Kia woke up early, as she tended to do. She always preferred to be the first one up and enjoyed the quiet hour or so that she got to herself in the mornings. She eased herself out of bed and made her way to the kitchen.

Tea first. Always tea first, before anything else. Once the kettle was on the stove and warming, she plodded to the front door, inhaling deeply before opening it.

She'd known this was coming. Known it for almost two days now, ever since Senna had unexpectedly stopped by the shop and told her what had happened in Republic City. To say she'd been angry would be an understatement and her first instinct was to blame Vira.

It had taken Tarrak pointing out that their daughter was just as culpable for what happened as Vira was, and she'd finally calmed down. Sort of. She was still upset at both of them, but if there was one thing Kia was certain Vira couldn't do, it was coerce Nayuh into doing something she didn't want to do in the first place. For better or worse, Kia had passed on her hard-headedness to her daughter.

The question she and Tarrak kept asking themselves over the last two days was why. Why had Nayuh and Vira gone to Republic City in the first place? Especially when they knew how risky it was for Vira to go anywhere outside of the South. Kyoshi Island was one thing. Republic City was off-limits and both of them should've known better. All four of them–Vira, Nayuh, Korra, and Asami–should've known better.

But what was done was done, and Kia steeled herself as she picked up the morning paper. Nayuh had warned her yesterday when she'd called, that there was a good chance the paper would run an article on Vira's arrest since the papers in Republic City already had. And sure enough, as she unfolded it and walked back inside, she was greeted with a front-page spread.

"Great Uniter Returns! Found hiding in the Southern Water Tribe!"

Kia frowned as she read the ridiculously large, outrageous headline. "The former ruler of the now-defunct Earth Empire was recently arrested in Republic City…"

Kia skimmed the article, seeing that the local reporter had used a lot of the same verbiage the one in Republic City had (based on Nayuh's summary of that article), but they'd also included details about Vira's time in the Southern Water Tribe. Specifically, her closeness to Chief Tonraq and the Avatar, and the fact that she held a high-ranking position at the new snowmobile factory.

How the author of the article managed to ascertain such details wasn't clear, but Kia knew it had to have come from someone close enough to Vira to know the truth about her and what she'd been up to in the last few years.

"This isn't good," Kia muttered to herself as she poured herself a cup of tea. She took the tea and paper to the couch, settling herself on it and reading the article with a more careful eye.

While Vira hadn't ever threatened the South in her time as the Great Uniter, nor had she ever made a move in the last three years that could even remotely be considered threatening to the Tribe, the reporter had no issue taking her to task for the crimes she did commit in the Earth Kingdom and Republic City.

It was blatantly obvious the article was meant to inflame opinions, and not in support of Vira. Tonraq's going to have his hands full in a few hours. She had no doubt that there would be an angry crowd gathered outside the Palace by day's end, calling for his head, the Avatar's head, and Vira's head.

And ours, if we're not careful. If there was one thing Kia was adamant about, it was protecting her family's legacy in the Tribe. She'd known from the very beginning that having Vira anywhere near her family was a liability, but she also couldn't bring herself to gloat.

There was a reason she'd kept her mouth shut and never outed Vira to the Tribe, even though she'd threatened it. And that reason was Nayuh. They might not see eye-to-eye on a lot of things, but Kia fiercely loved her daughter, just as she knew Nayuh fiercely loved her. Talking to her last night had proven that Kia's decision to not out Vira had been the right one.

Nayuh was hurting—more than Kia had ever seen before, even though she couldn't physically see her. She could hear it in her voice, in the dejected way she spoke. And she was angry. So very angry and Kia knew that if she'd been the one who'd caused this, instead of someone else, it would've permanently destroyed their relationship. And she wouldn't have been able to live with that.

But that didn't mean it didn't break her heart to know that her daughter was in pain. And what made it worse was that she couldn't do a damn thing about it at the moment.

