Glimmer stirs from her sleep. Her room is full of darkness. The only light in the room slips in through the window from the moon. She blinks, trying to adjust her eyes to the shadows. The blurriness from sleep fades away and shapes take form. Glimmer quickly spots the sleeping body by her.
Adora lays on her side, unable to sleep on her back from the injuries she sustained during the Battle of Brightmoon. Her body is curled into a ball. Soft whimpers come from Adora as well. Is this what woke Glimmer? She didn't even hear Adora at first. Whatever disturbed her sleep, she is awake now and seems to be needed.
Glimmer shifts closer to the sleeping girl. She is careful not to disturb her right away. The whimpers could be nothing for all she knows. But Glimmer finds this not to be the case, so she believes. With the light from outside, she can make out the scared look in Adora's face. Beads of sweat line her forehead. Glimmer notices that Adora also is clutching the bed sheet tight in one of her hands.
"Oh, no."
Glimmer knows Adora can have bad dreams every now and again about the Horde. She has been startled awake many times by them and Glimmer is always there to comfort her. Some nights when Adora can't fall asleep because of that and other anxieties, she crawls into Glimmer's bed for some peace. Looks like it didn't work today.
"Hey…Hey, Adora," Glimmer says in a hush voice. She gingerly places her hand on the sleeping girl's shoulder. Gently, she shakes her. "Adora, wake up. You're having a bad dream again."
Adora doesn't react. She stays locked in whatever dream plays in her mind. Glimmer gives a harder shake. This finally wakes Adora. She snaps up in a panic, gasping for air. Glimmer darts back and Adora swings out an arm, not knowing who's hand is on her.
Once her mind wakes up, Adora looks towards the direction she felt the hand. Glimmer slowly makes her way back to her. "It's me. You're okay. You're safe! I'm here," Glimmer tells her.
"I thought you were…I'm sorry I almost hit you. I just…I'm sorry," Adora replies. She takes deep breaths, trying to relax.
"It's alright, Adora. Do you want to talk about it?" Glimmer finally reaches her and stays close.
"No…No it's fine. Just the usual, that's all. I just want to go back to bed." Adora doesn't look at Glimmer.
"If that is what you want, okay. I'm here if you need me, okay?"
Adora gives a small nod before laying back down on her side with her back towards Glimmer. Glimmer stays seated for a moment before joining Adora. She can tell something is being kept from her. Whatever Adora dreamed about, it was bad.
Glimmer is accustomed to Adora jolting awake, she is accustomed to moans and whimpers from her while asleep, she is accustomed to it all, but there is something different about this time. The way she didn't wake up right away. The way she was much more quiet. Adora was about to say something at first but stopped and changed her sentence. The way she refused to look at her. She is hiding something.
Whatever it is, Glimmer won't push. Least not right now. That won't do Adora any good. If or when she does want to talk, Glimmer will be there for her. So for now, she watches Adora slip back into sleep. Glimmer does her best to stay awake. She wants to make sure Adora doesn't have another nightmare. But sleep sneaks up on her and she falls into simple dreams.
Adora finds herself back at the Fright Zone. She is all alone. Not a soul in sight. There are no sounds at all. Not even the pipes that blow steam through the buildings make a peep. This isn't normal. There always are sounds in the Fright Zone. There always is something happening.
Her legs move without thinking. Her steps cause loud echos to bounce around the walls. Adora now wishes for the quiet. Her footsteps are not helping at all. Still no one. Where the heck is everyone? And when did it become so chilly?
Suddenly, there is another noise. It is loud and hard and right behind her. Adora snaps around and reaches for her sword but find nothing there. She panics as she looks up at whoever is behind her. Shadow Weaver.
The older woman gives Adora no time to react. She places her cold, sharp hands on the sides of Adora's head. Adora feels a hot, painful pulsing spread into her skull. She cries out as she struggles to pry herself free of Shadow Weaver's grasp. Her grip is like iron, however.
"Don't think you can escape me again, my dear. There is nothing you can do. You can't win and you can't protect any of your friends."
"N-No! You're wrong!" Adora manages to say through gritted teeth. She struggles to stay focused on Shadow Weaver. Her head feels like it is going to explode.
There is a laugh, no, a cackle, from Shadow Weaver. "All you do is hurt you're friends. You're going to lead them to their doom one day. You can't do anything to prevent that."
Suddenly, Shadow Weaver lets go of Adora. Adora falls to the ground, clutching one side of her head. She does not notice right away that the floor has become a shallow body of water. Once the pain dulls she finally realizes she no longer is in the Fright Zone.
Adora looks around. She finds herself back at Brightmoon, just outside of the castle. Smoke fills the air and as well as sounds of explosions. Adora looks around, trying to find anyone. She still finds her back bare. No sword in sight. Panic enters her mind. She has to find it. She has to stop the Horde from hurting anyone. She has to stop them from injuring her friends.
Her eyes land back on Shadow Weaver. She now has Catra in a tight hold. Her former friend stares back at her, eyes full of fear.
"Adora.." Catra starts.
"Catra! Don't worry I'll-"
"Why did you leave me?" Catra cuts her off. Adora freezes. "Why did you leave me alone to Shadow Weaver?"
"I…I didn't want to! I wanted you to come with me! I wanted to help you!" Adora tells her.
"Why didn't you do anything to help me? How can you leave me?" Catra keeps going on.
