Appa Express went down and Genji was standing alone within the swamp.
He was separated from Aang and Katara, as well as Momo and Appa. With all of them separated, Genji began walking by himself, waiting for the illusions to appear.
With his staff in hand, Genji began to walk within the forest, following the roots of the Banyan-Grove Tree.
This tree is the biggest one within this entire swamp forest, and maybe even the entire world.
According to Huu, the current protector of said Tree, this tree's roots go out for miles and is connected to the entire world in a spiritual sense.
Genji…
?
Stopping, Genji cleared his mind and looked around with a vigilant look on his face.
'The illusion… looks like it's beginning now,' thought Genji as he began to walk around, his vigilance still up.
Genji~
"Suki?"
Genji furrowed his eyebrows after hearing the voice a second time and much clearer than before.
Where are you, Genji?
Genji just listened to the illusion as he slowly walked within the forest. Hearing the same question two more times instead of something different.
'I… need to answer back or might not get anywhere with this,' thought Genji as he began to think about Suki and the little time he spent with her. 'I wonder what she's doing now…"
"I'm here Suki!"
Come Genji, Come~
"Where?"
To me~
Following the voice, Genji walked through various vines, walking and pushing various vines aside as he searched for the source of the voice.
Hurry ~
Slowly, Genji even began to feel a yearning to see Suki one more time. Despite knowing this was nothing but an illusion caused by the spiritual tree, Genji knew that there is truth within the illusions the tree was showing.
Whether it be the past, the future, or key pieces to one person, the tree would reveal something to the recipient.
Come and look~ Our joy~
Before Genji knew it, he was running through the swamp, jumping over roots and sliding under large branches.
"Suki?"
From afar, Genji could see a figure in a white and loose dress. His eyes lit up and he slowly halted his running as he approached this Suki Illusion with slow steps.
Genji~
Genji got closer and closer and Suki's figure was soon a couple of feet away from him.
With a look of guilt on his face, Genji began to feel a bit of regret for treating Suki as a plaything. A woman he could sleep with and just leave behind without a single bit of attachment.
'No… that's not it… we both agreed it was a fling,' thought Genji as he looked at Suki standing before him, her back turned towards him. 'I think I just caught a bit of feelings for her…'
Genji gave a wry smile as he saw the Suki Illusion slowly turning around, revealing the face that Genji thought he didn't miss.
As he looked at this illusion of Suki, Genji's eyes slowly went wide as he looked at Suki's body.
"You're pregnant…"
***
"Sokka, come back!"
Running after the silhouette of her brother, Katara had forgotten about reuniting with Aang and Genji to leave the forest.
Her worry and joy at seeing her brother trumped this thought and leapt at the first chance she got to see her brother one more time.
However, just like her brother, this silhouette left her and she found herself standing before Aang.
"Aang! Did you see Sokka?"
"Sokka? No.
Did you see a woman in a dress here?"
Just like Katara, Aang saw an illusion, an illusion of a young woman in a beautiful white dress.
"A woman… no…"
Suddenly, both Aang and Katara figured out what was happening and they looked at their surroundings with wary looks.
"Come on Aang, let's go look for Genji," said Katara, looking around the swamp warily.
They walked through the forest, searching for Genji and hoping to find Appa and Momo along the way. However, they found nothing and they continued walking when they were suddenly being attacked by a vine monster.
"Be careful!" yelled Aang as he jumped to the with Katara.
BAM!
An arm made of heavy vines hit the ground with great force, surprising Aang and Katara because of its sudden appearance.
"What is this thing?!"
With great curiosity and wariness, both Aang and Katara began dodging the vine monster's attacks.
Bam!
Blowing a powerful gust of wind at the vine monster, Aang wielded his glider staff and swung a couple of gusts of wind.
Joining him, Katara began to waterbend the water in her vicinity and create two large scythes which she could control.
A technique Genji had taught when he took inspiration from a praying mantis.
Genji could create up to three scythes, maybe even more if he put his mind to it.
Wielding these two scythes, Katara waved her arms and made use of the movement of her fingers to control the water to the most minute detail.
Tchi!
Ffuugh!
Under the assault of a master airbender and a master waterbender with a swift and deadly technique, the vine monster was being torn to shreds.
Katara twisted and moved over to the vine monster, slicing the arms the vine monster was regenerating constantly.
"That is…"
Under the constant onslaught of both Aang and Katara, the vine monster continued to shrink in size and whatever was underneath all those vines had surprised Katara.
See saw an old man underneath all those green vines, panicked as he continued to move the vines and covering himself with them.
Katara's face turned serious and she began to move more rapidly, cutting down any attempt of the man controlling the vines from regaining control.
"Aang! There's someone within the vines!"
Taking a step back, Aang jumped forward with great force and shot a powerful blast of air at the man, blowing away all the vines.
Ffwoosh!!
"Why did you call us here if you only wanted to kill me?!"
