Annnndddd chapter three! I really like the ending on this one, even if it is a tad rushed; it opens up options for the next chapter quite nicely. Of course I have to do some modifications on my outline seeing as the new episode messed some things up. But their vague timeline is my best friend, so for now Tahno and Korra have all the time in the world!

Thanks so much for reading!

It had become dark, the street lamps lit, and the park vacant by time Korra's eyes opened.

She looked blearily around, rubbing her eyes. What had happened before she fell asleep swum around just below her reach in memory for a while. When she finally caught hold of it, her cheeks turned a light shade of pink. How on earth had she let herself break down like that in front of him? He was a near stranger.

Of course one doesn't usually tell their whole life's story to a stranger either. She still felt the embarrassment coiling up in a knot inside her stomach though.

Korra became aware of a weight on her back, and looked beside her. There was the man himself, asleep as she had been. He had his legs loosely crossed and his hand pressed into the side of his cheek, his other arm around her shoulders.

His hand was surprisingly warm, for the cold persona he wore. She looked next to him and saw a cup of melted ice cream with a strawberry floating in the middle. Korra didn't want to make assumptions, but the thought that he had bought it for her made her smile some.

"Hey, Tahno." She stood up from the bench, letting his hand slide down her back onto the bench beside him. The movement was enough to wake him up; his eyes slowly opened, their grey depths seeming bluer with the reflection of the night sky in them. He sat forward, his shoulders cracking audibly and rubbed his face, groaning.

Korra held her hands behind her back and looked down at her feet, unsure of what to say to him. Tahno spoke first though, a relief, "Well, that was a nice," as he stood up his knee cracked as well, with a grunt he got out the last word, "nap."

Laughing nervously Korra rocked back on her heels and chanced to meet his eyes. He was looking out at the water as he stretched his arms above his head, he didn't look mad, or irritated, like she expected. He noticed her looking and turned, "You ah, feeling better?"

The flush in her cheeks roared to life again and she rubbed the back of her head laughing a little too loud for the near silence around them, "Oh yeah! I am fine, I'm cool, good! Sorry about that, I don't know what came-"

"It's okay, Korra."

Her heart thudded when he said her name. It was one of the only times she'd heard it without the "Uh-vatar" in front of it, and he said it with gentle eyes. There was a mild undertone of annoyance, but for the most part she could see an aloof sense of concern.

Korra opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted when her name was shouted from across the pond next to them,

"Korra!"

Both she and Tahno looked over to see Mako, alone, hurrying towards them. Korra's heart thudded again, but this time it was with the realization that-yeah it was night- but that meant she hadn't checked in with everyone at the Air temple all day. It only got worse when she remembered what she'd told them last, going to meet a guy for lunch, she'll be back.

"Korra! Where have you been?" Mako said loudly, his eyebrows knitting together as he came to a stop in front of her. She was going to answer but he didn't give her a chance, "We have been searching for hours, all over the city! Pema has been worried sick, especially after the way you left this morning." He continued, cutting her off again in an exasperated voice, "Why is it so hard for you to just think? Would it really have taken that much time to just tell us where you were going, and who you were going with?"

Korra might have made an effort to be civil when he first appeared, but now he had made her angry, "Oh and I suppose you're my mother now, Mako? What does it matter to you where I go?" She said after crossing her arms over her chest.

Mako growled, "No, but I am your friend, and it was totally irresponsible for you to just run out like that!" About then is when he got a glance at the "guy" she'd gone out to lunch with. His eyes widened and his head whipped around to Korra with a disbelieving, angry stare, "and what is he doing here?"

That was it.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" she nearly shouted at him, making him reel, "We went to lunch and then took a walk in the park!"

Mako retaliated quickly, pointing an accusing finger at Tahno, "Korra you seem to forget who he is!"

She snarled, clenching her fists, "I know exactly who he is!"

"Oh, and who is that: The guy that almost broke our necks in the ring? Who cheated his way to the championship and is universally known as a back stabbing low down scumbag?" He shouted at her.

Korra shouted right back, "He is a person!"

Her voice echoed around the darkening park, making Mako stop in his tracks. He stared at her with furrowed brows, panting slightly. Korra said more quietly now, but with deadly force behind her words, "He is a person. He is someone who got their bending, their bending, taken away. Who is lost, and trying to cope. He is a person who still trains hard every day and tries to be normal," She threw her hands up, "Just a guy that I wanted to go to lunch with!"

