Chapter: Amethyst
Author: Airbender
Rating: PG
A/N: Second in my Twelve Birthstones series. Here is Yue’s chapter as promised. Definitely angsty, but with the promise of hope, I think. I picked amethyst instead of pearl for Yue because I felt the nature of her sacrifice and what she becomes truly embody the symbolic meaning of amethyst. Spoilers for The Siege of the North, but that’s it.

Amethyst

Heavenly understanding and the pioneer in thought and action on the philosophical, religious, spiritual and material planes

Reaching out to the unmoving white koi fish was the longest moment of Yue’s life. The sensations of cold scales, the warmth of the oasis, of death itself rolled around in her consciousness. Not all there, yet impossible to ignore.

Reflecting on it, the moment was rather like being underwater, with the feeling of physical separation despite close contact. Sokka, Katara, and the old Firebender were there next to her, but Yue was a million miles away from them, in a world where only she and a spirit who desperately needed her help existed.

Yue had never been so terrified in all her life. If saving the Moon Spirit entailed what it did (and Yue knew exactly what saving it meant, had always known, even without being told), she would die. Her life had never seemed so short to her before, her future shrinking before her the same ways the ships of the Northern Water Tribe shrunk on the horizon as they sailed away.

And yet, no one else could save Tui but her. Was this what it was like to be the Avatar, Yue wondered to herself, to have the crushing weight of responsibility on your shoulders? An imperceptible tremble ran through her body, delicate fingers almost touching the fish.

She would bear the weight, not for duty, but because she loved her tribe, her family, her friends, her home, and because she owed Tui. The Moon Spirit had given her life when there had been no hope. The least she could do was give it back. If it was within her power to save them all, she would do whatever she had to.

It was amazing to think that only a few seconds had passed while she was thinking. Now was the time for action. In a flash Yue pulled her hand out of Sokka’s firm grasp and placed her hands on Tui, the warmth from Sokka’s hand quickly fading in the in the face of the cold stiffness of the fish. Yue didn’t know how to go about reviving the Moon Spirit, but nonetheless concentrated all her willpower on bringing it back.

You gave me life when I would have died without your help. Now I do the same for you.

As soon as the white glow flared up around the princess and the spirit, Yue felt a pulling, tugging sensation both frightening and soothing. Her spirit and life flowed out of her and into the fish as a river flows into the sea.

Barely conscious and fading fast, Yue fell back. She didn’t even have the strength to open her eyes, but felt Sokka holding her closely to him.

Everything is going to be alright. Tui whispered, or Yue whispered. It was impossible to tell now. They were one and the same.

The dark of a moonless night followed.

Owari