The next day Sky missed Karate but so did everyone else because Sensei had kicked them all out of the dojo for goofing around. Hawk filled Sky in on what had happened when he came to see her that evening.

Sky was lying on her bed, her shoulder ached and burned after spending the whole day at the tattoo shop. The tattoo was now finished and even if the skin was swollen and red, she could already tell it would look amazing. As her thoughts were still in that, she had been only half listening to Hawk, but now his words caught her attention and she frowned.

"Wait, what? Sensei said what?" She asked and turned to look at him. He was sitting on the bed cross-legged, leaning his elbows on his knees.

"He said that anyone who isn't there at 5 am is out of the team."

Sky groaned and threw an arm over her eyes. "But I can't do karate with this shoulder! Rico said I should avoid sweating until the tattoo is healed."

"I know," Hawk said. "But maybe show up anyway? Even if you can't do much. Sensei seemed kinda pissed."

"That's because you were all idiots. But he can be as pissed as he wants to," Sky muttered, rolling her eyes. "If he kicks me out of the team, I can always join Miyagi-Do. Let's see how pissed he is then."

Sky had heard that Sam's dad had opened a dojo after the All Valley, apparently as a reaction to Cobra Kai fighting dirty. Sky thought that was ridiculous, really, because Miguel had been the only one to actually fight dirty, and he hadn't even won, but whatever. Apparently, Sam's Dad had some beef with Sensei Lawrence, and Sky couldn't have cared less about some decades-old rivalry. Sam was her friend, and to be honest, she had thought about paying a visit to Miyagi-Do to check out their style. Maybe she could pick up a thing or two. It couldn't hurt anybody, right?

Hawk didn't seem to agree. He swallowed and his eyes widened. "Join Miyagi-do? You're not serious, are you?"

"Well, is Sensei serious about kicking me out?" Sky arched a brow. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see."


But no matter her former defiance, the next morning Sky found herself mixing cement with the other Cobras at an ungodly hour. The sun rose and the temperature began to climb up, and Hawk started to give her worried glances as sweat was starting to run down her neck.

"That's it," he said when he noticed Sky's T-shirt gluing to the skin of her shoulder with some blood that oozed from her skin. "You've gotta stop."

Sky wanted to argue. She kinda agreed with Sensei - she didn't think they should get soft either, and she loved it when he pushed them hard. It was thanks to him that Sky had gotten strong enough to start living again. Without Sensei's teachings, she would still be lying on the cold, tiled floor and she never would have gotten up.

But the truth was that she was hurting, and the last thing she wanted was the tattoo to get infected, so she just gave a silent nod and sought a shadowy corner where she could sit down and take a sip of her water bottle.

It didn't take long before Sensei noticed and walked to her.

"What the fuck? Why are you sitting here on your ass instead of sweating it out?"

Sky looked up squinting - against the bright light of the blazing sun, Sensei was nothing but a black shape and Sky couldn't see the expression on his face, but she didn't need to. His tone told her he was angry.

Without a word Sky rolled up the sleeve of her T-shirt and revealed the fresh tattoo, the sore and swollen skin that looked really bad now after sweating and straining it.

"Got it yesterday," she said. "I'm sorry Sensei, but I really don't think I can do this thing today."

He was silent for a moment, and Sky could only guess what went through his mind.

"That's a badass tattoo."

"Thanks."

"But a tattoo doesn't make you badass. Nor does winning the tournament. If you want to stay tough and keep kicking ass, you have to train hard, you have to stop making excuses."

Sky resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "This is hardly an excuse," she said sourly.

"Yeah, whatever," Sensei replied. "Take a short break, but don't get too comfortable."

With that Sensei left and walked to shout to the other students again. Sky watched, sipping her water. The new recruits - Chris and Mitch - looked like they were going to die, and even Miguel seemed strained. Sky couldn't blame them, mixing cement was hard work and they were all exhausted. She glanced at Hawk and enjoyed the sight for a while. He was wearing a black hoodie, but the sleeves were rolled up so that his strong, wiry forearms were revealed. The muscles and tendons of his hands and arms worked under the skin as he grabbed another bag of cement and poured the powder into a wheelbarrow.

Sky's heartbeat quickened at that sight.

