Friends Will be Friends Will be Friends...

The AFW Complex was known not only for its large arena, but for its surprisingly proficient medical wing within the complex. Given the sheer toughness of the girls involved and how hard they fought, it wasn't surprising that some would need to stay hours, even a full night sometimes, before they could go home.

On this day, the hardest fight of the night, by far, had been the brutal 3 falls match between Valley Doll and Silver Ace, both girls doing their best against each other, blood, sweat, and tears left on the mat. In the end however, both girls were unconscious, neither of them able to get the win over the other, their bodies being stretchered to the medical wing, where they were put in a room with two beds a few feet away, with the door closed to allow them the chance to rest and recover. Neither of them had any threatening injuries, luckily, but the nurses had expected them to stay overnight, all the same.

It was here that Ace awoke groggily, coughing as she slowly came to her senses, recognizing the medical room from previous visits and, once the groggy-ness wore off, she tried to assess her condition.

She could move her limbs, that was good. She could breath just fine, that was good. She discovered her shirt was off, rolled up in a ball on a chair next to the bed, but given how heavy it was, she realized the nurses probably removed it to help her breath easier, even if it did leave her modest chest in just her bra. Removing her gloves, she checked the cut on her head, finding that it had bandaged and, she assumed, cleaned first.

Her self diagnostic complete, she looked over at Valley, looking her friend over. Like Ace, she was bruised, but didn't look all to bad. Ace's eyes widened as she saw smears of blood around Valley's cheek, arm, and thighs, but sighed in relief as she realized that it was her own, from when her face had rubbed against various parts of Valley during moves and holds. She didn't have a mirror handy, but she probably had more blood smears on herself than her friend did.

Her friend....that made the silver haired girl smile. She had gone into this match with a chip on her shoulder against Valley, but somehow, through the course of the whole thing, her feelings changed. She had finally realized the truth, that her previous issues with Valley, the woman not trying her hardest, treating Ace like a project instead of a girlfriend, really did have good intentions behind them. Ace had gotten beaten up a lot back then, and she was punching above her weight limit, it was only natural Valley would feel protective. Maybe things would have been different if they had gotten to know each other better before hooking up, if they had gotten to be friends first, instead of falling for each other right off the bat. They started hot, and both got burned because of it.

But maybe now...things could be different.


"H..H-Hey...Val....Vaaaaallll"

Ah. The feeling of waking up in an unfamiliar room after getting knocked out in a hard fight, wearing a t-shirt instead of the tights you went to sleep with. This brought back so many memories for Valley, and she couldn't help but feel a sudden twinge of nostalgia.

It took a few moments for her to come back to life properly. Her eyes opened, just a peek, letting a few slivers of light in and getting adjusted to the room's dimness.  She stared straight up and looked at the ceiling tiles. Didn't move. Didn't speak. Barely blinked. All Valley could do right now, all she wanted to do, was think, as her brain started to piece together memories of what happened to get her here in the first place.

She'd lost. She'd been knocked out by Haley...somehow. She wasn't even sure what happened. Things had been going solidly in her favor, she seemed to have the whole match locked up. She was one, good DDT away from knocking Haley clean out and winning one of the longest, hardest matches of her entire career. Heck, a well-placed drop kick would have done the trick.

And then, out of nowhere, it was over. Just like that. Haley turned her off like a light switch, and she still couldn't figure out what happened.

A crueler, meaner part of her wanted to write it off as luck, but Valley stuffed those thoughts away and locked them tight. Haley hadn't won three matches in a row out of luck. Luck hadn't earned her the Entropy Title. And, however she'd beaten her, luck had nothing to do with it. Haley was just that damn good.

She let out a small sigh of acceptance and nodded. One more loss for the pile. But at least this was one she could be proud of. They'd torn each other apart in that ring, and no one could say they hadn't given it everything they had to give. At the end of the day, that was the most important takeaway.

Valley had been so absorbed in her thoughts that she hadn't bothered to process the rest of the room, so she was a bit surprised when she heard Haley's voice coming from beside her. She jumped at the sound, but eased quickly enough as she turned her way and smiled, happy to see she was doing the same.

"Hey, there, champ." She shuffled around in the bed and turned the rest of her body Haley's way. "How's your head feel?"

"Like I took my own Flash Kick, but at least the bleeding stopped...though I think we'll both be needing to get cleaned up when we get the chance."

She replied, gesturing to the smears on Valley's body.

Sighing, Ace winced as she turned to face her more directly. Her body ached just in the small movement, but it was worth it. Rubbing her head a little, Ace asked an important question.

"So...who won anyway? I kinda....passed out after hitting that Ace Crusher. Did you get back up?"

