A/N: First of all, I'd like to thank Guest for their review! I hope you'll like this chapter; it's extra-long! I was having trouble doing the descriptions for the big action scenes, but then I realized: Hey. It's Eska. She'd probably use really flat, deadpan descriptions.

After their failed mission, and traveling almost literally halfway around the world and back (and using only their bending for the return trip), Eska was hoping she and Desna wouldn't have to face Father right away. But they were met at the palace door by Father's war advisor, Imnek.

"You two are to meet your father at the Southern spirit portal," he informed them, adding "your highnesses" almost as an afterthought.

Eska barely repressed an eyeroll.

"Can it wait until we have recuperated?" Desna asked.

"Um…he said as soon as you get back," Imnek answered, before bowing and scurrying off. Eska had never been sure how that man had become a great general, since he had always struck her as nothing more than a giant coward.

Thus they set off once again. At least they were given a ride there, so they didn't have to go all the way to the South Pole on foot. When they reached the portal, they were surprised to see a gate and watchtowers surrounding it.

"It would appear that Father has done some renovations," Eska commented.

The gate slowly opened, and the driver of their vehicle let them off before driving away as quickly as he could. Apparently, he was not enamored of the new fortifications.

The twins walked through the gate to the portal and waited.

After what seemed like forever…it could have been half an hour, or it could have been half the day for all she knew…Eska snapped, "Where is he?"

"Father said he would meet us at this location. He'll be here," Desna answered. He also sounded impatient, although Eska wasn't sure whether it was directed towards Father or towards her.

Just then, Father did show up…but not from the direction they were anticipating. Instead of walking through the gates, he came out of the portal itself.

"Were you just in the Spirit World?" Desna asked incredulously.

"Never mind that. Where is the Avatar?" Father said.

Eska steeled herself, then explained, "She was within our grasp…until a dark spirit attacked her."

"They're out of control," Desna added.

"You didn't get her?" Father inquired in a dangerous tone.

"The Avatar is dead," Eska told him.

There followed a lecture of epic proportions about their incompetence, both in this endeavor and in general. Eska was used to this ranting and raving from Mother, but not from Father. All Eska and Desna could do was stand there and look contrite. And who knows, maybe Desna actually was contrite, but Eska couldn't quite bring herself to feel that way. Seriously…what could they have done differently? Would Father have been happy if they'd brought the Avatar's corpse back with them? Or if they'd chased the dark spirit and ended up dying themselves?

Finally, Father calmed down, caught his breath, and acted as though his outburst had never occurred. He said, "There's still time. We'll just have to find another way." And he swept away, leaving Eska and Desna to their own devices.

At first, Eska had thought they'd finally be able to go home. She wanted nothing more than to sleep in her own bed, which wasn't tainted by bad memories. But if Father didn't say they could go home, then they couldn't.

After a week passed with no contact whatsoever from Father, then two, Eska began to doubt him for the first time. Did he even know what he was doing?

"Of course he does," Desna said when Eska voiced her concerns. He seemed offended that she would so much as think that. But then, Desna had always been much more obedient and dutiful than she was…as Mother had pointed out countless times. And if he trusted Father, Eska supposed she should as well.

And then, very abruptly, Father summoned them to the portal for a second time.

"Father, what are we doing here?" Desna asked. Even he was slightly cranky after being dragged from bed hours before dawn.

"You're here to straighten out the mess you've caused when you failed to capture the Avatar," Father replied.

"I told you it wasn't our fault!" Desna protested.

"You're right. It was my fault for trusting you," Father retorted. Eska had to bite her tongue to maintain silence.

Father continued, "Harmonic Convergence is upon us. This is my opportunity to change the world."

"We'll make it up to you, Father," Eska assured him. Really, what else was there for her to say? She knew it was past the time when he'd accept simple apologies.

"Good. Because I'll need your help to open the Northern portal," Father said.

Eska had no idea how they could help with that. Desna must have been thinking something similar, because he said, "I thought only the Avatar could do it!"

"I believe there is another way," Father stated. Eska started picking at the skin around her thumbnails-an old nervous habit-as they followed Father through the portal. Eska was surprised at how little she felt from crossing over into the Spirit World…she'd been half-expecting that the portal would zap her, or something equally unpleasant.

The landscape was much the same as it had been on the other side...mountainous and barren, if anything even more so. Father directed their attention to the Northern portal. Finding it had been easy, but getting to it was another matter. They had to descend the cliff upon which they stood, navigate the rocky terrain, and ford several shallow streams. Eska was exhausted by the time they got there. She wasn't used to walking long distances; usually she could use her waterbending to slide over the ice when she had to get somewhere far away.

