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 9

"I don't know why I'm surprised I lost," Korra said bitterly. "I mean, I was playing with a very calculated Earth Nation leader." She grabbed, more like snatched, the bag of tiles from Kuvira before stowing it away with the pai sho board.

"Normally, I'd take that as a compliment but in this case," Kuvira trailed off. She brushed her long hair off of her shoulder. She had all but stopped wearing her hair in a long braid; however, Korra continued to brush the knots out for her every night. It had come to be a routine after their first night together. The task was always performed in silence, not that either of them had mind.

"Sorry," Korra muttered.

"You don't have to apologize. You shouldn't have to." Kuvira sighed. "You didn't…you did the right thing trying to stop me."

"But, some of your points were valid," she admitted.

The earthbender scoffed. "I used to think so."

"They were," Korra insisted. She reached out and rubbed Kuvira's knee. The earthbender looked down at the dark hand as if it were a foreign object. "If you just didn't try to change things under false pretenses and violence, then things may have turned out different. The Earth Nation was in disarray. You were right. Someone had to do something."

The two froze when they heard a loud knocking on the door. Kuvira laid down on her back before rolling herself under the bed. Korra jumped to her feet before opening the door. Shit. She looked at Chief Lin Beifong before looking over her shoulder at the other members of the police force. Her eyes then locked on Mako. Her grip on her bedroom door tightened a bit.

"What's up?" she asked casually.

Lin snapped her fingers and held her hand out. Saikhan stepped forward and slapped the handcuffs into her palm. The chief of police then held it out in between herself and the Avatar. Korra watched the metal swing back and forth. "Are those-?"

"They were found in the waters of Yue Bay." Korra blinked twice. "We're going to focus our search efforts here on the island."

"Does Tenzin know?" she asked.

Lin rolled her eyes. Korra couldn't help but smile smugly. "Tenzin's, his family, and the rest of the city's, safety is our main concern. We're going to set a city wide curfew as well

"Darn, there goes my social schedule," Korra said with a shake of her head

"Korra," Mako started.

"I'm kidding," she said with a wave of her hand. "We all know I don't have one with President Raiko calling a meeting every time he blows his nose," she cracked. One of the members of the police force snickered. Lin shot him a glare. He cleared his throat.

"We were wondering if you have seen or heard anything strange here," Mako said.

"Nope." Korra looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "I told you that already."

"Well, things could have changed in the past few days."

"Well, they didn't."

"Well, we can't be too sure."

"You might not, but I can."

"Will you two cut it out?" Lin barked. Korra flinched. She then reached up and touched the corner of her eye before wiping it on her sleeve. Lin wiped at the corner of her mouth before giving the Avatar an apologetic look. "We have business to attend to. This is a serious matter and not a lover's quarrel."

"I just have a question," Mako said while stepping forward. Lin looked at him out of her peripheral before stepping to the side. Korra titled her head back a bit to look him in the eye. "Since when do you wear earth nation gear?"

The Avatar mentally kicked herself, remembering the pile of clothes on her bed. She forced herself not to panic as she scanned Mako's clothing. He was wearing his usual black detective uniform.

"Since when do you care about clothing?" she shot back. "That's the only thing you wear. How many uniforms do you own? Four?"

"Five," he muttered.

"I called Su to come into the city," Lin interrupted. "She should be here in a few days. I'm going to need her help with the search. Will you be available as well?"

"Anything to get out of all of my meetings," Korra said with a half-smile. Lin clicked her tongue. As she turned on her heel, the Avatar noticed the usually stoic woman half-smiling herself. They both didn't have good relationships with President Raiko, and it made Korra happy that they were on the same page.

"Korra," Mako started.

She gave him a sharp look. "You can leave now," she instructed. The two continued to glare eat each other. Lin had to grab Mako by the back of his collar to get him to leave the room.

Mako slammed the door shut behind him.

"You really need to keep your priorities in check, detective," she said with bite. Mako clenched his jaw before glaring at the door. Lin placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know how frustrating she can be to work with when it comes to our jobs, but try not to show it too much," she added.

She then clapped him on the back before walking away from the door, the rest of the police force following her. She paused briefly upon noticing that he wasn't following them. Lin looked back him over her shoulder. He shook his head. She nodded once before instructing the other members of the police force to follow her with a clearing of her throat. Once they were out of earshot, he tip-toed back over to Korra's bedroom. He pressed his ear against the door and held his breath.

"Tonight?" Kuvira whispered, a bit of hope lifted her words.

"Tonight, around 2 am." Korra confirmed. "We'll just slip out my window. We just have to wait for them to leave first."

"Have at it," Korra said, nudging her in the shoulder with her elbow. The two had waited until the early morning before slipping out the Avatar's bedroom window. They hunkered low and made their way close to the shores of the island, partially hidden by the brush.

Kuvira smiled softly at her over her shoulder before she stepped out of her shoes. She sighed happily when she felt the earth underneath her feet. Kuvira stomped her foot into the ground. A chair made of rock popped up. The earthbender lowered herself onto it before digging her toes into the ground.

