Spring Renewal: Flight of the Sneezy Bee (Part Two)

"This is nice," Nessa said softly, lowering the shade on the window slightly to cut the glare now that the cloud cover was gone. "Travelling, I mean, without having to worry about wrestling someone after we land. It's almost..." she sighed, adjusting her position slightly as she turned her head to look over at Matt. "So this is how the other half lives, I suppose."

"Yeah, get to relax for weeks and not have a care in the world, it's going to be a good trip." Matt added, looking back over to her. "There's a lot to see and do in Japan, just need to prepare yourself for looking like an absolute tourist. Last time I was there the streets were packed with people, very dense population there."

"I look like a tourist everywhere," Nessa replied, "except maybe Sweden where everyone is blonde?" She let that rhetorical thought hang before glancing up the aisle where the flight attendant was handing out snacks. "Oh good. When she gets to us, can you ask for some extra napkins? I don't think I brought enough Kleenex."

"You mean you didn't pack thirty pounds of Kleenex boxes in your bag along with your shoes?" He thought for a second, smirking. "Not that I think that would be enough for you, of course." Seeing the look on her face, he knew she didn't find it as funny as he did. "Why would you need them, though? I don't see any flowers in here."

"I don't know. I'm getting a little stuffed up." She sniffed for emphasis, "and it's not just flowers. You know that, silly. The list of things that don't set me off is far shorter."

He nodded, knowing all too well what she was talking about. "Well that's true, but I swear I didn't wear perfume for that very reason!" He said enthusiastically, though clearly being sarcastic.

She feigned giving him a sniff and then leaned in closer, whispering, "you smell great without it. Honest. I'm sure it's not you that's triggering me. It's probably the recycled air. Or dust."

"Well thank you for that." Matt says with a grin, watching her nose wrinkle up a bit as she sniffed him. He noticed the flight attendant passing by and held up his arm to get her attention. "Excuse me miss, could you get me one of those little tissue packets…" He glanced back at Nessa for a second. "Or maybe five?"

"And some ginger ale, if you have it. With extra ice," Nessa added, smiling sheepishly. "Five will probably be enough."

"I love how I picked a number that seemed obscure in my head and you say, 'probably' like I nailed it perfectly. Just out of morbid curiosity, what is your record?" He asked after the attendant walked off to hear the request of the next passengers.

"My record for tissues used?" She laughed, shaking her head, "remember that time in Walmart a few years ago? When I traumatized those old biddies? I think I used at least five full-sized boxes of Puffs with lotion for that cold. Maybe six." Sniffling, she settled back against the seat and took a deep breath. She was going to say something nice, something sweet about how wonderful he'd been. Instead she felt her nose tickle, felt it twitch and she reached for the crumpled napkin that had been given to her with the cookies they'd handed out earlier. The tickle faded without a sneeze to go with it and she held her breath for a moment, just in case it came back.

"I do remember that, it was quite the cold you had. I think about that from time to time." he admitted, glancing over at her seeing her get tensed up seemingly out of nowhere. "Let's uss, hope that this isn't as bad, cause those packets are pretty small by comparison, Ness."

She nodded, lining them up on the tray in front of her next to the can of soda and the small plastic cup of ice. "I'll ration them. If I... ahhh....." it was back and her nose twitched like a rabbit's, "...ahhhhhhCHOOO!" She managed to catch most of it in the napkin that she still had in her hand but it did nothing to muffle the sound.

Matt glanced over at her immediately, seeing her bury her face in the tissue and attempt to deafen those in the immediate area at the same time. "Bless you!" He exclaimed, reaching over and grabbing one of the packets to open up in case she needed more.

Nessa sniffled, dabbing delicately at her nose. "Sorry. Hopefully that was the only one."

"Yeah, hope so," Matt agreed, though not showing the same type of annoyance or repulsion he had in past experiences.

She heard that change in his tone and it was almost touching, after so long without any sort of contact and struggling to find herself in the mess her life had become. She felt the prickle of tears as she looked away, her eyes on the partially blocked view out the window. "I needed this…" she sighed, "getting away from it all. I need to-" she looked over at him quickly, sniffling again, "I'm sure you do, too. A nice reset. Purge all the toxins from Southside and Millennium."

"Yeah, I certainly did. Not a lot going on right now that feels right, you know? But this? Just whisking away from all the headaches and stress? This feels right." He put a hand on her knee, looking over at her. "Do I even want to know what happened with Millennium or is it better left unaddressed?"

Nessa shrugged, deciding not to acknowledge his hand or how good it felt to have that little bit of contact. "Careful what you wish for," she said with a wry smirk, "I cashed in the briefcase after Jennifer Yang defended in a gauntlet. The sure thing, you know? I won. Of course, I did. And then it all went to hell. After all that, after everything I gave to the company... I guess with Chuck gone, I was fair game and for a while that was good because at least I knew that I still mattered when I was out from under his shadow. When it didn't stop, though? Started to become a little too much, you know? The hate, the animosity, constantly feeling I had to prove that I earned it all on my own while everyone whispered behind my back that I only got to the top because..." she broke off, shaking her head. "You know I'd never do that. Sure, I'll cash in a favour or two. I'll use whatever means necessary within the rules. But I would never do something like that." She couldn't even bring herself to say it. Sure, she'd jumped at the chance to sign with Millennium simply because Chuck Matthews was in power. She'd finally confessed feelings that had been pent up for more than five years but she'd been trying quite hard to keep her personal life and her career separated. The train-wreck of IYHWF and the fallout with Shawn Fox had driven that point home.

