A/N: So I've been purposely staying away from writing any Legend of Korra stories until I get a better grasp of the characters. But a certain image- and a theory- invaded my mind after watching episode five, and I just couldn't resist. I may or may not continue it, depending on the responses I get.
This one-shot features Korra, Tahno, Mako, and Bolin. It takes place after the events of episode 5. Also, warning of darkness and a bit of... well, let's say, harrasment.
Enjoy!
His face was obscenely close to hers.
Tahno lunged, and Korra's raised her arms in preparation to fend him off; but then his hands planted themselves on her hips. The long, taloned fingers of one hand rose to scrape her cheek, and her fists unravelled in confusion. When he had walked in on her in the training room at this late hour, she had expected an attack, a water whip, a sneering insult at the very least. Instead, his cold fingers were on her face, and that was somehow more unsettling.
She was seventeen, the Avatar, a great fighter; "one of a kind", according to Bolin. But she had lived a sheltered life, and until now, she didn't realize just how sheltered.
"Let me go!" She sent a flaming fist to his middle, but he dodged away gracefully and stood leering a few feet away. His irritatingly white teeth were bared, and it took her a solid moment to figure out why he was smiling.
She was frozen. It was a queer feeling, one she had never experienced before; it was as though a gloved hand had reached inside her and stayed there, curling into a firm fist in her middle that she could not budge. Her brows came together in confusion as she tried to step forward- swing her arm- flex a muscle, a finger. But she was perfectly still, as though carved from stone, and she watched with disbelieving eyes as Tahno came closer and she was unable to move a muscle.
"What-" As the word escaped her mouth, she could barely restrain a breath of relief; she could still speak. She tried again. "What are you doing to me? Why can't I move?"
He was still moving closer, and a wave of fresh panic rose within her when she couldn't step back. "Bloodbending."
And then he was touching her.
For the first time in her life, Korra found herself literally shocked into silence. She was ridiculously aware of Tahno's long, pale fingers ghosting over the skin above her collar. I can give you some private lessons.
"Let me go." Her voice was no longer strong and forceful. It was a frightened shadow of its usual self, the tone of a girl she almost didn't recognize. And she wasn't sure what she was speaking of anymore; the hand that had reached inside her and controlled every muscle, or his hand, kneading her clothed breast.
For the second time in her life, she felt fear. The first was only a little while ago, a lifetime ago; yet the hooded man with the mask who publically stripped men of their bending and this one were suddenly one and the same. And so was the fear.
His fingers traced the the hem of her shirt, grasped it, and pulled it up slighly. His colorless eyes rose to meet hers, then filled with a languid kind of pleasure.
Korra was suddenly so furious that she felt her eyes stinging from the salty tears that threatened to leave her eyes. "Let me go! Let me go right now! Don't touch me, don't-"
Her panicked screams evaporated into the air as her lips sealed shut of their own accord. "There," Tahno purred. "Much better. Now I can actually enjoy myself."
And then her shirt was gone, and she was never so grateful for breast bindings in her life, but then her pants disappeared, too, and she felt her face heat with the hot flame of mortification. He drew ribbons of blood from her wrists, giving a satisfied "Ah" as he viewed the cracked skin. Occasionally he sent sharp water whips flying at her, but the pain barely registered through the haze of panic, rage, and impending doom. She clung to the fact that she was still in her undergarments, but it hardly mattered because his horribly pale, cold hands were everywhere-
There was the sound of a door creaking open, and Korra turned her head and found Bolin.
Some delayed part of her brain registered that she had just turned her head- she could move- and the mixture of helplessness, confusion, and anger she'd seen in Bolin's eyes during that one second awakened a flame in her. With a cry, she bended a jet of fire at Tahno, sending him crashing into the wall. He collapsed in a heap on the floor, motionless.
"Korra!" Bolin was beside her. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you? God, he did, you're bleeding-"
"I'm fine." Suddenly, the only thing that mattered was finding her clothes, those damn clothes. "I'm fine," she repeated, more for Bolin's benefit than her own.
Korra found her pants, picked them up. Her hands were shaking, and she couldn't seem to get them to stay firmly at her hips. Bolin was saying something but she didn't know what, as she attempted to slip her shirt on over her head. The effort caused her to fall to her knees, black spots dancing over her vision as her brow furrowed with the energy of concentration.
"Korra, your wrists are bleeding, a lot-"
She muttered another dazed "I'm fine" as the world suddenly spun and she was falling, but then she wasn't anymore because she was staring at the floor, and something warm and hard was pressing into her middle, and she realized as though from a distance that Bolin was carrying her over his shoulder, and she was cursing herself for her weakness as the world went black.
Awareness came slowly. It was a long time before Bolin's face, which was hovering above her, came into focus.
"Bolin?"
"You're awake." The words whooshed out of him in one breath. "For a second there, I thought you were a goner."
He chuckled nervously, and Korra felt terrible for the worry she must have put him through. Her roving eyes quickly took in her surroundings; she spotted the long glass panels of a familiar attic. "Am I at... your place?"
"Yeah."
