Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

One of Glimmer’s earliest memories was also one of the only ones she had of her father. Her mom had always said that even though he was strong, brave, courageous, he was also wise, and used to read her his favorite poems before bed unlike most parents, who would read a story.

She didn’t remember most of them.

But she remembered one.

“Everyone is born a piece of pottery

Each one unique from the start

But as life goes on, they might get scratched or chipped

Or even shattered apart.

But it’s possible to pick up the broken shards

And put the pieces back together

And even though they’ll be different

They’ll be stronger, wiser, better.” her dad had said 

She’d looked at him with wide eyes. At the age of 4, before he’d died, she’d had no idea what it meant. But her dad had smiled back.

“You know, Glim-glim, that one is my favorite out of all the poems I’ve told you.” he whispered

“Why?” She asked, her little voice filled with curiosity

“Because there are plenty of bad things out in the world that come to hurt people, but they are there to teach us to be stronger.” he replied

“You’re real strong though, did a lot of bad things happen to you?” Glimmer asked

He laughed, a tinge of sadness in his eyes “Yep, but the bad things made me who I am today.”

“Yeah, the best dad ever!” Glimmer shouted, jumping up and bouncing on her bed

Her dad smiled “Alright, settle down Glimmer.”

“Will the bad things happen to me?” she asked “Make me strong too?”

“Maybe when you’re older, you’re still too small to be too strong. Kowl would freak out if you suddenly got big and strong.” He said softly, handing her her favorite plushie as she giggled “But it’s time for bed now. Goodnight, baby girl.”

“Night night dad” Glimmer turned over in her bed

He died less than a month later, and that’s when Glimmer learned what “bad things” actually meant, a long jagged crack through her previously perfect form.

Still, she grew and became stronger.

Glimmer had been about 12 years old when she’d met Bow, and it had been quite a wild day. The annual Bright Moon Fair had been taking place, and it was incredibly vibrant with excitement due to the recent massive victory over The Horde.

But like every year, her mom refused to let her go. 

In the past, she’d sit in her room and pout while listening to the joyful noises from her balcony, wondering why she couldn’t have fun too.

But she’d grown in her teleportation skills exponentially over the past year, so after going through the usual “Upset because mom won’t let me go to the fair” act to avoid suspicion, Glimmer put on the disguise she’d prepared and teleported into the greenery below her balcony, running through the brush until she made it there, slightly disheveled.

It was bright and beautiful and everything Glimmer could’ve ever imagined. Other kids ran around, adults laughed as they watched them, there were people doing all sorts of magic tricks around and a massive potluck in the center of it all. The area was surrounded by colorful lights which made it look incredibly magical.

But as Glimmer walked through it, she couldn’t help but feel alone, for the first time in ages. 

Growing up in the palace, she’d often been escorted by guards or her mom, and even though they’d stopped as of recently she always knew there was one around. But she was by herself now, and it felt both incredibly freeing and terrifying.

But even more than those two conflicting feelings, she felt lonely.

Glimmer was no stranger to loneliness. Sure, she’d met the other princesses of other kingdoms, but she hadn’t seen any of them for years.

She looked around, all the other kids her age with their friends or families, and suddenly it was all too much. She needed to get out, but as she tried to teleport away, she realized her magic was drained, and she silently cursed at herself for forgetting to recharge again.

But she didn’t feel bad for long as an arrow zoomed right by her face, causing her to let out a startled scream.

There was another high pitched startled shout, and a boy about her age came running over to her “Are you okay? I’m so sorry!”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Glimmer caught her breath 

“Sorry about that. I’m still learning archery.” The boy rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “I was sure I was good enough this year to perform, but I guess not.”

“No, no, it’s okay.” Glimmer said nervously “I mean, I’d like to see your archery skills. I’m sure it was just an accident and you’re usually really good!”

The boy’s eyes lit up. “Okay! We should probably do it in an area with less people around though.”

Glimmer laughed, “Heh, yeah.”

As they walked into an emptier part of the clearing, Glimmer grew nervous. She didn’t know how to talk to people!

“Um, so, what’s your name?” She asked

“I’m Bow. What’s your name?” He replied

“I’m Shimmer.” Glimmer lied. She was still undercover, of course “I’m 12.”

“Me too. It’s nice to meet you, Shimmer.” Bow replied

“Same.” Glimmer said

There was a brief bout of awkward silence, as Bow used some chalk to draw a target on a nearby tree, pulled out an arrow, and hit 3 bullseyes in perfect succession. 

“Wow!” Glimmer exclaimed, jumping up and down in excitement “That was amazing!”

“Thanks.” Bow said shyly “So… are you here by yourself too?”

Glimmer blinked, unsure on whether or not to tell him the truth

“Sorry if it’s a sore subject, I don’t get out to talk to people much.” Bow said awkwardly

“Me neither.” Glimmer said “My mom never lets me come to the fair, but I snuck out this year. I was so excited, but once I got here it felt a little…”

“Lonely?” Bow offered 

“Yeah.” Glimmer muttered 

“We could hang out. Then neither of us would be lonely.” Bow said

“Okay!” Glimmer smiled “Ooh, we should go get some food, they have all sorts of stuff that I’ve never tried before!”

And within minutes, Glimmer and Bow were having a blast. They stuffed their faces with food, played some games, and ran around with the other kids. Bow was showing off his archery for the other kids when Glimmer heard a familiar voice.

“Princess Glimmer! What are you doing here!?” Her mom shouted

Glimmer reluctantly turned around to see her mom, wings spread, with an incredibly angry expression on her face, as everyone around was frozen, bowing to her.

Oh, she was in for it.

“You know, when an off duty guard came to tell me they spotted you at the fair, I couldn’t believe it. Not only did you directly go against my orders as your mother, but also as your queen! I cannot believe you would disobey me like this!”

“Mom!” She cried “I just wanted to have a little fun, make some friends. I never get to talk to anyone my own age, or do anything!”

“You acted incredibly irresponsibly. It’s a dangerous world out there Glimmer, we’re fighting a war, I just want to keep you safe!” 

“Your majesty, if the Horde happened to attack, I would do anything to keep the princess safe, as an archer.” Bow interrupted, “Shim- I mean, Glimmer is very kind, and as her friend I would defend her with my life.”

Glimmer’s mom glanced at the Bow, then at the tree-target with multiple arrows on the bullseye, then back at Bow. “I’m glad you and my daughter get along well, however, I will be taking her home now.”

Glimmer sighed, and waved a silent goodbye to Bow as her mother led her away. He waved sadly back.

“I’m glad you made a friend, but you’re grounded for the next 3 months.” her mom said

Glimmer was too disappointed to even protest, because she knew that chances were, she’d never see Bow again.

A few weeks passed where she didn’t do much, just sadly worked on her studies, until her mom summoned her to the throne room one day, after about a month.

“Princess Glimmer, I have brought you here today to give you an offer. I will cut your grounding short as of today, but only if you agree to be occasionally accompanied by a personal guard as I see fit.” Her mom told her.

Glimmer blinked, before sputtering “What?! That’s not a fair agreement, I don’t want a personal guard!”

“Aw, that’s too bad, I really thought you would’ve liked to have me around as your personal guard!” Bow stepped into the room, a small grin on his face

“Bow!” She cried, teleporting over to him, jumping up and down with excitement “How did you- of course you can stay around, yes I agree mom!” 

Bow was slightly startled by Glimmer’s excitement, but began to jump up and down in excitement with her too, as Glimmer’s joy was incredibly infectious. Glimmer glanced over at her mother, who she thought was strict and boring, only to see a soft smile on her face as she watched.

She’d done it on purpose. Maybe… just maybe she wasn’t so bad after all.

By the age of 17, Glimmer had learned how to convince her mother of a lot of things. She’d convinced her to let her help with the war effort. She’d convinced her to let her go out and be a general, as long as she didn’t fight of put herself in danger (which was a rule Glimmer didn’t really listen to), she’d convinced her to let Adora be part of the rebellion, and she’d convinced her to let her, Bow, and Adora to attempt to restart the Princess Alliance.

She may have been the weakest princess when it came to her powers, but she was the only one willing to go up and fight hand to hand with Horde soldiers, which made her the strongest in her terms.

Other than She-Ra, of course, but that was another story. Besides, even though Adora was a new friend, and formerly an enemy Horde soldier, she was actually really nice and respected Glimmer, something not too many people did.

Meeting with the other princesses again had certainly been different. Of course it had been over 10 years since she’d seen most of them, and people can change a lot in that time, but it was weird to think that she had friends now.

Friends that were probably coming to rescue her and Bow right now from the Horde, no matter how dangerous it was. She smiled at the thought of it, of it all, only to receive another grueling shock from Shadow Weaver. How had she gone from Princess Prom to this?

After the shock that seemed to last forever, her vision was turning dark at the edges. She knew if she passed out, she was only going to receive another shock, worse than before. She had to keep going.

She had to stay strong.

Was she going to die here?

She hiccuped back a sob at the thought of it. Never seeing Bow again, never seeing Adora. Never seeing any of the other princesses she’d just befriended not too long ago. Never seeing her mom, never going home, never being able to win the war.

She held the tears back. She wouldn’t- she couldn’t show weakness to the monster who stood unmoving in front of her, ready to give another shock at any move.

“How did-” she paused to catch her breath “How did a witch like you ever raise someone as kind as Adora?” She spat

“Oh please.” Shadow Weaver said, voice silky and calm, despite the situation “It is far from my fault that she defected, became soft like you, princess.”

Glimmer growled “Adora isn’t soft. She’s smart, brave, and a good person, something you will never, ever be.”

Another shock came at her, and everything went black.

She woke up, feeling weaker than ever, to Adora’s voice.

“Glimmer! Glimmer, I’m here. Don’t worry, everything will be okay, I’ll save you. What have you done to her?!” Adora shouted

There was a bit more talking, but Glimmer was too weak to make out the voices or what they were saying.

“Shadow Weaver, I’ll stay here with you willingly, but you have to let Glimmer go first.” Adora spoke once more

Glimmer painstakingly opened her eyes and looked at Adora, who was strapped to a table

“Adora, no!” she gasped

“Glimmer! Are you okay?!” Adora called

“You are correct, Adora, you shall stay willingly, because I am going to wipe your mind. You will have no memory of She-Ra, or the time you spent with the rebellion, everything will be as it once was!” Shadow Weaver said cheerfully

Somehow her tone of voice was the most threatening part. Glimmer winced.

“As for the princess, once I’m done, you’ll be happy to have her as your prisoner.” Shadow Weaver continued

She could hear Adora wince and began to scream with pain as she saw Shadow Weaver place her hands on Adora’s face.

“No! Adora!” Glimmer cried

Adora only cried out louder.

It was more than Glimmer could take. She barely registered the adrenaline and magic that burst into her veins, but could feel the pain of Shadow Weaver’s electric prison trying to fight back.

Adora screamed.

The magic filled her in a rush, and she instinctively tried to teleport.

Once.

Glimmer thought of the day she and Bow met Adora, encountering a Horde soldier in the Whispering Woods. They’d captured her. They’d gotten lost. They’d been attacked by an elemental. They’d seen her transform into She-Ra for the very first time to save them. They’d shown her the joy of the world outside the Horde, something she’d never seen before. They’d fought the Horde, stopping them from taking over Thaymor.

Twice. 

She thought about when the three of them travelled around to recruit princesses into the Princess Alliance. How Adora fought the Horde without second hesitation, despite growing up with them. How ridiculous, yet sweet, she was after getting infected with Entrapta’s first one’s tech. How they couldn’t get her to relax, no matter how hard they tried in Mystacor. How she sacrificed her first Princess Prom to make sure the Horde wouldn’t try anything, even if it meant dancing with the enemy, even though she’d failed in the end.

Three times.

She thought about even though Adora had failed to save them at Princess Prom, how she was willing to sacrifice anything, to save her.

Glimmer’s magic filled her, burst through the electricity, and she teleported into the air, throwing the sparkliest, strongest punch she’d ever thrown straight into Shadow Weaver’s face, panting as she fell to the ground.

She was free, but Adora still wasn’t.

She ran over to the table where Adora hung, upright and bound, eyes shut.

“Adora! Are you okay?” She said, freeing her “Do you know who I am?”

Adora’s eyes twitched as though she was just waking up from being asleep. She opened them, expression hard and scared, but softened upon seeing her.

“Glimmer.” Adora muttered weakly

She hugged Adora, her best friend, and they ran as fast as they could, supporting each other, shaking with fear and relief. 

They would make it out as long as they had each other. They would live and return home to Bright Moon, to see Bow, the princesses, her mom. They would live. Glimmer felt like collapsing, sobbing until the tears would no longer come, but she willed herself to remain strong. She was strong as she ran with Adora, as Catra showed up and just… handed her the sword back, as she ran with She-Ra, as they made it out onto the skiff and flew away, as she ran into Bow’s arms to hug him.

She only let herself break after finding out that Entrapta was dead, that she died saving them, sobbing silently, hugging Bow close as he hugged her back, his tears occasionally falling on her shoulder.

Sea Hawk flew the skiff, face hard, but clearly hurt. Mermista and Perfuma comforted each other, and Adora sat alone on the other end, curled up in a ball. The world was silent, other than the skiff’s hum, as they headed back in the direction of Bright Moon, broken.

Glimmer was starting to consider how she’d ever considered Adora a friend. She was just acting so awful as of recently, refusing to listen, cooperate, or do anything right! She was queen, after all, and her word was law, but Adora just didn’t seem to care.

Worst of all, she was slowly but surely getting Bow on her side too.

Glimmer didn’t know why she was doing this, why she refused to even consider using the Heart of Etheria. It was a weapon with unimaginable power, something they could use to finally defeat the Horde, once and for all.

The Heart of Etheria could give her enough strength to avenge her mother.

Even though Adora had been with the rebellion for over 2 years now, Glimmer couldn’t help but wonder if maybe she still had some remaining loyalties to the Horde. Perhaps that was why she was so against using the Heart, destroying the Horde. 

The only problem was, Adora was the only one who could find out how it could be activated, the only one who had access to Light Hope’s ancient knowledge of the First Ones and the weapon they built, and she refused to go get that information.

Because anyone could just do whatever they wanted now, and being queen was a worthless title.

She sat in her room, thinking about everything. She’d tried doing what her mom would do. She’d tried doing things her own way. Nothing was working.

She wished things could go back to the way they used to be, before Adora had changed and became all cocky, before Bow started to prefer her over Glimmer, before- before her mom died.

Queen Angella would’ve known what to do. She always knew what to do, and with as much anger as Glimmer had at the world, she had even more at herself for not seeing it sooner.

Because she never listened to her mother, never learned how to be a proper ruler, and now she was paying the price.

She heard a knock on her door. 

“Come in!” she called, collecting herself

Bow and Adora walked in.

“Glimmer, please, we need to go save Entrapta from Beast Island.” Adora said

Great. This conversation again, it wasn’t like she’d already refused multiple times today.

“Adora’s right. Entrapta is the only one of us who will know how to stop the Horde, and stop the Heart of Etheria from activating and killing us all.” Bow added

Glimmer groaned “Did you forget that Entrapta has been working with the Horde, helping them create new technologies that are harder and harder to fight?! She’s the reason why we haven’t been able to win this war yet! If she hadn’t helped build the portal, my mother would still be alive!”

Adora winced, and Bow’s gaze softened “Glimmer, I’m so sorry what happened, we all miss her. But right now, we need to put the past aside and do what’ll help us win in the future, and that means going to Beast Island and saving Entrapta.”

Glimmer stood tall “No, like I said earlier, we don’t have the time to be going out on dangerous missions! We need to learn how to access the power of the Heart, so we can win against the Horde once and for all!”

“We need to find a way to destroy or deactivate the Heart, it’s too dangerous to use!” Adora shouted “You can’t listen to Shadow Weaver, she just wants power and she’ll destroy the world if she has to to get it!”

Glimmer was at her limit “As queen, I order you to leave. Immediately.”

Adora’s eyes went wide, before she sputtered “What?! You can’t just ORDER me to-”

“Yes I can.” Glimmer interrupted, “Now leave.”

Bow sighed, getting up and pulling Adora out of the room with him, leaving Glimmer standing alone, breathing heavily.

A few hours later they came again, saying that they were going, whether she was coming or not. She ordered them not to, even having to use the “queen” card again. Her mother would’ve probably been proud of her for that, it was something she’d used often, to Glimmer’s annoyance.

When she finally went to sleep, late into the night, she felt like she’d just closed her eyes when she was woken up by a loud boom, causing her to run over to the balcony and question if they were under siege. 

It was the crack of dawn, and a spaceship flew through the sky in the distance. Mara’s ship.

