The walls raised far above her, deep in the mountain. It was dark inside, and lonely. How ironic was it that the prison she had once been in charge of was now where she was being held? The only light came from below her, green and dim. Softer than it had been when Su and her family were there, but they didn't care about her. Why would they? Everything she had done, every single step she had taken had only made her lose what little she had left. There had been a time once when she would have given anything to have Su look at her with something more than indifference. If only she could have earned her approval once, maybe then they would have developed the right relationship, maybe they would have built enough trust to talk things out.
However, Su had only deigned to look down on her. She had managed to convince herself and everyone that Kuvira was the earthbending daughter she and Baatar didn't have, but the young woman had never felt any warmth coming from her. When there were hugs and games for Opal, there was only training for herself. Where Wing and Wei could develop their own games, she could only stare from a window far away in a room where she was made to rehearse the same dance over and over again. Huan and Baatar were constantly busying themselves with their scientific or artistic projects. The only one who had shown her true love, the one who had always cared for her, was also the one she had betrayed and left behind.
Baatar Jr. 'Junior' for his mother, even though he hated it. 'Baatar' for her. It all started one day when Su had exhausted her out with one particularly hard routine. Everyone else had been allowed to leave early, but Su made Kuvira stay, arguing that her movements weren't perfect enough for the leader's protégé. When Ku finally got out of the dance room, she crashed against a moving pile of rolled blueprints. There was a loud noise and several giant papers flew in the air as Kuvira fell to the floor. When she managed to stand up, she realized there was a man under the disaster who was trying to carry everything in his arms again, rather awkwardly. Kneeling down to help him, she piled a couple of rolls in his arms and carried others between hers. They walked together to his room, and after settling everything down, he invited her to have a walk, mustering all the courage he could.
They spent hours talking about their dreams and plans, and many more trusting each other with the feelings they kept deep inside them. She had always thought he had more potential than he could use if he kept working with his father, and now she knew he thought the same thing. He listened quietly when she opened up and straight told him she did not think she was loved. She would never forget the way she proved her wrong. They sitting at the top of one of the domes, where Kuvira liked to go and think things through. He took her chin between his thumb and his index finger and made her turn so she was facing him.
Then they kissed for the first time, and his arms moved slowly around her waist to embrace her. She remembered her hands moved to his neck, and then nothing else. All her resentment was gone; all the sadness she had held within was lost just as she was within his arms.
Now it had all come back, he was gone, and she was lost again. She was lost within a wooden prison.