Chapter 7: Protect
Her mind was a blank slate when his lips touched hers, sending a cold shock from her mouth that instantly warmed to her limbs as the sensation travelled throughout. She stood there, trapped between the wall and against his body. Her eyes were wide as they glared at him, but his face was so close that she couldn't read his expression. When what was happening finally registered through her head, she pulled her right hand from his grasp and raised it against his shoulder. To her misfortune, he had predicted this and easily caught her fist in mid-air, and he pinned it down. The string of curses she directed at him were muffled by his lips, which were surprisingly soft even when he pressed them against her mouth in an even fiercer kiss, as if he was paying her back for trying to hit him.
"Where is she?!"
She stopped struggling once she heard the gangster's voice around the corner of the alley. Heavy footsteps were slamming against the sidewalk, and her eyes closed as she held her breath.
The footsteps stopped near the alley. "I saw her!" An image of a man in a red overcoat knocked back after a well-placed water whip passed through her thoughts when she heard the familiar voice. "Where do you think she-" The gangster stopped mid-sentence, and Korra swore she could feel his gaze burning on Tahno and her. "Uh..."
"What the hell are you staring at, perv?" A voice that she vaguely recalled belonged to an earthbender she had thrown into a heap of wooden boxes at the docks. "The boss will be pissed if we can't find her again!"
"You don't have to shout, asshole, I know! Hey, you two!" Her heart stopped when the gangster heckled them. "Get a damn room!"
An eternity slipped by for the footsteps to completely faded away and for Tahno's lips to finally leave hers. Without so much as looking at the dumbfounded expression on her face, he stepped out of the alley and looked into the direction the gangsters had ran off.
"They'll be looking for a good while, Uh-vatar. Good job on making such dedicated friends-"
As soon as he turned around, her fist smashed against the right side of his jaw, the force of her punch sending him crashing against the pavement. After he fell on his back with an unceremonious thud, she tore off the jacket he had placed around her and flung it at his head. "Asshole!" Her voice echoed angrily off the brick walls around them. Her heart was pumping furiously in her ears, heat coursing through her veins as she towered over him. He slipped the jacket off his head, exposing a red bruise from where she had hit him. His fingers touched the injury, wiping away the small trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth, and she was half-tempted to hit him again when he looked up at her with an indifferent little smirk.
"That brings back memories." He commented jauntily.
"How can you be so casual about it?!"
"It's not like I haven't been hit before-"
"NOT THAT!" She cut him off, her hands briefly gripping her side ponytails in frustration.
Her fingers dug tightly into the palms of her hands when he chuckled, throwing his jacket over his shoulder while he rose from the ground and back onto his feet. "Oh, you mean when we kissed."
"There was no 'we'! You kissed me." She reiterated, eliminating any chance for misinterpretation.
"Most women wouldn't complain in your place," he drawled, his pale grey eyes shining with amusement from the faint flow of the street lamps.
She stomped towards him, incensed. "I'm not most women, and I'm definitely not one of your scatterbrained floozies!"
"I see your vocabulary has expanded since your stay here." The grin disappeared momentarily once her hands gripped the collar of his shirt and effortlessly slammed him against the brick wall. He grunted from the impact of the wall, the black tailored jacket slipping off his shoulder and onto the ground. She thought that the reversal of positions may have frightened him, but his grey eyes watched her avidly, cutting her like ice.
"You going to hit me again, little girl?" The unusually calm tone of his voice sent chills down her back, but she continued to glare defiantly at him.
"Why shouldn't I?" She challenged. "You forced yourself on me."
"I saved you."
She balked at the absurdity of his words, her grip tightening even more around his collar. "What the hell are you talking about, you sleaze?"
"Those friends of yours aren't chasing you anymore, are they?"
"I didn't need you to help me! I was ready-"
"Ready to what, fight?" He interrupted. The grin was absent, but his eyes were laughing at her.
His condescending tone only infuriated her more. "I could've taken them!"
"And then what? Burn everything in sight like you did at the docks last week?"
She recoiled at the accusation, her grip slightly loosening. "How...how did you know about that?" He sent a jolt through her hands when his thin fingers settled on her tightened knuckles.
"A really good question," he started, his tone even, his eyes still watching her intently from the dark, styled bangs, "but how about we get out of the dark, grimy alley first?"
