Chapter 1 :Toph

Toph was laying down as she rode on Appa's back. The massive sky Bison flew along the sky with his companion and friend, Aang sitting on his head, guiding him. Normally, Appa would be Carrying the whole of "Team Avatar" on his back, but today, there were only 2. The first person was Aang and he was guiding his friend through the sky. His second passenger was Toph and she was just laying down in the saddle, "watching" the clouds as they passed by. As she laid there, she could could not help but to feel a bit of dread as she made her way to her destination. This was a feeling that the normally confident and proud earthbender would not have, and why should she. In the last 2 years, she had faced off with the forces of the mighty Fire Nation and lived to talk about it, also, she had become some what of a celebrity for her earth bending skills as well as being the only person in the world that could metal bend. By all accounts, she should have nothing fear about on this trip. But you see, the reason why she was feeling this way, was because of her destination. Toph was heading back to Gaoling her home town and the home of the very wealthy Bei Fong family. Her parents

Toph had been lucky enough to be born in to a life of privlage and was the only child of Lao and Poppy Bei Fong. As a privlaged child, she should have enjoyed the perks that came with being from a wealthy family, but the fates played a cruel hand to Toph and she was born blind. Ever since leaning that there daughter would never be able to see, both Lao and Poppy went through great pains to ensure that there ' Disabled' daughter would be well taken care of and be protected. And for the first 12 years of Toph's life , they had done just that, 'protecting' her. Even going as far as hiding her very existence from the rest of Gaoling. The only other person to know about Toph's existence was her earth bending teacher, Master Yu and even then, he only thought her basics of earth bending, never going beyond the beginners level of training. Needless to say, Toph grew up to be a very rebellious child and she resented the treatment her parents gave her just because she was blind. One day, upset by how her parents were treating her, she ran away from home and hid in a cave that was not to far from her home that was inhabited by badgermoles, and through them, she was able to discover her own earthbending style and as a result, she became a very powerfully earth bender.

But for a long time, she kept her new found ability a secret from not only Master Yu, but her parents s well. The only time she ever really got a chance to 'show off' her abilities, was when she fought in the Underground Earth Bending Tournaments as the "Blind Bandit" and over time, she racked up a pretty impressive winning streak (42-0). But one day, her life changed when she met a certain boy with a blue tattoo arrow on his head and he wanted her to train him to Earth Bend. At first, she was reluctant to teach him, seeing that he was able to defeat her in a fight. But it was when her parents saw what she was capable of doing and there refusal to allow her any freedom of any kind, did she finally decide to train him, leave her home and flee her over protective parents.

Of course, that was over 2 years ago and in that time, she had become well known as the most powerful earth bender in the world. Stories of her battles along side the Avatar against the forces of the Fire Nation traveled far and wide all over the world and every where she went , she was treated with the up most respect . Less they wanted to bring on the rath of the person that was not above sending sending some one flying through the air, with a pillar of earth any way. But now, after 2 years away from home, she finally decided to return home and face her parents.

"What was I thinking?" she thought to her self, as she rode on Appa's back.

She had not really made any attempt to contact her parents since she had left home, she had 'written' a letter to them a few years ago with the help of Katara when she was hiding out with the team in the fire nation. But she had never gotten a reply from them, that fact alone worried her just a bit. Even though she did not like the way they had treated her, Toph still loved her parents and her only real complaint she had about them was that they were too over protective of her. Even after her father and her "teacher" witnessed for them selves, what she was capable when they saw her take on a number of fighters by her self and defeat them with ease, they only thought was that she had too much freedom and that she should be kept under constant guard for her own 'safety.' Even when she pleaded with them, they were unable (or unwilling) to grasp the idea that their daughter was capable of fending for her self. Needless to say, it was that event alone, that made Toph decide to join "Team Avatar" and run away from home so she could train Aang.

Even after the war ended and Ozai was defeated, Toph was still very much reluctant to return home and face her parents. Opting to live in Ba Sing Se at her friend, Iroh's home. But after being away from home for so long, Toph began to feel a way that she thought that she would never feel. You see, Toph was feeling home sick. Never once since she left home did she ever feel this way, she did miss her parents, but never enough to want to see them again. But in the last few months, she had begun to miss her family and did not know why. At first, she tried to suppress the feelings that she was having, but eventually, she decided to go home and face them.

