"Hey, you guys want to go on that?"

Kuvira didn't even need to look to know what Korra was referring to. She turned around and rolled her eyes. "Very funny, Korra."

Korra grinned in reply and offered Kuvira a small shrug. "Figured I'd ask. You know…just in case."

"You know she's going to ask every single year, right?" Asami said, her tone playful as she also rolled her eyes at her wife. "Even though she already knows the answer?"

"Hey," Korra said, pretending to pout, "Nayuh might change her mind. You never know."

"Never going to happen, Korra," Nayuh replied, in a somewhat sing-song voice. She glanced up at Kuvira, who smiled at her and squeezed her hand reassuringly.

Korra was, of course, talking about the ferris wheel at the Glacier Spirits Festival. The very first time they were all at the Festival together two years ago, Nayuh had tried to swallow her fear of heights to impress Kuvira. Which had backfired horribly for her, but it had succeeded in bringing them together finally. Even if it had taken them a couple more weeks to make it official.

"We're more than happy to wait for you guys if you want to go on it," Kuvira said.

Korra looked at Asami who merely shrugged. Then, with a huge grin on her face, Korra started tugging Asami in the direction of the ferris wheel. "We'll be back in a bit!"

Kuvira and Nayuh chuckled as they watched them go. They followed behind, much more slowly, holding hands and just enjoying each other's company. It was just the four of them this year, as Bolin had been too busy with President Moon's reelection campaign and Opal was away on an Airbender retreat at the Eastern Air Temple. The Beifongs had elected to stay home in Zaofu, but Kuvira hadn't really expected them to come, since they'd been down to visit for the wedding less than two months ago.

"How's your shoulder?" Nayuh asked as Kuvira shifted uncomfortably for probably the tenth time in the last half hour. She'd been trying to keep it so Nayuh wouldn't notice, but she should've known better: nothing escaped Nayuh's keen eyes.

She did, however, know better than to try and lie or downplay anything to her. "It's aching pretty bad. I probably should've just worn the sling, like you said."

Nayuh gave her a look that very much said I told you so, but didn't chastise Kuvira any further than that. The lightning damage was taking far longer to heal than either one of them would've liked, and while Kuvira finally had feeling in it again (besides some lingering numbness that would randomly strike), she still couldn't use it very well.

Even simple movements, like raising her arm over her head or reaching for something, felt much harder than they should've. Her entire shoulder and arm felt weak and ached all the time, especially if she kept the sling off for extended periods of time, like today. It was very reminiscent of when she'd hurt it under Lake Laogai, but that recovery seemed far easier than this.

Mako's lightning seemed to have done underlying damage that Nayuh hadn't ever seen before, but Kuvira could hardly fault the healer for her efforts. She was doing everything she could think of to help Kuvira heal faster–Kuvira just wished her body would get the memo and cooperate.

"Do you want to stop by the house and get it on the way to the Palace later?" Nayuh asked.

Kuvira shook her head. "No, I'll be okay. If I keep it in my pocket, like this–" she nodded her head in the direction of her left arm "–it almost acts like a sling." She'd shoved her left hand deep inside her parka pocket a little bit ago, and so long as she didn't jostle it too much or try to use it, it kept the worst of the aching at bay.

Nayuh pursed her lips but didn't argue. "Okay, well, I can always run to my hut and grab you one later, if it gets any worse." She pulled Kuvira to a stop and forced her to look at her. "And you'd better let me know if it does."

Kuvira gave her a guilty smile, then bent her head and kissed her. "I will, I promise." Something flashing caught her eye and she looked over and smirked. "You up for a game or two while we wait on the lovebirds?"

Nayuh looked behind her, to the game that Kuvira was referring to. It was one of those ring-toss games, where whoever successfully landed the most rings onto the beaks of fake otter penguins, would win a prize. The prizes being a plethora of stuffed animals of all different sizes.

"Weren't you just telling me that your arm is bothering you?" Nayuh said, turning back to her with a look that Kuvira knew very well.