"You're not going anywhere until you answer me!" Korra commanded.
"Are you really that much of an idiot?" This time, his voice was raised slightly when he snapped back. She was startled by how his hand clasped tightly around her own. "That gang's going to circle back eventually, and you want to waste precious time interrogating me here?"
She bit her lip in frustration, trying to ignore the sense that the Wolfbat was making. "Don't call me an idiot-"
"I'll call you what I damn like, and right now you're being an idiot." He broke her hold on his jacket, his cold hands grasping her wrists tightly. "You're so stubborn that you can't even tell when someone's trying to help you."
Korra didn't want to believe him; he had given no reason for her to. Her eyes darted away from his face, but his fingers caught her chin before she could look away. "Come with me, and I'll answer your stupid questions."
Her scrutinizing glare noticed that the usual arrogant smirk was nonexistent, and his eyes held their steady, grey stare on her. She closed her eyes, letting out a defeated sigh, and her fists unclenched as he pulled them down back to her sides before letting go of them.
"Follow me." His fingers released her chin and under the dim light of the streetlamps, she followed the taller man down the street. He moved with a causal poise, his long legs eating up the pavement as he led her to a black, well-polished Satomobile. He opened the right door to the backseat and gestured her to enter. She crouched slightly so that her head missed the hood of the car and she slid down to the other end of the seat. The driver in the front acknowledged her with a polite nod, and when Tahno seated himself beside her, asked, "Where to, sir?"
"Wherever she lives." He said, and the driver's eyes settled on Korra.
"The Dragon Flats." She answered, quietly examining the plush interior of the Satomobile. She jumped slightly when she felt the seat rumble lowly and the gears shift as the driver pulled from the curb and onto the road. As they left the shanty neighborhood, the streets became brighter and more populated. The lights passed by her in streaks of gold, countless buildings and nameless faces passed by her as the car moved along the road.
"Never been in the back of a Satomobile, I take it?" Even when he was asking a question, he always sounded so damn smug.
She kept her eyes on the view outside her window. "Haven't had much of a chance to. Until now, the only thing I've ridden was a polar bear dog."
"Where is the mongrel anyway?"
Korra was silent before defensively retorting, "You said you'd answer my questions, Pretty Boy." She turned her head from the window to find him lounging against the back seat, one leg crossed over the other as his pointed chin propped up by his hand. "How did you know about the docks?"
"One of my teammates does business down there, and his entire inventory was destroyed. When he was down at the docks with his mother to ask the supervisor about it, you were mentioned." His stare was almost heavy after it went from the window back onto her again. "Shaozu remembered hearing about you when we ran into each other at Narook's last week. Ringing any bells?" He added with a sly smile that stoked her already rising temper.
"How can I forget how you bullied Bolin?" She shot back acidly.
"Not my fault that he can't take a joke."
"It was insensitive."
His deep chuckles made the heat rise further up the back of her neck. "I could say the same of you, little girl. After all, you did destroy Shaozu's inventory of imported silks."
"I didn't mean to!" Korra snapped indignantly, the bright blue of her eyes clashing with the antagonizing grey of his own. "I was trying to stop those thugs from stealing all those crates!"
His pale eyes continued to laugh at her. "So destroying them was better? You do realize that the whole point of a business is to make money?"
"I wasn't going to just LET those creeps get away!"
"Your little fight cost Shaozu's family a month's worth of profit that can't be easily made back. On top of that, he had to do some damage control with the dealer who sent those silks." The Wolfbat replied coolly.
Her mouth opened, but then closed again when she realized she couldn't argue against that. Remorse tempered her anger at Tahno, and she looked away from him. "I didn't mean to..."
"Your intentions can't repair the damage you did, no matter how good they were at the time." The weight of her guilt doubled , and her hands tightly gripped her knees. His tone was composed, but the words stung her with the intensity of an arctic gale. She felt relieved when she noticed the familiar shades of muted grays of the Dragon Flats, but it was short-lived.
"You can't go around assuming people want to be rescued, Uh-vatar."
"I'm not going to turn my back when people need help-"
"It isn't your job." He repeated.
She decided then that she had enough with his relentless verbal assault. "Stop the car."
"W-what?" The driver asked behind them, obviously trying to ignore their argument.
