177 AG, Winter
"It's almost 178, and I still have no idea how to be a prime minister," Kuvira said as she paced the short distance of her cell. "What are you doing? Why aren't you helping me like you said you would? What if being in here destroyed all my social skills? What if I become a puppet leader like every other idiot the Earth Kingdom has had rule them?"
Korra sat up from her spot on Kuvira's bed. "You don't spend every day freaking out like this, do you? I'm pretty sure that's killed people, or at least caused major medical problems."
"That's not the point!"
"Yes, it is! Of course you should be thinking about what'll happen once you're out, but it also doesn't mean you kill yourself worrying. What do you think will make you feel better?"
She put her head in her hands. "I don't know. I didn't feel this way when I became the interim president. I just knew what I needed to do and went for it. I adapted to whatever challenges I didn't know directly how to deal with."
"Then do that."
Kuvira gave Korra a dirty look. "The last system was a bit flawed. If you recall, it resulted in super weapons."
Korra put her hands out in defeat. "Okay, okay, not the perfect method. Well, you've spent the last almost three years reading history books. What did those leaders do right that you should emulate, and what did they do wrong that you should avoid?"
"That's the problem, though, Korra. No one has attempted this system before so we don't know what makes for a good leader within the system."
"I thought you said you were basically going to be a president. So, simple: don't become Raiko."
"It's not that simple. Politicians can start out with every intention of serving the people, but there's always other forces at play. When I was a dictator, there wasn't anyone but my word to follow so I had the power to keep everything on track and help the people. But, with parliament and the looming fact that I need to appease whichever new group of representatives come in every five years, what if that corrupts me?"
Korra raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you tell me that you don't want to stay in for more than one term? Just keep that in mind and just work to help the people."
"What if they make me serve for more than one term? What if I go back to that crazy devotion to the people like when I was uniting the Earth Kingdom?"
"I don't think within the new system you could pronounce yourself empress again. Nor do I really believe that you would want to become empress again. After all, you're actually the head of the kingdom."
"What if they elect idiots to parliament?"
"Yeah, but didn't the constitution say that everything has to be signed by the monarch before it becomes a law? Well, Wu trusts you a lot, and will probably trust you more than the houses, so you have leverage there. Besides, it is about balance, so I don't think the parliament will be automatically taken over by idiots. Didn't you write out that there are requirements for even being allowed to be nominated to run for house chairs?" Kuvira nodded. "Seems like a pretty strong system. And, well, of course there will be politicians, but just keep a level head, which I will help you do, and everything will be fine."
Kuvira exhaled, pausing. "And what about being in the public eye like that?"
"You already did that as the Great Uniter."
"Yes, but I also threw dissenters into labor camps."
"Then…don't throw dissenters into labor camps?" Korra sighed, and grabbed Kuvira by the back of the shirt before thrusting her down to sit beside her. "I'll admit, it's not easy when public opinion is low, but you have to remember that people always want to blame someone, and they forget how much work goes into being a world leader. It doesn't mean you don't take constructive criticism when it's needed, but you also need to take the poll numbers with a grain of salt." Korra wrapped her arms around Kuvira. "Not everyone's going to like you, but honestly, I'd only be really concerned if I like you. Maybe some of the Beifongs and your former soldiers."
Kuvira smiled. "Do you still like me?"
"I guess so." Korra squeezed her. "You know, if you want to go back in Wan Shi Tong's library, or to go visit Iroh, we could take a Spirit World break."
"You know, next time we do go the Spirit World, you should come through the Republic City spirit portal and I'll come in by meditating. That way…"
Korra laughed. "We wouldn't have to climb up to the library?"
178 AG, Spring
Kuvira took a deep breath, relaxing herself as best she could as she sat on a chair in front of the mirror of her main room, thread taut between her fingers. Especially now that she often saw Wu once every few months at random, she'd taken a more keen interest in not looking disheveled. The tweezers they'd given her didn't have a great grip, so she preferred using threading as a primary shaper, then using the tweezers to clean up any stray hairs. She began the back and forth motion of the thread, savoring the familiar bite of the string.