Kuvira let go of Nayuh's hand and wiggled her fingers in front of her face. "I'm right-handed, remember? Or are you just scared I'll beat you and never let you live it down for the rest of the night?"

That did the trick. Nayuh's eyes narrowed slightly, her competitive nature immediately overtaking her concern. "Oh, you're on," she replied. "And no cheating," she added, as they made their way over to the booth, "I know those rings are made of metal."

Kuvira made a crossing motion over her heart. "I promise I won't cheat."

And, as tempting as it was to adjust the flight path of the rings ever so slightly, Kuvira kept her word and didn't use an ounce of her bending. Nayuh won the first round, selecting a small stuffed polar bear dog as her prize. Kuvira won the second, and, ignoring the suspicious look Nayuh was giving her, chose one of the stuffed otter penguins as hers.

She was getting ready to suggest that they head back towards the ferris wheel, to wait, when she heard Korra say, "Aww, Vira, did you get that for me? That's so sweet of you."

Kuvira turned to find the Avatar and her wife walking up to them, hand in hand, their faces flushed in a way that suggested they hadn't paid too much attention to anything other than each other during the ride.

"Actually, no," Kuvira replied, "I got it for Asami." She held the stuffed otter penguin out and Asami laughed as she took it.

"Why thank you, Vira, that is so sweet of you," Asami said, her voice dripping with faux sweetness. Kuvira grinned and gave her a sweeping bow, then offered Asami her good arm.

"Shall we?"

Asami shot Korra a smug look, then slipped her hand through the crook of Kuvira's elbow. "Let's, but I should warn you: I'm a married woman."

Kuvira gave Korra her own smug look over her shoulder, then said, loud enough for the Avatar to hear, "That's okay…I won't tell if you won't." Then she started leading Asami away from Korra and Nayuh, seeing with some satisfaction that both waterbenders didn't seem to know how to respond.

They got several feet away before Asami turned and said, "Are you two coming or what?" That seemed to break Korra and Nayuh out of whatever trance they were in and they hurried to catch up. Much to Kuvira's surprise, Asami didn't relinquish her grip on her arm right away either, even as Korra sidled up to her wife's other side.

"Don't forget who you're actually going home with later," Nayuh said, as she walked up to Kuvira's left side. She'd meant for it to sound threatening, but she was smiling.

Kuvira gave her the most innocent look she could muster. "I have no idea what you're insinuating. You heard Asami: she's married."

Nayuh's only response was to laugh and shake her head. They spent another hour walking around the Festival, before deciding to call it quits and head back to the Palace for some adult beverages. Kuvira fell into step next to Korra as they walked, while Asami and Nayuh were ahead of them, deep in conversation about some new breakthrough medical technology that the hospitals in Republic City were using.

"How's the arm?" Korra asked.

"Hurts," Kuvira replied. "Nayuh isn't quite sure what's wrong with it, besides the obvious. She's never seen an injury like this before, so I get the feeling she's kind of guessing at how best to treat it."

"Has she asked Katara?" Korra said. "I swear I remember reading somewhere that she treated Avatar Aang for the same kind of injury at some point."

Kuvira sighed and tried to think of the best way to answer Korra's question. "No, she hasn't." She gave Korra a sidelong look. "When's the last time you saw Katara?"

Korra looked at her and Kuvira could see the sudden concern on her face. "It's been a while since I've made a point to stop by…which is my own fault. But something tells me I need to. And soon."

Kuvira nodded. "You do." And she left it at that, knowing Korra would understand what she was trying to convey.

Korra sucked in a deep breath. "Okay…I'll go see her before we head back home. Thanks for letting me know."

"You're welcome." It was quiet for a few moments, as Korra digested what Kuvira said. Kuvira had gone with Nayuh the last time she'd visited with her great aunt, for moral support. Nayuh had been extremely close to Katara her whole life, and to see her health rapidly declining had been hard on her.

