CHAPTER 75

Welcome to Okinawa

As Marcos and Sarah walked through Okinawa airport, hand in hand, Marcos read the large sign that said this, and it was only then that he finally relaxed, finally took a breath. They were here, him and Sarah were out of the clutches of his father. During their many hours of flying, first from L.A to Tokyo and then from Tokyo to Okinawa, Marcos hadn't been able to sleep a wink. Sarah had rested her head on his shoulder and dozed off for almost the entirety of their trip, but Marcos couldn't bring himself to do the same. Part of him was enamored by the feeling of flying for the second time in his life, gazing eagerly at the way the plane sliced in and out of the clouds, but for the most part, Marcos was guarded. He was half-expecting, half-convinced something was going to go wrong. Something would happen and then all of a sudden, he'd be back in the hands of his father, at his mercy to do whatever abusive things his father wanted. And the fact that the man was now threatening Sarah too… Marcos kept a tight arm around her for the whole flight, secretly terrified at what was probably even an empty threat from his father.

Kreese (or rather, Silver) had gone the extra mile to ensure Sarah and Marcos' comfort for their whole trip. The young couple were shocked to find themselves redirected by the check-in attendant at LAX, taken to an entirely different private security line, and then ushered onto the jetway itself where they were helped onto a private jet. On the jet, it was just them, a stewardess and a chef, their own private chef for the flight! It was insane, incredible service intended only for the uber-wealthy, but Marcos and Sarah were getting a taste of it now. Even Sarah, who came from a pretty affluent background in Bel Air had never been on a flight as luxurious as this. The chairs, rather than being the same scratchy, small, uncomfortable ones they had been in Economy Class on the commercial plane Marcos had taken to immigrate to L.A in the first place, were practically recliner couches themselves, plush and comfortable to the extreme.

The Cobra Kais, or at least Sarah, allowed herself to enjoy the incredible, unique experience of flying on a plane like this. They knew that as soon as they stepped off, everything was going to change. They would be strictly business, constantly having to think on their feet to maintain their covers, unable to relax until they were only around each other. They were both feeling this as they walked through the airport, taking a deep breath and preparing themselves for the difficult mission they knew was to come.

"Remember…" Marcos murmured to her quietly as they saw people all around them and Sarah nodded.

"I know. I'm Rebecca Anderson. From Vancouver, Canada." Sarah said.

"Right. And I'm Julio Mendes. From Belo Horizonte, Brazil." Marcos paused for a moment. "You really couldn't have picked me a less stereotypical latino name, could you?"

"Seriously? Are we not going to talk about the name you came up with for me?! I sound like the kind of name you'd find written on the inside of a box for toy dolls." Sarah remarked. "Anyways, we're here on a first-year college trip to study Marine Biology."

"Yeah. You know anything about Marine Biology by the way?" Marcos asked. Sarah shook her head.

"Nope. You?" She asked. Marcos grimaced.

"Fish are tasty. Sharks are terrifying. That's about it." Marcos replied.

"God. Let's just hope nobody questions us about it then." Sarah said, and Marcos nodded in agreement. A moment later, someone walked over and tapped them on the shoulder. They turned around to see a middle-aged man, dressed to the brim in a three piece suit.

"Can we help you?" Marcos asked him.

"Names?" The man asked.

"Julio." Marcos told him.

"Rebecca." Sarah added. Marcos and Sarah didn't know who this man was, so they were inclined to use their made-up names just in case. Little did they realize that the man knew exactly what their real names were. He had been sent, specifically by Silver, to be their chauffeur. He knew who they were already through photos that he had been sent, but had been instructed to ask for names anyways as a way of making sure that Sarah and Marcos were using their fake names in a believable way.

After he was convinced, he told the couple who he was, and they followed him into a bland, black SUV. Silver would've splurged for something nicer like a limousine, but he knew that they couldn't draw too much attention to themselves. Not that Sarah and Marcos really cared. They were in Okinawa! As they gazed out at the pristine waters and lush greenery all around them, life couldn't be better.

