─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

gioia waited outside the medical room, too nervous to directly hear the news about her friend. he had been given half an hour for recovery time before he was required to return to the match.

"he's okay, he's okay. i'll have to tell bianca about the news, she's probably worried sick." carmen told her as she and yaya left the room. "good luck, i'll be watching from the stands."

gioia let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. she smiled at carmen. "thank you."

when johnny came through the doors, he gave her a look of concern. "you okay?"

"other than the fact that you think my boyfriend is a traitor, i'm okay." gioia nodded with a hint of snarkiness in her tone.

"i don't-"

"you said he's picked larusso's side." gioia reminded him. "you and daniel need to put whatever you two have going on right now aside for the final match. for me. please?"

johnny groaned. "fine. but only for you."

"thank you." gioia sighed, finally able to step in and see her friend. "i'm so glad you're-"

"cut the shit. i know what you did." miguel hissed, cutting her off.

gioia's face morphed into a look of puzzlement. "what?"

"you've been friends with robby since he was in juvie for what he did me." miguel started. gioia's heart stopped, she had been trying to tell miguel this information for a month. she either kept getting interrupted, kept forgetting or thought it was the wrong time to mention it. "and you've been training at cobra kai for weeks."

the last part of his statement had caught her by complete surprise. how did he know about that?

"no-" gioia started.

miguel immediately cut her off. "why are you even trying to lie?!" he questioned. "i heard silver say it himself!"

"miguel." gioia spoke. she had nothing to say but the truth. "yes, i was friends with robby but i regret it! and i've been trying to tell you ever since the day you pulled the sprinkler prank. and i wasn't at cobra kai for weeks. it was-it was barely two and i-"

"who knows?"

"no one." she cried out. "eli and mickey know about robby, but no one knows about the training. and miguel, i swear-"

"get out." miguel shook his head.

"what?"

"gioia? get. out." he repeated, slower and more assertive.

miguel saw her lip begin to tremble, and the defeat on her face almost convinced him to take back his sentence. then, he remembered how she had betrayed him. how she had betrayed their friends.

"no, miguel." she shook her head. she was basically begging now. "i'm sorry. i'm so sorry."

"do you ever think about anyone but yourself?" miguel questioned her. how could she do this to them? to johnny?

"miguel-"

"you are so selfish. you don't care about anyone. not your friends, and not me." miguel insulted. "so much for the 'i love you'. did you even mean it?"

"you don't understand." she said, seconds away from weeping.

"no, i understand. because i know you, gioia." miguel shot back. "you took on robby as a personal task, to show how even the worst people can be redeemed. fine, whatever. but joining cobra kai? now i can't- i don't understand why you would do that."

"sensei silver, he-"

"sensei silver?" he scoffed. "don't blame this on anyone else! you made a choice. and now you have to face the consequences. don't worry, i haven't told anyone else yet... because you will."

"i can't." she refused.

"i cannot believe this." miguel snarkily laughed. "gioia, you're a traitor." he looked away from her and laid back down on the bed. "and i don't want to see you anymore. i'm not kidding, please get out."

"but if you just let me explain. if you just try to understand what happened-"

"get out, gioia!"

she grunted in a combination of sorrow and irritation. gioia strode out of the medical room and slammed the door shut. the second it was closed, she brushed her tears away and took a deep breath. for the first time that day, gioia flipped her switch off. she had to put on a facade for everyone else and she had to win the final match.

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

"cobra kai and miyagi-do are neck-and-neck on the leaderboard. but there's a dark horse... or should i say a dark bird? that still has a chance." daryl told them all. "will eagle fang karate stay alive in our boys' division? we're about to find out. miguel diaz has one minute to return to the mat!"

"countdown clock? kind of dramatic, isn't it?" devon muttered to her teammates.

gioia was now standing with eagle fang, everyone was waiting in anticipation for miguel to come back and finish his fight with eli. the blonde girl kept her head down, not wanting to interact with anyone.

"yeah, it's the all valley." mitch scoffed.

