It wasn't uncommon for Glimmer to find Adora in her bed, or at her door in the middle of the night. In fact, the princess had grown used to being roused to the soft sound of Adora calling out her name from below her bed, or by the mattress underneath her slowly being weighed down by the other girl.

Usually, on nights like those, it's a nightmare about the Horde or Shadow Weaver that draws Adora to Glimmer's side, leaving the blonde in or close to tears. Glimmer never pried too much though, knowing that talking about Adora's past always brought up unwanted memories and emotions. All Adora really needed on those nights where a hug and reassurance that everything was okay, and Glimmer was always more than happy to provide.

But tonight was different, Glimmer awoke to find Adora next to her, lying flat on her back, wide awake and staring blankly up at the ceiling.

"Adora?" Glimmer mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, "You okay?".

She nodded but didn't say anything.

"Did you have a bad dream again?".

Adora shook her head.

"No, not this time," she said.

Glimmer sat up and look down on her friend with concern, "Then what's wrong?".

"I'm… not sure, I just can't seem to fall asleep,".

"Oh, well that's normal. Sometimes I can't sleep either".

Adora nodded again, slowly and hesitantly.

"Can I still stay here with you? I- I don't think I want to be alone tonight,".

"Of course," Glimmer said with a soft smile, "Do you want a hug too?".

"That would be nice,".

Glimmer would be lying to herself if she said she didn't enjoy hugging Adora, nearly every chance she got she'd throw her arms around the taller girl, eager for the embrace.

"Do you want anything else? I can get you a glass of water if you'd like?".

"I'll be okay," Adora said, hugging Glimmer a little tighter, before pulling away, "Well, actually, I uh, I did want to ask you something but uh… it's kinda stupid,".

She couldn't help but smile, "Adora, nothing you ask me could be stupid, go ahead… you can tell me,".

Adora hesitates again, blushing slightly in the darkness.

"I um. Can you- uh, *sigh* ugh, this is stupid, nevermind,".

Glimmer couldn't help but giggle a little, finding it odd seeing Adora act flustered and shy, "It's okay, Adora. Just take a deep breath, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, just know you can always talk to me,".

"I- I know, Glimmer, I just-" Adora paused and took a deep breath before continuing, "can you tell me a story?".

Glimmer blinked.

"What?".

"I told you it was stupid,".

"No no, it's not, I just… you want me to tell you a story?".

Adora nodded and pulled her knees up to her chest, burying her face in her arms. "Yeah, if that's okay. Like... like the ones your aunt Castra was talking about... children's stories, I... I know I'm like, way too old for that stuff but-".

"You're never too old for stories, Adora. But… I'm guessing that you didn't have fairy tales in the Horde?".

"No… I don't think so. I- I can't really remember much about being a really small kid in the Horde, aside from… from her and Catra,".

"Oh,".

"The story I heard at the festival, the one when we first met? In Thaymor? I liked it, I've never heard of fairy tails before that,".

Glimmer smiled and reached over, placing her hand on Adora's shoulder, "Okay… I'll tell you a story. I'm going to have to make one up though, I haven't had my storybooks in here since I was a kid,".

"Are you sure?".

"Of course," she replied, "Anything for you Adora,".

The taller girl smiled, pulling her face away from her arms.

"Thanks, Glimmer… you're the best,".

Glimmer simply hummed and patted the mattress next to her, "Now go ahead and lay down while I think of something,".

Adora nodded and flopped over, staring back up at her pink haired friend with large, grey-blue eyes.

"Okay… here we go-".

"There once was a Princess who had gone on an adventure by herself, far from the castle without telling anyone, and was soon found and captured by a passing enemy soldier. The soldier swore to bring the captured Princess to her camp, but they soon became lost in the vast forest they were exploring. They loathed each other from the start, blaming each other for their army taking away someone they loved.

'Your Army killed my father!' the Princess told the soldier.

'You're Army killed my friends!' the Soldier spat back.

And they fought back and forth for hours, getting themselves more and more lost as the soldier tried to find her way home,".

"Did they ever get out of the forest?" Adora asks softly, eyes still full of wonder.

Glimmer shrugged.

"They wondered the forest for months, surviving only on the Soldier's survival skills. For her sworn enemy, the Princess found that the Soldier was kind by nature, and despite being harsh and abrasive towards her, always seemed to help her out of tricky situations, and she did the same for the soldier.

If the soldier got hurt fighting the monsters in the forest, the Princess would tend to her wounds. And if the Princess got sick, the soldier would nurse her back to health.

They began to talk, slowly becoming friends. But still, they didn't know each other's name, so to each other, they were just Princess and Soldier. Neither of them knew it, but, despite being enemies, they were falling in love.

The Soldier stopped gloating about her army and the Princess stopped gloating about her kingdom, in the forest, they were no one but themselves and both found that life was much better when they were free.

For the first time in their lives, they were truly happy".

