The Opposer's Grace

Clyde couldn't help but scratch his head nervously in response to Heather's words, laughing just slightly as he did so, but also taking in what Heather was saying. The fact that she said that he wasn't weak made Clyde actually start to believe that wasn't weak and always been worth something. But perhaps the one thing that Heather said to affect him the most was that he meant alot to Heather, and that knowledge alone made him feel like he had just won three 24/7 titles. Causing the Texan to blush a deep shade of red as she told him that. "Y-You... You... Aww Damn... I... I love ya..." " Clyde would stammer under his flushed cheeks to Heather as she held him close, melting into her embrace as he held her hand tightly.

"Eh Heh... Yeah I kinda found out that hard way that it wasn't no easy move..." Clyde would mutter with a nervous laugh, still feeling the effects of his botch on his shoulders. "...Well I suppose I got plenty of time ta' learn, Missy." Clyde would say with a teasing grin before he began to ponder something. "So how long did it take ya ta' learn that move? When did ya start wrestlin'?" Clyde would ask, a bit curious to know a few things about Heather, since he knew so little about her life. "Ya know... There's a lot I don't really know about ya..." Clyde would say to Heather, realizing that he knew so little his 'wife', so to speak. He did however hope she would avoid asking alot about his own life, thinking it was best to avoid sharing some things about it.

Heather looks on as she sees Clyde's face turn a deep red. She would smile and laugh as she began to feel relaxed herself as she could tell her words were working, successfully cheering him up. "Love you too." Heather would respond as Clyde held onto her hand and she would stare into his eyes.

"How long huh?" Heather would think to herself as she tried to remember her times developing her moves. It was probably the most vivid of her memories as she thought back to when she was just learning the ropes. "Started learning when I was 16. Watched my brother mostly. He trained me..quite a bit. Until I was able to learn on my own. I came up with my own style, focusing on his high flying moves, but making them the main part of my abilities. Speed..flashyness...high-flying...it's all I focused on. I learned my move when I saw my brother doing his and I just needed to best him. Added a flashy twist to the move so it's quicker, harder to predict. Perfected it only last year, when I was 19." Heather would say, letting out things about her past as she began to remember the question she had to ask Clyde.

"What about you...when it comes to wrestling..how did it come about for you?" Heather would say, trying to somehow lead up to the thing Bonnie tasked her to ask him, the thing she wanted to find out for herself as well.

In truth, Clyde was very curious about the girl that was Heather Sunderland and wanted to know everything he could find out about the woman he loved, he wanted know about her life before AFW and before they met eachother, to learn about her own family and where she came from. He wanted to know about Heather before he changed her into the woman she was today. While it was rare for Clyde to take interest in other people's lives and history, Heather was a special exception, if not among his only exceptions. He listened carefully to everything she had to say with great attention, unable to help herself from smiling a bit as Heather detailed how she developed her own style apart from her brother, that she became her own person and didn't follow anyone's mold completely. That was something that Clyde could definitely respect and identify with.

"16 huh? So you been wrestlin' for about... 4 years, right? And here I thought you about 18 or 19..." Clyde would say with a nervous smile , not even knowing Heather's real age until now, originally thinking that she was around either 18 or 19. Then as Heather asked her own question, Clyde froze for a moment before his eyes trailed away from Heather's gaze, looking down at the bed nervously, hesitant to answer her for a moment, he technically didn't start wrestling until the moment he joined the AFW, which was about 10 months ago. "Well.... When we was 5... Me and Bonnie started watchin' wrestlin' on TV. We Copied what we saw and... That's kinda how we learned..." Clyde would say to Heather with a nervous laugh, hoping that she would accept that vague answer.

"Copied what you saw on TV..is that right?" Heather would repeat to herself as she thought about it. If it wasn't for Dante training her specifically, that would be quite similar to how she learned, just observing him along the whole time. She was interested in the simple way that Clyde had came into wrestling, however with his very limited explanation, she tilted her head a bit. Leading into it, she figured she would address his assumptions first before going on.

