A/N: I wanted to write a fic about Avatar State Korra, but I wanted to do it kinda differently.
You have no idea how much I like writing about mental disorders and mistaken identities.
I own nothing.
Sometimes, Korra isn't Korra.
It doesn't happen often, but when it does, her eyes will glaze over a bit. She'll hold herself differently, or speak like someone else, and make gestures that she's never done before. Sometimes, she'll laugh at something that won't make any sense, cry over the tombstones of people she's never known, or stare at pictures of far off places with tears in her eyes.
There are posters of the different Avatars plastered over the city, blotting out the masked face of Amon that is emblazoned on almost every surface. Korra will look at these and change, just a little.
With Yangchen, Korra grows old. Ghosts of lines appear on her face, and her inner fire dies. She is calm and collected, but clinical, and fights precisely, expending as little energy as possible. She regrets everything, and tries to fix as much as she can, with no success.
When Kuruk takes over, Korra laughs. She becomes easy-going and carefree, but she also becomes arrogant and cocky. She ignores the street kids, flirts with people, shoots teasing grins, and generally drives Tenzin mad.
When Korra becomes Kyoshi, she changes almost completely. She's far more sarcastic and pragmatic, but takes everything so seriously. She also gets incredibly violent, almost tearing Mako's arm off during a somewhat friendly spar. Kyoshi scares Korra to the extent that she has nightmares about the woman, nightmares about blood-stained gilded lilies and eerily painted faces.
When Roku is in power, Korra gets worried. She stays up at night imagining all the things that could go wrong, fretting and planning and working herself into such a state that she can barely sleep. She starts to blame herself for lots of things, and tries to be as nice to people as possible. Inevitably, it goes wrong, and she's back at square one, sulking in a corner.
Korra hates it when Aang is present. She can barely look at either Katara or Tenzin, and Lin ignores her, a grimace twisting her scars. She spends her time as Aang with Naga and Pabu, and shies away from any type of battle. Her one joy as Aang is flying with the sky bison; they sense their old master, and she wheels through the air happily as Bolin tries to cling on.
Korra dreads the day she finally goes into Avatar State. She doesn't want to be taken over by her predecessors. It had happened once before ;she almost killed Sifu Katara and blew up more than a few houses, turning once-pristine snow carmine.
Korra is the Avatar, and she is proud of her position, but she wants to be Korra. Not Yangchen, or Kuruk, or Kyoshi, or Roku, not even Aang. She is determined to be Korra until the day she dies, and not to rely on anyone else's power.
It cannot be helped, however. The Avatar state is triggered by emotion, and when Mako is covered in scarlet and Bolin won't wake up, she has no choice but to rely on her predecessors, and hope she doesn't burn the city down.
There ya have it, folks! And, yes, I wrote Kuruk pre!Koh, because otherwise he would have been a repeat of Roku.
If you reviewed, it'd make my day. ~Gryfo