After Princess Yue, Sokka thought he'd never love again. In fact, he came close to swearing it upon himself; an oath in her honor.
Katara, and even Aang had tried to reason with him, explaining that she would have wanted him to move on. Not to linger on the past and wallow in misery. For awhile he refused to listen to them, too wound up in his grief.
The pain subsided with time. The sadness still lingered, but above all he felt at peace. Looking at the moon no longer made him ache, and he began to feel his chest swell everytime he gazed at the full moon. He could even imagine her smile.
In a sense it enlightened him. He felt he had finally begun to let go of his childish needs and desires and began to understand the way of things. He looked at things in a different light.
When they neared the end of Aang's earthbending training, they were approached again by the fire nation prince; This time as a comrade. Sokka still felt apprehension at first, but was happy to give the prince a wide berth. The hatred for the other boy had subsided with the pain of loss it seemed, and Sokka found himself actually feeling sympathy for the young man as he discovered motives and reasons behind Zuko's relentless hunt for the Avatar.
He found himself strangely reminded of Yue. Yet another member of a royal family, forced through hardships all because of culture and pre-determined rules. He began to trust the prince, even consider him a friend.
Much later, when Aang was fine-tuning his firebending training (under the watchful eye of Iroh), Sokka found himself accompanied as he watched the full moon that night. The Prince sat next to him and calmly meditated; a solid presence that Sokka found comforting.
They sat like that for ages, and as dawn neared, Sokka felt himself being watched closely. It didn't make him uncomfortable, but it did trigger something inside of him. He looked up at the moon one last time, before looking away, leaning over towards the prince, and moving on.
And somewhere he knew, Yue was still smiling happily for him.
- End