Awaken

A Persona 4 x Avatar: The Last Airbender Crossover

Zutara Week 2014

By Nagone

Summary: I'll face up and reach out to the true me.

Genre: Adventure, Supernatural

Rated: T+

Warning: Cursing

Katara's body was tight as a rope, taut and stretched, near its limits.

When she had entered what she believed to be her and Zuko's shared bedroom, she'd found a room filled with thick fog. The door had sealed behind her, forcing her into the room, and as she walked, she found that it had grown immense, the walls extending further than she was sure she could walk.

Soon, the room had transformed, altering itself into a festival. Inara scampered by, chased by tiny, mythical creatures, and in the distance, a Lionturtle's portrait loomed, daunting. 'Where am I?" she whispered, dodging a cluster of dragonfly bunnies. They buzzed by, ears beating the wind hard.

"Katara!" She paused, her name a distant, familiar cry. She heard it sound again and recognized the voice: Zuko.

Running hard, Katara flew through the festival, passing stalls and woman with white face paint and red tattoos. White cloth billowed out from a straw hat, flowing around her in an unseen wind. "Zuko!" Katara screamed as she turned a corner. She passed a crushed ice stand, and bent the ice towards her, propelling herself high over a large cluster of creatures. They screeched, spitting and cursing at her.

Zuko turned a corner down the alley and ran towards her. She landed in front of him, tumbling towards him. "Katara!" he exclaimed, kneeling down. He wrapped his arms around her, squeezing hard. "It's really you. The real you," he sighed.

"Of course it's the real me. What did you expect?" she asked, eyebrow raised.

"I… I met someone who looks like you, but… she was different," he answered slowly. "Darker."

"Well, what a way to talk about your wife?" a voice said, irked.

Zuko scrunched up his nose. "Well, geez, I was just pointing something out. No need to get offended."

Katara blinked, confused. "Zuko, I didn't say anything though."

"Then who-" A chill ran down his spine, and he turned. Katara looked past him, and gasped.

"Hello," the forms in front of Katara said, voices filled with static. Glowing, yellow eyes glimmered in the dim room, and she felt Zuko- her Zuko- pull her closer, hand lifting her to her feet, body acting as a shield. "It's so nice to meet you, me."

Katara's double approached her, moving soundlessly as she adjusted Zuko out of the way. He blinked and found himself apart from Katara, a good amount of space away. Her hair was coifed into the same style Katara wore that day: a set of hair loops that attached to a thick braid in the back. That same braid that Katara wore bore down heavily on her back, like a metal weight. "Who... Who are you?" she whispered, fear creeping through her veins like ice.

The doubles look at one another and let out peels of distorted laughter. They flickered for a moment, as if wavering between realities. Katara's stepped forward first. "I'm the real you. I'm whiny, and I can't ever do anything without Zuko. I hate that I left my home, hate that I left someone who genuinely loved me for me, and I can't stand being a wife. I'm so, so bored. Why can't I have fun too?" Katara's double sighed, and pantomimed crying. "I just hate the Fire Nation. I can't believe I haven't left yet."

Zuko's double joined in, chuckling. "I hate being Fire Lord. It's too much trouble. I see why my sister would have been better: at least she could have handled things. I'm just too weak to defend my people, and I certainly can't keep them from acting up. It's like dealing with children. I'd rather just leave and go be on my own. At least that way, I wouldn't have a wife to deal with and a country to run." He sighed dramatically, a smirk creeping onto his face. "Because I'd rather be alone than with you." He turned towards Katara, the true Katara, eyes dark.

Zuko shifted towards Katara, and a burst of fire exploded from his firsts, forming itself into red-hot daggers. "You're not me! I'd never say those things!" His double began to shift, static covering his body.

"Say it again," it crooned. "Come one, do it."

Katara looked at her double, heart racing in her chest. "That's no me at all," she whispered. "I love Zuko. I'd never think things like that!"

Katara' double licked its lips, sighing. "Oh, say it again."

Zuko and Katara's hearts raced, mind numbingly fast. They could feel sweat trickling down their bodies. "You can't be me," Katara shouted.

Zuko nodded, anger overtaking him. "I'm not like that at all!"

As if thinking the same though, Zuko and Katara turned towards their doubles, locking their gazes square with those haunting yellow eyes. "You're not me!"

The doubles cackled and began to morph, breaking humanoid shape and transforming. Zuko's double morphed into a large, metal monstrosity, spikes sticking up from it's black surface. Lines of cool, blue fire pulsed along it, cutting slits in what he thought was a face for eyes, nostrils, and a mouth. It undulated, liquid metal, fiercely gobbling up stalls in its wake.

Katara's double altered too, expanding into a giant, white ball of fluff. Splotches of red discolored the fur, dripping to the ground, and a set of wings, tattered and broken, flapped hurriedly, beating the air. Bare, human like legs extended from it, propping it up on a set of backwards appendages.

They were both grotesque. Katara felt her stomach churn, but swallowed hard. "You are me, and I am you," her double began, voice deep, distorted. "I am a Shadow… The true self… And I'm going to replace you! Give me the life I crave!"

