warnings: mentions of grief and violence.

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SILENCE made Cameron think, it dragged her kicking and screaming into the void she had been evading. Her father's death moulded her into a harsh shell of herself — Miguel was there for all of it. He was supportive, always holding her hand, kissing her cheek and lovingly embracing her. And now Miguel... he wasn't there. Not in spirit or person. He hadn't woken. The losses, the grief it could make her break... it could make her snap. But hopefully, it was not in the same way her father did.

Between Karate practices and healing physically, Cameron would visit her boyfriend. Usually, she was clad in Miguel's favourite hoodie—an orange one—which would've withered on her person had her mom not told her it needed to be washed. Carmen, too.

In Miguel's hospital room, everyone would sit in silence. A heartbreaking silence and then one by one, they'd leave, either for work, school or just to get away. His friends would visit. Even Lily would just bring everyone snacks since she didn't feel like she could say anything. Just rested a hand on either Cameron's or Hawk's aching shoulders.

The Cobra Kai's were a family. They were there for Cameron when her dad died. And now when Miguel was wounded. Maybe it was a toxic one, a wounded and defective family.

Cameron clung to that because she knew Drew was the reason why Tory went ape, she blamed her cousin. They hadn't talked, although he would try.

Both she and Tory were dodging his calls. Drew had suffered bad practices. But Cameron was also pissed at Tory, Sam, and Robby. Everyone.

Aisha was gone.

One of her closest friends had moved away to a private school up north. There was speculation that it was her parents who wanted her to be away from the violence of the valley and no one could blame them for that. Especially not when every few days there would be a new bouquet on Miguel's bedside.

Hawk channelled his grieving for not only Miguel but also his departed friend into his karate. Lily was upset and devastated since Aisha was a core member of their group.

Lily would still try and get through to her restless best friend but whenever she was without the Cobra Kai's she would quietly apply Vaseline to Miguel's lips, moisturise his hands and wash and dry his face.

Cameron's eyes would trace his blank expression, the thick brace that held his neck, wishing that his soft lips would twitch into a smile or the curve of his jaw would tense under her touch. His deep brown eyes were what she missed the most, the way they would follow her movements, light up at the facts she told or beamed at hers.

"You should go home sweetheart," Carmen's voice caused her gaze to drag away from Miguel's immobile body. The bags under Cameron's eyes and puffy cheeks wilted her face. The bruises and fractures she obtained from the fight either faded or she no longer felt them. "It's almost 7. I'm sure your mom wants you home." Slightly shifting in her seat, Cameron gradually sat up. "I know you think you need to be here when he wakes up but I'll let you know when he does. You'll be the first person I'll call."

Rosa Diaz tiredly walked in behind her daughter.

Cameron's dry mouth opened and closed when she timidly shook her head, deeply inhaling as she stared back at her boyfriend.

"You know... it would've been a year since we first met. Over half a year since we started dating. And we couldn't even celebrate our anniversary," her coarse voice needed water. Her body screamed for rest. She would sleep but the medication she began taking prevented her from sleeping easily. "We were planning to go to Golf 'N' stuff and I was gonna tell him I love him."

The words she uttered only confirmed what Carmen and Rose knew.

"I love him," Cameron whispered and it was killing her to see him like this. "During the summer, before college, we were gonna go to our home countries. Mexico and Sierra Leone."

"There is still time." Carmen quietly replied, despite being surprised by their future plans she thought it was cute.

She had to sit down on the opposite chair, for fear her muscles would give up.

"You know, he planned most of it. Since he knew I was terrible at geography. My sense of direction is terrible. It's a miracle my coordination isn't the same. He knew to think of an itinerary and more. Even when I didn't have a car, he thought I could just hop on the back of his bike and just ride anywhere."

A smile threatened to crack on her face but she didn't let it.

Not unless he could see.

