╔.𖥸. .════════════════╗

𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗬

chapter twenty-four
you are the thunder and I
am the lightning

╚════════════════. .❀.╝

ALYSSA WALKED INTO Miyagi-Do the next day, clad in white sneakers, a pair of red leggings, and Eli's jacket layered over a white long-sleeved. (Oh, and there was concealer blended on her neck, but she didn't find that particularly important.) It was their first meeting with their combined dojos, and both Sensei LaRusso and Sensei Lawrence had agreed to it. She went into one of the rooms in the house to drop her stuff off, only to be instantly cornered by Sam.

"What is that?" Sam demanded.

"What?" Alyssa asked, putting down her backpack. "What is what?"

Sam took the fabric of the jacket in between her fingers. "This. This is not your jacket."

"And how could you possibly know that?"

Sam gave her a knowing look. "Ally, it's a black hoodie with red designs on it. You would probably rather die than have that in your closet." She then looked at the shirt a little closer. "Wait a second . . . you never texted me the last night saying if anything went wrong." She gasped. "Alyssa Liu, did you and Hawk—"

Well, no point trying to hide it now. Especially from Sam.

"I may have done a thing," Alyssa stated. She then paused for a moment, thinking about it. "I may have done multiple things."

Sam's jaw dropped. "Ally!"

"It was just kissing, nothing else," Alyssa insisted, her cheeks feeling insanely hot. "I promise. I'm not ready for any of that other stuff yet."

Sam's eyes trailed down to her neck and she smirked. "Well, it sure looks a lot like he kissed your neck more than he kissed your face."

Alyssa's eyes widened and she maneuvered her hair to cover her neck, making Sam laugh harder. "Samantha, stop, this isn't funny. Is it really that noticeable? I tried to cover it up."

"No, I just know what concealer looks like. Boys are totally oblivious to that sort of stuff." She giggled for a moment. "So, what happened? After everything, you . . . kissed him?"

Alyssa shrugged, a small smile on her face. "We made up."

"I think you got confused making up with making out."

Alyssa blinked. "I thought they were on the same side of the spectrum."

Sam blinked. "Oh my God." She then got a serious look on her face. "Just . . . are you sure? I don't want you to rush into anything."

"I understand, but I'll be fine. Really. I mean . . . you didn't hear him last night."

She raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I sure didn't."

Alyssa's mouth fell open in shock at what Sam was insinuating. "Shut up, I'm serious. He sounds like he really wants this — to leave his Cobra Kai days behind." She paused for a second. "And I'm going to give him a chance."

Sam nodded slowly. "Okay. I trust your judgement."

They went into the backyard, where the Miyagi-Do's were waiting. Alyssa stepped up onto one of the platform decks to stand next to Demetri. All of them gathered around while Sensei LaRusso stood in the front of all of them.

And then Miguel walked into the backyard, followed by Eli, all the members of Eagle Fang, and Sensei Lawrence.

Alyssa averted her gaze to the ground for a moment, feeling her face get warm. Sam glanced back at her with a smirk, making Alyssa glare at her. Eli instantly gravitated towards the platform that Alyssa and Demetri were standing on. He and Demetri shared a bro-hug before Eli settled himself next to Alyssa, who was doing her best to focus on Sensei LaRusso.

Eli's eyes flickered down to her figure. "Nice jacket."

Alyssa cleared her throat. "I like to call it a power move."

His finger then landed on the spot on her neck that she had covered up. "Why did you—"

"Finish that question and I'll push you off this platform."

"Ready?" Sensei LaRusso began, gaining their attention.

"Let's begin!" Sensei Lawrence shouted.

Silence. There wasn't much beginning going on.

Demetri raised his hand. "Uh, begin what, exactly?"

"Begin a new era," Sensei LaRusso answered. "Many of us used to be enemies. But rivalries don't need to last forever. The All Valley tournament is just a few months away, and this year, the stakes are higher than they've ever been. We know that Cobra Kai is gonna use every dirty trick in the book. There's only one way we're gonna be able to beat—"

"By kicking their asses so hard they shit themselves," Sensei Lawrence swiftly cut in. "We gotta take things to the next level. Gonna teach you an aggression stronger than anything Cobra Kai can throw at us. They strike first? We'll pre-strike.

