"Hey, you takin' us down for some reason?" Sokka asks, watching as Appa slowly descends in the sky, his driver almost mesmerized by the swamp they were passing over. When he looks over, seeing Gumi and Asha  still in the sky looking down on them, he grows a little worried.

"Aang!" Sokka yells, said boy flinching and looking back. "Why are we going down?" 

"What?" Aang wipes at his forehead, looking to where Gumi still soared above them, his rider leaning over to look at them. "I didn't even notice." Looking around, he realizes that they are indeed descending. 

"Is something wrong?" Katara asks from behind them, looking to Asha who only shrugs as she steers Gumi to lower along with Appa.

"I know this is gonna sound weird, but I think...the swamp...is calling to me."

"Is it telling ya where we can get something to eat?" Sokka groans, holding his stomach.

"No, I... think it wants us to land there." 

"No offense to the swamp, but I don't see any land there to land on." Sokka pouts, looking to the swamp again.

"I don't know...Bumi said to learn earth bending I would have to wait and listen, and now I'm actually hearing the Earth. Do you want me to ignore it?" 

"No!"

"Yes!" Sokka and Asha glared at each other, their answers contradicting the other. The water tribe boy concedes first, breaking eye contact as Asha looks to the swamp herself. There was definitely a magnetic attribute to the swamp, but it was a slight pull if anything. If Aang felt if much stronger though, she wanted him to explore it!

"I don't know...There's something ominous about that place." Katara shudders as she looks over the saddle.

"Yea, but literally everywhere we've gone has looked a least a little ominous." Asha offers, looking to the swamp as well.  Zulu burrows deeper into Asha's lap as she does, shaking with a low whimper.

"See, even Appa and Momo don't like it here." Sokka gestures to the chittering lemur and groaning bison.

"Okay, since everyone feels so strongly about this...Bye swamp." Aang sounds defeated as he says it. "Yip! Yip!"  

Asha remains a second longer than they do, hovering over the swamp. Shaking her head, Asha tightens the reigns, Gumi going to follow Appa.  She looks back however as a loud noise shoots out. There, she's met with an oncoming tornado moving at terrifying speeds towards them.  Yanking Gumi's reigns she flies to Appa's level. 

"Guys!?" Asha yells turning back to the tornado, using her sash to wrap Zulu closer to herself. Craning his neck to look to Asha, Sokka's eyes bulge as he realizes what she's yelling about.

"You better throw in an extra 'yip'! We gotta move!" The two others turn, Aang quickly goes to manipulating Appa's reigns. As the tornado closes in, trying to suck the flying animals in. Sokka is first to fly off, Asha quickly using a water whip to bring him to Gumi, who struggles to remain in control. Passing Zulu to Sokka, Asha quickly jumps on top of the dragons head.   She looks to Aang whose currently creating a bubble of Air, using it to surround Appa. Quickly copying, Asha does the same.  

Keeping concentration, Asha holds her hands out, blocking the whirlwind around them. 

"Asha, look out!" Sokka yells. Asha looks to the side, watching as Aang loses concentration on the bubble. The tornado quickly spitting Katara and Aang out. 

"Aang!" Asha yells, her mind loosing the thought of the bubble, destroying their protective blister as well.   

And it's like it's in slow motion. Sokka is thrown off, Katara a little lower then he is, both headed into the same direction.  Aang flies off in a different direction. Appa and Momo are no where in sight. Asha tries to reach out to her dragon, who calls out with a soft roar. Barely missing, her fingers grazing the horn, before Asha is thrown even further.

Asha skids in the water as she lands. Quickly jumping up, she spits out the mud that entered her mouth. Her eyesight is blurry and her head spins as she looks up.  Struggling to stand on her own two feet, Asha falls onto a tree for support. Looking around, all she could see were trees, vines, and swamp land. 

"Aang! Katara! Sokka! Gumi? Zulu? Appa? Momo?"  Asha yells out, losing hope at the returning silence, the empty echo of her call.  The tornado is no where in sight however, which doesn't do anything to lighten her spirits. 

Sighing, she walks forward, hoping to find anyone or anything familiar.  The mud squishes between her toes as she does, bringing a grimace to the air benders face. Looking up again, deciding to follow her instincts and take to the skies, Asha uses air bending to jump from branch to branch, slowly but surely reaching the top.   

"Aang! Gumi! Anyone?!" Asha tries again, burrowing her head in her hands as she receives nothing but silence again. 

