Tessa Keene was a sweetheart through and through- pure-hearted, kind, and incapable of cruelty. She didn't have much, but she had Robby, and that was all she needed. He was her rock, her safe place, the one person she could always count on. But when...
Tessa didn't even think about the Lawrence-LaRusso rematch. Not when Kenny's words were still rattling around in her head—"See you on the mat." The way he said it—cocky, confident—stuck in her head like a splinter. There was no way she was going to let him beat her.
She grabbed her bag and found herself standing in front of the LaRussos' house, heart racing as she rang the doorbell. It was still early evening; the sun was just beginning to set, casting long shadows across the front yard. Amanda answered a moment later, smiling warmly when she saw who it was. "Hi, Mrs. LaRusso," Tessa said shyly, adjusting the strap of her bag over her shoulder. "Can I, um, use your dojo?"
Amanda glanced around, almost expecting someone else to be behind her. "Daniel's not home..." she said hesitantly.
"I know," Tessa shrugged, shifting her weight. "I just... I need to train."
Amanda raised an eyebrow, curious.
"My dad says I'm gonna be in the tournament," Tessa explained, her voice bubbling with excitement and nerves. "I wanna make him proud. I want to win." She smiled brightly, a rare kind of pride lighting up her face.
Amanda studied her for a second longer, "Of course, honey," she said, stepping aside. "Come on in."
Tessa didn't waste a second. She kicked her shoes off, sprinted down the hall, and threw her bag against the wall of the dojo. She barely remembered to bow before stepping onto the mat.
She dropped into a low stance, her knees bent deeply as she threw a quick jab to the air, her body moving in perfect unison. The punches came faster now, one after another—left, right, jab, cross—until her arms burned with the force of it. Her breathing was steady but getting heavier, the sound of her lungs drawing in air sharp against the silence of the dojo. But she didn't slow down. If anything, her intensity increased.
Tessa's legs followed, switching seamlessly between kicks and sweeps, her foot connecting with the air in a sharp snap each time. The repetition was tiring, but her focus never wavered. With each roundhouse kick, her legs felt heavier, more like lead, but she pushed through it. One more. One more for the tournament. One more to prove she could do it.
Her feet slid across the mat as she transitioned into a defensive stance. Her legs screamed, her muscles begging for a break, but she didn't relent. She couldn't. Kenny's words echoed in her head—"See you on the mat." Her jaw clenched as she threw another punch, and then another, harder, faster, until her arms stung from soreness.
Tessa's mind drifted briefly to the thought of Kenny—how much he had already trained, how much Cobra Kai had already put into him. The thought stoked something fierce within her, and she threw herself into a flurry of moves that barely made sense, twisting and turning, blocking and attacking, forcing her body to push beyond what it could handle. Her breathing was heavy now, ragged, but she just kept going.
Her body ached—every muscle, every joint—but there was no time for that. She had to keep training. Tessa adjusted her stance again. She focused on the rhythm of her breath, bringing herself back into the fight, and then she launched into a series of rapid-fire punches. No slowing down. No hesitation. Each strike harder than the last, until the exhaustion began to affect her movements.
Tessa trained until the lines between effort and pain blurred, until the dojo itself felt like an extension of her own body. Every drop of sweat, every ache, every burn in her muscles, pushed her closer to the goal. She wasn't just fighting for the tournament. She was fighting to be stronger, to prove that she could stand tall when everything felt like it was too much.
"Tessa?"
She stopped mid-motion, her foot hovering in the air, as Daniel's voice reached her ears. She lowered her leg, her breath coming heavy as she turned to face him.
He was standing by the entrance to the dojo, his arms crossed, watching her with a mixture of concern and curiosity. His brow was furrowed slightly, his gaze flicking to the sweat-drenched towel on the bench nearby. It was clear he had been observing her for a while. He stepped further into the room, his voice quieter this time. "Tess...what's going on?"
She exhaled sharply through her nose, trying to catch her breath enough to answer. "Training," she said simply, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Tessa..." he said again, gentler this time, like he was trying not to scare her off. "Amanda said you've been at this for hours."
Tessa shifted her weight, her shoulders tensing. She hated how weak she must have looked—how obvious it must have been that she was barely holding herself upright. But she lifted her chin anyway, stubborn, proud. "My dad..." she started, then paused, forcing herself to meet Daniel's eyes. "He thinks I have a real shot at winning the tournament." Her voice was firm, steady. "He believes in me. And I'm not going to let him down."
Daniel's brow furrowed, his arms dropping to his sides as he took another step closer. "Tessa, your dad's already proud of you. You don't have to—"
"I do," she interrupted, her voice rising slightly, not out of anger but fierce certainty. "I have to. If I'm not training harder than Kenny, harder than Cobra Kai, then what's the point?" She shook her head, hair falling from her ponytail. "They're not taking breaks. They're not slowing down. So I can't either."
Daniel opened his mouth to argue, but the look on her face stopped him — the sheer will there, burning past the exhaustion. She wasn't just saying it; she believed it.
"You've got the heart for this," he said. "You've got the drive. But that doesn't mean killing yourself on the mat. It means knowing when to listen to your body. Knowing when to stop and come back stronger."
Tessa swallowed hard, her fists still clenched at her sides. The fight was still there—she didn't want to quit, didn't want to look weak—but the room was spinning slightly now, and her legs felt like they were anchored to the ground.
Daniel reached out, resting a hand lightly on her shoulder. "Come on," he said, voice gentle. "Let's get you home."
For a second, she didn't move. Every stubborn part of her screamed to stay—to prove she could handle it. But deep down, past the anger and fear, she trusted him. She always had.
As they stepped out into the cool night air, Daniel fell into step beside her, keeping close like he was ready to catch her if she stumbled. "You're gonna be ready when it matters," he said, unlocking the car. "I'll make sure of it."
Tessa slid into the passenger seat, sinking into the worn leather, letting herself breathe for the first time in what felt like hours.
As they drove off toward home, Daniel glanced at her and added, "You're a fighter, Tess. Don't ever doubt that."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
authors note!
I would like to apologize now for the next chapter.
