______We're close enough to touch the sun but the journey only just begun...

The ringing bell isn't even needed to announce the beginning of yet another war, both inside and outside the ring. While Sasha and Becky stare each other down, zero ounce of doubt resting inside of their burning souls, both of their teams are already clashing backstage.

The titantron's macabre images sadistically recall to the female warriors a clock is ticking right above their heads, the slightest second wasted in the squared circle being enough to mark the end of one's stable.

Pressure reaches its fever pitch as Sasha breathes in and out, inhaling her previous failures and falls before exhaling her upcoming successes and glory.

Banks finds herself trapped, her back to the corner, metaphorically reminding her that in the last match of the tournament this is do or die, kill or get killed. She barely avoids Becky's full speed Flying Elbow Smash, answering by a Front Dropkick before rolling her up for a two count.

Both have been fighting for over fifteen minutes and no matter how many times the referee informed them that Vince wanted the whole thing to go down quickly, none of the fighters would have obey his order.

They both have a point to get across and in that instant it's not even about the title, it runs way deeper than that. Banks' professional jealousy that has been killing her inside for so long clashes with Lynch's longing to prove once and for all who the better woman is.

Which one of the two worked harder, was willing to drop more blood, sweat and tears than the other ?

Which one sacrified more to make it to the pinnacle of her carreer and would still be able to give the few things she still has left away ?

Who's heart has been beating the most for that moment to happen, for their talent to be recognized ?

Sasha suffers the strength of the Sleeper Hold Becky is executing, her undying desire adding to its usual painful effect.

Her grip, squeezing down Sasha's chin, seems less and less hurtful as her energy slowly leaves her tiny body and she falls down to her knees.

While her vision blurs, she manages to distinguish a valuable weapon near her fingers and she immediately hits Lynch with a kendo stick, so brutally and so many times that she's forced to let go, both of them ultimately aching on the cold floor.

Banks is crawling toward the ropes, closely followed by the Irish champion who is grabbing her feet firmly. She eventually manages to get rid of her with well placed series of kicks, dragging her lifeless body to the tope rope.

Without any shade of hesitation Sasha executes a Flying Knee Drop on a floored Becky Lynch. She's so close from taking up the win and, as frustration is starting to get the best of her and her allies' cries of agony prevent her from focusing entirely on the current task, Sasha finds a brief spark of reassurance on the canvas as she's burying her face into her shaking hands.

That brief doubt is enough for a desperate Lynch to take advantage of as the Four Leg Clover is successfully applied while Sasha's starting to slowly lose hope, the grip as tighten as it can possibly be.

Her brain shuts down suddenly, an error code printed behind her eyes as she's trying to evaluate the possible escapes.

The more painful the hold becomes, the louder the world around her gets and the harder it is for her to reassess.

Until a specific voice takes her back to a peaceful period of her life, his words breaking through the noise to offer a furtive piece of clarity.

Rollins' encouragements from the backstage area eventually reach through to her because no matter how tough their battle prove to be, he's still thinking about her current opportunity.

It rapidly fuels her desire and, as it transforms into gasoline and collides into Lynch's fire, a spectacular explosion occurs.

She uses the few strenghts still hold within her soul to crawl toward a steel post, eventually reversing the pressure of the submission on a screaming, suffering Becky Lynch as Sasha's hanging upside down Ringpost Figure Four's way.

She lets herself falls to the harsh ground - followed by Becky's lifeless entity- for a split moment, not quite done yet and a master plan quickly hitting her damaged brain.

While the referee is checking Lynch's condition up, half his body through the third and second rope, Banks takes advantage of his perfect position to launch herself up in the skies with a Somersault Plancha.

Each and every single parcel of her skin is burning and, as she senses herself fainting slowly, she remembers how difficult her path to be in this position had been.

All the failures, heartbreaking betrayals and the disdain they'd always address her with, back in her independent's days.

The multiple times she busted herself open, putting her body through hell a little more each match and never accepting to end one up because of injuries.

Her resiliency and "never taking no for an answer"'s attitude allowed her to become Sasha Banks. Now that she's finally inches apart from realizing her biggest dream, she's not about to abandon it all because of exhaustion.

She's going to fight through it and become the deserving women's champion she's meant to be, despite all the criticisms and doubters' statements.

Sasha erases all of their previous sayings, a huge blank taking over her mind while dragging Becky's motionless body into the ring before applying the Bank Statement, Lynch immediately tapping from the unbearable pain inflicted.

Time brutally stops, frozen still to give to the little girl with a lifetime dream a chance to taste happiness again.

Officials need to physically lift her damaged self from the canvas, the gravity that moments before was her ally now becomes her enemy, in order to raise the hand of the newly crowned elite of both her division and the entire company.

She absent-mindedly stares right at her well deserved prize, its heavenly view almost too precious to handle. Sasha can't seem to wrap her mind around the situation, admiring what she'sbattle  for her entire life from far away, scared to degrade its beauty.

The title is right before the Boston native's very eyes, waiting for her to sink in the wave of emotion colliding on her, keeping her grounded and on her knees.

