Looks like Friday nights are going to be Ironclad nights. Stay tuned because again, the day of release is subject to change. Per usual, major thank-yous to my loyal readers. This one's for all of y'all. Enjoy!
The injury had put a damper on Keisai's nights out, but Baatar suspected that had little to do with the healer's orders and everything to do with his anonymity being gone. Lin had taken to nagging the lawyer about personal safety nearly as much as she nagged him, ordering him to stay out of any future altercations. She only earned a wink and a "glad to see you're watching my ass so closely, chief," for her trouble.
Keisai's injuries had appeared superficial in the hospital, but after checking in with him the morning after his discharge, Baatar felt even more indebted to the man for the lengths he had been prepared to go to in the case. The gash on his arm had required seven stitches, but the abdominal injury took Baatar by surprise the first time he saw it. The left side of his waist bore a deep tear from the metal projectiles of Kuvira's supporters, and blood seeped through the bandages with any sudden movements. The laceration cut deep into the muscle, thankfully sparing internal organs, and catgut sutures knitted it back together while the visible stitches held the gash closed. Su had called the moment she heard the news, and Baatar had struggled to contain his amusement at Keisai's comically aggrieved expressions as he politely accepted her well-wishes. "Really Su, it's fine," he said for the umpteenth time. "No, I will not be sending you the hospital bill... yes, Baatar is an excellent nursemaid." Baatar could only scowl, but was relieved that the man hadn't been too seriously harmed.
He had been banned from any strenuous activity, and to ease the lawyer's recovery, Baatar insisted on visiting him rather than the usual other way around. "It's sixty-eight stitches," Keisai had said when Baatar helped change the dressing. "I asked the healer if he could add one more... but he told me to stop being immature."
Baatar had sighed. "I don't understand how you were ever in the navy."
"Ouch, I can be professional," the lawyer had said in mock hurt. "I'm just glad nothing like that happened to my face," he mused, ruefully pinning the new gauze bandage that wrapped around his waist. "Anything below the neck I can handle, but my face? My face is my fortune."
"I'm the same way," Baatar had said without thinking, his hand going to his scar. "Kuvira would never wear a helmet in a fight because it 'ruined her aesthetic.' And when I told her I wanted her face unmarked, she told me I was vain."
Keisai's brush with the loyalists had not escaped news headlines, and he answered the phone tentatively, more often than not hanging up after a hesitant salutation. Baatar suspected he used the injury as an excuse to work from home to better avoid the press, especially since the formal charges for both Kuvira and himself were soon to be released and the court date currently being negotiated between Keisai and the prosecution. "Looks like only five months from now, we'll be in court," Keisai had said grimly. "I wanted to push this a bit longer, there's still some evidence I need to get checked in."
"The hall where the tribunal will be held looks pretty excellent, if I do say so myself," Baatar had replied with a smile. "It's not complete, but it's coming along nicely. Maybe I can push the electrical engineer to hurry things along so I can be prosecuted in the hall that I built..."
"You're bizarre, you know that?" Keisai had said with a grin. "I hope you don't have any plans today, though- I'm getting the stitches out, and it feels impolite to ask Lin if I can hold her hand when they do it."
Baatar had actually laughed aloud, despite the implications. "I'm telling her you said that."
Sick though it seemed, Keisai's injury had helped Baatar relax into an easier friendship with his attorney, and he regarded the legal briefings less as professional interactions and more as a workplace friendship. The lawyer reminded him of Varrick at times, with his eccentricities and rapid changes of subject, but the brotherly affection combined with zero qualms about telling him off reminded him of the twins and Huan. Keisai had frequently overstepped his professional boundaries; it wasn't until Baatar reflected on the very real possibility that he could have not only lost his legal counsel but also a friend that he understood the roles the man played in his life. He had mentioned it when the lawyer gritted his teeth as the physician removed the sutures, the local anaesthetic clearly not having as much of an effect as was desired. "Don't worry about it man," Keisai had said through a clenched jaw. "You apparently don't realize how much your loved ones mean to you until you've hurt them pretty badly."
