Redemption

"Are you here to kill me?"

Azula stared at the broken woman in front of her. Kuvira had been one of the most talented benders she'd ever seen. She hadn't possessed the raw power that Toph had, but there was no denying her skill and grace in battle. Her command over metal was, quite frankly, incredible.

"If I wanted to kill you, you'd already be dead." Azula sat down at the table and gestured at the other seat on the opposite side. Everything in the room was made of wood. It would have been so incredibly easy to set all of it on fire. "Although I won't deny that I'm tempted."

To her credit, Kuvira didn't flinch. Good. But there was no fire in her eyes, no fight. Korra had done more than beat Kuvira in battle – she had crushed Kuvira's beliefs as well. It was the kind of complete and utter defeat that could leave someone totally broken for the rest of their life. Azula would have to offer her former pupil some words of praise the next time she saw her.

"Why are you here?" Kuvira whispered.

"I hate to see good talent go to waste," Azula said. "And you do have talent, Kuvira. I trained the Avatar very well. That you lasted as long against her as you did speaks volumes of your prowess. Of course, she could have ended your fight much earlier had she wished."

"What are you talking about?" Kuvira's eyes narrowed. She had lost, that was true, but she had at least made the Avatar work for it.

"I'm talking about this."

Kuvira barely had time to gasp before she tumbled out of her chair. Her whole world was blinding, hideous agony. It was like all of her blood had turned into molten lava. Her vision darkened, and she could have sworn she passed out. When she regained her bearings, she dragged herself back into her chair.

"What was that?" Kuvira rasped. Her entire body ached. "What did you do?"

"I used what is arguably the most dangerous form of firebending in the world."

"That was firebending?" Kuvira twitched. Just breathing hurt. That had felt closer to the descriptions Kuvira had read of bloodbending.

"I used heatbending, a subset of firebending, to increase the temperature of your blood and the other liquids in your body. If I do that a little, you collapse in screaming agony. If I do it a lot…" Azula shrugged. "You die, and in fairly horrific fashion."

"And Korra knows how to do that?" Kuvira shuddered. That did not match what she knew of the Avatar's personality at all.

"She does. However, she isn't nearly as proficient with it as I am. She'd had less practice, you see. She was probably worried she'd kill you if she used it." Azula sighed. "I don't know why that worried her, but she's always been too merciful. If it had been me you were fighting, I'd have killed you in front of your men in as terrible a way as possible, so that the next time someone decided to conquer the world, I could save myself a lot of time and effort by reminding them what happened to you."

"You're insane."

"A little bit, yes. Then again, I'm not the only person in this room who has tried to conquer the world, nor am I the only person in this room to have tried killing the Avatar. Of course, I did a much better job of that than you." Azula smiled thinly. "For whatever reason, Korra seems to like you, even respect you. She believes that you deserve a second chance. She believes that you can redeem yourself. Needless to say, not everyone agrees with her."

"Of course, they don't." Kuvira was well aware of the fact that most of her former opponents wanted her dead. The only thing that surprised her was how long it was taking them to order her execution.

"Regardless of what I might tell her whenever she asks, Korra is not without her virtues. However, she is absolutely woeful at political skulduggery and treachery. That is more my field of expertise although Asami does hold some promise in that area. Given Korra's inability to secure your continued survival, she asked for my help. Lucky you."

"What are you going to do to me?" Kuvira swallowed thickly. Azula had said she wouldn't kill her, but there were things worse than death.

"I find myself in the mood for another reclamation project," Azula replied. You will be serving under my direct command. You will do what I say, when I say, where I say, how I say. And you will be making up for all of your mistakes. The Earth Kingdom is a mess, which is sorely in need of repair. I imagine you'll be quite useful there. There are also a lot of loose ends to tie up – loose ends that you left behind."

"What do I get if I cooperate?"

"Oh, please, don't misunderstand me. This isn't a negotiation. You have two choices. You can agree to my proposal, or you can die. Even I'm not persuasive enough to get you a better deal than that. You did, after all, aggravate a lot of very powerful people. Consider redemption your reward, Kuvira. And, should you prove yourself trustworthy enough over a sufficiently long period of time, you will be transferred from my custody and command to either Korra's or Suyin's." Azula's lips curled. "You should consider yourself extremely lucky that Korra isn't a complete push over. Asami wanted to see you hang."

"I don't have a choice, do I?"

"No, you don't." Azula got to her feet. "I assume you accept."

"I do."

"Good." Azula turned on her heel. "Then come with me. I've already secured your release. You've wasted enough time in this cell. There is work to be done."

X X X

Author's Notes

As always, I do not own Legend of Korra. I am not making any money off of this either.

Well, people wanted a Kuvira chapter. Behold! Here it is. As Azula hints at, things in this timeline go somewhat differently than in the canon timeline. Azula isn't the sort of person to let a good tool go to waste, and Kuvira has the potential to be a very useful tool indeed in the right hands. And is it odd that I think Asami would be much more vengeful than Korra? I really do think she'd gladly see Kuvira hang although luckily for Kuvira, Korra is a bit more forgiving. Then again, we'll see how lucky Kuvira feels after a few weeks with Azula.

As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.