"You thought I was 18 or 19? Hah well it's not that far off. I mean, I'm only twenty so you weren't that wrong." Heather would say as she let out a sigh. "Now though...what about how you ended up getting here? How did you end up making your way to Japan for AFW? My story isn't that spectacular. Dante..well both him and I now, have a nice family I guess you could say. He pursued his dreams heading here for the biggest company around, I went with him for the ride I guess you could say..Didn't really have the dreams he did but I just..wanted to win big I guess..still do." Heather would say, giving her story before waiting to hear his, easing more into the incident she wanted to find out about.

"Y-Yeah... Just copied what I saw from TV... Wrestling wise..." Clyde would say to Heather, purposely leaving out the details of the numerous school yard brawls that he was thrown into and started, which honed in on his fighting skills. It wasn't until he got some training from Zero Kotobuki did Clyde show any real progress in wrestling.

"Well yeah! I mean... I know im only a year older than ya... But it ain't my fault you looked all young and innocent when I met ya!" Clyde would comment in rather teasing tone before hearing Heather's next batch of words, which Clyde had to think carefully about before he answered them, realizing that Heather was getting close to a certain part in his life that he wanted to leave out. "Guess you could say I went on vacation... Hitch hiked my way from south eastern Texas to California, heard about how AFW was looking for people to join Sex Wars... Had nothing better to do and needed some cash, So I snuck onto a plane headed for Japan and joined up here, figured it would be an easy way to pay the bills and make a living. Wasn't good at many things besides fightin'." Clyde would say as tilted his head against Heather's body as he revealed bits and pieces about his own life before listening to Heather's story.

"I didn't really have the dreams that Bonnie had when I was alone over here. I just wanted to get by, and only win big if it came near my way. I.... Want ya to win big though... I'll help ya there anyway I can." Clyde would try to reassure Heather before he realized something about what she had originally said.

"Hold up! You said... 'both him and I NOW, have a nice family'. What do ya mean by Now?" Clyde would ask Heather, generally confused and curious.

"And how wrong did that assumption turn out to be...well not the young part, I still am visibly young." Heather would say, rocking her head a bit to make her hair whip in the air a bit as she would look towards Clyde with a grin. She would listen to the story he tells about him coming to Japan. It seemed pretty genuine and it WAS descriptive in it's own right. If she hadn't know about the event that Bonnie told her about, she had no doubt that she would take that as the full story. However she knew he wasn't telling the whole thing.

She would though continue listening to Clyde's words, smiling at them as he went on. "Well Clyde, it certainly came your way, and I'm glad it did! A-and...thanks for the wishful words...I appreciate your wanting to help me. With that, I feel I really can accomplish what I want." Heather would say warmly in response to Clyde, smiling until he continued speaking. Her heart skipped a beat as he questioned her about her wording. She had forgotten that he knew nothing of her past and in turn had accidentally said something that would lead to her having to reveal what she meant. She let out a sigh before looking up at the ceiling.

"Well Clyde...I..I wasn't always a..'Sunderland'..In fact to be completely honest, my true family name since what I'm about to tell you has been Nakata. Dante created the name Sunderland on his own, along with his first name as well, but that's a different story..at..16..Dante and his family..well I mean, I lived in an orphanage before then..they picked me up. I can't really say I know what my actual last name is..or even what my biological parents remotely look like, sound like, who they are. Hell I don't even remember hardly anything that happened in that orphanage. All I remember is the Nakata family picking me up..since then...they've treated me as one of their own and it's been amazing." Heather would say, letting her emotions and past pour out of her. Revealing all that she could.

"So yeah...but...Clyde...can you do me a favor? Tell me..was a vacation..the only reason you left Texas?"

"Heh... Yeah I was right bout the being young part... The Innocent part? Not so much... Learned that the hard way..." Clyde would say with a nervous yet teasing laugh, commenting on the several times that Heather had proven that she was far from the innocent angel that her brother thought her to be. Clyde figured this out firsthand on several occasions.

Clyde then listened to Heather's words regarding how the title-shot came his way and smiled, he knew she was happy for him and proud he won. It made his victory that much sweeter. Then as he heard Heather give thanks to his words of support towards Heather winning big, his smile couldn't do anything but widen as he turned towards Heather and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him, feeling like his worth had just skyrocketed just because of how she felt towards his support. But upon seeing Heather's reaction to his wording, he couldn't help but be a bit curious as to what was wrong or why it bothered her apparently, thus he would listen to her carefully and couldn't help but be surprised by what he was told. Finding out that Heather was an orphan who didn't know anything about her biological family, and that 'Sunderland' wasn't even their original name.

