LXVI. Heartbreak Weather

Odessa pushed her feelings about her dad to the side and focused on the task at hand, which was impressing the Sekai Taikai board members. She stood with Hailey and the two of them practiced their punches with the gloves as the three Sensei's walked around with the board members. "Your punches are short. You're distract." Hailey pointed out and lowered the gloves.

Odessa sighed and dropped her hands to her hips. "I know I am. I'm sorry."

Looking across the yard, she saw Christian walking with Johnny and Daniel and the board members. "I can't imagine how you're feeling." She spoke.

"I'm trying not to feel anything."

Hailey frowned and lifted the gloves again. "Don't you remember what happened the last time you tried keeping everything bottled in?"

Odessa started punching again, her words heavy on her heart. "Yeah, I do." She replied and grunted when she punched. "I just wish he wasn't here."

"I'm sorry."

With another punch, Odessa looked at her and sighed. "There's nothing I can do it about. I just have to suck it up."

The Senseis and board members walked by them. "And here we have our first ever All Valley champion, Odessa Beaumont. And Hailey, who's a tough badass." Johnny introduced them.

"We teach our students different techniques when it comes to punches and kicks," Daniel took over. He looked at the girls. "Dess, show me wax on, wax off." He instructed.

Hailey put the gloves down and Odessa raised her fists. Hailey went in for a lunch and she did the wax on motion, immediately blocking it. Then, she did it with the other hand. They did it three times after.

The board members hummed at the presentation.

"Good job, girls. Keep practicing." Daniel praised and they walked off.

Christian lingered back and smiled at his daughter. "Good job, Dess."

"Thanks, dad." She muttered awkwardly and looked away from him.

Hailey frowned at the interaction. Christian walked off and she opened her mouth to say something, but she closed it again.

The presentation went on for a while longer, everybody going great with their skills. They all followed their Sensei's to the pond and Oliver and Grayson stood together on the sparring deck. They walked slowly in a circle. "Nice concentration, boys." Daniel told them.

"I pray they don't do something stupid." Odessa muttered, standing close to Eli.

"Five bucks Oliver kicks him into the water." He whispered back.

She looked at him with narrow eyes. "You're on."

Grayson threw a punch and Oliver ducked down, careful not to fall. When he came back up, he leaned on his back leg and kicked at him, Grayson dodging it by jumping back, completely forgetting that he was on a moving wheel, and he went backwards into the water, yelling.

They all bursted out laughing. Eli turned to his girlfriend. "Ha! I win." He laughed.

"Uh, no. Oliver didn't push him in. He's just an idiot and did it to himself." Odessa argued.

He hummed, pretending to think about it. "Okay, maybe you're right. I'll settle for a kiss then." He flirted.

She raised her eyebrows. "Oh yeah?"

Smirking, Eli hummed and leaned down, kissing her quickly but long enough to make her smiled from ear to ear.

Odessa practiced her kicks on her own. Hailey was busy helping Grayson dry off while Oliver stood with the boys doing the screaming eagle for the board members. Spinning, Odessa leaned back on her right foot and used her left to kick the punching bag hanging in front of her. It didn't really move, which frustrated her because her kicks were more stronger than that.

"You look a little frustrated." Her dad walked onto the platforms upon seeing her practice.

Odessa stiffened. "I don't know what's wrong with me. My mind's foggy today." She explained and wiped her forehead.

Christian frowned in the slightest. "Is it cause I'm here?" He asked.

"Not everything's about you." She grumbled and kicked again, but her foot grazed the side of the bag. "Dammit."

"You're thinking about it too much," he told her, trying to pretend her words didn't hurt him. "You have to let her mind ease."

"I know what I'm doing."

"I'm not saying you don't."

Odessa stared at him, her jaw tightened. Christian stared back at her, his expression soft, no anger in his eyes. They were the complete opposite of each other because all she wanted was for him to leave and all he wanted was for her to love him again. "I'm just. . .nervous." She admitted in a mumble.

"Nervous about what? The Sekai Taikai?" His daughter nodded. "You're the former All Valley champion. You have nothing to be nervous about. Everybody already knows that your best fighter in the Valley."

Odessa scoffed. "I'm not the best fighter."

