A/N: Hello! Thank you for continuing to follow these oneshots. The next prompt is "Power," and I immediately thought of Kuvira. Her characterization was so interesting. I hope you enjoy! Please review!
For quite awhile, they sat quietly across the table from each other. She couldn't look at him, so instead she focused on the shine of the overhead light on the corner of the wooden table. Out of the corner of her eye, she spied the guards posted along the wall, always monitoring. The chairs in this visiting room were metal, and she reveled in the thrum her element sent down her spine. It had been so long since she felt that power around her; for so long now, she had been surrounded by wood – wooden handcuffs and a wooden cage.
Finally he spoke: "How—how are you, Kuvira?"
"Well enough." The arc of light on the table gleamed brightly. ". . . And you?"
She couldn't say his name.
"I'm doing well. I've applied for a position at Future Industries."
She looked up at him in surprise and drank in his appearance. His hair had grown back. She was whisked back to three years ago when they loaded the airship together to leave Zaofu, when the Earth Empire was a dream they both nurtured, and she suddenly had the power to make that dream a reality.
"That sounds like a great opportunity for you," she murmured.
He pushed his glasses further up his nose. "I don't know when I'll hear back from them. Miss Sato is still on vacation with the Avatar, but even when she does get back . . ." He sighed. "I don't know if I'll be wanted there."
"You're a brilliant engineer," she declared with conviction. "They'd be crazy not to hire you."
"I—thanks." He smiled.
Kuvira lowered her gaze. His smile hurt.
They sat in silence again. The silences between them used to be companionable, full of tea, battle plans, and designs for new inventions. Now the silence weighed heavily between them. He cleared his throat and tapped his finger on the table.
"I read in the newspaper about your upcoming trial," he finally said.
Kuvira nodded slowly. She realized that must be the reason he came to see her in the first place. She noticed the tension in his shoulders and admired the strength it must have taken for him to come today. After what she'd done to him—if their places had been switched—
"Are your lawyers preparing you well?"
His question broke her contemplation. "Yes, they are. We will mount a defense, but I don't expect to win. I am prepared to accept whatever punishment is decided. I will accept the consequences of my actions."
He frowned but nodded. Suyin and Lin had petitioned Raiko, and Kuvira also advocated for his freedom—she agreed to cooperate in all things as long as any punishment against him excluded prison time. Before, she had not treasured his freedom. She refused to make the same mistake twice.
The silence descended again. Kuvira rubbed at the chaffed skin underneath her wooden handcuffs. The thrum of the metal whirred in her blood, and she turned her attention to the arc of light on the table again.
He took off his glasses and polished the lenses on his sleeve. "I should probably head out. I need to catch a train."
"Of course," she replied.
He stood and turned to leave.
"Baatar," she called. He paused. "I hope you've been able to work things out with your family. And . . . I'm sorry for hurting you."
He pulled the chair back out and sat again. His green eyes bored into her, and then he reached out and held her hand. The wooden handcuffs scratched against the metal table.
Kuvira remembered how he had held her hand on that summer evening after they had incorporated half of the provinces into the Earth Empire. His mecha suits were a great success, and they stood on a hill looking down on the newest addition to their Empire. He clutched her hand in excitement and pride. He turned her toward him and got down on one knee.
In that moment, she felt like the most powerful person on the planet.
"Baatar," she breathed as his hand traveled past the handcuffs to touch her long unbound hair. She closed her eyes at the sensation.
"I like your hair like this," he murmured.
She opened her eyes and smiled at him. "I like yours."
He looked down and dropped his hand. "I love you, Kuvira. I always will."
"I love you too, Baatar." She meant it.
When he left, she wondered if she would ever see him again.
As the guards returned her to her wooden cell, she replayed his voice in her mind. He loved her, and she loved him. No matter what happened, that was a power she would always have.