She teleported over to the guest room, finding a quick note left by Bow.

“Going to find Entrapta, sorry Queen Glimmer.” 

Adora and Bow were gone, confirming her suspicions. They’d betrayed her completely.

Glimmer turned around, and walked out of the room, crumbling up the note and throwing it in the trash. 

It didn’t matter, she didn’t need them. 

She was queen, she would find out how to activate the Heart by herself, she would do so, and she would destroy the Horde once and for all, no matter what it took.

It looked like she would have to go visit a certain First Ones ruin today.

Glimmer sat alone in her windowless prison on Horde Prime’s ship. 3 walls white, 1 glowing green. At the moment, she couldn’t see what was going on outside of the cell, but she knew that whatever guards were out there could see in. And there were nearly always guards out there.

She had no idea how long it had been. Days, weeks, maybe even months. It was hard to keep track of time when she couldn’t see outside.

Not that it really would’ve mattered, because she was trapped in space.

It was still a relatively new concept for her, that they were now in a universe that was infinite, endless, after Etheria had been taken out of that empty dimension it was in. She’d only gotten brief glimpses of the stars, once before being taken to Prime’s ship, and a few being led past the few windows.

She was so, so, far away from Etheria, from her friends, from her magic, from her home.

But she was too drained to cry anymore.

The only way Glimmer had been able to keep track of time was picking up the chair and slamming one of the legs into the wall until it made a dent, every time she woke up from sleeping, but she knew it wasn’t foolproof. After all, there wasn’t much to do other than sit around or sleep, and she suspected she’d been doing a lot more of the latter than normal.

In those earlier times on the ship, Glimmer had shouted insults, hurled threats at the clones guarding her, until one confronted her, white pupils dropping down until they were focused on her with a sickening noise.

“My child, why must you act out? You have no magic, no power here.” the clone said with Prime’s voice

After the initial bout of disgust, Glimmer stood tall “I am not your child. I am Queen Glimmer of Bright Moon, and you will treat me as such.”

“Your status means nothing to me. I see all. I know all. I am above all. Don’t forget it.” Prime said, the white pupils vanishing, leaving nothing but the lifeless green eyes of the clone behind.

Every time she threatened the clones afterward she was met with the line “Horde Prime is above all, your status means nothing to him.”

She’d stopped trying to do so a long time ago.

Around 10 sleeps ago, Horde Prime had come by and taken her on a walk through the ship. Shown her a hall of artifacts from destroyed worlds, showed her objects created by peoples who no longer existed. It was horrifying.

He’d also shown her that despite everything, her father was alive. Trapped on Beast Island for all those years, and only found by Bow and Adora after they’d disobeyed her. 

Glimmer was sure the irony was going to kill her, if Horde Prime didn’t first.

The other crazy thing was that Catra was on this ship with her, Commander of the Horde and therefore her mortal enemy Catra. Glimmer hadn’t really seen her between that first day and that horrible dinner, but she knew that Catra had free roam of the ship, and despite the snarky way she acted when Glimmer did see her, wasn't in all that much of a better position than her.

At that dinner, when Horde Prime showed them those videos of her friends desperately trying to fight off the clones and bots, Glimmer had cried, unable to watch the screen any longer. Through her teary eyes, she’d watched Catra instead, looking at her familiar enough, cold, hardened face. But in her eyes, Glimmer saw something less familiar. Real fear. 

Catra was just as scared as she was.

About 5 sleeps ago, Catra had begun to come by to talk to her in the few moments that guards weren’t around, just about the most random things.

She couldn’t believe it, but it was comforting to talk to her about home, about her friends, about their pasts. She’d actually learned a lot about Adora’s childhood in that short time, something she rarely talked about.

Now Catra would stop by to talk once, sometimes even twice between every sleep. It was nice, not being alone the whole time, but Glimmer knew how much trouble they could get in if caught.

The green shield went translucent once more, with a small shimmering noise, and Glimmer looked up to see Catra on the other side. Speak of the devil.

“Hey Sparkles.” She said in greeting

“Hey Horde Scum.” Glimmer said back, getting up and walking to the barrier

They sat against the barrier, back to back, as usual.

Glimmer sighed “One of the worst things about being here is that there’s nothing to do here but think. Think about all the terrible things I’ve done.”

Catra made a little sound, but didn’t reply.

“I was a terrible queen. I used one of my closest friends as bait, listened to a monster instead of my friends, and made so, so many bad choices. It’s my fault that the Heart of Etheria was activated. It’s my fault that we’re stuck here and Horde Prime is hurting everyone back home.” Glimmer ranted “If I’d only listened to Bow and Adora, we’d still be on Etheria, Horde Prime would’ve never come, and I’d be reunited with my dad!”

“What does the last thing have to do with any of it?” Catra asked

“It’s complicated, but Scorpia came and told us Entrapta was on Beast Island-” Glimmer noticed Catra dip her head a little at the mention of that. She wondered why. “-and Bow and Adora were so insistent on rescuing her. I told them, I ordered them not to go because I said we needed to stop the Horde first, but they didn’t listen and went anyway. Turns out, my dad was there too, and they rescued him as well. If they’d listened to me, then I wouldn’t have known that my dad was alive all those years, and he probably would’ve died on Beast Island. I just can’t believe how stupid I was!”

“You and me both, Sparkles.” Catra muttered, though the usual smirk on her face was gone. She paused in silence “I feel stupid about a lot of the things I did too.”

Glimmer looked at her in surprise, but there was only regret on it.

“There was a time when me, Scorpia, and Entrapta were pretty close actually. Scorpia referred to us as the Super Pal Trio.” Catra laughed a little “But then Entrapta grew closer with Hordak as they built the portal… and well… it was my fault that she got sent to Beast Island in the first place.”

Glimmer sat up straighter, startled. “I thought she was sent to Beast Island by Hordak after the portal was such a disaster.”

Catra shook her head “In the end, she tried to stop the portal from being activated. Adora convinced her to do some experiment or something and she realized bad things would happen… or something. She tried to convince me to not activate it, and I tazed her. Yelled at Scorpia to take her away, to send her to Beast Island. I think she only listened because she was in shock. I was the one to activate the portal. It was all my fault.”

Glimmer was no less than shocked to hear such an admission from Catra of all people, but she willed herself to stay still, listening to Catra’s shaky breathing.

“Well, I guess we both deserve to die on this ship, huh?” Glimmer said, half joking

She expected Catra to jump up, to tell her that they were going to make it off somehow, some way. 

Instead Catra stilled “Heh, yeah, I guess we do.”

Glimmer noticed her voice crack in the middle of that sentence. A moment later, her ears twitched, and she ran back into the shadows, clones coming in to check on her seconds after, bringing her food.

After hardly eating the bland meal, Glimmer went to sleep. 

She had a wonderful dream, where she was back home on Etheria, still a princess, and both her parents ruled Bright Moon together in peace. The war had ended, the rebellion had won, and Horde Prime never existed. She, Bow, and Adora had spent the day playing games, having a picnic, visiting Bow’s dad’s in the woods, and ending it back in Bright Moon with a sleepover where they stargazed on Glimmer’s balcony, and Glimmer’s dad read them poems.

It was a perfect day.

It was almost torture when she awoke once again on the cold, sterile ship, but got up anyways, picking up the chair to make yet another dent in the wall.

Glimmer could hardly believe it, one moment she was clutching Bow as hard as she could while the ground collapsed below them, thinking they were on the verge of death, the next, vibrant life surrounded them, more magic filling the air with every step She-Ra took.

Glimmer couldn’t do anything but stare in shocked silence as she went up to the clone who had Prime’s white pupils, put her hands on his face, and stared into his eyes, and with a bright flash of light, the white pupils were gone. Horde Prime was gone.

The clones wandered around in a startled mess of confusion, yet didn’t seem to bother any of the Etherians who cheered in delight. All the bots had shut down, and the ship she’d been trapped on for so long had been turned into a massive, beautiful tree, floating in the sky. 

Finally the shock wore off, and she jumped into Bow’s arms, crying tears of joy. 

“It’s over! We did it, he’s gone!” She said

Bow laughed, and they looked into each other’s eyes. His eyes softened, and they kissed again. On the lips, this time.

When they pulled apart, both of them were grinning.

Bow hugged her close “I love you.”

“Me too.” Glimmer melted into the hug

After that they walked around, looking at everything. Entrapta was discussing happily with one of the clones, leaving Glimmer to assume she found the right Hordak, Mermista was watching in disgust with Sea Hawk’s arms draped over her shoulders, She-Ra gazed silently out into the distance and Aunt Castaspella helped her dad up.

Glimmer walked over to her dad, Bow staying behind to watch, and she took a deep breath.

“Glimmer?” Her dad asked weakly

“Hi dad.” She said, already feeling the tears well up in her eyes

“I- you-” he said, before sticking a hand out for a handshake “Hello, I’m your dad!”

She gave him a hug, letting the tears fall “Dad!”

Nearby, Spinerella and Netossa kissed, Melog and Emily chased each other around the clearing, and Perfuma and Scorpia chatted happily as Frosta laughed up on Scorpia’s shoulders, Catra eventually joining them, the four of them collapsing into a group hug. Glimmer watched it all from her dad’s embrace.

Finally, he pulled away, still leaving his hands on her shoulders. “Do you remember me, from when you were little?”

“A bit.” Glimmer said, glancing at Catra, who had somehow squeezed away from the group hug and had gone over to Adora, the two of them muttering to each other as their foreheads touched. She couldn’t help but smirk, suspecting something she’d first thought of after talking to Catra on one of those long days on the ship. “Is it okay if I go check on my friends?”

“Of course.” Her dad said, pulling her back in for one more quick hug before watching her run back to Bow, a smile on her face.

Bow was also looking at Adora and Catra. “So… do you think they’re-” 

“In love? Yeah.” Glimmer smiled “I think they have been for a long time, they just stopped being stupid about it for long enough to realize.”

Bow smirked mischievously “Wanna go tackle hug them?”

Glimmer grinned “You already know the answer.”

They teleported over and slammed into them, screaming at the top of their lungs, and the 4 best friends collapsed on the ground, laughing.

“So, what are we gonna do now?” Bow asked

“We can bring magic back to the universe.” Adora sighed happily, looking up at the stars, before sitting up “What do you guys say to one more Best Friends Squad road trip?”

The rest of them followed her lead and got up with her.

“I’m in!” Glimmer agreed, laughing and pulling in Adora for a hug

“Obviously!” Bow added

“Of course I’m going with you, dummy.” Catra muttered

“Then let’s do this.” Adora smiled “Together.” 

The 4 of them hugged, grinning at each other in silence, before Bow broke it.
“So… what happened down there?” Bow asked, smiling

Both Catra and Adora blushed immediately, pulling away from the hug in sync

“Oh, it was nothing much really, we used the failsafe to stop the Heart-” Adora started

“There was a monster guarding the Heart, it almost killed us both-” Catra continued

“Shadow Weaver saved us. She’s dead.” Adora interrupted, breath hitching “I don’t even know how to begin to feel about it.”

“And yeah, like Adora said, the failsafe stopped the heart, that’s about it.” Catra finished

Glimmer and Bow glanced at each other in disbelief. 

“And absolutely nothing else happened?” she raised an eyebrow

“Why would you think something else happened?” Adora said nervously

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe it’s because I’ve literally never seen you nor Catra this happy, and also, you’re a terrible liar.” Glimmer smiled, throwing a light punch as Adora’s arm

“Okay! Okay!” Adora laughed, giving up. Her eyes literally sparkled. “She said she loved me, and I said I loved her, and then we kissed.”

“Adora!” Catra groaned, but she was still smiling, expression glowing with just as much joy as Adora’s “I thought we weren’t going to tell them!”

“They would’ve found out eventually!” Adora protested

“We kinda already suspected it. For a while, actually.” Bow offered

Catra’s fur spiked up “What?” 

“We were stuck on a spaceship with you two after you made up for weeks.” Glimmer rolled her eyes “Even Entrapta suspected it! Now, c’mon, let’s go check in and make sure everyone’s okay.”

As they walked down the cliffside, Catra and Adora kept shoving each other, walking ahead of Glimmer and Bow, whispering like they were children.

“You didn’t know that I loved you, you’re such a dummy.” Catra said

“Well it didn’t help that you kept saying “this is not because I like you” before you did literally anything for me!” Adora replied “And you’re the one who's stupid!”

Glimmer could barely keep herself from laughing and they continued to walk.

“No you are.” Catra said, giggling

“No you are!” Adora giggled, throwing herself at Catra, and the two of them tumbled down the remainder of the hill

Glimmer looked at Bow, his eyes shimmering, watching them “They’re so cute!”

Glimmer smiled too “I don't know what they’re even arguing about, they’re both stupid.”

Bow laughed, and they teleported the rest of the way down the hill to only find Adora and Catra making out in the grass.

“Ahem.” Glimmer interrupted

While it was cute and all, they really had official business to get on with. Adora and Catra seemed to suddenly remember where they were and got up, blushing.

Before she could announce anything, she heard Frosta shout.

“Wait- were Adora and Catra KISSING?!? Are they married?!”

This sparked multiple murmurs amongst the rebellion.
“No, Frosta, that’s not how it works, people can kiss before they’re married.” Perfuma said

“I told you so, you owe me cleaning the house.” Spinerella told Netossa

“So like- when did this happen, I was kinda mind controlled for the past whatever, since when is Catra not an enemy Horde soldier?” Mermista muttered

Adora’s face was bright red “Catra, can we go find a hole to hide in forever?”

Glimmer cleared her throat, calling attention away from her friends and to herself.

“Attention, people of the rebellion!” Glimmer announced, and everyone went silent. “Many of you have been mind controlled by Prime, and may be confused about what is happening right now, but let me reassure you, we have won, and the Horde is no more!”

There was an eruption of cheers.

“Let me thank you all for just being here, helping us, even though it meant risking your lives. Whether you joined us recently or have been fighting with us for years, I, Queen Glimmer of Bright Moon, thank you for your participation in helping save Etheria. We’ve all lost a lot, and it will be a while before we will be able to repair the many damages this war has caused, but we will try our best to build a better, brighter future, not just for us, but for the entire universe!” Glimmer finished

There was another eruption of cheers, and as Glimmer looked out on everything, she realized something. 

She was proud of who she was, who she’d become.

She was sure her mother would be too.

Chapter Text

Growing up in a library, Bow read a lot. He’d learned pretty early on, at the age of 4, mostly because there wasn’t much else to do around. He was the youngest of all his brothers, all of whom had moved out or gone on to study away at schools by the time he was 7.

And his dads were always busy studying something.

Meaning most of the time he was left to his own devices.

Bow knew his dads wanted him to take over the library when he grew up, but he could never imagine himself doing it.

Because he knew from early on could never be a historian like the rest of his family.

No, his favorite stories were always ones about heroes, who fought evil and saved the world. He read all the books he could find in the library about them, and when he’d finished with that, he would go out into the Whispering Woods and pretend he was a hero. He never ran into any real monsters though, and mostly ended up running around on his own, playing with sticks.

But what was even better than that, was the stories that one of his dads, George, told.

He used to be a soldier, fighting against the Horde. Bow knew there was a war going on, but he also knew that the woods were magical and would keep them safe, so he never worried. George told the stories like they were scary, as a warning that being a soldier and fighting isn’t worth it, because you’ll be sent out to defend things you don’t care about, and lose what you love most.

But Bow never believed those messages. He only remembered the great courage, the strong feats. It fascinated him, he wanted to be a part of it.

But he knew his dads would never allow it.

Not only did he want to be a soldier, he wanted to be a hero, just like the ones in his stories.

Bow’s favorite story was an ancient epic of a hero named Zendellion, who travelled the world, keeping innocent people safe from monsters with his trusty bow and arrow.

So Bow couldn’t feel more lucky when he found an abandoned wooden bow out in the woods at the age of 9. It was almost like the woods had put it there on purpose.

He whittled his first arrows out of sticks, drew targets on trees, and practiced day after day.

It wasn’t long before he spent more time in the woods doing archery than at home reading, but he never brought the bow or arrows inside.

“What’s up with you spending all your time in the woods recently, Bow?” Lance had asked him one day

“Oh, I… um… enjoy the environment. It’s nice to sit out in nature and read a book.” Bow replied

Lance smiled.

“You just be careful, and don’t wander too far, alright?” George said

“I will!” Bow grinned

He did not listen, travelling further and further through the woods every day, but the woods always led him back home.

One day, when he was about 10 and a half, he stumbled out of the woods for the first time, into a fair.

It was unlike anything Bow had ever seen, colorful lights, so many different people, so much food, and so many different performers dancing with fire, ribbons, sparring with swords, all of it overlooked by the shimmering Bright Moon castle.

