#I think catra is getting closer to what i mean. just to give an idea

[always-a-slut-4-ghouls]

I'm not an anime style catgirl but I'm also not a furry. I am a secret third thing (catgirl but change more of the body than usual)

[alicejeangreenlane]

What are your personal thoughts on Peekablue in your rewrite? Is Peekablue still a woman like the original or a trans man like in the reboot?

First up, Thank you for your question. hopefuly this post will awnser it but I did ramble a bit. By a bit i mean a lot.

Now about Peekablue. Well, since you ask. 

(sorry for the info dump I am about to subject to too) 

They are (drum roll) non-binary and use they/them pronouns.  

My fan comic is primarily based on the original she-ra animated show with some elements taken from other adaptations of the story. But I didn't take much from the new series because I don't like it.  The main thing I took from the 2018 show was the sibling rivalry between Catra and Adora. To be honest, the decision to make Peekablue a trans man confuses me because the creator said the reason they made him a man is because the og character has male peacock feathers. But wouldn't that make them a trans woman? Like a woman with male characteristics, wouldn’t making them a trans woman or intersex be more logical? Maybe that’s just me. Originally, I was going to have Peekablue be a trans woman but I changed my mind when I chose to make them a spiritual leader and learned more about Balka.   

Peekablue is loosely based on Bakla from the Philippines who were AMAB people who adopted a feminine gender expression, in pre-colonial times they were considered spiritual leaders. I suggest you do your own research into them because Peekablue is not an accurate representation of them as Peekablue is inspired by multiple southeast asian religions and queer expressions. 

Peekablue is part of a alien race on a alien planet they are not ment to be a one to one parallel to earth. Every one dose have a parallel to a real country but they are not from that country.

IMPORTANT: If you are Southeast Asian, and find my depiction here inaccurate or offensive please let me know and I will change it. 

Peekablue was AMAB (which is why they have male features like their tail) but preferred a more feminine gender expression but sees themself as neither so they use they, them pronouns. They are a spiritual leader who was granted the ability to see into the past and future (using their peacock tail, They have a peacock tail because they are from a race of bird people.) by their goddess who they are closer too, because of  their feminine presentation, feminine mannerisms and their strong empathy making it so they are able to connect more with the goddess.  

They are extremely kind and patient but are afraid of their own shadow. They believe in the rebellion but are too afraid to fight so they help from the side lines. Because they are a spiritual leader, people come to them for advice both spiritual and personal. Peekablue always helps them no matter how big the problem is.  The people who Peekablue is the most empathetic towards are younger queer people who are still figuring themselves out as Peekablue know what it’s like to be in their shoes.   

They play a big role in the story. They are the first person to show kindness to Despara (because they have seen Adora's past) and using their powers they  show Despara her past (by holding hands with a person they can share their powers) and tell Despara the name their parents gave them. They also show Adora the harm the horde is doing to the people of etheria. Peekablue act of kindness and trust in Despara/Adora is what finally gets Despara to leave the horde putting her on the path to becoming She-ra. 

Here is the first design I have for Peekablue it will probably change a lot. I am thinking of basing them on a white and blue peacock and giving them vitiligo.  I also think their design is too simular to Shadow weaver.

If you have any ideas for their design, please tell me (if you want to do art of how you would interpret this version of the character please send them to me), I would love to hear/see them. Likewise, if you have any ideas for their character, please let me know especially if you are Southeast Asian or non-binary as I am neither.

[sircarebearalot]

there is no bad variation of the 'let's get together to trick everyone for shits and giggles' (queer edition bc straight fake dating has had it's glory already, and i don't even mean fake dating for a reason other than to dupe people, i literally mean shits and giggles)

like at least not any that I can think of i mean

there's the ansgty pining edition: where A pitches the idea to B in a wacky fun way and just literally wants to get closer (and maybe it's to get over B, maybe it's to satisfy their curiosity before closure, maybe it's because they are an actual fucking moron) and B is like, okay bet (but internally is like 'so this is all a joke to you huh') and they are going along and they aren't saying 'hey, this feels real' but they aren't initiating anything and they are just quietly miserable that the only way they could have this experience with A is if they are faking it. obv ends with like some kind of angsty as fuck confession.

there's the soft pining edition: where they literally just want to get closer together and they both claim it's for the prank for the reveal but like you know, i've alwasy wondered what it would be like to hold your hand and oh, are they not convinced? i think we should kiss obvsioulsy, it's really the only way and they go on like this and everyone either suspects that they've been dating forever and just came out adn that's why they're so shy or that they're totally faking it but at least they aren't pining in silence you know. and at the end there's like a timid lil 'what if it was real?' and then they're smiling and it's grossly cavity-inducing cuteness.

then there's the crack oh we're just bros obv edition: where they are both 'straight' but like codependent and people think they are in love (they are for these purposes) and they're like, we'll mess with them, yea? and they act like it's a big game of gay chicken except they're not afraid and their friends are really supportive and they are starting to feel guilty for tricking them but also you know it's crack so they are doing wacky shit that needs a 'no homo' disclaimer excpet neither feel like saying it and it's like full homo. and at the end the confession is lame but they're in love and that's beautiful.

(then there the crack crack crack crack one: where one is like i'll seduce you and the other is like, huh, this is kind of neat? wish it was real lol and like nobody is falling for any of it but whatever)

if you guys see any fics with this flavor hit me up please!!

like, just so you know the flavor i'm gonna give a brief snippet of each, yeah, for funsies and also bc it's my life mission to get your obsessed with the concept so more fics like this can exist and so if you know them you can send them my way so i can have crack-induced brain rot

(the examples are gonna feature WOMEN bc i've already went crazy over men and i ahve to keep myself fresh)

there's the angsty induced pining pining edition: catradora

bc they are peak pining and dumbass and angst and love, for reasons Adora pitches the idea, 'you know, just to get them off our backs, like we're dating? what! and then we're like, ofc we're not' and Catra grasps it and doesn't let it go.

("We should kiss," Catra says decisively.

Adora's gut reaction was finally, what came out of her mouth was,

"No."

It came out strangled, guttural, tortured--- and Catra, always in tune, notices and is hurt. And Adora doesn't know how to say that I want it more than anything but I want it to mean something with you so she doesn't.

"Oh, well okay," Catra says, and she had already looked a little tense when she pitched the idea but now she looked stiff as a board. She looked like she was about to shatter. And Adora knows that Catra never handled rejection quite well, even if it was about something she didn't really care about, but she just can't.

"I- I would, but it would be my first kiss," she says, as an apology. "i want it to mean something."

Catra stares at her before nodding jerkily, something fire bright in her eyes. Her voice had a bitter, abrasive quality that stirs the familar urge to soothe in Adora. "Right, no yeah, obviously. Don't want to waste your first kiss on me."

"I--," Adora explained, voice catching, "I want it to mean something to you, if I kissed you. I don't want it to be for anyone else. For a prank.")

there's the soft pining edition: lumity

(any setting really, just the premise that luz is like ppl would go crazy if they realized we were friends, you know what woudl drive them crazier?? if we we're dating--- and amity is like, oh yeah totally crazy, we should do it, and luz is interanlly like i don't think it;s crazy i think other ppl would think it's crazy but you know if she thinks it's crazy then i should play along, adn out loud she's like 'let's do it' and amity is just internaklly thinking 'omg omgomgomgomg we're gonna hold hands??? wtfffff??? akdgaydzfbkafbc???)

("Well," Amity says, smiling weakly, "We did say it was a crazy idea."

"They don't believe us," Luz murmurs, gradually becoming more indignant. "They laughed in our faces!"

"I mean, we are messing with them!"

"They totally brushed us off! We cann;t let this slide! We have to convince them."

Amity never really learned how to say no to Luz, so she said, "How?"

And that is how Amity learned an expansive vocabulary of Spanish pet names. She also learned that it was very possibel to blush so hard you stop breathing. She learned both of those valuable life-long lessons, the hard way.)

then there's the crack oh we're just bros obv edition: raris

Where Paris and Rory are just (gay but in denial but she doesn't realize she's gay or in denial?) and Star's hollow is like 'oh, those lesbians!' and Pairs is like, 'let's date and mess with your town' and Rory is like 'that's stupid' but they end up doing it anyways for no other reason than Paris' research paper and Lorelai's amusement.

("I don't think we convinced Luke."

"He's convinced," Rory reassures, as she highlights a particularly good line. "He's just giving you the cold shoulder for my virtue or whatever."

"Hmm."

"But," Rory says, not sure why she is saying this other than that she kind of wants to. "I mean, we should be thorough. I've only seen Taylor print one Raris Valentines Poster."

"That is freakish on it's own."

"Yeah, but not to Taylor's standards. I think we can do better."

"Should I propose?"

"Oh my god.")

then there the crack crack crack crack one: nevermore

("Maybe you should kiss me," Anabel Lee suggests, eagerness shining through.

Lenore pretends to contemplate it, "I guess it's the only way..."

Two feet away, Duke turns to Pluto and whispers, "They do know we can hear them right? Like, we are all sitting at the same table?")

[baggebythesea]

Princess Glimmer and the Day of Many Choices: Perfuma's evil mentorship with Shadow Weaver (30/?)

"TO THE INNER SANCTUM!" Glimmer yelled and pointed dramatically. Shadow Weaver, Perfuma, Adora and Catra followed her.

"I'll catch up with you, OK?" Scorpia said and dodged another lighting bolt. "Wow, mom, that's so cool," she said to her scowling parent. "You have to teach me how you do that."

"SUBMIT TO MY PARENTAL AUTHOROTHY, DISSAPOINTMENT OF A SPWAN," Scorptra shouted.

"Awwwwww, it's so heartwarming to see mom and daughter bond," Shadow Weaver lied as she ooozed up to Perfuma.

"Go away," Perfuma primly said. They stopped and waited as Adora tore a locked door open.

"You wound me with your hostility, flower princess (who I totally remember the name of)," Shadow Weaver said and placed a hand over the place where people usually have hearts. "I'm picking up quite a bit of negative vibes here".

"Do not mock me, Shadow Weaver," Perfuma said. "I've head quite enough of that already."

"Oh?" Shadow Weaver said, pouncing at the display of weakness. "People do not take you serious (I have no idea why they wouldn't)."

"Everyone think that because I'm willing to listen to people, to give them a second chance, I'm weak," Perfuma muttered.

"Yeeeeees," Shadow Weaver nodded agree, then suddenly remembered herself and hurridly added "What? That's crazy."

"As if you would know," Perfuma scornfully said. "You have never given anyone a second chance in your life."

"Why would you say that?" Shadow Weaver asked. "I'm always willing to take a wayward child under my wings."

"Like Catra?" Perfuma said and raised an eyebrow.

"Of course not that worthless brat," Shadow Weaver scoffed. "I'm talking about children with potential."

She glanced at Adora who struggled to move the wreckage, no longer fueled by the Heart of Etheria.

"Children you can manipulate, you mean," Perfuma nastily said. "Well, don't try that with me. I know about your tricks."

"Of course I'm not talking about you," Shadow Weaver smarmed and put an arm over Perfuma's shoulder. "Manipulation is for the weak willed, those with a hunger for power or uncertainity to exploit. You are in tune with yourself and have no weaknesses for me to use against you."

"Well, yes, I do work on my mindfullness," Perfuma said and shrugged off Shadow Weaver's arm.

"Exactly," Shadow Weaver oozed and stepped closer. "So therefor I am quite powerless against you." She leaned down and hissed as in confidence. "The power of love always win, you know."

"That is quite right," Perfuma said and stood up straighter.

Shadow Weaver hid a smirk behind her mask and pretended to sigh dramatically.

"Shame on Scorpia, though…."

"What do you mean?" Perfuma quickly asked, worridly looking at the corridor from where they came, where lighting still played over the metal.

"Scorptra will kill her," Shadow Weaver said without preamble. "I know you only know the royal family of Archnidia from the pathetic… I mean gentle Scorpia. Her mothers were something different. Vicious killers. Brutal beats. Quite frankly horrible mothers. They would hurt their own child if she didn't match up to their expectations, could you imagine?"

"We have to save her!" Perfuma gasped.

"Nothing we can do," Shadow Weaver sighed. "We can't hope to match powers with an etherian princess, attuned to her rune stone at her seat of power. Scorpia is as good as dead…" she glanced at Perfuma. "…unless…."

"Unless what?" Perfuma demanded.

"Give me your hand," Shadow Weaver said. "Lend me your strength and I can forge a link for us… for you to the Heart of Etheria."

Perfuma gave her a suspicious look.

"This is just a bid for you to get power for yourself," she flatly stated.

"Shoot, you saw through my evil plan," Shadow Weaver sighed. "I suppose there is no corrupting those who are pure of heart."

"There sure isn't," Perfuma sniffed.

"You have convinced me," Shadow Weaver said. "Give me your hand and I will lend YOU the power of the Heart of Etheria."

"M-me?" Perfuma gasped, suddenly paling in the prospect of responsibility.

"Who better?" Shadow Weaver asked. "If you don't wield it, surely someone like me will."

"I don't know…" Perfuma hesitated.

"What good is love, if hate has free reign," Shadow Weaver pressed. "What good is harmony, if negativity gets to ruin it. What good if a world where a parent can abuse her child, just because she doesn't measure up, without anyone doing anything about it."

"Shut up and let me think," Perfuma snarled.

"Oh, sure," Shadow Weaver said. "Let's just hope Scorpia isn't brutally killed while you waiver. "

"SHUT UP!" Perfuma snarled, and thorns errupted from vines all around her.

"Goooooood," Shadow Weaver smirked. "Now take my hand."

"I only do it, because in an unbalanced universe, someone has to even the scales," Perfuma firmly said.

She took Shadow Weaver's hand.

"Say goodbye to Perfuma. Say hello to Tara"

Part 29 is here: https://www.tumblr.com/baggebythesea/725695220326514688/yeeeeeeeeees-im-so-happy-you-guys-see-my-vision

[monsterkiss]

Catra x S/I backstory

I was asked about the backstory for my selfship with Catra, so I decided to type it out and post it!

I have a semblance of a backstory, just bits of this and that based on what I imagine.

Most times I like to imagine that my S/I, Adora, and Catra all grew up together and a lot of the time had this whole "very close friends, almost dating, but not quite dating" thing going on. Likely experimented with each other and whatnot at some point too, like "practicing kissing" and stuff.

Maybe Catra and Adora even actually dated at some point or at least were heavily flirty and all. When I think of ideas with Catra x S/I, I try to include Catradora in some way anyway but I'm not sure.

Then, eventually, Adora leaves the Horde, S/I and Catra stay behind. S/I hates Adora for leaving, Catra gets obsessed with Adora. S/I is always by Catra's side, her right hand, at all times. As we know, Catra doesn't treat anyone all that well during that period, and that includes S/I, and S/I isn't being that much of a great person either. The two possibly enter a very toxic relationship. Both find solace in each other while simultaneously becoming their worst selves… There's mutual obsession and possessiveness too.

And perhaps, eventually… S/I finally leaves Catra like the others, adding to the pile of betrayal and hurt. Maybe Catra pushes them away and they leave, I don't know. Maybe instead S/I pushes her away. Or even maybe S/I DOES stay. The details of what happens here are fuzzy in my head, it could go either way.

Not sure about further events, but eventually at some point Catra should realize that she's in love with S/I and wants to be with them. Of course, that doesn't mean that Catra doesn't want Adora back. But she realizes that Adora can't give Catra what she wants, that the type of relationship she wants wouldn't work out between them, while it could be different with S/I. (There's a possibility for a polyam relationship here, in some cases I imagine exactly that in which Catra dates both S/I and Adora, but idk tbh when it comes to the "main/canon" storyline…)

During the "Save the Cat" sequence perhaps Adora and S/I BOTH come to Catra's rescue. Or maybe specifically S/I does that, while Adora, Glimmer, and Bow help them. I'm not sure how the entire thing with the failsafe amd The Heart of Etheria should go though. Maybe it goes more or less the same way as in the show but this time it's about "the power of friendship" or something, in which Catra and S/I cause Adora to transform into She-Ra and uleash the magic. There's no kiss between Adora and Catra though and then instead of getting together with Adora, Catra chooses S/I.

Eventually all three still manage to patch up their friendship and become even closer than before. As for Adora? Perhaps she ends up dating Glimmer while Glimmer continues dating Bow, so the three of them are together. And also while sure, Adora dates Glimmer, Catra dates S/I, they all care about each other deeply and are like a family! Maybe in this case after all there's even further polyam potential, just platonic in some cases.

Ok thanks for reading! That's all I have for now. :3

[etheriadearie]

What if it's Adora's... and Catra's- Dream?

::It's been eight months since The Kiss and Catradora becoming canon in one of the most breathtakingly romantic and beautiful endings of all time. Now that we've all throughly gotten to enjoy that, I'd like to take some time to explore how Adora's dream might tie into everything having to do with its ending, as well as the entire romantic arc of SPOP.

This post centers on Adora's dream, with the goal of exploring the dream as a part of the Catradora romance. Really, truely, as part of their romance. Pardon my vagueness, because it is out of kindness: if you haven't finished the series, THIS IS A SPOILER WARNING. 🚨🚨🚨 ... If you don't like spoilers, now is the time to scroll on by, Horde soldier // Rebellion fighter!! (and please, return when you do- <3)

If you have finished the show, please consider joining me below, as i'd love to hear your opinion on the following theory...

💜💙💚💛🧡❤️💜💙💚💛🧡❤️💜💙❤️🧡❤️💜💙💚💛🧡❤️💜💙💚💛🧡❤️💜💙❤️

Hey Adora ~❤️

Are you still with me?

Good, then let's get this started-

It is highly probable that Adora’s 'dream' is a canon romantic moment for each of them, which not only Adora experiences, but so does Catra.

The dream is, instead, a spontaneous reaction of Etheria’s deep magic and their love, in particular because Catra is with Adora as she tries to save Adora through her love for her. They both share in the creating of the dream, but it's meaning is that of Catra showing her love to Adora: they are connected within the dream by way of this Etherian magic, which they have shared in before.

I say this because what we’re actually seeing is a simulation, much like the ones that Catra and Adora shared together during Promise: these simulations are based on memories and on emotions: it is Catra’s emotions which are being channeled as Etheria creates the dream for them.

We will indeed discuss the arc of their love in this post, but, this theory is based on the use of a oft neglected, but powerful, mode of storytelling:: Known as ‘visual cues’ this method of storytelling is employed by Noelle and Friends as the way to tell us the deeper meanings behind the dream sequence. And the use of these cues tells us that this is intended to be seen as a shared romantic moment for both girls, showing their love for one another.

I know, this might seem like a lot to process, after all, isn't what we see during the dream supposedly Adora’s subconscious response to Mara’s words of wisdom about love, when she asked Adora what she wants, and tells her to not give up?

And how would it even be possible for Catra to be in the simulation with Adora? To the former, Adora still had no answer to Mara’s question, like she didn't when Catra asked her what she wanted the night before. And in the dream, we watch as Adora spends almost all of it denying what she's seeing, believing she has failed her duty to save everyone as She-ra. Considering Adora’s resistance to the dream, does it make sense for the dream to be self actualized by Adora, or is what she sees originating from somewhere else, and if so, how?

As to whether Catra can be there with Adora, the answer is a resounding yes: and that's because we already know that Catra is in the dream with Adora, for part of the time. How we know this is that after Horde Prime traps Adora, Catra intervenes to save Adora and they interact: Catra reaches down to try and save Adora, ending famously with her beautiful love confession, which helps Adora find the strength to reach out to take her hand.

That we see Catra do this, and that she does it so purposefully, tells us that this is something that actually happens between the two of them:: Catra must have seen Horde Prime trap Adora, and Adora can see and hear Catra in her mind as she calls for her- Adora really does reach up to take Catra’s hand, and as she takes it, is pulled from the edge of death. It's not a metaphor at all, even though we know Catra is holding Adora's body in the real.

And so, if Catra was with Adora then, why not before, too?

To put it simply, all of the visions that Adora has, including her meeting Mara before the dream, is Etheria’s deep magic trying to help her, and so it helps to bridge the gap that's needed for Catra to share her love with Adora. After all, Etheria "is a living creature" (s5ep8) and Catra, actually, has a strong connection to Etheria’s magic, and to magic in general (we will revisit this later).

All that happens is tied together, which we'll talk about below: what Adora sees in the dream is the true beginning of Catra’s love confession, because Catra is coming through for Adora as her best self to save her, much like Adora did for Catra during Save the Cat.

::And that's where our visual cues come in, because as it turns out, the Dream and Save the Cat are related: they are related in storytelling and in emotion, but most importantly:: they are related visually.

This post will cover these similarities starting below. We’ll also take a look at two separate and distinct visual cues having to do with how Catra acts in the Dream to further the discussion, and lastly we'll cover how, in fact, all of Save the Cat and Heart Part 2 are related, starting well before the dream, continuing right through it, and afterwards as well.

But, to get this started, let's take a look at visual cue #1: when Catra offers her hand to Adora in her dream.

::During the dream, Adora has such disbelief when she finds herself in it, and she keeps this disbelief right up until the critical moment: when Catra turns to her and offers her hand to Adora, lovingly asking her if she's ready to go. That, is the moment when we finally see Adora give herself over to the idea of their love, she suspends her disbelief… only to have the moment so cruelly ripped away by Horde Prime...

As it so turns out, this sequence of events has happened before, almost exactly down to the frame by frame:: it happened during Save the Cat, when Adora offered her hand to Catra. These moments are visually similar, emotionally parallel, and story parallel as well. Here are the two scenes, and while you look at them, consider how the girls are arranged compositionally with each other:

What we have here is visual parallels, many more of which we'll discuss later. But, it goes deeper than that:: because on closer consideration, we see that the girls are arranged ‘mirror’ to each other. For example:

::In Save the Cat, Adora offers her hand to Catra from the left, and in the dream Catra offers her hand to Adora from the right-

::When Prime electrocutes Catra after she reaches for Adora’s hand, she falls downward on the right; when Adora is trapped by Prime, she sinks downward on the left, with her tears showing the direction of her descent (note, Catra’s tears were not depicted, but she is crying as Prime shocks her). This mirroring is shown repeatedly throughout the two episodes, and not just during the dream itself.

So why are these moments mirrored?

That's what this theory aims to prove, with all the muster that it can:: this mirroring is a purposeful artistic collaboration between the art and writing teams, letting us know by way of it, that we're suppose to understand how these scenes are parallel: with the meaning of this being that one girl is mirroring the other’s actions in order to save them.

Therefore, in theory:: what we're seeing during the dream is Catra mirroring the heroic love Adora shows for Catra during Save the Cat, and all of what we see in the dream is actually Catra showing her true love, is the true beginning of her love confession, and is done to save Adora. As for the other deeper, more involved reason, it is that Adora and Catra are actually parallel characters throughout the series, who vary by circumstance, but are struggling with much the same issues. (a discussion for another time, however)

For instance:: consider how similar the virus that Adora is fighting during her time in the Heart chamber is to the mind control that Catra fought in Save the Cat:: Prime is using the virus to control Adora, and she ultimately is able to reject Prime's control because of Catra’s actions- much like Catra did, after Adora showed up in Save the Cat to restore their love, telling Catra to fight Prime’s control, so that they can be home together again.

And here's the thing: if the artists and writers go to such lengths to make these scenes parallel… even moreso, the characters are mirrored, doesn't the meaning of it therefore demand that Catra be with Adora during her dream, to help her fight free of Prime’s control by showing her love to Adora, just like Adora did for Catra during Save the Cat?

Now really, what confirms this theory is the entire arc of the show, which, *puffs up cheeks* is a bit too much to cover here, so I'll save us some time and stick to a couple of themes instead. One of these will be the Catradora love arc, as it is integral to the next visual cues.

And these cues are that Catra’s truest love is shown during Adora’s dream, something which we don't see Catra do before this moment. So, sit tight for a bit, because this'll take some explaining-

Visual cues #2 and #3: Catra’s most earnest love is shown in the dream, and it's both what Adora needs to survive, and is fundamental to Catra’s redemption-

Redemption arcs are popular for a reason, and because the next cues relate so strongly to Catra's redemption, I'll be talking about how Catra’s redemption is fully realized by the honest and earnest love she shows for Adora, inside the dream as well as right before it.

In order for Catra to complete her redemption, or since that's cliche, ::for Catra to realize her best self:: she has to accept her truth as the absolute total romantic that she is, who through the braveness of her confession of love, is the one who helps their dreams come true, and brings Catradora into canon.

This is because, in all seriousness, Catra is and always has been a romantic, she's just blocked by her own traumatic experiences (plz consult Princess Prom if confused about how Catra is a romantic, 😼😹). And, she's always known she was in love with Adora- who, unlike Catra, never quite realizes her full feelings until Catra’s confession. And Catra needs to redeem herself by showing this love, because she chose to deny her love to Adora, as well as to herself, at the end of Promise after seeing how very little love and understanding Adora had to give to her in season 1. This next set of visual cues is all about how we see Catra’s feelings and actions change to reflect her true feelings of love, and that through accepting her own love for Adora, is able to help Adora to succeed in her final task.

::As Adora faces down her final challenge of disabling the Heart, Catra makes what could best be described as a decision of ‘radical love’: that she's willing to give everything she has- to help, love, and support Adora. We first see Catra’s decision to show such love right before the dream when she swears to stay by Adora’s side, and she then fully completes this love during the dream when we see Catra show her precious love for Adora.

