This is my late contribution to the Baavira Day 2021. I decided to merge all the prompts in one story: dance, what if, and regrets. Keep in mind that I have not read Ruins of Empire or any of the TLOK comics yet, I am aware of some things that happen there, but not all. So this little one shot is probably not comic-compliant. The only thing I took from the comics is both Baatar and Kuvira being in house arrest at Zaofu. Anyways, I hope you like it!

I posted this on AO3 a while back, but decided I might as well post it here.

...

He spots her from across the room, almost can't bear the sight of her. Every time he looks at her, he is reminded of her betrayal, how she chose the Empire over him, how she almost killed him with seemingly no regret, how she gave up on him so quickly when he had given up so many things for her, including his family.

He resents her for everything that has happened, and yet, he can't stop looking at her, he can't stop his heart stinging with the thought of her.

She looks so beautiful tonight, she has put in extra effort in the way she dressed for the ball, most likely his mother's request. She was so adamant that everybody needed to look their best for it, including those in house arrest.

He doesn't see the point, really. If the house arrest is meant to be their punishment, then why request for them to go amongst people? Maybe it's a part of the punishment, because he doesn't want to suffer through the meaningless chit-chat. Nobody's trying to talk to him anyway. He is seen as a traitor by everyone in Zaofu, along with her. There is bitter resentment in their eyes as they sneak glances in his direction, and an occasional pity.

The eldest son, who betrayed his family only to be almost killed at the hands of his fiancée.

"Hey."

Baatar snaps back from his thoughts with the familiar voice. Kuvira is no longer standing at the opposite side of the room, where he had been watching her, she in now standing next to him, speaking to him. He hasn't spoken to her ever since her sentence got changed into house arrest rather than a life sentence in prison, since she shot that damned spirit weapon at him.

"What do you want?" The words don't come out as harsh as he intended, just tired.

"Nothing. You just seemed lonely." The former Empress shrugs.

"I seemed lonely?" Baatar almost laughs at that. "You have to be kidding me."

"I am not. I've noticed how people looking at—"

"I wonder why!" Baatar interrupts, brows furrowed. "I betrayed all these people, because of you!"

Kuvira remains silent, and after a long moment, Baatar feels the urge to look at her. Silence doesn't suit the Great Uniter, she always has something to say, even if she is wrong.

But the woman in front of her looks almost regretful, almost looks like the girl he knew back in his younger days in Zaofu.

No! He closes his eyes in frustration. This is the woman who willingly shot at him, this is the woman who betrayed him, who threw away the future they could have had together, as if all the things they'd been through didn't mean a single thing.

She will always be the Great Uniter, no matter what she says or does.

If only she had been just Kuvira...

But she isn't, and she will never be. What is the point of contemplating on 'if only's and 'what if's?

What if they had never left Zaofu? What if she had never formed the Empire? What if he hadn't built the spirit canon? What if she never shot at him? What if he never fell for her..?

None of it matters, for they've already happened anyway, and neither him nor Kuvira can change them.

"Would you like to dance?" The question is so sudden, so out of nowhere, that Baatar blinks, dumbfounded.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Would you like to dance?" Kuvira repeats, pointing to the dance floor of the ballroom with her head, there is a forced smile on her lips, as if she is trying to act like everything is fine. "It's a ball, everyone's dancing."

He doesn't know how she has the audacity to ask him for a dance. He doesn't know why he accepts either.

Despite everything, she is still like a giant magnet, pulling him in. And he can't resist the pull no matter how hard he tries to, no matter what it costs him.

But the next thing he knows, they are making their way to the dance floor, standing amongst all those other couples that give them side eyed glances.

This is a terrible idea.

Still he places a hand on her waist as they start to sway slowly to the rhythm of the music.

The silence between them hangs heavy in the air as neither of them can find something to say, no word can fix this anyway. And yet, there are so many left unsaid.

The music continues, unaware at the discomfort both of them feel in the face of the suffocating silence, and they have no option other than to continue too.

They are standing so close, and yet the distance between them has never been greater. He looks into the eyes green as freshly mown grass, and is taken aback by how he doesn't see the usual severity and determination in them. Instead, they are gleaming with something he can't identify, something he knows doesn't suit her.

