TahnoXReader The Jerk and The Loser 9

Part 9 – Losing the Connection

"Wait, please don't do this! I'll give you the championship pot, I'll-I'll give you everything, just please don't take my bending!"
-Tahno

    “Introducing the challengers, the Furture Industry’s FireFerrets! And their opponents, the three time defending champions, the WhiteFalls Wolfbats!” the announcer had shouted and the words still echoed in your head even as the gong was rang. Tahno was the first one to race forward, he headed straight for Korra and you held your breath. Korra was forced to jump back a few steps as Tahno moved to punch her with water surrounding his hand. Another stream of water was sent in Korra’s direction and it hit her squarely in the stomach. In return Mako sent fire in Ming’s direction but the earthbender simply dodges before sending his disks of earth back at the firebender, they hit his target. The match continued like this and you were forced to release the air you were holding in.

    Tahno seemed to be focusing most of his attention at Korra who was struggling to keep up and meet his attacks. A smirk crossed Tahno’s pale face and he shifted so that his water now hit Bolin, throwing off Korra because of his sudden change in focus. “Bolin!” you shouted and clenched the railing harder in your hands as he was sent back flying two zones and nearly fell off the playing field. As you expected, no fouls were called on the Wolfbats. Ming bent an earth plate from under Mako’s foot causing him to stumble as him, Tahno, and Shaozu moved closer and continued attacking. Bolin slipped off the playing field due to ice that Tahno formed on the field which Shaozu quickly melted with fire afterwards. Mako and Korra were back up into the last zone and were easily knocked off by Tahno’s team. “It’s a knockout!” called the announcer. You’re eyes widened in shock.

    “Hang in there Korra,” you whispered. The round was not over just yet, Korra was holding on to the end of the playing field just by her fingertips with her right hand while her left hand was latched onto Mako’s shirt. The two weren’t in the water just yet and were still in the round. Korra swung her arm roughly and threw Mako back onto the field. Her fingers slipped and the Avatar fell into the water as Mako landed back on the field. The first round still went to the WolfBats because they had made so much more progress. Your heart clenched, the Wolfbats were obviously cheating and Mako was clearly getting annoyed but the referee said nothing.

    Another gong sounded signally the start of the second round. Determined not to cheat, the FireFerrets worked together and tried to fight hard. Both teams were constantly bending at each other and even dodging. Neither team could knock the other back a zone. There were at a standstill until the time ran out. The referee said that there would be a tie breaker and that a coin toss would be performed. You were almost certain that if the FireFerrets won the toss that Mako would go up. When the referee said that the FireFerrets won the toss your eyes shot up to look at the two teams. Korra and Tahno both stepped up onto the middle circle. “You and me pretty boy,” Korra told him and glared at Tahno. Your boyfriend simply smirked and stepped up onto the middle circle.

    “Thought you’d never ask,” came Tahno’s snide remark. He gave a small wave of his fingers. “Come on little girl, give me your best shot,” he told her with a smirk. Korra didn’t hold back, she stepped forward and bent water quickly. The water shot up and under Tahno’s helmet and sent it flying into the audience. Tahno’s eyes widened in shock as he stumbled back and practically backed into the arms of his teammates. This meant that the FireFerrets got the second round and that both teams had one win each. The final match could go either way. “Round two goes to the FireFerrets!”

    Tahno flipped his wet hair out of his wavy black hair and he narrowed his eyes at the other team. After retrieving his helmet, Tahno shoved it back over his head. The gong rang for the third round and both teams moved to bend immediately. It was hard to keep up with everything going on with both sides bending so much. Ming crushed one of his earth disks behind his back and Tahno pulled out some water. Together, the two combined the attack so that Tahno sent water filled with rocks towards the FireFerrets. All three of your friends fell off the playing field and fell with a large splash into the water. “I barely broke a sweat,” Tahno muttered with a smirk and pulled the helmet off his head. “Knockout, shouted the referee which meant that the Wolfbats won the championships and were winners for a fourth year in a row. You cheered but knew the victory was indeed bittersweet.

    Blue sparks of light caught your attention as you moved to look away from your boyfriend and towards the audience. “What is going on?” you asked with wide ___ colored eyes and you moved to jump over the railing. These sparks were quite familiar and you cursed under your breath when you realized the cause of these sparks. Equalists. Just as you were about to step onto the rail a hand was placed on your shoulder and yanked you away from the railing. “Get off!” you shouted and turned only to find yourself electrocuted by the odd mechanism on the equalist’s hand. The world spun around you and you felt your body drop like a dead weight over the railing. A soft groan slipped out from your lips as you tried to focus your gaze. Where were Mako, Bolin, and Korra? You couldn’t get your gaze to focus, the world was a blur. Was Tahno and his team fighting someone? Were you falling?