"No, of course you wouldn't." Matt agreed wryly, "that's not the Nessa way, or really, any way for a champion to behave. You've won multiple championships spanning multiple companies. You know you don't have to justify yourself to people like that. You are one of the best wrestlers this business has seen, not just a pretty face. You have a pretty face, of course, but you're more than that, ya know?"

"I do." She nodded even though the unhappy look didn't leave her face, "and it's downright sad that the business has regressed so far that I have to even say it. And… Shawn… he showed up there. Walked past me a few times backstage and acted like he didn't even know me. Here I am, the top wrestler in the company with the belt to prove it and he looks right through me like I'm invisible?" Nessa sighed, "I was happy when Chris Kane earned the shot. I knew I could walk away because they all wanted to see that useless sack of suck win."

"Well he is that, that's for sure. I remember seeing you years ago beat him in a cage match. Good times." he paused, thinking about the whole Shawn situation. "Honestly he probably ignored you because he couldn't stand the thought that he let someone like you out of his life. Clearly his loss. You're better off without him anyway Nessa, always have been."

"I know. I should have just stayed with you-" she was quick to correct herself, "in Canada, I mean. Australia was a mistake. That tag team and... just... the whole damn thing." She sighed, resting her head against his shoulder as she sniffled again, this time more because her eyes were filling with tears than her irritated sinuses. She wished she could undo that whole year, could go back and capitalize on the signs she'd misread when she'd visited Matt before actually jumping all over that opportunity to reinvent herself away from SVW and the toxicity of wrestling in North America. "Matt, do you ever wish you could go back and change things?"

"I hope you mean metaphorically, 'cause I don't think going to Australia is the answer." He quipped, though he knew what she meant. It was just easier to make little jokes for him than to analyze how he felt about the whole thing. "The important thing is that you're free of that toxic environment now and free to do whatever it is you want to."

"What if what I want to do has absolutely nothing to do with wrestling?" Her voice came out small, as if she was afraid of what he might think. "Does that make me a coward for letting them run me out?"

"Did they really run you out if what you want to do is not wrestling? Can't always think of things in the negative, Nessa. That's gotten you into trouble in the past, remember? Besides, if you wanna go back to journalism, I could use a personal interviewer."

"You're right. It's a hard habit to break." She paused to consider the offer, "I'd love that. You know I would… but where are you going to compete? Would I have to travel?" She mulled it over, wishing she knew definitively what she wanted to do. A part of her debated the prospect of going back to school, of training for another career that wouldn't take such a toll on her. The other part wanted no part of sitting in a classroom, or of having such annoying hours to maintain.

"Well that's an interesting question, for sure. Obviously, I haven't got anything pressing, otherwise I wouldn't be on this trip. I have a feeling that I'll find a place in May after this, it's about time that I start fresh. Can't make any promises for travel or anything, you know the life, but I'm sure you'd rather do your own thing and enjoy your own bed night in and night out. It's been awhile."

"It's been a while," she murmured, echoing him, "since I've done something I love. That's sad, isn't it?"

"It would be sad if you hadn't come to that realization, but you have, and now you can focus on whatever it is you do love. That's got to be uplifting, right?"

"It is. Actually." Nessa managed a little chuckle, reaching for one of the tissues to dab at her eyes. "And this? Being here with you… I missed this."

"Well that's good, 'cause we still have quite a ways to go in this flight. Can't get tired of me so soon, wouldn't make for a fun trip." Matt stroked her hair as she dabbed at her eyes, looking down at her. "You alright?"

"I think so. I mean, my life is a mess. My career's in shambles. But, it's weird, you know? For the first time in a long time, I actually feel like myself." She tilted her head, looking at him. "I'm alright. I promise. I won't have some complete breakdown on you."

"Well that's a relief, I'm not much better than a 'there, there' and a pat on the back anyways." He chuckled to himself, handing her another tissue off the tray if she needed it for her eyes. "This is meant to be a happy trip, after all."

Nessa sniffled, nodding slowly. "A happy trip," she echoed, "to a magical place with the person I trust the most in the whole world. What could possibly go wrong?"

He chuckled to himself. "We'll see I guess, though I don't know if it's good or bad that you trust me most of all, but I'll take it as a compliment at least."

Before he could say anything else to further contradict that question, she shook her head. "Don't jinx it. We're going to have a great time and we're both going to mentally reset and figure things out. Together. Because..."

"Because of the wonderful things he does?" He questioned, the Wizard of Oz song being the only thing that sprang to mind with the lead in she gave him.

Her smile was tired but at least it was there, "sure. We'll go with that, even though you know I can't stand that movie."