Archive of Our Own

Two Days After the School Fight

Johnny - early morning

A sharp intake of cold air woke Johnny up. He coughed and peeled his eyelids open. His head was buzzing and his vision blurry. After a few more blinks, he could start to make out his surroundings: dead leaves, green grass and the underside of a park bench.

The park bench would have been a new low for Johnny, if he'd slept on the bench itself. He'd managed to drink so much that he kept slipping off in the night, and so instead settled down behind it among some early autumn leaves.

Johnny groaned, and tried to stretch out. The hard ground dug into his side. There would be bruises on his thighs and hips. He touched his cheek. Scratches too.

So fucking pathetic. He couldn't even sleep like a proper homeless person.

The night before he’d spent in his car – as loathe as he’d been spend time in that reminder of his failure. His drunk mind had decided after that that maybe he’d be better off with some fresh air. 

Now, his body felt like a discarded paper bag; crumpled, screwed up, about to tear if he moved in the wrong direction. And his stomach - well, as if someone had poured two six packs of beer into the bag, and now he had to carry it away before the paper disintegrated.

Johnny staggered to his feet, and peered at the sky. The sun hadn't risen yet, but the pale light of a new day was drifting through the clouds and smog. He groaned, wishing the night would come again quickly. It would be easier to get through another night rather than tolerate the hazy brightness of the day.
Because now reality all came rushing back, the truths of the new world he had to face. Carmen hated him. Kreese had stolen his dojo and kids out from under him. Robby was in the wind, God knows where.

Miguel was in hospital breathing through a fucking tube.

And all of it, one way or another, was his own fault.

Johnny sagged onto the bench, and he rubbed his face. His breathing was haggard as his clouded mind tried to focus on anything but the one thought filtered through, an insistent needle of an idea.

How had he gotten it so damn wrong?

*

Daniel - later that day

When Daniel looked in on Robby, the kid was asleep. Daniel didn't quite smile to see it, because he knew what was going to come after, once Robby woke up. It was good that at least one of them was getting some rest.

It was the slumber of the exhausted and run-down. Robby's breathing was noisy, uneven, and he was flopped across the futon, arms and legs splayed out – able now to stretch after being curled up and hunched over, knuckles white with tension, as Daniel had found him under the benches in the bonsai room at LaRusso Auto.

Relief had flooded Daniel to the toes when he saw Robby there. It was a place that no one had thought to look for him, because why would a teenager on the run from the cops hide in his ex-employer's backroom, after said-ex-employer had kicked out of his house and out of his job?

Robby was a smart kid. It took Daniel a night and a morning of searching for him to work it out for himself.

Robby’s face had been dirty, his eyes shadowed with misery, and his words were both rushed and broken as he said he hadn’t meant to but he was so damn sorry and he should have told Mr LaRusso about Sam and he let things get out of hand in the fight and then he kicked Miguel and he fell and-- then Daniel stopped him. 

Just come to the dojo, have some food, and sleep.

That's what Mr Miyagi would have done. He'd have done it sooner too. 

He’d not have waited, not indulged in a day of nursing his own psychic wounds and hurts. He’d not have needed to see the video of the fight at the school meeting and learn that, as angry as Robby had been, Miguel’s fall had been down to the worst luck imaginable. He’d not have had to be told twice by his frustrated and injured daughter that it wasn't Robby's fault she got drunk and that he was just trying to help.

God, you’re an asshole, Daniel thought.

Daniel shut the door with great care so not to wake Robby. He cleared up the takeout Chinese they'd had for lunch, then left the small house and went into the dojo. The sand-colored wood, the rice paper doors, the definite lines might have offered some comfort once for their simplicity and clarity, but when he got there the smooth surfaces were bleak and comfortless. Daniel sank onto the unyielding wooden floor, burying his face in his hands. He tried to breathe in but tightness clung to his chest, the tension of waiting creeping over him. 

Waiting, because when Robby woke up, and said he was ready, Daniel was going to drive him to the police station.

They’d talked about it as they’d eaten lunch. The plan had made sense until Daniel saw Robby asleep. Now he wanted nothing more than to protect at least one of his ‘kids’ from the pains of the world. Would going to the cops do that? Really? Robby was just a kid and it was an accident. The fight had gotten so out of hand, and...

