A/N: Yes, I know you're all surprised to see this. I am, too; it's another giant, epic plot set in motion. And I have no idea how this idea will go over with Avatards. I don't even know if I like the AU setting, but oh well. The idea won't leave me. So… here we go, a sort of 'us against the world' and 'coming of age' story. Like the show, Aang will be immature at first, but he'll mature. The same goes for a lot of other characters, too, I suppose; but mainly the huge changes in behavior will be seen in Aang.

Ages: Zuko, seventeen. Azula, sixteen. Ty Lee, sixteen. Sokka, sixteen. Suki, sixteen. Katara, fifteen. Aang, thirteen. Toph, thirteen. Mae, seventeen. Jet, seventeen. Smellerbee, fifteen. Pipsqueak, fifteen (but often mistaken for eighteen). The Duke, twelve. Longshot, fifteen. Haru, fifteen (but because of his mustache, mistaken for at least seventeen or so). Teo, thirteen. Meng, twelve.

Pairings: Taang – TophXAang. (sibling) Toko – Toph/Zuko. Zutara – ZukoXKatara. Sukka – SukiXSokka. Maetbee – MaeXJetXSmellerbee triangle (a weird one, I know, but it's fun. :3 ).

Before anyone can ask questions, Mai's name is going to be spelled as 'Mae' instead. Why? Because 'Mai' should be pronounced 'mie' like 'pie' and not 'may'. Because Ozai's name ends in an 'ai' and sounds like 'eye', so Mai's should as well! But since it doesn't sound that way, I fixed the spelling. Yeah, I know, I'm picky. Whatever. XD

Long ago, people were connected with nature. Man and the elements lived together in harmony, in which man could bend the earth, the air, the sea, or the rays of the sun to their will by using the chi that flowed through their bodies.

But over time, at a steadily increasing rate, man lost touch with nature. They began to destroy it with technological advancements. The harmony was broken. With each new generation, the blood of the benders grew thin and weak, and only a few select people were taught and held the blood of the bending race. Before, anyone could command any element; but now, depending on your family, man can command but one.

To the east in Japan, the land of the rising sun, the firebenders reside. After migrating to the north from the South Pole, the waterbenders live in Alaska. To the equator, in the Amazon, the cousins of the waterbender reside: the swampbenders. Then, scattered across China and a few in western America, the earthbenders. And their cousins to the Middle Eastern deserts and in Egypt, the sandbenders. Finally, the thinnest line of race there is: the airbenders. They live anywhere, for they are nomadic, forever changing their whereabouts. Although, if you were to trace their origin, you would be somewhere in the Himalayan mountains where the wisest monks lived in the mystical oasis rightfully named Shambhala.

In secret, each of these races practice and learn their bending from one another as time progresses. It's taught the same way martial arts are taught across the world: through the demonstration of a form as the other mimics it. Plenty of self-discipline and breathing exercises are required.

All bending is so understandable that even if someone does not bend the same element, each stance can be adopted to mold the world around a person; they merely need to be shown how do so. Every bending master left in the world takes pupils under their wings and teaches them the style of defense and creation through the power of chi and art of bending.

But there is so little of these individuals left… A majority of man has forgotten the art, but there are still individuals whom have had to teach themselves.

This is where our story starts: in the current world, year 2009 A.D., in Gaoling, China. Here we meet an earthbending master that is barely stepping into womanhood and yet can control not only the dirt under her toes or the pebbles in her yard, but the very metal that makes up half the things in her city.

"Toph, sweetie, did you get into your dress yet?" a rich young mother called through the door of her only daughter's bedroom. "The guests will be arriving soon, I hope you realize."

"Yeah, yeah; I know, I know," the girl retorted with an indignant sigh.

"Do you need my help?" her mother asked. "I could come in there and –"

"No, I can do it myself," the willful girl replied. "Go back downstairs with father." She heard her mother walk away on the wooden floorboards in the hallway. "Just because I'm blind doesn't mean I can't slip on a dress you so clearly laid out for me," she grumbled as soon as her mother was out of earshot. Her expression softened. "Not that you care. You're so protective."

Her name was Toph Bei Fong. She was stubborn and independent, her spirit even more unbreakable than that of a wild horse. She was tough physically, and sarcastic. She made dry humored jokes that no one understood, and was kept a secret from most of the society around her. And she hated that fact.

