CHAPTER 128
"Can I help you with this?" Marcos asked as he and Sarah walked into the kitchen at Sarah's house and saw Sarah's mom standing at the counter, slicing some vegetables to add to the salad she was making.
"Marcos!" Sarah's mom exclaimed, pleasantly surprised to see his familiar figure walking into the kitchen. "I'm glad you decided to come!"
"Thank you for having me." Marcos replied. "Please let me help chop the vegetables. With the number of times you've had me for dinner in the past month, it's the least I can do."
"If you insist. Thank you, Marcos." Sarah's mom said, handing Marcos the knife and allowing him to take over. "If only some of your manners rubbed off on our daughter…"
"Hey!" Sarah exclaimed indignantly from the stove, where she began to help mixing the pasta sauce that was being made. "See! I told you, Marcos! They love you more than they love me!"
"Well that was never in doubt." Sarah's mom jokingly shot back at her daughter, before turning to Marcos. "I must say… I'm still shocked that you're back, Marcos."
"Trust me, I feel the exact same way." Marcos said. "I never imagined I'd be back here, let alone only 3 months after I left."
"Well you deserve it. Remember that." Sarah's mom said. "After what you had to go through, you deserve the world, sweetheart. Remember that."
"Thanks, Mrs. Gledhill." Marcos smiled at her and replied. "And thank you so much for opening your home to me not just these past few months, but even before I left. I know that I can't have started out in your good books, what with Sarah wanting to transfer out of private school and everything."
"You're the person who makes my daughter happier than I've ever seen her. For that, you were in my good books from day 1." Sarah's mom replied. "And you're always welcome here. I can't imagine you were eating meals like these in Brazil. I can't imagine things were very easy or nice."
"The meals were nothing like this, that's for sure." Marcos laughed. "But you know what? Going back there… in a weird way, it was honestly exactly what I needed. It was kind of a great thing for me."
"How so?" Sarah's mom asked curiously.
"Well for one, I was able to reconnect with my roots. In the leadup to my deportation, in the weeks and months leading up to it, I kind of lost sight of everything I was fighting for. The people. The country. The aspirations. Going back reminded me of all of it. It also completely reset my priorities. It reminded me that being alive, being healthy, being safe… they aren't a given. They're blessings. And waking up every morning is something I need to be thankful for. I can't let whatever happened in the past affect how I live today, as who knows if I'll still be here tomorrow?"
"Well I'm glad you managed to find the inner peace and clarity you needed." Sarah's mom said. "Selfishly, I still wish you never left though! I need my sous-chef in the kitchen and Sarah's absolutely useless!"
"I kinda have to agree with you there. The other day after training, we decided to go back to my apartment and make some lunch. She somehow managed to burn bread! Like how do you even burn bread?!" Marcos remarked.
"It wasn't my fault your toaster was set to like level 1000 and I didn't notice!" Sarah defended herself. "Anyways, mom, I'm sorry to say but your sous-chef is going away again for another two weeks. Your daughter too, not that you'd really care!"
The playful bantering and joking from all parties was a testament to the close relationship Marcos had developed with the Gledhills. He was part of the family, nothing less than that. He wasn't just the boyfriend that they invited over every so often out of courtesy. They genuinely loved his company and had sincere affection for him
"Ah yes. My two future world champions. How are you guys feeling? You must be excited, especially with all the training you've put in?"
"Excited for sure." Sarah replied. "Like you said, we've been training for this for a while. It's going to be great to finally show off everything we've learned to the world."
"And to be on TV too… wow, I can't believe it, you guys! My kids are going to be on TV!" Sarah's mom exclaimed. "I'm torn whether or not to watch it, or if my anxiety just can't take it."
It was honestly a crazy thought. If the students even made the first knockout round of the Taikai, they'd get to be broadcasted before the entire world on TV, streamed by up to millions of people throughout the week of fighting. An immigrant from Rio de Janeiro and a basic girl from L.A through the power of the internet, would quite possibly have their lives changed forever.
"What about you, Marcos? Any nerves creeping in?" Sarah's mom asked, turning to him. "You've been training for longer than anyone, right? And by the looks of it, you don't seem to have slowed down when living in Brazil."
Sarah's mom said this as she playfully squeezed her daughter's boyfriend's arm, feeling the solid bicep.
"Mom!" Sarah exclaimed, embarrassed as both Marcos and Sarah's mom laughed at her discomfort.
"Not too nervous. Not yet at least." Marcos replied. "I know for a fact that nobody there wants to win the tournament as much as I do. I also know that it's unlikely that anyone's trained for longer than I have. So even if there are people better than me, people who have trained in a more formal environment for their whole lives, there's nobody who's going to be impossible for me to beat if I put in the work. I have it only in my own hands whether I win the Taikai or not, and I'm definitely not going to let it slip away."
"I'm so proud of you. I'm so proud of both of you. You know that right?" Sarah's mom stated, feeling like a proud mother to both of them, even if she was only the biological mother of one of them.
"Thanks, mom. We know." Sarah replied. "So are you and dad still planning on coming to Japan to support if we make the finals?"