"Now you're just lying to yourself," Christian said, making her look at him again. "Y'know, I used to think exactly like that when I was in Cobra Kai. Kreese always made me feel like I wasn't good enough, even though Johnny and I were two of the best. Even when I'd win, he always made me feel like I wasn't good enough for Cobra Kai. Johnny was his star pupil."

Odessa frowned.

Christian waved his hand. "That's in the past though." He continued with a slight smile. "I've grown since then, and Kreese doesn't define who I am. I know how good I used to be now. Just like you, don't let yourself or anybody else tell you that you're not enough, because you are."

It was hard for her to respond to that, because it was the first meaningful conversation the two of them had since her dad came back into her life. The first time Odessa didn't feel like yelling at him. But she was still hesitant. She nodded at what he said and forced herself to smile, even if it was small.

"I know you know what you're doing, but, you just need to extend your foot more." Christian told her, going back to the task at hand. Hesitant, he pointed to the bag. "Here, uh, let me show you."

Odessa stepped back and watched him stand in front of the punching bag.

"Stand tall and stand back," he began and straightened his shoulders. With a breath, Christian spun around and kicked out his right leg, hitting the punching bag and it moved with a large force. He felt a pain in his hip and he yelped, dropping in pain.

"Dad!" Odessa expressed with worry and dropped to her knees by him. "Are you okay?"

Her dad groaned and held his hip. "Oh, yeah. You can definitely tell I haven't done that in a while." He said with groaning and rested on his left arm.

She slipped out a laugh and immediately covered her mouth. Christian looked at her with squinted eyes, still in pain, but he grew a smile. "Oh, you think that's funny?"

Odessa laughed again. "Just a little." She replied with pinched her pointer finger and thumb together.

"Yeah, alright. Go ahead and laugh. You're lucky I'm old."

She giggled and for that one minute, all the anger she was feeling toward him was in the back of her head, not the main focus.

As they walked into the Eagle Fang dojo, Oliver looked down at Odessa. "Hey, I saw you and your dad earlier." He whispered. "Was everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine." She answered simply, not wanting to discuss it.

Her dismissiveness put him off. "For a minute you didn't look. . .mad at him. You looked like his daughter."

Odessa's heart pinched suddenly. She looked up at him and smiled weakly. "It's nothing, Ol. Please just leave it alone."

Oliver watched her walk past him and go to stand with Eli, their hands automatically locking. He then glanced at Christian. He would always hold resentment towards him for what he did to Odessa and Thalia. Olivia couldn't understand why someone would want to hurt them, two of the best people he'd ever known.

The karate students stood on one side of the warehouse while the adults stood on the opposite side. Johnny had set up watermelons for Sam to kick as part of the training. "No fancy crap here. Our dojo is old school. We don't spoil our students. We make em earn things the hard way." He tried selling the board members.

Sam yelled and kicked at one of the melons.

"You call that a kick? Harder!"

"My foot hurts just watching this." Hailey muttered as she watched.

Gritting her teeth, Sam yelled again, louder that time, and kicked clean through the watermelon, the fruit splattering all over the Sekai Taikai board member. Odessa gasped and Eli bursted out laughing. She pinched his side.

"I declare Sam as the Fruit Ninja." Grayson said in an announcer voice, making some of them laugh while the girls gave him a look. Hailey whacked him ok the arm.

Johnny quickly walked up to him. "Hey, uh, look man, I'm sure this probably all seems weird to you, but sometimes you have to train outside the box to get to another level. Some people use the latest high-tech junk to get there, and some people need to run up a mountain in the snow and yell—"

"DRAGO!"

Both the Beaumont father and daughter flinched at the same at the sudden abruption, Christian flinching because he was standing right next to the man.

"Ricky Balboa is my hero." The Sekai Taiska member declared.

"No, shit. Mine too." Johnny replied with shock.

"His victory over Russia effectively defined my fractured homeland."

"You get it."

The man nodded. "I do."

Johnny looked at Christian and grinned. "He gets it."

He nodded with a hum. "He gets it." Christian confirmed.

When the presentation was done at the end of the day, Odessa grabbed her bags and was going to follow Eli to his car. "Hey, Odessa," her dad spoke when he walked up to them. "Do you, uh, want a ride home?" He asked, hoping she'd say yes.

The couple looked at each other, Eli's eyebrows going up. "Uhh," Odessa hesitated. She looked at her dad and nodded slightly. "Sure, dad."