Keisai had a habit of bluntly stating uncomfortable truths, but Baatar had accepted that one without complaint. "You sound like my aunt."
"Do I? I'll take that as a compliment."
Baatar had paused, watching in silence as a new gauze patch was taped to the site of the injury and as the physician advised Keisai to avoid any vigorous exercise to prevent tearing the scar tissue. "It was a compliment," he had said, as much to himself as to the lawyer.
o0o
General Iroh jumped to his feet in the hotel lobby when he saw his old friend approaching. "You're looking well for someone who had sixty-nine stitches removed."
"I got them out weeks ago," Keisai said dismissively. "You would have known that if you called me more on your visit home. And I told you, it was sixty-eight." He sighed, a picture of disappointment. "The healer had no sense of humor."
"You ought to have been more careful," Iroh reproached. "Your mom was worried sick after you called her-"
"Mom worries about everything," Keisai said evenly. "You're not one to talk, I remember when you took on a fleet of Sato's aircraft during the fight against Amon. Izumi was not pleased at all with your behavior, General Reckless. Speaking of Izumi," he said suddenly, snapping his fingers, "her spot in my top three has been taken."
"You're still keeping that list?" Iroh groaned. "Wait, my mother is a beautiful woman, what do you mean her spot was taken? By whom?"
"You never met Baatar's mom?" Keisai said, winking. "If I were about fifteen years older and if she were single..."
"Speaking of Baatar," Iroh said, pointedly ignoring Keisai's implications, "I saw the headlines. His formal charges have been released and the court date has been set."
"Yes, he's been indicted," the lawyer replied. "And we had to agree on the court date, don't act like it's news to me."
"Will you feel ready with only that much time left?" Iroh said worriedly. "I know how much this matters to you-"
"Doesn't matter," Keisai said. "I have four months. If I can't get my shit together before then, I don't deserve to win."
"You do know that the legal team is from Fazle and Kimura," Iroh said sympathetically, clapping Keisai on the shoulder.
"I know."
"Has all of your evidence been checked in?"
"Mostly," Keisai said, his eyes narrowing. "My audience with Raiko has finally been granted.. and he's cutting it close. I'll need a pinch of luck to get everything turned in to the court in time to use it." He clasped hands with Iroh. "I hope I don't get you in trouble with your boss, old friend."
"Even if he's upset, he won't be able to act on it," Iroh said bracingly. "I'll be directing the United Forces in the western states of the Earth Kingdom. Wu is going back to Omashu under my protection, since Korra's managed to calm things down lately, with help from Tenzin's airbenders."
Keisai groaned. "Raiko is only setting himself up for a civil war. You can't contain this, Iroh. Korra called me about a week ago, and she said that she's trying to reason with Xi to see if he'll help with the instability in the poorer states. He still wants to do a prisoner swap, and claims he won't lend his aid to supporters of a king who was deposed and is backed by an enemy state."
"That's classified," Iroh said, raising his eyebrows. "Why is Korra sharing that with you?"
"It's not classified when the papers already knew about it," Keisai said with a shrug. "Activists are notorious for being noisy. It's a matter of time before the negotiations with Raiko are underway; Lin thinks they're holding off until the trials have been completed. Besides," he added, smirking, "I have a way with people."
"Think you have enough of a way with people to convince the judges that-" Iroh unfolded the paper he had been reading before Keisai's arrival and rattled off the list- "sixteen counts of crimes against humanity, two counts of crimes against peace, one charge of chemical weaponry on the battlefield, and twelve counts of pacification operations as well as being complicit in Kuvira's Reeducation order deserves acquittal?" He paused. "Or whatever it is you're going for... If these are Baatar's formal charges, what will Kuvira be charged with?"
"Have faith, man," Keisai said grinning as he stood. "You of all people ought to know that I might be reckless, but I think the serious things through. Now, are we getting drinks or what?" Iroh sighed as he tucked the paper away, smiling as he followed his friend out to the car. Keisai kept the conversation flowing, but Iroh couldn't help but notice that so long as they discussed the case, his smile never reached his eyes.
o0o
"Mako," Keisai said, inclining his head in greeting. "You're looking well. Where's the mom-boss?"
