𝓢𝐲𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐲

The relentless downpour of a late night Republic City storm beat a muffled drop of rain against the high glass windows of the apartment. Inside, the air was heavy with a slow, thick warmth. It smelled of steeped chamomile, wild honey, and that faint scent of sharp black coffee that always clung to Lin’s skin after a long shift under the lights of police headquarters.

You leaned against the dark wood of the kitchen doorway, cradling a fresh cup of tea between your palms, a soft, slow smile tugging at your lips. The living room was an absolute disaster.

Splayed across the plush velvet sofa was Korra, completely dead to the world, snoring in small, ragged puffs with one arm dangling over the edge, her fingers brushing the floor. On the rug just below her, Mako was propped awkwardly against an armchair, an open police case file slipping from his lax grip while his head lolled to the side.

At his feet, Bolin was curled up into a ball, clutching a throw pillow like a lifeline and murmuring something entirely incoherent about whatever. Even Asami, usually so composed, had succumbed; her head rested peacefully against Korra’s shins, a charcoal pencil still loosely held in her fingers, balanced over a half finished blueprint.

They looked incredibly silly like this. Stripped of their titles, their bending, and the crushing weight of a city that constantly demanded they be heroes. People tend to forget that they’re all just teenagers–tired teenagers in fact, who desperately needed a place where they didn't have to fight. And they had found it here, in the home you shared with Lin.

A heavy, gravelly sigh pulled your eyes away from the pile of kids and toward the dining table. Lin was sitting there, still wearing the thick, padded dark undershirt of her armor, though she had finally unlatched the heavy metal breastplate and propped it against the leg of her chair. She was staring at the kids, her sharp fingers slowly tracing the porcelain rim of an empty mug. The harsh, deeply carved lines on her face, the ones put there by city council meetings, erratic politicians, and the endless stress of her job, seemed to soften under the low, amber glow of the table lamp.

"You're staring," Lin murmured, her rough voice dropping to a low, quiet rumble that barely vibrated through the room. She didn't look up, but the subtle, relaxed shift of her broad shoulders told you she’d felt your presence the exact moment you stepped into the room.

"Can you blame me?" you asked softly, walking over to her. Your bare feet made absolutely no sound on the polished hardwood floor. "It’s not every day I get to see my terrifying Chief Beifong acting so lenient with anyone else besides me." You teased playfully.

Lin let out a quiet huff, a sound that was half-scoff and half amused resignation, her lips twitching just a fraction. "They’re a public nuisance, the lot of them. If they’re sleeping here, at least I know they aren't out picking fights with shady people at two in the morning. It saves me a mountain of midnight paperwork."

"Right. Because we all know how much you hate paperwork, and how that’s definitely the only reason they have a key to our place," you teased gently.

You stopped right behind her chair, setting your tea down before sliding your hands over her shoulders. The muscles there were knotted impossibly tight, hard as the very earth she bent. You began to work your thumbs into the tension, applying a steady, deep pressure that you knew she loved.

Lin let out a long, shuddering breath, her head tilting back slightly into your touch, her eyes closing. For someone who spent every waking hour standing rigid against the world, she always melted completely the moment you touched her. It was a private, intoxicating transition to see the fierce protector completely relinquishing her shield just for you.

"They look so peaceful," you whispered, leaning down slightly as your eyes drifted back to the sofa. "You did a good thing, Lin. Letting them stay. Giving them a safe place.."

"They're a handful," Lin grumbled, though her hand reached up to cover yours, her rough, scarred thumb rubbing in slow circles against the back of your knuckles. "Korra cleared out half our pantry yesterday afternoon. Bolin tracked mud across the floor. They don't have anyone else to look out for them like this. Not without some kind of agenda attached to it."

"They have us," you corrected softly, leaning down further to press a gentle, lingering kiss to the crown of her head. "And especially they have you.."

Lin didn't deny it. She just squeezed your hand a little tighter, her green eyes opening to look back at the sleeping teenagers. It was a bizarre dynamic for a woman who had spent decades insisting she didn't have a motherly bone in her body.

She hadn't wanted children, terrified of repeating the fractured, messy history of her own upbringing with her mother. Yet, here she was, having figuratively adopted Team Avatar by sheer force of gravity and affection. She isn’t biologically their mother, of course, but she watched over them with protectiveness, and you had stepped right into the space beside her, filling the cracks of their chaotic lives with warmth, heavy blankets, and hot meals.

