Oh, Ophelia || Johnny Lawrence

17 || Forgiveness

• • •

It had been a week since that day at Mr. Miyagi's. I spent all of my time there outside of school, whether Mr. Miyagi or Daniel were there or not, the tournament was only a few weeks away and I wanted to win. I wanted to win to show Kreese aggression doesn't always work, and to show the boys there was another way.

But most of all I wanted to show the world that just because I was female that didn't automatically mean I couldn't do karate. I heard the snickering that day in the dojo when I said I would compete, and Johnny's comment didn't help.

I could tell Daniel's patience was running thin... very thin. We had been waxing cars, painting the fence, painting the house, sanding the decks over and over every day. He was always mumbling under his breath how this wouldn't help and I knew one day soon he would snap at Mr. Miyagi.

I didn't mind the chores though, it helped me keep my mind of the boys, and I knew that's why Daniel stayed as long as he did.

I still ignored the boys, besides Bobby of course. I really missed them though, Daniel had even told me to give them a second chance after walking in on me crying several times.

I hated to admit it but I was afraid. I was afraid they would hurt Daniel or me again, even though they couldn't hurt Daniel the images of them almost killing him always came into my head.

I watched Johnny from afar, he seemed upset but he was good at hiding it. I knew giving him his clothes back hurt him but I knew he understood my point of view.

He tried to apologize several times, along with the others but I had walked away like I hadn't heard anything. I'd go home rather than study hall because I didn't want to see them.

Whenever Daniel wasn't at Mr. Miyagis he was with Ali, mom constantly worked, Bobby had practice or would be hanging out with the others, and Mr. Miyagi... we'll I'm not sure where he goes but I spend most of my time alone at his house training, and I could tell it was starting to affect me.

Currently, Daniel and I were painting the house a dark green, side to side, up and down, it's all in the wrists, I repeated in my head.

"Why didn't you tell us you were going fishing?" Daniel suddenly said angrily, I quickly turned to see Mr. Miyagi walking past with his pole in hand. "Not here when I go." He replied. "Maybe we would like to have gone. Did you ever think of that?" He said as he angrily dropped the paintbrush.

"You doing karate training." Mr. Miyagi replied. "We're being your goddamn slaves is what we're doing! We made a deal!" He yelled. "So?" Mr. Miyagi replied. "So, you're supposed to teach and we're supposed to learn. Remember? It's been a week and we haven't learned a goddamn thing!" He said.

"Learn plenty," Miyagi replied as I stayed silent. "Yeah, how to sand your deck, how to paint your house," Daniel replied, and honestly it's true I hadn't really learned anything yet.

"Not everything is as it looks, you know," Miyagi replied. "Bullshit!" Daniel replied angrily. "Daniel-san," Miyagi called as Daniel lifted up his bike. "Daniel-san!" He said louder as Daniel sat on his bike.

"Come here." He said sternly and Daniel slowly walked towards him. "Show me wax on wax off." He said. "Show, both of you." He said sharper when Daniel didn't reply.

"I can't lift my arms," Daniel said, we had been painting for so long I could barely either. Mr. Miyagi feels around Daniel's shoulder before slapping his hands together and beginning to rub them against one another.

He then placed both of his hands on both of Daniel's shoulders. "Ow!" He said as Mr. Miyagi applied pressure. After a second he pulled away and once again told the two of us to do it.

The two of us began doing the motion like we had been practicing, Miyagi fixing any mistakes. He made us show him painting the fence and house, sanding the floor, waxing and washing the cars, making improvements on each one.

Suddenly he threw a punch both of our ways which we involuntarily blocked. We looked at him in shock, him throwing more as we continued to block them. He then starts kicking at us and we used the painting practice, up and down, side to side, blocking each of his kicks with ease.

He then throws a series of punches and kicks to each of us that we block with ease, muscle memory. He hasn't been just having us do his chores, he's been teaching us muscle memory.

"Come tomorrow," Miyagi says before going back inside. Daniel and I look at one another in shock before leaving.

🥋

The next morning came quickly, my arms and legs were sore from painting so long yesterday. I frowned as I looked at the red sweatshirt in my closet. LAWRENCE was written in bold black letters and the Cobra Kai symbol covered the front. I hesitantly pulled it out of my closet, eying it with sadness.

I slowly pulled it over my head and allowed the faded scent of Johnny to fill my senses. I went to take it off but couldn't bring myself to. Instead, I pulled on a pair of black jeans and my converse and made my way into the kitchen.

"Are you finally going to give him a second chance?" Daniel asked as I sat at the table. "I'm not sure," I replied. "C'mon honey, he's obviously very sorry. And you're obviously not over him." Mom said as she grabbed her purse.

"I'm headed to work. Please work things out with him, Lia. It hurts seeing you upset all the time." Mom said as she kissed us both on the head before leaving.

"He apologized to me Friday at school.   All of them did actually. They seemed really upset that you weren't talking with them. I know what they did was wrong but to be fair, I did start it. I think you should try giving them another shot." Daniel explained as he placed both our plates in the sink.

"Yeah... okay," I said as the two of us got on our bikes and made our way to school.

"Is he looking?" I asked nervously as I locked my bike to the bike rack. "They all are," Daniel replied. I sighed as I stood straight and went to make my way inside but Daniel grabbed my arm and redirected me towards them.

I frowned as all of their eyes were on me before slowly making my way over to them. Without saying anything I slowly wrapped my arms around Johnny's waist and buried my head in his chest. After a second of shock, he quickly wrapped his arms around my shoulders and tightly pulled me closer to him.

After a few seconds, I held my hand out, signaling the others to join which they did, very quickly. I sighed in relief at the realization that I finally had my friends back as I pulled away.

Jonny eyed the sweatshirt I was wearing, "I was wondering where that went." He said quietly. "I uh... couldn't bring myself to give it back," I admitted. "I'm sorry, Lia. For everything. For what we did to Daniel, and for not believing in you." Johnny said, regret clear in his face.

"We are too. We're really sorry. We promise we won't do it again!" Dutch pleaded. "Pinky promise," Tommy said as he held out his pinky. I laughed as I interlocked mine with his. "Can we just forget all of this happened?" I asked.

"Yes!" They all replied. "Y'know though, I've been training every day since we came to your dojo. I hope I don't bruise your guys' egos too bad." I bragged as we walked into the school. "Oh, we'll see about that," Dutch said with a challenging smirk.

"Oh c'mon dutch. You're gonna be the easiest to beat." I joked. "Ouch! I'm wounded!" He said as he placed his hand over his heart. "You can stop laughing Tommy. You're the easiest to beat right after him." I added at Tommy's laughing, to which he quickly shut up at and made a similar face to Dutch.

As the boys slowly made their way to their classes, I told Tommy and Bobby that I would meet them in class, wanting to talk to Johnny alone. "Where does this leave us?" Johnny asked. "I'm not sure. But I want things to be back to what they were like. Me and you." I said. "Me and you." He replied as he kissed my forehead.