Her mother. Her mother was up there.

Adora's heart beat fast. It occurred to her she hardly knew what that meant. Shadow Weaver was barely a parent. Angella had been kind but she was gone almost as quickly as she had come.

She held Finn tightly. The past three years had taught her so much about motherhood. She hoped she could learn more.

Glimmer clutched her shoulder excitedly "Adora, your mother!"

Finn wiggled in their mother's arms "yay! Another grandpa!"

"grand MA, honey" Adora corrected

Catra burst out laughing "there are four grandfathers in our family" she explained to Adam "only one grandmother"

Adam booped Finn on the nose making them giggle "Well lets change that, shall we?"

Angie tugged on Glimmer's cape. "Do I get a grandma too?"

Glimmer turned to Adam "We lost her grandmother before she was born"

Finn hopped down and put a serious hand on Angie's shoulder "We can share"

Adam laughed and ruffled his little mane "That's generous of you, kiddo"

As they climbed the thick stone steps, Adora felt sick to her stomach. Maybe she was just nervous?

At the top of the steps Adam opened a great wood door to a side room.

"Mother" he said gently.

Adora couldn't breathe. It was exactly like meeting Myra, a mirror of Catra in twenty years.

Here was Adora, with some lines in her face and gray in her blonde hair.

"Mother, she survived" Adam said in a hush.

"Merle" queen Marlena said reverently, like a prayer.

Catra smirked "Your birth name is 'Merle'?"

Adora scowled at her but broke into a smile at Catra's teasing expression. She turned to Queen Marlena. "Adora. They named me Adora"

"Adora" Queen Marlena whispered. She held out her hands "May I hug you?"

Adora's eyes filled with tears. She sniffed, wiped them away, and nodded.

Queen Marlena enveloped her in a tight, warm loving hug. Shadow Weaver never hugged them like this as kids. She was tempted to ask Marlena to hug Catra, but there was so much swimming in her head.

She pulled away slightly from her mother. "How…how did we get separated? How did Dad" the word sounded foreign to her "how did Dad die?"

Queen Marlena gave a small, sad smile. "That is a long story. But first I want to know everything about you. Do you have a husband?"

"A wife, actually'

"Ah!"

Catra waved shyly "I'm the wife"

Queen Marlena rung her hand enthusiastically then Glimmer's then Bow's. "My baby has a family!" she exclaimed.

She glanced over to Adam in the corner who was letting Finn and Angie ride cringer. He was already giving Seahawk a run for his money as an irresponsible uncle. At least Melog was sitting there, his tail swishing, watching them intently.

"Your…" queen Marlena said hoarsely.

"the girl is bow and Glimmer's" Adora said "the kitten is ours"

"My grandchild" she whispered.

"Finn" Catra called gently "come meet your grandmother"

Queen Marlena's eyes dilated and sparkled the way Adora's did when she looked at food.

She picked Finn up who giggled. Angie frowned "Mommy, now Finn has two grandmas"

"Honey, don't be rude" Bow chided.

Finn stuck their tongue out at his cousin "I told you I'll share"

Glimmer put a hand on Queen Marlena's shoulder "Won't you come visit us at Brightmoon? We did that for Catra's parents when we found them. From one queen to another it would be my honor to have you"

Queen Marlena shook her head "You're a queen! I feel like I missed out on your life, Merle-that is, Adora"

Adora hugged her mother, resting her head on her shoulder. "That ends now. Let's head to Darla. You can tell me about my father and I can tell you all the crazy stuff the Best Friend Squad 's gotten mixed up in. We were just telling Finn and Angie about some of our adventures, actually. I believe I left off at the sword."

To be continued…

Next time, Adam and Queen Marlena tell the story of King Randor's death, meeting Cringer and their life afterwards. More of the Best Friend Squad road trip.