Chapter Text
They didn’t actually ditch Kyle to deal with the Horde all on his own. Even if Catra personally felt zero responsibility for this army turned union, Adora obviously did. Being the actual highest ranking person of the Horde without Hordak was exactly why Kyle had used her image through Double Trouble to rally the troops into standing up for themselves, giving legitimacy to the movement.
Adora had to be caught up on the recent months and what “she” had been like during them but once that was done she was able to help Kyle, Lonnie and Rogelio organise and begin the slow process of transferring power to a sort of council of union representatives, three of which would be Kyle, Lonnie and Rogelio themselves. Despite his insistence that he had the same amount of authority as any other council member Kyle still ended up being looked to for many things. He had started it all and it seemed the people he had inspired couldn’t just let that go.
The Princesses went back to Bright Moon with the exception of Entrapta, who stuck around in Hordak’s lab. Catra and Adora checked in on them several times a day to make sure they weren’t doing anything dangerous or stupid. Apparently Hordak had some genetic defect as a result of being a clone and Entrapta was building him new armour that could sustain and support him using First One’s tech that Glimmer had been kind enough to deliver using her newly boosted teleportation powers.
Scorpia had returned to Bright Moon so the other Princesses could teach her to control her electricity powers. She called every day and wanted updates on the Horde. She was clearly torn. More than once Adora realised Scorpia was calling from Perfuma’s or had very clearly just been with Perfuma, be the evidence flowers or lipstick smudges on her neck. But Scorpia also missed the Fright Zone and wanted to see everyone in person again once she stopped worrying about electrocuting people.
Adora was torn herself. The Fright Zone had been her home but didn’t quite feel like it anymore. She’d lived in Bright Moon for just over a year but there was far too much baggage there for it to be a home. Catra kept telling her she would be happy anywhere, she would go wherever Adora was. That worked, for a while. Adora wanted to be where Catra was too, wanted to keep exploring the two of them together.
They travelled. Mostly to wherever the Horde still had troops stationed to help the Rebellion and the Union sort them out. They joined Glimmer and Bow on their trip to find Bow’s dads and after that mess was sorted out came back to Bright Moon with them. Moving on to Plumeria they learned how to garden with Scorpia. They helped Mermista quell a small uprising of former Horde soldiers who tried to keep Seleneas for themselves. Then they checked in with the Fright Zone again, where Scorpia had taken up a small role of authority, encouraged by her girlfriend to restore the royal line there, if only in sentiment.
Not long after Glimmer had invited the two of them to Mystacor. They had nearly refused, not too interested in the place Shadow Weaver had grown up. But Glimmer had assured them it would be a pleasant experience. It had ended up bittersweet, but Adora was glad they’d gone. Somehow Bow had then roped them into a series of research trips with his dads, which they saw coming a mile away after Adora turned out able to read that First Ones writing. Adora hadn’t really cared about the research but it had been something to do. Because roundabout there was where their things to do had run out. Things were settling, Etheria was healing and Adora wasn’t sure where Etheria had any space for her.
Finally Catra said she wanted to see the Crimson Wastes and Adora didn’t have any reason to object. She felt restless so off they went. As per Rogelio’s warning, the Wastes were far less uninhabited than they had been told. Catra attracted trouble like a magnet – one of the many things Adora couldn’t help love about her despite herself. At least it wasn’t boring. They even ran into Double Trouble again, living like royalty off of what they’d been paid out of Adora’s wages. They were very amused by their social trajectory from Horde leaders to Crimson Waste hooligans. The Wastes were equal parts deadly and cozy, the latter probably mostly because they were with each other and not much else. Adora had never seen Catra more content. Adora meanwhile was…still restless. She looked up each night into a starless sky and waited for the hum of Etheria to lull her to sleep.
It was in their shoddy little apartment in the Wastes that Queen Glimmer’s call woke them one morning. Catra groaned at the beeping from their communicator, splayed across Adora and clearly not in a mood to move from there.
“It might be important”, Adora said, brushing hair out of Catra’s face. In all honesty she wasn’t in the mood either. Months of no real structure, of just following their own wims had slowly started to loosen her routine. By this new metric it was a bit early for being out of bed, for being functional. Still, she didn’t want to leave whoever was calling hanging.
