Yue

"spirit"

- Good-bye, Sokka. I'll always be with you.

Princess Yue was the sixteen-year-old daughter of Chief Arnook, ruler of the North Pole's Northern Water Tribe. She was one of Sokka's love interests during the series.

History
Yue was born with an unknown illness, though it is revealed that it was quite serious. Although most babies are born crying, she was born asleep. Her parents feared she would die. As her condition was critical, and the Tribe's healers failed to cure her, including Yugoda, Arnook prayed to the Moon Spirit in desperation and placed her in the Tribe's Spirit Oasis. The Moon Spirit gifted her with part of its own life force, saving her and turning her hair white as a side-effect. Thus, her parents named her Yue, after the moon.



Upon arriving at the Northern Water Tribe, Sokka was smitten with her at first sight. After awkwardly flirting with her, the two soon began to arrange meetings. They included riding on Appa and taking walks together. An affection budded between the two, but unfortunately Yue was bound to an arranged marriage to Hahn, a shallow young warrior with more love for her high status than for Yue herself, referring that "She comes with the most perks." Sokka and Yue came to realize their love for each other, but Yue could not bear to continue their meetings because they conflicted so with her duty to her tribe. Sokka eventually became angered because of Yue commenting that being together was 'wrong' and that it was her duty to marry Hahn for her people, to which Sokka replied she wasn't marrying her people. Both of their feelings persisted, and during Admiral Zhao's siege of the Northern Water Tribe, Sokka was ordered by Arnook to act as Yue's bodyguard.



Yue aids Aang in entering the Spirit World by leading him and Katara to the Spirit Oasis. Later, when Aang has been captured by Zuko, she accompanies Katara and Sokka in tracking the two of them down on Appa. Upon their return to the Spirit Oasis, they were confronted by Zhao, who fatally struck the Moon Spirit's mortal form, leaving all Waterbenders powerless without the moon's influence. Yue once again acted to carry out her duty to her tribe and sacrificed herself in order to give back the life the Moon Spirit had given her when she was a newborn. Her sacrifice came against Sokka's protests, but in the end the young warrior was unable to stop her. She placed her hands onto the fish, closed her eyes and died in Sokka's arms. Her spirit appeared before him shortly after, wearing a long white gown. She whispered, "Goodbye, Sokka. I will always be with you," and the two shared a final kiss before she vanished completely. It is also shown that after the Moon Spirit was killed, everything turned grey, but Yue's eyes remained blue, showing the life-force of Tui inside of her.

After Death
Several times following her death, Yue's influence on Sokka returns. In "The Swamp", Sokka, under the swamp's magical influence, sees a vision of her. The vision of Yue angrily tells Sokka that he failed to protect her, perhaps a manifestation of his fear that she truly felt this way. In "The Desert", Sokka directly refers to the moon as Yue in the intoxicated state brought about by drinking cactus juice. Finally, when Sokka and Suki nearly kiss in "The Serpent's Pass", a waning gibbous moon is visible in the background, alluding to Yue's presence, and Sokka's memories of Yue's death prompt him to refuse the kiss, while acting overly protective of Suki. In the episode "The Puppetmaster", Sokka yells at Toph when she suggests that the moon spirit might be harming people, saying that the moon spirit "is a gentle, loving lady who rules the skies with compassion and lunar goodness" showing that he still cares deeply for her. In The Boiling Rock, Part 1, Sokka mentions to Zuko that "[his] first girlfriend turned into the moon."



In the online game, Escape from the Spirit World, Aang meets Yue in the Spirit World. She informs him of the damage that has taken place to the Avatar Spirit and how to return to his body, further instructing him to seek out the past four Avatars while avoiding Koh, the Face Stealer. She later appears to Aang once more in "The Awakening", to encourage him not to lose hope and to continue fighting. She then presumably assists him in his impressive feat of Waterbending to get himself to safety, utilizing her powers as the Moon Spirit.

During a part in the play in "The Ember Island Players" in which the episode "The Siege of the North, Part 2" is parodied on it, Yue is shown being played as someone who, as the play Sokka says, is the "only person to take his mind off food", before she floats away on a crescent moon prop. In the audience, Sokka is crying as Suki tells him he never told her that he had kissed the moon spirit. Sokka shushes her, still crying, showing that he still cares for Yue.

Abilities


There have been arguments about Princess Yue's abilities. When she was introduced in "The Waterbending Master", Yue didn't exhibit any Waterbending ability, not even healing abilities, the only aspect of Waterbending taught to women in the Northern Water Tribe, despite being a spiritual person. After offering her life to give the Moon Spirit new life, she is shown to restore the Waterbenders' power. During her short appearance in "The Awakening", after renewing Aang's faith, she aids him in getting to safety, enlarging the wave he creates. Due to becoming the moon spirit, it can be assumed that she has gained the spirit's waterbending abilities.

It is possible, however, that Yue in life had the ability to learn waterbending, since Tui essentially loaned some of its life force to cure the infant Yue of her near-fatal position. In effect, although she wasn't truly bonded with Tui (until after her death), she probably had the basis to learn, since the moon is what originally controls the tides.

Relatives

 * Arnook (father)

The Last Airbender (film)


Yue is portrayed by actress Seychelle Gabriel in the film adaptation of the TV series, The Last Airbender.

Trivia

 * "Yue" (月, yuè) means "moon" in Mandarin Chinese. In Japanese, it's pronounced as "yu-eh", as heard in the series.
 * The name also means 'tragic accident' in Japanese (夕映), and is traditionally given to Japanese children who die shortly after birth.
 * Yue's appearance as the moon spirit is very similar to that of the Moon Lady (嫦娥) in Chinese mythology.
 * Yue is portrayed by Seychelle Gabriel in "The Last Airbender".
 * Yue and Kanna (Gran Gran) are two of the only Water Tribe members not to wear any blue clothes. They wear purple instead.
 * When Yue becomes the Moon Spirit, her betrothal necklace vanishes.
 * When Yue showed Sokka her betrothal necklace, it was the only time to be seen throughout the series.
 * Yue is the only character who when introduced did not know how to bend, but then was able to because of her taking on the role as the moon spirit.
 * As the Moon Spirit, Yue's hair is sometimes down along with the hair-do on top.

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