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 19

Kuvira shifted her attention to the sleeping child in her arms. She grunted before pushing Ayaka back up into a comfortable position, distributing her weight in her arms. Asami waited patiently for an answer, her arm crossed over her chest, and her head cocked to the side. Her green eyes pierced the side of the metalbender's face, burning holes. Korra's eyes widened as her jaw dropped in shock.

Kuvira cleared her throat, looking over at the engineer, her jaw firm. She forced herself to keep her voice calm and stead. "No, am I not," Kuvira said firmly. Her made the slightest twitch, the muscles in her jaw trembled as she clenched it tight, holding her breath.

Asami looked over at the Avatar, reaching out and pushing her jaw closed with two fingers. Korra blinked before flushing brightly, rubbing the back of her neck. Kuvira silently exhaled before rolling her shoulders back. "My feelings are irrelevant at the moment. You two must converse and get past this disagreement."

Korra looked over at Kuvira before glancing at Asami, shrugging and raising an eyebrow. The engineer simply scowled and looked away, clenching her lower jaw. Korra took a deep breath, before gesturing in the engineer's direction.

"Please, just tell me what's wrong."

Asami looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "If you don't understand, then I won't tell you."

Kuvira closed her eyes and shook her head. The engineer was one of the last few people she'd expect to use that passive-aggressive statement. Even though she hadn't known her for so long, the metalbender always regarded the woman to be highly intelligent, in control of her feelings, and well aware of any situation. If it weren't for her, the group would have probably run out of food and water at this point. She had to admit, inventing a way to travel with packs of food that only needed water to heat up, was very impessive.

"…That makes no sense," Korra shouted.

"This whole thing doesn't make sense!"

The Avatar groaned, angrily running her hands through her hair. "What doesn't make sense is that you say you want to talk about things later, and then when I try to talk about things you keep pushing me away." She threw her hands up in the air. "It's not like I haven't been trying," she added. Asami gave her a hard look. Korra cleared her throat before crossing her arms over her chest. "Do you want me to apologize? Because I will. I've been wanting to, but you keep pushing me away. It's like you don't want to be around me anymore."

"That's not it, Korra," Asami said quietly. The Avatar blanched at the calm response. The engineer reached up and brushed her bangs out of her face, exhaling slowly through her nose. She shook her head before finally locking eyes with the Avatar. "When we first met, you hated me," she declared.

Korra rapidly shook her head. "Strong dislike. I wouldn't say hate."

Asami waved a hand in the air, dismissing the Avatar's words. "Then, we became acquaintances as we fought together to take down my father and the Equalists. That would be the best way to describe it, I think."

"Okay, that makes sense."

"And then, when you were dealing with the Civil War in your tribe, I offered to aid you in whatever you needed," she reminded her. Korra couldn't help but deflate a bit as the engineer's words got quieter. Her green eyes turned misty. "I thought at least, at that point we were friends."

"I would say so," Korra muttered.

Asami shrugged, lowering her eyes to the ground. "Korra, when we first met, I didn't want to be friends with you because I was dating Mako," she admitted. "I've never had a friend who was a girl before. I just thought we'd fit." She swallowed hard, her voice shaking. "And then, after Harmoinc Convergence, we became really close and I saw you as my best friend. I told you a lot of things I wouldn't be able to tell anyone else."

A tear slid down the engineer's cheek. Kuvira quickly glanced away, tightening her arms around the sleeping child. Crying always made the metalbender uncomfortable. In fact, she wasn't too sure when the last time she cried was, of her own choosing.

"I know you leave in the middle of the night," Asami whispered. "I just thought it was because you liked being at the temple, but now I know the real reason." She briefly shifted her gaze over to Kuvira. "It doesn't matter what this is," she said, pointing in between herself and Korra, "or what we are now. First and foremost, you're as my best friend. Friends tell each other everything. You used to tell me everything, and yet you kept this from me. You made me feel like I couldn't be trusted." She dropped her arms to her sides. "You lied to me, Korra."

"When I said I wanted to move in with you, I meant it," Korra answered, her voice filled with pain.

Kuvira turned around. It was hard to face one person crying, but two people would have made her feel worse. Not only that, but she felt like she was intruding on the conversation. She glanced at the horizon, peering into the distance. Something flashed brightly. Kuvira looked over her shoulder at the two women before squaring her shoulders and marching forward.

"I just wasn't sure how you'd react if I brought Kuvra with me as well," the Avatar continued. "Lin was getting closer and I panicked. Mako even tried to talk me out of it but I wouldn't listen."

Asami reached up and wiped a stray tear from the corner of her eyelids. The tip of her nose started to turn red. Korra reached into her pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. She winced as she leaned forward, her ankles were still locked to the ground, passing the cloth to the engineer. "If you told me, I'm sure I would have been able to deal with it."

"Asami!"

"Okay, maybe I would have shut down the idea."

"Shut down the id-Asami! You can't even say her name!"

