It was almost another hour before Catra finally made her way downstairs.

Adora had already left and was probably long gone by now. She had left with a kiss, but what stuck with Catra the most were her words. Catra was still processing them. They sounded more spiteful in her head, but she knew it was just her brain trying to reject Adora's way of thinking.

What Adora said was probably right. But Catra didn't know what she was going to do if she had to admit that.

Nevertheless. There was no changing the fact that she now had a week with Finn. Catra had secured her vacation days until Adora returned, which meant she now had five days of being able to just have some time at home.

But Catra still hadn't been able to figure out what the hell she was supposed to do with Finn.

She knew it was ridiculous. She was a mother, she was meant to be there for her child, and yet, she was still nothing. A stranger. An outsider. And she didn't even know if she was determined to fix that. After everything that had happened recently, would Finn even want to give her a chance?

Uncertainty was in her mind. And she had no answers to anything. She was lost and confused. Perhaps more than her own child.

Once Catra finally arrived downstairs and made her way to the kitchen, she saw Finn already seated at the kitchen table, wearing their pyjamas, which consisted of a onesie shaped like a dinosaur. Their eyes gazed towards her.

"Morning, kiddo," Catra greeted with the best smile she could manage as she entered the kitchen.

"Um…" Finn stuttered for a bit. "Hi Catra…"

Catra let out a gentle sigh, not loud enough for Finn to hear. "How long you been waiting here for, bud?" She asked, crossing her arms and leaning against a wall as she looked down at her child.

"I don't know… A little bit," Finn shrugged. "Mom usually makes me pancakes on Monday."

"Is that so?" Catra asked, raising an eyebrow. She was trying to figure out if Finn was telling the truth or if they just wanted pancakes. After all, it's not like Catra would really know. But when she saw Finn's enthusiastic nod, Catra couldn't help but oblige. "Alright. I'll see if I can make you a batter."

"A… batter?" Finn asked, tilting their head to the side.

"You know. The mix. Stuff you put in the pan to make pancakes," Catra explained as she opened the fridge, fishing out some butter, a few eggs and some buttermilk. She also raided the pantry for flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

"Oh… That stuff. Mom usually gets it in a box," Finn said, confused as to why Catra was getting so many ingredients and two large bowls out from the drawer.

"Of course she does," Catra scoffed, pouring the flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and salt into one bowl. "You can always find easy ways to do things, kiddo. And there's nothing wrong with that most of the time. But taking the time to fully develop something on your own with the raw ingredients… Well, it usually leads to more yummy food."

"Okay…" Finn replied, almost transfixed as Catra poured the buttermilk into another bowl, before cracking in an egg using only one hand. "Whoa…" They exclaimed as Catra cracked open the egg, before adding some melted butter.

Catra couldn't help but feel a tad impressed with herself as her own child watched her like some professional chef when she was making a simple breakfast. She whisked together the wet ingredients, before adding them to the dry ones. As she went to go whisk them together, she looked up at Finn and suddenly had an idea.

"You reckon you can mix this all together?" Catra asked, handing the bowl over to them.

"I… I've never done this before…" Finn hesitated, flinching away from the bowl of batter. "I don't want to make you mad if I mess it up..."

Catra's smile from before slowly faded as she heard those words. "Finn… I'm not going to get mad at you. I promise. Have I ever done that before?" She asked, trying to reassure her child. Finn pondered for a few moments, before shaking their head.

"But… That man from yesterday said…" Finn was hesitant to get the words out.

"Hey. You don't have to be scared of talking to me about this stuff," Catra spoke softly with them. "You're allowed to feel what you feel. That man from yesterday… What he said was true. It was almost twelve years ago, and he said something horrible to me, and I got mad at him and hurt him. That doesn't excuse my behavior. But he wasn't telling the whole truth."

"Oh…" Finn said quietly.

"I sometimes get a bit mad at people, yes. But most of the time, it's because they did something bad to me. I would never get mad at you. You know, in my eleven years of being with Adora, I've never gotten angry at her like I do with some other people?" Catra said.

"Really…?" Finn asked.

"Really. Sometimes we have moments where we got annoyed or upset. But I love her. I would never get mad at her. And I would never get mad at you too, buddy. I've had my moments with people who have wronged me… And I'm working on controlling myself so I don't stoop down to their level. But you don't have to be worried," Catra smiled. "Alright?"

"Alright... Alright. I believe you," Finn nodded, before reaching out to the bowl and whisk. Using their small hands, they slowly stirred the mixture, incorporating the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.

