It all started with an accident.
It could have defined Adora's life, at this point; the statement that it all started with an accident. Grabbing the sword in Whispering Woods had been an accident born of curiosity and had spun her off onto this path, befriending Catra had been an accident born of Shadow Weaver trying her absolute best to keep them apart—or so she thought, anyway. Adora found if she went too far back into her childhood, her memories started to get a little hazy.
That part was weird, and probably not normal. Thinking about it too much made Adora's head hurt. She had the sinking feeling lately that despite that, she needed to start thinking about it more.
Knowing her luck, her cloudy memory also tied back to an accident somehow. Because that was Adora's life lately, it seemed; a series of accidents that she somehow managed to fix just enough to make everything right again, and sometimes to even make things better for other people.
So of course, in the end, it was fitting that once again an aspect of her life was changed because of an accident.
"Glimmer?"
All things considered, the Battle of Bright Moon could be called a smashing success. In fact, there was no could about it; they had been on the very brink of defeat, and had only managed to turn it all around with the help of their allies and an unexpected second wind. The Battle of Bright Moon was a smashing success, and it had been against all odds. They had won, and everyone had survived.
Adora knew this, logically. She could be a very logical person, when she took the time to stop and think. There was no reason for her to still be worried, or to feel uneasy. There would be problems and issues to address, of course—the loss of the Whispering Woods would need to be discussed, and there was no doubt in her mind that Catra and the rest of the Horde would come back. But those were problems that could wait, at least for a little while. Now was the time to relax, to rest, and to celebrate.
Instead of doing any of those things, as Adora knew she should have been doing logically, she was wandering the hall of the castle and following a familiar path to Glimmer's room. All because she had noticed that the princess—general? Was she just the general right now since she had won a major battle, or did both titles apply? She'd have to ask, politics seemed complicated—wasn't out and about in the main chamber with everyone else.
It was a small thing to notice, in the rush of everything. But Adora had noticed it, and it made her feel… well. Worried, to put it mildly. Perhaps a little uneasy. Considering everything that had happened to her friend before the battle, she felt her concern was perfectly justified.
And hey, she was still being logical about this! She'd knocked on Glimmer's door when she'd called her name. She was only a little worried about her, after all.
That worry did increase a little when the only response to her call was silence, but Adora took a deep breath to try and rein in her thoughts. She'd already explored every nook and cranny of Bright Moon before coming here. There was nowhere else Glimmer could be but in her room, unless she'd left the grounds entirely. And she wouldn't have left; not when they had won, not when they were celebrating, and certainly not without telling Adora or Bow.
Right?
Okay, that worry was beginning to not be so little.
Adora took a deep breath. She didn't have the sword of protection with her—she hadn't thought she'd need it and that was stupid of her, in hindsight—so whatever was in Glimmer's room, she would be facing it as just herself. That was fine. She could still make that work. She was more than capable of protecting her friend without She-ra's power behind her.
Another deep breath, and she pushed the door open braced for a fight and nearly fell right into the room when she realized it wasn't locked and opened easily. The blonde stumbled, managed to find her footing, and brace herself against the door so she wouldn't fall flat on her face.
"A-Adora?!"
Well. That yelp definitely sounded like Glimmer, and she definitely didn't sound like she was scared or in pain. Mostly she sounded startled. Feeling her ears start to burn, Adora cleared her throat and hastily straightened up, leaning against the door casually like that had been her intent all along. "Glimmer," she said. "I was just looking for you. I noticed you weren't at the party with everyone else."
Standing in the middle of her bedroom, Glimmer looked like she was okay. There were no obvious wounds on her body, and the glitching she had experienced since their escape from the Fright Zone seemed to have been mended along with the Moonstone. She was still wearing her armor from the battle, and that was something Adora could have easily passed off as either personal preference or a lack of time to change into something more comfortable before the celebration started.
Physically, Glimmer looked perfectly fine.
But she was standing in the middle of her room, all by herself, and she was tightly clutching the staff she'd used in battle with both hands like her life depended on it. Adora wondered what it said about her as a person that she would have vastly preferred having an injury to tend to or an enemy to beat up with her bare hands.
"I just wanted to make sure you were okay," she said at last as the silence stretched on. "I got… worried, I guess."
She didn't know why that admission made Glimmer smile, but it did; her grip relaxed subtly on her staff, and her shoulders loosened up. "Does my mom know you were looking for me?"
"No. Oh, no, I didn't say anything to her. I'm pretty sure she's noticed that you aren't out there, though."
"Of course she did." It was a sigh, before the princess looked down at the staff in her hands. "But she didn't come looking for me, so I guess that's something."
"… Do you, um. Did you want anyone to come looking for you? Because I can leave. Right now. I just realized you might want to be alone. I can just—go and pretend I didn't see any of this." Whatever 'this' was.
"Oh, no! No no no, you're fine, Adora." Glimmer hastily set the staff down carefully as the blonde approached. "I'm just in a weird mood, I guess. I'll go out to see everyone with you, I don't want Mom to worry so much that she does come looking for me." The smile she gave after those words seemed a little forced, even to a former Horde soldier, but it was something.
