𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐍

thirty nine

『 thirty-nine 』

ALL VALLEY TOURNAMENT DAY. IT was all finally coming to a head. 

Competitors show up an hour early for the tournament. This was a new rule Daniel made up for this year. Truthfully, Natalie was sure it was about his want to have more warm-up time than Cobra Kai. But she didn't know how much difference one hour would make. 

The entire ordeal the senseis had produced made no sense to Natalie. She wasn't sure how the three dojos would be enforcing their bet. The losing side loses their place in the Valley, therefore forced to move out and take their teachings elsewhere. But she wasn't aware of any contract, or any legal mitigation behind this at all. What was to keep Cobra Kai from losing, then turning right around and continuing their practice anyway? How could Daniel and Johnny turn the tides against Kreese? Any lawyer would look at their presented case and scoff. 

It was only she, Miguel, Sam, and Robby who knew about the deal. Everyone else had been kept in the dark. All the more motivation to win today. 

Natalie had to carpool Hawk, Miguel, and Demetri to the sports complex. It was nostalgic; just to have the four of them together against the world. She missed their little group before they were caught up in all the drama of... whatever was currently going on. This was Demetri's first time competing. He was an understandable nervous wreck. Natalie let him choose the music to hype them up. 

It was a surprise they even let her into the back hallways at all. Daniel told one of the guards that she was Nate's translator. He was still rocky in understanding English. It worked, and they let her right on by! Daniel promised it worked for him and his girlfriend back on the day of his first tournament.  

Natalie sat with Sam in the girl's dressing room for a while. Sam needed a little girl pep talk. She was beginning to have some last-minute doubts about being able to handle the girl's championship all on her own. She was the only girl fighter for Miyagi-Do, and the only experienced one from both allied dojos. Sam explained how Johnny only got a girl on his team for the sole purpose of having a foothold in the girl's championship, but the new girl had only been training for six weeks. It all seemed to be riding on Sam, which had seemed fine before. 

Feelings change as you draw nearer to the actual event. The threats start looming over you like a slasher villain. 

Natalie didn't feel qualified to be giving the pep talk, but Sam wasn't ready to step outside until she got some words of encouragement. 

"I think there's no denying the elephant in the room: you're afraid of confronting Tory," Natalie stated. Sam nodded. Natalie sat on the cold metal bench beside her. "Right. Even if it does come to that, she can't seriously hurt you. There are rules in place. Referees and medic carefully watching every little move you guys make out there."

Sam raised her shrill voice. "I know, but Hawk dislocated Robby's shoulder last year! What's to stop Tory from doing the same now? You know how she is. She will go to any-"

"Hawk was also disqualified for that stunt," Natalie reminded her. 

Sam lowered her head. She drew in a long, shaken breath. "Doesn't make it any less scary. I still have the scars to prove how Tory is. I feel like she's been waiting for this day... and I don't know what to do," she whispered. 

"I know. I know it." Natalie rubbed the other girl's knee compassionately. Sam let go of her long-held breath. "But those scars aren't gonna go away. Not for a long time. Those nightmares will likely stick around for a while, as well, no matter how much you want to prove your place in public. The point of healing is not to wait for the scars to fade. It's to persevere while watching the scars fade."