Prologue

Flashback (6 years ago):

Jonny, Colby and Saraya Lopez' son, Ruby, Jeff and Britt Hardy's daughter, Robbie, Matt and Reby Hardy's son, Jake, Phil and April Brooks' son, and Crystal, Jonathan and Trinity Fatu's daughter were hanging out at my house, joking around. It was pretty late but they were all spending the night anyway. My dad, Joe Anoa'i, allowed it because we were all essentially raised together and he trusted us together. These five also knew about my powers so he knew I'd try harder not to use them around them.

"Oh come on, Amy. You can't be serious. Do you really want your mom to retire?" Jake asked.

"Kinda. I mean, it's not easy for me to always be on the road. Between my powers and me feeling like I've been feeling Matt more lately, I feel alone and out of place. I kinda feel like it would be safer if Mom retired and just stayed with me here. Besides, she's had one of the longest wrestling careers for a WWE Diva since Mae Young and The Fabulous Moolah. I know she's not considered a Diva, but its hard being different like I am and never being in one place for long. You guys make it easier, and I love you all for that, but not even you guys fully understand what it's like for me."

"Amy, you have two parents who love you, isn't that enough?" Ruby, the oldest of us asked.

"Sometimes, but sometimes I need her because I feel like I'm going to lose myself in my power and she's too busy prepping for matches," I replied. "Besides all of us have two parents who love us. I'm the only one with two parents who are still full-time wrestlers and possibly a twin brother who is trying to reach me from the grave."

"Come on, Cuz, it can't be that hard, can it?" Crystal asked.

"Dad leaves tomorrow night for a Canadian leg of the WWE tour. I won't see him until my birthday. I'm going with Mom for the West Coast tour. We're going to be separated until my sixteenth birthday and I have a bad feeling right now," I said. "Do you think I should just not say anything and ask them if I can stay with Grandpa here in Texas until they get back from the tour?"

"Maybe," Jonny said. "Maybe 'Taker can help you with your problems. Your Mom's powers do partially come from him. And it will give you time to catch up on your schoolwork. I was talking to our tutor. He said if you don't have all of your work in by your birthday he's going to tell Joe and Cassie that you need a remedial tutor."

"Ha!" Robbie laughed at me. "You'll be taking lessons with me, Crystal and Jake!"

"Shut up before I fry…" I started before I started screaming in pain.

Mom and Jeff were in her car. She was in the driver's seat and the car was upside down. Both her and Jeff looked bad. I could see another car had hit them, causing their car to flip.

"Jeff, Jeff, open your eyes," Mom called out to Ruby's Dad weakly.

Jeff tried to open his eyes, but his head lolled over. Mom reached over to him. The pain I felt got worse. I couldn't tell what was going on around my body anymore, but I was sure that I was screaming louder. Mom's injuries were getting worse, but I saw that Jeff was starting to come around.

"Cassie, no! Stop!" He shouted at her.

Mom had passed out and her injuries kept getting worse as Jeff was getting stronger. He forced her hand off of him, but it didn't stop her, even while she was out cold. Suddenly, I felt everything change.

"You can't stay connected to your mother, Amy," the man I had seen in pictures but only knew as my mom's heart donor said to me.

"Who are you?"

"Jon. You can't stay connected to Cassie. You'll get hurt. You need to ground yourself to your body. Your cousin and friends are panicking. Jonny is trying to get into your mind to help you find your way back."

"Mom is dying! I have to help her!"

"If you help her, it can kill you, Amy."

"I don't care! Daddy needs her!"

"If they lose you, their marriage won't survive."

"Yes it will, you don't know what you're talking about!"

"Yes, I do. You are the only reason their marriage survived the death of your twin brother. They can't lose you, too."

Finally, I could feel Jonny pulling me back to ground me to my own body. As I came around the pain was so bad, but I didn't care. I was crying because I knew Mom wasn't going to make it home because she just saved Ruby's dad. I must not have been out as long as I thought because Dad burst into the room just then.

"What's wrong, Baby Girl?" he asked me as he pulled me into his lap, cuddling me.

"Mom is dying right now and I can't help her," I said as I started sobbing harder.

"Why would you say that, Amy? Your mom is on her way home from working out with Jeff. They're fine," he said as he rubbed circles on the small of my back the way he did when Mom freaked out.

