171 AG
Suyin's guest house had such a wonderful view of the city. Kuvira watched as tiny flickers of light entered the room at either end of the closed curtains at the large window. She tried to imagine what it must look like outside on such a cold, bright, windy day. She could hear the breeze blowing through the trees, and the waterfall at the edge of the grounds flowing down onto rocks. The metal chimes hanging on the porch outside were making pretty sounds as they knocked against each other in the wind, and she thought she could hear a game of power disc being played off in the distance.
She felt entirely at peace in the darkened room. The room she'd come to in the morning after arriving at rehearsal only to find that Suyin had cancelled. Kuvira hadn't been able to hide her smile as she took a rail car to Suyin's estate. They had certainly perfected this game of theirs. No more meaningful glances after rehearsal, or just before the end of Kuvira's watch. When Suyin cancelled dance rehearsal, Kuvira knew where to go.
Using the guest house had been Kuvira's idea, but it was Suyin who made it happen.
Kuvira could still taste Suyin on her lips. She turned her head to look at her as she slept. Her eyes were soft. A dreamless sleep. Suyin didn't seem to ever have trouble sleeping. Kuvira couldn't help but be a little jealous. Sleep had never come easily for her.
Of course, in Suyin's bed she had always slept like a rock.
Even with Suyin's eyes closed, and her lips sealed, and her breathing soft and shallow, Kuvira couldn't say the words. She swallowed up the words that wanted to spill out, uncontrollably, and scatter themselves across the floor like tiny pieces of paper. Impossible to pick back up; impossible to ignore.
She knew that words were just empty air.
Kuvira touched Suyin's cheek. She thought her hand might feel cold, but Suyin didn't open her eyes. They stayed shut, and her lips stayed slightly parted. Those lips. A shiver ran up Kuvira's spine. Those lips knew her; knew her more than she knew herself. She sucked in a sharp breath.
Everything still felt like a dream. Had she really come this far? From a shack in Ba Sing Se to Suyin Beifong's bed? But it was more than that.
It was so much more than that.
Purple light. Kuvira noticed it first in thin lines on the wall, and as she turned her head towards the window the light got deeper and brighter. She slipped out from under the covers and pushed herself off the bed. She stepped over to the window and pulled back the curtain.
The sky was glowing. Purple, with green and blue streaks in the sky. She pulled the curtain wider and stared up in awe. It was terrible and beautiful at the same time. A memory clicked into place in her mind and she realized what she was looking at.
"Spirit lights…" Suyin whispered from behind her. She turned her head. Suyin had pulled herself up to sit in bed. Her eyes were wide as she stared up at the sky.
"Above Zaofu?" Kuvira said severely, and she turned her head back. "Why?"
"I don't know," Suyin said, sounding worried. She stood up and started to put her clothing back on. Kuvira did the same.
"I need to get on the coms," Suyin said quickly. Her expression was hardened, determined. The softness that had come with sleep had faded away.
"Let me come with you," Kuvira stood up straighter. She was in her dance clothing, but her face was that of a soldier.
"I'm… I need to check in with my family first," Suyin said, looking away quickly, "I don't think you should join me."
Kuvira could hear the thinly veiled guilt in Suyin's voice and it made her stomach take a turn. She set her jaw, and kept her expression as blank as possible.
"Right," she said coolly. "I'll start preparing the guard for full lock-down."
"Thank you. I'll catch up with you later," Suyin said, and she hurried across the room to give the younger woman a brief hug and a peck on the cheek. When Suyin pulled away, they looked into each other's eyes briefly. The spirit lights played on her face. Kuvira's own expression was backlit by them, and dark with shadow.
After Suyin made her exit, Kuvira turned back to the window and looked up at the sky. The eerie purple glow was unsettling. It made Kuvira feel a deep sense of dread. She forced the feeling away.
It wasn't supposed to turn out like this.
It was then that she looked down, across the garden. Opal Beifong was standing quite still, staring back at her. Kuvira recognized her, though the two of them had never exchanged more than a few words. Opal's eyes were wide, and her lips were thin. She had seen everything.
Kuvira smirked.