Hey everyone - been a while. I've been gone for far too long, and in fact I almost forgot about these stories altogether. But a bit of nostalgia hit, and I signed back in... only to realize I was an idiot who forgot to post the literal end of the story that had taken me over 4 years to write and re-write to begin with. Thank you all for any patience you can spare, but without further ado... The final chapter of The Return. I hope you enjoy it.

CHAPTER FORTY

Kelly's hand was raised in victory a moment after Lillian had finished announcing her as the winner, and she was handed the Diva's Championship by another referee a moment later. She held the cool metal to her chest, closing her eyes and giving herself a small smile as she spoke. "I did it… I did it."

Kelly didn't see it coming when Trish came sliding into the ring and rushed forward, knocking Kelly in the back of the head with the outer side of her forearm. The Diva's belt slid across the ring, almost to the corner, and Trish kneeled next to Kelly, beating on her head, neck, and shoulders with her fists. Kelly tried to fight back, putting her arms over her face, but only received kicks and such in response.

"This isn't fair, King! Kelly just fought in a battle royal and won that championship fair and square!"

"Trish is a sore loser, Cole! It was just a matter of time until this happened!"

Trish pulled Kelly to her feet a moment later, whipping her in the direction of the ropes. Kelly ran to them, turning around to bounce back towards Trish.

Trish kicked up her leg, going for the Chick Kick, not expecting Kelly to stop running and grab her by the leg suddenly. Trish held up both hands, begging for Kelly not to hurt her, jumping on her free leg in trying to gain balance and get the upper hand back. Kelly spun, performing a dragonscrew leg whip, sending Trish to the mat.

On her way back up, Kelly grabbed Trish by the ankle, locking in the ankle lock to Trish, who was writhing in pain, slamming her fists down on the mat as she moved around. Kelly's grip only tightened on Trish's ankle as she flipped her head back, moving her brown hair back as she shouted, "Scream, Trish!"

Trish groaned, putting her hands into her hair as she tried to block out the pain.

"I said SCREAM!" Kelly shouted, applying more pressure as Trish now slammed her hands down on the mat, trying to tap out. Trish let out a scream, continuing to slam her hands down as Kelly applied more pressure. "I can't hear you!" The screams turned to shrieks of agony and begs for a release as Kelly applied as much pressure as she could.

Having proven her point, Kelly released Trish, the crowd cheering loudly in the background as Trish rolled from the ring, and was helped to the back by a referee. Kelly returned to the Diva's Championship, which had been left in the corner of the ring while she had duked it out with Trish after the battle royal had finished.

As she picked it up, the crowd's reaction got louder, and she moved to stand on the second rope and hold it up in the air as they got just a little bit louder. Kelly pumped a fist in the air, holding the belt with her other arm.

When she jumped back down, they quieted down just a bit, and she rolled from the ring, hugging Lillian Garcia and even Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler as she walked around the ring. She high-fived every fan she passed, even second-row fans leaning in, and continued as she walked up the ramp.

When Kelly reached the stage, she held up the title in the air with both hands while the crowd went wild. She nodded her appreciation to all of them with a small smile, and then turned around, walking through the curtains to the backstage area as Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler recapped the match.

Kelly stepped down the steps to get backstage, and was met instantly by CM Punk, who pressed his lips to hers proudly and pulled her close. When he pulled away after a long kiss, he smiled at her. "You did it, Kelly!"

"And I only have you to thank." Punk was about to protest, but Kelly shook her head. "No, no. You told me that I could keep going when I thought that I couldn't go on for one more step. You're the one who told me not to be afraid of DEAR, and pushed me forward in that direction. You encouraged me to get stronger and stronger, and most of all…" Kelly smiled almost shyly at him. "You believed in me, when I didn't even believe in myself."

CM Punk smiled, pulling her in for another long kiss, before holding his WWE Championship up next to hers. "After you talk to everyone else, you need to shower, and then we're going out to do something to celebrate. We're the WWE's next power couple, Kelly, and no one's going to take that away from us."

Kelly laughed, and was turning away to go find everyone else, when she felt a sudden rush of ice-cold liquid rushing over her. "Aah!" she screamed, holding up the belt and kneeling a bit as she licked her lips and realized it was Edge and John Cena spraying her with champagne. She stood back up straight and tilted her head back as Edge poured some of it into her mouth.

