Chapter 1: The Encounter

We may meet others by chance, but we love them by choice…

It was the first day of spring in the Earth Kingdom. There was a lot of hustling and bustling in the towns. People were preparing for the Festival of Flowers which was to be held that afternoon. While the laborers worked, the children were out playing the meadows. The girls were trying to make crowns and garlands out of the flowers while the boys were playing by the river.

The only people who were seen idle in the meadow were two teenagers – the boy was about seventeen while the girl was about fifteen. They were too young to work but too old to play – stuck in the middle, caught in between.

The teenage boy was sitting under a tree, quietly watching as the children played. He was wearing a red short-sleeved shirt with a matching gold-lined vest worn over it, reddish-black pants and black pointed boots. His ebony hair was messy, like any other teenage boy's was. On the left side of his face was a red flame-shaped scar. Although it appeared painful, the boy felt nothing in that part of his skin. Of course the scar was not something he could hide easily, but he tried. He always pretended to feel no pain when people pointed and stared at him, even if it was killing him inside. The glint in his golden eyes showed his hopes of becoming a child again, back when everything was so simple.

The teenage girl was slowly walking around the meadow, occasionally looking up at the clouds, as if looking for some sign from the heavens. She was wearing a short-sleeved light blue tunic with white lining, blue pants underneath and grey boots. Blue gloves covered her hands and a blue necklace was wrapped around her neck. Part of her long wavy hair was tied up in a bun behind her head while the rest swayed freely with the wind. Her big cerulean eyes spotted the silhouette of a teenage boy, alone just like her. She decided to sit beside him under the tree and at least try to make friends with him.

The boy heard footsteps and rustling grass coming towards him. He looked up and saw a girl, about his age, casually sitting beside him. She was facing away from him so he couldn't see her face. He looked away as well, trying to avoid her predictable reaction to his scar.

"Hey…" a gentle voice said

The boy turned his head around and saw the girl smiling sweetly at him. She had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. She was different from all the other girls from his home. They were all so pale, fierce and uncaring. She was different – an exotic flower that one only blooms every million years.

"Hey…" he replied, giving a small smile. He was ready to receive jabs about his scar, ready to get shot down again because of it.

"How are you enjoying the day so far?"

"Not enjoying it much. It's very boring here."

"I know right. I've been walking around like a lunatic since this morning."

"At least you've been getting exercise. I've just been sitting here."

She chuckled a little, showing a bit of the pair of pearly white teeth behind her pink lips.

"The flowers are beautiful though." she said, picking a white flower from the grass near her feet.

"Uh-huh. The kids seem to be enjoying the water too."

"Everything's so fresh and bright here… It's so different from home."

The boy mentally slapped himself. He should have figured out that she wasn't from around here. None of the Earth Kingdom girls looked like her.

"Where are you from anyway?"

"I'm from the Southern Water Tribe – nothing there but ice and water. There's no grass, no flowers, no trees…"

The bouquet of flowers was slowly growing in her hands as she picked more and more. With a smile, he picked a red one from beside him and added it to her bouquet. She gave a small smile back.

"How about you?" she said, "I don't think you're from around here either."

"Fire Nation… "

"Interesting… I've never met anyone from there. What's it like?"

"Really hot. Basically the same as the Earth Kingdom, but less…jolly, plus a lot of heat. Beaches are awesome though."

"I heard about the beaches. Have you been to Ember Island?"

Of course he did. His dad practically owns every land in the Fire Nation, including a summer house in Ember Island. But if he told her that he was the crown prince, things would be different. He decided to leave it unrevealed, unless she confesses something really personal about herself first.

"Yup… It's awesome there. I don't really swim though." He said

"So what do you do there?"

"Just lie down under the umbrella… with my girlfriend."

He mentally slapped himself for saying that. Why would he say that? He might actually have a shot with this girl. But what was he thinking? He really did have a girlfriend at home, the daughter of a general in fact. He can't just abandon her.

"Oh…" she said, almost looking disappointed.

Ahh, yes…, she thought, Of course he had a girlfriend. A guy as hot as him doesn't stay single for long. Well, why am I acting so disappointed? I have a boyfriend back home too…

"How about you?" he said, interrupting her reverie. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Yup… Earth Kingdom guy named Jet. He stays with us at the Southern Water Tribe though."

