A/N: Well, I haven't been able to get this story out of my head, so I'll keep going. Hope y'all enjoy!
The worst part of the prison wasn't the isolation or darkness or the feeling that the cage was swaying when Kuvira closed her eyes, but every time the elevator doors opened and guards walked out. Kuvira was technically in "protected custody," an optimistic term for solitary confinement, and despite the fact the powers above decided a Hundred Year War-styled prison cell was better than anything modern or humane, there was still a need for so-called "amenities." Depending on how the guards were feeling, two to four times a day, they would come, open her cell door, slap platinum cuffs on her, and drag her off to take a shower, use the restroom, and get blinded by their little patch of outside they'd drop her in. She imagined she'd enjoy the time outdoors more if she wasn't still in such pain, but for the time being, her ribs still weren't healed, the empty, solid wood cell wasn't helping, and the guards were oblivious.
Sometime after her first meal (one of the guards had mentioned it being morning), Kuvira watched as two guards strode across the bridge. She'd gotten through a complete mental decision to try to braid her hair, but had only managed to reach behind and stop because of the pain.
"Let's go, Great Uniter!" one of the guards said.
Working on a security force for years, Kuvira became an expert at identifying individuals even while in uniform, but she hadn't bothered to learn these guards' faces. Maybe her thoughts were elsewhere, or maybe she just wanted to dehumanize them as much as possible, giving her more room for the hatred coursing through her veins. Besides, they called her Great Uniter, so why should she call them by their names?
She hadn't slept well in what must've been a few days, and there was nothing enticing about being led outside her cell. She looked away, pretending she hadn't heard them. If only they hadn't already seen that she was awake, she could've pretended to be asleep.
The other guard opened the cell door, whistling to himself.
"C'mon, Empress, we can't even try today? Don't wanna lose motivation this soon into the sentence," the first guard said as he crossed his arms.
"I don't need to go," Kuvira answered. Let them interpret it as they wanted.
The whistling guard kept coming forward.
"It's shower day, and if anything, sweetheart, it's for us, not you," the first guard said.
Kuvira wondered if she made these guys' jobs difficult enough that they'd switch her into a cell where she could be more self sufficient.
"Just grab her, Suk," the first guard said to the whistling one.
Kuvira watched every step Suk took, but it didn't prepare her for what he did. He looked her up and down, brushed his hand off on his pants leg, and grabbed her bare hand.
Don't touch me! It took everything in her to keep the thought in her head and keep her facade.
He pulled her up in one jerk, his force knocking the breath out of her, taking her from the floor to her feet without her moving a muscle. The pain surged, burning and aching, less like thousands of burning stakes going into her side and more like she was being ripped apart. She couldn't help it. She cried out in pain and fell like a rag doll into the guard's chest.
"Spirits, Suk, what'd you do to her? She's crying now!" the unnamed guard said, laughing.
Suk was still holding her hand. He wore gloves, but she could imagine the sweat and grime he kept within them. She could imagine what he did with those hands, what he was—what he was doing to her right then. He'd started with his grip like a handshake, but now he was interlacing his fingers with hers. She clenched her fists and tried to bring one to her ribs.
"Forgot to put the handcuffs on, too," the guard continued as he produced a pair of cuffs. "Hold her up while I put 'em on."
Suk could've used half his brain and grabbed Kuvira from under her arms, but Su and Lin had clearly picked these guys just to drive the paying point home, and the guard grabbed her by her waist. His meaty hand locked around her ribs and squeezed to keep grip.
If she wasn't already blubbering in pain, she started as he held her. This couldn't be her fate. She'd done some horrible deeds, but was this going to be the rest of her life?
"P-Please move your h-h-han—" she breathed.
"Done!" Nameless said, and Suk dropped her.
Kuvira could only assume they thought she could stand on her own.
"Forget this! Just grab one of her arms. Let Torma deal with her," Nameless said.
Each one took one of her arms, and with both of them being so much taller than her, they literally carried her with her feet off the ground the whole way there. The stretch did a number on her ribs, so she held her breath and tried to put as much weight onto her arms as she could. She thought about wrapping her legs around them to distribute the strain, but took the pain. Suk still held her hand, and he didn't need any more contact.
"I like you better in your prison garb," Suk whispered to her, as if the Nameless couldn't hear. "You show more skin. Your lover-boy must've had some view once that uniform came off."