Valley sighed as she looked at Haley's head, hoping she didn't look too much like a dottering mother. Head injuries were serious business, especially in their profession. "Be sure to get that checked out, okay?" She followed Haley's gesture and saw the bloody smears, sticking out clearly on her shiny white outfit. "For  me, please."

She tried to sit  up and only made it halfway before the pain in her neck kicked in, courtesy of Haley's very special variation on the STF. It would probably hurt to nod for weeks. [color=#ccff00]"Ow. Ow. Ow." She grumbled and hissed as she massaged her neck and tried to work the kinks out. It did remind her of the match's intimacy, though. The passion. The sensuality. It was something they definitely needed to discuss, along with figuring out who actually won their match, but before they did, Valley had to answer an important question.

"No, I didn't get back up, but..." She scratched her head and hoped all the damage hadn't given her memory loss. "'Ace Crusher'? What's that? Sounds a little familiar, but..."

Haley winced a little as Valley massaged her neck. Not surprising, given most of Ace's moveset revolved around targeting the head and neck areas. This was the first time she had encountered an opponent directly after a match, as opposed to days later when they had healed. It was interesting to see just what kind of effect her moves had.

"The Ace Crusher. Its my new finisher. It was made in Japan a few decades ago and I thought it would let me appeal to the crowd more. I started using it after Summer Splash, so I guess you hadn't seen it yet."

Ace replied, explaining her move before her eyes widened as she realized something.

"So...wait a minute. I passed out, and if you didn't get back up then...neither of us won? We went through all of that, just for a draw?"

Valley saw the way Haley winced, but she waved it off with a smile. "It's not that bad, I've had worse." She shrugged and immediately regretted the move, as it bounced too many muscles in her neck. Apparently that was out for a little while, too. Maybe a chiropractor was in order. "I think. Can't remember, off-hand."

She stopped and thought for a moment, pondering what Haley said. A draw. She couldn't even remember the last time she had one, but she remembered the feeling. Hollow. Disappointed. Annoyed, like she'd wasted her time and gotten no real result.

That wasn't what she felt here, though. "I think it was worth it." She extended her hand halfway between them, opening it for Haley to place hers inside. "You've gotten so goood. It was great to wrestle you again. For real, this time." She fought back a little wince and rubbed her neck with her spare hand. "Though I don't want to make it a common things."

Ace smiled, reaching her hand out and connecting with Valley's, giving it a nice squeeze. It felt great, talking and holding hands with her again, though she had to wince herself as her back flared.

"Yeah, I agree. It was fun, and you really are awesome, don't ever think otherwise...but I don't think I want to do that again anytime soon. I think you fucked up my back."

She said, adding a playful whimper onto the end of her comment, just to tease her. She hung her head after though, blushing a little.

"Listen um....I meant what I said out there...I'm sorry. For...you know..."

It was funny, but even though she and Haley just had plenty of bodily contact - some of it quite intimate - Valley valued the feel of their hands mingling again more than any of it. She threaded their fingers together and held firm, like she was afraid Haley might let go and fall out of her life again.

"I know you did." She brushed her tattered and tangled hairs away from her face so Haley would have the full view. They needed to look at each other, eye to eye. "And I did, too. I said a lot of stupid things. Really stupid, mean things, and I know I can't just take them back. But..."

Valley bit her lips, hoping she wasn't going too far, too fast. Making Haley's decision and drive her life had to stop. No question.

"Y..Yeah..."

Ace replied, squeezing back, smiling again. The woman's apology was genuine, as was Ace's. Things were better now, at last.

"It's alright...We both made mistakes...but its alright now....I've got my best friend back."

She replied, her eyes, still red from her usual pre-match dye, getting a little moisture in them, that she quickly dabbed away.

"Dang, can't cry. If I do, the dye will get mixed up and I'll have weird colored eyes for an hour."

Ace laughed a little, her hand still holding Valleys.

"So tell me...whats been new lately? How's Valentine?"

Well, that did it. Haley was crying. Valley had to get over there, now.

"Hey, hey." She ignored the pain and swung her way out of the bed, putting her bare feet on the chillingly cold floor. She hopped her way over and sat beside her former lover, giving her a hug and smile to go along with it. Seemed right.

"Valentine's fine. He's been a little testy since I got him back after Summer Splash, though. Think he misses you. Little brat." Valley gave her a playful elbow in the side and hoped she didn't hit anything tender. "But what else, what else...I've been losing. Badly." She managed to say it with a smile, something she wouldn't have been able to do even an hour ago. Losses were losses. They happened. "New suit, and..."

Valley darkened when she thought back to Katya and their little incident in the shower. Best to get that out as soon as possible. The worst thing would be for Haley to hear about it from someone else. Heaven forbid she and Katya actually met. "I got into a pretty nasty fight. In the showers."