─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

after the girls spent some downtime with her, gioia excused herself from them to use the bathroom. she stepped out of the restroom, her attention being stolen by tory, who stood conversing with zara on the other side of the lobby.

gioia began walking over to the blonde girl, wanting to see if everything was okay with her. but as she strode, a tall figure blocked her path. gioia gazed up, immediately shaking her head. "no. no, absolutely not." she said.

"now, miss barbusca. to what do i owe this pleasure?" terry silver asked. gioia gave him a look, "what pleasure? you're in my way." she pointed out.

silver ignored her, crossing his arms over his chest. "are you feeling any better after your match? i mean, that was truly a difficult watch— seeing your teammates throw you in unprepared. who could do such a thing to their own captain? to their own girlfriend—"

"whatever you're trying to do? you can stop." gioia cut him off. "you're a failure, everyone knows that now. so, leave me alone."

"oh! so you won't take my advice, my warnings. but you'll take my money?" silver challenged. gioia's face fell and she stepped backwards with perplexity. "w-what?" she questioned, her voice softer.

"this is no way to treat your sponsor." silver said.

an exasperated sigh escaped from gioia's lips. she placed her head in her hands for a moment before using her hands to push back any stray hairs on her face. why was she surprised? why did she expect her sensei to actually do research before accepting things from her sponsor?

"i don't know what you want from me, i really don't." gioia said, tears of frustration brewing in her eyes. "i followed your lead once and you lead me to the worst point of my life. i am not doing that again."

"i'm not asking you to do anything. i'm just—just making sure you're being taken care of. the talent you have, the potential? it shouldn't be wasted." silver told her.

"it's not being wasted!" she exclaimed, her words coming out louder than she had intended. "i'm captain of my team."

"captain of the wrong team." silver said. gioia scoffed, shaking her head at his words. "you know, i know what this is. i know what you're doing. first, wyatt. now, you're trying to psych me out? just stop."

silver was surprised, the girl had truly changed since he last had seen her. she was standing up for herself. "so, you know?" silver questioned, the look of amusement evident on his face. "i was hoping for the more passionate friend of his, but he's still on parole. so, mr yukimura was a great settlement."

"you didn't even know jack!" gioia yelled out. silver just shrugged, her loud voice not affecting him. "no, but he knew you. and there was something about you that made him angry. made him strong."

"i don't care about you. or jack, or wyatt. i don't." gioia said, stepping backwards. "because i have a match to win— i have a competition to win!" she shouted, pivoting on her heel and striding away.

gioia walked past kwon and wyatt, the former was staring at her as if she had just entertained them. but wyatt? wyatt looked more remorseful than anything. "leave me alone! both of you." she exclaimed.

kwon just laughed, waving her goodbye as she stormed away. gioia groaned, "can i just have a break?" she asked herself, "just one. one freaking break!"

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

she took herself back into the main hall, where most people remained for the 15 minute break. "where have you been?" johnny asked, stepping in front of her so that she couldn't reach her teammates.

"oh, nothing. i was just talking to my sponsor." gioia stated, tightening her karate belt. johnny seemed glad at her words, a smile on his face. "oh, really? how-how did it go?" he inquired.

"it went great." gioia told him, watching as silver entered. she pointed over to him. "uh, there he is now." she said.

johnny cleared his throat, standing up a little straighter as he turned to face the entrance. he watched as terry silver entered the room, sending a sinister wave over to the blonde duo.

gioia hummed as johnny's jaw slacked and he turned back to face her. "you're kidding." he groaned.

"no sensei, i'm not kidding." gioia said. johnny sighed in frustration, combing his hair back with his hands. "i mean, i don't understand why he's so adamant on having you on his team." he complained.

"you know what, this is kind of your fault." gioia told him. the man's eyes grew wide at her statement. "my fault?" johnny inquired.

"i mean, you taught me." gioia reminded him. "you made me a good fighter."

"you know... i should make this into an inspirational moment and tell you that you're the reason you're good." johnny explained. "but you have a point, i mean... you and miguel were my first students, and now you're one of the bests."

