**Prologue**
oooOooo
It started out as an innocent decision to meet weekly and practise water bending to improved Tahno's (sad excuse for pro-bending) skills. After Amon's death, Korra had devoted all her time restoring his victims bending. The process taxed heavily on her spiritual energy but she didn't mind, especially not when she got to witness first-hand the purest expressions of joy and gratitude the victims granted her. Many of the men picked her up and hugged her profusely and may of the women fell into her arms crying like there was no tomorrow. Tahno was no different…to the women of course; he sunk into her hesitant embrace and whispered words of gratitude over and over again. His eyes watered and his lips curled into the most charming smile she had ever seen. "You're amazing Korra." When he whispered, his voice managed to sink a tone lower and it brought a pale, rosy colour to her caramel cheeks. "You're welcome, Pretty boy "She smiled at him and mockingly ruffled his hair a bit to ease the mood. Surprisingly he didn't remove her hand, only smiled that beautiful smile once more and then walked away slowly. Looking around and observing his surroundings as if he was a blind man just blessed with sight.
Three weeks later, he approached her on Air-temple Island with a small, lime green gift-wrapped box in his right hand. He met her curious gaze with a small smirk and presented the gift to her with a hint of the suave body posture he used to practise religiously. "For me?" her head tilted in confusion.
"It's a thank you gift. "He scratched the back of his neck a little awkwardly when she didn't immediately take it.
She grinned at him with amused eyes when she reached for the box then carefully opened the package. If it was from anybody else, she wouldn't have hesitated to crudely tear open her gift excitedly but this was Tahno. Not only was she weary of him but there was just something incredibly fragile about him ever since she returned his bending. He was no longer a broken man, but a slowly healing one and she didn't want to be the one to halt his process. When she opened the wooden box, a grin lit up her face immediately. There, nestled in a patch of soft straw, was a simple wooden beaded bracelet. Each bead was softly rounded and glistened in the sunlight. A flash of silver caught her eye. Three beads had some sort of metallic symbols attached to the outside in curled, manuscript writing. She recognised them as the letters 'A', 'E' and 'D'.
Korra shot Tahno a questioning look but he shrugged his shoulders." I don't know what it says; I just bought it because it looked cool."
When she accepted his answer and gazed back at her gift, he mentally kicked himself. Of course he knew what it meant. He had spent days carving out those wooden beads from sacred wood imported from his homeland, then went through the trouble of hunting down a Latin translator to ask for a good enough word to describe Korra. Eventually he settled for 'goddess' which the man kindly told him was 'Dea' in Latin. He thought it was fitting so he moved onto the next step. He got hold of his old wolfbat teammates to help him forge the letters. The earth bender was advanced enough to mould a metal block into the shape of the typography that Tahno had delicately sketched, then the firebender and Tahno worked together to heat more metal to fill in the miniscule cracks in the letters (because simply bending mental was not good enough). After that tiring process he insisted that the earth bender attach a small little steel pole to the words so that he could knock the letters into the wood like a nail. This way, they would never fall out. Lastly he purchased some spray on Varnish and attacked the bracelet like he normally would with his hair and hair spray.
The finished bracelet was the definition of beauty in simplicity and he took great care in gift-wrapping his master piece. "So what do you think?" Tahno snapped Korra out of her daze.
"Huh? Oh! Um, wow Tahno, its…it's really, really pretty. I love it. "She shot him a dazzling smile and his shoulders felt like a few boulders had just been lifted off them.
When she decided to try it on, he felt an overwhelming surge of pride in himself. He'd made something good enough for the Avatar to wear. The silver in the bracelet matched the silver in her hair ties perfectly. When Korra glanced at his face, she realised that the silver matched his bewitching eyes as well. "Thank you, Tahno" She murmured. He playfully bowed his head. "Anything for you Uh-Vatar." His sexy voice drawled out and a sly smile flitted across her face.
"Is that so Pretty boy? Well I still think we need a rematch after that sucky excuse for a match in the Arena."
Tahno looked up at her quickly. Was she serious? Her cerulean eyes glittered with determination and he was slightly taken aback by their beauty. He cleared his throat and stood to his full height, staring her down. "You sure you wanna go there little girl? I won't take it easy on you." He was lying of course. He didn't really think he'd be able to attack the woman who gave him back his life after all.
"Hell yeah! I wouldn't expect anything less Wolfbat; meet me at the usual training room, seven am sharp. "She confidently leaned towards him. "Unless you're afraid?"
Her closeness generated a sort of exhilarating thrill to his body. He wanted to fight her. He wanted to prove his worth and maybe, just maybe gain a little more of his former cocky self in the process. "Bring it."
"Oh I'd be glad to Pretty Boy."
She stepped back into her home and gave him a light hearted chuckle before waving. He returned her gesture half-heartedly and turned to leave when he heard the sound of a shutting door.
As he boarded the ferry back to the mainland, he couldn't help but savour the scent of sea water twirling around his expertly curled hair. To be one with his element was the best feeling in the world and his Dea was the only one he could thank for that. "Korra", her name slid off his tongue with ease. He couldn't wait for tomorrow.
i
ii
iii
oooOooo
Thanks for reading! Okay so I finally decided to start a Tahnorra story. It will contain a bit of angst but honestly I think that having a bit of sadness and history in a character's background gives them more life and makes them seem more human so I'm gonna stick with that theory and hopefully you guys will enjoy it ^^. If you guys want to know my inspiration its the song "Love is Blindness"by Jack White (U2) and my profile pic. ;)
Dont forget to review! :P
xoxo~
I.V