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 5

"What do we do now?" Kuvira mouthed. Korra looked over at the door way, taking note of Chief Beifong's shadow. She seemed impatient, judging by the way her right foot's shadow was moving up and down. "She knows seismic sense," she added once Korra looked back at her. "I can't hide in here."

"Out the window," Korra mouthed back. "You said you can hold your breath for a long time." She jumped off of the bed and pushed the curtains open. Kuvira hissed as the sunlight lit up the room. She covered her eyes and walked over. "Hide in the water."

"I never really tested it with a timer or anything." Korra pushed the window open. She poked her head out and looked from one side to the other before leaning back into the room.

"Well, we're going to have to take that risk. Go." Kuvira quickly slipped out of the window and onto the cool ground. She flinched when her feet touched the cold grass. Korra watched as Kuvira crouched down low and made her way from the back of the temple towards the edge of Air Temple Island. She looked around one more time as she reached the edge, before diving into the murky water. Korra grabbed the bedding off of the floor and stuffed it in the armoir before moving back towards the window. "Come in," Korra called out.

Chief Lin Beifong slid the door open and rolled her eyes when she saw Korra standing by the window. "You had me waiting outside just so you could greet the morning?" she barked. "This is official police business. How about helping me instead of being a burden…like usual?"

Korra raised an eyebrow. "Well, last time I wanted to help the police you almost had me arrested," she pointed out.

"For destroying four buildings," Lin reminded her.

The Avatar opened her mouth to respond but quickly clamped it shut. She chewed on her bottom lip before sighing slowly. "You won't let that go, will you?"

"I don't have time for this," she snapped. She nodded to her fellow officers. "Search the place," she commanded.

"Why? You have seismic sense."

"Wood," Lin answered simply. "It is one of the few things that can stop an earthbender." She looked closely at Korra. The dark skinned girl forced herself not to reach up and wipe at the beads of sweat forming on her forehead. "Have you heard anything or seen anything suspicious around here?"

"Nope. There would have been a ruckus by now," Korra said with a slight laugh. She quickly sobered up as someone else entered the room. She relaxed a bit as Mako stepped inside the door, peering closely around the room.

"Mako, what are you doing here?" Korra asked. "I thought you'd be in Ba Sing Se with Prince Wu."

"I'm the detective on this case," he said. She noticed him slightly puffing up his chest. Korra smiled warmly at him. She knew he was very proud that he was being useful to the police department, not only as the lone firebender in a sea of earth and metal benders but as respected detective as well. "Prince Wu-"

"King Wu," Lin corrected, "at least for the time being."

"King Wu is doing business safely in the Earth Kingdom being looked after by Bolin and the rest of the Beifong family," Mako explained in his "detective" voice. He spoke firmly and calmly, and dropped his voice a few pitches lower.

"I need the best and he's proved that to me any times," Lin complimented. Mako continued to hold his stoic expression, but couldn't help but smile to himself once the chief turned away from him.

"Right." Korra nodded. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the wall as the members of the police force continued to look around her small room. She looked out at the water with her peripheral vision. The surface was still. "So why do you all think Kuvira would be here on Air Temple Island?"

"It is one of the closest places to the city," Lin explained. "With it being surrounded by water she'd easily be able to hide her footsteps. She may even be on a boat to the Northern or Southern Water Tribes by now."

"Well, clearly she's not here," Korra pointed out.

Lin shot her a harsh look. "We're searching a lot of other places," she snapped. Korra raised her hands up as if to defend herself. The two sat in silence as the members of the police force finished searching the small room. There wasn't many places to look as it was, since the only things in the room were a bad, a desk, and a giant armoire.

"Nothing here," one of them commented.

"I don't see anything out of the ordinary," another added.

Lin nodded once. "Let's move out then," she ordered.

"I'll see you later, Korra?" Mako asked as he headed towards the door.

"Yeah. I have some business in the city, but Asami and I were thinking of grabbing some lunch later today. Why don't you join us?" she suggested. Mako smiled and gave her a wave as he stepped out of the room. The two members of the police force filed out after him. Lin brought up the rear. She stopped at the door and turned to look at Korra.

"Avatar, if anything comes up, I expect you to report it to me immediately," she insisted.

