Heartbreak Weather, Eli Mosko...

LXVII. Heartbreak Weather

For the first time in so long, Odessa remembered what it was like to laugh with her father. For a minute, she wasn't that angry thirteen year old girl anymore who held a grudge against him like she was holding husband hand. She was just Odessa, Christian Beaumont's daughter. And for a while, Christian could just be himself. He was with his old friends one's feet environment with his daughter and the people she grew to love.

Odessa was older now. She was wiser. She knew her father wasn't God, but she understood his flaws. Her dad was a person. She wasn't perfect either. She allowed herself to feel something other than resentment for once in her life.

But that didn't mean the box of memories she kept shut away would open just yet. Odessa had been through so much and she was only sixteen. Too much had happened for her to fully open up, to give up on the grudge.

Odessa sat with Hailey and Sam around the Larusso table outside. Eli and Grayson walked into the room with pizza for their girlfriends. "Vegetarian for you," Grayson sat the plate in front of Hailey.

"And the greasiest splice of pepperoni for you." Hawk gave Odessa hers.

She smiled at him. "Thanks, baby."

"Be happy I grabbed it before Penis Breath inhaled the whole thing."

"Don't worry babe. I'll make sure nobody touches yours." Said Grayson and he kissed Hailey on the top of her head.

The girlfriends smiled at them. When they walked away, Sam smiled big. "They're so good to you guys."

"Yeahhh, we've trained them well, haven't we?" Asked Hailey.

Odessa hummed and bit into her pizza. "Most definitely. Took a few tries, but, I think we're in the perfect position now."

"Totally." Sam agreed while nodding.

As they continued talking, Daniel came and stood at the entrance way. "You ladies separating yourselves?" He asked with a grin.

Hailey scoffed. "Please, I don't want to watch them boys fighting for food like bears."

They laughed. "What's up, dad?" Sam asked her father.

"Well, there's something I was needing to discuss either you three." Daniel explained. He grabbed a chair from inside and brought it to the table. He sat between Sam and Hailey. "So, you girls know we have to decide who fights in the Sekai Taikai."

All three of them nodded.

"Well, it's a hard choice for all of us to make, considering how great of fighters you all are." Daniel continued.

"Sooo, what should we do? Take a vote?" Sam suggested and looked at her friends.

"I vote Hailey. Whoever she fights will likely end up on the mat covered in blood." Odessa chimed.

Hailey smirked. "I love that vote. I'm in."

Daniel chuckled. "Any others?"

"I vote Odessa," said Sam. They all turned to her, and Odessa frowned slightly. "You deserve a second chance to win."

She scoffed a laugh. "No, no, you and Hailey deserve to get to fight. I already had my shot."

"Well, Dess, I think Sam's right—"

Odessa interrupted him. "It's fine. Let the two of them decide. I'm going to get more pizza." She dismissed and got up from her chair. She walked away without meeting any of their eyes.

Hailey frowned at her reaction. She leaned back in her chair and watched her walk into the kitchen, her mom greeting her with a smile. She looked at Daniel again. "Alright, Mr. L, cut it straight. Is Tory fighting?"

He was hoping to not have to bring it up. "Most likely." Daniel responded while nodding.

She then looked to Sam. "I know you sure as hell don't want to fight her." She claimed.

"I want to make her pay for everything she's done." Sam stated with a slightly glare as she thought of the girl in Cobra Kai. She looked at her dad. "But I was serious, I think Dess should fight."

"Sam, I can't force her to fight if she doesn't want to."

"Then let us try and convince her."

"Whatever you girls decide, we're sure to win with any of you. You're all amazing fighters." Her father stated with confidence. With a quick smile, he stood up and left the room.

Hailey exhaled and glanced her way again. "What do you think?"

Sam tapped her nails on the metal table. "I might have an idea." She decided. "But you have to keep it to yourself."

Johnny sat the boys on the couch for their intervention. In his mind, Miguel would be the one to compete tomorrow, but he also thought of Oliver. But they were all tough competitors, so he was leaving it up to them. "Alright boys, we have a choice to make and it's not gonna be easy. You're all badass fighters, but only one of you can get on the mat tomorrow." He looked at Grayson first. "Ham, you're the best skillfully. You won the skills battle. Red, you're probably the strongest, so, I think you'd be a good contender. Hawk's the current All Valley champ but it could've gone either way. Diaz is last year's champ. That could've gone either way, too. Even though Hawk injured Robby in the semis, he didn't have to fight in the semis this year. Diaz booked it to Mexico."

Oliver exhaled a breath. "Anything else?"

"Hopefully not," Johnny replied. "Point is, you're all deserving. Christian hadn't been here that long, but he says from what he's observed, Oliver's got the best strength."

The red head scoffed. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yep."

Oliver looked to the kitchen. He was talking with the women, laughing about something he couldn't understand. He saw Odessa stand by his side and he said something to her, making her laugh, and he couldn't help but feel angry because how did he think it was so easy for him to come back into her life the way he did? He put Odessa through hell, how could she forgive him so fast.

