!TRIGGER WARNING! S*lf h*rm

Kuvira paced the room, running her fingers through her hair, her thoughts whirling around her head like a hurricane.What had she been thinking? She had never opened up to someone and now here she was, spilling her soul out to some woman who was practically a stranger!Kuvira grew frantic as she paced the room, too caught up in her own mind to notice the pain shooting through her leg as she hobbled across the length of her bedroom.

She hunched down, hands gripping her hair tightly, eyes squeezed shut as she tried to shove out the invasive thoughts she had grown accustomed to.She was so stupid, Korra didn't really care about her, why would she? No one ever has, she was so stupid, and useless…she probably shouldn't exist at all!

Kuvira stood up slowly, her mind blank for the first time in the hour she had spent panicking. She walked to her bathroom, her body feeling as though it was moving by itself and her wrists craving the familiar sting of metal. She crouched down, opening the cupboard under her bathroom sink and snatching up the small, cardboard jewellery box that sat at the very back of the cupboard. She shook the box lightly a small smile tugging at her lips as the light clinking of metal reached her ears.

She opened the box, picking up one of the two blades that sat there. She remember the night she had first cut. She was fourteen, desperate for some release from the demons that plagued her mind. The alarm clock by her bed flashed 4:14 in brilliant red as she rocked slowly back on forth on her bed, knees pulled tight to her chest and her eyes prickling with the sensation of tears about to spill. That was when the idea had first entered her young mind. She knew that she shouldn't do it. She had seen countless people speaking of how damaging it had been, how it was only a temporary solution and that the problems only came back twice as bad, of how it had only led to them winding up in mental hospitals.

But at that moment she didn't care. She padded across her bedroom floor with the grace of a dancer, the cold floorboards stinging the soles of her feet. She had gone to the family's bathroom and stolen s clean razor blade from the packet in the cupboard above the sink, pausing as the plastic rattled, her heart pounding in her chest as she strained her ears for some sign that she had awoken Suyin or her husband.

With the pink razor gripped tightly in a white-knuckled grip she had crept back to her room, melting the plastic over a candle and pulling the sharp metal from its prison. From then on it had gotten worse, she had started craving the sting of metal against her skin. She ignored Suyin's concern when she refused to wear anything with short sleeves. Steadily she grew worse, going to her blades as a solution to the voices in her head more frequently, using them to forget her anger, her sadness and the emotions that had threatened to overwhelm her.

Now Kuvira sat at the edge of her bath, gripping her wrist tightly as blood dripped onto the floor, her eyes alight with panic.It wasn't stopping…there was so much. She had gotten carried away, lost in her memories and depressive thoughts.Her wrist stung as she gripped it tighter, trying to stop the flow of thick crimson, the metallic scent of blood suffocating her senses.

Suddenly there was a knock on her front door. Kuvira glanced up quickly from her spot at the bath. She looked down at the mess of her forearm in panic before she got to her feet and hobbled to her door, opening it with her undamaged arm.

Korra stood at Kuviras door, scuffing her feet on the ground nervously eyes straining to see against the dim lighting on the corridor. Several minutes passed and she considered turning back. She knew she shouldn't have come over so late, Kuvira was probably asleep. Korra just hadn't been able to relax after Kuvira had rushed off.

As she turned to leave the door creaked open, revealing half of Kuvira standing with her shoulders hunched and her hair a mess as though she had run her fingers through it several times. "H-hey" Korra greeted nervously, rubbing the back of her neck in an attempt to relieve some of the awkwardness she felt.

"Are you alright?" she asked, taking in Kuviras empty expression. She shifted closer, about to ask if she could come in when she saw the other woman's arm which she had failed to hide behind the sturdy wood between them. Korras hand flew to her mouth as she saw the crimson contrasting against her pale skin. Korra surged forward, grabbing Kuviras arm as she examined it.

"Kuvira…" she began at a loss of words as she saw the deep scratches, her grip only tightening as Kuvira tried to snatch her arm away. She whimpered as Korra's steely grip sent more pain along her arm. Korra stared her dead in the eye, soft blue ablaze with panic, confusion and fear.

Kuvira froze as her breathing became more laboured, panic seizing her chest as Korra stepped across the threshold, leading her to her kitchen sink where her arm was shoved under lukewarm water.

Korra ignored Kuviras gasp of pain and her trembling body as she pulled her phone from the pocket of her hoodie, swiftly dialling 999(the equivalent of 911 in my country). Then Kuvira fainted.

Korra sighed with relief as she saw the red and blue flashing lights from the window of Kuviras apartment and the ear-piercing siren could be heard from the far from soundproof walls. Korra stood up and opened the apartment door, waiting for the paramedics to reach them. Kuvira was lying on her couch, arm sloppily bandaged by Korra, blood still seeping through the wads of mesh bandage.

She watched as the paramedics hauled Kuviras limp form onto a stretcher and followed them as they rolled her into the elevator. She threw glares at the neighbours who had opened the doors to see what the commotion was about, all of them standing in their pyjamas, some shaking their head with harsh judgement written across their features while others just had a bored expression as though they had been expecting this to happen.

Korra kept her gaze on Kuvira as they rode the elevator down to the ground floor. The woman looked so small and feeble in her oversized pyjamas, her complexion turned pale and clammy. Korra gently moved a strand of raven hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear as the elevator hit the ground floor with a soft ping. A small group of people jumped back from the elevator as Kuvira was rushed towards the awaiting ambulance.

Several minutes later Korra was back in the hospital waiting room, struggling to keep her eyes open as she waited for the doctor to finish stitching up Kuviras wounds and tell her what was going to happen.