Work Text:
Tahno set the newspaper down and took a long drag on his cigarette. Today’s headlines were all about Korra; how she’d saved the new airbenders he’d been hearing about lately from some weird terrorist group, but came back in bad shape. The articles said something about her being poisoned by the terrorists before she defeated them. She wasn’t dead- that much was certain. That simple fact was enough to make him breathe a sigh of relief. But if she wasn’t dead, what kind of shape was she in? As much as he preferred not to think about the time he’d spent without bending, his mind couldn’t help but drift back to those dark days…
It had been about a week since he’d lost his bending when she’d come to visit him. That took Tahno by surprise despite the moment they’d shared in the police headquarters when she’d shown him compassion. He hadn’t done anything to deserve it, quite the opposite in fact. But she’d put everything that had happened in the ring behind her. She’d come to see how he was coping without his bending when she had no particular reason to do so. Tahno could not forget that. They’d ended up eating dinner together that night, and she’d given him a reason to live.
Maybe it was time he returned the favor.
He’d thought of visiting her after he heard about her losing her bending, but couldn’t bring himself to do it. The loss of Korra’s bending had been the death blow to his hopes of her somehow restoring his bending. It was difficult enough coping with that without facing Korra and offering the few condolences he could in the horrible circumstances. This was different. There was no reason that he couldn’t offer his support and comfort to her now, after all she’d done for him.
Tahno made his decision. He left his apartment, which was fortunately vine-free, and headed to Air Temple Island.
**
There was no other way to put it- she looked terrible. Korra lay in bed, propped up on a stack of pillows, arms lying limply on top of the blankets. There were dark circles under her eyes, much like the ones Tahno’d acquired after losing his bending. The accompanying blank expression on her face was like a knife to the heart. Worst of all was the wheelchair by the side of her bed. Korra, bound to a wheelchair? Korra, the ferocious girl who’d kicked his ass in their tiebreaker, in a wheelchair? Surely that couldn’t be possible! He pushed the wheelchair aside and pulled a chair up to the side of the bed. Korra didn’t even turn her head to watch him as he sat down.
“I heard you could use some cheering up,” he began. “Here- I brought you something.” He held out a long-stemmed red rose he’d bought at a flower shop on the way. He’d hoped it might cheer Korra up. In his experience roses were a sure-fire way to get you on a woman’s good side.
Korra did not take it. “Thanks, Tahno,” she choked out. Her voice sounded thin and weak, like every word had been a challenge to get out.
Tahno set the rose on the nightstand. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” he said, offering a smile in an attempt to lighten the mood. “I wanted to stop by to see how you were doing. The papers are full of stories about what happened to you.”
She closed her eyes briefly, then opened them to stare at the ceiling. Tahno quickly regretted bringing up the papers; from what he could tell, she hadn’t had many good experiences with the press. “I’m sorry,” he murmured, “I didn’t mean to upset you.” Spirits, why did he have to be so damned bad at this kind of thing? He tried again. “Look, I know it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, but I really wanted to see you.”
Korra’s eyes flicked back to him. They were blank, the spark of life he’d seen in them from the moment they’d met in Narook’s extinguished. The sight of her deadened, empty eyes was enough to make him want to cry. He wished she’d say something- anything!- or give him a sign that the girl he’d known was still in there somewhere. But no sign came.
Tahno laid a hand on the bed next to Korra’s arm. “I want you to know that I understand how you must be feeling right now. When I lost my bending, I lost everything. My fame, my career, my identity… everything that made me me.” Tahno took a deep breath before speaking again. “When you visited me that night, you gave me something to live for until you were able to restore my bending. I’ll never forget that, and I’d do anything to make it up to you.”
At those words, some spark of recognition flared in her eyes. “Thank you,” she said, “for coming to see me.”
“Anytime, Korra. It’s the least I could do after you gave me back my life.” A thought occurred to him then and he removed his flask of water from his pocket. “Do you… need any healing? I can heal, you know. I’m not the best, but I can do all right.”
Her eyes moved to the flask in his hand, then back to his face. “It’s ok Tahno, you don’t have to do that. I just had a healing session earlier today.”
His gaze strayed to the wheelchair. “Are you sure you don’t need some more?”
“I’m sure, but thank you anyway. They told me that my legs are healing as fast as possible, but…” her voice trailed off. No further words were necessary; it was obvious that she was healing much slower than she would’ve liked.
Tahno put the flask back in his pocket. “I know how you must be feeling so frustrated and useless right now, but you can’t let that get the better of you. When you visited me, you told me that I couldn’t give up and let Amon win. I’m saying the same thing to you now. I don’t know what those crazy terrorists said to you, but you shouldn’t let them or anyone else convince you that you’re useless. You’re not useless. You’re the Uhvatar, and you saved me. You gave me my life back. I won’t forget that any time soon, I promise you.”
Turquoise eyes met silver. Tahno thought he saw something like hope stir in her eyes. “Thank you, Tahno,” she whispered.
“You’re welcome.” He took a pen and paper out of his pocket and jotted down his phone number. “If you ever want to talk or just want some company, give me a call. Of course, my offer of private lessons still stands too,” he added with a wink. “Don’t hesitate- I promise it’ll be no trouble at all.”
Something that might’ve been a smile began at the corners of her mouth. “Thanks. I’ll take you up on that.”
Tahno stood and smoothed the front of his jacket. “And I’ll hold you to that. I’ll want to know how you’re doing, if you’re feeling better- my healing offer still stands if you ever think you need it.” He strode over to the door, then paused and turned to look back at Korra lying on the bed. “Take care, Uhvatar.”