The tan woman scuffed her boots on the hard earth as she drudged into town. Her vest was covered in dirt and her body was battered. It had been a long time since she stepped on this ground - three years to be precise. She had taken all of this time to heal not only physically but mentally as well. She smiled at the familiar sign of her town: Si Wong.
However, she was surprised when she walked down the middle of the street that she didn't see the same busy town that she left. It was empty, except for a few horses tied up outside of the saloon. She pulled Naga, her own horse, over and tied her to the post. As she stepped up the wooden stairs, she heard a quiet commotion inside the bar.
A few people looked up and gasped when they saw her enter the building. She saw a certain black-haired beauty sitting at the bar, paying no attention to the others around her as she sipped her wine. The bartender, sporting a dress and apron, stared shockingly at the tan cowgirl as she sat down next to the girl. The newcomer smiled at the girl behind the counter, flashing her bright teeth. "Hi Opal."
Opal stood in shock, halfway through cleaning a glass cup. "Hi Korra."
The black-haired beauty jumped up and went wide-eyed when she did, in fact, see her former lover. "Korra?!" In two seconds flat, Korra was embraced in a tight hug.
The cowgirl chuckled and returned the gesture just as fervently. "Hey there, Asami. I missed you."
A few tears escaped Asami. "Where have you been?" She cried.
The reunited couple separated but kept arm's length apart. Korra noticed the dark bags under the woman's eyes. Yet, her beauty was unparalleled to this day still, even clad in a skirt and one of Korra's old plaid shirts.
Korra began her explanation. "I know I've been gone a long time, but I can explain. I returned to my tribe like I said, but they can only do so much. Master Katara did all that she could from my accident, but some of the healing would only start after I healed mentally. So I left after a few months and spent the last year traveling across the Si Wong Desert. It took a while and a lot of fighting, but I think I finally found myself again."
Asami laid her palms on the younger girl's cheeks. "You don't have to explain it all right now. I'm just glad you're back. I need you. We need you."
Korra gulped. "Is something going on here? I mean, the town was empty when I rode through."
Just as Asami opened her mouth to speak, she was cut off when the saloon doors slammed open. "Alright, where's the newbie? I saw the horse outside!"
Korra quickly whipped around to see who was talking like they owned the place and she was shocked. "Kuvira?"
The former lieutenant froze and then smiled maliciously. "Korra? You're the last person I would have expected."
Korra turned back around to her lover. "What's going on?"
Asami gulped and directed her eyes back to the younger girl. "Kuvira took over as sheriff after you left. She's let the power get to her head. It's bad, Korra."
"What about Mako and Bolin? I left them in control."
At the sound of her husband's name, Opal turned away from the women. Asami sighed. "Kuvira jailed Mako over some miniscule thing. Bolin opposed her and tried to break him out, but Kuvira caught him. They've both been sitting in jail for a year now. No one's gone against Kuvira since then."
Korra saw red the moment she heard that her friends and officers were wrongly jailed. She stood purposely against the dictator. "Let them go."
Kuvira simply laughed and ordered a beer from Opal. "I will not. They opposed my authority. They're still paying for it."
"I guess it's a good thing I'm back to take my job as sheriff back." Korra responded strongly.
Kuvira side-glanced at her. "Is that what you think? I personally don't think you've recovered enough to protect this town."
"I'll prove I'm strong enough when I take you down from your pedestal."
The self-acclaimed sheriff now looked at the tan woman up front. "Is that a bet?"
Korra pulled her gloves off and roughly threw them to the floor. Everyone in the room gasped. Kuvira stared at the gloves before laughing. "You wanna throw down the gauntlet?! Let's go then!"
The older woman marched outside followed by the former sheriff. Asami ran after Korra and tugged on her shirt. "Korra, don't do this! This won't end well for either of you."
"Do you think I'm not ready either?" Korra asked roughly.
Asami gasped in astonishment. "N-No, it's just... I don't want to see you hurt again."
Korra's scowl let up and she cupped the woman's cheek before kissing her nose. "I'll be okay. Someone needs to protect this town."
Asami sighed and watched her walk into the road. "Why does it always have to be you, though?"
Korra and Kuvira stood back-to-back, then walked ten paces apart. People had wandered out of their houses to see if Kuvira would finally fall. Asami leaned nervously against the porch, wringing her hands together. Opal stood next to her with just as much anxiety.
Korra felt her throat go dry and she swallowed what little saliva was left. Surprisingly, when they turned around, neither fired their gun immediately. They stared intensely at each other. Her hand hovered over her gun at her waist, just as Kuvira did as well. They were waiting for the other to make the first move.