“Wow.” Bow breathed

He wandered around the clearing, his bow in his hand as he gazed at all the sights.

It was the most beautiful, joyful place he’d ever seen.

“Hey kid, I like your bow.” A young woman told him, smile on her face

“Thanks. I’m not too good at it yet.” Bow said shyly

“Don’t say that! Show me what you got.” she smiled

“Alright.” Bow said, pulling an arrow out of his satchel, as well as a piece of chalk, and drawing a target on a nearby tree. “I’ve only been doing archery for a year now.”

The woman nodded “Still, you’re pretty young to have started archery. I started when I was 14, so about 5 years ago.”

“I’m ten and a half.” Bow said, as he pulled back the string, loaded the arrow, and shot it, slightly off center, but still pretty close

“That was great!” she exclaimed, going to fetch the arrow “Did you make these yourself?”

“Yeah.” Bow said

“They’re really nice craftsmanship, but you’re going to want to find a stronger wood, or maybe get someone to help you with metal ones because these won’t last long before they snap.” the woman smiled, handing it back 

Bow nodded “I’ve just been using random sticks I found in the woods. I found my bow in the woods too.”

“I’ve heard stories about the woods being a magical place, one that guides people towards their destinies. Maybe yours is to grow up and be a soldier in the rebellion, like me!” the woman smiled

Bow smiled back “Yeah, maybe I will.”

The woman waved him goodbye, and disappeared back into the crowd, and Bow made himself a promise. He would continue to improve his archery skills, he would come back next year, and he would perform, and he would do it again year after year until he was old enough to be a soldier.

He took one last glance at the fair, before stepping into the woods.

When he got home, he realized he’d never thanked the young woman for her advice, or even asked her name. It was late, and the festivities were likely already over though, so he shrugged.

“There’s always next year.” he muttered under his breath, shrugging

He never saw that woman again.

“Bow! Bow! Bow!” Glimmer grinned, teleporting around the room “Happy Birthday!”

“Thanks Glimmer.” He yawned

“I can’t believe you’re 14! It’s just so exciting!” she exclaimed

“I can’t believe you woke me up at 6 in the morning.” Bow replied, smirking at her

“Well, that’s only because I have an amazing day of activities planned!” Glimmer smiled “I already asked the kitchen staff to make your favorite breakfast! Waffles with whipped cream and strawberries!” 

Bow got up, rubbing his eyes. That did sound pretty good.

Glimmer teleported outside to let him get changed.

“Okay, I’m ready!” He called

She teleported back in, grabbed his arm, and teleported the two of them to the dining room.

“Glimmer!” He said “You know how much teleporting the two of us drains your magic!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll recharge after breakfast!” Glimmer shrugged, “Besides, if I don’t practice, I’m never going to get better!”

That was fair enough, Bow supposed.

The doors opened a moment later, and the kitchen staff came in with the waffles.

Ever since he started living at the castle, nearly a year ago when he came up with the “Academy of Historic Enterprises” lie so his dads wouldn’t wonder where he was, every birthday had been extravagant. His birthdays at home were never that much, his dads would make cake, a few of his brothers would come home bringing gifts from their travels, usually books or little artifacts, but they were nice.

If Bow was being honest, everything was a little overwhelming here.

“Alright, so after this, we’ll go play in the waterfall pool, and then we’ll dry off and have lunch, and then you’ll get your gifts and then we’ll have the party, and then we’ll have a biiiiggg dinner!” Glimmer exclaimed

Bow grinned. Glimmer remembered how much he loved swimming in the waterfall pool. It was almost as fun as visiting Mystacor. The rest of the day however, was a bit overwhelming. But he could handle it!

Everything would be just fine.

After breakfast Bow and Glimmer walked back to his room, Glimmer excitedly talking about how her mom might let them sit in on the war council meetings soon. 

“Alright, I’m gonna go change, I’ll meet you there, bye!” Glimmer said as they stopped in front of his room, before disappearing in a poof of sparkles

He’d gotten used to all Glimmer’s teleporting by now, being her best friend and all, but it was becoming a more frequent thing and she’d occasionally teleport him around now too. It was still a little disorienting, but he was slowly but surely getting used to it. 

He changed into his swimsuit and headed out to the courtyard, where there was a side path that led down to the waterfall pool. To his surprise, Glimmer wasn’t there yet, so he set down his towel by the water and looked at the way the light refracted off the waterfall. A moment later, Glimmer appeared in his line of sight, falling out of the sky and tackling him into the water, causing him to let out a startled, high pitched shout.

He was laughing when they broke the surface of the water though “It’s so cold!”

Glimmer laughed too, teleporting them out of the water, shivering “I guess going swimming this early in the morning wasn’t one of my best ideas.”

Bow smirked at her “Want to jump back in?”

Glimmer smirked back. “Absolutely” 

They played in the water, eventually getting used to the temperature and having an amazing time, until lunch.

Lunch consisted of simple sandwiches, with jam imported from Mystacor, in Glimmer’s room. It was a smaller event, just with Glimmer, but Bow knew the rest of the staff were preparing for the big party ahead. 

Glimmer grinned at him “You have jam on your face.”

“So do you.” Bow grinned back

“So, are you ready for the party?” She asked

Bow shrugged “It’s my first birthday at the castle, and while I’ve been to the ones for the other people, it’ll be different from before. So I don’t know.”

“It’ll be great!” Glimmer replied “We’re gonna have so much fun!”

Bow nodded, reassuring himself “Yeah, it’ll be fun.”

They walked through the halls, to the large dining hall, and the guards opened the door

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOW!” dozens of voices shouted 

He flinched. The shout startled him, then the many conversations that followed. Everyone wanted to talk to him, and even though he was usually very outgoing, it was all a little too much. 

Still, he did it, he thanked everyone, he talked to a bunch of people, and he listened to everyone sing him happy birthday, and ate his cake. It was like floating, like he wasn’t really there. 

“-are you ready?” Glimmer asked him, after he finished his cake

“Huh?” Bow muttered

Glimmer blinked “I said it’s present time, Bow! Are you ready?”

Bow nodded “Yeah.”

He opened up present after present, thanking different people for the things he received. A new whittling knife. 

“And this one was my idea, but Abigail helped.” Glimmer handed him a large box

Abigail was the castle metalsmith, creating much of the royal armor and weapons. He opened the box, and his eyes widened when he saw what was inside.

A shimmering, brand new metal bow, with multiple new matching metal arrows.

“If you ever run out of those, I can teach you how to make more.” Abigail commented

“I helped with the ones with the pink tape on them! They’re special trick arrows, and when you shoot them, they have some of my magic in them and they’ll release it.” Glimmer added

Trick arrows… that was an amazing idea. He wanted to try them immediately, but the festivities were far from being over.

So he smiled, and said thank you, and moved onto the rest. Then when it was over, he freezed up. He was exhausted, he couldn’t do anything else. 

“Bow?” Glimmer asked him “Were you even listening?”

Bow blinked at her startled, and her face softened.

“Are you okay?” She asked

Bow sighed, shaking his head, and a moment later, he was in Glimmer’s room.

“Bow, what’s wrong?” Glimmer asked

“I don’t know.” He said quietly “I got overwhelmed, I guess?”

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier? I just wanted you to have a happy birthday but I’ve made you do all these things you didn’t like and I’m a horrible friend!” Glimmer cried

“The party was… optional?” Bow asked

“Yes!” Glimmer said “We have big parties for some people, and then smaller parties for others, based on their preferences. For some of the castle staff, we don’t even have parties at all.”

Now that Bow thought about it, there were multiple palace staff that he hadn’t attended the parties for in the past year.

“So… in the future would you like a smaller party?” Glimmer asked

“Yeah.” Bow replied “Um… can I try out my new bow and arrows?”

Glimmer grinned “Yeah, hang on!” 

She disappeared in a burst of sparkles, and came back a moment later with the box.

“Alright! Do you want to try it out?” Glimmer asked

Bow grinned. They would be doing something fun once more. 

The new bow had a lot more power behind it than his old one, and Bow was quick to realize he couldn’t do target practice on the trees anymore without risking damaging them. 

“If I ever convince my mom to let us fight the Horde, you’re going to be crazy good at it.” Glimmer said

“Yeah. I’ve always wanted to be a soldier.” Bow replied

Glimmer grinned “Then let’s do it! I’ll start convincing my mom tomorrow! We’re going to be the strongest soldiers in the rebellion, the Horde won’t know what’s coming!”

“Yeah!” Bow cheered “I can see it now, the legendary Glimmer and Bow, heroes of the rebellion, destroyers of the Horde!”

Glimmer cheered as well, jumping around in excitement, and Bow watched his best friend’s excitement fondly.

It was the best birthday he’d ever had.

Bow could hardly believe everything that had just happened.

His dads knew who he truly was now.

They knew he was a soldier.

And they loved him anyway.

It had been a crazy spiral of events, as things typically happened to pan out whenever he, Glimmer, and Adora were together, but it had turned out okay. Way better than he expected to be honest.

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this light, like the entire weight of the past and the double life he’d been living for 5 years now had suddenly been lifted off his chest. It was incredibly relieving. He couldn’t remember feeling so happy, that his dads loved his friends, that the two different sides of himself had finally been able to come together in a satisfying whole.

But there was always more to do.

He’d promised his dads that he wouldn’t go to the crimson waste, but after Shadow Weaver’s appearance, the reveal that Adora was a First One, that Hordak was trying to open a portal that could destroy the whole world, they needed answers, they needed advice on how to stop him and keep everyone safe.

Bow was quickly learning that being completely honest with everyone was hard, and pleasing everyone was even harder. 

But he’d keep trying to do it.

They laughed as they walked into the waste, but soon, the laughing turned quieter, dying down with the thirst. 

Yeah, this was probably a bad idea.

“Maybe we should turn back.” Bow suggested “Get some rest, some more supplies and try again.”

“No way.” Glimmer said “We’ve been walking for hours, we must be getting close, what does your tracker pad say, Bow?” 

“It’s still a very faint signal.” Bow muttered

Adora groaned, and they continued on

It wasn’t much longer before they came across something unexpected, life.

However, Bow really wish that they hadn’t, because it turns out instead of being uninhabited like they’d thought, the waste was full of outlaws, criminals even, roaming around, doing whatever they wanted. And the three of them had wandered into a bar full of them.

Next thing he knew Adora was staring at the one person in the room everyone shut up and listened to, and therefore, probably the most dangerous. He was pretty sure Glimmer noticed it too.

Adora had a huge crush on Huntara, and they weren’t going to be leaving this bar without her.

And then, there were 6 of them travelling through the waste. Huntara and 2 of her friends (though Bow wasn’t entirely sure he could call them that, he didn’t even know their names) were now travelling with them. He’d tried to ease the tensions among that hastily put together group, but to seemingly no avail.

When Huntara led them to an empty clearing, he quickly realized it was a trap, but even with his trick arrows, he couldn’t win the fight without Glimmer and Adora, and soon he was hit with a tranquilizer dart and everything went black.

The crimson waste was dangerous.

He knew that.

But he wasn’t ready for that specific type of danger, even after years of fighting the Horde.

Fortunately, Glimmer had been able to teleport them out of the hole, after multiple attempts that ended in bad bruises, and Huntara had been quick to back down after witnessing She-Ra’s power, offering to join them after her goons had fled the fight. 

Bow still didn’t trust her, but they did need as many allies they could get.

He was far beyond exhausted, but knew the worst of it was over when they made it to the ship.

He couldn’t have been more wrong.

Because after Adora became upset at the lack of the ship's functionality, all that was left of it was a broken hologram, soon enough Catra showed up and kidnapped her, leaving them to head back to Bright Moon in utter defeat with less than they’d had before, and another mission to plan.

Being a hero was hard.

Being able to make the right decision, keep everyone safe, was impossible.

Bow wished he’d tried harder.

To support Glimmer as she learned how to be queen.

To stop Adora and Glimmer from fighting each other.

To stop the Heart of Etheria from being activated.

To save Glimmer.

But now she was gone, taken by Horde Prime, and they’d had to evacuate Bright Moon, keep their camp hidden with magic so he wouldn’t attack them too.

He knew there was nothing he could do to change the past, but he couldn’t help but think about it all. 

Glimmer had been his first and only friend for years, yet they’d drifted apart as of recently. Bow knew it wasn’t entirely his fault, but the longer he went without knowing where Glimmer was, whether or not she was safe or even alive, whether or not he’d even see her again, he placed more and more of the blame on his own shoulders.

But when losing a war, there’s really no time for that. 

He pushed the pain down and focused on trying to strategize what their next move would be. The enemy they were now facing was still relatively new, and clearly way more advanced than the old Horde. Occasionally they’d need to fight off forces getting too close to their base, and sometimes, he’d go and work on repairing the ship further with Entrapta. 

They didn’t know how much longer, if ever, would it be suitable for space travel, but they were hoping it would be soon. 

Because then they might have a chance at saving Glimmer.

It wasn’t long though, that they had to relocate because the Horde found them. They’d lost a lot of their things, a lot of people along the way.

But they’d also found something. The location of Prime’s ship. Where they had to go to find Glimmer.

As it turned out, there wasn’t much to do in space, so he often found himself alone with Adora in the silence while Entrapta was off doing… whatever Entrapta does.

“I wish I had tried harder to keep the best friend squad together. It’s my fault all this happened, that we lost each other.” Bow said one day, when he couldn’t sleep

“It’s my fault too. I wish I hadn't been so angry with her all the time.” Adora replied “We wasted so much time just… arguing with one another that we forgot what it was like before- when we were friends- when we were happy.”

Adora dipped her head further. As much as she hated talking about them, Adora was terrible at hiding her emotions.

“And?” he asked

Adora sighed, as though she was revealing a big secret, which was strange because as far as Bow knew, she was a very open book and didn’t hide a lot.

“It reminds me of when I lost Catra, those years ago.” she said in a low voice “I told you before how when we were growing up, we were close, but I didn’t really mention how she was my best friend, up until the day I left the Horde. I tried to get her to come with me, but she refused, and then our fights just kept getting worse and worse the more time I spent away. But even though she’s our enemy, I still miss her sometimes, the version of her that I knew from before everything.”

Bow blinked in surprise, his mind recontextualizing every fight they’d had with Catra. Suddenly things, the way Adora had acted, made a lot more sense. 

He knew that even if Glimmer turned evil, he could never hurt her.

Bow had known Adora was strong, but she seemed a lot stronger all of a sudden.

That was, until he remembered a day long before, one he’d nearly forgotten, the night they arrived back from Salineas.

“You fought the Horde?! Again!?” Queen Angella yelled at Glimmer “How many more times am I going to have to ground you before you learn, Glimmer!”

“We didn’t really have a choice, mom! If we hadn’t fought, the Horde would’ve taken down the sea gate and taken over Salineas!” Glimmer protested “Plus, we got Mermista to join the alliance!”

“You said it would be a diplomatic mission! You promised me you would avoid conflict! You’re grounded for 2 weeks Glimmer!” 

Bow stepped away, walking to Adora’s room as Glimmer’s protests echoed through the halls. He’d heard different variations of this same conversation a thousand times now, and knew there was nothing he could do to improve Glimmer’s situation, and that it was really best not to intervene.

“Hey Adora!” He called from outside the room, pushing the door open. “It’ll be a while before we get to go on another mission, I think Glimmer’s going to be grounded for a couple of weeks for what happened in Salineas.”

The door had already been open just a crack, but Bow wasn’t prepared for the sight he saw inside. Adora was crying.

His voice softened “What’s wrong?”

“I think- I think Catra hates me.” Adora sniffled

Bow paused. It was the first time Adora had ever mentioned Catra. “Right… and who’s that?”

Adora paused in return “She was just… a childhood friend of mine, back in the Horde. It’s nothing really.”

She wiped away her tears, and Glimmer burst into the room “UGH, my mom grounded me for 2 whole weeks!” 

Bow didn’t fully learn who Catra was until Princess Prom.

Now he knew that things had run deeper, that they hadn’t just grown up and drifted apart, but they’d been torn apart to opposite sides of a war.

“You know, we haven’t seen Catra in a while. You think she’s on Prime’s ship with Glimmer?” Bow asked

Adora paused to think “Maybe. I don’t know.”

“We’ll get her back.” Bow said, unsure of himself on whether he was talking about Catra or Glimmer “Everything’s going to be okay.”

Adora took a deep breath in, and turned over “Night Bow.”

“Night, Adora.” He muttered back, doing the same

Yet as much as he tried to fall asleep, he just couldn’t. He lay awake, thinking.

What if this mission was futile, and they didn’t find Glimmer at all?

