flashback!
— march 1996; miami, fl

"so, what's a girl from the valley doing all the way down here?"

bella sighed as she sipped on her cup of coffee, while she sat talking to alice, a modeling agent whom bella met while on her morning shift. while bella took her order, she and alice began making small talk about modeling, which led to alice asking bella if she's ever modeled.

"how'd you know i was from the valley?" bella said.

"because i'm from the valley." alice said. "i'm from chatsworth."

"north hollywood." bella said. "lived in van nuys for a few years."

"so, what's the story?" alice said, taking a sip of her coffee.

"i needed some time out of the valley." bella said. "i'm a single mom, i have a 5 year old daughter. the reason i left was because i divorced my husband, who was my high school boyfriend, so to avoid all the post-divorce drama, i ended up here. i stayed with my aunt until i was able to get an apartment and now, i'm here."

"wow." alice said, sipping on her coffee. "that's brave"

"yeah, i get that a lot." bella said, softly chuckling.

"but i mean it." alice said. "it takes guts to do what you're doing. i mean, you're in a new place, finding your way, raising a 5 year old on your own. not to mention you left a job at calvin klein as product manager to work minimum wage at a denny's."

"yeah, i still miss that job." bella said. "it was the closest i got to working in fashion."

"and how'd you end up there?" alice said. "because let me tell you that not many people end up there at your age."

"a professor of mine in nyu." bella said. "she offered my friend and i internships right out of college, so we started working there, then there was an opening for that position and i took the risk."

"a single mom with a fashion degree from new york university. what the hell are you doing waiting tables at a denny's?" alice said.

"i needed a job, anything. i had little to no money when i got here." bella said. "i really needed the money to support myself and my daughter, but to be honest, a waitress salary isn't cutting it anymore."

"i get it. bussing tables doesn't get easier." alice said. "i will tell you this though, you are probably the most interesting girl i've met."

"thank you, but–"

"i'm serious." alice said. "listen to me, you're a pretty girl, but you're also very intelligent, bold, you've got a great personality, and you're unique. you've also got a degree, which, honey, not very many girls do. you're different and that attracts people."

"i appreciate it, thank you." bella said.

"you said that working at calvin klein was as close as you got to working in fashion." alice said, pulling her wallet out of her purse and grabbing a business card. "here's my card if you're interested in getting back to working in fashion."

alice handed her card to bella as the brunette smiled at the older lady. "thank you so much. i really appreciate this and it was so nice talking to you."

"it was a pleasure, isabella." alice said as she stood up from the booth.

⊱ ────── {⋆⌘⋆} ────── ⊰

isabella walked into the restaurant as the waiter led her to the table where alice was sitting. the older woman got up from her seat and embraced the brunette as she approached the table. "long time, no see stranger." alice said.

"very long." bella said as she took a seat.

"how's your little girl?" alice said, sipping on her drink. "stevie, right?"

"yeah, and she's not so little anymore." bella said, with a chuckle. "she's getting older every day."

"i remember the little blonde 5 year old girl, running around." alice said.

"so, what're you doing around the valley?" bella said.

"trying to find you." alice said.

"you're lying." bella said, laughing.

"i'm serious!" alice said. "when i heard about this job, you were the first person who came to mind. the hard part was trying to get you to accept."

"well, you got me to accept, so mission accomplished." bella said, with a chuckle as she sipped on her drink.

"i'm surprised you weren't doing anything." alice said. "i thought you'd be working on your next collection or project."

"i mean, it's a work in progress, but nothing's official, just ideas." bella said. "i'm trying not to overwork myself."

"overworking? says the girl who wouldn't take a coffee break." alice said, jokingly.

"i know, i know, but it worked for me this last time." bella said as she felt her phone ring with a message. she smiled at the phone as alice noticed.

"what are you smiling at?" alice said. "new guy?"

"kinda." bella said.

"it's the blonde, isn't it?" alice said, with a smirk.

"it's that obvious?" bella said, laughing.

"so that explains your mid-afternoon nap the other day." alice said. "so how's it going?"

"it's going." bella sighed. "we're making it work, so far. we were kinda stupid about it back in the day, we both kinda messed it up so we decided to give it another try."

"well, i'm happy for you." alice said. "i told you life would get better."

