CHAPTER 41

Hey. Quick thing from me, directed towards people commenting on AO3. So normally when I receive comments on a story, I always try to reply. I find it the polite thing to do as it acknowledges that the comment has indeed been heard and hasn't just been typed out for nothing. I find it common courtesy for me to do that, as it would be for me to reply if someone was in-person giving me the feedback. However, this story has gained more viewers/commenters than I could've imagine, to the point where it's like 30-40 every day. I do try to read every single one, but unfortunately I don't have the time to reply to every single one of them. I try to reply to as many as I can, but with the amount of schoolwork I have piling up, I just don't have the time to do so. Just wanted to tell you know that if I've suddenly stopped replying to comments you've written, don't think i'm not seeing them. I am indeed reading them and am definitely enjoying everyone's various comments on the story, and on the characters in the story (in particular people seemed to have strong views on Sam, Tory and Robby's characters), so I encourage you all to continue to comment and I'll try to respond to as many as I can. Anyways, that's it. That's all I have to say.

Sam was hurt. Sam was upset. Sam was enraged. A cacophony of emotions raced through her body as she saw Miguel wearing the Cobra Kai jacket. After everything they had been through together, after all of the hellish experiences Cobra Kai had put them through, he had just run right back into their arms. She knew that it was foolish to think that he was being brainwashed. The Miguel she knew, or at least she used to know, had grown a hell of a lot since the last time he was in Cobra Kai, and wouldn't be brainwashed by a hypnotist, let alone the senseis of Cobra Kai. He was in the immoral dojo because he wanted to be there, plain and simple. Something had changed in him before the tournament. Something inside him had snapped, causing him to lose interest in karate during the tournament, flee to Mexico, choose an evil father that he had only just met over her, come back to town and not even talk to her, and then Cobra Kai. She could only make excuses for him so many times. That he was being manipulated. That he was being used. Because at the end of the day, Miguel knew that if he didn't want to be in Cobra Kai, he wouldn't be there right now. He had bought right into their ethos again with his thirst for revenge on Robby, and not only that, but a small part of her was scared for herself. Last time, their relationship had ended badly, with Miguel hitting her across the face. Provided he was drunk that night at this exact canyon, but this time their breakup had occurred in an even messier fashion. When Miguel got his vengeance on Robby, would she be the next name on his list? A small part of Sam was terrified about where this Miguel would end up, not just emotionally but also physically, as the Miguel she saw in the tournament would have enough trouble fighting just Robby, let alone all of Miyagi-Do or all of Eagle-Fang. However, that worry was almost completely clouded that night in the canyon, as she was too wrapped in her angry. How could Miguel do this to them?! How could he betray them like this?!

As the drinks poured themselves down her throat, weirdly, the pain and anger didn't dissipate. Instead, they seemed to amplify, as the more time she spent at the party, the more she would have to see Miguel in the distance, talking to a friend in a Cobra Kai shirt. However, what the alcohol did do though was quieten her better judgment and encourage her to do whatever first came to mind. In this situation, that was to make Miguel feel as shitty as she felt right now. And to do that, she decided to start flirting with the closest guy to her right now.

At the beginning, Miguel didn't even notice her. He was too busy being social and mixing with the friends he hadn't seen some of whom since before the tournament. However, when he sat down on a bench nearby, his eyes glanced around the canyon and eventually locked on her. As he spotted her flirting with another guy, immediately he felt anger begin to bubble up inside him. He couldn't explain why. Well, he could. It was pretty obvious. He just didn't want to have to come to terms with why. He still cared about her deeply, despite their breakup, so it hurt so much watching her make a move on someone else. He felt his hands clutch his beer bottle so tightly he thought the glass was about to shatter, and he poured the golden nectar down his throat, hardly stopping to swallow. But the drink did little to help his frustration, which only increased more and more, to the point where he was ready to stand up and storm over there to tell the guy to fuck off. However, just as he began to stand up, he felt himself roughly pushed back down onto the bench.

"Sit down." A familiar voice snapped, and he looked up to see Tory staring down at him and sliding down onto the bench beside him. "You get up and go over there and you'll just look desperate and jealous."

Miguel raised an eyebrow.

"Haven't we had this conversation before? Like, I don't know, last summer?" He remarked. "Because correct me if I'm wrong but that time, it didn't end very well."

"I beg to differ. If memory serves, you ended up kissing a much hotter girl that night." Tory responded, to which Miguel looked down at his empty beer and shook his head.

"Not what I meant." He muttered quietly, thinking back to that nightmare of a first day of school.

"Yeah, I know." Tory replied.

"So what are you doing here, Tory? You here to yell at me like the others?! Fight me like I know Robby was about to be?! Criticize me for a decision that quite frankly has nothing to do with revenge on any of you, and refuse to believe me when I say this?!"

The two sat in silence for a short while after Miguel's outburst, before Tory eventually spoke up again.

"You finished?" She snapped. Miguel sighed and nodded. "I don't hate you, you know?" Tory suddenly stated, causing Miguel to look at her, confused.

"Could have fooled me." Miguel commented.