"Well?" Tarrak asked as he walked out of the bedroom. "How bad is it?"

"Bad," Kia simply replied, then held the paper out so he could see for himself.

Tarrak's eyes went wide and flicked over the page. "She looks terrible. I can't believe they put her in chains. She looks like she can barely walk." His voice held the same hint of anger Kia had felt—much to her surprise—when she'd seen the photo of Vira being led into the jail.

"They still see her as a threat," Kia evenly replied, knowing full well how hypocritical she sounded. Truth be told, she had no idea when she'd stopped seeing Vira as a threat, but it had apparently happened sometime in the last two years.

"Well, she's not," Tarrak grumbled. He threw the paper down onto the low table in front of the couch and stalked into the kitchen. Nayuh might get her quick temper, stubbornness, and protectiveness from her, but her compassion, empathy, and caring nature were all from her father.

"Do you still want to go into work today?" Tarrak asked as he walked back out into the common room, a cup of tea in his hands. "I can manage by myself, if you would rather stay home and by the phone."

"No, I'll go in," Kia replied. "This town likes to talk and I kind of want to see what people are saying. It'll at least give us a better idea of the reaction…good or bad." Tarrak nodded and took a sip of his tea. Kia got up and gave him a kiss, before going into the kitchen to get breakfast started for them both.

After eating they walked down to the small shop they owned and had run since getting married. Tarrak had a knack for being able to take a seemingly boring piece of whale-walrus or whale bone, and turning it into something beautiful. He could carve anything out of them: knives, ceremonial pieces of jewelry, axes, clubs, boomerangs. If someone could dream it up, Tarrak could make it.

Kia handled the front end of things, while Tarrak preferred to stay in the back, in his workshop. The fact that he'd offered to cover her side of things was a small, but very meaningful gesture and she didn't take it lightly.

The day passed by slowly. Kia had been certain that the news of Vira's arrest would be the talk of the town, but out of the maybe fifty customers they had throughout the day, less than half had brought it up. And out of the ones who did, most only mentioned it in passing. If there was one thing Kia loved about her people, it was that they preferred to stay out of world affairs.

And while Vira's arrest did bring somewhat of a spotlight on the South, Kia had a feeling most people were of the mind that as long as she wasn't causing trouble here, or affecting their daily lives in any way, then it wasn't their business.

But that didn't mean that everyone was unconcerned. Kia listened to more than a few rants from angry customers, railing about how the Chief had let a foreign criminal run loose in their Tribe. She'd nodded along and offered all the right responses whenever they were needed, but by the end of the day, she was mentally exhausted.

"I didn't want to outright agree with them," she complained to Tarrak on their walk home, "because I don't agree with them, but I couldn't exactly defend Vira either. Not when we need their business."

"It's a tough position to be in," Tarrak agreed.

Kia nodded. "I'm trying not to direct all my anger at Vira, because I know all four of them are to blame for this, but..." She sighed heavily. "Maybe we shouldn't have given our blessing to her."

Tarrak gave her a sideways look. "You know as well as I do that if we hadn't, Nayuh would've gone behind our backs and done it anyway. Us agreeing to let Vira ask Nayuh to marry her has absolutely nothing to do with this and you know it."

He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. "I know you're upset…and worried. Not just for Nayuh but for Vira, too." Kia shot him a look and he went on. "Don't deny it. Like it or not, Vira has become part of the family. I'm worried about her too. And Nayuh. I'm worried for both of them."

Kia was quiet for a few moments. Okay, maybe Tarrak was right. Maybe she was a little worried about Vira. But only because of how heartbroken Nayuh was going to be if Vira ended up imprisoned for the rest of her life.

It wasn't their usual night of the week for family dinner, but Kia wasn't all that surprised to see Panuk and Tulok sitting in the common room when they got home. It drove home Tarrak's statement about Vira being part of the family now. When something bad happened to one of them, it happened to all of them. Like their Tribe, their family was extremely tight-knit.

