Chapter Eighty Three
Primadonna

SYDNEY HATED TO admit when she was wrong. She often never wanted to admit when she was wrong about something especially when it was her own decisions, but her mother was right, and she absolutely hated it. After taking Sailor home and thanking God that her parents were already asleep when she got home, Sydney didn't sleep. She couldn't. There was so much on her mind. Miguel was blowing up phone with texts and calls, none of which she answered, but she stared at her phone wanting so bad to say something back.

She couldn't get the image of him kissing that girl out of her head. It made her insides burn. It was like someone was stabbing her a thousand times. She cried tears of anger and sorrow. It was the worst feeling she'd ever felt in her life. She wanted to hate him. She desperately wanted to forget about him. But she couldn't. She loved him so much and seeing him with somebody else solidified that. Sydney was so in love with him that she wanted to scream.

The next day, Bert texted her and told her to meet him and everyone else at Sam's for a meeting. Sydney hadn't heard anything from her since the blow up at Miguel's party. She understood why Sam was mad. Silver hurt her dad and almost caused her parents to split up. Cobra Kai was ruining their lives. And Sydney felt bad that she didn't speak up when she had a feeling that Silver had cheated them but at the same time, she thought about Tory. Tory was suffering in that dojo. She wanted to help her but she didn't know how. Tory only ever listened to herself.

When she arrived at the Larusso home, most of them were already there. She got out of her car the same time Eli arrived. She smiled at him.

"Hey, Syd," said Eli. They walked together to the backyard. "Are, uh. . . Are you okay after last night?" He hesitated.

Sydney faked a smile. "Sure. Yeah."

He frowned slightly. "You don't have to lie to know. We're friends."

"I know," she responded with a sigh. "I feel. . . gross. I keep seeing that slag all over him. It makes me was rip my eyes out of my head."

Eli laughed. "I get it. I felt the same with Moon."

She looked his way and nodded slightly. "Right. Course you do."

"Just don't lose all hope, okay? Believe when I tell you that Miguel is completely in love with you. He just has the worst way of saying it."

She almost laughed. "Right."

When they walked into the backyard, everyone turned to them. "Good, you guys are here!" Said Demetri, who was so busy at work that he hadn't seen his friends in a few days.

Seeing her, Miguel scratched the back of his neck awkwardly looked around the backyard.

Sydney slowed down her pace when Sam looked her way. A frown settled on her lips. At first, she expected her to not talk to her at all. Or to even say a snide comment. But Sam left Charlie's side and immediately went up and hugged her. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten mad at you like that."

Sydney quickly hugged her back. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything. I love you and your family."

"We love you, too." They pulled away and Sam smiled at her. "I'm just happy that you finally got your win."

They joined the group of boys and Sydney did everything she possibly could to not look at Miguel. They quickly filled Demetri in on everything that was happening. "W-w-wait. Okay, so Sensei Targaryen paid of the ref at the All Valley and framed Kreese for a crime he didn't commit?" Demetri repeated in shock. He looked at Eli. "Never let me miss a house party again."

"It was probably a good idea you did." Sydney said out loud.

Miguel's eyes cut to her for a second and then looked away again. "We need to tell the Senseis."

"What are they gonna do? We all saw what happened to my dad when he confronted Silver." Sam spoke.

"Yeah, and we can't let that happen again." Charlie agreed with her. "I'd do something about it, but, I got beat by a middle schooler. Not doing too good after that."

She patted him on the arm and Sydney rolled her eyes.

"Besides, if this ref and Stingray are on Silver's payroll, they'll never admit to anything." Said Demetri, looking at all of them.

"Good point," Sydney replied. "Man alarmist has as much money as I do."

"I'm not so sure about that." Bert responded to both of them. They all looked his way. "I know he's in Cobra Kai and I'm in Eagle Fang, but Stingray's still my friend. He wouldn't lie to me. At least I hope he wouldn't.

The Brit smiled sadly and put her hand on his shoulder. "You think you can get him to talk?" She spoke gently. The young boy nodded. "Good. Then let's get to work."