She loved those arms around her, loved those beautiful hands, loved how they felt on her skin, those long fingers, the calloused palms—

She was so busy checking out Hawk, that she only noticed the old man Sensei had Introduced as Mr. Kreese, as he took a seat by her side.

"The champion, huh?" Kreese said with a low, raspy voice, making Sky jump.

"Yeah," she replied. "And you would be…?"

He didn't reply to her question, just made a low chuckle. "Just someone who wants to find out why the champion is sitting out the task her Sensei gave her?"

Sky rolled her eyes. She really didn't feel like explaining herself to this old dude, but Sensei had told them to act respectful, so she pulled up her sleeve and revealed the phoenix.

"Because the champion has a fresh tattoo on her shoulder."

"Oh," he said with a smirk and took a look at the tattoo. "That is a big tattoo for a little girl."

"A little girl?" Sky couldn't help the bite in her voice.

"All I see is a little girl sitting on the side while her friends and teammates are doing all the work." Kreese said slowly, turning his narrowed eyes back to the other Cobras, and Sky felt a sting in her chest.

That man might be annoying, but Sky couldn't deny that he had a point. Her cheeks reddened.

"But Rico, the guy who did the tattoo, said—"

"Oh, I'm sure he did," Kreese interrupted, his voice low, his every word slow and deliberate. "But do you always do as you are told?"

Sky swallowed. "No."

He chuckled. "Didn't think so."

A short silence followed. Sky looked at Aisha, who was sweating through her clothes as she dragged a bag of cement, at Hawk whose lean muscles were already trembling, at Chris who was puking into a trash can, and suddenly she felt like a total loser.

Maybe she was making excuses as Sensei had said, maybe she was turning soft. That thought had a foul taste but as soon as it had settled on her mind, she couldn't shake it off.

"I got this tattoo in Nam," Kreese said, rolling up his sleeve and showing her an old-looking, faded tattoo on his arm. "Right in the middle of that Hell hole. And the next day I didn't complain. I didn't make excuses. I went and I did my duty."

A small silence followed his words. Sky cast down her eyes, and stared at the dry, yellow sand at her feet. Her pink sneakers and her flower patterned gym pants looked girly and stupid and suddenly she was ashamed of those too.

"Do you think my commander cared about my tattoo?" Kreese asked pointedly. "Do you think the enemy gave a crap if my skin was sore?"

Sky felt her blush deepening. She kept her eyes down as she shook her head. "No, Sir."

Kreese let out a low chuckle, leaned his hands on his knees, and stood up. "So, what are you going to do?"

Sky clenched her jaw and stood up with one swift move, brushed the dust off her pants, and without another word, walked back to the other Cobras just when they saw a large cement truck driving into the yard.

"What did he want?" Hawk asked with a silent tone, as Sky walked to him and started mixing the cement again.

She shrugged. "To tell me I'm a pussy, I guess."

Hawk frowned and glanced at Kreese. "He said so?"

"Not in those words."

She didn't want to explain the conversation to Hawk, still tasting the bitter taste of shame and embarrassment on her lips, and luckily she didn't have to, since Sensei called them all to him, and ordered them to shut up.

"What do you think the truck is for?" Hawk asked silently as they formed a line in front of it and Sky took her spot by his side.

"Maybe he's gonna have us push it?" Sky smirked.

"No way," he muttered. "That's impossible."

"As impossible as me winning the All Valley?"

Hawk flashed her a grin. "Nothing impossible about that. You kick ass."

"You think flattering will get you somewhere with me?"

"Definitely. After we're done here, we're going to my place."

"Oh, are we now?"

"Yeah," he said, a crooked smile playing on his lips. "Let's get something to eat, take a shower."

"Together?"

"You said it, not me." His tone was teasing, and it went straight into her gut. The images of water running down his lean body filled her mind and her mouth went dry. She remembered the last time they had showered together, how he had pushed her against the tiled wall and kissed her, his hard erection pressing against the skin of her abdomen. They had fucked in his bed, but now Sky was wondering how it would feel to do that in the shower. He would lift her up and she would wrap her legs around his waist, and he would fuck here so goddamned hard against the wall—

"Guys—" Aisha's voice cut through Sky's heated thoughts and she blushed. She glanced around and realized Sensei was staring at her and Hawk, his arms angrily crossed on his chest.

