The Avatar's Master

16. Kuvira's Redemption, Part 1

From the other side of the door Kuvira heard rustling followed by heavy footsteps getting louder.

The door opened. Korra stood at the other end and off to the corner of the room; Asami was sitting at the coffee table with her head turned toward the door.

Both of them were blushing and Kuvira wondered whether she interrupted something intimate.

"Looks like this is a bad time – I'll come back," Kuvira said, turning to go.

"No, no. We were just figuring out who, er, I mean what to eat."

Asami coughed.

"Because we're hungry... for food," Korra said.

The Avatar appeared flustered and that's when the former Great Uniter knew for sure the couple was doing something naughty. But that's the thing – the act of love between lovers, what could be so naughty about it?

Korra stepped to the side and cleared her throat before appearing to shake off whatever mood Kuvira found her in by straightening up and looking focused.

Kuvira entered the room and noticed Asami's glare, decided it was better to stand. But from where she stood, she glanced at Asami's blouse, which had one or two extra buttons open at the top. Asami noticed this look, blushed and buttoned up. Kuvira was humiliated by this blunder of her eyes. But still, she wondered whether she had translated Asami's look correctly moments ago. She thought it was one of pure volatility but perhaps there was something more to it.

Either way, she was there for a reason. After the confrontation the day before and the revelation her ankle bracelet didn't work, not to mention the look on Opal's face when it was revealed she slept with Korra, Kuvira spent the rest of the day and night alone in her room, thinking.

Something was amiss within her and had long been. She could easily escape but kept herself in Zaofu at the Beifong estate. Why? To pay penance for her crimes? To reform herself? It was true to an extent, but really she was guilty for not feeling guilty, a feeling seemingly slightly but profoundly different from repentance.

But now, more than anything, she wanted to know if what she aimed to accomplish was righteous after all. She needed to know whether her lack of guilt was warranted and the world misunderstood her or if there was something more sinister within her. If the latter was true, she was willing to pay for it. No longer would she allow anyone to consider her a coward.

"Avatar Korra, and especially you, Asami," Kuvira began, "I wanted to apologize. For everything. Yesterday I said I didn't do anything wrong – but that was a lie. I meant since I was under house arrest in Zaofu. But that was also a lie. I disabled my ankle bracelet a long time ago."

Korrasami looked down toward Kuvira's ankle and noticed she wasn't even wearing it anymore. She removed it.

"Why keep yourself here then?" Korra said.

"This wouldn't have happened if you wore an electrode ankle bracelet," Asami said, referring to her own tech and sparking Kuvira's memory of when she wore Asami's clothes and was incidentally shocked by the belt, which was electrode powered and button triggered. This woman sure did like shocking people, Kuvira thought.

"There's still the tracker, but either way, I could easily remove it any time, regardless of my ability to disable it. Bataar's lab has lots of tools to help with the simple operation. I just kept up with the charade because... to be honest, I don't know. What would be the point of escaping?" Kuvira looked to the ground. "I have nowhere else to go."

Korra's focus softened and even Asami relented her galvanizing stare at the former Great Uniter.

"And Asami, I am especially sorry for your father's death. Know that I did not mean it as a personal vendetta, it was just –"