CHAPTER FOUR
disclaimer! just a reminder
that a lot of the canon stuff
to cobra kai will change pookies <3

December 20 2020 — San Fernando Valley

Valentine never warned Axel about how rainy it gets during the winter in southern California. But there he stood in front of her door, drenched in the rain with a bouquet of flowers and a box that contained his gift which started to feel soggy. Sensei Wolf was (surprisingly) willing to let his students go for a few days— it was the holidays after all. So Axel immediately took the first flight to LA to see her... and formally ask her out. He never was the traditional type but after countless calls where Valentine had them both watch movies with romantic gestures, he got the memo.

Mrs. Song was the one to open the door. "Axel? What are you doing in the rain— oh my gosh, come in!" He's already asked Mr. and Mrs. Song if he could date their daughter, the obvious answer being yes. So it was bound for him to come visit sometime soon— they just didn't know when.

"I hope you don't mind that your rugs are wet."

"Oh nonsense, they'll dry up like they always do," she reassured, bringing his luggage in for the boy. "Val! You have a visitor!"

He listened to her footsteps as she ran down the stairs, immediately stopping once she saw his tall figure. "What the fuck—"

"Language, I'll be back with a towel," her mother pointed out before leaving the scene. Axel lets out a nervous laugh, his attention turning back to her.

"Uh— gift! I bought a gift for you," he said, immediately holding out the small box. "It's wet, I'm sorry." Valentine could only smile, finally walking up to him and taking the box into her hands. Slowly, she opened it, revealing a gold necklace with his initials on it. "You said you liked... What was the name of that song?"

The girl immediately knew what he was referencing. "You're too sweet, Axel."

"And then flowers," Axel added, handing her the carnations. "I picked out your favorites– again, the rain kind of–"

"I love them," Valentine squealed, smiling even wider than she did. Axel's heart always melted when she smiled. "You're like– you're– why are you doing all of this?" She said with a laugh, wiping his face which was still drenched from the rain.

"Well I'm not usually the romantic type," He began, taking her hand in his. "But being with you made me realize how much I wanted to be part of your life. So would it be alright for me to ask if I could be yours–"

May 19 2022, three months after the breakup

"No you know what? I should get over him."

"I thought you already did?" Sierra asked, sitting up from her position on the bedroom floor. The girl invited Valentine to do their nails that day before they went to go to the All Valley Tournament (both their families unfortunately help sponsor the event with both of their fathers heavily affiliated with the sport), instead Valentine's been pacing around the room whilst Sierra finished her nails all by herself. "What's the haps?"

"The haps is that for the past few months he's seen my posts."

"Well you haven't removed him from your account yet so–"

"But the past week he hasn't looked at anything! Which means he moved on, which means I'm a changed woman and I'll move on as well!"

Sierra stared her down. "You don't even have your license yet."

"... We will get to it!"

She only sighed in dismay, shaking her head as she looked at the new cherry red nail polish she had finished. "And you still wear that necklace he gave you." Valentine touched her neck almost instantly, realizing the gold accessory was still there. Since the day she got it, she never took it off. It was one with her, it never crossed her mind to remove it. She began to bite her inner cheek (as she always did), trying to make up excuses for why she's still wearing it. "Face it, Val, you're not over him."

"No I am. I'm like... a hundred percent sure I am." This brought Sierra off of the ground, making her way to stand in front of Valentine with an open palm. "What's this about? Do you want a high five or something?"

"Hand me the necklace."

"What?"

"You heard me, hand me the necklace."

Valentine began to laugh, but then she stopped once she noticed her friend's deadpanned face. "Oh you're serious."

"Yes I am, Val. I hate seeing you cry about him especially since he ended things like that. You're not doing yourself any justice by just waiting around for him," Sierra insisted. "I love you, and if I hated you I would've let you continue to obsess over him. But that is not how we do things around here. You already sent back everything else; it only makes sense if you do this too. So either take that necklace off or I swear on my dead dog you'll be getting an earful from me for the next few days."

She paused, looking at the open palm, her fingers fidgeting with the necklace. Slowly, she unclasped it then placed it in Sierra's hand with a sigh. "You're right."

With her free hand, Sierra rested it on Valentine's shoulder. "I'll give it back when either you are a thousand percent over it and this necklace isn't some frequent reminder of him anymore, or if you somehow got back with him again."

"I'm not saying that the second might happen–"

"If that happens, you will still get an earful from me," Sierra interrupted. "This is like, my guide to you actually getting over him. Take it from me, I know how this whole breakup thing goes!"

"You've been dating the same guy since freshman year–"

"Middle school breakups do a number on a person, easily as effective and traumatic." Valentine stared at Sierra before letting out a loud laugh. "What? I'm serious!"

"Because that's child's play!"

"Oh shut up, I know what I'm doing and saying!" Sierra then cleared her throat. "Now come on, Sam's gonna be here any minute and we need to go watch this whole All Valley tournament thing with her. I wanna bet she either gets back with Miguel or it ends with a big fight– and you need to be there to cheer on that new friend of yours."

FRANKIE SPEAKS! %% thank you all so much for the love and support for this book! when i watch the second part to season six i knew i had to make an axel fic as soon as i finished it, so in two hours i published this! please be warned that sierra and valentine are pretty much bystanders when it comes to the dojos and stuff! (at least for now!) so their only basic knowledge of the beef and drama is relatively either from sam or from what they observe!

not to mention, they both are slowly gonna turn into ocs that you may or may not root for! as crazy as it sounds, characters in cobra kai do have a lot of complex characteristics as well! valentine, much like every other character, will be either the light of this fic or the bane of everyone's existence! you'll find yourselves whether to root for her or turn around in shame, and that's okay (mostly rooting for... i hope! i promise she'll be more on the likable end)!

with that being said, thank you all so much again for the love!