A/N: Hey guys, so this chapter is a pretty short one in terms of number of scenes. I recently got a second job, so I've been pretty busy balancing the two as well as working on some art commissions my friends made. It might take me awhile to upload new chapters. Don't worry though! There's another chapter sitting in my doc manager just waiting to be finished! I hope to have it up within two weeks at MOST.

Thank you all again for reading and leaving reviews! I love them all!

A Question

Genji trudged through the thick swamp water, feeling the mud at the bottom grab onto her feet. Her simple green dress was tattered at the hem and soaked up to her hips in marsh muck. It was hardly a pleasant feeling, as the cheap, wet fabric clung to her legs, making it that much harder to walk.

Huffing, Genji glanced around herself, roughly brushing limp strands of wet hair out of her face. She'd been wading through the deepest, soggiest part of the swamp for the better part of the hour, all alone. After a freak wind storm had thrown the group into the swamp, they'd quickly been separated by unseen forces. Genji had been caught in a tangle of nearly prehensile vines that had tossed her down a tunnelling root system and spat her out far away from her newfound friends. She hadn't seen what had happened to everyone else, but she suspected they were just as lost as she was.

"Aang?" She called out. "Sokka? Katara?"

She hesitated for a moment, waiting for an answer, and when none came she shouted their names again. The only response was the chittering of the swamp. The Foggy Swamp was a hot, wet maze that was nearly inescapable at times. Members of the Foggy Swamp tribe were even known to become lost and perish in its depths (Keemo had confessed to Genji that even he had nearly been bested by the swamp once). Genji knew she had to reconnect with the group, and fast. Not only for their sake, but for her own. She'd been treading through the thick waters for far too long, and she was beginning to grow tired.

Genji leapt over the giant root of a tree, and saw a figure appear in the distance. At first, Genji felt relief flood her body, as she assumed that it had to be someone from her group. She started to call out to them, to grab their attention, but before she could even form the words she froze stiff. A beam of light broke through the canopy and cast itself over their shoulder, and Genji could see they were wearing a thick, hooded robe that sported intermingling shades of red, green, and orange. Her friends hadn't been wearing anything that looked remotely like it. Moreover, there was something otherworldly about the robe the figure was wearing. As Genji gazed out at them, she realized with amazement that the colors on their coat were moving. Not just that, but they seemed to be fighting one another, pushing and drawing back as each color tried to swallow the other.

Uneasy, Genji took a tentative step backwards. She felt her heart sink into her stomach as a twig snapped behind her, and the hooded figure turned her head towards Genji. She somehow seemed closer now, as if the simple act of turning her head had moved her twenty paces closer to Genji.

Genji's eyes unwillingly focused on their face, and she realized the figure was a woman. Rich dark brown hair flowed over her shoulder and down her back, framing a gentle, round face. She had a button nose and a dark, thick mouth much like Genji's, but her eyes were nothing more than blank white slates. Genji found herself staring deep into them, alarmed at how familiar yet unrecognizable they were. The figure was now standing in front of Genji, her head hung over to look down at her. She made no move to hurt Genji, yet her very presence made every fiber of her being scream at her that she was in danger. The figure cocked their head, and despite having no pupils with which to focus, seemed to look Genji up and down. Then, she parted her full lips, which looked so eerily like Genji's own, and spoke.

"Who are you?" She asked in an effervescent voice that was almost beyond description.

Genji knew she had to be in the presence of a spirit, it was the only explanation. She swallowed tightly and pressed her back against the giant roots of the tree behind her. Could she outrun a spirit? Should she? Or would that only anger the ancient being and cause it to inflict some sort of cosmic punishment on her? Genji wished Aang was with her. As the Avatar and a master airbender, he knew everything there was to know about the spirits. He could've helped her.

At the moment, however, she was alone. All she could do was stare up at the patiently waiting figure.

"Ge...Genji..." She stammered, unsure why exactly she was trusting the spirit with her name. Her mother had once told her that a spirit could steal your soul if it knew your name.

