CHAPTER 32

30 days later…

"It is a proud day for not only America, but the whole world in their war against drugs. Today, the bombing operation regarding the Juarez Cartel has been officially closed. Fearless efforts from the LAPD have eliminated all of the top officials, rendering the former biggest cartel in the world inactive at last. A special thanks are in order in particular for LAPD Captain Raymond Holt and LAPD Detective Peralta, who spear-headed the mission, without whom the mission would have failed."

"Turn it off, Daniel." Amanda said as she walked into the living room and saw Daniel watching the news on TV. It had been 30 days since Miguel had taken down the cartel and sacrificed his life to do so. They had already had a funeral and memorial for him, which both the Cobra Kais and the rebels attended, the Cobras even agreeing to a temporary peace treaty so they would be able to pay respects to their friend and former champion.

"This is bullshit!" Daniel snapped at the TV. "The LAPD are taking all of the credit when they did absolutely nothing, and Miguel gets no recognition!"

"It was part of the deal Miguel made with the LAPD, you know that." Amanda said softly. "He agreed that the LAPD have no responsibility for him if he was captured or killed, and no recollection of him if his mission succeeded. It was to keep us safe."

Daniel sighed and nodded.

"I know. It's just… it's not fair." Daniel grumbled. "Miguel was a good kid. A hero. This isn't how it should have ended."

"I know, Daniel. I know. But you have to turn off the TV now. Sam's coming downstairs." Amanda said. Daniel swiftly nodded and turned off the TV, just as Sam came down the stairs. Sam hadn't been doing so well at all, as could be expected. She had barely eaten at all in the month Miguel had been gone for, and she would barely get more than a couple of hours of sleep every night. Hearing her scream in pain and wake up from a nightmare every night shattered Daniel and Amanda's hearts. Sam felt guilty. They all did. Miguel had sacrificed himself to keep them safe, and although it was his decision to do so, there was a lot of survivor's guilt in the air.

"Hey, Sam." Daniel said, gently. "How are you feeling today?"

Sam didn't answer. It had been the same thing every day since Miguel's death. Sam would come downstairs, grab a banana and walk straight back to her room, locking herself in until the next morning. She didn't talk to anyone. Didn't smile or laugh anymore. After everything that had happened from the school fight, to Miguel in a coma, Robby in juvie, Kreese's Cobra Kai taking over the valley, the various ambushes that Cobra Kai had done to them, Kreese killing Miguel's family, and now finally this… Sam didn't know how she was going to live after this.

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Hawk walked across the empty cemetery. The sun roasted down on him as his feet crunched against the leaves. He eventually made it to where he needed to go and he sat down, his back resting against the headstone of Miguel Diaz.

"What up, El Serpiente?" Hawk said. "So what's it like up there? You know, chilling with the Big Man himself? You're probably doing pussy, boring-ass things right now like hanging out with your family. I tell you, if I ever get there, I'm going to be banging a different chick every ni… No, I can't do this."

Hawk interrupted himself, dropping the badass act that was clearly not the right fit for him anymore. Miguel's death had forced him to look at his life and he knew that he needed to make things right. He had been brainwashed by Kreese for too long. It was time to step up and be a man and fight for the right side, consequences be damned.

"I'm going to make sure that you are never forgotten." Hawk stated, quietly but determined. "I will have your All-Valley trophy immortalised. I'll have your gi retired. Hell, I'll fight for them to rename the tournament to the Miguel Diaz Karate Tournament. I don't care what it takes. You would do it for me."

Hawk looked at the grave of his former best friend and he took a deep breath. Although he had been at the funeral, this was the first time he was speaking to his friend alone since his death.

"I miss you, man. I miss you so much." Hawk whispered. "Back before this Karate war bullshit, you were the only person who always had my back. You were my life sensei. I'm so sorry for everything that went down after the school fight. I'm never going to forget everything you've done for me, and I'm going to make things right with Demitri, with Miyagi-Do, all of it. I swear…"

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That night, Johnny, Sam and Daniel decided that it was finally time to start clearing away Miguel's stuff. He had been gone for a month, so there was absolutely no chance this was some sick joke. A nightmare that they would soon wake up from to see Miguel's smiling face again. When they walked into Miguel's trailer, there wasn't much stuff already, and they laid three boxes on Miguel's bedroom floor: KEEP, DONATE and THROW OUT.

"I marked these boxes so things would be easier to separate." Daniel said. Although he was miserable about Miguel's death, he needed to stay strong for Sam and Johnny, who were feeling much, much worse than he was.