"You mind if I sit with you?" Korra asked. Kuvira dug her heel in to the ground, bending up an identical rock seat next to hers. Korra plopped down before leaning back, lacing her hands behind her head. She closed her eyes and listened the waves breaking upon the shoes of the island. A soft breeze picked up. Korra cracked one eye open when she heard Kuvira take in a breath. She stomped her foot into the ground, bending the right arm rest on her rock chair to disappear into the seat. She then moved her chair over, and removed the left armrest of Kuvira's chair before fusing the two together.

Korra reached out for Kuvira's hands and held them tightly in between hers. She then blew warm air onto them. Kuvira's pale arms were peppered with goose bumps when she felt the warmth rising over her body.

"Thanks," she said quietly. Korra nodded once but remained silent. Kuvira shifted a bit closer, relaxing in the warmth radiating off of the Avatar. A few seconds later she felt her eyelids begin to droop. Kuvira placed her head on Korra's shoulder, letting the fatigue take over her. She made a light humming sound when she felt Korra brush some of her hair behind her ear.

"Korra?" Mako shouted. Korra jumped, knocking her shoulder into Kuvira's forehead, who winced in pain, before turning in the direction of his voice. Under the dark sky, he could see her light blue eyes widened in shock. She jumped up and placed a hand on Kuvira's shoulder when she made to run off. The earthbender sent her a questioning look but instantly relaxed when Korra shook her head with a reassuring smile.

"Mako." Korra ran up to him at her bedroom window. She held her hands up, as if she were showing that she didn't have any ulterior motives of trying to get close to him. "Keep your voice down," she pleaded.

"So, it's true?" he asked roughly. Korra nodded once. His eyes widened in disbelief before he ran a hand through his hair. "You're hiding her? Here? Are you crazy?"

"No," Korra answered simply. Mako scowled at her how calm she was. She motioned for him to slip out of her window. She looked around the corner of the temple as Mako jumped out of the window. She turned and jumped slightly at how close he was, and how mad he was. With every breath he exhaled smoke. "I'm giving her a chance when the world wouldn't."

"She escaped from jail," Mako dryly reminded her.

"She is not much of a threat here. There's no metal, plus she hasn't fully recovered from." Korra then shot him a sheepish grin. "And, technically, she didn't escape jail, since she was already outside of the building when she left."

"I don't want to hear how hard her life has been or technicalities." He rolled his eyes before exhaling sharply. A small stream of fire erupted from the end of his nose. "This has to stop." He brushed past her, heading for the side of the temple. Korra grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"Where are you going?" she demanded.

"I have to tell the Chief," he answered stiffly.

"No, you can't!"

"Korra," Mako said sharply, "It's my job and my duty to this city that I-"

"Put your job first," she interrupted. Mako looked at her in disbelief. "Again," she added quietly. She took a few steps back as he let out a cry of frustration. Fire blasted towards the ground. Korra quickly used her earthbending to move sand on top of the small flames, quickly extinguishing them.

"How much longer are you going to keep that over my head?" he demanded.

"Forever, because I now understand why you have to do what you have to do," Korra said quietly. Mako faltered a bit with a response. He looked at her in confusion as she ran a hand through her hair. "You had a tough time growing up. It's something I wouldn't necessarily understand. So you want to work hard to make sure you don't have to go back. That's something I really respect about you."

"Thanks…thank you," he said slowly.

"But Mako," Korra wet her lips, "I can't go back to the way I used to act. If I'm really destined to bring balance to this world as a new Avatar, then I have to do what I believe is to be the best, like Aang when he didn't kill Fire Lord Ozai. I believe Kuvira is the first step in my new role

Mako gave Korra a long look before rubbing the bridge of his nose. He sighed hard before relaxing. "I said I would always have your back, and I meant that. I trust your judgment."

"Thank you," Korra said softly. "That means a lot." She smiled softly before turning her attention back to Kuvira. She had pulled her legs up into her chair; her arms wrapped around her knees, resting her chin on her forearm. She looked up at the night sky, smiling softly as a breeze picked up and blew her hair around her face. "I'm sorry about earlier. I just had to get you all out of there."

"I understand. No hard feelings." He shrugged. "So, what's the plan?" Mako questioned.

Korra inhaled before letting it out slowly. "Kuvira wants to make amends to the people she hurt and then travel back to the Earth Kingdom to help with reconstruction. I think we'd be able to get her to move about safely if we change her appearance. Of course, I haven't told her this yet."

He shivered against the cool breeze before crossing his arms over his chest. He was was about to offer Korra his coat, but stopped upon noticing that she didn't seem affected by the chill at all. Mako mentally slapped himself on the forehead before rolling his eyes, remembering that not only was she the Avatar but she hailed from the coldest place on the planet, so this was probably nothing to her. "What about a short term plan? It wouldn't be feasible to keep her here. I'm surprised you were able to keep it quiet for so long."

She chuckled. "Leave it to a detective to use big words when they aren't needed," she said with a teasing smile.

"Force of habit," he muttered.

"Now that you know, and Lin is focusing in on Air Temple Island, I'm going to have to move her."

"Where?"

Korra shifted her blue eyes over in his direction. She bit the inside of her cheek. "I have an idea, but she's still going to have to hide," she admitted.

"Why?"

"Because, I need to slowly warm Asami up to the idea."

AN: I'm looking for a beta reader for this story, and maybe my other stories as well unless I can find a beta for each one. Message me if interested.

PS: This story will now be updated on Wednesdays