"Larusso, Chozen, and I are having a hard time deciding which of you should go up against Cobra Kai tomorrow," Johnny continued. "Maybe we should flip a coin?"

"Orrr, I say the one with the longest legs should get to fight. I can knock anybody out into next year." Grayson suggested. They all looked at him. "What? I've been working on the flying tornado kick. My legs are my best asset."

"How are we going to flip a coin? There's, like, five of us." Asked Oliver.

"Flip it five times?"

Eli shook his head. "No, Gray."

"I think we should let Hawk decide." Miguel spoke up and stood up at sight.

All eyes fell on him. "What? Why?"

"You're the champ. You have seniority, basically." Grayson answered, and they all nodded.

"Besides, how cool would it be to compete with your girlfriend?" Oliver smirked.

"Dess is fighting?" Miguel asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Uhhh, don't know about that yet." Johnny answered and glanced at the girl in the kitchen. "My bet was on Hailey."

"Hailey would probably kill somebody." Said Grayson.

"Yeah, I can see that." Robby nodded.

"I dunno, I left that up to Larusso." His dad waved his hand. He looked at Eli. "Alright Hawk, you got the final day. Who's it gonna be?"

Eli looked at his friends. He knew Miguel deserved to compete, for his was the best fighter on the team. He also knew Robby was strong, and even know they had a past, he knew how to fight. Grayson was a great fighter and with his long arms and legs, they were sure to win. And Oliver, he was the strongest. He was the most serious. It was a hard choice. "I chose. . ."

Odessa was in shock by how luxurious the new Cobra Kai dojo looked. Compared to the old dojo, it was huge, and the size of the team had also grown. "Is that  smoothie bar?" She voice out loud.

"I saw that they have a food court." Eli added in.

"What an upgrade." Said Hailey as she looked around. She saw the look on Johnny's face. "What? Tell me I'm lying, please."

Grayson was standing at the bar checking out the menu. "Ooh, they have blueberry and papaya!"

"Hammy, step away from the smoothie bar." Johnny ordered and went to yank him away.

Odessa saw Tory looking at them from across the room. Their eyes met, and she automatically glared. But Tory only looked at her, which confused her. They hadn't talked since the encounter at the waterpark, and honestly, Odessa was nervous about seeing her again.

Hailey hated the girl with every bone in her body. She stared at her deathly, not feeling frazzled. "I'm ready to deck that bitch in the face." She hissed.

Grayson placed his arm around her, finally walking away from the smoothie stand. "Maybe we should wait for that." He suggested. "Somewhere where we won't get disqualified."

Eli stood in front of Odessa as she suddenly looked nervous. "Are you alright?"

She rubbed the back of her neck with both hands. "Yeah, I'm fine. Fighting days just always stress me out."

He grinned. "Turn around." She listened and Eli put his hands on her shoulders and started rubbing them. "Are you fighting?"

Odessa hummed as she felt her tense muscles unravel. "No, I let Sam and Hailey choose between them."

He furrowed his brows together. "Why?"

"Cause I already had my shot to him. They deserve to have the spotlight now." She explained. She felt his thumbs dig into the spot by her backbones. "I'm okay with being the cheerleader today."

"Well, you're good at that, too." Eli said while smiling. He turned her around and put his hands on either side of her face. Glancing slightly to the side, he saw her dad talking to Johnny. "Are you not fighting cause your dad's here."

She pulled a face. "What? No." She shook her head and his hands fell to the curvature of her neck. "We're, uh. . .we're okay."

His eyebrows shot up. "Really?"

Odessa nodded. "Yeah." A smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "I mean, I'm finally having conversations with him, y'know? I think it's a start."

Eli smiled again. "Totally." He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "That's really great, Dess."

"KEENE!"

The couple quickly looked over and saw Kenny glaring at Robby. The two of them met in the middle of the mat, and Odessa frowned, knowing Robby cared about him and Kenny was too blinded by Cobra Kai's ways.

"Time to begin," announced the Sekai Taikai board member. Evernote gathered around. "Oliver Benson and Kenny Payne, please take the mat."

Oliver scoffed. "I'm fighting him?" He said and looked the kid up and down. "I can crush him with my right hand."

"It's easy to be all talk standing over there." Kenny shot at him with a glare.

Daniel put his hand on his back. "Try not to focus on the trash talk, yeah? Remember how strong you are. Remember what I taught you before all of this."

"And remember how badass you've become along the way." Johnny stepped in, his voice rougher. He looked behind him. "Christian, anything you wanna say?"

The man looked conflicted. Christian knew Oliver before he got messed up, and he was a great friend to Odessa. He was like a brother to her know from what he'd observed since being back. But he also knew how much Oliver despised him, and he didn't blame him. He stepped forward. "Oliver, you've always been strong. You've never taken shit from anyone, even when you were younger. Don't let some kid get in your head, alright?" He attempted to encourage him.