“There isn’t a thing on this entire continent that needs us right this second”, Catra grumbled, nuzzling into Adora further, her naked skin hot against Adoras. This part of the Wastes rarely cooled. It was a great excuse to forgo clothes unless absolutely necessary.
Early morning light filtered through their thin curtains. It was tempting to ignore it. To wait for the beeping to stop and return to sleeping. Return to the comfort of Catra’s arms, her lips.
Adora sighed. She couldn’t do it. Catra grumbled loudly when Adora moved her enough for her to reach over to the nightstand, grabbing the communicator. She made sure their sparse blanket covered them before picking up the call. Glimmer was on the other end.
“Good morning, Ad- oh, sorry. Is this a bad time?” Glimmer was in her royal regalia and had clearly noticed Adora and Catra were wearing nothing but bedsheets, their hair probably a mess.
“There is no such thing as a good time”, Catra complained behind Adora, still using Adora as a pillow.
Glimmer smiled like she’d somehow missed Catra’s grumpiness. “Well, I’m sorry for the interruption”, she went on. “But we’re having a meeting of leaders of Etheria that I wanted to invite you to.”
“Why?”, Catra asked. “We’re no longer included in that description, remember?”
“Let’s just hear her out, Catra”, Adora chuckled.
“I obviously won’t force you to attend”, Glimmer said with a smirk. “But I think you’ll want to come – everyone else will be there.”
Catra scoffed. “Bet you Entrapta won’t.”
“Actually, Entrapta will definitely be there. Hordak too. All the Princesses, the H.O.R.D.E. trio. This concerns all of Etheria and that does still include you, Catra.”
“Is it something bad?”, Adora asked, growing concerned.
Glimmer looked a bit unsure, saying: “It doesn’t have to be – we don’t think it will be.”
“That’s rather ominous.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry, this just makes sense to share with everyone at the same time in person. The meeting is in two days, I can pick you up at any point until then. And once the meeting is over you can go right back to whatever you were doing if you want to, I promise.”
“Alright, we’ll think about it”, Adora said. They said their goodbyes and hung up. Adora collapsed back to flat on the bed, sighing again. Catra quickly reclaimed her spot, laying her head on Adora’s shoulder and her arm across her to caress Adora’s other shoulder.
Adora angled her own arm to trace circles on Catra’s back making her purr. It had gotten a lot easier to do that and Adora wasn’t sure if she was just getting better or Catra more comfortable showing how she affected her. Either way Adora loved it.
Adora was so lost in thought thinking about this mysterious meeting that she was taken aback when Catra asked: “So are we going tomorrow or just day-of?”
Adora looked at her, not quite processing. “What?”
Catra shifted to rest her chin on her hands to look at Adora too. She was smirking. “This meeting. Are we going to Bright Moon tomorrow or just the day it’ll actually happen?”
“You want to go?” Adora couldn’t help her surprise. It hadn’t seemed like Catra wanted to go a minute ago.
“I’ve seen this before, remember?”, Catra said. “Back in the Horde, before we got captured. I didn’t realise it back then because you’re pretty good at pretending. You’re bored Adora. You want to go to that meeting.”
Adora took a breath to deny it but immediately realised it was pointless. Catra knew her exactly as well as Adora knew her. Which was why she said: “But you love it here.”
Catra shrugged. “For now. But I’d rather be somewhere that you enjoy too. You don’t have to sacrifice your own happiness to make me happy. I don’t want you to. You know I never want that for you again.”
Adora’s heart clenched. Of course Catra was right. So much of her life had been spent compromising her own desires for others, willingly or otherwise. People had used her. But not Catra – never Catra.
Adora pulled her close for a kiss. Considered. “Let’s just go day-of”, she finally said. “I still have things to do here.”
“Yeah?”, Catra chuckled, a bit disbelieving. “Like what?”
Trailing kisses down her sternum and hands reaching down even further, Adora gave Catra her answer.
-
Glimmer picked them up two days later. She only spent about two minutes in the Wastes but she was still sweating when they appeared back in Bright Moon. Adora and Catra were both wearing jackets and glad for it, since to them, teleporting to Bright Moon was a very sudden drop in temperature.
“How do you stand it there?”, Glimmer asked.
Adora just shrugged with a meaningful look to Catra, who returned it with her own pleased smirk. “You get used to it.”
Everyone was really already here. Angella, Micah and even Castaspella were present, though would apparently leave them mostly to their own discussion, giving elderly advice only when asked for it. Bow, Netossa, Spinerella and Mermista greeted them warmly.