"Rough day?" Tulok sarcastically asked, as soon as they walked in.

Kia gave him a look that said, don't start, then walked into the kitchen to start getting dinner ready. She could see that her sons looked just as glum as she and Tarrak felt, despite Tulok's teasing, and decided some good, old-fashioned comfort food was needed.

It didn't take long for Panuk to join her. Out of the three of her children, she'd always felt the closest to him. Maybe it was because he was the youngest, or because his siblings had picked on him incessantly growing up, but Kia always felt the need to protect Panuk the most. He welcomed it, most days. And now that he'd gotten older, she could tell he felt the need to reciprocate it.

"How was work?" she asked him, somewhat cautiously. She was extremely curious as to what everyone at the factory was saying, but she wasn't going to push him to talk.

Panuk shrugged. "Okay, I guess." He lifted a hand and casually bent a small stream of water from the running faucet and began toying with it in his hands. It was his go-to move when he had something on his mind but was unsure of how to bring it up to her.

"Just okay?" She shut the water off and got to work on cutting up the vegetables she'd just washed.

"Yeah…" He trailed off and sighed. "Okay, it sucked," he finally admitted, after a few long moments. "I felt like I was doing nothing but damage control the entire time."

"I'm guessing no one there is too happy about what they saw in the paper this morning then," Kia said.

Panuk shook his head. "A lot aren't. They're mad they were lied to—by Vira and the Chief. Some want to blame Sakku as well, but I know he had nothing to do with it."

"They were lied to," Kia replied, "and they have every right to be mad about that."

"I know that, but come on, Mom," Panuk said, "you know she's not the monster the paper made her out to be. If she was, you wouldn't have let her anywhere near Nayuh. Or any of the rest of us."

Kia pursed her lips. "She used to be, Panuk. And people are rightfully concerned that she hasn't changed since then."

"But she has," Panuk insisted. "Ugh…I just spent all day having this same argument. I don't want to have it again with you. Why can't you just see her the way the rest of us do?!"

"I do see her the way you do," Kia said with a sigh. "At least, now I do."

"Because you spent time with her, got to know her," Panuk said. "Deep down, those idiots at work know what that stupid article said isn't true. She's not out to 'take over the South' or however they phrased it. Whoever wrote that just wanted to stir everyone up."

"Well, they did a damn good job of it," Kia replied. "Is there anyone, besides you, that was standing up for her today?"

Panuk sighed. "Yeah…thankfully. Most weren't nearly as vocal as me, but after I got into it at lunch with a few of the guys who were being obnoxious, I had some of them come up to me privately. So I'm not the only one who thinks this whole thing is stupid."

"That's good," Kia said. "Just be careful. I'd hate to see you lose your job over this."

"I'll be fine, Mom," Panuk exasperatedly replied. "Besides…didn't you raise all of us to stand up for ourselves?"

"I did, but I don't want to see you get into a fight or get hurt because you don't know when to shut your mouth."

The water he'd been playing with suddenly hardened into a sharp dagger. "I'd love for someone to try," he replied, darkly. "Vira has done nothing wrong here. And I'm more than happy to defend her to anyone who tries to say otherwise."

Kia calmly reached out and closed her fist around the sharp piece of ice. Panuk immediately relaxed and the dagger melted into a puddle at his feet. He gave her a sheepish look, then picked the water up and deposited it back into the sink. "Sorry…I didn't mean to take it out on you. I'm just frustrated."

"I know you are," Kia gently said. "We all are. But the best thing we can do for Nayuh and Vira right now is to keep a level head. Okay?"

Panuk nodded. "You're right." He took a deep breath. "Do you want any help?"

Kia shook her head. "No, but thank you. Go relax."

Panuk leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thanks, Mom. Love you."

