Author's disclaimer: I don't own a thing belonging to "The Legend of Korra." NOTHING! Bryke made 'em all up.
Author's notes: It's been awhile. Several months in fact. Got a nip of juice for this one so enjoy, you lovely readers.
"Waiting"
Chapter twenty-one "Ancient technique"
"So, how are things? Really?" Mako whispered. He had followed Korra and Asami to the restaurant's bar to help bring another round of flame sake, and he wanted to know how they were. It was evident their chi was coiling in delicate dips indicating their closeness, but both hadn't looked that well rested when he, Bolin and Satsuki had arrived at the Sato mansion.
Korra and Asami shared another look and Mako was placate when Asami leaned against the Avatar's shoulder. Korra's hand went protectively over her hip.
"Better. It's…. well, another story for another time," Korra said diplomatically. Asami pressed her cheek into Korra's shoulder thankfully. They would get better now that they were close again. She was sure of it. But the self-inflicted hurt was still fresh to them both.
"So, Satsuki seems nice," Asami spoke up. Mako brushed the back of his neck with a fist.
"She seems nice. And she's pretty. She is nice, right?" Mako babbled. Korra laughed.
"Mako, it's fine. You don't need our permission or whatever to go date someone. We don't have a hold on you," she teased. Mako made to scowl at her but the smile in his eyes ruined the effect. The three giggled as they leaned against the bar.
"Most anyone learning my past dating would think so," he guessed. Asami craned her neck to watch Satsuki talking with Bolin at their table. She didn't seem to be faking or embellishing her enjoyment of talking with their friend.
"She seems genuine. If she winds up being a spy for….whomever, we're blaming you, of course," Asami said. Korra nodded.
"If we find her at the foot of our bed with a pile of benders, it's your rear." Korra tried to look stern but shook her head instead.
Mako sobered. "I hope she's genuine. It's just….people could always be after us."
"They could." Korra shivered, trying to keep the thoughts of Zaheer, her own uncle Unalaq, Amon, even Kuriva at bay. "But you can't let that hold us back. We need human connection."
"More Avatar wisdom?" Mako teased with a soft smile on his face. Korra nodded, her expression serious.
"Yes," she said honestly.
"Your order, Avatar Korra," the bartender said. He set down a tray with four short glasses filled with pink-tinted sake.
"Thanks," Korra brightened. She tipped him a few yuans.
"Let's get back to them," Asami said. The three made their way across the restaurant.
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Desna nodded in silent approval. He'd had a brooch made and was going over ideas of how to present it to Syrtuk. Would she think it weird if he left it in her small room in the servant's quarters? Would she get the wrong idea? Was it even a good gesture to begin with?
Just as the young Chief was deciding to just ask her to tea and give it to her in person, the door to the study opened. Desna idly shuffled the broach under a stack of parchment and leaned casually against the edge of his desk. His twin flowed in, all slinky movements in her long dark robe. Her eye make-up was as impeccable as ever, but her flat stare leveled on him as she sat at the desk opposite his.
Desna gave a level stare back, his eyes hooding his thoughts. It was a trick they'd learned to employ as children around their father.
"Sister," he said by way of greeting. Eska grunted back. She leaned back in her chair and looked over her own stack of parchment.
"How do they expect a chieftain to do all this work?" she muttered. Desna gave a smirk.
"At least there are two of us."
Eska raised an eyebrow in response. "I've noticed the servants catching a mood,"
One servant in particular was in Desna's mind. He clenched his fingers over his thigh beneath his side of the desks. "Oh?"
"Yeah, particularly this sod in the receiving area. Syrtack?"
Desna's spine tingled. He slouched in his chair. "Syrtuk."
"Ah." His sister's grin was insufferable. She stabbed a finger in the air in his direction. "You know her name."
"We know a lot of servant's names," Desna snapped. "What's your point?"
"My point is, remember your place and she'll remember hers. A servant wasn't meant to climb so high," Eska snapped. The implications made the tips of his cheeks blush. Desna blinked slowly to gain his composure.