Being away from Etheria was certainly going to hurt their friends, Bow knew they needed all the numbers they could get to even have a chance at winning. What if they lost while they were away? 

Eventually, after thinking these horrible, horrible thoughts for what felt like hours, Bow slipped into a dreamless sleep.

Bow didn’t know how to describe the dynamic on the ship since Catra had healed as anything other than strange.

Sure, being out in space, hundreds of thousands of miles away from home was strange, but at least now they were making their way back fairly smoothly.

It was more in the way in which everyone was acting.

Sure, Bow had a lot more questions after they rescued Glimmer (or more of- Catra had done it), and some temporary reservations in how he’d realized he’d been so hyperfocused on rescuing her to realize he was still upset with her for everything that had happened.

But that was in the past. They’d made up.

And apparently, so had Adora and Catra.

Ever since a few days ago, when Catra had joined them for that first, surprisingly good dinner Glimmer had made with Wrong Hordak, she and Adora had been acting quite differently.

It was strange, seeing someone he’d been fighting constantly, the big bad commander of the Horde, Catra, acting ridiculous.

It was even stranger seeing the brave, strategic planner of Adora act like an idiot around her.
He’d been heading towards the kitchen to check in on Glimmer and Wrong Hordak, who were making another dinner, when he’d heard a crash coming from the main room, running towards the loud noise only to find Catra and Adora rolling around on the floor, giggling.

“Despite all those times you’ve won in training, you’ve never been able to pin me down and you never will!” Catra said pushing Adora off her

“What about that time I pinned you against a wall in the crimson waste with a metal cage and- oh wait, nevermind you escaped.” Adora replied, snorting

“What? That never happened, you never… oh wait that was Double Trouble.” Catra realized, now on top of Adora

“What?! So you never even got to hear my “It was fun distracting you though”??” Adora protested

Catra’s eyes went wide as Adora continued talking

“You know, for all the snarky comments you make to me, it feels like you never get to hear any of mine!”

Catra rolled her eyes, Adora finally pushing herself up into a sitting position, Catra still very much on her lap “It’s not like you have it in you anyways, Adora.”

Adora narrowed her eyes and smirked as she spoke in a smooth, snarky tone Bow had heard Catra use a thousand times but had never heard out of Adora’s mouth “Hey Catra.”

Catra’s face went bright red and she jumped back, her tail spiking “Shut up!”

“Oh, so you don’t like a little taste of your own medicine, do you?” Adora continued, and Catra backed up further, crashing into Bow with a yelp. 

Immediately, Bow felt incredibly awkward, as both Adora and Catra tried and stumbled to act normal.

“Hi Bow, Catra and I were just… ummm… hanging out?” Adora said, nonchalantly as she could muster

“Yeah… okay. I just wanted to tell you that Glimmer and Wrong Hordak have dinner almost ready.” Bow said awkwardly

It was a lie, he had no idea on what the status of dinner was, although considering how likely the two of them would go back to doing… whatever they were doing, it could be another 3 hours before dinner and Bow doubted that neither Adora nor Catra would even notice.

“I’m going to go find Entrapta now, bye!” Bow said, running away quickly as possible

As he speedwalked down the hall in the direction of the kitchen, ready to pull her away from making dinner to discuss what in the first one’s name was going on, he heard a slight clamoring in the ceiling before Entrapta fell through a vent, landing right on top of him as he let out a little yelp.

“Hi Bow! You said you needed to discuss something with me, what are we discussing?” Entrapta got up, dusting herself off.

Bow lowered his voice “I only actually said that so I had an excuse to get away from whatever Catra and Adora are doing over there.” He nodded down the hall, where audible laughter still rang out from

“Oh, that.” Entrapta nodded, as enthusiastic as ever “The behavioral dynamic between Adora and Catra is truly fascinating to study, they act completely different when they’re together in comparison to when they’re apart, I’ve been observing the phenomenon since the last great decennial social experiment!”

Bow blinked “The what now?”

Entrapta sighed “I have been studying and observing Catra and Adora, and how they act apart from each other and around each other, since the Princess Prom that happened 2 years ago.”

Bow nodded “Why?”

“Because it’s so interesting!” Entrapta exclaimed “I’ve never seen such an abysmal shift in personality, let alone for two people! According to my most recent data, there’s about a 73.4% chance that they’ll get together, with about a 2% margin of error and-”

“Entrapta, let’s go to the brig.” Bow interrupted

“Okay!” She grinned

When they arrived at the brig, Bow sighed “What do you mean that there’s a 73.4% chance that Adora and Catra will get together?”

“I’m saying it’s highly likely. I thought that aspect of it was quite obvious.” Entrapta muttered, quite flatly for her 

Bow thought about all of it, the interactions between Adora and Catra he’d seen, especially recently.

“You might be right.” Bow muttered

“I always say, data never lies.” Entrapta shrugs “There’s about a 13.2% chance that they know that they’re in love, and about a 2.6% chance that they realize that the feelings are reciprocated, but we’ll have to let it play out to be sure! HAHAHA!” 

Bow still felt unsure of Entrapta's little theory, but decided he’d keep a closer eye on how things were going to decide for himself from now on.

“Alright, I’m going to go check up on dinner now, see you later Entrapta!” Bow said 

“Bye Bow!” She called, vanishing into another vent

He really shouldn’t have allowed her free reign of the vents.

His dads had set up a family reunion after the war ended, not only to get everyone together again, but to celebrate the end of the war.

It was the first time Bow would see all his brothers together again in years, one of the very few times he would in his life.

He was bringing Glimmer, Adora, and Catra. After all, they were his family too, and while he’d told his dads of that plan, his brothers had no idea his best friends were coming.

They also had no idea he had a girlfriend, let alone her being the Queen of Bright Moon.

Bow knew that it was going to be a crazy day.

“Um, so just warning you guys, you know how I have like, 12 brothers, and they can be a little intense.” Bow said, as they walked through the woods. “Escepcailly all at once. Double especially because I’m the youngest.” 

Catra groaned “Why did I let you all drag me into this mess?” 

“Because you like us!” Adora chimed 

“Besides, as part of the Best Friends Squad, you gotta go on all our missions, Horde Scum.” Glimmer shoved her shoulder

“Especially if the missions include cake.” Bow added, “And there’s definitely going to be cake.”

They found the library and Bow knocked on the door.

George was the one who opened it, giving Bow a hug “Come on in, you’re the last to arrive.”

He led the four of them into the living room, where Bow’s brothers stood around talking to each other, unaware of their arrival.

That was, until Glimmer snorted “They all look like slightly older versions of you, Bow.” 

“Bow!” One of his brothers, Mason exclaimed “I’ve been studying in the kingdom of snows for such a long time, I was so surprised when I saw you speaking through Horde Prime’s projections, you’ve gotten so big and strong and-”

He froze when he saw the 3 girls standing awkwardly behind Bow.

“Hey everyone! Long time no see, I brought my best friends Adora and Catra, and my girlfriend Glimmer!” Bow announced, chuckling, before turning to his friends “Guys, these are my brothers, Mason, Nate, Jeremy, Stone, Maxwell, Griffin, Hunter, Zach, Jacob, Dagger, Brett, and William.”

“So our baby brother is dating the Queen of Bright Moon?!?” Jeremy asked “Why were we not informed?”

“And, wait a minute, if I remember correctly from what I’ve heard about the war, she’s She-Ra, and she’s a Force Captain from the Horde!” Brett said, pointing to Adora and Catra

“Hey, we both grew up in the Horde, and people change.” Adora said, placing her arms around Catra protectively

“Ahh, I’m so glad to see you all again!” Lance grinned hugging the four of them “Would you like some cake? We have plenty!”

Glimmer’s eyes lit up “Yes please!”

Soon enough, the awkward introductions were over and the party ran smoothly enough. Bow caught up with every single one of his brothers, many who were surprised to see who he had become. 

A rebellion soldier, friends with some of the most influential people in all of Etheria.

One of the few fighting to the end to save the universe from Horde Prime.

A hero, just like he’d always wanted to be.

Finally, after all the catching up, he managed to collapse on the couch next to Glimmer. Catra and Adora were nowhere to be seen, and Bow looked at Glimmer’s partially eaten cake.

“Care to share?” Bow asked

Glimmer shoved him, smirking “Go get your own, silly.” 

Bow made puppy dog eyes at her “But it’s all the way on the other side of the room! I’m going to have to talk to a bunch of people and it’s going to take forever!”

Glimmer rolled her eyes, teleporting from where Bow was leaning against her, grabbing a plate and a piece of cake while staring at him in mock annoyance, and teleporting back.

“Thank you.” Bow smiled

Glimmer didn’t respond, but her smirk as she rested her head on his shoulder was enough to tell Bow that she was having a good time.

“So, where do you think Catra and Adora went?” Bow said, in between bites 

Glimmer snorted “Knowing them, they’re probably making out in a closet right now. They can’t stop doing their idiotic goofy romance thing for two seconds, no matter if we’re in the former war room or at your family reunion, I swear, when I find them I’m going to yell at them for-”

Bow interrupted her by pulling her closer “I don’t really mind. They’ll be back eventually, I know, but it’s okay when it’s just you and me.”

Glimmer smiled softly at him, before grinning at him mischievously “I still want to find them though, just to see them panic again.”

Bow couldn’t argue with that, and soon they were wandering the halls of Bow’s childhood home, opening every door they could find in search for their best friends.

Eventually, they were getting tired of finding empty rooms, and so they’d stopped to take a rest when they came across Bow’s childhood room.

“Wow, you had a lot of books.” Glimmer said, glancing at all the bookshelves. “And a lot of little trinkets too.”

“Yeah,” Bow shrugged. “My brothers would always bring me something when they came home from their studies for a visit.”

“Well,” Glimmer smiled at him, sitting down on the bed. “I think your old room is very nice. It’s warm and cozy here.”
Bow sat down next to her, and she gave him a little kiss on the cheek. He returned the favor, and she kissed him again on the lips that time. 

Bow didn’t know how long it had been before he heard the door creak, and a bit of soft laughter before they pulled apart, faces red.

“Well, well, well, how the tables have turned, Sparkles, Arrow Boy.” Catra smirked from the doorway, next to Adora, who had nearly doubled over trying to hold in her laughter

“We were trying to find you guys! But we gave up, and then… you know…” Glimmer protested, somewhat embarrassed 

Adora was audibly laughing by that point

“Hah! Come on, everyone’s been wondering where you disappeared off to!” Catra grinned

Bow looked at Glimmer, and she nodded, and they got up and teleported together back to the living room.

After all that had happened, Bow realized he didn’t care about being a soldier, or even being a hero.
He cared about peace, his friends, his family, and somehow, he had it all. And he was truly happy.

Chapter Text

Catra knew she’d been taken into the Horde when she was on the older side of those in the infant ward, beginning her cadet training less than a year after she was admitted.

She was no longer a first year cadet, recently graduated into the young cadet rankings along with Adora, Kyle, Lonnie, and Rogelio.

But Adora was really the only one that mattered.

Because Adora was her best friend, and they would be best friends forever and ever.

And to make sure that happened, they promised to look out for each other and stick together no matter what.

But new training was hard. The robots were bigger, stronger, faster, and today, one had slammed into her pretty hard, causing her to land on her shoulder really hard.

“Catra!” Adora had shouted pretty much immediately, dropping everything to run over to her “Are you okay?!”

Of course, Adora had no problem dodging past and shoving over any bots that were in her way. She was stronger than Catra, after all.

Catra willed herself not to cry, but her arm hurt so much, and she couldn’t move it.

“Are you hurt?” Adora cried

She said it too loud, enough that there were others who heard, and shook her head no while gritting her teeth. After all, Catra knew better than to show any weakness.

But being Adora, she simply nodded and led her out of the training room, back to their cadet base.

“Adora.” Catra whispered, whimpering as they sat on her bed “I can’t move my arm and it hurts so bad.”

Adora’s eyes went wide. “We need to take you to the infirmary.”

“No!” Catra cried “Shadow Weaver will find out and she’ll hurt me worse!”

Adora froze, thinking about the same thing as Catra, that had happened only a few weeks ago.

How they’d snuck into the Black Garnet chamber, and Shadow Weaver had used her magic to lift her up in the air, making it so she couldn’t move at all and was paralyzed in pain while Adora couldn’t do anything to protect her.

They’d had a big fight afterwards, the worst they’d ever had, but when Catra had woken up crying that night, Adora had been quick to comfort her. 

They hadn’t discussed any of the events of that day since, like it had never even happened.

“Okay, I’ll try my best to fix it.” Adora said, determined “Pull up your sleeve.”

Catra did, and Adora pushed the shelving unit that was as tall as her to the side, pulling out the loose rusty flooring panel out from underneath where they kept all their stuff no one else could know about.

The extra ration bars they split when Shadow Weaver made Catra miss dinner as a punishment. Bandages and healing ointment they’d stolen from the infirmary late one night. The dusty little golden ribbon that was Catra’s only possession from a world outside of the Fright Zone, a place and time she didn’t remember.

Adora grabbed the healing ointment and bandages, and turned back to Catra.

“Can I touch your arm?” Adora asked

Catra nodded. She wouldn’t have trusted anyone else to do so.

Adora’s fingers were soft, despite her training calloused hands, but they still stung. 

“Does it hurt?” She asked

Catra nodded, letting out a little hiss.

Suddenly, Adora’s eyes lit up. “I’m going to try something we learned in basic medics.”

Basic medics was one of the training exercises they did, the most boring one because they had to just sit there and listen. Catra was pretty sure Adora was the only one who ever listened.

Adora gripped her upper arm more firmly, before pushing in upwards and into Catra’s shoulder. She let out a pained yelp, tears falling from her eyes as she heard a sickening noise, but then suddenly the pain was gone, and she could move her arm again.

“You fixed me!” Catra said in astonishment

“Yeah you just had a… I think it was called a mis-lo-jaded shoulder.” Adora replied, smiling “I’m going to put some of the ointment and bandages on it, just in case, and you can hide it under your sleeve.” 

“And Shadow Weaver will never find out.” Catra added

“Never ever.” Adora agreed, beginning the process “Do you think the princesses have magic that’s scarier than Shadow Weaver’s?”

Catra shuddered slightly. She couldn’t imagine anyone being scarier than Shadow Weaver, other than Lord Hordak. But the princesses?

“Probably.” she shrugged

Adora laughed “Don’t move, stupid, I’m still putting the bandages on!”

Catra waited as Adora tied off the bandage, before shoving her playfully “You’re the stupid one!”

Adora was quick to tuck everything away and move the shelf back into place, and soon enough they were running through the halls of the Fright Zone, laughing as they clamored over boxes and ran squealing from everyone who reprimanded them.

Catra knew as long as she had Adora with her, they’d be unstoppable. Who knew, maybe one day, the two of them would run this place.

Catra had heard rumors recently of a rebellion prisoner in the Fright Zone, and it had spiked her curiosity. 

She’d always known that at some point she’d lived outside of the Fright Zone, even if she didn’t remember it. She’d started her training later than a lot of the other cadets who’d grown up in the Fright Zone.

It was why she wasn’t as tough as the other cadets, because even if she didn’t remember a life before the Horde, she had to feel the impact of having one.

Recently, they’d moved up the ranks from being low to middle cadets, and Catra saw the impact it had on Adora. She started to follow the rules more, and was less willing to partake in stealing ration bars or run wild through the halls with Catra. 

She hated it, but had an idea for something she knew Adora couldn’t refuse.

“You want to what?!” She whispered, after Catra had made her suggestion, long after the other cadets had fallen asleep

“Sneak into the prison ward and talk to the prisoner, did you not hear me the first time, dummy?” She replied

“Catra, we can’t do that!” Adora said in somewhat of a panicked tone “We’ll get in so much trouble if we’re caught!”

“Since when do you care about that?” Catra muttered “It’ll be fun, sneaking around and stuff, just like old times. Besides, you’ve never been outside of the Fright Zone before, and I don’t remember what it’s like out there, aren’t you curious? We might even get secret intel on what princesses are like, and then we’ll crush them and then Lord Hordak will be so impressed he’ll make us his second in commands!”

She saw Adora’s eyes sparkle at the prospect, before going dim “No, I can’t.”

“Well then, I’m going with or without you.” Catra smirked, springing up

“Catra wait!” Adora called quietly, but she walked away without a glance back

She didn’t want to resort to that, but she knew Adora would follow her.

Sure enough, a couple of moments later she heard Adora’s distinct yet quiet footsteps, running to catch up.

She let out a quiet laugh “Knew you’d come. Let’s go!”

All those years of running around the halls had paid off, because Catra felt like she and Adora knew the Fright Zone better than anyone else, and there were very few places where they’d never been. Therefore, they knew all the shortcuts, and arrived at the entrance of the prison ward within minutes, skipping the door and sneaking in through the vents.