"Come to bed," you whispered against her ear, your voice carrying that slow, dreamy quality of the late night quiet. "You've done enough patrolling for one day. They're safe. We're safe."

Lin turned her head slightly, her gaze locking onto yours. There was an intense, quiet reverence in her eyes, the kind that always made your chest ache with a sudden, sharp wave of affection. To Lin, the world outside was full of politics, betrayals, and endless problems. But when she looked at you, it was like the city completely faded into static. You were her center, the one beautiful, dream like reality she got to keep entirely for herself.

"Sometimes," Lin said, her voice dropping to a rough, vulnerable whisper, "I look at you, and I genuinely think I must have fallen asleep at my desk. I don't know how I ended up with this. With you."

"You earned it," you smiled, sliding your arms down to wrap around her neck, leaning over her shoulder so your cheek rested snugly against hers. "Every single bit of it, Lin.."

"I missed you today," she confessed abruptly, a rare, unprompted admission that made your heart swell. She pulled your hand down to her lips, pressing a slow, heavy kiss right into your palm. "I was stuck in council meetings all afternoon while others were breathing down my neck. All I could think about was getting back here. To this face. To you."

"I'm right here," you murmured, turning your head to press a soft kiss to her jawline, feeling the slight, familiar rasp of her skin. "Acting as if I’m gonna vanish–poof..!" you replied with a soft chuckle.

Lin stood up slowly, her joints popping slightly from the long hours of sitting. She was incredibly careful not to make a sound, her movements fluid and deliberate as she looked over at the sofa one last time.

Stepping forward, she picked up a thick, stray quilt off the back of the armchair and walked over to the room. With surprising gentleness for someone with metal plates practically fused to her boots, she draped the blanket over Asami and Korra, tucking the edge tenderly under Korra’s shoulder. She lingered for a second, a fleeting expression of fierce devotion crossing her features, before she turned back to you.

She reached out, her large, warm hand cupping your cheek. Her thumb brushed over your cheekbone, her touch surprisingly light, almost as if she were afraid you might vanish into thin air if she held on too tightly. The look in her green eyes was heavy with a deep, consuming affection, a certainty that no matter how grueling the world outside became, coming home to you was a prize she would fight for every single day.

"Let's go," Lin whispered, pulling you into her side and wrapping her arm securely around your waist, guiding you toward the bedroom. "Before one of them wakes up and realizes we have leftovers in the icebox."

You laughed quietly, burying your face into her shoulder as the bedroom door clicked shut behind you, leaving the group safe and sound in the warm, quiet home you both had built together.

The heavy oak door of the bedroom clicked shut, sealing out the soft, rhythmic breathing of the four teenagers sprawled across the living room. In the dim, ambient light filtering through the bedroom window, Lin let out a long, grounded breath that seemed to drop the weight of the entire police force from her shoulders. She didn't let go of your waist right away; instead, she leaned her forehead against yours, her eyes closing as she simply breathed in your scent.

"You're soft tonight, Lin..hehe I like it" you murmured, your hands sliding up the back of her neck, fingers tangling in the short, silver streaked hair at her nape.

"Don't get used to it," she rumbled, though the immediate possessive way her arms tightened around you completely contradicted her words. She pressed a firm, lingering kiss to your lips, slow and heavy with a quiet gratitude that she rarely put into words. "But... thanks. For fixing the tea. For letting them take over the couch. I know it’s crowded."

"They're like family, Lin. A little crowd is good for us," you smiled, kissing the edge of her jaw before pulling back to help her slide the rest of her heavy uniform gear off.

Author's Note

YAYYY fluff, I've been writing a lot of angst lately I feel so refreshed writing pure fluff AUGH

The main thing I would want, no.. NEED, to see is them being smart. They are both powerhouses, but also they’re smart fighters. I want to see them playing the game to their advantage using everything they have available in their environment to get the upper hand on each other.

They’re both strongest at close range.

Jupiter needs to get close to people to deliver a decisive blow and to properly conduct her electricity to their bodies. She *can* shoot her electricity, but it is very unreliable since once electricity is dispersed in the air, it does not go where you want it to go, it goes towards the path of least resistance. And it’s also extremely dangerous. So 9 times out of 10 Mako does not want to shoot out her electricity, she just keeps it charged on her body to release upon impact or close to impact. She’s incredibly strong and tough, she can easily tank blows others can’t and a good punch from her can end the fight then and there, but the drawback is that she’s slow. Her attacks hit the heaviest but they also have the longest windup when compared to all of the other girls.