"Love you, too," Kia replied. Panuk reached into the fridge and grabbed three bottles of beer, then headed back into the common room, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

She couldn't blame her son for wanting to stand up for Vira and defend her. He and Tulok had grown close to her over the last couple of years and never saw her as anyone other than who she was now. They all saw Vira for who she was now, and Kia knew that it was very likely they'd all be called on to defend her. And probably very soon.

Korra parked the satomobile, but before getting out, she pulled the note out of her pocket and read it again.

Korra,

I need you to find the bag I brought with me. I left something extremely important in it and I need you to get it for me. I don't care about the clothes, or anything else. Just this. It's hidden in a small pocket on the inside of the bag. Hopefully, Mako didn't find it, but if he did…just please try and get it back. You'll understand once you see it. Thanks…and sorry for all of this. I should've just stayed home.

Vira

Korra sighed and tucked the note away again. It's not your fault. There was certainly a lot of blame going around, but Korra didn't feel like any of it lay on Vira's shoulders.

When she'd first read the note, she almost laughed, assuming that Vira had been talking about the little surprise "gift" Korra had left for them in their cabin on the airship. Then she'd read it again and realized there was no way Vira was talking about that. As amusing as the thought was.

No, what she wanted was far more important. Korra had an idea of what it might be but didn't want to speculate. She'd find out soon enough. Hopefully. If Mako was in a good mood and feeling generous, that is.

Steeling herself for what was sure to be another heated conversation, Korra drug herself out of the vehicle and into the police station. It'd been a while since she'd been in here, but she remembered the layout. She quickly strode through the busy halls, ignoring the looks and stares she received along the way.

When she got to the open squad bay, where Mako's desk was, she looked around in surprise. Someone else was sitting at the desk, instead of Mako. Maybe he's out running down leads or something. She marched up to the man who wasn't Mako but was sitting at his desk, ignoring the pointed stares from the other officers in the room.

"Where's Mako?" she demanded, standing in front of the desk and doing her best to look intimidating. The man looked up at her, surprised.

"Uh, Avatar Korra, hi, umm..." He looked around the room as if seeking help from his fellow officers. Most averted their eyes or outright turned away and the man's face grew slightly red. "He, uh, didn't tell you?"

"Didn't tell me what?"

The man still looked nervous, but Korra could tell his confidence was returning. "Mako got promoted. He's the head detective now. His office is through there." He pointed to the far side of the room, where the Chief's office was.

For the first time, Korra noticed that there was another door to the side of Lin's—not Lin's anymore, she corrected herself—office. "Thanks," she said, then stalked over to the door and slid it open, not even bothering to knock.

Mako was sitting behind a large desk in the large office and before Korra could stop them, the words slipped out. "Reaping the benefits of your most recent arrest, I see."

Her tone was harsh and she saw Mako flinch slightly as he looked up at her. Then his cockiness was back and he shrugged. "Not my fault Kuvira decided to come up here."

Korra shut the door behind her and angrily strode over to his desk. "You also didn't have to go crying to the President like a little snitch."

Mako suddenly stood and leaned on his desk, eyes flashing with anger as well. "That's not what I did. Kuvira is a criminal. It's not my fault none of you can see that anymore. Zhu Li can, so yeah, of course I was going to report it directly to her."

Korra scoffed. "Zhu Li, huh? On a first-name basis with the President now…" She reached out, aiming for Mako's face. "Careful, Mako, looks like you got a little something on your nose."

He jerked his head away. "Are you here for a reason or did you just come to yell at me? Because I'm more than happy to have you escorted out."

"I'd love to see any of those idiots out there try," Korra replied with a snort. "Yes, I'm here for a reason. I need to see Vira's bag. I'm assuming you have it in here somewhere."

Mako crossed his arms. "Absolutely not. It's evidence."

"Evidence of what?" Korra retorted. "What evidence could you possibly hope to find by holding her bag here? Oh," she went on, voice dripping with sarcasm, "I know: her clothes are going to reveal her grand plan to take over the world, aren't they?"