"he's really taking it down to the wire, huh?" daryl nervously chuckled, watching as the seconds continued to go down.

"ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one!"

the buzzer went off and there was still no sign of miguel. gioia clenched her fists, her nails digging into the skin of her palms.

"well, it looks like miguel diaz is not gonna fight." daryl sighed, making the crowd murmur in disappointment. "which means that the winner by default is eli moskowitz, who advances to the final where he will face robby keene."

as much as gioia was glad that eli would be going to the finals, her heart ached due to miguel not showing up, she believed it was partly her fault.

"the finals are up next."

johnny left his team, probably going to check on his favourite student. devon glanced to her left to see gioia looking distressed.

"everything okay?" devon asked, softly.

gioia glanced up at to her and nodded. "yeah, just nervous for my match." she lied.

"you don't need to be nervous, you're gonna kill it!" devon encouraged her. "and your boyfriend is up in the finals, you should be excited." she playfully nudged her, making gioia force out a smile to please her.

"yeah, i'm excited." gioia hummed.

"you have got to tell me how you guys got together." devon carried on, not picking up on gioia's sour mood.

"i will." gioia said. "it's a long story."

"the longer, the better."

"ladies and gentlemen, the wait is finally over. it's finals time!" daryl announced, "since cobra kai scored the most points, they only need to win one match to be crowned grand champion. if they lose both matches, that will brings it down to whether eagle fang or miyagi do has the highest points overall."

gioia took a deep breath, this was all the anxiety she did not want to have to handle.

"ooh, high drama!" daryl grinned, clearly enjoying his job. "up first, the boys' fight! good luck to all of our fighters! let's go!"

the barbusca girl stepped out of the line with her team and made her way to miyagi-do's side.

"this is my chance to get back at robby for what he did to me." eli said to his sensei.

"this fight is not about him. the biggest battle is always the one within." daniel lectured. "okay, concentrate, defence, focus, power. you find your balance, and those points will come. all right?"

"eli." gioia waved him over. once he was by her side, she whispered into his ear. "show him no mercy."

"what?" eli pulled back from her in surprise, why would she say that? that was unlike her. he gave her a look.

"he deserves it." gioia reminded him.

eli glanced back at daniel, who had just told him the opposite. no one had heard what she said.

"competitors." the referee called them over.

"go out there." daniel spoke. "go get him."

eli stepped onto the mat to meet his opponent. the two strode over to each other and bowed.

"ready and fight!"

robby struck first, and the two began to kick and punch each other, robby landing the first hit.

"point! one-zero, keene."

"let's go, baby!" robby began to bounce on the spot, taunting eli.

"on your marks-"

"time out." eli called, moving back over to his team. "he knows all my moves." the boy complained. "he trained at miyagi-do way longer than me."

daniel glanced over at his daughter, and then the blonde girl beside him. "and you were in cobra kai longer than him. you each know each other's karate better than anyone. put him on defence."

eli nodded, making his way back onto the match for round two.

"ready? and fight!"

"hey, gioia?" sam whispered to the girl. gioia didn't notice, she was too intrigued by the never-ending match. "gioia."

"yeah?" gioia hummed.

"as much as i wanted to fight tory myself, i wouldn't want anyone else but you to do it." sam began.

"thanks?"

"no, i mean. you deserve to be in the finals." sam tried to explain herself. "and you deserve to win."

"thanks sam." gioia half-smiled at her.

"you know, i've always wanted to try and be your friend. especially because miguel said-" sam started.

"you spoke to miguel?" she quickly cut her off. "when?"

"yeah, i spoke to miguel. just before this match." sam looked perplexed at her impulsive eagerness.

"what did he say?"

"nothing much, just that he was proud of how far i got and-" she shook her head, getting off track. "i was going to say that he usually always talks about how good of a person you are."

"he doesn't think that anymore." gioia muttered, sam didn't catch it.

"what?"

"nothing." gioia said. "uh, don't worry about it. we are friends."

"really? i-"

sam was cut off by a buzzer ringing through the hall. gioia snapped her head to the match and saw eli and robby both on the ground, eli was about to strike robby.