11 days almost 12 without his voice, without his forehead kisses, without his silly jokes. Without him.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

ALEXIS James needed to attend a parent-teacher conference as did other parents who were outraged about the violence that ensued under the schools' watch. Cameron had been suspended along with every other kid involved — par Drew who had the school coaches to vouch for his role. She agreed it was a reasonable offence, yet it angered her it would go on her daughter's record.

Between the heckling at the teacher committees and the parents from the stands, Daniel LaRusso stood up.

He explained, "Wait. You don't need to turn this into some kind of karate Footloose! Karate is not the problem! When I went to school here, I was bullied, and karate saved me."

"Bullshit I heard you were the bully!" Someone shouted out, startling him with the inaccuracy.

Principal Lopez spoke up, "Parents, please... Can we please... We want to move on and handle this with an appropriate response."

Amanda LaRusso stood up beside her husband, "Tell me how it's appropriate that our daughter got suspended while a dimestore Freddy Krueger nearly tore her face off."

Alexis grimaced at the facts, aware of what Tory had done. There was no excuse for it in her book but her daughter would constantly defend her, even though it pained her to do so.

Another parent yelled in response, "She was tramping around with a girl's boyfriend!"

Gasps erupted through the hall.

"Okay, no," Principal Lopez attempted to shut it down.

Both of the LaRussos turned around.

"Excuse me?" Amanda snapped

"Who said that?" Daniel explained, "Our daughter wasn't responsible."

"Don't get all high and mighty, LaRusso." A parent stood up, in disbelief, "You taught them that Miyagi crap. It was your student who hurt Diaz. You reap what you sow."

"Okay shut up. All of you," Alexis rose from her seat before the room could descend into more madness. The LaRussos sat down in shame.

Principal Lopez tried again, "Hang on!"

"I am talking." Alexis said definitively, shutting everyone up, "The fight should not taken place but it did. Anti-bullying policies haven't worked for decades nor have anti-violence, it'll happen regardless. A boy is in hospital. Miguel Diaz." The kind-hearted boy her daughter couldn't stop stressing over. "And yes karate influenced his injuries, his terrible injuries. But we need to start focusing on these kids. These troubled kids." She proposed, "Counseling. Making them acknowledge their destructive feelings and not just stew in them."

A parent expressed, "Yeah!"

More of them started to agree.

"So maybe this whack-hugging scheme is the first step, but we won't know until we try."

Counselor Blatt, plastered on a smile, "Thank you, Mrs James."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

BEATRICE James fussed over her beloved boy Drew, whose cuts had healed on his handsome face.

They stood in the foyer, his backpack in hand as he tried pulling away from his mother who was only staying for a few days.

"You don't need to go to school." She cooed, patting his face before turning to her niece who walked past, "Does he Cami?"

Neither could see that she rolled her eyes as she slipped on her shoes. "He can do what he likes Aunty Trixie." She drawled, "He usually does."

Drew frowned, watching as his cousin stared into the hanging mirror. Cameron's braids were gone. Replaced by low bubble braided ponytails. Her nails remained blood red, her glasses gathered dust in their case whilst contacts stayed on her seething eyes.

"Wait — you two cannot go on like this. You have to talk," Beatrice insisted, folding her arms when the cousins refused to look at each other.

Instead, Cameron softly scoffed, and grabbed the door, "Nope. It's his loose lips that got us into the mess in the first place." She flashed a faux smile and she stepped over the threshold. "Happy first day to me... again."

"Don't slam that..." Beatrice flinched at the sound of the slam, "door." She let out an exasperated sigh, turning to her son. Her baby boy towered over her. "Good luck today Baby. Just take it easy okay."

"Coach is on my ass — I mean, he's stressing me," he corrected himself. "I need to stay focused."

"Okay." She nodded, mustering up a smile.

He had told her that he felt like a burden. Miguel was in the hospital because he had defended him against another boy named Robby. And despite prior beef, it was her son's mistake, along with Samantha LaRusso's that sparked a fire that lit the whole school.

"Bye Mom," he kissed her cheek before leaving.

"Bye Drew."

"Bye Aunty," Drew waved at her when she emerged from her room in her work clothes.