"Okay, we're getting ahead of ourselves. We are going to respond to what they do."

"Eagles to not respond. They swoop down and take whatever they want, and that's what we're gonna do. Take back the Valley."

"Take it back in a measured an organized approach," Sensei LaRusso insisted.

"We bite first!" Sensei Lawrence exclaimed, and Alyssa raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, let's just warm up with some simple exercises."

"All right, line up!"

Alyssa hopped down from the platform and took her spot in a line in between Sam and Demetri.

"And just breathe and follow me," Sensei LaRusso instructed.

Alyssa, along with the rest of the Miyagi-Do's, started to do their breathing and arm exercises that they always did. However, it only seemed that they were doing it, not Eagle Fang.

"Fighting positions," Sensei Lawrence ordered, and sure enough, all the Eagle Fang members followed him. "Right leg back. Front kick ready. Hiyah!"

They kicked. However, Mitch kicked too hard and hit Nate, who went tumbling to the ground. Alyssa paused and stared down at him.

"Shit, dude, I'm sorry," Mitch said.

They moved on from the warm-ups. Now, all of them stood by the rock in the yard. Mitch and Bert were face-to-face, ready to fight.

"Ready?" Sensei Lawrence began. "Fight!"

The two began to fight each other, but it was all offense and no defense. Alyssa, on the other hand, couldn't get herself to focus on the fight. Her eyes were glued on Eli, who was leaning casually against the rock.

Sam elbowed her side. "You're staring."

Alyssa sighed. "Yeah, I know. Can't really help it. He's so attractive it makes me want to throw up. Snap me out of it, would you?"

Sam then snapped her fingers in front of Alyssa's face. Alyssa blinked and turned her head away from where Eli was standing, giving Sam a gracious smile.

Sensei LaRusso quickly got in between Mitch and Bert. "Hey, hey, hey, you're just swinging at each other." He looked back at Sensei Lawrence. "Don't you teach any defense?"

"Best defense is more offense," Mitch replied.

Bert then kicked Mitch, sending him stumbling backwards. He kicked Mitch again right into the rock, and Mitch crumpled to the ground.

"Why do you have a rock in the middle of your dojo?" Sensei Lawrence demanded.

After that catastrophe, they moved on again. This time, it was Alyssa and Demetri. The two of them faced each other, their fists raised.

"Fight!" Sensei LaRusso exclaimed. At once, Alyssa and Demetri started to circle each other, focused and on high alert for any sudden movement. "That's it. Keep circling. Don't anticipate. Stay focused."

"All right, one of you do something," Sensei Lawrence complained. "What the hell is this?"

"Yeah, that's not really how this works," Demetri replied. "One of us has to be provoked."

Sensei Lawrence threw his water bottle at Demetri, and Alyssa blinked in shock. "Provoked yet?"

They then moved to the front yard. Alyssa stood at the yellow car with Sam, doing the same motions that she had done so many times before and were practically engrained in her mind by now.

"Wax on, wax off," Sensei LaRusso instructed. "It doesn't matter how many times you've done it. You always need to practice your fundamentals."

Eagle Fang, on the other hand, were at Sensei Lawrence's van. They weren't so much practicing their fundamentals — instead, they were just cleaning his car for him.

"That's right, clean it good," Sensei Lawrence stated. "Want it to look brand-spanking-new. Get all the cans out of there. If you find any loose change, it belongs to me."

Sensei Lawrence then set up an obstacle course for them. While he stood to the side and drank his Coors Banquet, they had to run around barrels on fire, jump over broken glass, spin with their head on a baseball bat, and kick an oar wedged in a stack of tires.

"Come on, you maggots!" Sensei Lawrence shouted. "Faster! Good, good, good!"

It was safe to say that Alyssa was not having a good time.

Alyssa placed her hands on her knees and breathed heavily. "I hate running."

"You went on a run with me the other day!" Sam called.

"Doesn't mean I enjoyed it!"