"Well, if anyone can figure out how to heal you, it's Nayuh," Korra finally said, trying to put a little more happiness into her voice. "She did learn from the best, after all."

Kuvira smiled. "She did. And honestly, it's not a huge deal…just more annoying than anything. I can't really bend and it's made other activities more difficult as well…"

"You've still got one good hand," Korra said, laughing. Then she smirked. "And other things."

"That I do," Kuvira smugly replied. "And since we're on the subject…how's married life treating you?"

"Amazing," Korra answered, sighing happily. "I mean, nothing has really changed, you know? Nothing, like, drastic. But it's weird…I feel even closer to her now than I did before. I don't know how to describe it. Like, more in love, if that's even possible."

Kuvira nodded. "I can see it. You guys seem a lot closer…not that you weren't before, but now it's almost gag-inducing how you both act." She flashed Korra a playful grin.

Korra gave her a sheepish shrug and a grin of her own. "Sorry, not sorry." She playfully nudged Kuvira. "And what about you, huh? When are you and Nayuh going to join us in the happily-married club?"

Kuvira didn't answer right away, and to her credit, Korra didn't push. They walked a few more steps in silence before Kuvira said, "I don't know."

Korra checked to make sure Asami and Nayuh still weren't paying any attention to them, then she lowered her voice. "I wasn't trying to pry or push you about it."

"I know you weren't," Kuvira said, sighing slightly. "I honestly don't know. I have some reservations about it."

"Because of Nayuh?" Korra carefully asked. Kuvira shook her head. "Because of Bataar…?"

Kuvira gave her a stiff nod. "I really, really screwed that up. Royally, epically, however you want to describe it. I loved Bataar, but what I had with him pales in comparison to what I have with Nayuh. The thought that I could just as easily screw this up as well, is terrifying."

Korra laid a gentle hand on her arm, stopping her. Kuvira turned and saw Korra giving her a solemn and sincere look. "You won't."

"How do you know that?" Kuvira insisted. "You can't know that. I didn't even know I was going to do what I did, up until the moment I did it. I never considered myself capable of something like that, but it still happened."

"You're right," Korra said, "I can't know, not with absolute certainty. But, I do know you. And I know that that person, the 'Great Uniter', is dead. She died that day in the Spirit World. This person–" she motioned up and down Kuvira's body "–Vira…would never, ever do anything to harm the people she loves."

Kuvira shook her head. "The old me never thought I'd do anything to harm the ones I loved either. And then I did. Let's face it Korra: neither one of us knows what I'm capable of anymore. And the last thing I want to do is make Nayuh promises I can't keep."

Korra crossed her arms and gave Kuvira a hard look. "You know, of all the things you may or may not be capable of, I never thought a coward would be one of them."

Kuvira felt her eyes widen and her mouth dropped open. She sputtered for a moment, trying to form some semblance of a coherent response, but failed miserably. Korra simply continued to stare at her, daring Kuvira to challenge her claim.

"I'm not a coward," Kuvira finally managed to grind out between clenched teeth, but her denial lacked any real firepower.

Korra raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? Is that so? Then please, explain to me why you're letting the fear of something you have direct control over, control you. You made the choice to fire that stupid weapon that day," Korra continued, her voice growing heated. "You. No one else. That was your choice. You chose to end things with Bataar that way."

She steadied herself and took a breath. "And now you have another choice. So, stop being afraid of something that you know damn well won't happen again. Nayuh isn't Bataar and your relationship with her isn't the same either. You've managed to let go of and move on from every single other terrible thing you've done…now it's time for you to let go of this as well."

Kuvira had no idea what to say or how to respond to Korra's out-of-character scolding, so she just stood there, looking like someone had kicked her polar bear puppy dog. The longer Kuvira was silent, the more uncomfortable Korra started to look, until she finally awkwardly cleared her throat and gave Kuvira a slightly sheepish look.

"Uh…sorry. I don't know why I went off on you like that."

