Before the Lies
Author's Notes: Hey, it's me again. As you all remember, I have Secrets, Lies, and Love, that Karate Kid fanfic I'm working on. However, after a little bit of thought, I was thinking that maybe it would be neat to tell a sort of prequel story to Secrets, Lies, and Love, basically a chronicle of how Daniel got to where he is in that story, and show some of his personal experiences from the Gulf War. (AKA Operation Desert Storm) This story will also chronicle how a supposedly-over it Daniel begins to relapse back into feelings for Ali, even though she has been gone from his life for well over a year. Now, this is just going to be rated M for war violence, no sex or anything, which is probably disappointing, because I got a little bit of positive feedback on my first attempt at writing a sex scene. (Thank you, Sick-Twisted-Mind, and also thanks for all the positive feedback I have gotten from you over the past few months, it really made my days sometimes when I was down in the dumps.) So here we go.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything Karate Kid-related, so stop asking me, please!
A crumpling sound was heard as Daniel LaRusso wadded up a piece of paper and threw it at his wall in frustration. "Damn it." He cursed. He may have defended his title in the All Valley tournament, but that really didn't do him any good in his life besides end the harassment of Barnes, Kreese, and Silver. Now, he needed to decide what to do with his future. He had been sent offers for different colleges all over the state of California, but they were all way outside of his price range. And jobs were very hard to come by, as Daniel wasn't getting hired due to lack of job experience. So, here he was, one week away from his nineteenth birthday, with no idea of what he was going to do next.
Daniel stretched and got out of his chair, surveying the guest room that he had at Mr. Miyagi's. His mother was staying with a work friend while she tried to find a new place to live, after the old apartment complex they used to live in, South Seas, was sold by the owner for some new luxury apartments. Daniel did some helping out at Mr. Miyagi's brand new bonsai tree store, but he refused payment from his friend and mentor.
Just then, he heard knocking at his door. "Who is it?" he asked.
"Miyagi." He heard his kindly old mentor say. "Would you care to join for some tea?" he asked.
"Okay." Daniel said. "I'll be out in a couple of minutes."
A couple of minutes later, Daniel came out of the guest room and joined Mr. Miyagi in having tea. Daniel liked Mr. Miyagi's Japanese-style tea. It was good for what ails you, and if nothing else ails you, it was good for that too.
Mr. Miyagi broke the ice. "So, Daniel-san." He said. "Decide which college to go to yet?"
Daniel shook his head. "They're all way out of my price range, Mr. Miyagi." He explained. "I actually got an offer from California State, but I just don't have the money for their tuition. Tuition there costs two grand a year, there's no way I could afford that."
"Daniel-san, you could always earn money from Miyagi." Mr. Miyagi offered. "You have done some very good work, working in bonsai tree store. You definitely deserve it."
Daniel shook his head. "No, Mr. Miyagi." He said. "For the last time, I just don't think it would feel right to me."
"But you need money for college education, Daniel-san." Mr. Miyagi said. "That way you can be fully independent, and not have to live with mother or Miyagi for the rest of life."
"I know." Daniel said. "In retrospect, I don't think I should have pulled money from my savings account to fly with you to Okinawa, or even helped you open the store."
"Ah, Daniel-san," Mr. Miyagi said. "If you hadn't come to Okinawa, my friendship with Sato would have probably not been restored, and the bonsai tree shop was Miyagi's dream, which you helped old man get his biggest wish."
Daniel sighed, and then nodded, being proud when he reflected on all he accomplished the past year.
"Anyway, Daniel-san," Mr. Miyagi said. "Miyagi have something very important to talk to you about."
"What's that?" Daniel asked.
"Miyagi has just received news that his old commanding officer in Europe recently passed away," Mr. Miyagi explained. "Miyagi had kept in touch with him after fall of Berlin, and his funeral is being held in Boston next week. Miyagi will be leaving next week and will be gone for couple of weeks."
"Okay." Daniel said, acknowledging Mr. Miyagi.
"So, Miyagi has very important favor to ask of Daniel-san," Mr. Miyagi said. "Miyagi need you to watch house and bonsai tree store for couple of weeks Miyagi is gone. Can Daniel-san do that for Miyagi?"
"Sure." Daniel said. "Absolutely, I can stay here, look after the place, and take care of the store. Sure, whatever you need, Mr. Miyagi."
"Good." Mr. Miyagi said, smiling kindly. "In that case, Miyagi will leave money for Daniel-san so you can get food to feed yourself with while Miyagi is gone. Miyagi trusts Daniel-san to follow through on big responsibility."
