Author's Note: Hey, guys! Long time no see! Since my last fic, a LOT of crazy shit has happened: A sports team from Cleveland, Ohio won a World Championship, AJ Styles finally comes to WWE, is now finally in a feud with John Cena, AJ Lee has retired, is deciding to write a book, women's wrestling is slowly making a revival, CM Punk STILL hasn't fought in the UFC (yet), and now even, BROCK LESNAR is coming BACK to MMA! So in lieu of all that, and just in time for the biggest MMA weekend of the year, enjoy this little one-shot! Quick note, the pronunciation of the fighter's last name in this is (J'yun-Jay-Check) even though it's spelled Jedrzejczyk. And a quick shoutout to my buddy Amy for helping inspire this one. Thanks, Ames! Now enjoy, everyone.

Henderson, NV - April, 2016

One warm late Spring night, nestled in clean fine linen sheets and settled in a fully sized bed that felt as luxurious as many high-priced hotels, located in the suburbs of this cozy Nevada town but not far from the outskirts of the dazzling downtown lights of Las Vegas, Emily Germain was resting comfortably and peacefully. She wasn't lulled to a full sleep just yet, so some of her senses were still on keen, keeping her awareness up. This was put to the test when just before slipping into total unconsciousness, Emily's ears picked up the distinctive sound of the bedroom door opening, then closing. She would have become more suspicious, and in turn, threatened, if her sense of hearing didn't catch on the clattering of shoes on the floor, her sense of smell recognizing the slight odor of sweat that started to waffle around the round, and last but not least, the sense of touch she felt when this person got into bed with her, wrapped their wiry arms around her form, nuzzled their nose into her neck, and finally breathe in her scent with a sense of relaxation and relief. To Emily, this meant only one person. The one person in the world that mattered the most to her.

"You know, Jo," she muttered sleepily, "the next time you want to crawl into bed with someone in the middle of the night, you might wanna let them know that it's actually you and not some stranger wanting to do bad things."

"And if I was the strange person," the partner responded airily, wanting to play along. "what would you do about it?"

Emily, now more awake, with a ghost of a smile, shifted her body around in a full angle, bringing her into full face to face view with her warm cuddler. "Then I would say, 'I don't care who if you're a burglar, a housemaid or a UFC Champion, you get in my space, I will wreck your world up.'"

The last part of Emily's response broke the ice even more, and with a low chuckle adorning a relaxed grin, Joanna Jedrzejczyk settled more into the bed, admiring her fellow brunette. Though they seemed to look like your regular, average, normal-looking couple, it was far from that beyond the surface. Emily, a transfer student from the industrial province of Quebec, Canada, grew up in it's rich capital, Montreal, loving animals from an early age. She was now in the States, trying to earn a degree in nursing as a way to help kickstart a future veterinarian career.

For Joanna, it was a bit different. Born and raised in a small, by-the-river town of Olsztyn, the young Polish woman discovered an affinity and admiration for combat sports at a young age, taking up Muay Thai as a teenager. After a ten-year foray in that practice, which included four European titles and six World Championships, she segued into another discipline, one that also focused on striking and aggression, Kickboxing. Compiling a successful career in that field, Joanna decided to take the next step in pushing herself, transitioning her experience in those striking fields into a full-fledged career in Mixed Martial Arts.

Fighting initially as a Flyweight, eventually dropping down to the Strawweight division, It would eventually lead Joanna to the big time, netting her a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, known simply by it's famous acronym, the UFC. After a couple of bouts, the biggest opportunity in her life was presented to her: a World title shot on Pay-Per-View. And she would make the most of it. After battering her opponent, Carla Esparza, for two short rounds, the bout was called off, and all the years of hard work payed off for Joanna as she was awarded the UFC Women's Strawweight Championship of the World via TKO.

Now, after a couple of title defenses, which saw Joanna garner and attract more fans, followers, sponsorships and fame with her brutal, precise, and downright vicious nature of attacking, diverse strikes, intimidating nature and dismantling her opponents, she was now placed in a bigger spotlight. Not only was she selected to coach a team of fighters for the next season of the storied flagship television program of the Company, The Ultimate Fighter, it would pair her as an opposing coach with relentless Brazilian grappler, Claudia Gadelha. For these two fighters, there was no love lost in any way, shape or form. They had matched up once before, with Joanna coming away with a razor split decision victory after a close-contested scrap. Though some disagreed with the decision, this did not deter Joanna's determination to improve, which would lead her to UFC gold.

And here she was again, once more paired with a familiar foe, and under different, yet similar, circumstances. What would be the same is that they would go toe to toe in the octagon once again. What would be different, however, is the stage for this to take place on. It would be sandwiched in between three epic nights of jam-packed stellar action and super-stacked cards, culminating with one of the, if not THE, biggest event not just in company history, but perhaps in the history of the sport: UFC 200.