The figure, spirit or otherwise, frowned. It cocked its head to the other side, staring blankly with its empty white eyes before its skin began to bubble. Genji's eyes widened as she watched its face morph into someone else. Small black dots appeared in the center of its featureless eyes, and it grew until they were full-sized eyeballs that shined a brilliant emerald green. As its skin settled into its new features, stretching over a now gently triangular-shaped face, it darkened into a light mocha color and dozens of dark brown freckles popped into existence. The creature's lips thinned somewhat, taking on a very distinct heart shape, with a very defined cupid's bow. Genji gasped audibly when it finished its transformation. It had taken her mother's face.

Blinking, the creature observed Genji's distress with her mother's eyes.

"Who are you?" It asked again. Its voice now had a soft twinge to it, and although it wasn't clear, Genji could hear the faint wisps of her mother's voice.

"I..." Genji hesitated, unsure what to make of the situation. Her heart thudded in her chest.

"My...my name's...Genji."

The skin on the creature's cheeks began to ripple again, and soon it had changed shape. This time, the face it wore was distinctly her own. Genji gulped as she made eye contact with her own round gray eyes. Fear prevented her from tearing her eyes away as she watched the figure's face quickly transform into a much younger Genji.

"Who are you?"

The figure switched between the younger and current version of Genji a few times as it waited for her answer. Genji opened and closed her mouth a time or two, before settling into a firm-lipped frown. She'd answered the same question twice now, how many times did this figure want her to repeat her own name? It hadn't made any move to grab her or hurt her in any way, was it simply bored and taunting her? Or was it trying to distract her from something? Maybe it was trying to keep her away from Aang and the others.

"I already told you my name." Genji muttered. "My name's Genji and I need to find my friends-"

Genji glanced over her shoulder, back the way she'd come, and tried to shift towards the left, away from the shapeshifter. As soon as she'd stepped away, however, thick leafy tendrils erupted from beneath her and wrapped tightly around her body. Genji screamed as she felt them squeeze her arms and legs, holding her in such a way that she had no hope of bending her way out of their grip. Now fully alarmed, Genji began to thrash wildly in the plant's grip. She'd heard from Keemo that the swamp was a living, thinking creature in its own right, but she'd never imagined it to be true.

As she tried to escape her green captor, the figure that now wore her face(s) appeared in front of her. It didn't move so much as appear and disappear, like a thought that drifted in and out of one's consciousness. Terrified, Genji struggled harder. She turned her head from side to side to avoid looking at the figure, but it always managed to follow her gaze. She couldn't escape it.

Again, their skin rippled, and they donned a new face. Genji clenched her eyes shut, hoping that perhaps by ignoring the being it would become uninterested and leave her alone.

"Who are you?" Came that same question, this time in a firm voice that demanded an answer. There was a faraway familiarness to it, as if speaking in a voice that Genji had once known but had now begun to forget.

Despite herself, Genji lifted her head and peeked up at it. A Fire Nation soldier looked down at her with stern gray eyes and a dark, pointed beard. Genji squinted, sure she knew the person somehow. The eyes and beard were familiar to her, but everything else was a mystery. Suddenly, realization hit her like a brick. Shame filled her stomach with lead at not being able to remember her own father.

"Who are you?" He asked again.

"A...Akar..." Genji found herself stuttering the name of a person who no longer existed. After the second syllable escaped her tongue, however, she regained her senses and stopped herself. Her eyes watered as she looked at her long-gone father. Akari was gone, and so was he.

"Gen-" Just as Genji was beginning to correct herself, as if to reintroduce herself to her father, he was gone. The figure had once again changed faces. It morphed first into Genji's face, then her mother's, then her father, then a beautiful but unfamiliar young, dark-haired woman, and finally into a young Genji. It began cycling through the faces of everyone Genji knew, growing faster and faster as it did.

"Who are you? Who are you?" It repeated over and over again, her voice speeding up along with her morphing face.

Genji winced as she felt the vines tighten around her limbs, and her heart raced in her chest. Dread filled her from head to toe as she watched the creature shift through the faces of her family, repeating its question faster and faster until the words became numb and meaningless.

Who are you? Who are you? Who are you?