"Don't worry, Mr. Miyagi." Daniel said. "You've done so much for me ever since I first came here last year; it's the least I could do to repay you."
"Good to hear, Daniel-san." Mr. Miyagi said. "Now, if Daniel-san will excuse Miyagi, Miyagi feels like going fishing." And with that said, Mr. Miyagi got up and walked away to get his favorite tropical Hawaiian shirt, fishing boat, and fishing rod.
"Some things never change." Daniel thought to himself with a small smile.
One week later…,
Daniel had just finished up a shift at the bonsai tree store and decided to make a trip to McDonald's in order to get something to eat. He was hungry, and he needed something fast.
After getting out of his car and going into the McDonalds, Daniel went up to the front counter and made his order. When he received it, he turned to the side in order to find a place to sit down, when, all of a sudden, he bumped into another man carrying a tray, and Daniel's meal went flying everywhere, while the man accidentally spilt his Coke on Daniel.
"Oh, shit!" The man said. "Sorry about that, I wasn't expecting you to turn and walk into me."
"Don't worry about it." Daniel said. He looked down and saw his meal all over the floor of the McDonalds. "Crap." He said. He turned around to the cashier. "What do I do now?" Daniel asked the cashier.
"Sorry, sir." The cashier said. "I'm afraid that you will have to pay for another meal."
"What?" Daniel said in surprise. He pulled out his wallet and found nothing. "Crap. I'm all out of money."
The man that bumped into Daniel cut in. "Buddy," he said to Daniel. "Just re-order." He pulled out his wallet. "I'll pay to replace it."
"No, you don't have to…," Daniel began to protest.
The man waved his hand in defiance. "No, it's my fault you have no meal," he said. "If you don't let me do this, I'll feel bad."
"Okay," Daniel relented. He watched as the new man he met take money out of his wallet after he ordered and help him pay for a replacement meal.
Pretty soon, Daniel's meal came, as the man went over to the soda fountain to refill his Coke.
Daniel picked up the tray carrying his meal (Double Cheeseburger with Large Fries and drink) and walked over to the man who helped him out at the soda fountain.
"Thank you." Daniel said. "I don't know what I would have done had you not pitched in and helped. I was starving."
"Eh, don't worry about it," the man said. "It was the least I could do."
"Yeah," Daniel said. "I've been low on money, and I haven't been able to get a job yet, plus I'm having a hard time finding out how I am going to pay for college…," he began to ramble.
The man interrupted him. "Whoa, whoa, whoa." He said. "Did you say paying for college?"
"Yeah," Daniel said. "I've been having trouble doing that."
"Well," the man said. "I know of a way to make sure you can easily pay for a college education." He pulled out a notepad he had tucked in his shirt pocket, and wrote down some road directions, and an address. He tore off the piece of notebook paper and handed it to Daniel.
"I don't know," Daniel said. "Is there any risks? Will I be doing anything illegal?"
"Nah," the man said. "This is perfectly legit. Why don't you drop by the place tomorrow, so I can talk to you about it some more?"
"Okay, I can do that." Daniel said. "I'm almost out of options, anyway."
"Okay, I'll see you then," the man said. He turned to leave, but then turned around to face him. "By the way, what's your name? I need to know it so I can know who to expect."
"Oh," Daniel said. "I'm Daniel. Daniel LaRusso."
The man Daniel's hand and shook it firmly. "Nice to meet you, Daniel," he said. "I'm Frank. Frank Woods, Jr., but don't call me Frank Woods. Frank Woods was my father, Frank Woods, Sr."
Daniel smiled, thinking that he may have made a new friend in this Frank Woods person.
The next day…
Daniel had closed up Mr. Miyagi's bonsai tree store, and followed the man's road directions, and eventually found himself at the address. He looked up at the sign on the building, which he saw said U.S. Army Recruitment Center. Daniel did a double take, and almost didn't get out of his car. He considered turning around, he had heard about military servicemen and servicewomen getting shot, blown up, and, if they survived, returning home with PTSD. (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) He knew all about that considering what his father went through serving in the Marines in Vietnam.
However, after weighing his options, seeing as he hadn't been able to get a job yet, he decided that he would take the risk. He shut off the engine, got out of his car, and walked inside.
Daniel saw his new friend, Frank, sitting at his desk, talking on the telephone. He took in Frank. He had been wearing regular clothes at the McDonald's the day before, but now he was wearing a US Army uniform, which had two angled bars on his right shoulder blade, and a small patch that was a miniature American flag on his left shoulder blade. Above his breast, was a nametag that said Cpl. Woods.