Uranus also wants to get close to people. My version of Uranus does not have world shaking, but to compensate she has as many swords as she wants (for visual reference think of it as Sayaka’s powers from pmmm) and she can also detonate them at will (she is immune to her own explosions, yes). She also *can* throw them, but it is not reliable. Even if her swords are scimitars and they’re shorter and curved, they’re awkward to throw from anything further than medium range at best. Throwing them also locks her movements and leaves her temporarily vulnerable for a second since the action of throwing something as heavy as a sword is no small feat, it’s a full body motion. While she’s physically strong, her prowess as a fighter does not come from brute strength like Jupiter, she cannot tank as many hits, even if she can still tank more than the rest of the girls and her attacks don’t hit as heavy, but they don’t need to. She has swords, her goal is to get as close to a person as possible to slice (not stab, important, scimitars are best for slicing. You generally do not want to thrust while using a scimitar). To help her do that, she’s incredibly fast. Not only she runs fast, but she can easily dodge Jupiter’s slow attacks if Jupiter is not smart about how she’s fighting, allowing her to always secure the first hit.

TLDR

Both fight best at close range

Jupiter is slower, but hits hardest and can tank more hits

Uranus is faster, but does not hit as hard and cannot tank as many hits

ALTHOUGH, Jupiter’s tanky-ness becomes a much less important factor keeping in mind that she’s resilient towards blunt blows (her muscle mass and body fat protect important organs and bones by acting as cushions), NOT towards slicing/stabbing attacks. She’s still made of flesh, doesn’t matter how thick her skin and muscles are, a sword is a sword and it will slice through her if she allows it to happen.

So, Jupiter cannot get close to Uranus otherwise Uranus can easily cut her. One or two good placed slices and Jupiter is out of the fight at best, bleeding to death at worst. Uranus cannot get close to Jupiter because one contact is enough to send a shock to her body powerful enough to stun her, giving Jupiter enough time to deal a heavy blow which can easily just kill her or incapacitate her enough to allow Jupiter to hit her multiple times. Uranus IS still getting shocked if she manages to cut Jupiter and Jupiter is ready for it since her sword is metal, an extremely conductive material. So she needs to be smart about how she approaches attacking her and urging a good distance between them so even if she does get shocked, Jupiter still has to catch up with her. Jupiter has residual electricity in her body following attacks, which sends pretty powerful shocks at the touch, but not enough to be anything more than a strong jolt if enough time has passed for the energy to dissipate.

As for the location: Ideally I would want to see them fight in a common area full of stuff surrounding them that they can use to their advantage, something like an indoor mall would be perfect (which has been evacuated following a monster attack). So both Uranus and Jupiter can pick up things like tables and chairs in the food court, take cover/regain grounds behind stands or commercial planters and using stuff like drinks left by guests or even perfume and makeup from stores around them as things to throw to discombobulate the other. Still having it be indoor is a good debuff against Jupiter, since closed common areas are more susceptible to dangerous outages or even explosions caused by her recklessness while handling electricity.

All of this exposition to lay out the most important factor in the whole fight, win conditions: (the objective each party must achieve in order to secure victory. Aka, the question each must ask themselves in order to come out on top “how do I deliver the final blow before she gets the chance to?”)

Jupiter’s win condition is: use objects around her to toss for distraction or to incite aggression where Uranus is forced to commit to an attack, using the object as cover or shield where ideally the sword gets stuck or unable to deliver a second slash for at least a second or two where Jupiter can safely get close enough to shock Uranus. Gaining even more extra second so she can chain the stun long enough to delivery a heavy blow without allowing Uranus to regain her footing. Given Uranus is faster than her, overcommitting to the idea of having Uranus miss a strike is too much of a risk. It’s better if she lets herself be an easy target, just making sure to always have something she can use to protect her body from the blades. At this point in the story she does not Uranus can detonate her swords.

