Selena decided to wait until after the holidays to fret about every detail of her upcoming induction.

Over that time, Selena's rational side was in constant battle with her nature. She constantly had to remind herself to take a deep breath and enjoy Christmas. Selena had to remind herself that she wasn't set to fly out to Philadelphia until April, so she still had plenty of time to plan and panic once the holidays were over. She had to tell herself a few times a day that freaking out and over-preparing for her upcoming trip wasn't going to make the time pass any quicker.

Once a day, she'd remind herself that tasks could wait until after the New Year, that this was the perfect time to enjoy the mundane and normal things she'd become accustomed to since retiring. In a few short months, she'd be boarding a plane once more to get back onto the carnival ride that had been her old life.

After the clock struck midnight on New Years Eve, Selena spent every day at her laptop, Microsoft Word opened, the thin black line blinking at her tauntingly as she struggled to write her speech. There was so much she wanted to say to so many people, and she knew that her time was going to be limited. She didn't want to go over and rob other people of their time, but there were so many people she wanted and needed to thank for her career going the way it did. There were also a lot of people to thank for keeping her sane when everything else was insane.

Selena lived alone in a small townhouse not far from the bistro, a taupe dwelling with black trim, black doors, and front steps. She'd fallen in love with the place the moment she'd laid eyes on it. The place was a little too big for her, a two bedroom and bath deal, but she'd set the spare room up as an office that she never used. Selena had never been much of a gardener, but she had some beautiful flowers set up out front, in black boxes that complimented the house.

Inside, her dark beige walls were adorned with framed photographs, pictures of friends and family, including her long-departed father and her world-traveling mother and grandmother. While her father had given her the gift of professional wrestling, she supposed her love of seeing the world had been given to her by the women in her family. There were photographs of herself and Ally, from childhood to renovating and opening the bistro. Pictures from its grand opening. It had taken Selena a while to get used to the idea of setting down roots after spending so many years away from home, but she found that she liked having the time to set up her home just the way she liked it. She liked being around her community and finding every hidden gem that she could. Her backyard was small, big enough to fit a small table, chairs, and a barbecue she vowed to use every summer but never did.

It had taken a long time, but Selena felt like life was good. It wasn't what it used to be, but she'd found herself a good kind of different. She liked being in business with her sister. Ally was a talented chef. Selena believed in her, and it was paying off with local business awards and stellar online reviews. Ally was also an easy business partner to have. Their visions were similar.

After the accident, Selena had been terrified of what her future held. Body, heart, and soul broken, Selena hadn't been able to comprehend what a life without wrestling looked like for a long time. Her injuries had been severe; it took her years to get back to where she'd been before, and she still wasn't wholly there. It took time for her to realize that the other side of life in wrestling wasn't so bad. In those years where her mental and physical health felt like it had hit rock bottom, Shane and Ally had worked an insane amount of magic to pull her out of all the terrible feelings she'd struggled with after retiring. She didn't think they could do it back then, but somehow, they'd pulled off a task that seemed impossible.

Like everything else he'd ever done for her, Selena felt like she was forever indebted to Shane McMahon. He'd put his neck out for her far more than any friend should ever have to, and he always did it without a complaint.

On a quiet Thursday night in the second week of January, Selena pulled Ally aside during a lull in the dinner rush and told her sister she was going to leave early. Ally was fine with it; she was determined to prove that she could put a good system in place while Selena was gone in the spring. Ally knew she'd be able to call or email her sister if she ran into any problems, but she knew her little sister was going to have her hands full once she landed in Philadelphia. She didn't want to bother her sister on her trip. Selena had also mentioned to Ally how things worked when it came to returning Superstars; camera crews were going to be following Selena from the moment she got off the plane.

The thought of being on camera again filled Selena with anxiety. What if she froze up?

Winter meant leaving for work in the dark and coming home the same. Selena stopped by a sandwich shop on the way home, happy to take meal prep off her list of things to do. She had every intention of focusing on her speech. The fact that words were eluding her felt agonizing. Selena vowed to get something written down that evening, even if it took her all night.

She let herself into her house, locking the door behind her and kicking off her boots before she ascended the stairs to the main floor. Some candles, a glass of wine, her sandwich, some good music, and Microsoft Word was her plan for the evening. She placed her computer bag by the coffee table and the sandwich bag on the tabletop before she went to fetch herself a glass of chardonnay she'd purchased from a local winery.

