Well, the house looks freshly painted. Those Miyagi-Dos must have been grinding down to the wire.
Robby kept his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jacket staring at the wooden fence. His eyes scanned over the wooden planks searching for the paint chips, the nail holes, the grooves in the wood — any sign of his existence at the place that built him up only to watch him fall.
He rolled his shoulders back and took a deep breath. So much has happened since then, but he can't really say he feels any better off. Joining Cobra Kai and giving into his anger in pursuit of revenge — he fell right into the trap that Kreese set for him.
He was doing it for himself. That's what he told himself at least. That he was the only one looking out for himself and that somehow made fighting alongside Cobra Kai the right choice.
"Okay. Just remember, this was your choice."
Robby shook away her voice from his mind that echoed in loops since then. It was his only choice, regardless of whether it was right or wrong, it was the only choice he could make for himself.
But he was wrong. It was never about him. He let his anger and fear of being rejected control him.
Daniel was right. If you put passion before principle you always lose. And he did lose. He lost a kid who trusted him.
Flexing the muscles in his arms, Robby tried to get rid of that feeling of self hatred before reaching for the gate. He wasn't here to cry for pity like he already did with his dad. It was time to stop feeling sorry for himself and fix his mistakes. And that started with facing his fears.
With a small huff he ripped open the wooden gate and took his first step into Miyagi-Do in almost a year.
The place looked different. Was that deck new? Why the hell did they knock down that fence? He worked hard to help build that.
Robby shook his head and shoved his hands in his pockets once again. Looking around, he didn't hear anyone inside the dojo, but maybe Mr. LaRusso could be in there meditating. If not, he could always try the house, but he wanted to avoid the LaRusso household at all costs. Too much likelihood of running into Sam there.
That was a fear he wasn't sure if he was ready to face yet.
He made his way up the steps and took note of the light on in the dojo. That was a good sign, maybe Mr. LaRusso was in there after all.
Sliding open the paper door, Robby poked his head through and immediately wished he didn't.
Sam's head looked up and her blue eyes locked on his immediately. There were tears streaking down her face and her eyes were bloodshot.
"Robby?" She asked like she couldn't trust her eyes. "What are you doing here?" She jumped to her feet, the tone of her voice growing darker.
Robby shook his head and let out a breath to calm his nerves. "I was looking for your dad."
His answer seemed to disappoint her. She looked down at her feet uncomfortably. "He's not here," Sam wrapped her arms around herself, barely making eye contact with him anymore.
"That's what I figured," Robby mumbled to himself. "Sorry I bothered you," he said with more bite to it than he expected to come out of his mouth.
Before he could make his quick exit and run out of the place, Sam interrupted his move out the door. "Wait, where are you going?" She called at his back.
Robby sighed, clenching his jaw. "Why do you care?" He hissed with his head turned slightly toward her. She noticeably flinched, and Robby regretted letting his anger best him again.
"I — I just wanted to make sure you had a place to crash," she said quietly.
Oh, so now she cares. Where was that concern for him when he showed up here last time only to find her making a move on Miguel as if he never even existed? How convenient that he shows up with Tory on his arm and now she suddenly is worried about him again.
It was never about him, was it.
"I'll be fine. I've been taking care of myself, and I don't need you or your family to pretend to care so you feel better about yourselves," he growled.
Sam shook her head furiously and drew her fists into her sides. "Fine, whatever," she said tiredly. "If that's what you want to believe then that's fine."
He rolled his head to the side. Don't turn around. You don't need this. Just find Mr. LaRusso and do what you came for.
"That's what you'd like to keep telling yourself, right?" He snapped, whipping the instant he let go of his restraint. "You think we're all wrong. You act like you have some moral high ground and everyone against you is corrupted because you can't handle the thought that maybe the world isn't on your side," Robby bit into her with his words.
The satisfaction he thought he would feel didn't come and instead he found himself just hating himself more at seeing her face contorted with pain he never thought he would make her feel.
"Wow, Tory has really gotten to you," Sam attempted to mask her injury with a daring tone.
That brought Robby's head knocking back, closing his eyes and stomping his foot with a step forward. "She has. And it's a good thing. I'm finally seeing you for who you really are," he pointed his finger at her.
