Korra laid on her bed, arms behind her head. She looked up at the ceiling with a furrowed brow. Should she go for a nap, she wondered? It was almost...noon, so why not? She had nothing else to do.

No, she did. She had a lot to do, a lot to think about still. She didn't know how much longer she'd get. She needed all of her bases covered. No loose ends. Then why was she wasting time laying in bed in the first place?

Korra brought a hand down to scratch her head. Or, she tried to. The metal around her wrists suddenly clanked together above her face. She jumped a little, then sighed.

Oh yeah. That's right. Prison...

Korra rolled, slowly sitting upright on the edge of her bed, dropping her handcuffed wrists into her lap. She sighed again, laughing a little, despite or because of her lethargic drowsiness. Now she knew how Noatak felt for all those long months, a little bit anyway. She wasn't getting chi-blocked like he had been, but it had been only one night for her. She didn't know what else might come her way.

One night, and a few measly hours of sleep. She'd survived on less in the past.

Please don't be worrying about me, guys. At least not too much...

It had been one full day for her at most in a solitary cell, and quite frankly, it sucked. Death row was not a walk in the park, though it...literally ought to be. "Comfortable last days" and all that.

Korra sighed, and took a look around the cell. It was about the same as Noatak's old one, but smaller, and the "bed" she was currently sitting on was more or less a slab. No windows of course, but there was enough room to exercise as best as one could with handcuffs. That and the food were enough to let most of the bad slide.

The sun...Korra missed the sun.

She grimaced and shook her head. She didn't need the sun. She sun wasn't going to help her where she was...

No. No, she...she wasn't on death row for certain yet...even if she wanted to be. What she really needed was to know how Noatak was doing. She had no idea where he was, what was happening to him, besides from the snippets of the guards' vague chatter. She was pretty sure he was in a cell close to her, not that she'd be able to talk with him about anything. If he'd been able to learn how to meditate into the Spirit World, so much worry leading up to this wouldn't have had any reason to exist in the first place.

Qarnau. It all depended on him now. Korra and Noatak both were at his mercy, if the judge had any to show. Nothing was set in stone just yet. Would Qarnau let Noatak go as Korra asked and punish her instead? Or would he ignore her plea just to kill Noatak?

Fun odds. But...it's doable.

Two knocks suddenly sounded at the door. Korra jumped a little. Still not used to that. "Are you decent?" a guard from beyond asked flatly.

"Yeah," Korra answered. She was never made to switch into an inmate uniform or anything like that, still wearing her usual casual Water Tribe getup. Come to think of it, she hadn't dressed very special for Noatak's trial at all. Was that disrespectful? Kuvira had dolled up a little bit.

"May we enter?" Her guards were significantly gentler with her than Noatak's were to him. Was that because they were death row? Or was it only because she was the Avatar?

"Sure."

"Alright." Some steps. "You have five minutes, Prime Minister."

Korra's eyes widened. She snapped her head to the door.

The guards opened it, but didn't step inside themselves. Sure enough, Kuvira entered, wearing her formal robing, timidly holding her hands. The door closed heavily behind her, and she stopped in place. She and Korra only looked at each other in silence.

Eventually, Kuvira let out a little sigh, trying to smile. "How the tables have turned—"

"Are you okay with this?" Korra asked urgently, sitting up more. "Being in here?"

"I'm fine," Kuvira said calmly. "It's you that should be having trouble."

Korra looked down, sidling to the side a bit. "I'm okay." She itched the back of her head. "Tired, but...okay."

Kuvira hesitated, then walked over, taking a seat next to Korra on her slab bed. It was bringing back delicate memories for the both of them, and they both couldn't hide it. Kuvira glanced at Korra's cuffed wrists, uneasy, obviously about to share something. She rubbed the back of her hand, and sighed.

"Look, everyone's really worried. Bolin...E-Everyone wants to come see you, but the guards aren't letting them until you're declared passive."

"Passive?" Korra repeated confusedly, looking up.

Kuvira looked at her too, furrowing her brow in that motherly way of hers. "Offering to trade places with someone on death row is a fairly errant move, even for the Avatar."

"Errant?"

"It...H-Haphazard."

Korra raised a brow. "Not helping."

"Umm..." Kuvira fiddled for simple words in her anxiousness. "I-It was crazy of you. Dangerous."

"Oh," Korra said, head falling. "When you put it like that, I guess you have a point." She thought for a moment before looking back up. "How come you're able to see me?"

Kuvira smiled wanly. "I've proven to be able to beat you in fights before, plus the Prime Minister can pull a few strings if she wants to." She shrugged meekly. "Everyone agreed that I should be the one to come see you anyways..."