"I swear if you start sucking each other's faces here, I'll kick you both out of the team." he spat out.

Sky thought it best not to argue. She straightened her back and lifted her chin. Hawk shifted on his feet by her side and Sky heard how he cleared his throat.

Sensei shot them one more death glare before he started to talk. He gave them a whole speech about how a true champion never stops training, of the importance of never stopping, about always moving forward, and Sky agreed with everything he said. The sun was hot on her face, and she was sweating. The tattoo felt tense and hot under the T-shirt, but she kept silent, kept her eyes on Sensei's face, and listened, breathing in every word he said.

When Sensei's speech was finally over, Sky had already guessed what he would ask them to do, so she wasn't surprised when he said it.

"Then climb up, get inside and make it spin."

Sky glanced at Hawk who was standing by her side, but he said nothing, and no one took initiative. They all stood frozen, even Sky who wasn't at all happy that her guess had been right.

Yeah, she wanted Sensei to know that she wasn't getting soft, that she wasn't here just to chill and check out her boyfriend, but still - this was a bit over the top.

Aisha was the first one to speak up. "Sensei, we're sorry for messing around," she said sincerely.

"We learned our lesson," Hawk added.

Sensei seemed unaffected. He pulled down the ladder with one swift move and repeated: "Get in!"

"Sensei this seems kinda dangerous," Miguel tried. "I mean the fumes alone—"

"Quiet!" came the command they all knew too well, but this time it wasn't Sensei who spoke. It was Kreese.

They all turned their eyes toward him, as he walked closer in his worn jeans and sturdy boots, a smirk on his tanned, wrinkled face.

"This man led you to the mountain top," he said, pointing at Sensei. "And you question him? Look at you. Look at all of you. I can't believe that this pathetic pack of pussies completed in the All Valley and let alone won! It's an absolute miracle!"

His words were mean, but they were all used to mean words coming from their Sensei. Still, it felt different. Sky knew Sensei always had her back, always had her best interest in mind, but this man was a stranger. She felt ashamed being scolded like this, being told that she didn't deserve to win. Hawk glanced at her and their eyes met - he seemed to share her feelings.

"And who is responsible for that miracle?" Kreese went on. "Johnny Lawrence. The best student in the history of Cobra Kai. My student."

A shocked silence followed his words. Sky raised her eyes from the ground to his stern face.

"You were Sensei's sensei?" Hawk asked, his eyes widening in surprise.

"You'd better believe it, kid." Kreese replied. "And I'll tell you that I've never trained a tougher student in my whole life. So if you know what's good for you, you'd better listen to every goddamned word he says."

Suddenly it all made sense. His mean words, calling her a little girl, mocking her for sitting the task out - it all felt justified. He was a sensei too, so he had to be tough, he had to use whatever means necessary to make his students badass.

And Sky wanted to be badass. She wanted to be called the champion - not mockingly, but like she deserved the title.

"I'll do it, Sensei," she said, taking a step forward. She kept her eyes on her Sensei, but couldn't help noticing how a slow, crooked smile appeared on Kreese's lips.

"Sky—" Hawk tried, and grabbed her arm as if to pull her back, but her glance silenced him mid-sentence.

"I said I'll do it," she repeated. "The sooner we get it done, the sooner we'll have that shower."

Hawk swallowed, his tense posture and his grip on her forearm told Sky that every instinct he had, told him to stop her from entering that cement truck. But she held his stare, and finally, the line of his jaw softened, and he let go of her arm.

"Let's get this done," Sky said and turned to walk to the ladder. The skin of her shoulder burned when she climbed in, but she chose not to care. Anger and shame weighed her chest as she stepped into the truck, her legs splashing almost knee deep into the wet cement that instantly soaked her favorite pair of sneakers.

Well, too bad.

You could always buy new sneakers, but you couldn't buy respect.

She didn't turn to look if anyone followed her in as she placed her hands against the metal wall and started to push, but she knew Hawk would. And after him the others too.

A little girl my ass.

I'll show them I'm not just a little girl, that I am worthy of being called the champion. I'll show them that I am made of fire and flame.

I'm a fucking phoenix.


As always - please review.

Feeling tired and sad and just bad at everything today, so cheer me up.