It was a particularly blistering September day, and the college quad wilted underneath the sweltering glare of the sun. Students were scattered here and there, some sitting on blankets while working on homework, some trying to find what minimal shade they could (one girl even going so far as to sit underneath a picnic table), while others just gave up and dropped where they had been walking, too hot to even considering finishing their short journey.

Zuko made his own way across the expanse of grass and trees, his gym bag slung casually over his shoulder, its reassuring weight bumping against his leg with every step. A couple of the students gave him curious looks as he passed by, one guy in particular taking note of the swift moving shadow that appeared and then disappeared behind one of the few trees that dotted the quad. For his part, Zuko seemed completely oblivious to his stalker, instead appearing to actually enjoy the torrid weather, a fact which made his classmates groan with exasperation.

Zuko, however, was not oblivious to his shadow, and truth be known, he had been expecting her. He smirked to himself as he paused in his journey in order to hitch his bag up a little higher on his shoulder, waiting . . . waiting . . . .

“Hey Zuko!”

Zuko turned and promptly got a face full of chilly water as Katara let fly with her water balloon. The calculating part of his mind took note that her aim was just as accurate as it had always been, and that she had increased the speed with which she now attacked. What had felt like one water balloon had, in fact, been three, and he coldly took stock of the damage while he set his bag down and faced the cackling girl. One in the face, one in the chest, and one in . . . he had to fight a blush as he realized that had she not hit him in other places, their fellow students would probably have thought that he had had some sort of accident.

“You know, Katara,” Zuko said calmly as he unzipped his gym bag and rummaged inside, “You‘re getting careless in the time after one of your attacks.”

“And what *cackle* does that mean? *chortle*” Katara was laughing so hard she barely managed to choke out that one sentence, and she certainly wasn’t paying attention to what he was doing with the bag. The other students, though, had taken notice, and several that were close to the location of the future action decided to wisely relocate somewhere else.

“I‘m just saying that you‘ve left yourself wide open for a counter attack. Behold!”

Katara looked up, and her eyes widened in horror when she saw what Zuko had unearthed from the depths of his gym bag. “That’s . . . That’s . . .”

“The Ultimate Super Soaker MDCCCLVII!!!”

Katara turned to run, but she wasn’t fast enough to escape the wet fury of a primed and ready Ultimate Super Soaker MDCCCLVII, and she squealed as the icy cold water blasted the back of her head and trickled down her shirt.

“Oh, it’s ON!” she yelled, and bolted across the quad in search of her hidden stash of water balloons, a furious young man splattering her with water and belting out “REVENGE IS MINE!” between bouts of maniacal laughter hot on her heels. The civilians all scattered from their relaxation posts and bolted for the safety of their dorm rooms, only to be replaced a short time later by their battle ready clones sporting their own stash of water balloons and squirt guns.

Within moments an impromptu war of Boys vs. Girls erupted on the quad with Katara and Zuko doing the most damage for their relative sides. The buildings rang with laughter and shrieks as the war moved on through the worst of the afternoon heat, providing much needed relief to all present.

In fact, it became such a huge occasion that an entire two page collage was dedicated to it in the college year book. The center picture was of the two original instigators, both soaking wet with their hair straggling in their faces and clothes plastered to their bodies. Zuko had his left arm slung around Katara’s waist while his other held his Ultimate Super Soaker MDCCCLVII up against his shoulder. Katara was holding a water balloon in her left hand and was making the V for Victory sign with her right. Both combatants were sporting huge grins despite the water dripping down their faces.

What the cameraman was unable to capture due to the fact that that particular picture took up the last remaining space on his digital camera, was that shortly after the photo was taken Katara had whirled on Zuko and shoved the remaining water balloon down his pants. With a wicked grin she broke the fragile shell with her finger nails, then bolted back across the quad with his scream of shocked outrage following on her heels. For that particular water balloon had been saved for last for a very good reason. See, Katara had lovingly filled it with crushed ice and just a hint of water before going in search of Zuko, and the entire time the water war had been going on (this particular balloon had remained good and hidden so that no one else accidentally used it), the ice had slowly melted until a few chunks were left, insuring that this particular ammunition was good and frigid by the time the balloon was busted.