"Katara! Did you—" Iroh rushed into the house to find the old waterbender standing at the kitchen window. It had a perfect view of the Southern Mountains. Through it, he could see the immense dark spirit slowly stalking off to the north.

"I see it, Iroh," she said quietly. "UnaVaatu has come after all."

"Una...? Oh." It had taken him a second. Iroh's mind was reeling. Although he'd told himself he'd been prepared for any outcome, in his heart he'd never really believed that Avatar Korra would fail. Thousands of years of darkness? Countless angry dark spirits unleashed upon the world? A part of him still refused to believe it, if for no other reason than some base survival instinct was screaming that it couldn't be true.

'Where is Asami?" he said sharply. She wasn't at the table.

"Your miss Sato is getting some rest in Tenzin's room at the end of the hall," Katara said. "I suggest that you go wake her up." At the mention of Tenzin, Iroh suddenly felt selfish. All three of Katara's children had stayed behind to take on Unalaq.

Katara pushed back the chair she'd been seated in and slowly stood. For the first time, she seemed tired. "I believe I have to see to Chief Tonraq again," she said. "Go on. She needs to know."

"Does she?" asked Iroh quietly.

"Yes," said Katara. Her voice was firm. "You can't protect everyone, Iroh. She has fought as hard as you have, and is just as much a part of this." She gave him a hard look that was nothing like her usual kindly smile. "She has a right to know. Don't take that from her." Then she made her way down the hall to the room where Tonraq was resting. He heard the door click closed.

Iroh walked to the room at the end of the hall where he himself had slept not that long ago. He put one hand on the knob but didn't turn it. Instead he listened, trying to hear any sounds from within. After a minute he realized he was stalling. Was there ever a good way to tell someone that the world was ending?

He took his hand off the knob and knocked. "Asami," he said through the door. "Asami, you need to wake up. I…" Iroh squeezed his eyes closed, biting his lower lip. He leaned forward and rested his head against the door. The wood was cool and smooth against his forehead.

He let out a deep breath. "Asami," he said, "I have something to tell you."

"That's it then," Asami said. She stood next to Iroh at Katara's kitchen window, looking out into the night. Near the top of the mountains he could see what looked like a gathering storm—a swirl of nearly solid darkness against the moonlit slopes. But he knew better.

The dark spirits were coming.

"That's it," he said quietly. He put a hand tentatively on Asami's shoulder and squeezed. She was still wearing her fighting suit, and the dark synthetic material felt smooth under his fingers. She leaned into him slightly, her loose hair falling over his arm. He made no move to brush it away.

"Do you think there's any hope for Korra and the others?" she murmured.

"I don't know," he answered. Truthfully, he thought it very likely that they were dead. Avatar Korra wasn't the kind of person who stood aside when others were in danger. Other feelings aside, he didn't think that Mako was, either, or Bolin. If UnaVaatu was free, he would have gone through Asami's friends first. But saying that wouldn't help.

"Ten thousand years of darkness," Asami whispered. "I can't believe it."

In the distance, the cloud of shadows seemed to be growing. He didn't like admitting it, but Iroh thought the prospects for their area were grim. The largest concentration of dark spirits would be here near the portal, and the war would only fuel them further. Ten thousand years? He wasn't sure they'd last the night.

"I don't think most of us at the South Pole will need to worry about that," he said finally.

"I know," said Asami. Her voice was grim. She knew the odds as well and, ever the scientist, accepted the facts as they stood. It was one of the many things he liked about her. "This is about to be ground zero."

"Yes."

"There isn't anything we can do, is there, Iroh?" She said this with no inflection, her voice heavy with defeat. It was a statement, not a question. The fight was over. They had lost.

Asami turned from the window and looked up at him, green eyes wide, face pale. The gold flecks in her eyes shone in the filtered moonlight like a handful of fire sapphires scattered in the grass. Iroh thought that it was the most exquisite thing he'd ever seen.

And suddenly he was kissing her. He didn't remember a conscious decision to do it. It just happened, like the first breath after a long dive. Asami stiffened in surprise and he started to pull away. Then her mouth was on his again, hard. He leaned back in, hardly knowing what he was doing, just needing her. Her lips were cool and soft, just like he'd imagined. He wrapped his arms around her, the fabric of her uniform slick under his fingers. Asami shifted slightly in his grip, moving her hands to his back to pull herself against him. He stepped forward, trapping her with his hips against the low counter. The buttons of her jacket dug sharply into his chest. He moved one hand slowly up and into her thick hair, tangling it roughly around his fingers, pulling her close. She responded in kind, deepening the kiss, and he felt her tongue flick his lips. She tasted faintly of tea. He bit gently at her lower lip and she exhaled, making a small noise in his mouth. He shuddered. Spirits he couldn't remember having ever been kissed like this in his life.

He felt himself growing hot and slowly pulled away. Asami was breathing hard, her eyes too bright. He thought that he should say something, but the connection between his brain and his mouth seemed to have been temporarily severed. He shook his head slightly, trying to clear it.

"I— I wanted to know," he said finally. His face tingled where her lips had been. "What it would be like. To do that. Before the end." Asami said nothing, but made no attempt to move away. Her face was unreadable.

"With you, that is. To do that with you," he finished lamely. Curses, but he'd never been good at speeches.

"I—" Asami started, but cut off as the unmistakable click of a door opening sounded in the hallway.