There was always this one saying that floated around. No one was sure of its origin, but the truth it held rang clear through even the toughest times for most people: "Time heals all wounds."

After having his bending taken away, Tahno was little more than a shadow of the man he once was; all of that extravagance, that superior attitude melted away in a single moment and was replaced with hoplessness and melancholy. In just a moment, his life was changed permanently.

And after the Equalist movement was put down, he naturally sought out the Avatar's aid. He had to get his bending back, just had to — it was all he ever had to his name, after all. He had no idea how he would survive without it after living a life of luxury and of four consecutive years being the leader of the champion pro-bending team.

There was a moment of hesitation, as if that determination that she'd shown when promising that she would take Amon down was simply a momentary attempt at consoling him back then. And then she stared him dead in the eyes, her expression strangely unreadable. The refusal came a moment later as a slow shake of her head.

As if having his bending taken away wasn't enough. But life went on.

Eventually, he learned to forget. He managed to find a low-paying job to keep him on his feet, at least until the prize money finally ran out. It was a bit lonely having his apartment all to himself; once upon a time he would invite a few lucky fans — female, for the most part — to spend the night with him, or his team would gather around the coffee table and talk strategy (or rather, how much they would have to pay the referee to get away with some moves, in some cases). Both groups deserted him. And he knew it was only a matter of time before the four walls he'd dwelled in for the past four years would desert him as well, and the view of the Republic City skyline as he awoke from a good night's rest would be nothing but a distant memory.

That day's name was dread.

But sometimes he couldn't help but be grimly aware of what he'd lost that he'd doubtfully get back. Sometimes those painfully aware moments came late in the night, when he had trouble falling asleep and found himself staring up at the ceiling with vacant, unfocused eyes. Sometimes those moments came in the middle of tending to the few small tables that he'd been afforded as one of three waiters at what was more or less a mom-and-pop restaurant owned by a sweet old couple, one a waterbender like he'd been and the other a nonbender. Sometimes they came on suddenly and he slowed to a halt on the street, stopping whatever he was doing with an expression of the grim reminder that he could not coast on his past forever.

Though his past certainly had nasty ways of catching up to him anyway, as Korra's refusal showed him.

A long day at work yielded him with another week's meager earnings and he stepped out of the restaurant with the apron with his name stitched on it still hanging loosely around his neck. Dark gray clouds filled the sky and blotted out the early evening sun, conspiring to bring rain. And it wasn't long until their heinous plan was set into motion and the first, then simultaneously second and third, raindrops fell onto his head, and then the sky opened up with all of its rage and drenched any of those unlucky enough to be walking the streets without an umbrella. Tahno, one of them, was forced to pause in his transit from work to the nearest bus stop and seek shelter under a store's awning until he could continue his journey in peace.

Just a moment is all that it takes to change the course of one's life. One moment of being in the right place, at the right time.

"Hey."

Tahno froze.

Then he looked up. Then, he slapped on the best smile he could given the circumstances: being faced with Avatar Korra herself for the first time since she refused him his bending, months ago. "Hey there, Uh-vatar," he greeted back. Once upon a time, the nickname was one that he used to openly mock her. Slowly it became associated with the woman in his mind to the point that it would feel wrong if he didn't catch himself addressing her with it every now and again.

And once upon a time, Korra would respond to the usage with a tight-lipped frown. Maybe even anger, annoyance… But instead she gave a small smile. Any small-talk that would have acted as a preamble was unceremoniously skipped. "I've been thinking for a while now, Tahno." A deep breath. "And… I've decided. It was probably a bit cruel of me to not return your bending to you back then. I went through that myself, so I don't know what I was thinking—" Korra gritted her teeth and took another breath. "I've hoping I'd run into you so I can apologize and give to you what is rightfully yours."

Tahno's eyes widened and his lips part a bit, as if to reply. No words came. The smile that crept to his lips was more than sufficient to express his gratitude.

The next moment passed in a dream. He voluntarily knelt before Korra and one of her hands found its way to his shoulder, the other to his forehead. It only took a moment before he was whole again, the waterbender Tahno who won four consecutive years as the leader of the Wolfbats. And he had the Korra to thank.

While others had put on extravagant displays of their renewed skill with their element, Tahno simply called some of the falling rain to him, molding the liquid into a sphere in his hand, that warm, almost awe-inspired smile still plastered across his features. There were no words between them and Korra left as quietly as she'd come, walking away through the rain, not even making a move to use her bending to shield herself.

And in that moment, as he stepped into the rain and forced the rain to reacquaint itself with its master, he was convinced that Korra's hands were the hands of healing others' harms.

This was originally published on my AO3, then my writing tumblr, then I remembered I had a FFN account so I figured I may as well post it here as well.

Admittedly this is the first of hopefully few poor attempts at an advertising campaign; I'm looking for a writing buddy to collaborate with on a fanfiction I want to write, but don't have the time to tackle solo. If you're interested, the information can be found on my personal blog, here:

post/67313745022

See ya soon, hopefully, and I hope you enjoyed this short little Tahno thing. Zaviire signin' off.