⊱ ────── {⋆⌘⋆} ────── ⊰

IT WAS 9am, on the dot, as stevie walked out of the elevator and into the offices. she let out a soft yawn and she took a sip from her coffee she picked up from starbucks. she placed her stuff on her desk, then went to knock on chrissy's door.

"yeah?" chrissy said as she opened up a folder. "it's open."

"morning, aunt chris." stevie smiled as she walked into chrissy's office. "here, i thought you could use the caffeine."

"thanks hon." chrissy smiled as she grabbed the coffee cup.

"so, what're you up to?" stevie smiled as she took a seat in front of chrissy's desk, looking at her pictures. "i forgot to tell you that i spoke to the photographer about having those pictures for the magazine spread ready and they should be ready by this afternoon."

"ahh perfect. i didn't have to go up and bitch at him. thank you for that." chrissy chuckled as she opened up her laptop.

"and this is why i'm your favorite?" stevie laughed as she drank her coffee.

"you are so your father's daughter." chrissy laughed. "you've really got that lawrence attitude."

stevie felt her phone vibrate in her purse as she rummaged her purse to find her phone. she grabbed her phone and saw that she had an incoming call :

INCOMING CALL
pops ❤️

"i gotta take this call, chris." stevie chuckled as she walked out of chrissy's office.

"let me guess, johnny?" chrissy chuckled.

"who else." stevie laughed as she walked out of the office to answer the phone. "see you later auntie!"

"love you hon!" chrissy called out as stevie walked out. "say hi to your father for me."

"love you too!"

⸻

bella zipped up her last suitcase and let out a sigh as she sat back on her sofa, resting after she finished packing. she looked around her apartment once more as she tried to remember if she had packed everything she needed.

she stood up from the sofa and walked around her apartment, grabbing her carry on and her suitcase. she grabbed her phone from her back pocket to call lillian. although bella didn't meet the deadline, she still decided to head to california, as a long and well-deserved break.

"what's up? leaving already?" lillian answered.

"yeah, i'm walking out of the apartment as we speak." bella sighed as she closed the door.

"bella, take a deep breath, okay?" lillian said as she poured herself a cup of coffee. "remember what we talked about."

"yeah, i know." bella said as she made it to the elevator. "i'm just nervous, you know?"

"look, don't think about it too much. you finally get to see your mom and daughter. i'm sure they'll be excited to see you." lillian said as she placed her phone on her table, placing the call on speakerphone. "and i know you missed home."

"part of me does miss the valley." bella said, running a hand through her hair. "it'll be nice to smell the smog again."

"there's the attitude!" lillian chuckled. "don't forget to have lots of fun and call me when you're in california! love you and don't worry, i'll take care of things back here."

"i'll probably be planning with jen, so i'll try to do my part while i'm over there, but thank you." bella smiled as she hung up and walked out of the building and into a taxi, while the driver placed her luggage in the trunk. as she headed to the airport, bella sat in the back seat, taking a deep breath and looked out the window.

⸻

flashback!
— august 1995; north hollywood, ca

"alright, that's everything, i guess." bella sighed as she looked at the car, with all her belongings in the backseat. "i'll call you once i get to miami."

lisa softly smiled as she embraced her daughter, who began to cry as she was in her mother's embrace. "i'm sorry, baby." lisa said as she listened to her daughter softly sob on her shoulder. "it'll get better. i promise."

bella only managed to sob as she held onto her mother. "i hate this, ma." bella sobbed. "daddy was right about him. i wish he was here. i could really use his advice and i should've listened to him. i wouldn't be in this situation."

