¸„.-•~¹°"ˆ˜¨balance¨˜ˆ"°¹~•-.„¸

【SEASON 6 EPISODE 7: PART TWO】

After their fight in the locker rooms, everyone split up. Eli, Jules, and Lexi headed back to the girls room and Demetri, not wanting to talk to Hawk and Lexi, stuck with Sam in the lobby.

When the next round started, everyone was tense. Everyone was angry or upset with least one person.

"We have now entered the elimination phase of the Sekai Taikai. The dojos who do not win tonight will be heading home." The rules were explained and Jules let out a shaky breath, making Miguel turn to look down at her.

Jules, feeling eyes on her, looked up at Miguel and the boy nodded, mouthing a small "we've got this" as if this next round was going to be nothing.

Julianna smiled at that, feeling a little calmer about whatever that were going to have to do.

"The previous rounds have determined your current rankings. The number one team will face number 16, two will face 15 and so on and so on."

Jules and Lexi turned around at the same time, both of them knowing that Hawk, Demetri, and Devon all stood behind them and at least one of them would do the math faster than either of them could.

Devon nodded, her eyes going to Jules first since she was captain. "Okay, that means at number 12, we're facing number five, Dublin Thunder."

Julianna looked off to the team in orange while Hawk sighed. "Oh, great. I heard they started a fight with some locals at the beach. They're always looking for a brawl." He complained. Jules squinted as she watched the team laugh amongst themselves before pointing at Miyagi-Do. She locked eyes with their female captain, Cara and the girl glared at Jules.

"Now, for the rules of the event. Fight will again face off on a platform." The announcer said before a loud buzzing rang through the air and slowly, a large platform lowered from behind her, but still dangled in the air. "This platform."

Jules was sure she stopped breathing looking up at the platform. She gulped as Lexi blinked in shock from beside her. "Holy shit." Lexi breathed out

"Jules was right, eliminations is being pushed off a cliff." Demetri muttered, referencing Julianna's comment earlier in the day. Jules huffed under her breath, silently kicking herself for jinxing this round.

"This time, two fighters from each dojo are allowed one at a time. If one of your fighters falls, they are out. But another teammate can climb up to take their place. However, the fight never stops. So get up there quick, do not leave your teammate alone two on one. When all the fighters of a dojo have been knocked off, the team is out." The woman explained before she called up the Iron Dragons and the West End Warriors.

Jules kinda felt bad for how quickly the Warriors lost there round. They didn't even have to call up any new Iron Dragons up, their captains knocked down all eight by themselves.

The Iron Dragons male captain, Axel let out a victorious yell for their win and Lexi looked up at the boy as if he were insane.

"Was this dude made in a lab?" Hawk asked from behind her and Jules just stared up at the tall boy, her eyes glued to the two captains in shock.

"He's like a mix between the Winter Soldier and Frankenstien's monster." She heard Demetri say, knocking her out of her thoughts. Jules quickly shook her head, her eyes leaving the platform as Sam looked back at the two boys.

"Don't call him a monster. You don't know him or what he deals with." Sam warned while Julianna's shoulders deflated as she really thought about what Demetri had just said.

"Sam's right." Jules said, shrugging her shoulders. Her whole team looked at her with wide eyes, shocked she was agreeing with Sam after just yelling at her in the locker rooms.

Jules looked to everyone watching her and her eyebrows furrowed. "Both of those character are incredibly manipulated and misunderstood." She said, her eyes moving back up to the platform just as Axel looked to her team, specifically Sam.

"Maybe he's nice." Jules said.

After the Iron Dragons won, a couple more teams went before Cobra Kai went up against group 13, Polarslaget. Cobra Kai had gone through most of their opponents team and when the Polarslaget's were down to their final two, Cobra Kai still had three available fighters; Tory and Yoon, who were on stage, and Kwon, who was ready to run up if either of them fell.

Jules winced at the kick Tory sent her opponent. Blood sprayed out of the girls mouth as she fell off the platform and down to the mats below.

Yoon ran to grab something off the ground and when he ran back to Tory, he raised his and Tory's conjoined hands in the air in victory. His opposite arm was also raised, holding something in the air and Julianna's jaw dropped.

