Ain't No Sunshine

"Then stop acting like one!"

Valley hated raising her voice, it always sounded unnatural. Even when she did promos back with the Slamazons, she was never the yelling type. She preferred to stay mellow. It made her look like she was in control of the situation, and that just ticked her opponents off even more. Calm, cool, confident.

But she wasn't in control of this situation, was she? No, it was spinning out of control at a whirlwind's pace. "Look, yes, I saw the end of your Taylor Parker match. And your match with Akashi. And Iron Maiden. And I was there for Jocelyn and Hawk." She ticked them off on her fingers, one by one, right down the list. "And no, I haven't forgotten about your five years, in no small part because you keep reminding me."

Valley rolled her eyes and stood up, tightening her sash. Pretty obvious nothing was going to happen there. Not tonight. Maybe not for a good, long while.

"The hard fact of the matter is that you're not as unique as you think you are, Ace. I've seen it before. I've seen wrestlers start up and make some good headway, then just stall and stick in a rut for the rest of their careers. Just winning, just being good isn't enough. You need direction. You need polish. You need help. And I'll provide that for you, but you have to let me. You have to listen. You've come a long way, but you still have a long way to go, and you won't get there without me." She shook her head and walked past Ace, heading into the kitchenette. Her barefeet tapped across the tiled floor as she went. "I'm sorry, but that's the truth of it. Plain and simple."

It wasn't easy to say, but speaking the truth rarely was.

Ace flinched as Valley yelled at her, not expecting that, though by the time Valley was done lecturing her, the younger blonde's hand was actually shaking in anger, Ace quickly moving up to her feet and following after Valley into the kitchenette, getting in the older woman's face.

"Not without you huh? Well if your mentoring was so great, then how do you explain everything that happened since my first match with Jocelyn? Your "mentoring and training" has been nothing but you coming in to help whenever I take a hit, and guess what, that's what screwed us over tonight! I didn't need you to keep getting involved tonight, I didn't need to you GET to AFW, and I don't need you acting like a fucking big shot and telling me I don't know anything!"

"In fact Val, this little trend of me getting beaten up didn't start until after I met you, I was doing just fine until then...so the way I see it, I just plain don't need you, not in my matches, not in my corner, hell, not in my LIFE!"

Ace yelled, panting and taking a small step back as she realized what she had just said, surprised at her words, yet knowing without doubt that she meant them.

Valley made her way to the fridge and started to open it, hoping to snag some leftovers from dinner. She didn't even get halfway before Ace started her tirade. She didn't say anything. She didn't interrupt. She just stood there, blank stare, glaring at Ace from across the counter. When Ace was finished, she didn't say anything. She didn't need to say anything.

After one of the longest moments in history passed, Valley spoke. "Fine."

She moved back to the fridge and took out her leftover Apple Pie, popping it out of the to-go box and onto a plate. "You can't go two matches without being nearly hospitalized. But you don't need me." She dug out a fork, still talking like it was just a regular conversation, minor chit-chat. "You don't have anyone else to back you up when you get ganged up on. Certainly not those girls who invited you to their party, then sent you home crying. But you don't need me." She cut out a piece of the pie and brought it into her mouth. Chewed. Swallowed. Then pointed the dirty fork at Ace from across the kitchenette. "You didn't even have the foresight to bring American money to an American city, just in case something happened to me. But you don't need me."

She placed the plate down for a second and grabbed her wallet off the counter, laying out a few hundreds. "You want to walk out right now, I can tell, but you can't even do that without me, can you? You have no money, you'd be stranded in Jersey for weeks, unless you called your parents for help. But you don't want to do that, because you're a big girl. Independent. We can all tell that by the nice, posh apartment that you totally paid for by yourself. Right."

She laid out a thousand dollars. All in crisp, fresh bills. Benjamin Franklin and his nine twins. "So, let me tell you how this little drama is going to play out. You are going to take this money, find a separate room, then catch your own flight back to Japan. You can pay me back later, and despite what you're saying, there's going to be a later. You'll come back. You will, you just don't know it yet. Some lessons can't be taught, they have to be experienced." She picked the plate up and went back to the bed, shaking her head as she strutted, with a little preening on the side.

"You do need me, Ace. Haley. You just don't really get why, yet."

There was silence for a few moments after Valley slammed her money on the table and walked off, leaving Haley standing there, looking uncertain as she contemplated Valley's words. To say they had stung her would be an understatement, feeling more like sharp darts that Val had accurately thrown her way.

Ace honestly didn't know which was worse, that Valley was so confident that Ace would fail without her, or that some of what she said was actually true. Shaking her head, Ace quickly grabbed the money and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her, not offering any parting words. It didn't matter, she told herself. None of that mattered, because as far as she was concerned, things between her and the California Blonde were over and done with, for good.