As The Iron Maiden barreled toward Ba Sing Se, everyone checked out every square inch of the newly designed cabins. Now each bed having individual privacy walls and sliding doors, Kuvira had used metalbending to put in place.
Sarita walked up to Kuvira in her office and said, "The privacy is great and everything, but there's still nowhere for me to put my feet up."
"I'll take your feet," Kuvira replied without skipping a beat.
Bolin stared at Sarita sat down and took off her prosthetics and handed them to her. Kuvira put them up and off to the side without a second thought. He asked, "Why I did not expect that?"
Sarita smiled at Kuvira and said, "Thanks, it's great to take a load off, you know?"
Suddenly, the train came to a grinding stop, throwing everyone straight into the floor. Everything that had been on the desks or on any shelves were thrown around as well.
Kuvira jumped back up quickly and asked, "Why did we stop?"
"The track is blocked by animals," the engineer said, stepping out of his cabin, "we're not going anywhere until they're cleared."
"Then move them," she commanded.
He shook his head, "They go on forever, there has to be over 100 hogsheep out there."
Kuvira marched herself outside, Baatar and Bolin in tow. "Whoa," Bolin said, "now that's a lot of hogsheep." The animals spread as far as a 1/4 mile down the train tracks and wide across the valley.
Baatar walked up to a shepherd and asked, "What are you doing? These are train tracks; you can't shepherd animals across them."
The shepherd replied, "I've been moving my hogsheep through this valley for over 40 years. What's the problem now?"
"The middle of this valley is now government property," Kuvira said, "steam engines are going to come roaring through here from now on. We have a strict deadline so we're going to need you to move all of these animals off of the tracks immediately."
"I'm sorry," he said, "even if I really wanted to, my hogsheep are feeding now. This is some of the best grazing there is around here for them. They're not going to be ready to move for over an hour."
Baatar asked, "An hour?"
Bolin asked, "Can we wait that long?"
"No," Kuvira said, "We can't."
The shepherd shrugged. "Nothing I can do for you, doll."
Kuvira walked away and said, "Get back on the train."
"To do what?" Baatar asked, "Sit here and wait? We're going to be late to Ba Sing Se now no matter what. What's the point?" He and Bolin followed her back inside anyway, despite not seeing the point.
She said, "If we're late to our first region it'll tarnish our image and what we're setting out to do. I'm making sure we're getting there on time. Put the engines in reverse." The engineer nodded and went to the engine room.
Baatar asked, "What are you doing? This is the only line between Republic City and Ba Sing Se."
After the train had moved backwards, far enough away for her comfort, Kuvira commanded, "Now, full steam ahead."
"Yes, Madam Kuvira," the engineer said anxiously.
Bolin said in horror, "What are you going to do? Kill a bunch of innocent hogsheep!? I think it would be better if we were late!"
"Hold onto something," Kuvira said, "We're getting to Ba Sing Se on time no matter what."
As the train chugged along and gained speed, Kuvira got into position. With metalbending, she felt exactly how the engine was moving the entire train and forced the wheels upward, bringing the entire first car into the air. She lifted the train car by car and flew over the herd of hogsheep. The shepherd stared in awe from the sideline. While everything on board flew around, everyone struggled to hold on.
Kuvira waited until the tracks were clear before attempting to land. It skid off of the rails, she forced it back on, throwing everyone and everything off balance, including herself. As they bounced along as the train made it back onto the tracks.
Now they were back on schedule to get to Ba Sing Se on time.
"Whoo!" Bolin shouted, "That was amazing!"
"It sure was!" Baatar said.
Bolin asked, "Can we do that again?"
"Only if we have to," Kuvira replied, smiling coyly.
The walls of Ba Sing Se were more impressive than Kuvira had ever imagined them to be from the stories she read. It appeared to stretch one forever left to right and go on into the sky passed the clouds. Its bright yellow rocks reflected the sun's light against the blue sky perfectly.
"Just as grand as I remember it," Bolin said.
"That's right," Kuvira said, "you've been here before. What's it like beyond those walls?"
"The upper-ring is great," he answered, "the lower ring isn't really, but it has its charm too I guess...if you look hard enough."
The Iron Maiden chugged to a stop outside the outermost ring. Kuvira stepped out in her old Zaofu guard uniform, everyone else standing behind her. A group of guards stood in front of the entrance, unamused. She knew there weren't any metal tracks ahead of her and they were going to have to transfer trains anyway.
"I'm Kuvira and I'm here-" she started.
"I know exactly who you are," the head guard interrupted, "and why you're-"
"Don't talk over me!" Kuvira demanded, "I have the proper documentation for everyone on board The Iron Maiden, let us through!" She held the scrolls in her hands.
