Chapter Text
Adora didn’t know how long she’s been running through Fright Zone while yelling Catra’s name.
It felt like forever, just running along the empty, abandoned corridors. Adora thought about how this damned place used to be so full of soldiers, chattering, attending duties, going about on their day. And now, it’s all empty.
That’s good, She tells herself, desperate to make herself believe it. That’s good, right? Now there’s no war anymore. That’s good.
“Can you get in contact with Catra again?” Bow spoke up. “She could tell us what her surroundings look like—maybe it could help us find her.”
Adora nods. “Catra?” She spoke into Bow’s communication pad, Glimmer waiting anxiously on the other side. “Catra?”
Glimmer glances at Entrapta, then back to her. “No, nothing. Her chip is still on, but we’re getting no answers.”
Maybe Catra changed her mind? Maybe she ran away—maybe she doesn’t want to be found anymore. Maybe—maybe she left her, again, after abandoning the chip, and ran off so that she could never find her again. Maybe—
“Hey,” Bow held her shoulder. “Come on. We’re going to find her, okay? She’s there. You heard her—she wants to go home. And we’re going to take her home.”
“Well, she’s answering us, Bow!” Adora exclaims. “What if she changed her mind? What if—”
A loud crash on the end of the hallway interrupted them. Adora and Bow turned their heads towards the sound, but there was nobody there—only a few fallen boxes that seem to be the source of the sound. They both shared one confused look before—
Bow screams. “What the—”
Melog appears just inches away from them, eyes wide.
“Holy shit, Melog!” Adora felt like she could cry. She ran into the cat, hugging them tightly. “Oh my god, Melog, do you—do you know where Catra is?”
Melog’s ears flattened at that name.
Adora didn’t know what she was expecting. “Melog?”
Then, they bit the hem of Adora’s sleeve and teleported her without a warning.
The next thing Adora knew was reappearing with them in a room with four bunk beds lining up in each side. She drops down to the hard, metal floor, dizzy and shocked from getting teleported unexpectedly.
“Adora? Adora!”
“Bow?” She calls back. “Bow, I’m okay, I’m fine!”
“Where are you?”
“I’m in—” she looks around, holding to one of the bedposts for support. It looks like any regular room in the Horde—which there are thousands of. There’s nothing here, really. Only the beds, a few boxes, claw marks on the walls, and—
Oh.
She turned to Melog. “Catra was here, wasn’t she?” Adora walks around, trying to identify them. No, Catra… she didn’t just came here. She lived here—this was their old room. The sheets, the drawings on the walls, she remembers it. It was theirs.
She heards Melog cried for her from the end of the room. “Melog? What’s wrong?” Adora asks, walking over slowly to them to see what was going on—that’s when she saw it.
Catra’s body, curling on the floor at the very end of the room. She looked so lifeless and still, at first Adora thought it was just a heap of unused blanket—but it’s her. It is her, it’s her, and she yells her name again for what felt like the millionth time that day. “Catra?”
Melog snarls when she tries to get close—Adora doesn’t blame them. She was about to run into her before she saw the bandage on her arm. “I’m not going to hurt her, I promise, Melog—trust me. Please trust me.” She begs. She just needed to touch Catra, anything that could make her sure that she was really there. “Please.”
The cat backs away reluctantly, keeping their eyes on her.
Adora wasted no time to kneel beside Catra’s body, carefully unwrapping her from the blanket cocoon she was in. Catra whines, barely audible for her to hear, but it was there. She was alive—not okay, but at least alive. That was all she needed.
“Can you—can you go get Bow?” Adora asks them. “I know you trust me enough to bring me here—so I’m asking you once again, please. I won’t hurt her. I’ll never hurt her.”
Oh, will you, Adora? The taunting voice in her head asks.
Adora ignores it. “Please, Melog. Please get him. We have to hurry.”
Melog stares at her, as if she was trying to say something to threaten her if she’d ever hurt Catra again. She made sure that Adora gets their message before leaping finally leaping out of the room, leaving her alone with Catra.
Adora felt as hopeless as she was on Prime’s ship.
Looking at Catra, broken and hurt on the floor—and the worst part was knowing that she had caused this. Both of the time she almost—did—lost Catra, it was because of her. Adora remembered holding her body, surrounded by Prime’s clones and being ready to die with her. She remembered holding her body at the ship, knowing that she’d died for a second before she brought her back to life out of sheer will. She had hurt Catra so many times—when will it ever stop? How can she be sure that she won’t hurt her again after this?