In the dream, the Catra we see is much more tender, vulnerable, and intimate, than we’ve ever seen her be at any other time previous to this point in the series… her love is even more earnest than during their earliest memories as children. That's because we’re seeing a completely novel and honest expression of Catra's love, one which Catra hasn't been willing to show before this. Catra really needs to show her full feelings to redeem herself, not just a last second love confession. What we're seeing during the dream is her truest feelings, without her own self doubt or fears of vulnerability blocking her.

And this new love we see is part of the decision which Catra makes, right before the dream, swearing that she will stay with Adora no matter what, letting Adora know she has her full love and support as Adora faces her final task. This decision is the other half of the visual cue #2, and here’s the two moments together::

Is Catra ending up positioned so similarly just coincidence, or does it have deeper meaning as well? A couple things for consideration:

Firstly: Adora probably doesn't notice this shift in Catra’s behavior, especially before the dream, as Adora is completely focused on her burden of saving-the-entire-universe-along-with-every-last-person-in-it, which is rather a lot to expect one girl to do... even if she is She-ra. Also note: Adora is a romantically oblivious person, so there's that, too. And since she's so preoccupied by mortal peril, it really doesn't make sense for the sweet and loving Catra we see in the dream to originate from Adora’s subconscious, as Catra has never shown Adora this tender, loving version of herself: and so, it makes more sense that the magic of the simulation would be drawing from somewhere else entirely: it draws on Catra’s own feelings of love.

I know, these scenes vary in mood significantly, but the difference we're seeing in the dream is actually a heightened version of the love Catra shows before it, one where Catra is not only showing Adora that she values and supports her, but that Catra quite literally feels precious love for Adora. Catra clings to her, letting her know that she is treasured above all else, which is really, really REALLY sweet, and also really really not in line with how Catra has acted up to this point in the series...

Catra loves Adora, this is central to her arc, even during the times when she's aligned so strongly against her. Her story is about learning to accept her love, and she's reestablishing her love for Adora during these scenes... this is the total truth of her love and affection, that is.

She’s already established that she's willing to risk herself to protect Adora, such as when she tackles Melog on Krytis. But, Catra protecting Adora from harm physically isn't enough to fully redeem herself: she's also got to show the romantic love she feels which she denied to Adora so long ago. This love she feels is something that Adora continuously teases Catra over, constantly ruining the moment by misinterpreting Catra’s feelings simply as attraction, never fully realizing or acting on the romantic implications. This happened as recently as when Catra jumped into the fire to save Adora... Adora is a romantic idiot. (don't you worry, I say this with fondness) This is part of Catra's test: even though Adora never gives her a sign that she feels romantic love as well, Catra has to show her love because that's what it has always been about for her. Loving Adora properly means Catra has to accept Adora as she is, and not let her own romantic frustration block her. It's also simply the right thing to do, as they are out of time, and could all die if Adora fails... Adora's story, on the other hand, has been about becoming the hero, and Catra has to accept that yes, in total reality, Adora simply has never considered what she wants because of her burdens.

As Adora faces her final task and is feeling crushed by the weight of her burdens and fears of failure, Catra has to show this love to counter Adora’s own obliviousness and internalized emotional barriers, as Catra realizes how Adora really doesn't "get it" right up until Catra’s love confession. Adora is not seeing what she has to live for, and Catra's fully accepting Adora as who she is helps Catra to see how she can help Adora, because Adora's romantic awkwardness is really more about her emotional trauma than her love for Catra- Adora loves Catra, that much is clear. But is it romantic love? Catra takes a risk and shows her true feelings, because she knows Adora is struggling, and they are out of time... so no matter what, Catra has to show her romantic love to Adora, and luckily she's able to do so during the dream (because of the help of Etheria's magic).

We also need to talk about how Catra stands with Adora: in both moments she chooses to stand behind Adora. Catra is showing her true support to Adora, and her most honest feelings of love- something I discussed in my Promise discussion is how Catra never wanted power for herself, she just wanted to be safe, and to be with Adora. Here we have Catra, definitively showing after all this time that she doesn't want power, she just wants to love Adora.

The Catra we see in seasons 1-4 rejected Adora as She-ra, seeing her as two faced for ignoring and then abandoning her to continued abuse while fighting for others, breaking her final promise as she did. This was a trauma decision, but Catra is done letting trauma control her life. So here we see Catra choose to support and love Adora no matter what, like she always wanted to do, and she's even choosing to support Adora as the hero. This is further demonstrated as true during the dream, as Catra (albeit jokingly) asks Adora to save her from a determined Glimmer.

All in all, the Catra we see in the dream is very unlike anything we’ve seen before, she's outwardly in love, feelings which Adora herself feels but struggles to understand. And that Catra ends up positioned so similarity is a cue that Catra is allowing her true love to be shown during the dream. It's exactly what Adora needs to feel coming from Catra, as years of being abused and new hardships have convinced Adora that sacrifice is the only thing that makes her worthy of love- Mara tells her “You're worth more than what you can give to other people, you deserve love, too”. Sadly, when you watch this scene you see that Adora has a hard time accepting Mara's words, she shys away from them instead.

Catra’s choosing to stay with Adora, and then show her most earnest love inside the dream, helps Adora to see how she deserves to be loved: as the person she is, and not only as a hero. Catra is the only person who loved Adora before she was She-ra, and her love for her has never been about her being a hero, like Adora was told she had to be by Shadow Weaver.

That was something done out of malicious intent, as Shadow Weaver did it to control Adora and to prepare her as her sacrifice. Young Catra was there when it happened to Adora, and always knew that it was done out of some dark intent (hence her frustration during the battle of Thaymore- “Duhhh did yah just figure that out??”). Catra constantly shows that she is wise to manipulations.

... And Adora is still stuck on this trauma: the love that Catra shows Adora helps her see past her own hurt.

::Ok. I say this next part with all the sincerity I can: expecting Catra to carry the entire burden of their romance all on her own is rather a lot to expect her to be able to do. And yet… she does it. She's the one who confesses her love, she's the one who kisses Adora, and in the dream, she shows Adora that she's in love with her. This is because Catra is a person who understands what she wants. She chooses to have faith that their love is real, and so she shows her heart to Adora. How does Catra trust enough in love, considering her past mistakes, and all trauma that she's been through?

People mostly think that Catra post season 5 would be a person who is still in a state of hurting from her past, that she constantly struggles with self hatred and doubts. But, ask yourself: is that how Catra is portrayed, or do we see a person who has faced her trauma so that she can live free of it?

That Catra would be able to do this so totally is what I think throws so many people about Catra. After all, most people who have trauma struggle with it continuously, so why wouldn't Catra struggle like this too… people have a hard time accepting that she is able to change her behavior so much for the better. But, don't let that stop you from seeing her as she is presented to be, there's powerful reasons why Catra is like she is, Noelle wouldn't take a shortcut in this. The reasons are there... it's just… complicated.

Probably too complicated to cover here, but I'll try to summarize a theme here: Catra is a survivor. That's what her attitude is, and her arc. She's survived ever since that day when Shadow Weaver threatened to kill her as only a small child, and she’s survived many other near deaths and hardships getting to this point. And because of that, she's found what she really wants to live for, and she's become too strong against others hurting her to let them control her. This strength includes against her own bias of self judgement over her past actions, because she understands how her actions were the product of manipulative abuses by others who wanted to control her. She knows trauma, in fact she's somewhat blessed in this ability (see this meta). What Catra does during the dream and her love confession is to reject ALL of the trauma, the falseness, the negativity, and hurt that's been put into both her AND Adora all of their lives. She's way too strong to let her own fears block her, and as she sees Adora struggling with her own fears, Catra gives her full heart to Adora because Catra knows how important it is to want to live and to love, and if she can just get Adora to understand that too, then she can save her.

... because Catra is brave, perhaps the bravest person in all of SPOP, she comes through to save Adora from Adora's own fears by showing her the power of love. Catra sees Adora for who she is better than anyone else can: she sees her humanity, and her struggles. And seeing is very important to our next cue::

Cue #3 ‘I’m YOUR idiot’

During Save the Cat, as Adora watches Catra teetering on the edge of the platform, she implores Catra to keep on fighting. She tells her: “you've never listened to anyone in your life, are you really going to start now?”

Catra responds by very fondly calling her an idiot.

And Adora freely accepts this, saying:

“I know.”

Then we get this frame, as shown above: Adora sees Catra, and how she's always tried to find safety from those that would hurt her by not letting them control her life.

Catra only ever listened to one person: she listened to Adora, and their promise... hence the ‘idiot’ part. And Adora is saying, as she accepts being called an idiot, that ‘I should have seen it sooner, and why my love was so important. You always felt like you had to fight to survive, and I was suppose to be different than those who hurt you. I was wrong not to understand sooner, and I shouldn't have hurt you like I did.'

And she proves it to Catra with her next words: “I'm going to take you home.”

Home. The thing Catra felt she had lost when Adora abandoned her at the Horde. Adora is saying: ‘I know this is what you want.’

‘So, live.’

::In the second frame, we see Catra show absolute acceptance of her love for Adora. It's just like Adora accepting being Catra’s idiot: Catra is telling Adora: 'Don't you see how I love you? You tease me, but this is not because I like you, it's because I'm crazy about you. I'm in love with you. And I want you to see this, my silly, beautiful love. Because I want you to know how I love you. I should have seen why my love was so important sooner, and I never should have left you."

‘I do freely admit that I am your idiot.’

‘And I know you. I know that this is what you really want. And that it hurts you that you were made the hero, and how everyone expects so much of you, but they never seem to see how much it hurts you.’

‘And I know that what you want is to be loved.’

‘I see you. I know you.’

‘So... live.”

It's exactly what Adora needs to see to accept love, and not let her trauma stop her. This is part of what helps Adora overcome Prime’s virus so she can absorb the Heart's power: she needed to see that she's loved. Much like Catra did, back on Prime’s ship.

Sidebar discussion 1: thoughts regarding this theory-

How exactly does the dream come to be, how does Catra experience its creation, all of these finer points we kinda hafta leave to the 'magic' that happens. We can't know exactly how it happened, but maybe we don't need to.

As to why didn't they didn't just tell us, *if* this theory is true, that is- probably because She-ra's ending is beautiful, it's hard to imagine it being any more beautiful than it already is. It's worth watching again and again: not having everything spelled out for us just makes us want to watch it more. -etheriadearie

Part 4: How everything is mirrored starting well before the dream, as well as after🪞♾🪞

All of Heart Part 2 is a mirror of Save the Cat, starting from the very beginning. And, if you look carefully you can see stylistic elements repeated throughout each (mirroring, compositional arrangements, use of green in both to represent Prime’s corruption, etc.) They are different enough that each is worthy of being called an artistic masterpiece of its own, but everything in them is related, and what happens as Catra saves Adora is very much the story of Save the Cat being retold.

Catra’s decision to return to help Adora inside the Heart chamber is synonymous with Adora’s decision to face Horde Prime on his flagship. Neither have a plan worth mentioning, both know they could fail, but they have to try, no matter what. They love each other too much not to try.

… and the other is totally dismayed when they show up to save them, knowing how perilous their situations are, as they had resigned themselves to their fates.

Oh, hey Shadow Weaver. Looks like you slipped in to be a stand in for Horde Prime ? Could this be because you were the real villain of SPOP all along ?

Even though the one is so unhappy that the other is risking themselves like they are, each girl continues to fight to free the other. They need the other to see how much they care.

Above: Adora makes a similar declaration of love to Catra's in cue #2, more mirroring 🪞

Sidebar discussion 2: Catra’s strong connection to magic-

A subplot of She-ra is how Catra unlearns her negative perception of magic she has from it being used against her as a child by Shadow Weaver, and instead comes to see magic as something beautiful. Even though Catra professes a strong dislike of it “why does everything have to be so weird with you guys ?” (s5ep8), magic constantly seeks her out.

It starts during Promise, when Catra’s subconscious seemingly guides the memories they see, ending with her seeing her inner child's hurt. It continues in the Portal episodes when she's given up hope, and after trying to destroy herself, instead returns as Corrupted Catra, a magical being with knowledge and purpose. Then, in season 5, Melog chooses Catra, she nervously accepts their friendship and is surprised to finds them to be very good friend to her.

And so, during the dream, as Catra and Adora lie mere feet from the center of Etheria’s magic, it reaches out to help them- it is a living thing, and Catra welcomes its help, proving she has incredible harmony with magic, and by allowing herself to work with it during the dream, she completes her journey of unlearning her bias- because the truth of Etheria’s magic is love.

Like Adora's jumping off the platform after Catra falls, Catra refuses to give up, and finds a way to get to Adora~

Sidebar discussion 3: Horde Prime’s virus

Another bridge between our girls is that when the monster attacks Catra, she's infected by Prime’s virus along with Adora. This is another route by which their minds can be connected (see Catra’s right hand, above) which begs the question: is everything that Adora sees in the dream just an elaborate cruelty of Horde Prime's?

I'm going with no, because of the visions which Adora has before the dream. Most of them happen well before the infection reaches Adora’s location, and their meanings don't really make sense as part of Prime’s deceit. He also says “So this is where you've run to hide" when he interrupts Adora's conversation with Mara.

It makes more sense that it is as Razz says: "You cannot control magic, magic simply is" and the magic is communicating with Adora and with Catra. It is rather, that Catra manages to use Prime's virus against him, as she's faced his control before. Her personal knowledge of his technology likely means Catra knows to help Adora overcome his control, and this along with her confession, helps Adora to break free of his control.

As Adora struggles with her final duty as She-ra to stop the heart, feeling alone in the face of it because she alone is She-ra, the only one who supposedly can do it, she's feeling crushed by the weight of a millennia old war and other's past cruelties forced onto her life. She believes it's too much for her to do alone, and that she's not a good enough hero.

Catra’s ultimate answer to Adora is: 'Don't be.’

Catra is telling Adora to stop being the hero just long enough to realize what she already has, because she's not alone. She needs help, but it's right there with her- she doesnt have to do it alone, no one should.

And so, by asking her to stay, Catra is telling Adora: 'Forget about being She-ra, and right now instead just focus on wanting to live... because if you don't live, then I can't help you. I know, this is hard. But if you can just accept that you want to be with me, then we can figure this out, together.'

And that's exactly what they do- they face the heart together.

Adora accepts love, and so Catra is able to help her absorb the Hearts power.... because love is the strongest thing in the entire universe... 💞

A few closing thoughts regarding this theory: We don't have a lot of time with the romance between Catra and Adora, as their kiss is the apex moment. But, by way of these cues perhaps us seeing them in the dream at their most romantic is real. When Adora wakes up, she doesn't even have to say anything about what she saw- Catra was there, helping her. One of the reasons why the kiss and Adora's confession of love back to Catra seems so pure is because she's understanding Catra perfectly. In fact they both are, because of the dream they shared together.

Considering how short She-ra is, for them to actually share this romantic moment together would be is key. And I feel it makes sense that they do, as such a beautiful moment deserves to live on in their (our) memories... and a way by which they could share this moment may very well exist, *if* this theory is correct.

Noelle and Friends may have cleverly given us this answer, and as beloved as the dream scene is, I'd like to think that they're together during it. Either way, She-ra's ending is beautiful.

As always, thanks for reading... I hope that you enjoyed it. Hopefully it's not just stating the obvious ? Feel free to let me know- 😅 And I couldn't get to all of the endings complexities here (for instance, Adora's confusion on love and needing someone like Catra to show her the way is very interesting, and worth exploring), and, believe me I, too, have questions. Feel free to ask questions or give me feedback, as always I will try to respond!! Also, I will be posting something related to this regarding their arcs in the near future~ hopefully. Until then...

"Don't you get it ? I love you. I always have. So please, just this once. Stay!" 🏳️‍🌈💞💋🏳️‍🌈

~EtheriaDearie

::As always, thanks for a like or reblogg!! I'm still new to tumblr, so thank you for reading- ❤️🙇

P.S. Here's the short version of this post. Yes, the "cliff notes" 😅. For a quick share with your friends!!

[it-fits-i-ships]

Combing through every single episode of Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous for Yasammy moments to write meta analysis about part 3 (parts 1, 2, and 4)

Brooklyn asking Sammy if she has a crush on Yaz gives me life! Brooklyn doesn’t seem like the kind of person who would joke about something like that and genuinely wants to be better friends with the other people in the group so trying to bond with Sammy by having her confide in Brooklyn about crushes, this suggests to me that Brooklyn has been picking up on signs of Sammy’s interest in Yaz, based on the things I’ve already talked about I have to agree with Brooklyn: at this point Sammy has caught feelings for Yaz but she hasn’t consciously realized it yet, possibly due to growing up on a ranch in Texas where she may not have been exposed to the concept of queer people in a positive light (if at all) and almost certainly because she has never been in love before When they are building up the fort defenses against the scorpius rex Sammy comments on what a good team she and Yaz make, I think that she has been thinking more about her feelings toward Yaz and trying to really define them since Brooklyn asked about crushes (but it’s hard to thoroughly sort through your feelings when you’re running for your life all the time and come from a sheltered background), meanwhile Yaz is shutting down again because Ben got in her head about the group’s likelihood of splitting up after they get back home, here is possibly the first person Yaz has trusted enough to let into her personal life, someone she can show her drawings to and talk to and joke with, someone she knows isn’t going to abandon her or be cruel to her, someone who will support her but also encourage her personal growth, someone she can trust with her life (and possibly her heart?) but then Yaz realizes that external forces (aside from the obvious ones like being killed by dinosaurs) could pull Sammy away from her and she simply can’t handle that idea Notice the tears in her eyes and the resignation on her face as Yaz decides it’s best to push Sammy away now so that it won’t be as painful later, so that she’ll at least have some semblance of control, she clearly doesn’t want to cut ties with Sammy but Yaz is so used to taking the lead and handling things on her own and we know for a fact that she doesn’t have a well-developed set of healthy coping mechanisms, notice how she can’t even look Sammy in the eye when she’s saying all of this stuff about their friendship having an expiration date and them having nothing in common, she knows on some level that it’s not true and that she’s really hurting Sammy by saying these things but fear has gripped her so tightly she pushes past her better judgement, when Sammy says, “You’re my best friend” we can hear Yaz gasping softly and we can see a change in her face that suggests she is questioning her decision to push Sammy away, clearly such a blatant statement of affection from Sammy means a lot to her but in the very next sentence Sammy reminds Yaz of her fear and Yaz doubles down I would also like to point out that the term “best friend” has definitely been used in children’s media, especially with same-gender pairings, to hint at a closer relationship without explicitly stating that it’s romantic (think Applejack and Rarity in Equestira Girls) or to hint that the relationship might develop into a romantic relationship (think Catra and Adora in She-Ra), it's also very common in fiction as well as in real life for young queer people to develop feelings for their best friends while they are figuring themselves out, so it’s little wonder that this whole scene has that "couple going through a rough patch" kind of vibe However, we can instantly see the regret that Yaz feels about pushing Sammy away so strongly and that feeling only intensifies after Sammy gets stung by the scorpius rex, Yaz sees this happen firsthand and immediately calls out to Sammy without hesitation, she has abandoned her plan because (once again) she has decided that Sammy is more important, notice that when Sammy is fading out of and back into consciousness we see and hear things from her perspective and Yaz’s voice is the last thing she clearly hears before

she passes out and the first thing she clearly hears when she wakes back up, this suggests that Sammy was paying the most attention to her, Yaz’s expression has so much concern in all of these scenes, she is terrified (again) that she’s going to lose Sammy, unlike the more abstract fear of losing Sammy that arose after they thought Ben died this is a very tangible and immediate fear, Sammy has venom pumping through her veins and if they don’t do something she will die, when she tells Sammy that everything is going to be okay she is talking as much to herself as she is to Sammy Yaz has to run to the lab and get the antidote, this is an interesting plot point because of course Yaz is a track star so it makes the most logical sense for her to run to the lab but she is also the first one to volunteer, look how she just shoots up from Sammy’s side, she is chomping at the bit to make things better, she literally says, “I don’t care what’s out there, I’m saving her,” as in she doesn’t care if she gets hurt or chased by dinosaurs or scared out of her wits as long as she gets that antidote to Sammy (and through her journey to get the antidote we learn that it’s not just Sammy’s health she wants to remedy but their relationship), she wills Sammy to hang on long enough for her to return After Yaz falls into the river and nearly drowns she decides to take a second and catch her breath against a tree, she’s clearly feeling low and even a little hopeless, this is when we start to see Yaz remembering important moments with Sammy, she warmly remembers the first time Sammy reached out to her and it drives her forward, notice how the flashbacks are tinted orange, obviously they had to differentiate the flashbacks from the current action somehow but I think that the choice of orange is a little bit of an Easter egg, Yaz's "orange, orange, and orange" response has clearly become an inside joke between Yaz and Sammy so what if Yaz now associates the color orange with Sammy?

When Yaz is hiding from the scorpius rex outside of the lab and she’s terrified (it legit looks like she’s starting to have a panic attack) she remembers that one of the last things she said to Sammy before she got stung was, “We’re not best friends, we never were,” this fills her with determination, she has to push forward, to summon all her strength and push that fallen tree away so she can get into that lab and find the antidote, she has to get back to Sammy so she can make everything right and tell her that she didn’t really mean what she said (which I will talk about more in the next post)

[killcommander]

ok so i got a prompt about a week ago for catradora that was “you’re so annoying... just kiss me already” and THEN im rewatching she-ra and the fic concept of “what if catra and adora were hooking up at points during the series because they’re stupid and need therapy instead of fucking” has been living rent free in my head lately so this is something i came up with based on this prompt but now i’m also playing with a larger fic idea related to it which im thinking about? which is just a bunch of catradora sexual tension? idk this is set sometime during 2x05 except everyone doesn’t leave right after they fight. also, this is quite literally the first thing i’ve written since the pandemic started. so that’s exciting. ok. happy holidays everyone!

--

Adora really shouldn’t be doing this.

Like, she really should not be doing this.

They shouldn’t be doing this, she thinks, as a stunned Catra grips the lapels of Adora’s jacket, pressing her fists into her chest and Adora’s back into the wall.

(The worst part is, this isn’t even the first time.)

(Or the second.)

It starts at Princess Prom—the chase, the dancing, the ruining a once-in-a-decade party just to get her hands on Catra.

Even if it is to push her to the ground.

Even if it is because Catra provoked her.

Adora just wants her hands on Catra.

It happens again at the Crystal Castle. At the Battle of Bright Moon.

This…longing in Adora that she just can’t shake.

There’s something so familiar about the rhythms of battle that they fall into when they see each other these days. There’s something so exciting about the brush of Catra’s tail against her wrist, Catra’s hands on her back, Catra’s hand in hers like they’re kids again.

Even on opposite sides, even with the flare of anger and betrayal between them, there’s something about Catra that always keeps Adora coming back.

It’s always been there.

And lately—maybe for awhile, Adora’s not really even sure when it started or how or—all that this something makes Adora want to do is kiss the smirk right off Catra’s face. Or punch it off.

Sometimes both.

And she has. She and Catra have given into this…something between them multiple times now.

The first time was “just once, just to get it out of our systems.”

The second time was because “our fights just feel like foreplay now.”

And the third time—

Well, this would be the third time.

And third time’s the charm. So they have to, right?

It has nothing to do with the fact that Adora’s been complaining that Catra’s been in her head. It has nothing to do with the ridiculous battle fantasy caricatures of Catra her friends came up with that have only left Adora wanting the real thing. It has nothing to do with the fact that they haven’t seen each other since in weeks, and now Adora’s in the Northern Reach freezing her ass off and all she can think about is how warm Catra is when she—

“How the fuck did you get in here, Adora?”

Right.

She’s in the Northern Reach.

In Catra’s outpost.

In Catra’s makeshift bedroom.

“I mean, no offense, Catra, but those snow monsters did put a few dents in the walls. Not hard to sneak back in,” Adora replies with a smirk.

Catra just groans, and Adora feels her let up just the tiniest bit on the pressure pushing her against the wall.

“Why are you here, Adora?”

This question is asked with less anger, and Adora can tell that Catra almost sounds tired, frustrated.

Adora replies just as sarcastically as the first time.

“Would you believe me if I said I missed you?”

This brings a bit of the spark back to Catra’s eyes, and she smirks right back at Adora.

“What, did you come to apologize for nearly killing me?”

Adora scoffs and reaches for Catra’s belt, grabbing right over the Force Captain pin and pulling her hips into Adora’s.

“Right, sorry for what I did under the influence of the First Ones’ tech that you infected me with.”

Catra sighs and leans in close.

They shouldn’t be doing this. Adora knows they shouldn’t be doing this, and yet—

It’s like Scorpia said. Even through the haze of the infection, Adora remembers it clearly:

Even when you two are fighting, you can still tell there’s such a bond there.

(Sometimes Adora wishes there wasn’t.)

(Then maybe, she wouldn’t be coming undone just from the feel of Catra’s breath on her cheek.)

“What do you want, Adora?”

Sometimes she wants to feel Catra so close that it feels like she could crawl inside her chest and never come out. Sometimes she wants Catra so far away from her just as a sad attempt to forget her. Sometimes she wants Catra completely wrecked underneath her, and sometimes, Adora’s the one who wants to give up control and give up this idea of being the perfect She-Ra.

Sometimes she just wants to let Catra consume her.

But she doesn’t say any of that. She just cranes her neck forward and gently knocks her forehead against Catra’s.

“I think you know exactly why I’m here.”

Catra sighs again and tugs Adora just a bit closer, until their lips are almost touching.

“You’re so annoying… Just kiss me already.”

Catra doesn’t have to ask Adora twice.

[lotusthekat]

All We Ever Wanted (Was Everything)

Fandom: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Rating: G

Relationships: Kyle & Adora

Characters: Kyle, Adora, Lonnie; MENTIONED - Catra

Summary: She inspects the bandages, and eventually her hand touches the claw marks again. Adora doesn’t cry again.