"back to your sides." the referee commanded.

daryl rushed over. "unbelievable these two amazing competitors have reached their three-minute time limit in a one-one tie! which means their championship match will be decided, for the first time since 1985, by sudden-death overtime!"

the crowd erupted in applause with excitement at the announcement.

"go to your senseis."

"that was incredible!" daniel beamed.

"any advice on the last point?" eli questioned.

again, the man glanced over to the two girls, before catching johnny lawrence's eye. "give him all you got."

eli bowed to daniel before he stepped in front of his girlfriend, who discreetly ran her pointer finger over her neck. he placed his hand on her shoulder. "what's going on with you?"

"competitors, to the mat."

not receiving any reply from gioia, eli sighed and turned around. robby began to struggle with the top half of his gi, before ripping it off of his body and tossing it to tory. eli glanced at the referee for assistance, but he simply shrugged.

"what is going on?" mickey giggled from the stands. "is this how the last tournament was?"

"definitely not, they were all babies last tournament." moon explained.

"really?"

"yeah." moon nodded. "miguel had short hair and braces, eli had a blue mohawk, gioia was wearing a ribs belt and had a thick italian accent, and robby had a ponytail."

mickey couldn't hold back her laughter. "that's incredible."

back on the mat, eli reluctantly pulled off his gi and threw it behind him. it hit gioia in the face and she laughed, his subtle blend of woody and citrus notes filling up her nose. the boy pivoted to face his team, circularly moving his shoulder blades. gioia began to holler out, cheering for her now shirtless boyfriend. she wasn't too sure why they chose to take their tops off, but she wasn't complaining.

"sweet new tattoo!" demetri spoke out.

gioia inspected the boy's back, looking for a new design and her eyes widened in surprise as her gaze fell upon her boyfriend's new tattoo. on the left side of his lower back, the boy had a coloured sunflower and an outline of an elephant etched on his skin. the ink on his skin was a delicate and meaningful symbol that represented their relationship.

a mixture of emotions flickered across her face- astonishment, appreciation, and a new sense of admiration. a real smile spread across her lips, realising that this tattoo was his way of expressing commitment to their relationship. however, it didn't look raw or red, making her wonder when exactly he had gotten it done and how she hadn't noticed.

in that moment, gioia felt a joyful, comforted by the reminder of their bond. "go, eli!" she applauded, jumping up and down with new excitement.

she watched intently as the two boys began their fight. tension was high and everyone was nervous, even fredrico. as much as he hated to say it, he wanted her daughter's boyfriend to win.

the two boys started to get visibly fatigued as they fought. robby managed to tackle eli to the ground, ready to strike him and win. but he was distracted by kenny's aggressiveness and eli was able to push him off him.

they stood up and continued their match, hitting and blocking each other which began a cycle of the referee repeating "no point." eli kicked robby in the stomach, forced him to the ground and struck him in the chest.

"point! winner!" the referee called out.

instantly, miyagi-do rushed over to the mat and engulfed their champion in a hug. eli screamed out in glory, as gioia beamed from beside daniel.

"your boys' champion, eli moskowitz!" darly handed the boy the trophy.

once in his grip, eli raised the award and turned to the crowd. "yeah!" he shouted out. mickey and moon were on their feet, both jumping up and down with happiness.

eli's triumphant victory in the match sent a surge of adrenaline through him. he temporarily passed the trophy to demetri and rushed towards the sidelines, a victorious grin on his face. once he reached her, the boy effortlessly lifted his biggest supporter off her feet, spinning her around in a joyous embrace.

gioia, caught up in the exhilaration of his win, laughed with delight. the crowd erupted in cheers, and for that brief moment, the world outside the arena faded away, leaving only the elation of their shared joy and success.

"see!" bianca nudged her husband at eli's interaction with their daughter.

"yeah, they're cute. whatever."

"and with that, miyagi-do vaults into the overall lead!" daryl continued. "it all comes down to the girls' final, coming up next."

⎯ ❃ jania speaks!

just eli's new tattoos🥹🥹🥹