"At dinner with Baatar Junior and Opal," Mako said gruffly, not bothering to look up from his desk. "Have a seat. Glad to see you're fully recovered. Bolin had me worried when he told me how badly you were hurt."
"Just a scratch," Keisai said breezily, dropping into a chair and pulling out a file. "I would've been skewered if he hadn't put up a little barricade for us. He's a good kid; I like him."
"I'm still not happy that you put him in that situation," Mako said flatly. "But he told me you put his safety over his own, so I'll let you off easy. Now, I got the guys who attacked you in custody thanks to the photo you both got us, and they finally broke. Turns out the housebreakers gave the prosecution intel against Baatar-"
"Specifically," Keisai said as he held up the bloodstained folder, "his name on the prison camp orders?"
Mako nodded. "And plenty of incriminating wire transcripts between him and Kuvira," he said. "Most of it is pretty harmless, but there's conspiracy for territorial aggrandizement that goes back about five months prior to the coronation. Taking the republic was a goal of hers for longer than we'd ever known."
"Baatar told me about that when I was in the hospital," Keisai agreed. "He figured that my file would be incomplete, and didn't want to withhold anything in the event that the prosecution already had it. Glad to see he was right." The lawyer paused, frowning. "Well, not glad, exactly.."
"These guys were members of the loyalists," Mako said, tapping the prison reports, "but for the most part they seem like the only crazies in the bunch. They have a rep- my investigation shows they have ties to the rebels in the earth kingdom that tried to assassinate Wu. They only came to Republic City with intentions of busting Kuvira and Baatar out." Mako rolled his eyes. "Guess they got disillusioned real quickly."
"Still, the negative press reflects poorly on Kuvira," Keisai said with a frown. "Is she available right now, by the way?"
"As far as I know," Mako said, an amused grin spreading over his features. "She's in a cell."
Keisai saluted the younger man before he picked up his briefcase. "Tell Lin I said hello."
"Tell her yourself," Mako retorted, still grinning. "She'll be back in a half hour, I think."
Kuvira was idly leafing through the paper when the lawyer entered the room. "Hello," she said with a little wave. "New developments?"
"That issue of the Times looks current," Keisai said as he drew up a chair. "Has my favorite dictator been sweet-talking her guards?"
"Don't make me laugh," she said in disgust. "No, they were all too happy to give me the issue with Baatar's formal charges." She let out a humorless chuckle. "I can only imagine what will happen when mine are released."
"Let's table this discussion for a minute," the lawyer said, holding up a finger, "and go over your case."
Keisai spelled out the latest developments of the case, going into particular detail with what the loyalist uprisings meant to her. He had met with the team that would be prosecuting her and Baatar, and was entertaining the idea of a plea deal if terms he deemed favorable could be obtained. She was unsurprised to hear that Iroh had left for Omashu a few days ago, and disgusted to learn that Wu was to be returned to the state with security provided by the United Forces. Korra was negotiating with General Xi, who still was angling for her release. "What's the point of all this?" she interrupted while the lawyer was in the middle of explaining the angle he intended to take with the death of the two United Forces guards she had killed. "The public thinks I'm a monster, I've acted like a dictator, I took the founder of Future Industries' life, and I attempted to murder Avatar Korra. That's attempted homicide, Keisai! Do you even need to brief me anymore?" She tossed the paper aside, crossing her arms. "I'm tired of waiting. I'm tired of being stuck in this cell, and I'm tired of hearing about how my own general is butchering internal affairs back home in the empire. Why do they even want us back? Can't they see that it's over?"
"Okay, calm down," Keisai said, his eyebrows shooting up. "You're not sounding like yourself..."
