Final Thoughts

Julia was happy for the nice weather today. Though the fall air was chilly, aided by a small but steady breeze that didn’t seem to want to stop anytime soon, though the sun was nice and bright and the sky was clear. As she stood by the bank of the Edo River, Julia felt the slightest sense of relief that her atmosphere wouldn’t be too gloomy for today’s interview. The announcement about her retirement had come out of nowhere, and there were plenty of questions on people’s minds. It wouldn’t be the happiest conversation of her life, but at least mother nature was kind enough to set a good mood for it.

Her clothes were mostly the same as they’d been just days ago when she’d thrown the impromptu challenge out to Valley. Same jeans, boots, jacket and mask - different shirt, but same color. She hadn’t been waiting for long. Five, maybe ten minutes. She wasn’t exactly keeping track. Julia knew Madison would be along soon enough to get things kicked off. Truth be told, part of her was wanting Madison to take as much time as she could in getting there, while another part of her just wanted to get this over with.

In any case, for the moment she just stood there in the grass with her hands resting in her jacket pockets, and took in the scenery. A bridge leading across the river sat in the corner of her field of vision, while the rest of it was occupied by the calm waters, the trees on the other side, and the distant buildings beyond. This wasn’t a spot Julia had come to frequently, but she appreciated how quiet it was here. It helped her gather her thoughts - and there were plenty of those swimming around in her head at the moment. She took in a deep breath, then let it out. “Just take it easy, girl. Ya got this,” she told herself, trying to make sure she’d be as calm and collected as possible once Madison arrived…

----

Valley wasn’t too happy for the nice weather today. It looked pretty enough, sure, as the beams of sunlight filtered in through the window of her apartment. It was the right day for a walk, that lovely time between seasons when things aren’t too cold and aren’t too hot. ‘Porridge days’, her grandmother called them.

It was a happy sort of day, and truth told, she wasn’t feeling too happy. Goodbyes always sucked.

She’d spent the day tidying up her apartment, getting it as nice and clean as a place that was home to two wrestler and two cats could ever hope to be. Haley was out for the day, getting ready for an upcoming match of her own, so the place was all hers. Hers and Madison’s. Friction’s first and foremost interviewer was due to show up anytime, and then they could sit down, have a cup of coffee, and talk about the most anticipated and dreaded match of Valley’s entire career.

Valley vs. Julia. The last clash. The Battle of the High-Flyers. One more time.

She found herself sitting back in her recliner, re-watching her first match with Julia while she waited, taking notes on her phone with one hand while she stroked the cat on her lap, Valentine, with the other. Even now, even though she’d been in the ring with her and seen it all firsthand, it was still amazing to see Julia go. So fast, so fluid, so confident. She was everything Valley valued in wrestling, in one neat little package.

And now she was leaving.

“Take it easy, take it easy.” She had a long sigh and gave Valentine a good scratch behind his ear, in that spot that always made him purr. Made her feel better. A little. “I got this.” She settled in and focused on the television, calming herself as best she could before Madison arrived…


--

Julia wasn’t exactly sure how long she’d been waiting when she finally hear a car approaching down the road. A glance in the direction of the sound brought a white van into sight, becoming seemingly larger and louder as it drew closer to her. It came to a halt roughly fifty feet away from her, and both the driver and passenger doors opened almost at that very second. Madison scrambled out of one side and started to straighten out her clothes and and brush her hair around with her fingers, though the breeze was likely to undo whatever last minute work she attempted. A man Julia hadn’t seen before - or at least one she was unfamiliar with - came out of the other door and hurried to the back of the van, where he quickly began to unpack what little equipment they’d need. Deciding not to make them walk all the way over to her, Julia began to walk toward Madison, who met her halfway with a warm smile and an outstretched hand.

“Julia! Always a pleasure!” Madison said cheerily as they shook hands. “Sorry to make you wait. We had a bit of trouble with one of our cameras,” she explained, though Julia just chuckled and waved a hand. “Don’t worry ‘bout it. It’s a nice day out, and I’ve just been enjoyin’ the weather,” the cowgirl said with a shrug.

“I can’t say I blame you. It’s the perfect sort of atmosphere to collect your thoughts with. Speaking of which, I hope you don’t mind if we get right to it. I don’t want to rush you of course, but that was quite an announcement you made the other night, and I’ve got quite a few things I’m eager to ask about it.”

