"Just so you know, I'm a hugger."

“I know Shadow Weaver raised you but still.”

listen i love scorpia and just spent way too much time on this so

"Not afraid of some sparkles, are you?"

Indie, multi-para/novella, AU & crossover friendly Glimmer from She-Ra: Princesses Of Power.

Rules

Dying pink hues of sunlight crept through stained glass, announcing the end to another day in confinement. It was getting hard to keep track where the days were. Sleep was fitful, often stolen out of sheer exhaustion whenever the room was empty.

There was little doubt in Catra’s mind that the whole castle had heard about her latest stunt. Even Shadow Weaver had been called to make some reinforcements. But once the magic was fortified, the sorcerer was gone, without so much as a second glance towards the once-daughter knelt broken and once more at her mercy. Nobody seemed to care and every interaction only added fuel to the proverbial fire.

Even as a captive Catra felt each day grow longer and quieter. Adora had made a point of visiting to an infuriating degree at first. Each interaction soon boiled into an argument and after the latest attempt to escape coming from Adora’s fragile truce, she hadn’t come back. Sparkles had come by once, but her interest had been more in the magic that contained the kingdom’s newest captive and Shadow Weaver. Those who breached the boundary of the spell with offerings of food were sent flying or were met with a face full of claws. They’d since found a way to push food through the barrier without opening it.

Attempts to damage and breach the shield from within had been fruitless, and soon the space that had once been surprisingly lavish was left barren in an effort to remove any and all tools or makeshift weapons from the hands of their prisoner. In the furthest corner of the space, Catra sat with knees pulled to her chest and her tail coiled about herself. She’d been swiping the unwelcome dampness from her cheeks for longer than she dared recall, only pausing and promptly attempting to adjust her features to something more neutral at the sound of footsteps.

A cautious opening of the door revealed another familiar face.

Why was Scorpia here?

Why of all the people in the castle had they sent Scorpia? Clearly they’d done it on purpose. Out of everyone, the Scorpion Princess had the least amount of venom cast her way.

Caving under the weight of Scorpia’s gaze, Catra turned her face, electing to stare at the nearest wall instead. This was humiliating. The familiar blather of words came from the other side of the barrier. Their ill-fitting tone would have usually been swift to score exasperation in Catra, but now they earned little more than shame from where she sat hunched over herself in silence with ears flattened.

“…You can’t keep doing shitty things and then feel bad about yourself like that makes it okay! You need to be better!”

It’s too late for that now.

Nobody wants me here.

These people hate me.

Adora hates me.

“…Is that why you left?” The question was scarcely more than a murmur from the dim corner where Catra sat.

They were the first words Catra had actually spoken to her in a while. Although she'd visited a few times before, it hadn't gone very well, and the awkwardness of the unspoken topic had loomed between them. It probably shouldn't have been surprising that it would come up eventually, but still Scorpia found herself woefully unprepared.

How did you find the words to tell someone you cared about that you couldn't be there for them any more? That you couldn't help them? Despite knowing there had been nothing more she could have done for Catra, there was still a festering sense of guilt and shame. But where once such feelings would have manifested as doubt, denial and the urge to appease, Scorpia now just felt a resigned sadness.

"I-" Scorpia hesitated for a moment, struggling to come up with the words - just as she had struggled to write a goodbye note. She hadn't wanted to give excuses, or make accusations. So she had just written the single most important thing to her in the moment - an acknowledgement of a broken promise, of how much the decision hurt.

I'm sorry.

And it still hurt. She had never wanted to leave, and it had taken an awful lot to even make her consider it. But in the end, she'd had to choose between the friend who insisted they were not friends, and the friend who had always been kind to her. Entrapta had deserved better and she'd let her down. At least she'd finally made amends for that. Giving up on Catra, however, still felt like a betrayal she had no idea how to find closure for.

"...Yeah. Pretty much," she admitted at last.

"I tried to be there for you, but it just... it wasn't enough. I kept thinking I could save you, and you, well. You didn't ever really want to be saved." Scorpia’s voice was soft and somber as she recalled all the dangerously reckless acts, the self-destructive behaviours. The vindictive opening of the portal, even after Entrapta's warning of what it would do, just to ensure that Adora wouldn't win.

"It took me a while to see that. I wish things had been different, but. This is where we are now." She shrugged awkwardly, before taking a seat on the ground, right up against the barrier.

"You've pushed everyone away, wildcat. You did that," The words were matter-of-fact and calm, aided by the weeks she'd had to process the situation and gain some emotional distance. The barren state of the room, Adora's frustrated ranting and the decreasing frequency of her visits were all a testament to that. Scorpia herself had stayed away for a while after the last explosive incident.

"So if there's still a part of you that wants to change - and I believe there is - that's on you. No one can make you be better. It's something you have to choose for yourself."

Scorpia: Shadow Weaver hates caffeine