Xander Valentine, Heaven & Blythe vs. Selena Frost, Polly & Raynes

[Wisteria Waltz]

OOC: This CD references some things from the Selena CD that was just posted for this match. The contents of the letter in this piece are not public knowledge, with only The Light In The Darkness and Selena Frost (its intended recipient) knowing of what it says.
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There was a lot going through the mind of Amelia Blythe, and she couldn't recall the last time she'd struggled this much to get her mental library organized so she could tackle these things one at a time.

Surprisingly, SCW matters were near the top of the list, which hadn't been the case in what felt like forever because of all the chaos that tended to follow The Light In The Darkness no matter where they went. It was an odd feeling, but far from an unwelcome one, having concerns about her career take priority for once instead of having to have eyes in the back of her head for anybody coming for her, Luz and their found family beyond the ropes. It felt refreshing to worry about things like her and Luz's next World Tag Title defense, especially after the Trios Tournament had kind of upended things a bit, or how they were faring solo thus far, as opposed to whether or not The Empire would try to rise again and seek revenge or people obsessed only with how things can benefit them trying to weaponize the couple to achieve their end goals.

Admittedly, Amelia had her concerns at the road to Apocalypse continued. After all, the last time they not only had chances to prove themselves in singles matches but were tied up with other things, they had ultimately lost the titles in a defense on Breakdown that had thrown them way off mentally. At least this time they knew who would be waiting for them and it wasn't a chance for history to be made at their expense for a third time, but they still felt bad about the delay on defending their titles since they had yet to do so after winning them back at Rise to Greatness.

Still, David Striker would hopefully be tided over with his opportunity to earn another title shot in the meantime, as would Luz given her own opportunity she'd been given.

Amelia had felt bad for Luz considering how the tournament had played out. The thought of actually facing one another in the finals had been an exciting prospect considering how long it had been since they'd actually squared off in a proper match to see who was better at this moment, but she had been worried for another reason. After all, this now marked two tournament finals that Amelia had managed to fight her way to, and while Luz hadn't been in the U.S. Title tournament last year, knowing that her Trios efforts across two tournaments hadn't brought her to that moment where she could win the contract couldn't have been sitting well with her, especially since Luz had been encouraging her to keep the contract in mind for herself should her team win and not worry about trying to do something nice for Luz to make up for it.

She didn't know if that was just Luz being selfless again and putting others before her own desires, but that would be a conversation to have for later. After all, Luz did have a chance of her own to still step up and potentially find herself with singles gold again, so ultimately it was working out and they were proving themselves in the way they had hoped to.

Of course, there were still other matters to attend to beyond SCW that were important, and one of them was currently staring her in the face and grating on her last nerves.

'It's not too late. There's still a chance to call off your sinful display and find comfort in His welcoming embrace.'

Amelia wanted to gag as she read through the random text message that she had woken up to this morning, knowing that Luz had received the exact same one. Well... she wanted to say it was random, but truth be told, it fell in line with the other cryptic threats the couple had been getting for weeks now begging them to call off their wedding. The way it was consistently portrayed with such a holy coat of paint made them immediately think that someone from the remnants of The Empire was desperately trying to 'save' them even without Caleb calling the shots, but unfortunately they had no concrete proof. Any attempts from their allies in law enforcement to dig into it hadn't yielded much in the way of results: any letters they got had no prints aside from those of the people who had actually delivered them, none of whom had any known connections to The Empire and were simply doing their regular jobs. The texts kept coming despite them constantly blocking the numbers because it had been confirmed they were all coming from burner phones.

What Amelia would really love to know was why they were still being harassed by these lunatics. Their leader was going to rot in a jail cell for the rest of his life, where he belonged, and the other high-ranking members of the cult were either serving prison time of their own (such as Amelia's parents) or had completely turned on Caleb once the truth was out that the vast majority of them were just expendable pawns that Caleb never intended to 'save,' only give himself the numbers to try and pull off his crazy self-serving plan. At this point, only those truly devoted to Caleb's cause despite everything that was out in the open now had any reason to, and by now they knew that attempting to do so would end in failure with the FBI and the NCA both still actively trying to hunt them down.