That exercise ended with Chris throwing up in the boat, so they went back inside. This time, they were in one of the rooms inside the house. It was usually one that they used for meditation, but Sensei Lawrence had taken the liberty of using it as a sparring room. This time, it was Eli facing off from Mitch. Alyssa stood to the side, her arms crossed across her chest as she watched.

"Fight!" Sensei Lawrence ordered.

Eli struck first. Mitch blocked his kick, but he quickly punched him in the stomach. Eli ducked underneath Mitch's punch but got kicked, stumbling backwards. He advanced on Mitch again, but when he kicked, his foot went right through the screen of one of the doors. Alyssa's eyes widened and she let out a quiet laugh, quickly putting her hand over her mouth to cover it.

"Oh shit," Eli commented, getting his foot out.

"You see, this is why we don't spar in here," Sensei LaRusso announced.

Sensei Lawrence clapped to get their attention. "All right, who's next?"

Eli returned to Alyssa's side and glared at her. "Stop laughing."

"I'm not — no, I'm not laughing" Alyssa responded, lowering her hand. "Nothing's funny."

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

ELI DIDN'T EXACTLY expect to be cornered by Sam LaRusso after practice ended.

So, training had been an absolute trainwreck. Not just for him, for everyone. Yet he could feel all the stares from them all. He should've expected this — an ex Cobra Kai, one who had done so many shitty things, just showing up at the dojo.

Yet, nothing prepared him for the girl that Alyssa had grown so close with, the one that she shared matching bracelets with, to walk up to him with her arms crossed a determined look on her face.

"What are your intentions?" Sam demanded.

Eli blinked. "Uh . . . I thought it was quite obvious, Princess." Old habits die hard — that nickname wouldn't be going away anytime soon, but he didn't use it as degrading this time. "Train—"

"No, not with the dojo," Sam interjected. "With Alyssa."

"Oh." Eli shifted on his feet — what were his intentions with Alyssa? Obviously, he fucking liked her. For God's sake, they had just made out last night. But the thought of breaking her heart again was enough to make some hesitation seep into his face. "Make amends. That's all I really can do."

Sam sighed. "Listen. Ally was actually really sad without you. She tried to hide it for the sake of Miyagi-Do, and maybe for herself, but I know her better than that. I've seen her genuine smile over and over again, but it never really quite reached her eyes. But today, when she walked in, I saw her eyes . . . sparkle."

Eli paused for a second. "Sparkle?" His heart thudded against his chest — after last night, the way her eyes glimmered was back? He had done that? "Oh."

"She's my best friend," Sam stated firmly. "I've watched you hurt her time after time again, but . . . if she's willing to give you a chance, then I guess I am, too." Her gaze then went out to the backyard. "But if you hurt her ever again, I will kill you."

Eli followed Sam's gaze. It was on Alyssa, of course. She had her usual radiant smile on her face and was laughing at something Demetri said as they walked. His eyes stuck on her, and he couldn't look away. One of her laughs was particularly loud, and the sound carried all the way to where him and Sam were standing. Eli felt a smile involuntarily make its way onto his face.

His smile told Sam everything.

"I'm not going to hurt her again," Eli promised softly. "I won't hurt her again."

"Good," Sam responded. "I'll hold you to it."

Alyssa then reached them, and her smile slightly faltered as she glanced between Eli and Sam — after all, they had a bit of a stand-off last night. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah," Sam answered. She glanced at Eli momentarily before giving Alyssa a smile. "Everything's fine."

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

THERE WAS ANOTHER day of training the next day, and Alyssa could only hope it would be less of a mess — and hopefully no more running. She stood in the front row with Sam, the two of them finishing a fit of laughter they had about a show they had agreed to watch together.

"Ready, bow," Sensei Lawrence ordered, and all of them obeyed.

"Sensei Lawrence and I have the same goal of preparing you for the tournament," Sensei LaRusso stated.

"But we have different ways of getting you there."

"We realize that teaching you opposing viewpoints at the same time can be a little confusing."

"So we've discussed it and come up with a solution," Sensei Lawrence continued. "We're gonna divide and conquer."

Divide and conquer? Alyssa shared a confused look with Sam. If they wanted to beat Cobra Kai, didn't they have to be united?

"Eagle Fang trains out front."

