Lorenza Saldano vs. Carmen Rodriguez - Mi Hermana y Yo

Lorenza was going to hit her with a hook and a straight.

Carmen knew that before it even happened, as if she had read it in a script before the match. It wasn’t some magic ability of hers, she wasn’t so ungodly good that she could read an opponent’s thoughts, she didn’t have that power. No, it just came from over a decade of fighting this woman. Of watching her. Of watching her matches, both theirs and the ones she had with others, both for match prep and more personal uses. Weird as it was to say, Carmen was probably the world’s leading authority on Lorenza Saldano, and she wouldn’t be surprised to learn the reverse was true.

So she could say, with reasonable authority, that those two punches were coming her way after her uppercut didn’t hit paydirt.

Didn’t mean she could do anything about them, though.

She tried, mind you. After she batted the jab aside, she attempted to get her arm up in time for the hook, but it was a fraction too slow, and the blow crashed into her temple like a hammer, jerked her head to the side so hard her neck was hurting off it. That left her open for the straight that followed, a sharp blow waited for her nose the instant she got her head around.

A mean, deadly one-two. Carmen was knocked one step back, then another, before she put her foot down and righted the ship. Guard up, tight, but her vision was blurry, head swimming. That was a solid tag, and the effects wouldn’t go away soon.

The subtle twitches of Carmen's body let Lorenza know, in that fraction of a second between committing to the first punch of her combination and throwing it, that her opponent knew what she was about to throw. Lorenza wasn't surprised by that, though it was not all the time that she could pick up on that body language. She found herself making correct guesses more often than two decades of honing her skills in the ring would account for when she was fighting Carmen, as well, and she knew it was because the two of them were getting familiar with each other. One explosive, dramatic initial fight, long ago; another three official fights in the last few years, plus sparring and private contests too numerous to mention. The old Lorenza would not have appreciated her intentions being read so easily. The old Lorenza, the one whom Carmen fought in their first match such a long time ago, would have sought a decisive conclusion to their rivalry, to end it before the familiarity caused the normal rhythm of her life to break down.

Not anymore. Not with Carmen, and, thanks in large part to Carmen, not with any other opponent she might face, would she ever take such a selfish action again.

Her jab was easily deflected, but the two shots to Carmen's head landed solidly, the first in her temple, and the next just to the side of her nose. Lorenza felt Carmen's skull reverberating with the impact. The Puerto Rican woman backed up, and the Tigress followed her, her own gloves up, careful not to give Carmen a free shot. She knew her opponent could be positively deadly even on her back foot.

Lorenza would be aggressive, but methodical. Keep attacking, but not throwing caution to the wind. She threw a quick left jab at Carmen's face, then a right hook, one she expected Carmen could easily read and block. She wanted Carmen to bring those gloves up, to lash out with a counter—because if she did, Lorenza would then try to slip to the side and throw a left into Carmen's gut to take the air out of her.

Lorenza was moving in, fast, closing the gap between them on reflex. This was her at her most dangerous - running an opponent down. Many women had learned that the hard way, thought they could weather her storm in the corner and survive until the bell rang. Just a few seconds. With a good guard, how much could the blue-haired bomber do?

Quite a lot. There was only so much protection that even the best guard could do against Lorenza Saldano’s punches. Only so much you could do to stave off the damage when the Tigress had you in her jaws.

And they were closing fast. Carmen brought her arms up to deflect a pair of blows, ones that crashed into her guard, and her first instinct was to lash out with a quick response - but caution told her to hold back. Something was off. Wrong. It didn’t feel like an earnest assault, more like a…

...distraction.

That turned out to be the case, as Lorenza used the moment to work around Carmen’s side. She didn’t know what the woman would try, but she prepared all the same, dropping her arm to cover her side. Prudent move, as it turned out. Just in time to block a sharp strike aimed her side, one that would’ve left her gasping.

That wasn't to say it was pleasant as it was. Even guarded, the impact had her wincing, but not so much that she couldn’t retaliate. Carmen returned fire, shooting out two swift, sharp jabs, both at Lorenza’s face. Meant to hurt her, sure, but also to push her back, out of her infighting distance, keep that buffer between them while she regrouped.

