Together
"Hate is too great a burden to bear."
"It is easy to hate, it is harder to forgive."
Chapter Nine
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The silence dragged on. Seconds passed, and then a couple minutes. Korra stood there frozen, not knowing what to say. Was she up for a relationship with Tahno when she had all of her Avatar duties, pro bending practice and games, and air bending with Tenzin?
His intense gaze made shivers run up and down her spine. She bit her lip and thought about her answer. She really did like Tahno ever since he met her at that food stand. She let out a sardonic laugh.
Of course, she would fall for the jerk. She sighed wistfully, and thought about all the memories and moments they had. From the laughs, the time she went to him crying and to them bending. Korra never realized how many things they did together. How much he did for her, and how much she didn't appreciate what he did for her.
Then she thought about that stupid waitress, and clenched her fists together. Yeah, she couldn't even deal with her jealousy for the other girl and Tahno wasn't even hers!
Korra peaked up at Tahno through her lashes and he looked at her with his smoldering grey eyes and smiled slightly. "Yes, Tahno. My answer is yes." And his intense gaze quickly vanished and he swooped her into his arms.
"Finally Uh-vatar." He murmured, his eyes were soft and tender. He gave her a ghost of a smile, and leaned down to capture her lips. Korra felt light and giddy, she was on a high and nothing could stop her right now.
Blissful euphoria.
The kiss was sweet and soft. Their lips melded together and moved in sync, tongues battled and caressed one another. Tahno pulled away from Korra and looked at her. "Korra stay at my apartment with me tonight." His voice lilted to her.
With that question she looked away and was indecisive. "I don't know Tahno... I have pro bending practice early in the morning tomorrow and air bending with Tenzin afterwards."
Tahno shushed her worries away with his finger. "Don't worry about it dearest Uh-vatar," He crooned. "I'll get you to your pro bending practice and maybe I'll even teach you a few tricks of mine if you're up for it." His eyes held a promise and if she was a lesser girl she would've swooned, squealed, or fainted.
She punched him. "We'll see pretty boy. Maybe I'll teach you a few of my tricks." She winked at him and started walking back to his apartment leaving him standing at her agape on the docks.
He grinned, yes they were a match made in heaven and he ran after her.
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Once they made it back to his apartment he swiftly unlocked the door with the spare key in his pocket. Korra was dead on her feet. She was so exhausted, the practice in the morning, kick boxing and dinner was finally taking toll on her body.
She stumbled into the apartment and collapsed on the the couch. Korra could remember just yesterday when she was here. Her eyes were bleary, she could faintly hear the door click shut.
The couch began to sag when Tahno sat down next to Korra. She barely lifted her head to greet him. Tahno almost chuckled, his poor little Avatar was too exhausted. Feeling kind he didn't try to provoke her in this state.
Knowing her she would earth bend him through the window. He pondered on the thought before scooping Korra into his arms. She groaned with the sudden movement and he just walked down the dark hallway.
He opened the door with a little bit of a struggle but once it opened he kicked the door and it swung open. He placed her gingerly onto the bed and walked over to his drawers; he moved effortlessly through the palpable darkness.
The Wolfbat sighed and looked through the drawers skimming for something suitable for Korra to wear since her silk halter dress probably wouldn't be the smartest thing to wear to bed, even if she looked smashing in it.
Tahno almost groaned but composed himself. Everything he had was either pro bending gear/outfits, or formal garments. Finally down in the depths of his drawer he found a black mesh shirt and a pair of old shorts he used to wear when he pro bended. He grew out of them but he was sure that they would fit Korra.
He chucked the clothes at Korra and she mumbled in displeasure. "Tahnooo." she nearly whined. She lifted her head from the pillow and looked around through the thick darkness. "What is this-?"
The male water bender said. "Your clothes, go change in the bathroom." He pointed to the door closed in the corner of the room and she picked the clothes and stumbled her away over to the bathroom and changed quickly as possible. She untied the bow holding her dress up and the silk dress fell to the ground.
