Author's Note:

My submission for Round 1 of season four of the Pro-Bending Circuit.

Word count-1182

Prompts used-(dialogue) "I'm nervous, but excited", (location) Ba Sing Se and (restriction) First-person Pov.

Team-White Falls Wolfbats

Position-Earthbender

I own nothing.

Earth to Air, Air to Earth

I had always been rooted to the earth.

I had to be, I'm Toph Bei Fong, the greatest earthbender ever, of course I'm rooted to the earth. The earth was how I saw, how I interacted, the reason my blindness was not the great problem everyone made it out to be, so I liked to be on the earth as much as possible.

Not hanging from a rickety, old bit of wood and canvas miles above Ba Sing Se.

But that was exactly what I was about to be doing, thanks to a dare from that water-brained idiot, Sokka.

We'd just been talking together after all the excitement of exposing Long Feng, meeting the, frankly, oblivious Earth King and starting plans for the invasion when Aang's glider had come up in conversation. One thing led to another until boomerang-brain said that I would be too scared to try using the glider myself, I claimed otherwise and that led to me being dared to have one shot with it.

In all honesty I would much prefer to fly as little as possible. Appa was one thing, he was a huge bison so you'd have to be trying really hard to fall off him, but Aang's glider was completely different, it was too small, too fragile and I wouldn't be able to see a thing while gliding with it. However, I have my pride to consider and if I backed down from this then I would never hear the end of it from shopping-queen Sokka, so I took the dare.

Now, standing at the top of one of the city's high walls, holding a century old stick of wood, I felt just a bit anxious.

I did not want to leave the stone beneath my feet, it was earth, reliable, solid, unyielding earth, my most important friend and ally in being my own person, beating my own disability. In the sky I would be completely blind, there would be nothing solid to touch, no honest vibrations telling me what was around me, nothing but the shapeless air and a complete blank where I would usually have a mental picture of my surroundings. Of course, mother-hen Katara had insisted that Aang and Appa flew beside me the entire time but it wasn't like I would know where they were, I just had to trust they'd be there if I needed them.

Carefully I stepped up to the edge and gripped the handholds of the glider, beside me I knew Aang was shuffling about nervously, "Are you really sure about this?"

I snorted, "Of course I am! There's no way I'm backing down from a dare!"

I heard him sigh and then answer, "Okay, fine. Me and Appa will be right alongside you so just remember what I told you and it'll be fine."

"I know Twinkle-toes! Let's just do this already!"

He sighed again at my retort and I sensed him leave the ground and heard the slight rush of air as he jumped onto Appa. No doubt sat in his usual spot on the bison's head, I heard him speak again, "Toph, how do you actually feel about this."

I recognised the concern in his voice and I knew he had a slight idea about how much being on the earth meant to me, he knew how much of a challenge leaving it behind would be. I was effectively doing what I had been trying to not have to do all my life, I was willingly letting someone and something be responsible for me. I had spent years trying to prove that I didn't need to be looked after, that I could handle myself without people watching over me and that was kind of how I still worked. I originally thought that pulling my own weight meant dealing with everything to do with me by myself, that's why I argued with Katara so much during those first few days, now I was starting to understand that pulling my weight meant helping the others as well and accepting that help in return. It annoyed me at first, I kept thinking they were being like my parents, thinking that my blindness meant they had to do everything for me, but they were just being friends. Maybe me doing this was my way of saying that I trusted them, or at least Aang, enough to let go of the main root of my independence, I had to rely on him to see for me while I was in the air because I wouldn't be able to do so myself.

In the end I settled for a shorter answer to his question, "I'm nervous, but excited."

In a way that's all I needed to say. Yes, I was about to leave the earth, and my sight, behind but a part of me was excited at the thought of gliding through the air, of feeling the wind on my face as I soared freely. Aang had often gone on about the feeling of flying and, like many, I kind of wanted to feel it for myself.

Having had enough of putting it off, I took a breath and smiled, "Let's do this."

I heard Aang laugh slightly, "Okay then. On the count of three…one…two…three!"

On his signal I launched myself off the wall, leaving the earth behind and throwing myself into the air.

It was so strange at first, not feeling the vibrations of the ground through my feet. I had been in places without a handy stone or earth floor before but there'd always been a solid surface, here though the only solid thing was the wooden glider that kept me in the air. It bewildered my senses slightly and only the cold air rushing past told me how fast I was actually moving, for all I knew I could've been floating there and not gliding at all, it was strangely…peaceful.

Perhaps if I'd had my sight I would've been whooping with joy at the sight of the ground rushing beneath me but I didn't, so instead I enjoyed the peaceful feeling of floating. I heard Aang calling out from somewhere beside me, "You okay Toph?"

I grinned in his rough direction, "Are you kidding!? This is awesome!"

I heard him laugh out loud and then call back to me, "Glad to hear it! We're coming up to the landing point now and I can see Katara and Sokka waiting for us."

My grin grew, "I can't wait to rub it in boomerang-boy's face. I've totally beaten his dare!"

Aang laughed again, "Yeah, you have! We're coming up to the landing now so just listen to everything I tell you, I'll guide you in safely."

With Aang's confident instructions I managed to land back on the ground safely, immediately I felt the vibrations of everything around me and I quickly worked out that I'd actually landed just feet in front of Sokka and Katara. With ease I twirled the staff the way Aang always did, closing its wings, and triumphantly tapped its end on the earth.

"Your turn Sokka."