Jumping down and landing with grace, Asha watches a a gas bubble floats up, popping with a retched stench escaping. She gags and stumbles back. Falling on her butt, yet again, Asha groans, letting out a yell shortly after. Raising a hand and throwing it to the side, the swamp water rising with her hand, slicing through a tree. 

Pushing herself up, she groans again. 

___

Asha's head shoots up as she hears a scream. She had tried walking forward, night eventually falling upon her, forcing her to break and wait for day. Jumping from the branch she bunked on, Asha quickly woke up and ran to the noise. 

Slowing, she realized she had no idea what she was running too, and left the safe haven circle of semi-familiar land.  Yelling again, she drags her hands down her face.  As she pulls her hands away, a bright orange blur turns behind a tree, Asha quickly moving to follow it. 

"Hey! Hold on!" She calls, nearly falling as she makes a sharp turn. She can now make out a tall male and another female running away. The male is dressed in traditional nomad clothing and the female is in a fire nation dress, making her curiosity peak.

Shaking her head, Asha runs again, following the two.  Skidding to a stop, the two turn to face her; Asha nearly breaking down right then and there in sobs.  There stood her parents. Her real ones. The tall man, Senge (Asha remembers monk Gyatso calling him that) and the woman, Lin (again, she only knows this from old Monks) look at her with love in their eyes. 

"Hey sweet heart." Senge speaks, his bald head reflecting the moon above. Asha looks to him, the same blue eyes echoing her own watching her as well. Her mom stood beside him, her long brown hair in an elegant ponytail, a crown resting peacefully an top of her head.  She wants to run to them, bask in the home they provided. 

"Dad? Momma?" Asha's voice cracks as she continues to look at them with disbelief. 

"Come join us, sweetheart." Her moms voice was a bittersweet echo from her childhood, making her spine crawl.

"I-I can't." The air bending female looks down, biting her lip as she steps back. 

"Figures." This time a new woman appears. Her fiery red hair falls around her face, framing the sinister smile with delicate waves.  "You've got a little boy toy your still fighting for, don't you? Someone whose nearly forgotten all about you." The red head snickers.  

"What? Aang didn't forget about me. And he's not a boy toy." Asha turns, the three starting to circle around her. 

"Face it honey, he doesn't care about you. Why did you think he let you go so easily?" Lin snides, bringing back the burning memory of Aang granting her the freedom from tradition. It now makes her chest hurt at the memory, Asha refusing to look at her mother.

"Because- because he was man enough to respect my decision!" Asha finally yells out, tears starting to prick her eyes at the overwhelming thoughts.  

"It's because he didn't want to be left with a sorry excuse of an Onsra like you." Senge spat. 

Asha fells to the ground, clutching her ears as the insults kept coming, tears spilling out of her eyes and onto the ground below her. Minutes pass, and the silence dawns upon her. The girl slowly peeks up, finding no one in front of her. 

"They're right you know."  

Asha quickly turns and stands, Aang-- or who she thinks is Aang-- stands there, arms crossed and brows furrowed; his eyes closed.

"Aang? What do-" Asha begins, stepping back.

"You are a sorry excuse for an Onsra. Why would I want someone as pathetic as you? You take nothing seriously. Laughing all the time like it's a joke. Newsflash, the only joke around here, is you. " He opens his eyes, their icy glare set on Asha, who looks broken at the comment.  

"There's a reason I said you could marry who you wanted. It's because I didn't want you. You can be someone else's problem." Aang unfolds his arm, stepping closer to Asha who steps back. 

Throwing a slice of air at Asha, Aang shows a disgusting smirk.  The girl barely dodges as it explodes behind her.  Blocking another hit, Asha turns to Aang, whose quickly catching up to her.  As Aang prepares another hit towards her, a blonde falls in front of Asha, deflecting the air whip with his own water whip, a loud slap echoing around them.

He's clad in traditional water tribe coat (A blue trench coat with fur on the shoulders) and boots, his blonde hair shaggy and unruly.  Turning to her, his eyes green and sharp, he grabs her arm before jumping to a shorter tree branch.

The man, who looks a year older at most, lets go of her, jumping to another branch; the girl behind him quickly following as well as narrowly avoiding another wave of air. Aang continuing to pursue them. 

Asha continues to blindly follow the man, not noticing the lack of branches or the disappearance of the man. She jumps without looking, not landing on a branch and falling to the swamp land once again. Shaking her head, yet again, she jumps into an air bending stance. 

"Come out now! I'll face you and show how pathetic I am!" Asha snaps, fully prepared to fight with everything she had. Anger bubbled in her gut and she was fully prepared to break into that vault of raw energy.

