─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

"and finally... this dojo is making their all valley debut, though you'll recognize a few familiar faces. every year, a new dojo rises up the ranks. does this newcomer have what it takes to win it all?" daryl announced to the crowd. "please welcome eagle fang karate, led by sensei johnny lawrence and defending champion miguel diaz!"

gioia and her team strutted out from the back room, smoke emitting from behind them. once they were in view, the team jogged over to the mat and joined the rest of the dojos.

"at the end of the day, only one of these dojos can be crowned grand champion." daryl explained. "welcome to the fifty first annual all valley under-eighteen karate tournament!"

the crowd cheered, full of adrenaline and excitement.

"it's karate time." daryl chuckled.

all the teams spread out, their senseis giving them a pep talk. as daniel spoke to him and the rest of miyagi-do, eli glanced over to eagle fang.

he felt odd being back at an all valley tournament with gioia. during the last one, they were on the same team, they were just friends and she hadn't been feeling her best. not wanting the atmosphere to cause her a potential relapse, the boy had taken her to a cafe for breakfast, where he observed her eat an unlimited stack of sweet waffles.

it was johnny's idea to have him take her out for food. turns out, she wouldn't have been allowed to compete if she hadn't had a full breakfast and lunch that day. but eli didn't want to tell her and ruin her mood.

now he knew for sure she had eaten something, he was feeling less stressed out for her. he was even excited for her. eli knew she had been spending her free time at the gym, working on her cardio, or with the gymnastics team, strengthening her flexibility.

"diaz, a word." johnny called him forward, while everyone left to do their warm ups. gioia lingered back, still able to hear them but not in their conversation. "listen, i know what's been going on with you lately."

"you do?" miguel looked up, hope in his eyes.

"you haven't gotten over that little spat with your girlfriend." johnny assumed. "i can totally relate."

any hope miguel had of the man understanding him was gone. "right."

"my junior prom was an absolute shit show. i need you to focus on winning." johnny told him. "you and sam will make up, but she's not on your team and your team needs you. okay? let's get to work."

johnny patted his shoulder and stepped away, to speak to another one of his students. gioia stepped closer to miguel, giving him a side hug.

"i know you're still bummed out about what he said to you on prom night." gioia spoke, softly. "but you have to know, sensei does loves us. he loves you. in his own weird johnny lawrence way. and you are not a replacement for robby. you and sensei have your own unique relationship, okay?"

miguel nodded. he hadn't had an emotional conversation with gioia for a while now, any type of actual conversation in a while to be honest. he sighed and nodded. "okay. thanks, gio."

"and if it makes anything better, i love you."

"i love you too." miguel gave her a sad smile. "hey, are you doing anything after this?"

"i think i'm just going straight home." gioia explained. "why'd you ask?"

"do you want to-"

"gioia." johnny lawrence called out. the girl almost didn't believe he was speaking to her. she couldn't even remember the last time he called her actual name. she squeezed miguel's arm and jogged over to her sensei, a worried look on her face.

"yes, sensei?"

"i believe in you." johnny told her. "you're a great student."

gioia gave him a look, remembering how she was grouped with the beginners during one of their lessons. she shrugged it off and nodded at the man, making sure to remember to brag to miguel later. "yes sensei." she nodded.

"but you're too nice." he explained. if only he knew she had heard this all before but from the sensei on the rival team. "and yeah, sure that works for you out in the real world. but in here you've got to let it go, you have to be aggressive, you have to be nose pierced, crimped haired gioia."

"i can do that." she nodded. all she had to do was embrace her cobra kai side and become the asshole she once was. silver had taught her how to switch her emotions off and on, so she knew what she needed to do.

"yeah?"

"yes, sensei."

"what was that?"

"yes sensei!"

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

for the skills competition, johnny made sure her gymnastics lessons would not go to waste. so when he suggested she perform an acrobatic martial arts routine, she had spent six weeks learning and perfecting it. when she executed it, it seemed as though everyone in the crowd loved it, encouraging her whenever she landed a flip. however, her last move was a side aerial, which she had done many times that month.

when she landed on her feet, he ankle rolled to the side and she visibly stumbled. despite this, the crowd still cheered for her, but she was getting annoyed at herself. the girl bowed and made her way over to the team, pinching her arm in frustration.

"how the hell are we in fifth place?" johnny groaned, his eyes on the scoreboard.

"i'm really sorry, i should've landed that stupid-" gioia started.

"it's okay, it looked so cool either way." devon smiled at her.

