Cobra Kai
season one, episode four
✹ Cobra Kai Never Dies !

     WILLOW COULDN'T SLEEP ALL NIGHT. Her mind kept repeating the state Miguel was in when she found him all beaten up by Kyler and his friends, and with that, her worries lifted up even more. The girl wasn't really the type of a person that would solve the problem with aggression, but when it came to someone who obviously deserved it, she had no objections. And when it was Kyler and Brucks she was thinking about ── the decision was clear for her. They needed to regret everything they did to her and her friends.

     And they will, she promised that to herself.

     ”Morning, honey. Did you have fun last night?” Adelaide asked as her daughter finally got out of her room and showed up in the kitchen, squinting her eyes from tiredness.

     Willow stopped in her tracks, and looked at the woman with her lips parted into a forced smile. She knew that lying to her mother never ended up well, but the image of telling her the actual truth wasn't good either ── it would only worry Adelaide that her daughter's state would become worse again.

     So without any hesitation, the blonde made a decision. Her mom didn't have to know about everything that happened on the school dance ── at least not at the moment when not long ago she was experiencing another of her daughter's episodes.

     ”It was really great” the lie slipped from her lips with an unbelievable image of honesty, which was nothing new to Willow. She was a very good liar, just as much as her father. ”I had a lot of fun with Miguel, and the guys, you know” she added, and saw a glimpse of happiness in her mother's eyes.

     ”I'm so proud of you, honey” the older woman smiled widely at the younger girl, and brought her into a tight hug, which made Willow sigh quietly. She despised lying to her close people, but she realized it was for the better.

     Because how would Adelaide react when she'd hear that some kids made fun of her daughter once again, and at the end of the night she had to watch her new friend get beaten up by his bullies? She wouldn't let it go, for sure, and Willow wouldn't stand making someone suffer.

     ”Did someone die or something?” Charlie walked into the room with a confusion washed over his face. The two females broke apart from each other, and shook their heads quickly.

     ”Nope, not this time, buddy” Willow shrugged, and sat in front of the boy that started filling his mouth with the banana pancakes their mom made. The girl chuckled at her brother, and reached for one of the pancakes by herself as she tried to fight her mind that kept making her remember all the nicknames the others named her the other night.

     Don't get her wrong, she would never call herself a piggy, but hearing this phrase quite often, she actually started overthinking about it.

     And because of that, she was sure of how much she hated it.

     ”I talked with Miguel's mom yesterday. She said he got beaten up by someone, but doesn't want to tell anyone, who it was. Did you know anything about this?” Adelaide's voice broke the silence again, causing Willow to stop in her tracks.

     So Carmen didn't tell her mom that she was the one, who brought Miguel home with Johnny ── she thought, but then remembered that it was probably only because she wanted the girl to tell the woman by herself.

     ”I actually . . . I actually helped him get home, but it was after that, so I didn't see anyone near him or anything” the blonde lied once again this day. She obviously knew, who did that to Miguel, but believed that telling anyone wouldn't help, because Kyler would've defended himself from this just as usual.

     The dark blonde woman directed a sad smile towards her daughter, not being angry at her for not telling anyone. She could see right through her that it was hard for her just as much as for Miguel.

     ”I'm so sorry, mom. I──”

     Adelaide interrupted her with a wave of her hand.

     ”Shush, it's fine, sweetie. Just, please, be careful, alright? I don't want you to be hurt by someone again” she put an arm on her shoulder, tightening it a little as a way of showing her support.

     Willow couldn't help, but smile ── she was really happy to have her mom. Even when it came to the moments when they could argue all the time, and then not talk to each other for days or weeks.

     Adelaide loved her, and cared about her. Willow was sure of it. That's why she often preferred to be alone rather than letting her see the negative feelings she had inside her for years.

     ”Because they're not bullying you anymore, right?” the next question getting out of the Froud women's lips made Willow eyes soften immediately, because she knew what she was trying to do. She tried to read her by the emotions she was showing.

     ”Actually, I heard Miguel say──”

     Understanding what her brother was going to say, Willow walked into his sentence.

     ”No, mom. They aren't”

     With that, silence followed in the kitchen once again, making the girl's forced smile finally fall from her lying lips.

     Willow Froud was such a liar.

