"So..." Eli trialed off, leaning against the door frame of the tattoo shop. "You like it?"

Cora walked in to the tattoo shop, ready to hear about how the removal would go down in a few weeks. She had been sat in the chair before she realized how it would look. Like they had won, like she got rid of something, that she went through more pain that they already went through. Rico managed to help Cora out a lot, using the ends of the letters to blend together in order for it to seem like tattooed barbwire wrapped around her forearm and stopped right under her elbow.

Cora spun around to look at him, a smile on her face. It was a lot better seeing her that way versus when he first had found out and she was so sad and hurt. Now, she seemed stronger, more confident. "It's kinda badass, right?"

He laughed slightly, nodding his head. "Kinda badass indeed."

Cora met him half way, wrapping her good arm around his neck. "My parents will still kill me."

"Probably so." he agreed, grabbing her hand to look at it. "You can't even see the original anymore."

Cora frowned, leaning in so her head pressed into his chest, looking down at her tatted up arm. Eli sensed it. "They're gonna pay. At the All Valley, we can beat them."

"Yeah, it would help if I was in a dojo." Cora pulled back with an exhale, shaking her head. "I don't know if I want to join another one."

Eli frowned, tilting his head slightly. "You love karate, C."

"Yeah, I do. But, I don't want anything like this too happen again." Cora said honestly, and despite being so strong about it, he knew how much it bothered her. "The All Valley is just a few weeks away, there's no use anyways."

Eli sighed, thinking about it. "So, you just never wanna do karate again?"

Cora pulled back. "Can we not talk about this right now?"

He sighed, shaking his head. "No, yeah. That's fine."

Cora wasn't home long before a knock came at her door, making her sigh, getting off the couch. She passed Thor, opening the door. She hadn't expected to see Daniel LaRusso so soon. "Mr.LaRusso."

He exhaled dramatically. "Hi, Cora."

She looked around slightly alarmed. "Is everything okay?"

"No, it's not." he shook his head, accepting her offer as she held the door open. "I heard you're quitting karate."

Cora sighed, giving a minor eye roll. "Don't know if I should be flattered or offended that he talks about me that much."

"Look, I know Cobra Kai really messed with you." he nodded, looking to her arm. "Oh, woah, look at that."

Cora held it out with a minor grin. "You dig it?"

"Way better then before." he agreed, giving an approving look to her arm.

"So, what's wrong?" Cora asked, crossing her arms slightly as he stood infront of her.

"You." he exhaled with a shake of his head. "Don't quite karate."

Cora looked in confusion. "I'm not going back to Cobra Kai."

"That's not what i'm telling you to do." he shook his head at her quickly. "If you really love karate, it's not right to turn your back on it."

"They could come after me again." Cora shook her head, her hand touch her tattooed arm as an instinct. "I couldn't even defend myself against two, I couldn't handle whatever they have planned next."

"What makes you so sure they'll do this again?" Daniel asked, leaning down on her level some.

Cora hesitated. "They told me that if I said something, something really important, they'd come after me again."

Daniel grabbed her shoulders. "Cora, we can protect you. You just have to be honest with me."

"I don't want someone to protect me. I wanna be able to do it myself." her dark eyes stared back at him seriously. "My entire life, i've left people do whatever they want to me. Even if I didn't want to, I never stood up for myself and said anything. I definitely didn't when people around school started to give me shit either. I'm tired of waiting on other people to defend me. But, i'm tired of having to use Cobra Kai in order to."

Daniel didn't know if it would be a mistake, he really hoped it wouldn't. He shook his head slightly, almost like he was mentally fighting himself. "I want to be able to trust you."

"I don't blame you for not wanting to." Cora shook her head.

"You can learn karate in a way to defend yourself." Daniel leaned on her level again with a knowing look in his eye. "I can teach you, Cora. But, it's hard for me to know if you can truly be on our side. If Cobra Kai is really in your past."

Cora hesitated, inhaling as she nodded her head. "If I tell you, they might find out and come for me again. You have to promise me that you can help me defend myself better. I can't handle it again, not after what happened."

Daniel saw the sadness in her eyes, the pain she clearly didn't want to make a big deal out of. "If you're willing to learn, you can accomplish anything."