A silence dropped between them, their eyes locked together. She could tell Mako was still on the offensive, his stance was tense, and he stood ever so slightly between her and Tahno.

Their stare down was interrupted by a highly irritated voice, "I think the "person" wants to let you know a little something, flame boy."

Tahno walked in between them, his hand touching Korra's shoulder to make her step back. He stood a half a head taller than Mako, and the height difference was suddenly made very apparent by Tahno's straight back and broad shoulders.
The ex-water bender narrowed his eyes and curled up his lip in a sneer as he began to speak, "I think you might want to cool down, because you really don't want this to come to a fight. Your twitchy fingers are tellin' me otherwise, but I assure you, you really don't"

Mako only became more riled, he snarled out, "Wasn't thinking about fighting you, but if you really want to I would be happy to oblige."

Tahno looked at him with steely eyes, "Weren't thinking about it huh. Cute. Yeah, you come rampaging over here and yell right in your "team mate's" face, not only insulting her, but me. And you thought it was gonna stay peaceful? I sure didn't," Tahno curled his fingers up into a fist his voice deadly smooth, "I suggest you walk away. Talking now isn't gonna solve the situation; from what I hear, you aren't a very good listener when you think you're right."

Mako sucked in a breath and then let it out violently, a plume of flame lit up the darkness for a moment, giving his eyes a red tint. Korra couldn't tell if he was trying to calm himself, or intimidate Tahno.

If it was the second one, it didn't work, Tahno stood tall still, his feet planted in front of Korra, and he wasn't going to move unless Mako made him.

A few tense seconds ticked by, until Mako's shoulders seemed to sag, he gave Tahno a glare that he passed on to Korra "Whatever. I guess I will go let Pema know you are alive, you should probably contact Tenzin to tell him if you are ever coming home!"

He turned around and stalked away from them. The darkness slowly consumed his retreating form until it disappeared entirely; the only remnant was the shape that occasionally flicked in and out of the pools of light cast by the street lamps farther and farther away.

The silence hung in the air, coated the grass, the water, the trees around them. The only sounds were Tahno's carefully controlled breaths and Korra's thunderous heartbeat.

He slowly turned around to face her, a feigned look of apathy nailed onto his face. But she saw by the prominent muscles in his neck that he was very far from calm. His voice startled her when it whipped out from the darkness, "Where are you staying tonight, Uh-vatar?"

The statement blew through the silence. It wasn't a question, it was a tangible choice. Uncertainty wormed its way beneath her skin. There were so many smaller deeper questions in it.

She knew if it was anywhere other than the Island, she would be going to his house. Once there, she had no idea what his intentions might be. Her heart jumped in remembrance of his, "private lessons" offer. What if he hadn't changed at all and she was just going to be a new way for him to let off steam from the encounter with Mako?

On the flipside, what if this was him reaching out to her with friendship. What if he saw the tornado of emotion between her and Mako and honestly just wanted her to get away from it. What if he just wanted to help?

What if he had changed?

What if he hadn't?

Korra knew if she took too long to answer he would take it worse than an outright no. She had to think quickly and decide now.

"Not with him." She said slowly, the muscles in her back tensing up so tight she felt like they would snap like rubber bands. The words had to be ripped from her dry throat, and she felt moisture inside her clutched hands.

Tahno looked into her eyes for a moment, searching out and pinning any uncertainty. A long minute passed before he turned and walked over to Naga, who panted at him and licked his hand as he held it out, "You can stay with me."

The offer was more of a command, she felt that it would be wrong to object, so she nodded and walked next to Tahno, looking back and forth between him and Naga. He glanced over at her, "Will it be okay with me riding too?"

The tension let out a little and Korra nodded with a hint of a smile, "Yeah, as long as you don't grab her fur, she hates that."

He waited until Korra had commanded Naga to kneel so they could get on, and then slung his leg over the side, sitting himself behind the Avatar and hooking his arms around her waist as if he had done it every day. Though he had an aura of ease she could tell Tahno still was not comfortable at all with the thought of riding Naga. Korra assumed the only reason he got anywhere near the polar bear dog was the same wave of drowsiness that had washed over her when Mako left. The argument had drained her, and she had to admit the prospect of walking all the way to his house on the complete opposite side of republic city didn't sound very attractive at all.