With a blow at the black bangs hanging over her face, Toph picked up the dress from her bed and felt for the sash on it she knew was tied in a large bow in back. She stepped into the dress when she was sure it was facing the correct way. Toph pulled it up her slender, muscular legs and slipped her arms through the holes. She fumbled with the zipper on the side, but with one grunt paired with a sharp tug, she was able to get it to the top. She tied the sash around her waist, just under her tiny breasts.

Reluctantly, Toph stepped into her wooden sandals, the parted socks pinching the tong of the sandal between her toes. She hated shoes. With shoes on, it was like wearing earmuffs: everything was muffled, quieter.

You see, this girl was an earthbender. With earthbending, you become attached to the earth around you to the point where you can feel every vibration and map out the lay of the land in your head from simply feeling. Being blind, this is the only thing Toph relied on to 'see' besides listening with her ears like any other blind person would do.

"Time to do my hair," Toph said in a mocking tone. She felt her way to her dresser where a brush, a comb, a ribbon, and a pair of chopsticks waited for her. The chunky shoes on her feet made terrible clopping noises as she made her way to the dresser. She picked up the delicately made jadestone hairbrush and brushed back her long bangs (which she preferred to hang in her eyes, but her parents refused to let her do because they 'wanted to see her pretty face') and lifted the silky length of her hair in back, bringing the entire thing upwards in a big swooping bun. She tied it off with the ribbon and stuck the chopsticks in to hold it all in place and to decorate her hair more.

She felt utterly idiotic in that fancy, horribly girly way.

Dressing up always was a thorn in her side, ever since she was a little girl. She was merely thirteen, so not much has changed, but that's the part that really gets her goat: nothing haschanged. Her parents still babied her and never considered her opinion or wants. And what Toph truly wanted was to break free.

"One day I'll get out of here," she murmured sadly to the nearly fully grown pet panda she had snoozing in it's bed in the corner. He was the only known panda to be a pet in history that was, of 'course, legally acquired as an orphan about to be given to a zoo.

Toph picked up the blush on her dresser and absently applied it to her cheeks the way her mother taught her. She even added some eye shadow with her fingertips, hoping it didn't look too messy.

"I'll run away and find someone else to be with besides my parents. It'd be a lot easier that way. I can't go it alone, but it'd be nice to be somewhere else. You can come with me, Hei Bai," she added in the panda's direction. Sighing, she placed a headband in her hair that felt like butter and grass, yellow and green like the rest of her dress. It was time to face her mysterious 'guests'. She hardly considered them as such; to Toph, they were unwanted visitors. Sure, she longed to meet children her own age, but that was all; she didn't want to meet random grown-ups.

Toph had that talent, too: she could tell what color something was by feeling it. She picked this trait up when her mother was listing off the colors of the dresses she bought, and later Toph went in a felt each one. Every color feels different if you pay enough attention to it. They also smell different. For example: blue smelled vaguely minty and felt cooler than the rest, like water. Or red: red was warm like the blush on someone's face, and smelled of copper, like blood. She disliked red for this reason. Black was dark and ghostly, like charcoal in a fireplace. It smelled burnt, too. And orange was sunny and reminded Toph of tangerines. Pink was the hardest to feel, but it felt like a sunset or a sunrise. It was the easiest to smell, though; it held the scent of cherry blossom trees.

There were more colors, so many more; there were even some colors that Toph didn't have a name for. But colors were the best part of her blind world because – despite the fact that she couldn't visualize them the way sighted people can – she enjoyed the feel and smell of them. They were the highlight of her empty-sighted days.

Carefully, Toph maneuvered down the stairs and came into the dining room where her mother's cook resided. The cook was a thieving, sneaky girl by the name of Jun, but Toph liked her. They were alike in the manner that they manipulated and teased people, as well as the way they made sarcastic jokes. Jun was an intimidating beauty with fiery dark eyes, raven colored hair, and tattoos on her arms. She wasn't much of a cook, but that's not why she was hired; secretly, she was hired for her keen senses of tracking people. Jun was closely related to the bounty hunters of yore, people who could track other people. Toph's parents hired her so she could keep an eye on their daughter in case something happened to her. Jun naturally accepted such a job because of the wealth of the Bei Fong family, but as time went by she grew a sort of fondness for the blind girl, the type of fondness one might develop if they adopted a child. After all, Jun was with Toph a greater percentage of the day than her own parents were.

