"Hey! Who do you think you're dealing with?"

Toph could hear the fear in her own voice, and it both surprised and startled her. For the first time in a long time, she felt…helpless. She felt…like a little girl. Vainly she kept trying to bend the metal cage she was in as the voice came through the bars to meet her ears.

"One loud-mouthed little brat who strayed too far from home."

Toph recognized the voice instantly and the fear began to drain away, replaced by a rising hatred. Once more she tried her earthbending, then gave up and took a deep, cleansing breath. This time, when she spoke, Toph was pleased to hear her voice held not a trace of fear, but instead an icy resolve.

"You had better be far away when I get out of here, Xin Fu. Where are my mom and dad!? What did you do with them?"

A cold laughter was the only reply for several long moments, and the sound only served to make Toph's hatred rise. She swore to herself she would make him sorry for this one day.

"Your mother and your father are perfectly safe, little girl. Who do you think is paying us so well to bring you home?"

Toph went still, not willing to believe what she was hearing.

"What are you talking about? Why would my parents ever hire you?"

"Once they found out the Avatar kidnapped you, they were most anxious to get you back. I would think you'd be pleased we were rescuing you."

"What!? No! I can't believe this. You don't understand, my parents don't understand! Aang didn't kidnap me you fool! I ran away from home. Aang, Katara, and Sokka have been my friends. I've been teaching Aang earthbending. Let me out of here! I want to see my parents!"

"Don't worry," came the sneering voice of Xin Fu, "we'll take you back to them soon enough."

Toph slid down the back wall of the cage to sit cross-legged on the cramped floor. On the long way back to the Bei Fong estate, the only sound Xin Fu heard was an occasional sob, quickly stifled.

It seemed like an eternity, but in reality was only two days back to the Bei Fong estate. Toph had been transferred to a large caravan and placed in a cramped, metal-walled room. It was a large caravan, but extremely fast. That was why Toph was surprised when she was roughly pulled to her feet only a couple of days after she had been taken. She could feel strong arms pushing her forward down a small hallway and then felt a sudden draft that told her a door had been opened in front of her. Suddenly it was as if she was walking into a lit room after being in pitch darkness. She could see again. She could earthbend.

Immediately she recognized the landscape of the Bei Fong family grounds. The next thing she recognized was the form of Xin Fu behind her. For the first time in two days, Toph smiled. With one firm stamp of her foot Toph sent her captor flying across the grounds. Walking over to where she could feel him sprawled on the ground, she picked up a nearby rock and, in two quick motions, split the rock into a crude blade. Sweeping her hand casually, she sent her makeshift knife to hover just above Xin Fu's throat.

"I may be young, but don't think that means you can push me around. The Avatar chose me to teach him for a reason. The next time you think about putting me in a metal cage, even on my parents' orders, think twice." Viciously she swept her arm once again to send the blade stabbing into the ground right next to Xin Fu's neck.

"I hope the money my parents are paying you is worth it," Toph said derisively as she swept past Xin Fu to enter her home.

"Toph," came the relieved voice of her father as she walked into the front hallway of the large estate her family owned.

"Oh, Toph, we're so glad to see you," came the equally relieved voice of her mother.

Normally, Toph would have been glad to hear her parents' voices. She would have welcomed them and would have rushed to put her arms around them. Now, though, she wasn't even sure who these people were.

As Toph felt her parents moving toward her, she made an upward sweeping motion with both her hands, creating a wall between her and her parents. It was enough to force a distance between them, but she was sure they could still see her face. She wanted them to see her face. Even if she couldn't see the expressions on their faces, she wanted to be sure they could see what was on her face, and in her eyes.

"Toph?" came her father's voice once more. "What is this? Take this wall down right now!"

"No, Dad. In case you haven't noticed, you don't have the right to tell me what to do anymore. I had a lot of time to think in the two days I was held prisoner. Held prisoner by someone you hired. At first I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt. I wanted to think that if you only knew the truth you would have done things differently." Toph sighed. "Aang didn't kidnap me, Dad. I ran away."

Toph felt the physical manifestation of her father's shock and that was all it took to let her know that he did think she had been kidnapped. She smiled bitterly.

"How could you think that, Dad? Don't you know anything about the Avatar? He's a good person who would never take someone against their will. But that's beside the point. It's been weeks since I've been gone. Did you really think I could be held prisoner that long? The only reason your mercenary was able to keep me for even two days is because he had a metal room. Didn't you realize at some point that if I hadn't come back it was because I didn't want to come back?"

"But…why, Toph? Why would you want to go? Your mother and I love you."

"I know. But you think I need to be protected. You think I need to be controlled. I've traveled the world these past months, Dad, and I've made the only real friends in my whole life. I've made a difference, Dad. I've taught the Avatar earthbending. He's the most powerful bender I've ever met, and we've fought side by side. There's a war going on that I should be helping to fight right now."

"Toph, we only wanted to keep you safe-" began her mother in her most consoling voice.

"And who's going to help keep my friends safe, Mom? Who's going to keep all those people we've been helping safe?" Toph shook her head in frustration. "You know, all this doesn't even matter. I just want to know one thing. How could you guys hire that goon? If you really thought I was in trouble, why didn't you assign some of our guards to find me or contact the Earth kingdom police?"

A long silence followed this question. Finally, her father spoke again.

"After…after we saw what you did that day in the arena, we didn't think there was any other way to bring you home again."

"So you didn't even care if that's what I wanted!? In case you haven't noticed, your little thug didn't find me bruised, beaten, or mistreated. I. Was. Not. A. Prisoner." Toph said, spacing each word for emphasis. "Not until I was yours," she finished softly. Toph shook her head again, the bitter smile back in place.

"You know, when I thought Mom had sent that letter and wanted to see me, I was actually fool enough to believe you two had changed; that you understood what I was doing. So now that I've explained things, can I get back to where I'm needed?"

"Toph, I really don't think you should go back," her father said, his voice quiet but firm.

Toph smiled again, but it was a smile of confidence this time.

"You two can't stop me. I love you guys but if you can't support me I understand. I want you two to accept me, but I don't need it. I have all the support I need."

With that, Toph turned on her heel, lowering the wall between her and her parents as she started walking back toward the door. As she reached the door she heard her mother's voice, soft and laced with regret.

"I'm sorry, Toph. I love you, sweetheart, and I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, Mom."

Toph stood there in the foyer of what had once been her home, waiting for her father to say something to her. After several long, silent moments she continued out the door. Her friends needed her, and she was ready to leave her parents and her old life behind her. She could only hope that she would return before disaster befell her new family.