When Sky hit the dojo a couple of hours later, the memory of her conversation with Dad still hung over her head like a dark cloud, and she couldn't help the nervous tightening of her gut as she walked through the front doors.

She had been gone for more than a week, and stepping in, she could immediately tell something had changed. Sure, it was just a feeling, but Sky had learned to trust her gut feeling after not trusting it with Matt.

It also crossed her mind, how different it felt to walk in here instead of walking into Miyagi-Do, where everything was smooth and peaceful and harmonic. Here everything had always been tough, harsh, and loud - but now it felt like more than that, like something was gathering in here, a power she didn't like nor recognize. The air felt like it does on the hottest day of summer right before the thunder breaks when it is too still and heavy to breathe.

And it all seemed to radiate from that spot in front of the dojo where Kreese stood talking with some students. They looked at him like he was some kind of a messiah and the smug grin on his old, rough face made Sky's stomach turn. Her fingers clenched into a fist around the straps of her bag that was thrown over one shoulder.

You're being stupid, just get your shit together. It wasn't Kreese who hurt you, you made the decision to climb into that truck yourself.

She let the door close behind her and the bell chimed, making Hawk - who was one of the students around Kreese - turn around and greet her with a crooked smile and a wink.

Sky's knees went weak when she felt his eyes on her, her throat turned dry. Instinctively she brought a hand to her neck, her fingers brushing the trail of hickies on her skin. She noticed how Hawks' eyes went dark as he took in her gesture. His throat bobbed and he wet his lips, clearly remembering the same moments she did.

The moments when he had her laid down naked on the grass under him and the vast, black night sky, and he had feasted on her neck, his lips soft and hot and merciless, sending shivers through Sky's whole body.

For a moment Sky felt like she would light up and burn just because of the way he was looking at her, the memory of last night leaving her hot and restless. She had to look down and break eye contact to get herself together.

Clearing her suddenly dry throat, Sky kicked off her shoes and walked in, greeting Aisha and Miguel as she walked across the room. There were a lot of new kids present too, and Sky noticed a couple of girls among them, which was nice. By the time she reached Hawk's side, she was feeling more like herself and didn't melt into a puddle of fudge when he placed a soft kiss on her cheek.

"You look great," Hawk murmured by her ear.

Sky rolled her eyes. Both the hickeys and the tattoo were clearly visible since she was wearing a loose tank top that revealed her arms and neck. "Dad said I look like Mina Harker."

Hawk made a dry laugh at that. Sky loved it, that no matter what, he still got all her movie references and geek jokes.

"So, the champion returns," Kreese chuckled, drawing Sky's attention to him. "Good. You didn't give up after all."

"I'm not a quitter. And I have a name," Sky replied dryly. "I'd prefer you used that, Sensei Kreese."

"But of course, Miss O'Brian," Kreese said with a smile but his eyes were narrowed.

"What did you say to my Dad, Sensei?" Sky asked, unable to hold the question that was burning inside of her.

"Your Father?"

"Yes," Sky furrowed her brows. "I know he met you. What did you tell him?"

Kreese made a low chuckle as if this was somehow amusing. "I told Doctor O'Brian exactly what he needed to know."

"And what is that, Sensei?"

"That his daughter is a resourceful young woman."

Sky shifted on her feet. She didn't like Kreese's tone, the mocking sound of his voice at Dad's title. Hawk was glancing from her to Kreese with baffled looks, his brows furrowed.

"And what did he say to you?"

"Oh, he simply did what every father should do." Kreese stated. "He protected his daughter. Perhaps he is worried that you are too soft and could get hurt."

Sky swallowed, but the bitter taste on her lips lingered. "I am the champion," she said. "Nothing soft about that."

"I thought you preferred to be called by your name, Miss O'Brian." Kreese chuckled. "The champion should have been on that stage yesterday, leading her teammates instead of hiding in the crowd."

"I wasn't hiding—!"

"Sky—" that was Hawk. He placed a hand on Sky's arm and gave her a nervous look. His throat bobbed. "Sensei Kreese just means that the team would have needed you. I needed you. We would've been stronger with you there with us."

"Don't patronize me," Sky snapped and pulled her arm away. "I know exactly what Sensei Kreese means."

"You do, Miss O'Brian?" Kreese asked, his arms folded over his broad chest.

"Yeah - you think I am soft." Sky snapped. "But I am tougher than anybody here, and I will prove it to you before this day is over!"

