Title: The Trophy Wife
Rating: M
Words: 2363
Fandom: The Legend of Korra
Characters/Pairings: Everyone; Amorra, unrequited Makorra, Masami
Author's Note: Hopefully this chapter will be less feels destroying that the previous one. This chapter is the first one where I start playing with characterizations regarding the change of situation. So some characters might be off. And I'll probably post a long, ramble-y type author's note explaining certain choices in the not too distant future. Anyway in this chapter:

The Lieutenant still thinks Amon is crazy for accepting Korra's offer, Korra sticks up for her friends, and once again Amon shows that he has hidden layers. Also, Korra proves to be a bit of a BAMF.

In other news, I would like to let you all know that I did seven vignettes for Amorra Week set in The Trophy Wife AU and that there are two stand alone smut stories. All can be found in my One Shot master post on my Tumblr. Check those out if you want more.

Korra awoke the sound of sharp rapping on her door. Despite her desire to hide under the covers until the wedding, she knew that wasn't practical. So she forced herself to crawl out of bed and shuffled unwillingly to the door. She had expected Amon to be waiting for her, and was surprised to find a woman instead.

"Amon sent me to fetch you for breakfast," she said curtly, looking at the Avatar with barely contained disgust.

Korra looked down at her rumpled clothing. She slept in her bindings most of the time, but last night she hadn't even managed a shower before the overwhelming urge to sleep had claimed her. She'd only removed her mukluks and her pelt before collapsing into bed. She sighed. No doubt Amon would be offended by her unkempt appearance, and for some strange reason that made her happy and horrified.

She followed the woman through the familiar corridors to Amon's suite, where she knocked on the door twice, then opened it, announcing Korra's presence. Like the day before, there was a tray of food on the coffee table while Amon sat at his desk doing paper work. Korra entered and the door clicked shut behind her as the Equalist woman removed herself. She sat down and ate without acknowledging Amon at all, chewing her rice with a thoughtful expression.

"Is there something on your mind, Avatar?" Amon asked, not even bothering to look up from whatever document he was going over.

"Not really," she answered truthfully. Her thoughts were scattered, from everything to the preference for Water Tribe cuisine to the fact that he had a couple Northern Water Tribe ceremonial masks on his wall by the door. She'd seen similar ones in her uncle's home. "So you're really Water Tribe?"

"Northern," he answered automatically.

"Were you born in the North or were you born here in Republic City?"

"What does it matter, Avatar?" he asked in exasperation. He was not in the mood for a game of twenty questions.

"I guess it doesn't," she shrugged as she poked at her pickled sea prunes with her chopsticks. "But I know absolutely nothing about you except that you follow some of the customs from the Northern Water Tribe. After I laid my soul bare to you yesterday-"

She cut herself off by stuffing her face with food, but the unsaid statement still hung in the air. She had exposed every, single vulnerability she had to him on the boat ride the night before, and he had simply turned on his heel and walked away. He held all of the cards and it irritated her.

"I was born in the Northern Water Tribe, but moved here when I was a teenager," he explained quietly, head still down as he worked. "This city isn't kind to immigrants, you know, and even less kind to non-benders."

She ate silently, pondering what he had admitted. The problem was that there was a niggling voice in the back of her head telling her that something wasn't quite right. Even though she could tell that he was telling the truth about when he came to Republic City, it didn't really fit the sob story he had told at the rally. Or maybe she was just thinking about it too hard.

An awkward silence fell over the room as Korra finished eating, the only sounds coming from Amon occasionally rifling through papers. When she was done she put the empty dishes on the train and the reclined on the sofa, letting out a contented sigh. She missed Water Tribe food. She dozed for a bit until Amon's voice broke the silence.

"Join me, Avatar, we have business to discuss."

Korra curled her lip in disgust. "More wedding stuff?"

"Thankfully, no. This is about legislation to help non-benders," Amon answered as Korra made her way to the chairs in front of his desk. She flopped gracelessly down and pouted.

