"She can bend platinum."

The man leans forward over his office desk, jabbing a meaty finger at her. "That gives you no right, Avatar Korra, to simply remove the prisoner from her cell. Chief! You're with me on this, aren't you?"

Arms folded, Lin lifts her shoulders. "She can bend platinum, Warden."

Furiously impatient eyes turn to the man on Korra's left. "President Raiko!"

He shakes his head, pushing his spectacles up to sit squarely on his nose. "My good man, she can bend platinum."

The Warden throws his hands up into the air in exasperated defeat. "How about I just hand in my resignation now and you people take over the running of this place instead?"

"Leaving Kuvira in that room was pointless," Korra argues.

"It is a cell, meant to contain prisoners."

"And she busted it wide open! She sat there and made us all look stupid for trying. This place can't hold her anymore."

"Then we ship her off," the Warden decides on the spot. "She is no longer our problem, if that's the case. The Fire Nation will -"

"- not have her," Raiko calmly interjects. "Firelord Izumi will not loosen her purse strings to help us rebuild; it is highly likely she will refuse to deal with even more of our baggage."

"Fine," the Warden says dismissively, "then one of the Water Tribes should -"

"Do what?" Korra interrupts him, arching her brow. "Place her in a cage deep under the ground?"

"Then the Earth Kingdom -!"

"Please," Lin butts in. "Ba Sing Se is in ruins and Prince - King Wu is as incompetent as everyone said he would be. Put Kuvira in the Earth Kingdom's hands and all we will have is bloody revolution."

The Warden sourly turns back to Raiko. "Can we just have her executed and be done with it?"

"For the sake of your career, I will make no mental record of that query."

The man spreads his hands, wearing a tight smile. "You're giving me very few alternatives."

"I have one," Korra says, standing tall as she looks between her captive audience. "We have Kuvira teach platinumbending."

Everyone is looking at her strangely afterwards. Lin finally breaks the silence.

"Kindly elaborate, Avatar."

"Fine," she says, and takes a deep breath.

For starters, there's the issue of cost; Raiko has to pay through the nose to have Kuvira's cell built. The only reason it does not cost more is the fact that there is an abundance of platinum lying around when the Colossus is finally dismantled. This, however, takes time, so for over a month the disgraced woman is shipped off into the mountains to share Zaheer's prison under the heavily watchful eye of a round-the-clock guard, trussed up in a wooden box suspended by thick rope tens of metres above a deep, natural body of water. Men don't work for free, so each and every guard must be paid. Not to mention those conducting the thorough screening checks to weed out Kuvira's zealots; they too demand a wage. And so on and so forth.

That leads on to the next point, one Korra has been considering long and hard. The manner of the woman's incarceration is all but extravagant; Korra must crane her head to meet Kuvira's eyes, the woman strung up and attached to the ceiling. She enquires and is told no, it has been determined that under no circumstances is the once Great Uniter to be unchained. She is too dangerous. How many more benders are deemed thus, and how much does it cost Republic City to imprison them effectively? Korra does the research; too many, and far too much.

"Such excessive spending is needless now," she continues. "We have the answer to that problem: platinum."

Its melting point being significantly higher than that of steel and iron, no firebender alive can produce flames hot enough without inflicting extreme, debilitating and very likely fatal injury to themselves first (Unless Sozin's Comet lit up the sky, but that event is over twenty years down the line); waterbenders are never in the vicinity of a source large enough to do any real damage to fellow human beings, much less platinum (the creation of an abrasive, high pressure water cutting technique decades in the making), and the sheer purity of the metal puts it beyond the bending influence of every man and woman in the world. Except one.

"There are tons upon tons of platinum lying in storage because no one knows how or has the capability to work with it," Korra says, turned to face Raiko in particular. "Once Kuvira passes on the skill, we can start building facilities to detain the most dangerous benders, and all that money currently being used to keep them under secure lock and key could instead be put towards something else...like funding the Restoration Initiative, perhaps?"

The President mulls over her idea. "That, Avatar Korra, is an interesting proposal. And it certainly wouldn't hurt my public approval rating."

"Which has been dismal lately," Korra helpfully reminds him, "and not just publicly."

"Yes, indeed," the man replies distractedly, deep in thought as he strokes his chin. "Hm. Why not? Let's do it."

Despite it being her idea, Korra blinks in surprise. "Wait, just like that?"

Raiko shrugs. "Of course. I can't imagine there is any reason to wait around, do you?"

"I do," Lin and the Warden speak in unison.

Korra turns to the Chief, pre-emptively arguing her corner. "I don't see how this is anything but good for you. The Police gets to free up resources and has more space to fill with criminals."

Lin gives a moment's pause. "Who would you have Kuvira teach platinumbending to?"

"Builders, architects - the one that are left, at least."

"No," the woman says sharply, "she'll train my metalbenders first. I won't have your everyday civilian being ahead of the curve over Republic City's law enforcement. That is asking for trouble."

