AN: It's been over a year!? *shakes head* There's really no excuse, is there? But just know that I am determined to finish up all the ongoing stories I have and that includes this one! *nods*

Ch 17- Time To Adjust

The sun was setting in the west and Toph could already feel the ground beneath her feet begin to cool. As she and Aang got closer to the edge of town, a few scattered people stared at them as they ran by, but Toph paid them no mind, her thoughts elsewhere.

It had been so strange being back home, almost surreal. The days full of unnecessary pampering were long and the nights where she could enjoy her solitude, too short. Toph would often sneak out of her room whenever she could, simply to walk through the beautiful gardens she couldn't see. Her focus instead on the smooth ground beneath her bare feet, the feeling of wind against her bare skin, enjoying the way the sun warmed her, and even learning to like the smell wafting through the air right before it rained... Those were some of the few things besides earthbending (which she hadn't practiced since her return) that gave her any peace of mind.

Being at home, being with her parents, she was content enough to be there. She was. Especially, with her father's ever improving health, but sometimes it was unbearable. Both her parents seemed to want to hug her every chance they got. Fierce hug, gentle hug, hug, hug, hug! It was something so unlike before that the youngest Bei Fong would tense up upon the initial contact. It took all her control not to shove either of them away, or worse, earthbend them off her. She simply wasn't used to her mother's warm affection or her father's earnest regard.

Ungrateful.

The word echoed through her mind day and night when she was alone in her room or in the presence of one or both parents. Toph spend more time providing evasive answers to her mother's piqued curiosity concerning her friends or her father's endless questions about their travels than having an actual conversation with either of them. She didn't want to sit and listen to either go on and on about how much they missed her or how much they worried while she was gone or how happy they were now having her back home. She didn't want to hear it and she knew she was being ungrateful, she couldn't help it though. And, as bad as it made her feel, there was something she felt more deeply because she missed it tremendously.

Freedom.

After she ran off to teach Aang earthbending, travelling to places they were needed or sought something from, setting up camp, packing up, settling down for a few days again, freely. Always freely! Living with her makeshift family until the end of the war, it was the greatest time she ever had. Then, living in the Fire Nation Palace where she could come and go as she pleased. She didn't need permission, didn't need to inform anyone of her decisions, she did what she wanted when she wanted. All her friends knew she was capable of taking care of herself and treated her as such. To go from that lifestyle only to return back home, it was a drastic change, a painful one. Toph felt restless, trapped, oppressed. She wanted to move, needed it. And she knew the only way she was going to get her parents to understand was to make them.

"Nothing's changed!" she yelled one day before dinner was served because even after giving it much thought, Toph didn't do subtle.

Poppy and Lao stared wide-eyed at their daughter.

"Dear?" the lady of the house inquired with a slight tremor in her voice.

"I can't pretend like nothing happened, like I never left!" Toph jumped up out of her seat, her dress falling to the tiled floor, her neatly combed hair slipping out of the gem encrusted headband. "We're sitting here and..and it could be three years ago because nothing. has. changed!"

Lao glanced at his wife, then back at his daughter, clearing his throat in between. "We believed that was what you wanted, Toph."

"How could that be what I wanted?" the World's Greatest Earthbender yelled incredulously.

Outwardly, Lao seemed unfazed, but his heartbeat let Toph know he was quite nervous and she couldn't wait to hear what sort of outlandish lies he thought up regarding their inability to understand her.

"You never said differently," he replied.

Toph opened her mouth to argue only to shut it quickly. Uncharacteristically at a loss for words, she sat back in her chair. Her father was right. Without meaning to, she had fallen back into her role of a good, obedient daughter. The guilt of running away made her not want to hurt her parents again. She did what they asked of her when they asked. What she failed to notice was that they asked. Up until three years ago she was told to do things. Ordered around with no choice in the matter. Lately, she realized, her parents' conversations had been aimed at her, not to others about her like she wasn't even there, which had been the usual case before.

"We've tried to learn more about you," her mom began, "but you haven't been very forthcoming. We realize we'll never know everything you and your friends endured and sacrificed to end the war, but you haven't shared much with us."

"Mostly, you shut us out, Toph," her dad added.

She wanted to yell at them, argue, but they were right. Perhaps she was making things harder than they needed to be.

"I...don't mean to," Toph replied, honestly. She wasn't sure she knew how not to, actually. She was so used to keeping her life secret from them, she had no clue how to even go about letting them in. Really, she was the worst type of daughter, blaming her parents for things she caused.

"Please don't cry, dear," Poppy pleaded, suddenly kneeling at her daughter's side, brushing those stubborn bangs away with great care. Toph was horrified by the tears she suddenly felt run down her own cheeks. "It'll be okay," her mother promised. "Things will get better."

The various surprised gasps of, "The Avatar!" and "Is that Miss Bei Fong?" brought her back to the present.