Christian smiled. "Great. I'll be waiting in the car." He glanced at Eli. "See you tonight, Eli."

"You too, Mr. Beaumont," he replied and the father walked away. Eli stood in front of her, looking shocked. "I guess, uh, things are good between you two?"

She furrowed her brows. "What? No."

"But you—"

"It's just a ride home, Eli."

The boyfriend blinked a couple of times. "Okay." He nodded. "I'll see you here tonight?"

Odessa smiled and nodded. "Yeah." She leaned up on her toes and kissed him, his hand brushing against her cheek while hers curved around the back of his neck. Pulling away slightly, Odessa smiled at him. "I love you."

"I love you. Be safe." He told her and she walked away.

Odessa got in her dad's car and he smiled at her. "Ready?" She responded with a hum. "What kind of music do you like?"

"Oh, anything's fine." She answered and tapped her nails on her thigh, trying not to appear as awkward as she felt.

Christian backed out of the Larusso yard. "Oh, come on. Do you like pop, oldies, country?" He asked again.

"I listen to whatever." Odessa replied. She looked at the radio and saw what station it was on. The song Rock of Ages by Def Leppard was playing. "I like this."

Her dad glanced at her with a side ways smile. "You do?"

She nodded. "Yeah, Johnny only listens to this kind of music. It's kind of a given."

Christian chuckled. "Oh yeah. We had the best music, just sayin."

Odessa slightly rolled her eyes. "Well, y'all didn't have Ariana Grande, sooo. . ."

"No, but we had Queen, Michael Jackson, White Snake, AC/DC. . ." He looked at her with raised brows. "Should I go on?"

Again, she rolled her eyes. "No, no, I get the picture."

Christian chuckled and turned up the volume on the radio, the song playing louder and they listened to the station in silence. This time, it wasn't an awkward silence.

Thalia was in the living room doing laundry when the father and daughter walked inside the house. Her eyes went wide. "Hey guys. How was the presentation?" She asked, shocked to see them together.

"It went great mom. Dad almost broke a hip." Odessa explained.

Christian raised a finger. "Almost. But it barely even hurt."

She laughed. "You could stand for five minutes. I had to help you."

"I told you that I'm old."

They laughed again and Thalia felt like she in a dream, or an alternate universe. "Well, I'm glad you guys had a good day. I think?"

Christian smiled. "It was good." He looked at his daughter. "Go get ready for the party tonight."

Odessa nodded and headed to her room. He looked at Thalia and her eyebrows shot up. He smiled. "Tal, I think it's happening."

"It's happening?"

"It's happening." He nodded and went to sit beside her on the couch, the side that didn't have clothes on it. "I think she's finally warming up."

"Well, that's great Chris. It's about time." Thalia replied with a smile. She studied his expression, seeing how bright it was. She saw a lightness in his eyes, the light she hadn't seen in so long, she forgot what it looked like. "You look happy."

"Oh, I'm so happy, Tal." Christian said and he smiled again. "Like, joyful, y'know?"

The woman smiled at that, her eyes soft. "Yeah, I know."

They sat there smiling at each other, and she suddenly caught a glimpse of a younger them in her head, the version of them that was the most in love. Thalia shook her head and looked away, putting the folded clothes into the laundry basket. "I should get ready for the Larusso's."

"Yeah, yeah. Of course." Christian quickly nodded and he rubbed his hands on his leaned legs. He aligned slightly. "I should head out, but, I'll see you girls tonight."

"Sure."

He got up and headed to the door. "Bye, Tal."

Thalia waved. "Bye." She muttered with a tiny smile. He left the home and she went to pick up the laundry basket. She looked up and saw his phone on the couch arm. "Shit." Thalia went and picked it up. "Christian, you forgot your phone." She hollered and went to walk outside. Her finger touched the screen and when it lit up, she saw that he had a miss call and a voice mail, the contact number saying California Medical Center.

Thalia furrowed her brows. She stared at the phone, then looked at the door. Don't snoop, Thalia. It's none of your business. A voice in her head repeated. But the curiously got the best of her. Thalia clicked the voicemail notification and it went straight to the app, Christian not having a password. She clicked play.

Hi, Mr. Beaumont. This is Dr. Kelly at California Medical Center. I have the results of your CT scan, if you can just give us a call back. Thank you.