Chapter 23: Bonds
April 10-15, 2011

Author's note: just to not get in trouble, I should remind everyone that I don't own anything that has to do with WWE. Also, don't raise a stink about the date I used; I know that SmackDown is filmed on one night and shown on TV another night. I am writing my story with TV showing dates. Feel free to cry; I was crying when this happened. Just don't give me any negative comments and/or point out that I changed some things; after all, this story is an AU.

Thank you, Dark Mage of the Sea, for helping me write this chapter.

While they managed to keep Del Rio from getting the World Heavyweight Championship, Edge and Pandora almost immediately learned that Edge had another enemy and, this time, the enemy would win the battle…

April 10, 2011

At their hotel room, Pandora was getting ready to take a shower when Edge gave her an unusual request. "Can you contact your Mother for me?"

Pandora looked at him in surprise. "My mom? What do you want with her?"

"I just need to talk to her."

Pandora's face fell a little, assuming what it was he was going to tell her. "You don't have to tell her yourself. After all, you're going to announce it tomorrow night."

Earlier that week, Edge and Pandora went to the doctor's to get the results of the MRI that Edge took. It was not good news. Thanks to the broken neck that Edge had eight years ago, he had cervical spinal stenosis and he had to retire or become paralyzed at his next match. Edge ran his hand through his hair, trying to not think of what the doctor said, and said, "It has nothing to do with that. I just need to talk to her."

Pandora nodded. "All right." She hugged him close first. She knew that what the doctor said broke his heart since wrestling was his life. Edge welcomed the hug, grateful that she had been a pillar of strength for him. She kissed him and then contacted Lacti through the TV. Lacti looked up in surprise. "Pandora! What's going on?"

Pandora smiled softly. "Edge wants to talk to you." She looked back at Edge before going into the bathroom to shower. Lacti looked at Edge and noticed that he seemed different. "Edge, are you okay?"

Edge scoffed. "You, asking me, a human, if I'm okay? Never thought I'd hear that."

Lacti rolled her eyes. "I told you, you have the potential to be a demon." Edge rolled his eyes as Lacti continued. "Not only that, but you're different than other humans."

Edge looked at her. "Really? How am I different?"

Lacti shrugged. "I don't know how to explain it. You're just…different. All that aside…you've really helped my daughter, more than just when you rescued her." Edge touched his pocket as Lacti continued. "You opened her mind and heart to a lot of things. You brought her out of her shell. You…helped her grow up."

Edge sighed. "Look, Lacti…I contacted you…because of Pandora."

Lacti immediately went into motherly mode. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Edge sighed again. "Something did but it happened to me, not her." Lacti sighed in relief as Edge asked, "I was wondering…do demons get married?"

At first, Lacti was confused about why he would ask that. But she then figured it out. "You mean…you want to ask her…?"

Edge pulled out the ring box that he had in his pocket. "I already picked out the ring."

He opened it and showed it to the screen for Lacti to see. It was a silver ring with a red heart-shaped stone in the center. On both sides of the heart were designs that appeared to be a combination of vines and gothic shapes. Lacti nodded. "It's pretty…but we demons don't marry."

Edge looked at Lacti. "Will she? I mean, she has human in her from her Father."

Lacti shook his head. "You need to let me finish. We demons don't marry; we mate. If you ask her to marry you, she won't understand what you mean. But, if you ask her to be your mate…"

Edge nodded and looked at the ring. "So does that mean I have your blessing?"

Lacti chuckled. "Even if I forbad it, you two would do what you want. I mean, I figured that out when I saw that flower."

Edge chuckled, remembering Lacti's warning. He kept looking at the ring as Lacti asked, "When are you going to ask her?"

Edge sighed. "Tomorrow night…after the announcement."

That caught Lacti's attention. "What announcement?"

Edge turned off the TV, cutting off the conversation. Lacti was confused by what Edge was talking about. She figured that she would have to watch and find out.