Catra quickly beelined for where Scorpia and Perfuma were talking with Frosta.
“Hey, Scorpia! I got you something”, she said, producing a little bundle from behind her back. “I got these off some dweebs in the Wastes. Figured you’d like it.”
Scorpia excitedly took and held up the sleeveless leather jacket with a golden snake biting its own tail on the back, the twin to the jacket Catra was already wearing.
“Oh, yes!”, Scorpia said, eyes shining and slipping into it immediately. “This is why you’re still my best friend - no offense Entrapta!”
“None taken”, Entrapta said from the corner where Hordak lingered, looking uncomfortable. Not physically. Physically he looked to be in perfect health these days.
“Perfuma, how do I look?”, Scorpia asked her girlfriend excitedly, posing in a way that showed off the jacket's back as well as her bare arms, flexing.
Perfuma’s face turned very red. “You– um– I…”, she stuttered, smile looking rather smitten. “Very good, it suits you very well”, she finally managed to bring out.
“Are you kidding!?”, Frosta asked. “You look badass! I want a cool leather jacket!”
“I’ll see if I can snag a different one for you next time”, Catra laughed and was then ensnared in a Scorpia hug.
Meanwhile Adora went over to where Kyle was hunched over his tablet with a stylus while Rogelio and Lonnie poked at him to stop.
“Hey guys!”, she said. “How are things at the H.O.R.D.E.?”
“I still can’t believe that stupid acronym stuck”, Catra called over.
“Well, the Humanitarian Organisation for the Reconstruction and Decolonisation of Etheria is just such a mouthful”, Lonnie shrugged with a smile while Kyle groaned. Apparently some inside joke at Kyle’s expense which Adora didn’t quite get.
“Things are good”, Kyle finally said. “We’re just about to tackle the reconstruction of the towns near the border of Plumeria. We’re starting as soon as the contract for the materials from Saleneas comes through.”
“And then you’ll finally take a break!”, Lonnie said, snatching the stylus from his hand.
Kyle frowned. He looked a little sleep deprived. “Uhm, maybe. There is still the matter of the relocation of–”
“Nuh-uh! You promised”, Lonnie said, grabbing him by the shoulders. “Come on, Kyle! You were mister ‘we have to fight to get our time off’ and now you’ve just turned into a mini-Adora! Take a break!”
“You deserve a break!”, Rogelio agreed emphatically.
“We want you to take a break”, Lonnie repeated, now shaking him back and forth. “Adora, tell him.”
Adora couldn’t help but chuckle a little, but was dead serious when she said: “I’m getting this strange intuition that maybe you should take a break, Kyle. I’m glad things are going well and flattered that I inspired you to work hard. But as reigning champion of holding myself to too high a standard: It’s not just okay to take a break – it’s important.”
Lonnie gestured. “See!? Even Adora thinks so!”
Kyle didn’t look entirely convinced but Glimmer called everyone to attention then and they all took their seats around the table. They had the screen set-up from the call with Frosta again, this time for some visual aids apparently. With the push of a button the screen flared to life, showing a pencil rendering of someone who looked similar to Hordak, just with more hair and more eyes. Adora couldn’t help but think of the time Catra had described him as “Hordak but bigger”.
“Horde Prime”, Glimmer started without preamble. “He’s a galactic overlord. He’s conquered entire solar systems with his army of clones and takes over planets using… mind control.”
A distinct tension filled the room. Adora could feel everyone’s eyes darting toward her. Even Kyle, Lonnie and Rogelio, who had been filled in on the whole story long ago by now, looked a bit uncomfortable. It was awkward. Adora wasn’t even sure how to feel about it herself. She didn’t want to be controlled again but the threat of Horde Prime felt very far away.
“We’re safe from him due to the acts of the first She-Ra who moved Etheria into the pocket dimension of Despondos”, Glimmer continued as if to confirm that feeling. “But the rest of the universe isn’t so lucky. We don’t know how far Horde Prime’s influence has spread but there is always the chance that even without Hordak helping him from the inside, he could find us one day. Horde Prime is keeping himself alive indefinitely using his cloning technology. There is no waiting him out, so…” She took a deep breath, readying herself. “We’ve been considering taking the fight to him – defeating Horde Prime and liberating the galaxy from his tyranny. Before you argue, hear out what Entrapta and Hordak have to say.”
