Author's Note, skip to the line break to get straight to the story.

This is a writing exercise shaking off piles of dust to see if I can focus on anything long enough to weave a coherent narrative. For now it's just a one shot, or maybe a few one shots if I can keep at it.

Design choices: I seek to keep the themes and overall tone of the original work. This means people are 'hurt' and 'gone', no profanity, and you're not ever going to get anything heavier than kissing or scene breaks you can interpret how you wish. Everything is set post series and while there wouldn't be drama without messing with characters I do not seek to subvert any choices or content in the original series. If OC show up they might take the limelight for the period of a short arc but are meant to play off and highlight FC. It's She-Ra after all, and it's their story. With that out of the way off we go.

"Hey Tossa."

The words pressaged the shadow and sleek form of Catra descending from above onto the guest room balcony in a fluid leap. Netossa's reply was slightly less graceful.

"Yeagck!" and a spray of colored stones as she upended the board in front of her in a sudden scramble up from her chair. "Catra! Don't you knock?"

Catra turned a look of amused mischief into one of wry superiosity,"On a balcony?"

Netossa recovered herself and cast a brief look at the mess before eyeing Catra,"Okay, backup. One, I'm not sure I want you calling me 'Tossa' just yet. Two, it's *my* balcony right now, so why're you on it?"

"Well actually it's Glimmer's-" Catra snapped her mouth shut and shook her head,"This is not how I wanted this to go." She hesitated a moment, took a breath, then bent down to begin scooping up the scattered stones up. "I came to talk to you." she added in a more subdued tone.

Netossa frowned slightly,"Me? I figured you got plenty of people to talk to before me. We don't have much to say just yet you know?" Counter to her words she drew the chair back and bent down to right the grid-marked board and began piling up the spilled stones on it too.

Catra stopped gathering, still kneeling on the floor, and held her hands folded in her lap,"I know, but that's just it. I don't think I want to run this past the usual people. This isn't the kind of stuff you can just forget, and I don't want to hurt feelings or make another mess."

Netossa gave the suddenly small feline a new look then sat down herself on the floor, arms around one knee, and rolling a blue stone slowly between her fingertips,"Oh, so you mean you think I'm safe?" she quipped, putting a light air in her tone and adding a smile for good effect.

Catra looked up, caught the smile and half of one grew on her lips,"Well, I don't see any water bottles around right now so…"

That drew a small chuckle in reply,"Alright." Netossa flipped the stone up and caught it, pulling her chair back into position and sitting. "You've got until I get this set up again. Make it count."

Catra bristled briefly but as Netossa began deliberately placing the gathered stones back into position on the board she jerked quickly to her feet, turning to pace once to the balcony rail then back,"Okay okay, so like you know Aodra and I, we're…" Catra flailed briefly.

"Together?" Netossa offered helpfully, clacking another stone into position.

"Yeah." Catra's voice cracked,"I mean. I love her, and she said she loves me and when we're together I'm happy and safe and I just…"

*clack* Netossa set another piece into place, fully half the board organized. Catra bristled again,"I'm gonna that thing over the rail!"

Netossa smirked,"Maybe you should get to the point."

Catra drug her fingers up through her hair,"Grah! What're you? Look. Fine. I just. How do you know you're you know, *In* love? Like, What exactly does that mean?"

Netossa looked up quickly,"You been borrowing Mermista's books again?"

Catra jumped as if stung,"No! I mean, maybe. What's it matter?" Catra spread her arms helplessly, all pretense gone,"I'm not good at this! I don't want to mess it up. I don't want to mess up with Adora after everything. We've been so much and maybe we could be more but I don't want to lose what we are and-" a hiccup interrupted her flow, joining the wetness welling in her eyes and the panic in her voice.

Netossa held the final stone in her hand, but instead of placing it she folded her fingers together,"Catra." her voice was soft,"Sit."

Catra went through a visible symphony of reactions. Tension, fight, flight, fear, desperation, anger, finally all of it melted out of her into exhaustion and she crumpled cross legged on the floor.

"You came to me because Spinner and I have been together a while right?"

Catra nodded, stifling a sniffle and not meeting Netossa's gaze. From Force Captain to five in the space of seconds.

Netossa rolled the stone across the backs of her knuckles contemplatively then tossed it skittering away across the floor. Catra followed the motion, her tail going rigid but Netossa kept her eyes on the deflated young woman,"I'm going to tell you something." Netossa steepled her fingers again, leaning forward and balancing her elbows on the board,"and if you tell anyone, I mean anyone it'll be water bottles and nets even in your dreams."

That snapped Catra's gaze back and a nervous chuckle,"Yeah, I get it so.. What?"

Netossa narrowed her eyes but continued,"Spinner and Ihave never been in love." Netossa let that linger, eating up the squirm that crawled up Catra's spine before letting her off the hook,"At least, not like in those books. No *boom pow*" Netossa threw her arms wide, upsetting the board again, the scattering pieces emphasizing her words. "Ahh man!" she cut herself off before sighing and shrugging,"I mean, see? That stuff ain't all it's cracked up to be, get your pieces all over the place and for what?"

Catra was actually dumbstruck. Netossa slapped her palms off her thighs and tsked, "Let me tell you how it is. I don't know if you know much about Princesses, but if you're a princess you hang out with princesses. This isn't optional. I mean if you got a stone to show off then cool, but if you're just one of us side princesses it can sometimes be a little," she raised a hand, waggling it in the air. "At least at first. I wasn't having it when I was younger."

Netossa leaned back slightly, searching her memories,"I was twelve I think, maybe eleven? My dad drags me off to see one more princess I didn't have time for. I still wasn't having it so I clam up and my dad just leaves me with this girl. So I'm not talking; I figure I can stare her down. She'll cry and my dad will have to take me home. This poofy little pink girl doesn't cry though she just sits staring right back at me not even blinking!"

