The truth be told, she was afraid
to go back to the WWF, one reason being that she had no friends since Kurt
wasn't exactly on best terms with her, and the second reason being that
she had wrote two very emotional letters to Hunter and Andrew and she didn't
know how they would react to her presence. Would they be mad? Would they
hate her? Would they be uncertain of their emotions about her? But what
most scared her about coming back to the WWF was Andrew... she had put
all of the emotions she had inside of her in the letter she wrote him,
she had almost told Shane not to give it to Andrew, but in the end she
knew that she had to let him know the whole truth. Stephanie was never
really good with her emotions, partially because she never had the use
of emotions when she was with Hunter....
But she wasn't with Hunter anymore
was she? Well they were married, but her letter to him had declared that
they were over, could it be that easy? Had Hunter shown Vince the letter
she wrote? Would Vince be on her side? Probably not, Vince would probably
take Hunter's side on this subject... if so, where did that leave her?
"Stephanie, you have nothing to worry
about. We walk into the arena, and act like everything is normal. You were
gone because you were spending some quality time with your older brother,
which is fully true." Shane smiled.
Stephanie stared at Shane, and smiled
to herself. If Vince took Hunter's side on the ending of their marriage...
Stephanie knew where that left her, that left her with Shane. And thinking
about it now, that wasn't such a bad thing; Stephanie in the past few weeks
had got reacquainted with her older brother, she had remembered how much
she had loved Shane before. Stephanie felt like she wasn't alone anymore,
she felt like whatever choice she made, she would at least have Shane by
her side, and that felt really good.
"But Shane, what about the letters?"
Stephanie's eyes begged for an answer from Shane.
Shane stared at Stephanie as the
limo took off heading towards the Smackdown arena for tonight; Shane looked
into Stephanie's eyes and saw the pleading look in her eyes, she was depending
on him to give her an answer. Shane hadn't seen that look in Stephanie's
eyes so long, for two whole years, Stephanie hadn't depended on him, for
two years Shane had been second best in Stephanie's eyes and now he was
first best, he was the one that she was going to when she had a problem,
and god that felt good.
"What about them? You wrote two very
truthful and emotional letters, and I am very proud of you for writing
them. And if Hunter and Andrew have a problem with those letters, they
can come to me and I'll settle it. They're jackasses if they give you problems
because of what you wrote, it took a lot out of you to write those letters
and there is no way in hell that they are going to take that away from
you." Shane narrowed his eyes.
Stephanie giggled. "Whoa Shane, calm
down, my big bad protector. I'm just worried that's all, I mean nobody
likes me but you, and daddy... if him anymore." Stephanie looked down at
her shoes.
Shane shook his head, why was Stephanie
so down on herself all the time? He hated it when she thought no one liked
her; The only reason people didn't like her was because of how she had
been when she was with Hunter, but when the fans and all the other wrestlers
saw Stephanie now, they would be nicer, because Stephanie was nicer. They
would regret everything they said about her, they would re-think the way
they treated her, and there was no way in hell that they would call her
those names anymore... and if they did, they would be in a lot of pain.
"Look Steph, when you walk into that
arena and the wrestlers and the fans see you, they are going to be in shock
at how much of a dignified woman you are. I want you to walk into that
arena with me, with your head held up high, because there is no way I am
going to let them bring you down. Just look at you Steph." Shane smiled.
Stephanie looked down at her wardrobe,
she was definitely dressed differently from how she usually dressed. She
was wearing a brown long sleeved sweater that belonged to Shane, the sleeves
were a bit too long for her and came all the way down to the tip of her
finger-tips; She had on long brown khakis that came down to the white tennis
shoes that she was wearing; Her long brown hair was up in a tight pony-tail,
and she was hardly wearing any makeup at all, actually the only makeup
she had on was lipgloss.
"I look gruesome." Stephanie muttered,
messing with a loose strand of her hair.
Shane sighed and smacked Stephanie's
hand playfully. "You look beautiful now shut up."
Stephanie laughed, rolling her eyes.
"Yes your majesty."