Indeed, several people in the room had grown uneasy at the suggestion and clearly wanted to argue. Perfuma, Netossa, Kyle. Frosta clearly wanted to speak too but based on her expression it wasn’t to argue.
“I’ve been studying Hordak’s old schematics”, Entrapta excitedly took over, showcasing some indecipherable diagrams on the screen. “I’m confident I can construct a portal that returns Etheria from Despondos, the trick is doing so without attracting Horde Prime’s attention. Now, we can’t know for certain how advanced his tracking technology has developed since Hordak was abandoned but a predictive model based on Hordak’s recalling of Horde Prime estimates he probably hasn’t developed a lot.”
Hordak stepped forward and explained: “The core principles of Horde Prime are to maintain rule and order. So long as his current system is successful he would have stagnated with his developmental research. There is no need to evolve when one is already perfection – that’s what he believes, anyway, what he makes his followers and clones believe. I know better, now.”
From what Adora was aware of of Entrapta’s ruthless dismantling of every “fact” Hordak had believed about Horde Prime she didn’t doubt it.
“So based on this I’ve devised a global cloaking system”, Entrapta took over again. “For the eventually of Prime finding us first or Despondos deteriorating I have already begun constructing it. I'm about a week away from completion. But the cloaking is equally effective if we want to choose a more direct approach. We cloak Etheria, protecting our home and then attack Prime from a different direction, leaving him none the wiser that Etheria is back on the menu.”
Entrapta realized at that point that she’d forgotten to go through some more slides and clicked through them quickly, ending on a marker drawing on wrinkled paper of Etheria surrounded by a blue dotted line, five spires sticking out of the planet. Then she looked to Glimmer, clearly done with her part of the presentation.
It was silent for a moment until Netossa raised her hand. “How would we even attack a space overlord?”
“Great question, Netossa, thank you”, Glimmer said. “We have two spaceships, one a First One’s relic and the other a new construction of Entrapta’s.” Entrapta flipped to another slide with a picture of the two ships, one blue one purple. “The Princesses are more powerful than ever before and… well, we hope to have a lead. Hordak?”
“Right”, Hordak said, clearing his throat, seeming even more uncomfortable. He glanced at Entrapta searchingly, who gave him two thumbs up and clicked the remote again, showcasing a very useful sketch of a circle with a questionmark inside it. Hordak turned back to the rest of them. “There was once a… an incident. Prime ordered it struck from living memory but I remember. Horde Prime has a weakness. He failed to conquer a planet – Krytis. Something was able to stop him there, something that scared him so much he abandoned it and tried to erase the whole planet from history. If we can go there Entrapta and I can likely access the documentation from back then. We can find out how to defeat him.”
“We have Krytis’ coordinates, it’s on the First One’s star map!”, Entrapts added excitedly, switching to a picture if said map with an arrow pointing to one of dozens of tiny dots.
Glimmer took over again, spreading her arms: “That’s why we are bringing this to your attention – why we think we could try. We want to make sure nobody else suffers under the Horde, not in Etheria and not anywhere else. We think we stand a chance of achieving that. What do you think?”
“I don’t know about this”, Mermista said uncertainly. “We only just ended our own war, now we want to get involved in a new one? A bigger one by the sounds of it?”
“Technically it’s still the same war, just against the final boss”, Bow argued.
“From what I know we were lucky to be spared from Horde Prime the first time”, Spinerella said, not necessarily seeming against or for taking on this fight, merely bringing up all the facts.
Perfuma nodded. “Yeah, if the First One’s tried to fight him but failed, how are we supposed to stand more of a chance?”
“Um, hello?!”, Frosta finally spoke up, nearly jumping to her feet. “We’re Princesses! We won one war, easily! It sounds like there is a whole army of mindless clones out there just waiting to be punched! I say we do it!”
“Indoctrinated, not mindless!”, Hordak corrected tensely. “They believe Horde Prime is infalliably correct and good but I am proof that we can come to see it another way.”
Frosta punched her right knuckles into her left palm. “Well, fine. But until they do they are ripe for the punching.”
“Or converting”, Kyle said then. “Like Hordak said, if it’s true they believe he’s perfect, showing them the truth of his tyranny and weakness might turn them against him.”
Catra smirked and raised an eyebrow at him: “You want to get them to unionize?”