And another boy was in hospital, still unconscious, and there was a good chance he'd never be able to walk again. Carmen hadn’t been at the meeting, because who would want to watch the very moment her son’s life changed for the worse?

He unbuttoned his shirt at the neck and throat, which gave him some respite, but everything was still constricted. Like he’d made himself a straitjacket and now couldn’t get out.

Where did I go so wrong? He thought.

Johnny - earlier

It was the chatter of some kids that made him look up.

A group of surfers - boys, walking through the park, heading to the beach. Johnny stared at them, leaning forward on his elbows. They were something to focus on that wasn’t his churning brain, and they didn’t noticed him. The boys were floppy-haired, grinning, at ease with the world. Except for the last part, they so like Robby...

Johnny ran a hand over his face. Robby. Johnny had been avoiding his apartment – just couldn’t face Carmen or Rosa right now. But if Robby had come by trying to look for him... well, he probably wouldn't have been surprised, but it would've been just another slap in face, after a lifetime of slaps. Johnny out for the count, feeling sorry for himself and drinking, not looking after his kid.

Johnny had heard the story. That Robby had kicked Miguel over the railing. Johnny didn't buy that – that wasn’t the whole story. Robby was a good kid - angry sometimes, and a) who could blame him and b) he took after his old man in many ways, didn't he? That meant, as far as Johnny was concerned, that it was an accident.

And since it was an accident, and Johnny couldn't help Miguel one little bit, could only watch him through the glass of a closed door, maybe there was something better for him to do than wish for the endless dark of night.

But where the hell was Robby?

Not with his mother – Shannon was still in rehab (shit, that was not a conversation he was looking forward to...) Not with his deadbeat ex-friends. Not with--

Or was he?

LaRusso had been an ass to Robby. To not let him explain what had happened at the party, so convinced that his kid must have been in the right, when it was Robby saving her from herself... There were many reasons Johnny would have taken on LaRusso for real again, and the unfairness of that was just another layer.

But LaRusso was also a soft touch. He’d forgiven Robby before. He'd do it again.

God, Johnny hoped LaRusso would do it again. Because Johnny didn't trust LaRusso with much, but he hoped that he could count on him for this. Which is why he hauled himself to his feet, stumbled through the park back to the beach, found his car, and drove off to find the smug grinning bastard, aiming straight for the nearest LaRusso Autos.

Daniel – later on

As they’d eaten lunch, Robby had said that everyone probably hated him now. Including his dad. And he didn’t even blame his dad for that at all.
Daniel hadn’t thought about where the hell Johnny had been in all this since their silent ride in the elevator. He’d put him out of his mind trying to focus on his family. Now with Robby here, reminding him… 

The thoughts came back. If Johnny hadn’t re-opened Cobra Kai, this wouldn’t have happened. None of it. Sam wouldn’t be battered and cut-up. Robby wouldn’t be sitting opposite him possibly on his way to juvie. Damn John Kreese wouldn’t be running a dojo. Johnny with his so-called ‘changed’ Cobra Kai. The man had been kidding himself.

But maybe... none of it would have happened if Daniel hadn’t pushed the rivalry. He could have run Miyagi-do without turning it into the training ground for the war Kreese wanted. Could maybe he have just… talked to Johnny? And maybe even listened?

Yeah right. Like Johnny would have done the same for him.

Daniel thought about ignoring any mention of Johnny, but it wasn’t what Mr Miyagi would have done. Instead he said, “Your dad’s not stupid. He’ll know it was an accident. That you didn’t mean to.”

Robby had winced, and looked at the half-empty takeout box in his lap. “But I wanted to hurt him. Miguel. I was so angry, and--”

Daniel cut in, words like a knife. “Well, that’s your sensei’s fault.” 

Robby gasped, his mouth tight with shock. “But...”

Daniel sighed, and his voice was low. “You don’t just tell your students about karate being about balance, for self-defense only, and then go kicking down someone’s door without bothering to listen to his side of the story.”

Robby shook his head. He put his chopsticks down and turned away from Daniel. Like he didn’t know how to respond to learning his sensei had feet of clay. Daniel could have kicked himself for dumping his own self-doubt on a kid who was flooded with his own turmoil.