But that was a different night and a different event entirely. The night before, televised live, would belong to Joanna and Claudia and their grudge to be settled. And from the looks of things, that grudge merely grew and intensified during the taping portion for the program. With back and forth jawing, posturing, taunting and more between the two, it seemed that the fireworks would go off before the night of July 8. And one occasion, it proved to be the case, as on this day, after filming had wrapped up, more words and insults between the two gladiators were hurled at one another, before something else unexpectedly was: a water bottle, which prompted immediate separation and restraining between champion and challenger, before a more chaotic scene could be touched off.

While Joanna outwardly showed little to no break in mettle from the incident, beyond the surface lied a new emotion that frighteningly began to develop and plant: fear. Fear, doubt and nervousness. And after the incident with Claudia, Joanna needed to blow off unwanted steam, and chose to later that night retreat to a closed off private gym with her team and members, including trainers and coaches Pawel Derlacz, Szymon Bonkowski and Robert Drysdale. For nearly 3 hours, Joanna did drills, performed exercises, practiced strategy and went off on the dummy bags, imaging herself driving a fist, an elbow or a foot right through Claudia, wiping the smug smirk off her defiant face.

At the risk of over-working herself to exhaustion, or worse, injuring herself and throwing plans of all varieties into total disarray, Joanna's coaches had to all but forcefully tell her to stop, go home for the night, rest and even take the next day off for relaxation and inner-reflection, both physically and especially as well as mentally. Knowing how late it was at that time, and examining how Joanna looked, from her neat hair disheveled from intense training, her body still coated with sweat, and feeling around to discover that both her hands and feet were weary, sore and slightly swollen from punishing the bag so hard, Emily immediately figured out that Joanna got in more than a late-night workout.

"Jo, we've been through this," she began in an irritated tone. You keep over-exerting yourself like this, you'll have nothing left for the fight. Or worse, you'll get injured."

"I know, I know, but I am sure of myself," Joanna responded confidently. "I must be sharper than ever. This fight will be biggest in my career, I can't lose focus."

"Lose focus of what?" Emily returned with a baffled expression. "Everyone knows how much this means to you. No more than me. Even when we met, I knew your dedication to this would always be sharp." And for the most part, that was true. After laying eyes on one another for the first time-at an after party the night Joanna won the title-while both women were getting to know one another, through lunch dates, private outings, and eventual dinners together, the one constant that remained was Joanna expressing the will, drive and focus she had to become one of the best ever. And Emily couldn't have been more proud of her for that. But even this was too much. Emily could tell that something was bothering her JoJo; the Polish dynamo's normally baggy eyes seemed more heavier at the lids. Even her smile, the adoring signature feature that drew Emily's attention to begin with, was showing up less and less lately.

"Tell me, Jo; what's wrong, sweetie?" she pleaded softly. For a while, it seemed that Joanna's stubbornness would stand tall once more, but at a moment's notice, something changed, and her mood and tone changed all anew.

"I... I..." she stammered. "I am scared."

"Scared?" Emily repeated incredulously.

"Yes. I am," Joanna shockingly confirmed.

"But... why?"

"Because," the Strawweight champ began to explain, "everything is on different level know. The talking, the hype, the pressure... it's bigger now than ever. Last time, everyone say Claudia won. But she didn't; I did. I beat her. I became champion. She didn't. So why does everyone doubt me now?"

Emily wanted to respond, but she realized and saw how much this was eating at Joanna, and how it needed to be let out. So she let her partner carry on and vent it out.

"What if things become different this time?" she asked aloud, trepidation clearly showing in her voice. "What if I lose? I'll lose the title, I'll no longer be Champion. But worst of all... I would have failed." The once proud and boastful competitor was now experiencing self-doubt, something so heavy she wasn't sure how she would be able to shake out of in time. "I think she's in my head. And if she beats me, I'll have failed. I would have failed my coaches, my team, my friends, my family. My fans, my nation. But most of all..."

Stopping to choke back the emotion in her voice, but not succeeding, Joanna looked deeply into Emily's eyes and uttered, "I would have failed you."

"Jo!" Emily admonished. "Why would you say that?"

"I don't know," Joanna timidly replied, sniffling slightly and pawing away small tears with her hurt hands. "But I feel like I would have failed everyone and everything, that maybe I wouldn't be able to recover. Look at Ronda. Look what happened to her."

It was true how much of a mental, emotional and psychological scarring Ronda Rousey suffered after her monumental KO loss to Holly Holm. Also witnessing up close herself what befell Jose Aldo against Conor McGregor, Joanna was now beginning to experience the same doubt and fear that doomed Aldo.

"What happens if I lose?" she finished with her head sunk in shame.

