Kuvira sat on her bed, knees to her chest. The anxiety of not knowing if Miski and Baatar were alright was rising within her. Was Su really going to try to kill her? Kuvira hoped she wasn't. She closed her eyes as memories assaulted her.


She was 8 years old and living in a town called Shuigu. The people who decided they would be her parents wanted to go home after a play at the theater. She wanted to stay and meet the nice actors, but these parents of hers did not. She slammed her foot down, cracking a wall and breaking the ceiling of the theater. People fled for their lives as it caved in on top of them. Others used earth bending to hold up the roof.

"Kuvira, you said you weren't going to damage things anymore!"

Kuvira cried, "I don't know how to stop!"

"You never try! No wonder your parents abandoned you!"

"After everything we've done for you, this is how you behave? That's it! You can't stay here anymore!"

Kuvira did what she had been doing for over two years at that point, she ran away. She had noticed the tall mountains to the southeast and decided it was time to cross them. All the while having no idea what she was getting herself into.

Once she had crossed the first peaks, she quickly got snowed in with the start of winter. She used earthbending to move straight through the mountains, away from the snow, and managed to keep herself warm underground. The days piled on to one another. She ate snow to survive, but her hunger grew, and two days stretched into three, and then four. By the fifth day she was so weak but continued southeast just to see the other side of the mountains. There must have been something over there. On the sixth day, she hoped something would appear at the end of her earthbending tunnel, but all she saw was another mountain. She couldn't help but collapse into the snow, defeated.

She hugged her aching stomach. Six days without food. The pain consumed her. She ate more snow, but it didn't help. She looked up at the sky to see the sun just beginning to set. Another night was coming. Could she make it any longer without eating a real meal? Her stomach gurgled in pain at the idea.

Kuvira closed her eyes, still looking up, and asked, "Where's the next town?"

When she opened her eyes, a large spirit in the form of a moose lion walked up to her. "Are you looking for a human town?" he asked. She nodded. "There's one on the other side of this mountain."

"Really?" Kuvira asked.

"Yes." He trotted away, unaware of her hunger pangs.

She had to rise. She had to walk. She had to get herself to that town. It would be best to do it while there was still light left in the sky, but the strength in her body was failing. Part of her wanted to give in to death. Everything hurt, her legs could barely hold her own weight, but there was still a chance at life on other side. She had to try.

Kuvira looked back up at the sky for reassurance. It was darkening with each passing moment. She remembered the songs the soldiers in the base near her original village used to sing as they learned how to march.

Through the darkness,
The blazing sun,
The Earth Kingdom,
Always marches

Over the hills,
Through the mountains,
From the desert,
We will prevail

Our soldiers march,
Across the land,
To fight for us,
People of sand

Through the darkness,
The blazing sun,
The Earth Kingdom,
Always marches

To bring us peace,
To end our pain,
The Earth Kingdom,
Always marches

Kuvira stood up, singing the song softly to herself. One foot in front of the other through the deep snow. She used earth bending to make her way through the middle of the mountain. On the other side of the tunnel, instead of being met with more snow, she was met with the town the spirit told her about. It stood at the bottom of a lush valley. The buildings were shiny, and sat inside giant flower made of metal.

Holding her stomach in pain, she marched down the mountain straight toward the largest flower. As she got closer, the smells of dinner lured her in. At the base of the largest flower, she found metal doors and forced them open with metalbending. The smell of food grew stronger.

She made it to the top where well decorated gardens and a fancy mansion stood. She didn't care. She only wanted the food that made her mouth water in anticipation. She busted through a wall, not even bothering to find a door to open. No one came running to see what the commotion was about.

She found herself in some sort of family room, lush couches, nice tables, fancy wallpaper. There was a set of double doors. She busted them wide open without a second thought. A massive hallway with stronger smell of food. Noises of people talking, and laughter filled the air. She followed it down and found two more massive double doors. She threw them open with ease.

