Flames

Walk the Walk, part 1

I hate that someone has to lose. The thought had been running through Becky's mind all Mania week, whether she was in rehearsals or appearing with Seth for Amo Coffee or taking pictures with fans. It was the type of sentiment she might have laughed at when she was younger, or before she had her daughter at least. Now all she could think about was how much effort everyone was putting in for WrestleMania—the wrestlers, the producers, the set crew, and so many more—and she just wanted everyone to get the recognition they deserved. It didn't stop her from wanting to win, of course, but it made her even more determined to make sure AJ Lee looked good in defeat.

That had limits, of course, and she didn't think she would have to explain that to her daughter. "You can't run out with the AJ girls, Roux."

Roux pushed curls out of her face and frowned. "Why not, Mama? I have AJ shoes!"

AJ, to her credit, was doing her best not to laugh. "You do," she chimed in. "But it looks like you had a bit of a growth spurt, kiddo. You're taller than when I saw you last. Pretty soon you'll be taller than me! Those shoes might not fit you anymore...."

Becky appreciated the effort, but she shook her head. "They still fit. But we don't have them here. And you don't have the same outfit as the other girls. You're wearing the pretty dress Auntie Jen got you—"

"I could get new shoes!" Roux looked back and forth between her mother and her backstage auntie. "And a shirt...."

Shooting Becky a look of sympathy, AJ patted Roux's head. "The other girls have already rehearsed. But you and I can skip down the ramp later if you like. Would that be okay?"

Roux looked up at her mother and handed over her cat-ear headphones. "Can we go do it now? Please, Mama?"

Becky shared a look with AJ over Roux's head. "I'm not sure what AJ's schedule is like, sweetheart." She tried to mouth Don't worry about it as subtly as possible when Roux's attention was diverted by Seth's arrival.

But AJ just beamed and held out her hand. "You know, right now is the perfect time. Are you ready? It's a long ramp," she added, crouching down by Roux. "It's a long way to skip. We should probably do some stretches first."

"I know how to do stretchies!" Roux hopped up and down and she pointed back at her parents. "We do them at home!"

"She does. She picked out her own yoga mat and everything." Seth kept his tone admirably serious. "Go ahead, sweetheart. I've got my phone. I'll make a video for you, okay?"

That was all the encouragement Roux needed to tug on AJ's hand. "Let's go!"

AJ straightened up and smiled at Becky. "Looks like you're 0 for 2 on your daughter liking your opponents," she chuckled.

"If I ever get to face Asuka again," Becky replied, leaning against Seth when he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, "I might as well just sign away my parental rights."

Roux turned around long enough to stick out her tongue at her mother. "No one is ready for Asuka!" Then she tugged on AJ's hand again and scurried away, giggling the whole way to the ramp entrance.

"She's not wrong." Seth kissed the top of Becky's head and laughed. "Other than being forsaken by your only child, how are you doing?"

Becky tilted her head back and shot him a mock glare. "Other than that? Oh, just peachy!" She laughed too, but it sounded a bit hollow. WrestleMania was a whirlwind at the best of times, and adding their coffee release into the mix probably wasn't their smartest idea. "How are you doing? Have you gone over things with Gunther yet?"

Seth shook his head and gently nudged her towards the ramp entrance, where Roux was jumping up and down to get their attention. "Not yet. I was on my way there, but I wanted to check in with you and see what Roux was up to. She's going to miss all this when school gets serious and we can't just take her out for a couple days whenever we want."

"I'm going to miss it too." Becky plucked Seth's phone from his pocket and handed it to him. "You know she's going to ask to see the video."

"She is," Seth grinned, "or you are?" He was still laughing as he got ready to record. "Good to go!" he called out. AJ half-turned and gave him a thumbs up before taking Roux's hand again. "Come on. Let's go watch."

"Sure," Becky scoffed. "Let's watch our daughter betray me with my opponent." She was smiling as she said it, though, and her heart was full. Having the locker room embrace and welcome Roux the way they did was an unfathomable gift. Roux was still so young, and she had already had so many incredible experiences: travelling the world, visiting iconic places, meeting legends—in short, living a life Becky would have envied when she was on the indies. "I swear, sometimes it feels like she has more friends backstage than I do."

"Maybe." Seth stopped just inside the entrance so he had a good sightline. "More friends than I do? Absolutely." He chuckled when one of the sound technicians noticed that Roux wasn't wearing her headphones and ran over with a pair to protect her ears. The sound levels were nothing compared to what they would be later when the place was packed and the fans were screaming, but they would still be a lot for a small child.

Becky kissed his cheek. "You get points for not saying Never. And I guess we both get points for managing to raise a good kid in the middle of all this chaos." She hugged his free arm and watched as AJ and Roux waited side by side.

AJ kept an eye on the countdown clock and squeezed Roux's hand when they only had five seconds to go. "Let's light it up!"

"Light it up!" Roux sang along, skipping alongside AJ. She knew most of the words to the song, or at least could fill in the blanks quickly enough, and the two skipped hand in hand down the ramp. Once they reached the ring, AJ led her up the steps and held the ropes open for her.

Becky nudged Seth's side. "Notice that she already wipes her feet before she gets in?" Roux went through phases of being obsessed with wrestling and then barely wanting to watch, but even when she wasn't as interested in it, she still remembered all the little details her parents taught her.

"She's a natural," Seth agreed. "Probably a natural heel, but... you know. Still a natural."

Hours later, when Becky watched AJ's official entrance, she kept thinking of Roux skipping down the ramp, revelling in the moment. Now Roux was out in the audience, there to watch the title match. Somehow that meant more to Becky than winning, though it was nice to get the championship back, of course. After the match, as she walked back up the ramp with her title around her waist, she scanned the crowd for her daughter. "Want to come back with me?" she asked.

Roux had her protective headphones on, so Becky wasn't sure if she would be able to hear over the roar of the crowd, but Roux stretched out her arms and Becky lifted her over the barricade. "You did it!"

"I did!" Becky didn't say much more until they got backstage. The main cameras wouldn't be on her, but there were still thousands of fans watching—and recording with their phones. As cool as it would be to celebrate with her daughter on the stage, just being able to share the moment with her and carry her up the ramp would have to be enough.

Roux didn't seem to mind, at least. She kept her arms wrapped around Becky's neck and looked around at the crowd. As soon as they were backstage and Becky set her down, though, she did her little happy dance, flapping her hands excitedly. "Can we do that every time you win?" she asked, curls bouncing as she hopped around. "Can Dada carry me too? He wrestles next, right?"

Becky kissed the top of Roux's head and took her hand, heading towards the locker room. "Dada's going against Gunther, remember? He might get pretty beat up." She didn't want to flat-out tell Roux that he was losing, but she also didn't think Seth would be in the mood for people taking pictures of him with his daughter.

"Oh. But we can wait for him here, right?" Roux's mood barely even dimmed.

"Absolutely. Just let me get changed and we'll find the biggest screen back here so we can watch." Becky did her best not to sigh. It seemed like they could never both be on a high at the same time. At Elimination Chamber, he had a triumphant return while she lost her title; now at WrestleMania, she was regaining her title while he was slated to lose. At least we have the coffee venture, she thought. If Roux was waiting to hug him and there was a cup of his favourite blend, the loss might not sting quite so much.