Even before Sky stepped into the yard, she could hear the arguing voices. She stopped on her feet and leaned a hand on the wall for support as her stomach clenched on a tight knot.
Great. Just fucking fantastic.
After her talk with Tom, Sky had decided it was time to start getting out of the house, to start doing things she loved again - including karate. But now she was having some serious second thoughts. It seemed that Hawk hadn't been exaggerating when telling her that things were tenser than ever between the senseis. Sky had come here to regain at least some of her lost inner strength and calm, but now—
Calm? Strength? She made a face. From the sounds of it, the things she could learn from here were the opposite of those things.
"From everything I heard, it sounds to me like Miguel practiced restraint," Mr. LaRusso was saying with a tone Sky knew would piss Johnny off to no end. "He found a way to get out of a bad situation without anyone getting hurt. What did you want him to do? Get in a drive-in switchblade fight?"
Sky let out a silent groan as her fingers gripped around the strap of her gym bag that ran over her shoulder. Clearly, she had picked a bad day to return to the dojo. She could guess what that conversation was about - they were talking about the almost-fight that had happened at the drive-in the night before.
No one had asked Sky to go to see that blasted movie, which was just fine, she wouldn't have even wanted to attend— but still, it had hurt to know everyone was out there having fun, when she was sitting alone at home, crying her eyes out… But when Hawk had texted her later, telling about how Cobra Kai had again tried to pick a fight, and how Miguel had made complete fools out of them, Sky had been happy that she hadn't been there.
There was no fight left in her. She never wanted to face Kyler or Tory or any of the Cobras again. And she had no joy left in her either. She wouldn't have been able to laugh with her friends when they delighted over their mischief.
Her presence would have just ruined everything for her friends. The dark cloud that was constantly hanging over her head, would have dimmed the joy of their non-violent victory.
"I'm proud of you. You've taken Miyagi-Do teachings to heart." Mr. LaRusso went on, probably talking to Miguel, and Sky - still hiding behind the corner - let out a silent groan.
Why did he have to use that tone? Didn't he realize how condescending that sounded, how pissed it would make Johnny?
Even on her best day, Sky hated conflicts. And today was far from her best day. Thinking about going to the dojo had made her so nervous she had puked in the toilet - twice - and even now her heart was racing in her chest, making cold sweat run down her spine. She had come to get something else to think about, something else than the aching hole in her chest, to think about anything but Cody, and the way his death was her fault— but if it was going to be like this—
The last thing she needed in her life was more drama.
"Okay LaRusso, we need to have a talk—" Johnny said, and making a split-second decision, Sky forced her legs to move, forced herself to take the last couple of steps that brought her around the corner and into the yard.
Everyone's eyes turned to her and whatever Johnny had been about to say to , died mid-sentence.
"Ginger, you're back," he said, his voice raspy but gentle, and even if his face stayed cool, Sky saw how his throat bobbed.
Her chest ached. The way she had missed Jonnhy Lawrence—
Her Sensei. He had always seen the strength in her, even when she had been too lost to see it herself. He had made her believe she could crawl out of the darkness, he had turned her into someone strong, badass, powerful. He had made a champion out of a girl who had believed she was broken beyond repair.
"Yeah," she managed a husky reply. "Are we gonna kick ass or what?"
Johnny replied with a grin. "That's my girl—"
But Mr. LaRusso pushed past Johnny, walked to Sky, and laid his hands on her shoulders, his chocolate-brown eyes wide and full of emotion.
"Sky, I'm so sorry about Cody—" His voice broke. "When I heard— I couldn't believe it. He was such a wonderful young man. I can't even imagine what you must be going through."
His words were a dagger through Sky's aching heart, the pain was fresh and sharp, it took her breath away. Suddenly all the memories of Cody rushed back to her like a wave. She had walked into this yard with her hand in Cody's— all that week after Luke's death, that week leading up to their breakup— she had dragged him here with her because she had been a coward, too scared and nervous and broken to show up here alone—
And just like that, it wasn't just the school or her home that reminded her of him. It was this place too - the koi pond where Cody had dipped into to catch a fish, gasping at the coldness of the water, the patch on the grass where he had sat by her side and shared a snack with her, offering her green tea from his own flask, the sparring deck where Cody had trained with Miguel and Demetri, showing off his Muay Thai skills, glancing at Sky with a hesitant smile on his lips, to see if she was looking at him, if she was proud. She could still see him here, hear the sound of his voice, sense his presence as if some part of him still lingered—
But no, he was gone, he was dead, he had crossed the river. His head was in pieces, his blood coated his bed, and the walls, and Sky's hands, even if invisible now, she could still feel it, hot and sticky on her skin. Sky clenched her fists, nails digging into his palms, but it didn't help. Mr. LaRusso was still speaking, a comforting hand on her shoulder, but Sky could barely hear his words through the ringing of her ears.
"...how are you holding up, Sky? Is there anything I can do to help?"
Sky shook her head and looked down to hide the fact that her lips were trembling. She had specifically asked Sam to tell her dad not to bring Cody up, but either Sam had forgotten to mention that, or Mr. LaRusso had ignored that plea, thinking that he knew better, as always.
"I'm sorry, Mr. LaRusso," Sky forced the words out through her throat that wanted to clench up and stop her voice again. "I— I don't really want to talk about it."
