[Notes:] Normally, I don't like doing these notes. However, this is to clear things up to prevent stupid reviews. This is a Twilight parody featuring characters from "Avatar: The Last Airbender". It is not meant to be taken too seriously in the slightest, and should simply be enjoyed for what it is – comedic value. The characters taking the places of Edward and Bella are Jet and Zuko. Make of that what you will. And if you ask me to change it to Zuko/Katara or Aang/Katara or whatever, my answer will be no. All that aside, please enjoy the parody!

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Daylight

A Twilight and Avatar: The Last Airbender Romantic Parody

By Kyatto

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Chapter One

I never thought I was someone special, really. Especially now that I've been forced to move in with my uncle, thousands of miles away from home. Not too long ago I was banished. Since my mother left, my jerk of a father has been nothing but abysmal. I said the wrong thing at the wrong time and he snapped. Next thing I knew I was on a plane to Ba Sing Se with a rather nice burn wound on my face. It is something I tend to dwell on from time to time, but is no longer the focus of my life.

My uncle Iroh runs a teashop called the Jasmine Dragon in Ba Sing Se, the capitol of the Earth Kingdom. In exchange for his care, I have to work there for him part time every day. It's not an awful job, but not the greatest either. Perhaps it would be more tolerable without this ridiculous mark on my face – I don't know. It does draw its fair share of attention that I wish I didn't have to deal with. I don't want to tell every my whole life story. What caused it is private and no one has the right to know except Uncle. But the customers are nosy and always pointing and whispering. Why can't they just drink their tea in silence?

He has a nice upper ring apartment. I am actually happy to have my own room. I have always enjoyed my privacy. It gives me space to think. Outside I see other boys my age hanging out with groups of friends or out with girls. Would I ever be able to get friends here? Or a girlfriend? I knew a girl back at home, named Mai. She is best friends with my sister. The problem is, she is back home in the Fire Nation and I am now in Ba Sing Se. Long distance relationships never work out! Plus she always used to throw mud at me and pull my hair when we were little. She probably doesn't even like me much anyway. I'm sure there are plenty of girls in Ba Sing Se, but how would I go about finding them? How do those guys outside find them? How does a person go about getting friends? I have no idea since I've never actually done that before. Was my whole childhood wasted?

Aside from my scar it's not like I'm some kind of ugly guy either. Or maybe I am, I don't know what the standards are for attractiveness. I'm not overly tall but I'm not short either. I've often been told I look like my dad. We're both fairly broad with a profound jaw and gold eyes. I'm letting my dark hair grow out a little and it's getting in my eyes. At least it covers the scar though, right? I hate it when people look at it. People are still always looking at it! Always! It is absolutely ridiculous. I cannot possibly be the only guy in the city with a scar on their face. This is maddening. Uncle has mentioned the ladies look at me because I'm a very handsome young man. Handsome young man my Fire Nation ass! People do not stare because a person is attractive. Does he not know anything?

Anyway, I had been living in Ba Sing Se for about a month at this point. It was summer and I had gotten settled in finally to a routine. Get up, get dressed, do some chores, go to work. It pleased Uncle so I was all right with it. It beat sitting around doing nothing with my time. Again, I had only just moved and had no friends. Not like anyone would ever want to be friends with me. People only ever look at my scar! Why do they do that? For the love of spirits, why? All that aside, the work was not too bad either. I mostly waited on tables and washed dishes. A lot of the important wealthy people really seemed to enjoy Uncle's tea, which in turn made him very happy. He used to be a General in the army at one point. How someone can go from wanting to shoot people up to being content with having a teashop, I have no idea. There is more to life than that!

At this point I had a couple of acquaintances. Mostly the young regulars who came to the shop in the afternoons. I tried to ignore all the old women who flirted with me because, well, they were old. Uncle liked them though, so I left them for him. Anyway, these acquaintances were around my age. They seemed nice enough. This one girl, Jin, especially. She was very outgoing and never afraid to talk to me. I actually kind of liked her. Though not as much as Mai, but at least Jin was nice. She was actually kind of pretty too. So I didn't mind conversation with her. Jin also knew a lot about Ba Sing Se, which was good, because I didn't. Not in the slightest. She also always chastised me for being rude to other customers and mentioned she could tell I have a temper. I do not have a temper! Girls are really crazy sometimes.

I went out with Jin and her friends on occasion. Mostly to get out of the apartment. Uncle strongly encouraged that I have some sort of social life. It wasn't too bad. Wasn't amazing but not too terrible. Jin and her friends were pleasant and always found "fun" things to do. She wanted to show me this one fountain, but I picked up that maybe she wanted a date. I do not think I approve of this being how people get girlfriends. You do not just invite people to fountains. What if she wanted to have sex with me? I want sex to be out of something like love, not because I agreed to go to some silly fountain. After that a bunch of guys came around the shop and made fun of me. Mostly because of my scar but also for being a virgin. Could people be any more shallow and stupid?

Jin apologized later and said those other boys were probably just really jealous. She also said there was nothing wrong with having a scar or being a virgin. Wow, thanks. She then went on to tell me how cute I am and how much she liked me and that perhaps we should take it slow. I didn't know how to tell her I wasn't interested. I mean, yeah, I would have liked a girlfriend. However, it didn't feel right to be with her. There was no spark, no emotional charge. I felt nothing. Didn't mean to break her heart or disappoint her but I just plain wasn't into her. She then went off saying how she would have to break the news to the others. Wait, other girls liked me too? What sort of madness was this? I did not approve.

