Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Adora stared up at the sky, not quite comprehending the stars shining above her. Or the ships floating among the million points of light. She had failed. She-Ra was gone.

What were they going to do?

She started limping along, managing to regain her legging as she moved out of the woods. It had been less than twelve hours since they’d found Entrapta on Beast Island. Since Adora’s destiny had been revealed to be a lie. She wasn’t meant to be a hero, just a tool. The key to destroying the world she had given up everything to protect. Her entire life had been one lie after another — first Hordak and Shadow Weaver, then Light Hope. And even Glimmer. She couldn’t help the small flare of anger in her chest. If Glimmer had just listened, just trusted her, they’d still have the sword. They wouldn’t have an invasion literally over their heads. They would—

“Adora!”

She turned to see Bow and Glimmer running toward her. And, despite her budding anger, she was so relieved to see them. She didn’t hesitate to hold out her arms and accept their hugs as they threw themselves at her.

“Are you okay?” Bow asked, pulling away to search her expression, and then look her over for injuries.

“She-Ra’s gone.” It wasn’t an answer. But it was the best answer she could give.

“What?” Glimmer gasped. “What happened?”

And the anger was back. “I had to break the sword.” Adora’s voice was a little clipped, and she wouldn’t look Glimmer in the eye. “To stop the Heart from activating.”

Glimmer wilted, also looking away. “We should… get back to Bright Moon,” Bow said after a moment. “There’s a lot we need to figure out.”

“Right,” Glimmer murmured, resting a hand on both their arms. They appeared in the throne room a moment later, and were left to stew in an awkward silence for only a second.

“Glimmer?”

The young queen blinked, a little bewildered, and slowly turned to see the man standing behind her. He was unfamiliar for only a moment, until Glimmer looked passed the long hair and beard.

“Dad?”

Micah suddenly looked nervous. He coughed, clearing his throat, rubbing the back of his head, and after a moment he held out his hand, as if to shake. Glimmer almost laughed as she bypassed the hand and threw her arms around him, hugging him tight. Bow and Adora exchanged small smiles. They were mad at Glimmer, but this… this was nice.

“Where did Shadow Weaver go?” Adora asked, looking around. She didn’t like the idea of the sorceress being out and about. Micah’s expression hardened a bit.

“I had the guards take her back to her cell. She was annoying me.”

“Aunt Casta!” Glimmer said suddenly, pulling away. She disappeared in a shower of sparkles, then appeared again with Castaspella. The poor woman looked dazed — the look of someone who had been unceremoniously grabbed and teleported by Glimmer without warning.

“Glimmer! What could possibly—“

Casta stopped mid-sentence when she saw her brother. Micah smiled weakly, waving. Adora and Bow turned away to give the siblings some privacy.

“What are we going to do?” Bow whispered to Adora.

“Let’s get the rest of the Alliance here.”

Things had changed significantly in the last few hours. The most important thing was to make sure everyone was on the right page.

Everyone looked exhausted. Frosta was sleeping on Scorpia’s shoulders while Perfuma rested against her pincer. Mermista was slumped on Sea Hawk. Entrapta was sitting by herself, tinkering with Emily. Netossa and Spinnerella were holding hands and looking sadly around the rest of the table. It had been a long day for all of them.

“So… the king’s alive,” Mermista finally said in her best, uncaring drawl. But even her tone was weak. “Welcome back, I guess.”

“What happened?” Netossa added. Bow and Adora looked at Glimmer, who shrunk in a little on herself.

“I activated the Heart of Etheria. I thought it would stop the Horde, but… I was wrong. It was a trap. Light Hope just wanted to use it to destroy the planet.”

That woke everyone up. There was a sudden burst of words as everyone tried to voice their anger at the same time, mostly at the idea that Glimmer would do this without telling any of them. Glimmer, to her credit, took verbal lashing without trying to defend herself. There was no defense. She had been so, so very wrong.

“What about Catra?” Scorpia asked quietly, cutting through the din. Adora looked at her, then at Glimmer. What did Catra have to do with anything?

“She wasn’t there,” Glimmer said. “I found some other soldiers — Adora’s old squad, I think? — and they said she disappeared after the Salineas invasion. No one’s seen her in days.”

“What, so she deserted?” Frosta asked in disbelief. “Why would she do that?”

“I don’t know. They didn’t either. One of them said she’s been kind of… off recently. Like, maybe not all there.” Glimmer looked at Scorpia. “Do you know anything about that?”

Scorpia hesitated, looking away. “I didn’t get the sense that she planned on deserting, but I guess I don’t really know her. She’s sort of been throwing herself into work and planning, actually.”

“Maybe something changed after you left,” Bow suggested.

“But where would she even go? I don’t think she has anywhere outside of the Horde.”

She didn’t. Adora didn’t know much about Catra’s time before the Horde. She’d found her curled up in a box of supplies when they were only two or three, alternating between crying and hissing at anyone who tried to come near her. If Catra knew anything about where she had come from, she had never talked about it. And that had been so long ago, there was no way she remembered anything now.

“Adora?” She shook herself out of her stupor to look up at Bow. “Can you think of anywhere she might have gone?”

“No,” Adora said quietly and without hesitation. “She has nowhere else to go.”

“Let’s just assume she isn’t a problem anymore,” Glimmer said dismissively. “There are bigger issues.”

“Bigger issues you caused.” Adora couldn’t stop herself from spitting the words out.

“I know.” Glimmer’s voice was equally clipped. “So let’s not worry about Catra anymore. Wherever she is, she’s not part of it now.”

She was right. Adora hated it, but Glimmer was right. Catra wasn’t a priority — to the Alliance. But the idea of her out there somewhere, alone and possibly in danger, made Adora feel sick.

“What now, then?” Netossa was already moving on. “I don’t think the alien invasion over our heads is going to wait for us to recover.”

A tremor ran through the room almost on cue; they all jumped and looked to the nearest windows, and saw a spire in the distance, burrowing into the ground. “Doesn’t seem like it, no,” Perfuma agreed quietly. They all watched as doors opened at the base of the spire, and things started streaming out.

“Okay, that’s a lot,” Frosta said. “But we have magic. And She-Ra. That’s definitely stronger than…”

Her voice drifted off when she saw Adora shaking her head. “I broke the sword to stop the Heart. She-Ra is gone.”

A long silence followed. “Well,” Mermista said after a moment. “That’s great. Should we just surrender now?”

“We can fight without She-Ra,” Glimmer insisted. “It won’t be easy, but—“

“We wouldn’t even be in this situation if you’d just listened for five seconds,” Mermista shot back. Glimmer flinched.

“Let’s not argue,” Perfuma, ever the wannabe peace keeper, said.

“It might not be worth getting into right now,” Spinnerella agreed. “Unless someone actually wants to surrender, we should be focusing on fighting and finding more allies.”

“Who else is there?” Scorpia asked, looking around. “All of the kingdoms are already involved, right?”

“Not all of them.” Netossa looked at Micah. “Think you could work your charm on C’yra and Lyra?”

“Who?” Glimmer asked, frowning. Micah sighed.

“The queens of the Magicat kingdom, Half Moon. They withdrew from the war and closed their borders after their daughter disappeared… I guess it’s been almost twenty years now, huh?”

“How does an entire kingdom manage to hide for all that time?”

“Half Moon is an underground kingdom. The Horde never managed to find it. I was the only one in the Rebellion who knew where it was.” Micah looked at Netossa. “Did they ever find their daughter? Do you think they’d be willing to re-join the war effort?”

“No clue,” Netossa admitted. “But it’s worth a shot, especially since you can actually find them and talk to them.”

Micah nodded slowly. “They should at least be updated on the current situation. We’ll go first thing in the morning.” He looked at Glimmer, giving her a small smile. “Think you can teleport to the Crimson Waste?”

Glimmer perked up slightly, latching right now to the idea of having something to do. “Yes. Absolutely. Why don’t we go now?”

“It’s late, and you all need a chance to rest. Half Moon will still be there in the morning.”

Rest wasn’t usually at the top of Adora’s priority list. But Micah was right — it had been a long, terrible day, and everyone else looked like a light breeze would knock them over. They needed a break.

“He’s right,” Bow said before Glimmer could protest. She wilted a little, but nodded.

“Yeah. Okay. Everyone get some sleep. Dad and I will go to Half Moon tomorrow.”

Adora didn’t sleep.

She didn’t really try. She spent a few hours walking around her room, pausing to stare at the broken sword every now and again and reflect on the events of the day. Then she walked to the balcony and stared up at the starry sky. Stars. That was still so weird.

Then she looked out into the woods, and she thought about Catra.

It sounded like Glimmer had talked to Lonnie — or Kyle, but more likely Lonnie. If Catra had been there, Lonnie wouldn’t have defended her, or even lied for her. Which meant she was gone. Really, really gone. But gone where? Was she just wandering around, trying to find a place to hide? Had she been found? Caught? Was she okay? The questions chased themselves around Adora’s head until they made her dizzy, and she couldn’t think about it anymore. She’d tried so hard to avoid thinking about Catra since Elberon, and before that since the portal, because it hurt too much. But Scorpia’s appearance had brought it all to the forefront, and now Adora couldn’t stop. It felt like she was going crazy.

Finally, after nearly five hours, she tried to sleep. But that brought with it a completely new slew of thoughts. The sword was gone. She-Ra was gone. She hadn’t had a choice. It had been the only way to save everyone. But now what? How was she supposed to fight without She-Ra? Sure, Adora could fight, but She-Ra was the one who had led the Rebellion this far. She-Ra was the reason they had been so close to winning — the reason they had gotten as far as they had. And now she was gone. Could they even still win? Maybe against the Etherian Horde they’d still be fine — especially without Catra there to do all the planning for them — but against an alien invasion?

The sun was rising when Adora finally gave up on the idea of sleep and went downstairs. She was surprised to find Glimmer, Bow, and Micah in the dining room already, talking quietly. Micah had showered and shaved at some point, making him look presentable for going to speak with queens. They paused when she walked in.

“Um… morning,” she said uncertainly. “Am I interrupting?”

“No,” Bow assured her. “We were just talking about Half Moon.”

“Are you joining us?” Micah asked. Adora hadn’t really planned on it, but she was there, so she nodded.

“Yeah, if that’s okay.”

“Of course.”

“Dad was telling us about the Magicats.” Glimmer looked a little giddy when she said Dad. Micah’s eyes were shimmering. “They could really give us an advantage if we can convince them to help.”

“C’yra and Lyra are reasonable people,” Micah said. “If I’d still been here, I think I would have been able to convince them to re-join us. But after everything that happened… I guess Angie didn’t want to push it.”

“But you think you can talk to them?”

Micah shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure, to be honest. It’s been years. But I can try.”

“How do you know the queens?” Bow asked, tilting his head.

“Lyra grew up in Mystacor, and we met C’yra when she was still the princess. Her parents sent her to learn more about magic before they let her bond with the Tiger’s Eye — the Half Moon runestone.” Micah chuckled. “It was love at first sight, but they were both absolutely hopeless. Casta and I spent months trying to get them to just talk to each other. Lyra was convinced she wasn’t good enough for the princess, and C’yra was convinced Lyra thought she was an idiot. It was kind of sweet. But we finally managed to get them talking, and they never stopped. Lyra left as soon as she was old enough to join C’yra in Half Moon.”

“That’s sweet,” Glimmer said with a small smile. “So you knew them really well?”

“They were my best friends,” Micah said. “I couldn’t really begrudge them pulling away when they lost their daughter. It was devastating. I don’t know what I would have done in their positions.”

“Well… hopefully they’re willing to listen now.”

They adjourned their unofficial meeting, and stood up to leave. Adora noticed Bow keeping a careful distance from Glimmer even as he reached out and touched her shoulder. He was upset. A little surprising, given that it was Bow, but not overly so, given what had happened. Adora took Glimmer’s offered hand.

They appeared in the Crimson Waste. Micah looked around to orient himself, then nodded. “We’re not too far. This way.”

Horde Prime’s ships were still in the sky, but they hadn’t descended upon the wasteland quite yet. Maybe they could find Huntara and start working on setting up protections… if the people of the Wastes would even accept it.

“Here we are,” Micah said finally, stopping in front of a large cliff wall. Adora looked up at it, then at Micah, and remembered how weird he’d been when they’d found him. Maybe he hadn’t quite recovered from his ordeal yet.

“Uh… Dad? That’s a wall.”

Micah smiled, drawing a spell circle in the air. “I told you the kingdom was hidden, didn’t I?”

Glyphs appeared in the wall, glowing the same shade of purple as Micah’s magic. Then the rock split down the middle, and the sides started to slide away, revealing a large staircase which led into darkness.

“Whoa,” Adora said, wide-eyed, as she started to step forward. Micah grabbed her arm to hold her back.

“Hang on, they might be a little suspicious about—“

Two lean figures appeared out of the darkness, claws flashing, muscles tense and ready to jump. Adora’s breath caught in her throat. They looked… like Catra. Not exactly — one had grayish-white fur and green eyes while the other was all black and had blue eyes — but they had the ears and the tail, and their eyes glowed in the darkness, just like hers did.

The gray Magicat straightened up, looking at Micah as if he had just seen a ghost. “Micah?”

“Hello, Tao.” Micah smiled politely. “May I beg an audience with the queens? Or at least safe entry into the kingdom? Being out in the open isn’t particularly safe at the moment.”

Tao eyed him for a long moment, then nodded to the other Magicat, who disappeared. They stepped inside, and the wall slid shut behind them, leaving them in darkness.

“This way,” Tao said.

“Humans, Tao,” Micah reminded him patiently. A purple light sparked to life from Micah’s hand, illuminating the cavern.

“Ah, yes.” Tao sighed, but he looked amused. “It’s been so long, I’d forgotten how limited your eyesight is.”

He drew a circle in the air as he spoke. The air shimmered and seemed to open up into more darkness. “Shadow roads,” Micah explained to the baffled trio. “They’re perfectly safe as long as we stay with Tao, don’t worry.”

“You’ve neglected to introduce your companions,” Tao pointed out as they started through the portal. He sounded amused. Micah chuckled.

“Right. Tao, this is my daughter, Glimmer. And these are her friends, Adora and Bow.”

It was cold inside the portal. Tao didn’t seem to notice. “We received word about Angella,” he said softly. “I’m so very sorry for your loss.”

Micah sighed, shoulders falling. “Thank you. Honestly, I’ve only had a day to try and process it myself.”

“You’ve been back for one day and you’re already throwing yourself back into the war? If I ever needed proof you’re who you say you are, that would be it.”

Tao stopped, drawing another portal. This one opened into a throne room. Tao stepped out first, stooping into a bow and saying, “Your majesties.”

Micah followed, with Glimmer, Bow, and Adora right behind him, glad to escape the suffocating darkness. There were lights lining the walls of the room, giving them a little more illumination. The room was painted in soft yellows, with murals on the walls, and at the head of the room was three thrones. Two of them were occupied. One of the queens was a little shorter, her fur dark brown, her hair even darker, hanging around her shoulders. Her eyes were a strikingly familiar amber. The other was taller and thinner, with blonde fur and long red hair, and cool blue eyes. Adora’s breath caught in her throat as she looked between the queens. Those were Catra’s eyes.

“C’yra.” Micah bowed as well. “Lyra.”

The queens stared at him, eyes wide. The tall one stood after a moment, slowly descending the dais and stopping when she was in front of Micah. He straightened up slowly, letting her search his expression.

“Micah?” She spoke in an exhale, her voice quiet, as if she couldn’t raise it any higher. Micah gave her a gentle smile.

“In the flesh.”

The Magicat queen let out a disbelieving laugh that almost turned into a sob as she threw her arms around him, hugging him tight. The other queen stood, but she seemed a little more hesitant to accept what was in front of her.

“I’m sure you understand that we—“

“C’yra,” her wife protested, breaking away from Micah to give her a small glare.

“It’s okay,” Micah said quickly. “I would’ve been more surprised if C’yra didn’t ask for proof. Let’s see… oh, your first date—“

“Can’t you find other ways to prove your identity?” C’yra asked loudly while Tao laughed.

“Would I be me if I did?” Micah asked with a smug smile. C’yra huffed, giving him a baleful glare before she finally stepped down and swept him into a hug as well. Lyra smiled, then looked at the trio waiting behind Micah.

“And you must be Glimmer.” Glimmer straightened up a little, surprised to be recognized. “I’m sure you don’t remember us, you were barely up to my knee the last time we saw you…”

“A shame you seem to have inherited your father’s height,” C’yra said dryly. Lyra lightly slapped her arm.

“You’re hardly one to talk.”

Micah chuckled. “This is Glimmer, yes, and her friends Adora and Bow. They’ve been leading the war effort.”

All good humor immediately drained from the queens’ faces as they exchanged looks. “Does this sudden visit happen to include an explanation for why the Tiger’s Eye suddenly activated last night?” C’yra asked. Glimmer winced.

“Yes,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize — Mom never told me about Half Moon.”

“Probably because she knew you’d try to find it,” Bow pointed out. He wasn’t wrong — if Glimmer had known there was another kingdom out there, with another Runestone, she would have dug straight through the sandy landscape to find it.

“We’d heard Angella withdrew into her own borders after the first Princess Alliance fell,” Lyra said.

“You seem to hear a lot,” Adora said, frowning. “Have you just been keeping up with the war while you hide down here?”

Glimmer and Bow looked at her in disbelief. C’yra narrowed her eyes. “I don’t expect you to understand—“

“No, I don’t understand. I don’t understand how you can know there’s a war happening, and people are getting hurt and dying right over your heads, and you just not do anything about it. Angella at least tried to keep fighting.”

Lyra rested a hand on C’yra’s arm, fingers a little too tight to simply be comforting. “Adora, was it?” she asked, her voice calm. Adora nodded. “We’re not proud of our actions. Unfortunately, we found out too late there was a traitor among our ranks, and we handled it poorly in the wake of losing our daughter. Like most, our focus became our kingdom.”

“I’m not sorry,” C’yra added. “We had spread ourselves too thin. It left us vulnerable.”

“Everyone did what they had to do to protect themselves,” Micah said. “There’s no point in dwelling on it. But things have changed. It’s not just the Horde anymore. The Rebellion needs help now more than ever.”

C’yra and Lyra exchanged another look, but the sound of a door opening broke the silence before they could speak.

“Mom? Mama?”

Adora felt like she had been punched square in the stomach. That voice… it was soft in a way she had never heard, but she would know it anywhere. She could forget everything else, including her own name, but she would never forget the sound of that voice. She turned, holding her breath, to seek out the speaker.

Her hair seemed softer — not quite the wild mess it had been her entire life, but not the same, unnatural way it had been slicked back the last time Adora saw her. The mask was gone, making her face seem more open and a little rounder, like when they had been kids. Her eyes were wide and openly curious, as if the innocence hadn’t yet been beaten out of her.

“What’s going—“

Glimmer was across the room in the blink of an eye, grabbing Catra by the collar of her robes and slamming her as hard as she could into the wall. Catra huffed, momentarily winded, her expression cycling through emotions before finally settling on anger.

“What the hell?”

“That’s my line,” Glimmer snapped back. “What are you doing here?”

Adora knew she should step in and stop Glimmer — there were guards appearing around them now, ready to strike. And Adora knew from experience that being tagged by those claws hurt. But she was frozen where she stood, trying to process what she was seeing. Catra was here. Catra was here. How was Catra here?

“Queen Glimmer,” C’yra said loudly, her voice cold. “We would appreciate it if you would unhand our daughter.”

“Your what?” Glimmer, Adora, and Bow spoke at the same time, turning to look at C’yra and Lyra. Catra took advantage of the distraction to shove Glimmer way and… run. She ran. She ran to the closest guard, not quite hiding behind him, but definitely putting him between herself and Glimmer. The sight of her hovering behind someone else for protection nearly broke Adora’s mind. Micah was looking between everyone, trying to make sense of what was happening.

“Look, I don’t know what she’s told you,” Glimmer said, teleporting back to the queens between words. “But she is not your daughter. We know her, she’s evil. She’s like the worst person who’s ever existed, she’s… she’s just the worst!”

“She is the princess of Half Moon and if you want any help from us, you will respect that, and refrain from attacking her again.”

Catra hadn’t spoken. She was still standing warily with the guard, looking at Glimmer like she thought the queen might be crazy. She hadn’t so much as spared Adora a glance.

Micah looked at Catra, narrowing his eyes slightly, then back at his old friends. C’yra sighed. “Tao, can you escort Catra to dinner? We’ll be there after we finish this meeting.”

“Wait a second,” Catra finally protested, standing up straight. “I want to know what’s going on.”

“We’ll explain later,” Lyra assured her. Tao approached Catra, offering his arm. She looked at him, shot one last glare at Glimmer, then took the offered arm and let herself be escorted out of the throne room. C’yra turned toward a door to their left, silently walking toward it. Lyra nodded to everyone else to follow.

“What the hell?” Glimmer demanded as soon as they were behind another closed door. “Why is the Horde’s second in command here? Since when is she a princess?”

C’yra sat in an armchair, rubbing her eyes with one hand. “C’yra,” Micah prompted gently, looking between the wives. “Lyra. What happened?”

“Do you remember Percival?” C’yra asked. Micah scowled. “I’ll take that as a yes. We discovered that he had been leaking information about supply routes to the Horde, which is how they were always able to find and ambush them. During one of the last ones, he gave Catra a drug to put her to sleep, then hid her in one of the boxes for the Horde to take her.”

Adora let out her breath in one short huff. “I found her in a box,” she whispered, earning a few confused looks. Glimmer moved on fast.

“Okay, but that doesn’t explain how she got back here.”

“She left the Horde,” Lyra said. “We found her several weeks ago, just wandering the Wastes. She was…”

“Dying,” C’yra said flatly. Lyra winced. “She’d been out there for a couple days at least, and from what she told us later, she hasn’t been taking very good care of herself. It seemed like she walked out into the desert just to die.”

“But how do you know she’s your daughter?” Glimmer demanded.

“Her eyes,” Lyra said. “Heterochromia is rare, and her combination of colors in particular is almost unheard of.”

“She has your eyes,” Adora said, looking between the queens. “Both of yours.”

“Yellow is a common eye color in my family,” C’yra said with a nod. “Not so much outside of it.”

“But she’s not… she’s acting different,” Adora said. “I know Catra, I’ve known her my entire life—“

“She certainly had a lot to say about you.” C’yra’s voice was dark. Adora winced. “She told us everything about growing up, about what she did in the Horde…”

“Did she tell you she killed my mother?” Glimmer asked.

“Yes. It didn’t seem like she was trying to hide anything.”

“It seemed like she was… confessing her sins,” Lyra said quietly. “Like she was waiting for us to judge her. To punish her, maybe.”

“What did you do?” Micah asked. His voice wasn’t accusatory or suspicious, just matter of fact. He knew the queens had done something. He wanted to know what it was.

“We offered to help her. To make the memories hurt less. We thought we could give her space to heal, but she… she wanted to forget it all.”

Adora’s stomach dropped to her toes. She wanted to forget. “You… You erased her memories?”

Lyra nodded. “She was desperate to escape. We gave it to her.”

“So she just gets to walk away from everything she did?” Glimmer wasn’t ready to let it go, of course. “All the people she hurt? The homes she destroyed? The portal?”

C’yra stood, holding herself up at her full height. “If you’re unhappy with it, you can feel free to leave and never come back. If, however, you attempt to harass her or force her to remember, I will see to it that you’re never able to find this kingdom again. Do I make myself my clear?”

Angella was the only queen Adora had ever known, until Glimmer. And it was painfully obvious, in that moment, what the difference was between someone who had ruled for a less than a year versus someone who had been ruling for maybe too long. Glimmer shrunk back slightly, wide-eyed, for once not able to argue. C’yra had held onto a kingdom for over twenty years, had seen her people through thick and thin, had fought a war… and had lost her daughter. And that was clearly something she wasn’t going to risk again.

“You know this isn’t the answer,” Micah said, looking at Lyra. She shook her head.

“If you were given the chance to fix every single problem in your daughter’s life… wouldn’t you?”

Micah looked at Glimmer, then sighed and closed his eyes. “At least consider re-joining the Alliance. Now more than ever, Etheria needs to stand together.”

C’yra nodded once. “You know our terms. Decide amongst yourselves if you think you can abide by them. We’ll be waiting.”

“What?” Frosta slammed her hands on the table in disbelief, standing in her chair. “That Horde Scum is a princess?!”

“And what, we’re supposed to just pretend she hasn’t been trying to murder us for three years?” Mermista scoffed. “Pass.”

“This all seems very… extreme,” Netossa said slowly. “I know C’yra and Lyra were devastated to lose their daughter, but are they really sure Catra is theirs? And if she is… do they really think erasing her memories will help in the long run?”

“I always thought her eyes seemed a little familiar,” Spinnerella admitted. “But I never got close to look.”

“Grief does weird things to a person,” Casta said. “But I am surprised they would go this far. Lyra was always very careful about consent, especially after Light Spinner.”

“She said Catra wanted it,” Bow said.

“Then that’s probably all that matters?” Perfuma hedged a bit. “If it’s what she wanted…”

“That doesn’t make it okay!” Scorpia burst out, throwing her pincers up in the air.

“And we’re not debating the ethics of it,” Glimmer added. “We’re trying to decide whether we can work with Catra after everything she’s done. And for the record, I vote no. We don’t need the Magicats. We can win on our own.”

“Bit of a tall order, all things considered,” Mermista said. “But yeah, I’m not working with her.”

“Me neither,” Frosta said, flopping down and crossing her arms.

“I think we can all agree that working with Catra would be difficult given the past,” Perfuma agreed. “But if she’s… different now, then maybe—“

“So we’re just all going to be okay with them erasing Catra if it makes her easier to deal with?!” Adora interrupted.

“I’d be okay with anything that makes it so she’s not a pain in the ass anymore,” Glimmer said. “Besides, it’s just Catra. Who cares?”

“I care,” Scorpia said immediately. “Look, I left the Horde because I wanted to find help for Entrapta, but Catra’s not… I wouldn’t be okay with fighting her, and I don’t think I’m okay with this.”

“I find it hard to believe Catra would be okay with this, either,” Entrapta added. “All of my observations seemed to indicate that she was very vested in making and keeping her own identity. She worked hard to establish herself as a force captain and stand out from everyone else. But… I don’t know what happened after I went to Beast Island. More studying would be required.”

“I’d definitely want to forget if I was the worst person in the entire universe,” Frosta grumbled.

“It doesn’t matter if she wanted it or not,” Adora insisted. “If she wanted us to kill her, would that make it okay to do it?”

“I mean—“

“Don’t answer that.” Adora didn’t mean to snap at Glimmer. Or maybe she did. “I’ve seen what you do to your friends, never mind your enemies.”

“That’s maybe a little unfair,” Perfuma said before Glimmer could retaliate. “Glimmer did what she thought was best.”

“And look where that got us.”

“You wouldn’t care if it was anyone else,” Glimmer snapped. “But it’s Catra, so of course now it matters.”

“It’s Catra, so it automatically means I’m wrong because you don’t like her.”

“Okay, maybe we should—“

“No.” Adora cut Bow off, standing. “I get it. Someone come get me when my opinion matters again.”

She stormed out of the war room without another word.

Chapter Text

“You’re mad at her too, huh?”

Adora peeked out from behind the bush she’d hidden in. Thankfully, it was just Bow. “Too?” she repeated uncertainly, shifting to make room so Bow could join her. He crawled into the bush with her, curling up.

“Yeah. I keep thinking if she had just trusted us, we wouldn’t be in this mess. But she listened to Shadow Weaver and Light Hope and went ahead without us, and… it doesn’t really feel like we’re a team anymore.”

“No,” Adora agreed, staring hard at the ground. They hadn’t felt like a team for a long time. “I know I made the choice to break the sword…”

“But you wouldn’t have had to if she had listened to us. Yeah.”

Adora sighed, her shoulders falling. “You don’t really care about Catra either, do you?”

“I… It’s complicated,” Bow said, each word hesitant.

“I don’t care if no one else wants to work with her — I don’t even know if I can work with her,” Adora admitted. “But if she was anyone else, we’d all agree that erasing her memories is wrong, even if she wanted it. But it’s her, so suddenly it’s fine? I’m not okay with that.”

“But she asked them—“

“If Micah came back, and Glimmer asked for the exact same thing, and he did it, would you be okay with that?” Bow closed his mouth, looking away. No, he wouldn’t be okay with it. He didn’t have to say the words. Adora sighed, leaning over to rest her head on his shoulder. She knew she wasn’t going to win, but this was so frustrating. And it wasn’t like she could ask Catra about any of it. How was she supposed to see her and not accidentally let something slip?

Then again, it seemed like no one wanted to work with her anyway, so maybe they could just stay away from Half Moon. Everyone would be a lot happier that way.

“This isn’t working,” Mermista said, breathing heavily. Horde Prime’s forces were retreating, again… for now. But they would be back. They’d come back several times over the last few days, determined to take Bright Moon.

“Maybe it’s time to consider retreating,” Casta suggested, earning several nods of agreement.

“No,” Glimmer said firmly. “We need to keep the castle.”

“Then we need more help,” Netossa said. “We’re outnumbered, even with magic.”

Adora looked at the staff in her hand, and her fingers tightened in frustration. She felt so useless. She-Ra would have been able to handle all of this, no problem. But Adora was struggling just to keep up with everyone else. It wasn’t fair.

They retreated back to the war room, collapsing into their usual seats. “We’re barely holding our ground,” Bow said. “If we really want to keep the castle…”

“C’yra and Lyra were clear about their terms,” Micah said quietly. Glimmer let out a frustrated growl.

“I am not working with Catra.”

“You need to give somewhere,” Netossa said. “We’re not going to be able to do this on our own.”

Glimmer rested her head on the table, sighing. “Fine. Fine.”

She hated this idea. Everyone did, really. But they were low on allies. And beggars couldn’t be choosers.

Glimmer wanted to go straight to Half Moon, but Micah pointed out that it was a little more respectful to knock first — especially after all the tension last time. Glimmer wasn’t happy, but she agreed.

Tao met them again, letting them step inside before he spoke. “I know you don’t agree with the queens’ choices. I can’t say I do either. But it’s what the princess wanted.”

“Does she remember anything at all?” Adora asked. Her voice sounded weird in her own ears.

“You’ll have to ask C’yra and Lyra for the details.”

The queens were waiting, expressions impassive, when Tao led them to the throne room. Glimmer looked at her father, then Bow and Adora, then finally at the queens.

“We have a few questions. But… I think we can work things out.”

C’yra looked at Tao, who nodded and disappeared. “The room is soundproof,” she explained. “But Catra likes to try and eavesdrop. Tao will keep her distracted. What are your questions?”

“Does Catra remember anything?” Adora asked immediately. “Or does she think she grew up here or something?”

“We couldn’t completely erase the Horde,” Lyra said quietly. “She remembers a few years there, but thinks she was rescued when she was six.”

“So everything bad she did is gone,” Glimmer said. “Convenient.”

“Is there anything we could say that might trigger her memories?” Micah asked.

“That we’re not entirely sure about. But we do have another condition — no matter what happens, she has no contact with Shadow Weaver.”

Micah scowled a little. “Shadow Weaver is a prisoner, not a member of the Rebellion.”

C’yra raised an eyebrow, looking at Micah, then at Glimmer. “Catra certainly seemed to think differently. But I’ll take you at your word. Obviously, avoiding your shared past would be for the best.”

“Does she have magic?” Glimmer asked. “Because I’m getting that sense that’s pretty common with you, but she’s never used it before.”

“No.” For the first time, Lyra looked truly angry. “Shadow Weaver blocked her ability to use it. We haven’t found a way to fix it yet. She didn’t even know she could until we told her.”

“I can try and help with that,” Micah said. “Between us and Casta, we might be able to make more progress.”

“Sure, give the dangerous maniac magic,” Glimmer muttered.

“You’ll want to avoid comments like that in front her,” C’yra reminded Glimmer. She let out a huff.

“Fine. We hold Alliance meetings at Bright Moon basically every day. You’re not required to attend, or to go to all of them, but it’s an easy way to keep up with what’s happening.”

“We’d actually like to hear more about that now, if you have a moment to spare.”

“Oh — right, yeah. Of course. Let me just check on things in Bright Moon real quick.”

She disappeared in a shower of sparkles. Lyra stood, making her way out of the room. “You okay?” Bow whispered to Adora.

“Yeah.” No. “We have to do this for the Rebellion. Right?”

Bow nodded slowly. “Yeah. For the Rebellion.”

Glimmer reappeared, sighing. “The shields are still holding, but Aunt Casta’s pretty nervous.”

“Casta, nervous?” C’yra said with a bit of a snort. “Say it ain’t so.”

“She’s head sorceress now, you know.” Micah puffed up as he spoke, clearly proud.

“And it’s well deserved. But she’s been an anxious wreck since she turned ten.”

The doors to the throne room opened, and Lyra reappeared with Catra walking beside her. She stopped when she saw who else was there. “Oh look, it’s Sparkles. Gonna try and punch me again?”

Glimmer clenched her jaw and her fists. “No. I mistook you for someone else.”

“Please don’t tell me this is an ‘all Magicats look alike’ thing. That’s kind of racist, you know.”

“Catra,” Lyra scolded her gently, squeezing her shoulder. “We don’t try to get a rise out of our allies. Remember?”

“Fiiiiiine.” Catra sighed as she started walking again, right past the group without sparing them a glance, and up to the third throne. It was weird, seeing her up there. Adora thought back to all the times they’d talked about ruling the Horde together. She’d always imagined them sharing a very different type of throne.

Glimmer told most of the story, carefully leaving out parts that needed more explanation than she could give without this turning into an hours long thing. By the end of it, Catra was on the edge of her seat, eyes wide, tail moving in a way that Adora had come to associate with cautious excitement, like she didn’t want to get her hopes up.

“Our people on the surface seem to have left out a few details,” C’yra said as she scrolled on a tracker pad, reading the last reports she’d gotten.

“Or you’re not reading the whole message. Again,” Catra pointed out helpfully. C’yra shot her a mock glare.

“Yes, yes, I get it. I’m old and useless at technology.”

“She didn’t say that.”

“I didn’t really have to since Mom said it for me.”

Lyra sighed, shaking her head. “We’ll start arranging to send troops to Bright Moon. They’ll follow whatever orders you give them.”

“Let me go too,” Catra said, standing up. Her mothers looked at her, clearly caught off guard. “I can help! And let’s be real, they’ll respect me a lot more than whoever is in charge of them in Bright Moon.”

“Yeah, no,” Glimmer said flatly. “That’s a terrible idea. Bright Moon is basically an active war zone right now.”

Catra rolled her eyes. “And what, you think I can’t take care of myself? Give me a break.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Lyra said while C’yra nodded in agreement. Catra groaned.

“Mama. Come on. You can’t just keep me locked up in the palace forever.”

Really, at least Adora should have seen this coming. Catra had dreamed of escaping the Fright Zone for as long as either of them could remember. She didn’t like feeling trapped in places. Of course that hadn’t changed, especially if she thought she’d been locked up here for most of her life. It was just trading one prison for another.

The queens obviously hated this idea — every single queen present. Glimmer looked ready to explode, while C’yra and Lyra exchanged uncertain looks. “I can help,” Catra said again, a little quieter. “Just give me a chance.”

“I’ll need to discuss it with the Alliance,” Glimmer said stiffly. “We all need to agree before we take a new member, especially now.”

This was getting far too complicated. Adora looked up at Catra, really seeing her for the first time. She looked… calm. At peace in a way she had never been in the Horde. Almost eager, like she knew she had more to contribute. Like she really wanted to help.

How was Adora supposed to say no to that?

“No.”

Mermista’s answer was pretty much expected. So was Frosta’s sharp nod of agreement. “I hate to say it,” Netossa started slowly. “But maybe… maybe we do want her on our side.”

“Are you serious?”

“Hear me out! Catra’s smart — really, really smart. She’s been planning circles around us for a long time. Look at everything with Double Trouble, and the raid on Salineas. She planned that. Even if she doesn’t remember, I bet she’s still just as good at planning as she was with the Horde. What if we had that on our side? We need someone who can make a good plan and follow it through.”

“Are you saying we’re not good at planning?” Glimmer asked.

“I’m saying we’ve gotten lucky a lot against someone who knows how to see the fastest way from point a to point b. I don’t think having her help now would be terrible.”

Everyone was silent, grudgingly accepting the point, even if they didn’t like it. “I still hate her face,” Frosta declared.

“That’s fine. Just don’t say that to her unless she gives you a reason to.”

“Which I’m sure she will soon.”

Adora looked around the table, then quietly stood and made her way out. She would do whatever was necessary to win this war. But looking Catra in the eye and lying to her? Even if Catra didn’t know it was a lie? The idea made her a little nauseous. She’d hurt Catra so much already. Did she really want to keep doing it?

“Adora?”

She paused when Glimmer softly called her name. For a moment, Adora seriously considered not answering and just walking away. But she didn’t feel right doing that. “Yeah?” she said instead, not turning around.

“I just… wanted to say I’m sorry.” That got Adora to turn around. Glimmer was staring at the ground, hugging herself. “For the Heart. For blaming you for everything that’s wrong. For hurting you. For everything. I was just so… so angry about everything, and I hated that it felt like you guys didn’t trust me, and I did everything so wrong, and I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

Adora looked at the window, at the ships hovering over their heads. “I’m still mad,” she said slowly. Glimmer nodded.

“I know.”

Adora held out her arms. A peace offering. Glimmer lit up and ran forward to embrace Adora. They hugged each other tight for a moment. “Can I tell you something?” Glimmer asked, pulling away to look up at Adora. Adora nodded. “I think… and I hate this, I really do. But I think I understand Catra.”

That was definitely not what Adora had expected. “I know!” Glimmer said quickly in response to Adora’s shocked expression. “I know, it’s crazy. But I’ve been thinking a lot about what Entrapta said about her — how she worked so hard to stand apart from everyone else, and she wanted to be seen. And I get that. I was always in my mom’s shadow, and I was the weakest princess, and it was so frustrating. I wanted to be more. I wanted people to look at me and respect me. I wanted to be the hero who won the war. And all I’ve done so far is mess it up over and over, and hurt people, and caused an invasion… I think, if someone gave me a chance, I’d want to forget it all too.”

“Even if it meant giving up Bow?” Adora asked. “Me? All the princesses?”

“Maybe?” Glimmer shrugged helplessly. “If it meant forgetting the last thing I said to my mom, and the way I hurt all of you, then… yeah. Maybe. I don’t know if I would actually make that choice, but I’d think about it. And I don’t think I blame Catra for wanting to forget. She’s done way worse things.”

“Yeah, but… but that doesn’t mean her only option is to run away from it. There are other ways to make up for it.”

“I know she was important to you,” Glimmer said slowly. “But I don’t think a person can come back from the things she did. And even if they can… that doesn’t mean Catra wants to. As much as I hate the idea of her just getting away with everything, I think we should let it go. She chose this.”

“I still don’t believe that,” Adora said.

“I know you don’t. Honestly, I’m not sure I do either. But it’s done. And right now, we have a way bigger problem. We need the Magicats to help us. I’m not saying we let this go forever, but for now. Just for now.”

Adora sighed and nodded. “For now,” she agreed. “So… Catra is joining the Alliance?”

Glimmer snorted. “That’s going to be so weird and awkward. Hopefully everyone can keep it together enough to get through the meeting.”

“Hopefully.” But Adora didn’t have high hopes. None of them were very good actors, including herself. This was probably going to be a complete disaster.

But maybe the queens would be a little more forgiving if the truth came out by accident.

Catra was trying very hard to appear cool and unbothered as she appeared in the halls of Bright Moon Castle with Glimmer. But, a) teleporting was awful. And, b) The palace was amazing. Catra’s life had been a brief, terrible stint in the Horde, and then sixteen-ish years trapped in Half Moon, almost exclusively in the palace.

Bright Moon was… well, bright. Catra’s eyes adjusted easily enough, but it was definitely a lot compared to the low light of Half Moon. Everything was pastel and shiny, and she could see the sky out a nearby window. It was incredible.

“You seem impressed.”

She snapped around to look at Glimmer, who was watching her with an unreadable expression. She still hadn’t explained the whole attacking thing beyond that brief sentence, and seemed pretty stand-offish from what Catra could tell. She didn’t really get the queen. And she wasn’t sure she wanted to meet the rest of the Alliance, if they were all going to act the same way.

“I mean, it’s really different from Half Moon. We don’t really have a great view of the sky or anything. There’s some magic that projects a view of the night sky so we’re not just looking at a stone ceiling all the time, but it’s not the same.”

Catra had to bite her tongue to keep from going off on a whole shpeal about her home. She loved talking, especially about things she knew a lot about, but she doubted the high and mighty queen of Bright Moon would care about the tiny underground kingdom that existed under her feet.

Glimmer hummed a little, nodding. “Well, we can do a tour after the meeting if you want. You might as well get used to it.”

Right. Despite her mothers’ protests, Catra had agreed that staying in Bright Moon would be more conducive than having to be shuffled back and forth. Catra was already starting to regret that decision. Of course, she wouldn’t have had to make it, if she could just access her magic. Stupid magic.

She followed Glimmer into a large room with a circular table in the middle. Did everything have to be so big and bright? And everyone was staring at her. Catra looked around as Glimmer introduced everyone, putting names with faces. Mermista and Frosta looked annoyed. Netossa, Spinnerella, Castaspella were just staring at her, which was odd. Scorpia was tapping her pincers together, looking nervous, while Perfuma kept a hand on her shoulder. Entrapta was staring at her with unabashed curiosity.

Catra took her seat between Bow and Adora (neither of whom would look at her), and rested her elbows on the edge of the table. She leaned over as it lit up, showing a hologram of, presumably, the planet’s current state. Cool.

“Horde Prime is still making moves on the castle. I really think we should consider abandoning it—“

“Absolutely not,” Glimmer said immediately.

“We’re spending most of our time just holding this one place. It’s not helpful.”

“Where would you go?” Catra asked curiously, eyes still skimming the table. “Another kingdom?”

“None of the other kingdoms are really equipped to be the stronghold we need. Salineas and the North are too far out, Plumeria isn’t really built for that kind of thing, Mystacor is too out of the way…”

“And Half Moon isn’t exactly accessible,” Catra rounded out the list. “So Sparkles is right. Giving up the castle is a terrible idea.”

Silence. She looked up, and realized everyone was staring at her. “What?”

“You’re… agreeing with Glimmer?” Bow asked slowly.

“Yeah? I mean, you’d be pretty screwed without any kind of stronghold. What are you going to do, camp? Not exactly a sign of a strong Rebellion.”

“Well if you have any ideas, we’d love to hear them,” Mermista said, sarcasm heavy in her tone. Catra tapped the edge of the table, tilting her head.

“Can this thing show the castle?”

