on the edge of greatness

Summary: Due to Shadow Weaver, Catra's punishment for Adora leaving is marrying Scorpia.

(WARNING! Fem-slash, AU, Sporadic Updates)

Disclaimer: I do not own She-Ra and the Princesses of Power.

Chapter 1

The wedding ceremony was over before she knew it. Well, not that there was a wedding ceremony. Really, Shadow Weaver just made them sign a bunch of papers declaring them married in the eyes of Hordak. Catra wasn't sure if Hordak even knew she was getting married. Not that he would care even if he did.

No, no-one had ever cared about Catra. It was always Adora this and Adora that and now she was gone and Catra was alone.

Alone and married to someone she had never met before.

There was a part of her that wanted to scream at Shadow Weaver, scream that she had no right to do this, to take this choice away from Catra. But really, who was she kidding? Of course she could take this too. If she thought it would help, Catra would claw away at whatever she could reach, but it would do nothing but humiliate her in front of her new... spouse. And that really wasn't how she wanted to be seen.

But, truly, there was no wedding ceremony. Catra wasn't even sure where she had heard about it, probably some time when she was young and exploring. Exploring with Adora.

She frowned and kept in the growl that wanted to escape. Next to her stood the silent form of her new spouse, Force Captain Scorpia.

At least she wasn't married to a cadet. She would have been obligated to kill them if that were the case.

And there was nothing of Scorpia that reminded her of Adora, a blessing if anything. She didn't want to think of her. Adora had left her behind, in a matter of hours. Within mere hours, she had decided that those people, those strangers, were more important than Catra. More important than the friendship they shared, more important than her dream of being a Force Captain, more important than her whole life. Who just up and decided that?!

So what if Shadow Weaver was a remorseless manipulator who used Adora for her own goals. That had always been the case. The Horde wasn't a good place and they didn't do good things. But they never had! What gave Adora the right to just walk away as if what they had didn't matter?!

What gave her the right to decide that Catra wasn't good enough?

After a few more moments of disgusting waste of time during which Shadow Weaver half-heartedly pretended to care about Catra, Shadow Weaver finally left. And then she was alone with her spouse. With Scorpia.

Glancing up at the Force Captain, Catra frowned at the difference in height. Not that it really mattered, she supposed nothing did. Undoubtedly, Shadow Weaver would never let them undo this whole marriage thing. After all, this was her punishment for Adora leaving. Even when Adora was no longer here, she messed things up for Catra. Still, nothing good had ever happened to her by being passive, so Catra gathered up her courage and asked Scorpia,

"So? Now what?"

Scorpia blinked down at her and then she smiled. It was an oddly nice smile. "Your things have already been moved to my quarters. I have your schedule and I got new toothbrushes for you and tried to find out what you like to eat, but no-one would tell me. Oh, and I got you a new weapon as a wedding gift!"

Catra blinked at the way the conversation had gone and tilted her head while her tail swayed behind her. "A wedding gift? What's that?"

"Oh!" Scorpia blushed and explained, "It's a family tradition! We give gifts to our new spouses when we marry."

"Hmm." Catra narrowed her eyes and started walking. "Well," she said when she noticed that Scorpia wasn't following. "are you coming? I want to see this wedding gift."

"Yes, of course, I'm coming." Scorpia ran up until she was walking right next to Catra. "I really hope you'll like my quarters, I tried to make it inviting to you, but there wasn't really a lot of material to work with. Oh, I'm not saying you look like the kind of person that wants a lot of stuff, you look like a person to like comfort and I tried to make it comfortable for you, but I'm not sure how I did. Also, can I draw you? I have an artistic sense and I really want to draw you..."

Catra listened with one ear as Scorpia went on. What would Adora think, if she found out that Catra's married? That she was miserable? That it would make her follow after her and join the rebellion so she wouldn't have to feel guilty for leaving her behind anymore? That it would make her want to escape?

No. Catra was going to use this as the chance it was. Adora had no right to leave her behind and just expect her to follow like some mindless drone. She had no right to judge her. She gave up any right she had ever had when she left without looking back.

She sneaked a glance at Scorpia again. She wasn't ugly, at least.

Catra could work with this. She had to.

They arrived to the quarters that she would now call her own. Catra observed silently as Scorpia unlocked the door and waved her arm like it was something to be proud of. Smirking, she stalked in and stared around at the room she found herself in. It wasn't very big, and there was only the one bed, but it looked comfortable and had all the necessities. She craned her head up to stare at the ceiling, but there was nothing special about it.

"So? What do you think?" Scorpia interrupted her thinking process and continued with, "I know it's not very big, but I got more blankets and all your clothes are in the drawer and the bathroom's pretty nice too."

Catra twirled around on her feet and fell down on the bed. It was just the right density.

"I'll be sleeping at the bottom of the bed. And I need the code for the door lock."