A family was sitting around a large table, eating. She didn't bother looking at them, she was too focused on the food. Just a few more steps. It was right there on the table. Right there! All she had to do was reach out. Her vision tunneled. Her stomach flipped. As she reached for some food on the table, her knees went weak and fell out from under her. She hit the ground.

When she woke up, her back was met with a soft mattress. The ache of her stomach carried on. She smelled food. Beside her on a small table was a bowl of rice, a bunch of egg rolls, a ton of dumplings, and a cup of tea. She didn't bother stopping to count as she stuffed her face with everything in sight. At first, she didn't taste anything, just forced it down her throat. Her stomach happy to digest real food instead of snow.

Just as she finished off everything, Su walked into the small medic room and watched her eat. "I'm glad you're feeling better," she said.

"Can I have more food?" Kuvira asked, "Please?"

"Of course," she said, "I'll have my chef make you more. Do you need more tea?" She looked at the full cup, puzzled.

"I don't like tea," she answered.

The chef brought in more egg rolls and some noodles for her. She scarfed it up just as fast.

Su warned, "Careful, slow down. It looks like you haven't eaten in a long time, but you can save this food for later. You don't have to eat it all at once." She tried to take some away from her, but Kuvira insisted on chomping down the rest.

After she was done again, Su said, "My name is Suyin, but you can call me Su. What's your name?"

"Kuvira," she answered standing on the bed. She hugged her stomach as it hurt some more, this time in a different way.

"That's a pretty name," Su said, "Kuvira, how old are you?"

"8."

"Where are you parents?" she asked.

Kuvira hugged her stomach tighter as it flipped again. "They're gone," she lied, "they died a long time ago."

Su's face fell. "I'm sorry," she said, "is that why you're all by yourself?" Kuvira nodded as the pain in her stomach grew. Her mouth watered again, this time not because of hunger. Su pushed the table to the side and pulled her in for a hug. "I'm so sorry, you poor thing."

A bucket! She needed a bucket! Kuvira pushed her away, but it was too late. She threw up. Su quickly grabbed a bucket and put it under Kuvira as she lost almost everything she had just eaten. When she was done, she sat on the bed and hugged her stomach again.

"Does your tummy feel better now?" Su asked.

Kuvira nodded, "Sorry."

"It's okay, you can always eat more when you feel like it," she said, "now, Kuvira, how did you get into my house?"

"I broke everything," she answered, "I'm good at breaking things."

"Okay," Su replied, "can you show me how you got here?"

She took Kuvira's small hand and guided her through her mansion. Kuvira showed her how she could earthbend. Then, when Su took her outside to the main gate, she showed her exactly how she used metalbending to break the doors open.

"You're a metalbender!" Suyin said excitedly, "And at such a young age. What a talented little girl you are." She bent down to Kuvira's level and asked, "What do you say to staying here in my city and letting me adopt you, Kuvira?"

Kuvira shook her head. "No!" she said, "Grown-ups always say they'll adopt me, but they always end up hating me in the end. One day you'll hate me too."

Taken aback, Suyin's expression softened. "Well, if you ever change your mind, my home is always open for you." She gave her a warm smile.


In the present, Kuvira opened her eyes, still sitting on her bed, looked out the window of The Iron Maiden, and asked herself, "Do you hate me yet, Su?"

Noise came from the other side of her cabin door. She turned away from the window in time to see Baatar opening it. "I'm sorry."

"She really tried to kill me?" she asked, anxious for his answer.

He sat down on the edge of the bed, taking his glasses off, he said, "Wing and Wei were there too."

"What?" she asked, "They wanted me dead too? Why? What did I ever do to them?" She moved across the bed to sit next to him.

Baatar explained, "My mother's convinced them you brainwashed everyone to work for you. What an insult."

"Even if I did something so immoral," she said, leaning on his shoulders, "how would killing me save anyone?"

He shrugged, "I guess they think you wouldn't be able to brainwash anyone else? I don't know. I don't understand their thought process." He turned to her and asked, "How are you feeling? I know deep down you were hoping she wasn't going to go through with it."

