This was written so slowly omg but it's finally done. Stranger Things stans, if you watched Vol. 2 and need a little pick-me-up... I hope this helps 🥲❤️🩹
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Reseda
Miguel hurriedly maneuvers between the orange cones with his crutches. His girlfriend and sensei move along beside him as Selena pushes Johnny in Miguel's wheelchair. "Let's go, slowpoke! Move those gimp legs!" the blonde shouts. "My grandmother's faster than you!" the girl chimes in as the two watch the boy keep moving through the homemade obstacle course.
Miguel pushes down on his crutches and lifts his legs to get over the last hurdle. However, he's unsuccessful for he ends up tripping over the hurdle and collapsing on the ground. Johnny throws his head back in frustration while Selena grimaces at the sight of her boyfriend on the ground.
*Time skip*
The trio is now in Johnny's apartment. The girl and older man are standing over Miguel having a conversation while said boy is on the floor performing sit-ups with a full keg in his hands. "That sounds stupid. Go, Diaz," the blonde bluntly replies to Selena before addressing Miguel, who strains to sit up. "It is but I think that's why people like it so much," the girl responds. As Miguel does another sit-up, Johnny suddenly stops him as he reaches for the keg. "Hold it there. Hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it," he voices as he grabs the faucet.
He holds it to his red plastic cup and squeezes the faucet, causing beer to spray into the cup, some of it splashing on the boy's head. "Feel the burn. Feel the burn. Looking good, looking good. Alright, alright!" Johnny encourages, slapping his hand against the keg as Miguel goes back down. "Ten more!" he orders.
"You're doing great, babe!" the girl motivates her boyfriend before focusing her attention back on the older man. "So anyway, it turns out that Bella is pregnant..." she resumes the discussion. "What?" Johnny reacts, contorting his eyebrows. Miguel rolls his eyes at how his girlfriend is explaining the Twilight Saga to the man while he's in the middle of doing sit-ups.
*Time skip*
The three are outside as Miguel uses his crutches to move through a net-like obstacle course on the ground. "Go, Diaz! Move it!" Johnny shouts, clapping his hands. "You're so close!" Selena encourages as she moves along the course beside the man. "We're almost there! Let's go! Let's go!" the blonde adds, the excitement clear in his demeanor. Miguel climbs up the makeshift steps and onto the plank his two "physical therapists" set up. He grins, lifting his gaze to the two.
"Alright, guys. I think I'm getting the hang of it," he optimistically claims as he moves along the plank. "Oh, yeah?" Johnny asks, snapping his fingers. Understanding what he wants, Selena bends down to fetch the ball from the ground before handing it to the man. "Think fast!" he voices, tossing the ball to the boy. Miguel is caught off guard by this but catches the ball, causing him to lose balance. "Oh. Oh!" he voices as he falls back, groaning when he hits the ground.
*Time skip*
Johnny and Selena are sitting on the couch resting their feet on the coffee table, which Miguel is lifting up and down with his legs as he lays on the floor. The man's attention is occupied with a magazine while the girl is on her phone. "Lookin' good," Johnny comments as he flips through the pages of his Summer Swimsuits magazine.
"Lookin' real good," he says again, his eyes never tearing away from the pages. Selena suddenly releases a small chuckle from beside him. She shows her phone screen to the man, finally making him look away from his magazine. "Ha," he chuckles upon watching the video on the girl's phone, leading both of them to start cackling.
*Time skip*
Miguel uses his crutches to climb up the same makeshift steps. Selena is holding the same black ball in her hands, waiting for her cue. The boy starts moving along the plank when Johnny suddenly yells, "here it comes!" The girl tosses the ball at her boyfriend, who grunts as he rapidly lets go of his crutches to catch it. He gapes at the ball in his hands, surprised that he's still standing. Selena gleams upon witnessing this, proud of the boy's progress. "Alright, what are you waiting for? Keep going!" Johnny urges.
Miguel throws the ball back to his girlfriend before proceeding to step along the next plank. Excitement arises in him as he makes it to the end, lifting his head to glance at the other two. "Yeah!" he celebrates, raising his hand to high-five the girl as he walks down the steps. Selena gleefully laughs as she slaps her hand against his. When their hands touch, Miguel interlaces their fingers and pulls his girlfriend into a hug. It feels so amazing to be able to hold her like this again.
