Author's Note:

Day 3 for Kuvira Week! Yay! Prompts were sacrifice/regrets, and it is literally so bad but if you still wanna read it, you can.

Kuvira listened distantly to the sound of thunder outside. She had never been a particular fan of storms, but she knew how much Baatar enjoyed them. She had almost woken him up so he could sit on the couch with her and they could drink tea and he could explain to her the exact way that lightning formed and the precise reason why thunder was heard so much later than when lightning was seen.

She glanced over at him. He was curled up in a ball on the floor, his hands clutching two papers on the different mechanics of a mech suit as if his life depended on it. His glasses were falling off of his face, and Kuvira bit back a smirk as a tiny bit of drool began to seep out of his open mouth.

Kuvira shuffled through the different papers that were scattered around her coffee table. She carefully place each paper in its respective category, and then placed all of Baatar's papers into his folder. It had been long established that she would handle all the military and tactics of their campaign, and Baatar would handle the machinery and technology.

By splitting the duties, they had cut what their prep period would be in half, and they were months ahead of schedule. It was for the best that they were too, Kuvira wasn't sure how long either of them could keep their plans to stabilize Ba Sing Se a secret, and she definitely could not count of the guard to hold it in any longer. Each time Su had visited the guard station, they all had smirks on their faces and whispered behind her back.

Despite being so far ahead in the plans, Kuvira could not get rid of a nagging feeling she had in her stomach. She knew it wasn't from the impending permanent departure from Zaofu, but it was something else that she could not quite put her finger on. After she filed the papers away safely, she made herself a small cup of tea and then settled into her couch.

The storm outside raged on still, and Kuvira bit her lower lip each time the thunder clapped. She tucked her legs underneath her and glanced down at Baatar. He had shifted positions, so he now lay on his back with his head tilted to the side and his arm supporting the back of his head. His glasses were practically off of his face, and she smiled lightly at how much more bulky his frame now was since he had started to join her in her early morning workouts.

"Take a picture," Baatar muttered. His eyes slowly opened and he turned his head. "It'll last longer."

"It's storming," Kuvira stated.

Baatar smiled and sat up. He took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. After he did, he blinked a few times and then joined Kuvira on the couch. "You could have at least had the decency to wake me up so I wouldn't have these aches in my back."

Kuvira rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "You're not an old man, Baatar. Your back should be just fine."

"It would be fine if you had woken me up and just let me sleep in your bed or something," Baatar said.

They sat in silence for a little, listening to the storm outside. Kuvira sipped on her tea and would occasionally glance over at Baatar, who was staring out the window, watching the rain pound against the walls and glass. As she watched Baatar watch the storm, she realized what had been nagging her.

"Baatar?"

"Hm?"

"Are you scared?"

Baatar hesitated before he turned and faced her. His brows were furrowed in concern and corners of his mouth were turned down in a frown. "Scared about what?"

"What we're about to do," Kuvira said. "There's a lot on the line—we're sacrificing comfort, and safety, and relationships, and everything we've ever known and held near and dear to our hearts. I just—I just don't want us to regret anything."

"Are you getting cold feet?"

The concern in his eyes was heartwarming, but it didn't stop the panic from building inside her. "Not cold feet—I mean, I'm just facing reality, Baatar. We could die. We could be leading over people to their deaths."

Baatar gently took Kuvira's hands in his own, a hard, blazing look on his face. "Kuvira, we aren't forcing them to follow us. We've given them the—they've had the opportunity to step out, and none of them have."

Kuvira shook her head and sucked in a breath. "It's not even just that, Baatar. We're turning our backs on the other people of Zaofu. We're turning our backs on your family."

The words hung in the air, and Baatar pursed his lips. He slumped back into the sofa and ran his hands through his hair. "I can't think of how to positively twist that one," he said. "But I think—assuming we succeed in Ba Sin Se—they'll see how much the Earth Kingdom needs our help, and I think that they might join us."
"That was a good attempt," Kuvira said.

Baatar shrugged and gave her a concerned look. "Is there a particular reason why all of this has come on? You've been fine before. Or, at least, you've been fine and haven't expressed any of this concern to me."

"I don't know," Kuvira said. "Maybe it's the fact we're leaving tomorrow. It always just seemed so far away, and now it's right in front of me."

Baatar nodded slowly, and he gently rubbed circles on the back of his hand. "I know we're sacrificing a lot, Kuvira, and I recognize that there are a lot of things that could potentially go wrong, but we can't afford to look at that. We have to focus on what can go right for us."

Kuvira opened her mouth, but quickly shut it. Baatar arched an eyebrow at her and tilted his head. "Does that make you feel any better?"

Kuvira nodded slowly, and Baatar took her into his arms. Kuvira rested her head against his shoulder and her hands clutched the fabric on his shirt. Her concerns were still there, though they were not as strong as they had been earlier, but as she rested in Baatar's grip, she couldn't help but see the end of the storm.