Sitting down on the couch, Selena set up the computer and as it fired up, she got up and put on a vinyl record. She'd never thought about collecting such things, but Ally had talked her into it a couple years back. Selena picked something relatively mellow, something she hoped would aid her in her quest to write her Hall of Fame speech. Sitting back down on the couch, she logged into her computer and sipped her wine.

Looking over at her bag, Selena's eyes shifted to the clock on the wall, and she quickly did some math. It was approaching nine on the east coast. Reaching into her bag for her phone, she used her free hand to pull up Microsoft Word, to the pre-saved blank document she'd reserved to house her Hall of Fame speech. Her other hand pulled up the contacts in her phone, scrolling until she found the number she wanted. Tapping it with her thumb, Selena sat back on the couch, bringing her legs up as she listened to the phone ring on the other end. For a moment she wondered if she was calling at a bad time, but Shane answered by the third ring.

"Selena! Hey!"

"Hey. Am I calling at a bad time?"

"You? Never. What's up?"

"Just...been doing some thinking, I guess. You got a few minutes to talk?"

"For you? Always."

A comfortable silence fell between them for a few moments. Selena looked at her computer screen, at the bright white document and the blinking black line, and she sighed. "All of this still feels crazy, Shane. The Hall of Fame. How many arms did you have to twist to pull this one off?"

"Not as many as you think," he assured her. As if he could sense what she was thinking, he continued. "You deserve this, Lena. Hunter agreed. It was his call to make at the end of the day."

"I can't seem to get this speech written."

"It'll come to you. It's only January. You still have plenty of time."

"Shane...what do I do about him?"

Selena heard him exhale on the other end of the phone. It wasn't an annoyed sound, but rather a sad one, like he'd expected her to ask him about this at some point. "What do you mean, what do you do about him?"

"I mean, after everything that happened...should I even say anything about him in my speech? I...ugh, I know it sounds so stupid to be worrying about this, especially with all the time that's passed, but it feels like he's looming over all of this like the biggest elephant in the room, and I don't know what to do about that. It feels wrong to completely wipe him out of my history because he's a fucking asshole, but it also doesn't feel right to say anything nice about him because he's a fucking asshole."

"I can't tell you what the right answer is there, Lena, but I think you know what my answer is going to be."

"Trust your gut. Follow your instincts. You're stronger and smarter than you think, and all the other self-help shit that helps nothing," she drawled dryly. Shane barked out a laugh.

"You know me so well, don't you?"

"I mean, after twenty years, I'd like to think I know you a little."

They fell quiet. Twenty years. Saying it out loud knocked them both funny. It had almost been twenty years since Rio had turned her back on Selena, had aligned herself with Evolution and beaten her within an inch of her life. Beaten, betrayed, and afraid, Selena had reached out to Shane for his help. Back then, the idea of Shane McMahon stepping into anything on her behalf felt like an incredible shot in the dark, but at the time she'd seen no other options. Aligned with Evolution and Triple H, it meant that Rio had the ear of one of the most powerful people in the WWE. Shane's sister Stephanie almost always had her father's ear, and Vince was always too happy to let Evolution run roughshod between both brands if it meant it made him more money in the end. To Selena's relief, Shane had gladly stepped in, backing her and the people behind her. It didn't take long for Shane to respect her tenacity and resourcefulness. Neither of them had any idea in those days that a deep and lasting friendship would grow out of her desperation, but it was a friendship they found they'd treasured, both inside and outside the business.

"Fine, Shane. Since you can't help me with that problem, maybe you can help me with the other one."

"I can try. What's the other issue?"

"I need somebody to induct me."

"Oh. That is an issue, isn't it?" Shane agreed. There was a beat between them. "Are you asking what I think you're asking?"

"You know I am, Shane. Would you be up to doing that for me? I know I've asked so much of you over the years but I just...I can't think of anybody else I want to do this."

"Lena, you know I'd be honored to do it." There was a beat of silence. "Shit. I guess that means I've got a speech to write, too."

Selena laughed. "Gotcha?"

It was Shane's turn to snicker. "You think I'd be more familiar with your game by now."

