They deserve what they want, hope they get what they want

2017 FIBA U16 USA Basketball

The buzzer rang out loud and clear: the scoreboard read 46-91 and they had just beaten Canada to win the FIBA World Cup gold medal. Admittedly, it had been quite clear who would win ever since they held Canada to only scoring four points in the second quarter. And even clearer by the end, when Azzi had 18 points. Even with the confidence going into the second half, it didn’t make the end celebration any less special for any of the young girls,

They all ran out onto the court, jumping up and down, screaming, and grinning together. As teenagers, this was the first big, international win for most of them. In the midst of all the chaos, Paige found herself seeking out the youngest girl on the team, Azzi Fudd. The other girl was across the circle they had formed, and Paige launched herself across the floor to attach herself to the shy girl. Although they had barely spoken off the court, (that is, Azzi had barely responded to Paige’s insistent chatter), they were an unstoppable duo on court and Azzi could often be found slyly seeking her out on the bench.

Although Azzi was much more shy than most of the other girls, and felt out of place as the youngest player, Paige admittedly made her feel safer. Although she would never tell the girl and she would certainly not admit it to anyone else, the older girl’s clingy, obsessive behavior made it feel like she had a close friend with her all the time. And Paige made sure it was all the time.

As Paige attached herself to the side of the girl who was barely struggling to hold her entire weight, she screamed into her ear, “Azzi!! We won!! I’m so proud of you!!”

Azzi shrugged her off, brushing her with one of her frizzy braids in the process. Paige figured it was another rejection, the silent and polite kind that Azzi often delivered. It was just a kind way of telling her to back off, which Paige had grown used to and quickly learned to respect (Azzi could be very scary). To her surprise, Azzi instantly wrapped her arms around Paige’s neck, sinking her weight into the skinny blonde.

“I’m really proud of you, too, Paigey.” The younger girl whispered into her ear, burying herself into the corner between her neck and shoulder. 

Although Paige wanted to stay in the rare moment for much longer, they were quickly pried apart by other teammates jumping on them and squeezing them. 

“We won!! We won! We won gold!” Caitlin screamed into their ear with a grin.

“I can’t believe we won! We worked so hard for this everyone, you all deserve it!” Aliyah added, before getting announced as the MOP.

All the girls cheered and screamed, and Paige and Azzi were no exception. But amidst all the noise and celebrations, they caught each other’s eye and quickly looked away with a secret smile. 

“My parents are bringing us all out to dinner to celebrate! You two want to come?” Jordan came over and yelled over the noise.

Paige looked over at Azzi, who had been contently trailing her with a politely curated face, “Az? You wanna go?”

“Oh, please. Don’t pretend you care about me, I know you want to go. Go ahead,” Azzi nudged her with a smile.

“No, Azzi, really. I would always rather be with you.” Paige said earnestly, her blue eyes attempting to pierce the brown ones that were looking down.

“Well. I was going to go out with my family. You could, like, joinusinstead?” Azzi mumbled, still not making eye contact. 

“Of course, I would love to meet your family. I just want to celebrate with you.”

“Oo-Kay, I’m just gonna-“ Jordan ran away, sneaking looks back at the two girls who were much closer than when they had started. Physically and otherwise.

The two of them watched the rest of the girls file out of the locker room, screaming choruses of, “I just want to sit down with a MASSIVE burger!” 

“They don’t have that here, stupid!!”

“I just want to look at our medal forever!”

At that, Paige looked down at her medal and then Azzi’s. And then she turned to look at Azzi’s big, doe eyes, which were already watching her. 

As cheesy as it was, they were young and Paige was the ultimate rizzler, “I just want you.”

Azzi, surprised, let out a real, unfiltered laugh. Even as she shoved Paige away from her, Paige still thought it was the most beautiful sound she’d ever heard.

No longer minding Azzi’s personal space and no longer afraid of her, she flung her arm around the shorter girl and began to lead them towards her family.

Jon and Jose were messing around, chasing each other around the bleachers. As Tim and Katie watched the two girls approach them, Tim said, “I’m really glad they won. They worked so hard for it, it was what they both really wanted,”

Katie kept observing the girls closely, even as Tim had turned to face her.

Quietly, she responded, “I think they both got something they wanted more than the win.”

~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~

2018 FIBA U17 World Cup

This time around, the two girls came into training camp, practice, and the tournament completely inseparable. At the finals, they roomed together and wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Ever since the plane ride home to Minnesota, the two had spoken nearly daily. It had started off with basketball, both of them never finding people as dedicated to the sport as each other. But then, the late night texts would gently shift topics. Azzi would talk about her brothers and her dogs, and Paige would mention Drew and her teammates. 