The energy in the room changed. The man from the accident, Mom's heart donor, was in the room with us. Only this time, I knew Dad could see him, too.

Joe, Amy is right, he said.

"No, you're wrong, Jon! You saved her all those years ago, she's helped so many people, this can't be true!" Dad said, but the tears were in his eyes.

I'm sorry, Joe. They were hit by another car. Reassure Ruby. She's the one who doesn't have one of her parents here. Jeff is fine.

Dad understood. Mom was dying because she saved Jeff. He was losing his wife, I was losing my mother, because she was saving her best friend.

"He was…?" Dad asked without speaking.

Nearly. She wouldn't let it happen. He's been her best friend for so long, Joe.

"She wouldn't lose him like Denise. She couldn't help her," Dad said as he pulled me closer and cried.

No, she couldn't help Denise because she didn't have that ability like she does now. She wouldn't lose Jeff like she lost Denise when she could help him.

"But what about us?" I asked through my tears.

Amy, your mother loved you and your dad more than you'll be able to understand right now. She's always tried to do the right thing by you guys. She even turned down one of the biggest matches of her life early in her career for you and your brother because she had just come back from having major surgery and having the two of you. It was an elimination chamber match, and if her empathy went out of control or anything else went wrong, it could have left her paralyzed or dead. She wouldn't risk that knowing how much you two need her.

I started crying more. Jonny came over and hugged me. He knew everything that was being said because he inherited his parents' abilities. His mom could see and talk to the dead and his dad was telepathic. He flinched off of me and I could feel Dad was in pain. I was losing control.

Joe, get her into the basement before she sets the house on fire and hurts someone, including you. You're not fireproof without Cassie.

Dad started crying and without a word, picked me up and brought me to the basement, where he left me. As soon as he closed the door, the fire exploded from me, Mom's injuries started bleeding worse, and I blacked out in the middle of the fire.

Roman's POV:

I knew I had third degree burns from Amy. When she realized it she would feel horrible, but she was pulled to her mother who was dying, how could I blame her for not controlling her power? I went to the kitchen and called Mark, telling him what I just found out. He said he was going to send Kaia to help with Amy in the basement and come over to take me to the hospital in case there was anything he could do to help Cassie. Going upstairs, I asked Ruby to come outside into the hallway, she was freaking out.

"What's going on, Mr. Anoa'i?"

"There was a car accident. Another car slammed into the car that Cassie and your father was in. It's bad, really bad, but your father is fine."

"How can you say my dad is fine when you just said the accident was…" Ruby started. "Oh my God. Is Cassie okay?"

I started crying again.

"I don't think she will be this time. Your father was in bad shape and she healed him."

"Mr. Anoa'i, I'm so sorry!"

"Don't be, Ruby. This isn't your fault," I said as I hugged her, trying to comfort her through my pain. "Cassie lost one of her best friends when she was younger than Amy and it has haunted her for her entire life since. She didn't have the ability to help her because her friend realized it was killing Cassie and went to her father who blocked the ability. Cassie didn't get the ability back until she was in her twenties. She loves your father and he's been her closest friend for most of life, even before I met her. She wouldn't let him go if she could save him. That's just how Cassie works."

"You don't blame my dad?"

"No. Jeff meant the world to Cassie. He's kept her grounded through so much. If anything, I should be grateful that he was with her now. She's not alone."

The doorbell rang. I sent Ruby back into the room with the others. I could hear them all crying. I opened the door to find two police officers.

"Mr. Joe Anoa'i?" one of them asked.

"Yes."

"You are married to Cassidy Anoa'i?" the other asked.

I struggled not to flash back to the phone call in Minnesota where I found out she had been shot.

"Yes, I am."

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but Mrs. Anoa'i was involved in a car accident. Her car was hit by another car and she died before first responders could get her out of the car," the first officer said.

I started crying again.

"You have a teenaged daughter, right?" the second officer asked.

I nodded.

"Do the two of you need a ride to the hospital?" he asked.

"No. My daughter isn't feeling well. I actually just called my wife's father and sister to come help with her. I'll go to the hospital on my own when they get here."