In the hotel room, Edge sighed and put the ring box back into his pocket. He did not want Pandora to find the ring before he asked her. More than anything, he was not looking forward to telling the WWE Universe that he had to retire. Just the thought of it made his eyes tear up. Pandora came back, dressed in her sexy nightgown, and saw the tears. "Edge…" She went to him and laid on top of him. "It's all right. I'm here for you."

Edge hugged her close. "I know…thank you." Pandora nodded.

April 11, 2011

That night, Edge came to the ring, accompanied by Pandora. The audience could tell that there was something different about them. With Pandora holding his hand in support, Edge opened with pointing out that, despite what people think, real injuries do happen in this industry…as he learned eight years ago when he broke his neck. He did manage to get surgery to repair his neck but now his borrowed time was up; he said that he had been hurting badly for a while and was told to get more tests. After the tests, the doctors told him that he…had to retire. The audience was stunned by what the teary-eyed Edge told them and tried to get his spirits up with "thank you" chants. He admitted that he was glad that the doctors caught it (because now he did not have to be in a wheelchair) but he was also mad because he was retiring against his will and did not want to let down his fans; thankfully, a pep talk with Christian bolstered his spirits. Feeling a little better at remembering that conversation, he stated that he was and is a lifelong fan of WWE and admitted that he never believed that he would go through everything he went through in his career, let alone be as successful as he was and would retire the World Heavyweight Champion. He then started to reflect back on his career: running around being tormented by personal demons, being a vampire in The Brood, being a goofy idiot with Christian, being the most hated wrestler of all, his live sex celebration with Lita, and finding love in someone unexpected (he kissed Pandora when he admitted that). After verbally hoping that he earned everyone's respect (which was answered with cheers), he then ended his speech by admitting that he would miss everything and, if given the chance, he would live this life all over again. He and Pandora then left, after thanking his fans one last time.

On their way out, Edge remembered what he wanted to do with Pandora. He told all the superstars and divas to wait in the hall and then bolted for the other room where he hid the box. Pandora was very confused by what he was doing but was distracted by Lilith hugging her from behind. "Hey. How you feeling?"

Pandora sighed and rubbed her eyes. "I don't know. I mean…he's retired now…and…it might be…the end for us."

Lilith looked at her in surprise. But she did not get a chance to ask her because Edge was already back and heard what she said. "What makes you think I was going to break up with you?"

Pandora blushed and hid her face with her hat as Lilith backed up. She did not expect to have Edge hear her. Edge went forward and lifted her hat off of her head. "Pani, tell me."

Pandora blushed again. "Well…you're retired now and I'm still part of the business. So—" She was interrupted with a deep kiss. Pandora shuddered in delight as Edge pulled away. "Pani, forgive me but you can be pretty dumb at times."

Pandora sulked a little, forgetting that they had an audience. "Gee, thanks."

Edge smirked and stood straight up. "But…" He pulled her towards the center of the hall, surrounded by everyone. Pandora felt a little odd by this, wondering what Edge was going to do. It was obvious to the divas, though, as Edge told her, "Just because I'm retiring doesn't mean I'm leaving you."

Pandora blushed and smiled. "I'm glad to hear that."

Edge looked at her and realized that he was nervous. This was different from the last time he popped the question. This time, he was not acting; this was real. Pandora gave him an innocent look (since she had no idea what was going on), making Edge chuckle. "Bear with me, I'm a little nervous."

Pandora blinked in surprise. "You? Nervous? Why?"

The divas snickered at how clueless she was. Ignoring the divas, Edge looked at Pandora and started to stumble. "Pani…Pandora…What I'm trying to say is…I…well…bear with me, this is really hard!"

Pandora blinked innocently; she had never seen him so nervous like this. "What could be hard for you? You've done everything."

Lilith murmured, "Never done this…"

Edge glared at Lilith as she gave him a smug look. He then turned his attention back to Pandora. "Lilith has a point. Never really done something like this but…I…well, I…

Pandora nodded, waiting for him to continue. When Edge took too long to respond, the divas yelled, "Edge, just tell her!"

Edge glared at them as Lilith adding, "Before I tell her."