"How can they expect a prisoner swap?" Kuvira exploded. "Does Xi honestly think that two incredibly high ranking military officials who also served as the effective leaders of the country can be traded for lower ranking officers? I thought I trained my men better than this!" She pinched the bridge of her nose, her brow furrowed. "Everything I did is coming apart faster than I could have imagined. Xi has control of the army- why doesn't he stop the uprisings? Why is everyone so incompetent once I leave them to their own devices?"
"Kuvira-"
"This is why!" she cried in frustration. "This is why Baatar and I had to handle everything on our own. No one can be trusted with anything important- that's why three years of work are coming undone in less than one. Why would I want to be acquitted or released early at this rate? I won't be allowed to help my country, and that's the reason I gave everything up in the first place! I made sacrifices that I see now were very bad politics to meet my interim president deadline, and then I took matters into my own hands, and for what?" Kuvira heaved a sigh, kicking her heel against the chair leg when she saw the lawyer's patient and amused expression. "I lost Baatar, I lost my empire, and I lost my military, and now I have to sit here and watch while my country suffers. And the United Republic is getting involved once again... but this time, I can't say anything against it because my loyalists," she spat, "are the most incompetent aspiring revolutionaries-"
"Kuvira," Keisai said gently, holding up a hand to stop her. "Stop talking for a minute." She acquiesced, nodding once she was ready for him to continue. "Did I ever tell you about the case that sparked my interest in law?"
"I don't see how this is relevant," she snapped. "No, you didn't," she said, dragging out the words in exasperation as Keisai drummed his fingers on the table impatiently.
"Do you remember the crime boss, Yakone?" he asked, interlacing his fingers under his chin. "Ran the city from underground and used bloodbending to achieve his ends, and ended up skipping town after Avatar Aang took his bending away?"
"That rings a bell," Kuvira said, frowning as she tried to remember the details of the case. "I'm less proficient in the court history of the United Republic, though-"
"His defense attorney was a citizen of the republic of Fire Nation descent," Keisai continued as if he hadn't heard. "He tried to spin the case in Yakone's favor by basing it on the impossibility of the crime. He tried to claim that a bloodbender with countless reputable witnesses testifying against him simply could not bloodbend without the full moon, though all the evidence showed the contrary to be true." Keisai smiled tightly. "Needless to say, he lost the case."
She looked at him intently. "Where are you going with this?"
"When he lost, he was livid," the lawyer continued, "and when Yakone fled the scene, he didn't spare his defense attorney from his bloodbending either. Imagine the disgrace the man encountered in the legal circles. The lawyers that take cases before the council are of an elite breed. There are eight lawyers in the Fire Nation who take the cases that go before our supreme court, and in the United Republic there are five. Precious few men and women in my profession take defense cases to that level with a hope of winning. Yakone's attorney thought he could."
"Was he not from one of those private firms?" Kuvira asked, tilting her head to the side. "In the empire, there is only a handful of firms with lawyers of that caliber, and they're private."
"Yakone's attorney? Yes, he worked for Fazle and Kimura," Keisai said with a short laugh. "Have you heard of it?"
She nodded. "Who hasn't?" Lawyers of the most elite order competed for employ in the firm, and she imagined that it would have been competitive even forty-six years ago.
"That trial is a case study in countless law schools. The man was a disaster, afterward. His conduct in the courtroom when he lost, the way he was convinced he had won the case with his awful closing statement..." He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "He retired from practice after the trial. It's just as well, because he was proved to be completely dishonest in the most dramatic way, building the entire defense on a lie he worked out with his client in an attempt to get a guilty man full acquittal." Keisai leaned back in his seat, his eyes on a point Kuvira couldn't see. "Damn it, if he had just gone with a plea deal he could've saved his reputation. He could've gotten a lighter sentence for Yakone, he could've continued his profession..." He looked at her pointedly. "If he hadn't been greedy, he could have retired a respected man, rather than effectively lose everything."
She held his gaze, her expression softening as realization spread over her features. "Yes," she murmured, voice quiet. "I imagine he could have. What was his name?" she asked.
"There's the question," he said with a bitter laugh. "You're looking at his namesake."
