There For You - Cobra Kai x OC

5.5) Extreme Measures

Third Person's POV:

It was the next day, and all Gaby had been able to think of since she left the waterpark was Kenny. She never would've thought he'd be willing to turn on Robby, but clearly, she underestimated how deep Silver had gotten in his head.

Gaby knew more than anyone what Cobra Kai could turn you into, and Kenny being so young made him much easier to manipulate. With his father in the army and his brother in juvie, he has no one, something that Silver will no doubt take advantage of—the same way he did with her.

If she wanted to get him out of there, she couldn't just tell him that she quit and hope he follows her. Robby already tried that and failed. No, she needed to play it smart; and unfortunately, there was only one way to do that.

Which was exactly why she was knocking on Daniel LaRusso's front door.

After a few seconds, the door started to open, "Yes?" Daniel asked.

Gaby was about to respond when she looked up at him and froze, her eyes widening, "Um...are you okay?"

Daniel sighed and rubbed his eyes, "Yeah, sorry. I didn't get much sleep last night," he said, opening the door wider for her.

"How come? What's going on?" Gaby asked as she walked inside.

"Don't worry about it," he dismissed, the two of them walking over to the kitchen, "I'm gonna make some coffee, you want some?"

"Um, sure..." Gaby paused before blurting out, "Are you sure you're okay?"

Daniel sighed as he started making the espresso, "Amanda and I had a little disagreement, but it's okay. Don't worry about it."

"Oh... I've never seen you guys argue before."

"Yeah, this Silver thing just has us on edge. That's all," he reassured, before asking, "Just sugar right?"

"Yeah," Gaby said, sighing as Daniel handed her the coffee, "Can I, um, talk to you about something?"

"Yeah of course, what is it?" he asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

"It's about Kenny. Yesterday Robby told him that he'd left Cobra Kai and tried to convince him to leave too, but it didn't work. Even though Kenny's always respected and looked up to Robby, it was like the second Robby said he was out, all of that went out the window," Gaby looked down at her coffee, "I think it really put it into perspective for me. If I want to protect Kenny from Silver, then I need to play it smart."

Gaby looked up at Daniel, "I have an idea, but you're probably not gonna like it."

He looked at her confused, "What do you mean? What is it?"

Gaby took a deep breath, deciding to just say it quickly, like ripping off a bandaid. "I'm going back to Cobra Kai."

Daniel's eyes widened in shock, "What?!"

"Not for real!" Gaby explained quickly, "It's just so that I can help Kenny. He won't listen to me if I don't go back, he won't trust me!"

"Gaby, think about this, please," Daniel said desperately, "You know what Silver's capable of."

"I do, that's why I can't just leave Kenny alone with him. I need to be there to protect him."

Daniel looked at her for a second, before sighing, "I don't like this."

"Trust me, I don't either. The thought of facing him again is... it's terrifying, but I need to. For Kenny, and for Tory. I can't just abandon them."

"I understand, Gaby," Daniel said, "As much as I don't like it, I get it. Just please, be careful. And if anything happens, you tell me immediately, okay?"

Gaby nodded, "I will, don't worry."

*****

Later that day, just after practice ended, Gaby walked into the dojo, her heart racing.

"Ms. Sanchez," Silver greeted almost immediately, "What a nice surprise, it's been a while."

Gaby wiped her hands on her shirt and took a deep breath, "Yeah, I've been dealing with some things. I'm sorry."

"No, don't be sorry. I understand, but I'm glad to see you're doing better," Silver said, "You gave us all quite the scare when you passed out like that."

Gaby tried her best to smile at him, willing herself to calm down.

"Thank you. It's been a rough couple of days, I honestly wasn't sure if I even wanted to continue doing karate," Gaby paused, taking another deep breath, "But I realized that without you, I never would have survived what happened to my dad."

She looked up at him for a moment, her eyes filling with tears, "I'm so scared, Sensei. All of the time. It's like my heart is beating out of my chest and I can't breathe, and I don't know why."

She looked at him and before she knew it, everything she'd been feeling, everything she'd been holding in these past few days, came spilling out. "It's like I can't think. I can't focus. I can't," she gasped, tears rolling down her cheeks, "I can't breathe!"

Silver quickly pulled her into a hug. "What's wrong with me?" she cried into his chest, "Why am I feeling like this?"

"There's nothing wrong with you, Ms. Sanchez," Silver reassured, "You've been holding in all of these feelings, and without karate, you haven't been able to let any of it out. But you're not alone in this, you always have me to support you, as well as everyone else in Cobra Kai. We're your family."

They stayed like that for a while, before Gaby pulled away and wiped her eyes, "Thank you, Sensei."

"Of course," Silver smiled, "I'll be seeing you at practice tomorrow, right? We've missed our champ."

Gaby let out a small laugh, "Yeah, I'll be there."

*****

On the drive back home, Gaby couldn't stop thinking about what happened at the dojo.

At first, she was just planning on talking about how sorry she was for not coming to practice; and that her father's situation had taken a toll on her, but now she was feeling better and ready to get back into karate.

She never wanted to actually open up to him, but it was like she couldn't help herself. Like the second she saw him, everything she'd been bottling up came pouring out. Even though she hated him for what he'd turned her into, a small part of her still trusted him.

*****

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it took me a bit to get this chapter out, I was too busy watching season 6 lol. And WOW, it was soooo good! Especially episode 10. No spoilers obviously, all I'll say is that it was amazing! :D Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Have a wonderful week!

Published: 11/24/2024

Words: 1,123