“Catra?” She calls for her softly, warm tears pooling on her eyes, “Catra, can you open your eyes for me?”
She watched her wince in pain, like she was trying hard to stay conscious, but Catra didn’t open her eyes. At least Adora knew that she was there—some part of hers, at least. “Hey,” Adora says, scooping her body into her arms carefully, as if she was handling a fragile piece of glass. “Hey, I’m here. Can you hear me? Adora’s here, Catra. I’m here
She could only make out one thing from Catra’s mouth. I’m sorry.
“It’s okay,” Adora’s voice finally breaks. “It’s okay. I’m sorry too. We’re going home, okay? I’m taking you home. I’ve got you. I—”
—Promise, she wanted to say, but the words were stuck in her throat. She couldn’t make herself say it—afraid she’s going to break it, again, again and again. When is she ever going to stop?
She doesn’t know. She really don’t.
Bow carefully approaches the silent girl sitting beside the window in her room.
Glimmer turns to her head from the window when he sat in front of her. “Hey.” She smiles. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” He tells her. “You?”
She just shrugs. “How’s… how are they?”
“Catra’s stable, for now. Adora… stays. You know how it is.”
“She doesn’t want to leave?”
“I tried. I’m not going to make her, though.” Bow says. “Are you?”
Glimmer shook her head. “No, I guess not.”
Silence.
Bow knows what’s going on. Of course he does. He always does. He’s been with her since, what, four? He could read her like she’s an open book, even if she tries so hard to close it. It’s a gift, yeah—but sometimes, it’s a curse too. He realizes that when he saw the way Glimmer looks at Adora.
He’d be lying to himself if he says that it didn’t break his heart.
But what else was he supposed to do, anyway? Make the matters worse? Bow knew the reason why Glimmer hated this whole thing so much—she didn’t want Adora to keep chasing someone who doesn’t even want her. Because Glimmer was there, she was always there for her—even if she had to be in the brink of death (not that it didn’t already happened).
Bow could understand her frustration, even if he didn’t want to. He wanted to be selfish for once and stop putting other people’s feelings after his own—but of course he couldn’t. Because that’s what anyone would do if they really loved someone, right? Of course.
But then… Glimmer told him that she loved him, at the spaceship. And then again, when they were getting the fuel crystals for their ship. And again, when they were separated on their mission to save Catra. And again, when they were ready to die on the Heart of Etheria, side by side with Adora. Glimmer could’ve said it to Adora, because she loved her. But she didn’t. She said it to him instead.
Bow didn’t know what to make out of that.
Does it mean that she really loved him? Or does it mean that she had chosen him as her second choice, when she knew that Adora would never choose her? He’d rather not find out at all if that was the case—it would hurt too much.
“You’re thinking,” Glimmer broke the silence. “What’s going on in that head of yours, huh?” she smiles.
Bow shook his head. “Nothing. Just… thinking.” He doesn’t want to talk about this, he really doesn’t—but it feels like his head would explode if he keeps this all to himself for a second longer.
“Yeah, thinking about what?” She chuckles, nudging his shoulder. “C’mon, talk to me. You were always so emotionally repressed.”
“Well, I had to. I didn’t want to ruin things.”
Glimmer frowns at that. “No. Of course it won’t. Talking about your feelings won’t ruin things, Bow.”
“That’s not what I’ve seen so far,” He laughs at that.
“Well, not to me.” She says firmly. “You should speak your mind out, you know. You never do.”
“Nobody would care.”
“Bow, I would.” She’s serious now, he knows it from how her voice shifts. “What makes you think I wouldn’t?”
“Glimmer, if this was a book, I’m not the main the main character, okay!” He finally says it. “You’re the main character, along with Adora, and Catra—I’m just this comic relief guy nobody cares about. My job is to just be there for the main characters. It always was.”
“No, it’s not! Bow,” Glimmer’s eyes widen. She held his cheek to make him look at her in the eyes. “No, it’s not. Bow, this isn’t a book, and you’re my friend. Of course I would care. Is this… is that what you’ve been feeling the whole time?”
“What else was I supposed to feel?”