Most of the prison cells were just an empty room separated by the hall by a green barrier. The Horde didn’t keep their prisoners for long, sometimes trading them off for a gain in territory, other times sending them to Beast Island as an example, and most of these cells were mostly for members of the Horde who had acted out of line.

Catra would know as she’d spent a few nights in one, throughout her life.

But as they descended to one of the lower levels, they found one with someone in it, a young woman sitting sadly in the corner, still awake even though it was nearly midnight.

“Hey!” Catra whispered, putting her hands against the shield

The woman looked startled briefly, before blinking at the 2 kids in surprise. “The Horde is sending children to interrogate me now? What a surprise.” she raised her voice “Go tell whoever sent you here that I’m not telling you anything!”

“Shhh!” Adora reprimanded her “Nobody sent us! We came here by ourselves and you have to be quiet or we’ll get caught!”

The woman paused, taking a good look at Adora and Catra “Why did you come here? How old are you two, even?”

“We’re middle cadets.” Adora proclaimed proudly, much to the woman in the cell’s confusion

Catra shrugged, “They never told us how many years old we are, although Shadow Weaver always says that I’ve been a nuisance to her for the last 8 years.” 

“Oh! And Dusty, one of the low cadets who has parents, said he was about 3 years old when he began cadet training, so that would make us about 11 years old!” Adora reasoned excitedly

The woman smiled, before looking at them once more “You two are… really small for 11. Has the Horde been feeding you? What are your names?”

“Psh, of course the Horde has been feeding us! We get two ration bars a day, just like everyone else! One before daily training, and one after.” Adora told her

“What’s life like outside of the Fright Zone? Adora’s never been, and I don’t remember.” Catra asked

“Catra! She’s a prisoner! We’re not supposed to tell her our names!” Adora shoved her

“Well, you just said mine, idiot, so who cares!” Catra shoved her back

The woman laughed, a sad smile on her face “My name is Emerald, and, of course I’ll tell you about the world outside of here if you really don't know what it’s like. But you can’t tell anyone.”

“Only if you don’t tell anyone we were here.” Adora muttered

“It’s a deal.” Emerald agreed “Right, where to begin… Well, first of all, there’s no smoke in the sky so you can almost always see the moons and the sun clearly. And the sky is just this… brilliant blue, but when it rises and sets the sky turns pink, and then it’s very dark purple at night. Umm… there’s plants everywhere, most of them are some shade of green, but there’s also flowers that come in pretty much every color.”

“Woah. That sounds beautiful. Why would the princesses want to destroy all that?” Adora asked

“The princesses don’t-” Emerald paused to think before speaking again “You know, I’ve never actually met any princesses, so I don’t know.”

Adora nodded, satisfied, as unsure as Catra was “What else?”

“Well, I’m from a village, and it’s a place where people live, kind of like here, except families live together in their houses. The adults have different jobs, and the kids get to play all day, and everyone eats all different kinds of food 3 times a day.” Emerald continued

“Wait- they get lots of different kinds of ration bars? We only have gray and brown! And they get to have them 3 times?” Adora crossed her arms “That’s not fair!”

“Well, they don’t have ration bars exactly-” Emerald started

“Then what do they eat?!” Catra asked, surprised. “The flowers? Rocks?!”

“They eat and cook all kinds of plants, meats and stuff.” Emerald chuckled

“What about when the kids get in trouble? Like, when they say or do something bad. Do the princesses come and punish them with their magic, or does every village have a Shadow Weaver that makes sure everyone stays in line?” Catra asked

She knew it was probably the princesses, and she was glad the Horde saved her from that, because they’d probably be a hundred times worse than Shadow Weaver was to her.

Emerald’s face darkened, a disturbed look haunting her face “Kids only get in trouble if they do something that could get them or someone else hurt, and no one uses magic to punish them. What does this Shadow Weaver do to you guys?”

“She’s… not that bad, really, she raised us, but she also punishes us for stuff, mostly Catra though. It’s usually for stupid things, stuff Catra doesn’t even do.” Adora explained awkwardly, her voice growing quiet “She has magic, and she uses it to shock us.”

“But it’s nothing really.” Catra added quickly “The princesses do worse stuff to people all the time, right?”

Emerald breathed in, a shallow breath “That’s- that’s not normal.” 

Emerald’s eyes filled with tears. Catra didn’t know why she was crying. 

“You two have each other.” she continued “I’m sorry I can’t help you but you can help each other. Run. Get out of here, out of the Horde. You’re children, and you deserve to have a normal, happy childhood outside of this war. The people out there won’t hurt you. The princesses won’t hurt you. But the people here will! They’ve hurt you so much already and they will continue to in the future.”

Emerald’s eyes were filled with tears as she shouted to them through the green barrier. She looked terrified, not for herself, but for them. Her calm demeanor she had as she answered Catra and Adora’s questions had vanished entirely, and it scared Catra. She instinctively grabbed Adora’s hand for comfort.

“Run away from here! Go!” Emerald cried 

Catra looked at Adora, and she turned to Emerald. 

“Goodbye.” Adora said, pulling Catra along as they walked away

They walked in complete silence, all the way back to their bunk, before Catra could say a word.

“Do you think she was right? That we should run away?” Catra asked in a whisper

Adora began to cry “I don’t know. What would we even do, outside of the Fright Zone, Catra? We don’t even know if she was telling the truth- I just- I can’t think about it right now!”

“Then we should sleep I guess.” Catra muttered, “Tomorrow’s training starts in less than 6 hours.”

“Okay.” Adora said softly “Next to me tonight?”

Catra nodded, curling up next to Adora instead of on the foot of the bed like usual. Any time Shadow Weaver caught them doing that they were punished quite a bit, but Catra was willing to risk it for Adora’s sake.

“Night Adora.” she whispered

“Night Catra.” Adora whispered back

The next morning, Catra woke up at the typical alarm, squirming out of Adora’s grasp.

“Hey, dummy, it’s time to get up.” She said

Adora still didn’t wake up. She was out like a light. Catra groaned internally, now she was going to have to make up an excuse for her!

She filed outside with the other cadets into the hall as they did daily roll call, receiving their morning ration bars. From the looks of it, today was the brown kind. Yuck.

“Where’s Cadet Adora?” the senior officer asked 

“She- she woke up not feeling too well-” Catra replied nervously. Adora was going to be so mad at her for this later “But she’ll be ready, a couple hours max!”

The officer nodded, moving on as a few of the cadets tried to hide their snickering. “We’re not doing morning training today, all Horde forces in the Fright Zone have been ordered by Lord Hordak to immediately assemble in the main hall for a special assembly.”

The rumor of Adora being sick was quickly moved on as the cadets started whispering about what the potential assembly could be about, although were quickly shushed by one glance from the officer, and they walked to the main hall in relative silence.

And they stood there, far from the front of the crowd, waiting, watching, until Lord Hordak came out.

She’d never seen him in person. Only heard about him.

And then, Emerald appeared at the other end of the room, dragged by two officers as Lord Hordak stared at her coldly.

“Today, before me, stands a soldier of the rebellion that our forces bravely captured.” Lord Hordak finally spoke “This being chose to side with the princesses, go against us, and hurt Etheria. What do you have to say for yourself?”

“You’re the ones hurting Etheria. You destroy our livelihoods, our nature, heck, you even abuse your own kids!” She called out, eyes scanning the crowd. Catra doubted she saw her, she was hidden away behind many others “I’m not sorry for standing up for what is best for Etheria, but you all should be ashamed of yourselves.”

“Officers.” Lord Hordak commanded

They lifted Emerald up to her feet, putting a knife to her throat.

“For your crimes against myself and the good the Horde is bringing to Etheria, your punishment will be death.” Lord Hordak said “Let this be an example to all who defy us.”

The knife slit Emerald’s throat, and the officers let go of her arms as she slumped to the floor, lifeless.

Everyone cheered.

The woman who Catra had snuck out to talk to only hours before, who seemed to care so much about her and Adora despite just meeting them, was dead. Gone forever.

And Catra finally understood.

They weren’t the good guys. The Horde was an awful place full of awful people, and it hurt so, so, bad to think about.

Adora couldn’t know. It would absolutely crush her.

For as long as Catra could remember, Adora had protected her. Now, as they walked back to their cadet quarters to eat, Catra vowed she would return the favor.

She was still asleep when Catra nudged her awake.

“Catra…” Adora mumbled, before shooting upright in surprise. “Did I sleep in?”

Catra nodded, splitting her ration bar in half and giving a piece to Adora “Yeah, and I had to cover for you, stupid. Don’t worry, morning training was cancelled.”

“Why?” Adora asked

Catra lowered her voice “You know the prisoner? They brought her in front of Lord Hordak, and he scolded her and the rebellion in front of everyone before trading her for another land gain.”

Adora nodded, looking slightly unsure “Okay then.”

Catra decided to move on “Now, hurry up your eating, we’ve got no training til the afternoon, I wanna do something fun!”

Adora smiled. It was better this way, Catra decided, to let her stay happy, stay herself. As long as she had Adora, after all, nothing would ever truly be bad.

Catra sat alone in her Force Captain quarters. As upset as she’d been when Adora had first left, Catra couldn’t help but feel more messed up now.

Because she finally realized that Adora wasn’t coming back.

She’d made her choice, to join the princesses of all people. She left Catra for them.

Catra told Adora that she didn’t need her anymore. She told herself that, but deep down she knew it wasn’t true.

And worst of all, that messed up First Ones ruin forced them together, made them relive those memories, some of them good, some of them horrible.

But despite it all, she had to thank the place because it showed her something important. 

Adora had broken their first promise. Little Perfect Princess Adora was in the wrong.

But it still hurt like hell, and Catra pushed her face into her pillow to muffle the sobs that shook her body.

Why did it have to be Adora, who had this stupid magical destiny she had to pursue? It could’ve been anyone else but it had to be Adora.

Why did she have to leave her, without even considering how Catra felt about the situation? 

Why was Catra so stupid to refuse to go with her? Yeah, the Horde was the only home she’d ever known but it sure didn’t feel like home without Adora around.

Still, she wouldn’t bend over backwards and change her mind now. They’d chosen their sides in the war. 

“Every hero needs their sidekick, right?” She’d said to Adora earlier that day.

Adora had disagreed “No, Catra that’s not how it is!”

But Catra knew now what the truth in the matter was. Not every hero needed a sidekick, but every hero needed a villain.

And it looked like life had placed her as the villain in Adora’s story.

“Hey, um, Catra.” Scorpia said suddenly from above her, starling Catra badly “Look, I know you said to leave you alone, but you seemed pretty upset and you know, I just really wanted to make sure you were okay and stuff. Do you want to talk about what happened today, because I’m pretty sure something happened that made you upset, and I’d be open to listening about it, if you wanted to talk and stuff.”

Catra growled “I don’t want to talk. Go away, I just want to sleep.”

Scorpia blinked at her. “It doesn’t look like you were sleeping.”

“Why do you care?!” Catra shouted at her “I’m just a stupid, useless, waste of space, like Shadow Weaver always said! Adora hates me, she left me, and I deserve it!”

“Hey, hey, don’t say that about yourself” Scorpia put a claw on Catra’s shoulder “You’re Catra! You’re like, the strongest, toughest person I know!”

Catra sighed “Look, I ran into Adora at the ruin I got the tech crystal for Entrapta from. It was… awful, the whole place just really messed with your head, and I’m exhausted. So can you please just leave?”

Scorpia paused before nodding “Okay. I will. I’m sorry that happened, Catra.”

She walked out of the room without another word, and Catra felt like she wanted to punch herself for doing that. 

She wanted to tell Scorpia everything. She wanted to have someone to talk to about how terrible she felt, she wanted to stop pushing everyone away, but most of all she just wanted Adora back.

But she couldn’t have anything she wanted, could she?

She hid her face in the pillow once again as the tears rolled down her face.

This was stupid. She was stupid, for letting Adora leave. 

The little voice in her head nagged her. She could always run away to Adora, to the rebellion, but she doubted they’d accept her anymore.

Not after she’d crashed Princess Prom and captured Adora’s new friends.

So she was stuck here, in the Horde.

Catra sighed, falling asleep making plans of how she’d rise through the ranks, how she’d change things to go her way.

Might as well make the best of it, after all.

She couldn’t take it anymore.

Double Trouble had vanished, and Scorpia had left her, both within the past month. 

Catra knew there were tons of people who would kill to be second in command of the Horde, to have that much power, but it was so lonely.

“You’re a bad friend, Catra.” Scorpia’s last words to her echoed in her mind

She’d spent the last few… Catra didn’t know how many days it had been since she’d last slept, doing basically nothing but staring at the security cameras, trying to find any sight of Scorpia.

But as hard as she looked, she never did.

Looking away from the cameras, taking a break, would mean accepting it.

That Scorpia left her.

Like everyone else.

Like Adora did.

The sheer thought of it finally worming its way into Catra’s mind caused her to scream, slashing her claws across the nearest screen with only a Horde banner flapping in the breeze. The shards of glass stung against her skin, stabbing into her feet as she moved to break another tv.

By the time she’d broken nearly every screen, she’d gotten a call from Hordak on the largest one, took a deep breath, and prepared a report.

“I’ve taken the last of the coastal towns.” He reported “What is the status in the woods?”

“Our rating parties have crushed the villages near our current outpost. Tomorrow, we move farther inland.” Catra replied flatly, forcing a smile on her face. After all she was happy they were finally winning, wasn’t she? “Everything is under control.”

“Excellent.” Hordak replied, satisfied “Etheria will be ours yet.”

The transmission cut out, and Catra just couldn't hold it together any longer. She collapsed on her knees and began to sob uncontrollably, throwing her mask, one of the things she’d had for years now, off to the side as though it was worthless and didn’t carry so many memories, some of them good, many more bad.

Why did it have to be her, that lost everything?

Sure, Double Trouble said that the rebellion was practically falling to pieces the last time she’d talked to them, which means Adora was probably having a rough time too.

But she didn’t fucking care.

It had been months since she’d even spoken to Adora. It had been years since she’d been friends with her.

Because after the portal, Catra was sure Adora hated her, even though she regretted everything she’d said, even though she still wasn’t sure whether or not that was fully her. The memories, fighting Adora with everything she had, saying awful things to her, were fuzzy.

But she knew it was all said and done, and there was no turning back, despite how haunted she was by it all.

Catra sighed, getting up, grabbing her mask and putting it back on, as well as pushing her hair back in one fellow swoop, and walking away. She ignored the pain from the glass shards stuck in the soles of her feet and in her legs, pushing past the few soldiers with a scowl on her face and heading to her room.

Two days later, Hordak somehow found out the truth of what happened to Entrapta, and Catra had fought him solely to survive his rage.

She couldn’t have imagined anything like it a few years ago. Fighting Hordak himself, and winning. Yet she didn’t feel any joy over it, instead complete exhaustion, trying to catch her breath as she felt the tears well up in her eyes again.

“Hey Catra.” An all too familiar voice said from behind her. One she hadn’t heard in a good while.

No. No, she couldn’t deal with this now.

“No. You can’t do this.” she said, turning around to face Adora “You can’t come in and take this from me now!”

She’d worked so hard, so hard to get everything that others were handed on a silver platter. Hordak’s trust. Shadow Weaver’s favor. Power. A future. And yet, she’d never truly had any of it. Everything she’d done had all been for nothing.

“Woah.” Adora laughed, eyes widening “I knew this would get a rise out of you, but still, you really are obsessed, aren’t you,” she paused, narrowing her eyes “kitten?”

Catra’s heart skipped a beat. Adora had never called her that, but she knew someone else who had. Someone who’d appeared randomly yesterday after vanishing for months.

Sure enough, to confirm her suspicion, Adora began to laugh, one that soon shifted into Double Trouble’s.

They smiled, despite everything. “You know, it took me a while, but I finally figured out your character.” 

Then they shapeshifted, and Catra saw herself clearly for the first time in… she didn’t know how long. She looked like a mess, and the clone of herself moved in closer, giving her that uncanny feeling like when she’d first met DT, all those months ago.

“You try so hard to play the big, bad villain, but your heart’s never been in it, has it?” Her voice said

“What- what are you-” Catra stuttered, realizing the worst part. It was true. “Stop! Stop it!”

She tried to attack Double Trouble, but in her exhaustion threw a slow, weak punch they easily moved out of the way from, as they grabbed her wrist, pulling her so she was face to face with herself.

“People have hurt you, haven’t they?” the fake Catra smiled, 

Catra tried to pull away, backing up, but Double Trouble’s grasp was strong, even as their form shifted.

Shadow Weaver “They didn’t believe in you.”