This was not Miyagi-do. Do, he’d told his students, meant ‘way.’ 

This really would not have been Mr Miyagi’s way.

You keep on fucking this up, Daniel thought.

He spoke again, less roughly this time. “Have a shower, get some rest. Everything will be a bit clearer after that.”

Daniel wasn’t sure he believed his own words, but Robby gave him the tiniest smile ever, something to say that he was reassured.

On the dojo floor, Mr Miyagi’s portrait sat in the corner, Daniel unable to box it away just yet. His gaze fell on it, and he wanted to disintegrate. It was still Mr Miyagi’s house, his dojo. His sensei still graced it with his presence, his handiwork and craftsmanship in each piece of wood. Daniel may have been able to polish it up, but as he look at that face of serenity and strength, his vision blurred with tiredness and the pinprick of tears, as it had when he’d first taken it down.

“I really tried,” he said, hoping Mr Miyagi would hear him. “Am I doing the right thing now?”

The only response he got was silence.

Then outside, there was a crunch of footsteps in the car park.

Daniel craned his head towards the sliding doors. The afternoon sun shone through the rice paper, their opacity filtering out the harsh light. But a dark shape appeared in silhouette behind them.

A very familiar dark shape.

Daniel lurched to his feet, and opened the doors. Johnny Lawrence was in the parking lot of the Miyagi-do dojo, fist clenched, reared up from the dust and ready to strike like a hooded cobra. But what struck Daniel was that, for all the times that Daniel had ventured into the lair of Cobra Kai, this was the first time Johnny was on his territory.

Last he'd seen Johnny was in the hospital elevator. No words as they stood next to each other in the lift. Just them barely holding their pain and regret. There was nothing to say and nothing they could do.

Daniel had found something to do. And now so had Johnny. Backlit by the sun, in his black t-shirt and black plaid flannel, Johnny was a force of darkness again. With his teeth bared, ferocious and on a knife edge.

Daniel swallowed. Not again.

Johnny

Johnny had waited.

When he worked out where LaRusso was taking Robby, he left his car around the corner from the dojo and followed them on foot. He’d never been to the Miyagi house, but he knew where it was.

Johnny hadn't know what to expect. The house was a pale aqua blue, Japanese-style, with those rice paper doors and near-perfect straight lines. Asymmetry that drew the eye. Lots of room for light and air. Some of his kids had told him that the garden at the back was even better. A little oasis amidst the bustle of the Valley. So unlike the reds and blacks and shadows and enclosed corners of his... of the Cobra Kai dojo.

He lingered at the gate as Daniel took Robby inside with the Chinese takeout and... not a smile, exactly, but something that had warmth and reassurance. Robby looked exhausted but really happy. Safe.

And despite having his hopes confirmed, the white heat of anger seared across Johnny's chest. Here was LaRusso once again playing father to his own kid. How the fuck dare he?

Johnny made across the carpark, trying to get in order all the things he planned to say, until one clear thought halted him.

At least someone stepped in. Shame it was you first.

He stormed back to his car, and sat there for an hour, his mind murky with rage - at himself and LaRusso both. Maybe he should just leave. LaRusso had Robby now, so he was safe. Johnny showing up would just make thing worse, probably. When it came to Robby, Johnny usually made things worse.

But Robby was his son.

Johnny waited another hour. He thought about getting a beer just to pass the time, but what was he actually waiting for? Robby was in the dojo, or probably that little house next to the dojo. LaRusso hadn't left. They weren't going anywhere. They had no idea he was here, dithering and acting like a pussy. Did it matter?

Yes. Because at the end of the day, if he didn't go to Robby now, knowing exactly where he was - what did that say about him? What would that prove to LaRusso about him? That he was still some useless deadbeat who couldn't protect his 'kids', let alone his own son. What did that say to Robby? Johnny didn't give a shit about what most people thought of him, but with this...

He clenched his fist the way Miguel had taught him, but this time not to suppress his anger, but to screw up the guts to get out of the car and charge back to the dojo.

He went straight for the sliding doors, but LaRusso threw them before he could reach them. Johnny stopped, balling fist, and sneered.

