Time After Time 🌹 Daniel LaRusso [1]

Chapter 36: Cool Way To Die

When I finish this story, I kind of want to do some short AU's at the end of the book. For example: What if Rosalía had gotten back together with Johnny & never fell for Daniel? Would you guys like this?

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After the failure of going to the police, Daniel suggested that they retrieve Mr. Miyagi's bonsai tree from its special spot to sell it. Rosalía did not approve of his idea, claiming that Mr. Miyagi wouldn't want this. They argued a bit about it and Daniel still decided to go after the tree anyway. Knowing that there's no stopping him, the girl decided to join him and invited Jessica to help them. "She's a rock climber, so I'm inviting her so you don't kill yourself trying to reach that tree," she said to him.

The three teens are now walking through the mountains, on their way to said tree. Daniel walks ahead of the two girls as he explains what occurred with the cops. "And then I bring the tournament application to the police station, right? But as we walk in, they all start laughing at us," he depicts. Not at me, just you, his girlfriend thinks. "Then finally, the sergeant said, 'well, son, we'll look into it.' So we'll see, I hope," he finishes the story. "That usually means: 'we won't do shit, get the fuck out of here," Rosalía comments.

Jessica giggles while Daniel gives her a look that says: really? The girl shrugs and adds, "it's true. The most they'll probably do is give them a warning." Daniel sighs, afraid that she might be correct. "Yeah... well, I still kind of think you should've asked Mr. Miyagi before going after his tree," Jessica opines. Rosalía firmly nods her head. "Me too! That's what I've been saying," she directs her words at her boyfriend.

"Yeah, I mean, you wouldn't think he'd hide it out in the middle of nowhere if he wanted people digging it up, you know?" Jessica adds. At least 2 out of 3 of us are smart, Rosalía thinks. "Exactly! It's logic," she remarks. "Look, I don't have a choice. If Mr. Miyagi 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. I mean, this tree is like money in the bank," the boy explains. Rosalía sighs while Jessica claims, "great, so now we're robbing a bank." Rosalía can't help but notice how different her boyfriend's mindset is compared to the one she grew up with.

"Okay, Daniel, look... your mindset is very American or... white or I don't know. People like you seem to want to jump to the emergency backup straight away when you're in trouble... Now I don't know if this is an ethnic minority thing or whatever, but we want to hold off our emergency backup plans for as long as possible. So even when we're in the worst situation of our lives, we will look for any possible solution to get out of it so we don't have to use the emergency plan. That's how my family is and something tells me Mr. Miyagi is the same way."

Daniel furrows his eyebrows. I don't jump straight to the backup plan, he thinks. "But there's no other way. This tree is the only way," he argues. Rosalía shakes her head, knowing he just proved her point. "Mr. Miyagi is a smart man and I know he'd come up with something that doesn't involve the tree," she replies. Daniel slightly nods, knowing she's right but of course, he's also stubborn. "I still wanna do this," he states.

He turns to his girlfriend with a determined face and she sighs. "I don't think we need to but fine. Let's just hope this turns out good," she responds. The boy nods and the three continue to walk silently. "By the way, thank you for doing this with me even though you don't agree with it," he suddenly whispers to Rosalía. She grabs his hand and lightly squeezes it while grinning softly at him. "Yeah, well, I knew you were gonna do this either way. At least this way, you won't die trying to climb down a mountain," she responds, making Daniel laugh.

"So, uh, how much do you guys think this thing's worth?" Jessica unexpectedly questions from behind them. "Well, we checked around. We found out these original bonsai trees..." Daniel commences. "Uh-huh?" Jessica voices, curious to know. "They start at $10,000," he concludes. Jessica looks at Rosalía, who only nods. "No way, seriously??" Jessica asks shocked. "No, see? That's why it's so important to me. This one tree could set Mr. Miyagi up for life. I mean, that's the least I could do for him," Daniel rambles.