"Is..." She took a deep breath. "Is Mako here?"
"No." Bolin was wringing his hands. "He's, um... he's busy. Doing, you know. Stuff."
His obvious discomfort raised an alarm bell. "Bolin... is Mako okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, he's fine." She could tell his answer was honest; he wasn't lying to spare her feelings. "More than fine, actually."
"Oh." Understanding clicked, and with it, a wave of pain she didn't know existed. "He's with Asami?"
"Yeah." Bolin shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "Hasn't been too long, but-"
"Bolin." She took a deep, steading breath. "It's okay. How'd I get here."
"Well," Bolin started, obviously relieved to be moving on to other topics. "I took you to the Air Temple Island first because I didn't know where else to go, and I couldn't find Mako... He'd know what to do, but I didn't, and I figured Tenzin would also know, so I took you there, and he got someone to fix you up, but the kids were being annoying so Tenzin thought it would be better if you rested here."
Korra placed a hand on Bolin's, stilling his ramblings. His eyes flashed to hers. "Thank you, Bolin."
"Why would you thank me?" He shook his head. "I didn't do anything."
Korra's brow furrowed. "Yes, you did."
"No, I didn't." Bolin's voice was uncharacteristically angry. "I always try to help, but I don't."
"You do help-"
"I try to. But I don't actually help. With the championship pot, I tried to help, and I got us all into a huge mess. And now..." He hung his head. "I didn't do anything, and you got hurt."
"Bolin." Korra's voice was firm, forcing him to open his eyes and return his gaze to her. "You brought me to Tenzin. That was more than helpful."
"But with... with him..." Bolin shuddered. "I just stood. I saw him do that to you, and I just stood."
Her jaw was set. "Bolin-"
"You had to save yourself, Korra." Bolin's bottom lip was trembling. "And I'm sorry for that."
Korra's eyes softened. "Bolin, you can't blame yourself."
Bolin continued as though he hadn't heard her speak. "I don't know how to help... the way Mako can." He met her eyes with his own wet ones, and suddenly it wasn't just about the incident that had just occured. Korra lowered her eyes, an unbidden wave of guilt overcoming her.
"I'm sorry." Bolin rose from his chair by the bed. "I'll let you... you know, rest."
Korra squeezed her eyes shut as her ears followed the fading sound of Bolin's footfalls. She was suddenly caught in a tidal wave of emotions; relief at being safe from the terrifying situation she'd been in, anger at herself for causing Bolin to doubt himself to such an extent, and the dregs of the horrifying fear she'd felt earlier. And then there was Mako; absentee Mako, who didn't know she experienced victimization at the hands of a bloodbender for the first time that night, not to mention almost being raped.
Suddenly, she had to cry, and she quelled the unbelievably powerful urge with every ounce of strength she had, the effort sapping her reserve of energy and sending her, once again, to sleep.
"What?"
Korra startled awake at the fiery roar that seemed to shake the floor of the attic. She jolted into a sitting position, instantly regretting the quick move as a wave of dizziness overtook her. Korra settled her hands on her knees and breathed slowly for a few steadying seconds, then squared her jaw, and finally pulled herself to her feet. She made her slow progress to the door of Bolin's bedroom and down the hall, where Mako and Bolin's raised voices were coming.
"Mako, calm down! You'll set the whole arena on fire!"
"Did he hurt her?" She paused in her steps when she detected the fierceness in Mako's voice.
"Yeah." Bolin's answer was tinged with sadness. "Her wrists were pretty banged up, and there were welts and cuts on her stomach and legs..."
Mako's quiet curse betrayed his barely controlled rage. "Was she healed?"
"Yeah, Tenzin took care of it." Korra heard Bolin's sigh. "I feel so terrible, Mako- you didn't see her there, the helpless way that she was standing, and the way he was touching her-"
Bolin's words were cut off by a loud crash. "Mako! Jeez..."
"Was..." Mako swallowed the words, the reality too horrible. "Was she... did he..."
Korra stepped forward into their line of sight. "I wasn't raped."
Their heads jerked to the side as Korra appeared in the kitchen doorway. Both men's mouths were agape. "What? I wasn't."
Mako took a hesitant step towards her. "Are you okay?"
"Yes." She hated the way they were looking at her; as though she was a child, helpless. "I'm fine. I'm the Avatar, for crying out loud."
Bolin exchanged a glance with his brother. "Korra-"
"I'm fine. So there's no reason to burn down your kitchen, Mako."
His brow furrowed at her words, as though he couldn't understand where they were coming from. It was a moment before he spoke. "Korra, you should go back to bed."
"Why?" Korra's fisted her hands on her hips, but the movement caused her to wince as pain bloomed in her wrists.
Mako seemed to detect the pain and he was suddenly in front of her, his hands surprisingly gentle on her shoulders leading her into and down the hall. Korra allowed herself to be led until he steered her left instead of right.
"I was sleeping in there," she resisted, pointing to the doorway on the right.
"That's Bolin's room," Mako said. "You can take mine tonight."
