New Perspective

The Way You Felt

Her legs felt weak and they were shaking intensely. She pressed her back against the door and slid to the floor. There, she finally felt like she could release the swarm of emotions she had held in. Tears streamed down her face and fell to the floor and in that moment she felt like she would not ever stop crying. She knew that she had gone to Bataar's room just to get back at Su, but she also knew that she didn't deserve what he had tried to force her to do. She shuddered at the thought, trying to ignore the force of his hands or the way he felt. Truth be told in that moment she felt like she needed Suyin more than ever but she knew she couldn't call out to her.

What would her mentor think of her? Would she think that Kuvira was a slut and was asking for it? Or would she comfort her and tell her things would be alright? Would she even be able to come to terms with what Bataar Jr had tried to do? These questions ran through Kuvira's mind until all of the space left was filled with them. She couldn't help but think that Suyin would think less of her now, even if she tried explaining what had truly been happening between Kuvira and Bataar. At least in that moment Kuvira wasn't so sure that the older woman would even listen to her, let alone believe what she had to say. Her chest was still heavy with pain, but she knew she had to do something to get the feel of Bataar's nauseating man hands off of her.

After what seemed like an eternity of groveling on the dirty floor, Kuvira finally managed to pull herself up. Her legs were still a bit wobbly but she could manage that. When she looked up from the floor she caught view of herself in a nearby mirror. She felt disgusted with the way she looked. The junction where her neck met her broad shoulders was red and covered in what some people would call love bites. She preferred just to see them as an unfortunate reminder. As for the rest of her, she looked completely disheveled. Her hair had been pulled from its normal braided state into a hot mess. Her eyes were puffy and red and the look on her face just screamed defeat. She felt terrible about how the night had played out, and if she could've gone back to change it she would've. She would do anything to take away the pain Suyin felt.

Kuvira eventually found herself on the floor of her shower, crying under the warm stream of water. The events that occurred between the shower and somehow ending up in her bed seemed to blur together, and none of it felt quite real. She felt empty as the pain settled once and for all deep in her chest, causing her to feel like she was suffocating under her own guilt and anxiety. By the time the young woman felt the pressure relieve enough to sleep it was already morning and her first shift was about to begin.

She was exhausted. There was no way her body would be physically ready for training that day, let alone actually getting out of bed. But the sharp knock on her door drew her out of bed anyways, despite her internal curses at the person behind it. Upon walking into her living room, she winced as her eyes settled on the chair tucked so neatly under the handle. A reminder of the previous night and what had ensued was all that it was. It took her a second to wiggle it free but the second she did the door flew open.

"Captain," the man said as he bowed to her.

"Jiang. What is it?" She asked through gritted teeth. The look on his face indicated that out of all of the guards he might've gotten the short end of the stick, as he had to be the one to disturb their captain.

"W-Well, you h-hadn't shown up for training. We thought m-maybe you were running late..." his words came to an abrupt end when Kuvira lifted him off of the ground by his shirt.

"You tell Commander Zhulan that she is to lead the training today. And while you're at it, tell her she's pathetic for not coming to me herself. If it is of the utmost importance, I will be in my office doing paperwork later. Until then, leave me be," she growled. The man shook his head and quickly ran off as she set him back on the ground. The tired metal bender sighed deeply and shut the door behind her, subconsciously locking it out of fear. She knew she would face a punishment later, but for now she could live with that. Later Su could yell at her for skipping out on training, in that moment however Kuvira decided to finally allow herself to rest.

—

Suyin was plastered, that was the simplest way to put it. She had been drinking wine since the moment she woke up, only taking the occasional break when Bataar Sr came to check on her. She was rightfully upset about the night before and everything that had happened. She wanted so desperately to reach out to Kuvira, to at least hold the younger woman in her arms. But she couldn't deny what she saw, and she knew Kuvira had done it out of spite. Su wasn't so sure she'd even be able to look her oldest son in the eyes anymore.

Between crying and drinking all day Suyin looked like an utter disaster. Her normally well kept wavy hair was in disarray and instead of wearing the traditional green and black robes she was clad in a silky light green bath robe. Her whole face was red and puffy due to both crying and the alcohol and her makeup from the night before was smeared. She looked like an absolutely train wreck.

Because of this, her doting husband was especially worried about her. This time when Bataar peeked his head in the room, he noticed she had began to cry again. He couldn't stand seeing his once strong and powerful wife in such a fragile and emotionally distraught state. He knew he had to do something about it, even if it would come back to bite him in the butt later. In that moment he decided to pay Kuvira a visit. Before leaving his wife alone again he fully entered the room to gently pull the blanket up to her chin and kiss her on her forehead. She was so out of it that she barely even registered his presence there. He sighed deeply and left the room without a word to her.

After leaving Suyin alone, he made his way out of the Beifong compound and headed towards the training facilities. He caught eyes with the commander and she instantly bowed to him.

"It's good to see you again Bataar," she said. He smiled as warmly as he could muster up.

"It's nice to see you too Zhulan. How is the training going?" He asked. The troops looked like they were doing well, but that wasn't Bataar's area of expertise so he found it only polite to ask. The younger woman blushed as she pulled her helmet off and let down her long black hair. Bataar knew that commander Zhulan had recently formed a bit of a crush on him but he never let it interfere with the way he treated her. He feigned ignorance around her most of the time, just to keep the peace.

"E-Everything is great!" She stammered. He smiled once again. Nervousness and embarrassment washed over her face.

"Good. Where is Kuvira?" He asked. As the words fell out of his mouth, the puppy dog look in Zhulan's eyes faded.

"Oh. You're here for her," she sneered. "She told Jiang she would be in her office doing paperwork, but if she's not there I would just try her housing unit. Jiang said she seemed pretty out of it." Bataar nodded at the response and began to leave the training grounds when the young commander grabbed his arm. "Wait! Wouldn't you like to see how the guards are doing?" He carefully pulled his arm away from her.

"I'm sorry, Commander, I just don't have the time to be observing training today. Thank you for your help." And with that, Bataar started making his way towards Kuvira's housing unit.