"We wouldn't miss it." Her mom told her. "Not to put any extra pressure on you guys or anything."
"Not pressure. Incentive." Marcos said. "No way we can't make the finals now."
"Well just know, even if both of you come in dead last, I'll be equally proud of the fact that you managed to make it this far." Sarah's mom reminded them.
"Thanks, Mrs. Gledhill." Marcos replied. "I think the salad's done by the way."
"Pasta's done too." Sarah added. Sarah's mom smiled widely at the kids and nodded.
"Awesome! Let's eat!"
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"Thank you all for coming." Daniel couldn't help but smile as he stared out at the group of 6 students standing opposite him and the 3 other senseis standing beside him.
They couldn't believe it. It was finally the night before they left for the Taikai. Several times over the past year, when things were at their absolute worst, when the Miyagi-Dos had doubted that they'd even make it to this day. But they had. And in around 24 hours, Daniel, Johnny, Chozen and Barnes, as well as Miguel, Robby, Hawk, Demetri Sam and Tory would be in Tokyo, Japan.
"How are you guys doing today? I know we didn't train or anything, so I hope you guys managed to have a relaxing day." Daniel said.
That, the teenagers had. For the past 48 hours, the minutes seemed to drag by, all of them wanting desperately to get on that plane already. So at some point, all of them ended up at Miguel and Robby's apartment complex, where the 6 of them ended up simply sitting around and chatting for most of the afternoon. Time had thankfully sped up again as all of them opened up about how they were feeling going into the tournament, no secrets between the tightly bonded group by this point. They shared what they were excited about, what they were nervous about, what they feared. They were about to enter the biggest, most important fight of their lives and although the senseis didn't enjoy talking about the bet with Cobra Kai as they didn't want it to put unnecessary stress on them, it was impossible not to think about for the students. If they lost, Cobra Kai would be able to run rampant through the Valley, unable to be stopped without the presence of Miyagi-Do to protect the innocent teenagers.
"You've all done really well up until this point." Johnny said, in a calmer tone very much unlike his typical bark. "No matter what happens, none of you can say that you gave anything less than your all, so you should all be proud of yourselves for that."
"For what it's worth, we definitely are proud of you." Barnes stated. "Win or lose, none of you should be disappointed."
"But you know all of this. I'm sure you do. So that's not the reason we called you all here." Daniel said. "You've heard us talk plenty in the past year. Probably too much at times. Which is why right now, on the eve of our flight to Japan, we wanted to see if any of you had anything you wanted to say to your fellow teammates. Anything at all."
There was a short silence before the first person spoke up. Not so shockingly, it was the most talkative boy in the dojo speaking. Demetri turned to address his friends.
"Look, I know that I'm hardly the favorite to win the tournament. And I know that all of the rest of you have what it takes to win the tournament. You all deserve it quite frankly. However, I wanted to remind everyone of the fact that at the end of the day, only 1 boy and 1 girl are going to go home champion. At least 4 people from our dojo are going to go home disappointed."
Eyes flickered around the dojo as they processed what Demetri was saying.
"I say all of this to remind you guys that no matter who is lifting the trophy at the end of the tournament, win together, lose together, we're a team."
"Demetri's right." Miguel chimed in. "None of us would be where we are if not for everyone else around us. So if one of us wins, all of us win. Whether it be the senseis who taught us. Or the partners who agreed to spar with us even if they didn't want to. Or the friends who were there for us when we were at our lowest, when we were struggling to keep going."
"He's right." Sam added. "And we also need to remember the fact that Cobra Kai's good. They're going to be very, very good at the Taikai, no doubt about that. We can't risk splitting our dojo or causing a civil war because of individual interests. We're fighting not for ourselves, but for this dojo. For everything it has given us and everything we want it to be able to give students in the future. We're only going to win this if we have a completely united front."
"Very well put, Sam." Daniel agreed. "If I could just add one thing though. While I do appreciate all of your loyalty to this dojo in that you want to fight for us, that's great, however I don't want it to take away from the fact that you've worked so hard to get here so you deserve to be able to enjoy every second of it. The foremost thought on your mind should not be about Cobra Kai, or the bet, or anything like that. It should be about enjoying the opportunity that you've all worked so hard to earn for yourselves. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you guys. Don't be afraid to stop and enjoy it."
"Yes, sensei." They all chanted. As the moon gently beamed down on them and the wind quietly whistled, Miyagi-Do were completely at ease. They were at peace. Despite the fact that in a few days, everything they'd been working towards for a year could come to nothing, none of them were thinking about that now. There was nothing in the air but loyalty, love and excitement.
"Now… all of you go home, get some sleep if you can. It's an early start tomorrow morning. All of us need to be at the airport by 5 am." Daniel instructed.
"Eat a good dinner tonight." Barnes instructed. "Not junk or fast food or any of that fatty shit. You're going to want food high in carbs. And drink a LOT of water! Trust me, I know from experience the difference a good diet can make in the leadup to these things."
Daniel nodded.
"You heard it from the National champ. Little details, guys, can make all the difference." He told them. "But for now, go home. Get some sleep. It's going to be a big day for all of us tomorrow…"