Bow tapped a few buttons on his tracker pad, and a holographic version of Bright Moon Castle sprang to life, including the terrain. Catra leaned closer, scanning it curiously. “I guess rough terrain doesn’t really matter to the flying drones, but you can probably make this difficult for anything on foot. Reduce the area you’re using magic to protect and let the environment do the work for you.”

Again, everyone just stared at her. She huffed. “What? Why are you all so weird? Have you never heard a good idea before?”

“Ah… Not exactly—“

“How do you propose making the terrain more difficult?” Netossa asked patiently. Catra scanned the room and began picking out princesses.

“Water, ice, plants. You three can’t figure out a way to set up some problems? I mean, there’s water down there. Just freeze it. I don’t care how advanced Horde Prime’s forces are, nothing can walk on ice.”

Netossa nodded, a small smile pulling at her lips.

“Okay,” Glimmer said finally. “Mermista, Frosta, and Perfuma, you go down to the edge of the grounds after this, and see what you can do. We’ll work on pulling in the shields.”

Catra leaned back in her seat, feeling pretty good about herself, until she caught Adora looking at her — and then quickly looking away. It wasn’t like it mattered if the weird blonde didn’t like Catra. Catra just wanted to know why.

The rest of the meeting went by fairly quick, with everyone taking turns reporting on what they’d seen of Horde Prime’s movements. The alien overlord clearly had the numbers on his side, but he seemed to be holding back on fully invading. Catra was sure they’d only seen a fraction of what he had to offer.

They adjourned, and people began going their separate ways. Catra remained at the table, because she didn’t really have that much else to do at the moment. Or she thought she didn’t, until someone grabbed her by the back of her shirt.

“Come on kiddo,” Netossa said, tugging her along. “We’ve gotta test your fighting skills.”

Catra scoffed. “Are you serious? Isn’t it going to be a little embarrassing when I kick your ass?”

Netossa laughed. “Love that confidence. So your moms did let you learn how to fight?”

“Of course.” Catra pulled herself out of Netossa’s grip and turned so they were facing the same direction while they walked. “A Magicat’s not much use if they can’t fight or use magic. I was taught by Cloudfoot.”

“Aaaawww, Cloudfoot. He had such a crush on me back in the day. Remember, Spinny?”

“Whatever you say, dear,” Spinnerella said patiently.

They walked out of the castle and turned toward what looked like a training area. “All right.” A small ball formed in Netossa’s hand, and she threw it up and down a couple times. “I’ve got nets, you’ve got claws. Don’t be afraid to go all out.”

“You realize training matches don’t end until someone gets tagged, right?”

“Good point. Okay, I catch you, or you tag me. Just don’t hit my beautiful face. Ready?”

Catra walked a few feet away while Spinnerella stood off to the side to referee. “Three, two, one… go!”

The nets were almost immediate. Netossa could throw fast and throw hard, but she had an easily recognizable pattern. Catra dodged a couple, watching the way they moved, then took a chance and swung at the next one that flew at her. She tore through it easily.

“Ho ho!” Netossa called, laughing. “That’s not something I see often.”

Catra ducked around another one, smirking a bit. “Maybe you’re sparring with the wrong people.”

She jumped over another one, then another, and finally she was close enough to dive at Netossa. A solid net-shield stopped her just before she landed her hit, but she managed not to touch that at least. No doubt it would have been her downfall. Netossa looked quite pleased with herself as she pushed the shield forward, and the edges began to collapse in on Catra.

Nope. She was not going to lose, not after all that shit talking. She braced herself, then jumped forward, putting all of her body weight into the attack as she slammed right where Netossa’s hands were. The tackle had exactly the intended effect, thankfully — Netossa let out a surprised yelp, and the shield dissipated. She was quick to put one back up and use Catra’s momentum to catapult her off to another side. Catra flipped mid-air to land on her feet.

They’d attracted an audience by now. Catra tried not to think about the other princesses watching her — judging her — but it stirred anxiety in her chest. She could not lose. They’d all think she was weak if she lost. She ran at Netossa again, dodging and slashing through nets to recover the ground she’d lost, until she was finally close enough to swing…

And then her foot hit the net bomb Netossa had set up.

The older princess laughed as Catra fell. “I win! Not bad, though. Cloudfoot always was a good teacher.”

She held up her hand, and the net around Catra faded away. “Again,” Catra demanded, scrambling back to her feet.

“Kid, you just ran me ragged. I’m getting some water and taking a break. You should too.”

Catra frowned, looking over her shoulder. Scorpia, Entrapta, Glimmer, Adora, Bow, Mermista, and Micah had all gathered to watch. To see her go down in the most humiliating way.

“I don’t need a break,” she said stubbornly. Netossa smiled as she walked by, resting a hand on Catra’s head.

“You got C’yra’s patience, I see. Relax. You put up a great fight. It’s okay to sit down for five minutes.”

Sure, she could say that. She didn’t have anything to prove. Catra scanned the audience again. Scorpia was big, and probably easy to overbalance, but she didn’t know anything about her magic. Entrapta didn’t seem like a fighter. Catra didn’t want to do another round against magic. Which left Bow and Adora. Her eyes flicked to the quiver on Bow’s back, then the staff on Adora’s belt.

“Adora!” She jumped, then pointed to herself. “Yes, you. C’mon, I need someone normal to fight after all that.”

Everyone looked at Adora, who still looked stunned. “Uh… I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said nervously. Catra rolled her eyes.

“What, afraid of a little scratch?”

Something flickered in Adora’s eyes. She scoffed. “Definitely not.”

“Then come on.”

Adora looked at her for a moment before finally making her way onto the field. Catra bounced on the balls of her feet, watching the way Adora moved. She was definitely trained in a way Netossa wasn’t — her posture was stiff, constantly ready for an attack. Her reflexes probably weren’t as good as Catra’s, but maybe as good as a human’s could get.

“Ready?” Catra called. Adora pulled her staff from her belt, nodding. “Go!”

As predicted, Adora was quick. She swung the staff, and Catra ducked the other way. She was a little surprised when Adora immediately redirected, as if she’d known that was what Catra would do. Not bad. Catra jumped back, out of the staff’s range, then launched herself forward again. She watched as Adora dodged, then tried to swing her staff again. Perfect.

Catra jumped straight up this time, watching the staff, and landed on it, right in the middle, perfectly balanced. She couldn’t stop herself from reaching out and poking Adora in the center of her big forehead. She laughed at the stunned look on Adora’s face.

“Hi Adora.”

She grabbed the staff, yanking it out of Adora’s hands and jumping back down the ground. She swung the staff at Adora’s head, stopping at the last minute and tapping Adora’s hair poof with it.

“I win,” she said with a gleeful smile. It wasn’t a win, not really. She’d clearly caught Adora off guard somehow. But it had been fun.

Adora couldn’t stop touching her hair. She could still feel Catra’s finger on her forehead, the staff tapping her hair poof. It had been so teasing and gentle — so much like when they were kids, running around in training sims. Before Catra’s apathy had taken over and she’d stopped caring about everything, resigned to always being second-best. And Adora had thought she was just being lazy.

She had been so stupidly blind. She had turned away from years and years of abuse, justifying it with Catra is just disrespectful and if she would just work harder, it wouldn’t be as bad. Catra was right. Adora really was an idiot.

But on the training field today… it had felt like Before. Before She-Ra and Force Captain Catra. Before competition drove a wedge between them. Before the resentment had torn away at Catra. Before they had grown up too fast. It hadn’t been fighting a stranger with Catra’s face. Just… a Catra she’d thought long gone.

It doesn’t matter, Adora told herself firmly. No matter how familiar she was, she wasn’t the Catra Adora had known. The one who had looked her in the eye, smiled, and pulled the lever. The one who had begged her to stay in their fabricated reality. The one who had stood above her in Elberon and watched gleefully as her trap and infiltration plans worked. The one who had tried so hard to destroy them.

The one who Adora, inexplicably, still cared about, even after all of that. After all this time. After all her attempts to just do as Light Hope said and let go. She wasn’t the same, and Adora had to keep that in mind. She was a Catra. But not the one Adora wanted. Not that she was allowed to want anything at all. Light Hope had been leading her on — leading her to her death — but she’d been right about one thing — her emotional attachments were her weakness. One she’d never been able to shake. Especially when it came to Catra.

It didn’t matter. She just had to keep saying that. And maybe she would believe it eventually.

Catra jolted awake with a short gasp, eyes flicking around the room. For a moment, she forgot where she was — and why everything was so bright?

She’d been having these dreams most of her life — images of a masked woman hovering over her, berating her, hurting her. She recognized the woman, kind of; a woman she had seen during her brief time in the Horde. A sorceress. Mama said her name was Shadow Weaver. Catra never asked how she knew that.

But the dreams were different. She was older in the dreams, ages she hadn’t been when she was a prisoner in the Fright Zone. The pain felt so real that it still tingled in her limbs when she woke up. And sometimes there was a voice in the background, pleading with Shadow Weaver to stop, which was just ridiculous. No one had ever stood up for her in that place. There were other kids there, but she was a kidnapped princess, the thing horror stories were made of. Or maybe they were scared because she’d accidentally scratched one of them during their attempts to drag her out of her box. Either way, no one bothered with her.

Almost no one. But that memory was almost as distant as the dreams.

Catra rolled out of bed, walking to the balcony. Her eyes were drawn over the trees of the Whispering Woods, to a hazy area she knew had to be the Fright Zone. She couldn’t imagine anyone growing up there and coming out kind. It had been such a cruel, unforgiving place. But she still had some hope she would find the girl who had saved her.

Someday, maybe.

Chapter Text

Adjusting to a daytime schedule was hard.

Catra tried not to let the others see it, but she wasn’t really sleeping yet. And she was tired during the day. She caught naps here and there, in dark corners, for brief moments when she knew no one was looking for her. It was a weakness, and she was determined not to let them see it when they were already so clearly judging her. She wished she knew why. Did they blame her for her mothers’ choices? It wasn’t like she had any control over them.

“Mama, I’m fine.”

“You look tired,” Lyra said. Of course they had figured out how a tracker pad worked so they could call. Even Frosta, who was like twelve, didn’t have weekly check-ins with caregivers. Catra wouldn’t even mind if they were just updates. But the near daily calls had been almost exclusively about Catra and Catra’s health, like she was frail. Like she needed her parents to take care of her.

“There’s a war. I’m actively fighting. It’s tiring.”

“Maybe you should come back and let Mom take over—“

“No!” Catra nearly threw the tracker pad. “I don’t need Mom to come take over for me. I’m fine.”

Lyra didn’t look impressed. “You’ll rell us if you start to get overwhelmed, right?”

“Yes, Mama.” Of course not, but she couldn’t be honest. “I’m okay. I promise. Give Mom a hug for me.”

“I will.” Lyra still looked a little concerned. “I love you.”

“Love you too.”

They ended the call, and Catra collapsed back onto her stupidly soft bed, sighing heavily. She couldn’t tell her mothers the truth — that every day it felt like the Alliance was testing her, and she had no idea what kind of results they wanted. They didn’t trust her, which kind of made sense. That hadn’t known anything about her before last week. But it felt like she was competing against some standard.

And they weren’t even giving her a chance to do anything. A few of the princesses had gone to Elberon earlier, and Catra had wanted desperately to join them — so far it felt like she had traded one castle prison for another. But nope, Frosta had been part of the group, and she was just not having it. Catra didn’t know what the pipsqueak’s problem was, but it was grating on her last nerve. Perfuma had seemed relieved when Catra rescinded her offer to go. Scorpia wouldn’t even look at her.

It was so late, and there was a meeting first thing in the morning, but Catra was once again wide awake. Great. She’d just have to try and sleep in a couple hours to gather up enough energy for this meeting. Then she could catch another nap around lunch. She hated eating with the princesses anyway. And there weren’t a ton of Magicat friendly options in the meals. She’d wander down later and get herself some food. It was fine. She wouldn’t let anyone see these weaknesses. Couldn’t let anyone see this weaknesses. Not if she wanted to prove herself.

Everything would be fine.

Adora looked awkwardly at the empty chair between her and Bow. They’d been assigned as Catra’s babysitters, for lack of a better word, because no one else really wanted to sit with her. It was… stupid, honestly. But fine. Adora didn’t actually mind that much, even if she didn’t like the idea itself.

Glimmer shot a Look at Catra’s empty chair, shook her head, and said, “Let’s start with something easy, I guess. How’s Elberon?”

“They could use a little more help. There haven’t been any direct attacks yet, but robots and clones are pretty much constantly stomping through the place.”

The door creaked open as Perfuma spoke, and Catra slid in silently. She made it to her seat without anyone looking at her, but of course they all saw. No one said anything, though. Adora took a moment to look at Catra, and noticed for the first time that she was tired. She looked like she had when she came back from solitary confinement — because she refused to sleep alone in that cell. Dark bruises had formed under her eyes, and her entire body seemed to sag just a little under the weight of her exhaustion.

“Is it worth keeping them there, or should we consider evacuating?”

“Evacuating to where? Everyone is pretty much in the same boat right now.”

“How big is Elberon?” Catra asked, smothering a yawn.

“Not too big.” Glimmer’s tone was definitely a little bitter. “Someone managed to capture the entire town in a single cell once.”

Adora shot her a Look, but Catra didn’t seem to notice the intended slight. “Would it be worth centralizing the smaller villages to make them easier to protect?”

“Maybe. But that also means they’re all in one place if Horde Prime decides to go after them.”

“True.” Catra smothered a yawn behind her hand. “Has he shown any actual interest in attacking the villages? Actually, what does he even want? Do we know anything?”

“He’s an alien overlord who’s been conquering planets in the wider universe for centuries. We’re not completely sure what that looks like.”

“And what does he know about us?”

“If he got to Hordak, probably a lot.” Adora saw Entrapta droop a little across the table. There’d be time to question that later. “He knows the castle is important since he keeps attacking it.”

“If he knows it’s the center of operations for the Rebellion, then it’s just strategically logical to go at it.” Catra smothered another yawn, but it wasn’t very subtle.

“Is our war boring you?” Mermista asked, sarcasm heavy in her tone. “Maybe you should go take a nap.”

Catra bristled, her fur standing on end as she glared back at Mermista. “I imagine adjusting to a daytime schedule is hard,” Entrapta spoke up distantly from where she was sitting and working on Emily. Catra redirected her glare, but it wasn’t nearly as heated.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said pointedly. Entrapta missed it, of course.

“Does Half Moon not live on a nocturnal schedule? I thought that was natural for all Magicats.”

Now everyone was staring Catra. She set her jaw, took a deep breath, and said, “I thought we were trying to figure out what to do about Horde Prime, not analyzing my sleep schedule.”

That must have been it. Adora looked at Catra, who was doing her best to redirect to any topic. Of course she would never tell anyone about this. She’d never let someone see her being weak. Some things couldn’t be changed by a memory wipe, Adora supposed.

They settled back into the meeting, going back to debating the merits of evacuating smaller villages. The consensus seemed to be that it would be more work than they could could handle right then. Prime wasn’t trying to attack people yet. They could still handle this.

Glimmer immediately rounded on Catra when the meeting ended. Catra didn’t even have time to stand. “I’m sorry if the sleep schedule change is hard on you, but being late to a meeting isn’t acceptable.”

“Wow, sorry.” The sarcasm was heavy in Catra’s tone. “I didn’t realize being five minutes late to something was a punishable offense.”

“We’re trying to win a war, and we need everyone on board to do it. Having you distracted or tired or not here isn’t going to help with that. I’m sure your mothers let you get away with whatever you wanted—“

Catra shoved her chair back hard enough that it screeched on the floor, drawing the attention of the people left in the room. She stood so she was eye to eye with Glimmer, holding herself up just a little taller.

“My mothers are the only reason I’m not punching you right now, Sparkles.” Her voice was cold now. “I don’t know what your problem is, but get over it. Or is this just how you treat all princesses who don’t have magic? I’ve noticed you all aren’t overly kind to Entrapta, either.”

“Don’t try and change the subject—“

“I’m not. I’m just pointing out a pattern of behavior. If you’re offended by it, then maybe you should sit down and ask yourself why.”

She walked out before Glimmer could stop her.

“I just… can’t believe her!” Glimmer was storming around her room as she ranted. Bow still wasn’t really speaking to her, but Adora had felt bad trying to duck away when Glimmer was clearly upset. Even if Catra hadn’t really been wrong.

“You were being kind of harsh about it,” Adora pointed out. “And she was being mean, but… she’s not wrong. You’re way harder on her than you are anyone else. Mermista was late yesterday and you didn’t scold her.”

“It’s different! I know Mermista and trust her. She’s been in the Alliance for years, and Catra’s… ugh!” Glimmer threw her hands up. “This was a terrible idea. I don’t know why I thought this was a good idea. She’s just making everyone uncomfortable.”

That was definitely an exaggeration. Micah, Casta, Netossa, and Spinnerella were perfectly fine with everything, even if they didn’t fully agree with what their old friends had done. Mermista and Frosta weren’t thrilled, but for the most part they had behaved so far. Scorpia was too busy trying to avoid Catra because she couldn’t be trusted not to let the secret out, and Perfuma was focusing mostly on helping Scorpia. Entrapta barely seemed to notice anything was different. Bow had admitted that he liked Catra’s ability to think out plans, and she seemed like a good addition so far. And Adora…

Well, Adora didn’t matter.

“It’s only been a week. I think you need to give it a little more time before you decide this isn’t working. Besides, she’s already been really helpful.”

“Is it worth it, though?” Glimmer shook her head, sighing heavily. “I hate this entire thing.”

That was something they could agree on.

Catra liked to go outside during the day. It was warm, and the fresh air was nice, and Bright Moon’s gardens had a lot of trees she could climb and nap in. She was too angry to nap today, but she still went up and lied down to stare at the sky through the bluish tint of the shield. She tried not to think too hard about the argument with Glimmer. It wasn’t worth it.

Voices drifted across the garden. Catra sat up to see Scorpia and Perfuma walking along, talking about… tea, maybe? Catra tilted her head, one ear twitching. Yup, Perfuma was talking about new teas she wanted Scorpia to try. Catra could have just let them pass — really should have just let them pass — but she was still riding high on the Glimmer confrontation, and Scorpia’s weird avoidance of her was on her last nerve.

“Hey.” She jumped down from her tree. Perfuma and Scorpia stopped, surprised; Scorpia turned herself slightly, as if to run away. “What’s your problem? Do you just hate me?”

“What?” Scorpia’s mouth fell open. “No! Definitely not, of course not, why would you—“

“Because you’re the only one who actively runs away when I get too close!” Catra didn’t mean to snap. Scorpia wasn’t Glimmer. That part of her anger wasn’t Scorpia’s fault. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes for a moment, let it out, and said, “I’m sorry. But it’d be nice to know why you can’t stand to be in a room with me.”

Scorpia’s expression fell. She looked at Perfuma, who gave her a small and encouraging smile. “It’s not… I… don’t hate you.” Her voice was uncertain, but honest. You just… remind me… of someone I lost.”

She sighed, lowering herself to the ground and crossing her legs. Catra hesitated before joining her. “What do you mean?”

“It’s hard to explain.”

“Try me.”

Scorpia took another moment to get her thoughts together. “Did… anyone tell you about me?” Catra shook her head. “The Fright Zone used to be my family’s kingdom. So I’m technically the princess there.” Not what Catra had been expecting, but okay. “I grew up in the Horde, and I was a force captain for… awhile. And there was another force captain that I thought I was getting close to, but I don’t think I actually know how friendship works.

“And she was great, don’t get me wrong. But she… I told her she was a bad friend, but the more I think about it, the more I think maybe that’s not entirely true. She made a lot of bad choices though, and I couldn’t stay, because I think she might have dragged me down with her. And now I don’t know where she is. Glimmer tried to find her before Horde Prime invaded, but she wasn’t there, and no one’s really seen her since then, and… I don’t know if she’s even still, you know, alive.”

She paused to take a deep breath, and forced a tenuous smile. “Anyway, you remind me of her. Not the bad parts! Just the way you… you’re stubborn, and you know how to argue really well, and I can tell by the way you talk about Half Moon and your moms that you’re really loyal to them. And sometimes it’s just kind of hard to be around you. But I’m trying! I’m sorry I made you think I hate you. I really don’t.”

Perfuma had a hand on Scorpia’s shoulder now. Catra looked between them for a moment before sighing and standing. “I’m sorry about your… person. But you probably did the right thing by leaving. I mean, leaving the Horde is obviously a good choice, but you can’t help someone who doesn’t want to help themself.” She looked up at the sky for a moment, thinking her words over. “But thank you for telling me. I won’t bother you again, but I feel like I’m going insane here. Having at least one answer is nice.

“What do you mean?” Perfuma asked, tilting her head.

“At least half the Alliance hates me, and I can’t figure out why, and it’s driving me insane. I thought I was finally getting a chance to help, not signing up for some melodramatic, passive aggressive drama. Or maybe I’m just really tired.”

“Is what Entrapta said true?” Catra nodded wearily. “Would you like something to help you sleep, maybe? I’ve found tea to be a great way of relaxing. You could have some at night before you try to go to bed.”

Catra snorted. “You sound like my mother. Tea is always the answer as far as she’s concerned.” She took a minute to think about it, though. “Do you have any magnolia tea?”

That was Lyra’s favorite, and it had grown on Catra after awhile. Perfuma looked pleasantly surprised, but she smiled. “I can take a look.”

“Thank you. I appreciate it.”

It wasn’t a fix, not even close — to the sleep problems or the weird personal issues everyone else seemed to have with Catra. But it was a start. Catra would take that.

“I just wish he’d talk to me.”

Glimmer had moved on from complaining about Catra to being sad about Bow still not speaking to her. “I… think he just needs time?” Adora said uncertainly. This was not her wheelhouse. “It feels like we’ve been running and running ever since Scorpia turned up. No one’s had time to… you know, talk things out.”

“I want to talk things out! But he’s avoiding me!”

“Maybe you just have to wait for him to be ready. You can’t do everything on your terms.” Something Adora had learned the hard way from years of dealing with Catra. She’d never been able to make Catra come to her. Catra had to make that choice in her own time.

“I know. I just… I miss him. He’s my best friend. And he’s right there, and I can’t talk to him. I hate it.”

Adora wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Yeah, I know the feeling. She did, but it wasn’t like Glimmer would like to hear the comparison. She’d go on about how Bow and Catra were totally different, and Catra was terrible so she didn’t really count, and—

She was almost happy when a green light flickered to life outside the window, even if what followed was sure to be a nightmare.

“Rejoice, Etheria, for Prime has come to you.”

Glimmer and Adora ran to the balcony, looking up at the giant image hovering over them. Horde Prime.

“Do not fear, for you have been given the opportunity to share in a world soon to be remade in my image.”

“What the hell?” Glimmer muttered. He made it sound like such a privilege to have him there trying to invade their planet. “Who does he think he is?”

“But first, you must prove yourselves worthy. Your leader, your… She-Ra, she would see you suffer in darkness for her sake.”

Adora went stiff, eyes wide. She knew Glimmer was looking at her, but she couldn’t bring herself to look back. Her entire focus was on the image looming over them.

“Cast aside this false hero, and deliver her to me.”

“War room,” Glimmer said as a chant of Prime sees all, Prime knows all began echoing throughout the sky. “Come on.”

Glimmer rested a hand on Adora’s shoulder, and they appeared in the war room a moment later. A few people were already there, and the rest were likely on their way, but Glimmer still went to get them, just in case.

“He basically just told Etheria to do his entire job for him,” Mermista was saying. “Does he just sit up in his space ship all day while everyone does his bidding?”

“But they won’t really do that, will they?” Perfuma asked, hands clasped in front of her, knuckles almost white. “She-Ra has done so much to help the planet. They wouldn’t turn on her.”

“Desperate people do desperate things,” Micah said slowly. “I don’t know enough to say for sure that people would definitely do it, but… it’s a possibility. We shouldn’t immediately dismiss it.”

“Did you guys see that?!” Frosta demanded as she ran through the door. Scorpia came in behind her, half pulling Entrapta along.

“That was amazing!” Entrapta declared. She paused when she saw the looks the others were giving her. “And… bad. Very, very bad.”

Glimmer finished getting everyone together, and the war room descended into chaos as they all tried to talk at once. Voices got louder and louder, people talking over each other, panic rising, until finally a softer voice cut them off.

“Who’s She-Ra?”

Everyone froze, then turned to look at Catra. Glimmer hadn’t gone for her, but she’d apparently had the same idea, and made her way down to the war room. She looked between the others now, waiting for someone to answer. “Well?”

“You don’t know who She-Ra is?” Mermista asked, raising an eyebrow. “Seriously?”

“No one really kept me up to date on the intricate details of the war.” Catra didn’t quite snap, but it was very close. “And it’s not like any of you have bothered to fill me in.”

Silence. Adora sighed, her shoulders falling. “I’ll tell her,” she said quietly, earning looks from everyone else.

“Are you sure—“

“Yeah.” Adora cut Glimmer off gently. “You all talk about whatever you need to talk about. We’ll be… down the hall.”

There was a sitting room at the end of the hall that they took over. Adora left the door open slightly so Catra wouldn’t feel trapped. Nothing Adora was about to tell Catra was a secret. The others just didn’t need the story rehashed.

Catra sat in the window, eyes following Adora as she paced slowly. “Do you know anything about the First Ones?” she asked after a moment. Catra tilted her head, thinking.

“A little? I know some basic history.”

Adora nodded. That was something. “They did a lot of things to Etheria. Most of it wasn’t good. They created something called the Heart of Etheria to turn the planet into a massive weapon and use it against Horde Prime. And they created a sword to control it with. I don’t know how exactly it worked, but it basically used She-Ra’s power to harness a lot of magic and make the whole planet go boom.”

“Okay…” Catra said slowly. “But what is She-Ra?”

“She-Ra is… complicated.” That was the best way to say it. “She’s a magical being whose power can be used and controlled by a chosen person. I um… I was She-Ra.”

“Past tense,” Catra noted. Adora nodded.

“There was this… AI thing, her name was Light Hope. She’d been programmed by the First Ones to make sure the Heart was set off no matter what. Glimmer was really desperate to end the war, so she went to Light Hope and agreed to help her set the Heart off. She didn’t know what would happen. Neither did I until it was almost too late. And I broke the sword to stop the Heart from going off.”

Catra took all this in, clearly thinking hard. “Okay,” she finally said. “You broke the sword, so you can’t turn into She-Ra anymore. That’s… weird, but okay.”

“What do you mean?” Adora asked, momentarily distracted. “What’s weird?”

“Well, like… I know not all magic comes from Runestones, but She-Ra’s magic probably comes from somewhere. But it can’t be the sword, because the sword was just made to control her. So if the sword isn’t the source of her power, then why are you suddenly cut off from it? There has to be a source somewhere.”

Adora hadn’t really thought about that. She stared at Catra for a long moment, considering what she said. “Maybe… I don’t know. If the magic is still there somewhere, I can’t access it. I’m useless.”

“Useless?” Catra repeated, disbelief coloring her voice. “Who says you’re useless? Is it that Mermista bitch? I’ll cut her.”

“What?” It was Adora’s turn to be stunned. “No, of course not — no one’s said that to me—“

“Then why do you think it?”

The simple question stumped Adora. “Huh?”

“Why. Do. You. Think. That.” Catra repeated the question much slower. “People aren’t useless. Even if they aren’t contributing — which you are, by the way — people are worth more than what they give others. They’re not tools that you throw away after you’re done using them. People on the castle staff retire all the time, Mom and Mama don’t look at them and say, ‘Well they’re not working anymore so it’s not worth keeping them around’ and toss them to the trash. You contribute a lot to the Rebellion, and that’s great, but if you think that’s the only reason anyone likes you, then either your friends are really fucked up, or you are."

Adora blinked once, then again, then a third time. It took a fourth blink to realize there were tears in her eyes. “Oh, shit.” Catra immediately backpedaled. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you cry—“

“No, no,” Adora said quickly, trying to wipe her eyes. “It’s… you… I…”

She couldn’t cry in front of Catra. She couldn’t afford to let anyone see that weakness, not right now. It was bad enough she couldn’t fight as well as she used to, she wasn’t going to add to the problems they had.

But Catra had always been the only person she could cry in front of. When Shadow Weaver scolded her for not being good enough, or she failed to exceed or even meet her previous scores during training sims, when everything had just been too much and she’d felt like she was going to break under the pressure of expectations, Catra had always been there. Catra had been able to see the way her face scrunched up, the way her eyebrows pinched together, the way she suddenly breathed heavier, and she’d be right there. She’d take Adora’s hand and lead her to a closet that was far away from the hustle and bustle of Horde life, and tuck Adora into the furthest corner before closing the door and going to join her. Then she’d press herself up against Adora, waiting for Adora to decide whether to hold her or not, and she’d start purring. Catra was the only one who got to see that side of Adora, that rare moment of weakness. And she had never judged her. Never thought she was weak.

It hadn’t occurred to Adora until much later to wonder where Catra went when she cried.

“Shit, okay.” Catra was very clearly panicking now as Adora sunk to her knees, hiding her face in her hands. “Okay, I’m sorry.” There was a shuffle as she moved, and her voice was a little closer when she spoke again. “Can… Can I hug you? Are you a hugger?”

Adora almost laughed. She sounded so lost, in a way Catra had never sounded. But it was kind of cute. She nodded, and a pair of slender arms wrapped around her, pulling her into a gentle but firm hug. Adora let herself be consumed, pressing her face into the junction between Catra’s neck and shoulder and taking a few deep breaths. A low purr started to rattle in Catra’s chest.

“No one’s ever said that to me,” Adora finally admitted in a whisper she knew Catra’s ears would still hear. Catra twitched slightly, her arms tightening around Adora, her purr getting a little stronger.

“Well, everyone around you is wrong, then.”

Catra was up bright and early for the next meeting a couple days later. Perfuma had supplied her with the magnolia tea, and it hadn’t fixed everything, but the familiarity had been comforting. And Catra got enough sleep that night to make sure she was up well before anyone else.

She was the first one in the war room, as planned. She looked around the table, taking in the empty seats, then sat herself right in Queen Glimmer’s chair. She crossed her arms and waited.

Bow and Adora were the first ones in. Catra had no idea what Adora had done after she was done sobbing on Catra’s shoulder, but today she looked like nothing had happened. For some reason, that just made Catra angrier.

“Um… that’s Glimmer’s chair.”

“Yup.” Catra’s voice was clipped. Bow decided not to argue any further, and they just sat down.

Glimmer was next, teleporting in with a couple plates of food. “You guys can’t keep skipping breakfa—“

She stopped mid-word when she saw Catra in her chair. Catra didn’t spare her a glance. “That’s my chair.”

“I don’t see your name on it.”

She thought Glimmer might smack her. But she put the plates down in front of Bow and Adora, stepped back, and crossed her arms.

And so it continued. Mermista almost didn’t notice until she sat down and saw Catra directly across from her. Netossa and Spinnerella exchanged wary looks, but didn’t comment. Micah and Casta looked at Glimmer to gauge her reaction, while Entrapta ignored the whole thing completely. Scorpia, Perfuma, and Frosta were the last ones in, and they all stopped to stare.

“That’s Glimmer’s chair,” Frosta said, her voice threatening that a punch was in the near future.

“I’m so glad you guys are worried about who sits in what chair.”

Perfuma quickly ushered Frosta to her seat before she could respond.

“Well,” Glimmer said finally when everyone was settled in. She still hadn’t sat; she was just watching Catra with crossed arms. “Clearly you have something to say. Do you want to share?”

Catra looked around the table, then leaned forward, keeping her voice even as she spoke. “You guys suck.”

That got her a few offended reactions, and a lot more staring. “Not all of you,” Catra continued, standing. “But enough of you. I don’t know if you all think you’re subtle or what, but I’ve been here for like a week and a half and I know most of you don’t like me. And it’s not just me. You all clearly don’t like Entrapta, either.” Entrapta looked up, surprised. “But Scorpia gets a pass for some reason even though she was in the Horde and literally fought you?”

“That’s not—“

“And I’m not saying you should hate Scorpia.” Catra spoke over Perfuma, who was clearly indignant that Catra was using information Scorpia had told her. “That’s not the point. The point is that you seem to have some serious double standards. You’ve got people you don’t like, people you ignore, people you’re just running into the ground without even realizing how much you’re hurting them. I couldn’t figure out if all were malicious or just oblivious, and I think you’re just oblivious, but honestly, that’s worse. How unaware do you have to be to hurt the people around you and not notice? I think that’s actively more dangerous than just being malicious.”

“If you’re just going to stand there and insult us—“

“If all you’re getting out of this is that I’m insulting you, then you’re completely missing the point.” Glimmer closed her mouth, blinking. “Is it because we don’t have magic? Is that the secret to being accepted here? Or do we just not offer enough to make us worth bothering with?”

“Entrapta betrayed us to work for the Horde!” Frosta finally burst out, apparently unable to take being silent anymore. Catra turned to look at her, expression blank.

“And?” Frosta opened and closed her mouth, trying to figure out what to say, but nothing came out. “And?” Catra prompted again.

“And what?”

“And have you tried to be a reasonable person and talk to her about that, or are you just being passive aggressive at her and hoping that’ll get the point across? You might as well kick her out if you’re just going to be a jerk to her instead of trying to talk out your issues.

"As for me… I don’t care why you don’t like me. I don’t get it, but I also don’t care. If you want to be like that, then fine. I’m here to help fight and direct my people. I don’t need you to like me.” She stood up, carefully meeting each person’s gaze as she spoke. “But I am the princess of Half Moon, and if you can’t treat me with the same basic respect that you afford each other — for the most part — then we’re going to have a real problem working together going forward.”

She waited to see if anyone would speak. They didn’t. “Talk amongst yourselves. Let me know what you decide.”

And she walked out.

Chapter Text

“She’s unbelievable!”

“Screw this. Let’s just tell her why we hate her and send her back to Half Moon.”

Everyone was talking over one another. The room was in complete chaos. Adora looked from person to person, trying to pick out on voice, one argument, but everything was running together.

“Okay, okay,” Glimmer said, speaking over everyone else and attempting to quiet them down. “We need to talk about this—“

“Do you all really hate me?”

The question was soft, but far more effective than Glimmer. The group turned to Entrapta, who looked mostly curious, but a little hurt. “You joined the Horde!” Frosta was the one to answer, of course. “You made things that tried to kill us!”

“I wouldn’t say we hate you,” Perfuma said quickly. “But… you have to understand our point of view.”

Entrapta drooped. Even her hair looked limp. “And none of this is the point,” Mermista added. “This is about Catra. Look, we tried, and I know we need Half Moon’s help, but we can not work with her.”

“I think maybe you’re being a little hasty,” Micah said, speaking for the first time since Catra left. “What she said was harsh—“

“You’re not agreeing with her, are you?” Glimmer asked, looking a little betrayed.

“Not agreeing, no,” Micah said. “But some of her observations are valid.”

“How? Because we don’t trust her? She’s the reason Mom is—“

“You’ve told me what happened with the portal,” Micah gently cut her off. “But Catra doesn’t remember any of it. Are you really willing to pass judgment on someone for crimes they don’t know they committed?”

“It’s not—“

“Have any of you considered that she might have a point?”

Now everyone turned to look at Adora. She had stood, and was looking around the table. “Maybe not about why, but it’s pretty obvious there’s some divide here. Double Trouble saw it and used it against us for months. Catra’s been here for two weeks and she’s already seen through everything. She could hurt us if she wanted to, but she’s trying to be on our side even though we’re making it impossible.”

“So she gets credit for not being a terrible person?”

Okay, Adora could kind of understand why Catra had automatically jumped to assuming Mermista was the one making Adora feel bad. “That’s more than we get right now.”

Silence fell. Everyone looked at each other for a moment before Scorpia tentatively raised a pincer. “I came here to get help for Entrapta, and I stayed to fight Horde Prime, but I didn’t sign up for the Hating Catra Club. Things are weird, yeah, but… I didn’t hate her before, and I don’t hate her now.”

“I thought we already made this choice,” Netossa said. “She’s been good for the Rebellion, especially with helping us plan. It’s not perfect, but we can at least manage to be civil with her. And she’s right. Grudges aren’t going to help anything. Talk to people if you’re upset, or let it go.”

“You’re all very young,” Casta added. “It’s easy to hold on to the things that make you angry. But it’s only going to poison you in the end.”

“You hated Mom for years,” Glimmer reminded her. Micah shot Casta a look, and she sighed.

“You’re right, I did. And I regret that now. Do you really want to make the same mistakes?”

Glimmer didn’t have an answer to that. “I know I did a lot of bad things,” Entrapta said. “I thought I was making up for it by helping now. What else can I do?”

“It’s not… like that,” Perfuma said slowly. “You’re already doing what you can by being here.”

“But obviously it’s not enough.” The words weren’t accusatory. Just blunt and almost curious, the way Entrapta was. “So what else can I do?”

No answer. “I think it might be time to consider that Catra has a point,” Spinnerella said quietly. “And that we can’t fight a war if we’re too busy fighting each other. We tried that once, remember?”

“And look how it turned out,” Netossa added, gesturing toward the balcony. Glimmer winced, ducking her head.

“I'm sorry.”

Netossa grimaced. “I didn’t mean—“

“No, I know. But I haven’t really apologized yet.” Glimmer raised her head, letting everyone see her face. There was regret in her eyes, and her lips were pressed thin. “And I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry for everything that happened. I trusted the wrong people, and I put you all in danger with my actions.” She looked at Scorpia. “I manipulated you to make you bond with the Black Garnet because I wanted to set off the Heart. You didn’t deserve that.” Her eyes slid to Bow next. “I should have listened to you. I’m sorry I didn’t.”

The rest of the Alliance exchanged looks, except for Bow. His eyes remained firmly on Glimmer.

“I don’t expect you all to forgive me.” Glimmer’s attention went back to the group. “Not right away, or… ever, really. But I’ll work as hard as I can to re-gain your trust, and if you don’t want me to keep leading, then I understand. I’ll do what’s best for the Rebellion, and for Etheria. Just tell me.”

A loud explosion shook the castle before anyone could say anything. Adora stood and hurried to the balcony to see the plume of smoke raising into the air. “That’s Thaymor,” she reported, hand going to the staff on her belt. Glimmer teleported to her side to see for herself.

“Prime broadcasted a threat,” Casta said. “It wouldn’t be a surprise if he’s following up now.”

“It could be a distraction, though,” Bow added. “Lure us out, then attack the castle.”

“Right.” Glimmer turned on her heel, all business now. “Frosta, Perfuma, Dad, Aunt Casta, Netossa, Spinnerella. You all stay here and watch the castle. The rest of us will go check on Thaymor.”

Everyone nodded. Mermista, Scorpia, Bow, and Adora moved to stand with Glimmer. She cast a look at the group staying behind, then teleported the group to Thaymor.

The streets were in chaos, people running and screaming as clones and bots made their way down the streets. Bow whipped out a few arrows, knocking them into place and shooting down a couple drones. Everyone else sprang into action. Adora pulled her staff and swung it at the closest clone.

Adora had trained with a staff for most of her life in the Horde. She was a little rusty, but she hadn’t forgotten anything she had learned, and it showed as she went from the first clone to a bot. But Prime’s bots were so much bigger than the cadets she had trained against. The staff bounced off the robot’s arm, and it swung its arm, hitting Adora hard enough to throw her back into, then through a door.

“Ow…” she mumbled, pushing herself up onto one elbow while her other hand gripped her side. The bot advanced on her, arm raised, laser whirring to life. Adora cringed back, breath catching under her ribs. She couldn’t move fast enough to dodge it. She was stuck.

She was screwed.

A blur came out of nowhere. There was a shink! as something cut through the robot, and its arm fell off. A moment later, a wave of water swept through, knocking the robot away.

“She okay?” Mermista called, her voice moving closer. Catra appeared in the ruined door, her eyes easily picking Adora out in the gloom.

“She’s conscious. I’ll take care of her.”

There was a long moment of silence. “Okay,” Mermista finally said, tone short. Catra hurried into the room, easily dodging bits of debris.

“You all right?” she asked softly, kneeling beside Adora.

“Yeah, I—“ Pain lanced through Adora’s side as she tried to sit up. Catra grabbed her before she could fall over. Adora did her best to breathe through the pain,= and the static that was filling her vision.

“Sure, you’re fine.” Catra scoffed, pulling Adora’s arm over her shoulders. “Come on, move slow.”

Just the act of standing left Adora breathless. She was starting to think some ribs might be broken. Catra helped her shuffle to the door so they could watch the fight. Catra’s gaze was flicking around, following every movement. Her eyes narrowed.

“You gonna be okay on your own for a minute?”

The question surprised Adora. “Yes, but why—“

Catra leaned her against the door, helping her sit again, then ran back onto the battlefield. She went straight for the closest clone and ran behind it; she jumped at it, jamming her claws right into the back of its neck. The clone seized, then collapsed to the ground.

“The backs of the clones necks are weak points!” she called to the other princesses. “They’ve got… ports or something. Aim for those!”

Everyone immediately shifted to go for the new targets. Catra ran back to Adora, who was staring at her in disbelief. “How did you figure that out?”

Catra shrugged, kneeling with her again. “Lucky guess.”

Prime’s forces had numbers, but the Alliance had magic and skill. The addition of Catra’s revelation tipped the battle completely into their favor, with the last of the enemies being swept out by Mermista. Catra helped Adora stand again, letting her lean against her as they walked to the group.

“Adora!” Glimmer and Bow ran to meet them. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Adora said, pulling away from Catra. “Just a little bruised.”

“Liar,” Catra muttered, but she let Adora go. Glimmer and Bow apparently didn’t believe her either; they looked at her with twin suspicious gazes, until Glimmer looked away to focus on Catra instead.

“Thank you,” she said after a moment, voice cautious. “For coming, and for helping Adora.”

Catra shrugged, turning away to look at the half destroyed town. “Nothing to thank me for. What about this place? Doesn’t seem very secure.”

“No,” Glimmer agreed. “We’ll have to evacuate. I don’t know where to take them, though.”

“They might have some ideas. Try asking around.”

“On it,” Bow said, giving Adora a small smile before turning and jogging off to talk to people.

“He’s the social one,” Glimmer explained.

“What, you aren’t good with people?” Catra asked dryly. “I’m shocked.”

It was teasing, but almost gentle. Almost the way Catra had always sounded when she called Adora an idiot. “Oh, shut up,” Glimmer said, but again, there was some softness to it. “Adora, do you want me to take you back to the castle?”

“No,” Adora said quickly, straightening up just a little. “I’m fine. Put me to work.”

If Glimmer and Catra ever bonded over anything, it would be how exasperated they were by Adora.

The Alliance started moving around to help people rescue belongings from their homes, gathering up any injured people to treat their wounds, and talking to people to try and get an idea of where they could go now that they had to abandon their town.