Kyle shrunk little, but crossed his arms defiantly. “You can’t argue that it wouldn’t be effective.”
Catra had to give it to him. “Touché.”
Scorpia raised her voice next: “If there are people suffering out there right now… people being mind controlled… I would want to at least try saving them. Nobody deserves that kind of life. That’s no life at all.”
Adora’s heart clenched. Scorpia was right and it felt so strange to be here, to consider this as the one person who had experienced the mind control part of the Horde Prime issue. It was extra awkward that it hadn’t been because of Horde Prime. She could see in the ranks of Princesses that she wasn’t the only one who felt awkward about that particular fact. She just hoped it wasn’t too obvious that she hadn’t spoken up at all yet.
Mermista crossed her arms. “I’m not trying to be a buzz kill, but isn’t our power tied to Etheria, to the Heart? Could we even use it in space?”
“My power isn’t tied to the Heart of Etheria as far as I know”, Spinnerella said as Netossa nodded. Glimmer and Mermista did look uncertain while Frosta looked petulant.
“We’d likely not be the only one’s trying to defeat Prime if we went”, Bow pitched in. “Maybe we can find more allies, find the space version of our Rebellion here.”
“But what if that’s still not enough?”, Perfuma said. She was clearly just genuinely concerned, holding Scorpia’s pincer on top of the table. “We probably can’t even conceive of the forces Horde Prime has at his disposal.”
“Who cares?”, Entrapta threw in. “I want to go to space!”
They all kept discussing, bringing up more and more points, never entirely against and never entirely for this plan. Opinions were divided, most of them uncertain. Adora eventually noticed Glimmer’s attention on her, waiting.
Eventually Glimmer must have felt she’d waited enough. “What do you think, Adora?”
All eyes were on her. Adora’s palms were sweating. This was a big call. Huge. But she understood why she was being asked to make it. “I… I think… I feel like…” Adora felt like there was one thing that nobody was saying. One asset they had had but had lost that nobody was bringing up because she was gone – because of Adora. But she couldn’t finish her sentence because she herself didn’t want to say it either. Didn’t want to regret her single most meaningful act of her life. She couldn’t take it back if she wanted to and she didn’t want to. Wouldn’t regret taking her freedom, her comfort. She didn’t owe the universe anything. “I feel like I need some time to think about it”, was what she finally told Glimmer.
Glimmer seemed a bit disappointed but nodded. “That’s probably a good idea. We can all take some time to think and discuss and reconvene in another two days. The one upside to our position in this conflict is that we can always change our minds later.”
“Until we choose to get involved”, Netossa warned. “After that there may well not be a turning back.”
The group dissolved then, the mood still conflicted. Catra, who hadn’t said much toward the discussion either, bumped her shoulder with her own, pulling her from her circling thoughts. She also grabbed her hand, interlacing their fingers and caressing her with her thumb.
“Whatever you choose I’ll be one hundred percent behind you”, she said. She said it like it was a sure thing that whatever Adora decided would be the final say everyone would go along with. Adora couldn’t deny that she also assumed as much, which made it all that much worse.
She knew she was whining but she couldn’t help it: “Why can’t you choose something and I’ll support that choice?”
“Because I really don’t want to make this choice”, Catra stated plainly. “You do. You just don’t know how yet.”
She loved Catra but sometimes it was frustrating how well she knew her. “I need time to think.”
Catra squeezed her hand supportively. “Well, you’ve got it. Scorpia wants to show me some new stuff she’s learned. You’re welcome to join-”
“I’ll join you later”, Adora said immediately and Catra just smiled, having probably known she would say something like that.
“Alright”, Catra said, briefly capturing Adora in a kiss. “You know where to find me if you need me.”
“Wherever the biggest explosions are happening.”
“You know me so well.”
-
Adora walked through the halls of Bright Moon, letting her mind wander to eventually sort her thoughts. She got to the corridor of murals of rulers, stopping briefly to smile at the one of Micah and Angella. Then she realised a bit of wall that used to be blank now had a new mural painted on it, a new image. It was Glimmer, staff raised as if to strike but simultaneously shield herself and those who stood with her. A proud regent, a warrior queen who had fought for her kingdom. Slightly above her to the right was Bow, his Bow raised and string pulled back, moments before letting that arrow fly. The details of his mechanical fingers had meticulously been included, looking more like a mark of pride than the disability it was – well, perhaps it was both. And then finally, to the left of Glimmer was… She-Ra.
