Chapter 3
Republic City Prison- 5 pm
The jail guard pulled back the thick platinum cell bars, letting Suyin follow him in as he went to cuff the woman sitting on the bed, assumedly for the world leader's protection.
"No." Suyin's hand grabbed the guard's sleeve, abruptly halting his advance toward Kuvira. "Leave her be, and give us a moment."
"Ma'am I can't leave you in here with a criminal unattended."
Suyin's eye twitched listening to him call Kuvira a criminal. Stepping between him and Kuvira her brow furrowed. "I don't care if you have to walk around the cell block, but give us a moment."
The guard held her gaze before he sighed. There was no use in angering a world leader. Turning around, he retreated from the cell, grumbling something under his breath about "rich people".
Watching him disappear around the corner Suyin's face softened, as her mind drifted back to Kuvira, who sat on the edge of the bed. Glancing down, Suyin noticed the feeling of an uncommon emptiness within the soles of her feet. 'So, they even managed to line the floor with platinum.' She looked up. '...and no doubt the walls too.'
Gathering her words, Suyin took in the sight of her former employee's new uniform; a looser fit white button up, with a matching tee shirt and pants.
The letters "EM92" stamped in green on the front and back of the shirt; the color white a subtle punishment in itself, giving light to the prison's worst. It made death row look like an absolution. It gave prisoners a false sense of hope. Even though they lived every day knowing that the only reparation for their wrongs, was the loss of their life.
"How are you doing?"
Kuvira sighed and laid down on the thin mattress, closing her eyes as she ran a hand over her face. "I'm doing great." She said, lacing her words with a hint of sarcasm.
Suyin looked down and walked over to Kuvira. "Sorry, I guess that's not the best question to ask." She sat down next to the former Great Uniter, her eyes drifting up to Kuvira's face. Without a second thought Suyin laid a hand on Kuvira's knee, her ears listening to Kuvira's relenting sigh.
"No, I'm sorry. This place just has a way of bringing out my cynicism. I'm doing as good as anybody would be on death row." Kuvira opened her eyes. "In fact, I think I'm taking it rather well." Throwing her legs back over the bed, she watched Suyin's hand slide from her as she sat up. It was the same one with the wedding ring on it. Lifting her own hand, she covered Suyin's, obscuring the metal from her sight. "I'm glad you're here." She said soft.
Looking down, past Kuvira's rolled sleeve, Suyin's eyes set on a mark that was foreign to her. A lightly bruised, half ring indentation near her elbow of what looked like…teeth. "What's this?" Suyin's eyes widened as she picked up Kuvira's arm and examined the mark closer, seeing the other half of the ring continued on the underside of her forearm.
"It's a bite mark." She stated almost proudly. "Guess they wanted to see if the Great Uniter was really made of steel." Kuvira chuckled.
"How can you laugh about that?"
"I don't have much of a choice in here." Kuvira looked over and into Suyin's unrelenting eyes, then back down as her arm was let go.
"What happened Kuvira?" Suyin paused as she stared at the woman next to her, hoping for some definitive answer explaining the Great Uniter's actions. Seeing the person she had grown so close to on death row still felt surreal; like it wasn't really happening. Suyin's eyes silently examined the side of Kuvira's face, just confirming to herself that the woman next to her was very real. Kuvira's hair was done in its normal braid. But the shorter strands had escaped, most falling to one side of her face. Although the vibrant green color to her eyes still looked washed out, her face looked more rested than it had in the courtroom.
Every instinct told Suyin, this was still Kuvira. But now, Kuvira was also the Great Uniter, and the same was true in reverse. Yet, Suyin still couldn't fathom that her seemingly gentle and quiet guard, had such a darkness running through her.
"You were the best at everything." Suyin started soft, watching a slight crease form in Kuvira's brow. "…The best metal bender, the best guard…" Suyin stopped. She could've gone on and on, listing out everything Kuvira excelled in. But instead, she just looked down. "So what happened? Why did you do this?"