“Bow…” There were tears in her eyes. Bow didn’t want this to happen—he knew talking about his feelings was bad. He knew it. “Bow, I’m sorry.”
“What?”
She wraps her arms around his neck. “I’m sorry you felt like that. You were right—I really am a bad friend, aren’t I?”
“No, that’s not what I—”
“—I didn’t say that to make you feel bad. No.” Glimmer cuts him off. “I just—I had to hear it, so that I could stop being one. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. Listen,” she pulls away, staring right into his eyes, “you’re important, Bow. I care about you, and I’m sorry that I didn’t show that to you. But I do. I really do. Talk to me, okay?”
“Okay.” He took a deep breath. “Then tell me.”
“Tell you what?”
“Did you mean it?” Bow asks—he shouldn’t keep pushing his luck, but he does. “When you told me you loved me, on the spaceship, and on the heart—did you really mean it?”
“I… of course I do.” She frowns. “Why wouldn’t I mean it?”
“You loved Adora.” He states. “You always did.”
Glimmer’s breath hitched. “What—how did you—”
“I always knew you, you know, even when you don’t want to be known.” Bow tells her. “I’m not… angry that you do. It’s just that, I didn’t know why you suddenly changed for me.” He looks up at her. “I don’t want to just be the second choice for you, Glimm.”
She stares at him. “Of course you’re not.”
“Then… why? You’ve never loved me before.”
“I have!” Glimmer says. “Just… with different meanings. I loved you as my childhood friend, Bow. And when Adora finally came around to me, it felt like— I don’t know. She was just so beautiful and powerful, and she was my best friend—it was hard not to fall for her. But then… I realized that was all I loved her for. A savior, a friend. I didn’t know anything about her before she was She-ra. And when I saw the way she looks at Catra… it was just final. I know there’s just some unbreakable bond between them that just I don’t understand. I’d be a fool if I thought I could still love her.”
“So that’s true, then? That I’m just your second choice?”
“No! No, I’m not finished yet, listen,” She cups his cheek between her hands. “When Adora decided to come back for Catra back then, risking everything in the universe for her—I knew the only person who’d do that for me too was you. I was a complete asshole before I got taken to Prime’s spaceship—you didn’t have to come back for me. But you did.”
“I—of course I would. I couldn’t just leave you.” Bow tells her.
“See? You knew me before all of this even happened, Bow. Just like how Catra had known and loved Adora before she was She-ra.” Glimmer smiles softly. “I love you. And I’ll tell you that as many times as you want to make you believe it.”
He presses his forehead against her. She loves me. She loves me! “I’ve loved you for a long time, too.”
She chuckles. “You have? Since when?”
“Since you stood between me and the magical beast attacking us in the Whispering Woods, back when we were seven.” He shrugs. “Remember that? I was completely in awe of you.”
Glimmer laughs. “I guess that’s valid. I was pretty cool back then.”
Bow pulls away to look at her. “So now that we’ve cleared out everything between us, will you talk to Adora?”
“About what, us?”
“No… about you both. You never really had a proper conversation with her after this whole thing.” He says. “You know, the fight before you got taken away, and then the war, and then the fight about Catra—there’s just so many things. You should talk it out, both of you.”
Glimmer shrugs. “I’m not sure she’d even listen.”
“Of course she would. She’s Adora, your best friend—you’ve literally just told me that I should talk to you more often. Why wouldn’t you talk to her, then?”
She sighs. “I guess I can try.”
“And that’s all I need.” He smiles. “Talk to her, okay?”
“I will,” Glimmer nods. She smiles back when she looked up at him. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
It’s the sixth day since they’ve found Catra, and she have been awake for fifty-four hours and counting.
Adora didn’t once leave her side.
Well, maybe once, when Glimmer practically begged her to take a break. Catra was still unconscious back then—it just felt so wrong, to leave her side. But Glimmer insists for Adora to leave the room with her so that she could at least rest from staring at Catra.
“Hey, nothing’s gonna happen, okay?” Glimmer says. “You have to rest.”
“I’m not leaving her. That’s not good.”
“Catra’s not going to be alone—Bow’s going to watch her while you rest.” She keeps insisting. “Come on, Adora. It’s only going to be for a second.”
“Fine,” Adora sighs, turning to Bow. “Will you tell me if anything happens?”
“I will,” He assures her. “Now go.”
