Tahorra - With and Without

The arena was quiet now. Smoke still billowed from within and around it, but this almost seemed to add to the calm. It was proof that it was over, that all that remained was a silent cloud of destruction. All the people that had been there weren't even there anymore. They'd all scrambled for the exits during the incident and left the stands a ghost town.
The only thing that gave life to a dying situation was the two probending teams, Lin's police force, and Tenzin. But even with them, there was little movement. They mostly stood idly since the shock and anger had faded into dejection. They could not believe that this had happened. Amon was getting more and more powerful. Not even Lin's police force had been able of detecting them. What were they going to do?
There was a slight stir in the calm as the waters splashed gently against the side of the floor. But after this mess, even this slight sound was enough to grab Korra's attention. Her eyes darted to the source and her body instantly snapped into a tense fighting pose. Maybe there were still some equalists!
Instead of the dreaded enemy there came an even more hated being – Tahno. His arms thudded on the floor as he vied to get a grip and pull himself up. His hair was deflated by the water, dripping against his pale skin. His outfit clung to his skin and if someone looked hard enough they could have seen that faint quivers circulated his body. Most strikingly however his usual calm and smug eyes were full of shock and terror.
Korra noted all of this and untensed. Her arms fell down and a small smirk passed her lips. He was nothing like the Tahno from before. She stopped herself from saying anything though. She simply stared and waited. It was his turn to make the first move.
His teammates were not far behind. They mimicked his actions. The only difference was that their expressions were much more defeated. They did not have fear in their faces, only a bitter kind of acceptance. Misery was almost a tangible force around them.
Mako noticed them then. His eyes fell squarely on Tahno and he did not wait to speak. A sinister light came to his eyes and he quipped, "Look how the mighty Tahno has fallen." His lips twisted upward into a cruel smile. "From top douche to a pitiful nonbender."
Korra caught her breath at the harshness that Mako managed to spew out. What was he doing? Didn't he have any amount of pity for Tahno? Of course the guy was the ultimate douche and she wanted nothing more than to smite him from the moment she laid eyes on him, but…it was different now. He had faced Amon, just like her. But he…he didn't get away.
Tahno sent a sharp glare at Mako, but no words passed his lips. He feared if he opened his mouth his true feelings would seep into his tone. If all he did was act, then he was confident he could get through this. He could get out of here and be alone.
Bolin was looking at Tahno with a rather condescending stare, especially for him. Korra noticed it and was taken aback. What was he going to do? "Yeah!" Bolin piped up. His conscience told him this was beyond wrong and cruel, but the part of him the usually stayed dormant, the part that hated Tahno, was stronger. "After the way you cheaters played, it's what you get!" His words still held that bouncy child-like tone that took most of the bite from his words, so it wasn't half as bad as Mako.
Tahno's lips curled into a snarl and trembled noticeably. Whether it was from hurt or pure hatred Korra could not be sure. But from the way his eyes gleamed and brows shook as they pressed deep onto his eyes she guessed it was a mixture of both. Still he didn't say a word as he managed to get up on his knees.
The pose struck a thought in Bolin's head and because it was Tahno he couldn't keep it inside. "HA!" He pointed. "Bow before me!" Once it was out of his mouth he wished he hadn't said it. Guilt was slowly returning to his personality.
Mako chuckled at Bolin, missing his resulting guilty expression. "Yeah." He sneered, raising a foot over Tahno in order to bring it down on his back and knock him flat on his stomach. "How about a rematch now? We'll see who wins with the tables turned."
Korra couldn't take it anymore. "Stop it!" She snapped, pushing Mako a bit roughly. "You're being a jerk!"
Mako started, confusion etched in every inch of his face. "Excuse me!?" He half laughed. His amused expression quickly became stern and hard, almost as if she were the one he was mad at. "I'm being a jerk!" He put his hand to his chest to indicate himself. "Have you not seen what he's been doing!? He brought this on himself! It's what he gets!"
"No it isn't!" Korra snarled, getting up in Mako's face. It reminded her briefly of their fight outside of the arena before the kiss. "You don't understand at all!" Her fists quaked. She couldn't believe how worked up she was getting, and for Tahno of all people.
Mako's angry expression faltered briefly at how infuriated she getting over this. He hurried to catch his slip up and forced himself to stare back at her with an equal fire in his eyes. "Apparently not!" He growled. "Because to me you're being utterly ridiculous! It's like you hit your head or something!"
Korra's lips pulled back to reveal her bared teeth. "Shut up!" What she did next surprised even her. She let one of her fists unfurl and she reared back and slapped Mako across his face.
Mako was stunned into silence. His eyes were wide and a lot of the fight was sucked from him, as if her blow had sapped it from him by mere contact.
"You don't know what it's like," She hissed, "to have Amon right there, standing over you, when you have no way to escape." Her eyes were intense and her voice was chilling as she relived her own experience. "It's the scariest thing you'll ever go through, it numbs you, it makes you want to scream…but you can't. All you can do is pray that it won't be the end, that someone will save you." She scoffed at this last idea. "But no one does. And then he has you, his cold skin on your face." She raised a hand and slid her finger down his forehead.
Mako shivered at the contact. Her touch wasn't anything like she described, but the way she slid her finger across his skin tingled. It was rather sensual. Despite all this he remained ever silent just like Tahno.