"Father, haven't the spirits had ten thousand years to open this portal?" she asked.

Surprisingly, Desna seemed to share her doubts, because he chimed in, "If they could not succeed, what makes you think we will?"

"By entering the Spirit World through the portal, we bring with us something the spirits never had…our bending," Father explained, and bent a stream of water at the portal to demonstrate. "Join me! Together we can open this portal!" he ordered the twins.

Well, he sounded sure of himself. Eska and Desna looked at each other, and did as Father told them. But just seconds later, the portal retaliated and sent out jagged, purple bolts of energy. Desna went flying.

"Desna!" Eska exclaimed.

"Leave him! Keep bending!" Father said. But Eska didn't obey him this time.

She ran over to Desna. For a split second she feared the worst, but she quickly saw he was still breathing.

"He needs a healer at once," Eska said.

"This is more important!" Father snarled.

Eska wrestled with indecision for the briefest moment, then decided: No. Nothing could possibly be more important than her brother. She didn't care about any possible consequences.

"I'm taking him back," she said firmly as she helped Desna to his feet. She was expecting Father to give chase, but he didn't.

And take him back she did...back to the Southern portal, then all the way back to the palace. She was all but carrying Desna on her back by the time they got there.

"We need a healer…now!" she snapped at the first person she encountered…it could have been a servant, or a soldier, or the majordomo for all she cared.

She stood by Desna's side as help was brought in the form of several men, and as these men lifted Desna and carried him into his room and carefully hoisted him onto the bed. Only when the healer had come in with her large bag of potions, thoroughly examined Desna, and declared him out of immediate danger, did Eska give in to her exhaustion. Her legs went out from under her, and she collapsed right then and there, on the floor next to Desna's bed.

Eska woke up face-to-face with the carpet. That was odd, she thought. Why did I decide to sleep on the floor? Then she remembered.

Obviously, the healer had checked her as well, and decided that she would be all right with some rest, because there was a blanket covering her that had not been there before.

"Are you awake?"

The weak, rasping voice came from the bed. Desna was conscious!

"You ought not to be speaking," Eska scolded him as she stood up. "You need total rest so you can…"

And then, the next thing she knew, she was back on the floor. She'd only blacked out for a second or two, and once Desna realized she was fine and he didn't need to call for help, he said in a slightly teasing manner, "You were saying…?"

"Well, I suppose I shouldn't have leaped up that quickly," Eska allowed. She got up…more carefully this time…and sat on the edge of Desna's bed.

"You shouldn't have done that, you know," Desna said as he sat up too.

"Done what?"

"You know what."

Eska blinked.

"But…you were gravely injured. I couldn't abandon you. If I had caused your demise by my inaction, I'm…I'm not sure what I would have done with myself."

"It would have been for the greater good," Desna insisted. Eska decided to let the subject drop, since she didn't want to argue with him when he was in this condition.

Instead, she said, "I feel as if I've taken you for granted over these past weeks. And for that, I apologize."

Desna was silent for nearly a minute. Eska let him take his time to think up a response. She wasn't sure what Desna would say in return, but she definitely hadn't been expecting it to be, "I…confess that I haven't been entirely honest with you."

Eska dearly wanted to know what he meant, but felt that she shouldn't urge him to talk before he was ready.

"I think…I think I may have secretly wanted him to run away," he finally said, and winced at the strain all this talking, combined with sitting up, was putting on him.

"Don't over-exert yourself!" Eska cautioned again, and helped him lie back on the pillows. Only then did the meaning of his words sink in. They both knew which "him" Desna had been referring to.

Desna closed his eyes for a few minutes to regain his strength. He was quiet so long that Eska started to think he'd fallen asleep. But then he turned his head and looked at her with a pained expression…which might not have been entirely from physical pain.

Finally he began speaking once more, quietly enough that Eska had to bend down to hear him.

"I was jealous because I knew I would have never had a chance with him."

Well. Eska had not been anticipating that, but it explained a lot.

"Please don't tell Mother and Father," he begged.

"I would never even contemplate doing such a thing," Eska said stoutly.

"You're not angry?"

"Of course not. You're my brother, now and always."

Desna seemed to be struggling to put his emotions into words. Finally, he settled for a simple "Thank you."

Eska stayed by her brother's side during his entire recovery, except during the nights, when the healer managed to convince her that Desna would be fine without her, and she should go rest in her own room.