"D-Dang Heather... Didn't know all that..." Clyde would comment a bit surprised by what he was told. He knew Dante looked like he was of oriental descent but figured he was mixed, since Heather looked Caucasian. He still figured that Heather and Dante were biological siblings though despite their numerous differences. "But... How can ya not remember anything from that orphanage... You were there most of your life, right?" Clyde would ask, generally curious about how Heather could live in an orphanage for so long and barely remember anything from there since Clyde himself could easily remember his troubled childhood very vividly.

Then as Heather asked for a favor, Clyde tilted his head towards her to listen attentively, but once she asked her question, Clyde's eyes widen as he suddenly froze, his mouth opening in disbelief for a moment before he spoke, hesitantly. "W-What? W-What do ya m-mean... I...." Clyde would stammer out, wondering why Heather was curious about him leaving Texas. By the sound of things, Heather already knew Clyde's past, but he didn't understand how. "H-How much do ya know??? Who... Told...." Clyde would begin to question before he realized, "Bonnie. She Talked to Bonnie..."

".....H-How much do you know....?" He would ask her as his eyes trailed away from her, hesitant to reveal his past out of regret, but also out of fear that Heather would leave him if she knew the truth and what he had done back home in Texas. He didn't know if Heather knew the truth herself.

"I...really have no idea how I could forget everything that happened there." Heather would say, biting her lip a bit at the end. She tried over and over to go through her head to pick up some memories of what it was like there, but she just couldn't. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't bring up any thoughts, images, or memories of the time she spent in the orphanage, including how long she did and what went on there. "It's as if...it was all just a blank. A whole bunch of nothingness until that day that Dante picked me up. I really don't understand it Clyde. I just don't. It worries me every time I think about it, makes me wonder if I would forget other things so completely and easily in the future. I try not to think of it as much as I can...but I figure it's only right that I let you know.."

As she finished, she looked down, her eye watering a bit but she would quickly blink and wipe it a few times to hide the fact that it was, acting as if something got caught in her eye before she would look back at Clyde. As she heard his reaction to the favor she asked, she looked back down a bit. Maybe it was unfair that she already knew the rumors, but she already came this far, she had to keep asking. She felt bad knowing how just talking about her past affected her, realizing it definitely wouldn't be easy in the slightest for him, but she would look back up at him with a resolute face.

"Well...I know the rumors..that you killed someone..which is why you left home.." Heather would say, a bit hesitantly as she stared at him. "I-I-I'm sorry Clyde I...I shouldn't have listened, I shouldn't pry into your past like that, I'm just...curious that's all. I feel like...I should know more, the true story. I really want to know Clyde...trust me..If you're worried about what I'll think, no matter what you say I'll still love you. I'm yours forever and what happened in your past isn't going to change that..I just...wanna know is all." Heather would say as she stared into Clyde's eyes, staying in the same position sharing an embrace with him.

As Clyde listened to Heather tell him about her past and how much of her memory was blank, he couldn't help but wonder just how she could live most of her life their and barely remember any of it. But in a way Clyde couldn't help but envy the fact that Heather could not remember her childhood in the orphanage, mostly due to the fact that Clyde hated the ordeals that he had to face for a very long time as a child and could still vividly remember to this day. Many of which he wanted to forget. He did however, feel a sense of sadness and worry take over him as Heather revealed her own fears as to the possibility of losing her memory in the future. That possibility was something that Clyde couldn't help but dread, the possibility of Heather forgetting everything that happened between them, the possibility of losing her love. He prayed that such a thing would never happen.

