"Duel" 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.

"I don't understand why you thing this idea is so horrible!" Sokka cried as he stormed through their camp. "I think you're not being open to-"

"Sokka, I tried! Okay? I tried to be open, but you are just so infuriating that you make it nearly impossible to see your point of view!" Suki countered. The gang, who was innocently looking on, winced. This couldn't end well.

"I am not infuriating!"

Aang leaned over to Katara and whispered, "Does he even know what that means?"

"I doubt it," she replied quietly. "But that just makes this funnier."

"And my idea is NOT stupid!" Sokka continued.

"Oh, really?" Suki turned to the gang suddenly, causing them all to jump. "Do you think it's stupid that Sokka wants to build something to dress him in the morning?"

Toph tried unsuccessfully to stifle a laugh.



"See!" Suki whirled back around to stare down her boyfriend. "Even Toph thinks it's stupid!"

Sokka crossed his arms and huffed. "So? Toph thinks everything is stupid."

"Well, she's definitely right this time!"

"You know what? Fine." He threw up his arms. "It's stupid. Are you happy now?" he asked bitterly before stomping away.

"Sokka, wait! Can't we talk about this?" He didn't listen. "Please, don't be this way."

Katara stood up and moved to stand by Suki, resting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I think he just needs some space."

"Probably." The girl wiped the back of her hand across her face, but in the shadows Katara couldn't tell if she was crying.

"In the morning he'll probably be back to his old, goofy self. He'll forget all about it.

"I hope so."

The next morning, Sokka still wasn't speaking to Suki. Every time she tried to talk to him he suddenly had something to do. By that afternoon, she was sick of it.



"Sokka, please talk to me." She finally confronted him as he scrubbed his clothes down at the river near their camp.

He was silent.

"I know you're mad at me. I had no right to be that way. You're ideas aren't stupid."

He spoke at last. "Okay."

She placed her hands on her hips. "Can you please talk to me? I feel so horrible. I'm like, the meanest girlfriend ever."

"Maybe." Sokka didn't even look up at her.

"I'm trying to apologize here, and you're acting like I'm giving a second by second description of the weather!" she yelled, losing her temper.

"Look, can we talk later? I'm busy."

"No." She snatched his clothes and threw them on the ground next to him. "What is the problem? I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry. It hurts me that I made you so angry and upset. I'm sorry I called your idea stupid. I'm sorry I tried to get everybody gang up on you. I'm sorry if I can't be some idiot who can't say what she thinks, okay? That's not me. You know that's not me. I'm very opinionated, and I can't keep it to myself. I was just so frustrated and exhausted. I had no right to blow up at you like that." She sounded near tears.

He stood up. "I'm sorry I haven't talked to you. I know I get some dumb ideas, but it usually takes me a while to realize how stupid they really are. And I know I'm frustrating and obnoxious." Coming from Sokka, this confession was almost as big as defeating the Fire Lord; the Water Tribe boy wasn't one to point out his own faults.

"I'm sorry, Sokka."

"That's okay." They hugged, holding each other for what seemed like hours.

"I thought you were busy," Suki teased.

"I'm not anymore." He gathered his clothing and they walked back to camp together.

"Oh, by the way," he said suddenly, "what does 'infuriating' mean?"