Hello, readers! I'm glad that people like this fic, despite the sudden rating change, etc., etc.! THIS FANDOM FSJKB you guys rock. So rock on. Okay, I'm done now. Disclaimer: I don't own Legend of Korra or any associated characters.

Chapter Four

The sai are heavy in Tahno's hands, their sharpened metal tips glinting in the gym's wan light. It's after hours, and technically he shouldn't be here, but Obi's Gym, with its dirty floormats and musty smell, is far better than the arena. Tahno can't show his face there. He can't face another pitying stare or walk into a room to find heads turned, whispers that rise and die down as he passes.

Oh, him? That's Tahno—yeah, the Wolfbat. He sure used to be a smug asshole, didn't he? Guess Amon cleared that up when he zapped Tahno's bending...

He snaps the sai back and forth, across his shoulder, lunging forward to stab viciously at the air. Maybe, in the back of his mind, he's imagining Amon standing there, unarmed and unmanned, finally at Tahno's mercy. The wickedly sharp metal tridents were used as farming implements; this was how Tahno had come to know them.

"No, Tahno! You're doing everything wrong!" His father's voice is high with exasperation. Tahno drops his hands to his sides, staring at the sai. His father has insisted that he train in weapons, that every move be fluid and easy, every punch snap with power.

"This is pointless!" Tahno says loudly. "I'll never need weapons, father—my waterbending is more powerful than any sai or sword."

"And what if you don't have your bending, Tahno?" His father cries, weathered face creasing into an expression of upmost disappointment.

Not have his bending? Tahno nearly scoffs. Twelve years old, still awkward and lanky. His eyes are sharper than a twelve year old's should be.

"You'll never understand," Tahno's father says grimly, collecting the two sai. "Never."

Something clenches in Tahno's chest. He wants to shout at his father, to tell him that it is his father who will never understand, because he is a non-bender, cannot bend and never will.

But he doesn't say anything. How can he? Instead, he lashes a kick at the dirt. His father moves back towards the farmhouse. Low clouds roil in the eastern sky, moving towards the village, the farmland and the river.

Tahno knows, in his chest, in his heart, maybe, that he will never be good enough. He will always be too weak to plow a field fast enough, too thin to be a truly good farmhand.

Never good enough. He has never been good enough.

Never has been, and never will be.

Tahno is lost in his own thoughts, staring into space while the gym's muggy air swirls around him. He does not hear the door open, does not see the approaching figure until a voice—a girl's voice—says,

"Tahno?"

He glances up. "Korra."

She steps closer, cocks her hips and folds her arms. That defensive position again.

Tahno sets the sai on the ground, trying to avoid the Avatar's sharp gaze.

"Didn't expect to see you here," He says shortly.

"Likewise."

"Stadium arena not good enough for you anymore?"

"People know me there." Korra swallows. "Sometimes, I just want some...seclusion."

There is something weighing on her mind, Tahno thinks, because she pauses for a long time before dropping cross-legged to the ground. He follows suit and watches her trace patterns on the floor-mat with her pointer finger.

"I didn't think that we would go that far," She says finally. Tahno doesn't need context. "I mean," Korra continues, "If I lived in the Water Tribe, I'd probably be married. If I wasn't the Avatar."

"But you are."

"Yes." She nods, maybe trying to convince herself of something. "Yes, I am."

Silence for a moment. Tahno feels an invisible weight pressing down upon them. The air is golden and muggy with late afternoon heat.

"I thought that it would be someone else, you know?"

"Your fire-bending boy-toy, no doubt." Tahno snaps. "Is that why you're avoiding the gym? Hiding from your teammates?"

"Where I train has nothing to do with Mako!" Korra says loudly.

"What, is Republic City's favorite hero afraid of a little publicity?"

"Hey!" Korra is on her feet in an instant, her lithe body moving automatically to a fighting position. "I didn't ask for this! I didn't ask to be the Avatar!"

"But you are!" Tahno rises abruptly. They face off. Korra's face is bright with something like controlled rage. "You are the Avatar, Korra!"

"I might be the Avatar, but I'm not a hero!" Korra cries. "Because I can control four elements instead of one—or none? That doesn't make me the damn messiah!"

"People look to you for safety! They look to you for protection!"

"I'm not a damn police officer! You want protection, go to Lin Beifong!"

"You're right, uh-vatar." Tahno glares. "You're not a hero."

There is a moment of silence—tense silence so thick that it could be cut with a knife. And then they are fighting. Most benders neglect hand-to-hand combat skills—why fight with fists when you can launch fireballs or wind tornados or rocks or waves of water?—but Korra obviously been practicing.

She lands several fairly painful blows to his extremities, but Tahno is quick on his feet and he thinks he has the best of her until Korra grabs his arm and neck and, in one swift, fluid movement, flips him.