"That's good," Catra complimented their stirring. "Be careful. You don't want to overmix it. That'll lead to tough pancakes, and the only tough pancake we need here is you."

Finn couldn't help but giggle at the weird compliment, and after a few more seconds, they looked at the batter. "Is that okay…?" They asked, looking up at Catra. She investigated the mix closely for a few seconds…

Before flashing a thumbs-up. "Nice work, kiddo."

Finn smiled as Catra took the bowl away, walking towards the preheating pan with some butter placed inside. The batter was enough for some pancakes for the both of them, though Catra didn't feel terribly hungry that morning.

Finn got off the chair and walked towards Catra as she slowly poured the batter into the pan. They tried to peek into the pan to see what was going on, but they were a tad too short. Catra noticed their attempts to look up. "You wanna see what's going on?" Catra asked.

"Uh-huh," Finn nodded. Catra pondered for a few seconds, before reaching down towards Finn and putting her hands under their arms, lifting them up suddenly and placing Finn on her shoulders. "W… Whoa!" Finn cried out as they were suddenly lifted high up.

"You okay up there?" Catra asked her child riding her shoulders. Finn could only respond with a few laughs as they held onto Catra's hair for balance. It didn't hurt too much. "Try not to fall off!"

"I won't!" Finn replied between laughs. Catra looked down at the pan for a few seconds.

"Alright, watch closely, bud," Catra got their attention, pointing to the pancake. "See those little bubbles forming there?" She pointed to the edges of the cooking batter.

"Uh-huh," Finn responded, leaning down slightly to get a better look.

"I'm waiting for those bubbles to form all over the pancake. Once that's happened, and the underneath is golden, I can flip it. So, you reckon you can tell me when to flip?" Catra asked, looking up at them as she gave them the difficult task.

"Yep!" Finn responded with much more enthusiasm. Catra couldn't help but smile. It was nice that they had grown a bit more comfortable around her.

They watched the pancake batter with narrowed eyes for a few seconds as small bubbles began to form all around the batter. Catra knew when she needed to flip, but she waited for Finn to give their approval, which took a few seconds too long, but Catra didn't mind.

"And… Go!" Finn pointed to the batter. Catra held onto the handle of a pan, but Finn soon realized she was missing a spatula. They had no idea how she was going to the flip the…

Finn's line of thinking was cut as Catra tossed the pancake in the air, flipping it and firmly landing it back in the pan.

It was one of the coolest things Finn had ever seen in their entire life.

The pancake was a bit too dark, but Finn didn't even seem to care. "That… that was awesome!" They cheered, holding onto Catra's hair tighter.

"Takes some practise, but it impresses everyone. I'm glad you like it," Catra smiled. As the pancakes finished cooking, she placed Finn back down on the floor and let them return to the seat. They watched Catra as she continued to cook.

It had been a while since she was so into this. Work had taken away so much of her time that the passion she had for cooking and food was forcibly stripped away. But now, making pancakes for her child, she felt like she could recapture that passion.

Eventually, Catra plated up three pancakes before Finn. "You like any toppings with that? It's not like we're trying to be healthy here," Catra smirked as she plated up her own smaller pancakes. Finn pondered for a few seconds.

"M… Ma…" They tried to get the words out, but it was caught in their throat. How did one say it again? Their mind ran a blank.

"Maple syrup…?" Catra suggested, and Finn nodded.

"I forgot the words," they giggled.

Catra could only chuckle as she got some of the syrup from the pantry, pouring some on Finn's pancakes, though not too much. "Let's just keep all this between you and me, alright? Mom doesn't need to know how much sugar I'm feeding you so early in the morning."

"Okay!" Finn nodded, using a small fork to tear off pieces from the pancakes and eat at them. Seems like they didn't need a knife. Not that Catra was going to give them one just yet. "Um… Where is mom? You didn't make any for her…"

Catra felt her heart drop a bit as she took a seat next to Finn. "Uh… Well…" Catra cleared her throat. "Mom's gone on a trip… And she's going to be away for a few days. So… It's just you and me until then."

"Oh…" Finn didn't even try to hide their disappointment. They were excited to have breakfast as a complete family, but it seemed that was not the case just yet. Catra didn't mean to upset them. It hurt her heart to do so.

"So… I'm not going into work for the week. You've got me all to yourself! So… Whaddya want to do?" Catra asked with a smile, trying to encourage them to look on the bright side of all this. But that bright side had long since vanished once Finn realized what was going on.

