___

"IT'S like a ringing noise. A loud noise that I hear when everything's quiet. I hate it. I don't get it," Cameron murmured, slumping into the soft chair in her therapist's office and dangling her legs over the armrest.

Dr Kimberly Curtis pondered, as she sat opposite her patient, "PTSD and tinnitus sometimes can be linked. Considering you commonly hear shouting whenever you train, perhaps that triggers something in you whenever you experience moments of peace."

"I wouldn't call it peace," Cameron muttered.

"Then what would you call it?" Dr Curtis leaned forward, unbothered by her notebook gracing her stomach.

"Quiet. It disturbs me when I meditate."

"That's new. You're meditating."

"Trying to." Cameron didn't miss the surprise clinging to the older woman's tone. "Miguel told me since I can do handstands for a long time, it's basically standing still, which he's not wrong. So I can mediate I'm just not letting myself do it."

Dr Curtis inquired, "And this is your ex-boyfriend Miguel Diaz?"

"...yes," Cameron slowly confirmed, regretting mentioning him altogether.

"And he's assisting you with your transition to another dojo?"

Cameron shrugged, "I guess."

"It's good you have people that support you, Cameron. Many don't," Dr Curtis was unphased by the scoff the teenager let out.

"He also broke up with me. I wouldn't call that support," Cameron practically snapped as she manoeuvred herself, sitting up straight to look her head on.

"You mentioned he suggested a break and not a breakup. Therefore you played a hand in the ending of your romantic relationship. Not your friendship," Dr Curtis clarified.

Seconds passed and Cameron's face continued to be scrunched up.

"Wasn't there supposed to be a question in all of that?"

"He has not given up on you."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"I hate Miguel and his thick, curly and awesome hair," Cameron muttered against her cup as she stared narrowly ahead at the sight of her ex chatting with all his friends.

Drew snorted, "That doesn't sound like hate."

"Do you want to know what a punch sounds like?" Cameron sassed, but he remained unphased, "Anyway go back to your celebration, what is this like the fourth one this week?"

They all stood around in the park, where the council permitted a massive barbeque for all that could attend. Alexis was the host and Drew's face was splattered across all the banners and balloons. Since adults were in attendance all the teenagers couldn't mess around too much. But that didn't mean games weren't played.

Drew was trying to get his cousin in the party mood after video-calling his excited mom.

"And what about it? I'm a success," Drew retorted.

"Still cocky as ever," she drawled.

"It's manifestation. You should try it more often." he turned away from his cousin, to welcome the familiar faces, "Hey, LaRussos."

The whole family strolled over, some happier than others.

"Cameron," Daniel greeted first before turning to the starboy, "Drew, congratulations."

Drew beamed, "Thank you."

"Really, you have done so well," Amanda agreed, patting his arm.

"Is it true you're gonna be surrounded by so many hot cheerleaders at Howard?" Anthony, their son who had a huge growth spurt, practically startled the cousins as they turned to him.

"The hottest of hot," Drew confirmed, only for his eyes to shift over to Sam who rolled her eyes, yet he caught the smile she tried fighting.

Amanda scolded, "Anthony."

Daniel just shook his head, yet remained amused.

"Hey, Sam," Drew inclined his head toward her, earning a side-eye from his cousin.

Sam mirrored his actions, "Congrats again Drew."

"Alright, we'll go and find your mom," Daniels said to Cameron, prompting his family to join him.

"Yes, I heard there is a delicious spread," Amanda dragged her son along.

Sam trailed after them but spared a look to Drew who winked at her.

"Mr James," Johnny called out, getting his attention as well as Cameron's, who was embraced by the Diaz women beside him.

"Sensei Lawrence," Drew jested.

"Congrats man," they fist-bumped.

"Well done Drew," Carmen praised.

"Thank guys, and thank you for the food yesterday. My aunty was glad she didn't have to cook."

"Solo lo mejor para lo mejor," Rosa complemented, to which he chuckled.

Johnny countered, "I mean college is fine, but karate would've been it for you."

"Johnny," Carmen nudged him.