Kuvira said, "This is proof Su really does hate me now. I knew it was only a matter of time."

Baatar caressed her hair and said, "Try to look at the bright side through all of this. Zaofu is part of the earth empire now. It's all yours, Empress Kuvira."

She stood up and said, "I should go out and address everyone now-"

"It's the middle of the night," he said, standing beside her, "no one is going to want to wake up and hear about our victory. Besides, your speech is still only half finished. Tonight, we cherish this victory, just the two of us." He smiled at her and undid her bun. Her braided hair fell to the side as her loose hair untwisted itself and fell down her shoulders.

"Okay," she smiled, "we'll celebrate together. Just you and me."


The next morning, Kuvira woke up just as the sun was rising. She had been hoping to wake up while it was still pitch-black outside. Baatar had already left. He had some things to take care of before the speech in front of all of Zaofu. Just as she got her uniform on, but still had to do her hair and eat breakfast, there was a knock outside her door.

"Empress Kuvira," the guard's voice said, "Sarita is here to see you."

"Sarita?" she asked, "Let her in."

Sarita walked in. She donned the under dressings of the Zaofu guard uniform with none of the metal armor.

"Sarita," Kuvira said, "it's so good to see you again!"

She answered, "I'm glad to see you too. I came all the way out here just to see you in person. It's been so long. I like the changes you made on the train."

Hugging her, Kuvira asked, "How have you been?"

"It's been good here in Zaofu," Sarita answered, "I'm the captain of the guard now." She yawned, "Sorry, I just came off of the night shift. The other day I switched from 2nd to 3rd shift so I'm still getting used to being awake at this hour."

Kuvira said, "It's okay. Take a seat. Congratulations on your promotion."

Sarita sat on the edge of the bed. When she lifted her arms ever so slightly, Kuvira noticed a strange bulge on her side. One that looked like a concealed glass vial. She quickly covered it again, not noticing Kuvira caught a glance.

"Thanks," Sarita said, "we've had a few scuffles with bandits trying to break in here and there, but nothing we couldn't handle."

"How's Huan doing?" Kuvira asked, "I didn't get a chance to talk to him at the meeting we had with Su's family yesterday."

She hesitated. "Not well. He can still see...but it's getting to him. I'm worried about him but there isn't anything I can do." She looked up at Kuvira and said, "And I'm worried about you too, but in a different way. You know even all the way out here; we've heard rumors about you."

"Oh?"

"You seem," she continued, "so...cold...now."

Kuvira tried to lighten up for her. "I'm still me," she said, smiling for her, "I promise." She sat beside her on the bed.

"They say you've been forcing people to join your army," Sarita explained, "and that these educational facilities you've created across the nation are actually brainwashing camps to make people do your bidding."

"I'm not brainwashing anyone," Kuvira said, "When you were with me you were there of your own free will, when you wanted to leave, you left of your own fruition. I didn't brainwash you into staying and I didn't try to keep you against your will."

She said, "Yeah, I know, but the rumors seem so...persistent." She gave her a worried look.

"I'm supposed to be dead right now, Sarita," Kuvira said, struggling to keep her voice level as she looked at the floor.

Sarita raised an eyebrow, taken aback by that comment and the sudden change of topic. She asked, "Because of what happened when you were 8-years-old?"

"That," she said, "but I'm talking about what happened last night. Su and the twins attempted to kill me in my sleep. I shouldn't be alive right now."

Sarita gasped in shock. "What? Su would do that? Wing and Wei would too? I don't believe it!"

"They all want me dead," Kuvira said sadly, finally looking up at her to see her surprised expression.

Sarita looked at Kuvira's face and broke down. "I can't do this! I'm sorry." She took the vial out of her shirt and showed her a clear liquid. "Su told me if I didn't hear from her before dawn, to go out, find you, and then slip this into your drink but I can't!"