Whipping her head around, a bush rustling beside her, she throws a slice of air towards the noise.  She furrows her brows, when a large bang goes off to where she attacked. A scowl sets in on her face and she stands in silence watching.  Her stoic expression is wiped quickly as a ball of three people comes crashing towards her, taking her out as the separate.  

The group groans, Asha the first to look at the people. She grows excited as she sees Sokka, Katara and... Aang. Getting back into her fighting stance, the others looking to her quizzically, she glares at each of them. 

"Ash?" Aang tries stepping close, hand out reached. He quickly reels back however as Asha throws an orb of air towards him. 

"Asha! It's us! The real us!" Aang calls again, watching as Asha prepares another attack.

"Yeah, sure! How do I know for sure?! Huh, 'Aang'?" She puts air quotes around his name, the boy wincing as she says it; the word sounding like it was a bad taste in her mouth.  Looking to the ground, Aang crouches, making Asha lower her attack stance. He takes the opportunity to tackle her to the ground, wrapping his arms around the squirming girl tightly.

 "I would never hurt you Ash." He whispers as they land, holding her close as she stops fighting, only to fall limp in his arms, loosely hanging her own arms over his own. 

"You tried though- you...you..." Asha starts, shaking her head and pulling away. 

"I what?" Aang tries, his voice gentle as he lets go. He winces when she scurries away, standing quickly.

"Forget it." Asha moves away, over to Sokka and Katara. 

"What do you guys think you're doing! I've been looking all over for you!" Sokka yells, Aang now caught up with them.

"Well, I've been wandering around looking for you!" Katara yells back. 

"I was chasing some girl." Aang looks down, well aware of Asha's gaze. 

"What girl?" 

"I don't know. I heard laughing and I saw some girl in a fancy dress." Aang helps Katara to her feet. 

"Well, there must be a tea party here and we just didn't get our invitations!" Sokka sarcastically remarks. 

"I thought I saw mom."  Katara looked to her brother, then to the ground. 

"I saw my parents as well. And new people." Asha looks down, the memory painfully replaying in her head. Aang, or the imposter she supposes, and the verbal and physical assaults launched towards her.

"Look, we were all just scared and hungry and our minds were playing tricks on us. That's why we all saw things out here." Sokka offers. 

"You saw someone too?" Katara asks, looking back to her brother. 

"I thought I saw Yue. But, that doesn't prove anything." Sokka turns from their eyes as he says it, only to turn back shortly after. "Look, I think about her all the time, and you saw mom, someone you miss a lot." 

"What about me? I didn't know the girl I saw. And all our visions led us right here." Aang peeps, looking around him.

"So where's here? The middle of the swamp?" Asha looks up as she speaks. 

"Yea, the center..."

Looking up, they can see a large tree overshadowing them, one of the biggest any of them have ever seen.

"It's the heart of the swamp, it's been calling us here." Pausing, Aang smirks. "I knew it." 

"It's just a tree. It can't call anyone! For the last time, there's nothing after us, and there's nothing magical happening here." Sokka yells frustrated.

At that moment, a huge swamp monster, looking to be made of vines and other foliage burst from the water behind them. They all huddle around Asha, clutching the silent girl as they scream. Asha only stares at the creature with wide eyes. 

Raising it's arm, the monster swipes at Aang, the four breaking up and running in all different directions.  Turning, the monster grabs Sokka, flailing him around like a child's rag doll. Quickly knocking Sokka out of the monsters grip with a blast of air, Aang flies back as the monster knocks him back. 

Asha and Katara watch from opposite ends of the fight, Sokka cutting the vines that surround him with his machete, only for the monster to rebuild the arm that the boys had damaged.  With it's newly rebuilt arm, the monster grabs Sokka again, this time the girls' jumping into action before Aang can. Katara skates across the water with a elegant grace as she fires a jet of water at the creatures shoulder, Asha firing an orb of air a little lower. Dropping Sokka, the beast swipes at the girls, both dodging with effortless elegance. 

Looking back, the two stand next to each other. Katara focuses on the creature, then nods to Asha. Both girls copying each others moves as the launch a large wave at the creature, pushing it backwards; allowing it to grab onto Sokka once more.

"You can try to dodge it, Sokka!" Asha yells, preparing to fire another wave of air, frustrated with the entire battle.

She doesn't get to on on the offense though as the beast throws a vine towards her, sending her flying into a tree behind her. Aang tries running at the beast, but like Asha is thrown back by a vine, distracted by the girl getting hit.

