So, here's another chapter! Warning: this is a very strong T rating; there will be sexual themes (yeah, you know it's coming [no pun intended]) and possibly bad language. Mostly 'adult' themes, though; please review if you feel that this should be rated M. I don't want to scar anyone's mind by rating it lower than it should be rated. And without further ado, here is chapter two! Disclaimer: I don't own Legend of Korra or any associated characters (but a girl can dream, right?)...

Chapter Two

Korra tilts her head back, skyward, baring her face to the heavens. There are stars tonight—no clouds—and the cool air settles across her unclothed shoulders like a shawl.

Tahno walks beside her, silent. It is, she thinks, a companionable silence. But beneath the surface, Korra recognizes something tense and breakable beneath the surface. They head for the center of the city, close to Narook's, where the shops are still open and the streets crowded.

Tahno halts suddenly, gestures to an unassuming brick building. "This is where I live."

The building's lower floor has been divided into two shops—a tea room and a bookshop.

"It's nice," Korra tells him. Privately, she is surprised, would have expected someplace a little more glamorous. The bookshop is dark, and an old man is closing up the tea room for the night. They climb a narrow flight of back stairs; this close to Tahno, Korra feels stupid and fluttery.

What's come over me? She lets Tahno lead the way through the dim hallway, silent. The Avatar shouldn't feel like this, not in the company of someone like Tahno. He's not even a friend!

Isn't he? A friend? Not an enemy...not anymore. Korra knows that Tahno would be ashamed to hear that, but the truth is that she cannot dislike him anymore, not like this. He seems broken, almost. If not broken than fragile.

"Here," Tahno says somewhat awkwardly, unlocking a wooden door. There is no apartment number.

It's a small place, spartanly furnished. The front room is dim until Tahno flicks on a lamp. They stand still for a moment; Korra is unsure of what to say—a rarity.

"Would you like some tea?" Tahno asks.

"Yes!" Korra is relieved to have something—anything—to talk about. "Do you drink a lot of tea? I mean, there being a teahouse downstairs and all...they must give you free tea or something, ha ha..."

She realizes that she is rambling and trails off, busies herself by roaming the room and examining everything. The single window overlooks the street; light from the paper lanterns hung on the teahouse's sign illuminate a framed picture on the sill. Korra lifts it, her eyes roving across a black-and-white photograph, very grainy. Three people standing in front of a small wooden house, the woman in a loose dress, the man in overalls. The boy young, maybe sixteen, smiling stiffly at the camera. Wearing a dark uniform. His stupid hairstyle hasn't changed a bit.

Korra finds herself smiling.

"Is this you, Tahno?"

"No," Tahno calls from the kitchen. "It's someone else. I keep a stranger's family picture around just for laughs—don't you?"

"Funny boy." Her smile is like the paper lanterns, so full of light that it might float away, might pull her up to the moon. Something in her upper chest twists and flutters.

"Yes, it's me." Tahno's voice is distant, somewhat short.

Korra allows her eyes to rake over Tahno's youthful counterpart. His face is still sharp-featured, rakishly handsome. His clothes, the helmet tucked beneath his arms...without asking, Korra knows that it's a pro-bending uniform. Probably some small, backwater team. She imagines that that's where he got discovered. Or maybe not. Maybe Korra doesn't want to know.

She sets the framed photograph back on the dusty sill and returns to the kitchen. It's very narrow and the smell of tea leaves is overpowering. They relocate to the front room, sitting cross-legged at the low wooden table and drinking mint tea.

"This is good tea." Korra says. How stupid did that sound? Way to go, Korra. "Um, thanks."

Tahno smiles thinly. "They give me a good deal downstairs."

Silence. Korra wants so badly to say something, but her tongue is heavy and awkward in her mouth and the tea is frankly a little scalding. She blows a thin stream of air across the top of the cup, glances up to realize that Tahno is watching her lips. He looks away hastily.

Korra stares into the swirling depths of her cup, silently willing herself to break the silence.

The Order of the White Lotus guard is undeniably handsome, his face angular and rugged beneath his uniform's headpiece. Korra has been putting off firebending practice to shoot loops of water in the direction of the watchtower. Secretly, she hopes that he'll look over, maybe see her antics and smile. She's thirteen years old, caught in the throes of that awkward phase between girl and woman. Her figure is still lanky like a boy's, any slight curves hidden beneath the shapeless Water Tribe tunic and pants.

