BURNING PILE » MIGUEL DIAZ

𝟬𝟬𝟰 make it happen

He chuckled lightly in response to her statement, although she was being completely serious. "Maybe it was too much for us to send you straight into the chaos. Let me show you something a bit more your speed."

Slightly offended, she followed after him, taking in the large building. The pair finally came to a halt when they reached a section of the building near Daniel's office that was filled with bonsai trees. Her jaw slightly dropped at the fact that someone could manage that all on their own.

He noticed her reaction, a smile washing over his features. "It's nice, right?"

Nadia nodded, her eyes wavering over to the pair of scissors placed right next to one of the small trees. Daniel picked up on this, grabbing them for her and holding them out. "Go ahead, try it."

She reluctantly took them from his hands. Nadia then grabbed a nearby stool, lifting herself onto the chair. Daniel gingerly brought a tree and held it up in front of him, grabbing scissors as well. "You go to West Valley, right? Do you know my daughter?"

"Samantha?" She questioned. He hummed in response. "Kind of. She's...cool."

She thought about telling him that as far as she could tell, Sam preferred to stick with popularity rather than stick by her own childhood friend. But, considering the fact that this was Sam's father, and she was working for him, Nadia ultimately decided against it. "I don't really talk to her much, though."

Nadia dropped her scissors back onto the table out of frustration. She couldn't figure out how to cut the tree properly.

"It was hard for me too, at first," Daniel chimed in. "Mr. Miyagi had to teach me."

"He was your sensei, right?" She quirked an eyebrow. "Taught you kata?"

The LaRusso man's eyes slightly widened, taken aback that she knew this information. "Yeah. He was a good man. Taught me a lot. What you've gotta do is close your eyes, get everything out of your head. The only thing you can see is the tree. Think only the tree."

"My head is still pounding, so I don't know if I can clear my mind."

"Just try it."

With a sigh escaping her lips, Nadia sat straight up, closing her eyes. Once in the center of her mind, she realized how much she had going on there. She had a bad habit of pushing away her problems without addressing them, and continuing forward, which would only lead to chaos in the end. The incident with Miguel was still fresh on her mind, as well as the thought of karate making a comeback, even her father managed to be on her mind, and it had been months since she had last seen his face. There were many things in her mind that had yet to be discussed, but those specifically were the root of her problems.

Think only the tree. Visualize what you want it to look like. Make it happen.

It took longer than she had expected to clear her mind, it was like she couldn't get it to go silent. Not even for a minute. An exasperated exhale came from her as she snapped her eyes open once again. "I don't think I can do it. Not today."

Daniel sent her an understanding nod. "No worries. There's always next time."

She felt pathetic. Cutting a tree shouldn't be as hard as she was making it out to be, and even though Daniel showed kindness, she couldn't help but shake the feeling that she was being judged by him in her head.