In Hiding

Summary: Korra tried hard not to think about Kuvira living in a jail cell waiting for her trial to start – until she finds her sitting on her bed, looking for a place to hide. Set after series finale.

Chapter 3

Korra tried to focus on the game of air ball that she and Tenzin's children were playing, but every so often air acolyte would come down the hallway, or one of the kids would say something about grabbing a toy, which would set the Avatar on edge. When an air acolyte would pass she would constantly look over her shoulder to make sure they didn't enter or go anywhere near her room. When one of the children wanted to go to their rooms she insisted that she accompany them, making up some lame excuse about some possible chi-blockers attacking them and they needed her protection.

She could tell Ikki and Jinora weren't buying the story. Meelo, however, wanted to go along as extra man power. Rohan would just start wailing every time one of his siblings left but and would capture them in a tight hug upon their return. Jinroa, the ever so intuitive one, just kept drilling Korra with questionable looks. Luckily, Ikki's attention span was about as fast, or as short, as her sentences so Korra didn't have to deal with too much from her.

Finally, Pema had returned from her shopping trip and she ushered her children into the temple to have them do their school work. It was dusk now, and Korra knew that most people would be catching up on their studies or working on dinner or laundry at this point that the bathhouse and bathing areas would be empty. From her time at the temple, whenever it was her time to bathe no one would interrupt her two hour soak. Tenzin gave everyone strict orders not to bother her unless it was a life or death emergency. With having the title of Avatar, the chosen one is required some down time to themselves and since she grew up in the south, it was always a hot bath that calmed her down.

Korra tiptoed back to her room and crept inside. "Hey, it's me," she hissed as she made her way over to the armoire. As Kuvira slowly pushed herself out from underneath her bed, Korra dropped to her knees and tugged on the drawer at the base. "We should be fine once we get to the bathing area but we're going to have to be very quiet. Some air acolytes may still be walking around."

"Do they have bending?" Kuvira asked while getting to her feet. She lifted her arm and brushed at the dust in her hair. After a few seconds she groaned before dropping her arm again.

"No, but they live the way of life air nomads used to and carry on the teachings and culture." Korra grabbed a small basket out of the drawer before filling it with a change of clothes, towels, and some shampoo.

"So, if they can't bend, they shouldn't pose a problem if something were to happen," Kuvira said evenly. Korra shrugged in response. She picked up a bar of soap and shampoo bottle before tossing them into the basket. She picked up a bottle of conditioner before standing up and closing the drawer with her foot. As she turned to face Kuvira, the bottle flew out of her hand and dropped to the floor.

Kuvria watched with a raised eyebrow as Korra's eyes slowly widened. The Avatar held her breath and waited for the sounds of footsteps. She relaxed after a few moments of silence. Kuvira kicked the bottle back over to her. Korra picked up the bottle before walking over to the door. She slid it open before peeking her head out and looking from the left and to the right.

"Are you able to run?" Korra asked over her shoulder.

"I should be fine," Kuvira answered.

"Good, because it's a quick dash down the hallway and then around the side of the temple to a corner of the courtyard." Korra stepped out of the room and moved so that Kuvira could exit. She slid the door closed before quickly taking off down the hall. Kuvira followed, albeit a tad slower and tightening her grip on her side.

Once they reached the end of the hallway Korra slowed to a stop. The sudden change in momentum caused the items in the basket to shift. A bar of soap clattered to the floor. Korra bent down to pick it up. As soon as she straightened and placed the soap back into the basket, the shampoo bottle fell out.

"You are aware that the quieter you try to be, the louder you get?" Kuvira asked.

"Well I'm sorry," Korra hissed. "This is the first time I'm hiding a prisoner."

"Ex-prisoner," Kuvira corrected.

"Fine, fugitive," she concluded. Korra looked around the corner before signaling Kuvira to follow her with a jerk of her head. "This is the first time I'm hiding a fugitive. Who cares if you get caught? The Avatar would probably be blacklisted."

Korra and Kuvira crouched down a bit low as they scurried across the open area to the bathhouse. Korra pulled the door open and moved to the side so that Kuvira could enter before closing the door behind them. She let out a deep sigh of relief and relaxed the minute the door shut.

"It's actually interesting." Kuvira walked over to the edge of the bath pool in the middle of the room. "You were able to sneak into Amon's rallies and various other places for Avatar missions pretty easily but with this, you're essentially going to make yourself stick out like a sore thumb," she commented.

"You followed me?" Korra asked.

"Everyone in Zaofu knew about you before you arrived years ago, Kuvira said. "The Metal Clan studies the political news and disagreements in all of the nations in case we were needed."

"Okay, so here is everything you need." Korra placed the basket onto the ground.

"I will be needing your assistance," Kuvira called out.

"For what?"

"As I'm sure you can see, I'm not at my usual best." Korra stopped herself from making a comment. "I will need your help with bathing. At least, washing my hair."

"Fine. Do you..." Korra trailed off as she pointed at Kuvira's clothing.

"I can do that myself," Kuvira quickly answered. She shifted her gaze to the ground. "I've been doing it for the past six months." Korra nodded and turned around as Kuvira slowly undressed herself. Once she heard the splashes of Kuvira submerging herself in the water, she turned and gathered the soap and hair care products.

Korra made her way over to the side of the bath pool. She slipped off her shoes and rolled up her pant legs before placing them into the water. She let out a sigh of content as the warmth of the water washed over her.

Kuvira broke the surface and let out a soft gasp. "Come here so I can wash your hair." She moved herself over to the side of the bath pool. Korra moved her legs apart so that Kuvira could sit in between them with her back to her.