The two eventually pull apart so the boy can hug his sensei next. Selena grins when the two males embrace. She admires their dynamic so much. The two separate so Johnny turns to Selena to high-five her and give her a short hug. As they pull apart, the girl remarks, "you know, you're freaking crazy but your methods have proven to be useful so..." She shrugs. The man chuckles at her statement. "That's how you get things done," he claims.
*Time skip*
The three strut toward the garbage bin. Johnny pushes the wheelchair while the couple holds a crutch each. Once they reach the bin, they share a look and nod, agreeing to discard the unneeded items. All three of them toss the crutches and wheelchair into the bin simultaneously, marking the end of one difficult chapter in Miguel's story. The trio fist-bumps, feeling amazing about the boy being back on his feet.
They're about to walk away when Selena's voice suddenly stops them. "Wait. Maybe we should donate these..." she suggests, pointing to the garbage bin. The realization dawns on Miguel upon hearing the girl's words. "Oh, right. That'd probably be better," he pipes up, making his way to the bin to pull the discarded medical equipment out.
[[[[[[[[[[]]]]]]]]]]
Juarez LaRusso House
Selena strides into the kitchen, finding Xavier and her two youngest siblings having breakfast at the table while her parents stand at the counter conversing. Rosalía catches sight of her teenage daughter from her peripheral vision and turns her head, making her husband turn too. "Ah, mira. Al fin se despertó la bella durmiente [Ah, look. Sleeping Beauty finally woke up]," the woman teases, sending a cheeky grin to the girl. Selena lightly chuckles as she walks over to the fridge. "Pues bella si soy [Well, I am beautiful]," she jokes back.
Her mother shrugs. "Gracias a mi [Thanks to me]," she claims, making the young girl laugh. Said girl takes out a container of casamiento and a container of homemade crema Salvadoreña [Salvadoran cream], setting them down on the table before going to grab a plate. As she does so, Rosalía speaks up again. "Um, so we have something to tell you," she announces, watching her daughter scoop the rice and beans mixture onto her plate. "Oh?" Selena reacts, eyeing her parents skeptically. "Is it bad?" she queries as she picks up her plate and heads to the microwave.
"No, it's nothing bad. It's just that... your mom and I have been talking about how to deal with Cobra Kai," Daniel assures her, glancing at his wife before looking at his daughter again. Selena lifts her eyebrows at them. She knew this topic was going to come up eventually. No matter how hard she tries to mind her business, Cobra Kai keeps weaseling their way back into her life. She heard about the fight at the abandoned arcade where Demetri's arm was broken.
She's been so occupied with Miguel that she hasn't spent as much time with Sam and the Miyagi-Dos. Therefore, she didn't find out about the incident right away. Sam has been too upset to talk about it, and Selena is worried about her. "Okay?" she responds, curious about where this is going. "We know that you've helped Sam train the other kids and I get it, you guys just wanna be prepared in case Cobra Kai strikes. And we know that you didn't want to be as involved because you wanted to focus on dance and helping Miguel," Rosalía commences.
Selena nods as she listens. "We're trying to handle it but–" the woman proceeds before Daniel jumps in. "With everything you guys are going through at school with those bullies, we want to make sure you know how to defend yourself," he finishes his wife's sentence. The microwave suddenly beeps so Selena goes over to it to take her plate out. As she heads back to the table, she inquires, "what are you trying to say?" She opens the container of cream, scoops some of the white content with a spoon, and plops it onto her plate.
"Your dad's gonna reopen Miyagi-Do," Rosalía reveals, taking the cream and putting it back in the fridge. "We wanted to wait until everything cooled down a bit more but, you know, maybe reopening it now would be better," she continues, glancing at her husband before looking back at the girl. Daniel nods in agreement. He shifts his eyes to Selena, a small grin tugging at his lips. "So what do you say? Ready to get back into action? Your brother is," he voices, proudly glancing at his son. The girl cocks an eyebrow, turning to Xavier.
"You're joining the dojo??" she asks, shocked. Her brother casually shrugs. "Yeah. Well, sort of. I'm more like a... teacher's assistant," he answers. He's thought about getting back into karate but hasn't been able to due to school and work, but now he's able to manage his time better. So when his father asked him if he wanted to assist him in the dojo, he accepted. Selena slowly nods as she sends the 19-year-old an impressed smile. She's a bit excited about having her brother there. They haven't done karate together since they were kids.
"So what about you, Sel? You in?" Daniel asks the girl again. She thinks for a moment. She hasn't wanted to get back into karate after the school brawl. She drew her focus to other things instead. However, in her gut, she can feel that trouble is right around the corner. It's only a matter of time until she's pulled right back into another Cobra Kai disaster. Additionally, she completed her mission of helping Miguel get back on his feet. She never stopped loving karate and some training couldn't hurt, right?
