Carrying on the Torch

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie

A/N:

Chapter 11 (Beaten, but Not Out)

Charlotte walked into the house with her hand over her stomach, the first day of class had been rough indeed. They learned a few moves, such as punches, types of kicks, and blocking. Then they practiced a form, which she didn't get right off the bat, but the instructor took it slowly and guided the class through it. There were different formations for each level, or color, of belt. She would move up from the white belt one day, but it would be a while. As long as she kept practicing, she would be good. Afterwards, they had another sparring match. Everyone had been assigned a partner, but because Charlotte was the odd one out, Miss Keener sparred with Sierra while she got the yellow belt that Sierra had sparred earlier. The guy was clearly agitated with how that match had gone, because he definitely did not hold back.

He did hit below the belt a bit and broke some of the rules, evidently he did not like losing. After a few minutes, and some literal downtime, Jo and Sierra stepped in and penalized him. Several of the advanced students were ordered to spar against him all at once while the rest of the class watched on. Needless to say, the level of intensity was thick, and the guy did not come out of that match any less bruised as she was, but rather, more bruised.

Other things she learned in that day, the order of the belts. White, Orange, Yellow, Camouflage, Green, Purple, Blue, Brown, Red, Red and Black, then finally Black. Including Charlotte and the new student, there were five white belts in the class. two yellow belts, one camouflage belt, three green belts, two purple, one blue, three brown belts, two red belts, one red and black, and finally four people with Black belts. All the colors of the spectrum, minus the orange, had been fulfilled. However, she was curious as to whether the guy with the yellow belt would wind up being demoted to Orange.

Along with the types of belts, she learned their meanings. White meant, simply, the student has no knowledge of Taekwondo and begins with a clean, pure slate. A rather obvious conclusion when one looked at her, but that was fine, she would learn. Then one day, she wanted to beat the living shit out of the yellow belt, as respectfully as possible, of course, and assuming Skyler didn't pull her out after the first day fiasco.

"How was your first day?" PJ asked from the couch. He was watching some cop show on television, and Teddy was sitting on the floor with a stuffed bear. Charlotte looked at PJ and chuckled nervously as his face turned to shock, she had bruises on her arms and was bent slightly. Skyler stormed into the house, and if she had the capability, the whole place would be on fire.

"She got all bruised up on her first day!" Skyler shouted, the anger in her voice shook the house. PJ flinched and Charlotte's eyes drifted skyward. "Some hard-ass decided to beat her up on her first day! The instructor said he broke the rules and even used some non martial arts moves on her! Can you believe that?" It wasn't that bad, but of course, once Skyler got pissed, she remained that way for a while. PJ rose from the couch and moved over to Charlotte.

"No broken bones? Well, did he get his ass kicked after that?" She chuckled and slowly nodded. It wasn't something to take pleasure in, but it was definitely amusing. Charlotte straightened herself up, wincing as her stomach and chest burned her.

"Miss Keener had him spar two of the black belts, one of the red belts, and one of the brown belts all at the same time. He came out in worse shape. I'll be fine, though. No broken bones, just a little bruising. That'll go away in time." PJ smiled and rubbed her head. Skyler slowly exhaled and walked over to the baby, picking her up and holding her.

"Her first day. She could get a few bruises, but she's not supposed to be that beaten up on her first day. She's never even been in fights before, how's she supposed to handle something so overwhelming!" Charlotte folded her arms over and breathed in. It did hurt to breathe, but at least, it gave her something to think about in regards to the classes. Now she knew what was to be expected, so she would expect it and train to endure. The stronger she became, the better, and eventually, she would drop kick the guy with the yellow belt as soon as she could.

"He's not allowed to spar me anymore, Skyler…"

"Good! I don't want you fighting someone who doesn't play by the rules!"

"Sometimes, that's the best way to learn. 'Most opponents won't fight by the rules', Miss Keener's words herself. I'll get better, and when I do, I'll beat him myself…by following the rules."

"That guy's lucky they sent him home before I got there." She could imagine what would happen had he been there when Skyler arrived, the poor guy probably wouldn't have seen the light of day for a long time. Where PJ said her own mother went by the name 'mama bear', Skyler was, in every way, as much a 'mama bear' as Amy had been. Obviously remembering the same thing, PJ made an attempt to calm her down.

"Okay relax, I'm not happy with it either, but it is a learning experience. Just another hole in the belt for her, I'd say it can give her a good drive to improve. Right, Charlotte?" She nodded and Skyler stared at PJ for a minute, her chest was moving in and out at a full pace, it was clear she was making some effort to calm down. She'd been ranting through the whole car ride home.

"I suppose. I'm going to the medicine cabinet, get some ointment and creams for those cuts and bruises…" As she walked off, Charlotte and PJ looked at each other with wry smiles. Skyler was amazing, there was no denying that, she always wanted to protect her small clan at all costs. Charlotte couldn't think of anyone better fit to take care of her, so she was eternally grateful that she came back to PJ all those years ago.