"Ready for another night full of stuffy rich folks, kiddo?" Jun asked with a smirk on her face.

"Tch, as ready as I'll ever be," Toph scoffed. She sighed and sunk against one of the kitchen counters, her elbows supporting her weight. "I wish my parents would let up on this bull crap," she gestured with one hand, "We all know what'll happen in the end."

Jun chuckled. "You mean you'll freak the guests into silence when you're parents are washing up before dessert by performing a little rock show for them?"

"Exactly," Toph smirked. "It's always more fun when they run away and my parents return with confused looks on their faces."

"Are you never going to tell them about your bending?" Jun inquired in a whisper.

Toph shook her head. "Nah, I don't think they could take knowing that their daughter is one of the benders. The race is supposed to be extinct, after all." She paused. "At least, that's what my tutor tells me."

Toph had a college professor as a personal tutor; her parents kept her such a secret that she wasn't even allowed to attend public school. So a man by the name of Xang came five days a week to teach Toph the studies of the world. His personal favorite to teach her was of deserts, specifically Egypt. The favored tale he told was about a wise Egyptian god that resembled an owl, whom had a different name in China: Won Shi Tong.

None of it interested Toph very much. What interested her was, of all things, a Disney movie called Aladdin. In the movie, there is a princess named Jasmine who is not allowed passed the palace gates, just like Toph. In the movie, Jasmine gets tired of it and one day sneaks out in disguise.

Toph tried that not once, but numerous times. So far she hasn't been caught. Jun didn't even bother to track her; in fact, she went against what she was hired for and helped Toph escape, at least for a little while. On her minute adventures, Toph encountered strange people, some of which were earthbenders like her. They run an underground Lei Tai tournament, which is like a sort of wrestling match; only they fight with rocks instead of brawn.

This was how Toph discovered that she was a master: she was able to beat all these older, buff men without battling an eyelash. It made her a bit arrogant over time, but it became fuel for her rebellious nature.

"I need to leave again tonight," she told Jun, "After I scare the guests away. Can you help me?"

"When have I not?" Jun winked. "Just be in here with your coat on, and I'll know."

Toph smiled. "Thanks," she muttered as she teetered off the edge of the chair and thumped loudly onto the cold floor. Her shoes made a weird cracking noise that caused her to scrunch her nose. How she despised shoes…

So she kicked away her shoes and tore off her socks. Jun sent her a strange, raised eyebrow expression. Toph heard the pause and explained lamely: "They broke."

Jun shrugged. "Hope your parents don't mind you running around barefoot… again."

"They can deal with it," Toph harrumphed.

The earthbender left the kitchen and headed for the dining hall. Her parents sat at the table, their guests opposite them. Toph took her place near her mother, Poppy, whom was at her rightful place at the right-hand side of her husband, Lao.

Jun came in a few minutes later with the first course, a load of appetizers all related to seafood in some way or another. Next there was some soup, and then the main course. And finally…

"Excuse us," Lao said politely, "But my wife and I are going to freshen up before dessert. You are free to do the same."

The guests nodded lightly and smiled, preparing to get out of their seats while Poppy and Lao disappeared around the corner and into the hallway.

"Would you like some entertainment first? I'd like to show you some of the southern praying mantis style martial arts my sifu taught me recently," Toph said sweetly, her usual 'poor, innocent, helplessly blind me' act set in motion.

Immediately, the couple – like all the guests who were lucky and rich enough to meet her – softened and sat back down. "Oh, yes, darling; we would love to see what you have learned!" the woman of the two guests said. Her husband simply stroked his beard thoughtfully.

Toph inwardly smirked, stood from her seat, and turned towards the sliding glass door that led to the back yard. "Follow me, please; this is best done where the ground is softer," she lied. In truth, it was done best where the ground was solid rock.

The man and woman stood on the porch while Toph got into a broad-legged stance. She slowly raised her arms, bent at the elbows like a praying mantis's frontal green weapons, and then quickly pounded them to the wide of her body as though she were hitting an invisible brick wall. Four blocks of rock shot up from the ground and flew around in the air before being sent forcefully into a bamboo grove. Young bamboo snapped in half while the older, fully grown bamboo splintered into a billion pieces.

