Title: Getting to know you

Fandom: Avatar: The Legend of Korra

Pairing: Korra / Kuvira

Rating: PG

Notes: Thoughts, reviews, favs, follows, PMs.

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The Captain sits nervously next to Korra's bedside averting her eyes holding the bouquet of flowers in her hand. She'd made up her mind last night that she was going to try doing things differently this time around. Korra was worth it. Showing her emotions wasn't exactly her forte but she would do it if she had to.

The two women sit in silence for a full minute looking everywhere but at each other.

Korra gulps as their eyes meet for a second. The Avatar averts her eyes. "Ummm, are, are those for me?"

Kuvira looks down at the flowers like she was surprised they were still in her hands. "Oh, uh, right." She immediately stands up from her seat and hands them to Korra. "Here."

The water tribe woman looks down at the flowers then up at Kuvira. "Thanks."

The anxious Captain gazes at her for a second then lowers her eyes. "No problem." She says taking her seat again. She was ridiculously uncomfortable. Kuvira hated hospitals and couldn't stand that the woman she wanted was laid up in one of them.

The young Avatar furrows her brow. This woman was completely different from the one that tried to have her way with her a few days ago. Korra never thought she'd see the militant woman acting so nervous.

They sit in an awkward silence for a few minutes, smiling at one another occasionally.

Kuvira wanted to speak but she was drawing a total blank for some reason. She'd spent the entire night preparing what she was going to say to Korra today but now that she was sitting in front of her she was speechless. This was the exact reason she'd trained herself to keep her feelings in check. Emotional people can't think clearly.

Some part of Kuvira had heard what her ex said to her. Korra wasn't like other women. She was special that's why she'd gotten her attention in the first place. But this was completely new territory for the militant earthbender. Kuvira wasn't used to someone she wanted not being attracted to her. Back in Zaofu it never mattered whether they knew her well enough or not. If she wanted them, they were hers. Even with Su, as much as they cared for one another sentimental feelings never got in the way of what they had together.

The young Captain shuts her eyes and gulps attempting to give herself a quick pep talk when she hears Korra giggle. She opens her eyes. "What?"

The blue-eyed beauty smiles. "Do you always talk to yourself like that?"

Kuvira looks up at her for a moment then lowers her eyes clenching her jaw, not realizing what she was doing. "I, I wasn't…"

Korra notices her change in demeanor. "Hey, it's okay. I get it. If you can't trust your own voice, whose can you trust, right?"

The Captain nods. "Yeah." She needed to get control of herself and fast. She hadn't come to the hospital to make googly eyes at Korra.

They both take in a deep breath at the same time and chuckle a bit at the synchronicity. Then the silence creeps in yet again.

Neither of them can take it any longer. They both speak talking over one another.

"Hey, maybe we…" Korra says.

"Look I wanted to…" Kuvira says as their eyes lock.

"No, you go ahead." They say in unison sighing with embarrassed smirks on their faces.

Kuvira takes a deep breath finding her courage. She was gonna get through this. "Avatar Korra, I came here to talk with you about our conversation the other night."

Korra lowers her eyes. "So you came to apologize?"

"No." The young metalbender says quickly.

Korra furrows her brow. Now she was really confused. What kind of person shows up with flowers after trying to take advantage of someone and doesn't apologize for it.

"I meant everything I said to you Korra. I'm not afraid of my feelings. And to be perfectly honest, my feelings don't require your reciprocation." The green-eyed woman says as her confidence returns with every breath she takes.

"What? Then why are you here?"

Kuvira takes in a deep breath. This was gonna be harder than she thought. "I came to tell you… that you were right."

Korra raises her eyebrows. "A…bout what?"

"About us... knowing one another. I think you're right and I'd…like to try if you're willing. I mean, if you want to." The Captain of the Guard says genuinely.

