─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

after being informed about cobra kai's desire to qualify for an international karate tournament, the three sensei's (and amanda) confronted terry silver. together, they managed to convince gunther braun to give their dojo a chance.

"dudes, did you catch that video i sent you of last year's sekai taikai?" eli asked as he, miguel, theo and robby stepped into the dojo. the four boys had been researching the world event all night, sharing any new information they had found in their groupchat.

miguel nodded, "who knew people could kick that high?" he questioned.

"or that hard." robby chimed in, tapping theo on the shoulder.

"dude, seriously." theo chuckled at the thought. the sekai taikai was on a whole other level, and theo's loss at the all valley had rattled his self-confidence. there was a part of him that doubted he would make it to the world tournament.

"i guess that's why it's the biggest competition in the world." sam smiled, walking over to join them.

"i heard last year's winners did a car commercial in taiwan." eli informed them. mitch gasped, "dude, imagine being in a commercial. what would you do with all that money?"

"buy a yacht with a hot tub. fill it up with smarties and hotties." chris announced, doing a little dance that earned a laugh from them all.

"all right, all right. let's not get ahead of ourselves." daniel said, stepping over to everyone with their co-sensei's. "remember, cobra kai is gonna do everything they can to get a spot. and if they win this time, kids all over the world are gonna have to deal with the same crap you guys have gone through."

"but if we win, we can show the world how to stop them." sam reminded everyone. sensei chozen nodded in agreement. "first you must prove you can compete with best."  he told her.

"but in order to do that... you have to be better than the best." sensei lawrence stated. "which is why we're gonna kick your asses into high gear."

"sensei lawrence, sensei toguchi and i are gonna get you ready for the presentation tomorrow." daniel announced to them. "come on. let's get warmed up."

"go!" johnny yelled, nudging theo in the back. "move those asses." he instructed, making the boy yelp at the sudden shove.

sensei lawrence was right. the team spent the whole morning completing intense training, so they were fully prepared for gunther and his team's arrival.

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"it's been a while." dr rahim shah spoke to his client. tabby nodded in agreement, strumming her fingers against the man's desk. "yeah... it has been a while. i am sorry for skipping so many of your sessions." she said.

dr shah chuckled, shaking his head, "it's okay, tabitha." he readjusted himself in his seat, leaning one arm on his desk. "so, tell me. what's been happening in your life? any big changes?"

"well... i went to mexico with my boyfriend, and i fought an mma wrestler. in mexico, by the way." she told him.

the man seemed surprised. "right, okay! so, we're starting off strong. sounds exciting, was there a reason behind this spontaneous trip?"

"well, miguel wanted to meet his father. so, we took the bus all the way to mexico." she explained. "it was great, we bonded and really patched things up. i think we're doing much better— much healthier."

"this is incredible news." dr shah said, jotting down a few key points. "it sounds like your relationship is headed in the right direction."

tabby nodded, "yeah... i think so too." she agreed. "i'm also taking my medication on time... and i'm attending my group therapy sessions. i feel so much better now, it's really helping. you people were really onto something when you said it would work."

"I'm really glad to hear you're sticking with the group therapy." the man said, his robe gentle and supportive. "how's that been going? do you feel like it's helping?"

tabby nodded thoughtfully. "yeah, i think so. it's good to talk to people who get it, you know? like, they understand the stuff i can't always explain to my friends or family. and it's kind of nice just... not feeling so alone."

"that's exactly what group therapy is for." dr shah told her. "building that sense of community and shared understanding. have you been speaking up more in the sessions?"

"a little. i mean, surprisingly i'm not, like, the most talkative person there or anything." she admitted, scrunching her nose up at the thought of it. "but when i do share, these people actually listen, and they don't judge."

"that's a big step, tabitha." he smiled. "you should be proud of yourself for opening up, even if it's just a little. progress doesn't have to be huge or loud to be meaningful."

"thanks. i think im getting there." she admitted.

"that's what matters. how about outside of therapy? any changes in your life?"

