Kuvira Week

Freedom

Kuvira shielded her eyes as she stepped out into the sun. It had been ten years, but she was finally out, thanks to Korra.

"Kuvira!"

The metalbender turned to see who was calling to her.

"Baatar," she replied, surprised.

What was he doing here? Surely he'd moved on by now, right?

"Korra told me you were getting out today, and I had to see you." He took her hand into his. "I've missed you, Kuvira."

Kuvira looked down.

"You should have moved on," she said. "After what I did, I don't deserve you."

Baatar smiled.

"But, I still need you," he replied. "I love you. Korra told me you'd need a place to stay. My apartment is small, but you can stay there."

She nodded and followed him to his apartment. As they entered, an overly excited corgi greeted them.

"That's Aban," Baatar said. "He was a housewarming gift from Korra. And it's been nice, having him around. I live alone, so it gets rather lonely. Not to mention, I work a lot. I've kind of become my father with that."

"You work here?" Kuvira inquired. "Where? Are you self-employed? Like freelance?"

Baatar shook his head.

"No," he said. "I've been working at Future Industries for the past ten years. The first five months, it was for community service. Mom wanted to let me off the hook, but Aunt Lin insisted I be punished, too. Asami suggested I help clean up and rebuild what the Colossus destroyed, so that's how I ended up at Future. But, I really enjoy it." He smiled. "What about you? What do you plan on doing?"

"I'm going to Ba Sing Se," she said. "I really fucked up in the Earth Kingdom, and I need to make it right. Starting with Ba Sing Se. I haven't told anyone but you this, but I plan to do my own community service, to rebuild my reputation. I'm going to go to Ba Sing Se and help out in the lower ring. I may be free from prison, but I don't feel like I'm truly free, because I know people see me in a negative light. And until I fix that, I will never be free."

Baatar smiled.

"I know you can do it," he said. "When you want something, you don't quit. And you don't let anything stand in your way. That's one of the things I love about you."

"Thank you, Baatar," she said. "That means a lot, coming from you. I hope one day, we can rebuild what we had, too. It will never be the same, but I'd still like to try."

"I'd like that, too," Baatar agreed. "Are you hungry? I can make you some seaweed noodles."

"That sounds delightful."

Kuvira followed Baatar to the kitchen, watching him start the food. She was glad to know that she had at least one person who still believed in her. And maybe one day, she could fix what she had destroyed. It would take time, but she had to try. Even though she was no longer in prison, she felt trapped still. Trapped by the things she had done while trying to unite the Earth Empire. And she knew that if she truly wanted to be free, she would need to fix her reputation. After that, who knows? Maybe she would return to Zaofu. Or join the United Republic Forces. She wasn't sure what she wanted, but she wasn't focused on that, anyways. All she wanted, now, was to truly feel free.