Atla x Korra Crossover

[NicTheDjinn]

The death of the Avatar was usually never a good thing.



The being tasked with restoring balance between the nations, laying dead in the dirt. Blasted to pieces by weapons unlike that any other avatar had ever seen. She’d barely even lived a fraction of the lives her predecessors did, caught before her time. Some would say death was an equal part of the cycle as birth, it was the passing of the torch and perhaps Korra had done what she was fated to do, opening the gates at the north and south pole, perhaps ending Kuvira had never been part of her role. But, if there was indeed untapped potential in her future it was unfortunately, cut short.



Her allies fled the country in the aftermath, fearing persecution and knowing that if they stayed they would be dead too. That their deaths wouldn’t be made public, they would be cut down in one of the remaining reeducation camps or quietly executed, corpses shoved under the rug either way. So, they left their friend without a proper burial and fled to the fire nation to save themselves, something that would be nothing but a stain on their future reputation. Their names became the names of cowards who had left their dead leader behind. Seeking shelter in the fire nation in secrecy, as to not provoke war between the two nations, hoping that even with Korra dead that Kuvira would be content with her empire. And for a time, she was. For the first time in a long time, the Earth Nation was united and strong. Healed from the wounds of the hundred year war, they stood as a pinnacle of progress, of power and Kuvira and all who had built that legacy were proud of what they’d achieved.



The Earth Empire continued to grow in the years after Korra’s death, uncontested by the other nations who didn’t want to go to war again so soon, and it became a stable empire, or as stable as it could be. With Kuvira behind the reigns and the Avatar long gone, the connection between the Earth Empire and the other nations became radio silence. Communication with the outside world was disrupted and before any of the citizens were aware of it, they were living in a steel bubble of information. Everything was filtered through their great leader’s censorship laws and anything that denied their great history simply wasn’t allowed in through the borders, it wasn’t as overt brainwashing as what had happened in ba sing se in the years prior, but that didn’t mean it hadn’t taken effect on the people.



That much was clear by Ochako Uraraka’s firm insistence that she was not the Avatar. Even when it should have been obvious, it wasn’t, not to her at least. Every mention of Korra in Earth Nation history had been scrubbed clean. An Avatar that opposed the greatest and most prosperous nation in the world wasn’t going to help the cause, so it was made out as if she’d never existed in the first place. While her legacy couldn’t be completely destroyed and there were rebel factions swearing allegiance to their dead hero in the shadows, most people didn’t have a clue who she was, let alone what she’d died for.



So when Ochako’s childhood tea parties began to include a third person in the duo of herself and the spirit she’d named Mochi, she didn’t think anything of it. The woman was simply a friend from the village, just like her other friends. She didn’t question how she’d gotten in their backyard or why she had a similar ethereal quality to Mochi and eerie glowing eyes, instead grinning as she sat on the grass. Taking another teacup from the tea set and handing it to Korra. “Everybody’s here, finally!”



“Took you long enough Korra, your lateness is so uncouth.” She quipped, stirring the tea in the teapot. It was simply cold water and tea leaves as at the young age of seven, she wasn’t allowed to use boiling water for her tea parties yet.



“I know I know, I’m sorry. Thanks for inviting me though.” Korra smiled, moving to sit down on the edge of their circle.



“Here, tea for you Mochi…” Ochako smiled, pouring tea into Mochi’s cup, careful not to spill anything as she used her bending to manipulate the china. “And for you Korra…”



“Er… thank you Ochako.” She looked down into the cup, feeling the coldness against her hands. Ah, a young child's botched attempt at tea. Maybe tea with Iroh in the spirit world had spoiled her, but she did her best to be appreciative regardless.



“You’re welcome!” She chirped and Korra blinked as she realised Ochako wasn’t really moving much to pour the tea, instead using her bending and managing it quite well.



“You’re using earthbending to move the china, aren’t you? You’re pretty good for your age, you’re not even spilling any tea!” Korra noted, ethereal eyes keen as she sat across from her at the small table. Ochako only smiled, taking a sip of her ‘tea’ and thinking for a moment.