Never having a man quite so close; Korra couldn't keep the blush from her cheeks when she felt his body near to hers. So she just thanked her ancestors he couldn't see her face and tapped Naga's side to go forward.

Tahno had never been a morning person until he got his bending taken away. At first he had wanted to sleep more to avoid the reality that had crashed down around him. In his dreams he still had his bending, he was still the best and nothing could stop him. But that white mask always towered over him like a tidal wave so massive he couldn't hope to control it and ripped him away from his fantasy. Sleep had become his enemy after that, at least in the real world the only place he saw Amon's countenance was the occasional Equalist poster the Police had missed.

Tahno found it was easy to distract himself by focusing on his training. To hold out hope that even though his bending was gone he could still be strong. Every morning he got up with the sun, went to his back yard and sat down for an hour of mediation, after that he followed up with stretches and different types of yoga, all that the doctors had recommended to balance him again.

This morning Tahno chose to look out at the city, taking in the towering spires that glowed gold with the sunrise. He sat back and sipped a cup of his favorite jasmine tea, feeling peaceful.

After the turbulence of last night, it had taken him even longer than usual to unwind and get some semblance of ease. Thankfully once they got back to his house things had settled down. Korra was out like a light as soon as she hit the couch and he wasn't far behind; he basically fell into bed and had to shower when he woke the next morning.

He stirred as the small sound of the screen door sliding through its track drifted past him. A smile cracked his features, "Do you like the door? Apparently someone wasn't fond of fish, so I thought that dragons would be better."

Korra came and sat down on the ground next to him, looking sheepish, "uh, yeah, dragons are," She laughed nervously, "Much better than fish."

Tahno suppressed an eye roll; hopefully this would not be another awkward repeat of lunch. He reached over and poured another cup of tea from the little stone pot and offered it to Korra wordlessly. She nodded in thanks and took it, looking out at the city with him.

After some time in silence Tahno realized she was not going to say anything else. As peaceful as she tried to seem, staring out at the glowing city, sitting and thinking didn't seem to be her forte. She was drawn as tight as an arrow and fidgeting frequently.

Soon, Tahno stood up, looking down at her with a strange feeling of excitement that he hadn't experienced since Amon took his bending away, "So, want to learn a thing or two, Uh-Vatar?"

Korra looked at him incredulously for a moment, as if trying to see if he was tricking her. After a moment she seemed to decide his intentions weren't malicious, and a fierce grin lit up her features as she stood as well, "Let's see what you can do without cheating, pretty boy."

Tahno allowed himself a secret smile, as soon as fighting was mentioned he watched Korra bubble up to her real, combative, aggressive, strong self. Maybe this will help her to feel a little more comfortable, he thought in the back of his head. With all his experience with women he had never quite met one as prone to violence as her.

Tahno let out a deep breath, willing the tight muscles in his chest to relax as he slid stiffly into a defensive position. The first few minutes would not go well for him; it took a while for him to get back to his peak, so defense was the best option to begin with.

Korra on the other hand seemed content to charge right in. As soon as it was implied she could start, she spun on the ball of her foot, lashing out with fire from her other.

Tahno jumped to the side and ducked, avoiding it easily. Of course that wasn't all; he had learned the Avatar's tricks when fighting her in the ring. Earth came up beneath one of his feet to try and throw him off balance, but pivoted away as soon as he saw her hand curl into a fist to control the ground.

Even though he had experience fighting all the elements at once, he would admit it was harder when they all came from one person, entirely focused on him. But Tahno was not too thrown, he knew one of the main rules of battle was to remain flexible in both mind and spirit; be prepared for anything.

For a while it was a set pattern of her trying to trick him or get around his defenses, and his successful evasion of her attacks. That pattern ended when Tahno hit the point in his training when his lungs seemed to breathe in more air, his vision became clearer, and his arms and legs responded to him close to what they used to. He felt a rhythm pulsing deep inside him like the ebb and flow of the tide; the feeling made him shiver.

The Avatar only barley evaded his spear formed hand, which struck out like a viper, aimed for her vulnerable abdomen. All the holes in her defense roared up before him and he lunged forward, unable to contain the grin that split his face. He felt free; his arms and legs flowing like water and his body listening to his commands.

She met his ruthless attacks with surprisingly solid defense. This went on for a few minutes and they both got some good hits in. A few Tahno was sure would leave bruises the next day. The fighting made him feel good, more confident. When his ten minutes were almost up, he spotted a change, she had just brought a chunk of earth up to block him, but she left her right side completely open.