"I mean I did for a while. Very much. To the point where every waking moment I was thinking about getting revenge on you and Sam…"

"Gee, am I blushing, or…" Miguel remarked sarcastically. Tory rolled her eyes.

"Then… only when my life got better, I realised that I didn't hate you for what you did. The issues I have with Larusso are separate to you. With you… I'm… I'm actually sorry for what I did. I blamed you for everything: the school fight, getting kicked out of school, the fight at Larusso's house… basically everything bad that happened to me after we broke up, I blamed on you. And it's taken me a while but I now realise that I was wrong and I'm sorry."

Miguel's jaw practically hit the ground in shock as he listened to his ex-girlfriend talk.

"Okay, who the hell are you and what did you do with Tory Nichols?" Miguel remarked. Tory rolled her eyes at him.

"What can I say? You're looking at a different person." Tory responded. "Larusso's mom convinced me to get help. I eventually did and it helped turn around my whole life. I'm finally happy again. Less stressed. I'm back in school. Got a great boyfr…" Tory's voice trailed off when she saw Miguel once again squeeze his beer bottle a little tighter and she remembered who she was talking to, and who she was talking about. "Sorry. I forgot who I was talking to for a moment."

Miguel was silent for a few seconds, before he slowly looked up and faced her.

"No. I'm glad you're happy, Tory. You deserve it. Of course breaking up with me and instead getting together with Robby proves that your taste in guys is abysmal." Miguel joked. "But all the same, I'm still happy for you. And in case I haven't said it enough times since the school fight, I am truly, truly sorry for what I did that night at the party last year."

"Miguel…" She murmured. Knowing what she was about to say, Miguel shook his head.

"No. I don't care about what happened after. Or the way we started dating in the first place. You were my girlfriend, a great girlfriend in fact, and I cheated on you. That's something I would give every cent I have to take back, for a number of reasons, but one of them being that you just didn't deserve that. You were loyal. I owed you the same, but I wasn't. Hurting you is something I'm going to have to live with on my chest for the rest of my life."

"Don't worry. I forgive you for that." Tory mumbled quietly. And honestly, she genuinely meant it. Now that her life was no longer in a shitty place (she had a great boyfriend, was back in school with a hope for a future, was getting outside help for herself and her mom), she no longer felt such an immense jealousy towards Sam and Miguel and the others who had an easier life.

Miguel smiled faintly. The two sat in comfortable silence for a while. After all the drama that had occurred in the past year, their friendship was one thing that both missed severely. Even if they weren't dating, having spent so much time with one another over the summer, they missed each other's company greatly.

"So does that mean that if you no longer hate me as much, it's the same with you and Sam?" Miguel remarked, to which Tory shook her head vehemently.

"And that's why I'm sitting here, pretending to talk you up while she watches us just to piss her off? Nah… that bitch can rot in hell." Tory immediately responded, to which Miguel had to chuckle quietly.

"You know, a couple of times since Sam and I broke up, hell even tonight, I've started to think the same thing." Miguel admitted quietly. "But then I remember that she, from her point of view, is probably just as mad at me, for rightfully so."

"Yeah, but the difference is her point of view is wrong!" Tory exclaimed. Miguel raised an eyebrow.

"Really? You mean you didn't try to kill her? Twice? You didn't make her afraid at one point to even leave her house? And then after your raid of her house, make her not even feel safe while in her own home?"

Tory stayed silent for a few moments, and Miguel sighed.

"Look, all I'm saying is it couldn't hurt to look at things from the other person's perspective." Miguel said. Tory couldn't help but chuckle at this.

"Ironic you of all people is telling me that, given how toxic things are getting between you and Robby? How did you refer to me during your dinner with Robby again? Oh yeah, a sloppy second?"

Miguel's head shot up to look at Tory, as he had no clue she even knew about that, but when he saw that her face wasn't angry and instead was mildly amused, he merely blushed dark red, embarrassed.

"Yeah, um… look, when I said that, um… it wasn't supposed to be, um… a-a-a shot at you or anything. You know, I, uh…"

"Was just trying to get back at Robby?" Tory remarked, to which Miguel nodded. "You realise what's going on right now, right?"

"What?" Miguel murmured quietly.

"You're me." Tory pointed out. Miguel looked at her with a baffled look on his face.

"Um… what?" Miguel asked, at a complete loss as to what the hell Tory was talking about.

"What did Silver offer you in return for you joining Cobra Kai?" She asked, knowingly. Miguel raised an eyebrow.

"What makes you think he offered me anything?" Miguel remarked. Tory shrugged.

"Everyone has a price for their loyalty. And I'm guessing Silver found yours. Kreese found mine when he helped me out with my money problems. He was honestly amazing to me, helping me with rent issues, helping convince Larusso's mom to back off when she was trying to set fire to my life."

"If he was so good to you, then why'd you quit?" Miguel asked, genuinely curious to hear the answer to this question. He wasn't in the mood to go into depth about his money issues or anything, but the more Tory compared their situations, the more he realised the similarities, so he was curious what made her swerve paths so suddenly.

