Flow [Sokka - Book Two]

⚝Chapter Seven⚝

Sokka looked at Aang and Katara, raising one eyebrow. "See? Completely reasonable. Not a monster, just a regular guy defending his home. Nothing mystical about it."

"Oh, the swamp is a mystical place, all right," the strange man said, his tone being awestruck. "It's sacred." He was silent as they continued walking along the main tree. "I reached enlightenment right here under the banion grove tree." He suddenly sat down. "I hear it callin' me, just like you did."

"Sure you did," Sokka said sarcastically. "It seems real chatty."

Konno hit Sokka's arm. She knew for a fact that the swamp is sacred. She spoke to Yue. She saw Navrek. She heard his voice long before he got here. He looked at her with his brows furrowed, but she shook her head. She didn't want to say anything in front of the others.

"See, this whole swamp is actually just one tree spread out over miles," the man said. "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 asked.

"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." The man nodded once. "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."

Konno didn't know if she believed that part of it. She knew everyone was born the same, but they weren't all connected. She had hardly met anyone of this world, only the people of the Northern Water Tribe and these three here. 

"But what did our visions mean?" Katara asked.

"In the swamp we see visions of people we've lost, people we loved . . ." He trailed off, and Konno pictured Yue and Navrek. " . . . folks we think are gone. But the swamp tells us they're not."

That was the truest statement she had heard him say. She knew the ones she loved weren't gone fully. They were still in her heart, helping her make her decisions. They still were on her mind, in her heart. She didn't think they would ever leave. She didn't want them to ever leave.

"We're still connected to 'em," the man said. "Time is an illusion, and so is death."

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

The man smiled at Aang. "You're the Avatar. You tell me."

A puzzled look appeared on Aang's face. "Time is an illusion . . ." he muttered to himself. "So it's . . . someone I will meet?"

The man smiled again at Aang with a wink. Sokka stepped forward suddenly and said, "Sorry to interrupt the lesson, but we still need to find Appa and Momo."

Konno glanced around and realized that their animals weren't with them. She hadn't even noticed they were missing. She was too caught up with these three people. They were slowly bringing back some emotions that she wanted buried. 

"I think I know how to find them." Aang leaned forward and placed his hands on the tree root. He closed his eyes and began to concentrate. "Everything is connected."

Suddenly, the arrow tattoo on Aang's hand began to glow. The last time she had seen the blue glow coming from him was when he turned into the Water Spirit. While he did that, Yue allowed the Moon Spirit to take her back. She didn't think she liked it when he glowed like that.

"Come on!" Aang yelled. "We've got to hurry!"

Him and Katara took off running. Sokka and Konno trailed behind them again, going slower than they were. He held out his hand and helped her off of the large tree root. However, he didn't let go as they waded through the water.