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 8

Kuvira lifted her head as she heard the familiar triple knock on the door. Her dark hair was splayed out on the pillow behind her head. She let out a soft grunt of greeting as Korra slipped into the room. Her arms were filled with colorful bags.

"That's the last time I shop with Asami," she muttered before dropping the bags to the ground. "As much as I like her, that girl doesn't know when to stop."

"Are you annoyed that she bought a lot of stuff or that she made you carry it?" Kuvira asked. She had her left ankle resting on her right knee. She was tossing a pai sho tile up in the air and catching it in alternating hands.

"This is for you," Korra said. She picked up the bags and walked over to the bed. She laughed a bit as she looked at the red and gold robes on the earthbender. "Sorry, it's just so funny to see you in those clothes."

"I hate them," she said dryly.

"Don't worry. I hated them too." With that she took the bags and dumped them upside down on top of Kuvira's head. She rolled her eyes and growled softly before sitting up. She picked up each piece of clothing, scanning the green and silver material. "I don't know what your style actually is, so I pretty much got Asami to buy everything in our size."

"And she didn't say anything?" Kuvira asked. She held up the pieces of clothing in front of her before, one by one, folding them up and putting them into a neat stack.

"No, I told her that after wearing Earth Nation clothing for a few months I was interested in expanding my wardrobe. I think she now sees me as a shopping buddy," she groaned.

"And that's a bad thing?"

"All the waiting, and trying on clothesm and walking from one place to the other and….uggg." Korra flopped onto her back on the bed. She looked up at the ceiling before placing her hands lightly on her stomach. "I think I'll just stick with water tribe blue. She says it's a good color for me."

"Why does that name sound familiar?" Kuvira muttered.

Korra rolled onto her side and propped herself up on her elbow. "Her father is…was, Hiroshi Sato," she said in a whisper. "You kind of….un-lived him."

"Un-lived?" She repeated. She looked at the Avatar in confusion. Korra scratched the back of her head before nodding.

"You know, he's…the d-word."

"You're going to have to be more specific," Kuvira said with an eye roll. "There are a lot of 'd-words'…one of which doesn't really fit this conversation," she said, the corners of her lips twitching upwards. "Unless a Freudian slip pops up."

"You're disgusting."

"So, what's going on between you two?"

Korra's jaw dropped before she clamped it shut. She sat up before rubbing her arm. "We're friends," she said while looking at the ground. Her cheeks started to burn. Korra took a few calming breaths before rubbing the tips of her cheek bones. Kuvira watched, amused.

"Every time you mention her name you turn beat red. Let's not forget the time she stopped by here for breakfast." The earthbender went back to her task of folding clothes. She snapped a wrinkle out of a shirt by Korra's ear, causing the Avatar to jump. "Now, normally you're a bumbling fool who can't lie their way out of a simple conversation, but when she's around you basically multiply that times ten. For someone who is trying to keep it a secret, you're pretty obvious about it."

"I don't," Korra said with a shrug. "I don't know what we are. We've only been together for six months. We haven't really talked about it. Things are going kind of slow since we don't see much of each other because of work and meetings and this. We've only really held hands and….why am I telling you this?"

"Because apparently you need to tell someone and I'm assuming it would normally be her," Kuvira commented airily.

Korra breathed sharply out of her nose. Kuvira regarded her for a few more seconds before shrugging and smoothing out the pile of clothes by her side. She reached into one of the last few bags and frowned when she pulled out a pai sho board. "I found that while we were shopping," Korra explained while taking the game out of her hands. She felt heat rushing up the back of her neck and rubbed it away. "Asami was going to teach me how to correctly play." She paused when she noticed Kuvira's half-smile. "Stop it" she instructed.

"Why did you buy it?

"To try and make your time in here as normal as possible," Korra answered before taking a seat on the floor. Kuvira slid off of the bed and sat down opposite of her. "I figured you'd be getting bored soon and the reading materials here aren't up your alley."

"Standard rules?" Kuvira asked.

Korra looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "You know how to play?"

"A little bit. A friend taught me." She cleared her throat. "I'm not an expert or anything."

"Good, because I'm not good at this game either unless you count Bolin's version."

"We could always make this more interesting then," Kuvira offered. Korra paused and looked over at her. She rolled her eyes but couldn't but smile at the smirk she received.

