CK & KK Ficlets and Non-Ficlets

Grapevine Gossip and Deja Vu Part 2

For Moon and Hawk, who were watching from afar, hearing those words caused them to have a slight twinge of deja vu. For Moon, those words were almost the same as what she'd told Hawk the night she broke up with him after he'd attempted to beat Demetri up at the West Valley Mall over a Yelp review about Cobra Kai. She knew the young lady was right in saying almost the same thing to Kyler.

On Hawk's part was a slight sense of guilt, as he knew Moon had been right in telling him those almost exact same words when she'd broke up with him — partly because of the Yelp review incident, and partly because, he'd since realized, he'd shown signs of having become the bully he'd strongly disliked.

And I'm mostly to blame for that. I should've swallowed my pride and chose to listen to Demetri's side of the story about Cobra Kai, instead of brushing him off the way I did. What was I thinking? Trick question — I wasn't thinking at all.

I look back now, and I feel relieved Demetri still saw the good in me when I didn't even see it, and showed he was pure of heart with his strong capacity for forgiveness (as I can too readily testify). As soon as I apologized for all the bullying after I'd switched sides during the night of the brawl at Casa de LaRusso and saved him from getting his arm re-broken, he quickly saw I was genuinely sorry for what I did to him (and also shown I'd meant it with how I never wanted to go back to being the bully I strongly dislike). When I asked him if he wanted to help me win "this thing" (as I called the house fight), he agreed while simultaneously accepting my apology. 

(If I'd been thinking clearly then, I would've courageously turned on the other Cobras and given them a much-needed stern lecture when they tried to pressure me into breaking Demetri's arm the first time. However, I admit one great benefit of leaving Cobra Kai earlier would've been turning to Tory with "You know what, Tory? You're right; I am a traitor. Looks like I'd better watch my back, Princess" — thus causing her to do a double take in shock at my taking the words right out of her mouth, and my calling her 'Princess' for once.)

Had I been more open-minded and clear-headed even then, I would've taken Moon's advice and apologized to Demetri the day I attempted to beat him up over the Yelp review he'd written about Cobra Kai. (And I still feel a sharp pang of guilt about that sometimes, as I shouldn't have lost my head over the Yelp review and tried to beat him up in the first place.) And speaking of which, I also would've decided to read between the lines of the review instead of letting my anger take over me and cause me to see the review as a personal attack.

Thank goodness I eventually realized my need for finding a balance within me, and showed it when I changed my red Mohawk to purple (because I felt the red color was too much of a reminder of my time as a bully in Cobra Kai, and also because purple represents balance between blue and red), green, and finally going for blue (since blue represents being calm, cool and collected, and it was the first color I went with for my Mohawk). I hate to say it, but I think I needed to go through everything I went through in order to get to be where I am now. 

Of course, I can't help wondering what could've happened if I'd gone for finding balance much sooner instead of later. For one thing, I would've realized my Mohawk and my scar didn't define me, and I would've learned I could be the confident fighter who still has a love for things like computers, Dr. Who, Harry Potter and the Internet.

Eli then looked over at Moon, who gave him an encouraging smile as she reached over and took his hand in hers; the kind gesture from Moon assured Eli she'd forgiven him for his past actions, despite his inability to verbalize his apology to her for not listening to her and telling Demetri he was sorry for the Yelp review incident at the mall. He couldn't help feeling thankful Moon had a strong capacity for forgiveness similar to Demetri, and especially when it came to others like himself apologizing for their past mistakes.