"Kuvira!"
For someone who used to pride herself on being calm in any and all situations, hearing an unfamiliar voice call her name gave her quite the scare. So much so that there was a horrible moment in which Kuvira swore she'd threaded a solid chunk of her right eyebrow off.
As she scrambled to check symmetry in the mirror, two familiar faces jumped into the picture.
"We thought you'd either be crying or exercising," Wing said.
Kuvira set down her thread and ran her index finger through her eyebrows. No damage done, thank the spirits. "Doing either of those for three years straight would kill those tougher than me." She put all her beauty supplies into their little box and stuck them away in the bathroom. "I gotta admit, I thought Huan would come visit before you two. I'm not expecting an Opal visit for another twenty years, going by the Beifong woman tradition. What's up?"
Wing and Wei exchanged a look, and Wei spoke up. "Don't take this as us forgiving you because it got pretty crazy between all of us, and, you know, it takes some contemplation. But, we need you."
"It's the best kept secret in Zaofu that you're the best statistician in Beifong residence," Wing said.
There was an Aiwei joke in what Wing said, but Kuvira wasn't sure if Wing meant for her to laugh.
Kuvira studied the twins, and their intentions finally surfaced. "Earth Rumble LXXXIV is soon, isn't it?"
The twins nodded. "So we wanted to make some serious cash in the pools this year," Wei said, leaning onto her table. "And we'd be idiots to ignore the fact that you've accurately predicted every probending and Earth Rumble tournament outcome for the solid five years you were a guard."
She raised a brow. "Give me a single good reason I should guide your betting."
They exchanged a look, and for a moment, Kuvira thought the twins would actually hunker down and say because deep down, they cared about her, that they were some weird form of family, and family did family favors.
"You can't go to commissary, right?" Wei asked.
"No."
"What if we brought you…candy, instant noodles, varri-cakes…"
"Baijiu?" Wing suggested.
"You two couldn't sneak alcohol in here," Kuvira said.
"Is that what you want?" Wei asked.
"No! Guys, come on, I don't want anything like that."
She paused, waiting for the twins to get it. They didn't.
"Now, do you guys still keep the log with all the fighters' stats?" Kuvira asked. "I need a refresher." Wing pulled a large stack of cards out of his jacket pocket and set them on the table. "Give me an hour. Turn on a game if you want."
One of the twins turned on the radio, a sports announcer's prattling filling the air as Kuvira worked through a tournament bracket. She'd never tell the twins, but this mental exercise was exactly what she needed. Lately, her mental exercise had involved reading in Wan Shi Tong's library for hours or teaching Korra how to actually play Pai Sho, and her brain was ending up much like her muscles: stuck at a certain goal but not improving from a lack of diversity.
"Who's hosting this year?" Kuvira asked as she slid fighters' cards around the table.
"Chu," Wing answered.
"He have a favorite?"
"No one major. Generally speaking, everyone's putting their money on the Dragon."
Kuvira spotted the Dragon's card and scanned it over: 6'3", average build, young, known for launching his opponents so high that they'd land in the crowded areas of the audience.
He'd just started fighting then.
He would seem like a good contender to win, especially with so few earthbenders able to work with the attacks on their base. But, there was also the matter of the Catgator, a guy who'd been participating in the tournament for years; a good-looking guy who had legions of adoring fans as the kind of sheer strength moves that crowds loved. Guy was also known for changing the consistency of the arena floor in order to trip off his opponents. She set the Dragon right below the Catgator in the bracket.
"You don't think the Dragon will win?" Wei asked.
