A/N:

Some major Tahno/Korra in this chapter. I've been wanting to write them and figured I'd get it out of my system.

I regret nothing.

You wake up covered in sweat with your hair sticking to your forehead.

The nightmare is still at the forefront of your mind and you feel nausea rolling through your stomach. You take a deep breath and swallow thickly before sitting up and throwing your blankets off of your body.

In your dreams Amon had taken away your bending. You rub your hand over your face, trying to erase the feeling of the masked man's thumb over your brow.

"No," you mumble out loud to yourself. "I'm the Avatar, I'm strong and I will defeat Amon." You nod to yourself. You don't feel all that reassured, but you know that having confidence is key.

There's sudden, uproarious laughter from next door.

You get up and move out into the hallway before opening up the door to the neighboring bedroom. Bolin is in the bed and Mako is lying on a pallet on the floor. You know immediately that there wasn't even an argument over who could have the bed. Mako probably gave it up willingly.

Both of them freeze when they see you.

"Sorry. Did we wake you up?" Bolin asks sheepishly, Pabu curled up in his lap.

You shake your head. "I was up anyway."

"Nightmare?" The way Mako says it makes it seem like he's just throwing out a guess, but you bristle anyway.

"No," you snap. "I just couldn't sleep."

Mako shrugs and lies down on his pallet, crossing his arms behind his head.

"We're going to the arena tomorrow to see if we can salvage some of our stuff. You wanna come?" Bolin offers with a smile. Considering that his and his brother's home got practically blown up some hours before, he's pretty cheerful. Typical Bolin.

"Sure," you answer. Instead of leaving the brother's temporary room, you sit down on the edge of Bolin's bed and start petting Pabu. Bolin doesn't complain. He launches into some funny story he heard a couple of days ago and you listen, forcing yourself to pay attention.

But there's still a part of your mind that can't shake Amon. Your fingers start to tremble.

You turn your head a bit, see Mako watching you from his spot on the floor. His gaze zeros in on your fingers, but he doesn't say anything, not a word. To your surprise he gives you a tiny, reassuring smile and then rolls over onto his other side, presenting you with his back.

You're relieved to know that at least Mako can keep secrets.

The next day you barely make it half way to the arena. People are everywhere. Most of them are nervous, glancing over their shoulder with every other step, as if preparing themselves for an attacking Equalist at every turn.

A lot of them speak to you when they see you. A lot are kind, but quite a few of them have a nasty thing or two to spit to your face. Mako and Bolin have fun shoving them off to the side.

You're a couple of blocks away when you spot him—Tahno of the Wolfbats. You remember that Amon took his bending away the night before and your heart goes out to him. You know that the two of you weren't ever friends, of course, you were rivals. But something still compels you to move toward him, to help them.

"Korra?" Bolin calls out.

"I'll just be a second," you answer, and then you're following Tahno into a seedy looking pub.

"Hey," you snap, because he keeps walking and won't stop and turn around. "I want to talk to you—"

"I'm fine, sweetheart. You don't have to worry your pretty little head over me." He turns around and faces you. There's no eyeliner today and he looks paler than you've ever seen him.

You suddenly feel downright stupid. What exactly were you going to be able to do to help him?

Tahno seems to be thinking the same thing. "Get out, Avatar."

You bite out the only thing you can think of. "I'm sorry about your bending. There's nothing that I can do for that but I promise that Amon is going to go down." Your voice is shaking in your fury, because even though Tahno had been a bit of a jerk he was still a waterbender. You could never imagine not being about to waterbend, the element you're most at home using. Just the thought makes you feel hollow.

The older boy surveys you with one perfectly sculpted eyebrow. "Promises, promises." Then he turns around and starts walking away, toward the back of the pub and through a door. You quickly move after him and into the back room

There's water everywhere. On puddles on the floor, in glasses, and there's even a filled tub in the corner.

Tahno must have heard you walk in behind him because his chin jerks slightly in your direction. "Can't make it move anymore. I was in here all night."

Then he sinks to the floor. He doesn't cry, although you're starting to feel like you might have to for him. He stares at the wall, expression bitter and gaze listless. You sit down next to him and sigh.

"I wasn't even a master yet," he says, sounding tired. "Hadn't even begun to train with healing." He makes a 'pft' noise and blows some of his hair out of his face. "Thought I'd have plenty of time for it."

You bring some water to your palm and it starts to glow, a natural reaction.

Some of the Tahno that you're familiar with emerges, and he smirks. "Can't heal souls, sweetheart. You can try all you like."

There's a knock on the door and seconds later you hear Mako's worried voice. You reluctantly stand up and move to leave.

Tahno reaches out and snakes his long fingers around your ankle. A shiver runs up your leg and you don't move away.

"Hope Amon doesn't get you, Avatar. That'd be a shame."

Mako knocks on the door again and Tahno narrows his eyes. "Can't say I give too much of a shit about your teammates, though." He releases your ankle and you step away, your gaze locking with his. He's the first waterbender you've ever met that didn't have blue eyes.

He was the first waterbender you've ever met that didn't have blue eyes.

He looks away, wipes his hand along the soaked floor and then holds it in front of his face, watching the water slowly drip back to the ground.

You've never seen someone quite so empty.