“You'd think they would have thrown in the towel by now,” Luz had said that morning while the two were getting ready for the day.

“They're persistent,” Amelia admitted. “It's one thing when we and anyone else show it in the business, but it's another entirely when you're clearly beaten in a messed-up game we didn't want any part of to begin with and you just don't take the hint.”

As the couple got dressed and had breakfast, they discussed their plans for the day. The final Breakdown before Apocalypse had been last night, so there was plenty of time until Apocalypse to prepare for their respective matches. While they were still in New Orleans, Luz had agreed to head out to the old magick shop that ran in Marilyn's family to help her clean the place up a bit, maybe see if there was anything that could be incorporated into their wedding plans since she and Amelia were going all-in on holding the ceremony on Día de Muertos. Amelia had plans of her own, but she was hesitant to tell Luz about them and her fiancée respected that, picking up on it being something that Amelia didn't want to fully share until she was ready.

The topic of conversation eventually turned to other wedding matters, namely the invitations they had sent out. Granted, everyone in their found family was already coming and many were even in the wedding party, but they had all been amused to receive invitations anyway as a keepsake. There weren't too many people who had been invited beyond that, mostly some of Luz's father's old colleagues in the business and a few people who had actually cared for Amelia and not just interacted with her because of dealings with her parents. Despite not officially being invited, agents from both the FBI and NCA would also be in attendance providing security along with local officers, just in case these bizarre warnings were active hints at a desire to crash the wedding if they went through with it. Given that members of The Empire had vandalized various ofrendas, especially the one for Luz's father, during Día de Muertos last year, local law enforcement had every reason to defend their home turf this year given the possibilities.

There were a few RSVPs that hadn't come back to them yet to confirm or deny attending, and one in particular on that short list stood out in Amelia's mind.

“Luz?” Amelia asked after swallowing another bite of her pancakes. “Do you know if we officially got word back from the Frosts yet?”

“I...” Luz started before sighing. “No, I didn't see their RSVP come back through. I want to hope they got it, but between Deanna spiraling over that Enigma creep and Selena being... well, Selena, I guess? Maybe we won't hear back until after Apocalypse when everything kind of clears up... hopefully.”

Amelia couldn't help but sigh as well. She and Luz had wanted to hope it was all just something Selena was doing because she was still frustrated over everything she felt had gone downhill after the announcement that Mr. D was selling SCW early last year, but these past few weeks had started to convince them otherwise. Luz had been annoyed that despite Selena's claims of wanting to still put forth a clean fight even with her new attitude, she had bent the rules the first chance she could to bring a premature end to their dance all so she could keep trying to get under the skin of one of her partners. And then there was last night... the confrontation between Amelia and Selena during the interview between their respective Trios teams had been brief, but she and Luz could both tell by the tone in Selena's voice that maybe this hadn't been some sort of act this whole time.

Add in the fact that Selena had found a moment where Amelia had been alone to talk with her backstage before she made her presence known during the closing segment of the show, attempting to actually get into her head the same way her parents and so many others have tried to do over the years, and it was all but confirmed now that maybe the Selena Frost they had come to respect both in and out of the ring was long gone... whether or not that fact genuinely bothered Selena was hard to tell, but there was a fire burning beneath Amelia's skin about how painfully familiar this whole thing felt, and it was not sitting well with her.

“What should we do?” Luz suddenly asked, snapping Amelia out of her thoughts. “I don't want to just give Mamá the go-ahead to start working on a seating chart, especially since we're still waiting to hear back from a few more people, but especially after what you told me happened last night when I went to pull our car around... I feel like Selena could care less anymore about being a part of our big day, especially since it'd be happening so close to Under Attack. Heck, for all I know I could be lucky enough to find myself facing Deanna for her title on that show if Apocalypse plays out like I hope it will!”