Well, little did they realize that it could, and it was about to. Because less than 15 minutes later, their car pulled into its final destination: the accommodation where they'd be staying for the next 2 weeks. Once again, Silver had spared no expense on this one. He had put them up in no less than the most expensive place around, the infamous 5 star resort, the Sheraton. With 3 pools, 7 different restaurants and the beach attached to the hotel, it really was quite the sight. Given that they were given the afternoon and evening off before starting their real business in the morning, Marcos and Sarah spent hours just walking around the incredible resort. It was all expenses paid, so they were able to get food and drinks for free (all paid for by Silver) as they explored the premises.

As they walked, they were able to just be in each other's company and catch up for the first time in what felt like such a long time. Everything moved in a blur in the Valley, with them hardly having time to even think sometimes, so as they sat on the pier and watched the fireball on the horizon begin to get submerged into the ocean, they were able to talk. Marcos, of course, did not say a word about what was going on in his house, although for their entire conversation he wrestled with whether he should just tell her. There would probably be no better opportunity after all. However, he just couldn't bring himself to do so, so he remained quiet.

After their walk, Sarah and Marcos decided to walk down to the water for a short while. The temperature outside had dropped in the night air, so it didn't take much longer than going ankle-deep in the water and splashing each other a few times to have them racing for the shore and the warmth of the resort. By the time they got back to their hotel room, they were absolutely shattered with exhaustion, jetlag definitely playing its part, so they barely managed to shower before they crashed in bed, falling dead asleep immediately…

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"We're here." Daniel announced. Contrary to the Cobra Kais' 5 star hotel that they were staying at, Miyagi-Do's place of accommodation for the next little while was a lot less luxurious, to say the least. In fact, it wasn't really anything. It was a large, spread-out meadow, not a single sign of human life around, nature living in full glory without the constant threat of human activity.

All of the Miyagi-Dos got out of their respective vehicles and as they took in their surroundings, there was a mixture of reactions. Some looked like they were a few seconds away from turning around and getting back into their cars to drive home. Others looked unsure about this whole experiment. Few of them looked eager, but most looked more reluctant than anything.

"Right. So remind us again for all those less Bear Grylls inclined, what exactly do we do now?" Demetri asked. Daniel chuckled.

"We relax. Explore the campsite a bit. Put up tents." Daniel said. "Have you really not been camping before?"

"Was that not already obvious?" Demetri replied. "I stay in the city. Where humans belong."

Daniel chuckled as he began to unload things from his car, before all of a sudden, his face changed to sheepish and embarrassed, as he turned to the group again.

"So… update. It appears that we might have forgotten to pack the food." Daniel told them. Immediately, cries of shock and anger rang around the Miyagi-Dos, worry beginning to mount. "But don't worry. We have everything we need to make food of our own. We can fish and gather and I swear we'll have great meals for the entire time we're here. Now… the adults aren't going to be supervising you or anything other than training, so everything after this point is up to you. All of the supplies are in the car. You guys delegate amongst yourselves how you want to do things. Good luck."

With that, Johnny, Daniel, Chozen and Barnes stepped away from the students, leaving them in the company of each other. Once the adults were out of earshot, the 11 teenagers (Miguel, Sam, Robby, Tory, Hawk, Demetri, Devon, Chris, Anthony, Nate and Bert) all gathered around to talk to each other.

"Man this trip was such a bad idea." Anthony remarked.

"Yeah, leave it to the man from fucking New Jersey to think that a camping trip would be a good idea." Hawk grumbled.

"Come on, guys. It won't be that bad." Robby tried to reason. Everyone groaned.

"Not you too!" Demetri exclaimed. "He's got you under his spell, Robby! You gotta break free!"

"Come on." Robby laughed. "Mr. Larusso's right. There's something about just being out here in nature that's just different. It's quiet. Peaceful. We don't have to worry about Cobra Kai. Who knows? Maybe it could even be fun."

