Title: Chance Encounter

Characters: Sokka, Zuko (slightly Zuko x Sokka-ish)

Word Count: 537

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Sokka and Zuko finally agree on something.

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He had been so sure the Avatar was in this mountain village but all his searching had been for naught in the end. It was not a failure he was taking well, and it was only because of his uncle's intervention had he not burned the whole place down in rage. Instead he took the old man's advice and decided to make use of the hot springs to help calm his nerves.

He could easily tell why the village was so famous for the hot springs, since the pool was huge and had many little coves one could use for privacy. He chose to use one of the closer coves to the door and settled in for a good warm soak. As much as he hated to admit it, the water did feel nice and brought with it a sense of peace and tranquility. So much so he didn't even realize he had fallen asleep until the sound of splashing water nearby woke him up.

Irritated at the unwelcome intrusion to his first good sleep in a long time he stood up and rounded the corner to snap at the village idiot who was making so much noise. He didn't manage to get a word out though as he came face to face to the last person he would've imagined to find there.

"What the hell are i you /i doing here?!" the Water Tribe boy exclaimed first, frantically trying to reach behind him to grab a towel to cover himself with.

The remark seemed to get Zuko's mind working as he snapped back, trying to forget his current state of indecency, "I was just taking a bath. What are you doing here, and why didn't my men capture you?"

"Don't ask me," Sokka answered back huffily, "We didn't see any of your men anywhere." The dark skinned teen finally managed to find the towel behind him, but loses his balance in the process, causing him to flail wildly for a moment then crash into the other teen as he over balanced in the other direction.

Both teens flail hopelessly for a moment before both crashing into the pool together. The next few moments were spent with both boys trying to get back upright and balanced with as little touching as possible. When that goal was accomplished an uneasy silence was left as both were all too aware of the awkwardness of their state of undress.

"Um, do you mind if maybe we just forget what happened and go our separate ways?" Sokka finally volunteers to break the unnervingly quiet atmosphere.

Careful not to look at the other boy in any way, Zuko answers, "Yea, you know that sounds like a really good idea right now. I'll be going then. But I will be back to chasing The Avatar once you leave this village."

"I'll keep that in mind," the Water Tribe teen answers tactfully looking the other way as the Fire Nation prince leaves the pool.

As Zuko makes it back to his men he wonders if the joke about his father suffering from a small man complex could be grounded in some truth, since he was pretty sure that Fire Nation men didn't come that well endowed.