She tried not to think about Baatar. Earlier on in their relationship, physical contact was as effortless as breathing, but each day Kuvira had to harden up for the campaign, the less loving everything became. What was once ruled by love and playfulness became an act to vent frustration. Besides, especially in the past several months, there wasn't much time anyway. Each of them had hardly slept, spent even less time in bed, even less time together alone in bed.
She closed her eyes, a memory of one of their few nights together nudging its way in. She tried to banish it, but indulgence won the instantaneous battle. It was a few years into rebuilding the Earth Kingdom, plans all set for the next day, a train bulleting toward one of the states in order to sign a contract. She'd already changed into her nightclothes and was removing her makeup when Baatar walked in. He'd taken the cloth she'd been using and tried to remove her eyeliner, only to smudge it all around her eye. She'd laughed, properly wiped off the makeup, and wiped the residue onto his cheek. She teased him, and he stopped her before she pulled out another with a kiss. She could still remember the way he tasted, the feeling of complete weightlessness and trust as he picked her up and dropped the two of them onto the bed, pillows scattering as they melted together.
To think it had been less than two years since that night, and here she was, injured, defeated, a monster rotting in prison, Baatar as far away as her parents.
Nameless and Suk handed Kuvira off to Torma, one of the few female guards, as if it'd make it any less humiliating to shower in front of a female over a male. Korra had come in twice more with the sake, and Kuvira'd almost gotten used to being numb before she showered, giving her enough strength to grit through showers without anyone's help. But, Korra hadn't come today, and Kuvira wouldn't be surprised if Suk set back whatever healing she'd gone through, so she might as well suck it up and face the inevitable now.
"Hey Torma, the mental anguish must've transferred to something physical today. The Great Uniter's going to need some help," Nameless said.
Suk and Nameless all but dumped Kuvira into Torma. Now in a woman's arms, it certainly felt less oppressive, but it also reminded her of that flash of a moment when Korra had held her after they were blasted into the Spirit World. It had been such a dizzying, unreal moment. It was so unreal because, in that moment, she had never felt so cared for and secure.
And there was no way in hell she'd ever tell Korra that. Not while she still had an ounce of her pride.
Then again, that was steading going down the drain.
Kuvira did what she could to remove her own clothing, but she didn't get very far. Torma did the rest, removing every article slowly and with the sort of gentleness one would expect from a compassionate human being.
Torma gasped after removing Kuvira's shirt.
"There's more bruising here than healthy skin. When did you get this?" Kuvira didn't answer. "I'll assume somewhere between falling out of the giant robot and being blasted into the Spirit World. C'mon, we should be able to make this quick."
There was no way Kuvira could stand, and at this point in her descent into a complete bottom feeder, there was substantial chance that she'd slip in the shower and break something else, so she cowered into a corner for its entirety. Torma lathered shampoo through her hair and spread soap onto the spots Kuvira couldn't reach, careful to be extra gentle on the bruised area. Kuvira said nothing, practically did nothing, feeling the burn in her cheeks and the knowledge that Torma could see how embarrassed Kuvira was in equal measures.
The guard left her at the very end, Kuvira able to spread the soap on her hands as little as she could and let the water pummel her clean. The water was cold to lukewarm, and she counted her blessings that they even gave her biweekly showers, but all she could think about was how she was sitting naked in a shower practically unable to move with a person being paid to help her waiting outside, who knew her body more than anyone Kuvira ever loved did.
Knowing the water would cover for her, she let the tears flow freely. She remembered the first time she'd cried in this prison. The guard who delivered her food made a comment about her smeared makeup. At least now the tear stains weren't visible. Just the damn bruises.
Korra came in later that day, all smiles and liquid contraband as usual.
"You look fresher, somehow," Korra commented.
"Shower," Kuvira answered.
Korra nodded. "Did you ask for that as a privilege or do they force you? Zaheer seemed so greasy when I saw him that I figured they didn't let prisoners have them."
Kuvira quirked a brow, and shook her head. "Is the Earth Em—Kingdom still standing?"
Korra laughed. "Yes. The states are still transitioning between your empire and Wu's proposed government, and I think it'll take a while, but it's on its way."
"What's he proposing?"
"A democracy."
How had that idiot come up with that? She hated to think she could give the prince credit. Korra looked down at the cup, still filled with water.