She rolled her eyes. "Give me a break, Mako. You're just holding it to be an asshole."

"And you're not being an asshole right now?" Mako replied. "Marching in here, intimidating my officers, and trying to use your Avatar status to get your way? News flash Korra: that won't work anymore."

Korra stared at him, trying to see if the old Mako was still in there somewhere. Sure, he could be a jerk when he wanted to be—and she'd seen her fair share of that during their brief relationship—but she'd never seen him like this. Any traces of the kind, compassionate, caring Mako seemed to be long gone.

Mako held her gaze, jaw set, not willing to give her an inch. "I'm not going to try and throw my weight around," she finally said, trying to keep her temper in check. "All I need is to see inside it. I'm not trying to take it nor am I asking you to give it to me."

Mako didn't answer right away so Korra shrugged, adding, "If you say no, I'm just going to go down there and do it myself. And if anyone questions me on why I'm there or how I know how to get in, I'll just have to tell them about how you like to impress girls by sneaking them in there. I have a feeling that's highly unauthorized behavior, and unbecoming of the head" —she leaned heavily on the word— "detective you now are."

She hadn't even realized it was a thing Mako did (or used to do) to impress women, until she and Asami had been swapping stories one night. And if he'd done it with the two of them, then Korra was sure he hadn't stopped since then. Mako pursed his lips and Korra knew she had him.

"Fine. But I'm coming with you." He reached into his desk, grabbed a set of keys, then attached them to his belt. "Let's go."

Korra just barely managed to keep the smug smile off her face as she followed him out of the office. The evidence room was a few floors down and Korra couldn't help but reminisce a little at the last time the two of them had come down here together. Things had gotten a little…steamy. She looked back at it now and could only shake her head at how young and naive she'd been. Fortunately, things had worked out the way they were supposed to.

A very bored-looking guard greeted them, then waved them on their way after they'd signed in. After unlocking the cage, Mako led Korra down one of the narrow aisles before stopping about a third of the way down. "There," he said, pointing to a bag sitting on a shelf at her eye level.

Korra felt a pang of guilt as she pulled it down. She really didn't want to be rifling through Vira's personal things, let alone in front of Mako. Especially if Vira had been the one to pack away that little gift.

small pocket on the inside of the bag…Korra quickly unzipped the bag and opened it. She pushed aside the clothes, going straight for the side of the bag, looking for the small pocket that Vira said was there. Her first try came up empty, so she pushed the clothes around again and tried the other side. Bingo.

Sure enough, a small pocket had been stitched into the side, probably meant to hold money or other personal items. Korra shifted slightly, hoping to block Mako's view, and quickly opened it. She reached in and her fingers brushed against something that felt very familiar. Instead of looking to make sure, she closed her fist around it, then removed her hand and closed the pocket back up.

She rummaged around for a few more seconds, then zipped the bag shut and put it on the shelf again. "That's all you needed to do?" Mako asked, his tone suspicious.

"Yep," Korra replied, trying to keep her closed fist from drawing Mako's attention.

Too late. Mako pointed to her hand. "What's in your hand?"

The seconds seemed to drag on for eternity as a million different excuses ran through Korra's mind. "Korra…" Mako said, in warning. " Show me what's in your hand."

Knowing this was a battle she wasn't going to win, Korra relented. She opened her hand, showing Mako the small item she'd tried to sneak out. He looked at it, then back at her, confusion written all over his face.

"A betrothal necklace?" he said. "That's what was so important?"

"Sorry to disappoint you," Korra replied. "I know you were probably expecting a weapon of mass destruction or something."

Mako rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I can't let you take that out of here."

"The hell you can't," Korra angrily retorted. "It's not yours to keep. It's a damn betrothal necklace, Mako. What kind of trouble do you think Vira is going to cause with this? It's a personal item." She glanced down at the necklace and her eyes went wide.