Kyle says nothing either and so they’re really silent. The other kids’ talking is nothing more than incoherent mumbles. It never makes sense to him, and he doesn’t think he’ll ever learn to understand.

They’re both looking at Lonnie and the rest, then they’re staring at their own laps, inside their little, lonely corner.

“Maybe…” Adora is hiding her wound again. “Maybe they didn’t mean it?”

She doesn’t specify who ‘they’ are, and Kyle neither agrees nor disagrees. He shrugs and gazes away to the side. “It still hurts,” he whispers painfully.

Takes place pre-canon. Canon divergent.

Word count: 1.749

AO3

A/N: More Adora & Kyle because this is my life: dedicating myself to an underrated platonic relationship because fandoms won’t do so >:’v

Again, be aware of the tags and the trigger warnings below! This might be OOC since I’m still new to this fandom ^^; Hope you enjoy!

TRIGGER WARNINGS - abuse/bullying, physical abuse, major character injury and childhood trauma

NOT CATRA/C*TRADORA OR LONNIE FRIENDLY!

--

They… haven’t gotten back for a while now.

Kyle admits he’s been worried for his two friends, Adora and Catra. They were all playing together really, but then a scream alarmed everyone. When he realized, Lonnie had a black eye, Catra ran away and Adora went after her. Lonnie’s been angry this whole time, so Kyle would rather stay on his lane until everyone’s apologized and calmed down.

If anything, it’s all Kyle can do here. He can’t go out there and help his friends. He’s not wanted anywhere, but it’s not like he wants to be completely alone in the Horde. It’s not really worth it.

Kyle is sat in the endless greens, while Lonnie rants about Catra and everyone else comments on her behavior. Kyle is not really sure how he feels about the feline. Catra is… scary. She’s pretty close to Adora, but otherwise she never gets close to anyone and she messes with him a lot. Even so, Kyle is concerned about her, because she doesn’t lash out like this out of nowhere. He hopes that she and Adora come back okay.

Fifteen minutes become thirty, and that’s when Kyle hears someone coming.

The boy almost greets Adora and Catra back, except Catra isn’t with her, and Adora is…

Kyle gasps and rushes to her.

“Adora, are you okay?” He asks.

She doesn’t reply. Adora looks like she’s been crying for a whole lot of minutes, since her eyes are red and puffy. The girl looks like she’s about to cry again at the question.

“Adora, where’s—” Lonnie approaches them, stopping when she takes a look at the blond girl. As a result, Lonnie becomes a lot angrier, “Seriously?! Catra is the worst! She even scratched Adora!” She tells her other friends.

“D-Don’t say that,” Adora speaks up but very quietly. She’s never looked so sad before.

“Am I wrong, though?! She hit me out of nowhere and she hurt you, too! This is wrong!” Lonnie insists, irritated.

“S-She didn’t mean to, Lonnie—”

“Why do you keep defending her, Adora?! She’s always been like this! She doesn’t like us!”

“Shut up!” Adora yells back, her voice wavering with tears.

Despite her pleads, Lonnie only argues more. Kyle watches, in conflict. He understands how angry Lonnie must be – her black eye is enough of a reason, Kyle gets it, but…

He avoids standing up to Lonnie or Catra or anyone else – because he’s wimpy and lame, and a crybaby – but this isn’t fair to Adora. Lonnie is only making everything worse.

“S-Stop it, Lonnie!” Kyle stands between the girls – his adrenaline immediately going away when Lonnie glares at him.

“Who asked you, Kyle?” Lonnie pushes him aside, Kyle pathetically falling back.

“Leave him alone!” Adora steps at her. “At least he’s not yelling at me!”

Kyle looks up, afraid they might get in a fight, but the brown-haired girl leaves them be.

“Alright, fine, you crybaby. But don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Lonnie hisses.

Kyle flinches when someone touches him, though it turns out to be Adora. Lonnie has walked away.

“Are you hurt?” Adora checks over him as she helps him get on his feet.

“I-I’m okay. But…” Kyle gulps at the claw marks scratching her face. “I’m sure that hurts a lot more.”

Adora looks away, covering the wound with her hand. She vaguely glances at the other cadets and so she pulls Kyle with her to the same corner he was before; the unnoticed, unbothered safe place to him. It’s… weird having someone else with him.

“I know Catra has a really hard time getting close to people… but I don’t know what went wrong this time,” Adora admits in a low voice. Kyle is a little surprised she’s talking to him at all, but he lets her. “Maybe I did something wrong?”

“What? You didn’t do anything.”

“B-But I’m supposed to look after her. She got mad at me and h-hurt me in the face,” Adora hiccups, fresh tears dropping. “I just wanted her to apologize and be okay with everyone. I know she didn’t mean to hurt Lonnie.”

Kyle hums, unsure what to answer.

“Maybe I should’ve said something else… or stayed with her…” Adora mumbles to herself, trying desperately to dry her own tears. “I-I’m the worst friend ever.”

“I think you’re a pretty good friend, Adora,” Kyle reassures her, “I know you did your best.”

Adora looks up confused. “Y-You think so?”

“Mm-hmm.” Kyle scoots a little closer to her. “Maybe Catra just needs some time to cool off, y’know? You could try to talk to her later… or maybe she’ll come back here by herself. We could wait and see.”

Adora sniffs, considering the suggestion.

“That’s not a bad idea…” she mutters. “Maybe she’ll be ready to talk on her own time.”

Kyle nods. “Yeah, she must be really mad… I don’t know what for, but we’ll figure it out.”

“Okay. Yeah, you’re right.” Adora sighs.

Kyle watches as she finishes drying her tears. He doesn’t really know how to comfort people because he’s never done so, but he stays somewhat close to her if she needs him.

“Th… Thanks, Kyle,” Adora whispers, giving him a small smile.

Kyle’s face flushes. “Oh, ah… you’re welcome." He grins shyly, "That’s what friends are for, right?”

“Yeah…” Adora’s little grin fades.

He frowns in worry and is about to apologize when she brings up something.

“How did you get those?” Adora points at the bandages hiding his arms.

“Oh…” Kyle gulps. “We were playing a little too hard today. I was, y’know, being me,” he laughs awkwardly.

Adora doesn’t laugh with him and instead asks quietly, “Who did it?”

Kyle opens his mouth but decides to be silent. Regardless, he timidly points at the other cadets from afar. One person specifically. Adora seems to catch his sign.

“It’s okay, though. It’s usually… worse,” Kyle clears his throat.

Adora seems defeated, as if she’s fought three training robots in five minutes. Kyle didn’t really expect her to be that concerned about him, but he decides not to say it.

She inspects the bandages, and eventually her hand touches the claw marks again. Adora doesn’t cry again.

Kyle says nothing either and so they’re really silent. The other kids’ talking is nothing more than incoherent mumbles. It never makes sense to him, and he doesn’t think he’ll ever learn to understand.

They’re both looking at Lonnie and the rest, then they’re staring at their own laps, inside their little, lonely corner.

“Maybe…” Adora is hiding her wound again. “Maybe they didn’t mean it?”

She doesn’t specify who ‘they’ are, and Kyle neither agrees nor disagrees. He shrugs and gazes away to the side. “It still hurts,” he whispers painfully.

After that, they don’t talk about anything else.

--

Adora actually sticks by Kyle’s side until it’s dinner time. Maybe she’s not too comfortable around everyone else.

The girl barely eats her ration bars – she’s gotten Catra’s too –, even though the gray ones are her favorite if memory serves him correct. Kyle eats quietly from the other side of the circle, where sits Rogelio, Lonnie and the other cadets he doesn’t really know. At this point Lonnie is laughing along with them. Everyone acts like nothing happened.

Eventually, Adora stands up and leaves the bars aside. Kyle follows her (but hopes that isn’t uncalled for).

“Where are you going?” He wonders when they’re alone.

“I’ll go after Catra.” Adora doesn’t turn around. She sounds… tired but worried. “It’s not fair for her to lose dinner.”

“Right.”

“I should be going.”

“W-Wait, I could- I could go with you!”

Once Adora actually looks back, he regrets the words that came out.

“I-I mean…” Kyle clears his throat. “I just thought… you might need help? N-Not that you can’t do stuff alone, that’s not what I… uh…”

While he’s ready to be ignored or maybe scoffed at (seriously, Kyle? How pathetic can you be? he hears Lonnie say), Adora actually smiles at him.

“Thanks, Kyle,” Adora whispers, “but I’ll be okay. You can go eat with the others.”

(Kyle wants to say the opposite. That he wants to go with her. That he wants to share that little corner with her, because no one has ever wanted to go there with him. He wants to go with her and make sure she has that little corner for her, too. Even though he’s probably going to be easily knocked out by everyone and everything, it yells more than his fears for the first time in his life.)

“Okay,” he replies. “I’ll see you later.”

“Later.”

Adora finally leaves.

Kyle watches her go.

He sighs and returns to the common room.

Adora doesn’t come back.

--

Everything is back to normal then.

Adora and Catra are playing together again. The claw marks aren’t gone, though. There are other times they fight, but Kyle doesn’t see them around anymore.

Lonnie still mocks him often. Other cadets have joined her. Even Rogelio agrees with them at times.

It stays that way until one day. A pretty low day. There’s no one at the common room this time. Kyle was kicked out of the training for ruining everything, and Lonnie pushed him too hard. He's dried his eyes out of tears at this point.

The room is dark and empty, abandoned bars dirtying the floor. Kyle is hungry but his food was pretty much stolen when he tried to find it.

It’s one of the really bad days.

Kyle spends the rest of the day there. He plans to stay hidden until the night. He doesn’t want to face anyone else today.

That’s when the door opens, and Kyle hides deeper in his arms and knees. He’s really not up to have Lonnie make fun of him for another ten minutes again. But there’s no laughter, no multiple, fierce steps, no teasing…

Nothing, but quiet steps and breaths.

He awaits but there’s nothing. He doesn’t really dare look up. Not until whoever is there plops down beside him.

Then there’s crying.

The room is barely illuminated, if not for the light from outside, but Kyle notices the red scratches staining shaky arms and ripped clothes.

Kyle scoots close until the bodies are touching, and Adora cries harder as her energy falls against him. Her sobs echo in the empty room, the lonely corner only they know.

Kyle doesn't cry again, no energy left. But he stays for Adora.

[aceofspadegrass]

Okay hear mean out,so Niragi has A lynx right?. So let's just say that Catra here is pregnant with little baby Bobcats inside of her,and well..she's sitting on Niragi and Dori's Bedroom floor with fanta laying right next to her..and the she goes into labour.

Of course Niragi would freak out,Dori ran outside to call for Ann and Tatta with Henry in the medical room,Aguni helps Catra,guiding her to the medical room where Dori,Ann and Tatta are.

Niragi would storm out of the room,worrying about Catra as Fanta just runs beside him with his fedora hat on. And when they get to the door of the Medical room,Aguni I'd now aloud to be in there,nor Dori and Niragi. Fanta doesn't want to go in there too. Niragi starts panicking,so Dori Lifts up Fanta and puts him right in front of Niragi's face as fanta happily lick Niragi's face so he would calm down.

Eventually Last boss and Cabot are there,waiting outside. Both of them want to see the baby Bobcats,Meanwhile Ann,Tatta and Henry are in there. Ann and Tatta too focus getting the babies out of her,meanwhile Henry helping Catra calm down by scratching her ear.

How about the ending and how many babies would she have?? That's all up to you :D

Catra Becomes a Mother

Characters: Niragi Suguru, Aguni Morizono, Ann Rizuna, Tatta Koudai, Last Boss, Dori Sakurada, Cabot

Genre: Fluff. Catra is giving birth you guys- Baby season-

2.5k words

Hehe, I have finally gotten around to writing this! After the other 'Niragi's exotic pet gives birth' fic, I didn't know how to approach this, since it was the same general prompt, but I think I made it my own! I hope you like it, because I wrote this in one go!

Will the babies be canon in this AU? I'm not entirely sure. Perhaps they'll a one off sort of deal?

The sound of barking is what wakes him up, followed by rather strange noises. Niragi tried to block it out at first, but the barking gets louder, and Niragi throws a pillow at the general area.

“ Shut up you stupid animal-“ Niragi grumbles, but Fanta whines loudly, and not even a few moments later did Niragi suddenly feel a pressure on him. Fanta barks, now much closer to his face, and Niragi shoos the pup off, sitting up. “ What is it-“ He pauses when he hears what sounded like strange panting noises. Immediately he turns on the lamp by his bed to see what was up, only to nearly fall back when he saw his beloved cat on the ground making strange noises, and beneath her by her lower region was something obviously wet. “…. Oh my goodness Catra are you alright-“ Niragi asks, Catra making a sort of strained noise as her body trembles, like it was pushing something out.

Like it was….

“ Oh my goodness gracious.” Niragi mutters, Fanta barking and making Catra growl a little in defence of what obviously seemed to be something really serious, Niragi grabbing Fanta and hushing the small dog. “ You stay quiet, don’t you dare stress out my baby girl.” Niragi threatens the poor dog, Fanta whining but staying quiet. Niragi turns to where Dori, his unintentional roommate slept, who was actually still fast asleep, not that far away from Catra. Niragi glances at his cat in worry, then back at Dori, grabbing a second pillow and yeeting it as hard as he could in Dori’s direction.

“ Wh- Huh? Niragi, what’s going on?” Dori wakes up with a start, looking up at Niragi instantly with confusion and worry in his facial features. Niragi just gestures to Catra, eyes wide and lips pressed so tight it was obvious he was trying not to scream, Dori following his trail of sight. He gasps, eyes widening as well, and he gets up. “ I-I’ll be right back with the nice lady with the shades- Maybe she’ll know something? I think she knows medical stuff, yeah-“ “ Oh goodness not the dissection freak lady-" “ Don’t be mean Niragi! I don’t have the time- Catra doesn’t have the time for this-“ Dori races out of the room, Niragi climbing out of bed and kneeling besides his cat. Catra had been rather picky these past few days, choosing to reside in the oversized hollow cat stump that Last Boss randomly gave him one day, muttering about lynxes preferences and then fucking off like an old man on a stroll.

Niragi’s didn’t have time to think about how weird his closest thing to a friend was, petting Catra’s head and hushing her, eyes softening at the sight of her struggling with something Niragi still didn’t even know what was going on. “ It’s okay Catra, you’re gonna be just fine…..” Niragi mutters, keeping himself from breaking down in concern. Catra would secretly laugh at him, he just knows it. The others would too, and he couldn’t bear to even think about that possibility.

So he keeps calm, Catra making a rather lengthy yowling noise as she spasms once more. It takes far too long for Niragi’s comfort for Sakurada to return, along with Ann and for some odd reason Tatta, who Niragi chooses to ignore.

That is until they try to touch Catra, Niragi himself growling and pushing the two away. “ Don’t fucking touch her!” “ Niragi-“ Ann starts, but Niragi wasn’t having it, far too protective of his cat. Like hell was Ann and Tatta touching her. He didn’t even want them here anyways.

“ Niragi, let them take Catra to the infirmary, Ann can figure out what’s wrong there and be prepared-“ Sakurada begins to attempt to reason, but another strained mewl from Catra only makes Niragi more protective, glaring at the three of them.

“ Just tell me what’s wrong with her here. She’s gonna be just fine, I know it.” His voice was stern, cold even. Tatta looks at him with concern clear on his face, eyebrows furrowed and frowning. Ann sighs, and crosses her arms, eyes trailing over Catra curled in her log, eyes slowly narrowing. “ Niragi.” “ What the fuck do you want." “ We need to take her to the infirmary. We’ll even bring her log. Or somewhere dark.” “ My room is plenty dark! Why do you need somewhere dark anyways?” Ann looks to Niragi silent for a few beats before dropping the bomb, Niragi’s eyes widening and mouth dropping open as she says what Niragi didn’t think he’d ever get to hear directed at him.

“ Niragi, she’s in labour. We need to get her somewhere where she can get medical aid if necessary.”

Niragi was frozen, before he looks at Catra, who was still within what was the beginning of what may have been contractions, Niragi’s eyes trailing over her entire body. How the hell did he not know she was-

“ Move aside. I’ll carry her.” A gruff voice cuts him out of Niragi’s frenzied stare, eyes snapping up to Aguni now standing there, holding a sizable cage with both hands on the handle. “ You three, head to the infirmary and prepare for the babies when they come.”

Ann and Sakurada both nod, and they leave the scene immediately, Tatta muttering something as he stares at the scene before going away to follow the other two. Niragi remains by his cat, Aguni opening the metal door and setting it on the ground. There was a blanket draped over the cage, acting as a safe zone for Catra to be inside and not have to be stared at. Niragi wouldn’t want anyone to look at his cat in such a state anyways, but multiple people have already seen it. “ Help me get her in, Niragi.” Aguni orders, coming over to the soon to be mother, Catra grunting as her body tried again to expel the babies within her. Niragi does as Aguni asks, more trusting of him than the other two blackberry and blueberry muffin fucks that Sakurada brought with him. Once she was safely secure in the cage, Aguni carefully shuts and covers the cage, picking it up by the handle with little strain seen on his face. He wordlessly leaves, Niragi scrambling up and following after Aguni. He didn’t want to be left out of this, especially when it was his pet they were dealing with here.

Fanta barks and obediently follows after, and they all make it to the infirmary, Aguni only being able to briefly walk in. Niragi tried as well, but Ann suddenly came up to the both of them as soon as Aguni set the cage down in the infirmary, which only had a few lamps on, the rest of the room dimmed. She starts to push them out, Niragi snarling and grabbing her arm harshly.

“ Oi! What’s the big fucking idea!?” Niragi snaps, Ann keeping her neutral expression as she pushes the men out of the room.

“ I’m sorry, but I can’t have you do something to stress the mother out-“ “ I’m her owner!” “ And Aguni, while I do not doubt you, I would still rather keep the people in here minimal to avoid stress. Tatta is to remain with me in case something happens, and to act as a second pair of eyes.” She explains briefly, and she steps away, quickly drags out Sakurada out as well, who gets no explanation at that point, but Sakurada had likely already heard it, Ann shutting the door and leaving the three out there. Fanta barks, stepping over to Sakurada and barking, tail slowly wagging. He bends down to pet the dog, Niragi sucking in a breath through his teeth.

He can’t believe it. His Catra, his lynx was going to be a mother. He doesn’t even know how she even became pregnant, or how long she’s been pregnant. Catra didn’t even seem to show that many signs of being pregnant at all, acting as she usually did each day. Niragi was going to see her babies.

Oh goodness, does that mean he’s now the cat dad for a bunch of defenceless babies? He didn’t want the babies to get hurt, especially here. Niragi was glad animals had been held to different standards here in the Borderlands, otherwise he wasn’t sure what he would’ve done. How many babies were there even going to be? He doesn’t know that much about lynxes outside of the basic that has kept Catra alive all this time- Oh fuck, has he been feeding her correctly? What if one of the babies came out wrong because of him? Oh goodness he didn’t think he’d be able to get over that- Would Catra get complications? He’s heard of complications during birth, and even the infirmary didn’t have nearly enough supplies to handle this- The lighthouse bitch wasn’t even a vet-

“ -Hey! Hey Niragi, hey calm down there buddy! You’re breathing too quickly, everything is gonna be just fine- Here, have some Fanta love-“ Sakurada’s voice cuts through tumbling thoughts, and a wet tongue drags along his cheek, Niragi jolting and instinctively moving to push away whatever the hell even touched him. His eyes focus immediately to golden brown fur and a snout, Fanta barking and blepping at him.

“ Don’t worry Niragi, she’ll be fine! Catra is a fighter!” Sakurada chirps with a reassuring and lopsided smile, Niragi grumbling and aggressively trying to scrub away dog slime off his face with a sleeve. Sakurada continues to smile, and Niragi glares at him, Fanta happily licking him again and making Niragi recoil.

He doesn’t know how long they were standing out there. Niragi didn’t want to leave, especially since his cat was in there with the weird organ poker and the dumb puppy Ratatouille thing. He really wanted to burst in there to check on her, whether they even dared to hurt his lynx, but Aguni’s pointed stare at him every so often was the only thing keeping him waiting. Sakurada stayed as well, petting his dog and occasionally ringing up a conversation to keep the other two occupied.

Niragi was checked out of the conversation anyways, and he spots someone slowly ambling down the halls, Niragi immediately tensing and squinting at the approaching figure. “ Oh! Last Boss! Glad you can join us!” Sakurada greets the moment the tattooed man gets closer, Cabot popping out from his hoodie, even though it was firmly resting on his head, making him seem to have just grown a second head. Last Boss says nothing, just staring at all of them. Niragi continues to squint at him, and Last Boss finally settles on staring back, not even blinking. “ The fuck are you doing here.”

“…. I heard Catra was giving birth.” Niragi stares at Last Boss with furrowed eyes. “ How the hell did you find out.” Last Boss’s gaze moves away, and Niragi follows it to Aguni, who looks at the ground instead, his face showing partial guilt. Niragi storms over to Aguni, silently demanding answers. “ I needed something to carry her somehow, so I asked him for help.” The man answers moments after Niragi came over glaring. Niragi groans, rolling his eyes. Of course he did. Well, no matter. Last Boss was at least tolerable in his eyes. He didn’t mind all too much if Last Boss found out, the man didn’t make a big deal out of anything.

He turns back to Last Boss, who hasn’t even moved, Cabot peeking out of his hoodie. Fanta was at Last Boss’ feet, tail wagging and excitedly barking, Sakurada trying (and failing) to gently guide him away. Niragi thought about asking something, and he knew Last Boss would have an answer, since he was the same person that made sure Niragi knew how to keep her comfortable here at the Beach.

“ Hey, any uh…. any clue on the state of the babies? Like…. how many we talking about here- Possibly.” Niragi asks, Last Boss blinking. He says nothing, but Niragi can tell gears were turning in his naked graffiti head. Finally, Last Boss answers, almost like he was just reading off of something from the internet.

“ They’re usually born in small spaces so that the mother can easily protect them, such as logs, stumps, and even holes within the ground, just as long as it can keep them together and warm. Catra may have between two to three, but she may have less or even up to eight.” Sakurada lets out an impressed whistle, Niragi nodding with focused energy in his eyes. “ They’ll be fed for a few months, but can eat meat at a fairly early age, when Catra thinks they’re capable of it.”

“ Okay…. That’s all?” “ Mostly. They’ll stick around for a while too, so be prepared.” Last Boss says, just as the doors open, Tatta sticking his head out with a pleased smile. “ Hey guys, they’re here~” Tatta’s voice was quiet but obviously excited, Niragi pushing his way in without a second thought to get to Catra and see the babies. Ann was by the cage, and she presses a finger up to her lips, the quiet mewls of babies making Niragi feel a sense of warmth and giddiness in his soul. He carefully kneels besides the cage, others following suit at a respectable distance from the newly made mother, Sakurada gasping like a parent seeing their own baby for the first time. “ They’re so mini…..” He mutters, the others all nodding with Sakurada. Catra was busy licking at a small dark coloured bean, the babies all bumbling their way to Catra’s teats to suckle on their needed colostrum. Henry was on her head, the squirrel sitting there and messing with her ear in what seemed to be an enjoyable manner, Catra completely relaxed. Fanta and Cabot were quiet, apparently aware of the quiet the mother needed at the moment as she bonded with her newly crafted children.

“ Congrats, you’re a cat dad to a lot more cats now.” Tatta whispers, Niragi’s eyes completely on the babies. They were so innocent and helpless….. He needed to make sure they were protected, especially when they were his own cat’s children. He has a duty to protect the cuties.

“ How many are there, Ann?” Sakurada asks, and Niragi was already starting to count before Ann spoke a word.

“ Five wonderful babies. Three males, two females.” Ann tells them, her eyes traveling to the cage that acted as a safe cave. “ All healthy, as far as I know. I’m not a veterinarian, so I can’t be positive, but nothing is outwardly off about them. She’ll be fine.” Niragi silently nods, thinking of nothing but of Catra and her new children.

“ I’ll protect you guys, I swear….” Niragi mutters, near inaudible to everyone except himself. “ I’ll protect all of you. With your strong momma on your side, nothing will get you. Nothing.”

[turtletotem]

Darkest Before Dawn

Canon divergence fic set in alternate 03x04, “Moment of Truth” -- i.e. the mission to rescue Adora and stop the portal ended rather differently. (2.6k) (also on AO3)

.

"Let me make this clear," Glimmer said coldly. "You're dying. You are not going to be here when the sun rises."

Catra, curled on her side with her face to the wall, didn't so much as twitch an ear. Glimmer hadn't said anything she didn't already know. Though hearing the words aloud was more of a blow than she'd expected, she still wasn't going to give the Bright Moon princess the satisfaction of seeing her react.

Besides, moving hurt.

"There is one single person on Etheria who gives a damn about that," Glimmer continued, "and you're refusing to talk to her."

Not that her refusal to talk to Adora had kept the idiot from dragging her huge sword in here and trying to heal Catra with it, after the Bright Moon doctors couldn't even figure out what was wrong with her. If Catra had to die, at least she got to see Adora fail at something first.

She really hated the idea of dying here, in princess custody. From what she could tell, it had been the stupid arrow boy who insisted on dragging Catra's unconscious body back to Bright Moon after Shadow Weaver—with help from Glimmer's borrowed magic—fried her half to death in that corridor. While Catra was passed out, the princesses had rescued Adora and destroyed the almost-finished portal. Since she disappeared in the attack, the entire Horde probably thought she'd been in on it. So really, she had nothing to live for anyway.