Adora was working on clearing some debris, and saw a kid approaching Catra. She stopped to watch, a little wary.

“’Scuse me.”

Catra turned to the little girl, surprised. “Yes? Are you okay?”

The girl was clinging to a doll, staring up at Catra in amazement. “Are you a princess too?”

“Mmhm.” Catra knelt so they were eye to eye. “My name’s Catra. What’s yours?”

“Annie.” She flexed her fingers, a look of almost longing in her eyes. “Can I… pet your ears?”

Kyle had asked Catra that once. She’d pushed him out of his seat and told him to shut up. Sure, they’d been six at the time, but Catra had established early that no one was allowed to touch her ears.

She laughed now, a soft sound that Adora had never heard from her before. “Sure.”

She tilted her head slightly to give Annie’s little hand a better angle. It only took a minute for other kids to start noticing, and before long, Catra had an entire crowd around her.

“Aaawww,” she heard Scorpia whisper.

“That is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen,” Bow added in a quiet but high-pitched voice. Catra’s ears twitched, indicating that she had definitely heard them, but she didn’t risk looking away from the kids to scowl at them.

Adora watched the soft scene for a moment, smiling to herself, before turning away.

“You brought these back for me?”

It had been Catra’s idea to gather up a couple of the sophisticated bots and bring them back to Entrapta to mess with. She didn’t say it was a peace offering, but the implication was there. They weren’t entirely sure Entrapta even still remembered the meeting, or if it was still bothering her. But she was very happy about the bots.

“I bet I could re-program these drones to do patrols for us. And they’d blend in with all the others that are already out there!”

She scooped everything up with her hair and hurried off. Catra stared after her in disbelief.

“Did she just…?”

“You’ll get used to it,” Mermista said dryly. Catra raised an eyebrow at her.

“Does that mean I’m staying?”

Mermista shrugged, looking at the other princesses, then back at Catra. “Yeah, I mean, I guess. Don’t make a big deal about it.”

“Wasn’t planning on it.”

It was late, and Adora knew she should really be sleeping. But she was in her room practicing with her staff instead of out on the training grounds, and that was something, right?

The door opened behind her. Whoever was visiting probably wouldn’t agree. “Shouldn’t you be resting?” Bow asked in his ‘I already know the answer so don’t lie’ voice. Adora sighed, turning to look at him.

“I can’t sleep.”

“I bet you could if you tried.”

“No, I mean…” Adora looked down at her staff, struggling for words. “I got hurt today.”

“Isn’t that even more reason you should be resting?”

“No!” Adora threw her free arm up in frustration. “I don’t have the luxury of taking a hit and not getting back up. I let everyone down.”

The look Bow gave her was something akin to pitying, and she hated it. “We all get knocked down sometimes, Adora. The only reason you’ve always been able to get up again is—“

“She-Ra.” The name was bitter on Adora’s tongue. “I know.”

“Then you should also know that pushing yourself isn’t going to work.” Bow stepped forward, reaching out to take her staff. Adora stepped back a little, her grip tightening.

“I’m not pushing myself. Just training.”

“You got hurt today,” Bow reminded her patiently. “When people get hurt, they rest.”

They were going in circles and it was stupid. “I’m fine, Bow.” Adora tried to sound reassuring, but it definitely came out more snippy. Bow looked her over, then turned to walk out. That had been surprisingly easy, Adora thought as she went back to her training.

She got a whole five minutes of peace before a new, sharper voice cut in.

“Are you stupid?” Adora jumped, surprised, and turned to see Catra standing in the door with Bow. “Do you remember getting thrown through a door today, or do you have brain damage?”

Catra walked in while Adora stuttered, grabbing the staff and yanking it out of her hand. “Hey! You can’t—“

“Watch me.” Catra poked her in the chest with the staff, forcing her to step back. “If you think you’re useless now, imagine how you’ll feel in the next fight when you break bones or something.”

“You can’t just push me around.”

“I can if you break a leg or something.” Another push, and Adora was forced to sit. Catra retracted the staff, satisfied. “Good. You can have this back in the morning.”

“You can’t take that!” Adora protested as Catra started to leave — with her staff. “What if I need it?”

“For what? Fighting your dreams?”

And she was gone. Adora shot Bow a glare. “That was low.”

“I did what I had to do,” Bow said with a shrug. Adora seriously considered going after Catra, but now that she was sitting, she realized she was tired. She pulled off her jacket and kicked off her boots, reluctantly crawling up to her pillows.

“Did you talk to Glimmer?” She’d seen them going in the direction of Glimmer’s room after dinner. Bow softened, smiling a little.

“Yeah. I think we’re okay.”

“Good.” Adora dropped onto her pillows, sighing. “She was really worried you were never going to speak to her again.”

“That’s a little dramatic.”

“You know Glimmer.”

Bow chuckled, settling on the floor next to Adora’s bed and leaning his back against the mattress. “Can I ask you something?”

“Thought I was supposed to sleep?”

“We both know you won’t.” Adora smiled despite herself. “This morning… was Catra talking about you when she mentioned overworking people?”

Oh. Adora seriously considered pretending to spontaneously fall asleep. “I don’t know. It’s not like she ran her speech by me.”

Bow wasn’t convinced. “You talked to her about She-Ra, right? Did something happen?”

Adora pulled the blanket over her head. “I told her I feel useless without She-Ra, and she said people aren’t useless. I don’t know where she got overworked.”

“Of course you’re not useless,” Bow said, surprised. “I didn’t think we needed to say that.”

“You don’t!” Adora sat up quickly to reassure him. “Of course you don’t need to say it, that’s stupid.”

“But you need to hear it.”

“I don’t—“

“Clearly Catra thought so.” Bow’s voice was gentle, but firm. “And I think I trust her instincts.”

“You don’t even like Catra.”

“I don’t… not like her,” Bow said hesitantly. “It’s complicated. I don’t think I can hold what she did before against her, because she doesn’t remember it. And I really do think people deserve second chances. But also I do remember what she did, and it’s hard to forget. But that’s not the point. No matter how I feel, I think she still knows you. Even if she doesn’t realize it. So if she thought you needed to hear it, then she was probably right.”

Adora wanted to protest, to say of course Catra didn’t know her, that was stupid. But it was hard to deny that she already seemed to have a knack for knowing what Adora needed, even when Adora herself didn’t. That was impossible, though. She just got lucky a couple times. It was nothing.

She was standing in a field that wasn’t really familiar, but she still felt like she had been here before. The sky overhead was shades of blue and purple, bright stars dotting the velvety canvas. And there was light. A giant light shining like a portal just a few feet away. A familiar figure stood in the light — or maybe it was the light. She couldn’t tell.

“Hello?” She took one step forward… and images immediately filled her mind. The past, herself, a broken sword. It all ran through her head at a rapid pace, leaving her gripping her head in pain and gasping for breath. The figure hadn’t moved when she looked back up, but it somehow seemed further away.

“What is this?” she asked, moving forward, one hand reaching out. The figure turned to look at her, eyes flashing gold, and white light engulfed her…

Adora bolted up with a short shout, breathing heavily and looking around. She was in her room, in Bright Moon. Not in a mysterious field looking at some shining light. That was ridiculous.

Maybe everyone was right. She needed more sleep.

“I really feel like we could be using this time for something better. Like training.”

“We all know what you think, Adora,” Mermista deadpanned. Frosta, Netossa, and Spinnerella had taken over the training grounds to play iceball, a game Adora would never understand. “Just let them finish this round.”

“How do you know when a round is over?”

“Usually when Frosta wins.”

Adora groaned, falling back to lie on the grass and stare at the dome overhead. Horde Prime had slowed his attacks on the castle, which was… concerning. But they were taking advantage of the quiet moment.

“Maybe we should go check on the nearby towns. Or see how the people from Thaymor are settling into their new places. Or—“

“You know what helps me relax?” Perfuma asked brightly. “Meditating! We could meditate together.”

“Uh…” Adora sat up slowly. “Okay. What do I do?”

“Just follow my lead. Clear your mind.”

Perfuma crossed her legs under herself to and put her hands on her knees, closing her eyes. Adora watched her for a moment, then did the same. How did she clear her mind, though? That seemed weird. What was she supposed to do? Not think?

Catra had gone in the opposite direction of the training grounds — as high up on the castle roof as she could get. She could still see everything going on down below, including Adora absolutely failing at meditating. Classic.

The sound of bells hit her ears, and then a dejected, “Oh.” She looked over her shoulder to see Glimmer standing there, staring at Catra uncertainly. “Sorry. I’m usually the only one who can get up here.”

“Want me to go lower?”

“No, you’re fine.” Glimmer sat a little behind her, staring out. “Listen, what you said other day…”

“Oh boy,” Catra muttered, sitting up straighter. “Is this the part where you say they’ll never find my body?”

“You’re so dramatic.” Glimmer rolled her eyes. “I just wanted to say… you’re not wrong. We’ve been kind of a mess since this invasion started. Having outside insight is helpful sometimes. Even if we don’t want it.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you’re totally fine with me just coming in and tearing all of you down.”

“No, I hated it. But I’m used to hearing about how I do things wrong.” Glimmer laughed, a little self deprecatingly. “It is what it is. And I think we needed it pointed out to us. Especially when we don’t like it.”

“Fair enough.” Catra leaned back on her hands to look at Glimmer, searching her expression. “Adora told me about the Heart.”

Glimmer winced. “Oh. Yeah. I made a bad judgment call.”

“You almost killed my mom.”

Glimmer’s face twitched for a second in a weird expression before she clenched her jaw. “I’m sorry.”

“I mean… I’m not the one you should apologize to. I more meant that your actions definitely had more consequences than you’re aware of.”

Another weird spasm. “Yeah. I know.”

She was being so weird about the whole thing. Catra looked her up and down for a minute, then stood. “I guess I’ll find somewhere else to be so you don’t throw me off the roof.”

“That’s probably a good idea.”

“I can’t believe her!”

“Glimmer, she doesn’t know,” Bow pointed out gently. “And she kind of has a point, at least about C’yra. That’s someone innocent who got caught up in your plan.”

“Okay, fine!” Glimmer threw her hands up in disgust. “She’s not wrong, but she doesn’t have to fucking rub it in!”

“She doesn’t know,” Adora repeated.

“Yeah, I know.” The reminder didn’t seem to be helping Glimmer calm down. “But the nerve.”

“Glimmer—“

“I know she doesn’t know!” Glimmer kicked her door as she stormed by it. “It still hurts! It still feels like she has some kind of moral superiority! Like she knows she’s better than me, but she’s not!”

“I don’t think she thinks that,” Adora said gently. Glimmer huffed, paced a few more times, then threw herself into a chair. She grabbed a pillow and screamed into it. Bow stood, crossing the room to sit with her and wrap an arm around her shoulders.

It was late, and Adora felt a bit like she was intruding, so she slipped out with a quiet good night, heading back to her room. She walked into her room without turning on the light, intent on just going to bed.

“So what did I say that pissed off Sparkles so much?”

How long had Catra sat on the balcony waiting for her? Adora turned halfway through taking off her jacket, surprised. “Nothing—“

“Don’t lie to me. I’m not an idiot.”

Adora faltered, just staring at Catra for a moment. “Her mom died… not recently, but recent enough that Glimmer still feels it. She hasn’t really taken time to mourn, with the war going on and everything. I think you just… hit a bad spot when you mentioned her almost killing your mom.”

It was close enough to the truth. Catra’s ears drooped; she turned away to look out into the night. “I suck at talking to people. I always have. My moms kind of… kept me locked up in the palace my entire life, so I never learned much about communicating. And that’s not an excuse. I could tell she was upset and I pushed it anyway, and that’s shitty of me. Sometimes I just don’t know when to stop.”

Her tail was swinging behind her in the same, sad way that Adora was familiar with. She hesitated before making her way onto the balcony, resting a hand on Catra’s shoulder. Catra almost smiled, but otherwise didn’t react.

“You know, we have stars in Half Moon.”

Adora blinked a few times. “Isn’t Half Moon underground?”

Catra chuckled. “Yeah. It’s a spell that’s maintained by the Runestone, I think. Basically, there’s like a projection way up on the ceiling of the kingdom that simulates the night sky, and displays a constellation of stars. Supposedly it’s the same constellation that was in the sky when Half Moon was founded, but that was hundreds of years ago, so obviously I don’t know for sure.”

“That sounds amazing,” Adora said, a little awed. Maybe she could go back eventually and see it.

“I had a skylight in my room so I could see the stars every night before I went to bed. When I was little, I used to reach up…” She extended her arm as she spoke, reaching for the sky. “And try to grab the stars. Sometimes Mama would cast a small light spell for me to catch, and I thought I really had a star.” She laughed, arm dropping back to her side. “I was such a stupid kid.”

Except the memory wasn’t real. But it was real to Catra, who was still watching the sky with a fond smile. It was a memory her mothers had given her, something they probably wished they had been able to do.

“Were you happy?” she asked after a moment. Catra looked at her, surprised.

“Huh?”

“I mean… it sounds like you had a great childhood. Were you happy?”

The question was obviously a little puzzling, but Catra smiled. “Yeah, I was. My moms really are great. A little overprotective, but ya know… that’s how it is sometimes.”

Adora searched her expression for… something. She didn’t know what she was looking for, but the peace in Catra’s eyes seemed to be the answer. She was happy with her fake childhood. Happy that she didn’t remember her real childhood.

Who was Adora to take that away from her?

Chapter Text

“We’re supposed to be trying to take one alive!” Bow called as Frosta downed one clone, and Catra took out another.

“I’ll stop knocking them out when they stop shooting at me,” Catra called back helpfully. Frosta bared her icy fists and ran at the next clone that dared approach her. Bow sighed, firing a couple arrows to take down an attacking drone. To his left, he saw Adora swinging her staff at a robot with absolutely zero regard for her own safety. Apparently even Catra could only do so much.

“We only need one, right? Might as well take out the rest of them.”

Bow sighed, pulling a net arrow from his quiver and aiming at a clone that was running at him. The clones were big and strong, but not exactly nimble; it went down easily, tangled up in the net. Catra and Frosta had apparently made who can take out the most clones into a game, and were calling back and forth to each other as they fought.

“That’s five, Snowflake. Better keep up.”

“I’ll get ten before you know it!”

They were probably only getting this one. Bow quickly tapped a button on his tracker pad, then went back to shooting down bots and drones. Glimmer appeared a moment later, grabbing the clone.

“Time to go!” she called to the others. Adora and Catra backed up behind Frosta, who created a wall of ice around them so no one could get them before they got away.

They didn’t go back to the castle, because that just seemed like a bad idea. Instead they went to a nearby clearing, dropping the clone against a tree. Catra groaned, grabbing Adora’s shoulder to steady herself.

“I miss the Shadow Roads.”

Adora smiled a little, patting her back. No one really knew why Glimmer’s teleporting effected Catra the way it did, but it didn’t seem to be getting any better with time.

“What is Horde Prime planning?” Glimmer asked, putting on the angriest scowl she could manage, with Bow and Frosta backing her up. The clone chuckled.

“Horde Prime, emperor of the Galactic Horde, ruler of the known universe, regent of the seven skies—“

“No one cares,” Frosta said loudly. “Just answer the question.”

“You should all feel honored to be chosen. Many would die for the chance to bask in His light—“

“Is that what he wants to do?” Adora demanded, stepping forward. “Bring us into his light? What does that even mean?”

“All who enter the light know peace.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“Glory be to Horde Prime, revered one of the shining galaxies, promised one of a thousand suns. He sees all, He knows all—“

Frosta punched him in the mouth with an icy fist. Catra stared at the clone for a long moment, head tilted. “What does that mean?” she asked, stepping forward. “’Prime sees all, Prime knows all. The clones were saying that on the projection too.”

“Horde Prime is all seeing—“

“But what does that mean? What does he see? How?”

“All who enter the Light are one with Prime.”

Glimmer glared at the clone, then looked back at Catra. “What are you thinking?”

“If Prime has to use hologram projections to talk to us, then he’s probably not on Etheria.”

“Horde Prime would never sully himself by stepping foot on this planet,” the clone said, confirming Catra’s suspicions.

“Then how is he seeing and knowing?”

The clone didn’t answer, unfortunately. “The bots and clones probably have cameras in them,” Bow said.

“He probably doesn’t really see and know all,” Frosta spoke up. “He’s just acting like that to scare us.”

“All who enter the light are one with Prime,” Glimmer repeated what the clone had said. Catra mouthed one with Prime for a few times before her eyes went wide. She pushed forward to the front, shoving him up against the tree, claws pressed to his throat.

“Can he see through you?”

The clone looked horribly smug. “Prime sees all. Prime knows all.”

Catra let him go, backing up to the rest of the group. “Sparkles, get us out of here.”

Glimmer grabbed her shoulder, and after a beat of silence, they teleported again. They reappeared back in the war room; Catra dropped into a chair, groaning.

“Did we learn anything?” Micah asked, looking up from the tracker pad he’d been working on.

“Prime wants to bring us into the light,” Glimmer said, taking her own seat. “And he can see everything that happens through his clones.”

“What do you think bring us into his light means?” Bow asked. “Is it just some metaphor for killing us?”

“That would be too simple. It has to be something more.”

Micah looked between them, then came to a decision. “You should all get some rest. You worked hard today, and we’ve made some progress.”

“What progress?”

“We know a little more about the clones, and arguably something extremely important. It’s a start. Now rest. All of you.”

Adora had no intentions of listening, but she’d go to her room to make everyone happy. She only had to stay long enough for everyone else to fall asleep—

Catra fell into step with her as the group split off at the junction where usually Catra would go the other way. “Isn’t your room in the other direction?” Adora asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Are you actually planning on sleeping?” Catra asked with all the air of someone who already knew the answer. Adora huffed, crossing her arms and looking away. “I’ll take that as a no.”

“I’m fine—“

Catra just shoved her forward to continue walking in silence. Adora grumbled, but did as she was told. Surely Catra couldn’t insist on watching her sleep?

As it turned out, yes she could. “Wait, are you really going to stay in here?” Adora asked in disbelief as Catra went to the window and flopped in the nook.

“Yup. And I’m a light sleeper, so don’t try and pull anything. Just lie down and turn off your brain.”

She curled up without another word, tail wrapping herself, a light purr reverberating in her chest as she soaked up the warm light coming in through the window. Adora pulled off her jacket and pulled out her hair tie, huffing. Fine. She’d just sleep for a little bit to make Catra happy…

It was dark when she opened her eyes again, and Catra was gone.

It became something of a habit for Catra to follow Adora to bed. Not every night, but definitely most nights, usually when she was obviously worried that Adora was overworking herself. Adora thought maybe she was getting cues from Bow, but he’d sworn his innocence when Adora asked him about it. And Glimmer didn’t seem to have anything to do with it. Her exchanges with Catra were polite, but short.

So it really seemed like Catra was doing this of her own volition. Adora rolled her eyes and pretended to tolerate it, but the truth was that she really liked it. Bow and Glimmer had slept on her floor a lot in the beginning, but that had tapered off as Adora assured them she was getting used to Bright Moon. But she hadn’t, not really. She still laid awake more often than not, missing the noises of the bunks. Catra sleeping in her room now contributed the most important noise, and the noise Adora had missed the most — Catra’s purr.

“Your aura is much clearer,” Perfuma said one day when Adora walked into the war room for a meeting.

“Uh… good to see you too, Perfuma.”

She really did feel better, though. It was amazing what a full night of sleep could do.

“Are you really comfortable over there?” Adora asked one night when they were getting ready for bed. She couldn’t imagine sleeping in the window every single night. “What kind of beds do they have in Half Moon, anyway?”

Catra sat on the edge of the nook, thinking for a moment. “Most of them are a lot like those.” She nodded to the overstuffed bed shoved against the wall. “But I’m not a huge fan. I have a bed more like yours.”

“Really? Why?”

“I don’t know. It just feels better to me.”

Adora looked at the bed, wondering if it had something to do with her repressed memories. Did her body somehow remember the thin slabs they had slept on for so long?

“Do um… Do you maybe want to…” Adora waved her hand, trying not to blush. “I mean, would you be more comfortable in my bed?”

Catra tilted her head, a coy smile pulling at her lips. “Does that line usually work?”

“What? No!” Adora squawked, her face burning. “I mean, it’s not a line. I just thought… you know, maybe it would be better for you.”

“More comfortable?” Catra asked, repeating what Adora had said before. “You’re very noble, but I’m okay.”

“Oh.” Adora tried not to sound disappointed. “Okay.”

Sometimes Catra had nightmares.

She didn’t tell anyone about them, because they didn’t really matter, but they haunted her all the same. Images of a woman in robes, lightning magic and shadows swirling around her. Probably someone she had met in the Horde. It didn’t matter. It was over.

So she didn’t say anything when she woke up before Adora one morning, heart pounding, breath coming a little too quick. She slid into the en-suite to wash her face, then went down to get some breakfast before the area filled up with loud princesses. She joined them again for training, outside, where she could sit away from them and observe.

“Hey.” Adora sat with her, smiling. Catra tried to smile in return.

“Hi, Adora.”

“You okay? I didn’t see you at breakfast.”

“What, are you worried about me?” Catra teased, shoving Adora. “I’m fine. Just not into all the togetherness you guys have.”

“That’s fair,” Adora said. “It’s a lot sometimes. Especially when Frosta gets going.”

They looked out at the field, where the princess in question was building icy dummies for the princesses to use as target practice.

“So Perfuma’s power is earth stuff, right?” Catra asked Adora as they watched the magic-bearing princesses line up. “How is she not one of the most powerful princesses?”

“She holds back,” Adora said. “I think she’s scared of her power sometimes. But I’ve seen her let loose a little and you’re right. She’s very strong.”

“I wonder what she’s afraid of.”

They watched as the princesses took turns trying to destroy Frosta’s dummies. Perfuma, Catra noticed, was sitting off to the side. Who had the luxury of holding back in the middle of a war?

“Okay, this isn’t fair,” Netossa called. “My nets aren’t supposed to destroy things, just tie them up.”

“Then tie it up and let someone else destroy it.”

Netossa looked to Spinnerella, who smiled in return. “Okay then.”

She threw her net ball; it hit the ice dummy and exploded around it, wrapping it up. Spinnerella summoned up a tornado to send the dummy flying.

“I feel like that’s kind of unfair too,” Frosta said in defense of her dummies. “Anyone will die if you throw them hundreds of feet with a tornado.”

“No one is judging your ice figure making ability,” Glimmer assured her.

“Imagine if Frosta could actually bring ice figures to life,” Catra said thoughtfully. “Almost an unstoppable army.”

“That would be amazing,” Adora agreed. “I wonder if it’s something Micah or Casta could manage.”

“Perfuma, come on. You can’t just meditate the entire time. We’re supposed to be training.”

“I am training. I’m fine tuning my control.”

Glimmer groaned, shaking her head and walking back to the others. Scorpia was stepping up to take her turn. “Man, you aren’t kidding,” Catra said.

“Nope.”

A loud crackling noise made Catra’s ears twitch. She snapped around to see Scorpia pointing one pincer at a dummy. Red electricity was surging around her claw, up and down on her arm, forming a concentrated ball at the edge of her claw.

“I wouldn’t have to do this if you just behaved.”

The red energy wrapped around her body, binding her bones and muscles, making it impossible to move. She whimpered, wide-eyed, as the shadow bore down on her…

“Catra?”

There was a weird noise that Catra couldn’t place. Adora was staring at her — when had she moved away? — and the princesses had also gathered to look at her in clear concern. The weird noise seemed to get louder, and oh. That was Catra’s own, unsteady breathing. She was curled up on the ground, hands clasped over her ears, tears in her eyes. Why was she crying? Was she scared? Of what?

“Catra…” Adora started to reach for her, and something broke in Catra. She staggered up and turned, running as fast as she could.

Adora fell back, watching Catra go. She wouldn’t be able to catch Catra until she stopped. There was no point in going now. “What just happened?” Mermista asked, trying to cover up her own concern with boredom.

“I don’t… oh.” Adora turned to look at Scorpia, who stared back in shock. “Shadow Weaver used magic from the Black Garnet on her a lot.”

“But she doesn’t remember that.”

“Not consciously, no. But I think she has some kind of… subconscious memory? She told me the other night that she likes firmer beds, like what I have, but those aren’t normal around Half Moon.”

“Why were you talking about beds?” Frosta asked, hands on her hips. Adora blushed and quickly moved on.

“The point is, I don’t think her mothers were able to completely erase everything. Scorpia’s magic might have triggered something.”

“I’m so sorry,” Scorpia said quietly, clearly horrified. Adora shook her head.

“It’s not your fault,” she assured her. “None of us could have predicted this. I’m going to try and find her.”

“She likes to go up to the roof,” Glimmer said. “Like the highest point. I can check there.”

Adora smiled a little. She didn’t think Catra would go there, but it was nice of Glimmer to offer. “I’d appreciate it. Thanks, Glimmer.”

Catra didn’t go to the roof. It was too exposed. She needed to hide, to find a safe place where she could shake off the worst of this anxiety and figure out why she was so scared. She didn’t understand. But she kept running.

She ran without knowing where she was going until she found herself in front of Adora’s door. She pushed in without a second thought, going right to the bed and pulling the curtain closed around it. Adora had been leaving it open for reasons Catra didn’t quite understand, but it needed to be closed now. She crawled under the blanket, pulling the fabric tight over her head and around her shoulders, and pressed her face into the pillow. Something about Adora’s scent was calming. Catra didn’t understand that, either. But she’d question it later.

If she had gone to her own room, Catra could have called her mothers for reassurance that everything was okay, that she was safe, that there was nothing to be afraid of. She didn’t know why Scorpia’s magic had set her off like that, and not knowing scared her more.

She lay there for a bit as the shaking calmed, leaving her mostly tired. She’d almost drifted to sleep when she heard the door open.

“Catra?” Adora called quietly. There was a shuffle as the curtain was moved. “Hey. I’m going to sit down. Is that okay?”

Nodding was stupid since Adora couldn’t see Catra. Luckily, Adora caught on to that as well. “Can you tap the bed? Once for yes, twice for no. Can I sit?”

Catra snuck one hand out where Adora could see it and tapped the bed once. The mattress dipped as Adora sat, and a gentle hand pressed against Catra’s back. “Can you tell me what happened?” Two taps. “Are you okay?” Two taps. “Okay. Do you want another blanket?”

She was weirdly good at this, Catra thought as she tapped the bed once. Adora moved around the room for a moment, then came back. “Can I lie down with you?” One tap. Adora spread the blanket over Catra, then crawled under it, carefully pulling Catra’s balled up form into her arms. Catra let out a shuddering breath, curling close to Adora’s chest. “Are you tired?” One tap. “Okay. Sleep.”

Catra had run the gambit of emotions, and there was nothing left to do but close her eyes, let out a shuddering breath, and fall asleep.

Her dreams were a little kinder this time, filled with images of laughing children and long halls two girls ran through together, hand in hand.

No one mentioned what had happened, afraid of triggering more memories. It wouldn’t be their fault if Catra remembered something on her own, but then they’d have a whole new problem on their hands. So they didn’t ask, and Catra didn’t say anything.

They also didn’t ask about the sudden closeness between Catra and Adora.

Adora was grateful for that, because she had no explanation. They’d woken up entangled together after the incident, Catra had assured Adora she was okay and apologized for any trouble she’d caused, and for the most part that had been the end of it. At least until Catra shuffled to her bedside that night and shyly asked if the offer to share her bed was still open.

“I don’t know,” Adora said when Glimmer and Bow finally asked. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I think she’s sleeping better, and… and so am I.”

“That’s so sweet,” Bow whispered, smiling his silly, smitten smile. Glimmer wasn’t nearly as moved.

“Were you in love with Catra?” Adora choked on the food she’d been in the middle of eating. “You never talked much about it, and we never wanted to ask, but…”

“I — I don’t — What does that have to do with anything?” Adora stuttered, trying to recover.

“I mean… you’re kind of playing with fire right now. You should at least know if it’s worth it or not. Did you love her?”

Did you love her. Past tense. It wasn’t quite right, because while Adora had never been able to identify why Catra made her feel so different, it had certainly never stopped. Even at their worst, the sight of Catra on the enemy’s side had hurt Adora in ways she couldn’t even begin to explain. She’d tried to be angry, tried to hate her after the portal, but it hadn’t worked. The best she could ever do was convince herself that her friend was long gone, replaced by this looming shadow of spite.

Adora didn’t answer. Glimmer and Bow exchanged looks. They had suspected, over the years, that Catra was more than Adora’s friend. And while Adora wasn’t saying anything now, they felt like they had just confirmed it.

“None of this is important,” is what Adora finally settled on saying before she took a large bite of food. That was probably the best answer they were going to get.

“Okay, but it might be,” Glimmer pushed. “Are you guys friends now? Or are you just trying to find what you lost when you left the Horde? Because that’s not really fair to her.”

“Since when do you care?” Adora asked. Glimmer blushed a little, looking away.

“I care about pissing off the queens.”

“It’s also not fair to you,” Bow pointed out. “You can’t just live in the past.”

“I’m not,” Adora insisted. “Look, you guys are overreacting. We’re just sharing a bed—“

“Wait you’re actually sharing a bed? I thought she was just sleeping in your room!”

“It’s nothing we haven’t done before.”

“You used to share a bed?!”

“It’s not a big deal,” Adora finished her statement and her food. “And yeah, maybe we are friends. Is that a problem?”

“No,” Glimmer said grudgingly.

“Then what’s wrong?”

She was far too dense to see it, they realized at the same time. Adora would come around when she was ready and not a moment sooner. Hopefully by that time it wouldn’t be too late.

Catra liked Entrapta. She talked a lot, and Catra didn’t understand most of it, but it was easy enough to just listen to her go on about whatever she was excited about. And the room she had commandeered as her lab was always warm. And Entrapta didn’t mind if Catra curled up on the couch and fell asleep.

“…and I’ve been trying to reverse the camera so we could see onto Horde Prime’s ship, but I think I’m going to have to move on from that since there’s been no progress.” Catra wasn’t sure if Entrapta was talking to her or to the recorder. It didn’t really matter. She didn’t expect an answer either way.

A click click click on the floor and a soft whirring noise stirred Catra from her drowsy state. There was a large, sphere bot sitting in front of her. Catra had seen the bot following Entrapta to meetings and such.

“Hello,” she said cautiously. The bot beeped and whirred again, rocking back and forth on it’s spindly legs. Catra’s eyes flicked to a set of claw marks on the bot’s shell, and tilted her head. “What’s this?”

“Hmn?” Entrapta looked up from her work. “That’s Emily.”

“You named a bot?” Catra wondered, then shook her head. “No, I meant the marks on the shell.”

Entrapta’s face fell a little. “Oh that’s… something that happened in the Horde. I’m not sure, I wasn’t there for it.”

Catra leaned closer to examine the marks. They looked a lot like Magicat claws. “Were there Magicats in the Horde?” Not all Magicats lived in Half Moon, so it was possible. It just seemed unlikely they would have joined the Horde.

“Um… I… don’t…” Entrapta tapped her index fingers together, looking extremely nervous. Catra wondered if she was afraid to talk about her time in the Horde.

“It’s all right, don’t worry about it,” Catra assured her. “I was just curious, but it doesn’t really matter.”

Entrapta relaxed a little. “Okay! So anyway, I’m about to begin taking this drone apart…”

Sharing Adora’s bed was warm and comfortable. Catra would never admit that — she just kept saying it was to make sure Adora slept. And Adora did sleep, surprisingly peaceful. Catra kept her distance in case fists started swinging, as they did when she slept in the nook, but no blow ever came. And in the morning, Catra would wake to find that she had somehow drifted into Adora’s arms, melding against her until their bodies were nearly one. She fit perfectly. Like she belonged there.

“Morning,” Adora mumbled after a moment of Catra lying awake.

“How’d you know I’m awake?”

“Your purr changes when you wake up.”

How could she have possibly known that? It had been a week, at best, since they’d started sharing this bed. Adora wasn’t nearly observant enough to have figured that out in seven days or less, especially when Catra was only vaguely aware of it herself. Maybe Adora was just lucky and happened to catch a change when she woke up once. Still, it was impressive she had noticed.

The moment was, of course, interrupted by the sound of bells. “Oh good, you’re both here,” Glimmer said without so much as a hello or sorry for interrupting. Catra hissed. Glimmer ignored her. “Meeting in five minutes. If you’re not there, I’ll be back to get you, and I don’t care if you’re dressed or not.”

She left. “This better be a dire emergency,” Catra mumbled as she crawled out of bed.

“Be careful what you wish for.”

They managed to make it to the war room without Glimmer’s help. Glimmer was gone, still collecting the princesses presumably. She reappeared with a sleepy Frosta, then left again. Bow looked at Catra and Adora as they walked in, a small smile pulling at his lips. Catra hissed at him. He wasn’t even a little scared.

“Horde Prime is on the move again,” Glimmer said as soon as everyone was gathered. “They’re trying to get through the Whispering Woods. I’m not sure why…”

“The woods are a big part of the planet,” Perfuma pointed out. “Taking them out would probably make moving on foot a lot easier.”

“We can’t protect the entire woods,” Mermista said.

“But letting Horde Prime raze the entire thing would be detrimental to our defenses.”

Catra stood, walking over to the balcony and looking out at the tree tops. She didn’t know anything about the Whispering Woods, other than some rumors that they were weirdly magical.

“Has anyone attacked the woods before?” she asked after a minute. Silence.

“The Horde,” Glimmer said finally, voice clipped. “Someone messed with the Black Garnet and it threw off the balance of the planet. The woods froze over, and the Horde just stomped through them.”

“Okay,” Catra said slowly. “So the woods were weakened by a Runestone being messed up. But they’re not now, right? Everything had to be balanced for the Heart of Etheria. So in theory… the woods can probably protect themselves, right?”

“They’re trees,” Frosta reminded her. “Trees can’t protect themselves.”

“Can’t they?” Catra looked back at the rest of the group. “I don’t know anything about them, honestly, but my mother used to talk about how the woods are magical, and always lead you where you need to go. It seemed stupid, but seeing them now… I can definitely feel the magic. There’s something besides trees out there.”

“Lyra always the thought the trees were alive in some way,” Casta said, looking at Micah. He nodded in agreement. “We could never figure out why she was so in-tune with the area, but our best guess was Magicat instincts.”

“We used to depend on the woods to protect us from the Horde,” Glimmer admitted. “I always thought it was just because they’re so dense and hard to navigate, but maybe Mom knew there was something magic there as well.”

“She definitely knew.” Micah smiled just a little. “She used to get mad at me for going out on hikes because she thought I would get lost, but I never did. Actually, I always found my way home exactly when I wanted to. Eventually she said that the woods must like me because they kept letting me leave.”

“So you think we don’t have to worry about Horde Prime tearing them down?”

“I think it’s something we should be concerned about and keep an eye on, but there might not to be a reason to engage in a fight yet. It depends on how Horde Prime approaches this.”

Not great news, but not terrible news, either. It was probably the best they could as for at that moment.

Adora and Catra were sitting on Adora’s balcony, looking out at the woods. “You’re joking,” Catra said with a scoff. “An old lady lives out there?”

“Yes! Her name is Razz, and I swear she can talk to the trees. It seems like she’s never in danger even though the woods can definitely be a dangerous place.”

“So you think she’s being protected now?”

Adora sighed, shoulders falling. “I hope so. I’m really worried about her. But even if I could find her, she’d never leave with me. The woods are her home.”

Catra leaned over to bump her shoulder against Adora’s, still staring at the trees.

“I remember some things from the Horde, you know.”

Adora looked at Catra, surprised. Did she mean the memories her mothers had suppressed? Had they done something to unlock them? But no, Catra’s expression was still fairly peaceful, all things considered. Not the hateful mask it had become in her last days with the Horde.

“What do you mean?” Adora settled for asking.

“Did my moms tell you how I was kidnapped?” Adora shook her head. “Basically, there was a traitor in Half Moon giving the Horde supply route info and all that. He told them about a route, and then before the caravan left, he drugged me and stuck me in a box to get me out of Half Moon without anyone knowing.

“The first thing I remember is waking up in the box and hearing a bunch of voices. But they weren’t voices I recognized, which was weird, because I knew the voices of the entire castle staff. The box was open, so I looked out, and I was in a storage area. There were some kids nearby, and one of them saw me and came over to ask why I was in a box, but I got scared and scratched her face.”

Lonnie. Adora bit her tongue. “There was another boy and a lizardfolk there, and neither of them wanted to go near me after I hissed at them.” Catra turned her eyes skyward. “But the other girl… I don’t remember her name, and it’s frustrating sometimes. But I remember she was blonde, and she had the biggest, dumbest eyes I’d ever seen. The other kids didn’t like me, but she walked right over like I hadn’t scratched her friend, got right up next to the box, and said hi.

“I tried to scratch her too, but she moved back fast, so I just ducked back into the box. And she looked in and said, ‘It’s okay, I’ll protect you.’ And it was so stupid, but I trusted her immediately. We were just kids, but I already knew she was far too kind for the Horde.”

Catra sigh, lowering her gaze back to the woods. She looked a little melancholy. “I couldn’t bring her with us when they saved me, and I’ve always regretted that. I hope she’s okay.”

Adora didn’t know what to say. Catra still remembered her. Not their entire lives together, but their first meeting. The way she had immediately trusted Adora and taken her hands and let Adora pull her out of the dark box. Sure, she’d called her eyes dumb, but she was pretty sure that was meant in a fond way.

“What if you ever… you know, found her? What would you say?”

It was a struggle to sound normal. Catra didn’t seem to notice. “I don’t know.” She laughed a little. “She probably doesn’t even remember me now. I was just one kid who was there for a few years, and I was a princess. Do you know how many princess horror stories the Horde has? I think my favorite was the weeping princess. Anyway, she probably forgot all about me after I left.”

Oh… If only Catra knew. If only Adora could tell her that the little girl hadn’t forgotten, that she’d clung just as tightly to Catra as Catra did to her. That the entire trajectory of her life had changed when she’d offered her hands, and Catra took them.

She didn’t realize Catra had caught her staring until she turned and smiled. “Like what you see?”

Adora blushed, ducking her head and stammering. “N-No — I mean, yes? I mean—“

Catra laughed, pressing a finger to Adora’s lips. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re kind of an idiot?”

Yes. You. So many times.

But it had never felt cruel. Catra had never used the words idiot or dummy when they were on opposite sides of the battlefield. She had insulted Adora’s abilities as a hero, mocked her for not being able to save people. But those two words had only ever been said in a gentle, teasing way. Adora had learned a lot about love languages from Bow and Glimmer, and sometimes she wondered if soft insults were just Catra’s love language.

Adora couldn’t say any of that, though. Nor could she bring herself to move much as Catra lowered her fingers and leaned closer…

And the bedroom door flew open.

“Adora!” Bow called as he let himself in. Usually it wasn’t a huge deal, but now Adora wanted to scream. Didn’t anyone know how to knock? “We just got a message from—” He paused, catching the frustrated looks he was getting. “Um… sorry. Am I interrupting?”

“No,” Adora said quickly even as Catra hissed. “We got a message?”

“Oh, yeah. From Elberon. Remember them?” Adora nodded, doing her best not to look at Catra. “Glimmer wants us to check it out. Perfuma and Netossa are tagging along.”

Bow was looking between Adora and Catra, clearly trying to figure out if he had walked in on something. Adora sighed, finally turning to Catra. “I’ll um… I’ll be back in a bit. Maybe we could…?”

“Continue this conversation? Absolutely.”

Adora had to struggle not to beam as she followed Bow out of the room.

Chapter Text

Being at war wasn’t as go go go as Catra had thought it would be. There was a surprising amount of hurry up and wait, especially since she didn’t go on many missions. Everyone seemed reluctant to let her go, and she could at least see their side. Their faces were known all around Etheria. They were trusted. Beloved, even. Catra had the love of her own people, but the rest of Etheria didn’t know her. Her presence probably wouldn’t be as comforting.

She was falling into her own role, though. She spent a lot of time with Micah, making plans and hearing stories about her mothers when they were young, and Sparkles had begrudgingly accepted that she had a tactical mind. She trained with the others, pushing them not to use magic against her, because there was always a chance they’d be cut off. Scorpia was surprisingly good at hand to hand — something she had learned in the Horde, Catra supposed. The rest, well… they’d had magic all their lives. Of course they thought they could always rely on it.

She’d be lying if she said it didn’t make her a little bitter. Micah and Casta had talked about helping her fix whatever was blocking her magical abilities, but so far no one had much success. Sometimes Catra worried that she’d always be like this. Could she even be her mother’s heir if she wasn’t able to bond with the Runestone?

And when nothing else was going on… she napped. She found increasingly weird corners to tuck herself into, or simply went to the roof. Never to the highest point, though. Glimmer could have that.

She was out on the roof now, enjoying the fading daylight as her tail swept around. Adora was still with the others in Elberon, but she was sure they’d be back soon.

Footsteps echoed on the path leading to the castle, almost on cue. Catra’s ears twitched, and she smiled. There would probably be some reporting to do, and then she and Adora could go back to…

Wait a minute. There was only one set of footsteps where there definitely should have been four. Catra sat up, peeking over the edge of the roof, and saw Perfuma stumbling up the path. Alone. Looking… scared.

Catra launched herself off the roof, landing in front of Perfuma. The flower princess jumped back with a small screech, but recognition quickly set in. “Catra!”

“What’s wrong? Where are the others?”

“They — They—“

Perfuma burst into tears, throwing her arms around Catra as she sobbed. Catra stood very, very, very still, afraid to so much as twitch. Was she supposed to hug Perfuma? Or find another way to comfort her?

“Um… there, there…”

Thankfully, Glimmer appeared behind Catra to take this burden. “Perfuma? What happened?”

“It… It was a trap,” Perfuma wailed. Catra’s stomach dropped to her toes. “Horde Prime’s army was there, and they ambushed us. I — I tried to save the others, but Bow told me to save myself.”

She was still hanging on Catra, but Catra barely noticed. She was too busy trying to take deep breaths and think her way through this. Ambushed. Captured. The others were…

“We need to go,” Catra said, ripping away from Perfuma to look at Glimmer. “Now. Can you get us there?”

“Absolutely.” Glimmer was already reaching for Catra. “Perfuma, go get the others and—“

“Hang on!” The others had apparently heard the commotion and come running. Micah was taking a few steps closer, watching the girls warily. “We can’t just run in without any idea what we’re doing.”

“We know what we’re doing!” Glimmer protested.

“Yeah, we’re going to kick their asses and save everyone,” Catra added. Micah didn’t look impressed.

“That’s a very C’yra plan. But you know it’s not going to work.”