"Very personal, in fact." She thrust it into his face. "You see that mark right there? That's Chief Sokka's mark. Which means that this is a family heirloom and an extremely important one at that. If anything happens to this necklace while it's in your custody…" A forced laugh burst from her throat but there was no humor in it.

"Spirits help you…Kuvira will be the very least of your worries then."

Mako stared at her, a little taken aback at her seriousness. He seemed to be weighing his options, but regardless of the decision he came to, there was no way Korra was letting him have it. She'd fight him for it if she had to.

You'll understand once you see it. Oh, she understood alright. The fact that Vira had this in her possession meant that she'd gone the traditional route and asked Nayuh's parents for permission to marry her. Permission they'd clearly given, and Korra knew that wasn't to be taken lightly. There was no way the necklace was staying here. It belonged with Vira.

"Fine," Mako finally said. "Just don't tell anyone I let you take it."

"I won't," Korra promised. She tucked the necklace safely away in her pocket and gave Mako a grateful look. "It's good to know you still can be a nice guy…when you want to be."

"Yeah, yeah…" Mako grumbled. "Are we done here, or…?"

"We're done. Thanks, Mako, I really appreciate it."

Mako nodded, then turned on his heel and headed for the exit. Korra followed him, silently breathing a sigh of relief that she'd been able to do at least one good thing for Vira. Now, she just needed to figure out a way to get the necklace to her.

"You have a visitor."

Kuvira looked up from the book she'd been reading, surprised. Lee had left only an hour ago (bringing the book with him—the first thing she'd been allowed to have in the four days since she'd been arrested). Surely, he couldn't be back again.

She slowly drug herself off the bed and over to the wall. No flashbacks assailed her this time, thankfully. Just a feeling of profound unease and vulnerability that sent a shiver down her spine as she heard the cell door open, then close. She turned around to see who had come to see her, and her heart leapt in her chest at the sight of Water Tribe clothing.

A split second later that elation was gone as she realized the woman standing inside her cell wasn't Nayuh. Or Korra.

Her disappointment must've been written all over her face because the woman gave her a sympathetic smile. "I'm Lusa…the healer who's been assigned to treat you while you're in here."

Kuvira nodded slightly. She'd all but written off any hope of having a healer come and treat her injuries. Lee kept promising her he was working on it, but she'd stopped believing him a couple of days ago. He seemed like a decent man, but his distaste for being her lawyer was obvious.

"I'd introduce myself, but I'm sure you already know who I am," Kuvira replied.

Lusa shrugged. "I know what the paper called you. I also know what my brother calls you." Seeing Kuvira's look of utter shock and suspicion, she quickly added, "He works at the snowmobile factory."

She was still smiling and Kuvira felt herself relax a little as Lusa went on. "He's never had anything unkind to say about you either, so screw what the paper said. I trust my brother more than I trust anything some random reporter says."

Kuvira finally returned her smile. "Tell your brother I appreciate his support. What's his name?"

"Nanouk."

It took her a few seconds to place a face with the name. "I know him. He was injured not too long ago, right?"

Lusa nodded. "Yeah, his leg. Stupid engine block fell on it. I keep trying to tell him that if he's going to be handling those heavy things all the time, then he needs to work out more so he can get stronger." She shook her head. "He's older and thinks he knows better…stubborn idiot."

She chuckled and so did Kuvira. "How's he doing now?"

"Oh, he's fine," Lusa said. "The healers fixed him right up. Just like I'm going to do with you…as long as you want me to."

"Please," Kuvira gratefully said. "Honestly, I never expected them to allow a healer to see me."

Lusa motioned to the bed, suddenly all business. It reminded Kuvira of her first interactions with Nayuh–quickly establishing trust, putting the patient at ease, then moving right into the actual healing session. The comfortable familiarity of it helped Kuvira to fully relax as she walked over to the bed and sat down.