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     THE BLONDE NODDED her head as an understanding gesture when she heard another sentence that escaped Demetri's lips while she was face-timing him and Eli. The reason for that was obviously their need to explain to the girl why they left the school dance so early, and also without her or Miguel. Willow's angriness towards the boys disappeared through the night, so she was looking at the mention of the past with calmness.

     ”Mhm, I know, Metri” she murmured, and continued playing with the keys of her apartment in her hands.

     The brunette boy scoffed, rolling his eyes at the girl's ignorance. ”Well, thanks for your support, Frills. I literally thought they were going to kick the shit out of us”

     Willow sighed quietly, and glanced at her phone again as she heard the Alexopoulos sarcastic comment. An apologizing look was what the two friends could see in the girl's eyes when almost impossible to be heard ’sorry’ got out of her mouth. She wasn't usually acting like that, especially towards her close friends, but when her mind was filled with something, she couldn't think clearly.

     ”No, It's okay. Anyway, how's our karate friend feeling?” he shrugged her previous behavior off, and suddenly changed the subject.

     The Froud girl shrugged, being unsure of what she should answer. In fact, Miguel still didn't answer her few messages, so she had no idea how he was doing after what happened.

     ”Not sure. He seemed pretty exhausted yesterday, but I don't know anything about today. Gonna visit him later” that was the only thing she could come up with. Her hands clenched tightly on the phone while the Diaz's scream appeared in her head again.

     Cobra Kai never dies!

     That sentence was enough for her to catch the pain in his voice as his mom disagreed to let him continue practicing karate. Miguel got really attached to it, and analizing it caused Willow to realize that he would probably use a company right now.

     ”Gotta go, sorry” the girl's announcement broke the short silence between the three of them. She could see Eli squint his eyes in concern, so this time an honest smile got permission to show on her lips.

     ”Bye, Loo”

     ”Yeah, Bye, Willow. Tell Charlie I said hi”

     ”Will do. Later, boys”

     With that, she ended the call. Mission ’cheer Miguel up’ had finally started.

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     WILLOW KNOCKED on the door several times and then stood in front of it, waiting for someone to open it. She could hear muffled voices, female and male, so she was sure that she had remembered the number of Miguel's apartment correctly ── at least she no longer had to worry about the door being opened by a complete stranger.

     She took a deep breath as she heard footsteps approaching the door. Her heart quickened from the nervousness she was feeling, because she was about to meet someone from Miguel's family, and the first impression she made on them wasn't very good. That's why she started wondering what the females thought about her.

     ”Oh . . . Willow, hi. You can come in” the person who opened the door was Carmen ── Miguel's mother ── who looked at her gently, as if she hadn't brought her beaten son the night before.

     ”Morning, Mrs. Diaz. I'm so sorry if I'm interrupting anything, but I wanted to check up on Miguel. He really got me worried yesterday” when the girl walked inside, she took the shoes off her feet, and approached the living room with a bar of caramel chocolate in her hands. It was one of her favorite flavors, so she hoped Miguel would like it too.

     A picture of the boy sitting on the couch with a grumpy face expression shown in her eyes, leading her to exhale unpleasantly. She was right in time, because her friend really had no sense of humor.

     ”Miggy, hi. How are──”

     Before she could even finish her sentence, the boy looked at her in shock as he didn't even notice her standing there.

     ”Wills? What are you doing here?”

     She reacted with a simple shrug.

     ”I was a little worried about your well-being, so I brought you a chocolate, and . . .” she stopped in the middle of the sentence, wanting to make a good atmosphere. ”My amazing companion, of course”

     The Diaz chuckled at the blonde's words, and patted the spot next to him, where the girl sat down later and handed him a sweet.

     ”So? How are you feeling?” she asked, her brow furrowed in concern. The boy gave her a sigh in reply, which made her think.

     Willow understood him pretty much.

     ”Kinda better, but you know, mom doesn't let me train anymore” a sad smile appeared on his lips.

     ”It's for your best, Miggy!” Carmen shouted from a distance, and with that, Willow put an arm on the boy's shoulder, gripping it in a supporting way.

     ”Hey, don't be so sad. Smile”

     The Froud's nails lined both of Miguel's cheeks, lifting them into a smile, which made him groan in pain.