"Don't apologize," Kuvira replied, her voice quiet, "I deserved every bit of it. Because you're right: I'm being a coward." She took a deep breath. "Bataar finally told me he forgives me for what I did. He's moved past it. I don't know why I can't..."

Korra reached out and laid a gentle hand on her good shoulder. "Because of all the things you've done wrong, that's the one that's hurt you the most. And the hardest person to forgive is yourself. Let me ask you this: can you imagine your life without Nayuh?"

Kuvira shook her head no. "But I thought the same thing–"

"Stop," Korra sternly interrupted her. "I asked you about Nayuh, not Bataar. You're trying to compare two entirely different situations, so knock it off. You know how I knew I wanted to marry Asami and spend the rest of my life with her?"

Kuvira shook her head again and Korra went on. "The very thought of not being with her hurt…like, physically hurt. And every single time I thought of the future, she was a part of it. I could easily see the two of us growing old together, raising a family…all that 'gag-inducing' stuff.

"So I'll ask you again: can you imagine your life without Nayuh?"

This time, Kuvira took her time answering, trying to look at the question from a different angle than she had before. Korra was absolutely right: she kept trying to compare her current relationship with her previous one when they were nothing alike. And, as she stood there, imagining her future and all the things she hoped would happen, a smile started to slowly crawl across her face–Nayuh was front and center in all of it.

Korra looked amused as she watched Kuvira work through her question, and she chuckled. "Judging by that stupid smile on your face, I'm guessing you finally found your true answer."

"I did," Kuvira finally said, "and the answer is no, I can't imagine my life without her. All of those things you want with Asami…well, I want that with her."

Korra smiled. "Then I think you know what you need to do." She suddenly groaned and smacked her forehead. "Dammit, I'm an idiot."

Kuvira's smile faded. "Why are you an idiot?"

"Uhh," Korra said, looking extremely guilty, "no reason." Kuvira narrowed her eyes and Korra's shoulder's slumped slightly. "Because I made a bet with Asami and I'm pretty sure I just lost. Which means I'm on 'do whatever Asami wants me to do' duty for a week."

"And, what was this bet about?" Kuvira asked, her eyes narrowing even further.

"You and Nayuh," Korra replied with a sigh. "Asami said you were going to pop the question first, and I said you wouldn't."

Kuvira wanted to be mad, but she couldn't. It wasn't like she and Nayuh hadn't made similar bets on Korra and Asami's relationship. So instead, she just chuckled. "Yep, I hate to tell you this, but you lost. Unless Nayuh manages to beat me to it, of course."

Despite being given the news she'd definitely lost, Korra's face perked up. "So does this mean…?"

Kuvira nodded, a grin returning to her face. "It does. And I think I know just when I want to do it. Our two-year anniversary is in a couple of weeks. I had already planned on doing something special, like a romantic dinner and maybe going to see whatever new mover is out. I can ask her then."

Korra held up a finger, suddenly looking excited. "Hold that thought. I might be able to give you a better idea." Kuvira gave her a confused look, but Korra was already on the move, walking quickly toward the Palace in the distance. "Come on…there's something Asami needs to talk to you about."

Kuvira followed her, wincing as her quickened stride aggravated her shoulder. "Korra slow down. My arm…I can't walk that fast right now."

Korra obliged and slowed her pace, but Nayuh and Asami were nowhere to be found by the time they reached the Palace's terrace. They headed inside, straight for the rec room, and sure enough, Nayuh and Asami were there, already pouring drinks at the small dry bar.

"About time you two joined us," Asami said. She handed Korra a drink and took a sip of her own while Nayuh handed Kuvira hers.

"Sorry," Korra and Kuvira replied, at the same time. They laughed and Nayuh and Asami shared an amused look.

"Something tells me I don't want to know what you two were discussing," Nayuh said.

"Whatever it was, it certainly looked serious," Asami added, as the four of them made their way over to the couches that were set up in one of the corners of the room.

