Rating: T for now, but eventual M
Pairing(s): Mostly Tahorra, but bits of Makorra, Borra, Korrasami, and Korroh.
Summary (well, not really): AU, in which Tahno's the Avatar, not Korra. Sometimes he wonders why the spirits chose him. They were so cruel, after all they did force him to meet her. They say that every curse is a blessing in disguise, but they also said that every blessing was a masked curse. Somehow, these are both true, to his surprise, and it's quite the anomaly. But he's going to get to the bottom of this little enigma, and whether he likes it or not, he's going to need her help. Fate wouldn't have it any other way. Screw you, fate. Screw. You.
"Ugh, this compound is unbearable! How am I supposed to socialize if I'm stuck here all the time?"
"Tahno, stop acting like a petulant little girl. Your duty to the world is far more important than—"
"The Avatar must be compassionate to all people, isn't it, Master Kya? And the only way to do that is to live with them, yes? And, in case you haven't noticed, there are no people that I can interact with." The boy smirked.
"Of course there are, bloody idiot!"
"I'm sorry, let me rephrase that. There are no people I can interact with that won't bore me to tears."
He was clever.
"I suppose you're right. Wouldn't want to cry out that eyeliner. How long do you take to get ready in the morning, again?"
His teacher was too.
"Whatever. I can't wait until I get to Republic City? It's my home, and I'd like to return."
"Don't get ahead of yourself. You're still learning firebending! Your test is approaching. And Tenzin will come here to teach you. Besides, even if you were to go to the city, the Lotus is gonna have you on lockdown. You wouldn't be able to leave the island."
Tahno groaned.
Kya was referred to as a 'hippy' by most, and while she didn't exactly agree with the term, she was very calm, patient, and carefree. Most of the time. But Tahno agitated her to no end.
"My niece, Korra will be visiting in a few days, okay? You remember her, right? She should give you some company, and before you know it, you'll have passed your firebending test."
"Yeah."
Oh, he remembered Korra, alright.
"Play nice." She warned, aware of the sentiments her pupil harbored towards her niece.
…
"You know, there aren't many prodigies among waterbenders. I was actually the first one in hundreds of years. And then you came along, and totally stole my thunder. Well done, Master Korra." The old woman smiled with pride at the brash teenager that stood before her. they weren't blood related, but she felt a special bond with that girl.
"Thank you, so much, Master Katara. It's an honor to be taught by you. Even the Avatar doesn't have such a kickass Sifu!"
"I'm sure Kya is doing a fine job with him. I do wish that I could train my husband's reincarnation, but it is very hard for me to be away from the South Pole for so long. Speaking of leaving the tribe, are you ready for your visit up north?"
"Hell yeah I am!"
"And I assume you cannot wait to meet your cousins?'
Korra made a face. "I, uh, yeah, I love them and all but, Kirima and Kilak are kinda creepy sometimes…"
The old woman laughed heartily at Korra's predicted response. "Hey! Don't talk about my creepy grandkids like that!" she joked.
…
A young boy, 8 years old, stared at his reflection in the ice wall on the outside of the building, fixing his hair, before a rather large snowball was chucked at his head, and he fell face first into the snow.
"Hey! Who're you? Master Katara said that you were a boy but you don't look like one!" The six year old girl who threw the snowball at him giggled. She was chubby, but already had some muscle on her arms. She had three wolf tails, which looked rather silly in Tahno's opinion, and clothes that were really not warm enough for the North Pole, even in the spring.
Tahno pushed himself off the ground, a deep scowl on his face, spitting out slush. "I'm the Avatar! Who do you think you are?"
"Oh! You're the Tahbo kid. I'm Korra. Master Kya's my auntie!"
Oh, so this was the adorable Korra that his sifu had been telling him about. He expected some cute little village girl. "It's Tahno, not Tahbo! And don't ever mess up my hair again!"
The girl giggled again, and even worse, she seemed totally unimpressed at his title. He was the Avatar! Kids usually worshipped him, but this, this girl…she was…ugh! Tahno's head hurt.
The girl giggled again. It was rather endearing, but Tahno would never say so.
"What's so funny?"
"It's just that…Avatar Aang was bald…and you care so much about some stupid hair! You are really girly!"
"And you look like a boy!"
"Do I really?" She wasn't the least bit put off by his comment. "I try to sometimes, because girls have to do dumb things like cook and clean and sew and wear dresses. I wanna fight!"
Tahno could only gape.
…
"Don't think too hard, Avatar Pretty Boy. You might start losing hair," Kya teased, her head peeking into his room, a joint in between her pearly white teeth.
The teenager stared at his master. "Are you smoking weed?"
She smirked. "Want some?"
"No! And what are you doing in my room?"
"I've come to tell you that Korra's here, and you need to greet her, like the proper and diplomatic Avatar that you are."
"I have begun to nurse a vendetta against your niece, I'm sorry to say."
"Expected. But too bad. Go say hi."
"I don't want to, okay, because—"
"Shh! Can you hear that?" She cut him off.
"What?"
"If I'm not mistaken, that's the sound of me not giving a shit. Now go say hi."
"You are nothing like Aang."
"Neither are you."
He huffed indignantly. "It's your own fault, you know. You told me that Korra was a sweet little village girl, and she wasn't. Had I known she was so…abrasive, I would have been prepared, therefore less wary about seeing her—oof!"
Kya had incased his body, all the way up to his neck, in ice. He tried to waterbend himself out, but it held him in a vice grip, then he tried to firebend himself out, but the ice was too thick. She moved her hand as to float him down the stairs. Once they reached the bottom, she freed him, and he bended all the water off of himself, snarling at his master, who obviously didn't care.
"Where is she? I don't see her any—ow!" A snowball pegged his back, and a familiar voice made him cringe.
"Long time no see, Almighty Avatar. I tried not to mess up your hair this time."
He could practically hear the smirk in her voice.
Okay, so this is really my first attempt at writing anything more than a two-shot, so bear with me. Tell me your thoughts, and I'm always looking for a beta!
Headcanons of mine that you should know to understand the story:
Kya's married to Unarock, making her Korra's aunt, even if this isn't true in season 2, this story is AU anyway, so fuck it.
Tahno was born in Republic City, but went to train in the NWT because he had relatives from there, and the White Lotus wasn't totally horrible, and wanted him to be comfortable. So, Kya would teach him, not Katara.
Tahno's mother was a trophy wife of sorts. She was a firebender, but barely used her bending because she was too busy being a socialite, and his dad, as a contrast, was a top notch waterbender, and a pro-bender. He started the White Falls Wolfbats. They rarely visit him, and he doesn't really care for his family in the Water Tribe, they only want to spend time with him because he's the Avatar.
Korra isn't the Avatar, but a very prodigious waterbender, and when Katara saw her little Grandniece practicing, she saw so much potential that she agreed to train her.
Korra and Tahno met once when they were kids, and it wasn't a memory that he likes to bring up often.
I'm actually going to put quite a bit of Iroh, because in this story, Bumi is married to Ursa (Zuko's daughter), making the General Katara's grandson and Kya's nephew. Korra and Iroh would have seen eachother, growing up, because they're cousins. But, they aren't blood related, so, not creepy.
Let me know if I should continue!