A/N: Hey, everyone. Thanks again for the reviews. You guys rock! The story is almost over, just a few more chapters left. R&R.

Chapter 19

"What Separates Us"

For the past week, Trish Stratus has been training WWE Smackdown divas such as Melina, Jillian, and Sharmell how to wrestle. The three reminded Trish of how she started off as a wrestler and they were obviously beginners in the business just as she was starting out. Trish noticed how close Melina and Jillian were, but no so much with Sharmell who is always the third wheel. The two would have their own side conversations while Trish and Sharmell have theirs. Trish finds herself liking Sharmell out of the other three. She happens to be married to one of Trish's friends in the business and that is Booker T.

After sharing a nice conversation with Sharmell about their experiences in the WWE and her marriage with Booker T, Trish dismissed the three ladies from day's training and decides to head over to the arena where the live Smackdown show takes place in Auckland, New Zealand. She'll be watching backstage and evaluating the divas match which would be Jillian going up against Sharmell and see what they need to work on from there.

While making her way inside the arena and towards the women's locker room, she walks past Randy Orton's locker room which caught her attention as she stopped and stood in front of it. It never occurred to her that Randy is part of Smackdown. 'How could I forget?' She thought. This was her chance to talk to him and somehow work things out.

As she was about to knock on the door, her fist stopped half-way from knocking when suddenly she felt a tap on her shoulder. Trish turns around and it was none other than Randy standing before her in a nice suit. Silence filled the air as their contact grew intense. "Randy…" she breathed heavily, "hey…"

He forces a weak smile. "Hey, Trish. I heard you're part of the Smackdown team now. Didn't think it was true."

"Yeah…" she bit her lip uncomfortably, "I am."

Randy looks at her and smirks. "You probably hate it here already since you wouldn't have John Cena around everyday now." He stated rather bitterly as she failed to recognize it.

Trish furrowed her eyebrows, "I don't understand…"

Randy shook his head. "Nevermind, Trish. So what brings you here in front of my locker room?"

She nervously sighs. "I just wanted to talk."

Randy folds his arms across his chest and listens.

"Look, I know you're upset that I missed out on our get together when I was on a date with John."

He shook his head with a forced chuckle. "Trish, forget about it--"

"No, Randy. You are one of my best friends and you've always been there for me. I shouldn't have forgotten and I'm truly sorry." She tells him sincerely. "It kills me that we're not talking and you have every right to be upset. But I hope you can forgive me and I want to make it up to you."

Randy lifts a curious brow. "What do you have in mind?"

"Well, once you finish your segment on the show I was thinking that maybe we can hang out afterwards. Where ever you want to go."

Randy nods his head as a smirk crosses his lips. "Alright, that's a deal, Stratus."

"Yeah?" Trish smiles in relief. 'Well that was easy,' she thought. But the truth is he really did miss her."Great, I'll uh…see you later then." She looks carefully at him and noticed a script in his hand that he still needed to rehearse. "I see you have a show to get ready for." Upon her leaving, Randy calls back to her.

"Wait, Trish?"

She stops and looks over her shoulder. "Yeah?"

"I'm glad you're here."

A smile crept over her face. "Me too. Well now that we're finally talking I think I can get use to it here."

"Yeah…" he slightly chuckles.

"So you forgive me?"

Trish missed his signature smile as he flashes her one before her eyes. "You're forgiven."

Meanwhile, Trish remained backstage as she watched all the Smackdown action happening in the women's locker room. Towards the end of Randy's handicap match against Mercury and Nitro, she watched Melina make the interference as she pulled Randy Orton to her lips. Trish's mouth fell open in shock and already she felt disgusted by the kiss, which immediately cost Randy the match. It made her want to run down the ramp and beat the living hell out of Melina. But of course, it isn't her place and it was only a storyline. The kiss; however was suddenly getting under Trish's skin and she didn't even know why.

As MNM celebrated in the ring, a familiar theme song came on. Trish's eyes were now glued to the television screen as her friend Dave Batista known as the Animal unexpectedly came running down the ramp to take out Mercury and Nitro single handedly. The crowd was shock at his unexpected appearance in Smackdown but it didn't stop them from cheering him on as the arena grew louder. MNM of course retreated as they started throwing nasty words at the animal while walking up the ramp. Batista then turns to the fallen Randy and gives him the hand. As former members of Evolution, it made sense that the two still shared that bond and it appears that the writers were going to team them up together.

Once their segment ended, Trish immediately exited the women's locker room and headed off to see Randy and Dave. She walked past a few of the WWE Smackdown crew and jumped on Dave's bare back excitedly. Dave and Randy chuckled as he places the petite blonde back on her feet. "Oh my God, what the hell are you doing here!" She squealed excitedly as she playfully smacks him on the shoulder. It felt good to Trish to see a close friend from RAW in Smackdown.

"Well…why do you think I'm here?"

Trish tilts her head to the side. "They added you in the Smackdown roster, didn't they?"

"Ding. Ding. Ding! You are correct, Miss Stratus."

She looks at Randy and smiles. "This day just gets better and better."

"Oh don't get your hopes up, babe." Dave places an arm around her. "John Cena isn't here."

Trish shot Dave a dirty look. "Anyway…"

"I think the three of us should go out and celebrate." Randy suggested now that two of his close friends were in Smackdown he felt the need to go out and enjoy the rest of the night. Sure he'd like to be alone with Trish for she did have some making up to do, but he didn't want to leave Dave hanging especially in his first night in Smackdown.

"That's a great idea." Trish thought with a bright smile as she locks arms with the both of them and headed down the hallway.

Meanwhile the WWE Raw superstars just arrived in New Zealand where they will be doing a RAW taping in Wellington, New Zealand. As they got out of the plane one by one and signing a few autographs for the fans that were there Amy immediately noticed the down look on John Cena's face. She learned that he failed to tell Trish how he felt, which affected his behavior. He wasn't the same hyper and cocky guy she once knew. Heck even when the guys took him out, John didn't bother to hook up with women at the club nor attempt to even have a good time.

"Hey…" Amy approaches the champ as soon as he finished signing autographs for the younger fans who completely adores him. He takes off his cap and nods at the redhead.

"What's up, Ames?"

"Nothing, I'm just concern about you."

He slightly chuckles and smirk. "Why?"

She scoffs, followed by a deep groan. "Oh come on. Just look at yourself, John. You're a wreck now that Trish isn't around."

He shrugs his shoulders. "So? I can deal with it."

"So…" Amy pursed her lips and studies him carefully. "Once we're at the hotel, we're going for a ride first thing in the morning."

"To where?" John stares skeptically at the redhead. "And why?"

"The Smackdown stars are in Auckland, New Zealand. We can just drive there and you will tell Trish the truth."

"You'd do that for me?" He questions in disbelief.

Amy rolls her eyes. "Just tell me if you're in or not before I change my mind." A smile suddenly crept over his face. "Well?" Amy still waits for an answer.

"Yeah," he finally replies after a brief pause, "I'm in."

A/N: So should it be John or Randy? Gee...who knows? I do. lol. Don't forget to review.