Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1

A New Beginning

Catra grabbed Adora's outstretched hand and pressed her forehead against hers, purring.

“It's over. He's gone,” said Adora.

“Good riddance.”

Finally there was no more Horde. No need for a rebellion. There weren't any sides anymore. Just Catra and Adora, side by side, as it always should have been. They were basking in the light and closeness until they were interrupted by Glimmer and Bow pouncing on them. They fell to the surprisingly soft grass and laid there, laughing.

“So... What are we going to do now?” asked Bow as he sat up and turned to them.

Adora stared up at the sky and smiled brightly. “We could bring magic back to the universe.” She narrowed her eyebrows in excitement of the thought of adventure. “What do you guys say to one more best friend squad road trip?”

They stood up and were immediately pulled into a group hug.

“I'm in!” exclaimed Glimmer.

“Obviously,” said Bow.

“Of course I am going with you, dummy,” said Catra.

“Let's do this. Together,” said Adora.

They jolted apart when they heard mass screaming.

“Brothers! Calm down. We are free now,” said Wrong Hordak to the clones that were standing around.

“I cannot hear anyone's thoughts!” some clones exclaimed. “Where is Prime? He will know what to do!” “I am alone!” “How will he know we are loyal now?”

“Uhhh... I better go help him with that,” said Glimmer before teleporting over to him.

“Should I go help her with that?” asked Adora.

“Adora, you just saved us all. You can relax a bit and let us handle this,” said Bow. He clapped his hands together. “We should have a party! Catra, you've never been to a party, right?”

“I had a party. In the Crimson Waste.”

“That was when you kidnapped me. That wasn't much of a party,” scuffed Adora. “We should have a real party.”

“A party? Ooh. What fun,” said Perfuma as she approached them with Scorpia, Frosta, Mermista, and Sea Hawk in tow.

“A party? Shouldn't we be taking care of all of this first?” said Mermista as she gestured to the clones and the ships.

“That can wait. This is cause for celebration!” shouted Sea Hawk.

“Also why is that one with us now?” asked Mermista as she pointed at Catra.

“Oh. That's right. You were chipped for awhile. Catra has been on our side for some time now,” said Adora. “In fact,” she slung her arm over Catra's shoulder, “we're-”

“Parties! How does that work? Do we need to do anything?” interrupted Catra, turning to Perfuma.

Adora narrowed her eyes at Catra, but did not say anything. Soon everybody was buzzing about the party and it was decided to just be a quick celebration of their victory before fixing everything up. Most of their kingdoms were in shambles from the war, but that was something they could start work on tomorrow.

Glimmer teleported them all back to their hiding place in the cave where they all began to set up everything. Some got to work on setting up decorations, some began to move the clutter out of the way, and some started cooking. Adora and Catra began to help with moving the clutter. Every time Adora tried to talk to Catra, she ran off to help with another task. They had just shared a big moment together and they had yet to talk about it.

The next time Catra passed by her, Adora grabbed her hand and pulled her into the other room. The room was small and mostly full of crates. No one hardly came into it, so it gave them some privacy.

“Adora, what are y-” She was cut off by Adora kissing her. They separated after a few moments.

“Can we do that some more?” asked Adora breathlessly.

Catra's eyes widened and she stared at her for a few seconds before pouncing. Their mouths clashed together as Catra wrapped her arms over the back of Adora's neck and shoulders. One of Catra's legs found itself hooked to Adora's thigh. For a moment, Catra was embarrassed by this position then Adora began to run her hands over her back and Catra forgot about that thought. It felt so natural to be wrapped around each other, their mouths moving together. Neither of them could hold onto a thought for more than a second when their tongues wrapped together. They did, however, need air.

They broke apart and gasped for breath. They stared into each other's eyes, mesmerized. Adora backed up and sat on the crate behind her, slowly pulling Catra along with her. Catra tentatively sat on Adora's lap, her legs bracketing Adora's. Their eyes moved to each other's lips then they were touching again. The kisses quickly heating up again and their hands finding purchase on the other's back.

~*~

“Have you seen Catra? She was supposed to take those boxes out of the way,” said Frosta.

“No. Come to think of it, I haven't seen Adora in a bit either,” replied Glimmer.

“They are probably around here. Let's go look,” said Bow.

Bow, Glimmer, and Frosta looked around the main room, but neither of them could be seen. They went into the makeshift kitchen to find Perfuma teaching Scorpia how to cook.

“Can you cut the carrots, Scorpia?” asked Perfuma.

“No problem.” She turned to the counter that was covered in an assortment of different vegetables and fruit. “Only... which of these were carrots again?”

Perfuma stirred a boiling pot on the stovetop and checked on a sizzling skillet. “The orange ones.”

Scorpia held up a carrot in one claw and an orange in another and looked back and forth between the two. “Hmmmm...”

“It's that one,” said Frosta, pointing at the carrot.

Scorpia set the orange down and ruffled her hair. “Thanks, little buddy.”

“Have either of you seen Adora or Catra?” asked Glimmer.

“Not since earlier.”

“Perhaps they went outside for some air,” suggested Perfuma.

Glimmer, Bow, and Frosta exited the cave to check. Rows upon rows of clones sat on the ground outside with Entrapta, Hordak, and Wrong Hordak standing at the front. Entrapta and Wrong Hordak were energetically talking about how Horde Prime was a false ruler while Hordak stood beside them, interrupting every so often to better explain what they meant.

As they walked back inside, Glimmer noticed a storage closet and opened the door just to check as it was the last place in the cave they hadn't checked since there weren't many rooms inside the cave. Glimmer and Bow's eyes widened to find Catra sitting on Adora's lap, embracing and heavily making out with her.

“She's eating her face!” exclaimed Frosta.

Catra yelped in surprise and fell backwards. Adora grabbed at her waist in reaction, but ended up falling with her.

“You're squishing me!” said Catra as she pushed Adora into a sitting position then sitting up herself.

Adora burst out laughing. “I tried to catch you, but you flailed!” she said breathlessly between laughs. She turned to Frosta. “Don't worry. That wasn't against my will in the slightest.”

“You were letting her eat your face?” asked Frosta, astounded.

“I wasn't eating her face!” shouted Catra.

“I knew you two were close, but I didn't know it was this close!” said Glimmer in shock.

“Wait. Are you telling me that you two were exes this entire time and now you are back together? Because that would actually explain a lot,” said Bow in an equal amount of shock.

“No. We're too stupid for that. It took almost dying for us to confess. It was Catra's kiss that healed me and now we are together,” replied Adora, turning to smile at Catra.

Catra's face was completely red. She looked away to stare at the floor. “I don't remember agreeing to that. All I did was say... love you or whatever... And we kissed,” mumbled Catra.

Adora narrowed her eyes in confusion as Catra continued to mumble then Adora hit the side of her fist into the palm of her hand when it dawned on her. She placed one of her hands on the floor by Catra's hip and leaned closer to her. Catra's voice came to a halt at the position. “Catra, do you want to go out with me?” she asked confidently.

Catra's mouth suddenly became dry and she swallowed audibly. “Do you have to say that with so much bravado?”

“But it's working, isn't it?” Adora smiled smugly at her.

Catra's heart was pounding so loudly that she was sure everyone could hear it. She returned her gaze to the floor. She hated the fact that she was right. “Shut up.”

Adora raised her hand that wasn't supporting her up and placed it on Catra's cheek. She stroked the short soft fur that lined her skin, turning her gaze back to Adora. Adora's smug grin turned to a gentle smile. “Please? I would be honored to call you my girlfriend.”

For a moment, Catra forgot about their audience. All she could see was Adora. She leaned forward to place a quick kiss on her lips. Her hands found Adora's shoulders and clutched the fabric of her jacket. “I would love that.”

Adora flung her arms around Catra and pulled her into a tight hug. “Now it's official.” Adora turned to Glimmer, Bow, and Frosta. “Hey, guys! I want you to meet my girlfriend, Catra.”

“That's great!” shouted Bow, his voice cracking.

“That makes this party like your first date!” exclaimed Glimmer. She pulled Catra up. “That means make over time! Bow, you take care of Adora.”

“What? Why do I get the hard one?”

Glimmer teleported away with Catra in tow. Catra fell to hands and knees from the nausea. “You know, I was kinda in the middle of something,” said Catra.

“You can do that later. This is exciting. You need to get dressed up,” said Glimmer.

“Can't I just wear what I'm wearing or the suit I wore to Princess Prom?”

Glimmer scoffed. “This is a special event. You need something new. Ooh. You could wear a dress.”

Catra scowled at her as she stood up. “I don't do dresses, Sparkles.”

“But you never wore a dress before. That would make it special. I bet Adora would love to see you in a dress. Don't you want to look pretty for Adora?”

Glimmer pulled Catra into a clothing store she now noticed she had been teleported in front of. The store was filled with racks and racks of dresses of every color imaginable. There were shelves full of hats, shoes, and purses. Catra had never seen so much clothes in one place in her life. Behind the counter stood a woman with dark skin, pointed ears, and straight dark red hair to her shoulders.

“Queen Glimmer! It is so wonderful to see you again,” said the woman as she walked over to them.

“Catra, this is Costuma. She is the best tailor in all of Bright Moon. She is the one who makes all my clothes, including the dresses Adora and I wore to Princess Prom,” introduced Glimmer. “Costuma, can you help me make Catra beautiful?”

“I'll see what I can do.”

“Hey! Wait!” shouted Catra before Costuma pulled her away into one of the dressing rooms.

Catra lost count of how many dresses she was shoved into and scowled at her captors. She refused to allow them to put her into a frilly pink dress and then later a sparkly blue dress.

“This one is perfect!” exclaimed Glimmer when Catra exited the dressing room.

Catra looked down at the silky black dress. The dress sleeves were at her upper arms, showing off her bare shoulders. The dress flowed out at her hips with the hem reaching her knees. One thing Catra discovered about dresses is that they made her tail feel very free.

“This one?”

“Yes. It looks a lot like the dress Adora described you wearing that one time.”

“Wait. What?”

Glimmer waved off the question. “Not important. Now you need some shoes.”

Catra crossed her arms. “I'll accept the dress, but I do not do shoes. I hate my toes being confined.”

“That isn't a problem,” said Costuma. She ran off then returned a few moments later with black open toe sandals. They didn't have a heel and had ankle straps. “Try these on?”

Catra relented and put them on. She looked at her reflection and almost didn't recognize herself with short hair and in a dress. Perhaps that was the point. She did want to try to change and maybe changed Catra wore dresses. She stuck her tongue out at her reflection in the mirror. Or maybe not. “I am still not a fan of dresses, but I guess I'll wear one for a party.”

Glimmer cheered in excitement. Catra changed back into her clothes and they teleported back to the cave after Glimmer paid. Catra felt nauseous again and was startled when she felt her back being rubbed. She turned to see Adora was beside her.

“Are you okay?” asked Adora.

“Yeah. I'm fine now,” she replied as she leaned against Adora's chest and purred.

“You went to Costuma? Can you teleport us there, too? It'll take us at least an hour to walk there. We have no idea where Swift Wind has gone off to. Sea Hawk set Adora's dress on fire while you two were gone,” said Bow.

Catra stepped back and scanned Adora for burns or singed hair. Adora laughed. “I'm fine. It was an accident. But that dress is ruined now. It was the red one I wore to Princess Prom. I really liked that one.”

“I'll come with you. Catra, can you check on everything? Thanks,” said Glimmer before teleporting away with Bow and Adora without waiting for Catra to reply.

Catra frowned. She had been a Force Captain and was used to checking on the ranks, only now it was a bit different because it was for a party and not for a war. She laid the bag containing her dress on her cot and put the box of shoes on top of it before beginning to check on everyone. Frosta, Mermista, and Sea Hawk had cleared out the largest room in the cave and were now working on stringing up lights and banners. Netossa, Spinnerella, and Castaspella were setting up tables and chairs off to the side. Some of the clones had joined them and were bringing food out from the kitchen and placing it on the tables.

Catra entered the kitchen to see Scorpia carefully chopping some peppers with a large knife in her claws and Perfuma stirring what looked to be some kind of sauce in a pot on the stovetop. Catra exited the cave to see Micah, Entrapta, Hordak, and Wrong Hordak standing in front of a crowd of clones and doing what seemed to be a Q&A section about Etheria. Catra leaned up against the rocks of the cave, enjoying the light breeze.

“This place is even more wondrous now.”

Catra turned to see Melog standing beside her. She reached down and pet their head. “I was wondering where you wandered off to.”

“I have been exploring it after Adora released the Heart. It is full of so much more magic. It reminds me of how Krytis used to be.”

“It's weird for there to not be a war anymore. The war has been here through my whole and entirely encompassed it. I'm not sure what to do with myself now that it's over.”

“Be happy. Life is what you make of it. Now you are free to do what you want rather than what you are supposed to do.”

“Perhaps you are right. Adora wants to go on another adventure, but who knows when that will be. We still have a lot to do here.”

“You should relax and enjoy being in a peaceful era now.”

“Peace. I wonder how long that will be for.”

~*~

The brightest moon had set by the time the party started. Catra had changed into the dress and shoes Glimmer had gotten her. The other princesses had changed into dresses themselves, even Entrapta who was wearing a simple short sleeved dark purple dress with black buttons down the chest. One of the princesses probably had talked her into that. Music was playing from Emily and Entrapta was already spinning around the room with Hordak who was moving in a very stilted way with her. Netossa and Spinnerella were dancing together while the rest were eating. Catra gathered some food and sat at a table furthest from everyone else. Adora had yet to return with Glimmer and Bow.

After she finished eating, Catra leaned against one of the walls with a drink in her hand. She wasn't quite sure what it was, but it fizzed in her mouth. She stared at the liquid and wondered where Melog had wandered off to now.

“Hey, Catra,” said Adora.

Catra looked up and was surprised to see Adora standing in front of her. She didn't think it was possible for her to be cuter than the first time she saw Adora in a dress at Princess Prom. She was wearing a sleeveless pure white dress that came to the middle of her thighs. Over it was a white sheer fabric with long sleeves that were cinched at her wrists, allowing her arms to still be seen. The fabric stretched out over the entire dress. The ends had golden vines and small flowers sewn into it that climbed up to her waist. She wore sparkly golden rounded platform shoes with a short thick heel with straps around her ankles. Her hair was out of its usual ponytail and flowed down her shoulders. She was the most beautiful person Catra had ever laid her eyes on.

“Wow. You're beautiful,” said Catra before she stopped herself. She held her hand up to mouth and blushed in surprise. She hadn't meant to voice her thoughts.

Adora smiled. “Thank you. You're beautiful, too. I've never seen you in a dress before. It almost looks like my daydream except better.”

“Glimmer mentioned something about that, too. What is that about?”

Adora coughed in embarrassment. “Just a daydream from when we got carried away with planning a strategy... Not important.” A slow song began to play and Adora glanced at the currently empty dance floor. She reached out for Catra's hand. “Want to dance?”

Catra clutched at the drink in her hand. “Maybe that's not a good idea. You're She-Ra and it would look bad to have you seen with an ex-Horde member, especially one as highly ranked as me. People might think you are compromised or something.”

Adora took the cup out of Catra's hand and placed it on the table beside them. “You are thinking too much. Dance with me. I had fun the last time we did and it would be even better without evil scheming involved.”

Adora pulled Catra to the middle of the dance floor. She held Catra's left hand with her right and placed her other on Catra's hip. Catra placed her free hand on Adora's shoulder and they began to sway together. Soon they were smiling and laughing as they spun together on the floor. The other people in the room moved to watch them. They couldn't think of a time they had ever seen Adora smile so brightly or have ever heard Catra laugh in a non-menacing way. Adora easily lifted Catra into the air with her strong arms and Catra would dip her once she was back on her feet. Nothing else mattered except the other in that moment.

The song ended much too soon. Catra began to move away from Adora, but Adora tightened her grip on her hip and pulled her into a kiss. There were gasps and things being dropped in the background. Despite their noisy audience, everything else melted away. All Catra could think about was Adora's lips, but then she was pulling away. “Let them talk,” whispered Adora.

Art done by my friend, Envy. Check out more of his art at here

Alternative hosting of the picture on my instagram because AO3 likes to make the pictures not work sometimes: here

Chapter Text

Chapter 2

Dawn

“Adora! Please you have to wake up!”

Catra clung to Adora. She had never seen Adora so still in her life. She was always running off and having to make noise. Even while asleep, she would toss and turn and mumble nonsense. The bright green streaks covering her skin were continuing to spread.

“You can't give up. You have never given up on anything in your life. Not even on me.”

Catra stroked the side of Adora's face and ran her fingers through her hair. No reaction. Even in Adora's sleep, such an action would cause her to twitch.

“So, don't you dare start now!”

Tears pricked at Catra's eyes and there was a tightness in her throat that threatened to suffocate her.

“It's too late. I've failed,” whispered Adora.

It was barely audible, but Catra's keen sense of hearing picked it up. Hope welled in Catra's chest to hear Adora's voice after her hardly breathing for the last few minutes. She pulled her close to her chest and clutched her tightly as if trying to pass some of her life to Adora.

“No! No! I've got you. I'm not letting go.”

Catra threw caution to the wind. She couldn't bare to see Adora like this anymore and was willing to confess her heart out to her if that meant she wouldn't leave her.

“Don't you get it? I love you. I always have. So, please, just this once... Stay! Stay.”

Adora's eyes opened. Her usual bright blue eyes were almost completely gray and stared into Catra's eyes with a blank expression.

“It's not enough,” said Adora.

Adora's eyes closed and she stopped breathing. Adora the champion. Adora, their savior. Adora the chosen one. Adora... her best friend and the girl she couldn't imagine living in a world without. She always seemed so strong, so unobtainable, and so invincible. Even when they were on opposite sides of the war, Catra was sure Adora would be fine because she always was. Now she was growing cold in Catra's arms. The Heart of Etheria was whirring loudly and lightening booming out of it.

Catra closed her eyes and let it take her because there was no point in continuing without Adora by her side.

~*~

Catra bolted upright, breathing heavily. She was sweating profusely. Disoriented, she blinked several times to become aware of her surroundings. She ran her hand through her short hair, claws pricking at her scalp. She was no longer at the Heart. She was sitting on her cot in the dark cave.

She glanced over to her left. Adora had pushed her cot up against hers last night after the party. She was curled up on her side, facing Catra. She was quietly snoring, blissfully unaware of Catra's turmoil. Catra reached for Adora's face and lightly ran her fingertips over her cheek and nose. Adora crinkled her nose in response and halfheartedly swatted at her hand in her sleep.

“Are you alright?” asked Melog.

Catra sighed. “How can she sleep so soundly after everything that happened yesterday? How can any of them?”

Melog jumped onto the edge of her bed.

“It is late. You should go back to sleep. I will keep your nightmares away.”

“You can do that?”

“There is many things I can do. This is just one of them. Now sleep.”

Catra laid back down and turned to face Adora. She brought her legs up and tucked her chin in the gap between her chest and legs. She stared at Adora's sleeping face, afraid to close her eyes and her nightmare to be true. That Adora had died at the heart and Catra was too late to finally be honest with her. Despite how uneasy Catra felt, her eyelids grew heavy and she drifted off back to sleep.

~*~

“Bright Moon is in better shape than I thought it would be in,” said Glimmer as she walked around the courtyard.

“That's because we didn't stay here very long after Horde Prime came. This place was too obvious, so we had to evacuate,” said Adora.

That morning they had woken up early and had packed up camp. They had used skiffs to help move everything back to Bright Moon. It was mayhem, but their day had barely started.

“I can't wait to finally be back in my bed. I have missed it so much.”

“Well, that's going to have to wait because we have a lot to discuss now that Horde Prime is gone,” said Netossa as she came up to them.

“You're right. I'm dreading this, but we need to get this done now,” replied Glimmer.

“What are you talking about?” asked Adora.

“I'm talking about what we should do about all these ex-Horde members,” replied Netossa.

They began to round up the other princesses and Micah from the crowd that were still in the process of unloading camp.

“What's going on?” asked Catra as she reached for Adora's hand.

“We are going to have a meeting now that there isn't a Horde anymore.”

Catra squeezed Adora's hand and went stiff. Adora brought Catra's hand up to her mouth and placed a kiss on it.

“Don't worry. I won't let anything bad happen to you. I promise.”

A small smile played at Catra's lips. “You promise?”

“I promise.”

They walked hand in hand down the hallways to the War Room. Catra glanced around at the pink and purple walls and high ceilings. Beautiful artwork covered the walls and crystals hung from the ceiling. It was so different from the dank metallic walls with its dripping pipes and vents releasing an unpleasant odor that Catra was used to from the Fright Zone.

“What do you think you're doing?” asked Mermista, blocking the door to the War Room.

“Going to the meeting?” replied Adora in confusion.

“Not with her.” Mermista pointed at Catra. “This is a government meeting, so princesses only.”

“Don't I get a say in what happens to me?” asked Catra, her fur fluffing up.

“The government is run by the royals and the non-royals have to follow it. That's how it works.”

“Don't we get a representative, though?”

“Uh. You're a beastfolk, so that means that Scorpia is your princess. Or queen... I doubt she has had her coronation yet. Either way, that makes her your representative.”

Catra paled at that. She hoped Scorpia still liked her, but she had treated her awfully and wouldn't blame her for keeping a grudge. She did deserve it.

“I'll talk to Glimmer about this,” said Adora, placing her hands on Catra's shoulders and pulling her into a half-hug.

Glimmer leaned out the doorway around Mermista. “I'm sorry, but she's right. This is a government meeting. The first proper one in a long time.” She turned to Bow who was standing behind Catra and Adora. “Sorry, Bow, but that goes for you, too. We might be dating, but we aren't married, so that means you can't attend either.”

“What?” squeaked Bow. “But I have always attended the Rebellion meetings.”

“Wait. When did you two start dating?” asked Adora in surprise, pointing between the two of them.

“They weren't before?” deadpanned Catra.

“Sorry, Bow, but this isn't the same as a Rebellion meeting. Why don't you show Catra around the castle? Assign her a bedroom, too,” said Glimmer.

Mermista raised an eyebrow to Glimmer. “You're giving her a bedroom?”

“Well we aren't going to throw her to the street. We even gave Shad... I mean... Less pleasant of people ones. I don't see why we can't give her one.”

Catra stood stiff and hugged herself. It was partially because she was practically being compared to Shadow Weaver. The rest was the seeming distrust and disdain the others seemed to hold for her. She knew she had done a lot of bad things before and what she had already done seemed meaningless to them. It would never be enough.

Adora placed her hands on Catra's cheeks and stroked her cheeks, effectively pulling her out of her self-loathing thoughts. “It's okay, Catra. I already promised you that I won't let anything bad happen to you and I am keeping my promise. All my promises to you.” She pressed a kiss to Catra's mouth.

~*~

“Looks like everyone is here now,” said Glimmer.

Scorpia glanced around the room. “But there are still empty chairs. I thought this was a meeting for all the princesses. Shouldn't they be filled?”

Perfuma placed her hand on Scorpia's arm. “One of those is for Prince Peekablue who we have still yet to locate.”

“The other one is for Queen June Bug. Her daughter, Sweet Bee, could also represent the Kingdom of Aegean, but they usually stick to themselves rather than participate in these things,” said Glimmer.

“But there are three empty chairs,” replied Scorpia.

“The last chair is for the Kingdom of Shadows. They have never appeared for any government meetings nor have I ever had any contact with them. Many believe that the kingdom doesn't even actually exist,” explained Micah.

“But aren't there more princesses than that? There were so many people at the Princess Prom.”

“Actually those were all nobles, duchesses, and such that help run Etheria. Not actual princesses,” said Entrapta while staring intently at her kicking feet under the table. They didn't quite touch the floor unless she slouched, which she didn't because she had been informed numerous times that it was considered rude.

“The Horde never told us about these things. They just told us that princesses were bad and needed to be taken out and that I was the only exception. But really, I don't know anything about my heritage.”

“Which brings us to our topic today. What are we to do with the ex-Horde members?” said Glimmer, bringing everyone's attention to the head of the table.

“What's there to talk about? They committed a crime, so they should be tossed into jail,” said Mermista.

“They are still people, Mermista. Several of which helped us defeat Prime.”

“That doesn't undo what they already have done. They didn't care that we were people when they were attacking us!”

“That doesn't mean we should do the same to them.”

Mermista stood up and slammed her hands on the table. “So they did a few good deeds? Well gold star for them. That won't bring lives back!”

“Neither will punishing them.”

Mermista's hands clenched, fingernails scraping over the mahogany. “My mother... My little brother...”

Glimmer looked at the ground, thinking of her own mother. “Many of us have lost loved ones during this.”

“My brother was three! I was seven when he was killed by a Horde soldier!” Mermista gestured in the general area where Scorpia and Entrapta sat beside each other. “How could we possibly forgive them for that?”

Tears pooled in Scorpia's eyes and began to drip down her cheeks. “I'm so sorry to hear about your loss, but... If you were a child when that happened, then I would have been a child, too.”

Entrapta placed a hand on Scorpia's arm and awkwardly patted it. She stared intently at her hand as she spoke, “And I wasn't part of the Horde back then. I lost my father to the Horde as well.”

“Oh yeah? So did they! As well as their mothers!” yelled Mermista as she gestured to Perfuma, Frosta, Netossa, and Spinnerella.

“Mermista, stop. I'm sorry that you lost people you cared about, but it's not fair to blame them for crimes they did not do,” interrupted Adora.

“They were part of the Horde, so clearly that didn't bother them before when they didn't know who the people they were hurting were.”

“Then what about me? I was the part of the Horde! If that is standard you are placing, then I am just as guilty.”

“That's different.”

“How? Because I'm She-Ra? I didn't change because I was She-Ra. I believed all the lies they told us and hated princesses just like any other member. I only changed because I was able to escape the Horde.”

“Can everyone sit back down? Let's keep this meeting civil,” said Glimmer.

“And why should I calm down?” retorted Mermista.

“You want to be a stickler for the government rules? Then I am Head Queen and I order you to sit down.”

Mermista huffed and sat back down.

“Head Queen?” whispered Scorpia to Perfuma in confusion.

Perfuma turned and looked wide eyed at her. “They didn't even teach you that in the Horde?” When Scorpia shook her head, she continued, “There are different tiers to the kingdoms. Glimmer is the Queen of Bright Moon, which is at the very top. After that is the Kingdom of Snows, which is Frosta, and then after that is Mermista's Kingdom, Salineas. The rest of the kingdoms are pretty much on the same level after that point.”

“That's not completely true,” commented Netossa in a low voice. “The Fright Zone, Dryl, and the Kingdom of Shadows are considered the lowest tier.”

“That's because I'm the only princess without a runestone. The rest of the kingdoms have one,” added Entrapta.

“But I do have one. So why am I considered low tier?” asked Scorpia. She glanced around the room when everyone went silent and wouldn't meet her eyes. She looked down at her claws. “...Oh. Right. Because of this.” She raised her claws.

Perfuma placed her hands on Scorpia's claws and said, “The past has not always been kind to the beastfolk.”

“So, because of that, Entrapta and I are on the same level of a kingdom that might not even exist?”

“Well it is said that the Kingdom of Shadows are allies with the Fright Zone and Dryl,” explained Micah. “Those kingdoms have really only ever stayed to themselves and have never shown up for government meetings either. The Fright Zone and Dryl were the only ones who even knew how to contact the Kingdom of Shadows.”

“Well my family died when I was really young, so I have no idea how to contact them,” replied Scorpia.

“Neither do I. I was nine when I became in charge of Dryl,” added Entrapta.

A hush came to the room. No one seemed to dare fill the silence.

Frosta cleared her throat and said, “I can't be the only one to notice that all the members of the Horde are members of the low tier kingdoms.”

“Maybe that's why they were low tier to begin with,” remarked Mermista.

“Or maybe that's because we never gave them the chance to be anything else. Almost all of the Horde were beastfolk and humans.”

“I think Frosta is right. I was only fourteen when the Horde came to Etheria and took over the Fright Zone. The kingdom had sent out a distress call for help, but only Dryl came to its aid,” said Micah.

“But it wasn't enough. My kingdom was never very big. My father went there with as many people as he could get. None of them ever returned,” replied Entrapta.

Spinnerella bunched the fabric of her pants in her hands. “I was only five at the time, but I remember my parents receiving that distress call and dismissing it as not their problem. A few years later, the princess of the Fright Zone appeared before my parents with her wife, holding Scorpia as a baby. They had pleaded with my parents to help them get the Horde out of their kingdom. They dismissed them again,” said Spinnerella as she began to cry from the memory. Netossa placed her hand on Spinnerella's shoulder.

“My parents did the same when they asked them. They didn't think it was their issue, but then the Horde invaded our kingdoms when we were teenagers. They burned our homes to the ground. Spinnerella and I were one of the few who were able to escape. Bright Moon opened their doors to us. It was then we decided that we weren't going to be like our parents and joined the Princess Alliance. When someone attacks a kingdom, it should be all of Etheria's problem. We should all be in this together,” said Netossa.

“Alright. I've decided,” announced Glimmer. They all turned to her in surprise. “I think all the Horde members should get a second chance. That's why they will all be given a year of community service. Anyone who doesn't cooperate with that might be given an additional sentence based on a case by case basis.”

“That's it? They get a slap on the wrist and move on their merry way?” asked Mermista in annoyance.

“Well we could lock them up so we never have to see them again, but who would that help? They were taught to think a certain way and only that way. Adora still struggles with talking about emotions. Scorpia doesn't even know how her own government works. The clones had their very thoughts monitored. They never had a chance to be anything else. So we are going to give them that chance.”

“What about the ones that we know who did more damages than other ones? Like for instance the magicat who has been hanging off Adora's side. Is making out with She-Ra all it takes to be forgiven for breaking the very fabric of reality?”

Glimmer held up a hand before Adora began to yell. “You have a point, Mermista. The higher up operatives should get a bigger sentence.” She turned to Entrapta. “I'll start with the leader of the Horde on Etheria and the person who was making the inventions to hurt us.” Entrapta stared at the floor intently even as Glimmer walked up to her. “I am assigning you and Hordak to a very special project. Instead of making inventions to destroy Etheria, I am going to have you create inventions to help it.”

Entrapta looked up at Glimmer in surprise. “You want me to invent things?”

“Of course it will be under the watchful eyes of us to ensure you don't get carried away or get off task, but yes. I want you to use your gifts to make Etheria better. Can I trust you with that?”

A smile slowly grew on Entrapta's lips. “Of course. You can count on us.”

Glimmer turned to the rest of the people in the room. “Now as for the Second-in-Command of the Horde, Catra, I am assigning her to be under the watch of She-Ra, the Head Queen of Etheria, and their most trusted archer for an indefinite amount of time to be rehabilitated.”

Mermista scuffed. “That's just you, Adora, and Bow.”

“Yes it is and I think that is the best place for her to be to get better. That's the point of giving them all a second chance. Is everyone in favor of this plan?”

Everyone in the room raised their hand in approval, even Mermista after sighing again.

“Then it's decided. We will start with fixing up the Fright Zone to locate the remaining Horde members to give them their sentence and finally make that place into the beautiful kingdom it once was.”

~*~

Catra hugged her legs tightly to her chest and stared at the sky. A light breeze blew through her hair on the hill she sat on. Bow sat beside her, tapping away on his tracker pad. His face had been glued to it nearly the entire time they were together, even when Bow had given her the grand tour of the castle. She hadn't asked him why, but she couldn't blame him if the reason was because he didn't want to interact with her alone.

“It seems so much brighter now,” said Catra in the silence.

Bow glanced up at the sky then went back to his tracker pad. “Yeah. It's been like that since we left Despondos. There is now that large bright star in the sky. I don't know what it is, but it shines brighter than any of our moons. It's probably going to get hotter during the summer now.”

Glimmer suddenly appeared in front of them, awkwardly carrying Adora. It didn't look like she had been expecting to be teleported.

“Lesbian delivery system!” announced Glimmer as she unceremoniously dropped Adora.

“Hey!” shouted Adora after she landed. She glared at Glimmer, but it didn't look very threatening when her face was completely red.

“We have things to talk about, Bow.” Glimmer grabbed Bow then teleported away.

Adora stood up and dusted herself off. “How was your time with Bow?”

“It was fine I guess. How was the meeting?” asked Catra.

Adora sat down beside her. “We talked about a lot of things and it was decided that all the members will get community service for a year.”

Catra turned to Adora in shock. “That's it?”

“Well... Not quite. No one is absolved from it. I know you helped us a lot recently. Me and Glimmer probably wouldn't even be alive right now if it wasn't for you... But they did make a point that it doesn't undo the things that did happen. So it's been decided that your community service will be for an indefinite amount of time. I'm sorry.”

Catra played with the frayed edges at the bottom of her pants. “No. It's okay, Adora. I accept my punishment.”

“Really?”

Catra leaned her head onto Adora's shoulder. “Of course. I told you I want to change and if that's what needs to be done for others to accept it, then that's what I will do.”

Adora pulled her into a hug. “I love you so much. I promise that I'm staying by your side from now on.”

Catra purred. “I love you, too. I'm not going anywhere either.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 3

Pining

“This place is in worse shape than I remember it being,” said Glimmer.

She nudged a metal slab that looked to once be a part of a door with her foot. The ground was covered with shattered glass, broken pipes, and various other crushed materials. It was all covered in a layer of dirt and grime.

“This is an improvement. Trust me,” responded Catra as she surveyed the Fright Zone entrance. “Shouldn't I be helping with locating the rest of the Horde members?”

“Relax. Hordak and my aunt can handle that. Your sentence is with us.”

Catra turned to look at them. “No one mentioned I was being babysat.”

Adora shrugged and pointedly looked away when Catra turned to look at her. Her tail twitched in annoyance.

“Aw. C'mon, Catra. You're part of the Best Friend Squad now. It's going to be a blast,” said Bow.

Glimmer clapped her hands together in excitement. “Why don't you and Adora give us a tour?”

“You want a tour?” asked Adora with a raised eyebrow.

“Well yeah. You two grew up here, so you probably know this place inside and out. I've been here before, but never really had a chance to look around when I was being chased by Horde soldiers. I want to see your childhood home.”

They carefully walked around the debris on the ground into the building. Though into wasn't quite the right word as the hallway they were in no longer had a ceiling. Several of the clones had come with them and they were already at work picking up the trash off the ground. The other princesses were helping while also keeping an eye on them. It was hard keeping track of all the clones because they all looked alike, but none of them had negatively reacted to their sentence yet.

Adora and Catra walked through different rooms as they showed Glimmer and Bow around the Fright Zone. They ducked under hanging wires and dodged jagged rods. The place was in shambles from the major battles that had taken place in it over the last few months.

“And this is the mess hall,” said Adora as she gestured to the relatively still intact room they were in.

“And that's the hole Shadow Weaver put in the wall when I called her a bitch,” said Catra as she pointed at a dent near the ceiling in the corner of the room.

They began to walk down the hall and Adora and Catra would point out different rooms as they passed.

“And that's the storeroom I would hide in to cry.”

“That's the room I would take naps in when cutting class.”

“This is the room we were told not to go in.”

“So naturally we went in that room before. Not that interesting, though. Mostly filled with jars Shadow Weaver used in her spells that smell awful.”

“That's the communal showers.”

“And that's the soap closet we locked Kyle in. He was there for awhile. Kinda forgot he was there.”

“Well I gotta say this is the weirdest tour I've ever been on,” whispered Glimmer to Bow.

“This was our bedroom. We shared it with our other squad members as well as other Horde members our ages.”

Catra jumped onto one of the beds and lounged on it. “We should bring my bed back. Those beds in the castle look way too squishy.”

“Catra, that is my bed. Yours was that one,” replied Adora as she pointed at the top bunk of it.

“And tell me, Adora. How many times did I sleep in that bed?”

“Like three times in our entire lives.”

“Exactly.” Catra spread out on in like a starfish. “This is our bed.”

Adora placed her hands on the bars of the top bunk and hovered over Catra. “It's been awhile since I've even seen my bed. I sort of missed it.” The mattress was firm and lumpy at places. The sheets were starchy and smelled like mothballs. It was nothing like her soft bed in Bright Moon that always had clean lavender scented sheets put on it daily from the maids. There was so much familiarity and nostalgia from her childhood bed, though. “Hey. What happened to our drawings?”

Catra didn't even turn to look at the drawings covered in claw marks. “I got mad at it.”

Adora let go of the bars and walked around the bed. She sat on the edge and ran her fingers over the markings. “I'm sorry.”

“It's okay, Adora. I'm not mad anymore.” Catra placed her hand over Adora's. “I'm sorry for ruining our drawings.”

Adora pressed a kiss to Catra's cheek. “It's okay. We can make more.”

“Awwww,” squealed Glimmer and Bow in the background.

“Shut up!” yelled Catra as she glared at them.

Adora giggled and threw her arms around Catra's shoulders, knocking her onto the bed. She covered Catra's face with kisses while she objected. Despite the protests, Catra clang to Adora's jacket and held her in place rather than push her away.

“You're so grumpy,” snickered Adora as she pulled away to look at Catra's reddened face.

“Am not.”

“Greetings, brothers. I was sent to fetch you,” said one of the clones who now stood in the doorway.

“Are you Wrong Hordak?” asked Glimmer.

“I am not. I was sent by Wrong Hordak to retrieve She-Ra. So I guess you could say I am Wrong Wrong Hordak.”

“Yeah because that's not gonna get confusing at all,” commented Catra.

“You need She-Ra?” inquired Adora.

“Yes. There is this very heavy beam that needs to be moved. We have tried to, but it will not budge,” replied the clone.

Adora sat up and cracked her knuckles. “No problem.” She got off the bed and held her hand up toward the sky. “For the honor of Grayskull!”

The room was filled with light and when it faded, She-Ra now stood in the room. They exited the room and followed the clone to the door of the throne room that was locked.

“Oh. It got closed again. They told me it, however I cannot remember the code,” said the clone.

“Oh. I'm the one who set the code. It's-” began Catra.

“31131418184522518!” shouted She-Ra as she hit the side of the wall in excitement. She looked very proud of herself. “Still got it.”

Catra turned to her in surprise. “How do you remember that number?”

The clone typed in the code and the door opened.

“It actually was that number?” She-Ra giggled.

Glimmer narrowed her eyes in confusion. “What does that number mean?”

“Oh it's the ini-”

Catra put her hand over She-Ra's mouth. “They don't need to know its meaning.” She-Ra giggled again and nodded as they entered the room. “I had to change the codes when Shadow Weaver left and that was the easiest long number to remember. No one else knew it. Thought you forgot it anyways.”

“Of course I remember that number. It's burned into my memory.”

A gigantic beam was laying across the floor right in front of the steps to the throne. She-Ra recognized it as the beam Scorpia had knocked down when she was chipped. She-Ra leaned down and easily lifted the beam onto one of her shoulders.

“Where do you want me to put this?” she asked the clone.

Catra zoned out as she watched She-Ra maneuver the beam back to where it once stood and helped the clones tie several ropes to it to stabilize it. She-Ra began to pick up other objects substantially larger than herself with little effort. Her muscles flexed and her strong back did not buckle under the weight she carried. Even after lifting several things, she had not broken a sweat from the strain.

“Catra? Are you listening?” asked Glimmer as she waved a hand in front of Catra's face. When the movement did not phase her, Glimmer followed Catra's gaze to She-Ra and snorted. Catra yelped when Glimmer poked her side.

“What? What do you want?” growled Catra.

“You're drooling,” she chuckled as she pointed to her own mouth.

“Am not.” Catra wiped her mouth ferociously despite that.

“How about we stop ogling at She-Ra and actually clean as well?” inquired Bow.

Catra grumbled, but began to help pick up the trash on the ground.

~*~

“Have any of you seen Scorpia?” asked Perfuma.

“Nope,” answered Glimmer as she stooped down to pick up a rusty screw on the ground.

“I haven't seen Catra either. Oh. You don't think Catra is bullying Scorpia again?” Perfuma began to nervously play with her hair.

“I don't think that's what's happening,” replied Adora who had changed back to her normal form awhile ago now that the heavy lifting in the room was done.

“But she did it to Scorpia all the time. What is she goes back to that?”

“I mean... She has a point. Wasn't that one of the reasons we were supposed to be watching her?” agreed Bow.

Adora scuffed. “You guys only feel that way because you've really only ever known Force Captain Catra. Once you get a chance to get to know my best friend Catra, who, might I add, is now my girlfriend Catra, you will see these worries are silly."

Glimmer, Bow, and Perfuma stared at Adora. They weren't completely convinced.

“You'll see,” she assured them.

Glimmer dumped the armful of garbage she had gathered into a trash bag then clapped her hands together to clean them. “Anyways... We should go find her. We are supposed to be watching her and she is supposed to be cleaning, not slacking off somewhere.” She gestured to Adora. “Lead the way. I'm sure you would know best where Catra would go.”

Glimmer, Bow, and Perfuma began to follow Adora through hallways and rooms. They checked the bedroom, the roof, and various storerooms Adora knew Catra would hide out in, but all of them were fruitless. As they walked through an empty hallway, they began to hear the light sound of music.

“Music?” questioned Bow.

Adora shrugged. There was never any music playing in the Fright Zone. It was frowned against and seen as a distraction. If they had time to listen to music, then they had time to train. They came to the door of the Black Garnet room and quietly nudged the door open. Inside Entrapta tapped away at a keyboard of a computer that was now in the room. Music was playing from an old boom box on the other side of the room. Scorpia was picking up files on the floor and putting them into crates while Catra sat in the middle of the room drinking straight out of a wine bottle she must have found.

“So... Um... Catra. I've been thinking... Did you want do something after this?” asked Scorpia nervously as she stared intently at the document in her claws.

“Like what?” she asked as she turned to look at her.

“Like... to a restaurant and dancing and... other things.” Her cheeks were burning red.

Catra continued to stare at Scorpia while she refused to meet it. “Like... a date?”

“...Yeah. I guess.”

Bow began to gasp from their place behind the door, but Glimmer quickly covered his mouth and shushed him. Glimmer, Bow, Adora, and Perfuma continued to eavesdrop on their conversation from behind the cracked open door.

Catra sprawled out on the ground and leaned the side of her face on her fist. “Can't. I have a girlfriend or did you miss that part?”

Scorpia anxiously put the file into the box and looked around the floor for another one to occupy herself with. “But... if you didn't... Would you say yes?”

Catra hummed a long note. “So that's what this is about.”

Scorpia finally met Catra's gaze in shock. The redness of her cheeks deepening. “What is what about?”