"yeah, i just hope it stays like that." bella said. "to tell you the truth, i'm kinda nervous about everything because just when everything seems good, it turns weird."

"you're still scared, aren't you?" alice said, sipping on her drink.

"in a way–"

"you'll be fine." alice said, as she reached over and held bella's hand. "i know last time you did this, it all went wrong. don't let that scare you or keep you from anything. take it in and make the best of it."

"thank you." bella said. "thank you for everything."

"don't thank me yet." alice said. "you're gonna be great."

⸻

as stevie woke up, she rubbed her eyes as she looked at the small rays of sunshine coming in through her window, smiling as she noticed alex sleeping peacefully. she yawned as she began to sit up, but was pulled back by alex.

"good morning to you too." stevie said, laughing.

"hey." alex said, smiling before kissing her good morning. "why're you getting out of bed so early?"

"because i have work and so do you." stevie said.

"but it's hella early, baby." alex said, wrapping his arms around stevie.

"it's 7am." stevie said.

"but you don't go in until 9." alex said, with a yawn.

"but you go in at 8, lazy ass." stevie said, as she softly stretched before checking her phone.

"shit, that's true." alex said, sitting up and placing a kiss on stevie's shoulder before getting up and going to the bathroom.

stevie checked her messages as she saw that she had a couple missed messages from her friends, as well as miguel and the kids from miyagi-do and eagle fang. as she checked the messages, she saw a photo attached, a screenshot of a twitter profile that her dad had created and his tweets announcing a rematch between him and daniel.

"what the hell?" stevie said, as she logged into her twitter and found the request from her dad and the tweets.

"what's up?" alex said, as he walked out of the bathroom.

"dad created a twitter and apparently he and daniel are set to have a rematch at miyagi-do." stevie said, handing her phone over to alex.

"oh shit." alex said. "i thought everything was going good so far."

"i thought so too." stevie said. "but something tells me it has to do with this guy that came in to the dojo the other day."

"what guy? there's another guy?" alex said.

"this tall guy with a ponytail came in with kreese and basically had a whole discussion with dad and daniel on how they'll tell the cobra kais to back off if they do the same." stevie said.

"because of the prank at the drive-in, i'm assuming." alex said.

"yeah." stevie said.

"well, $20 on your dad and $25 on daniel." alex said, as stevie turned to look at him. "i'll shut up then and go back to getting ready for work."

"it would be best." stevie said, as alex went into the bathroom to change.

"so i'm thinking that you have to head to the dojo after work?" alex said, as he continued getting ready for work.

"probably." stevie said. "there has to be an alternative solution to this but because they can't seem to agree on anything, i need to see what's up."

"i mean something's gotta give, right?" alex said, walking out of the bathroom and taking a seat on the edge of the bed next to stevie.

"i hope so." stevie said, placing her phone down. "if all goes well, we still on for a movie date?"

"yeah. keep me posted, alright?" alex said.

"i will." stevie said, before kissing the blonde. "i love you."

"i love you too, babe." alex said.

⸻

after bella spent the morning having breakfast with alice and running some errands, she decided to head over to reseda after she missed johnny this morning. upon arriving to the reseda apartment complex, she found the blonde around the courtyard. bella got out of her car and walked to the courtyard as well.

"hey sensei." bella smiled as she greeted johnny with a kiss. "i missed you this morning."

"hey babe." johnny said. "i got an early start, i didn't wanna wake you up so early."

"looks like you need a shower." bella said. "i'm not doing anything right now, maybe i could help you out with that."

"i'd love to take you up on that offer, but y'know there's no fooling around before a fight." johnny said. "women weaken legs."

"right, my bad." bella said, chuckling. "so who are you fighting and more importantly, do i wanna know?"

"larusso." johnny said. "i'm kicking his ass at sundown."

"you're kidding." bella said. "john, not this again. i thought you guys were over this. you guys were doing so good together, what now?"

"he thinks his way is the only way." johnny said. "he wants to take over the kids training by only training miyagi-do. that wasn't part of the deal–

"and the way to solve this is a grudge match." bella said. "there's gotta be a better way."

"well, there's not." johnny said. "we agreed to a rematch only this time, i'm gonna win."

"whatever makes you happy, john." bella said. "have fun with your friend."

