Muscle Memory

Strike First(3)

Anastasia woke up with an extra spring in her step one morning the next week. Today was the day that Johnny, with her help, was going to begin training Miguel. One student before they even opened seemed like a good sign.

She sipped from an energy drink as she took her dog, Rosamund, for a rather long walk around Encino before deciding that it was time to return home when more people began to fill the streets.

Then, she headed to the bathroom for a quick shower while Rosamund ate her breakfast. Anastasia stepped out of the bathroom with a towel around her torso as she made her way to her small closet. She pulled out a dark green Henley bodysuit and a black flare pants that had bright pink flowers embroidered on them, and black denim jacket for after Miguel's lesson. She smiled reminiscently as she leaned down to grab a box that read 'Anastasia's Karate Gis' on the side in black sharpie.

Anastasia opened the box to pull out a pristine white gi that she'd used in kata competitions. Then, she reached for the another gi, a black one that she'd used extensively for kumite, or sparring, competitions. However, the smile quickly faded as her breath quickened at just the sight of it.

Sometimes it's hard to find

Find my way up into the clouds

Anastasia, dressed in a black gi with a black long sleeve compression bodysuit underneath, dropped into her fighting stance. Her blue-green eyes lock with her opponent Faith Mclaughlin's dark brown eyes as they wait for the referee's signal to fight. However, the curly haired brunette's head pounds painfully and her vision blurs like it had since the preliminary rounds when her opponent had managed to successfully sweep her legs, sending her to the floor her head bouncing off the mat. The cheering of the crowd in the stands and the bright lights of the arena only make her head throb harder, her stomach churning violently in response.

Tune it out, they can be so loud

Anastasia doesn't notice when the referee gives the signal, and she's immediately met with agonizing pain that shoots from her hip, down her leg, and up her spine when Mclaughlin's foot connects with the side of the hip that had been positioned behind her. Paralyzed from the pain, Anastasia fails to block the foot coming for her face, which twisted her around from the lack of balance the brunette had at that moment. She began to fall to the mat, darkness quickly engulfing her vision. She'd been unconscious before her body and face hit the mat with a deep thump.

Anastasia threw the box that still held the black gi back into the closet violently before bending over herself on the floor, pressing a hand to her hip as it burned as if reminding her that it had been in fact shattered all those years ago and it wasn't going to let her forget about it. She stayed there, bent over in her towel, sobbing quietly and breath coming in short and rapidly, feeling like her heart was going to burst out of her chest. Despite her brain being consumed by pain, panic, and fear, she had enough sense to try and calm herself down.

She lifted her head slightly and met bright blue eyes that definitely weren't real.

You remind me of a time

When things weren't so complicated

All I need is to see your face

Feel my blood runnin'

Swear the sky's fallin'

I know that all this shit's fabricated

"Breathe," Johnny had told her quietly the first time she'd reacted in such a way around him, not understanding how to really help her through her panic. He was still trying to process how her accidently banging her hip against the counter, and lightly at that, could have sent her into a panic attack.