Out of the corner of her eye, Kuvira gave Suyin a brief glance. She could feel an unabsolved tension lingering between them. But even through the heaviness, Kuvira still felt the comfort and warmth she always did with Suyin beside her. All in all, she had to admit she was surprised Suyin wasn't still holding an angry grudge against her. But as the silence carried on, Kuvira noticed that she also felt something else coming from the older woman, remorse.
'hmm…maybe that's why she's being friendly.' Kuvira turned her head away so Suyin wouldn't catch her smirk. 'Then again, she didn't come see me for almost 7 months.' Her smirk faded.
Those months in jail were hard. It wasn't so much the hostile environment that bothered her, but her own thoughts. The silence in that first dingy solitary cell, nearly drove her mad, as her thoughts became her worst enemy.
There was no escape from them. Even the depths of sleep weren't enough to drive them away. She tossed and turned, sometimes waking with a start when the nightmares became too real.
But soon Kuvira got used to it, and her once restless days passed with peace, as she learned to deal with the thoughts she had compartmentalized for so long.
Still, she was relieved when they moved her to an open-bar cell. Even if she was locked in, Kuvira found an odd solace in hearing the daily sounds and chatter of the prison. It almost reminded her of the Earth Kingdom streets and alleys she roamed with her friends, all of them homeless too.
"Because you wouldn't." Kuvira finally spoke, setting her sights on the open cell door as she stood and moved over to the bars. "I wanted the Earth Kingdom to be the best." She stared out, the Great Uniter's determination showing as a glimmer in her eyes. But before it could take over, she looked down. That was the truth, yet only a portion of it.
"…There's more to it than that." Suyin gently pushed. "You changed, into a person I couldn't recognize." She shook her head.
"We've talked about this before, haven't we?" Kuvira's hand reached out and grabbed one of the bars. Hearing silence from Suyin, she figured the matriarch had forgotten that confrontation in Zaofu. "You barged onto my office that day, with chains still around your wrists…" Kuvira smirked at that memory. "And I remember you telling me that same thing. And what did I tell you?"
For a second, Suyin stayed quiet, actually thinking the question was rhetorical. "You told me, that I had taken in a street rat…" Suyin's jaw clenched. "And turned her into something I could recognize."
"And after that I told you, maybe, you never really knew who I was." Kuvira turned around, her softened eyes connecting with Suyin's. "Nothing I've said has been a lie Su. Greatness for the Earth Kingdom is really what I wanted." She glanced away, breaking their eye contact. "The rest doesn't matter anymore." Kuvira turned back to the bars. She looked out to the dimly lit lights hanging from the prison ceiling, and then over to their guard talking to one of his buddies a few cells down.
Staring into the letters printed on Kuvira's back, Suyin stayed silent, fighting an urge to demand answers to the questions she wanted to ask.
She wasn't stupid. She knew "the rest" probably had to do with what happened between them.
Suyin glanced to the side then down. Nearly every facet of their relationship had been torn to pieces. The only thing left was for them to become enemies. But that wasn't a conversation for now. All of that could wait until later, when Kuvira was back in Zaofu, and they had a little more privacy than an open cell.
"You should go."
Kuvira's soft words broke Suyin from her thoughts, as she looked up to the woman with tired eyes, not knowing what emotion to show anymore.
"Really Su, I don't want to talk about this. What's done is done." Kuvira spoke with a stern finality set in her words. She knew Suyin well enough to hear the matriarch's impending questions playing out in her mind, as she felt Suyin's impatience stir through the air's tension.
A soft exhale escaped from Suyin's mouth as she looked at her feet. "There's a way."
"A way for what?"
"That's what I came here to tell you…" Suyin quieted, her hands folding together in front of her, her elbows sliding to her knees. "But there is a way for you to escape this."
Kuvira turned to her with curiosity looming in her eyes.
"But it requires a big sacrifice." Suyin's focus stayed locked onto her hands.
Kuvira hesitated to ask what. Did she really want to know? Did she really want whatever costly redemption this was? "…Just tell me."
"The court has agreed to the terms that, you can be exonerated of the death penalty, and come back to Zaofu -under house arrest…" Suyin struggled to finish the sentence. "…if you allow Korra to take away your bending...permanently."