     ”Sorry” the girl apologized quickly. ”Look, the thing is, give your mom some time. If I were her, I would act exactly the same after seeing my son completely beaten up, but hey? It's not going to last forever, alright? Just . . . get some rest” she advised, and the brunette boy nodded, still being unsatisfied.

     ”I need karate right now, Wills. What if they're going to attack us again?” the Hispanic boy argued back, causing the girl to hold back her breath.

     Miguel was really into karate.

     Willow shook her head after a minute. ”They're not, Miggy. Just don't beat yourself up about it”

     That was another lie ── she knew Kyler and Brucks long enough to know that they won't let it go that easily, but once again, telling Miguel that would only make him want to train karate even more.

     ”Come on, Miggy. Let's watch the Winx Club!” a wide, truthful smile showed on the girl's lips as she sat on the couch more comfortable.

     Miguel rolled her eyes, but still smiled at the girl. Who wouldn't smile with Willow Froud? ── he thought.

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     AFTER WATCHING A FEW episodes of Willow's favorite cartoon, the two teens sat outside Johnny's apartment, Miguel not listening to the girl's refusal because she didn't want to confront the man about how he had tried to find out why she had been crying the other night. Trusting him was the last thing she did, so instead of telling him, she gave him the quiet treatment that continued until the girl ran away to her apartment.

     She could do everything, but talk about her problems and feelings.

     ”There he is” Miguel whispered to the girl, and immediately stood up, her doing the same, already feeling the awkwardness between them. ”Uh, hey, Sensei. My mom says that I can't train with you anymore, but Willow is thinking about joining, and I had this idea that maybe if we went to the dojo before──” he starts, following the man that didn't actually care about their presence.

     Willow raised her eyebrow in . ”Hey, I did not say it like that”

     The Diaz turned his head back and gave the girl a pleasing look. She ignored it and fell onto Miguel's back with a groan as he and Johnny suddenly stopped in their tracks.

     ”You don't get it, kid. You two don't get it ── there is no dojo. I'm closing it up, it's over” the Lawrence announced, making Willow blind several times. Well, it turned quickly.

     ”What about me? I── I need you” Miguel's voice broke down with sadness.

     ”Sorry, kid. I gotta go”

     Johnny turned to them with his back, already walking away from them. As she watched it, disappointment washed all over her face, urging her to speak up. Not for her, for Miguel.

     ”Wait!” she shouted, which was enough for Johnny to stop himself, but still not turn to face her. Willow, shocked by her own actions, clenched her fists, and added; ”You're seriously going to leave him alone like that after some stupid situation that'll probably repeat again until Miguel finally stands up to them? You're seriously going to walk away from him like a coward?” the second question that Willow asked made Johnny open his mouth in disbelief.

     Since when was little Froud standing up to him?

     ”Open your eyes, Mr. Lawrence! Leaving him alone will make you feel even worse than the remorse you're feeling right now” the emerald-eyed girl pointed out, knowing a little too well what she was talking about. She had experienced this all too often.

     Even though the girl actually called him a coward, the Lawrence still listened to her, and after that, walked away with his thoughts referring to what she had said.

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     WALKING INTO SCHOOL felt like hell for Willow, considering the strange looks people had been giving her ever since she showed up in the hallway. She could hear her name being mentioned in each conversation, and it started driving her crazy ── why was it so hard for people to forget about some stupid and also unfunny joke, and not her birthday date?

     ”Why didn't you tell us that people started making fun of you yesterday?” Demetri asked when the four best friends sat in the library, studying together.

     ”Because I don't care about it. You shouldn't either” the blonde shrugged him off, drawing something in her notebook, trying to focus on it as she wanted to skip the necessary conversations about the prior incident. She didn't want to think about it ── at least not when she was surrounded by people, and couldn't even cry everything off to make herself feel better.

     Being bullied felt like being suddenly bitten  by a snake ── the wound will heal in the end, but the trauma will still be in the person, making them remember where not to go to avoid being hurt again. That was exactly what Willow sensed. The fear of being hurt again.

     ”So that's it? No more karate?” Demetri's voice pulled the emerald-eyed girl out of her lethargy, making her scrunch her nose as she wanted to catch up on their conversation.

