The Karate Code ~Robby Keene~

Tree

Miraleigh was lying on one of the sun chairs. Her head were your feet should go and her feet were the rest of your body goes. She had a book in her hand, holding it above her face so she could read and block the sun from her eyes. Samantha was sunbathing on the other chair, her eyes closed and enjoying the silence. Robby was walking around the back, he stopped in his tracks seeing the girls and smiled cheekily once his eyes landed on Miraleigh. He watched her face change into multiple expressions within the matter of seconds and he found it absolutely adorable. He turned around flustered and then panicked as he crashed into the wind chimes. He tried stopping them but both of the girls had caught him. 

"Hi Robby." Miraleigh waved to him, not moving from her spot. He chuckled lightly, smiling and then looked at Samantha. He raised a hand to say hi and then walked over to Miraleigh, she placed her book down on her chest and gave a cheeky grin as she looked at Robby who was leaning over her. 

"Is the book good?" He asked, she nodded and sat up looking up at him. 

"It is, how are you?" She asked curiously, he nodded with a smile and sat next to her. 

"I'm good, how about you?" She nodded and looked at the book then back at him. 

"I'm good as well." He nodded and stood up seeing Mr. LaRusso. Samantha smiled waving at the two and called out. 

"Good luck at the tree!" Miraleigh spun around to look at her, a questioning look covering her face. Miraleigh picked up a bag and walked into the van sitting in the back. She stared out the window, smiling a the scenery. They got out, walking for a little bit until they reached the lake.

"Stop here, close your eyes and tell me what you hear." They both did and Miraleigh smiled at the silence. It was peaceful and relaxing. 

"What do you hear?" Daniel asked, watching the two. 

"Nothing." They both said, he nodded and grinned walking off. They did kata and various spots, learning how to punch. Miraleigh liked the peaceful surroundings, they made it to a tree that had fallen over. 

"So are we going home now?" Robby asked, Daniel chuckled and shook his head. 

"You wish, training ain't over yet. You may know the moves, but none of that matters unless you have balance." 

"But, Mr. LaRusso I balance on my skateboard every day." Daniel chuckled, but nodded as well as shake his head. 

"I don't mean balance in your body, I mean balance in you life." He watched the two teens emotions change drastically, Miraleigh bit her lip looking down and Robby's smile dropped knowing Daniel had a point. 

"Look. Robby, Miraleigh I know how hard it is to not have a dad. My dad died when I was young, but when all those bad feelings weigh you down. You gotta search for the good stuff, then you can have some balance in your life. Understand?" He knew that Miraleigh did have a father, but from what he's heard it seems that he wasn't really ever there. 

"Mr. LaRusso, I need to tell you something." Miraleigh looked at Robby, scanning his face knowing he wanted to say something but nodded internally as he didn't say what he really wanted to say. 

"Thank you for teaching me." Daniel chuckled and shook his head. 

"You're both gone hate me after this, lose the duffle bag and hop on the tree." Robby climbed up first, then helped Miraleigh up. She thanked him and walked in front standing above a pile of leaves. She was at one end, while Robby was at the other and they were both facing each other. Though they were still at the same level, even thought the tree was a bit uneven. 

"Alright, let's go over what we learnt today. Show me a front kick." They both got into a stance, kicked the air and then looked at Daniel. He nodded, with an impressed smile and then placed his hands on his hips. 

"A roundhouse." They did a roundhouse easily and then looked at Daniel as if asking to make it harder. 

"Alright, don't get cocky. Show me a hook kick." They both started to do the kick, but they both slipped and groaned as they landed on the ground. Miraleigh, stared up at the sky. Trying to recollect herself after hitting the ground. Once she waited for her head to stop spinning, she stood up and stumbled as she walked out of the leaves. She dusted herself off, looked at Robby and hid her giggle as she looking at his hair. He shook his head, smiling and looked at Daniel. 

"Are you two alright?" He asked, they nodded and Daniel grabbed out his phone chuckling and started walking off. 

"Wait, where are you going?" Robby asked, looking at Daniel confused. 

"I'm gonna look for a better connection. You two come find me when you've done all the kicks without falling off." He stated walking off. 

"I thought you said no distractions!" Miraleigh shouted.

"Hockey isn't a distraction!" He shouted and Miraleigh smiled to herself, turned to Robby who had a leaf in his hair. She smiled, walking over to him and took the leaf out, showing it to him and then placed it on the ground. 

"You ready?" He asked, she nodded and Robby helped her up again. Then got himself up and they both started practising. Miraleigh eyes landed on a spider that was crawling down a web sitting in front of her face. It was probably the size of her hand, as well as hairy. She screamed, falling back and fell into the leaves. 

"Miraleigh!" Robby yelled and jumped off the tree, he ran over to her helping her up and dusted her off. 

"Are you okay?" He asked worriedly, she nodded and then shivered in disgust at the spider. 

"I don't like spiders." She twitched and he chuckled grabbing a twig out of her hair then threw it on the ground. 

"Give me one second." He said to her, he jumped up on the tree and grabbed the web of the spider. Holding it like a Christmas ornament, he dropped it as it moved and watched it scurry away in the leaves. Miraleigh smiled at him and then climbed up, starting to do the kicks again and not falling or stumbling. She smiled proudly, doing it a couple of more times before jumping off as Robby did. They both picked up a bag each, then started looking for Daniel. 

"So you're scared of spiders?" He asked playfully, she nodded and grinned sheepishly. He gave a lopsided grin, then tilted his head as he saw Daniel doing a one handed handstand. 

"Mr. LaRusso?" He opened his eyes shocked and landed on his head. Miraleigh threw the bag down and ran over to him with Robby at her side.

"I almost did it, almost." He said groaning. 

"What was that?" Robby asked, seeing that he was okay. 

"One of the last things Mr. Miyagi ever taught me. The most powerful kick in Miyagi do karate." Daniel explained, the two teens had admiration in their eyes.

"How do you do it?" Miraleigh asked, Daniel sighed sadly and shrugged. 

"I wish I could show you both, only Mr. Miyagi could do it. You've gotta balance your whole body on one hand, which gives two legs for the kick. I almost did it when I was in my twenties, so the fact I got this close today. Pretty damn awesome, how'd you guys go on the tree?"

"We did all the moves without falling." Miraleigh stated with a proud smile. 

"Good, now that you've mastered that. Get ready for the next challenge." Daniel hopped off the rock and looked at the two. 

"What's that?" Robby asked. 

"Finding the car, this place is like a maze." Robby chuckled, looking at Miraleigh and walked at he side as they walked off. They walked into the house, watching Amanda and Daniel's mother laughing and having a good time. They placed the bags down, looking at the food on the table. Miraleigh's phone rang, she excused herself and walked out the front. Placing the phone up to her ear, she listened to the words the person was telling her it was a lot to take in. She hung up, placing the phone in her pocket and then placed her shaky hand up to her mouth. She blocked a sob from escaping her lips and turned around quickly seeing Robby.

"Miraleigh, what happened?"

"It's my mum."