Again, Carmen showed how much she had come to know Lorenza's style. It was funny, really, as Lorenza was not even sure that she knew her own style, her preferred tactics, as well as Carmen seemed to—especially in recent years, she had come to see herself as a flexible, adaptable fighter, someone whose talents might have originally lain in her power and aggression but who could show off footwork and creativity and win on points, if necessary. But that creativity wasn't enough to fool Carmen, who was able to pick up on a pattern in Lorenza's behavior even when she was changing things up. The shot to her ribs was blocked.

It still drove Carmen's gloves back into her own body, and there was definite strain on both the short-haired woman's arms and her midsection, as evidenced by the pain which splashed across her face. But that wince was all too brief, and it was clear to Lorenza that it was not enough to keep Carmen on the defensive. Lorenza quickly brought her gloves up in front of her face, guarding just in time to prevent those ferocious jabs from landing and possibly busting her nose. As it was, like Lorenza's hook to the body, Carmen's punches were too strong to be deflected entirely, and Lorenza's leather, smelling of sweat, shoved up against her own face, rubbing uncomfortably into her cheeks, making her hiss as she was forced to take a step back and out of Carmen's immediate personal space.

Both of them had a moment to regroup. Lorenza could use a deep breath, so she took one—just one—and allowed Carmen the luxury of doing the same. But that was it. They were still tied, and Lorenza honestly had no idea whether she could control herself if it came to another hentai round with Carmen. Her lover was just too beautiful to resist, her closely-cropped hair adorable in a tough, raw way. If she thought about such things too long now, she knew she would even start to get wet before the boxing round ended.

So she had to shove those thoughts to the side and make sure the round didn't end without her glove raised as the winner.

She came forward again, gloves up, classic guard. She fired a pair of quick jabs at Carmen's face, then paused, trying to evaluate Carmen's mental state. Would she expect another feint? Try to counter right away? Lorenza needed good intel as they entered what she expected would be the final stage of this incredible bout.

It was common for the uninitiated to think that a jab wasn’t worth more than a distraction. You didn’t get knockouts with jabs. You didn’t drop your opponents with jabs. You threw the jab, maybe another one after it, then you hit your opponent with the real trouble. Maybe a hook. Maybe a cross. Your setup. The leader. The appetizer for your meal.

But to real boxers, women like Lorenza and Carmen, they knew better. They knew much better.

Carmen knew how to get impact out of her jabs, knew how to make them sting, how to really drill them in and make them hurt, and those were the sorts of jabs that she used to push Lorenza back. Stiff. Strong. Quick. Hard. Heavy. They worked, pushing Lorenza back out of her best firing range. And then…then nothing.

Time froze. Couldn’t have been more than a second, but it felt like minutes. With them apart, Carmen could see the blue bomber in full, admire every curve, take in the way the muscles moved beneath her bountiful flesh. But as fine a body as Lorenza had, as undeniably hot as this woman was, it all paled in comparison to that look on her face. That wild, energetic look. So fierce and strong. The look of one of the few women on earth who loved boxing as much as she did.

God. She could’ve boxed with Lorenza Saldano until the end of time.

But she didn’t have quite that long, did she? The seconds were ticking away, and if the clock didn’t give up on them, their bodies would. Could she make it to another round? Could either of them?

She didn’t know and didn’t want to know. When the blows came her way, she tried her luck with something big, ducking under them and rising up fast with an uppercut, throwing her body weight behind it. One of her best, thrown with her waning reserves.

There were thirty seconds left in this boxing round now, as Lorenza saw that nice, round number flash up onto the big screen out of the corner of her eye. Her subconscious kept time as she braced herself, gloves raised, body as refreshed as it could possibly be after the brief breather—which was to say, still feeling as if it was filled with wet cement—and moved in.

That fatigue made her too slow, and Carmen yet again predicted her move and ducked underneath the jabs as they flew at her, her hair so short that Lorenza didn't even get the consolation prize of seeing her glove ruffle some of it out of place, like she might with another opponent. Not that she really cared for that. If it came down to any other woman with bright lipstick and a supermodel mane and Carmen Rodriguez, hair buzzed to within millimeters of her scalp and face swollen and caked with blood, Lorenza knew who she was going to pick every single time. It wasn't even a contest, and it never would be.