"You guys didn't have to do all this for me," Kelly laughed again as she brushed herself off a bit.

Edge shrugged. "To be honest, we didn't plan to. We found some champagne in catering, and when you won, we started to head this way with it." Holding the bottle with one hand, Edge put his other arm around Kelly, and hugged her close. "You did it, kid."

"I'm not a kid," Kelly pushed him back, playfully. "But thanks anyway."

"You kicked ass!" John Cena butted into the conversation with a smile, pulling Kelly in for a tight hug. "I mean, literally. If you'd have kept that ankle lock on Trish much longer, she'd have had a broken ankle."

Kelly laughed, shaking her head as she pushed John away. "Oh, whatever… You're funny."

"I'm really proud of you, Kelly. You should be wishing Punk some luck, though."

"The hell's that supposed to mean, Cena?" Punk said, hoisting his belt up over his shoulder a little higher. "I don't think I'm the one who needs the luck tonight."

Kelly laughed as the boys began to bicker for their match, which was the main event.

"Save some of that champagne, Johnny boy."

"I sure will, 'cause I'm going to need it later."

"Yeah, to drown out your sorrows after I become the undisputed WWE Champion."

"No, for after I beat you to become the undisputed WWE Champion." John ruffled Kelly's hair just slightly, and then fixed it. "Alright, go on. You have more friends to see, people to talk to."

"Catering direction?"

"Most likely." Edge nodded, and Kelly headed off that direction, CM Punk going back to his locker room to get ready for his match as she headed to find her friends.

Kelly found the rest of the Diva's Army in the catering area still, the monitor there now turned off as Natalya stepped forward and hugged Kelly.

"What you did out there was incredible, Kelly. You've come so far from who you started off here as." Nattie tucked a sweaty, champagne-drenched section of Kelly's hair behind her ear and smiled. "I'm so proud of you, sweetie."

"You're gonna make me cry, Nattie." Kelly hugged her friend again, before looking to Tamina, who was waiting with her arms open for her own hug. "Oh, Tamina." She stepped into the arms of her large Samoan friend, accepting the extremely tight hug that she got.

Tamina pulled away after a few minutes hugging her friend, and nodded wordlessly before finally giving Kelly a little commentary. "You've come far. What you did to Trish out there is proof of that for any of the people who thought you couldn't do it."

Goldust, who no one had really heard from in recent weeks, appeared in full makeup with a smile on his face. "I have someone who would like to speak to you."

Kelly raised her eyebrows, joking, "You kidnapped someone, and are forcing them to talk to me?"

He rolled his eyes, and held up his phone. Kelly then noticed something-or, rather, someone-who she had really wanted to be able to talk to, on the other side of the video chat.

"I watched live from home in Lithuania." Aksana smiled, and held up a hand for Kelly. "High five through Skype, because you were amazing."

Kelly smiled, "Oh, my goodness. I miss you so much, Aksana. You have to come back, like… yesterday." Aksana laughed, and Kelly shook her head. "No, really."

"Maybe I will come back soon. You did very well. Now, go on. I am sure the other girls want to speak to you, also." Aksana blew Kelly a kiss, which Kelly reciprocated, and then Goldust was gone.

Kelly hugged and talked to the rest of the girls from the Diva's Army, before finally, it came down to Kelly and Alicia, who hugged extremely closely, Kelly even handing the title to Natalya to hug one of her best friends with both arms as much as she could.

Still holding tightly to Kelly, Alicia smiled. "Who said bikini models can't wrestle?" Alicia and Kelly separated from each other, still holding each other's arms as they smiled at each other. "I bet you that Jim Cornette's eating his words right now."

"Since you couldn't be a part of this battle royal, I'm making sure you get a title match when your leg has healed." Kelly and Alicia hugged again as Alicia thanked her, and then Kelly stepped back, taking her title back from Natalya. "I'm gonna go find Eve, see if she's here."

There was a long while of alone time for Kelly while she hunted for Eve, the final place she looked being the Diva's locker room. Instead of finding Eve, however, Kelly found another former Diva's Champion.