Netossa leaned forward, her voice warming with the memory,"No way I was gonna put up with that. So I keep at it. We stare and we stare and she's still not moving just sitting proper, not a smile or a tick. I still don't know how long they left us there but my dad comes back in all 'Netossa what're you up to now?'" Netossa's imitation of her father drew a brief rise from Catra's engloomed features. "and I look over to explain myself, but he just grabs my hand because you know... dads."

Netossa froze,"Oh, sorry."

Catra seemed to snap out of her funk,"What? Oh, no it's okay. Keep going?" There was an imploring note to her voice and Netossa felt a pang.

"Alright. So anyway. Here my dad's dragging me out and I hear from behind me this soft little voice say, 'I won.' and this little giggle." Netossa crossed her hands in front of her face,"You know, I coulda handled a sneer, a tease, a nyah nyah, just about anything but that giggle," She slashed her hands down to her sides,"Nuh uh no way! I was NOT gonna lose to that giggle. I pestered my Dad 'till he brought me back. Hide and Seek, Twenty Questions, Tag, Spelling, Math Quizzes, Barkay Ball," Netossa counted each event off on her fingers,"Rappelling, Boating, Flower arranging, Cooking, Borebeatle hunting." Netossa paused,"Only did that one once, Netossa twisted her ankle and almost got run over." She gestured to the board,"Even started playing this old man's game Ishay-Go. Back and forth back and forth for years,"Netossa stacked her hands one over the other in front of her face,"I'd win. She'd win. Neither one of us was gonna stop though. Then other stuff started slipping in."

Netossa let her hands drop and a smile slipped across her face while her eyes looked back in time,"She's one of those wake up pretty people you know? Get up and not a hair out of place that doesn't look 'elegantly tousled'? I envied the heck out of that as a kid when I'd sleep over. Eventually I just started appreciating it."

"Instead of tearing down a river as fast as we could we would just talk and let the current take us until we hit some wicked spots" Netossa mimed shooting rapids but Catra's blank look stopped her short. She cleared her throat,"Anyway. Stuff just kinda happened that way. It got to where I was visiting more often and we were having fewer competitions." Netossa's voice dropped,"then all the stuff with the Horde and they were forming the princess alliance. Everything got real very fast. I just hit a point when I knew. I knew I didn't want to be apart from Spinner any more. I wasn't sure how much time we'd have if we fought, but I wanted to spend whatever it was with her." Netossa tsked again,"I had it all planned out. I asked her to meet me by this one bend in the river we'd always stop at. I had this special choker with an aquaphire set in it made," her eyes drifted back in time again,"I was all set to pop the question and she turns to me and holds out a little box,'Netossa, Darling, you mean so much to me. You're my strength, my drive, my hopes. I'd be a fool to pretend life without you in it could ever mean anything. Will you make me your wife?'" Netossa shook her head in memory,"She said all that and what lame thing did I come up with in return? I held out my gift and said 'Looks like you won again.'"

Catra was still silent and Netossa came back to the present,"What I'm trying to say here is there was no lightning, no moment. It wasn't some big wave. It was more like a rising tide. I couldn't sit here today and tell you this, or that is the reason I love Spinner. It's a million little pieces, not one of them much different than the other," Netossa scooped up a handful of the stones and dropped them back onto the board,"But you put 'em all together and they make one heck of a game."

This time Netossa let Catra sit in silence as long as she needed. Catra's tail betrayed the play of emotions she was managing to keep off her face. Finally she spoke, "I think I get it. I mean, that's really not what I was hoping to hear." Catra slowly got to her feet and forced a smile past her thoughts, then cocked a hip and snapped her tail"You know, yelling at everyone really is a lot easier."

Netossa stood and laughed,"Yeah but you try that again and you get the net."

"Yeah just you-"

"CATRA I found you!" Adora dropped down almost on top of Catra, landing poorly and falling back onto her backside before scrambling up.

Netossa threw her hands up,"What is this a balcony or a bar?"

"Oh Sorry Netossa!" Adora fired off the apology second thought, positively aglow about something,"You gotta check this out." She thrust her hands out at Catra, oblivious to Catra's poofed tail and wide eyes.

In one hand Adora held a chunk of ice and in the other a Bluefruit bulb. "Ready?" She tossed both up into the air, watching them rise. With a flash she summoned her sword into her hand and swept it up; two gleaming slashes in the air and a swipe to send the arcs of light flying. Eyes still skyward Adora brought her hand up, turning the sword quickly into a cone shaped cup. She caught first a mound of shredded ice then a splash of blue juice one after the other in the cup, and presented the blue mound proudly,"You gotta try this."

Catra blinked at the presented creation. Netossa was just as paralyzed. Then Catra chuckled and the chuckle turned into a laugh. There was a lot in that laugh, more than any trick could warrant. Adora caught on and started to lower the cup but Catra darted in and caught hold of it, lapping the ice once then plucking out a clawful to flick at Adora's cheek,"Is this what She-ra is for?" She hooked the claws of her free hand in Adora's hair and mussed it before she could answer.

"Hey! I mean it's better than having to smash 'bots every day." Adora dodged out from under the 'attack' and almost bumped into Netossa,"Oh, sorry again Netossa."

Netossa smirked,"How bout you both just give me a little bit of peace? This puzzle won't solve itself." She stepped around Adora and set to work once more restoring her game board.

"Yeah Adora. Let's go show the world your amazing new power." Catra caught hold of the cup and Adora's hand in the same motion, taking another taste. The two headed off, with Adora throwing a parting wave to Netossa. At the door Catra paused to look back over her shoulder,"Hey Netossa. Yeah. I get it."