“You're not trying to ask me out. You are running away from who you actually want to ask out.”

Scorpia looked away and picked up another file.

“It's the blonde one, right? The one with flower powers? What was her name?” continued Catra after Scorpia did not respond for several moments.

Entrapta looked up from her computer. “I thought you were dating the blonde one,” she commented.

Catra made a face and raised her chin to look at Entrapta sitting behind her without moving the rest of her body. “The other blonde one. Wait. How does Adora have flower powers?”

“Didn't flowers sprout when she exited The Heart?”

Catra thought for a moment. “Oh. I guess she kinda does. But I was still referring to the other blonde one. Fragrance? Plum? ...Flower?”

“It's Perfuma,” Scorpia supplied. “But it doesn't matter.” Scorpia put the file she held in one of the crates. “She would never go for someone like me. I'm...” She looked at her claws. “And she's a princess. A beautiful one at that.”

“Why do you think that? You're a princess, too, and she seems to like you.”

“Well... I don't really know what I am doing with this princess business and she is being helpful. I shouldn't misread her kindness. After everything is settled, she will probably go back to her kingdom and that will be that. Besides... she probably doesn't even like girls.”

“Has she ever explicitly said she only likes boys?”

“Well... No.”

Catra pointed at her. “Then you shouldn't assume. Ask her. Nothing will ever change if you keep second guessing yourself like this.”

“I just don't know. I used to have a lot of confidence and I tried really hard to get y- I mean... this girl to like me, but nothing ever worked and she never had any interest in me. So maybe I am not as good at this whole flirting thing as I thought.”

“This girl?” questioned Catra.

Scorpia blushed. “Don't worry about that. You don't know her.”

“It was me.”

“She is definitely someone you have never spoken to.”

Catra hit her face with her palm. “Scorpia... Stop. I know it was me.”

Scorpia looked at her in surprise and whispered, “How did you know?”

Catra's tail twitched in annoyance. “Because I'm not dumb. I've known for awhile. You aren't subtle.”

Scorpia kicked a stone by her foot lightly. “Sorry.”

Catra waved it off. “No. I am. I knew and I treated you worse than you ever deserved because of it.” She sighed. “After Adora left, I didn't want anyone to get close to me again and I took it out on you. It was wrong and I shouldn't have. You were never the problem. I was. So don't beat yourself up over something that was always my issue to work through.”

“If you hadn't, do you think I ever had a chance?”

Catra moved her gaze from Scorpia to the floor. “...No. From the moment we met, I had already known I was in love with Adora for years.”

This time Adora began to make a sound and Glimmer let go of Bow to cover Adora's mouth.

“But what if Adora had never been in the picture?”

“I would be dead.”

Scorpia looked at Catra in exasperation. “No. I mean. If you had never grown up with Adora and didn't personally know her.”

“No. Really. I would be dead. For years. And we would have never met in the first place. Pretty sure the only reason Shadow Weaver didn't kill me as a child was because of Adora. If Adora wasn't there, then I would have had no one and I doubt I would have even gotten out of childhood without her. So there was never a 'what if' scenario. It was always her. Only her. I tried the whole running away thing. For years. Didn't work. So I finally told her and now we are dating. That's why you should stop running away and confess, too.”

Scorpia dropped the file she had just picked up. “Wait... Are you telling me that your crush on Adora was a secret?”

Catra's eyes widened. “What? There was no way you knew about that. We started working together after Adora had already left! You never saw us interact outside of battle.”

Entrapta stopped tapping away and looked at Catra. “It was definitely never a secret. I written that in my notes ages ago.”

Catra got up and looked at the screen Entrapta gestured to. “How did you know that? How did either of you?”

“Well, it was rather obvious. I mean... Every time you wrote Adora's name in our plans, you drew hearts around it,” replied Scorpia as she grabbed a board in the room and held it up. It did, in fact, have Adora's name surrounded by hearts written on it.

Glimmer let go of Adora's mouth to cover her own snort. Those two were more uselessly in love than she had realized. When she had spoken to Catra on Horde Prime's ship, she had suspected Catra might have feelings for Adora, but was still unsure how to properly read Catra at the time.

“That was for dramatic effect!” shouted Catra. “You said you were having trouble finding names on our plans, so I made them more obvious. I drew around Glimmer's and Bow's names as well.”

Scorpia held up a different board. “You drew angry faces by their names. Also crossed them out several times. You know... That actually made it harder to follow your plans.”

“What about the dates we went on? We went to Princess Prom together!”

“That was an evil scheme that you entitled 'Kidnap Adora's Dumb Friends So She Doesn't Have To Look At Their Dumb Faces Anymore'. You also said to focus on the boy with the face and the abs who kept hanging off Adora. That took some figuring out who you were even referring to.”

“Okay. Bad example. What about the picnic we went on?”

“That was a mission to spy on Adora. You never even ate the food I brought.”

“What about the time we went bowling?”

“We never made it to the bowling alley. We saw Adora and followed her. You know, I'm starting to sense a pattern here.”

“Okay. So I'm obvious!” Catra huffed. “Not that it mattered. She was still oblivious. I wasted years trying to destroy that feeling and as you can see, I lost.” She stopped and thought for a moment. “Wait. I got the girl. Did I win?” She scratched her head in confusion. “I don't feel like I lost. The scenario where I am dating Adora is definitely not losing, but then again... I am sentenced to cleaning duty and that doesn't feel like winning.”

“To be fair, I haven't seen you clean anything for about the last half hour.”

“Excuse me. I am cleaning out this bottle.” She gestured at the bottle of wine she held. “Not my fault they were not specific when they told me to clean.”

Glimmer growled from behind her hand and whispered, “That little shit.” Bow shushed her as they continued to hide behind the door. Adora and Perfuma had gone silent and completely still from what they had been overhearing.

“So if you loved her the entire time, why didn't you leave the Horde and join the Rebellion sooner?”

Catra paused then took a swig of the bottle. It was still over halfway full. “Because... I felt like it never mattered. I always thought I couldn't have her. I never let myself even imagine that possibility. I thought if I couldn't have her then, I could be her closest friend.” She squeezed the bottle almost hard enough to break it. “But then... She left and made new best friends in less than a day and asked me to come with her. Like I was on the same level of people she just met! It just... It felt like I didn't mean that much to her. I wanted a level of my own to her and somewhere along the lines, I began to think... If I couldn't be her most loved... Then I could be her most hated.” She took another chug from the bottle.

“But you don't think like that now, right?”

Catra lightly tapped her claws across the glass. “No. I don't hate Glimmer and Bow. Not anymore. When I was on Horde Prime's ship, it made me realize that maybe I wouldn't be the most important in Adora's eyes, but that was still better than being nothing at all. Being absolutely alone... It's so much worse. I was so full of anger and hate and I don't want to feel like that anymore. So I sent Glimmer away to protect Adora and she still came to get me. She kept being there. Even then I never let myself consider the possibility she would want me. I had burned that bridge a long time ago.”

“But you confessed to her. So when did you think that she did want you?”

Catra's looked up at Scorpia with a blank stare. “Oh I never thought that. I am still trying to figure out why she didn't reject me. So far my best explanation is she got caught up in the moment.”

Entrapta looked away from her computer. “That doesn't make sense. Why would you confess if you were expecting to get rejected?”

Catra turned on her heel to look at Entrapta. “Because she was dying! She was so set on sacrificing herself and nothing I said mattered to her!” Tears formed in Catra's eyes. “I just... I couldn't watch. So I told her in hopes she would realize she does matter. She matters to me more than anyone. I didn't care if she rejected me. It was never about me wanting her to love me back. I never expected her to return those feelings and I still don't understand why. What have I ever done to deserve them?”

“What have I done to deserve a second chance? What has Hordak done to?” Entrapta turned back to her computer and typed slowly. “The princesses... They are all so kindhearted and I think you two are selling them a bit short.”

“I think Entrapta is right. Adora probably felt the same way with you. I'm sorry for trying to get between that. I am happy you two are together now.”

Catra wiped her tears away and turned back to Scorpia with a smile. “Right. And as the senior in dating in this room, I will help you with your relationship.”

“Senior in dating?” Scorpia narrowed her eyes. “Have you and Adora even been dating for 24 hours?”

“I'll have you know it's been 26 hours and,” she leaned over to glance at the clock on Entrapta's computer, “34 minutes, but emotionally roughly 15 years when I first met Adora. Not quite sure on that exact date. Probably a file of it somewhere around here. Did you know Adora came to the Fright Zone 20 years, 5 months, and 13 days ago?”

Scorpia stared at Catra for several long moments. “And you know that how?”

“Read it in a file. Shadow Weaver documented like everything.”

Scorpia continued to stare at Catra in suspicion. There were files everywhere in this room, but she had not seen Catra touch any of them while in this room with her. “And you read this file when?”

Catra waved off the question. “Not important.” She crossed her arms and raised a smug eyebrow at Scorpia. “And how many relationships have you been in?”

“Uh... None?”

“Exactly. That makes me your senior. I have gone on one date with her and we have already shared about 37 kisses. Or 42. It's hard to tell how to separate kisses when making out. Also counting in general. Anyways that still trumps your zero.”

“You've been keeping count?”

Catra smiled brightly. “Yes. I am enjoying this while I can until she inevitably dumps me.”

“The smile is really throwing me off while you are saying depressing things.”

Catra shrugged. “Now I might not be the person to go for good relationship advice, but I can tell you what not to do. Don't destroy everything she loves and cares about until you're the only thing left, so she has to choose you by default.”

“I have to say. I didn't think that would work and should go without saying.”

“Well somebody had to try it and I can ensure you that it will end with her punching you in the face.”

“Still not quite sure how you thought that would work.”

Entrapta leaned her elbow on her keyboard and looked at them. “Why am I not being counted?”

Catra looked at her in surprise. “You've dated before?”

“You do realize I am 30, right? I have dated plenty and have done more than kissing.”

Catra put her bottle of wine down and rushed over with Scorpia to sit on the floor in front of Entrapta. “Tell us,” they said in unison.

Entrapta raised her eyebrows at them. “What do you want to know?”

“How many have you dated?” asked Scorpia at the same time as Catra asked, “How far have you gone?”

“Hordak is my third boyfriend and I've had sex if that is what you are insinuating.”

“With Hordak?” questioned Catra as she scrunched her face at the thought. “Does he even have anything down there? I mean he's a clone. Does Horde Prime go that in depth with his clones?”

Entrapta thought for a moment. “You know... I hadn't considered that. I will have to ask and update you.”

“Ew. No. Don't update me on that.”

“But you're the one who asked.”

Catra scowled. “I know I did, but if you haven't noticed, I don't tend to think through what I say. I don't want to know anything about what is under a man's clothing. I am remembering now why I usually skipped sex-ed.”

Entrapta pulled out her recorder with her hair and held it up to Catra. “Oh that's right. You only like girls. Tell me about what that is like.”

Catra pushed her hair away. “How about not?”

“But sex is designed for procreation and bonding. Yours wouldn't be able to procreate. What is that like?”

Catra blushed. “So what if we can't have a baby?”

“That's not completely true,” commented Scorpia. “I have two moms.”

Catra's eyes widened. “Two women can have a baby? Our sex-ed classes definitely said that was impossible.”

“Oh. I've heard of that,” said Entrapta. “The Eternal Amber runestone of Aegean is said to possess the power to gift two people in love with a child regardless of any biological barriers. I have been meaning to study it, but Aegean is tedious to travel to and Queen June Bug is very particular with who she allows to see her.”

“That's the one. My moms traveled there and had me. The Horde didn't tell people about that because it required a princess to use it and they told us we couldn't trust a princess. I was the only exception to that rule.”

Catra's blushed again. “So Adora and I could have a baby.”

“You want to have a baby?”

Catra's blush deepened. “Well not right now. But... Maybe in the future. I wouldn't be against the idea if Adora isn't.”

Entrapta began to spin around her swivel chair. “I will have to ask Hordak about the genitals thing later, though. That would definitely effect our future relationship. If he doesn't, then maybe I can fashion a robotic one or clone one with his genetic code. I will have to study the clone chambers in Horde Prime's ship. They are probably use-”

Catra stopped Entrapta's spinning with her foot. “Let's get something clear right now. Imagine a list of things you are to never speak of in my presence and on that list, at the very top of it, is 'penises'. I will not repeat myself. This list goes into effect as of right now and we will never speak of it again. This conversation never happened.”

“If this conversation never happened, does the list still-”

“Yes the list still applies!”

“Can I still interview you?”

“Interview Scorpia!”

Entrapta moved the recorder to Scorpia.

“Actually it doesn't bother me. I don't really worry about something like that. I just like people for people, especially women,” said Scorpia. The boom box in the room changed to another song and as soon as the song began to play, Scorpia got up. “Sorry. Sorry. I'll change the song. I know you don't like that one.”

Catra crossed her arms. “It's fine. You like that song. I don't hate love songs anymore.”

Scorpia stopped. “If you say so.”

“Sing it.”

Scorpia looked perplexed to her. “But people hate it when I sing.”

“Who said that?”

“Uh. You did.”

Catra threw her hands up. “Well there's your first problem. Why would you listen to me?”

Scorpia looked even more confused. “Wouldn't this also count as listening to you?”

Catra ignored her reply and clapped her hands together. “Sing!”

“But I'm not very good at it.”

Catra huffed. “You don't sing because you are good at it. You sing to make people listen to you. So scream!”

“Why should I scream?”

“Because this is your castle now and you can scream if you want to. Scream because there is no Shadow Weaver or anyone else telling you not to. Scream because we are finally free to.” Catra jumped up and down on the balls of her feet and screamed. She then turned to Entrapta. “You scream, too!”

“You want me to scream? People usually tell me not to,” replied Entrapta.

“I bet you can scream really loud. Scream!” So Entrapta screamed. Catra covered her ears from the high pitch and burst into laughter. She then pointed at Scorpia. “Your turn!”

Scorpia yelled slightly louder than her normal talking voice.

“If you won't sing then I will,” laughed Catra.

She began to sing along with the song that was a sickeningly sweet song about a first love. Her voice easily hit the high notes and had a melodic tone that nearly outshone the original singer. She pointed at Entrapta who began to sing along with her. Entrapta was able to hit the pitches of the singer, but was consistently off beat. Despite that, she sounded like she was having fun. Soon Scorpia joined in. They danced together. Catra smoothly while Scorpia was stilted and Entrapta was trying to copy their movements, but not very well.

When the song finished, Bow began to clap, alerting them that they had an audience.

“How long have you been there?” screeched Catra.

“They have been there since Scorpia tried to ask you out,” supplied Entrapta.

“That was like 15 minutes ago! Why didn't you alert us?”

“Was I supposed to?”

“Yes! When people enter a room, you greet them and let others know they are there!”

“Oh. You didn't know they were there? Don't you have heightened senses?” Catra pointed at the bottle of wine she had put on the floor. “Oh. I guess that would dull your senses.” Entrapta turned to the door and waved. “Well they are here. Hi, Bow! Hi... other people!”

“Thanks, Bow,” commented Glimmer from still behind the door.

Bow pushed the door open slowly to reveal himself, Glimmer, Adora, and Perfuma. He awkwardly waved and said, “Sorry for snooping. We were just trying to find you guys. I had no idea you could sing, Catra.”

Scorpia froze when her eyes met Perfuma's and she turned as red as her claws. She had heard. Everything. She knew. Scorpia squeaked.

Catra's eyes darted around the room. Anywhere, but on Adora's. The only door in the room was currently blocked by them. She rapidly scanned for an escape route and jumped into the vent above her when she realized that was a viable option. It was how Entrapta traveled around the Fright Zone. It could work for Catra.

“Hey! That's not fair! I can't go that way!” shouted Scorpia as she jumped barely a foot off the ground, not even close to the vent opening.

It was unlikely she could fit in the vent even if she could jump up there. So she opted for barreling past them to exit out of the door. Perfuma gasped and hurried after her.

“Bye,” said Entrapta as she waved at the door as Scorpia and Perfuma left.

Chapter Text

Chapter 4

Burning Past

“Scorpia?”

Perfuma hovered uncertainly in the doorway of Scorpia's room. The room was pitch black. The lights were not turned on and there weren't any windows in it. There didn't seem to be a lot of windows in the Fright Zone in general and it was hard to believe so many people lived in such an environment. The only light in the room was coming from the hallway from the open door.

Scorpia sat huddled in the corner of her room on the floor. Her legs were pulled tight to her body and her face hidden in her knees. She was so still and quiet, it was almost like she had become a part of the room. It made Perfuma wonder the extent of what the Horde had done to her, to all of the operatives, to cause them to gain the skill of making themselves almost seem invisible.

Scorpia had not reacted to Perfuma calling her name. She hesitantly entered the room and wordlessly sat down across from her. She watched Scorpia and waited. Perfuma wasn't going to rush her if she wasn't ready to speak yet.

“Sorry,” mumbled Scorpia after several moments of silence.

Perfuma scooted closer to Scorpia by about an inch. “What are you apologizing for?” she asked quietly.

“Because I made things weird between us. I always do that. I make people uncomfortable. You probably hate me now.”

Perfuma gently placed her hand on Scorpia's bicep. “I don't hate you. You're one of the sweetest people I have ever met. How could I possibly hate you?”

Scorpia lifted her head from her knees. Her eyes were red and her cheeks were blotchy from crying. Tears were still slowly dripping from her eyes. “Do you mean that? Ah. You're such a nice person. I'm sorry. I feel like all I ever do is take advantage of people.”

Perfuma pulled a floral print handkerchief from her pocket and gently dabbed at Scorpia's cheeks. “You have such a kind soul, Scorpia. Even when you were chipped, you didn't let Prime change you. You don't have to keep apologizing. There is nothing wrong with you.”

Scorpia lowered her legs to sit cross-legged across from her, opening the protective shell she had wrapped herself in.

“What's that?” asked Perfuma when noticed something was laying on Scorpia's lap.

Scorpia picked up a small scorpion plush in her claws. It was worn and stained. Parts of it were torn with badly sewn, but clearly meticulous, stitching on them. “This is my birth doll made by one of my moms.”

It was tradition for parents to make a plush doll to celebrate the birth of a child. Perfuma had one of her own of a deer. It was usually made by the father while the mother was still pregnant, but not always.

“It's so cute.” She carefully ran her fingers over the fabric. She didn't want to damage something that clearly meant a lot to Scorpia. “Whatever happened to your mothers? After the Horde took over the Fright Zone, we heard very little about your family. I didn't even know Princess Gasha had you until only a few years ago.”

Scorpia moved the claws of the doll and stared intently at it as she spoke. “I don't completely know myself. I was 4 when they died. The Horde told me they were traitors and not to worry about them.”

Perfuma placed her hand on one of Scorpia's pincers. “That must have been hard growing up without your parents. I was 9 when my parents died.”

“You became the Queen of Plumeria when you were 9?” asked Scorpia in surprise. She knew Entrapta had become the Queen of Dryl at the age of nine as well and Frosta had become the Queen of Snows at the age of eight. She had no idea there were so many child rulers.

Perfuma shook her head. “Not quite. My older sister, Petalia, had become Queen. She raised me for a good portion of my life. I am grateful that I had her and that I wasn't alone during such a tough time.”

“I didn't know you had a sister.”

“Petalia passed away 6 years ago. She was so kind and headstrong. She protected our kingdom from the Horde and refused to back down from any injustices. She died for her cause. When I had become Queen in her place, I wanted to live peaceful in hopes the Horde would leave us alone. Each day they ventured further and further into the woods until they were on our doorstep. That's when Glimmer recruited me to the Alliance.” She played with her hair for a moments before looking back up at Scorpia. “Did you have anyone to help you growing up?”

There was something that flickered in Scorpia's eyes. It was only there for a second before all emotion was wiped from her features. “Not really. There were people assigned to raising me to make me into a Force Captain. They tended to keep me separate from the other cadets since I was a princess, so I didn't have many friends growing up.”

Perfuma tightened her grip on Scorpia's pincer. “Well you aren't alone anymore.” She glanced at the ground and blushed. “And just so you know... I also like girls.” She looked up at Scorpia's shocked face. “Especially you.” Perfuma cupped her hands together and made a bright red gardenia flower appear in her palms. The flower symbolized purity and gentleness, a perfect match for a kind heart like Scorpia. It also represented joy and secret love which conveyed how Perfuma felt about Scorpia. She carefully placed the flower in Scorpia's hair.

Scorpia's surprised face slowly turned into a small smile. Perfuma pulled her handkerchief back out and patted the remaining tears on her face. Scorpia moved one of her pincers to lay gently on Perfuma's back and pulled her closer. Perfuma smiled as she moved closer. She sat on one of her legs in her lap, her back against Scorpia's bicep, and her calves sprawled across the floor. Perfuma placed a hand on Scorpia's cheek. She leaned up as Scorpia leaned down until their lips were touching.

They stayed completely still together and simply kept their lips pressed to each other. Despite not physically moving, their minds were spinning and pleasant tingles were rushing through their bodies. Then they began to move. Perfuma's hand moved to the nape of Scorpia's neck and played with the soft short hairs there. Scorpia pulled her closer and let one of her pincers run through Perfuma's curls.

For once in a long time, everything was right.

~*~

“I sensed you were in distress.”

Catra looked up to see Melog sitting in front her.

“Where have you been? I could have used you like a half hour ago.”

Melog tilted their head as their left ear twitched. “You became distressed about ten minutes ago. You were happy before that.”

Catra huffed. “I know that, but that's where the distress came from!” If they had been present, then they would have alerted her that she was being spied on.

Melog narrowed their eyes in confusion. “You are acting odd. There seems to be a strange substance in your system.”

“I'm aware of that! I'm the one that put it there!”

“I can remove that.”

“Don't do that! I want it. That's the point.”

Despite her protests, Melog stepped closer to her and placed one of their paws on her right leg. They began to glow bright blue and Catra could feel her intoxication begin to fade. She hadn't been that intoxicated to begin with. It had been a nice buzz that had given her a bit more confidence to talk about how she truly felt and now that it was gone, she felt even more embarrassed by the things she had said. She missed that high and most definitely did not want to have to face her eavesdroppers again.

“Thanks,” she said with her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“You're welcome.”

Melog did not seem to comprehend sarcasm and continued to analyze her in confusion. Catra dropped her face into gap between her legs, her knees pressing into her forehead, and groaned.

“You still seem unwell. Was that not the source of your distress?”

Catra lifted her face in surprise and went completely still when she heard the door of the storeroom she was in open and close. She heard light footsteps to her hiding place then a hand being placed on the low hanging ceiling from the staircase the storeroom was located under. Catra already knew who it was before they came into view. She knew those footsteps and that scent better than anything else in existence.

“There you are,” said Adora, her ponytail hanging to the side as she angled her body to see around the crates.

“How did you find me?” questioned Catra as she tightened her legs to her chest and squished herself more into the wedge she was sitting in beside one of the crates and the wall.

Melog jumped onto the crate beside Catra with a quiet thud and looked down at them as Adora moved to sit across from Catra. “But you always came here when you were upset. If you didn't want me to find you, why did you go to such an obvious place that I would?”

Catra glared at her, her eyes glowing in the darkness of the room. The room was not perfectly sealed shut. Light filtered from below the door into the room. The steps above them were not lined properly and light sneaked through the cracks between the boards. “This place was a perfectly fine hiding spot for like the last two years while you were gone. No one could ever find me here. Especially Scorpia. I don't think she could even fit this far into the room to see me. I forgot you knew about it.”

Adora kept her distance and looked over her from her spot a good two feet away. This version of Catra was one she knew better than the hateful version she had seen while they were on opposite sides of the war. It had been a long time since she had truly seen this side of Catra. The side Catra only let Adora and no one else see. Or at least that was how it had been. “You seem to have gotten pretty close to Scorpia while I was gone. I'm sorry for spying on you. You said some things that I wasn't supposed to hear, didn't you?”

Catra looked away and stared intently at the corner of one of the crates. She began to count the splinters on it for something else to focus on. Her gaze returned to Adora when she felt the tips of her feet tentatively press against Catra's toes.

“Hey. I am sorry for listening, but we do have to talk about this,” continued Adora gently.

Catra's ears flattened and her fur fluffed up. “I don't want to. Can't we just drop it and act like I didn't say anything?” Melog turned red in response to her aversion to the subject.

Adora scratched the back of her head and glanced around the room. “I'm sorry, but I can't. Look. I'm not very good with talking about emotions either. The Horde didn't exactly prepare us for that sort of thing. We were taught to bottle up our emotions and just do as we were told. But that's not healthy.” She looked back at Catra. “I want things to work with us. So let's from now on say how we feel instead of pretending it away. That hasn't exactly worked well for either of us.”

Melog continued to glow red from Catra's irritation, making the entire room have a red glow to it. Catra tightened her fingers on her knees. Her claws slid out and pressed against the fabric of her pants, threatening to tear a hole and break her skin. “You want to talk about feelings? Fine. Why are you bothering with me? You're She-Ra. You could have anyone you want. Even before all of this, you were the star of the Horde yet you stayed with me. Why put yourself through that hassle?”

“Because I love you.” Catra scrunched her face up in annoyance at her short response, so Adora explained further. “When I left the Horde, I got to explore Etheria and meet so many people. But I still missed you. No matter who I met or where I went, I would still think of you. I would see a beautiful view and think about how I wanted to show you it or I would try some really good food and think about how I wanted you to try it. I found myself creating a mental list of all those things and hoping that there would be a day we would no longer be enemies. Then I could finally show you these things. It felt like a part of me was missing for so long.” She held a fist to her heart. “But now that you are back, I feel whole again. I don't want to go back to before.”

Melog returned to their usual blue glow as Catra stared at Adora wide eyed. Adora scooted slightly closer and placed the sides of her boots against the sides of Catra's, framing them. “I have done nothing to deserve you.”

Adora giggled. “That's not how love works. It makes me happy when I am with you. I wasn't caught up in the moment. I have always felt that way about you.” Adora took a chance and lightly placed one of her hands on top of Catra's. Her hand relaxed in her hold and released the fabric from her claws. “My feelings for you are real and they are not going to fade away. I know saying this won't just suddenly make you not worried. It's going to take a lot more than that and time to mend those wounds, but I want to try. You don't need to be scared that I am going to leave you or stop being in love with you. I want you to feel safe with me and to trust me.”

Catra's heart began to race from how close Adora was and the sweet things she was saying. These were things she dreamed of Adora saying to her, but never actually thought she would hear such words. She turned her hand to hold Adora's. “You're such an idiot.”

Adora smiled warmly at her. “I've heard that one before. What can I do to prove to you that I do love you?” Catra shrugged in response. Adora ran her thumb over the back of Catra's hand in thought. “How about I take you on a date tomorrow?”

Catra blushed at the memory of them dancing last night. “Didn't we just go on a date yesterday?”

“Yes. But that was for an event. This time I will plan something. I want to spend some time with you.”

A smile stretched over Catra's face and her heart began to race even faster. “Oh. And what will we do?” she asked in a sultry voice.

Adora did not seem to pick up on the mood change. “I don't know yet. I'll have to talk to Glimmer to see what we can do.”

Catra let go of Adora's hand and placed her hands on the floor. She slowly crawled up to Adora until she was breathing on her face. “I asked... what will we do?”

Her hands reached out and cupped Adora's face. Adora raised her eyebrows and she stared into her eyes. Then she was reaching for Catra and pulling her onto her lap. Their mouths crashed together. Catra's heart stuttered at the sudden contact. Adora's hands gripped the back of her shirt and held her tightly against her. Catra blushed at feeling of their breasts being pressed together. Her heart was beating so fast that it was now a steady thrum. Their mouths moved in sync with open mouth kisses.

Catra couldn't get enough of Adora's taste nor did she ever want to. Adora tasted a bit like the coffee she had drank that morning before they had left the cave and something else. Something so familiar, so Adora. Adora's tongue ran carefully over Catra's fangs and Catra pushed her tongue into Adora's mouth to run over her dull teeth in response. She was much more reckless in her movements, not caring if she nicked her tongue on one of Adora's teeth. Not when all her senses were currently being filled with Adora.

Catra's hands began to wander, curious as to how far Adora would allow her to go. She started with the backs of her ears then dropped to running her hands along the outline of her neck then her shoulders. The tips of her fingers moved around her shoulders to just below her collarbone. She rubbed her jacket there with each movement going lower. Upon no resistance, Catra opened her right hand to lay flat on one of Adora's breasts.

Adora broke away from the kiss and for a moment, Catra was scared she had crossed a line, but then she heard Adora's breathy moan. Catra's ears perked up and she decided she liked that sound. She slid her hand lower to cup Adora's breast through her jacket. Another moan escaped from Adora's mouth. Catra became fascinated with all the possible sounds she could draw out of Adora. She lightly squeezed Adora's breast and moved her mouth to her neck. Catra experimentally ran her tongue along her neck. Adora gasped and shifted to allow Catra to have more access. That was all the encouragement Catra needed to latch onto her skin and suck, her tongue lashing against her skin. Catra nipped and tasted her, leaving red marks along her skin.

“Are you going to mate?”

Catra jolted away from Adora and looked up at Melog where they still sat on top of the crate. “I forgot you were up there,” said Catra as she tried to get back in control of her breathing.

“I had not left. I can leave now if that is what you desire.”

Adora giggled and loosened her clutch on the back of Catra's shirt. Catra turned back to look at Adora's flushed cheeks and the sweat that now lined her brow. “I don't know what you two are talking about, but we should probably be getting back to the others.”

Catra pouted. She moved her legs to around her waist and her arms to around her shoulders to lock her into place. “Don't want to. I've cleaned enough.”

Adora drew circles on Catra's back and smiled. “Don't worry. We can continue later. I'll make sure we have the day off tomorrow. But right now, we have things we are supposed to be doing.”

I'd rather do you, thought Catra, but she didn't dare voice this thought.

Adora placed her hand on Catra's right thigh. Her thumb ran along the inside of her thigh, causing her muscles to twitch, as it moved down her leg until she was reaching behind herself to grab Catra's ankle. She untangled her leg and moved it to her right side to lay with Catra's other leg. Adora grasped Catra's lower back and under her knees as she began to stand up, hugging Catra to her chest. Catra's heart began to speed back up and she fussed in Adora's arms.

“Hey! Put me down!” she whined as her cheeks heated up and she pushed a hand against Adora's face.

“Eh. Why not? I don't want to let go of you yet.” Adora tightened her grip on her and held her close.

“I can't let others see me like this! I already damaged my reputation enough earlier!”

Adora turned her face and pressed a kiss to the palm of Catra's hand that was pushing against her face. “Can I carry you to just the door then? No one will see and it will just be a moment between us.” She glanced over to where Melog still sat on the crate. “Well us and Melog, but they can't really tell anyone anyway.”

Catra huffed and crossed her arms. “Fine. Suit yourself. But just to the door.”

Adora beamed and kissed her on the forehead. She began to walk slowly toward the door at less than half of her usual walking speed. Catra snorted. “It's going to take an hour to get to the door at this rate,” she commented.

Adora scuffed. “I don't know what you are talking about. I always walk like this.”

Catra's dangling tail swayed and twitched against Adora's thighs. “Liar. You are enjoying carrying me like this way too much.”

Adora stopped and stared into Catra's eyes. Her pupils had dilated so much that the blue of her eyes were barely an outline. Catra was unsure if she was the cause of that or if it was because of the dimly lit room. “I missed being able to hold you. Even before I defected from the Horde, you had stopped letting me.”

Catra began to play with the collar of Adora's jacket. “Because it hurt,” she whispered in confession.

Adora narrowed her eyebrows, the look of confusion clear on her face. “Why did it hurt?”

“Because I couldn't have you. Or at least I thought I couldn't. So it hurt when you held me knowing that you didn't feel the same. Didn't it bother you?”

Adora shook her head. “No. I wanted whatever you were willing to give me. I was content with staying by your side and in your life.” Adora began to walk toward the door again. “I am happy that I can be in your life again. I don't want that to change.”

They finally made it to the door and Adora reluctantly set Catra down. Catra slipped her hand into Adora's and squeezed. “I still am not a fan of this whole talking about our feelings thing, but I will try it more. I don't really know what I am doing, but I don't want to go back to how things were before. I like now. The Horde did so many bad things to us like abuse, propaganda, manipulation, and neglect. Night Child was the melting pot of all those things. It's amazing that they turned out okay in the end.”

Catra tried to take a step forward only for Adora to not budge. She looked up to Adora's shocked face. “Wait. Night Child was real? I thought they were just a rumor to keep us from sneaking around at night.”

Catra raised an eyebrow. “Adora... Night Child is Scorpia.”

The color drained from Adora's skin. “But those noises... And what they did.” She sucked in a quick breath of air. “They were all real?”

“They were definitely real. I met Night Child back when we were kids. When I met Scorpia again when she was a Force Captain, I thought it was her, but then she was so cheerful and smiley that I thought I was mistaken. Scorpia doesn't ever talk about it, but I ran into her file before. It was... graphic.”

“I'm... I'm going to have to tell Glimmer about that. She should know. It might affect with the sentence she gave everyone.”

They walked hand in hand down the hall to a large room that looked to have once been a part of the original castle. There were chipped murals all over the walls and many broken statues that were no longer clear on what they once were. Glimmer and Bow were sweeping in the corner. Entrapta was sitting on the floor and inspecting different small objects scattered about. Perfuma was hugging Scorpia's arm as they whispered to each other.

Catra smiled when she saw Perfuma press a chaste kiss to Scorpia's cheek. “Told you,” commented Catra.

Scorpia's cheeks slightly reddened and a small smile appeared on her lips. “You did,” she agreed.

“Good. I'm glad,” she replied with earnest. She snickered as she turned back to Adora and clang to her arm as they walked to where Glimmer and Bow were.

Scorpia looked up at one of the statues. It was of a hulking figure of a woman with scorpion features and long curly hair. It was covered in scratches and parts of it broken off. The painting on it was worn and barely visible, but it seemed the statue's hair was once a shade of bright red, golden eyes, and was wearing a long white gown. “There are so pictures and statues of people in this room and I have no idea who any of them are. Like this woman. No idea who she is, but she always kinda scared me as a kid.”

Perfuma giggled. “Scorpia, that's the Goddess, Sepsa,” she replied.

Scorpia looked at her in confusion. “Who?”

Perfuma gave her a gentle smile. “She's your Goddess, Scorpia.”

Scorpia turned back to the statue in awe. “My Goddess? I didn't even know I had one. What is she supposed to do?”

“Sepsa is the fourth daughter and the guardian of lightning and the eighth moon.”

“Fourth daughter? Eighth moon? Sorry. You must think I'm dumb.”

Perfuma shook her head. “It's okay, Scorpia. The Horde deprived you of so many teachings. I'll explain whatever you need me to. All the princesses have a Goddess and they are said to watch over us from one of the moons. Sepsa is the fourth oldest of the ten sisters who created Etheria. She is said to have given your ancestors the Black Garnet to gain access to some of her powers to protect the Fright Zone and the people who lived there.”

“That's amazing. A protector, huh? Do you have one?”

“Yes. My Goddess is Aromia. She is the fifth daughter and guardian of plants and the sixth moon. She gave my ancestors our runestone, the Heart Blossom.”

“Did all the Goddesses give runestones?”

“Yes. That's why we are princesses. We are the only ones that can access their powers.”

Scorpia turned to Entrapta who inspecting a glass shard she held in her hair. “If a runestone is what makes someone a princess, then what about you? Do you have a Goddess?”

Entrapta placed the shard down and picked up a small blue scratched up piece of plastic to inspect as well. “I don't have a Goddess. But I did have a runestone and that's why we count,” she replied.

“You had a runestone? I have never heard of that. I never knew why Dryl was considered a kingdom,” responded Perfuma.

“Oh I didn't know either until I began to research the Spirit Ember and discovered it was an artificial runestone made by the First Ones. They were researching the magic of Etheria and were trying to replicate the runestones. They gave a medusan a runestone in hope that their inherent magic within them that controlled their hair would allow them to channel the magic from the stone just like a princess. Only it was a failure and the medusan princess went berserk from the magic. She destroyed her kingdom and her younger brother evacuated everyone to Snare Mountains which would later become Dryl.”

Bow stopped sweeping and walked over to them as Glimmer and Adora continued to whisper to each other. “Wait. Are you talking about that time we traveled to the Candila Mountains back when you were still part of the Horde? The Spirit Ember we found there had been your runestone? Why didn't you say anything?” he questioned.

Entrapta stared at him blankly for a few moments. “Because you didn't ask. But yes to all of that. It's why I am technically a princess, but I don't follow the usual princess rules of having a Goddess and a runestone. Unless you want to count the First Ones as my Goddess, which actually is a rather fascinating concept now that I consider it.”

“Wait. Back up. What is Night Child?” requested Glimmer to Adora loudly, her voice echoing off the walls, interrupting Bow's conversation with Entrapta, Scorpia, and Perfuma.

Chapter Text

Chapter 5

Night Child

“Scorpia? What's wrong?” asked Perfuma when she felt Scorpia suddenly go stiff in her arms.

Perfuma leaned away from Scorpia to see that her face had become as pale as her snow white hair. Then suddenly she was turning around to face Glimmer, Adora, and Catra standing at the other side of the room, almost knocking over Perfuma in the process. She didn't even seem to register how fast she had moved or Perfuma trying to regain her balance.

“You know about Night Child?” she shouted. Her voice was tinged with fear and anxiety.

“Like I was saying, Night Child is Scorpia,” clarified Catra to Glimmer.

“You knew about that?” Despite her question coming out as a whisper, the sound bounced off the walls and carried over to where they stood.

“What? It wasn't covered in Force Captain Orientation? It seems like everything else was.”

“Well... Not exactly.”

“Can we back up a moment? I still have no idea what Night Child even is,” interjected Glimmer.

“Back when we were kids, there were rumors that there was a prison underneath the Fright Zone that held an extremely dangerous and vicious child who was a princess. That she was barely human and that she could not be reasoned with. And at night, she was taken out by specially trained operatives to train separately from us as a secret weapon to take out the rest of the princesses. Sometimes... At night... We could hear her... Screaming,” said Adora. She turned to Scorpia with watery eyes. “I thought she was just a rumor to keep us from sneaking around the cellar and at night. I had no idea she was you.”

“She was definitely real. I met Scorpia before when she was Night Child, but I was never able to get a good look at her. Used to push ration bars through the vents to her when I was a kid,” replied Catra.

“Wait. You were Vent Kid?” asked Scorpia.

“Yep. That was me, but I didn't know you gave me such a stupid nickname.”

Perfuma lightly placed her hand back on Scorpia's bicep. “What did she mean by 'screaming'? What were they doing to you?” she requested. Tears were already beginning to leak out of her eyes at the thought that they had been harming Scorpia.

Scorpia shook her head. “It's fine. It was my fault anyways.”

Perfuma tightened her grip on Scorpia. “You were a child. How could it possibly have been your fault?”

“You should just tell her. There is no sense in hiding it. The Horde did a lot of awful things to us, but the things they did to you were way worse than me. Not telling them about it is like saying what they did was okay. It wasn't,” said Catra.

Scorpia ducked her head and stared intently at her boots. “They kept me separate from everyone else because I was a princess. They were trying to connect me to my runestone, but it was rejecting me. They tried so many times and... it hurt when they did. Like getting hit by one of our taser guns. Only like over and over again... For days.”

Tears began to drip out of Perfuma's eyes in big globs. “That's awful. I am so sorry you had to go through that,” she cried. She wrapped her arms around Scorpia's torso and pulled her into a tight embrace.

Scorpia shrugged and frowned as she continued to look at her boots. “I'm okay. They gave up on me after awhile and then I was sent away to a different camp to be trained to be a Force Captain instead.”

“But why was the runestone rejecting you in the first place?” asked Adora.

“Lapis Amissio. It's a princess affliction. It's tradition on a princess's seventh birthday to connect to their runestone, but sometimes the runestone rejects them. It hurts, but it's not a huge deal when it happens. Usually they just wait a few more years then try again. It's something princesses grow out of and only affects about ten percent of princesses,” explained Glimmer. “It happened to me when I tried to connect to my runestone and my mom made me wait all the way until I was fourteen to try again. I connected to it with no issue the second attempt.”

Scorpia placed one of her pincers on top of Perfuma's head and lightly patted it as she continued to cry into her shoulder. “I'm sorry for upsetting you, Perfuma. I wanted to avoid talking about this because I don't like thinking about it.”

Perfuma leaned away and wiped at her eyes with the backs of her hands. “No. I'm sorry for making you talk about something that made you uncomfortable,” she apologized. “How about we focus on something else? We can go get something to eat.”

Scorpia smiled. “That sounds good. I am starving.”

Once Perfuma and Scorpia exited the room, Glimmer turned to Catra and said, “You mentioned there was a file. Can you show me it?”

Catra nodded and began to lead her, Adora, and Bow out of the room.

“That's okay, guys. You go do that. I'm going to go check up on how things are going with Hordak,” called out Entrapta as they left the room.

~*~

“This was Shadow Weaver's office,” said Adora.

“This was the Second in Command's office which was, oh yeah, me,” replied Catra as she unlocked the office door. Inside was a small room with a large dark wood desk and a padded black swivel chair that took up about half of the room. The room was full of file cabinets that were tipped over and the files were all over the floor. “I had to do a lot of busy work in here. It was so boring.”

“I find it hard to believe that you actually did paperwork.” Adora picked up a random paper that was laying on the desk and began to read it until she realized it was just covered in curse words. “Okay. Yeah. That makes sense.”

Catra grabbed the paper from her. “That is an important document.”

“Of what? What is the best font to write 'fuck you' in?”

“Language,” scolded Bow.

Glimmer glanced at all the files scattered everywhere. “Any chance you know where Scorpia's file is at in all of this?” she inquired.

“My organization is kinda everywhere,” said Catra as she gestured around the room.

“Great,” sighed Glimmer. “Let's just get started then.”

They began to pick up the files and read the names on each one as they created their own stack. There were so many names Glimmer didn't recognize and she began to realize that she would have to go through all of them to better understand the extent of the Horde's damage on every operative. Glimmer blinked in surprise when saw a name she did recognize on one of the files.

“Hey! I found Catra's file!” exclaimed Glimmer as she began to open it then stopped when she read the full name on it.

“Wait! Wait! No!” shouted Catra as she yanked the file out of Glimmer's hands and held it protectively to her chest. “You saw, didn't you?!”

“I saw.”

“Forget it!”