"Thanks, man." Johnny croaked. Daniel put a comforting hand on Johnny's shoulder.

"Look, we don't have to do this now." Daniel said. "It can wait. There's no timetable."

"No." Johnny replied. "We should do it now, or… I'm afraid I'll never do it."

Johnny got up and walked over to Miguel's dresser, and Sam walked up his cupboard. Johnny looked at all the framed photos Miguel had of the group, and the multiple pictures he had with Johnny in particular: the Dee Snider concert, their training, the All Valley, among others. They looked so happy in every single photo. Once again, Johnny felt his heart throb with sadness. Losing Miguel had been like his heart had been ripped out of his chest and stomped on right in front of him, only made worse by the fact that because Robby was now living with him after the death of his mom, he had no time to mourn his student.

"Look, it's his All-Valley trophy from Sophomore year." Daniel said, pulling it out of the cupboard. "You should keep this, Johnny."

Johnny took the trophy and chuckled.

"Between what had happened before and after the weekend, that was one of the best and worst weekends of my life." Johnny remarked. Tears then started rolling down his face again and he put his head in his hands. "I should've hugged him more." Johnny cried. "You know, it was always a fistbump, or a high-five, but I should've given him more hugs. You know, the last time I saw him before his mom died, he was complaining about this long forensic assignment project he had for school. And I just told him to, you know, get back at it and get on with him. He's worth it. It was the perfect time for a hug."

Johnny's voice broke down into tears at the latter part of the sentence but he forced himself to continue.

"But for whatever reason, I gave him a pat on the back. And that's that. And now he's gone." Johnny murmured.

"Miguel loved you, Johnny." Sam said, breaking the near complete silence she had been entranced in for the past month. "He would have followed you through the gates of hell without a second thought. He did what you told him to do. Said what you told him to. He developed your strength and your grit and, not to mention, your badassness."

Johnny nodded and put his head in his hands. Daniel, who was listening to their conversation and was struggling not to cry himself, opened Miguel's wardrobe and started taking clothes out and putting them in the box marked Donate. Sam noticed a familiar sky-blue sweatshirt and she quickly took it out of the box.

"No, don't donate that." She said, tears spilling down her own cheeks. "I want it. Back when Kyler was bullying me after we broke up, seeing him come over and stand up for me several times, wearing this sweatshirt, it was like my own personal superman had arrived."

Sam put the hoodie on her and chuckled at how oversized it was on her small frame, especially in the arms.

"God, his arms were long." She remarked, chuckling a watery laugh. Sam collapsed into silent cries and the rest of the night was spent drowning in tears, but eventually they finished sorting through Miguel's stuff.

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Later that night, Johnny was sitting in Miguel's trailer, cleaning up the extreme mess that was hidden beneath the surface. Alcohol bottles: chips packets, fast food wrappers were all crammed inside drawers and cupboards in the trailer.

"Hey, Miguel, why am I still cleaning up after your mess?" Johnny snapped, as he pulled out a half-eaten hotdog from a cupboard. "This is foul. And this is at your home!"

Johnny then pulled out Miguel's favourite alcohol hip flask and sighed. He opened it and took a swig from it.

"Enough in there for two?" A voice asked from the entrance of the trailer. Johnny spun around to see Sam standing there. He relaxed a little and nodded. Sam walked in and sat opposite him.

"Yeah, you know, I'm just trying to catch up on my day." Johnny said, pointing to the picture of Miguel that was lying next to him.

"What are you talking to him about?" Sam asked. Johnny sighed and looked at Miguel.

"Hey, Miguel, I'm sorry I tried to fight you in the parking lot." Johnny said. He then took a deep, shaky breath. "And I'm sorry I wasn't there that day." Johnny whispered. "I should've been by your side. I swore I'd always have your back but this time… I failed. Maybe I could have, uh, I don't know. But I'm gonna regret it for the rest of my life, 'cause I love you."

Sam and Johnny had tears running down their faces again.

"Let me try." Sam said, picking up the photo of Miguel and looking at it. It was a picture of Miguel and Johnny taken the day after Miguel could finally walk again, and Miguel looked as happy as if world peace had just been achieved. She smiled at the photo.

"Hey, Miguel." She whispered. "Not a day goes by that I don't miss you. I will never forget the impact you had on me and my life."

She then turned to Johnny and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Wow, this is really fun." She remarked, sarcastically. Johnny also wiped away tears and chuckled.

