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The former dictator found herself helping Mei-lin more around town. She fixed the roof of the widow's home, carried heavier items and even gave her the radio. Even though Kuvira fought not to get too close, she even found that learning to cook from the woman was good. Kuvira was getting tired of eating rice and beans.
The amount of time spent with the widow also worrying her. Kuvira had a feeling that the woman was falling for 'Kai' and while Kuvira did not change too much of her own past story, the risk of the truth coming out was becoming greater.
Nonetheless, helping Mei-lin gave Kuvira a sense of duty again.
"Bandits!"
Kuvira looked up from helping the widow with cleaning the windows. The metalbender started running towards the panicking farmer. The sounds of motorcycles roared towards the town. Kuvira and a few of the town's earthbenders hid behind a wall until they drove into the town. The metalbender reached out and yanked a couple of the machines from under the drivers.
The bandits were not expecting to find a master earthbender in the town so when they spotted the metalbender, they tried to focus their attacks on her first. The bruise from her last fight had healed, so Kuvira had no issue with ending the fight quickly.
The metalbender sat outside of her home. She was drawing again and she was using the comical scene before her as a reference. The town drunkard was trying to get some free food at the market stands and he was being denied. The seller, Kong, was scolding the drunkard. A large smile was on the metalbender's face as she made her marks on the paper.
"You know," Mei-lin smirked as she stopped by, "Ever since you came here two months ago, you have begun to open up to us. You smile more."
An eyebrow rose, "Should I go back to being emotionless and lonesome?"
Much to Kuvira's dislike, her hair was ruffled. The widow then sat down.
"You should have dinner with me tonight. I have too many fresh eggs for myself."
Kuvira nodded, "I can come over then."
Then Mei-lin kissed her cheek. It scared Kuvira for a bit as she was not expecting it.
"Sorry." The widow said, holding her hands up in her defense.
The metalbender looked appalled before she realized that she had dropped the sketchbook and markers to clinch her hands.
"No, I'm sorry for my reaction. I did not mean to scare you." Kuvira blushed, "It's just that I was not expecting it and no one has done that towards me in years."
Just come clean. It will hurt less.
Kuvira pondered the idea of just being honest with the woman about who she truly was. It was not fair for the widow to have certain feelings and then somehow Kuvira was found out. But on the other hand, Kuvira treasured the woman's friendship. The metalbender found that she could be honest to a point of not revealing herself and they would talk.
She would make sure to tell the woman. When, Kuvira had not decided but she would.
The smell of food invaded Kuvira's nose as she stood at the door of Mei-lin's home. The metalbender was fixing her hair before she was escorted in. The dining table certainly looked like the widow cooked all day. Most of the townsfolk did not cook the amount of finer foods. Kuvira mentally cursed herself out. She began to felt suspect about why Mei-lin had cooked so much. Mei-lin must have completely fallen for Kai by now.
"Mei-lin, you did not have to cook all of this." Her voice was a bit nervous at the night's plans.
"Nonsense. You have been nothing but help since you have come to this town. I wanted to show you how much you mean to me."
Kuvira did not try to continue speaking about the subject. She was just going to enjoy the meal and then go home. They spoke of future plans Lady Bora had for the town and the issue of bandits. Then came the plum wine. One of the metalbender's eyebrows twitched at the thought of drinking the sweet wine. Kuvira had not had any since she left Zaofu the first time.
Twelve years she counted and after two glasses they were both laughing at jokes about Lady Bora. They had moved into another room and turned the radio on.
"When she first came," Mei-lin said in between her laughter, "She was afraid of the smaller farm animals. Most of the town could not believe that the Avatar picked someone from a city for a town like this. She screamed like she saw a wicked spirit come after her when she first saw a chicken-hog."
"Is she still afraid of the animals?"
"Yes but we do like the woman now. She has the biggest heart even if she wants to lay with all of the men in town."
The widow leaned in a bit to fix Kuvira's collar. The metalbender shifted uncomfortably at her sudden closeness.
"You do not like being touched, do you?" the woman asked, "Is it because of being abandoned as a child?"
Kuvira gently removed the woman's hand, "A bit, yes."
The metalbender looked away for a moment. Between blushing like a foolish child and wanting to just tell the woman who she was, Kuvira needed a breather. So she offered to get them both some more wine.
The subject of conversation changed. The subject of the sketchbook was brought up and Kuvira actually had it with her. She began to share the doodles and other drawings, carefully selecting which ones to show.
"Is there anything you can't do, Kai?" the widow asked.
Kuvira let out a long sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose, "I cannot felt normal around anyone."
"Even here?"