"Of course, Mr. Anoa'i. I'm sorry for your family's loss." He said as he and his partner turned away.

Ten minutes later, Mark and Kaia got to the house. I sat them down in the living room.

"The police were already here," I started, looking at them. "She was gone before they could get her out of the car. I'm sorry."

I started crying and the fireplace ignited on its own. Mark was breaking. Cassie meant everything to him. Kaia started crying.

"Is Amy still in the basement? How is she handling this?" Mark asked.

"She's downstairs and I'm not sure. I think she started a fire when I closed the door, but I put her down there because she started to burn me. I have some third degree burns I'll need to handle when I get home, but I need to go to the hospital. Do you want to come with me, Mark?"

He looked at me then just stared off to space. Suddenly, he snapped back to attention.

"I can't. Amy is having trouble with her power and I can't see Cassie like that, not after everything we've been through. I'll take care of Amy. Gunner is in the car. When I called him, he demanded that he be able to go to the hospital. Go with him. He needs this closure."

"Thank you for helping me with Amy. I don't know what to do for her now. I can't help her with her powers like you did for Cassie."

"Her siblings and I will do everything we can to help you with Amy. Just ask, Joe. We're still a family," Mark said as he got up with Kaia, hugged me, and left for the basement.

The next day:

Amy's POV:

I woke up in my bed the following morning with Grandpa at my side. Looking at him, I knew the nightmare was real. Mom was dead. He looked tired which meant he healed me overnight.

"I'm sorry, Grandpa. I didn't try to reach out to Mom, but once the connection was there I wanted to help her so much I didn't want to let go," I said to him.

"It's okay, Amy. You were trying to save your mother. I can't say that I blame you," He said as he hugged me.

"You look so tired. Was it hard to heal me? I felt Mom's injuries hit me worse when the fire erupted from me in the basement last night and then I blacked out."

"I've dealt with worse, believe me, Baby. I'm okay. Just tired. I stayed up all night."

"You should go get some rest, you look exhausted. I'll be okay, Grandpa. Take care of yourself for me, please?"

"Fine, but try not to use your power and take it easy in general. Your emotions are rightfully all over right now and anything can send you over the edge. Please be careful while I'm gone."

He kissed my head and left. I got up and went to the bathroom, taking a quick shower and throwing on shorts and one of Dad's t-shirts.

"Amy, somebody's here to see you!" Dad called upstairs.

I went downstairs to find Jeff Hardy at the door. He looked heartbroken. I walked to the door.

"Come in, Jeff," I said, closing the door behind him.

He hugged me to him, and I could feel Mom's energy all over him. I started to cry again.

"I'm so sorry about your mama, Amy. By the time I came around and tried to stop her it was too late. I really tried."

I cried into his shoulder.

"I know," I replied.

"What?"

I led him into the living room and explained what happened. He was in complete shock that I was there in some way without him knowing, without me physically being there. I told him what Dad told me about Mom's friend.

"Denise. She never got over that. It led her to some dark places," Jeff started.

"What happened to her? I just know she died and Mom couldn't help her."

"Denise had a weak heart. Her father, Shawn Michaels, found out when she was eight. After a bad custody battle between him and her mama when she was about fourteen her heart got weaker. Not long before she would've turned sixteen she got a visit from Cassie. While they were together, Denise's heart gave out and they couldn't revive her. Cassie had been trying to heal her heart for a while, but while Denise was getting stronger, Cassie's heart was getting weaker…"

"And Denise let her?"

"No, Amy, not when she realized that Cassie wouldn't stop on her own. She went to your granddaddy and told him what was going on. Your granddaddy and Denise didn't always get along because she used to take Cassie and they'd go get into trouble, and he was mad she waited to tell him, but he gained some respect for her when she said that Cassie was her best friend and if saving her meant she couldn't see her again before she died, then that was what she wanted him to do. She told him that she accepted her fate, but wouldn't bring Cassie down with her. After he blocked your mama's ability, he brought her to visit her, but it seemed that was all Denise could handle."

"And what about the dark places it led Mom to?"

"I can't tell you that unless your daddy gives me permission."

"Unless I give you permission to tell her what?" Dad asked walking into the room from the backyard.

"I told her about Denise and that it led Cassie to dark places. She asked what dark places and I told her I can't tell her without your permission."

