I've never written an AU story before. It feels all... "Twilight Zone"ish.
BTH
6. Alternate Universe
"No lightning today? What's the matter? Afraid I'll redirect it?" Zuko taunted his sister.
Azula panted, the crazed look in her eyes growing more and more ravenous.
"Oh, I'll show you lightning!" She threw back.
Stepping through the required movements for lightning raggedly, Zuko saw too late that his sister was focusing on Katara.
He was vaguely aware of himself shouting something as he leaped through the air, taking the deadly attack directly. He collapsed on the ground, turning over through the agony of his own body sizzling.
The last things he heard were Katara shouting his name, the distinct sound of lightning hitting the dirt and the insane cackle of Azula.
Zuko opened his eyes only to cover them at the intense and unexpected light of the sun. Slowly, he sat up, rubbing his eyes and wondering what had happened. Suddenly, he recalled Katara's screaming, explosions and his sister, laughing her psychotic little head off. His hand immediately flew to where a Azula's lightning had struck him, only to find nothing out of the ordinary. No wound, no scar, not even a little pain. Either Katara was being bashful as to how potent her healing capabilities were or something was seriously up here.
For the first time, Zuko took notice of his surroundings. The ground he was on seemed less like earth and more like solid rock. There was nothing but this cracked rock surface as far as he could see. It was about as hot out as any normal day, so this couldn't be the desert. Where was he? Zuko began to look in every direction. Finally, in the far south, he could see something that shone an incredible white. Having no other desirable option, Zuko got up and made his way to the shimmering place.
Zuko walked for what seemed like hours. The closer he got to this place, the cooler it seemed to become. It got colder and colder until Zuko was finally able to discern what this place was;a tundra. He was suddenly hopeful to find people of the Water Tribe, but then was stricken by the oddity of the tundra's placement. The only thing that seemed to warrant the upcoming tundra was the change in the surrounding temperature. The ground had remained the same since when he woke up. There was no ice or snow or water source to indicate it's presence. It was as if it went straight from rock to ice.
'This place is messed up.'Zuko thought to himself, 'Maybe I' m in the spirit world?'
Sure enough, the ground didn't change texture until the very edge of the snowy place, where Zuko became reluctant to enter. There was no guarantee that he could get some help if he entered. He was wearing Fire Nation summer clothing, for pity's sake! He'd freeze sooner than find people.
Zuko was interrupted in his thinking process by the voice of a familiar sounding young girl.
"Well, we don't see many fire oriented beings here often. Usually, it's just water sprites. What do you need?" She spoke.
Zuko turned to the source of the voice, shocked by what he saw. She looked exactly like Katara, only her hair was down with no accessories and her outfit was different. A light dress, reaching to the middle of her shins, with thin straps coloured in cream and icy blue, not at all suitable for the snowy terrain.
"Katara?" He managed to say through his astonishment.
She seemed surprised and somewhat suspicious, "How do you know my name? I don't think we've ever met."
Zuko regained some of his bearing, "Well, I'm not sure if you two are the same, but I know a girl from where I come from that looks, sounds and happens to have the same name as you, if you can even call that a coincidence."
She smiled, "I don't believe in coincidences. Where are you from, anyway?"
"The Fire Nation. I need to get back there. Kata-, um, other Katara is fighting someone dangerous and she might need help."
"Yeah? Who?" she asked.
Zuko glowered at the ground, "My sister."
Katara looked at him a moment, as if studying him for a lie or a joke.
"You can come with me." She said, seriously, "I'll see if I can't get you where you need to be."
He nodded and followed her as she ventured into the icy complexity. As they walked, silently, Zuko puzzled over his new companion. She really did look exactly like Katara. They even walked the same, had the same voice.
"Why are you helping me, anyway?" Zuko asked her.
She looked at him with a comforting smile, "I can't turn my back on people who need me. You seem to fit that description."
Wow, she even talked like Katara. Zuko shivered from the bite of the cold. She took notice.