"And I'll be back here with the Miyagi-Do's," Sensei LaRusso added.

"I thought we were stronger working together," Miguel admitted.

"We're still working together."

"Just separately," Sensei Lawrence replied. "On opposite ends of the dojo. All right, Eagles, follow me."

"Miyagi-Do's, come on over here," Sensei LaRusso announced.

Alyssa sighed. She walked towards where the Miyagi-Do's were training, only for her shoulder to brush Eli's. Alyssa turned around for a moment to look at Eli, placing a teasing smile on her face.

"Don't miss me too much," Alyssa told him.

Eli placed a hand on his chest dramatically. "Oh, what will I ever do without you?"

She let out a small laugh and shook her head. "You're ridiculous. See you after class." Alyssa then felt a presence fall into step with her, and already knowing who it was, Alyssa slung an arm around their shoulders. "Look like it's just you and I, Sammy."

"This is ridiculous," Sam voiced. "How is this ever going to work if we're training separately?"

"Great question. Can't answer it."

They went into one of the rooms. All of them took a spot on the floor while Sensei LaRusso took his spot at the front. Alyssa crossed her legs underneath her and paid attention to him.

"We all have anger inside," Sensei LaRusso began. "But I want you to let it go. Don't let your emotions control you. You have to be the one in control, right? Now, everyone, close your eyes and relax."

Alyssa closed her eyes. She let the tension go in her shoulders

"Stop whining like a little bitch," Sensei Lawrence's voice echoed from the front of the dojo. "Get up."

"Stay focused," Sensei LaRusso stated. "Eyes closed. Breathe in, breathe out."

"Don't be a pussy, punch him in the face."

Sensei LaRusso sighed when Chris and Little Red laughed. "Try not to be distracted. Stay focused."

"You punched him in the balls? What the hell is wrong with you?"

Sensei LaRusso got a very tight smile on his face. "Wait right here."

He went outside to go talk to Sensei Lawrence. Considering it was hard to stay focused, and all hope was lost on trying to breathe in and breathe out, they allowed themselves to a water break. Alyssa stretched her arms behind her back as she stood up. Her eyes then caught a glimpse of red in the other room, and she looked over, only to see Eli in there by himself. She got a small smile on her face and walked into the next room.

"Hey," Alyssa greeted.

Eli glanced over at her. "Hey, Lys."

She crossed her arms across her chest. "How's your first day of Eagle Fang training going?"

"Considering I just got practiced on, not too good."

Alyssa then noticed him staring at the painting on the wall, and she smiled softly. "You know, that's the sparring deck at the Okinawan waterfront where Mr. Miyagi's great-grandfather taught karate."

Eli looked at it more intently. He reached up, touching the picture frame.

"Yo, be careful with that," Chris insisted, walking into the room with Nate and pushing Eli's arm down.

"Why, you think I'm gonna break it?" Eli questioned.

"You already broke a door. And you stole Mr. Miyagi's medal."

"And you beat the shit out of me," Nate added.

"Hey, look, I'm really sorry about all that," Eli told them.

He sounded really genuine. It was clear to Alyssa that all he wanted to do was make amends, but it would be hard when he had done so many horrible things to their dojo. Alyssa could only hope that if she and Demetri could forgive him, possibly the two people he hurt the most, the others could, too.

"Go back with your little Eagle gang," Chris said. "You're not wanted here."

"Guys, come on—" Alyssa began.

"Oh, and you almost drove Alyssa to the point of a panic attack," Chris continued.

Alyssa froze, looking down at her hands. She could feel Eli's gaze burning into the side of her face. Alyssa had never really gone into details with Eli about what happened that night in the stretch of time between him breaking Demetri's arm and him showing up at her house. All she had mentioned, in a whirlwind of screaming and crying outside of her house, was that she drove Demetri to the hospital.

Eli brushed past her. Alyssa picked her head up to watch him go and slowly walked forwards, only to see him open up one of the sliding doors. Sensei LaRusso was staring after Sensei Lawrence, evidently in the middle of an argument.

"Hey, Mr. LaRusso, can we talk?" Eli inquired.

Sensei LaRusso turned to him. "What?"

"I don't know where I fit in here."