"Thank you for not telling her without me knowing," Dad said turning to me. "Maybe after the funeral, Baby Girl. I think that's a little much for right now. Maybe a few days after the funeral your godparents and I can explain that to you."

"I'm so sorry, Joe. I never meant for this to happen," Jeff said.

"Jeff, you know better than I do how badly she was haunted by Denise's death. If you died last night, I don't think she would have survived anyway, not really."

Jeff got up and hugged Dad then me and left.

"What was that about, Daddy?"

"After the funeral, Baby Girl. We'll explain it then. There are things you don't know about your mother, things we were hoping you were never going to have to know, but now, I think you should in case you feel those dark places calling to you."

Dad hugged me and went upstairs to his room.

We watched Monday Night Raw that night, which was supposed to be the last event we were supposed to be together until my birthday. At the beginning of the broadcast, they had a moment of silence, the ringing of the bells, and a video montage of Mom. Dad and I cried. At the end, they played Mom's entrance music and sent their prayers out to our family for our loss. I wanted to scream, but I just cried harder while Dad held me tighter.

Later that week

I barely got through Mom's funeral and burial without bringing a storm or burning something to the ground. I was surrounded by Dad, Grandpa, and Gunner to try to keep me from losing it. Still, there were a few near misses where Grandpa had to stop me. There were so many people there, people Mom helped over the years, friends, Grandpa's family. They all kept telling me they were sorry about Mom and how great she was. It was so much to deal with. During the reception, I hid in my room. When Dad tried to get me to come downstairs, I pointed out I couldn't handle anymore and he just left me to my room.

Over the next few days I refused to come out of my room. I wasn't answering my phone to my friends or my family. I was lost. Finally, Dad and my godparents, Jeff Hardy and Amy Dumas, who used to wrestle as Lita, insisted I talk to them. They said if I wouldn't come down to the living room, they were coming into my room. I went downstairs.

I wouldn't let any of them touch me. I wasn't sure that I wouldn't hurt them if they did. I kept my distance. Still, they sat down with me.

"Amy, we need to talk," Amy said.

"We're worried about you," Jeff said.

"I feel like you're falling away into the darkness, Baby Girl, and if we don't get you back you're going to be lost forever," Dad said to me.

I had been feeling like this was an intervention, but at Dad's words, I looked at him. That was how I was feeling. I was losing myself. I was having dark thoughts and I couldn't stop it. I wanted to do things that would hurt me, could kill me, to see if it would take away my pain. I just didn't want to feel the loss and pain. I didn't want to remember that Mom was dead and I couldn't save her.

"How did you know?"

"I told you the other day that your mama slipped into some very dark places after Denise died," Jeff said.

"It took her a long time to get out of the darkness and then she fell back in and it was your father that saved her," Amy continued.

"But what happened to her? What was this darkness? What did she do?"

Amy and Jeff looked at Dad.

"Just know, before Amy and Jeff tell you, your mother loved you and this was her past. A very long time in her past. Things never went this far after I met her," Dad said and nodded at my godparents.

"Darlin', you know about my history, don't you? From when I was younger?"

"Which part?"

Jeff took a deep breath.

"The drinking and drugs."

I nodded. Everyone knew that Jeff had issues with drugs when he started wrestling. It wasn't a secret. He got clean for Ruby and stayed clean after she was born.

"What about it?"

"Cassie and I used to party together when she was a teenager. She got in deep with me before she was your age."

"You got my mom addicted to drugs and her and Dad still trusted you?!"

"No! It wasn't like that. I found that she was already doing it. I started letting her party with me figuring she'd be safer if she was with me than if she was out on her own, but we both spiraled pretty fast."

"There was something else, Amy," my godmother spoke up.

"What else?"

"Your mother was a self-injurer. She used to cut herself. It was bad enough once when she was a teenager your grandfather had to have her hospitalized because she was so far gone by the time he got back to the hotel and found her," Amy explained.

My mind was reeling.

"What is the point of this?" I asked desperately.

"When I realized how out of control we both were, I knew we needed help. I went to Amy. She helped your mother and I get clean, your mother has been clean since the night before Halloween when she was seventeen. It wasn't easy, but Amy got your mama clean and she stayed that way, even when she fell back into the darkness a few years later," Jeff explained.