There was an ominous lack of contact from Father over the next few days. Had he stayed in the Spirit World? In any case, Eska supposed she was grateful for the reprieve, so Desna could get fully better before Father needed them again.

Then, the sixth day after Desna's accident, the twins were sitting in his room and sharing a quiet supper when Father showed up seemingly out of nowhere. Eska happened to glance towards the door and there he was. She nearly choked on a bite of steamed bun.

"Tonraq is leading an attack on this city. I need you two to help subdue him."

After Eska stopped coughing, she tried not to show how badly she'd been startled, and it looked as if Desna was doing the same.

"May we at least be allowed to finish ingesting our food?" Desna asked. Father said they weren't.

They had stayed inside the palace the whole time Father was gone, and Eska was shocked to see how the situation had deteriorated outside. Dark spirits were everywhere now. But Father didn't appear to be concerned. He even got on the back of one of the spirits and began riding it to make an aerial attack on the rebels. Surprisingly, it let him. Eska and Desna got no such privilege, and had to climb up onto the roof under their own power.

The three of them started attacking the rebels furiously, along with Father's soldiers. Obviously, these people had not been expecting a counterstrike this quickly, and fighting off them and the dark spirits simultaneously proved too much for them to handle. They were overpowered in a matter of minutes. Then Tonraq tried to take on Father in single combat, but he was no more successful.

Well, that had been easy. Eska was happy that the rebels had been thoroughly put in their place, but more importantly, she thought, she and Desna would finally be able to finish their supper.

Alas, that was not to be. Father said they would not be returning to the palace, and would be staying in tents near the portal. Once this was through, Eska never wanted to see another tent for the whole remainder of her life.

On their way to the camp, Father told them that the Northern spirit portal had been opened. Evidently, the Avatar had not been as dead as Eska and Desna had thought. So why were they still staying at this awful place?

The next morning, neither twin had slept well, and tempers were running high. Eska in particular felt like the slightest thing would set her off. Finally, the two decided to confront Father. They needed answers.

"What are we still doing here, Father?" Eska asked as soon as they were permitted entrance to Father's tent.

"The invasion was completely successful and the Southern tribe is under our control. The spirit portals are open!" Desna added.

"You've restored balance. Now we would like to go home," Eska told him.

But Father said, "You don't understand. Everything I've achieved so far will pale in comparison with what I'm about to accomplish."

"What else is there? The Water Tribe is united!" Desna said. This was getting more confusing by the second.

Father went on about a "glorious revolution" as the twins looked at each other apprehensively, and told them to round up the troops to protect the portal.

"From…whom? We've already beaten everyone," Eska pointed out.

"The Avatar will be here soon," Father said. "She has no choice."

Right after they left Father's tent, Eska had another dizzy spell. Desna caught her before she hit the ground.

"Thank you," she said.

"Are you sure you're all right?" he asked her.

"I'm fine. It's probably just anxiety."

"We'll make an inspiring sight for the troops, won't we?" Desna asked drily. Eska snorted.

But if the troops were less-than-inspired by the twins' haggard appearance, they kept it to themselves. They immediately did as they asked. And it was not a moment too soon; the soldiers had scarcely assumed position when an airplane came into view.

From then on, all hell broke loose. Explosions and projectiles rocked the camp. But Eska wasn't scared; rather she felt a sort of detachment from the whole scene. Well…the top priority was getting rid of that plane. Since the soldiers were having trouble accomplishing this task, it appeared it would be up to Eska and Desna. They took the tail off with one well-aimed barrage of icicles. It crashed shortly thereafter.

They got a brief reprieve from the action, until soldiers came back with the Avatar and her companions as prisoners. Including…Bolin. That was fast. Anticlimactic, even.

Eska walked up to the Avatar's three friends, who had been brought back second…don't look at him don't look at him…and marched them over to the tent where the Avatar, her airbending instructor and his sister, and her father were being held. The three new prisoners were unceremoniously thrown onto the floor.

"Congratulations, everyone," Father said as he entered the tent after them. "You've all got front-row seats for the beginning of a new world order."

The Avatar argued with him. Father said that he was going to restore balance by fusing with Vaatu and becoming a "dark Avatar".

Well. That was new. Questions began racing through Eska's head. What, exactly, would happen when he did this? Where would they live? Would they ever see the North again? Would Father still even be human? Would any of them still be human?

At least this maybe explained why Father had never seemed to care whether Eska got married or not.

Her stomach started to clench. She wanted to support her father in everything he did, but now he was making that more and more difficult!