Catra closed her eyes, admitting to herself that was a lie. She did not want to die. But it wasn't like she ever got what she wanted anyway.

"I know you're awake," Glimmer said dryly. "Your tail is twitching."

Catra stilled it—too late.

"Adora wants to say goodbye to you," Glimmer said. "She's been crying for days. She even went to Shadow Weaver and begged her to save you." She waited, as if knowing this would finally prompt Catra to speak.

Hating herself for it, Catra did, her voice coming out raspy and faint. "What did Shadow Weaver say?"

"That she doesn't know what's wrong with you, either. She claims nothing she did to you should have resulted in… this." This being the endless burning pain, and the slow, unstoppable draining away of Catra's life energy, her vital signs dropping bit by bit by bit for no apparent reason. "It might be some effect of the combined magics that were used on you."

She almost, almost kept the guilt out of her voice in that last sentence. Catra smiled bitterly. You're going to need a thicker skin to get through this war, Sparkles. Can't let a little thing like watching someone be tortured to death by her foster mother get to you.

It took a minute for Glimmer to speak again. "Anyway, maybe it's unethical to force a dying girl to talk to someone she doesn't want to talk to. But I don't care about you. I care about Adora. So I've already sent a messenger to tell her you're asking for her."

Catra tensed. Which hurt.

"If you want to send her away again when she gets here, I can't stop you. But you'll be the one looking her in the face when you do it. In fact, let me make sure of that." Glimmer stepped forward and put a hand on Catra's shoulder. Before she could react, the world dissolved into sparkles and wind-chimes—and when it came back, Catra was turned the other way in the bed, facing the doorway. She was also violently nauseous.

By the time she could see straight again, Glimmer was gone.

*

Adora stepped into the room, looking shy and… grief-stricken, Catra thought.

Dry your tears, Adora, Catra snarled silently. I'm not dead yet.

"Catra? You… you asked for me?" The tentative hope in Adora's voice was unbearable.

She could say No. She could say Your manipulative little friend lied to you. I don't want to talk to you. I don't want to see you. I wish I had died without ever seeing you again.

Instead, she looked at the dark windows she would probably never see sunlight through again, and whispered, "Yes."

Adora hurried to her side, taking the chair a doctor had left and moving it closer. "Are you… are you comfortable? Can I get you anything?" She started to stand up again. "Let me get you—"

Catra grabbed her wrist; it felt like moving through honey, and she couldn't grip very hard, but she managed it. "No. I'm fine." She was hardly fine, of course—moving had sent a renewed ripple of pain through her body—but there wasn't anything Adora could do about that. Nothing they'd given her had helped the pain at all.

Adora sat down again, and shifted Catra's grip until they were holding hands, fingers interlaced. Catra waited for the touch to make the pain worse, but… it didn't. It might even have felt a little better.

The silence stretched, grew awkward. Catra couldn't stop looking at their hands. At least it was easier than looking at Adora's face.

"Did you want to talk about something?" Adora asked finally.

"Like what?" Catra rasped. "The war? Betrayal and broken promises? Your sparkly tiara and how it makes you so much more special than me?" The brief rush of speech left her gasping, which hurt.

Adora closed her eyes, as if to let the words wash over her and away. "I'll talk about anything you want," she said quietly.

Anything she wanted? That was a dangerous offer. Catra used the time while she caught her breath to decide on her most important question. She might only get one, before Adora got sick of her and left, or—or she ran out of time.

"Why did you leave me?" she said, her voice flat and measured. "Not the noble reason about saving the world. The truth. If you had to leave the Horde—fine. Why didn't you come back for me?"

Adora's eyes grew suspiciously shiny as she looked down at their joined hands, tracing slow circles with her thumb.

"Because I knew you would talk me into staying," she whispered at last. "You were the one person who could. And I couldn't do that, Catra, I couldn't live with myself if I stayed. But I also wouldn't be able to leave you, not on purpose. So I couldn't… I couldn't put myself in that position, I couldn't risk it."

Catra heard her own labored breathing halt in shock. "You… You would have stayed? For me? If I'd had the chance to ask?"

Tears were trickling down Adora's face. "Yes," she said, the word barely a breath, looking away in shame.

Of course Adora was ashamed of this confession that had given Catra the first spark of happiness and hope she'd felt in… longer than she wanted to think about. Catra's laugh took her by surprise, and spiraled instantly into a desperate choking cough that sent lightning arcs of pain through her body. Alarmed, Adora caught her convulsing body and held her, stroking her back and murmuring stupid nonsensical reassurances. Catra couldn't keep her claws from digging into Adora's skin, but if it hurt Adora gave no sign.

On a wall behind Adora, the doctors had left some kind of array of crystals that monitored Catra's condition. Most of them had turned from green to amber in the last few hours, and none were very bright. Several of them went out while Catra was coughing. A few lit again once she had her breath back. Most didn't.

You are not going to be here when the sun rises. Magic couldn't fix this one, not runestone magic, not She-Ra, not sorcery. Nothing could fix it.

And she was too tired and scared to fight the fact that Adora holding her felt better than anything ever had.

"Okay," Adora murmured, "you're okay, you're okay now. Do you want some water?"

Catra shook her head. "Could you…" She almost couldn't say the words, certainly couldn't look Adora in the face while she did it. "Could you just… lay down with me and—and hold me like when we were kids?"

"I can do that," Adora said without hesitation. Maybe even eagerly.

She moved Catra over in the bed with gentle, casual strength, and slid in next to her. This close, all Catra's senses were flooded with her—Adora's warmth, her scent, her heartbeat, their legs tangled together, Adora's arms around her and her forehead pressed against Catra's. It was almost enough to drown out the pain.

"I should have taken you with me from the beginning," Adora said softly. "I would have, if I'd known. It all happened so fast… and then when I tried, you wouldn't come. I did it wrong somehow, I did everything wrong."

"You did everything wrong? I'm second in command of the Evil Horde." Catra didn't quite have the breath to laugh. "I should have gone with you. I wish I had. I wish I'd done it all differently." She hadn't intended to say all of that, hadn't expected to mean it. She was too tired to lie, even to herself. "I'm sorry, Adora."

Adora's mouth opened in shock. She knew better than anyone that Catra didn't apologize. She'd been forced to do it all too often, as a baring of the throat, a submission to those with power over her; she didn't submit like that by choice, never. But this one didn't feel like defeat or humiliation. It felt like giving back something she'd stolen.

She and Adora looked at each other for a long wordless moment, almost too close for their eyes to focus. And then Catra shifted forward and kissed her.

And maybe this was why Catra hadn't sent Adora away when she saw her in the doorway. Maybe it was why she had refused to talk to her until Glimmer forced the issue. Maybe everything came down to this—Catra wanting this, wanting her, knowing she wouldn't and couldn't and shouldn't have her, and knowing that now there was no more time to wait and nothing left to lose.

Adora gasped, and Catra was so sure she would pull away that it took her a second to realize she hadn't. Instead, slow and unsure, she was kissing Catra back.

Everything Catra thought she knew about the world seemed to tilt sideways, or maybe she was just lightheaded from kissing Adora harder, deeper, again, again, shifting to press their bodies together, touching and being touched in a tangle of warm limbs…

She couldn't keep up. Far too soon, she had to break away, gasping, vision clouding over.

"Are you okay?" Adora said, breathless and shaky. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have—it's all right, just breathe." Her touch now was an attempt to be comforting, steadying, instead of… what it had been a moment ago, and the frustration of that was sharp but useless. Catra tried to make herself relax and breathe.

"You should rest," Adora murmured, when Catra had managed to calm down a little. "It's awfully late, you should sleep. Build up your strength. Maybe you'll feel better tomorrow."

Glimmer hadn't told her, then. Good. Catra flicked a glance at the monitoring crystals, hoping Adora wouldn't notice them. There weren't any green ones left.

"Stay with me?"

"Of course," Adora said. "I'll stay as long as you want."

The room fell silent, only the sound of their breathing, and Adora's heartbeat in her ear. Adora ran her fingers through Catra's hair, slow and absent-minded, like she always used to do.

Neither of them said anything about the kiss, or the apology, or anything else. Adora no doubt thought they would have time when Catra was stronger. That worked for Catra. She didn't want to talk about it, ever, and now she wouldn't have to.

Eventually, Adora drifted off to sleep. Catra tried to do the same. Dying in her sleep wasn't the fate she'd ever expected for herself, but it was a victory of sorts, wasn't it? To fall asleep in Adora's arms and just not wake up—there were much worse ways to go than that.

She couldn't manage it, though. The pain was just a little too much to let her doze off. She closest she could come was a sort of blank trance, timeless, drifting.

Sometime in the night, she became distantly aware that she wasn't breathing. She felt too fuzzy and tired to be afraid, just… sad. She didn't want to go yet. She wanted to stay with Adora. But since when did Catra get what she wanted?

She squeezed Adora's hand with the last of her strength, just as everything faded to black.

 *

Light blazed in her eyes, air filling her lungs with a harsh gasp, her nerves sizzling with an entirely different pain than the one that had sapped away at her for days—sharp, pure, clean. She floundered upright, coughing and dazzled and dizzy.

On the other side of the room—it was actually only a little brighter than before—Adora and Glimmer stared at her in utter shock.

Adora was sitting on the floor, looking like she'd collapsed there, her face puffy and damp. Glimmer hovered with an arm around Adora's shoulders. Apparently Catra's death had not gone unnoticed for long, which was… sort of touching, actually.

Catra cleared her throat awkwardly, and managed a version of her usual cockiness. "Hey, Adora."

"Catra?" Adora breathed, staggering to her feet and approaching her with a hand cautiously extended, as if afraid Catra would vanish.

"How…?" Glimmer glanced over her shoulder at the monitor crystals, all of which were bright green again.

Catra used Adora's hand to pull herself out of the bed. Her legs felt a little shaky from days of disuse, but they held her up. And nothing hurt. Nothing hurt.

"You were dead, Catra," Glimmer said. "Explain!"

Catra grinned. "You know the old saying that cats have nine lives? I guess I'm down to…" She did a quick count on her fingers. "Five. I should still have five left."

"Wait, you knew?" Adora's eyes narrowed, her hand pulling away from Catra's. "You knew you weren't really going to die, and you let me think…"

"I didn't know." Catra swallowed hard, her smile falling away. "The resurrections are magic—my people's magic. And every other kind of magic had already failed against whatever Shadow Weaver did to me. I swear I didn't think it was going to work this time!"

Adora turned to look at Glimmer, who sighed deeply, crossing her arms. "Well, I believe her. She would never have let herself look so weak if she didn't honestly think she was dying."

Catra gave the princess a rude hand gesture, which she returned.

"So you meant it," Adora said softly, stepping closer again. "What you said. What—what you did. You meant it?"

Catra felt her cheeks burning.

She could say no. Say it had been fear and old sentiment talking. That if she wasn't actually going to die than she'd be heading back to the Fright Zone now, thanks, and any objections could address themselves to her claws.

But she didn't want to go back.

"I'm not in the habit of saying things I don't mean, Adora," she snapped instead. "Breaking promises is your—ack!" She yelped as Adora flung her arms around her, squeezing painfully hard.

"This is not because I like you," Catra wheezed. "I just, you know, I think my career's gone as far with the Horde as it's going to and I'm looking for new opportunities—"

Adora grabbed Catra's face in both hands and kissed her hard. Catra felt herself melt into it instantly, ears and tail relaxing, no part of her able to resist.

Glimmer smacked a hand against her face, muttering exasperated profanities.

Outside the window, the first pink trace of sunrise appeared.

[babelfishing]

Everything I Have Written

It's about time I added a pinned post with everything I've written online. I originally thought, "I'll make this a best-of!" But eh, I love them all in their own special way. So here's just about Everything (TM).

I'll do my best to keep this updated with new content. Thank you so much for reading! Your comments and kudos mean the world to me.

Things I Have Written (She-Ra)

The Girl Who Swallowed a Star

"Hey, it's okay. Just relax, straighten your legs, and start walking."

Adora's body did so reflexively and to her surprise, the air beneath her boots felt stable and calm. Gingerly, she leaned her weight forward and found that the invisible surface did not give way.

"There you go, now you're getting it," Catra whispered after sensing the lingering tension in her ward's body. She leaned in closer such that her chin rested in the crook of Adora's neck. "Don't worry, I've got you."

A few dreamy steps further, the sorceress looked over and caught Adora staring. With an enticing grin, she returned the favor.

"Look at you. You're a natural."

"Heh...I guess so."

"And here I thought you were some magic-less flower delivery girl."

"You're pretty magical yourself."

Or

A Howl’s Moving Castle-inspired AU about love, war, and the perils of fighting other people’s battles. (Ongoing, Ch. 1 so far)

My Heart Overtook my Body

My "Your Name" AU, written for the S5 1-Year Anniversary Big Bang!

Like perfect strangers, Catra and Adora are busy living their own lives, out in the country and deep in the city, respectively. But one night, they begin switching places, each waking the next morning in the other’s body without a clue to the cause. As the switches continue, the pair are faced with a daily choice – stay true to their opposite’s wishes or meddle in their affairs, spicing it up or perfecting it as they see fit.

Soon enough, the pair find themselves at each other’s necks, spiteful of the person on the other end of the line. But as they begin to see more of the world through the other’s eyes, Catra and Adora begin to feel their summer passions blossoming into something more, their lives now inextricably bound by the red string of fate. That cord continues to tighten as they explore the person they’ve become, until the pair must overcome a hardship greater than distance to find a way back to each other (53k, 12 chapters)

A Beautiful Wish

Without warning, Catra opens her eyes and finds herself in a new reality where the Horde’s conquest had been successful, where she has become queen of the Horde by force, and where Adora has never left her side. Wracked with an insatiable bout of amnesia, Catra must now decide if this world is truly what she wants – even when it is too good to be true.

Or

A parallel to Adora's "wish" in Heart Pt. 2 (9.9k words).

Something Bitter, Something Sweet

Between their banter and a few glasses of wine, Catra and Glimmer stir up a cherished dumpling recipe and a few bittersweet memories (9.2k)

Caught Out

Adora and Catra trek through the great outdoors together and try to climb up to a scenic mountain peak. The weather has other plans, though. Despite the rain, the couple find a way to grow closer while retracing feelings of the past (9k).

Pitter Patter Goes my Heart

Catra has something she needs to ask Adora, and her racing thoughts won’t let her sleep until she gets an answer. It all started with a nightmare, but in the silence of their Horde cadet dormitory, Catra still finds the courage to lean into a dream she’s long held in her heart (3.3k).

The Sculptors Marble Sends Regards

On the 3rd anniversary of the war's end, Bright Moon makes a new addition to its statuary hall of heroes. Catra feels like she doesn't deserve the honor, causing old guilt about the war to bubble up (5.9k).

Pink in the Night

On a cadet training mission in the field, Catra and Adora sneak out of camp to explore a mysterious glowing cave. There, a crystal of unique beauty catches their mutual eye. But their nighttime escapade soon turns treacherous as the ground beneath them begins to give way. In the blink of an eye, Catra learns what it takes to save the person she cares about most in the world - even if she's only beginning to come to terms with her feelings (13.8k).

Compliments to the Chef

Catra and Adora enjoy the beginnings of a perfect Saturday morning, starting with a lovingly prepared meal and then...maybe more (4k)

That's It, Forever

My first ever fic! Catra struggles with her guilty conscience, even with the war now in the rear view (2.6k).

Don't Change

Catra has a question and she’s not sure she can sleep until she knows the answer. She wants to know what it feels like to transform into She-Ra, but more importantly, she wants to be sure she’ll always have Adora - no matter who she changes into (3.2k).

Truth and/or Drink

What's a few personal questions between friends? A lot, as it turns out, based on Adora and Glimmer's romantic history. For a time, both women thought that they could make their living arrangement work platonically. But after a few rounds of a classic drinking game, they both reveal some truths that help reconcile their past while also making it harder for them to live together as "just friends" (7.4k).

Missing Out, Missing You

One evening, aboard Horde Prime’s ship, two former enemies converse about their younger years and what could have been, if not for the war (2.2k)

Things I Have Written (The Owl House)

Mint Chocolate

Amity's not jazzed about the prospect of re-dying her hair. That is, until Luz volunteers to help. After that, she can hardly say "no," let alone remain focused on the task at hand. In the end, the pair end up with more on their mind than what to do with their snow white hair (6.6k).

Such a Heavenly View

Amity invites Luz to watch the stars from a popular Boiling Isles overlook. But a storm rolls in to ruin their date - at least, that's what everyone around them knows it to be. Luz manages to find a way to save the night, though, with a little mix of magic and burgeoning affection. (7.4k)

A Dull Roar

A project due date is approaching, so naturally, the library would be the best place for Luz and Amity to study. But as it turns out, even the library can offer its own share of distractions – that is, if you’re sitting with the right person.

Or

Amity and Luz try to hit the books, but end up hitting on each other – in their own way (9.9k).

Don't Hold Your Breath

After Boscha tosses Amity's pendant in the Hexside pool, it's up to Luz and Amity to sneak in like cat burglars and nab it back. Their escapade makes for an intimate evening of night swimming - even if they're not mutually ready to admit their feelings just yet. But even without saying it, Luz eventually shows how much her new friend means to her when the pool's perilous nature comes to a head (8.5k)

The Fireworks in Me

On the eve of the Midwinter Festival, an argument between Amity and Luz boils over, leaving the latter struggling to find the words to apologize. Though a walk through town manages to cool her nerves, it may take a little extra warmth - from her girlfriend and their favorite holiday brew - to fully make amends (3.5k).

Letterman

After lending Luz her varsity jacket, Amity realizes the implications just a moment too late (2.4k).

In the Blink of an Eye

A serendipitous encounter in the Palisman Woods offers Amity a chance to show her true spark. But her fire magic isn’t the only flame on this battlefield. Somehow, someway, Amity finds her harsh demeanor melting away after catching a glance of a certain human stranger. Maybe if she’s lucky, her quick thinking will be enough to get her name (7.9k)

Thank you to everyone who reads my work! Your kudos and comments are appreciated beyond your wildest belief. I have a bunch of wips and half-ideas that I may add to this collection as well, so don't miss those.

[catrasredemption-moved]

Adora and Catra adopting Finn either as an orphan or abandoned kid like them?

It wasn’t so much that anyone thought Adora or Catra would be any good with children. (They also didn’t think they would be terrible with them; the couple just wasn’t the first choice for taking in an orphan.) But the child’s furry little body and pointed ears had immediately made Scorpia think of Catra, and who would know more about a part-cat person than someone who was one herself?

“I’m not sure this is a great idea,” Adora was slowly saying as Catra peeked into the small room where Bow and Scorpia were sitting with the child, attempting to teach them how to play cards. There was something so profoundly sad in their eyes. Something Catra recognized.

“I’m not either,” Glimmer admitted. “But the Fright Zone is still being rebuilt and there isn’t really anywhere for them to stay right now, and they seem kind of... skittish. It’s just until we find their parents.”

“And if you don’t? If they’re dead, or don’t want them?”

“Then we go from there. But the kid still needs someone in the mean time.”

Catra slipped into the room, leaving Adora and Glimmer to their debate. “Okay, you put down a nine, so that means - oh, hey Catra,” Bow said cheerfully when he saw her approaching the table. The child looked up, ears twitching slightly at the sight of the woman.

“Hey.” Catra sat down across the child, giving them a small smile. “Deal me in.”

“You got it.”

It was a well known fact that everyone hated playing with Catra - she knew all their tells and easily called their bluffs. But Bow wasn’t going to fuss in front of the kid when they were trying to gain their trust.

Catra leaned conspiratorially across the table, grinning. “Okay, so first thing you gotta know - Scorpia’s tail twitches when she’s bluffing. She can’t lie to save her life. And Bow’s left eyebrow goes up when he has a bad hand.”

“It does not!”

“Oh really? How’s your hand this round?”

“It’s great, thank you very much.” But Catra saw his eyebrow twitching. She winked at the kid, who laughed a little.

“The game’s all about being a good liar. Everyone has a tell. The trick is making sure no one knows what yours is. So, who’s starting?”

“I will,” Bow said, picking cards out. “Clockwise around the table.”

“So you’ll go after me,” Catra told the child, who nodded.

“Two threes,” Bow said proudly, putting the cards down.

“End,” Catra said immediately, throwing down an eight. Bow groaned. “Eight is the card that ends the entire round. So back to Bow.”

Bow frowned, looking his cards over. Finally he put two more down. “Two tens.”

“Two kings,” Catra said proudly. Bow groaned. “The only thing that beats a king is a nine or an ace. Got either of those?”

The kid searched their cards, frowning, then slowly put an ace down. “Pass,” Scorpia sighed.

“Nice. Good job, kid.”

The tips of their ears turned red, but they smiled shyly. “Top of the round,” Bow said, putting down a nine with far too much smugness. Catra simply raised an eyebrow and put an ace down. “Oh come on!”

“Pass,” Scorpia said sadly. The child hesitated before slowly putting down an eight.

“You’re a quick learner,” Bow said, grinning. The child’s eyes flicked to Catra, then back to Bow, and they nodded.

They went through this four more times, until Catra and the child were both down to two cards. Scorpia still had most of her hand, thanks to some well played eights blocking her before she even got a turn, and Bow had five cards left. Bow put down a nine; Catra immediately tossed an eight in front of it.

“Aw man,” Scorpia groaned, resting her head on the table. The child giggled, trying to hide their smile behind their cards. Bow looked at his four remaining cards, then at Catra, who was smiling smugly. He put down a king. She threw down her last a card. An ace.

“First out,” she said, leaning back in her chair, arms crossed behind her head. Bow glared at her before turning to the kid.

“Catra’s out of cards, which makes her the winner this round, so she’ll be king next round - er, queen, I guess. You’ll probably be out next, which will make you the richest. Then I’m guessing I’ll be the poorest, and Scorpia will be the beggar.”

“I’m always the beggar.”

Adora was biting her thumbnail, thinking. “I dunno. Catra, what do you - Catra?” She turned, surprised to find her wife was gone. There was laughter coming from the other room; Glimmer grabbed Adora, and they teleported over to peek in. Catra had joined the card game, and was clearly having a good time teaching the kid how to rile up Bow.

“Wow.” Glimmer sounded impressed. “I thought she was the one who’d be terrible with kids.”

"Hey, it’s okay. They’re all jerks.”

Adora paused at the sound of her friend’s voice, then slowly peeked around the corner. Catra was kneeling in front of a small girl nursing red hands and raw knuckles. Adora recognized those wounds - belt across the knuckles. She must have been caught misbehaving.

“You gotta ice them, or they’ll swell and it’ll feel worse. C’mere.”

The girl scooted forward uncertainly, offering her hands to the teen. She winced when Catra put the ice pack on them. “I know, it sucks. What’d you do?”

“F-Force Captain Octavia caught me drawing during class,” the girl whimpered. Catra rolled her eyes.

“She’s the worst, isn’t she? Hey, you know how she has that eyepatch?” The girl nodded. “That’s because of me.”

“What? Really?”

“Yeah. Clawed her eye when I was eight. It was an accident, kind of, but she was trying to grab me so I attacked.” She left out the part where she spent a week in solitary. The girl was looking at Catra like she was a goddess. “What’s your name?”

“Kana.”

“Cool. I’m Catra.”

The girl’s eyes were roaming now, fixing on Catra’s head. She sighed. “You wanna pet me, don’t you?” Kana nodded. “Okay, go ahead.”

“Really?”

“Sure. Just don’t tell anyone else, okay?”

Kana nodded eagerly, standing, one small hand scratching Catra’s ears. Adora watched for a moment with a small smile before turning and going back down in the other direction.

“I’m not surprised,” Adora said with a small smile, nudging the door open and stepping inside. Catra looked up and caught her eye, grinning.

“Hey Adora.”

“Hey. Having fun torturing Bow?”

“Absolutely. Kid and I have beaten him twice so far.”

“You’re helping them cheat, aren’t you?” Bow grumbled. Catra just shrugged, smiling innocently, then looked back to the child.

“We can’t keep calling you kid. You got a name? I wouldn’t leave it up to us, our track record with names is pretty freaking awful. Adora tried to convince me that my name was Catra Applesauce Meow Meow for the longest time.”

“We were four.”

“Catra Applesauce Meow Meow.” Glimmer sounded transfixed by the idea. “How did I not already know that? I need to have known that like five years ago.”

“I’m sorry, what’s your name again? Glimmer?”

“Finn.”

The small voice almost went unnoticed over Glimmer’s annoyed huff. But Catra had good ears. She looked back at the kid, who met her gaze. “Finn, huh? That’s a cool name. Do you like it?” They nodded. “Finn it is, then. Wanna play another round?”

Finn’s eyes flickered to the new arrivals, then back to Catra. “Is it okay?”

“Of course.” Catra leaned across the table as if to convey a secret. “You can watch me beat the queen of Bright Moon and the savior of the universe at a card game. It’s pretty great.”

“Bring it on,” Glimmer said, grabbing a seat. There were no other chairs in the room, so Adora simply nudged Catra and made her move until they were sharing, one of Catra’s legs thrown casually across both of Adora’s.

“Finn, do you know anything about your parents?” Adora asked carefully as Bow dealt the cards again. Finn shook their head. “Well... would you maybe want to stay with us for a bit? Me and Catra, I mean. But we live in the castle.”

Finn’s eyes widened. “You guys live here?” they asked in awe.

“Yup. Possibly not for much longer if Bow’s dads have their way. But then you’d get to live in a giant library.”

“Which is really fun,” Bow added. “Trust me, I grew up there.”

Finn was chewing their lip, eyes on the table. “I... I dunno.”