⸻

"so who the hell is this silver guy?" aiden said, grabbing a soda from the fridge. "like who is he or what does he do?"

"i don't even know where he came from." stevie said. "he just showed up out of nowhere with kreese. he's for sure affiliated to cobra kai, but i don't know anything other than that."

"he's not only affiliated with cobra kai, he's the co-founder." ashley said, holding up her phone, showing it to stevie and aiden.

"oh shit." stevie said. "it's all coming together. kreese and silver are wat buddies. they served together in vietnam."

"yeah, vietnam vet turned muli-billionaire. ceo of dynatox." ashley said. "talk about daddy's money."

"and how does daniel know him?" aiden said.

"i'm not sure but when he walked into the dojo, you could just see the hatred in his eyes." stevie said. "i've never seen daniel look so pissed to see someone, well other than dad."

"there's gotta be some history there, if daniel hates him so much." ashley said. "he didn't mention anything while you and alex were there."

"no." stevie said, taking a bite from her bowl of ramen noodles. "it's all so weird, but this guy came to shake everything up."

"in what way?" aiden said.

"this guy appears with kreese and now daniel and dad are having a rematch." stevie said.

"wait, daniel and uncle johnny are gonna throw down?" aiden said. "that's badass!"

"what the hell? i thought they were cool." ashley said.

"as of last night, they're not cool anymore." stevie said, showing the tweets to the twins.

"okay, how did uncle johnny make a twitter if he could barely work a cell phone?" aiden said.

"and who does he think he's tweeting to?" ashley said. "he's only got two followers."

"i don't know, but all the kids saw it so they're all gonna be there." stevie said. "this just keeps getting worse."

"and you think it has to do with terry silver?" ashley said.

"i don't know anymore." stevie said. "there's a lot going on at the moment so i'm not sure."

"damn, this just keeps getting interesting." aiden said.

⸻

"hey, sorry to interrupt but there's some guy asking for you, said he wanted to speak to you about some designs, but i don't remember him setting an appointment." lillian said. "he's in the conference room."

"i didn't have any appointments today. are you sure he said today?" bella said, looking up from her laptop.

"yeah, that's what he's saying." lillian said.

"okay, let me go see what that's about." bella said, as she grabbed a notepad and walked out of her office. "i'll be back. don't go anywhere."

"what's that about?" chrissy said.

"i don't know." lillian said. "i swear, i don't remember speaking with that guy."

as lillian and chrissy stayed in bella's office, bella walked into the conference room, and found the man that lillian was referring to, a tall man, dressed in dark colors with his long grey hair tied back in a ponytail. she felt her heart drop as she remembered the conversation she had with stevie about this man, terry silver.

terry noticed bella walk in and stood up from his seat. "ms. monroe, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." terry said, with a smile. "i've heard so much about you."

"yeah, likewise." bella said, as she closed the door. "so how'd you find me?"

"well, i was trying to look for a designer to design a gi for cobra kai and my friend john kreese sent me to you." terry said. "says your very talented."

bella felt her heart race, as she stood across from this man. she wasn't afraid of kreese or cobra kai, but there was something about terry silver that she feared. "did he?" bella said.

"he also told me all about your love affair with johnny lawrence." terry said. "high school sweethearts, he also told me about your daughter, she's definitely her father's daughter."

bella fell quiet and took a deep breath, as she messed with her bracelets. "look i'm a neutral party in this whole karate bet." bella said. "but if you go anywhere near my daughter, you'll regret it."

"a mother protecting her daughter, i respect that." terry said. "but as a business owner and designer, you have the responsibility of serving a client."

"but i also have the right to turn someone away." bella said. "i'm not taking sides nor am i taking any part in this bet thing you two have going on."

"ms. monroe, i think you've proven your loyalty without you even realizing it." terry said, as he stood up and walked towards the door. "it was a pleasure doing business with you."