[ Smackdown Arena - Rochester,
Vermont ]
Andrew paced back and forth in his
locker-room, his eyebrows knitted in determination; Andrew had heard from
Christian that Stephanie and Shane were on their way to the Smackdown arena,
and Andrew had figured this would be the perfect time to talk to Stephanie
about the letter she had written him. He would have called her, but he
didn't even know where Shane had taken her, so he had to wait 3 weeks just
to be able to speak to her, and what a torturous three weeks that had been,
especially with Hunter Hearst Helmsley pissed off about the fact that Stephanie's
letter to him hadn't exactly been filled with love.
Hunter had immediately gone to Andrew,
screaming about how Andrew had cheated his way back into Stephanie's heart;
Hunter had then thrown the letter he got from Stephanie and stomped off.
After reading the letter, Andrew had even a bigger urge to talk to Stephanie...
was Stephanie really falling back in love with him? Did he really have
a chance with Stephanie? Did he even want one? Andrew didn't want the Stephanie
that had left the WWF, he wanted to be with the beautiful young woman who
had written him the beatiful letter, Andrew wanted to be with the girl
who had walked into the WWF and stolen his heart two years ago.
"Hey," Kurt said walking into Andrew's
locker-room.
Over the past three weeks Kurt and
Andrew had become friends, often sharing little secrets about how much
they hated Hunter or which Stephanie they liked the best. Andrew had been
shocked at how much he really did like Kurt, he had always thought Kurt
was such a egostical jerk, but in the end Andrew had learned Kurt really
did have a heart.
"Hey Kurt, what's up?" Andrew stopped
pacing, and flashed a smile at Kurt.
"The WCW limo has just pulled up."
Kurt arched his eyebrows, smirking.
Kurt knew how much Andrew still loved
Stephanie, and even if Kurt wasn't talking with Stephanie at the moment,
it didn't mean he didn't want Stephanie to be happy, and Kurt had a feeling
that Andrew could make Stephanie happy. Kurt pointed out the window, over
to a black limo where Shane was getting out of.
Andrew followed Kurt's gaze, and
turned away before Stephanie got out. "Okay, she's here..."
Kurt smirked. "She's here." Kurt
repeated Andrew's words.
"So what do I do now? Go up and talk
to her? Or wait for her to come to me? Or do I pretend to accidently bump
into her, and somehow slide into a conversation with her? Do I bring up
the letters? Or act like everything is normal?" Andrew looked at Kurt for
answers.
Kurt laughed. "Do what comes natural."
Kurt turned to leave.
"You call that good advice? You suck
Kurt." Andrew pulled his hair into a pony-tail.
"Think what you will." Kurt walked
out of Andrew's locker-room smiling the whole time.
If there were ever two people that
desparetly needed to get together, it was Stephanie and Andrew. Now only
if they could see that and get past all their past problems and admit that
they loved each other... but of course that would be too easy, and nothing
was easy in the WWF.
[ Outside of the arena ]
Stephanie crawled out of the limo
slowly, she put both of her feet on the ground, and then emerged the rest
of her body out of the black limo that had the plate "WCW1" on the back.
Stephanie looked around her surroundings once she got out of the limo.
They were in Rochester, Vermont tonight,
and Rochester was looking beautiful. Stephanie really didn't like the sights
of Vermont in the summer or fall or even the spring, she only liked Vermont
in the winter. Vermont was the most beautiful scene in the winter, everything
frozen, icicles hanging on the edges of things. Stephanie loved winter,
she loved everything about it... especially Christmas. Christmas was her
favorite holiday, she loved Christmas, it made her feel like a little girl
all over again, and she loved that feeling.
"It's beautiful here." Stephanie
mumbled to herself, but had also gotten Shane's attention.
Shane pointed over to a place he
wanted the limo driver to park, after the limo driver took off, Shane turned
to Stephanie once he heard her hushed words. Shane had to agree, Vermont
was looking incredibly beautiful right now, Shane looked around... it was
probably going to snow later. Snow, was the first indication that Christmas
was almost here, Shane looked away from Stephanie and saw Andrew making
his way over to them.
"Hey Steph, looks like you've got
company." Shane pointed over to Andrew.
Stephanie looked at Andrew who was
making his way over, he had on a thick coat and gloves from what she could
see, Stephanie bit down on her bottom lip. "I'll see you inside Shane?"
Shane nodded, and smiled warmly at
Andrew when he walked over to them. "Don't give her shit." Shane whispered
into Andrew's ear before running off to the entrance of the Smackdown arena.