Bolin watched intently, not really needing the description. He already knew what it was like to face Amon with that impending end and the feeling was unfortunately resurfacing. He shivered despite himself, suddenly chilled. He hadn't even had Amon touch him and he felt this bad. Now he really felt like the villain in all this, not Tahno.
Korra started to go on, but her mouth soon fell shut. She realized that she didn't know how it felt to be Tahno at this point. Her experience ended there because she was the Avatar. He had let her go. The fire then left her eyes and a sad dullness took its place as she looked over at Tahno.
Tahno was back up in his knees and his teammates were gone. He wanted to get up and leave too, but he was afraid to move any more would mean to gather their full attention. He wanted them to forget he existed and leave already. He wanted to go home. He didn't want them or their hate or even their pity.
Korra knew what he wanted, but she had to do this. "I hate you too." She reasserted, her eyes hard and mouth a flat line. Mako needed to know she did not like Tahno. "In fact, I don't feel bad for you personally. I agree, you are a prick and needed to be taught a lesson."
Tahno scowled darkly up at her. However, Korra could feel that beneath the scowl lied heartbreak and a boy who wanted to break down and cry.
"But as a bender…" She frowned deeply, her eyes shining with pity. "I'm so sorry." She shook her head slowly back and forth. "I can't say I know what it means to lose your bending…but I know even you don't deserve to be stripped of it."
Tahno wanted to get mad at her, he sure as hell still hated her enough to, but he just couldn't find it in him. Her words did something to him. Or perhaps it was just her voice. Instead of feeling anger, he felt immense sadness wash over him, more than he already felt. It was so strong he swore he felt a trance of tears build in his grey eyes.
Korra smiled sadly. "So even though you disgust me, I can still try and help you." She held out a hand to him. She wouldn't help him if he didn't want it, that was for sure. If he wanted to continue being a prick then that was his prerogative. But she'd at least give him the chance. After what had happened, it was the least she could do.
Tahno stared with clouded eyes at her offering. What was she doing to him? He was already on the verge of a breakdown. He didn't need to be tortured by her games. Like hell she'd help. After all he'd done there was no way. He made a face at her hand and helped himself up. "Whatever." He managed to squeeze out in something close to his usual tone, but he didn't dare make eye contact. Surely she'd see his true feelings that way.
Korra narrowed her eyes at his rejection. Of course he'd do that. Once she glimpsed his eyes though she sighed. She had to remember that his image was all he had anymore. Without bending, if he lost his image he'd be virtually nothing in his own eyes.
He walked stiffly away from them. His usual loose and confident posture was a thing of the past. It was all he could do not limp. He'd never admit it, but he'd been hurt more than just on the inside. The fall had been rough and he'd hit off the wall pretty badly. He was so ashamed.
"Tahno." Korra finally said his name. It felt strange on her lips.
Tahno was amazed at himself as he tilted his head back toward her.
"It's too bad, really." She was insane. She had literally lost her mind. She actually felt the need to kept on until she saw a trace of content in him, preferably in the form of a smile. "I guess I'll never know about those private lessons of yours." She couldn't help but smile a bit mischievously.
Tahno blinked in momentary confusion. Then his eyes softened and a hint of his trademark smirk came to his lips. It was all Korra wanted. He didn't know this, but he did sense that she was trying to be nice in her own way. Nevertheless he simply made a scoffing sound and turned back around and left.
Korra watched him a moment, noticing his limp, but she did not call him back. If he really wanted her to help, he'd have lingered. This was just another of his attempts to save face. So she let him go and turned back to her friends.
Bolin and Mako both gave her stupefied gazes. Bolin was especially shocked. He realized the context of the statement and knew what it entailed. Although it wasn't too hard for even an outsider to know. Mako just didn't want to believe it.
Korra smiled and shrugged her shoulders in innocence. "What?"
"Private lessons?" Mako growled with faint uncertainty and obvious jealousy ringing in his tone.
Korra snickered. "Yeah, private lessons." She walked toward him. "Do you not know what that it?" She feigned shock and laid a hand over her mouth to emphasize her point.
Mako's eyes narrowed into slits. "Oh, no. I know." He swallowed his quickly rising anger. "I'm just making sure before I go kill something."
Korra laughed lightly. "Oh, you." She patted him gently on the head like a dog. "One day maybe you'll get your own private lessons." She let her hand run from his head down the side of his face and to his shoulder as she walked past before she got so out of reach her fingertips finally fell from him.
Mako once again shuddered as her skin touched his face, even this slightly. She was doing it on purpose. She was being such a tease! And she knew he was with Asami! He growled rather loudly, his fists clenched and shaking terribly.
Bolin watched him with a grin. "Come on, bro." He patted his shoulder. "You know she's only kidding." He snickered at what he was about to do. "Those private lessons she gives aren't that great anyway!" And he bolted, cackling like a maniac.
Mako started. "What!?" He roared, fully understanding the implications. Despite the fact he knew it was all a joke and Bolin hadn't done anything of the sorts with Korra, he was just in one of his moods. The slightest thing set him off, and so he was after Bolin.
Korra laughed softly at them. She was leaving now too. After today, everyone needed to rest. Tomorrow would certainly bring more hardships. And they needed to be ready for that, all of them – even the nonbenders.