     ”I guess so”

     The Alexopoulos hands threw themselves eloquently in the air, the very known sentence escaping his mouth. ”It's probably for the best ── it was starting to boost your confidence”

     ”Isn't that a good thing?”

     Demetri shook his head. ”No? What has confidence ever gotten anybody except for a black eye and their backpack being thrown in the trash?”

     Willow rolled her eyes, and turned her eyes to Eli again as he took a pen from the table and started writing something in the girl's notebook. When he finished, she offered him a smug smile, because the content of this discreet message was ’I'm sorry for what happened yesterday ;c’. At the moment when she was writing the reply, Eli spoke up.

     ”Well, I thought it was kinda cool how you stood up to Kyler”

     His friend immediately interrupted him. ”Are you insane? Let me ask you. What is the best superpower anyone could have?”

     ”Super strength”

     ”Wrong”

     ”Telekinesis”

     ”Yeah, no. Invisibility” the brunette corrected the girl quickly. ”A distant second would be super speed to run away fast”

     The Froud was ready to question her friend's sudden change of topic, but she silenced herself as someone's hand landed on her arm, leading to her pushing it away with a grimace.

     ”Run away from who?” a familiar face showed in front of her eyes, which didn't satisfy her either. Kyler.

     ”Whom” Brucks leaned in, correcting his friend. ”It's the object of a preposition. Remember English class──”

     ”And we were just leaving” Miguel said, and with that, the four stood up, taking all of their things from the table.

     ”Oh, where are you going? Oh, look at this freak.” as soon as Willow turned around, she could see Kyler grabbing Eli by the face, which stirred up a lot of anger inside her. ”Oh, shit. What kind of girl would ever kiss you?” the Parks laughed with his friend.

     Nothing made the blonde's blood boil more than hearing the two guys' laugh, especially when it was caused by another shitty joke about someone close to her. Willow couldn't just stand there, and let them make fun of something Eli had no influence on ── they were friends, and friends should never abandon each other in a need.

     That's what made her step closer to the scene playing out in front of her eyes. A sigh escaped her lips when Kyler's gaze fell on her, a smirk being sent to her.

     ”You're so tormented by the fact that no normal girl would ever even approach you that you take it out on others?” saying that, the teenage girl put her hand on Eli's arm, pulling him backwards, so that now all the bullies' attention was on her.

     Brucks chuckled, amused at her words. ”Oh! That was good, Ky!”

     The Froud rolled her eyes at the boy. ”I was talking to you too, dude”

     An affair was coming ── Willow, and her friends were sure about that when they saw the looks on the two's faces. The girl didn't regret saying anything, though. She was just stating the facts, because what normal girl would ever date them?

     ”You sure, dimple?” Kyler's jaw clenched in anger, and his hand gripped the girl's elbow tightly, which will definitely be covered in bruise later. ”What? You're not so talkative now, are you?” he teased.

     She shrugged lightly. ”Nah, I actually am, cause if we're talking about all the reasons why no one would ever want to date you then──”

     Hearing what Willow was going to say, Miguel walked into her sentence. ”Don't touch her, Kyler”

     The Asian boy snorted, pushing the girl away, her stopping herself between Demetri and Eli that had scared, and dissatisfied looks on their faces. Willow looked away from them to see Kyler already coming to Miguel's way.

     ”What'd you say?” the black haired boy muttered, standing in front of the Diaz. ”You haven't had enough, 'Rhea? Huh?” with that, Brucks punched the weaker boy in the side.

     Willow grimaced, remembering what had happened last night. She couldn't let them hurt him ── she promised that to herself, and Carmen.

     ”Yeah, get the hell out of here, man”

     The emerald-eyed girl ended up being pushed out of the library, her friends following after her.

     Well, maybe not Demetri as he was stopped by Kyler, who quickly grabbed his backpack, making him groan.

     ”Hey, you don't want this shit”

     ”Come on, not the trash. I just threw──” Demetri couldn't end his sentence as his backpack ended up in the trash. ”── a yoghurt in there”

     Kyler shrugged. ”Now it's double-dip”

     ”Come on, Dem. I'll help you wash it” Willow rolled her eyes, annoyed at the two boys. Her, and her friend suddenly passed by Sam LaRusso that only showed an apologizing face expression.

     She ignored her, though. They deserved each other.

natalia speaks . . . !

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