"I'm sorry! I-I-"
There is another explosion. Adora's attention is drawn towards it. Her eyes widen in horror as she sees the castle smoking, flame spilling out from the windows. She then notices Horde soldiers tying up and throwing them in a vehicle. They are going to bring them back to the Fright Zone and torture them.
She then notices Glimmer on the ground. She is glitching and showing no signs of stopping. A Horde soldier keeps her pinned on the ground. Adora attempts to stand and run over to her but finds herself unable to move. Dark shadows have slithered up her arms and legs, keeping her planted in the watery ground.
"There is nothing you can do. You brought the Horde to Brightmoon. You let your friends be captured and hurt. You left Catra and caused her downfall. You can't win." Shadow Weaver speaks once more.
The tendrils around her spread across her body as Shadow Weaver grows closer.
Adora.
"No, no no. I just wanted to help. I didn't want to cause any harm!" Adora says.
Adora!
"That is all you've done. Stop lying to yourself and trying to play hero. You know it won't work."
Shadow Weaver now is inches away from Adora. She bends down and clutches her hand against Adora's chin. Her nails dig into Adora's skin. "Give up."
Adora is unable to speak. She shuts her eyes, feelings the tears she had held back fall down her face. She doesn't want to believe in her but maybe she is right. Every since becoming She-ra she has only brought chaos everywhere. Maybe she isn't meant to be a hero.
ADORA!
Adora's eyes fly open. Darkness surrounds her and she feels hands on her body. Thinking Shadow Weaver still has a hold on her, she lashes out. She hits whoever is there and they let go. There is a yelp. Adora scrambles to her feet but she falters on a soft, spongy surface. The second she falls, the world comes back to her.
She's in Glimmer's room. She's on Glimmer's bed. She's at the castle in Brightmoon. There is no Horde soldiers. There is no Shadow Weaver. There is no battle going on outside. The only thing out of place is the stinging pain on her back from the deep scratches Catra inflicted on her days ago. She's safe. She's okay. She's-
Wait…
"Glimmer!" Adora sits back up. Her eyes are still adjusting to the dark room, however, she can make out the outline of Glimmer looking at her. A hand rest on her cheek. "I didn't mean to hit you! I'm sorry! I didn't know it was you! I-"
"Adora calm down!" Glimmer says. "Take a deep breath, relax, okay? Breathe!"
Adora takes a deep breath. She didn't realize that her heart is racing in her chest or that her hands are shaking. Glimmer lets go of her face and takes Adora's hands in her own to help calm them.
"Adora, what happened?" She asks.
"I…I had a bad dream, a nightmare."
"I could guess that. I meant what was it about. I know you might not want to talk about it but I've never seen you so scared before. You never reacted that badly to any of your dreams in the past." Screw waiting. This is bad.
Adora looks away from Glimmer. How can she tell her about it. Her dreams told her that she will only hurt her friends and what did she do upon waking up. Smack Glimmer across the face.
"Adora, please. Whatever it is, tell me. I want to help. Please! Something has been bothering you for a couple days now, don't think I haven't noticed."
Adora keeps her face turned from Glimmer. Her mouth turns dry as she speaks. "I hurt people…I…I left my best friend in the Horde. I left her to Shadow Weaver and who knows what she did to her. If I paid more attention at the ball, you and Bow would never have been captured and you never would have started to glitch. Entrapta died in my plan to save you, I pissed off the Horde by leaving and it probably helped cause them to do whatever they did to freeze the Whispering Woods and attacked Brightmoon. We nearly lost that battle because I couldn't do anything…
"Ever since I found the sword everything has been a mess. I've caused harm to so many people. I just have messed everything up…I should never have snuck out that night. I would never have found that sword and then mess things up."
Adora sniffs back some tears. Glimmer does not answer right away. Adora starts to think that Glimmer hates her for what she said. But those thoughts don't go far. Glimmer gently takes Adora's chin in her hand. It is soft and warm as she makes Adora look at her.
"Even if you've messed up and hurt people, you've done so much good, Adora. You have brought hope to so many people and helped the rebellion grow in numbers. You've saved so many people. We were able to stop the invasion on Brightmoon. I can understand how you feel. There is a lot of responsibility on your shoulders and it was trusted on you all of a sudden. I know what it is like to have the weight of the world on your shoulders. You do so much good, Adora. Don't let your mind think otherwise."
"But what if I mess up big time? What if I let a bunch of people down or worse?"
"Then we will figure it out. Everyone makes mistakes. I will help you out no matter what, we all will. We will figure it out, okay? You don't have to think you are alone on this."
Adora answers by burying her head in the crook of Glimmer's neck. Glimmer wraps her arms around the other girl, being mindful of her back. "I'll take that as a 'yes'."
"How's your cheek?"
"I'll be fine. You have a good punch ya know. Gotta teach me how to do that one day."
"If you really want to."
"We can talk more about it tomorrow. We need to rest. Think you are up to it? I'll be right here."
"I can try."
Both lay down on the ground and stay close to each other. Glimmer keeps her arms around Adora, giving her a sense of comfort. Like before, Glimmer stays awake as Adora falls asleep. She is able to stay awake for a little while longer than before. Adora seems to fall into a peaceful slumber finally. Glimmer keeps her arms around Adora as she too slips into dreams once more.