She reluctantly exits the room, Glimmer dragging her arm with her.
Adora knew that something was going on with Glimmer—the way she acted around her while Adora watched her from the other side of the room says it all. Glimmer fidgets with the hem of her skirt nervously, looking like she wants to say something, but doesn’t.
“Glimm?” Adora calls. “Is everything okay?”
The question startles her. “I—yeah. I meant, no, but—” She took a breath and slowly walked over to her. “Adora, look. We need to talk.”
“Okay.” Adora sits up straighter. “About… what?”
“This whole thing… you know. Us.” Glimmer sighs. “We never really talked, you know, after this whole thing went down.”
“What thing?” She asks. “Catra?”
“No, everything. We just… we fought a lot before I got taken by Horde Prime. Remember?”
“Oh.” Adora stares at her. “You… you still remember that?”
“Of course I do—I never stopped feeling bad for what happened.” Glimmer tells her. “I’m sorry, Adora. I never said that to you before. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. Stop saying that. I’m sorry.” She says firmly. “I didn’t mean it, what I said when we fought. You’re not a terrible She-ra. And I know a few apologies won’t fix what happened between us, but—I’d like to try.”
Adora smiles softly. “I’ve always have forgiven you.”
“Why?” Glimmer asks. “You didn’t have to. I was terrible.”
“Glimmer, you’re my best friend—you and Bow were always there until the end with me, and you’ve proved that, at the Heart. You didn’t have to come and die with me there either, but you did.” Adora held her hands, leaning closer to her. “I don’t think a few fights would break us apart.”
“Is that why you were never really worried about… us?”
“Well… not entirely.” She shrugs. “I just… never understood why you hated Catra so much.”
“I don’t hate her,” Glimmer says. “I don’t, I really don’t. I know she’s trying to change for the better, but—I just don’t like how you kept chasing for someone who doesn’t even want you. She left you when you needed her, Adora. And yet you still went after her. I just don’t understand.”
“You don’t have to.” Adora tells her. “Catra and I, there’s just this… I don’t know. We just couldn’t leave each other behind, no matter how hard we tried. It’s always been like that. And she had the right to be angry at me—I was the one who kept leaving her. She left me because she was simply shielding herself from the pain of having to endure that again.”
Glimmer frowns. “But it wasn’t your fault—you were She-ra, you needed to save the world. It’s not like you had a choice. But she does.”
“But she doesn’t understand that, Glimm! All she knew was that I left her for a better place.”
“You asked her to come with you and she didn’t want to!”
“Glimmer, it’s not that simple, okay?” Adora says. “Maybe she was wrong, but she’s changed—she isn’t the same person she was a year ago. At least she’s trying. And I’m trying to love her back, too—you saw how I tried to live without her, and I failed. I just couldn’t. There’s just this… thing that keeps bringing us together again—you don’t have to understand it, Glimm. You just have to accept that it’s there.”
“I know,” Glimmer sighs. “I just… if somehow she doesn’t change… can you promise me you won’t come for her again?”
“Glimm…”
“No, I just—I want you to know your worth. You’re worth more than this, Adora—you deserve someone who actually cares about you, and understands you. And if Catra doesn’t do that, then I want you to stop chasing her, okay?” She squeezes her hand gently. “You should talk to her.”
“I will, when she—”
The door bursts open, startling the two girls apart. Bow was at the door, trying to catch his breaths. “Adora!” He exclaims. “Catra, she’s—”
“What, Bow?”
“She’s awake. Catra’s awake.”
Catra have been awake for thirty-eight hours, now.
Adora was with her the whole time—she could feel it, even when she wasn’t fully conscious yet. She felt her hesitantly holding her hand before squeezing it and not letting it go. She felt her softly reaching for her cheek. Her hand gently caressing her arm. Her fingers carding her hair.
She heard the soft muttering of her voice, too, saying god knows what. Catra wished she could know what Adora was saying. She wanted to respond back to her so badly, but her body was completely shut down. She needed to rest—Adora just had to wait for her. She only hoped that Adora wouldn’t leave her while she did.
And Adora didn’t.
When she was finally fully conscious and awake, Adora was on her side—tears streaming down her face, with the same look of relief on her face that she had worn on the day they saved her from Horde Prime. Adora jumped to hug her without a warning before Glimmer let out a loud yelp and told her to be careful.