LaRusso gave him a slack jawed stare. Surprised that I'd be here, LaRusso? Johnny thought as his fist curled up again. That I'd pick myself up and try to look for my own kid after the shitshow this week has been? Here I am!

LaRusso came down the step from the dojo. His hair was mussed and the way he was hunched over, his white shirt baggy on him and creased, made Johnny think of a dirty and tired bird.

Pissed off as Johnny was, he could tell LaRusso felt as bad as he did.

Good.

"Johnny, what are you--- how did you--"

"Don't lie to me and tell me different. I want to see my son, and I want to see him now."

Daniel

Daniel tried to recover himself, the shock of Johnny showing up like that throwing him for a loop. How had he found them? He decided after Johnny had demanded to see Robby, that didn't really matter. What mattered more was that Johnny had shown up at all.

All a bit late. But who was Daniel to complain about that?

"Robby's asleep. Do you really want to wake him?"

Johnny's fist clenched, and he took a step closer. "I need to see him, LaRusso."

The whiff of alcohol that often clung to Johnny was pungent. He had a scratch on his cheek, a smear of dirt on his forehead, and his eyes, blazing as they were, were lined with jagged edges. Grass stains smeared his jeans and Daniel was sure he spotted a dead leaf crumpled into his flannel.

"Johnny, you OK? You look like you’ve been sleeping on a park bench.”

Anger and shame darted across Johnny’s face. Daniel could have kicked himself. He held his hands up in apology. Try to de-escalate the situation. That's what Mr Miyagi would have done.

“Look, of course you can see him. But maybe get some proper sleep, come back in the morning-- ”

"So you can turn him over to the cops before I get back?"

The words were like a whiplash, and the need for Daniel to defend himself, to apologize for how he'd treated Robby last time started to boil. He'd screwed up, really screwed up, both with Robby and seeding the rivalry with Cobra Kai. But dammit he was doing the right thing now.

"Jesus, Johnny! It's not like that!" 

Johnny surged forward, mere feet from Daniel. "Then let me talk to him so I know what it is like."

"Come on, man, you know this isn't smart. Let him rest."

"He's my son!"

And where the hell were you before? Daniel thought, but instead barked back, "And you need to calm down!"

That was the spark that set Johnny alight. Johnny launched himself at Daniel, and as he did, Daniel’s own anger burst. Whatever part of him that had been glad Johnny had shown up gave way to the urge to stop him at all costs.

Daniel wove out of the way of Johnny's fists, falling automatically into back-stance, one arm up and the other hand protecting his solar plexus, open palmed. Johnny as always was in attack mode, fists clenched and arms up, ready to strike first.

They shifted, feet nimble despite the solid yet flaming anger. Daniel thought he shouted ‘Be reasonable!' at Johnny but it might have been 'Back down jerk off!' He wasn't even sure what Johnny was screaming back at him; he was sure that Johnny's face was turning red and his veins were popping, and the muscle from his jaw running down neck and to his arms were pumped like a shotgun ready to fire.

Daniel couldn't get his words straight. He can't think straight beyond anticipating Johnny's likely first move. Punch? Elbow strike? Kick? A kick, most likely. The asshole always threw a kick whenever he got a chance. Everything was blurry around Johnny, and when Johnny feigned a lunge, Johnny started to get hazy too.

Johnny was shouting, but Daniel couldn’t make out the words. Daniel wouldn't strike first, but damn it if he wanted to do something to just shut Johnny up, to make that stupid bastard just listen to what he was saying. Cold blue fire was up in Johnny's eyes, and his jaw was tight and he was spitting his words as Daniel got louder to drown him out because he just wants to reason with him because for God's sake!

Why the hell doesn't Johnny just--

Breathe.

The thought came to him so fast he almost doesn't catch it. Then his view was filled with the memory of Mr Miyagi, palms pressed together.

When you feel life out of focus, always return to basic of life.

Daniel inhaled.

Why the hell doesn't Daniel just...

Breathe.

It’s what Robby had done in the All Valley, and Daniel grinned for a split second.

He could learn a lot from Robby.

