"Humiliation" by eulalie27

Disclaimer: Avatar: the Last Airbender and its characters are the property of Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, who are obviously not me.

The night began calmly enough. It had been a warm day in the middle of summer, and now the evening was breezy and balmy. Katara and Aang had gone down to the river to work on their Waterbending, Toph and Zuko were in the middle of a battle to determine who was a better bender, and Suki was dozing against a rock.

That left Sokka, alone once again. He was used to being the odd man out, he supposed. The only member of the original gang who couldn't bend, the oldest, the only man (Aang didn't count, he decided).

"That's okay," he muttered as he clutched his boomerang tighter. "I don't need anybody else to have fun. It's just you and me, Boomerang."

He tossed the weapon into the air. It flew, curving around the trunk of a tree and returning to his hand in a matter of seconds.

"That's right. We don't need them," he repeated, as if trying to convince himself of the fact. He threw the boomerang again, repeating the action a dozen more times.

"Hey," a voice mumbled sleepily.

He turned his head as the boomerang left his hand. "Hi, Suki. Did you have a nice nap?"



His trusty boomerang came back, smacking hard into the side of his head and falling to the ground.

"Ow!" he cried, pressing both hands to his head. "Geez, Boomerang, what was that for?"

"Hold still," Suki commanded. She pried both of his hands away from the wound. He hissed in pain. "Oh, stop being a baby."

"Is it bleeding?"

"Only a little. I don't think you're going to die," she said as she probed the small gash. "Sorry."

"For what?" he asked, confused, as she led him to her tent.

"I distracted you," she explained as she dug through her bag for bandages.

"Naw. It's okay." He sat on her sleeping mat across from her. "I shouldn't have thrown it once I saw you. We're just lucky it didn't hit you."

"I'd be okay. I have a feeling my head is much harder than yours." She began to clean out the injury. "That was a good throw," she commented as she worked.

"Thanks," he mumbled, embarrassed. "I feel like an idiot. I totally forgot it would come back." He winced as she poked the cut too hard. "I'm so humiliated."

"Mmm, nice word."

"I am! I feel like the dumbest person ever."

"That's a lot of competition." Suki tied the bandage around his head. "There you go."

"Thanks."

"You're not dumb. Not many dummies know the word 'humiliated,'" she added.

"Wow, that makes me feel better. My vocabulary is the only thing keeping my from being an idiot."

She grinned. "See, you're fine. Already back to your sarcasm."

"And you're back to teasing me. Although, I don't think you ever really stopped."

"How could I stop?" She widened her eyes, giving her a look of fake innocence. "I never do that anyway."

"Ha. Ha. Ha." His laugh was unamused, sarcastic.

"You know I'm kidding."

Sokka held up his hands. "Hey, I know. And I might be kidding when I say I know how to use my boomerang," he added, pretending to be threatening.

"Oh, no! Whatever shall I do?" she cried theatrically.

Their laughs could be heard down by the river.