⸻

upon arriving to miyagi-do, stevie parked her white mustang next to her father's dodge caravan. she took a deep breath as she turned off the engine and walked towards the dojo. she had arrived late to the rematch, because deep down, she didn't want to be there.

after attempting to convince her father not to go through with this fight, she went over to the encino overlook to clear her head and then headed to the dojo. she didn't want to see the dojos split as they were doing a wonderful job, but this rivalry seemed bigger that the bet that was made with cobra kai. just as the two men put their differences aside, the rivalry got the best of them.

stevie walked out into the backyard, she found the kids watching the fight and the two men on the sparring deck. daniel had scored a point and tied up the match, 2-2. the blonde stood behind the crowd and watched her father and daniel fight.

johnny jumped forward to kick daniel, but daniel turned around and just as he was about to throw a punch, daniel blocked his fist and shoved him down. as johnny stood up, the two men exchanged punched, with each of them blocking. johnny grabbed daniel and pushed him back, into a wooden pole on the side of the deck. daniel was now upset and ducked as johnny came at him.

the two men circled each other until johnny threw a punch, which daniel managed to block. the blonde continued to throw punches, each of them blocked by daniel. as the fight reached its climactic point, the two men continued throwing punched and blocking them. the two men hit each other in the head and fell onto the deck, causing everyone to gasp.

"point larusso!"

"point lawrence!"

"are you sure?" miguel said, turning to sam.

"are you sure?" sam said, with a confused look.

stevie cringed as she walked over to see if her father was okay as the two men stood up. "you two okay?" she said. "who's point was it?"

"check the replay!" demetri exclaimed.

the crowd gathered around chris as they replayed the moment to check who had gotten the point, but it was too close to call. "go to another angle." johnny said.

"dad, there's no other angle." stevie said.

"don't you guys have another phone?" johnny said, as miguel turned to the side to find hawk come in, with a sad look, his face stained with tears.

"oh shit, eli, what's wrong?" stevie said.

hawk slowly removed his hoodie, revealing his purple mohawk that was now gone. the group gathered around him, asking him if he was okay before johnny walked up to him.

"who did this?" johnny said.

"cobra kai." hawk said.

johnny was now upset and shook his head. "kreese and silver did this. they need to pay." he said.

"johnny, please." daniel said, stepping off of the sparring deck. "kreese tried to kill you, you wanna fight both of them?"

"damn right, i do. look what they did." johnny said.

"dousing the fire with gasoline, that's your answer?" daniel said. "why am i not surprised?"

"dad, that's enough." stevie said, stepping in between the two men.

"you still think your way is the only way." johnny said. "you were so proud when they pulled their little sprinkler prank. if they kicked ass like i taught them, this never would've happened."

"and if they fight every time they're provoked, where does that lead? back to the hospital or to jail?" daniel said. "just because you've spent time in both–"

"enough, dad." sam said, stepping in. "johnny's right. it doesn't matter how many times we stand up to cobra kai, if we don't strike back, they're gonna keep coming at us."

daniel looked at sam with a look of disappointment and then turned back to johnny. "and you were worried about my influence on your kids." he said. "is this what you want, johnny? to have my daughter and the rest of my students acting like you?"

"you don't have to worry about that anymore." johnny said. "'cause we're done."

"works for me." daniel said, as everyone fell silent.

"eagle fangs, let's go."

⸻

the apartment was dark and quiet as bella stood in the bathroom, brushing her hair as she got ready for bed. as she walked out of the bathroom, she let out a small sigh as she looked at johnny, who was sleeping. after his rematch with daniel, he seemed sad and defeated, and went straight to bed.

the brunette got into bed, covering her body with the sheets. she laid down and wrapped her arms around the blonde, who then turned to face her and tucked a hair behind her ear.

"you okay?" bella said, quietly. "i'm sorry about what happened."

"i'll be fine." johnny said.

"you wanna talk about it?" bella said.

"nah." johnny said. "i'll figure it out."

"i know you will." bella said. "i know you're upset, but if it's any consolation, you two were doing great."

"i'm not upset, but thanks." johnny said.

"you can be honest with me." bella said. "it's totally fine if you are."

"i thought this would work." johnny said. "i thought that with me and larusso training the kids with different styles, they'd have twice the advantage, but that went to hell so, now i'm on my own, which is better anyway."

"you two will figure it out." bella said. "those kids need you both. you two can teach those kids so much, but i know you'll figure it out on your own. you always come up with something, even if it's kinda crazy."

"yeah?" johnny said

"yeah." bella said.

"you're a sight for sore eyes, baby." johnny said, smiling as he pulled bella closer to him.

"so are you, sensei." bella smiled.

"i love you, gorgeous." johnny said.

"not as much as i love you."