The rest of the days went on in a haze.
Maybe it was the drugs, or that her mind simply couldn’t believe the fact that she was here, with Adora on her side. They made a few awkward eye contacts with each other, but there was really nothing more than that. What else is there to say? “Hey, I’m sorry I left you because you were too busy saving the world. Can we be friends again?”
Over her dead body.
The truth is, there are so many things Catra wanted to say to her. Explanations, apologies—maybe then beg Adora to stay with her. But the words just simply couldn’t get out of her mouth—it stays there, clogging her throat, waiting to turn into regrets.
So, there they were. Sitting in a room silently staring at each other, unsure of what to do, what to say.
Catra wonders how long it would take before she and Adora turn into regrets, too.
It probably has.
“So, are you going to talk, or are you going to keep staring at me from there like a creep?”
Glimmer raises her eyebrows. “Well, hi to you too.”
Catra sighs. “What do you want, Sparkles?”
“So no “hi, thanks for saving me and bringing me back to Adora, Glimmer,” or something like that?” She asks her.
“Not with what you’re about to do with me.”
“What do you think I’m about to do with you?”
“I don’t know. Punish me? Kill me?”
Glimmer wasn’t expecting that answer. Her expression fell almost immediately. “No, of course not, why—what makes you think I would do that?”
“I mean, you’re Glimmer.” Catra shrugs. “You do that kind of stuff.”
“I’m not evil, Catra.” She tells her, taking a seat beside her bed. “I wouldn’t… I would never do that.”
“So why are you here acting all scary on me, then?”
“I…” Glimmer sighs. “I want to talk to you. About Adora.”
Catra visibly stiffens at the mention of her name, but didn’t react with anything else. “Okay.”
“I just wanted to ask one thing.” She says. “Why—why did you leave her? You know she needed you.”
“I didn’t.” Catra says. “I didn’t know that she needed me—I mean, she didn’t act like it. She had you and Bow, anyway. I was never needed in the first place.”
“Wh—you’re saying that Adora doesn’t need you?” Glimmer asks in disbelief. “If she doesn’t, she would have left you at Prime’s ship, Catra!”
“I don’t know, I just—I thought she saved me because she was a hero. That’s what she always was. It doesn’t automatically mean she needed me.” She shrugs.
“Okay, well, then—I’ll tell you." Glimmer says. "Adora needs you. And you left because, what, she chose saving the universe over you?”
“I was selfish, okay, I’ll admit it,” Catra says angrily. “But you don’t know how it feels to be left over and over again.”
“Don't talk to me like that! I was the one who held her while she was dying trying to save the world! Bow and I, we were the one who was ready to die with her, at the heart!" Glimmer yells. Did you think she wants to leave you? Did you think she wants to be She-ra? Did you think she wants to be a weapon, a person who has to sacrifice herself over and over again?” Glimmer exclaims. “No! You know damn well she’d choose you if she had a choice, Catra. But she doesn’t. You do. And you chose to leave her when she needed you the most.”
Silence.
Catra stares down at her hands, and Glimmer wonders if she went too far on her.
“I didn’t… I didn’t want to see her die in front of me, knowing I couldn’t do anything about it.” Catra finally spoke up again. “Part of me just wanted to take her away and hide her from the world forever if it would keep her safe.”
“And let the universe gets destroyed?”
“I love her, Glimmer. I loved her years before she was even She-ra. And then suddenly she was, what, a hero? A weapon? Someone who has to keep dying in order to save the universe? And I’m just supposed to watch her sacrifice herself like that?” There were tears on her eyes when she looked up at her. “You loved her too, Glimm. Aren’t you tired of this? Don't you want this to just—stop?”
“I…” Glimmer sighs. “To be honest? Yeah. But… that’s what we’re supposed to do, Catra.”
“What, watch her keep dying?”
“Did you think I wanted to watch her sacrifice herself for the universe? I held her through it, Catra—if I could run away with her and hide her from the world like you said, I would. But I couldn’t.” She tells her. “Being She-ra is something that nobody should endure. It’s a curse, Catra—we both know that. But… so does being the person who loves them.”
“I just, I... I didn’t want her to feel like being She-ra is the only thing she’s worth for. She has a life too, you know—she deserves to have one. She deserves to be loved.”
