Pain is close to pleasure, even for the Dream?(Natalia)

The light of the screen caught the attention of Anja, who just didn't stagger back into the darkness and leave the club as fast as possible cause her nails had clawed into the chair before her. It was not the concrete threat, it was the realization that she was still out there. And if not her former mistress, some Dragons were still out there. The faceless shadow that had hunted her was real, and had probably the whole time be right behind her, ready to claw at Anja in the moment she would reappear again.

“...Security breach...red lights everywhere...Geraldine...gone...”
Anja had never been in the care of a therapist, so her loose emotions and memories branded on her like waves at the shore when triggered like in this case by their host by directly addressing her. The face of Miss Ling looked indeed familiar, but so far away that she couldn't have put a finger on it to identify it, but the old school name had rung some bell in her. As did the iron star in the face of Prime Assistant Asura, another prominent face in the maelstrom of horrible figures that were a large part her childhood memories.

She slowly, pale as a sheet in the face, turned around the chair and sat on it, knees weak, but snapping back to the present reality, glaring at Miss Ling.
“You gave the hint to the cops. I knew they would have done zip to help us by their own design.”
And once again, the law was completely useless without the help of some shady person aiding them. But the mistress also lost some credit with her intention of using them as a bait.
“A bait? You used me as a fucking bait? DAMN!”
the chair before her suffered an angry kick in the back and fell forward while she was literally frowning at the mouth, switching her head from Miss Ling to Natalia and back.
“ They now know that I am still out there for sure. Natalia has her fame to protect her, you got your club. Where should I go now? Huh?”
Running away and hiding was over for Anja from this point on with her status as missing getting lost.

“But heck, it's also my own doing. What was I thinking when I came here to see you after watching you live on TV, Natalia? When they were already on your tracks, it was just foolish to come here too. Shit!”
She got up and walked into the dark part of the room, uttering silent curses with her arms crossed before her torso. The last thing on her mind was to endanger Natalia, but it had been much easier to locate the Dream than Anja, so that probably would have been just a matter of time anyway.

"Anja...?" Natalia said as she saw her once best friend walk sulken into a corner. She intercepted the blonde, sliding a slender arm around Anja's waist and bringing her closer to her body. With her other hand she tried to pull Anja's head against her chest trying to confort the blonde and cuddle. In part Natalia also needed a lot of conforting, so hugging Anja felt like the right thing to do.

"They can hurt us if we stay together..." Natalia said, although she was truly sure about that. Sure The Circle had been destroyed, most of its members were either in prison or dead... and yet their most powerful member was still out there.

"Precisely my point girls..." Geraldine would say. "We need to stay together. I can protect you." she said with an air of authority.

Natalia moved with Anja to a confy couch and sit down, trying to make Anja sit on her lap, rubbing her back softly. "And are you going to protect us?"

"Well... I know people...Powerful people...I have contacts in everywhere that matters... I have money... I have my personal security staff..." Miss Ling said with a mysterious smile. "This club can become your safeheaven..."

It was kind of dangerous to intercept the former arena fighter when she was in a fit of rage and overwhelmed with a given situation like at this moment, and she instinctively formed a fist to punch the interceptor in the face for the audacity to come close to her. But Natalia had a bonus no one else possessed in the twisted thinking of the blonde, she had once been her only pillar to lean on in hours of need. So the fist turned into an open palm again which streaked over a cheek of the Dream while allowing her to cuddle and let her head put on the chest of Natalia.
“You really want me to stay with you?"
That nearly caused her to fall on the floor by surprise. Although even hinting that she had hoped to become friends with Natalia again was nearly intolerable weakness, she just had to ask. And explain herself.
"I meant no harm by coming here. But...I was so alone when I saw you on that screen. And, aside from our last departure, you were my only true friend.”
Her voice was soft and just a hush on the ears of Natalia. She would have probably cried, but the last time she had allowed herself to cry was the day of the final after climbing out of the sewer.

She let Natalia lead her to the couch and sat on her lap while starring at the wall in the direction she was sitting. Anja wasn't very good with heartfelt, nonsexual socializing after years of being a lone wolf, but even she understood that Natalia was probably as shocked as she was, so she put one of her arms around the neck of Natalia and slowly stroked over her upper arm. Until she put her sight on the screen again, and Anja found back to inner strength. At least so much that she wouldn't just whisper anymore.
"Guess we don't have much other options left.”
Miss Ling, or Geraldine, could be a older sister with the same background as both Natalia or Anja, or she could still try to be alpha strong with them. Anja wasn't sure about that, but she could believe in Geraldine's hatred of being handled like a puppet from the Circle of Dragon.
"to be honest, I can't really remember your face, Geraldine. But I have a dull memory about your name and a security breach. It would be rather hard to engineer that with the purpose of a trap some years later.”
Her paranoid mind just wouldn't stop to spit out theories, but it was her way of saying that she did indeed believe that Geraldine was sincere.