He was right. Catra knew he was right. But she didn’t like it. “We can’t leave them there,” Frosta spoke up, icy fists bared. Glimmer looked ready to teleport away, with or without any help. Catra took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

“Micah’s right.” The words tasted bitter in her mouth. “We don’t know what we’re walking into. Perfuma, tell us everything you know, and we can make a plan.”

Perfuma nodded, taking a couple of deep breaths. “I… I can do that.”

“All right. Let’s re-gather in the war room.”

Glimmer looked unhappy, but she turned to follow the rest of the Alliance. Catra started to follow as well, but paused when she saw Spinnerella staring off into the distance, the way Perfuma had come from. Her hands were clasped almost in prayer, the faint start of tears in her eyes.

“Spinnerella?” Catra spoke softly as she approached the older woman. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.” Her voice was faint. “Just… worried.”

Oh, right. Netossa was her wife. Of course she was upset. “We’ll get them all back,” Catra assured her. “It’ll be okay.”

Spinnerella wiped her eyes and turned to Catra, smiling faintly. “You’re very sweet, Catra. Whatever happens, I hope you know that.”

The words were a little bewildering, but… people probably said strange things when they were grieving. “Yeah. Of course.”

The end result of the meeting was not going to Elberon, which was frustrating. Perfuma told them about how the group had been overwhelmed by Horde Prime’s sheer numbers, and how she had barely escaped into the woods.

“We have magic,” Glimmer said impatiently. “And we don’t need to defeat them all, just keep them busy while we get Bow, Adora, and Netossa.”

“We’ll still have to fight them,” Micah pointed out. “And not all of us can go. Remember, some people have to stay here to hold down the fort.”

“I hate to say it, but he might be right,” Mermista said reluctantly. “I don’t like the idea of leaving our friends there, but we can’t help anyone if we get captured as well.”

“This is stupid,” Frosta insisted. “We could just go now and catch them by surprise. I bet they’re not expecting us.”

“I’d be surprised if they weren’t,” Casta said. “It’s very likely the whole thing is a trap.”

“Netossa, Bow, and Adora know we won’t abandon them,” Spinnerella said. It was amazing she wasn’t advocating for going in guns blazing, but she had seen the results of that plan too many times. Maybe she had learned something. “And they won’t thank us for going in and getting hurt to save them.”

Glimmer’s shoulders finally fell, and she sighed. “Fine. We make a plan and go in the morning.”

She didn’t like it — none of them did. But the ones against going right now weren’t wrong. Catra bounced her knee impatiently while they talked, and was the first one out of the room when the meeting ended. She wasn’t going to leave or anything, but she needed to move. She should probably call her mothers and update them on the situation, but she didn’t really want to talk to them right then. They could talk tomorrow, when everyone was safe. There was nothing they could do unless they wanted to help, and there was absolutely no way it was safe for them to leave Half Moon.

Catra would call them tomorrow. Everything would be fine.

“Can’t sleep either?”

Damn it. Catra had thought Glimmer would be busy with her father or aunt, or at least trying to sleep. But nope, there she was, on the roof behind Catra, where it would be so easy to push Catra over the edge and call it an accident.

“Sorry. I’ll go.”

“No,” Glimmer said quickly, shuffling forward. “I… I was hoping you’d be here. Don’t really want to be alone right now.”

“And even my company is good enough for you?”

“It’s the best I could ask for, honestly.”

Glimmer sat behind her, hesitating for a moment before scooting a little and pressing her back to Catra’s. “Worried about Bow?” Catra asked.

“I’m worried about all of them. But… yeah. I’m really worried about Bow.”

“Makes sense. He’s like… your consort, isn’t he? Of course he’s a little more important to you.”

Glimmer choked on air. “My what?! Oh no no no no, no. No. Bow isn’t — he’s just my friend. I mean, he’s my best friend, but that’s…. that’s it.”

Catra raised an eyebrow. “You’re the queen, I don’t think you have to lie about it. I wouldn’t tell anyone else, anyway.”

“It’s true!” Glimmer’s voice hopped a few pitches. “We’ve never been like that.”

“Hmn. Interesting.” Catra wasn’t entirely sure she believed that, but clearly Glimmer did.

“What about you?” Glimmer asked after a moment.

“I don’t think princesses have consorts.”

Glimmer rolled her eyes. “Not that. Are you worried?”

“Of course I’m worried. They’re my friends too.”

“Are you worried about Adora?”

Catra’s ears flattened against her head. “Of course I am. She’s my—“

“You know what I mean.”

She did, and she didn’t want to answer. Couldn’t Sparkles go back to hating her?

“I think—“

Electricity jolted through the air; Glimmer and Catra jerked up in surprise, their eyes going to the sky. And they saw the protective dome falling.

“Dad.” Glimmer grabbed Catra’s arm, and they disappeared, reappearing in what Catra assumed was Micah’s room. She had to wait for the room to stop spinning before she could focus on Micah. He was unconscious and tied up, held up against the wall with vines.

“Get him down,” Glimmer ordered. “I’m going to check on Aunt Casta.”

“Right.”

Catra unsheathed her claws and went at the vines, swiping through one of the thick plants. It began to reform right before her eyes. She snarled and tried again.

“It’s useless to fight. You can not win against the inevitable.”

The voice was familiar, but also… not. The inflection was wrong. Flat. Like someone doing a bad impression of a voice. Catra whirled to see Perfuma standing in the door, eyes glowing bright green.

“What — ah!”

Vines swept Catra off the floor as well, stretching her limbs out and holding her up high. “Perfuma! What are you doing?”

“I serve Horde Prime’s will.” That wasn’t an answer. “He wishes for all to be brought into the light.”

“Nope, not interested,” Catra growled, trying to angle her claws so she could swipe. But she was stuck. “But tell him thanks for the offer.”

“Don’t be silly, Catra. You of all people should desire the peace the light will bring.”

Glimmer appeared in the room, right between Perfuma and Catra. Luckily she was facing Perfuma. “What are you—“

“Just get out,” Catra snapped. “This was an ambush, more are probably coming—“

An explosion echoed right outside the window. Glimmer reached back to grab Catra and teleported them to the roof. They had to duck to avoid being hit by a drone swooping in.

“What is going on?” Glimmer asked as she straightened up again. Catra stayed low to look at the ground. The bots and clones looked like a swarm of ants from this height.

“I think Horde Prime is controlling Perfuma—“

Catra was abruptly cut off by a ball hitting her square in the chest. She tumbled back off the roof as she was tied up.

“Catra!”

It might have been better for Catra’s dignity if Glimmer just let her die, but of course the queen couldn’t — wouldn’t — do that. She appeared next to Catra as she fell, grabbed her, and teleported her to the war room.

“Next time don’t save me,” Catra said as she cut through the net. “My ego will be much better off.”

“And I’ll have to face your moms. Pass.” Glimmer helped her pull the remnants of the net away. “That was Netossa.”

“No kidding.”

The doors to the room burst open. Catra was relieved that it was the rest of the princesses and not a horde of clones. “We’re under attack!”

“Sure are.” Catra grunted as she pushed herself up. “Keep an eye out for Perfuma and Netossa. Prime’s… controlling them or something, I think.”

“What about—“

“No eyes on Adora or Bow yet.”

Glimmer stood as well, blowing out a long breath. “We’re not going to be able to hold the castle like this. Focus on escaping. Do not engage unless absolutely necessary. Understand?”

Everyone nodded reluctantly. “Catra?” Glimmer prompted when she noticed Catra was not nodding.

“My soldiers are still out there. If I run without giving them the chance to do the same, then I’m just a coward.”

“Tell them to retreat, then. Just be careful, okay?”

Catra smirked a little. “Always am.”

She launched herself off the balcony, rounding the castle until she found her people fighting a losing battle against clones and bots. She landed in a tree and yelled as loud as she could.

“Everyone retreat! Into the woods. Do not go back to Half Moon, we can’t risk leading them there. Try to stay together, and I’ll find you.”

“Princess—“

“Not the time for an argument! Just go!”

She heard the a twing, then a thunk as something hit the tree she was sitting on. Smoke exploded all around her; an arrow, her brain told her after a minute. A smoke arrow. One of Bow’s smoke arrows. Shit.

“Move, now!” she yelled before scaling the tree to its highest point, past the smoke. And there was Bow, eyes shining the same, disturbing green. He knocked another arrow into place and let it fly right to the smoke. A net expanded out of it right before it entered the smoke, and a few yells echoed through the air. He wouldn’t be able to capture the entire Magicat army that way, but he’d get a few while they were trying to orient themselves and run.

Catra braced against the branch for a moment, then launched herself off in what was probably a very stupid move. But she fell exactly the way she wanted to, propelling herself at Bow. She tackled him with all her weight, sent him tumbling to the ground, and pushed off his shoulders to flip once in the air and land somewhat gracefully. Bow was face down on the ground, and Catra could just make out something glowing on his neck.

“Why do you continue to struggle?” Bow’s voice sounded even worse than Perfuma’s. He pushed himself up, weirdly smirking. “You must know it’s pointless.”

“I’m bad at giving up,” Catra said dryly. More clones were closing in on her.

“Are you really? That’s not what I’ve heard.”

What did that mean? There was no time to question it. Catra ducked as a clone shot at her with its arm gun, then jumped again, using their heads as landing pads to keep herself up. She heard another arrow coming, and barely managed to duck in time to miss it.

Catra made it into the woods without encountering anyone else. Part of her was grateful she hadn’t seen Adora. The other part of her ached a little. She hadn’t seen Adora.

She ran. And ran. And ran. Ran until her lungs burned and her legs hurt, until the beginnings of daylight lit the sky, until she was sure absolutely no one could have followed her. Then she collapsed under a tree, curling up and taking stock of her situation.

It wasn’t great. She had no idea where she was, no idea where the rest of the Alliance went, or even if they were safe, and no idea how to find her people. She rested her forehead on her knees and blew out a long breath.

Mom and Mama were right. This was a terrible idea.

All was silent for a moment, until something hit Catra’s head. She yelped in surprise, sitting up quickly. “What the—“

“What’re you just sittng around for?” It was a high, reedy voice, coming from a woman with wild white hair, giant glasses, and pink skin. “You need to get moving, C’yra!”

Catra stared at her, mouth hanging up, then looked at presumably the broom that had been used to smack her on the head. “You… You have me confused with my mother. I’m Catra.”

“I know who you are!” Razz — it must have been Razz, how many old women lived in the woods? — said impatiently, waving Catra off. “Now get up! Your friends are waiting for you.”

“How do you know that?” Catra asked warily. “And why did you hit me with your broom?”

“You’re thick-headed, just like your mothers,” Razz said, almost dismissively. “Need a good smack to get through to you.”

Well that was rude. Razz’s expression softened after a moment, and she sighed. “You’re still confused.” That was an understatement. "It’ll make sense once you get through this.”

She turned and shuffled off. Catra blinked, surprised, then hurried after her. “Hey! Wait a second, what do you—“

Mean. The word died in her throat when she cleared the tree line Razz had just walked through, and found the area empty. What the hell?

“Catra!”

That nearly had her jumping out of her skin. She whirled, hissing, and saw Glimmer standing behind her. “Show me your neck,” she snapped, claws ready. Glimmer blinked, confused.

“What?”

“Show me your neck.” Glimmer held her hands up and quickly turned to show that her neck was bare. Catra relaxed a little, turning to show her own. “Okay. You all right?”

“Yeah. I mean, I’m not hurt.” That was as close to all right as they could get at the moment, Catra supposed. “I found Spinnerella, Mermista, and Sea Hawk so far. Still trying the others down.”

“Did you check them to make sure they’re safe?”

Silence. No, of course not. Catra’s annoyance must have shown in her expression, because Glimmer immediately got defensive. “Look, I was trying to make sure everyone was okay. I didn’t think to check if they were our enemy now.”

Catra scowled for a moment, but the fight left her pretty fast. “Yeah, you’re right,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry. Do we have a new place to go?”

“I have an idea. But I want to find everyone first. Come on.”

Glimmer offered her hand. Catra hesitated before taking it, because she really did not want to teleport.

Spinnerella caught Catra before she fell over. Glimmer immediately disappeared again, off to find the rest of their missing friends. “You okay?” Spinerella asked as Catra recovered.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Catra stood, shaking herself out. “Let me see your necks. All of you.”

That got her a bewildered look, but all three obediently turned to show their necks. “Wanna share with the class?” Mermista asked dryly when Catra deemed them all safe.

“I will when everyone’s back.”

That didn’t take long, thankfully. Glimmer reappeared with Scorpia, Frosta, and Entrapta, assured Catra she had checked them, then led them through the trees.

“Where are we going?”

“There’s an old Horde hideout near here. It should be safe.”

“Ooooooh, yeah,” Scorpia said, clicking one claw. “We were set up out here to test those new bots. I don’t remember why we left, though.”

Glimmer coughed, looking away. A cave entrance came into view, and Catra looked around, scanning the area with her eyes and ears. Nothing immediately put her on edge. That was good.

“There’s probably still some supplies here too, we left pretty fast — oh.”

The cave was absolutely trashed. There were burn marks on the wall, and catwalks laying crookedly on the ground, metal ends twisted around. It looked a bit like a bomb had gone off.

“I… don’t remember it looking like this,” Scorpia said slowly. “What happened?”

“Nothing!” Glimmer said quickly, voice hopping up a few octaves. “It was nothing. Let’s start checking the supply bins.”

Entrapta perked up, making an excited noise, and ran across the cave to check out the computers. Scorpia started helping rip open bins; most were empty, but they would be good areas for some privacy.

“Uh what are these?” Mermista asked, picking up so plain wrapped rectangles. They looked kind of like bricks.

“Oh, ration bars! They’re… not great, but they’re food.”

Mermista looked extremely doubtful. Catra silently agreed with that assessment and jumped up onto one of the surviving catwalks to get a look at the area. It looked worse from above, honestly. Catra made a mental note to needle Glimmer about it later, because she clearly knew more than she was letting on about all of this. And, well, Catra was nosy.

They found some sleeping bags, but no one could really sleep. Instead, they started a fire and gathered around it, settling in to talk.

“Before we start with the depressing stuff, does anyone have any good news they want to share?” Mermista asked dryly.

“He didn’t get all of us,” Catra replied. That earned her a few sideways stares. “What? That’s good. There’s still people here to keep fighting and save the ones he did take. The war isn’t over until every last one of us is down for the count.”

“Not exactly what I had in mind, but you know what? I’ll take it.”

“Did Micah and Castaspella…?” Spinnerella’s question faded as Glimmer nodded.

“Perfuma had them tied up and knocked out to take down the barrier. I tried to get to them, but…”

“Sometimes you need to save yourself,” Spinnerella assured her. “It hurts, but at least you’re free to get them back.”

Glimmer’s expression hardened. “Yeah. And I will get them back. Both of them. All of them.”

“Just remember we’re here to help.”

Catra did look for her lost soldiers. She found a few, but it seemed like most had been caught. This entire thing had been a disaster, she thought gloomily, staring at up at the sky. Her mothers wouldn’t say out loud that they thought letting her come here was a bad idea, but she had seen the looks. Maybe they were right—

Her thoughts ground right to a halt as a new, horrific idea hit her. She jolted upright, running back into the cave.

“Glimmer!”

Everyone was asleep, or almost asleep, and no one appreciated Catra running in and yelling. She didn’t care. “Wha…?” Glimmer sat up, blinking heavily. “What’s going—“

Catra dropped down in front of Glimmer, resting on her knees. “We need to go to Half Moon. Now.”

“Why?” Glimmer asked, clearly still waking up. “What’s wrong?”

“Prime knew to go for Micah and Castaspella to take out the shield. He knew Perfuma would be the most harmless to send back and trick us. What if he sees all through the people he captures? Through the chips?”

It took Glimmer a moment to catch up; her eyes widened as it finally hit her. “Half Moon. Adora and Bow know how to get there.”

“So do the soldiers he captured.” Catra thought she was doing a good job at not losing her mind, but she was falling apart fast. “Please—“

“You shouldn’t go alone,” Spinnerella said, reminding them that they had an audience. “It could be a trap.”

“We’ll come straight back here,” Glimmer promised, standing and pulling Catra with her. “It’ll be okay. Ready?”

Catra nodded, unable to speak around the sudden lump in her throat. Glimmer gave her a small smile, squeezing her hand, and the cave around them disappeared. They appeared in the empty throne room of Castle Half Moon; Catra knew better than to immediately start yelling for her mothers, but she definitely ran to C’yra’s small study. It was empty.

Glimmer made her way to a close window, looking out at the kingdom below. Her stomach dropped to her toes.

“Catra?”

Catra appeared at her side, and got a full view of the village — crawling with clones and bots, pushing some Magicats along while others walked robotically behind them.

“No. Nonononono—“

She almost didn’t hear the movement behind them. Almost.

Her ears twitched; she whirled and tackled Glimmer right as a plume of fire tried to consume them. Catra sat up, horrified, and saw C’yra across the room, hand out, the air sizzling around her fingers. Her eyes were solid green.

“Mom…?”

They disappeared in a shower of sparkles, reappearing in the cave. “No!” Catra shouted, scrambling up and trying to run. Glimmer dove to grab her, grabbing her around the knees and taking her down again. “Fuck — let me go—“

“You’re not going to do any good if you get caught too!” Glimmer grunted, trying to keep Catra’s legs pinned so she didn’t get kicked in the face. “Stop being stupid—“

“Take me back!”

Scorpia stepped in, scooping Catra up and holding her at arm’s length so she couldn’t hit anything. “Thanks, Scorpia,” Glimmer gasped, sitting up. She was strong. Catra slumped in Scorpia’s arms. Common sense was reasserting itself, but that didn’t mean she was happy.

“I let them all down,” she whispered, tears filling her eyes.

“Hey, no,” Scorpia said, pulling her into a tight hug. “It’s not your fault. You didn’t know.”

Catra rested her head on Scorpia’s shoulder. There was no point in fighting, and honestly, it felt nice to be held like this — all-encompassing and warm and safe. She knew she couldn’t just hang out in Scorpia’s arms forever, but it was tempting.

“Well,” Mermista said as Scorpia finally put Catra down. “The easiest way to save the entire planet is to just deal with Horde Prime.”

“Yeah, simple,” Catra said, tone dripping with sarcasm.

“Actually, I believe it would be quite difficult,” Entrapta spoke up from her computers. “Horde Prime has a well-equipped army, and—“

“Sarcasm, Entrapta. It was sarcasm.”

“Ah. Right, of course.”

She went back to her computers without missing a beat. Catra wished briefly she could be that enraptured with something. She wanted to forget all of her problems, even for a moment. Especially this moment.

“Let’s get some sleep.” Glimmer sounded exhausted. “We’re not going to get anything done if we’re all tired.”

Catra went to her own sleeping bag, shoved away in a corner because she just didn’t want to deal with anyone else. The princesses had been… better, kind of. Nicer, at least. But Catra could still tell they didn’t like her, and having an extended sleepover with them felt like a nightmare. She crawled into her sleeping bag and curled up, staring at the wall.

Everything felt horrible. It was a weirdly familiar feeling, and yet not one Catra could remember ever experiencing. She wanted to cry, a weakness she couldn’t afford right then. She refused to blink her burning eyes, knowing the tears would well and spill over if she gave in for even a second. It felt like a shadow hovering over her, waiting to strike. A looming, terrible feeling.

She heard movement behind her, and then a shuffle as someone put down a sleeping bag. The air smelled like magic. “What do you want, Sparkles?” she muttered without rolling over.

“I don’t want to sleep alone.” That was such a joke. Glimmer could have joined any of the others if she wanted company.

“Maybe I do. Did you ever think of that?”

“It briefly occurred to me.”

Glimmer laid in her sleeping bag without another word. Catra considered say something, but the company weirdly made her feel better. Fine.

They slept back to back through the night.

Chapter Text

Catra hated the desert. It was big and bright and offered no hiding places aside from the caves dotting the mountain side. And it was so exposed. That was a terrible thing at the moment.

“This is a bad idea,” Glimmer whispered to Catra as they hid in a small cave, watching drones and ships cut through the sky above. “You don’t even know if anyone escaped.”

“That’s what we’re trying to find out.”

“And what if Horde Prime is using these shelters as a trap?”

“Then be ready to teleport. Come on.”

Glimmer huffed as Catra slipped out of the cave, moving faster on sand than anyone had the right to.

Half Moon had evacuations tunnels that led out into the desert, where shelters had been built in caves. It was impossible for one person to know where all the shelters were, which meant it was possible people had escaped and were held up in one of them. Catra had to at least try to look. What kind of princess would she be if she just abandoned her people?

They’d been searching for hours, though. And it was hard to really explore the desert when it was just her and Glimmer, and they had to dodge Horde Prime’s forces. And Catra only knew how to find a handful of the shelters herself. The odds were against them.

“Just a couple more,” Catra insisted when she saw the doubtful look on Glimmer’s face. “You can leave if you want. I don’t mind searching on my own. Just come get me later. Or don’t.”

“I’m not abandoning you in the desert.” Glimmer sighed. “We can look for a bit longer, but I’m sure everyone is starting to get worried.”

“Yeah. Probably.” They had all been very against letting Catra and Glimmer come here alone, but it was hard to argue that they could move faster with just the two of them. Between Catra’s reflexes and Glimmer’s teleporting, they were almost impossible to catch. “There’s one up ahead. Let’s go.”

All of the caves they had searched so far had been empty, and at first glance, this one was as well. But they both immediately felt a buzz in the air that could only be magic. Catra’s ears went up, hope swelling in her chest. Maybe.

“Wait, we needed magic to open the path to Half Moon,” Glimmer said. “Can you…?”

“Yeah.” Catra found a certain portion of the wall and pressed her hand to it. It glowed for a moment before sliding open. “The magic recognizes Mom’s bloodline. It’s sustained through the Tiger’s Eye, and obviously all the queens before Mom were bonded with it, and she is, and—“

Catra cut off abruptly, scowling into the darkness. “Never mind. Let’s go.”

Glimmer lit up a small ball of magic in her palm so she could see as they started down the stairs. She heard Catra scoff, “Humans,” but it didn’t sound cruel or mocking. In fact, it was almost… fond.

They’d only walked a few feet before Catra stopped again, throwing an arm out to keep Glimmer back. Something swirled in the shadows, and a Magicat stepped out, claws at the ready.

“Tao,” Catra breathed. Tao relaxed his stance slightly, and Catra barreled forward, throwing her arms around him. “You’re okay.”

“You’re okay?” Tao made it sound more like a question. “Your mothers were worried when Horde Prime’s army managed to get in without breaking the walls.”

“Micah probably opened it for them.” Catra wiped her eyes over Tao’s shoulder before pulling away. “Prime captured him, and a few others. He’s… controlling them, or something, there’s a chip on the back of their necks—“

Tao held up a hand to stop her. “You may want to wait and explain this to your mother at the same time.”

Catra’s eyes widened. “Mama’s okay? We went to Half Moon, they got Mom—“

“I know.” Tao’s voice was grave. “She sacrificed herself so Lyra could escape. I suppose we should just be grateful she’s not dead. Come along.”

He stepped back toward the shadows. Catra turned to offer her hand to Glimmer, who blinked in surprise. “What?”

“The shadow roads are easier if you have someone guiding you. I don’t have magic, but I can still get around them. It’s better than nothing.”

Glimmer stared at her for a moment before taking Catra’s hand and allowing the princess to lead her into the shadows.

Lyra was waiting on the other side of the portal. Her eyes widened when she saw Catra, who immediately dropped Glimmer’s hand and ran to hug her mother instead.

“Catra!” Lyra hugged her tight for a moment before pulling away to look Catra over. “I was so worried about you. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine—“ Lyra grabbed Catra’s cheeks, tilting her head slightly like she was examining it. “Mama! I’m okay, stop!”

It reminded Glimmer so much of Angella that it was painful; she had to turn away. She lost her mother, but Catra got to have hers. How was that fair?

“Are you sure this is safe?” Catra was saying when Glimmer tuned back into the conversation. They were standing in a large tent; Glimmer could see more out the window.

“No,” Lyra admitted. “I’ve warded the area around the path that leads to Half Moon, but if your mother goes at them… she’s stronger than me. But it’s better than nothing.”

Catra continued to look out the window, her eyes tracking a few Magicats that were walking around. There were a few kids running down the rows of tents, clearly playing some kind of game. One saw Catra and gasped as she skid to a halt, causing the other two to run into her. They fell in a tangled pile of limbs, but the girl still managed to yell, “The princess is back!”

That got the attention of pretty much everyone. Catra looked back at her mother, who nodded, then ran out of the tent to meet the gathering crowd. Glimmer watched, trying to figure out how they all loved her so much when they barely knew her. It didn’t make sense.

“Queen Glimmer.”

She looked over to see Lyra watching her. “Did you brainwash your entire kingdom?” She didn’t really mean to say it out loud. But it was out, and she wasn’t particularly sorry.

“No.” There was something calm and unflappable about Lyra. Again, it reminded Glimmer a lot of Angella. “She spent some time in the village — we told her we wanted her to think before we committed to anything — and they all seem to have grown fond of her.”

“We definitely don’t know the same Catra.”

The kids were now hugging Catra around the legs while she told the adults everything she could about Horde Prime. “You only ever knew her as an enemy,” Lyra said. “I imagine she’s a very different person in those circumstances.”

“She’s not her now, you know. You rewrote her.”

“That’s not true. We took away the trauma and gave her good memories. But you can’t tell me you haven’t seen any signs of the person you knew.”

Glimmer pressed her lips thin. Catra still called her Sparkles, although Bow was just Bow for the most part. Maybe Arrow Boy hadn’t been as deeply ingrained for some reason. She was still sarcastic, though it wasn’t nearly as biting. Her teasing wasn’t cruel. She always needed to have the last word. She was stubborn and annoying.

And she was still drawn to Adora. That was something that seemed to be written into her soul.

“So you know it wasn’t perfect?”

“I do,” Lyra admitted. “To be quite honest, I’ve never enjoyed magic that tampers with the mind. You’re familiar with Shadow Weaver and her tenure in Mystacor, I’m guessing?” Glimmer nodded. “Micah loved her, but I never understood it. It was an open secret that she wasn’t strictly using her magic for good things, and magic that twisted a person’s mind was something she started and perfected there. I got my hands on some of her research after she left, I thought maybe I could find something good to do with it. But I never got far. I found it useful after we withdrew from the war, when so many of our people were suffering from what they had seen. There are ways to separate one’s trauma from their memories, to make it easier to cope with. That was what I wanted to offer Catra.”

“But she wanted more?”

“She said she knew Shadow Weaver could take away memories, and she wanted to know if I could as well. I never did ask how she knew that, but then again, I’m not sure I want the answer.” Glimmer had a few guesses as to how Catra knew. But now wasn’t the time to get into that. “I should have said no. C’yra was the one who convinced me to follow through on it. She would’ve burned the world to give Catra what she wanted.”

Glimmer looked at Catra again, watching the way she spoke to people. “She seems like she’s a good princess.”

Lyra laughed. “She fell into the role quite well, which is surprising considering how she reacted when we told her.”

“Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. I can imagine. She doesn’t like princesses much. Or, didn’t.”

“I gathered.” Lyra smiled sadly. “I know she did bad things — she laid them all out in detail for us. But there’s something so soft underneath all the anger. Something she just had to smother to survive.”

Glimmer didn’t answer. She had seen that softness on display, and sometimes it was hard to reconcile what she saw with the Catra she had known. Maybe this was the Catra that Adora had known. Part of Glimmer wished she could have known her too.

Catra was reluctant to leave her people, and Lyra was reluctant to let her go. But she had so much more to contribute to the war effort, and she couldn’t do that in hiding.

“I’ll send someone if we need to move,” Lyra assured her as she hugged her daughter tight. “Stay safe.”

“I will,” Catra whispered. She hated showing this kind of weakness in front of Glimmer of all people, but she also didn’t care at that moment. She was allowed to be worried about her mother. And maybe she was putting off teleporting again. She really did hate the experience.

But they had to go. The rest of the Rebellion was probably concerned by now. So Catra broke away, giving her mother a reassuring smile, and let Glimmer rest a hand on her shoulder to teleport them both away.

Mermista was waiting at the entrance of the cave, arms crossed, expression pinched in annoyance. “Something wrong?” Glimmer asked. Mermista made a turning motion with her finger, and they quickly turned to expose their necks. “I thought Frosta was on guard duty?”

“We had an unexpected visitor,” Mermista said flatly, turning to lead Glimmer and Catra back into the cave. Catra’s stomach plummeted to her toes. Had a clone found them? One of their chipped friends? Why wasn’t Mermista more concerned?

The rest of the princesses were standing in a loose circle around a person trapped in ice. It took Catra a moment to put together what she was saying. Red robes. Long black hair. That mask.

The woman looked at Catra, then laughed. “Really? Are you that desperate for help?”

Glimmer horrified expression hardened; she teleported across the room, grabbed the woman, and they both disappeared. Catra blinked a few times, trying to catch up with reality. She knew that woman. She saw her in her nightmares.

“Was… Was that Shadow Weaver?”

Glimmer shoved Shadow Weaver away as soon as they reappeared in the woods, far from the cave. “What are you doing here?”

“I was under the impression I was your prisoner,” the sorceress drawled. “Rather careless of you to just leave me behind, don’t you think?”

“So you found us to keep being our prisoner?” Glimmer asked in clear disbelief.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, your majesty, but safe places in Etheria are rather rare at the moment. And clearly you’ll take any help you can get. If you’d spoken to me first, I would have told you that Catra’s not worth the trouble of having around. It would have saved you a lot of time.”

“Okay, first of all, Catra has been way more helpful than you’ll ever be.” Glimmer was surprised by her own words. Why was she defending Catra? “And second, if you want to stay, you can’t say anything to her about her past.”

“Oh? And why’s that?”

“Because she—“ Glimmer stopped as a sudden thought clicked into place. “You knew, didn’t you? You must have known she was the princess of Half Moon.”

“Of course I knew.” Shadow Weaver’s tone was dismissive, as if there were far more important things to talk about. “Percival was an old student of mine, and he was very happy to prove his usefulness to the Horde. I must say, I wasn’t expecting him to actually deliver the princess, but he’s full of surprises sometimes.”

“So you had him kidnap Catra to prove himself? Why? If you wanted a princess, you already had Scorpia, and you knew Adora was special. Why take Catra?”

“I couldn’t very well send her back after all that trouble. And I knew it would cripple the queens to lose their daughter — they’ve always been too soft for their own good. Keeping her and binding her magic was beneficial in a variety of ways.” Shadow Weaver’s face was hidden, but Glimmer knew she was getting a judging look. “The real question is how did you find out?”

“Catra ran away from the Horde and accidentally found Half Moon. They erased her memories, and now she thinks she grew up with her mothers and had a good childhood.”

Shadow Weaver scoffed. “Of course she did. Always finding new ways to run from her problems.”

Glimmer refused to respond to that. “She’s been working with us, and now would be a terrible time for her to remember. Just… Just don’t say anything. That’s the cost of getting our protection. You can’t say anything to her about the Horde or her involvement in it.”

Shadow Weaver didn’t say anything for a long moment. Glimmer was prepared to leave her there. “I suppose there’s nothing to gain from bringing back her undesirable personality. Perhaps she’s less dramatic this way.”

“So you won’t say anything?” Glimmer prompted. Shadow Weaver’s sigh was heavy and put out.

“I suppose not.”

It was the best Glimmer could ask for. But she made a mental note not to leave Catra alone with Shadow Weaver.

Everyone was a little surprised when Glimmer came back with Shadow Weaver. “Why?” Frosta asked.

“She’s technically still our prisoner,” Glimmer said, lips pressed thin. “Keeping her here is better than worrying about her… running off to join Prime or something.”

Catra watched the woman warily, eyes tracking her every movement. She stood abruptly, abandoning the fire and walking out. She couldn’t tell why exactly Shadow Weaver made her nervous. But being in the same room as her made Catra’s skin crawl.

“Hey.” She jumped as someone rested a hand on her shoulder, but it was just Spinnerella. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Catra wound her arms around herself, trying to provide some comfort to herself. “I just… I remember her from the time I was in the Fright Zone. I guess it just freaks me out a little. Sorry, I know it’s stupid.”

“It’s not.” Spinnerella rested her hands on Catra’s shoulders, turning her to look her in the eye. “You experienced something traumatic, and it scares you still. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Catra shrugged, keeping her eyes down. “Yeah. I guess. I should probably go back in.”

“You don’t have to unless you want to. It’s okay if you just want to sit out here and catch your breath.”

Spinnerella was so earnestly kind. It reminded Catra a lot of Lyra. “Yeah. I think I will. Thanks.”

“Of course.” The princess smiled and squeezed Catra’s shoulders before turning to go back inside. Catra waited a little longer, enjoying the fresh air, before turning to follow Spinnerella’s path.

Shadow Weaver was off to the side, nursing a glass of what looked like wine. Catra ignored her, going to join the princesses gathered at the fire. “Adora’s been seen in the Fright Zone,” Glimmer told Catra.

“Micah and Castaspella have Mystacor,” Mermista added. “That’s completely under Prime’s control.”

“What about Bow, Perfuma, and Netossa?”

“No one has eyes on them yet. Perfuma might have gone to Plumeria to be near her Runestone, but that’s just a guess. Bow… Bright Moon, maybe? The only other place he has any connection to is his dads’ library, but there’s nothing there Prime would be interested in.”

The group fell silent for a moment, considering their options. “I guess we go for Adora?” Catra suggested after a moment. “Getting into Mystacor is probably impossible with Micah and Castaspella controlling it, and trying to chase Perfuma into the woods is just asking to die — I mean, she’s literally in her element with none of her usual control. And Bow being in Bright Moon is a guess at best. But after how hard Prime worked to take the palace, there’s no way we’re getting back in there easy.”

Glimmer was chewing on her lip, clearly thinking it over. “We shouldn’t rush into anything,” she said finally. “But Adora is probably the best bet. Scorpia, you’ll lead the mission.”

“Me?!” Scorpia squeaked, wide-eyed. “I’m — I can’t — I’m no leader—“

“But you know the Fright Zone,” Catra said, leaning forward to try and catch Scorpia’s gaze. “You’re probably the most knowledgeable person here.”

Scorpia blushed, looking away. “I… I don’t know.”

“Think about it,” Glimmer said. “We’re not going today. We need more time to plan.”

“You’re awfully confident that you have the time to plan,” Shadow Weaver said from her corner. Glimmer rolled her eyes.

“Ignore her.”

“With all due respect, I know you’re smarter than this, your majesty. Time isn’t on your side. Horde Prime has taken far too much ground already.”

“And running in without a plan will kill us, and then Prime will definitely take more ground,” Catra snapped. “Unless you’ve got some way to prevent death, sit down and shut up.”

Silence. Mermista broke it when she started slow clapping, and the moment seemed to shatter. Catra looked away from Shadow Weaver, focusing on the fire.

“We’ll go in the morning,” Glimmer said. “Scorpia, Frosta, and I will go—“

“Take me too,” Entrapta spoke up from her computer. “While Scorpia does have an amazing amount of knowledge about the Fright Zone, I know the entire ventilation system. And Hordak might have left something useful in his lap.”

Glimmer frowned, clearly not sold on the idea. “I’ll go too,” Catra said. “I can make sure she stays safe and doesn’t wander into an ambush or something.”

“I… guess that’s a good plan,” Glimmer said hesitantly. “Entrapta, you need to stay focused. No wandering off in another direction.”

“Nothing could possibly be more interesting than Hordak’s lab!”

That was probably going to be as close to Entrapta’s word as one could get. “Okay. Food, and we can keep planning.”

It had been two months, but Catra still wasn’t totally on a day schedule. Rewriting years of an ingrained habit was hard, in her defense.

Adora had helped her sleep. But she tried not to think too hard about that.

She carefully slipped out her sleeping bag, leaving Glimmer behind in their corner and heading for the cave entrance. She had spent a lot of time walking around Bright Moon, trying to get to know the place so she could avoid getting lost. The cave wasn’t even big enough to do a full lap and feel content, though. And she couldn’t very well wander the woods.

She could go out and look at the stars, though.

“Shouldn’t you be asleep?”

The drawling voice made Catra’s hair stand on end. She turned to look at Shadow Weaver, still somehow nursing a glass of wine and sitting on an overturned container. “Shouldn’t you be out haunting children’s nightmares or something?”

Shadow Weaver’s chuckle was a dark and humorless sound. “I see your mothers haven’t managed to teach you any manners.”

“They taught me to give people as much respect as they deserve.”

“Of course they did.” She sipped her wine, and Catra had to wonder how the hell she drank with that mask. Magic? “I’m sure they taught you everything you know.”

Something about the way she said that made Catra nervous. But moreover, it made her mad. “Yeah, they did. And if they couldn’t teach it, they found someone who could. If you’re trying to insult them, you’re doing a really bad job of it.”

“Oh I don’t need to try. It’s easy for me to say Lyra is a second-rate sorceress at best. She never displayed any great feats of power. She was just lucky enough to marry into the royal family.”

Catra bristled, baring her teeth. “My mother is a great sorceress. Not that you’d know anything about that.”

Shadow Weaver regarded her for a long moment, swirling her wine in her glass. “I suppose she must have some power if she managed to accomplish what she did.”

“What does that mean?”

“Oh, nothing.” Shadow Weaver waved her off. “You wouldn’t understand even if I tried to explain it to you.”

She was messing with Catra. She had to be. Catra didn’t know why, but there was no way this woman knew enough about her mothers to make vague, leading comments like that. “Try me,” she demanded, scowling.

“I don’t think I will, actually. Consider it a kindness. I know things about your mothers that would break your heart.”

“You’re lying,” Catra said. “You’re just a bitter, washed up sorceress who couldn’t get anywhere in life without putting everyone else around you down. But all the kids you tried to drag down with you have moved on and grown up, and you’re still just an old hag.”

She seemed to have struck a nerve. Shadow Weaver surged to her feet, wine glass dropping and breaking. “And you are still a disrespectful brat. It’s amazing how you can’t seem to change no matter who raises you.”

“What does that even—“

“What’s going on in here?” Mermista demanded as she walked in from her guard post. She glared at Shadow Weaver. “Aren’t you supposed to be in a corner or something?”

They’d gotten loud, Catra realized, looking around. The other princesses were sitting up, rubbing their eyes, trying to find the source of the breaking glass. She shot Shadow Weaver one last withering stare before turning and heading back to her sleeping bag.

“What just happened?” Glimmer asked carefully as Catra approached.

“Nothing.” She crawled into the sleeping bag, turning to face the wall, and closed her eyes. “It’s nothing.”

They had planned to go to the Fright Zone the next morning, but were waylaid by reports of Netossa attacking Erelandia. Spinnerella immediately abandoned everything and ran out. They couldn’t let her go alone, and they didn’t have the numbers to split three ways.

“We’ll go with Spinnerella,” Glimmer said, indicating herself and Catra. “You guys stay here and hold down the fort.”

“Just be careful,” Mermista said flatly. “I don’t want to have to run out and save you all.”

“We’ll be fine,” Glimmer assured her, grabbing Catra’s arm. “Ready?”

“Yup.”

They caught up fast to Spinnerella, who was just outside of Erelandia now. “Spinnerella, wait!” Glimmer called. “You can’t go alone!”

Spinnerella stopped, blessedly, and lowered herself to the ground. She looked uncharacteristically anxious and impatient. “I can handle Netossa on my own. Who do you think she trains against?”

“It’s not just Netossa, though. Look around.” Glimmer gestured to the clone-infested village. “You’re going against every clone and bot here.”

“I can deal with them too.”

“You are definitely not thinking clearly,” Glimmer said. “Let us help. We can figure out how to get Netossa back without getting ourselves killed in the process.”

Spinnerella maintained her stubbornness for another moment before her face finally fell. “You’re right. I know you’re right, I just…”

“You’re scared. I get it.” Glimmer reached out to rest her hands on Spinnerella’s shoulders. “You’ve been strong through all of this, but I know you’re worried about Netossa. It’s okay to let that show.”

“Besides, we can’t let you have all the fun,” Catra added, flashing her claws. “We’ll get the clones, you get Netossa.”

“Yeah.” Spinnerella nodded, putting on a fierce smile. “Let’s go.”

She took back to the air, hovering out of sight, waiting for Catra and Glimmer to start their distraction. “Ready?” Glimmer asked, resting her hand on Catra’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”

They teleported straight to the middle of town. Glimmer raised her hands, a giant ball of energy forming then shooting off at the nearest clones. Catra launched herself at another group, slicing through where she knew muscles would be on humans. She had no idea if clone anatomy was the same, but at the very least it probably hurt like hell.

She saw Netossa approaching, rearing back with a net, but Spinnerella came in with a large gust of wind that knocked Netossa away. “Behind you!” Glimmer called, and Catra ducked just in time to avoid being punched. She swept her leg out to knock the clone’s feet out from under it. It went down, and Catra kicked it in the back of the neck.

Spinnerella yelled, and Catra looked just time to see her go down. “Aren’t you tired of fighting?” Netossa spoke in the same, flat tone as Bow and Perfuma. It was just as disturbing coming out of her. “Come with me into Prime’s light. You’ll be happy.”

Catra jumped to a rooftop as Netossa spoke, running around to get behind her. “I think the answer’s no,” she said as she reared back to hit the chip on Netossa’s neck — then she hesitated. Was it digging into Netossa’s skin? Was it attached to her spinal cord? What if Catra accidentally killed her?

Netossa turned on her before she could make a decision; they were too close for Netossa to easily throw a net, so instead she formed a little ball in her hand and punched Catra square in the stomach. Catra groaned, dropping to her knees, arms tight around her stomach.

“You would do well to accept the light,” Netossa said calmly as she knelt beside Catra. “Lord Prime has seen what you’ve done. He pities you.”

What? Catra looked up, trying to blink pained tears out of her eyes and look at Netossa. What did that mean?

A blast of wind hit Netossa, knocking her back into a nearby tree. “Come on,” Spinnerella said quietly, helping Catra up. “Glimmer!”

Glimmer appeared next to them, looking a little haggard. “On it.” She grabbed their arms, and they disappeared, reappearing back in the woods, well away from Erelandia.

Catra dropped to her knees again, more nauseous from the teleporting this time, but also confused. Lord Prime has seen what you’ve done. What had she done?

“I’m sorry,” Spinnerella was saying. “I shouldn’t have gone, but I—“

“Hey, we get it,” Glimmer assured her. “You’re worried. And we’ll get Netossa back. This just wasn’t the day.” She looked at Catra, who was still on the ground. “Are you okay?”

“Did you hear what Netossa said?” Glimmer shook her head. Spinnerella nodded, suddenly looking nervous. “Lord Prime has seen what you’ve done.” Glimmer’s expression went blank. “What does that mean?”

“I don’t know,” Glimmer said carefully. “She was probably just trying to mess with your head. Don’t let it get to you.”

She offered her hand. Catra didn’t take it.