He looked down at her smugly and said, "Insolent wench. We don't need help from outsiders! Get lost!"
"I'm an earth kingdom citizen same as you," Kuvira replied, "and we have orders to meet with advisors and secure the palace."
"The palace?" he laughed and laughed, the rest of the guards following suit with chords of laughter, "You really think you're going to get all the way up there? You won't even get passed this wall let alone to the upper ring. Forget about it!"
Kuvira glared at him as he closed off the entrance with earthbending. Bolin asked, "They don't want our help?"
"I didn't exactly expect welcoming committee for us," Baatar said, "but that was harsher than I expected."
"We're getting to the palace," she said, then turned around to the small crowd. "Benders, Sarita, you're coming with me! Baatar, everyone else, stay here and guard the train. We'll come back for you once we secure the palace."
Everyone got in line quickly. Bolin stood beside her and asked, "What's the plan? Fight our way through the entire city?"
"Yes," she answered, glaring at the wall.
Kuvira lunged forward, stomping her feet into the ground so hard it made impressions. She forced the entire wall to crack all the way up to the top. An entrance wide enough for everyone to march through. The wall crumbled down around them, she made sure to throw to rocks off to the side so it wouldn't hurt anyone.
They marched inside. Sarita quickly readying her bow and taking out several guards, pinning them to the wall as they attacked. Together everyone ran down the tracks across the fields that were inside the outermost ring.
At the top of the next ring, earthbenders waited for them and attacked with rocks. Kuvira created a massive shield of stone over them and as soon as the rocks hit, she launched them off to the side with ease. They busted through the stone entrance, knocking away everyone who stood in their way.
This was a much bigger challenge now, the lower ring, filled to the brim with people, houses, and animals minding their own business. Kuvira didn't know what was going to happen if word got out she was getting to the palace. Would the people be for her or against her? Was she prepared to fight an entire city?
"Stay calm," Kuvira said, "only fight those who attack you first. Remember, they aren't our enemies."
They made their way forward, and it didn't take long before more guards, police, and old dai li agents came out of the woodwork. Ordinary citizens ran for their lives as the rocks flew. Sarita pinned more people down with her arrows. Bolin pushed them back in droves.
On her own, Kuvira was careful of the buildings, knowing she'd have to pay to get them fixed. The roads on the other hand were already torn to bits from the infighting going on throughout the city. While Ghazan had taken down the walls between the rings, anyone who was still on the police force and guard duty were still attempting to maintain order.
A large guard stood in their path. "You might have gotten through the scum of the lower-ring but in the middle ring rules matter," he said, "you're not getting passed me." He crossed his arms across his chest.
Kuvira stepped forward and explained, "We're actually on your side. We want to maintain order and bring stability back into these people's lives. I want to help you."
"Help?" he asked, "How's a teenage girl like you supposed to help an entire city?"
"It'll take time," she said, "and I know you don't have much of that but together we can rebuild everything. You have to at least give us a chance." She gestured to her crew in a row behind her.
He nodded and let them pass peacefully. Unfortunately, the rest of the middle ring didn't feel the same way. They fought back with force.
Sarita separated from the group and shot her arrows left and right, pinning people down quickly. Then, an earthbender knocked the ground out from under her, taking one of her prosthetic feet with it. Hoping on one foot, she jumped back up and pinned the attacker down with two arrows.
As a set of rocks went for her leg, she flipped through the air and kicked a man down, then spun around and used her bow to beat some sense into them. A lady kicked her other prosthetic foot out from under her, knocking her down again. She rolled backwards and knocked her off her natural feet.
On her hands, Sarita spun around and knocked the entire group of 6 people over with her legs. Once down, she rolled over them and made her way back over to Kuvira who was dodging projectiles left and right. Not only rocks, but pots and pans and anything else the citizens could throw at her.
"Bolin," she said, "show these people we're not to be messed with."
"Lava wall," he replied, "got it."
He stopped the ground and cause the temperature to rise. It turned red and he forced it into the air. Everything people were throwing melted and disappeared. People's jaws dropped. Many ran for their lives, fearful as to what was to come next.
This cleared their way to the upper ring. Kuvira had to stop and catch her breath as the group walked through the opening Ghazan had made. The upper ring. This time the homes were spaced apart, so much so they could easily walk through as a bunch instead of huddling together like the lower streets.
This part of the city, however, were all ready for the fight of their lives. They were fortified and much more organized than the other rings they had just fought their way through. Jae stepped forward first, using his fire to blast away at the remaining dai li and guards who attempted to charge them. Sarita pinned them back with more arrows. They approached the massive steps to the palace, hopeful they would make it to the top.
