He heard a chair scraping against concrete, and before he knew it, the Avatar was sitting across the table from him. She narrowed her eyes and looked him over. His once-ivory skin was now pallid and glowed in the sunlight. The smudges under his eyes were as dark as bruises, and Korra didn't even want to think about the state of his hair.

"You look like hell," she said, and felt a pang of guilt. Tahno sighed into his teacup.

"I feel like it." They were both quiet, and Tahno took a sip of his tea. It did little to soothe the pounding in his head, despite the barista's promises. Instead, the hot liquid was jarring as it slid down his throat.

Korra sighed and leaned back in her chair. It had been two weeks since Tahno had lost his bending, and he was looking worse by the day. She hadn't expected to care all that much about him, but couldn't help herself; her nightmares were his reality, and watching him lose everything did nothing but solidify her own fears.

"I still forget sometimes," he said, leaning his head against his bony hand. "I'll go through the motions, but it doesn't work." Korra didn't know how to reply. "I think that's worse than knowing I can't bend. It's worse when I forget, and the realization comes crashing back."

"Can I do anything?" Korra asked. Tahno raised an eyebrow.

"Like what?" he replied. She shrugged.

"Anything to cheer you up. As much of a jerk as you are, pretty boy, I hate seeing anyone like this," she said, and knew she was lying. She felt guilty; her constant failure to take down Amon resulted in Tahno's loss of bending, and she felt horrible for it. Regardless, he smirked, and a glimmer of his old self began to show.

"What about those private lessons?" he said, and took another sip of his tea. Korra rolled her eyes, then chuckled and crossed her arms.

"Are you serious?"

"Don't you want to see how a real pro bends?" Korra grinned.

"You wanna go toe to toe with me?" she mimicked, this time her voice full of mirth. Tahno smirked back.

"Tonight, in front of the Jasmine Dragon. Meet me an hour after sundown."

"Why tonight?" Korra asked.

"Waterbending is strongest under the moon." Tahno rolled his eyes, then pushed back his chair and stood up. "Didn't they teach you anything at the South Pole?"

"Hey, watch it, pretty boy. I learned from the best," she replied. Tahno answered with a wave of his hand, then meandered away to return his empty teacup. His head felt much better.

"See you tonight, Uh-vatar."

Korra groaned, then slumped in her chair as she studied the patterned tile on the tabletop in front of her, wondering what she'd gotten herself into.

She'd made it out of the house without detection, slipping through the window and sneaking past Tenzin's room. The sky was just losing its last pink streaks, turning the world grey with twilight. She'd just crept past the meditation pagoda when she heard a voice.

"Where are you going?" Mako asked, stepping from the pagoda's shadow. Korra froze and felt her heart pounding in her chest. As far as she was concerned, she had two options: play guilty, which meant she would be late, as it would take longer, or play angry, which would start a fight. She chose the latter; she had no intention of missing the invitation.

"Nowhere of your concern," she replied, shifting her weight to one hip and crossing her arms. Mako's brow furrowed.

"Anyone you might be off to see is currently on the island," he said, keeping his voice even and face blank. "With Chief Bei Fong's resignation and Tarrlock's decision to pause the task force's actions, I don't know where you'd be off to."

"Then I guess you don't know as much as you think you do. I have somewhere to be, we can talk later," Korra replied, and turned around to leave.

"Tell me where you're going, or I'll tell Tenzin," Mako said. Korra whipped around, feeling real anger rising rapidly in her stomach. Mako's face was stony, and Korra was nearly glaring daggers.

"What kind of bullshit is that? What kind of person rats on their teammate? What kind of person does that to their friend?" Korra's voice was getting louder by the second. She stormed up to him, their faces now inches apart. "And what's with all of the ultimatums lately? How about when you told me to drop my suspicions about Asami's father or we weren't friends anymore? Yeah, I don't recall you ever apologizing for that. Even though I was right. What kind of friend are you?"

"One who cares about your wellbeing? It's dangerous for you to leave the island alone, Korra," Mako said, his voice calm, though his eyes were like chips of ice. Korra flinched, and her anger faltered a bit.

"That doesn't give you an excuse to be an asshole," she said. "I can take care of myself. And I'm not going to be wandering around the city on my own or anything."

"Who are you meeting?"

"None of your business," she replied, fighting to keep her voice as reasonable as Mako's.

"I'll tell Tenzin," Mako said, and Korra whipped around to leave. "I'm sorry," he offered, but she ignored him and walked toward the dock, staring at the ground as she went.

She sat down at the same table she had that morning. The tea shop was the only major source of light on the street, giving the surrounding buildings an eerie glow to accompany the winking of lanterns in the darkness. She traced the patterned tabletop with her finger, looking up and around every so often as she waited.

"What's on your mind, uh-vatar?" Tahno asked, pulling out a chair and seating himself. She nearly jumped, not even having noticed him walk up behind her, but quickly regained composure. Korra noticed he looked remarkably better than he had in days. His hair has almost recovered some sense of normality, and the dark circles under his eyes had lightened.

"What do you mean?" she inquired.

"Something's wrong. Did you have a fight?"

"How do you know?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. He chuckled.

"You wear your emotions like an article of clothing." He paused, and they were both quiet for a moment. "So what happened?"

"Just an argument with Mako."

"He's the firebender, yeah?" Tahno asked. Korra nodded. "You like him, don't you?" he said, and Korra's eyes widened. She leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms.