"They'll throw the Dragon in after a couple amateurs go at it, and he'll win continuously, working through the remaining guys. When he faces off with the Catgator, he'll be tired, giving the Catgator the rest he so-called deserves according to the people spewing yuans into the system. If the Dragon wins, it'll be a good old-fashioned hard worker moving through the ranks, and if Catgator wins, it will be a win at last. The Dragon's fighting style is taxing, so I'm betting the Catgator." She put up a finger. "However, the Hunter will win. Whoever beats the other at the semi-final round will be pretty self-confident, and the Hunter uses that to his advantage. Dust play, either way. Only those proficient with seismic sense are good at fighting against those types, and no one has been good at that since your grandmother."
She sat back so the twins could take note.
"You're still a terrible narcissist, aren't you?" Wei said.
She shrugged. "Let's see how much money you get, and then you can tell me."
The twins recorded Kuvira's predictions, and collected their stuff to leave.
"Hey Kuvira?" Wing said as they headed out.
"What?"
"Well, it's…pretty loud over at the house," Wing said. "Maybe we could come back here to listen to Earth Rumble LXXXIV with you. You could invite Korra if you want. Junior says you talk about her a lot in your letters."
She turned away from them, so they couldn't see her smile. "Sounds nice."
179 AG, Fall
They didn't come often, but on the weeks that Korra was too busy to visit Kuvira, she found her cell more suffocating than usual. When it got bad, when her from a few years back would've started having panic attacks, she meditated into the Spirit World alone. Part of her still feared the Spirit World, but if she was ever going to face her fears in the world once she was released, she ought to start working on the skill wherever she could.
That day, her single goal was to face her fear of entering Wan Shi Tong's library alone. Wan Shi Tong himself seemed to not hate her as much as he did most humans, and she'd been consistently adding to his metalbending collection for years then. The spirit didn't act kindly toward her, of course, but he hadn't bothered her yet.
But, all their interactions had also been with Korra.
She climbed through the forest area, her mind tricking her into the exhaustion her body wasn't feeling as she stood at eye-level to the windows. She made sure her latest manual was still tucked into her waistband, took a deep breath, and swung in through one of the windows. The landing was perfect, far more perfect than she thought she had the agility for, and she walked in through the main hall without missing a beat.
Wan Shi Tong swooped down within seconds.
"You again," the spirit said.
Kuvira bowed and pulled out the manual. "Today's payment."
He accepted the book. "The Avatar isn't with you today."
Kuvira shook her head. "She was busy."
Wan Shi Tong's eyes flitted around the room before boring into Kuvira. "What are you going to look at on your own?"
Kuvira felt about the size of an ant looking up at the owl. "I'm trying to read up more Air Nomad texts, trying to understand how to achieve an inner peace. Maybe look at some Earth Kingdom history books I haven't seen yet."
There was a moment in which no one spoke, and Kuvira feared the spirit would finally start attacking her. But, the owl looked past her.
"My Knowledge Seeker can help you," Wan Shi Tong said.
One of the fox spirits ran up and only started moving when Kuvira followed. It led her deep into the library, and it slowly began to dawn on her what it meant that Wan Shi Tong was letting her roam freely. Did he…trust her?
The fox led her to a dark room, that, with the flick of a lever, appeared to be a planetarium. "This is nice, but I'm looking for history books," Kuvira said to the fox.
The fox didn't budge, and eventually gave up, finding the books she was looking for on her own.
But, in all honesty, she wasn't sure what she was looking for. She flipped through book after book, stories about good leaders, bad leaders, fictional leaders, historical leaders, and everyone in between. She wasn't sure what she was reading for, and the words soon started bleed together. She set down the last war book she'd been looking at to rest her forehead against the shelf. What was she doing? She'd been reading books for the past year and it hadn't gotten her any closer to knowing how to be a good leader. And, spirits, she was going to be released in a little over a year. She'd lost all contact with the outside world, didn't know how to interact with anyone other than people who had to or sought her out. How on earth was she supposed to lead an entire nation, a nation that had sat in a void of power for five years?
She'd already failed her nation once with the best intentions in the world, so how was she supposed to improve the nation with half the conviction and none of the confidence of her former self?
Seemingly without thinking, she put the books back, left the library, meditated back into the physical world.