"well... my mom's boyfriend and his son moved into our house now." tabby told him. "you didn't hear it from me... but i'm pretty sure they'll be married by next year." she paused, thinking of her words. "that won't jinx it, will it?"

dr shah chuckled at her moment of realisation. "well, let's hope it doesn't. touch wood." he said, placing his hand on the wooden desk and tabby quickly mirrored his actions. "how do you feel about this change? do you get on well with your mom's boyfriend and his son?"

"i really like them." she confessed. "rowan was my best friend before we found out our parents were dating. and diego, he's.... he's great. he really cares."

"this is good. this is great? i think your family will definitely going to be an important support system for you moving forward."

"i think so too." tabby agreed, a smile slowly forming on her face. there was a moment of silence as dr shah scribbled some notes down in his notepad. tabby gazed around the room, trying to entertain herself as she waited for his next question.

luckily, she didn't have to wait too long as the man glanced up from his paper. "so, i've got to say. all my kids are talking about these days is cobra kai karate." dr shah told her, earning a sigh of annoyance. "i know that you were once part of that dojo, but do you still train with them?"

"no, i've actually quit karate." she confessed. he pulled his glasses down to the tip of his nose bridge with bewilderment, "is that so? how's that been?"

"it's been... uh, fine? i don't know. i have more time for myself and i can hang out with my family and my friends." tabby said. "i've actually been trying to distract myself with different hobbies. but there's like a... a hole inside me that karate usually fills."

"that's completely understandable. you've been doing martial arts for a whole decade." dr shah reminded her. "and now, taking a break from it might feel scary. but it definitely has it's positives— you can focus on your relationships."

tabby muttered in agreement, not sure how to reply to the man's words. dr shah sat up straighter in his chair, "do you think maybe your troubles didn't stem from karate as a whole? because i can see how much you love the sport." he said.

"what do you mean?" tabby asked.

he cleared his throat. "i mean, maybe karate itself isn't the problem, but the way you've been trained to see it. you've been trained through cobra kai you're whole life. perhaps it's time for a new perspective."

"a new perspective." she echoed under her breath— her therapist had a point. a good point.

"your brother and your boyfriend, they're in different dojos, aren't they?" dr shah questioned. tabby nodded, "yeah. miyagi-do and eagle fang." she informed him.

"okay, okay. and you said you've been spectating their lessons, so why don't you try participate? test out the waters." he suggested. "and if that doesn't work out, you can come back and we can figure out something that can fill your karate shaped hole."

"you think that's a good idea?" tabby asked, seriously considering the idea. dr shah nodded, "i think that's it wouldn't hurt to try. You've been trained under some... challenging influences. this could be a chance to see karate as something healthy, something good for you, rather than a tool for aggression."

"okay, thank you so much, dr shah." tabby said, pushing herself out of the chair. glad to see her so eager about his words, dr shah knew to give her one last warning. "but don't throw yourself into anything unreasonable, just baby steps for now." he said.

"okay, got it. and, also? do not let your kids join cobra kai." she warned.

dr shah chuckled to himself. "yeah, i wasn't planning to." he told her. she gave him a thumbs up before grabbing her bag and exiting the room.

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

despite not having anything to do with the triumph, tabby gladly accepted sam's invite to the pizza party at her house. she drove her now repaired and tracker-free volkswagen to the larusso's residence.

when she arrived, she congratulated all of the team, and stuck by miguel while everyone chatted and celebrated. unfortunately for tabby, he, theo, robby and eli were called for a private chat with johnny. so, the girl sat alone at the dining table with a box of pizza in front of her.

noticing that she was all alone, sam excused herself from her friends and took the seat opposite her at the table. "you'll never believe what i did." sam sighed.

tabby glanced up at her, baffled that she would leave her friends to talk to her. "what happened?" she questioned with an intrigued smile.

sam gave her a run-through of the entire day they spent performing for the sekai taikai recruiters. tabby listened intently, impressed with how many ideas the trio of senseis had come up with to showcase.

"you kicked a watermelon at the sekai taikai guy?' tabby burst into laughter, waving her slice of margherita pizza like it was part of the show."

sam groaned, hiding her face in her hands in embarrassment. "not the whole watermelon! it was just the insides that splattered onto him." she corrected her.