"Oh my god, is that a tooth?" Jules muttered, squinting to try and see what Yoon was holding up but she couldn't make it out from the light above them.

After another round, it was finally time for Miyagi-Do do fight Dublin Thunder. 

"All right, let's bring it in. I got something to say." Johnny yelled and all of Miyagi-Do circled up. Johnny looked between the eight students and sighed. "It's been a tough day. Probably shouldn't have been such a dick to all of you, but I want you to know that I believe with every bone in my body that you can do this."

Jules smiled a little at her dad's words and when he turned to her and Sam, he nodded his head to them. "Like Jules and Sam said earlier, for that last fight, we needed Miyagi-Do. This fight is the same. You guys know a lot more about balance then me so remember everything Sensei LaRusso said and use all of your Miyagi-Do skills to stay up there." He explained and everyone nodded.

"I'm thinking we spread it out. Start with one captain, end with one captain." Johnny said, looking to Sam and Robby, dipping his head. "Robby and Sam start, Devon will go next, Hawk, Demetri, Lexi, then we will end it with Miguel and Jules as our anchors." He said, looking to every kid as he said their names.

Miguel and Jules turned to each other at the plan, nodding their heads at the same time before they turned back to their team. "Let's do this." Jules said and Johnny clapped. As they all separated, Robby and Sam ran up to the platform.

"Come on, LaRusso! Let's go, Robby!" Johnny yelled after them as Jules went on her tippy toes to see the two through the crowd in front of them.

Sam and Robby got on the platform before the first Dublin Thunder's did and Jules cupped her hands around her mouth. "You guys got this!" She yelled, hoping they could hear her.

As soon as the Dublin Thunders were on the platform, they ran at Robby and Sam. Jules watched as almost immediately, Robby kicked one of the girls and she stumbled right to the edge. Julianna's breath caught in her throat, waiting for the girl to fall, but she never did.

When she started to run at Robby, the boy didn't notice, his eyes glued to the audience.

The girl kicked Robby in the shoulder and Jules turned to see who Robby was looking at. Jules cursed to herself when she saw Tory just where Robby was looking. Julianna turned back to the platform just as the girl kicked Robby in the face, sending him flying off the platform.

"Dammit, Robby." Jules muttered to herself, stomping her foot. She turned to Devon beside her and reassuringly rubbed her arm, making the younger girl turn to her. "Devon, go! You've got this!" Jules said and Devon stared at her for a couple seconds before nodding and running toward the platform to help Sam.

Almost instantly, Devon kicked the girl that Robby fought off the platform and ran towards Sam to help her with the boy she was fighting.

A new boy came up to replace the girl and he ran straight for Sam since her back was to him.

He kicked Sam in her side, only kicking Sam more towards the center of the platform.

"Sam!" Jules yelled and surprisingly, Sam heard her from the platform. When the two girls locked eyes, Jules gave her a small smile. "Miyagi-Do!"

Jules watched as Sam's face hardened at her words and Julianna couldn't hide her smile when she watched her fight the boy and flip him over the edge.

"Yes!" Jules screamed, jumping in excitement. She turned to Lexi beside her and grabbed her shoulders, shaking them as she continued to jump. "Did you see that?"

Lexi would've laughed at how engrossed into the fight Jules was getting, but her eyes widened as she realized how close Sam was standing to edge while a new Dublin Thunder was standing to join the platform.

"Sam!" Lexi yelled, hoping to get Sam's attention.

The LaRusso girl jumped, turning to her team and then back to the fight, but it was too late. The Dublin Thunder boy already raised his leg and when he kicked Sam, she fell over the edge.

Jules winced as Johnny, keeping his eyes up at Devon alone on the platform, started to push Eli forward. "Go." He said and Eli looked to Jules.

Quickly, knowing her dad was too invested on making sure Devon was doing okay, Jules went on her toes and kissed Eli's lips. When she pulled away, Jules gently pushed him towards the platform. "Good luck." She said and Eli smiled, nodding his head confidently and running to the platform.