Was that, what she'd done back there even considered fearlessness, or was it just her being comfortable? At that point, it seemed like the only thing Kuvira had mastered—finding a routine and sticking to it.
She turned on the radio, flipped it to a news station, and picked up the latest book Korra had given her, some unofficial history of the Earth Empire.
The newscaster didn't get through one story before Kuvira had shut the Earth Empire book in disgust. She'd learned so much reading those books before, so why were they so meaningless now? Had she really learned all she could pick up from books? If books weren't a source of knowledge anymore, what was?
180 AG, Summer
"Do you consider yourself a natural leader?" Kuvira asked Korra as they sat in Kuvira's cell, another day only different than the others as the days dwindled down toward Kuvira's release date.
"Honestly, no. I turned into a pretty decent leader, but it took some major stumbling. I don't know if you remember the year of the Equalist movement or Harmonic Convergence, but I could've handled those situations a lot better. It's also a miracle that I got as far as I did considering how sheltered I was growing up." Korra smiled. "You're a more natural leader than me."
"Then I don't know how to trust my instincts anymore."
"That, or you aren't trusting your instinct to trust your instincts. I feel like you're assuming that everything you ever thought as a leader was bad, but it wasn't, and you secretly know that." She rested her hand over Kuvira's. "I don't suppose there's something else that you're afraid of, besides being a bad leader?"
"I don't care about being a bad leader, I care about not failing my people again. I'm afraid of taking them in the way I did when I was the Great Uniter. The scary part, for me, wasn't that I let them justify what I did. It was that I disregarded people who actually loved me for this abstract love and celebrity that came from having such loyal supporters. But, I don't want to stop loving them. It keeps me doing everything in my power to help them." She sighed. "How do normal leaders do it? Balance putting your loved ones or the people first?"
"Understand that love isn't something that should be applied to a people. You love the individual people within a group, but when it comes to the people as a whole, you focus on what will be good for the society. Sometimes, you have to be tough for them, not give them everything they want. You have to be pragmatic about it. You can't please everyone. But, you still maintain your connection with the people by actually going out there and interacting with them. In the end, though, as long as the issue isn't going to cost lives, you should always put your loved ones first. There was a great piece of advice Iroh once told Aang that he said might be able to help me too, and it was that power is overrated, that love and happiness is a fine choice."
Kuvira frowned. "If I'm supposed to pick love and happiness, why am I accepting this power?"
"Because as long as you keep reminding yourself that you're finishing the promise you made to the people of the Earth Kingdom, it isn't about power." She paused. "That's how you're thinking of it, right? That, really, you're just finishing the job you set out to do eight years ago. Finishing your own history book on a good note."
"How did you empower yourself after you were poisoned?"
"I reconnected with Raava when I went into the Spirit World to rescue some tourists who had been taken by the angry spirit vines. She assured me that she had been within me the whole time, and told me that I was more powerful than I thought I was." Kuvira nodded, not exactly expecting divine intervention. "You know, one of the wisest things Tenzin ever told me was that I'm not defined by Raava, and that I could find power within my own spirit. When Iroh said you were lost, I think he was talking about this. You hadn't found your own spirit within you."
"Do you know where to find it?"
Korra smiled. "I don't think it's somewhere necessarily. But, you'll know it when you find it." Korra paused. "Hey, you still love yourself, right? I'm not letting you lose that, and I will throw you back into the Fog of Lost Souls if you forgot it."
She thought about the photos Su had sent her of her childhood. Sure enough, Kuvira had never been in any family photos, but there were a fair number of her with one or two of the Beifongs, several from her old apartment of her with her friends…seeing that happy young face, she did want nothing more than to make that child, that young woman proud, hopeful for the future.
"I'm just scared that this future isn't what I need."
Korra paused. "Think of it this way: once you're out of here, I can finally shut us together in a room and kiss you."
At least looking at Korra felt completely right. "What I'd give to kiss you right now."
"Less than six months now."