"What is that?" Kuvira demanded.

"Something to make you fall asleep," she answered, "Su told me was to make you sleep through the deadline of your agreement. If you didn't show up, that would make it void and Zaofu would still be hers for at least a little bit longer. I'm sorry. I told her I couldn't do it, but she said the earth kingdom depends on me, so I had to."

Kuvira took the vial and said, "I wonder if it really is a sleeping drug." She opened the window and tossed the liquid into the grass. It took a moment, but it eventually burned and melted the small patch of grass, leaving nothing but ash behind. They stared in horror.

Sarita gasped, "I almost killed you."

"You almost killed me," Kuvira repeated, equally horrified.

They turned to stare at each other in shock. "Please don't hurt me," Sarita begged, "I didn't know! Honest!"

Kuvira turned and hugged her, "I'm so glad you told me about that vial! I spotted it and whatever drink you spiked it with, I was going to switch with you! I'm so glad I didn't get the chance!"

"I almost died?" she asked, "I could have ended up dying?!" They stared at each other wide eyed. "Kuvira, what are you going to do? Su tried to kill you twice now."

"I already won Zaofu," she answered, "I'm about to announce it to the entire city. Su broke our agreement. It's over for her. As for you..."

Sarita's eyes welled up. She quivered in fear.

"Get some sleep," Kuvira replied, smiling at her, "you've been up all night. You deserve rest."

"Thank you," she replied, hugging her in relief, "I knew you're not completely evil!"


Kuvira walked up to the ampitheater she had spent so many years performing and dancing in growing up. Now, it was time to announce her intentions to the city. Baatar waited for her by the back entrance.

"I was wondering where you were," he said, "you're almost late. Where have you been?"

"Sarita tried to kill me," she said coldly, "with a vial of poison your mother gave her."

"What?" his eyes nearly bugged out how head, "Are you okay? I mean, obviously it didn't work-but still-are you okay?"

She replied, "I'm fine. Let's get started."

"Everyone from Zaofu we could convince to be here is here," he assured her as they walked through the backstage maze, "I guess everyone else will hear what you have to say through the grapevine."

Kuvira made her way on stage. Su, Wing, and Wei tied up and restrained on stage off to the side, gags covering their mouths. The citizens stared up in awe at Kuvira as she walked out to the podium waiting for her.

"Last night your leader, Suyin Beifong, conscripted her two youngest sons and together they attempted to murder me as I slept," she said coldly, "as you can see, they failed. I don't intend on exacting my revenge on the innocent citizens of Zaofu. Instead, I implore you to look at your coward of a ruler and realize she has lost. Because she violated the terms of our peaceful negotiations, Zaofu is now officially a part of the earth empire!" She held up the contract she gave Su originally and placed it on the podium.

Just as she was about to stamp it with Su's seal, the doors of the ampitheater burst open.

"No!" Korra shouted, marching down the aisle, "As the avatar I can't let you do this, Kuvira!" Opal and Jinora marched in tow.

Kuvira raised an eyebrow and asked, "And what are you going to do to stop me?"

Korra froze. Everyone in the audience turned to her and waited. She caught herself, pointed at Kuvira, and said, "I challenge you to a duel!"

"Yeah!" Opal added excitedly, "We challenge you to a duel!"

"A duel is one-on-one, Opal," Kuvira said, unamused.

"I knew that!" she shouted, face turning red.

Kuvira stepped out from behind the podium. This wasn't in her plans but now she was curious as to what this would lead. If she beat the avatar in front of an audience, it would be offical proof no one could stop her. "What are your terms, avatar?"

Korra said, "The winner gets Zaofu, and the loser leaves peacefully, forever. No second rounds, no revenge, nothing instigating another fight over the city."

"Fine," Kuvira said, "the winner will be determined by knockout. Whoever gets knocked out or is too injured to go on, loses."

Korra replied, "I agree to those terms. Our fight will be tomorrow at noon outside of the city. Don't be late!" She stormed out while Kuvira walked gracefully backstage.

