"I mean, ever since Adora gave me the ability to speak," Swiftwind explained as he flew over the Whispering Woods with Bow on his back, "I just haven't felt the same connection I used to have with the other horses. It's almost as if they're all like children to me now. It's kinda creepy to be honest."

"Uh-huh," groaned Bow, his eyes half open as he imagined himself being anywhere but here.

"And it's not like interspecies romance is some unheard of thing in Etheria," Swiftwind continued, "Look at Kyle and that big lizard guy. They seem to be getting along great ever since they joined our little resistance group and no one bats an eye at them."

"I guess," Bow mumbled, only half listening.

"Thanks for letting me talk while we fly. You're a great listener by the way," Swiftwind complimented, "But anyways, would it really be so bad if I went out with someone else just because I have four legs and they have two? I think it would be much worse if I *did* go out with another horse. It would be like a grown up human dating a baby human, or an ape, right?"

"Sure, why not?" Bow said, his higher brain functions completely ignoring the flying unicorn he was riding on.

"So, back to the reason I started talking about this in the first place," Swiftwind concluded, "Do you think that guy who makes the fizzy drinks is seeing anyone?"

"I don't know," Bow answered, before his eyes shot open at the view in front of them, "Wait! There it is! Go down here!"

"Roger!" Swiftwind saluted with his forehoof as he descended below the forest canopy, "Entering super secret stealth mode!"

"Shh!" hushed Bow as Swiftwind gracefully landed on the ground, "We're going to go the rest of the way on foot."

"I'm right behind you," Swiftwind whispered, as Bow got off his back, "So what's the plan? Sneak into Brightmoon, kidnap Catra and spritz her with water until she tells us where the Horde is holding Adora?"

"I'm going to play it by ear," Bow said, gracefully squeezing past the foliage in his way, "We still don't have the full picture of what's going on with the princesses. Are you sure you don't want to use your connection with Adora to link with her mind again?"

"Please don't ask me to do that," Swiftwind said, his head lowered as he followed Bow, "I can only do it when Adora is in a state of extreme emotional turmoil and it was horrible the last time I tried. It was so dark, all I could see was Catra's scary mismatched eyes as I heard Adora grunting and screaming and calling out Catra's name, like she was begging her to stop hurting her. My best guess is Catra wasn't even interrogating her, just torturing her for the fun of it. I've never seen anything so sadistic."

"Yeah, I get the picture," Bow said with a shudder as he pushed out of the forest into a small clearing in front of the castle walls, "That's why we need to do this. I'm going to sneak in through Adora's old room and look for clues. Keep watch out here."

"I'm not coming with you?" Swiftwind questioned, poking his head out of the brush.

"You're not exactly the most inconspicuous person here, Swiftwind," Bow explained, firing a rope arrow onto the balcony, "I'll call you on the radio if I get into trouble."

"Is this still about the whole Queen Angela thing?" Swiftwind asked, his expression turning to one of annoyance, "Look! All I said was that if Brightmoon didn't provide a peaceful way to emancipate my fellow horses from slavery, it would make a violent revolution inevitable and that *never* ends well for the royalty."

"It's not about the guillotine thing!" Bow hissed angrily at Swiftwind, "Just stay out here until I call for you. I'll check in every few minutes, okay?"

"Fine," scoffed Swiftwind, as Bow began climbing the castle walls, "But we really need to talk about what's going to happen with the exploitation of our labor after we kick the Horde off our planet."

~*~

Catra's eyes glazed over the reports from the Crystal Castle she was reading. Entrapta was hard enough to understand in person, but her chicken scratches were completely indecipherable. Catra eventually gave up and decided to wait for Adora come back to help her understand the gobbledy-gook. She unceremoniously threw the papers beside her on the bedside table and pulled the covers over her pajamas.