"Careful, Eska. One might think you're jealous."
"Of that street rat in servant's clothing? Don't count me in." Eska's words were clipped but a fierce anger was in her eyes. "Stop fraternizing with the help."
"Who said I was?" Desna asked, but his tone was defensive. Eska laughed.
"It's all over your face. But go on, play your games, Brother."
"Like I'd tell you," Desna mumbled. His sister raised an eyebrow.
"Are we due for hearings?"
"Not in the next hour," Desna said smoothly. He carefully pocketed the brooch into his robe pocket when Eska's attention was on her scrolls.
"Good. I feel like punishing someone."
Desna could not be surprised. He also wondered when he was going to have alone time to find Syrtuk.
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She was having a good dream, truly she was. Kuvira rolled over on her cot, mouth opening. Her lips tangled around the edge of her green blanket and she chewed as she drifted through languid warmth. Flashes of tan skin, hands caressing her everywhere, warm thighs, and of course a bright smile and gentle kisses that deepened passionately.
Opal. It was always Opal. Kuvira didn't want to wake. Didn't want to confront that the comfort she was feeling was only a dream. Not when it felt so good, felt so needed and felt so right. Korra had gotten her out of prison security and to a secret place. Korra had come through. The happiness of that part of the dream extended to finding Opal there and Kuvira was so happy small tears formed in the corners of her eyes.
Then Opal was in her arms, urging her to the ground. Warm lips, small nips of teeth, roaming hands. It all felt so good and Kuvira was truly happy. No doubts, no fears, just Opal.
BAM. The tray slot in her platinum cell door thunked open, loudly and unnecessarily so. Kuvira jumped awake and she grimaced as she fished the bit of blanket out of her mouth.
"Great Uniter! Get up!" The guards had loosened their harsh pranks in the past few weeks but apparently the mood had been missed today. Kuvira sat up and rolled the kinks out of her shoulders. She was clad in her loose grey slacks and a tanktop. Her nipples were erect and scraped against the thin fabric.
"Breakfast already?" she mumbled. The door was being opened. Shit. Kuvira sprang to her feet and pulled her grey top over her head. If she couldn't secure her breasts, she at least wanted them covered better.
"No. Wrists out, Great Uniter."
Kuvira stood ready, wrists held pressed together in front of her. She shuddered at the feel of concrete when the door opened briefly to admit three guards. They clapped platinum restraints around her ankles and wrists.
"You have a visitor. They asked you be restrained."
Oh. Well, Kuvira hadn't expected that much of an explanation after the weeks of silence. Her lawyer? Someone else's lawyer?
When Suyin Beifong stepped into her cell, Kuvira felt her stomach drop to her bare feet. She stood straighter on reflex, but her eyes flicked toward the ground. DAMMIT.
"Suyin….."
"Stop." Suyin flung an imperious hand, as if to command or repel her. Kuvira waited. Whatever was going to happen, Suyin wanted it out and she was going to get her way. Kuvira merely had to wait. As usual. She blinked to keep fatigue from fogging her mind. It was a momentous effort.
The officers left her alone with Suyin, shutting and locking the door. Suyin wouldn't be able to bend either, but she either was confidant she wouldn't be attacked, or the officers had been ordered out before hand, for it was just the two of them.
And then Suyin began to tear into her after the door was locked.
"I hear you've been seeing my daughter." Flat, emotionless. Accusing. Not a question. Kuvira blinked.
"She's come to see me," she corrected. A scowl marred Suyin's features. Kuvira waited. She'd witnessed her mentor's fits of rage in the past, but most if not all of it had been directed away from her. Now its full fury was on her.
"You stay away from her." The words were lobbed at her like so much refuse. Kuvira straightened her spine and stance, chi roiling in response to the other alpha.
"I don't think that will be a problem." And here Kuvira couldn't help clanking her restraints at the women who had raised her. Suyin frowned. Her frown cut deeply, marring her beauty. And in a flash blink, Kuvira could pick out where Opal had gotten the shape of her jaw from, the moue of her lips when displeasured.