Kuvira stared down at her, her brow furrowing. She thought about it, and about how good even an ounce of freedom would feel. Nice clothes, good food, and with Suyin supervising her and the guards working, it would be the best prison sentence offered. "…No."
Suyin's head shot up.
"No." Kuvira said softer, turning her back to Suyin once more.
Suyin stood. "You can't be serious." Her words came out simmering as she waited for Kuvira to turn around and accept her offer. After all, she'd be an idiot not to.
But the Great Uniter never did. Instead, she just stood looking out through the cell bars with a hand stuck in her pocket.
"You're saying you'd rather die here, than take this offer."
"…you should go Su." Kuvira sighed. "I've made my decision."
As anger at this irrationality overtook her, Suyin stood at a loss of words. She couldn't understand how, or why Kuvira could say "No", and after she had just narrowly convinced the council to drop the penalty. Storming out of the cell without a word came to Suyin's mind, as her eyes bored unforgiving holes into the woman's back.
If Kuvira wanted to rot in prison just to keep her sense of pride, then so be it. But when it came time for the noose to be placed over her head, she wouldn't be in the audience.
At that thought Suyin looked away, the anger trying to soften from her face. She couldn't let that happen. This was Kuvira's only chance. She had to try again. She had to convince an inconvincible person. Her brow furrowed once more, and she took a few steps towards Kuvira. "Are you stupid?"
Kuvira turned over her shoulder. Suyin's blunt words had gotten her attention.
"Many in here would love to have the privilege you get. That's why they hate you so much." Suyin scolded her. "To throw away a chance like this is to spit in their faces."
"No Su…It's the opposite." Kuvira started. "To take a chance like that, to lessen the sentence I've been given, is to "spit in their faces"." She pushed off the bar and moved over to Suyin, stopping just a foot away as she looked down, searching the matriarch's irate eyes for some understanding.
Laying her hand against Suyin's cheek, Kuvira gave her a soft smile, and wasn't the least bit surprised when Suyin didn't jerk away.
But even then, the older woman still tried to maintain her angry face.
"I know what you're doing...But I can't lose my bending." Kuvira took her eyes away from Suyin's, and watched her thumb ever so gently brush over the skin beneath it. It felt good to reach out and touch Suyin without the restriction of chains around her wrists. "And even though a part of me wants to come home…" She paused, looking down into the woman's clothing, as a fleeting memory of the familiar warmth of her guard's uniform passed.
Still, she shook her head. "…I can't do that either."
Suyin took Kuvira's hand from her cheek, but held onto her wrist. "Kuvira, you're acting as though this is just some regular sentence." The furrow in her brow deepened. "I don't think you've grasped the concept, that death means there is no freedom after you "serve your time"." She squeezed Kuvira's wrist. "Please. Don't throw this away."
"It almost sounds like you're begging me." Kuvira smirked. "That's rare for you."
Keeping Kuvira's wrist in her hand, Suyin brought her arm down to her side; her eyes dropping to the floor as another sigh escaped. "You only get one chance. And once you tell me your choice is final, that's it."
"There will be consequences for you, if I'm seen back in Zaofu-"
"That is the least of my concerns. No, it isn't even a concern." Suyin felt Kuvira break from her grasp, as she watched the woman walk away. "Kuvira please be rational about this." She pushed. "Don't make a stupid decision-"
"No Su."
Suyin watched Kuvira sit on the hard slab of a bed, their eyes meeting. "I won't take that as your final answer." She turned and made her way toward the cell entrance, stopping with her hand resting on one of the dull bars. "I'll come back in a few days. And by then I expect a better answer."
Kuvira smirked. "There's only two ways to answer that question Su."
Turning over her shoulder, Suyin threw Kuvira a smirk of her own. "Exactly. And I know you're not that crazy." A darkness fell into Suyin's voice, a glare in her eyes. "So…think wisely." She looked away and out into the cell block. "I'll be back in three days. That should give you plenty of time." She walked out leaving Kuvira without a goodbye, and Kuvira knew why.
Following Suyin with her eyes until she disappeared from sight, Kuvira looked around the cell and smiled when her gaze fell to the ground between her feet.
A.N. The confrontation I refer to in here is from my story "A Rift Between Us". Hope you liked this. :)