Kuvira's eyes widened. "It all makes sense now- that's why you were so eager to take my case."
"I know you took on the task of stabilizing your country because of your rough childhood," Keisai said, "and I've noticed how you esteem family. You think it's an armor more impenetrable than your own, and that association to a family you can call your own is the best thing in the world. And you're partially right, it's great in a lot of ways," he said with a smile as he reminisced. "I loved my grandfather, though I didn't know him long. But damn, if I didn't suffer for the first couple of years of law school and for the early days in my career for carrying his name. You started with a clean slate. Do you know how hard it is to build credibility with your peers and higher-tier clients when your name is literally a textbook example of failure?"
"What does everyone think of you taking my case? And Baatar's?" she asked, her mind racing. "It's too similar... no, it's actually worse. A high profile case to go before the international tribunal? You as the defense attorney, for what the media has already deemed a hopeless trial?" She massaged her temples as she thought. "The details of Baatar's case are out, they've released what he's to be charged with... the media is already hounding you too. You're already making a name for yourself with him, why throw it away? Didn't you just tell me that I overreached too fast and landed myself in this mess?"
"I'll worry about it when the news officially breaks," Keisai said with a smile. "But don't be so negative, Kuvira. The cases are less similar than you think. The prospect of winning for you and Baatar? I'd be giving my name -our name," he corrected himself, eyes softening, "a new legacy. Imagine the headlines," he said, moving his hand in front of her eyes, his name spelled out in firey characters that hovered for a moment in the air between them. "Imagine Fazle and Kimura sending an offer to the grandson of the man they ordered to resign. Imagine your trial being studied in law schools worldwide for decades."
"Why would you take my case, if that's what you want?" she said, a grim sense of resignation stealing over her. "You should've stopped with Baatar, his is high-profile enough to earn your name the reputation-"
"My grandfather's mistake," Keisai said firmly, "was to take the case of a defendant that he knew was guilty, and to treat it like the case of a wrongly accused innocent. I have no such intentions. I want you to get fair treatment for what you've done under the law, and plenty of people are calling for the opposite."
"Do you really think the outcome you're angling for constitutes fair treatment?" she asked skeptically. "I'm constantly reminded of what a tyrant I was." She frowned suddenly. "You remind me of that every time we talk!"
"I do, or I wouldn't be angling for it," the lawyer said, patting her hand. "And be fair to me, I need to drill it into your head somehow! You still haven't stopped calling the Earth Kingdom the 'empire.'" She couldn't stop a smile from tugging the corners of her lips upward, and nodded. "I'll be meeting with the prosecution to discuss a plea deal soon, and if it's not up to standards, then they'll have to deal with me in court," he continued. "However if it is, I'd advise you to accept it. You are the priority, not my reputation."
"Thank you," Kuvira said. "Once this is all over, I fully intend to compensate you for all that you've done, however long that may take."
"I've told Baatar and now I'm telling you, I do it for the love," Keisai said as the door opened. "The prospect of winning and working with you is enough." He glanced at Baatar. "What's up, man?"
"I was just with Lin and Opal," Baatar said, arching a brow. "Good briefing session?"
"I think so," Keisai said, glancing at Kuvira. "What did you think? Did you get anything out of it?" he added, grinning.
"Very illuminating," she said warmly. "Call before your next session, you caught me off guard today."
Keisai nudged Baatar as he exited. "Can you believe her? So demanding. It's like she remembers that one time I forgot."
"Maybe because you almost gave her a heart attack," Baatar said flatly. "Are we still good for tomorrow? Now that you're nearly at one hundred percent, we can check out the place you've had your eye on."
"Perfect," Keisai said, snapping his fngers. "I'll pick you up at seven? Don't feel like you need to dress up for me," he added, patting Baatar on the cheek.
Baatar swatted his hand away. "That is not what I had in mind..." He growled in frustration as the lawyer persisted, and Kuvira suppressed a giggle at his aggrieved expression.
