🦅🥋🏆Mostly inspired by Tumblr prompts featuring Eli 'Hawk' Moskowitz, Demetri Alexopoulos, Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence, to name a few.
Or, the AU KK/CK (and Jacob Bertrand) ficlet and non-fanfic collection I decided to write even though...
Summoning up his courage, Hawk took a deep breath, picked up his pencil, and began to write his letter. But this letter wasn't just any letter, to be honest.
This letter was basically an apology letter... and addressed to none other than Demetri Alexopoulos, whom he'd been best friends with since kindergarten.
"To my best friend and Binary Brother,
"I am so, so sorry for all the bullying I put you through. You didn't deserve it — and especially not my so-called advice to you about cooling it with the 'nerd stuff' all the time (which I still feel a sharp pang of regret about, although I recall I was also secretly a tiny bit pleased then, and I still am now, at your staying strong in who you are a hundred percent of the time), and my trying to beat you up at the mall over a one-star Yelp review about the Cobra Kai Dojo (which was a mistake on my part, as I shouldn't have tried to beat you up in the first place).
"Then there was pouring beer on your head at Moon's party (because you were just trying to have a conversation with me, and I really did want that with you, as I missed our conversations about Doctor Who and Harry Potter), and my using a soccer ball to destroy your dinosaur-themed science project featuring a volcano made out of Legos (which you worked so hard on for three weeks, and put so much thought and creativity into).
"Then — last but not least — there was the initial hesitation I felt when I was pressured into breaking your arm by the other Cobras at the abandoned laser tag room.
"I look back at all that now, and I feel bad for not being strong enough to stand up to the Cobras and give them a telling-off over their attempts at forcing me to break your arm the first time around. Also, I recall how I so badly wanted to stay with you and apologize for what I did, as well as leave Cobra Kai right then and there.
"Had I known better then, I would've gone for finding balance much sooner rather than later. Also, I would've realized I could be a confident fighter and still have a love for things like Doctor Who, Harry Potter and the Internet.
"You and I have been best friends and Binary Brothers since kindergarten and the coding competition, and I don't want to throw that away over this goshdarn stupid karate war just because of two guys who had a rivalry back when they were in high school; it wouldn't be right.
"I still want to be your friend, regardless. After all, besides being yourself a hundred percent, you did the right thing in quitting Cobra Kai (twice, which I believe is some kind of record on your part), while also choosing to join Miyagi-Do in the process. Also, you became a confident fighter over time, as I can too readily testify when you kicked me into the trophy case during the school brawl; of course, I look back at that now, and I feel bad for almost forcing you into that situation where you had to defend yourself against me, although I do recall feeling secretly relieved at hearing you tell me there were no hard feelings from you.
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"Thanks, Demetri. You and Miguel were the closest friends I ever had, and I still feel bad over how I treated you.
"Speaking of which, I lost Miguel's friendship when he heard of and confronted me about my being the cause of your broken arm (which I still feel regretful over, because I really didn't want to break your arm in the first place), along with my seeking revenge on Miyagi-Do for what had happened to him during the school brawl.
"The sight of Miguel wearing an Eagle Fang T-shirt when I found him later at the park made it painfully clear he'd left Cobra Kai for good and wasn't ever coming back. I didn't know it then, but my seeking revenge had sadly backfired and got me nowhere; I learned that the hard way when Miguel cut me loose and turned his back on me after I'd refused to join Eagle Fang and chose Cobra Kai over him (which was a mistake I still feel regretful for).
"Thankfully, Miguel and I reconciled later, once he told me he noticed how I rescued you from getting your arm re-broken when I switched sides during the fight at Casa de LaRusso, and then saw how you and I fought alongside each other in taking down the other Cobras.
"I admitted to Miguel that he was right; those Cobras weren't really my friends at all. He and you obviously were, because you both knew me as Eli and still liked me for me, flaws and all.