"Not that serious," Korra said, trying to be nonchalant and failing miserably. Kuvira sincerely hoped she wouldn't accidentally spill what they'd been talking about. "Vira was being stupid and needed some tough, Avatar love. So I gave it to her."

Kuvira rolled her eyes. "Anyway…" She turned her attention to Asami, who had settled next to Korra on the couch opposite her and Nayuh. "Korra told me there's something you wanted to talk to me about?"

Asami flashed a look at Korra that was full of ice daggers and more than a little exasperation. "What?" Korra said defensively. "I didn't tell her what it was about." Asami shook her head, then looked back to Kuvira.

"Yes, there is. Actually, it's something Korra and I wanted to talk to you both about." She glanced over at Korra, suddenly seeming a little nervous. Korra gave her a small nod of encouragement.

"So I looked more into the heavy lifting issue you brought to my attention," Asami went on, speaking directly to Kuvira, "and I found that the factory here is definitely not the only one having the same injury problem. In fact, across all of Future Industries factories, nearly seventy percent of all the accidents and injuries that occur, happen because of that.

"It was the proof I needed to carry on with your suggestion for the prototype, to only have it do the heavy lifting." She took a deep breath. "And now that I'm shifting its focus, I think I'll be able to have it up and running very soon."

Kuvira's face lit up with excitement. "That's amazing! Oh, that's going to help so much, Asami, you have no idea. Once you can get it working and into the factory…everyone is going to be so grateful. Myself and Sakku included."

Asami gave her a small smile. "Well, this was all your idea, don't forget. I'm just the engineer putting it together. And speaking of that…how would you like to come to Republic City and help me finish it? It'd be a work trip, so you'd still get paid and wouldn't have to take any time off. And honestly, you've earned the right to see the final product and help complete it."

Kuvira's mouth dropped open and for a moment or two, she couldn't speak. Then she finally found her voice again. "Are…are you serious? You want me to help you finish it?" Asami nodded. "But I'm not even an engineer. I don't know how I'd help."

"I'm betting you know more than you think you do," Asami said. "And whatever you don't know, I can show you. So what do say? Would you like to come?"

"Absolutely," Kuvira immediately said, "yes, I want to help you finish it." Then a thought occurred to her and her face fell. "But…wait. I'm not really allowed out of the South. The world thinks I'm dead. What if someone recognizes me?"

Asami shook her head. "They won't, I'll make sure of it. I'm going to have my private airship bring you up there and you'll go straight to our house. My workshop and the prototype are in my lab underneath it, so you wouldn't ever have to leave the grounds if you didn't want to. The chances of anyone recognizing you are slim to none."

She chuckled. "And let's be honest: you're a far, far cry from how the world once knew you. I bet you could walk down the middle of downtown and no one would bat an eye."

"Let's not test that theory," Nayuh put in, somewhat sourly. Kuvira turned to her, seeing that she looked decidedly less enthused about the whole thing. Something Korra said to her earlier popped into her mind and an idea began to form.

"Can Nayuh come with me?" Kuvira asked Asami, before turning to Nayuh again and saying, more softly, "Only if you'd want to, of course."

"You actually think I'd let you walk back into the city that hates you by yourself?" Nayuh said, raising an eyebrow at Kuvira. "Of course, I'm coming with you. And besides…I've never been farther north than Kyoshi Island. I'd love to see Republic City, even if it is only from the air."

"Oh you'll get to see it, don't worry," Korra said with a light laugh. "I can show you around while those two are working. Because you know they're not going to come out of the workshop until that stupid thing is done."

Nayuh laughed slightly as well. "Good point." She turned to Kuvira. "Well? Is it settled? Are we going?"

Kuvira grinned at her, then leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "It sure sounds like it."

"Awesome," Asami said. "I can have the airship down here to pick you up in about a week. With the two of us working on it, I'm betting we can finish it within a week or two. Hopefully, it won't take much longer than that." She looked at Nayuh. "I don't want to keep you away from your own work for too long."

