A Trip Down Memory Lane

Slowly, Risako's eyes lit up as Uehara's advice slowly turned into a confession. Truth to be told, she had once been angry at Uehara for abandoning her in the wake of the Dragon Fujiko affair: then that anger had turned to guilt, and the guilt had turned into a long period of feeling sorry for herself. Time had healed that wound (to a point), but it still hurt that she and Uehara left on such bad terms.

She felt the corners of her eyes start to water, and tried not to cry. "Oh, Kyouko-chan, of course I forgive you!" she said, leaning forwards to hug her former tag partner. "You should know that I never held it against you. I do wish we'd left on better terms, but the last thing I ever wanted was for you to beat yourself up over this!"

All of Risako's talk about seeking forgiveness for earlier wrongdoings certainly hit home for Blade harder than the Queen of Queens may have thought. The fact that Risako's situation with Chris almost perfectly mimicked the contentious relationship between Risako and herself certainly wasn't lost on Blade, and talking about all of this stuff just led to her reflecting more and more about her own mistakes. All of her solo years in the indies gave her plenty of time to stew about how much she let her partner down, Blade having rehearsed that speech multiple times, and for now she just hoped she got her point across alright.

"O-oh, um, uh, okay..." Blade stammered and stuttered from being suddenly brought in for a big ol' hug, the Aerial Artist wide-eyed with a slight blush and her arms raised stiffly at her sides. Not quite knowing what to do here until she began to eventually reciprocate with an arm around Risako's upper back and waist. Blade wasn't normally one to get all sentimental like this, but even a gruff tom-boy like herself couldn't help get a little teary-eyed from all this mushy stuff. Her smile hidden in the crook of Risako's neck and hopefully out of sight of Bomber, whom she hoped wouldn't spread rumors about the one time Blade got all gooey inside.

"Thank you, Risako...and hey, if you can find it in your heart to forgive a screw-up like me, I'd say the odds are in your favor that Chris might do the same for you, right?"

Still trying to force back tears, Risako nodded to Uehara. "Thanks, Kyouko-chan," she said. "I don't know if she will, but...well, what the hell, I owe it to you to try, right?" She rubbed her eyes at this point. "Sorry, itchy eyes," she added, knowing that Uehara wouldn't believe it.

At this moment, every horrible thing in Risako's life felt like it had just evaporated. Not only was one of her best friends here with her, but they had managed to bury a hatched that the two of them had been carrying for the longest time now. It felt like a relief. More than a relief, it felt like a return to the way things once were, the way things should have been.

"I had no idea you were even in AFW, you know," she said, smiling now. "You should have dropped me a line, Kyouko-chan! I would have made sure to watch your matches. Um...have you had any matches so far?"

And to think, Blade was just expecting to get in a lite workout today. Instead, here she was getting all misty-eyed and crap after being forgiven for something that had been haunting her for years. Even a hard-headed, stubborn goat like her knew she was totally in the wrong after she had left Risako high and dry last time...but to hear her jilted friend offer her forgiveness and embrace her so caringly...it was as if a tremendous weight was miraculously lifted off her shoulders. Like she could float into the air if Risako wasn't holding onto her so tightly.

"H-heh, yeah...someone's probably cuttin onions around here somewhere. Geez, everyone keeps huggin me today...I shoulda came back sooner if all you nerd's missed so much..." Blade teasingly stated with a warm smile and some light rubbing of her own eyes to show that she was getting swept in all this mushy crap just like Risako. A deep, throat clearing cough than helping Blade to get that damn lump out of her throat before she continued speaking.

"Well where'd be the fun if I spoiled the surprise, ya know? But don't worry, I'm still making arrangements for my big comeback appearance. But nuff about me!!!" Blade perked up with a more authoritarian tone before turning in place to stand beside Risako and begin ushering them both onwards so they can start walking side by side. "It's YOUR big comeback match we should be talking back!! As your new life coach, first thing we need to do is get you out of this losing streak. But before we even go that we gotta..." Blade would start to go on a long-winded diatribe as they made their way towards the managements office to discuss getting Risako back on live T.V. and into a match. Though not without Blade offering Bomber parting wave to show her appreciation for sticking around, and that she would call her later...