Hordak “They didn’t trust you.” 

Adora, pulling Catra’s hand to their cheek “Didn’t need you. Left you.”

Catra felt like she’d stopped breathing. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t do anything but stand there and watch as Double Trouble, despite only knowing her for that short amount of time, exposing everything, every single weakness she’d tried to hide for years, like it was nothing.

Finally, they let go, and Catra stumbled to the ground, looking up to see they’d shifted back to their usual form, before looking at the ground once again, static filling her mind.

“But did you ever stop to think maybe they’re not the problem?” Double Trouble asked

They shifted once more, and the first thing Catra saw were those all too familiar boots. Her breath hitched, and she looked up to see her. 

Scorpia.

Standing before her, after she’d looked for her to no success for days.

But even though it looked just like her, even in the sad way she stared into Catra’s eyes, she knew it wasn’t real.

“It’s you.” the fake Scorpia said “You drive them away, wildcat.”

“Why are you doing this?” Catra asked with the last breath she had, her vision blurry with tears she refused to let fall

“It’s for your own good, daring.” Double Trouble’s voice replied “We both know this is never what you really wanted.”

How did they know? Catra’s mind screamed.

“But, it was also a good distraction!” Double Trouble grinned, holding up a screen “Your army was ambushed on their way to “defenseless Bright Moon”! Your face right now is almost better than applause. Almost.”

“You betrayed me.” Catra whispered hoarsely, knowing she was stating the obvious

“It’s not personal, darling.” Double Trouble smirked “You knew how this worked, the best way to survive is always choose the winning side. The rebels have some kind of ancient superweapon. Any minute now they’re going to use it, and when they do, everything you’ve worked for will be destroyed. I’d really better be going before that happens! And scene.”

Then they walked out of the room, leaving Catra shattered on the floor, watching them leave like everyone else without a word.

There was no one left that cared about her.

She was finally, truly alone.

Yet instead of screaming, crying, getting up and smashing something like she’d done when she was upset before, she just sat there and stared into space. 

Because what was the point? Nothing would make her feel better, less empty, less helpless.

She was nothing.

Catra hid in the shadows, waiting for the clones guarding Sparkles’s cell to leave. She was just waiting to have another conversation with the enemy, but somehow that had become the normal on this cursed ship.

Finally, they left, and Catra waited for a minute, but no others came by. She was clear.

“Hey.” Catra said

Glimmer looked up “Hey.”

She’d barely gotten any sleep last night, and was too tired for the usual banter they started their conversations with. Glimmer looked rather down too.

“I was thinking about my dad, how I might never get to see him again.” Glimmer muttered “I only have one memory of him, reading me a poem before I went to sleep. It’s my earliest memory. I was like… 4”

Catra nodded. It must’ve been nice for her, to have memories of her parents. Catra sure didn’t.

“It went like this:

Everyone is born a piece of pottery

Each one unique from the start

But as life goes on, they might get scratched or chipped

Or even shattered apart.

But it’s possible to pick up the broken shards

And put the pieces back together

And even though they’ll be different

They’ll be stronger, wiser, better.” Glimmer finished

It sounded good, in theory, but Catra knew it wasn’t true. She was kind of glad it wasn’t, because if it was Shadow Weaver would’ve surely broken her down to dust years ago.

She didn’t dare say that, of course.

“Sounds nice, I guess.” Catra muttered instead

“What’s your earliest memory?” Glimmer asked

Catra thought back to a time very long ago, one she hadn’t thought about in a good while.

“It was a promise.” she said, voice low “Adora and I were very young, I think we’d just became first year cadets, so we were probably about four years old as well. I don’t remember why, but I was upset, and crying. And then Adora came and sat next to me, and she told me

“It doesn’t matter what they do to us, you know? You look out for me, and I look out for you. Nothing really bad can happen as long as we have each other.”

And then I said

“You promise?”

And she said

“I promise”

And then we hugged, and she took my hand, and led me back to training.” Catra finished

She heard quiet sniffles coming from Glimmer’s side. Catra scoffed. She didn’t need pity, let alone any from a princess. “You guys didn’t keep that promise, huh?” 

Catra curled up in a ball “We didn’t keep a lot of our promises. But there are some we did.” she chuckled a bit “I once told her I would never apologize to anyone, ever. Still haven’t broken that one.”

Catra had been so lost in her own thoughts, she hadn’t noticed the clones coming, until it was too late. They gave her a look of disapproval before she ran away, giving a silent nod of a goodbye to the very concerned Glimmer.

Later that day, she was called to meet with Horde Prime, scorned for talking with Glimmer, asked to complete a favor, and she complied. It wasn’t like she had a choice, Prime had also thrown Hordak into this weird vat of green liquid and made her watch him scream, just because she’d spoken with him earlier as well. It was horrifying, and the threat was clear.

Do as I say or you’re next.

She visited Glimmer for the second time that day, accompanied by a guard who let her in the cell and held a piece of cake. Immediately, Glimmer seemed to note that something was off, yet didn’t say a word.

“Give us some privacy?” She asked the clone guarding

“Of course sister, Prime sees all.” the clone replied, before the opening vanished into a green wall

“What’s with the babysitter?” Glimmer asked

“Here.” Catra muttered, avoiding the question “It’s the dumb food you wanted. You know from your perfect day or whatever.”

Glimmer looked at her with wide eyes, as though surprised she remembered. It was one of the first things they’d talked about.

“I remember.” She smiled, eyes softening “It’s just- thanks.”

Catra scoffed. This was much more awkward without the wall in between the two of them. “Don’t go thinking I actually care about you, I’m supposed to talk to you, so eat the stupid cake and then answer my questions.”

She glanced at the guards silhouette, barely visible through the green wall, and Glimmer stared at her, fear filling her eyes.

“What’s going on?” She asked, and Catra was impressed with how steady she kept her voice

“Don’t say anything, just look at me” Catra said in a low voice leading her over to the bed “An old First One’s ship left Etheria’s atmosphere a few days ago. Prime cannot track it. What do you know about it?”

Glimmer gasped, and the cake fell to the floor.

“Adora’s on that ship isn’t she?” Catra whispered, surprising herself at how much fear was in her voice

She turned away, but Glimmer grabbed her wrist. 

“You can’t tell him.” She begged, “You know what he’ll do to her if he catches her.”

“Adora’s on her way here, she’s coming for you. I don’t have to do anything, I just have to let it happen!” Catra growled, beginning to walk away

Glimmer stopped her “And you think Prime will reward you? As soon as you’re no longer useful to him, he’ll get rid of you in a second!”

Catra knew it was true. It was still the Horde, but things worked differently here. There was no use climbing the ranks, it was just Horde Prime and everyone below him. 

But Catra ignored the reason, and glared at Glimmer, trying to push past “I always find a way out!”

Glimmer grabbed her, shoving her back, starling Catra. She was strong, even without her magic. 

“So you’ll just run away? To what? If Prime captures Adora, he can use the Heart of Etheria to wipe out the whole universe! Is that what you want?” Glimmer asked

Catra didn’t know what she wanted anymore. She thought she’d wanted power for a long time, but she didn’t, and now she just didn’t know.

“Please! Catra!” Glimmer cried, moving in on her. Catra backed away but there wasn’t anywhere to go. “Do one good thing in your life!”

She screamed “Don’t talk to me like you know me! You don’t know anything about me!” 

Catra bolted over to the entrance, banging on it “Hey! Let me out!”

The barrier opened and she ran as fast as she could, ignoring the tears streaming down her face and Glimmer’s distant sobs which somehow only seemed to get louder the further away she ran.

She continued to run through the halls, hoping that the release of energy would make her feel better instead of worse.

Memories of times long passed echoed through her head, but one more important than anything else.

“I’m always going to be your friend.” Adora’s voice, or at least, how she sounded all those years ago when it felt like Catra knew her, said

She had a new mission, turning on her heels and running in the direction of which she’d come.

She got to the cell, and waited in the shadows until a clone came by carrying a tray of food. She jumped on him, pinning him down with a shout.
“It’s nothing personal, Hordak.” She growled, sticking her fingers in the port in the back of his neck, the clone’s eyes turning white and lifeless

She pulled him up.

“I’m coming in!” She shouted, lifting his hand up to unlock the entry

There on the other side, stood Glimmer, holding a chair leg defensively. Good, Catra noted, she was ready. 

“What are you doing?” Glimmer asked shakily

“I wanna do that one good thing in my life. Like you said” Catra breathed, not thinking “So come with me!”
Glimmer grabbed her hand, smiled, and they ran. Catra only had a fragment of a plan. Get Glimmer, go to the transmission room, send her to Adora, save Adora from Prime.

She didn’t know what would happen to herself afterwards. She didn’t care.

After all, it’s not like she had anything to live for but the memory of who Adora used to be. The best thing she could do was save who Adora was now, even if it ended up being the last thing she did.

The two of them disabled any clones they happened to come across, but soon enough, they were being chased by too many to fight off. She closed the doors with the control panel to hold the clones off and began to search for the ship.

“Wait, are you… are you saving me?” Glimmer asked from inside the transmission pod

Took her long enough to sort of realize what was going on.

“Not you, Adora.” Catra replied, searching “Even if I sent her a message to stay away, she’d still come for you, that’s just how she is.”

She should’ve paid more attention when Entrapta ranted about science. Maybe then she would have an easier time finding it.

There was a sudden bang on the door, and Catra glanced over to see it being shoved open. She was running out of time.

“What about you?” Glimmer asked over the shouting

“Me? All I do is hurt people.” Catra sighed, finally telling the truth “There’s no one left in the entire universe who cares about me.”

Then, by some miracle or magic, one thing went right for Catra, and she found a tiny blip. She wouldn’t be able to send Glimmer to its exact coordinates, but she could to the quadrant if she could patch a message through. 

And by another, the link opened.

“Adora?” Catra called 

She could hear her gasp on the other end. “Catra?”

She’d nearly forgotten the sound of Adora’s voice. It brought her so much comfort, and yet, so much hurt, as she knew this would be the last time she ever heard it, but she kept her voice steady.

“Don’t sound so happy to hear me.” Catra said “I’m sending Glimmer to you. I don’t know your exact location, but I can get her to your quadrant. You HAVE to be there to catch her.” 

“Wait wait wait wait- what? What’s going on? Glimmer is with you?” Adora asked, startled

The clones pushed the door open with a shout. Catra needed to finish this now. She knew she was a failure, but she didn’t want her last act to be one.

“We don’t have time. You need to get to these coordinates now. Don’t come here, no matter what.” She warned, sending the coordinates to Adora as the clones began to lunge at her “Horde Prime is ready for you!”

“Catra, I don’t understand, what is-” Adora replied

She screamed as the clones began to overwhelm her, and broke one of the last promises she’d kept “Just listen! Adora! I’m sorry, for everything!”

She could practically see Adora’s startled, scared face, as she leaned forward and pressed the button to send Glimmer away with a grunt, before the clones took her down.

“No, no, NO NO NO! CATR-” Adora shouted, panicked, but the sound abruptly cut off.

Catra was dragged to Horde Prime, knowing that she might as well already be dead, laughing in his face like she’d laughed at Hordak’s back before she was sent to the waste. Only, no one was coming to save her now.

But the thing that terrified Catra most wasn’t that she was going to die. It was that she wasn’t. That Horde Prime still had use for her.

And thus she was thrown into the vat of green liquid, screaming, drowning until the pain was gone and replaced with light and peace in the name of Horde Prime.

Catra could hardly believe it. The war was over. Horde Prime was gone. She had friends who cared about her, Scorpia forgave her, and Adora…

Adora loved her.

Even after everything she’d done that had made herself unworthy of love, at least in her mind, Adora still loved her.

It was something she couldn’t have dared to ever dream of for so long, but what she’d always wanted.

Because Catra had loved Adora for years, all the way back to when they were kids, but she’d never said it because she’d thought that love made you weak.

Turns out it was the opposite, the only thing strong enough to save the universe.

After a variety of shenanigans that resulted in all of the princesses finding out that Adora and Catra were… dating now she supposed, or something in some resemblance to that, Adora held her hand out to Catra.

“Come on, let’s go home.” Adora smiled

Catra took it, and Glimmer teleported her, Adora, Bow, and most of the princesses to Bright Moon. She was getting used to it by now, to her surprise, and didn’t feel so woozy.

Glimmer began to laugh and cry at the same time “Home! We’re finally home!”

Catra suddenly realized that Glimmer hadn’t been here, hadn’t been home in nearly half a year now. She also realized as she went inside with Adora that she’d never actually been inside of Bright Moon’s castle. She’d never actually been to this place that Adora called home. She’d even attacked it once, tried to destroy it.

Adora grabbed Catra’s hand, seemingly noticing her hesitance. “Let me show you our room.”

Catra took note of the “our”, and smiled. She’d spent so much time thinking that Adora had changed, but she was still the same person Catra grew up with deep down. Once they got further away from everyone, Adora smiled.

“I always had a hard time sleeping alone.” she shrugged, “Glimmer and Bow kept teasing me about it, along with my “weird habit” of sleeping with my legs curled up, and sleeping in.”

Catra nodded “I had a hard time sleeping alone too.”

“I missed you.” Adora smiled, “I never could shake those little habits I got from you, and I’m glad I couldn’t.”

Catra couldn’t help but purr in response.

Adora opened the door “Alright, so it’s a little much at first, but here’s the room.”

The place was giant, bright, and sparkly. Catra didn’t expect anything less for a princess, after all.

“There’s the bed. There used to be crystals up there but I kinda broke them a while ago practicing with my sword so right now it’s just strings hanging down from the ceiling. There’s the bathroom, and over there’s the waterfall, I still don’t really know what it’s for other than not for showering.” Adora pointed around the room “There’s the closet, I don’t really use it but it exists, and then there’s the desk and my study board, and finally over by the window is the daybed. So, what do you think?”

“It’s… big.” Catra muttered, sitting down on the bed “At least this is familiar.”

“It took a while to get used to. Glimmer had to commission this bed. The old one that was in here kinda ate me… and then I kinda killed it.” Adora said awkwardly

Catra snorted “How did you manage that?”

“I just laid down on it, and I sorta sunk into it and couldn’t get up!” Adora replied defensively “And so I started punching it, and then it exploded!”

“As one does.” Catra laughed, leaning into Adora “You’re such an idiot.”

“So are you.” Adora leaned into Catra, smiling

Catra glanced over at the desk, noticing a vase laced with gold cracks, and it reminded her of that poem Glimmer had told her about, back on Prime’s ship. “What’s up with that vase?”

“Oh, that’s another thing I broke, practicing with my sword.” Adora laughed awkwardly “But Glimmer and some of the palace staff told me about this old artform, and we put the pieces back together and fixed it, and now I like it better.”

Catra supposed that in some ways, she and Adora were like that vase, slowly helping each other grow and put themselves back together. Glimmer’s poem made a lot more sense when she felt happy.

“I can’t remember the last time when I was this happy.” Catra muttered

“Me neither.” Adora replied, holding Catra close, as she realized something

All this time, she’d spent, trying to gain power in the Horde, believing she couldn’t leave because it was her home, all she’d ever known.

When her home had really been wherever Adora was, and she was there now.

Finally home.

Chapter Text

“Hey Octavia!” Adora called at the woman, who looked up at her “You’re a dumbface!”

The woman growled, and Catra grabbed Adora’s hand and they ran, squealing and giggling.

They’d had enough sense by now to climb into one of their hiding spots and grin at each other in silence until Octavia gave up the search for them, before bursting into laughter and climbing up to their spot at the top of the Fright Zone.

Adora grunted, trying to find another foothold, as Catra bounded up easily.

“How do you do this so easily!?” She asked Catra, some rocks falling down

“I dunno. Climbing doesn’t come naturally for you?” Catra asked, giving Adora a hand and pulling her up

“I mean, the more they train us, the easier it gets, but I’ll never do it as good as you.” Adora smiled, sitting down next to Catra on the ledge “Thanks.”

“You can’t be good at everything, stupid.” Catra nudged her “Thanks for standing up to Octavia though.”

Adora giggled “You’re my best friend, why wouldn’t I do it?” 

“Pfft, I dunno.” Catra muttered “Kyle would chicken out.”

Adora snorted, “That’s because he’s Kyle.”

Catra leaned into her shoulder, making that soft rumbly noise Adora loved but couldn’t replicate “Best friends forever?”

“Yeah. Best friends forever.” Adora nodded, her stomach growling “Let’s go see if it’s time for evening ration bars.”

They climbed down from their spot, and Catra seemed especially clingy, making the rumbly noise, and clinging onto Adora’s arm as they walked through the halls.