Once, the guard glances her way; Korra's chest twists, and she feels a faint flutter against her ribcage. He must know who she is—he has to, working at the compound. He's there to keep her safe, for spirit's sakes! She itches to pull some ridiculous act—maybe send a whirlwind of water up into the watchtower, or drag pillars of earth from the newly-thawed ground with her earthbending, or send loops of flame glancing across the tower's roof with her still-iffy firebending skills.

Korra may have actually done something, if not for the hand that descended suddenly upon her shoulder. Without turning, she knows that it's Katara.

"Master Katara," Korra bows, keeping her eyes fixed on Katara's weathered face. The old woman pats Korra's shoulder lightly, guiding her easily towards the compound's central building.

"Come inside, Avatar Korra."

"Yes, Master Katara."

They kneel at a long, low wooden table and drink thick green tea. Korra doesn't care much for the overwhelming flavor but drinks it anyways, just to be polite.

"You can tell a lot about a person by their face, you know," Katara says suddenly. Korra ducks her head; she might have known that this was about her silly crush. Her expression must have belied something. She makes a mental note to appear more stoic in the future.

"They say that if a girl's face is very round, her spirit is destined to be gentle like the moon."

"Yes, Master Katara." Korra nods, pretending to be very interested.

"If someone's face is sharp, full of angles, then their soul will be as sharp as their cheekbones. Don't forget that, Avatar Korra."

Korra nods silently. She plans to say something, make a plea for her case, but she has taken too big a mouthful of the bitter tea, and now she must swallow it down.

"So, pro-bending..." Korra breaks the silence. As soon as the words are out, she regrets them. I am such an idiot.

Tahno nearly flinches. His face hardens. "Yes."

"You, ah, competed as a kid?"

"I started at fifteen. Smaller, local teams. They said I was gifted. The scouts came every fall. One year they found me and sent me to Republic City. I was nineteen then." He pauses. "Two years ago. It seems like a lifetime."

It must. Korra nods. They continue an awkward conversation, the parlance stiff; the air is heavy with what has transpired in the past and what is left unsaid now.

Korra wants desperately to bring up that past, the past that they don't talk about, but she refrains. She supposes that Tahno has forgotten, or that he thinks that she has forgotten. Maybe it is a subject best left untouched, for now.

The night wears on, and Korra's cup of tea is empty. She drinks two more and then pretends to notice the time.

"It's pretty late," Korra says. "I should be heading home now."

"Of course," Tahno stands, collecting the teapot and cups. "I'm an idiot for keeping you here so long. The streets aren't safe anymore."

Korra pulls back her shoulders. "I can handle myself, thanks."

A dark smirk flickers across his face. "I never said you couldn't, darling."

"Don't call me 'darling', pretty-boy."

"Don't call me 'pretty-boy'."

"Fair enough." She smirks. "Still got that old spark, don't you, Tahno?"

He sets the teapot and mugs on the counter. A smirk crosses his thin face.

Their soul will be as sharp as their cheekbones...

"Maybe I'll see you around," Korra says. She stands by the front door, one hand on the knob. "Bye, Tahno."

She turns to leave, fingers wrapping around the doorknob.

"Wait."

In an instant, he is across the room. They stand, facing each other, suspended in a single moment of what might be decision. And then Tahno steps forward and kisses her, hard.

Korra swallows her protest. She leans into him; for a moment, there is only the feeling of his hands on her body, and the realization that she's never kissed anyone like this before, and then his tongue is inside her mouth and one hand is tugging on her hair. Korra hears a low moan slide from her lips—was that really her? The sound is so foreign—and she presses herself against Tahno.

The heat and pressure and tension builds, and then Tahno is doing something to Korra's neck with his mouth, and she finds herself grinding ruthlessly against him, and then in one swift, catlike motion she pulls away, fumbling for the doorknob.

"I-I have to go—Tenzin—uh, Air Temple Island...the guards..."

Tahno runs his tongue across his lower lip slowly, torturing her with a alarmingly lustful stare. Korra sees the guilt behind his eyes, the guilt and the pleasure and something else that she doesn't recognize and maybe doesn't want to.

She turns on her heels and flees.

So...another chapter! Please feel free to review/comment and let me know what you think! Thanks guys!