“Yup, it’s not too difficult, but I’m not that good. I can’t do anything useful yet, but it’s good that I’m an earthbender because someday I’ll be able to help mom and dad with their building, you know?” She smiled, thinking for a moment before using her bending to set down her cup, a small jerk or her knee under the table did it and it clattered against the table slightly, making Korra jump. Ochako just let out a small laugh, wiping up the small spillage of tea with a cloth set in the teaset.



“But moving a teapot is a lot harder than building houses…”



“I could show you some stuff if you like, I picked up a couple of skills from a friend of mine Bolin… I’m not sure if that’s allowed but hey, why not right?” Korra mused, taking a fake sip from her tea- knowing the liquid would go right through her and onto the floor.



“If it’s not too much trouble!” Ochako smiled and her new friend Korra reached out a hand for her to shake on their deal, the young girl took it.





And thus, Ochako’s training had begun.





Ochako’s strong ability to see the Avatar spirit helped matters greatly and she spent hours in the field behind her house just practicing the stances Korra showed her, learning to pull up the earth beneath her to create pucks she could throw around with her earthbending. Her parents just watched, somewhat concerned as Ochako talked to thin air and bended chunks of rock, flinging them into trees and targets made of clay; watching them shatter on impact and their daughter laughing and playing with a ghost who talked of people assumed to be long dead, watching her learn things she shouldn’t be able to in their po-dunk village.



They realised they would need to nip this in the bud as soon as they could, so they began packing Ochako’s things. They’d been planning to have her go to a local school, but with this in mind they realised this was too much for them to handle. So, they dipped into their savings to send her away to an all girl’s boarding school for troubled youths, telling her not to speak to her friend anymore, that ‘Korra’ was the reason Ochako was being sent away in the first place. They prayed she was just disturbed, that she could recieve help there. Medication and sickness was a much better fate than being the Avatar in their eyes, considering what had happened to the last one.



Ochako remembered being upset about it, but there was nothing she could do. All she could do was move on with her life, leave her old life behind and try to start again. And she eventually forgot all about her old friend Korra, between the bustling life of the dorms and the never ending grind of classes. Having sleepovers with her friends and getting in trouble with her teachers between late night training sessions. Even if she’d forgotten about Korra, the traces of her influence remained as Ochako continued the habit- joining the academy’s small pro-bending team and watching regional matches on the TV. Coming to accept that kids were just… weird. Everyone was, that didn’t make her special, it just made her normal.



It was after a night of mischief with her dorm-mate that she realised the truth, or part of it. It came to her in a dream after a night well spent raiding the drawer of confiscated items for all the secret treasures it held. She found herself sitting in a strange place, nowhere and somewhere at the same time. She’d realised she was dreaming near immediately, and she could tell this dream wasn’t like her other ones. She’d buried the truth for so long, and she needed to face it sometime. If she wouldn’t do that in the waking world, Korra would try to do that in her dreams.



“...Where the hell…” She muttered, looking at the very familiar face before her, a water tribe woman she barely remembered. “Do we know each other?”



“You don’t remember me? I’m a little hurt, though you were pretty little then huh?” The woman laughed, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m Avatar Korra, it’s nice to finally formally meet you here.”



Oh no. This couldn’t be happening. No way! No way. This… this couldn’t be real, this was just some dumb, crazy dream! “...And I’m going crazy, okay....” She muttered, dreaming up herself a paper bag to breathe into.



“No wait! You’re not, just listen please.” Korra tried and Ochako couldn’t contain herself. No, she wasn’t going to listen to some dream figment, she was going to breathe into her bag and Korra was going to listen to her, she was a figment of her diseased, deluded brain after all. She reported to her, not the other way round.