“Officer, when are evening ration bars being given out?” Adora asked one of the officers she knew

“In about an hour, cadet.” The officer replied gruffly

Adora was starving, but she knew better than to complain. She’d just have to wait a little longer. “Okay. Thank you, officer.”

They went to their cadet room, and once on the bed, Catra curled up close to Adora, and to her surprise, began licking her arms affectionately, something she hadn’t done since they’d become cadets, and Adora began to laugh. She’d forgotten how it felt.

“Are you okay?” Catra asked

“Yeah, it’s just-” Adora caught her breath “it’s just tickly!”

Catra continued to lick her arms while making the rumbly noise, Adora laughing so much that neither of them noticed that someone else had entered the room.

“What are you doing, Catra?!?” Shadow Weaver shouted

Both Catra and Adora jumped so hard that their heads hit the top of the bunk. 

“Sh-Shadow Weaver! We were just playing, we-” Adora stuttered, glancing over at Catra

Catra’s arms were shaking, eyes wide with terror and completely silent.

“Oh Adora, dear, this isn’t your fault, this is Catra’s. She shouldn’t have been acting on this- animalistic instinct that she was.” Shadow Weaver growled

Adora knew what was coming next. The shock. She wasn’t going to have any of it.

“No!” Adora cried, stepping between Catra and Shadow Weaver “Catra was only doing it because I asked her to!”

“Adora- no.” Catra whispered

Shadow Weaver looked genuinely surprised at Adora’s “admission”, unaware that it was a lie. 

“We cannot be having any of that either, Adora.” Shadow Weaver said, eyes narrowing once again

Adora felt a shock, and screamed. She couldn’t move, turn to see if Catra was okay. After the initial pain, the pain dulled slightly.

“Catra, it’s gonna be okay! Everything’s gonna be okay.” Adora called

“You’re correct, Adora, everything will be okay, because once I am done with you, you won’t remember any of this.” Shadow Weaver said flatly

She felt another shock, this one more painful than the last, and her vision went fuzzy.

“Adora!” Catra cried “Don’t hurt her!”

Adora breath hitched. Catra never talked back to Shadow Weaver, they both knew she faced consequences for doing so.

But Adora could see her, even through the pain and blurred vision, run up to Shadow Weaver and claw at her cloak. The pain worsened, and Adora hissed another scream back. She didn’t need Catra to get into trouble again because of her.

“I heard from Force Captain Octavia that you and Adora came up to her and called her names today before running away. However I know Adora has more sense than to treat her superiors in that way. You cannot continue to influence Adora, you insolent child, jeopardize her future like this, or there will be further consequences.” Shadow Weaver spoke

Catra hissed in response, glancing briefly at Adora before breaking out into sobs.

Those sobs, being the last thing Adora heard when everything went black.

When Adora woke up, Kyle, Lonnie, and Rogelio sat in the corner, chatting quietly. Her head hurt, feeling a little fuzzy.

A wrapped ration bar fell from the top bunk, hitting the floor next to her bed with a slight clunk.

“Catra?” Adora asked, wobbling a little on her feet as she got up “What happened?”

She glanced up, her bed friend curled up in a ball on the top bunk, making eye contact briefly before Catra looked away.

“You um… what do you remember doing today?” Catra asked quietly, as Adora savored her gray ration bar

Adora ignored the weird question “Well, we had morning training… and then since Officer Skretch was doing Force Captain training today we got out of afternoon training, you kind of disappeared for a while and then I found you, I called Octavia a dumbface and we ran away” she paused to giggle a bit, before lowering her voice “And then we climbed up to our spot, talked for a bit, and climbed down, and then… I don’t remember anything after that.”

“Yeah, it’s because you hit your head on the way down.” Catra muttered

“Did Shadow Weaver find out?” Adora whispered

Catra’s head snapped up, eyes wide.

“What did she do, Catra?” Adora asked

“She- she used some weird magic thing to heal you, and shocked me for being irresponsible.” Catra said quietly

“I’ll be more careful when climbing, I’ll even use a grapple, I promise it won’t happen again Catra!” Adora said, climbing up to the top bunk to be with Catra

“Yeah.” Catra nodded, “It won’t happen again”

Adora and Catra were in the top of the ranks for the middle cadets, but to rank up to high, they had to participate in a sparring match while being supervised by a jury of officers and force captains. 

Fortunately, they were crushing it.

“And finally, fighting for the first place spot, Cadet Catra and Cadet Adora.” Officer Grit called

Adora faced down her best friend, training gear on, and grinned. Catra grinned back.

“You will begin to spar on the signal, until one of you successfully lands a hit that knocks the other sparrer out.” Officer Grit continued

There was the loud buzz of the starting alarm, and Adora paced around, planning her move.

Catra lunged at her and slammed her sparring stick against Adora, but she was quick to block. They’d done this hundreds of times, offense, defense, forwards, backwards, switching to the clashing of the sticks.

Adora retreated backward, before getting an idea. She ran at Catra, acting like she was going to strike above, before going lower, sliding on the ground next to Catra, planning to get up and hit her on the panel in her back, winning the match. In her surprise, the moment she popped up, Catra spun around, blocking her move. 

“Too slow, dummy.” She grinned, taking one hand off her stick and poking Adora’s forehead gently with a single claw.

Adora stumbled back, flustered “What was that for?!”

“A distraction, obviously” Catra smirked, pinning Adora down

But Adora was strong, and Catra let out a little yelp as Adora shoved her off, turning the tables within moments, taking advantage of Catra’s surprise and getting her out, before helping her up.

“I only let you win because I wanted you to.” Catra grumbled

“Aww, really?” Adora smiled

“It wasn’t because I like you.” Catra muttered

Officer Grit came down. “You both showed exceptional skill in your fighting mannerisms, and used your individual strengths to your advantage. However, each of you need to work on not letting yourselves get distracted so easily, especially you, Cadet Adora. As for you Cadet Catra, you need to take this more seriously and not resort to childish tricks. However, your overall performance was great, so congratulations on ranking up to high cadets.”

Catra and Adora grinned at each other, talking in the locker room.

“Can you believe it!? High cadets! After this, it’s only senior cadets, and then we’ll be allowed to fight for real!” Adora exclaimed

“I know! I can’t wait to blow stuff up!” Catra said

“I bet once we’re senior cadets they’ll be so impressed with us that they’ll upgrade us to Force Captains right away.” Adora said

“Well, obviously that’s gonna happen if you keep smashing the training course records.” Catra smirked

“We keep smashing the training records.” Adora corrected “Remember how I got knocked out halfway through that one last week protecting Rogelio, but you guys still completed it in record time?”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t give me too much credit, Adora, or the officers will start expecting me to do something.” Catra rolled her eyes, shoving her

Adora smiled. She and Catra were both good, but they definitely worked better as a team

“And you know what’s great about ranking up? New uniforms!” Adora added 

“Argh, I hope they finally give me something that works with my tail this time, remember how we had to cut a hole in my uniform last time?” Catra asked

“Yeah, and it kept ripping so we had to steal that button and sew it in.” Adora replied

Catra blinked, a smirk spreading on her face suddenly. “Race you to our spot!”

Adora ran to catch up with her, knowing there was no way she was winning if she had to stop back at their cadet room and grab her grapple to scale the tower, smiling all the way.

While the war was still going steady, things had finally slowed down enough for once to have a Princess-only sleepover (plus Bow, who was practically an honorary princess with the amount of Princess-only events he was invited to at that point).

It was already nearly midnight, and they’d already eaten an entire cake. Frosta had passed out about an hour before, Glimmer teleported her to the guest room so she could get some sleep, crashing after eating 4 pieces of cake and winning 7 consecutive rounds of Twister. 

Now they were sitting down in a giant pile of blankets and pillows, playing truth or dare. Glimmer and Bow had dipped out to steal more cake from the Bright Moon kitchen on the deal they got to hear about anything noteworthy that occurred in the time they were gone. Also because Bow got it as a dare, and Glimmer decided to go with him.

They were using the spinner from Twister to decide who would go next, and the arrow once again pointed to Adora.

“Alright, Adora, Truth of Dare?” Mermista asked her

“Dare.” Adora replied

The princesses' dares were relatively harmless compared to the stuff in the Horde, and Adora knew better than to pick truth after some shenanigans that had taken place there over the course of her teenage cadet years.

However Perfuma groaned “You always pick dare, Adora! We’re running out of things to do at this point honestly.”

“Yeah, come on, I’m out too, and who knows when Bow and Glimmer will be back.” Mermista muttered

Adora groaned “Okay, fine, truth.” 

Mermista grinned “I got this one. What’s going on between you and Catra from the Horde? Like, literally whenever we fight her she always targets you, to the point where she’ll address you directly. I swear half our fights against the Horde start with her coming out and saying “Hey Adora” or something like that.”

“Ooh, that’s a good one!” Perfuma added “There’s always this strange, tense aura in the air when you two meet on the battlefield, and it’s different from normal battle tension.”

Adora was sweating bullets. This is definitely why she never picked truth, and never would again.

“Well- um- you see-” she stuttered 

Mermista and Perfuma glanced at each other.

“We broke Adora.” Perfuma whispered

“Glimmer’s gonna kill us!” Mermista whispered back

“So, you know how I grew up in the Horde, and like, when I was back there Catra and I were sort of maybe best friends, for like… as long as I can remember, and then she got kinda upset when I left.” Adora stumbled through an explanation “And now I’m pretty sure she hates me and stuff which still makes me a little sad and I don’t know why I feel that way because she’s the enemy and I’m supposed to hate her but I don’t, you know? And I still really miss her and wish she’d join the rebellion even though it’s been a year since I left the Horde and I never meant to leave her behind but I think she interpreted it that way and I can’t go back and change it even though it’s the worst mistake of my life and I don’t know how to fix it especially since now she’s done all these bad things, but I still think there’s good in Catra even after everything. I just wish we didn’t have to fight each other because she was my best friend for almost my entire life and that changed so suddenly and I guess I just miss her and stuff.”

Mermista and Perfuma blinked at Adora for a good while after hearing the ramble, and Adora hissed through her teeth.

“You know what, just ignore what I said, it’s complicated.” Adora shrugged

The truth was she didn’t know how she felt about Catra. There was a point in her life where she would’ve responded immediately with the words “she’s my best friend”, but clearly that was far from the case anymore.

Fortunately Glimmer and Bow had picked that awkward moment of silence to teleport in with some more cake, which Adora ate until she felt like she couldn’t eat anymore.

She was making up for all those years when she didn’t know that cake was a thing, after all.

Adora wondered if Catra would’ve liked cake.

She quickly pushed the thought out of her head. 

A few hours later, after she was certain everyone had fallen asleep, Adora quietly crept out to Glimmer’s balcony, which overlooked the Whispering Woods, and somewhere past that was where the Fright Zone was, where Catra was.

Adora wondered if Catra still missed her, if she still liked her.

Or if she’d already forgotten about all those memories and moved on, if she no longer cared that Adora was her enemy, if she truly sought to destroy her and the rebellion.

The thought of that possibility brought tears to Adora’s eyes, and soon enough, she couldn’t help but sob.

She hated change, heck, she still wore nearly the same uniform she’d received when becoming a senior cadet, just slightly modified by the castle tailors to remove the horde symbols. (She’d actually grown quite close with them, having to work with them to make sure they were almost exactly the same specifications.)

But so much had changed for the better in the past year, and she felt a lot freer, more relaxed, and stronger than she ever was in the Horde. She’d originally thought it was She-Ra that made her feel like that, although Bow had helped her conclude that no, it was actually because she was eating 3 full meals a day and not constantly training for hours on end, even though she’d continue to fall back into those habits of not eating and constant training or planning. 

So much else had changed for the worse though, and it all circulated around her broken relationship with Catra. Because of a promise she broke, to always look out for her, to always be around, to always be her best friend.

But she knew that her new friends wouldn’t care, because they only saw her as a hero, and Catra as a villain. 

Even though Adora never felt like a hero. She’s made too many mistakes to be one.

The last couple of weeks, or… however long they’d been in space now, were incredibly weird.

First of all, there had been next to nothing to do on the ship, with Bow not allowing her or Entrapta to train or touch anything. Neither of them had done a particularly great job at listening to that though so that rule was quickly forgotten.

Then, when they were getting closer to Horde Prime’s ship, to save Glimmer, they’d gotten a message from Catra of all people, and even through the crackly static of the ancient comms, Adora knew exactly the tone of voice she was using.

It was her “hiding the pain” voice, one she’d used every time she was hurt throughout their childhood, after they’d learned not to show weakness around others.

And when she said that she was sorry for everything, Adora couldn’t help but panic, knowing truly that Catra knew what she was doing, knew that she might not make it out of there.

She’d pushed the panic aside for a while to save Glimmer, but after they’d collapsed inside in a pile on the hard metal floor, just her, Glimmer and Bow after Entrapta had muttered a greeting before bounding away, chattering about how “spacesuit testing was officially a success”, and she let herself sob.

She was so relieved that Glimmer was okay and with them again in some semblance of safety, but also scared out of her mind as they came up with a plan for what to do next.

“We have to go rescue Catra.” Adora said “I know she’s done so many terrible things, but she saved Glimmer, there has to be some good left in her.”

“It’s too dangerous.” Bow replied “Catra herself told us that Horde Prime would be ready for us, expecting us. We can’t fall into his trap.”

“I talked to her quite a bit on the ship.” Glimmer added quietly “About all kinds of things. She told me a lot about what growing up in the Horde was like, stuff even Adora never talked about, and… I can’t just leave her there.”

Adora was surprised. Glimmer hadn’t been on her side in a long time. 

“Even after everything Catra’s done, even after how long it’s been, she was all I had for most of my life, before I met you guys and- I- I just can’t imagine a world without her in it.” Adora muttered

“Entrapta should be part of the decision making, and it’s late. Let’s get some rest and set our course tomorrow.” Bow said

Adora nodded

Entrapta had agreed immediately to the plan “Yeah, sure! Catra’s my friend too, even after she kinda tased me and used my work for a bad thing and sent me to Beast Island, but that ended up being a good thing even though I was slightly discombobulated when I woke up- ooh, can I try hacking into Horde Prime’s servers while we’re there and disabling his bots? That would be fun! Plus, Hordak might be there, and… I really miss him.”

After a quick detour to find more power for the ship, and making some new allies in the Star Siblings, they were off.

Being on Horde Prime’s ship was probably the most terrifying experience of Adora’s life. Their plan had fallen apart- of course their plans always fell apart- but this time it was way too quickly.

And then there was Catra,  being controlled by Horde Prime.

Adora had fought Catra quite a bit in the last 3 years, but nothing was like fighting her that time, watching her slowly break herself under the control of Horde Prime, until Adora was finally able to snap her out of the mind control spell.

“I’m going to take you home.” She cried, exhausted

Catra looked up, tears in her eyes, clutching her arms in pain “Promise?”

It had been so, so long since Adora had heard that word that meant so much to the two of them. She’d broken so many of those promises, but maybe this was finally the opportunity to restart, make up for those mistakes.

“I promise.” Adora told her

“Adora-” Catra said weakly, reaching out a hand

But before she could take Catra’s hand, pull her in for the hug she’d been longing for, her eyes turned green once more, her voice mixing with Horde Prime’s 

“Disappointing.” The voices mixed together “Some creatures are destined only for destruction.”

Adora watched Catra’s eyes go wide, and let out a scream as she was electrocuted, before passing out and falling off the ledge. She tried to catch her, but just wasn’t fast enough.

She jumped after Catra.

The pain of what Adora was pretty sure was both her legs breaking knocked her out for a while, and when she woke up, crawling over to Catra, she came to a terrible realization as she listened to Catra’s shaky, shallow breaths.

Catra was dying.

Clones surrounded her, one with Horde Prime’s voice who mocked her.

“I am sorry for the needless waste, Adora. It did not have to be like this.” the clone smiled

She didn’t hear if the clone said anything else, only listening as Catra’s breaths got more faint, until they stopped completely.

And then, she was filled with nothing but light.

The next thing Adora knew, she was back on Darla, somehow She-Ra again, unaware of how she had gotten there. All she knew was that apparently they’d gotten away and that she had to heal Catra, even though it took all her energy to do so.

She had never felt so relieved as when Catra opened her eyes, her stunning cyan and yellow eyes, smiled softly, and said “Hey Adora.”

It felt like a slap in the face when Catra started acting hostile to everyone once again the next day.

However, Adora didn’t back down this time. She tried to reconnect, and when Catra joined them for dinner that evening, Adora knew she’d made it.

Now, as they wrestled and chased each other through the halls, all of Bow’s original spaceship rules were ignored and irrelevant, something was clear as day.

The only thing that had really changed was what side of the war they were on. Even though it had been years, things were just like when they were kids.