Daniel closed his eyes, only a second, the length of a heartbeat, enough to get his focus back. When he opened them, Johnny was lunging towards him.

Then when Daniel exhaled, Johnny kicked with his front leg. Daniel swept it aside, downward block. Johnny righted himself in seconds, balanced back, and threw the first punch. Daniel caught his fist, but he didn't push it away, or dart backwards. He cupped Johnny's fist and dragged Johnny towards him, bringing Johnny's fist down so it was thigh height, just outside of the space between them. He clenched so tight he thought his knuckles would split, and pulled until they were both upright. His hand snaked up towards Johnny's shoulder, to grab hold so he could make Johnny look at him and steady him. Johnny, sharp and keen-eyed, grabbed Daniel's hand, encircled it, and pulled it away, but didn't let go.

So then they were locked together; Daniel gripping Johnny's fist, Johnny grasping Daniel's just outside of where their cheeks might have met.

Daniel's words came out only just above a whisper. "Breathe! Just fucking breathe!"

It isn't how Mr Miyagi would have done it (Mr Miyagi, swearing? Ever?) but Daniel was not - really not, he knows now - Mr Miyagi.

Daniel inhaled.

Johnny's fist pushed against Daniel's fingers, but not enough to break the hold. Daniel pushed back on Johnny's own. Neither of them were going anywhere.

"You think you can order me about, LaRusso?" There was heat in his words, but he wasn't shouting anymore.

Daniel exhaled.

"Please... breathe..."

Johnny blinked. His eyes first widened, then softened, as the realisation that Daniel wasn't just talking to Johnny dawned on him.

Daniel inhaled again, and this time Johnny followed his lead. Daniel counted to five, then exhaled for seven. Johnny did the same, and he watched Daniel, the blue fire in his eyes still burning, but he kept pace with Daniel's breaths. 

Until they kept hold of each other, breathing, and Daniel was no longer counting. And for once in the whole damn time they'd known each other, they were acting as one and with one purpose.

So when Johnny closed his eyes, Daniel did too without hesitating.

It couldn’t have been long that they were there, locked like that. The only sound their long steady breaths. When a new sound trickled through, it was of the sliding doors opening, and they still kept breathing together.

"Um, Dad? Mr LaRusso?"

Their eyes opened at the same time. Johnny’s fiery blue irises were now a pair of calm pools. For maybe the first time ever, Daniel looked into them, and relaxed. 

Breath in, breath out, still in sync, and they released each other at the same time. They took a small step backwards, and both turned to face Robby together.

Who, much to Daniel's surprise, was smiling. Really smiling. Which... made absolutely no sense. Hadn't they just been fighting, again? Like always?

Johnny’s mouth twisted in confusion. "What is it, Robby?"

Robby chuckled. "Just, you two, there was this, I dunno, circle of light around you? Like, you’re in black and Mr LaRusso’s in white and... it reminded me of something..." He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. It's just good to see you not fighting.”

And, Daniel thought as he and Johnny met each other’s eyes, you not needing to step in and stop us.

Slightly dazed, Daniel looked back at Robby. "Your Dad wanted to make sure you're OK."

He glanced back at Johnny, who gave a small nod. Confirmation, gratitude all at once.

Robby walked right up to Johnny. Johnny’s fierce expression he'd had when he first arrived was gone and now replaced with tenderness. Daniel had to hide his shock. That sweetness Johnny now held for his son - the way Daniel thought of Sam and Anthony - that was new to Daniel.

He felt a little ashamed that he was surprised.

Jerk and asshole Johnny Lawrence could be, but not that kind of jerk and asshole.

Johnny cupped the back of Robby's head - and Robby let him. 

"You're OK," Johnny said.

Statement, not question. Daniel sighed with relief as Robby nodded, and let Johnny pull him into a hug.

It wasn't OK. Not really. Neither Johnny nor Daniel had a dojo anymore. Kreese had taken over Cobra Kai. Their kids - students, their own flesh and blood - had hurt each other so badly that several were in hospital, one unconscious and who knew when he’d wake up.

Robby broke the silence, and it was with sobs. "I'm so sorry about Miguel, Dad. I'm really, really sorry! I didn't mean… I was so angry and I just wanted to... then he was falling..."