"hold on, you can't—you can't take all the credit?" gioia argued.

"but you just said—" johnny started.

"yeah, and now i take it back, okay!" she cut him off. "just-just get him to leave me alone, please?" she pleaded. "or i'll tell my mom you let him be my sponsor."

"what?! let him? okay, i was going to do it before you threatened me!" johnny called out to her as she walked away from him. her true aim was to talk to kenny before the matches started again, but her boyfriend seemed desperate to speak to her.

"gioia, hey. hey." he said, gently taking her hand as she walked. she stopped in her tracks, wanting to give him a chance to speak. it was still their anniversary after all.

"yeah?" she asked, her voice soft, almost hesitant. the weight of her frustration from her conversation with terry silver seemed to fade the second she looked into his eyes, his steady presence calming her as always.

"words can't even describe how sorry i am." hawk said. "i just—it was complete tunnel vision. i didn't mean to tag you, i wasn't thinking at all. i am so sorry for getting you hurt, i feel terrible."

"it's okay." gioia said. hawk let out a sigh of relief, the guilt had been eating him alive. he pulled her into a tight embrace, placing a chaste kiss on her forehead. he wasn't thinking about everyone around them or the tournament they were currently at. he was only thinking of her.

sam's words, that he could've gotten her seriously injured, really stuck with him. that had always been hawk's biggest fear— hurting her. directly or indirectly.

but she was okay, and she had forgiven him.

hawk took a deep breath, her familiar floral scent like a calming aroma to him. he pulled out of the hug, a smile on his face. "i love you so much. you know that, right?" he asked.

"i know that you love me so much." she giggled in response, wondering where this sappiness was coming from. "i love you."

"and you smell great." hawk added, making her laugh again. gioia nodded. "yeah, well i had a pretty good shower today."

"you did?" hawk questioned with a teasing tone, rubbing her arms. the girl shrugged. "yeah. look, eli. i'm sorry to ruin the lovely vibe but, i don't like what you and demetri are doing. it's just not fair."

"gioia—"

"eli, please. whatever you have against him can wait, we need him on the team and he came all this way." gioia said. "you can't ice him out like this. so, next time robby or i say tag him in, just tag him in."

hawk sighed. "yeah, okay." he agreed, making her smile in satisfaction. "you know... it's kind of attractive when you take charge like this. i'm not used to seeing you so bossy." he admitted.

"kind of attractive?" she scoffed. hawk laughed, "okay, okay. very attractive." he corrected himself.

gioia nodded, "that's better. come on, let's get back to everyone else, the match will be starting soon." she ordered. hawk grinned, immediately following behind her as she walked away, "yes, ma'am." he replied.

they moved over to the rest of their team, watching cobra kai and tiger strike's match. gioia cursed under her breath when yoon tagged in tory, realizing she'd missed her chance to speak to her.

"point! tiger strike, two-zero!"

"maybe your fighter needs to pay attention!" the tiger strike's female sensei yelled out from across the mat. the brawl continued and when tory became distracted for a moment, her opponent used it as an opportunity to throw her onto the ground.

"point! tiger strike, winner! tiger strike stays alive with their first win, while cobra kai drops to one-one. another loss and cobra kai is out!"

gioia sighed, glancing over her shoulder. "i should've spoken to her when i had the chance." she said. devon furrowed her eyebrows with confusion. "what?" she asked.

gioia was startled by the sound of her voice, expecting her boyfriend to be beside her. but she was so engrossed in the fight that she hadn't realised the boy had wandered away. she shook her head at devon's question, "no, nothing."

"hey, guys!" daniel explained, using hand motions to usher his team over. his students immediately made their way to him, hawk and kenny appearing too. "so, we need to win this one to stay in the tournament. we know it's hard with silver here, but we are not fighting his team right now."

"we've heard this garbage going around about loyalty. almost all of us trained somewhere else at some point." johnny reminded them, making gioia nod with agreement. "what matters is where our asses are now. we're miyagi-do. got it?"

"come on, y'all. let's go!" miguel exclaimed, in an attempt to hype up his team. gioia clapped in agreement, following behind him as they spread out around the mat.