It was an interesting choice of depiction: She-Ra wasn’t holding her sword, wasn’t posed to fight like the other two. Instead her fists were pressed against each other in front of her in a kind of defensive position or in prayer, knuckles against knuckles. It reminded her a bit of the statues in Mystacor, of those serene looking sorcerers, who all but one were known for using their powers to bring peace and prosperity. This She-Ra didn’t look peaceful. She looked determined in a way that Adora felt the actual She-Ra had never looked. She had been too sugary sweet to ever look like that, too ridiculous. Even when she had gone into a fighting frenzy or was the more mellow versions of her, that look didn’t feel like any of those, didn’t look like what she associated with She-Ra. No, this She-Ra looked… she looked like her. Like Adora.
Adora shook her head and kept walking. Part of her wanted to ask Bow and Glimmer why it had been painted like that. Another part of her wanted to never think about it again, let alone talk about it with anyone. She wasn’t here to feel weird about murals. She was here to… to figure out what to do about Horde Prime. About the intergalactic war that felt far too close to home in a lot of ways. Could she fight another war? Would it be different this time? It had to be. She would be on the right side from the start. She would be with Catra, not merely as fellow soldiers but as lovers. And she would be doing exactly what she wanted to, nobody would control her – so long as she wasn’t captured. Again.
Catra was right. She wanted to make this choice. She had to stop lying to herself, accept whatever selfish desire lay at the very core of her being. Even if it felt wrong for so many reasons, felt like a betrayal. Like wanting something she shouldn’t want. Like back when she had fruitlessly wanted Catra. Giving in to that desire had been the best thing that every happened to her so why was this still so difficult?
She reached her and Catra’s old “cell”. Some strange nostalgia prompted her to go inside. They’d stayed her a few times after the war but not in a long time. It had been put back to its original form, shelves once more lined with books, desk filled with writing utensils and other things that hadn’t been safe for prisoners to have. A filled in hole in the stone pattern on the floor was all that remained of the chain that once held her trapped in this room. It was a nice room. Cozy. Once a prison it was now something beautiful again, the only difference being how it was being used. How it had been restored, despite the scars that would never fade.
Alone in this room filled with all the conflicts of her life she managed to take a deep breath, let go of all of the hundreds of things that might hold her back and say what she really felt:
“I want to fight for freedom.”
It didn’t matter that she’d always been forced to fight, that she had more than earned her peace. It didn’t matter that she was supposed to be rid of the expectation of herself to be powerful and victorious. She didn’t want to do it to be acknowledged or loved. She didn’t want the power to be admired or feel superior. She was done making up for her past but why should that stop her from fighting for a brighter future?
“I want to be the Hero She-Ra was supposed to be – the Hero she could have been.”
Her mind kept telling her this was ridiculous, this was selfish, this was falling back into toxic patterns. She should just let it go, just take the happiness and peace that Catra already offered her. But in her heart it didn’t feel that way. This was her life, her choice and she would make it for herself and no one else. She was worth so much more than what she could give to others, she was worth giving everything she wanted to herself. And she wanted to try and never stop trying for that brighter tomorrow. For herself first and anyone else she could right after.
The hum of Etheria pulsed around her in tandem with her heartbeat as if to spur her on. It was always there. Ever since breaking She-Ra’s sword it had always been there with her, tipping her head back to the empty firmament as if to say “there is more for you than this”. All Adora had to do was reach for it. Reach out for that pulsing power, that thrum of magic that seemed to flow through her veins.
Maybe the magic was hers. Maybe she could have this if only she reached out her hand for that humming, that glow. Maybe she was
She-Ra.
-
Catra was headed to their old room. When she didn’t find Adora with any of the others, it was the only logical next place to look for her – Adora was such a sentimental weirdo. She loved her so much. Catra already suspected they wouldn’t be returning to their apartment in the Wastes and she couldn’t care less about that. She didn’t care about any place in particular. The Wastes had been fun but Adora was her home. Space would be fun too, probably. She’d be there with Adora so anything else didn’t really matter. Even if Adora chose not to go to space, she really did not care – she just thought it was unlikely for Adora not to choose to go. Adora might not have realized yet but it was obvious enough to Catra. Adora would always choose to help people and as frustrating as that sometimes was, Catra wouldn’t change her for the world. Adora was perfect just the way she was.
