CHAPTER 107
As Chozen dropped this bombshell on all of them, nobody said a word. Hell, even the other senseis were shocked by the proclamation. They knew Chozen was right though. They couldn't go to Japan and represent Miyagi-Do on the world's stage if these were the lessons they were portraying. Not just that, but right now, it would be in the better interest of their students if they stayed home. The pressure of trying to beat Cobra Kai had clearly gotten into their students' heads, to the point where that became their only priority. When in reality, Miyagi-Do wasn't about winning. It was about making their students the best Martial Artists, and best people, they could be.
"Sensei, you can't be serious!" Demetri exclaimed.
"Yeah, sensei, we learned our lesson. It won't happen again." Sam muttered. "You don't have to…"
"QUIET!" Johnny suddenly shouted, shutting the girl up. "This is happening! If you don't like it… tough! Maybe you should stop bitching about it and find a way to prove to all of us that you're worthy of representing this dojo in the tournament!"
"But it wasn't even us, Sensei, who did what they did to Sarah. Why do we all have to suffer for it?" Hawk asked.
"It's called collective punishment!" Barnes barked. "One of you screws up, you all pay the price! Together! But in this particular case, it wasn't just one or two people at fault. It was all of you! Let's make it clear… you ALL had your part to play in this decision! It wasn't Sam! It wasn't Tory! It was ALL OF YOU! Do you understand?!"
"Yes, sensei." They all murmured quietly in reply. Daniel nodded.
"Good. Well, you heard the other senseis. The decision stands. Until you can show us that you're deserving of going to the tournament, none of you are going." Daniel announced. "And you can start right now by putting your issues and differences aside and banding together for whatever comes next. I know we've talked a lot about what you could've done differently, but there's of course also Cobra Kai that we need to talk about. They broke I don't even know how many laws, both during the fight and the brawl, as well as carrying and firing what I can only assume is an illegal or stolen firearm given that Marcos is underage. I want you guys to talk to each other tonight, all of you, and decide whether or not you want to press charges against Cobra Kai in any way. By tomorrow, I want to hear a decision that you are all satisfied with, that you've all come up with together. Is that clear?"
"Yes, sensei." The students all repeated.
"Good. You're all dismissed for tonight."
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
As soon as Daniel dismissed the students, Sam rushed out of the dojo. She didn't bother staying behind for the dirty looks that the students were all sending one another, all of their tempers still up. None of them could believe that Chozen and the other senseis had gone so far as to completely ban them from competing in the Taikai until they had proven their worth. In the heat of the moment, as tempers still flared, they all silently blamed one another, the only reason the arguing hadn't continued was in fear of the consequences becoming worse for them.
Sam didn't stick around for any of this though. She needed to get out of there as soon as possible. Dashing out the side gate and towards her car, it was only when she was fumbling for her keys in her bag that she heard the voice of someone behind her.
"Sam! Hey! Sam! Wait up!" Daniel called. Sam froze on the spot and slowly turned around to see her father jogging over to her, a look of great concern on his face as he saw the way his daughter had exited the dojo.
"Yeah?" Sam murmured, her voice struggling to remain steady. As Daniel saw the faintest traces of tears threatening to spill over Sam's eyes, his heart shattered and he pulled his daughter into a tight embrace.
"Are you okay?" Daniel asked as he hugged her. Sam shook her head and quickly wiped the tear tracks from her face and eyes.
"I'm fine." Sam murmured, trying to turn and get into her car. However, even with her back turned to her father, Daniel continued to speak softly to her.
"No. You aren't." Daniel responded gently. "Talk to me. What's going on?"
Sam took a deep breath and got into her car, gesturing to her father to get into the passenger's seat. She wanted to talk, but she didn't want to risk anyone overhearing in the crowded dojo. Daniel got into the car too, and after they both shut the doors, Daniel turned to her again, the concern etched across his weary face.
"What's going on, Sam?" He asked.
"Nothing. It's really nothing." She said. "I just… I just feel so guilty about everything."
"Sam." Daniel murmured, resting a hand on Sam's shoulder. "It's like Barnes said. It's not solely your fault. Or Tory's. This decision is everyone's fault, and everyone's responsibility to make up for it."
Sam shook her head.
"No. That's not why I feel guilty." Sam replied. "Or at least, that's only one of the reasons. The other is about what happened in the canyon last night."
Daniel sighed.
"Look, you don't have to say it, Sam. I know it was a mistake. I know it isn't you. You probably just got caught in the heat of the moment and did something you didn't really want to."
A tear slid down Sam's cheek as she once again shook her head.
