Soul Bound

Emergency Meeting

Korra woke up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat and had a horrid headache. She couldn't recall all the details of her nightmare, only that she had been sprinting towards something, something that she needed, but it was always just out of her reach. And when she finally caught it, it dissolved in her hands and left a hole in her soul.

While she took a cold shower that did little to relieve the fire burning in her body, Asami called Zhu Li and told her that she knew about the Soul Bond and described what was wrong with Korra. When the Avatar stumbled back into the room, muttering something about formal watertribe attire being too stifling, she saw that Asami had changed into her regular clothing and had been pacing back and forth in front of her bed.

"Asami?" Korra asked, raising a hand to stop the woman in her pacing.

Asami startled, clearly jolted from her thoughts by Korra's voice. She looked over Korra with worried eyes, her gaze settling on Korra's face the longest. "Come on," she said finally, grabbing Korra's hand. She ignored how clammy it felt. "We're going to the prison."

At the words, Korra's heart froze even as the rest of her still felt like she was in the middle of a desert. "The prison?" she repeated.

"We need to get you to Kuvira." The words rang hollow as Asami dragged and lead Korra through her mansion at a brisk pace. "President Moon said she was calling Lin and that they'll meet us there." She looked over her shoulder at Korra, frowning but didn't offer anything else.

Korra wanted to say something to reassure Asami but it felt as if rhinoelephants were stampeding and trumpeting in her head. So she settled on squeezing her girlfriend's hand and exulted as much as she could when Asami squeezed back.

They went to Asami's car and soon they were speeding through Republic City. Luckily, most of the city was asleep and they saw only a handful of drivers on the roads and no cops on their patrol. Korra almost told Asami to slow down but the speed made the wind whip around them and the breeze was very much welcomed.

The prison was looming over them much sooner than Korra expected and the car came to a screaming stop in front of the gates. True to their word, President Moon and Lin were waiting for them, looking as disheveled as Asami and Korra must have. Lin had her arms crossed over her chest and an eyebrow raised at Asami but she didn't chastise the younger woman for speeding through her streets.

Lin barked an order and the guard on post hurried to open the gates to let them in. Korra walked with the rest of them, her eyes seeing but not really taking anything in. She could feel how faint the other presence was in her head, even being this close and she shivered when she realized she could just barely have felt Kuvira when she first woke up. That worried Korra.

Korra's fear only grew when she suddenly realized that she recognized where they were going. "The infirmary?" Korra asked hesitantly.

Lin nodded. "Kuvira was sent there this evening around two-thirty."

"Why didn't anyone tell Korra?" Asami demanded. Even as muddled as Korra was at the moment, she didn't fail to note the anger and fear in Asami's voice.

"I am the Chief of Police, not the Warden," Lin replied in a gruff tone. "I was only informed of Kuvira being moved back to the infirmary ten minutes ago when I called the guard in charge of her." It was clear to everyone that Lin was pissed at not receiving the news right as it happened. "It won't happen again."

The four halted in front of a double-door that led to the infirmary. A guard was posted and Lin barked another order at her. She saluted with a trembling hand and quickly walked away to some other duty.

They entered the room and just like before, Korra's eyes immediately fell on the passed out form of Kuvira. Instead of being in the healing tub, she was laying on the cot closest to the tub, a thin sheet covering her. Korra glanced once at Asami who had become very pale at the sight of Kuvira. Korra had to remind herself that Asami had only seen Kuvira sick in Zaofu. Compared to the woman trembling on the cot now, Kuvira had been as healthy as an ostrich horse back then. Kuvira might have been better than when Korra saw her the first time in the infirmary, but she still looked miserable. She gained some weight but her skin still looked taught against her cheekbones and the dark circles under her eyes were still there. Kuvira trembled again and Korra became aware of how the sheet stuck to her body by the sweat of the other woman. She looked as if she was in the midst of a terrible fever and had eaten very little food to give her strength to fight it.