#deadcool14

Adora really should not have been surprised that literally none of her friends got along. Really. 

“Look Glimmer, all you have to do is not insult her,” Adora stated, following her friend as she angrily paced into her room. 

“I can’t make any promises, Adora,” Glimmer spit, teleporting up to her bed that was hovering 50 feet—at least—above Adora. 

“Glimmer,” Adora started making her way up the hovering steps. Bow was so much better at this, Adora thought as she almost fell off of one. “Please. Catra has switched sides. We can trust her.”

“Can we though?” Glimmer turned to face Adora. “Can we really? Adora, Catra had strung you along this whole time! How do we know this isn’t just another one of her tricks? How do I know that Catra isn’t here to hurt you again?”

Adora pulled up short at that. because Glimmer was right wasn’t see? Catra had been stringing her along this whole year. Catra would seek Adora out, and, like an idiot, Adora would always take the bait. 

During the Princess Prom, Adora had been so preoccupied with Catra that she hadn’t seen Scorpia kidnap Bow. In the Last One’s temple, Adora had trusted Catra to hep her…and Catra had let her fall. 

What’s stopping Catra from doing that again?

— . —

“I was angry that you left me,” Catra yelled, her voice bouncing off the trees around her, stopping Adora where she stood. Catra huffed with the strength of her words, tears making tracks down her face. She was beautiful and Adora was breathless. 

“You left me, Adora,” Catra’s voice was softer now as it wobbled over her tears. “You left me in that place, and by the time you’d gotten back, the damage had already been done.”

Adora’s heart sunk into her boots. “Catra,” she sighed, her breath clouding into the air in front of her. 

“And so I wanted to make you feel the way you had made me feel.” Catra’s face twisted as she spat, “Forgotten. Second-hand. Unworthy.”

They were silent for a moment, letting the words sour in the air. 

“I knew the Horde was bad, but I stayed because I knew it would hurt you.” And that was a killing blow.

— . —

The elation of having Catra back—of her warmth at the end of Adora’s bed, of her clawed hand at the small of Adora’s back, of her mouth tracing hot lines down the column of Adora’s neck—cooled, and her heart froze.

Because what if Catra was manipulating her? Shadow Weaver had manipulated Adora without her notice for almost 18 years of her life. 

Adora swilled her doubts, “Catra wouldn’t. We—we talked in the woods. She’s telling the truth, and I believe her, Glimmer.” Adora cleared her throat, “Isn’t that enough for you?”

“It can’t be, Adora,” Glimmer’s voice was hollow, “It can’t be.”

— . —

“I knew what the Horde was doing for almost our whole lives,” Catra was looking at the ground. “But I couldn’t stomach the thought of leaving without you, and I didn’t know how to make you believe me, so I just waited. I waited until either you saw what the Horde was doing, or I could find some sort of evidence.” Catra laughed then, a humourless and empty sound. “But by the time I had an opportunity, you’d already gone and done the one thing to me, that I’d swore I’d never do to you.”

Adora trembled when Catra’s shining mis-matched eyes landed on her. “You left me.”

— . —

“Adora, there you are!” Bow lowered himself onto the fountain’s edge next to Adora. His smile melted as he looked at Adora. “Is…is something wrong?”

Adora sniffed. “Do you…” Adora trailed off, then started again. “Do you think Catra’s manipulating me?”

Bow’s brow furrowed. “What?”

“Glimmer says she won’t trust Catra because she think’s she’s stringing me along or something,” Adora sighed and looked in the opposite direction of Bow. 

Bow didn’t say anything for a moment. “Well, I don’t know Catra very well, but I do know you. And I know you’d do anything for those you care about. And I also know that you really, really care about Catra.” Bow sighed and played with the string of his bow that rested against his chest. 

“What I’m trying to say is that, I’m with you on this one, Adora,” Bow smiled at Adora. “If you trust Catra, I’ll trust Catra. If Catra stabs you in the back, I’ll be there to stab her right back.”

Adora laughed as Bow mimed stabbing the air. 

“So, I think the more important thing for you to answer is, what do you think?”

— . —

“So, I climbed the ranks here, and I did everything I could to make you pay for making me feel that way, Adora,” Catra spit the words into the grassy floor between them. 

“But nothing I did made me feel better!” Catra yelled into the night. “Every time I hit you, and taunted you, and let you fall off cliffs, it made me feel worse. I wanted you beside me, telling me jokes. I wanted to lay down at the end of your bed, to make you feel warmer. I wanted your laugh and you smile all to myself again.”

“And I still do…” Catra’s voice was so, so quiet. her brows furrowed and her eyes shut tight. “So, Adora, I’m done being angry.”

Catra picked up her head and looked right at Adora—looked right through her maybe. “I’m done being angry, and if you’ll have be back, I’ll never leave again.” Catra cracked a smile. “As long as you promise not to leave me either. We’re such a good team and we’ve been depriving Etheria of it for too long.”

Catra’s smile sparked something in Adora, and the only thing she could even begin to think was, “Yes.”

“Yes,” Adora said louder, “Yes, yes, yes!” Adora ran forwards into Catra’s arms and pulled her close, so, so close. Adora was never letting go, not ever. They would go to the bathroom together, and that was final. 

“Catra, I’ll never, ever leave you, and if I ever start pulling away, promise you’ll pull me right back.”

“I will.”

— . —

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Adora?” Catra’s ear flicked as Adora desperately tried to straighten the collar of Catra’s shirt. 