Nodding, everyone took off. Sydney stood where she was standing and she turned her head, Miguel standing by her. "Hi." He uttered with a crack in his voice, which he quickly cleared.

"Hi." She said back. Feeling nervous, she crossed her arms and started popping her fingers.

"I, uh. . ." Miguel struggled to find something to say. "You, uh, didn't answer me back last night."

"I know."

"Look, Syd, I'm really sorry—"

Sydney held up one of her hands, stopping him. "Miguel, this isn't really a good time. We need to figure out how to stop Silver." She excused. But mostly she didn't want to her into because she was afraid to start another fight. "Nous pourrons en parler plus tard, ouais?" We can talk about it later, yeah?

She walked past him to follow the others. "Ouais. Bien sûr." He said back to her. Yeah. Sure.

She held back the smile she felt coming. She suddenly realized one of them was missing. "Hey, has anyone seen Robby?"

Caroline felt honored that Daniel and Louie invited her and Alexander out for a night out. Alexander was excited it to was to a club. With Sydney out and with her friends, the married couple were in their room getting ready. Alex adjusted the chain around his neck. "Chozen at a club? I don't know if I can see that happening."

Caroline clasped the straps of her black heels. "I think it's good that he's letting lose. All of us need a chance to breath." She stood from the bed and smoothed out the bottom of her tight black dress. "How do I look?"

"As beautiful as the first day I saw you." Alex responded with a smile.

She grinned. "Thanks, baby." She went up to him and kissed him. "Do you know what time they'll be here."

"Uh. . ." Her husband took out his phone. "Louie said he'd give a signal. I'd say around—" they heard a loud honk come from outside. "Now."

Caroline laughed. "Okay, let's get going." The married couple grabbed their stuff and left the house. She gasped when she saw a limo in their driveway. "Wow!"

Alexander locked the door behind him and his eyes went wide. "Jesus."

Louie and Daniel popped out of the limousine. "Care! Alex! Looking good, you guys!" Louie beamed.

"You guys look great." Daniel added and smiled at them.

"Thank you," Caroline said back with a smile as well. She looked at the limo again. "Wow. Who's idea was this?"

Louie held up a proud hand. "Guilty as charged."

"Is their alcohol in there?" Alex asked, pointing to the vehicle.

"Champagne and Tequila."

He whooped very loudly. "Let's go, baby!" He cheered and quickly climbed inside.

Caroline laughed and followed him in, along with Daniel and Louie. She smiled brightly when she saw Carmen and Amanda. "Omg, you girls look beautiful!" She expressed.

"Us? Look at her!" Amanda said back with a large smile and a glass of champagne in her hand. "New dress?"

"Bought it in Paris. Just now getting the opportunity to wear it!" She turned to Carmen, who was curled up beside Johnny, and she smiled widely again. "Carmen, I've missed you!"

"Hi, Caroline." Carmen smiled back.

The limousine started moving. "Uh, Care. Alex. There's some news we need to tell you." Johnny spoke and he glanced at Carmen.

Caroline looked at her husband but all he did was shrug. Then, she saw the small smirk on Daniel's face. "What news?"

Carmen smiled once again and she held Johnny's hand tightly. "Johnny and I. . . We're going to have a baby."

Everyone jumped when Caroline let out an ear piercing scream. Alexander, being the closest to her, held his ear but he smiled happily. "A baby? That's amazing!" The woman beamed with a red face.

"Congratulations. I'm happy for you two." Alex added and he shook hands with Johnny.

They praised Bert for being able to find Stingray's address even though it took forever. By the time they arrived at the home, it was already dark outside. They stood back and watched Stingray answer the door when Bert knocked. "Bert! What's up, dude?" He beamed with a chuckle. "Wanna okay some D&D?" His friends exited the home one by one.

Sydney and everyone else appeared and Stingray paused mid sentence. "Miyagi-Fangs?" He questioned with a fallen expression. He suddenly realized. "Oh, this is a trap. Oh, you Admiral Ackbar-ed me. Et tu, Bert-ray?" He said to Bert.

"Okay, knock it off. We know Kreese never hurt you." Eli stepped in, getting to the point.