When Father was done talking, he turned to the twins and said, "Keep them locked up. After the Harmonic Convergence, I will come for Korra."

Eska didn't know what to say except, "Yes, Father."

After Father left, everyone stared at each other for what seemed an unfathomably long time. Then, as the twins were taking a peek outside the tent at the spirits flying around the portal, the Avatar said, "Eska, Desna, listen to me. You've gotta help us stop Unalaq. I know he's your father, but Vaatu has made him completely crazy!"

"We will never turn on our father," Eska told her…with more conviction than she felt, but they didn't need to know that.

The Avatar kept pressing, but her attempts only made Desna mad.

"You don't know what you're talking about!" he cried. "Our father is the wisest man in the world. If he says what he is doing is right, I believe him."

Eska kept quiet.

From there, things went from bad to worse. Apparently they had missed a prisoner…the airbending instructor's idiotic nonbender brother, who somehow managed to breach their defenses and release the prisoners. And the Avatar's polar bear dog incapacitated Eska and Desna, so there was nothing they could do about it.

Then, as they came to and went outside, Harmonic Convergence happened. The sky turned a threatening purple, and the twins were knocked back by the shock wave. Eska wanted nothing more than to curl up and rock and hum until this was resolved one way or another. But that was not an option.

After they'd recovered, Desna said, "We should go to the portal. In case Father requires our assistance."

"Yes. That is probably a good idea," Eska answered in a voice that she tried very hard to keep calm.

They went to the portal…but there was no sign of Father.

"Where'd he go?" she asked.

Right as she finished speaking, a screaming man was ejected from the portal and landed an impressive distance away.

"Ah yes. That would be him," Eska said.

Father was closely followed by Bolin and Mako, who were obviously sent to keep him from reentering the portal. Eska and Desna could have gone over to help him…but they didn't.

After a while, Father retreated and found the twins. He nodded wordlessly at them, and they had no choice but to follow.

It was not hard to find them, since Bolin gave away their position by shouting, "Unalaq? Are you out there?"

Of all the stupid…that boy would not know stealth even if it bit him on his gluteal muscles (which were quite impressive, if Eska recalled correctly, but now was not the time to think about that).

The brothers were pathetically trying to hide behind rather small boulders. It still would have been easy to locate them even if Bolin hadn't started yelling.

"Hello, my feeble turtleduck," Eska said as she peered around at him. He screamed. She bent a stream of water at him. Desna similarly took care of Mako, and then Father bent a larger stream at both of them.

"Don't let them escape this time!" was all the instruction Father gave before he walked into the portal once more. But they escaped anyway; they had regained consciousness more quickly than the twins had anticipated, and ran back into the portal as well. Although…looking back, Eska thought that maybe they hadn't tried their absolute hardest to keep the brothers captive. In any case, Desna and Eska quickly caught up to them and froze them in ice blocks.

In the Spirit World, their father was quickly gaining the upper hand. The Avatar made a few feeble attempts to stop him, but right after Eska and Desna got there, Vaatu fused with Father.

Well. So. That just happened.

Father had insisted that he'd still be human, but that didn't look human to Eska.

"We are now one! Now a new era for spirits and humans will begin! And I will lead them all as the new Avatar!" he (they? it?) said. But Korra still wasn't giving up.

Meanwhile, Mako was begging to be let out of the ice. (Obviously, it hadn't occurred to him to try to use his firebending…best to keep it that way.)

"His groveling is pathetic," Desna said.

"But I do enjoy the sweet scent of desperation," Eska added, although of course she would have liked it much more from the other brother.

Mako continued in his attempts to convince them to turn.

"Come on! Your dad has become an evil monster. He's gonna bring on eternal darkness. Why would you protect someone who doesn't care about you at all?"

He didn't understand. They had no choice, and there could be no turning back now.

"Father was going to let me expire when we were trying to open the Northern portal," Desna pointed out. "Perhaps we should rethink our position."

Now he was doubting? After all the times he'd reassured Eska about Father's intentions? If he defected, then all hope would be lost.

"No! Don't listen to him. His words are poisoning your mind!" she said.

Then Bolin did what he did best. He started crying.

"What's with this outburst of emotion?" Eska asked him.

"I'm sorry! I can't help it! It's just so sad that I'll never get to be with you again!"

That was unexpected. Eska demanded that he explain himself further.

"Eska…I've always loved you, and I've always wanted to be with you, but now that the world is ending…I'm never gonna get that chaaance!"