    You winced internally as you made contact with the water below the playing field and you struggled to keep your eyes open. Those damn equalists had managed to get you again and you swore that next time they wouldn’t stand a chance. You tried to force your arms to move but you couldn’t make a single limb move and your eyes were drifting shut. After a moment you couldn’t hold your breath any longer and the air left your lungs in a rush of bubbles as water slipped into your mouth. Terror filled your mind, you couldn’t swim, you couldn’t swim, and you couldn’t even try.

---

    “Breathe damn it,” Tahno hissed feeling utterly helpless as he pressed his lips to yours and blew air into your lungs twice. He pulled away and continued to do compressions. If only he could bend the water out of your lungs, but he couldn’t and it was the most frustrating and powerless feeling in the world. “Come on ___,” he huffed then took a deep breath and pressed his lips to yours once again. You coughed against his lips and he quickly moved away before sitting you up and giving several firm pats on the back as you spit water out of your mouth. “___, don’t scare me like that,” he said quietly and shoved some of his wet hair out of his face. It took a moment for your ___ colored eyes to open.

    “Tahno?” you called and very slowly his pale eyes met your ___ colored ones. You shook wet hair out of your face and pushed yourself slowly up into a standing position. “You saved me… again, thank you,” you said gruffly and cleared your throat. You waited for a moment then looked down at his form where he still sat on the ground. No snide remark? No teasing? Nothing. At a loss for words, you held out a hand to help him up. He didn’t accept it. “Gone… ___, my bending is gone,” he told you very quietly. Your legs shook under you and you dropped down to your knees so that you were at eye level with your boyfriend. Gone? You knew Amon could take away someone’s bending, the newspapers had listed that fact because he had taken the triple threat triad’s bending and Korra had told you herself. “Tahno… I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” you said as tears started to stream down your face. You lunged forward and pulled him into a hug so that his head rested securely in the crook of your neck. He didn’t return the hug, he didn’t move. “Sorry,” you insist between sobs.

    Tahno closed his eyes and allow you to hold him close. After he managed to get you to start breathing again the life left his eyes and his face paled. He was shocked, he no longer felt the strong connection to his element and he felt as if he truly lost part of himself. What could he do? He was nothing now. Everything he had worked for was lost. He couldn’t be a probender anymore and he felt that everything just slipped out from between his fingers. “Ming? Shaozu?” you asked as you stroked Tahno’s wavy black hair. Ming gave a nod in acknowledgement and Shaozu gave you a wavering smile, both a little space away and looking just as bad as Tahno. “You both…” you began between sobs, not able to finish the question. Shaozu nodded, the firebender not flashing his usual grin, each of the Wolfbats lost their bending, not just Tahno.

    A shadow could be seen out of the corner of your eye and you turned to see Lin Bei Fong. “___, I would like to speak to Tahno and his teammates as soon as I can,” she said as softly as she could manage, which wasn’t very softly but at least she was trying. You lowered your gaze back down to Tahno. “Do you think you can talk to the chief now or do you need time?” you asked. Tahno shrugged your arms off of him and stood. “I can go now,” Tahno stated and glanced at Ming and Shaozu as they approached. You wanted to ask if he was sure that now was a good time but he wouldn’t even look at you. A frown crossed your face as the Wolfbats left to change out of their probending uniforms. You turned to Bei Fong and clasped your hands behind your back.

    There was an awkward silence and finally you asked if she was okay because she looked exhausted. The chief of police insisted she was fine and made a motion with her head. You turned when Tahno and the two others returned and your hand itched to reach out and take his but you kept it at your side. “Can you get Avatar Korra? Tell her to meet us at the station,” Bei Fong asked but it was more of a command than a question. You nodded and glanced at Tahno. “Do you want me to come with you all?” you asked. Tahno simply glanced at you and then shrugged. “Do what you want,” came his cold response. You visibly winced before hurrying off to find Korra. Tahno was no longer acting like himself and it deeply saddened you but you felt that it was understandable. A very important part of Tahno was lost and you understood that he felt hurt but you still didn’t think he had to treat you that way. Quickly you wiped at your tear streaked face as you went to find Korra.

