A/n: I still have one more essay to crank out before I'm officially done with finals, but I don't want to think about school for the moment, so I'm editing this instead.

Next chapter is the last chapter, and I have a poll set up on my profile concerning something in my next Tahnorra project. If you vote, it'd help me out a lot! Happy holidays!

Chapter 14: Surprise

"What is it?"

The question was posed over breakfast. Seated in the kitchen of Tahno's apartment, Korra set her chopsticks on their rest and picked up the neatly-wrapped box in front of her. Idly, she fingered the bouncy twirl of ribbon by her thumb and admired the sleek paper at her touch. Sea blue, she thought to herself.

Picking up his chopsticks, Tahno gently stirred his bowl of noodles. "It's your birthday present," he answered simply before motioning to his right. "There are two more over there."

Sliding her gaze over, she saw there were indeed two more boxes on the table they were seated at of different sizes, and she wondered what could possibly be inside them. The largest one, wrapped in a dark green foil, was as tall as Pabu and could easily house the fire-ferret comfortably, while the smallest present rested in her hand. This, coupled with the impressive spread of food Tahno made for her this morning, was enough to make her heart skip more than a few beats.

But it wasn't enough to quell the tinge of unease in her gut. Her eyes slid again towards the gifts at the end of the table.

"Tahno, not that I don't love these gifts, but it's just…are you still…you know…?"

"No. I stopped a little after that night you came over and we yelled at each other." He paused, taking a long sip from his tea. "Those are from the returns on my investments," he explained.

Shortly after their argument, he had stopped his services. However, one did not survive on honor and self-respect alone—ironically, the cost of even a pea shoot bun was more than his honor—but it was around this time that Asami had spoken of rebuilding the Sato legacy, starting with just a race car team since car racing had gained in popularity since the collapse of probending in the city. She had been looking for investors and he had given some of his meager savings not devoted to rent and food as a favor to the young girl. To his surprise, his charity paid off as Asami returned to him a few days later with an envelope of crisp yuans—his share of her winnings for investing in her, she explained. Not soon after that, Tahno began to invest in other small businesses in the area. Apparently, the swamp-native had a knack for investing, earning enough to hire someone to help manage his portfolio.

"So do your investments pay for everything then?" she asked.

"No. I had to get a day job, so I'm working as a waiter at Narook's," he explained quietly. Since investing had a slow rate of return, he had to find something else to support his day-to-day expenses. While it was hard waiting tables everyday and odd to work at a place that still carried memories of his glory days on its wall, he couldn't say it was a terrible job. He certainly spent less on mouthwash now.

Meeting Korra's look of surprise, he scowled. "What? I can do honest work too," he snapped.

"I know! It's just…you at a noodle shop. Wow!" A glowing smile broke out across her face. "You've changed a lot since I first met you. I thought you hated getting your hands dirty. What caused the change of heart?"

She beamed up at him, smile as bright as the sun in the sky outside his window and he felt his heart skip erratically in his chest. His mind resounded with the single answer of "you," the thought echoing through every cell in his body because it was true. It was because of her that he was like this—why he was a better person now. She was the cause and the reason for every good decision he had made for himself. She was a good influence on him and truth be told, he was the happiest he'd ever been…

But he would rather die than tell her that, and his cheeks colored from a combination of love and mortification.

"Just finish your breakfast before it gets cold, Uh-vatar," he ordered before petulantly returning his food, unwilling to meet her gaze as he hoped she wouldn't ask about the redness dusting his cheeks.