“You don’t have to decide right now,” Catra assured them. “Just... spend a night or two here and see how you feel.”

The child looked at Catra again. They trusted her. The realization went around the table in shock, save for Adora, who was just smiling. She wasn’t surprised. Catra was easy to trust when she didn’t have her walls up.

And she was trying. * * * * * * * * * * * The bed was empty when Adora awoke, some time around three a.m. She yawned, eyes searching the room for any sign of Catra, and finding none. There was also no Melog, which made her feel slightly better. Wherever Catra was, she wasn’t alone.

And she wasn’t that far, it turned out. Finn had been put in the suite next to theirs; Adora peeked in, and saw Catra asleep on the floor next to the bed, curled up in a blanket nest. Melog had tucked himself into bed with Finn, who was cuddling the alien cat as hard as their slim arms would allow. Something about the sight ignited a warm, fuzzy feeling in Adora’s chest. She slipped into the room and went to join her wife. Catra stirred slightly as Adora settled in next to her.

“Didn’t want to leave them alone?” she guessed in a whisper. Catra shrugged, yawning, and nestled closer to Adora. “Softy.”

“Shut up.”

[kittyprincessofcats]

She-Ra S5 E07 - Perils of Peekablue

There might be spoilers for the rest of the season in this post!

I’ll start by saying upfront that I pretty much consider this to be the weakest episode of season 5 (or at least one of the weaker ones), even though it does move the plot along significantly. The main reason is that, as I said before, I don’t care about the group on Etheria as much as the group in space (with the exception of Scorpia and possibly Spinnetossa), so an episode like this - even though I get why it’s important - just won’t interest me as much as what the gang in space is up to.

That said, it’s not a *bad* episode or anything. Let’s get into it:

- The entire beginning scene where Adora tries to transform into She-Ra and the others keep interrupting her is absolute gold and I love everything about it. Especially Catra, OMG! The way she shows up and actually asks “Are we messing with Adora?” - She’s not even pretending to be helpful and I love that she’s bonding with Glimmer and Bow over “messing with Adora”. And how she then just flings herself onto Adora’s lap and brushes Adora’s face with her tail while cheekily saying “Yeah Adora, concentrate!” - brilliant, absolutely brilliant 🤣. And I also love how Adora doesn’t even try to push her off and actually holds her. These two are too cute.

- I also wonder if the “You can’t let distractions keep you from transforming” line was intentional foreshadowing for Shadow Weaver telling Adora that Catra’s a distraction.

- I like Catra’s new outfit! Well, it’s pretty much just her old outfit with a few adjustments. But still, nice! And she looks really cute with short hair.

- I feel like this beginning scene is pretty much here for two reasons: It sets up that Entrapta is trying to reach the rebellion on Etheria, which will be relevant at the very end of the episode, AND it shows Catra’s new outfit, so we can have a new opening now.

- Changes in the opening: Time for some really exciting mid-season opening changes! Catra’s missing from the villains’ card for the first time ever. Instead, Horde Prime’s hands are now closing around a glowing orb (I assume that’s meant to be the heart of Etheria). At the part where Catra and She-Ra fight, Catra now has short hair, She-Ra is in her new form, and instead of a snarl the fight ends with a soft smile between them (I’m not crying, you’re crying. Best opening glow-up ever! 😭). In the final heroes’ shot, Adora back to being She-Ra instead of Adora, but this time in her new form. And Catra is *finally* in the heroes’ shot as well. GOOD STUFF. (In general, I just LOVE that they actually kept updating the opening in the middle of the season. That is SO cool. But the change that really gets me is how they updated Catra and Adora’s fight, because that’s been the same since the beginning of the show and now it’s SO SWEET.)

- Okay, so my biggest problem with this episode is that the plan to find Prince Peekablue seems... kinda dumb? So they’re planning to sneak into an underwater soiree undercover and abandon everyone else at the camp to find a “hermit” no one has seen in ages because he might know where Adora and the others are? As a plan it just seems far-fetched. I get that they want to warn Adora and company that Prime is chipping people (they don’t know that Adora’s group already knows that), but how would finding Peekablue even help them achieve that? He could tell them where Adora and the others are, but... that’s it. It’s not like he can also magically communicate with Adora or anyone else. And didn’t Swift Wind tell the others last episode that Adora’s coming home and that he can feel her coming closer? So shouldn’t they already know that the group in space are on their way home? (Granted, Swift Wind told that to Micah, Frosta, Spinnerella and Netossa - but I’m assuming the rebels communicate with each other and Micah would have also told Mermista and the others?) I mean, idk how much time supposedly passed between these two episodes, so maybe it’s been a while since Elberon? Also, when did they even figure out that Horde Prime is chipping people? Last episode, Micah still said they had to “figure out what that was”. And if they know about the chips now, it might have been a good idea to check the necks of everyone at camp right away - though to be fair, they maybe didn’t realize how the chips work yet. And yeah, I am nitpicking here (and obviously the rebels have to mess up so things can go south this episode, so I guess they have to make some bad decisions.)

- That said, I love all of their outfits! And I like that Scorpia’s alias “Lynda D’Ream” is a reference to the 80s cartoon.

- Netossa’s lucky that she wears an outfit with such a high collar - makes it hard to put a chip on her neck. (Also, idk if I’ve said this before, but I love Spinnerella and Netossa’s character designs and outfits. They’re both fashion queens.)

- Just the fact that it really is Spinnetossa’s anniversary and Netossa thinks that’s why Spinnerella is acting strange - I mean, what are the odds?

- “They are my people! Which means that most of them have sworn revenge against me at some point.” Okay, that is pretty funny. And getting to meet all of Sea-Hawk’s exes was pretty funny, too. (Yeah, officially they’re not his exes but just people whose ships he set on fire... but come on, the subtext isn’t really subtle here.) And I love the whole running gag of him and Mermista fighting all of them behind the bar counter with Mermista doing most of the work and getting more and more annoyed with it - but when they’re finally done, it turns out there’s also someone there that *she* doesn’t want to see, because she set their ship on fire. Comedy gold.

- Scorpia is me at a party :( I also find it super hard to socialize and get into conversations with strangers. Very relatable there.

- I also love how the sweet flowergirl Perfuma has absolutely no problem blending in with a bunch of criminals.

- “You’re amazing. You have the biggest heart and you could do whatever you put your mind to.” Aww. I’m glad someone told Scorpia that!

- “You should do things not because you’re good at them, but because they make you happy.” That actually is some really good life advice. People should keep that mind in general.

- (I love how Sea-Hawk and Mermista are carrying Admiral Scurvy away in the background while Scorpia and Perfuma are having their heartfelt talk 🤣.)

- “Repeat after me: I can do this. I can do this.” “Perfuma can do this.” 🤦 I feel bad for laughing, but... gosh, Scorpia has some serious self-esteem issues.

- Okay, time for an unpopular opinion: I’m... not that into Scorfuma. There’s nothing wrong with it and I’m not against it or anything, but it just doesn’t particularly grab my interest. That excited feeling you get when you ship something just... isn’t there for me with them, sorry.

(I kinda felt like I had to explain/justify myself, so I started to write a small essay on my ships here that doesn’t really have anything to do with the episode. Feel free to just skip this part.)

I consider myself a multishipper and while my #1 OTP is definitely without a doubt Catradora, I also really have a soft spot for Scorptra (to the point where I’d say it’s probably my #2 after Catradora). And, to make it short, Scorptra vs. Scorfuma is one of those “fanon vs. canon” things for me, where what you want to see happen in canon isn’t necessarily what you find exciting or interesting to explore in fanworks. Obviously Scorptra was never going to be canon because Catradora is a thing, and I’m perfectly okay with that. And in canon, Scorpia getting out of a toxic friendship, moving on from her unrequited feelings, and finding love with someone else (who treats her right) is the right message to send, so I’m glad that’s where the show went. But when it comes to enjoying a ship in fanon (which is what I consider “shipping” to be), then I don’t pick my ships based on how healthy they are in canon, but on how much their dynamic fascinates me and just on whether that certain spark that makes me like a ship is there or not. And in that sense, Scorpia’s dynamic with Catra, which was explored over the course of 4 seasons, is just infinitely more fascinating and spark-inducing to me that her relationship with Perfuma.

And even beyond Scorptra - if I had to ship Scorpia with someone other than Catra, my first pick would be Entrapta. (Yes, I do ship Entrapdak, but like I said - multishipper here. Also, Entrapta has two hands!) And my first pick for who to ship Perfuma with would be Mermista because I like their bickering and I have a thing for opposites attracting.

Anyway, I’ve been rambling about ships for too long now. The bottom line is: I’m fine with Scorfuma being canon and it makes sense that they fit together since they’re very similar people. I don’t dislike it, I’m just not as hyped about it as many people seem to be. On with the episode now, please!

- “I guess I don’t know what a hermit is after all.” Yeah, Peekablue was giving off Double Trouble vibes from the beginning, tbh.

- I love how Netossa is competitive even at planning anniversary surprises.

- Perfuma loudly supporting Scorpia when she ends up on stage is a super nice moment, though. And Scorpia’s performance? Amazing!

- I wonder if Double Trouble made up that whole “She-Ra in space” vision because they were pretending to be Peekablue and just got it right by accident, or if they actually knew that much from their time pretending to be a clone. I wonder how much time they spent as a clone and what exactly they saw.

- Scorpia realizing it’s Double Trouble and then tricking and unmasking them was an amazing moment. So much for Scorpia not being smart!

- I was so excited to see Double Trouble again! Tough it makes me a bit said that they refered to Catra as their “cash kitten”. While they never made a secret out of being in it for the money, I kind of like the idea that they did care for Catra after all. (Do I just ship everyone with Catra? The answer is yes.)

DT: “I know where your friends are. And I’ll tell you - for a price, of course.”

Perfuma: *grows flower arm canon*

DT: “... Fine.”

😂😂😂 Love that.

- “It makes for a very dull audience when everyone’s mind-controlled.” Okay, but that really is a good reason for Double Trouble to help the heroes out without really changing their motivation. They’re still a Chaotic Neutral who doesn’t particularly care about morals - but it would make for a very dull audience if everyone was mind-controlled.

- “Prime is angry. She-Ra showed up and stole his little kitten away.” Like I said before, I LOVE that that’s the reason why Prime’s so pissed in the first place.

- The confrontation between Netossa and Spinnerella is so heartbreaking, but when she said “show me your neck” it again made me wonder why they didn’t check everyone’s neck at camp before.

- “What a shame we can��t be together... in Horde Prime’s light!” Ooohhh, it’s so creepy and angsty, I love it!

- And Mermista’s chipped as well because obviously things have to go south here.

- The parallel confrontations at camp and at the soiree are really cool scenes. I especially like the Spinnerella vs. Netossa fight. And Micah’s chipped as well, because things have to go wrong and Glimmer mentioned being “a day away from meeting her dad” - so obviously that has to be ruined now, too.

- “A little help? I need to lift my hand to the heavens.” Gosh, I love DT.

- Scorpia’s sacrifice made me tear up 😭. (When I first watched it, I was scared she was actually going to die and not just get chipped - I’d never have forgiven the show for that.)

- Can we talk about how strong Netossa actually is? She fought off both Spinnerella and Micah by herself, made a big enough net to cover all the chipped people, and got herself and Frosta out of there safely - I don’t want to hear anything about her powers not being strong again.

- “Happy anniversary.” Noooo, now I’m crying again... 😭😭😭 It’s so sad, but so romantic... (I really love that this season gave Spinnerella and Netossa more screentime. And I’m always here for some angst!)

- And finally, Perfuma is able to contact the group in space and warn them about the blockade. I really like that scene. I like that Perfuma specifically says “You need to stay away”, since we know what happened last time someone told Adora that. And the whole grim mood of Perfuma apologizing and saying the rebellion is compromised, the shaky pictures, the connection cutting off, and then the shot of the ship all alone in space and the silence - amazing. Basically, this episode was “things go very wrong on Etheria, and now the group in space has a serious problem”.

This was a good episode, overall. Like I said, the main reason I consider it weaker is because I care more about the group in space, and they were only here for one scene in the beginning and one in the end. But this was still pretty solid. It had some funny and sweet moments, and then some really cool and dramatic scenes in the end. And of course, it was a very important episode for the plot because things are now really not looking good on Etheria. My favourite moment was Catra sitting on Adora’s lap in the opening scene, though.

[Previous episode]   [Next episode]

[gin-and-total-annihilation]

more spop not!fic that actually turns into fic bc i am trash

I will preface this entirely-too-long post by saying I’ve read very, very little spop fanfic, and the few I’ve read since s5 dropped are all Catradora oneshots that are, um, a little hyperfocused. (Read: Y’all really have some Ideas about how a sword lesbian and a cat lesbian have The Sex, don’tcha.) So it’s entirely probably that the scenario I’m imagining here has been done before, possibly a lot, and likely better than how I’ve imagined it. This is me, 15 minutes late with Starbucks.

But can you imagine how hard it would be for Catra to integrate into the Princess Alliance? I mean, the show depicts the BFS adopting her pretty much immediately with, like, zero hesitations over their past history with her (a few sarcastic one-liners tossed here and there don’t count as processing, imho). But the kingdom at large? Not to mention the other kingdoms? Catra was the face of the invasion for such a long time. She had a specific angle to take out She-Ra, the ubiquitously-loved and lauded hero of Etheria. Yes, she helped save the planet/universe from Horde Prime, but once the banners and balloons come down, there’s still a reckoning to be had.

Mermista alternately pokes fun at Catra for being afraid of water, and takes any opportunity to “accidentally” splash her

Netossa brings a squirt bottle to any meeting where Catra is invited, and offers at some point to make Adora a magic leash for her

Frosta doesn’t particularly say or do anything, but she makes extra sure to exude icy menace in Catra’s direction. Okay, one time she maybe accidentally zings Catra during iceball, but everyone else thought it was funny!

Out of respect for Scorpia’s friendship with Catra, Perfuma doesn’t stoop to playing pranks, but she does pointedly remark on how muddled Catra’s chi is, a lot. Sometimes in the middle of a meeting, if Catra is arguing with someone, Perfuma will airily announce to the whole room that negative energy is starting to interfere with their goals again, and it looks like she’ll have to sage the meeting room again. After which Catra usually just gives up and sulks in silence

Micah is fairly neutral on the subject of Catra, considering she’s part of his daughter’s “best friend squad” and is also dating She-Ra, Princess of Power, demigod of the wind and sea, vanquisher of Horde Prime, hero of Etheria. But he does get moody sometimes looking at the mural of Angella, and a couple of times he’ll go Dad Mode and tell Glimmer she reminds him of her mother, but then he’ll glance at Catra and change the subject.

And like, Catra gets it, okay? She fucked up. She was the bad guy. And these people are princesses. If there’s anything Catra knows is true, it’s that princesses are champions at Not Letting It Go. So she mostly just lets it roll off her shoulders. (Okay, yes, sometimes she goads them, and yes, she should keep her mouth shut more instead of trading barbs, but what do you want from her? Being catty is her thing.) After all, she got her happily ever after. She got Adora. And that’s really all that she cares about. So a couple of whiny, poofy, pastel-wearing bimbos wanna take cheap shots at her? Ha. Catra wrote the book on petty. She grew up in the Horde. Let ‘em do their worst. 

Except Adora gets Big Mad about it.

I imagine Adora not only notices how the other princesses act around Catra, she sees Catra doing her best to ignore it. Melog is a pretty good indicator of Catra’s temper, and so it’s clear that the hazing irritates the shit out of Catra, but true to her word, she’s been working on her anger, so aside from sarcasm the worst anyone gets out of a her is a scowl, a flicking tail and ears, and Melog’s brief display of red-tinged spines and growling. 

So Adora is proud, seriously! Catra has come a long way from where she was in the Horde. But Adora, the OG “Punch Your Feelings Out Guy”, wants to remind the other princesses that Catra’s not the only one who changed sides.

Naturally, she does this by losing her temper and shouting them down during another all-princess meeting where everyone is subtly picking on Catra.

“What is your problem? Catra’s on our side now! Why are you all still acting like this?”

Mermista, never one to back down from a verbal slap-fest, gamely engages. “Um, not everyone thinks that just because Catra made, like, one good choice, she gets a free pass on all her other ones.”

“Forgiveness is a process, Adora,” says Perfuma primly, ignoring the glare Adora sends her way. “You can’t expect everyone to accept Catra immediately. We need time to work through our negative associations with Catra so that we can begin the healing process.”

Catra rolls her eyes, but Adora throws her hands in the air. “Immediately? It’s been months! And you’re not working through anything! You’re bullying her!”

At this point, Catra is almost offended at all this implies. “Uh, excuse me, no one bullies me, okay. I can take anything they throw at me.”

“Ha, that’s funny,” says Netossa sweetly. “Because that’s not what you say anytime I have this in my hand!” She brandishes the squirt bottle, and Catra’s ears flatten but she keeps herself from flinching.

Adora slaps the table. “See! Bullying!”

“Adora, calm down,” says Glimmer, sighing with a hand over her eyes. At her side, Bow splays both hands in a gesture that simultaneously tries to placate everyone.

“Okay, look, everyone,” he says. “A couple of jokes are one thing, but Adora’s got a point. It’s going a little too far.”

“Oh? Was it also going a little too far when Catra wrecked my castle and destroyed Princess Prom?” says Frosta, crossing her arms.

“Or when she decimated the Whispering Woods?” adds Perfuma.

“Or when she attacked my kingdom?” Mermista, chin on fist, rolls her eyes. “And, you know, stole it for a while.”

“Or when she sent Entrapta to Beast Island?” Perfuma turns to put a hand on Entrapta’s shoulder, but Entrapta’s eyes have gone starry.

“Oooh, I liked Beast Island! The tech there was superb! Maybe I can go back with all the resources at my disposal, now that I’m not an exiled prisoner anymore, and see if I can finally succeed in reversing the polarity of the--”

“See,” says Perfuma hastily, “she was exiled and a prisoner! With no, um, resources!”

“Look, Adora, it’s great that you and Catra are happy together,” says Frosta, with the deadpan expression of a fourteen-year-old who does not mean a single thing she says. “But I still don’t like her.”

“My heart breaks,” mutters Catra, but Adora leans over the table, eyes closing in a bid for patience.

“I’m not asking anyone to like her. I’m just saying, stop bullying her.”

“Uh, again, I’m not--”

Adora spears Catra with a single look, and Catra subsides, a little stunned at the turbulence in her girlfriend’s eyes.

“It’s mean,” Adora goes on, “and it’s pointless, since Catra is on our side now. I know there’s history there, but we are in the process of rebuilding Etheria and creating an example to show the other worlds we’re trying to reach. So just--chill, okay?”

A moment of silence greets this declaration. Then Frosta looks away with a snort.

“I’ll show her some chill,” she mutters.

Catra desperately wants to roll her eyes. “Give it a rest, kid.”

Frosta shoots to her feet, a layer of ice sheeting the table under her hands. “Don’t talk down to me, Horde scum!”

Melog leaps onto the table, its mane blazing so deep a red it’s nearly black. Chaos erupts as various shouts of “Melog, no!” and “Watch out!” tangle in the air. Catra rises from her seat, alarmed that Frosta is about to ice-punch her alien cat, when thunder cracks and a deep, throaty voice shouts, “Enough!”

She-Ra stands in battle stance, glowering at the room’s occupants, light pouring off her. The sword is held in a neutral rest position in her hand, though every inch of her (and there’s a lot of them) seems to be vibrating with energy.

Catra clears her throat as Melog instantly goes liquid-blue and pounces to She-Ra’s side, curling around and around her legs with undisguised adoration.

Melog, it seems, has no concept of chill.

The princesses all resume their seats, staring at the beast they’d been seconds from attacking as it practically rolls on the ground at She-Ra’s feet. Their eyes go from She-Ra to Melog to Catra, who expertly pretends to be unaffected and unblushing.

“Catra is not a threat,” says She-Ra in that voice, and Melog agrees blissfully, rubbing its head against her hip. Catra opens her mouth to protest, but sighs and shuts up. No point in protesting that you’re a badass when your psychic mood-ring therapy cat goes belly-up anytime your hot warrior girlfriend looks at you.

“Catra deserves another chance. She’s already proven herself by helping us defeat Prime.” She-Ra lays a single hand on Melog’s head. Catra wants to bury her face in her hands at the sound the alien cat makes.

“But how can we trust her when she used to fight for the Horde!” protests Frosta.

“So did I,” says She-Ra quietly, and it’s like all the air gets sucked out the room.

“So did Entrapta and Scorpia--” Perfuma’s eyes drop to the table at this. “--and you, Mermista--” Mermista sighs, but doesn’t argue. “and Spinnerella--” Even though She-Ra’s voice is gentle, Spinnerella’s eyes still well with tears, and Netossa tries to glare while she comforts her wife, but even she looks guilty. “--and King Micah, and Shadow Weaver--” Even though Glimmer wasn’t one of the princesses giving Catra shit, she still winces and leans closer to Bow. “And we gave every single one of them a second chance before the war was even ended. What makes Catra different from them?”

“She wasn’t mind-controlled!” argues Frosta.

“Yes, she was!” shoots back She-Ra, and Catra can’t help the flinch, the instinct to reach back and rub her neck. Her hair is just starting to be long enough to cover the faint scar of the implant.

“Okay, for like, a second, but even before Horde Prime, Catra was--”

“Catra and I were both abused and manipulated by Shadow Weaver.” There’s a thread of pain in She-Ra’s voice now. “From the time we were infants. We never stood a chance against her.”

“But you escaped,” says Perfuma, almost as a question. “You changed your mind about the Horde, and you left.”

Catra stares at the table. She can feel She-Ra’s eyes glance toward her. Melog gives a solemn mrow of comfort, pulsing aqua-blue. Without warning, light flares again and Adora is standing at Catra’s side, hands empty.

“If I hadn’t found the sword in the Whispering Woods, it would have been me marching on your kingdoms,” says Adora, and everyone shuffles uncomfortably. “I was chosen to be Force Captain just a couple hours before. It was dumb luck that I fell off that skiff and landed where I did.”

“It was destiny,” argues Perfuma. “You were chosen to be She-Ra! You would have found the sword at some point!”

“By that point, would it have mattered?” Adora’s hand strokes Melog’s ears. Catra swears she can feel the ghost of those fingers on her own head. “I wouldn’t have had Bow and Glimmer to show me what the Horde was really doing. I would have had Shadow Weaver and Hordak reinforcing my training.”

“You would have found a way to become She-Ra,” says Perfuma earnestly. “The universe would have aligned somehow--”

“And whose kingdom would have already fallen to the Horde by the time that happened?” Adora lifts her hands helplessly. “Don’t you get it? If I hadn’t discovered I was She-Ra, I would have become Catra.”

They stare at her, apparently never having put the dots together before. Catra, who has always been smarter than these princesses, leans back in her chair.

“Maybe,” she says, smirking up at her girlfriend. “But I wore it better.”

aslfja;lskdjfl;a this is already too long and it half-morphed into fic, so I’ll just summarize by saying everyone is a little sorry that they’ve been bullying Catra, and Catra refuses to admit she’s been bullied because of course she does, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t hugely touched and grateful that for once Adora fought to protect her from her princess friends. The Alliance goes forward with the intent of trying to behave better towards Catra. It helps that they saw Melog turn into a jello-mold as soon as She-Ra appeared, so they have proof positive that Catra is indeed not a threat and is in fact secretly a jello mold herself. The bullying turns into heckling whenever Catra and Adora goo-goo-eye each other. Which is a lot. Frosta makes an ice sculpture of Catra swooning into Adora’s arms (her art skills mysteriously improve enough to clearly depict Catra with heart eyes and Adora with bulging biceps). Perfuma decorates it with flowers. Netossa puts a forcefield net around it so Catra can’t destroy it. Catra sulks and Adora flexes her muscles to make her feel better. the end???

bonus line I couldn’t figure out how to incorporate: “Uh, Entrapta has two Hordaks and I don’t see anyone giving her crap about them!”

[hellofromthe-otter-slide]

Something Like Happily Ever After

Wow, two personal posts in one day.

Hello everyone. That time has come. It has officially reached the point where I’m finally deciding to end up Beast Island series, and what a better last chapter than Catra and Adora adopting a kid?

Seriously though. Writing this series has been so much fun, and I really loved it so much. Thank you to everyone who has read it and reread it. The first one recently hit over 1,000 kudos on AO3, and really, I think that’s insane.

If you want to know more about the universe, slip into my asks and let me know. Also, if you want to know more about Danai (the kid introduced in this final chapter), do the same, because I have a lot of notes written about Danai, so keep me entertained why I finish off the semester and over Christmas break by asking me things.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. It’s very long.

Read on AO3.

~

Word reaches the Princess Alliance quickly, but not quick enough.

Previous Horde soldiers, the ones who refused rehabilitation and evaded Mystacor’s trials, attacked a village deep in the Meadowlands. They were quick, and they left the Horde’s symbol painted on burning buildings and in the town square.

By the time the Alliance arrived, the soldiers were already gone.

Catra stands on the outskirts of the village, and she wants to move forward, to help the rest of the Alliance, but she’s stuck to the spot. She tries not to see Thaymor, tries not to hear the screams of civilians, tries not to remember every awful thing she did before getting sent to Beast Island, but everything comes crashing down on her and she’s frozen.

“Hey,” Adora says softly, coming up next to her but keeping her space, “I know this is hard—”

“You think?” Catra hisses, anger coming out to cover the sadness and fear that she’s trying to push down, “Adora, I thought this was over.”

“We all did,” Catra watches Adora reach out and then decide not to, “Bow and Glimmer are looking around the village to see if they can find them. They can’t have gone far, based on—”

Adora trails off, but Catra knows what Adora’s going to say.