Glimmer snorted and started letting out breathy laughter. She doubled over as she tried to contain her laughter. “I don't think I could ever forget that.”

“I can fix that!”

Catra tried to pounce on top of Glimmer, but she teleported away to beside Bow. “So. Bow,” said Glimmer as she cockily popped her lips on his name. “Want to know what Catra's full name is?”

Catra screamed and tried to pounce on them again only for Glimmer to teleport herself and Bow to the other side of the room. “Somehow I feel like my life is in danger if I know,” he replied as he glanced nervously over to where Catra was.

Glimmer ignored his answer. “Catra Applesauce Meowmeow.”

Bow began to howl with laughter. “That's so cute!”

“I am not cute!” shrieked Catra as all her fur puffed up then turned on her heel when she heard Adora trying to stifle her giggle behind her hand. “Not you, too! This is your fault!”

“Did you know about this, Adora?” asked Glimmer between laughs.

“Yes she did! She is the one who wrote it!”

“You told me I could write whatever I wanted,” defended Adora. “You should have never given me that power. Besides, I was 6 and at the time, I thought it was cute. I still do.”

“How did this even happen?” asked Bow as he continued to snicker behind his hand.

“Well Catra and I are orphans. So when we started school, we were given papers to give ourselves middle and last names. Catra said it was dumb and that I could fill out hers. That's what the access code to open the doors is. Our initials converted into numbers. CAM-N-AHR-4-Ever. A lot of Horde codes use initials to numbers format.”

“I thought you never had real food until you met us. How did you know what applesauce was?”

“I never had it, but I had heard of it from people who did go outside of the Fright Zone. They told me it was the most amazing thing they ever had and I had always wanted to try it.”

“So, wait. You named Catra after something you always wanted to taste?” laughed Glimmer. “So tell me again when you figured out you were a lesbian?”

Adora blushed and narrowed her eyes. “Okay. I am going to stop you right there,” she said pointedly.

“How have I never heard of this? She was our enemy and you never thought to tell me what her embarrassing full name was?”

“If that is what you wrote for Catra, then what did you write for yourself?” inquired Bow.

“Something equally dumb,” commented Catra.

“It's not dumb. I think it's cool. My full name is Adora Happysmile Rainbowfist,” replied Adora. “And the name I gave you is adorable.”

“I had to skip Force Captain Orientation because they would have said my full name when commissioning me! I don't know how I still managed to fall in love with you when gave me this name!”

Glimmer smacked her face with her palm and said, “How is letting 6-year-olds name themselves one of the worst things the Horde has let happen?”

“Uh... Glimmer. You might want to take that one back. I just found Scorpia's file,” said Bow as he picked up the file by his foot.

Glimmer, Adora, and Catra stopped and walked over to where Bow was as he opened the file. Glimmer took out the first page and began to read it over as Bow flipped through the document. He pulled out a picture he found and stared at it. The picture was of Scorpia when she looked to be about eight years old. She was wearing plain tattered black clothing with the Horde logo on them. Her straight white hair went all the way to her waist. It was untamed and didn't look to have been brushed in a long time. It laid in a heap on her head without any sense of a part. Between the strands of hair, he could see her black eyes staring blankly back at him. There wasn't a trace of any emotion in her eyes or on her face, an expression of absolutely nothing. A chill ran through Bow like someone had dumped ice water into his veins.

Glimmer gasped when Bow handed her the picture. She took it with shaking hands. “Are those zip ties?” Upon closer inspection, there were zip ties holding her pincers closed. “I know the Horde has done a lot of awful things, but this... This is a whole other level.”

“I almost don't want to ask, but... Was Hordak the one doing this to her? If it was, we might need to make his punishment harsher,” said Bow.

“It wasn't Hordak,” said Scorpia. They turned to see Scorpia and Perfuma were now standing in the doorway. Scorpia nodded at Perfuma. “You can look at the file if you want to. It's fine.”

“If not Hordak, then who?” asked Glimmer.

“Hordak didn't do much of anything. I hardly ever even saw him. Before Shadow Weaver, his Second in Command was a man by the name of Vultak. He was the one who was put in charge of training me. He... wasn't a very nice person. He was the one who made sure I became as strong as I am now. Shadow Weaver was the one who tried to connect me to my runestone.”

Tears dripped down Perfuma's cheeks as she cradled the photo of a young Scorpia. “We were all so focused on what the Horde has done to us that we didn't think much about what the Horde did to their own. This... This isn't a thing that should have ever happened. So many children never even got to have a childhood,” said Perfuma.

“I'm not sure when exactly they gave up trying to connect me to my runestone, but I was about 12 when Vultak died. That was when Shadow Weaver officially took his place and I was instead placed in the care of Vultak's sister, Hunga, at a different camp. She was a lot nicer compared to him. She didn't keep me separated from the other cadets.”

“I'm sorry that I made you connect to your runestone, Scorpia. I had no idea how traumatic of a connection you had with it,” apologized Glimmer.

Scorpia shrugged. “It's okay. I ended up connecting to it without any problem, so I guess I grew out of that Amissy or whatever. I knew I had to try again at some point. A princess is supposed to be connected to it. You gave me my needed push. Thank you.”

“What's it like to be connected to it? Do you feel any different?” asked Catra.

“Like a part of me is finally full. Like a buzzing inside of my heart. It makes me feel more alive. Like it was always meant to be there. Sorry if that's not the best explanation.”

“I know what you mean by feeling more alive, Scorpia. I can feel more in tuned with the planet when I am connected to my runestone,” replied Perfuma.

“And me with my sparkles. Like a rushing and pulling feeling of being able to freely move through this dimension,” added Glimmer.

Perfuma pressed a kiss to Scorpia's cheek. “I'm sorry we couldn't be in your life sooner, but we are here now and are not going anywhere.”

“Aw, come here!” said Scorpia as she pulled them all into a group hug and easily lifted the five people off the ground. They laughed as she set them all down.

“Good news, Catra! Hordak does have a penis!” announced Entrapta as she came into the room.

Catra stared at Entrapta blankly before she turned to Scorpia and asked, “If you shock me like really hard right now, do you think you can give me partial amnesia so I can never recall this part in my life again?”

“What?! I'm not going to shock you!” exclaimed Scorpia.

“Why not? Real friends knock each other out! Adora would!”

“Uh... That was the alternate universe reality and I only tased you because you were being annoying,” defended Adora.

“I was not!”

“Was too!”

“Is there another reason you came in here, Entrapta?” requested Glimmer while ignoring the argument happening between Catra and Adora.

“Oh right. I am transporting my lab back to Dryl and needed some assistance,” said Entrapta.

“Bow and I will help.” Glimmer pulled on Adora's jacket, separating her from her argument with Catra. “This one will as well.”

“Wait. What about Catra?” asked Adora as Glimmer dragged her out of the room.

“Scorpia and Perfuma can watch her. Will do you some good to be apart for a bit.”

Catra childishly stuck her tongue out at Adora which caused Adora to retort with the same.

~*~

Catra sighed in boredom as she swept the floor. Back when Adora and her had been cadets, they used to have to help clean the Fright Zone together all the time. Catra usually left most of the cleaning up to Adora, but Adora never seemed to mind it much. After she had left, Catra had become Force Captain and no longer had to do such menial tasks. She was so bored out of her mind that she was sweeping the same cleared spot over and over again.

“Kitty!” called out Adora in excitement.

Adora hadn't called her that since they were children. Catra dropped her broom and began to turn toward her. She yelped in surprise when Adora clung to her.

“What's going on?” asked Catra in surprise.

“There you are, Adora! I should have known you were going to Catra. Hey, Bow, she's in here!” yelled Glimmer as she entered the room.

“Meow meow meow meow,” giggled Adora as she nuzzled her cheek.

“Should I be worried about this?” inquired Catra as she pointed at Adora who was giggling euphorically.

“We were moving some boxes that contained First One's tech and this bottle broke. When Adora smelled it, she got infected and ran off,” explained Glimmer.

“Infected? I seem to remember her trying to kill me when she was infected, not acting weirder than usual.”

“That's only when she is She-Ra. When she's Adora, she gets really weird.”

“You're so fluffy,” said Adora as she began to pet Catra's hair. “You used to be fluffier...” She sniffed back some tears. “But Horde Prime stole your fluffy!” she wailed and fell to the floor dramatically.

“Uhhhh...” Catra knelt down and awkwardly put her hand on Adora's head. She looked at Glimmer for help. “What do I do?”

“You're the girlfriend. You got this. Let me go find Bow and Entrapta so we can figure out how to reverse this,” replied Glimmer before teleporting away.

“Wait! ...And she's gone. Now what?”

Adora ran her fingers along Catra's neck and began to scratch under her chin which caused Catra to begin involuntarily purring. She blushed and grabbed her hand in annoyance. Adora stared into her eyes with a dazed expression. “You're so pretty,” complimented Adora. She wiggled her fingers in Catra's hold that didn't budge. “Are you seeing anyone?”

“Yeah?” Catra's answer came out more like a question as she raised an eyebrow at her.

Adora narrowed her eyes and leaned closer. “Is she prettier than me?”

A surprised laugh escaped from Catra's lips. “She is you, idiot.”

“No way. I think I would remember that.”

“Apparently not.”

Adora tried to free her hand again to no avail. “Why can't I pet you? You used to let me make you purr when we were kids.”

Catra blushed. “That was different.”

Adora tilted her head in wonder. “How?”

Because it's embarrassing now, thought Catra. Back when they were kids, she didn't mind it when Adora had done that, but now that they were older, it held more meaning. Letting her touch her and hear her purr was now a very intimate action. She wanted Adora to do that, but at the same time, there was still a part in her that made her feel like it was a sign of weakness and that she didn't deserve Adora's attention. Instead of voicing any of that, she let go of Adora's hand. “Go ahead.”

Adora tentatively ran her fingers along her chin toward one of her ears. They both twitched at Adora's touch, but Catra stayed still to allow her to explore. Adora made her way to her ear and gently scratched behind it. Catra was reacting to it before her mind realized it. Her back arched and a loud purr bubbled out of her. She blushed hard and grabbed at the front of Adora's jacket, pulling her toward her. Adora crawled onto Catra's lap, reversing their position from earlier. Their lips locked together as Adora continued to shower attention to her ear, making her tail twitch from the overdrive of emotions it was causing her to feel. Their tongues fought for dominance, a fight Catra was quickly losing because she couldn't focus.

“Seriously? Do you two just immediately make-out as soon as you are alone?” asked Glimmer as she came back into the room with Bow and Entrapta in tow.

Adora pulled away and placed her hands on Catra's shoulders, but remained on her lap. “Yeah. Pretty much,” answered Catra.

Adora narrowed her eyes at the intruders. “I'm not into threesomes,” she commented then raised a shaking hand to try and count all the people in the room. “Or foursomes? Or fivesomes? Or sixsomes? Quit moving. It's throwing me off.”

“Hmmm...” hummed Entrapta as she knelt in front of Adora. She held a small flashlight in her hair and shined it into Adora's eyes.

“You want to fight, you light?” Adora tried to swat at the flashlight, but completely missed. “I can make light, too!” She raised her hand up into the air. “For the honesty of Grayskull!” Adora stared at her hand when nothing happened. “Wait. That's not right... For the hungry of Grayskull? No. That's not it either. It's a 'hon'. I know it.”

“What exactly was in that bottle? Is she going to be like this forever?” inquired Catra.

Entrapta rubbed her chin with her hair in thought. “It was a bottle I was experimenting with by fermenting some of the shards of that chip that infected She-Ra. Apparently it's effects caused some sort of intoxication. Before when she was infected, the effect was canceled by breaking the chip, but the chip is already broken in this form.”

“So she is stuck like this?!”

“Well it could wear off, but I should run some more tests.” Entrapta pulled out some medical instruments with her hair and held them up.

Catra pulled Adora to her chest and cradled her head as she glared at Entrapta. Adora was still mumbling as she tried to remember what the words she used to transform were. “How about no?”

“I know! It's for the honkers of Grayskull!” shouted Adora. She burst out laughing and fell out of Catra's embrace. She continued to laugh as she laid on her back. “...Geese. Geese are honkers. There are birds called boobies.” Adora rolled onto stomach in her laughter, kicking Catra in the process. “Do they honk, too?”

“Okay. She's broken. How do we fix her?”

“I could be of service,” said Melog as they entered the room.

“You can heal her like you did with me?” asked Catra.

“Precisely.”

“Well it's worth a try.”

Melog placed their paw on Adora and began to glow bright blue. Entrapta pulled out a microscope and held it up to their glowing fur.

“Fassscinating,” commented Entrapta.

After the glowing concluded, Adora slowly raised her head up from the floor. “Why am I on the ground?” she asked.

Bow walked over and offered her a hand to help her up. “Glad to see you back,” he said.

“Was I gone? Wait. When did I come into this room?”

“I will have to do more studies on that chemical,” said Entrapta as she began to write quick notes in a notebook.

“Is anyone going to explain to me what happened?”

~*~

Catra sat on her too soft of bed as she toweled down her wet hair. She was exhausted from the long day of moving their camp to Bright Moon then going straight to the Fright Zone to clean. Despite this, she was sure she wouldn't be able to get a wink of sleep in this large unfamiliar room. The rushing of the unnecessary fountain in her room sounded way too loud in the otherwise silence of the room.

She was glad she had grabbed some of the soap from the supply closet in the Fright Zone before leaving. She was still quite unsure where the showers in this place even were and the fountain made a good makeshift bath by soaking a rag in the clear water that filled it. There had to be some sort of magic in it to make the water look that pure. It had been much too long since she was able to properly bathe.

“Why are there so many pillows on here? Do you not only have one head?” asked Melog as they rolled on her bed.

“This is a castle. Everything here is so unnecessarily extravagant. I don't know how Adora got used to it,” replied Catra as she shook out her damp locks. She looked up in surprise when there was a knock on her door. “Come in.”

Adora's head peaked into the room before completely opening the door and walking around. “So this is your room. It's very nice.”

Catra played with a strand of her still damp hair. “It doesn't really feel like my room.”

“I know what you mean. It took a long time for my room to feel like mine. It's so much different from the Fright Zone. All pink and purple and spacious.”

“Is it bad that I miss the hard beds?”

“Not at all. I don't like soft beds either.”

“Or that I think this fountain is dumb?”

“I don't care for it either.”

“What even is the point of it? I used it to bathe.”

“The fountain is not for bathing, though I am still not clear on what it is for then. I do the same with it.”

They looked at each other for a moment before laughing together. Adora walked up to Catra and stood before her. She reached for her then retracted her hand before touching her.

“You know, Catra,” she continued, “My bed isn't soft. I had it switched out for a firm mattress like the ones in the Horde.”

Catra studied Adora's determined expression for several long moments before asking, “Are you offering me your bed, Adora?”

Adora's expression softened and became rather vulnerable looking. “Yes. If you want to that is.”

“Is that okay? Will we get in trouble?”

“I don't care. I have been away from you for way too long. I don't want to be separated from you even if it is just sleeping in different rooms.” Adora reached her hand out to Catra. “Please?”

“Okay.” Catra grabbed her hand and allowed her to pull her to her feet.

“You can sleep in her bed if you want, but I am staying here. It is comfy and more bed for me,” said Melog.

“Suit yourself,” replied Catra with a laugh.

Adora and Catra walked down the hall hand in hand. There was a giddy fluttering feeling in Catra's stomach at the thought of being able to share a bed with Adora again, something she thought she would never have the pleasure of doing again after everything that happened. Catra knew which one was Adora's room before she stopped in front of it, her scent still clinging to it. It was a scent that always comforted Catra. It smelled of light and fresh air.

Catra looked around her room once inside. It looked like any of the other guest rooms, but then Catra began to notice small things about it. There was a shelf with a little figurine of She-Ra and a plush of Swift Wind on it. She-Ra's sword lay in broken pieces on top of a vanity. But most of all, drawings upon drawings were tacked up on the walls. Most of them were of landscapes and the sky. Some of them were of Glimmer and Bow and of the other princesses. Then she began to notice drawings of herself. Most of them were of when Catra was a child, but some of them were of her self when she was Force Captain.

Adora placed her hands on Catra's shoulders and placed her chin on one of her shoulders from behind. “Glimmer was determined to find me a stress relieving outlet that wasn't violent. We tried a lot of things, but drawing was really the only one that worked,” she said.

“We used to doodle all the time as kids. You've gotten way better.”

“Practice and a lot of stress will do that.”

Catra glanced around at all the pictures, beginning to count how many were of her. She quickly realized there was nearly double the drawings of her compared to anyone else. “You drew me a lot.”

“I missed you. This... it was a way of coping with it.”

Catra pointed at the image that kept reoccurring of herself that had her staring agape with her hair blowing in the wind, surrounded by smoke. “That one appears a lot.”

Adora's grip on Catra's shoulders tightened for a moment. “That was how you looked at me when you first saw that I was She-Ra. I can still vividly remember that.” Adora glanced at all the pictures of Catra. “I will have to add some of your new haircut.” Adora's right hand ran down Catra's arm to her hand. “We should be getting to bed. It's late.”

Adora lightly pulled Catra to the bed. They stopped before it. Adora kicked off her boots then took off her jacket that she hooked to a rack beside her bed and took out her ponytail. She stripped off her shirt and pants, leaving herself in a sports bra and boyshorts. Catra stared in awe, unable to look away. Adora crawled onto the bed and went under the covers.

“Aren't you coming, too?” asked Adora with a raised eyebrow at her.

Catra looked down at her fully clothed body. She took a steadying breath before stripping down to her own sports bra and boyshorts. She awkwardly sat at the foot of the bed. This used to be her spot back in the Horde.

“Aren't you cold? Come up here, silly,” said Adora as she lifted her blanket to allow Catra entrance.

Adora wrapped her in the blanket as Catra crept under the covers with her. Adora ran her fingers along Catra's cheekbones, petting the soft fur there.

“We used to share a bed all the time back in the Horde,” said Adora.

“That was different and you know it.”

Adora ran her hands through Catra's short locks. “I know, but I want to be that close to you again... Or even closer that is.”

“I want that, too,” whispered Catra before drawing her into a kiss.

Their lips pressed together gently before quickly heating up when Catra pushed her tongue inside Adora's mouth. Adora's arms came around Catra's waist and held her close. Catra quickly got lost in the feeling. A tingling feeling that pricked at her skin and made her fur stand on end. No one was going to interrupt them now and they had nowhere they needed to be.

Catra ran her hands over Adora's shoulders and plucked at her bra straps. Adora moaned at the action and it fueled Catra to become bolder. She nipped at Adora's lips when they separated for air. Catra was much too impatient and pulled Adora back into the kiss after a few moments. Kissing Adora was much more important than air.

Catra was vaguely aware of herself pushing Adora onto her back and climbing on top of her. She framed her face as their kisses became more tongue than anything else. Catra's legs tangled with Adora's and restlessly changed positions. Adora scratched behind Catra's ears and her purr began to mix with the wet sound of them kissing.

Catra broke from the kiss to moan and just like that, the spell was broken and she was suddenly all too aware of what she was doing. Her legs had wrapped around one Adora's thighs and had been grinding against it. She could feel how wet the kissing had made her and there was no way Adora couldn't feel it with the way they were pressed together. A cold shiver of embarrassment ran down her spine and she couldn't bare to look at Adora's face.

Catra jolted away from her and moved to the edge of the room, tripping over something in the process which was quite possibly her own tail. She wanted to leave the room, but she was still in a state of undress. All her thoughts were mixed up and she wasn't even completely sure why she wanted to run.

“Catra? What's wrong? Why did you go?” asked Adora as she got out of the bed and over to where Catra was.

She had wrapped herself into a protective ball, all fur on end, and hiding her face in her knees. “Sorry. I shouldn't take advantage of you like that,” she mumbled.

“What are you talking about? Did it seem like I wasn't enjoying that?”

Catra shrugged, not any other body part moving. Adora reached out to her, her hand hovering above her arm, but not touching. She clenched her hand and brought it back.

“Catra. I love you,” she announced. One of Catra's ears twitched, but the rest of her stayed unresponsive, so she repeated herself, “I love you.”

“Heard you the first time,” mumbled Catra.

“I love you.”

“How many times do you plan to say that?”

“As many as you need to hear until you believe me.” Adora moved closer. “I love you. I love you. I love your voice. I love your smile. I love your eyes. I love how smart you are. I love your wit. I love your jokes. I love your laugh. I love your purr. I love your soft fur. I love the way you look at the world and how you don't pretend to like things that you don't. I love everything that makes you Catra.”

“But what if I can't fit?” She didn't continue her question, but Adora knew what she meant. The Horde life was all they had ever known and it was so scary to be outside of it. They were taught to fear the unknown and destroy what they feared.

“What are you talking about? You fit perfectly in my arms.”

Catra gave a short surprised laugh before finally looking up at Adora. “That was cheesy. Even for you.”

Adora gently smiled at her. “But it's true. We can get through anything together. It's going to take some time to get used to this, but I will be by you every step of the way.” She offered Catra her hand. “Come back to bed? I quite liked holding you. Though...” Adora blushed. “Not quite sure I am ready for where that was heading.”

Catra let Adora pull her to her feet. “Sorry.”

Adora squeezed her hand as she led them back to the bed. “I liked it, but... it's a bit fast. We will get there.”

They laid back down under the covers on their sides, staring at each other. “You liked it?”

Adora snorted. “Do I need to continue my love speech?”

Catra blushed. “No. That's not necessary. I just... I guess I am still in disbelief of it.”

“Well I do love you. Completely and wholeheartedly. I've loved you for as long as I can remember.”

“A long time? Did Sparkles know?”

Adora shook her head. “No. I kept that to myself. Though I didn't keep it a secret that I liked women.”

“Yeah there was that thing she kept calling you. Being a lesbian... that means you like women, right?”

“Yep. Back in the Horde, that was frowned upon, but out here... It's rather normal. I haven't heard of anyone getting treated differently for it.”

“Just another reason why the Horde sucks, huh?”

“What about you? I overheard you with Entrapta. It sounded like men didn't interest you either.”

“You heard right. I've known for awhile, but never voiced that to anyone.”

Adora gave a short laugh. “We are really bad at this love thing. Instead of just telling the other, we ignored it. Let's not do that anymore. Let's voice what we want from now on.”

“Okay. What do you want Adora?”

“I want to hold you.”

“That's easy to arrange.”

Catra scooted closer as Adora wrapped her arms around her. Her finger played with the short strands of her hair.

“What do you want, Catra?”

“This.”

Catra pressed her face under Adora's chin and let herself purr as Adora pet her. Sleep was quickly claiming them, but before they did, there was something Catra had to ask that was gnawing at her.

“Do you miss my long hair?” she asked.

Adora stopped her petting. “Why do you ask?”

“You were crying about it when you infected.”

“Oh. Sorry. I do kinda miss it. Not that I hate your hair now. I just... It was so long and pretty and fun to play with.”

Catra thought for a moment. “I'll grow it back out.”

“You don't have to if you don't want to.”

“I already decided. Go to sleep.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 6

Before Is Different From Now

A loud banging at the door caused Catra's ears to twitch. She groaned and pulled the blankets over her head. She buried herself in them and curled up around Adora's stomach to hide from the offending sound. Adora grunted and folded her pillow over her ears. The banging continued despite their displeasure. She heard the doors jingle as someone tried to open them, but they were locked. When it was clear no one was getting up to open the doors, Glimmer teleported herself inside.

“Adora! Wake up! Catra isn't in her room!” shouted Glimmer.

Adora sat up groggily and rubbed at her eyes. “Huh? What?” she mumbled, voice rough from sleep and still not fully awake.

“I said Catra isn't in her room! Do you know where she would have gone? I knew we should've stationed a guard outside her room, but Bow said that would be unnecessary. But now clearly that was the right move.”

Catra sat up and let the blanket fall away from her. The early morning room was cold and she curled up to Adora's warm side.

“Are you telling me that you were going to wake me up before Adora?” asked Catra with a yawn.

Glimmer stopped her rant and stared at them for several moments before she began to rub at her temples. “I should've known. Do you really think this is a good idea?” asked Glimmer.

Adora looped an arm around Catra and scooped her onto her lap. Catra was still half asleep and willingly let Adora move her into an embrace. Catra let her head rest in the spot where her neck met her shoulder and sighed contently.

“I don't care. I saved the universe. I think I deserve to be able to sleep with my girlfriend,” replied Adora.

Catra blushed at that statement and hid her burning face further under Adora's chin.

“You know what? You're right. It's just... be careful. If you want to, go ahead. You two have been separated long enough. Which is why I approved of you going on a date today.”

“Really? Yes!”

“But Bow and I are coming, too.”

“Ehhh. I guess.”

“You guys don't get to have all the fun. It can be like a double date.” Glimmer clapped in excitement.

Catra pulled a bit away to look up at Adora and asked, “Chaperons?”

“Definitely chaperons,” agreed Adora.

“Can we ditch them?”

“We'll see.”

“I'm right here. I can hear everything you are saying,” said Glimmer as she narrowed her eyes.

“Oh we know,” smirked Catra.

“Whatever. Get up and dressed. Breakfast is ready.”

“I haven't had a proper meal in ages,” said Adora as she stretched and got out of bed.

Catra couldn't help, but stare at the expanse of Adora's back as she got dressed. It was covered in a patchwork of scars, some of which were her own doing. She looked down at her claws in shame. She was startled and looked back up when clothes were thrown at her.

“C'mon and get dressed, Catra. I'm starving,” said Adora with a bright smile.

Catra lost her train of thought. She smiled back in response and quickly got dressed. She walked hand in hand with Adora down the hall with that smile still on her face. A giddy feeling thrummed in her veins when their hands remained entwined no matter who saw them. Adora led Catra to the dining hall that was buzzing with people and food. Catra took a deep breath to take in all the smells. She had never smelled more delicious food in her life.

Adora grabbed some plates and filled them up with all sorts of things laid out on the buffet table for everyone. Catra wasn't sure where to even begin at it and was certain Adora would know better. After their plates were full with more food than she thought she could eat, they sat down at one of the empty tables. Catra began to take a bite when she realized Adora and Glimmer were both staring at her.

“What?” she asked as she set her fork back down.

“No. No. Don't worry about us. Go ahead,” said Glimmer.

Catra turned to look at Adora in confusion.

“We just want to see how you like it. Sure you've had real food before like at the party, but you've never had food made by the chefs here. Huge difference,” explained Adora.

Catra shrugged. How different could it be?, she wondered as she finally stuck her fork in her mouth. As soon as the flavor hit her tongue, she knew what they meant. She began to scarf down her breakfast as Adora laughed before starting to eat her own food.

“Oh hey, Gale!” called Glimmer as someone with a tray of food came over.

A teenage girl with long curly purple hair tied in twin half ponytails on top of her head sat down at their table. She wore a wavy dark purple tiara which signified she was a princess, but Catra didn't recognize this girl.

“Hi, Glimmer. Adora,” greeted Gale.

“It's rare to see you in the castle. What brings you here?”

Glimmer and Gale began to converse with each other as Catra leaned over to Adora.

“Who's that?” whispered Catra.

“Oh that's Gale. She's Spinnerella's younger sister,” replied Adora.

“Spinnerella has a sister? Why have I never seen her until now?”

“Well Spinnerella is pretty protective of her, so she is to stay home. She's only 15 and she doesn't have any powers.”

“Does she have that princess thing that Scorpia and Sparkles had?”

“Uh no. Gale's situation... is a bit different.”

“I love my sister, but she can be a bit much,” said Gale as she joined their conversation.

“Sorry,” apologized Adora.

“It's fine. It's nice to meet you, by the way. I have heard about you before from my sister and Netossa,” said Gale as she shook Catra's hand.

“Bow offered to teach you archery before,” reminded Glimmer.

“Spinny would explode if I were anywhere near something sharp. Besides I'm not much of a fighter.”

“Are you and Spinnerella going to return to High Winds now that the Horde is disbanded?” inquired Adora.

Gale played with the hem of her frilly cyan dress. “We've talked about it and we are going to go, but we aren't in a hurry. It's been 13 years since we last stepped foot in it. I don't even remember it. It's going to be strange going back and the damages there are probably going to be pretty bad.”

“Is that why you can't use your runestone? Because you never were able to connect to it? But wait. Then how does Spinnerella have powers? Doesn't she need to recharge?” asked Catra.

“Gale! I didn't tell you that you could leave the house,” scolded Spinnerella as she walked up to them with Netossa.

“It was boring and lonely and I was hungry. Is it really necessary to confine me there anymore?” replied Gale.

“Yes! Just because there is a lull doesn't mean it's now safe. What if one of these clones try to hurt you?”

“Spinny, she's fine. We're in a room full of people who could protect her and she isn't helpless,” calmed Netossa.

Spinnerella rubbed the back of her neck that was now scarred from the chip that was once there. “I know she is okay right now, but a situation can turn dangerous within moments. Please don't run off on your own without telling me,” explained Spinnerella.

“I'm sorry for scaring you, but I'm not a little girl anymore,” replied Gale. “Let's go home together.”

Glimmer leaned back in her chair as she watched Gale, Spinnerella, and Netossa walk away together. “Gale lost her parents when she was a baby. Spinnerella was only a teenager at the time and pretty much raised her. My mom helped her a lot with parenting, so maybe that's why she became so overprotective of Gale,” said Glimmer.

They finished eating and once they returned their food trays, they walked through the halls of Bright Moon.

“Bow left early to run an errand, but he should be back any minute by now. Then we can head out on our double date,” said Glimmer.

“Where are we going?” asked Catra.

“You'll see.”

They turned a corner and saw Scorpia and Perfuma walking toward them. Scorpia was holding a large box.

“Catra! I'm so glad I found you. When we were in the Fright Zone, I gathered this for you from your old room. It's your clothes,” said Scorpia as she handed Catra the box.

“Yes! Thank you! Now I don't have to wear the same thing everyday like I'm Adora or something,” replied Catra as she began to rifle through the box's contents.

“Hey! I wear different clothes,” defended Adora.

“Changing from one white shirt to an identical other one doesn't count as changing your clothes, Adora,” replied Glimmer.

“You're one to talk!”

“I'll have you know this is the traditional clothes worn by the Queen of Bright Moon.”

“This isn't mine,” said Catra as pulled out a pair of black pants. “This is yours, Adora. You can have it back.”

“You can keep them. I don't really like those pants,” replied Adora.

“But I like them on you.”

“Really? But they're too big. Every time I wore them they would always end up around my-” Adora stopped and blushed when she saw Catra smirk at her. “Hey! You were perving on me!”

Catra snorted. “It's not like you made it hard to.”

Adora reached into the box. “Were you hoarding some of my clothes? What else in here is mine?” She pulled out a dark red jacket with gold lining. “This was mine, too.”

Catra pulled the box away from her, making Adora lose her grip on the jacket and it fell back into the box. “You left it. It's mine now. Finders keepers.”

“It's too big for you. Give it back.”

“Nope!”

Adora made a grab for the box, but Catra kept it out of her reach.

“Hey, Adora! Can I talk to you?” said Bow.

They turned to see Bow standing at the end of the hallway. Adora reluctantly turned away from Catra and began to walk toward him. Catra went back the rifling through the box.

“Hey! You found my whip! I dropped this ages ago. Remember that stupid Tung Lashor guy I took this from? Whatever happened to him?” said Catra.

“Didn't you push him into a sandpit?” reminded Scorpia.

“Oh yeah. Eh. He had a stupid name anyways. It was divine justice.”

Catra pulled the whip out and snapped it at the air. She heard an audible thud and turned around to see Adora on the ground. Adora awkwardly rubbed her forehead as Bow rushed over to her to help her up.

“Did you just run into the wall?” asked Bow in astonishment.

“What? Oh. Right,” mumbled Adora as she glanced over to Catra then to Bow then back to Catra.

Catra smirked when she noticed Adora's entranced stare at the whip. She grabbed the end of her whip in her other hand and pulled it taut. She held it up to her face and kept eye contact with Adora as she brought her tongue out and licked along it. Adora's eyes widened and a deep blush blossomed on her cheeks. Catra couldn't help, but laugh when she saw the reaction she had earned. She felt elated that she was able to get such a reaction out of Adora. That she could now flirt with Adora and that it was perfectly okay to because Adora was girlfriend and they loved each other.

Glimmer rolled her eyes at the display and helped Bow pull Adora to her feet. She put her hands on Adora's back and began to push her along down the hall with Bow. “C'mon. You can flirt later today on your date,” said Glimmer.

Catra continued to laugh in their absence, her cheeks burning red and heart racing, before going back through the box. To her surprise, she pulled out her old headpiece she wore in the Horde. She gently ran her fingers along it before putting it on.

“This looks dumb with my short hair, doesn't it?” asked Catra when she saw the pulled faces Scorpia and Perfuma were making.

“No. No. It's just... it's been awhile since I saw you wear it and it does look different with the hair,” rambled Scorpia.

Catra brushed her short locks with her fingers, her fingers running out of hair much faster than she was used to. “I'll have to wait until my hair is longer.”

“You're planning to grow your hair back out?” inquired Perfuma.

“Yeah. This haircut wasn't exactly my idea. It feels weird for my hair to be this short,” replied Catra. She awkwardly rubbed the back of her scarred neck before removing her headpiece. “Hey... Do you want to come with us today?”

“On your date?” asked Scorpia as she raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Sparkles and Arrow Boy already invited themselves, so I don't see why not.”

~*~

Catra looked up at the looming towers uncertainly. “Mystacor?”

Adora reached over and squeezed Catra's hand as she said, “This place is a lot better when we aren't sneaking around at night while avoiding chipped people and going into creepy old basements. Glimmer, Bow, and I used to come here all the time. It's a lot of fun.”

“Ooh! Where do you think we should go first? Maybe we should get massages. Or we could play some volleyball. Or relax by the beaches,” chattered Glimmer with excitement.

“Maybe we should let Adora decide first. This is her date we kind of hijacked,” said Bow as he placed a hand on Glimmer's shoulder. He glanced back at Perfuma and Scorpia behind them. “Then gained more.”

“I thought we could start by going to Dream Bean. I doubt Catra has ever had a frappe before,” said Adora.

“What's a frappe? Sounds like a swear word,” wondered Catra as she tilted her head in confusion.

“Well that settles it then.” Adora jolted forward while still holding Catra's hand, dragging her along.

They entered a small coffee shop. Catra scrunched up her nose at all the unfamiliar strong scents in the room. Adora laughed when she noticed and pressed a kiss to the tip of Catra's nose. Catra blinked in surprise to how natural that gesture felt.

“I would like two java chip frappes,” said Adora to the barista.

“I would like a unicorn blitz,” said Glimmer.

“And I would like a mermaid splash,” said Bow.

“I would like a guava coconut milk juice,” said Perfuma. She glanced back at Scorpia who looked back at her expectantly, clearly out of her element. “And a strawberry acai tea.”

The barista got to work on their drinks and soon began to hand them out after they were paid for.

“Why are their drinks sparkly?” asked Catra as she alarmingly examined the purple and green drinks Glimmer and Bow were holding then the pretty pink colored drinks that Perfuma and Scorpia had. She then looked down at her drink piled in a strange unrecognizable substance. “Why is my drink fluffy?”

“It's whipped cream. Try it. It's good,” replied Adora as she sipped at her own drink. “Oh. Almost forgot.” She grabbed a bottle from the counter and shook rainbow sprinkles onto both of their drinks.

Catra continued to suspiciously stare at her drink, now even more alarmed that it was another color. Adora giggled and pressed a kiss to Catra's lips. Almost instantly, Catra lost her train of thought and only focused of Adora's lips that were still pressed against her own. She had been expecting only a chaste kiss in such a public place, but Adora continued to exceed her expectations when she felt the swipe of Adora's tongue against her lips. Catra slightly parted her own and suddenly her mouth was full of a sweet taste. Catra had never tasted anything that sweet before and sucked on Adora's tongue for a moment to get more of it.

“Hey! I've been tricked,” said Catra when she pulled away. Her ears twitched when she realized why Adora tasted so sweet. She tried to make her voice sound annoyed, but it came out gaspy, still on a happiness high from being kissed.

“Will you try it now?” asked Adora with a big goofy smile on her face. She was still not over how she could just kiss Catra now when she felt the urge to. She was probably never going to get over that fact.

“Fine,” huffed Catra. She began to sip at the drink. “This is surprisingly good.” Though not quite as good as when I was tasting it on Adora's tongue, she thought. She blushed slightly at that thought and was thankful her blush probably didn't stand out against her darker complexion.

“What should we do now?” asked Glimmer after their drinks were finished.

“I don't know about you, but it's time for my yoga exercises,” said Perfuma. She turned to Scorpia. “Would you like to join me on the beach?”

“I would love to,” replied Scorpia.

“No thanks. I'm not one for the beaches, but you two go have fun. We're going to go to the Steam Grotto,” replied Adora.

“Woo! Steam Grotto!” cheered Bow.

Perfuma and Scorpia waved their goodbyes as they parted ways from the Best Friend Squad. Catra followed behind Adora, not quite clear what a grotto even was. Adora and Glimmer were talking enthusiastically to one another while Catra didn't bother to listen in on their conversation. They walked into another building and she glanced over when she noticed Bow part from the group to go into a different room. She watched him for a moment in confusion before following Adora into the room she had entered with Glimmer.

The building was rather warm and the further they walked into it, the warmer it was. The air was clammy and making Catra begin to sweat. The room they were in was actually a recognizable one to her. The walls were lined with lockers, the entrance had shelves for shoes to be placed on, and benches placed in walkways. It looked a lot like the locker rooms back in the Horde. The familiarity of that calmed her down a bit.

Catra looked back over to where Adora was. She was standing in front of one of the lockers, still immersed in her conversation with Glimmer. Then, without any warning, Adora stripped off her jacket, peeled her shirt up, and unhooked her bra. Catra backed up quickly, slamming her back up against the door in surprise from the sudden clothing change.

“What's wrong, Catra?” asked Adora innocently.

“What do you mean 'what's wrong'? You're topless!” shouted Catra with a burning face and fur standing on end. She didn't think she had ever blushed this much in her entire life.

“We're changing. We used to change in front of each other back in the Horde all the time.”

“I wasn't dating you back then! And I looked then, too! But now I'm your girlfriend and trying to be a better person and not look!” Catra desperately tried to keep eye contact with her and not allow her eyes to wander. She clenched her jaw in determination.

“That changes things?”

“Yes, dummy!” How can she not see how hard I'm trying?, wondered Catra. “Now will you please put a shirt on”

“Just put this on already,” said Glimmer as she handed her a weird white wrap shirt. She couldn't hold back her eye roll from this display.

It was then that Catra noticed Glimmer was also topless, though she didn't really care as much. Instead Catra stared intently at her toes, trying to will her blush away. How could she possibly be this dense? Does she not feel the same about me? Is that the real reason why she didn't want to go further last night?, wondered Catra, her mind spiraling out of control with questions.

“Here. Change into this. We'll wait by the exit out of sight,” said Glimmer as she handed Catra some of the same strange white wrap clothing.

Once changed, Catra met with Adora and Glimmer at the exit and entered into a room she didn't recognize. It was full of steaming pools of water and even more clammy than the last room. Catra scrunched up her nose at the smell of water and magic, an almost intoxicating scent.

“Hey, girls! What took you so long?” called Bow. He was already lounging in one of the pools.

“Sorry. It was Adora's fault,” laughed Glimmer as she entered the pool and sat beside him. He threw one of his arms over her shoulders.

“You're exaggerating. I just didn't think it through. I guess some things have changed,” replied Adora as she slipped into the pool on the opposite side of Glimmer and Bow.

“Some? Adora, we're dating. Or have you forgotten?” said Catra in annoyance as she walked over to the pool and stared at the swirling waters.

“I haven't. And are you coming in or what?”

“You have definitely lost your mind if you think I am willingly going into water.”

“But it's not deep and it's warm. You like warm.”

“I do like warm, but I don't like wet. So that balances out the scale.”

“But I'm here. Does that not tip it back in my favor?”

Catra glared at the water, contemplating the pros and cons of that.

“I don't think a magicat is going into the water, Adora,” said Bow uneasily.

“If you don't go into water then how do you bathe?” asked Glimmer curiously.

“Very quickly and only when completely necessary,” answered Catra in annoyance.

Adora reached for Catra's hand and gently tugged on it. It was not enough to move her, just enough to direct her where she wanted her to go as she said, “We used to go swimming together all the time. Don't you remember when we would sneak out at night to swim in the pond near the Fright Zone? You weren't scared then.”

“I hated that cold dirty water, but you would be almost completely naked and let me cling to you. That was enough of a reason to go into it.” Catra's blush was slightly back. She didn't like the amount of stuff she had been admitting to lately in the presence of others.

Adora smiled and gently tugged again. “You can hold onto me again.”

“You won't let go?”

“I wouldn't dream of it.”

Catra finally relented and let Adora gently guide her into the water, much to the amazement of Glimmer and Bow who were sure she wouldn't. Catra's fur stood on end and claws slipped out from the first feel of the water. She settled on Adora's lap and felt her rub calming circles into her back. Catra's eyes slowly began to close as she let herself relax in Adora's arms. Not even water could make being held by Adora bad.

“See? This isn't so bad,” commented Adora.

“Be quiet.” Catra rubbed her face into the crook of Adora's neck and melted into her hold. Adora was always so warm, like a walking furnace, and the added steaming water made Catra feel so cozy that she began to purr.

“Aww. She purrs?” said Glimmer ecstatically as she began to reach for Catra.

Catra pulled slightly away and flashed her fangs at Glimmer before she made contact, a low growl emitted from her throat. Bow pulled Glimmer's hand back.

“I think some things are for Adora only, Glimmer,” said Bow.

“Eh? But I want to pet her and make her purr. She looks soft.”

“Too bad. Only Adora gets to,” replied Catra as she pressed herself more into Adora and glared at the offending hand that tried to touch her.

Adora laughed and tightened her hold on Catra as she said, “Good. Because I don't want to share.”

Catra's heart began to race from the confirmation. She placed her hands on Adora's cheeks and momentarily looked at her goofy grin before she pulled her into a kiss.

“Um. We're still here,” reminded Glimmer after watching them kiss for several moments.

Catra pulled away to acknowledge them and said, “You were the ones that wanted to come. You can put up with seeing some kissing. Why don't you kiss each other then?”

“No. No. We're good,” said Glimmer and Bow in unison as they quickly waved away that idea.