Lord Prime has seen what you’ve done.

I suppose she must have some power if she managed to accomplish what she did.

I know things about your mothers that would break your heart.

It’s amazing how you can’t seem to change no matter who raises you.

I mistook you for someone else.

“Who did you think I was?” Catra asked, looking at Glimmer. “When you first saw me and got all pissed off. You never really said why.”

“It’s… nothing, really—“

“But it’s not, is it?” Catra pushed herself up to meet Glimmer’s gaze. “You were angry enough to nearly haul off and punch me. That’s not nothing.”

“I… um…” Glimmer rubbed the back of her head. Spinnerella was looking between them, clearly trying to find a cue on how to act. “Why are you thinking about this now?”

“Shadow Weaver made it sound like my moms are hiding something from me. Prime has seen what I’ve done. I feel like everyone’s dancing around some big topic, and I don’t get it.”

“Shadow Weaver was lying. You can’t trust a word she says. Prime’s just trying to get in your head.” Glimmer tried to give Catra a smile. It fell a little flat. “They’re terrible people. Don’t think too hard about it.”

Catra didn’t really believe that, but she nodded, and let Glimmer teleport her and Spinnerella back to the cave. Spinnerella grabbed Glimmer while Catra walked ahead. They both stood in silence to make sure she didn’t come back, or stay in a place where she could overhear them.

“It’s easy to lie when she’s not questioning anything,” Spinnerella finally said.

“I know.” Glimmer sighed, shoulders sagging. “I’m starting to think we should’ve had that debate about the ethics of it.”

The queen wasn’t sure when her hatred of Catra had shifted to something slightly more tolerant. When she had gone from it’s just Catra who cares if her memories were erased to maybe it’s not right to live this lie. When she’d actually started to think of the other woman as a friend.

Glimmer wasn’t stupid, of course. She knew if Catra ever got her memories back, they’d probably go right back to being enemies, no love lost. Their entire friendship, or whatever it was, was built on these lies. And those lies wouldn’t hold forever.

“We’ll figure it out, I guess,” Glimmer finally said quietly. One problem at a time. Unfortunately, the war ranked a little above all of this.

Hopefully Catra wouldn’t immediately try to murder them all if she figured out the truth.

Chapter Text

“You look out for me, and I look out for you. Nothing really bad can happen as long as we have each other.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

“You’re supposed to be my friend!”

“I am your friend, Catra. I’ll always be your friend.”

“Come with me.”

“I was only trying to protect you.”

“Catra! Please, don’t!”

“I won’t let you win. I’d rather see the whole world end than let that happen!”

Catra shot up in her sleeping bag, eyes wide. The dream had been a bunch of disconnected flashes of two little girls, then two young women, and overlapping voices, like someone was yelling in a cave. One, Catra was pretty sure, was hers. The other was… familiar, but she couldn’t place it.

She pushed herself up, walking around Glimmer’s sleeping bag and heading across the cave, to another corner. “Do you do anything besides drink?” she asked as she approached Shadow Weaver. The sorceress almost sounded amused as she answered.

“I also enjoy reading, but I seem to be lacking in any material.”

Better than torturing children, which is what Catra was sure Shadow Weaver did in her free time. “I have questions. And I think you have answers.”

“Hmmmm.” Shadow Weaver sipped her drink, swirling the liquid around in the glass. “I’ve been told I’m not allowed to talk to you.”

Catra rolled her eyes. “Like that’s actually stopping you.”

“Maybe it is. Maybe I’m worried about breaking your fragile mind. How can you assume the worst of me if you don’t even know me?”

“Call it a hunch,” Catra said darkly. “What do you know about me?”

Shadow Weaver laughed. It was a grating sound, like nails on chalkboard. “Quite a bit more than you know about yourself, apparently.”

“Anything specific?” The sorceress simply hummed. She was starting to get on Catra’s nerves. “What. Do. You. Know.”

“I don’t think I should say anything. The queen made it quite clear that my place here would in danger if I said too much. And really, it’s something you should talk to your mothers about. You trust them, don’t you?”

Catra growled quietly under her breath. She didn’t know why she thought talking to Shadow Weaver would help anything. She was just messing with Catra’s head. She didn’t really know anything. She couldn’t.

“You’re lying,” she said firmly, turning to walk away. This entire thing had been stupid.

“And yet, you came to speak with me. Why would you do that if you don’t trust me to be honest with you?”

Catra ignored her and continued walking, but the words stuck in her brain. Why did she talk to Shadow Weaver? She didn’t trust her, or a word she said. She was obviously a terrible person. What did Catra think she was going to accomplish?

She didn’t go back to sleep. Instead, she went to sit with Entrapta, who was working at her computers. “Oh, hello Catra. Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

“Shouldn’t you?”

Entrapta didn’t answer. Catra almost asked if she had some chip in her brain that made it so she wouldn’t need sleep, then decided she didn’t want to know the answer. She slid down to lean against the wall, knees curled up to her chest.

“Hey… Entrapta?”

“Hmn?”

“What do you know about me?”

Entrapta’s fingers went from flying over the keyboard to abruptly freezing, her expression going blank. It was just like when Catra had asked about the scratches on Emily’s shell. But that had been Horde-related. There was nothing wrong with this question… right?

“I… um…”

Catra stood abruptly so she could be eye to eye with Entrapta. She wouldn’t force Entrapta to look her in the eye, but they could at least be on the same level. “Is there something people aren’t telling me? I haven’t been out of Half Moon since I was six, how could I have possibly done anything that would make it back to the Alliance?”

Entrapta was completely at a loss for words. She was looking around for someone to save her, but Emily was her only backup, and the bot seemed unsure as well. “I… can’t… answer that,” she said finally, voice hesitant.

“Why not?” Catra was trying not to sound too frustrated, but it leaked into her voice.

“Because.” Entrapta tapped the ends of her pigtails together, looking at some point over Catra’s shoulder. “Because… It would be bad if I told you, and I think it would upset you.”

“Who else knows? Does Glimmer? Does the entire Alliance?” Did Adora know?

Entrapta hunched up a bit, not answering. That was really the only response Catra needed. She took a deep breath, trying to project some calm. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get so mad. I know it upset you.”

“I don’t like not being able to tell the whole truth,” Entrapta said quietly. “But I can’t.”

“I know.” Catra looked out at the sleeping princesses, zeroing in on the queen. “But I know who can.”

It took great restraint not to immediately confront Glimmer the next morning. They had a mission, and Catra didn’t plan on getting in the way of that.

“Okay,” Glimmer said, looking between the gathered group. “Scorpia, are you ready?”

“I guess?” She didn’t sound particularly confident. “Are you sure letting me lead is a good idea?”

“You’re going to do great.” Catra rested a hand on Scorpia’s elbow — the only part of her she could really reach. Scorpia looked at her, eyes shining with some unknown emotion.

“Aaaaaawwwww, Wildcat. Thank you.”

Catra tilted her head. Wildcat. That… wasn’t a terrible nickname.

“Let’s go, then.”

The building they appeared in front of looked like it was falling apart. Catra wondered if something had happened, or if that was normal. “What do you think happened to the soldiers here?” she asked quietly as they started inside.

“Hopefully they ran,” Glimmer said. “I saw Horde Prime take Hordak, and his second-in-command was gone, so there was no one really keeping them here.”

Scorpia led them inside. It was a bit gloomy and dark, but Catra’s eyes adjusted fast. The halls felt weirdly… familiar. Like she had been here before. But that wasn’t possible… right? She had mostly stayed in one of a few rooms with the other kids. They certainly hadn’t been allowed to run around.

“I remember more lights,” Entrapta said as they walked.

“Yeah. I guess the power went out without anyone here to take care of the place.” Scorpia looked around nervously. “I don’t know where Adora might be. The throne room, maybe?”

“Seems like the kind of symbolic shit Prime would get a kick out of,” Catra muttered.

“The lab and the throne room are pretty close together,” Entrapta said, hair tapping against her chin. “We’ll need to be careful.”

“We’ll figure something out.”

Catra’s ears twitched. She’d heard a faint twing, and something cutting through the air. The sound was familiar, but she couldn’t quite place — oh.

“Get down!”

She managed to shove Glimmer away, duck, and swing her claws to break through the arrow that had been going straight for Glimmer’s head. It wasn’t a trick arrow, either. Glimmer looked at the broken pieces for a moment, horrified, then looked up to scan the catwalks above.

“Bow!”

He was standing above them, bow out, knocking another arrow into place. Frosta threw her hands out to make a shield in front of them. “Bow, wait!” Glimmer pleaded, pressing her hands against the ice. “We’re your friends!”

“Of course you are.” His voice was smooth and flat. “That’s why I want you to join me in Prime’s light.”

“Yeah, that’s not happening,” Catra said before lowering her voice to whisper to Entrapta. “Can you still get us to Hordak’s lab?”

Entrapta nodded. “We’re not splitting up,” Glimmer argued quietly. “Adora’s still here too.”

“I can take her on my own.”

Another arrow planted itself in the ice. It was beeping. “Is that a bomb?!” Frosta demanded. “Since when does Bow have bomb arrows?!”

Glimmer grabbed them all and teleported them to another hallway. They heard the faint explosion and ice shattering somewhere behind them. “He put Adora and Bow together because he wants us to get get distracted,” Catra said. “We can’t get hung up on one and forget the other.”

“I’m not forgetting Adora, but splitting up is a terrible idea,” Glimmer said. “Especially if it’s just you and Entrapta. I know you can take Adora, but she might not be alone.”

“What if someone else goes with them?” Frosta asked. “Me or Scorpia?”

“Scorpia,” Catra said without hesitation. “Bow’s a range fighter, Adora is melee, and I don’t think Scorpia’s magic is good for Bow’s continued living.”

Glimmer didn’t look thrilled, but she nodded. “Be careful. All of you.”

“You too.” Catra looked at Scorpia and Entrapta, who were exchanging weird glances. “Ready?”

“Yup! Completely ready. Let’s go.”

Catra didn’t know why Scorpia seemed so nervous, but she let it go. Now wasn’t the time.

Glimmer and Frosta disappeared, and Scorpia led Catra and Entrapta forward. “This feels like a bad idea,” she said nervously, tapping her pincers together.

“I know,” Catra admitted. “But he wants us distracted, I just know it. We need to stay focused.”

“But isn’t he technically getting what he wants?” Entrapta asked. “We’re not together. That seems pretty distracted to me.”

Catra pressed her lips thin. “Yeah,” she said. “Technically. But we made a plan beforehand. It’s different.”

They turned down another hall, and Scorpia stopped in front of a door. “Ooooooh.” Entrapta bounced forward, and the door slid open. Hordak’s lab, Catra presumed. “Wow, he was working on a lot.”

Scorpia followed Entrapta, and Catra followed her, eyes skimming the room as she stepped in.

She couldn’t breathe. She coughed, trying to suck in a breath, but nothing happened. There was no air. She doubled over on the ground, face pressed to the floor, trying to breathe, breathe, breathe—

“Catra!”

She was on her knees, Scorpia’s pincers on her shoulders to keep her upright. Her hands were at her throat, grasping desperately, her breath coming in short, incomplete huffs.

“Hey, Wildcat, you’re okay. What’s wrong?” Scorpia sounded panicked. Catra raised her eyes a bit to look past Scorpia, finding Entrapta. She looked horrified.

“I’m fine,” Catra managed to say. She coughed, clearing her throat, and stood shakily. “Sorry. I don’t know what happened.”

Entrapta turned away, staring at the table of parts in front of her. Scorpia made sure Catra was steady, looking her up and down, then looked around the room. “You know… I don’t think I’ve ever been in here. Hordak was really private.”

Catra half stepped back into the hall, looking up and down the dim corridor. She didn’t like being in that room. It made her nervous. And there was nothing she could do in there anyway. She started a little further down the hall, just looking around, then stopped in front of another door. It slid open, and she knew right away that she had found the throne room. There was a set of stairs leading up, obscuring the landing. Something pushed Catra forward, and she started up the stairs.

Someone was waiting at the top, sitting in the throne chair. Catra barely avoided tripping over herself at the sight.

“Horde Prime.” There was no way he was sitting here, completely undefended, just waiting. It had to be some kind of trick. Right?

“Princess Catra.” His tone was almost mocking. “What a pleasure that we can finally meet. I’ve heard so much about you.”

Catra gritted her teeth, fists clenching. “I’m sure you have,” she said shortly. “Where’s Adora?”

“So impatient.” Prime tsk-ed like a disappointed parent. “Didn’t your mothers teach you anything?”

“I’m not interested in this,” Catra said, claws digging into her palms. “Tell me where Adora is, now.”

“In good time, child.” Prime stood, making his way down the podium, approaching Catra. “We have a lot to talk about.”

“Do you just like the sound of your own voice?” Catra demanded.

“I seek only to help,” Prime replied smoothly. “There are too many lost souls in this universe. I want to bring them all into my light. And you especially seem like you need it.”

“I’d rather die.”

“What about your Adora? Don’t you want to be with her?” Catra gritted her teeth, refusing to answer. “You could be happy, you know.”

“Shut up!” Catra snarled, finally lashing out. Her claws went right through him, however. She scoffed. “A hologram? You’re such a coward. Now, one more time — Where. Is. Adora.”

A small, smug smile pulled at the hologram’s lips. “She’s in a place you’ve chosen to forget about. A little spot on the roof that used to be so special.”

He disappeared. Catra stared at the throne for a moment, mind running fast. A place you’ve chosen to forget about.

No, it didn’t matter. He had mentioned the roof. Catra turn and ran out of the room, hurrying down the hall. She didn’t even stop to wonder how she knew where she was going.

The roof door was unlocked; Catra barreled through it, the door bouncing off the wall as she shoved it. She didn’t see how high up she was, or the clone standing off to one side. All she saw was Adora, standing on the edge of the roof, looking out at the decrepit landscape. Catra’s heart skipped a beat.

“Adora!”

She knew what to expect when Adora turned to face her, but the glowing green eyes still made her feel sick.

“Hello, Catra.” There was a weird lilt to her voice, the tone all wrong. Like a bad impression. It made Catra’s stomach turn. “Have you come to join the light?”

“I’m here to help you.” Catra took a step forward, hands out. “It’s going to be okay.”

Adora’s smile was eerie and creepy. “Everything is already okay,” she assured Catra. “I’m with Prime now. You could join me, you know. You won’t have to run away from your past anymore. You can be happy.”

She took a step closer, reaching out for Catra. Catra stepped back, just inches away from Adora’s fingertips. “No. This isn’t you, Adora. I know it isn’t.”

“But it is. I’m finally free. Free of all the responsibility and the disappointment and the grief and pain — don’t you want to be free as well?” Adora stepped closer. Catra stepped back. “The relief you’ve found now is only temporary. Your mothers can’t protect you forever. But Prime can make it real.”

“Stop.” Catra didn’t want to think about whatever big secret everyone seemed to know. She didn’t want to think about her mothers knowing it as well. “I don’t want whatever Prime is offering. And I know you don’t either.”

“You would take away her happiness?” Catra’s eyes snapped to the clone. Solid white pupils had filled its green eyes. Prime. “She says this is what she wants. Are you truly so selfish that you would rip it away from her?”

“This is a lie,” Catra insisted, looking back at Adora. “I refuse to live that kind of life.”

Adora smiled. “Really? Because you don’t seem to mind right now.”

Catra glared at her before turning her gaze to the clone again. “Cut the shit. I don’t know what game you’re playing, but I’m not falling for it.”

The distraction gave Adora a chance to close the space between them, resting a hand on Catra’s cheek. “It’s okay, Catra.” Her voice was some weird variation of soothing. “It’s just me. You know you can trust me, don’t you?”

“Catra! It’s okay, it’s just me!”

Catra shook off the echo of the words, shoving Adora away. She was not falling for this. She unsheathed her claws and sprang at the clone. It couldn’t be that easy, of course — Adora blocked her with her staff, and she had to duck to avoid being hit.

She wasn’t expecting a fist to hit her square in the stomach.

“You must be so tired,” Adora said as Catra collapsed to the ground, wheezing and coughing.

“Yeah,” she managed to say. “I am.”

She launched forward, managing to land a deep scratch in Adora’s arm. It didn’t have the effect she was hoping for; instead of gasping in pain or grabbing her arm or dropping her staff, Adora simply pushed on, this time punching her in the cheek. Catra staggered, struggling to regain her footing before she went down again. Adora stepped closer, and Catra flinched away, expecting another hit. Instead, Adora carefully took Catra’s chin between her fingers and tilted Catra’s head up so they were eye to eye. Or eye to solid green blank stare.

But Catra still found herself frozen in place, looking up at Adora’s face. The gesture was almost tender in a way that felt wrong, because it wasn’t really Adora. It was Prime, manipulating them both.

“Things can be the way they used to be.” Adora’s voice was soft, comforting even. Catra didn’t feel overly comforted. “Before all of this. Do you remember?”

The vague echo of laughing children rang in the back of Catra’s mind. “I don’t want to go back,” she said. And she shoved Adora aside, sprinting at the clone Prime was still watching from. If she could take him out then maybe…

But she was slow, and aching. She didn’t react fast enough when a large hand shot out and grasped her around the neck, hauling her into the air.

“Perhaps there is such a thing as being too fractured and broken to accept the light,” Prime said, seemingly unphased by Catra digging her claws into his hand. “It’s disappointing, really. Some creatures truly are destined only for destruction.”

His fingers tightened around her throat. Catra made a noise that was barely a scream as all her air was abruptly cut off. But he didn’t stop. He tightened his grip more, and more, until things started cracking in her neck and her vision darkened around the edges. She kicked, and scratched, and struggled even as her throat collapsed in on itself, and her head felt like it was going to pop.

She made out Adora in the corner of her eye, watching impassively, and felt one short pang of regret before the world went dark.

For the first time in Adora’s life, everything felt at peace.

She had grown up with Shadow Weaver’s voice in her head, constantly banging around, demanding better, demanding more. The Fright Zone was constantly filled with the sound of smoke whooshing out of pipes and pieces of metal banging in the walls and ceilings. Even the bunk room in the dead of night hadn’t been quiet. Rogelio had snored and Lonnie had been a restless sleeper.

And then Adora had gone to Bright Moon, where every morning started with Glimmer and Bow loudly greeting her, and the sound of the waterfall in her bedroom had lulled her to sleep every night. And her head had always been filled with anxiety and worry and fear that she would never be good enough, that she would let everyone down, that people were going to get hurt because of her, that she was going to fail…

The Hivemind wasn’t quiet — there was a constant buzz from the clones, the other chipped people, and of course Horde Prime himself. But Adora had no concerns now. What was there to worry about? Prime had gathered them into his Light. She was safe. There was nothing to fear.

Except for those who rejected to light.

And Adora didn’t fear them, not really. She pitied them. They just didn’t understand! If they could experience for even a moment what she had felt for days, they would understand. If nothing else, she was sure Catra would understand. Catra had looked for a similar escape from her mothers, after all. What Horde Prime could give her would be better. How could she say no?

But she did. Over and over and over, Adora watched through the eyes of others as she denied the Light. Catra just didn’t get it. She had always been so oppositional and contrary. She needed to be shown how much better the world would be if she would just give in.

Adora’s life was so peaceful, and she wanted to share that with her oldest friend. But even as they stood eye to eye, Adora insisting that this was better, Catra denied it. Horde Prime’s disappointment rang in all their minds, and that just made Adora more desperate to make Catra listen.

But Catra had to be stubborn. She had to be difficult.

Adora didn’t react when Catra slipped by her, diving for the clone that was currently inhabited by Prime. She was momentarily pulled to Bow, who was still holding off Glimmer and Frosta, and then just as abruptly pulled to the point of view of the Brother beside her. The one inhabited by Prime. The one that now had Catra in the air, one hand clasped around her neck.

What…

Not all can be saved, Horde Prime soothed her. They have no place in our perfect world.

Catra’s neck seemed to crumble under Prime’s grip. She was still kicking, still struggling to free herself, still gasping for air. But the movements were growing weaker. The fingers scrabbling at the hand around her neck began to falter until her hands fell to her side. The light was dying in her eyes.

“Catra!”

Adora whipped around to see two more people emerging onto the roof. Scorpia and Entrapta. They both looked horrified, and Scorpia was preparing to attack. But she couldn’t hit the clone without hitting Catra as well. Horde Prime sighed, more put out by the intrusion than truly concerned.

“Adora, please take care of them,” he said as he turned. Adora didn’t move. She watched as he took one last look at Catra’s lifeless body…

And then he threw her over the edge.

Scorpia screamed. Entrapta didn’t make a sound, but her hair was covering her mouth, eyes wide. Adora looked at them without really seeing them, then turned back to Prime.

“It doesn’t matter what they do to us. You look out for me, and I look out for you.”

“The two of us look out for each other.”

“Come with me. You don’t have to go back there, we can fix this.”

“Why can’t you just stay?”

“I promise everything will be okay as long as we stick together.”

Something began singing in the back of her mind. The gentle green haze that had settled over her world began to change as a golden glow overtook her vision. The Hivemind was in chaos, everyone distracted by trying to figure out what had happened, what had invaded their perfect world—

The chip on the back of Adora’s neck fizzled and crackled for a moment before dropping to the ground with a soft clink.

“She-Ra,” she heard Entrapta say in amazement. And the princess was right, Adora realized abruptly. The power felt familiar, like an old coat she had comfortably worn for years.

“I know not all magic comes from Runestones, but She-Ra’s magic probably comes from somewhere. But it can’t be the sword, because the sword was just made to control her. So if the sword isn’t the source of her power, then why are you suddenly cut off from it? There has to be a source somewhere.”

The sword wasn’t She-Ra’s power source. Adora was. The magic hadn’t gone anywhere. Adora just hadn’t known how to access it.

Golden energy exploded around her as she slowly raised her hand and called, “For the honor of Grayskull!”

Transforming felt different. Becoming She-Ra had always been an odd experience, a bit like when she had outgrown her shoes and didn’t want to ask for new ones. Now, though… now it felt right. It felt like she had grown into She-Ra, like everything just fit. Even the sword felt different in her grip.

Horde Prime had fled the clone. Coward. Of course he wouldn’t stick around and risk being injured. Adora turned to look at Scorpia and Entrapta, who both looked stunned now. “Get back to Glimmer and Frosta,” she ordered. The princesses nodded mutely and ran back down the stairs. Adora looked at the clone again and readied her sword.

The clone wouldn’t go down without a fight, of course. It raised its arm, and the cannon on it whirred to life. Adora raised the sword to block the blast; it bounced off the blade and went straight up into the air, fizzling out quickly. She sprang forward before the clone could strike again and drove the hilt of the sword into the clone’s face. It let out a startled, pained yell; Adora grabbed it and flung it to the ground, then knelt beside it. Prime might not have been there anymore, but he was listening. She knew he was listening.

“Etheria is protected,” she informed him coldly. “You’ll never win.”

She stood and stepped down the back of the clone’s neck, crushing the port under her foot.

“I am so sick of arrows!” Frosta complained as she barely dodged an electric arrow. Glimmer silently agreed. Bow was still keeping his distance as he fired every arrow in his quiver. Some of them were trick arrows. Some of them were just sharp arrows that would have killed them if they hadn’t been capable of shielding themselves.

“I’m going to try and get close to him and—“

A wave of golden light washed through the hall. It was magic, but completely foreign to Glimmer. The closest anything had ever come to it was She-Ra.

Bow yelled, his bow falling from his grip as he went to clutch at the crackling chip on his back. Glimmer teleported to him without a second thought, kneeling with him as he collapsed to his knees and doubled over.

“Bow? Bow! What’s wrong?”

He groaned through his teeth, fingers slipping from the chip. It was rapidly flashing green, electricity emitting from it at random intervals. Glimmer hesitated before taking a chance and grabbing it. There was a little resistance, but the chip pulled away from his skin without issue. She tossed it away and grabbed Bow’s shoulder.

“Bow? Are you okay?”

He looked up, blinking a few times. His eyes were back to normal. Glimmer nearly cried as she threw her arms around him, hugging him tight. Bow hesitated for a moment before grabbing Glimmer and crushing her to his chest. Frosta stared up at them, trying to figure out what had just happened.

“Frosta!” She looked over to see Scorpia and Entrapta running toward her.

“Where’s Catra?” she asked when they were close enough. They stopped; tears filled Scorpia’s eyes, and Entrapta lowered her mask. “What? What happened?”

Glimmer and Bow appeared beside Frosta. Bow was still rubbing his neck and looked a little uncomfortable. “Scorpia? Entrapta?” she prompted, looking between them. “What’s going on?”

“Catra.” Scorpia’s voice broke as she spoke. “She um… She…”

“Horde Prime threw her off the roof.” Bow’s voice cracked as he spoke. Glimmer and Frosta looked at him, eyes wide.

“But… But she’s a cat,” Frosta said. “Cats always land on their feet, don’t they?”

No one said anything. Glimmer couldn’t just stand there; she turned and ran back in the direction of the door, making sure the others followed her.

It felt like a lifetime had passed since they’d first stepped into the Fright Zone and through the door of the forge. Nothing had changed when Glimmer ran out… except for the bundle of clothes and fur laying broken on the ground just a few feet away. Scorpia picked up Frosta, hugging her tight and turning away so neither of them had to see Catra’s body. Glimmer started to step closer, then stopped herself. She didn’t want to confirm what they all knew. No one could survive a fall from that height.

Well. One person could. The goddess who stepped over the edge without a second thought and landed without making a sound. “She-Ra?” Glimmer whispered, tears filling her eyes. She was back.

Adora spared a brief moment to look at her friends before stepping closer to Catra and dropping to her knees. There was a pool of blood under Catra’s head, staining her hair and clothes. Adora could feel the broken bones shifting in her body as she picked her up.

“Come on, Catra,” she whispered, voice shaking. “You need to be okay. I need you to be okay.”

Some unidentifiable confidence pushed her to press her forehead against Catra’s. She took a deep breath, eyes closed. She just had to trust that the magic could do this. That she could do this.

A column of golden light slowly formed around the two, nearly blinding their audience. Frosta had wiggled to look over Scorpia’s shoulder, and Entrapta pushed her mask off her face, watching in fascination. Glimmer clung to Bow’s hand, squeezing hard enough that it must have hurt, but he didn’t say anything.

The light disappeared, and it was just Adora now, holding Catra, watching her desperately for some kind of life. She wasn’t moving. There was no way she had still been alive. Could Adora really heal someone who had—

Catra coughed.

Adora jumped, blinking away the tears that had filled her eyes. Catra shifted weakly in her arms, coughing again to catch her breath. She looked dazed as she blinked once, then again, and finally turned her head to look at Adora. A small, tired smile pulled at her lips.

“Hey, Adora,” she murmured, closing her eyes again. Adora nearly sobbed as she pulled Catra into a hug. It took a moment for a pair of slim arms to encircle her, and Catra pulled herself closer, pressing her face into Adora’s shoulder.

Glimmer and Bow exchanged looks, while the princesses just gaped. “What,” Frosta finally declared loudly, “the hell just happened?”

Chapter Text

Horde Prime didn’t really let the people he was controlling sleep. They didn’t need to sleep, because he didn’t need to sleep. And everyone else was just a body to be used as he saw fit.

Adora had insisted on carrying Catra until the princesses managed to cobble together a small corner they could share together. Then she had collapsed into her sleeping bag, still holding Catra tight. She wasn’t sure who took her ponytail out, but she felt her hair fall free as she drifted to sleep.

She slept for a long time before a sharp scream jarred her back to consciousness.

Catra scrambled out of her arms as she sat up, and Adora could only see that she was awake. Details like her expression passed Adora right by. “You’re okay!” She nearly cried as she reached out — then stopped when Catra jerked away from her. There was no such thing as privacy in the cave; everyone had been jolted into action when they heard Catra scream.

“What’s wrong?” Spinnerella asked as she approached.

“Catra, you’re awake!” That was Scorpia, bouncing over and looking absolutely elated. Catra shrank back from both of them like they had threatened her. Glimmer and Bow were approaching as well, looking first at Adora, then at Catra.

“What am I doing here?” Catra demanded. Her gaze was slightly glassy, like she hadn’t fully focused on reality yet.

“Recovering?” Glimmer said, like it was obvious. “Because you were thrown off a roof?”

Catra was looking at all of them, then at the people who were watching but not daring to get closer. Her shoulders hunched as she seemingly wilted under all the attention. Adora watched, bewildered. What was going on?

Catra jumped straight up this time, watching the staff, and landed on it, right in the middle, perfectly balanced. Adora was too shocked by the move to do anything as she reached out and poked Adora’s forehead.

“Hi Adora.”

Catra shifted weakly in her arms, coughing again to catch her breath. She looked dazed as she blinked once, then again, and finally turned her head to look at Adora. A small, tired smile pulled at her lips.

“Hey, Adora,” she murmured, closing her eyes again.

Oh. Oh.

“You… You remember, don’t you?” Adora asked quietly. Catra’s distrustful gaze slid to Adora, and she nodded once. Oh.

Silence fell as everyone absorbed this new information and all the implications that came with it. “I won’t stick around, don’t worry,” Catra finally said. She pulled at her shirt, expression unreadable. “Don’t suppose I could get some new clothes before I go? Half Moon fashion really stands out above ground.”

“Go?” Adora repeated stupidly. “Go where?”

“Somewhere where people don’t hate me, maybe? I’ve heard Beast Island is nice and desolate these days.”

“But you don’t — she doesn’t have to go, right?” Adora demanded, looking at Glimmer. Catra scoffed.

“I mean, I’m sure everyone would love a chance to kill me in my sleep now that they don’t have to worry about my — about C’yra and Lyra coming down on them.” She had definitely almost said my mothers. Everyone caught the slip. “But I don’t know, I feel like I’d rather take my chances against monsters.”

“Quit being dramatic,” Glimmer finally said, rolling her eyes. “No one’s going to kill you, awake or asleep.”

“Sure,” Catra said, voice heavy with sarcasm. “Potential murder aside, did it maybe occur to you that I don’t want to stay?”

“It did,” Glimmer replied smoothly. They glared at each other for a moment before Catra finally huffed and turned away.

“Fine. Can I get new clothes anyway? There’s blood on these.”

Catra’s head hurt. She had to retreat outside, hiding up a tree, to get some peace and quiet, and to try and nurse the blooming headache.

“Shadow Weaver could erase memories.” She didn’t miss the look the queens exchanged. She just ignored it. “You can too, can’t you?”

“In theory,” Lyra said slowly. “But—“

“You can make me whatever you want. I don’t care.”

“Catra,” C’yra intervened in that gentle tone that made Catra want to scream. What had she done to deserve someone treating her so kindly? “You should really think for a minute. There must be someone who would miss you—“

Catra laughed. It was a bitter, humorless sound, and slightly concerning, if the looks on C’yra’s and Lyra’s faces were anything to go by. “There’s no one left in the entire universe who cares about me.” She had burned all those bridges. “Is that what you need to hear? No one is going to miss me. No one is even going to care that I’m gone.”

“I’m sure that’s not—“

“It is!” Catra shoved her chair back, getting up from the table to pace wildly. “Do you know what I did to the last person who tried to be my friend? I was so cruel to her that I drove her away, something the Horde hadn’t managed to do in her entire life. I told her she was useless. And she left. Like she should have, because I’m poison. All I do is hurt people. And I don’t know how to stop.”

“Hey, Horde Scum.”

Catra peeked down from her perch, but really, there was only one person it could have been. Glimmer was looking up at her, arms crossed. “How much did it hurt to not be able to call me that for two months?” she muttered, looking away.

Glimmer didn’t answer. “We’re going to talk to your mother. You’re coming with us.”

Catra’s ears pressed against her head; she looked away again. “She’s not my mother.”

“Really? Because she seems pretty sure—“

“Yeah, biologically she is, okay? But she didn’t actually raise me. She doesn’t want this version of me. Trust me.”

“Wow, you really are always this dramatic. Just get down here.”

Catra glared at her, but jumped down. If nothing else, she did owe it to Lyra to face her again and let her have her say.

Bow and Adora were waiting at the cave opening. Adora was staring at Catra; she focused on Glimmer instead. “So why exactly did you pick this place?”

“It was convenient.” Glimmer was determinedly not meeting her gaze. “Everyone ready?”

No. But Catra let Glimmer pull her into the circle, and they disappeared in a shower of sparkles.

Somehow, teleporting was worse. Catra had really thought she’d been getting better at dealing with it, but all of her tolerance had gone right out the window; she collapsed to her knees, suddenly grateful she had skipped breakfast. Adora’s hands were on her shoulders, trying to hold her steady.

“Catra?” Her ears twitched at the sound of Lyra’s voice. She looked up warily to meet the queen’s gaze. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” She pushed herself up, shrugging Adora’s hands off and stepping away from her. “It’s nothing. There’s um… There’s something you should know.”

Lyra was ridiculously perceptive. It seemed like the queen could just look at Catra and read her mind. Her every movement and every expression made her an open book, something she wasn’t used to, and she didn’t like it.

“There are other ways to do this,” Lyra said gently, squeezing Catra’s shoulder. “You don’t have to just forget it all.”

“Don’t you get it?” Catra snapped, jerking away from her. “I want forget. The entire world would be better off if I just didn’t exist.”

“I don’t think that’s true.”

“You don’t know me.”

“You’re right.” Lyra sat down next to her. “I don’t. But I know the stories you’ve told me. And so many of them sound like a scared child just trying to live.”

“Really? Which part of invading Salineas was me just trying to live?”

Lyra was so unshakable. Catra could hurl a hundred mean words at her, and she still wouldn’t react. “The parts before that. The parts when you were a child being raised by a terrible person who made you think you had to fight for your right to survive, in a place where any sign of weakness was taken advantage of. I don’t think you’re a bad person, Catra. I think you’re a scared person who’s done bad things to try and hide from the truth.”

“You don’t know me,” Catra muttered again.

“I don’t,” Lyra agreed. “But I have a good feeling that I’m right.”

Lyra was still far too perceptive. She only had to look at Catra for a brief moment to know what it had taken Adora five minutes to realize. “The spell broke, didn’t it?” Catra nodded once. “What happened?”

“I… got hurt.” That was the easiest way to put it. “She-Ra healed me. I guess it broke the spell.”

“She-Ra?” Lyra repeated, looking from Catra to Adora. “So you…?”

“It was an accident.” Adora sounded desperate to explain. To apologize. Of course she was sorry; she had gotten rid of the better Catra. “I swear, I didn’t mean to—“

“Personally, I think I’d rather have my daughter alive,” Lyra assured her. “And I know C’yra would feel the same way.”

“It doesn’t matter though, right?” Catra asked, speaking a little louder. “You can fix it.”

Lyra’s expression fell. She hesitated before calling, “Tao?” He appeared in the door immediately. Clearly he had been listening. “Can you take Queen Glimmer and her companions and update them on our current standing? I need to speak with Catra alone.”

“Uh, no,” Adora said immediately, stepping closer to Catra. “I’m not leaving Catra here.”

“I just want to talk to her. No magic. I promise.”

Adora still didn’t look happy, but she nodded after a long moment. Glimmer looked at Tao, who bowed. “Your majesty. Please follow me.”

Glimmer and Bow went with him. Adora looked at Catra, not budging, until Bow came back to pull her away. Catra waited until she was sure they were out of earshot, then said, “Adora doesn’t really care, it’s fine—“

“I meant what I said, Catra. I’m not going to do it again.”

Catra’s expression fell. She stared at Lyra for a moment, looking for some sign of a lie, but there was nothing. “Why?”

“Because it didn’t help anything.” Lyra stepped forward, resting her hands on Catra’s shoulders and leaning in so they were eye to eye. “I tried to leave as much of your personality as I could, but you weren’t you.”

“That was the point!” Catra pushed Lyra away and stepped out of her reach. “I didn’t want to be me. No one cares about me.”

“I didn’t believe that when you said it the first time, and I certainly don’t believe it now.” Lyra looked out the tent window. Adora was several feet away, pretending to listen to Tao, but she was looking back at where she had left Catra. “If that girl doesn’t care about you, then I’ll step down as queen.”

“Adora doesn’t count. She just feels guilty.” Lyra raised an eyebrow. “She does. That’s just how she is. Maybe she felt bad about it, but she liked Princess Catra way more than she ever cared about about me.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“Well it’s true!” Catra threw her arms up and turned to start pacing. “I don’t care what you believe, I know what I—“

She slipped.

It felt like falling over an edge, except Catra was very much on solid ground. But somehow she was falling… falling…

“Oof!”

The ground beneath her was hard, the air almost unbearably cold. Catra sat up, rubbing the back of her head and looking around. She was on the shadow roads. “What the…”

A portal opened next to her, and Lyra stepped in, silently offering a hand. Catra gave her a distrustful look, but took the hand and let Lyra pull her out again. “What, did you just open a portal under me for fun?”

“No.” Lyra was looking her up and down as they stepped back into the tent. “Opening a portal under a moving target is harder than you might think.”

“Okay, then what just happened?”

It took Lyra a long moment to answer. “You said Adora healed you?” Catra nodded. “That alone shouldn’t have broken my spell.” The queen suddenly looked very hesitant, like she was about to ask a question she didn’t want the answer to. “Are you sure you were just hurt?”

Catra’s jaw clenched so hard it hurt. “I… I don’t think She-Ra can bring people back from the dead.”

“I don’t know much about the extent of She-Ra’s powers,” Lyra admitted. “But I do know there’s an old tale about members of the royal family having resurrection magic.”

“Resurrection?” Catra repeated. “Like, coming back from the dead?”

“C’yra never believed the stories, either. And I would never let her experiment with it. But it’s possible, if it’s real, that She-Ra’s magic could have triggered it…”

“How? I thought Shadow Weaver blocked my magic.” Honestly, one of the only things Catra could thank that bitch for. She hated the idea of having magic.

“She did. But most spells won’t persist after… death.” And there was the thing Catra didn’t want to think about. “My spell and her spell likely would have dissipated, and when She-Ra tried to heal you, it triggered something.”

“No.” Nope, Catra was not thinking about this. “No, that’s… all of this is insane. I didn’t die. I don’t have magic. That’s ridiculous.”

“It’s a lot to process—“

Adora could hear Catra’s rising voice, and Lyra’s even responses, but she couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. Tao seemed to realize that Adora wasn’t listening to a thing he said. “She won’t tamper with the princess’s memories again,” he assured Adora. “They’re arguing about that now. Among other things.”

“Arguing?” Bow repeated. “Why?”

“Catra seems to be under the impression that no one cares about her.” Adora’s stomach did a funny flip that left her feeling nauseous. “It’s the same reason she asked the first time.”

“That’s… That’s ridiculous!” Adora sputtered. “Of course I care about her, how could she—“

“All the evidence she had pointed to the contrary,” Tao said simply. “I don’t know the entire story, and I’m in no position to judge the choices anyone made. But whatever happened, Catra honestly believed that there wasn’t one person left who cared if she lived or died.”

Adora’s shoulders sagged. She couldn’t imagine how isolating that must have felt for Catra. They hadn’t seen her at all since Elberon. Scorpia said she had basically retreated into the Fright Zone, away from the battlefield, closing herself off to work on her plans. It had brought uncomfortable images of Shadow Weaver to mind, and Adora had closed the train of thought off. No matter how bad things had gotten, Catra was nothing like Shadow Weaver.

“She did that to herself,” Glimmer said. “Are we supposed to feel sorry for her?”

“I don’t tell you this because I want you to pity her. It’s simply the story as I know it.” Tao tilted his head, listening for a moment. “Ah. It would appear her magic has been fixed as well. She-Ra’s healing powers must be quite impressive.”

“Wait, what?”

Tao nodded back toward the tent. Adora turned and ran to it without a second thought.

“I know it’s a lot to process—“

“What’s going on?” Adora demanded. Lyra looked at her, then over her shoulder, and let out an exasperated sigh.

“Tao, I sent them with you so we could have a private conversation.”

Tao bowed deeply. “Forgive me, your majesty. I’ve simply been appraising of them of the current situation, which happens to include the return of the princess’s magic.”

Catra looked horrified. Lyra shook her head, giving Adora a patient smile. “My apologies. Tao is, for lack of a better word, a bastard sometimes.”

Tao simply smiled. “Okay, stop,” Catra said firmly. “This is all ridiculous. I do not have magic, and I am not a princess.”

“Did you abdicate your claim to the throne in the last ten minutes?”

Catra growled. “Tao, I swear—“

“Wait, do you really have magic now?” Glimmer demanded, peeking in behind Tao.

“No.”

“She did just fall into the shadow roads,” Lyra said slowly. “I don’t think it can be completely ruled out.”

Catra ran her hands through her hair, huffing. “Fine. Whatever. Maybe I do. It doesn’t matter. Can I go?”

Lyra blinked, clearly stunned. “Go?”

“Yeah, like leave. Go out into the desert and find a cave to spend the rest of my life in, maybe.”

“Are you serious?” Adora scoffed. “You’re really just going to run away again?”

Catra growled as she whirled to face Adora. “What, am I supposed to go back to the cave full of people who hate me? Pass.”

Adora threw her hands up, apparently having decided that anger was going to fix all of this. “Why are you being like this? No one wants to hurt you!”

“Am I really supposed to believe that?”

“Would you believe I wouldn’t let them hurt you?”

People were looking back and forth between them now, no one quite brave enough to try and cut them off. “Oh, sure, I bet your hero complex is in overdrive right now. I don’t want you to save me, Adora.”

“Well it’s a little late for that.”

“And whose fault is that?”

“Guys—“Bow tried to step in, but Adora barreled ahead, having apparently forgotten there were other people in the room.

“What does that mean?”

“It means you haven’t changed one damn bit!” Catra was shorter than Adora, but she wasn’t afraid to get in her face a bit. “I didn’t ask you to save me!”

“What, should I have just let you die?” Adora demanded, stepping closer to Catra.

“What do you care? Don’t pretend you don’t hate me!”

“Of course I don’t hate you!”

Everyone froze at that. Even Catra looked a little stunned as she stared at Adora. “I’m really, really mad at you, and I have been for a long time, but I’ve never hated you! How could you even think that?”

Catra still stared, blinking a few times, before her expression hardened. “You really are dumber than I thought.” She pushed past Adora, heading for the back exit. “Leave me alone.”

Adora didn’t move as Catra disappeared. Glimmer did. She waited at the top of the stairs, arms crossed, and finally Catra appeared. She didn’t look thrilled to see the queen.

“What do you want, Sparkles?”

“To strangle you,” Glimmer replied flatly. Catra’s expression twitched, but she didn’t respond. “I won’t, though, so turn around and sit down.”

It was a surprise when Catra actually listened, even positioning herself in a way that made it seem like she knew what Glimmer was getting at. Glimmer stepped closer and sat behind her, turning so they were back to back. She was surprised Catra would willingly turn away from her. And then she wondered if Catra was hoping she would hurt her.

