She was her own person. With her own thoughts and feelings. She loved the way the wind ruffled her hair when she was riding along as Naga galloped through the snow. The way that crispness stung at her cheeks and made them flush red by the time she returned to the White Lotus compound. She really hadn't cared much for the leader of the White Lotus. He never let her have any fun. Whenever she was upset, she would retreat to the same cliff face and let herself brood in solitude, rather than let her sadness or aggravation or the strain show in front of others.
She took a fair amount of pride in her abilities. She pushed herself to her limits. Finding the breaking point and moving past. Lifting, carrying, pushing. The bending was so natural to her. Ever since she was a young child.
She had loving parents. Tonraq. Senna. They loved her. She knew that, even if she did not get to see them often enough because of her isolated home. It got lonely sometimes. A lot, actually. But she was the Avatar. And she would save the world. That was her job. Her duty. Her destiny. And that would make the loneliness worthwhile.
But there were times. Fleeting moments when she felt... not herself. She would be riding on Naga and desire instead, for some reason, to be soaring through the clouds on a bison. Foods that were her favorite suddenly did not appeal. She had nearly broken her mother's heart when she had hardly touched the stewed sea prunes that had been prepared for her birthday. Suddenly the thought made her stomach churn.
And most horrifying: Katara. She loved her waterbending master. Dearly. The two had been fast friends from the start. It was... natural. Katara knew, almost always, just the right thing to say to brighten her day. A word of praise here. A soft smile. And rarely, a hug. Those hugs were the best. Warm, loving, motherly. She felt so safe and at peace in those aged arms.
It was in a tender moment like this that she had had the sudden urge to kiss Katara. And it had taken every fiber in her to resist. She had run away, to that cliff face, scowling at the heavens. Not sure at all what was wrong with her.
And then it hit her. Like a boulder to the face. This wasn't her. This was Aang. Aang's love for flying on his bison. Aang's apparent disdain for sea prunes. Aang's love for Katara. Still all in her.
She wasn't her own person at all. She was Aang. And Roku, and Kyoshi, and the thousands of lives before her that all wanted their share. She'd never spoken to them like she was supposed to be able to.
Maybe she didn't want to. Maybe if she put the thoughts from her mind and... worked harder. She could be her own person. She could. She would.
She wasn't going to be Aang. He was gone now. This was her life. She had to live it for herself.
When she had returned from the cliff, Katara had looked worried. But She had smiled and assured her master that she was fine. She asked her mother for some sea prunes, suddenly very hungry for them. Craving the comfort that only a favorite food cooked by her mom could provide. She had taken Naga for an extra long run, and had never remembered loving it more. The yelling match with the White Lotus Leader didn't net her any more freedoms, but her renewed passionate loathing was a refreshing fire to her soul.
She wasn't Aang's successor, bound by his wants and needs and trying to do the things he could not anymore. She wasn't worried about Ozai and the comet.
She wasn't the Avatar, just an eternal spririt with no definition or direction.
She would do things her own way, and because she wanted to do them. And would just be Korra from now on.