Catra skeptically watched their uncomfortable demeanor before ultimately deciding not to pursue it further and went back to cuddling into Adora's neck. That seemed like a better use of her time by far. Adora went back to petting Catra's back and without realizing it, she fell into a blissful nap.

She awoke later to the sound of Glimmer whispering, “Shouldn't we wake her up?”

“Let her sleep a bit longer. She probably needs a nap. We have been up for some time now,” replied Adora. She was clearly trying to whisper, but was still speaking too loud and her voice was causing her neck to vibrate against the side of Catra's face.

“What is she? A little kid?”

“Well actually she's a magicat. They require more sleep than we do and naps throughout the day,” explained Bow in a whisper at the proper volume, but Catra's keen hearing could still easily pick up his voice.

“So what you're telling me is that when we were fighting her, we should have just been putting her down for a nap?”

“She's not a little kid, Glimmer,” said Adora in exasperation, her voice still too loud to be a whisper. “Though she does get cranky if it's been awhile since she last slept.”

“You're too loud,” complained Catra, voice a bit raspy from sleep.

“Oh sorry. I didn't mean to wake you.”

Catra pulled a bit away from Adora to look blearily into her eyes. “How long have I been out?”

“Not sure. There isn't a clock in here, but it has been long enough for my fingers to begin to prune.” She showed Catra her hand that had become wrinkly from the water.

“Then we better get you out of here.”

Catra stood up and stepped out of the pool before she turned around to help Adora out. She held Adora's hand as Adora led the way with Glimmer and Bow to another room. This room was full of pastel colors and fluffy pillows and blankets to lounge on. The walls were covered in shelves with bottles of a multitude of different colors. Catra felt Adora put a large towel onto her shoulders and immediately began to dry herself off.

She looked up when she saw Glimmer offering her one of the bottles from the shelves. “Lotion?” suggested Glimmer.

Catra stared at the bottle for several moments, not quite sure how to politely decline the offer, before Adora reached over and took the bottle from her. “Thanks, Glimmer, but Catra doesn't use lotion. It messes with her fur. I'll use this, though.”

“Oh right.” Glimmer scanned over Catra as if she just noticed that Catra was covered in a light coating of fur. “That must be a hassle.”

Catra shrugged. It's not like she knew of any other way of life. She walked off to the side and sat on one of the plush cushions on the ground. Catra began to lick the droplets of water off the fur on her arms as she watched Adora apply the lotion to her shoulders.

“Whoa.”

Catra looked up to see Glimmer staring at her. Catra raised an eyebrow at her, tongue still hanging out mid-task.

“I guess that makes sense. I just didn't consider it,” explained Glimmer. Catra went back to licking her fur clean. It wasn't the first time someone stared at her for the action, but she still disliked the attention. It was a normal thing to her. “I mean... I felt those spikes before when you licked my arm, so I should have put that together. But like... how will that work then?”

Catra looked up at Glimmer in confusion and a bit of annoyance from her insistence to continue to talk while Catra was trying to do something. “How will what work?”

“You know... being with Adora? Won't it hurt?” Glimmer turned to Adora who was now applying lotion to her legs. “I've seen you two make out multiple times by now. Doesn't that hurt?”

“They're retractable. Like my claws,” explained Catra.

“What? No way.”

Catra stuck her tongue out as far as she could, reaching the bottom of her chin, and let the small spines of her tongue retract back in.

“That's so cool!” exclaimed Glimmer before she turned to Adora. “Did you know she could do that?”

Adora snorted. “Yes I did. I grew up with her. She used to groom me when we were kids.” Adora stood back up now that she was finished applying lotion to herself and walked to a shelf that was tucked into the corner of the room. She returned to Catra's side holding a bottle she had grabbed. “This is some kind of oil that's supposed to add moisture back to fur as well as make it taste like apples. That way it won't taste bad when you groom.”

Catra glanced over at the shelf that was barely noticeable among all the other shelves. “You knew that was there,” stated Catra. It didn't come out as a question as there was no question about how purposefully Adora had went there and selected that bottle.

“Yeah. I noticed it on one of our trips here and always wondered how well it would work. The soap in the Horde always made your fur so coarse. I bet this will make it soft and fluffy.”

Catra was touched by the thought and let Adora apply the fruity smelling oil to her fur. Catra's tail twitched from the attention she was receiving and could hardly pay attention to Glimmer and Bow who she was sure were watching them right now. Catra took over rubbing the oil into her fur when it was time to do her legs. She scrunched up her nose when a poignant smell evaded her senses, mixing with the sweet scent of the oil. She recognized the scent and looked over to see Glimmer and Bow painting each other's nails a light blue color.

“Will you paint my nails for me like how you used to do, Catra?” asked Adora as she sat in the cushion across from her, holding up a bottle of black nail polish.

“Yeah. I can do that.”

Catra wiped her hands dry on her towel before reaching for the nail polish. She carefully painted each of Adora's nails black. It had been so long since she last did. Nail polish was not a common place thing in the Fright Zone, but a container of it could sometimes be located among the supplies brought in from the outside world. The cadets would fight amongst themselves to try and get their hands on the rare item while Catra would snag them whenever she found them. She found bottles of all different colors and would use them to paint Adora's nails. Adora would hide her hands from Shadow Weaver for days to not be caught. Despite this, Adora was always excited when Catra would paint her nails.

“We match,” commented Adora as she held up her finished black nails that were now the same color as Catra's claws.

Adora stood up and walked over to Glimmer and Bow to show them. Bow was now rubbing some sort of creamy lotion on his face and Glimmer was applying some mascara. Adora looked through the makeup kit they had in front of them and picked up a small tube. She applied the chapstick to her lips before she offered the same bottle to Catra.

“Want to try? This is supposed to make your lips taste like strawberries,” said Adora.

“Sure,” replied Catra as she stood up. She placed on hand on Adora's and used the other to grab Adora's shoulder. She pulled her close and pressed a kiss to Adora's lips before Adora seemed to process she was about to be kissed. After a few moments, Catra pulled away and licked at her own lips. “Hey it does.”

Adora blushed a deep red and looked down at the tube. “So that's why it's flavored.”

Leave it to Adora to not put that together, thought Catra as she burst out laughing.

~*~

After they changed back into their original clothes, they exited the building together. The sky was murky and puddles were everywhere.

“Looks like it rained while we were in there,” said Adora as she looked at the bottom of steps that now lead to a large puddle with no way to walk around it. Adora jumped across and easily cleared the puddle. She held out her hand for Catra. Catra took her hand and jumped into Adora's arms. Adora effortlessly held Catra in her strong arms and Catra clang to her, refusing to remove herself despite now there was no longer being a puddle in the way.

Bow jumped across and held out his hand expectantly to Glimmer. Glimmer raised an eyebrow at him. “Uh. Bow. I can just-” Glimmer teleported to be beside him. “I don't need help.”

“Oh. Right,” said Bow awkwardly before looking back over to Catra who was still in Adora's arms. “But wait. Catra could easily have jumped that, too... And she can walk!”

“My legs are broken,” replied Catra flatly.

“Everything okay with you two?” asked Adora as she glanced back and forth between Glimmer and Bow who were standing awkwardly beside one another.

“What are you talking about? We're fine,” assured Glimmer while Bow crossed his arms and frowned.

“Hey, guys! How was the grotto?” called Scorpia as she walked up to them with Perfuma.

“It was great! How about we all go play some volleyball together?”

Glimmer ran off before anyone replied. Adora looked over at Bow with a raised eyebrow. He shrugged at her before they began to follow Glimmer.

Art of Gale by my friend, Envy. Check out more of his art here: here

Alternative hosting of the picture on my instagram because AO3 likes to make the pictures not work sometimes: here

Chapter Text

Chapter 7

Together

Glimmer lead Adora, Catra, Bow, Scorpia, and Perfuma to the volleyball court beside the beach. It was a small court where the Best Friend Squad would sometimes have casual fun contests at. There was never a proper way to divide themselves into teams since there were only three of them, so they normally didn't take them very seriously.

“So who's team are we on? I call Adora,” said Glimmer as she pulled Adora to her.

“No way. She is my date. She is on my team,” replied Catra as she pulled Adora to her side. “Be on Arrow Boy's team.”

“Obviously Bow is going to be on my team, too. Best Friend Squad verse...” Glimmer glanced between Catra, Scorpia, and Perfuma, unable to find a characteristic only they shared. “Others?”

“You have had Adora on your team for years. It's my turn.” Catra held Adora's arm in one hand and grabbed Scorpia's arm in her other. “Ex-Horde members verse sparkly people.”

“I already called dibs on Adora.” Glimmer yanked Adora back to her.

“I called dibs on her when I was like 5! You're too late.” Catra pulled Adora back to her.

“How about instead of fighting, we ask Adora who's team she wants to be on?” reasoned Bow as he watched Glimmer and Catra pull Adora back and forth between them.

“Fine!” shouted Glimmer and Catra in unison.

Adora took one look at Catra's pouting face and melted. “Sorry, Glimmer, but I'm going to be on Catra's team.”

Catra stuck her tongue out at Glimmer in victory and walked to the other side of the net as she pulled along Scorpia who reached out toward Perfuma.

“What about Scorpia? I think she wants to be on the same team as me,” interjected Perfuma.

“Scorpia is on our team. It's ex-horde members verse the sparkly people,” repeated Catra.

“Yeah, but-” mumbled Scorpia as she glanced over at Perfuma.

“You know you can be on Adora and Catra's team if you want. I'm totally fine with it,” said Bow to Glimmer.

“But I want to be on your team, Bow,” whined Glimmer.

“It doesn't always have to be that way, though. I feel bad separating Perfuma and Scorpia. You know what? I'll be on Adora and Catra's team then.” Bow raised the net separating them on the court and began to duck to go under it when Glimmer threw the volleyball at him, hitting him square in the back. “Hey!”

“Why are you always like this, Bow?” shouted Glimmer. “I want to be on your team. Me, you, and Adora just like before!”

“I thought you said we weren't like before,” shouted Bow back as he bunched up the net in his fist.

“We aren't! Yet you sure are acting the same!”

“I'm acting the same?! What about you who keeps putting up this barrier when I get close to you?!”

“That's because you keep acting like things are the same!”

“Well you're acting like a child!”

“Maybe we should take a step back and take a deep breath?” suggested Perfuma.

“Stay out of this!” shouted Glimmer.

“Don't yell at Perfuma like that when she is just trying to help!” shouted Bow.

“Oh sorry. I didn't realize she was your date again!”

“That was over two years ago. You can't keep throwing that into my face!”

“Okay. I was going to ignore this at first and let you two work out whatever this is on your own, but now it's starting to effect my life. So, I give, what's going on?” said Catra as she ducked under the net and stood between them, her tail twitching in annoyance.

Glimmer and Bow clamped their mouths shut and refused to meet anyone's eyes. Catra looked between their red faces with a raised eyebrow. After a few moments, a knowing smile spread across her face when she recognized the glint in their eyes. She knew that glint all too well from her own eyes in the past.

“Ohhhh. I see. You two haven't kissed yet,” said Catra.

“What? No. We totally have kissed before,” defended Glimmer.

“On the lips?”

“We're taking it slow!” explained Bow.

“So slow that you are standing still,” deadpanned Catra.

“We just have been friends for so long. I don't wanna mess this up.”

“Seems more like this is the exact same relationship you had before. Adora and I have been friends for probably way longer than you two and our relationship has certainly changed from that.”

Bow averted his eyes and pressed his lips into a thin line.

“Interesting,” continued Catra. “So you two didn't join our date to be chaperons. Rather we were your chaperons. So I was supposed to be the responsible one? Huh. That's a twist.”

“But you were in charge of the Horde. That's pretty responsible,” reminded Scorpia.

“Oh really? Because I sure remember failing at being in charge. We captured a princess, lost princess, captured princess, princess kept escaping her confides, giant hole in the wall, high up ex-Horde member escaping, captured princess, lost princess, anarchy, and wasn't I in jail like twice?”

Scorpia pondered this for a few moments before saying, “Wow. Now that you mention it, you were a pretty terrible leader.”

“Thanks, Scorpia,” replied Catra sarcastically. She turned back to Bow. “A lot of things have happened in these years and your relationship is now changed. You can't keep acting like it's exactly the same or nothing will change.” Bow shifted his feet awkwardly, unable to think of a rebuttal. “Fine. Let me put it this way. You now officially have less dating experience than Adora.”

Bow's and Glimmer's eyes widened and looked at each other. “I hadn't considered that. That is alarming,” whispered Bow.

“She has a point,” whispered Glimmer back.

“Hey! How is that what convinces you?” shouted Adora as she walked over and jerked her thumb to Catra. “We've had the exact same amount of experience. I would know. I was there.”

“Yeah, but you are... rather... um...” stammered Bow.

“It's not that we don't love you, Adora, but you are...” added Glimmer.

“What's the word I'm looking for?”

“Work oriented! You really don't ever relax. So it's kinda hard to imagine you...”

“Doing that sort of thing. Don't get us wrong! We do love you, but you've never shown any interest in relationships before.”

“Well except for that one time.”

“Oh yeah! I forgot about that, but does that really count?”

“I mean sort of.”

“Wait. Back up. What are you talking about? Is there another girl?” exclaimed Catra, her fur standing on end at just the thought that Adora could like another girl.

“I mean... Nothing came of it,” explained Glimmer.

“Who?!”

“Does it really matter? Haven't you ever liked another girl?”

“No. I've only ever liked Adora.” Catra turned on her heel and looked at Adora. Her expression was probably meant to be angry, but she looked more distraught. It made Adora want to comfort her worries.

“It's nothing you need to worry about. It was just a passing crush on a girl who I thought seemed cool then she betrayed us, but then she turned over a new leaf and became good,” clarified Adora then stopped as she analyzed what she had just said. “Huh. You know, that seems like a reoccurring theme for me.”

“So no other girl?” asked Catra as she leaned closer to scan Adora's face.

“Of course not. I may have had another crush in the past, but it's nothing compared to how much I love you. You have nothing to worry about.”

Catra slumped, her fur relaxing. “Okay. If you say so.” Catra turned back to Bow and Glimmer. “As for you two, you need to stop hanging off us.” She grabbed one of their shoulders in each of her hands and gave them a gentle push. “Go do date stuff together. And actually kiss. We'll meet up later.”

Glimmer and Bow made nervous laughs, but obediently walked off the volleyball court toward a building. Catra turned back to the others with her hands proudly on her hips and said, “Well looks like the teams are now sorted so let's play.”

“You still want to play?” asked Adora.

“Yeah. We've been lazing around all day. I need to move around or I'm going to fall asleep again.”

They began to play and within moments, Adora and Catra were winning. It may have been years since the last time they were on the same team, but they had trained together and could move in sync. They knew each other's strengths as well as their limitations. They easily moved to guard the other's weak points, making their defense hard to get through. Scorpia and Perfuma had never fought on a team together and constantly got in the other's way. Scorpia was not agile. She was more brute strength, but was tall. If she was in the right location, she could block the ball. Perfuma could move around the court quickly, but didn't have the best aim.

“Well that was certainly an experience,” said Perfuma after they finally called the game, Scorpia and Perfuma had only scored once, but it was mostly out of pity that Adora had let them get the ball past her.

“Sorry I wasn't much help,” replied Scorpia.

“No. No. You were great. We just need to get better at working together.”

“Like you ever had a chance getting past us. We're unstoppable,” said Catra proudly as she highfived with Adora.

“Well I don't know about you, but I'm starving. I think it's time for lunch,” said Adora.

“Sounds good. We'll catch up with you guys later.”

They waved goodbye to Scorpia and Perfuma. Adora lead Catra down a winding path to where a food cart was stationed and bought some sandwiches. They continued down the stone path while eating their sandwiches. The path lead them to a metal archway with flowers of many colors twined around it. Entering it, they came upon a flower garden. There were more flowers than Catra had ever seen nor knew could be. She had no idea flowers could come in so many different colors, shapes, and sizes. Even the trees had small pretty white flowers in them.

“Do you like it?” asked Adora nervously.

“It's pretty,” replied Catra as she looked around in wonder. She finished her sandwich as she knelt down to look at a small colorful bug that landed on one of the flowers. She had seen one of those in the Fright Zone once, but it had died when it landed on one of the many toxic pipes.

“This is one of the places I always wanted to show you.” Adora had already finished her food. She plucked a bright orange flower and slid it into Catra's hair behind her ear. “So cute.”

“I'm not cute,” said Catra automatically with a frown.

Adora laughed. “Being cute isn't a bad thing. You're always cute to me.”

Catra pondered this information before she replied, “I guess it's okay for you to call me that, but no one else.”

“I can live with that.” Adora placed her hand on Catra's chin and pressed a kiss to her cheek. Catra purred in response.

Catra plucked a small violet flower and began to slowly pull off each petal as she cautiously asked, “Am I cuter than the other girl?”

Adora had to stop and think to understand who she was talking about. “You are way cuter. You don't need to worry, Catra. You don't have any competition in my heart.” Catra pinched at the stem of the flower and caused a murky fluid to get onto her fingers. She scrunched her nose up in distaste. Adora placed her hands over Catra's to stop their fidgeting as she continued, “I have met many people after I left the Horde, but none of them have ever even come close to how cute you are. Will it make you feel better if I told you who it was?”

Catra shrugged. “I think so. It will at least take the mystery out of it.”

“I have no secrets from you. Whatever you want me to tell you, I will. It was Huntara.”

“Who was that?”

“You know, that really tall purple fay lady from the Crimson Waste. I thought she was cool, but not as cool as you obviously.”

Catra burst out laughing. “I definitely have nothing to worry about. I could take her out any time of the week.”

“Please don't. You have nothing to worry about.” Adora's hands slid from Catra's and went down along her body until they rested on her hips.

“Though what exactly is your type? Me and her don't really have anything in common.”

“I wouldn't say that. Both of you can hold your own in a fight, are really cool, exude confidence, speak your mind, and...” Adora smiled as she gently squeezed Catra's hips. “A little bit dangerous.”

Catra dropped the flower and placed her hands on Adora's shoulders as she leaned closer. “Oh so you like bad girls?”

“Do you have a problem with that?”

“Not at all. That is something I can work with.”

Their mouths came together and they let the sheer feeling of the closeness wash over them. Their relationship had certainly changed from when they were kids and Catra wouldn't change that for anything. She loved where she was now and it felt like what they had always been working toward this. She briefly wondered if they would have ended up like this sooner if Adora had never left then Catra pushed that thought down. She didn't want to think about the “what if's” when the “now's” were already amazing.

Catra pulled away to breathe heavily, her legs were holding her up unsteadily. She shivered when she felt Adora's hands travel further down her body until Adora was leaning down to grasp Catra's thighs and pulled her up. Catra's arms went around Adora's shoulders and pulled her into another kiss as she felt Adora walk until Catra's back was pushed up against a tree.

“Is this okay?” whispered Adora as she broke away from the kiss, her lips still brushing against Catra's as she spoke.

“Yes. More than okay.”

Catra pulled her back in. She had denied Adora long enough that the thought of doing that anymore physically hurt. She was exhausted from running away from her feelings. She wanted to give Adora whatever she wanted and she was overjoyed that what Adora wanted right now was her. The kisses were picking up in heat. Catra sucked on Adora lower lip that still had some of the strawberry flavored lip gloss on it.

Adora pressed Catra further into the tree, the bark digging into Catra's back. Catra couldn't bring herself to care with how close Adora was and yet it was still not close enough. There were so many clothing barriers between them that Catra desperately wanted to remove. Adora's waist was so perfectly nestled between Catra's thighs that she couldn't help to begin to grind. This time she was aware of her actions and didn't stop herself. She hoped Adora would let her. Even through the material of her pants and Adora's jacket, she could feel Adora's well-defined abs and they felt like bliss. Catra's claws curled into the shoulders of Adora's jacket in pleasure.

Catra moaned when Adora pulled away. “Wow. This is amazing,” said Adora. Catra whined when Adora wouldn't return to the kiss. She really didn't want to talk right now when there were better things she could be using her lips for. “But maybe we shouldn't do this in public.”

Catra groaned and hit the back of her head with the tree behind her in annoyance as she tried to regain her senses. She had forgotten where she was and was irritated that Adora was right. Adora rubbed the nape of Catra's neck as their breathing returned to normal. Adora slowly unwound Catra's legs from her hips and gently set her back on her feet.

Catra glanced around the garden and noticed they were completely alone. “We didn't have to stop. There's no one here.”

“You really want me to do you against a tree?” Adora raised an eyebrow at her.

Catra smirked. “If that's an option.”

“It's not.” Adora narrowed her eyes before she began to blush at the thought. “Well... Maybe in the future.”

Catra laughed and clang to Adora's arm as they began to walk down the path again. “I look forward to it.”

Adora's blush deepened. She wasn't used to this dirty talk and was surprising herself that she was enjoying it. Being with Catra certainly caused her mind to whir in directions she was unaware that she had wanted until now. Adora bit the inside of her cheek in thought. “So... How many kisses are we up to?”

Catra stopped and her eyes widened as she realized she had lost count from Adora distracting her. She began to quickly go over in her head, trying to remember when she had lost count. Adora laughed when she noticed and Catra glared at her.

“You know, you don't need to keep count because even if we hit a million, I will still give you more,” said Adora as she pressed a kiss to Catra's forehead.

~*~

Glimmer idly kicked her feet from the stone banister she sat on as she ate her ice cream cone. Bow was leaning against the banister as he ate his, his head against her thigh. “You know... Before Catra joined our group, I couldn't understand how Adora had ever been friends with her, but now I think I get it.”

Bow leaned back and looked up at Glimmer, his head slightly digging into her thigh. “How so?”

“When it was just us and Adora, I knew why I liked Adora. She's fun to be around and always worrying about others. Then when I was being held captive with Catra, I began to understand her better. She was a lot of talk and knew how to get under your skin, but she saw through you. I felt like I didn't have to pretend around her. After trying so hard to be just like my mother when becoming queen, it was nice and I began to find I actually like her.”

“You don't have to pretend with any of us.”

“I know, but being the Head Queen of Etheria is a lot of pressure. I have to keep myself to a higher standard than any of the other princesses. I always knew one day I would have to do this, but I never expected it to be so soon.”

Bow placed his hand on Glimmer's. “We have your back. We always do. Your mom would be proud to see what you have accomplished.”

“And now I have my dad back, but it's just... so bittersweet that he came back before he could be reunited with my mom.”

“Did you... ever tell Catra about this? What the portal she opened caused?”

“I did. Back when we were on the ship together, we would talk. We mostly shared Adora stories. It was really all Catra was interested in hearing about and it was something we could connect on. I told her what had happened to my mother and she had just got up and left when I did. The next time I saw her, it was ordered by Horde Prime and he made her give me cake to try to get me to talk. It seemed like she really didn't want be there or for me to talk. Then the time after that, it was when she broke me out of the prison to save me. You know, looking back at it, I think she might have thought that was the end for her and that's why she wanted to only hear Adora stories.”

“I'm sorry we couldn't get to you sooner and that I was such a jerk to you when we finally did.”

“No. I deserved it, Bow. I was a jerk to you. To everyone. I'm sorry that I wasn't listening to you and I'm glad that you forgave me.”

“I'm not sure yet, but we'll figure out a way to save your mom.”

Glimmer thoughtfully looked at the sky. “Do you think she is really still out there?”

“We won't know until we try.”

“Thank you for always being there for me, Bow.” Glimmer gave him a sad small smile. They sat in silence for a few moments before Glimmer continued, “But like I was saying before with Adora and Catra, after spending time with each of them separately, and finding out I like them in different ways, I still couldn't quite see how they connected. They were so different. And now that I see them interacting together outside the battlefield, I get it. It was like seeing two pieces of a puzzle separately without seeing the full picture. Now that they are together, I can finally see how they compliment the other.”

“I know what you mean. I didn't have the same experience with Catra like you two. Mine was when I tried to connect with her about Adora, she threw me off a cliff. Now that she is no longer trying to threaten us, she is surprisingly likable.”

“Catra isn't mean. Well, I guess she can be, but she can be nice, too,” defended Scorpia.

Glimmer and Bow turned to see Scorpia and Perfuma standing at the bottom of the steps.

“Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. Well kind of. She has been our enemy for awhile, so I guess I am still getting used to it,” replied Bow.

“How long have you two been there?” asked Glimmer.

“Long enough to hear that Catra had something to do with why your mom isn't here anymore. I never knew what happened to her and it never felt like it was my place to ask,” replied Scorpia.

“When Catra broke reality, someone had to stay behind between realities in order to fix it and my mom chose to be the one,” explained Glimmer carefully.

“I'm so sorry. I had no idea.” Glimmer looked upwards at the clouds and the many moons. Scorpia scanned the sky with her, not quite sure what she was looking for. “If you don't mind me asking, do you think she is still alive out there? I mean doesn't she need to eat?”

“Actually she doesn't. She's half-nymph. Nymph don't need food or water to survive. I mean we like food and water and can get hungry, but we won't die of starvation.”

“What? Even you?”

“I'm a fourth-nymph, so maybe. It's not like I ever tried nor do I want to. But seeing how I am immune to colds like other nymph, it's very possible I inherited that trait as well.”

Scorpia continued to observe the sky in the silence for a few seconds before taking a deep breath. “Nymph can be pretty impressive. I didn't know about the food thing, but I did know about the colds and that they can live for centuries. Vultak had been a nymph.”

Glimmer's eyes widened. “Nymph are incredibly rare and barely any of them exist out of my royal family. I had no idea there were any in the Horde.”

“They are also regarded as the most superior race on Etheria. It's surprising any of them would join the Horde,” added Bow then winced when he realized how bad that sounded. “Sorry. No offense, Scorpia.”

“It's fine. The Horde was not a good place. I don't know the complete story as to why Vultak and his sister, Hunga, were in the Horde, but what I picked up over the years is that they were part of this gang that raided Etheria because they felt like people owed them. They later merged with the Horde and helped it become more powerful.”

“Thank you for telling us about this, Scorpia,” said Perfuma as she placed a hand on Scorpia's shoulder.

Scorpia pulled her into a hug. When Scorpia raised her head, she noticed a large hulking statue nearly as tall as the building they were beside. It reminded her of the goddess statue she had seen in the Fright Zone, but it was slightly different and not in disrepair. Like the other goddess, this statue wore a long flowing white gown, but unlike it, it didn't have scorpion parts. This one had golden feathered wings that matched her striking golden eyes. She had curly bright pink hair that went all the way down to her waist and dark skin. In her hands, she held a crescent moon.

“Who is that? She looks like the statue from the Fright Zone,” said Scorpia as she pointed at the statue.

“Oh. That's the goddess Illumina. She's my goddess. The Goddess of Light and the Third Moon. She's the eldest of all the sisters which is why I'm Head Queen,” explained Glimmer.

“Wow. We have so many moons. How many are even up there? And why the third one? Shouldn't she have like the first one or something?”

“The third moon is one of the largest of all our moons. We have twelves moons in total, but only ten have goddesses. No one owns the two biggest moons,” clarified Perfuma.

“Really? We have twelve? I could have sworn I counted thirteen back when I was counting them at the camp when I couldn't sleep,” wondered Scorpia.

Everyone turned in surprise when they heard screeching laughter. Catra was sitting on Adora's shoulders and covering her eyes as Adora ran around, only being guided by Catra.

“Right!” howled Catra. Adora turned right. “Left!” Adora turned left. “Right! Left! Left! Left! Left!”

“Catra, I know you are making me go in a circle!” laughed Adora after following her directions several times. “So!” Adora grasped at Catra's thighs and began to rapidly twirl in a circle, making Catra's laughter grow even higher.

“Are you crazy? Don't run around blindfolded! Or did you forget we are on an island floating in the sky!” yelled Bow as he jumped down the stairs and ran over to them.

“Relax. We aren't anywhere near the edge,” replied Adora then scrunched up her face in thought, her eyes still covered by Catra's hands. “Or at least... I think we aren't.” Catra laughed and uncovered her eyes. Adora glanced around then smiled proudly. “See? Nowhere near the edge. I knew that.”

Catra laughed again and moved her hands down to Adora's chin. She tilted her up to draw Adora into an upside-down kiss that they shared while still trying to contain their laughter. Bow sighed in irritation as he covered his face with one of his hands. He knew that Adora didn't think her actions out completely, but she seemed to think things through even less when Catra was involved.

“So did you and Sparkles finally kiss?” asked Catra as she leaned down to hug Adora's head which made Adora's big goofy smile widen.

A small smile appeared on his lips, unable to stay mad when Adora and Catra had such carefree smiles on their faces. He hadn't seen Adora smile like that in months and he had never seen Catra so happy. “We did,” he admitted.

“That's awesome. Congrats,” said Adora happily.

“It is! And I bet I'm a better kisser than Catra now,” exclaimed Glimmer as she teleported over to them.

“If this is a ploy to kiss me, it won't work,” replied Catra.

Adora burst out laughing as Glimmer rolled her eyes.

“Very funny. Now that we are all together, let's go shopping!”

Bow cheered as Adora groaned.

“Don't like shopping?” asked Catra.

“Not particularly,” answered Adora.

“Well I think it sounds like fun.” She narrowed her eyes at Glimmer. “Just don't put me in a dress again.”

“No promises!” replied Glimmer as she ran off.

They followed Glimmer to a small gift shop. Perfuma and Scorpia began to look at cups and knickknacks while Glimmer and Bow began to flip through racks of clothes. Catra jumped off Adora's shoulders once they entered the shop. Glimmer began to hold up different articles of clothing to Catra.

“I can dress myself. Adora is the one who needs help,” objected Catra as she smacked Glimmer's hand away from her.

Catra began to pick through the clothes and grabbed the items that caught her eyes. Catra went into the dressing room to try on the clothes and exited in her original clothes once she was sure they would fit.

“Why did you change back? I want to see you model them,” complained Glimmer.

“Well then you will have to pay for them first because I am not coming out here with my pants not pulled all the way up,” replied Catra.

“Why would you do that?”

“She has a tail, Glimmer,” reminded Bow behind his hand as he leaned over.

“Oh right.”

“Now for you,” said Catra as she turned to Adora.

“Uh I'm good in the clothes I am in now,” responded Adora.

“You are not getting out of this so easily. You are getting different clothes.” Catra pulled some clothes out of her pile that she had grabbed for Adora. “Put this on.”

Adora obediently went into the dressing room and changed into a dark blue tank top and light wash jeans.

“I don't think I have ever worn blue before,” announced Adora as she looked down at her clothes.

“Well you should. You have pale blue eyes and blue would bring the color out more.”

“When did you begin to know so much about fashion?” Adora pulled nervously at her clothes. She wasn't used to wearing something else outside of special events, but she guessed a date would count as a special event.

“Not everyone is dense to these sort of things. And did you have to put your jacket back on?”

Adora hugged her jacket. “The jacket stays.”

Catra sighed in exasperation, but let her keep it. She now understood why Bow had complained that he had gotten the hard one when they had wanted to dress them for the party. Thinking about that reminded her of something she had been meaning to pester Bow about. He would probably be the easiest to get to talk about the question she had that both Adora and Glimmer had shot down when she asked. Catra walked over to Bow who was looking at boots while Adora went over to look at a rack of accessories with Glimmer.

“So what's this about me wearing a black dress?” asked Catra.

Bow gave her a strange look before replying, “Didn't you wear a black dress to the party?”

“Not that black dress. The black dress that was imagined on me that caused me to wear that.”

“Oh.” Bow gave a short laugh. “That was when we were making a battle plan that got out of reality. For some reason Glimmer imagined you in a black dress during the plan.”

Catra raised her eyebrows. “I thought it was Adora who did.”

“Well yes and no. Glimmer just said a 'long black dress'. It was Adora who added the details of it being sleeveless with a slit. We had gotten way off track at that point describing this make-believe dress.” Bow laughed at that memory. “I put you in a dress in my battle plan, though mine was red and I gave you puns.”

Catra narrowed her eyes. “Please keep me out of your daydreams.”

“Oh c'mon. Don't be like that. I will even share some puns with you for to say. They were cat related.”

“I don't think I can express how much I do not want that.”

Bow laughed as Glimmer ran up to Catra.

“Catra! I found these sunglasses that I thought would look really cool on you!” exclaimed Glimmer.

“Sorry. I don't do sunglasses,” replied Catra.

“But you would look so cool in them!”

Catra gave her a blank look and decided to let her figure out why. Glimmer slid the sunglasses on Catra's nose and they immediately fell to the ground as soon as Glimmer let go. Glimmer stared at the sunglasses on the floor in confusion before picking them up and trying again. She caught them as they fell and continued to look at them in utter confusion as to why they wouldn't stay on Catra's face.

“I told you. I don't do sunglasses,” repeated Catra.

Glimmer looked closely at the sunglasses then at Catra and it finally clicked. “Oh. Wait. Your ears are up there.” She examined Catra's cat ears perked at the top of her head as if she had just noticed them. Glimmer slowly tilted the sunglasses up to hook onto her cat ears, but her ears sat too high on her head and it caused the sunglasses to be at an angle, making them useless and look ridiculous. Glimmer burst out laughing.

“Are you done yet?” asked Catra, not amused.

“Sorry. Sorry. I guess that just isn't going to work. Let me find a pair made for you,” said Glimmer as she tried to stop herself from laughing and failing.

“Good luck with that.”

Glimmer began to look through the racks and racks of sunglasses only to discover to her dismay that all of them were styled to hook onto ears on the side of one's head. It was the most common placement for ears, but there were some beastfolk who had ears on top of their head, not just magicats.

“This is an outrage. Not a single pair? This is discrimination!”

“If you want to talk about discrimination, not finding sunglasses that fit me is pretty low on the list.”

“Small things matter, too. I am going to talk to who is in charge of this store.”

“You are going to yell at the owner? How will that help?”

Glimmer turned to her with a wicked smile on her face. “Catra, I am the queen. I am the highest authority in all of Etheria.”

“You would use your queen status to a harass a poor shopkeeper?” A matching wicked smile appeared on Catra's lips. “I am starting to like you even more, Sparkles.”

Glimmer went to the front of the store where a pale elderly man sat the counter behind the register reading a newspaper.

“Excuse me, sir, but do you carry any sunglasses for beastfolk?” inquired Glimmer.

The man scoffed and jerked his thumb to the door as he said, “No. The beasts usually make do with goggles. Don't sell them here. Barely any come and it's a pain to stock unpopular items.”

Glimmer raised her eyebrows in shock. “I'm sorry, but... did you just say beasts?”

The man raised an eyebrow at her. “Yeah. It's a pain to say beastfolk all the time.”

“I don't care if it's longer. It's an incredibly rude thing to say.”

“So what? It's just a shortened form.” He pulled a staff out from under the desk and smacked it hard against the surface, the sound echoing off the walls. “Hey! You there! Oaf! You better not break anything. Those are expensive!”

Scorpia jumped in surprise and put her claws behind her back as she replied, “Sorry. I wasn't touching it. I swear.”

“Why are your claws behind your back? Are you stealing? I don't take kindly to thieves.”

Perfuma gasped. “How could you accuse her? Scorpia has done nothing to cause you to be so rude.”

“Nothing? The beasts are always armed with claws, teeth, and even poison.” The elderly man gestured between Scorpia and Catra. “I would have nothing if I didn't have this staff.”

“You want me to have human hands? How about yours?” remarked Catra as she unsheathed her claws.

“Catra, no. Let's just get out of here. He isn't worth it,” said Adora as she placed a hand on Catra's shoulder.

“What's going on in here?”

They turned to see a man with short brown hair and glasses standing in the doorway of the shop. He was holding a bag of groceries in one hand and toddler with yellowish green hair tied up in pigtails in his other arm. The man and the child both had pointed ears that signified they were fay. The man looked between everyone, his eyes lingering on Catra and Scorpia.

“Uncle, are you harassing the customers again? I'm terribly sorry for whatever has transpired here,” said the man as he bowed to them.

Elderly man grumbled before departing into the backroom as Glimmer explained to the nephew what had happened.

“I'm sorry that happened. He has very outdated thinking and the fact that a lot of beastfolk were members of the Horde didn't help his opinion. Not saying that you are part of the Horde or rather, ex-Horde, but it has caused a poor opinion among many people. It's a terrible assumption to base your characters on the actions of others. I'm deeply sorry and hope this hasn't dampened your opinion of Mystacor. It's not much, but you can keep the items you already picked out as an apology gift,” said the nephew.

The group exited the store with the items in hand.

“The nerve of that man!” fumed Glimmer.

“I mean... He's not completely wrong,” said Scorpia as she stared at her feet.

“No, Scorpia. Don't listen to him. You are a wonderful and kind person,” comforted Perfuma.

“But me and Catra have done those things that he accused us of. We have stolen and were a part of the Horde and used our claws and teeth to get our way. Well Catra more of the teeth one. My teeth aren't pointy. I have poison instead.”

Perfuma placed her hand on Scorpia's arm. “We all have done things in the past we aren't proud of. Some more than others, but we can't let it define us. We have to move on and work to a better version of ourselves than we were yesterday. I can already see how you have changed for the better and it's beautiful.” Perfuma turned to Catra. “That goes for you, too, Catra. You didn't attack that man or lose your temper for most of the day.”

“True, but I did steal this from the shop before we left,” replied Catra as she held up a small rainbow button pin. “I don't even know what it is.”

“So did I,” replied Adora as she held up the same pin.

Adora and Catra began to laugh together.

“I'm going to talk to my Aunt about this. I will not stand for this bigotry, especially in my own kingdom,” said Glimmer as she continued down the path toward the largest building on the island.

“Your own kingdom? Mystacor is a part of Bright Moon? I thought it was its own thing,” inquired Catra.

“My Aunt governs Mystacor, but the island is under Bright Moon jurisdiction. So yes, it is a part of my kingdom. Technically all of Etheria is, but the other princesses look after what they govern and Bright Moon only steps in when completely necessary. There is a balance and we try not to force them to listen to us even though we are of the higher authority.”

They entered the building and Glimmer strode through the halls to where she was sure her Aunt Castaspella would be.

“Oh, Glimmer. There you are. I set up the six bedrooms like you requested for you and your friends,” greeted Castaspella.

“Thanks, Auntie, but I think we are only going to need five after all.”

Castaspella narrowed her eyes. “I know you are the Queen now, Glimmer, but you are still my niece and I don't know how I feel about you sharing a bedroom with your boyfriend.”

Glimmer blushed a deep red. “No! No! It's not for me! It's for those two,” exclaimed Glimmer as she gestured at Adora and Catra. “We can put those two in different rooms, but they will just end up in the same one anyways. So I thought we could just skip that step and give them the same room to begin with.” Glimmer took a deep breath. “But there is something else I need to talk to you about, Auntie.”

Glimmer walked off with her Aunt to another room. The rest followed Bow to where the bedrooms were located and Adora lead Catra into one of them with her.

“Let me see the clothes you got,” said Adora as soon as the door was closed with her hand reaching out for them.

Catra handed Adora the clothes with a raised eyebrow. Adora threw the shirt onto the bed and sat down with the pants still in hand. She reached out in front of her with her eyes closed as she concentrated. She called forth her sword, but shaped it into a small dagger. Adora scanned the back of the pants and carefully sliced a hole into them.

“You don't have to do that. I can do that myself,” reminded Catra as she sat down beside Adora.

“I know, but it has been a long time since I last got to do this for you and I want to.” Adora held up the pants to look at her handiwork. “I'm sorry about that man earlier.”

Catra shrugged. “Eh. I'm used to it.”

“That doesn't make it okay. Even though the Horde is full of beastfolk, they still looked down at so many members. When I left the Horde, I had hoped I wouldn't see that anymore, but even out here, that prejudice still exists.”

Catra grabbed the pants. “I don't need you to baby me or protect me. I got around fine without it.”

Adora turned to Catra with shining eyes. “I know you don't need my protection. I'm not doing this because I think you need it. I'm doing it because I love you and I want to.” Adora lightly placed her hands on Catra's shoulders. “Please, Catra. Please accept my love for you and not push me away.”

Catra calmed down and placed her hands over Adora's, her heart racing from the pleading look on Adora's face. “Of course, dummy. I love you, too.” Catra leaned forward to kiss Adora and stopped before meeting her lips when they heard banging at their door.

“Hurry up and change you two! My Aunt prepared dinner for us and then there is going to be a fireworks display!” shouted Glimmer.

~*~

“I would like two rock candy sticks,” said Adora to the person working the food truck.

“Didn't we just eat?” asked Catra as she grabbed the stick being handed to her.

“Always room for dessert.”

They walked hand in hand down to the rocky beach to find a place to sit. The others were close behind them as well as a huge crowd to squeeze past. The sky was now dark and the stars were on prominent display.

“It's gotten pretty cold,” commented Catra and jumped in surprise when moments after saying that, she felt Adora put her jacket over her shoulders. “Won't you be cold now?” Adora was now in the dark blue tank top, her strong arms on display. Catra had also changed into her new clothes which was an asymmetrical cut black top and dark purple leggings. She had been surprised to discover the hole Adora had cut for her had fit her tail perfectly. Adora had clearly remembered exactly where to cut Catra's pants.

“I'll be fine. I'm going to find us a good spot.”

Adora ran ahead. Catra pulled at the collar of Adora's jacket and sniffed it. She lightly purred because it smelled like Adora and that was the most comforting scent in all of Etheria, at least according to Catra. Catra turned when she noticed Glimmer and Bow were giving her knowing smiles. She blushed and hiked the collar up higher to hide her face.

“Over here!” called Adora.

They walked over to a rocky area Adora had found large enough to sit them all. They settled in the spot. Catra sat on the large rock beside Adora and Adora immediately put her arm around Catra's shoulders. Adora pulled her closer and Catra leaned her head against Adora's chest as they continued to eat their candy.

“Oops,” mumbled Adora when a piece broke off and fell down her shirt.

Adora took her arm away to pull her shirt open to try to fish the piece out. She glanced over when she felt like she was being watched. Catra had leaned away, still eating her candy, and was quietly observing what Adora was doing. Adora blushed and pulled her shirt up to cover her breasts she had partly exposed.

“Pay attention to your surroundings, idiot,” laughed Catra.

“I just wasn't thinking.”

“Do you ever?”

Adora gave a short embarrassed laugh before pulling Catra back to their original position. “Get back over here, you perv.”

Catra purred and lightly rubbed her ears on Adora's chest, scratching a sensitive part of her. “I've been thinking... You can have your old jacket back, but I want to keep this one.”

Adora raised an eyebrow at her. “Since when do you like my jacket?”