"Stop the car!" She repeated, and the automobile lurched forward with a screech at her command. Collecting herself, her hand went to the handle of the door and pulled, the chill of the night air rushing over her when it opened. One foot was out of the car until she was pulled back by a hand catching her wrist. Her eyes went from the pale fingers and to the man they belonged to. His eyes were no longer laughing, but they bore into her all the same.
"If you keep this up, you won't have to keep hiding you're the Avatar anymore." He started, his thin fingers holding on firmly. "Before you try playing the hero again, just know that not everyone is going to appreciate your help. So be smart for once and leave people to their own messes."
She gritted her teeth in frustration before snatching her wrist back. "Things must be really easy when the only thing that matters is yourself, huh?" He was quiet, but the look he gave her was contemptuous. She continued, suddenly feeling emboldened. "I don't you to tell me what to do. Why bother even trying to give me such helpful advice, anyway?"
His eyes stayed on her when he wryly asked, "Why are you being so damned thickheaded?"
"Because you didn't really care about me back in the South Pole. Why pretend to start now?"
The car door separated them when she slammed it behind her and walked briskly to her apartment. She slowly relaxed her shoulders as she heard the Satomobile finally drive away, but her steps were heavy as they took her to her apartment building. The tightness in her chest failed to unwind even when she entered the small, but cozy living room. She threw herself unceremoniously upon the cushions of the couch and curled into a ball, her arms instinctively hugging her knees. His stupid face appeared before her even when she closed her eyes. Her fingers unconsciously went to her lips, and a wave of heat rushed over her face and down her neck.
Korra covered her face with a nearby pillow and let out a muffled, frustrated yell.
"I need to talk to you."
She was never one to mince words, even in front of people who she didn't know. Shaozu's laugh and Ming's long whistle didn't deter her; her eyes never left him.
A smirk played at his lips, and with a casual wave of his hand, he dismissed his teammates. "Boys, I'll see you inside." The two men lingered for only a moment, probably to exchange confused looks over their leader's prompt acceptance of the girl's command, before leaving him with the younger waterbender. Even with the Shaozu and Ming gone, she didn't want to stay around the arena's doors, so Tahno followed her as she walked toward where a gazebo stood near the water's edge. The long trail of hair slightly caught the night wind as they walked and the chatter of the people gathered at the Arena became a small hum of noise over the soft lapping waves of Yue Bay.
"They don't know who I am." She spoke, leaning her shoulder against one of the pillars. "Those guys don't know I'm the Avatar."
It was a plain, straightforward statement. He took the spot next to her and rested his back against the opposite pillar, casually crossing his arms over his chest. "Were you hoping to make fans out of my teammates?"
"Of course not," she remarked irritably. "What I meant was that they don't know who I am because you haven't told them. In fact, you haven't told anybody."
He brushed back a loose bang that the wind tossed across his brow. "Does that bother you, little girl?"
"It's not that it bothers me...but why? Why haven't you told anyone?" Under the roof of the gazebo, those maddeningly blue eyes studied him closely.
He could have lied. The memory of her slamming the car door in his face, specifically after he had spirited her away from the slum where the gangsters were chasing her, was still fresh in his mind and his ego. She really was inconsiderate that night...she didn't even give him a chance to answer the question she asked before she took off. Now that he thought about it though, he wasn't certain if he would've answered truthfully. He could have very well said something that would have caused the girl to take off again, or she could have done something that would have made him leave her like he had when they fought at the Arena. And now, it could end up that way once more: his answer was a factor to whether Korra would stay a little longer, or leave.
The angry, pained expression on her face before she stormed off reemerged from his memories of that night, and he decided then what he would say.
"Because even though you're doing a poor job of it, you're hiding your identity." He said, staring calmly back at her.
She was silent, but as he expected, didn't refute his claim.
"But question is, how long do you expect to keep up this little charade?"
This time, she spoke. "For as long as I have to. I have something I need to prove."
There were no traces of hesitation in her words, and she spoke them with a finality that left little room for more questions. They stood in silence for a few moments until she spoke again. "I'm sorry about what happened a few nights ago."
He was quietly startled by the suddenness of her apology, and he was even more shocked that she had little difficulty in saying it. "I didn't want to admit it then, but you did help me out. And I didn't like what you had to say, but I know you wouldn't have mentioned those things if you didn't really believe them."
