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It was ironic really but it was more common than a lot of people knew. Most Waterbenders never learned how to swim. The non-benders were always taught how to swim but never the benders. Waterbenders relied on their bending to propel them through the water or to just keep them from sinking into its dark depths.
It made for the perfect ending.
He was nothing now, not since his powers had been ripped from his soul. He was empty, hollow, and worthless. There was nothing he could do to fulfill the aching he felt every second of every day. He wandered around the city like a ghost, a shell of a person, like a shadow. No one spoke to him. No one looked at him. He had nothing to live for anymore. The days ran together and he couldn't even remember the last time he had done something worthwhile with his life.
His feet carried him to his release.
Below him, the gray and cold waters of Yue Bay shined in the moonlit night. He could feel the turbulent waters below him call for him. It would be quick, much faster than the way he was currently living. He stood on the edge, the tips of his shoes hanging over. A simple breeze would push him over the edge. One final look over the city, one final goodbye and it would be over.
He closed his eyes and leaned forward.
Just as he felt a rush hit his body it was yanked from him. He was pulled back from the edge. One hand grabbed the back of his coat while another wrapped around his waist. They pulled him away from his cold grave and into their warm arms.
"Why?" their voice was as chaotic as the waters below them, "Tahno, why?"
"Let me go," his voice cracked. He sounded so broken nothing like the confident and arrogant person he had become.
"No," they shouted back, "I'm not letting you go! I can't."
"I'm not worth it!"
"What do you mean?" they sound confused by his response. It not like they could ever understand his pain. They paused and it seemed like he had shut them up.
"Tahno, if you do this you are just letting Amon win."
"He has already taken everything from me," he struggled against their hold but they wouldn't budge, "He should have killed me and put me out of my suffering!"
"He did take your bending and I can't even begin to imagine what you have gone through," they paused and their grip on him slacked just for a second but that was all he needed. He pushed away from them and then after putting some distance between them he looked back. His blood ran cold.
The last person he wanted to see, the last person he wanted to find him like this, and the last person he never wanted to save him.
The avatar.
"Korra?" she looked at him with pity and what he assumed was guilt.
"Tahno please," she pleaded with him, "Let me help you." She stood up and slowly walked towards him.
"You can help me by making Amon pay for what he did to me," he flinched away from her and she stopped. The two of them were silent. The clear night had changed and it seemed a storm had rolled over Republic City blanketing the city. The pitch-dark clouds opened up and unleashed their furry down on the city. Within seconds the two were soaked.
"This isn't the answer, come back to Air Temple Island with me," she offered.
He didn't argue with her and when she touched his arm to bring him with her he didn't stop her or resist her. He followed her still numb to the world around him. Even in the following days the numbness never vanished. Until the day came when the city was under siege from the Equalists. But, it ended quickly and in the end Korra did defeat Amon. She had kept her promise to him.
He had been dammed before Korra had found him that day and he had been drowning he had been lost. He had wanted to end his existence. But she had saved him from being pulled under those dark waves. She had been a beacon of light. No, she had been his beacon of light. She had been his reason to continue living.
But once she had restored him she pushed him away.