This is the first chapter of a longer fanfiction between Korra and Tahno. It's a little AU in that Korra and Tahno have met before the 'private lessons' scene in The Spirit of Competition. Other than that, it pretty much sticks to canon! Hope you all like it! Disclaimer: I don't own Legend of Korra or any associated characters.
Chapter One
So, this is what it's like. He stands before the sink, gazing into the dark, scuffed basin, and lifts trembling fingers. Twitches them, pulling at the cool air. Last week, the water flowing from the tap would have been pulled into a smooth ribbon, would have followed every slight movement of his fingers, danced in the sunlight before the mirror. Now, there is nothing. No reaction.
Tahno would have expected to feel rage or uncontrollable depression, but instead there is only a hollowness tinged with curiosity. He turns off the tap. The sounds of a city evening drift through the window—automobile horns blaring, faint jangling music, people shouting and laughing. Somewhere nearby a dog barks roughly. He leans forward until his head is in his hands, and then he sighs.
The moon is bright and full, swaying over Republic City's rooftops and casting the harbor in silvery light. There is celebration at the bro-bending arena. The Wolfbats have claimed victory again; they wind their way through the halls, headed for the locker rooms, faces plastered with smug grins. Tahno leads his teammates past the first locker room, his gaze flickering over a waiting team. He recognizes the red uniforms, the two bender brothers—the little orphans—and recalls that they're the Fire Ferrets. A pitiful excuse for a pro-bending team. He sees their mascot and namesake winding its way across the younger brother's shoulders. Mako and Bolin—are those their names?
Then he sees her. Her. The Avatar. He's heard the rumors, of course, swirling from his teammates lips—she's a real knockout, she's a killer, damn, that girl is hot—but he's never put much stock into them. It's true. She carries her helmet tucked under her arm, sidling up beside the two brothers, watching the victors pass. Her brown skin is smooth and even, eyes the color of ice. She watches him go with something like detached curiosity.
Tahno forces more swagger into his steps, widening his smirk. Hoping to impress and intimidate her. As soon as she's out of view, he averts his gaze.
"Tahno!" Narook's surprise is ill-disguised as Tahno enters the Seaweed Noodlery. "I haven't seen you around lately!"
Tahno searches for a cruel or witty comeback, but the words don't seem to come, so he offers Narook a thin, sardonic smile and the older man goes back to his other, nicer customers. The back of the Noodlery is dim and quiet, and so Tahno slides into the corner booth. Lately, he's been skulking around in dark, rough parts of the city, where the sake flows freely at all hours and the women are loose. Narook's establishment is tame in comparison.
Darkness is falling rapidly beyond the windows. Some of the other patrons are huddled in a nearby booth, carrying on a rushed conversation about the Equalist uprisings—chi blockers have been seen in nearby alleyways after sunset, probably waiting to ambush unsuspecting benders.
Tahno feels sick thinking about it—about how another bender might stumble into a trap, might be forced onto their knees. Might open their eyes wide, see the masked figure rise from the shadows, step forwards with a hand outstretched...
He stares at the empty table, planning to leave, when the Noodlery door opens and she swaggers in. The Avatar. Korra is wearing that stupid Water Tribe outfit, and those stupid spools in her hair, and a stupid grin on her face.
She looks beautiful.
The emptiness twists in Tahno's chest, and he recognizes it as something close to bitterness. She greets Narook cheerfully, waves to another patron, and then makes her way towards the back of the shop. Tahno moves to stand up, but in an instant she's seen him, and in the next moment she is sliding into the booth opposite him.
"Well, well, well—if it isn't Uh-vatar Korra."
Korra gives him a crisp cut-the-crap look.
"Have you made any progress?"
He doesn't need to elaborate.
"We're trying." Korra says crisply. "Destroying the arena like that...it was a bold move on Amon's part."
Any mention of the pro-bending stadium twisted the bitterness within Tahno's chest. He avoided Korra's searching eyes.
"And the bending brothers? The orphans? Where do they live now?"
Now it was Korra's turn to avoid his gaze. "They're staying with..." She paused for a moment too long. "A friend. Our sponsor."
"Hiroshi Sato?" Tahno feels his lips twist into a cold smile, and the words are out of his mouth before he can stop them. "His daughter is pretty foxy, if I recall correctly."
Something darkens behind Korra's eyes. "Asami Sato is a nice girl."
"I'm sure she is," Tahno knows the old devious smirk is back.
"You know what?" Korra moves as if to stand. "You haven't changed a bit, Tahno."
"Haven't I?"