"Toph, stop!" Aang yelled, tired of being dragged across Gaoling towards the marketplace. At least, that's where he thought they were headed. "Where are we going? Why are we running? And why can't I just fly us there?"

"Quit your whining, Twinklestoes. We're close, c'mon!"

"Where are we?" he asked, following her down an empty alley. She didn't reply to any of his other inquiries and before he knew it, Toph earthbended them down into the ground.

...

When Aang opened his eyes again, he couldn't see a thing. Firebending a small flame, he glanced around to notice everything was made of earth and stone. The ground, the walls, even the ceiling. It was like they were in a box made entirely of earth. There was a couch and what looked like a vanity on the opposite side, both made of earth, except for the mirror Toph didn't need. When he turned to her again, she had her back to him and had just finished removing her dress.

"Toph!" he cried, the flame burning brighter the instant the dress fell to the ground. While his heart pounded in his chest, Aang let the flame fade quickly snapping his gaze away from the half-clothed earthbender. He did manage to catch a glimpse of her bare shoulders and small waist before he turned away and felt his face grow hot with embarrassment.

"Relax, I'm only changing. It's not very comfortable earthbending in that dress. And, your clothes is in that bag, remember? So hurry up and get ready!"

Get ready for what, he wondered, dreading the answer because he suddenly had an idea of what it could be.

"Toph, I don't think we should be here. What'll your parents say?"

Surprisingly, things did get better.

"What would make you happy?" Lao asked, half-dreading the answer, half-hoping whatever it was would bring a smile to his daughter's face because the flashes of sadness, confusion, and loneliness that flickered across her features ever since she returned home, simply broke his heart.

The reply was out of her mouth even before her father could finish asking the question. "Earthbending. I need to earthbend, dad."

Toph smiled at the thought. Neither of her parents reacted like she expected they would. "They know, all right?" And they did. Or they should.

Aang could only stare at her like she had grown a second head. "What do you mean they know?" He didn't believe it. "How can they know and be okay with it?"

Shortly after Toph told her parents what would make her happy short of running away again, they had an excruciatingly long talk. Eventually, all three reached somewhat of a compromise. After much arguing, of course.

Lao found it difficult to cede on any point because Toph fought him on every last one and to his utter horror, his wife sided with their daughter on most things. In the end, they settled on three main rules. First, and most importantly her father said, earthbending anywhere near the house and the newly extended wall separating the estate from the rest of Gaoling was absolutely forbidden. Lao did not want his house in ruins. After all, he'd had a glimpse of the power his daughter could wield that night she ran away. Second, Toph was not allowed to sneak off on her own, especially to any earthbending tournaments. Toph chose to ignore this rule. Besides, she wasn't alone this time, Twinkletoes was with her. And if she wasn't at home, she was earthbending, so he parents could figure it out easily enough. And lastly, she was given a curfew. She was not supposed to go out by herself after the sun set. Someone was to accompany her always. Not surprisingly, Toph chose to ignore this as well.

"Typical Twinkletoes," she muttered. "Look, everything's fine, okay?"

"I don't know, Toph..." he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Stop worrying, will you?"

"Well... if you say so," he relented. But, even in the total darkness, he kept his back to her and his eyes shut tight, which was rather a silly thing for him to do because he could see the image of Toph undressing so clearly in his mind's eye, he might as well have still been looking directly at her. "Hey, um, is there a fire pit in here?" he asked, not daring to firebend again until he knew for certain.

"There's one to your left."

After lighting the room, Aang asked what he'd been wondering about since he arrived in Gaoling. "Hey, so...how's it been being back home?"

Her eyebrows bunched together, a small crease appearing, but since he still had his back to her he missed her reaction. "Later," she replied. "Right now, get dressed."

Opening the satchel to find a green tunic and beige pants inside, he held the clothes up for inspection. They looked like something Earth Kingdom citizens might wear on any given day, but they were about two sizes too small for him.

"This is for me?"

"Yup."

"But...it's kinda small."

Toph laughed without a hint of remorse. "Serves you right for getting so tall." Even though she'd gotten the clothes a perfect match for him as she remembered him, he'd grown quite a bit since then, obviously. Eh, she wasn't going to lose sleep over it. "Well, I'm done!" she announced.

Cautiously, Aang glanced at her and he stood stock still for a moment. It was as though he was twelve again and looking at the Blind Bandit for the first time. Capri pants and tunic the color of springtime grass, a sleeveless, pale yellow vest over that, and a green and yellow headband had replaced the jeweled one she wore to dinner. But, when she added the brown, studded, leather belt around her tiny waist, he was reminded that neither one was twelve anymore.

The curves he tried not to think about when he was alone lest he turn every shade of red imaginable were suddenly on display because of that brown belt. He could feel his face growing hot again and yet he couldn't tear his eyes away from the swell of her hips or her tiny waist. He couldn't help it, he simultaneously cursed and thanked the belt.

