II
Summary: As Korra embarks on a mission to aid in the Earth Nation's reconstruction, she entrusts Kuvira, currently under house arrest, with the protection of Asami Sato. Meanwhile, Republic City faces continued reconstruction and a growing threat to Asami's life. As she grapples with her complex emotions toward her father's murderer, Asami must navigate political intrigue and personal turmoil to secure her safety and the future of Republic City.
Kuvira clasped her hands behind her back, keeping pace with Asami as they moved down the hall. Her head was constantly on a swivel, scanning each entryway and exit, silently sizing up the staff who worked in the Sato Estate, or any visitors. Of course, she kept a comfortable distance behind Asami, about five or six spaces. She was as comfortable as she could be with the tight band around her ankle, reminding her that her freedom was still out of reach.
The scratchy carpet brought. Kuvira preferred to barefoot indoors when she could. As an extension of her dancing, it helped keep her grounded and aware of her surroundings. It made her feel more in tune with the world, that she had a place where she belonged, even if some didn't think she deserved it, with all the lives she had taken during her attempted siege of Republic City.
Asami glanced at some of the papers in her hands before coming to a stop. Kuvira immediately came to attention, one foot bent, paused in the middle of her step. She quickly looked around, before focusing her attention back on Asami.
Asami slightly turned her head to the side, speaking over her shoulder. "I need to grab something from my room. You don't need to follow me in," Asami said curtly. Without another word, she harshly twisted the doorknob at the entryway next to her before stepping inside the room. Kuvira stood still next to the door, but leaned in close, peering into the room from the crack in the doorway.
Clothes were strewn about on the floor in various piles. Paperwork was stacked high on a desk, and some random dog toys littered the ground. It was a vast difference from how prim and proper Asami looked every day. She was always well put together, not a hair out of place, and carrying an air of elegance and grace. It wasn't until Kuvira looked closer that she noticed the clothing was in varying shades of blue, white, and gray.
Korra. She tried to hold onto her as much as she could during her absence. Kuvira knew the lonely feeling very well. It constantly nagged at her – even while growing up with the rigidness and friction among her parents, she always felt lonely. At times, she wondered if she was born lonely. She couldn't ever recall happy memories with her parents. Not without a lack of trying.
"Kuvira, why can't you keep your room clean?" her mother asked as she stepped into Kuvira's room, picking up some toys from the ground. "Please stop what you're doing and help me clean, and then you can go back to playing."
"It's my room. I can do what I want," Kuvira answered, looking up at her. Two dolls were held tightly in her hands. She was lying flat on her bed, her legs crossed behind her.
"You're not playing with these," her mother said, loading up her arms with more toys. She walked over to the bed and gently placed them onto the comforter. "You should clean as you go. Please put them in the bin."
"My puzzle," Kuvira cried, looking at the displaced pieces in front of her. "I wasn't done with those. I may go back to them."
"It's not ladylike to make such a mess and talk back," her mother said. "Why can't you do as you're told the first time?"
"No one else must see my room," Kuvira answered. She turned her attention back to the dolls in her hand. She wiggled the female doll around as she spoke in a high-pitched voice.
Kuvira's mother reached over and snatched the two dolls out of her hand. Kuvira jumped down from her bed and raced over, trying to reach up and grab them back. "Clean up like I asked and then you can have these back to play with."
"No! I wasn't done!"
"Kuvira!"
Kuvira clenched her hands into tight fists before letting out a yell and stomping her foot to the ground. Her wall cracked before exploding into dust and rubble. She turned on her heel and ran out of the gaping hole, out into the streets.
"Not again!" her mother shouted.
Kuvira kept running until her legs gave out. She collapsed to the ground panting. Sweat trickled down the sides of her face. Panting heavily, she looked up at the sky, her face contorted with anger before slowly slipping to sadness. "I'm sorry," she wailed before burying her face into her knees. "I'll be good. Just give me a chance to be good."
Finally, after moments of crying, Kuvira lifted her head, glancing up at the sky. A light breeze picked up, cooling off her heated cheeks. She reached up and rubbed her eyes with her sleeve. Letting out a deep sigh, Kuvira got up to her feet. Shoulders hunched over, arms crossed her chest, she started to make her way back home.
Minutes later as Kuvira made her way back into her neighborhood, she spotted a collection of rocks by the side of a house. Sprouting between each rock was a bright red flower, glittering in the sunlight with droplets of water leftover from the shower of rain earlier in the day.
"Mother may like these," she commented, plucking a flower. With each flower, she took her time, inspecting each of the petals for any signs of damage, dirt, or bugs, Finally, she had a handful of about eight flowers, all the same height and same fullness, and the same deep rich red. Kuvira held them closely to her chest, smiling softly.
Upon arriving back at the house, Kuvira spotted the hole she made in the wall. Lowering her head, she stepped into her room before bending the wall back to its original state. She carefully placed the flowers on her dresser before moving to clean up the toys in her room.
Once everything was back in its place, Kuvira gathered up the flowers, took a deep breath, and opened her bedroom room door, tightly gripping the small bundle of flowers in her right hand as she twisted the doorknob.
"Mother…" Kuvira called out. She closed the door behind her and walked towards the kitchen, staring at the ground to make sure she didn't drop a piece of the flowers. Stepping into the kitchen, she paused when she spotted the breakfast dishes still on the table. Her mother would never leave such a mess. Kuvira placed the flowers at her mother's spot at the kitchen table.
"Mother?" Kuvira shouted. She ran out of the room and into the living room, pausing at the entrance. The living room was one of the two spaces in the house she wasn't allowed to enter. Everything in the room was white and the furniture was covered in nice fabric. Her parents would sometimes retreat to the living room in the afternoon for something to read from one of the books on the bookshelf. When she found the room to be empty, Kuvira frowned.
