Disclaimer: I do not own any of the following characters.

This one was requested by A Fan. Enjoy.

Kuvira looked out as the battle ensued, watching as the Beifong family decimated her troops with large boulders and shielded themselves from attacks with walls they erected easily. She even found herself marveling at Wing and Wei's skill, which had only gotten better in the three years she had been away. Long ago were the days when they could only bend small rocks and metal discs at one another.

She didn't expect Suyin to spring from the chaos and try to attack her. However, years of training under the woman prepared her for this very moment, and she sprung into action. The battle was quick. Su might have been a versatile bender, agile and creative in her use of the metal around her, but Kuvira was quicker and could see her flaws. It was simple enough to use the woman's weight against her, and the use of cables made it easy to send Su sprawling to the ground. Kuvira felt slightly ashamed that seeing her former teacher and caregiver lying in the dirt gave her such a rush. She was no longer the pupil. She had outfought her master.

Kuvira turned to one of her soldiers who had run toward her after seeing her attack.

"Secure them all and lock them away in different cells this time," she ordered. "They shouldn't pose that much of a problem for you."

However, at that moment the platform began to shake. Kuvira ran to the railing, looking out in astonishment as a ripple in the earth took out every one of her soldiers, sparing the Beifong family who looked up at Kuvira astonished. The look gave Kuvira the feeling that they thought she had saved them.

It took but a moment to locate the savior. Toph Beifong, the woman who for so long had been Kuvira's hero, stood with her arms outstretched. Kuvira had never seen Toph's skill in action.

"You give metalbenders a bad name!" Toph yelled with an accusing finger pointed straight at Kuvira. Kuvira scowled as the group flew away.

"Should we send a ship after them?" she heard Baatar ask from behind. Kuvira shook her head.

"Let them go," she ordered. "We'll have another chance to finish this fight soon. And besides, we have a weapon to finish with very little time left." She turned toward Baatar. "I can assume that you will have it done within two weeks?"

Baatar nodded. "The canon is operational. We should have the full weapon constructed in less than two weeks."

Kuvira showed no satisfaction and instead walked past her fiancé. "I'll be in my office. Have the men salvage any broken machinery and begin the preparations for the weapon."

"Kuvira, are you alright?" Baatar asked, concern evident in his voice.

Kuvira grimaced, irritated that he could not just do as she had ordered.

"I'm fine, Baatar, but I would like to go work on the preparations to take Republic City. There is still much to do, and we have no time for distractions," she said. Then she caught herself, realizing that he might take offense to her tone. None of this was his fault. "Please come and let me know how the work is going. I have no doubt you will develop something perfect." She paused and turned to give him a forced smile that she hoped looked sincere. "In two weeks time the Earth Empire will be united. After all we've done, Republic City will be an easy feat." Baatar returned the smile and affirmed her words.

Kuvira was more than happy to lock herself in her office. However, she wasn't making preparations so much as she was thinking about what had just occurred.

"You give metalbenders a bad name!"

The words still rang in her ears. She tried to shake them away. Toph had always said she was a strong earthbender when she was younger. The woman couldn't take that away from her now. With all of the work Kuvira had done for the Earth Empire, Toph couldn't possibly mean what she had said. And yet the words repeated over and over in her head.

She turned, smashing her fist into the wall. It caved slightly from the force. Kuvira stood staring at the indent for a few seconds, feeling a torrent of emotions that she hadn't felt since she was a young girl. She took a deep breath, clearing any of those poisoning thoughts from her mind. She couldn't believe what Toph said about her.

Kuvira flicked her wrist and set the wall back to its original shape.

No ordinary metalbender could bend so effortlessly.

~AN~

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you to everyone who has been reading and reviewing! I really appreciate your support and it makes my day to hear from you all!

I really have to believe that Toph calling out Kuvira had to be a little bit devastating to her, though she'd never show it to someone else.

Until next week!