Well, maybe he should have thought about that before he ran away from her after she gave him her virginity! She reminded him of that…well, the first part, at least.

Bolin's response was a pretty little speech…maybe a bit too pretty. It piled on the metaphors, and Eska wasn't sure whether to laugh or join him in crying. So she decided to kiss him instead.

Their first kiss, strangely enough. It was a bit messy, but satisfactory enough for Eska to decide to let the brothers go free.

"You'll never defeat my father. But, should you survive…perhaps we could spend eternal darkness together," she told Bolin. Just the two of them-and Desna, of course; she'd be willing to share Bolin with him-traveling the world and trying not to get devoured by dark spirits. She thought she'd like that. But she didn't have much time to dwell on it, because Bolin ran off with his brother.

"They will certainly perish," Desna said.

It occurred to Eska belatedly that Bolin may have been embellishing things a bit. There was a good reason why she normally avoided emotions. Oh well. In other circumstances, she'd be upset, but there were more important things going on at the moment.

They walked out of the portal only to see their…well, what used to be their father growing to an immense size and departed for parts unknown. They all got knocked back once again by the energy blast, and the airbending instructor and his siblings appeared out of nowhere to heal Korra, Mako and Bolin…but didn't bother with the twins. They had to get up on their own.

"What do we do now?" Eska asked. Desna shrugged.

"It was a rhetorical question," she informed him.

"Oh."

From then on…things happened. Eska would be hard-pressed to say exactly what those things were, since she wasn't witness to the actual fight between the two Avatars. Up here, they didn't have much to do other than ward off dark spirits. Eska and Desna decided to join the fight just in time to rescue Bolin. Again.

"Eska! I love you!" he shouted, and kissed her cheek. She appreciated the sentiment, but perhaps now was not the best time.

"Let's face the end of the world together!" he cried as he joined them.

"You're so romantic," Eska told him.

But their bravado was short-lived. There were too many spirits, and they were forced to retreat into the Tree of Time. It became obvious that this would only buy them a few seconds, but when all hope seemed lost, Korra, who had somehow turned into a blue giant despite her physical body being present in the tree, vanquished all the spirits. At this point, Eska wasn't even going to ask.

But wait…if she was alive…then that meant Father, or what had been left of him, was dead. She guessed she could live with that.

Then more things happened, and Eska guessed this meant Harmonic Convergence was over, and that they weren't getting eternal darkness after all. Too bad.

Then, of course, everyone had to run up and congratulate Korra, and once again Eska and Desna were forgotten about. Eska supposed she would let it slide this one time.

Oddly enough, it was Korra who remembered about them.

"I'm sorry about your father, but he was already fused with Vaatu. I couldn't save him," she said.

"It seems Cousin Korra is under the impression that we are saddened by our father's demise," Eska told Desna. She was quite impressed with herself for getting social cues right this time.

"But I will not miss him at all. In the end, he became a deplorable man," Desna replied.

"Agreed," Eska said. Then she thought of something.

"But how will we explain this to Mother?" she asked. Their parents had had an arranged marriage, but they had genuinely loved each other…or at least, Mother had loved Father.

Before Desna could answer, Bolin came up to them.

"So! I was thinking! I'm not really a fan of the long-distance relationship thing, so how about you move to Republic City with me?"

It was tempting. They could finally have their wedding, and move in together, and Eska would really try to be more considerate of his feelings this time. But she quickly saw that this wouldn't work.

"I do not think that will be possible," she told him. He sighed.

"Okay, Desna can come too."

That was indeed a generous offer. But he was missing the point. Now that Father was no longer in this world, someone had to rule the Northern Water Tribe. They couldn't leave their home when the people needed them the most.

"I will not be joining you, Bolin. Desna and I must return home," she said firmly. If he couldn't join her up North, then she'd have to let him go.

Bolin was confused.

"But you said…" he started.

"Eternal darkness was upon us. I became caught up in the moment," Eska explained.

"Yeah…I guess I did too," Bolin said.

"But…you will always hold a special place in the organ that pumps my blood," Eska assured him. "I will remember you fondly…my turtleduck." Then they kissed for a final time.

It was late at night when they disembarked from the ship that carried them home. The twins had decided it would be better if Desna delivered the news to Mother. Eska, on the other hand, went straight to her room.

At first, she was happy to be back where she belonged, with the comforting scent and non-scratchy sheets of her own bed. But when she started unpacking her belongings (which had been carried to her room ahead of time), the first thing that popped out of her suitcase was the missing stuffed turtleduck.

She clung tightly onto it while she cried herself to sleep.