She didn't know how to answer anymore. Her head spun and her cheeks became wet with confused tears. In the back of her head, she could hear her father whisper Akari every time the creature took his face. But just as soon as he'd appeared, he would become swallowed by her mother's face and she'd recall the harsh feeling of thin fingers covering her mouth and a low whisper that killed Akari, and replaced her with Genji.

The transformations became so quick that the faces no longer became recognizable. They were a blur of warped flesh, and Genji openly wept from fear. Her lip quivered as she whimpered, begging for it to stop and leave her alone. Then, it stopped. The tendrils loosened and dropped at Genji's feet, lifeless. She blinked her wet eyes and looked down at them, then up at the mysterious being. It had taken a new face, that of a young woman with a hairline that had been shaved back to the highest edge of her forehead. A blue tattoo swooped down from beneath the neatly trimmed hair, pointing down a gentle, beautiful face. Her multicolor coat abandoned its hues of red and green and became a burnt orange color. She was an Air Nomad now.

The nun smiled softly at Genji, her gray eyes full of what looked to be pity for the poor confused child. She lifted her hands, touching Genji for the first time. She flinched, unsure what to make of the creature's new face, but didn't pull away. Something felt familiar and right about her.

The woman said something to Genji, but she couldn't hear the words. She could only see her mouth slowly form them, drawing out three unheard syllables. Somehow, Genji knew it had been her name.

Genji awoke from her dream. Laying on her back, staring up at the dark night sky, she knew she hadn't been sleeping for very long. But the sweat on her brow and the anxious flip-flop of her stomach told her that it wasn't likely that she'd be able to return to sleep anytime soon. She breathed out a few times, trying to calm her nerves as she recovered from her dream.

It had been just a day since she and the rest of the group had left the Foggy Swamp. They had indeed been separated while there, and each of them had experienced their own hallucination. Genji had seen the same mysterious figure from her dream, but its face had remained the blank, eyeless copy of her own. It hadn't shapeshifted at all, but it had repeatedly asked her who she was, dissatisfied with her answers of Genji and Can you please show me where my friends are? It had vanished as soon as Sokka had found her, running through the apparition as if it hadn't been there at all.

Genji curled up on the grass, tucking her knees close to her chest. She sucked in her breath, watching blades of grass sway in time with her breathing.

What an awful dream. She thought to herself. I know who I am. I'm Genji. Daiyu and Hiroaki's only daughter.

"Genji?" Came a quiet voice. "Are you alright?"

Turning her head, Genji saw Aang propped up on his elbows, looking her over with concern. She realized she must've looked pretty sickly, with sweat on her forehead and her body curled up in a ball. She sighed and nodded, willing herself to relax some.

"Yeah..." She murmured. "It was just a bad dream."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Images of the Swamp Figure morphing between her mother and father, taunting her with its repeating question, filled her head. She frowned, and forced them away with a swift shrug of her shoulders. She rolled onto her back and stretched her legs out, resting her hands on her stomach.

"I don't remember." She lied. "Something about the swamp."

Genji stared up, studying the constellations. She watched as more stars slowly began to light up the sky, before turning back to Aang with a concerned frown of her own.

"How come you're up? It's late and we have more flying to do in the morning."

Aang shrugged his shoulders and pushed himself up off his elbows.

"I couldn't sleep." He admitted. "I kept thinking about the fact that this whole time, I've thought I was alone. Well-"

He looked over at Katara and Sokka, who were fast asleep in their sleeping bags. "I wasn't really alone, I've had Katara and Sokka with me. But...I thought I was the only airbender. The last member of the Air Nation. And it was a lot to deal with. But, now I've met you, and it's like...a weight's been lifted off my chest. I'm not the only Air Nomad anymore."

He thinks of me as a Nomad?

Genji pursed her lips as she realized she'd never even seen herself that way. She'd always wanted to get in touch with her Air Nomad heritage, but she'd been raised Earth Nation. She wasn't entirely Earth Nation though, was she? In another life, her father had referred to her as his Fire Nation princess. He hadn't seen her as Earth Nation or as an Air Nomad. And her mother didn't see her as Fire Nation or Air Nation. So, what was she? A flash of the multicolored coat from her dream came to her, and she imagined the green and the red fighting one another as a tiny corner of orange resisted being overwhelmed by them.

