Sins of the Father
"… When I was seven, my father, your grandfather, took me and your Uncle Noatak on a hunting trip far away from our home. He told us his true identity was Yakone, Republic City's most notorious crime boss, and that he was once a bloodbender of rare skill. Every full moon, your grandfather took us on another supposed "hunting trip," where he secretly trained us in bloodbending. Something changed in Noatak over the years; the loving brother I once knew became cold and detached. Your grandfather pushed us to extremes, and one day, he made us bloodbend each other. Your Uncle Noatak had enough and finally had the courage to stand up to your grandfather. He asked me to come with him, but I couldn't leave your grandmother, my mother, all by herself. Your grandfather and I searched for days, but we never found a sign of your Uncle Noatak, back then, until he came back as Amon. Your grandmother was never the same after his disappearance. Your grandfather stopped training me in bloodbending. With your uncle gone, his hopes for revenge withered, and he passed away a few years later."
Kenai blinked, still trying to process everything that his father just told him.
"So, Grandfather Yakone used you and Uncle Noatak as revenge against the Avatar?"
Tarrlok turned to look at his son. "Yes… Yes, he did."
If it were himself and his younger sister, Nita, Kenai would have turn out just like his father.
"Wow, I… Dad, I don't know how you survived it all. I can't imagine what it must have been like for you, growing up."
Tarrlok faced Kenai. "Kenai, I want you to know, I'd never do to you what your grandfather did to me. I may not be a perfect parent, but know that I care about you and your sister, so much. You both mean the world to me."
He took his father's hands into his own. "You're doing your job fine, dad. It must have been… so terrible, how you grew up." Tears were beginning to form in his eyes, and he could see that his dad was starting to cry, too. "If only you had a dad who's just as great as the one I have now…"
After his son said those words, they were both soon in an embrace.
"I promise you… I won't even think to use bloodbending on anyone at all."
A soft sob came from his father.
This made them both ever more grateful that Nita was a non-bender.
It was a funny thing, though. If Grandfather Yakone was still alive to this day, Kenai would have loved to see his reaction to his dad marrying the Avatar, Kenai's mother.
On this day, Kenai vowed. He vowed to never step onto the wrong side of the law, like his grandfather. He was going to fulfill what his own father set out in the first place.
To be what Repiblic City needed.
He wasn't just going to be his father.
He was going to be his father and so much more.
Note
Quoting my child meme on tumblr.
"Being a political diplomat, he'd get it from his father, but this time around, he'd be the good diplomat, rather than what his father did, and even Grandfather Yakone in the crime ring. In a way, Kenai is what Tarrlok wanted to be in the first place, and Tarrlok's glad that through Kenai in a way that he is able to be what the city needs in the first place"
The fan babies are making me ship Korrlok so much deeper, now…! How Tarrlok and Korra give their kids what they never had in their childhood to their kids. Eee…!