"I'm really not in the mood, Tahno."
"Oh, a few minutes with me could change that, Uh-vatar."
Korra rolls her eyes and pulls a disgusted face, but she sits back down and folds her hands on the table. Her face is achingly youthful and open, at once clever and sharp and he imagines that she would be so very corruptible.
"You're not the first to have their bending removed, you know."
And something in her voice, something so matter-of-fact, makes all of the fight go out of Tahno. He slumps.
"I'm well aware of that, Uh-vatar."
He feels so endlessly hollow, so disgustingly useless—oh, him? That's Tahno, that's the disgraced ex-bender, the one who so foolishly tried to fight Amon. The one who lost.
Korra's pale eyes rove around the Noodlery. This close, Tahno senses something restless about her. He wants to lean forwards, close enough to see her eyelashes and the freckles on her nose, and ask why are you even talking to me—after all that's happened?
He doesn't, of course. He gives her a cheerless smile. If he stays here for too long, he'll be tempted to say something aloud, and then forced to cover with a lecherous remark, and then Korra will give him that grossed-out twisted smile and roll her eyes and huff something under her breath, and when she flicks her ponytail over her shoulders he'll be reminded of why he wanted her in the first place.
And he knows that things are complicated between the ex-bender and the Avatar right now, and it's a tangled web they weave.
He folds his uniform neatly, carries it under his arm as he traverses the passageways behind the arena. It's dim and cool and quiet in here, because the crowds have gone home for the night and it wasn't a big match anyways, just some backwater team and the Wolfbats.
She comes out of nowhere, appearing from the gloom at the end of the hallway. Recognition is immediate—who else would wear that awful Water Tribe getup in a place like Republic City? The boots and the armband and the little fur-lined cape tied around her waist.
Her uniform is shoved carelessly under her arm; as she draws closer those pale eyes sharpen and skim Tahno's face. She obviously recognizes him from the arena. Probably has heard about his vanity, his womanizing ways. He smirks. As she passes him, Tahno flicks his hand out, sends a spray of water towards her face.
In one swift motion, as though an automatic reaction, Korra twitches her hand, shoots a narrow jet of flame into his water. Tahno watches the spray vaporize. Smoke curls in the air and it smells of burning.
"Nice try, Wolfbat," Korra's lips pull themselves into a triumphant smile. Tahno glares at her, tries to amp up the smolder factor enough to make her squirm.
He flicks his hand and extends it, a ball of water spinning in the center. Loops it into the air, winding like an aquamarine snake. Korra watches with mild interest, then extends both hands. Water curls above her left hand; she launches it into the air and in the next moment there is a column of fire exploding above her right palm. They meet and intertwine, snaking together, and then vanish. The odor of burning grows a little stronger.
Tahno struggles to hide his impression. "Not bad, uh-vatar."
Korra meets his eyes and her gaze does not waver. Tahno is struck suddenly by the idea that he could very easily push her up against this wall and kiss her hard. He is imagining what her shoulders would feel like beneath his hands, what it would be like to slide one hand up the waistband of her tunic...
"See you around, Wolfbat." Korra lopes away, smirking. Tahno stares after her. There is a very strong dislike brewing in his chest, but somehow it's gotten all tangled up with something else, and he thinks that the something else might be wanting.
They exit beneath a starry sky. The night air is cool. Clouds creep in the northern sky.
Tahno begins to trudge, not expecting Korra to follow him. She does. Of course she does.
"Are you going home? Do you live this way?"
"Yes," Tahno snaps. "Yes, I live this way."
"No one's seen you around much since..." Korra pauses. "You know."
"You asked about me?" The words tumble from his mouth before he can stop them. Dammit.
Korra looks down. Her smooth brown cheeks are tinged pink.
"Don't flatter yourself, pretty-boy."
Something flutters in Tahno's chest. He wishes desperately that he could cast it aside as nervousness or something trivial, but he knows that this is attraction.
Korra tilts her head back and whistles tunelessly. Tahno keeps sneaking sideways glances at her. When they had first met, her face had been so open, so youthful and unburdened. Now there is a serious quality to her steady eyes. She is still youthful, though. Nothing could steal not—not Amon, not his chi-blockers. Nobody.
And she's still beautiful, Tahno thinks (is that pride that he feels?). And then where the hell did that come from?
He pushes his hands into his pockets, and they walk the crowded street in something that just might be a friendly silence.
Hello, everyone! Thanks for reading the first chapter! Hopefully, I'll have the second one up soon! Please review/comment and tell me how you liked it (if you did!), and what I could improve upon! :)