When Hawk got up on the platform, one of the Dublin Thunders immediately left fighting Devon to fight him. As she threw punches, Eli grabbed her arms and flipped her onto the ground.

The audience winced at the noise of her back hitting the ground but Eli ignored it, running to help Devon fight the boy.

Eli and Devon started to work offense on the boy, hoping he'd get tired of having to fight both of them soon rather than later.

The girl Eli flipped started to stand and Devon let out a loud scream that made Julianna's eyes widen. She watched as Devon ran at the girl starting to run at Eli, wrapping her arms around her and sending them both off the ledge.

"Holy shit! That was awesome!" Jules cheered, her dad nodding in agreement from beside her.

"Go get them, kid." Johnny breathed out, patting Demetri on the back. Lexi turned to her boyfriend, about to tell him "good luck" but her shoulders slumped when Demetri ran right past her and towards the platform, completely ignoring her.

"Nice sacrifice. Badass, Lee!" Johnny cheered as Devon started to make way back toward Miyagi-Do.

As soon as Demetri was on the platform, he started to get back in to the center. He and Hawk rammed into each other and even though Jules couldn't hear it from the ground, she could see the two of them bickering before they started fighting again.

After a couple punches to the chest and a kick in the shin, the boy Demetri was fighting laid on the ground and Demetri ran to help Eli.

Eli wrapped his arms around the boy he was fighting, planning to flip him off of the platform, but just as he turned to face the edge, Demetri kicked the boy in Eli's arms. He started to fall off of the platform, but since Eli was still holding him, Demetri's kick knocked Eli off too.

"Oh shit!" Demetri yelled, running to the edge of the platform to check on Eli.

"No, no, no! Demetri!" Lexi yelped, watching as the Dublin Thunder boy still on the platform kicked Demetri in the back, pushing him off the platform.

Lexi and Jules stared up at the platform with wide eyes, their shoulders dropping in defeat.

"Are you freaking kidding me?!" Lexi spat as Jules slowly closed her eyes when she saw Eli and Demetri bicker from underneath the platform and make their way toward them. "Oh, God. They're gonna fight even more now." She muttered under her breath and Lexi sighed.

"Oh yeah, but that's not our problem right now." Lexi said before she looked up to the platform. "That is."

Lexi grimaced and she turned to Jules. "Actually, it's just my problem right now." She muttered, running towards the platform.

Julianna's eyes followed Lexi for a few moments before they widened and she spun around to face her dad so fast, Johnny flinched a little.

"Let me go next." Jules blurted, making Miguel, who was spider to go with Lexi, freeze from the other side of her.

Johnny squinted at Jules. "What?" He asked and Jules looked to Lexi, who was now fighting the two Dublin Thunder's alone. "Let me go with Lex." She repeated, turning back to her dad. "You've seen us fight together."

Johnny looked at Jules for a second before looking to Miguel behind her, silently asking him if it was a good idea.

Miguel instantly nodded his head, remembering the countless fights Jules and Lexi had won working together even before the Sekai Takai.

Johnny turned back to Jules and slapped her shoulder. "All right! Go! Don't leave her alone up there!" Johnny yelled and Jules didn't waste another second.

When she got on the platform, both of the Dublin Thunder's Lexi was fighting had their backs to Jules. Lexi's eyes moved to Julianna as she blocked the boys hit. "Nice of you to finally come up!" She yelled, making Cara look back and let out a war cry when she saw Jules.

Cara lunged at Julianna immediately, fists swinging and her short blonde hair whipping around. "You're going down, Bitch!"

Jules dodged everything, Cara's punches were pretty sloppy. And on the other side of the platform, Lexi ducked under the boys swing and sent a sharp jab to his ribs.

Jules was hardly listening to all of the trash-talk Cara was still saying as she ducked to dodge another punch. Julianna shot back up instantly and punched the girl right in the nose, shutting her up.

As Cara stumbled back, her hand reaching up to her nose, Jules cracked her neck. "You talk too much." She breathed out.

Lexi, still fighting the boy, took a step toward Jules and the two locked eyes.