Natalia hugged Anja closely snuggling her against her body. They may no longer be friends anymore, not after what happened that last match, but they were still together in this, and like Geraldine said they had to stay together. Plus it felt awesome to hold Anja again, they weren't little girls anymore and their bodies had developed very sexily...and she still smelled deliciously, although now her scent seemed to be mixed with alcohol and tobacco.

"Don't worry about it, Anja?" Natalia whispered kissing Anja's head. "We are going to be alright..." she added wanting to believe it herself. She wanted to believe Geraldine too. It didn't mattered if she was truly as connected and as rich as she claimed, just having someone else on their side was an advantage.

"We'll find a place for you..." Natalia whispered to the blonde. "You can stay here with Geraldine...Or stay at my place... I could always use a sexy maid..." Natalia joked giggling softly, trying to lighten up the mood, but she quickly apologyzed. "I'm joking, I'm joking!'" she said before Anja would punch her.

"This club has perfectly secured habitations that you can occupy..." Geraldine offered. "But even if you don't desire to stay here... I must insist that we keep contact and share information. Is the only way we can triumph against our enemies..."

Natalia didn't liked the war-like way in which Geraldine talked, but she knew the woman was right. Still she didn't planned to leave her pent-house, it was one of the safest in Tokyo anyway.

"Thank you for your offer, Miss Ling, but I would prefer to stay in my own home." The Dream said. " yet... I agree we have to stay in contact and share information...but I would like to meet you in person rather than keep talking to a screen."

"Very well..." Geraldine said, pushing a button on her armchair. A slide door behind the screen began to open as the screen turned off and from it emerged Geraldine escorted by two gorgeous girls, that seemed to be twins.



The twins approached Anja and Natalia with a smile, offering each one a hand to get them off the couch where they were curled up.

Anja was virtually speechless for a time. Both of the women offered her a place to stay! Warm, comfy places, hot water every day, regular meals, toilet. And the list went on and on. It had been a rather harsh ride for her to live without the luxuries she had experienced under the care of the mistress of masks when she did well in the ring, but she had done it. But that didn't mean that she would now say no to such things.
"Uhm...I...I have to think about where to stay. I don't know if I can live...here. At this place. I would stay with Natalia for a while and probably come back to you when I thought it through. ”
she didn't want to let go of Natalia after confessing that she had missed her, but if she could live with her in the same house for a longer time?

The comment of Natalia caused her to smile, really smile after a long time. She leaned back to whisper in the ears of the Dream.
"You need a maid? The mistress took great care to ensure that I can execute any duty of a maid. But I work only with a maid's cap on. Nothing else.”
Natalia wanted to meet Geraldline in person, and Anja wasn't averse to that too. Even if it meant to get up under a small sigh and let one of the twins lead her away with Natalia.
"Say, Natalia. If I am supposed to stay in Japan, can you get me a tryout match in your league? I don't want to live out of yours or Geraldine's pocket. I can't mix drinks or pose as furniture very well, but I can go in a ring.”

"Oh sure... I can get you a tryout match..." Natalia said with a smile as she let herself be lead by the other twin towards Geraldine's private chambers. "Maybe for the Kawaii Division... You'll fit great there..." Natalia teased, giving Anja a soft hip bump as they walked.

Geraldine welcomed the girls in a rather small but still incredibly comfy and luxurious room where Geraldine offered them a seat and some exquisite wine. After a couple of hours talking about how the club was laid out and whom they could trust, what little did Geraldine knew about the members of The Circle that were still at large, and their plans for the future, Miss Ling stood up. "Well...I hate to cut this conversation for we still have much to discuss, but I have other pressing matters to attend...and I believe you two would like to be left alone to talk about...the 'good' old times..." Geraldine said with a bittersweet smile. "Feel yourselfs at home here...and I really mean it. This club is your home for all purposes. Well be seeing each other again soon." And with that said, Miss Ling and her two assistants, left closing the door behind them leaving Anja and Natalia completely alone in the room.

Natalia looked at Anja and felt her body tremble. It had been so long and she still was not sure how to treat the blonde. They had been best friends...but then they had tried to kill each other. Of course they were forced to do it, Natalia had repeated that excuse over and over to herself for years...and yet, in that instant when they were in the pit fighting for their lives, Natalia had wanted Anja to lose...to die so she could live... In that instant, she had hated Anja.

Natalia looked down sadly, she hated to think that their Mistresses had been able to destroy their friendship like that...but it had been done. Natalia no longer considered Anja her friend and wasn't sure how to relate to her. Anja seemed so different from the girl Natalia knew before...

"So...how you been, Anja?" Natalia said nervously trying to break the ice.

"A bunch of gorgeous girls who can barely wrestle, a bed, pool or a pudding match? Sign me up!"
It was s short trip into a funnier past as the girls led them to their employer.

Geraldine put them up to what she had to offer in the club, which was kind of impressive for the ears of Anja. The quality of her security guards was kind of disputable after losing against a single women, but Asura was no ordinary woman but wicked and without a single shred of remorse, so she let it pass as a fact. Half way the road of Geraldine's explanation she kind of wondered if it was her own distrust and paranoia that had kept her away from getting rich and famous, or just a bad star over her head or whatever. But maybe she was now really on her way up?