"W-Well you ain't forgotten anything since then, right? Then maybe it won't happen no more!" Clyde would stammer out as he tried to convince himself and Heather that she would no longer forget things. In truth, Clyde was far from sure if he was right, even though it did feel like their was enough logic behind his words to be at least close to the truth. "B-Besides! If ya do forget... I'll Just have ta' remind ya who I am!" Clyde would declare with a nervous grin, trying to lighten the mood a bit with his half-joking remark, even though he honestly would do such a thing if Heather lost her memory of their relationship. "Im... Glad ya told me though..." Clyde would comment to Heather as he met her gaze just after she wiped her eye, happy that she was able to share her past with him, which had honestly surprised him since prior to hearing her story, Clyde had assumed she lived an all too average life in a well off home, something far different from his own, but it was now that Clyde realized that he and Heather were not so different from eachother as he once thought since they had both lived through troubling childhoods.

Then as the conversation shifted from Heather's past, to Clyde's, The Texan would hesitate for a moment to reveal the truth behind his greatest sin, even though it became apparent to him that Heather already knew most of the truth. Still Clyde hesitated to speak as he looked at Heather with faltering eyes, but once he heard her's words of assurance that nothing would change between them, that she would still be with him, he decided to reveal the truth behind that fateful day.

"I was only Twenty Years Old. I was too young to drink legally, even though I'd been doin' that kinda thing since I was Eleven or Twelve. Well One Night... After a little argument with a my Mama. I got wasted and held up a Liquor Store with a toy gun... Mostly because I wanted to help my Mama pay the bills real nice, easy and quick. I Didn't feel like waitin' to find a steady job or doin' an honest day's work since I figured I could just take a nice wad of cash in under a minute. Didn't have any second thought about what I did. I was a bum. Figured I had nothin' to lose... I robbed an old man at a liquor store with a toy gun and got away with it. Clyde would confess with much regret in his voice. Not taking any pride in his past deeds.

After robbin' the store... I ran home and showed my Mama that nice wad of cash in hands, her eyes instantly lit up as she smiled happily at me before it started to curl into frown, asking me how I got so much money, so quickly when I didn't even have a job. I told her what I had done and she threw Me and all that money out the door, saying I ought to be ashamed of myself and yellin' "That Wasn't how I raised you to be!" and "You're endin' up just like your Father." I didn't wanna hear that. That was the worst thing I could ever hear my Mama say. I was upset... at myself mostly....I was angry at myself because of how low I had fallen, for what I did to myself, for making my Mama cry, and because I was supposedly becomin' the one person I hated most. I blamed my Father for it all. I don't know why, I just did. He was never there, I never knew him, but everyone in town did. They all kept saying how I looked just like him and that I acted just like him. I hated that. I didn't want to be nothin' like him. But I always felt they were right. Mama had an old picture him from way back, he was scrawny, had golden brown eyes and the same shaggy blonde hair as me. I was his spittin' image..." Clyde would begin to speak out slowly with a strain in his voice, turning his gaze away from Heather's eyes while his grip on her body faltered, having some trouble in revisiting that fateful day and revealing the real events behind it.

"...I couldn't take that. I couldn't take that, goddammit. I didn't want to be nuthin' like that man who abandoned My Mama, Bonnie and Me... But hearin' my own Mama tell me I was endin' up like him was the worst thing I could ever hear. I was angry, I was depressed and I was drunk, when I left home. Figuring it would be for good since by the way My Mama had sounded. I didn't care what happened to me at that point though. Felt I had nothin' to lose. I just wanted to drown my troubles away, so I stumbled into an ol' bar near the country line with $200 in my pocket and asked The B-Bartender... This Woman... somethin' tall and hard. She refused though, She knew I was too young, I begged her for somethin' though... She wouldn't listen, but I kind of expected that... In truth I was just lookin' for trouble... Lookin' for someone to hit... and I lost my head... Before I knew I knew It I started swinging at everybody in that bar like crazy, hitting everyone and everything that came near me as hard as I could swing... All because I was so goddamn pissed at Myself..." Clyde would mutter bitterly as he began to lower his head, his grip on Heather starting to tighten again as he held her tightly, seeking her comfort as he continued on with his story.