She kept her undergarments on and slid the shirt and shorts on. It was soft and comforting, Korra breathed deeply, definitely Tahno's clothes. They smelled exactly like him.
Once she was done, she opened the door and plopped down to the bed. "G'night Tahno." She cuddled her face into the pillow, relishing in the cool fabric and felt a warm blanket cover her form.
"Good night Korra." And she swore she felt his lips on her head, and soft finger tips brushing away her hair. Who knows what happened, she was already sleep on her feet.
She felt a small smile curve onto her face and then she was asleep.
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Tahno looked at her sleeping form and didn't say anything and just watched her breathe slowly. He couldn't believe she said yes. He knew that she was completely different than all the girls he used to date.
They would all blur together before, most of them were fan girls and he shuddered in disgust. They were obsessed with him, squealing at everything he did and look up at him like he was a God. He chuckled, his ego didn't seem to mind them looking at him though.
But he would throw that all way for this girl. It was weird how things played out in life.
He unbuttoned his shirt and undid his pants quickly and threw them into the hamper. He usually slept naked in his silk sheets but he paused Korra would kill him and he liked his man bits intact to his body. So he stayed in his black boxers and moved over to his side of the bed and fell asleep quickly after. However before he completely lost consciousness he felt a warm body curl up beside him.
Yes, this was the life.
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The morning broke quickly and filtered its way into Tahno's bedroom window. It was a new day and the city was abuzz with life and residents. The cars honked and beeped during the rush hour.
Korra wrinkled her nose at the sudden flood of light and burrowed her face deeper into the pillow. "Five more minutes Tenzin, no more practice today." she groaned. Her face ran into her pillow- a hard stiff pillow?
A chuckle vibrated out from the pillow. What the fuck? Pillows do no vibrate. Korra punched the 'so called pillow' a couple of times trying to soften it and laid down to fall asleep again.
"Korra, I do not think I am a pillow." A sleepy husky voice called out to her. The Avatar looked confused, what was going on? Wasn't she back at Air Temple Island in her room right now?
She cracked her eyes open and looked at the room. It was definitely not her room at the Air Temple. This room was furnished with different drawers, a desk, a glass mirror, and a couple of trophies from the past pro bending championships.
Azure eyes darted across the room, and her brows furrowed in confusion. Then all the memories from yesterday flooded back into her mind, oh yeah she was at Tahno's. A blush bloomed on her tanned skin, and she pulled the blanket up to her body and scooted away from Tahno's body, scooting a little too far she landed with a 'thud' onto the hard wooden floors.
"Good morning to you too Sunshine." he drawled, he quickly threw the covers onto the bed and called over to her. "Anything in the kitchen is yours, I'm going to shower." Leaving a gawking, blushing Korra behind.
Oh my god, his body... it left Korra speechless. It was almost sin for him to walk through the room like that. His chiseled abs, the deep V line leading down to his...
Korra smacked her left and walked through the house to the kitchen. She was starving, and Tahno was taking a shower. Her footsteps lightly padded on the floor, and she quickly found herself in the kitchen.
Opening the refrigerator she wondered what she had to work with. Milk...eggs...vegetables... and meat. She scowled, she was a horrible cook anything she probably touched was going to burn.
She closed it and looked through the cabinets for any type of food source.
Instant noodles. Her stomach grumbled and she cheered. Instant noodles are easy to make, she took out two containers and found a pot to boil water. Hehehe, this was when being the Avatar came in handy.
She turned the faucet on and bent the water into the pot and fire bent a stream under the pot and held it there for a couple of minnutes before she felt the water bubble in the pot with her water bending and stop the constant stream from her free hand.
She poured the water into the Styrofoam instant noodle cups and let them sit there to cool. She found a pair of wooden chopsticks and scarfed down the noodles, the steam rose from the cup but she was careful enough and didn't get scalded with the hot water.
That was delicious, and she was sated. She drank some of the broth from the cup and poured the rest down into the drain, and threw the cup and chopsticks into the trashcan.