"Yes, Chief Crankypants," Korra said while saluting her. She struggled to keep back a smile. Lin looked at her for a second before scowling and rolling her eyes. Korra fully smiled when she caught a glimpse of the corner of Lin's lips twitched as she turned away.

Once the door closed, Korra quickly climbed through the window and made her way to the water's edge. She bent down and peered into the murky water, trying to see if she could spot the fugitive. After a few seconds, she stood up and began to wave her arms around in a figure eight pattern. She water bent a large ball of water up into the air before lowering it above the banks of the island. She then placed it onto the ground and move her arms in a sharp movement, causing the ball of water to break open.

Kuvira drew in a big breath of air before coughing. She brushed her dripping hair out of her face before turning to face Korra. "What happened?"

"Apparently Lin is searching the island and Republic City." Korra waved her arms around and blew a small gust of wind at Kuvira to dry her off. "They think you may be heading towards the Southern or the Northern Water Tribes."

"Not possible," Kuvira answered with a click of her tongue. She closed her eyes when she felt some dirt starting to pelt her skin. "An earthbender wouldn't be able to survive out there for too long." After a brief pause she asked quietly, "she didn't detect me nearby?"

"No, the temple is made out of wood," Korra said. "She can't use seismic sense on it. I think she also knew I was lying."

"What?" Kuvira tried to open her eyes to glare at her but Korra quickly picked up the speed of her airbending, forcing her to shut them again. "I may as well head out now because you're terrible at lying."

"I think she suspected I was," Korra said calmly, "but she didn't say anything. I don't think Toph ever taught her how to detect lying. It would make sense because Suyin used-"

"Aiwei. I remember." Once the wind died down, Kuvira opened her eyes again. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Korra looked at her with regret. "Mako is a detective in the case," she announced.

"Who?"

"Mako, my friend," she answered. "He's a firebender and a lightningbender. He is working on your case."

"I guess I'll leave then." Kuvira got to her feet and started to walk towards the water's edge.

Korra grabbed her by her wrist. "Where will you go?"

"I don't know, but if he's a good detective and your," Kuvira paused as she tried to think of the right word, "…friend," she said as if she had never used the term before, "…then he'll put two and two together pretty quickly."

"That's not necessarily true," Korra said with a small smile.

"What makes you think that?"

Before Korra could answer, she heard someone calling out her name. She motioned for Kuvira to go and hide behind a nearby bush before walking back up towards the temple. She couldn't help but smile when she saw Asami standing at her bedroom window.

"Morning," Asami said softly. "What are you doing out here?"

"Oh." Korra's eyes widened. "I was…meditating," she said slowly. She silently searched Asami's face to gauge her reaction. She felt her pulse quicken when the engineer donned a confused look.

"Don't you normally meditate in the front of the temple?" she asked.

"I needed a change of scenery." Korra motioned for her to stand back. She slipped through the window and landed heavily on the floor. "Why are you here? I thought we were going to meet up for lunch later?" she asked quickly. "You know, after my meetings and your meetings…in the city."

"I came to talk to Tenzin," Asami explained with a shrug. "I may need his help in, once again, convincing President Raiko to keep the Spirit Vines as we work to expand the city." She rolled her eyes. "Pema invited me to stay for breakfast."

"Right." Korra noded. "Then let's go," she said cheerfully while grabbing Asami by the shoulders and pushing her toward the door. She looked back through the window and caught Kuvira's eye. "Wait a bit and then come back in. I'll bring you some food."

"You and your metabolism," Asami giggled. Korra shrugged sheepishly. The two walked silently towards the dining room. Tenzin was seated at the head of the table, glaring at Bumi who was going on and on about a war story to Ikki and Meelo. Jinora was seated near the end of the table, talking quietly to Kai. Asami nudged Korra in the arm and pointed out that they were holding hands underneath the table.

"I hope you're hungry," Pema said cheerfully as the two walked into the room. She placed Rohan down next to her before handing him his small cup. "How was your shower, Asami? The water pressure has been on the fritz lately."

"My shower?" Asami repeated.

"Yes, you're shower." Korra nodded rapidly. Asami turned to look at her as the two sat down at the table. "The one you took this morning after staying the night," she said slowly.