"thanks. and good job breaking those boards." gioia smirked, giving her a high five. then the two bent their arms down for a low five and then snapped their fingers to the side.

"diaz was serious when he said you'd be flying through the air." johnny patted her shoulder. "well done."

"sensei, the skills events are weighed differently. gold medals are ten points, silver-" devon started to explain.

"i don't give a shit about the math. what do we need to beat cobra kai?" johnny cut her off.

"uh, math." devon remarked. "to catch up on points, we need to win as many matches in the qualifying rounds as possible. the further we get, the tighter the vice around cobra kai's metaphorical balls.

"okay. good." johnny nodded, completely understanding her. "now you're speaking my language."

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

gioia had managed to do successfully in her preliminary rounds, leaving her, devon and miguel the only ones in eagle fang left for the quarterfinals.

"all right, folks. we've witnessed some great fighting today. but you ain't seen nothing yet. because we have arrived at the quarterfinals!" daryl laughed. "which means things are about to get intense. of the eight boys and eight girls on this stage, one of each will be named all valley champion. and then we'll tally all the points to determine which dojo has earned the title of grand champion.

gioia glanced around to see her potential opponents. tory, piper, sam, one girl from locust valley, one from xtreme martial arts, one from topanga karate and finally, devon.

"and since the points get higher in each round... it's still any dojo's game! so you keep your eyes on this here blue mat, because we are just getting started!"

gioia's rounds ware one of the first, against the girl from topanga karate. she had been named victor, three to two and three to one in the round with loctus valley's girl. now she wanted to make her way over to miyagi do, knowing she'd either be fighting sam, the girl or piper next.

"mewcomer demetri alexopoulos is heading to the semis!"

"your friend's lucky he didn't face cobra kai. can't say the same for you though, lip." kyler flicked the top of his own lip, mocking eli.

after congratulating demetri on his win, gioia went to wish her boyfriend good luck, only to see him being tormented by members of cobra kai.

"gonna make you kiss that-" before he could finish, gioia stepped in front of him, scarily close to his face. even thought she was at least a five inches shorter than the boy, but the intimidating look on her face was enough for him to back down.

"watch it, skylar." she muttered.

kyler held his hands up in defence. "just know you won't be there to fight his battles on the mat."

"i don't need to fight his battles. he's gonna kick your ass." gioia told him.

"if you say so." kyler smirked, walking away with his friends.

"gb, i'm not too sure if i can beat him." eli tapped her shoulder.

she turned around, a confused look on her face. "well, you kinda have to now. i've just threatened him."

"i don't know." eli sighed. "i still haven't been feeling like myself lately. and you've helped cheer me up, you really have. but i still feel like i don't know who i am."

"eli. it's not how you look that makes you who you are. it's how you act." gioia explained, jabbing his heart. "i fell for you before you 'flipped the script'. i mean you were always cute to begin with, but that's beside the point." he sadly chuckled at her choice of words. "it's your appearance that makes the impression, but it's your personality that makes the impact." she told him.

eli beamed. "back with the inspirational quotes?"

"always."

"i've missed them."

"see you're an amazing boyfriend, an amazing person and you're an incredible fighter." she told him. "so to save me from embarrassment, kick his ass."

"kick his ass." eli repeated, nodding his head. she pecked him on the cheek and watched as he walked to his sensei.

from the stands, fred had been watching the two interact. when she kissed him, he audibly groaned, making bianca nudge him. "come on, you know they're cute." bianca teased. "he makes her so happy."

"she's still a baby!" fred huffed. "she shouldn't be dating already."

"you do not have the right to tell her that yet." bianca reminded him, making him sigh.

he wished more than anything that he could repair the damaged relationship he had with his angel daughter. but fred knew it would take time and so he was willing to wait as long as he needed to.

"next up in the quarterfinals, it's kyler park of cobra kai karate versus eli moskowitz of miyagi-do."

"everything good?" daniel questioned his student.

"never better." eli smirked, glancing over to gioia, who was in a conversation with samantha. "i know who i am now."

"and who's that?"

"the guy who's gonna win this whole fucking thing." eli stated. he jumped onto the mat and gioia began to loudly cheer with excitement.

the match was quick, eli winning three to zero. as miyagi-do cheered for their teammate, eli glanced to the crowd to see mickey and moon shouting his name and clapping. he smiled, glad he had such supportive friends.

⎯ ❃ jania speaks!
i don't know why there are so many all valley chapters this season i thnk it's because i get too carried away writing gioia's fight scenes and she only has two detailed ones??

double update because i haven't been sleeping and gia and miggy my loves always