Lucille wakes slowly; she turns over with a low moan as her eyes flutter before opening completely; the apartment was silent, and that was probably her first clue that something was wrong. Even with the twins now making up, they still argued the building down in the mornings.

Mainly over cereal and which channel to watch on their crappy tv.

She can admit things here were not what she was expecting when she asked her kids to pack up and leave their lives behind. She was expecting some brand new role in her job at Rocket computers; instead, she gets all the way to California to be told the company had gone bust.

Luckily for her, she was able to snag the hostess job at the Oriental Express, it wasn't what she planned, but she needed to keep a roof over her kids head and make sure they were happy and healthy even if they disagreed with her at times.

It was hard saying no to things they really wanted to do, but it was her job to make sure they were safe; that's why she wasn't letting Daniel...-.

Lucille's eyes narrow as she slowly turned over again, and her eyes glanced towards the bedside table where she expected the paper to be sat, but it wasn't there.

The silence suddenly became very clear to her as she threw back the covers and hurries out of her room.

Marching down the hall, she opens the door to her eldest twins room, but it was empty. Her gut twisted, so she clung onto hope that he was, for some reason annoying his sister to wake her up. Throwing open her daughter's door, her hope dissipated when her room was also vacant.

Looking towards Kat's mirror, she closed her eyes and rubbed her face with a sigh when she read the two words written in bright pink lipstick, "I'm sorry."

:::

I let out an annoyed sigh when Daniel backed away from the ring and into us with a look of fear on his face; Mr. Miyagi had already given him a quick pep talk, but it seemed to do almost nothing as my brother jumped away from the oncoming attack.

"Come on, Daniel, Nonna fights back better than you," I yelled at him while he gazed at me in shock as I held him by the arms, steering him back towards the mat where his opponent was waiting for him.

"but our Nonna's dead," Daniel stuttered, shaking his head at me like I was insane talking about our dead grandmother who was probably rolling in her grave right about now.

Looking my twin in the eye, I gave him a serious nod, I knew what I said, and I stood by it. "I know, and she would still kick his ass harder than you" the guy on the mat raised his eyebrow at me as I just raised my hands in feigned innocence "she's Italian."

Like that made it any better.

"Run out of the ring once more, it'll cost you a point," the referee told my brother, who just nodded and got himself into position. "On guard. Ready?" both boys nodded as the ref threw his hand down.

Daniel's opponent ran at him just as my brother lifted his leg and kicked him in the gut sending him down to the mat writhing in pain. "That's one, Daniel, come on," Ali shouted as everyone clapped "One more!".

While my twin got ready for another round, I glanced around at the audience as a thought came to me "I can't believe people actually come here to watch other people get hurt and clap for it. How come when I hit someone no-one claps for me?".

Ali and Miyagi both turned to look at me slowly as a small pout forms on my face.

Once again, the match starts with the referee throwing down his hand, and this time my brother dodged an oncoming attack and chop his hand down on the other guy's back as the crowd cheers.

"Alright, Daniel, you're the best!" I huffed a laugh when Ali grabbed onto my arm and began shaking me as she jumped up and down, cheering for my brother, who looks very proud of himself. "You're the best, Daniel!".

Catching the official's eye from earlier, I gave him a polite wave as he watches me closely, suspicion clearly was written on his face, but I knew there was nothing he could or would do about me.

Turning to the next ring, I smiled as Bobby successfully and gracefully won his match; I sent him a thumbs up when his eyes meet mine, and he nods happily. I'm glad I could find some type of balance between my friends and my family.

"Katherine Anne LaRusso"

A shiver ran down my spine at those 3 simple words, each syllable wrapped in an inpatient and wrathful tone. I almost didn't turn around, and the fearful gaze my brother had in my direction only made it worse.

"Ma..." I laughed as I faced the Italian woman whose foot had begun tapping against the floor, her arms were crossed against her chest, and her eyebrows were nearly touching her hairline. All in all, I was screwed.

"I thought I told you two no" Ma was seething. I could almost feel the phantom pain of a slipper against my backside. "How did you even get him into the tournament? I didn't sign the-.

I let out a sheepish laugh as her eyes narrowed on mine even more.

"-I'm going to stand here and let you tell me that you didn't forge my signature, and I don't want to hear any lies," She stated, knowing I had done it before. The calmness of her voice was more terrifying to me than when she was screaming at us like a banshee.

"Then I can't tell you that" My Ma let out a tired sigh as her arms dropped, but I was quick to hold them in earnest. "I'm sorry, ok, but he needed this, Ma. You don't understand. I don't think I even understand, though at least I'm trying to".

Ma just shook her head at me. "He's not ready for things like this, Katherine, these kids are trained for years by professional teachers" I rolled my eyes and let her rant at me before turning her around to face the scoreboard.

"Look Ma, he's winning his matches" It was there in giant bold print 'LaRusso' I watched as Ma's eyes flicker over the board in surprise. "I know the saying is 'you have to learn to walk before you can run', well you taught us to walk, Ma" she silently turned back to face me "now let us teach ourselves how to run."