opportunity would present itself to allow Luz and her mom to repair that broken bridge... she deserved to have a loving parent back in her life just as much as Amelia deserved to be as far away from her toxic parents as possible.

Once she finished her shower, the couple spent the remainder of Breakdown cuddling on the bench and watching the show as they enjoyed the snacks Luz had fetched for them. There was nothing they could gain that would help them for Retribution since the Frosts had the night off doing work for Make-A-Wish, but they respected that noble endeavor. Perhaps the only noteworthy thing that really stood out to them was Polly falling short in her attempt to dethrone Bree for the Adrenaline Title, which brought a smile to Amelia's face as Luz couldn't resist reassuring her that if Polly tried to give her a hard time over her result tonight then she really didn't have much of a foundation to build from. Seeing the stunt James Evans pulled on Datura afterward, though, certainly gave them something to talk about as they made their way out to the parking lot.

“Can you believe that was the same guy who's been trying to use us as his example of how things should be around here for the past several weeks?” Luz couldn't help but ask.

“I get that he's got this whole thing against excessive violence he's trying to preach, but there's better ways to make that point than what he pulled tonight,” Amelia noted.

“I mean, we've made our own point perfectly fine just by getting in that ring and doing what we do best,” Luz shrugged. “Nothing more, nothing less, and no zip-ties needed.”

“I really hope Bree and Datura know that we weren't the ones out there helping him or condone that whole stunt,” Amelia added. “Next time we cross paths I want a proper match with them, not some crusade of vengeance when we've been just as iffy on James's support of us as they have about whatever message he's trying to send.”

Luz opened her mouth to respond to that as the two reached their car and began to load up their bags, but she stopped when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned, expecting it to be their friends coming to meet up with them, but her smile faded as instead the person approaching them was some guy they had never met before. She had to admit that he looked pretty handsome, but she already happily had a girlfriend and something about this guy and the way he was approaching them was giving her a bad feeling that immediately offset whatever looks he clearly wanted to be noticed. Amelia, who had no such thoughts in her head about him, was the first to address him.

“Can we help you with something?”

“You certainly can, gorgeous,” were the first words out of his mouth in a semi-thick British accent, and both girls immediately cringed at the look he was giving Amelia. “I saw you had a spot of trouble out there tonight and felt awful that a wrestling goddess like yourself got screwed out of a rightful win by that talentless harlot. How about I take you out somewhere else and help you forget all about that injustice?”

Luz and Amelia just looked at each other, dumbfounded at the boldness of this man, before the latter finally responded. “I'm sorry, I'm sure you're a charming guy and all, but I'm afraid I'm just not interested. First off, I have a girlfriend who's standing right next to me, something you'd know if you were supposedly paying attention. And second, even if that wasn't the case, I'm a lesbian so I can tell you right now that there would never be anything between us.”

“Oh, don't worry about that,” the guy shrugged her words off way too easily. “Your mother said you were going through one of those phases and you needed a strong, handsome gentleman like me to help set you straight.”

Amelia's jaw dropped at the audacity of this statement, and knowing that her mom had something to do with why this guy was all the way out here harassing her was bringing all those thoughts of the woman from earlier back to the forefront of her mind. Instead of anxiety, though, all she could feel was anger. Before she did anything she might regret, however, Luz stepped between the two of them, making sure her lack of amusement at what he was pulling was clear on her face.

“Look amigo,” she told him, “I don't care what Ophelia has convinced you into believing, but Amelia's a lesbian and that means there is absolutely nothing you have or can offer that would ever convince her that she'd enjoy going on a date with you or anything beyond that. Furthermore, I think you missed the part where she already had a girlfriend, who happens to be standing right in front of you and would very much like for you to take a hint and go bother someone else.”

Luz may try to be a nice person who sees the best in everyone, but even she had her limits and this guy was starting to test them. She knew full well Amelia could stand up for herself, but given that she had wrestled tonight and Luz hadn't, not to mention the fact that he was trying to steal her girlfriend right in front of her, she was about to show this guy what happened if he kept trying to ignore their very clear boundaries. The guy simply gave her a confused look in return.

“But... you told me it was alright because you two weren't actually dating and it was just an act for the shows,” he claimed.

“¿¡Qué!?” Luz shouted. “I've never seen you before in my life, and even if I did I certainly wouldn't have said something as absurd and untrue as that!”

“But those were your exact words,” he continued. “Mrs. Blythe invited me backstage to a show in Britain to discuss me courting Amelia, and you were in the locker room of that new stable she's assisting with and told me everything, including giving me your own consent to pursue her.”

Luz looked gobsmacked by this claim, having absolutely no idea what the guy was talking about. Her composure started to slip and she got several words into a full-on tirade in Spanish before Amelia pulled her back into a hug and planted a gentle kiss on her cheek to help try and calm her down, in full view of the unwanted suitor. She turned to him with a look that clearly told him she was done with this.

“I don't know what you're going on about,” she sternly told him, “but Luz couldn't have been back in the UK to tell you anything because the longest we've been separated in the past several weeks was maybe an hour or two, nowhere near enough time to fly overseas to tell you something so utterly false and then be right back by my side here in the States. Even ignoring all of that, I'm going to tell you one last time that I'm not interested and never will be. So you can go back and tell my mom that she's wasting her time trying to find me a suitor when I already have someone in my life who loves me for who I am and is actually both my type and respectful of my sexuality.”

“Now hold on just a moment,” the guy started to respond, only to stop when he felt a firm hand on his shoulder. He turned and his eyes widened to see Ivy and Gage standing behind him, having heard enough of this conversation as the former had pulled off her coat for the latter to hold and she looked about ready to wire this guy's jaw shut.

“You have five seconds to get the hell away from my friends before I throw you like a javelin through the nearest windshield,” Ivy growled, and a quick once-over of what he was up against was more than enough for the guy to quickly turn tail and flee. She took a deep breath to recompose herself as she took her coat from Gage and began to put it back on.

“What the heck was that all about?” he asked the couple.

“I don't know,” Luz admitted. “The guy was hitting on Ames and wouldn't take no for an answer. He even had these bizarre claims that I actually met him before at a show in Britain and told him we'd broken up!”

“All I know is my mom is responsible for him coming all this way for that bullshit,” Amelia growled, “and flags don't get any more red than that. Whatever she's up to now, we need to figure it out sooner rather than later.”