Frank took notice of Daniel, and signaled him to come over and sit in the chair in front of his desk. He finished his call, hung up the receiver, and pulled out a small yellow piece of paper, which was an official recruitment form. He took his pen out, clicked it, and scribbled a small circle at the top to make sure that the pen had ink, before he got down to business to Daniel.
"So, Daniel," Frank said. "You would like to become an honorary soldier of the United States Army?"
"I guess," Daniel said. "I just don't want to get deployed somewhere and risk getting blown up."
Frank waved his hand. "Eh, don't worry about that," he said. "We haven't had an active engagement since that Vietnam fiasco."
"Yeah, I know all about that," Daniel said. "My father was a Vietnam vet."
"Yeah, mine was too," Frank said. "Sergeant Frank Woods, Sr., of the United States Marine Corps. Yet he wasn't really. In order to be technically considered a veteran of a war, you have to survive it. My father died in the Vietnam War, on February 19th, 1968, in Laos."
"Mine survived," Daniel said. "However, he was exposed to some nasty chemicals there, and he contracted pancreatic cancer because of it, and that's how he died."
"Agent Orange." Frank said.
"What?" Daniel asked, not understanding of what Frank said.
"Agent Orange." Frank repeated. "That's probably what your father was exposed to. It was an herbicide that we used over there to infect the food supply to the Viet Cong guerillas, so that when they ate it, they would be poisoned and die. However, we underestimated its effect, and a lot of our own men were exposed to it, causing all sorts of cancers. It was also the cause of all those Vietnamese babies born with both physical and mental defections. We have since discontinued the chemical and are in the process of destroying any existing chemical left. I'm surprised that you turned out normal, the birth defect could have happened to you."
"Well, I was born before my father went to Vietnam." Daniel explained.
"Ah, well, that explains everything." Frank said. "So, was your father Army?"
"No, Marines." Daniel said. "Just out of curiosity, if your father was a Marine, Frank, then why did you pick the Army instead?"
"Well, to tell you the truth, Daniel," Frank said. "The Marines are supported by the Navy, and that means I would have had to be on a boat quite a few times, and unfortunately, I'm insanely aqua phobic, so I just couldn't stand the fact that I would be on a ship surrounded by water. So, I joined the Army where I would be surrounded by dry land all the time."
"Okay," Daniel said. "Makes sense."
"And right now, I've been assigned recruitment duty," Frank said. "All soldiers are at some point in their enlistment, and my recruitment duty actually ends two weeks from now. After that, it's back to good old Fort MacArthur for me. And if you join, you will probably meet me there, because that's where you will go for basic training. If you join, that is."
"Well, as I said in the McDonalds yesterday, I'm almost completely out of options." Daniel said.
"All right then," Frank said. "Let's get down to business."
After about an hour of talking and filling out information, as well as talking about career and college opportunities, Daniel was all set to go.
"Congratulations, Daniel." Frank said. "As of right now, you are on your way to becoming an honorary soldier in the United States Army. I'll see you in two weeks."
Two weeks later…,
Daniel was doing some last-minute packing. This was it, he was leaving for basic training tomorrow, and would have to get to the bus station so he can catch the bus to Fort MacArthur. His mother had found a new apartment, so Daniel wasn't at Mr. Miyagi's anymore. Mr. Miyagi ultimately supported Daniel's decision, saying that Daniel was taking a step in the right direction so that he could finally take charge of his life.
Daniel then heard a knock on his door. "Come in." he said.
Daniel's mother, Lucille LaRusso, walked in to see her son packing. She had some slight tears in her eyes, knowing that her one and only son was making an important decision at the tender age of nineteen.
"So, soldier," she said. "You ship out tomorrow, huh?"
"Yeah," Daniel said. "I guess so."
Lucille walked forward, took her son in her arms, and hugged him. "You know I love you, right Daniel?" his mother asked.
"Mom," Daniel said. "I've known that for years."
"Just remember, Daniel," she said. "If you ever have something you need to talk about, I will always be here for you. And if you are ever on leave, just remember, this apartment is always open to you if you need a place to stay."
"I know, Mom." Daniel said. He pulled away from his mother and continued to check for anything that he may have forgotten.
"Hey, Mom." Daniel said.
"Yes, sweetie?" Lucille asked.
"Could you do me a favor?" her son asked. "Could you just do a quick check of my dresser, make sure I'm not forgetting anything important?"
"Sure, Daniel." Lucille said, as she did so. She checked for a few minutes, before she came across something colored white. It looked to be the back of a photograph. She was right when she picked it up and turned it over. It was the picture of Daniel and Ali, at the Golf n' Stuff the previous year.