Sam's defense crumbled. She held herself tighter like her arms were the only thread keeping her from falling apart.
"Maybe you're right," she breathed barely above a whisper. "I don't really know who I am anymore."
Robby watched her rub at her forearm nervously and pull her sleeve over her scar. He could visualize all the scars she was covering up, the ones that weren't surface level.
"Yeah, I know how you feel," Robby muttered quietly. At first he didn't think she heard him, but then she finally looked up and made eye contact. They held each other's gaze for a brief second, seeing the people they once were and wondering how they got to this point.
There was a time when Robby thought Sam was the only person he could trust. The only one who looked out for him, who would choose him. Man, was he wrong.
"Well, I know who you are," she told him, looking directly at him with narrowed eyes.
Oh, this should be good.
"Okay, and who is that?" He said cockily, standing up straighter and rolling his shoulders back.
Sam took a fearless step forward. "You act like you don't need other people — that you're only looking out for yourself. But that's the furthest from the truth," she breathed. "You have a big heart. You care about people, and you're smart enough to know that no matter how much you pretend like you don't need us, the person you're hurting the most is yourself."
Robby stood there frozen. His mouth tried and failed to form words to retort back to her.
"I know you, Robby," Sam shrilled. "Which is why it broke my heart so much to see you run away and hide from who you are."
His eyes snapped back to hers. This is the second time now she told him he broke her heart. The night of prom she dropped it on him right in front of Miguel and everyone. The words latched onto him even though he wanted to forget them. He couldn't understand how he could have managed to break her heart after the way she stepped all over his.
Finding his words again, he didn't want to let her get away with breaking through his armor. He worked hard to build up his shield against her, and now she was chipping away at it like her words were an Arc Pulse Generator. "You're wrong. Just because I didn't come crawling back to you and your dad when you asked doesn't mean that I'm hiding. Maybe you don't know me as well as you thought," he rolled his shoulders back with his hands balled into fists inside his pockets.
Sam shook her head unconvinced. "What you did at the tournament," she reminded him. "Embarrassing some kid on your team and showing him no mercy — is that who you are?"
Robby looked away from her face, unable to bear the intrusive gaze of her eyes seeing right through him. The image of Kenny's face peering up at him like some monster after he gained his final point was imprinted in his head forever. Her reminder of that moment just broke his defenses even more.
"That's not you, Robby." He could feel the heat of Sam's gaze still drilling into him despite staring at the ground. "I know that, my dad knows that, and you do too."
He met her eyes and felt a shiver down his spine at the intensity of her expression. "I'm not the only one hiding," he said, his voice even. Fear flashed over her eyes like she was terrified of what he knew and would say next.
"Going after Tory, bullying her at her own job — she told me what you did," he added, noticing the crinkle of confusion in her eyebrows. "What are you so scared of that you have to attack Tory just to make yourself feel better?"
"I'm not scared — I'm furious," her nostrils flared. "She gets away with tormenting me, breaking into our house, and now I'm the bad guy? She's convinced all of you. First was Aisha, then Miguel, and now you and even my own mom. She's turned everyone against me and you want me to just sit back and take it? I'm done playing defense. It's time I strike first."
Nothing about her words sounded like herself. He felt like he was listening to a stranger possessing her body to speak through her. No, not a stranger. She sounded like — she sounded like himself.
The anger dripping from her words crossed with deep betrayal and hurt was all too familiar. Talking about "striking first" and everyone turning against her were phrases etched into his mind forming the narrative he lived by. He used to live by. Not anymore.
Robby took steps toward her, narrowing the distance between them. She watched him carefully like one would watch a wild animal to figure out its next move. His expression softened as he approached and sensed the distrust from her eyes.
"You're not going to get what you want by letting your hate control you. Trust me. I know," he bounced between both her eyes with his own, searching for any sign that he reached her. "You're not the anger inside you."
He held her gaze for a long moment, letting his eyes drift down to her parted lips and gulping from the longing feeling he felt spark inside him. Afraid of what might happen next, Robby took a step back. The trance between the two broke the second he retreated and the sound of his pounding heartbeat rang through his ears.
Flickering his eyes up to her once more, he quickly darted them away and ducked his head down as turned to race out of the dojo.