"Fun? Right now, we have no food and no shelter. All we have is water." Devon said.

"So let's change that." Robby replied. "Anthony, I think your dad packed a few fishing rods. Why don't you, Bert, Devon and Nate try and catch some fish?"

Anthony nodded and the three began to walk towards the car to find the fishing supplies.

"Chris, Hawk, Demetri, you guys can lift and carry. Why don't you guys go and try to find us some wood we can make into a fire?"

They left too, leaving just Miguel, Sam, Tory and Robby standing together at the cars.

"Sam and Miguel, you guys are smart. Why don't you guys look for anything - fruit, vegetables, anything else - that maybe we can use for food."

With Sam and Miguel gone, it was just Tory and Robby left, and the couple turned to each other.

"Why don't we make this place into a proper campsite? We can put up the tents and tables that Mr. Larusso brought, and then help the others." Robby suggested. Tory nodded and the two of them set out on their way. Tory turned to Robby as they worked.

"By the way, that whole bossing people around thing… really hot." Tory remarked. Robby rolled his eyes.

"Shut up." He grumbled.

"Nah, I'm serious!" She exclaimed. "If you ever want to bust that out at home, I wouldn't be opposed."

"Come on. Stop." Robby blushed, looking down as he picked up the first tent and the pair carried it out to an open spot in the clearing, where they'd be putting it up. The tents were tents of 2, so they had 6 tents that they needed to put up.

"Robby, I'm not kidding though. Why don't you really lead more often? You always kinda just… sit around and let Miguel and Sam do that."

Robby shrugged.

"Not really my style." Robby replied. That wasn't entirely false. If his 'style' was what he did most of the time, he was right. Robby was often content with just following the orders of leaders, working hard to be the best he could possibly be, but didn't really look left and right beside him to address the others around him.

"Is it not? Because you seemed like a real natural just then. And back when you were in Cobra Kai." Tory commented. She was correct. At Cobra Kai, Robby had taken more of an active role in leadership. Whether it be his mentorship with Kenny or his relationships with the other students, doing this leadership had been one of the things that he did to justify himself staying with Cobra Kai for as long as he did. However, when he left, he didn't do nearly as much at Miyagi-Do, and Tory had been shocked to see this when she had arrived. She had figured it was just for a short while as he reintegrated into the dojo, and it would only be a matter of time before he was a leader again, but it didn't seem to be so much the case, as it had been 4 months since he had returned to the dojo with not much change present.

As the couple slowly and carefully set up the tent, Robby pondered her words, trying to shake them off.

"To be honest, I don't need to be a leader here. Everyone's a good kid. A good fighter."

"And you're better than good." Tory replied. "Which is what we're going to need if we want to even stand a chance when we fight Cobra Kai again. Because we are going to fight them again before the Taikai. I guarantee it."

"Probably." Robby admitted. "But if that happens, we have others that can lead. I don't really want to."

"Look, Robby, I really don't give a fuck whether or not you want to. Whether or not you feel like it." Tory commented harshly. "It doesn't change the fact that you're the only one who's fought that guy and actually come away as the winner, relatively unharmed. You fighting and defending yourself is all great until it's not actually you that they're targeting. You were lucky that you were able to get to Hawk in time, but what if that wasn't the case? Hawk would be in a hospital bed right now, or worse. If you keep doing what you're doing right now, only focusing on yourself and ignoring everyone else, someone's going to get hurt. They need your guidance."

Robby shrugged.

"What do you want me to do, huh?" Robby sighed.

"Teach. Advice. Motivate. Do what a leader's supposed to do!" Tory instructed.

"It's not my job to do any of that. That's our senseis' job." Robby replied. Tory glared at him and sighed.

"If that's really what you think, then maybe you're right and leadership isn't for you." She responded. "But know that when someone inevitably gets hurt because of this, the blood will be on your hands…"