LIII.                                              Heartbreak Weather

trigger warnings: mentions of drug and alcohol abuse

      When Odessa was little, her favorite thing was going to the beach with her father. Whether it was early in the morning or late at night, her dad would gather her up and they would go and just sit by the water. She could still remember the sound of her little giggle as he threw her into the water and the sound of his laugh when he sound lift her on his shoulders. Her favorite time was when it was completely dark and the moon would shine on the water like tiny little diamonds.

It was their cherished moment. Her father was the love of her life, like all fathers were to their daughters. He was the first man that introduced what love was to her.  To understand what it felt to love somebody so much that you want to keep them hidden from the world because they were yours. But he was also the first man to introduce to her the feeling of completely pain when they leave. The feeling as if somebody's ripping you apart until you're nothing.

Her father was once her safe place. Now, he made it impossible for her to breath. "Dad?" She uttered the forbidden word.

Christian Beaumont stood in front of his daughter and ex wife with his ocean colored eyes filled with years and years of sadness and regret. He stood there with his hands in his pockets, standing in front of her like they just saw each other yesterday. No, it wasn't yesterday. It was three years ago when she fourteen years old.

"Christian?" Thalia spoke from behind her daughter. Her legs felt like they would come out from under her. She touched her chest and felt tears prick her eyes.

Christian suddenly looked overwhelmed. He opened his his mouth but couldn't seem to form words. "I. . . I. . ."

Odessa's anxiety had not settled, for she just got the worst news of her life. And now this, this was too much for her to handle. "Dad?" She repeated the uttered word. She dreamed of things like this. She dreamed of seeing him again, hearing his laugh and seeing his smile, but now that he was here, it felt more like a nightmare.

He looked at her again and only her. Tears filled her eyes that were the same shade of blue as his. His heart broke. "Odessa. . . I-I've missed you so much, sweetheart." He breathed out.

Odessa felt like she was locked in a room and the walls were closing in on her. "What—"

"I saw you, in the tournament. I came to watch you."  Her father went on.

"You were there?" Thalia spoke with a crack in her voice.

Christian looked at his ex wife. "Oh, Thalia. You haven't changed." He spoke shakily. He looked between her and his daughter. "I-I missed both of you so much. I was watching from the hallway. I-I didn't say anything because I didn't want to ruin things."

"Christian, w-what is this? Why are you here?" Thalia stammered.

Christian took a step back, hurt by the question. "I. . . I've been in rehab for the last year. I just got out not too long ago. I've been trying to find you guys for weeks. Then I heard about the All Valley tournament and I just knew you all would be there."

Odessa was extremely dizzy. Her father was there. He was watching. How could she not have seen him? Not even that but he watched her lose. She shook her head again in disbelief. "I-I can't be here right now." She took off back into the house.

"Odessa, honey, please." Her father called out to her in desperation.

Thalia was finally able to move her feet and she marched up to him. "Who do you think you are showing up like this?" She spat and her eyes clouded with tears. "All these years and you show up now?"

"I was trying, Tal." He spoke sadly.

"You can't do this to her. This'll ruin her, Christian—"

"Please, Thalia, I want to make things right. I've been getting better—"

"Oh, I'm so glad, Christian." Thalia said bitterly. "But while you've been getting better, our daughter's been getting worse. What did you think coming here would do? Make her happy? No, she's angry at you! I'm angry at you!" She shouted in his face.

Christian was silent, his mouth gaped open, and he struggled to find something to say.

"Does Johnny know you're back?"

He blinked his eyes and shook his head. "No. N-Nobody does. Only you two."

Thalia swallowed and she looked away from him. A tear fell down her face and she quickly wiped it away. "Go home, Christian. Or wherever it is you're staying."

"Tal, please—"

"No, okay! Odessa just lost the All Valley and her friend is gone. She doesn't need this right now!" Thalia almost yelled from frustration. "C-Come by tomorrow when she's not here. We can talk. Just. . . Just go, please." Her voice broke at the end. She spun around and walked by into her home. She closed the door and exhaled shakily. "Odessa?" She called out. There was no response. "Odessa, baby. It's just me. I promise."

Odessa came out of her room and she was a crying mess. "Why is here, mom? Did you know?" She asked through her heavy crying.

Thalia shook her head. "No, baby. I didn't know." She quickly said and opened her arms. Odessa fell into them. "I-I don't know, sweetheart. I don't know why he's here."

Odessa cried heavily and clutched her mom's neck. She felt like her legs were going to crumble.