"I don't know…" Finn spoke quietly. Catra tried to smile, but it was hard. She knew they were sad. "I miss mom."

Catra sighed softly. "Yeah, me too, kiddo…"

A long silence followed as Finn ate their breakfast. Catra suddenly didn't feel hungry at all. Her appetite had been taken away. But as she watched her child, she could tell they loved to eat. Most of the pancakes were already gone.

"You liked that?" Catra asked as Finn finished the breakfast.

"Uh-huh…" Finn nodded, looking towards her. "Thank you, Catra."

Catra took their dish and placed it in the sink as she tried to ponder what to do next. It was beginning to look like a rainy day. That about cancelled half of the initial activities she had in mind. As she scrubbed the plate clean with hot water and soap, she looked over to the few cookbooks on the corner of kitchen bench she had gotten for Christmas in the last few years.

On the cover of one of those cookbooks was a food that suddenly gave her an idea.

"Say… Kiddo?" Catra asked, turning her head to face them.

"Huh?" Finn perked up.

"You feel like heading to the shops with me for a bit after we get you dressed up?"

Finn pondered for a few seconds.

"… Okay."

Finn was the rightful captain of the shopping cart, and no one could say otherwise.

They sailed the high seas in search of bounty and gold, taking on perilous threats and unspeakable danger. But they always kept a headstrong approach, never backing down and never fearing anything.

Tales were spread of their brave deeds. Taking on the law and winning. Overcoming any odds, all with a smile on their face. The incredibly brave, incredibly bold and incredibly cool Finn, back again at the shopping market for another adventure.

But alas! They spot another piece of treasure in aisle six. They call for their crew, all hands on deck as they steer towards the golden treasure. There was no time to waste, as the monster of this here seas was rapidly approaching, ready to strike at any moment!

But the treasure was oh so worth the danger.

It was beautiful… Magnificent even. The finest treasure Finn had ever seen in their life. And it was theirs for the taking. But the journey was not yet over! The treasure must be snuck out without the deep sea monster noticing, which was a task easier said than done.

Time was of the essence. They quickly yanked the treasure from its place, and welcomed the treasure as one of their own crewmates. They went to go place the treasure within the ship known as the shopping cart.

Finally… After all these years, this adventure would soon come to its end. Finally, they would claim this delicate prize only spoke of in legend! All that was left was to place it underneath the deck, hidden in plain sight. They were so close!

"Finn, are you trying to put a block of chocolate underneath everything so I don't notice?"

The dastardly sea creature known as Catra had picked up on their schemes! But Finn never backed down from a duel. They quickly hid the block of chocolate, better known as the treasure, behind their back. En garde, fiend!

"I… I don't know…" They responded.

A powerful defense!

The sea creature's lips curved into a smile. Within their ship, also known as a shopping cart, they had placed various ingredients and treasures, including pig's feet. Pig's feet! What monster hoards that all to themselves?

"You sure? I could've sworn I saw you about to sneak some sweets into my cart," the monster known as Catra replied with an evil grin. But she didn't scare Finn. No one did! For they have faced countless monsters like this one before!

"That… Must've been someone else," Finn replied. A master of trickery, they used tactics and words to confuse the sea creature. Perhaps she would become so confused that she would go off to fight a pirate with lesser will. It would be for her own good!

"Hm… I guess it must've been," the sea creature replied, and much to Finn's delight, she moved on. Success! The treasure was within Finn's rightful hands, and will be snuck out of the market without any further delay!

But of course, Finn was unsurprised. After all, they were a master of adventures, and a master of all pirates!

Ahoy!

Returning home from the adventure, Catra wasted no time getting her ingredients set up in the kitchen. It was three bags worth of items for the dinner she was planning to make, all of which would take twelve hours to piece together.

Finn, on the other hand, was more focused on turning the television on in the living room. They seemed to be more awake and alert about everything. Catra was so used to them always running back upstairs whenever she was in the room, so seeing Finn's daily schedule was almost intriguing.

But for now, Catra found herself getting lost in the process of making a dinner for twelve hours from now. She heated up an induction stove, since having a gas stove run for that long would be flat-out dangerous, and placed a large stock pot on the stove.

She placed the pig's trotters, otherwise known as pig's feet, otherwise known as the thing that freaked Finn out, into the large stock pot and covered it with water, boiling it for ten minutes. The smell was funky, almost disgusting, but not absolutely terrible.