The woman behind Toph screamed and fainted into her husband's arms. The husband himself was shock still for a few moments, his eyes widened and his mouth agape. As soon as he recovered, he carried his wife out the front door with panic in his shrieks.

Laughing to herself, Toph walked over to the bamboo grove and picked up the broken bamboo shoots as a snack for Hei Bai. She placed the rocks back in their holes from the ground, and then went up to her room to deliver the meal to her pet.

When she returned from her bedroom, her parents were asking the servants and looking awestruck over what happened to their guests. "Why did they leave without dessert? It's downright rude," Lao huffed.

Poppy nodded her head in agreement. She looked down at her daughter. "Poor baby… They just left you without warning, didn't they?" she cooed and she bent down to hold her precious baby.

Toph rolled her foggy, light green eyes and put on another façade. "Yes; why did they do that, mother? I didn't even know they left until I heard the door slam shut," she whined dramatically. "Maybe we should give up on these dinners… they never end well," she told her parents, hoping that they'd listen to her for once.

"No, we must keep up the Bei Fong reputation," her father replied. "However, if this continues, we may have to do exactly that, Toph." Lao looked at the clock. "It's nearly your bedtime, little lady. Perhaps you should start getting ready."

"Yes!" Toph hissed under her breath gleefully once her mother released her. Although it was a moot point now; she wasn't going to stay around for that to happen, even though she had been trying to cease the chain of dinners with strangers for who knows how long. To her father in a louder tone, she replied, "You're right. Goodnight," she said as she turned for the stairs.

Poppy smiled. "Goodnight, sweetie."

* * *

The grandfather clock in the foyer chimed twelve. Toph woke with a start at the noise and rubbed her eyes. Tossing off her sheets, she hopped onto the floor and hurried to her window. Her bag was just below, safely on the ground. She thrust her hands upwards, a rock propelling the bag to her hands. She fumbled for it, and finally caught hold of one of the leather straps. She knew leather was brown like the soil of the earth, tanned from the sun like a rock and smelling like whatever it's touched. Toph slid the strap over her head and onto her shoulder, ready to leave.

As quietly as she could, the earthbender crept to her sleeping panda. She shook him awake, and he yawned loudly. "Shh," she hushed as she stroked between his eyes. Scratching one of the rounded black ears, she whispered to him: "It's time to go, Hei Bai. Let me ride on your back."

The panda grunted and got onto his four great paws, the filed claws scraping idly on the wooden floor. Toph carefully climbed on. The warmth of Hei Bai's body heat compared to the chilly night air gave her goosebumps.

The blind girl clung to the panda's fur with all her strength for fear of slipping off. She could barely see a think this far off of the ground; it's bad enough when she's on wood, but being this far away from completely solid, nonliving surfaces made Toph uneasy. She might as well be flying in the air!

"Let's go," she coaxed. Hei Bai padded out of her room and down into the entranceway. Toph tapped her hands along the wall until she found the hooks where all their coats are kept. Her black cloak – normally used for rainy days as a parka and as means to hide her from prying eyes – was on the very end, hidden behind the silky fabric of her mother's scarf.

Toph threw it on and nudged her pet's left hindquarter, telling it to go into the kitchen a ways away. As she entered, she hopped off of her pet, happy to find her feet meeting tile, one of the closest things to the naked earth. "Jun," Toph called lowly.

"Over here, kiddo."

Toph walked toward the voice and grinned. "I'm leaving for real this time, you know."

"I know."

"Did you write the letter I told you to?"

"I did."

"Thanks for everything, Jun," Toph said with heart. She lightly punched Jun in the tattooed arm; a show of affection.

"Take care, Blind Bandit." The other woman said softly as she tapped the blind girl on the nose.

Toph batted her hand away. "Hey, I told you not to call me by my wresting name while in the house," she teased.

Jun laughed without much sound. "Yeah, well…"

Toph smiled once more, took the package of food Jun held out (which was meant to last a week), the bag of money Jun stole from the family fund meant for college for the her, was handed the family seal stamped passport, and then was on her way.

"Bye, Jun; don't forget to meet up with me later when they send you out to find me!"

"I won't, kid!" Jun called back.

And that was the last Toph saw of Jun for a very, very long time.

It was also the last moment of her old life. For, now, Toph was out to see the world and find whatever she could. She knew she would be safe out in the elements; she was a master earthbender, after all.

A/N: The next chapter features Katara and Sokka, as well as mentions of Yue.