Tahno spun around, grabbing Korra's right arm and making her spin with him so she faced away from him, her arms twisted up behind her back and held there with a grip made of steel.

All too quickly it was over, as soon as he was still for more than a few seconds everything locked up again, he felt his arms tremble in their hold of her's but still he kept his grip tight. Playing off his frustration at being handicapped again as simple fatigue he leaned down and whispered in her ear, "I win."

Korra struggled in his grasp like a trapped animal but eventually gave up with a grunt, or so he thought.

"Well if I only needed my hands, yeah I suppose you would win."

She stomped on the ground beneath them and Tahno was ripped away from her and sent sprawling up into the air as the earth acted like some sort of possessed sling shot, and down into the pond, a thunderous splash roaring up around him.

Unfortunately that pond was fairly shallow so he hit the bottom with more force than he would have liked; it knocked he breath out of him, which was sent up in a rush of bubbles.

The Avatar noticed right away and was helping him up as he coughed and hacked the water out of his lungs. Tahno felt a surge of bitter fury claw its way up into his chest. He silenced it knowing that the girl was in a fragile state to begin with and his whining and moaning about how he used to be better wouldn't help either her mood or whatever respect she had for him.

"Tahno are you okay? I thought the pond was deeper!" She said in a small panic as she helped him sit down in one of the chairs on the deck. An apology would have been nice but he didn't expect one from the prideful girl.

Clearing whatever water was left in his lungs, Tahno looked up at her a trace of sarcastic humor in his voice, "Not much for finesse, eh Uh-vatar?"

Korra bristled, "You had me in a near headlock, what was I supposed to do?"

Tahno waved his hand to brush the comment off and she gave a "humph" sort of sound. He had to keep himself from laughing at her, so instead he sighed heavily, looked away for a moment, and then changed the subject, "Your water bending is pretty sad, you know that right?"

This must have insulted her a lot more than anything else he said because she went in full defense mode, crossing her arms over her chest and taking a few steps back with narrowed eyes, "Oh really? Well all mighty master, won't you tell me what I have been doing wrong my whole life. Oh, and what Katara didn't teach me, because I am sure she doesn't know anything compared to you!"

They had a small stare down, she obviously expected him to…what? Be speechless? Have nothing to come back with? What a child.

"The skill a student possesses doesn't reflect the teacher, only what was absorbed during the learning process. Your water bending is more like Earth bending. You learned all the elements from a young age so I am guessing their styles just kind of melded together for you," he wiped his face with his hands and flicked the water away from him as he stood, "You don't bend it, you push it. If you want to truly control the element," He stood behind her now, his hands tracing along her arms to bring them into position, he growled in her ear as she became stiff as a board, "loosen up, Uh-vatar," then continued what he was saying as he brought her hands down, beginning the form, "you have to let it flow through you," lifting them back up and leaning their bodies down low to the ground, he felt her begin to relax, "and become a part of you, the water is not a tool," They swung back up and he separated from her as she began to grasp the form, he stood in front of her now.

They mirrored each other in form, both lit by the backlight of the sun as they slowly circled around, rolling their spines and hips like the waves, sliding arms and legs into new positions. He smiled some as she brought water from the pond in to follow her hands and flow around her arms, he finished his statement, "it is an extension of your arms," They spun into a kick and the water lashed out in front of her feet, "your legs," as they finished the form and she brought her hands up high, the water roiling in the beginning of a miniature tidal wave, he watched it longingly and said in a soft voice, "your spirit."

It crashed down around them and soaked them through, washing across their tired limbs and cooling their skin. Tahno closed his eyes as it dripped down his cheeks, the beads seeming indifferent to him now. Something in him wanted to cry out then, kick and scream and beg like he had the night Amon took his bending.

But when he opened his eyes, and saw the Avatar standing in front of him, her bronze skin painted gold with the sun's new rays, and looking at him with bright blue eyes the very color of the mirrored sky on the ocean waves; he felt himself calm quickly, and something open up deep in his chest.

The opening made him let out a deep breath, that carried with it ripples of his past, and tinges of his present. They flowed away into the swirling puddle at their feet, and Tahno felt a sense of calm roll over him.

"Well done," he paused, and then added with a curling smile that held a hint of mischief, "Korra."