Tara was sitting alone at a table; her eyes were locked on the entrance of the restaurant for what seemed like forever. She twiddled her thumbs, and let out an exasperated sigh while rolling her eyes. It was clear that she was nervous about something. Her eyes finally faltered from the entrance and toward the water glass in front of her and the second water glass as she was expecting a second person to join her. She traced her finger around the rim of the glass and seemed to lose herself to her own thoughts.

How is he going to take this news? I should have told him a long time ago… It’s not a secret that was mine to keep. Not alone. Tara thought and turned her palm upward as she let out another sigh; she rubbed her fingers against the palm of her hand. Why are they sweating? Why are you so nervous about this? It wouldn’t have changed anything…you did what was best for you. Don’t forget that–

Tara was startled as an individual stood in front of her and tossed his jacket over the back of his chair. Tara’s eyes darted upward to see the man that she would be facing at the Denzel Porter Invitational; one of her longest rivals in the game: Alex Jones. He has a cordial smile on his face while his hands rest on the backrest of the chair.

“Alex,” Tara said as she returned the smile; her cheeks reddened and her lips trembled while she was mouthing the words to herself of what she had invited him to say, but she managed to get herself back together and stood up as a gesture of respect, “It’s been too long.”

“It has,” Alex answered, but gestured for Tara to take a seat. He sat after she did, then took a sip from the glass of water in front of him, “How have you been?”

“I’ve been well…” Tara answered.

“I heard about you and Angel,” Alex began; Tara opened her mouth as if to respond, but Alex shrugged, “And then what happened afterward.” He clicked his tongue a few times, and shook his head, “I don’t know how you could forgive him after all of that.”

“There is just something about him, I guess…” Tara said with a wry smile.

Alex shrugged his shoulders before taking a glance around to look for the menu. There was no sign of one, just a laminated paper with a QR code on it. Alex grumbled, “This is ridiculous,” and pulled his phone out to scan the code; he glanced around the restaurant to see if he could see the server to at least order himself a drink, but there was no sign of the server. Alex pursed his lips momentarily and shrugged before folding his hands together and fixing his attention back to Tara. “What is it you wanted to talk about?”

“Straight to the point,” Tara replied somewhat sarcastically.

“There’s no point in beating around the bush,” Alex said nonchalantly.

Tara sighed and sat in silence for a long moment…she tilted her head one way as if contemplating and putting the words together in her mind before letting them fumble from her lips. She could barely maintain eye contact with Alex Jones and by the expression on his face, he was puzzled by it.

“You’ve never been the type of person to bite your tongue,” Alex finally said in an attempt to get Tara to get herself together and speak her mind.

“Alright. Fine,” Tara said and took a deep breath before resuming, “Okay…this is something I’ve just kept a secret for so long, and I can’t really say why– but I do– I feel guilty for not telling you, but when we were…dating…I guess if that’s what you want to call it–”

Alex nodded.

“–I…well, you had to choose. You had to choose between me and Tanya, and you...” Tara said in dismay, “I didn’t want to get between you and her, so I just kept this to myself… I–” Tara stuttered, “–was pregnant…”

Alex leaned back with his eyes locked on his from over a decade ago. He did not need her to say anymore; he knew what she was going to say…the child was his, and she never told him. He opened his mouth as if ready to answer, but he stammered as well and seemed to be unsure of what to say.

“It was yours,” Tara confirmed. “And I just– I should’ve told you, but like I said; I didn’t want to get between you and Tanya, and I was in no position to be a single mother to two children…I had already sacrificed my career for Sabin, and to even think about having a second at the time? I just– I couldn’t– I– I–” Tara continued to stammer until Alex gestured for Tara to calm down.

“Tara…” Alex interrupted, but he still seemed at a loss for words. “It– it’s alright.” Alex said in his best reassuring voice. To be continued?

---

Inside of the Fenix Wrestling Academy, the wrestling school owned and operated by the woman famously known in the business by her stage name of Tara Fenix, Tara was standing outside of one of the training rings. The warehouse that housed the academy was empty for the exception of its owner. She had her arms up and held the bottom rope while leaning against the ring apron and just looked at the ring canvas where she, along with many others, had danced numerous times. It was where people like Tara created their art.