They watch as Sokka is placed on the creatures stomach, sucking him in. 

Jumping up, the three try once more. Aang quickly produces an air ball, riding toward the creature. He rides up and over, creating a whirlwind above the monster. The wind twists and pulls the vines that compose the monster, turning it into a huge coil. Next, Katara makes a few water bending moves, freezing the vines that hold her brother.  Leaving Asha up to bat, literally. Using her staff, the girl jumps to the monster swinging a whip of air, destroying the bonds that hold Sokka. She quickly grabs his arm, backing away then turning to a full on run.  

The monster repairs itself with little effort and moves towards the running pair.  Aang attempts to run to the monster, Katara with him, the beast sending them flying once again.

Turning back, Asha glares at the monster. Her arrows glow a soft blue and she gathers two balls of water, surrounding them with bubbles of air.  Throwing one of the balls at the monster, causing an explosion upon impact,  she gathers another, replacing the old one. This continues as she fires more, the vines disappearing faster than they can reappear. 

"There's someone in there! He's bending the vines!" Sokka yelps as he runs next to Asha, the girl holding two more bombs.  She spares a glance to him before focusing forward again, she whips a much smaller bomb towards the face of the creature, which is covered with a small wooden mask. 

Vines whip around Asha, squeezing her by her waist as she grunts, her abdomen squeezing. The mask and face fall back as they do. Katara and Aang jump forward, Aang using a blast of air to wipe away the rest of the vines, leaving a fat, leaf clad man behind. The vines holding Asha drop her as well, allowing her to fall with a thump. Aang quickly runs to her as she gasps, glaring at the man behind her.

"Why did you call me here if you just wanted to kill us?!" Aang yells, helping his fellow air bender up. 

"Wait! I didn't call you here." The man drops the very little vines remaining. 

"We were flying over and I heard something calling to me, telling me to land." Aang looks to the man, reaching for Asha's hand. 

"He's the Avatar, the girl is the Onsra. Stuff like that happens to us- a lot." Sokka grunts, gesturing to the two.

"The Avatar and the Onsra! Come with me." The man starts walking away. 

"So, who are you then?" Katara asks, walking over a large root. 

"I protect the swamp from folks that want to hurt it." He pauses, bending a vine out of the way and allowing Aang and the girls to pass. "Like this fellow with his big knife."  

"See? Completely reasonable. Not a monster, just a regular guy defending his home. Nothing mystical about it." Sokka says, sheathing his sword; Asha rolling her eyes. 

"Oh, the swamp is a mystical place, all right. It's sacred."

As the group follow, the man looks up to the tree. "I reached enlightenment right here under the banion grove tree." He sits, "I hear it callin' me, just like you did."

"Sure ya did. It seems real chatty." Sokka snorts.

"See, this whole swamp is actually just one tree spread out over miles...Branches spread and sink and take root and then spread some more- one big living organism, just like the entire world." 

"I get how the tree is one big thing, but, the whole world?" Aang asks, looking to his friends around him. 

"Sure. You think you're any different from me? Or your friends? Or this tree? If you listen hard enough you can hear every living thing breathing together, you can feel everything growing. We're all livin' together, even if most folks don't act like it. We all have the same roots, and we are all branches of the same tree." 

"So do you know what our visions mean?"  Asha asks, looking to the man. 

"In the swamp we see visions of people we've lost, people we loved...Folks we think are gone. But the swamp tells us they're not. We're still connected to 'em. Time is an illusion, and so is death."  He answers. Asha's face morphs into one of horror, her brain breaking at the last bit. 

"But what about my vision. It was someone I had never met."

"You're the Avatar, you tell me." The man smiles at Aang. 

"Time is an illusion... So, it's...Someone I will meet."   The man winks at Aang as he comes to the conclusion.

"Wait, so that explains my parents and the other people, but in my vision I saw someone familiar and they threw attacks that would've done actual damage." Asha asks next, shaking free from the mental anguish he once unleashed onto her.

"The swamp also digs deep, bringing up fears, guilts and insecurities that you need to face for you to take the next step in you journey."  The man answers, smiling back to Asha who smiles back with a grateful nod.

"Sorry to interrupt the lesson, but we still need our pets." Sokka huffs. 

"I think I know how to find them. I mean, everything is connected." Asha smiles, placing a hand on a large tree root, closing her eyes. 

The three watch as her the arrow on Asha's hand begins to glow. In a sudden act of repulsion, the energy flows from her hand to the tree, creating a zigzag path through the swamp. 