Cora was the one to look like she was fighting to not say something now, wanting to swallow it down, but knew that she had every right to backstab them after what Tory and Kyler just did to her. Not to mention what Robby did to Eli. "Cobra Kai knows Miyagi-Do's moves."

"Um...hi." the voice rung late that night. Sam had heard something outside, heading out and coming across Cora cleaning the cars infront of the dojo. It took her a second to realize who it was. "What are you doing here?"

Cora took a breath, dropping the rag. "Oh, hey."

Sam looked slightly worried as Cora walked over, in a loose tank top due to the hot night. "Your dad, he's training me."

"I thought you were with Cobra Kai?" the LaRusso girl asked in confusion.

Cora shook her head. "Not anymore."

Like Daniel, Sam was hesitant, and Cora couldn't blame her. She exhaled with a nod. "You don't have to trust me, or like me. That why i'm here at night for training, so I don't interfere with any of you. I just want to learn defense for my sake."

"Did something happen to you?" Sams arms dropped as Cora ignored her, but her eyes said enough. "You look hot."

Cora gave a snort. "Well, thank you."

"No-" Sam began, hiding a laugh. "I mean, do you want a water?"

Cora exhaled, looking around as she gave a nod. "That would be great, yeah."

Cora and Sam ended up abandoned the cars and sharing a block of cheese on the dojo porch. Sam laughed loudly. "Wait, so you just completely flipped the entire bike?"

"Flew straight over the hand bars." Cora laughed, nodding her head. "Never in my life will I ride a bike again."

"I once was trying to be cool and try a skateboard out. Let's just say I didn't stay on." Sam admitted, making Cora laugh as she cut another block of cheese off. "It's best I probably just stay away from all things with wheels."

"Yeah, i'm surprised my parents trust me with a car." the blonde leaned back against her elbows, Sam looked back at her. "Hey, just while we're at it...i'm sorry for attacking you and your dojo on Christmas."

Sam nodded with an exhale. "That was a pretty intense night."

"Obviously, Kreese was just right here." Cora pointed to her forehead with a shake of her head. "But, i'm trying to get better. I don't wanna act like him anymore."

Sam nodded with a little smile. "Like Eli?"

Cora grinned as Sam laughed. "Yeah, I know."

"What, does he, like, talk about me?" she looked over in the slightest bit of hope, flushed in the face.

"Only, like, every single chance he gets." she laughed, making Cora grin. "It's gotten better now that you guys are okay again. But, when he first joined the dojo, I thought he was gonna explode with all these plans on how to win you back. At once point he was thinking about kidnapping you."

"Sounds like him." Cora hummed with a nod of her head, a little shrug falling from her shoulders. "We're a pretty weird pairing."

"Why do you think that?" the LaRusso girl leaned back on her back.

"I know you know what people say about me." Cora gave a knowing look, shaking her head. "And Eli, when he was Hawk, it made more sense. But now I kinda feel like he can do so much better."

"Do you really care what everyone else things?" Sam asked her. "It's just stupid rumors. I know they suck, but, you've put a lot of people in their place."

Cora looked slightly embarrassed. "They're not rumors."

Sam blinked a second. "So what? You think Eli cared about any of that? He's crazy about you."

"I know he doesn't care." Cora nodded her head with a gentle stare. "But, like, people are gonna see this great guy that is doing so well for himself and turning over a new leaf, then theres his girlfriend, who's slept with half the school and is the definition of desperate."

"Hey, you are not." Sam gave a minor glare. "You can't surround yourself with all this negative self talk, it just weighs you down and then you have no room to focus."

Cora exhaled. "So, what? You think i'm overreacting?"

"I think you're sweet." Sam looked at her with a shrug. "And you're trying to be better. Whatever you did in your past is behind you, and it definitely doesn't define who you are as a person. The only person that's making you think that is yourself."

Cora really let her words sink in as the gate opened. "Girls, what are you doing?"

"Oh, sorry, Mr.LaRusso." Cora stood up quickly, grabbing her wash cloth.

"Cora and I just got to talking." Sam stood up, holding the block of cheese. "And snacking."

Daniel looked back at Cora, watching her continue to whip the cars. He leaned in closer to Sam. "What are you thinking with this one?"

The blue eyed girl looked toward the blonde, smiling with a shrug. "I think she's really trying."

•

kylie speaks

ty larussos for loving
our blondie bbg.