Back Home: Chapter 2
Toph was dressed in the same clothes that she had worn all those years she had been away from home. The green dress, brown apron, and hair were all in place. She was exactly the same as she had left her parents, and yet, she was so different. Taller. Stronger. Wiser. These friends, these journeys, these adventures, had changed her.
"Are you sure you don't want us to come?" Katara asked for the final time.
"I'm sure." All the discussion was over. The decision was made: Toph was going to see her parents. Alone.
She prepared herself mentally. In her head she imagined seeing them for the first time, just what it would feel and be like. "I'm sorry I left," she imagined herself telling them, "but I'm back now, and I've become a stronger person from my travels." She imagined that her parents would hug her and hold her close and, out of nowhere, apologize. "We should have let you go," they would say, "we shouldn't have sent people to go after you. You are wiser than before. We should have trusted you more. We should have..." Toph cut her own daydream off.
"You should have not kept me from the world all those years. You should have let me grow up a normal kid who has a life and choices. You should have been better parents," she grumbled as she remembered her childhood: all those days inside, alone, living two identities. Her parents were harsh. Her parents were over-protective. They did not understand her. But they'll come around, right?
Toph decided to prepare herself for the worst. She imagine herself, knocking on her parents door. "We do not want you here," they'd say. Then they'd capture her from behind, lock her down and put her in seclusion. Where's she be "safe" and far away from anything that could hurt her. She'd be far away from life.
She pushed the thoughts away. "No," she decided. "They'll accept me."
She waved good bye to her friends. "I'll send a letter, telling you how things went. My parents will help me write it. If everything goes as planned, you can come visit me and my parents soon."
"Okay," a meek smile was on Katara's face. She did not show confidence. It fact, none of them did. They were worried that Toph was going to get hurt again. They had a right to be worried. Toph had a right to worry them.