Korra frowns. "Oh...kay, but that will only delay the progress of the Restoration Initiative even further."

"You won't have my support otherwise," Lin tells her. Both turn to the President as he carefully clears his throat.

"I find myself in agreement with the Chief," Raiko says. "I believe the public would support this decision."

Lin gives the man a curt, approving nod.

"Alright," Korra relents, just a little deflated, "I suppose that only makes sense."

Raiko claps his hands together and smiles behind his spectacles. "Wonderful."

"Excuse me?" All eyes turn as the Warden waves his hand to earn everyone's attention. "Would someone mind telling me exactly what you plan to do with the prisoner in the meantime? Or am I to understand she is no longer a prisoner?"

Lin glances across at Korra. "A prison cell no longer lives up to its definition when the occupant can step out the door at their leisure."

"So, what, she's just going to be allowed to walk free? You can commit career suicide, Chief Beifong," the man tells her, "but I will not be joining you."

Lin merely rolls her eyes. "Warden, Kuvira could have ruined your entire life an hour ago at a whim. Instead of tearing this place down around your head, she chose to sit and wait after cracking her platinum cell wide open . She sent us a message, one much more poignant than simply breaking out of prison."

"Which is...?"

"We can't hold her, but she won't run."

"Oh, I'm sure."

"So she'll be put under house arrest," Lin continues. "Kuvira will stay with me."

"Marvellous," Raiko says brightly, "all the details are settled."

"Hold on now!" the Warden cries.

"My good man, it is settled. Unless you wish the callous call for the execution of a woman in your supposed care to reach undesirable ears?"

The Warden grumbles and shakes his head.

"Excellent," Raiko replies. "All that is left, I think, is to consider the prisoner's opinion of our intentions."

"That would be prudent," Lin says.

Korra nods. "I agree."

And all three turn to face the woman, sitting quietly behind them with her hands folded into her lap.

"Well, Kuvira, what do you think?"

Her expression utterly plain, she lifts her eyes to regard each of them in turn and finally settles on the Avatar.

"I am in your service," Kuvira duly responds.

"I may have gotten you a break," Korra says some time later, sitting at Asami's kitchen table.

"Oh? What's that?"

"The President is going to shift a big surplus of cash towards funding the Restoration Initiative. That should ease up the pressure on you, right?"

Asami chuckles softly, glancing up from the pot she's stirring. "If only it were that simple, Korra."

She frowns. "It isn't?"

"I wish it was," Asami says, "but unfortunately, no. Is that where you ran off to so urgently this morning, to play my accountant?"

"Uh, not quite."

"You still haven't told me what that call from Raiko was about."

Korra laughs, nervously. "Can't talk on an empty stomach! By the way, that smells really good."

"It's your mother's recipe."

"You pull it off well," Korra says with an appreciative sniff.

"I'm a quick study," Asami replies. "Now spill the beans, or you won't be having any noodles. Raiko is stringent about budgeting, how did you convince him to re-purpose those funds you mentioned?"

"I told him he was publicly - and privately - disapproved of."

"Seriously, Korra."

"I got him to reconsider how the prison system currently deals with dangerous criminal benders."

Asami looks up, turning with genuine surprise on her face. "Oh." She blinks. "What prompted that then?"

Korra scratches her neck. "There was an incident at one of the prisons this morning."

"What happened?"

"She - the, uh, prisoner broke open her cell."

"Really? How?"

Korra hesitates. "With platinumbending."

"But I thought you couldn't bend platinum..."

"That's what we all thought, but she - uh, the prisoner, can. We don't know how."

"Korra," Asami says with an odd tone, "who is 'she'?"

She struggles to meet the woman's eyes. "Kuvira," Korra murmurs.

There is a moment of poignant silence.

"You had better tell me she's been locked up again," Asami says sharply, banging the wooden spoon against the inside of the pot, "even tighter this time."

"Ah, no," Korra stammers in reply, rubbing the back of her neck. "Actually, I... kind of...got Kuvira out of prison."

Asami stops stirring. "You did what?"

"There was no point keeping her in there; she could just break out whenever she wanted! Besides she didn't even try to escape in the first place."

"Are you insane?" Asami hisses with vehemence. "That woman is dangerous. She is a murderer!"

"She isn't! Kuvira isn't dangerous, I mean," Korra quickly amends when Asami stiffens, "not anymore. She can be useful now."

"And how the hell would you know that?"

"Because I...I've been visiting her."

For a moment Korra is worried the kitchen is about to explode. Instead, Asami turns a dark, piercing glare on her.

"Get out."

Korra's eyes uneasily shift towards the pot of noodles. Her stomach is aching and the room is perfumed with the aroma of her favourite dish. She wets her lips with her tongue.

"Asami," she tries, "we should talk about this properly -"

"Out!"

Damn it.