A/N: I know, it has been far too long. I have re-read Guardian over the past month twice now, and I just am so in love with the characters in that story that I realized I want to continue Chara's story. But my issue was always HOW. Like, how can I add more to this story that seemed to end so perfectly? I toyed with the idea of re-writing the ending, but to be honest, I think the right people ended up together.
I did use the intro for this story the same as As Fate Would Have It, which was meant to be a Nikki/Seth continuation of Guardian. And as much as I love the pairing, unfortunately real life stories got in the way, and it made it far too awkward to write. You know, babies and marriages and things like that. So I will integrate parts of that story that I've already written.
During this time period, Bray Wyatt was already on RAW. For the purpose of this story, he hasn't moved rosters yet.
Smackdown Live: Sprint Center, Kansas City, MO; February 6, 2018
"Well, look what the cat draped in," Nikki Bella stood with a hand on her hip, suspiciously eyeing up the current Smackdown Live Champion, AJ Styles.
"Are you serious, Nicole? You mean dragged," Brie Bella rolled her eyes at her sister, absent-mindedly handing back the plush toy that her nearly two-year-old daughter, Birdie, had tossed on to the floor. She quickly adjusted the baby that she had been wobbling between her knees, as she was beginning to fuss again. Brie looked down at Birdie, making a face. "Auntie CoCo is loco," she said, and Birdie gurgled and giggled as a response.
AJ smiled at Nikki and Brie, always enjoying the banter between the two sisters. Indeed, it had been awhile since he was on Smackdown. But with WrestleMania quickly coming up, he had a lot of work to do. Luckily, the WWE had been willing to give him a little bit of time off before the biggest show of the year, writing him off as "injured" so he could jet across the ocean to Japan, as he'd promised his girlfriend that he would. It was a nice two-week break that he'd really needed.
"Whatever, Brie," Nikki shrugged. "You guys knew what I meant. Seriously though, it's been so long since we've all seen each other. How was your time off?" she turned her dark brown eyes back towards AJ, a tiny smirk beginning to appear.
"Excellent. It was really a great time, being able to do whatever I wanted without sticking to an itinerary. Well, kind of. Chara had a bit of an itinerary," AJ gave Nikki a smile, knowing full well that she was fishing for anything about his love life.
Six months ago, AJ Styles would've sworn up and down that his former protegee, Chara Wright, meant nothing to him. Their relationship dated all the way back to 2011, when they were both slaves to TNA. He ended up training with her after hours every week, polishing up her character and perfecting each move. Even then, she was pretty girl, but he was truly impressed by her drive. So many women, especially then, skated by on their looks alone. She made a point to always get better and be more.
Through all of the grueling training sessions, she was definitely beginning to take to his company as much more than a trainee/trainer role. As much as he tried to ignore that, he found himself wishing for more from her as well. But the problem was, she was tied to her boyfriend. Of course, the boyfriend was busy in an entirely different company, and hadn't really been much of a boyfriend at all.
Chara had believed that their relationship was pretty much over, and had plans to officially end things with Sami Zayn next time they saw each other. Sami, however, ended up showing up at one of her TNA shows, walking in on the pair in a very promiscuous position. There was a huge backstage scuffle, which caused AJ to start swinging. As he recalled it-now, granted, it was seven years ago-he'd broken Zayn's nose. Chara, though, remembered it differently and said that Sami actually had a broken jaw, and one of his molars had cut through his cheek. It didn't matter anymore. In any event, all three of them had gotten hurt.
For years, AJ blamed Chara for all of it. Sami did, too. And many people thought she'd deserved to be blacklisted from every company in the continental United States. Back then, AJ would've agreed.
So when, in 2016, she'd showed up to play the part of Sister Abigail in the WWE, AJ had made a point to let her know that he had no feelings for her, whatsoever. Looking back, he realized he acted like a complete ass.
After a strenuous couple of months, he couldn't deny it anymore, and neither could she. Because he found himself completely in love with her, as he'd always been. He just had been too stubborn to admit it. Even still, they were only about two months into their relationship now. It had been an insane couple of months, and neither of them had ever been happier.
"Sooo," Nikki rolled on the balls of her feet, her eyebrows raised. Her tone was excited, though she tried to mask it. "Is there anything else that you need to share? Any...you know, diamonds exchanged between you two?"
AJ Styles chuckled. "Nah, not yet," he drawled. "We didn't go to secretly elope. That's moving things kind of quick, don't you think? Why would you even think that?"
Brie turned her attention to the champ. "Because some of those online bloggers or whatever are saying that you guys might have," she told him. "Nicole has been keeping tabs," she rolled her eyes playfully, holding on to a toy that Birdie kept putting into her mouth.
She is an excellent multi-tasker, AJ thought to himself. But he supposed that all that came with motherhood.
"Well, I didn't want to be the last to know," Nikki stuck her tongue out at Brie. "Where is Chara, anyways? I didn't see her come in through the parking garage."
"She should be in a meeting with Bray," AJ stroked his chin, curiously. Chara had asked that they arrive separately since she didn't want rumors to start right away. Of course, they already had. The internet was excellent at finding out about relationships well before everyone else was ready to reveal them. But it had been awhile, and that meeting with the producers should be done by now...