Her stomach started to twist and turn, her pulse began to pick up its pace. She ran to the front door and peeked out the side window. The family's Cabbage Corps car was still sitting in the driveway. "Father?" yelled, her raising an octave.
When she didn't receive a response, Kuvira tore around the house, looking for them and calling out: "Mom, where are you?" Every call received no response. She looked in each room on each floor of the two-level house. "Dad, are you here?" Every room was empty and looked the same as if frozen in time. The house was quiet and still except for her heavy breathing and her footsteps as she ran around. Kuvira searched the house numerous times, ignoring the sky turning dark, ignoring the pangs of hunger deep in the pit of her stomach. Her worry and fear clouded her thoughts, driving her forward in the search for her parents.
Late that night, Kuvira trudged to her room. Her cheeks were stained with tears, her throat raw from crying and screaming. Her legs shook with each step, tired and overworked from running around the house. She walked into her bedroom, pulling her baby blanket out from behind her bed. Her parents had insisted she was too old for the item and wanted to throw it away on her birthday. Instead, she pretended to discard the item, but hid it in her room, pulling it out for when she needed comfort from nightmares or scary sounds.
She exited the room and walked down the hallway towards the master bedroom. Looking around once more, she spotted their car keys were still hanging on a hook on the wall. Kuvira sobbed when she didn't see their wallets sitting on their dresser. "Mommy," Kuvira whimpered, stepping into the room. She climbed up onto the bed, dragging her baby blanket behind her. She crawled up towards the headrest, pulling back the sheets before snuggling underneath. She bunched up her baby blanket into a large ball before wrapping her arms around it in a tight embrace. "Daddy."
Her cries floated gently into the silence, lulling her to sleep.
Why have someone at all if you're just going to abandon them? Toss them away like they're trash? Why didn't you see me? Why didn't you help me?
Kuvira always knew she was a difficult child growing up, but she couldn't help but lash out. Always being judged and compared for what she lacked: temperance, grace, patience, elegance, and awareness.
And yet…
And she's about to stop in three, two, one, Kuvira thought, before planting her feet firmly on the ground. Asami let out a deep sigh before she paused, slightly turning her head to the side, to speak over her shoulder. "You don't have to-"
"I know I don't have to," Kuvira interjected. "However, it is my job. Something I have done for years and do very well. I take my job seriously."
"I'm aware," Asami said dryly.
A muscle twitched in Kuvira's cheek. She took a deep breath before tilting her head to the side, just ever so slightly. Asami frowned, turned to look down the empty hallway, and then back, fully facing Kuvira with a look of suspicion. "Lallah," Kuvira broke the silence.
"Excuse me?"
"The elephant in the room, I think we should name it Lallah."
Asami frowned. "None of this is funny."
"I don't do humor," Kuvira insisted. "I just think it'd be best that we talk about what we need to talk about."
"…I think we'd get along best if there is minimal conversation between the two of us throughout your time here," Asami said. While she was polite in her request, her words were rigid.
"Noted."
Asami gave Kuvira a long look before turning to continue down the hallway. Kuvira, again, waited a few moments before following in silence. Upon turning a corner, Kuvira winced at the brightness of the sunlight floating in through the windows.
Kuvira reached up to shield her eyes from the brightness before stopping. In the faint reflection of the window, she saw herself, Asami, tucked around another corner, a dark figure, dressed in all black, wearing an Equalist mask. Their upper body lit up from the blue electricity flowing through the baton.
"Watch out!" Kuvira cried. She rushed forward, and grabbed Asami by the elbow, pulling her back. She then turned and stomped onto the ground, a small pile of rock shot up into the air, underneath the figure's feet. A light cry sounded before the thump of a body landing on the ground.
Asami wrenched her arm out of Kuvira's grasp before rushing forward and around the corner. Kuvira quickly joined her side, pausing when she spotted a young woman being helped back to her feet.
"What did you do that for?" Asami demanded.
"There was…someone in front of you…" Kuvira said slowly.
"A member of my staff."
"No, they had on a mask, and an electrified baton."
"Don't you think I would hear the crackling of electricity?" Asami turned her attention back to the staff member. She reached out and brushed some of the dirt off of the long skirt the woman was wearing. Kuvira touched her heel to the ground, bending the ground back into place. "Akari, are you okay?"
"Yes, Ms. Sato," she insisted, brushing her dark bangs out of her face. "It was just an accident."
"With her, there are no accidents," Asami muttered. She checked over her staff once more before letting out a sigh. She gave Kuvira a quick once over before turning back to Akari with a gentle smile. "I'm getting a little hungry."
"Of course, Ms. Sato." Akari nodded before holding an arm out and taking a small step back. "Let's go to the kitchen."
Kuvira moved to follow but stopped when she heard a light beeping sound. She looked down at her right ankle and saw the light had turned red. The beeping sound pealed again, in three short blasts. She sighed, closing her eyes for a moment.
"She'll be fine," Akari said. "You can go ahead and take care of that."
Kuvira looked at Asami for further instructions. Asami raised her chin. "You heard, Akarai. Why can't you do as you're told the first time?"
Kuvira nodded once before turning on her heel. She curled her hands into tight fists before walking back the way she came. After coming to an intersection of four connecting hallways, she continued straight before coming to a door. She wrenched it open; the cold metal handle was a stark contrast to her warm and sweaty palm.
A tightness began to clutch at her chest. Kuvira's steps quickened, matching the increase of her breath. She reached up to turn flip the light switch, her hand patting the wall, trying to find the little knob. Her hands began to shake. Down into the dark stairwell, she pushed on before getting to another door. Bursting through, she flipped on the light before collapsing onto her bed. She began to hyperventilate as she brought a pillow to her chest, holding it tightly.