As the pig's trotters boiled, Catra looked over to the living room, noticing Finn had already disappeared. "Hey, kiddo! Where'd you go?" Catra called out. And yet she received no response. "Finn? You okay?"

Anxiety started to bubble in her heart as she left behind the kitchen and walked into the living room. But almost instantly, the anxiety vanished as she spotted a gigantic teddy bear sitting in the corner of the room. And it seemed like a certain someone was sitting under the teddy bear.

"Hm… Hey Fuzzle Wuzzle, have you seen your sibling around here?" Catra asked the gigantic teddy bear, kneeling down before them. She could already hear Finn's giggles as they hid under the teddy bear, but Catra played along. "No? That's a shame. I was making a really nice dinner for them…"

"But dinner is so long away!" Finn's voice suddenly called out. "I mean…" They suddenly spoke an octave deeper to impersonate Fuzzle Wuzzle, "dinner is so long away! Did you get your time mixed up?"

Catra chuckled. "I'm not that confused about everything, Fuzzle Wuzzle. But this dinner is very special, so I'm putting a lot of effort into it. I really hope Finn likes it," Catra smiled at the speaking teddy bear, and underneath, she could see her own child smiling too.

"Well, that's very nice of you. Oh, wait! I think I can see Finn now!" Fuzzle Wuzzle suddenly cried, and before Catra could look around for them, Finn suddenly jumped out from underneath the giant teddy, attempting to spook Catra.

Safe to say, it totally worked.

"Finn! You were hiding under your sibling the whole time? You fiend!" Catra put on a shocked expression, and she could tell they liked that very much. Their giggles were euphoric for Catra to listen to. She wasn't used to interacting with Finn this much.

Finn, knowing they had been caught, suddenly ran away. Their feet pitter-pattered up the stairs, and they waited for Catra to chase after them. They were ready for a game of hide-and-seek, especially with someone they had never played against before.

But after a few minutes, they noticed Catra wasn't chasing them.

They slowly made their way back downstairs to see Catra was still sitting in the same spot as before. And now, she was holding what seemed to be a DVD in her hands. One she had found nearby Fuzzle Wuzzle. Finn felt a bit sad that Catra didn't want to play.

"What's that…?" Finn asked, pointing to the disc in Catra's hand as they descended down the stairs again.

Catra was genuinely startled this time, and turned around to face her child. "Oh! Hey… I didn't see you there. I thought you went upstairs."

"I was waiting for you…" Finn spoke softly. Catra felt a slight drop in her heart as she heard those words.

"Oh… I'm sorry, Finn. I got distracted by this…" She held up the DVD. "It's a recording of your mom's graduation from university. About seven years ago now. I thought I'd lost this… But hey, turns out Fuzzle Wuzzle was hiding it this whole time."

"Oh…" Finn said.

"You wanna watch it together?" Catra asked. She realized watching a graduation video probably wasn't the most exciting use of a five-year-old's time, but she felt bad about letting Finn down earlier. Finn looked at the disc for a few more seconds.

"… Uh-huh."

Catra was glad that Finn was going along with everything, even if she could tell they were more excited to play hide-and-seek. She would play with them, but taking care of the dinner would be a bit hard to do at the same time. She went to go insert the disc into the DVD Player connected to the television, and as it slowly booted up, Finn took a seat on the couch.

Before Catra could attend to that, she quickly made her way to the kitchen and skimmed off some of the scum rising to the top of the boiling water. This was just impurities from the pig's trotters. She drained out the water, saving the pig's trotters and taking a few seconds to scrub them clean on the outside.

She could hear the graduation video begin to play in the other room. Various other students were being called up. Adora was number seven. Catra remembered it exactly.

She put the clean pork trotters back into the pot, covered it with water, and prepared a few ingredients for its twelve hour boiling period. This included one bunch of scallions, chopped into segments, as well as two shallots, quartered, one large yellow onion, quartered, and some sliced knobs of ginger.

All of this would add flavor to what would become a broth in tonkotsu ramen. As the water that covered the trotter's and various other ingredients slowly came up to a boil, Catra went into the living room and saw Finn still on the couch, watching the graduation video.

She walked in just as Adora's name was called out. She saw her wife, seven years younger, ascending the stairs, wearing her robe and cap. Catra could see Finn's eyes widen as they saw their mom at such a young age. It was bizarre for them.

But not as bizarre as when, in the video, Catra cried out, "THAT'S MY GIRL!"

"Is that you?" Finn asked upon hearing the loud shout. Catra couldn't help but chuckle as the camera panned to her. "You have short hair! Why?!"

