Kuvira's father had told her the stories of the Avatars when she was a child, before they had ever moved to Zaofu. She learned all about the adventures of Avatar Aang and his friends, and the Avatars that had come before him. There had been times, back in the Lower Ring, when those stories were the only thing that got her through the days.

Those were the hard times. The times that came clawing back up from the soft, unattended soil at the back of her mind, sprouting up to root her down, paralyzing all other thought. There had been blood on her knuckles. It wasn't hers. She had hit a boy her age. Why had she hit him? She couldn't remember the reason. And then there was the horrified look his mother gave her, as she ran to him and scooped him up into her arms.

When she learned of Avatar Aang's death, she was mostly sad and partly hopeful. She had fantasized about being the Avatar for as long as she could remember, and even though she knew it was impossible, she wondered if maybe, just maybe, if she hoped hard enough, she'd be the chosen one. The harder things got, the deeper she fell into fantasy, and at night, when she could hear her father sobbing quietly through the paper thin walls, she tried to bend the water in the wash basin. Sometimes, she stood there for hours, until her muscles were sore from holding up her arms.

As things got worse, the stories her father told her became bleaker. There had been a drought. Her parents were exhausted and lashing out at each other. The distance her peers kept from her was widening. She had gone off alone somewhere, and it had happened all at once. A metal sheet sticking out of a pile of garbage vibrated for moment, and when Kuvira turned her tearful eyes toward it, it bent. After that, everything else fell into place.

After the move to Zaofu, her family was happier. Her father told the stories of the Avatars to her differently, and more often. These new stories were longer, more varied in detail, and with a different tone. Certainly, after the move, his outlook on life had changed, and so the stories themselves changed with him. The way her father changed affected Kuvira deeply, and the stories he told her stayed with her.

Kuvira was thirteen years old when the discovery of the new Avatar was announced, and by then, she had given up on her childhood fantasy. She learned about the Avatar in her classes, just like everyone else. A girl, born to Southern Water Tribe waterbenders. As Kuvira grew older, she continued to listen to her father's stories of past Avatars, but she found herself drawn in particular to the news of Avatar Korra for reasons she couldn't quite place.

Kuvira had never doubted that someday she would meet the Avatar. Zaofu was a small city, especially compared to Ba Sing Se, but it was an important city, and an undeniably vital ally should the Avatar ever need aid while traveling the Earth Kingdom.

But the Avatar had never even visited the Earth Kingdom. Not once.

171 AG

The morning of Avatar Korra's arrival came quickly. Su had kept her distance from Kuvira since their time beneath the tree at Opal's party, but Kuvira kept herself busy. The Avatar was finally coming to Zaofu, and Kuvira wasn't going to let her visit go to waste.

Sweat dripped down Kuvira's forehead, and it ran down the tip of her nose. When it dropped to the mat she heard it ring out, hollow and flat against the silence. The muscles in her chest screamed as she lowered herself down and held her face a few inches from the ground. She stayed there, quite still in the rehearsal hall as the sun rose into the sky and light crept in, higher and higher, angling further and further down until she could feel the sun on her naked arms and shoulders. After a moment, she slammed her eyes shut and exhaled sharply, keeping her back straight as she pushed herself up in one slow, fluid motion.

"You're here early." Yishu's voice floated in from behind her. She could hear her bare feet padding up to her. Kuvira opened her eyes, but otherwise she kept quite still. "Did you hear about Opal Beifong? Apparently she's an airbender now."

Kuvira could hear the sound of stretching tape as Yishu wrapped her ankles.

"I heard." Kuvira said easily, before dropping down into another push-up. She could feel her muscles straining. Each one, harder than the last. She was pushing herself too far, and she knew it. She got to her knees.

The double doors at the front entrance opened wide. The sky behind the door's threshold was blue and bright. Kuvira recognized Su's silhouette without even having to try. There was a moment, as Su walked towards them, where their eyes met. And Kuvira, on her knees and covered in sweat, could feel the pulse pounding in her neck. Her heart crept up to her throat and she swallowed hard, but it was Su who looked away first.

Rehearsal went by quickly. Through all the poses and jumps, and flying through the air, all Kuvira could think about was meeting the Avatar. Yishu was just a smiling blur, and for moments at a time, Kuvira wasn't even thinking about Su.

She was hidden inside the enclosed petals of steel when Korra arrived, just as rehearsal was about to end. As the petals opened, and she raised an ankle to lock into her final pose with Yishu, she could see them out of the corner of her eye. They were watching her.

After that, everything happened too fast.

Kuvira went off to the side of the room to towel down her face and neck. When she looked up, she saw that Su had approached the Avatar and her friends. Aiwei was with them. Su was introducing herself.

Kuvira stepped forward. She couldn't hear their conversation very well in the crowded recital hall.

Su turned, and when she saw Kuvira, she raised a hand and called out to her. She walked toward her, and met Kuvira halfway.

"Ah, there you are. I wanted to talk with you before I left. I'd like to give the Avatar a brief tour of the Estate and introduce them to Opal, but then I remembered about a prior engagement I had scheduled with the Daily."

Kuvira's heart dropped into her stomach, but she recovered quickly. She nodded once.

"I'll cover for you." Kuvira felt the weightless words melt into the dusty sunlight, but no matter how hollow she thought they sounded, a part of her knew it was the truth. She was still Zaofu's Captain of the Guard, and Su was still her boss.

Su smiled, and the radioactive warmth of it filled Kuvira's lungs. She took in a deep breath. She could smell Su's hair.

"Thanks, I'll catch up with you later," Su said, and then she paused. Kuvira realized the older woman had almost leaned forward to embrace her. Kuvira took a cautious step backwards and made to bow. There was another awkward moment between them, and then Su tore herself away.

She forced herself to look away, before she could watch Su and the Avatar and all the rest of them walk out the door together. Together, without her. It was too lonely to think about. A part of her wondered why, but a bigger part of her forced it all away, and when she saw her reflected in the changing room's mirror, she realized she was smirking.