Catra stopped when she heard unfamiliar footsteps approaching. Well, not entirely unfamiliar, just utterly out of place. It couldn’t possibly be-
Coming around the corner was a glow, like a small corona of light, not blinding but soft and welcoming. Then Catra finally saw her and her mouth hung open in sheer shock and wonder.
It was She-Ra.
Except she was different. Her face was framed by a plate so similar to Catra’s except for the wings that extended from it and her hair was tied back in a high and long ponytail. Instead of those huge pauldrons, gold wrapped smoothly around her shoulders, coming into a new pattern across her chest. The gaudy red cape was gone as well, only the inside of her skirt still bearing the striking color. Her pants covered her entire legs, ending in subtle soles, no chunky boots in sight. Her eyes were those same, bluer than blue eyes and she was smiling at Catra. Smiling at Catra like–
“A– Adora?!”
She-Ra’s smile broadened and she chuckled. “Yes. Yes, it’s me, Catra. Only me.” She was still walking towards her, an obvious excitement brimming under the surface of her features. Like the anticipation before a battle or that moment in bed right before clothes started coming off.
“It’s really just you. No mind control? No weird manipulation?” Catra wasn’t sure why she was asking, maybe just to stall, to process. It was so obviously Adora. It was just so unbelievable at the same time, seemed so impossible. “How?”
She-Ra shrugged a little helplessly but no less excited. “I don’t know, I just– it was just inside me all along I think. That’s really cheesy, right?”, she chuckled again, the sound sending a pleasant tingling through Catra’s insides. “But I don’t know, it’s true. Here, I can prove–”
Catra didn’t need proof. The proof was already standing in front of her. The proof was Adora being She-Ra, nothing else making her act in any unusual way; Adora was in full control. And if this was Adora but also She-Ra that meant–
Catra launched herself at She-Ra before she could finish the sentence, jumping into arms that were so quick to catch her despite the sudden movement. And with one last, deep look into those eyes that possessed Catra’s mind and heart and soul she took hold of her face and at long last kissed She-Ra. She-Ra – Adora – it didn’t matter because they were one and the same – welcomed her lips readily, returning the kiss in delicious harmony. Catra wound her legs tighter around her hips and She-Ra held her easily with one hand, the other grasping for her neck to caress her at the base of her skull. Catra melted, her mind dissolving into hot bliss. Hot. So hot. Adora was She-Ra and She-Ra was so hot and Adora was so hot and Adora was hers and she was feeling so so hot.
Catra felt her own purr in her chest like an earthquake, like a shaking of the foundation of reality. She-Ra’s armour was somehow warm under her touch and they were moving but Catra was barely cognizant of where, all her focus swimming closely to where her lips touched She-Ra’s, where her tongue explored and discovered more and more of the love of her life.
Adora’s chuckle mixed and melded pleasantly with the vibrations of her purr as she kissed along She-Ra’s jaw, her neck, fingers tracing along the metal plate on her face. With a nudge against her head Catra begrudgingly slowed her hungry mouth, the world around her returning to somewhat of a focus again. She was still purring, couldn’t stop if she tried, breathing heavily.
“I’m sorry”, she whispered, the slightest bit of shame creeping into her heart. “For being so into this.”
Adora laughed, leaning her forehead against Catra’s. “It’s okay”, she said with a smile that made Catra believe it instantly. “It’s flattering. I am She-Ra.”
Hot. So confident and tall and strong and hot. Catra was going to die of how hot her girlfriend was. She needed to breathe or she was going to die.
Slowly she brought her mind to a little more of a distance, a little more sense and took in where they were. She laughed herself then. “What is it you like so much about this room?”, she asked.
“Many things”, Adora said. “But right now I think my favourite is the bed. And how hard it is to get back out once you’re in it.”
Catra felt her yearning for Adora all the way to her bones at those words. Stars, she was going to perish in She-Ra’s arms – in Adora’s arms and she would love every second of it.
She-Ra walked closer to the bed and there wasn’t a thing Catra could have done to stop her even if she wanted to. She was just along for the ride. A good thing then, that she really didn’t want to stop her, would never even think of it. Adora kissed her again and the world disappeared and ceased being anything beyond Adora and herself. Every hungry, yearning, throbbing part of herself. Her last coherent thought escaped her helpless lips on barely more than a breath: “First Ones help me.”
