Opposites Attract

Chapter 3

After everyone had left the dojo, Hawk was left with Johnny and Daniel. Hawk thought he was nervous before but now he was sure they could see his heart beating through his chest.

“What were you thinking, Hawk? Trashing Miyagi-do?” Johnny asked him with a slight disappointment in his voice.

“I wasn't thinking….I was angry and Kreese had put this whole notion of ‘the fight isn’t over until I say it’s over’ into my head…I’m so sorry. For everything. I really am.” Hawk told them as he looked at them and then looked down, clearly ashamed of himself and his actions. He was still waiting for them to change their minds and tell him to leave and to never come back. He wouldn’t blame them after all that he did this past year.

“Look kid, I know the person who you’ve been the past year isn’t who you are. You're a good kid and you’re a good fighter. Kreese has a way of sneaking his way into people's heads. I know that from experience. But even though Sensei LaRusso and I want you to stay here, I think there needs to be a consequence for what you did. You'll be cleaning mats for the next six months along with any yard work for the dojo.” Johnny told Hawk.

“Yeah, of course. Anything.” Hawk said, grateful they were giving him a second chance.

“And I want you to know that I’m proud of you, Hawk.” Daniel told him.

“Why? I mean, how can you be proud of me after all that I did?” Hawk asked, still confused.

“That’s exactly why I’m proud of you. It takes a lot of courage and strength for someone to do what you did. In the middle of the attack you could have easily stayed with Cobra Kai, but you listened to your heart and you saved Demetri from getting his arm broken again. It was because of you that Miguel didn’t give up hope when he saw you and Demetri fighting together as a team. It took a lot of courage and strength for you to stand up in front of everyone here at the dojo and apologize to everyone and to confess about what you did to the dojo and for stealing the Medal of Honor….Hawk, did you know I was once in Cobra Kai?”

“What? You…you were in Cobra Kai?” Hawk asked in disbelief. Out of all the people he knew, Daniel would be the last person he would have guessed to be in Cobra Kai.

“I was. Only for a short time but I wanted to learn more than what I was learning here at Miyago-do. But in the end, I just learned how to be angry.  My Sensei at Cobra Kai taught me to take that anger and turn it into fighting. Much like Kreese, my sensei got into my head. After leaving Cobra Kai, I had to find balance again to discover who I wanted to be and to get rid of that anger. I learned it wasn’t a good thing to bring into a fight….well, sometimes it’s unavoidable.” Daniel said, thinking to when he fought Kreese the night he sent the Cobra’s to attack his home. He was pretty angry. “You’re not a bad kid, Hawk. You’ve just been pulled into the wrong direction when Kreese came into your life. But it shows how strong you are that you’re here now. That you are working on yourself. That speaks volumes. You can’t keep beating yourself up over the past.” Daniel told him.

“Yeah, Sensei Lawrence once told us being a badass doesn’t mean we have to be an asshole.” Hawk said with a small chuckle.

“Well, he’s not wrong.” Daniel said with a chuckle, looking at Johnny. Leave it up to Johnny to tell his students that analogy.