"our next fight is miyagi-do and redentores! fighters, take your positions."

miguel stepped forward as he was first on the rotation and up against another boy from the opposing team. the referee took a step back from the two, "fight!" he yelled out.

miguel sprang into action, throwing a series of strikes and kicks at his opponent. once miguel had caused the boy to stumble backwards, he moved over to robby. "it's time. okay, you got this." he said, slapping his palm.

gioia watched them with a smile, glad that they were able to resolve their tension. "come on, robby! you've got this!" she yelled.

the girl was right, robby managed to land a point on his rival and forced the team to tag in another student. as he fought, there was a clear opening that would allow another member of miyagi-do to be tagged into the fight.

kenny extended his arm, desperately wanting to prove himself to the team. "robby, tag me!" he yelled. hawk was situated at the other side of the large mat, his hand out too. "no, over here. tag me, tag me!" he begged.

"tag kenny!"

"do not tag kenny. do not tag him!" demetri instructed from beside gioia. she shook her head at him, turning to face robby. "robby, tag kenny!" she exclaimed.

the boy nodded, knowing that when it came down to it his co-captain knew what was best. he crouched down, dodging his rival's swinging fist before rushing over to kenny and tagging him in.

"finally!" kenny exclaimed, trekking onto the mat. gioia couldn't help but bite her lip, hoping she had made the right decision to trust kenny. his performance was incredible and within seconds he managed to strike a point... and then another.

"another point, miyagi-do wins!"

gioia leapt up with joy, clapping her hands with excitement. she sprinted onto the mat and pulled kenny into a quick celebratory embrace. once she drew away from him, robby and miguel raised kenny off the ground with pride.

the boy extended his middle finger to sensei silver, a gesture that showed his loyalty remained with miyagi-do. once his feet were back on the ground, gioia nudged her boyfriend in the chest.

hawk cleared his throat, patting kenny on the back. "hey, i'm sorry, man. you did goo." he told him. kenny seemed surprised for a moment, turning to look at gioia. she gave him a thumbs up and a smile, making him sigh. "thanks, dude." kenny nodded, sharing a handshake with him.

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

the team had relocated into their locker room, their once triumphant moods vanishing. realisation had hit them all— they would have to fight and win against cobra kai if they wanted a chance in the finals. and this new revelation scared them.

"come on, guys." robby spoke up, his voice breaking the silence that lingered between them all. "we beat cobra kai before. we can do it again." he reassured them.

miguel nodded in agreement. "one more time. let's send our captains into the finals."

"one last time. win or lose, this is the last time we'll ever fight together as a team." sam pointed out, her voice wavering.

gioia froze at sam's words. that perspective hadn't even crossed her mind. after everything they had all been through together, all the ups and downs, the good and the bad moments. none of that mattered anymore because this was it, this was truly the last time.

she took a moment to look at everyone who surrounded her, her lips trembling with emotion. some of them she had known since the beginning and some she had only recently become close with, but they had all been such an important part of her journey.

"damn. i guess i never thought about it like that." miguel said, forcing out a laugh as his eyes welled up with tears. "after everything we've been through, this is... this is it."

"you're so right." gioia chimed in. her laugh shaky and short, as if she couldn't hold back the tears any longer. sam, being the closest one to her, didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around the girl and pull her close.

mickey pouted at their interaction from the other side of the locker room. while she wasn't as close to everyone as gioia was, it still made her heart ache to think that this was their final fight. she was so grateful to be able to see it happen.

robby reached out and placed a reassuring hand on gioia's shoulder. "so, how do we wanna go out?" he asked her. gioia shrugged, "with a bang, preferably." she suggested.

they all laughed, her words adding a more lighthearted feel to their shared sadness. "with a bang." miguel echoed, shaking his head at her.

there was a moment of silence amongst them before demetri unexpectedly spoke up. "eli?" he asked. it seemed that hawk had been thinking the exact same thing, standing to his feet. "dude. i'm really sorry." he spoke.

the two immediately pulled each other into an embrace, making gioia even more emotional than before. all she wanted was for the two to make up, and they were finally doing it.