Baatar matched her pace and said, "I don't mean to make you nervous, but are you sure fighting the avatar in a duel is a good idea? What makes you think you can win?"

"I know Korra," she assured him, "she's out of shape and her mindset is broken. She's not the person she was three years ago, and it's clear she never will be again."

"So, you're okay with fighting the avatar," he said, "but what about your own sister?"

She stopped, looked up at him soulfully and took his hands into hers. "We're not real sisters," she said sadly.

He asked, "What are you then? Fake sisters? There's no such thing. How do you think your parents in the south pole are going to feel when they find out about this?"

Kuvira answered, "It's by knockout. I'll have a healer on standby in case either one of us gets seriously hurt." She pulled her hands away and walked off.


Outside of Zaofu, Kuvira had her entire army assembled at the site where the battle was to begin. Although they served to make her look stronger, she also knew with so many witnesses, Korra wouldn't be able to back down or throw any dirty tricks her way, even with Jinora and Opal on her side.

In order to make herself look more passive and make Korra seem more aggressive, Kuvira said, "We don't have to fight, Korra. You could surrender, and then no one gets hurt."

Korra explained, "I can't stand by and watch you take over a perfectly functioning city. This isn't a real choice. I'll fight you."

"Fine," Kuvira said, then turned around to face her troops, "I want all of you to know I'm never going to ask you to do anything I'm not willing to do myself. So rather than risk your lives, I'm going to fight the avatar one-on-one." She faced Korra once again. "Once I win Zaofu, I don't want you getting involved in my duties as empress ever again, Korra."

She stepped forward and said, "I'll finish this right here, right now."

Jinora asked, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"It looks like this is the only way," Korra said, "I can handle her, I promise."

Opal warned, "The only way you can win is by going into the avatar state. Kuvira has always been as ruthless as she is brutal, and that was before all of this earth empire business started. She's probably worse now."

Korra stepped forward and got into a fighting stance. Kuvira said, "Use whatever you want. All the elements, the avatar state, anything you need to try and keep up. I know you're a little rusty." She moved into her fighting stance.

"Stop talking!" Korra demanded. She went in with two fire blasts Kuvira easily dodged.

Korra tried a spinning kick, more fire, some air, Kuvira quickly finessed her way around each attack and moved in close. A punt with rocks and then her metal pieces clutched Korra's wrist and leg, throwing her down hard. The army behind her cheered.

Korra got back up and tries with her own rock form attack, then more air. Nothing, Kuvira quickly slid out of the way. Air, earth, fire, she dodged everything. Kuvira shook the earth out from under her feet, Korra quickly bounced back up, only to get pummeled with more rocks, straight to the gut. This wasn't working. Fire, air, earth, fire, fire, air. She was so quick and nimble while, Korra was already running out of breath. Was this was being out of shape felt like?

Kuvira grabbed her foot, covered her eyes, and launched her back with another rock assault. It was almost too easy. Korra attempted to throw fire, air, and rocks at her, but it was no use, she could see the arc of the attack from a mile away. All she had to do was stay one step ahead of her. She kept throwing metal at her, Korra used air to dodge, never having learned how to metalbend.

Korra launched herself into sky and threw air from above. Kuvira didn't move, put chucked a large rock at her, knocking her down with ease. Was it over?

"Come on, avatar," Kuvira goaded, having too much fun, "get up. Show me what you've got."

Korra got back to her feet as quickly as she could, out of breath. She threw more of the elements, but Kuvira shook the ground under her feet instead. Korra lifted a large boulder and chucked it at her.

She didn't waiver. Instead, she stopped it and broke it into a million pieces. Korra couldn't help but stare at her in awe. This wasn't working. She hadn't landed a single hit, but Kuvira was throwing her around so easily. There had to be another way. The avatar state? No, she had something better.