“She doesn't. She just likes that it smells like you and the other one doesn't anymore,” interrupted Glimmer who was sitting on the rock below them with Bow.

“Shut up, you,” grumbled Catra as she nudged Glimmer with her foot who laughed in response.

Adora giggled and said, “I'll think about it.”

They turned when the sky began to explode into different colors. There wasn't any explosion sounds as the fireworks were made by the sorcerers with magic. In the silence of the display, beautiful music was played from unseen instruments Catra had never heard before. They stared in awe at all the colors and shapes. They reminded Catra of the flowers they had seen in the garden, only in the sky and brighter. The flower Adora had put in her hair earlier was still there. It was her momento from their adventure.

“Did you have fun today, Catra?” asked Adora as she pulled Catra closer to her.

Catra moved to sit on Adora's lap. “Today was amazing. Thank you, Adora.” They pressed a kiss to each other's lips as the fireworks continued to light up the sky.

Fanart done by my amazing friend, Envy, for Adora Day. Check out more of his art at: here

Alternative hosting of the picture on my instagram because AO3 likes to make the pictures not work sometimes: here

Chapter Text

Chapter 8

And Mayhem Ensues

Adora waved good night to Glimmer before entering the room assigned to her with Catra. As soon as the door clicked close, Catra pushed Adora up against the door, kissing her senseless. Catra eagerly swallowed Adora's surprised gasp. Catra was everywhere on Adora, burning a path along her skin. Adora's jacket that had still been on Catra's shoulders fell to ground and forgotten in their haste.

Catra's hands insistently ran along Adora's waist and yanked at her shirt that she had stupidly tucked into her pants. Once her shirt was free of its confines, one of Catra's hands sneaked under the fabric. Her fingers tentatively skimmed Adora's defined abs, drawing a moan out of Adora.

Adora didn't seem to know what to do with her hands during Catra's relentless “kiss attack”. She rubbed at Catra's shoulders and trailed along her back, grasping at her shirt. Then Catra was walking backwards and pulling Adora along with her by the shirt. Adora stumbled on her jacket on the floor, but managed not to fall. The room was dark with the only light in it coming from the moons shining in the windows. Adora hadn't a chance to turn on a light before Catra had pounced on her.

Catra fell backwards onto the bed once she felt it on the back of her legs and pulled Adora down with her. Adora flailed slightly at the sudden shift and put her arms out as she fell. Her hands landed by Catra's head, hovering above her. It had broken their kiss and Adora took the chance to stare at Catra. Her cheeks were flushed and her glistening lips were slightly parted, her breath coming out in short gasps. Adora felt her heart pick up in speed as Catra looked back at her.

However Catra was already growing bored of the staring and wanted to return to the kissing. She lightly tugged at one of the straps of Adora's shirt, but she didn't budge and only continued to be mesmerized by Catra. Catra huffed in annoyance and decided on a different route to get her desire across. She ran her fingers along Adora's sides until she got to the bottom of her shirt and smoothly peeled it up. Adora picked up her arms to allow the removal.

Only Adora hadn't considered what allowing that would entail. Catra could see in the dark much better than Adora and she was sure Catra could make out all the fine details of her bra which she was unabashedly staring at. Catra slowly ran her finger along the hem of the underside of Adora's sports bra and intently watched the path it went. Adora tried to stay still, but it tickled and made her twitch. The fingers of one of Catra's hands began to make a trail down Adora's waist again until it made it to Adora's pants and played with the button. That was where Adora had to draw the line.

“Uh. I would prefer to keep those on,” said Adora as reached down to grasp Catra's wrist.

“But isn't that what happens after dates?” asked Catra as she ran her free hand along Adora's back.

Adora worried her bottom lip. “Is that something you want?”

“Yeah,” replied Catra breathlessly.

Adora continued to nibble at her bottom lip as she glanced all over Catra, not replying. Catra brought her free hand to cup Adora's cheek and pressed her thumb against her lips to get her to stop.

“Don't you want that?” asked Catra as she tried to keep eye contact with Adora despite how much she was blushing and worrying.

“That definitely isn't the issue here.”

“Then what is?”

Adora went back to staring at Catra and right before Catra was about to try again to get her to reply, Adora opened her mouth to ask, “Don't you think this is happening too fast?”

Catra tilted her head in confusion. “What do you mean? We've been friends for years. Isn't this natural progression?”

“But it's not that straightforward. We were separated for years. And now we are back together and we just started kissing. This is just escalating too fast.”

Catra gently ran her thumb along Adora's lip. “Okay. I'll stop. I don't want to force you to do something you aren't ready for.” Adora let go of Catra's wrist, which allowed Catra to bring her other hand to Adora's unoccupied cheek to frame her face. “What do you want, Adora?”

Adora's mouth went dry, but without thinking, she replied, “To cuddle and to talk.”

Catra nodded and slid further down the bed to settle on one of the sides. “What do you want to talk about?”

Adora laid down on her side on the other pillow, facing Catra with only about an inch between their noses. “I dunno. About our time apart?”

Catra winced. “You want to hear about that?”

Adora reached out and held Catra's hand. “Yeah. You don't have to tell me anything that makes you sad or uncomfortable. Just anything you want to tell me. Even if it is just something small, I want to hear about it.”

Catra thought for a moment before replying, “I hate boats.”

Adora laughed. “I would imagine. I like cake.”

“When on a mission in the snow with Entrapta, she forgot to bring a space heater, but brought a weird cat portrait.”

“I tried to hit a ghost with my sword, but it turned out to be a hologram. They were still creepy.”

“Busy work is boring and locating files is annoying.”

“I accidentally transformed a horse with my powers and that's how we got Swift Wind.”

Catra laughed. They continued to tell random things they learned or did during their time apart and gravitated closer together until their eyes grew heavy and they fell asleep. They later awoke to their room being full of light and someone banging at their door. Catra slowly sat up and rubbed at her eyes.

“Is that how they always wake you up? Would be nice to sleep without a wake up call,” grumbled Catra with a yawn.

“No. Not usually,” replied Adora as she sat up and blinked blearily. “Come in!”

Bow burst through their door while tapping away at his tracker pad. “Sorry, but we gotta go! My dads sent me a message that they needed to see me right away and now they aren't replying! What could be happening? It's gotta be important if they sent me a message on my tracker pad! Oh no. What if they are hurt or in danger?! Or eaten by a monster?!” Bow continued to rant as he paced all over the room.

“It's okay, Bow. I'm sure they're fine and we'll go right now,” said Adora as she got out of bed and placed her hand on one of Bow's shoulders.

“Thanks, Ado- Why are you not wearing a shirt?”

Adora looked blankly down at herself, realizing she was still just in her bra and pants from last night. “Oh, right. Give me a second to get dressed then we can leave.”

Catra stretched as she got out of bed. She grabbed her clothes and went into the bathroom attached to the room to change after Adora was done with changing back to her usual attire as well.

“I'm back from taking Perfuma and Scorpia back to Plumeria,” said Glimmer as she entered the room. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah. We're all ready,” said Adora as she grabbed Catra's hand and walked over to Glimmer and Bow.

“Wait a minute, you're not going to-” started Catra before Glimmer teleported the four of them. Catra doubled over onto the ground. “I'm going to be sick.”

Adora knelt down and rubbed at Catra's back.

“That's not quite right. I meant to teleport us right beside the library,” said Glimmer as she looked around the Whispering Woods. “Let's try that again.”

“No! Not again!” shouted Catra as she leaned away from Glimmer.

“It's okay. We aren't that far from it. We can walk from here,” replied Bow.

Adora helped Catra to her feet and they began to trek through the woods. As they walked along a path, they began to hear strange music playing. In the distance, they could see someone standing on a boulder by the path. As they came closer, they could see it was a woman with curly light green hair tied up in a high ponytail, her locks brushing her tan shoulders as she played a mysterious sounding song on a violin. She suddenly stopped playing when a twig crunched under Bow's feet.

The woman turned to them and her pale pink eyes lit up. “Bow!” she shouted in excitement.

“Lyric!” shouted Bow back with the same amount of enthusiasm. Lyric set her violin down beside her feet and bent her knees as Bow shouted, “Wait! Don't get down that way!” It was ignored as Lyric jumped and Bow scrambled to catch her, just barely managing to do so.

“Wow. You've gotten stronger. I was sure I was going to crush you,” she laughed.

“Then why would you choose to get down that way if you thought so?”

Lyric laughed. “I heard you joined the Rebellion. Did your scrawny arms finally get some muscles? Lemme see!” She yanked at his arm.

“Well not to brag or anything, but,” said Bow as he made a muscle while Lyric clapped.

“Who's that?” whispered Catra to Adora. Adora shrugged.

Glimmer coughed. “Um Bow, who is this girl you've never mentioned before?” she asked uneasily.

“Eh! You've never mentioned me before? How mean! I tell everyone about you,” whined Lyric as she clung to Bow's arm.

Bow rolled his eyes at Lyric. “You're being over-dramatic. Why are you- Oh. Your girlfriend broke up with you again, didn't she?”

“She did!” whined Lyric as she slid to the ground. “She called me a freeloader and told me to get a job! Can you believe it?!”

“Imagine that.” Bow reached his hand down and helped Lyric back to her feet. “Now c'mon. You are supposed to be the older one.”

She stuck her tongue out at him as she turned to regard the other people and said, “Traveling around with a gaggle of girls? Are you becoming like River?”

“I am not becoming like River,” scoffed Bow. “I'm not running around Etheria half-naked after every pretty girl I see.” Lyric pointedly looked at Bow's exposed midriff. He blushed and covered it. “Okay I see your point, but it's not like that. I am only dating one of them.” Bow turned toward the others. “Lyric, I would like you to meet the Best Friend Squad. Best Friend Squad, this is Lyric. My sister.”

Glimmer scrambled for what to say while Catra snickered.

“Best Friend Squad? Ugh. You're getting as lame as our dads,” said Lyric as she rolled her eyes.

“It's not lame. It's cool. You're the one who uses the word 'gaggle',” defended Bow.

“Oh that's right. You're the youngest of thirteen,” stated Adora as she thought back on when they first learned Bow had siblings.

“Yep! I'm the tenth oldest! Or the fourth youngest, however you want to look at it. Nice to meet'cha. Thanks for always looking out for my baby brother,” said Lyric excitedly.

“I'm sorry. I thought... It's just... You don't look anything like Bow or you dads,” stammered Glimmer.

Lyric laughed. “That's because I'm adopted, silly. George and Lance took me in when I was only 2. Adoption wise, I was the fifth to be adopted.”

“Remember when Scorpia talked about how she was born from the power of the Eternal Amber? Well our dads did the same thing to have me. I'm the only one that was born from it. It's why they had wanted to give the library to me. Back when they did, I only had five siblings. Our dads traveled all over Etheria and explored many First Ones ruins to research. They went through many war stricken towns and along the way, met several orphans that they ended up adopting and that's how I ended up with so many siblings,” explained Bow.

“You said you are dating one of them. Ooh! Is it the catgirl? If not, can I have her?” exclaimed Lyric as she clang to Bow's arm. Adora sidestepped slightly to stand in front of Catra, an action not lost on Lyric who smirked in response. “Oh. I see. So you are dating the pink one then?” Lyric looked Glimmer up and down several times. “She's cute.”

“It's nice to meet one of Bow's sisters. I'm Glimmer,” said Glimmer as she shook Lyric's hand.

“Glimmer? Isn't that the same name as the Queen? But that can't be right.”

“Well...” began Bow.

“Oh. Is it Queen Shimmer? Glisten? Twinkle?”

“No. No. You're going the wrong way. You were right the first time.”

“Weird. Was she named after the Queen?”

“Try again.”

Lyric's eyes widened and she whispered, “No.” She glanced between Glimmer and Bow. “I knew you joined the Rebellion and made friends with princesses, but I never expected you to come home with the freaking Queen!” She clamped her hands over her mouth then whispered, “Am I going to get punished for being disrespectful?”

Bow laughed. “No way. Glimmer is really nice. All the princesses are.”

“Really? Any of them single?”

Bow thought for a moment. “Actually no. Well except one.”

“I'll take her!”

“She's a child.”

“Should've lead with that. What about a cool warrior chic or dude?”

“I don't think so. Besides I can't think of anyone I hate enough to do that to.”

Lyric scoffed. “I am a delight!” She turned on her heel and began to climb up the boulder she had been on earlier. “So did dads call you here, too?”

“They did. Any idea what it's about?”

“Nope. You know they contacted all of us when they found out you joined the Rebellion. None of us knew anything about that. You could've told us about it. We wouldn't have ratted. Ever since, dads have been trying to push one of us to take over the library since you don't want it.”

“Sorry about that. Dads always had such high expectations for me. I didn't want to let them down and none of you are good with secrets.”

Lyric laughed and brushed herself off once on top of the boulder. “Welcome to the 'You're a Disappointment' Club.” She picked up her violin and bow and began to put them in the case slung to her back.

“What a weird looking weapon,” commented Catra.

“Oh I know this one. It's not a weapon. It's an instrument. It's called a violin. Bow plays one of them sometimes,” advised Adora.

“I'm the one who taught him how to play,” said Lyric as she jumped down, easily landing on her feet without Bow's help.

“I thought all of Bow's siblings were historians,” said Glimmer.

“Well sort of. We traveled all over as kids and our dads taught us all about history. I still love to travel, but music is my life. Sometimes I run into cool First One history stuff and I send it back to our dads. All of us kind of have our own thing. History is more of a hobby to us,” explained Lyric as they all began to walk down the path toward the library.

“No. No. That's not right. I'm such an idiot,” grumbled someone.

They turned to see a reddish brown lizardo man sitting against a tree a bit away from the path. He was frantically scribbling in a notebook with an oil crayon.

“Well maybe I can make that work. Like this? No. More like this. Yes,” he continued to mumble to himself.

“Mark!” shouted Bow and Lyric excitedly as they ran toward him.

Mark looked up in surprise and replied calmly, “Oh. Bow. Lyric. Hello.”

Bow and Lyric each grabbed one of Mark's hands and pulled him to his feet. Mark glanced forlornly at his art supplies as he was brought over to the others.

“Guys, I would like you meet our big brother, Mark,” introduced Bow.

“Well he's not much a big brother to me. We're the same age. He's only got three months on me,” said Lyric as she poked Mark's cheek.

“Wow. You and your siblings really don't look anything alike. I would have never guessed he was your brother,” said Glimmer.

Mark looked between Glimmer, Adora, and Catra. His green eyes lit up. “Oh. A magicat,” he said to himself.

“She's taken,” announced Lyric as she raised her hand.

Mark narrowed his eyes at her. “I wasn't thinking that. You were the only one thinking that.”

“And I successfully thought that and was shot down. We're the only single people here! Just you and me.”

Mark's eyes widened. “Really? Even Bow?”

“Yes! Our baby is growing up and dating the pink one.”

“When you first said that we were the only single ones here, I thought those girls were a throuple together.”

“I thought that, too.”

“Why is that more believable than me having a girlfriend?” asked Bow in annoyance.

“Our baby is growing up!” cried Mark and Lyric as they group hugged Bow.

“I hate you both,” said Bow without any malice.

“Well it's nice to meet you both. I'm Glimmer and this is Adora and Catra,” introduced Glimmer.

Mark stared at her for several moments before turning to Bow and said, “When I told you to become a prince, I didn't mean for you to take that literally and come home with the Queen.”

“Wait. You knew?” exclaimed Lyric.

“I figured it out. Not everyone is as clueless as you,” snickered Mark as he walked back over to the tree he had been at to collect his art supplies. “I take it that dads called you two here as well. Either of you know what about?”

“Not a clue.”

Mark came back over and they all began to walk down the path together toward the library. Lyric threw her arms over both of her brothers' backs who stood at similar heights while she was nearly a head shorter than them.

“Wait. Lyric, don't,” warned Mark, but it was ignored.

Lyric lifted her legs and Mark fell over from the weight. Bow tried to hold up Lyric on his own, but fell as well.

“Lyric!” grumbled Bow and Mark in annoyance while she laughed and got off them to run down the path.

“Can't catch me!” she giggled as Bow and Mark chased after her.

“I'm beginning to see where Arrow Boy had his training to be able to put up with you two,” said Catra as they followed behind them at a normal pace.

“Yeah. Just us. I take it you think you are a delight as well,” replied Glimmer as she rolled her eyes.

They entered the library and were surprised by how different it looked from the last time they were there. It still had the shelves full of books and the history exhibits, but they were pushed to the side to allow tables full of food and many people of all different shapes and sizes who were milling around, talking to each other. Several children ran around, playing together. Lyric jumped onto a dark woman with curly black hair who pulled her into a hug. Mark sat down on the ground and began to show his drawings to a fay man with long gray hair tied into a loose braid. Bow came back to their side.

“Let me introduce you guys to everyone. That's my second oldest brother, Haven. He's a doctor,” said Bow as he gestured to a tall dark man with long blue dreads who was standing with a woman and two young girls. “That's his wife, Hope, and their daughters, Hazel and Heather. That's my second oldest sister, Anise. She's a florist.” Bow gestured to a pale purple fay woman with long orange hair and antlers who was standing with a man and two young boys. “And her husband, Bailey, and their two boys, Basil and Leaf. And that's my third oldest brother, Cliff. He's a carpenter.” Bow gestured to a tall pale burly man with well groomed brown facial hair who was standing with an equally burly man and a young girl and boy. “And that's his husband, Oak, and their kids, Cherry and Birch. And that's my fourth oldest brother, River. He's a fisherman.” Bow gestured to a pale man with short light blue hair and a bushy mustache sitting at one of the plush armchairs, having an amiable conversation with Cliff. “And that's my third oldest sister, Carol. She's a singer.” Bow gestured to the woman Lyric was talking to. Lyric was now holding a toddler in her arms. Another woman was hanging off of Carol. “Lyric is holding Carol's daughter, Jazz, and that's Carol's wife, Blue.”

“I don't think I am going to remember all of this, Bow. You have such a big family and you act so different around them,” said Glimmer.

Bow laughed as he looked between Glimmer, Adora, and Catra. “I guess this would be overwhelming to all of you. None of you have siblings. But when you have a big family like this, you need to know how to take a hit and dish one back, but at the end of the day, we're still family and love each other. My siblings know how to get on my nerves, but I still care about them deeply. Growing up, we traveled all over together and didn't really have any other friends. The library was our home base, but we were barely ever here.” Bow looked around the room thoughtfully. “C'mon, there's more people I want to introduce you to.”

Bow held Glimmer's hand and walked her over to where Mark was sitting on the ground between a fay man and a human woman. The woman's hair was styled into short twists and dyed rainbow, which contrasted starkly with her dark skin.

“This is my older brother, Tress, and my older sister, Aurora. They are the fashionistas of the family and the closest to my age out of all my siblings,” said Bow.

Tress looked between Glimmer to Adora and Catra who had followed behind them.

“Highly unusual for you to bring anyone home, Bow. These people must be special,” said Tress.

“They are,” said Bow proudly. “We're the Best Friend Squad. That's my girlfriend, Glimmer, and my friends, Adora and Catra.”

Catra's ears perked up at being referred to as “a friend” then scolded herself that Bow probably just didn't want to go into the specifics of the rocky relationship they all had with her.

Tress began to look intensely at Catra which made her slightly step behind Adora. “A magicat? Does she know?”

“Oh. No. I haven't said anything about that. Is Flint here yet?”

“He's in the back.”

Bow squealed in excitement. “Stay right here, guys. I'm gonna be right back.” He ran off into the backroom, leaving Glimmer, Adora, and Catra with Tress, Aurora, and Mark.

Adora jumped in surprise when Tress poked the poof in her hair. “Do you always put it up like this?”

“Uh. Yeah,” mumbled Adora.

Tress hummed to himself. “Would look much better if it was down.”

“It gets in my way when it is. This way is much more functional.”

“Perhaps cut it in a more pixie cut style?” Tress put his tan hands in front of himself and covered his vision of Adora's ponytail with them. “Yes. That would look cute.”

Aurora leaned against him and looked out at his hands to see the same vision he was. “That would be cute, but that doesn't help with her clothes.”

Tress put his hands down and looked at Adora's outfit. “You are correct, sister. The hair does have to match the clothes.”

Adora hugged her jacket and said, “My clothes and hair are fine.”

Tress hummed to himself again. “You have to have something going for you then. Are you a princess?”

“Sort of. Sometimes.”

“What does that mean?” inquired Aurora.

Tress shrugged.

“Hellooooo, my baby brothers and sisters! The life of the party has reentered the room!” shouted someone excitedly.

They all turned to see a tall buff man in a navy plaid suit standing outside the backroom door. He had long wild bright orange hair with cat ears perked at the top of his head. His skin was covered in short brownish orange fur and he had a long orange tail with black stripes. Bow was holding onto one of his arms and enthusiastically pulling him with him.

“Guys! Guys! I want you all to meet my oldest brother, Flint!” said Bow as he came closer to them. “Like I was saying, this is my girlfriend, Glimmer, and those are my friends, Adora and Catra. They're dating. And look! Catra is a magicat, too!”

Flint smiled at them, flashing his sharp fangs. “Another magicat? How rare.”

“What? You had a magicat brother and you never thought to tell us?” asked Glimmer as she looked at him wide eyed. She felt so small compared to him. Catra was rather short, barely taller than Glimmer, but Flint easily stood as the tallest person in the room.

“You never asked,” laughed Bow.

“No wonder you knew so much about magicats,” said Adora. She had only ever seen another magicat once when they were saving Bow, Sea Hawk, and Swift Wind from pirates. It wasn't like they had a conversation at the time.

Catra stared at him, wide eyed and tail twitching. She had never seen another magicat. At least not since she was a very young child.

“It's nice to meet you, Catra. Magicats are a rather rare sight and I don't often run into them. Or really ever,” said Flint as he placed his hand on top of Catra's head and ruffled her hair. “That makes us like family. Anyone who is family to Bow is family to me, too.”

“Flint is really smart and great with machines. He taught me like everything I know about gadgetry,” said Bow as he began to bounce up and down in excitement while still holding onto his brother's arm. “You have to see my new arrows. I made some that shoot this sticky goo and these ones that shoot water. I have been trying to make ones that make a small explosion on impact for fighting robots, but they are so tricky. They keep exploding when jostling around in my quiver.”

Flint smiled down at Bow, his blue cat eyes lighting up. “We'll have to take a look at them together. I love a good puzzle.”

“Sorry we're late, but I brought cupcakes!” called someone as the library doors opened.

They turned to see a dark man with short deep purple hair and a beard enter the room with a smaller blond man with freckles. A woman dressed in a baggy brown body suit closed the door behind them. She had fluffy white hair in a pixie cut with big rabbit ears perked at the top of her head. Her skin was covered in short light blue fur. She pulled her goggles off her eyes and let them rest on her forehead as she came over to Flint. She inquisitively looked between Glimmer, Adora, and Catra.

“Guys, this is my oldest sister, Sky. Sky, this is my girlfriend, Glimmer, and my friends, Adora and Catra,” introduced Bow then pointed at the men who just entered the library. “That guy with the purple hair back there is my fifth oldest brother, Berry. I have no idea who the other guy is.”

“Pleasure to meet you all,” said Sky politely as she bowed her head slightly. She stood nearly an entire head taller than Bow. “His name is Nick apparently. He's Berry's fiance. I picked them up on the way here.”

“That's awesome! I have to go congratulate them.” Bow ran off to Berry and Nick who smiled at him and offered him a cupcake.

“Picked them up? Do you drive a machine or have a horse?” inquired Adora. Most people travel by foot. Machines were more of a Horde thing.

“I own a plane. Built it myself with the help of Flint,” explained Sky with a smile.

“It was a lot of fun to build. I normally just make small gadgets. Building that thing was quite the project,” said Flint with a laugh.

“Indeed. I've always loved looking up at the sky and it's even more interesting now that there are stars. I have been spending my times mapping the stars these last few months.”

“That sounds really cool. Could you show us sometime?” asked Adora.

“Have an interest in stars?”

“You could say that.”

Sky smiled at her. “They are quite mysterious. Just like our moons. Have you noticed there are thirteen now?”

Glimmer's eyes widened. “Scorpia mentioned something about that. I wonder if we gained another moon when we got the stars.”

Sky tilted her head at Glimmer in confusion. “That moon has been there for over a year. I noticed it long before the stars appeared.”

“How can that be? How could we have gained a moon while still in Despondos?” wondered Adora.

Sky shrugged. “It's something I have been wondering, too, but alas, I don't have an answer.”

“Surprise!”

“This family sure seems to like making their grand entrances,” muttered Catra as they all turned to the doors once again to see George and Lance were standing in front of them.

“It's my birthday!” called Lance excitedly.

“Your birthday is not for another two weeks,” pointed out Berry.

“Well it wouldn't be much of a surprise if it was on my birthday.”

“Daddy!” said Lyric as she ran over to Lance and hugged him. “I love you, but that's not how surprise parties work.”

“Well no one ever threw me one, so I threw my own.”

“I told him that he couldn't throw his own surprise party,” said George.

“And I told you that you were spoiling the fun.” Lance turned to place a kiss on Lyric's forehead as she pulled at his arm. “I love you, too, Lyric, but I think I am getting too old for this.”

“How old are you now, Mr. Bow's Dad?” inquired Adora.

Lance laughed and exclaimed, “32!”

Bow smirked as he said, “Dad, if you were 32, that would have made you 11 when you had me and you would be younger than some of your kids.”

Lance put his hand on Bow's head and slowly pushed him away. “Shush.” Bow laughed. “Fine. I'm 37 then.”

“You can't just make yourself only one year older than your oldest kid.”

“What are you? The age police?” Lance huffed and walked further inside to greet his other children and hug his grandchildren.

“He's just self-conscious because he is turning 56 this year,” explained George.

“I heard that and that's a lie!” shouted back Lance while holding one of his grandchildren.

“Fine. You're turning 79.”

“Don't go up!”

George laughed and rolled his eyes. “There's something else we wanted to announce now that all of you are together.”

Everyone in the room looked at him expectantly as he opened the doors again. Two teen boys entered the room. They both had the same exact face with golden blond hair, yellow eyes, and lightly tanned skin. One of the boys had long hair that went all the way down to the middle of his back tied in a low ponytail while the other had it cut short. They were dressed in the same style sweater - the one with short hair had it in red and the other in orange -, baggy khaki pants, and brown boots. George placed a hand on each of their shoulders.

“This is Rise and Set. They're twin brothers we found the other day while exploring a First One's ruins. They lost their parents during the war a long time ago and have been living in the ruins ever since. They are only 14 and we have decided to take them in. They have expressed an interest in history and we hope to teach them all we know.”

“Oh wow. Younger brothers. I have so many siblings, but I've never gotten younger ones before,” said Bow excitedly as he pulled Rise and Set into a hug. Their eyes widened and they stiffened in his arms.

“Now let's get this party started!” called Lance.

“Um... Daddy. Since I didn't know this was a birthday party, I didn't bring you a gift,” apologized Lyric.

Lance stared at her for several moments before he said, “You know, that is a flaw in my plan. Perhaps that's why surprise parties don't work in reverse. Oh well. There's still cake.”

Soon the party was in full swing. Each of the siblings welcomed Rise and Set into the family, which seemed to overwhelm them and they put themselves into a more secluded corner. Tress and Aurora made their way over to them to critique their attire. Some of the siblings came over to meet Glimmer, Adora, and Catra who were now sitting together on one of the couches. Bow ran off several times to be with different siblings. Lyric pulled out her violin and had begun to play while Carol sang along. Flint sat on the armrest of the couch beside Catra and looked at her for several moments.

“You know, you have unusual eyes. Even for a magicat. I have never seen a magicat with two different colored eyes before,” said Flint. He scratched his chin. “I feel like I heard a saying about them before, but I can't quite place how it went.”

“Honey, look who is awake,” said a woman as she walked over to them. She had long curly black hair that was held in place by a headband. In her dark arms, she held a bundle of blankets that was moving.

Flint got up and placed a hand on her shoulder. “This is my beautiful wife, Onyx. And this-” he took the bundle of blankets from her arms and pulled them back to reveal a small toddler who yawned and rubbed at his eyes. The toddler was covered in fluffy orange fur, had fuzzy cat ears perked on top of his head, and a bushy orange tail with black stripes. “-is our son, Clay.”

Adora's eyes sparkled and she jumped to her feet as she said, “He's so cute.”

“You can hold him.”

“I can?”

He placed Clay in Adora's arms who grinned widely at him. Glimmer stood beside Adora and tentatively touched his cheek. “He's so soft,” whispered Glimmer.

Clay sucked on his thumb as he stared at Glimmer with wide brown eyes.

“Come see the baby, Catra.” Catra slowly walked to be beside Adora and uneasily looked at Clay. “Want to hold him?”

Catra frantically shook her head as she said, “No. No. I'm good.”

“Aw. You've gotten bigger since I last seen you,” squealed Sky as she came over to them with Bow. Sky gently ran her fingers through Clay's unruly hair.

“It's been too long since I've last seen you, Buddy,” said Bow as he rubbed Clay's back.

Clay leaned against Adora and began to purr. Adora's grin impossibly widened and her eyes began to sparkle more as well as Glimmer's eyes.

“Yep. Ever since he was born, people have cared way more about seeing him than me,” laughed Flint.

“Oh you're still there?” giggled Onyx.

“Very funny. Oh well. Works for me. I plan to drink tonight.”

Sky looked at Glimmer when she felt her stare.

“Oh sorry,” apologized Glimmer. “I was just looking at your goggles. Where did you get them? I am on a hunt to find cool sunglasses for Catra.”

“You're still on that?” inquired Catra as she rolled her eyes.

“Yes. It's important.”

“Sunglasses you say? Wait right here,” said Flint before he ran off. He came back shortly after and put a thin wire headband on Catra. Once it was on, it was no longer visible through her thick hair. “Now put these on.”

Flint handed Catra a pair of sunglasses and for the first time, she was able to slide them on and they stayed in place. The headband Flint had placed on her had small hooks on the side in place of ears. “How do I look?”

“Really cool,” complimented Adora.

“I knew they would suit you,” added Glimmer.

“Go on,” smiled Catra as she posed.

“You're very sexy,” continued Adora as she placed a kiss on Catra's cheek.

Catra blushed a deep red.

“Just letting you know, the sunglasses only cover your eyes. They do nothing for your red cheeks,” laughed Glimmer.

“Shut up. I am not,” complained Catra as she tried to will away her blush to no avail.

“You can keep them as a token of now being a part of the extended Rain family, little sister,” laughed Flint as he ruffled Catra's hair.

“Wait. Rain family? Your last name is Rain?” Catra turned to Bow. “You made fun of my name when your name is Bow Rain? You're named after a rainbow. Are you kidding me?”

Bow groaned. “Thanks, Flint. I was trying to avoid that.”

“You're welcome! Now if you excuse me, I am going to go drink,” laughed Flint as he turned with flair to the drink table.

“Are you okay with him calling you 'little sister'? I mean, after...” whispered Glimmer to Catra.

Catra shook her head and replied, “No. It's not the same. When Prime did it... It was for control, but Flint seems... like he's just trying to be nice and welcoming. So it's okay.”

“Excuse me.”

They turned to see the twins were now standing by them. The one with long hair stood behind the other one and clutched at his brother's shirt. His eyes were wide and his mouth shut tight while the one with shorter hair stood straight with a determined look in his eyes.

“Are you Adora?” asked the twin with short hair.

Adora nodded while still cradling Clay in her arms.

“Lance and George mentioned an Adora who could turn into She-Ra. Is that you?” continued the twin.

Sky and Onyx who still stood in the group looked at Adora in surprise.

“Yeah. That's me. Which twin are you?”

“I'm Rise,” replied the twin with shorter hair as his eyes lit up. “This is so cool! You're like a hero! You saved everyone and stopped the Horde! I can't believe I'm meeting you!”

Adora smiled and blushed. “It wasn't just me. We were able to because we all worked together. Bow was able to get the chips off people, Glimmer fought some pretty tough people, and Catra,” Adora gestured to Catra in excitement while trying not to jostle Clay in her arms, “...well I wouldn't be here at all without her.”

“But they wouldn't have been able to without you. You are the champion of Etheria and that is just the coolest!”

“Adora is pretty awesome,” agreed Glimmer then pointed to herself, “But I am also the Queen of Etheria.”

Rise looked at Glimmer blankly for several moments before he stated in a monotone voice, “That's cool. You're very pink.” He turned back to Adora, his excitement returning. “What was like fighting all those bots attacking the Whispering Woods? I heard you took out ones that could regenerate.”

Glimmer frowned and raised her hand in annoyance. Bow placed his hand on Glimmer's to lower it back down as he said, “I know, but calm down. He's just a kid who is excited to meet his hero.”

“I'm cool, too,” mumbled Glimmer as Bow nodded in agreement.

Adora enthusiastically began to tell tales of different battles she had been in while Rise listened to her intently. Set continued to not say anything and cling to his brother's shirt. As Adora continued, Sky took Clay from her arms.

“My turn,” said Sky as she did so.

Adora stopped mid-sentence to look at Clay as he was taken away from her and muttered to herself, “I bet Catra's baby will be just as cute.” Her eyes widened when she realized she had said that out loud. She looked at Catra's red cheeks and then glanced away to look at the ceiling. “Where was I?”

“You were talking about when you went to Beast Island,” reminded Rise.

“Oh right. After the vines surrounded me, I was finally able to become She-Ra again and-”

Catra separated from the group as Adora continued. She occupied herself with getting punch to try and calm her mind. Adora's comment was effecting her more than she thought it would and her mind buzzed with wonder if Adora also thought about a long future with children together. Catra used to think of it when they were teenagers far more than she would like to admit and such a future seemed so unlikely until a little bit ago.

Catra leaned back against the drink table and watched Adora from afar. The room was buzzing with noise from several conversations happening in the room. She picked through them and focused on just Adora's voice. She closed her eyes and listened to her talk. She opened her eyes some time later when she began to hear someone approach, thinking she was blocking the table. She was surprised to see Rise now standing beside her and looking at her intently. Catra glanced back to see Adora had sat back down on the couch and was talking to Set who was sitting as far away as he could on the couch, watching Adora with wide eyes.

“Yes?” inquired Catra when Rise didn't say anything.

“You're with She-Ra?”

Catra raised an eyebrow at him. “I am.”

Rise shook his head. “That doesn't make any sense.”

“So? Adora is an adult and she wants to.” Catra's crossed her arms in defiance.

“But why would she get with a Horde member? Isn't that the enemy to us all?”

Catra's eyes widened and she glanced at Adora again. She wouldn't, thought Catra. She was trying to make a good impression on people, but she couldn't if people kept making assumptions on her before they got to know her. “How did you-”

Rise shook his head. “Of course you are. You're a beast. Most are part of the Horde.”

“Not all of them. Flint isn't. And I don't think Sky was either. Or what about that other guy? Mark, was it?”

Rise shook his head again. “I already have to deal with beasts in my new family.” He glared at her harshly and Catra was taken aback with the intensity of it. “I will not deal with it with She-Ra as well.”

Rise then ran off to go back to Adora and smiled sweetly at her as he sat between Adora and Set. Catra took a deep breath to calm herself down. Be rational, Catra, she thought, He's just a child. Bow's dads did mention they lost their parents to the war. Maybe they are a bit resentful of the Horde. Bow's dads seem nice. They will probably set them both straight.

“Hey, little sister.”

Catra jumped in surprise at the sudden voice beside her while she was trying to calm her breathing down.

“Sorry. Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you there,” laughed Flint.

Catra turned to see Flint who's eyes were a bit glassy and cheeks rosy. He was slightly unsteady on his feet, clearly a bit intoxicated.

“I remembered the eye thing saying. It goes 'Blue like the vast sky. Yellow like the light of day. When separate, they are strong. When together, they are infinite. Anyone with the intertwined colors are granted good fortune.' Not sure how true that saying is, but it seems pretty cool.”

Catra sadly smiled as she looked back at Adora who she could see had a big goofy grin on from a distance and replied, “I dunno how much good fortune they have brought me, but hopefully... At least some.”

My friend, Erin, drew me some fan art of Lyric. :) See more of her art at: https://www.instagram.com/erinmillerartist/?hl=en

My friend, Envy, drew me some art of Rise and Set. :) Check out more of his art at: here

Alternative hosting of the picture on my instagram because AO3 likes to make the pictures not work sometimes: here

This is the art my friend, Envy, did for my birthday. It is the more important siblings of his since he has so many. They are are, in order, Sky (age 32), Flint (age 36), Bow (age 21 in my fic), Lyric (age 24), Tress (age 23), Aurora (age 23), Berry (age 25), and Mark (age 24). Link to the artist: here

Alternative hosting of the picture on my instagram because AO3 likes to make the pictures not work sometimes: here

Chapter Text

Chapter 9

Family

“It was nice meeting you all, but we do have to get going,” said Glimmer.

“Eh. Already?” complained Lyric.

“Unfortunately. We took the day off yesterday and I had promised Mermista that we would help her fix up her kingdom today.”

Glimmer stood up from the couch and grabbed the back of Adora's jacket to drag her away from Clay who was currently in Berry's arms.

“But baby,” whined Adora as she reached out to Clay.

“She doesn't have to go if she doesn't want to,” said Rise.

“Now, Rise,” said George as he placed a hand on Rise's shoulder. “Adora is an adult. She has places she needs to be. It's important to keep commitments.”

“You're right, Mr. Bow's Dad,” sighed Adora as she turned to follow Glimmer.

Set lightly tugged on George's sleeve and spoke up for the first time since they met him, “Can we go with them? You did say you wanted to explore all over with us.”

“That sounds like an excellent idea,” said Lance as he threw his arms over George and Set's shoulders.

“You want to come with us?” asked Bow nervously.

“What? Are you doing things you can't show to your dear old dads? We can even pitch in to help revitalize the place.”

“That sounds like fun. Count me in,” exclaimed Lyric.

“Nick and I don't have anything planned. We could tag along and help feed everyone,” said Berry as he turned to Tress and Aurora. “What about you guys?”

“That sounds like work and I don't work,” replied Tress as Aurora nodded in agreement.

Flint took Clay from Berry's arms as he said, “And I need to be returning to my gadget shop. I can't leave my employees in charge by themselves for too long.”

“This is great and all that you want to come, buuuut... I don't think Glimmer can teleport all of you,” interjected Bow.

“That's not a problem. I can get them to Salineas,” assured Sky.

“You can fit that many people on your plane?” inquired Glimmer.

“Well no, but my jeep is still here. I can take them to the ferry that goes to Salineas. It's back up and running.”

“Wait. There is a ferry that goes to Salineas?” asked Adora in surprise.

“Yeah. It's been running for years, but was momentarily delayed with everything happening.”

“Would have been nice to know about.” Adora pointedly looked at Glimmer.

“Okay. Maybe I didn't do enough research on how to get to Salineas, or any, but hey. I got us there. That's the important part,” defended Glimmer.

“It sounds like a plan. We'll meet all of you there,” said Lance eagerly.

~*~

Catra knelt on the ground as Adora rubbed her back comfortingly. “Maybe I should have taken the ferry instead,” she groaned.

“But you don't do good with boats either,” reminded Adora.

“Ugh. Why must everything hate my stomach?”

“You know I could have taken people here in parts, Bow,” said Glimmer as he nervously messed with his tracker pad.

“I know. It's not that I don't love my family. I do, but they are better in small doses,” replied Bow with a sigh.

“Is she dead?” asked a voice.

Glimmer and Bow looked up to see Mermista walking toward them, pointedly looking at Catra on the ground.

“She's not dead. She's just not used to teleporting,” explained Glimmer.

“Too bad. Would have been one less seat I needed to have at the table.”

“Mermista!”

“What? I was making a joke. Am I not allowed to make jokes?” Mermista scoffed as she turned to walk the same way she came. “You guys are late. A lot of people have already arrived and started.”

Adora helped Catra to her feet and they all began to follow Mermista up a hill. Once at the top, they could see Entrapta and Hordak working on repairing the Sea Gate along with the help of several Horde clones. Other Horde clones, Salineas guards, Bright Moon guards, townspeople, and various other people were helping clean up the area.

“Has my aunt arrived yet?”

“Yeah. She's inside.”

“Okay. I'm going to go speak with her. Adora and Bow, check on how the repairs of the Sea Gate are going.” Glimmer teleported away with Mermista in tow.

“Hey, Entrapta! How's the repairs going?” called Bow when they made it over to the gate.

Entrapta was hanging by her hair halfway up the gate inspecting a large hole in the side. She appeared to be soldering something inside it.

Entrapta lifted up her mask and looked down at him. “Oh hi, Bow! It's going well,” she called back. Entrapta slid down the gate to the ground as Hordak stood anxiously at the bottom. “But I heard it was She-Ra's magic that repaired the gate last time.”

Adora looked the gate up and down. “Last time it was just losing connection to its runestone. It wasn't in shambles.”

Entrapta scratched her chin as she replied, “It's repaired on the inside. We just need to cover the holes now. Try reconnecting it. It should work.”

“For the Honor of Grayskull!”

Catra sat on a rock as she watched She-Ra shoot a light beam from her sword. Somewhere along the lines she must have fallen asleep because the next thing she knew was that she was waking up to She-Ra fixing her bangs. Catra immediately flinched away.

“Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you. Well, sorta. We do have to actually help,” said She-Ra as she glanced away then looked back at Catra who still was wide eyed. “What's wrong?”

“Nothing. I'm getting up.” Catra tried to stand up quickly and faltered. She-Ra easily caught her and tried to place a kiss on her forehead, but Catra flinched away again.

“Catra? Did you have a bad dream?”

“I said I'm fine!” Catra's claws slipped out and dug into She-Ra's wrists where she still held Catra. They weren't enough to break her skin in this form, but did make indents. She-Ra silently looked down at them and Catra hastily withdrew them. “Sorry. Can you just... Can you go back to being you already?”

“Me?” She-Ra looked down at herself. “Oh. I forgot I was still in this form.” She-Ra looked slightly back up to where she was still towering over Catra. “Do you not like this form?” Catra looked away. “I guess that makes sense. We did always fight when I was She-Ra.” She-Ra gently stroked the fur on Catra's cheek that was turned away from her to get Catra to look back at her. “But that's in the past, Catra. I'm still your girlfriend even when in this form and I still love you very much.”

Catra tentatively scanned She-Ra's face as if trying to find features on her that reminded her of Adora. “Are you... Are you even still you when in this form?”

“Yeah. I am still in control and I remember everything. I'm just stronger and stuff when I'm like this, but still very much me.”