The news that Miguel had left to go to Mexico quickly got around, leaving everyone confused. They all could see that Miguel wasn't himself. He hadn't been for a while, he was just good at hiding it. Had they missed the signs? Had Odessa overlooked his trauma and not realized how bad he was struggling? She tried calling him over and over again but he never picked up. She felt like a terrible friend for not being there for him.

She stood with everyone else in Sam's backyard. She listened to them talk while she stayed silent. She looked completely exhausted and her eyes were puffy. Eli grabbed her hand. "Have you tried calling him?"

Besides Miguel leaving, Odessa hadn't yet told anyone that her dad was back. She wasn't ready for anyone to know yet. She left really early that morning to avoid seeing him at all costs. She shook her head. "I called him last night but he didn't answer. I've left him so many messages. How could he have just. . . left like that?" She almost whispered at the end.

"This is Miguel we're talking about. I'm sure he did it for a good reason." Eli told her and squeezed her hand.

Odessa shook her head again. "I just can't believe he's gone. It feels, almost wrong not having him here."

He nodded sadly. "Yeah, I know."

Her arms wrapped around his waist and she leaned into him, his arm going around her shoulder. Daniel had told the students to meet at his home but he didn't say what for.

"This feels like that time Gray and I got called to the principles office for setting off the fire alarm." Oliver announced.

"Why did you set off the fire alarm?" Asked Eli.

"We were trying to get out of a history test." Grayson answered with a slight nod.

"They got two weeks of detention and still had to take it." Odessa added with a light grin.

Daniel finally entered the backyard and joined the teenagers. "Everybody gather around." He instructed.

They all stood in a group in front of the man. "It's great to see you all back here again," he continued. "You know we had one goal going into the All Valley: beat Cobra Kai. We walked away with a first place trophy thanks to Eli." He said and motioned to the man of the year.

Odessa immediately smiled and clapped for him along with everyone else. A proud but shy smile grew on his lips. Grayson, who was standing behind him, reached forward and clapped him on the shoulders.

"As far as the rest of the tournament. . ." Daniel continued to say. He paused and his face fell. "Well, it just didn't go our way."

Odessa's smile washed away and she looked down at her tennis shoes. The others frowned at her, knowing how bad she was felt.

"We said we'd close our dojo if we lost. And. . . that's exactly what we're going to do."

"What?" Oliver exclaimed with wide eyes.

"As of today, I am shutting down Miyagi-Do karate." Daniel declared.

They all gasped and looked at each other with confused and wide eyed looks. "Mr. Larusso, you can't do that. Give us another chance to prove ourselves." Odessa pleaded.

The others agreed, objecting as well.

"I know that's not what you were hoping to hear but with everything going on at Cobra Kai, continuing to operate Miyagi-Do only leaves a target on your backs," Daniel explained while pointing at all of them. "Guys, I have to keep you safe."

"We can keep ourselves safe." Hailey said.

"I know you can, Hailey, but I can't take that risk. Just remember what you've learned. This dojo may be closing but Miyagi-Do lives in each and every one of you still."

Odessa shook her head in disbelief. This was exactly the icing on the cake to end the shittiest of life events. "Great, guess i'm getting a summer job." Demetri said sigh with disappointment and they started to scatter away.

"God, can this get any worse?" Odessa groaned and walked away.

"Dess!" Eli called out and ran after her. She was walking really fast but he managed to catch up with her and grab her arm. "Hey, baby, what's wrong?" He asked gently.

Her face fell and she touched her forehead, closing her eyes. She let out a shaky sigh. "I'm just. . . I'm really overwhelmed right now." She responded and her voice broke.

"Hey," he spoke and grabbed her hands. "I know Miguel's not the only thing that's bothering you. What's going on?"

She bit the inside of her cheek and looked down at their hands. "I don't know if i'm ready to tell anyone just yet." She whispered.

"You can trust me. You know that."  Eli rejoined and caressed her palms.

Odessa looked back at him through her lashes and saw his sweet smile. Even when she was sad,  he made her heart swell up. She let out another shaky breath. "My dad's back." She finally admitted.

Eli's smile dropped. "What?"

"He showed up last night. He said he was at the tournament. H-He said he's been in rehab." Odessa explained and her voice cracked as she went on,  feeling herself about to cry again.

"Oh, babe, i'm sorry." He said quietly and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, bringing her into him.

She wrapped her arms tightly around his waist and put her face into his neck. "I just don't know what to do. I lost the tournament, Miguel's not here, and I feel so confused." She cried out quietly.

