Breaking the Wheel

Chapter 13

Asami thought long and hard about the merits of installing automated lifts in all newly constructed tower blocks as Tahno helped her up the five flights of stairs to his apartment. The stairways were lit a dim green in the late afternoon sun, much of their light blocked by the spirit vines that grew rampant over the building, and the hallway was cluttered with shoes, blankets and personal items left behind in the evacuation. Adrenaline had carried Asami through the fight, but by the time they reached Tahno's door, she felt dizzy, and she leaned on the waterbender more than she would have liked.

She barely got a glance at the small apartment as Tahno half carried her through to the bathroom, lowering her fully clothed into the tub before he turned on the taps.

"What... are you doing?" Asami asked, feeling slow and cold as the water lapped at her boots. The tub had been clean before Tahno had dumped her in, but now the dirt from her clothes was leeching out, staining the water brown.

Tahno gave her a condescending look. "Your arm is broken," he said. "I'm gonna try to fix it."

"You're a healer?" Asami did her best to focus on him. He looked like he did when he was on the pro-bending field, his jaw clenched and his brows furrowed in concentration.

"I've fixed up Ming and Shao loads of times before," said Tahno, referring to the other members on his probending team. He avoided her gaze as he looped a little water round his hand, forming an icy blade along the edge of his palm. "I mean, it's just a broken arm- how hard can it be?" He touched her forehead with his other hand, and swore under his breath. "You're in shock."

He started wrapping water around her, warm to the touch. "Talk to me," he prompted, as the water ran pink from around her arm.

Asami blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Your bathroom is cleaner than Mako's."

She got a snort of mirth from that as Tahno cut away the fabric round her arm with his ice blade, probing her shoulder with his fingertips. Asami hissed through her teeth from the pain, and the waterbender made a hushing sound as he brought a strand of water out from the tap, flickering blue between his fingertips. He pressed it to her skin, moving it back and forth, and the pain ebbed a little as the blue light began to permeate through her arm, drawing energy down through her shoulder.

Asami looked away from the healing, doing her best to focus on something other than the sensation of Tahno manipulating her chi pathways. "Has anyone seen Korra?"

"The avatar?" Tahno made a noncommittal noise. "I heard she was in a fight on air temple island. She had an old airbender guy with her." He pulled a stream of fresh water from the tap, cycling out the stuff he had used to heal. "That was a few days ago, though."

Asami nodded, relief flooding through her. Korra must have grouped up with Tenzin somehow. "What happened?"

"They flew off somewhere." The waterbender shrugged. "Trouble with the imperial forces. Guess she wasn't the best waterbender on the continent after all." He paused, frowning. "Aren't you more worried about your dad?"

Asami felt a chill crawl up her spine, one that had nothing to do with the temperature of the water around her. "My father? What about him?"

"You didn't hear?"

Asami shook her head. "I only just got back to the city."

"Well, your dad escaped from prison, and now he's on the loose with a load of hardcore equalists," said Tahno. He didn't meet her eye, but he didn't need to. Asami could hear the tension in his voice, and feel it in the way his healing water quavered.

Asami stared forward, feeling sick. She had just reopened the relationship with her father, just started to believe he could change. And now he was out there somewhere, probably busy making plans to hurt benders.