Korra scoffs shaking her head. Who in the world did Kuvira think she was; spirit's gift to women? "Why? Why would I wanna get to know you, huh? So you saved me and my dad, big deal anybody could have done that. It doesn't mean I'm gonna fall in love with you because of it. And even if I did, it's not like you'd even care. You made it clear the other night that all you wanted was to get me into bed. Why would I want to get to know someone like that?"

The young earthbender lowers her eyes releasing an apprehensive breath. "Korra I...I can't deny that I still want to be intimate with you, alright." Kuvira looks up at her for a moment. "But that's not all I want. It never was."

"What else is there?" Korra asks as she lies back in the bed averting her eyes. Even if she was interested in Kuvira, what could she possibly do for her? She was crippled. There was no telling when or even if she was gonna get better or not.

The Captain moves closer to Korra's bed, but she doesn't speak right away. She gently lays her hand next to the Avatar's leg. Korra looks down at her hand. Her eyes widen seeing Kuvira's lips softly kiss her knee. Their eyes lock. Kuvira swallows softly. "You're...different. I've never known anyone like you. I… wanna be by your side. I want to add to your strength. Whatever I have to do to make that happen I'm willing to do." She says lowering her eyes as her stomach tightens. The young Captain wasn't used to doing things like this.

"I wish I could explain why I feel the way I do about you." She releases a trembling breath having never let herself be this vulnerable before. "That's something I honestly don't know, and that's…new for me." Admitting that she didn't have all the answers was really pushing her to her limits. Kuvira looks up finding azure orbs fixed on her.

The young Avatar is taken aback. Kuvira had finally let her guard down. She could see it on her face.

Kuvira takes in a deep shaky breath. She hated opening herself up like this, but she needed Korra to know that she was serious. "But what I do know is that the very thought of being by your side just feels right to me. And that rightness is a feeling I trust even if it doesn't make sense to others. Korra…"

The young earthbender says lowering her eyes again. "I…know I came on pretty strong, but that's only because it takes someone just as strong to stand up to me. You're that strong. I can only hope that you'll consider getting to know me. Maybe we can see how strong we can be together, whether it be as friends or lovers." The young metalbender releases a relieved breath then stands to her feet. She can't read the expression on Korra's face, but she doesn't need to. She'd said what she meant to say and that was the only goal she had for meeting Korra today.

She straightens her jacket and clears her throat. "That's all I wanted to say. I apologize if I've taken up your time." She moves to leave the room.

"Kuvira." The water tribe woman says with a furrowed brow. Kuvira stops at the door, keeping her back turned. "Why? Why are you doing all this? Why would you want someone like me? Can't you see the condition I'm in?"

The green-eyed metalbender lowers her head. "All I can see is that you haven't made up your mind about what you wanna be yet. The woman I want is strong. I have no doubts about that. I look forward to a time when you have no doubts either." She says opening the door running into Asami in the process.

Two sets of green eyes are locked into each other for a breathless moment.

Asami narrows her eyes as Kuvira moves past her. "Pardon me." The Captain says nonchalantly as though Asami were just some random passerby.

The young CEO shuts her eyes and clinches her fist trying to control herself. She shakes off her anger then heads into her friend's room.

Her heart just about stops, seeing the dragon lilies on Korra's lap. They were from Kuvira. Was there something going on between them? She gulps. "Oh, those flowers are nice, can I put them in some water for you?"

Korra nods and hands them her. "Thanks."

Asami swallows softly. "No problem. How are you feeling today?" The heiress clenches her jaw now repeating a mantra over and over in her mind. 'Don't ask her about Kuvira. Don't ask her about Kuvira. Don't ask her about Kuvira.'

"I'm fine." Korra says now staring out the window deep in thought. There was no way Kuvira was serious about her.

Asami puts the vase on the bedside table then picks up Korra's schedule for the day. "The doctors want to try pool therapy today. That should be fun huh? Uhh, Korra?"

The blue-eyed beauty turns to her. "Yeah?"

"I was asking about pool therapy. That'll probably be fun for you right?" Asami says with a bit of hope in her voice. This was the most she and Korra had spoken in the last few days since their argument.