"Why is that?"

"I don't really know… He has a mysterious past."

"For all you know, he could be a serial killer." He said, smirking and chuckling. Of course, he meant it as a joke…

She giggled and playfully slapped his arm.

"Well, how about your girlfriend?" she said

"Hmm… she's pretty… classy." He replied

"Is that bad?"

"Sometimes it is."

"How come?"

"Because it's like I have to wait on her hand and foot."

"So why do you stay with her? Not that I'm trying to interfere with your relationship."

"I love her. Don't you love your boyfriend?"

"Of course… Of course I do."

They stayed quiet for a while. Every conversation was bound to have its awkward moments. This was theirs.

"So…" he said. "You want to go out and do something?" she said

"Sure… Might as well leave this boring place." He replied, standing up and dusting himself off.

He helped her up and they walked into the woods, staying near the river so they won't get lost. Soon, they came to a clearing with a small waterfall flowing into the river. The girl kneeled beside the river and observed it.

"It looks about chest deep at the most." She said

He was looking around for another shady place to lie down on when his peripheral view caught the girl removing her clothes. He had to do a double take. Why is she stripping down to her underwear?

"Umm…" he stammered, blushing. "W-What are you doing?"

"I'm going to swim." She said, giggling, aware of the blush on his cheeks. "Want to come?"

"Nah. I don't swim much, remember?"

"So what are you going to do while I swim?"

"I don't know… Lie down here?"

"Oh please, that's so boring. Come on!"

"No…"

He turned around and prepared to lie down when he felt something whip his behind. He turned back and saw her smirking.

"Umm…did you just whip my butt? ",he said, slightly chuckling

"Uh-huh." She said, still smirking

"How did you-"

"I'm a Waterbender." She said, forming a water whip again.

She was about to whip his butt again when a whip of fire, evaporated the tip of hers. She was confused. How did that just happen?

She saw him smirking at her and she knew the answer.

"You're not the only one with special talents…" he said.

"Interesting… I've never met a Firebender before."

"Never met a Waterbender either."

"So are you going to swim or not?"

"Umm… How about no?"

"Tell you what… We'll duel."

"Duel?"

"Yup. If I win, you swim. If I lose, I'll leave you in peace. How does that sound?"

"Well, that's not fair. You have a whole river here."

"So? It's nearly midday. My Waterbending is stronger at night so you have that advantage."

"Nah…"

"Aww… is the little boy scared of being beaten by a girl?"

Then, the boy's behind was whipped again. He chuckled and moved in front of the girl.

"Okay… We'll duel." He said. "But on another condition."

"What is it?" she said

"If I win, I get to kiss you. If I lose, you kiss me." He said, smirking

"Don't you have a girlfriend?"

"I do. Don't you have a boyfriend?"

"Yes. So why are you suggesting this?"

"First of all, they'll never know. Second, the sexual tension between us is so obvious. I thought we could both catch a break." He said, smirking.

"Well, that's not fair. What if I don't want to kiss you?" she said, smirking back and walking closer to him.

"Well, do you not want to kiss me?"

She was so close to him now. Their faces were merely a few inches away.

"Maybe…Maybe not." She said, still smiling devilishly

"So are we dueling or not?" he said, not moving from their current position.

"Fine. Good luck, cutie..."

She winked and moved a few feet away. The boy was entranced by her figure, her sexy curves and her long flowing hair. He blushed at the way her hips moved when she walked. He snapped himself back and saw her in fighting position. He positioned himself as well and replied.

"Bring it on, beautiful…"

Author's Note:

So... I was inspired by the movie Serendipity (lol that movie's so cute! :D )

Anyway, this is a mini-fic. Obviously it's Zutara. I also have Christmas specials coming up. Of course I'm going to update TOBSSH so don't worry guys.

Oh yeah, I'm also very busy working on AMVs. Basically I'm just multi-tasking everything so please understand the delay in updating.

Anyway, what do you think? Do you find it interesting? Feel free to comment, suggest or even react violently

Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA or Serendipity.

Hope you liked it! R&R please! :D