The engineer dabbed at the corners of her eyes, checking the cloth to make sure none of her makeup had stained it, before passing it back to Korra. The Avatar received the cloth but kept her hand locked around Asami's. "…It still hurts," she admitted. "He's only been gone for eight months now, but still..."

"I understand, that's why I was hoping I could warm you up to the idea." Korra wobbled as the rock that held their ankles in place formed back into the ground. She stepped forward and pulled the engineer into her arms, burying her face into her neck, running a hand through her raven hair. "It wasn't my intention to make you feel like I couldn't trust you. I'm sorry."

"I accept your apology," Asami answered. She wrapped her arms around Korra's neck, burying her face into the Avatar's shoulder.

Kuvira sped-walked up to the couple; Korra lifted her head out of their embrace and frowned at the metalbender, realizing that she had just disappeared. Kuvira breathed hard as she bent over, rubbing the back of her calf. "I don't mean to interrupt, but the split in the road is close," she announced. She pointed off in the distance at the one flashing spot. "They must have recently posted a sign. We have to go to the right."

"Why would they post a sign now?" Korra questioned.

"Ba Sing Se is one of the cities that got thrown into chaos when the Queen was overthrown," Kuvira answered. "It is probably to make sure travelers knew where they were going,

"Well, now we know where we're going."

Hours later, the small group set up camp. Korra and Asami were seated on one side of the fire. The engineer was snuggled deep into the Avatar's side, her eyes fixated on the flames. She held a long stick, poking at the burning wood, trying to stoke the flames higher.

Kuvira rocked Ayaka to sleep after feeding her another snackpack. She gently placed the sleeping child onto the ground next to her. She then stretched her legs out so that Ayaka could use her upper thigh as a pillow.

"And then sometime tomorrow afternoon, we'll be in Ba Sing Se," Kuvira muttered, her eyelids drooping. She yawned loudly before leaning backward to lie down. She carefully picked up Ayaka and placed her up her chest, wrapping an arm around her, burying her nose in her dark hair.

"Sounds good," Korra agreed. She stood up, stretching her arms and legs before heading into the rock shelter. She paused at the opening, poking her head back out. "Are you coming, Asami?"

"In a minute."

Goodnight," she whispered.

"Goodnight, Korra," Asami answered. She poked at the burning hood with a stick, jumping back when an ember popped. Kuvira lifted her head, looking over at the engineer with a frown. Asami scooted further away from the fire, wrapping her arms around her knees.

"Night, Kuvira," the Avatar shouted. Kuvira felt her cheeks burn. A gust of wind picked up and fanned the flames, blowing them in her direction.

It's just the fire, Kuvira. It's nothing.

"Night," the metalbender called out. Ayaka made a soft whimpering noise in her sleep before curling up into Kuvira's side. Asami instantly relaxed, slowly dropping her arms from around her legs. She cleared her throat quietly, tapping the ground with the palms of her hands, before finally getting to her feet.

"Well…goodnight," Asami said softly. Kuvira couldn't help but glance down, to see if the child had woken up. Ayaka was sleeping soundly, her thumb tucked tightly between her lips, her fingers curled up around her nose. The metalbender brushed her hair out of her face, before nodding once.

"Night."

The engineer nodded in return before heading towards the rock shelter. She crouched low, and disappeared into the shadows. Kuvira yawned once more before lying back down. While she was tired, her eyes burning with exhaustion, she couldn't bring herself to go to sleep. While staring up at the glittery night sky, her mind raced, too active for her to focus on one thought.

"Hey," Asami said quietly, poking her head back out of the shelter. She rolled her eyes and glanced over at Korra when a loud snore broke through the quite night air. Kuvira bit her bottom lip to keep herself from laughing. The engineer brushed back some of her hair. "There's enough room inside for all of us," she offered, lifting a shoulder.

A chill swept through. Kuvira forced herself to remain stoic as muscles began to twitch. Ayaka moved even closer to the metalbender, curling her feet up underneath her. "I'm fine. Thank you." She shook her head. "Goodnight." She closed her eyes turning onto her side, resting her head against her arm, using her bicep muscle as a pillow.

Kuvira slowly opened her eyes when she heard footsteps walking towards her. Asami unbuttoned her jack, slipping it off of her shoulders, holding it out the metalbender. Kuvira looked up at her in confusion as she received the item of clothing.

"…so you don't freeze," Asami explained. She rubbed her arms while getting up to her feet. Kuvira quickly slipped on the jacket before butting up the front. The two gave each other a brief nod. As Asami turned to head back to the shelter, Kuvira couldn't help but notice the goosebumps that appeared on her pale arms.

"What about you?" she asked.

Asami paused. She looked back at Kuvira, smiling, her green eyes filled with a spark. "That's what Korra's for," she answered, jerking her chin in the Ayaka's direction. "And to her, that's what you're for." Kuvira quickly unbuttoned the jacket before picking up the sleeping child, and holding her close to her body. She then wrapped the jacket around her cold body. "Goodnight."