"honey, listen to me; you both tried and it's not your fault. i know your daddy would've said the same thing. please don't be too hard on yourself." lisa said as she cleaned her daughter's tears. "your father might not be here anymore, but i'm still gonna be here for you and stevie. it's gonna be hard raising her on your own, but you're strong and i know you're gonna try and be strong for that little girl because it's only you and her now."

bella only managed to nod her head as she cleaned her tears. she embraced her mother once again as she then turned to look at her daughter, who was clutching her purple bunny in her arms. "i love you ma." bella sighed, shakily before picking up the small blonde girl in her arms. "you ready to go, baby?"

stevie shook her head as she said goodbye to her grandmother. bella carried her daughter in her arms and placed her in the front seat as she got into the driver's seat. "are you okay, mommy?" stevie said as she looked over to her mother who was wiping the tears from her eyes.

"i'm gonna be okay, sweetie." bella softly smiled as she intertwined her hand with her daughter's small hand. "we're gonna be okay."

"i'm gonna miss it here." stevie sighed as she held her purple bunny in her small arms. "and i'm gonna miss daddy."

bella sighed as she tried not to think about her ex-husband. "so am i baby." she said, running a hand through her hair. "it's you and me now, sweetie."

⸻

it was after 5pm as stevie parked her white mustang in the parking lot of a reseda strip mall. stevie got out of the car, grabbing her purse from the passenger seat and placing her glasses on top of her head. she shyly walked into the dojo as the little shop bell announced her entrance. she then turned to find a boy, who looked about 16-17, cleaning mats.

"um, hi. i don't think we're actually open for business yet." the boy said as he looked up from the mats.

"i'm actually looking for your sensei." stevie softly smiled.

"oh, sure! he should be in his office." the boy smiled. "i'm miguel, by the way."

"nice to meet you! i'm stevie, well, stephanie but everyone calls me stevie." stevie smiled as she shook miguel's hand.

"hey sensei! there's a girl out here, looking for you." miguel called out to his sensei as the blonde walked out of the office, smiling as he looked at his daughter.

"you weren't kidding when you said you needed help." stevie joked as she walked across the room to greet her dad. "it looks better than it did two days ago."

"i told you it was gonna be a lot of work." johnny smiled as he greeted his daughter by embracing her. "i needed an extra set of hands."

"you just wanted me to come help with the bills." stevie laughed as she walked into the office. she looked over to the desk, which was full of bills and other paperwork.

"you got anything better to do?" johnny said, taking a swig of the banquet he was holding.

"not anymore." stevie sighed as she took the utility bill from her father's hands. she sat down on the desk chair as she examined the paperwork on the desk.

"just look over the papers and tell me what they're for." johnny said as he took a swig of his banquet.

"nope, you're staying here with me. dojo's under your name so you need to know what's what, that way you won't be so clueless." stevie said as she stood up from the desk chair and grabbed one of her dad's beers. "and while i'm here, i'm also gonna clean up because just like the rest of the dojo, the office needs a little tlc too."

"you sound like your mom when you say that." johnny said as he sat down on the desk chair.

"yeah i know." stevie smiled as she sat on the side of the desk, looking over the paperwork as well. the blonde smiled as he looked over to his daughter and smiled.

"i really appreciate you coming out here to help, kiddo." johnny smiled.

"of course, dad." stevie smiled. "i'm happy to help."

⸻

upon arriving in the valley, bella arrived to her apartment in burbank, then drove to north hollywood to see her mother. lisa, who was on her way out to the beach club, asked bella to join her, to which bella accepted as she was happy to be back home. the beach club was very different to what she remembered, but some things never change.

bella stood at the bar and ordered her usual drink; rum & cherry coke. as she paid the bartender, she turned to find her best friend, chrissy arriving. once chrissy caught a glimpse of her best friend, she walked towards the bar.

"ms. monroe is back in the valley!" chrissy smiled as she embraced the brunette. "it's been a long time. i've missed you, hon."

"so have i." bella smiled. "how've you been? how's work going?"

"ah, work is work, but thanks to your beautiful daughter, it's a bit easier." chrissy chuckled. "how's the line coming along? i want all the details."

"don't even get me started." bella sighed as she sipped her drink. "there's a problem with some materials that are on back order and i'm supposed to be having fittings but i can't because of that one issue, it's a big mess."