“I have been around this world many, many times,” Tara began. She let the word linger for several seconds and ran her tongue across her lips before continuing, “All the times that I have circled the globe, everywhere I have gone, I have sought out the best; I have fought the best, and that is how I become…the best…” Tara said.

She turned her attention toward the nearby camera, and gained that trademark Docherty smirk that she had; a family trait that she shared with her brother, her son, and even her sister had a hard time keeping that smirk off of her face despite their differences.

“Make no mistake about my aspiration: for all of my years in this industry, while I believe that I have conquered everything…while I believe that I have done everything…there is always another hurdle. My aspiration is not to be recognized as one of the best; it is to be recognized as the best. That is not an aspiration that I can accomplish by taking an easy route, and that is why I never do take an easy route. My sight is constantly on everything that is in front of me to do everything I wish to accomplish. The people that I have not yet had the opportunity to truly fight in the center of the ring. One-on-one. I have given a list of people that I would love to step into the ring with going forward, and none of those names have changed… but there is always that little tick–” Tara tapped the top of her head a few times, “–in my mind. That little tick that considers all of the people that I have already been in the ring with. Some of the best that this industry has to offer.”

Tara couldn’t stop herself from letting out a light chuckle while considering the people that she has been in the ring with; some of which have been dream matches for her…dream matches that she had no idea how badly she wanted to be in the ring with those people until she was inside the ring with them. “People like Mark Hunter of Project: Honor. People like one of my own students, MYŌJIN. People like Emmanuelle. But this goes back further; a lot further…as most of you know: I have been doing this for a long, long, long time! It goes back to facing people like Zelda Knite. People like Reeshi. People like Death Trap. People like Steve Awesome…and people…like…Alex Jones.” The last name came off her tongue followed immediately by a sly smirk.

Out of all of the people mentioned that Tara had been in the ring with throughout her illustrious career, she probably knew Alex Jones more than anyone else.

“That tick is what drives us to want to have that dance again, and when Denzel Porter announced that he wanted to do his show…there was one person that came to my mind that I wanted to share another dance with. If this is our last dance, let’s make it something worth remembering… Alex…Jones. AJ Phoenix. It has been a long time since we shared the ring together; it has been a long time since your name even escaped my lips, and I am going to go ahead and say that I…” Tara chuckled again, “I missed it.”

She cocked her head to the side with that smirk still on her face.

“There was something between us, Alex. There was something unique…and something special…a connection. A chemistry between us. Alex, I would be lying if I told you that there were not times that I did not think about what was once between us. What could have been? Because there is something about that connection that I felt with you all those years ago: I felt that we brought the best out of each other. When we first fought and I had to bury you alive…and I took the Junior-Heavyweight Championship away from you…I had one thought in my mind from the first time that we stepped into the ring with each other. Just one,” Tara said while wagging a finger, “We are going to be doing this for a long time.”

Tara could not contain the smile on her face when she recalled all of her memories from over a decade. She took a couple of steps forward and bit down on her bottom lip and then resumed, “Not only did I know that we were going to do this for a long time; I could see a trait in you that…in all honesty…I do not believe I have seen it in anyone since. You were perfect, Alex. You were the only person that could step into the ring and challenge me to become better; you were the only person who could go toe-to-toe with me and dance in such a way that it left the crowd wanting more…the audience…did not want it to end. You were able to match me. You were able to keep up with me. You were able to exhaust me. The crowd begged for us to keep going; to keep going faster; to keep going harder; to keep going until neither one of us had anything left to give…but that was the thing about us: we always had just a little more to give. We always found a way to dig deeper.” Tara let out a sigh as if she had felt a sudden chill run through her spine when she went down memory lane.

“Both of us were young when we first encountered each other. We shared the same ambition, the same desire, and the same dream to be recognized as the best that this business had to offer… I took your belt away from you, but you did not let that dissuade you; you did not let that stop you. You rose to the next challenge! And the next! And the next! You…were passing me up…” Tara snarled at that thought. It sickened her to think that she was left in the dust.

