A/N: I'm not going to lie to you all, this one was hard. OTL

It took me a while to come up with something and it still feels like it's lacking something. So, sorry about that. Let's hope tomorrow will be easier.

Notes: Canon Universe.

Disclaimer: *yawns* I'm not even going to repeat myself anymore…

OOO

Day 4

Globe

OOO

Toph Bei Fong's childhood dream was the travel all over the world.

It had started when she was only six years old, when she remembered her tutor talking about the shape of the Earth and all the different places that existed on it. He spoke of the Water Tribes, and how it snowed every day instead of just during the winter. He spoke of the Ancient Air Temples, the fabulous architecture, the sacred temples and shrines, and the culture they left behind one hundred years ago. Her tutor even spoke of the Fire Nation, and how their islands were some of the most exotic and luxurious places in the world.

All of it fascinated her at a young age. The desire to leave her home and go to all of these places was too much for her. She wanted to go see it all and know what was outside her sheltered home. But the horrible part was that she couldn't see any of it. All she would be able to experience was darkness. There would be no sights for her to behold, and the entire experience would be lost on her.

The day after, she ran away from home for the first time.

But for the first time, she met the Badgermoles.

A whole new world opened up for her then. A unique world that only she and her Badgermole friends could enjoy. As she practiced and honed her skills, she found that her so called sight surpassed everyone else's. She could see the ants crawling near the river, she could tell how tall the gates around her home were, and if she concentrated, she could even see the students of the University walking out of the building after being dismissed from their classes.

Earthbending was also a completely new opportunity for her. Every night when her parents slept, she practiced. She kept going and going until her feet started chafing and bleeding from all of the moves she had created, all of the secrets she had uncovered. She was Gaoiling's reigning Earth Rumble Champion, a title that she managed to keep for years to come. After initially feeling so useless, she had managed to find a way to explore, to feel, and to belong.

She wanted nothing more than to escape and travel.

But even that was impossible no matter how she tried.

"A little girl like you has no need for something as dangerous as traveling," her mother often told her. "Think of all the things that could happen to you out there. You'll be unprotected. You wouldn't last a day."

She wanted to tell her mom that she knew this, and had been practicing her Earthbending so that she wouldn't be defenseless. But it was a life she couldn't reveal. The little liberation she had given herself was done secretly, and she couldn't let her parents figure it out. Not ever.

She was doomed to stay here forever. And no matter how many Earth Rumble Tournaments she won, she would always be stuck here with nowhere to go.

Then, she met him.

"I don't get it. Why stay where you're not happy?"

His innocence was a breath of fresh air, but sometimes it prevented him from seeing the obvious truth.

"This is my home," she replied, "this is where my family is. I can't just leave them. Besides, where am I supposed to go?"

He paused and didn't say anything for a moment. She thought for sure she had dashed his hopes, and she almost felt guilty about it. But then he spoke.

"You could come with us."

He said it so easily, as if it were the most natural solution in the world. But he would learn hours after that conversation that things were never that easy. Despite all that she had proved to her family and no matter how much she had begged them to let her see the world, they only disappointed her. If anything, they left her with less then what she had from the start.

After the ultimatum she had been given that night, she still remembered her childhood dream of traveling the globe, seeing the Fire Nation Islands, going to the North Pole where it snowed every day, and running through the abandoned Air temples. She also realized that she just wanted to be free. It wasn't just the desire to travel the world. It was the desire to travel the world and breathe in the air of freedom that was waiting for her as well.

That boy—Aang—was the only person who could help her do that.

He was the only one in her life who realized that she wasn't happy, that she needed to break free, and that she needed help. He offered it without any hesitation. Despite how horrid she had been to him and how unwilling she had been to help him at first, the fact remained that he was the only one who understood her. The only one who wanted to understand her.

So she didn't regret running away with him. While she hated the fact that she left her parents in a constant worry over her safety, she couldn't seem to part with the simple pleasures of traveling with the Avatar: his bison, his laughter, his determination, and his adventurousness. It was what she had been waiting her whole life for.

And for as long as she would live, she would forever be thankful to him.

OOO