Nayuh smiled at her. "I appreciate that, but it should be fine. I have a good team of healers here who I trust to keep things in order while I'm gone."

Kuvira couldn't keep the smile off her face as they continued to discuss the now-upcoming trip to Republic City. She certainly had reservations about the whole thing, but neither Asami nor Korra seemed too concerned that her identity would be an issue, so Kuvira decided she wasn't going to worry about it. She wouldn't take any unnecessary risks, like going out into the city, but she was happy Nayuh was going to finally get the chance to see it.

One week. That meant that they were definitely going to be in Republic City for their anniversary. Which meant that she needed to come up with a plan for asking Nayuh to marry her. And as much as she didn't want to involve Korra, she knew that the Avatar would likely be able to help her out in that department. Above all else, Kuvira wanted it to be unique and special, just like Nayuh.

But first…first, she needed to figure out what the Southern Water Tribe customs were, regarding proposals and marriage. And she knew just the person who'd be more than happy to assist her with that.

Kuvira walked into Sakku's office, quickly closing the door behind her. "I need your help."

"Well, good morning to you, too," Sakku replied, sitting back in his chair and giving her an amused look. "How was your Festival weekend? Oh, mine? Mine was good! I ate way too much and drank even more, but it was a great time."

Kuvira rolled her eyes as she took a seat across from him. "Sorry." She gave him a genuine smile. "I'm glad your weekend was good. I also had a great weekend and a great time at the Festival."

"Well good, I'm glad," Sakku replied cheerfully. "Now, what do you need my help with?"

"Well," Kuvira said, taking a deep breath, "for starters…what are the Tribe's customs surrounding marriage proposals?"

For a moment, Sakku just stared at her. Then his face broke into a wide grin and he slammed his palms down on his desk. "Ah-ha! I knew it! I knew you'd pull your head out of your ass eventually!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Kuvira replied, trying to act annoyed but she suddenly couldn't stop smiling. "Go ahead and gloat…I know you want to."

"I think I've earned it," Sakku smugly replied. "But why do you need my help with that? Hasn't the Chief gone over all of the customs with you by now?"

Kuvira shrugged. "He has…well, most of them, at least. We never got around to that one, though. And since he's out of town at some leader's summit, I figured I'd ask you."

"Well, I'm honored you thought to come to me," Sakku said, with genuine sincerity. "I'd love to help you with whatever you need for this. Yura, too. It'll be good practice for when our kids are old enough to get married."

Kuvira laughed. "Thanks, Sakku, that means a lot. Of course, this all hinges on whether or not Nayuh will even say yes."

Sakku scoffed. "Of course, she'll say yes. She'd be stupid not to." He grinned and Kuvira laughed again. "Alright, so, the Tribe's customs surrounding marriage proposals. Well, first of all, there's nothing that's set in stone or written into law that says you have to do any of this. You're not legally bound by any of it, okay?"

Kuvira nodded and Sakku went on. "I'm sure at one time it was the law, but times have changed." He stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Although, with the Avatar's marriage, things have changed even more, so none of this may apply." He chuckled. "You could probably make up your own customs or even incorporate the ones from your homeland if you wanted to."

They'd never actually discussed the fact that Kuvira wasn't a native member of the Tribe, but her lighter skin and green eyes gave her away easily enough that she wasn't surprised by Sakku's assumption. She'd never even considered using any of the old Earth Kingdom traditions, and now that she was thinking about it, didn't know if she wanted to. She'd left that part of her behind a while ago, to fully immerse herself in the South and its culture. A culture and people whom she'd come to love dearly.

"I don't know," Kuvira said slowly, "we'll see. I think I want to stick to the Tribe's customs only."

Sakku shrugged as if to say fair enough. "Well, typically, the first thing that happens when a couple decides to get married, is that the gentleman would go to his lady's family and ask for their permission to marry her. Given that times are changing, I'm not really sure that applies anymore. You know, you should ask the Avatar what she did. She might be a better choice than me to help you with this."