"What did you expect? You've burned bridges with pretty much everyone here." Eli's face immediately fell, and Sensei LaRusso sighed as Eli started to walk away. "Hey! Hey!"

Alyssa pushed past everyone while staring at Sensei LaRusso incredulously. She couldn't believe how he had just been so blatantly mean, especially to someone he should've considered his student.

"Sensei, come on, he's really trying," Alyssa insisted. "You just have to give him a chance."

She walked down the steps and followed Hawk, leaving an argument between Sensei's and the rest behind. The dojo was crumbling already and it had only been two days — not a good sign. But that wasn't Alyssa's main focus at the moment. Right now, she was busy trying to catch up to the boy with the red hair in front of her.

"Eli," Alyssa called. "Hey, hold on."

He turned to face her, regret and panic flashing across his face. "I almost caused you to have a panic attack?"

Alyssa stared at him for a moment before letting out a deep breath, tucking some of her hair behind her ears. "Not a full one, no. But . . . yeah."

Eli's jaw clenched and he averted his gaze to the ground for a moment, pulling his sleeves down over his hands — a nervous habit of his that she hadn't seen in a while. "Alyssa, I need you to tell me what happened that night after I left the arcade."

Her eyes softened. "Eli—"

"It's going to fucking hurt, but I need to hear it." He looked up at her, and his eyes were pleading. "Please."

Alyssa couldn't really find it in herself to say no. She nodded at him, and Eli let out a breath — of nervousness or relief, she wasn't sure. Alyssa then sat down on the curb. Eli hesitantly sat next to her, their shoulders brushing up against one another's.

She stared out ahead of the road, absentmindedly playing with the cord of her bracelet. "After I slapped you and told you to get out, I helped Demetri sit up. For maybe a minute, I . . . just held onto him. He told me that it hurt, but, um . . ." She shook her head a little. "I knew he wasn't talking about his arm. It was way more than that."

Eli rolled his water bottle over in his hands, his eyebrows knit in thought. Each word was hitting him as hard as a punch, but he could take it. He had to take it — he needed to take it.

"Chris offered to call an ambulance, but the thought of leaving Demetri alone just freaked me out. So I told them that I would take him because my mom works at the hospital. But as I was driving, I . . . I couldn't get the scene to stop replaying in my head." Alyssa paused for a moment, and she could picture everything in her mind. "Sam's panic because of Tory, all of the Cobra Kai's holding me back, the anger in your eyes, and the snap . . ." Her voice for quiet. "Especially the snap."

The sound haunted him, too. Everything about that night haunted him. He should've never done it, he should've never succumbed to Kreese's manipulation.

"It felt like I was drowning," Alyssa admitted. "And, honestly, it felt easier to just . . . swim down, you know? Just let it happen. Which was really bad, because I was driving."

"How'd you get yourself out of it?" Eli asked quietly, and Alyssa could hear the strain in his voice.

"Demetri. He breathed with me." Alyssa let out a small laugh and shook her head. "Even when he was so hurt, he still went out of his way to care for me."

"Cobra Kai wasn't like that. I . . . I don't know how to get it out of my head. Being thrown into a new style like this . . . Lys, I don't know what to do."

"So you're giving up?" Alyssa questioned. "Eli, they're going to come around."

"All of them hate me," Eli insisted. "Don't try to tell me it isn't true. You saw the way they were talking to me." He shook his head. "I deserve it. I brought it upon myself."

"They hate the Cobra Kai version of you. You've got a heart of gold, Eli. You just let Cobra Kai cover it in silver."

"How am I supposed to tell them I'm sorry, then? Sensei said talk is cheap."

"And he's right, it is," Alyssa explained. "But there are other ways to show that you're sorry. Like showing up at people's houses."

Eli sighed. "But you didn't forgive me."

"I know I didn't at the time, but then that night at the LaRusso's, you showed me you were sorry again when you helped Dem and I. The second you kicked those two guys away, I knew you realized that everything you had done was wrong and that you were willing to change. You just have to prove it to everyone else, just like you proved it to me." She reached over and put her hand over his, making him look right into her eyes. "Bandaids don't fix bullet holes, but stitches do."