She turned her back on Sensei Kreese and walked to fill her water bottle, half expecting Hawk to follow her, but when she glanced over her shoulder she noticed Kreese talking to Hawk with a very intense look on his face and Hawk was nodding, his big, blue eyes serious and wide.

Sky didn't like it. She didn't like it at all. And she hated it that she had missed more than a week of practice, and in a couple of days she'd be going to Italy and would miss three weeks more, and no doubt Kreese would take that as a sign of her being soft. Something inside of Sky was seething and boiling like a kettle when she sat down on the mat and started to stretch her legs.

Aisha took a seat by her side, starting her own stretching routine. Usually Sky was always happy to see her and they fell into an easy and natural conversation - but not today. After her exchange of words with Kreese, she was still tense and agitated, and the worst part of it was that she didn't even fully understand why.

She glanced at Hawk again, and her heart ached. It felt like a betrayal that he hadn't followed her here, that he was still talking with Kreese instead.

"What did Sensei Kreese say to you?" Aisha asked softly after a short silence.

"Nothing," Sky shrugged. She didn't want to think about how stupid she felt, how much it got under her skin that Kreese didn't trust her to be badass.

"Okay, then," Aisha replied, and didn't push it. Instead, she changed the subject. "A lot of new kids here today."

"You impressed them all by breaking boards blindfolded," Sky smirked. "You badass Cobra Queen."

Aisha smiled. "You do know I poked small holes into the blindfold? But yeah, the demo was so cool."

"Yeah," Sky replied. She didn't want to explain to Aisha that she had only seen bits and pieces of it. "It was super cool."

"So, what did you do after the demo?" Aisha asked, and her glance swept the trail of hickeys on Sky's neck.

"You really wanna know?" Sky smirked.

"Probably not," Aisha grimaced. "That looks... painful."

Sky blushed slightly. "It's not. Not really. It feels—"

But the right words wouldn't find her. Hawk's lips on her skin made her feel like she was a blooming bud, like everything in her wanted to open up, open for him like the petals of a flower under the sun. But she couldn't say that out loud, could she? It sounded so cheesy, like a line from a cheap romance novel.

Aisha was looking at her expectantly, but Sky cast down her eyes, suddenly very self-conscious about the hickeys.

"It feels wonderful," she said silently. "We had a great night."

"Then I'm happy for you," Aisha said with a warm smile. "And for him too, I guess."

"Oh, you should be," Sky grinned. "That boy got so lucky you wouldn't believe."

Sky glanced at Hawk, but her heart sank when she noticed that he was still talking with Kreese, and whatever the older man was saying got Hawk's full attention. He was smiling and nodding excitedly, and from time to time, Sky heard the familiar raspy sound of his laughter.

He had told her he liked Sensei Kreese's teachings and that he felt like they could make him stronger. Sky was happy for him, she didn't want to hold him back, didn't want to stop him from learning new things. But at the same time, she was worried - she didn't like Kreese, and she didn't like how being near him always made her feel like she wasn't enough.

Maybe Hawk would start thinking like that too.

That she wasn't good enough or tough enough. That it should have been him to win in the finals and not her.

"Aisha," she said, turning back to her friend. "What do you think about Sensei Kreese—?"

"Quiet!" Came Sensei Lawrence's voice and thus Sky never got an answer for that question.

_______________________________________________________________________________

After the lesson Sky didn't feel any better - instead she felt worse. She hadn't been able to prove her worth to Kreese - on the contrary. In front of his narrowed gaze Sky felt too self-conscious, too clumsy, she forgot her skills and her moves and fell into making stupid mistakes all the time.

Kreese had been silently chuckling while watching how she struggled - which of course had caused Sky to struggle even more. Even Sensei Lawrence's silent encouraging tap on her shoulder hadn't been able to cheer her up.

It felt like she had lost her mojo. And probably all the new kids here wondered how this loser had ever won the finals because she sure as Hell wasn't worthy of the title.

Angrily Sky stuffed her white gi into her gym bag after changing back to her loose pink sweats and a tank top, when she heard someone approaching.

"Hi - it was Sky, right?" a girl's voice asked.

She turned around and saw the girl who had kicked her ass in the sparring match earlier. Sensei Lawrence had addressed the new recruits and asked them who would want to take on the champion. This girl had said she'd do it - and had managed to kick Sky down on the mat.

Because that's how useless Sky was. The champion who would lose to a newcomer.