Oliver only looked him up and down. "I know how to fight. I got this." He simply stated and went to stand on the mat.

Christian's face fell while his team cheered him on. "You got this, Oliver."

"Give him hell, Oliver!" Said Grayson.

"Good luck, Ol." He heard Odessa's sweet voice.

"Knock him on his ass." That was Hailey.

Kenny stood across from him, smirking with confidence, which only made Oliver more mad. He got in his stance.

"Fight!"

Oliver was bigger than Kenny, so it was easier to get to him. But Kenny was also furious, and he wasted no time lunging at him. He dodged the kid's kick with the wax off move and he kicked with his right leg, to which Kenny jumped back and missed. It was almost too easy, Oliver thought. With his fist raised, he blocked all on Kenny's kicks and when he was distracted on his upper half, Oliver hooked his foot behind his ankle and took him down. He leaned down and hit him on the chest.

"Point! 1-0, Benson!" Said the ref.

"Good job, Oliver." Johnny clapped.

"Let's go!" Grayson hollered proudly.

Oliver couldn't help but laugh. His laughter made Kenny angry, and his face turned red. Standing back up, the two of them faced each other again. When the ref told them to fight, Kenny went in for another kick with a high jump. Oliver was able to block him until he went to do paint the fence, and Kenny was able to get around his fists and kick him in the side.

"Point! 1-1, Payne!"

Oliver was in disbelief. "Jesus, how many energy drinks did you have?"

"It's alright, Oliver." Christian encouraged him.

"Back in your places." Said the ref.

Oliver turned around and shook his friends a look, clearly in shock by what just happened. Odessa gave him a thumbs up and a shaky smile.

"Ready? Fight!"

This time, Oliver lunged forward and kicked at Kenny. The kid chopped his food and immediately swung at him. Oliver was able to dodge but Kenny went in for a kick. He backed up and missed it but the kid kept coming. Kenny kicked his knee and it made Oliver lose balance. He put his hands on the mat to catch himself and he kicked Kenny in the stomach, earning him a point.

"Yeah!" His team cheered.

"Out of bounds! No point!"

Grayson stopped cheering. "Are you serious?"

"Uhh, do you need glasses?" Hailey snapped. "That was clearly in bounds."

The ref ignored her and told the boys to get back in their spots. "What the hell?" Odessa huffed and glanced at Eli, but he could only shrug.

"Fight!"

Oliver stepped forward on his foot and raised his fist just as Kenny came swinging. He did the paint the fence motion and blocked his swings. Kenny acted like he was going on for a kick and Oliver immediately moved to go to the other side of the mat when he felt him strike him in the back of leg, the action causing Oliver to fall to the mat in pain.

"Hey, what the hell!" Odessa raised her voice and her eyes went wide.

"Illegal strike. That's a warning."

"Warning? That should be a disqualification." Christian yelled in anger.

"Oliver, are you okay?" Miguel asked as the red head stood up.

"I'm fine. This kid's on something." Oliver groaned.

"You sure you're alright?" Johnny questioned, looking him up and down.

"Oh yeah. I'm not letting some child bruise my ego." He declared and cracked his knuckles. "Time to unleash the fury."

"Oh brother." Hailey rolled her eyes.

"Let's go, bro!" Grayson cheered with a wide smile.

Oliver and Kenny stood on the mats again. The ref called for them to fight, and Oliver stepped forward again. Just as he was about to throw a punch, Kenny hit him square in the chest and the wind was knocked out of him. "Point! 1-2, Payne!"

Not being able to catch his breath, Oliver fell to his knees and held his chest. "Oliver!" Odessa said with immediate concern and ran to his side.

Everybody started to panic. The Senseis went to check on him and Kenny stared at the red bead with a smug look on his face. "Oh, I'm about to body slam this kid." Grayson muttered angrily.

"Benson, are you alright?" Johnny asked and put his hand on the boy's back.

"H-He got me g-good." Oliver stuttered it hurt to breathe.

"It's okay. It's okay. Just try to breathe." Odessa encouraged and rubbed his back with her small hand.

"Can you continue?" The ref inquired, but he got no response. "That's a forfeit." He grabbed Kenny's hand and raised it. "Winner!"

"WHAT?" Both Hailey and Sam yelled at once.

"Oh, what a joke." Grayson seethed and turned away.

Odessa backed up when the medic came over. He had Oliver lay on his back and the Senseis backed up. She stood by her dad's side and she eyed her best friend with worry.

The Cobra Kai's were cheering at the victory. Kenny still had the smug look on his face and he laughed at Oliver in pain, which only made all of them more angry.

Odessa found Tory's eyes again and she almost looked apologetic. But all she could think was how much she wanted one of the girl's to beat her.

Christian noticed the way the ref was looking at Silver, and how Silver was smiling at him, like he knew what was going to happen. His eyes narrowed. "Something's going on." He uttered.

His daughter looked at him. "What? What makes you say that?"

"I just have a gut feeling."