"Did you just quote Taylor Swift?"

"Yeah, because she's right," Alyssa told him. "Eli, listen. Sure, you might've burned some bridges, but you also have the power to rebuild them. The ball's in your court. You can either pick up that ball and make a touchdown, or you can walk away."

Eli cracked a tiny smile and let out a small laugh. "If you're making a basketball analogy, it would be make a basket. Touchdown is football."

"I know, I just wanted to see you smile." Alyssa smiled softly at the way his cheeks dusted just the lightest shade of pink. "So, what are you going to do?"

Eli suddenly straightened up, his eyebrows knit in thought. "Building bridges." His head whipped over to her, eyes wide. "Lys, you're a genius."

Alyssa blinked in confusion. "Thank you?"

He then reached over, taking her face in his hands and pressing a hard kiss to her forehead. Eli then stood up and grabbed her hand, pulling her up with him. She let out a small laugh and allowed him to drag her down the street.

"Where are we going?" Alyssa asked.

Eli glanced back at her. "To build a bridge."

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

AFTER A NIGHT of planning, Alyssa, Eli, and Demetri had come up with a plan — well, mostly Eli. Demetri was there to make sure everything looked good, and Alyssa . . . well, she was there for moral support.

They got the others in on the plan as they showed up at the dojo. All of them instantly agreed — after all, it would heighten their training and give them more space.

Eli had a sledgehammer resting on his shoulder as he walked into Miyagi-Do, Alyssa right by his side. It seemed quite ominous that he had a weapon, considering he had been the one to lead the destruction of Miyagi-Do all those months ago. Yet this time, Alyssa knew it would be for the better. She glanced to the side, only to see Sam and Miguel sitting in the yellow car in the front. Alyssa waved a little at them.

"What's up, Hawk?" Miguel greeted. Eli said nothing and continued walking. "Hawk! Als?"

Alyssa turned to Miguel and Sam with a smile, walking backwards. "Come and see for yourselves. It's all under control." She glanced back at Eli and his sledgehammer before letting out a small laugh. "I think."

Miguel and Sam did join them, and they were also immediately on board. Them and the others were cleaning up while Eli was busy hitting the sledgehammer on the fence that Alyssa had worked so hard on painting — but forget her paint job, this was going to be way better.

"All right, stand back, it's coming down!" Eli yelled.

With one more hit, the fence fell. Eli grinned down at it.

Alyssa tilted her head in thought. "I don't know if I liked that smile on your face when you knocked the fence down."

"Hey!" Sensei LaRusso shouted, and Alyssa turned to see him and Sensei Lawrence walking into the dojo. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, don't worry, I'm supervising him," Alyssa stated. "More so kind of making sure that he doesn't hurt himself."

Eli quickly elbowed her side, making her go quiet. "You were both right. Talk is cheap. So I'm building a bridge."

Demetri then walked up to them with an iPad. "Uh, more specifically, an Okinawan sparring deck." He turned the iPad down to show the Senseis the design. "Eli's a design whiz. I looked it over and the physics check out."

"Mr. Miyagi just used this area for extra storage, but a new deck would mean a lot more room for training," Sam cut in.

"And we're all gonna help build it," Miguel added. "Assuming our Senseis approve?"

Sensei LaRusso looked at Sensei Lawrence. "Sounds good to me."

"Yeah," Sensei Lawrence agreed. "Sounds awesome."

Alyssa felt a wide grin stretch across her face. "Well, look at that. You've done it."

Eli wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they wandered to go help clean up. "Thanks to you. You gave me the idea."

She shrugged. "Hm. Maybe I'll take some of the credit, but you were the one to put it to action." Alyssa looked up at him, and she seemed quite angelic under the glow of the sun. "I'm proud of you."

Eli didn't really know how to respond to that. In Cobra Kai, pride was only shown in the form of destruction. Yet now, pride was being shown in the form of rebuilding things. He liked this one a lot better, especially since it was coming from her.

So, he settled for tugging her in closer, finding solace in having her be right next to him instead of having her be so far away like it had been for months on end.

•─•°•❀•°•─•

HI GUYS :D welcome to part four!!!

they're going to be so sweet this part I'm crying???