Kuvira shook her head. "She won't be any help with this, trust me." She wasn't about to elaborate, and thankfully, Sakku didn't ask her to.

"Well, I would say, if you want to keep with the old customs, then that's the first thing you need to do. And, given that Nayuh's family has roots that go back generations in this Tribe, you might want to stick to the old ways. At the very least, it'll earn you some bonus points."

"And I need as many of those as I can get," Kuvira muttered, under her breath. The truce between her and Kia had been holding steady for the last couple of years, but Kuvira knew it was still tenuous, at best. If Kuvira decided to circumvent Kia and her husband, Tarrak, and ask Nayuh without getting their permission first, she knew there would be hell to pay.

Kuvira sighed. "That's going to be a fun conversation. I wouldn't be surprised if her mother slammed the door in my face."

Sakku gave her a sympathetic look. "I highly doubt she'd do that. I thought you got along with Nayuh's folks?"

"I do, but…" She trailed off, unsure if she wanted to get too far into her issues with Nayuh's mother with him.

"But…they're not okay with the fact that their daughter is dating another woman?" Sakku guessed.

Kuvira shook her head. "No, it's not that." Nayuh had only ever dated women so the fact that she'd eventually end up married to one wouldn't come as a shock to them. Nayuh had told Kuvira they'd never had any problems with what gender she dated…it was only who it was.

Kuvira had learned, to her vast relief, that the way Kia was treating her had been the same way she'd treated almost all of Nayuh's previous love interests. She just disliked Kuvira the most, simply because of her past.

Sakku studied her for a few moments, and Kuvira thought he was about to drop it when he sighed heavily, then reached into one of his desk drawers. He fished out what looked to be an old newspaper clipping, then laid it on his desk.

"Is it because of that?" Kuvira leaned forward to see what he was pointing at, then felt all of the blood drain from her face.

Her first instinct was to leap up and out of the chair, putting as much distance between herself and the photograph staring back at her. It was old, by over four years at least, and judging by the shiny medal hanging around her neck, it had been taken the day she'd declared the Earth Kingdom was the Earth Empire and deposed Prince Wu from power.

But her legs didn't seem to want to cooperate, so instead, her eyes darted around Sakku's office, looking for anything she could use as a weapon. There were several decent options, with the pen that was lying on the desk being the best one. She was pretty certain Sakku wasn't a bender, but she was still down an arm and knew she wouldn't win in a hand-to-hand fight with him.

"Woah, hey, relax!" Sakku said, holding his hands up innocently in front of him. Kuvira felt like a caged animal and it must've been showing. "I'm not going to hurt you, I swear!"

Kuvira stared at him, wild-eyed and breathing heavy, trying to figure out what to do. Clearly, Sakku knew who she really was. Which meant that she wasn't safe here anymore. In an instant, her world crashed down around her and it became very hard to breathe. The life she'd built here, her job, Nayuh, her friends…everything she'd worked so hard for over the last few years was now in jeopardy.

"Vira, calm down, I'm not going to hurt you," Sakku insisted. "Believe me, if I had wanted to, I've had plenty of opportunities over the last year or so. I could honestly care less about who you were then," he added, motioning to the newspaper clipping. "I know you're not that person anymore."

"How–" Kuvira was having a very, very hard time finding her voice "–how did you know?"

Sakku shrugged, trying to be nonchalant, but he was still keeping his hands where Kuvira could see them and she tried to force herself to relax. He made a good point: he'd had plenty of opportunities to hurt her and never did. She tried to remember that this was the same man whom she'd just been asking for marriage advice from, not two minutes earlier.

"I like to know who I'm working with," Sakku answered, "so when I got a call from the CEO of Future Industries, telling me some random person with a name that was vaguely familiar but not native to the South was going to be working with me to get the factory built, I did some digging.

