“my first girlfriend turned into the moon” “that’s rough buddy” is adorable not only because zuko positioning himself as sokka’s friend is simply wishful thinking and desperate projection on his part, but because sokka referring to yue as his girlfriend is also just. incredibly lovely. like, back when they were together in the northern water tribe, yue was trying not to explode from overwhelming lust and affection, but meanwhile sokka was like. “we’re literally just friends. this dynamic is nothing more than an innocuous, platonic friendship. the fact that we’ve kissed and clearly want each other and have spent the past month solely in each other’s company talking little strolls around the city and romantic bison rides on appa (and who knows what else) means nothing as long as you just. repress all the emotions and desires and every last shred of humanity you’ve ever had and convince yourself that this is a reasonable way to live a life.” even while yue was adamant that living in utter denial was intolerable, actually, sokka was just like “i don’t get what the big deal is. repression is so easy.” but then yue changed everything by giving up her mortal life to become a spirit, and in the process transcending the human, patriarchal paradigms that prevented their love from being realized. like, if anything, yue wasn’t sokka’s girlfriend, he was her mistress. but then again, yue never wanted hahn; she wanted sokka, and they both knew it. so by shedding those limitations as she sheds her corporality, she is also giving sokka (as well as herself, of course) the permission for them to redefine their relationship on their own terms, beyond simply being forced to succumb to the patriarchal stipulations that dictated the terms of their love. and who knows whether sokka ever admitted it before, to himself or otherwise, but here, in this moment, he can reevaluate what they shared, and instinctively, he knows. she was his first girlfriend. his first love.