Two massive badger mole statues came flying towards them. Kuvira froze. Should she break them apart? They were art! If Huan saw that he would have an aneurysm. Could she make a shield? Not that fast! She had to do something!
Bolin stepped up and created a massive pool of lava in front of them. Just as the statues were about to strike, he lifted a wall into the air, stopping them. Lava sloshed everywhere, it took everything he had to control the landing and make sure the lava moved toward the steps and away from everyone else.
With earthbending, Kuvira stomped an impressed into the ground around the entire group. Then, she launched all of them into the air. Sarita flailed in the air and struggled to grab onto Kuvira with all of her might. Meanwhile Kuvira took out her metal wire, knocked rocks away left and right, and landed at the first landing with guards.
Together, everyone knocked them away and moved up the steps quickly. By the time they got to the building, the rest of the group wanted to stop.
"We made it to the palace!" Bolin said, huffing and puffing for air, "Whew! Alright! We showed that guard who's boss. Now let's take a break...does it feel like the air is thinner up here?"
"No," Kuvira said, "we're not stopping until we get to the throne room." She paused. "Where is the throne?" She turned to Bolin.
"I don't know," he said, "Korra's the only one who met the queen inside the palace."
Sarita added, sitting on the ground, "Look at the sun, Kuvira, it's almost high noon. You're going to be late."
"And where are those officials Raiko said would be here?" Kuvira asked, "We're finding that throne room. Come on!" She ran into the palace and opened as many doors as she could. Wasn't the throne room where the monarchs greeted people? Shouldn't it have been easier to find?
She stopped some looters and demanded to know where the throne room was. They were of no help. Instead, they alerted some guards that there were intruders. Kuvira made a run for it and opened some of the most massive double doors she had ever seen in her life.
There it was, the throne, all the way across the room and up a few steps from the ground. Ran up and dove right in, completely out of breath, Kuvira finally sat down in the chair. Exhausted, her body couldn't take it and flopped onto the ground hard.
"Look at that," Bolin said, "we...finally...made it..." He collapsed onto the floor with a hard thud.
Kuvira pushed herself up off the ground and sat on the steps in front of the throne. "We're here, in the palace, at high noon," she said, then managed to get back to her feet, "time to restabilize the city."
"Kuvira," Sarita said, sitting up, "you're not going to like this, but I lost my feet somewhere in the middle ring."
Bolin replied, "I know they're made of wood and metal but still, how do you lose feet?"
Kuvira added, "You know those are supposed to stay attached to your ankles, right?" She pretended to be annoyed and said, "Bolin, help Sarita look for her feet."
"On it!" he said.
With a piggy-back ride, he picked her up onto her back and they walked out of the palace.
"Are you Kuvira?" Gun's voice echoed through the massive halls, "President Raiko told me a metalbending girl from Zaofu would be here at this time. I'm sorry I didn't have a processional waiting for you. Not that it would have been possible, since everyone else left their posts days ago." He cringed, waiting for her response.
She walked over to him and said, "That's okay. I am Kuvira. Where should we begin?"
Kuvira announced her intentions to the city. She wasn't going to put the walls back up but take down the inner rings complete. The entire city would have a revolutionized transportation system that gave non-benders the opportunity to work. She was also going to do everything in her power to help orphans. That made her popular enough to open the doors for The Iron Maiden to enter, along with all of the recourses the city had burned through.
She was ready to help the city in every way she could. First things first, bringing charity to those who needed it. The entire crew of The Iron Maiden helped unload what resources they had on board. Kuvira did her part as well. People from all over the city took notice, including newly homeless children.
Kuvira happily carried a crate of food over to a group of hungry children waiting impatiently. But once she turned the corner to enter an alley, she saw it. She lost the grip of the crate and gasped-somehow managing to stop herself from screaming in fear-some food fell out and some hit the ground. She turned away and covered her eyes, catching her breath, careful not to alarm the children. They noticed.
"I'm sorry," she said, "I thought I saw a spider-rat." Her hands shook as she grabbed the crate again. The children didn't mind.
"It's okay, we eat off of the ground all the time," a little boy said.
Kuvira bent down to his level and said, "I'm sorry, I'll make sure that never happens again."
None of them noticed how she had broken out into a cold sweat. They all took the food so quickly she didn't need to stay long with them, so she didn't. She left immediately after they were finished. She kept my head down as she walked back to The Iron Maiden, hoping no one would see her.
"Kuvira, the-" Baatar stopped and watched as she headed straight for the train.
She used metal bending to force the door open and shut it behind herself. She managed to hold herself together until she got to her private cabin. She sunk into the floor, shaking uncontrollably. Even to herself, she couldn't believe all it took was one look at that contraption and she fell apart.