So now, at the World Cup Championships, a year after they first met, the two were closer than ever. This time, when the buzzer rang out, the two instantly ran to each other. They hugged in a crowd, Paige walking backwards to accommodate the moving hoard of people.

“Congrats, Paige. I’m sure this win was all you wanted before you go off to play for UConn,” Azzi told her, wrapping her into her arms.

“Are you kidding? I’m just glad we got to play together again. I don’t even care about the win, Az,”

“But you know, this might be the last time we ever win together,” Azzi attempted to joke, but Paige could see the fear behind her eyes at the thought. 

“Hey, Az. First of all, I would be fine with that. I don’t need to win with you, I just want you, okay? Second, we will always dominate together in the senior USA games, promise. Last, you better come to UConn so we can continue being the best duo in the nation,” the blonde finished with a tease and a shove at the younger girl who was now laughing at her antics.

“Hey, you’re right, we should just settle down in a little hermit house right now and just quit basketball completely!” Azzi said, elbowing the other girl in the process. 

Paige paused her congratulations to all their other teammates to seriously look down at Azzi. “I would, for you.” 

The moment got a little too intense for both of them, so they quickly looked away and congratulated others. But Azzi bit down a smile as she moved on, knowing it was true.

~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~

Azzi Commits to UConn

Paige was over, visiting from Minnesota before she had to return to UConn for the rest of the season. Azzi had already been on her UConn visit earlier that year, admittedly waiting a little late to start looking at teams. However, Paige had been able to host her, so she decided it was worth the wait.

Azzi and her parents brought Paige out to a dinner for her last night in Virginia, inviting Colleen, a UConn manager, with them. Everyone at the table, except for Paige, knew the one thing that Paige had been trying to convince Azzi of ever since she committed herself.

After they had all ordered, Azzi took a deep breath and turned to Paige. As always, Paige was already watching Azzi, blue eyes quickly meeting brown ones. 

“So, P. I have kind of big news.” Paige tried to read her face, but couldn’t tell what the girl was thinking. 

“Alright, I’m always here to talk.” She said, in an attempt to stay neutral, as she had no idea where this was going.

“I,” Azzi paused, looking around at the table until Katie gave her an encouraging nod. “I committed to UConn!”

Paige paused, absolutely shocked. She had hoped, prayed, and begged various people, but she always knew it was kind of a long shot to control where Azzi went. 

“Are you serious?” She asked to confirm, her eyes already welling up with tears.

At this, Azzi hesitated. Their entire relationship was based on messing with each other. Technically, Tim had suggested this idea first, where is where Azzi got it from. This time, Tim was the one to give a smile and nod to the younger girl.

“Sike!” Azzi responded, bursting out in giggles with the rest of the table.

Paige slowly blinked at them as her watery eyes slowly changed into angry tears. “Are you kidding me? Seriously, guys?” Her brows were furrowed and her whole face was contorted in anger and frustration as she lowered her voice and turned towards Azzi.

“Az, you know how badly I wanted this. I just wanted you. I wanted you to play with me. You’re all I’ve ever wanted and all I’ll ever spend my life wanting. You can’t just joke about this, Az. This is our future. My life and, well, my love, cannot be treated as a joke by you.” Paige felt a warm tear roll down her cheek and tried to shake her head to will it away.

“Sorry,” she mumbled to the rest of the table, “I, uhm, need to use the restroom, ‘scuse me.”

The table in question watched her in shock as she walked off to the bathroom. Azzi, in particular, was shocked by what had just happened and what she was just told. She was surprised by this strong of a reaction from the blonde, even though they told each other how much they meant to one another all the time. They had even always ended thier conversations by saying ‘I love you’, but this time felt much more raw.

Azzi slowly turned her head from Paige’s retreating back to the rest of her family. “Too far?” She asked meekly, trying to hide how shaken up she truly was. “Should I follow her?”

Katie, always the crisis solver, shook her head gently. “It’s okay, just let her be for now. She needs time to cool off, give her a second. She’ll be back, you guys are best friends. Best friends don’t leave when it gets hard, they, just, need time to commnicate without high emotions.” 

When Azzi quietly nodded, Katie turned her attention to glare at Tim instead, who refused to make eye contact with her. In fact, he found himself struggling to hold in a laugh, which Katie instantly caught. “Tim!” She whisper hissed, “It’s not funny! You made her cry!”

“Okay, but, it’s a little funny,” he argued. He quickly shut up after a quick elbow to the rib, and the table sat in silence as their food was brought out.