Based on the fact that the fires are still going. Based on the freshness of the bodies found.

“Any survivors?”

Adora looks down and away. “None yet.”

“Catra!”

It’s Scorpia, and she sounds like she’s deep in the village.

Catra runs without thinking, the idea that Scorpia might be hurt, that one of the soldiers stuck around, waiting for his chance to take out someone in the Princess Alliance playing itself on repeat.

When she gets to Scorpia, there’s no fight. Scorpia is completely okay, squatting in front of something.

There’s a bit of movement, and Catra realizes it’s not something, it’s someone.

Before Catra calls out to the rest of the Alliance, she sees a soft, feline tail wrap around the figure and ears twitching in a short mane.

“She’s a Magicat,” Catra whispers, “How did a Magicat, let alone a Magicat child, make it all the way out to the Meadowlands?”

“I don’t know,” Scorpia says, trying to move closer, but the little Magicat cowers further against the wall, “I tried talking to her, but she’s so scared, and I think I’m not helping.”

Catra looks around them and realizes that besides Adora, who ran after Catra when Scorpia called, the rest of the Alliance is still trying to find survivors or find the soldiers.

“Let me try,” Catra suggests, putting a hand on Scorpia’s shoulder, “Go wait over there with Adora.”

Scorpia nods and smiles, “You got it, Wildcat.”

Then it’s just Catra and the kitten by themselves.

Catra sits, making sure to keep a few feet away. “Hi,” she says, her voice soft, “I’m Princess Catra.”

The kitten peeks up over her arms and tail, and Catra smiles.

“The woman over here before was Scorpia,” Catra continues, hoping that the more she talks, the more the Magicat will warm up to her, “She may seem big and scary, but she’s actually the nicest person I know. She’ll tell you she gives the best hugs, and it’s true, but you can’t tell anyone I admitted that.”

The kitten looks around Catra to Adora and Scorpia standing a few feet away then furtively around the entire village. “Are you with them?” the kitten asks, looking at Catra with so much fear.

“We’re not,” Catra promises, “You see the blonde woman over there?” She points to Adora. “That’s She-Ra. We’re here to help.”

“Everything is already gone.”

Those words hit Catra like a cannon, and she fights down the sadness and anger and reality that she did this to villages one upon a time.

I’m not that person, Catra thinks, Not anymore. She chants that over and over and over again until regret and self-hatred stop bubbling up.

“You’re still here,” Catra says.

“I hid,” the kitten admits, and she slowly unfurls herself.

“You must be very good at hiding.”

“Daddy says I’m the best,” the kitten whispers, “He can never find me when we play Hide-n-Seek.”

Catra stands and offers the kitten her hand, but the kitten flinches away.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Catra tells her softly, “You’re safe with me.”

The kitten looks up at Catra with wide, scared eyes, and Catra hopes her smile is reassuring.

“You promise?” the kitten asks, and Catra sees herself, alone and afraid and asking Adora the same thing.

“I promise.”

Catra reaches out her hand again, and this time the kitten takes it, crawling into Catra’s arms.

“Can you tell me your name?” Catra whispers, holding her close.

“Danai,” the kitten whispers, tears starting to fall from her eyes.

“Alright, Danai,” Catra starts walking over to Adora and Scorpia, “Let’s get you out of here, okay?”

~*~

Catra is still holding Danai when she returns to Half Moon, the small Magicat refusing to leave her arms. Even when Adora offers to take her, Danai’s grip only tightens, and Catra assures Adora that she’s alright.

“I need to get C’yra,” Catra whispers as they walk up the castle steps, a sound-asleep Danai on her hip, “She’ll want to know that there might be Magicats out there that we don’t know about.”

“Wouldn’t they have returned?” Adora asks, keeping a hand on Catra’s back to keep her steady, “It seems strange that they wouldn’t after you took Half Moon back.”

“Maybe they didn’t want to,” Catra suggests, her tail wrapping loosely around Adora’s wrist as Adora holds the palace door’s open for her, “Maybe they were afraid after the invasion.”

C’yra’s standing in front of the doors to the throne room, Felix right behind her, and they rush over to Catra and Adora as they come in.

“The village?” Felix asks, looking to Adora for an answer.

“Completely destroyed,” Adora whispers, “No survivors besides her.” She points to Danai in Catra’s arms.

“And the people who did it?” C’yra asks.

“Found about a mile away at an encampment,” Catra answers, “They’re on their way to Mystacor now to stand trial.”

Felix brushes a few stray pieces of hair from Danai’s face. “She’s a Magicat,” he whispers to C’yra, “Didn’t we call for all Magicats to return to Half Moon before the invasion?”

“Just because we sent out the call doesn’t mean that everyone returned,” C’yra says, “I don’t know how they avoided the Horde’s forces, though.”

“This village was deep in the Meadowlands,” Catra says, adjusting Danai a bit as she starts to slip, “I don’t think Hordak ever bothered invading the Meadowlands.”

“He didn’t find any use for it,” Adora adds on, “Barely anyone lives out there, and there’s not a princess or a runestone anywhere nearby.”

C’yra and Felix both nod, and when Felix tries taking Danai from Catra, Danai grips into Catra’s hair and shoulders.

“She hasn’t let go of me since we found her,” Catra explains, “I don’t think she feels safe anywhere else.”

“You need sleep, kitten,” C’yra says, “You look exhausted.”

“Why don’t we bring a cot into our room?” Adora suggests, running a few fingers through Catra’s hair, “You can put her down and promise her that we’re just a few feet away.”

Catra smiles and nods, “That’s not a bad idea.”

“We’ll go grab one and bring it to your room,” Felix says, and then he and C’yra go off into the palace while Adora and Catra slowly make their way further into the castle.

“How are you feeling?” Adora asks, her hand going back to rest against the small of Catra’s back.

“My back hurts,” Catra complains, “I’m not strong enough to carry around a small child all day.”

Adora laughs softly, “At the very least, we’re almost to our bed.”

Catra groans, “But we’re not there right now.”

Adora pushes open the door to their room, and Catra practically runs inside and sits down, a sigh pushing past her lips as she lays back. Danai moves so that her face isn’t buried in the bed, and she snuggles just a bit into Catra.

“Do you think she latched onto you because you’re a Magicat?” Adora asks, sitting on the bed and letting Catra rest her head in Adora’s lap.

“I don’t know,” Catra says, closing her eyes as Adora starts running her fingers through Catra’s hair, “I expected her to say something about how I was like her, but I think everything was just too overwhelming and scary at the time.”

Adora hums, and her hands move down to Catra’s shoulders, her thumbs pressing into Catra muscles, and Catra holds in a groan at how good it feels.

They’re silent until C’yra and Felix knock on their door. Adora opens it to see C’yra holding a folded-up cot and Felix holding what Catra can only assume is every spare blanket and pillow in the whole castle.

Catra pushes herself up and rolls her eyes at her father. “Where did you even find all of those?”

“He checked every linen closet in the palace,” C’yra says while unfolding the cot.

“I just wanted her to be comfortable,” Felix starts placing pillows and unfolding blankets, “After the day she’s had, it’s the least I can do.”

“That’s very thoughtful,” Adora says, a sweet comparison to C’yra and Catra’s sarcasm.

Catra stands up and tries detaching Danai from her, but Danai whimpers and digs her claws in.

“Hey,” Catra whispers to her, ignoring the biting pain coming from Danai’s nails, “I’m just putting you down so we can get you into bed, okay?”

Danai wakes up, and her eyes are wide as she surveys the room. “Where am I?” she asks, tears welling up in her eyes.

Catra kneels down and Danai sets her feet on the ground but Catra doesn’t pull away.

“We’re in Half Moon,” Catra explains, “This is my home.” Catra points to Adora, and Adora smiles warmly, “You remember She-Ra, right?” Danai nods just so. “When she’s not She-Ra, her name is Adora, and she lives here with me too.”

Danai looks past Adora and sees C’yra and Felix standing behind her. “Who are they?” she asks, moving closer to Catra to feel some sort of safety and security.

“Those are my parents,” Catra says softly, smiling as she pushes a piece of Danai’s mane from her face, “That’s Queen C’yra and King Felix.”

Both smile, and Felix waves.

“They look like me,” Danai says, “And so do you.”

Catra nods. “We’re Magicats, just like you.”

“Nobody besides Mommy and Daddy look like me,” Danai says.

“Half Moon is full of people who look just like you,” Catra wipes a few stray tears from Danai’s short, coarse fur, “And C’yra and Felix are queen and king of the Magicats.”

“And you’re the princess,” Danai remembers, her grip on Catra letting up.

Catra smiles, “That’s right, kitten. I am. Now, come on,” Catra pulls back one of the blankets Felix put on the cot, “Let’s get some sleep, okay?”

Danai’s eyes go wide and she hesitates, but Catra grabs her face gently, her thumbs brushing away more tears as they fall.

“You’re safe,” Catra promises, “We’re somewhere safe, and I’m just a few feet away, okay?”

Danai nods.

“Okay,” Catra whispers, letting Danai go to push back the blanket again.

Danai gets into the cot, and Catra pulls the blankets up to her chin and tucks her in.

“Remember,” Catra says, “I’m just right over there if you need me.”

Danai nods again, and her eyes start to close, the stress and fear finally catching up to her and making her tired.

Catra runs her fingers through Danai’s hair before standing up, her muscles protesting.

“You two get some sleep too,” C’yra says, and it comes off like a command, “We’ll see you in the morning.”

“Night, Mom,” Catra says, already collapsing into her bed, “Night, Dad.”

“Night, love,” Felix says, and he closes the door as quietly as he can behind himself and C’yra.

Adora kicks off her boots and climbs into bed too, and Catra immediately snuggles into Adora’s waiting arms.

“It’s been a long day,” Catra says, her eyes closing as Adora starts rubbing up and down her back.

“That an understatement,” Adora presses a kiss to the tip of Catra’s nose, “How are you?”

“You already asked that,” Catra says, biting back a groan when Adora finds a knot and presses in.

“Well, you already complained about your back,” Adora’s fingers find another tight spot and work it out, “But I was referring to what happened back at the village.”

“Can’t we talk about this tomorrow?” Catra groans, burying her face in Adora’s neck.

“I would say yes if I thought you actually would.”

Catra pushes up off the bed, her back protesting. “I can’t be the only one who saw that village and had a bad reaction. I’m just the only one who froze.” Despite being quiet, her words are harsh, and she closes her eyes for just a moment and takes a few deep breaths to calm herself down. “It’s just,” Catra opens her eyes to see Adora looking up at her with such open caring that it’s almost overwhelming, “It’s been years since anything like this has happened.”

“Why did you freeze?”

The question is gentle, and one of Adora’s hands slides up Catra’s back and around her shoulder to cup Catra’s face.

“Because all I could see was Thaymor,” Catra looks away, refusing to meet Adora’s eyes, “All I could think about were all of the villages that I helped destroy.”

“You’re not that person anymore, Catra.”

“That doesn’t mean I can just forget that I was,” Catra retorts, “These past few years don’t make up for all of the awful things that I did, all of the things I probably would’ve kept doing if Hordak never sent me to Beast Island.”

Adora doesn’t say anything at first. She uses a finger under Catra’s chin to bring Catra’s eyes back to her own. Blue eyes meet mismatched, and Adora smiles softly.

“I’m not telling you to forget,” Adora says, her thumb coming up to run along Catra’s ear, “We can’t change the past, but you’re not that person anymore. I don’t know what you would’ve become if Hordak never sent you to Beast Island, but we can’t get caught up in What Ifs. I know who you are now, and that’s what’s most important.”

“And who am I now?”

Adora breathes out the softest laugh, her hand moving from Catra’s ear to tug playfully at the hair right behind it. “Now you’re fishing.”

Catra smiles, “I think I deserve the compliments.”

“How about I save those for the morning?” Adora suggests with an eye roll, “I’m so tired I may fall asleep mid-paragraph.”

Catra lies back down on top of Adora. “I guess I do want my compliments to be delivered without pause.”

She feels Adora’s smile against her temple. “Goodnight, Catra.”

“Night,” Catra mumbles out against Adora’s neck.

~*~

Catra and Adora are back at She-Ra’s temple, Adora barely hanging onto the cliff by some of the green webbing, Catra holding the Sword of Protection.

Adora’s asking, begging, for Catra’s help, but Catra just runs her finger along the bright blue blade.

“This thing wouldn’t work for me if I tried, would it?” Catra asks, going on and on about Shadow Weaver and being second best. “Every hero needs a sidekick, right?” she ends, crouching down to be able to see Adora better.

The Sword of Protection glides through the green webbing like butter, and Adora falls, just barely catching herself, before Catra throws the sword down into the abyss threatening to swallow Adora whole.

“Bye, Adora,” she says, her voice devoid of any kind of emotion, “I really am going to miss you.”

She leaves to Adora calling her name and begging her to come back, but she doesn’t care.

She’s finally defeated Adora. She’s finally won. Adora is—

Catra sits up, her breathing heavy and tears burning the back of her eyes.

She wants to run. She wants to leave the room and go find the tallest tree she can, because she starts feeling trapped inside her room, but just as she’s about to get out of bed, small, bright eyes look up at her from the cot.

“You should be asleep,” Catra says softly, trying hard not to sound harsh as her breathing starts to calm down.

“I had a nightmare,” Danai’s voice is small and soft and scared.

“Yeah?”

Danai nods.

“Me too,” Catra admits.

“What was yours about?” Danai asks, clutching the blanket up under her chin.

“Something bad I did a very long time ago,” Catra answers, pushing her hair up and away from her face, grabbing for a hair tie on her bedside table to keep it up.

“How do you make it better?”

Catra stands up and offers her hand to Danai, and she scrambles out of bed to take it.

“I’ll show you.”

When they get to the door, Catra feels a tug and turns to see Danai stopped.

“What about Adora?” Danai asks.

Catra smiles, “She’ll know where to find us. I promise.”

Danai glances back at Adora before turning around and letting Catra lead her out of the room.

The halls of the palace are quiet, and Catra picks Danai up as they walk out into the empty square.

Danai looks around at everything, alert eyes taking in everything she can. Her fingers dig into Catra’s shoulder as she reads the signs over every stall, and Catra wonders if she’ll start asking questions, but Danai stays silent, and Catra can see her tail flicking nervously.

They leave the city, and when they get out to the Whispering Woods, Danai hides her face against Catra’s neck, her body as close to Catra’s body as physically possible.

They reach the base of the tree that Catra loves, the one with thick branches that reach higher than the rest, and Catra tries coaxing Danai to let go.

Danai looks up the tree, and before she can curl back into Catra, Catra says, “I won’t let you fall.”

“You promise?” Danai asks, her voice small, and Catra smiles.

“I promise,” Catra says, and she helps Danai to climb the first few branches. She makes sure to stay just under Danai as they climb so she can catch her if Danai makes any wrong steps, but Danai’s steps are sure, her little claws digging into the bark to pull herself up.

Catra reaches her favorite branch, thick enough to bear her weight and high enough that she can see Etheria’s moons lighting up the treetops. Once Catra settles herself with her back against the trunk, Danai climbs into her lap and looks up.

“This is nice,” Danai whispers, playing with Catra’s fingers absentmindedly.

“Is it helping?” Catra asks, setting her chin on Danai’s head and watching the leaves shift in the breeze.

Danai nods, and her ears twitch at the small sounds of the woods, but her eyes never leave the sky. It’s the calmest and most childlike that Catra has seen her act all day.

“Do you want to talk about your nightmare?”

Danai freezes, her nails digging into Catra’s skin.

Catra bites her tongue to deal with the sting of sharp nails, and she acts like nothing has changed.

“I never really like talking about it either,” Catra says, hoping the words will help the anxiety subside, “Adora and I are really bad about it, actually. I like to come here, and Adora likes to train, but we have really good friends who are there for us whenever we want to talk.”

The stinging of nails in Catra’s skin goes away.

“You don’t talk to each other?”

Catra breathes out a laugh. “We didn’t used to, but we got better at it.”

Tiny fingers go back to playing with Catra’s own. “It’s quiet here.”

“Only animals and bugs live in the Whispering Woods,” Catra says, her ears twitching to the rustling of leaves a few feet away, “Was your village loud?”

“It was noisy, but it wasn’t bad.” Danai’s voice is soft and small, and Catra wonders if she’s remembering her village and what happened to it today.

Without actively realizing it, Catra holds onto her tighter.

“Do you like the quiet here?”

Danai nods sleepily, and Catra can feel her starting to fall asleep in her arms. Every time Danai’s chin dipped down, though, she startled herself back awake, and Catra knows why she doesn’t want to sleep.

If she sleeps, she dreams, and Danai’s nightmare tonight probably wasn’t the last after what she went through.

“Hey,” Catra says softly, “You’re safe here. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“I don’t want to see it again,” Danai whimpers.

“I know, kitten,” Catra moves Danai so that she’s more comfortable, “I can’t promise you won’t have another nightmare, but I will be right here when you wake up.”

Sleep seems to be winning over Danai’s fear and she falls asleep against Catra among the treetops of the Whispering Woods.

Adora finds them right as the sun peaks over the horizon, Etheria’s sky the pale purple and blue of morning. Adora looks up from the base of the tree, and Catra looks down at her and smiles, her fingers running through Danai’s tangled hair.

~*~

Catra is sure she’s going to murder Hakim. She probably would’ve already done it if C’yra, Felix, and Adora weren’t in the room, but her mother and girlfriend flank her on either side, Adora’s hand resting right above her knee.

“She’s not just some child who lost her parents,” Catra says, each word sounding more and more like a growl, “She witnessed the slaughter of her entire village, her parents included, and she’s the only one who survived. She’s barely comfortable being here, let alone living with someone completely new and strange.”

“It’s not that simple, Princess Catra,” Hakim says, his voice annoyingly formal and emotionless, “There’s custom to think about, and you’re already breaking the tradition by engaging in a relationship with Adora and foregoing the bonding ceremony.”

Catra goes to get up so that she can swipe at him, but C’yra puts a hand on her shoulder.

“Hakim, this is not the time to discuss custom, especially laws overturned by the council years ago,” C’yra says calmly, “There’s a young girl who’s traumatized, and the only person she feels safe around is Catra, so there’s no question about whether or not she’ll be staying at the palace.”

“Maybe her Highness should consider adoption,” Hakim suggests, “That would solve this problem.” He says it casually, like it isn’t something that would completely change Catra and Adora’s life.

Adora grabs Catra’s hand and squeezes, and it’s like Adora can read her mind and sense how overwhelmed Hakim’s suggestion makes her feel.

C’yra looks over at the two of them, and Catra can feel Felix’s gaze on her from his spot behind them.

“Maybe we should give Adora and Catra a moment,” Felix suggests, already going over to the door and opening it.

It looks like Hakim wants to argue, but C’yra stands and motions him out of her office, leaving Catra and Adora all alone.

Adora turns in her seat to face Catra, and her hands immediately come up to cup Catra’s face.

“I—” Catra’s hands come up to wrap around Adora’s wrists, “I don’t—how are we supposed to make that decision right now?”

“It is a little sudden.”

“A little?!”

“Okay, so a bit more than a little,” Adora starts running her thumbs over Catra’s cheeks.

“She’s only been here a few weeks. This is the first time since we brought her back to Half Moon that she felt safe enough that we could leave her with Felicity.”

“I know.”

“Do you even want a kid?”

“It’s not something I’ve ever really thought about.”

Catra sighs. “Neither have I. Honestly, I thought I would never feel comfortable enough to have one.”

“Do you feel comfortable now?”

“Do you?” Catra snaps, her nails digging into her thighs.

“Hey,” Adora grabs Catra’s hand, the other still against her cheek, “I know this is a lot to decide right now.”

“I just—” Catra closes her eyes and tries to focus, “What if I’m awful? I was around Shadow Weaver for eighteen years. What if I end up like her?”

“You won’t,” Adora insists, “And I won’t either. We are not Shadow Weaver, Catra.”

“How are you so sure?” Catra opens her eyes and brings a hand up to Adora’s back, her fingers tracing over scars she left behind, “I did so many awful things, and I was like her for so long.”

Adora brings Catra hand up to her mouth, lips brushing against the inside of Catra’s wrist. “I’m sure because you realized that what you did was wrong. Even in her last moments, Shadow Weaver believed everything she did, everything she did to us, was right.”

Catra can almost hear whispers of the things Shadow Weaver told her in Bright Moon’s prison, the soft, manipulative assurances that the Princess Alliance would get rid of her as soon as she fulfilled her purpose to them.

Now, so many years removed, she knows Shadow Weaver never cared about her. If Shadow Weaver even knew how to care about another person, that person was Adora, and Shadow Weavers’ caring wasn’t anything like C’yra or Angella. It had strings and expectations that were impossible to fill.

“She’s already gone through so much,” Catra says softly, “I don’t want her to go through anything else.”

“She’s safe here,” Adora promises, “Even if we don’t adopt her, she’s not going anywhere. She’ll be right here with us.”

“What do you think?”

“I think we should.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Adora smiles, “She’s already grown close to you, and she seems to be comfortable around me, and even though having a kid is scary, I think I’m ready if you are.”

“How are you so calm about this?”

“I don’t know,” Adora shrugs, “I guess I just thought about that fact that Half Moon got invaded, and they took you and raised you, and a portal pulled me through to Etheria, and in those circumstances, we were at the will of whoever found us. Of all of the people who could’ve found Danai, it was us, and I figured we’d be better parents than the people who raised us.”

“So, your logic is that we would be better than a bunch of commanding officers and an abusive sorceress who viewed you as nothing more than a means to an end and me as your annoying pet that she only kept around because of you.”

“When you say it like that, it sounds ridiculous.”

Catra laughs, some of the tension and stress leaving her body. “It is a little ridiculous.”

“Am I wrong?”

“No,” Catra smiles, her hand squeezing Adora’s, “You’re not.”

“So,” Adora leans forward and kisses Catra softly, “Do you think we should?”

Catra thinks it over, and even though this is never something she thought she would want or something she was never really sure she could have, she can’t deny that finding a new home for Danai among the Magicats makes something uneasy grow in her. She knows her people, and she knows Danai would be safe and loved, but Danai has been with them for the past few weeks. She’s slept in their room and come to Catra when she’s had a nightmare, and Catra isn’t sure she wants Danai to be anywhere but with them.

“Well, when you give me an argument that good, I don’t think I can say no.”

~*~

Danai cracks the door open and looks in.

It’s the first night she’s in her own room, the first night she’s more than a few feet away from Catra and Adora, and she’s nervous.

She had a nightmare, the same nightmare she keeps having since her village was attacked, and climbing into Catra and Adora’s bed was easy when she was in the same room, but now that’s she’s right next door, she isn’t sure she’s allowed to anymore.

She sees shifting from the bed, and Adora pushes herself up a bit, an easy smile on her lips.

“You can come in,” Adora says softly, getting up so that she can grab Danai from the doorway.

Danai lets Adora pick her up and cuddle her close, and she snuggles in closer as Adora nudges the door closed and brings her to the bed.

Adora lays down, and she lets Danai stay where she is, her arms coming around to hug Danai close.

“I’m sorry,” Danai murmurs, her face pushed into the crook of Adora’s neck, and even though this isn’t the first time Adora has let her cuddle like this, she still thinks about how weird it is to cuddle into someone and just find skin.

“Why are you sorry?”

“I didn’t know if I was allowed to come in here.”

“How come?”

“Because I’m in the other room now.”

Adora squeezes her just a little bit tighter, and it reminds Danai of her daddy’s hugs.

“You’re always allowed in here,” Adora promises.

Danai closes her eyes again, and she feels the bed shift a bit, the blankets rustling, before there’s a comforting hand running up and down her back.

“Hey kitten,” Catra says, her voice rough and soft, “I didn’t hear you come in.”

Danai shift just enough so that she can turn her head and face Catra. “Adora said I could come in.”

Catra smiles, “Of course you can. Did you have a nightmare again?”

Danai nods.

“Anything we can do to help?” Adora asks.

“Don’t leave,” Danai says, her eyes starting to close, and she isn’t sure Adora and Catra understand what she’s asking. She doesn’t want them to leave right now, but she also doesn’t ever want them to leave. She feels safe with them, and she doesn’t want to lose that feeling again.

“We’re right here,” Catra says.

“And we’re not going anywhere,” Adora adds.

Danai starts to drift off, and she’s barely awake when Catra and Adora start a whispered conversation.

“We should probably ask her tomorrow,” Adora suggests, her hand coming up to run through Danai’s hair.

“I know,” Catra whispers, “I’m just scared she won’t want us.”

“Me too, but we won’t know until we talk to her about it.”

“You just love being right,” Catra says, sarcasm dripping through her words, “Ten years of being She-Ra really boosted your ego.”

“Like being the Magicat princess hasn’t boosted yours.”

“It’s very unfair that you have a good comeback when Danai is asleep on top of you and I can’t shove you without possibly waking her up.”

“That was my evil plan all along.”

Catra laughs, squeaky and soft, and moves closer to press a light kiss to Adora’s shoulder.

“Tomorrow then?” Adora asks.

“Tomorrow.”

~*~

Danai is sitting in the room that Adora and Catra told her is hers now, playing with the few toys C’yra and Felix could find. The room is silent besides the soft clacking as she builds with blocks, but she can hear Catra and Adora down the hall.

She wonders what they’re talking about, but even with her hearing, she can only pick up words here and there before Catra and Adora are in the doorway to her bedroom.

“Hey, kitten,” Catra says, coming over to sit across from Danai and her blocks, Adora sitting down beside her, “Can we talk to you about something?”