Catra hated this bed. She hated how soft it was. Adora said she got her the hardest bed in Brightmoon, but it was still too soft for her. It was uncomfortable enough when she first got here, but now she had to deal with the annoying sounds of the forest outside coming in one ear contrasted against the painful silence in the other. Except it wasn't silent in her head.

"Of course, you don't like the bed," Catra could hear Shadow Weaver whisper in her left ear, "You don't deserve it. You don't deserve any of this. You may have fooled Adora and her friends for now, but no one stays fooled for long. You can't fool me. You can never fool yourself. And you certainly didn't fool Mermista."

Catra groaned as she closed her eyes and tried to ignore the imaginary echo in her head. She focused on the sound of running water coming from the bathroom sink and Adora brushing her teeth.

"She'll never truly trust you, you know," Shadow Weaver continued, "How can she if she doesn't respect you? You'll never be as good as her. You're just her vanity project. Her pet. Her plaything. Try as you might to decieve yourself, you'll always be nothing more than that disgusting mangy beast I found in the trash."

"AAAGH!" Catra screamed in pain as she felt something poke the bandage covering her left ear.

Catra instinctively reached to brush away the offending object, only to find her fingers wrap around a sharp arrow pointed directly at her head.

"Where's Adora?" Catra heard a young masculine voice say.

Catra's body froze as her eyes looked to her left to see a familiar brown haired boy with exposed abs scowling in anger at her.

"Bathroom..." was all Catra managed to get out of her throat.

"You can go to the Bathroom, after you answer my question," Bow said sternly, "Where are you holding Adora?"

"She's in the Bathroom, Idiot!" Catra snarled, her frustration briefly overcoming her fear.

"Don't play games with me, Catra," Bow ordered, "One more time and then I shoot you. Where. Is. Adora?"

Catra said nothing. She closed her eyes again and took in a deep breath. A small tear fell from her eye as she prepared for the inevitable.

"Yeees," Shadow Weaver cooed slyly, "*This* is what you deserve."

"Bow!" Catra heard from across the room, "What are you doing here?!"

Catra opened her eyes and looked to see Adora in her pajamas holding a toothbrush.

"What am *I* doing here?!" Bow repeated, "What are *you* doing here?!"

"I live here!" Adora answered, "Put down the arrow. No one is going to hurt you. Right, Catra?"

"Y-yeah, sure," Catra stammered, nodding shakily.

"I know what this is," Bow said, pointing his arrow at Adora, "You're that shapeshifter! Where is the real Adora?!"

"Bow, it's me!" Adora said, dropping the toothbrush and holding her hands up in surrender.

"Prove it," Bow ordered, "Tell me something only Adora would know."

"You're not like this, Bow," Adora said, "You're a really nice guy and my best friend. You were scared your parents would reject you if they found out you were fighting in the Princess Alliance. During the rebellion, you were the one who was always working the hardest in keeping us all together. I've never known you to be anything less than sweet and charming to everyone you meet."

"All of that is stuff Double Trouble could have found out when they were Flutterina," Bow replied, keeping his arrow trained on Adora, "Tell me something only Adora would know."

Adora bit her lip and looked up to the ceiling as she let out muffled scream.

"Whispering Woods," Adora stated, "On our way to Mara's ship, after Glimmer ordered us not to rescue Entrapta, but we went anyway. You felt guilty about not leaving enough notes for her and that's when I-"

"Stop!" interrupted Bow as relaxed his arrow and dropped it on the ground, "You're Adora. What are you doing here with Catra?"

"I've been taking care of her after she got hurt," Adora explained, walking over to Catra to check up on her, "We've been taking therapy together."

"But Swiftwind said Catra was torturing you. He said he could hear you grunting and screaming Cat... ra's... name..." Bow realized, before covering his eyes and screaming into his arm, "AHHH! Kyle was right! How could I be so stupid?! Gaaah!"

"Bow, you can't be seen here," Adora said, walking up to Bow to put both hands on his shoulders, "You have to get out of here."

"Right, yeah," Bow said, wandering over to the balcony in shock, "It's just... Is Glimmer here? I need to make sure she's okay, too."

