#teachbalance

@teachbalance​      /      𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗱  𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿  ;  𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱  𝗯𝘆  𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀.

@teachbalance​      /      𝗦𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗟𝗬  𝗣𝗟𝗢𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗗  𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗘𝗥.

     𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦  𝗪𝗔𝗦𝗡'𝗧  𝗛𝗢𝗪  𝗛𝗘  𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧  𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦  𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧  𝗪𝗔𝗦  𝗚𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗚  𝗧𝗢  𝗚𝗢,     he  wasn’t  even  sure  how  he  expected  the  night  to  go  when  ali  had  asked  him  to  come  with  her  to  the  party  at  the  country  club.     a  place  he  hadn’t  been  to  since  he  had  left  his  mom’s  place  and  yet  it  was  strange  how  familiar  it  all  was,  how  easy  it  was  to  feel  like  he  belonged  even  if  he  never  really  did.     but  in  a  way  it  had  been  exactly  what  he  needed,  spending  the  day  with  ali  had  opened  his  eyes  in  a  way  that  he  hadn’t  expected.     she  always  had  known  him  better  than  he  knew  himself,  it  shouldn’t  have  been  such  a  surprise  that  she  had  been  able  to  call  him out  like  she  had.     of  course  she  had  seen  what  he  thought  he  had  been  good  at  hiding     -     his  feelings  for  daniel  larusso,  who  turned  out  wasn’t  married  anymore  and  totally  fair  game  if  he  was  to  go  for  it.     he  had  been  on  his  way  to  go  and  tell  him  how  he  was  done  fighting  him,  how  he  had  been  clearly  quite  crazy  about  him  since  high  school  and  fuck  it,  if  he  wanted  to,  maybe  they  could  try  this.     then  carmen  had  called  him  over  and  showed  him  the  state  of  miguel  and  he  quickly  explained  what  had  happened  at  the  larusso’s,  the  fight  with  cobra  kai  and  instead,  he  knew  there  was  only  thing  he  could  now     -     get  rid  of  john  kreese  for  good.

     𝗠𝗔𝗬𝗕𝗘  𝗜𝗙  𝗛𝗘  𝗛𝗔𝗗  𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧  𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦  𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛  𝗔  𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗟𝗘  𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗘,     maybe  if  he  hadn’t  been  so  caught  off  guard  to  see  robby  there,  things  wouldn’t  have  ended  up  in  a  way  that  was  scary  familiar.     except  this  time,  there  was  no  escape,  despite  the  fact  that  he  had  taught  his  students  how  to  escape  the  chokehold  that  had  him  frozen  in  ‘84,  this  was  different  and  he  couldn’t  escape.     there  was  no  miyagi  to  help  him.     there  was  no  one  to  stop  him  and  johnny  felt  like  this  was  it,  he  was  going  to  die  on  the  floor  of  the  dojo  he  had  built.     he  was  so  full  of  regret.     regret  that  he  hadn’t  been  a  better  father  to  robby.     regret  that  he  hadn’t  been  a  better  son  to  his  mom  when  she  was  alive.     regret  that  he  hadn’t  been  a  better  sensei  to  his  students.     regret  that  he  had  never  told  daniel  that  he  was  in  love  with  him.     just  when  he  felt  like  he  was  starting  to  lose  consciousness,  knowing  soon  it  would  be  all  over,  murdered  by  the  man  who  he  had  once  considered  a  father  to  him.     then  finally  came  the  relief  of  pressure  and  air  finally  was  able  to  get  back  into  his  lungs,  rolling  onto  the  ground  and  staring  up  at  the  ceiling,  trying  to  regain  some  strength  because  he  could  hear  daniel’s  voice  but  he  hadn’t  been  able  to  see  him  yet.     by  the  time  he  could  get  up  again,  daniel  had  kreese  on  his  knees  and  he  knew  they  had  shared  the  same  thought,  if  kreese  was  gone,  cobra  kai  could  finally  die.     but  then  miguel  and  sam  showed  up,  the  bright  lights  in  the  darkness  they  had  found  themselves  in.     the  deal  was  struck,  so  similar  to  the  one  that  kreese  had  made  with  miyagi  back  in  1984  to  get  the  cobras  off  daniel’s  case.

        it’s been a really long time since he last woke up in a hospital bed .    he barely even remembers the last time ,    not more beyond the fact that he woke up to an empty room .    this time daniel is there ------- it’s different .    honestly ,   he tries to stay out of hospitals wherever possible .    HE HATES HOW THEY MAKE HIM FEEL .    like he can’t look after himself or something .    like he’s broken .     but funnily enough ,   it doesn’t bother him too much right now .   it doesn’t bother him more than the way daniel is looking at him bothers him .     so he almost died .     he’s done that a few times ,   actually .    nobody ever worried so much ,   not enough to admit to his face that they were scared he might not wake up .      johnny has no idea what sort of situation he’s really in ,   yet ,   the doctor’s insisted on him just resting for a while .    but he’s pretty sure he’s dosed up on drugs ,   because he can’t really feel any pain ,   but his head is heavy and he can’t think clearly as he looks up at daniel sat by his bedside .

@teachbalance​  /  cobra  kai ; always  accepting.

There are lessons to be learned in every failure.

          Time to rip the band-aid off. She waits a day, only to make sure Brandon’s settled down before she has to deal with . . . whatever is going to come from this. Daniel has every right to be upset with her, she knows this. It’s what she’s dreaded every day for the past week. This could be the point where he finally decides he’s done. That she’s hopeless, or that he can’t help her.  Who could blame him?  He trusted Tory. He gave her the keys to the dojo; hell, he’s helping her build a new addition onto the guest house so she and her brother can live there in a couple of months. How did she repay that? She went and violated everything that Miyagi-do stands for. She gave into that part of herself again, the thing that made her shine in Cobra Kai. A lot of Cobra Kai is still ingrained in her, blended with her own instinct to the point where she has trouble separating what parts are all her and what parts exist because of her time as a snake. But how much longer can she go on sabotaging herself because of uncertainty? She has to stop that. She has to be better; to learn how to apologize, and how to ask for help. The latter part is the hardest. She finds Daniel at the dojo, though she’s mildly surprised. Wasn’t he supposed to be going somewhere? Their eyes meet across the garden, and she questions if he already knows.  ❝ Mr. Larusso, I need to talk to you. ❞  Slow steps bring her closer to him.  ❝ I did something bad, and I need to tell you about it. Because you deserve to hear it from me. ❞