Adora shifts around a little and yawns, "What happened to them?".

"Well. one day, the Soldier became very ill, a curse had been put on her by the spirit of the forest for trespassing on his land, and the only way to cure the illness was for the Princess to travel to the heart of the wood and find the witch that lived there. She would be able to break the curse and no one else, but the trip there was dangerous and no one had ever made it and lived to tell the tale.

But the Princess cared for the Soldier so deeply, that she was willing to risk her life to get her help,".

Glimmer had gotten so caught up in her story, she hardly realized she'd reached over and started combing her fingers through Adora's hair. It had felt like such a natural thing to do her mind just didn't question it, so… hoping she wasn't making Adora uncomfortable, Glimmer pulled her hand away.

"No," Adora whispered suddenly in a sleepy voice, "Keep doing that… it feels *yawn* it feels nice,".

"Okay," Glimmer said, continuing to brush her fingers through her friend's surprisingly soft hair as she once again continued the story:

"So the Princess and the Soldier set out on their final journey together, facing all the hardships the forest threw at them. The Soldier was no longer able to fight, so through her sickness, she taught the Princess to fend for herself, knowing that she might not be there to protect her for much longer. And in return, the Princess taught the Soldier healing techniques, hoping that she'd be able to use them on herself once she recovered.

Finally, after a weeks travel, the Princess and the Soldier found the heart of the forest, except it was an island floating in the middle of a thousand-foot chasm. The only thing connecting the forest and the island was a rickety old rope bridge, stable for only one person to cross.

The Soldier was unable to walk on her own, the illness beginning to spread to her legs, and if the Princess was unable to get her to the witch on the other side, she was surely going to die,".

Glimmer couldn't help but chuckle at Adora's slight gasp.

"The Princess refused to give up, but the Soldier had already accepted her fate, thanking the Princess for the wonderful time she had given her.

'Thank you,' she said, 'I never knew what life was like beyond the walls of my castle before I ran into the woods and found you, and you have made it complete,".

The Princess shook her head, still refusing to let the girl she cared for perish. So, using what little strength she had left from the long journey, she began dragging the Soldier to the bridge, not caring about the danger.

The bridge creaked and groaned with each step they took, the ropes starting to fray as they drew closer to the other side. The wooden boards beneath their feet began to break and splinter beneath them, but the Princess and the Soldier carried on… until finally, the bridge broke,"

"Did they make it?" Adora asks, "They'd come so far…".

"Before the bridge fell from under them, the Princess felt a hand grab onto her, pulling away from the ledge, the Soldier still in her arms. It was the witch, of course, she had been waiting for their arrival.

'Bring her inside,' the witch said, pointing to the now unconscious Soldier.

The Princess obeyed immediately, and took the Soldier to the small hut in the center of the island and watched anxiously as the witch worked over the other girl, saying words foreign to the Princess's ears. It didn't take long for the witch to say that the curse was lifted, but the Soldier still needed to rest from the journey.

The Princess was relieved, having been worried that she'd lost the Soldier forever to the illness, but she fell asleep that night knowing that the Soldier would still be there when she woke up.

And sure enough, The Princess woke up to find the Soldier wake and alive, still sluggish the illness had left on her body, but still there. But before they reunited, the witch stepped between them, refusing to let them come any closer to each other.

'She is your sworn enemy,' the witch said to the Princess, 'why did you help her?".

Then the witch turned to the Soldier.

"She is the one you're sworn to fight and yet you still long for each other?'

The Princess and Soldier knew the answer, and for the first time, we're ready to admit it,".

"They were in love," Adora whispered so softly that Glimmer could barely hear her. Clearly, she was trying to fight off sleep, but Adora was losing the battle.

Glimmer hummed a little and smiled:

'We are in love,' they said in unison, 'our pasts don't define us, it's what we chose to do with the future that matters'.

The witch knew it was true, her magic was useless against the power of true love. Now, with nothing more to do, the witch sighed and looked between them. 'Your love is very powerful, care for it, nurture it, allow it to grow… be patient. Great things await you in the future,'.

Finally, The Princess and the Soldier ran to each other an embraced, sharing true love's first kiss at last. All they asked of the witch before she left was for her to make the trees bare endless fruit and for the animals never be hunted out.

They knew that if they were to leave the island and the forest, that they would surely be killed. If the Princess's kingdom found out that she'd fallen in love with the enemy... the Soldier would be shunned or killed. And if they were to return to the Soldier's home, the Princess would be captured and held for ransom.

So they decided that the island forest would become their new home, knowing they'd be safe from judgemental eyes.

And they lived happily ever after,".

It wasn't a very good story, Glimmer thought, but at least it was a story.

"How was that? Did you like it?" she asked, looking down at Adora who had actually fallen asleep, a light snore passing over her lips.

She smiled, unable to help herself as she leaned down and pressed a light kiss against Adora's cheek.

"Sleep well, My Soldier".