The Iron Maiden continued on to the next region, one they heard was also struggling with roving bandit attacks. Unexpectantly, the train slowed to a stop before reaching the intended destination.
"What's going on?" Miski asked.
The engineer stepped into Kuvira's office cabin and explained, "There are huge rocks on the tracks. Must have been some sort of landslide. We can't go anywhere until they're moved."
Kuvira stood up and said, "I'll take care of it."
"We could send for the new track authority to take care of it," Baatar said, "it is their job."
Already stepping off the train, Kuvira replied, "I can handle some rocks." As she approached the front; she noticed that the landslide looked a bit too clear cut to be naturally occurring. Only a small part of the cliff had landed on the tracks instead of nearly the entire mountainside. Just when she was beginning to think something was up, people popped up from behind the cliffs in all directions.
She was surrounded. Four from behind, two on each side, and eight in the front. She unclipped her pieces of metal and danced around their flying rocks. One, two, four, six went down quickly enough. The ground locked her feet into place. Causing an earthquake, she knocked the group behind her back far enough to regain her standing.
Untwisting her feet, Kuvira jumped up and used her metal to cover the rest of the bandit's eyes and mouths. With more metal strips, she wrapped their wrists and ankles up and threw them together into a giant heap with metalbending.
"You thought you got the jump on me," she said, catching her breath, "now look at you." She took away the metal on their mouths and eyes.
"Who are you?!" a woman on top of the pile demanded with great distain in her eyes.
"Kuvira," she answered, "I'm here trying to help the very people you're attempting to blockade...very poorly I might add."
A man looked over at the train and asked, "The Iron Maiden is here?" Then laid eyes on Kuvira. "You're supposed to be the one saving the earth kingdom? And how exactly are you doing that?"
"You have two choices," she explained, "you get either lucrative employment working for the railroad or working for the army. Either way you'll become productive members of your nation."
Another man asked, "We're not going to jail?"
She replied, "That's the third option I forgot to mention."
Surprised at their options, they each chose their jobs and Kuvira honored their positions. The ones who decided to join the army were quickly shipped off to the last region she helped, where a base had been built. The ones who chose to work with the railroad were sent to the next region over where new tracks were being laid. Unlike other bandits she had faced, it was clear these people were displaced right after the queen died.
Back inside the train, Baatar asked, "How did it go?"
"Oh, the rocks were placed there on purpose by bandits," she replied nonchalantly, "but I told you I could handle it."
Bolin asked, "Can we stop in the next town and get some real food?"
"What kind of food have we been eating?" Miski asked half serious half joking, "Fake food? Is that a thing? Should I be worried?"
"You know what I mean," he said, "if I have to eat canned beans again, I might throw up." He turned green at the mere thought of it.
Kuvira said, "We have time, we can stop in the next town."
As the cliffs around them turned into more lush valleys, Kuvira looked out the window and knew the area was familiar. A village came into view, small buildings made of stone and rocks, common throughout the kingdom but there was something about them that felt familiar as well yet she couldn't place how.
The Iron Maiden stopped at the rudimentary train station the town had, just a platform with a roof and a few benches. Kuvira looked up at the mountains to the west. "I've been here before," she said to no one.
Baatar came up behind her and said, "Back when you were on your own, I'm guessing?"
Startled, she replied, "I spent some time here when I was seven." She looked back at the houses and businesses in near perfect rows. The fire nation left some lasting touches on the building styles. "There used to be a restaurant in the middle of town I always liked. I wonder if it's still there."
The main three, Baatar, Bolin, and Miski followed her on her quest to search for this mysterious restaurant. Unlike the other villages they had seen, these people weren't quite as ravaged by bandits as the others. They still had working police, a functioning government, and fear hadn't overtaken the streets. Kuvira guessed at how easy it was for her to take down those bandits, they had only recently created a blockade at the tracks. The town had no idea they were so close to losing their new trade route.
Miski pointed at a fire nation restaurant and said, "That's the only restaurant I see around here."
"That's the one," Kuvira said.
Although she hadn't been there in years, not much had changed. Inside, they had fancy table settings and a few straight to the kitchen through a window. There were more seats inside than she expected. Tablecloths, curtains, and other furnishings were red instead of the earth kingdom's signature green.
A tall thin man walked up to them and asked, "How many in your party?"
"Four," Baatar answered.
The man guided them to a table near the entrance and explained, "I'm Lu Wren, I'll be your server this afternoon."
Kuvira whispered to herself, "Lu Wren..." the name brought back memories she thought she had long since buried. Now she knew exactly why this town was familiar and desperately tried to keep her surprise off of her face.
"Yes," he said, looking at her, he froze. "...are you...Kuvira?" His face lit up.
"Lu Wren!?" she asked, jumping up out of her seat.
"You're alive!" he shouted, grabbing her and hugging her so hard he lifted her off of the ground. "I thought you were dead!"
She exclaimed, "I thought you were dead!" She closed her eyes and struggled to hold back tears.
Miski asked innocently, "How do you two know each other?"
"Yeah, you have to tell us now," Baatar said excitedly.
"And why did you both think you were both dead?" Bolin asked anxiously, "Anyone else hear that part?"
Lu Wren let Kuvira go and said, "Kuvira used to live on the streets here with me and a few other orphans back in the day. We always came around this place. One day we were exploring the caves in those western mountains looking for old fire nation treasures, we didn't find any but there was a huge cave-in and we got separated. The whole town looked for you for days, Kuvira. We all thought you got buried. What happened?! Where did you go?"
