This is a continuation of my Modern Day characters from Air and Stone. I do not own any of the characters from Avatar, the Last Airbender.

These first few chapters are preludes, so feel free to look at my other TAANG story to learn more.

Here are the important things to remember.

1. Toph CAN see.

2. Their ages change from chapter to chapter, but I will try to keep things consistent.

3. No bending.

4. You have to have fun reading this :)

First Meeting I

A wave of screaming children swarmed over the elementary school playground after they finished kissing their mothers goodbye. A new school year had begun and with it came the latest generation of young minds, eager to learn, to play and to meet new friends.

But one little boy was having a lot of trouble saying goodbye to his "father". The poor child, whining, tugged wildly on the sleeve of his adopted guardian, begging him not to leave.

"Daddy…please don't go!" Little Aang moaned.

"Now Aang…don't be sad." Gyatso patted Aang on his head. "School is a lot of fun. You'll meet a lot of new friends."

"I don't wanna!" Aang stamped his feet a few times, but stopped after a while.

"Aang, I have to leave. Don't tell me a big, strong man like you is afraid of being alone for one day."

"I'm…" Aang sniffled. "…I'm not afraid!" Aang forced himself to act like an adult.

"Good." Gyatso patted him on the head again. "Now, I'll be back to pick you later today. So have fun. And try to make some friends."

"Okay." Aang said. He felt his shyness coming back.

"Promise me that you will try to make friends Aang."

"I…promise daddy." Though Gyatso didn't like when Aang called him his father, he smiled with approval. Gyatso left and Aang carefully watched him leave, not taking his eyes off him until he was gone.

The instant Aang was alone, he felt scared again.

While the rest of the kids fanned out into little groups on the playground, Aang just sat nervously in the sandbox. It took him a few hours to realize it, but he didn't like school. No one had even said hello to him since he arrived. He missed his daddy and his puppy, Appa, and his cozy house. He wanted to go home so badly, he felt like he was going to cry.

Puff! A cloud of sand spewed up into the air next to Aang. Aang coughed and brushed the dust away. A hand sized green ball had landed in his little sandbox, right next to him.

"HEY!" Aang heard a girl yelled from behind him. "That's my ball!"

Aang turned around and saw a tiny girl with a white and green skirt running towards him. She was very pale and her hair was dark, black and smooth, and she walked funny, like a boy acting tough. She marched right up to Aang and held out her hand.

"That ball is mine and you have it. Give it back to me!" She demanded. Aang, still very shy, handed the ball to her. "Thank you." The girl smiled at him.

"You're welcome." Aang didn't smile back.

"My name is Toph." She said, still smiling. Aang giggled. "What's so funny?"

"Your name sounds funny." Aang said.

"Hey! It's a nice name." Toph said, but was unsure. Never before had she thought her name was strange. For the first time in her life, she doubted that her name was anything but normal.

"I'm Aang." The little boy finally smiled.

"Your name is funny. Ha-ha!" Toph pointed at him and laughed, trying to get revenge. But Aang only laughed with her.

"I know! People tell me my name is funny all the time!" Aang stood up.

"You're weird." Toph said.

"I am?" Aang became shy again. As if karma was dancing around them, Aang had never thought that he was weird or unusual until the little girl had pointed it out to him. Suddenly, his oddness became obvious and he felt embarrassed again.

"It's okay. I think you're funny too." Toph smiled. Aang grinned, but was still bashful. "Wanna play with me?" Toph held her ball out to him.

"I don't know any games." Aang confessed.

"You really are weird." Toph grabbed Aang's wrist and pulled him out of his sandbox. "Come on. I'll teach you how to play."

Aang felt his cheeks turn red when the little girl touched him.

--Hours Later--

Gyatso parked his car and entered the playground, looking for his adopted son.

"Aang!" He yelled and, without missing a beat, an over-stimulated little boy appeared in front of him, jumping up and down and rejoicing over his wonderful day.

"Daddy, it was so much fun! We learned about colors, and I did finger paints. And I made a friend! A real friend who isn't a doggy!"

"Alright, alright…calm down Aang. You say you made a friend?"

"Yeah! She's really fun! And she…"

"She?" Gyatso's eyes widened.

"Yeah!" Aang smiled. Being the old-fashioned man that he was, Gyatso normally would have been concerned that Aang had not made any male friends. But Aang seemed so happy that Gyatso didn't think that it was right to knock him down off his (already high) cloud.

"Okay Aang. You can tell me all about her on the way home." He assured him and escorted him to the car.

"Can I come back tomorrow too?! Toph is going to be here!"

"Toph? Who is that?"

"Daddy! That's my friend!"

"Oh, that's her name…" Gyatso shook his head. "…she has a funny name."

"That's what I told her!"

It's good to be back everybody!!