The metalbender nodded. They found themselves too close again. Perhaps a third glass was not a good idea, Kuvira thought. The next thing she knew, she was returning a passionate kiss from the other woman. Her thoughts were only on the moment and the new feeling of what she was doing was only exciting her more. A voice in the back of her mind was screaming for her to stop. Kuvira was going to mess up her cover.
She quickly pulled away, finding at her own hands were at the shirt of the widow.
"I'm sorry." Her voice cracked a bit, "I can't do this. I have to go home. I'm sorry Mei-Lin."
The metalbender adjusted her shirt and hurried out of the house. She mentally berated herself as she walked back. What was she thinking?
The next day, Kuvira was helping a few farmers with getting water to their crops. Her mind would wander back and forth between the night before and the job at hand. Soon, several of the villagers shouted and screamed out. In the middle of town stood a hardened man in leather and fur armor and his large beast. He was calling out orders to the sniffing beast before it started running towards the farm. Most of the townsfolk questioned what kind of beast it was and while Kuvira had only read about them she certainly remembered what it was. Her eyes widened as she scrambled to her feet to flee from the shirshu.
Her running only made the beast excited to follow its prey. Kuvira tried to make obstacles to help her escape but it was of no use. The beast's pronged tongue struck her. The former dictator sighed in defeat.
"Avatar Korra paid me plenty to track you down. She said something about you wanting to ruin something of hers." The bounty hunter grinned as he jumped down, "I am going to be a rich man because of you, Great Uniter."
"She forgot to mention that she wanted me to ruin something of hers years ago."
"Sorry toots; money ranks higher promises in my opinion and you were living here comfortably. No promise for you, eh?"
He then lifted her onto his shoulders and carried her to the beast. He said nothing else as he led the beast through town.
The townsfolk gathered to watch. They were confused as to what was going on.
"Sir," Lady Bora called out as she hurried along, "What is the meaning of barging into my town and taking our precious Kai away?"
The bounty hunter ran his hand through his mangy beard as he studied her, "Oh, this ain't some precious man, lady. This is the Great Uniter. She's been hiding from sight for a few months but now I'm going to be rich."
Mutters and gasps went through the town. Lady Bora looked like she wanted to be sick. Kuvira could see a few confused faces to go along with the noises. She closed her eyes. Prison was not going to be sweet for her. She could already see that her small cell would get smaller and any light or good food would disappear. The guards would taunt her everyday and make sure that the remainder of her life would be miserable.
And the once face she wanted to see, she could not find. Kuvira could not turn her head to see Mei-lin's reaction.
"No." one man stepped out from the crowd, "You cannot have her. Even if she did lie about who she is, the Great Uniter has helped us become a better town in the last few months than anyone else has before."
"She helped fix our roof. Now the sands from the desert don't fill our home." Another spoke.
The bounty hunter stopped his beast as the townsfolk came closer. His free hand went to a radio and he called for help. The military of the State of Ping was close by. The few earthbenders in the village attempted to make the bounty hunter's escape difficult. Once the beast leaped onto the roofs of the homes, the attacks were stopped. They could not stop the bounty hunter from taking their esteemed guest.
The next day, Lady Bora with most of the town in her office wrote a long letter to the Governor. She had a few selective words for him and the Avatar. She requested that Kuvira should be released to their town and that they could fulfill the rest of her sentence with helping around town.
When she received a letter back, the Governor had stated that the Avatar simply snorted in laughter when they spoke. When the town decided to boycott the elections, the army showed up and stayed. The townsfolk gathered quietly when the Avatar showed up to calm them down. It was the first time since Korra began to fix the Earth Nations that a state close to Ba Sing Se had literally chased the Avatar out of town.
Kuvira was crammed into what seemed like a bird cage. It was made of a strange material so foreign to her. Then her hands and wrists were fasten together in front of her and connected to the cage with the same material. She stayed in the same position, crouched on her feet, throughout her new journey to wherever. She was missing the townsfolk.
The metalbender suspected they were heading towards Si Wong Desert. It grew hotter and she had made a special jail there when she was trying to unite the Earth Empire. She was correct.
The prison was just below the sands. Naturally it had been refurbished to someone else's standards because there was now a fence with barbed wire and signs warning of an electric shock if it was touched.
Two soldiers carried her down. She noticed that on their right arms was a patch. What it meant, she did not know because they were not there when the uniform was for Earth Empire soldiers.
After going down a few sets of stairs, a wooden door was unlocked and the soldiers tossed the cage in. It rolled, causing Kuvira to feel sick before someone in the cell stopped her.
"Kuvira?" the female's voice sounded surprised.
Kuvira turned her head to look, finding that the voice belonged to something she never thought to see in a jail.
Asami.