"You know, you're more intimidating with your hair pulled back than when it's down," Korra commented as she took a seat on the ground opposite of her. Kuvira quickly brushed her long hair back behind her shoulders, keeping her bangs over her right eye. "Everything is always a competition with you."

"It keeps people on their toes," she grunted. Korra pulled the pai sho bored out of its carrying case before placing it on the ground in between them. She then opened a small draw string bag before dumping the tiles onto the center of the board. "Let's make a bet."

"Fine." Korra picked up a few tiles before moving them to the right starting positions. She tapped Kuvira on the knee before pointing to the board, signaling that she wanted help setting up the game. "If I win, you don't get to leave here until it is safe for you to do so and on my terms."

"I asked you to help me, in case you forgot," Kuvira moved a black tile over to her end of the board before crossing her arms over her chest. Korra frowned when she noticed that with the movement of the tile, her side of the board was set-up for game play.

"Help can come in various shapes and forms."

"True," she agreed. "For all you know, I could just stay here until I get my strength back and then disappear in the middle of the night."

"That is a possibility, but it's not the truth." Korra smiled. She placed the last of her tiles into position before leaning back and resting her weight on her arms.

"What makes you say that?" Kuvira's eyebrow twitched.

"If it were, you would have left by now," she pointed out. "Pema's food is good but if you're really like me you're craving some meat right now instead of resting on steamed dumplings and vegetables."

At that moment Korra's stomach growled, but it was quieted by the sound of Kuvira's stomach. The earthbender paused before lowering her head. Korra could have sworn she saw a light shade of pink starting to form on her cheeks, but the minute she blinked to double check it was gone. The Avatar threw her head back and laughed. "And I thought my stomach was loud."

"It's just the change in diet," Kuvira muttered. "Going from slop to something actually edible can affect anyone's stomach."

"Whatever you say," Korra said. She scanned the board before re-arranging a few tiles to their starting positions. She then picked up the play book and scanned it for a diagram of the board.

"I want to go outside."

"You know you can't."

"No, for our bet." Korra snapped her head up. Kuvira had turned to look out the window. A few weeks after being in the room, Korra concluded it was safe enough to keep the curtains open because not many people ventured around the back of the temple. The sunlight poured in and lit up the earthebdner's face, making her green eyes shine brighter than usual. "If I win I want to go outside. It can be at night or, I guess, in the early morning." Kuvira turned and looked back at the Avatar. "I need to feel dirt under my feet and underneath my nails. I need to be free even if it's just for a minute."

"Deal," Korra said before sticking her hand out. Kuvira nodded in response before taking a hold of her hand. Unlike her tough and abrasive nature, Korra noted that Kuvira's hand was very warm and very soft aside from a few calluses on the fingertips that scratched her wrist. "You can make the first move."

Chief Lin Beifong scowled before drawing a large X over top Yue Bay on a map. She capped the marker before tossing it over her shoulder. She turned and glared at the other police officers sitting at the long desk in front of her. "We've checked all of Republic City and can't find her," she snarled. "Where could she be?"

Mako flinched as she slammed a hand onto the table. The metal bent underneath her hand and created a dent. He tapped a pencil on the top of his notebook but remained silent while looking at the other members of the police force. They all refused to look in her general direction. He cleared his throat before raising a hand.

"Yes, detective?" she asked.

He got to his feet before bowing in her direction. "Is there a possibility that she knows anyone in the city?" he suggested.

"She has lived in Zaofu for a majority of her life." Lin flipped through the pieces of paper in the manila folder on the table. "I don't think she has any relations to someone here."

"Well maybe she still has supporters? They could have stationed themselves in Republic City in the six months since her arrest, hoping to be of some comfort as her trial neared," Mako stated. "Or, keeping her in hiding in their place of residence."

"Captain Saikhan," Lin greeted him as he entered the room. Saikhan nodded in response to the greeting before holding out a piece of cloth to her. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow before receiving the cloth. It carried a little bit of weight to it. "What is in this?"

"Something of great importance," he explained as he unwrapped the cloth. Lin pulled back the last piece before gazing down at a pair of handcuffs. She gingerly placed them onto the table before turning her attention back to him. "They were found in the bay surrounding Air Temple Island," he explained.

"What?" Mako gasped.

"I need to talk to Avatar Korra," Lin concluded. She looked over her shoulder at him. "I'm going to need your help, detective." He nodded once before reclaiming his seat.

Please, don't do anything stupid, Korra.