Chapter Text
A green pool. Swimming, helplessly. The helmet-mask Catra had worn for so many of years swept away. Struggled breaths, the constriction of her chest. The sharp stabbing pain in the back of the neck. So many voices, overlapping. It's so loud. The rest had been a blur. After all, her body was no longer hers, she wasn't in control. Prime was. The memories appear in blurred flashes. Prime crushing the helmet-mask, the clones cutting her hair, fitting her with the white Horde uniform that all the clones wore.
Days went by. Three, maybe four? And then she heard it. Adora. Here, on the Velvet Glove, calling out to her. Catra had warned her not to come. What was she thinking? And Catra found the strength to call back. Or at least she thought she'd found the strength. But it turns out it was all a part of Prime's sick plan to get Adora to surrender She-Ra. Prime was controlling her movements once again.
More flashes appear. Slashing at Adora, the punches, the words Catra had told her. How Prime would win, how he was basically inevitable. She remembers the hurt in Adora's eyes, the pain, the fear. That desperate blue seeping through the green of Prime's hold. That disgusting green. Stars above, Catra hated that colour now. The noise gets louder, consuming her. Electricity courses through her body, an after effect of crashing into Prime's screen.
She gets control of herself back, if only for a moment, and tells Adora that she should have stayed away, but Adora is persistent. Catra knows she must make a sacrifice, a true sacrifice for the greater good. She will save Adora, she promises. So she drives herself to the cliff, but Adora reaches out to her. For a moment, it seems like there could be a different way out. But Prime does now allow it, and Catra falls to her doom. Adora follows her, persistent to the end. Except this time, the blonde girl cannot summon She-Ra, for she too is lay unconscious after the fall. Clones drag Catra and Adora away.
Prime finds Bow and Glimmer and Entrapta on his ship. He restrains Darla, cutting off the trio's only way of escape. He keeps them prisoner, torturing them, trying to find out how to use the Heart of Etheria to 'bring peace'. Eventually, Glimmer cracks, too weak to withstand any more suffering. She tells him that the Sword of Protection is the key to the Heart. And that's when Entrapta reveals that Adora shattered the sword, and that its runestone is incapable of anything now. Prime gets angry. Adora was being serious when she said that she would not give him She-Ra...because she no longer had She-Ra. But it's alright, Prime reasons. If he can use Hordak's old lab and gather his research, he can find an alternative way to use the Heart. After all, he can't use She-Ra anymore. Because Adora is dead.
Prime comes to Etheria, shows Catra and Adora's lifeless bodies as a type of trophy, a token, if you will, of his victory. He brags of how he has Glimmer, their precious Queen, prisoner. He reveals her, lay on the ground, her hair messy, eyes without the light that once illuminated them, the droplet of her crown barely hanging on. Her skin has paled due to the amount of time she has spent away from her runestone. Her face shows lines of cuts, scars, bruises, all of which she has endured whilst trying not to reveal the truth about the Heart of Etheria. But she has failed. She is powerless, broken. Micah and Castaspella scream out. Bow's dads notice him lay alongside her, his shoulder armour shattered, his stomach baring bruises from the torture Prime has inflicted upon him. Then there is Entrapta, cuffed to the wall, as Catra and Scorpia had done to her, a long three years ago when they had first met, and thought Entrapta was on the side of the Rebellion. That was a mistake, all Entrapta cared for was science. And here, she had lots of it, but the fun of it was gone, replaced by only misery. Her pigtails have been cut shorter, less effective, her dungarees are ripped, her eyes dull. Prime has tortured each of them to within an inch of their lives. And Adora is dead.
Prime succeeds in his plan. He discovers how to use the Heart, without Adora, or She-Ra or any of the elemental princesses. He builds a drill, a horrible spiked green drill that digs into the ground, and he seizes the Heart. Families gather, holding onto each other in their final moments. Prime has the mercy of teleporting an almost-lifeless Glimmer and Bow down to their families, who weep and howl in despair. The ground tears open, green fire erupting out of it, a sign of Prime's control on the Heart. His clones gather, victorious. Prime sneers, gloating of how all that is left for Etheria is a terrible and eternal night. This is it. This is really the end. Prime has won. And Adora is dead.
Catra sits bolt upright, panting, screaming. Melog sits on the edge of the bed, now red, their mane bristled. Adora stirs, and sits up immediately when she hears Catra's sobs. She notices how fear and panic flicker in Catra's eyes. She notices the rapid and distraught rise and fall of Catra's chest. Sweat drips down her face, a sure sign of her hysteria. Tears are falling from her heterochromatic eyes. Her tail is bristled. The sight of Catra like this breaks Adora's hearts.
"Catra?" Adora asks. Catra turns to her, sees the blonde sitting next to her.
She takes everything in. How Adora's eyes always seem to reflect the sky, how they hold the light of the room. She glances over Adora's cheeks, which currently have a warm rose tint to them. Adora's lips...soft, pink and curved into a frown. A worried frown. Catra acknowledges the dumb hair poof, how Adora's hair is still tied in a ponytail. She really was going to be bald by her thirties. Catra moves a hand forward, and gently pulls the hair band from Adora's hair. Her blonde hair falls loose, with a wave from where the ponytail has been. Adora glances at Catra, confused. The brunette is quiet, her breathing ragged, her eyes full of tears.