“No problem. Reckon I’m ‘bout as ready as I’ll ever be,” Julia replied, and Madison turned to call out to the man who’d accompanied her, and was only just now quickly trudging his way over toward them with his camera under one arm and a tripod under the other. “Everything good to go?” Madison asked while giving the man a thumbs up.

“Just have to set this up then we’ll be set,” he replied, and they patiently waited while he took a moment to set up the tripod and place the camera on top of it. It gave Julia a few more precious seconds to calm her mind down and relax just a bit more. And in the meantime, Madison gave her a small microphone to clip onto the collar of her shirt. She wasn’t paying enough attention to notice any sort of cue from the cameraman that they were starting, but the sound of Madison’s voice brought her right back to reality.

“Hello, and thanks for tuning in! This is Madison Heights, and I’m here now with Julia Rogers. Now, Julia…” she turned from the camera to face the masked blonde as she spoke. “You announced recently that you’re soon to be leaving AFW, quite possibly for good. And I think the first thing everyone wants to know now is, why? What brought you to this decision, and why now?”

It didn’t surprise Julia at all that this was how the interview was kicking off, but something about hearing the words from Madison made the weight of it all feel even heavier. Her gaze briefly shifted to the ground, before she answered. “It definitely wasn’t an easy decision to make. I’ve spent a few years of my life here, y’know? Japan’s really become like a second home to me. But just like I said in the ring, my real home needs me. There’s details I’d really rather not get into, but the bottom line is that I gotta be there for my family. No matter how much I love what I’ve got goin’ on here, family’s the most important thing. I’ve gotta do what’s best for them, ‘cause god knows how much they’ve sacrificed for my sake.”

Madison nodded along as Julia spoke, waiting for her to finish. “Well, I can certainly understand that.” She couldn’t. Not entirely, at least. Maybe she could grasp the general idea behind Julia’s sentiment, but she still could tell there was more to the story. Unfortunately, it was clear enough that information wasn’t something Julia was going to have any interest in discussing on camera. So she simply decided to move on. “But you didn’t just leave it at a retirement announcement. You called out Valley Doll for one final showdown! Obviously you two have history together. But to name her as your last opponent, that’s a pretty big deal! What makes Valley Doll such an important opponent to you?”

“It ain’t often ya meet someone who reminds ya so much of ‘yerself,” Julia quickly answered, now smiling as she spoke. “Sure, there’s tons of amazing wrestlers in this league. I could spend all day namin’ ‘em. But those two matches Val and I had...those were special. Didn’t need titles or contendership stakes to make it special either. It was just two of the best high-flyin’ gals battlin’ the skies to see who could do it better. But that’s somethin’ that ain’t been settled yet. No matter what my situation is, I just can’t let myself leave this place until we settle the score, and give the fans a proper ending to it all.”

“If it’s anything like the other matches, then I think it’s safe to say we’re all in for quite a treat! Though, you mentioned the plethora of spectacular talent in the company, and of course there’s many you haven’t had the chance to wrestle. Are there any on the roster you regret not having the opportunity to face?”

“Hmm…” Now that was something Julia hadn’t given as much thought too. But as she thought about it now, she found the list in her mind rapidly growing by the second. “Cecilia Northman, for sure. To be honest I’d hoped I might be lucky enough to challenge her for the title sometime down the line… Had a great spar with Adrian Kytes once, but I’ve always wanted to take her on for real. Angel was somethin’ of a dream opponent of mine from the moment I walked into the league, but obviously that never happened either. And hell, there’s been tons of new talent recently that I think have an amazing amount of potential! Would’ve been great to get in the ring with some of ‘em…” Julia restlessly shifted her feet around a bit. Thinking about this was making her want to try to find a way to stay longer, maybe see how many of those matches she could squeeze in. But deep down, she knew there really wasn’t any point in thinking about it. She’d made her decision already, and as much as she didn’t want to leave Japan, she knew it was the right call, with the right sendoff. “Yeah, I do regret that I won’t get the chance to wrestle a decent number of people on the roster. But I hope they all realize their potential and become the best wrestlers they can be.”

“I see. Now, going back to your upcoming match with Valley Doll. You said she’s the perfect final opponent for you, the best choice on the roster. And if there’s one thing people associate with you in regard to wrestling, it’s high risk. What’s at risk for you in this match?”

