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Kuvira drummed her fingers on her knee, gazing out the window listlessly. Up toward the front of the car Su sat with Baatar Sr., toddlers Wing and Wei on either of their laps. Opal sat beside her mom and had dozed off. Huan and Baatar Jr. sat farther back, also staring out the window bored. They were heading to one of the other domes of Zaofu for some special building reveal that Baatar Sr. had been working on. All of the kids had to come and take part in the opening, including Kuvira who thought her presence was only required because she couldn't be left home alone.
Finally she stood and, when she made sure that the adults were too absorbed in their preparations for the ceremony, walked to the back of the car. She slid the door open quietly, thankful when it didn't make a sound, and slipped from the car.
The next car was used for baggage storage, and with such a light load of passengers, there was nothing in the car. There was, however, a ladder leading to the roof of the train. Kuvira smiled and made her way toward it. Something in her gut told her she needed to go up there.
As she ascended the ladder, a hand grabbed her arm, and she nearly fell from the ladder.
"What are you doing?" Baatar Jr. asked.
Kuvira sighed, happy she hadn't been caught by Su or Baatar Sr.
"I'm going up to the top," she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You should come."
"Are you crazy?" Baatar asked, his glasses falling down his nose slightly. "That's not safe. Mom will kill you if she catches you."
"Well, then, we shouldn't tell her, should we?" Kuvira said with a smile. She turned her head back to the ceiling. "Come on. It'll be fun. Just for a minute. Riding inside the train is no fun at all."
Baatar took a second, but he finally relented, climbing the ladder behind her. Kuvira undid the latch, pushing the hatch with all her might. It swung open with the wind and hit the roof with a loud bang. Kuvira pulled herself out of the car easily, turning to give Baatar a hand. When the two of them were out of the car, sitting on the roof, Kuvira felt exhilarated. The world blurred by, and the air whipped her hair back out of her face. It was a freeing feeling.
Baatar looked at her wide eyes, clutching onto whatever surface he could.
"We're going to fall," he said fearfully.
"No we're not," Kuvira argued. She was beaming at him. "You can't tell me this doesn't feel great."
Baatar nodded reluctantly, letting his hand off its hold.
Kuvira's eyes stung with the wind, but she didn't care. This was the most free she had felt her entire life. No rules, no worries, and no training.
She positioned herself so she was balanced, happy that her training made this exceptionally easy, and let her hands go. She spread her fingers, feeling the wind caress them and lift her arms back.
She shouted into the wind as loud as she could which broke into the giggles of a small child. Baatar scooted up closer to her, his worried expression finally melting into a grin. They both looked at each other and laughed. Baatar had always been the obedient son; to do something like this was freeing to him as well.
Finally, the tunnel leading into the next dome came into sight, and the two kids turned back toward the hatch. It was still open, the wind too strong to let it close. Kuvira let Baatar go first and quickly followed, waiting until he was out of the way so she could drop down to the floor of the car.
The two of them slipped into their seats just as the train entered the next dome. At this point, Su stood up to make sure everyone was awake. When she turned, she looked at the two puzzled.
"How did you two manage to mess up your hair so badly?" she asked.
Kuvira turned to look back at Baatar with a wink, which made the boy instantly burst into laughter.
~AN~
I honestly have no idea where this thought came from. I just got back from driving through the desert for a couple days, and while we were driving this idea came to my head. I was going to post a more depressing chapter today, but then I realized that today was my birthday and didn't seem like the day to post something sad, so I hope you enjoyed this random Kuvira tale that came to me suddenly. :)
Thanks to all who have been reading and reviewing! I really appreciate it!
I've gotten some questions about where this story is going. I have quite a few chapters still written out so I may start posting another one on Thursdays or so. We'll see how that works out. I am not sure how much longer these will go on. If you have any suggestions or headcanons you really want written out let me know :)