“Yes,” Adora’s voice was certain and firm. “You’re one of us now, and everyone needs to get used to that. You’re here to stay. If you go, She-Ra goes, too.”

Catra let out a little huff of a laugh, her eyes still downcast and worried. “You’re using She-Ra as leverage?”

“Yeah,” Adora chirped, finally giving up on the collar and placing her hands on either of Catra’s shoulders instead. “Like you said, we’re a great team. We just need to convince everyone else of it first.”

Catra’s face fell into a smirk. “And how do you supposed we do that?”

“Well,” Adora rocked on her heels, “First we get through this dinner, which will be extremely awkward by all accounts, and second, we win a super awesome battle together, proving that we make a great team, and that you are officially part of the Rebellion.”

“Well, then,” Catra purred, leaning in with hooded eyes, “Looks like you’ve got it all figured out there, Princess.”

“Of course I do,” Adora leaned in after Catra. 

“Very impressive,” Catra mumbled, her breath washing over Adora’s lips just before they collided. 

Catra pulled Adora closer, her hands warm on Adora’s waist, as he lips moved intoxicatingly over hers. Adora threaded one of her hands into Catra’s hair. It was much wilder than usual without the Hoard headband she used to wear, and Adora was secretly very happy about Catra’s freed locks. 

Regretfully, Adora pulled away after only a few beats. “We have to go,” she mumbled, a smile on her lips as Catra made an annoyed noise in the back of her throat and dove in for another kiss. 

Adora let herself be reeled back in, before she pulled back, placing a bracing hand on Catra’s chest. “As much as I’ve missed you, we really can’t be late for this dinner.”

Catra sighed, placed one last chaste kiss to Adora’s lips, then pulled away completely. 

“It’s not my fault you’re so irresistible,” Catra shot a lazy smirk over her shoulder, her tail flicking hypnotically behind her as she went. 

Adora made an affronted noise, feeling her cheeks warm as she watched Catra walk away.

— . —

The dinner table was horribly, uncomfortably, painfully silent. The only sounds that could be heard were those of cutlery on porcelain and chewing. It was horrible and Adora seriously could not stand another second of the awkward atmosphere. 

Adora cleared her throat, “So,” she started, “Dinner is really good. I’ll have to talk to the kitchen staff after dinner.”

“Y-yeah, I agree,” Bow stuttered, looking extremely grateful for the interruption from Adora. 

“We never had food like this in the Fright Zone,” Catra added, her eyes glittering. 

Glimmer narrowed her eyes but didn’t say anything. Angella side-eyed her daughter then looked back at Catra. “What was the Fright Zone like?” Angella asked.

Adora felt Catra tense up beside her. Adora dropped her hand onto Catra’s knee. “It was bad,” Catra deadpanned, and Adora squeezed her knee. 

“I mean it is called the Fright Zone,” Adora pinned a smile onto her face. “Emphasis on Fright,” Adora said through the clenched teeth of her pinned smile. 

“An evil place, for evil people,” Glimmer mumbled, pushing her food around. 

All eyes flew to Glimmer, and Catra stilled completely. Adora could feel the tension in Catra’s body under her hand on her thigh. 

“What? I’m right,” Glimmer looked around the table.

Bow sent her a small smile, “Yeah, I’m really glad none of us are there anymore.”

“Yeah, even if some of us belong there,” Glimmer spat, looking directly at Catra. 

A lot of things happened at once, then:

Catra pushed out of her chair, the sound of it harsh and grating against Adora’s ears.

Glimmer was out of hers in less than a second, closely followed by Angella and Bow. 

Catra hissed as Glimmer started to sparkle, but before Adora could do anything, Catra was gone. She’d left the room, her napkin floating onto the table behind her. 

Adora stood, wiped her face and place her napkin down as well. She sent a look—mostly of hurt—to Glimmer before going after Catra. 

Perhaps, Adora had been too hasty in trying to bring her two worlds together. 

— . —

Much later that night there was a knock on her door. “Come in,” Adora called, and a second later, Glimmer was standing hesitantly inside. 

“Hey,” she said, her voice low, her head bowed, and her fingers tying themselves into knots.

Adora straightened from where she was polishing her sword. “Hey.”

Glimmer kicked the ground, pushing around invisible pebbles. “I just wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Okay,” Adora said, patting her bed next to her. Glimmer teleported to the spot. 

“Why do you trust her?” Glimmer started, “After all of the things she’s done, why do you still trust her?”

Adora sighed. “Glimmer, you would trust me and Bow no matter what, right?”

“Of course,” Glimmer didn’t waste a second with her response. 

“Even if we lied to you and we hurt you…” Adora trailed off, “You’d still think the best of us, wouldn’t you?”

Glimmer thought about it for a few seconds. She brought her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. “Yeah,” she finally said, “I think I would.”

Adora cracked a small smile, “That’s how I feel about Catra.” Adora sighed and knocked her knee against Glimmer’s. “I understand you want to protect me, and I’m so grateful that I have a friend like you Glimmer.”

Glimmer cracked a smile at that.

“But Catra and I, we’ve already had our talk. We’ve figured it out. She’s with us.” Adora smiled at Glimmer. “I trust her, and I need you to trust that I know what I’m doing, but be there for me if anything does go bad.”

Glimmer sighed and buried her face in her legs. “I’m sorry I said those things to her at dinner.”

Adora let one side of her mouth lift up. “You should tell her that, Glimmer. She’s a lot less scary then you’d think.”