Kuvira took Korra's hand. "I love you so much."
"I love you, too."
180 AG, Fall
"Alright, we've officially made it to the one month marker," Wu said as they sat around Kuvira's cell, the guards having allowed a third chair to be brought in exactly one year before. Wu wiped his brow. "Finally. It's been exhausting keeping this plan in motion."
Kuvira and Korra gave him dirty looks.
He readjusted his seat. "Anyway, I'm going to announce that I'll be giving you a full pardon later today, get everything in motion. Hopefully, the press will sink into it, and your supporters will come out of hiding." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Honestly, the only people who really hated you were the Beifongs and the people who were sent to prison camps. Otherwise, most people still liked you." He muttered "unfortunately for some people" under his breath. "So, we'll start a wave of support for you. You'll be released in a month, and into Korra's custody. That way, we still give the illusion that you're under a strong watch from the world leaders. The next day, you'll participate in your first world leaders meeting." Wu looked to Kuvira. "Now, here is where it's absolutely necessary that you play yourself up. I'm going to announce to the world leaders that you're my first choice as prime minister, and you need to win over as many of them as possible. You know, schmooze it up, make them feel good, show how much of a not psychopath you are. You might have to fake it a little, but I trust that you're up for it."
Kuvira felt her chest begin to tighten. "I thought I was just going to sit quiet for the first meeting. What happened to that?"
"If you don't say anything, you're allowing everyone to make their own impressions. Some may get it right, but a lot of those leaders need a nudge in the right direction," Korra answered. "You're charismatic. Don't worry."
Kuvira took a deep breath. "Okay. So…are you assuming that they'll jump on board?"
"Yeah," Wu replied. "And after that, they'll probably want a prime minister in there quick, so I'll just schmooze parliament for approval, and hopefully have you in office in less than a month."
"A month?" Kuvira repeated.
"Yeah, we need a leader quick. Besides, it'll secure you and what you'll be doing right away, so less time leeching off Korra."
Spirits, wasn't it quick enough that she was getting out of prison, but to be sitting in a leader's chair, making decisions for an entire nation in less than a month after being released from prison? There was no way that could go well. She needed time to feel out what the Earth Kingdom needed before she could make or approve any major decisions. There—There was so much that needed to be done for the nation! She couldn't possibly do it after only a month out of prison. Besides, what would that month look like? If Wu was already hyping up her release, she'd be a celebrity by the time she was released. It wouldn't just be some abstract pressure to fix the nation, but many real people pressuring her to fix things as fast as possible. At least when she was the interim president, the hardest part, stabilizing Ba Sing Se, had been done in relative anonymity. She only gained a name for herself once she got into the groove.
"Are you sure about this?" Kuvira asked Wu.
"I've never been more confident in a political decision in all my life. Two months and you'll be rolling, Prime Minister Kuvira."
If there was one miracle in the world, it was that Korra and Wu hadn't picked up on how much blood had left her face nor how freaked out she was inside.
Wu suddenly put his hand on Kuvira's shoulder, and she cringed. "Also, if you could, make sure you make yourself up a little bit on your release day and practice a smile and maybe a crying bit, that'd be awesome."
Kuvira expected Korra to glare at Wu, but her eyes were fixed on Kuvira, worry creased into her brow.
"Don't worry, I'll be ready," Kuvira managed to say without arising suspicion from the king.
180 AG, Winter
Two days before Kuvira was released, and the night started with her lying wide awake in bed, staring at the ceiling with her heart slamming in her chest and ended with her waking from a pitiful sleep to vomit. Even when the physical symptoms anchoring her to the bathroom floor stopped, she didn't have the strength or willpower to pick herself up and drag her back to her bed. She was vaguely aware of the cell door opening a couple times, but no one came and interacted with her.
It wasn't until Korra arrived that someone finally came to get her.
"You know, you'd think being in solitary confinement would prevent you from getting sick. The guards didn't inform me of a food poisoning outbreak, so I'll have to try to figure this out myself," Korra said, a bit of lightness in her voice.