"Bye Drew, good luck today," Alexis waved at him as he left the home. "Gosh."

"It's been this bad?" Beatrice ran a hand over her face and then turned to Alexis.

"Worse."

"I should've come back sooner, it's just after my brother's funeral..." Beatrice tried explaining herself but she was waved off.

"You don't need to explain to me sis. I know."

Alexis wanted nothing more than to up and leave for months on end but she had to be there for her daughter and nephew. She wanted to be in their home, surrounded by the walls, and the memories of her husband.

"I'm here for another two days before my boss wants me back. Is there anything else I can do?" Beatrice felt guilty leaving again. Leaving her son in her sister-in-law's car whilst she continued to work across the country. "Any dishes? Dry cleaning? A drive to the hospital?"

Alexis demanded, "Cassava Leaf Stew. Prepare that for tonight because I am not cooking. Batch cook it so I don't have to stand over that stove for a week."

Chuckling, Beatrice agreed, "On it."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

THE aftermath of the brawl meant security on campus. Metal detectors and constant supervision.

Cameron strode into school, after dropping a text to Aisha who wished her a great repeat first day, and also received a location pin from Lily.

She was on edge.

Incredibly on edge.

But she had her friends... but not Miguel.

She huffed after her bag was searched and grumbled when they scanned the metal detector over her.

"Really?" She heard Lily screech, "It's my keys perv!" Cameron chuckled when her best friend pushed past to join her. "I cannot believe we're living in some kind of police state. Well, actually I can because this is what happens when the whole school fights."

"Yeah, well, I know for sure my mom had a say in this. And the amount of counselling they're pushing on us." Cameron paused, realising something as they stood, across the hall from her teammates and other friends. "Are you wearing Hawk's cardigan?"

Lily spluttered out an answer, "What? No. Maybe. We're not back together."

"Didn't ask." Cameron raised her hands in defence. "I wish Aisha was here."

"She texted you right?"

Cameron nodded, slipping her phone into her pocket, "She did."

Lily sighed, "I miss her."

"Same."

But at least they were born in the age where they could stay in touch, online, over the phone and didn't have to resort to letters and ravens.

"Has Tory got back to you?" Lily questioned.

"No. It's hard to be mad at someone you can't get into contact with."

Lily frowned, "Her location is off."

"I mean she's on probation, what do you expect? Besides, she's on probation with me as well. As is Drew." Cameron retorted.

Lily dared to ask, "And Sam?"

Cameron scowled, "Let's not mention her or any of those Miyagi do bitches."

"Double standards," Lily retorted.

"Appropriate standards." Cameron reasoned, dragging her eyes over to the few Cobra Kai's "Fuck them. The Miyagi-do's are the main reason why my boyfriend is in the hospital. In a coma, they deserve everything that's coming to them."

Lily was stunned but kept quiet.

"Yo Hawk," Cameron called out.

"CJ," Hawk greeted, slightly annoyed by being dissed by a freshman because of the beat down from his ex-best friend. He strolled over with Mitch and Bert, beaming up at his ex-girlfriend, "Lils. Cute cardigan."

She grimaced, regretting that she wore it. Especially since the boys all wore mischievous looks.

"I'll see you guys in the home room," was her only response before leaving them alone.

Cameron expressed, "I wanna ditch."

"But we need school for college," Bert argued.

"I know Albert," Cameron teased, making a bite back a smile. "And I wanna go to college to get out of this shitty place."

Hawk questioned, "Oh yeah, which one?"

"Howard."

Mitch gawked, "Shit, sounds dope."

"Yeah I bet all HBCUs do to you Mitch," She patted his shoulder, earning a confused look from him. "Guess we should go." She said to the hawk. Who nodded and dapped the boys up before they went separate ways. "Are you going to visit Miguel later?"

"Yeah, he needs to know that his girlfriend is kicking higher than ever," he nudged her with a smile.

She flashed him a smile, "Thanks, bro."

"And what is it that Sensei Kreese told you about not holding back?"

She answered, "Don't hold back."