"And the cutting?"

"She stopped when she was a teenager and didn't do it again until she started in the WWE and she fell back into the darkness, but she stayed off of the drugs," Amy said.

"What happened when she started wrestling?"

This time, Dad took a deep breath.

"When Cassie was brought in, it was to replace an injured Diva, and she won the Divas' Championship in her debut match in New York from Jake's mom. Jake's mom was dating a guy named Jon at the time who had been tormenting your mom for a few years, which I didn't know, and April was obsessed with the title. Things got personal, they got out of hand, your mom wound up in the hospital…"

"What do you mean, she wound up in the hospital, Dad?"

"Not long after she debuted, we started the European/UK tour. At the London taping of Smackdown, April tried and failed to get the title back and her boyfriend Jon demanded a match with your mom to gain a rematch between April and your mom so April could try to get the title back. Colby got Jon disqualified and then the three of us triple Power Bombed her. She lost consciousness for a day and the ring caught fire."

"You and Colby put Mom in the hospital?"

"I'm ashamed to say that I did. I didn't know that Colby and Jon had both been tormenting Cassie since they had signed with WWE, Colby was following Jon, but still. Things got worse. The more she beat April, the worse things got between her, Colby, Jon, and April. I didn't realize how bad at first until the first time I found her bleeding in Boston and even then, I didn't know what was happening."

"What do you mean?"

"I had run into Colby and Jon who were bragging about teaching Cassie a lesson. I was worried about her, so I rushed to her hotel room. She was in her robe, but her room was a mess and she was jumpy. She wouldn't talk to me and when I touched her she bled through the robe. I tried to find out what happened, but she pushed me away, locked her door, and took time off the next day."

"So what happened next?"

"She didn't cut again for months. I, again, didn't know what really happened at the time, but the night after Survivor Series, two months before she would've made two years with the company, Denise appeared in my hotel room and said Cassie was in trouble, dropped the key to her hotel room and disappeared. I went to her room and found her unconscious in the tub, all cut up, the blade still in her hand. I took care of her for the next week and that's when we started getting closer, but she still didn't tell me what happened completely."

"When did she tell you what happened?"

"The morning after Elimination Chamber. She told me she wasn't sure she was ready to tell me, but she was in a position where she had to because she needed me. We were together by this time and I was very protective of your mother and I was worried. She had been sick and Stephanie had her taken to medical for some tests that she wouldn't tell me about during the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. She was pregnant and needed me at her side because she was having an abortion…"

"Mom had an abortion before me and Matt?"

"Yes, the baby wasn't mine. We hadn't gone that far in our relationship at that point. That was when she told me what happened. Your mother had been raped, twice, and it sent her back to that dark place that she tried to leave behind as a teenager."

I was silent. Mom had been raped, gotten pregnant, and had an abortion before I was born. I thought about everything Dad had said to me. Did that mean?

"Did Jonny's dad rape Mom?"

"Yes. Colby and Jon raped your mother twice before she admitted it. I found out after she was suspended for putting Colby down for a week. She freaked out in Paul's office and the darkness was pressing in on her. I didn't know she was back from suspension yet. We hadn't spoken since she had gotten suspended because I got the wrong idea from the situation."

"What do you mean?"

"Colby said some things about your mother that made me realize she'd slept with him. I didn't know it was because he was one of her attackers. I knew she knew her attackers, but she said she wasn't ready to tell me who they were. But she asked Paul to keep him and Jon away from her or else she'd go to the cops. He tried to get why out of her but she said Stephanie knew but wouldn't tell him because she didn't know it was about them and started losing control. When Paul told me that, I knew. I knew my two former best friends had raped her. I took her back to the hotel and put her in her bed and went to find them, and I beat them both to within an inch of their lives. I got arrested but Paul got the charges dropped saying it was a promotional stunt gone wrong. Cassie went and told them if they pressed charges on me she'd press rape charges on them. They agreed and Colby left her alone. Your mom and I made up after that and she tried to lean on me more, since I finally knew the truth."

"How can you be friends with someone who raped Mom?!"

"Amy, calm down. Your daddy has his reasons," Jeff said.