"That's when I discovered why your name sounded so familiar. I have friends that live in the Earth Republic, and they were more than happy to fill me in on just who "Kuvira" was. It's funny though…they said you were dead, yet here you sit." There was a little bit of amusement in his eyes and tone, but Kuvira couldn't return the sentiment.

Instead, she continued to cautiously stare at him. "Why didn't you say anything? Why'd you even agree to work with me, if you knew who I was?"

Sakku shrugged again. "I don't know…I was wary, at least initially, but I was willing to give you a chance to prove to me that you weren't the same person my friends had described. And you did, very quickly. I've never seen or known you as anything other than a quiet, determined young woman, eager to prove herself.

"And honestly…I figured that if the Chief and the Avatar decided you were worthy of a second chance, then who was I to say you weren't? Especially since your past actions never caused me, my family, or this Tribe, any harm. Now if you had tried to bring harm to us, that'd be an entirely different story. But, I know you wouldn't. You're one of us now. Whether that was intended or not, it's what happened, and we're stuck with each other."

He offered her a smile, which Kuvira tried to return, but just couldn't. She was still reeling from the revelation that Sakku had known the entire time who she was, and had kept it from her. And, what was even crazier was that his friendship with her seemed entirely genuine.

"Oh, and I didn't say anything," Sakku went on, "because I honestly didn't care who you were before you got here. I only cared that you were a hard worker and a good person. The past is the past. We've all done things we're not proud of. Some worse than others, but so long as we learn from our mistakes and work to not repeat them, then I think that's all that matters."

"Believe me, I learned from mine," Kuvira said, her voice quiet, "and won't ever be repeating them."

"I didn't think you would," Sakku replied. Seeing that Kuvira had finally calmed down, he swiveled his chair around, reaching for the cabinet behind him, where Kuvira knew he kept a secret stash of whiskey. Sure enough, he reached in and grabbed a bottle, along with two glasses. He saw her eyeing him and chuckled. "I know, I know…it's not even nine in the morning. I won't tell your soon-to-be-wife if you don't tell mine."

He poured them both a small drink, and Kuvira tentatively reached out to take her glass from him. She stared at the brown liquid for a few moments, before looking up again. "To answer your question from earlier, yes, that's why I think Kia will slam the door in my face. She's known who I am from the very beginning. To say she doesn't like me being with her daughter, would be an understatement."

Sakku chuckled and took a sip. "Well, she's just going to have to get over it."

Despite her emotions having run the entire gamut in the span of a few minutes, Kuvira couldn't stop the small laugh that forced its way out. "That's what Nayuh has been saying for almost two years now."

"You've found a good one, with her," Sakku said. He pointed a finger at her. "So don't screw it up."

"I'm trying not to," Kuvira replied, then solemnly looked at him. "I'm sorry I lied to you, Sakku. I truly appreciate the friendship we have, and the fact that you gave me a chance, especially when you didn't have to."

Sakku smiled and raised his glass slightly. "It's been a pleasure getting to know you over the last couple of years. And I look forward to many more, with both our families." Kuvira returned his smile, then raised her own glass slightly before taking a sip.

Then she sighed. "I guess I do need to go pay Kia and Tarrak a visit. Especially since I'm planning on asking her in a couple of weeks. Oh, and that reminds me–there's something else I need to talk to you about…"

Kuvira spent the next hour in Sakku's office, filling him in on the prototype and the work she'd been doing with Asami. He was more upset that she hadn't told him about that than he was about her not saying anything about her past, but he understood why they'd needed to keep it a secret.

And, since they were on the subject of secrets, Kuvira decided it was high time she filled Sakku in on why she was in the South in the first place. He listened without judgment, though he did get visibly angry when she told him about her time under Lake Laogai.

Coming clean about her past with someone else–someone she cared about and trusted–felt good. She'd never known she needed Sakku's unconditional acceptance, but Kuvira was happy to finally have it.

Now all she needed to do was work up enough courage to ask the one person she feared the most, the second most important question of her life.