She finally looks at her father and nods, a small grin taking over her features. "Sure. I'm down," she answers. Her parents beam at this. "Excellent. My first two students ever... training together again," Daniel proudly states as he smiles at his son and daughter. A sense of nostalgia washes over the man, he misses the good old days when he would teach Xavier and Selena as children. The two siblings return the smile, moved by their father's words. Rosalía grins fondly at them, loving this sweet moment between the three.
Daniel sighs contently before addressing the girl, "well, let everyone know that Miyagi-Do is back when you get to school, okay?" Selena nods as she shovels a spoonful of casamiento into her mouth. "Sir, yes, sir!" she firmly answers, giving the man the soldier salute. Daniel nods, lightheartedly grinning at the girl's goofiness.
[[[[[[[[[[]]]]]]]]]]
West Valley High School
Selena waits near the front doors for Miguel, who texted that he's almost there. Her attention is held by her phone until applause suddenly sounds all around her. She raises her head, seeing the students on the stairs behind a "Welcome Back Miguel" banner clapping. She follows their line of vision, her face lighting up when she spots who they're cheering for. Miguel stands there, being kindly received by passing students. After one of the students fist-bumps him, he scans the crowd for a certain someone.
He quickly finds her, making his eyes twinkle as a broad smile spreads across his face. The girl's smile widens when their eyes lock. Miguel starts walking over to her when a voice suddenly stops him. "El Serpiente!" Hawk calls as he goes up to him. The tan boy grins as he stops in his tracks. "What's up," he greets his pal. Selena's smile fades as she watches the encounter. Sam declined to share much about what happened but Demetri recently informed her that Hawk was the one who broke his arm.
Her image of the mohawked boy was already tainted, but now it's even worse. She'll never understand how Hawk could hurt his former best friend like that. Her thoughts slip away when a familiar voice catches her attention. "Hey, Sel!" The girl turns around, seeing her friend Isaac approaching her. "'Sup," she greets as the two do their bro-handshake. "So Miguel's back, huh," the boy remarks, nodding in Miguel's direction. Selena turns over her shoulder to glance at her boyfriend before turning back to her buddy. "Yup," she proudly states.
"Wow, that's crazy. It's good that he's walking again," Isaac comments, to which the girl hums in response. "I know. He's happy about that," she claims, softly smiling. Her friend nods in agreement. "Yeah..." he trails off as he scans the area around him. "Where's your cousin?" he suddenly asks, looking at the girl again. "Uh, I don't think she's here yet. She texted a few minutes ago saying that she's on her way so," Selena replies, shrugging. "Oh," Isaac reacts, trying to act casual, but the girl catches a glimpse of disappointment in his eyes.
She narrows her eyes at the boy suspectingly. "Why do you ask?" she inquires. Isaac shrugs and answers, "Just asking. Because you guys are always together, you know?" Selena notices him become a bit tense as if her question makes him nervous. She's known him long enough to tell when he's lying... and when he's crushing on someone. "For real? It's not because you're trying to shoot your shot with her?" she teases, grinning cheekily. The boy's eyes widen at this. "Dude, shut up," he hisses, making the girl chuckle.
Selena's always thought that Isaac had a small thing for Sam so she's not surprised by this. He's never said anything, especially because of the boys the blue-eyed girl previously dated, but he figures that the timing might be decent now for him to take a chance. "I'll let you know if I see her or if she texts me," Selena informs him. Isaac becomes flustered by how his friend called him out. "Okay," he mutters before awkwardly walking off. The girl chuckles and shakes her head, finding his reaction endearing.
If things are officially dead between Sam and Robby, she's rooting for Isaac. Robby. The girl's heart clenches as she's reminded of her brother from another mother. She would've visited him more often if his visitation privilege wasn't revoked. She misses him dearly. The sound of the bell ringing rips her out of her thoughts and she spins around to see Miguel approaching her. Her mood quickly changes as he gets closer. The two beam as they stand across from one another, excited by the other's presence.
"Mira nomas [well, look at that]. You finally decided to come back to school," Selena playfully comments. Her boyfriend's grin broadens as he slightly chuckles. "Yeah, well, gotta get that edu-macation, you know what I'm sayin'...?" he jokes, making the girl chuckle. Oh, God, I sound just like her, he thinks, realizing he just said something Selena would say.