"Don't worry, sweetheart," Keisai said to her with a wink. "I'll bring him back to you in one piece. Too far?" he asked Baatar, his old spark of mischief in his eyes as the door swung closed behind him.
"How are you?" Kuvira said once they were alone.
"I'm well," he said, making no move to sit. "He seemed unusually sober."
"When the situation demands it, he's more than capable of being a professional," she replied, returning to her seat. "I thought you'd be here for this session too, though. How was dinner with Lin and Opal?"
"I wouldn't want to be in the way," Baatar said slowly. "And it was nice, Aunt Lin told me what Mako found out regarding the loyalists."
"Be in the way of what, exactly?" Kuvira asked, raising a brow. He was silent, and she shrugged it off. "So they finally broke."
"Yes, after Mako found the man Keisai and Bolin got a photo of," he said. "They just arrested him relatively recently.. Keisai's probably upset that he couldn't get in on the fun."
"You probably are too," she said, nudging him. "'Looks like we have some fugitives to catch.' Remember that?"
"Better than I'd like to," he grimaced. "The rate things are going, Bolin well may be my in-law in a few more years." The subject of marriage still stung for her, and she stole a look at him to gauge his reaction to the topic.
"He's practically a Beifong already," she agreed at last. Kuvira rested her chin on her interlaced fingers, thoughtful. "Where did we go wrong?"
"I think blowing up the warehouse had something to do with it," Baatar said drily, even as a smile teased at his mouth. "Is that a real question?"
"Too damn soon, and besides, that's not what I was asking," Kuvira said, shoving him. "I meant where we did we go wrong with the empire? At one point, no one could stand in our way, and suddenly we had dissenters, the United Republic was sowing discontent... it's like one morning I woke up and nothing was right."
"Yes, on the day of the colossus," he said. "The entire army was loyal to you to the end, and inhabitants of twelve prison camps hardly count as proper dissenters."
"Not the entire army," Kuvira pointed out. "Bolin and Varrick deserted, and Zhu Li completely betrayed me-"
"She tried to have me blown up," Baatar muttered. "All that for the most easily remedied mechanical error... it's insulting that she thought it would be enough to stop the operation-"
"Baatar," she said softly, a hand on his arm, "I know. In case you forgot, I never once blamed you for the problems with the weapon. Stop with the hypersensitivity, it's really unattractive."
"It's fortunate that being attractive is the least of my concerns then," he said. She could only stare, completely at a loss for words. "What?" he asked with a grin. "At least I'm not ambling around unshaven and disgusting, don't give me that look."
Kuvira relaxed, withdrawing her hand. "Military habits die hard, don't they? I'd kill for a long run in the mornings...I've missed it."
He grimaced wryly. "Word choice."
"Oh, hush. I've been thinking though," she said suddenly, sitting down again.
"You do tend to do that."
"The day of my arrest, I was ready to accept whatever punishment the tribunal gave me. And then when Keisai took my case, I originally was willing to just take a plea deal that doubtless would have kept me locked up for a long while." She looked at him, her hands clasped on the table. "But now, if I were to get full acquittal I'd take it in a heartbeat, even though a part of me knows it's impossible and infinitely more than I deserve. Have you wondered what makes a fair sentence for your case?"
"I have," Baatar admitted. "And then I remind myself that even if I'm remembered as the right hand to a tyrant first, I'll be remembered as an engineer and social reformer second, no matter what happens." He shrugged. "I've gone over my formal charges with him, and he's not happy. He's told me that he'd go the plea route under different circumstances, but Raiko-"
"He's finally got his audience with Raiko, did he tell you?" Kuvira said thoughtfully. "Now there's a deposition I'd like to watch," she added, scorn creeping into her voice.
"Kuvira, I do need to ask you something," he said, at last sitting down. "And it's a difficult question for me to ask.."
Her skin prickled with anticipation, and she swallowed, quieting the hope that stole into her head. "Just ask me," she said, looking at him in earnest. "Drawing it out makes it worse."
"When did you change?"
She frowned, the question far from the topic she had expected. "What do you mean?"