Some time later the weather was starting to get dark and cloudy every day. There were rumors of a very important gang that liked to venture through the city then. Why they chose dark and cloudy days, I had no idea at the time. Perhaps they were just strange or crazy. What I didn't expect was for them to show up at the Jasmine Dragon. A small group of them, about five. One was a man who was tall and broad and looked highly intimidating. Another was a really young boy who didn't look older than six. There was an average guy who never said anything. Along with them was what appeared to be a young guy or girl, I couldn't tell. However, the guy who was obviously the leader beyond mesmerized me. He was so handsome yet so mysterious at the same time, I was completely intrigued by him. I had never seen anyone like him before in my life. He had tan skin, piercing green eyes, and shaggy dark hair. He was about as tall as I was, maybe a little taller, but he looked way stronger. There was something quirky about the way he chewed on a stalk of grass. I couldn't take my gaze off him.

Jin obviously knew everything about the city, so I decided to ask her in private. "Hey, do you know who those people are?"

"Them?" She quirked a brow. "Oh! They're the Freedom Fighters. The local gang. They only come around at certain times, and surprisingly don't cause a whole lot of trouble. They're just strange. They always enthrall people though. It's probably the air of mystery that surrounds them."

"Mystery?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "They showed up one day a long time ago out of the blue. No idea really who they are or where they're from. They only come out at certain times. Very mysterious."

"Do they have names?" I was getting a little desperate for information, which was surprising.

"Of course," she then pointed to each of them one by one. "The big guy is Pipsqueak, I don't think you'd want to mess with him. Little guy is The Duke – don't ask me why he's named that. Quiet guy over there is Longshot and I think beside him is his girlfriend, Smellerbee. She's a bit of a tomboy, you know? The head honcho, I'm sure you can tell which one, is Jet. He's the most unknown of all. There's a rumor that he finds girls and eats them."

"…. Eats them."

Jin shrugged. "Yeah. He finds girls he likes and nobody ever sees them again. That's why hardly anyone ever talks to him anymore."

"He must get lonely…" I frowned.

"Maybe? I wouldn't know."

Something about that Jet guy struck something in me. He was an outsider…like me. People liked him and feared him…like me. He was probably lonely…like me too. Did finding him interesting make me gay? I'm not sure if I'll ever know. He captivated me, that was definitely for sure. In such a way I'll never be able to compare. It was looking straight at a rose the moment it bloomed – the most beautiful thing a person could ever get an eyeful of. I had to meet him. There was something there, I could feel it. So like any good waiter I decided to take their order once they were settled.

"Can I take your order?"

They all looked at me before Smellerbee spoke up. "Five jasmines please."

I looked at the others. Pipsqueak smiled, The Duke look scared, Longshot…looked a little confused or constipated… and Jet just plain wouldn't stop staring at me. It was a little unnerving. As interested in him as I was, I didn't think for a second he would feel the same. Why on earth was he not talking to me? Did I have something on my face? Oh wait, yes a scar. There was something on my face. Brilliant.

"Be right out," I managed a small smile and went off to fetch their orders.

The entire time I was getting their orders together, Jet would not stop staring at me. Even Jin was starting to look a little worried. He had some sort of predatory look about him that was deeply unsettling. It looked like a tigerdillo about to hunt down a mooselion calf. I could see the bright flecks of green in his eyes reflecting from the candles that lit the shop. They were bright and almost fiery. Did he see that in my eyes too? No, of course all he saw was the scar. He was just being more silent about his utter disgust. Nobody saw me for who I was.

As quickly as I could I went to bring them their tea. They all thanked me in a way and then went to talk amongst themselves. I couldn't say I was surprised. I didn't know them and they didn't know me. Even still every so often Jet would turn to look at me. I couldn't read his face. I had no idea what on earth he was thinking. It bothered me. There was nothing I could say or do. This person was a complete and total enigma to me. Why was he staring?

They came to the shop the next cloudy day and ordered the same thing. This time I mustered up the courage to attempt conversation. They were young and so was I. We could relate on some sort of level. Smellerbee and Pipsqueak were the only ones willing to make any sort of actual conversation with me. The Duke and Longshot looked disturbed. Jet just continued staring in his predatory sort of way but looked extremely uncomfortable. After a while he just shot up and ran out of the shop. The others were quick to follow.

What has happened? Had I said or done something wrong? Neither Jin nor Uncle could offer any sort of helpful advice other than the fact those people were probably very strange. However I was still completely entranced by Jet. There was something to him I wanted to figure out. Now I wanted to know what he was looking at, and why he was looking at me in such a way. Why he left all of a sudden. It had to be more than just my scar, that I was sure of. Previously people just muttered disgust and went about their business. It wasn't that horrifying. What could it have been? I did not like having problems such as this. I'm very impatient and this did not sit well with me at all.

All Uncle could do was ask how things were with Jin. He still refused to believe that I did not want her to be my girlfriend. Especially since she was so nice and took me around the city and all of those sorts of things. Every time I tried to bring up Jet he always changed the subject. Was being curious about Jet all that troubling? Was it the fact he was a guy? Being interested in him didn't make me gay, did it? Of course not! I still wanted a girlfriend! Maybe I just wanted to be friends with another outsider such as myself. That had to be it! There was no other explanation. I wanted to make friends with Jet.

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To be continued…