"Alright, but after that, you have to leave," Adora ordered, giving Bow a goodbye hug.

"Okay, Adora," Bow said, returning the hug, "Good luck with... therapy. I really hope you guys know what you're doing."

"Me, too," Adora said, breaking the hug, "And tell Swiftwind to stay out of my brain from now on!"

"You don't have to tell me twice," Bow said, firing a rope arrow higher up the castle, "Goodbye, Adora."

As Bow began climbing up the castle walls again, Adora ran back to her bed to hug Catra and give her a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm so sorry about that," Adora apologized, holding Catra as tight as she could, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Catra scoffed, playfully stroking Adora's hair, "You're acting like I've never had my life threatened before."

"I'm serious," Adora scolded, "You're shaking."

"It's... just..." Catra said, "No one's ever been able to sneak up on me like that before. Not before... the whole ear thing."

"It's alright," Adora interrupted, picking up the arrow, "I'm sure Bow wasn't really going to hurt you with this."

Adora tapped a button on the arrow and a stream of water squirted out of it into Catra's face.

"Ah!" Catra hissed, wiping of her face, "Get that thing away from me!"

"Sorry," Adora said, quickly shoving the arrow into a drawer in the bedside table.

"I guess you want me to let him off the hook, too," Catra guessed.

"I know it's alot to ask after everything that's happened," Adora said, "But Bow was just worried about me. It probably never even crossed his mind that we would be..."

Adora stopped herself and got up from the bed and began pacing.

"This is all my fault," Adora realized, her eyes wide in fear as she turned away from Catra, "We did all of this too fast. I shouldn't have put you in this position. I was being selfish."

"What are you talking about?" Catra asked, "We did *what* too fast? Are you breaking up with me?"

"Sweet Etheria, no!" Adora shouted, sitting down on a cushion on the far wall, "At least... I really don't want to."

"Then what's the problem?" Catra queried.

"The problem is we need to have a serious talk about what all *this* actually is," Adora answered, thinking for a second before continuing, "Why did you ask to go out with me after our first session with Double Trouble?"

"I don't know," Catra replied, "It was just something I wanted to do. I didn't actually expect you to say yes, to be honest. But then again, I didn't expect you to kiss me when we were leaving. Why *did* you kiss me?"

"Because you were finally getting better," Adora answered, "I was so happy to see you finally getting the help you needed and I wanted to encourage that any way I could."

"Adora..." Catra whimpered, "I wanted to go out with you because I like being with you. And I wanted to know if after everything we did, if you still liked me too. We didn't have to fight anymore, so why not get together? What are you so afraid of? I've lost count of all the times you or I almost died, most of the time from us trying to kill each other. But now that you're back, I don't want to waste another second apart from you. We've already lost too much time with this stupid war."

"Catra... I..." Adora stammered, taking a moment to compose herself as she got up from the couch and walked over to the bed, "I need you to keep something a secret for me."

"What are you talking about?" Catra said, nervously reeling back from Adora.

"I'm serious," Adora said, grabbing Catra by the shoulders, "You can't tell anyone. Not the other princesses, not the Horde, and definitely not Horde Prime. Can I trust you?"

Catra gave Adora a nervous look but said nothing. Adora sat down next to Catra and placed her left hand on her furry cheek.

"Catra..." Adora begged, stroking her underneath her right ear, "Please..."

"Okay, Adora," Catra answered, placing her own hand on Adora's, "You can trust me."

"Good," Adora said, smiling in relief, "Hold still."

Adora tilted her head has she slowly drew towards Catra to plant her lips over top of hers. Catra moaned in pleasure into Adora's mouth as she wrapped her arms around Adora's waist, pulling her close, but then choked in pain as she felt Adora's hand firmly grab her sensitive left ear. Catra could see a blue light in her periferal vision that glowed so brightly that it was almost blinding. She closed her eyes and held Adora as tightly as she could while she winced against the pain. At first, it was unbearable, but soon she felt it slowly melt away as Adora tore apart her bandage. Adora broke the kiss and licked Catra's cheek as she moved her mouth close to the injury.