"I hate politics," she mumbled.

"Well, seeing as you're the Avatar you're going to be in the middle of them for the rest of your life. You might as well get used to it," he informed her.

A knock on the door cut off her retort, and she looked at Amon in surprise when the lieutenant walked in. "You asked for me, sir?"

"Yes, Lieutenant, I did. Please sit, we have much to do today," Amon answered, gesturing towards the free chair. The lieutenant sat as instructed, but he didn't mask his sneer of disgust at Korra's presence.

"Why is she here?" the lieutenant asked, his voice on edge.

"Seeing as it was her…proposal…that brought us to this point, I felt it was appropriate that she attend," Amon replied as he leaned back in his chair. "She has promised to get us the council's ear, and I think that she should know what her name will be attached to."

Korra shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "Are you sure? I'm too new; I'll only screw things up."

The lieutenant snorted. "For once, I agree."

"Be that as it may, she's still the Avatar, Lieutenant. This is her job and it's high time that she does it," Amon said sharply.

With a sigh, Korra slumped in her chair. "Okay, what's the first order of business?"

Amon launched into his goals, with the lieutenant interrupting every so often to add to the growing list. Korra listened to them talk, all the while trying to determine what she thought would actually make a difference versus what was simply impractical. Obviously she wanted to implement as many of these new laws as possible, but some of them seemed a little ridiculous, if not completely contrary to what the Equalists supposedly wanted. She talked only when she was spoken to, and for once she didn't let her mouth run away from her.

Hey look, patience, she thought wryly as Amon started going over one law in detail.

Korra started to wonder if they'd ever stop when there was a heavy knock on the door.

"Enter," Amon called, not bothering to look up to see who it was.

Turning in her chair, Korra saw four Equalists, without the masks she noted, carry in four trays of food, followed by Hiroshi Sato. She couldn't stop the anger from creeping on to her face, knowing full well how Asami had felt about her father's betrayal. "How about some lunch?" he asked jovially, completely ignoring Korra's presence.

"That would be nice, thank you," Amon stood as he spoke. He and the lieutenant joined Hiroshi on the sofa, leaving Korra sitting awkwardly at the desk.

The three men started eating, talking quietly amongst themselves about what sounded like trivial matters. Articles from that morning's newspaper along with some mystery radio drama they all listened to in the evenings. How oddly mundane.

"Avatar, aren't you going to eat?" Amon asked. Korra turned to see that all three men were looking at her intently. Awkwardly she rose and went to sit down next to Amon, since the lieutenant and Hiroshi took up the other sofa.

She focused on her food, tuning out the conversation around her. It wasn't like she had any idea what they were talking about anyway. Instead the thought more on the legislation Amon and the lieutenant had been drafting. The Big One, as she mentally referred to it, would assure that non-benders would always be included on the city council, and that two more positions would be created, one for a non-bender and one for a bender, that would represent Republic City instead of one of the nations or tribes.

She glanced at Amon from the corner of her eye, noting how he tilted the mask up enough that he could get his chopsticks to his mouth, but not reveal his face. She could see a little bit of his jaw and his lips and noted that they were devoid of any scarring. He had probably been very handsome, or he would have grown up to be very handsome. If he had been telling the truth about the firebender attacking his family and burning his face, that is.

"I don't see why we need the Avatar at all," Hiroshi said, catching Korra's attention. She continued eating as if she hadn't heard, but listened closely. "She's only going to ruin our plans!"

"She can give us a voice with the council and with all of the courts of the world," Amon replied. "That's quite the strategic advantage."

"Yes, but after we have their attention we won't need her any more. I can't stand the idea of the Equalists being tainted by the impurity of bending," Hiroshi grumbled. "She's no better than that street filth my daughter has taken up with."

Korra's head snapped up at that. There was no way that she was going to let him get away with calling Mako and Bolin "street filth." She glared him. "Those are some pretty strong words for someone who came from nothing," she said tightly. He merely harrumphed softly in response. "I can't tell what offends you more, the fact that Mako's a bender or that he's poor. Both of which are ridiculous reasons to not like a person, especially coming from someone who tells everyone he ever meets that he came from humble beginnings."