Truthfully, Aang had no clue what was wrong with him! Earlier, he couldn't stop staring at Toph in her pretty dress even though both her parents were there and now? The fact that she looked just as attractive in something he had never giving much thought to, confused him. When his mouth went dry and his thoughts clouded over he was certain of it. Something was definitely wrong with him. He knew this because although he tried to keep his gaze off her, he couldn't. He just couldn't do it.

Grey eyes traveled along her body and his lips turned up at the corners, though he had no idea why.

"Will you change already?" Toph growled, snapping him out of his daydreaming.

Looking away from her, he crossed his arms, petulantly, and focused on what did make sense. "I'm not wearing this! What's wrong with my regular clothes?" His Avatar robes, though simple, were very comfortable.

Toph was standing next to him in the blink of an eye. "What part of 'change already' don't you get, baldy? Because whether you want to or not, you're gonna!"

Aang began to back away, holding his hands out in front of him in a defensive gesture. Her smirk told him to make a run for it, but he hoped he might be able to reason with her.

"I don't think we should be here, Toph. Your parents-"

That's as far as he got before she reached for his robes and attempted to tug them off. The problem was he was so stinkin' tall there was no way she'd be able to pull them up and over his head.

"Toph, stop! What are you doing?" he cried, quite scandalized that she was trying to undress him.

Having her so close to him, while she yanked on his clothes, Aang would have been flusterred beyond belief if only he hadn't had to look down to see her. Then, he couldn't stop the smug smile on his face because he found it very amusing, dangerously so actually. The chuckle that escaped his lips turned into full-blown laughter and Toph froze.

The way she practically snarled should have terrified Aang, but she looked so incredibly adorable standing there, her fists at her hips, looking up at him. He wondered how badly she would beat him up if he reached out and ruffled her hair. She'd probably break his arm off, so he didn't do it. Instead, he said something he knew he'd regret, but couldn't help.

"I hadn't realized...you're really short, Toph," he teased, his expression one of absolute smugness.

"WHAT!?"

"Not that there's anything wrong with that," Aang added, smiling, just as he dodged the pair of earth columns she shot his way from opposite walls. "It suits you," he added, but wished he hadn't because the way she growled his name - Aang, not Twinkletoes or Twinkles or anything that spoke of her good mood, but 'Aang', like a promise that she would destroy him, utterly and completely - made him gulp rather loudly.

"You are changing now!" Toph ordered, stopping his attempts at escape. Whenever he tried to earthbend an opening (so he could run out at high speed far, far away from her), she prevented it. When he tried to apologize, she ignored him. Finally, she lunged at him after she had him cornered. "Either you're changing your outfit or I'm doing it, but one way or another you're getting outta that Avatar dress you've got going on and wearing the pants I packed!"

Green fire lit up her usually pale eyes and Aang suddenly had trouble breathing as the obvious made itself quite clear to him. He swallowed, unable to stop himself from admiring her. Her silky, dark hair. Flawless, pale skin. Delicate cheekbones. Pink lips.

Lovely.

The word bounced around his head.

He had the strangest urge then. A deep, burning desire to lean forward until he could press his lips to hers.

"You got that?" she barked at him and he could only blink and nod. His mind was too busy trying to digest the fact that he, Aang, wanted to kiss her, Toph, so badly in that moment that it kinda, sorta freaked him out.

"F-fine, I'll c-change," he stuttered, shaking his head to clear it. "Just...give me some space." When she didn't move, he added a broken, "Please."

Scoffing, Toph was going to argue that he had all the space he needed, but she noticed she was grabbing the front of his robes in two tight fists, practically breathing on his face, while she leaned the entire length of her body into him to keep him from escaping. The strange thing was, though she should have found their positions uncomfortable to say the least, she didn't and she couldn't imagine why.

"Toph...?"

Aang's voice was strangled when he called her name. He wasn't sure she even heard him and he licked his dry lips, unsure of what to do next. An indeterminable amount of time passed and their faces were only a breath apart. Completely frozen, Aang's body refused to inhale or exhale. Only his heart drummed on violently and one question ran through his mind: was he the one leaning towards her or was she moving closer to him?

Neither got the chance to find out because there was banging on the other side of the wall right where Aang's back had slammed against it. Startled, Toph released him so abruptly, he stumbled forward, flopping to the ground.

Though a barely visible pink blush appeared on Toph's face, she took no further notice of him, earthbending the wall open to allow none other than The Boulder to walk inside what Aang finally figured out was a dressing room.

"Oh, no," the airbender mumbled, sagging against the wall. Understanding dawned on him as to why Toph dragged him halfway cross Gaoling, wanted him to change clothes so badly, and was probably the only reason she had looked so happy to see him when he arrived. Inexplicably dejected at that last thought, he chanced a glance up at his friend.

The Blind Bandit was grinning from ear to ear.

"That's right, Twinkletoes. We're next!"