Korra rolls her eyes. "When is therapy ever fun? It's not like I can swim or anything right now."

'Don't ask her about Kuvira. Don't ask her about Kuvira. Don't ask her about Kuvira.' Asami starts to busy herself in the closet, pulling out some fresh sheets. "So how was Kuvira?" She immediately stops moving, gulps, then shuts her eyes awaiting her friend's tongue lashing.

The Avatar stares at Asami for a second then lowers her eyes. "She…thinks I'm strong."

The young CEO breathes out through puckered lips slowly opening her eyes. She needed to be careful with her words. "She's right. You are."

Korra looks up as Asami turns around with a smile holding a few sheets in her arms. Korra watches her friend as she silently unfolds the sheets for her bed.

Asami decides it's best to keep her mouth shut for a while. If she said anything wrong she'd be in the doghouse again. They were finally communicating and she didn't want to ruin it. If Korra wanted to talk with her, she would let her do it when she was ready.

The doctors come by and Korra starts her day of treatments and therapies.

6:00 pm

Korra lies in bed still deep in thought. Kuvira would be leaving for Zaofu tomorrow. Was she really going to leave things like this? For better or worse the woman had pretty much poured her heart out to her and Korra didn't feel like Kuvira was trying to deceive her. She wanted what she wanted and Korra could respect that. But what should she do about it?

"Hey Asami?"

The raven haired beauty raises her eyebrows as she pulls up the sheets on Korra's bed. "Yeah?"

"Can I, ask you something…personal?" Korra says nervously.

"Sure. You can ask me anything."

Korra takes in a deep breath. "How would you feel if someone that you knew, who'd been a big help to you, who even saved your life… said they wanted to be with you? Like...with you, with you."

The heiress' heart begins beating so hard she feels like it's going to burst through her chest. Was this really happening? Was Korra going to confess to having feelings for her? Like seriously. It was so sudden. They'd only started talking with one another again just a few hours ago. This couldn't really be happening. "Oh umm, well I guess I'd, I mean, I…" She looks up into Korra's eyes. "I might… wanna be with them too."

The young Avatar lowers her eyes. "What if, it was a woman?"

Asami gulps trying to find the right words as her stomach does back flips. It was actually happening. What should she say? "Oh, uh, I'd, I, I mean if it were me... I'd be open to it."

"Really?" Korra says pretty surprised by her friend's answer.

Asami smirks trying to act cool. "Yeah, I mean, why should guys have all the fun right?"

The water tribe woman takes a deep breath averting her eyes again. "Right. Thanks."

Asami chews on her inner cheek as she looks everywhere but at Korra. "Yeah, no problem." She says sitting down in the recliner in the corner. The anxious CEO pretends to check over some papers as she peaks up at Korra periodically, wondering what her friend was thinking.

'Maybe I should make the first move. Wait was that Korra's way of making a move. Oh no, what if she's waiting on me to do something. What should I do? Oh I know, I'll get her a gift. Something that says I want to be with her too.' The heiress thinks to herself. It would also give her an excuse to leave the room so she can practice what she's gonna say to her. "Uh, hey I've gotta go check on something. I'll be back in half an hour or so." Asami says.

"Oh, okay." Korra says furrowing her brow wondering why Asami seemed to be in a hurry all of a sudden.

Korra gulps closing her eyes unable to get Kuvira off of her mind. Are you gonna be weak or strong? Kuvira had asked her. Korra wanted nothing more in the world than to be strong again. To feel like she was in control again. What could it hurt just to test the waters? After all, it didn't really seem like it mattered to Kuvira either way. Even Asami said she would give it a try. Korra picks up the phone and calls for a car to meet her downstairs. She leaves a note for Asami at the nurse's station.

Thirty minutes later…

Korra takes in a deep breath as she rolls through the double doors of the Presidential Suite at the Four Elements hotel.

TBC…