"I gave you a life, a home, everything. I raised you with my own children in the safest community this world has to offer. And you betrayed my trust, stole my son and my resources, and now my own daughter. When will it be enough for you, Kuvira?!"
Kuvira blinked in surprise. Suyin's rage wasn't unexpected, but her wording was. "I don't…."
"My children…." Suyin steeled her chi, making Kuvira almost back up a step from the fury of it. Almost. "You will stay away from my children. Stay away!"
"Opal came to see ME," Kuvira reminded. Her voice sounded weak in her own ears. The matriarch of Zaofu gathered herself up and stabbed an accusing finger in her face. At this intrusion to her private bubble of space, Kuvira really did back up a step or two. Only for her back to smack into the wall of her cell. The platinum mocked her, keeping the natural lines of earth away.
"And that's gonna stop. You just do your time, Great Uniter. You've done more than enough."
Kuvira lowered her head, wearily watching Suyin from under her dark bangs. Her silence said everything but apparently the woman she'd once thought of as her mother wanted an answer. And just like berating a child, she was wrung dry emotionally.
"What….do you want me to say?" she mumbled. Defeat laced her words, but Kuvira wouldn't drum up any past pride. She HAD done enough. Her stamp on the world would now be forever laced with corruption and failure. She didn't deserve the slight luxury of running away with her tail between her legs. Suyin wouldn't let her.
"That you'll refuse Opal. Lin and I will make sure she can't get in, but you have to refuse her should….any discrepancies get past," Suyin snapped.
Kuvira lifted her chin. Her lower lip trembled. "I can't do that."
Suyin's gaze was steel. "You can. And you will. SAY IT."
After several long moments of silence with Suyin's glare boring into her gaze, Kuvira lowered her eyes once more in apparent acquiescence.
"I….will refuse Opal. If she gets past your guards."
Which they both knew Opal would give a valiant effort of getting past. Suyin gave a sharp nod.
"Swear it."
"…I swear it."
"Not that I believe you," Suyin mumbled. She looked away, arms crossed. Her chi was a riotous mass of rage and turmoil. Kuvira leaned back into the platinum wall, bare feet pushing against the floor. Finally, the matriarch whirled to go. The bang she slammed on the other side of the cell door reverberated loudly and hurt Kuvira's ears. She tried not to wince as the door was unlocked and Suyin flounced out. One of the officers entered to take off her restraints and Kuvira barely even saw him.
The stress of the encounter and what she had been forced to say made her head hurt and her vision blurred. Give up Opal? She knew that was a lie and Suyin had to know it too. It seemed like a cruel joke to make her say something she had no heart in obeying, but her old loyalty almost made it true. Kuvira sank down along the wall, sitting in a slouch, long legs stretched in front of her.
After long moments that could have been an hour, Kuvira finally rolled to her cot and blankets to stretch the kink in her lower back. She blinked, clearing her vision, then picked up a piece of paper and freshly sharpened pencil. She began a letter to Baatar, intending to finish and intending to lay it out.
She may have had to swear off Opal, but her heart told a different story. And Baatar needed the truth of it. Kuvira knew almost a mad glee as she finished the letter that could only be described as short but sweet. Well, there was no better time than the present to burn every single fucking bridge.
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Opal opened her eyes as she rolled on her side. She had to blink to register where she was. Her room, on Air Temple Island. Her narrow bed was harder than the luxurious one she'd had at home, but she was getting used to the humble surroundings.
Her roommate was up, and dressing and Opal got up to greet the day as well. She had been dreaming and deeply. Opal leaned to make up her bed, feeling her thigh muscles tremble. It had all felt so real….
Kuvira smiling, above her. Settling between her spread thighs, her weight held up on her elbows. The fingers of one hand combing through her short hair affectionately even as lust broiled through their pressed lower torsos. The dream had been so intense. A mixture of passion with affection and the feelings of it laced through Opal's waking thoughts.