"Yeah." Johnny agreed, rolling his eyes.

"I know what he'd say." Sam stated.

"What?" Johnny asked.

"Shut up and pass the Cheetos." Sam replied. Johnny laughed and pulled out two bags of Flamin' Hot Cheetos - Miguel's favourite food in the world - and handed Sam one.

"Now that you mention it." He said. Sam laughed and groaned. She ate one and coughed.

"Oh… Horrible." She coughed, tearing up for a combination of the spicyness, and how much it reminded her of Miguel. Johnny and Sam spent the rest of the night reminiscing about Miguel, and their favourite and least favourite memories of him. They talked about his whole life, and by the end, they felt like they were finally ready to start the process of life after Miguel's death.

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The next morning, Daniel was finally restarting training for the rebels. They had taken the month off to recuperate after Miguel's death, but they were finally ready to get back into it. Cobra Kai were currently without a leader, but they made it pretty clear that they weren't about to back out of the fight.

Daniel, Johnny, Aisha, Demitri, Sam all stood in the Miyagi-Do backyard, along with the newest member of the team: Robby. Because he was living with Johnny, he had decided to join the rebels. But there was another reason too: ever since he had gotten back to California and he had heard about Miguel's death, he knew that this would finally be his chance to be with Samantha without a third person interfering. He needed to get close to Sam as he knew that she was in an extremely vulnerable state, and that could make it a lot easier for him to be with her.

"All right, guys! Fall in!" Johnny shouted. The original 3 and 1 new rebels lined up, preparing for training to begin. However, before they could get started, they saw someone enter the dojo and walk towards them. Their jaws dropped. It was Hawk, alone, but for some reason, he didn't look as threatening. He had dyed his mohawk back to blue, which had been the color he had it before he fell off the rails and became evil and dyed it red. Robby stormed over to him and grabbed him by the neck, choking him.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Robby shouted at him. Johnny and Daniel's eyes widened at Robby's suddenly aggressive behavior. He seemed unhinged. They quickly ran over and dragged the two guys apart.

"What do you want, Hawk?" Johnny asked.

"I… I want to join you." Hawk said. Everyone's eyes widened and they looked at Hawk in shock.

"Oh, come on! He's obviously lying!" Robby exclaimed. "He's just trying to join now and snake us later."

Hawk shook his head, furiously.

"It's not like that, I swear. Look, I know I have been a huge jerk to all of you, Demitri in particular, and you have no reason to trust me. But I want to help you. I swear, it's not a play. It's not a joke. It's completely legit."

"Why should we believe you?" Daniel asked, reasonably, as Johnny continued to hold back his son from lunging at Hawk. Hawk sighed and took a deep breath.

"Look, I'm not trying to compare our situations over the past month. Miguel's death hit me really hard but I can't imagine what it must have been like for you. But if anything, losing Miguel made me realise how badly I've been living my life, and how ashamed he'd be of me if I kept on living this way. So please, I want to join you. Let me help in the fight against Cobra Kai."

Johnny and Daniel looked at each other.

"Should we do it?" The two senseis asked the other students. Sam and Robby voted no; Aisha voted yes.

"Demitri? What do you think? Given your more personal rivalry with Hawk, it's up to you."

Demitri took a deep breath and looked at Hawk.

"He should join us." Demitri eventually said. Hawk's head shot up and he looked at his former rival. Hawk smiled faintly and nodded to him in gratitude.

"Demitri, are you crazy?!" Robby exclaimed. Demitri shook his head.

"No, I am completely sane, thank you very much." Demitri snapped. "But having Hawk on our team and trusting him… it's what Miguel would have wanted, isn't it?"

"You're damn right, it is." An extremely familiar voice came from the entrance of the dojo. It was the voice of a champion. The voice of a fighter. An extremely beaten down fighter mind you, but a fighter. To everyone's shock but delight, they all turned to see Miguel standing in front, bruises and gashes on every inch of his face, but he was very much alive. "Now, I hope you guys weren't about to start training with me?"

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. The next chapter is going to go into what Miguel's been going through in the past month since the bomb.

Hey, so as you guys have probably guessed given I'm writing about it, I'm a HUGE Cobra Kai fan and I stayed up to watch Season 3 right when it was released. So I was wondering, what parts of season 3 do you think I should incorporate in this story. I have in my mind decided on a few things that I am going to make similar or different to season 3, but I want to hear you guys' opinions.