Lynch eventually approaches her and, with an unlimited extent of respect resting in her fiery eyes, picks it up to delicately puts it inside of Banks' grip.

"You earned it." She's mumuring, synchronized with the versatile crowd's chants, Becky's golden heart still shining bright without the championship's light.

She then exits the ring, clapping for her former sister's tremendous performance, showing once again that the goodness hold within her soul could never be corrupted.

"Destined to break in, I found my way." Sasha can't help but sing in rythme, the whisper furtively destroying her emotionless and proud facade, her teary eyes unable to fool anyone.

A new champion just emerged from the darkness, ultimately overshadowed by the blinding and brightful spotlight suddenly taking place above her freil body. In a matter of seconds, she just signed her name on it, her print now forever in the History book.

But as quickly as her celebration ended, the discovery of the effects hits her extremely hard. She's realizing that what she's been warned about may be more accurate that she wanted to believe : as much as the spotlight builds you, it could indeed break you in a blink of an eye.

________

The nightclub's pounding sound echoes inside of Sasha's head, emphasizing each extrem of her hypersensitivity.

Bodies occasionally collide in such a gentle way, contrasting with the roughness of the battles she's fought in the ring.

Losing herself among the countless people while they all seem so amazed, their joyful laughter surrending the entire place, she almost feels like they're all reunited to celebrate her.

She finds herself thinking that perhaps the persons she cherished in the past would understand her motives and ultimately forgive her sins, offering her salvation by mumbling : "congratulations."

In hope it may happen, a naive curve draws itself to the side of her mouth, extending it in a sincere smile directed toward the main door.

She patiently waits and waits and waits, until patience turns into frustration and frustration into sadness.

The reality check recalls her that she may had fulfill her lifetime's goal, but what does it worth if she can't even share that precious instant with the ones she wholeheartedly loves ?

Banks ironically feels loneliness burning her inside, a light but lasting flame hurting her previous blissful heart, in the middle of an endless crowd.

But at the end of the day the same people attending the events she's performing in, feeding her with a fake admiration, are just strangers.

Although their number often offered an illusion to her, reassuring herself by figuring that even if she was to lose it all, she'd still have the fans to support her. Turns out none of them could save her from her own doubts and fears, internally battling against a constant emotions' tsunami.

Air slowly becomes a rare ressource, seemingfully abandoning her lungs and letting her half alive among individuals who couldn't care less.

Instinctively, Sasha rushes on the outside, almost stumbling into some unknown's lap in the process, in order to oxygenate herself. She breathes out with apprehension, as if the entire universe may have turned toxic in a matter of hours, while letting herself fall on the sidewalk.

Panick suddenly takes over as she catches sight of a scene she prayed for days not to witness : Sami and Emma apparently having a tedious conversation not too far away from her falling apart entity.

Her heart races faster as the sole idea he may throw the smallest glance at her since neither of them even took the trouble to greet one another for what already seems to be an eternity.

Watching the two together hurts her beyond repair but for some strange reason, she can't force her eyes not to look either.

She's hypnotized by him, imagining how happy he must be with her and most importantly, how much better than her she surely is - her self-esteem dropping drastically.

She just reached the pinnacle of her carreer but maybe what she wanted all along to obtain's none other than his attention.

Sasha sniffles, considerating the cold of the night as a decent and deserved punishment for all the wrong she's caused to them, to him.

"There's no way you crumble under it all." A silhouette puts an end to her lamentation, struggling to take place on the damaged concrete as well, the amount of alcohol in his system's certainly not doing him any good.

"I'll take all the pressure, I promise." His grip tighten up around one of too many drinks, making an unexpected oath to a woman who is on the verge of losing faith in anything and anyone.

"I don't want you to end up like me." He barely voices, sincerity laced inside of his dark brown eyes and concerned stare.

His meaningful words cause her to instantly shift her gaze toward him, effortlessly reading him as if for once, he's letting his guard down entirely, offering his vulnerabily to her for the night.

Seth doesn't flinch one bit, putting down his cup and clearing his throat since he's not used at all to those types of heart-to-heart.

Her freil fingers eventually gather the strenght to move, the match's after effects still easily awaken, and softly lay upon his tense shoulder.

"You're just fine, Seth." Sasha whispers, her heartwarming gaze never leaving his sad eyes as she's returning the favor by offering a piece of her fragile self to him, placing it right in between his rough hands.

Maybe if both of them rejected each other for so long it's solely because they wanted to protect themselves from one another. Because they knew deep down that they were extremely similar and that kind of encounter only brings out one thing : an undeniable connection.

The most frightening thing in it isn't even its beauty, it is the possibily to get accustomed to it, relaying on it every single day to ultimately see it vanishing away.

What if both the children of the dark, the manipulators, the traitors' biggest fear was none other than the one of being abandoned by the ones they cherish the most ?

___________

E L E N A ;

Guys, the actual twisted plot is about to start and I really hope your heart is ready for what's coming up next. First ever actual and mutual friendship's sign for Rollins / Banks, what do you think it entails ?

Next chapters will be devoted to each and every month of Sasha's reign.

Thanks a lot for all the support guys, I love you all xxx