"When I'm done, would you like for me to heal that for you?" Korra had pointed at Kuvira's side. The one she was still cradling.

"That would be nice," Kuvira muttered. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back. Korra squeezed some of the shampoo into her hands before working it into a lather. She then started to apply it to Kuvira's hair. Goosebumps erupted over Kuvira's skin as she felt The Avatar's nails scratching lightly against her scalp.

"How long can you hold your breath?" Korra asked.

"Pretty long."

"Do you look at everything as a challenge?"

"Yes."

Korra chuckled through her nose. She continued to run her fingers through Kuvira's long hair, trying to clean the dirt and dust that had accumulated over the past few months. Every once in a while she would tab the earthbender's shoulder, signaling for her to dunk herself to rinse the shampoo out. Once that was complete Korra started to add the conditioner.

"Thank you," Kuvira muttered sleepily.

"There's no need to thank me," Korra answered. "But, you're welcome."

About an hour and thity-five minutes later, Korra was starting to clean up the items she had brought in. Kuvira slapped a bar of soap and a wet wash cloth onto the side of the bath pool for Korra to collect.

"Okay, I'm going to use this water to heal your bruising and everything. I'm going to need you to submerge yourself and hold your breath until I'm done. You'll know once the glowing has stopped. I'll try to be fast

Kuvira made a soft noise of confirmation. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and dipped below the surface. The warmth of the water over her cuts and bruising made her want to get back out but she forced herself to get used to the feeling. Through her closed eyes she was the bright light of the water begin to glow.

Then she felt the light touches all around her body. The cut on her forehead seemed like a distance memory. The pressure around her eye was lifted. The pain in her left flank had intensified before she felt, and dully heard, a pop before fading.

I wish I could stay like this forever.

When her lung began to burn, Kuvira blew some bubbles out of her nose. The glowing subsided a few seconds later. She broke the surface and took in a deep breath of air.

"We need to hurry and get back to my room," Korra said. She grabbed a towel and held it out horizontally in front of her. Kuvira stepped out of the bath pool and walked over to The Avatar before wrapping it around herself. Korra then used her waterbending to help her dry off. "Just a second." Korra walked over to the bath pool, lowered herself to her knees, and then dipped her head into the warm water. A second later she pulled herself back up.

"What are you doing?" Kuvira demanded.

"If someone were to see me leaving this area without my hair wet, they'd be suspicious," Korra explained. She grabbed a second towel and quickly ran it through her hair.

"Understandable."

"Here. I know it's not pajamas but it's the closest thing," Korra said while holding out a light blue tank top and a spare pair of her blue water tribe sweat pants. "They might be a little too small."

"They're acceptable." Korra waterbent the rest of the water off of Kuvira's body before turning around once more so that she could get dressed.

After collecting all of their items, Korra snuck them back to her bedroom, albeit much quieter this time around. Korra dropped the basket onto the floor before exiting the room again, mentioning something about food.

Kuvira felt her mouth water at the sound of food. It had been months since she's eaten anything decent. Sure, prison food is a lot better than school food she had as a child, but nothing could beat home cooked dinners. Kuvira took a seat on the bed and looked around the room.

"I'm lucky that I'm known for having a big appetite because otherwise Pema would have been suspicious," Korra announced as she returned. She placed a tray full of food onto Kuvira's lap. She grabbed a comb off of the bedside table before sitting behind Kuvira.

"What is this?" Kuvira asked while eyeing the food.

"Air Nation food," she answered while running the comb through her dark locks. "Don't worry, since I've been back Pema has been sneaking a little bit of meat into my portions. It's not all vegetarian."

"It's better than nothing," Kuvira responded before taking a big bite of one of the stuffed cabbages.

"Oh good," Korra answered sarcastically. "You enjoy that, and I will fix up your hair."

Kuvira dropped her fork before reaching behind her. She ran her hand down the stair of a long braid. "I didn't think you knew how to do braids," she commented.

"Asami taught me," Korra admitted.

"Oh," Kuvira said in between bites.

Her hands paused. "What do you mean by, oh?" she demanded.

"Nothing." Kuvira shrugged. She couldn't help but smile. Not because she had easily gotten underneath the Avatar's skin, but because she was now able to shrug with both of her shoulders.

"So why did you come here?" Korra asked quietly.

"I already explained," Kuvira snapped.

"There was another place you could go."

"To whom?"

"To him."

Kuvira paused for a second. She picked at the crumbs that was left on her plate, ignoring Korra's comments about 'having the same appetite'. "I didn't want to bring him into this," she admitted.

"But you brought me into this."

"You did say we were a lot alike," Kuvira answered. "You just made another comparison. I felt like you would be the one person to help who wouldn't hold a grudge over me."

"That's true." Korra nodded. "While I agree with that, I believe-"

"I'm tired," Kuvira interrupted. She pushed the tray off of her lap. Korra fastened the end of Kuviea's braid with a simple twist Asami had shown her before taking the tray. She slid the door open and placed the tray outside of it before closing it again. Kuvira looked around the small room and then over at Korra. "Where shall I-"

"You're taking the bed," Korra answered. She grabbed a few spare pillows and a blanket out of the armoire before tossing them onto the floor. "I'll sleep on the floor."

"I can't." Kuvira shook her head.

"You can," Korra answered. "I insist." She set up the pillows into a makeshift mattress on the floor before climbing on top of them. She pulled the blanket up over herself and before closing her eyes.

Kuvira slowly slipped into the bed and felt the mattress outline the shape of her body. She reveled in the soft touch. Not too long later, she was out for the night.