"Catra, what happened?" Adora asks again.
"I-I" Catra stammers, hiccupping.
"I had a nightmare." The brunette discloses, racking with sobs. Adora immediately wraps her arms around the brunette, as she cries.
"What happened? You can tell me everything. Or we don't have to talk about it, if you don't want." Adora says, placing a kiss onto Catra's forehead. It is warm, a little sticky. Catra sighs, cuddling closer to Adora, inhaling her soft vanilla scent, holding onto her tightly. Is this real? Is it one of Prime's tricks? This is Catra's deepest dream, being loved by Adora. It is all she has ever wanted, just her and Adora. Prime could easily prey on that, he had done when he'd chipped her.
"Oh Catra." Adora whispers. Catra tilts her head up, and she takes Adora's chin in her thumb and index finger, and pulls Adora closer to her. The blonde explores Catra's eyes, so beautiful and bright in the darkness of the night. Nobody else could make that combination of blue and yellow work. Only Catra. It would only be ever Catra, the one for her. As Catra captures Adora's lips, the blonde can feel Catra's tears on her face. Except, now Adora is crying too. She barely notices, getting so caught up in the feeling of Catra's lips on hers. They were both so broken and exposed, still so raw from the war. They're allowed this moment, aren't they? This one small moment of vulnerability after three long years spent apart, after facing the end of the universe. They deserve this, they do. Adora is sure of it.
As they separate, Catra sighs, smiling.
"That's better." She says. Adora grins.
"Who's the dummy now?" The blonde asks, slightly lovestruck.
"Shut up." Catra speaks, laughing slightly. Adora wipes the tears from Catra's eyes, running a finger over Catra's soft, tear stained cheeks.
"You're beautiful." Adora whispers.
"I dreamt about Prime." Catra reveals, breaking the moment. Adora's eyes widen, her eyebrows furrowing in worry.
"Oh, darling." She says. Catra giggles softly.
"Don't think you've ever given me a nickname before." She jokes.
"Is it okay?" Adora asks, frowning. Catra places a soft kiss on Adora's lips.
"Yes...dummy." The two girls laugh softly, quietly, before the moment becomes sombre again.
"We don't have to talk-" Adora starts.
"No, I want to. I need to." Catra says, running her hands through her short hair. Oh stars, here come the tears again. She had loved her long, thick hair. When Prime had cut it, he had taken a huge part of her identity. And admittedly, it made her feel very lost.
"The flashes again?" Adora asks. Catra nods, as Melog snuggles into her. Catra smiles at her pet.
"I mean, yeah, kinda." Catra says. Adora tilts her head.
"Yeah it is the flashes. But they're worse. You died, Adora." Catra says, shaking. Adora cuddles her closer.
"If this is about the Heart-" Adora begins.
"No, in my nightmare. You didn't even make it out of the Velvet Glove. You died after jumping after me. We both did. Prime...he-he-" Catra begins to stammer, her chest rising and falling again with panic. Adora rubs her thumb over Catra's hand, comforting her.
"He kept Sparkles and Arrow Boy and Entrapta prisoner...he tortured them. Just to find out about the Heart, to control it. He...he succeeded. He destroyed everything. He nearly killed Spa-I mean, Glimmer, and Bow, but he left them to die with the rest of Etheria...and you-" Catra cries out again. Adora's heart breaks, as she wraps her arms around her girlfriend. They were both broken. And perhaps that was what made them perfect for each other.
"I just want to focus on the Grayskull mission." Catra says, wiping her hands over her face.
"Catra, that isn't important." Adora chides. "What matters is you."
"No. What matters is you Adora. You have spent so long helping other people, putting them first. It's time to put yourself first." Catra reprimands. Adora smiles at the brunette. Stars above, she loves her.
"It's important that this mission gives you some clarity." Catra continues. Melog nods their head in agreement. Adora pets their blue mane lovingly.
"I feel like finding out about Mara's rebellion was a huge clue. But I also feel that there's more to it." Adora sighs. Catra puts a gentle hand on Adora's shoulder.
"We can talk about all of that in the morning. Come on, let's go back to sleep." Catra murmurs.
"What about your flashes?" Adora asks worriedly. Catra lies down and wraps Adora's arm around her waist. She smiles up at Adora, who gets the message.
Adora and Catra hold each other close, being as gentle as they can with each other. At last the war is over, but there is still so much to do, so much to learn. Starting with the mystery of Grayskull. Catra knows how much this means to Adora, and if it can get the blonde to think about herself for once, then it would be worth it. Adora smiles as Catra's eyes droop sleepily. The feline girl's tail wraps around Adora's leg, just like it had done that night they'd shared a bed on Mara's ship. [1] Adora lets the gentle movement of Catra's tail, as well as the brunette's soft snores lull her back to sleep. Because after all, the war is over, and hers and Catra's relationship is beginning. And that is enough.