Back to a light-hearted feel in this one. Hopefully, I can bring in some more serious elements in a couple of the upcoming ones. *checks list of prompts* ehhh, maybe not for awhile. XD Anyway, hopefully you guys will enjoy this one too! Thanks for reading!

Chapter Rating: T
Chapter Warning: T for language (I think)
World: AU where Jet lives, currently at the Western Air Temple, somewhere in between The Boiling Rock and The Southern Raiders.
Word Count: 1386

Three: Losing a Bet

"Whoa, whoa, guys! What's this about?" Sokka was yelling as he bounded into the arena, stepping into the open space between Jet and Zuko.

"Beat it, Sokka. The firebender and I are gonna settle this on our own," Jet said, seeming to look through Sokka towards Zuko, eyes glinting menacingly like the sun catching the end of his hooks.

Sokka looked back and forth between the two of them, gaze finally settling on Zuko to look to him for confirmation. Zuko was standing with his hands raised in a firebending stance, still barechested from his training with Aang.

"It's fine Sokka. If he wants to get his ass kicked, let him," Zuko responded coolly.

Jet only smirked around the stalk of grass in his mouth before he was rushing forward, causing Sokka to back hurriedly out of the way with an eep.

Zuko didn't hesitate, thrusting his fist forward and with it, a shot of deadly flame.

"Zuko!" Sokka shouted, genuinely terrified for Jet's life. "You're gonna kill him!"

Neither of the fighting duo paid Sokka any mind and he had to watch in horror as Jet spun gracefully out of range of Zuko's fire.

This continued for long minutes and Sokka chewed on his fingernails nervously the entire time, wondering if maybe he should go get Aang. He was the Avatar after all. Peacekeeping was kinda his thing.

However, the more he watched, he realized that Zuko wasn't actually trying. It was evident he was being very careful to not hit Jet with any of his attacks because Jet was dodging them by wide margins instead of the hair's breadths Sokka usually saw when jet fought a firebender.

Apparently, Jet noticed too because in the next moment, he was shouting at Zuko. "Don't you dare hold back on me! Fight me, damn it!"

Sokka could see the indecision on Zuko's face. He didn't want to hurt Jet but he also knew that he'd insult him greatly if he went easy on him.

Their fight only intensified after that, and it was clear that Zuko had taken Jet's words to heart. They were both panting and sweating profusely but neither gave the other any ground.

Sokka had no idea how serious they were. Was this real rage? It didn't seem like it but they were both so temperamental and unpredictable… He certainly wouldn't put it past them to fight to the death.

"I could take you," Jet asserted one night, twirling the ends of Zuko's jet black bangs between his finger and his thumb.

"Your hooks against my swords? Yeah, maybe," snorted Zuko, who was sitting astraddle in Jet's lap, leaning over the Freedom Fighter, who was laying down.

Jet sat up at this, letting his hand fall away from Zuko's hair and raising himself up onto his elbows, jostling Zuko in his position atop him. "No, I'm not talking hooks versus swords. I'm talking hooks versus fire," he said firmly, meeting Zuko's eyes with a dangerous look.

Zuko had shoved at his chest then. "Don't even joke about that," he said, trying to keep the sly smile off his face.

Jet glared harshly at him. "What? You think I couldn't? I've been fighting firebenders since I was eight," he argued.

Zuko appreciated that Jet had stopped saying 'you guys' when he talked about the firebenders of his childhood. It was a habit he'd had to break over a long period of weeks. There was a time when he looked at Zuko and that label was the only thing he could see. Zuko accepted the fact that change had been difficult for him.

But now he only rolled his eyes. "That's different. You fought foot soldiers. I could fight ten of them at once with my hands tied behind my back and blindfolded," he countered. "I'm the firebending Master of the Avatar, I was trained by the Dragon of the West and re-trained by dragons themselves. I'm in a different league," he boasted.

"Alright so let's put it to the test."

Zuko's eyes went wide. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I said 'let's put it to the test.' You and me, hooks and fire. One round. Tomorrow," Jet said, narrowing his eyes at Zuko in challenge.

As much as Zuko hated backing down, he knew he couldn't do this. "Jet, I'm not gonna hurl fire at you. That's so dangerous!"

Jet rolled his eyes. "Please. It's not the fire that's dangerous. It's the bender. I'm not worried," he said, grinning.

Zuko flattened his stare. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," Jet said coyly, raising an eyebrow as if to say, And whatcha gonna do about it?

Zuko grit his teeth, trying not to let his pride win out. Of course, in the end, it did. "Fine," he bit out. "But if I beat you, you have to...eat a spider. A live one," he demanded smugly, crossing his arms over his bare chest. Jet's glare held firm, but he knew the Freedom Fighter must've been screaming on the inside. As a fierce and brave warrior, there were very few things that Jet was afraid of, Zuko knew, and one of them was spiders.

"Alright," Jet agreed, "but if I win, then I get to tell the rest of the Gaang...about us."

Zuko's eyes went wide, shocked, but he didn't say anything. That was not what he had been expecting. He'd expected some perverted fantasy demand or a request that Zuko be his slave for a day (which, honestly, probably would've ended in some perverted fantasy as well). He certainly wasn't ready for this.

He'd simply have to win, then.

It wasn't long before the rest of the Gaang showed up and crowded around Sokka, pressing him for answers.

"Uh, what are they doing?" Aang asked.

"Fighting," Sokka responded.

"Are they sparring or trying to kill each other?" Katara asked, the question entirely legitimate, because it was nearly impossible to tell and with the two of them...well, anything could happen, really.

Sokka shrugged. "I still can't tell and I've been watching them for a while. I tried to stop them when they first started, but they both seemed pretty set on it."

"I'll take care of it," Katara said, about to march into the clearing and smack some sense into them.

It was Toph who held an arm out to stop her. "I say we let Sparky and Spiky figure it out on their own. Something tells me they'll be just fine."

Sokka, Suki and Katara all looked at Toph strangely, even though she couldn't see them. The girl's intuition was something not of this earth.

It was long minutes before the conclusion came. It came when, finally, Zuko made a mistake. He had been anticipating Jet's movements with nearly one hundred percent accuracy prior to this moment, but when he shifted left and Jet moved to his right, it looked almost easy when the non-bender nudged him with the dull part of one hook, sending him flat onto his back.

The wind was knocked out of Zuko's lungs and it didn't help that Jet was suddenly on top of him, the curved handle of one of his hooks pressed tightly against his throat. He coughed, trying to regain his breath as he looked up at Jet, recognizing his defeat.

Jet was panting harshly, but a smirk found its way onto his face as Toph, Katara, Suki and Sokka all rushed, huddling around them, probably to make sure Jet wasn't going to kill Zuko.

"Jet, that's enough!" came Katara's scolding voice.

"Gotcha," Jet whispered to Zuko, who looked away, before he rolled his eyes at Katara and stood, holding out a hand to Zuko to haul him to his feet. "Easy, mom, we were just sparring," he said.

The two of them were covered in sweat as they stood and Zuko wouldn't meet Jet's eye, even though he kept trying to force him to. Jet couldn't help but laugh breathlessly at this and nudge him a bit with the back of his hand.

And then, without any preamble, he wrapped his arms around Zuko's waist, pulled him flush against his body and planted a big, fat kiss right on his mouth.

To say there was a moment of shock and confusion amongst their friends, would have been a hefty understatement.