A/N: This story takes place soon after the Book 4 finale. Minor spoiler warnings. I wrote this right after I first saw the series finale; it was a beautiful conclusion to a great show. I felt like I should thank Bryke and the rest of the fandom for such a fun ride these past years with this one-shot.

Also, there are some references in this one-shot regarding Kuvira's past. Specifically, these are discussed in chapter two of my story, Vulnerability Breeds Weakness. This is not a beg for more readers to that story, but just a quick clarification for the references.

Enjoy!

Everything felt numb. Everything seemed haunting. She was always just so close, yet she never could reach her full potential. Where had everything gone wrong? What could she have changed so that something in her life had finally seemed right?

Nothing.

From the very beginning, she always had obstacles lined in front of her. To test her drive and her inner being, these harsh life realities pushed her beyond the breaking point many times. This was what defined her. This was what Kuvira knew.

She was kept in a glass room. Two walls of her boxed-in cage were plastic but resembled the look of cement. The other two faces were large glass windows. She did not feel like a prisoner. She felt like some sort of animal on display, being taunted into performing tricks. She was stripped of everything. Kuvira was forced into the starchy, white clothing all of the other prisoners had. She was denied any processions, even the hairpin she used to keep most of her hair out of her face. In her room was a simple, hard-plastic bed frame with a back-aching mattress. On the other side was a glass table prepped with a chair, paper, and some ink. She knew without being told that anything she wrote would be taken and analyzed. And used against her.

The evening Kuvira was being processed was still a blur. No matter how hard she tried, she could not remember all of the details. She was not sure if she had purposely removed it from her memory, or if she had truly blacked out. What she could remember was the ringing. Her ears painfully rang a constant, high-pitched noise, and her temples felt as though they were held in a vice. Every step ached in her side – it was unbearable. She just wanted to escape it all.
After arriving to the prison, Kuvira was lead in through a side door. The platinum cuffs around her wrists were unbendable. She secretly tried, without an officer to notice. Any movement, even walking into the prison, made the pain in her side exponentially worse. She caught her face feeling hot and a lump of pressure formed in her throat. Her eyes began to well up with tears; these tears were a result of the pain and she being emotionally exhausted. However, no matter how lost she felt, she could not let herself be seen in such a distraught phase.

She was finally led into an all white room with blinding lights scattered above. Curtains held by rods separated the room into sections. The smell of sterile alcohols burned the insider of her nose.

"Get undressed," one of the officers instructed.

Kuvira's eyes searched around wildly. Surely she was not expected to do so with them watching her every move. How would it even be possible to do so with the restricting cuffs?

"What's the holdup? Now!" The same officer barked. "If you're not going to do it, I will," he groaned, stepping towards her.

"Don't touch me," Kuvira commanded back. She annunciated every possible syllable through her teeth.

Removing her uniform proved to be much more difficult with the cuffs than what she was used to. She unhooked the metal plates off her back; the shoulder pieces first, and then the back pieces fell to the ground. Kuvira watched the other officers collect her uniform and toss it to the side. Her identity was being thrown aside as if it was nothing. The final pieces were her cherished gloves. She reluctantly allowed someone to slide each off of her hands.

The officer who did all of the speaking, the veteran officer she assumed, stepped forward and began to laugh to himself. "Never thought I'd get to see the Great Uniter quite like this," his older eyes traveled up and down her.

Kuvira narrowed her head, and her hair slowly fell into her face. She never met this man previously, but she already hated him. She felt violated and ashamed because of him. If she had the power of before, she would have him sent as far away as possible. Or worse. She could not take the ridicule any longer. Kuvira, out of hast and anger, spat directly into the officer's face. She prayed the venom fueling her rage would be enough to take him down.

"I was always fond of girls with attitude problems," he said, wiping at his face. He pulled Kuvira by the hair with a tight grip and began to escort her. He shoved her against a wall. Nearly all of the wind had been knocked out of her. Her hands immediately rose into the air to protect her face. It was also a subconscious surrender.