Korra nodded.

Kuvira glanced away for a moment, hesitating. "That's Maran included."

"What?" Korra asked with a little flinch. "She's...Is she at Air Temple Island?"

Kuvira nodded, a little saddened. "She was too late to reach Noatak's trial in time, but she was able to stop by with everyone else to hear the broadcast. She's...just as surprised as everyone else by what you did."

Korra snorted. "Same here..." She found herself bouncing her leg. "Y'know how Noatak is? I feel I don't know only 'cause I'm stuck in here."

"Other than he's waiting for the verdict like you and everyone else is, nothing."

"Darn..."

"Yes..."

A dead silence hung in the marginally spacey cell. Kuvira sighed with brisk worry. "There has to be another way to do this."

"There isn't," Korra said. "I heard one of the guards say that Qarnau said my execution could be in three days."

"You're...okay with that?" Kuvira asked, looking at her.

Korra shrugged, looking at the floor. "Some Avatars didn't live to be old like Aang. Some died in battle, some died from sickness..." She looked up at Kuvira. "Some had to make sacrifices."

"But...d-do you really have to be executed? You don't deserve that."

"Neither does Noatak. No one does. He deserves to be able to live his life."

"I...I know," Kuvira said, leaning forward with her elbows on her legs, holding her chin in her hands as she looked to the floor for answers. "There...there just has to be another way. There...there has to be..."

They both pondered in silence longer. Korra was the one that broke the silence.

"Take Raava."

"W-What?" Kuvira asked, straightening and looking at Korra, blinking with a furrowed brow. "Korra, what are you—?"

"Take Raava!" Korra said cheerfully, her cuffed wrists jingling with her excitement as she turned to Kuvira. "I'll give her to you! It's okay! She won't have to find a new Avatar!"

"K-Korra, no. I-I can't!"

"Yes you can! 'Avatar Kuvira.' You'll sound awesome! Come on! You're one of, if not the wisest person I know! I trust you, she trusts you! You'll be fine!"

"Korra! Stop!" Kuvira said desperately. "I'm the Prime Minister! I'm a mother! I can't be an Avatar on top of all of that! If I were meant to be the Avatar, Raava would have picked me herself!"

Korra's smile slowly faded. Her excited fists fell. She winced with a shake of her head, realizing what she was doing. "I-I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I...I just..."

"It's okay," Kuvira reassured, calming down as well. "I understand."

Korra fiddled with her cuffs for a long moment. She looked up with a sheepish smile. "Maybe I am getting a little desperate."

Kuvira made a huff, not looking at her. "It's alright. It's okay. It's a completely natural thing to do. Anyone would. I get it. I'm...I just..."

Her lip suddenly trembled. She took Korra's arms, touching her forehead against hers, much to the Avatar's surprise.

"You can't," Kuvira demanded. "There...There is more ways to do this."

"Not one that will work," Korra said calmly, eyes on Kuvira's hands as she returned the forehead touch. "Not one that'll change their minds. If dying is what'll do that, I have to."

"You can't," Kuvira begged, a crack in her voice. "After all we've been through, all of us..."

"You don't need me," Korra quietly insisted. "I've done all I need to for you guys, I think."

"Korra..." Kuvira slowly leaned back and looked at her. "What...?"

Korra had no fear in her eyes. "You all know what I'd do about anything important now: what I did for you, a little gentleness, a little compassion. The only hard part is doing it despite what everyone else says. That's all I want out of you guys, out of the world. Just make it happen. That's what I'm hoping this'll show them, Qarnau, everyone. It's all I want."

As Kuvira stared in teary-eyed confusion, the door suddenly opened up. A guard walked in, a younger one. Kuvira hastily wiped her eyes before speaking. "A-Are my five minutes up already?"

"No," the guard said honestly, nervously. "It's, uh...Are...you ready, Avatar?"

"Ready?" Korra asked. "Ready for what?"

"You...don't know?" he asked, stepping a little.

Korra and Kuvira exchanged a look, both growing confused.

The guard's eyes widened. He forced himself to speak. "The...the execution's happening today."

So this was it, then.

Korra slowly stood up, silent.

"K-Korra?" Kuvira asked, still sitting.

Korra only looked at the floor, hands cuffed. "Back during the campaign, six years ago, you know how you were going to sift out the new Avatar from the people of the Earth Kingdom once you killed me?"

"K-Korra...?!"

"Well," Korra said, walking out of her cell with the guard, not looking back, "since you're in charge of the Earth Kingdom again...hopefully you guys can all find my next life sooner."

"Korra!"

Notes: :( One last chapter...