"i... i didn't mean to hurt you." hawk said to him. demetri nodded. "oh, i... i know you didn't. i... i'm just scared of losing my best friend. i'm gonna miss you so much, man."

"yeah." hawk whispered. "but, you'll always be my brother." he told him, welcoming the boy into his arms once again.

"you guys are seriously gonna make me cry here." gioia stated, still nuzzled into sam's arms. devon smiled at her, "girl, you are already crying." she pointed out, despite her own eyes being glassy too. "so, that's enough. there's no crying in karate."

"come on." miguel said, pushing himself onto his feet and joining in on their hug. "come in here, boys. you guys are always gonna be my brothers too."

he turned around, putting his hand out for gioia to take. she smiled, accepting his offer and allowing him to pull her into the embrace.

gioia thought back to a specific moment. her first day of west valley high school, sitting at the lunch table with these three nerds. she sat down with them, hoping to make some friends. but she ended up with something much greater- a brother, a best friend, and the love of her life.

she couldn't stop the tears from flowing down her face now and when they pulled away, her teary face was on display. "sorry, devon. i just couldn't help myself." she joked.

devon smiled, shaking her head. "i'll let you off this once." she teased, watching as hawk gently wiped away her tears.

"we're a family. all of us." miguel concluded. robby nodded, standing up from the bench. "who are we?" he asked.

"miyagi-do." they all replied.

robby looked over to his co-captain, giving her a curt nod. "who are we?" she questioned.

"miyagi-do!" they repeated, their voices a little more elevated.

"who are we?!" the two captains shouted in unison.

"miyagi-do!" their team roared back, their voices echoing with pride. laughter and cheers erupted as the group's energy resurfaced, their bond growing stronger with every shout.

the door of the locker room swung open and the group immediately stopped yelling. "you know, we did have one real doozy of an inspirational speech planned." daniel said.

"but it like you guys beat us to it." johnny finished. sam nodded, moving over and pulling her dad into a side hug. "our senseis taught us well." she smiled.

"all right. enough of this kumbaya crap. it's time to get out there and kick some cobra kai ass!" johnny demanded.

"yeah!"

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

"because both miyagi-do and cobra kai are one and one, whoever wins this match advances. and whoever loses is eliminated." the announcer spoke as miyagi-do returned to the mat.

"all right. remember, trust, tag, teamwork." daniel reminded them.

"you got this. who's in first?" johnny asked. silently, they all unanimously agreed it would be robby, glancing over at him to confirm their vote.

the boy nodded, accepting their decision and stepping onto the mat. kwon, eager to fight the keene boy, walked forward but was immediately pushed to the side by tory. the blonde girl strutted into the mat, her head held high.

gioia's eyes widened, "this is about to be interesting." she muttered to herself, watching as they spoke to one another.

"ready? fight!"

tory wasted no time in lunging forward into battle. the two fought back and forth, neither of them managing to score a point. but gioia didn't think they even wanted to gain any points, it seemed like the two were more interested in proving a point.

tory booted robby to the ground and he landed right beside sam. "robby, tag me in." she ordered. immediately, she slapped his palm and welcomed her into the middle. sam ran forward and she and tory brawled before sam managed to send her to the ground.

from the floor, tory tagged kwon in and without thinking, gioia's arm was out for sam to take. "i've got you, sam!" she called out.

the girl pivoted on her feet and slammed her hand into gioia's palm. the blonde girl stepped into the middle, knowing this was her chance to prove herself after her last match.

"the firecracker." kwon grinned, circling around her in an attempt to intimidate. "let's see how strong you really are." he said.