"yeah, like that's any better. and he still let you guys qualify?" tabby inquired before biting into her pizza. sam shrugged, knowing she had a point. "but sensei lawrence managed to sweet talk him into overlooking it." she told her.

"sweet talk him... or scare him?" tabby challenged, her tone teasing.

sam shook her head, chuckling at tabby's words. it had been so long since the two were able to just joke around like this. she was so glad that they were able to put everything behind themselves and rekindle their friendship.

"i know, it was a shock to me too. but they actually bonded over their love for rocky balboa." she said.

a soft gasp escaped from tabby's lips. "i love the rocky movies. and the creed films." she stated. sam scoffed, "no, you just love michael b jordan." she corrected her.

tabby's jaw slacked and she held her hands up in surprise. "wow? low blow, larusso." she said, shaking her head with disappointment. before sam could defend herself or throw another quip into the conversation, johnny, miguel and theo gathered around them.

tabby was perplexed at their sudden, ominous presence. she watched as the two filled up the seats around them and her brother stood behind her. "look, kid. i don't want to be blunt but—" johnny started.

"you don't want to be blunt?" tabby asked. "i find that a little hard to believe." she chuckled.

johnny rolled his eyes, she was still annoying. he sighed, knowing that he came over to her for a reason. "okay, look. we need you if we want a spot in the sekai taikai." johnny told her flat out.

her eyes widened at his brutal honesty. she hadn't even told them that she was considering joining their dojo, and now they wanted her to fight for them?

tabby glanced over to sam, wondering how she felt about the situation— seeing as she was the only female fighter on the team. surprisingly, samantha nodded. "you're the best chance we've got it we want to beat cobra kai." she explained.

she blinked, caught off guard. sam, the same sam she had tormented for months,
was saying this? if sam was telling her that they needed her, this must be serious.

tabby hesitated, her fingers tightening around the edge of the pizza box. karate wasn't just a sport to her, it was more of a battle with herself, the moves silver had drilled into her still felt sharp. could she really fight again without becoming that person again?

she looked over to her boyfriend, hoping to hear what he thought. the boy shrugged, a supportive expression on his face. "it's completely up to you, tabs. but if you seriously don't want to do karate again... then sam can fight." he said.

she paused for a moment, dr shah's warnings clouding her mind: 'don't throw yourself into anything unreasonable, just baby steps for now.'

tabby glanced around the room. If she said no, if she walked away... what would happen? cobra kai would dominate. kids all over the world would be taught to fight dirty, just like she'd been. they'd become what she was trying so hard to escape.

after a long thought, she sighed. "okay. put me back in." she stated. her words hung in the air for a moment, johnny giving her a look of confusion, "what?" he asked.

"like, you know... coach, put me back in. like when a player's been benched—" she glanced over her shoulder to look at her brother, "you know what i mean, right?"

he nodded. "i know exactly what you mean. she says she'll do it." theo translated. johnny clapped with relief, standing to his feet. "well, it's good to have you back on the team." he told her.

"it's good to be back." tabby smiled, hoping that she had made the right choice. but she couldn't silence the small seed of doubt in the back of her mind.

johnny truly meant what he said. although she drove him crazy when he trained her at cobra kai— she was entertaining... and an asset to the team. then, under the training of kreese and silver, she managed to become an even bigger pain in his ass.

now, johnny was just glad that she was now on their side. "which gi would you like?" he questioned, implicitly asking which dojo she wanted to join— miyagi-do, or eagle fang.

"the white one." she said without hesitation. all four of them were surprised at her words, johnny silently departing. theo gently shook the girl's shoulders, "are you serious?" he asked.

"of course. you're my biggest inspiration, teddy." the girl told him, calmly. "so, i'll join miyagi-do... to be with you."

he laughed, wrapping his arms around her and embracing her from behind. theo squeezed her tight, rocking her side to side as she laughed. miguel couldn't even be upset that she was choosing the other dojo, he was just glad to see that the bond between her and her twin was healing.

⎯ ❃ jania speaks!
this song was on repeat as i wrote this chapter so i thought i'd share my annotations xx

bit of a snooze fest chapter but look at her improvement!! she's doing so much better