“I still hate you,” Glimmer said after a moment.

“Shocking.”

But… I think I see why Adora doesn’t.” Catra didn’t say anything. “For so long I’ve thought that you’re just a terrible person, and that Adora… I don’t know, felt sorry for you or something. But I got to know you in a different way and you’re actually annoyingly smart and easy to get along with. And I hate that a lot. And I really hate that I’m about to say we still need you, but we do. I’m not going to beg for help, don’t get me wrong. If you want another option that doesn’t include running off to die in the desert, though… you’ve got one.”

The tension eased out of Catra’s muscles, leaving her almost slumped against Glimmer’s back. “If I wanted to go to a place where everyone hates me, I would’ve just stayed in the Horde.”

Glimmer rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to pretend we’re all besties now or anything, because we’re definitely not. But I don’t think anyone hates you. I know Scorpia and Entrapta don’t.” Catra stiffened slightly. “I think Spinnerella actually likes you. Or at the very least she’s willing to give you a chance. Frosta and Mermista probably don’t like you, but they’re not going to kill you in your sleep or anything. Besides, what if you go out and get captured instead of dying the Wastes? You know all our secrets, all of our weaknesses, and where we’re hiding out right now. Honestly, I should be bringing you back as a prisoner to make sure Horde Prime doesn’t get his hands on you.”

“Are you justifying it for Adora’s sake?”

“No, I’m telling you what’s going to happen if you decide to be stupid and stay out here on your own. So what’s it gonna be?”

Catra stared into the darkness for a long moment, considering her options. “I can take you,” she said finally.

“I know. But how embarrassing would it be to go back as a prisoner because I kicked your ass?”

Catra scoffed, rolling her eyes. But she finally muttered an agreement and stood to lead Glimmer back down the stairs.

“Why can’t I punch her just a little?”

“Because we’re still allies.”

“Are we? She remembers now, who says she’s not going to run off and join Horde Prime the first chance she gets?”

Scorpia shuffled away from the princesses, going to the tea pot she had managed to salvage. She wasn’t very good at making tea, but Catra had been happy to help her… before. Now she tried to put a cup together herself, hoping she knew what she was doing, and brought the cup to the corner Catra had curled up in.

“Hey Wild — Catra.” She’d always gotten the feeling the Catra didn’t actually like the nickname. “How’re you feeling?”

“Headache,” Catra muttered without rolling over.

“Do you want some tea? I made magnolia…”

Catra sighed — not annoyed, more like defeated — and finally sat up to look at Scorpia. “Didn’t you hear? I remember everything now. You don’t have to keep pretending to be nice to me.”

“I’m not pretending,” Scorpia protested. “I never really agreed with all of this, that’s part of why I was avoiding you. But I don’t hate you or anything.”

Catra didn’t look convinced. Scorpia sat with her, crossing her legs under herself. “I didn’t leave because I hate you. I just… realized that I couldn’t stay in the Horde. And part of that was because of you, but it wasn’t because I hated you. Does that make sense?”

“No,” Catra said flatly, reaching for the cup and taking a long sip. She was grimacing as she pulled it away.

“Bad?” Scorpia guessed.

“Pretty bad, yeah.” Catra stood, nudging Scorpia’s shoulder. “Come on. I’ll show you how to do it.”

Scorpia brightened up, and immediately scrambled to her feet. “You will?”

“Sure. You’re not going to impress Perfuma much with your current skills.”

“Heh…” Scorpia blushed deeply, rubbing the back of her neck. “That obvious, huh?”

“About as obvious as ‘let’s play some board games’ was.”

“Well — Wait! You knew?”

Catra just smirked a little and made her way over to the teapot. Scorpia followed, still trying to ask questions, but all she could do was stutter.

Adora watched the scene play out, trying to tamp down on the jealousy burning in her chest. Scorpia was forgiven just fine, but Adora wasn’t? How was that fair?

“Is she even going to help now?” Mermista asked bitterly.

“Probably not if we keep talking about her like she’s not in the room,” Bow pointed out. “Her hearing is really good, you know.”

“I think we should give her a chance,” Spinnerella said.

“A chance to what? Turn us over to Prime?”

“He wouldn’t take me even I begged him,” Catra called across the cave. “Something about my mind being too fractured to fully purify.”

Adora and Bow flinched, exchanging uneasy looks. Yeah, they’d seen Prime say that. But Catra probably didn’t want to know. “So, what?” Mermista called back. “We’re supposed to believe you just want to help us?”

“Believe whatever you want. I really don’t care.”

Not exactly the answer they wanted to hear, but it would have to do for now. Catra clearly wasn’t having any conversations. “I don’t think she’s going to betray us, for whatever that’s worth,” Glimmer said after a moment. “We’ve all worked too hard to make it this far. It would be stupid to ruin that now.”

“If you say so.”

Catra felt like someone was repeatedly hitting her in the head with a hammer. She’d tried curling up in a dark corner of the cave, but everyone kept talking, so instead she tried retreating outside, hiding up the tree again and pressing her forehead into her knees to try and alleviate some of the pain. This sucked.

“Catra?”

And of course, something was here to make it worse. “Go away, Adora,” Catra growled without looking. Adora made a frustrated noise that Catra was very familiar with. It was her ‘why isn’t anything going my way?’ noise.

“Why are you being like this?”

“It’s part of my natural charm.”

“I just want to talk to you! That’s all I’ve wanted for the last three months, and now we finally have a chance, and you—“

“Don’t even start with me,” Catra snapped, finally looking up to glare down at Adora, who was staring back at her with her hands on her hips. “You’ve had plenty of chances to talk to me since all this started.”

“Not you you.”

“That’s even better, isn’t it?”

“What does that mean?”

Catra growled, launching herself out of the tree so she was standing eye to eye with Adora. “Do you think I’m stupid? I still remember everything that happened. I’m sure if you go back and ask Lyra real nice, you can convince her to give you the good Catra again.”

“The… what?”

“You know.” Catra waved her hand dismissively, turning away. “Princess Catra. The stupid moron who thought if she just tried harder, maybe everyone would like her, and maybe she would matter, and—“

“Stop!” Adora grabbed Catra’s arm to pull her back. “I don’t — first of all I don’t want Lyra to do that to you again, I never agreed with it to begin with—“

“Yeah, sure.” Catra tried to pull free, but Adora held firm.

“I didn’t. Do you think I enjoyed lying to you? It was like a cruel joke, finally having you back, but it wasn’t really you—“

“Not sure what you think the problem is, but you seemed pretty happy with Not Me—“

“That’s not—“

Catra tried to walk away again, Adora refused to let go… and they tumbled into the shadows together.

The pain in Catra’s head spiked as she sat up, and for some reason that made her angrier. “Damn it! Stupid fucking magic—“

Adora pushed herself up, looking around and shivering. “Why is it so cold here?”

“I don’t know. Something about shadows.” Catra ran a hand through her hair, huffing in frustration. “It doesn’t matter. Let’s just get out of here.”

She grabbed Adora’s arm and stepped forward — then paused when no shadows rose up to let her out. “Don’t you have to draw a portal or something?” Adora asked.

“In theory, no. Blood members of the royal family are stronger on the shadow roads.” She stepped back, hesitantly reaching out to try and draw a portal just in case. Nothing happened. “Great.”

Adora wrapped her arms around herself, still shivering. “Well… someone will notice we’re missing eventually.”

“And probably think I kidnapped you or something.” Catra scoffed. “Besides, Sparkles can’t teleport here to get us out. The roads are tailored specifically for Magicat magic.”

“How so?”

“Shadows are kind of a Magicat specialty. That’s another reason Shadow Weaver really pisses Lyra off — it’s like she’s mocking them by claiming to be better with shadow magic than Magicats. Which she’s not, by the way. Lyra’s the best sorceress in Half Moon, and she could wipe the floor with Shadow Weaver if she wasn’t mostly a pacifist.” Catra took a deep breath, and Adora recognized that as a sign that she was about to go off on a subject that actually interested her. “That’s also why Half Moon is an underground kingdom. The Crimson Waste wasn’t always a wasteland, but it wasn’t really suited for what the Magicats needed. They could manipulate the lighting underground to cast shadows wherever and however they wanted, so it worked out better.

“I’m not really sure why Magicats are predisposed to shadow magic — Lyra probably does, she knows a lot about Magicat history and Half Moon even though she wasn’t born there. But—” Catra stopped abruptly, looking at Adora with narrowed eyes. “What?”

Adora was smiling that soft, stupid smile as she watched Catra, expression unreadable. “Nothing.” Catra scowled, and Adora held up her hands in her own defense. “I’m serious! It’s just… it always seemed like you wanted to talk more about Half Moon and everything you know, and I wished you had. The last time you were this interested in something, it was why stealth was better than running in headfirst.”

Catra remembered that debate. Absolutely no one had agreed with her, of course, but she knew she was right. “Whatever. The point is, only other Magicats can get in here, and it’ll probably take your stupid friends forever to realize I didn’t kill you and bury your body in some hole. Might as well get comfortable and freeze to death.”

“Are you cold?”

“No. It doesn’t effect Magicats.”

“Lucky.” Adora sat and curled in on herself to try and save body heat. “Can I ask you something?”

“Can I stop you?” Catra muttered, taking a couple steps away but making no movement to try and leave Adora behind.

“Did you… really ask C’yra and Lyra to erase your memories?”

It was something Adora had been grappling with this entire time. The idea that Catra would just give up and ask someone to erase her was… frightening. Catra whirled to look at Adora, then immediately turned away, focusing on some invisible point in front of her.

“Maybe I can—“

“Catra.”

She stopped whatever useless idea she was about to spout, jaw clenching. “You don’t know how bad it got, Adora.”

“Then tell me.” Adora unraveled and grabbed Catra’s hand, pulling her a few steps closer.

“You don’t want to know.”

“Yes, I do.” Catra didn’t say anything, and Adora tugged her hand again. “Please?”

Catra finally sat heavily beside Adora, taking her hand back to tangle her fingers in her lap. “It was about a month after Salineas…”

Chapter Text

The Crimson Waste was somehow lonelier this time around. Maybe it was the echo of the past, reminding Catra that this is where she’d wound up last time after she lost everything. Or maybe it was Scorpia’s absence.

I’m going to the Princess Alliance to get help for Entrapta. I’m sorry.

The words were burned into Catra’s mind. She saw them every time she closed her eyes, superimposed over Scorpia’s disappointed face as she said, “You’re a bad friend.”

It was so stupid that she’d been so hurt by those words. They were the exact same insult Lonnie had hurled at Catra when they were seven. “You’re selfish and a bad friend. I can’t believe Adora actually likes you.”

It was a childish thing to say. So what did she care if that was what Scorpia thought? So what if Scorpia had run away to the princess club, just like Adora had? Catra didn’t care. She didn’t need them, either of them. She didn’t need anyone.

She stumbled, tripping, and collapsed to her knees in the sand. How long had she been out here? There had been at least one freezing night, but her memory was mostly burning light. It had to have been at least a couple days — she knew the signs of dehydration and exhaustion, and knew it was only a matter of time before she was too gone to save.

Wasn’t this why she had come out to the Waste, though? There was nothing in the Horde for her. Nothing outside the Horde. She had finally achieved the one thing she thought she’d wanted her entire life — she had won. But none of it mattered. Maybe she just wasn’t capable of being happy. Maybe she really was the pathetic, miserable creature Shadow Weaver had always accused of her being. She slid over onto her side and closed her eyes, hopefully for the last time.

This was what she really wanted. Peace.

* * * * *

Hands were on her, lifting her, unfamiliar voices murmuring to each other. Catra forced her eyes open just slightly to look up at the person carrying her. She was, in fact, still capable of some shock — the person looked like her. That was new.

The person looked down at her, and started in surprise. “You’re awake! What happened? How did you get out here?”

“Cloud, wait,” the person’s companion said. “Look at her eyes.”

“Look at her eyes,” kids would whisper to each other. “She’s such a freak.”

“I think your eyes are really pretty,” Adora would say later, as they lay in bed together.

Catra hated her eyes. And she had no interest in finding out what these two thought of them. She let the darkness take her away again.

* * * * *

“So sorry to bother you, your majesty—”

“You’ve never bothered me, Cloudfoot. But I wish you’d tell me what’s going on.”

One of the voices was familiar. The man who had carried her — Cloudfoot, she assumed. The other voice felt like something she had heard in a dream.

“She’s back here,” a third, completely unfamiliar voice said. Catra groaned, her dry throat aching. She didn’t want to be on display for this parade of people.

“What happened to her?” the woman gasped.

“She’s severely dehydrated and underweight.” That was new. Catra had physical every year, and she’d always been told she was a good weight. “And she’s suffering from malnutrition. Not a surprise if she’s been with the Horde this entire time. I doubt they know anything about a proper Magicat diet, or care for that matter.”

A gentle hand brushed against Catra’s. She twitched, but didn’t have the strength to pull away. “Can you open your eyes, sweetheart?” the woman asked in a low, kind voice. Catra didn’t want to; the voice was so gentle that it grated on Catra’s instincts.

But something in her was pushing her to respond. So she took a deep breath, braced herself, and opened her eyes, blinking blearily at the woman leaning over her. She was pretty, Catra thought. Her hair was short, tucked back by a crown, her eyes the same golden amber that looked back at Catra from one side of the mirror every morning.

The woman blinked, stunned, and then smiled. “Okay. Get some rest.”

Catra drifted in and out for awhile, only semi-aware of what was going on around her. She was moved at one point, to somewhere a little quieter, and she managed to sleep for awhile — until angry whispers hit her ears, fully waking her up. She was in a different infirmary now, one with soft golden walls and no windows, lit by lamps that lined the walls. Her left arm was tethered to an IV, and there was a glass of water on a table to her right. She grabbed it and drank greedily while she listened to the argument outside the door.

“How could you keep this from me?” one unfamiliar voice demanded.

“I didn’t keep anything from you,” a second voice — the woman from the other infirmary — said, her voice weary and patient. “I confirmed her identity—“

“Without telling me about her?”

“I didn’t want to give you that hope and just have it torn away.”

“If Cloudfoot suspected anything, then he should have come to both of us.”

“Don’t get mad at Cloudfoot. I told him to hold off on finding you until I had seen her for myself.”

“Why? And how is that not keeping something from me?”

“It’s been less than twelve hours since Cloudfoot and Melendy found her. I visited the village doctor to see her and confirm her identity, then I had her transferred to the castle infirmary. You were teaching at the time—“

“Don’t use that as an excuse.”

“I’m not using it as an excuse, Lyra. I’m trying to explain that this wasn’t a conspiracy to keep her away from you. I just wanted to be sure before I told you anything.”

“I’m not fragile, C’yra. And I don’t need you to protect me.”

Clearly they thought Catra was… someone. Someone she definitely wasn’t. She looked around, noting that there was only one way out of the room. She’d just have to be ready for the door to open so she could make a break for it. She cut the IV line, deciding to deal with the needle later, climbed out of bed…

And her shaking legs dumped her right onto the floor.

The arguing stopped, and the door flew open, revealing two women with ears and tails just like Catra’s. That was apparently a common thing here… wherever that was. One was the same woman she had seen before. The other was taller, her fur lighter, her long red hair falling down her back in waves, bright blue eyes wide with concern. She gasped when she saw Catra, covering her mouth.

“What are you doing?” the first woman scolded Catra lightly, eyes flicking to the cut IV line. “You’re supposed to be resting.”

Catra wanted to tell her off, but she was starting to realize how dizzy and sick and hot she felt. It was hard to focus. What was she doing?

“Let’s get you back to bed,” the taller of the two suggested, stepping forward to help the first woman help Catra up. Catra was surprised to find that she had no will to fight. And their hands felt so gentle as they helped Catra get to her feet.

Okay, maybe she’d rest for a bit before she tried to find her way out and finish dying in the desert.

* * * * *

Their names were C’yra and Lyra. They were the queens of Half Moon.

Also, there was a kingdom under the Crimson Waste called Half Moon, home to most Magicats.

Also, Catra discovered there was a word for what she was. Magicat.

It was a very educational few days, while the doctor treated her for heat stroke and malnutrition and dehydration and the queens visited her as often as possible. That was weird, and a little uncomfortable. They thought she was someone, probably someone important, and Catra had already tried to tell them they were wrong, she was no one, but they didn’t hear her, or they just didn’t listen.

They didn’t visit together often, but that wasn’t because of a strained relationship as far as Catra could tell. They were both just very busy and didn’t get a lot of time together during the day. Which made it surprising when they both walked into together, about five days after Catra had been brought to Half Moon. She was feeling better, and wondering if maybe it was time to start looking for a way out of here.

“Oh, um… your majesties.” It felt weird to be so formal with anyone — even when Hordak had terrified her, she had never referred to him as Lord Hordak, because screw that — but it felt important to stay on their good sides.

C’yra chuckled. “You can just call us by our names.” Yeah, that wasn’t happening. “Do you have a minute?”

Oh no. This was it. They were going to tell her who they thought she was, and she was going to destroy both of them. “Listen, whatever you think, I’m not — I’m no one. I was born in the Horde. I’ve just been another body for the war my entire life.”

Lyra’s expression was painfully sad. She was clutching something to her chest, Catra realized. “Were you?” C’yra asked, distracting Catra. “Born in the Horde, I mean?”

“Yeah, I…” Catra’s voice drifted off, and she sighed. “No, actually. Not really. I was young when I got there — two or three, maybe? But I don’t know how I ended up there.”

C’yra nodded, exchanging a look with Lyra. “We had a daughter,” Lyra said quietly after a moment, and oh, Catra already knew where this was going. “She was kidnapped when she was very, very young. We were never able to find her. Someone eventually admitted to drugging her and putting her in a supply crate to be captured by the Horde.”

Catra’s heart jumped. She hadn’t mentioned the box Adora had found her in. Lyra held out the thing she was holding — a picture frame, Catra realized as she took it. The picture in it was of a small child, no older than three, beaming at the camera. The smile was absolutely foreign. But Catra knew her own face anywhere.

“No.” She recoiled, dropping the frame like it had burned her; it clattered to the ground, the glass breaking. “No, that’s not — this is just a misunderstanding, okay? I’m not… I’m sorry, this is a crappy mix-up, but I am not… no.”

“Heterochromia isn’t a very common trait,” C’yra said. “And yellow is very specific to my family’s bloodline.”

“That doesn’t mean anything!” Catra pushed away from the queens, as far to the other side of the small bed as she could manage. The door was open. She could escape.

“There are other ways to find out—“

“No. I don’t need to find out. I’m not some long-lost princess.” The very idea made her shudder. Lyra tried to reach for her, and Catra bolted off the bed, running out the door. She thought she heard the queens yell after her, but they were quickly left behind.

* * * * *

This place was a prison.

Catra had searched the edges of the kingdom for hours, looking for some kind of exit, but there was nothing. How did people get out of here? They had to leave; people had found her in the desert and brought her here, after all. But every cave ended in a dead end, and there was no way to easily scale the walls.

She’d finally tucked herself into the very back of a cave, curling up and trying to fight off the exhaustion already threatening to consume her. This was stupid. She knew she had more stamina than this.

“Ah, there you are.”

Catra jumped, bolting to her feet and turning to the intruder. How hadn’t she heard him coming? And how had he found her in the first place? She hissed, claws out — a warning that most people knew to heed. But other Magicats were apparently not as easy to threaten. He didn’t even flinch.

“The queens are quite concerned for your well-being.” His voice was so nonchalant, he might as well have been discussing the weather. “And the doctor says you shouldn’t be out of bed yet. I would assume that extends to breaking out of the castle and running around the village.”

“Who are you?” Catra demanded through bared teeth.

“My name is Tao. I act as the royal adviser to Queens C’yra and Lyra, when they deem to listen to me. For what it’s worth, I advised against revealing the truth to you until you were more settled. But they were worried you would try to leave before they could talk to you about it.” Catra didn’t relax her stance. Tao didn’t seem to notice or care. “They’re both very worried about you and your health.”

“They’re worried because they think I’m their daughter.”

“No, I think they’re worried because they worry about their people. But they’re also afraid they may have overwhelmed you.”

“I’m not overwhelmed, they’re just wrong! I’m not a princess. I hate princesses. If I could set them all on fire I would! I’ve been waging a war against princesses for the last three years!”

“As one does when they’re part of the Horde.” Why was this guy so calm? It was grating on Catra’s nerves. “However I don’t believe any of that excludes you from being the biological heir to the throne.”

“Aren’t you the one who didn’t want the queens to say anything to me? You don’t really believe I’m their daughter, do you?”

“I certainly do. I just think they should have taken more time to establish a rapport to you before they revealed the connection.”

Catra finally sagged as the rush of adrenalin left her. “Why? It can’t just be my eyes.”

“They are rather compelling evidence, but no. You bare a remarkable resemblance to C’yra, both physically and in terms of personality, from what I can tell. She’s also very hot-headed and reactive. And the doctor confirmed you have a birthmark on your right shoulder blade very similar to the one the princess was born with.” Catra’s hand flew up to grasp her shoulder. “I understand that it’s a lot to take in, and you may need more time to think about it, but it’s hard to argue with the facts we have.”

Your parents left you. That was what Shadow Weaver had said once, when trying to drive home how useless and worthless Catra was. They never wanted you. They knew you would be nothing but trouble.

Catra couldn’t remember much from before waking up in that box in the Fright Zone. But sometimes she had dreams about kind voices and warm hugs and Mommy and Mama love you so much, sweetheart. She’d always written them off as desperate wishes for a better life. No one wanted her. The only person she had in the entire world was Adora. And then she left too.

“With all due respect,” Tao said calmly, extending a hand, “I don’t think you’ll be able to stand for much longer. Please accompany me back to the castle. I’ll take you straight to the infirmary so you can rest, and speak with the queens so they know you’re safe.”

“I’m…” Catra’s throat was suddenly very dry again. She swallowed, coughed, and tried again. “Fine. I can get back on my own, though.”

“I believe you. However, I don’t think there’s any point in forcing you take the long way around.” He turned as he spoke, drawling a circle in the air. It opened into a shadowy area that Catra couldn’t quite make out from the angle she was at. She took a step away, scowling.

“What is that?”

“Oh, right, I suppose you wouldn’t have been taught… these are the shadow roads. If you stay, you’ll get used to them. But for right now, they’re the easiest way back to the palace.” He offered his hand again. “May I?”

Catra hesitated for a long moment before finally nodding and taking Tao’s hand.

* * * * *

The queens gave Catra some space, although Tao checked in to see how she was doing, and he made no secret of the fact that he was reporting back to the queens. Catra kind of liked him. He was extremely no nonsense and didn’t bother with lies or other bullshit, but he wasn’t cruel. Sometimes she even swore he was trying to tell a joke. But it was hard to tell.

It took a couple days before Catra felt up to facing the queens. She let Tao know, and he smiled before assuring her he would pass the message along.

She was half-dozing — seriously what the fuck was wrong with her? She’d never needed this much sleep in her life — when someone knocked on the door, and C’yra peeked in. Lyra was hovering behind her, clearly anxious.

“Catra?”

“Yeah.” Catra pushed herself into a sitting position, curling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around her knees. “Come in.”

They were both looking at her like she was some kind of miracle, and she hated it. She was going to let them down. Why couldn’t they see that? “I don’t know if I’m… who you think I am.” Saying your daughter or the lost princess was just too much. “But if you both think so… there’s a lot you should know before you decide anything.”

“Whatever you want to tell us,” C’yra said. “But I highly doubt there’s anything that could change how we feel. We know you were with the Horde—“

“Not just with the Horde. I led the Horde. I’ve been the second-in-command for over two years, and I pretty much took over for Hordak in the last year. If the Horde wins the war, it’ll be because of me.”

She had been proud of that fact at one time. Now it just made her feel a little ill.

“Start at the beginning,” Lyra said.

And Catra did. She started with her promotion to Force Captain, and everything that happened after, and how she had taken down Shadow Weaver—

“Shadow Weaver?” Lyra repeated in a louder voice than Catra would have thought her capable of.

“Uh… yeah. You know her?”

“She was a teacher in Mystacor,” C’yra said before Lyra could launch into the rant Catra saw brewing in her expression. “Her departure from there was… messy.”

“She almost killed Micah! Not to mention—“

“Lyra, my love,” C’yra cut Lyra off gently. “Not now.”

Lyra blew out a long breath and closed her eyes. “I would like to return to the subject of Shadow Weaver later,” she said in a surprisingly calm voice. “If that’s okay with you, Catra.”

“Uh… yeah. Sure.” She really wasn’t going to like what she heard, but Catra couldn’t do much about that.

She continued. She told them about the Battle of Bright Moon, about the raid on the forest after. She told them about helping track down First Ones tech, about the North, and Shadow Weaver’s escape (and she didn’t miss the look of rage on Lyra’s face). She told them about her first foray into the Crimson Waste, and how it all ended. She told them about sending Entrapta to Beast Island, about the portal… and then stopped.

“Do you know anything about Bright Moon?” she asked quietly.

“We were friends with the king and queen for a long time,” C’yra said. Well, great. If anything was going to make them kick her out, it was going to be this.

“It was my fault the queen died.” She clenched her fists around the blanket. “I pulled the lever, I opened the portal, and she sacrificed herself to close it. I killed her.”

C’yra and Lyra exchanged sad looks. “If Angella was anything like she was twenty years ago — and I doubt that she changed much — then she wouldn’t blame you for it,” Lyra said.

“Yeah, I’m sure she would be totally fine with the person who killed her and tried to kill her stupid sparkly daughter over and over,” Catra sneered, rolling her eyes. They were going to kick her out, there was no point in pretending to be nice. “We’d all just get along so well.”

“That’s not what I said,” Lyra said patiently, not rising to the bait. “You’re responsible for your choices, but I believe Angella would also recognize that circumstances, which you had no control over.”

Catra scoffed, rolling her eyes and looking away. “Sure. Anyway, so after that I kicked Hordak’s legs out from under him and basically appointed myself co-leader of the entire Horde…”

She didn’t leave out a single detail. She wanted the queens to know the monster they were claiming as their daughter.

“How did you end up back in the Crimson Waste?” C’yra asked softly when Catra’s voice drifted off again, after telling them about her breakdown in the communications room. Catra took a moment to collect her thoughts and answer.

“Leaving the Horde is pretty easy. You just walk out, and no one stops you. I thought about going to Bright Moon and turning myself in, but Adora has such a hero complex that she probably wouldn’t let Queen Sparkles execute me or whatever.” Catra rolled her eyes. “I don’t want to be saved. I just want to be left alone to… to die or whatever.”

“Is that what you want?”

Catra shrugged, resting her chin on her knees. “I dunno. I mean, there’s no point in sticking around. There’s no one left in this entire world who cares about me.”

“That’s not—“

“True?” Catra scoffed. “You don’t know anything about me.”

The queens exchanged a glance that they probably thought Catra didn’t see. She let them have their private moment.

* * * * *

Lyra came back alone the next day. “The doctor says you’re clear to leave the infirmary.”

“So is this the part where you tell me to get out of your kingdom?” Catra asked. She’d been preparing for this. She knew her time was up. And she felt a little bad that these people had wasted so much time on her when she planned on going right back out to the Crimson Waste and repeating it all over again. Without being found this time, hopefully.

To her great surprise, Lyra smiled. “If you really want to leave, we can’t stop you. But I was actually going to take you for lunch and then show you to a room you can stay in.”

Catra eyed her warily, but nodded, and climbed out of bed. Her legs shook a little, but held her, and she followed Lyra out of the room.

They made their way down the stairs, to a private dining room where a feast awaited them. Catra blinked, staring at the food, a little stunned. The doctor had said she needed to take it easy and not eat too much at once, but also that she needed to work on her diet. She had no idea how she was supposed to do that when all she really knew was ration bars. Sure, she had eaten some contraband every now and again, but not with any consistency.

“Everything is easy on the stomach and safe for you,” Lyra said as she sat, gesturing for Catra to join her. Catra did, still staring. She could only think of one thing to say.

“Safe?” Was she supposed to be worried about being poisoned or something?

“Magicats have different dietary needs than humans. I’m not surprised the Horde wasn’t aware of that.” Catra looked at the food again. It was all so much. She didn’t even know where to begin. “May I?” Lyra asked, taking a bowl and filling it with some soup. “Soup is always a good place to start.”

Catra took the bowl, but didn’t eat it. “Why are you being so nice to me?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at Lyra. “I told you literally every terrible thing I’ve done, and now you’re feeding me? And don’t say it’s because I’m your long-lost daughter. You don’t know anything about me.”

Lyra took a bite of her own food, thinking over her answer. “I know what you’ve told me,” she said finally. “And yes, you’ve made it clear that you’ve done many, many bad things.”

“Then why?”

“Because people are more than their mistakes.”

“Well, what if I don’t think they’re mistakes?” Catra asked, shoving away from the table and standing. “I did what I had to do, and I’m not sorry.”

“I don’t believe that,” Lyra said simply.

“Why not?”

“Because people who aren’t sorry don’t usually walk off to die in the desert. They don’t hide from the mistakes, they face them and claim them and wear them like a badge of honor. I’ve seen people who don’t regret the bad things they’ve done. You’re not like them.”

Catra blew out a long, shaking breath, suddenly feeling very exposed. Like Lyra had just looked at her and looked right through her. Read her like a book. She collapsed back into her chair, trying to ignore Lyra watching her. Searching her. But she didn’t say anything, and neither did Catra.

They didn't speak again for the rest of the meal.

Silence stretched between Adora and Catra like an impassable canyon.

“Did you mean it?” Adora asked after a moment. “When you said you’re not sorry?”

Catra curled in on herself, staring at the road beneath them. She had declared once, when they were kids, that she would never apologize to anyone. But not saying the words didn’t mean she was incapable of regret. Her mistakes weighed heavily on her, heavy enough that if she stood, she was sure she would collapse under them.

“You mean do I enjoy being a war criminal and a murderer? No, not really. But it’s not like apologizing is going to do me any good. ‘Hey everyone, I’m really sorry I murdered your last queen and destroyed your kingdoms. Can we all be friends now?’” She scoffed. “The real world doesn’t work like that. Not even being a princess can salvage me.”

Adora weighed her choices, then took a completely different approach. “How mad were you when you found out you’re a princess?”

Catra let out a startled laugh. “I still don’t believe it. Me, a fucking princess. Give me a break.”

“Guess I’m the one who should be calling you Princess.” Adora risked poking Catra’s shoulder. Catra batted her away, but it was more playful than violent.

“Fuck off.”

“What’s wrong, Princess? You seem upset.”

“Shut up.”

“Aaawww, come on, Princess—“

Catra snapped, whirling and launching herself at Adora, pinning her to the ground. They wrestled, and for a moment it was just like when they were kids. They even laughed as they tried to pin each other.

The scene froze when Catra pinned Adora down, and they stared at each other. Catra crawled off of her, going to curl up as far away as she could get.

“Of course I didn’t mean it,” she whispered after a moment, voice shaking. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to live with that guilt? Don’t you get why I wanted to escape? No one’s ever going to forgive me. And they shouldn’t. I don’t deserve it.”

“You don’t know that. They’ve gotten to know a different you this time.”

“A fake me,” Catra muttered. Adora looked at her back, bit her lip, and pushed forward.

“Do you remember the night I told you about She-Ra?” Adora hesitated. “Wait, do you remember…?”

“Yeah, I remember everything that happened and all the memories they gave me. What’s your point?”

“When you asked if someone made me feel useless… I lied.”

“Of course you did, you couldn’t tell me it was my fault.”

Adora shook her head even though Catra couldn’t see her. “It was… Glimmer, actually.” Catra’s ears twitched, but she didn’t say anything. “Things got bad. We were arguing a lot, and one day she said that if I was a better She-Ra, none of this would have happened. And then I had to break the sword to stop the Heart, and it felt like I let everyone down. Maybe if I had been stronger, I could have controlled it. Maybe…”

Catra finally looked over her shoulder, eyes searching Adora’s expression. “Did anyone tell you what happened after she activated that thing?” Adora shook her head. “I saw what it did to C’yra. She was in so much pain, and she kept pushing Lyra away because she was afraid of hurting her. Tao pulled me out of the room, and I didn’t see C’yra again until after it was over. I don’t know if it did the same thing to the princesses, but… probably, right? I don’t think you let anyone down, is the point. I think you saved their lives.”

Adora hadn’t been looking for comfort, but she hadn’t realized until that moment how much she needed to hear those words. “That’s my point,” she said, waving a hand at Catra. “You’re a good person. You always have been. And you’ve shown the others that.”

“Or maybe you’re just a soft idiot,” Catra said, rolling her eyes.

“Maybe,” Adora admitted. They sat in silence for a bit, and Adora was really starting to feel the cold when Catra spoke again.

“I’m sorry.”

Adora looked at her in surprise. Catra had pressed her face into her knees again, shaking hands gripping her legs. “I know one apology isn’t enough, and if no one wants me around, I’ll go. I’ve been trying to go since I left the Horde, but people keep finding me. But I’ll go, and no one will find me again.”

“I don’t want you to go,” Adora said quietly. “I’ve missed you. This you, the person I grew up with. The you your moms made was… fine, and reminded me a lot of who you were when we were kids. But she wasn’t the same. She wasn’t you.”

“I would’ve thought that would make her more appealing.”

Adora shook her head. “Not to me.” She stood, offering her hand. “Now are you coming home with me, or what?”

Catra lifted her head just enough to look at Adora. “Have you figured out how shadow magic works, then?”

Oh. Right. Adora blushed. “Well… no. I was kind of hoping maybe you had.”

“You’re such an idiot,” Catra said with a sigh, taking Adora’s hand and letting Adora pull her up.

“Wait, so… if Shadow Weaver uses shadow magic, can she also access the shadow roads?”

Catra shook her head. “In theory, maybe, but she’d get lost. Wouldn’t it be a shame if she froze to death here?”

She looked into the shadows, tilting her head for a moment, then tugged Adora’s hand, pulling her closer.

“What are we…?”

“Sh.”

She took a few steps forward, staring hard into the darkness. Adora was afraid to interrupt her, but she was so, so curious.

“Catra…?”

Catra tugged her swiftly, and they stepped off the roads, into the darkness… and through the shadows, into the hideout. Catra immediately collapsed, and Adora grabbed her before she hit the ground.

“Adora!”

“What the hell just happened?”

“Are you guys okay?”

Adora lowered herself and Catra to the floor. She was shivering, but that didn’t really matter. Nothing mattered except for Catra, cradled in her arms.

“Too loud,” Catra grumbled into Adora’s shoulder. Adora looked up to see the others gathered around her, clearly waiting for answers.

“We… got a little lost on the shadow roads. It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

Chapter Text

The headache had more or less eased off by the next morning. Glimmer theorized that Catra’s magic was trying to rebuild now that the curse Shadow Weaver had put on her was gone, and that could have adverse effects on a person’s body.

“I used to get really bad headaches too,” she’d told Adora quietly. Catra was supposed to be sleeping, but she’d heard her name and stirred. “Aunt Casta said my dad got stomachaches? Magic is weird sometimes.”

Adora was asleep now, sprawled out next to Catra and snoring. Catra sat up, carefully shifting away from Adora’s extended arm to avoid her lashing out in her sleep. She tucked herself against the cave wall, looking at everyone she could see from her current angle.

Sure, Adora wanted her here, but there was absolutely no way the rest of them did — except maybe Scorpia and Entrapta (who was awake and working at her computer. Did that woman ever sleep?).

Actually…

Catra pushed herself up, walking slowly over to where Entrapta was typing away. She looked up only when Catra was close enough to appear in her peripheral. “Oh! Hi Catra. Did I wake you up? Mermista says my typing is too loud.”

“No, it’s fine.” Catra sat, curling her legs under herself. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure! Now that your memories are back I can actually answer questions with trying to lie. I really disliked that, you know.”

“Pretty sure everyone did.” Catra rolled her shoulders and took a deep breath. “I spent a lot of time alone with you when we were in the castle. Why didn’t you… I dunno, do something to me?”

Entrapta tilted her head, clearly not getting what Catra meant. “Like an experiment? Everyone keeps telling me I can’t run experiments on my friends, even social experiments where no one gets hurt.”

“No, I mean… aren’t you angry? About what I did? About Beast Island?”

Entrapta’s expression went blank for a moment, and Catra was sure she had crossed a line. “I was,” she said very slowly, tapping her fingers together. “I was more scared when I first woke up there, and then I realized the world wasn’t destroyed so whatever happened with the portal, it must have worked out. And then I guess I was angry at you for sending me to Beast Island, even though it turned out to be a fascinating trip. And I didn’t really get it when Adora and Bow came to rescue me, because I thought they hated me after everything I did with the Horde. But they said they were my friends, and I believed them. And they promised to let me play with a First Ones’ ship, which is absolutely fascinating, but I digress.”

She paused, took a breath, and continued. “When Glimmer told us about the situation with your mothers, it made me really uncomfortable because I don’t like lying. But I never thought about using it to hurt you, because I wasn’t mad anymore.”

“Why?” That was the part Catra was struggling to understand. How could Entrapta not be mad at her?

“Because it didn’t accomplish anything. It didn’t further any research, or help me get off the island, or even make me feel better to be mad. I know most people don’t think like me, but…” She shrugged. “That’s how I feel about it. I was angry, and now I’m not. And even if I was still, I wouldn’t have hurt you over it.”

Catra stared at her for a long moment, until Entrapta started to squirm. “You’ve… really come a long way,” she said finally. Entrapta brightened up a little.

“Thanks! Perfuma tried to teach me about using my words to express myself, but I never really thought it worked. Did all of that really make sense?”

“Sure did.” Catra stood, rocked on her heels, and looked up to meet Entrapta’s gaze again. “And I’m… I’m sorry. About everything.”

Entrapta smiled and reached out with a lock of hair, patting Catra’s head. “I know you are.”

And she went back to work as if nothing had happened. Catra walked away feeling just a little lighter. She couldn’t fix everything that easily (if she could fix any of it at all), but she was a little more optimistic about the future. That was something.

“Perfuma’s definitely been seen near Plumeria,” Glimmer said as they stood around the table that now acted as their war table. It wasn’t nearly as fancy as the one in Bright Moon, unfortunately.

“Why, though?” Catra asked, raising an eyebrow. “Does Plumeria have anything besides a runestone?”

“Not really,” Bow admitted. “Maybe Prime’s trying to lure us out. A trap, ya know? Like planting me and Adora in the Fright Zone. He knows we’ll go after our friends.”

“Which is exactly why we can’t try and find Perfuma,” Glimmer said, sighing. “The woods are her element, literally. She’d wipe the floor with us.”

“So we’re not even gonna try?” Scorpia asked, distraught. “We’re just going to abandon her?”

“Of course not. But that’s a fight we need to do on our terms, somewhere that we’ll be on more of an even ground.”

Catra smoothed her hair back, a little annoyed by it. She missed her mask, but she was pretty sure she’d lost it somewhere in the Crimson Waste. “Could we bait her out?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know, have her chase someone to a better battlefield.”

“You’re assuming the person would be able to find their way through the woods to the place we choose and outrun Perfuma,” Glimmer pointed out.

“I could do that,” Catra said with a shrug. “I’m pretty fast.”

“Fast enough to avoid roots growing out of the ground?”

“Probably. They can’t be any faster than your teleporting, and I can dodge that.”

Glimmer looked absolutely insulted. “You can not!”

“Try me.”

The invitation was clearly what Glimmer had wanted. She disappeared without any warning; Catra’s ears twitched, and she ducked away from where she was standing, backing up a few steps right as Glimmer appeared and tried to grab her.

“What the…”

Glimmer repeated the process a few more times, and Catra nimbly dodged every time. “How?” Glimmer demanded finally, crossing her arms.

“You make noise when you teleport. It’s like bells. I’ve never fought Perfuma, but I have to assume roots coming up to burst out of the ground make noise.”

“Great, so you go and bait Perfuma, get caught, then what?” Mermista asked flatly. “We’re certainly not going to rescue you.”

“Then Prime will probably kill me and everyone wins.”

“We can keep baiting her on the list of ideas,” Glimmer said, teleporting back to her usual spot and looking at Spinnerella. “Any luck tracking down Netossa?”

Spinnerella shook her head. “No one has even seen her since Elberon.”

“So that’s Netossa MIA, Perfuma in Plumeria, and Dad and Aunt Casta still in Mystacor.”

The mention of Mystacor stirred something in the back of Catra’s mind. It took her a minute to follow the train of thought. “Where’s Shadow Weaver?” she asked, whirling to look around the cave. The sorceress was nowhere to be seen.

“Did we lose her again?”

“It’s not like we were really keeping her tied down here,” Mermista pointed out.

“I thought we were just waiting for her to leave on her own so we didn’t have to deal with her,” Frosta added. Catra’s heart was pounding in her chest. How hadn’t she noticed Shadow Weaver wasn’t there? How long had she been gone?

“I hate the idea of her wandering around when she knows where our hideout is,” Glimmer said slowly. “But we have other problems. We need to figure out what Prime’s plan is. Why hasn’t he just destroyed the planet already?”

“Might have something to do with the giant super weapon in the middle of it,” Catra pointed out.

“But he doesn’t know about the Heart—“

“Yes he does.” Everyone looked at Adora, who was rubbing the back of her neck. “He saw it in our minds. And he got some powerful energy signals from Etheria when he first found it. He’s been investigating what it is while he rolls out his takeover. Now that he knows, I’m sure he’s making new plans.”

“Well that… sucks.”

Glimmer scrubbed her eyes. “Let’s take a break. We can come back to this in a few.”

Everyone started to disperse. Catra looked at Adora, who was still staring at the table. “Please don’t tell me you’re making this your fault.”

“If he hadn’t caught me—“

“Then he still would have gotten someone else from the Rebellion who knows about the Heart.”

“But if I had been more careful in Elberon, maybe—“

Catra rolled her eyes. “For fuck’s sake. Come on.”

She grabbed Adora and pulled her away from the table, back to where Entrapta was working. “Hey, Entrapta. You got a pair of scissors?”

“Sure, one sec.” She dug through her many, many pockets before finally pulling out a pair of scissors and handing them over.

“What do we need scissors for?” Adora asked nervously.

“I want your help with something.” Catra was staring very determinedly at anything but Adora as they headed toward the corner they’d slept in the night before. “Magicats have this… tradition. They cut all their hair off when they turn eighteen. It’s supposed to signify a transition into adulthood or something. And obviously I didn’t do that because I knew jack shit about my own culture, but I have a memory of doing it, and… and I think I want to try.”

Adora knew this was meant to be a distraction, and it had worked, but she also didn’t know anything about cutting here. “Okay, wait one minute. I’ll be right back.”

She ran across the cave to find Glimmer and Bow, who were sitting together and murmuring to each other. She wasn’t the only person who needed a distraction. “Bow! Do you know anything about cutting hair?”