"I understand you feel like that, but Sky—" He let out a breath, his hand lingered on her shoulder. "It's important to talk about what happened. To let out the pain. We are all here for you, and we just want to help. It's so important to talk about our emotions and go through them together…"
He kept talking, each word plummeting Sky deeper into her dark despair. She didn't have to look up from her sneakers to know that everyone was staring. Hawk, Demetri, Miguel, Sam— all her friends, they would see how she fell apart completely, how she turned into a broken, bawling mess— and not just them, Mitch and Chris too, and Nate and Bert— and worst of all, Jonny—
Johnny who had always believed there was strength in her, and now there was none. It had vanished into the thin air the moment Mr. LaRusso had started talking. Cody's pendant that Sky had turned into a bracelet, was hidden under the sleeve of her black hoodie - but the words it carried were nothing but sand in the wind. She wasn't fearless, she wasn't powerful. She was nothing but dust and shadows, and now everyone would see it, they would see her tears and her shame and her guilt, and God, how they must despise her. She never should have come. She wasn't ready, she couldn't do this, not without Cody—
"Hey, she said she doesn't want to talk about it." Johnny's rough voice cut through Mr. Larusso's sentence, making his hand finally drop from her shoulder.
"Oh. So you're now giving advice on how to work through grief? Sky has suffered an immeasurable loss. It needs to be dealt with—"
"Yeah, well, let her deal with it the way she wants to. Your way isn't the only way, you know." Johnny replied sharply, and Sky had never loved him more. Her chest filled with warmth that took her breath away as she brought her face up and blinked away the tears.
Mr. LaRusso let out a frustrated groan, turning to face Johnny. "So that's what this is about? You're taking even this moment and twisting it into some kind of a power struggle between us? I was only trying to help—"
"No, you're trying to shove your help down her throat when she says she doesn't want it—"
"Stop it! Neither one of you is helping her!" Hawk's raspy voice cut through the air like an ax, shutting even Johnny up mid-sentence, making Mr. LaRusso's brows shoot up on his forehead. "This isn't about you, or your stupid quarrel. Just leave her alone."
Hawk reached out his hand, and Sky took it as if it was a lifeline, letting him drag her out of the darkness that had threatened to drown her. He pulled her close and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, without even asking if he could. It wasn't a romantic gesture, just a friend offering comfort, defending her when she needed it the most, and Sky leaned into the warmth of his lean, strong body, leaned into his kindness, into the love that suddenly flowed clear and strong in her veins.
Mr. LaRusso opened his mouth to say something, but Sam interrupted him. "Hawk is right. We are all sick and tired of your fighting. Are we going to train or not?"
Sky threw her a grateful glance, and Sam replied to that with a small, tight-lipped smile. They still hadn't properly talked about the drift in their friendship that had happened after Luke's death— but it could wait. There would be time for that, Sky suddenly realized. There would be time to hang out and watch movies, time for sleepovers and cupcakes and takeaway pizza, time to go shopping for prom dresses together— Because she was alive, Cody's death hadn't claimed her life too, and Sam— she was her friend. A friend she had been ready to die for, and in that, nothing had changed.
If only the senseis could work out their differences too.
"You might wanna listen to your daughter," Johnny was saying to Mr. LaRusso, pointing a finger at his chest. "We're wasting time—"
But Mr. LaRusso wasn't listening. His widening eyes were fixated on something behind Johnny's back, and sensing the dread like a sudden cold shadow had fallen over them, Sky turned to look.
Her heart dropped to her feet.
Two men walked into Miyagi-Do, looking as if they owned the place, their steps long, the smiles on their faces confident and smug. Sky leaned closer to Hawk, drawing in a shocked gasp. She didn't know who the other man was, the tall one with a silver ponytail, but it hardly mattered. Seeing John Kreese - her former sensei - was enough to make her stomach turn.
Kreese— the evil behind everything Cobra Kai had become. The man who had taken Eli and twisted him with lies and promises into the worst possible version of himself. The man who had deliberately found the worst bullies of the whole Valley and breathed more hate and arrogance into their minds, turning them into weapons, into monsters, into his personal army.
Sky felt like she would be sick.
Before meeting Kreese, Kyler had been a pathetic high-school bully. Now he was out there, murdering people.
"Gentlemen, it seems we have a few things to discuss," the tall man spoke, clapping his hands together to get everyone's attention, but Sky barely heard him.
She couldn't draw her eyes off Kreese, his wrinkled face, his confident stance. The last time she had seen him, had been months ago at the dojo, on the day when she had found Cody injured in his bed. She had gone raging to Cobra Kai, spitting venom and anger at Hawk's and Kyler's faces, telling Kreese what kind of a disgusting worm he was, calling each and every one of the Cobras a coward and a bully.
But she had been someone else back then. A girl with purpose, with strength, with a beating heart.
Now she stood in front of Kreese, barely a shadow of what she had been. The wind blew right through her, as the old man glanced at her from head to toe, letting out a chuckle as if it brought him joy to see how sad and broken she was, how powerless she had become.
Sky knew she should have stayed and stared him down, keeping her chin up, but—
Her chest hurt. Breathing was impossible. She wanted nothing to do with Kreese, nothing to do with the stupid drama between the dojos, the drama that was getting people hurt and killed and injured. She wanted nothing to do with Kreese or Cobra Kai or that tall man and his obnoxious smile—
Freeing herself from under Hawk's arm, she turned and fled, like the coward she was.