"Winning all the time does sound like a dream," Drew played along.

Johnny smirked, "Exactly."

"Maybe in another universe, besides you got champions in my cousin and Miguel."

Cameron was touched by the words as was Miguel's family.

"I knew I liked you." Johnny nodded at the boy, then asked, "Got any beers?"

"Mom's keeping all the alcoholic drinks in a cooler, just keep it close to your chest, I know it's hard since subtlety isn't your speciality," Cameron made a jab at him, drawing laughter from the women.

Johnny cast her an empty smile, "Cute."

They went off in search of the beers, leaving her alone.

But not for long.

"Hey," Miguel rocked up beside Cameron, he was confused when she visibly seemed irritated.

"Hey."

Trying not to be affected by her bluntness, he asked, "How are you?"

"Cool, you?" Cameron hardly looked at him.

"Why are you being like this?" Miguel huffed, drawing her harsh gaze.

"Like what? We're talking or should I go back to ignoring you like before."

Miguel shook his head and rolled his eyes, "Cameron, today's about your cousin, just be happy, if not for yourself, for him."

Her tongue swiped over her teeth and he stormed off.

"Fuck," she let out.

"Yikes. That looked like a train wreck," Demetri squeaked out, joining her.

"It was," Cameron admitted and craned her head up to lock eyes with the lanky teen. "Shit. I've been meaning to say this to you for a while. I'm sorry," she apologised, startling him. "It's overdue. Especially when Hawk ambushed you at the mall and later when he broke your arm and I just let it happen." Chris drifted over with Mitch beside him, she extended the apology to him as well. "Chris..." she faltered when he looked at her. "I was just apologising to Demetri. And I should've said this to both of you a while ago, but was too cowardly to say anything."

Mitch stepped away to get another drink.

Chris spoke up, "You were the only one in Cobra Kai when I first joined was actually nice to me. And for you to go and do that..."

Cameron swallowed the knot in her throat and continued, "I was an asshole. Worse. I attacked you just because I could and that makes me a bully. Made me a bully. I regret it. And I wouldn't forgive myself for it. Just know I'm sorry."

"Admitting your mistakes is big," Demetri spoke up first, "and I have enough room for forgiveness."

"I don't get how. Like at all, but thanks," she timidly turned to Chris who just gave her a nod of acknowledgement which she took.

The whole conversation was overheard by her old best friend. Lily wanted to step forward, but she was approached by Hawk.

"Hey," he greeted, holding up her favourite drink.

"Thanks and hey," she graciously accepted.

"You're looking great," Hawk complimented.

"So are you," Lily threw it back at him, "I guess we never got to have that drink did we?"

"Yeah, the cops came," and other things, Hawk agreed. But that went without saying. "But we can have it now right?"

"We can," Lily agreed and took a sip of her drink. Hawk followed in her steps, concealing his smile behind his can.

Cameron tried for the 10th time to call Tory but she gave up. She knew this wouldn't be her scene and was stupid for extending the olive branch or trying to build another metaphorical bridge, especially after kicking Robby's ass only days before.

Frustrated, she dropped her phone.

It was picked up by someone unexpected.

Sam held it out to her, with a pensive expression only to scoff when she noticed the contact name on the screen.

"Really?"

Cameron groaned, "What Samantha, come to judge?"

"You say you want to change and sure everyone else seems to believe that but I don't," Sam accused, loud enough to attract Nate and Bert, "Especially with you still in contact with a girl like that."

"And what kind of girl is that?" Cameron asked defensively, pocketing her phone.

"Well for starters, A Cobra Kai student."

"You weren't cobra Kai Sam," Cameron started, gritting her teeth.

"Thankfully."

"You're lucky you know," Cameron stepped closer, uncaring for the disdain that flooded Sam's face. "Cobra Kai was started up again because Miguel was being bullied. So he asked a not-so-nice neighbour to teach him how to defend himself against the people you once called friends," Sam's glare nearly faltered at that. "And from then it got bigger. More students joined and I was one of them. One minute you feel like you're on a high from the shit you were taught. And then you fall, not in the way you think. You lose yourself."

