Sofia feels like she's trapped in a nightmare, reliving the days from 2013 when Alberto had betrayed Ricardo and the ring announcer had been moved out of the house by a well-meaning Miz and John Morrison. But this, admittedly, is more personal. More brutal of a betrayal. This is Ricardo's best friend, his brother, taking Ricardo's fiance from him and barely bothering to respond when Ricardo leaves for a second time.
Paige puts on a brave face, but there's a dullness to her dark eyes that Sofia doesn't remember seeing there before, not even when Ricardo had been in India for all of those months. Biting down her base instinct to mother, she keeps her head down, does her duties around the house, and tries not to notice whenever Paige and Alberto both are somewhere together.
The days pass slowly, June heat suffusing the house and somehow seeming more unbearable without Ricardo's cheerful disposition to make the house a bit more brighter. She only sees Alberto once a day when he's not on the road with WWE and that's to get the agenda for the day, meal requests, the usual. Paige, Paige is more elusive, a flighty sort. Only seen around mealtimes. Which is fine with Sofia. The less she sees of either of them, the better. Ricardo's absense is an ache deep in her soul that she doubts she'll ever be able to shake off.
But she knows how to find him so, one day, after running some errands, she finds herself outside of Alicia's beach apartment, staring up at it with misty eyes. Getting out of the car, she makes her way slowly up the sand and presses the buzzer for Alicia's complex, holding her breath until Ricardo's voice echoes out of the box nearby. "Hola? Who's there?"
"Ah," she stammers. "It, it's me. Sofia." She's immediately buzzed in and walks, in a daze, down the hall to the apartment labeled 05 as the door is unlocked and pulled open, Ricardo immediately hugging her. Sofia starts to cry despite herself, clinging to him desperately. He rocks her a little, murmuring and stroking her hair, until she pulls away and searches his face, smiling weakly. "I have missed you, mi hijo." He hugs her again and she sighs. "Are you ... are you well? Is... are you alright here?"
His smile is sad but sincere as he leads her inside, lets her grow accustomed to the place as his new home, whether it be temporary or permanent. "Si, I'm fine. And this apartment is perfect for me, right now. Alicia has been quite accomodating." He offers her tea or water, and she declines, so they sit and stare at each other. "Alberto and Paige broke whatever was left of my heart, you know," he says quietly, staring down at his hands. "But I never meant to shut you out. I just needed... time. I still do. I don't know if I'll ever return to that house again, but you're welcome here whenever you want."
Sofia nods, so many questions and comments rattling around in her head that she eventually just falls to staring at her hands as well. "I love you, mi hijo," she finally settles on, smiling sadly when he reaches forward and squeezes her hands.
"I love you too, madre," he breathes out. They're still sitting like this a few minutes later when Alicia arrives, hesitating in the doorway. His eyes are bright but calm when he looks up so she takes it as an invitation, joining them and smiling at Sofia as she echoes Ricardo's invitation for her to come over whenever she wishes.
"Gracias," she says, feeling like she's worn out her welcome. "I have to go back to work," she says reluctantly. "I will... talk to you soon." She gets to her feet and hugs Ricardo, kissing him on the cheek before searching his eyes once more. Turning to Alicia, she hugs her as well. "Take good care of him," she whispers into the taller woman's shoulder.
"I will, I promise," Alicia responds. As soon as Sofia is gone, she and Ricardo exchange glances and chuckle a little. "So about this invitation you gave me a couple of days ago... I'm here to accept."
Ricardo's eyes brighten.
Alicia's been to a couple events at the dojo over the last couple of years to support Ricardo, usually with the group, but this is her first time here in the ring, facing off with the various people Ricardo helps to train. She eyes the women and men, all young, all hungry, and immediately grapples with the first woman Ricardo points to. They go at it for a few moments before Alicia feels herself flipped and dropped in a takedown that wasn't 100% smooth but would be feasible enough as a move with some practice.
Ricardo joins them and locks up with a man, just to get shoulder checked down next to Alicia, glancing over at her and just breaking apart with laughter. She quickly dissolves into giggles too, her amusement softening into a smile as he stands and leans over to help her up, their fingers lacing together easily as she pulls herself up. "Alright, guys, I think Alicia here and I are going to give you a proper demonstration. Up for it, Foxy?" he wonders, winking at her as she nods.
Training with men is different than training with women, but it helped her to get tougher, more solid in the ring, so she welcomes it as she locks up with Ricardo and feels the muscles in his arms shifting as he puts on a show over getting the upperhand against her. He fails and she sweeps his legs out from under him, muttering, "leg scissors" just loud enough for him to hear. As he shifts into position on his knees, she runs the ropes and hits the move, sending him to the mat to a chorus of oooooooooh and a few damns. It's her turn to help him up and he smirks at her before turning to address the students once more.
Alicia finds that she likes watching him in his element, with a special kind of light in his eyes, an energy in his step.
Later, after the training is done, Ricardo settles down on the sand, wearing nothing but swimming trunks, and inhales as the waves wash over his bare skin, his arms trailing out across the sand on either side of him. His eyes are closed, he can just see the glow of the sun as it sets gleaming against the ocean. He's only laid there a few minutes when soft footsteps pad up to him and Alicia sits down next to him, watching him and the ocean equally. "Am I bothering you?"
"No," he says, giving up on meditation for the moment and looking at her. She looks sad and he's pretty sure it has something to do with Alex, but he has enough of his own relationship problems to focus on, so instead he gets to his feet and tries some other kind of training. Lifts her hands out like his had been, and kneels by her as the surf washes over her one piece, white bathing suit with a light purple floral design that catches the eye and guides it perfectly along Alicia's body. "Breathe in and hold it," he tells her quietly, breathing with her as she inhales, waits a few, long seconds before exhaling, tapping her arm with his finger. "Close your eyes. Focus only on your breathing, the sound of the surf against your skin, and how the sun is so deliciously warm."
She does these things and he watches with contentment as some of the tension slowly leaves her. He nods and settles back in next to her once he's sure she's got it, the water washing over both of their bodies as they breathe as one, perfectly in-sync with the person next to them for the first time in much too long for either of them.