Another thought that Julia hadn’t thought over so much, but it didn’t take long to come up with an answer. “Obviously there’s always a great deal of danger whenever ya got gals like Val and me flyin’ all over the place like we do. But…” She hesitated, and crossed her arms in front of her before continuing. “...To be completely honest, one of my biggest problems in Japan is that I’ve not been too great about capitalizing on big opportunities. I went undefeated my rookie year, and since my debut I’ve challenged for a title on four different occasions, and I’ve never quite been able to pull it off. As far as I’m concerned, that brief time I spent with the Entropy title doesn’t even count. It doesn’t bother me that I ain’t been a real champion here, but it does sorta bother me that I’ve come up short in so many of the moments that’ve mattered most. And to me this match with Val is more important than any title match I’ve been a part of. I want to prove that Julia Rogers is the best high flyer around, and I can’t do that if I’m on my back, starin’ up at the lights while the ref makes the three count.”

Madison was a bit taken back. She hasn’t suspected someone like Julia would think of herself that way. “Champion or not, it’s clear you’ve made an impact on AFW and it’s fans!” she said cheerily, before a signal from the cameraman told her it was about time to wrap this up. “We’re just about out of time, but first, do you have any words for Valley Doll heading into the big match?”

Julia’s hands slowly moved back into her jacket pocket, then she looked toward the camera.

“Val, I think ya already have a pretty good idea of how much respect I have for ya. We’ve had two classic battles already, and there couldn’t be a better way for me to go out than to do it one more time. The last time we fought, ya worked over my leg so bad I couldn’t even stand by the end of it. But I want ya to understand somethin’. You can burn the land and boil the see, but ya can’t take the sky from me...”

And that was that. Julia’s mind was so preoccupied with thoughts of the match and her eventual departure from Japan that she hardly even remembered saying her farewells and seeing Madison and the cameraman drive off. Suddenly, she was just standing there in the grass, watching the van drive back across the bridge.

With all the questions answered, it was time to devote all her time and energy into preparing for quite possibly the most important match of her life...

---

“Mr. Buttons?” Valley raised an eyebrow as she leaned back into her couch, watching as Madison made ready. “That’s what you call your cat?”

Madison was facing away from Valley at the time, setting up her equipment and getting everything squared away. Even so, the Slamazon swore she could see the blush from the other side of her face, as if she were glowing beat red. It was cute, really. The two of them had gotten to know each other fairly well - as fairly well as two women could get to know each other in the ten minutes since Madison came into her apartment. More than anything, Valley learned that Madison had a love for cats. In fact, the interview would’ve likely started already if she hadn’t had to pet Valentine for a good two minutes.

Not that Valley minded. Valentine was happiest when he was being petted, and she was happy to hold this off for as long as she could.

“He ate a button when he was a kitten, nearly choked on the dang thing.” She moved around the tripod, adjusted the height, then adjusted it again. She was fastidious. “So, you know...Mr. Buttons.” She looked up just long enough to flick her tongue out. “Like you did better. Valentine?”

Valley shrugged. “Valley, Valentine, made sense to me. Plus I have the whole heart motif going on, so it works.” She canted her head to the side and smirked. “Interviewing me already?”

Madison just chuckled and finished up, getting the camera at just the right angle, down to the millimeter. “I don’t think the AFW Universe is going to be as interested in the life of your cat as I am. Later, maybe.” She gave Valley a sly wink, then scooted back to sit on a chair by the kitchen table, note cards in hand. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

“Then we’re on in 3...2...1…” Valley could see an immediate change come over Madison - all of the sudden she looked more intense and focus, her gaze zeroing in from across the room. It reminded Valley of the look she put on - or tried to - when she was in the gorilla position. Show time.

“Welcome back, folks!” She eagerly chirped. “Now that we’ve spoken with Julia, it’s time we saw the other side of the coin - the Entropy Champion, Valley Doll. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us, Ms. Wells.”

That brought a quick smile to Valley’s face. When was the last time anyone had remembered that her last name wasn’t actually ‘Doll’? “Valley Doll’s just fine, please. And it’s my pleasure, Madison.”

“As was taking up this match, from the sound of your response to Julia.” She click-clacked the pen in her hand and made a few notes on a card, crossing something out from the looks off. “Tell me, what was going through your mind when you heard the announcement and the challenge?”