Eli rubbed her back. "Hey,  what happened at the tournament wasn't your fault. You did your best,  okay? There's nobody that could have done it better.  And i'm here. I wont tell anyone about your dad unless you want me to. I'll be your sidekick in secret." He joked at the end to make her smile.

She managed to chuckle. "You're not my sidekick."

He grinned. "I kinda am. I don't mind though. I like you taking the lead."

Odessa laid her head on his shoulder and sighed.  "Thank you. I love you." She whispered to him.

"I love you, more." Eli said back and rubbed her back with his hand.

"Can I go over to your house? I don't want to go home just yet."

He smiled. "Of course you can."

Thalia sat in front of her ex husband with a heavy heart. The last time she saw him was when he broke into their home and stole from her purse. His eyes were sunken in and the blueness of them was dull. He had wrinkles, which wasn't a bad thing, but she could tell it was from the substance abuse. He looked tried. She was tired. She spent the whole night crying while trying to comfort her daughter. But there was nobody to comfort her. She didn't expect this.

Johnny had went to Mexico to get Miguel back. Robby went with him. He still didn't know that Christian was here. She was scared to tell him. She was scared of even being around Christian. Their daughter was afraid to come home. She felt like she had nobody right now.

"It's really good to see you, Tal." Christian said and broke the silence.

"Why are you here, Christian?" She asked, getting straight to the point.

The man sighed quietly. "After I left, my world got darker and darker until I couldn't pull myself out of it. I met some of these guys at a bar one day and I went back to one of their houses. I started. . ." He paused and looked into her disappointment eyes. "Yeah. . . Um, it went on for a long time. I used practically every day. I was always drunk. I did whatever I could find to not remind myself how shitty of a man I am. I hurt you and Odessa and i'm so sorry, Thalia,"

Thalia had to look away. She sucked in a deep breath when her eyes started to water. "You stole from me, Christian. You manipulated our daughter. You broke my heart—"

"I know and I'll never forgive myself for it," he quickly continued with a break in his voice. "But one day, I was staring at photo of the three of us when Dessa was little. I missed her so much that I wanted to die. I missed you so much. That's when I realized I needed to change. I called up a good friend of mine from high school and told him I needed help. He was doing really good with his life and I needed to be around people like that. He said he knew a really good rehab program and after a day or two, he helped set me up and I was there for a year. I've been clean ever since."

She wanted to be proud of him. Tell him how great it was. But she couldn't. She couldn't forgive him. "How did you find us?" She almost whispered.

"After I got out of rehab, I started looking for a job. For a good one. Was able to afford a small apartment and I got a car, too. My old friend helped me out with that. I asked around about you and Odessa for months. People knew who she was because she won a tournament. That's when I knew. I found out when the All Valley was and where it was at and I watched everything from the hallway. She's just like me," Christian continued and laughed at the end.

Thalia wiped her eyes and sniffled. All the pain she felt for years came back at once. "You don't understand what you being here makes us feel, Christian. You destroyed us."

Christian wiped his eyes as well. "I want to be a better father, Tal. I want to be better for you guys. I need you to be able to keep my life together. I will do whatever it takes to earn your trust back." He practically begged the woman.

Thalia and Christian were high school sweethearts.  Before that, they were best friends. Thalia knew everything about him and could read him like a book. She thought she knew him. But the person sitting in front of her was a stranger. It wasn't the love of her life or the father of her child. He abandoned them. He left them to fend for themselves. He broke her heart. He ruined their daughter. Thalia was a forgiving woman but she couldn't stand to be in the same room as him. "You have to give me time, Chris. I can't do this right now," she uttered and shook her head. "You can't just show up like this."

His face fell. "Tal—"

"I spent years after you left trying to better my life. Trying to get over what happened so that I could keep Odessa from falling off the deep end. And you know what? It's been fucking hard. Johnny pulled us back to the surface. He doesn't even know you're back yet. How do you think he's going to feel?" She stopped and steadied her breathing. She touched her forehead. "I just. . . I need time to think. I-I need my daughter to not be afraid to come home. So please, just give me some time." She begged.

Christian stared at the woman in deep sadness. Seeing her cry broke his heart all over again. He shakily nodded his head and stood up. "I live in the Cherry Hills apartments. Apartment 109. I work at Harrison's Machine Shop. You still remember my number. If you need me, please come find me."

She watched him leave her home and she exhaled shakily. Her hands clutched her hair and she was desperately trying to not rip it all out.