"Wait!"
Hearing the words of the young boy, the man stopped bending and gave Aang a wronged look.
"I didn't call you here…"
No longer using their bending abilities, Aang and Katara turned to look at each other, wondering what was going on and who really called them.
"We were flying over the swamp when I began to feel like I was being called to here," said Aang as he lowered his staff and vigilance.
The swamp man turned quiet for a second, "You were being called to here? That's interesting."
"Is it because I'm the Avatar?" Aang asked the swamp man, hoping to get some answers.
The swamp man's eyebrows rose a little.
"The Avatar? Come this way!"
The swamp man waved his arm and gestured for Aang and Katara to follow right behind him as he led them deeper into the swamp.
Looking at the man with curiosity, Katara asked, "Who are you?"
Moving some vines, the man said, "I protect the swamp from folks who want to hurt it."
"That's admirable," praised Aang as he walked up along some roots and straight to a humongous tree.
"This swamp is a mystical place I had dedicated myself to protecting. Right under this very Banyan Grove Tree, I had reached enlightenment after hearing it call out to me, just like you did," said the swamp man as he turned to look at Aang who looked amazed at hearing all this.
"Woowww…"
Aang looked at this man with some admiration at the dedication this man had to protecting this tree.
Soon, the man began talking about the whole swamp being one huge tree.
He talked about connection, how everything is interconnected one way or another, explaining this thought to Aang, hoping he could understand something. Then, they began talking about the visions with the man explaining everything calmly with a small smile.
Visions were about those who have been lost, people they loved, and others who everyone thinks is gone. However, the swamp tells the people that they are still connected to these people, even after they have passed away or disappeared.
Aang however was confused throughout this entire thing since he had seen a young woman he had never met before. He posed this question to the man and he nodded with an understanding smile before explaining.
Time is an illusion, and so is death.
This is what the man said before Aang had asked his question, so the man just asked him another question back.
"You're the Avatar, you tell me."
Aang's face turned pensive as he lowered his head and thought about this deeply and within just seconds, he got his answer.
"Time is an illusion…" began Aang as his eyes lit up. He looked at the man with a smile before continuing what he was saying. "My vision is about someone I will meet in the future!"
The man nodded with a smile, glad to see Aang figure it out so soon.
Within the forest, one could see visions about almost anything.
A loved one, a memory, a future, a deceased, and various other things.
"Who did you see Aang?" asked Katara, curious as to what Aang could have seen in his vision within the swamp.
Aang furrowed his eyebrows and answered, "I saw a woman and a pig with white wings on it's back…
She was wearing a beautiful white Earth Kingdom dress with a green floral design. It had slits on both sides of the dress, revealing her legs. Her hair was black and in a large bun, she also had green earrings."
Listening to Aang's description of his vision, Katara could only think of one thing.
"Is she probably your Earthbending Master?"
Aang's eyes lit up and he turned to look at Katara, "I don't know, but I think we should go look for her if that's the case."
"Good thinking Aang," said Katara.
"Okay! Let's go look for Genji, Appa, and Momo!"
Katara nodded and stood up as she watched Aang place a hand on the floor and close his eyes. Not long after, a serious look appeared on his face before turning to Katara.
"Let's hurry and go save Appa and Momo!"
***
"So… I'm going to become a father?"
Genji looked at the swollen belly of Suki's illusion, still in shock at this revelation he had been given by the swamp.
He knew this illusion was real, it might not be of her now, but it will be her in the future. Meaning, Suki has a large chance of currently being pregnant with his child right about now.
"Ugh… That's what I get for pulling out late thinking I could last longer," mumbled Genji as he continued to look at Suki's stomach with a tender look on his face. He reached out his hand, wishing to touch that belly and felly that life growing within her uterus, however, he pulled back his hand knowing that this illusion will disappear any second now.
'This feeling… isn't too bad…' thought Genji as he smiled a little.
However, the instant he felt this feeling of tenderness, he also felt the impending sense of crisis of reality as it dawned on him that he IS going to become a father.
"Shit! Fuck!"
Cursing, Genji paced around with a tight hold on his metal staff, his stress levels rising.
'Damn… it's a good thing she isn't pregnant like this right now. Or else I would have truly been fucked. I'll take this time to think about things…' thought Genji as he smiled wryly before giving one last affectionate look at the belly of Suki and her motherly look that just seemed to turn him on.
'Does this mean that Suki is going to become a MILF?'
A smirk appeared on Genji's face as he began to think of all the scenarios where he gets to have fun with the lactating Suki and her enlarged breasts.
Shaking his head, Genji turned around to leave.
"I'll see you soon Suki," thought Genji as he thought about the time where he might meet her once more at the Serpent's Pass.
'But first, there's an earthbending brat I need to pick up.'
Before long, Genji disappeared back into the swamp as Suki's illusion slowly dissipated, leaving nothing behind.