“I might prefer defending the titles we've already got on that show personally,” Amelia mused. “Especially considering it'd be our first time teaming together as Mrs. and Mrs. Nevado.”

Amelia may have grinned at the thought, but Luz picked up on a flicker of worry in that expression. She didn't know what it was about, considering the two had long since agreed that Amelia would be ditching her family name for Luz's, but she wasn't going to push the issue if Amelia didn't feel like discussing it.

“Well...” Luz started to respond, gently taking Amelia's hand from across the table and kissing the back of it before offering the kind of cheesy grin that always brought a genuine smile to her partner's face. “Whatever the plan is for that night, we need to make Apocalypse work for us first. And as far as Selena and Deanna are concerned... we at least know they got the invite since Selena mentioned it to you, but she technically hasn't confirmed she wants to be there, and I know Deanna's been distracted...”

“We'll figure something out,” Amelia mused as she smiled back at Luz. “I just... I've been down that road before, even if I wasn't given a choice in the matter, and I'd hate to see Selena become anything like that just because she's putting success in this business above all else.”

Luz nodded, knowing full well how cold and obsessed Amelia was back when they'd first met, before she'd had a chance to show her that they truly weren't that different after all and she didn't have to be nothing more than a tool to further her family's legacy.

Once breakfast was finished, the couple agreed to talk more about this later and decide what to do on that front. After all, they still had to figure out their training plan for Apocalypse given their respective matches and what was at stake for each of them. Right now, however, they were parting ways, and once Amelia confirmed that Luz had left with Marilyn to go do their thing and she wouldn't be coming back because she'd forgotten anything, she knew it was time to do something she'd been planning on doing for quite some time now.

It wasn't something she truly needed to do, in all honesty, and she had a feeling she already knew what the answer was... but the need for formality was deeply ingrained into Amelia's very being whether she liked it or not, and she wanted to make this official.

Well... as official as she could, given the circumstances.

That was what led to her finding a very specific hotel room and knocking on the door, stiffly assuming an 'appropriate' posture as she waited for the door to open. Once it did, she locked eyes with the woman she'd been hoping to speak with, that being Luz's mother, Dr. Camila Nevado.

“Amelia?” Camila asked, looking a little surprised to see Amelia but no sign of her own daughter. “¿Está todo bien?”

“Sí, lo es,” Amelia replied, hoping to put Camila at ease. Maybe it would've worked if she hadn't been so stiffly trying to replicate the posture of a 'perfect young woman' like she tended to only do during her entrance these days, because Camila still looked concerned.

“Did something happen with Luna?” was her next question.

“Luz is fine ma'am,” Amelia replied. “She and Marilyn just left to go check out the Clauson family's old magick shop here in New Orleans.”

“Right, I almost forgot that's what they were up to today,” Camila mumbled to herself. “In that case... is there something I can help you with Amelia? You're looking a little too tense if everything's truly alright.”

Amelia let out a shaky breath in response as her posture relaxed a little. “I'm sorry Ms. Noceda...”

“Please cariño, we've talked about this,” Camila laughed as she gently put a hand on Amelia's shoulder. “You don't have to feel you need to be so formal with me. Just Camila is fine.”

“Sorry...” Amelia mumbled again. “Um... can I come in? I wanted to talk with you about something, kind of pertaining to the wedding.”

“Of course, come in,” Camila offered as she ushered Amelia inside and closed the door behind them. “I will say right now, though: if you're hoping to see Luz's outfit for the wedding, I'm afraid I'm going to have to say no.”

“I have no intention of breaking tradition,” Amelia chuckled, though it quickly faded as her nervous tone quickly returned. “That's... kind of something I wanted to actually talk with you about, though. Something about tradition, I mean.”

“OK?” Camila sat down on the edge of her bed, curious as to where this was going.

Amelia took a deep breath, trying to steady herself for a conversation she knew wasn't going to be as stressful as she thought it would, but she still had her doubts given she'd never actually had to do this before.

