Tolerance, Part Two!
For #59:
"As long as we laugh out loud, Laugh like we're mad, Cause this crazy, mixed up beauty is all that we have." –Good Day by Jewel

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Sokka had been taking the budding relationship between Zuko and Katara…well…near sanely would be the only way to put it. He was close to cracking, however.

For two weeks now he'd stood by as his baby sister flirted shamelessly with the Fire Lord. Lately, it'd gotten even worse. Zuko had begun flirting back. He'd bring her flowers, candies, cute little injured meat creatures to heal. Once he even brought her a piece of highly expensive Fire Nation jewelry. "Made by the most skilled firebender jewelers with only the finest materials," he'd bragged.

That's when Sokka decided to approach the ever calm Aang. Aang, who he'd given the blessing to marry his sister too. Aang, the Avatar, the one whose been sitting back and smiling while watching the woman he loves fawn over Zuko of all people.

"I'm just happy that she's happy, Sokka," the airbender stated simply. He had said it with such contentment, such finality like it was the simplest, easiest thing in the world and that was that.

It drove Sokka even crazier. But he wouldn't snap, no. He wouldn't give Zuko the satisfaction of fully breaking his new found tolerance. He wouldn't let the...the…thing—to which he'd resorted calling Zuko after Toph threatened to flatten him if he said Angry Boy or Scarface one more time—which had tried to kill them on countless occasions, win this battle of, well, whatever it was.

That was, though, until he saw the thing kiss his sister. He had tried to keep a solid front, tried to let it slide, but when she kissed it back, he nearly lost it. After the whole ordeal, he never really could put a finger on what finally broke his last strand of tolerance. He didn't think it was the kiss alone, but maybe it had something to do with Aang's approving smile off to the side. Either way, the long and short of it is that Sokka finally, completely, and undeniably snapped.

He didn't snap like he usually snapped. He didn't scream and yell his disapproval. There wasn't a boomerang thrown at the couple, no attempts on Zuko's life. In its place, there were indecipherable, primal screams and every article in his arsenal finding itself lodged in falling trees. Tents were torn down, fires stopped out, Momo nearly skinned, and more destruction than a 100 years of warfare could possible do to the area. On top of it all, there was a young man turned Saber-Toothed Moose-Lion running head first into a tree, knocking both it down and him out.

"Is he…alive?" Zuko asked tentatively. The others in the encampment, with the exception of Toph, had nearly begun fearing for their lives. They hadn't moved an inch since Sokka had begun his little rampage. Toph, fearless as ever, was rolling with laughter.

"He's alive, just out of it," she said between laughs. After Suki confirmed that Toph was right, the group broke down with sighs to access the damage.

"Took him long enough," Katara pushed herself away from Zuko with a breath of relief. "I thought he'd never break."

"Me neither," Zuko stretched awkwardly. He turned to his uncle, who was near tears at seeing his precious tea pot destroyed by the psychotic boy. "Uncle, who had two weeks?"

Iroh poked at the remains of his teapot and sighed. "I believe that Aang had bet two weeks. He's get the pot."

Aang smiled and enveloped his love in a large hug. Kissing the top of her head, his whispered something in her ear that made her giggle. Zuko walked up to him with a bag of gold pieces, his winnings for the bet. Aang took them with a smile and threw the bag in the air to be caught again as the Fire Lord stalked off.

"Hey Zuko!" the Avatar called to him after a moment.

"What?"

"You kiss her like that again and I won't hesitate to kill you where you stand."

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Longer, but probably not better than the first. The end of this one was a little harder to come up with. Once again, thank Chibi Horsewoman for the idea!

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
-Albert Einstein

mcl