"Toph?" Aang said, "Toph, are you all right?"

" Yea, am fine. What's it to you?" She replied, in her normal gruff tone.

" Well, you've been awfully quite for the entire trip." he said, " is something wrong?"

" NOTHING! I'M FINE! Just drop me off and that's it!" she yelled back to him, causing Aang to flinch. He just turned back in front and concentrated on getting to Gaoling. After a few days of travel, Aang announced that they had arrived at the outskirts of Gaoling, Toph just breathed heavily and got ready to land.

After a few minutes, they came apon the massisve compound that was the Bei Fong Family estate and it was quite the spread. A testament to the wealth of the Family. The main house was located at the far end of the massive estate while the remainder of the grounds was taken up by a well groomed garden with a number of small ponds and it was all contained 4 walls that enclosed the entire grounds. When they landed, Toph jumped off Appa and said, " Thanks for the lift." and walked off in the direction of her home. Aang could have offered to join her and go with her for moral support when she finally met her parents, but he then remembered that Toph would most likely say "No!" and tell him to stay here. But he also know that this was something that Toph had to do on his own so he just sat there and wait with Appa while he watched his friend walk away to face her family.

At the front entrance of the Bei Fong compound, 2 of the family's personal guards stood watch for any one that might of want to see the family or what not. But by the way they were dressed, it was apparent that they had another duty as they stood by the gate. They were there to make it "look good" . As they stood there, they saw a lone figure approaching them from a distance. At first, they were unable to make out who it was but as the person got closer, they saw that said person was female and that she had on a green outfit, meaning that she was a citizen of the Earth Kingdom. At first, they were not sure of why this person was approaching them in the first place, people normally did not visit the Bei Fong family unless they were invited by one of the family, themselves. They were about to stop her when the she came up and flashed her Family Seal, did they finally said any thing...

" You!" the first one spoke up, " what are you doing with that seal? That is the seal of the Bei Fong Family!"

" Don't you know who I am? I am the daughter of Poppy and Lao Bei Fong, Toph." she said as a matter of factuality. " I'm here to see my parents."

The guards just looked at her like if she was crazy, " That is not possible, the Bei Fong's only have one child."

" Yea, and I'm it!"

"Look, I don't know who you are, but the family has no daughter, they only have a son and he is only 6 months old! Now tell me, where did you get that seal?" the second guard said.

Toph could not believe what she was hearing. " I'm telling you, I am their daughter! And what do you mean they only have a son? Out of my way, I am going to see then!" she exclaimed. The guards tried to stop her, but she sent them flying back using her bending, pinning them to the wall! Using her bending again, she opened the doors and entered the compound.

As she walked, she could feel the vibrations from the ground telling her that her parents were not far from her, as well as that more guards were on their way. As she ran tworads the house, her mind raced with a number of questions, " what do they mean that they don't have a daughter? What happened? When did they get the time to have another child?" all these questions flooded her mind as she entered the mansion. 2 more guards popped up and tried to stop her, but she easily subdued them by causing the dirt in a vase to blind them and then knocking then out cold. She was about to move on when she heard a voice call out, "Toph..."

Toph turned in to the direction of the voice and said, "Mother?"

" Yes Toph, it's me."

" Where's father?"

"He's in town on buisness, tell me, what brings you here?

" I came to visit you, but when I got to the gate, those 2 guards stopped me and when I told them who I was... they told me that it was impossible for me to be your daughter and that you only had a son." Poppy just sighed and said.

" I am afraid that was of your father's doing." she explained, " when you first left home, we thought that you had been kidnapped and forced to serve the Avatar, but one day we got your letter. How did you manage to write it?" she asked.

" My friend, Katara just wrote for me, and I told her what to write."

" Indeed. Well, we were happy to hear from you and that you miss us. We thought that when the war ended you would come home, but when you did not, your father became enraged and though that you rather be with your friends than with your family. He felt that you did not want any thing to do with us after the way we had treated you."