Danai nods, her hand holding the block coming up to her chest and clutching it close.

“It’s nothing bad,” Adora says quickly, noticing Danai’s shift in mood, “We just wanted your opinion on something.”

“What?” Danai asks, her voice soft and scared, the corner of the block digging into her hand.

“We wanted to know if you like it here,” Catra says, her hand coming up to unfurl Danai’s clenched hand, taking the block and placing it back with the others, and Adora opens her arms to offer for Danai to climb into her lap, and Danai takes the offer without question.

Adora wraps her arms around Danai tight, and Catra wraps her tail around Danai’s wrist.

Danai thinks about it, about the past few weeks here, and even though it’s been overwhelming, even though Half Moon seems so big and scary, even though she misses her little village with her mommy and daddy always there and the quiet of the Meadowlands, she feels safe whenever she’s with Catra and Adora.

“I like being with you two,” Danai says, sinking into the comfort.

“We like being with you, too,” Adora squeezes Danai lightly.

“We were thinking you could stay with us for a while,” Catra suggests, her voice soft and reassuring, “If you wanted.”

“Really?”

Danai looks up at Adora, and Adora nods. “Really.”

“Okay,” Danai says, and even though it comes out soft and still a little anxious, she’s so happy that Catra and Adora wants her.

They aren’t leaving me, Danai thinks as Catra picks up one of the blocks and offers to play with Danai, They don’t want to leave.

She stays in Adora’s lap, but Catra helps her build a tower out of the blocks, and when it’s built tall and wobbling, Catra suggests that Danai knock it over so they can start again, and Danai does, the blocks falling over Catra and Adora’s feet, the two of them laughing.

I hope they never leave, Danai thinks, building the tower up again.

~*~

Catra makes her way through the library, scholars waving and bowing as she makes her way back to Felix’s usual spot deep in the history section, and when she makes it to the end of the aisle that opens up to the table, she stops.

Catra is a strong person. She’s the princess of the Magicats, and even though it’s from a time she’s not particularly proud of, she climbed the ranks of the Horde to be Hordak’s second-in-command. There aren’t many people she can’t best in combat, and she’s well known among the Magicats for her strength and skill, and yet the scene in front of her almost has her sinking to her knees with how cute it is.

Felix has Danai in his lap, and while he reads, Danai is coloring quietly, and Catra can see her tail swaying happily behind her.

For just a moment, Catra imagines it’s her there, imagines a life where the Horde never invaded Half Moon and she was never taken. She imagines having memories of spending time with Felix like this in the library, sitting on his lap while reading or drawing or doing anything else kids raised outside of the barracks do in their free time.

Danai stretches a little too far reaching for a crayon, and Felix has to put a quick arm around her to catch her before she can fall, and she smiles up at him in thanks, Felix returning the smile, and when she looks back down to her drawing, she catches Catra standing in the opening of the aisles.

Her eyes light up, and Felix releases her as she starts to squirm, his laugh quiet as she hits the floor and rushes over to Catra.

Catra picks her up without thinking, the ghosts of maybe-memories dissolving quickly. “Well, hi there, kitten,” Catra says through a laugh, “I didn’t mean to interrupt your fun.”

“I have to admit,” Felix gets up, a stack of papers offered to Catra, “She might be a better reading partner than you.”

“If I had known I would be dethroned so quickly, I would’ve had someone else watch her,” Catra says sarcastically, but there isn’t any bite to it, and Danai giggles softly.

Catra takes the offered papers, some revised trade agreement that C’yra wanted Felix to read through to catch anything in the fine print, and asks, “I’m assuming she wasn’t any trouble then?”

“Not at all,” Felix assures Catra, “We just sat and read and colored.” He says the second part to Danai, and Danai turns to Catra and nods along.

“Thanks, Dad.”

“Of course,” Felix ruffled Danai’s bangs, making them even messier than they already are, and Danai giggles and curls into Catra to try and get away, “I’m happy to watch her whenever you need me to.”

“And did you have fun with Felix?” Catra asks Danai, “Hopefully, he didn’t force you to read anything too boring.”

Danai nods quickly, and Felix smiles.

“You’re never too young to begin your studies,” Felix jokes, turning to go back to his table, and Danai watches him, her fingers starting to play with the clasp keeping Catra’s cape draped over the one shoulder.

“Everything okay, kitten?” Catra asks Danai quietly, the fidgeting telling her that Danai has something on her mind.

She’s not expecting a response, but Danai stops messing with the clasp and asks, “Can you please let me down?”

“Of course.”

Catra does, and Danai runs back to Felix, climbing up onto the bench and throwing her arms around him, and Catra sees Felix’s eyes go wide in surprise before he pulls Danai into a crushing hug, one that Danai doesn’t seem to mind.

Danai whispers something to Felix when she pulls back, and Felix laughs and says something back, his pinkie coming up between them.

Catra sees Danai’s head tilt and her eyebrows come together in confusion, and she watches Felix explain to Danai what a pinkie promise is, bringing Danai’s pinkie to wrap around his to seal the promise.

Danai says one last thing before bouncing off of the bench and running to Catra, taking Catra’s hand and attempting to pull her out of the library.

Catra waves to Felix as she lets Danai pulls her down the aisle, Felix’s laugh following them as they leave.

~*~

Just as she’s passing by the kitchens, Catra hears her name, and she stops and looks in through the cracked door.

It’s Adora, her hair half up and an apron thrown over her casual clothes, and Danai is sat on the counter beside her, some flour dusting her dark hair. Danai is stirring, and she looks up at Adora with a small smile and asks, “Do you think Catra will like these?”

“I know a secret,” Adora says, and she leans in to whisper to Danai even though, as far as she knows, no one is around to hear.

“What?” Danai whispers, but Catra can see her tail flicking with excitement.

“These are Catra’s favorite snacks,” Adora whispers, “And she especially loves them right before she has to have a meeting with the council.”

Catra hides a smile behind her hand, and she moves to hides herself behind the door when Adora leans up, but when she looks around the doorjamb, she sees Adora smiling at her and she knows she’s been caught.

Adora doesn’t give her away, though. She hands Danai the next ingredient and lets Danai add it to the filling and stir it in.

“I’ve never had these before,” Danai says, passing the bowl of filling over to Adora, and Adora starts scooping it out into the waiting dough rounds, closing them up like Pisica taught her.

“Well, as I’ve learned, the best thing about cooking is trying the food before you give it to someone else,” Adora says, putting some filling on a round and showing Danai how to close it up, “We’ll have to eat a few before we bring them to Catra to make sure they’re just right.”

Danai looks excited, her fingers trying to mirror Adora’s movement to close the empanada.

“Mommy and Daddy used to cook a lot,” Danai says as she starts another, and Catra sees Adora’s eyes going wide, and she’s sure she doesn’t look too different hidden where Danai can’t see her.

Danai hasn’t talked about her life out in the Meadowlands at all since Catra and Adora brought her to Half Moon. If she talks at all, she prefers asking questions about everything new around her, but this is the first time Danai has said anything about her life before.

“Did they?” Adora asks, focusing on the empanada in front of her to try and stay casual.

Danai nods, her tongue poking out past her teeth as she tries crimping the dough closed.

“Catra and I didn’t grow up cooking,” Adora says, moving onto a new round of dough, “Where we grew up, they thought there were more important things to learn. I didn’t even know food could be so good until I got to Bright Moon.”

Catra remembers the ration bars that the Fright Zone tried to pass off as a meal. She knows she had a favorite, but everything she remembers seems so bland in comparison to every meal she’s had since being dropped off on Beast Island.

She remembers which bar was Adora’s favorite though. The gray ones, which she somehow argued tasted the best, but Catra can’t even remember if they tasted different at all.

“But you cook now.” Danai shows her work to Adora, and Adora smiles and brushes the stray flour out of Danai’s hair, giving Danai a thumbs up to know she did a good job.

“I do,” Adora says through a laugh, “But to be honest, I’m not all that good at it, and I can really only cook a few things. Catra’s really good at it though, but she only likes to cook for special occasions.”

“Why did you learn to cook these?”

“They’re Catra’s favorite,” Adora puts a steadying hand on Danai’s back when Danai leans over a bit too far and starts to slide off the counter, “A few years ago, I asked Pisica to teach me how to make them for our anniversary.”

Danai finishes another, and Adora turns on the burner under the oil.

“I like cooking,” Danai says, stopping her work to watch Adora drop one of the empanadas into the oil to start frying.

“It’s fun,” Adora agrees, and Catra smiles when Adora suggests, “We can ask Pisica to teach you a few things if you want.”

Danai smiles and nods, and as they start frying up the rest of the empanadas, Catra sneaks away before she’s late to spar with C’yra.

Later, just as Catra is about to follow C’yra into the council’s quarters, she feels a tug at her formal cloak and looks down to find Danai holding a plate of empanadas, the one on top a little strange and lop-sided looking.

“Well, hi there, kitten,” Catra crouches down, “How did you know that empanadas are my favorite?”

“Adora told me.” Danai bounces on the pads of her toes.

“We made them together,” Adora says, and Catra looks up to see Adora smirking at her.

“These look delicious, so I’m assuming Danai did all the work,” Catra snarks, taking the empanada on top and biting into it, the filling still warm and incredibly sweet.

“Well, most of it,” Adora crosses her arms, and she shrugs, “I have to say, her crimping work in impeccable.”

Catra looks down at the empanada she’s holding, and she nods and says, “A master on her first try.”

Danai smiles bright, and Catra finishes the empanada and brushes Danai’s bangs out of her eyes.

“Catra,” C’yra says from behind her, and when Catra turns around, C’yra is smiling, but she nods her heads towards the room, “The council is waiting.”

“Can I take these, kitten?” Catra asks, pointing down at the plate, “I’ll need something sweet to get me through this meeting.”

Danai nods and hands the plate to Catra, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.

Catra stands, and Adora comes and places a kiss right under Catra’s ears, whispering, “Next time, you should join us.”

Catra smirks and shrugs. “Who was I to interrupt mastery?”

Adora laughs, and she picks Danai up. “Have fun in your council meeting.”

Catra rolls her eyes, “I always do.”

~*~

C’yra’s office is suspiciously quiet when Adora knocks. Usually she can hear Catra and C’yra bickering on the other side, their banter going back and forth easily without any bite to their words, but when she hears C’yra softly tell her to come in, all she finds is C’yra at her desk, Danai curled up into her and asleep on C’yra’s shoulder.

“Catra’s out on the training fields with Cassandra,” C’yra explains quietly so that she doesn’t wake Danai up.

Adora nods, “I know they’ve had to skip the past few weeks.”

“Well, you know,” C’yra glances down to Danai, and Adora sees that Danai has her fingers fisted into C’yra’s formal shirt, “Things have been a bit busy.”

“That’s an understatement,” Adora says, then gestures to Danai, “I can take her from you if you want.”

“Oh, please,” C’yra breathes out, “I really don’t mind, but I’m not as young as I used to be and my back is incredibly stiff.”

C’yra tries to pull Danai away, but Danai just grips harder and cuddles further into C’yra.

Adora breathes out a laugh at C’yra’s expression and says, “Here, let me.”

She comes over and unwraps Danai’s hands from C’yra’s shirt, being gentle as she lifts Danai up and lets Danai cuddle into her instead.

“You’re good at that,” C’yra comments, standing up so that she can stretch out her back, and Adora hears a string of soft pops.

“Catra and I have had to do it a lot,” Adora says, readjusting Danai on her hip into a more comfortable position, “She hasn’t been sleeping a lot at night lately, so she just falls asleep whenever she’s comfortable.”

“Catra told me that she’s trying to spend the night in her own room.”

Adora sighs, “We can’t figure out why.”

“My guess?” C’yra says, “She doesn’t want to feel like a burden on you two.”

“She isn’t,” Adora says quickly.

“I know,” C’yra laughs softly, “You don’t need to assure me.”

“Sorry,” Adora sighs again, “I just don’t know what to do.”

C’yra sits back down behind her desk. “I don’t know if there’s anything you can do,” she says, “If there’s anything I learned after we found Catra on Beast Island, it’s that sometimes you need to let someone process something on their own in their own way.”

Adora takes a seat across from C’yra, Danai shifting until she settles again with a sigh. “She’s just so young,” Adora says, “I don’t want her to feel like she has to suffer alone.”

“Based on how comfortable she is with you and Catra, I doubt she thinks that,” C’yra says, motioning to Danai fast asleep in Adora’s arms, “Just hold her close when you can and remind her that you’re there if she ever needs you. That’s all any parent can do.”

“Thanks, C’yra.”

C’yra smiles, and it reminds Adora of the smiles she sees whenever C’yra watches Catra, like she’s never been happier than in this moment. “Of course, Adora.”

“I’m going to try and get her to take a nap in her bed.”

“Best of luck unlatching her from you,” C’yra says with a smirk that’s so much like Catra’s.

“I may just take a nap with her,” Adora says through a soft laugh, “It would be easier.”

“Well, hopefully I’ll see you at dinner unless you’re trapped underneath the world’s cutest trap.”

Adora gets up to leave, and when she gets to the door, she turns around to see that smile again, and Adora smiles too.

~*~

“I’m not getting on that thing.”

Swift Wind huffs, “I am not a thing, Catra.”

“Oh yes, I apologize,” Catra says sarcastically, “I will not be riding your magical talking horse to Bright Moon.”

“I am not Adora’s,” Swift Wind bats Catra with one of his wings, “We are partners.”

“Knock it off, you two,” Adora says, her voice tired. She shifts just so, adjusting Danai on her hip.

Danai looks between Catra and Swift Wind with wide, curious eyes.

“I don’t like flying,” Catra says to Adora, “You know I don’t like flying.”

“Well, it’s not like I like feeling your claws dig into my fur so we’re even.”

“Guys,” Adora says, exasperated, then turns to Catra, “It’s quicker to fly than to walk, and Glimmer might just kill me if we get there late.”

Catra rolls her eyes. “Because I care so much about that.”

Adora sighs. “Danai,” she says, and Danai’s gaze fixes on Adora, “Would you rather walk or fly?”

Danai looks over at Swift Wind, and he smiles.

“Fly,” Danai says quietly, but Catra can see the excitement in her eyes.

“The leader has spoken,” Adora says, passing Danai over to Catra so that she can climb onto Swift Wind’s back.

“You know, kid,” Catra says, lifting Danai up so Adora can take her back, “I feel a bit betrayed.”

Danai smiles as Adora settles her right behind Swift Wind’s wings, and it melts some of Catra’s nervous energy, because she’s sure that in all of the time Danai has spent in Half Moon, she’s never seen Danai this excited.

The nervousness comes back when Adora offers her a hand.

“You grip your claws into Adora, got it?” Swift Wind says, angling his head back to jab it at Catra.

Just for good measure, Catra grips with her claws to get herself comfortable behind Adora, and Swift Wind bucks once to get Catra back before Adora is telling them both to stop.

Catra wraps her arms around Adora, her claws completely sheathed.

As they take off, Catra can hear Danai talking softly to Adora, her excitement raising even more when they’re in the air. She points to the trees below, and Catra sees Adora wrap a tight, secure arm around Danai’s waist so she won’t accidentally throw herself off.

As the Whispering Woods starts to thin out and disappear into the lake that surrounds Bright Moon’s castle, Danai’s eyes go wide, and she looks back at Catra and Adora with wide, excited eyes.

Swift Wind lands right before the castle doors, his wings stretching out and pulling back in as he comes to a stop.

Glimmer and Bow are stood outside, each with a firm hand on their daughter’s shoulder to stop the inevitable onslaught.

Catra gets down from Swift Wind and takes Danai from Adora, holding her close and offering Adora a hand, which Adora completely ignores. She swings off of Swift Wind with a confidence that has Catra rolling her eyes, and she smirks at Catra when she lands solidly on her feet.

“Show off.”

“No insulting each other in front of Danai,” Adora says like they made that an actual rule, and Catra rolls her eyes with a fond smile.

And then Adora is knocked back a few steps, arms wrapping around her waist and an excited shout of, “Aunt Adora!”

“We held her off as long as we could,” Glimmer says with a sigh, but she’s smiling as Hina rounds on Catra and stops herself when she sees Danai gripping Catra as tightly as her little hands will allow.

“Hi,” Hina says happily, offering Danai her hand, but Danai hides her face in Catra’s shoulder, her little claws digging into Catra’s back.

Hina’s smile drops, and Bow comes up behind her and ruffles her hair just so, a few wayward sparkles falling from messy curls. “We talked about this, love,” Bow says gently, “Danai is a bit shy, so too much energy might scare her a bit.”

“Right,” Hina nods, and Catra and Adora both smile at each other, “Calm and cool.”

Catra jostles Danai, and Danai looks up at her with wide, terrified eyes.

“Come on, kitten,” Catra says softly, “Let’s introduce you to everyone.”

Adora puts a hand on Danai’s back, and Danai looks over her shoulder to see Adora smiling at her. “They’re really nice,” Adora promises, “Bow and Glimmer have been my friends for years, and Hina is so excited to get to play with you.”

Danai looks down at Hina, and Catra can see just how much Hina is holding back. She’s bouncing on the balls of her feet and her tiny little wings, not big enough yet to even pull her off of the ground, are fluttering.

Hina reminds Adora of Glimmer when they were teenagers, a small ball of energy waiting to be released, but Hina also has Bow’s restraint and thoughtful nature keeping her calm for the time being.

Danai quietly asks Catra to be let down, but she still stands close to Catra and Adora, her fingers fisted into Adora’s pants.

Hina offers Danai a hand. “Do you like coloring?”

Danai looks up at Catra and Adora, and Adora smiles and whispers, “It’s okay.”

“We can also do whatever you want to do,” Hina says softly, a thoughtfulness that mirrors Bow’s pushing through the excitement of a new friend.

Danai takes Hina’s hand, and Hina’s smile grows brighter than the Moon Stone, and she leads Danai into the castle, talking about a mile a minute.

The adults follow Hina and Danai into the family’s living quarters, and Hina leads Danai over to a small, child-sized table in the corner covered in toys and coloring books.

“That wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be,” Bow says as he pulls out Glimmer’s chair.

“It honestly went far smoother than I was expecting,” Catra throws herself down into a chair, earning a glare from Glimmer, “She’s been so hesitant around anyone that isn’t me or Adora.”

“She’s warmed up to C’yra and Felix too,” Adora sits and takes Catra’s hand, running her thumb over Catra’s knuckles, “They have watched her a few times, and Danai seems to really like spending time in the library.”

“Felix is thrilled,” Catra rolls her eyes.

“She seems to like being around Hina,” Glimmer nods over to Hina and Danai in the corner, Hina offering Danai one of the crayons, and even though her movements are hesitant, Danai takes it, “I was afraid Hina might be a bit too much for her.”

“Luckily she takes after Arrow Boy in thoughtfulness,” Catra snarks, and Glimmer looks like she’s about to lob a fistful of sparkles in Catra’s face, but Adora cuts in before she can.

“Speaking of,” Adora says quickly, squeezing Catra’s hand in a way that tells Catra to knock it off, “How are you two handling Hina’s powers?”

Bow groans and drops his face into his hands and Glimmer just laughs lightly, her hand coming up to rub Bow’s back.

“So you’re handling it well,” Catra says through a short laugh.

“She just disappears!” Bow’s voice is shrill but quiet enough that it doesn’t pull the attention of the kids, “I’ll be serving her lunch, and I’ll turn around to grab a glass, and then she’s just gone!”

Glimmer laughs and Adora gives Bow a few sympathetic pats.

“She’s started using it to get out of lessons,” Glimmer adds on, and Catra notes that Glimmer seems to find it more amusing than worrying, “I can’t tell you how many times her tutors have complained over the last few weeks.”

“You seem remarkable calm, Sparkles,” Catra comments.

“Well, as my mother informed me, this is payback for raising me,” Glimmer says with an eye roll.

“What did I do then?” Bow asks, his voice raising even more, and this time, it’s enough to draw the attention of Danai and Hina in the corner, and Hina’s head tilts in curiosity and confusion while Danai looks to Catra and Adora to make sure everything is okay.

“Daddy?” Hina asks, getting up and coming over to Bow.

Danai follows after and climbs into Adora’s lap, her eyes watching Bow.

“I’m fine, sweetie,” Bow promises before pulling Hina into his lap.

“You seemed upset,” Hina looks over to Glimmer, “Is he upset?”

“He’s just being dramatic,” Glimmer assures Hina, a hand coming up to push a piece of messy hair out of Hina’s face.

Bow glares at Glimmer over Hina’s head, and Glimmer just gives him a sweet smile in response.

Adora feels a tug at her sleeve, and she looks down to see Danai tugging on her jacket sleeve, her eyes still on Bow.

“Is everything okay?” Adora asks softly, pulling Catra’s attention to the two of them.

“Is he okay?” Danai asks, her voice filled with worry.

Adora smiles, and Catra brushes Danai’s bangs from her face. “Yeah, kitten,” Catra says, a soft smile on her lips, “Bow is just fine.”

“You promise?”

“Why don’t you ask him?” Adora suggests.

Danai looks between Adora and Catra and then turns back to Bow, and Bow is watching her with a soft, gentle expression. He doesn’t say anything, and Hina smiles wide at her new friend, and Danai curls her claws in Adora’s jacket sleeve before asking, “Are you okay?”

“I am,” Bow nods, and Hina smiles up at him, “We were just talking about adult things that are a bit stressful.”

“That’s boring,” Hina says bluntly, and Glimmer and Catra snort, Bow looking scandalized and Adora hiding a smile behind Danai.

“You’re right,” Catra tells Hina, “It’s incredibly boring. Everything we talk about is absolutely awful. Can I join you and Danai instead?”

Hina’s eyes light up, and she starts squirming in Bow’s arms. “Will you really join us, Aunt Catra?” Hina asks excitedly, then quickly repeats, “Please,” over and over, and Catra thinks that this would’ve been overwhelming in another life when she was a different person, but who she is now laughs and gets up, moving around Adora to grab Hina from Bow and throw Hina over her shoulder.

Hina squeals, and Catra jostles her lightly.

“I’m stealing your kid,” Catra calls over her shoulder to Bow and Glimmer, and Hina’s laughs.

As Catra gets to the door, she turns around and asks Danai, “You wanna come with, kitten?”

Danai looks over at Catra and then up at Adora, and she shakes her head no, curling closer into Adora and closing her eyes.

Catra never really expected Danai to come along, and she can already see Danai falling asleep, so she waves to Adora before leaving the living area.

“If she has even a scratch on her, I’m throwing you into the prison!” Glimmer calls after them, and Catra’s faint voice replies, “I would love to see you try.”

“Admit it,” Adora says, absentmindedly running her fingers through Danai’s hair and over her back, “You love when Catra plays with Hina because Hina always comes back completely spent.”

“It is easier to get her in bed whenever you and Catra are here,” Glimmer admits, and then she smiles as Danai starts to purr softly, “It doesn’t look like you and Catra really have that problem.”

Adora looks down to see Danai completely passed out, and she can’t say she’s surprised. Danai doesn’t sleep much when she isn’t cuddled in between Catra and Adora, and she’s been trying to stay in her own room and sleep alone lately, so she’s been waking up exhausted.

With all of the excitement of the day, Adora is more surprised it took Danai this long to climb into either her or Catra’s lap and fall asleep.

“It’s all been a lot,” Adora says, and she hopes it encompasses everything, not just a day spent in Bright Moon with friends.

Bow’s eyes are glistening slightly, and he looks like he might combust. “She’s just so cute,” he says like the amount of cuteness causes him pain, “I mean, I’ve seen the kittens in Half Moon, but Danai is purring and it’s probably the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Adora breathes out a laugh. “Between her and Catra, I don’t even notice it anymore.”

“I might die from how cute that is.”

“I think we might’ve broke him,” Glimmer deadpans.

“It’s not really difficult,” Adora adds on, and Bow’s overflowing-with-cute face turns into a glare.

“Not all of us live in an entire city of Magicats who have probably the cutest offspring of anyone on Etheria.”

“We have a kid, you know,” Glimmer says, “A very cute kid who takes after you a lot more than she takes after me.”

“I can think Hina is the cutest child alive while also admitting that Danai has the cutest little purr I’ve ever heard in my life,” Bow reasons, “Hina doesn’t purr, so it’s perfectly valid.”

Glimmer and Adora laugh, and Danai makes a little squeak in protest at all the noise and buries her face as far in Adora’s chest as physically possible, her ear resting right over Adora’s heartbeat.

“How has everything really been?” Glimmer asks softly.

“Honestly?” Adora takes a deep breath, “It’s been really hard. I mean, some things were easy. Asking Danai to stay with us in Half Moon was incredibly easy, but I’m starting to feel like Hakim does not like Catra and me together and is trying to throw a wrench in every part of our lives, because I swear he’s opposed us every step of the way, and I don’t know if that’s just me being paranoid, or if it’s really happening.”

“What do you mean?” Bow reaches out and puts a comforting hand on Adora’s shoulder.

“It’s just,” Adora looks down at Danai to give herself a chance to gather her thoughts, “I don’t know whether I’m just overthinking it. First, there was the issue that Catra is the Magicat princess and I’m not a Magicat, so I wasn’t a suitable choice for the binding ceremony, and then we decided not to do the binding ceremony, and that was an issue. And then, with Danai, despite C’yra and Felix both deciding Danai would stay with us regardless, Hakim pushed us into adopting her, and it was fine. Catra and I both decided it was the best choice for her, but we had to decide on the spot.”

Adora’s ramble leaves her breathless, and she feels that tight feeling in her chest that she got so used to when she was younger, and she wishes Catra was here, because Catra’s presence is the easiest thing to use to ground herself, but Catra is off with Hina and none the wiser.