"Turn it on," the officer said, walking away.

Kuvira's body was instantly set into shock. Icy cold water rushed at her at high speeds through a hose. Her skin burned on contact and then turned numb. Clenching her teeth, she turned around to bury her face into the wall. The worst of the water began to attack the middle of her back. She tightened her fists, pressing them hard against the wall. The tears Kuvira had been fighting against were now unstoppable. She sobbed out of pain. Out of disappointment. Out of shame. She cried because her life finally meant nothing to her. Her screams eventually became buried underneath the sound of the rushing water.
If she just closed her eyes, everything would disappear and be all right again.

Kuvira leaned against an operating table. Her hair dripped icy water onto the floor. She could not stop shaking out of iciness and fear. A kind nurse had offered her some sedative drug, but Kuvira knew the officer was looming around nearby. She denied any sort of drug. The nurse began taping her chest and the top set of ribs. Knowing something was wrong made breathing more difficult. She helped her step into the loose white pants. Red patches formed on her pale skin. Bruises began staining other parts of her in various shades of blues and blacks. The nurse gestured to an open gash at her side; it extended from the narrowest part of her waist down to where her hip bone peaked out from under the skin.

"That's going to need some attention," the nurse said, giving a worried look as her eyes shifted from the wound to Kuvira. "Are you sure you don't want anesthetic? It would make this go by much faster."

Kuvira felt light-headed the more she stared at it. "No. Do what you need to do. I'll fight through it." Her voice was thin.

The nurse helped her onto the table. Kuvira turned onto her side and allowed the wound to be exposed in the air. Without hesitation, the nurse began to slowly pour on some disinfecting alcohol directly on the site. Kuvira's body wretched in agony. She balled up her fists and curled her knees closer to her chest. The nurse then routinely threaded a sterile needle. With a saddened an apologetic look in her eyes, she met Kuvira's hazy gaze. They both knew what was to come next.
She screamed every time the needle entered her skin. Her mind rattled in its skull. Kuvira felt the color drain from her face. No matter how much she tensed her body, the pain would remain. Her shouts were maddening. Her cries for forgiveness were deafening.

Every small movement sent her entire body into shock. All she could do way lay there in her glass room, in silence. Staring into nothing, Kuvira's mind was finally at peace. She could finally sleep. That, above anything else, was what she yearned for the most now. The past three years had taken her body through the toughest toll imaginable. It all meant nothing now, though. She could not remember who she was on the day she left Zaofu, but she did know that version of her was no more.

Kuvira's eyes fell in and out of focus. She was perfectly still and folded her hands, and rested them on her chest. Focusing on her breathing, she counted in her head how many seconds it took her to inhale, to exhale, and finally to pause before starting the cycle over again. Eventually, she was able to make all three steps last the same counts.

The door to her cell opened. She acted as if she did not notice.

"Time to go," a female voice sounded. Kuvira guessed she was some new officer, and she was baited by older officers to be the one to go to her cell.

"Where?" Kuvira sounded bored and remained eerily still.

"Under the ordinance of Republic City, we are required to make sure all those held captive have some time outside their cell."

Kuvira rose a brow. "You're required to allow convicted criminals to sit around and mingle with each other?"

The officer stumbled for words. "It's beneficial to mental health. A-and if a problem were to arise, we would-"

"Just, stop talking." One leg at a time, Kuvira painfully forced herself to stand. Her legs and shoulders almost hurt as badly as the stitches in her side. Shakily, she took small steps to the door. Before, she was able to stride through the air, causing wind to flow through her hair. Now she relied heavily on a hand against the wall to balance her. She paused at the doorway, and was able to remove her hand from the wall for a brief moment. She was anticipating her cuffs again.

"That won't be necessary. These breaks are meant for you to forget briefly that you're a prisoner." The officer turned, signaling for Kuvira to follow. "Trust me, you don't want any disadvantage against these people," she said under her breath.