" So he chose to forget about me and start all over again?" Toph asked with her head down. Poppy just nodded, " I am afraid so, Toph. He thought of you as being un-greatfull for all the things we had done for you... "

" What you had done for me?" Toph exclaimed, " you kept me a secret form every one in the village! You treated me like I was some kind of helpless animal and caged me up like one! And when I showed that I was more than capable of fending for my self, you said that I had too much freedom and that I should be guarded like some dangerous criminal! I there's anything you did for me, you made me resent ever being alive!"

" Ye, I know Toph, and... I am very sorry that we treated you that way. We were only concerned about your safety but I realized a long time ago that it was our fault that we caused you to run away in the first place. " Poppy said as the tears began to flow from her eyes. " I know that you have every right to hate us for the way we treated you, but can you ever find it in your heart to forgive us... forgive me?"

Toph just stood there in a stunned silence. Her mother had not only just apologized for they way she had treated her, but was now asking for her forgiveness. At first, Toph thought that her mother was only saying this just to get her to leave, but when she felt that her mother's heart beat had not changed, was she finally convinced that Poppy was truly sorry and that she really wanted her daughter's forgiveness. Toph just walked up to her mother and hugged her, " I forgive you Mom, I'm so sorry if I had you so worried." she said as she could feel her own tears running down her cheeks, " I missed you so much."

" I missed you to, my little Toph." Poppy cried as she hugged her daughter, happy that she had forgiven her. The 2 just stood there, hugging each other, just happy to be together again.

For the next few hours, mother and daughter talked, filling in each other on what had happened to them over the last couple years. Toph was surprised when it turned out that she really did have a little brother named after her father, Lao jr. while Poppy was very much impressed with her daughter's exploits while she was with the Avatar. But finally, it was getting late and her father would be home in a few minutes...

" Do you have to go?" asked Poppy, "you only just got here."

" Am afraid I have to." Toph replied, " As much as I would like to stay, I would not feel comfortable living here if only you were happy for me while dad was not. It might cause a rift between you 2... and little Lao deserves to be brought up in a happy home. Besides, I have a new life now in Ba Sing Se, with friends. This is what I want." Poppy just nodded, understanding and walked with her daughter to the front entrance. But before Toph left to go her way, Poppy hugged her and said, " Toph, I just want you to know that I am very proud of you and I am glad that you came to visit. I just hope that your father will come to the realization that you are fully capable of fending for your self and that you are not as 'helpless' as he thinks you are."

Toph just smlied and hugged her back and said, " I hope so too."

" Will I ever see you again?" Poppy asked hopefully.

" Yea you will! I have a fight coming up in a couple of months. I'll have to be there to defend my tittle." she replied with a grin. Poppy could not help but to smile at her daughter's remark." don't worry, I'll visit."

" I just hope your father will be in a more understanding mood by that time." Poppy said.

Toph just smiled, " I hope so too. Good bye mom."

" Good bye Toph." she replied. They hugged once more and with that Toph left, leaving her mother alone at the gate smiling. Proud that her daughter had done so well for herself.

Toph could not help but to smile as she made her way back to meet up with Aang and Appa. As she walked, she felt like a great burden had been lifted off her chest. She was quite glad to hear that her mother was proud of her and that she no longer thought of her as being helpless. That thought alone canceled out any anger that she had about her father basicly disowning her. But then again, she was not expecting her father forgive her or even her mother. In all, the trip had gone even better than she could ever hope. But now, the only thing on her mind at that moment was how she was going avoid all the questions she was going to get from Aang when she meet up with him to go home.

" Hey Toph," Aang exclaimed as he saw her walking up, " How did it go?"

Toph did not say anything, she just hopped on to Appa's back and laid down on her back and said, " Lets go home, I miss Iroh's tea." With out a word, Aang just nodded, climbed up on to Appa's back and said "Yip-Yip!" and with that, the massive Sky Bison was off. All the while, Aang just every so often looking over his shoulder at Toph and thinking to himself, '' It went well'

" What are you smiling at, Twinkle Toes?"

" Uh... nothing."