"i'm sorry to hear that, but i know you'll have it ready." chrissy said as she ordered her drink. "but now that you're here, enjoy and take the load off, you really deserve it."

the two women softly clinked their glasses together as a familiar face walking towards the bar, who was none other than daniel larusso. from what isabella knew, daniel successfully owned and operated a couple of auto dealerships around the valley and was well-known for his witty karate slogans, like kicking the competition and chopping prices.

he walked up to the bar, accompanied his wife, and ordered two martinis. chrissy caught a glimpse of the salesman and walked up to greet him and his wife. "hey daniel, amanda! how've you two been?" chrissy smiled as the couple turned to greet her.

"hey chrissy, how've you been?" daniel smiled as he greeted chrissy, then turned to greet bella. "and bella, long time, no see!"

"it has been a long time! how's business going?" bella smiled as she greeted the larussos.

"it's going great, how's business on your end?" amanda smiled as the bartender handed her a martini

"things are a bit rough, to say the least." bella sighed as she took a sip of her glass.

"yeah, i know a thing or two about rough." daniel sighed, sipping on his martini.

"someone's in a mood." amanda said.

"everything alright?" chrissy said.

"yeah, i just–y'know that guy from my high school whose car i fixed for free?" daniel began explaining.

"oh yeah, the blonde pretty boy." amanda said, which caught bella's attention. "the one you beat in the tournament."

"i don't remember me calling him pretty, but anyway–"

"wait, are you talking about johnny?" chrissy said, with a bit of concern in her voice. "you fixed his car, what happened?"

bella listened intently to the conversation as she sipped on her rum & cherry coke. "as i was driving home from work, i'm at this stoplight and i see at this strip mall–"

"i just know that sentence doesn't end well." chrissy sighed. "this is never gonna be over, is it?"

"he reopened cobra kai." daniel sighed.

bella felt her heart drop and her knees weaken. suddenly, the memories of that fateful night back in 1984 rushed into her head.

"he did what?" both women exclaimed.

⸻

back at the dojo, miguel continued cleaning as he washed the windows, while stevie and johnny sat in the dojo office, going through paperwork. "hey sensei, is there a particular way you want me to clean the windows?" the boy said through the other side of the window.

"nah, i don't give a shit." johnny said as stevie handed him a beer. "whatever way is easier."

stevie chuckled as she opened up her beer and organized the stack of completed paperwork, neatly placing it on the side. "y'know what? go clean the toilets and we'll call it a night." johnny said as he continued filling out some forms. "do that one on your hands and knees."

"dad!" stevie laughed as she nudged him. "that is cruel and unusual punishment."

"woah, sensei's your dad?" miguel said as he removed one of his earphones.

"miguel, this is stevie, my daughter. she'll also be training you." johnny said. "stevie, this is–"

"yeah, we met earlier today." stevie smiled as she took a swig from her beer.

"alright, since you two already know each other, go clean the toilets." johnny said as miguel walked out of the office. "hands and knees, diaz!"

as stevie and her father continued to sort out paperwork, the dojo bell rang as stevie spotted someone walk into the dojo, who was none other than her father's rival. she had heard countless stories about their rivalry and how her father lost to him, 30 plus years ago. back then, she wasn't old enough to understand the rivalry between her father and daniel larusso, and now, she still doesn't.

while daniel and johnny bickered inside the reseda dojo, bella found herself driving by that strip mall that daniel was talking about earlier and there it stood : cobra kai karate. curiosity got the best of her as she drove into the parking lot of the reseda strip mall.

she parked her white mercedes convertible next to her ex-husband's red pontiac firebird that looked the same as she remembered it; bright red, except now with a few scratches and in need of a paint job. she watched as daniel stormed out of the dojo and start his car, driving off. bella took a deep
breath as she turned her engine off and opened her car door.

'here goes nothing' bella thought to herself as she locked her car.