Something was good, right? Something was still better than nothing, even if it was a small something.
Adora hesitated, then tentatively came a little closer. She stopped next to her friend and leaned forward a little, examining the staff that Glimmer had left. "I saw you using this during the battle," she said. "You looked really good."
Glimmer's smile softened, relaxed around the edges. "Thanks," she murmured. "Mom gave it to me. It used to be Dad's."
Oh.
Oh.
Her father's staff. The same father that had been killed fighting the Horde.
"… Um. Are—are you sure you don't want me to leave? This… has to be a little awkward." It felt a little awkward. It felt a lot awkward. About as awkward as the time Adora had realized she was sitting in the king's chair, with the queen right behind her. Only somehow even more awkward than that, because while Queen Angella was a perfectly nice person and had been far more patient than Adora felt she deserved, she wasn't someone the blonde was terribly attached to. She was on her way there, but she wasn't all the way yet.
Glimmer, on the other hand, was someone Adora was very attached to. Someone she was probably more attached to than she should be, judging by everything that had happened during the botched rescue mission in the Fright Zone, but ignoring that—and she was ignoring that, thank you very much—but someone she was attached to regardless of the truth depth of it.
That attachment made this whole situation incredibly awkward, as she was suddenly and painfully reminded of her past as a Horde soldier. It was strange to feel shamed by the mere presence of a weapon, but Adora couldn't deny the feeling. And so she rambled a little bit, to try and bury the feeling.
"Adora!" Her name came out as a laugh, and the sound of it made her relax—subtly, slightly, but just enough that the awkwardness faded a little bit. Glimmer really had a pretty laugh. "This isn't awkward at all. I mean, if you want to leave, you can."
"No! No, I—I just wanted to make sure you were okay, is all." Her eyes slowly drifted back to the staff. "You fought well with it."
"Mom said the same thing." Glimmer's eyes settled back on the staff. "I'm glad you both think so. It… it means a lot to hear it."
Adora blinked, glancing at her curiously. "Why?"
A small shrug. "It just does. My dad was a really powerful sorcerer, and I'd never fought with his staff before. I wasn't sure it would work for me, honestly."
"Of course it would work for you. Why wouldn't it? You're his daughter."
Another small shrug with no verbal reply; Glimmer's eyes didn't move from her father's staff, even when Adora's gaze settled on her. After letting a moment pass, the taller girl gently nudged her. "Hey," she said softly.
Glimmer blinked and glanced up at her, her smile curious. "Hi," she said.
"It was always going to work for you, Glimmer. You're really strong, and determined, and you were fighting because you wanted to help the people you cared for. Your mom's really proud of you, and I think your dad would be, too."
Adora hadn't planned any of that; she'd had some vague idea of reassuring her friend, of course, but she hadn't actually thought about how she was going to say it. But looking down into Glimmer's eyes, it had all come pouring out before she could stop herself, and she couldn't stop itself because to her it was true. She believed it, and she believed it wholeheartedly because Glimmer had proven it was true when it mattered
She hadn't planned it, but maybe it didn't matter because Glimmer was looking up at her stunned and blushing a bit, mouth slightly open, and their gazes locked and held and that was when it happened.
It was an accident. It really was. Adora wasn't thinking, and when Adora didn't think accidents tended to happen. Accidents sometimes happened even when she was thinking, but they seemed to happen the most when she wasn't thinking. And at that moment, she definitely wasn't thinking.
It was an accident, and she wasn't thinking, and it just—happened. One minute she'd been looking into Glimmer's eyes, and then she'd gotten caught up in the feeling of the moment and she'd leaned down just as the princess was leaning up, a warm hand on her arm, and she wasn't even sure why her eyes were drifting shut.
She didn't even know what it was, really, beyond the fact that she'd had the sudden urge for it. Just that it felt soft, this brush of her friend's lips against hers, and something inside of her seemed to click suddenly into place after being dislodged for far too long.
It was light, and over far too soon, and Adora opened her eyes in time to meet Glimmer's gaze. "Adora," she breathed, and oh.
Oh, that was a new sensation. Or… no, not a new sensation, not really. She'd felt this once before, this warmth in her chest, this tightness in her throat, back in the Fright Zone. But back then it had been for…
Glimmer's door slammed into the wall with a cheerful song from Sea Hawk and a sigh from Mermista, and Adora jumped away from the princess like she'd been burned. In the chaos of their friends converging in one room to look for their general, she was able to slip back out into the hallway and run.
It had been an accident. And Adora never handled accidents well.
Of course I've been off this site now for like four years and suddenly the decision to try and write a connected chapter story from shipping week prompts gets me to come back. Chapters will be labeled as days with the appropriate prompt, though I apologize in advance that said chapters probably won't be up on the exact day because this one alone turned out to be like five pages long.
Incidentally, I'm also posting a day early. But eh.