Without saying a word, Jules grabbed Lexi's hands and spun.  Lexi lifted off the ground and extended her legs, her foot connecting with both Cara and the boys faces in one fluid motion. The boy stumbled backward, nearly falling off the edge, and instead onto his back while Cara only stumbled a few steps.

Jules and Lexi turned their attention to Cara. The girl was furious as she ran at Jules.

Julianna ducked and pivoted behind Cara, locking her arms around her, one hand tangling in Cara's hair.

While Jules held Cara in place, Lexi smirked, spinning on her heel and landing a kick to Cara's side, sending Cara flying off the platform.

But Julianna's hand snagged in her hair and as Cara fell, a clump of blonde ripped from Cara's head and stayed in Julianna's fingers.

Jules stared at the hair in her hand, her eyes wide. "Oh my god." She whispered, her voice barely audible over her own heartbeat. She turned to Lexi, who looked equally horrified.

"Is that her hair?" Lexi shouted, each word slow as if her brain couldn't fully process what just happened.

"I didn't mean to!" Jules squeaked, her voice pitched so high, it cracked.

They were so caught up in their shock and the audience applauding them, neither noticed the boy getting back to his feet until a kick into Lexi's side made her fall off the platform.

"Fuck!" Jules screamed, watching Lexi fall. She snapped her gaze back to the boy and cursed under her breath when she saw another member had already come up and taken Cara's place.

Julianna's jaw clenched as she dug her heels further into the mat, raising her fists. Her hands were still trembling, one holding the clump of Cara's hair, but she took a deep breath and tilted her head a little. "Miguel better hurry up." She muttered, more to herself than anyone else.

She darted toward the boy Lexi was fighting first, faking left before landing a quick jab to his right. It wasn't enough to knock him down, but it forced him to stumble back, giving her a moment to focus on the other boy.

He lunged at her, but Jules twisted to the side.

"Need a hand?"

Her head snapped up to see Miguel on the platform. Jules let out a breathy laugh, but she barely had time to react before the boy lunged at her again. Miguel immediately jumped in, blocking the punch with a kick.

"Perfect timing." Jules said breathlessly before they both ran at the last two Dublin Thunder's.

Jules ducked under Miguel's arm as he blocked a punch, using the opening to land a kick to one of the boy's shin that sent the boy stumbling.

They ended up fighting the two separately, Jules on one end of the platform with one of the boys while Miguel fought on the other end.

"Hey!" Miguel called out, dodging a punch and landing a quick jab to his opponent's ribs. When Jules turned to him, there was a small smirk on his face as he tilted his head. "Wanna whip out an old move?"

Jules shot him a look, even as she ducked under her opponents swing, only thinking of one move. "Are you kidding me?" She yelled like an angry parent as she blocked another hit. "We haven't worked on that move since before your accident!"

Miguel rolled his eyes, sending a spinning kick to his opponent that made him stumble back. "My back is fine, Jules. Trust me."

Julianna hesitated, still blocking punches. Her eyes flicked toward Miguel, who was holding his ground. He met her gaze, and she groaned to herself when she didn't see any worry in his eyes.

"Alright." Jules said, breathing hard. "But if you break something again, you take the blame!"

Miguel smirked, crouching down low as he got into position. "Not gonna happen."

Jules took a deep breath and turned her attention back to the boy she was fighting. She kicked him in the chest, sending him stumbling back until he was standing side by side with his teammate.

She took off in a sprint toward Miguel and when she got close enough, she planted a foot on his back and pushed upward. The momentum launched her into the air, and she kicked her leg out, hitting one of the boys right in the chest. The force of the kick sent him staggering backward into his teammate, both boys toppling over the edge like dominos.

Jules came down fast, her landing unsteady from how close she was to the edge. She let out a yelp as her foot slipped near the edge.

"Shit!" Miguel yelled, rolling over and shooting his hand out, grabbing hers and yanking her back from the edge.

The crowd roared as Jules and Miguel turned to face each other, breathing hard but grinning.

"Incredible performance from Miyagi-Do's Miguel Diaz and Julianna Lawrence! Their triumphs sends Miyagi-Do to the next round."

