And just like that, it was time for the All Valley tournament.
Sky wasn't really nervous, she felt rather stoic about it all. It had always been like that in her past Capoeira tournaments as well. Winning or losing just didn't mean so much to her, and as it had always been obvious that it would be Kat who won, or maybe Paulo - Kat's brother - if he participated, there had been no reason to be nervous. Now there would be no Kat to take the trophy, of course, but Sky was still in a similar mindset - she was pretty sure Miguel would win, or maybe someone from some other dojo. She had no idea how good the other competitors were going to be.
The only thing that made her a bit scared was the possibility of another flashback, but she hadn't had those since the last one at the dojo weeks ago. And it wasn't for the lack of trying - she had put Miguel through Hell every day, making him hit her so that it hurt, so that the tears were running down her face, and still, she hadn't fallen down that dark spiral.
So she could only hope it wouldn't happen today either.
She just wanted to get through this in one piece, to prove herself that she was finally standing on her own two feet again. And of course, she wanted to make dad proud.
Dad's excitement had been almost too much. He'd been wearing a Cobra Kai T-shirt and had prepared a huge sign that had said "Veni, vidi, vici! Sky for the Win!" and was so fucking embarrassing that Sky had put up a fight and plain refused to get in the car if he brought that thing.
The sign had been left at home, but it had done nothing to lessen Dad's excitement - and yeah, even if it was embarrassing, it also made Sky happy. It felt nice there was someone rooting for her.
Dad had already gone in to find his seat, but Sky was still hanging outside with the other Cobras waiting for their Sensei, who was running late. It was then that Bert opened his mouth and told them he had seen Johnny last night at the minimart completely wasted and urinating on his car.
"He did what?" Sky said, her brows furrowed, and Bert repeated what he had just said.
Aisha was clearly upset. "Well, why didn't you tell us this earlier?"
"I don't know, I guess I'm just so used to seeing him drunk that it didn't seem like that big a deal." Bert shrugged.
"Well, we're here and he's not!" Hawk stated, his whole posture nervous and agitated. "So it's officially a big deal. What if something's happened to him?"
"Like what?" Bert asked, but Sky noticed he looked a bit nervous now too.
"I don't know, like he drove his car off a cliff, or he bought a gun and–" Hawk stopped talking mid-sentence, glancing at Sky as if realizing that talking about suicide or shooting people could maybe trigger her.
Sky took his hand in a reassuring manner, their fingers entwined.
"He's gonna be here, stop worrying," she said. "I'm sure he's fine."
"How can you know?"
"I just know. He wouldn't bail on us."
Despite the disturbing news about Sensei being even more wasted than usual, Sky had total confidence in him. Since their conversation at his doorway a couple of weeks ago, Sky had been sure of one thing - that he would get her back. Sensei had done everything in his power to make her strong, to make her tough, to make her confident - she knew he would not fail her now.
He was probably just hungover and late, but they still had plenty of time.
Hawk didn't seem convinced, but just as he started saying that they were going to have to do this without Sensei, Sky spotted someone in the crowd near the entrance.
She stopped listening to the conversation, it was as if everything around her just disappeared, as if she was dragged through time and space. Her heart stopped beating, it fell from her ribcage to the sidewalk, taking all her cool with it.
Can it really be…?
Oh my God, he really came!
And then, without a word, without a glance towards Hawk, she let go of his hand and she was running, she was flying through the yard, pushing through the crowd towards the tall, dark-skinned boy she would have recognized anywhere.
He was walking towards the entrance, wearing a pair of jeans and a green T-shirt, his long dreadlocks falling to his back. He looked just like Sky remembered, except older, not like a kid anymore but a young man - and her heart was back in her ribcage, it was climbing up her throat and she could barely breathe.
"Paulo—!" she cried, already tasting tears.
He swirled around, and barely managed to catch her as she threw herself into his arms, tears running down her face.
"You came!" she sobbed, pressing her face into his shoulder, breathing in the familiar scent of his aftershave - a hint of rosemary and cedarwood.
"I told you I would," his low voice replied, and his arms held her steady, cradled her as if she was a child.
"Yeah, you did."
"Didn't you believe me?"