"Of course." She smiled over at Pema before turning back to Korra. She leaned down a bit so that she was talking directly into her ear. "Why does she think I stayed the night?" she whispered.

Korra picked up a fork and started to tap it on the table. "Because I snuck some food back to my room last night and I left the tray outside the door and she found it before Tenzin did and she noticed the bedding on the floor of my room," she said in one breath.

"Why was it on the floor?"

"I..." Korra's eyebrows rose as she thought about the question. The tapping on the table intensified. "Well…because I wasn't used to such a firm mattress. You know, after our vacation and sleeping on the ground."

"Our vacation was a few months ago-"

"Look, food!" Korra cheered as a few Air Acolytes entered the room with steaming hot plates. "It smells delicious, Pema," she added.

Asami watched her closely throughout breakfast.

After breakfast, Korra made a run for it. She had slipped pieces of food off of her plate into napkins before stuffing them into her pockets. She would keep asking for more and more helpings, which wasn't out of the ordinary since everyone knew that Korra could pack away the food.

She excused herself once a majority of the people had left the table. Pema was finally eating her breakfast after helping Rohan eat and Asami was talking to Pema. Korra gave her a wave before exiting the room. She ran all of the way back to her room before pausing out of the doorway. While catching her breath, she knocked twice, paused, and the knocked once more before stepping into the room. She muffled a cry as she stubbed her toe against the armoire.

"Wasn't that over there?" Korra muttered.

"It was, but I moved it," Kuvira answered from the bed. She was sitting cross legged, propping up her chin in her palm, her elbow resting on her knee. She looked at Korra expectantly as she pulled the food out of her pockets.

"You moved this stuff?" Korra asked. She limped over to the bed, now on the opposite wall where the armoir used to be, and handed Kuvira the bundles of food. She sat down and inspected her toes. "How loud was it?"

"Don't worry," Kuvira said while receiving the food. "I picked them up. I needed to gain my muscle back. Besides, I was bored." She picked at the pieces of food wrapped in the napkins and held them up to her face, scouring each inch.

"It's not like this is a vacation." Korra hit her lightly on the thigh. She glared at Kuvira and motioned for her to eat the food. Kuvira shrugged once before taking a small nibble out of the dumpling she had in her hand. She frowned when the bits of meatless dough and vegetables hit her tongue.

"You don't think I know that?" Kuvira asked around a mouthful of food. "I'm stuck in this small room and I can't leave or else I risk going back." She crumbled up a napkin in her fist. "It's like jail all over again," she admitted quietly.

"But this jail is more enjoyable since you have a friend here risking her neck to feed you and to come up with really dumb lies," Korra added.

"I think you mean bad lies," Kuvira corrected. "Plus, I wouldn't call us friends."

"Would you rather call me, the most amazingly awesome Avatar in the world?" Korra questioned with a wide smile.

Kuvira glared at her before stuffing another dumpling into her mouth. Korra laughed into her palm, trying not to bring any attention to their room. She pointed at Kuvira's face before slapping her hand onto her thigh. It was hard not to laugh, when someone who used to be so intimidating had her cheeks puffed up like a raccoon-squirrel storing some nuts. After a few seconds, Kuvira couldn't help but snicker herself. She continued to nibble on her food as Korra calmed herself down. "Why are you looking at me like that?" Korra questioned when she noticed the look on Kuvira's face. "Tell me. What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Kuvira shook her head. "It's just…" she looked down at the floor. "Aside from Su-" Kuvira swallowed hard. "I've never had anyone do something so nice for me without wanting anything in return," she said softly.

Korra reached over and placed a hand on Kuvira's shoulder. "I don't know how deeply your abandonment has affected you, and you don't have to tell me anything, but there are some good people left out there in the world than you realize." Korra smiled softly, her blue eyes shining b rightly.

Kuvira hummed a response. She shrugged Korra's hand off of her shoulder.

"Check that out," Korra whispered. Kuvira looked up at her in confusion. The Avatar nodded over to the window. Kuvira turned and followed her gaze. The sun had raised high into the sky, peaking over Republic City's skyline, reflecting off of the glass, adding a glittery look to the city. "I think that is a sign of your new life."