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CHARLIE STARED BLANKLY OUT THE WINDOW, as they drove home. Johnny had tried to comfort her, telling her not to let it beat her up but it was a challenge when two senseis had now seeped their way into her mind.
As Johnny parked the car and turned off the engine, a heavy silence filled the air. Charlie remained still, her gaze fixed on the apartments in front of her. She didn't even glance at Johnny when he spoke.
"You wanna go in?" he asked gently, his voice barely above a whisper.
She shifted slightly, leaning off her arm to focus on the dashboard, "Mmh," she replied with a small nod.
He opened his door, but something tugged at him to linger a moment longer. "Carmen told me Silver was talking to you. What'd he want?"
Charlie's jaw clenched as she shot back, "What they all want — to brainwash everyone into their dojos. Kreese used my loss against me, and now Silver wants to do the same."
Annoyance flickered across Johnny's face. Before he said anything, he leaned in and wrapped his arms around her. She melted against him, tears escaping as they soaked into his shirt. He held her for a while, because she needed this, especially with someone like Silver trying to manipulate her emotions.
"You wanna go stay at Carmen's for a bit?" Johnny suggested, his brow raised as he pulled away, "You can hang out with Miguel if you want."
Wiping her nose with a tissue, Charlie managed a small smile, "Yeah, I could really use him right now."
They climbed out of the car and made their way toward Carmen's house. Before they had gotten in the car earlier, Johnny told her about Robby; about everything they said at the dojo, but Charlie didn't want to think about that right now.
When they stepped inside, Carmen and Rosa were in the middle of a argument, with Carmen's eyes close to tears.
"What's going on?" Johnny asked, closing the door behind them.
Carmen extended her hand toward her mother. "Show them the note."
Rosa nodded, as she handed the crumpled paper to Johnny. Charlie leaned in beside him, their eyes scanning the words.
Mom, im sorry for leaving a note like this, but I thought it was the best way, maybe the only way, to say what I have to say. The last few months have been a roller coaster. My injury, rehab, me and Sam, sensei and mr. LaRusso. I convinced myself that I could get over all of that by focusing on the tournament. I thought that if I won that everything would work out. But I was wrong. Tell Charlie, I'm sorry for not being there for her fight and tell sensei that I'm sorry i bailed. His karate helped me grow, but I'm still not sure who I wanna be. And to figure that out, i think I need to know where I came from. Sensei was scared to find out the truth about his past, and honestly, i am too. But overcoming that fear is the fight I have to face instead of competing for a trophy. I need to meet my father. This is something I have to do. Please try not to worry, I'll be safe and I'll be back soon. I love you, mom. And yaya, too.
By the time Charlie finished reading, another tear had left her eye and carmen had given her an ice pack for her injury earlier.
"I called the police. I—I don't know what else to do," Carmen muttered with a shaky breath.
Johnny stepped forward towards her, "Everything's gonna be fine. I'm going to find him, and I'll make sure he's safe."
"Johnny . . . " Carmen exhaled, relief crossing her face before the seriousness of the situation dawned on her again, "There's something I didn't tell you about my ex-husband."
Johnny furrowed his brow, with a small shake of his head, "I know. You said he's a bad dude. Don't worry, I can handle myself. And, he'd never hurt his own son."
"That's just it. He doesn't know Miguel exists." Carmen'a voice had dropped to a whisper, as Johnny pulled her into a hug, "I just want my baby back home safe."
"I'll make sure of it. All right? I promise," Johnny muttered into the hug.
Charlie thought she had no tears left to shed, yet during that whole conversation, her tears were falling onto her phone, while she sent desperate messages to Miguel. But not one went through.
Her heart hurt. Everything had happened in such short time. Fear for Miguel consumed her thoughts; Where could he have gone? Was he safe? What was his father capable of? And so, she'd go with her dad to find her best friend.
✧ • • 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗘 𝗜𝗦 𝗪𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 • • ✧ ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
told you this would be tiny, but I needed one more chapter before season 5 starts. I also wanted to kind of show how Charlie needed Miguel after the fight because I feel like I haven't written much of them recently.
might be taking a small break from writing for school, i do apologise to anyone still waiting for an update.
please comment and vote !
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