Heritage

It was always at Korra's family reunions when it fully hit Tahno how diverse and rich her cultural heritage was, from her father's Native Alaskan Inuit, to Nana's Asian and Indonesian heritage. The diversity of the family was best represented in the sheer amount and variety of food that was always available at these gatherings. The flavors were almost overpowering, from the spices lighting his mouth and lips on fire, to the various soothing and sweet concoctions of which he didn't dare ask the ingredients, and his poor stomach always had a hard time keeping up. But he was happy to be here, and happy to be included and treated like one of the family. He couldn't count the number of times different members of the large family had clapped him on the shoulder, shook his hand, or even outright hugged him just upon making his acquaintance. Tahno wasn't used to this much human contact, but he was getting used to it. He was even picking up on some of the foreign languages the different family members spoke to each other, and he smirked when he managed to pick up on Korra's aunts talking about how they wished their daughters could find someone as handsome as 'Korra's Tahno'. But what made Tahno really preen with gleeful pride, was when Nana corrected them, telling them that even though he was handsome, it was his personality that was most appealing, and a perfect complement to Korra's.

Tahno managed to find Korra again in the fray, taking a moment to kiss her temple as she talked to her cousins.

Korra blushed and turned to give him a curious but pleased expression. "I wondered where you went off to. Are you okay?" she inquired.

"Couldn't be better, Pretty Girl," Tahno assured her as he snaked a hand around her waist to pull her closer. "Just enjoying the atmosphere," he added.

"Well thank goodness something met your high standards for once," Korra teased. "Come on, let's get to the egg rolls before they disappear," she suggested as she laced her fingers with his in a markedly possessive fashion and lead him toward the food tent.

Tahno often wondered if Korra really appreciated the full extent of her heritage, or if she simply assumed everyone had a family like hers. One that celebrated its differences and yet managed to remain close and tightknit as well. However, the excited happiness that always glowed in her eyes during these occasions told him that she did know what she had and she did appreciate her heritage. It almost shamed him that he couldn't find a reason to take that much pride in his own. Even he felt like an outsider at his family reunions, as rare as they were. There was always tension in them, and they never seemed to end well. But at times like this, Tahno felt himself adopting Korra's heritage as his own, and that seemed to make more sense, it just felt... right.

Author's Note- Thank you to Alaburn for betaing and thank YOU for reading.