Aftermath

[Wisteria Waltz]

OOC: So, this is the aftermath of my Luz CD from her last match against Deanna, Kim and Allocco two BDs ago. I unfortunately had to cut it because of the word limit, so I took the opportunity to expand upon it without a word limit to worry about so that I could give as much context as I could. It's not being posted as part of my RtG RP because it doesn't tie in at all with what I wrote, but I'm posting it anyway for the sake of the story and so there's no missing context for when my RtG piece is posted.
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As intoxicating as it was basking in the cheers of the fans, especially after she'd successfully defended her mask for the first time in her career and managed to pull off her gambit to strike a critical blow to The Empire, Luz had a feeling this night wasn't over quite yet.

It was somewhat out of her hands at this point, but she had faith that the last piece of her plan would come to fruition.

Luz, Amelia and Valentina had started making their way up the ramp, the latter getting a lot of help from the couple in endearing her to the fans and making it clear they held no ill will towards her for a situation she was forced into. Seeing all the people who had been showering her with hatred for so long under the belief that she was one of their heroes having turned her back on everything she stood for actually giving her a chance now that she wasn't trapped beneath the facade anymore... she hadn't been very enthusiastic about getting involved with wrestling at all, especially pretending to be someone else, but Caleb had given her no choice in the matter. She was only a tool to him to get to someone else, nothing more. Just another person who didn't give a damn about her.

This, however... Luz's genuine kindness even when she had every right to hate her, the fans actually cheering her on for a great match and no longer having to pretend to be La Pequeña Luz... Valentina finally understood why this was so special to the woman she'd been made to impersonate, what she sought to gain from being a part of this.

Before they stepped through the curtain, however, Valentina snapped out of her thoughts and froze, causing Luz and Amelia to stop and turn to look at her. She hadn't forgotten what was likely waiting for her on the other side, out of the eyes of the public that would crucify Caleb White for whatever he was about to do to her for her failures. The couple seemed to pick up on this as they tuned out the live fans who were still buzzing about the show they'd just witnessed and each took one of her hands, drawing her attention to them.

“You're safe, Valentina,” Amelia reassured her. “He can't hurt you anymore.”

“How... how can you be so sure?” Valentina asked, a clear tremble in her voice.

“There's still one last phase to my little plan,” Luz told her with that signature grin of hers. “I swear to you, on this mask I just defended down in that ring, that we're cutting your strings permanently tonight and setting you free.”

The way she said it as though it were an undisputed fact resonated deeply with Valentina in a way that nothing else ever had before. Luz truly was like no one she had ever met before, and thus far it seemed like everything had been a carefully orchestrated scheme of hers that was paying off. From what she'd been told by Caleb constantly, Amelia was the planner of the couple since Luz supposedly was far too impulsive and impatient to put together a well thought out plan, but she could see now just how wrong her current guardian had been all along. Luz was far more brilliant than the prideful man had accounted for, and while this scheme felt way more convoluted than it really needed to be, she could see how much character that gave it and how much it was designed to bait the pride of everyone who'd been speaking on her behalf for months now.

That realization filled her with hope, and despite how much her trust had been broken by so many over the years, something about Luz made it impossible to not put her trust in this crazy plan of hers.

With a nod from Valentina that signified she was ready, the three of them stepped through the curtain, away from the eyes of the fans and into the backstage area. They passed by some of the workers who acknowledged them as they passed, some praising Luz on a job well done in defending her mask and even giving Valentina looks that implied they knew more than she thought they might. Despite that, it felt too peaceful for any of them to truly feel comfortable.

“I bet you feel pretty proud of yourselves, don't you?”

In an instant, that feeling of peace evaporated as the three of them found Caleb approaching them, clearly trying to keep his anger restrained so he could perhaps convince himself more than anybody else that he still had full control of this situation even in the face of a major setback.

“I just defended my mask and my name in what I'd consider the biggest win of my life thus far,” Luz responded. “I think I've earned the right to feel proud of myself.”

“A minor victory at best,” Caleb told her.

“Considering you lost your Luz doppelganger,” Amelia cut in, “and now the whole world knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that whatever you and my parents said about me and Henry being engaged is just another lie, I'd say this is far more than just a 'minor victory' for us tonight.”

“Oh dear girl,” Caleb said in that calm, condescending tone that grated on both Amelia and Luz's nerves, “all you've done tonight is delay the inevitable. My end goal of having The Empire save the wrestling business from the travesty it has become hasn't been affected by tonight's events, nor has my desire to save the two of you from this corruption you find yourselves consumed by. Rest assured, however, that you will find your place within my Empire in due time, and you'll come to understand what I mean.”

Amelia and Luz wanted to vomit after hearing just how much this man sounds like he truly believes in his own delusions, and Valentina was right there with them. Still, they held firm, not wanting to let their guards down just in case he did want to try something at this moment in time. The fact that the rest of his goons were nowhere to be found only kept them on high alert.

“Now then,” Caleb continued, holding out his hand toward Valentina, “it's time for us to go, my child. We need to discuss how you have failed me tonight and-”

“No.”

Caleb's face took on a more grim look as Valentina firmly responded to him, and Amelia and Luz were quick to make sure they stood between the two as a precaution.