Beth Phoenix looked to the door from where she stood at one of the cubby 'lockers' in the room, and smiled as she and Kelly walked to meet each other in the center of the room with a hug. "Hey, Kell. It's nice to see you."

"Same to you. You know-"

Beth interrupted Kelly. "You really surprised me out there, Kelly. I used to have to take close care of you when we would wrestle together, and you rarely would get the upper hand… I thought you could never beat a strong, hard-working Diva like myself, but you have proven me wrong in beating Trish. I shouldn't have taken such close care of you-maybe you would have gotten to where you are now, sooner."

Kelly just smiled. "You know, Beth. You're the rightful Diva's Champion. When you get permitted to wrestle again, I'm getting you a title shot."

"Kelly, I may not-"

"I said when. Not if, but when."

Beth's eyes were very clearly tearing up as she pulled Kelly close again. "Thank you, Kelly. Make sure the belt is nice and shiny, when that day comes."

"Definitely. Is Eve here tonight, do you know?"

"I think I saw her going into the general manager's office. You could always check there, it wasn't too long ago that I spotted her." Beth stepped away from Kelly and put a hand on her shoulder. "Goodbye, Kelly."

"It's not goodbye, Beth. It's see you later." Kelly nodded slightly and turned on a heel, stepping out of the Diva's locker room and into the hallway, just as-far down the hall-Eve stepped out of the general manager's office.

From afar, Kelly broke into a run, and when she got to Eve, she hugged her tightly.

"Ow, ow!" Eve's arms went up. "Watch the back!" Kelly stepped back, her face flushing with a bit of embarrassment as she went in for a much more careful hug. Eve wrapped her arms loosely around Kelly in return, and smiled at the title. "You know, Kelly, I want to congratulate you. For the past few weeks, the Diva's Army gear has been selling extremely well on WWE Shop, and with you as the Diva's Champion, I feel the sales will skyrocket. There may even be a heavy demand for a Diva's Army jersey with your name on it." Kelly went to speak, and Eve shook her head. "No, no. Let me finish. I wanted to let you know that I'm back working for Commissioner Long, and I think I'm going to stay this way for a while… It's a lot safer."

Kelly laughed, shaking her head and grabbing Eve's hand to pull her in for another hug. "I wouldn't be champion if you hadn't stepped in for me, Eve. So, while I hate myself for my decision, and I'm upset with yours to stand in my place… I definitely appreciate this. It pushed me to become a better person and a better wrestler. I love you, Evie. You and Alicia are my sisters from different misters."

Eve was about to respond, when a male voice spoke from over Kelly's shoulder. "That was a good job you did out there." Kelly turned around to see Justin Gabriel, a large smile on his lips. "I'm proud of you, Kelly. I never would have thought it possible."

"I don't know whether to be thankful for the compliments or insulted for the backhand. I guess I'll just be both. How's the situation?"

"There isn't a situation. It's ended. It's all over and done with, and I'm moving forward with my life. I'm sure I'll be happier that way. Punk's waiting for you, whenever you're done making your rounds. You may want to make it quick, he's just about exploding with excitement, and I'm sure the boys are getting tired of hearing about how proud he is." Kelly laughed, hugged Justin and Eve, and then made her way back to Punk's locker room, to take a shower.

As she was about to round the corner to his locker room, she found that she was facing none other than the Diva's Army drill sergeant herself, Jazz, dressed fully in her drill sergeant outfit. Kelly came to attention, Diva's title over one shoulder, before stepping in to give Jazz a hug. "At ease, Blondie."

Jazz crossed her arms and scowled, causing Kelly to stop in her tracks and just bob on her toes for a moment before speaking. "Uh… thanks, Jazz. This…" Kelly looked to her championship. "This could never have happened without you. You turned me into the lean, mean, fighting machine that I am today. I wanted to thank you for that." Jazz continued to scowl at Kelly, who took a small step back, raising her eyebrows. "Are you just not going to say anything?"

"I only have one thing to say." There was a long minute or so of silence between them, before Jazz's scowl formed into a smile, and she spoke. "You did good… Kelly."

Tears came to Kelly's eyes as she gasped softly. Before she could say anything in response, Jazz came to attention for her, saluting her. Kelly saluted her in return, and then spoke.

"At ease, Jazz."