"One second." She said. She moved her hands in a fast and fluid manner. The snow beneath him crumbled and he fell into the water. He had expected it to be cold, but it was quite the opposite. The water was fairly warm and seemed to welcome him. Next thing Zuko knew, he was standing back on the snow, no longer even chilly and not the slightest bit wet. He should have known to be unnerved, but Zuko was just thankful.
"I appreciate that." He said to her.
"It's no trouble. You looked cold. What are you doing here in in a short-sleeved shirt, anyway? It's the coldest place in the world, here!" She said, scolding and teasing.
"Hey, I'm not even sure where 'here' is. If I'd known, I would have brought myself a parka!" He retorted.
She laughed, "This is the Basis of Water. It's one of the center pieces of the elements. Everything here is water and nothing else."
"Not even air?" He challenged.
"Only when there's someone who needs it!"
"You mentioned water sprites, earlier. What are those?" Zuko asked, trying to feel out this new place he had landed in.
"Man, it's like teaching kindergarten!"
"Hey! Sorry if I'm a little bit of a foreigner!" He growled.
"Calm down! Water sprites are beings that are made up entirely of water. This is where they are born and also where most of them live."
"Are you a water sprite?"
She laughed again, "You're pretty curious. No, I'm not."
"Then you're human."
She seemed amused by her own superiority, "No."
"...Spirit?"
She looked thoughtful for a moment, "I don't...think so."
He looked at her, baffled, "Do you know what you are?"
"Water." She said with closure.
"What does that mean?" He was getting more and more confused by her. Was this really the spirit world? He decided to ask.
"Is this the spirit world?" He asked, exasperated by the mystery behind where ever this was.
"It's a world." She offered, clearly not knowing herself.
"Uggh! You're not very helpful!" He told her.
"Well, if I knew more, I'd tell you! You're melting the ice, Mr. Hotman!" She snapped, pointing to his feet where the ice had, indeed, begun to steam and melt.
Zuko growled. The nickname followed him everywhere.
"Don't call me that!"
"Than why don't you start calling me by my name! Katara! Do you need to sound it out?"
"No! It's just weird calling you by the same name as someone who's not you but someone who acts, talks, sounds and looks the exact same!" He yelled back, "You're both stubborn, too!"
"Then, maybe we are the same. Maybe this is one of your dreams or memories from a past life! Tons of people have past lives! Maybe I'm your Katara's past life! Maybe this is you having an inappropriate dream about her!"
"I'd know if I were doing that!" Zuko cried, blushing through his anger.
"Then you've had one about her before! Good job, Mr. Hotman, you big pervert, you!"
"My name is Zuko!"
"And my name is Katara! See? I can yell, too!"
After that, Zuko and Katara walked in silence until Katara finally broke.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you, okay? Can we just start over?" She asked softly, regret in her eyes.
He looked at her and sighed. It wasn't possible to remain angry at a face like that.
"Yeah."
She smiled, relieved, "Good. My name's Katara. I live here, in the Basis of Water. Nice to meet you."
He returned her smile, happy to get the mood back to a comfortable one.
"Zuko. Heir to the throne of the Fire Nation. It's nice to meet you, too."
She giggled, "A prince, eh? No offense, but you don't really give off a royal air in torn up clothes like that. Is that normal where you come from?"
"Not really. It's a long story, but to summarize, I was banished from my home by my Father, consecutive winner of the World's Worst Dad Award four years running, was not a good person, had an existential crisis, thought I was a good person, did some stupid stuff and then really was a good person. Now, I'm trying to help bring peace to the world by taking the throne from my evil little sister while a twelve-year-old boy tries to kill my father. Then I got struck by lightning saving, uh, other you. Sorry."
"Me too, apparently. So, then you just ended up here?"
"Yeah, that's pretty much the gist of it."
"Must feel strange. This whole world is pretty normal to me. I can't imagine a world where you don't even know what a water sprite is."