"A few months back, I told you I missed the woman I proposed to," he said, his casual tone obviously forced. "Of late, I'm beginning to realize that somewhere along the way you changed, and I didn't notice."
Kuvira stared. "How have I changed?"
"You have," Baatar insisted. "You wouldn't have fired two years ago, even with Korra there. When did being the Great Uniter surpass being my-" He caught himself. "I'm just saying there's a disconnect, and I'm trying to understand it. The alternative is that I just didn't know you as well as I thought I did..."
"You know me better than anyone else in the world!" she burst out, the crack in her voice contrasting with her imperious expression. They regarded one another in silence again, and she felt as though the distance between them during the first few months was crawling back. "You've always known me best," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"That's worrying, then."
"You knew that I couldn't let our people down," Kuvira said, trying again. "You always knew that once I was entrusted with the task of getting our nation back on track, I had to put my job first."
"But at less of a cost," Baatar said in frustration. "Believe me, I understand the position you were in, that day. I understand why you did it. What I'm trying to tell you is the girl I knew wouldn't have done that. You became someone else-"
"Baatar, you changed just as much," Kuvira retorted. "Maybe we're just bad influences on each other."
That brought a smile. "No argument there," he said. "But you changed more significantly than I did."
"You would have-"
"Would have what? Fired?" He crossed his arms, leaning back as he took in her surprised expression. "We both know that's not true. I would have given it all back if it meant you'd be safe with me again."
Her expression darkened. "If that's true, then you clearly didn't care about what we were doing as much as I thought you did."
"Do you even hear yourself?" Baatar exploded. "This is exactly what I'm talking about! I always admired the way you held yourself to higher standards than the ones you held everyone else to. The reunification was a high priority, but it always came second to you in my mind, Kuvira. And I thought you felt the same."
"That's impossible," Kuvira said dismissively. "The empire was the ultimate goal for us. Helping our country was the reason we left Zaofu. You would throw that away for one person if you had to make the choice? What about your responsibility as a leader? What about your countrymen? I'm not worth nearly that much-"
"But you are," he said softly. "All that, and more. You never did believe me when I said it before, but don't make me say it again."
She felt stricken, and kept her eyes on her hands. "Empirical evidence shows me to be pretty unworthy of that kind of... attachment."
"No," he said quietly. "No, that doesn't count, Kuvira."
"But it does," she snapped. "And that's why I couldn't let it happen to my country."
"It doesn't count," he insisted, squatting by her chair and taking her hands in his own as he had so many times in the past. "They're probably regretting it...they're definitely regretting it. I bet they have been since we made national headlines."
"Suyin-"
"My mother has her faults," Baatar said gently, "but so do you. Give her time. If she really only ever saw you as another curiosity in her collection, she wouldn't have been so upset-"
She threw her arms around him and leaned her forehead against his shoulder, angry at herself as a tear spilled over and left a wet mark on his shirt. "Why do you even visit me?"
Her back was hypersensitive to his touch even through her top, and she closed her eyes as he stroked her hair. "I don't know," he said, voice soft. "I really don't know." They were silent for a moment, and a dispassionate corner of her mind wondered how he would react if she made no sign of wanting to let go.
Kuvira straightened, her hands still resting on his shoulders. "I'm sorry," she said at last, voice steady. "For what I did, and for what I didn't do."
"Thank you," he said, his hand lingering between her shoulder blades. "I'll see you soon." Despite his parting words, the door seemed to close behind him with finality, and she frowned as she picked up a newspaper, wondering why he couldn't have said everything was fine.
A/N:General Sexy, oh how I missed you... ;))))
So in case I wasn't clear about the "empirical evidence" bb refers to, I meant the fact that her parents dumped her and later how Su treated her like a ward and how she had to watch a happy family but never have one. And that's why Baatar is a big softy- he knows better than anyone how much that hurts her feelings :( I also changed the chapter title like three times, but I picked a lyric from Selena Gomez's "The Heart Wants What It Wants." Can't wait to read the theories!