After an hour, she'd taken a shower and been medicated by Skyler, so now she was resting on her bed with Teddy curled up next to her. They didn't have a dog to cuddle up with, but a baby worked just fine. She was on the phone having a three way conversation with Regina and Dee. Where Regina was going on about how she thought Charlotte should have just hit back once the guy started breaking the rules, Dee stated the right thing had been done by letting the teacher and the advanced students deal with it.

Once he started fighting out of style, she simply stopped and let him continue hitting her. One of the other students alerted Miss Keener at that point and the woman rushed over with Sierra, who was still fresh even after sparring. At that point, several of the advanced had already pulled the guy off her and were holding him still. Jo gave him a very stern talking to, just before ordering him punished at the hands of the advanced. At that point, Charlotte was well aware that the instructor would not tolerate illicit behavior from anyone.

"She'll get the opportunity soon enough," Dee stated with certainty. Regina sighed in desperation and started to say something, but was cut off by Dee, "She already said she was going to start practicing to get stronger. It won't be long before she does hand the guy's ass to him."

"I suppose. I just think the guy's an asshole. Anyway, moving on from that subject…Tell us more about the instructor, you think she recognized you from somewhere?"

"I don't know that I'd say that, it's just…she looked like she was crying when I brought up my family. Now before you scold me for bringing them up, she asked." She heard her friends respond skeptically and exhaled. They were always getting onto her for talking about her family, and they were right, it wasn't anyone else's business. Hell, they even teased her for always having that laptop with her. In fact, it was sitting on the desk in her room as they spoke. She moved her eyes to the laptop and shrugged her shoulders. "Although, the name Jo Keener did sound familiar, just vaguely."

"You wonder if she knew your family at all?"

"I don't know, she seems young…I'm not sure how old she is, but twelve years, it seems like she'd be fairly young back then. She isn't married either, no ring, and she has the title of Miss, not Mrs." She looked like she would have been around the same age as Gabe back in the day, so maybe they knew each other. It would make since if they did. "I don't really want to ask her, because if she did know them, I don't want to cause any awkward tension."

"I can understand that," Dee remarked. Charlotte glanced over as Teddy began to stir. The baby laughed and the girls cooed. "Aw, you have baby with you?"

"Yeah. I'm about to do another video diary, though."

"Well don't let us stop you!" She laughed and the girls wished her well. Tomorrow would be a new day, and she was reminded to not let Skyler go into the dojo after taking her there, for fear that she might attack the yellow belt. After a minute more of talking and laughing together, they hung up and Charlotte hopped off the bed.

She rushed to her desk and grabbed the camera from next to the laptop. She flipped it open and held it in front of her, smiling as she brushed her hair over her shoulder. "Hey Teddy, well today was the first day of Taekwondo, and I learned a lot. I also had an interesting experience, note the makeup on my cheek…" She pointed to her face and closed her eyes. "I got beat up by some jerk, but don't worry, I'm going to get stronger and I'm going to beat him up next time!" She turned her eyes to the door, she could hear PJ walking around outside. He was probably turning everything off before heading to bed, so he'd be coming in to get Teddy soon.

"Well I have to make this one fast, it's ten o'clock now, and I think you're getting sleepy over there." She turned the camera onto Teddy, who simply stared at it with half lidded eyes. She returned the camera to herself and flashed a toothy grin. "Your mom wasn't too happy when she saw all my bruises. Your grandmother was known as the 'mama bear' of the family, and well, your mom is just as protective." Laughing at the memory, she didn't catch PJ opening the door. She looked over and sighed as PJ stood, giving her time to finish. "Oh, it's your dad!" She turned the camera to PJ, who waved at the camera.

"Hello Teddy. It's bedtime. You too, Charlotte."

"Yep." Once more, she returned the camera to herself. PJ walked around her and picked up his daughter from the bed. "Hey, one day you might be the next martial arts master like me. With a mama bear like Skyler, if you ever meet a guy like the one at my class…" PJ walked behind Charlotte and looked over her shoulder, raising his eyebrows.

"Good luck, Teddy." Charlotte laughed and turned off the camera. She was insanely tired as well, the beating really took a lot out of her. Once PJ walked out of the room, she threw herself onto the bed and sprawled out, immediately beginning to drift off into slumber, not paying attention to the light. She was just awake enough to hear Skyler walk in a few minutes later. She felt the blanket move over her and rolled around, her eyes still closed. The light flicked off.

"Good night," Skyler whispered. She moaned softly and rolled onto her side. Too drowsy to care about anything other than sleep.

"Good night, mom…" She heard the door close, making barely enough sound to disturb her. Sure, she was in pain, but tomorrow would be a new day, and she was looking more forward to the taekwondo than anything else.

Cute ending there. Skyler's pretty protective, I suppose that's a good way to be after all these years. Hope you enjoyed this chapter