Edge glared dangerously at Lilith. "Lilith, if you say something, so help me, Randy is not going to be able to protect you."

Lilith just smirked in a teasing way. Pandora blinked in confusion. "Edge, what's going on?"

Before Edge could answer, Cena jokingly said, "You're losing her, Edge."

Edge was getting annoyed at all the teases, even though he was giving them plenty to work with since he was so nervous. "Can I have a serious moment, for once?" Once everyone simmered down, Edge turned his attention back to Pandora, taking her hands. This was now or never; he had to let it out. "Pani…my life has never been the same since that SummerSlam when I went to Hell. You didn't have to save me but you did; I've always been grateful for that."

Pandora smiled and blushed. Edge then admitted, "Even if your Mother did not make me swear to watch over you, I still would have rescued you to pay you back for what you did to me. But I did not expect…to fall in love with you."

Pandora's eyes shone. "Neither did I, for you."

Edge smiled and reached into his pocket, gripping the ring box. He was getting nervous again. "I didn't tell you this, but…when I saw how sick you were when you healed Teddy Long for me…I realized that I wanted to spend my life with you."

Pandora was very touched by what he was saying. Still, she had no clue what he was about to do, especially when Edge said, "Throw out all the religious stuff…and focus on what this symbolizes." With that, he got on one knee and revealed the ring. "Pandora…will you be my mate?"

Pandora gasped and felt her heart soar. But before she could answer, Edge noticed the odd looks that everyone was giving up. "What? Demons don't marry, they mate."

Pandora laughed a little as a few tears fell. "Yes…yes, I will." Surrounded by their cheering friends, Edge slipped the ring on her finger and kissed his new mate deeply. Despite the bad news they got, they found the light again in their relationship.

April 15, 2011

While Pandora was saying hi to Kelly Kelly, Edge was leaning against the wall, waiting for the person he called. Because he was distracted with thought, he did not realize that the person was already there until he spoke up. "You called for me?"

Edge looked up and saw Kane. "Yes. I need to talk to you about something."

Kane was still wary around the human, wondering if this was a trick or an excuse to attack the demon. Instead, Edge looked down and said, "That offer you made Pandora…does that still stand?"

Kane raised his eyebrow but still answered. "Yes. You were there; I told her it stands until she goes back to Hell."

Edge nodded and looked at Kane. "Make the offer again."

Kane was surprised at Edge's statement. His niece's mate (who was extremely protective of her) was asking Kane to make the offer again? Edge grew impatient and asked, "Look, will you ask her?"

"I will. But why are you entrusting your mate to me?"

Edge stood up straight and looked Kane dead in the eye. "She needs someone to protect her while she's here…and what better person to protect her than family?" He then left. While he preferred that Christian watch over Pandora, Edge knew that Kane could give her better protection, especially against things like Damien.

After the clip of Edge asking Pandora to be his mate was shown for the first time (which was met with cheers), mates Edge and Pandora came out, dressed to the nines. Edge was in a grey suit with a red shirt. Her golden flower still in her hair, Pandora was wearing the dress that Shawn Michaels gave her as a surprise before the Hall of Fame ceremony: it was a white dress that was completely backless with white sleeves that were not attached to the dress; the neck of the dress, ends of the sleeves, and accessory belt had gold designs on them. They were there to relinquish the World Heavyweight Championship but they saw no harm in having some fun before doing so; they did so by doing Edge's entrance once again, wanting to feel the goosebumps one last time that no intense match could give them. After the second entrance, Pandora stood back to let Edge speak. He first thanked the WWE Universe for all the support that they gave him since he announced his retirement. He liked the fact that, despite there being some negative feelings, his retirement was being looked at by everyone, including himself, in a positive light (better to be retired than confined to a wheelchair). He then started to count all his blessings: being able to now travel and spend time with his mate Pandora, having an excuse to wear one of his suits, making his final stop in his career in Albany (the city where he won his very first WWE Championship), the fact that his mom could be in the audience, the one woman who gave him the strength to live this life, and that he could be in front of the WWE Universe. After all, he pointed out, everyone in the WWE Universe held a piece of the Championship. He then did what he had to do: he relinquished the World Heavyweight Championship and thanked everyone for what life that he lived. While Edge hugged his Mother, Pandora made her flower turn back to pink and joined his side, leaving the arena.