"Maybe I can't take you in a fight," Korra said, "but I know someone who can." She sat down in the middle of the field in the lotus position. The wind suddenly picked up and created a massive dark tornado around her. Everyone stared as the dust settled. Korra no longer stood before them, but Kyoshi did in her stead.

Kuvira's jaw dropped. She struggled to keep a neutral expression. "What?" she whispered to herself. Having read Aang's stories, she knew the avatar could switch over to different past lives, but she never imagined seeing it in real time before her eyes.

Baatar's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. The soldiers around him muttered to each other in shock. Across the field, Opal asked, "Did...did you know she could do that?"

"She's turned into my grandpa before, but I didn't know the other avatars could come out too," Jinora answered in awe.

"No one defies the avatar," Kyoshi said, readying her fans and swiping wind across the field.

To Kuvira, this was finally getting more interesting. She got the most determined look on her face and used a large rock to shield her entire body. Then, as the wind died down naturally, she broke apart the rock and attacked Kyoshi with it. Jumping up, Kuvira forced Kyoshi's metal fans to close around her hands.

Kyoshi stared at them in confusion.

"You've been dead for centuries," Kuvira said, moving toward her, "so much has changed since you were alive, you're ancient history!"

Kyoshi spun around and cut clean through a mountain behind her and flew it straight for Kuvira. She stood her ground, and with the metal in her uniform, broke the mountain with ease and crumbled it behind her, causing the entire ground to shake.

"Whoa," Opal whispered.

The army cheered with ferocity as Kuvira smiled. Kyoshi spun with fire this time, and then shook the ground, causing an earthquake. Kuvira danced out of the way and twisted herself into the earth. Kyoshi stomped the ground to force her to come up. She did, but behind her. Kuvira closed metal around Kyoshi's wrists and ankles and threw her into the sky, but not before Kyoshi turned around and whipped wind in her direction. They both flew in opposite directions, Kuvira getting raked across the ground. Her hair pins fell out from the force. Pain shot through her sides. It wasn't over. She looked over to see Kyoshi standing up, dusting herself off.

Kuvira got to her feet and did her best to get her loose hair out of her face. Kyoshi brought up another massive stone and broke off pieces for the assault. Kuvira caught them in midair with her own earthbending, broke it apart, then showered her from above. The wind picked up again, a tornado formed around her body.

Korra reappeared, on the ground, battered and heavily bruised from the assault. "Did I win?" she asked herself, struggling to sit up, "Really Kyoshi, you let me down?" She flopped down again.

"If you can't get up it's over," Kuvira taunted.

"No, I'm getting up," Korra said, huffing and puffing, "I'm..." she fainted and hit the ground.

Kuvira walked up to her and smiled. She had won. "Get away from her!" Jinora shouted, giving her a blast of wind, knocking her down and raking her across the ground again.

Opal landed her sky bison, Juicy, in-between the army and Jinora, and together they carried an unconscious Korra away. The army jumped in and threw rocks as they retreated.

"Zaofu is ours!" Kuvira shouted, pumping her fist in the air. The entire army erupted into cheers.

But the adrenalin of the fight was wearing off fast. The outer sides of her arms ached. The pain in her sides slowly grew from a small ache to sharp tingling. She had to stay strong for everyone as they continued to roar and cheer around her. She took a few steps forward, the pain growing.

Baatar ran up to her through the crowd. "That was amazing," he said, "you took on Avatar Kyoshi and won!" He hugged her tight.

"She's never fought a metalbender before," she replied, "I don't know what Korra was thinking."

As he let her go, pain shot down her legs and took her breath away. He asked, "Are you okay?"

She couldn't walk, she could barely stand. She whispered, "Get the medic. Hurry. Go."

Baatar ran off through the crowd. Kuvira couldn't take it anymore and collapsed onto the ground. It took everything she had to hold herself up on her hands and knees. She told herself to keep it together, but it was too late, the army was starting to notice.

"Empress Kuvira!" a woman shouted, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she assured her.

More and more people turned and stared. The cheering quieted. Silence grew. "What's going on?" someone asked.