Catra groaned. “It was easier to think of you and She-Ra as two different people. I mean... I knew you were the same, but it was just easier. I'm sorry. I did a lot of awful things to you when in this form.”

“I did notice that you were always harsher to me when I was She-Ra except for those times you were corrupted or chipped.”

“But that doesn't make it okay. You should hate me.”

She-Ra softly smiled at her. “I don't hate you. I love you very much.”

“Well you should hate me.”

“Catra, you've done bad things and made many mistakes, but you are not a bad person. Just you acknowledging that you have and sincerely apologizing for it shows how much progress you have already made.” Catra went quiet and stared at the ground. “Catra, I don't want to scare you... So I'm going to ask... Can I kiss you?”

Catra looked up at her in surprise. “While like this?”

“You can say no. I won't force you. I just want to show you that I am still me.”

Catra thought about it for a few moments before lifting her face up and closing her eyes. “You can.”

She-Ra slowly pressed a kiss to Catra's lips and stayed still for several seconds before deepening the kiss. To Catra's surprise, She-Ra still tasted like Adora. Still reacted like her when Catra kissed back. Still ran her hands over Catra's back while they kissed. Still lightly moaned when Catra nipped at her lips. She was still Adora. Her Adora. She-Ra giggled when they broke apart for air.

“I have to lean down really far to kiss you now.”

She-Ra and Catra turned when they heard Glimmer teleport to beside them. Glimmer looked over to them in their corner then over to where Bow and Entrapta were looking over at a large paper together, talking animatedly and pointing at different parts. Glimmer walked up to Bow and glanced over at She-Ra again.

“What are all of you doing?” inquired Glimmer.

Bow waved his hand toward She-Ra and Catra. “Oh they're making out again. We already fixed the Sea Gate, so Entrapta and I are talking about what we should do with all these spires Prime put all over Etheria. I thought we should just knock them all down, but Entrapta suggested setting up a hub system that allowed people to teleport to different parts of Etheria. They do all have teleporters in them and we could make it for our own use instead of just scrapping it all,” explained Bow.

Glimmer knelt down and inspected the drafts they had drawn. “That's an interesting idea. I will have to bring up a meeting about it. These spires would be in the territories of other kingdoms, so I have to see if the other princesses are okay with that.”

“Will I be excluded from this meeting again?”

“I don't think it's necessary to have a royal meeting for the pitch of it. We may need more than one meeting. We'll see.” Glimmer stood back up and walked over to where Hordak was sitting on a rock on the other side of the Sea Gate from She-Ra and Catra. Glimmer handed him a large file. “My Aunt Castaspella has been working hard decommissioning all the Horde operatives. Here is a compiled list of the ones she has already done. Do you see anyone missing?”

“Uhh...” mumbled Hordak as he blankly looked down at the list. He looked up in surprise when Catra took it from him.

“Catra, I was asking him.”

“Like he would know,” replied Catra as she quickly flipped through the list. “He hid in his lair all day. I was the one who was actually out on the field. You would be better off asking him which of his bots or tech are missing. He can only name like four operatives and they are all already here.” Catra pointed at herself, Entrapta, She-Ra, and Scorpia who was walking toward the group.

“I could name more than that,” growled Hordak.

“Oh yeah? Name a fifth. I'm waiting.”

Hordak sat in silence for several moments. “I retract my comment.”

“That's what I thought.” Catra turned to Glimmer. “You are missing a lot of people. You have my files still? I can compile you a list of names and pictures.”

“Really? You can tell? There are thousands of operatives stationed all over Etheria.”

“I'm not that worried about the low ranking operatives. It's the Force Captains and Elite Members that I am. You should focus your search on them and you'll probably find most of the low ranking members flocking around them.”

“That would be a great help. Thank you.”

“I brought you that thing you asked me to bring,” said Scorpia as she walked up to Entrapta and handed her a box of things.

“Thanks,” replied Entrapta as she was already going through it.

“When did you get here, Scorpia?” asked Catra as she handed the list back to Glimmer.

“Awhile,” responded Scorpia. “You were sleeping. I didn't want to disturb you.”

Catra looked up in surprise when arms wrapped around her from behind. Adora had returned back to her normal form and smiled widely at Catra. “Let's go help the others clean,” said Adora.

~*~

“Hide me!” said Frosta as she hid behind the trashcan Adora and Catra were using.

Adora glanced down the hallway at all the people milling around it as she asked, “From who?”

Three girls came striding down the hall. The one in the middle that was leading them had long wavy hair that was white as snow tied into two ponytails and wore a pink dress that was too frilly to be working in. The girl to her right had close cut curly light blue hair and finned ears. She was wearing a dress similar to hers with even more frills and in blue. The girl to her left stood nearly a head taller than the other two girls with long straight dark green hair. She was wearing a long sleek green dress without any frills. All three girls had the same shockingly pale skin.

“Is that you, Little Frosty?” called the girl in the middle.

Frosta scowled, but stayed hidden.

“And you are?” asked Adora.

“Oh apologizes, She-Ra.” The three girls politely curtsied to Adora. “We're The Star Sisters. I'm the oldest, Gemma.” She pointed to the girl in green. “That's the middle sister, Cassandra.” She pointed to the girl in blue. “And that's the youngest sister, Devena. We were just looking for Little Frosty. She's our cousin.”

Frosta popped out from behind the trashcan and exclaimed, “Stop calling me 'little'! I'm not little! I just turned 13, so that means I am now officially a teenager. So not little!”

The Star Sisters squealed and began to pat Frosta's head to her annoyance.

“They're your cousins? And that is...?” questioned Adora, not quite sure what that word meant.

“Unfortunately,” replied Frosta as she swatted their hands away. “They're my dad's brother's kids. Normally they are far away.” She glared at them. “Far, far away.”

“There you are, Frosta. You shouldn't sneak off while we are discussing royal duties. Must I remind you that you are the reigning Princess of the Kingdom of Snows?” said a man with neatly cut white hair dressed in dark blue clothes with the Kingdom of Snows insignia sewn all over it.

“Who?” whispered Catra to Adora.

“Duke North. Frosta's Uncle. Boring man who helps run her kingdom since she is still underage,” whispered Adora back.

Frosta sighed as she replied, “Sorry, Uncle.”

Duke North turned to The Star Sisters as he said, “Hello, girls. Did you see where your dad ran off to?”

“Probably slacking off somewhere,” mumbled Cassandra.

“That husband of mine.” Duke North sighed.

“Actually I think I saw him with Mermista,” said Devena.

“I've actually yet to greet her since I arrived,” he replied.

“We'll go with you.” The Star Sisters towed Duke North away from Frosta, Adora, and Catra.

“I don't know how Mermista can deal with those three. She hangs out with them all the time. They are so annoying, but then again, she puts up with Sea Hawk,” whined Frosta.

“Are they related to the Water Princess as well?” inquired Catra.

“Yes actually.”

“What? You and Mermista are cousins as well?” asked Adora in surprise.

“No.” Frosta scrunched up her face in thought. “Well I don't think so. We aren't related by blood. Mermista's mom's brother is their other dad. That's the person they were looking for.”

“Families are confusing. Bow isn't even blood related to his siblings,” said Adora.

“The Horde didn't have families?” Frosta pointed at Catra. “You grew up with Catra. Doesn't that kind of make her like your sister?”

Adora shook her head. “I've seen families. The Horde was not a family. Families have unconditional love, but our entire existence there was conditional. The Horde seemed nice because they didn't care how smart or skillful you were. As long as you devoted all your loyalty and gave everything you had to offer to them, you could stay. You should have seen Bow's family. It was big and everyone was so different, but it was a proper family. It only made it more clear that the Horde was never a family. We were more like prisoners surviving in the same location than an actual family.”

Catra scoffed and said, “Besides our designated family roles in the Horde was each other's wife.”

“Oh yeah,” mumbled Adora as she thought back to when Catra had first joined the Horde.

~*~

Catra sat on the ground of the Horde nursery, back to the wall as if to stabilize herself. Her fur stood on end and was caked in mud and blood. Adora was the only one who stayed in the nursery right now. There used to be other kids, but they were older and aged out of it. Now it was just Adora and it was like having her own room. It was rather lonely and she didn't quite like it. Now there was another kid her age who could stay in the room with her. She didn't know where Catra had come from, but it didn't matter much to her.

“Where is your mommy and daddy?” asked Adora quietly. Many kids in the Horde had one who were other Horde operatives. There were only a handful of orphan children like her.

Catra was silent for awhile and shivering from her spot on the floor. Several minutes passed before she replied, but Adora waited. “Don't have any.”

“Oh. Then you're like me. I don't have any family either.” Adora smiled as if that didn't bother her. In a way, it didn't because she never had anything to compare it to.

“The scary lady isn't your mommy?”

Adora had to think for a few moments to know who she was talking about. “Shadow Weaver? She isn't scary. She took me in, but she isn't my mommy. I never knew my mommy. What about you? Do you remember yours?”

Catra shrugged and huddled more into herself. Adora crawled closer to her. “You don't have to be scared anymore. You can stay here with me. I can be your mommy,” assured Adora.

Catra snorted in a way that almost sounded like a laugh. “You can't be my mommy. We're the same age, dummy.”

Adora sat back in thought. “I guess that's true. We can still be family, though. What do they call it when family members are about the same age?” Catra shrugged as Adora continued to think. “Oh I know! I can be your wife!”

Catra scowled. “I don't think that's quite right.”

Adora whined and rolled onto her stomach as she kicked her legs. “But I want to be Catra's wife! I want to! I want to!”

“Okay! Okay! You can. Just shut up.”

“Yay!”

~*~

“I did say that. I had forgotten about that,” said Adora as she came out of her memories.

Catra laughed as she said, “It was quite the proposal. You threw a tantrum until I said yes.”

“We were 5!”

Catra continued to laugh as Adora huffed in embarrassment.

“Hey, guys!” exclaimed Glimmer as she teleported in front of them. “The ferry with some of Bow's family is arriving now. We are going to greet them and start throwing a feast for everyone here.”

“Bow was saying he has little brothers around my age coming here,” said Frosta.

“Yeah. They are 14. You can come with us to meet them.”

They hurried down to the port where Bow was already standing. Lance made his way down from the ferry. Rise, Set, Sky, Lyric, Mark, Berry, Nick, Tress, Aurora, and George trailed behind him.

“It's been awhile since I was last in Salineas and I have never been this close to the castle. It is beautiful,” marveled Lance as he admired the clear waters and the architecture of the castle from afar.

“I thought you two weren't coming,” said Bow to Tress and Aurora.

“We weren't, but then we were guilted,” explained Tress with a sigh.

“He pulled the puppy dog eyes on us,” continued Aurora.

“Welcome to Salineas, everyone,” greeted Glimmer. “I know you just got off the boat, so I won't pressure you into helping us right away, but if you want to, you are welcome to. We are about to start cooking a feast for everyone.”

“We would be happy to help cook. It is our specialty,” said Berry enthusiastically.

“Just point us in the correct direction,” added Nick.

Glimmer began to help Berry and Nick to where the kitchen was. Adora turned and almost tripped over Rise.

“Oh. Hello, kiddo,” said Adora.

“Hi, She-Ra! We are in Salineas, too! Isn't that cool?” shouted Rise in excitement.

“That is. I would like you two to meet my friend, Frosta.” Adora pulled Frosta to be in between them.

“Hi! I'm Frosta!” exclaimed Frosta.

“Uhh... Hi?” replied Rise.

“I think you guys will make great friends. Bye, now!” said Adora as she threw an arm over Catra's shoulders. “C'mon. Let's go wash up before we eat.”

Catra laughed as they walked away, unaware of Rise frowning as he watched them leave.

~*~

Set sat on the grass, curled into himself. His tears fell in globs down his cheeks as he continued to silently cry.

“Oh, honey. Why are you crying?”

Set looked up to see a women with flowers in her curly blonde hair kneeling in front of him.

“I fell and I killed that flower,” mumbled Set as he pointed at the crushed flower he was beside.

“Oh no.” She inspected the flower. “But I can help it.” She hovered her hand over the flower and it lifted from the ground. Set watched as its petal grew back, more beautiful than it had been before. “My name is Perfuma. What is yours?”

He wiped at his tears as he replied, “Set.”

“It's nice to meet you, Set. You are one of Bow's brothers, aren't you?” Perfuma looked around. They had set up tables outside for everyone to eat. Almost everyone were sitting down and either eating or chatting. She could see Frosta and a boy playing tag who she presumed to be another one of Bow's brothers.

“Yeah.”

“You're a sweet boy, Set.” Perfuma helped him to his feet. “I'm sure the flower knows you didn't mean to hurt it. Go and play.”

Set ran off to go back to his brother as he watched Perfuma join a scorpioni woman in the corner of his eye.

~*~

“I like your dress,” commented Tress as he sat down at the table with his plate beside Devena.

“Flattery? What are you hoping to gain?” she asked apprehensively.

Tress shrugged. “Just complimenting good fashion when I see it. The name's Tress.”

“Devena.”

“Aurora,” said Aurora flatly she sat down with her own plate beside Tress.

Cassandra leaned toward Aurora to look at her rainbow hair as she said, “I love your hair.”

“Thanks. Tress did it for me.”

“How wonderful. Can you do the same for mine?” asked a voice.

Tress looked up to see a Horde clone was also inspecting Aurora's rainbow hair.

“You want rainbow hair?” inquired Tress.

“It's beautiful. Can I not? Oh sorry. I haven't introduced myself. I am still not used to that. People usually call me Wrong Hordak.”

Tress looked at his pure white hair before he nodded to himself. “I don't see why not. It would be easy to dye such light colored hair.”

Wrong Hordak smiled and clapped.

“If I could have everyone's attention up here! I have an announcement.”

Everyone looked up to see Sea Hawk at the front of all the tables, holding a microphone that was coming out of Emily beside him.

“First off, I would like to thank everyone who came out today to help clean up or cook this fantastic feast. I would also like to thank anyone who helped fight in the war, especially the ones who helped me get that chip off my darling Mermista. We have been through a lot of things through the years. I normally just roamed the seas for adventure, not fighting in the war. Little did I know what I was getting myself into when I agreed to help in the quest for the Rebellion or when I set Mermista's boat on fire for the first time. Which was an honest mistake. I thought it was my ex's, but I was too drunk to realize it wasn't his. And that is beautiful story on how I met my lovely Mermista. Also how I found out the bar I was at had a dungeon. It was a crazy Tuesday. Or was it a Thursday? Anyways, the point is, I never imagined myself here all those years ago and I would not have it any other way.”

Sea Hawk made his way over to where Mermista sat. He knelt down in front of her as he removed his headband and continued, “I am so grateful that you are back and the time we have spent together. I would love to continue to be in your life. Always. Mermista of Salineas... Will you marry me?”

Mermista gasped as she covered her mouth in shock. She didn't think she was capable of vocalizing her answer at that moment, so instead, she nodded and accepted his headband. She removed one of her golden earrings and handed it to him in return. It was royal custom to give their betrothed one of the family heirloom earrings.

Sea Hawk shot back up. “It's official everyone! We're now engaged!”

The crowd began to applaud for them.

Fanart of tiny Adora and Catra by my awesome friend, Envy. :) Check out more of his art at: here

Alternative hosting of the picture on my instagram because AO3 likes to make the pictures not work sometimes: here

Poll: https://www.survey-maker.com/poll3599499x5daF4b94-108

Chapter Text

Chapter 10

Trust

Catra stood in a pitch black room. She stumbled around with her hands in front of her to try to find a wall, a door, something so she could find her way out. She didn't need much light to see, so to be completely surrounded by shadows was alarming. Soon a light in the distance came into view. She hurried to it to be free.

“Cast out the shadows. Cast out the shadows. Cast out the shadows. All beings must suffer to become pure.”

When Catra entered the light, she was suddenly on Horde Prime's ship again. The clones stood on all the ledges, eerily chanting. Catra turned to exit the way she had come only to discover the door had disappeared. Hands landed on her shoulders and she slowly eyed them. She knew before she had even looked that the hands belonged to Horde Prime.

“Now, Little Sister. Your Adora has your mind clouded. She has made you weak. She looks down upon you. Why else would she think you need protecting? I can make you whole again. Come into my light and I will rise you to the top once again,” said Horde Prime.

“The top once again?” sneered Catra. Her claws slipped out as she shook his hands off her. “I was never at the top! It was all make believe! Hollow statuses that meant nothing!”

She turned on her heel, but when she turned, it wasn't Horde Prime that stood there. It was Flint who was kindly smiling to her. Catra glanced around herself, realizing that she now stood in Bow's family library.

“There you are, little sister,” said Flint. “Clay was so excited to see you two again.”

“Two?” inquired Catra.

Catra turned to see Adora was standing beside her. She watched as Adora knelt down to scoop up Clay who was toddling toward them. When Adora stood back up, the child changed. Clay's orange hair was now blonde and his eyes went from brown to silvery blue. The child's tabby striped cat ears and tail turned brown. A perfect blend of Catra and Adora's features.

“Or should I now say, you three?” continued Flint.

“Come say hi to our child, Catra,” laughed Adora as she cradled the baby.

“Our child?” whispered Catra in disbelief.

She reached out to the child, but before her hand made contact with them, a voice came from behind Catra. A voice that would always be imprinted in her mind.

“You? A mother?” scoffed Shadow Weaver. “You will only harm and scar the child. Just like I did to you. I raised you to be a heartless warrior and that is all you will ever be. Nothing will undo the teachings I have placed onto you.”

~*~

Catra blearily blinked awake as Adora came into view.

“What?” mumbled Catra.

“I'm going for my morning jog. Do you want to come with? I didn't want you to wake up in bed alone and it's been awhile since we did morning training together,” said Adora.

“Morning training? War's over. Go back to bed.” Catra yanked the blanket over her head.

“I know, but I can't get rusty. I haven't been training these last few days and it's going to catch up with me. You can sleep longer if you want.”

Adora tried to walk away, but Catra's hand shot out from under the blanket and trapped Adora's hand in place. The blanket fell back away as Catra leaned up.

“Don't go. I'll do your dumb training.”

Adora smiled as she watched Catra sit up and stretch. Catra stumbled over to where her clothes were still in a box in the room and dug through it for some leggings. Once located, she pulled out random articles of clothing to try to find a loose fitting shirt to no avail.

“You can wear one of mine,” offered Adora as went to her dresser to grab one.

Catra blushed as she put the red tank on that was slightly too big for her and tried to subtly smell it. Despite it being clean and in Adora's dresser, it still smelled faintly like Adora. Being surrounded by the comforting scent of Adora that filled the shirt and the bedroom was already making Catra's nightmare begin to fade from her mind.

Catra took the hand Adora was extending to her and they quietly walked through the halls of Bright Moon. Glimmer had teleported them back late last night for everyone to get a good night's rest before returning to Salineas to continue the work. Catra yawned and rested her head against Adora's arm as they walked. There were some guards patrolling the halls who politely bowed their heads to Adora as she passed. Catra shivered from the crisp morning air when they were finally outside. There was a camp ground set up outside the castle where most of the decommissioned Horde soldiers resided. Several guards were positioned around it and within the grounds.

“I usually start with stretches over there before I jog the perimeter of the castle. Then I do a few sets of push-ups, crunches, and such. Then jog the perimeter again,” said Adora as she pointed to an open field overlooking the water.

Catra grumbled, but willingly joined Adora in her stretches before starting the jog. As they began the work out, Catra began to notice ex-Horde operatives peak outside their tents then slowly they began to trickle out to join them, copying the work outs Adora and Catra were doing. Soon they had most of the encampment residents, possibly all of them, doing the routine with them.

Catra was doing some yoga stretches while Adora was finishing up her second perimeter jog when Glimmer teleported beside Catra. About half of the operatives had joined Adora while the other half did the poses with Catra.

“I'm going to have to ask you to stop doing whatever this is,” said Glimmer.

“What are you talking about?” asked Catra as she continued her stretches.

“I am referring to all of this.” Glimmer gestured to the dozens of Horde operatives currently copying Catra.

“Morning, Glimmer. What's up?” greeted Adora as she jogged over to them with her dozens of operatives following close behind her.

“As I was saying, I need you to stop doing whatever this is. It's making all my guards and residents nervous,” explained Glimmer.

“It's just morning training. I do it all the time and it's never really been a problem before,” said Adora as she picked up the water bottle she had left by Catra and took a sip.

“Well before it was just you, not an entire army of people.”

“I was just training and they joined me. Is that not allowed?”

“We didn't even ask them. Do people in Bright Moon not exercise in the morning?” inquired Catra as she changed her position to stretching her right leg as high as she could, easily getting her foot straight into the air.

“Well sometimes, but not really like this. And how are you doing that?” asked Glimmer in awe.

“I'm just really flexible.” Catra glanced to the operatives who were copying to see they were falling over in their attempts to get their legs as high as her. “Magicat thing, I guess.”

Glimmer continued to stare before she turned to Adora and clapped a hand on her shoulder and said, “Congratulations.”

“What?” said Adora in confusion as Catra fell onto the ground.

“Shut up, Sparkles!” yelled Catra with a red face which only seemed to confuse Adora more.

Glimmer waved Catra off as she said, “Anyways, there is no need for all this training. There isn't a war anymore.”

“I know, but it's familiar. I know when I first joined the Rebellion, it didn't feel right to sway from my regime and doing it gave me a lot of comfort in such an unfamiliar place,” said Adora.

Glimmer nodded to herself and thought for several moments before she replied, “That makes sense. I don't want everyone here to feel like they need to continue to live as a war weapon, but I also want them to feel welcome. Perhaps I can set up a morning work out class with some of the guards. It would be familiar, but still a controlled environment.”

“That would be a great help. Thanks, Glimmer.”

“Also the other thing I came over here for is that we are leaving for Salineas in about an hour, so go shower and eat.” Glimmer teleported away.

“So what was she congratulating me for?” inquired Adora to Catra who was still sitting on the ground with a red face.

~*~

Glimmer hung up her communicator. She had just finished checking up on the guards she had sent out to the Fright Zone to collect all the files from Catra's old office and ship to Salineas. She picked up the documents that were spread out on the table and folded them under her arm. She had spent a lot of time yesterday with Bow and Entrapta devising how to bring up the subject of using the tech Horde Prime had left behind. After glancing over the drafts once again, she felt more ready for that meeting.

She wandered the halls to locate the stragglers she had yet to tell to meet up with her in the meeting room to go to Salineas. She had found Bow's dads in the castle library, Tress and Aurora still asleep in their guestrooms, Lyric flirting with the guards, and the rest of them in the dining hall eating breakfast. Well almost all of them. The only ones unaccounted for were Rise and Set and she wasn't sure where kids would run off to in the castle. She was excited for when the teleporters were set up and she could stop being everyone's glorified magical taxi.

Glimmer stepped outside then suddenly clung to the wall of the entrance as a dizzy spell hit her. She fell to the ground and breathed heavily as the world spun around her. Her entire body felt way too heavy and her ears were buzzing so loud that it made everything around her too hard to comprehend. She looked up at her runestone that she could see in the distance in her blurred vision. It normally continuously had a white glow to it, but now it weaved in and out of its glowing. She blinked as the world came to a halt just as soon as it had come.

“Queen Glimmer! Are you okay?” asked a guard as she rushed over to Glimmer.

“Yeah. I'm fine. I think I didn't get enough sleep last night is all.”

The guard helped her to her feet.

“If that is the case, then you should get some more rest, your highness.”

“I'll be alright. I just need some coffee.”

Glimmer glanced back at her runestone that was glowing a bright white light like it always did. Perhaps she had imagined it blinking. She teleported to be in front of it. She stared up the large floating stone. It looked like it always did. She shook the thoughts out her head. She had to have imagined it. She teleported to the dining hall and ordered a cup of strong coffee. As she sipped at it, she noticed Rise and Set sitting in the corner of the room eating breakfast.

“Where have you two been? I've been looking all over for you,” she said as she walked up to them.

“What are you talking about? We have been here the entire time,” replied Rise between his chewing.

“Yeah. You must have missed us,” quietly added Set after he swallowed his food.

“I guess I must have. Well we are leaving for Salineas when you two are done eating,” said Glimmer.

“Okay,” said the twins in unison.

“Queen Glimmer! There you are!” called a guard as he ran over to her. “Please come at once! Something terrible has happened.”

Glimmer quickly followed the guard, her coffee sloshing around as she ran. She winced when some of the drops burned her hand. The guard took her to the art room of the castle. This room was full of murals and paintings of the Goddesses and the past queens of Bright Moon, including one of her mother. She was shocked when she saw all the paintings had been marred with deep scratch marks. Several of the guards were carefully inspecting the damages and picking things off the floor.

“Who would have done this?” whispered Glimmer in horror.

“Queen Glimmer, we found this caught on a crack of a frame,” said one of the guards as he showed her a fluffy brown wad of fur.

“What is that?”

“It appears to be fur from a beastfolk, ma'am.”

“We think a beastfolk did this. Possibly one of the ex-Horde members. We do have a whole camp full of them right outside the castle walls,” said another guard.

Glimmer woefully ran her fingers along the scratches that covered her mother's face in the painting. “See if any of the Horde members in the camp match that fur, but do not hurt or cause alarm. I want this to be resolved as peacefully as possible and not blame everyone for possibly only one person's doing,” she ordered.

Several guards saluted her and exited out of the room. The captain of the guards, Juliet, walked up to Glimmer and placed a gentle hand on Glimmer's shoulder.

“Why would someone do this?” whispered Glimmer as she held back her tears.

“I do not know, but I will get to the bottom of this, my queen,” replied Juliet. “In the meantime, we can arrange for someone to try and restore these paintings. Perhaps they can still be salvaged.”

~*~

“What is this?” asked Melog as they looked up at a large mural in the small room Catra was in.

“It's probably just another painting of a Goddess or some dead person,” replied Catra as she flipped through another document spread out on the desk she sat at.

“It has writing under it. I cannot read your language.”

Catra groaned as she got up and walked over the painting. It was of a woman with long cyan colored tentacles resembling hair, vivid gold eyes, finned ears, sharp teeth, and blueish green skin wearing a long flowing white dress.

“Seabrinia. The third sister. Goddess of water and the seventh moon,” read Catra. “See? I told you. It's just another picture of a Goddess. They are obsessed, I swear.” Catra walked back over to the desk and heavily sat back down. “Why did I volunteer myself to making this dumb list? I hate busywork.”

“Why do you continue it if you do not enjoy it? We could run around instead. You do like to run, correct?”

Catra leaned her cheek in her hand as she wrote another name on the list. “Because I am an adult with commitments. I have to do this whether I like to or not.”

“Etherians are so strange. Doing things they do not like. My kind were always running free and playing. We simply did not do things we did not enjoy.”

“Must have been nice, but I don't have that luxury. Now come over here and just sit. You scurrying about is distracting.” Catra turned when she heard a knock at her door. “Come in.”

The door opened to reveal Adora.

“I came to tell you that lunch is ready,” said Adora. She wasn't wearing her usual clothing that they had arrived in. She wore a long sleeved teal tunic shirt that was red around her chest area with golden embroideries sewn along it. Underneath it, she wore black leggings and teal slip on shoes. Her hair was down and damp. “What?” she asked when Catra continued to stare at her instead of replying.

“Oh.” Catra coughed and awkwardly shuffled through the papers on the desk.

“How goes the list making?” Adora closed the door behind her and made her way over to the desk. She picked up the paper and glanced over it. “Wow. That is a lot of concerning names we have yet to locate.”

“Um... Yeah.” Catra peeked at Adora in the corner of her eye before looking away and blushing.

“You keep staring.” Adora looked down at her clothes. “Does it look weird on me?”

“Of course not!” Catra shouted too quickly and blushed deeper. “It's just...” She reached out and gently ran her fingers through Adora's hair. “You look really beautiful.”

Adora smiled widely at the compliment. “Thanks. It's Mermista's. A bucket of dirty water got spilled all over me while cleaning, so I had to take another shower. Mermista is having her maids clean my clothes for me.”

“It suits you. Did you pick it?”

“Mermista did.”

“Looks like she has a better sense of fashion than I gave her credit for.”

Adora leaned up close to Catra. “So do you just like the clothes or me being in them?”

“You, of course, dummy.”

Catra threw her arms around Adora's shoulders and pulled her into a kiss that she immediately deepened. Desk work was boring and Adora was way more interesting. Even though they had only been separated for a few hours, it felt like it had been far too long. Adora must have agreed because she was happily kissing back and running her hands down Catra's sides.

They broke apart to breathe as Adora grasped Catra's hips and lifted her to sit on the edge of the desk. Catra spread her legs and pulled Adora to stand between them. Adora blushed and giggled before drawing Catra into another kiss. Catra explored Adora's mouth as she felt herself begin to purr from Adora caressing her ears. Adora pressed harder against Catra's lips and tried to take over the kiss. Catra's tongue curled around Adora's, refusing to lose this battle. When they broke apart again to breathe, Catra noticed how wide the collar to the shirt Adora wearing was. With her leaning forward to reach Catra, it fell open and showed some cleavage. A lot of cleavage. This peaked Catra's interest.

“Ah!” moaned Adora when Catra reached out and lightly grasped one of her breasts.

“Want me to stop?” asked Catra as she gently squeezed it.

Adora shook her head and leaned back in to kiss Catra. Adora's hands dropped from Catra's ears to place them flat against the desk beside Catra's hips, crumpling some of the papers on the desk. Catra kept her hand where it was and began to knead her breast. This seemed to spur on Adora to press herself closer to Catra. Experimentally, Catra rubbed her core up against Adora's and to Catra's delight, Adora responded by rubbing back. Catra wrapped her legs around Adora's hips and threw her free arm across Adora's shoulders to mold herself around Adora's body. Adora moaned as she picked her hands up to hold Catra's back in place as she roughly rubbed up against her. She now understood why Catra was so insistent to rub against Adora. It felt amazing and the soft purr moans Catra made were so cute.

“By the stars!”

Catra and Adora turned to see Glimmer standing in the doorway, grasping the door in surprise.

“I just came to check on how the list was coming along and to let you know lunch was ready,” said Glimmer as she tried to gain control of her breathing. “I wasn't expecting desk sex, but I now see that error was on my part.”

“We weren't...” stuttered Adora before looking down at how her and Catra were pressed together. She blushed a deeper red than Catra thought was possible before extracting herself from Catra's limbs.

Catra laughed and blushed. It was embarrassing to be caught like this, but she couldn't help it. She found the entire situation quite funny. Catra hopped off the desk as she said, “The list is going well. I got most of it done before I was interrupted.”

“That's good... Well I'm gonna go. Make sure you come down for lunch before it gets cold,” replied Glimmer before she turned to see Melog sitting in the room and gestured to them. “Really? You were going to do it in front of your cat?”

“Oh yeah. I forgot they were there,” said Catra.

“I do not mind,” said Melog.

Catra narrowed her eyes at them and sighed. “Of course you don't.”

~*~

Scorpia and Perfuma walked through the halls of the Salineas Castle after being dismissed from the meeting.

“I still don't know about using Horde Prime's tech. It sounds rather dangerous,” said Perfuma.

“I'm sure it will be fine,” replied Scorpia. “Entrapta is like a genius and Bow is also really smart. I'm sure between the both of them, they will make the tech super safe for everyone to use.”

“I still don't know. The tech is so different from anything we are used to on Etheria.”

“Well Glimmer did say she traveled through it and Catra was capable of using it. Catra wasn't very good with tech when Entrapta joined us and neither was I, but after being with Entrapta for awhile, Catra got way better with it. I still struggle, but if Entrapta was able to teach Catra, I bet she could teach other people, too.”

“Maybe we should do some test demonstrations with it. The idea still makes me nervous, though.”

They came upon the entrance to the throne room and Perfuma bowed her head respectfully to one of the statues looming by the entrance. Scorpia quickly copied her action. She peeked into the throne room when she heard a noise.

“What are you kids doing in there?” called Scorpia when she recognized the figures.

Rise and Set walked up to the entrance. The throne room was almost completely black from the late hour, save for the glowing light of Mermista's runestone that caused eerie shadows.

“You two shouldn't be in there,” scolded Perfuma.

“It was Set's idea,” tattled Rise.

“No it wasn't! It was yours,” whined Set as he pushed his brother who pushed him back.

“Now, now,” calmed Perfuma. “It doesn't matter who's idea it was.”

Rise looked between Perfuma and Scorpia before bluntly asking, “Are you two dating?”

Perfuma and Scorpia blushed and glanced away from each other. Perfuma awkwardly shuffled her feet as she said, “Uh... Yeah. Actually we are.”

“See? I told you they were,” said Rise to Set. “It was nice meeting you. We'll go find our dads now.” Rise grabbed Set's hand and dragged him along down the hall until they were out of Perfuma and Scorpia's earshot. “I don't get these princesses at all.”

“What do you mean?” asked Set as they continued to walk down the hall.

“I heard it from the people around here. That scorpioni woman was one of the Horde members.”

“Really? But she seems so nice.”

“Too nice. It's probably an act, but she won't fool me.”

Set narrowed his eyes at Rise and scoffed. “You are just mad that the She-Ra is also dating an ex-Horde beastfolk person.”

Rise gasped and looked at his brother in annoyance. “It makes no sense! What does she got that I don't?”

Set laughed behind his hand. “Try more mature.”

Rise pushed Set's shoulder in annoyance as Set continued to laugh. “You are so mean. And no one will believe me of that because you are always so quiet.”

“I'm just being realistic.”

“So am I! You know just as well as me what the Horde did.” Rise placed his hand on his chest, thumbing what they both knew was below his sweater. “What happened to us.”

“I know. But everything has changed now. Do we still have to?”

Rise stepped outside the castle, the setting moons casting shadows on him as he turned to look at Set.

“What else do we have?”

Set went quiet as he watched Rise turn back around and run off. Set sighed as he walked to the wall of the castle and leaned back onto it. He stared up at the twinkling stars and found himself getting lost in the memories of the past. A past that felt not that long ago, but he knew it had to have been.

“Hey. Aren't you one of Bow's brothers?”

Set turned to see a girl was sitting on the ground only a few feet away from him. Most of the castle was on sand, but this part of it had some grass and tiny wildflowers growing sporadically in it. The girl had long purple hair tied up in twin half ponytails and had a small pile of flowers in her lap being held by her frilly cyan dress. She was making flower crowns with them.

“Yeah. I am. My name is Set,” he said as he sat down beside her.

“It's nice to meet you. I'm Gale.”

“Are you a princess?” he asked as he eyed her dark purple wavy tiara.

“Yeah. The second princess of High Winds. Spinnerella is my older sister.”

“Wind?” Set glanced over her. “Can you fly?”

Gale laughed. “Spinnerella can make this tornado thing to sort of fly. I always thought it would be cool to try.”

“Why don't you?”

“Because... I guess I was just born differently.” She wound another flower into the crown she was making. “Maybe that's why my runestone never worked for me.”

The wind blew Gale's hair wildly as she looked upward. Set stared at her in confusion. It was like the wind was calling to Gale yet she couldn't hear it.

“But it's okay,” continued Gale. “I don't need a rock to tell me who I am. I know who I am.”

Gale leaned over and placed a purple and yellow flower crown on Set's head then a light blue and pink one onto her own.

“Thank you for listening to me, though,” she laughed.

Set's eyes widened in awe as he looked as her smile before returning it with his own.

~*~

Adora yawned as Catra leaned her head against Adora's arm, almost sleep standing against her in her exhaustion. Adora was tempted to carry her, but wasn't sure how well Catra would react to that.

“Where's Glimmer?” asked Adora to Bow.

Bow hushed her.

“She's sleeping in the other room. Let her sleep. She's been really tired today,” he replied.

“But we can't go back to Bright Moon without her help.”

“You guys can just stay here the night then,” said Mermista from the doorway.

“Thanks, Mermista.”

Mermista yawned. “Yeah. Whatever. There are plenty of empty guest rooms in this wing. Just pick one and sleep in it. I'm too tired to care.” Mermista yawned again and left the room.

“Goodnight, girls,” said Bow as he went into the room beside Glimmer's.

Adora glanced around the room they were in, realizing she was now alone with Catra. Adora smiled fondly at Catra as she leaned over to scoop her up into her arms.

“Huh? What?” mumbled Catra, now a bit more awake from being picked up.

Adora continued to smile at her. “Don't worry. We're alone. I'm just taking you to bed.”

Catra closed her eyes and leaned against Adora's chest. She purred at the feel of Adora's throat against her nose, enjoying the scent that was Adora. “Okay.”

Adora entered one of the guestrooms and kicked off her shoes as she laid Catra gently on the bed. She didn't even get a chance to lean away before Catra's arms were around Adora's shoulders. Adora laughed and pulled the covers over them as they cuddled.

It was much too early in the morning when they were awoken to screaming. Adora's eyes shot open and she jumped out of bed. She didn't even bother slipping on her shoes before she ran out the door toward the source. Catra ran close behind her.

They entered the throne room to see Mermista's throne had been torn to shreds and all the beautiful intricate artwork of the room was covered in scratches that looked like claw marks. Several guards were inspecting the damages while Glimmer and Bow tried to comfort Mermista who was clearly very upset.

“Don't worry, Mermista,” said Glimmer. “My guards are already working on this. Juliet will surely find who is responsible.”

“This happened at your castle, too, and you didn't say anything?” shouted Mermista.

“I didn't want to cause alarm! We are already dealing with so much and these are just some vandals.”

“These vandals destroyed sacred writing! They are lucky they didn't touch any of my family portraits or I would do whatever they did to them to their faces!”

“Bow's brother, Mark, is a really talented artist and has been repairing the destroyed art back at my castle. He's been doing an amazing job and I'm sure he can help you when he's done.”

“Princess Mermista, we found this caught in a crack of your throne,” said a guard as he handed Mermista a wad of the same color of brown fur that had been found in Bright Moon.

“A beastfolk?” questioned Bow as he looked at the fur in Mermista's hands.

“That looks like the same kind of fur found in Bright Moon,” commented Glimmer. “We think it might be a beastfolk who did it, but no leads on who yet.”

Mermista laughed cynically. “I'll tell you who. It doesn't take a genius to figure this one out. Who was in Bright Moon last night, but this night, they were in Salineas? And has fur like this?!”

Mermista marched over to Catra and held the wad of fur up to Catra's face. The wad of fur was the same light brown color that covered Catra's body. Catra's eyes widened and she froze up.

Chapter Text

Chapter 11

Seeing Double

The room hushed into silence for several moments before it exploded into sound of everyone talking all at once while Catra remained motionless.

“It couldn't have been Catra! We slept in the same room. I would have noticed her leaving,” shouted Adora.

“Mermista, that doesn't make any sense. Why would she destroy paintings of all things?” inquired Glimmer.

“We have fought Catra for years. This doesn't seem like something she would do. Especially with leaving such an obvious sign,” pointed out Bow.

“How else did her fur get there then?” demanded Mermista.

“Why?” Catra's voice broke as she finally spoke up. “Why would I destroy something when I am already here to clean?”

“You destroyed Salineas before, so you are finishing the job!” countered Mermista.

Adora stepped in between Catra and Mermista. “Mermista, this doesn't make sense. Why would she destroy these writings? I've read them before. They are not that interesting. They are just talking about the tides. Unless you think she destroyed them because she somehow subconsciously knew they were about water.”

“It doesn't matter what they say. She could have been doing it to finish the job.”

“So her plan is to what? Date me so we let her enter the Salineas castle to destroy writing she doesn't even know what is saying to get back at you? This plan seems pretty convoluted.”

“What's going on in here?” asked Scorpia.

They turned to see Scorpia and Perfuma entering the room, rubbing tiredly at their eyes.

“Oh my. What happened in here?” asked Perfuma as she looked around at the damages.

“I don't know much about decorating, but I liked this room better with how it looked yesterday.”

“Catra happened to it,” explained Mermista.

“Why would Catra do this?”

“Because I didn't,” interjected Catra.

“Wait. Scorpia, were you in the throne room yesterday?” asked Glimmer.

“Yeah. Perfuma and I found Bow's little brothers playing in here last night,” replied Scorpia.

“So they were the last ones in the room?”

“Well no. We went into the room after them. We were... Um...”

Perfuma blushed as she said, “Anyways the room did not look like this when we left.”

Catra snickered while Glimmer ignored her and requested, “Did you see anyone else come after?”

“No. Why would you think Catra would do something like this?” asked Scorpia.

“Because we found this,” replied Mermista as she showed the wad of fur.

“But how do we know it's Catra's?” Scorpia raised an eyebrow in skepticism.

“It's the same color as her! Do we even need any more evidence? Why everyone is just letting her wander around free is beyond me.”

“Let me see that,” said Bow as he walked over and Mermista handed him the wad of fur. “I'll get Entrapta. Maybe we can analyze it to see if it matches Catra.”

Bow walked away as Glimmer escorted Mermista into the room beside them so they could speak in private.

“Mermista, what is going on? You are usually not one to jump to conclusions like this,” said Glimmer as gently as she could.

“Ughhhhhh...” Mermista ran a hand over her face. “It's just... We are trying to fix up my castle, I'm trying to locate all my locals, especially my staff, plan my wedding, and now this.”

“Well where is your dad? Shouldn't he be helping you with all of this? Especially with your wedding.”

Mermista gave a short dry laugh. “Oh you would think that. Last I heard, he was drunk at some bar.”

Glimmer winced. “What about Sea Hawk then? Surely he is helping you.”

“He left to bring his family here for it.”

“Oh. That's good. Then they will help you?”

Mermista gave another short dry laugh. “They are the reason I need to find all my staff quickly.”

“They're that bad?”

“You know that saying of how the apple doesn't fall far from the tree? Well sometimes the tree is on fire.”

Glimmer winced again. “That bad, huh?”

“Ughhhhhh...” Mermista leaned her head back and thumped it against the wall behind her. “What am I going to do? This is so stressful.”

Mermista turned her head to look at the portrait on the wall. She was thankful it was unharmed. It was the last portrait done before her family had been torn apart. A woman with long light blue tentacles like hair, dark green skin, and finned ears of both those colors sat on a throne holding a toddler with fluffy hair the same color as her tentacles, finned ears that looked just like hers, and dark skin. A seven year old Mermista stood by her side, leaning over to hold hands with her brother. A man with curly navy hair long enough to brush against his dark shoulders stood on the other side of the throne, smiling down at them. Mermista could still remember the day that painting had been done. It had been just days before they had went on vacation to a villa only to be attacked by the Horde. Her mother and brother were gone before that painting had even been finished.

