New Perspective

Don't Worry, You Will

Kuvira was still extremely tired, but she had to at least attempt to get work done for the day. The round glasses sitting on the bridge of her nose threatening to fall off was the only thing keeping her awake at that point. She knew she had to get through a lot of paperwork but she just couldn't bring herself to focus enough to get it done. She still felt terrible about what had happened the night before and the thoughts refused to leave her mind. The only thing running through her head was her seeming betrayal to Su and the way Bataar Jr's hands had felt when he grabbed her. She shuddered at the sudden thought and absentmindedly pulled at the collar of her green turtleneck. She felt uncomfortable.

"Kuvira? Are you in there?" A strong male voice called out from behind the giant metal doors. Bataar Sr. She sighed deeply.

"Yes, I'm in here," she said regrettably. She removed the glasses once again threatening to spill off the edge of her nose and placed them in her shirt pocket. The older man made his way into her office and shut the doors behind him. He didn't want to muddle in his wife's business, but he couldn't stand to see her so distraught and strung out. He gathered what little courage he had left and turned to face the much younger woman his wife was interested in. His soft eyes narrowed as he made eye contact with her.

"Kuvira, you need to talk to Suyin," he said to her. Her previous "I don't give a shit" attitude had dropped from her face and she looked at him in shock. In a matter of seconds she composed herself again.

"She won't listen to me," she said through gritted teeth. She clenched her jaw to keep herself from crying as the memories from the previous night drifted through her head.

"Kuvira," he pleaded. "She's going off the deep end. What did you do to make her react like this?" These words puzzled Kuvira. She hadn't seen Su since the incident with Bataar Jr. and she had no idea how the older woman was taking it. She had just assumed that she had cried over it but Bataar Sr's words made her think it was more than that.

"What's going on? Is she okay?" She asked, genuine care filling her tone. She was truly worried for the matriarch. Bataar sighed deeply and sat down in one of the green and gold chairs that sat in front of Kuvira's desk. This was the first moment Kuvira had bothered to really look at the earth kingdom man. His furrowed brow and olive eyes full of concern told her that whatever the situation was, it was serious. His jaw was clenched tightly and he seemed entirely distraught. Her usually hard expression softened a bit as she gently placed a hand on his muscular shoulder.

"She cried all of last night. She's refusing to leave the bed and I'm sure she's snuck in bottle after bottle of wine, Kuvira. This is a cycle I've seen only once before and it's always hard to get her out of it. I'm just worried that if I let her go too far, she won't ever come out of this. You have to do something. At least tell me what you did!" The man pleaded with her. She bit her lip and her eyes shifted from his to the floor. She didn't want Bataar to think any less of her and she certainly didn't want him taking his son's side in the matter. She didn't want to look him in the eyes as she ruined his sons image but she knew she had to. She sat down at her desk and stared locked eyes with him before sucking in a deep breath.

"Last night, after avatar Korra was almost kidnapped, I was distraught. I felt as if all of the blame was on my shoulders and Suyin knew that. I felt like a needed a punishment...and we kissed. We started to do...adult things..." she was very nervous and hesitant to tell him the rest.

"Kuvira, I'm a grown man. You can just say you had sex," he replied in a much quieter tone than before. His warm hand reached out to her much smaller one. She took it tentatively.

"We didn't have sex. We started to...and then she mentioned she needed to get back to you. I got upset and sent her away. Bataar, I need to know that you won't look down on me. You won't like what I'm about to say." His entire demeanor shifted into something softer than what it had been.