"This would be a lot easier if they gave you two cups." She played with the alcohol, removing it from the flask and whisking it around the cage, through the bars. "I talked to Lin the other day, and she said this isn't your permanent cell. Said it was your mental strength that made you the most dangerous, and that they wanted to truly beat you down before putting you into protected custody somewhere else. I guess they didn't believe your apology and wanted to make sure you weren't planning anything."
That should've relieved Kuvira, but all she could think about was that not only had Su not accepted her apology, but that she refused to believe that it had been genuine. It really shouldn't surprise her. Kuvira had seen how ballistic Su got when Aiwei betrayed Zaofu to the Red Lotus. Once someone seemed even a slight threat to Su and Su's Family, they were enemies through and through. To think Su could give pirates second chances, but not her own adoptive daughter.
"How long?" Kuvira asked.
"I'm not sure." Korra glanced over Kuvira's shoulder. "Is the shower in exchange for a blanket and pillow?"
Kuvira huffed. "Just give me the sake and go back to your friends outside. It's been a tough day."
Korra nodded. "Sure."
The Avatar did the same trick as last time, suspending the water in the air, transferred the sake into the cup, and waited until Kuvira had drunk to replace the water.
Kuvira thanked Korra, and Korra disappeared. The pain was duller than earlier that day, but it was constant, and just feeling it was exhausting. She'd definitely re-injured it that morning with those moronic guards; it hadn't hurt this bad in a while.
Too tired to move, she fell asleep right at the front of her cell.
She dreamt of Baatar and the soft touch he'd always used whenever his fingers brushed over her exposed skin. He'd understood her aversion to human contact even without a fully functional excuse and had taken time to gain her trust. She had loved him so much for it. She could still remember how it felt when he dug his hand into her nightshirt and ran his fingers up and down her side.
She awoke to that same side engulfed in pain. She opened her eyes and found Korra reaching into the cell, Kuvira's shirt pushed up and Korra's hand on her bruise.
"What are you doing?" Kuvira snapped as she startled away.
"Stop, I'm not done!" Korra whispered sharply.
"Don't ever do that again!"
Kuvira reminded herself that the guards must still be around if Korra was.
"Sorry. The guards were talking about how they had to drag you out of here today, and I remembered your ribs and I thought I could at least see if there's any more damage."
"There was a reason I wore gloves," Kuvira hissed.
"Sorry. Really, I just wanted to help. They've been broken again, if you wanted to know. Another few weeks to recover, and you can say the sake's working, but I know it's not proper pain medication. I could fix this right now."
Kuvira pulled her shirt down and put her hand over the area. "And then what? Don't you think the guards would notice that I'm suddenly healed or that you're touching me through the bars? I'm not getting more time because they think we're plotting an escape. Just leave it."
Korra stopped, and several moments passed in which Kuvira thought she had won. The dusty environment got to her, and she sneezed, resulting in the worst shot of pain since Suk nearly took her arm off.
"Okay, that's it, you're clearly out of your mind," Korra said.
Korra created a makeshift pair of handcuffs by freezing water connecting Kuvira's arm and legs to parts the bars. While Kuvira struggled, Korra reached inside the cell again, water covering one hand and the other lifting the bottom of Kuvira's shirt again.
"I can't wait to hear you thanking me," Korra muttered as she put her hand on the bruise.
Kuvira expected pain when Korra touched her, but the only feeling that lasted was that of the cold water hitting her skin. Then, it started to feel good. The ever-present stabbing pain began to dull. She felt something inside her reset. It was kind of miraculous.
Korra smiled a bit when Kuvira looked up at her. "It's incredible, isn't it? Earth's a very versatile element, but water has always had such a range to it for me. Makes me proud to be a water bender first."
When Korra removed her hand, the stabbing pain was completely gone, and it was only when she breathed that the dull pain returned.
"One of your ribs was about to stab your lung, so I reset that one. I just cleaned up the new damage for the new ones. Figured that's all Captain Kuvira would let me do."
As she spoke, she removed more water, formed it into a small disk, and froze it.
She handed it to Kuvira. "Maybe ice will work better than sake, at least until it melts."
Korra melted the ice shackles, cleaned up the water, and offer a smile.
"Next time, trade your shower for a pillow. I heard if you put it against your ribs when you breathe it lessens the pain."
As Kuvira watched Korra walk out, she knew there was no way to deny the Avatar's intentions.
There was also no way to deny how much Kuvira was looking forward to Korra returning.
She rubbed her temples and laid back down. That was enough for one day.