"Kuvira's hurt!"

She shouted, "I'm okay! Keep celebrating!"

The crowd went dead silent and split a path. Baatar and two medics with a stretcher ran up to her. "We'll take you to the healing tent," one of the medics said.

"I can still walk," Kuvira said, struggling to her feet. The ach turned into sharp pain racing down to her feet. She fell back.

Baatar said, "Let me help you." He hooked his arms under her shoulders and helped her lean back onto the stretcher. The medics took her legs and then carried her off the field to the tent.


Inside the tent, under her clothes, her sides were covered in bruises just beginning to form. Down her arms, her sides, and her thighs. The healer worked quickly as Baatar held Kuvira's back from behind. "Being raked across the ground with airbending hurts," Kuvira said as the pain faded.

"If I knew you were in pain, I would have called the medics right away," Baatar said.

"It's okay," she replied, "I didn't know how bad it was either."

"You almost broke bones," the healer said, "your femur, your ribs, they're bruised but not broken. I'll get this healed up as fast as I can. You'll be as good as new in no time."

As the healing session ended, Kuvira sat up and said, "Thank you." The healer left. Baatar helped her with her clothes. She said, "I don't know what to do next, focus on our next objective or the fact that airbenders are going to be a problem in the future and I still don't know how to fight them."

Baatar said, "I don't know what to do about airbenders, but I have a progress report on the weapon. It looks like I can actually make it work."

"Then maybe I should focus on the airbenders," she said, looking down.

"No one's truly fought any in over 170 years," he said, "where are you going to find information on them?"

She shook her head, "I don't know. Another thing that's been bothering me is that I still can't find any information on what the United Republic was like before or even during the 100-year war. It's like it was wiped from history." She gasped in realization. "Maybe it was."

Baatar asked, "What do you mean?"

"Remember the tale of the ancient spirit library in the Si Wong Desert we heard growing up?" she asked.

He nodded, "It's just a myth."

She explained, "Avatar Aang found it with his friends once. The spirit who ran it, he who knows 10,000 things, took it back into the spirit world over 70 years ago now. I bet I could find the information there."


To start off the celebrations, Kuvira and Baatar gathered everyone in Zaofu, including a bound-up Suyin, Wing, and Wei, and presented them to the entire city. People all over stood in awe as Kuvira's soldiers happily marched in.

"Citizen of Zaofu," Kuvira announced, "I'm happy to announce I won against Avatar Korra, and you are now full citizens of the earth empire!" The army cheered, as the regular citizens looked on in confusion, some in despair and fear. "If your leaders Suyin and Baatar Beifong Sr. bow and pledge their loyalty to me they'll keep their posts. If not, they'll be imprisoned and treated as traitors to the empire."

"I told you before," Suyin said, "I'm never bowing to you!"

"We won't either!" Wei shouted.

Baatar Sr. and Huan stood in the very front of the crowd, refusing to bow. Meanwhile, Baatar growled in anger and glared at them. Kuvira whispered, "Careful, there are still loyalists in the city. If we make fools of ourselves now, it'll only embolden a rebellion."

He marched forward and down the steps, much to her dismay. "Bow to her!" Baatar shouted at his father, "Do it! She is your rightful leader!"

"I'm disappointed you went down this path, son," his father said sadly.

"Take them away!" he commanded to the army.

Huan stopped them and said quickly, "Do I have to get all the way down on the ground? It's so dirty down there."

Kuvira walked down the steps calmly and replied, "No, you don't have to."

He gave her a respectful traditional earth kingdom bow while the rest of his family's faces twisted in shock and horror.

"Welcome to the earth empire, Huan," Kuvira said, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"No!" Suyin shouted, "Huan, how could you? You betrayed the family, the clan, everyone! Don't bow to her! Listen to me, I'm your mother!"

Together they ignored her. As Kuvira walked back up the steps with them, she whispered to Baatar, "Ready the tunnels."