“If you’re Korra, then I’m the avatar and I can barely earthbend let alone even imagine bending anything else.” Even if she’d gotten much stronger over the years, being an okay earthbender was a very different thing from being the Avatar, master of the four elements. Like, the whole concept felt like some joke, a dream much like the one she was caught in now.



“The other elements are things you learn, you don’t just know them right away I mean I did but that’s different- we have elemental masters for a reason, the Avatar goes on that journey for a reason.” Korra huffed, tone raising as she got more and more frustrated with the young girl’s petulance. Ochako just snapped back harder, scoffing. Korra’s words had done nothing to reassure her, only putting fuel on her fire.



“So I’m supposed to just run away from my family and parade around the world? No way! They need me a hell of a lot more than the world does right now. The Earth Empire is stronger than it’s ever been, nothing bad happened until you showed up.” She spat, watching her old ‘imaginary friend’ flinch, silent as she gave her a deathly glare. “So don’t lecture me on being a good Avatar when you couldn’t even get it right.”



“Ochako I…” She started and before she could finish, Ochako found herself staring at the ceiling in her room; awake and listening to Himiko’s sleep talking next to her. That had been the last time her and Korra had spoken and Ochako wasn’t going to let herself regret it. It was just some silly, childish dream. Nothing more nothing less.



So she tried her best to forget it as the school break started, she was headed home and was eager to see her family and Mochi again. Ochako missed her mom’s cooking, it was so much better than bland cafeteria food. And she missed her bed and her room and not having to deal with Himiko’s antics in their dorm, she could have some privacy.



Ochako had barely had time to put her bags down before there was a foreboding knock at the door.



She didn’t know how they’d tracked her down, how they’d known in the first place. She wasn’t even sure they were right, but that didn’t matter to them. To Earth Empire officials that came bashing on her door that evening, she was the avatar even if she had yet to master other elements. Her parents' stories to the soldiers about imaginary friends and sleep talking had sealed her fate. And before she knew it the young earth bender from a village out in the middle of farm-filled fucking nowhere was being shipped off to the capital, on empire transport flanked by heavy duty mechs walking alongside the tracks.



She was glad they’d let her bring along Mochi, spouting something she didn’t believe about a spiritual guide. Like yeah no shit he was a spiritual guide. He was a spirit, duh! Ochako just rolled her eyes at the thought, stroking him between his winged ears as he curled up in her jacket; head laying against her boob as he chirred lightly. Mochi gave her comfort, the steady rising of his small chest as he breathed swayed in time with the train chugging along through all kinds of terrain as she travelled. Maybe Korra had been right, she’d mused on long nights spent staring from her window seat at the stars above. Maybe she was the Avatar. But the minute that realisation would begin to sink it, it would be cut short by bitter denial and frustration. So what if she was the Avatar? The problems of the world weren’t her problem, the sooner she explained that to the great uniter and went back to her family, the better.



Strangely enough, she was attended to quite well. Treated with a hell of a lot more respect than she’d first expected, but she wasn’t blind to the true nature of the situation. She wasn’t coming along of her own will, there was no getting off the train, no escape, no denying what was going on as they travelled through desert and swamp and grasslands until they finally reached the renewed capital city, Republic City.



While her village had changed a lot since the takeover, it was still small. Still nothing compared to the massive structures of human design, feats of metalbending interwoven in every tall skyscraper and house, in the light fixtures and paved roads. The damage from the fighting had been repaired over time and the city had become much more beautiful than she could ever imagine, but at the same time she couldn’t shake the feeling of revulsion in her chest when she saw the perversion of a place she had no frame of reference for yet still disliked in her core. Something about it just felt wrong, it was the militaristic head of the empire, a place of utmost prosperity, but it just felt filthy. The air was full of soot from industrial workshops closer inland, giving the skyline a dark haze that covered up the stars she was so used to seeing, she mused as she stepped out onto the station platform with what little bags she had that night. Apparently she was being met here at the station, would Kuvira really come here herself? Surely not, right? Ochako only let out a sigh, adjusting her jacket and sitting down at a bench with her bags next to her.