She explained, "I thought you were buried! I escaped the cave and made it to the next town on the other side of those mountains and tried to get help. The first men I found captured me and they sold me off to some other group of shady men and threw me in the back of a wagon. I was halfway to Ba Sing Se before I managed to free myself and it was almost a week before I made it back to that town. By then I figured it was too late...I thought you were gone."
"You were sold off to kidnappers?" Baatar asked, completely horrified.
Bolin said, "That story only got worse and worse."
"You're an orphan?" Miski asked.
Lu Wren said, "I'm so glad to see you're alive! I heard someone named Kuvira was supposed to be riding around on the newest technology saving the kingdom, but I thought it was a coincidence she had your name."
"I'm real," she replied, "it's me."
He explained, "Welcome back to The Fire Cafe! I'm so glad you're here! I guess you're only in town for a bit, but I know the food here is just as good as it was when we were kids. I'm a partial owner now!"
"That's great news to hear," she replied sincerely.
He added loudly, "Now you get a chance to actually eat in the dining room. It's way better than digging in the dumpster out back." He patted her on the back gleefully.
She whispered awkwardly, "That's...great." She flushed with embarrassment as he turned away.
"I have to go and tell everyone in the kitchen that you're here, hold on!" he said, running to the back.
Kuvira awkwardly sat back down at the table, wishing she could earthbend herself into the ground and disappear from everyone's prying eyes. Miski asked gently, "You've eaten from the dumpster?"
She hid her face.
"I have too," Bolin confessed, "there's this great restaurant in Republic City, The Golden Dragon, we should try it out sometime. They had the best scraps in the city and when Mako and I finally had money to go out to eat, we found out their dinning room is great and their normal food is even better."
"Kuvira..." Baatar started, only to get interrupted by the entire kitchen staff going nuts. Some of the orphans she knew as a child got together after the original owner died and bought the place. They were more than happy to see Kuvira was alive and well after all that time and she was happy to see they were all doing well for themselves as adults.
Back in The Iron Maiden, Baatar walked in on Kuvira in her bedroom, working at her desk. She could barely look at him as he sat on the edge of her bed. He said gently, "Kuvira, I had no idea you've eaten garbage."
She stood up and turned away from him so he wouldn't see her embarrassment. She said, "I didn't go dumpster diving for fun, Baatar, I was starving."
He explained, "I'm not judging you, and I'm certainly not making fun of you. I didn't realize how much you went through before you made it to Zaofu. That's all my mom ever said, you've been through a lot, and left it at that. I guess I thought I knew what that meant, but clearly I had no idea."
"I didn't keep this from you to be coy or mysterious," she said, "it's painful to remember the things I had to do to survive." She closed her eyes as she remembered the cave-in, thinking the boy she had gotten to know was buried, her earthbending failing her right when she needed it the most.
"What happened that day?" Baatar asked, knowing her history of tantrums.
She confessed, "I caused the cave-in. I didn't want to play anymore and was tired and hungry and wanted to go back to town, but Lu Wren insisted on exploring some more. I used earthbending to break down some of the walls, and they caved-in on us." She couldn't hide the pain in her voice. "I thought I killed him." She struggled to hold back her tears.
"No wonder you had nightmares for so long."
"I still get nightmares," she said, finally turning to face him, "I'm just better at hiding them now." She walked over and sat beside him on her bed.
He wrapped his arms around her and said, "I'm sorry you've been through so much."
Kuvira explained, "I never even told your mom about what happened here. I never told her I had to eat out of garbage cans so I wouldn't starve. I never mentioned Lu Wren or what I did, or at least what I thought I did." She let out a breath of relief as she leaned into him, feeling his new muscles through his uniform. "I'm so glad he's alive."
"You must have felt so alone for so long," he said.
She rested her head on his shoulder and said, "It still feels like I'm alone, especially now that Sarita left me. Maybe if I was stronger or faster, she wouldn't have left."
"You still have me," he said, taking her hand in his, "I promise I won't leave you alone."
Kuvira glanced up at him, seeing through his glasses to his eyes directly. He looked at her with pure genuine seriousness. "How can you be so kind?" she asked.
Baatar explained, "I know you've had terrible people in your life get rid of you so easily. When someone actually cares about you, they're in it for a long haul, Kuvira. I want to be by your side, that's why I'm here. That's the main reason I left Zaofu, to be with you."
"You've been so great," she replied, "and helped in so many ways."
"I've had a crush on you forever."
"I know," she said, finally sitting up on her own, "I've had a crush on you too."
"Then shouldn't we be more than friends by now?" he asked excitedly.
She replied, "I'd love to...but we're so busy. This is hardly the time to start a serious relationship."
He asked, "When would be the right time? Next year? What if we're still up to our eyeballs in work? Then what? We wait another year and waste our lives away stealing glances of each other from a distance, watching each other blush?" He raised an eyebrow as she blushed.
"Point taken," she said, "but we can't go on any real dates. We're on a train full of other people at all times. There's no real privacy, no real time off to do things together. How are we supposed to..." she hesitated, "be boyfriend and girlfriend?"
"We'll steal time," he replied, "wherever we can, no matter what I'm keeping my promise to you."
He didn't waiver. Happy to see his determination, she confessed, "I'm scared, Baatar. I always end up hurting the people closest to me, and I don't want to hurt you."
"Then don't," he said, "you're not that same little starving orphan girl who needed to appeal to everyone around her in order to receive love. You're grown, and independent, and you're doing right thing by helping people. You won't hurt me."
"I won't...I promise."