Scorpia wandered closer, and was that a blush? Catra was pretty sure that was a blush. Scorpia smiled and said, "That's fine. I wrote the code down on a piece of paper and stuck it to the bathroom mirror. Also, I made a little doodle that I hope you'll like."

Catra turned on her side on the bed. "Okay."

Suddenly, Scorpia hugged her tight and Catra was embarrassed to say that she squeaked. "What are you doing?!"

"I'm a hugger. And you're my wife. You're so beautiful and I'm married to you! I have to hug you!" Scorpia enthusiastically informed Catra.

Catra blinked and leaned back in Scorpia's embrace, stunned. "You think I'm b-beautiful?"

"Yes!" Scorpia beamed at Catra and to her disappointment, Catra felt herself blush.

It was the first time anyone other then Adora had called her beautiful. Catra let herself enjoy the warmth of the hug for a few more moments before she squirmed her way out of it. Blushing, she crawled back on the bed and stared at Scorpia, who seemed to be perfectly content just laying on the bed. Her face went blank as her thoughts wandered. She wondered where Adora was, what she was doing. Then she felt rage grip her as she was once more reminded of the fact that she was left behind like yesterday's trash. Adora was the only person to ever believe in her, so what did it say about Catra that Adora had left her without a second thought. Just walked away.

There was an odd feeling growing her in chest, a mix of old resentment and pure hurt. Adora had always seemed so devoted to the Horde, but apparently that was all an illusion. In reality, she was a Princess, one with mystical powers and super strength.

No wonder she left Catra behind. She didn't need her anymore.

Before she could stop herself, she felt tears overflow her eyes and sniffling quietly, she wiped them off. Unfortunately, Scorpia managed to see them. Weakness wasn't tolerated in the Horde. Would Scorpia leave her too, if she thought she was weak? It wasn't like she had married Catra because she wanted to.

But Scorpia didn't scorn her for crying. Instead, she sat up and ended up even closer to Catra as she panicked. "Are you alright? Was it something I did? Was it the hug? I can stop hugging you if you want, I don't want to make you cry. Oh no, maybe you're hurt, are you hurt? Are you sick? Do you need to be nursed back to health? I have a first aid kit in the bathroom, I can go get it if you need it!"

Despite herself, Catra smiled, a faint thing, and answered, "No, I'm not sick. And it's not something you did, so you can't fix it."

"Oh." Scorpia said and asked, "Then why are you crying?"

Scowling, Catra snapped out, "Because of Adora, ok? It's all her fault! She's the one that left me behind for some, some rebels and now I'm married, and she doesn't even know! She doesn't care that I am being punished in her place!"

Scorpia frowned. "I forgot that this is a punishment for you. But don't worry, I'll do everything I can to make you happy! I'll be the best wife ever, and we can go on missions together and have dinner together and oh, maybe we can even light candles? Wouldn't that be fun?"

"It's not about you!"

Huffing, Catra breathed in deeply after her lack of control, embarrassed to be doing something so foolish. She had worked hard to control herself and somehow with Scoria, that control had just flown away. Likely though, it was more because of Adora than Scorpia. Catra wasn't in the business of lying to herself, that just led to a pathetic and lame death, so she could be the bigger person here and admit that it stung more that Adora had left her behind than that she had left the Horde.

But she just didn't understand the correlation. What was it about those rebels that were so special? What was it about them that made Adora decide they were better than Catra?

What was it about Catra that wasn't enough?

Scowling, she stood from the bed and started pacing furiously. "How can you be so okay with this?!"

Scorpia blinked and replied to calmly, "Well, I've always wanted to get married. It's like having a best friend and I've always wanted a best friend, but not a lot of people really want to marry me, I think. Also, I heard you went up against a Princess and survived, so you have to be strong."

"Thanks, I guess." Catra threw Scorpia a curious look, but she couldn't spot any sigh of deceit from her. And Catra was really good at telling when people were lying to her.

With nothing left to say, they spent the rest of the evening making small-talk until they went to sleep.

The next morning, Catra woke up to find herself bundled up in a dark blanket, to such an extent that she had to fight her way out of the mess. When she finally managed to escape what was undoubtedly an ingenious trap, she found that she was alone in the room that was now her's. Her's and Scorpia's. She had decided, before she went to sleep the night before, that she was going to make the best of this. Maybe it wasn't her choice and maybe she hadn't exactly agreed, but things could be much, much worse. To be honest, she was lucky to be paired with Scorpia and not someone more hateful.

Catra was nothing if not an opportunist. Shadow Weaver had given her away in marriage to someone she had never met before and Catra was going to make her regret it. This was going to be a good thing, one way or another.

Adora was gone and Catra was alone in a place that, while it might not outright hate her, certainly didn't respect her. She was not going to let this get the best of her.

She was going to show everybody. She could be just as good as Adora.