"Yeah," she replied. "And you are Tory."

The girl smirked. "With a Y."

"I got it."

"No hard feelings about the match?"

"Nah," Sky shrugged, but didn't meet her eyes. "You surprised me, that's all. I didn't expect you to be so good - my mistake."

Tory replied with a crooked grin. "Well, you were really good too. It's nice to see a girl who can kick ass."

"Likewise."

"That's a cool tattoo," Tory said, glancing at the phoenix.

"Yeah," Sky agreed. "Got it a bit over a week ago."

"Nice. Is there a story?"

Sky hesitated. She didn't really feel like sharing her life story with someone she had met an hour ago, but she didn't want to be rude either. Cobra Kai could use another girl and she could use one more friend.

"Maybe I just like birds." she said.

That made Tory laugh. "Figures. That Hawk guy is your boyfriend, right?"

"He is," Sky admitted. "But he's not the reason I got this tattoo."

"Sure," Tory smirked.

There was something about Tory that made Sky feel like she was looking into a mirror. Not the looks, obviously - Tory was tall and curvy and beautiful with sand blond hair, whereas Sky was short and slender and redheaded. It was something in the way this girl carried herself, the shadows in her eyes - Sky knew that this girl had been hurt, that she had seen the dark side of life too. But all that anger Sky had inside of her heart, the anger she had always turned on herself with pills or drugs or knives, Tory seemed to carry it like a weapon and would lash it at anybody who stood in her way.

This girl meant trouble. And Sky sure as Hell didn't need any more trouble in her life.

"I guess I'll be seeing you around," she said and took her bag. "Welcome to Cobra Kai."

She walked out of the dojo and found Hawk who was waiting for her outside. He was leaning on a column and having a video call with someone, looking seriously pissed.

"Don't do anything stupid," he said. "You will regret it."

He hung up and stuffed the phone into his pocket as Sky approached.

"Was that Demetri?" Sky asked. "Is everything okay?"

"That pussy Demetri couldn't handle training with Mister Kreese," Hawk scoffed.

"Wait, what?" Sky asked, immediately alarmed. "Is he alright?"

"He's being the whiny bitch he is." Hawk said with a smirk and Sky didn't like it one bit.

"What happened?"

"I don't know, jeez, who cares?" he rolled his eyes. "He's such a nerd!"

His words hurt Sky like a punch in the gut because she was a nerd too even if she didn't necessarily look like it. And Kat had been a nerd, very proudly so - a nerd who could kick your ass if you so much as looked at her the wrong way - but still, she could have easily named 150+ Marvel characters and tell you all about their super powers and she had won a special price at the science camp her last summer.

"There's nothing wrong with being a nerd," Sky said. "What did Kreese do to him?"

"I guess he punched him in the face," Hawk shrugged. "Demetri had it coming for being such a smartass."

"Punched him in the face?!" Sky was shocked - both by this information and because of Hawk's attitude. It was as if he didn't even care, or worse, as if he was happy that Demetri was hurt. It made Sky feel like her feet would give in - suddenly she felt shaky and nauseous.

The seething kettle of anger in her mind burst. Without another word, she started walking to the car, opened the door, and threw her bag onto the back seat.

"Hey, where are you going?" Hawk's voice asked but Sky didn't turn to look.

"To see Demetri." She climbed onto the driver's seat and closed the door.

Now Hawk came running after her and stopped next to her car, slamming his palm against the window. With an annoyed glance at him, Sky rolled it down.

"What?" She asked as he leaned on the car.

His throat bobbed. "But... I thought we'd go to my place—" he started, a small blush creeping up his high cheekbones. "The house is empty."

Suddenly Sky felt super annoyed. Guys - thinking about one thing only. Was that the only thing Hawk wanted from her? And if she stopped sleeping with him, would his love for her die, would he lose interest, would he dump her and find someone else? Someone who wasn't a nerd?

She hated these lousy thoughts, hated the way they made her feel.

"Well it looks like you're just gonna have to date your hand today," Sky snapped at him. "I'm busy."

Hawk looked like she had slapped him, his eyes widened. "Sky, what the fuck? Why are you mad at me?"

"Figure it out, genius. And don't call me before you have." she said and rolled the window back up.

As she drove away, Sky saw him standing there in the parking lot, looking after her car with a confused look on his handsome face, the blue mohawk sharp and spiky on top of his head.

The next time she saw him, it would be red.

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