"Kuvira?" Baatar asked, knocking on the door, "Can I come in?"
She told herself she needed to be strong, as always. "Yes," she said, trying to make sure her voice didn't faulter.
He walked in and said, "Whoa you look terrible." His eyes went wide. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I meant you look...different...than you usually do. Are you okay?"
She wanted to tell him she was fine, but she wasn't. "No."
"Hey that's okay," he said, sitting down beside her on the floor. He took her hands, "I don't know what's going on, but you can tell me if you want."
Kuvira confessed, "There was a child in a wheelchair...and I haven't seen one of those since the last time I saw my mother." She glanced up at him to see his shock.
He saw the seriousness of her tone and said, "You've never spoken about your mother before. She was in a wheelchair?"
She nodded and continued, "My first memory is of me putting her in one." She struggled to hold back tears. "When I was 3-years-old, I had a temper tantrum so bad I brought down the roof of our home. She dove for me, trying to protect me. I didn't know enough about earth bending to stop part of the roof from falling onto her. It crushed her spine. I never saw her walk again." She couldn't stop the tears.
Baatar brought her in close. He whispered gently, "I had no idea you've been carrying around so much guilt for so long." He rubbed her upper back.
"What else am I supposed to do?" she asked, "Pretend it never happened? She got her and it was my fault!"
"I don't know what to say," he said, "I had no idea anything like that happened."
"I told your mom about it a long time ago," she said, "I thought your whole family knew by now."
"No," he explained, "she kept anything you told her to herself. Me on the other hand? Everything I ever said to her, especially any sort of mistakes I made, became dinner conversation for everyone to ridicule me for."
She sat up and asked, "Really?"
Baatar nodded and explained, "I'll admit, sometimes it was helpful, getting to hear my siblings' perspectives on things, but most of time it felt more like I was being made fun of for making the mistake in the first place."
"I'm sorry you went through that," Kuvira said somberly, "I always thought you admired your parents so much. I guess I should have known, since you left to join me instead of staying back with them."
He said, "My mother would never admit this out loud...actually, I don't even think she consciously realizes this about herself, but she's always favored benders over non-benders."
She said, "But your father is a non-bender."
"I know," he continued, "but when I was born my mother expected me to be an earthbender like her. Some of my earliest memories is of her trying to teach me. I could feel her disappointment in me grow by the day. Then when Huan started earthbending, she spent more time with him. Then after Wing and Wei were earth benders and they were talented at fighting, Huan fell to the wayside quickly since he was never good at fighting. I know Opal felt the disappointment at being a non-bender too, but she's the only girl so she still got her attention. When you showed up out of nowhere one night, my mother's attention turned to you."
Kuvira said, "I know that's the reason why Opal's always been jealous of me, but I could never understand how she could feel that way. She has a family who cares about her, a great place to live, never had to eat a bad meal in her life, and she's jealous of me? Someone who was thrown away?"
"Even from my perspective it was always hard to watch," he said.
Looking away from him, she confessed, "Deep down, I've always wondered if your mother only kept me in Zaofu for as long as she did because I'm a metalbender."
"No," he said sharply, "I can promise you that wasn't the case."
She turned to see his serious expression.
Baatar explained, "Trust me, she took you in because you were a little girl on the brink of death. I still remember that day so well. I was 10, and we were eating dinner like any other ordinary night. Then the doors suddenly burst open, and you were there, out of breath, clearly exhausted. You reached out to the table and then immediately collapsed. Huan actually got to you first, then me, then my mother. Your stomach was growling so loud we knew you were starving. My mother immediately felt sorry for you and told us she was going to do everything in her power to help you. That was way before we knew you were a metalbender."
"What about your father?" Kuvira asked, "What did he think about me in that moment?"
"He wasn't even there," he answered, "he was busy working, like always."
"I never noticed," she said, "to be honest, I didn't look at anyone sitting around the table that night."
"You hadn't eaten for so long," he replied, "I can see why."
She gave him a weak smile and said shamefully, "I'm sorry. This was so unprofessional. It's so embarrassing. I shouldn't have said anything." She sat up and pushed away from him.
"Kuvira," he said, "it's okay to be vulnerable sometimes. You can't keep everything locked away forever."
She got back to her feet and said, "Thank you, Baatar, for listening."
He stood up beside her and said, "Anytime. Hey, thanks for listening to me too. I've been wanting to say some of that stuff for a while now."
"Could you..." she asked, "keep what I said to yourself?"
"Of course," he answered, "but what about that kid in a wheelchair? They're still going to be out there, and there's other people in wheelchairs who happen to exist too. What are you going to do if you see them?"
She said, "I'll be fine. It just...caught me off guard." She added, more sure of herself this time, "I'll be alright."