Her chest filled with the warmth of Adora’s responding chuckle. “If you insist.”
-
The halls of Bright Moon were too plain, too even, Catra thought as she bounded through them. She had far too much energy, too much glee coursing through her for the straight paths it demanded of her. She longed for the cornered, layered paths full of rails and obstacles of the Fright Zone where she could have vaulted from place to place. She made the best of it here by pushing off against every wall, pivoting rapidly around every corner, at times leaving scratches in the stone as she ran.
“Everyone to the meeting room!”, she shouted whenever she passed somewhere she expected her friends to be. “Not you”, she added to random guards she nearly pushed over in her haste. “To the meeting room! Adora has something to say!”
Catra probably looked like a maniac, grinning from ear to ear. She didn’t care. She was struggling not to still be purring on top of it all. Even though it was already nearly evening, even though they had just been cuddling for hours already. Catra was still grinning.
Adora was waiting in the meeting room for Catra to fetch everyone else. Catra had insisted. She needed to run if she wanted to have any hope of sitting still for the five minutes this meeting was likely to take. Once everyone was there Adora got up from her seat and stood where everyone could see her.
“So what is this about?”, Glimmer was the first to ask, queenly as always. “What happened to considering for two days?”
“I suppose nothing”, Adora said and Catra could tell she was also doing her best to keep her smile from tipping too far into excitement. “We should still take that time to think everything over. I just have one more thing to add that I think you’ll find relevant to whether we should go up against Horde Prime or not.”
“Alright then”, Bow shrugged. “Lay it on us.”
Adora was only too happy to. She smiled at Catra again who nodded with anticipation. Then Adora held out her hand and said: “For the honour of Grayskull!”
“What the actual FUCK!?”, Lonnie exclaimed once the flash of transformation had faded, Kyle and Rogelio simply struck speechless along with most of the others.
Oh shit, She-Ra was so hot. Catra loved the look that was so much more Adora, looked so much more right. Loved the new sword, so sleek and elegant, yet powerful. Just like Adora. Just like this new She-Ra.
“Holy Stars”, Glimmer breathed.
“How did you do that without the sword!?”, Bow asked.
“H-huh”, Kyle stuttered. “This is insane, Adora. So… this is She-Ra? But without the mind control I’m guessing?”
Adora swung her sword leisurely, looking very pleased with herself. “That’s right. She-Ra is back, baby, and she is better than ever. I say the universe needs saving and Horde Prime has no idea what he’s in for.”
Entrapta applauded, quietly saying: “Yay, space!”
Glimmer got up then, eyes shining with emotion. Catra wasn’t fully sure which ones but she thought she saw admiration and determination. “Everyone in favour of risking it all and fighting an intergalactic megalomaniac in space, raise their hand now”, she said, eyes still fixed on Adora with an adventurous smile.
Not a single hand stayed down. Granted, Lonnie lifted Kyle’s hand for him.
~ one month later ~
Adora laid in the grass a few miles out from the Whispering Woods looking up into the endless starry sky. She reached up her hand as if to touch them, thinking, wondering what it would be like to be out among them.
Beside her, Catra nuzzled closer, the evening air getting more frigid by the hour.
“Are you nervous?”, Catra asked her.
“No”, Adora said truthfully. She wasn’t nervous. “It’s just that I haven’t felt quite like I belonged anywhere in Etheria. The more I think about it I think I never did. Not when I was being raised in the Horde, not when I joined the Rebellion, not when I travelled with you. The only place that felt like home was by your side.”
Catra reached up to take her hand, pulled it down to her lips and kissed it. “Me too”, she said.
“But now we’re going to leave”, Adora went on, not sure where her thoughts were headed yet.
“Not forever, probably”, Catra said.
“Yeah. I know.” Still. There was something, some strange feeling of connection that Adora hadn’t realised existed between her and this place. This planet. Nowhere on it had ever felt like her place and yet now that she was going to leave…
“I think I’m going to miss it.”
“That’s okay”, Catra said. “It’s good to have something to fight for. Something to get back to at the end of the war.”
Adora turned to look at her then, features painted in soft hues of blue by the moon’s light. She brushed her fingers over Catra’s hair and smiled.
“I already do.”
She already had a whole universe to fight for, right here in Catra’s eyes.