"But that's no excuse to be a bully," Sam challenged, only to receive a shrug.

"Never said it was. I'm not excusing the shit I did. I'm explaining it," Cameron reasoned, and neither girl saw how most of the party was making panicked glances at them. "Most of us fallen so far. It's shitty. And I can't forget any of it because I guess it's who I was. And the people I hurt are still affected by that shit," her words reached Chris who walked nearby. "I'm owning it. Owning all those mistakes. Can you say the same?"

Sam didn't have time to answer before Cameron walked away and Alexis called out,

"It's time to cut the cake guys, gather around!"

"Oh I love cake, I hope it's chocolate," everyone heard Mitch say.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

THE next day, Cameron begrudgingly took part in class, following the Kata as she moved in unison with the rest of Eagle Fang.

Her movements were firmer, but the interactions from yesterday lingered on her mind. Especially when she heard the attacks Sam made with Johnny's help or the encouragement Miguel received from Daniel.

"That's it, let all your aggression disappear," Daniel voiced through the mediating session, yet it did nothing for the Tension she felt.

When class ended, Cameron believed starting up a sketch would help her, just like her therapist advised, but she was stumped and uninspired.

The paper fell at the feet of the dojo door just as Daniel was packing up.

He picked it up as everyone piled out, "Here, nice work."

It was a lion.

A poorly drawn one in her opinion.

"Thanks."

"Might I suggest something?" She hummed as they walked out and Daniel turned to her, "Origami. It reduces stress and boosts creativity especially if you're looking for more ideas, more to draw in your art class. And don't forget it's great for your mental health whilst having fun."

He handed back her sketch with a nod of encouragement.

"Thanks," she surprisingly embraced his words and she stuffed everything else into her bag.

She walked passed Johnny who stopped her, with an outstretched hand.

"What did he say to you?"

Her brows pinched together when she answered, "Just some advice."

She glanced back to see Miguel get in the LaRusso car, she forced her gaze away in anguish.

"Are you taking it?" Johnny had to ask.

"Maybe." Cameron said with indifference, "Anyways bye."

"Wait James," he called out just before she stalked toward Hawk.

She turned back, "Yes?"

"You okay?" He sounded concerned.

"Ecstatic," she flashed him a forced smile and joined her close friend. "Could you drop me at Staples, there's a few things I wanna get and Drew's old co-workers let me use his discount."

Hawk nodded, "Yeah. Sure."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

CAMERON scanned the aisles of the vast store, her headphones were on low when she strolled. She felt she was all over the place, still conflicted with everything. Like she was in sort of limbo and the retail music she could hear in the background was only making it all worse.

Origami paper caught her eye, only it was slightly too late at night to reach.

Huffing, she extended herself upwards, pushing one leg onto a shelf and swiping the paper onto the ground without any assistance.

"Impressive." She snapped her head behind her, pulling down her headphones to see a tall man, with silver hair and a pleased expression on his face. "Miss James, correct?"

"Depends," she eyed him, not making the move to pick up the paper. "Who's asking?"

He pointed to himself, his eyes shone with a similar mirth that she only had seen before from another man.

Kreese.

"A friend of a friend."

"Let me guess, An unstable Veteran who has a karate kink?" She knew she was a guest correctly when an eerie smile met his eyes. "Kreese isn't my friend."

"Yet he told me all about you," the man said, "Strengths: flexibility, agility and creativity. Weaknesses: she lacks guidance and control over her hysterics."

"Yet the man discarded my medication," Cameron countered, fiercely making him deeply chuckle.

"See that there, that spark," he jabbed a finger in her direction as he made a move to pick up the paper a few feet away from her. He towered over her. Forcing her gaze up. "Why would you let it die out with those people? I imagine they've put it out. Calmed you down. I imagine you're even feeling left out over there. Overshadowed, unappreciated, dismissed."

"What do you want?" She breathed out, eyes twitching when he waved the paper around.