"Hey, hey! I know. I know." Johnny held his son close, soothing him, and Daniel almost turned, but Johnny met his eyes over Robby's head. "Of course you didn't mean to. Your sensei taught you well."

A single flick of a finger would have sent Daniel tumbling to the ground.

Johnny

Holding Robby like that, despite the tears, felt so damn good. It wasn't OK. Kreese, the kids, LaRusso, Miguel. Nothing was OK and it wasn't going to get better anytime soon. But Robby, right now, was safe. 

Then a siren blared from down the street. Robby went very still in his arms.

Johnny shot LaRusso a look, but LaRusso was just as stunned as him.

"I didn't call them!"

Johnny held Robby tighter. "Then how did they--"

"Does it matter! Maybe someone saw us leaving the dealership, who knows!"

Johnny frowned, but took a deep breath. LaRusso exhaled at the same time as him. Right. LaRusso - damn him - was right. This was the time to focus.

He pulled back from Robby, gripping his shoulders. "Get back inside, now!"

Fear creased Robby's brow, but he said, "It's OK."

"Robby!"

Robby remained still, his eyes fixed on the gate.

LaRusso shouted, "Listen to your Dad!" A sentence Johnny never thought he'd hear LaRusso say about him.

Robby was like a statue, and LaRusso leaned forward, pressed his hand to Robby's back to try and steer him. Johnny tried to do the same, but without actually picking him up, neither man could get him to budge. They were like that when the police car rolled through the gates and parked about ten feet from them.

The cop surveyed the scene. He looked poised for trouble, but clearly wanted to make this easy on everyone.

"Robert Keene? Can I ask that you come with us for questioning about the fight at West Valley High?"

Robby nodded, and wiped his face down. His voice was shockingly calm when he said, "Of course, officer."

Panic gripped Johnny's chest. "Wait Robby--"

"Dad. It will be OK.”

He eased Johnny's hands off his shoulders, and then looked at LaRusso.

"I'm ready now. Really. I'll go talk to them."

He closed his eyes, and Johnny and LaRusso watched as he breathed, regained his own focus and went to the cop's outstretched hand. Johnny tried to move forward, but a single hand on his chest from LaRusso stopped him.

Johnny was grateful that the cop didn't cuff Robby, but rather eased him into the backseat with a professional firmness.

The car drove away, no more lights and sirens. Leaving the two men standing there, LaRusso's hand bracing Johnny's chest.

LaRusso let go, stepped away from Johnny. Johnny's anger was beginning to simmer again, but LaRusso spoke and quashed it.

"He was going to turn himself in. The cops arriving forced his hand. I let him stay here to get his head together, eat, sleep."

Johnny started to say something like 'you could have just said that!' but LaRusso’s shoulders were so hunched forward that he might have collapsed any moment. Besides, it was all done. Robby was where... not where Johnny wanted him to be, but where he needed to be. At least he'd been there, at least... 

At least Robby knew he cared.

Johnny breathed in, breathed out. "What do you think they're going to do to him?"

"I don't know. Robby will tell them the truth, that I know. And I hope... he's such a good kid, Johnny. I hope... God, I'm sorry about Miguel."

"Aren't we all…"

Silence for a long moment, before LaRusso asked him if he wanted coffee.

LaRusso led him out to the garden, vaguely gestured at the deck. Johnny sat as LaRusso left to make the coffee. The Miyagi-do garden was... peaceful. There was a steady trickle of water coming from somewhere, and a soft breeze blew. How anyone was supposed to learn karate here was beyond Johnny, but the presence of a punching bag gave Johnny a bit more respect for the place.

The coffee LaRusso brought back was instant but high quality. They drank in silence, and it was a good silence. Like they were miles away from the real world, and this was just a step out of time. A place to pause, take… take a breather.

Eventually Johnny spoke. "At the tournament, when Robby closed his eyes… I swear I thought he was going down then – that was what we were doing, wasn’t it?” 

LaRusso nodded. "More or less."

“Hmm. The other morning he was doing a breathing exercise with his hands. Like he was praying. Did you teach him that too?"

"Yeah, and Mr Miyagi taught me. It's... well, it's not what we were doing before, but the same idea."