“I know this is probably silly to even ask at this point, but I still wanted to do this the right way. It's probably awkward given that nothing about what Luz and I have been doing has been very 'traditional' when it comes to this whole marriage process, and we're ignoring the fact that my parents would never approve but their opinion doesn't matter anymore anyway because they're rightfully sitting in prison. Still, in my head, I feel I need to do this the right way, as awkward as this might be all things considered, and I certainly don't mean to offend or anything, but... I wanted to officially ask for the blessing of both you and your late husband for Luna's hand in marriage and to take her last name once we're wed.”

Amelia smiled nervously at Camila, knowing that certainly came off way more awkward than she would've liked, but she'd put it out in the open now. For her part, Camila certainly looked surprised, and Amelia was really hoping that wasn't a bad thing. Slowly, Camila rose to a stand and approached her, Amelia growing more nervous with every step that closed the gap between them. She knew deep in the back of her head she probably had nothing to worry about, but they were slowly being buried by the intrusive thoughts of worrying she'd screwed this up with a little over a month to go before the wedding was supposed to happen.

So lost in the impending mental spiral was Amelia that she was genuinely surprised when Camila pulled her into a tight hug, proving that Luz had to have gotten her tendency for such hugs from somewhere. It was also proof that she had nothing to worry about after all, but it was hard to argue with what ran through her head sometimes when she was fixated on certain things she was raised to believe transcended even being a Blythe... things she had a feeling might have been more lies force-fed to her throughout her childhood to some degree.

“You poor thing,” Camila finally said as she pulled back enough to look Amelia in the eyes. “I'm sorry if I feel like I'm ruining this for you, it's just... I thought it was clear that you certainly have my blessing because you've been so good to mi bebé and she's so happy being with you.”

“It's not that I'm questioning that Camila,” Amelia admitted. “It's just... this is probably going to sound so stupid, but... even though I know a lot of the way they raised me was wrong, it's still so hard to just let go of a lot of what my parents raised me to believe. One of those things was the requirement of formality in asking for your blessing for Luz's hand in marriage, something I've put off for too long because of... well, everything else going on. I've probably stressed too much about this, especially since my brain wants to think this isn't going to work because I can't ask Luz's father for his blessing, but I want to hope he would be fine with me becoming a Nevado and leaving the Blythe name behind for good, but I don't know for sure...”

“Oh cariño... you've suffered so much all over a name that's only brought you undeserved pain,” Camila spoke softly, pulling Amelia back in for another hug. “Well, I think—no, I know—my husband's spirit would agree with me that you will always have a place in our family, and if you wish to bear the Nevado name, then we would be honored if you take it.”

“I... are- are you sure?” Amelia stammered, almost as if she wasn't fully expecting that.

“I do,” Camila firmly responded. She could see just how torn up Amelia was about something so trivial and, admittedly, unnecessary at this late stage of her and Luz's wedding planning, but that was hardly her fault. She'd heard all about it from her daughter and even seen some of it firsthand, how poorly Amelia had been treated by her own parents growing up. Thinking about everything Aleister and Ophelia did to this young woman, how hard they worked to force her to be the spitting image of them and demanding nothing less than absolute perfection in all aspects of her life to 'thank' them for molding her into that... Camila wasn't a violent woman, it simply wasn't in her nature, but what those two had done to their own flesh and blood made it hard not to want to beat them half to death with the first object she could get her hands on.

Truth be told, Camila was so very proud of Amelia for as far as she had come. Her daughter may have had a hand in it, but only Amelia herself could truly overcome a lot of the mental and emotional scars that she knew would probably linger for the rest of her life. Seeing Amelia's need to do something in the vein of 'traditional' because she'd been raised to believe it was absolutely necessary truly hurt Camila's heart, but if Amelia needed this to be able to feel like she was worthy of taking on the Nevado name, then she would do her best to show her what kind of love and support she could expect from her new in-laws.

“Would you mind stepping out onto the balcony with me for a moment?” Camila suddenly asked, surprising Amelia.