Tahno was done quickly, and walked into the kitchen with nothing but a towel wrapped around his bottom half. He still looked tired, and walked down and sat down at the marble kitchen table. "What did ya cook for you sweetheart?" he asked half heartedly.
It was way too early for their banter. She pushed the Flame-yo Noodle Cup over to him. "I can't cook at all, so I made you instant noodles." He shrugged and ate the noodles quickly.
While he ate Korra couldn't help but ogle him. She was sure her face was a constant red now, there was no doubt about it. Being around Tahno made her face like this.
He was done soon and he disposed of the food. Korra took this moment to scold him. "Put on a shirt Tahno before you poke my eye out." Tahno eyed Korra, "I'm sure you love my body sweetheart, I have no doubt about it. The only reason you want me to put this-" He held a hand over his body, to made a point. "-Is because your brain will probably die of too much sexyness." He said smugly.
Korra looked at him and laughed. "Tahno, if anything I would die of too much uglyness." She lied through her teeth. "Just put on a damn shirt before I fire bend your ass!"
He held out his hands. "Alright Korra." He walked back to his room. "I know you still want me." he cooed, and shut the door quickly before anything else happened to his body.
Korra sighed, this man was going to be the death of her. She slammed her head down onto the cool marble table. The door creaked open and she lifted her head to see what Tahno changed into.
Casual clothes. It was a casual grey shirt, a light black jacket over the top and casual pants. Tahno's hair was still his signature look being wavy and he finished the look off with his eyeliner.
Who else could wear eyeliner like he did? There was no way any other man was able to pull off eyeliner like he did, Korra was almost positive. He looked over at the clock on the wall and it was almost time for the Fire Ferret practice.
He sighed, he wish he could've kept Korra with him all day and do whatever he wanted with her. Hmm... that was an idea. Tahno was almost going to do it too but Korra punched him and narrowed her eyes knowingly. "It's time for practice pretty boy, don't get any other ideas."
Tahno pouted. His woman knew him too well.
The Wolfbat let out a sigh and relented. "It'll work one day Korra." he mumbled. "After all you're my girlfriend. I can't wait to have you over all day." he purred. He stressed the word girlfriend, to make a point. He sounded so smug, she was his. His and only his.
Not Bo-bo and not that hot head Mako.
Tahno closed the door behind him, locked his apartment and started walking down the hallway to the Arena for Korra's practice
Korra let out a light laugh. It chimed in the hallway. "Don't worry sweetheart, I'm sure you will." Then unsurely and tentatively she lifted her hand and twisted her fingers into his. "Let's go."
Tahno was grinning ear to ear now, he was one happy fool. They neared the entrance to the Gym and they pushed the doors open.
Nothing could possibly ruin his day now, everything was perfect-
"What the fuck are you doing here Wolfbat and why the fuck are you holding Korra's hand?" Tahno stood corrected, his day was almost ruined. He snapped his head over to the voice who said that.
Mako.
Typical Mako. He was too hot headed to lead the team. He sneered. "I'm here to take my girlfriend to her pro bending practice. Do you have a problem Ferret?"
Mako's hard expression faltered for a second. "G-girlfriend?" He repeated.
"Are you deaf or retarded? Yes, she's my girlfriend." Tahno said smugly. "Why would she ever be interested in orphan scum like you?" Tahno snickered to himself.
"You're dead Tahno." Mako's hands came ablaze and he threw fire blasts at Tahno. Quickly unraveling his fingers from Korra he pushed her away from the incoming balls.
She landed into the plush mats and looked at her boyfriend and her team leader battle it out. She rose to her feet quickly, and was about to intervene before Bolin quickly came over to her side. "Don't interfere with this Korra, it'll make it worse. Let them battle it out, it'll make all their pent up rage go away."
Korra looked at Bolin and hesitantly agreed with him. Boys... Bolin ushered her away and told her to change into pro bending practice gear. He eyed his brother and Tahno.
He knew Tahno wasn't a bad guy, he found out last night but the animosity between those two was tagnible. The best way to solve problems is to bend battle it out. Hopefully they didn't get too hurt.