Korra scooped Kuvira up off the floor and carried her back to the bed. Kuvira watched as Korra went into the bathroom, turned the sink on, and returned with the water. She closed her eyes as Korra's healing water touched her skin, half listening as Korra muttered about there not actually being anything wrong with her.
"I'd be pretty blind to not know what this is about, would I?" Korra said as she sat on Kuvira's bed, put Kuvira's head into her lap.
Kuvira glanced up, then looked back out at the room. "I'm sorry."
"For what? You're scared that you'll fail, and overwhelmed by how fast everything is happening. You've developed a routine here, and it's only natural that you fear breaking it." Korra sighed. "I've noticed this ever since Wu announced that you were being pardoned, but I thought that maybe the excitement would cancel it out. I should be the one apologizing."
"I don't remember how to be a good person in the world anymore. I…I don't even think I know how to be a person anymore."
Korra ran her hand through Kuvira's hair. "It's all about taking it slow. You wouldn't believe how scared I was to return to my life. According to Toph, I even kept poison in my body to keep myself from it. Trust me, you're not alone, and I'll be there for you every step of the way." Kuvira took a deep breath. "What usually makes you calm down? Do you want a game plan? Encouraging words?"
"A game plan, maybe." She paused. "Not Wu's."
"Well, tomorrow, at nine am, you'll be released. I'll bring you some of my clothes to wear, and as for Wu's 'suggestion,' just brush your hair and you'll be good. If you wanted to make me happy and throw the people for a loop, you might even consider leaving your hair down. You'll get dressed, say bye to Arnav, get your uniform and whatever else you came in with, and we'll walk to my car. Honestly, ignore the press. I've been doing it for years, and it gets some nice candids. I'll get us over to Air Temple Island where you can meet Tenzin and the air kids. You met Tenzin before, right?"
"Briefly."
"Well, Tenzin's a very open guy, and we've been talking about you for a while. I think he may be very interested to see how much you've changed. So, you can meet one of the world leaders in a low pressure setting, we'll all have dinner, turn in for the night. The world leader meeting isn't until the afternoon, so we could do some sparring out in the yard in the morning, if you'd like. Then, we have the world leader meeting, and there are literally two outcomes: you'll be accepted as prime minister and we'll start doing stupid PR stuff, or they'll deny Wu his request, and you and I can just go around cleaning up any rises in crime rates. Either way, you're helping the people and I'm with you. Sound good?"
Kuvira exhaled. "It sounds better when you say it."
Korra took Kuvira's hand. "I want you to know that I'm really proud of you." She paused. "Also, are you down to be secret girlfriends until you're securely either the prime minister or not?"
Kuvira nodded. "I'm sorry I keep going back and forth on this confidence thing."
"Oh come on, you haven't been confident since you were arrested. What'll build that back up is some positive reinforcement. What I was building up is your self-worth, and I think that's doing okay." Korra smiled. "You know how I know your self worth is up?"
"How?"
"By the fact that you've agreed it's time to move into taking decisive action instead of serving a ridiculous sentence out to term."
"Ridiculous?"
"Five years and they never granted you consistent outdoor privileges. I stand with what I said."
A/N: Alright, and that ends the prison arc! :D Next, it'll be seeing how the world reacts to Kuv being out. I decided to try something different with the vignette structure. Did you guys like it? Does the characterization of Kuvira seem consistent? I was really trying with that distinguishing between Kuvira loving herself and feeling confident about the prime minister task, so I hope that both came across and wasn't beaten over your guys's heads.
Also, if you're curious, I have done some major/minor edits to chapters 19 and 20. All it really does is reflect a more romantic/emotional/spiritual Korvira over a more physical one. You don't technically need to read the new chapters as this chapter works with either version, but eh, you guys are Korvira fans, right, so it's more Korvira. So, if any of you beautiful souls want to go back and tell me if those chapters were improved as well as telling me how this thing went, I'd appreciate it. :)