"And well..." he trails off, smirking and stepping closer to the girl. "Tenía que verte [I had to see you]," he flirts as he snakes his arms around Selena's waist, pulling her body closer to his. This causes a shiver to shoot through the girl's body, her legs turning into jelly. She merely giggles shyly as the two lean in to connect their lips.
The kiss lasts a few seconds until they eventually pull away, both sporting bright smiles as they intertwine their fingers and begin walking through the halls. They engage in light chitchat as they walk before turning a corner where two people greet and high-five the tan boy. That's when the couple spots Demetri at his locker, both frowning upon noticing his cast. The thought about Hawk hurting him slipped Selena's mind after talking to Isaac but now here he is. He turns around after shutting his locker, grinning upon seeing the pair.
"Hey! The Comeback Kid and Wonder Woman!" he chirps. Selena's eyebrows furrow as she lightly grins. "Why Wonder Woman?" she questions. Demetri casually shrugs. "Powerful woman warrior," he answers. Selena reminds him of Diana a.k.a. Wonder Woman in the sense that they are both frequently torn between the desire to promote peace and the need to fight back against the prevalent violence around them. The girl smiles, flattered that he thinks of her as a mighty warrior. "Aw, thanks," she replies. Demetri nods before shifting his eyes to Miguel.
"Welcome back! I hope to make a similar triumphant return to the land of the mobile appendage masses," he shares, lifting his cast-enclosed arm. The girl's grin fades as she looks at his injured arm. "What's up with the cast?" Miguel queries in confusion, pointing to the cast. "Proximal radius fracture," the pale boy simply answers, nodding. Yasmine then joins the group to add her input. "It smells." The couple gives her a weird look before darting their eyes to Demetri. "I put a lemon rind down there to mitigate that," he claims.
"The invitation for you to sign it still stands," he addresses the blonde, pulling a sharpie out of his shirt pocket and holding it out to her. "Mm-hmm. Hard pass," Yasmine declines. "At least when you used to be a thorn in my tits, you were getting me an A in science. Now you can't even do that because you're... defective," she sasses, eyeing his cast. This girl, Selena thinks, biting back a smile. Yasmine sends the dark-haired girl a small smile and waves before strutting away.
Selena waves back before turning her attention to Demetri, who makes a goofy face as he shakes his head to dismiss Yasmine's words. "I'll sign your cast," the girl offers, raising her hand as if to ask for the marker. Demetri's eyes light up as he rapidly takes the sharpie from his shirt pocket again to give it to his friend. He lifts his arm as Selena removes the cap from the marker and steps closer. The girl glances up at the tall boy as she writes and voices, "I know I haven't been around as much and I'm sorry. Maybe I could've prevented this if I was there."
Demetri fastly shakes his head while she's speaking. He feels bad that she's feeling guilty about something that wasn't her fault at all. "No, don't worry, it's fine. We all knew you were busy," he immediately counters. All the Miyagi-Do students knew that Selena wanted to focus on helping Miguel, among other things, which they totally understand. Selena sends him a tight-lipped grin as she lets go of his arm, closing the marker. Meanwhile, Miguel looks between them in confusion, wondering what his girlfriend means.
"Done," she states. Demetri glances at his arm to read what the girl wrote: Heal faster - Sel ♡︎. He shoots the girl a look. "Heal faster.' Wow, such kind words, thanks," he sarcastically phrases, making Selena send him an innocent grin. "You are so welcome," she replies, making him playfully roll his eyes. "Wait, how'd you break your arm?" Miguel chimes in, curious about what happened, especially since his girlfriend claims she could've prevented it. Selena and Demetri share a look, both knowing they're about to change the boy's whole view of his mohawked pal.
"Um... we have a lot of catching up to do," the girl states. Miguel's eyebrows slightly contort skeptically. Demetri proceeds to describe the chain of events of the arcade fight that led to Hawk breaking his arm. The tan boy's eyebrows raise in shock, not wanting to believe that the spiky-haired boy would do such a thing. Sadly, however, he's not too surprised by the news, seeing as Hawk is one of the most brain-washed pupils of Cobra Kai. "Why didn't you tell me about this?" he questions his girlfriend. Selena lightly sighs.
"I didn't know it was Hawk until a few days ago. And we were so focused on your physical therapy, I didn't want to bring you down with this," she explains. Miguel nods in understanding. He's disappointed in Hawk. He hates knowing that his friend willingly hurt his other friend. He doesn't understand how he could do that. Selena is disappointed yet not surprised as well. She can't believe that Eli and Demetri's friendship turned out like this.