But the contest between Carmen and Lorenza was very much real, and obviously about to be settled. Any question of whether they might not decide it in this round ended when Lorenza got hit by that uppercut, her vision flashing white, fading to black, then suddenly reemerging in a chaos of colors that she could not put a name to. Her eyes must have crossed slightly, and she must have looked quite stupid to Carmen, as her mouthguard bulged against her lips and her legs threatened to buckle. Knees began to turn inward, then, when Lorenza resisted that, one leg slipped, sliding backwards, splaying her out wide. Her balance all but compromised, one arm wrapped around Carmen's shoulder, holding on as if to an open ramp on an airborne helicopter.

For an instant, she was low, nearly on the canvas, one arm clutching at Carmen, the other unfurled out behind her. She tasted blood, and her vision still swam, multiple Carmens competing for attention before her eyes.

Then, with all her remaining strength, Lorenza would retaliate. Her body would tense up, stiffening from its near-limp state, and, as she managed to find purchase with both feet on the canvas, she would twist up and forward, bringing that right fist that had been flapping in the breeze around, rising up and curving inward, with Carmen's jaw as its target. All that she had was packed into this rising hook as she aimed to put her lover on the canvas and end this fight...so they could go someplace more private for some post-game festivities!

This was it. This was the final moment.

Camen knew it so well, she could’ve been reading off a script. The moment when a match reached its crescendo, when they were at their peaks. Her heart was beating like a trip hammer, her blood was racing, her body was at its breaking point. Dehydration was setting in, her breath was short. If the match didn’t end soon, Lorenza wouldn’t even have the chance to finish her off - her own body would do the work for her, and she’d collapse into a lifeless heap, a dead lump on the floor at her foe’s feet.

Not that way. Never that way.

She had to push on, if not just to win, but to give Lorenza the fight she deserved. Nothing less than 100% would do.

So that was what Carmen put into her blow. All of her. It was an uppercut meant to run through her, and it did just that, crashing into her side like thunder. Weakened the knees, drilled hard into her body. Carmen knew that reaction, knew what was going through her mind right now - any seasoned boxer would. It felt like she was shutting down, her body was giving in even as her mind resisted. A little taste of death. The Tigress was at her edge.

But that didn’t mean she wasn’t dangerous. Far from it, really.

Carmen never saw the blow that took the life out of her, which made it all the more deadly. THere was no way to prepare, no way to prepare herself. It just crashed into her at full force, this explosion of raw, unnatural force that filled her vision with stars. Everything gave way in that instant. Legs turned to jelly, arms went flailing, and she fell forward into Lorenza’s body as the mouthpiece slipped out. Her opponent’s body was the only thing that could keep her upright, and once that support left her, there was nothing else to stop gravity. She was going down, but as she fell, she did the only thing she could think to do in her addled stupor.

Her lips sought out Lorenza’s, just wanting a taste of her lips. One kiss before bed.

Lorenza's body was pushed right to the edge, where dehydration and fatigue and all those numerous bruises had sapped everything she had. She felt herself go limp for an instant, then felt herself spasm in the next instant. Her thoughts, commands for her muscles, for those two brief instants and for over a second beyond, seemed to be trapped inside her brain, bouncing around within that gray matter, unable to find those channels through which they could escape and travel to the body parts they were intended for. After that flash of blinding light, then darkness, the information from her eyes was having trouble finding its way into her brain, as well.

It was the sort of short circuit that Lorenza knew happened to almost any boxer on the losing end of a knockout. She knew, academically, more about it than most other human beings on the planet. But she had very little first-hand experience with such a sensation. And what little she had was almost entirely courtesy of the very woman she was trading blows with right now. A few years ago the thought had been enough to make her walk away from the sport entirely.

Now, it only excited her. To have a great rival and amazing lover wrapped up into one package. And a brilliant mind and adventurous spirit, too, which were more and more important to Lorenza as she realized she was getting older and she realized that she was already past the halfway point of her boxing career—perhaps far past it.

Not so far past that she couldn't knock a foe out, though. As she proved with her final, twisting punch, feeling Carmen's body seize up as the blow landed, then relax, feeling the vibrations of the blow ripple through the woman's body from head to toe and back. Carmen, limp, fell into her, forcing Lorenza to stumble backward, hardly able to hold up her own weight, let alone the weight of them both. When Carmen's lips found hers, and she involuntarily swooned, cheeks heating, knees weakening, there was no way to stop them from going down. But as they did, Lorenza kept her lips connected with Carmen's, for as long as possible.