This was the first time she was looking at him without any contempt or irritation. She stood before him, her arms at her sides, looking back at him under the windswept bangs that parted above her expressive eyes. "Thanks, Tahno."
He just stood there, doing his best to hide his shock. He was unable to grasp any words, and the silence eventually must have made her feel uncomfortable. "Well, that's all I really wanted to tell you. You better go before your teammates start wondering where you are."
"Korra."
She had begun to walk away, but she stopped and looked over her shoulder when he called her name. "I'm right when I said that not everyone would appreciate your help. Don't go around meddling in everybody's business."
She threw an irritated glare at him. "I can take care of myself-"
"No, you don't get it." He cut her off, walking briskly towards her. Her eyes continued to study him as he stood a good foot above her, fighting the urge to shake her by the shoulders. "If you keep this up, you're going to get yourself into some real trouble, and I won't be around next time." As he listened to himself talk, he knew he sounded less confident than he would have liked. He was slightly ashamed by it, but it was more important that she understand.
She must have, since her glare changed into something gentler. For the first time since they met again in this city, a reassuring smile softened the features of her face, and his chest quickened at the sight of it.
"Don't worry. I'll be careful."
"I'm not worried," he said quickly. "I'm just warning you."
There wasn't an angry remark, like he had been expecting. Instead the girl stuck her tongue out at him before grinning playfully. "Yeah, yeah." He had felt stupid at that moment, because while she walked towards the city, he knew that at least one part of her hadn't changed over these past four years.
She could still tell when he was lying.
"Oh, it's that girl."
Shaozu stated what Tahno had already seen: Korra was sitting across the oaf that was the younger Fire Ferret brother. By her despondent look and the way she slumped her shoulders, the earthbender was most likely attempting to cheer her up. All she could manage was a weak grin at her companion, even when a huge bowl of steaming seaweed noodles was placed in front of her.
"Something must be bothering her," Ming observed after putting his empty glass on the table. "She's not eating with her usual enthusiasm."
"I can't really blame her." The youngest Wolfbat said as he helped himself to a bit of grilled fish. "She just lost her job."
"What was that?"
He was silently grateful that he was able to hide his alarm underneath a tone of mild interest. Shaozu didn't pick up anything as his chopsticks grabbed another piece of fish.
"The supervisor down at the docks found out she's been causing trouble with the gangs for a while now. It got so bad that there they actually attacked in broad daylight today." The firebender paused to take a sip from his drink. "She drove the guys off, but the supervisor didn't want any more trouble. So he fired her."
Tahno looked from his teammate back to the girl, who had finally begun to peck at her food, most likely to humor the Fire Ferret sitting across from her. As he watched her slowly slurp up the noodles from her bowl, he briefly saw a little girl eating a skewer of roasted arctic hen with a halfhearted appetite.
"Well, we called it." Ming said, his green eyes also watching the Southern Water tribe girl with what may have been pity. "It was only a matter of time until she bit off more than she could chew."
"Let's go."
Shaozu stared at the Wolfbat Captain confusedly. "But we were going to meet the girls, here-"
"We'll meet them some place a little more...lively. Ming, didn't you mention a club that opened up near here?"
He didn't cast a glance at the girl as he led his teammates from the booth. He was sure not to walk past the row of tables where she was seated, but she looked so absorbed in her thoughts that Tahno didn't think she would have noticed them anyway. After telling Ming and Shaozu to wait outside, he hailed the restaurant owner over to the front counter.
"Send an order of arctic hen skewers and stewed sea prunes over to that table." He gestured over to where Korra and the oaf sat. "Put it on my tab, and don't tell them where it came from."
"That's kind of you." The old cook genially said with a smile that Tahno didn't like. He didn't say anything else to Narook as he went outside to join his teammates.
The smile she gave him a few nights ago outside of the arena appeared in his mind, and he remembered sullenly that no meal in Republic City tasted better than the one they shared in that tiny inn back at the South Pole.
This isn't stalking, he kept telling himself as he sat back against the plush cushions of the Satomobile. I'm just checking on her.