"Listen to your father before you lose control of your powers, Amy," Amy said to me.

I wanted to attack them all. Jonny's father raped my mother and they were friends with him. How could they? And they wanted me to be calm?

"Like I said, Colby stayed out of your mother's way, but Jon brought her mother, Ivy, into the middle of everything. Ivy had powers like your mother, but she used them irresponsibly, to hurt people if she felt like it. She healed Jon and Colby after I beat them and attacked me when I tried to mediate between her and Cassie. Your mother really didn't like Ivy and after a few meetings with her, I didn't blame her. Ivy and Jon started working together, plotting to get rid of Cassie, but Colby, he realized one day after your mother started on the men's roster that what he did made her hurt herself with his telekinesis."

"How did he not know?"

"He had blocked his abilities from everyone and she was decent at hiding her abilities when she wanted to. But, he cried when he realized what he'd done, apologized, and promised to protect her. A promise he kept. At Summerslam, Jon brought one of the NXT guys who went by Corey Graves to attack her during her match with Taylor. Colby warned us about it and even helped me protect her during the match, knowing that Jon would turn on him, just like they both turned on me the first time I stood up for your mother at Hell in a Cell the year before. Ever since then, Colby has always been there for us. It wasn't always easy, but he and your mother got past what happened, with difficulty, and we were really as close as you always thought we were. Your mother loved Colby and I really think she forgave him a long time ago."

"What happened with Ivy and Jon?"

"Ivy is the one who unlocked your mother's empathy. When it unlocked, it nearly killed your mother. So many injuries, self-inflicted and wounds that she suffered or took on for others, started reappearing on her body so fast, I thought I was gonna lose her. Your grandfather, his sister Devin, and Glenn saved her. Ultimately, the five of us, working with Colby, who came running to us as soon as he heard Jon's thoughts about what they did to her so he could make sure Cassie was okay, and Randy Orton, dealt with the issue. A few weeks before your mother and I got married, your grandfather killed Ivy to keep her from killing Cassie."

"But where is Jon?"

Dad wouldn't answer me.

"He's on the mantle, right there, Darlin'," Jeff said.

I looked up at the mantle. There were baby pictures of me and Matt, Mom and Dad's wedding picture, pictures of me as I grew up, and the urn of the man whose heart beat in Mom's body.

"Are you telling me Mom's heart donor is the same Jon who tortured her, raped her, and tried to kill her?"

"Yes, we are. It turned out he was trying to make her life as messed up as his, not knowing the truth about her. A fan shot them the day after the Royal Rumble a few months after your parents got married. He realized how badly he messed up. His last words before he went into surgery were to use his organs to save her if it was a choice between the two," Jeff explained.

"Your mom slipped back into the dark place after that. Especially since in less than two years she would lose Matt the night after she retired her father at Wrestlmania, which she was contractually bound not to tell anyone was going to happen beforehand," Amy explained. "It was all so much for her. She cut herself sometimes after all of that, but she stayed clean. She was so determined to stay clean that even when her spine was fractured right before she found out she was pregnant with you and your brother she barely took any pain killers. And I can tell you from experience, that kind of injury can be very painful."

"But this is why Amy and I wanted to give you this back. It was your mother's and it was very important to her. She's kept it with her wherever she went since the night she was married. This is what she anchored herself to in hard times and we're hoping it will help you," Jeff said, giving me Mom's ankh. "I took it before the cops got there when it happened, knowing it belonged with you and not with someone else messing with it."

"Why was it so important to her?"

"Amy and Jeff gave that to your mother the night of our wedding to celebrate that she had been drug-free for six years. Especially when we were apart, if she was having a hard time she held on to that to remind her that she had been in some of the darkest places before and she found her way out, that she could rely on others to help her. We want you to know that you have friends and family to help you, too," Daddy said to me.

I started crying. This was all so much. Mom had been through so much pain. She died in so much pain. What was the point of it all? I was fifteen years old. My twin brother died when we were babies. My mother was now dead. My grandfather killed Mom's mother. My best friend's father raped my mom. Her heart donor raped her. Dad put her in the hospital. Jeff helped keep her hooked on drugs. My mother chose the life of my other friend's father, her best friend, over being here for me and Dad. It was too much. I got up and ran out of the house.