It took a second for the words to sink in, but when they did, Jules and Miguel were already standing.

Julianna let out a scream, half-laughing as she threw herself into Miguel's arms.

"Holy Shit! We actually pulled that off!" Jules laughed out, and Miguel rolled his eyes. "Told you my back's fine." Miguel teased.

Jules immediately pulled away from the hug and shoved Miguel. "Risky! By the way!" She said as her team ran up to latter to join them on the platform.

Hawk ran up to Jules from behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and lifting her in the air. Jules yelped as Eli spun her, her hands flying to hold onto his incase he dropped her.

When he put her down, Eli set Jules right in front of Lexi, who practically jumped onto her. The two girls laughed and soon, everyone started to crowd around to form a group hug.

"Wait, sensei." Miguel said frantically, pulling himself out of the hug. He grabbed Sam's hand to tug her to the edge of the platform and everyone immediately understood what Miguel meant and they all moved to the stand with Sam and Miguel so they could bow to Johnny.

Julianna's smile was so wide, her face was starting to hurt. She stood on the edge of the line next to Hawk.

Her eyes moved to the edge of the platform and her smile faltered when she saw Robby standing away from the rest of the team, watching all of them with a frown.

Jules let go of Eli to walk toward Robby. His eyes moved to specifically her when he noticed her walking toward him. His eyes were wide, like he was scared Jules was gonna yell at him and it made Julianna feel like absolute shit.

She gave him a small smile as she stuck her hand out for him to grab. Robby looked back and forth between her eyes and hand before he gently reached out to grab her hand.

Jules squeezed his hand and tugged him toward the rest of their team. She got back in her original spot beside Hawk, but this time with Robby next to her.

She leaned forward so she could look at all of her teammates, and she smiled at how excited all of them were. Julianna stood up straight again, her eyes moving to her dad in the audience.

Her smile only brightened as she and the rest of Miyagi-Do bowed to their sensei, Johnny smiling back up at them and bowing to them in return.

...

After the competition, Jules sat alone in her and Lexi's hotel room. Hawk and Demetri decided to give the girls one night of peace, the two of them sharing with Miguel and Robby so her and Lexi could get some space.

She frowned at her fish, Fred on the other end of her phone call with Bert. "And you've been feeding him, right?" Jules asked.

A loud sigh escaped from her phone before the camera flipped and Bert gave the girl a pointed look. "Jules, why would I send you pictures and call you all the time and not feed your fish?" Bert asked and from what she could see behind him, it looked like he was walking out of her room.

Jules turned on her side and groaned into her pillow. "I'm just making sure." She said, turning her head just enough for Bert to understand her.

Someone knocking on her door made Jules lift her head from her pillow. She looked to the door before she turned back to the phone. "Oh, someone's at the door. I'll talk to you later. Bye!" Jules said and Bert smiled as he walked out of Julianna's home and locked the door behind him.

"Bye!" He said, hanging up the phone and letting Jules see who knocked.

Jules slipped on her slippers—she refused to be bare foot in a hotel room—and tiredly walked towards the door. She went on her toes to look through her peephole and immediately opened the door when she saw her dad.

"What's up?" She asked, leaning against the door.

Johnny ignored her, walking into the room and looking around. "Is Lexi here?" He asked and Julianna watched him with a small squint. She closed the door behind him and felt her stomach lurch just a smidge when she noticed his luggage in his hand.

"No, she went to get some food with Demetri. Why?" Jules asked slowly, walking after her dad.

He pressed his lips together tightly and gestured for her to sit down on her bed. The sinking feeling in Julianna's stomach only got worse but she followed along.

Once she was seated, Johnny walked to stand in front of her. He groaned as he sat across from her on Lexi's bed and he wouldn't look her in the eyes.

"Um..." He rubbed his palms against his thighs, finally looking up at Julianna. "Miguel and I are heading back home."

Julianna blinked. "What? Why?" Her words stumbled out of her mouth. She could've bet that's why he came here as soon as she saw him with his suitcase, but why?