"I'm not staying here tonight." She crossed her arms over her chest, this time not allowing the pain to show on her face. "I'm going back to the Air Temple Island."
Mako huffed, apparently irritated. "Why do you always have to be so difficult?"
"Why do you always think you can make decisions for me?"
His eyebrows rose in surprise. "I don't think that."
Korra did not allow herself to be mollified. "Whatever. I don't feel like crashing with you and Asami tonight, anyway, so if you'll excuse me-"
"Is that what this is about?" Mako flung his arms, exasperated. "Because me and Asami-"
"I don't want to know what you and Asami did tonight, and honestly, I don't care." She shook herself free from his grasp and took a decisive step away from him. "I'm really tired, so goodbye."
Mako's hand on her shoulder halted her progress. "Wait, Korra."
She froze at the contact of his palm with her skin. It was the first time he'd touched her since the kiss.
For a moment, she was afraid she'd voiced that thought aloud, as Mako's hand abruptly withdrew. "I'm sorry," he said, his voice soft and tinged with regret. "I wasn't thinking, and I just.. after... I'm sorry."
Korra realized what he was thinking, and although she wasn't surprised at his sense of nobility, she was surprised at his sensitivity. "It's okay."
"No, it's not." She turned around, finding Mako's brows furrowed above his eyes; golden pools of anguish. "You went through something I can't imagine tonight- and here I am, picking a fight with you. I'm sorry."
"Don't be." For some reason, her voice came out husky and cracked. You went through something I can't imagine tonight.
"Korra..." Mako's voice reached her through the sudden gauze of tears. "Korra, it's-"
"No, no, I'm fine, I'm not crying." She wiped at her eyes in a sudden panic. She couldn't cry in front of Mako! She couldn't cry at all- she was the Avatar. She was strong. Yes, Tenzin had said the first step to overcoming fear was to admit it, but this wasn't a fear. This was a weakness; a sickening memory of cold hands and stolen control.
"Korra." Mako's hands were suddenly on her forearms. "Stop."
She was biting her lip, violently, her eyes squeezed shut against the tears.
"Korra." His quiet, reaffirming voice was everything; it was the anchor that would pull her up, and she knew it. But she didn't want that. She'd make it up on her own.
"Korra, it's okay to cry."
"It's not." Her voice was rough, her bottom lip was trembling. "It's not okay."
But his hands seemed to say otherwise, as they hooked themselves underneath her arms and drew her to him so that all she could see was his chest. All of a sudden, she was enveloped in warmth, and it was the realization that her face was pressed against his scarf that wrenched the first sob from her.
"It was horrible, Mako," she cried. His hands were rubbing small, warm circles on her back, and now that she started talking, she couldn't stop. "I was terrified. I couldn't move, he bended the blood inside of me... I couldn't control my own body, I couldn't bend, I couldn't scream..."
"It's over, Korra, he's gone..."
"His hands were freezing, Mako." She gripped fistfuls of his shirt, begged him silently to wipe the feeling from her memory. "I've.. I've never felt so helpless."
Korra felt soft pads of his fingertips on her chin, coaxing her to look up at him. She shook her head, burrowed her face deeper into the security of his chest.
"Korra... look at me."
Reluctantly, she did. His eyes were smoldering. "He will never touch you again." The words were enunciated slowly, firmly. "You will never be put in that situation... ever again."
"How can you be sure?" Tears were leaking out of the corners of her eyes, and she realized how weak she looked and sounded, but she found that she didn't care.
"I'll protect you."
Those three words wrenched another sob from her- and Mako leaned forward, concerned. "You can't always protect me, Mako. I'm the only one who I can count on to protect myself."
"Korra." His voice was tinged with frustration now. "I won't let anything like that happen to you again. I won't."
She opened her mouth to argue, but he held up a hand, as though he already knew what she was going to say; and he probably did. "Don't you believe me?"
"I do," she said, and she honestly did; the conviction in his eyes left no room for disbelief. "But, Mako, even if you were to follow me around all the time... he's a bloodbender, and there's..." She swallowed. "There's no bending that can help you resist that."
"But there is, don't you see?" His hands were on her shoulders, his eyes boring into hers. "You're a waterbender. You can learn to bloodbend, and then you'll be able to fight back."
She almost felt her face light up with the ray of hope he was offering her. "You think so?"
"Korra, you're the strongest person I've ever met."
Korra smiled gratefully; she knew that the statement, coming from Mako, meant a lot. She launched herself into his arms and pulled him into a hug; he reacted after a moment, his strong arms wrapping around her and pressing her closer to him.
"Thank you," she muttered into his shoulder.
He responded with a small squeeze, and Korra revelled in the sudden warmth that had enveloped her, praying it would stay with her for as long as possible.
A/N: Don't hate me! I actually love Tahno, and his voice is quite delicious. But, well, I couldn't resist writing this fic.
And yes, I do actually believe Tahno is a bloodbender. I hope I'm right!
Also, just to be clear since I haven't posted any LoK fanfiction before, I'm a Makorra shipper. If I decide to continue this, the next chapter will probably display that through some smut :3
So, let me know what you think!