“Which leads us to our duty.” Glimmer says. “If Adora’s duty is to save the world, then our duty is to save her. To make her feel loved, to make her feel like she’s not alone. It’s hard, Catra—but that’s how it is. That’s the price of loving her.”
“I didn’t do my duty very well, then, did I?” Catra laughs halfheartedly. “I ran away when she needed me. Do you—do you really think that she’d be better off without me?”
“You saw her try—in the end, she always came back for you.” She says. “It’s not too late to fix things with her, you know. I don’t know what it is, with you two—there’s just this unbreakable bond between you and Adora that I don’t understand. But I know she loves you. I know that when she was ready to sacrifice the whole universe to save you. And when her dying words was your name. She loves you, Catra. All you have to do is to accept it, and you know, love her back.” Glimmer looks at her. “Do you love her back?”
Catra answers her without hesitation. “Of course I do.”
“Then show it.” She says. “Tell her that you do.”
Catra shakes her head, taking deep breaths at a time. “God. There’s so much I have to fix, Glimmer.”
“I know.” Glimmer says. “You're going to have a long, long talk, both of you. And you have all the time in the world to do just that.”
Catra nods. “Yeah. I guess we do.”
“Talk to her.” Glimmer stood up from her seat, walking over to the door. “And then maybe, we can all have dumplings for dinner together like normal people do.”
“Yeah. Maybe.” She shrugs. “And oh, Glimmer?”
“Yeah?”
“Are we—are we friends?”
Catra swore she saw Glimmer smirk playfully at her before exiting the room.
“Maybe.”
Adora was never close with Entrapta. Not that she didn’t want to, of course, but her brilliant mind and her sometimes destructive ideas had always scared her. Besides, both of them had practically nothing in common—unless they were talking about trauma, of course. She was better off left with Hordak, Wrong Hordak, and her room full of electronics. Which is why she hesitates to think twice before knocking on her door. “Entrapta?”
“Yes?”
“Hey, uh—it’s Adora. I just needed to ask you someth—”
“Yeah, sure, come in!”
Adora frowns. “Oh… okay.” She stepped inside, careful not to step or bump into anything on her way. “Hi, um—are you busy right now?”
Entrapta was sitting in front of her huge computer, resting her goggles on her forehead to look at Adora.
“Well, yes, but you needed to ask me something. What is it?”
“I, uh—” She shook her head. It was hard not to get distracted by all the noises coming out of the machines around the room. “You told Glimmer you put tracking chips on all of us when we were on our mission to space. Did you—have you take them off from us?”
“Oh, of course I did! Right after you came back from the heart, and everything was fine again—or… not. I put them in your hair so it would be easier to communicate and find each other, but yeah, it’s gone now!” Entrapta smiles cheerfully. “Nothing to worry about!”
“Okay, that’s—that’s good,” Adora sighs in relief. “It’s just—next time you want to put tracking chips on someone, you have to ask them for permission first, okay?”
“Yeah, Glimmer told me about that already.” She dismissed. “I will, no worries.”
“Okay. Great, then.” Adora stands up from her seat. “I’ll see you arou—”
“Adora, wait!” Entrapta stops her. “I—I need to tell you something.”
“What is it?”
“I… I did something bad.” She began, her eyes focused on her hands. “I lied to you, when you were looking for Catra. The chip was working fine—I could have told you her exact location, but I didn’t.”
“Why didn’t you, then?”
“I—I didn’t know if Catra wanted to be found or not, and I didn’t want you to find her if she wasn’t ready because that would make things worse. So… I made you talk to her instead.” Entrapta says. “I don’t know what happened between you two, but—Catra talked to you. She wanted you to find her. She could have just stayed silent, but she didn’t. She wanted to come back to you. And… well, that’s definitely something, I think.”
“I guess it is.” She shrugs, smiling. “Thank you, Entrapta.”
“You’re welcome.” The girl was back to her cheery self again. “You should talk to her, you know—as much as I hate having conversations with anyone, I think it would be good for you talk to her. People like Catra and I—not everyone could understand us. But you could understand me, even if it’s just a little. So, maybe, you could understand her too.”
“Yeah. Maybe.” Adora smiles. “You know, you’re not so bad with feelings yourself. Maybe we should talk more often, don’t you th—”
“—nope! Absolutely not!” Entrapta exclaims, cutting her off. “You can go now, Adora. Thanks for coming by!”