[ Hunter's locker-room ]
Hunter stared out of his locker-room
window, his eyes beady in anger. Andrew had just made his way over to Stephanie,
but from the looks of it, they hadn't said anything to each other yet.
That didn't ease his anger at the
situation... Hunter had lost Stephanie and now Andrew was going in for
the kill, and to make things worse, Vince was taking Stephanie's side on
this. Vince had told him if Stephanie wanted a divorce that he would fully
support his daughter's decision, and then he had actually warned Hunter
not to say or do anything hurful to his baby girl.
So much for knowing who you could
trust, Hunter thought as he continued to watch Andrew and Stephanie, who
hadn't said a word to each other yet. They were just staring at each other;
Hunter eyed Stephanie carefully from his window, and saw that she was dressed
completely different. She was wearing a sweater and pants, she wasn't wearing
her usual clothing... she looked so... like the old Stephanie.
"Damn it!" Hunter screaming, kicking
the chair in his locker-room.
[ Outside of the arena ]
"Hi," Stephanie finally said, not
being able to bear the silence anymore.
Andrew shook his head, tearing himself
away from his thoughts; Andrew smiled at Stephanie, showing that he wasn't
here to say something mean or to ridicule her, and that he was actually
here to talk to her.
"Hey Stephanie, look about this..."
Andrew took out his letter and flipped it over in his hands. "This letter...
it was wow. I didn't know you felt this way..."
"You didn't know I even felt." Stephanie
said softly, cutting Andrew off.
Andrew stared at Stephanie, a little
surprised by her words, but more hurt by the truth behind them. Andrew
hadn't even thought before the letter she wrote him, that Stephanie felt
things. Now he felt damn foolish for thinking those things, Andrew shook
his head.
"I didn't come here to fight." Andrew
stated.
"And I didn't come back to fight
some more. I want the fighting to be over with Andrew, that is why I wrote
those letters. I don't want to fight anymore." Stephanie said bravely,
but then automatically shivered afterwards when a hard wind blew across
her face. Shane's sweater wasn't enough to keep her warm, and she didn't
want to go inside yet.
Andrew put the letter back in his
pants pocket and looked at Stephanie once he saw her shiver; "Here." Andrew
took off the big, thick coat he was wearing and handed it to Stephanie.
"You'll freeze." Stephanie exclaimed,
looking at Andrew shocked.
"No I won't, but you will if you
don't take the coat, go ahead take it." Andrew said, smiling.
Stephanie shook her head and slipped
into the coat Andrew had given her; It smelled of him, and it was a wonderful
scent. The coat was so warm, and if she closed her eyes, Stephanie could
swear she could see Andrew's arms around her... but she didn't close her
eyes, she needed to be on this plane, not in fantasy land.
"Thanks," Stephanie smiled. "Look
Andrew, I know that you're not going to stop hating me just because I wrote
you that dumb letter..."
Andrew shook his head. "It wasn't
dumb, I loved it." Andrew looked behind him, but then turned back to Stephanie.
"And I never hated you Stephanie McMahon."
Stephanie went to say something,
but looked up when she felt the first few snowflakes fall on top of head;
Stephanie smiled at the snowflakes falling down a little faster. "It's
snowing..." Stephanie whispered.
Andrew looked up once he heard Stephanie's
hushed statement; Andrew could see the snowflakes surrounding them, he
watched the icy flakes get lost in Stephanie's hair, making her look more
beautiful then she already had been.
"I think we should get inside." Andrew
said quietly.
Stephanie looked away from the snow
and nodded. "Yeah, so I'll catch you later?" Stephanie asked.
Andrew nodded. "Yeah definitely."
Stephanie smiled and ran into the
arena, leaving Andrew behind. Andrew ran his hands over his face as he
watched Stephanie disappear into the Smackdown arena.
I dont know when we fell apart
The love that we had was like
a work of art
I used to see heaven in your
eyes
Now angels are falling from your
skies
The things we said, were so wrong
I havent held you for so long
My foolish pride, turns me inside
Why did we tell all thoes lies?
You can reach for the phone,
You dont have to be alone.