"First things first," Lusa said. "I need you to go over all of your injuries, as best you can, and then I can start treating them in order of severity. Since you can't get into a healing pool, we'll have to do it the slow way: one by one."

Kuvira nodded. "I'm dating a healer, so I know the drill."

Lusa smiled. "I know…Nayuh, right?"

Kuvira's eyes widened and she nodded. "How'd you know that?"

"I'm also her healer…I've been treating her at the hospital since the accident."

Kuvira suddenly had a million questions, but she decided to ask the most important one. The one that had been on her mind constantly over the last four days. "How's she doing?"

"Much better. She'll have some lingering headaches for a while, but she's going to make a full recovery. She has her last appointment with me tomorrow, actually. And…I know she misses you. A lot."

Kuvira sighed. "I miss her, too. But I'm glad that she's going to be okay." Hearing it straight from Nayuh's healer made her feel much, much better. The last time she'd seen Nayuh, she'd been unconscious in the healing pool. To hear that she'd made a full recovery in nearly four days, was music to Kuvira's ears. She'd been so incredibly worried and trying to ask Lee about it was impossible. She'd have better luck banging her head against the wall.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Lusa said suddenly, startling Kuvira out of her thoughts. She reached into her pocket and pulled something out. "Avatar Korra asked me to give this to you."

Kuvira let out a small gasp when she saw the betrothal necklace lying in Lusa's palm. She reached out and picked it up, managing a "Thank you" in the process. So Lee had given Korra her note. Which meant he'd also given Nayuh her note, and that brought a smile to Kuvira's face. She could almost see Nayuh reading it and shaking her head at her poorly phrased poem.

"When are you planning on asking her?" Lusa asked.

"Yesterday," Kuvira quietly answered. She gently rubbed the small medallion in between her fingers. "It was our two-year anniversary…obviously, that never happened."

"I'm sorry," Lusa said, after a couple of awkward moments. "I'm sure you'll get the chance to ask her soon, though."

Kuvira gave her a half-hearted smile. "I hope so." Then, remembering why Lusa was here in the first place, tried to shake off her malaise. "Anyway…you wanted to hear about my injuries?"

Lusa seemed somewhat relieved that it was Kuvira who had broken the sad tension and she nodded. "I do."

Kuvira quickly listed them off. Since the only thing truly bothering her—other than the general stiffness and soreness she still felt—was her broken collarbone, Lusa decided to focus on that first.

"I don't like the way this is healing," she stated, frowning as she gently probed the bone and the area around it, while Kuvira tried not to yelp in pain. "Have you been keeping it immobile?"

"I've been trying," Kuvira answered, "and when I left the hospital it was wrapped so I couldn't move it…but they finally let me shower a couple of days ago so I had to undo the wrap and…well, it's kind of hard to re-wrap it with one arm. So I've just been trying to not move it."

Lusa helped Kuvira out of her shirt, so she'd have better access to work, then uncapped the waterskin she'd brought with her and drew a large stream of water out of it. "I'll re-wrap it once I'm done. Hopefully, they'll allow me to see you daily from now on and you won't have to worry about trying to re-wrap it on your own."

She made no mention of Kuvira's scars as she got to work, for which Kuvira was grateful. But it wasn't just the scars that had her feeling slightly uncomfortable. The only other healer that had worked on her this closely was Nayuh. It felt inappropriately intimate—like she was cheating on Nayuh in some way.

She's here to help you. The gentle reminder came across in Nayuh's voice, and Kuvira immediately relaxed, helped along by the warm sensation now enveloping her entire shoulder.

Lusa was easy to talk to and the time passed byquickly. But, every time Kuvira looked down and saw the necklace in her hands, she was once again reminded of what she stood to lose. Or gain, depending on what happened over the course of the next few days or weeks. Or even months.

Either way, she hoped that one day she'd be able to place the necklace around Nayuh's neck. The promise of forever wasn't one she took lightly, but Kuvira now knew, without a doubt, that she was ready to make it.