The tan cowgirl saw Kuvira's finger twitched and she jumped into action. The new sheriff fired at Korra, but the younger girl had unexpectedly dodged. Everyone watched gasped, even Kuvira. Showdowns were normally just one or two shots, with one or both people dead. Why had Korra chosen not to shoot? No matter. Kuvira fired again as her opponent slid across the dirt, but she missed again.
Korra stood on one knee and aimed her gun, quickly firing into Kuvira's thigh. The tyrant fell to the earth, writhing in pain. The town went silent expect for Kuvira's yells of frustration and pain. Korra remained on one knee, gasping anxiously. She slowly rose to her feet and hesitantly approached her opponent.
Kuvira saw the cowgirl approaching her and hurriedly rose her gun defiantly. Korra paused a few feet away from her, but did nothing to stop her. The tribe woman didn't raise her gun, but simply waited to see what the other would do. Korra's calm demeanor got to the tyrant's head and she fired angrily.
Asami jumped and Opal quickly wrapped her up in her arms protectively. Tears fell down her face as quickly as it happened.
Korra smiled as she remained standing. Kuvira shook angrily, but knew her reign was over. She had fired at the former sheriff, but her body had already given up and misdirected her shot.
The tribe woman confidently continued walking to her. She rolled her over and then handcuffed her with her own cuffs. She huffed and dirt swam in the air in front of her.
The town roared in relief. Their real sheriff was back. Korra stood up to recollect herself but was suddenly ambushed by a pale body. Asami cries went from panic to relief when she saw that Korra had won. The younger woman smiled sadly and wrapped her arms around her. "It's okay, 'Sami. I'm back."
Mako and Bolin groaned when the door opened, revealing the bright Sun. They shielded their dirty faces. "Looks like our great sheriff is back." The older brother groaned sarcastically.
Both brothers jumped when a new body was thrown into the jail cell with them. Kuvira?! They simultaneously looked up and gasped. Tears dripped from Bolin's eyes. "Korra? Is that really you?"
Korra smiled and helped the boys to their feet. "That's right. Your real sheriff is back." She replied confidently.
"Drinks are on the house for the rest of the night!" Bolin cheered from atop the bar counter. The crowd cheered and raised their glasses with him. Opal smiled brilliantly over the return of her joyful husband and began preparing drinks. Mako chuckled from his seat at the counter. Bolin began speaking cheerfully again. "Our oppression is finally over! After three years, our beloved leader has returned and ended Kuvira's tyranny!" He then looked over to Korra, who was sitting at the end of the bar with her lover. "Thank you, Korra, for everything. We're so happy to have our friend back."
The bar patrons cheered happily and clinked their beers together in toast. Korra rose her glass to Bolin, simply to please the energetic man, and took a drink. As she finished swallowing, Asami cupped her cheeks and eagerly pressed their lips together. A few whoops and hollers could be heard in the background, but Korra was too involved with her girlfriend. The tribe woman set her drink down and pressed closer to the other. Asami reacted just the same and slid her hands to her neck, pulling her ever-so closer.
The couple reluctantly pulled apart when the need for air was too strong. "I missed you so much, Asami. I'll never leave you again." Korra whispered breathlessly.
Asami held her hand and leaned in close to whisper back in her ear. "How about we sneak out of here early? They don't need us to celebrate. Besides, then you can show me how much you missed me."
The pale woman leaned back and smiled at her work. Korra's eyes glazed over with unrequited lust from years of being apart. She gulped and nodded restlessly. The couple carefully disappeared through the back entrance and proceeded to Asami's home for a different type of reunion.
Mako nudged Bolin beside him and both of them chuckled as they saw the women dip from the party using the back door. "I guess it's up to us to keep the party going." Bolin said.
Mako rose a brow and laughed a little louder. "I think you're doing a fine job of that, brother. It's been three years since they've seen each other anyway. Give them their peace."
A/N: Sorry I've been so inactive lately! School just started for me so I won't really have a lot of time to write at the time. Luckily I wrote a few side stories that I had forgotten about so I'll be uploading those periodically to appease my readers. I'm slowly getting work done on the werewolf AU and the Law/Order AU but please give me time.
Anyway, this was my submission for the Pro-bending Circuit Round 4: GENRES. My genre is WESTERN.
Prompts:
Easy (1 point): (dialogue) "You're the last person I would have expected"
Medium (2 points): (emotion) grief
Hard (3 points): (location) The Si Wong Desert