"I keep forgetting how rough your tongue is," Catra could hear whispered into her ear.

"I can hear!" Catra exclaimed, grabbing Adora's shirt with both hands, "Adora, how did you do that?"

"Shh!" hushed Adora harshly, putting her hand between Catra's arms to put a finger over her mouth, "This is the part where you keep my secret, okay?"

"Right..." Catra said, her ears dropping in shame as she let go, "Sorry..."

"As it turns out, I never needed the sword to use my powers," Adora whispered, "The sword was just a conduit, something to help me focus She-Ra's energy, and then eventually become a means to take control of me. That's why Entrapta's virus made me so loopy. That's how Light Hope activated the Heart of Eternia the first time. And that's why I had to destroy it."

"But this means..." Catra realized, sliding her feet out of bed to sit next to her partner, "Adora, all we need to activate the Heart of Etheria is you. You're the key to all of this."

"And that's why no one must know about this," Adora hissed, "Not Hordak, not Shadow Weaver, not even Glimmer. I am never letting them use me like that again, got it?"

"Alright, Adora, calm down," said Catra, letting out a little giggle, "I'm not going to tell anyone. She-Ra gets to be our little secret."

"You know, when you smile like that," Adora said, "It makes me think you *are* going to tell someone."

"Too late!" Catra laughed, wrapping her arm around Adora's shoulder to cuddle up to her, "You've already told me. You have to trust me now."

"And I already regret it..." Adora groaned, leaning away from Catra's pawing, "Can we go back to trying to kill each other, please?"

"Oh, shut up, Adora," Catra scolded as her fangs began nipping at Adora's neck, "I know you still love it when I do this."

"Look, Catra," Adora said, pushing her away, "It's been a long day. Let me finish getting ready for bed and we can fool around all night if you want."

"Mmm..." purred Catra, drawing away from Adora but holding onto her hand, "You promise..?"

"Yeah, I promise," Adora said, getting up to pick up her toothbrush and head back to the bathroom, only for the bathroom door to open on it's own.

"I told you, don't touch me there!" scolded a frustrated queen in her underwear exiting the bathroom, "You know it makes me lose control of my powers."

"I'm sorry, I forgot," answered the now topless young archer following her.

"Glimmer?" Adora called out to her two friends leaving their bathroom.

"Eep!" shouted Glimmer who quickly wrapped her arms around Bow before the two of them disappeared into a cloud of sparkles.

"Looks like we're not the only ones having fun tonight," Catra commented, "I notice peacetime in Brightmoon has done wonders for our queen's royal visage."

Catra inhaled and puffed out her cheeks and gut, cradling her round, furry belly full of air in her arms. Adora gave her a dirty glare as she folded her arms and tapped her foot in annoyance.

"You know Catra..." Adora grumbled, "I would have thought this week would have taught you something about knowing when to keep your comments to yourself."

"I'm sowwy, Adowa," Catra cooed, pulling the covers over her nose, "I've been a bad kitty, haven't I?"

"Uggh," groaned Adora, throwing her toothbrush in the garbage, "First ones save me... the things I am going to do to you."

Adora charged at the bed and jumped on top of Catra. The two lovers wrestled in the fluffy mattress until Adora grabbed Catra's wrists and pinned them over her head. Catra wrapped her legs around Adora's waist.

"Oh, wow," Catra exclaimed, her expression turning serious as she examined the woman on top of her, "I really don't deserve you."

"Then make it up to me," Adora ordered.

Adora reached over to blow out the candle on the bedside table. The entire room was bathed in darkness, the only light coming from the stars outside.

"Hey, Adora," said a mismatched pair of gold and blue cat eyes in the darkness.

"Hey, Catra," answered two bright blue human ones.