Just before the Battle Royale, Pandora was backstage, looking at her ring. Edge was off saying goodbye to a few more people. She smiled at the ring and thinking about hers and Edge's future, not hearing someone come to her until he spoke: "The little birdie is all alone."

Pandora looked up and glared at Damien, ignoring his new look. He abandoned his punk look for a sexier, more professional look when he abandoned Kane and joined The Corre. He wore black leather pants and a short black shirt, covered by a long, black jacket. He also got rid of all his accessories and dyed his hair bluish-black. Pandora glared at him. "What the hell do you want, Damien?"

Damien smirked and got close to her face. "There's no one here to protect you. Edge is gone, Undertaker is dying…you can be mine now."

Pandora's glare narrowed. "Fuck you, Damien."

Damien gave her a dark smile. "Thought you'd never ask."

Before Pandora could react, Damien turned her around and pinned her to the wall, crossing her arms behind her back (a move he called "Devil's Pleasure"). She tried to struggle to get away but he was too strong. One hand keeping her pinned, he started to kiss her neck while getting out a dagger and rubbing the blade against her hip. "We're going to have some fun right now."

Pandora closed her eyes tight and started to whimper. She was stuck and hoped that someone would stop him. Her prayers were answered: Damien was tossed into the wall opposite of them. Pandora massaged her arms and turned around; she became surprised by who rescued her. Damien growled up at Kane, who pinned his creator to the wall. "Keep your hands off of her, you monster!"

Damien growled, "What the hell do you expect me to do? She's a bitch, she's alone, and I get what I want!"

Kane threw Damien to the ground and looked at Pandora. "Are you all right?"

Still stunned that he saved her, Pandora nodded and massaged her wrists. "You didn't have to."

"Family relays on each other."

Pandora looked up as Damien tried to attack Kane again. But Kane was able to dodge the attack and give Damien a chokeslam right into the wall. Pandora winced a little as Kane pulled away from his creator. He then mentioned to Pandora, "My offer still stands."

Pandora blushed and showed Kane her ring. "Um…I'm not sure how my mate would react."

Kane smirked. "He actually asked me to look after you."

Pandora looked up at Kane and saw that he was being truthful. Even if he was lying, Edge would tell her when she went back to him. Damien looked up at Kane. "What offer? To be your sacrifice?"

Pandora flipped Damien off as Kane glared down at the powerful demon. "Protection against things like you."

Damien was furious that Kane made the offer and got in Kane's face. "What the hell are you doing? You've gotten soft! This is why you didn't get the belt and why I abandoned your ass! If you want to get anywhere, you need to bow down to me! You got that? You need to choose right now! The bitch or the demon that made you what you are today!"

Kane pushed Damien into the wall and smirked. "The answer is clear, then." Damien smirked back, assuming that Kane chose him. Instead, Kane looked at Pandora. "Let me know what your answer is."

Kane then left, leaving Pandora and a pissed off Damien. Damien wanted to go after Kane but Wade Barrett (who witnessed the exchange) dragged the demon away. Pandora thought things over and made her decision. "Kane, wait!" She then went after him.

From that night on for a while, Pandora was Kane's valet, wearing her white dress. She wore the dress for three reasons, as she explained to Big Show. As a personal joke, she saw herself as innocent compared to Kane. She also saw this as her starting over as a valet since her father was still healing and her mate was retired. Finally, she wanted to start over with Kane since she now knew that he was her uncle (she showed that the night of Edge's retirement when she helped Kane eliminate Brodus Clay from the battle royale).

Despite being Kane's new valet, Pandora did not stay with him 24/7 like before. In fact, she was only around him whenever he was wrestling, coming to the arena about an hour before shows through a portal. The rest of the time, she was with Edge, enjoying their time together and their new chapter of their relationship as mates.