"To consider only what you know to be true," The man proposed. "You're a dangerous fighter, Miss James. I would know," he laughed to himself, sending a shiver down her spine. "We all know it to be true. Why subdue it when we all know, that isn't you."

"You don't know me," Cameron spoke through clenched teeth. "Like I don't know you."

"Oh forgive my poor manners," He introduced himself. "Terry Silver, Sensei and co-founder of Cobra Kai."

"Of course," she muttered.

"Just think it over, Danger," he hummed when she stiffened at the old nickname. "It'll do you some good." He patted her arm, satisfied that he left a stain on her mind. He offered her the paper only for her to not take it and walk away. "It was nice to meet you."

Hawk's face fell when he saw the panic on Cameron's as she hopped into the car. "Didn't you get anything?"

"Nah. I couldn't find what I wanted," she said, exhaling deeply and strapping on her seatbelt.

Bert and Nathaniel stopped their thumb war to peak forward.

"What's wrong?" Bert asked.

Nate added, "Did some creep bother you?"

"Cobra Kai," Cameron answered.

"What?" Hawk was seething now, he already had to deal with a middle school kid yesterday.

As did the younger boys behind him.

"More Cobra Kai bullshit," Cameron repeated, shaking her head, "Fuck. I shouldn't have gone there before. It's just a hole that keeps getting bigger and bigger," she huffed, turning to him. "Leave it for now. Seriously. Let's just go to the drive-in and try and enjoy ourselves."

"Nah, we can go back to show this punk that we're not to be messed with," Hawk was all for it, despite his teachings.

Bert quietly laughed, "Just like we did yesterday."

Cameron turned to look between them, "What the hell did you guys do yesterday?"

"Told some kid to quit Cobra Kai," Hawk confessed, half-shrugging.

Nate stated, "He's like a kindergartener."

He and Bert laughed.

Cameron waved them off, "Leave it for now okay? Let's get ready, wash ourselves of this day and just watch a good movie. Focus on all the blood and gore from that."

"Cool," Bert's eyes lit up.

"You sure?" Hawk had to make sure.

Cameron nodded, "I'm sure."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"HEY," Cameron shocked herself by greeting Miguel first, clad in her glasses and hair free from a restricted bun and gel.

He glanced around, pocketing his hands before saying, "You gonna snap at me again?"

"No, I've had enough bad interactions today. And sorry about that," Cameron felt like she was apologizing every second.

She had to, she was being difficult.

"It's fine." He meant that, as they senselessly began walking to the food truck.

"I heard you're driving around now."

A smile grew on Miguel's face, "Yeah, Mr LaRusso is also helping me with that, you know when Drew isn't training."

"That's great." Cameron didn't know what to make of that, but they were at the head of the line and the server already wanted their orders. "Let me guess you wanna get Popcorn and M&M's?"

"And you pizza," he said, practically beaming as their order was taken.

"Of course," she flashed him a smile, and it brought him back to the past.

The smells of the food wafted around them as did the loud sounds coming from the movie.

Miguel's eyes trailed over her, lingering on her face, "This remind you of the last time we were here?"

Cameron boldly answered, "Yeah but we didn't watch the movie much though."

"No, we didn't." Miguel couldn't fight the blush kissing his cheeks. "What was it that you used to call me?"

"Vamp champ," Lily spoke up from behind them, drawing small smiles. "Hey guys."

"Hey." Miguel greeted and then paid for both his and Cameron's things at the till. "Before you say anything don't. It's fine."

"Thanks," Cameron almost embraced the warmth spreading through her chest.

Lily caught the adoring look in her old friend's eyes.

"Hello, lovebirds," Anala happily smiled only to receive a huff in response. "Fine, I'll give it a month before that title is accurate." She turned to Lily, "Hi again. You should really join —"

"She doesn't like clubs," Cameron and Miguel interrupted. Lily let out a chuckle.

"Oh well," Anala shrugged, turning around and accidentally bumping into Sam. "So sorry, I stumble a lot."

"It's fine," Sam flashed her a small smile, that had Anala blinking a lot. "Are you okay?"