"...O-Out of nowhere... The door slammed open and an Old Man in a cowboy hat and uniform stepped into the bar, just after I knocked every man down inside that bar... I Knew em'... He Was the Sheriff... And Were actually friends... He said: "I know why you're upset, son..." He asked me If I wanted to talk. I told him I just wanted to fight, so he told me to fight him, and I did. The Old Man might of been in his 60's, maybe even his 70's... Either way he knew how ta' fight... He knew how ta' take a punch and hit me back twice as hard... I was angry... But it was a good fight, and I w-was actually startin' ta' relax a little... U-Until... somethin' went wrong... The Old Man started ta' slow down... He wasn't hittin me back so much anymore and I was still punching away at him, not stoppin' because I still pissed off... Still venting all my hate into every punch I had, not caring if the Old Man couldn't take it or not, even though I knew Sheriff was tough as nails and figured he could take it. But it wasn't until he hit the ground and stayed down there did I realize somethin' was wrong... He was shakin and gaspin for breath while he clutched onto his chest... Lookin' up at me with his eyes opend wide and full of fear, while I just stood there... Frozen in shock... The Sheriff... The Old Man... H-He was Dead...I-I knew It was a heart attack... It W-Was an accident... But everyone thought I killed him... But... D-Dammit... I... I didn't mean to... It w-was an Accident... An Accident..." Clyde would begin to say as his voice started to choke up and stutter as his eyes were growing watery while latching tightly onto Heather.

"...E-Everyone there thought I did it... Everyone thought I killed em... I tried to explain... But nobody listened... Then before I knew it... T-That Woman... That same Woman who ran the bar... She came outside holding a pistol in her hands... pointing it at me... Crying.... She was crying and yelling at me because I killed her Daddy... I started to panic... I started to panic as I looked down the barrel of that gun that was pointing at me... I tried to speak... But she started shootin' at me... And I fell down... She hit me in the arm... I was scared... I was actually scared to Die... I panicked and I reached for... I reached for the Sheriff's pistol... I p-pulled it out... And shot back till all the bullets were gone... It W-Was so damn fast that I didn't know what happened... But she... She fell... I shot her... And I... I killed her... B-But I wasn't till I got up did I realize somethin' else... She... She was C-Carrying..." Clyde would stammer out as he clutched tightly onto Heather, lowing his head even further until he buried his head in her chest as he held her close for comfort. His eyes going red and watery, pouring out his pain through the sad tale full of mistakes that he had lived. "...I never.... I never meant to kill nobody Heather... I never wanted to..."

"Thanks Clyde..I..really do appreciate that." Heather would say in response to Clyde's reassuring. While he may have been unsure himself, the fact that he was willing to help her out through it warmed her up quite a bit. She started to wonder how she would be if she had to think about these things herself without Clyde's comfort and assistance. She was ultimately in the end glad that she had him to lean on in times like this. However she would listen closely as he began his story. What she heard, was definitely something much more than she expected.

As she heard Clyde begin his story, she could tell how hard it was for him to go through it and revisit it. As he went through on and on, she could tell why it was so difficult for him to let it out. Hearing his story out, Heather felt a deep pain in her chest. She felt like she shouldn't have made him bring it up, but it was too late now as he was letting his emotions and past flow out. As she felt his grip falter on her, she would try to quickly pull him back, hearing him out until he would tighten his grip back onto her.

Her eyes would water up as a tear would fall from her face, not daring to speak throughout his revealing of his past, but holding onto him firmly to try and show her support for him throughout his whole explanation. As he finally finished, she couldn't help but tear up at his story, realizing how hard he might have had it. She forgot about her past and was dwelling on just his as she would hold him close to her.

"C-Clyde..I..I had no idea...I'm sorry..." Heather would say as she would shake her head. "D-don't even think about it anymore Clyde...It's..It's alright now....I know you didn't mean it...I know you would never intentionally kill someone....a-a-and..Don't worry about you being like anyone else...You're you...I'm here for you and you're better than what those people said." Heather would say before she would lean fowards, trying to pull Clyde's head up and kiss him deeply on the lips before breaking it and shaking her head again. "I love you so much Clyde...If I didn't know you were good...that you had good in you...I wouldn't...Forget about all that, don't let it get to you...we're living our own life now. Putting both our pasts behind us...we have nothing to worry about with those Clyde...It's me and you from here on out..I'll be here for you no matter what." Heather would say, pouring out her emotions, trying to counter the flow of emotions Clyde had from his past while the tears kept flowing from her face.