“However, I would eventually catch up. In fact, it was me…yet again…who ended up taking away your precious World Championship, and becoming the first and only woman to ever hold that belt, and then– I had done it. I had done everything I needed to ride into the sunset. But this business does go into circles, Alex; just as we would fight each other years after our first encounter, only for me to end up on top…again…and this business has circled back around to give me something more to fight for. Something more for me to become. Wherever I sign my name, Alex, you know that I am going to find a way to conquer everybody and everything, and have my name forever etched in history.” Her voice had risen with pride and boomed with confidence that she knew she would accomplish everything she said she would.

“Full circles, though. Full circles… We started as rookies, and we both went on to become legends! And Alex, I cannot help but ask you…where do you think we would be if chance had not put us together? Would we still be standing here twenty years later being able to have a battle between legends? And so…full circle… The King of Wolves and The Phoenix Queen…reunited…” Tara snickered, “Don’t mistake me, Alex; this is not a confessional; this is not a love story; this is a rivalry.” Tara said and there was no masking the glee in her voice.

She walked back toward the ring and turned with her back toward it before taking a short hop and sitting on the ring apron. She ducked her head under the bottom rope and then leaned forward against the middle rope, and her head was still cocked to the side as she resumed her speech.

“This is a rivalry that goes back twenty years between two people who have had one of the strongest connections that anyone has ever had! There are people that you just see in the ring…one time…and you know that they are going to be your perfect dance partner. That is what you are to me, Alex: my perfect dance partner. My rival. The Black Dragon. The Frozen Phoenix. Every name, every gimmick that we have ever gone by throughout all of our years are finally having one final clash at the Denzel Porter Invitational in which we are going to find out if we still have that chemistry; if we still have that connection to be able to create an absolute masterpiece inside of the ring, and it is going to answer who…is better. I have triumphed over you, but none of those triumphs have ever come easily. I want this, Alex, and I know…you want it, too. You want to be able to hear that final bell ring and you want to hear your name being called out as the winner.” Tara closed her eyes and visualized her own setting. Her setting was that of her having her arm raised as the winner of the competition; her name was the one being declared as the victor.

She takes a deep breath and holds it for just a couple of seconds before finally exhaling.

“If this should be our last dance, Alex… I want everybody to remember it.” Tara said with a smile. Would it be their last dance? The scene fades.

---

The 2001 Ford F-250 was parked in an empty field… There was not a cloud in the sky on this perfect evening. The only light that graced the field came from the starlit sky, and the full moon that seemed brighter by the absence of fluorescent light that riddled the cities. Two people laid in the bed of the truck; a young Tara Fenix, and Alex Jones. He had his arm wrapped around her as she cuddled close against him but both of their eyes were just looking toward the stars. Tara would take an occasional glance at Alex, and Alex would pretend not to notice.

“Have you made your choice…?” Tara finally asked to break the silence.

Alex’s face had gone red when presented with the question, and the question did finally earn Tara his gaze. She locked her eyes with his and could not help but place one hand over his; he instinctively did take her hand and their fingers interlocked.

“I have…” Alex answered.

Alex let out a sigh and tried to look away, but Tara sat up and caressed his cheek with her own hand turning his attention back to her, “Please, Alex. I just need to know.”

“I– I–” Alex stammered, and gritted his teeth, “I’m choosing Tanya.”

It was Tara’s turn to become red in the face. “Oh…” Tara said. She sank down and laid her head back onto his shoulder despite knowing that this romance was coming to an end, and Alex got a sudden look as if he had wanted to curse himself for making the choice.

Alex sat up slightly, “I– we should probably go…” Alex said. By the tone of his voice, he did not really want to go, but he knew that his decision did not make it easy for Tara to linger around him.

“We probably should,” Tara answered. She still sounded defeated; abandoned; betrayed, but she did let out a sigh indicating her content. As if she had prepared herself for this answer, and knew what his answer was going to be before he had made it. “But– do you mind if we just stay a little longer?”

Alex laid back down and gave Tara a gentle squeeze.

“Anything you want…” Alex said.

Tara closed her eyes while lying with Alex Jones to enjoy what would be her final night with him; he was engaged to Tanya Byrd. He had chosen Tanya Byrd. Tara still held onto his hand and he held hers back.

“It was fun while it lasted,” Tara said aloud. The response had gotten a light chuckle from Alex along with a subtle nod. I love you, she ached to say, but she bit down on her tongue to keep those words to herself. End.