"Uh huh," Anala gulped then strode away over to where Moon was, talking to Drew by his car — just where Sam once was.

"What the hell was that?" Cameron scrunched up her face.

"Gay-panic," Lily said as Miguel passed Cameron her plate of pizza. She went next to order her things with... Sam surprisingly, much to Cameron's irritation. "May I have..."

"Thanks again for this," Cameron said to Miguel.

"No problem," He excused, "I paid for most of what we ate during our relationship and you drove us around," he said when they walked through the cars.

She hummed in agreement, "And now I don't use my car."

"And now we're not dating," he awkwardly responded, to which she said nothing. "Hey did you wanna —"

"Miguel, look," She cut him off, pointing to where an altercation was happening, prompting them to ditch their food.

Hawk was soon joined by the rest of his dojo who were facing up against Cobra Kai.

"Hey, guys. Can you believe that they have Mr. Pibb and Dr. Pepper?" Demetri asked, running to his friends only to realize they weren't alone as the movie played in the middle, "Oh shit. Not another rumble."

"Careful, LaRusso. Your mommy isn't here to play peacemaker," Tory said, looking directly at Sam.

Sam glared, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Guys stop," Miguel demanded, looking around, "We can't do this. We'll beat 'em on the mat," his eyes drifted over to his enemy.

Robby scoffed, "Oh really? You remember what happened the last time we fought, right?"

Miguel's face contorted into vexation.

"Yeah, you ended up inside right Robby?" Cameron defended, and let something else slip when she caught sight of his irksome expression. "And also with a bruise on your cheek. Looks like it healed."

"You got lucky," he snapped.

Cameron flashed him a grin, gaze trailing over the Cobra Kai's to notice the same kid she spotted a couple of days ago.

Miguel angrily looked between them, "What are you talking about?"

Cameron's amusement faded, drawing a humourless laugh from Tory, "Oh don't your new friends know about you coming to our dojo? Correction, your old dojo and trying to take Robby down?"

Most of the Miyagi-do's looked at her in disbelief, as did a few of her friends.

Miguel narrowed his eyes, "You did what?"

"Of course you did," Sam muttered, earning a scowl from Cameron.

"I'm just pissed I didn't get to see it," Hawk grumbled.

Miguel quickly realized that Hawk had to have known about it.

"Okay. You know what?" He proposed, "Meet us at the baseball diamond in 30 minutes." His darkened gaze landed on Tory, "And no weapons."

She shrugged him off "Yeah, we won't need 'em."

"Yeah." Miguel breathed out as they all separated, he turned to Cameron who was already walking ahead, and he caught up. "Did you really do that? And you didn't tell me, you could've gotten hurt."

She dismissed him, "I didn't though."

"Not the point Cameron," he expressed loudly.

"Guys, can we put a stop to the domestic," Hawk cut them off and urged anyone who stared at Cameron to stop, only frustrating Miguel more. "What's the plan?"

30 minutes passed and they ended up in Hawk's car — not all. Demetri was in the back, sat between Cameron and Sam. Hawk was in the driver's seat and Miguel in the passenger, watching his plan pan out perfectly.

The lights went off and the sprinklers went on, soaking the Cobra Kai's, drawing laughter from the boys.

"Dude, a genius move! We didn't even have to throw a punch!" Hawk said through his laughter.

Demetri patted Miguel's back, "My favourite kind of victory."

And for the first time, Cameron and Sam shared similar thoughts.

They shouldn't have done this.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"HENCEFORTH, Miguel Diaz shall be known as The Rainmaker." Demetri dramatised with his fingers, as they stood around stretching.

"El Diablo de la Lluvia," Hawk marvelled.

"If they hadn't fallen for it, we would've beaten them," Sam said confidently.

"Sure," Cameron drawled, earning a glare.

Miguel couldn't help but agree, "It could've gone bad."

Overhearing their conversation, Johnny came over, "What could've gone bad?"

"We were about to get in a gnarly fight at the drive-in Sensei," Hawk told happily, "but Miguel saved the day."