Uranus’ win condition is: use objects around her to distract or discombobulate Jupiter long enough for her to deliver a fast but effective strikes without giving Jupiter the time to react while making sure to step far away from her after the process. Uranus is aware that one or two cuts are not enough to take Jupiter out (unless she gets lucky, but she can’t rely on luck). Ideally she wants to incite Jupiter’s aggression, causing her to commit to a slow attack that she knows she can easily dodge, allowing her to get free strikes while Jupiter is vulnerable, rinse and repeat. Also being extremely mindful of conductive objects and surfaces near her, and using insulating materials like wood to her advantage, which allow her to touch Jupiter without running the risk of getting electrocuted. Lastly, she has the ace up her sleeve of detonating her swords to catch Jupiter off-guard for both offensive or defensive purposes, she knows the explosion is too small to do any significant damage against her, but the strength of this attack lies in the fact that Jupiter does not know Uranus can do this.

Basically, they both want to bait the other’s aggression into over-committing where they can take advantage of the other’s vulnerability to delivery a strike of their own. Uranus can react faster to distractions and baits, but she also needs to employ this strategy at least twice or thrice to surely take out Jupiter. Jupiter needs only one good opening to completely take out Uranus since she can use her electricity to stun Uranus.

So, how would I personally handle this fight?

This is actually one of the few sequences I do have written for my AU!

The circumstances of the how and why it starts are fairly similar to the canon ones. You just really need to know that Jupiter is pissed at Uranus for her immoral actions and behavior as a Sailor Senshi and Uranus was initially only looking to defend herself against Jupiter’s aggression, but she quickly allowed the anger from her repressed self-conviction to spiral into aggression.

They start out only fighting hand to hand, no powers. I see it as a sort of silent mutual agreement, like Jupiter starting it, wordlessly telling her “I don’t need powers to fuck you up and set you straight” and Uranus would accept the challenge. While still being a pretty close back and forth, I actually Uranus beginning to gain the upper hand. She’s playing smarter than Jupiter, using her speed to her advantage while still being relatively of clear mind (Jupiter being the one who’s definitely the angriest of the two, and while anger is good for stamina, it is not good for being patient and smart). Also not being helped by the fact that Jupiter DEFINITELY heavily underestimated how good of a fighter Uranus actually is, she has no respect for her and Uranus is taking advantage of that hard.

All leading to Jupiter being the one to break her own agreement and grab Uranus’ fist while delivering a powerful shock. At this point the agreement is done and the fight is full on, powers and all.

I do want to keep it ambiguous if they are actually looking to seriously harm or even kill the other, because I don’t know. I don’t think even they know, in a situation like this instincts take over and they need to treat it as if their lives could be genuinely in danger. They don’t know each other almost at all: for all Uranus knows Jupiter wants to kill her. Jupiter is not thinking clearly because she is the main aggressor, all she sees is Uranus with swords, it does not matter Uranus’ intentions, a sword WILL kill her if she’s not careful enough. And that’s not to say Jupiter is the only one on the offensive, Uranus is attacking too, she’s in as much as Jupiter is in, but Jupiter has been the first instigator twice already and Uranus is prideful. Uranus wants to win this not only cause her life is on the line, but also because, in her deeply grief ridden and self-hating state of mind, she’s reasoning that beating Jupiter will be proof to herself that she is in the right. That she’s doing the right thing, because she’s the only one strong enough to be this cruel and there’s no other way.

This is a battle of will and morality above all else. Jupiter is fighting for her own sense of justice and personal responsibility as heroes instilled by her black and white morality, while Uranus is fighting to show Jupiter (while in reality she only cares to show herself) that what she’s doing is simply what needs to be done and that Jupiter and the others can’t understand BECAUSE of such black and white morality.

I don’t have the whole fight scripted or anything, but after keeping a fairly steady stalemate where Jupiter has been able to deliver some significant, but not debilitating, blows to Uranus and Uranus managing to cut her pretty bad on the forearm and deliver some hard blows herself using the environment around her, Jupiter is the one who begins gaining an advantage after Uranus makes the mistake of “taunting her” for her own stupidity and child-like morality. The words cut deep for Jupiter, instilling renewed strength and stamina while Uranus’ depleting stamina has been causing her reflexes to get slower, her muscles to start aching and her mind to not be as sharp.