"I realised that there's always Plan B." She replied.

"Not gonna lie, that sounds like the ad for a birth control pill." Miguel commented. Tory glared at him.

"I realised…" She snapped. "That there's a better way sometimes. That you might not get where you want to go as quickly or as straight-forwardly, but you'll make it there eventually. You don't need Cobra Kai for whatever it is they're offering you."

Miguel nodded.

"You're right. I don't need Cobra Kai for whatever it is they're offering me." He stated. He knew that much as he wanted to go to an Ivy League school next year, there were many other routes he could take: Vanessa had told him all about taking a gap year and getting a full time job, going to less well-known college but being the cream that rises to the very top as it would catch the attention of great medical schools anyways, amongst many other options. "But Cobra Kai is where I need and want to be right now."

Being in Cobra Kai was what Miguel needed as a fighter, as person, and as a man. He wasn't about to go to Miyagi-Do and play second fiddle to the sensei's daughter, his ex-girlfriend of all people, as well as his friend who had just won the championship. And he definitely wasn't going to Eagle-Fang and spend every day wringing the neck of his mortal enemy, once again the child of the sensei, who was dating? Oh yeah, another ex-girlfriend.

As he noticed a flash of worry fill Tory's eyes, he shook his head.

"Look, don't get me wrong, just because I'm going to be in Cobra Kai, it's not like I'm going to change. I'm not going to be starting any fights I don't need to, despite how infuriating I find your pissy boyfriend. If anything, me being in Cobra Kai will be able to grant me some semblance of control over the other students and help me prevent them from attacking people randomly. That being said though, if challenged, I'm sure as hell not going to back down. So as long as you make sure Eagle-Fang aren't starting or provoking us into anything, there's no reason why we can't all co-exist in harmony."

Tory eventually nodded.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." She murmured. "Just, for your own sake, don't try to pick a fight with Robby. Especially given that he hates you just as much as you hate him right now, it might not end so well for you."

Miguel chuckled lazily.

"Yeah? I'll take my chances." He replied quietly, and the two lapsed into silence again for a while. It was shocking, but in a good way, what the two had just gained for one another. They weren't about to get back together by any means. Quite frankly, neither had the same feelings they once did for each other. They weren't even friends right now. But one thing they did have was new-found respect for one another, enough for them and hopefully their dojos to remain neutral with each other. After a while, Tory finally stood up.

"Well… it was great talking to you again, Miguel."

"Yeah. Yeah, it was." Miguel murmured.

"I guess I'll see you around then." She said, before starting to turn around but remembering something, she turned back around to face him. "Hey, real quick, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what's up?" Miguel said.

"What do you know about Stingray?" She asked him. Miguel's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Huh?" He grunted.

"I thought he had been kicked out of Cobra Kai. In fact, I specifically remember Kreese kicking him out. How come he's back? He's hardly the type of recruit Silver wants for his dojo. I mean, he's the literal opposite of you."

Miguel shrugged.

"I really don't know. Like I said earlier, I've only been in Cobra Kai for a day." He stated. "But… what I do know is that he got the living shit beaten out of him by Kreese. And now that he's back, I'm going to hazard an educated guess and say that it was something about him agreeing not to sue Cobra Kai in return for being allowed back in."

Tory nodded, her face drooping slightly dejectedly. Well there goes that idea.

"There was one more thing though." Miguel continued, and Tory looked up again to look him in the eye. "Right after training, I was outside the bathroom and I heard him grumbling to himself while he was having a pee. He didn't know I was outside, but I heard him grumbling something about deserving to be Cobra Kai's champion because of "what he did for Sensei Silver". I don't know what that means or if it means anything to you, but those are pretty much the only interactions I've had with him."

Tory nodded, her mind whirring incredibly quickly as she instantly concocted a host of theories about something. Something hadn't sat right with her about the way Kreese was arrested. She didn't think that Kreese was incapable of doing something like that, but she just assumed that if it was anyone, it wouldn't be Stingray of all people he would do it to. And then when she had visited him in prison, he had fed her this outlandish tale about being framed by Silver to take control over the dojo or some shit. But now, hearing what Miguel had just said about Stingray, about "what he did for Sensei Silver," that shone Kreese's statement in a brand new light.

"Anyways, yeah that's about it. How come you're so curious about him?" Miguel asked. Tory shook her head slowly, trying to gather herself and her thoughts as her heart beat out of control.

"No, uh… nothing. Just, uh… just surprised to see him back, that's all." She stammered, before turning on her heel and swiftly walking away. Once she was gone, Miguel shrugged off that confusing final conversation, and sat back slightly, breathing in the sweet midsummer air of the valley. A pair of eyes were on him, but it wasn't Sam's like Tory had expected. It was instead someone who had just finished talking, unsuccessfully convincing his former mentee to join him at Eagle-Fang, only to spy his girlfriend with her ex, his mortal enemy, sitting together and chatting, beaming at each other wildly. Robby's fists curled tighter, to the point where his palms were practically bleeding from his nails cutting into them. Yeah, he definitely wasn't leaving tonight without a fight with Miguel…