"Are you okay, babe?" Seth asked Ronda as they got out of their hire car. As he walked around to her side, he thought that it seemed strange somehow to visit a graveyard on a truly beautiful morning, with the sun beating down on them and birds singing. It had seemed even more strange the day before, at Ric Flair's funeral. The eight days between his sudden death in his sleep, which had been put down to old age, were not going to be a period of time that Seth would ever want to remember, but remember them he would. It would be impossible not to remember his fiancee seemingly spending every waking moment crying. All Seth had been able to do was try and be there for her and comfort her, none of which had seemed to make the least bit of difference. Today though, Ronda hadn't cried as yet, even when she had asked if they could come back to the graveyard again. At this point, Seth was just going along with whatever she wanted, in the hope that it would somehow help her to deal with her grief.

"I've done my crying, or most of it," Ronda said, taking his hand. "Now it's time to say goodbye. I just couldn't do it yesterday, not with so many people around. It wasn't right. It was amazing to see him get such a turnout, though. So many people loved him."

Seth said nothing. There was nothing to say. Glancing at Ronda as they walked slowly through the graveyard, he knew that by just being there he was helping her in some way. When they rounded a corner and were able to see Ric's grave, Ronda froze and Seth felt her grip on his hand tighten. Someone was already there, having their own quiet moment of reflection or saying a personal goodbye. "Maybe we should come back later?" Ronda asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Seth considered that for a second, then shook his head. "No, go up there," he urged. "Really, you should go up there. I'll wait for you here."

Ronda knew that he was right, it was the right thing to do. She closed her eyes for a moment to summon some courage, withdrew her hand from his, and walked towards the solitary figure standing in front of her mentor's final resting place. She hadn't expected to be greeted by a nod and a hint of a smile, but that was what happened as she approached. "Morning Ronda."

"Hello, Vince," Ronda said quietly. She had no idea what else she could say to WWE's former Chairman. It was because of her and her attitude problems that this man had been required to stand down from his own company a few years earlier. Vince had considered her to be unmanageable and had decided to release her from her contract with WWE. The fans had reacted to the announcement with the kind of backlash that hadn't been seen before or since. Now, Ronda knew that she had been the one in the wrong, not Vince. If anyone had deserved to be hauled over the coals by the fans, it was her. What could she possibly say to the man now, after what had happened?

For a couple of minutes they stood side by side in silence, both lost in their own thoughts and memories as they looked at Ric's headstone. Eventually Ronda said, "I wanted to come say goodbye, you know, a private goodbye."

Vince bristled at that. "You're trying to tell me to leave?"

"No, that's not what I meant," Ronda said hurriedly. "Stay, please. I meant without so many people around. You know, how it was yesterday. There's something that I wanted to do and something I wanted to say to Ric."

"I understand what you mean," Vince said, calmly now. "He meant a lot to you didn't he? Hunter told me that you were working together and that things were, uh, improving."

Ronda felt tears welling up in her eyes. "Yeah. I owe him so much. It was Ric who pointed out how... bad my attitude was. I have problems, Vince, but I'm dealing with them now, as best as I can. That's purely thanks to Ric, and Seth of course." She turned to look at Vince and he met her gaze. "I'm sorry, Vince. That doesn't mean much to you, I know, but I'm sorry. What happened back then was my fault, not yours. I know that now."

Vince nodded slightly, but didn't say anything. They both returned to looking at Ric's headstone. A minute or so later, Vince made a decision. Forgiveness was a powerful thing. "Listen, Ronda. I'm going to head off. Hunter and I are getting some of the guys together this evening to share some memories of Ric, things like that. You know, to celebrate his life rather than mourn him. That's what he would have wanted. Why don't you join us?"

Ronda looked at him in surprise. She realised that Hunter would almost certainly have been sure to tell her about this get together later in the day and invite her to come along, but Vince had wanted to do it. This was more than an invitation to celebrate Ric's life, it was Vince saying that he was willing to put the past behind them. "I'd like that, Vince. Thank you," she said politely.

With that, Vince gave Ronda a little squeeze on the shoulder and walked away, leaving her and Ric alone. It was time to say her piece, but a lump was forming in her throat and the words failed to come. After a moment of silence, she sighed. "You know, I had an entire speech in mind. It's gone now, though. I just wanted to say goodbye, a private goodbye. I'll always miss you. It's never going to be the same backstage without our conversations over coffee or over a meal. Every time I walk into catering, I'll expect you to be there."

Ronda wiped tears from her eyes and took a deep breath before she could continue. "I know you're still going to be around, like my dad's still around. I'm sure you're both watching me now and wishing I wouldn't cry, but I can't help it. Ric, it's because of you that I've started to turn my life around, and I'm much happier because of it. I'm going to keep seeing Jenna, and I'm going to deal with my problems. I'm going to do my best to be even half as good a person as you, so that I can see you again some day."

Tears streamed down Ronda's face now and her voice broke. "I love you, Ric. And dad, if you're there? I love you too. I hope you're proud of me? I'm getting myself sorted out. I've got Seth to help me. He's really amazing to me. I'm sure you know that anyway. I'm sure you check in from time to time. And Ric? You do the same, okay? I'm going to go now, but I wanted to leave you something, to say goodbye and to keep us close, somehow."

Without hesitating, Ronda removed her wristband, crouched down and dug a small hole a few inches deep in the fresh soil of Ric's grave and then buried the wristband in it. "I love you," she said softly. At that moment, she sensed a presence behind her.

"You okay, babe?" Seth asked quietly. He had spent a couple of minutes talking to Vince, so that Ronda had the private moment she'd wanted.

"Yeah," Ronda said, wiping her eyes once more as she stood up. She kissed Seth on the cheek and took his hand. "I've said goodbye. Vince invited us to join a bunch of the guys later to celebrate, to share memories. I said we'd go. Ric would want people to celebrate him rather than crying over him, even though it's so hard."

They began to walk back towards the car as Seth said, "I love you babe."

"I love you too, honey," Ronda said, squeezing his hand tightly.

That night, a picture went viral on Twitter. Ronda and Vince were both tagged in it. This time though, it went viral for all the right reasons. The picture had been taken and uploaded by Stephanie McMahon. It showed Vince, Ronda and Seth standing in a function room at a hotel, obviously in the middle of a conversation. All three were laughing. Stephanie's caption read: Never say never in WWE!

END