Johnny looked asked Miguel, slightly smiling, "Oh yeah? How'd you do that?"

"Told the Cobra Kais to come to the baseball diamond. Just in time for the grass to get watered," Miguel informed almost smugly.

Yet his Sensei didn't share the sentiment. "So you picked a fight, you didn't show up, and then you doused them with a hose?"

"Oh, it was sprinklers." Demetri made the mistake of saying, "I'll go back to saying nothing."

"You just poked the bear," Johnny warned as Daniel emerged from the back, "What do you think's gonna happen? They're just gonna leave well enough alone?" 

"From everything I heard, it sounds to me like Miguel practised restraint," Daniel spoke up, staring at the confused boy. "Found a way to get out of a bad situation without anyone getting hurt. What did you want him to do, get in a drive-in switchblade fight?" he asked Johnny only to give Miguel some props, "I'm proud of you. You've taken Miyagi-Do teachings to heart."

Sam piped up, "Unlike Cameron."

"I knew you were just waiting to say something," Cameron laughed in disbelief, as she turned to the girl.

"What you did poke the bear," Sam sassed, folding her arms, drawing perplexed looks from their Sensei.

"No, I gave the bear a good beating," Cameron snapped.

Hawk and Miguel edged closer to them, "Easy," the latter spoke.

"No, let them at it," Mitch egged it on, only to receive a nudge from Chris.

"What are you talking about Sam?" Daniel asked his daughter.

Sam gave a tight-lipped smile, "Cameron went to Cobra Kai a while back and fought Robby."

Cameron could hear his jaw drop without even sparing him a look.

Daniel rushed out, "You did what?"

Johnny pondered what to say, yet he knew there was an issue with the events he was shocked he hadn't heard about until today.

"He challenged me, I accepted and he would've got his ass beaten even more had Kreese not stepped in." Cameron informed them, briefly dragging her gaze toward Daniel, "Robby's still salty about it."

"That's not what I taught you," she caught the aggrieved edge in his tone.

Johnny argued, "No, you just taught them to start something and not finish it."

Daniel flung out his arms, "And does it sound like she finished it?"

"I would've," Cameron expressed, mirroring Sam's glare. "I'm not surprised you're a snitch. Not at all."

"You haven't changed," Sam snarled.

"Neither have you, still the same entitled, stuck-up princess."

"And you're a Queen Cobra bitch."

Gasps were heard around.

"Alright enough," Daniel tried to break it up, only for Cameron to yell.

"You know for someone who preaches about Miyagi like your dad, you certainly know how to cry for mommy when you get hurt. The pussiest of moves." Cameron let out a laugh when Sam launched forward, "I dare you to strike first, make my day."

"Stop," Miguel tugged her back, with Hawk's help.

Daniel did the same with his daughter.

Johnny studied all that happened and wasn't surprised it was happening at all.

"Okay, LaRusso, we need to have a talk," he said, stepping forward, and quickly looking over Cameron.

"Really? Now?" Daniel said, gently pushing back Sam.

But as Johnny went to approach, daunting footsteps caught their attention.

All of their attention.

It was Kreese, walking into the dojo with Silver in a confidant stride, inspiring what looked like trepidation on both Johnny and Daniel's faces.

Silver clasped his hands together, "Gentlemen. It seems we have a few things to discuss."

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

a/n:

doctor kimberly finally making an appearance. yay. i thought it was a good time to add her to the book and since she technically exists in the area of reseda i wouldn't say she's an original character. this isn't the first time i incorporated a therapist/ psychiatrist in my books, the second actually and i was happy to write a session between her and cameron. but did it help her interactions with miguel? she is continuing her apology tour but continuing to but heads with sam also.

damn, i think cameron keeps forgetting her whistle — like these men just pop out of nowhere, first kreese at church and now silver at staples, what the fuck? they keep trying to draw her back in, will she do it?

my girl didn't even get the origami paper.

now that another secret is out that she threw hands with robby what will happen? it's funny since, both she and hawk are trying to adapt to miyagi fang — yet they're both still so quick to jump back into their old ways.