"According to my testimony in a court of law, he did. So. . . Read the transcript."

He went to close the door but Charlie stuck his arm out and blocked it. Stingray looked up at him. "You lied. We know you did." He stated firmly.

"But you're not going to lie to us." Sam added in. She walked into his home.

"You're just gonna let her—"

"Yep." Sydney interrupted him and strutted inside as well, everyone else following.

"Okay. Now you're all walking in."

They sat around the large table and Stingray sat across from them with his game of Dungeons and Dragons displayed on the table. Sydney leaned back in her chair with her arms crossed, her foot tapping on the floor while she waited for the man to speak.

"Okay, let's try this again. What happened that night? Who hurt you?" Demetri asked the question.

Instead of answering, Stingray looked at Bert. "Hey, Bert, how does it feel? To stab a grown man in the back between his shoulder blades and stare at the blood as it trickles down his back?"

Sydney scoffed out loud. "He's a child." She defended him.

"God, enough!" Eli exclaimed and leaned his hands on the table. "No more games."

It went silent. The teenagers stared at Stingray, waiting for him to speak up. Sydney was growing impatient. "My dad went through a lot of pain because of you and Silver." Sam spoke up, making Stingray look to her. "And now a lot of other people will too if you just sit back and do nothing."

"So talk." Charlie said after her.

"But if I tell you what really happened, you know, he-he'll find out. I can't," the man spoke with hesitation and it was obvious that he was scared of Silver. "It's not that easy, you guys."

The teens didn't respond that time. Sighing under her breath, Sydney looked at her friends with a look that asked what they were supposed to do. They didn't know the answer.

"Actually, there. . . Um, wait," Stingray started again. "Okay, so I've been working on this new D&D campaign—"

"I don't think we have time for this." Miguel interrupted, becoming impatient as well.

"Wait a minute," said Eli when he caught on. "What happens in the campaign, Stingray?"

With a brief smile, Raymond took one of the figures from the D&D board. "Okay, so, once upon a time, there was a Dwarven monk, and he was a member of the most badass guild in all the land. Uh, he was banished for a time. You know, typical PC crap—"

Sydney released an irritable sigh. "We don't have all night. Get to the point already." She demanded.

Stingray paused and cleared his throat. "Right, uh. . . "But, um, once he paid his penance, he returned." He placed the figure back on the game board. "Only by then, the guild was under new leadership." He brought out another figure. "And the monk was denied twenty into the guild. And quite unceremoniously, might I add."

When she began to realize what he was saying, Sydney lightened up and she actually started to feel bad. She uncrossed her arms and put one of her hands on the table. The other in her lap.

"So, what did the monk do? The monk, he made a pact with a silver haired king—" he held up another figure. "—who would usurp the leader. And it was early one morning, before any of the warriors had arrived, that the king struck the monk down." He knocked the monk that represented him down with the other and Sydney closed her eyes, unconsciously imaging the situation in her head. "Again, and again, and again. It was then that they framed the leader for the assault and the leader was put on chains, and the silver haired king took over the guild."

"That bastard." The Brit slipped in.

Stingray nodded once, agreeing.

"And you were," Demetri began to say but cleared his throat. "The Dwarven monk was let back into the guild?" He corrected.

"Yeah. With benefits." Said Eli while looking around the luxurious home.

"Major." Charlie agreed and spotted something in the corner. "Is that a swirly slide over there?"

"It is. And with benefits, yeah."

"Okay. So why can't he just tell everyone what really happened?" Asked Miguel once the story was over.

Sam stood from her chair. "Because he doesn't wanna lose his benefits—"

"No! No." Raymond denied. "I would. . . The-The monk would give it all back if he could, but the-the silver haired king, you know, he. . ." He stuttered.

"Would hurt him if he found out." Sydney proclaimed softly, nodding her head.

He looked at her and nodded. "Exactly. He-He almost killed the monk. For power. So, yeah, the monk fears what the king would do to keep that power. I think the monk. . . The monk just wanted reentry into the guild because he thought that he could be like a. . . " he paused again. "Like a proud and noble warrior. Just like you, Hawk, Sydney, all you guys."