And Adora had missed it, so, so much.

The last time Adora had been here, she’d broken the sword.

She’d been to this First Ones ruin many, many times for training with Light Hope, but now that Light Hope was gone it was ridiculously eerie.

She was glad she had Glimmer and Bow with her at least, the three of them searching for the Heart, going deeper and deeper through the halls, the only sounds being the occasional words spoken and the echoes of their footsteps.

“Are you scared?” Glimmer asked

“No, I just really hope this works.” Adora replied

It was somewhat of a lie. She hoped that she could be strong enough to stop the Heart of Etheria, but she was terrified of what could happen if she failed.

No one would survive.

“It’s okay Adora, we’ll be with you the whole way, and when we get back, it’ll be a whole new world.” Bow smiled

Adora looked away sadly at his words. She didn’t want to, she couldn’t break it to them, her best friends, but she knew deep down that she wasn’t coming back from this.

Suddenly, she heard an all too familiar laugh echo in the distance, getting her attention. 

“Did you guys hear that?” she asked

“What?” Glimmer asked

“Catra?” Adora breathed, running down the hall in the direction she came from

Her breath hitched when she saw Catra around the corner. She came back. She came for Adora.

Catra turned around and smiled, “Hey Adora.”

“Catra you came-” she cried

“Adora!” Bow shouted

She glanced back at Catra, who looked the same as when they were high cadets now, slowly walking towards her with a smile, before glitching to look like the creepy, prime controlled Catra.

Then the Catra who was Hordak’s second in command, the one who didn’t care if the world burned.

The Catra she’d left 3 years ago, when she’d joined the rebellion, a small friendly smirk on her face.

And finally, the Catra she knew now, cupping her hands around Adora’s face. They were the same height now, She-Ra vanishing with a flicker back to Adora, who couldn’t save the world on her own, who needed to be She-Ra to be anything.

But Catra pressed her forehead into Adora’s and gazed into her eyes, and the message was clear. She, Adora, was enough for Catra.

And then she was gone, and Adora was She-Ra, only the ghost of the touch on her face, and Adora backed away from where she stared into nothingness.

She’d forgotten the place could do that. Play those tricks.

But she’d realized something as Bow and Glimmer found her, desperately trying to hold her tears back.

Because she’d realized something at that moment. She loved Catra, not just in the way of a best friend, but in the way that Netossa loved Spinerella.

And she was never going to get to tell her.

“-you’re going the wrong way, the trail is back here.” Bow said, pausing “Adora?”

“We need to be careful. It looks like this place can still project memories.” She muttered, “We can’t let it distract us.”

She turned around, and continued to walk, trying to think of anything, anything else.

But as she wandered through the halls, she eventually found herself in another illusion, in the middle of the Whispering Woods.

And there in the ground was her old sword, looking just as magical as the day she’d first found it.

“Adora!” Bow called from the distance, him and Glimmer running to catch up to her “Adora are you okay?”

“What’s going on?” Glimmer breathed

It was kind of like the day they’d met, in this very same clearing, filled with fear, but a different kind of fear this time. Not one of the enemy, but one between friends, especially when one was about to do something drastic.

“I think I understand now.” Adora said quietly “This place is responding to my memories. I think I’m doing this.”

“So why here, and how do we get out?” Bow asked

“When I broke the sword, I thought- I thought I could make my own destiny.” Adora continued, walking towards the sword, some of her fear finally leaking into her voice “But I can’t. It was always going to end like this.”

“What do you mean, end?” Glimmer eyes widened, panicked “Adora!”

“I- I’m losing her.” Adora’s voice shook, feeling She-Ra’s power dim inside her “I’m distracted and confused and I’m- I’m scared and I can’t be any of those things if this is going to work!” she felt tears begin to stream down her face “I need to go the rest of the way by myself.”

She couldn’t let Glimmer and Bow go any further if she wanted them to survive. They had a whole future ahead of them, ruling a kingdom together, but Adora? This was her destiny. She had to do this, even if it was the last thing she did, even if she had to go through it alone.

“Adora, no, you don’t have to do this!” Bow called out to her

“I love you guys so much.” She smiled at them, one last time, holding back a sob “I never could’ve done any of this without you. Thank you for being the best friends anyone could ever ask for.”

Bow was frozen, but Glimmer ran towards her “Adora!”

She touched the hilt of the sword, and with a blinding flash of light, they were gone. 

Adora opened her eyes to find herself on the edge of a cliff, the woods on the horizon. She was alone, but soon, another young woman joined her. She looked just like her, only different. 

The last She-Ra, Mara.

Adora looked at her “I’m going to save Etheria, no matter what it takes. Your sacrifice won’t be in vain.” she lowered her voice, and whispered the two words that had meant so much to her over the years. “I promise”

“But at what cost?” Mara said “I never wanted to die. I sacrificed myself so you would never have to. Why are you doing this, Adora?”

She didn’t know. She just knew she had to be a hero, and had to save everyone, no matter what it took.

“It’s better this way.” she breathed “My friends will be safe, they’ll be happy.”

“But you?” Mara asked, putting a hand on Adora’s cheek “What do you want when this is all over?”

It reminded her of Catra, or, the fake version of Catra the ruin had made to mess with her. She wanted to be with her, to be happy too, to spend her days having fun with her friends in Bright Moon, to learn how to relax and maybe even take a break from everything. But she refused to let herself think that way. There was going to be no after for Adora. 

“It doesn’t matter. I’m She-Ra. This is what I’m supposed to do.” Adora replied firmly

The world glitched, and Mara took her hands, staring into Adora’s eyes. “You’re worth more than what you can give to other people. You deserve love too.”

Adora felt the tears welling up in her eyes. No one had ever said anything like that to her before. 

“You’re so close, Adora.” Mara smiled, “Don’t give up yet.”

And then, she was gone, replaced with Horde Prime, taunting the two of them, before a beast slashed at Adora’s side and everything went dark.

When she’d come to, the world was hazy, but Shadow Weaver was dragging her toward the heart, and she’d heard Catra’s scream, snapping her to attention.

“CATRA!” She shouted, running back to save her friend, despite her pain. She-Ra was gone, Adora didn’t know how to get her back, so she couldn’t heal either of them

Her mind was still fuzzy though, and the next thing Adora knew, she was watching Shadow Weaver die, finally seeing her face for a second time as she looked in her and Catra’s direction.

“You’re welcome.” Shadow Weaver said, and the mask shattered on the floor as she and the monster vanished in a blast of dark magic

Then it was Catra walking her back to the Heart, before Adora called on the power of the Failsafe and finally came to her senses.

“Get as far away from here as you can. I have to do this next part on my own.” She said

Catra didn’t move, only speaking in a low voice “Adora. What is going to happen to you?”

Adora sighed, looking away “Without She-Ra, the magic will destroy me.” she turned back, looking at Catra’s terrified expression, no longer able to hide her hurt “I’m sorry Catra. I’m so sorry! But- there’s no more time, it has to end here, I can still save everybody!” she walked up to Catra, cupping her cheeks and touching their foreheads together, just like the simulated Catra had done to her earlier. Only this time it was real. “It’s okay, I’m ready.”

Then, she pulled away. Only Catra caught her hands. “No.”

“Catra.” She cried

“No, I’m not leaving. Whatever happens, I am staying with you.” Catra continued

Adora knew that there was no changing Catra’s mind, so she let her stay, let her hold her as she gave up herself to the Failsafe, every last ounce of strength to stop the Heart.

She dreamed of a future she’d never have, her, Catra, Glimmer, and Bow, all hanging out, having fun together in the Bright Moon castle. Horde Prime had interrupted it to mock her one last time, before she heard Catra’s voice cutting through the darkness, calling out to her.

“ADORA! Please! You have to wake up!” Catra cried “You can’t give up. You have never given up on anything in your life, not even on me! So don’t you dare start now!”

“It’s too late, I’ve failed.” she whispered

“No, NO!” Catra cried “I’ve got you, I’m not letting go!”

She could feel it getting harder and harder to breathe.

“Don’t you get it, I love you! I always have! So please, just this once, stay!” Catra sobbed

Adora’s heart skipped a beat. The biggest mistake she’d ever made in her life was leaving Catra, and she’d spent so long trying to make up for it.

This time, she would stay.

She would stay, and she would love Catra because Catra loved her back.

She blinked open her eyes slowly to see Catra’s face, eyes red with tears.

“You- you love me?” Adora breathed

Catra let out a soft laugh “You’re such an idiot.”

“I love you too.” She smiled weakly

And then, Catra leaned in closer, smiling, and kissed her, and Adora felt a new strength flowing through her like she’d never known. The power of love.

And despite all the odds, they made it out.

It was the monthly meeting of the Princess Alliance, and today was a special occasion because they’d gathered to celebrate the 3rd anniversary of the end of the war. 

Typically they’d get together to discuss things going on in the various kingdoms, making sure everyone was connected and in the know, before hanging out. Everyone was typically busy running their own kingdoms, and those meetings were often the only times everyone would be able to get together and hang out.

This time was more of a celebration of the “Great Etherian War” as Glimmer had dubbed it for the history books, being over, and Adora knew there would be lots of cake, cake that would be gone relatively quickly though.

Which sucked, a little, because she and Catra were late.

“C’mon Catra! The cake’s gonna be gone!” Adora cried, dragging her along

“Don’t act like it’s my fault we’re late!” Catra protested “You’re the one who got so used to wearing the same outfit for 8 years that you needed my help to put something else on when you finally decided to switch things up a bit!”

Adora tackled her, pulling off Catra’s maroon and gold cropped jacket and leaving her in her white and gold tank top and gray leggings “Well, if you’re going to be complaining about it I’ll just go back to wearing a jacket!”

“That’s mine!” Catra shrieked in laughter, tail poofing up

Finally, they calmed down, and Adora handed Catra back her jacket, and they went to the meeting.

“There you guys are!” Bow greeted them “We were just waiting for you to show up after we heard you laughing in the hallway a few minutes ago. We-”

He paused as everyone stared at Adora.

“Well, that’s new.” Mermista muttered, glancing Adora up and down. 

After all, she did look completely different.

Adora had worked with the palace tailors for the first time in a while, finding something that suited her, or rather, the person she was becoming, more comfortable with being a princess instead of forcing herself to be a hardened soldier.

She’d eventually found what she was looking for in a simple, light red and white sleeveless a-line dress with golden embellishments decorating the skirt like fixed cracks, along with some golden mesh leggings, but still the same old boots.

Her hair was still relatively the same though, she always liked her hair poof and ponytail.

“What’s with the new look, Adora?” Netossa grinned 

“It looks good.” Scorpia nodded 

“Yes, it really suits your aura.” Perfuma added

Adora blushed at the compliments, and Catra clung to her girlfriend’s arm, smiling.

“If I’m being honest, I thought you were just going to wear the same red jacket forever.” Glimmer snorted

“Well, you know, I just really wanted to make a change to mark a new chapter of my life and stuff.” Adora shrugged, smirking

“New chapter of your-” Glimmer muttered, eyes widening as she studied Catra and Adora up and down

The golden wing pin, the symbol of the rebellion Adora had always kept on her belt since she’d been given it to replace her old Horde on her second day in Bright Moon by Glimmer, was now pinned on the collar of Catra’s jacket.

And tying up Adora’s ponytail, a tiny piece of gold ribbon that Catra had worn around her neck as a choker since the day they’d found in buried in the ruins of an old destroyed cadet room, hidden under a metal plate and a broken shelf that protected it and a few ancient ration bars from the surrounding rubble, Catra crying when she spotted it.

Glimmer screamed “HOLY FUCK, YOU’RE GETTING MARRIED!?”

Catra grinned “Uh, duh, you all knew this was a long time coming,”

They’d known about the princess tradition to exchange personal items from Sea Hawk and Mermista, who’d exchanged Sea Hawk’s red scarf, now in Mermista’s hair, and Mermista’s golden pauldrons, and decided to do the same when they decided to get married.

After all, they both liked the idea of it. A promise to be together, just like they’d made when they were kids.

Chapter Text

Finn and Violet chased each other through the halls of the Bright Moon castle, laughing.

Violet was Bright Moon’s princess, daughter of Queen Glimmer and King Bow, and Finn’s best friend. She was also like their sister, but technically their cousin, but technically neither of those things because they weren’t actually related.

Still, both of them had known each other for their entire lives, with Violet only being a couple months older than Finn, both of them 7 years old.

And Finn thought Violet would be the only sibling they’d ever have, until his baby sister Mara was born a couple months ago. Mara was still too little to play tag though, so for now it was just the two of them, running around, straight into Finn’s mom

“Hey Finn, Violet, watch where you’re going.” She told them

“Sorry mom.” Finn replied
“Yeah, sorry Aunt Catra.” Violet said, eyes downcast

Mom smirked “You know what, it’s okay. Adora and I used to run into grownups all the time when we were kids.” She ruffled Finn and Violet’s hair “You two are better than we were though, because you stop and apologize instead of running away. I was looking for you two anyways, it’s time for lunch, follow me.”

As they walked behind mom, Finn couldn’t help but notice that they weren’t heading to the dining room, they were heading to-

“Is it picnic day?!” Finn suddenly realized

They stopped outside of the gardens, where Mama, Aunt Glimmer, and Uncle Bow were sitting on a blanket, confirming their suspicions.

Violet squealed with glee. “It’s picnic day!” 

They loved it when it was picnic day because they’d get together and play games and Finn and Violet would get to eat cake and sometimes some of the other princesses would come and hang out with their kids and Finn and Violet would get to play with them too.

But today it was just the seven of them, Aunt Glimmer and Mama seeing who could chug their drinks the quickest, Uncle Bow cooing over Mara, Finn and Violet digging into the food, and Mom watching it all with a soft smile on her face.

It was a sunny, perfect day, and Finn and Violet got tired of eating and went to run around the gardens some more. 

“Ow!” Violet cried suddenly, and Finn stopped to see she’d tripped over a root and bruised her knee

“Are you okay?” Finn asked her

“Yeah, it hurts a little bit, but my mom always says that hurt makes you stronger.” Violet got up, puffing out her chest 

“Yeah, and my mom you grow into a better person when you fix things, so we should go fix it.” Finn nodded, becoming slightly distracted by a bright blue bird that pecked around nearby before taking off into the air and flying away.

Finn looked up at the sky, really noticing the big sky tree for the first time. It had always been there, and Finn had never questioned before why. After all, trees were supposed to be in the ground, not the sky.

“How do you think the big sky tree ended up there?” Finn asked Violet

She shrugged “I don’t know. Maybe the blue bird lives there though. Let’s go ask our parents, they know everything.”

They ran over, back to the picnic blanket, Violet’s injury forgotten, where their parents were talking.

“-and then there was that one time when Bow and I-” Aunt Glimmer spoke, face stuffed with cake “Oh, hi Violet, Finn, what’s up?”

“What’s with the big sky tree?” Violet asked

“How did it get there? What kind of birds live there?” Finn added

“Did you ever stop and visit it when you went to space before we were born?” Violet asked once more

The four grownups looked at each other with an expression Finn didn’t understand.

“Well,” Uncle Bow started “It’s a REALLY long story.”
“It’s kind of a scary one too, where lots of bad stuff happened.” Mama said

“Oh c’mon Adora, it wasn’t all bad, it’s more of how I met your mother, grew up with her, and then I tried to kill her for 3 years after she joined the good guys.” Mom stuck her tongue out at her

“What?!” Finn shouted “You tried to kill Mama for 3 years?!”

“Yep.” Mom replied “Aunt Sparkles, and Uncle Arrow Boy, and all the rest of the princesses too. Except Scorpia.”

“WHAT?!” Violet and Finn shouted

“The sky tree used to be a spaceship.” Aunt Glimmer added “An evil spaceship.”

“But we couldn’t tell you what type of birds are there because we are never ever going back there.” Mom finished

“We’ll tell you more about the war when you’re older.” Uncle Bow said

“Yeah, Mara’s much too young to hear about her Mom’s war crimes.” Mom added

“What’s a war crime?” Violet asked

“Catra!” Aunt Glimmer scolded “You’re gonna emotionally scar the children!”

“Oh please, Glimmer, it’s not like you haven’t committed your fair share of war crimes as well.” Mom smirked.

Next thing Finn knew, the grownups were chasing each other around, Mom and Aunt Glimmer wrestling in the grass with Mama trying to break things up and Uncle Bow trying to get everyone to calm down while holding Mara.

It wasn’t like Finn and Violet cared, because they were left unsupervised to stuff themselves with cake, and after they were caught, they were told a bit about the Great Etherian War.

It would be years before they knew the whole story, the full extent to their parents’ involvement in the war, but for now, they were just kids, getting the peaceful childhood their parents never had.