Demoted || Genyatta

Epilogue: I Never Really Wanted More

 The snow crunched loudly underneath Genji's feet, yet he couldn't feel its cold even as he sprinted through it. The small mountain paths were hard to navigate, and even though Genji had crossed them multiple times, he still found himself looking round for some kind of waypoint. With only trees and snow in sight, however, it wasn't easy to remember which way he was going.

Soon enough, the trees got thicker and the path had almost fully vanished underneath the thick layer of snow. Genji slowed to a halt and, attempting to make the best of the situation, ducked behind a fallen tree trunk.

Voices could be heard in the distance, and Genji slowly crawled closer against the trunk, dimming his lights so he wouldn't be too visible. Now that he was almost fully lying on the snow, he was actually starting to feel the cold; he suppressed a shiver and focused on the nearing voices.

"Footprints!" a voice called out. "Over here!"

There were some laughs, and the footsteps grew even nearer to Genji's hiding place. Carefully, Genji moved away from the trunk and peeked over the top.

There was no one there. Genji scanned everywhere in front of him, between every tree, but he couldn't see anyone. Had they passed him? Was he safe?

Suddenly, Genji was tackled to the ground, and his visor filled up with snow. He was being pressed down on the cold ground, unable to do much else than wildly wave his arms around. His green lights flickered back to life.

"Got you!"

Genji laughed and let out an exaggerated groan, raising his arms as much as he could with three kids sitting on his back.

"I surrender!" he said, wiping the snow off his visor. "Please, have mercy!"

The kids climbed off Genji, allowing him to roll onto his back. He faked exhaustion, heaving dramatically as he pressed his hand to his chest. "You guys are too fast!"

"I told you so!" one of the three boys said smartly. He was grinning proudly, and started digging up snow to throw onto Genji; the cyborg couldn't really feel it, so he didn't mind. He playfully started digging right back.

All three kids had bright red cheeks and equally flushed noses, and Genji realized that they should probably head back up to the village before one of them caught a cold from being out in the snow all day. Right as that thought crossed his mind, a familiar voice sounded from behind him.

"Greetings," Zen offered a small wave, and turned to the kids. "Your mother wanted me to fetch you for dinner."

The kids whined loudly, hiding behind Genji and clutching to him. "Can we stay a little longer please?"

"It's okay," Genji said, carefully untangling himself from the sad children. "We have more time to play tomorrow. It's getting late."

With a few more whines and begging, the kids agreed, and they jumped up to their feet to start the short trek back up the mountain.

"They are quite fond of you," Zen said when the kids were up ahead, holding out his hand for Genji. The cyborg gratefully accepted the help and Zen pulled him up to his feet again.

Genji laughed gently. "I am glad. I'm fond of them, too."

With the three young boys leading the way, Zen and Genji followed the trail back up the mountain. Soon enough, they reached the village entrance, where a female omnic stood awaiting them. The three kids quickly embraced her before running past her into the nearest house.

The kids' mother smiled gently. "Zenyatta, thank you for bringing them up," she said with a laugh. Genji's Nepali was still quite poor, but he managed to catch 'thank you', and the next sentence was spoken in English (she'd probably just remembered Genji's lack of language skills). "Will you be back to chat tomorrow? Your company was very welcome today."