I wrote this before the finale, so I apologize if anything is incorrect!
—
By the time Kuvira realizes she's pouring the sauce and not the noodles into the drain dish, it's already too late. She blinks in surprise and yanks back her arm, peering into the empty pan with disdain.
"I can't believe this." She mutters, her expression turning foul as she tosses the used pot into the sink. The loud clutter makes her baby jump and Kuvira immediately regrets her outburst, looking down and placing a hand over the spot where she feels the child's movements the most.
"I'm sorry." She apologizes, softening her tone. "It's okay, Mommy's just mad."
Kuvira glances back into the sink, watching the thick liquid slide down the drain. She sighs and reaches for a nearby cup, filling it with enough water to pour onto the mess she's made and force the rest towards the gutter. She picks up the rag on the stove's handle behind her and dries her hands, pursing her lips as she tries to think of something else to fulfill her hunger.
There's a knock on the door.
Kuvira furrows her eyebrows and gazes over to the front door. She wasn't expecting any visitors, and Baatar wasn't coming home for another several hours.
She folds the cloth and drops it on the counter, heading towards the door.
The person standing outside her home bewilders her and Kuvira's eyes widen minutely in surprise. "Suyin?"
The older woman offers a small smile. "Hello, Kuvira."
Things were still a little rough between them, but their history together has played a significant role in Suyin's forgiveness of her protégé. She has come to accept, albeit slowly and at first, unwillingly, that Kuvira was now truly a part of her family and that her past as the Great Uniter was something she deeply grew to regret in certain ways.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting anyone." She admits, opening the door for Suyin to enter.
"Do you mind if I come in?"
They both have been trying for the past year to grow re-accustomed to each other. Suyin knows full well that Kuvira is still recovering herself, and that building their connection from the ground up again would be best. Nothing came easy. Kuvira had learned the hardest way that what she was doing was utterly wrong, but there was never any doubt that the young woman had a heart. Suyin raised her in her own home under her wing—Kuvira didn't grow up without compassion. There was a chance to save her in the end, and Suyin took it. She didn't have the heart to turn her away.
"Do you want anything? Tea or…something?" Kuvira offered, closing the door behind her.
Suyin shakes her head. "No, thank you." She glances over at the counter and notices her daughter-in-law's unfinished task. "What's going on in here?"
"Ruined lunch." Kuvira scowls, returning to her previous position at the sink. She picks up the drain dish soaked in sauce and skims it under running water.
"Pregnancy brain?" Suyin grins, tilting her head.
Kuvira raises an eyebrow and looks in her direction. "I'm sorry?"
"Little bouts of forgetfulness every mother has. I used to wear my clothes backwards, leave without my shoes on and forget to wash my hair in the shower."
Kuvira smiled, pouring the noodles into the cleaned drain dish so she could store them. "Baatar laughs at me every time I dump the leftovers in the sink and throw the plate in the trash."
Suyin laughs. "It's wonderful, isn't it?"
Kuvira smiles and turns to reach into the cabinet adjacent to the stove, pulling out a storage container and placing the noodles inside to be left in the freezer. "So, what brings you here? Baatar won't be home for a while, if you're looking for him."
"I actually came to see you. How are you feeling?" Suyin asks as she takes a seat, completely relaxed on the nearby couch.
Kuvira shrugs. "None of my clothes fit me anymore." She tugs at the hem of her black shirt, the most comfortable article of clothing she owns and has been wearing on and off the past few months. The edge of it is starting to creep up her stomach, a sight she's beginning to loathe because she does not want to go shopping. "And I weigh as much as an elephant koi."
"Oh, nonsense." Suyin waves off her comment with a chortle. "It's for a good cause."
Kuvira glances down at her belly, running her fingers over it's curve with a warm smile. When her stomach grumbles, the baby starts to wiggle around and press her feet up against the spot below her naval. The sound is louder to her sensitive little ears inside the womb.
"Why don't you come over?" Suyin rises, her grin growing. "My chef can make you anything you want."
"Suyin, you don't have to do that for me." Kuvira was reluctant to return to Suyin's home. She wasn't sure if she should ever step foot on her property again knowing full well all of the pain she has caused her family in the past. It's not my place to be there, and it never will be. Kuvira believes she's done too much damage to feel remotely strong or humble enough to go back there. Returning to Zaofu itself took great convincing from Baatar, but she didn't dare want to invade the home of the woman who raised her and that she inevitably betrayed.
Suyin, as always, manages to read her mind and smiles lightly, placing her hands on the younger woman's shoulders. "It was your home once, too. If we're going to forgive and forget the past, you might as well start by not refusing an old woman's offer."
"'Old woman'?" Kuvira raises an eyebrow, a small smile reaching her lips.
"I'm expecting my first grandchild in a few months. That makes me old." Suyin chuckles. "Now, are you coming or not?"