Eventually, they arrived at a horizontal wing with many sitting rooms. The place was relatively busy with the casual level of chatter. She just wanted to go back to her cell and be left alone. Kuvira noticed a wood-walled library at the end of the hall. Without saying another word, she limped away from the guard and started for her destination.

The library was endlessly tall. Kuvira walked through the doorway and her eyes lit up in awe. Books covered every space of every shelf. An iron ladder on both sides of the room made for easy access to the books high above. She picked up the first one she could find, not caring to catch the title.

"Do my eyes deceive me?" A woman prisoner approached with two of her lackeys behind her. "Miss Empress herself is finally among the rest of us."

Kuvira sat still in her chair, her attention did not falter from her reading.

"Don't be so bitter that you're in here. You deserve it. You tore apart families forever. You gave the Earth Kingdom false hope. Everything you ever told us was a lie!" The other prisoner was yelling at her face, but Kuvira kept calm by focusing on her breathing. When she noticed Kuvira was still paying little attention, she yelled louder. "You took my husband – my family away from me! I am native Earth Kingdom, but born a firebender! You sent me away because of that! My husband got shot for trying to rescue me from your camps!" Tears fell down her face. "And now here we are – on the same playing field of prison."

"I'm not the reason why you're here," Kuvira replied, closing the book. "You did that on your own accord."

The other prisoner fell into a fiery rage. The two men behind her grabbed Kuvira and lifted her off the chair. Painfully, they twisted and locked her arms behind her. She could feel her stitches tearing ever so slightly. She had nowhere to move. She was too weak to fight back like she normally would.

"You have no idea how long I've waited to be able to do this," the other woman said, preparing her stance for a fight.

Kuvira criticized her weak form; it was driven by anxiety and hate rather than stability and confidence. This would soon be over, Kuvira thought to herself, for this woman did not know how to fight.

"Do your worst," Kuvira said as her hair hung in her face.

The prisoner wound back her tight fist and pushed against her target's face. The impact was not exactly where she wanted, but she managed to tear open Kuvira's bottom lip. Kuvira could taste the overwhelmingly coppery result of blood.

"This is a good look for you, oh Great Uniter," she taunted, followed by another blow. This time was almost square to the cheekbone.

Kuvira winced at any further sudden movements the woman made. Tears welled in her eyes. She could not find her drive to fight back. She was too weak and mentally worn.

"Don't act like you know how to feel pain!" The prisoner was hysterically crying. "You know nothing of it. You took my husband away from me," another shot right to the eye. "And now look at what you've done. You'll never know what it is like to have a husband," she and Kuvira glared into each other's eyes. "You shot your own fiancé. The whole world knows about that now."

That was all Kuvira could take. She rediscovered her drive to fight again. She looked around for anything that could be used for her advantage. The chair and desk she had been sitting at were metal. This was her chance. She kicked a leg up, grimacing at her stitches, and sent the table flying at her attacker. The force was so great, the prisoner's back hit the wall on the other side of the library. Books fell off the shelves following the impact. Kuvira pinned the body against the shelves. She swung her leg again and sent the chair around like a boomerang, hitting the two men holding her in place at the sides of their heads.
Breathing heavily, she looked around to realize what just happened. Other prisoners either ran from the library or began to gawk through the doorway to see what had happened. Her attacker was knocked unconscious as she was wedged into the wall due to the table. A few officers ran towards the library, breaking up the crowds. Kuvira sighed with relief.

Kuvira was soon lead into an interrogation room; a single blinding light above amplified the shadows casted. Instead of metal furniture pieces, a glass table and chairs filled the room. The walls were also glass, but one-way mirrors lined the walls. Glancing up, she found her reflection and did not recognize it. Her long hair was a disarrayed mess. Her bottom lip had been cut and swelled up. Blood was beginning to dry at the wound and down her chin. A blackish bruise began to form at her right eye.

She felt her heart drop at the sound of the door behind her opening. Kuvira narrowed her focus from her reflection to the lowermost corner of her vision. Another person pulled the chair opposite her and sat down.

"The guards weren't exaggerating when they said you looked terrible," her visitor criticized.