"It's... it's good. It... seems to work." Johnny then admitted, "Calmed me down."

"Well, I needed that myself," LaRusso said. "Everything was just so... Mr Miyagi told me that 'when you feel life out of focus, always return to basic of life.' "

Johnny guessed from the interesting grammar that LaRusso was quoting the man directly. "And what's that?"

"Breathing. No breathe, no life, he said."

The feeling of Kreese's arm around his throat, choking him in the parking lot so long ago, crept across his skin.

Johnny touched his neck, and gulped. "I guess that's true."

"Yeah." LaRusso sipped his coffee, and looked rueful. "And I frankly suck at it most of the time. I forget to breathe, forget to focus. Sure, I'm great in class, telling them all the right things, but lately... I've been focused on the wrong thing."

"That sounds familiar." Johnny's voice was quiet.

LaRusso took a long sip. He shifted awkwardly, and then said, "I heard about Kreese and Cobra Kai."

Johnny just drank his coffee. Nothing needed to be said.

"Do you know what you're going to do?"

Johnny rolled his eyes. "You think I'd have shown up like that here if I knew what to do?"

LaRusso chuckled. "Suppose not."

"What about you? You must have classes or something soon."

"Yeah... Amanda doesn't want me doing karate anymore."

Oh. Well...

Johnny glanced back at LaRusso. The two of them, two aging men with a passion for the same thing that they now couldn't touch. More in common than either of them wanted to admit.

LaRusso said, "But... if you want to come back and here sit and just..." He trailed off, and grinned to himself, as if realizing what he was saying was kinda dumb.

Johnny snorted. "Breathe? Like instead of a drink in a bar, we sit and meditate like a couple of hippies?"

"You got a better idea? Until we figure out what we’re going to do, does it seem that bad?"

Johnny shrugged. He could get down with some of this breathing thing to focus better, but just that? He needed to move, feel the physicality of it to really get into it.

"Or we could do some kata," LaRusso said, as if reading his mind. "You must know some kata, Johnny. You can at least pretend that you're fighting. And the right breathing can make or break a kata."

"Mr Miyagi teach you that too?"

LaRusso gazed out across the garden. "He did, yeah."

In his mind’s eye, Johnny saw LaRusso as the scrawny kid he'd met on the beach, the one who'd crane-kicked him in the face, out here with that little old man whose moves had bested Kreese. He saw the two of them training, the gentle but firm instruction that he'd witnessed just a bit from the across the hall at the All Valley tournament all those years ago. He'd dismissed it at the time, but now?

"You got lucky, LaRusso. Mr Miyagi sounds really cool."

"I did, and he was." LaRusso breathed, and his exhale was haggard. "I miss him."

Grief filled LaRusso’s face. Johnny lifted his hand. He was going to reach out to give LaRusso a jostled on the shoulder, the kind of comfort he'd offered Tommy, would have given any of his friends. Hell, that he'd even given Kreese. Was LaRusso a friend though? Johnny let his hand drop. Not yet. Maybe one day, but not yet.

Recovering himself, LaRusso said, "I should get home. Tell Amanda what I've actually been doing, check on Sam. You should go home too. You need sleep."

"Yeah, so do you."

"Fair, but you look like you need a shower too."

"Yeah... I just... Carmen. They're just across from me, and..."

LaRusso nodded after a moment, his understanding clear. "OK, well... There's space here. Just for tonight. There's a shower in the main house. Robby was on a futon, so you can use that. It's better than..." He didn't fill in the blanks to remind Johnny where he'd been the night before.

Mercifully.

Johnny smirked as LaRusso handed him the house keys. "You trust me with the keys to your kingdom, LaRusso?"

LaRusso stood as he said, "I figure that if we can at least agree on Robby, then I should probably at least try trusting you for once."

LaRusso offered Johnny a hand up. Without a pause or second thought, Johnny took it. When they were both steady on their feet, Johnny met LaRusso’s dark eyes, and he really looked at him. There was a sharpness around LaRusso – for the first time, Johnny was seeing him in clear, bright focus. LaRusso gazed back at him, like he too was seeing Johnny anew. 

They didn’t let go of each other’s hands; they held on, and breathed.

The End