She didn't reply, not with words. Her hands gripped the back of his shirt, he rested his chin on the top of her head and just held her as her tears soaked his T-shirt. Gods, she had missed him so much, she only now realized it. In his arms, Sky instantly remembered all the times he had held her like this - when she'd been just a kid and had been crying because some asshole had bullied her in school (Paulo had beaten the crap out of that guy afterward), all the times when she'd been watching a movie at their place and Paulo had thrown an arm over her shoulder in a brotherly gesture (making Sky's heart go wild in her chest in not a siblingly way at all), and the worst time - when she had stood by Kat's grave and cried her eyes out, Paulo's arms around her the only thing keeping her from falling apart.
A couple of raw sobs escaped from Paulo's lips as if he too remembered the last time they had stood like this.
"I missed you, Firefly," he finally said a bit throatily, and that one sentence broke Sky's heart into pieces.
"I missed you too," she took a shaky inhale. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything–"
"Hey, you don't have to be sorry about anything!"
But Sky knew she really did. For getting Kat killed, for running away like a coward, for not replying to Paulo's emails—
The list of the shitty things she had done to him was pretty endless, but somehow that didn't drag her down, not now, not anymore, and holding him like this, she didn't feel sad - she felt like she'd come home after a long, exhausting trip.
"Sky, what the—" said a voice behind her, an angry voice, and Sky felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Hawk!" She quickly released herself from Paulo's arms, her cheeks heating, and turned to look at her boyfriend. Hawk was glancing from her to Paulo and back with a furious expression, and immediately Sky felt annoyed.
She wiped her tears off with the back of her hand. Hawk's blue eyes took that in, but he still looked annoyed and hurt - as if he had any right to feel that way.
"Sky, who the fuck is this?" Hawk asked, tilting his head towards Paulo.
Sky's stomach turned. She hated it when Hawk got jealous, hated it so much it made her sick.
"This is Paulo," she stated, very clearly. "Kat's brother."
His throat bobbed, as he glanced from Sky to Paulo. "Kat's brother–?"
"Yes," Sky rolled her eyes at him. "Paulo, this jealous ass-hat is my boyfriend, Hawk."
Paulo arched his brows and took a look at Hawk. He was a really tall guy, just like Kat had been tall too, and he towered over Hawk as he looked down at him, clearly unaffected by the narrowed stare Hawk was still giving him. The corner of his mouth turned into a crooked smile.
"In your email, you said your boyfriend is cute and kind," Paulo noted to Sky with a laugh. "This the same dude?"
"Yeah, I'm Sky's boyfriend," Hawk said pointedly, meeting Paulo's stare. "You got a problem with that?"
"Just saying that I hope you're treating her good. If you're not - well, then we have a problem."
Hawk was just about to answer - something stupid and hot-headed by the look on his face, as Sky placed a hand on his chest.
"Enough of this stupid macho shit," she said rather pointedly. "And I mean both of you!"
Hawk opened his mouth, but seeing the look in Sky's eyes, he wisely closed it again. They'd had a couple of fights about this subject - him being stupid jealous when there was absolutely no reason to be, and Sky really didn't feel like getting into one of those fights again. Things have been so good with him lately - better than good - and that was the way she wanted to keep it.
It didn't mean she was going to start apologizing when there was nothing to apologize for, though.
She turned her eyes back at Paulo, and once again her heart thumped in her chest as she took in his familiar looks. He looked so much like Kat, that it hurt her in more ways than she could put in words - his tall frame, his dark eyes, the skin that was just a shade lighter than Kat's had been, the smile that was always there, lingering in the corner of his mouth.
"You look good," Paulo said. "Like, really good."
She knew what he meant. The last time he'd seen her, she had been on the brink of death after her suicide attempt, so probably anything was an improvement if you compared to that.
"You look good too," she said, and then added with a shrug. "Not that you didn't always look good, but you know."
Because he had been through Hell after Kat's death too. Sky still remembered the strangled, violent sobs that had torn out of his chest, the hollow, haunted look in his eyes - and suddenly it felt so weird to have him here, after a full year, and to realize that time had indeed passed, and that even if it didn't always feel like it, time did indeed heal wounds.
"I'm so glad you're here," she said to Paulo, laying a hand on his arm. "Gods, we have so much to talk about—"
"I know, I've missed you like Hell."
"Where are you staying?"
Paulo shrugged his broad shoulders. "I don't know, I was just gonna get a room somewhere—"
"Nonsense, you're staying at my place. We have a guest room."