“If only my mother was here,” whispered Mermista more to herself than to Glimmer. “Or even my brother. I never even got to see the kind of person he grew up to be. He could barely talk in full sentences when we lost him.”

Glimmer wrung her hands on her cape uncomfortably. She knew all too well to be lost without her mother, but she at least got to have hers longer than Mermista had. She placed her hands on Mermista's shoulders. “Mermista, don't worry. Bow, Adora, and me have your back. You know what? We'll help you find your dad. It's been awhile since we all went on a mission together.”

~*~

“I didn't do it,” grumbled Catra.

“We know you didn't. I'm sure Entrapta will be able to test that fur and prove you are innocent,” assured Scorpia.

Catra sighed and leaned her head against Adora's knee. She was sitting on the ground with Adora sitting on a window seat behind her, eating chips and occasionally giving one to Catra. The Star Sisters had come into the room to see what the commotion was after Glimmer, Mermista, and Bow had left. Cassandra was sitting on the other window seat completely engrossed in a novel with Gemma sitting beside her, painting her nails a bright pink color. Devena was sprawled out on the floor on her stomach, flipping through a magazine as the staff swept up the debris around her.

“Shouldn't we be helping clean?” asked Adora.

“That's what we have staff for,” replied Devena as she idly kicked her legs in the air. “Tell me... do you prefer summer or winter?”

Adora raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Uh... I guess summer?”

“And Catra, what about you?”

“The same. I hate the cold,” replied Catra.

Devena nodded to herself and scribbled something in the magazine as she asked, “And Adora, would you say you are more of a dog person or a cat person?”

“What is this about?” inquired Adora.

“Oh. It's a compatibility quiz for couples,” explained Devena.

“Oh Devena, don't believe in those things,” chided Gemma, pausing her nail painting.

“That's why I am using them to test out its accuracy. Surely whatever scores they get would be a good reference point.”

“How so?”

Devena clasped her hands together and looked starry eyed up at the ceiling. “Because! Didn't you hear about their story from the others? They were best friends, torn apart by war, but through their love, were able to come back to each other. What a beautiful love story. I just love love.” Devena buried her face in her magazine.

Gemma narrowed her eyebrows in puzzlement and turned to Cassandra. “Can I have some clarification on this outburst?”

“She met a cute boy the other day,” replied Cassandra as she turned a page in her novel.

“I spent a lot of yesterday with him,” explained Devena. “His name is Tress and he's a magnificent hairdresser and has such a keen eye for fashion and is funny and kind and how do I know if he's the one?”

“The one what? This was yesterday!” scuffed Gemma.

Devena huffed and puffed out her cheeks. “You're no fun, Gemma.” She turned back to Adora. “Now about this test. You still haven't answered the question, Adora. Are you a cat person or a dog person?”

Catra smirked up at Adora as she said, “Yeah, Adora. Answer the question.”

Adora rolled her eyes as she reached out and scratched behind one of Catra's ears, making her lightly purr. “I think I have made it pretty clear that I am very much a cat person.”

“You better be.”

Suddenly the doors to the room were flung open.

“I don't know how you expect me to test if that fur was Catra's without a sample,” exclaimed Entrapta as she strode inside with Bow close behind her.

“Ow!” yelped Catra when Entrapta yanked a strand of fur from Catra's arm without warning.

“Hold on. I'm going to need more than just that.”

Catra scurried up the window seat and behind Adora, hissing and barring her teeth.

“Entrapta, wait. Use this,” said Bow as he pulled a comb out of his pocket.

“Oh, this will be much more efficient. Thanks,” replied Entrapta as she took the comb.

“So what do the results say?” asked Mermista as she entered the room with Glimmer.

“Well I still gotta analyze the results,” answered Entrapta as she pulled the fur off the comb that she had managed to get off Catra's arm with Adora's assistance. “I've never tested magicat fur before, so it's going to probably take at least a few hours to understand their magic wavelengths to see if they match perfectly. Magic always has unusual variables unlike testing regular hair.”

“Hold on. Magic. What are you talking about? Beastfolk can't do magic.”

Entrapta stared at Mermista blankly for several moments before finally remarking, “They are called magicats and you are surprised to find out they have magic? All beastfolk are inherently magic.”

“But they can't cast spells. That's a fay thing.”

“That's just how fay magic looks. Night vision, heightened senses, claws strong enough to cut metal, accelerated healing, that's all magic. Just like my medusan magic allows me to control my hair. Really only humans are the ones without magic. I've also heard that magicat fur is like armor and can absorb magic like a buffer, so it will be fascinating to analyze.”

“Magicat fur absorbs magic?” inquired Bow.

“So I've heard. It is quite fascinating. I never had the chance to analyze it back in the Horde since I was so busy working on that portal and upgrading the bots.”

Bow scratched his chin in thought. “Maybe that's why Catra always gets so nauseous when Glimmer teleports her. Because she is absorbing some of Glimmer's magic.”

Entrapta's eyes sparkled. “That's so fascinating. I will have to study how her fur reacts to all forms of magic.”

“I am not anyone's test subject!” objected Catra as Entrapta ran off.

Mermista marched up to Catra who was still crouched behind Adora and put her hand on her hips as she said, “You better cooperate with geek princess and those results better be negative or I'm feeding you to my shark.”

“You have a shark?”

“Since when have you had a shark?” questioned Glimmer.

“Sea Hawk got him for me yesterday as an engagement gift. I'll show you,” proclaimed Mermista proudly.

She walked over to where her throne still laid in tattered pieces and knelt down to flip a switch beside it. The golden tiles they stood on became translucent and they could now see that the fountains along the walls drained into a chasm below the throne to a depth that appeared to be at least 20 feet of water. In the water swam what looked like to be a small shark or a large fish.

“I'm still working on his enclosure and will be expanding it to further inside and outside of the castle. I'm also thinking about getting some more so he won't be lonely. I named him Monsoon,” explained Mermista.

“It's so tiny. I'm bigger than that thing,” commented Catra.

“He's a baby. He will grow.”

“It will take forever for him to eat me. Should I bring a magazine?”

Mermista groaned in annoyance. “You really shouldn't test me, cat girl. I am the one that controls water, remember?”

Everyone in the room looked up when they heard someone clear their throat. Tress stood in the doorway with a large smile on his usual impassive face as he announced, “Greetings! I present you, the new Wrong Hordak!”

Aurora pulled one of the clones into view. His hair had been dyed pastel rainbow and cut into an asymmetrical style that curled on the ends. He wore a bright lime green sweater that matched his glowing green eyes with a white collar, dark purple jeans, and charcoal ankle boots.

“Do not be alarmed, brothers. I am still the same Wrong Hordak,” said Wrong Hordak.

“Just with a cool new makeover we gave him,” added Aurora.

“And more to come. There are still so many clones that desperately need one,” declared Tress with stars in his eyes.

“I know! We've never had so many models before!” replied Aurora with eyes shining just as bright.

They both squealed before running off together.

“Wait up! I want to help!” called Devena as she got up off the floor and chased after them.

“Cassandra,” sighed Gemma.

“Already on it. I'll keep watch on her,” replied Cassandra as she loudly closed her book and followed after their younger sister.

“I love the hair, Wrong Hordak,” complimented Glimmer.

“Thank you. Now it will be easier for everyone to tell me apart,” said Wrong Hordak.

“It sure will.” Glimmer turned to the rest of the room. “Adora, Catra, Bow. The Best Friend Squad is back in action. We will be accompanying Mermista to the next town over to help her find her dad.”

“That sounds like fun. May I accompany you as well?”

“Sure.”

“Gemma, you and my uncle will be in charge while I'm gone,” said Mermista.

“No problem. I'll go find where my dad ran off to,” replied Gemma as she stood up. She blew on her drying nails as she walked out of the room.

“We're not going to teleport again, are we?” asked Catra uneasily.

“No because we aren't completely sure where we are even going,” explained Glimmer. “I'm going to see if Sky can come with us as well. She brought her vehicle to Salineas, so that will make it easier.”

After some wrangling, the Best Friend Squad set off in the jeep that Sky had built. It was more like a small uncovered bus as it had four rows of three seats. Glimmer couldn't decide if that was lucky or unlucky of them since George, Lance, Rise, Set, and her dad had joined them on the trip when they located Sky. Sky drove the jeep with George and Lance in the front. The next row was Bow, Glimmer, and Micah. The third row was Adora, Catra, and Rise, who had sat between them despite Catra's annoyance. The back row sat Mermista who was groaning in annoyance with Wrong Hordak and Set.

The Salineas Castle was mostly an island to itself with a large drawbridge that connected to one of the biggest cities in all of Salineas, Deluge. The bridge was heavily guarded and the bridge only came down to allow crossing if someone had a pass. Since Mermista was in their group, they had no problem gaining access to it. There was a more rural area directly after the bridge that was a good twenty minute drive to when they would get to the actual City of Deluge. It was the home of many casinos and most likely where Mermista's father would be.

When they were in the outskirts of Deluge, Mermista pressed the button beside her seat that activated the intercom to the driver seat. “Pull over by that large purple tent right before the buildings. It's a city guard station. They may have seen my dad,” instructed Mermista.

They all got out of the jeep and stretched once Sky had parked. There were several guards milling about the area that greeted Princess Mermista and Queen Glimmer. Mermista, Glimmer, Bow, Adora, and Catra went into the tent while the rest spoke to guards standing outside. Inside the tent were several tables where some of the guards were sitting and eating. In the back of the tent was a desk that was where the Captain of the Deluge Guards should be, but it was vacant.

“Do you know where Captain Shelly went?” requested Mermista to one of the guards.

“She stepped away a few minutes ago, Your Majesty. We will locate her for you,” replied the guard as he saluted her.

Mermista sighed as she leaned against the desk and watched the guard leave. Glimmer and Bow went to another guard who stood by the desk to see if they had any info.

“I think I know that person. I will go ask them,” said Adora as she saw someone outside between the curtains of the tent.

Adora exited the tent then came back in only about a minute later. She glanced around the tent without saying a word, her eyes lingering on Catra for a few extra moments.

“Well? What did they say?” inquired Catra.

Adora shrugged as she replied, “Nothing of use.” She glanced around the room again before walking up to Glimmer. “We should probably get going soon. I don't like the looks of this place.”

“But we just got here and we haven't found the Captain yet,” said Glimmer.

“Call it a hunch, but I don't think we are going to.” Adora leaned close and whispered into Glimmer's ear, “This place isn't safe. We need to get out of here.”

“What's going on?”

Adora shushed her. “Not so loud. Trust me and let's go.”

Glimmer nodded and motioned for Bow and Mermista to follow them. Catra moved to block Adora's way and narrowed her eyes at Adora.

“What's up, Ki-Catra? We need to get going,” said Adora.

Catra narrowed her eyes further as she asked, “What's going on?”

“Nothing. Now if you could just step to the side...”

Something flashed in Catra's eyes before she launched herself at Adora.

“Whoa! Hey! What's going on?” shouted Bow as he caught Catra at the waist before she got to Adora.

“Let me go! That's not Adora!” shouted Catra as she flailed in his hold on her.

“What? What are you talking about?” asked Glimmer in confusion.

“I don't know what she is talking about,” said Adora as she lifted her hands in surrender.

“Hey, guys! Axel told me he just saw Mermista's dad earlier today,” said Adora as she came into the tent.

“Two Adora's? How will we be able to tell which is the real one?”

Adora stared at the other Adora already in the tent in surprise before shouting, “What the... But if I am over there, then who am I?!” Adora gasped and clutched at her chest in shock.

Glimmer, Bow, and Catra went silent as they looked between them before pointing at the Adora who had just come into the room.

“That's the real Adora,” they said before turning to the impostor.

The impostor sighed before they spoke in a voice that was clearly not Adora's, “Yeah. I don't think I can top that.” The impostor morphed into Double Trouble and twirled around. “Ta-da!”

“Oh. It's Double Trouble. That makes more sense,” Adora breathed out in relief.

“I told you they were fake. Now let me go!” whined Catra as Bow released her.

“I am impressed by how quick you were able to figure out I wasn't Adora,” said Double Trouble with a condescending smile. They circled her as they continued to speak, “How did you do it?”

Adora rushed over to Catra's side as she worriedly in realization asked, “Are you okay? Did they do something to you while they were pretending to be me?”

Catra laughed as she replied, “I'm fine, dummy.”

Adora scanned over Catra's face before nodding and pressing a quick kiss to her lips.

“Oh my my my my,” smirked Double Trouble. “No wonder you knew. It seems a lot has changed since I was gone. Switching sides. Having a girlfriend. Even the hair. It's a good thing I didn't try to pretend to be you. I would have gotten the hair all wrong.” Double Trouble reached out to feel her hair, but Catra smacked their hand away before being able to. “Still touchy, though it seems.” Double Trouble morphed into Catra. “It is much lighter. Though it is surprising you would cut it. Isn't long hair like a pride thing for magicats?”

“What do you want?”

Double Trouble skipped across the room while still being in the form of Catra. They sat on the Captain's desk and looked around at their audience. “Nothing much. I saw you and I was bored.”

“Don't lie. You came here for a reason. You always have a reason for doing something. So spit it out already.”

Double Trouble tutted. “You are never any fun. Always straight to the point.”

“You wanted to leave here. Why?”

“Why should I tell you? Just take me with you.”

“Why would we take you with us?”

“Because maybe if you don't, I will mess with your reputation.” Double Trouble lowered the collar to their shirt, revealing slightly more cleavage.

Catra's claws shot out. “Don't you dare! We had a contract about that!”

Double Trouble laughed as they morphed back into themself. “I'm just kidding. I wouldn't do that. With or without a contract. I do have some dignity. But I am not above walking around looking like you dressed in terrible fashion.”

Catra glared at them. “Where do you want to go?”

“Anywhere, but here.”

“And you just want us to take you with us with no explanation.”

“That's correct.”

“Tohma!” called a female voice outside the tent.

“Shit,” cursed Double Trouble. “They caught up to me.”

Double Trouble hopped off the desk and turned to run out of the tent only for a girl to materialize in front of them. She looked to be around Frosta's age with short blonde hair that was tied with a black ribbon into a half side ponytail. She had green skin, large pointed ears, a long thick tail, and vivid orange slit eyes. She wore a black jumper with a long sleeved dark purple undershirt. She had knee length frilly white socks and black buckled shoes. She stared blankly up at Double Trouble before slowly pointing up at them.

“Found them,” stated the girl calmly.

A short and plump woman with pixie cut blonde hair, yellow eyes, and green skin complete with large pointed ears and a tail came into the tent.

“There you are, Tohma. Mother has been worried sick,” said the woman with an overly feminine sounding voice as she came up to them.

“That is an awful impersonation of her and you should be ashamed of yourself,” said Double Trouble as they lightly hit the top of the woman's head.

The woman morphed into a teen boy with short light blue hair with a severe undercut. He still had the same yellow slit eyes, green skin, pointed ears, and tail, but he was significantly taller and thinner than the woman he had once looked like.

“I tried my best. Was it really that bad?” whined the boy.

“Yes. And I told you two to not to follow me. I don't want to play babysitter.”

“No way. Are these like your younger siblings?” inquired Bow as he looked between them all. The resemblance was remarkable.

“Unfortunately,” groaned Double Trouble.

“Hi. I'm Mirron,” introduced the boy. He pointed to the little girl who still stood quiet with her eyes opened wide. “And that's Cleara.”

“So there are others like you who can transform,” said Catra.

Double Trouble scuffed as they replied, “He might be able to transform, but there is more to it than looking the part. Acting is an art and a talent that some just don't possess. Do not lump me into the likes of a common shapeshifter. Now if you will excuse me.”

Double Trouble lifted the tent curtain and yelped when they saw a tall woman with pin straight hair that was blonde at the roots and faded into light blue at the ends. It was cut into a bob with a headband braid. She wore a lavender business suit with a pencil skirt and black high heeled shoes. She had the same yellow slit eyes, green skin, pointed ears, and tail as Double Trouble. She pushed up her angular purple glasses with her hand that had matching purple painted nails as she looked over Double Trouble in distaste.

“I'm writing you a citation for running off, Tohma,” stated the woman as she pulled out a notepad from her pocket and scribbled something on it with a matching purple pen.

Catra snickered as she said, “Is your name actually Tohma?”

“Shut up!” shouted Double Trouble with a blush before turning back to the woman. “Write whatever you want on there. It doesn't matter. I'm not being a part of the family business and letting my talents go to waste.”

“Acting? That's hardly a career. Grow up, Tohma.”

“Stop calling me that. I am Double Trouble. That is my stage name and everyone shall address me as so because I am always on stage. I am adult. Leave me be.”

“You are only 21. You are still my baby sibling.”

Catra stopped laughing as she looked between them in astonishment. “You are only one year older than me? I thought you were way older than that.”

Double Trouble huffed as they replied, “I am a good actor. Now will you let me leave already, Crystal? This conversation is boring.”

Crystal shrugged and stepped aside to allow them to pass. “Suit yourself. You will have to grow up at some point, though, Tohma.”

Double Trouble turned toward her and stuck their tongue out at her. “Fat chance of that ever happening.” Double Trouble took off running when Crystal threw a wadded up piece of paper at them.

Crystal sighed before she turned toward the people in the tent. “Could one of you kind guards help me with removing a drunkard causing a raucous at one of our family casinos?”

“Your family own casinos?” inquired Glimmer. “That doesn't sound like a boring family business.”

“Well yes and no. We are the property owners for the building and this drunkard is going to cause damages if he keeps up what he is doing. Are you acquaintances of Tohma?”

“Sort of.”

“What does this drunkard look like?” requested Mermista.

“He is just some human who keeps bothering all the barmaids and throwing things around. He has long messy navy hair and darker skin. You know, he kinda looks like you now that you mention it.”

Mermista groaned. “That sounds like my dad. Don't worry, we'll take him off your hands.”

This is a drawing of Crystal and Cleara done by my awesome friend, Envy. Check out more of his art at: here

Alternative hosting of the picture on my instagram because AO3 likes to make the pictures not work sometimes: here

Chapter Text

Chapter 12

Regaining Connections

The group entered the bustling casino. Many patrons played at the slot machines that were making loud whirring sounds as they spun. Tables were full of people playing cards and twirling wheels with stacks of tokens in front of the people. Off to the side was a bar with people sipping drinks while they watched a man try to tackle a large foe who easily flipped him onto the ground. As the group moved closer, they recognized the other person was Huntara. She lifted the man she was fighting with one hand and threw him onto the counter. He slid along it, knocking drinks off it and narrowly avoiding hitting the bartender behind the counter. His long navy hair was tied into several braids that whipped around his head as he slid until he loudly landed onto the ground at Mermista's feet.

“Ow ow ow,” whined the man as he rubbed at his shoulder before looking up at Mermista and his face lit up. “Mermy! My beautiful Mermy. You are looking more and more like your mother each day.”

“Ughhhhh,” groaned Mermista. “I don't look anything like mom. She was a sea elf. I look like you. Unfortunately.”

“But you have the grace and kindness of your mother.”

Mermista groaned again. “What did you do now?”

“And may I add, her intelligence and whit as well.”

“You know this oaf?” asked Huntara as she walked over to the group. “He won't pay his tab and has been annoying everyone here. Especially me.”

“Yeah. Sorry about all this. I'll pay for his tab and for whatever he broke,” replied Mermista before she turned to the group. “Everybody, this is my dad, Mercury.”

Glimmer walked up to be beside Mermista are she said, “It's nice to meet you, King Mercury. Well former King Mercury that is. I'm Queen Glimmer.”

Mercury looked at Glimmer's outstretched hand to help him up, but grabbed the counter to hoist himself upright instead. “I didn't realize I would be in the presence of so much royalty. I best be going.”

“You're royalty, too,” scuffed Mermista.

“I'm a peasant. Your mom was the royal one. I raised you until you were old enough to take over the throne and then got out of your way to let the rightful heir rule.”

“So what? I was just an obligation to you?”

“Of course not, Mermy. But I'm not royalty. Not really. The throne should have gone to your Uncle Dewey, but he wanted to continue his travels and wouldn't take it.”

“So you are just going to abandon me again?”

“I'm not abandoning you. You are an adult and a ruler. You don't need to worry yourself over a peasant.”

“You don't even care why I came here. Fine. Leave. It's what you are good at.”

Mercury ran a hand over his face in exasperation. “Mermy, it's not like that.”

“Really? Because I'm not seeing another way to look at it.”

“Mind if I cut in?” asked Micah as he came forward and placed a hand on Mermista's shoulder.

Mercury's eyes widened as he looked Micah up and down several times. “Micah...” His voice broke. “I thought you were dead.”

Micah scratched his head. “Seems a lot of people had. I've been on Beast Island all this time. I only recently got back and with all this fighting against Prime, we haven't really had a chance to formally announce my return.”

“I can't believe this.” Mercury slowly reached out his hand and lightly touched Micah's arm. “All this time. You were alive.”

“It appears a lot has changed since I was gone. I heard about your loss of your wife and son.”

Mercury's eyes darkened. “It's been well over a decade since I lost them, but yet it still feels like just the other day. I heard about Queen Angella.”

“It feels strange to be back without her, but now I can get to know my daughter. She is all grown up now and I can see the wonderful and strong person she has become. I have missed so much.”

“Dad...” whispered Glimmer with tears in her eyes.

Micah gently smiled at her and pulled her into a hug. He turned back to Mercury and said, “Just because your child is grown doesn't mean they stop needing you. Mermista came all this way to see you. You should listen to what she has to say.”

Mercury turned to Mermista expectantly. Mermista took a deep breath before announcing, “Dad, I am getting married.”

A smile broke onto Mercury's face before he gave her a big embrace. “That's wonderful news, Mermy!” After a few moments his face went somber and he narrowed his eyes. “Please tell me it's not to the man who set my wine storehouse on fire after he couldn't pick the lock.”

“It is,” replied Mermista as she tried to stifle a laugh behind her hand.

Mercury heaved a sigh. “At least he makes things interesting.”

While Mercury and Mermista continued to converse, Crystal walked over to Huntara.

“Thank you for your help,” said Crystal.

“He was annoying me,” scuffed Huntara.

“But you helped better than any of my security guards. How would you like a permanent job being our bouncer?”

Huntara laughed. “Not really my thing.”

Crystal pulled out her purple notepad and scribbled something on it with her matching purple pen. “It pays well.” She tore it off and handed it to Huntara.

Huntara whistled. “That is a lot of zeros. Now you are speaking my language, purple girl.”

“It's Crystal actually,” replied Crystal as she tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

A bit off to the side of Crystal and Huntara was a couch that Catra had sat down at. There was a person on the other end that she hadn't paid much attention to. The person had stylish purple hair and bright red scaled skin. She turned to them when she heard them snort.

“I know my sister likes purple, but this is a bit much,” they muttered.

Catra narrowed her eyes at them and inquired, “DT?”

The person laughed and shrugged. “Caught me.”

“What are you doing here? I thought you ran off.”

“This sounded interesting and what better place to hide than in plain sight?”

“Brother!” said Wrong Hordak as he came up to him. “We are now leaving and I was sent to get you.”

Double Trouble looked Wrong Hordak up and down as they said, “You are not dressed like the other clones and your pastel rainbow hair is fantastic.”

“Thank you. I am called Wrong Hordak.”

Double Trouble began to laugh. “Really, kitten? That was the best you could come up with?”

Catra glared at them in irritation as she replied, “I am not the one who named him.”

“Kitten?” inquired Wrong Hordak before clapping. “Ooh. Is this another form of Double Trouble? How excellent.”

Double Trouble continued to laugh as they got up and threw an arm around Wrong Hordak's shoulders. “You are correct. It is I, Double Trouble. And you need a proper name.” They looked over him again in contemplation. “Your name shall now be Puck.”

“You call that a proper name?” asked Catra sarcastically.

“I'll have you know it is the name of a fairy from a classic play. The Horde is so uncultured.”

Catra stuck her tongue out at them.

“I like it. Puck. What fun,” replied Wrong Hordak now Puck.

~*~

Rise kicked a stone in annoyance. He had been left behind at the guard tent with Set, Sky, and their dads while Adora and the others had went into the casino. George said he couldn't go because he was too young to be in a place like that. Rise kicked another rock, aiming for a pole and missing.

“Eep!”

Cleara made herself visible beside the pole and rubbed her arm where the rock must have hit her.

“Well what are you doing there? How was I supposed to know you were there when you are invisible?” shouted Rise in irritation.

Cleara stared at him silently as tears formed in her eyes and turned back invisible. Rise instantly felt regret.

“Look. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled. Turn back to being visible. I don't know where you are.”

Rise glanced around at his surroundings, trying to locate where she had went.

“Then why did you?” asked a quiet voice.

Rise glanced around more, unsure of the source. “I don't know. I was mad. But that doesn't make it okay.”

Cleara appeared right in front of him, still rubbing the arm the rock had hit her.

“Did I hurt you? It wasn't on purpose.” He reached for her arm and she took a step back from him. He stopped and held up his hands in front of himself. “Sorry. I shouldn't... Are you okay”

Cleara nodded and let go of her arm.

“Are you related to that other lizard lady? I'm Rise.”

“My sister. I'm Cleara.”

“Nice to meet you. So you... uh... You can turn invisible?”

Rise held back the desire to hit himself. Of course she can, dummy, he thought to himself.

Cleara nodded. She walked away and sat on a short stone wall surrounding a hill and trees a few feet away. Rise followed her and sat beside her, giving them plenty of space in between.

“I heard you are related to Double Trouble. Can you also shapeshift like them?” asked Rise after several minutes of silence.

Cleara shook her head and quietly replied, “Only a select few of us can shapeshift like my sibling DT and brother, Mirron. And it takes a lot of talent to master. My sister Crystal, my oldest brother Gossamer, and I can turn invisible. Most of us can only change colors like our mom and the rest of my siblings.”

“Wow. How many siblings do you have?”

“Eight.”

“That's a lot. Though, then again, I do have fourteen now.”

Cleara looked at him in surprise. “That's so many.”

“Yeah, but we are all adopted. Well, except for my twin brother. Where did Set run off to anyways?” Rise scanned his surroundings, but he didn't see Set.

“Are you close to yours? Some of mine are already adults and don't have time for me. A lot of us have different dads.”

“Mine are all adults except for my twin. I don't really know them that well. I just got adopted.”

“Really? What was it like before you were adopted?”

Rise stared up at the sky in contemplation of that before finally replying, “Lonely. It's pretty much always been just my brother and I. We had each other's backs because no one else did...”

“No one else? What about your parents?”

Rise shrugged. “...There used to be a lady who would come and visit us. She was nice, but she stopped coming a long time ago.”

“Did something happen to-”

“Cleara!”

Cleara looked up to see a short plump woman with pixie cut white hair and green skin calling out to her. She was carrying two small children, both with the same white hair and green complexion as her, and another child slightly older than them with blonde hair stood beside her, holding onto her long flowery pink skirt. Mirron stood on her other side with his arms crossed behind his head.

“I have to go,” said Cleara. “That's my mother. It was nice talking to you, Rise.”

Cleara waved goodbye to him and ran off to catch up with her family.

“That was a rather nice conversation. Unusual for you.”

Rise jumped in surprise and looked up at the tree he was sitting under to see Set sitting on a branch above, almost completely obscured by the leaves.

“I can be nice. Sometimes,” replied Rise.

“Not normally to beastfolk, though,” observed Set as he swung his legs over the branch and jumped down from his perch.

“I know, but she just... seemed so tiny and I didn't want to make her cry. I'm not evil.”

“Evil. Are we not? What does that word even mean to ones like us?”

“Evil is subjective. We aren't doing anything wrong,” answered Rise as he yanked strands of grass out of the ground.

“I miss her,” said Set as he sat down beside Rise.

Rise didn't have to ask him who he was talking about. He already knew. “I do, too. But she is not coming back. We already knew that.”

“So we continue forward.”

“It's all we can do. What else do we have?”

“Nothingness.” Set fell back and laid against the hill behind him.

~*~

“Did somebody say Swift Wind?!” said Swift Wind as he landed in front of the casino.

“Swifty!” exclaimed Adora as she ran toward him and gave him a hug. “Catra, we can ride Swifty back to the Salineas Castle.”

“Do I have to? I have a preference for riding things that don't talk,” replied Catra as she skeptically looked Swift Wind up and down.

“We need a spot for Mermista's dad and the jeep is full,” pointed out Bow.

“If you want to ride back with us, you can. Or I could teleport you,” offered Glimmer.

“Talking horse it is,” relented Catra.

“I heard you are having a wedding, your highness,” said Crystal as she turned to Mermista and handed her a card. “Geico Family Services also offers wedding plans.”

“Wow. Your company does a lot of things,” replied Mermista as she looked over the card. “I could use the help. You are hired.”

“Excellent.” Crystal clapped before she grabbed Huntara's arm and began to drag her along. “We have our first job together to attend to.”

“Wait. What,” said Huntara. “Where are you taking me?”

“We simply must catch a taxi.”

Huntara yanked her arm out of Crystal's grasp. “Huntara doesn't do taxis.”

“Then how do you suppose we get there?”

“I have a bike.”

“I'm not pedaling.”

Huntara's smile faltered as she looked at Crystal's serious expression. “Not that kind of bike.”

Huntara walked to the side of the casino and removed the tarp covering her motorcycle. It was a big and bulky sleek black motorcycle with purple flames painted onto it. She balled the tarp up and stuffed it back into the compartment under the seat.

“This is my bike. I call him Silax. Faster than a lame taxi.”

“How quaint. I have never rode one before.”

“Quaint?” Huntara shook her head. “Lady I don't know what words you are using, but just get on.” Huntara picked Crystal up with one hand and put her on the motorcycle before getting on in front of her. “Hold on tight.” Huntara revved up the engine and took off down the street.

“Oh my!” shouted Crystal as they disappeared out of their sight.

“Should we be worried about her?” wondered Bow.

“Eh. She'll be fine.”

They turned to see someone they didn't recognize clinging to Puck's arm.

“Oh yeah. We also have that extra,” remembered Catra.

“Do we know you?” asked Glimmer.

“Oh right,” said the person before they morphed back into Double Trouble. “Tada! I see you were keeping this one from me.”

“What are you even talking about?”

“I am going to show Puck the wonders of the theater.”

“Who is Puck?”

“This is Puck.” Double Trouble pointed at Wrong Hordak. “Do try to keep up, darling.”

“You can't just go around renaming people.”

“Like Wrong Hordak was a name to begin with.”

“I think learning about the theater will be fun,” proclaimed Puck. “I also do like the new name. It is such fun to say.”

“Then it's settled. Come along, Puck,” said Double Trouble as they tried to walk away with him.

“You can't take him. He is a part of our watch,” exclaimed Glimmer.

“Fine,” sighed Double Trouble. “Then I will go back to the castle as well. It sounds more interesting than my original plans.”

“And those were?” asked Mermista.

“Who cares? They are over. Dead. These are the new ones. Do keep up.”

“Ughhhhhhhhhh. I guess we can squeeze them into the jeep.”

~*~

“Welcome back!” exclaimed Sea Hawk as soon as the jeep was parked outside of the castle. “My family is so eager to see you again, Mermista.” Sea Hawk turned and gasped when he was now standing in front of Mercury. “Oh Mercury. It's so nice to see you again.” He brushed his hands over his suit, sweeping away imaginary dust. “And so dashing. As expected of the father to my beautiful bride.”

“Fancy meeting you again, Sea Hawk. Your family is here? I have never met them.”

“Oh right. Come along, fellas! I can introduce you!”

Sea Hawk walked them over to the docks where a large worn down ship was docked. A flag with a bird soaring over the ocean flew in the wind. “Sea Bird” was painted on the side in rainbow letters. The entire ship had a multitude of different paints and designs splattered all over it as if no one could agree on what they wanted to be in what place.

“En garde!” shouted a voice and a teen boy with long flowing black hair and pale skin jumped off the ship, brandishing a sword.

“En garde!” shouted Sea Hawk in reply and began to playfully joust with the boy with his own sword.

They swung their swords back and forth until the boy tripped and Sea Hawk grabbed him into a headlock. The boy laughed as Sea Hawk gave him a noogie.

“Everyone! This is my younger brother, Sea Crane,” introduced Sea Hawk.

“En garde!” shouted another voice from the ship as a man with short wild black hair, a scruffy beard, and tan skin jumped off the ship and landed on his bare feet.

Sea Hawk let go of Sea Crane to playfully joust with the bearded man.

“And this is my younger brother, Sea Eagle,” introduced Sea Hawk while still jousting.

“And I'm Sea Wren,” shouted a teen girl with short curly orange hair who looked to be slightly younger than Sea Crane.

She jumped off the ship and tackled Sea Hawk. She clung her arms around his neck and hung off his back as he continued to joust Sea Eagle with Sea Crane joining in.

“I'm Sea Jay, but I'm not jumping down there. I'm not crazy.”

They looked up to see a boy who looked to be even younger than Frosta with buzz cut orange hair and sunburned pale skin.

“One of the few of the Sea Family who have working brains, unfortunately,” said a woman with long curly black hair tied down with an orange handkerchief and dark tan skin. “I'm Sea Falcon, the eldest of the Sea Family. You just missed the 'rents, but I'll let them know you're back, Mermer.”

“Thanks. Always good to see you again, Sea Falcon,” thanked Mermista.

“It's a good thing you agreed to having that wedding planner,” noted Mercury as he continued to watch Sea Hawk joust with Sea Eagle and Sea Crane. “You're going to need a good one.”

“Adventure!” shouted Sea Wren as she ran toward her brothers with a lit torch.

“Don't do that,” said Mermista and put the flame out with a wave from the ocean.

This is the art my friend, Envy, did for my birthday. It is the more important siblings of his since he has so many. They are are, in order, Sky (age 32), Flint (age 36), Bow (age 21 in my fic), Lyric (age 24), Tress (age 23), Aurora (age 23), Berry (age 25), and Mark (age 24). Link to the artist: here

Alternative hosting link if AO3 doesn't load the picture: here

I drew Sea Wren myself. This is the first time I have drawn in probably over five years. lol

Check it out on my Instagram here: here

Chapter Text

Chapter 13

A Flicker in the Darkness

Mercury ran his fingers along the tentacles of the painting of the late Queen of Salineas.

“I'm glad this painting was untouched. It's amazing how much you have grown to be like your mother,” he said.

Mermista sighed before replying, “You keep saying that. I look nothing like mom.”

“You have Misty's smile and the same confident glint in your eyes. You were too young to remember how she was, but she was a strong ruler.” Mercury surveyed the room full of destroyed artwork. “It is unfortunate what happened to the rest in here.” He pointed at a statue that was completely missing a head. “That used to be a statue of your great great grandmother.”

“Don't worry about a thing, Mr. Former King,” said Mark as he inspected the headless statue. “I will fix all the broken artwork around here... As soon as I find this one's head.” He glanced around the room and picked up a piece of marble. “This appears to be an ear. I will find the rest.”

“And who is he again?” inquired Mercury to Mermista. “One of the lizardo people you hired to help plan your wedding?”

“No. That's Mark, Bow's brother,” explained Mermista.

“Bow?” Mercury scratched his chin in thought as he tried to remember who that was. “The archer boy? He really doesn't look anything like any of his siblings.” He had met Sky, Rise, and Set during their drive back to the castle.

“Families can look pretty different, dad.”

Mermista shrugged as she exited the room. Mercury followed close behind her. They entered the dining room where Crystal was expertly ordering around several colorful clones to decorate the room. Tress and Aurora had quite a bit of fun while Mermista and the rest had been gone. They had dyed the hair of many different clones every color one could think of and due to limited access to cloth, they had cut up the existing clothes of the clones and gave them accessories. Mermista had never seen them so stylish. Tress and Aurora had set up shop in one of the rooms that still had a queue of clones in line to get styled along with the help of an ecstatic Devena and a begrudging Cassandra.

“Are you okay with placing your wedding and the art room in the hands of so many beastfolk?” asked Mercury.

“It'll be fine, dad,” replied Mermista while rolling her eyes.

They walked over to where Crystal stood.

“Your highness, I would like you to meet my younger brother, Hue,” introduced Crystal as she gestured to the man beside her.

He had electric blue hair that was just long enough to brush slightly in front of his eyes and was neatly combed into a middle part. He had vivid orange eyes and simple black frame glasses. He wore the same serious expression as Crystal and looked to be about the same age as her.

“I see you aren't anything like Double Trouble either,” said Mermista as she eyed his sweater vest.

“Our younger sibling has strayed quite a bit from the family trade. You need not worry. Your wedding will be just as magical as the Goddess Seabrinia herself,” said Hue.

“That is some pretty high stakes.”

“Ooh! There is an open bar!” shouted Mercury before running off toward a bar that was set up in the corner of the room.

“Wait! Dad!”

Mermista grumbled then was startled when Sky was suddenly in front of her asking to pick a tablecloth color then confirming something with Crystal and Hue. After Sky left, Mermista looked over Hue with a raised eyebrow. A few moments ago, he had been the same green color as his sister and now he was a bright red.

“Don't worry about that, your highness. He gets that way at times. He's not good at dealing with girls,” chuckled Crystal. “We're a type of lizardo called chamie lizardo and we can alter our physical form in different ways.”

“Crystal! I deal with them just fine!” argued Hue as he turned an orange color as she continued to giggle.

“I see. You change color with your emotions,” noted Mermista.

“It's not easy being a walking mood ring,” complained Hue. “Crystal has it easy with her invisibility.”

“I'm a girl. Why didn't you change for me?”

“You're getting married and a client. That's unethical.” Hue peeked behind himself to look at Sky again who was organizing a table, turning back to red. “And she's really really really pretty.”

Mermista and Crystal laughed together to Hue's annoyance, effectively turning him orange again.

“Get her away from me! She's crazy!” screeched Sea Jay as he came tearing through the room and hid behind Mermista's legs as Sea Wren chased him around with a lit torch.

“Get back here, you yellow belly!” yelled Sea Wren.

“Whoa! Whoa!” Mermista pulled water from one of the fountains and rained it on Sea Wren.

Sea Wren's torch went out and soaked her clothes. Mermista grabbed the back of her collar when she tried to take off running.

“Don't play with fire, kid. Now give me your lighter.”

“I don't have one,” replied Sea Wren.

Mermista shook her and three lighters fell onto the ground. Mermista glared at Sea Wren who sheepishly smiled back at her.

“I have no idea where those came from,” lied Sea Wren.

“Nice try. Is that all of them?”

After Mermista patted down Sea Wren and discovered two more lighters, she sent her back on her way. Sea Wren ran off while Sea Jay stayed stuck to Mermista. She sighed when it seemed like the little boy was not leaving.

“Let's go find your parents, Sea Jay,” said Mermista as she took his hand and began to exit the room. The little boy nodded and complied. “Soooo... how old are you now?”

“I just turned 11.”

“That's cool.”

“My siblings are all so crazy and never listen to me because I am little.”

“That sucks. Maybe they will listen to you more when you get a bit older?”

“That's if I even make it out of childhood with siblings like them.”

“Is there a reason Sea Wren came running out of the castle screaming something about a sea witch?” inquired Sea Hawk as Mermista and Sea Jay came into the courtyard.

“Don't worry about it,” replied Mermista.

“Sea Wren is the one who is a sea witch!” complained Sea Jay.

“Is that so?” asked Sea Hawk before hoisting the boy up. “It's been awhile since we just hung out like bros. How about a plane ride?”

“No! Lemme down!” screeched Sea Jay as he kicked his legs and cried.

“What's wrong? Sea Wren and Sea Crane loved it when I did this.”

“I'm not them!”

“Put your brother down, Sea Hawk,” said a voice.

Sea Hawk excitedly turned around, still holding his flailing brother, and looked up from where the voice had come from. High up on an archway overlooking the courtyard sat a woman with short spiky black hair, thick black eyeliner that made her deep blue eyes pop, and pale skin. She wore a white blouse, a black corset, a long flowing red shirt that went to mid-calf, and long black combat boots.

“Mama!” shouted Sea Hawk. “What are you doing up there?”

“It's a great vantage point to see everything. Congratulations on your engagement,” said Sea Hawk's mother before she jumped off her perch and effortlessly landed on the stone path. “Where is your father, Mermista? I have yet to meet him.”

“About that-” started Mermista.

“Oh. Who are you?” asked Mercury as he walked up to the group with a drink in hand.

“This is my father, Mercury,” introduced Mermista.

“It's nice to meet you. I am Sea Hawk's mama, Sea Swan,” greeted Sea Swan as she shook his hand.

A short and stout man with short curly brown hair, a goatee, and dark tanned skin followed Sea Swan and stood beside her. He wore a long sleeved white shirt, a sleeveless black jacket, khaki pants, and black boots. He stood at about half a head shorter than Sea Swan.

“And I am Sea Hawk's papa, Sea Goose,” greeted the man who shook Mercury's hand.

“I'll take this one,” said a person as ze took Sea Jay from Sea Hawk's arms before ze turned to Mercury. “And I'm Sea Hawk's zaza, Sea Duck.”

Sea Duck stood a full head taller than Sea Swan with wavy orange hair to zir shoulders with eyes as dark as coals, soft facial features, and lightly sunburned pale skin. Ze wore a long khaki tunic that was cinched with a brown belt and sleeveless that showed off zir muscular arms. Ze wore brown wrist gauntlets, black leggings, and brown boots.

“All three of you are Sea Hawk's parents?” inquired Mercury.

“We are,” replied Sea Swan. “We are a throuple and raise our children together.”

“But don't you know whose is whose?”

“If you mean who came from who, we do, but that doesn't really matter to any of us. They are all of ours.”

“So you are mama,” Mercury pointed at Sea Swan, “You are papa” he pointed at Sea Goose, “And you are zaza. Which is?”

“I'm his agender parent,” replied Sea Duck.

“Right. How are all your names so similar?”

Sea Swan laughed. “They aren't our birth names. Our families didn't approve of us, so we left our old lives behind and set sail on adventure with new names.”

“And I don't regret it at all,” added Sea Duck.

“Our lives are an endless adventure and I couldn't have picked a better crew to have it with,” said Sea Goose.

A man yawned as he walked past them. He had light blue tentacles like hair, dark green skin, and finned ears of both colors. His yawn revealed his mouth to be lined with teeth that resembled a shark's. He wore a simple gray shirt, black leggings, and brown sandals.

“Dewey, come here,” said Mercury as he grabbed the man.

“Drat. I've been noticed,” mumbled Dewey as he was pulled over to the group.

