being born in the northern water tribe, especially the capital, means being exposed to strict rules at a young age. but after becoming a waterbender, priya started questioning the reasons behind all these rules. with her life going the opposite way of what she wanted she ran away and found a new home in a small village full of nonbenders. only then did she realize the true resolution to the societal problems at the capital. when yyn came across her small town on the way to the capital, she hitched an innocent ride wanting to get back into the city. but her true motive is to end waterbending forever so everyone can be equal, and she knows exactly where to go, the spirit oasis.  

Background: priya was the only child of uki and taqtu, her father was a waterbender and member of the water warriors while her mother was a nonbender housewife. her mother uki is the only child of pakku and alona, a result of an arranged marriage that lacked love. pakku wanted a waterbending son that could be the next best waterbending the north has ever seen but he got neither. due to her grandfather's waterbending abilities and him becoming the greatest waterbender in the northern water tribe priya grew up privileged. her grandfather is an advisor to the chief who holds the highest position so as a child priya grew up around the princess and other rich kids. she remebered hearing stories about her brave grandfather leading the watertribe troops against the fire nation. she watched from afar as her father trained and guarded their city, she looked up to him as a child and wanted to be just like him. she was a daddy's girl growing up and loved play fighting with him by splashing water at him pretending like she was bending. 

priya hoped and prayed for the day that her bending would come, it was unusual for it to happen after 6 but she still hoped everyday after that. she prayed before she went to bed everynight. since she wasn't a bender she never learned to heal, just lived an easy life as a rich kid in the northern water tribe wasting her days away by playing and doing things she wasn't supposed to. priya was best friends with princess yue herself and she often got in trouble for sneaking around and taking the princess to places they shouldn't go. she just got scolded and went right back to her same behaviors a few days later.

when she was 10 years old her dad passed away in an accident at work. the news was sudden and she wished she could just talk to him one more time to tell him how much she loved him. yue secretly took her to the spirit oasis so she could talk to her father one more time, she didn't know if it would work but its the most spiritual place in the northern water tribe and worth a try. yue told her about the history of tui and la, how they're the root of waterbending and the only reason she's alive. she's heard the story before but for some reason it was more interesting when yue told it. when they got to the spirit oasis priya prayed to let her see her father again or at least give her a sign that her father is still with her. instead she felt a rush of energy and passed out causing yue to call the guards and for priya to be hospitalized with a fever.

when she woke up the next day yue was the first person she saw...then her mom of course. she felt fine after getting something to eat and decided to go on a walk with yue. it was what happened during her walk that made her excited yet scared at the same time. a man was trying to steal from a merchant and he ran past them accidentally bumping into yue making her fall down. priya, being the protective friend she is, screamed at the man and made a gesture for him to stop but instead of him just stopping he ended up frozen in a block of ice. thats when priya realized she was officially a waterbender.

she wasn't sure if she believed in the whole moon spirit thing but after that experience she became an avid believer. priya and yue went to a secluded area to practice her waterbending, yue said she should go to yagoda to learn healing since thats the proper thing to do but priya had other ideas. she went to her grandfather pakku and asked him to teach her waterbending because he always wanted a waterbending grandson anyways. she wasn't a boy but thought her abilities would be enough for him. she showed off her new ability to which he was surprised because no one ever got bending so late in life but he still refused to train her and ordered her to go to healing classes instead since girls can't fight. she didn't want to but she stomped her way to healing class learning the basics with a bunch of 6 year olds.

when she wasn't learning healing she was practicing waterbending on her own. she watched the guys practice from a far and tried to copy it later on with yue. it was around that time that priya realized her feelings for yue were more than a friendship. they were together all the time, developing feelings seemed inevitable at this point. when she confessed her feelings yue's first response was that it wasn't allowed. she was the princess, her expectation was to have an arranged married to a man and have their children continue the legacy. with yue and pakku's rejections she started questioning the gender roles in her tribe. why did only girls have to learn healing? why can't girls learn waterbending? who made up those rules? who said that arranged marriage was necessary? all questions that yue feared to even think of but the more she questioned it the more upset she became. at yue, at pakku, her mom, yagoda, everyone.

she started to rebel more, she skipped healing classes and spent more time on her own practicing waterbending. she learned a lot on her own and she thought that if she learned enough and showed pakku then maybe he would accept her as a student, hoping to make some kind of change. her friendship with yue drifted, she started hanging out with the more "typical" kids who followed the rules. the more she stayed in that place the more upset she got and she just snapped all on her own. she went to pakku and demanded for him to teach her waterbending, a demand that caused gasps from the other advisors. he still didn't budge so she attacked him suddenly, the other advisors were going to help him but he said its a personal fight. he was surprised because she wasn't bad and he recognized some of his teachings in her movements, yet she still wasn't good enough to beat him. 

her actions caused her to be grounded and hear a long lecture from her mom but priya refused to sit still and accept her defeat so she snuck out her house at night and left the city. she almost didn't survive the brutal cold but a fisherman found her the next morning and brought her to his tiny village. she's been living in that village for over a year now. he has been treating her like his own family. the tiny village that she's in is the opposite of hers, despite both being in the north they don't have any gender roles. guys and girls both cook and do housework, there's no arranged marriages or waterbenders. priya became the first waterbender the village has seen. since then she's been perfecting her waterbending and she's improved greatly since her fight with pakku. being in the tiny village has helped priya realize that ism isn't the problem, its waterbending.             

PAKKU / MATERNAL GRANDFATHER / 79 / WATERBENDING INSTRUCTOR / TRADITIONAL, SARCASTIC, PRIDEFUL / FC: WES STUDI priya hates pakku. she doesn't care if he's her grandfather because she said what she said. she doesn't understand how someone could be so closed minded and judgemental. she thinks he needs to be knocked off his high horse. pakku doesn't give priya any special treatment despite being family you would never be able to guess that they're related. she knows its because she's not a boy and because she isn't the grandchild he wanted. it hurts more since her dad is gone and she wants someone new to look up to for waterbending.