My Karate Kid 3

Chapter 6 ~ The Tree

Marie rested her head on Daniel's shoulder as they drove in Mr Miyagi's car, one hand wrapped around her stomach, breathing softly with her eyes closed. Mr Miyagi began to sing, not even quiet enough for Marie to ignore.

"I can't believe you're singing." Daniel snapped, his tone slightly accusatory. Mr Miyagi continued to sing, making Daniel shake his head as he stuttered. "Forget it."

"Feel lucky, Daniel-san." Mr Miyagi explained as his song ended. Realizing she wasn't getting any rest, Marie opened her eyes.

"Lucky? How could you feel lucky?" Daniel asked. He sounded extremely agitated, worrying Marie immediately.

"That makes us real lucky. I never felt luckier in my life." Daniel spoke sarcastically.

"Daniel-san, we can rebuild the shop. Cannot rebuild stock." Mr Miyagi explained. "We sell a few trees, fix shoji screen, start over again."

"What if those guys come back again? What are we going to do then? If they come back, what are we going to do?" Mr Miyagi was quiet. "Just tell me, what do we do if they come back?"

"Sing happy song."

~ ~ ~ ~

Marie was woken up at exactly 8:30 by loud knocking on her front door. She sat up quickly, running past the boxes in her room and to the door, unlocking it quickly.

Every possible scenario filled her mind, most of them including the death of someone. She opened the door, revealing Daniel standing in front of her. "They stole all the trees."

Marie looked at him, confused. "What?" She still hadn't fully woken up yet, and Daniel wasn't giving her much context.

"Those guys from last night. They took all the trees from Mr Miyagi's house." Daniel explained quickly. Marie couldn't form words, total shock making it hard for her brain to work. "But I have an idea."

"What's your idea?"

"Has Mr Miyagi ever told you about the bonsai he brought from Okinawa and planted here?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah, why?" The pieces clicked in Marie's head seconds later, her face dropping. "No Daniel, we can't. Just file a police report."

"I tried! I walked into the police station, with the application, and they all started laughing at me! Eventually they said 'we'll look into it, son' but I know they won't do anything!" Daniel was clearly pissed, making Marie shake her head.

"Where's Mr Miyagi? What does he think about this?" Her arms were crossed as she looked at Daniel.

"He went fishing." Marie sighed, shaking her head.

"Let me get dressed. I'll be down in a minute."

~ ~ ~ ~

"I still think you should ask Mr. Miyagi before going after his tree." Jessica said as the trio walked towards the cliff side. Marie decided to bring Jessica along with them, finding it might be better if there was a third party to keep Daniel in check. Though, she was beginning to regret it. "He wouldn't have hidden it in the middle of nowhere...if he wanted people to dig it up."

"I agree with you there." Marie muttered as she walked in between the two. She wasn't at all comfortable with how close Jessica was trying to get with her boyfriend, but was trying to keep cool.

"I don't have a choice. If he doesn't sell this tree we're looking for...he loses his business. He's broke. His social security can barely cover the expenses on his rowboat. This tree is like money in the bank." Daniel explained.

"Great, so we're robbing a bank." Marie stated with a raised eyebrow. Daniel ignored her comment as they made it to a cliff side.

"How much do you think this thing is worth?" Jessica asked, looking around.