Amon leaned back and cocked his head, interested to see where this was going.

"It's interesting, you preach about equality as you live in your mansion while people starve in the streets. Are you going to do anything about the inequality of wealth in this city, or are benders your only priority? It seems a shame to preach about equality but only apply it to one group in particular. Shall we wage war on the rich, now? Are we going to stand up for the poor and the homeless? Honestly, Hiroshi, with all of your wealth you could help so many people, and yet you don't. Why is that?" Her gaze narrowed. "Really, all that money for yourself, using it for your own selfish wants while others suffer, you're no better than the benders you hate."

Stunned silence filled the room. Both Hiroshi and the lieutenant were looking at her in slack jawed surprise. Then someone started clapping.

Korra turned her head to see that Amon was applauding her. Her face flushed and she ducked her head in embarrassment. "I can't believe I just said all of that out loud…"

"Bravo, Avatar, bravo," Amon said when he stopped. "An absolutely brilliant speech. I'm glad to see that not all of the city's problems are beneath your notice."

She tried to melt into the sofa, but failed. Though Amon didn't seem put out by her speech, she was aware that both Hiroshi and the lieutenant were glaring at her.

"Come with me, Avatar," Amon said quietly, grabbing her upper arm and pulling her to her feet. She managed to yank her arm free and glare at him, but was met with the unsettling neutral gaze of the mask. He put his hand at the small of her back and guided her back towards the bedroom. He lowered a thick, velvet drape over the door and then chuckled softly. "I've never seen anyone put Sato in his place like that."

"I didn't mean anything by it," Korra said quickly.

"That's a lie and you know it," he answered, happy that she couldn't see the satisfied smile on his face. "You meant every word you said to him. I find that passion…encouraging."

Korra blushed furiously and Amon suddenly realized the implications of such a statement in his bedroom.

"Ah, your passion for helping others," he clarified, once again thankful for the mask.

"Oh," she answered dully. An awkward silence descended over them, Korra fidgeting with the hem of her shirt while Amon studied her.

"We have other business to discuss, but it can wait until I'm done with Sato and my lieutenant. You may wait here if you'd like. There are some books on the bed side table to entertain you," he finally said.

"Okay, um, thanks," she said, giving a tentative smile.

He nodded and then disappeared behind the velvet curtain. She could hear muffled voices, but she didn't bother trying to listen in. It would probably bore her, anyway. With a shrug she decided to poke around a bit. As she expected the wardrobe was immaculately organized, and it looked like all of this clothes were the same. Bored with the wardrobe, Korra decided that she'd see what his reading selection was.

She settled herself on the bed, and looked at the stack of books. There was a history of the Fire Nation, a biography on Avatar Aang, and a well-read copy of Love Amongst the Dragons. She had heard of the last title from Master Katara, who told her about the one time she and all of her friends had gone to see the Ember Island Players version of the story. Afterwards, Fire Lord Zuko had taken them back to the royal vacation home and read a few chapters every night aloud so they knew just how badly the Ember Island Players screwed it up.

And they had thought the rendition of The Boy in the Iceberg was bad.

Korra had never been given much time to read for pleasure. She read the newspaper to keep on top current events, she read histories and biographies to aid with her duty as the Avatar, she was assigned books on philosophy for her spiritual growth, but she never got to sit down with a good novel. She rarely had time to borrow books from Jinora's massive collection, despite the young airbender making recommendations left and right.

With the next week looming in front of her with nothing to do but occasionally work on pro-non-bender legislation with Amon, reading would be a welcome addition. After getting the pillows situated just right, Korra snuggled in and started reading a tale of two forbidden lovers, on opposite sides of a war. However she was tired and comfortable and perhaps worst of all full, and soon she dozed off, despite her best efforts to stay awake and keep reading.