“I'm sorry, I don't believe I heard you,” Caleb stated, his tone growing more dangerous. “I told you that we're leaving-”

“And I told you that I'm not going with you, not anymore,” Valentina fired back. “I knew something was off about you the moment you adopted me, and I wasn't surprised when the orphanage just gave me away to you because they were shady themselves from the get-go. You've put me through hell... and for what? All so I could pretend to be someone else? That's all I ever was to you, just a substitute for someone else in your sick, twisted little power fantasy where you're some sort of savior when in reality you're nothing more than a monster!”

Caleb's eye visibly twitched at that, and the girls could all see just how deep that seemed to cut for him, but he quickly managed to regain his composure, though when he spoke again they could tell that composure felt like it was barely being held together by duct tape at this point.

“And you think you can trust them more than me?” he asked Valentina. “I took you in off the streets, gave you the best home a child could have, made sure you had everything you could ever want, and all I asked in return was your assistance in this one little task... and yet I was apparently asking too much of you for your end of the deal. They have hated you for months and saw you as nothing but a problem since the moment they saw you trying to purify Luz's tarnished name and identity. They lead sinful lives and are willingly contributing to the self-destruction of the few things in this world that still hold hope for the human race, and you believe that's trustworthy?”

“At least they're honest with who they are,” Valentina replied.

They could all see that Caleb was fuming, the older man struggling to keep any bit of composure he may have still had. They slowly started to back away as a precaution, looking around for any Empire members who could be waiting in the wings to jump them at his command.

“Need I remind you,” Caleb spoke after a moment, the strain in his voice to maintain a calm tone very noticeable, “that you are legally my child? You may be an adult, but that doesn't mean you can refuse to return to the home I have given you. This little rebellious spark doesn't hold as much power as you think it does.”

“Funny how you mention legalities and the power they hold, Señor White.”

All eyes turned to the adjacent hallway, and Luz couldn't resist grinning from ear to ear when she saw her mother standing there, flanked by a trio of men who clearly looked like they were either law enforcement or government officials. The composed facade Caleb had been struggling to maintain slipped just a little further at this sight, but the proverbial mask hadn't fallen quite yet.

“Mr. White,” one of the men addressed him. “Dr. Nevado here has brought to our attention some rather disturbing allegations regarding your treatment of a young woman you adopted some time ago. Between some of the things we just overheard and the knowledge that the orphanage you adopted her from has been under investigation for some time now regarding the treatment of the children in their care, we'd like to ask you some questions.”

Caleb glared at them before turning his glare to the three young women who had clearly dealt him a much more significant blow than he wanted to admit here tonight.

“You can have her,” Caleb finally growled as he turned to start walking away. “She's worthless to me now anyways.”

“Hold it!” one of the other men shouted, but Caleb ignored them and just kept walking. The trio of officials moved to block his path, but this was the point where a few members of The Empire seemed to pop out of nowhere, creating a blockade that allowed the old man to continue walking away, pausing only to glare at the girls one last time before he disappeared around a corner. They watched as the Empire members were subdued for interfering in official police and government business before one of the men resumed chasing after Caleb, but at this point they could all breathe a sigh of relief.

“How...?” Valentina couldn't help but ask as Camila moved to stand beside her daughter.

“Mamá is a doctor, and a pretty well-respected one at that,” Luz replied.

“I've gained some pretty powerful connections through that alone,” Camila added, “especially since this isn't the first time I've had to reach out to someone for help because someone was clearly in danger. You have my word that you are well and truly safe now cariño, and any right that man has to calling himself your guardian is going to be taken from him.”

“I...” Valentina felt overwhelmed by just how much these people had gone out of their way to show her more care than she'd ever felt in her entire life. “Thank you... so much... this means more to me than you'll ever know, but... what will I do now? As much of a bastard as he was, Caleb still gave me a home...”

“Which is why I'm willing to offer my home to you,” Camila replied, causing Valentina's eyes to widen.

“But... I...” she stammered.

“When I called you 'mi hermana' out there in the closing moments of that match, I meant it,” Luz told her. “I know it's kind of funky to think of you as a sister since you've been forced to be my twin for so long now, but I'd truly love to see you as that and bond with you if you're comfortable with that.”

“Plus, since my little girl's already moved out and is living with her girlfriend, I wouldn't mind welcoming you into my home with open arms and treating you as another daughter,” Camila added. “Again, only if you're comfortable with that, since I know you've been through so much already.”

Amelia looked stunned for a moment at Luz's mom referring to her as “her daughter's girlfriend” with so much more care than she'd ever shown before, a sure sign to her that Luz and her mom's relationship truly had improved and maybe she could have one of her own with Dr. Nevado as well as her potential future mother-in-law if everything went the way she wanted it to in the coming weeks. With that in mind, she turned to offer her own sincere smile to Valentina.

“You deserve to be able to choose who you want to be your family Valentina,” she told her, “and we all want to make it clear that we're here for you to help you heal from everything, no matter what form that takes.”

Valentina became teary-eyed, overwhelmed by all of this, and it didn't surprise the others when she threw herself at them and they all embraced her in a big group hug. After a few moments, Amelia did try to pull away to let the new version of the Nevado family have this moment, but Camila firmly kept her in the hug and gave her a look that spoke volumes about how much she was willing to fill the role of a proper mother figure in Amelia's life as much as she was going to for Valentina now, and she found herself fighting back tears of joy in her own right.

“Thank you... all of you...” Valentina quietly told her new found family, willing to give this whole thing one more shot with people she knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she could actually trust this time.