He looked up, surprised. “Yeah, my siblings and I used to cut each other’s hair all the time. Why?”

“Are you finally going to let us cut off your ponytail?” Glimmer asked with a hopeful expression.

“No! Catra wants to cut her hair, and I know I’m going to mess it up if I try. Could you…?”

That seemed to brighten Bow up a little. “Sure!”

The trio made their way back to Catra — because Glimmer absolutely had to see how this went. Catra regarded them with a nervous expression.

“Bow’s going to do the actual cutting part,” Adora said, handing Bow the scissors and sitting with Catra.

“What’s he going to cut, my throat?”

“Do I look like the kind of person who would cut someone’s throat?” Bow asked, tilting his head. He looked at Adora and Glimmer, who shook their heads. “Honestly, I was thinking just your hair.”

Catra still shrunk slightly away from him. Adora rested a hand on her knee. “It’s okay. You can trust Bow.”

“Sure,” Catra muttered, trying to relax and not jump when Bow started cutting.

“Did your moms actually teach you about Magicat culture?” Adora prompted. This was her distraction — learning whatever Catra would tell her. “Or did they just put everything you need to know in your head?”

“A bit of both.” Catra eyed Glimmer nervously. Glimmer stared back with a completely neutral expression. “The hair thing was a memory they gave me, but there are other things — food was a big thing Lyra took the time to teach me about. Magicat diets are completely different from human diets. Shockingly, a diet of ration bars and water isn’t healthy for anyone.”

“I never would have guessed.”

Catra let out a small huff of laughter before continuing. “They’re nocturnal, which is a really hard schedule to get on if you’ve been diurnal your entire life. Now I’m kind of confused because I have memories of both and I don’t actually feel tired.”

Bow had been snipping away this entire time, but Catra didn’t seem to notice. Which was exactly what Adora wanted. “So you remember the life they gave you?” Glimmer asked, tilting her head. “Isn’t that confusing?”

“It’s making my head hurt a little. Lyra could probably take the fake memories if I asked, but that’s not a right now question. She really doesn’t like this kind of magic, and C’yra isn’t even there to tell her she’s doing the right thing.”

Adora smiled. “You really care about them, don’t you?”

Catra shrugged, looking away. “I feel bad that they’re stuck with me as their daughter. They had a chance to make their kid whatever they wanted, and I blew it.”

“But they wanted you,” Glimmer said. “For reasons I can’t really fathom. You’re right. They could have completely erased you and given you whatever personality they wanted. But all they did was give you better memories. You were still the same, annoying know-it-all you were before. Just not in the same way. They let you be yourself with the life they wished they could have given you.”

Catra looked up at her, expression unreadable. “Trust me, I don’t get it either,” Glimmer added, as if worried Catra might think she’s trying to be kind or something. “But they wanted to give you what you wanted. Maybe this was their compromise.”

Bow snipped a few more pieces of hair, then said, “Okay, that might be a little more than you wanted, but hair grows!” He reached into his quiver and popped out an arrow with a mirror attached. “What do you think?”

“I think it’s ridiculous you have an arrow with a mirror on it,” Catra said, taking the arrow to examine her reflection. Her hair… didn’t look bad, actually. It was short, almost as short as Scorpia’s hair, standing up in all directions. She liked the messiness. “Not too bad, Arrow Boy.” She hesitated before adding, “Thanks.”

Bow beamed, taking the arrow back. “Happy to help.”

Spinnerella left in the middle of the night.

No one was really surprised. She was tired of waiting around, and wanted to find Netossa. If it wasn’t for the fact that she had the ability to ruin their lives by getting caught, they would have just left her to it.

“We don’t even know where Netossa is,” Mermista lamented, staring at the map. “How does she think she’s going to do anything alone?”

“Can people stop just walking out?” Frosta added. “Shadow Weaver, Spinnerella, who’s next?”

Her eyes flashed to Catra, who studiously ignored her. “The cave probably isn’t safe anymore,” Bow said, looking around. “We should consider moving.”

Glimmer sighed, scrubbing her eyes. “You were right,” she told Catra tiredly. “A camping Rebellion definitely isn’t a sign of strength.”

“I take no pleasure in it.” And it was true. Catra was part of this, whether she wanted to be or not, and being right was mostly depressing. “I don’t think we should abandon the cave yet. Shadow Weaver is good at getting out of situations that are bad for her — annoyingly so. I’m sure she’ll come crawling back soon. Besides, where else would we go? All of the kingdoms are compromised at this point.”

Catra paused for a moment, thinking. “Half Moon’s evacuation shelter is still holding strong. Lyra probably wouldn’t mind taking us in. But it’s not a particularly convenient place.”

“We also run the risk of putting the spotlight on them when they’re staying safe.” Catra was a little relieved when Adora rejected the idea. She didn’t want to put Half Moon in any more danger than it already was. It felt like it was her fault they were in this situation to begin with. Maybe if it had been Lyra or C’yra in her place, they would have done a better job at protecting the kingdom. Maybe Half Moon would still be safe.

It was so stupid that Catra wanted to kick herself. What did she care about a kingdom? She didn’t have any loyalty to them, not really. But they didn’t deserve to be collateral damage in the destruction of her life.

Catra didn’t know how the others could possibly sleep in this situation. But it was late, and she was the only one awake. Even Adora was snoring away. How could twelve bundles of nerves in a human skin sleep at a time like this?

Footsteps approached from behind her. Catra didn’t say anything until another back pressed against hers.

“Are you that desperate for company that you’ll settle for me?”

Glimmer hummed, taking a moment to think before she answered. “I think… your company is okay.”

Catra tilted her head, then shrugged and rested her chin on her knees. “Listen, what I said… about you almost killing C’yra… I’m sorry.”

“Is that all your sorry for?”

“No, but it feels a little insulting to say sorry I killed your mom.”

Glimmer stiffened a little, but took a deep breath. “Yeah, I guess when you put it like that, it does sound pretty insulting. And I still hate you for what you did. And I hate you for trying to run away from it.”

“Hasn’t anyone told you? Running away is all I’m good for.”

Surprisingly, Glimmer didn’t answer right away. “Don’t do that,” she said finally.

“Do what?”

“That — That thing you do where you sound like Shadow Weaver. She said the same thing about you.”

“What can I say, I learned from the best,” Catra said, voice dripping with sarcasm. “She’s basically made running away an art form.”

“But you’re not like her.”

“You don’t know anything about me.”

“Okay, dramatic.” Catra could practically see Glimmer rolling her eyes. “And that’s not true. I know you regret what you did. People who don’t feel regret — people like Shadow Weaver — don’t try to run away from their mistakes, because they never think they made any. Shadow Weaver will never admit she did anything wrong. But you still feel guilt and shame. You regret it. And I think, for now… that’s enough.”

It wasn’t forgiveness, because there was really no forgiving what Catra had done. Angella would always hang over them, a painful subject that no one could quite approach. But it was acknowledgment that Catra knew she was wrong, and she regretted it, and that was really all Glimmer had been looking for this entire time. A little humility. A sign that Catra wasn’t Shadow Weaver. That she was still capable of those feelings. It was enough. For now.

“Can I ask you a question?” Glimmer said after a moment.

“Can I stop you?” Catra asked dryly. Glimmer ignored her.

“Did Adora always sleep-fight?”

Catra coughed, trying to choke down a laugh. “Yes. She punched me in the head so many times. Can’t even relax when she’s asleep, I swear.”

“She gave Bow a bloody nose once, and she slept through it. He’s never told her because he doesn’t want her to feel bad.”

“Getting too close is an amateur mistake. I had a broken rod under the bed that I used to poke her if I needed to wake her up for something.”

They both laughed quietly, and for a moment the air felt a little lighter.

Glimmer and Bow left the next to check on Bow’s fathers, after Frosta said, “At least you guys are telling us you’re leaving.” Everyone was still on edge, and they didn’t like being left without much to do. Prime could make a move any day now, and if he got to the Heart…

“Hey… Adora?”

Adora looked up from the map, surprised. Catra had muttered about “something to do,” and then disappeared nearly an hour ago. Now she was standing a few feet away, rubbing the back of her head and avoiding Adora’s gaze.

“What’s up?”

“I um… I’ve been trying to, you know, practice getting into the Shadow Roads, but I don’t want to… do it alone.” She rushed that last part out, blushing a little. “Do you think you think you could come with me?”

“Of course,” Adora said with no hesitation. She knew it was a miracle that Catra was even asking for help. She wasn’t about to make her feel bad for it. “Let me just tell the others so they don’t think we ran off or something.”

Catra hovered near the entrance while Adora filled Mermista in. She looked at Adora, then at Catra, and raised an eyebrow. “You really trust that she’s not going to murder you or kidnap you?” Adora nodded, and Mermista sighed. “All right, then. Have fun.”

They stayed in the mouth of the cave, because the shadows were easier to work with in there. “How do you open the Shadow Roads?” Adora asked as she watched Catra try to step into the shadows over and over.

“Lyra says it’s about seeing the shadows, whatever that means.” Catra huffed, running her hands through her hair. “I see them, they’re right in front of me. Magic is stupid.”

Adora tilted her head, thinking hard. “I have an idea. But you have to trust and be really willing.”

“That’s ominous,” Catra snarked, but she didn’t say no. So Adora went back deeper into the cave.

“Mermista, Frosta! Can you guys help with something?”

The princesses in question didn’t look entirely thrilled to be called out. “Look, I know you trust her, but I am not going into any creepy Shadow Roads—“

“You don’t have to,” Adora said quickly. “Just come on.”

Catra looked just as doubtful when Adora returned with her friends in tow. “I was thinking—“

“Sounds dangerous.”

“I know it’s different magic, but do you guys think you could explain how your magic works? Not like, where does it come from, but what does it feel like, how do you manipulate water or ice…”

Adora’s voice drifted off when she saw the looks Frosta and Mermista were giving her. “Adora, this is stupid,” Catra muttered. “They’re not going to help.”

“I don’t think we can,” Frosta said slowly. “I don’t know about Mermista, but I bonded with the Fractal Flake pretty young. It’s always kind of come naturally.”

“Yeah, we’re not Glimmer. We don’t really have magic separate from the Runestones.”

“I know,” Adora said. “But that’s not what I’m asking about. It’s more like… I don’t know, how you feel when you’re using it.”

“Well, how do you feel when you summon She-Ra?”

The question caught Adora off guard. She hadn’t really considered it important, but maybe this could help too. “I feel… strong.” She sat down, looking at her hand. “And warm. Like the magic is running through me. I can feel it right to the tips of my fingertips and toes. When I concentrate really hard, I can feel the sword in my hand, and it’s warm too. Everything feels so… comforting. Like I can do anything.”

Everyone was staring at her, a little awestruck. Even Catra. Adora blushed and ducked her head. “I know it sounds kind of stupid. And it doesn’t really help—“

“I think I get your question now,” Mermista said. “And this is going to sound really dumb, but I feel like I kind of… am the water. Perfuma always says she is one with plants, and I’d rather die than describe it that way, but… yeah.”

“I don’t really get that feeling,” Frosta said. “I’m definitely not one with the ice or anything.”

“What does it feel like, then?”

Frosta frowned, thinking hard for a moment. “It’s like… the ice is a friend, waiting for me to tell it what to do. And it trusts me to direct it the right away. And I trust it to protect me if I need it.”

Catra was listening intently, taking in every word and turning them over in her head.

“It’s hard to explain,” Lyra said as she brushed her fingers through the nearby shadows. They seemed to swirl around her nails, responding to her touch. Like disturbed water. Catra crawled into her mother’s lap, reaching passed her to touch the shadows as well. They didn’t react to her touch.

“Try?” she asked, looking up at Lyra with big, pleading eyes. She’d probably never be able to access her own magic. But she wanted to understand. Lyra smiled, kissing Catra’s forehead.

“It’s like trying to hold water. You can’t contain it, you can only work with it, and hope it trusts you enough to listen to you. Follow the shadows’ lead, and they’ll do the same.”

The memory was fake, but the information in it was probably true. Lyra had done her best to sprinkle things Catra would have learned growing up into seemingly innocuous memories.

“Ma — Lyra said shadows are like water, but she described the magic more like how Frosta talked about ice,” she said slowly, drawing circles on the ground with her index finger.

“So did we help?”

“I… think so?” Catra reached out for the shadows again, the way Lyra did.

“It comes a little easier to Mom because she has the Runestone. And being part of the royal bloodline does afford a few small privileges. But you don’t need a Runestone to be powerful. You just need to know the shadows.”

And her hand slipped through.

Adora let out a delighted gasp while Mermista and Frosta exchanged wide-eyed looks. “You did it!”

Catra didn’t dare look away; she just reached her hand back, hoping Adora would get the hint. Their fingers interlaced together, and Catra stepped forward, fully immersed in the shadows.

It was the first time she had purposely gotten onto the Shadow Roads, and she was extremely aware of the transition. It felt, just for a moment, like being in that machine Hordak had created — the one that had literally stolen the breath from her lungs. But it was the briefest second, and then it passed, and they were stumbling into the dark. Catra tripped, falling to her knees and dragging Adora around with her.

“Whoa,” Adora whispered. She had only ever gone through portals to get onto the Shadow Roads. Walking through shadows was a new experience for her. “Are you okay?”

Catra was rubbing her temples and grimacing. “Yeah. Headache.” They stood, still clinging to one another’s hands. “It’s not really that impressive…”

“It’s amazing,” Adora argued. “You did this on your own, without anyone to really help you.”

“The princesses were more helpful than I would’ve expected.” She said princesses with the exact same disdain as always. Adora rolled her eyes.

“Did you already forget you’re also a princess?” Adora asked with a small smirk.

“Bite your tongue,” Catra shot back. “I’m abdicating. C’yra and Lyra can get a new heir.”

Adora looked at the back of Catra’s head before daring to say, “Did they — I mean, do you—“

“No siblings, no. No living ones, anyway. Magicats are usually born three at a time, at least, but I guess the pregnancy was really hard on Lyra, and…” Catra waved her free hand, sighing. “I was the only one who lived. Sucks I’m the one they were stuck with.”

That stirred up a lot of complicated feelings in Adora. Of course she felt terrible for C’yra and Lyra, having to go through that, but part of her was also just a little bit grateful that Catra had been the survivor. What would life be like if she hadn’t been? Or if another Magicat heir had been delivered to the Horde?

“It’s a mess, honestly. This whole thing is a mess.” Catra reached out into the shadows again, watching the way they swirled around her fingers.

Adora watched her for a long moment, wishing she could read Catra’s mind. She had never been good at guessing what Catra wanted or needed, and usually she made the wrong choice. “Are you okay?” was what she finally settled for asking. Catra sighed, her shoulders falling, her hand falling back to her side.

“I don’t know. Come on, we should get back.”

She offered her hand, and Adora took it. The transition back to regular world was a little easier this time, and Catra didn’t immediately fall over, so that was progress.

“Adora!”

Bow and Glimmer were immediately on top of her. “I didn’t kidnap her,” Catra muttered, but she was ignored.

“My dads found something — there’s a failsafe for the Heart!”

Adora immediately perked up, wide-eyed. “A failsafe? For deactivating it?”

“Yes! It’ll release all the magic back into the planet, and then Prime won’t be able to use it.” Bow’s eyes were shining as he summarized what his fathers had found. “It’s exactly what we need!”

“That’s amazing!” Adora almost looked hopeful. That was dangerous, Catra thought. “Where is it?”

“That’s the problem,” Glimmer said. “We’re not sure. The locations were all named by First Ones, and they’ve been renamed. Somewhere called Arxia? Does that sound familiar?”

“No.” Adora drooped, looking slightly put out. “I guess we’re back to square one, then.”

“I don’t remember you being such a quitter, Adora.”

They all jerked to attention at the drawling voice, whirling to see Shadow Weaver standing in the entrance of the cave. Catra let out a small snarl, fists clenching. She remembered the way Shadow Weaver had taunted her, holding the knowledge of her real past over her head while she looked for answers she’d forgotten she didn’t want.

“Unless you have answers, go sit back in your corner and drink,” Glimmer said, turning and dismissing her.

“I do have answers.”

That caught them by surprise. “What?” Adora demanded, stepping closer to Shadow Weaver. Catra reached for her hand to pull her away, then stopped; she let her arm fall back to her side, watching the scene unfold. “Where is it?”

“It’s in Mystacor.”

Of course it was.

Chapter Text

“Mystacor is a death trap,” Glimmer protested. “We can’t get by Dad and Aunt Casta.”

“That’s unfortunately true,” Shadow Weaver agreed. “If it was just Castaspella, I’m sure we could manage. But Micah outranks us all.”

The backhanded insult was completely unnecessary, Catra thought, gritting her teeth. Shadow Weaver wouldn’t know talent if it punched her in the face.

“We’ll just need to be careful,” the sorceress continued as if it were no big deal.

“And why should we listen to you?” Adora asked.

“Because you don’t have a choice. While you’ve been wasting time playing games with the queens of Half Moon, Horde Prime has been steadily taking ground. This is your only choice if you want to win.”

“Says you,” Catra muttered. Shadow Weaver waved her off impatiently.

“We don’t have time for your paranoia.”

“You just hate it when people ask you questions,” Catra said, standing to glare at her. “Because you know your story will fall apart if anyone pushes it too hard.”

Shadow Weaver looked her up and down, and scoffed. “Of course the memory spell broke. I don’t know why Lyra would think she would be capable of—“

“Shut. Up.” Catra spoke through gritted teeth. “Just shut up. You can’t even use magic without it killing you, but you think you can judge others? You’re pathetic.”

Silence went around the circles as everyone looked between Catra and Shadow Weaver. “We don’t even know if we can trust you,” Glimmer finally said. “I’m definitely not about to follow you into Mystacor on your word.”

“Then what do you propose, your majesty? Anyone who has a chance of knowing as much about Mystacor and its history as I do is currently working for Prime.”

Catra glowered at her for another moment before grabbing Adora and Glimmer and dragging them off to a corner to talk. She figured Bow would follow, and she was right.

“Lyra might be able to help,” she said quietly. “If nothing else, she knows a lot of history, and she grew up in Mystacor.”

“Maybe,” Glimmer agreed. “Do you want to ask her?”

“Not really.” Catra hated the idea of dragging Lyra into whatever this ended up being. “But it might be our best option.”

Glimmer nodded, resting a hand on Catra’s shoulder. “You guys deal with Shadow Weaver,” she told Adora and Bow. “We’ll talk to Lyra.”

Catra focused on Bow. “Keep Adora in your sight at all times, or she’ll probably try to run off with Shadow Weaver on her own.”

“I would not,” Adora said. No one believed her.

“I’ll keep an eye on her, don’t worry.”

“Arxia?” Lyra repeated, frowning. “I haven’t heard of it, no. But I don’t know much about First Ones’ history.”

Glimmer and Catra exchanged despaired glances. “You don’t know anything? Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. Where are you getting this information?”

Catra really didn’t want to answer that. She knew it would just make Lyra angry. “Some of it from Bow’s dads. Some of it from Shadow Weaver.”

Lyra’s expression, predictably, darkened. “I wouldn’t trust anything that woman says.”

“We don’t,” Glimmer assured her. “That’s why we’re asking you. But if she’s right… we need to know. It might be the only way to stop this war.”

“Following her into certain danger won’t do anything except put you all at risk.”

“The thing is…” Catra said slowly. “Shadow Weaver doesn’t usually lie. She withholds information and uses what she knows to her own advantage, but she doesn’t outright lie.”

“That definitely doesn’t make me more willing to go with her,” Glimmer said.

“Nor should you,” Lyra agreed. “Letting her take the lead on anything is asking for trouble.”

“Could you help?” Catra asked, looking up at her mother. “We don’t trust her, but I trust you.”

Lyra softened slightly. “I can try, but I don’t know what I can do.”

“Adora’s going to go with her, with or without us. That’s just how she is. She’ll probably wait until we’re asleep to sneak out with Shadow Weaver, and if she does that, there’s nothing any of us can do to help. But if we do this on our terms, we can still protect her from whatever Shadow Weaver isn’t telling us.”

Glimmer looked at Catra, then at Lyra, who looked… defeated. “Okay,” she said quietly. “Let me speak with Tao, and then we can go.”

Bow was talking to Entrapta when they returned, his gaze still moving to Adora to make sure she hadn’t moved. Shadow Weaver scoffed when she saw Lyra. “Shouldn’t we be trying to limit the number of useless people?”

Lyra growled. It was a deep, menacing sound that caught Glimmer off guard. Catra had heard it a few times, but it was still surprising considering how gentle Lyra usually was.

“You want to get into Mystacor?” Catra snapped, taking a step in front of Lyra. “She can help us get through the front door without dying. Unless you’ve figured out a way to teleport or walk on the shadow roads.”

“And we’re definitely not letting Adora go alone with you,” Glimmer added, crossing her arms. Bow nodded in agreement while Catra just glared at Shadow Weaver.

“Very well, if it’ll move us along.”

Adora walked over to Catra, taking her hand and pulling her off to the corner, where no one could hear them. “You’re really okay with this?” she asked quietly. “Working with Shadow Weaver?”

“I’d rather die, actually. Having Lyra come with us makes me feel a little better, though.”

Adora searched Catra’s gaze, clearly trying to find something. “You’ve changed so much,” she said finally, quietly.

Catra shrugged, trying to wave Adora off. “What can I say? Having an entirely different life in my head really forced me through the trauma.”

Glimmer teleported them to right outside Mystacor so Lyra wouldn’t have to take them all as far. “I can help,” Catra insisted, continuing the conversation that had started before their departure.

“You don’t know Mystacor,” Lyra reminded her patiently. “It’ll be easier for me to get us in alone.”

“All of us?” It was apparently harder to transport a big group of people on the shadow roads, especially when trying to get into somewhere hostile. And they were definitely a big group.

“Yes, Catra.” Lyra gently cupped Catra’s cheeks, smiling. “And you’re still learning. It’ll be okay. I promise.”

“This is all very sweet, but the world as we know it might be ending. We should continue.”

Lyra shot Shadow Weaver a disgusted look before turning away and drawing a portal in the air. Catra offered her hand to to Adora; Glimmer took Adora’s free hand, then Bow’s. No one gave a hand to Shadow Weaver. If they lost her on the shadow roads, oh well.

“Why are the roads so cold?” Glimmer asked as they walked.

“No one really knows,” Lyra admitted. “The roads aren’t something people study too closely.”

She opened another portal, and they stepped out into a shadowy room. Lyra held an arm out to keep them from stepping too far out. Catra’s ears twitched as she looked around, sharp eyes taking in the area. “I don’t see anything,” she whispered, starting to step out of the shadows. Unfortunately, she hadn’t accounted for silencing spells. Her head was still turned the other way as she stepped out, and a chipped sorceress came out of a door to her left. Adora tried to stop her, but Shadow Weaver was faster.

In a flash of movement she jolted forward, grabbed Catra and bodily pulling her back, hand clapping over her mouth. “Keep your voice down,” she hissed. Catra’s eyes were wide with horror and panic; she shoved Shadow Weaver away, putting space between them.

“Don’t touch me!”

And if they hadn’t had the sorceress’s attention before, they certainly did now. The woman turned on them, already drawing a spell circle in the air. Lyra cast a shield to protect them from the blast. “Move,” she ordered over her shoulder. Shadow Weaver hurried ahead, of course — ever the coward. More acolytes came out, spells already flying. Adora ducked around the shield and ran right into the thick of the fight.

“For the honor of Grayskull!”

It was the first time she had tried to transform since the Fright Zone. That was probably why it didn’t work right away. Adora looked at her hand, horrified, then raised it to try again.

“Not now!” Catra yelled, tackling Adora and shoving her after Shadow Weaver. Bow shot a few net arrows, knocking the sorceresses back, and Lyra finished the job, gesturing everyone else ahead before running after them.

They continue to run down the hall and around corners until Shadow Weaver finally stopped in front of a blank expanse of wall. She looked at the wall, then at Lyra. “Come here. Do what I do.”

Lyra rolled her eyes, but stepped forward to help. The two sorceresses traced shapes in the air, and the wall slid open. “You’ll do well not to lay another hand on my daughter,” she warned Shadow Weaver in a low voice before gesturing her forward. Shadow Weaver scoffed, but started down the hall. Lyra followed, and the rest of the group fell into step behind her. The hall was dim; Glimmer cast a small ball of magic into the air to light the way.

Catra stared straight ahead, jaw clenched, keeping herself separate from everyone else. Adora followed behind her, continuously reaching out to take Catra’s shoulder, then stopping herself and drawing away. She hadn’t been able to help Catra in a long time. Maybe she never had.

“I can hear you thinking too loud,” Catra finally said, startling Adora. “Just ask.”

“I don’t — I just…” Adora sighed. “Are you okay?”

“Yup.” It was such a predictable and fake answer. “I’m fine.”

It was the answer Adora expected, even if she didn’t like it. “Look, what she did—“

“I don’t want to talk about it, Adora. Okay?”

“If you’re both done wasting time,” Shadow Weaver called over her shoulder. “They’ll know we’re here now thanks to that little disturbance. We need to move faster.”

“That’s easy for you to say when all you’re good for is running away,” Lyra shot back.

“Resentment isn’t a good look for you, Lyra.”

Adora sped up slightly to put herself between Lyra and Shadow Weaver before claws started swinging. “Let’s just keep moving.”

They started down another hall. Adora kept walking, even when Shadow Weaver stopped, right before a sigil on the floor…

And flames burst to life around her.

“Adora!” Catra moved faster than anyone else, diving into the flames without hesitation. She came back out with a flustered Adora a moment later.

“Whoa! Oh, okay. I’m okay. I’m okay.”

Adora paused when she saw Catra leaning over, giving her a small smile. And she smirked. “Did you just jump into fire for me?”

“Oh shut up,” Catra said, shoving her stupid smirking face away and standing up. Glimmer walked passed them, rolling her eyes a little, and stuck her hand through the flames.

“It’s an illusion.” Which, Catra thought, didn’t make it any less impressive that she had jumped into it. They hadn’t know that beforehand, after all.

“Some of the fire is illusionary, some of it is real,” Shadow Weaver said simply, making her way down the hall. They walked in silence for a bit; Lyra fell back to walk with Catra.

“I like your hair,” she said after a moment, at a loss for any other words. She knew Catra wouldn’t accept an apology for letting Shadow Weaver get too close to her, and she wouldn’t answer honestly if asked how she was doing — Lyra heard how that went with Adora.

“It was your idea,” Catra said with a shrug, running a hand through her shortened hair.

“It’s the same way C’yra cut hers.” Lyra sighed, smiling faintly. “You look so much like her.”

Catra hunched up a little, keeping her gaze on the hall ahead. “We’ll… We’ll save her,” she said finally, feeling uncertain. “C’yra, I mean. And… And the rest of Half Moon.”

“I know,” Lyra said simply. “I believe in the Rebellion. I always have. And I believe in Adora.”

“You do?” Catra looked up at her, surprised. “Why?”

“Because I know you believe her.” Lyra rested a hand on Catra’s shoulder. “I’ve seen your memories, remember?”

Actually, Catra had kind of forgotten it. Her eyes widened as she realized what that might be mean. “You — You saw everything?” Lyra just smiled. Catra looked ahead again, trying to swallow the growing panic. “You won’t tell, will you?”

“It’s not my place. Don’t worry, your secrets are safe with me.”

Adora looked over her shoulder to see Catra and Lyra walking together, talking in low voices. She didn’t notice that Shadow Weaver had fallen in step with her until the sorceress spoke.

“I see you and Catra are close again.” Adora jumped, looking at Shadow Weaver and scowling. “Are you sure that’s wise?”

“It’s none of your business.”

“But it is if it’s preventing you from transforming. It’s all of Etheria’s business.” Adora stopped to glare at Shadow Weaver. “Your emotions have always been your weakness. I tried to teach you—“

“You abused me. Us. We were kids, and you tried to break us down.”

“I tried to make you strong. You were always destined for greater things, but you’ve let yourself be held back time and time again. How long has it been since you were able to transform?”

Adora hesitated, looking at her hands. “I couldn’t transform at all after I broke the sword. And then I did once, in the Fright Zone, but I haven’t tried since then.”

“Until today. And you failed. Because you’re not focused.” Adora tried to scowl at her, but it was hard to argue when she was right. “If you care about your friends, about Catra, then focus on protecting them. The world doesn’t need Adora right now. It needs She-Ra.”

Catra and Lyra had stopped behind a nearby pillar, listening to the conversation. They exchanged troubled but knowing looks.

“Whoa,” Glimmer said in disbelief, looking around as they walked into a bright room with a looming crystal.

“That’s the failsafe?” Bow asked incredulously. “How are we supposed to get it to the Heart?”

“The Failsafe is a code,” Shadow Weaver said. “It's stored inside of the crystal.” She took Adora’s hand and pressed it against the crystal. “I think you know the password.”

Adora looked up at the crystal, taking a deep breath. “We’re friends of Mara.”

The crystal cracked open, spreading out in three different sections with a triangular light connecting them. Symbols were appearing on the crystals.

“What does it say?” Glimmer asked.

“Someone needs to go inside and accept the Failsafe," Adora translated. “What does that mean?”

“It means the Failsafe must be bonded to a willing soul and carried to the Heart of Etheria in their body in order to be deployed.” There was a hint of impatience in Shadow Weaver’s voice. Adora looked at her, then back at the crystal, and started forward. Her foot was on the first step up to the crystal when another voice cut through the silence.

“Adora, wait!” Catra grabbed her hand, pulling her back. “Don’t do it.”

“Catra.” Shadow Weaver didn’t bother keeping the impatience out of her voice this time. “We don’t have time for this. Someone must take the Failsafe.”

Catra turned to glare at Shadow Weaver. “Then you do it.”

Silence. Catra dragged Adora away from the crystal, approaching Shadow Weaver. “You knew exactly how to get here. We didn’t get lost or go down a wrong hallway even once. You’ve been here before, haven’t you?”

“You're being paranoid—“

“You could have had all the power in the world,” Catra continued, speaking over Shadow Weaver. “All you had to do was take the Failsafe, and you’d have everything you ever wanted. Why didn’t you do it? You don’t lie, but you withhold information as it suits you. So what aren’t you telling us this time?”

Shadow Weaver took a step back as everyone else circled around her. “Answer the question,” Lyra said, a growl audible in her voice. There was no way out of it.

“Whoever uses the Failsafe must absorb the full magic of the Heart when it is destroyed,” Shadow Weaver finally said, clearly reluctant. “That much raw magical power would burn any mere mortal apart. None of us are strong enough.”

“But She-Ra is,” Adora says quietly.

Shadow Weaver nodded once, almost seeming satisfied, like Adora understanding it was the only victory she needed. “Only She-Ra can hope to survive the process. No one else can do it.”

Adora turned back to look at the crystal, heart hammering. “And if I don’t survive?”

“Then the magic will be restored to Etheria through your sacrifice. You will give us the power to bring us victory. Prime will be defeated. Your friends will be free.”

The room immediately exploded in yelling. “Are you kidding? We’re not sacrificing Adora!”

“I can’t believe you would even think we’d be okay with this!”

“She doesn’t care if we’re okay with it! Why do you keep trusting her?!”

Adora squeezed her eyes shut, letting out a shaking breath and fighting down tears. “Stop!” she finally yelled, voice cutting through all the chaos. She looked up at the crystal again. “I’ll do it.”

She started back toward the crystal. “What?” And again, Catra was there to stop her. “You can’t! Shadow Weaver’s sacrificing you, and you’re going to let her?”

“We don’t have a choice!” Adora yelled, ripping her wrist from Catra’s grip and turning to face her. Catra shrunk back, ears pressed against her head. “We’re out of time.” She lowered her voice a little, shoulders falling. “This is the only option.”

A blast of energy barreled through the fire, hitting Shadow Weaver. Smoky black tendrils wrapped around as she was knocked down. Everyone gasped, turning back to look at the fire as Micah stepped through it.

“Dad!”

Micah turned to look at daughter, smiling a slightly deranged smile. “Hello, daughter.” Lyra raised her hand to draw a spell circle. “Old friend. It’s so good to see you.” Shadow Weaver groaned from the ground. Micah raised an eyebrow at her. “Her, not so much.”

Lyra cast her spell, but it was stopped by a shield that sprung to life in front of Micah. Castaspella stepped out to stand with her brother, hand up, maintaining the shield. “Aunt Casta!” Glimmer took a couple steps forward, but Bow grabbed her arm to hold her back. Two more sorceresses stepped in behind the siblings.

“Dear sister, if you would be so kind.”

Casta waved her hand, and the shield dissipated. And the spells started flying. One went right between Catra and Adora, forcing them to part or risk being hit. Bow fired a couple net arrows at the sorceresses while Glimmer distracted them, and Lyra was taking Micah and Castaspella on her own. Adora hurried down the stairs again, thrusting her hand into the air.

“For the Honor of Grayskull!”

The sword flickered over her head, then disappeared. Adora’s eyes widened, panic growing in her chest. Why wasn’t it working?

“Lyra!”

Catra darted away as Lyra went down under the force of her attackers. Catra couldn’t fight with magic, but she could still use her claws. She had to assume Micah would forgive her for scratching his face. Adora watched her for a moment before turning and hurrying back to the Failsafe. She could end this. Catra knelt to help Lyra up, but she hadn’t forgotten Adora. She looked over her should to see Adora running to the crystal.

“Adora, don’t—!”

Shadowy dark magic spread out across the floor, catching them one by one. Catra tried to get up, to stop Adora, but she was back on her knees instantly, struggling against magic.

“Micah,” Lyra gasped as she fought to free herself. “Casta, please. I know you’re both still in there. Fight him!”

“You’ve always talked entirely too much,” Casta said smoothly, drawing another spell in the air. “Perhaps it’s time you learn to be quiet.”

Lyra wasn’t quick enough to dispel the casting. Her mouth moved a couple times, but no words came out. Catra looked at her in horror, then at Adora, who was bounding up the stairs. She was going to do it. She was really going to take the Failsafe. She was going to let Shadow Weaver send her to die.

It felt like time slowed for a moment. Catra clenched her hands into fists, and the shadowy magic started swirling around them. Not like it was binding her, though — like it was reacting to her.

“Mom’s stronger because of the Runestone,” Lyra said as they sat in front of the Tiger’s Eye. Despite not being able to use magic, Catra still had to learn about it. “But it’s not what makes her so powerful.”

Catra tilted her head, confused. “What do you mean?”

“Her real strength comes from her bloodline. The royal family has always been exceedingly powerful.” Catra looked at her hands, scowling. She’d never be powerful like that. “I know.” Lyra sighed, tucking a strand of Catra’s hair back. “We’ll fix it someday. I promise.”

She was C’yra’s daughter. The princess of Half Moon, whether she liked it or not. She did have that power. And now she could use it. She grabbed the shadowy magic, ripping it from her body, and surged to her feet. The sudden burst of activity had grabbed Adora’s attention again; she turned just in time to see smoky black tendrils flying at her, then wrapping around her ankles and forcing her to the ground.

“What—“

She’d thought it was Micah or Casta, and was surprised when she saw Catra easily throwing magic around, like she had been born with it at her fingertips. Catra bounded forward, ducking as Micah tried to catch her — and she ran straight to the crystal. Adora’s heart plummeted when she realized what Catra was doing.

“Catra, don’t!”

Too late. She had already disappeared into the crystal. The bindings around Adora’s ankles disappeared as Catra screamed.

“No, no, no!” Adora scrambled to her feet, hurrying to the crystal, but there was nothing she could do. It was too late to stop Catra. Instead she turned to Micah, Casta, and the sorceresses, and with renewed confidence, raised her hand into the air.

“For the honor of Grayskull!”

Catra vaguely heard the words through the thrum of energy in her ears, and felt a grim sense of satisfaction. At least something had gone right.

Adora swung the sword, releasing a blast of energy that knocked their enemies to the ground. The shadows disappeared, releasing everyone else.

“We need to get out of here,” she said urgently, moving to help Lyra up. Shadow Weaver was already on her feet and running away. Of course.

Glimmer straightened up, looking at the crystal, fear evident in her expression. “Catra—“

“I’ll get her. Just go.”

Bow took Lyra from Adora, helping her run out of the room with Glimmer on the other side. Adora checked to make sure the Micah, Casta, and the sorceresses were still down, then went back to the crystal. It was powering down, lowering an unconscious Catra to the ground. Adora caught her and scooped her into her arms. She looked so small and pale. It was terrifying.

Micah was starting to stir. Adora held Catra close as she ran after her friends.

“Arrogant, stupid child—“

“Stop it. Now.”

“She’s going to get us all killed with her selfishness.”

“Can you just stop? It doesn’t matter what you think now. It’s done.”

The voices bounced around in Catra’s aching head. There was a hand resting over hers; it moved when she twitched her fingers.

“Catra?” A new, soft voice spoke. Catra grimaced, forcing her eyes open, and saw Glimmer leaning over, eyes shining with worry and panic. That was weird.

“What’s up, Sparkles?” Her voice cracked, and talking hurt. Glimmer didn’t even roll her eyes at the nickname. She must have been really worried.

“How are you feeling?”

“Just great, really.” Catra pushed herself up, hand moving to her chest. “Dandy, even. I—“

She paused when she saw the glowing symbol on her chest. And the events of the night came rushing back. Oh. Right.

“Is she awake?” Adora asked anxiously, peaking around the makeshift wall they’d made with the containers. Lyra was immediately by her side, argument with Shadow Weaver forgotten and unimportant. Catra looked at them both for a moment, then dropped her gaze to her lap.

“I’m fine,” she said before anyone could ask again. She tried to push herself up, but her legs were weak; Glimmer quickly grabbed her before she could fall over, and then Bow was behind her, also holding her upright. “You can all stop acting so weird.”

Something hardened in Adora’s expression. “Great, then you won’t mind me asking — what were you thinking?”

Catra shrugged off the hands holding her up, walking passed Adora. “I was thinking about saving your dumb ass.”

“She-Ra could survive this!” Adora snapped, whirling to grab Catra’s wrist and holding her back. “You definitely will not!”

“Maybe I will!” Catra pulled her wrist out of Adora’s grip, pushing her back slightly. “You already brought me back from the dead once, did you ever consider how you managed that?”

Lyra gasped slightly, realizing that she was responsible for this as well. “If this is about what I told you—“

“Look, I’m not saying I believe in resurrection magic, or whatever,” Catra cut Lyra off. “But maybe — I mean, there’s a chance, isn’t there?”

“I don’t know.” Lyra looked stricken, and a little horrified. “That’s the problem Catra, I have no idea—“

“And even if it doesn’t work, then that’s fine, isn’t it? A nice little solution to the whole Catra problem everyone’s so worried about.”

“Stop it, that’s not—“

“You all seem to forget that I can hear you. Look, what’s the problem? Did you really want to risk your life like that?”

“Did you?” Adora challenged, stepping closer and a little into Catra’s space. “Are you trying to die? Is that so much easier than just trying to make up for your mistakes?”

No one said anything. Everyone looked from Adora to Catra. Catra looked away, her gaze landing on Shadow Weaver. She could feel the woman’s disgust coming off of her in waves.

“Look, it’s done,” Catra said stiffly, turning away from all of them. “There’s no point in yelling about it. What’s the next part of the plan? Do you guys know where the Heart is?”

She really didn’t think anyone was going to answer, so it was surprise when Glimmer spoke up. “Under the Crystal Castle.”

“That weird place with the AI that tried to kill me? Wonderful.”

“Light Hope is gone,” Adora said. “It’s safe for us to go in there.”

“Great, so what are we waiting for? Let’s go.”

“We’ve been working on a plan, actually,” Bow said. “I mean, everyone is asleep now, but we were working on it. Entrapta’s figured out a way to deactivate all the chips at once, she just needs to get it uploaded to Prime’s servers. Also, Spinnerella came back with Netossa, and Entrapta got the chip off.”

“Really? Good for them,” Catra said, her tone honest. She liked Netossa and Spinnerella. They reminded her a lot of C’yra and Lyra.

“We’re waiting for Netossa to recover. Maybe she can give us some information.”

“And you all need rest,” Lyra said, speaking for the first time since Catra had basically declared she was okay with dying. “It’s been a long day.”

Shadow Weaver scoffed. “Yes, please, take a nap while Horde Prime is—“

No one really saw what happened next. One moment Shadow Weaver was standing, the next she was being raised into the air by tendrils of magic that seemed to be choking her. Eyes turned to Lyra, who had her hand out, her gaze fixed on Shadow Weaver.

“I believe you’ve said quite enough.” Lyra spoke through gritted teeth. She clenched her fingers into a fist, and Shadow Weaver let out a strangled groan. Glimmer, Bow, and Catra all recognized what she was doing — it was the exact same spell Shadow Weaver had used to incapacitate Catra in the Fright Zone. That felt like another lifetime.

“I’ve seen your memories, remember?”

“Lyra.” Catra stepped toward her, hands up. “Put her down.”

Lyra talked a lot about how powerful C’yra was, and most tended to forget that Lyra was the one who’d grown up and studied in Mystacor. She may have been second to her wife, but she stood far above anyone else. “You’re not her. You don’t need to stoop to her level.”

Tension was thick in the air, all silent except Shadow Weaver’s continued struggles to breathe. Catra took a deep breath, then blew it out, bracing herself. “Mama?”

The simple word softened Lyra. Her expression shifted a little, and her fist unclenched as she lowered Shadow Weaver back to the ground. Lyra turned away, opening a portal and disappearing into the shadows.

“She’s right,” Glimmer said finally, turning her back on Shadow Weaver. “Let’s get some sleep. We can hear what Netossa has to say in the morning and make a plan from there.”

Catra looked at the spot where Lyra had disappeared, and for a moment she was tempted to go after her. But a sudden wave of exhaustion crashed down on her; she stumbled slightly and braced herself to hit the ground. Then Adora appeared at her side, grabbing her to hold her upright.

Glimmer and Bow waited to make sure Catra was settled back down in her sleeping bag before they left. Adora was kneeling beside Catra; she hesitated, looking at Catra, then over her shoulder, then at Catra again.

“Is it okay if I… I mean, I can go if you want, but—“

Catra sighed, lying down and rolling over. “You can stay.” The words were nearly inaudible. Adora’s sleeping bag was already nearby; she grabbed it and dragged it over to settle beside Catra.

“I wish I knew how to convince you that your life matters too,” she whispered. Catra didn’t answer. All was silent until Glimmer and Bow returned with their sleeping bags, putting them down beside Adora and getting comfortable. No one said anything. They just held their silent vigil until, one by one, they all fell asleep.

Chapter Text

"How do we want to do this?"

Adora frowned, looking at her friends, then at Catra. She was still sleeping, which was weird. The Failsafe glowed brightly on her chest. Adora had took look away again.

"You all head for the spire. Catra and I will go for the Failsafe."

