Notes: This will never happen no matter how badly I want it to but man think of the shenanigans that could happen if Tahno joined the team. Also, while I drown myself in Tahnorra fics like crazy, in my own headcanon, he acts more like a friend towards Korra, almost bordering on a sibling-esque relationship that involve a lot of teasing and hair pulling and impromptu fights during dinner.
Korra poured the dark tea from the kettle into the small clay cup in Tahno's hand. He lifted it gently towards her before tapping it against the table, muttered, "To my friend," and lifted it to his lips. Her own lips quirked into a smile as she poured her own cup, amused that he knew the traditional Water Tribe toast that was always performed before tea.
"What?" he said.
She shook her head and set the kettle down on its iron stand, taking her tea into her hands and mimicking the same motions he did before. "Nothing. I just didn't know if you knew the toast or not."
He huffed out a laugh as she sipped her tea, the steam rising off the surface and warming the tip of her nose and upper lip.
"I am Water Tribe, aren't I?"
She shrugged and set the cup down, rolling it between her fingers. "I guess. I don't know, the city's so modern that I usually just assume..."
"That people forget?" he finished for her, and she nodded. "Not the Water Tribe. We're the only nation to hold it together."
"Yeah?"
He nodded, suddenly snapping into his old confidence, speaking with authority. "Oh, yeah. You see all kinds of old rituals in the city, especially by the docks. We're not known as savages for nothing."
Her face turned sour and she rolled her eyes, making Tahno breathily laugh again before sipping his tea.
"You don't mind it?" she asked. "Being called a savage?"
He shook his head instantly. "No. Only idiots hold onto that line of thinking, and I'm not as eloquent as Councilman Sokka was to dissuade them. We know better, anyway."
We. The connection between the two of them slowly shifted in Korra's mind, because they could no longer be enemies, not with a far bigger enemy uniting them. We, though, that word implied that their relationship, whatever it may be, could be a bit more pure. Unity through a culture that she had thought she left behind. And the way Tahno spoke of it, with slight reverence and understanding, made her believe that not everything had to be sacrificed to the city.
"There's a spare room in the Acolyte's quarters," she said, instantly catching his attention. "It's yours if you want it."
His face fell, expression completely blank, and his body went rigid as if encased in ice. He still moved and behaved like water; it made Korra have hope for him. Slowly, he melted, tilting his shoulders fluidly and wide mouth pulling into a smile, eyes narrowing.
"Air Nomads never turn away a guest?" he teased.
She snorted and shook her head. "No. The Tribe sticks together."
She said the same thing to the incredulous, shocked faces of her friends and family when they stumbled into the dining room for breakfast, hair matted and bleary-eyed. At their various reactions (Mako glaring and Bolin worried and Asami laughing and Tenzin giving a deep, defeated sigh), Tahno returned to his old self, tipping his fingers to them in greeting and giving them all a cocky half-smile.