Snapping her eyes close, she watches as Appa  gets netted by boatmen, Gumi beside him caught in his own net. Small flames flickered from her dragon's nose, but he wouldn't ignite the forest around him without a direct order from his flier, making Asha frown.

Standing up quickly, Asha opens her eyes, looking to the group in front of her. "We've gotta hurry!" She yells turning and running the same way the path went.

___

A jet of water erupts from beyond the boats, destroying one of the further ones. Aang jumps onto a branch quickly, Asha just behind him.

"Appa!" The boy calls, getting the attention of the captain. He sends off a wave of air, knocking the captain off the boat, allowing Asha to fly in and investigate the two bags he was holding.  Momo peaks out of one, Zulu in the other. The raptor squeaks at the sight of Asha, jumping onto her leg like a dog.  Picking up Zulu, who licks her face, Asha smiles; Momo taking off and allowing Asha to follow shortly after. 

She lands just as Katara and Aang bend a wall of water away, Katara continuing to manipulate the water. 

"Hey, you guys are water benders!"  Katara smiles as she says it.

"You too? That means we're kin!" The man yells, smiling.

Katara's face morphs into one of horror in a split second, Asha laughing behind her.  Throwing a small splash of water at the air bender, Katara jumps down, Aang following with Asha after the girl collects herself. 

"Hey, Hue! How you been?" The man from the boat asks the man from the tree.

"You know, scared some folks, swung some vines, the usual." 

"Hue?"

___

The group had found themselves around a campfire, the swamp men joining them. Appa and Gumi were behind them, laying beside each other. Katara, Sokka and the swamp men all eat meat shish-kabobs that the men cooked; Asha pulling chunks and feeding them to Zulu who squeaks with joy.

"How you like that possum chicken?" Due asks with a mouthful.

"Tastes just like arctic hen. So, why were you guys so interested in eating Appa? Or Gumi? You've got plenty of those big things wandering around!" Sokka looks to the giant crocodile, who eyeballs him back.

 "You want me to eat old Slim? He's like a member of the family!" Due shouts incredulously.  He then follows Asha's lead, taking a piece of meat off his kabob and tossing it to the crocodile, who eats it with one bite.

"Nice Slim!" Sokka cheers, trying to throw a piece  to Slim, who lets it bounce off his mouth and growls at Sokka; making him recoil.

"Oh, he don't eat no bugs! That's people food." Due laughs.

"You can feed Gumi, he'll eat anything." Asha looks to Sokka, holding a piece of presumably fish right above Zulu's reach. She then gives a look to Gumi who raises his head.  Turning his whole body, Sokka turns to the dragon. 

"He even does tricks." Asha smirks, nudging Sokka, Zulu chewing happily in her lap. 

"Really?!" Sokka looks to her with a surprised smile, Asha only nodding and holding her hand out. Sokka places a piece of meat in the awaiting palm, watching in anticipation. 

"Gumi, sit pretty!" Asha calls, still sitting. The dragon raises to all fours, then sits on his hind legs allowing his front paws to hang in front of him. 

"Good boy!" Asha calls, throwing the meat up high enough for Gumi to catch. 

"Does he know more?" Sokka looks to Asha as she turns back to feeding the raptor in her legs. 

"Tons." Asha waves Sokka off, allowing him to try and learn her dragons skill level.

"Where'd you say you're from?" Tho, who they just met, asks Katara.

"The South Pole." 

"Didn't know there was water benders anywhere but here, They got a nice swamp there, do they?" 

"No, it's all ice and snow." Katara answers, shocking Due and Tho.

"Hmm. No wonder you left." Tho looks to his kabob. 

"Well, I hope you realize now that nothing strange was going on here. Just a bunch of greasy people living in a swamp." Sokka turns from the dragon before him, snarking at his sister.

"What about the visions?"

"I told you, we were hungry. I'm eating a giant bug!"  Sokka turns fully from Gumi, biting out of a large fly, easily the size of Zulu. 

Asha grimaces and moves to sit next to Aang, who laughs at her. Momo is sitting in his lap, chewing whatever he finds given to him, Asha feeding Zulu the rest of the kabab.

"But what about when the tree showed Asha where the pets were?" Aang asks.

"That's Onsra and Avatar stuff, that doesn't count." Sokka waves him off, "The only thing I can't figure out is how you made that tornado that sucked us down."  he then looks to Hue.

"I can't do anything like that. I just bender the water in the plants."  

"Well, no accounting for weather. Still, there's absolutely nothing mysterious about the swamp." The water tribe boy turns back to the dragon who only groans in response.