“Oh! Um... OK?” Amelia questioned as Camila led her out onto the balcony of her room, the two of them staring out at a beautiful view of New Orleans. There was a nice breeze in the air, carrying with it a calming sensation as Amelia took a deep breath.

“Can you feel it?” Camila asked her with a soft smile. “The wind gently blowing through your hair, as if it's trying to provide a feeling that everything's going to be alright?” She watched Amelia nod before she continued. “That would be the spirit of my late husband communicating with us. The world knew him as El Espíritu Angélico, but my daughter and I also got to know the kind, strong, compassionate man beneath the mask... the man we knew as Manuel Nevado. He was the kind of man who we always knew was a fighter, and I've always believed that he would be the kind of man who wouldn't just sit still even in the afterlife. We may be able to commune with his spirit and honor his memory every year on Día de Muertos, but I know my husband... a man whose luchador name literally translates to The Angelic Spirit would be the kind of angel whose always watching over mi hija and I, always.”

“So... you're saying he's seen everything about me since I entered Luna's life?” Amelia asked.

“I wouldn't doubt it,” Camila sighed happily. “I know he would've loved you, Amelia, and encouraged you to pursue your own happiness just as Luna has. Everything that both of you have accomplished both inside and out of the ring, he has smiled down upon you. Close your eyes Amelia... clear your mind for a moment, and listen carefully.”

Amelia gave Camila curious look, but did as she instructed. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, listening to the wind as it gently blew through the city. She had to admit that it was very relaxing, just taking it all in without seeing anything. Just as she felt her mind begin to find peace...

“I am proud of you, Amelia Nevado. You have my blessing.”

Amelia gasped as her eyes snapped open, her head darting around but finding no one else outside in their general vicinity aside from Camila, who was still smiling at her.

“Did you hear that?” she had to ask the older woman.

“Hear what?” Camila chuckled.

“I... I swear I heard a voice...” Amelia stammered out. “It... it called me Amelia Nevado and... and...”

“I told you he was here with us,” Camila said, removing her glasses for a moment to wipe a tear from her eyes. “You've been with Mi Pequeña Luz for long enough to know how important on a spiritual level Día de Muertos is to our culture, and I am honored to know that my husband is watching over our family from the next life... and that includes you, Amelia.”

Amelia couldn't help but wipe a tear away from her own eye, letting it sink in the newfound connection she had to her wife-to-be and the family she would soon officially be a part of. She didn't truly know if it was the work of a spirit looking out for her just as it did for Luz or if it was actually all in her head, but she was willing to believe that El Espíritu Angélico had given her his blessing to marry his daughter... and with any luck, guide them both to a long and prosperous marriage in the long term, and maybe even success at Apocalypse in the short term.

“For what it's worth Amelia,” Camila continued as Amelia turned to face her fully. “I know it's not truly official yet, but... I already consider you part of the family.”

“Thank you...” Amelia breathed out before she threw herself into another hug that Camila tightly returned.

There may still have been a while until she officially became Amelia Nevado, but as far as she was concerned, she already felt more welcomed than she ever felt as a Blythe. She didn't known exactly what the future would hold, and maybe Selena would be right about any potential future bumps in the road between her and Luz, but she was confident they could weather any storm and come out the other end of it stronger than ever, just as they always have.

After all, they had so many incredible people all around them to forge a unusual but unique family that was always looking out for them and keeping them honest with themselves and each other... and that included the spirit of a legend who knew that Amelia would love and care for his daughter no matter what happened.

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Dear Selena,

Perhaps receiving this will come as a surprise to you. Perhaps your first instinct will be to accuse me of ripping off your old Royal Letters to try and prove some sort of point. Personally, you can believe whatever you wish, but I want to make something very clear right off the bat:

This letter isn't addressed to Selena Frost the wrestler. This is addressed to Selena Frost, the human being behind the image you've so painstakingly crafted for SCW.