She hadn't been anywhere lately: not the Arena, not Narook's, not anywhere. A part of him irrationally speculated that the girl had done something utterly stupid like let herself get caught by the Triple Threat Triad or the Agni Kais. When a few days had transpired to a full week, that speculation became increasingly rational, which was why he had driven himself to the Dragon Flats. Tahno typically preferred to be the passenger, but if the girl really was involved with the gangs again, he didn't want any more unnecessary witnesses. Besides, the car, which one of his sponsors had generously given it to him, was collecting dust inside the complex's garage.
This was all her fault. She was the reason he got lost navigating his own way here, and she was also the reason he was waiting in an expensive-looking Satomobile in the middle of this less-than-elegant district. He would be sure to tell her about her part in this awful night, but first he had to find her. The last time he was here, he didn't even have the chance to drop the girl off at her apartment. She forced herself out after their last argument, and the car drove off before he could even get a look at which building she disappeared into. To his frustration, none of the buildings were jumping out at him. Tahno just remembered vaguely that this was the general direction Korra took off to.
A deafening blast in the near distance tore him from his thoughts, and he scrambled out of the driver's seat and stepped onto the street. Red and orange flame unfurled beneath the darkness of the night sky, and in the distance, he heard people shouting as the fire roared on.
He knew then that Korra lived nearby.
Wrenching the keys out of the ignition and slamming the door shut, he left the car and broke into a full sprint. Somewhere he thought he heard sirens approaching, and the crimson light towered higher over him as he approached. As soon as a police car sped down the street, he saw a familiar face emerge from one of the side alleys. When she thought it was safe, she stepped out onto the sidewalk, her eyes watching the blue and red lights flash urgently until she turned away and spotted him.
"Tahno?" Her voice was hardly above a hoarse whisper. As he got closer, he didn't know what to make of the disheveled hair that was coming loose from the bands or the smudges of ash that covered her pants and fitted top, which he had noticed was slightly torn at the hem. Small red cuts ran across her right cheek and a larger gash trailed down her left arm.
"What happened to you?" The alarm was evident in his slightly raised tone.
"The Triad, but I got them back for it." she answered softly before adding, "You were right." It only took him a moment to realize what she meant. Had it been another time, under different circumstances, he would've taken the time to gloat.
But seeing her look as injured and defeated as she was standing before him, coupled with the wails of more approaching police cars, his hands were moving before he even commanded them to. For the second time, he shrugged off his black jacket and threw it over her head. "Come on." He told her, keeping a wary eye out for passerby. As they walked towards his car, he instinctively placed an arm around her shoulders to guide her. And to his surprise, the girl didn't stop him- she only pulled his jacket tighter around her.
When they reached the Satomobile, she slipped in after he held the door for her. After casting another glance around the nearly empty street, he went to the driver's side and got in the seat. He wasted no time putting the keys in the ignition and starting the car, and he quickly turned around and drove them both away from the havoc.
She was so unusually silent as she sat with hunched shoulders in the passenger seat that he wasn't prepared when she finally spoke. "What were you doing out here?"
"That's not important."
"It is to me." The bright blue stare pierced him as he stopped the car at an intersection. "Tell me."
While he waited for the red light to change, his eyes roved over the red gash that trailed across the otherwise dark tan skin, and he grudgingly relented at the sight of it. "I heard you got fired from your job at the docks. On top of that, you weren't at any of your usual hangouts."
The light turned green and he pressed his foot against the gas pedal. Even though he wasn't looking, he knew she was studying him from underneath the jacket draped over her head. "How did you know I wasn't around?"
"Give me a little credit, Uh-vatar. You're so loud that I knew something was up when it was quiet at the Arena and Narook's for once."
For some reason, he was annoyed when she didn't snap back at like she predicted he would. "You were right." She repeated the same words from earlier.
"I'm right about a lot of things," he responded, doing his best to sound nonchalant while he merged from the main road onto a ramp that led to one of the city's main bridges.
"You were right about people not appreciating my help." She answered. After the car got on the bridge, she looked forward at the arc of pavement that stretched over the waters beneath them. "The Triad found out where I lived, even though I hid out at the park for a week. When I thought it was safe to go back, they were interrogating the landlady."
He said nothing, hovering in the lane next to another Satomobile until the driver hit the gas and sped ahead of them.
"I beat them, though. I beat all of them, but then there was so much fire." Korra continued, her words slightly trembling.