Sky practically felt how Hawk tensed by her side and saw the look on his face from the corner of her eye, but she decided not to give a shit about it.
"Sky—" Hawk started saying but got interrupted by Paulo.
"You sure that's okay by your dad?"
"Of course!" she exclaimed. "You're practically family! Shit, just wait - he probably wants to drown you in facts about his new book. He's missed you too, you know, 'the son he never got'" Sky quoted her dad, and Paulo burst into laughter.
"God, that's great!" He smiled broadly, showing all his white teeth in a slightly feral grin. "But hey, Sky - What's with this lame ass karate? Don't they do capoeira here?"
"Hey! Don't call it lame ass!" Hawk snapped, his voice a bit rough and raw.
"So you do it too?" Paulo arched his brows. "Figures."
"Guys, seriously?" Sky rolled her eyes and glanced from Hawk to Paulo and back rather pointedly. "But yeah, karate seems to be the thing people do here, so I kinda drifted into it. Let's see if you think it's lame ass after you've seen me do it, though."
At that Paulo laughed, that sound so familiar it made something hum in Sky's chest. "I can't wait. Ah, I used to love watching how you kick ass—"
"Funny, I only remember how you loved to kick my ass, and Kat's," Sky noted with an eye roll.
"That too," Paulo laughed and patted her on the shoulder. "Hey, I'll go inside to find my seat—" he said. "Besides, shouldn't you be getting ready?"
"We should, actually—" Sky said and glanced at Hawk, who was looking at her with an expression Sky couldn't really read, his shoulders tense and his eyes dark. "You think Sensei is here yet?"
"Let's go and see," Hawk said, turning his glance away from her. "If he ain't here, we'll just have to do this without him."
Sky gave Paulo one last hug, letting him squeeze her against his chest so hard that it almost hurt, before parting with him and agreeing to meet after the tournament so they could go home together.
As she started walking back towards the other Cobras, Sky was smiling. The tears had dried, and some knot she'd been carrying within her heart since Kat's death had untangled.
She had always loved Paulo, almost as much as she had loved Kat. And for him to be here today, for him to hold her in his arms, to tell her that it was okay, that he didn't think it was her fault what had happened–
Well, he hadn't said it in so many words, but he had said she didn't have to be sorry about anything. And even if that was hard to believe, Sky's heart felt lighter, the air was easier to breathe.
Having Paulo here to watch her compete, was almost like having Kat here. And that felt like Sky had the whole world cheering for her–
"So you're letting that dude stay in your home, like for the night?" Hawk said, making Sky come crashing down from her happy thoughts.
She turned to look at him, and anger began to stir somewhere in her gut. "Yes."
"And your Dad's okay with that?"
"Since when do you care what my Dad is okay with or not?" Sky snapped and crossed her arms on her chest. "Besides, Paulo is family. He's like my brother–"
"That hug didn't seem all that brotherly to me," Hawk muttered.
"Oh my god!" Sky exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air. "You know what, I'm so not in the mood for this shit right now!"
"I'm not in the mood to see some random guy hugging my girlfriend–"
A random guy?!
I love Paulo, I have loved him since I was a toddler. He's always been there for me, like a rock for me to lean on. He's the only thing I have left from my old life, the only person who really understands how much I loved Kat, the only one who knows what that loss meant to me. He was there in the hospital when I had tried to kill myself, he was there to hold my hand and to remind me there are things worth living for too–
Suddenly Sky's eyes teared up again, this time with anger.
"Just go fuck yourself!" she hissed, and turned her back on Hawk, beginning to push her way through the crowd in the yard.
"Sky–"
"I don't wanna hear it!"
She saw Sensei Lawrence now, surrounded by the other Cobras, and made her way towards them. Screw Hawk. Sky didn't need his support - she had Sensei, she had Dad and she had Paulo. There was a tournament to attend, and now it wasn't just Dad she wanted to make proud - it was Paulo too. And through him - Kat.
She sucked in her tears and breathed in the anger, letting it lit up something deep inside of her heart.
Suddenly she realized what she wanted to do.
She wanted to strike first, she wanted to strike hard, and she wanted to win this whole fucking thing. She didn't even glance at Hawk, who was trying to get her attention, as she followed Sensei Lawrence in through the doors.
I don't know when I'm going to be able to update next time - some family stuff going on. Maybe follow or fav the fic so you won't miss the next update?