The fact that this letter is being delivered to you in a sealed envelope should hopefully confirm that what you're about to read is NOT public knowledge. Aside from the two of us, the only other person who knows what is contained herein is my wife-to-be, La Pequeña Luz, as I am sharing these thoughts on behalf of the both of us. If you wish to publicly address any of this whenever you see fit, I cannot stop you from doing so, but know that I am not sabotaging myself to give you free ammunition considering that I've made no secret about anything I am writing about.

I won't lie Selena... that was pretty cold of you—pun not intended—to pull what you did backstage during the previous Breakdown. Cornering me while I was alone, attempting to play into my fears and insecurities so you could twist them into something that could give you the upper hand... I actually had to double-check and see if that was anywhere on the replays because I wanted to hope that I was speaking with who you're trying to be in front of all those fans and that I wasn't speaking with the real you. But I only saw you twice on that broadcast, the two times you stood out in that arena. Part of me was hoping that maybe it was a bad dream, but you actually did talk with me one-on-one, trying to convince me that Luz and I might fall apart like so many other couples have before us because the allure of success in this business got in the way, among so many other claims that may or may not admittedly have some truth to them.

Do you know why it didn't work, Selena?

I could sit here and write about how Luz and I have long established an open and healthy communication with one another to make sure we're aware of any issues and can figure out how to work through them, I could even point to the many times that Luz and I have actually wrestled against one another over the years, even taking championship gold from one another... something that wouldn't have given any cause for concern on our end had Luz's team managed to prevail over yours two Breakdowns ago. I could go into detail about the extensive support system that the both of us have around ourselves now, our little found family that all care for us as much as we care for them and want to ensure a long and prosperous relationship for the two of us.

All of those are contributing factors, but the real, honest-to-God reason why I saw through your efforts?

It's because once upon a time, I was you.

I'm sure you've heard me talk about this in front of a camera plenty of times, but not a single word of it has ever been a lie Selena. As far as my parents were concerned, I was born into this world for one reason and one reason only: to be the perfect heir to the Blythe wrestling empire. I had to be the best, no exceptions, not because it was expected of me but because it was the bare minimum required of me. It was drilled into my head from an early age that I could never lose because I was supposed to be superior to every other wrestler through whatever combination of abuse training and genetics I was told to regurgitate to back up my words. I was hated simply because of who I was, because I existed at all, but it was supposed to be irrelevant because as long as I was the absolute best wrestler in the entire world, bar none, nothing else mattered.

Truth be told, I was absolutely miserable. But I couldn't show it. “Never show weakness” was our family's motto, because we weren't supposed to be just ordinary wrestlers in the eyes of the public... we were supposed to be perfect wrestling machines.

Do you know why that's not the kind of person I am today?

It's because someone out there dared to take a chance on me.

You told me that it's too late for you to be redeemed, that you're too far gone... I know, deep in my heart, that's not true Selena. I know because I've been there, believing I was irredeemable, that there was absolutely nothing else for me because my sole purpose for existing was to be an extension of my family's legacy and I had to achieve greatness by any means necessary to justify all of it. And yet, there was someone out there who believed otherwise, who took a chance on speaking with me when the cameras weren't rolling, not wrestler-to-wrestler but human-to-human. That someone is the same person who went on to become the one to break a year-long perfect undefeated streak that was the symbol of everything that represented how far gone I was, and instead of rubbing it in my face, she offered me her hand and asked me to trust in her, to let her show me that even someone like me was worthy of redemption... all I had to do was try.

And now, I'm offering my hand to you, Selena.

I know what it's like to become consumed by the idea of having to stand at the top because nothing else matters, what it's like to believe you have nothing else because you don't deserve it, to be hated for doing nothing more than existing at all. I've been in the shoes you now wear Selena, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I still bear those scars even to this day. When you spoke with me backstage in the Smoothie King Center, it truly felt like I was looking in a broken mirror at the woman I used to be.

I won't deny that the circumstances aren't quite the same... after all, you chose this path while I was never given a choice, but that doesn't mean I can't offer you a chance to see that you're not beyond redemption, no matter how much you may believe otherwise. You just need to be willing to fight for it.