He winced when he saw a hard blow to Mako's thigh. This was going to be a long battle, and practice was probably canceled now. He sighed, oh well maybe Korra and he could practice alone.
He closed the door behind him and waited for Korra to change and begin their practice together, away from the feuding benders in the other room.
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Tahno dodged the fire blast and bent the water from the barrels that were always apparent in the room. He turned them into sharp daggers and hurled them to the different points on Mako's body.
Seeing the attack coming, Mako lifted a fire shield. However he was unaware that Tahno bent a wave of water and surfed across the room and round house kicked Mako's jaw.
Tahno's attacks were precise, quick, and deadly. Not only was he a strong water bender he was extremely flexible and was able to adapt to different styles of bending. Mako narrowed his eyes and lowered his body into a complete 360 degree circle.
An arch of fire left his feet and traveled across the ground.
Tahno built momentum in his legs, and jumped up high. This left him completely helpless for oncoming attacks. A fire whip curled its way around Tahno's bicep and sizzled there.
Hissing, Tahno lifted a strand of water to the bicep and relinquished the hold of the strand around his arm. That would leave a mark, he thought angerily. He froze water around the irritated skin and began to fight again.
A shield of ice helped him from the fire bullets heading his way. He moved and dodged efficiently, most of the time he dodged all of the attacks and pelted Mako with his. Mako fared well on his own but the fire blasts were wearing him down.
The sweat dripped down his face. Tahno grinned, he forced Mako back with all of his strongest attacks and blows. Blasts and blasts of water projected forward. Mako dodged some but a couple blast his face, and caused him to stumble a couple feet backwards.
Gotcha. Tahno smirked furiously. Once Mako was in place, he bent the water to encase Mako into place against the wall. Mako seethed and fumed, unable to bend his way out of the frigid ice. "Well well well, look what the cat dragged in." Tahno mocked.
Mako breathed fire from his nose. "If I wanted you dead, I could have you dead right now with a bolt of lightening to the heart." Tahno looked at Mako and tsked.
"You only think about yourself, what do you think would happen to Korra if she knew you said those words?"
Mako stilled.
"She would hate you Mako, she would never be able to forgive you if you killed me. And I know that you like her too."
Tahno was greeted with silence, so he continued on. "You'll never be able to give her what she needs. You are not what she needs Ma-ko." Tahno stated reassuringly. The fire bender's golden eyes flashed. "What do you know about her? You know nothing about her!"
The water bender laughed. "And you think you do? I know more about her than you do, ferret." Tahno's emotionless expression seared down into Mako's eyes. "And you know what's good for you, you would stop being an asshole to me. If I can be civil so can you, even Bolin is civil to me."
The hatred in Mako's eyes ran deep. "I'll die trying for Korra, I'll win eventually."
Tahno sighed. "Why couldn't you take the easy road. I offer you something where we can act like civil people but you don't want too." Tahno's grey eyes looked at Mako.
"Good luck trying to win Korra over because she loves me, and not you Mako." Tahno released the water encasing Mako. "And you know what Mako? I also love her."
Author's Note: Sorry for such a late update everyone but there is no cliffhanger this time! (x I've been dealing with boyfriend problems and my grandma just had a stroke so I had no motivation to write :/, but here's another chapter. (: The Pro bending matches will continue next chapter, and the face off for the championship will be coming in the next few chapters ~ Thanks for all the reviews everyone I appreciate it a lot ! During school updates will be less frequent but I will try to crank them out as soon as possible as soon as the chapter is done. I will not give up on this story and I have another Tahnorra story in mind after this story as well. ;) Let me know if you're interested in the plot summary or if you want to read it.
Amazing reviewers for chapter eight: Tratie-Zutara-and-Perlia-Fan, ra1nf1re, TeaBender, furrycheese521, avatarfan, CoOkIeMoNsTeR-ElMo24, & TahnorraRocks7
Love you guys, thanks for keeping my inspiration going c:
- Foreverellen