"I'll tell you what," came Emily's retort, meaning more emphasis as she leaned Joanna's head up to re-establish soulful eye contact with the woman she had begun to fall for. "You're gonna get back up, embrace your fans, embrace everyone who loves and care about you, and you're gonna promise that no matter what, title or no title, you will never give up on us, because we haven't, nor will we ever, give up on you."

She then delivered her own powerful 1-2, a verbal combo that would knock any head over heels person out cold. "You'll still be Joanna Champion. You'll still be our Champion. But most of all... you'll be my Champion."

Joanna, truly awed by what she had heard, could merely muster up enough resolve to ask, "Really?"

"Yes, silly!" Emily confirmed with stress-relieving laughter in her voice. You were my Champion the moment I met you. And it hasn't stopped then, and it won't now. Not ever."

Filled with hope, resolve and a reborn confidence all-anew, Joanna smiled brightly, the first big genuine grin Emily had felt she had seen in ages. It was this that caused both to come together with a thoughtful kiss. Lips touching, eyes closed, souls connected, a mental snapshot was taken, freezing this perfect moment in time forever and for their memory. After breaking, then letting the atmosphere of their own little world speak for itself, Emily offered a bit of a surprise.

"You know, I think I've figured something out."

"What is that?" Joanna asked.

"I know how sometimes you get wined up a bit before a fight, with no good outlet to keep calm. And I am full aware of what your coaches have said about 'pleasure weakening legs'," she surmised, throwing in that last bit in a mocking tone. But Joanna understood, knowing what her coaches preached to her about not being too stimulated before a fight, as to preserve needed energy. But she would be lying if she hadn't had thought about breaking that rule at least once... or twice... or fifty times. But she was stumped, and couldn't figure out what to do. Luckily, it appeared her fellow brunette companion had a solution. But what was it?

"So I got it," Emily announced. "Grapple with me."

The quizzed, confused and flat out adorable expression on Joanna's face would have made Emily bust out laughing ten times over, but she knew how serious this was. "Come on, grapple with me," she insisted. "Two birds with one stone; you practice for Claudia's strength, and you get close bonding time with me."

She way she finished her sentence, with heavy eyes and a slight lust in her voice, Joanna picked up quickly, happily ready to engage. With an eager smile and an as eager head nod, the bed sheets were cleared for more open space on the bed. Starting with basic techniques and using what they had witnessed respectfully to pick up on, Emily and Joanna did essentially a playful spar, using grappling as their means. They had done it before in the past, but not like this. Not this slowly, not this willingly, and not this intimately.

With this in mind, and knowing how Joanna would be mentally distracted by this, Emily saw her opening and attacked, grabbing the Strawweight Champion's petite frame at her sides, clenching with her hands, and with her fingers, began to pinch, grab, skitter and claw at her girlfriend's midsection in a multitude of ways. Joanna, knowing and cursing internally how sensitive she was in that area, melted into hearty and drawn out laughter, her actions being elicited by Emily's tickling. What was once a shared secret between the two had come back now to make things compromising for the Polish striker, and Emily was loving every minute of it. Not just the action, not just the close intimacy, but letting Joanna let loose, hearing her chime of a laugh and seeing her innocence of a smile again.

Joanna, in a comedic struggle to get away, made matters worse, as her movement caused entanglement of limbs to come together, leaving Emily all alone with her feet. Using precise strokes and succinct scratches with her fingers, Emily made the same feet that once kicked people in the head, legs and body for a living, now dance in a hilarious array of movements, as Joanna's laughter grew and grew, as did her mortified embarrassment.

"Geez, good thing they don't make this legal, otherwise you'd tap out every fight!" Emily chided, laughing a little herself at how the proud Joanna Champion was at the moment being broken down in a laughing mess. But in a brief moment of mercy and not wanting to see her beloved suffer too much, she stopped, giving Joanna time to catch her breath.

Big Mistake...

And Emily would feel that big mistake once Joanna moved swiftly, trapping herself behind Emily's back, locking her arms in a full nelson hold with one arm, and using her other free hand to go to town on Emily's exposed flanks, getting her slice of revenge and revel at Emily's own hysterical and embarrassed reactions. After several minutes and several laughs, everything calmed down, and heartbeats were trying to do the same, staring at each other glistened with sweat, consumed with passion and filled with care for one another.

"I love you," Joanna truthfully confessed, slightly catching Emily off guard, but making her feel even more happy to have heard her say that exact phrase.

"I know," she expressed softly. "And I love you, too JoJo. No matter what. Never forget that."

Joanna, smiling brightly once more, returned the favor and uttered, "I won't. And I never will."

And with one more warm tender kiss, both women let the night, and the moment, speak for itself, leaving no doubt for anything, or for each other, ever cloud their minds, judgements or their hearts.

Hope you all enjoyed that. Take care and enjoy the fights this week. 'Till next time! :)

#JoannaChampion

#UFC200

#TheBeastIsBack