Adora laughs while she walked out of the room. “One day Entrapta, you’re going to join our monthly princess sleepovers. Just you see.”
“Not a chance!” The girl practically pushed her away. “Goodbye, Adora!”
Perhaps it was because of Catra’s survival instincts that made her a light sleeper, or maybe it was because of the fact that she had been hoping for Adora to come for her— but for some reason, she startled awake when the door creaks open late that night.
Catra stayed still on her position under the covers, not letting her hopes get too high. Maybe it was Bow checking on her, like how he always did since they were in the spaceship. Or maybe it was, she doesn’t know, one of the nurses, making sure that she was okay. But whoever it is, it couldn’t be Adora. Right?
Wrong.
It is her. Catra knows her scent anywhere, even long after she was gone. She remembers the day she used to sleep in Adora’s bed, back at in the Horde—wrapping herself in her blanket, just so that it would feel like Adora was really there. It made her feel less lonely when she woke up half-conscious at night, but when she wakes up in the morning, it would leave her lonelier than ever.
But now, Adora was here. Really here, beside her, climbing into bed with her.
Catra forces herself to stay still, pushing back her sobs down her throat. She didn’t want to ruin the moment.
Adora laid on her side, spooning her, one hand hesitantly reaching for the side of her face. “Catra?” She whispers softly, and that was the final straw.
Catra broke down.
“Hey,” Adora frowns, tugging on her shoulder so that she would face her. “Hey, hey—don’t cry, why are you crying?”
“I—I don’t. I don’t know.” Catra stutters. She grabs on Adora’s shirt, making her lay down beside her. “Stay. Don’t go.”
“I’m not. I’m not going anywhere.” Adora assures her, pulling her closer into her arms. “It’s okay. I’m sorry, did I—did I scare you?”
“No. It’s just, I—it’s—” she couldn’t stop sobbing. “I—I missed this. I missed you.”
If a heart could rip in half physically, Adora’s would. “I know. Me too.”
Catra grabs on her shirt still, sobbing into her chest. “I’m sorry. For—everything.”
“Hey,” Adora says softly, “we don’t have to talk about this right now.”
“I owe you an apology, at least. I was selfish, and I left you when you needed me the most. I’m sorry.” Catra tells her. “I’ll say it to you a million times if I have to.”
“Catra…” Adora sighs. Her hand unconsciously stroked the hair in her forehead, tucking into the back of her ear. “This whole thing, I—it’s complicated, you know. We’ve hurt each other so much…”
“Do you think—do you think it would be better if we stayed away from each other forever?” Catra whispers.
“I tried that, didn’t I?” She let out a small chuckle. “Didn’t exactly work. I don’t think it’s as easy as walking out of a door. I just... as cheesy as it sounds, I just couldn’t live in a world without you, Catra.” Adora tells her. “Can you?”
“I tried that too, remember? Not a day passed by without me thinking of you, Adora.” Catra mutters. “We just… couldn’t stay away from each other. I don’t know if that’s a blessing or a curse.”
“I don’t think it’s either one of that.” Adora says. “You know… when we were in the spaceship, along with Glimmer and Bow and Entrapta—it was the happiest moment I felt in all my life. Because you were there, and we weren’t fighting or on each other’s throats anymore—we were just… us. And I want that, Catra. I want that to keep happening forever. Just you and me and nothing else.”
“Do you think we can do that? Stop hurting each other?”
“We can try.” She buries her face on Catra’s shoulder. “Honestly, I don’t… think we’re going to be completely okay, you and me. But we can try. And now that you’re here, and I’m here too—we must be doing something right, this time.”
Silence.
“We still have a lot to talk about, don’t we, Adora?” Catra mutters.
“Yeah. I guess we do.” Adora shrugs. “But, like Glimmer said, we have all the time in the world to do that. I mean, we’re here now, right? not on the opposite side of the war, not trying to save the world, just… here. So… I guess we can just stay like this, for now.”
“Yeah.” Catra curls in closer, inhaling her scent as much as she can. Adora’s here. She’s here—not just in her imagination—she’s really here and Catra was in her arms. And when she wakes up, Catra knows she isn’t going to feel lonely anymore. Because she was here, really here. And they have all the time in the world. “Yeah, I guess we can.”