"come on, sushi!"

gioia's lips pressed into a thin line, but she didn't respond. instead, she shifted into her stance, staying light on her toes. her eyes tracked every subtle movement kwon made, ready to block. she knew his main mode of attack was his legs— but so was hers. to beat him, she'd need to outsmart his rhythm.

as expected, kwon struck first, throwing a high roundhouse kick aimed at her head. gioia ducked under it, her movement quick, and rolled to the side, springing back to her feet with ease.

kwon smirked. "not bad." he said before stepping in with a quick jab aimed at her chest. gioia deflected the punch, pivoting smoothly, but he followed up with a twisting hook kick. she leaned back just in time, the kick grazing past her face, and used the momentum to cartwheel out of his reach.

she landed gracefully, only to see kwon closing the gap with a series of punches. gioia shifted her feet, blocking the strikes with her forearms. the last punch came fast, but she sidestepped it and retaliated with an uppercut that caught him off guard.

kwon stumbled away from it but recovered quickly, attempting a low kick to her shin. gioia jumped over it and countered with a sweeping hook punch, grazing his jaw as he narrowly dodged.

"stay focused, gioia!" sam shouted from the sidelines.

kwon pivoted into a lightning-fast spinning kick aimed at her shoulder. gioia raised both arms to block, but the force drove her down to one knee.

he didn't give her a second to breathe, twisting into another tornado kick. this time, gioia waited for the right moment and threw a quick, powerful punch into his chest mid-kick. the impact sent him stumbling back, his balance faltering.

"point' miyagi-do. two-one."

johnny clapped his hands with pride, "yes, gioia! yes, come on!" he yelled. gioia mockingly waved at kwon as he stepped off back from the centre.

the blonde girl made her way to the edge, over to demetri. "nice one." he complimented her. gioia nodded, shaking his hands. "your turn." she told him.

gioia couldn't focus on the rest of her teammates fighting, she was so pleased with her performance and merely proud of herself. she managed to wipe that cocky smirk off of kwon's face and she saw him get scolded by sensei kreese.

the girl grinned, turning away to see that demetri and hawk were working together to tire out yoon. their planned succeeded and sensei chozen was just as pleased as she was. "the binary bros are back!" he exclaimed.

"point! miyagi do, two-one!"

now, miguel was thrown into the mix and kwon was back in the centre, perhaps an attempt to redeem himself. after a quick fight, kwon managed to make up for his loss against gioia by kicking miguel in the chest.

"point, cobra kai. 2-2! next point wins."

miguel turned back, tagging robby into the fight. gioia didn't know what had happened, but the look on robby's face showed her that something was seriously wrong. the boy fought with anger, effortlessly countering kwon's attacks.

their fight was intense, robby throwing kwon around as if he were a rag doll. mickey's eyes widened as robby tugged kwon up from the ground by his hair, making him cry out in pain.

"what's robby doing?" devon questioned. johnny glanced over to her, a look of satisfaction on his face. "he's making it hurt." he informed them.

but mickey just cringed, the rules of karate still unknown to her. "and this really isn't against the rules?" she asked, earning a shrug in response.

this fight was undoubtedly the longest one out of all the matches. neither of the boys wanted to tag in their teammates, believing that they had to fight one another. gioia watched with anticipation, cracking her knuckles with anxiety.

she had full faith in robby's ability to beat kwon, if she could do it then he definitely could. but this match was the determining factor of whether miyagi-do would make it to the finals, so she was anxious.

finally, the two raced over to each other, battle cries escaping from their lips. simultaneously, they leaped into the air, ready to attack. while kwon had planned to land a punch, robby lifted his leg and slammed his foot against kwon's face.

"point! miyagi-do wins! with the win miyagi-do advances into the tournament of champions! incredible!"

gioia shrieked, running forward to meet her teammates in a celebratory embrace. as they yelled excitedly, miguel pulled her aside. "you're going to the finals, baby!" miguel shouted at her.

she nodded, the widest smile on her face. she had said that to miguel during the 2018 all valley competition, then he had said the same phrase to her during the 2019 all valley. now, in the 2020 sekai taikai tournament, miguel was repeating the phrase to her.

"i'm going to the finals!" she yelled back at him, allowing him to embrace her.

⎯ ❃ jania speaks!
well this chapter was definitely a rollercoaster???? first there was anger, then humour, then happiness then sadness and then tears and then happiness again???
all i can say is i accidentally shed a few tears while writing that locker room scene😞
also shed a few tears when writing the last few fights because it dragged on for agessss