"Because I thought it looked cool!" Catra replied, defending herself as she laughed. "I was gonna be so late for that whole thing. But luckily, I had a skateboard that got me all the way there."

"You… You can skate?" Finn asked, looking to Catra with peaked curiosity.

"Well… I used to. It's not like I can do tricks or anything. It was just an easy way to get to your mom's university and back home," Catra shrugged. "I can teach you at some point, if you want. Don't ask me to show examples though. I'll break a hip."

"Cause you're old?" Finn asked with no intended offense, but the innocent tone of the question nearly had Catra both burst with laughter and crumble in defeat at how right they were.

"I'm not that old. Just… delicate. Like a flower," Catra explained.

"You don't remind me of any flowers I've seen before," Finn observed, taking this whole conversation seriously.

"I'm an exotic flower," Catra returned.

"Ex… Exo…?" Finn had no idea how to interpret Catra's confusing words.

"I'm… unique. Not like any other flower. I'm special!" Catra beamed.

Saying those words sent an immense amount of tingles down Catra's spine. It was probably the nicest thing she had said about herself in years. And even that was enough to put a smile on Finn's face. "You're ex… exohtic," they responded, pronouncing the 'o' like one would when saying 'boo'.

Catra couldn't help but smile.

"… Yeah. I'm… I'm an exotic flower for sure," she whispered to herself. No one else could hear it. But she could.

"Finn? Hey, buddy? Rise and shine."

Finn heard Catra's voice invade their dreams, slowly bringing them back to consciousness. They didn't even realize when they had fallen asleep, but the nap made everything feel blurry, and the inside of their mouth felt gummy.

"You okay? You conked out in the middle of one of your shows," Catra said, turning off the television which was streaming an animated show about queer princesses.

"I feel tired…" Finn yawned, rubbing their eyes clear of sleep with the back of their hand. "What time is it…?" They asked with a loud yawn. Catra couldn't help but find it adorable how sluggish they were when tired. It was exactly like Adora.

"It's around eight o'clock at night. I just finished up dinner… But would you rather get to bed, bud?" Catra asked the tired child. They pondered between the two options for a while: Food or bed. Food or bed. Food or bed.

"… Both…?" Finn suggested, and Catra chuckled.

"I wish I could, but no can do. I don't want to spill the hot broth on you," Catra smiled.

"… Food, then."

Finn slowly stood up, stumbling forward slightly as feeling began to return to their numb legs. Catra held them up, guiding them towards the kitchen, and the source of some of the most wonderful smells Finn had ever had the pleasure of smelling.

Catra put a large bowl before them as they sat down at the table, before grabbing a carton of a dark liquid known as a tare, or the source of salt and umami in the dish. Only a bit went in, before a rich, creamy, pork broth was poured in next. It was a result of boiling the trotters for so long. It smelled like heaven.

Next were some ramen noodles, and then some slices of chashu, or braised pork belly. Some soft boiled eggs, sliced in half, and to finish off, a few thinly sliced scallions. What was plated before Finn was tonkotsu ramen.

The dish had taken twelve hours to make, and was something Catra had gotten lost in the entire time. She had always wanted to make one of these dishes but never found the time or occasion. It was complex, but it had a lot of love placed into it.

Finn stared wide eyed at the dish, and since they couldn't use chopsticks, Catra handed them a small fork. "I hope you like it, kiddo," she smiled, before going over to the sink to wash the rest of the large amount of dishes she had accumulated over the twelve hour period.

She could hear Finn slurp their first bite. And then their second. And third. She looked around to see Finn; who was a sluggish, tired child a few moments ago; excitably going at the dish and slurping noodles and broth. "Hey, slow down a bit there, bud. I don't want you to choke," Catra teased.

"This is so yum!" Finn smiled, barely taking Catra's advice.

It was hard work. The dish was something that needed constant attention and care. But it was special. It was an expression of love.

And the results spoke for themselves.

As Catra continued washing the dishes, she spoke up. "Say, Finn… Since we've got a whole week to ourselves, and mom is on a trip, I say we do something special of our own."

"Mmph…" Finn swallowed down some noodles. "Like what?"

"Well… There's a place that's very special to your mom and I. I haven't been there in years. But I'd like to take you there. It's a train ride away, and we can leave tomorrow afternoon. I think you'll like it. There's an ice rink and snow…" Catra could see Finn's smile grow wider at the mention of Winter activities.

"Yes please! What's it called?!" They asked. Catra grinned at them.

"Mystacor."