Katara's shadow charged her, barely leaving her enough time to bend more ice from the stall. She jumped back, avoiding a burst of hot water, spat from the mouth of the creature. She launched a few chunks of ice, and they smacked into it, knocking it off balance. "You're such a pain," the shadow hissed. "Out of my way!"

Zuko took his on, charging it first, daggers at the ready. He jumped, vaulting over the creature and slashed at it, leaving white-hot lines where he'd cut. They quickly sealed though, and more spikes erupted in their place, doubling and tripling.

As the fight waged on, it became clear they had no advantage. "Our attacks aren't working!" Zuko shouted. Katara had just tried to freeze the limbs of her foe, but the double had broken through quickly.

"I know!" she responded. She grunted as she was stuck, but recovered quickly, summoning forth more water. "I'm getting tired Zuko!"

"Same here," he answered, launching fireballs towards his foe. "It seems like we're only neutralizing the attacks!"

Neutralizing, Katara though, dodging kicks and punches. She jumped to the side as her double came barreling at her, and landed hard on the ground, grunting. Her back ached, and her limbs felt numb. I've got it!

She summoned forth the last dregs of her strength and forced herself up. Screaming, she ran at Zuko's double, and clapping her hands, sent an icicle straight at it. It connected, and the creature screamed in pain. A hole was left, unhealed. She turned proud. "We need to confront one another," she stated. "It's the only way to win."

Zuko nodded and ignited his hands, wrapping them in fire. He charged at Katara's double, kicking and punching at the fur. Soon, it ignited, and the beast squealed, running around in dizzy circles. They continued their onslaught until the beasts had fallen to the ground in a heap, bodies barely moving. "This can't be…" Katara's shadow whispered. "Damn you…"

Slowly, they faded back to humanoid form, eyes still an eerie, but faded yellow. Katara's double sniffled, looking up at Zuko. "Are you going to finish me off?" she spat. "Just get rid of me so I won't be a problem anymore?"

Katara approached her, and kneeled down, taking her double's hands. "No, he won't. Not today," she whispered. "She's hurting you know," Katara said, turning to look at Zuko. "We're hurting." Her voice wavered. "I get so afraid that you'll leave me, that I don't matter, and that's when the past creeps in. I'm… I'm afraid that I won't be accepted as part of your world too."

"I wish you'd say something. You know we can visit your home more, that we can do more things together. I can make more time for you because you're my wife," Zuko stated, emphasizing the last word. "Politics can wait."

Zuko looked at his double, who lay still on the ground. "I… I can understand." He knelt next to the double and placed a hand on his chest. "I wish you'd say something. You know we can visit your home more, that we can do more things together. I can make more time for you because you're my wife," Zuko stated, emphasizing the last word. "Politics can wait. You're what matters."

The shadow smiled weakly, and started to shimmer. It suddenly began to transform, and Zuko jumped back, fire at the ready.

In a burst of light, a form exploded into sight, above the remains of the shadow, silver and metallic in color. Large wings extended from its back, and its body, from head to toe, appeared to be covered in armor, save for the sides of its legs, which glowed with fire inside. Its head was shaped like a helmet, bright, amber eyes shining from hollows in its face.

Katara's shadow faded to, rising up from the ground into the form of a slender, androgynous figure with a mass of white hair. The hair trailed down, wrapping into a shawl that wrapped around and was knotted at the hip. The being wore a simple black stretch suit that covered it from neck to toe, along with a string of hearts about its waist and shoulders. In it's left hand it wielded a stingless bow, shaped like a heart.

In unison, the two beings spoke. "We are reflections of your true selves, the sides you have accepted. I am the Justice of all, Nike, Lady Victory!" The silver being, Nike, turned around and extended its wings. Metal feathers spread as she let out a caw of victory, fire spitting from her mouth.

"And I am the leader of romance, presiding over love with magic arrows, Eros, Goddess of Love!" Eros turned about in the air, white boots stamping out a beat.

"Thou art I, and I art though," Nike and Eros said together. "We must go now, but we will always be within you, waiting for the time when you shall fight." Nike paused, and Eros continued. "That time is upon you, and soon, a new threat will come. Prepare yourselves and find the other users of this power, this ability, named Persona."

Zuko tasted the word in his mouth. It felt heavy, important. He nodded. "We will."

Eros and Nike seemed to radiate happiness as they dissolved, fading into a swirl of red and blue particles. They separated and wound about Katara and Zuko, until they collected together in a ball.

In front of them, two cards appeared, tilted, spinning on the axis. On Zuko's was printed a women, leaning over a mass of people, a horn pressed to her lips. Purples, yellows, and reds decorated the background, and at the bottom was one word: Justice.

Katara's card shared a similar color scheme, but the imagery was different: it depicted a heart between two figures, rising from vines that twined together beneath the hints of a sun. Her word, positioned in the center was "Lovers".

The cards faded, and Zuko and Katara felt a rush of warmth. They extended their hands towards one another, held them tight, and gasped as they both fainted, falling back into their own reality.