Pangs of guilt wracked Genji as she realized that she wasn't exactly what Aang imagined her to be. She didn't want to fill him with a false sense of hope, as much as she wished she could be what he thought she was.

There was a short moment of silence, during which her mind's eye focused on the final face that the Swamp Figure had taken. She recalled her cyan tattoos, and lifted her head to look at Aang. He was sitting up now, legs crossed and elbows resting on his knees. His hands hung over his calves, blue arrows peeking out from his sleeves. His brown boots were off to the side, revealing his bare feet and part of his calves. More arrows snaked down his legs to the top of his feet. Although she knew that airbenders were covered in tattoos, Genji wasn't sure exactly how far they went, or what they looked like as a complete picture.

"Hey, Aang?"

Aang turned to her with a friendly smile.

"How far do your tattoos go?"

Aang blinked, glancing down at the top of his hands. In a swift motion he uncrossed his legs and spun to his feet in a gentle updraft.

"The main one goes up from the lowest point on the back and over the head." Aang drew a line leading up in front of him, as if he was tracing the length of someone's spine. Then, when his finger became eye level, he pointed to the arrow on his forehead.

"Our tattoos represent the energy that flows out from our bodies and back into the universe. And since energy never stops moving, the tattoos are arrows, pointing towards an infinite path." He held one of his arms out and the tracing finger went from the inner part of his arm to the outside, over his elbow, and down to the back of his other hand.

"Separate arrows go down the arms to the hands, and two more lead down from the back-" His hand again found the invisible spine and traced down. "-and around the thighs to the feet. You can only get your tattoos once you've mastered airbending."

Genji followed the lines Aang had drawn with her eyes, mapping out the unseen arrows. She tried to imagine herself with them, and for a moment, almost could. However, the thought of mastering airbending quickly snuffed out her daydream. That, she knew, was a long time coming, if it ever came at all.

"How do you know when you've become a master?" She asked. "Do you have to be a certain age to get them?"

Aang raised his brows.

"Well, not exactly." He said, rubbing the back of his bald head. "You have to prove your mastery by completing the 36 tiers of airbending. Or, you could do what I did, and complete 35 and then make something new up. It doesn't really matter how old or young you are. So long as you're not a baby; monks don't really like tattooing babies."

Aang snickered at the idea of tiny airbender babies covered in hard-core mastery tattoos, and Genji looked at him blankly. She didn't have the slightest idea what the 36 tiers of airbending were, but she had a sinking suspicion that she had not mastered so much as one of them. Seeing her expression, Aang's face fell in the subtlest of disappointed frowns.

"You really don't know much about airbending, do you?"

"Er...no...not really." She confessed, with a slight, embarrassed flush. "I had to teach myself what little I do know through trial and error."

Seeing the sadness on Aang's face, Genji rushed to try and cheer him up, not wanting to discourage the only other practicing airbender in the entire Four Nations.

"But I'm a fast learner!" She exclaimed, pushing herself up onto her hands. "I learned how to knit an entire sweater in one afternoon when I was ten, I'm sure I could learn airbending by the time you have to fight Ozai."

This seemed to do the trick, and Aang laughed at the thought of a tiny Genji furiously knitting a misshapen sweater. He smiled warmly at her.

"Well, airbending's a lot different from knitting, but a can-do attitude is the key to mastering both!" He stretched his arms above his head and yawned, feeling his lack of sleep catch up with him. Smacking his lips from fatigue, he rubbed at the corner of his eye. "I can teach you some of the basics in the morning, but for now, we should probably get some sleep."

Genji nodded her agreement, feeling a yawn of her own form at the back of her throat. She managed to stifle it, and lowered herself back onto her makeshift bed of leaves and grass. There hadn't been an extra sleeping bag for her, but that was fine by her. She always seemed to stay warm at night, with or without a blanket. Aang settled back down onto his own bed, Appa's tail, and said goodnight. Genji replied in kind, and tucked her hands under her head. However, it took quite a few hours for her to slip back into sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she was plagued with the warping figure from her dream and a ghostly voice that whispered in her ear:

Who are you, Genji?

As she finally managed to fight her way into an uneasy slumber, she hoped her airbending training would provide her with an answer.