She downed a glass of wine like water and had barely an idea of the cost of wine she had drunk in mere seconds. She took more time for a second glass to loosen her own tongue up but didn't overdue it. It was readably in her face that she had a hard time talking about it, but this seemed the perfect place to finally do it.
"I've drifted from place to place after police caught up with me and the mistress. Got to hand it to them, they were well equipped for the chase and trapped us in a harbor. I got lost in the shuffle and went into hiding. You know my opinion of law and police."
Maybe not her best idea, but it had sounded totally ok for her.
"Have danced in bars. Wrestled in small clubs. Or special interest tapings sometimes. Took most money offered, some was more fun than others."
she hadn't really drifted far from what she had previously done while in the service of the circle of dragons, but it was all she knew.
"You? I mean I've seen you in TV, but..."
Seeing Natalia smile into TV was one thing, knowing her personally another.

Natalia pouted feeling truly sad hearing about Anja's fate; sad and guilty. Despite everything that had happened to her, she always seemed to get the better side of bad things. She hadn't been sacrificed even though she lost too many fights, simply because her Mistress considered her too pretty. She had never been forced to fight in the most brutal types of combats, because Miss M decided Natalia was build for pleasure and not pain. Her punishments were never as harsh as those of other girls; she had always been the favorite, the favorite slave. Maybe because of that it had been easier for her to recover from the abuse, unlike other girls she knew had never been able to get back and have a normal life. Even when Natalia felt many times that she was out of place, completely alone and alien in society, she had found a place where she fit perfectly, AFW, and there she had got rich and famous. She didn't wanted to even think about her friend dancing in seedy strip clubs and fighting in small clubs for little money.

She didn't knew what to tell to Anja. Talking about how much she was making in AFW, her movie contract, her adoring fans or how much fun she was having with wrestling...would had just been wrong. She had been so lucky, while Anja had had it pretty hard. She hated it but couldn't help to feel guilt and pity. So she decided not to talk about it any more. She reached for Anja's hand and hold it tenderly.

"You should join AFW...you'd be a hit..." she said, trying to be friendly and hoping Anja didn't hated her. The thought that her old friend could hate her creep into The Dream's mind, and she quickly realized it was going to stick in her head forever...and yet it would be so easy to get rid of it. "You...you hate me?" Natalia asked nervously.

There it was again, that cute pouting face of her former friend which she had first seen after her being rented out to a tapping for the first time that always had managed to grant her some comfort and relief. Natalia was the only person that had ever showed her something like sympathy without excepting payment in any kind for it. Some of the other girls on the photo she carried over her heart were quite close to her too, but she only this special relationship to Natalia.
"I was serious about you getting me a tryout in AFW. You know how good I was, and I have gotten better and better over the years."
In her time at the Circle, Anja had been trained to win, but in a way that was pleasant to the eye. Living on the streets of so many different countries had opened her eyes to the various styles the people had to offer, and although she had stayed to short in one place to really pick up whole styles, single moves had found her way into her arsenal.

Then Natalia took her hand, and she didn't remove her hand out of the soft grasp of the Dream as it was the only affection she had always longed to have in her childhood, even slightly smiling and getting a little red in the face. Getting pitied generally was no really good feeling, but Anja had no idea how Natalia could have reacted otherwise when you compared their both life at this point.
"You mean if I feel the same burning hatred for you as for Cerberus, Asura, Mistress M and the Mistress of Masks? No. After the final, I may have been poor and homeless, but I was kind of free. For the first time. I can't say it doesn't follow me wherever I go what we suffered through, but still, I was free in a certain way."
Free, a simple word for such a wonderful feeling. Then she emptied her second glass of vine to drink some courage with it.
"But I was disappointed in you after some time. I could understand why you didn't send me a direct message, I wasn't in one place long enough to settle down. And I could understood why you didn't try to find me while I did not want to be found, not even by you. But after you got famous and felt secure with where you were, I kind of hoped for a message from you. A planted sign in the audience, a hidden message in an interview. Something like that."
That had made her really sad, and still did.
"It felt like you just wanted to forget ...about me."

Hearing Anja made Natalia feel even more sad and guilty. The Dream tried to imagine how Anja would have felt and it was horrible. Once again Natalia got that sensation that she was an awful friend and an awful person. "I...I'm sorry, Anja..." Natalia apologized, holding Anja's hand closely to herself. She wanted to hug Anja but she didn't dared.

"I was so scared..." Natalia tried to excuse herself, looking down in shame.
"I just...I just wanted to leave everything behind...to leave my past behind..." she said almost breaking into tears. "I...I tried to forget about everything. P-please forgive me" she begged, raising her head to look at Anja with tearful eyes.

Natalia remained silent looking at Anja. She could tell her so many things, but she felt there would be nothing but excuses and promises. She had been so selfish, not only with Anja, but with all the other girls that had been like her. Maybe now that they were together, Anja, Geraldine and herself, she could do something.