Tahno collides with the floor-mat hard, breathless. Korra straddles him effortlessly, seizing his wrists and holding them against the mat.

"Good fight, uh-vatar." Tahno pants. He's thinking about trying to flip her over, reverse their roles, when Korra slides herself up and down along his body, grinding against him. A whimpering moan forces its way from Tahno's lips. Korra smirks.

"Good fight, pretty-boy."

She's driving him wild, of course, but Tahno refuses to let on. He feels himself harden, knows that Korra does, too. Her smirk widens, and then she's bracing herself against his shoulders and dragging herself—oh god so slowly—against him.

Tahno bucks himself upward, desperately seeking some friction between them, but it's no use.

"Korra..." He moans, and his hands snake upwards. He touches her clothed breasts, her hair, her face.

She's so beautiful.

Korra's eyes are bright as she reaches down to knead the hardness between his legs. Then she's rubbing herself against him and her eyes are half-closed, and Tahno is being driven slowly crazy but he doesn't really mind.

He pushes his hand up under her shirt, and when Korra freezes he pushes her gently onto her back. Her lips part, and she bucks her hips upwards, grinding against Tahno. He barely suppresses a whimper—how unmanly would that sound?—and instead concentrates on the gleam in her eye, the desperation on her face. It's a desperation that he very badly wants to fulfill.

He tries to remove her undergarments, finger suddenly clumsy, and Korra is tugging at his belt buckle when the sound of approaching footsteps grows loud and close.

"Shit!" Korra is on her feet in a flash, pulling up her pants and straightening her tunic. Tahno fumbles with his belt buckle and hastily combs his fingers through his hair. The gym door swing open, revealing a short, sturdy figure.

"Bolin?" Korra nearly shrieks. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I couldn't find you at the arena gym. Mako said that you might be here." The earthbender's youthful face darkens when he sees Tahno. "What were you doing, Korra?"

"I was practicing!" She strides towards the exit, movements jerky. "Come on, Bolin." Then, over her shoulder, "This isn't over, pretty-boy."

Tahno opens his mouth to reply, but the Avatar is already gone.

"I'm going to kill Mako!" Korra vows, steering Bolin out onto the crowded, sunny street.

"I don't like him," Bolin says darkly, folding his arms.

"Who?"

"That Tahno character. He's always hanging around our team, have you noticed? I bet he's trying to steal our maneuvers or something. He's up to no good, that's for sure."

"I don't think that's it..." Korra blinks, swallows, rearranges her hair spools and tunic.

"Yeah, well, he's creepy."

Korra does not reply. They make their way through the heart of the city, stopping finally at Narook's Seaweed Noodlery. The shop is crowded, and the two benders are lucky to nab a corner booth.

Bolin looks deeply pensive, like he's got something weighing on his mind, and finally he blurts out,

"You shouldn't hang around with Tahno."

Korra folds her arms on top of the table, relishing the feel of cool wood against her skin.

"He just happened to be at Obi's gym, Bolin. We don't hang around together." This was the truth.

"People will think..." Bolin flushes slightly. "They'll think that you two are...you know..."

"What?" Korra forces a laugh. "It's not like that!" This was not the truth.

Bolin stares at the tabletop. He seems reluctant to say something, but finally manages,

"So you're not...seeing anyone?"

Oh, spirits. Korra hates lying to Bolin, to his face. She can't. Instead, she swallows and says,

"Bolin...I..."

Thankfully, their food arrives, and Korra fakes distraction. This only lasts a few minutes, however, and Korra looks up from her noodles to find Bolin staring at her.

Tense silence ensues.

"Who is he?" Bolin asks, his lips barely moving.

In that moment, Korra is faced with two options—the either lie to Bolin's face, or to tell him the truth and break something inside of him. And Korra thinks that that something might be his heart.

"Nobody." She says quietly. "There's no one, Bolin."

"No one?" Is that hope edging into his voice?

"No one." Korra says, and turns back to her noodles. Suddenly, she isn't very hungry anymore.

The apartment is dim and cold, flooded with evening light, and it is only when Tahno steps through the front door that he realizes how empty he feels.

He just wants to see her again.

Soon.

"Thanks for looking out for me, Bolin."

Korra feels that she owes him something, because no matter when happens Bolin is always there, always with his friendly, open face and his gentle concern and his protective nature. And even if she's the Avatar and doesn't need protecting—and if she does it's unlikely that Bolin can provide it—well, Korra is grateful nonetheless.

"Of course," Bolin pushes his hands into his pockets and grins sideways at her. "Why wouldn't I?"

Korra doesn't reply. She tries to smile but she can't, not really and not right now. Around them, the city air is becoming colder, the sun dipping down to the horizon line over Yue bay.

Night is coming.

Three cheers for another chapter, eh? Hope that you liked it, and please comment/review!