Opal blinked, wanting to go back to sleep and sink back into that dream. As with so many mental forays of longing, it had felt all too real.
"Breakfast, Opal," her roommate said. Opal gave a friendly smile and ambled to the communal across washroom, yawning. Jinora was in her nightgown still, combing out her short hair. Even first thing, the young master had an air of serenity that Opal could only hope to match one day.
Jinora's eyes twinkled knowingly and Opal shrugged at her. The two finished washing up and changed, joining the gaggle of airbenders in matching wingsuits as they angled down the galley line for their morning trays. Opal dodged Meelo playing catch with a dumpling, his erstwhile partner being Daw. She sat down across from Tenzin and his wife. The master smiled at her, eyes crinkling.
"Are we going to start with kata, Master Tenzin? Meelo could use some wearing out," she suggested.
"We'll begin with meditation after breakfast," Tenzin said. He sipped slowly from his cup of tea. The way Pema tucked into his side spoke of a deeper quiet intimacy. It made Opal heartsick for Kuvira. She swallowed and swung her gaze to her breakfast.
"Sounds good," Opal chirped. Jinora raised an eyebrow beside her. She knew her friend could use the moments of peaceful stillness.
The airbenders followed Tenzin and Jinora into their small meditation hall. Meelo quieted enough to ring the ceremonial gong at long solemn intervals. As the benders moved to collect mats and joked quietly as they left the hall afterwards, Opal found herself approached by her master.
Tenzin's grey eyes crinkled at the edges and he gave her a solemn look. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked quietly. Opal warmed to him as usual. Even if he had done abit of yelling during the whole reveal a few weeks ago, she knew he only wanted the best for her. It was far less grating than hearing her mother yell at her.
"No….well. Yes. Master Tenzin? Have you ever had….vivid dreams?"
"Vivid dreams?" Tenzin's brow furrowed as he thought it over. He was a master at airbending forms and kata, but even he lacked the spiritual knowledge his father had possessed. Jinora had picked up the slack to inherit that aspect so she could help teach it, but the separation between generations was apparent.
"Yes. Well…of…" Opal looked away. She almost irrationally feared another outburst concerning Kuvira. Oh, Vira….
Tenzin coughed. He stroked the end of his long beard, gazing thoughtfully toward the far wall. "I gather this is concerning your….relationship with her?"
Opal nodded. She was prepared to wave away her question and go about her day, but her master surprised her.
"Don't misunderstand me, Opal. I know what it means to love someone. And love can be almost irrational in its ways to….ensnare." A slight blush pinked his complexion. Tenzin went on. "But as I recall, my father did mention such dreams before."
"Of Master Katara?" Opal went on. Her interest piqued.
Tenzin nodded. "Yes. It would happen when they weren't in the same area. If they had to travel for a task or errand separately, he would have intense dreams of Mother. And she would of him. Ancient airbenders found ways to walk the breath between dreams when asleep, it was said. Those texts have been lost, but Dad remembered reading of them as a child. Maybe he found a way to dream of such a connection with Mother when apart."
Opal's mind whirled. Her mouth felt dry. "Wow, I didn't know….."
Tenzin's eyes were kind as he smiled at her. "Far be it for Dad to be the only airbender to use such a technique. Even subconsciously. Just be wary of your dream-walking if that is the case."
"I'll…I'll try. Dreams are a tricky thing, Master Tenzin," Opal said.
Tenzin nodded. "I know. Well, shall we move to katas?"
Outside in the courtyard, Meelo and Ikki were already leading the other airbenders. Opal gave Tenzin a slight bow at the waist and hurried to take position beside Jinora.
End for now
End notes: Sorry so long! I lost juice for this one awhile. Stay tuned. And feel free to review, smash that button. Sorry lost some juju but let me know if you're still reading. Also, was listening to "Living in the Shadows" by Matthew Perryman Jones during Kuvira's scene. Give it a listen.
Sincerely, pen 4/6/2019