Disclaimer: I do not own these characters.
"I thought I might find you here," a voice said from behind Kuvira, breaking her from her concentration. Kuvira stepped out of her stance and turned around to find the Avatar watching her.
"Avatar Korra?" Kuvira asked in shock. "What are you doing here?"
"Wing and Wei told me you practice really early in the morning," Korra explained.
"And…?" Kuvira continued to ask.
"I was serious when I said I wanted to train with you," Korra said with a smile. "I want to get really good at metalbending."
"I thought Su was teaching you," Kuvira said.
"She is, but I know she's busy, and the purpose of this visit wasn't to train me. It was to train Opal," Korra elaborated. "If you don't want to train with anyone, I understand." She began to back away slightly, but Kuvira held up her hand.
"I'm sorry. Of course, please come and train with me. No one ever gets up this early," Kuvira said. Korra smiled widely and walked forward to join the metalbender.
"I've always wanted to see how the Avatar fights," Kuvira said. "I've only ever heard stories."
"Then be prepared, because I've been really practicing my metal bending," Korra said, stepping back into a ready stance.
"Come on, Avatar," Kuvira taunted playfully, "Show me what you've got."
Kuvira looked in the mirror, dabbing medicine on a cut she had received in her fight. She hadn't expected the Avatar to get the upper hand with the Avatar State like that. However, Kuvira also didn't expect her to fail in beating Kuvira when she came so close to ending her.
Kuvira knew the girl's fighting style. It wasn't the first time the two had fought, but it was the first time they fought with no rules.
She took a deep breath, finishing her treatment.
"Are you alright, Kuvira?" Baatar asked from the doorway. Kuvira didn't turn to look at him at first.
"I'm fine, Baatar. Just finishing up," she answered simply.
There was an awkward pause before Baatar pressed further, "You're hurt?"
Kuvira sighed before turning to face her fiancé. "It's just a scratch. I've had much worse," she explained as she walked past him to her desk. He followed her, watching from a comfortable distance as she slid another piece into her Earth Empire map.
"I can't believe Zaofu is ours," Baatar said in awe.
"It's been an interesting road to get here," Kuvira said. "And we still have to deal with your family."
"Let them stay in their cage," Baatar said dismissively. "Give Mother the chance and she'll have them broken out. We had too many close calls today."
Kuvira could sense his elevated heart rate at his last statement. He was insinuating something, and Kuvira didn't like it.
"If you're referring to the fight with the Avatar, that was taken care of easily," Kuvira said through gritted teeth. Baatar was in no place to bring up her mistakes in battle.
"Kuvira, I was just worried," Baatar defended himself. "When she went into the Avatar State, and then you had her captured, I…"
"You what, Baatar?" Kuvira asked, a bit annoyed. "The fight is over and we won."
"I just don't want to see you get hurt," Baatar said.
"I can take care of myself," Kuvira snapped and instantly regretted it. Baatar looked at her shocked by her tone.
Kuvira cleared her throat, looking down at the ground. "I'm sorry," she said a bit reluctantly. "I underestimated her. I didn't expect her to have grown since we last fought. I'm sorry."
Baatar shook his head, stepping closer to her. He took her in his arms gently, kissing the top of her head. "I'm sorry, too. You did amazing. You are amazing Kuvira." He kissed her head again. "I'm going to go check on the preparations. I love you."
"I love you, too," Kuvira said quietly as he left. She sat down in her chair, staring long and hard at the map.
They had danced around the issue, but Kuvira knew they had both been thinking about it. Kuvira could have ended Korra's life easily in those final moments and she hesitated giving Opal and Jinora enough time to get Korra to safety. She couldn't stop thinking about how nice Korra had been to her in Zaofu. She had been the only one to treat Kuvira like anything but the guard.
Kuvira scowled. Next time Korra wouldn't be so lucky. Kuvira wouldn't be weak twice.
~AN~
Thanks to everyone who has been reading and reviewing! You guys make my day (especially because I've been super stressed out lately). And welcome to those of you who have just begun following this story! I really appreciate it!
I got multiple requests to continue on with the story of last chapter. I guess this falls into that category? I have a couple more sort of started that deal with more Book 4 stuff and a couple written of young Kuvira. If anyone has anything they want written send me a message! I'm really good about writing those right away and I love talking to you guys!
Until next week!