"Well, do you know what a fire bender is?" He asked in retaliation.
"I assume it's a being who... has something to do with fire." Katara finished lamely.
"Close," He said, smirking at her explanation, "But it's a human with the ability to control or create fire. There are four nations, see, the Fire Nation, who has fire benders, the Earth Kingdom, who has earth benders, the Water Tribes, who have water benders and the Air Nomads, who have air benders. Then there are people who can't bend at all. Their just humans."
"Sounds pretty outlined. This world has hundreds of different beings in it. I couldn't even tell you how many. They each tend to stem from the same elements you just mentioned. That's why I called you a fire being. If you have enough practice, you can tell who's more affiliated with what element."
"I can guess why it would be strange to have someone more affiliated with fire come around this place."
"Going off topic, you're doing surprisingly well adjusting to this whole new world experience. Why is that?" Katara swept her hair behind her as they continued walking.
"I'll answer that if you promise to tell me where we're going, after." He offered. She nodded her agreement and he went on, "There's been an incredible amount of stress going on in my life, lately, and it feels like I've kind of come full circle. It's like if you've ever been so absolutely furious that you just stop being furious because your inner self just can't keep up anymore. So, when I got here, it felt like I had subconsciously chosen to just go with it as opposed to clawing out my eyes in frustration."
"Sounds disgusting. Your inner self made a good choice."
"Alright, your turn." he prodded.
"What? You don't see it?" she asked incredulously.
"See what?" He asked, irritated by what looked like her dodging the question.
"That! Brush the hair out of your eyes!" she pointed in front of them.
"Oh." He said, as he finally saw what she was talking about.
It was a colossal ocean, spreading too far to see any end of it.
"What are we going to find in the ocean?" He asked, agitated and confused, "I can't exactly keep the other you waiting. In case I haven't pointed this out before, my sister is crazy and homicidal. I don't really want you to die."
Katara blushed, "Thank you."
"That wasn't necessarily a compliment." He said.
"Yeah, but it's the first time in a long while someone thought of me as someone important to them, personally. It's nice to have someone there to fight beside you instead of a nation of people pushing you out in the front lines because they all assume you're invincible." She smiled sadly at the blue expanse of water.
"What did you mean when you said you were 'water'?" Zuko asked slowly, taking in her expression carefully.
"I don't think I want to tell you, Zuko. I want you to keep thinking of me the way you already think of me." She turned that same sad smile on him, "What am I to you?"
Zuko froze in place at the question. What did he think of her? She was Katara, both the one that stood in front of him and the one who was probably fighting for her life. She had hated him, trusted him, threatened him and befriended him. She took care of him, the others, and everyone who she insisted needed her. She was everyone's pillar, but to him...?
Zuko took a deep breath as his face turned red at a new realization. Why had he taken that hit for her? He'd do it for any friend, but something told him that this wasn't the same. Something had caused that desperation and he was afraid he knew exactly what it was.
A brilliant blue light shone from the ocean, looking very similar to the light of Katara's healing water.
"Looks like your ride's here, Zuko. Tell you what? You don't have to answer that question here. You can tell me over in your world." Katara smiled brightly, stood behind him and pushed him into the water.
Zuko groaned at the distinct presence of pain. It seemed to be easing, somewhat, and he opened his eyes to the night sky and the vibrant blue eyes of Katara.
He whispered up to her, "Thank you, Katara."
Her eyes filled with tears as she smiled at him, "I think I'm the one who should be thanking you."
As Katara helped him to his feet, Zuko remembered what the Katara in that strange world had said. He would tell her for sure. The question was 'when'?
OH MY GUMDROPS, I'M ALL CAUGHT UP! THIS REQUIRES THE OBNOXIOUS USE OF CAPS LOCK! OH, CAPS LOCK, YOU NEVER FAIL ME (except when I press you by accident and then it looks like I'm yelling on my word processor) NEVER EVER HAVE YOU FAILED!