“These are Sea Hawk's parents. This is my brother-in-law, who is Mermista's Uncle Dewey.”

“All three? Cool. It's nice to meet you all,” said Dewey with another yawn. “My husband is around here somewhere. As well as our three daughters. I'll go find them.”

~*~

“I'm going to need this rock moved,” said Crystal as she surveyed the land. “It's in the way of where the ceremony will take place.”

“No problem. I can easily move this as I'm clearly the strongest person here,” said Huntara as she reached down for the large rock.

“No way! I am definitely the strongest,” retorted Adora before she transformed into She-Ra. “I'll prove it! What else needs moved, Crystal?”

“That's unnecessary,” replied Crystal. “I just needed that rock moved.”

“I'm going to move that boulder,” said Adora as she pointed at a boulder in the distance.

“I don't need that moved.”

“You're on, princess,” replied Huntara as she ran off with her, ignoring Crystal.

Catra chuckled at the display from her perch on an archway several feet in the air, idly kicking her legs. From her spot, she could see a lot of things happening. She thought she would be worried when she saw Huntara again after learning Adora once had a crush on her, but she wasn't. There didn't seem to really anything to be worried about. The way they acted together reminded her a lot of how Adora had been with Lonnie. They were always competitive and trying to one up the other, but there was nothing romantic about it.

Catra watched as Double Trouble passed below her perch. They had their fingers in their ears as a short plump woman followed behind them. She had the same blonde hair, yellow eyes, and pale green skin as Double Trouble. Her hair was cut into a pixie cut and she wore a blue blouse with white flowers on it, white capri pants, and matching blue heels.

“Tohma, come home and join the family business,” said the woman.

“I am not interested, mother. I am an actor,” replied Double Trouble with their fingers still in their ears. They weren't doing much of anything to stop them from hearing her shrill voice.

“If you don't want to join it, you should at least settle down like your older brother, Gossamer. Him and his husband just got approved by Queen June Bug to have a third child with the Eternal Amber. Do you know how hard it is to get a third child with her? She usually only lets couples have one or two.”

“I don't care about how many brats he has. I am already stuck with plenty as younger siblings. Business and families are boring. I want a life of excitement.”

“And what will you do when you are old and alone.”

“Who cares? That is decades away. I am not going to spend my youth on things like that. I am going to actually live.”

“You are just like your father.”

“You don't even know who my father is!”

“I am pretty sure he was that touring musician, Enigma.”

Double Trouble gave a short laugh. “That man won't even give me the time of day to meet him. He sent me a letter that said he doesn't interact with amateurs.” They turned on their heel and removed their fingers from their ears, gesturing to themself. “Amateur? Me? The audacity!”

“Is this what this is about? Forget about him.”

“I am! As well as all of you! Now let me live my life how I please!”

Catra continued to watch as Double Trouble and their mother walked further away and went out of her earshot. She looked behind herself when she heard a sigh. A man with light blue tentacles that resembled hair, dark green skin, and finned ears laid against the pillar she was sitting on.

“It's not quiet here either. So hard to find a good napping spot,” grumbled the man.

“There you are, Dewey,” said Duke North as he walked over to him.

“Ah. I've been caught.”

“I brought cupcakes.”

He offered Dewey a tray full of small white cupcakes with rainbow sprinkles on them.

“You have piqued my interest,” replied Dewey as he grabbed one.

“Are you aware our daughters have set up a beauty salon for the Horde clones?”

“I have noticed. They look like they're having fun, though Gemma is helping with the wedding plans. She told me she has no time for play. Wonder where she got that from?” Dewey quirked an eyebrow at North.

North narrowed his eyes as he replied, “It was Devena's idea to set up a salon. Playing instead of doing the work at hand. Wonder where she gets that from?”

Dewey laughed with mirth as North continued to glare. Dewey pat North's cheek and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips, his features softening. “You are too cute. It's hard not to tease you.”

North blushed and pushed Dewey's hand away, making him laugh more. North glanced up and noticed Catra sitting on her perch high above.

“Hey, up there,” he called. “Want a cupcake?”

Catra gracefully jumped down and wordlessly grabbed a cupcake. North looked over her as she ate the cupcake.

“You are... Catra, correct? She-ra's girlfriend?” he inquired.

“Yeah. That's me,” she replied quietly. She wasn't quite used to being addressed as that, but that was who she was now.

“Ooh. She-Ra's girlfriend,” whistled Dewey. “I'm Dewey and this is my husband, North.”

“And you're the Star Sisters dads?” asked Catra.

“Yep. That's us,” he replied as he threw an arm around his husband's shoulders.

Catra glanced between them and wondered if Adora and her would ever be like that. She was still getting used to seeing couples being so open and comfortable displaying affection between each other. That wasn't really something she ever saw in the Horde. It was hidden behind closed doors and spoke of in whispered voices, but here... it was just normal. She thought back about the conversation she had overheard with Double Trouble and their mom.

“You two must really love each other.” They gave her a strange looks, so she continued, “Because you have three kids. I heard that runestone thing only normally lets people have one or two.”

“I don't know much about that runestone. Our daughters weren't born by it.”

“Really? I thought was the only way a gay couple could have kids. Unless they were adopted?”

The Star Sisters definitely looked like a combination of Dewey and North. Devena's hair color was the same color as Dewey's tentacles and Cassandra's hair was the same color as his skin. Devena also had the same finned ears as him and Cassandra had shark teeth like him. Gemma looked more like North and all three of the girls had the same skin tone as him as well as the same curve to their eyes.

Dewey looked over at North who shrugged. “There is a third way,” said North.

“There is? How?”

“I'm trans.”

“Trans?” inquired Catra with her head tilted. She thought she heard that word before, but was unfamiliar with it.

“When I was born, I was assigned female at birth and lived as a woman for quite a few years. It took me some time to realize I was a gay man and not a straight woman. I was already married to Dewey by the time I finally figured myself out and after we had our daughters, I decided to finally live as my authentic self.”

“And I couldn't be prouder of him,” added Dewey. “I've known I was pansexual before I even married him. I loved him before he transitioned and I love him after. He may seem grumpy, but he's much happier now and more confident. He's one of the kindest and most selfless person I've ever met.”

“You two seem pretty happy,” replied Catra.

“Think you will be married to Adora when you are our age?” asked Dewey with a laugh.

“It's a bit early to be thinking about that,” she stuttered.

“Dew... Must you tease everyone?” asked North with a sigh.

Dewey laughed.

~*~

Sea Wren walked on top of a stone fence that was about three feet above the ground. The fence was just wide enough for her to place one foot in front of the other. She spread her arms out to keep her balance, not that she needed much help. She had walked along tightrope before.

“Sea Jay is always so boring,” complained Sea Wren. “Never wants to do anything fun.”

“Be careful up there,” came a quite voice.

Sea Wren looked down to see two chamie lizardo children playing cards at a table together. Sea Wren grinned at them and jumped from the fence to on top of their table. The table wobbled from the action, but remained upright.

“That is nothing. I am an adventurer! A pirate! And I summon you two to an adventure with me!” shouted Sea Wren.

“An adventurer? You look our age,” replied the boy chamie lizardo skeptically.

“Adventuring knows no age! ...But I'm 14. My name is Sea Wren.”

“I'm Mirron. I'm 15. And that's my sister, Cleara. She is 13.”

“Excellent! Now onward to adventure!”

Sea Wren hopped off the table and it toppled behind her. Mirron looked at Cleara who shrugged in response. They dropped their cards since the game was ruined anyways and followed behind Sea Wren who was already marching away without them. As they walked, they saw Frosta making ice sculptures with Rise and Set watching her in boredom, pulling grass out from the roots.

“More comrades!” announced Sea Wren before running over to them. “I'm Sea Wren! Age 14! You are being recruited for an adventure!”

“Sea Wren? Aren't you Sea Hawk's sister?” asked Frosta as she jumped down from her ice sculpture. “I'm Frosta. I'm 13. Sounds like fun. I'm in.” Frosta looked over at Rise and Set.

“Yeah. Whatever,” said Rise as he got up and Set followed quietly behind him.

Sea Wren smiled to herself as she now had five friends who were much cooler than her lame younger brother who never wanted to do anything. As she walked along, she saw Sea Jay playing with blocks in a playpen with children who looked significantly younger than him. She made it a point to stick her tongue out at him as she passed him and he reciprocated it.

“Whoa. Where are all of you off to?” inquired Mermista as they began to pass her.

She was standing beside Sea Hawk who was listening to Sea Crane animatedly talk about the adventures he had been on while Sea Hawk was away to them as well as to Netossa and Gale.

“We are going on an adventure!” said Sea Wren.

“Can't you do something less dangerous? We have blocks.”

“That's boring. Adventure runs in my blood.”

“You need an adult to go with you.”

“Well I could-” started Sea Hawk.

“A more adult adult,” cut off Mermista.

“Don't worry, Mermista. I'll go with them,” said Sea Crane.

“That makes things worse.”

“Hey. I'm 16. That's practically an adult. I'll watch out for them.”

“By adult, I meant someone mature.”

“I can go with them,” offered Gale.

“That would be better.”

“Hey! Foul! She is a year younger than me,” complained Sea Crane.

“Take it or you are not going anywhere,” said Mermista.

“You are fine with that?” asked Netossa.

“Yeah. Sounds like fun. Don't tell my sister,” replied Gale.

“Wouldn't dream of it.”

“Well I'm still going,” said Sea Crane as he followed behind Gale, Sea Wren, Mirron, Cleara, Frosta, Rise, and Set. “So where are we even going?”

Sea Wren lead them to a dark cave that was a bit away from the castle.

“I found this and wanted to explore it, but Sea Jay ran away crying then Mermista took my lighters,” complained Sea Wren.

Sea Crane gasped before responding, “Not your lighters. Here. Take one of mine. I always carry a spare.”

“Thanks, Sea Crane. You are the best.”

They grabbed some sticks and lit them all on fire to pass to everyone before venturing into the dreary cave.

“This place is so cool,” admired Frosta.

“I saw something sparkly when I passed by this cave earlier. There must be treasure in here!” said Sea Wren.

“There are weird writings on the wall,” commented Mirron. “It looks like a switch.”

Mirron reached his hand out and ran his fingers over the circular writing. Upon touch, it began to glow bright blue and the cave began to shake. Stalagmites above them broke loose and started to fall. Frosta sprinted to be in the middle of the group and created a force field of ice around them all. In the commotion, Rise grabbed Cleara's hand and pulled her closer to the group, narrowly missing a stalagmite that fell where she once was. Sea Crane threw his arms over his sister, but they were already under Frosta's ice shield. As it continued to form, Mirron pulled Rise's arm, dragging along Cleara who knocked against Gale. Gale fell back into Set whose back hit against the cave wall, hard. A secret door opened behind him and he fell into it with Gale. The door closed behind them.

The shaking stopped and Frosta's ice cover was now complete.

“Set!” shouted Rise and hit his hands against the wall. It didn't budge.

“Step aside. I got this,” said Sea Crane as he cracked his knuckles then pushed against the wall with his scrawny arms.

“Sea Crane! You are too weak. Let me,” said Sea Wren.

“I am the oldest and the strongest here.”

“You lost to an arm wrestle to me last week!”

“And I have drank an entire jug of milk since then!”

“I don't think that's how milk works,” interjected Mirron.

“Well that's unfortunate because I am lactose intolerant,” replied Sea Crane.

Sea Wren pushed her brother out of the way and placed her hands on the cave wall. She pushed with all her might, but it didn't move. Frosta tried next with her ice fists, but still the wall wouldn't budge. The space was too narrow for more than one person to stand in and push. They might have to turn back for someone stronger.

“Brother,” whispered Cleara as she poked Mirron's side. “Why don't you try to transform into someone stronger?”

“You can shapeshift?” asked Sea Wren excitedly.

“Oh yeah. Let me try,” said Mirron.

“You can do it! So awesome! So cool!” cheered Sea Wren as he tried to shapeshift and ended up morphing into Sea Wren. “That's me. How is that going to help?”

“You are distracting me!” complained Mirron in the form of Sea Wren. “This takes a lot of concentration.”

Sea Crane put his hand over his sister's mouth to keep her quiet and Mirron closed his eyes. He thought of the people he had seen today. Who would be helpful? None of his siblings were the athletic type. He had met Mermista and she seemed strong, but probably not strong enough to move the wall. What about that giant purple lady that had been helping Crystal? She would be strong enough. What did she look like again? Mirron morphed into Huntara to the best of his memory. Once transformed, he moved toward the wall and pushed.

~*~

“Ow ow ow ow,” whined Gale.

“Are you okay?” asked Set.

Their torches had went out and they were now in a pitch black room. They couldn't see each other and cave floor felt damp.

“I think I hurt my ankle.” Gale touched her ankle and winced. She jumped when she felt something touch her foot. “Eeeep!”

“Sorry!” apologized Set. “It's just me.”

“Oh. I can't see anything. I was worried it was a spider or something.”

“Sorry. Can you stand?”

“I don't know.” Gale tried to apply pressure to her foot and immediately stopped. “I can't. It hurts.”

Set chewed his bottom lip in contemplation before finally making his decision. Gale looked up when the room began to glow. A small glowing orb floated in Set's left hand, illuminating the small enclosed area. He reached for her ankle again with his other hand and she stared at him in awe as that hand glowed as well. The glowing warmed her skin at a comfortable temperature and made her feel calm as it healed her. After only a few seconds, he let her go and Gale ran her fingers over her ankle. It no longer hurt.

“It doesn't hurt anymore,” said Gale. “Thank you. I had no idea you were a sorcerer, Set.”

“Don't tell anyone about this.”

“Why not?”

“This is all I can do. I shouldn't do more. It's dangerous.”

“Why would it-” Gale stopped at the pained look on Set. “It's okay if you don't want to talk about it. Thank you, Set.”

She began to reach for him, but stopped short when they heard the wall begin to open back up. Set quickly made the glowing orb disappear before the wall completely opened. In the doorway stood Huntara then she morphed into Mirron.

“You are okay!” exclaimed Mirron. “Oof!” he grunted when Rise pushed him out of the way.

“Set!” shouted Rise as he threw his arms over his brother. “Still in one piece?”

“I'm okay. Really, Rise,” replied Set with a sigh.

~*~

“I totally won,” said Adora.

“Using She-Ra is cheating,” replied Catra with a laugh.

“No it's not. I am She-Ra.”

“You have magic muscles. She had to work for hers.”

“I have non-magical muscles, too.”

“Is that so?”

Adora turned and placed her hands on Catra's shoulders. She walked her back until Catra's back was pressed against a pillar along the fenced in walkway they were walking along.

“They are definitely real,” whispered Adora as she leaned her face in close to Catra's.

Catra's breath caught. She put her arms around Adora's head and pulled her in even closer.

“Adora,” she sighed.

“I've missed you today. Where have you been?”

“Around.”

“Were you watching me?”

“Maybe.”

“Weddings seem like a lot of work. I've never been to one. The Horde didn't really have anything like this.”

“I think I saw one once.”

“You did?”

“Yeah... Like a long time ago.”

They were so close together at this point that their lips were practically brushing together as they spoke. Catra closed her eyes and pressed their lips together. It felt like forever since she had last kissed Adora, but it was reasonably only a few hours ago.

“This is a public walkway,” complained Glimmer as she came down the hall with Bow.

“We're not doing anything wrong,” said Catra when they broke apart. Her claws slipped out and embedded into Adora's jacket to keep her in place.

“Yeah yeah yeah. Keep it PG you two.”

Catra opened her mouth to retort then stopped as she heard what sounded like a bird whistling in the distance. She felt Adora go stiff under her arms. She heard it, too.

“What direction?” inquired Adora.

“Southeast,” responded Catra after a few seconds.

“How far?”

“Not very. Less than a hundred feet.”

“So close already?”

“Seems like.”

“What are you two talking about so mysteriously over there?” asked Glimmer.

“That sound,” said Adora.

“What about it? It just sounds like a bird,” replied Bow.

“It's not a bird.”

Catra jumped onto the fancy silver fence surrounding the walkway they were in. It was only a few feet high, but it would do. Catra squinted her eyes out into the distance.

“It's a Horde whistle,” clarified Catra. “Notify the others. We're already surrounded.”

“What?” exclaimed Glimmer before she rushed over and pulled herself up onto the fence with Catra. It took her several moments and a lot less grace to do.

She looked out and in the distance she could see a few figures moving toward the castle. They were wearing the signature red uniforms. She thought the Horde was over, yet there they were at their doorstep once more.

Chapter Text

This guy will appear in this chapter. He appears in the background of the Horde sometimes.

Chapter 14

Through the Haze

Glimmer took a long breath and exhaled slowly to steady herself.

“Let's talk to them diplomatically. Maybe they are here to turn themselves in,” she said.

“By using war whistles and carrying weapons?” inquired Catra with a quirked eyebrow.

“Either way, let's try to talk this out.”

Glimmer exited the walkway with Catra, Adora, and Bow following close behind her. The Horde operatives were strutting through the front gate, out in the open. Glimmer wondered if they were the only operatives in the area. Why the need of a secret whistle if they were all out in the open for all to see? By the gate, Entrapta and Hordak were tinkering with something electronic at its base. Perfuma was speaking to them, but stopped when she saw the operatives entering the area. She hurried over to Glimmer.

“What's going on?” asked Perfuma.

“It's okay. I got this,” replied Glimmer.

They came to a stop with several feet between them. Glimmer looked among the operatives and recognized a few faces. Adora had explained to her before who Lonnie, Rogelio, and Kyle were when they had previously fought them and knew they were Adora's old friends. Perhaps she could reason with them. However she didn't know the other three operatives in the group. One of them stood in the front of the group, clearly their leader. He appeared to be their age and had green hair long enough to brush in front of his face in a middle part, dark eyes, pale skin, and a single silver earring. He held an unsheathed sword across his shoulders.

“Hello. I am Queen Glimmer. There is no need to have your weapons out. Are you aware of the Horde sentencing?”

“The Horde isn't under the rule of any princess. We won't be following your orders,” said the man.

“The Horde was disbanded and sentenced to a year of community services. You can still start now.”

The man laughed. “And then what? We continue to live under your rule? The Horde isn't gone as long as we are standing.”

“But the Horde is no longer,” said Entrapta as she looked up from the base of the gate she had been welding. “If you would like an official decommissioning, we can arrange that. Right, Hordak?”

Hordak looked up and glanced at each operative in silence before finally saying, “You are decommissioned.”

The man laughed again. “Like we are going to listen to him. He was always hiding away in his lab. He was hardly ever our leader.”

“Let me take it from here, Sparkles,” said Catra as she stepped in front of her. “I was the one who actually commanded the troops.” She turned to the Horde troops. “Stand down. The war is over.”

“So the rumors were true,” said Lonnie as she walked up to stand beside the leader. “You are now the Rebellion's pet.”

Catra growled. “I am no one's pet and there is no Rebellion anymore.”

“You are still working for princesses now. What happened to hating them? Pathetic.”

“What do you expect from someone who only got to be Second in Command out of pure chance?” added their leader.

“Chance? Ha. I can beat you any day of the week, Shit. I worked my ass off to get my position,” said Catra while barring her teeth.

The man scowled at her. “Don't act like you don't know what my name is.”

“I do. It's Shit.”

“My name is Chet!”

“Not hearing the difference, Shit.”

Chet narrowed his eyes and moved his sword off his shoulders to point it at Catra who grinned menacingly in response.

“Whoa. Let's try to solve this without fighting,” interrupted Glimmer.

“Scared? You should be,” said Chet with a cocky grin.

“I appreciate the effort, Sparkles, but these are Horde operatives. You can't reason with them over a cup of tea. That's not our thing,” said Catra as she stood her ground with the sword pointed at her.

“She's right, Glimmer. In the Horde, these sort of things were settled by fighting and the loser had to listen to the winner,” explained Adora.

“Let me fight her. We have a score to settle,” said Lonnie as she placed her hand on Chet's to lower the sword.

“I'm going to find Mermista,” announced Perfuma before running off.

“If it's a fight, we can help,” offered Bow.

“No. All of you stand back. This is a mess I need to clean up myself,” replied Catra, her tail flicking in anticipation. “Before we start this-”

She was cut off by Lonnie lunging at her with a stun baton. Catra backflipped to narrowly avoid the surprise attack. Lonnie didn't miss a beat and was brandishing it at her again.

“I shouldn't have treated you so poorly when I was Second in Command,” said Catra as she continued to dodge without striking back.

“Yeah. You shouldn't have.”

“It was wrong and I should have given you more breaks. I was in a dark place at that time, but that's not an excuse to act like that toward you.”

“You can't take it back! You treated us like shit and you will get what you deserve.”

“I know I can't. But I would like try anyways to make things better.”

Lonnie lowered her weapon and looked at her with raised eyebrows. “Do you really mean that?”

“Look. I'm sorry. I was a jerk. I've been a jerk for a long time. It took a lot to realize I don't want to be like that anymore. The princesses... They're pretty understanding. You would probably like them if you gave them a chance.”

“You've never apologized about anything before. Especially to me.”

“Maybe we should stand down. I mean... Bow is pretty nice. I talked with him before when he was a prisoner,” added Kyle from the sidelines. “Being on the run has been a lot of work.”

Chet tutted. “I am not as easily swayed,” he said before he surged forward with his sword.

Catra stepped to the side to dodge as she said, “And you. What even is your plan here?”

Chet twisted and swiped at Catra only for her to continue to dodge him. “I'm not a coward like you lot. I will run the Horde just like I should have been all along.”

“Oh? So you want to my position? How flattering. It no longer exists.”

“Only because you were terrible at it. If I had been running everything, we would not have fallen.”

Catra laughed. “You? Please. Do you want to know why you weren't chosen? Because you are slow.” She jumped into the air when he swung at her again. “Because you leave so many openings on yourself.” Catra landed on his back and gracefully stepped behind him. “Because you don't know how to read your opponent.” She swiped her legs at his and tripped him. “Because you are easily outsmarted.” He fell to the ground and rolled over to face her. “And you know what else? None of that even matters. Your worth is not defined by how well you can fight or what you can offer others. You are your own person and can choose your own path now. So why, out of all the things you can be, do you choose to be an ass?” She kicked his hand and sent his sword flying out of his reach.

Chet gritted his teeth and looked over to the other two operatives that Catra did not recognize. While they had been fighting, the two operatives had wandered away from them to a large stereo that had been set up for the wedding.

“Do they have anything that isn't garbage?” complained the boy with light blue hair that was just long enough to tie up into a ponytail as he dug through Sea Hawk's CD collection.

“Ooh. I like this one,” said the boy with long frizzy auburn hair and antlers.

“Of course you do.” He picked up one of Mermista's CD's. “Now we are talking.” He put the CD in and it began to play a rock song. He turned it up until the music was blaring.

“Ty!” called out Chet. The boy with light blue hair who appeared to be in his mid to late teens looked over to Chet. “You take over.”

“Really? You are going to make a kid fight your battles?” asked Catra.

Chet narrowed his eyes. “Kill her.”

“Yes,” answered Ty with his brown eyes shining with excitement.

The next thing Catra knew was that Ty was right in front of her and slashing at her face with a dagger. Catra jumped away in shock, blood dripping from the cut on her cheek. It wasn't deep, but she hadn't been expecting it. He was fast.

“Oops. Missed. That was supposed to be your neck,” said Ty.

“A knife fight, huh? Good thing I am always packing,” said Catra as she unsheathed her claws.

Ty laughed and gave her a sinister grin. “Oh good. Much better if the fight is interesting.”

This time Catra was anticipating his speed, but it was still a surprise for him to suddenly be in front of her again. She jumped to the side and slashed at him. He dodged effortlessly and didn't miss a single beat. He was immediately at her again with the dagger. His stabs were aimed at her vitals and she had to stay on her toes to dodge them. It wasn't like fighting against Adora or Lonnie who held back from doing serious damage. Chet tried to do heavy blows, but he was easy to predict. Ty, however, fought with abandonment. He was trying to kill her and didn't appear to hold any remorse for that. She had heard before of operatives who were trained to be coldblooded assassins, but had never formally met them.

“You are... a member of the Gray Talon faction, aren't you?” asked Catra between dodges.

“I see we live up to our fame,” said Ty. A grin remained on his face. His eyes were still shining with excitement. He held no fear in this situation. He no longer appeared to be the teenager he was. He seemed inhuman. A war machine. The only piece of humanity that seemed to remain was him singing along to the music playing under his breath. “Define your meanin' of war. To me it's what we do when we're bored. I feel the heat comin' off the blacktop. And it makes me want it more.” Though the lyrics weren't cheery either.

“We should step in,” said Bow from the sidelines as he chewed at his nails.

“Catra has this,” replied Adora as she anxiously watched the fight.

“We'll step in the moment it becomes too much,” affirmed Glimmer.

~*~

“Mermista! There you are!” called out Perfuma as she ran toward Mermista who was standing with Scorpia. Perfuma placed her hands on her knees and panted from the running.

“What's going on? Are you okay?” asked Scorpia in concern.

“There are Horde operatives at the gate. They started a fight with Catra.”

“I thought all of the Horde was disbanded,” said Mermista.

“Not these ones. They refused their punishment and started a fight,” explained Perfuma.

“Take me to them.”

Mermista and Scorpia hurried after Perfuma as she lead them back to the fight.

“These operatives... What did they look like?” asked Scorpia.

“I dunno. There was a lizardo guy, a woman with braids, a blond guy, and a rude guy with green hair. I think there was also a guy with blue hair and one with antlers,” replied Perfuma.

They made it to the walkway across from the Sea Gate where they could see Catra fighting intensely with Ty. They appeared to be an equal match. Or perhaps not. Ty seemed to be gaining ground against Catra.

Scorpia gasped as she saw the battle and said, “We have to get her out of there. She can't beat him.”

“You know who that is?” asked Perfuma.

“That's Ty. He is from the Gray Talon. My team.”

“Your team? I thought you were part of Catra's team.”

“I was, but before I was relocated to Catra's, I was the Force Captain of the Gray Talon. Tracy took over my position when I left.”

“Which one is Tracy?”

“That's what I mean.” Scorpia suddenly took off running to get to Glimmer.

“Wait, Scorpia! What do you mean by that?”

Perfuma and Mermista sprinted after Scorpia.

“You have to stop this fight. She is outmatched,” said Scorpia.

“Catra has this. I think she can win. It's just one person,” replied Glimmer.

“You don't understand. It might appear like she is fighting one person right now, but she isn't. The Gray Talon fight as a single unit.” Scorpia pointed at the boy with antlers who had moved behind a tree. He had gone unnoticed and glowing a light blue. “That's his boyfriend, Woods. He's a sorcerer who boosts his abilities with magic. That's how he seems so fast.” Scorpia pointed into the shadows. “And there, there, and there. The other members are here pointing arrows at her. If Ty seems to be losing, they will strike. Catra is fighting five people at once right now.”

One of the archers in the shadows shot an arrow at Catra. One of her ears twitched and she managed to dodge it. The dodge caused her to take a step closer to Ty who immediately stomped on one of her feet and went in for a stab.

“That's it. This fight is unfair. Let's stop it,” said Glimmer.

The others nodded. Glimmer teleported to Catra. She grabbed her around the waist and shot a sparkling sphere at Ty. She knocked him back before teleporting away. Ty went to get back up, but She-Ra now stood at his feet and pointed a sword at him. Bow shot a net arrow to knock out the archer who had shot the arrow at Catra. Mermista pulled water from the sea they stood by to knock the other two archers out of the trees. Before they could run, Bow shot another net arrow to catch them both. Perfuma used her vines to wrap Chet, Lonnie, Rogelio, and Kyle together before they could escape.

“Hey! I didn't need help!” complained Catra as she fought against Glimmer's hold. They now stood at the sidelines of the fight.

“Sorry, Wild Cat, but this wasn't a fair fight,” said Scorpia as she walked over to She-Ra. In her claws, she held the back of the shirt of the sorcerer, Woods. “This one was enhancing the other's ones abilities.”

“What?! That is cheating!”

“Welcome to war,” laughed Chet from his place tied on the ground.

“Scorpia!” said Ty excitedly.

He got out from under She-Ra and jumped onto her. He wrapped his arms around her neck and dangled there. Ty and Woods looked so small compared to her. Their feet were at least a foot off the ground.

“I missed you,” whispered Ty into her shoulder.

“I missed you more!” shouted Woods as he threw his hands up and kicked his legs while still being held in the air.

The three archers called out her name and were all talking at once about how they missed her.

“Aw, you guys. I missed all of you as well,” said Scorpia as she set Woods down who immediately jumped into the hug with Ty. “What are all you doing here? Where's Hunga? Why isn't she with you?”

They quieted down and looked between each other.

“We don't know where she is,” spoke up one of the archers. She had dark hair tied into pigtails that went midway down her back. Gray wolf ears were perched on top of her head.

“And we didn't know where to go and wandered around until we found some other operatives that joined us,” added another archer woman with short dark curly hair pulled into a puffy ponytail.

“Then we were kicked out of our hideout to join the rest of the Horde to clean things up which we refused,” said an archer man who had spiky red hair.

“We never followed princesses before and no way are we going to start now,” finished Chet.

“That's not true. I am a princess and you all followed me,” said Scorpia.

“But you are an exception,” said Ty.

“No I'm not. The other princesses are really cool if you just give them a chance.” Scorpia turned to Perfuma. “This is Perfuma. She's my girlfriend and really nice. Perfuma, this is Ty. When I came under Hunga's care when I was 12, Ty was already in her care and was about 6 at the time. And this is Ty's boyfriend, Woods. He joined us a few years later.” Scorpia pointed at the wolf woman. “That's Tracy. She was reassigned to our team when we were like 16. She's a good friend of mine.” Scorpia pointed at the other woman she was beside. “And that's her girlfriend, Cali. She joined us shortly after. She's also really nice.” Scorpia pointed at the man with red hair. “And that's Gunner. I don't know him that well. I left a few weeks after he joined us.”

“It's nice to meet you all. You're like Scorpia's family,” said Perfuma as she politely bowed to them.

“I guess they are. Ty is a lot like a little brother to me. We have been together the longest.”

“Scorpia! You can't go around saying who is dating who like that,” chided Tracy.

“She even openly called that princess her girlfriend,” added Cali. “Even Commander Hunga kept her relationship with Octavia a secret from operatives outside the Gray Talon.”

“Cali! Don't out the Commander!”

“Oops.”

“You guys are dating?” asked Gunner.

“You literally saw them kiss yesterday,” commented Chet.

“I thought they were just being friendly. Like a hug.”

Chet sighed.

“Get off me!” shouted Catra.

They turned to see Catra pushing away She-Ra.

“You got hurt. I am just healing you,” said She-Ra as she reached for Catra again.

“I'm fine.”

“You're bleeding.”

“It's just a small cut.”

“Please, Catra.”

Catra grumbled, but let She-Ra touch her. She-Ra placed her hand on Catra's cheek and glowed. After a few seconds, she took her hand away and the cut was completely healed as if it had never even been there.

“There. All better,” said She-Ra as she leaned down and placed a kiss on Catra's forehead.

She-Ra had to lean down far in order to reach Catra. Catra tilted her head back and stood on her toes to switch the kiss to be on the lips. Catra threw her arms around She-Ra's neck to keep her in place. She-Ra's arms wrapped around Catra as She-Ra began to fade back into Adora. Adrenaline was still racing through Catra, but being in Adora's arms helped calm her back down.

“Seriously? You two are together now? You were trying to kill each other like last year,” complained Lonnie.

“I think it's sweet. They were always close. Congratulations, girls,” said Kyle.

Rogelio made some incomprehensible growling sounds that sounded like he was agreeing with Kyle, though he couldn't really see Catra and Adora from the angle he was in Perfuma's vines.

“Are you two forgetting how much she worked us to defeat the princesses? When really what she wanted was to get into Adora's pants?” accused Lonnie.

Catra blushed a bright red and opened her mouth to object, but Scorpia moved to be between them, still carrying Ty and Woods.

“As you can see, Tracy, things are way different here than the Horde. We don't hide who we are dating or be ashamed for having lives outside of the battlefield. I know Hunga was way more lenient on that than home base, but here, it doesn't need to stay a secret,” explained Scorpia.

“Pretty disgraceful, if you ask me,” commented Chet.

“Well we didn't ask you,” said Glimmer.

“Do you think they have anything to do with these attacks?” whispered Bow to Glimmer and Mermista.

“They could. Throw them all into the dungeon,” said Mermista.

“You have a dungeon here?” asked Glimmer in surprise.

“Yes. Unlike your kingdom, we have a proper dungeon.”

“Wait. I'm sure this is all a misunderstanding,” said Scorpia.

“There has been weird happenings here then suddenly they show up and attack us. They are going to the dungeon and being interrogated,” replied Mermista.

~*~

“I got my dad,” said Glimmer as she came down the stone steps with Micah.

Mermista hadn't been kidding when she said there was a dungeon. Below the castle was three large cells with metal bars and shackles attached to the stone walls. Plastic skeletons were hung on the walls outside the cells that Mermista claimed were decorations to set the mood.

“This place is... pleasant,” said Micah as he looked around.

“I like it. It reminds me of home,” said Kyle.

“Be quiet, Kyle,” chided Lonnie.

Kyle, Lonnie, and Rogelio had been locked and chained in one of the cells together.

“Like a royal would know anything of a life without riches,” sneered Chet.

He had been locked in the high security cell with Ty and Woods. It had enchanted chains to hold a sorcerer.

“Actually I lived on an island trying to kill me for over a decade,” replied Micah.

“I'm sure this all a misunderstanding,” said Scorpia. “You wouldn't be attacking art, right?”

“What do princesses even consider art?” asked Cali to Tracy.

They were locked together in the remaining cell with Gunner.

Tracy shrugged and replied, “It all looks like junk to me.”

“You guys would tell me if it was you who was destroying stuff in the castles, right?” asked Scorpia as she looked at each of the operatives.

“And they would have a motive for framing Catra since they don't like her,” said Perfuma.

“Catra is your main suspect?” said Lonnie with a laugh. “Looks like being a princess pet is not working out for you.”

“We won't talk,” asserted Chet. “Why should we? Looks like you already got your suspect.”

Scorpia sighed and turned to Tracy. “How did you end up with him anyways? He's not a member of the Gray Talon. Why are you following his orders? Do you have any idea where is Commander Hunga?”

“We don't know,” whined Tracy. “When the Horde began to fall, we asked Commander Hunga what we should do and she told us that she didn't know, but she was going to be with her girlfriend Octavia and we were on our own. Then she left! We wandered around until we ran into Chet and he had better plan ideas. So we listened to him.”

“Then we found Lonnie's group and they joined us. We had made a home on Silk Puff Island until royal guards kicked us off,” continued Gunner.

“So we decided to take matters into our own hands and come here,” explained Cali.

“And how we are doing that is none of your business,” said Chet.

“This is getting us nowhere,” complained Mermista. “Do a truth spell on them, Micah.”

“It's been awhile since I last did one,” replied Micah.

“I believe in you, dad. And I can help. I have been practicing my magic,” said Glimmer.

“Aw. Thank you.”

Mermista groaned before she interrupted, “This is a lovely father-daughter moment, but we have prisoners at the moment.”

“Mermista-” started Bow as he placed a hand on her shoulder that she immediately shrugged off.

“Let's just get this on with.”

They directed Micah to Chet who seemed to now be the current leader of their group. Micah centered himself and summoned a truth spell. He sent it toward Chet, but instead of fading into him to activate, blue electricity crackled around Chet then the truth spell fizzled away. Micah gasped in surprise.

“What... What does that mean, dad?” asked Glimmer tentatively.

“It's a protection spell. My spell was blocked,” replied Micah.

“I thought you were like the greatest sorcerer there is. How was it blocked?” asked Mermista.

“It doesn't work like that. It doesn't matter how strong I make my truth spell if there is a barrier in place. I need to disable the barrier first.”

“So people can just block that?! How do you not know they are telling you lies when it's actually being blocked?”

“A magic barrier is a pretty high class spell and I can see it being blocked. I can also feel it. There's charges I can feel in spell casting. There's a lot to it. Bottom line is a barrier is up and the problem is that there a lot of different types of barrier spells. I need to first figure out which one is being used before I can disable it.”

“Ughhhhhh. This is going to take awhile, isn't it?”

“Good luck figuring out which one it was,” said Woods as he began to giggle. “There's one on all of us.”

Micah turned to study the boy. He looked to be in his mid to late teens. He had frizzy curly auburn hair that went to his shoulder with purple butterfly clips in his hair to keep the bangs out of his gray colored eyes. Most fay had pointed ears, but he was one of the ones that had long dangling ears instead. He had antlers and wore Horde clothing that looked two sizes too big for him. He had a rather small and slim figure with rainbow painted nails on his dark hands. He didn't look at all what Horde soldiers normally looked like.

“I take it that this is your work. It's rather unusual to see a member of the fay in the Horde. Even more to have been taught magic,” commented Micah as he continued to look over Woods.

“Most fay are part of the Plumeria kingdom. Plumeria stayed out of the war for a long time. How did you end up in it?” inquired Glimmer.

“Like you care!” remarked Ty. “His home was burned to the ground and the kingdoms did nothing to stop it!”

“By the Horde?”

“No! By bandits!”

“Do you know anything about bandits?” asked Mermista to Perfuma who was staying quiet in a corner with Adora and Catra.

“Bandits? They were pretty bad about six years ago. That was around the time my older sister Petalia passed and I had just become the new ruler. I made a peace treaty with them and they stopped attacking our villages, but there were some lost before then,” replied Perfuma. She looked at Woods. “I'm so sorry about that happening. I sent people to help move the villagers who were effected to further into the Whispering Woods where they would be safe.”

“You didn't have any sorcerers to beat them?” asked Catra. “Your land is supposed to be full of fay.”

“All fay are capable of magic, but that doesn't mean they all make a career out of it,” explained Perfuma. “Most fay in my land are peaceful and use their magic to connect with nature. The ones who want to be sorcerers usually move to Mystacor to attend the Magic Academy there.”

“Like apologies will help a village in ashes! We took him in after the negligence of the princesses!” shouted Ty.

Micah moved his attention to Ty. He had light blue hair that had fallen out out of his ponytail from earlier to brush against his dark skin. He had blue and green finned ears showing he had sea elf heritage and black painted fingernails. Glimmer had told him they had removed his black jacket that had been lined with dozens of knives. He was now left in the usual Horde attire.

“You appear to be part sea elf,” examined Micah. “This is certainly an unusual group. I don't think I ever saw a sea elf in the Horde before.”

“Octavia was a sea elf,” said Adora.

“She was a bitch, too,” added Catra.

Ty blew a raspberry at her.

~*~

Bow entered one of the guest bedrooms that had been turned into a makeshift lab for Entrapta. The Horde operatives were being rather uncooperative. They refused to give any info on whether or not they were involved with the destruction of Mermista's throne room or in Glimmer's art room. They were also still refusing to accept their punishment of a year of community service. They would only talk with Scorpia present and even then it was hard. Micah was now trying to figure out which protection spell was being used with no luck. It had been hours of that and Bow had needed to step away to check on the projects Entrapta was working on.

“Hi, Entrapta. Did you finish what you were doing with the gate?” asked Bow.

“Hi, Bow. Hordak and I finished that hours ago. That gate should hold against a lot of high powered blasts now,” replied Entrapta.

She was scribbling quickly on a draft from where she sat on her work bench. Bow was rather impressed by her being able to write with her two pencils in her hair as well as on in her hand. He leaned over to see she was hard at work on how to implement the Horde Prime teleport system to work with Etheria long term.

“How goes the portal system?”

“It's going to need more time. There are a lot more variables to it than I originally expected.”

Bow looked around the room that was covered in various machinery that he was unsure what they even did.

“And testing that fur found at the scene?”

Entrapta stilled and stared intently at the wall in front of her for several moments before returning to working on her schematics.

“That's not important,” she dismissed.

Bow scrunched his face in puzzlement.

“Have you not had time to work on that? You do have a lot of projects right now.”

“No. I have.”

Bow looked back over the equipment she had in the room.

“Are you still waiting for results?”

“No. I got them.”

Bow turned to her in even more confusion.

“Then what are they?”

Entrapta stilled again and Bow waited.

“The results don't make any sense. I will have to study them some more.”

“What do you mean? What did they say?”

Entrapta set her pencils down and turned toward Bow. She stared intently at his boots as she spoke.

“They are a match. But that doesn't make sense. Catra couldn't have done it. Perhaps all magicats have similar magic wavelengths? I need more samples of magicat fur to understand how they differ between people.”

“Magic wavelengths?”

Entrapta got up and walked over to one of the machines with her hair. She switched it on to show a monitor that had two lines moving on the screen like a heartbeat. They moved at exactly the same rate.

“Magicat fur has interesting properties. Even after leaving the body, it sustains its magic for seemingly an infinite amount of time. It's incredibly durable and doesn't react to things that try to alter its molecular structure. Because of this, testing the DNA is impossible. All I can do is look at its outside properties. The color of the fur and outside appearance of the cells all match. Even the magic wavelengths match up. However this could be true for a number of magicats. A sample size of two is not really conclusive.”

“How long have you known?”

“Awhile.” Entrapta walked back over to her desk with her hair. “But I wasn't planning to keep it a secret for forever. I just wanted more time to study it.”

“I could help you with that. I know other magicats.”

~*~

Adora sat up in her bed and rubbed at her eyes. It was late and they had decided to stay the night in Mermista's castle again in case other Horde operatives showed up. Adora glanced around her room, unsure why she was awake. She looked down to see Catra was no longer in bed with her. There was a crash outside the room. Adora jumped out of the bed and rushed out of the room.

“What's going on?” asked Glimmer with a yawn.

She was leaning out of the doorway from the room across from Adora's.

“I don't know, but I'm going to check it out,” replied Adora.

“I'm coming, too.”

They quietly walked down the hallway and came to a stop by the library. They slowly opened the door to see a figure moving in the darkness, throwing books and stands to the ground. Glimmer summoned a glowing orb in her hand to brighten the room.

“Stop! Who are you?” commanded Glimmer in her best queen voice.

Figure turned toward them and stared at them with an emotionless expression and glowing red eyes.

“Catra?!” said Glimmer in shock.

Upon saying her name, Catra fainted and Adora sprinted to catch her before she hit the ground.

These characters are all fay. They are all capable of magic, but that doesn't mean they know any sorcery spells. Some ears point up and some down. Some have antlers or horns or hooves and some don't.