Kuvira remained silent and refused to look up. Her breathing became heavy and she felt tears forming.

"They told me what you did. I cannot keep saving you from your rash decisions."

"You never saved me from anything," Kuvira spoke as she finally looked upward. "So why start now?"

Suyin looked so decorated, as if she had just arrived from the middle of one of her elaborate dinner parties. Anger and sadness filled her eyes as she looked down upon Kuvira. Despite her rage with the younger woman, she seemed so relaxed an poised, with her hands folded on the table.

"Why are you here, Suyin?" Kuvira's voice broke, interrupting the silence.

"I've come to finally get some answers from you. Why did you do it? Why did you leave Zaofu years ago, when I told you not to?"

"Everything you told me was no. I couldn't leave. You couldn't stand up for our people," Kuvira paused, slightly sobbing. "You never let me revisit my home after I begged you for so many years."

"I was trying to protect you-"

"You were denying me of my past and my identity!" She paused, failing at trying to recollect herself. "I never felt a part of your family. Yet you led me on to believe, a young girl, that I was your daughter. But you treated me different than the others. You allowed them to flourish and succeed. I was stuck in your cage. My life was a lie, and you were telling it!"

Suyin's eyes welled with tears, listening to the truth she had never heard before. "You took my son away from me," she spoke in a broken whisper.

Kuvira closed her eyes at those words. She knew seeing Bataar was impossible now, because of her actions. She missed hearing his voice. She yearned for that look in his eyes when he would first see her during the day. The way he adored watching her metalbend tore at her heart. "I loved your son, Suyin. You need to know that."

"And you aimed your shot directly at him! What were you thinking? You didn't love him – you used him to get to me! For your empire!"

"No!" Kuvira shouted back. "I did what I did, because I had no choice," she fought against the cries. "It was not about whether I loved your son or our empire more. The empire could not exist without him. Neither can I. The Avatar was in that building. She was the only one who would refuse to back down. She was my only challenger; the lone pawn in the way of our success." She paused and fell submissively to her sobs. "I hated doing what I did, but there was no other way. And now," her breathing increased, "Now he's gone. I'm sorry, Suyin. I'm so sorry I stole your son away from you. But he was stolen from me, too. I will always cherish the times I spent with him," she inhaled. "I cannot wait to see him again in the distant future."

Suyin's focus felt hazy. Kuvira believed Bataar Jr was no longer alive, due to her own hands. Her heart raced in her chest. She looked at the woman sitting before her. Tears soaked her face and her shoulders responded to the shallow breaths she took. Her cries soaked the hair nearest to her face. This was what Suyin needed to see – a broken Kuvira. Whatever monster existed within her had escaped; now Kuvira was nothing more than an exhausted and emotionally worn girl.

"I cannot say I understand or respect your decision, but at least now I have closure. I loved my son as well. He would express his love for you to me often. He adored you, Kuvira. I just hope you adored him in the same way." Suyin leaned to her bag on the floor. She lifted a metal object from it and placed it on the table. "I had to do some convincing, but the officers are letting you have this in your possession as long as there is close supervision around you."

Kuvira knew exactly what was inside the small metal box as soon as she recognized it. "Where did you get that?" She shakily asked, reaching for the box.
"We searched through the train you resided on. I found it on the dresser in your bedroom."

Kuvira nervously opened the box. Just as she had left it, the note inside it looked to be untouched. It was a handwritten note from her mother, and was written just before her suicide. The note instructed a young Kuvira to travel to Zaofu with a close family friend. To look for a woman named Suyin Beifong.

Kuvira lost herself in her sobs as she held the note to her heart. This was one of the few memories of her mother. This was one of the most valuable of her possessions.

"I also found these. I remember you wearing them in Zaofu when you were younger, hoping your mother would return to you." Suyin pushed a pair of leather gloves towards Kuvira.

She quickly grabbed the gloves and slid them onto her hands. They were a perfect fit. The last two memories of her mother lived on. "Thank you, Suyin."