The Brit couldn't stop herself from frowning. She glanced over at Eli, who was standing, and he looked her way, too. They both understood.

"But he's neither proud nor noble." The pain was written on his face. Definitely not a warrior. He just sits around playing with them all day. The monk's just scared." He admitted. "I just can't. I'm sorry."

"That's great. Thanks for noting." Sam declared in anger and stormed out of the home.

Charlie followed his girlfriend out, calling her name. One by one, they started to leave but Sydney stayed on her chair. Her hand was pressed flat to the table as she thought to herself. She stared at Raymond as he wiped his teary eyes. The fear on his face, the smallness in his voice, it was so familiar. Because she felt all of it. She was scared of Silver at one point. She was scared of Cobra Kai. Scared of what could possible happen if Silver were to go too far. She was scared because she thought failed. Scared because she wasn't good enough.

Miguel paused when he saw that she wasn't moving. "Sydney, you coming?" He said.

She looked slightly over her shoulder, indicating that she heard him and then she looked at Stingray again. He looked at her, too, and wondered why she didn't leave. Sydney slowly got up from her chair and licked her dry lips. She leaned forward. "I was scared, too. Of the. . . guild." She tried not to cringe. "Scared of the silver haired king and what he might do. What he might've made his warriors do to me. I was scared of his warriors." She took a small pause. "But I reminded myself that I'm apart of my own guild. I have my own warriors to protect me from harm. I don't have to be afraid anymore because I have them. And uh. . . My guild is always open to banished warriors."

Raymond blinked his eyes and she walked away. He sat there in shock. Sydney walked past Miguel and flashed a shirt and quick smile, so quick that she didn't see the smile he wore as he listened to her speech. She walked out of the home in a fast pace. There was an unsettled feeling in her heart. There was unfinished business. Sydney realized that it wasn't just her that Silver and Cobra Kai effected. It effected Raymond. And now it was effecting Tory.

"Hey, Syd," Miguel called out her name when they made it out into the hall.

She slowed down her walking until she came to a full stop. Sucking in a silent breath, she turned and faced him. "Hi." She spoke.

He stood in front of her with his hands stuffed nervously in the pockets of his pants. "That was, uh. . ." He pointed behind him. "That's was really great. What you did in there. I think you just might've changed his mind."

She scoffed slightly. "I doubt it. He's a grown man. Only he can make that decision for himself."

He nodded slightly. "Well, it was still great. I'm proud of you."

Her heart and stomach twisted painfully to where she almost wanted to throw up. She crossed her arms over her stomach to settle in.

"Look, I know you don't want to talk about, and I don't blame you at all, but. . ." He started again. "I'm so sorry about last night. I'm sorry for everything."

"Miguel—" 

"You're the best person I've ever met in my life. Nobody's ever impacted my life the way you have. And I guess that scares me a little." He continued, speaking slowly. "I've made a lot of mistakes, huge ones, but the biggest one has been hurting you. You didn't deserve any of it."

Sydney licked her dry lips again and she looked away briefly, staring at her shoes.

"I know you probably don't believe a word I say anymore. I don't know how you could. But when I tell you that I love you, I mean it with everything in me." He blinked his eyes. "That girl last night, that kiss, means nothing. Absolutely nothing. But you mean the world. And you have all of me. All of my heart. It belongs to you."

*miraculously plays King of my Heart by Taylor Swift*

Blinking rapidly, a single tear ran down her face and she wiped it away. She laughed shakily. "Um. . ." What could she say? "Have I turned you into a poet?"

He chuckled. "Probably. Those rom com nights really helped out."

A wavering and warm smile spread on her lips. You're probably thinking you know what the next scene is. The kiss. The perfect ending. But not just yet. Sydney walked up to him and cupped his face in her hands, his warm brown eyes staring into hers. "I believe you." She almost whispered. Her heart thumped inside her chest. But there was still that unsettling feeling inside her. "There's something I have to go do. It's really important. So I'm putting this conversation on pause, okay?"

Miguel only nodded. "Okay."

She smiled again and dropped her hands. With another small laugh, Sydney turned around and left, leaving him standing there with a smile on his face.