“I can’t believe she didn’t even come out at the smell of food,” Azzi joked weakly, thinking about the last time they had eaten together at a restaurant. Paige had bolted her food and then tried to force feed Azzi so they could move on to dessert.

Ironically, Paige actually did come back to the table right after. She quietly slid in and just began eating without a word. Everyone shot worried glances at her which she ignored, but when Azzi tried to rest her hand gently on her thigh, she flinched.

Azzi instantly retracted her hand as if she was burned. “Paige?” she whispered gently, in a soft voice that she reserved for Paige only. “Can we talk?”

“It’s fine, Azzi. I’m sorry I reacted like that, I just. Can we please move on?” Paige’s voice sounded raw and hurt, and Azzi’s heart broke a little.

“Please, Paige. I’m really sorry. This might not be the best time to tell you, but I need to make sure you know. I actually did commit to UConn.”

Paige dropped her fork. “Azzi. Please. I can’t do this right now.” She begged, looking like a ruffled baby bird.

Katie saw a need for intervention, “Really, honey,” she said gently, resting her hand on top of Paige’s. “She really did.”

Paige didn’t respond, looking down at her barely touched plate. 

Colleen found that this was probably a good time to pipe up as well, adding, “I mean, that’s kind of why I’m here. She’s committed, I swear. I can play the phone call for you.”

Paige finally looked up, but wouldn’t make eye contact with Azzi. “Really?” She said, so quietly that barely anyone heard it except for the hope that the word carried. 

After Colleen played the recording, Paige finally met Azzi’s eyes that were pleading for forgiveness. Paige was never good at saying no to Azzi, so she engulfed the younger girl and screamed into her ear.

Appropriate congratulations and celebratory dances were had, a massive grin never leaving Paige’s face. After, however, a frown crossed her face along with a thought as she looked down at the girl who she now had under her shoulder.

“That was a mean, mean, joke.” Paige huffed, sounding like a toddler.

Azzi looked up at her with the innocent doe eyes she always carried, reaching up to give her a kiss on the cheek and softly stroke her blonde hair. 

“Aww, I’m sorry, you poor baby. I’ll make it up to you and go to UConn, hm?” She said, mock sympathetic but also actually feeling bad. 

“I’m going to hold this over your head forever. Too far. That was messed up. I made wishes on all the stars for this,” Paige said, although a smile had crossed her face the second Azzi had started playing with her hair. 

Katie turned and gave Tim a meaningful look as she watched the interaction. Tim, however, was focused on the “Azzi To UConn” cake that they had just brought out. Katie rolled her eyes and resorted to wiggling her eyebrows at Colleen instead, who nodded enthusiastically as they gestured at the flirting happening right before their eyes.

“I can’t believe you were so dramatic,” Azzi teased, “You, like, literally cried.”

“Okay, okay, not too much on me okay! I just, I don’t know. I really care about you. I just want you near me, always. Obviously I'm glad this is the best choice for you, and I know it’s the best for the team too. But, I’m so excited to go to college with you,” Paige’s voice also softened, smiling down at the girl.

“I just want you, too, Paige. And Geno is pretty great too, I guess,” Azzi added with a laugh.

~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~

Espy’s Speech

“And the Espy for the Best Female College Athlete, goes to…” during the dramatic pause, Paige felt Azzi kick the back of her chair, the best they could really do with the physical distance. Although the two of them had admitted their feelings to each other, finally, they hadn’t made anything official.

“University of Connecticut, basketball player, Paige Bueckers!” From the beginning of the sentence, her entire entourage began clapping and cheering. She grinned, accepting the congratulations she got and hugged her parents and siblings before going up on stage to accept the award.

Holding it, she looked for Azzi, who’s shining eyes were already watching her as if she invented basketball itself. 

As Paige gave her speech that she had barely thought out the night before, she reminded herself how much she meant it. Her teammates, her coaches, and all of her best friends who were incredible black women.

“And to all the incredible black women in my life,” Paige looked directly at Azzi, “and on my team,”

Azzi looked at her in awe as a response, smiling with tears in her eyes.

After Paige stepped down and was able to slip into the seat next to Azzi, the other girl instantly hugged Paige tightly.

“I’m so so proud of you. You deserve this more than anyone. This is like, your Oscar.” Azzi continued to murmur congratulations to the blonde until she cut her off.

“I’m just glad you’re here,” Paige said truthfully, meeting her gaze that was clearly filled with love. “I mean, yeah, the award is great. And it gave me a platform to speak about people I care about. But you being here really means a lot to me. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. I guess having an Oscar on my bathroom floor is cool, but.”

Paige paused, trying to figure out what she was trying to say before cutting the chase. 