---

    The door slipped open and your face snapped up to look at Tahno as he stepped out of the interrogation room. “Tahno, do you feel alright?” you asked as you stood up from the bench and reached out towards your boyfriend. Tahno stopped just out of your reach and nodded his head. “I’m fine loser, so stop following me around like a lost polar bear pup,” he stated without meeting your gaze. You bit your bottom lip and clenched your right hand by your side. “I can’t be around you right now ___, so back off. I don’t need you clinging to me like those annoying fan girls,” he drawled out as his pale eyes slipped over to meet your ___ colored eyes. You flinched and stumbled back a step as if he had punched you in the stomach. “E-Exuse me?” you stamper, too shocked to be mad at your boyfriend. A smug smirk crossed Tahno’s face from behind his messy hair. “You heard me, back off. You’ve wasted your time just sitting around here. Go home,” he answered simply and started walking. As he passed by you he bumped his shoulder against yours forcefully.

    Slowly you turned around to face his retreating figure. You didn’t think, just moved. Your hand shot out and grabbed his wrist tightly in your own before spinning him around to face you. “I know you are hurt but that doesn’t give you a right to speak to me like this or treat me like crap. All you had to do is ask for space nicely and I would have given it to you,” you tell him trying to meet his gaze but he refused to let his pale eyes meet yours. Tahno yanked at his wrist but you only tightened your grip. The ex-probender growled in the back of his throat and yanked again. “Don’t you get it, or are you just to slow? Maybe it’s an earth bender quality since that earth bender bloke Bolin doesn’t seem too bright either. We are done,” he snapped. He gave his arm another yank and this time you released your hold on him. “Just like that…? You lose your bending and we are done?” you asked, your mind reeling. You blinked when Tahno gave a simple nod and turned his back to you again. The urge to step forward and shake Tahno was strong. You forced your hands to fall back to your side because you knew he was done with the conversation and had nothing else to say.

    Your hands formed into fists and trembled at your side. A hand was placed on your shoulder and you nearly jumped a foot in the air before turning to meet familiar blue eyes. “Hey ___... are you alright? You look pale and your hands are bleeding,” Korra asked kindly with concern leaking into her voice. Her tanned hands grabbed yours gently in her own and she forced your hands open so that they were no longer clenched. Slowly you glanced down at your hands and saw the deep red color, you hadn’t even noticed that you had dug your nails into your palm that hard. When you didn’t answer right away Korra gave a half smile. She tugged you over to a bench and had you sit before she stepped into another room. She came back with a wet cloth and bandages. Quickly and as softly as she could, she wiped the blood off your hands and wrapped them up.

    “I hate when people ask if you are okay when you obviously aren’t. Sorry about that. You are worried about Tahno right? I heard from Bei Fong that he lost his bending. He just left her office a couple of minutes ago, you must have missed him. You should be there for him…” she started saying but when your face paled even more she trailed off. You gently pull your hands out of her hold and force a smile onto your face. “He doesn’t want me around, I am just going to head home,” You told Korra. Before Korra could say anything else you stood with a smile and left. The Avatar’s brows furrowed. She had obviously missed something. “Doesn’t want you around…?” Korra muttered to herself with a frown. She knew that Tahno had been off since losing his bending, he had made her promise to get Amon for him… and he seemed a bit edgier than usual, but certainly he wouldn’t have done anything stupid already? Korra groaned and ran her hands through her hair. “What the heck did you do Tahno?” she asked thin air and stood with a frown.

---

    Gently you closed your front door behind you and stared aimlessly around your apartment. The journey to the apartment was a haze, you hardly remembered leaving Korra behind. You weren’t even sure how long it had taken you to get home, whether you had ran here or simply walked. Shaking your head did not help clear it in the slightest. You glanced around your small apartment and shivered. The apartment felt empty and lonely, it had never felt that way to you before. The first thing that caught your eye was a puddle on your table. Your frown deepened and you walked over to your table. “Oh…” you say softly and hold back a sob.

    The ice rose Tahno had made for you had melted. Your hands trembled as you lightly placed your fingers in the small puddle. A sigh escaped your lips as tears slipped down your cheeks and you grabbed a towel from the kitchen. The towel fell out of your hands three times because they were shaking too much before you made back to the table. You cleaned up the table then fell back on your couch to stare up at the ceiling.

    “Done huh? That… jerk,” you whisper and scrub the tears on your face with your hands. You replayed the pervious events of the day in your head and shook your head. Everything, he just threw everything away. You grabbed the seashell Tahno had given you off the table and walked over to the kitchen window. Roughly you shoved it open and raised your hand as if to toss the gift out the window but you couldn’t bring yourself to do it. “Shoot, I really am a loser,” you scolded yourself and shoved the shell into a drawer and out of sight.