A/N: Hi, here with one of my annual Christmas stories. Getting a start early haha. Been watching a lot of Hallmark Christmas movies and it's getting me in the holiday spirit early. This is inspired by certain Christmas songs, the ones mentioned in the summary which do not belong to me. I also do not own Cobra Kai or the Karate Kid, belongs to the creators and respective owners. This is a pretty large AU in certain ways, a little bit different than the show, but some elements of the show will be played with and adapted. Hope you enjoy this opening. This is also cross posted to AO3, I am on there as MissTif
Chapter One: Screw Christmas Cards
Johnny heard a knock on the door and crushed the beer can in his hand as he clicked off the TV playing another saccharine Christmas movie. Halloween hadn't even ended yet. "Alright, alright I'm comin',"
A child stood at his apartment door, couldn't be more than eight. "Hello Sir, I'm selling Christmas cards to raise money for our music program. They're only five dollars for a whole box."
"You've got to be fucking kidding me, it's not even November, wait a day at least kid, you'll do better for it."
The kid's lip had quivered as fat tears formed in his eyes and the box of cards had fallen to the ground spilling askew.
Johnny would say later he was too drunk to notice the mother standing behind her little angel, but that slap with that damn ring on her hand hooking his jaw sobered him right up. "Fucking bitch," He rubbed his cheek and was about to close the door when he nearly stepped on the box. "Hey!" He called down the hall. "You forgot one of your—ah forget it…" He mumbled. He picked up the box and brought it into his apartment. He had every intention of just tossing the lot of them, but there was one sticking slightly out and he pulled it.
An illustration of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer stared back at him in all its cartoonish glory, and a sudden memory hit him.
It had been one of the last correspondences he's gotten from Shannon, or really not Shannon at all, not really. Her note had been a half page. It was Robby's that had stuck out. She'd sent two that time, not just one from his son. Probably because it was Christmas. And one of the letters hadn't been to him at all. But to Santa, and it wasn't a list of gifts not entirely. It was questions, lots of them. The usual standards: how do you deliver to all those kids in one night? How many elves actually work on Christmas and what's their schedule like? Do you get to eat cookies all the time or does Mrs. Claus lock them in a cabinet like mommy? But one of them is what struck him. How did you get Rudolph's Daddy to not leave him? And that question, well it made him pause, but he didn't answer the letters, either of them. Because what could he say? How would anyone answer that question, even Santa Claus? He'd left his kid before he even really met him. There was no way to justify that.
So when he saw the Christmas card, Johnny did something that even surprised him. He sat down and wrote out a holiday message, placed it in an envelope and addressed it where he knew it would be received. Because even though it had been 16 years and several weeks, he knew where his son would be. And he would swallow his pride to at least give this a shot.
A/N: So next, we will see how things are going for Robby at this point. Let me know what you think so far. :)