She turned, dumping the less-than-conscious Carmen down on her back, and coming down on top of her, straddling Carmen's body. She caught herself with her gloves on the canvas, holding herself up, groaning as she realized she would have to get back on her feet again.

Which, very very slowly, she would, her eyes fixed on Carmen the entire time.

Carmen would likely never have an official title match in boxing ever again. It wasn’t to say that she wasn’t worth as a fighter, or that she couldn’t hold her in a four-roped ring ever again. She was sure that there were still quite a few women she could outbox, and a wrestler she had made sure to keep her body at the top, in constant training.

But she was older now. Getting slower. Maybe not by much, only a little, but even that thin margin was too much to let slip. She could go back home, hit the bags hard for months, get into the rhythm, but she would never be the same boxer she was before she came to Japan. She would never be that fast, that strong, that sharp. Stranger things had happened than a comeback road from a boxer turned wrestler pushing her late 30s, but not much stranger.

But that was okay. As long as she had Lorenza Saldano, she would always have the sport she had grown up with. Someone to race against, to train with, to measure herself on. There was one person in the world she wanted to box, and that person wanted to box with her. There was something comforting in that.

It was part of the reason that, as she and Lorenza kissed and she went to the mat, she had none of the regret that would usually come with being bested in a match like this. She accepted it. Welcomed it. She knew that there would always be a next time for them, that they would be here again, and that she could enjoy this sweet embrace over and over.

She was at peace. And as she laid there and Lorenza stood up, glowing in the stadium lights, she made a decision. It had been something that had been brewing in her mind for a while now, a spark of an idea that was now starting to burn.

Carmen wanted to marry Lorenza. She wasn’t sure if it was the right time, she wasn’t sure if there would ever be a right time to ask. She wasn’t sure how the woman would react. She wasn’t sure if she would ever get to the point where she could propose...but she wanted to. She saw a picture of them in a chapel, Lorenza in a gown and her in a suit, kissing as the world looked on, and she wanted to make it happen.

And with that thought, she closed her eyes and faded away as the referee began her count.

When Lorenza knocked Carmen out, she thought back on the history the two of them shared, and how she would have reacted to this moment had it happened at different points in her life. Before she first came to Japan, all those years ago, when the two of them battered each other near to mutual collapse and Lorenza had squeaked by with such a narrow margin of victory that it had soured her to the entire sport for well over a year...that Lorenza would have relished this moment. Even if she didn't speak the words out loud, her body language would have painted a clear picture of the contempt she held her opponent in and the satisfaction she experienced putting her flat on her back like this.

Lorenza often marveled at what a different person she was back then, and cringed when she thought of some of the things she said and the way she acted. She believed that she was a better person now—and hoped that others would agree. It was always a process, of course, a journey which Lorenza would be on for the rest of her life.

Then, she thought back to two or three years ago, after she and Carmen had become reacquainted and begun their sexual and romantic relationship. She had lost her mean streak, had gotten over her childish fear of losing...some critics said she lost her edge. She never felt as though that were true—at least, any loss of edge was simply due to the natural process of aging—but she knew that a knockout this decisive would have shaken her a bit. Her first thought would have been to worry for Carmen. She might have even regretted it.

That, too, would have done a disservice to Carmen. She was a world-class boxer and wrestler, one of the strongest women in the world, certainly the strongest Lorenza had ever met. No mere knockout was ever going to put her at serious risk. Carmen would be the first to congratulate Lorenza on a victory of this magnitude, and Lorenza would do the same for Carmen. Even when one of them won over the other. It would never come between them. Their bond would only get stronger.

So as the referee counted Carmen out and Carmen lost consciousness, Lorenza let herself raise an arm and let out a hoarse bark of triumph, all that she could manage in the state of near-collapse her body was currently experiencing. It had been a very long time coming, and she was going to enjoy this moment of victory over her longtime rival.

And tonight, and for several nights afterward—and for many, many years after that—the two of them would celebrate this and every other milestone that came their way together.