"Alone?" Bow said with a frown. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"You guys have no idea what's down there," Glimmer added. "It could be dangerous, especially with Light Hope offline."

"It was dangerous with her online," Adora argued. "Whatever is down there, there's no way it's more dangerous than whatever Prime is planning up here. He still has Perfuma, Micah, and Castaspella. You need to be up here to help."

"And you think it's a good idea for you to go alone with Catra?" Shadow Weaver drawled. "We all know how she… distracts you."

Adora gritted her teeth, and suddenly wished Lyra was there to strangle Shadow Weaver again.

"Why don't you come with us, then?" Catra asked from behind Adora. "Down into unknown danger, no magic to protect you, nowhere to run if things get bad. But hey, you'll be able to watch us and make sure we stay focused." Shadow Weaver was silent. Catra scoffed. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

"Look, we'll be fine," Adora insisted. "You all need to be focused on Prime. Once we're in the castle, we'll have no way to communicate with the rest of the group, so we won't know if they need help. Catra and I can handle ourselves."

"Not that I agree with our weirdly free prisoner," Mermista said, "but you probably should have someone go with you. Safety in numbers or whatever."

"Exactly," Glimmer said, like her argument was completely won. "Besides, Entrapta has a plan for getting everyone unchipped, and it won't be nearly as bad. The others can handle it."

Adora wanted to keep arguing, but Catra gave in first. "Fine. Seems like a bad idea to split yourselves up unnecessarily, but fine."

She pushed herself up and walked out of the cave, though she stayed in view of the others. Adora suspected she was checking to see if Lyra had come back yet. Everyone else had turned their attention to talking about other plans, but Adora stood to follow Catra.

"You okay?" she asked as she approached.

"Yeah," Catra said without looking back. "I guess I thought Lyra might come back, but that's pretty stupid. I mean, she has an entire kingdom to worry about. She's not going to waste any more time on me when I'm no good to her anymore." Adora was one-hundred percent certain that was wrong, but she knew better than to argue with Catra. "I bet she was really pissed when I… you know, called her…" She waved a hand vaguely, not wanting to say Mama out loud. "I mean, I'm not her kid."

She was trying so hard to be nonchalant, but Adora could tell the entire thing was bothering her. "I don't think that's it," Adora said quietly. Catra shrugged, turning away.

"Anyway, we should get going soon."

"Yeah," Adora agreed. There would be time to talk all this out later.

She hoped.

"Forgive my intrusion, your majesty."

Lyra almost smiled as she looked away from the window to face Tao. "I've never known you to be apologetic for intruding, Tao."

The adviser swept into a bow — respectful, as always. "I've found that offering the illusion of regret can keep me in the good graces of people who may otherwise find me to be a bastard."

Now Lyra chuckled, though without much humor in the sound. "Is there something you need?"

"I simply wished to act on my position and offer you some advice, if you're willing to hear."

"It doesn't usually matter if I'm willing, does it?"

Tao smiled wryly, and finally dropped the act of formality. "You'll regret it every single day for the rest of your life if you don't see Catra again."

"I have seen her." Tao raised an eyebrow, and Lyra sighed. She had gone back to the cave after everyone was asleep and Shadow Weaver was somewhere she couldn't infuriate Lyra anymore. And she'd sat over Catra, just like she had in the first few days after they found her, watching her sleep. She looked so peaceful in sleep. Lyra desperately wished she could have made that peace permanent for her daughter.

"Imagine what C'yra would say if she knew," Tao continued, and Lyra flinched. C'yra would be furious about the outcome of all this. She would probably blame herself for Catra's fate. The idea of that was almost as painful as the idea of losing Catra completely. Again.

"All she's wanted since the day we met her is to die," Lyra said in a low voice, looking out the window again. A few people had asked about the princess. Lyra wasn't sure what to tell them. "I don't know how to help her."

"Then don't," Tao said simply. "Stop trying to help her, or to fix things, and simply listen. Sometimes, a willing ear and a shoulder to cry on is all we really need."

"What kind of mother am I if I can't make all of her problems go away?"

"A good mother. Just like all the others who try and try and try. It's not our place as parents to make the world perfect and fix everything for our children. We simply try our best, and hope it's enough. So often, it isn't."

Lyra looked at Tao, whose eyes were on the floor. He'd had a son, once. About the same age as C'yra and Lyra. He had died during the final battle between the first Princess Alliance and the Horde. Tao had fought in the war before him, and Lyra knew he regretted that it had gone on long enough for his son to take up arms in the battlefield.

"What if it's too late to do anything for her?" Lyra finally asked.

"You've tried. I believe that's worth more to our children than we'll ever know."

Lyra blew out a long breath, and nodded. "You'll hold down the fort?"

"Don't I always?"

They were so lucky to have him, Lyra thought as she turned to the shadows. She was just about to draw a portal when a resounding crack echoed through the cavern, and a sharp pain twinged in the back of her head. The barriers were coming down.

"No," Lyra said, horrified, as she turned to run out into the cavern, Tao right behind her. They found the tunnel that led back to Half Moon just in time to see C'yra step through with a mixed army of Magicats and clones.

"Hello, darling."

"We're friends of Mara."

Catra stared up at the statue as it moved, revealing the pathway before them. She was standing back a bit from the rest of the group, on the outside as always. She had never really been a part of anything, had she? Not her own squad in the Horde. Not the group of force captains. Certainly not the Princess Alliance, who had only ever tolerated her to get help from Half Moon. She wasn't even part of her own family or kingdom, not really. It was like there was something wrong with her. Something that kept her Othered.

"Catra?" Adora was looking back at her, frowning. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Catra muttered, following the rest of the group into the hallway. Adora took her hand, giving her a reassuring smile.

"No one will judge you if you're scared," Bow spoke up, clearly trying to be reassuring. Catra scoffed.

"I'm not scared. Let's just go."

Catra didn't ask, but she was sure no one else knew where they were going. They just followed the halls along, stopping at cross hallways and choosing random directions. They had no idea what was going on above them, and it made them all nervous, but no one said anything about that. They had a mission. They had to focus on it.

Lyra didn't come back. Of course she didn't really ever care about you. Who could? Catra did her best to shake the thought off. It wasn't true. Or maybe it was. Who cared? It wasn't like Catra had expected anything from the queens. She'd always known she would only disappoint them in the end. They wanted their daughter, but they got a monster. And you could never really fix a monster, could you?

"I just want to forget."

They all jumped at the voice, turning to find the source. The hallway was warping and changing around them, becoming a bedroom. Catra's heart stuttered a little when she realized it was a familiar bedroom. No…

There Catra was, on the bed, with Lyra next to her and C'yra standing off to the side. The queens looked so concerned. Catra just looked… tired. Her eyes were red, like she had been crying.

"Stop," Catra hissed, backing away from the scene. Adora wanted to turn, wanted to try and comfort Catra, but her eyes were locked on the version of her friend sitting on the bed and looking utterly defeated.

"I don't think you're really considering what this means," Lyra said, reaching to rest a hand on Catra's knee. Catra remembered this. It had only been a week since her arrival, but Lyra and C'yra had already grown so fond of her. Or maybe what they thought they could turn her into. "Erasing your memories is erasing you."

"That's exactly what I want." Catra curled in on herself, pressing her forehead into her knees. "How many more ways do I have to tell you that I am terrible and no one will miss me?"

"If this is really what you want," C'yra said, frowning faintly, "then I'm sure we can reach some kind of agreement on how to go about it."

Lyra shot C'yra a slight glare. C'yra met her gaze head-on, and Adora recognized the look of two people having a silent conversation.

The memory faded. Everyone turned to look at Catra. Her ears were down, her gaze on the floor. "What? Just keep walking."

She shoved past them to continue down the hall.

Glimmer and Bow looked at Adora, who shook her head helplessly. She didn't know what to do, or how to fix any of this. They just… needed to make sure Catra didn't get too far.

The good news was that she didn't. The bad news was that she had collapsed and doubled over on herself, hands pressed to her chest. "What's wrong?" Adora demanded, kneeling with her. Catra tried to stand, but her knees buckled.

"Nothing—"

"Catra, stop." That was Glimmer, surprisingly. She came up behind the two, putting a firm hand on Catra's shoulder. "Just tell us what's wrong."

Catra paused for a long moment, taking a couple deep breaths before she answered. "I don't know. It just hurts."

"Maybe it's the Failsafe?" Bow suggested. "We don't really know that much about it or what it does to the person who takes it."

"All the more reason to keep going and end this." Catra braced herself, then stood again, shaking off Glimmer's and Adora's helping hands.

They continued on, Adora staying close to Catra and trying to keep an eye on her. Catra had always been good at hiding any discomfort, but Adora still saw her stumble every now and again. What was the Failsafe doing to her? Why hadn't anyone thought to ask Shadow Weaver more about it? Did Catra even care that she might be dying?

No. Of course she doesn't. She's already said that.

"She was so pretty, Mommy."

The voice was unmistakably familiar to Adora. Catra's voice. She was young — six, maybe? — her tone full of wonder that Adora had never heard before.

"Really?" Lyra's voice responded. "What did she look like?"

"She had blonde hair and really blue eyes, and I really felt safe with her."

Glimmer and Bow looked at Adora, who was staring at the ceiling. This must have been where the queens' had split Catra's memory. In this version of the story, Catra had gone home to Half Moon to tell her parents all about the little Horde girl who had saved her. It wasn't real, but it had been real to Catra when Lyra had given her the memory.

Catra snarled, clamping her hands over her ears. "Shut up!"

She broke into a run, catch all of them by surprise. "Catra!" Adora yelled after her, sprinting to try and catch up. Catra had always been a better runner than anyone, including Adora. She'd regularly won the races they had during training, until one day Shadow Weaver pulled her aside. Adora had started winning after that.

Her legs were longer now, but the result was very much the same — Catra pulled ahead easily, ran around a corner… and she was gone when Adora got there.

"No no no no no," Adora whispered, looking around wildly, before raising her voice. "Catra!"

"How did we already lose her?!" Glimmer demanded as she and Bow came up behind Adora. "She was out of sight for ten seconds!"

There was an ominous rumble from up above, and the tunnel started shaking. "What's going on up there?" Bow tried to use his tracker pad, but it wasn't working, of course. "What do we do? Finding Catra around here is going to be impossible."

Adora looked around, trying to stamp down on her panic. They needed to end this. She needed to find Catra. She couldn't do anything. She was useless. Everyone was going to die and it was going to be all her fault—

"You guys go." Her voice was surprisingly steady. Bow and Glimmer looked at her in surprise. "We can't split up down here because it'll be more likely we'll all get lost, and there's no reason for all three of us to be running around. Help the princesses. I'll find Catra."

"We can't just leave you," Glimmer protested.

"You don't have to do this alone," Bow tried to add, but Adora shook her head.

"I think… I think maybe I do."

You and me, together at the end of the world. It felt like a prophecy they had whispered under the covers in Adora's bed as they made their plans to one day take over the Horde. You look out for me, and I look out for you. Adora had promised, hadn't she? She wasn't going to let Catra down now when it was most important.

She forced a smile for Glimmer and Bow. "It'll be okay. I'll find her, and… and we'll end this. But the other princesses need help now." That was emphasized by the tunnel shaking again. "I know this isn't what we planned, but our plans never work anyway, right?"

That got her small smiles in response. "Yeah." Glimmer moved forward to wrap Adora in a hug. Bow was right behind her. "Be safe."

Adora held them close, closing her eyes so she wouldn't have to look at them as she lied. "I will. Good luck."

"We don't need luck," Bow said optimistically. "We're the Best Friend Squad."

Adora laughed. She couldn't agree — she was pretty sure they needed all the luck they could get — but it was impossible to argue with Bow. "I love you guys."

"We love you too." Glimmer and Bow were both wiping their eyes as they stepped back. They didn't want to leave. It was obvious just from looking at them. Splitting up was never good. But they were out of options.

There were no goodbyes exchanged. They didn't need them. Adora just watched as her best friends disappeared in a shower of sparkles. Then she turned away, looking down the dark hallway.

"I'm coming, Catra."

Catra wasn't sure how long she ran before her tired legs finally gave out, and she tumbled to the ground. Her entire body hurt like she had just done a particularly brutal workout instead of running just a couple miles. She'd never admit just how much pain she was in, even under threat of death — and she was pretty sure this was death. She curled in on herself.

And she laughed.

What had she even been thinking? She wasn't a hero. There was no one good thing she could do that would ever erase her sins or make her a better person. All she had done was doom the entire world because she thought she could be different. Stop Horde Prime. Save the world. Save Adora. She was such an idiot.

"Catra."

The voice had her bolting upright, eyes wide. There was Adora, She-Ra, looking down at her, arms crossed.

"Hey Ad—"

"Save it." She sounded harsh in a way she never had — not even when they had been on opposite sides of the war. "I don't know why I ever believed you could change. You'll always be useless."

The words were like a punch to the stomach. Catra tried not to let that show, covering her heartbreak with a scowl. "Well sorry we can't all be perfect like you."

Adora scoffed. "You're always trying to dodge blame, aren't you? It's not my fault you tried to play the hero. Did it feel good, thinking for a minute that maybe you could be the person who saved the world rather than destroyed it?"

"Shut up," Catra growled. Each word felt like it was weighing on her, weighing her down. Threatening to drown her.

"You can never do anything right, no matter how hard you try. Why do you even bother? You're just a pathetic—"

"Shut up!"

Catra rushed up in a surge of adrenalin, fingers curled into tight fists. She swung—

And fell right through Adora, hitting the ground once more. A hologram. It was just a hologram. An Adora-shaped hologram spitting out all the thoughts that Catra had tried so hard to bury.

"You really will never change, will you?"

Catra stared at the hologram's back, trying to ignore the tears welling in her eyes. No, she wouldn't. Wasn't that why she had done this? She couldn't change, but maybe she could do one good thing before she died. Just one. Was that too much to ask?

The air seemed to shift just slightly. Catra perked up, ears swiveling, as she tried to find the source of the change. Reflexes were the only thing that saved her as a sharp tentacle stabbed through the hologram and went through the part of the floor she had jumped away from mere seconds before. The hologram disappeared, and Catra found herself staring down a large bug. She barely noticed the floor glowing green underneath her.

Was this how she was going to die then? Not at the metaphorical hands of the Failsafe as it zapped away the last of her energy, but speared through by one the Crystal Castle's security bugs? She didn't even have the strength to keep moving — that one jump had left her breathless. What was going to get to her first?

The bug swung another tentacle, and she managed to duck out of the way, finding a piece of debris to hide behind while she caught her breath. She'd never gotten to say goodbye to C'yra or Lyra. To thank them for at least trying to fix her. For all the time they had put into her. They deserved so much more, but that was all she could give them. She hoped the Rebellion had at least managed to free everyone. She hoped the queens saw each other again before they all died.

She was never going to figure out what weird thing was going on between her and Glimmer. Were they friends? Was that even possible? Was there some possible future where the queen didn't hate her? Not that Catra cared — she definitely didn't, even if she had felt and enjoyed that sense of camaraderie before she got her memories back — but she'd wanted to at least solve the mystery.

She was never going to see Adora again. That perhaps hurt most of all.

The piece of debris she was leaning against was swept away by the bug, which now loomed over her threateningly. Catra closed her eyes, waiting for the final blow…

There was a rush of wind, and then a loud clatter of metal against metal. Catra dared to open one eye. And there was Adora, standing over her, shield on her arm as she held off the attack. She looked over her shoulder and somehow managed to give Catra that god damn goofy smile, like she'd just saved her in a training sim.

"Hey Catra."

"Adora?" Catra's voice was high-pitched and maybe a little stressed. "What are you doing here?"

"Saving you, what does it look like?" She braced her arm and shoved the monster back with a yell before turning to grab Catra, scooping her into her arms. "Are you okay?"

"Don't turn your back on it, idiot!"

Adora looked back, then ducked to avoid another swing. She held Catra a little tighter as she started running across the room. Every action was a stark contrast to what hologram Adora had said.

"Why are you even here?" Catra demanded, trying to look over Adora's shoulder at the bug thrashing behind them.

"You didn't seriously think I was going to just leave, did you?" Adora asked in disbelief. She even sounded a little hurt, as if Catra believing that upset her.

"I'm sure the Failsafe would work if you just let that thing kill me and bring my body—"

"I don't care about the Failsafe!"

A tentacle wrapped around Adora's ankle and pulled. She let out a surprised shout as she tumbled to the ground, rolling to keep from squishing Catra.

"This isn't—" Adora hissed as she stood and put weight on her bad ankle. "This isn't about the Failsafe, or saving Etheria. It's about you."

The words Adora whispered the night before (was it only just last night?) came back to Catra. “I wish I knew how to convince you that your life matters too.”

It quickly became apparent as they ran that Adora wasn't healing. Her boot had ripped, and vicious green lines had cut into her pale skin. It was slowing Adora down. "Put me down," Catra ordered as they barely missed being hit again. "I can fight."

"We don't need to fight, we just need to escape."

"And we're not going to do that if we keep going like this! Just listen to me for once!"

Adora finally stopped, letting Catra wiggle out of her arms. It was becoming increasingly harder to hold up her own weight, but they just had to survive long enough to get out of here. "Distract it for a second," Catra ordered. Adora hesitated, but nodded and jumped in to fight the thing one on one. "And be careful," Catra added in a whisper before turning to scan the area around her. A shadow! Perfect.

Calling on the magic was so much harder than it should have been, but Catra didn't have the space in her mind to be concerned about it in that moment. Strands of darkness began streaming out of every corner, and with a grunt of effort, Catra swung them all at the bug. They wove around the monster, pinning its tentacles to its body and leaving it to roar as it tried and failed to keep fighting. Adora looked back at Catra, her eyes wide and glowing with a sense of wonder.

"That was amazing," she said as she hobbled back to where Catra was barely staying on her feet. "This princess thing is really working out for you, huh?"

"Oh shut up—"

The next few seconds happened in slow motion and way too fast all at once.

One of the tentacles broke free as the monster roared, barreling right toward them.

Adora's reflexes were faster; she was the first to turn, see this happening, and react.

And the tentacle cut a deep, jagged line through her side, because of course her instinct was to protect Catra.

"Adora!"

A shadowy blade swung up, slicing through the tentacle. Adora dropped to her knees with a pain groan, clutching at her side. Catra watched in horror as She-Ra flickered away, but the wounds remained.

"Come on." Catra grabbed Adora and hauled her off the ground. They both staggered, holding onto each other for support. "Okay. We can do this." The monster behind them was still restrained, and didn't seem like it was escaping any time soon. They started limping toward the nearby hall entrance together, each holding the other up.

The illusions were getting worse as they went.

An image of Adora and Catra as children ran by, crossing paths with a young Catra running alone, wearing traditional Magicat garb. They heard Catra narrating every terrible deed of her life to C'yra and Lyra over giggling and claims of, "Mama and Mommy love you so much, kitten."

It was almost a relief to reach the end of the passage. They stopped dead, looking up at the colorful, shining Heart above them.

"Whoa," Catra whispered. She was leaning hard on Adora now, and Adora was leaning on her. They were probably a real sight to behold. Adora took the initiative to move them forward, into the chamber.

"What now?" she asked, looking around. Catra held herself as upright as possible, hand pressed to her chest.

"Magic weirdness is your area of expertise—"

White hot pain burned through Catra's chest. She made a choked noise as she collapsed forward, too fast for Adora to stop her from hitting the ground.

"No! Catra!" Adora dropped to her knees, trying to help Catra sit up, but it was obvious that her strength was wavering as well. Catra forced one eye open to look at her, then passed her, up at the light above. It was turning a sickly green. Just like the wounds on Adora's skin.

Adora looked over her shoulder at the Heart, then back at Catra. Her breathing was labored, eyes glassy. "Catra?" She pressed a shaking hand to Catra's cheek. Deep down, Adora knew something was very, very wrong with her as well. But that paled in comparison to the thought of Catra dying in her arms.

"I'm sorry," Catra whispered, eyes fluttering shut.

"No," Adora gasped, holding her tighter. "Catra. Please."

No answer. Tears filled Adora's eyes as she leaned over to rest her forehead against Catra's. And consciousness slowly left her as well.

"Let's goooooooooooo slowpokes!" Glimmer sang as she appeared in the bedroom, clapping her hands together. She was dressed and ready to go. "Stop kissing and finish getting dressed!"

"Have you ever heard of knocking?" Catra groused at Glimmer, grabbing her shirt to pull it on. If they'd had any shame, it might have been embarrassing that Glimmer routinely popped in while they were in various states of undress. Adora was shaking her head and smiling as she went to finish dressing. Right on cue, someone knocked on the door.

"Come on Glimmer, I told you not to just teleport in there," Bow called, sounding amused. Glimmer opened the door to let him in, smiling innocently.

"I was just going to offer to brush Catra's hair—"

"Get out," Catra said seriously. Glimmer laughed, wrapping both of her arms around one of Bow's as they left. Catra finished dressing, checking herself in the mirror. She took a moment to make sure the winged badge on her shirt was secure. Adora sauntered up behind her, smiling.

"First princess prom for real," Adora teased, nudging Catra's shoulder. "Are you excited?"

"Thrilled," Catra drawled, rolling her eyes. "You know, Lyra included a fight about not going to Princess Prom in my memories. I guess it was too unbelievable that I wouldn't argue about being invited but not being allowed to go."

"She really did know you even back then." Adora laughed. "You ready to go?"

She offered her hand. Catra looked at her, smiled, and reached to take it…

And her hand went right through Adora's.

They stared at each other in shock as the room splintered around them, then shattered like glass. The floor disappeared, and they were falling. Adora did her best to orient herself in the darkness. Catra had somehow fallen ahead of her and lost consciousness. And Adora knew if she didn't catch her, that it would be the end of everything.

"Catra!"

Adora swung her arms through the air like she was swimming, trying desperately to reach Catra. Her arms were limp, hanging uselessly above her head as Adora stretch her arm out to grab her. Closer… Just a little closer…

There! Adora grabbed her hand and pulled her closer, arms wrapping around her. "Come on, Catra," she whispered, not even sure her voice would be audible. But it didn't feel like there was any rushing past them. "Wake up. This isn't the end yet. You have to wake up."

Catra didn't respond. Didn't even twitch. Adora held her tight. "Please," she begged, voice choked with tears. "Wake up, Catra. I need you."

She was about to start crying and begging again when Catra's ears twitched, and her eyes slowly fluttered open. She looked lost, confused, as she focused on Adora. "Hi," Adora said with a small laugh.

"Hey, Adora." Catra's words were barely more than a breath. "What do you need?"

You. Just you. "I know you're tired but we have to finish this," Adora said, resting her forehead against Catra's. "Together."

Catra searched her gaze, her expression unreadable. "I never expected to see the end of the war." Her voice was small and so, so scared. "I don't know what to do."

"Me neither," Adora said, smiling even as tears filled her eyes. "But we can do it together. I look out for you, you look out for me, right?"

Was it getting lighter? Adora thought she could see it in the peripheral, but her entire focus was on Catra — the only thing that mattered in that moment. "Promise?" Catra finally asked.

"I promise," Adora said, nodding furiously.

Catra looked stunned, but something in her finally relaxed. She buried her face in Adora's neck, whispering almost inaudibly, "I love you."

And then they were back. Back in the real world, on the floor of the chamber the Heart was in. But they hadn't fallen here. They had just… appeared. Adora took a few seconds to take in the scene around her before carefully patting Catra's hair back, trying to get her attention.

"You love me?" She wasn't entire sure she had heard that right. Catra loved her? Really, really loved her? Was that even possible?

Catra pulled back to meet Adora's gaze. The Failsafe shone between them, mingling with the magic in the air. And then, Catra laughed. "You're such an idiot."

The words were fond, and Adora couldn't help the little laugh she huffed out as well. Her hand moved to rest on Catra's cheek.

"I love you too."

They stared at each other, shock and awe intermingling in their expressions, before Adora leaned in to press her lips against Catra's.

The Failsafe glowed between them, but they didn't notice. The world had narrowed down to just the two of them. Together at the end of the world.

Or maybe at the beginning.

It was over.

Catra wasn't really sure what Adora had done — they had left the Crystal Castle together and she had immediately thrown herself into battle — but it was over, finally. The princesses were milling about, talking and laughing and celebrating. Catra wandered toward them, hoping Adora would be there, but she seemed absent among her friends.

A buzz of magic hit Catra's ears; she turned just in time to see Lyra and C'yra stumbling through a portal, looking around in a panic. C'yra found her first.

"Catra!"

And then Catra was squished between the queens, sandwiched in a hug that might never end. "I'm so sorry," Lyra spoke into Catra's hair, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "I didn't mean to leave like that. I tried to come back, but Prime attacked."

"Are you okay?" C'yra demanded as she tried to hug Catra and check her for wounds at the same time. "No one's seen you since the Fright Zone. I thought…"

Her voice drifted off into a small sob. Oh. Right. The Hivemind saw everything. "I'm okay," Catra assured them both. "Really."

Adora watched the group from afar, smiling as She-Ra melted away, and she was herself again. She watched her friends cheer and hug and celebrate, then turned away to look out at the world before her. It seemed like Etheria had transformed — the sky was light in a way never had been before. Creatures roamed through the woods and flew through the skies. Plants had grown everywhere, including over the spires and extending up to wrap around Prime's ship. The thing that had been symbol of fear for so long was a symbol of peace now. Hope.

"Adora?"

It was a strange emotion, Adora thought as she turned to look at Catra. She had always kept up the charade of being confident and saying they would beat the Horde and end the war. She'd thought that was what hope was.

But it paled in comparison to what she felt now as she reached out, and Catra took her hand, letting herself be pulled along. This was hope. It was Catra in her arms, alive and whole and ready to look at a future. A future for them, where they could finally be together without fear of reprimand or worse. They didn't have to be enemies anymore.

"What now?" Catra asked.

"Whatever we want, I think."

That wasn't entirely accurate. There were still kingdoms to rebuild, and a world to fix, and people who needed them. But finally, for the first time in both their lives, the shadow hanging over them was gone. They could be happy.

They could be free.

Chapter Text

Adora didn't know where she was when she opened her eyes.

Her memories of the night before were vague. A quick party had been organized in the wake of Horde Prime's defeat, and for awhile she'd forced herself to keep up for fear of disappointing everyone else. But Catra's energy had quickly waned, and it was only when she abruptly sat on the ground, pulling Adora with her, that Adora realized how exhausted she was as well. They had both almost died. It was tiring.

Lyra had suggested they stay in Half Moon for the night, since the palace had been left relatively untouched, and it was out of the way enough that no one would bother them.

And that was where Adora was now, she realized as her lagging brain caught up. She was still tired, but she didn't close her eyes again. Instead, she focused on Catra, who was wrapped around her, clinging tight, rumbling a little in her sleep. It was enough to comfort Adora back into unconsciousness.

She woke again some undetermined amount of time later. There was no indication of if it was day or night, no way of knowing how much time had passed, but she was vaguely aware of someone else in the room. She lifted her head to see Lyra sitting in an armchair in the corner, doing something with string. She had seen Castaspella knit a few times, but this looked different.

"What's that?" she asked curiously. Lyra looked up, surprised, then smiled.

"Crocheting. It's something to pass the time when I'm anxious." She set her work aside and stood, walking to the bed and sitting on the edge of it. "How are you feeling?"

Adora blinked a few times, looking at Lyra, then at Catra. "Better," she said after a moment. "How long have we been sleeping?"

"Going on about two days now for you," Lyra said. "Catra woke up a little yesterday to eat something and went back to bed after a couple hours. I think it's most I've ever seen her sleep."

Two days. Adora dropped her head on the pillow, looking at the ceiling. There was a skylight in it, showing stars through the glass.

“I had a skylight in my room so I could see the stars every night before I went to bed. When I was little, I used to reach up…” She extended her arm as she spoke, reaching for the sky. “And try to grab the stars. Sometimes Mama would cast a small light spell for me to catch, and I thought I really had a star.” She laughed, arm dropping back to her side. “I was such a stupid kid.”

"Catra told me a little bit about the childhood you gave her," Adora said, looking at Lyra again. "It sounded really nice."

Lyra smile sadly. "It's the childhood I wish we could have given her for real. I tried to base it on what little she let us learn about her. It wasn't much, but I wanted her to be happy."

"Why did you let her remember me?"

It was a question that had been burning in Adora for so long. Being kidnapped had been a pretty big event for Catra's imaginary life (and her real one), so Adora understood keeping that. But why her?

"Do you remember when C'yra said that Catra told us about you?" Adora flinched, and nodded. "I know she made it sound bad, but really, most of what Catra told us was… very sweet. She talked most about your childhood, and how important you were to her, and I knew I couldn't take that away completely. You were too enmeshed in her life. I didn't want to take it away."

"You never really wanted to do this at all, did you?" Adora asked quietly. Lyra nodded slowly.

"I won't say I was completely unwilling, but I wish she would have tried something else first. Anything else, really. Maybe it would have made less of a mess in the long run."

"I'm sorry."

They jumped and turned to see Catra stirring, eyes blinking open. She still looked half asleep. "You've nothing to be sorry for, sweetie," Lyra assured her, brushing her fingers through Catra's hair. "I'm responsible for my own choices."

"But—"

"No buts." Lyra's voice was firm, but kind. "Go back to sleep."

"Nah, I'm awake." Catra sat up, yawning. "Hard to sleep when some idiot keeps snoring."

"I do not snore," Adora protested, pouting.

"You could drown out the machinery in the cadet dorms."

Adora grabbed her pillow and threw it Catra, who easily dodged it and jumped at Adora to tackle her. Somewhere in the midst of this, Lyra stood and walked out, chuckling.

"Okay, okay!" Adora yelled from beneath the pillow that Catra was using to smother her. "You win!"

Catra removed the pillow, but Adora saw the light in her eyes had dimmed slightly. "What's wrong?" she asked, half sitting up. She wound her arm around Catra's back to brace her.

"Nothing," Catra said, looking away. Adora waited in silence for her to figure out if she wanted to open up or not. "Is it okay that I'm here?" she finally asked.

"In Half Moon? Probably. The queens seem like they want you around."

"No, like… alive."

Oh. Adora's heart did a funny little flop in her chest as she held Catra a little tighter. "Yeah," she said quietly. "It's okay."

"I don't know how to fix anything. What am I even going to do?" Her voice was so small. She sounded lost. It hurt.

"I don't know," Adora admitted. "But we'll figure something out."

"You can't keep trying to solve all of my problems, Adora." Catra didn't sound annoyed. Just tired. "Some things I gotta do on my own."

Maybe. That didn't mean Adora had to like it. She held Catra a little tighter, pressing her face into the top of Catra's head. They could hide here for just a little longer. That was okay.

Glimmer was in her room, trying to relax after a long day of meetings, when she saw the shadows open up and Catra stepping through. "Wow, that's really annoying to be on the other side of," she said conversationally. "No wonder people keep telling me to stop."

"I'm glad I could help you with this epiphany," Catra said, rolling her eyes. "You got a minute?"

"Sure, what's up?"

Catra didn't speak for long enough that Glimmer was starting to wonder if she was having some weird dream. But then the Magicat turned away so her back was to Glimmer and curled in on herself. "I know none of this really changes anything, and if you still want to punish me for everything I did with the Horde, I wouldn't blame you. And I'm sure Adora would get over it eventually."

Glimmer highly doubted that. She stood, walking across the room to Catra and then sat so they were back to back. "When my mom died," she started slowly, "I was so angry. I think I cried once or twice, but I kind of skipped that whole mourning thing and just went straight to being pissed off all the time. It was like there was this constant fire, and nothing could make it better. What's worse is that sometimes the fire would escape and hurt my friends, and I couldn't stop it. Everything felt so out of control. And then I helped Light Hope activate the Heart, and I realized how much I had messed up. I wanted to win the war so bad that I almost destroyed everything in the process. And then I realized something."

"What's that?"

"I was exactly like you." Catra straightened up a little, surprised, and turned to look over her shoulder. Glimmer peeked back and met her gaze, smiling sadly. "You were angry at the entire world and lashing out and trying to win no matter what. I didn't understand why Scorpia or Adora were so protective of you until Adora and Bow forgave me for hurting them the way I did. I didn't deserve it, but that wasn't my choice to make. I still don't agree with the things you did, and I think you made a lot of terrible choices and hurt a lot of people, but I get it now.

"So, I forgive you." Catra blinked a few times. She hadn't been expecting that. "I don't want to spend the rest of my life angry like that. And I think… I think if my mother could've met you, she would've seen the same thing I finally saw. And I don't think she would have wanted to punish you. I can't speak for anyone else, of course, but I don't have any intentions of pushing for a trial or any of that. You gotta promise me something, though."

"Oh yeah?" Catra asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Promise me you're going to live and try to fix your mistakes and have a good life." Glimmer smirked a bit. "Think you can do that, Horde Scum?"

Catra laughed despite herself. And if there were tears in her eyes, well, nobody but Glimmer would ever know. "Yeah, Sparkles. I think I can do that."

In the end, nobody really pushed for Catra to be punished for her crimes. Hordak, who had apparently been captured and brainwashed by Horde Prime, was now being dragged along by Entrapta everywhere she went, and if they were going to let him walk free, then they really had no leg to stand on with Catra.

"I still think we should do something with him," Mermista said, jerking her head at Hordak across the table. It was really weird to have him sitting in on meetings, but at least he didn't seem to pay much attention.

"What about Beast Island?" Bow suggested. Catra laughed, not even bothering to try and hide it.

"Ruthless, Arrow Boy. I didn't know you had it in you."

"No, seriously. That place is full of old technology that can probably be salvaged. I don't think we're ever going to make it habitable or anything, but we can at least make it safe enough for Hordak and a few salvagers to go there and catalog things."

"I'll go too!" Entrapta said brightly. "I'd already started excavating on my own when you all came to get me. Plus I know how to get around the island."

"I won't go," Micah said nervously. "If it's all the same to everyone."

"Yeaaaaaah, you don't have to go anywhere near Beast Island," Glimmer assured her father. "Entrapta, if you really want to—"

"Yes!"

"Then Bow's probably right. This sounds like a project worth pursuing."

"I still think it's funnier to assume he just wants to send Hordak to die," Catra muttered to Adora, who snorted.

"It's Bow. He's not like that."

"Which is why it's funny."

Glimmer dismissed the meeting, allowing everyone to go their separate ways. Adora and Catra slipped out of the room together, walking aimlessly down the hall. It was weird not having anywhere to be.

"Have you decided what you're going to do yet?" Adora asked. "You know, about the whole princess thing?"

"No." Catra's shoulders dropped as she sighed. "I don't want to be a princess, and I think C'yra and Lyra would understand if I backed out, but…"

"But?" Adora prompted when Catra didn't continue the train of thought.

"I don't know. It's stupid."

"It's not," Adora assured her. Catra sighed, running her fingers through her short hair.

"I still have those memories of being the princess everyone loved. And that wasn't fabricated, the Magicats in Half Moon really do genuinely like me. And that feeling was… I don't know, not something I've ever felt before."

"You were really proud to be a princess and stand up for your kingdom," Adora said.

"I know. How pathetic is that?"

"I think it was kind of sweet, actually. You never cared that much about the Horde, even when we were planning to take it over together. And I understand why, don't get me wrong. But seeing you that genuinely passionate about something was so different, and I think it really suited you."

"That's not who I really am, though."

"I think it kind of is. We weren't allowed to care about anything in the Horde, but if you had really been raised by your moms, I think that's exactly how you would have turned out."

Catra stopped walking, staring out the window at the castle grounds. "This is stupid." She ground the heels of her palms into her eyes, groaning. "I can't believe I'm even considering it."

"Considering being a princess?" Adora elbowed her a little, smiling. "You'd be in great company."

"Shut up!" Catra shoved her away without any actual force. "You're not helping."

"It's okay to admit that you like it, you know. The world isn't going to end if—"

Catra tackled her, and they wrestled for a moment, laughing. It quickly turned into more of an embrace, though, as Catra rested her head on Adora's chest, arms slipping around her waist, and Adora held her loosely.

"I'd have to stay in Half Moon," Catra murmured after a moment.

"Then I guess I'd just have to come with you." Catra pulled back to look at Adora in surprise. Adora shrugged. "I'm technically not a princess of any kingdom, and now that the war's over, I'm pretty sure I can live wherever I want."

"You'd really be okay with that?"

"Of course. Besides, it's not like we'd never be able to see anyone ever again. Glimmer can come get us. Or you can bring us to Bright Moon. You might have more princess duties that keep you in Half Moon, but it's not goodbye or anything."

The thought filled Catra with warmth. For the first time, Adora was willing to follow her somewhere instead of the other way around.

"I love you." Adora blinked, looking down at Catra. They hadn't said the words again since that moment in the chamber. Catra had been nervous about it. "You don't have to say it back or anything. I mean, I know we said it before, but that was… we thought we were going to die, didn't we? So maybe it doesn't count. But I meant it. And I just wanted you to know. And—"

Adora cut her off by gently taking her chin, tilting it up, and pressing a slow, uncertain kiss to her lips. "I love you too," she murmured, eyes sparkling like a child who'd just found candy for the first time. "Of course I meant it. Dummy."

Catra laughed, then kissed her again. "Get a room," Mermista said as she walked by. Frosta was right behind her making fake gagging noises.

Everything was still so new and tender. It was fun, in someways. Catra felt free in a way she never had before, not even without the burden of her memories. She and Adora could sleep late, and then spend a little longer lazing about in bed, cuddling and enjoying the warmth generated under their shared blankets.

But it was also terrifying. It felt so fragile. And Catra had never been good with fragile things. They always seemed to break in her hands.

"Have you considered therapy?" Lyra asked gently, drawing Catra out of her reverie. She was trying to eat dinner with her mothers, but really, she felt too sick to try and take a bite of anything.

"What's that?" she asked, frowning.

"It's like going to a medic or a healer," C'yra explained. "But instead of physical injuries, they treat mental trauma."

Catra's frown deepened. "Mental trauma? Do you think I'm crazy?"

"Not at all." C'yra's tone was even, her response smooth. "But you've been hurt in ways that have had a deep affect on you, and talking about it can help."

"I don't need to talk," Catra said with a scoff. "I'm fine."

She knew the queens were exchanging looks, even if she wasn't looking at them. They'd heard the argument that morning. The entire kingdom probably had.

Catra wanted to say it wouldn't have been as bad if she hadn't been plagued by nightmares the night before and already agitated when she woke up. But she'd never know for sure. Adora was gone, staying in Salineas for a few days, and she was supposed to be home tonight. But she'd called while Catra had still been settling and said she was extending the trip a bit longer, and things had gone down hill from there.

"Just say you're staying there because you don't want to deal with me, I get it."

"That's not what I'm saying! Stop putting words in my mouth!"

"Well I can't imagine why else you'd want to stay in Salineas for over a week."

"I'm trying to help repair the city. You know, the one you destroyed."

A very long silence had followed, and Adora obviously felt bad about what she'd said, but Catra had just hung up and thrown the trackerpad at the wall.

"I don't need therapy," she said through gritted teeth as she forced herself to take a bite of food. "I'm fine."

"You don't need to be fine, though," Lyra said. "You can ask for help. No one is going to think any less of you for it."

"Yeah, sure." That was a joke. Besides, wasn't Catra the villain in everyone's stories? Villains didn't need therapy. Preferably, they needed to die in a hole where they could never hurt anyone again. But a perfectly good opportunity for that had already passed, and no one had let it happen.

Adora was sitting on the bed, waiting for Catra when she walked into the bedroom. She immediately stood up, then hesitated, hand half outstretched. Catra ignored her, going to the wardrobe to change.

"Thought you were staying in Salineas."

"Glimmer said I could come home," Adora said quietly. "Actually she kind of forced me to."

"Is it really home if someone needs to twist your arm to get you here?"

"That's not…" Adora huffed. Catra could just imagine the look on her face, the way her eyebrows pinched together in frustration. "I didn't think you'd want me here. Glimmer convinced me I was being an idiot."

"Wow, so you can be taught."

"Catra. Please. I'm trying."

"Trying to what?" Catra finally turned to look at her.

"To apologize! I know what I said was cruel, and I shouldn't have said it."

"It's true, though, isn't it? I wrecked Salineas. You're fixing my mistakes. Balance has been restored."

"Stop doing that," Adora said, face softening a little.

"Doing what?"

"That… That thing you do where you just write everything off by calling yourself a horrible person." Strangely perceptive for Adora. "I shouldn't have said what I said. I'm sorry."

And just like that, the fight drained out of Catra. She didn't want to be angry. She was too tired for that. "I'm sorry too," she said, shoulders sagging. "It was a bad morning, and I just… I got mad."

Adora held out her arms in an offer, and Catra immediately crossed the room to hug her tight. "C'yra and Lyra think I should try therapy," she muttered into Adora's shoulder. Adora chuckled weakly.

"Weird. Glimmer and Bow said the same thing to me today."

"Oh, well if Sparkles and Arrow Boy are recommending it, then definitely sign me up."

They'd figure things out. It might take awhile, and some therapy, but they would get there. And they would be happy. They just needed time.

One Year Later

"Wow, being a princess is such a good look for you."

"Get out," Catra snarled, taking a half-hearted swipe at Glimmer. She was laughing as she disappeared. Adora smiled, taking Catra's hand.

"You really do look good."

"I feel like an idiot."

The ceremonial robes for bonding with the Tiger's Eye were way over the top, in Catra's opinion, but no one had asked her. Tao had just handed her the black silk robes with golden trim and patterns sown into it, smiled, bowed, and stepped out of the room before Catra could recover enough to ask questions.

"I had to wear them as well," C'yra assured Catra as she helped her get ready. "It's not as bad as you think."

And weirdly, it wasn't. The robes had looked simply too big when Tao had handed them to Catra, but now it seemed like they fit her body perfectly, while still being loose enough to breathe and move. That was definitely one good thing that had come out of all this — finding people who understood what kind of clothing she really needed to feel comfortable.

Oh, and finding her mothers. That had been pretty good as well.

"You look beautiful," Lyra said fondly, holding her daughter at arm's length to look her over before she kissed Catra's forehead and cupped her face. "Are you ready?"

Catra peeked past her, out into the courtyard, where the entire kingdom was waiting to watch her touch a stone. "No?" she guessed weakly. Lyra laughed, thankfully.

"If you're really not, then we can call it off."

Catra knew that answer was coming, but it still surprised her. She was used to being told to suck it up and do things anyway. But this was different. She was different. And Lyra wasn't Shadow Weaver.

"I'm ready." Her voice was a little stronger. Lyra gave her one more small kiss before turning and sweeping out to join C'yra in the courtyard. Catra looked nervously at Adora.

"Stay?"

"Nowhere else I'd rather be," Adora assured her. Catra took a deep breath, looking forward again. And she stepped outside, Adora's hand still clutched tightly in her own.