Johnny looked to the floor and nervously scratched his eyebrow. "Rosa called. Something happened with the pregnancy and now, Carmen at the hospital."

Jules felt her throat tighten at her dad's words. She tried to speak, but her words got caught in her throat. "Is... Is she gonna be okay?" She croaked.

Johnny sighed, his entire body deflating. He looked to his daughter's bed and recognizing the stuffed animal sitting beside her, he realized she was sitting on her own bed and he was sitting on Lexi's.

He moved and fell down beside Jules. "I don't know." Johnny muttered, his voice cracked but you could only hear it if you were sitting close enough to him.

And Julianna heard it.

She stared up at her dad for a couple seconds before she nodded her head. Jules stood up and started to walk towards her empty suitcase.

"Okay, um... I'll pack and–" Her words stopped when Johnny grabbed her wrist and stopped her. "No. You're staying." Johnny said and when he let go of Jules, she gave him a confused look.

"You're kidding, right?" She asked and Johnny shook his head, looking back to the floor. Whenever he had bad news, Johnny always struggled to keep eye contact with Julianna.

But he found enough strength to look up at Jules, she saw the tears in her eyes and she slowly sat down on Lexi's bed, not being able to look away from her dad.

"I need you here." Johnny admitted, his hand shaking as he pointed to the ground.

Jules bit her bottom lip as she looked down. Johnny sighed, scooting to the edge of Julianna's bed to get closer to her. "Look, between you and me, the team needs you out there." He said and Jules looked back up to Johnny, shaking her head.

"And you guys are my family. That comes before some stupid karate competition. This is my mo—" Julianna's words immediately stopped. She gulped at the words that almost slipped out of her mouth.

Johnny leaned back a little, catching Jules almost call Carmen her mom, but he didn't interrupt her.

Jules licked her lips and took a deep breath. "This is Carmen and my baby sister we're talking about. If something happens and I'm not there—"

"I will buy you and Robby the next flight home." Johnny interrupted. "But for right now, you have to stay here."

Jules sighed, shaking her head and Johnny could've sworn he saw her roll her eyes but he ignored it. He stood up and put his hand on Julianna's shoulder. "I know you love Carmen and I promise I will keep you updated. I only came here to tell you so it didn't come as a shock when LaRusso told you in the morning."

Julianna was having a fight with herself in her head; one part of her telling herself to fight harder about going back home while the other told her to just listen to her dad. Jules closed her eyes tightly. "You promise you'll keep me updated?"

She slowly opened her eyes to find Johnny nodding his head, not a single ounce of doubt in his eyes. "I promise."

"Miguel and I will be cheering you on from home, okay?" Johnny said, rubbing his thumb against her shoulder. Jules just stared up at her dad, her eyes big and glued on him before she gently nodded.

Johnny let out a small hum of approval, leaning down and kissing his daughter's forehead. When he pulled away, he put his free hand on Julianna's other shoulder and bent down to her height. "You've got this. You're one of the most committed kids out there. Show it."

Jules felt her throat burn and her lip quiver. She jumped forward, wrapping her arms around her dad and pulling him into a hug. She felt a nervous swarm of butterflies flutter in her for Carmen and it made her absolutely sick to her stomach.

She squeezed her eyes shut and held her dad tighter. "I love you." Jules whispered, but since her face was right by her dad's ear, Johnny heard her and only hugged her tighter, one of his hands moving to cradle the back of her head.

Talking to Daniel and Miguel about Carmen wasn't the same as talking with Julianna. He felt his chest shake at his daughter's broken voice and closed his eyes, a single tear falling knowing it was okay because he was just with Jules.

"I love you too, kiddo."

–DO NOT GO UP AGAINST JULES AND JOHNNY IN A BEST FATHER-DAUGHTER DUO COMPETITION, YOU WILL LOSE‼️

also do not go up against bert and jules in a mother-son duo because you will lose AGAIN

i missed writing julianna and her son omgggg
jules definitely wouldve approved sneaking bert into her luggage.

no hate but i kinda hated writing the fight scene😁😁😁(i say that about every fight scene)
hopefully it wasnt too bad... i wrote this at 2 in the morning.