Outside the winter seems so cold
Your heart is frozen like the
snow
And there's no one home, to keep
you safe and warm
Your eyes are red because you
cry
You fell asleep by the fire side
But there's one thing you should
know
On this christmas baby, you dont
have to be alone
I have only one wish on my list
For me you would be the perfect
gift, oohh yeah, yeah
There's nothing colder than an
empty home
And holidays were never meant
to be alone
The smiles we gave when our hearts
were safe
By each others love and warmth
Thats subsided now, no happiness
around
If I could only find a way to
your heart
Outside the winter seems so cold
Your heart is frozen like the
snow
And there's no one home, to keep
you safe and warm
Your eyes are red because you
cry
You fell asleep by the fire side
But there's one thing you should
know
On this christmas baby, you dont
have to be alone
You dont...have to be alone
You dont have to be...all alone
at home
You dont...have...to be alone
You dont have to be alone
Outside the winter seems so cold
Your heart is frozen like the
snow
And there's no one home, to keep
you safe and warm
Your eyes are red because you
cry
You fell asleep by the fire side
But there's one thing you should
know
On this christmas baby, you dont
have to be alone
[ Inside the arena ]
Stephanie walked through the halls,
whistling a tune, she wasn't really sure what it was. Did her and Andrew
really a converstation? That didn't consist of him being disgusted by her?
This was too good to be true.
"Watch out!" Jericho's voice screamed
at everybody as he got thrown into the hall by Stone Cold Steve Austin;
Jericho landed on top of Stephanie, plowing her down to the ground, smashing
her head into the concrete.
Benoit kicked Stone Cold in the face
and sent him running down the hall in a different direction when Benoit
went to hit him with a chair; Benoit shook his head and ran over to Jericho
who was slowly pushing himself up. "Are you okay buddy?"
Jericho rubbed his head. "I am but
I don't think she is." Jericho pushed himself up all the way, and groaned
when he saw it was Stephanie he had landed on top of. "Of course I had
to land on top of miss spoiled."
Benoit cracked a smile, but then
frowned. "Nevertheless she's a human being."
Jericho rolled his eyes. "Are you
so sure?"
Benoit threw Jericho a look, and
not a nice one. "Leopards change their spots."
Jericho crossed his arms across his
chest, not being affected by Benoit's glare. "Nott his one. She's a no
good---"
Benoit glared more evily at Jericho,
cutting Jericho off before he could call Stephanie any hurtful names. "Stop
being an ass." Benoit walked over to Stephanie, and pulled her up and cradeled
her in his arms.
"I am NOT being an ass! And
where are you going to take her?" Jericho walked up to Benoit.
"To my locker-room." Benoit stated,
pushing some hair out of Stephanie's face.
Jericho shook his head no. "No way!
We share a locker-room... I don't want her there."
Benoit rolled his eyes. "Stop being
rude."
"I'm NOT! Why are you suddenly
being so nice to her?" Jericho raised his eyebrows.
"I read her letter." Benoit said,
walking down the hall.
"What letter?" Jericho said, following
Benoit.
"Ask Andrew." Benoit said, and walked
down the hall, ignoring Jericho the rest of the time.
[ Inside Jericho and Benoit's
locker-room ]
Stephanie mumbled, pushing herself
up; She opened her eyes and scanned her surroundings. Where was she? How
did she get here? She remembered walking down the hall of the Smackdown
arena, and then she remembered someome yelling to watch out, and that everything
had gone black.
"Feeling better?" Benoit asked, putting
some ice on Stephanie's head.
Stephanie jumped at the action, but
then relaxed under Benoit's touch, realizing that he was just putting ice
on her head, which was where she was hurting the most. "How did I get here?"
Stephanie looked up at Benoit.
"We carried you here." Jericho said,
smiling softly at Stephanie. He had just gotten done reading Stephanie's
letters to Hunter and Andew, and finally realized why Benoit was being
so nice to Stephanie.
Stephanie stared at Jericho, surprised
that he was being so nice to her, he was usually so mean to her. "I-- what
happened to me?"
Benoit sat down. "Austin attacked
Jericho from the behind, sent him flying right towards you. You hit your
head pretty bad, we had the medics check you out, you're going to be fine,
you just got a big bump on that head of yours. The bump has swelled down,
so you're free to go." Benoit took the ice off Stephanie's head.
"But you can stay if you like." Jericho
chimed in.
Stephanie stared back and forth to
Jericho and Benoit and smiled. "You know I would like that."