"What makes you say that?" Tahno smirked, knowing he'd hit the bull's-eye.

"Sweetheart, I told you. You're not that hard to read. And I've seen you all in the ring. It's obvious," Tahno said, his voice like silk. He was nearly beginning to feel like his old self, provided he could keep on ignoring anything to do with waterbending.

"What do you mean? About being in the ring?" Korra asked, suspicious. Tahno snickered.

"You can tell a lot about people by the way they move in the ring. Team dynamics are especially easy to determine. The earthbender has a crush on you, doesn't he? And Mako doesn't return your feelings," he said. Korra laughed, then shrugged.

"I have to hand it to you. You've figured us out." Korra sighed. "And I messed it up with Bolin. And Mako has Asami. We can still be friends, but I feel like he takes me for granted. I don't feel appreciated." She looked up and frowned. "Why am I telling you all of this?"

Tahno watched her, silent and ignoring the question. Korra stared back, refusing to look down. The glow from the tea shop threw everything into sharp relief, outlining his features. It only took a few moments for Tahno to speak, but to Korra, it felt like years.

"If you liked me, I wouldn't take it for granted," Tahno said, his voice only barely retaining some of its usual cockiness. Korra fiddled with the fur on her hip wrap, unsure of how to answer, or even what he really meant.

"Thanks," she said, uncertain of any other way to answer. "I just don't feel wanted, I guess."

"We should go do something," Tahno said, smiling at her. He glanced at the tea shop. "I think the baristas are starting to glare at us anyway." Korra chuckled, then nodded.

"Okay, what do you have in mind?"

"You'll see," he said, standing up. He offered a hand to her; she took it, almost shuddering at the intense contrast of the warmth of his hand to the crisp night air. He pulled her out of her seat. Korra expected him to drop her hand, but he held onto it and pulled her down the dim street.

Korra wasn't entirely sure why she felt perfectly alright with the current situation. It could be out of spite; she had been, after all, extremely angry with Mako. It could be out pity, since Tahno had lost his bending as well as his way of life. It could something as simple as desperation, a need to feel desired. But for some reason, Korra found herself with her lips planted firmly on those of her once-rival. And she was absolutely okay with the turn of events. She realized she was not, however, absolutely okay with the reasoning. She pulled back.

"Wait," she said, and Tahno looked up questioningly. Korra took a deep breath. "I don't know if I'm doing this for the right reasons."

"I'm alright with being a rebound," he replied lightly, leaning in to brush his lips against her collarbone. She could feel his smile against her chest, and she sighed, half out of pleasure and half out of frustration.

"I don't know that I'm alright with it," she said. "If anything… happens, I don't want it to be ruined by the idea that I'm not doing it for myself." Tahno looked up again, this time his face serious.

"Korra, anything that you choose to do to feel better is for yourself."

"It's not that black-and-white."

"But it is. If you want to do something, do it. Any other reasons don't matter. The only thing that matters is what you want and if you want to do something." Korra shook her head and resituated herself on his lap. She shivered, wanting nothing more than to stop talking and press her mouth back to Tahno's, but her brain wasn't about to let her.

"That's not fair to you." Tahno opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. "I know you don't mind being a rebound. But what if it's something else? What if I'm doing this out of pity? Or guilt?" Tahno frowned and stiffened, his eyebrows furrowing slightly. His voice was icy.

"I don't need your pity."

"I know," Korra replied, climbing off of him and settling on the couch beside him. "I don't expect you to excuse any actions that I take for the wrong reasons. That's why I don't want to take them for the wrong reasons." Both were quiet, contemplating. Korra didn't know what to do, but she most certainly did not want to leave. Tahno studied her face, then slowly reached around her and pulled out her ponytail, then her two side hair spools. She gave him a questioning look.

"It looks better when it's down. It suits you," he explained. He carefully set the spools down on the side table, then reached up to brush his fingers through her hair. "Of course, it's not as wonderful as mine." He mockingly shook his head, his hair frizzy and tangled from Korra's fingers. She gave him a small smile, and he leaned his forehead against hers.

"Stop worrying about these things. It annoys me," Tahno drawled, his voice full of feigned disdain. Korra scoffed and rolled her eyes, but didn't lose her smile. Tahno skimmed his lips over hers.

"I'm the Avatar. I'm supposed to worry about morals and things," she mumbled against his mouth as his fingers wove themselves into her hair.

"Don't be such a goody two-shoes," he drawled. "The Avatar is no fun. I want Korra to come out to play."

"You make me sound like some sort of wild woman."

"Aren't you?" he asked. She silenced him with her mouth, throwing a leg over him and climbing back onto his lap. She ignored her conscience and the fact that nothing had changed, and it felt right. She traced the opening of Tahno's jacket with her fingertips, smoothing her hands under the edges. He nudged the hem of Korra's shirt up while sliding his jacket off, tracing his hands over the smooth skin of her back as Korra went to work on his shirt buttons. His fingers felt like they were on fire as they drew circles on Korra's skin, and he broke contact with her lips to start tracing kisses up her cheek. Her shirt slid up higher, and Tahno's was pooling on the couch behind him.

"Are you feeling wanted now, Uh-vatar?" Tahno murmured in her ear. His voice was dripping with something, but Korra wasn't entirely sure what. She shivered and pulled his lips back to her own.

"Most definitely."