"Hey, Daniel." She said. "I found something."
"What is it?" Daniel asked, suddenly interested.
"You remember this?" she asked her son, showing him the picture.
When Daniel saw the picture of him and Ali, he felt his heart sink a little bit. "Yeah, I do." He said.
"You still feel for her, don't you Daniel?" Lucille asked.
"Yeah," Daniel admitted. He had been keeping his still-lingering feelings for Ali hidden for a long time.
"I'm sorry, sweetie," Lucille said, feeling for her son's pain. She still remembered how heartbroken Daniel was when he came to her, not crying, but still visibly sad, when he informed her that Ali had left him for that football player from UCLA. "She was your first love. It's not easy to get over that."
"Tell me about it," Daniel said. "Speaking of which, you want to know something special about it?"
"What?" his mother asked.
"Mom, don't get angry at me for saying this, but this is the truth. You may think I was endangering myself or her by doing this, but…," Daniel began.
"What is it, sweetie?" his mother asked. "Don't worry, you can tell me. I promise I won't get angry."
"Mom," Daniel began. "A couple of weeks before Senior Prom, Ali and I went out to Golf n' Stuff and we played on the water slide there. Well, afterwards, her parents happened to be out of town, and well…," Daniel paused, knowing that he would have to face the music and tell his mother. "Mom, I had sex with Ali that night." Daniel confessed.
Lucille didn't know how to respond to that, but she knew that both Daniel and Ali were of legal age at that time.
"Okay," Lucille said. "Did you use a condom?"
"No," Daniel said. "But Ali said she was a virgin, and I found out she was telling the truth, her hymen was still intact, and since she had never done it before, and me likewise, there was no danger of us getting HIV or AIDS."
"Well, what about pregnancy?" Lucille asked.
"Ali said she had bought birth control pills," Daniel explained. "The Morning After pill, one of the most reliable on the market."
When he said that, Daniel had a small flashback to that night. He was inside Ali, gently thrusting into her. He was moaning, and so was she. He saw her face, eyes closed, and her mid-length blond hair, spread all around on her pillow, like the rays of the sun, as she was lying on her back, her bangs covering her closed eyes. Inside of her was warm, tight, wet, feeling so good against his erect penis. One of the best feelings he had ever felt, and it had strengthened their already strong emotional bond, deepening their love, or so he thought.
"Well, Daniel," Lucille said, when Daniel came back to reality. "Sex is a thing about love, and it forges a special bond between the man and woman who engage in intercourse."
"Yeah," Daniel said. "That's exactly what I thought, before I found out that she was cheating on me. But, whatever, I'm trying to move on."
"Oh." Lucille said. She knew that Daniel had been heartbroken when Ali broke up with him, but she never knew the true extent of his pain. Until now.
"Mom," Daniel said. "I'm going to take a quick bathroom break. Do me a favor: Destroy that picture." And with that, Daniel left to go do his business.
As Lucille LaRusso stood in the middle of her son's room, she looked at the picture of her son and his first love, taking in what her son had just said. Part of what Daniel said made sense, but there was just something Lucille thought was wrong with it, and there was some overwhelming power telling Lucille to not do what her son had asked her to do. Whether it was Divine Intervention from God Himself, or whether it was just little Jiminy Cricket whispering in her ear about her conscience being her guide, she didn't know. But, in the end, this "power" won out over he son's request. Lucille walked over to her son's suitcase, opened it a little bit, and stuck the picture into one of the side compartments of the suitcase, and then she closed it.
The next morning…
Daniel had ridden in her mom's old green station wagon, in which the starter issue was finally fixed, to the bus station (he didn't want his mother driving his old yellow convertible) when he got out. He kissed his mother goodbye, as he would be gone for the next few weeks, doing training exercises.
Daniel got on the Greyhound bus, which was about to pull out of the station and take Daniel to Fort MacArthur and the beginning of his future. It was a five hour drive, and Daniel had had trouble sleeping the previous night, so he found a seat, sat down, laid his head back, closed his eyes, and went to sleep, getting his body and mind ready for the six weeks of tough training he would soon experience.
Author's Notes: And that's the end of Chapter 1. Sorry I haven't updated in a long time, been more into my Pokemon stories, so to all my Karate Kid fan subscribers, this is for you. I will try to update Secrets, Lies, and Love, Consequences, and The Guardian Devil soon as well, but this new story is a wake-up call to all those who thought I had disappeared from the Karate Kid section. Well, I haven't, I'm still alive, and I'm still writing. And, as always, read and review.