Valley eased back into the couch and sighed, blowing away a few stray strands on her face in the process. “Well, that’s two different things, isn’t it?” She rubbed her chin. “When I heard her say that she was leaving, I…” Wanted to cry, wanted to scream. “...wasn’t too happy. Julia and I haven’t been as close as I would’ve liked - we’ve never gone to each other’s birthday parties or went shopping or anything like that. But she was always my favorite opponent in the AFW, probably ever. Always felt like she pushed me to my absolute limit. Having that suddenly just be out of my life, not a thing anymore, it’s just…”

Damn it, she could already feel the tears welling up. Best not to go too far down this road.

“But when she issued the challenge, well…” Valley ran a hand through her hair and chuckled. “I think I owe a few people apologies at the arena. Knocked them over on my way to the ring. Sorry guys.”

“Oh, we have footage of that.” She gave Valley a wink, earning an instant blush. “You’ve always been really supportive of the younger generation in the AFW, and some have wondered if you were hoping to pass the torch off to Julia. Was it like that?”

Valley folded her arms and sat back, taking a second to ponder that one. It wasn’t anything she hadn’t asked herself before in some form or another, but now that she had to really ponder it…

“I’d say no.” She tapped her chin. “My mother once told me that every wrestler has a clock, you know? There’s only so many matches in all of us, and every time we go in the ring and we get slammed or we go flying, that clock ticks down a little more. So I don’t know how much longer I have on my clock, how many matches I have left in me - but I do know that I won’t stop going until I find out. I intend to do this as long as my body lets me.”

“So no passing the torch?”

“Nope. Not a big fan of that phrase, anyway.” That was true enough. She certainly heard it more than enough time when her mother retired. “It sorts of implies that Julia’s working up to my level, and she’s not. We’re about as equal as two wrestlers can get?”

“Totally equal?”

“Well…” Valley canted her head to the side, then held up her hand with her forefinger and thumb less than an inch about. “I’m a little better. A Iittle.”

“Right.” Madison just smirked a knowing smirk. “But Julia had beaten you before.”

“And I’ve beaten her.”

“Hence the ‘rubber match’.” Madison broke out the air quotes, even though they camera couldn’t catch that from its position. “You’ve fought Julia extensively, seen so much of what she has to offer. Do you think she’ll have any surprises in store for you?”

“I don’t think it, I know it. See, that’s the great thing about a wrestler like Julia.” Valley leaned forward, always eager to talk shop. “So many wrestlers are stagnant. They learn a set of moves, they get into their groove, and they never really expand. They never try to experiment or do things that someone in their class might not be used to. They don’t diversify their moveset. But Julia brings something new out every single match. There’s always a new trick, a new angle she can come at your from, and if you want to keep up with her you have to be just as inventive.”

“You sound like a kid on Christmas morning.”

“Do I?” Valley drummed her fingers along the armrest with a wistful smile. “I guess I am. Like, I’m anxious to see what sort of moves she’ll show me, what new little tricks she has. And I’m really anxious to show her all the new stuff I’ve learned.”

“Stuff like?”

Valley opened her mouth, eager to share a few things, but she cut herself off before a peep could escape and wagged her finger. “That would be telling. Just wait a couple weeks, Madison. You’re all in for quite a show, I can promise you that much.”


“Oh, I never questioned that for a second.” Madison stayed polite, but Valley could see her quick glance at the microwave clock, the slight nervousness - this was a busy woman with places to be and things to do. Busy line of work. “Before we wrap up,I’ll let you know that Julia had a few parting words for you - I’d bet you could hazard a guess on what she had to say. Anything to throw back in response?”

“Oh, yeah.” Valley focused on the camera, staring it with the same intensity that she’d bring when she and Julia met face to face. The same energy, the same buzz. “I’m really sad to see you go Julia. Wrestling you has been one of the greatest honors of my entire career, no question, and I don’t regret a single moment of it. I wish you the best, and I hope you leave the AFW with a good taste in your mouth...but don’t think for a second that means I’ll be holding back. I came close to beating you the first time, the second time I proved I could, and this time? I’m not leaving any doubts. There’s only one Queen of the Skies, Julia, and I’m going to make sure you never forget who she is.”

Just saying it made Valley feel giddy, like she was in the gorilla position, getting ready to come running out. The ultimate challenge, the ultimate match, the final test, the only way to cement her status as the greatest female high-flyer in the world.

Valley gave the camera a thumbs up and winked. A little corny, but that was wrestling for you. “See you in the ring, cowgirl.”