"You'd think," she echoed. "Well...thanks for making that part easy, Shane. I mean it. I really wouldn't want anyone else to do it."

"Just make sure you say something extra nice about me in your speech," he teased.

"Done."

"I know I haven't told you this, Lena, but you might have the biggest heart of anyone I've ever met," Shane confided. "And I know firsthand that it's been trampled on a lot, by rivals, by people you trusted and respected, and somehow you still believe in the best. It's admirable.

"When it comes to him, Lena, I know you. You're too kind to disregard him the way he disregarded you. You're too kind to disrespect him the way he disrespected you. I know you're not going to leave him out of your speech. I know you're going to say something about him, and it'll be nice and kind and poignant, and it'll be far more than what he deserves after what he did to you.

"Whatever you give him, Lena, however far you're willing to go when it comes to talking about your time together...that's up to you. But I just want you to remember that you don't owe himanything."

They fell quiet again. Selena shut her eyes and took a deep breath. Shane was right, of course. He was right more often than he was wrong. Selena knew her worries were ridiculous. She had no idea why she was fretting over it. Even if she wanted to leave him out of her speech, deep down she knew that she couldn't do that. For better and worse, Selena wasn't built to be vindictive or cruel, and those around her knew that.

Her time with Randy had been difficult. She wasn't going to pretend that it wasn't. But it hadn't been all bad.

"Are you worried about seeing him again?" Shane asked. Selena sighed.

"Not worried, so much...I think I dread it more than anything else. I think the saving grace is we have nothing to say to each other."

"All I can assure you is that you remember how busyWrestleManiawas in your day. It's even busier now that it's two nights. Both of you are going to be super busy, so it should be enough to keep you guys apart for the week."

"You're right. Speaking of things I'm dreading...there's going to be a camera crew on me, isn't there?"

"You know there is!" Shane laughed. "Selena Sky's first WWE appearance in almost fourteen years? It's a big deal! We're going to be capturing every moment. Hunter's talking about a documentary, so there'll probably be some interviews, too."

"Oh, God. You guys don't need to do all this for me..."

"Uh, yeah, we do. And you deserve it, Lena."

"I really don't know about that."

"Well I do. I'm excited to have you back here again. It's not the same without you."

"Ugh. You're such a suck-up."

"If that's what you want to call it." She heard something on the other line, another voice saying something she couldn't make out. "Shit. I gotta go, Lena. I'll talk with you soon. Good luck on your speech."

"You, too. I'll see you in a few months."

"Can't wait."

The two of them said their goodbyes. Shane hung up. Selena dropped her phone on the couch beside her and leaned forward to reach for her glass of wine, taking a big sip. She looked at the black computer screen and sighed. She still had a few hours before bed, but she really didn't feel all that confident that she'd get anything written down before the clock struck midnight.

There was still so much to do. She hadn't found something to wear to the event, or anything else. Selena knew she was also going to need to buckle down and catch up on the product. After the accident, as hard as it had been, she'd cut wrestling from her life completely. It wasn't because she wanted to — she certainly didn't; it had always been the one constant she'd had in her life — but because she had to. Selena knew she had to let it go if she had any hope of moving forward while she recovered. She hadn't wanted to become bitter and jaded, stuck on her couch reliving her glory days, depressed that the dream she'd worked so hard to achieve had been snatched from her in the blink of an eye. Between the infinite sadness of losing her dream, and the devastating heartbreak of Randy's abandonment, Selena had told herself she was better off in the long run just letting it go. But in doing that, she'd lost a large part of her identity for a long time, her search for whatever would emerge from the wreckage lost in the shuffle of therapist and doctor appointments.

Sipping her wine, Selena started to think of all the people who had seen her through her career. Fit Finlay. Shane. Randy. William Regal. John Cena. Rio. She thought of Rio for the first time in a long time, thought of their short time tagging together on the BC independent scene. They'd quickly made it to the big leagues, and Vince was all too happy to throw the machine behind Rio, who wouldn't have looked out of place on the cover of a fashion magazine. Selena thought of all the little things that created big issues between them, of their falling out, of the war that they'd waged with each other in the aftermath, with powerful factions and legendary talents dragged into their vendetta.

Selena supposed she should make bullet points of her thoughts. If she did that, maybe then her speech would finally take shape.