November 2nd 2004...
"I just don't get why this guy my brother works with doesn't seem to like me." Amanda responded as they walked on home, both worn down from the long day.
"Well you did hit him with a steel chair during the summer, Mandy." Sachael replied.
"It was part of the show, I didn't mean to hurt him." Amanda responded, the girls laughing and Sachael throwing her right arm around the shorter teen.
"Maybe he's just feeling a little humiliated that someone short kicked his ass, Mandy… he sounds like he holds a grudge over that. Or maybe you just need to get to know Luther better. You might end up working with him one day." Sachael replied.
Amanda was about to respond when both girls heard tires screeching loudly and Sachael threw Amanda out of the way to protect her.
Amanda's left leg was trapped between the car tire and building and Sachael was pinned down… but she saw the tears start to run down her friend's face.
"I… I can't feel my leg… Sache… are you okay?" Amanda responded, unable to see properly because of the freshly fallen snow obscuring her vision.
"I'm okay… we're gonna get out of here, little sis." Sachael replied, before she looked ahead to where the hillside road looked out across the glowing city. "It's… quite a view."
"Be… Best seats in the house." Amanda responded, thinking for a moment. "Well… far from the best ones actually."
Sachael laughed slightly at that, stopping as she glanced down and saw what she was glad Amanda couldn't. "Yeah, true. You know… I've always wanted wings." She responded, which caught Amanda's attention.
"Wanted wings?" Amanda questioned as she blinked to clear her eyesight.
"I think you'll understand at some point, kiddo… take care of them for me." Sachael replied, closing her eyes midway. "I'm… proud of you… well done, mate."
Amanda's instinct was to call out for help… and the next few hours were blurred to her.
She woke up in a room and saw John, who pulled her into his arms… and she knew that Sachael was gone.
She looked to see George, who's light hazel eyes were reddened and Amanda and John let go before she and George hugged.
"I am so sorry." Amanda responded as they looked at each other.
"It's not your fault, Mandy." George replied.
John decided to let the two teens be by themselves… they needed each other now more than ever…
Present time, September 18th 2015…
"Alright… sit down and talk, Darlin'. You're all thrown off." Finn replied as he and Amanda sat down in the ring in the Performance Center.
"Sachael would've been 27 today." Amanda responded, Finn lightly pulling her into his lap. "Every year, I find myself thinking what she would've been like or what she would've wanted to do today for her party… I went to go get my phone earlier to call her and then it hit me all over again. I should've said something earlier but I..." She replied as Finn held her.
"Sometimes we just can't put into words how we're feeling. You're okay, I was getting worried though that I might've been a bit too rough during our practice session." Finn responded.
"If you were, I would've been cursing up a storm." Amanda replied.
"Which isn't how a lady should act but you do it anyway, Mandy." Finn responded in a joking tone, Amanda playfully swatting his right shoulder before they stretched out in the ring, Amanda on her left side as Finn was on his back and holding her to him.
"Old habit. Never really broken it." Amanda replied, Finn lightly resting his left hand on her right shoulder. "I'll call George when we get back home, see how he and Arthur are holding up… how both have kept on going after losing Lila and Sachael, I really don't know." She said in response.
"Sachael's family had you to help them, Darlin'." Finn replied.
"And I ran off the first chance I got, never looked back… I've called, checked in on them but I didn't stick around when I was 15. They needed me and I left." Amanda responded, feeling guilty and Finn moving his left hand up to run his fingers through her shoulder length hair.
"You were a kid who had lost someone who had been your family… after something painful like that, it's natural to want to leave and clear your mind." Finn replied as they looked at each other, him now turned slightly to her.
She looked up at him as he kissed her on the top of her head… and then they heard "Damn it, you son of a bitch!" and bolted upright… and Finn helping Amanda to her feet.
It was Vince's voice but he wasn't yelling at them… he was yelling at Hunter.
"Let's work on that inverted 450 splash you did last week..." Finn whispered before he flopped back down on the mat and Amanda ascended to the top turnbuckle before she executed the move… and after a while, both were on their knees.
"I just don't think that Alexa and Murphy are ready to be on the main roster yet. They're still young and I think you'd be putting them in a spot they might get overwhelmed in by positioning them as a power couple, Vince. And as for Finn and Mandy possibly being on the main roster together and soon, I don't think it would be right to tone down their storyline… have you given yourself a chance to get to know the kid, talk to him? Or are you more influenced by the people in the locker room saying that he's doing more harm than good to her?" Hunter explained, Vince narrowing his eyes.
"Did I piss Vince off somehow?" Finn questioned quietly, him and Amanda standing up and his left hand resting between her shoulder blades.
"No. I just think he tends to think irrationally at times but so do Scott Hall, Shawn Michaels, Sean Waltman, Kevin Nash... basically, they still treat me like a kid." Amanda whispered before they hugged.
"You know… we can put the warm up session off for now, Darlin'." Finn replied before they headed to the locker room.
Amanda knew she was in no frame of mind to focus properly.