That's why, even knowing what we know now about your marriage with Deanna, Luz and I were still willing to extend the olive branch and invite the both of you to our wedding... and we sincerely hope you'll attend.

This isn't some sort of elaborate scheme to try and use our big day to fix anything between you and Deanna, because for as concerned as we honestly are, at the end of the day we know that only the two of you can address whatever issues have led you to this point. And, full disclosure, we haven't gotten confirmation from Deanna yet that she plans on attending, though we can understand where her head's been at lately. But even if you decide to attend and she doesn't, Luz and I will welcome you with open arms because we don't care what anyone would say about you being present at our wedding, just as we never cared about any of the times where we happened to catch a few stray boos just because we were associating with you when the fans began to change their tune.

It's easy to turn your back on someone when they begin to slip into the darkness. But those who truly care about you? They're willing to follow you into the darkness and endure whatever they find within to show you the light.

I'm not asking you to abandon the woman you want to portray in front of the SCW fans, because if you want to play the villain then I have no right to stop you. But I've watched you for long enough to know that the real Selena Frost isn't a villain... you all but confirmed it when you did come back, because despite the attitude you chose to approach it with, you still told the world that you wanted things to return to being honorable and fair. You don't have to pretend with me Selena, because I've been that proverbial devil in my own right, and you don't have to let that mindset consume your entire life. No one deserves to make themselves suffer, especially when you've already done more than enough to guarantee that you'll be immortalized in SCW history until the end of time.

You don't need to force yourself to stand at the top until you draw your final breath, because who and when would even be the one you would want to be your swansong?

Luz and I? We're no strangers to fighting the odds to make the impossible happen, no matter the circumstances. After all, without Luz, I wouldn't even be who I am today. She showed me that there was another way, that I could become the person I truly wanted to be and not the villain my family demanded of me, she fought like hell to prove that I wasn't the perfect wrestler just so I could have the chance to rebuild myself from scratch into the woman I am today.

If I have to do that to get through to you Selena, then I will.

But know this... I'm not going to watch as someone I honestly consider a friend destroys herself all because you refuse to think you can come back from this, because I can tell you from firsthand experience Selena: once the darkness takes you, not even achieving what you feel you deserve will give you any satisfaction. You'll be nothing more than a hollow shell, lamenting the life you wanted but feel like you can no longer have, all because you refuse to fight for it.

You can tell me all you want that Selena Frost is irredeemable.

But Luz and I?

We still believe in you.

And we'll happily tell you as much face-to-face on our wedding night.

Call us naive if you want, but there's a reason Luz always tries to find the good in others, why I'm still willing to offer you the chance you won't give yourself even after our conversation. We're stubborn, we're resilient, and we're willing to fight to prove you wrong, no matter what form that takes.

We believe in each other.

We believe in Selena Frost.

We believe... and nothing you say or do is ever going to make us stop believing.

Sincerely,
Amelia

P.S. For what it's worth, I'm genuinely looking forward to sharing the ring with you again, even despite everything.

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Amelia finished writing the letter as Luz read it from over her shoulder, nodding in confirmation before they sealed the letter up in an envelope and addressed it to Selena, making sure to give explicit instructions to ensure it would find its way to her and not be seen by anyone else.

“I really hope this works,” Amelia admitted.

“I believe,” Luz firmly stated, giving Amelia a genuine smile and getting one in return.

“If you've taught me anything over the years Luz,” Amelia said as she looked back down at the envelope, “it's that sometimes all someone needs is to be given a chance to see that they can change.”

“You, my mom, your siblings, Valentina, Henry, Ivy...” Luz listed off.

“And hopefully, Selena will see that we have no plans on giving up on her either,” Amelia added, silently acknowledging the darkness that she and Luz would be diving back into, but knowing they would be prepared.

After all, they've never backed down from a challenge in their lives, especially when that challenge involved people they genuinely cared about, and they didn't plan on starting now.