“Will you be my girlfriend?”

Azzi gasped, and looked at her in shock. She shook herself out of it, her first response being, “Wow, way to make your big night about me. You’re so whipped, man,” Her teasing lilt was accompanied with a massive grin.

“And I will be that, thank you. Is that a yes?”

“Yes, Paige.”

~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~

2025 National Championship

“I just… I want this win so badly,” Paige whispered to her sports therapist the night before the game. Azzi listened, staying in the room because Paige didn’t want to be alone, and quite frankly, neither did she.

“I know. Your determination is what is going to make you win it. You just need to remember it, and remember how hard you’ve worked during the game.”

Paige nodded, tears leaking out of her eyes. After they hung up and he wished her good luck, Azzi quietly padded over and wrapped her arms around Paige from the back. 

Hugging her neck and shoulders, Azzi crossed her arms in front of Paige as she rocked her back and forth, not saying a word. Azzi reached up and wiped the tears on the pale face that belonged to her beautiful girlfriend. 

After a second, Paige whispered, “I just want it so bad, Az. I don’t care if that makes me selfish. I want this more than anything,” 

“I know, honey. And we all want it for you. We’ll work so hard to get you this win, I mean it,” Azzi murmured, smoothing down her still damp hair. “We know how important this is to you. We won’t let you down.”

Paige nodded before bowing her head down in a silent prayer. Azzi allowed her the time but stayed close, knowing the older girl needed it.

Soon after, Azzi dragged them both to bed, saying that she needed the rest. Paige knew she was right and barely argued when she was handed multiple melatonin gummies. Paige fell asleep with Azzi wrapped around her, stroking her shoulder and whispering a sweet story about her and her brothers when they were younger.

~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~

Paige was still is tears from walking off the court for the last time and the hugged she shared with Geno on the way out. The energy was so high that she could barely think straight.

All the girls were lined up on the court, ready to run onto it the second the buzzer rang. And for the third time since they met, the loudest and clearest buzzer rang out. The girls sprinted out onto the court and jumped and screamed. They had just won the 12th national championship for UConn.

After the intial screams and jump circle, amidst the confetti and noise, Paige looked around for the face she always sought after games. Wins or loss, Azzi was always who she went to. Finding the girl in the crowd, they pushed through the people towards each other, connected by gravity.

The two collided, hugging and nearly tipping over. Both had tears in their eyes (Tim in the back was absolutely trying to hide his tears). 

“I’m so, so proud of you. Was it worth it?” Azzi whispered, scared to break the moment if she breathed too loud.

Paige just nodded in response, trying to bury her chin further into Azzi.

After they got bumped into by ten too many people, they were finally forced to pull apart. Holding each other at a distance, Paige finally collected herself enough for some words.

“I’m so proud of you too, Az. Thank you.”

“I did it for everyone. You, of course.” She paused, and then grinned as the realization of the win set in. “And me!”

Paige grinned in response, “you know, I normally find you after a win and tell you it doesn’t even matter as long as I have you.” She wiggled her eyebrows at her, earning a light slap with no real weight to it. “I have to be honest, I might’ve wanted this win more than I want you.” 

Azzi laughed at this, trying not to stare too hard at the addicting, pure joy on her girlfriend’s face. “Hey, that’s okay babe, me too,” she teased.

They both knew they meant it, too.

“Well, this means we both got we wanted most. And we got it with each other,” Paige added excitedly, jumping up and down again like a toddler with renewed joy at discovering a lollipop.

Azzi hummed happily in response, “now we really have everything we want. A natty and each other,”

Paige wrapped her arm around the shorter girls shoulder and led her to the stage where she would be announced as the MOP. 

“Yeah. I just want you, and a national championship,” 

“You’re so greedy.”

“I didn’t ask you clone, I asked the senator. Now go, I’d like to go over this next bill with senator Chuchi in private.” The man was hissing through his teeth, clearly biting back annoyance as he commanded Fox out of the room. Who in return turned his attention to her, clearly not willing to leave his post unless she herself gives the order, while reminding her of the following fact, “My men and I have a duty of confidentiality, senator. I’m sure-”

“Are you ignoring my orders? I could have you decommissioned for disrespecting a senator!” The man threatens. 

Riyo quickly steps in to defend the commander.  “Senator Garos, it is highly inappropriate of you to send away my security for me, don’t you think?”

That seems to get the man to settle down again. “I see what you mean, my apologies. Would it be possible to speak about this matter in private, senator Chuchi. I’m sure standing guard outside will provide enough security as is.”