"I had to do it." She says finally. Words are those of the Uniter, yet the familiar tone is something he hasn't heard in years, way before she formed the Empire.

"No, you didn't." He responds simply, not even bothering to play dumb. He knows exactly what she is talking about. There isn't anything else they can talk about. "We could have been happy. We could have had a family, a real one. But you chose power over that."

"No." She shakes her head, it's barely visible but Baatar catches it. "It was not about power. I did it for my people. I had to. I couldn't let them, the people that trusted me, fall back into the reign of a monarch who would not give a damn about them."

"Of course." Baatar replies, and is surprised by how calm and detached he sounds. "So you decided that you needed to betray your fiance who also trusted you."

Kuvira takes a deep breath, eyes closing for the fraction of a second. "Baatar, can't you see? It was something much bigger than you, or me for the matter. I thought you understood that."

"I didn't. I never had, and I don't now." As the next step in the dance calls for it, he twirls Kuvira around before pulling her closer again. "Honestly, Kuvira, I never really gave a damn about the Empire. Be it be ruled by a king, by you, or have no ruler at all, I don't care. I only stuck around for you. Because I loved you."

Hearing the past tense come out of his lips pulls at his heart in a way he didn't think it would, and he sees something akin to sadness pass Kuvira's eyes as well. It's gone as fast as it appeared.

"I thought we were together in this dream."

"It has always been your dream. Mine was to spend my life with you." He feels a lump forming in his throat, but he swallows it, casting his eyes down to avoid meeting her gaze.

He poured his heart out, but there is still one thing left unsaid on his part, one thing that's lingering in the air, threatening to break the new silence that has just started to form.

She betrayed him, shot him with his own weapon, left him to die, felt no remorse doing so, threw away what future they could've had together, saw him as disposable, chose the Empire over him, and yet, despite everything that has happened, despite how angry he gets, not with her, but with himself for it, despite desparately wanting not to...

He still loves her.

The lights in the room are illumunating the large body of people that move to the same rhythm, making the air feel so much warmer as it hits them. Hundreds of breaths and words mixing together to fill the room aroun them.

"No, I had to do it." Kuvira repeats, breaking the silence once more. Baatar opens his mouth, but Kuvira silences him by continuing her words. "I had to do it. But it doesn't mean I don't regret it."

He finally looks at her after a long time, and sees something so sincere in her glistening eyes that he feels like he has been punched in the stomach.

"I had too much time to think about everything in the past few months." She elaborates, seeing his confused expression. "It wasn't an easy decision either, back then. But being here in Zaofu again, with you not talking to me, acting as if I was just a stranger, made me realize how much I had actually thrown away."

"What are you saying?"

Kuvira takes a breath to steady herself. "What I am saying is that I realized more than ever the consequences of firing that weapon at you. I realized how much you actually meant to me. How much I loved you..."

Again, past tense. He winces internally. She speaks so freely of love, and he can't help but wonder if that sentiment is still there within her.

"And yet, I realized one more thing." She pauses for a moment, and Baatar wonders if she is actually going to continue.

"I realized that I would do everything exactly as I had done before, even if I had a second chance. Even if it meant that I would regret it for the rest of my life."

There is so many things going through his head right now, so many emotions, some of them conflicting, contradictory. Anger, sadness, grief, longing, understanding, and even love...

"So, that is it then." He says instead, the slightest tremor in his voice as he speaks. "There is no point to this conversation, not after you said you would choose to kill me again."

"I suppose there isn't." She admits. The movements of their feet are slowing down as the music is coming to an end. "I just wanted you to know that I did, and still do, regret it. Those few hours, thinking you were dead, thinking that I killed you..."

She doesn't elaborate further, and he doesn't ask her to. The music slows down, and ends eventually. His hand lingers at her waist just for a few seconds longer, eyes looking into hers through his glasses. And then, he pulls away.

Moving away from the dance floor, back to his old place in the corner of the room, a barely audible voice reaches his ears from behind him. It is only loud enough for him to hear.

"I am truly sorry for everything, Baatar."