"Exactly," he suggested, "You should get that tatted. You know my boy Rico —"

She cut him off with a laugh. "I got it. Rico will give babies tattoos for the money."

"Yeah, but don't spread that rumour around."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

5 PM at Cobra Kai the next day felt different. The training was harsher, meaner, more precise. But that was exactly what Cameron needed.

It was the 14th day that Miguel was in his coma and she couldn't bear it. 2 weeks and Cameron couldn't physically take it. And so under the guidance of her Sensei, she kept going. He encouraged her to keep it up.

"Keep going James!" he watched her pummel a dubby under it and ended up rumbling backwards. "Nice job." she deeply exhaled when she went to go and pick it up again. "But something is holding you back. You're slow today. Why is that?"

"My boyfriend's in hospital," she deadpanned, but he didn't buy it.

"No. It's not that," he monitored her laboured breathing. "You hungover?"

"No, I don't come to practice like that... I'm not..." Sensei Lawrence. She wanted to say but wouldn't and Sensei Kreese knew that. "I wouldn't Sensei. I've come here every day for the past fortnight." something that deeply worried her mom and boyfriend's mom. "Maybe I'm just exhausted. Plus the workload for Junior year is a lot."

"She's right Sensei. We both wanna get into good colleges," Hawk defended when he stepped up, wrapping his fists. "Plus kicking that high takes a lot out of you."

Sensei didn't share their amusement, instead, he folded his arms, "It shouldn't, not at your level. You're some of my best students. Robinson's at some fancy school, Diaz's in a coma and with Nichols AWOL," he didn't bother mentioning that Stingray wasn't allowed within 50 foot of any child. "I'm expecting you to be at your best. No distractions." he stated wiping their smiles from their faces as he turned back to Cameron, "What was it your father used to say, James?"

Her brows pinched together in confusion, "What Sensei?"

He reiterated, "To motivate you? What is it that he used to say?"

"No regrets..." she cautiously let out, startled to ever say it in another's presence, "he told me I should have no regrets in life. To live it to the fullest."

Sensei cocked his head to the side to ask, "And is this your fullest? Do you feel fulfilled?"

She gulped and shook her head, "No sensei."

"Good. Now, go again," he instructed, then motioned to the boy standing next to her. "Hawk, spot her." he then strolled around the second dojo, pleased to see from the corner of his eye, her picking up the pace with every kick, punch and attack. "Class. I expect you all to know who your biggest enemy is," he spoke to them all as he studied their training and corrected a few with their techniques. "Enemies are stepping stones to greatness. Beating them down, ripping them apart and showing them who the best truly is, all comes from you. Each and every one of you. Whether it is a friend, a boyfriend, a parent or a teacher. Unless you show them who's best you are not truly living up to Cobra Kai's standards. Do you hear me?"

"Yes, Sensei!" they all responded.

"What must you strive for Hawk?"

"Greatness Sensei," he grunted when Cameron nearly caught his side.

"Who must you defeat James?"

"Our enemies Sensei," she exclaimed, striking again.

"And what must you cut out like a cancer?"

"Our weaknesses Sensei!" the class yelled.

"Good." a grin grew on his face at the sounds of flesh colliding with the mats, pads and dummies of his dojo.

He knew who could train to be the best, he just needed more time and time he had.

A phone echoed through the locker rooms, attracting his attention. It was non-stop.

"Someone turn off their phone."

Taking a step back from the dummy and friend, Cameron realised it was her ringtone, "Sorry, Sensei."

Kreese simply said nothing as he watched her rush out.

Seconds passed when they all heard a gasp rip through the dojo, prompting their attention.

Carmen

He's awake!!!
read.

"Holy shit!" her voice brought Hawk and a few others into the locker room. With teary eyes, she looked up from her phone to see their faces, more importantly, Kreese's unimpressed one. She smiled before she informed them all. "Miguel's awake!"

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a/n:

not a normal authors note because i'm far from happy. i'm shocked, disgusted and heartbroken all rolled into one. if that can happen in america again, what's to come?