“I understand your reasoning, but having the commander stand besides me shouldn’t be a problem. They do have a duty of confidentiality as the commander mentioned before. If anything were to happen, no matter how small the chance, it would be good for both our protection to have the commander as security with us.”

It appears the man can’t think of any reason to counter her reasoning and ends that part of their conversation with - “If that is what you think is best, senator.” - before finally moving on to the topic of politics, sending one last glare to the soldier that stands behind her. When she is done, she is escorted back to her office by the commander. Setting down her datapad at her desk as she lets out an exhausted sigh, before sitting down on the chair behind it. 

“Are you ignoring my orders? I could have you decommissioned for disrespecting a senator!” The meeting overall had gone well, but the words at the beginning of her meeting seem to have had an impact on her. She knew senator Garos was known to dislike clones, lightly said, but he threatened so quickly with decommissioning of all things. It wouldn’t be the first time he got a clone shipped back to Kamino for that exact reason. He didn’t think of them as people. 

“They might look like men, but these clones are droids in disguise. Don’t let their faces fool you.” She had heard him say once before. Before she came to Coruscant she didn’t know what to think about them. She begrudgingly has to admit that if he had told her that before she had gotten to know them, then she might have been persuaded to believe him with the way they didn’t show any other kind of personality trait then ‘soldier’. 

It was only when Padme told her about some of her interactions with clones that she started to notice that they are more than what meets the eye. She had tried to see it for herself once, asking a trooper about how he and his brother’s were doing and was quite surprised when the trooper stammered out that he and his brother’s were doing fine and thanked her for asking. There was also this time where she had received a box of pantoran sweets from her family back home and had asked commander Fox once if he wanted to try one. He declined, but had suggested for the trooper guarding the entrance to her office to try one in his stead. Resulting in the senator offering him one.  

Said trooper had nervously replied, “I’d love to, but it is against regulations to remove my bucket while on duty, senator.”

“I won't tell anyone you ate something while on duty, if you won’t tell anyone I distracted a trooper from leaving his post for a minute for some sweets, do we have a deal?” She had joked while holding out the box to him so he could pick one out. 

The trooper had looked to his commander for reassurance who told him to quickly pick one and then get back to his post. 

She remembered the way the trooper smiled after he had lifted his helmet and had tasted one of the sweets she had held out for him. She could almost imagine stars in his eyes, thanking her and the commander before putting his helmet back on and rushing back to his post. She had offered another one to the commander, who declined her offer again, saying he wished not to make use of her generosity and that he was already thankful she had been willing to give one of the sweets to one of his younger brothers. 

It was then that she had realised something about the commander. He was selfless, protective and caring. Definitely not a droid. She smiled while she thought back on that time amongst other occasions, It was only when a startled yelp came from the commander that she looked his way. Seeing just in time the way that the commander had jumped aside, a thud coming from his helmet as it was thrown on the floor with haste. “Commander Fox, are you alright?” she asked surprisedly, hurriedly walking around her desk and his way to check on him, curious to know what had caused such a reaction from the commander. 

He had looked up at her in shock, stuttering as he rambled on his explanation, “I-I’m sorry, ma’am. I know i’m not supposed to remove my helmet on duty, it’s just that... uhm.”

During his attempt to explain, she had crouched down to pick up the commander’s helmet from where he had thrown it off, only to be stopped by his spooked warning, “Wait! don’t pick it up, it...uhh.. could..still.. be there.” 

She halted her actions as she looked back at the commander, seeing his unease as his gaze seemed to linger around the room, before asking, “It being what, commander?”

“A...spider, ma’am.” he admitted, hesitantly so. Clearly still embarrassed by the whole ordeal, while trying to scramble his composure back together.

“A spider, commander?” She asked, surprised by his response as she picked up the helmet. 

“It crawled onto my vizor, which startled me. I apologise, ma’am. It won’t happen again.” The commander said stiff and apologetically. When Riyo reaches out to hand the helmet back to him, she notices the unease in his eyes as he looks at it. 

She giggles a bit at that, “It’s alright commander, I checked, the spider’s gone.”

He shyly takes the helmet out of her hands, quietly telling her ‘thank you’ before placing it back on his head. She can’t help herself, amusement clear in her voice as she teases the man,  “Didn’t think you’d be scared of spiders, commander.” 

“Well, it’s not something I'd want to be known for, senator.” 

“Don’t worry commander, your secret’s safe with me.” she laughs, throwing the man a wink, before turning around and walking back to her desk. A violet flush on her cheeks as she realises how straightforward she was to actually tease the man like that. A man she now knew not only was selfless, protective and caring, but was also quite lovable when embarrassed and also had a shocking fear of spiders. She giggled at the thought.