Jupiter really believes in what she’s fighting for, Uranus doesn’t and I would love to see that internal battle getting reflected in their lasting conviction towards the end of the fight. Where both are extremely strained, significantly beaten and exhausted, Jupiter is the one that gets the strength to keep attacking. Uranus has no more strength to attack (her “insulting” Jupiter was perhaps a subconscious action by her desperate mind, which was seeing how this fight was very clearly turning into a stalemate or draw, to NEED to reassure herself that it did not matter if she won this fight, she was still in the right. Not calculating how this action could have possibly spurred new strength from her aggressor), she’s imply forced to do her best to be on the defensive. But she’s fighting a losing battle, she has no strength to run away, no strength to attack, all she can do is evade Jupiter’s attacks long enough for her to get exhausted or get her tired enough to catch her by surprise with her ace up her sleeve, which is what she does.

Jupiter makes the mistake of locking herself in a position too close to Uranus’ sword (which she was using defensively as a lever to push Jupiter off of her) and Uranus detonates it. Sending Jupiter flying off the near-by balcony onto the main floor below them, landing hard on her back against a service desk counter. Uranus manages to slowly get back on her feet, she looks at her opponent several floors below her and goes to leave, taking Jupiter’s incapacitated state as a victory. But stops when she notices Jupiter’s small figure significantly spasming, and against her better judgement uses the escalators to quickly reach her.

Uranus fought all this time with the idea that if Jupiter dies, she dies, this was her mistake for starting and continuing to fuel this fight, but once she’s faced with the reality of this human being suffering with a rapidly fatal condition SHE caused, her first instinct is to go and help her despite her own injuries. Perhaps Uranus did not want to kill her after all, she still won, but she’s not one to punch down.

I love integrating more realistic injuries to the girls’ battles. In anime I’m so used to seeing dudes just being thrown through 15 buildings without a scratch, but to me it’s important emphasizing that these girls are still human and can die or get seriously permanently injured from one wrong step. They have superpowers and they can tank things better than a regular person can, but a blast into fall from a two story balcony onto a hard surface is not going to break the surface, it’s going to break bones.

The spasming that Uranus was seeing is Jupiter desperately gasping for air. The trauma of the fall caused her throat to lock up (I’ve looked all of this up to check the logistics and realism cause I’m a nerd, it’s called Laryngospasm) making her unable to intake any air, while also having a couple broken ribs causing additional pain with every failed attempt at expanding her airways. She knows Jupiter will die in a matter of minutes if she doesn’t at least try to help, even is she’s not sure how. She moves to attempt grabbing the base of her neck and the second her hand touches her, Jupiter sends a powerful jolt of electricity through her body. Sending her to the ground into a semi conscious state. Jupiter painfully slides off the counter and shock of the impact with the ground is enough to allow the air trapped within her lungs to escape and open her throat once again. (I’m not a medical professional, Jupiter had no fucking clue what she was doing and she got VERY lucky this time it helped because of the very specific circumstances going on within her body. Even if the circumstances are exactly this, the smart thing was allowing Uranus to help her, something called a Larson Maneuver is how a person can break a Laryngospasm. Get someone to call 911 dont roll off a counter lol. It could help, but it could also kill you if you have a flail chest, or a punctured or bruised lung)

Without getting into specifics, Neptune shows up and sends Jupiter through the glass display and against another hard surface of a store across the mall after seeing her crawling towards Uranus. Who is now fully unconscious.

So, who wins? Technically I guess Jupiter this time, but not really. Jupiter betrayed Uranus’ trust twice, she played extremely unfair because losing was not an option for her. Even if they both died, nothing else mattered to her at that moment other than getting Uranus out of the picture or at least “defeated” enough where she would never be able to hurt others again while being alive. Uranus’ mercy meant nothing because she was blindly driven by her own conviction.

Ironically in her quest to establish her “high and mighty” hero morality onto Uranus, Jupiter is the one who acted the least heroic out of the two. They were both acting on selfish means, but when Uranus came faced with the consequences of her actions, she expressed regret and a willingness to do good. The reason Jupiter even came to lay there gasping for air was her own fault, she had the chance to let it go, yet she kept going and going, disregarding her own safety in the process. And even then, she took advantage of Uranus’ mercy towards her and STILL kept going, all driven her selfish means.

In the most blatant way I can describe it, Jupiter acted like a bully. If Uranus won’t learn she’ll make her learn and she won’t stop because she knows she can. Jupiter knows she’s strong and where she should use that strength to help and protect others, this time she used it to beat her ideals onto others. Not saying Uranus is an innocent victim in all of this, but the situation came up to be.. not black and white.

They will both need to learn a lot from this.