"Oooh, is he going to be winning back the belt?" Nikki crooned. With the help of Sister Abigail, Bray Wyatt had finally been able to capture the WWE Championship from AJ at the Elimination Chamber. Unfortunately, Bray had lost it only a few weeks later after he was unsuccessful in channeling Sister Abigail for help. In the storyline, Bray had not been successful in any singles matches and had managed to upset his Sister. So, when he gave a lengthy, deranged promo asking for her knowledge and presence during his title defense, she had no-showed. Ultimately, there was a title exchange, and for reasons that even AJ couldn't understand, Jinder Mahal had been made into the transitional Champion until AJ was set to return.
In reality, Sister Abigail had no-showed the match between Bray Wyatt and Jinder Mahal because she, too, had been in Japan, spending time with AJ. It was lucky, in a way, that the WWE creative team didn't have any solid plans for either of them at that time, so it gave them a bit of time to write better stories than they'd come up with prior.
"No, he's not going to win the belt anytime soon," AJ confirmed. As it stood, he would be defending his title against an old friend at this year's 'Mania. "I think they are going to keep up the battle between Bray and Matt Hardy," AJ conceded. "And it sounds to me like Bray is going to be drafted to RAW. So I'm pretty sure Sister Abigail and Bray Wyatt will be parting ways soon."
At least, he hoped that they would be parting ways. The WWE didn't often split couples apart, and frankly, he wasn't ready to leave the blue brand yet. Chara had gotten enough momentum that splitting with Bray wouldn't hurt her, if they did things right.
"Oh, that's so exciting," Nikki clapped her hands together. "Finally, we can see her in a little singles action! I'd love to go up against her."
"Yeah, but you'd actually have to get in the ring again," Brie piped up once more. Nikki shot her a look, her mouth hanging open in bewilderment.
"Obviously, we've been busy with other things," Brie covered quickly, realizing she had come off harshly. "I really want to get back into the ring, and I know you do, too. But you have other things to focus on. Like, oh, you know...a wedding," Brie tapped her chin as though she was deep in thought, raising an eyebrow up at her sister.
Nikki shrugged. "Okay, but that's easy. We already know we're doing it in Mexico with our closest friends and family. What else is there to plan?"
AJ was admittedly shocked to hear Nikki say this. From what he knew of Nikki Bella, she didn't do anything half-assed. Especially not a wedding, which was something that she had been looking forward to for the last year. Nikki wasn't shy in what she wanted, and it would not have surprised him at all had her wedding to John Cena been televised. So, the way she spoke about what should be one of the happiest days of her life really made him wonder what was going on behind the scenes.
"Nicole, we don't even have our bridesmaids dresses figured out yet. This is supposed to be happening in like, three months. Lola has been texting me like, every day, with pictures of what she thinks you might like."
"Yeah, but I don't like any of them," Nikki replied, swooping down to pick up Birdie from Brie's lap. She held her up in the air as she made funny faces at the little girl.
"You would actually have to look at them," Brie responded, standing up. She gave a stretch, trying to look around AJ's shoulder as though she was searching for someone.
"If you don't mind, I'm going to run and find Bryan," she turned to her sister. Before Nikki could respond, Brie had walked out into the hallway, on the search for her husband.
Nikki adjusted Birdie on her hip, who didn't seem to mind that her mother had left the room.
"Bir-bir, maybe Mama is loco," Nikki said quietly.
Nikki turned her attention back to AJ, giving him a small smile. He was about to excuse himself, feeling awkward suddenly. Instead, he found himself intrigued by the way Nikki had been acting about the entire wedding planning bit.
"Getting cold feet?" he blurted out. Immediately, AJ shamed himself. He didn't want to upset his friend, and he really didn't want to say anything out of line. Girls were weird like that. Especially ones that were about to tie the knot.
Nikki shook her head. "No, nothing like that. It's really hard to plan a wedding when we're just so...busy, you know? That's why we opted for the destination wedding to begin with. We just don't have the time to spend hammering out silly details. We're getting married, and that's that."
Still, something in her face told AJ she wasn't being completely honest. He decided not to push her any further.
"So, is John going to be here tonight? Heard he's supposed to square up with 'Taker," AJ drawled, trying to change the subject.
"He won't be here until halfway through the show. He had a business meeting with Tap Out this morning in Tampa Bay," she said briskly. "He's going to call out Undertaker, but we don't know yet if they will have a match. Last time I spoke to Michelle, Mark hasn't been doing very well."
It took a minute for AJ to realize that Nikki was talking about Michelle McCool, Undertaker's wife. Once he did, he nodded once, understanding the predicament. If The Undertaker wasn't cleared to wrestle and John Cena wasn't in the title picture, he really didn't have a reason to be at WrestleMania at all. The WWE had put all their eggs in a basket as far as Cena and Taker went despite knowing that there was a possibility of Taker's health not being up to standard. And what would WrestleMania be without John Cena?
"Do they have any other potential leads if that feud doesn't work out?" AJ wondered out loud, already knowing the answer.
Nikki tickled Birdie under the chin, causing a big, spitty giggle. She was purposely avoiding AJ's gaze, and he knew it.
"Of course they don't," she finally admitted. "You know the WWE creative team. Always flying by the seat of their pants."