Time After Time 🌹 Daniel LaRusso [1]

Chapter 5: Raven and the Shower

Daniel spent hours with Rosalía and her gang and it was already dark by the time he got home. As he goes up the steps that lead up to his apartment, he freezes upon noticing his bike in front of him, looking good as new. He takes a moment to ponder about who could've fixed it and a certain person comes to mind. He decides to go thank him and immediately goes to find him. He walks up to the door, which is open, so he strolls right in. When he enters, he sees Mr. Miyagi and Rosalía with their backs to him as they trim little trees. Rosalía had arrived a few minutes before to bring the older man another home-cooked meal.

A knock captures their attention and Daniel makes his presence known when he speaks, "did you fix my bike?" Rosalía turns around and kindly smiles at him. He smiles back as he stands by the doorway shyly, waiting for a response. Without turning around, Mr. Miyagi says, "hai."

"Thank you."

"Welcome."

Daniel is still stiffly standing there, feeling kind of awkward. "Yeah, I really appreciate that," he acknowledges. His eyes scan the bonsai trees on the table and switch between the girl and man before asking, "are those real trees?" Mr. Miyagi finally turns his head to the side, still not directly looking at the boy, and suggests, "you like see, come inside." The young girl turns around again and the two teens lock eyes. She grins and bobs her head to the side, gesturing for him to come in. "Thanks," Daniel says as he walks in and stands next to Mr. Miyagi. He curiously examines what they're doing and looks at the rest of the trees.

"How did they get so small?" he asks. "I trim. Clip here, tie there," the man responds, never taking his eyes off his tree. Daniel walks around and stands in between the man and Rosalía and touches the leaves of the tree in front of him. "Where did you learn how? Japan?" he questions. "Okinawa," Mr. Miyagi and Rosalía answer at the same time. She asked the same question when she came in here.

"Where's that?"

"My country," he begins, bringing his hand up to provide a visual. "Uh, China, here. Japan, here. Okinawa, here," he gracefully explains. Daniel, being the inquisitive person he is, asks another question. "Did you go to school for this?"

"Father teach."

"Was he a gardener?"

"Fisherman."

"Fisherman? These are really beautiful," Daniel comments as he continues analyzing the trees. "Come, you try," Mr. Miyagi insists upon noticing the boy's interest. He gently grabs his arm and leads him to the seat beside Rosalía. "No, I don't know how to do this stuff," Daniel protests. "No, no, no, sit down," Mr. Miyagi insists. I don't think this man ever takes no for an answer, Rosalía thinks as she quietly listens to the conversation. "No, no, I may mess it up. I don't want to mess it up," Daniel argues again. The girl chuckles and cuts in, "just do it, Daniel! It's not as hard as you think."

Mr. Miyagi nods and shoots her a grateful smile before focusing on Daniel. "Close eye," he instructs him. The boy looks up at him and he reassures him, "trust." He looks at Rosalía and she nods, making him finally close his eyes. He feels a bit awkward but goes along with it anyway. "Concentrate," Mr. Miyagi tells him as he fully closes his eyes. "Think only tree. Make a perfect picture down to last pine needle... Wipe your mind clean, everything but tree." Daniel does as he says and creates a perfect image of a tree in his head. The man lightly places his hand against Daniel's face and gently pushes him so he's facing the table as he speaks, "nothing exists in whole world, only tree."

Rosalía watches the two, amused that he's repeating everything he told her to Daniel but curious to see the boy's reaction at the same time. "You got it?" he asks, to which the boy nods. "Open eye," Mr. Miyagi instructs. Daniel slowly opens his eyes and observes the tree in front of him. "Remember picture?" he questions. Daniel replies, "yeah." Mr. Miyagi nods in satisfaction and hands him a pair of clippers. "Make like picture." He walks back to his work area and the two teens glance at each other. Rosalía grins and shrugs her shoulders, making Daniel smile at her cuteness. Mr. Miyagi looks back at the two and smirks. "Just trust picture," he conveys. "But how do I know if my picture's the right one?" Daniel questions.