The car went over a small bump as it reentered the city streets again, the lights of the bridge glowing brightly in his rear view mirror. When he stole another glance at the girl, her fingers were absentmindedly following the wound on her arm. "I got everyone out the building, though...even the old lady and her cat who lived on the first floor. But when we were outside and I went to check on the landlady, she looked so scared."
The jacket that obscured her face couldn't hide the small sob that rose from her voice when she spoke again. "She didn't even want to talk to me. And her kids, they were so frightened, too. The younger boy was crying."
She bit down her lip, trying to recover, but a few sniffles managed to escape. He kept his eyes directly on the road, doing his best to feign concentration as the girl try to keep back the torrent of guilt and misery he knew she was feeling. After a few minutes, the jacket slipped from her head, revealing a sad smile and a pair of watery blue eyes. "Sorry for going on like this. Do you know any hotels around this part of the city?"
"I may." He answered, unsurprised by her sudden attempt to steer the conversation away from the previous topic.
"Think you can drop me off somewhere cheap? Preferably with workers who don't ask a lot of questions?" He simply nodded, and the girl's small smile widened a bit. "Thanks. After this, I'll be out of your hair."
Hearing that didn't comfort him as much as she may have intended. She pressed her cheek against the window, her breath fogging against the glass pane. She absentmindedly watched the passing buildings and faceless people until she shut her heavy-lidded eyes and didn't bother opening them. When he heard her deep steady breaths as she slept in her seat, he struggled with his own thoughts as he navigated the car through the city.
When he found her earlier tonight, she was trying so hard to keep herself from falling apart. The wounds on her cheek and arm would heal fast enough, but Korra's confidence was shaken. He knew she was going to find out that Republic City was nothing like the frozen tundra of the South Pole. This place was populated with too many people, each and every one of them had their own interests and goals at heart, that her actions wouldn't go unnoticed for too long. Her vigilante justice sent a few feeble ripples at the beginning, but now Korra finally realized that even the Avatar-no...especially the Avatar-could unintentionally hurt people.
This was a lesson she had to learn, but he disliked that it affected her this much.
He had only seen her like this once before. After he found her when she ran away from home, Korra had the same defeated look on her face like she had tonight. Back then, she looked so small crying in the snow. Her eyes were so puffy, even after they had eaten later at the inn while listening to a pro-bending match on his radio. But when that song, one he could barely remember the lyrics to now, began to play, she was so warm in his arms as they danced. After everything they both went through that day, he knew she was at peace after a day of evading her captors in the snow and the ice. His little room at that inn was a sanctuary from the rest of the world, no matter how brief her time spent there was.
Tonight she didn't cry. Even though her eyes were brimmed with tears, she refused to let them fall. She had gotten stronger over the years, but she was still as fragile as a seventeen-year-old could be. And as soon as he let her out of this car to another hotel, there was no guarantee that she would stay safe for very long.
As far as he knew, Korra didn't have anywhere to go.
He made his decision while he drove towards his district. His resolution didn't waver, even when he heard her waking up after he parked the car.
"Where are we?" She asked groggily. When she looked out the window, her eyes widened at the sight of the tall, extravagant building outside. "I said somewhere cheap! I can't afford a room here-"
"This is where I live and yes, it's most likely out of your price range." He commented, stepping out of the car. Although it was late, the valet was prompt with greeting him.
"Just park it back in the garage." He instructed before turning an annoyed glance at the dumbstruck girl, who remained in the car. "Get out."
When he turned his back, he heard her scrambling out of the car. Despite her state of exhaustion, her grip was firm when it snatched his wrist. "Why did you take me here? I told you to drop me off at some hotel-"
"You're here because I wanted you to be." Her mouth was slightly agape when his grey eyes fell on her. "You're staying with me."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm so, so, SO sorry this was late...again. I went on vacation, and on top of that, my flight back home was delayed (yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!).
Thank you to all the follows, favorites, and reviews, as always! I don't think I can tell you all how surprised I really was when I came back from the airport and saw all the notifications. It makes me happy beyond words that you enjoy reading a story I've put a lot of work into. Again I'm sorry for being so late, and I promise that the future chapters will be published sooner than they have been recently.
That's it for now, and thanks again for being so patient! You guys rock!
