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As she stood before the vanity in the divas' locker room, applying bright pink lipstick, a broad grin spread across the young woman's face.

She combed out some strands of her long blonde hair with the fingers of her left hand - as she was left-handed - then turned her head to one side to examine her 'do.

Not bad... she thought.  Not bad at all...

She ignored the chattering banter of the other divas in the room, as it pretty much annoyed her for the most part, anyway.  She didn't particularly care about Ivory's trip back to San Francisco to visit her aging mother - the brunette was yakking it up to Jacqueline, Molly Holly and Lilian Garcia in one corner.  On the other side of the room, Jazz was discussing match strategy with Victoria, her opponent for the night's SmackDown.  A few feet away from her, Trish Stratus and Dawn Marie were talking about the in-ring training the little blonde had been giving the other woman for the last few weeks.  Another boring conversation.

The one topic of discussion that the diva found of great interest, however, was actually taking place right beside her, here at the vanity mirror.  Stacy Keibler and Lita were involved in a deep discussion about their upcoming dates for the evening, which would happen after the taping.

The blonde looked up with annoyance when the door suddenly opened, and Terri Runnels bounded in.  The tiny blonde had her cell phone in one hand, and she shook her head in frustration and worry as she placed it back into her bag.

"How's Dakota?" Molly, who was one of Terri's best friends, asked as she approached.

"No better," the petite diva replied, then sighed.  "Mom said she's not throwing up anymore, but she still has a fever of 102..."

"Aww...poor thing," the brunette said, sympathy running through her at the thought of her friend's sweet eight-year-old daughter sick with a stomach virus.  "But she's in good hands with your mom, I'm sure."

"She is," Terri concurred, but the look of sheer concern in her blue eyes didn't diminish one iota.  "I just wish I could go home to be with her, you know?"  She raised a hand, biting on one perfectly-manicured nail in her nervousness.  "I wonder if Mr. McMahon would allow me time off?"

"Well, it's worth asking," Molly offered.  "If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask me, okay?"

"Thanks, sweetie..."  With that, Terri reached out and hugged the brunette diva close.

The woman at the vanity had to refrain from rolling her eyes - or, even worse, puking, like Terri's daughter had been doing for the last three days.  She didn't like such scenes as this - at least not with women.  She didn't really have what one could call a sisterly bond with anyone.  Seeing as she'd grown up with four brothers, that was natural.  Well, she and Stacy had been sort of close for awhile a couple of years back, but since their working together in the WWE had ceased, they'd drifted a little.  Besides, she'd never really felt that bond with the leggy blonde that Terri and Molly had - or that all the other divas seemed to have with one another.

She thought about the relationships between all the other women.  Lita was particularly close with Trish Stratus, but she was also great friends with Stacy, Molly and Dawn Marie.  Ivory and Jackie were best friends and had been for years now.  Jazz and Victoria had become fast friends.  Nidia and Dawn Marie were pretty close.  Lilian was friends with all the other divas.  Even Stephanie McMahon, who could be a bit standoffish, like her father, was friends with Trish and Lita in particular.  But she had never felt anything of the like such as what the others had.

She wondered if any of the past divas in the company - Chyna, Tori, Debra, Kat - had ever experienced this.  Actually, she'd heard from the divas who'd been around when those three had that Chyna had been much liked and respected.  The other women had found her a warm friend and trusted confidante.  Debra had pretty much been the same, and several divas often remarked about what a shame it was what had happened with the bosomy blonde and her ex-husband, Stone Cold Steve Austin.  Tori had been somewhat of an enigma to the other divas, but she'd always been spoken of in high regard.

The blonde decided that the one past diva she could most closely relate to was the Kat - the little blonde had never really gotten close with anyone else - not even Terri, with whom she'd feuded the longest and the most.  And, now that she remembered, she'd heard the little She-Devil refer to Kat as a bitch on one occasion - so, in that regard, she had even more in common with the former diva.

"Hey, Torrie," Nidia called to her as she stood up from where she'd been sitting across the room, "ready for our match?"

Torrie Wilson reluctantly shifted her blue eyes from her reflection in the mirror to the petite brunette's smiling face.  "You bet, Nid..."

A slow, yet somewhat devious grin spread across the tall blonde's face.