Title: The Last Laugh
Challenge: 110: Monty Python for
theavatar100Characters: Sokka, Toph, Zuko, Azula
Word Count: 545
Rating: PG
Warning: Brief reference to episode 3.12 (Western Air Temple) and Character death
Notes: I saw this prompt and couldn't resist writing something for it. For those who don't know what my reference is. It's from Flying Circus skit The Funniest Joke in the World.
Sokka was the group’s comedian. He made jokes about everything and everyone. One day he decided to write his jokes down. He had a favorite joke that he spent hours working on, to perfect it. Late one night he finally finished with it, it was witty, easy to understand, and perfectly worded, it was completely perfect. Too perfect.
He reread the joke and laughed harder than he had ever laughed at anything in his whole life. His head hit the table with a thud. He lied motionless.
~*~*~*~*~
The first to discover Sokka’s tragic demise was Toph. She sensed that something was terribly wrong the instant she step foot into Sokka’s room.
He’s dead, repeated her mind over and over as she stood in shock for a long time. When she was able to move again, she wondered, who could have done it.
It didn’t take her long to find her first clue. A piece of parchment with wet ink on it. Surely whatever it was that Sokka wrote last had to be an important clue.
~*~*~*~*~
Toph had left the Western Air Temple to investigate. She had made it as far as a nearby town when she encountered some familiar footsteps.
“Why aren’t you teaching Aang?”
“I saw the body,” Zuko said in a grave voice. “I would be a dead man if I stayed. They’d suspect me.”
“So, you’re confessing to your evil deed then?” Toph accused Zuko. She shifted her stance to an earthbending position. She’d bring him to justice even if it meant fighting and defeating him.
“I didn’t do anything to Sokka!” Zuko replied. In a quiet voice he added, “I’m afraid Katara will think I did it and end me.”
“Understandable!” Toph stated with a nod. “Perhaps you can help me figure out what happen.”
Zuko nodded in agreement. It was a chance to prove his innocence.
Toph started to pass Zuko the note.
Out of nowhere Azula appeared and snatched the note from Toph’s hand.
“Zuzu, Mai is going to be so upset to hear that you’re accepting love letters from another woman” Azula said cruelly teasing her brother.
Azula smirked looked at the paper, to see if it was anything of use. She started to laugh before she was even done reading it.
She began to laugh so hard that she doubled over. Then she hit the ground and lied there motionless.
Zuko stood there silently, his hand covering his mouth. He had never been more shocked in his life. Toph looked at him trying to figure out what his reaction was.
“Maybe the ink’s poison,” Toph suggested after a couple minutes.
“No,” Zuko replied. “Azula wasn’t touching the ink. She died laughing.”
“Oh,” Toph said, unsure if she should comfort him or talk to him more about the mysterious cause of death.
“I have to say, this is the last way I thought she’d die,” Zuko stated.
“This is like the others,” Toph admitted quietly. “You weren’t the first one I asked to read it. I thought it was just a freakish coincidence. But now I understand.”
Zuko nodded gravely. “We should use this to our advantage. Do you know where Sokka’s messenger hawk is? I think it’s time I sent a letter home to ‘Daddy’.”