"That's just it, dad. I wanted to do it. Last night, a large part of me genuinely wanted to seriously harm Sarah." Sam admitted in a voice no louder than a whisper. A shock, certainly, for Daniel to hear from his daughter, but he refrained from judging and maintained his concern.
"Do you know why?" Daniel asked, gently.
"I… I… I just, in that moment, as I stared down at her, I was taken back to everything that happened with Tory in the past year and a half." Sam stated. "I looked down at her, and all I saw was Tory. Tory, the Cobra Kai female champion who made my life a living hell for a year. The female champion who tried to kill me several times. Who made me so terrified to ever set foot outside the house, and then after the home invasion, made me not even feel safe at home. The one who attacked me with the nunchucks. With the spiked knuckles."
Sam's almost completely faded scars on her arm prickled as she reminisced about all of the severely traumatic things Tory had put her through in the past.
"I thought about everything she put me through, and how this other girl, Sarah… What happens if she now does the same, to me or to someone else? I couldn't let that happen, and I snapped." Sam said.
"What you went through, Sam, nobody should ever have to go through. The fact that you're still here and you're still able to smile after all of it is a testament to just how strong you are." Daniel told her. "It's only natural if you haven't completely gotten over the lingering PTSD and trauma. Not even talking to Aunt Vanessa can have the effect that time can on healing old wounds, and you just need a little bit more time to heal fully. There's no harm in that at all."
"Dad… I want to go into Child Psychology!" Sam whispered. "I want to go into Child Psychology because I want to help kids. And yet this PTSD, this monster inside me, is trying to make me hurt them instead! I don't even know the girl, dad, and I wanted to put her in the hospital! I'm a horrible person!"
Daniel shook his head.
"You're not a bad person, Sam. You're just a kid who, like I said, has had to go through a hell of a lot. It doesn't make you a bad person to make mistakes, to have demons."
"But, dad…"
"So I've joined Cobra Kai. I've immersed myself into the whole philosophy, back in 1985. I've also tried to get Johnny's Cobra Kai closed down several times, even when it wasn't causing me or the Valley any harm. I've started fights with plenty of people, some of them not deserving it. Does that make me a bad person?"
Sam shook her head.
"No. But it's not the same though, dad." Sam tried to argue.
"Sure it is." Daniel responded. "We both have our demons, sides of us we'd rather keep hidden. But sometimes it just comes out and there's not much you can do to stop it. It's just human emotion. I have it. You have it. Everyone in that dojo has it."
"And that's a good thing?" Sam asked. Daniel nodded.
"I used to think that you should push down all that anger, all that emotion, at all cost. But little did I realize that all that did was cause it to fester deep inside me and come out in much uglier ways. I realize now that for that reason, you just can't do that."
"So what do you do instead?" Sam asked. Daniel sighed.
"Well, and don't you dare tell Johnny I'm admitting to this, but if there's one thing the man taught me, it's that all of this emotion can actually help. It can make you stronger, a better fighter, and at times, it can save your life. However, you need to be able to control it."
"And that's exactly my problem." Sam stated. "How am I supposed to be able to control it? I don't know when and where it's coming."
"Time." Daniel replied. "That's the only thing really that can help you control your emotions. Eventually, over time, when the wounds aren't so fresh, you'll be able to be faced with a triggering situation and still be able to control it."
"I don't have time though. Any day, something could happen. Look at the fight yesterday. Up until yesterday afternoon, none of us had any clue that was going on." Sam pointed out. Daniel sighed.
"I wish I had all the answers for you, Sam. I really do. But honestly… apart from just waiting for time to catch up to you, I really don't think there's anything more you can do except surround yourself with the right people."
"That's part of the problem. What if at one point, I screw up again and I hurt one of them. I can't control it yet, dad! What if someone I care about gets hurt?!"
Daniel shrugged.
"Then you apologize, make up for it, and you move on. It's not about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward." Daniel stated. Sam raised an eyebrow, the quote seemingly vaguely familiar. Daniel sighed.
"Fine. Johnny, Barnes and I watched the reboot to the Rocky franchise - Creed - a few weeks ago. That's where the line's from." He admitted sheepishly, and a smile couldn't help but creep onto Sam's face as she laughed at this. "And look, if you make a genuine mistake, if the Miyagi-Dos in there are even a fraction as loyal as I know for a fact they are, they won't judge you for it. They'll be right there by your side in a second, no matter what."
"Thanks, dad." Sam smiled at him, hugging him appreciatively. However, their hug broke apart a few moments later as their faces suddenly filled with alarm. From their places seated in Sam's car, both of them had a clear view of the front gate of the dojo, and they watched as an eerily familiar teenager made his way towards and through the gates, into the dojo. Shit! Whatever this was about, chances were it wasn't good. They leaped out of the car and rushed back into the dojo to investigate…