Danai is here, though, her fingers fisted into Adora’s shirt and her purrs rumbling, quieter than Catra’s but still loud enough to vibrate into Adora, and she closes her eyes and hugs Danai closer.

“Hey,” Adora opens her eyes to see Glimmer right in front of her, and Adora feels like they’re teenagers again, a younger Glimmer crouched down in front of a recently-defected Adora as she talks Adora through a panic attack that were a lot more frequent back then.

“It’s not paranoia,” Glimmer assures Adora, and when Adora looks to Bow for some kind of confirmation, he nods and smiles.

“It seems like he’s just trapped in tradition,” Glimmer continues, “And sadly, to him, you’re the thing that breaks that.” Glimmer grabs Adora’s hand and squeezes. “It doesn’t matter, though. Catra chose you, and she keeps choosing you and this life you two have together every day, and I’m pretty sure she would brutally murder Hakim before she let him get in between you two.”

“And the Magicats keep choosing you too,” Bow adds on, the hand that’s on Adora’s shoulder running gently over Adora’s arm, “C’yra and Felix would never let outdated traditions get in the way of your happiness with Catra, and from what I can tell, most of the Magicats support the pull from tradition.”

Adora wants to believe them, and she really tries to, but there’s still that nagging voice in the back of her head that sounds like someone she wishes she could just forget.

Oh Adora, the voice whispers to her, Isn’t is clear that you’ve exhausted your use? What are you without She-Ra and a war to fight? How is it that you’ve let Catra pull ahead of you? You need to do better.

It’s quiet, so quiet, but still just there enough to cast doubts and shadows over Bow and Glimmer’s comfort and assurances.

“I just don’t think I’m enough,” Adora says, quiet enough that she can pretend for just a moment that she’s saying her worries into an empty room and not to her two best friends, “For Catra, as She-Ra,” she paused, running her fingers through Danai’s soft, messy hair, “And I’m worried that because I’m not enough, I’m going to end up like her and ruin Danai in the same way she ruined me.”

Adora tries to remember the confidence she had when she promised Catra they wouldn’t be like Shadow Weaver, that they could raise Danai feeling loved and enough, but it’s disappeared in the face of anxieties she thought she had already pressed down deep enough to be forgotten.

“You are enough,” Glimmer says like it’s not even question, “You are enough for Catra, and enough as She-Ra, and most importantly, you, Adora, are enough, and you want to know how I know you won’t end up like Shadow Weaver?”

Adora waits for Glimmer to continue, and luckily, Glimmer understands that Adora doesn’t really know what to say in response.

“I know you won’t be like her, because you’re worried about becoming her,” Glimmer says with a confidence Adora doesn’t feel, “You’re looking at how you were raised and correcting, and I know Catra is doing the same. And I won’t pretend like you won’t make mistakes. Bow and I have made plenty, but making mistakes and fixing them is sort of what being a parent is about.”

“And you learn from those mistakes,” Bow continues, “And sometimes the mistakes can be big, but that doesn’t mean you can’t learn and heal from them. I mean, remember how my dads didn’t know I was in the Rebellion?”

“And my mom’s overprotectiveness?” Glimmer adds on with a laugh.

“And neither of us resent our parents for either,” Bow finishes, “We worked through it and came out on the other side stronger.”

Adora doesn’t know what to say. Bow and Glimmer are making good points, and logically it all makes sense. She was there when Bow’s dads learned that Bow had been lying to them, and she saw how they were happy that Bow found a place he belonged, even if they were upset that Bow didn’t feel like he could be himself around them. And she watched Angella become more and more comfortable with Glimmer taking a bigger role in the war before Hordak’s defeat, and even now, even as they’re seeing an era of peace, Angella struggles with Glimmer going out and facing the insurgents who have kept popping up throughout the years, but she never stops Glimmer and never tries to keep her from a fight.

Adora takes a deep breath and feels the tightness in her chest start to ebb away. It’s not completely gone, and she knows it’ll take a few more deep breaths to really go away, but she feels better. She feels less anxious.

Shadow Weaver’s voice is just a murmur now.

“You’ll do just fine,” Glimmer says, “And if you ever need help, you have so many people willing to offer, okay?”

Adora nods.

“Okay,” Glimmer squeezes Adora’s hand one more time before going back to her seat, and the conversation starts up again like nothing happened. They fall into easy conversation about their lives, and Adora thinks that they’ve gotten a bit boring since Hordak’s defeat. Day to day used to be visiting villages and stopping Horde forces, but now their lives are meetings and peace and quiet, and Adora thinks that she prefers this.

Sometimes, she misses the excitement, and she misses having a reason to turn into She-Ra. The Sword of Protection has become more of an accessory since the war ended, resting as a bracelet on Adora’s wrist just in case She-Ra is ever needed, but there aren’t as many threats anymore.

Adora should mind. Being She-Ra was such a big part of her identity for so long, but as they reminisce about a time right after they had all met, Bow telling the story with exaggerated gestures and sound effects, Adora doesn’t mind.

She-Ra was incredibly important to her for a long time, but now, she’s more than happy just being Adora.

Midway through Bow retelling the story about some adventure he and Sea Hawk went on, Catra comes back with Hina cradled against her shoulder, Hina’s eyes barely staying open despite her attempts to stay awake.

“I think I might’ve tired her out,” Catra says in greeting, jostling Hina on her shoulder, and Hina groans in protest.

“I’m not tired,” Hina barely gets out, her eyes closed despite her claim.

Glimmer breathes out a laugh, getting up to take Hina from Catra. “Whatever you say, love.”

Hina curls into Glimmer, taking a deep breath and letting out a soft sigh.

“We should probably get her to bed,” Bow says, getting up to follow Glimmer.

Catra sees Danai still fast asleep against Adora and says, “Yeah, we should probably get back to Half Moon too.”

“Hopefully we can get her to sleep in her bed for a bit,” Adora agrees, getting up and keeping a strong arm around Danai to keep Danai against her chest.

“I guess our crazy, wild night are all over,” Catra jokes, and Glimmer rolls her eyes.

“When did we ever have any crazy, wild nights, Catra?” Glimmer deadpans.

“Oh, I was referring to me and Bow,” Catra takes Danai from Adora and heads back out where she knows Swift Wind is waiting, “We had some fun times.”

“Remember the Kingdom of Snows?” Bow asks, leaning into the joke, “I’m pretty sure Frosta banned us for a year.”

“Right,” Catra pretends to remember, “It took some groveling and more than a few gifts for her to even think about allowing us to enter her kingdom ever again.”

“Okay, you two,” Glimmer stopped them, “Catra, get out of my castle and my kingdom. Adora, it was lovely seeing you. Thank you for reminding me why you’re the only friend I can stand.”

“Tell Angella we said hi,” Adora says, giving Glimmer a quick hug and pressing a kiss to Hina’s crown.

“And give our condolences to Felix and C’yra for having that as a daughter,” Glimmer says in good-bye.

Catra sticks out her tongue at Glimmer as Bow opens the castle’s front doors for her, and Swift Wind swoops down when he sees them walking out.

Adora swings up onto Swift Wind’s back easily, saying something before reaching out for Danai so Catra could get up, and as soon as they’re all secure, Swift Wind takes off for Half Moon.

~*~

“Stop twitching,” Adora says through a laugh, her hand coming up to keep Catra’s hand still, “You’re the one who trusted Scorpia and Entrapta to watch over Danai when Glimmer called us.”

“It’s not Scorpia that I’m worried about,” Catra says as they make their way up to Dryl’s doors, “I’m just worried Entrapta tried to do some weird experiment on her, or some robots went rogue and started tearing up the castle, Danai included.”

“Oh, come on,” Adora presses the button for the buzzer at the front door to let Entrapta know they’re here, “That was one time.”

“Not helping, Adora,” Catra says through gritted teeth.

“Plus, that was due to a virus in some First Ones technology, so Danai is completely safe.”

Catra glares at Adora, but Adora just smiles and holds the door open for Catra as Entrapta lets them in.

They wait in the courtyard, and Catra crosses her arms and taps her toes against the stone, her tail flicking.

“Would you stop that?” Adora bats Catra’s tail away as it flicks against her thigh, “These are our friends, you know.”

“Nothing seems out of the ordinary,” Catra comments, looking around the courtyard and seeing everything in the same place as it was in when they dropped Danai off earlier.

“You’re worrying too much.”

“And you’re not worrying enough,” Catra turns on Adora, “Entrapta is my friend, but I wouldn’t exactly call all of her experiments ethical. It’s why we became friends in the first place.”

Adora crosses her arms and smirks. “You’re so cute when you’re morally gray.”

“Stop that,” Catra shoves her hand against Adora’s face, but Adora just laughs and tries to grab Catra’s wrists to get her to stop.

“Fascinating,” Catra hears from the direction of the castle, and the telltale click on a recorder being pressed, “Log, Day 563 of observing relationship behavior. Adora and Catra seem to find some form of enjoyment from shoving each other. How gratification is reached has yet to be seen.”

Catra groans and Adora laughs, letting Catra go, and when they turn, Danai is running over to them, crashing into Catra’s legs and then Adora’s.

“Wildcat!”

It’s the only warning Catra gets before Scorpia scoops her up into a tight hug, and even though Catra’s come to really enjoy Scorpia’s hugs, she still fights them, even if it is halfhearted.

“We literally saw each other hours ago, Scorp,” Catra pushes against Scorpia’s shoulders.

“But it was only for a few moments,” Scorpia holds on tighter, and Catra’s sure she hears her spine crack, “I didn’t really get a chance to say hello.”

Catra groans and goes slack. “Hello, Scorpia.”

Scorpia’s eyes light up, and she goes straight into a retelling of her day. Catra hears giggling from behind her, and she turns her head to see Adora and Danai giggling at her expense.

Oddly, she doesn’t really mind.

“Hey, Scorp?”

Scorpia stops mid-sentence and goes, “Yeah?”

“Can you let me down?”

“Oh, of course, Wildcat!” Scorpia lets Catra go, and Catra lands on her feet and brushes out the wrinkles in her clothes.

“Please tell me that you didn’t allow Entrapta to experiment on my kid,” Catra comments, turning to see that Adora and Entrapta are deep in conversation.

“Actually, when Danai wasn’t cuddled up with me, she was following Entrapta around and asking to help,” Scorpia reaches for her commpad and taps a few things before pulling up pictures of Danai and Entrapta working on whatever experiment that caught Entrapta’s attention, “There was something incredibly endearing about it, though I’m pretty sure Entrapta did all of the talking.”

Catra smiles and tries to hide it. “Yeah, she’s not much of a talker.”

“But she’s so cuddly,” Scorpia says, one of her claws coming up to her cheeks and her eyes sparkling, “It’s like having a version of you that doesn’t fight my hugs.”

“Scorp—”

“Oh no, I know it’s all just an act at this point,” Scorpia stops Catra’s explanation, and Catra’s smile turns soft, “Danai just climbed into my lap, though, and she didn’t seem to mind my claws or all of the spikes.”

“I’m pretty sure she would fall asleep on a bed of nails,” Catra comments, and when she looks closer at the pictures Scorpia took, she sees Danai smiling up at Entrapta mid-explanation, her hands moving wildly, and then there’s another of Danai hard at work, Entrapta watching over her carefully.

“Entrapta didn’t let her do anything too dangerous,” Scorpia promises Catra.

“No, I know,” Catra flips to the next picture, one of Entrapta teaching Danai how to use one of her many tools, “It’s just unexpected, but I guess it makes sense.”

When Catra sees Scorpia’s brows come together in confusion, she says, “Danai’s favorite place in Half Moon is the library, so it makes sense that she saw Nerd Princess and wanted to know more.”

Catra feels a hand on her back, and she turns around to find Adora behind her, Danai still listening to Entrapta.

“So, it seems like Danai and Entrapta got along really well,” Adora says with a smug smile.

“Shut up,” Catra growls, elbowing into Adora’s stomach.

“What, did Scorpia not tell you?” Adora dodges the next elbow, throwing Catra a little off balance, “Danai wasn’t experimented on at all. In fact, she enjoyed helping Entrapta with her many experiments that I heard all about.”

“Adora—” Catra grits out in warning, but Adora’s smug smile stays firmly in place.

“It looks like there was nothing for you to worry about,” Adora teases, her hands coming to rest on Catra’s hips, and Catra turns quickly to tackle Adora to the ground, and Adora just laughs while Catra shoves the heel of her hand against Adora’s cheek.

There’s a click, and then, “Continue log, day 563. Catra has tackled Adora to the ground, and there seems to be no aggression behind the action. Adora is laughing as though she receives some form of enjoyment from it.”

Adora tips her head back, and Catra looks up to see Danai and Entrapta looking down at them, Entrapta with her recorder held up for her to talk into and Danai looking down at them with confusion.

“Hi, Dany,” Adora says with a laugh, “This is how Catra shows affection.”

“Adora claims that Catra shows her affection through these means,” Entrapta says into her recorder, “This is supported by the fact that Catra fights Scorpia when a hug is administered and that I have seen her tackle Glimmer and Bow, people she claims to be friends with.”

“Entrapta,” Catra growls in warning, but Entrapta isn’t put off by it at all.

“It is possible that this is how all Magicats show affection, but without solid data on Magicats as a whole, that will remain a hypothesis until more data can be collected.”

“Are you done?” Catra pushes herself up and offers Adora her hand to help Adora up too.

Entrapta puts a finger up, says, “End log,” and clicks the recorder off.

“Thank you,” Catra says through a sigh.

“You and Adora have provided excellent data in my experiment concerning couples’ behavior,” Entrapta is excited, and Catra’s sure it’s just because she’s talking about one of her experiments.

“Good, I’m glad,” Catra says, trying very hard to keep the sarcasm out of her voice, but she can’t keep the grumble of, “I love having my love life analyzed,” in.

Adora laughs, and Scorpia throws an arm around Catra’s shoulders. “I love getting the Super Pal Trio altogether!” Scorpia says enthusiastically, and Entrapta claps her hands while Catra groans and lets Scorpia squish her even closer.

Danai looks between all of them, watching Scorpia hug Catra and Catra pretend not to enjoy it. She watches Entrapta clap and talk excitedly and Adora stand back and let the group of friends have their moment, and she’s curious, because she’s only ever seen Catra and Adora around Half Moon or with Bow and Glimmer.

Here, around Scorpia and Entrapta, Catra is different, and Danai wonders if it’s because Catra is away from the Magicats, or if it’s because these friends seem to be Catra’s first, unlike Bow and Glimmer seeming to be Adora’s.

Scorpia lets Catra go, and even though she brushes her clothes off and makes some grumbled comment about personal space, Danai sees a rare soft smile from Catra.

Then Catra looks at her, and the soft smile stays, and Catra says, “You ready to go, kitten?”

Danai smiles, and she doesn’t say anything, but she does run to Scorpia and wrap her arms around Scorpia’s waist, and Scorpia doesn’t waste any time in wrapping Danai up in the tightest, best hug she’s ever had. It makes her remember something Catra said to her the first day they met.

“She’ll tell you she gives the best hugs,” Catra said to her, her voice soft in an attempt to make Danai feel comfortable, “And it’s true, but you can’t tell anyone I admitted that.”

“Catra said you gave the best hugs,” Danai whispers, but she knows Scorpia hears her, because Scorpia squeezes her just a bit tighter.

“Do you agree?”

Danai looks up and when Scorpia looks down, she nods.

Scorpia smiles wide. “Well, thank you, mini Wildcat,” Scorpia says, and then her brows come together and she says, “Small Wildcat? Maybe Wildkitten.”

“Wildkitten is the best option, because a kitten is a smaller version of a cat,” Entrapta pipes in.

Danai pulls away from Scorpia’s hug, and Entrapta smiles at her, one of her ponytails coming up to pat Danai on the head.

“Thank you for the help, small lab assistant,” Entrapta says, continuing to pat Danai’s head, and Danai smiles. “With a few more years of practice, you would make an excellent, regular-sized lab assistant,” Entrapta says, and Danai takes it as the compliment it is.

“Come on, kitten,” Catra calls to Danai, and Danai runs over and lets Catra lift her up and hold her close.

Catra and Adora say goodbye to Scorpia and Entrapta, and as they leave Dryl, Adora says, “Did you have fun today, Dany?”

Danai looks over Catra shoulder to Dryl’s castle and looks back at Adora and nods a yes.

~*~

Half Moon always calms down around twilight. It’s like every busy Magicat immediately stops, and the entire city goes quiet. All of the venders who sell in the square outside of the palace pack up, and even though there’s the stray Magicat here and there who find themselves out in the light of magic lamps, almost everyone finds a reason to be home.

Catra loves twilight, because it’s when her duties as a princess go away, and she has an hour or two of her own before she sits down to dinner with Adora, C’yra, Felix, and now Danai.

Usually she hides herself away in the Whispering Woods, climbing a tree and watching as the sky darkens. The small creatures of the Whispering Woods always seem to wake up around twilight, and there’s buzzing and chirping as the forest comes to life.

It’s relaxing in a way that reminds Catra of Beast Island, of the dead silence that fell over the island at night. No bustling cities, no princesses. Just the Magicats and the creatures in the forests around them.

Just as she’s about to head out of the castle, Etheria’s moon casting an orange glow over everything, Catra hears the soft pad of running feet.

Danai comes running down the hallway, sliding just a little as she rounds the corner and stops right in front of Catra.

“Can I come?” Danai asks, soft and unsure.

“Did you tell Adora, C’yra, and Felix you were coming to ask me?” Catra starts looking around, almost expecting Adora to come rushing around the corner wondering where Danai is, her eyes completely panicked.

Danai nods. “I told Adora, and she said if I hurried, I could find you here.”

Catra smiles and offers a hand. “Come on then, kitten.”

Danai doesn’t ask to be held, and she rushes out into the square with more confidence than Catra has seen since they brought her to Half Moon. She waves at Pisica as Pisica closes her stand, and Pisica smiles and waves back, shouting something about a cooking lesson next week. Catra watches Danai smile and give Pisica a thumbs up, and she sees Pisica laugh as she closes up.

A few of the other venders wave to Catra and Danai as well. The fisherman, Indra, stops Catra to ask something, and when Danai stops too, he smiles at her and offers her a bow, and Danai giggles.

They make their way out through the square and into the Whispering Woods, Catra going to her usual tree and helping Danai up onto the first sturdy branch.

They climb until their can see the sky through the leaves, and Danai snuggles into Catra and looks up at the sky burning a bright orange.

It reminds her of her first night in Half Moon, woken up from a nightmare and scared at everything new around her. She remembers watching Catra startle awake too, and Catra bringing her to this spot and making her feel safe again, just like Catra did in her village.

It was only a few months ago, but Danai feels like she’s been in Half Moon longer. She can remember the Meadowlands and her mommy and daddy, and it hurts when she does, but when it starts to hurt, Catra and Adora, or C’yra and Felix, or one of the many people Catra and Adora surround themselves with always seem to be there for her.

It’s nice, Danai thinks, Feeling so safe.

Catra curls her tail around Danai’s ankle, and Danai watches a bird take off from another tree, black and dark blue against the sky.

“Did you do this with C’yra?” Danai asks, suddenly curious.

“No,” Catra answers, her voice a little sad, “When I was your age, I didn’t live here in Half Moon.”

“How come?”

Catra sighs and wonders how she’s supposed to explain what happened to her. “Because some really awful people came and took me away,” she says, hoping it’s enough, “They made me live with them.”

“Mean people?”

Catra rests her head on Danai’s and closes her eyes. “Yeah,” she whispers, “Really mean people.”

“Were you alone?” Danai wiggles, and Catra leans back so that Danai can turn to look at her.

“Not really,” Catra reaches out and runs a few fingers through Danai’s hair, “Adora was there. That’s how we met, actually.”

“Where the mean people took you?”

“Yeah,” Catra says, “They took her too.”

“Where is Adora from?” Danai asks, and Catra’s surprised that Danai is asking so many questions. She’s usually so quiet, but she’s so curious right now, talking more than Catra is used to, but she loves that Danai feels comfortable enough right now to just be a curious kid.

“Really far away,” Catra smiles, “You should ask her, though. She’ll be able to explain a whole lot better than I can.”

Danai nods and turns to settle back against Catra again, her tail wrapping itself around Catra’s thigh.

“Do you ever miss that place?” Danai asks, her voice soft.

“Never,” Catra says, and even as Danai’s questions make her think of the previous Fright Zone, there’s no nostalgia, “It was a bad place, and I already have everything that was good from it here with me.”

“Like Adora?”

“And Scorpia and Entrapta too,” Catra adds on, “Those two were all I really had for a very long time, and even though I wasn’t the best person, and they had every reason to leave, they stuck by me. Scorpia even came to my rescue when I really needed her.”

Danai perks up and turns, “Scorpia saved you?”

Catra breathes out a laugh. “A story for another time,” she says, “Plus, Scorpia tells it better than me. I’m pretty sure there’s even sound effects.”

The orange of the sky burns out as dark blue and black creeps around the edges, and the luminescent bugs of the Whispering Woods flicker to life. One sweeps down and lands on Danai’s nose, and she looks at it with wide, curious eyes.

“If you offer it your finger, it’ll crawl onto it,” Catra says, and Danai does just that.

The luminescent bug crawls from Danai’s nose to her finger and down her hand, stopping in her palm and fluttering its wings out.

“They’re pretty,” Danai whispers as the bug flashes pale light before lifting off into the woods.

“I know,” Catra whispers too, because anything louder seems out of place in this moment, “There’s a lot of things in the Whispering Woods that glow.”

“Why?”

“That’s a question for Felix or Entrapta. I just know what I see.”

The bugs continue to fly around them, and every now and then, Danai offers her hand to one nearby, the bug taking just a moment to rest and flicker its light before flying off again.

There’s no more orange left in the sky, the only light coming from the bugs around them and the pale glow of the moons over the treetops.

“Come on, kitten,” Catra says quietly, nudging Danai gently, “If we don’t get back for dinner, the food will get cold.”

“Can we do this again?”

Catra smiles and starts helping Danai climb down. “Whenever you want.”

~*~

Catra strips down to her underclothes, leaving her pants and shirt and cape scattered across the room, before flopping into bed.

Adora laughs, and Catra just groans in response.

“Long day?” Adora asks while digging through their drawers for a shirt and shorts.

“No talking,” Catra mumbles into the pillow, and Adora can barely make out what she says.

Catra feels something soft hit her back, and she turns to glare at Adora.

Adora just smirks. “I’m sorry. I can’t understand you through the pillow.”

“I swear to you, Sparkles doesn’t know when to stop talking,” Catra turns onto her back, the shirt that Adora threw at her getting trapped underneath her, “I’m just in Bright Moon for the day to do my job as Half Moon’s princess, and all she wants to do is talk my ear off about finding tutors and training Hina so that she stop freaking Bow out every two seconds.”

“Well, we do have a kid now too,” Adora pulls the shirt from under Catra, “As I understand it, their children tend to be the main talking point for people with kids.”

Catra watches Adora shrug out of her jacket and drap it over the desk chair, and she’s too tired to even remind Adora to hang it up.

“She asked me what we’re doing for Danai’s education,” Catra groans.

“We should probably think about that.” Adora pulls her shirt over her head and throws it into the laundry basket before pulling the soft sleep shirt on.

“I’ll ask C’yra about it tomorrow,” Catra says dismissively, “I think Danai’s finally comfortable enough that we can start thinking about those things.”

And Catra’s right. Over the months since that day in the Meadowlands, Danai has slowly but surely found her footing in Half Moon. Every other week, she joins Pisica in her stall to learn how to cook, and they have spent most weekends over in Bright Moon so that Danai and Hina can see each other.

Every few weeks, Danai goes to Dryl for the day to help Entrapta on pre-approved experiments, and she’s covered with motor oil and grease when Catra and Adora pick her up, but she spends the entire way back to Half Moon talking excitedly about whatever project Entrapta let her help with.

It’s not all okay. Once or twice a month, Danai still slips into bed with Catra and Adora, tears clumping the fur right under her eyes, and there’s a lot of things that still startle her, but she’s comfortable enough now that schooling isn’t completely out of the question as a next step.

Adora gets finished changing, and when she gets into bed, she looks down at Catra with a smile.

“What?” Catra asks, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

“Remember when we thought we wouldn’t be good at this?”

Catra shrugs. “It made sense at the time. Everything was so sudden.”

“Well, we haven’t completely messed up yet.”

“You lost her in the castle a few weeks ago,” Catra says, smirking up at Adora.

“Yes, because she has your horrible habit of disappearing when something upsets her,” Adora defends herself, “I haven’t learned her spots yet.”

“But you will.”

“Yeah,” Adora smiles, “I will.”

Catra’s smirk softens into a smile, and Adora’s eyes go a bite wide before she asks, “What?”

“I’m just happy,” Catra answers in a moment of vulnerability that are getting more and more common as she gets older, “And I never really I would have all of this. I thought I was just doomed to become a foot soldier in Hordak’s army and die on the battlefield for a cause I never believed in, and yet somehow, I’m here. With you. And we have a kid. And I just never thought I would ever be here.”

“Yeah, I know the feeling,” Adora’s fingers come up to brush over the short, soft fur behind Catra’s ear, “It’s a bit crazy, isn’t it?”

“Unexpected, for sure,” Catra breathes out, her eyes closing and purrs rumble through her chest.

“I wouldn’t trade it for anything on Etheria though,” Adora whispers, settling down and letting Catra roll over to lay across her chest.

“Yeah,” Catra says, Adora’s heartbeat thrumming in her eyes and Adora’s fingers continuing to run through her hair, “Me either.”