God, it's been a while! It feels so good to post another chapter of this fanfic! I hope you guys enjoy it!

P.S. June 20th was my dog's birthday. Her name is Ava! She turned 7 and we gave her lots of love and treats that day!

Prologue 5: Goodbyes and Hellos

After lunch, all the kids went to play. Catra, Adora and Izuku, however, were sitting at a table in the classroom. "What are you doing?" Catra asked the bushy-haired kid as he scribbled in a notebook. "Making a hero book!" The young boy showed his drawing to the catgirl. There were coloured scribbles all over the page. She squinted her eyes, staring at the drawing. The page is covered in several colours. Orange, browns, yellows, blues… "What is this? It looks like a porcupine." She muttered. "It's you, Moriichan!" "…Is my hair really that spiky?" The kitten's ears twitched as she heard Adora giggling beside her. "It looks just like you!" "What?!" The kitten's fur bristled. Izuku, however, had a carefree smile. "I'm gonna draw Aiichan next!" "I can't wait to see it." The blonde said with a laugh. Izuku turned to the next page and continued scribbling in his book. Catra gave the boy a puzzled look. "If it's a hero book, why did you put us in there?" Izuku looked back at the catgirl, smiling. "Because we're friends!" It's strange… They have only known him for a day and yet, Izuku almost acted like a little brother to Catra and Adora. Maybe it's because the two of them are mentally older than he is. Or maybe it's because they already have siblings in this life. Whatever the case may be, the two girls enjoyed his company.

Time went on, Catra's first day of school soon came to an end and everyone was waiting outside for their parents to show up. Izuku's mom was the first to arrive. She had straight, green hair and bright green eyes, just like her son. She was wearing a pink long-sleeved shirt, a blue skirt and white shoes. "Izuku!" She called in a motherly tone. The boy bounced excitedly, like a baby rabbit. "Mommy!" He called out cheerfully as ran up to his mom. The boy held his mother's hand and pull gently. "Come meet my friends, mommy!" The mother laughed as Izuku pulled her towards the two girls. "Aiichan! Moriichan! Meet my mommy!" Catra and Adora looked up at the woman. "Hi!" Adora said. "Hey…" Catra followed up. The woman bends down, meeting them at eye level.

"Nice to meet you. What're your names?"

"I'm Aiko!"

"Moriko."

"Well, I'm Izuku's mom, Inko."

"Nice to meet you too." Adora reached out to shake the woman's hand. Inko smiled at the girls, clearly happy that her son made friends at school. Izuku's mom then turned to the green-haired boy. "Izuku, do you have everything?" "Yes mommy!" He said cheerfully. "Already then. Say bye to your friends." "Bye Aiichan! Bye Morichan! See you tomorrow!" The little boy waved as he walked away. The blonde waved back. "Bye Izuku!" Soon, the boy and his mother disappeared from their sight. After a moment of silence, Catra spoke. "There he goes…" "Yep."

Time went on, one by one, each parent arrived, pick up their kids and left. Eventually, Catra spotted a familiar snake-woman in the crowd. "Mom!" The catgirl sprinted towards her mother, who had her arms opened for a hug. Hozuki's arms wrapped around Catra. "Hey kitten. Did you have a fun day at school?" "It was… something…" She said, before looking back at Adora, who had a sad smile on her face. The kitten then looked back to her mother. "Mom, can we stay a little longer?" Hozuki looked up at the blonde girl nearby before sighing and turning back towards her daughter. "Well, alright, but not too long, okay?" "Okay." Catra knew Adora would feel lonely without her. And Catra wanted to stay until Adora's parents arrive. Not like she'll admit it to her.

The three of them quietly sat at a nearby bench, watching the other kids play. "So, are you going to introduce me to your new friend?" Her mother said with a smile. "Well, um, she's not exactly a new friend…" The catgirl said as the blonde stared at the snake-woman, puzzled. Adora then whispered in Catra's ear. "Are you sure you wanna tell her?" "Yeah, I'm sure. She already knows everything, remember?" She whispered back. "You know I can hear you, right?" The two girls were immediately fell silent as the snake-woman giggled. The catgirl's tail bristled as she pouted. "Since when do snakes have super-hearing?" "I still have ears, kitten." Her mother said with a laugh.

"So, if I were to guess, this girl is a friend from your past life?"

"Y-yeah."

"And you wanted to stay with her until her mom comes?"

"Am I that easy to read?"

"I've been your mom for four years, dear. You pick up on a few things."

The kitten continued to pout as her blonde friend leaned forward. "Mrs., um, Catra's mom?" "Hozuki Toraneko." "Mrs. Toraneko, Catra and I, we went through a lot in our past lives. We were on opposite sides of a war. I don't what might happen in the future, but can you make sure Catra and I can still see each other?" Hozuki gave Adora an understanding nod. "Of course. In fact, you can come to visit us anytime. With your parents' permeation, though." Adora nodded before she heard someone call out her new name. "Aiko!" A woman entered the schoolyard. Like Adora, she had blond hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a teal sundress and white flats. "Mom!" The girl got up quickly and dashed towards the woman. Catra looked at her own mother, as if to ask if they can go meet with them. The snake-woman smiled as she held the kitten's hand. The two of them walked towards the two blondes. "Hello!" Hozuki greeted the girl's mother.

"Oh, hello! Are you one of the caretakers here?"

"H-huh? Oh, um, no. I'm just here to pick up my daughter. My daughter wanted to play with your daughter just a bit longer."

"Well, it's good to hear that she's making friends. I was a little worried, leaving her here all by herself."

"Is it because her brother's not here?" Catra said. Adora's mother looked at the kitten with a sad look in her eyes. "Yes." The woman sighed as she gently held her daughter's hand. "Aiko, are you ready to go? Your brother is waiting." "O-okay…" Adora looked back at Catra. "Bye… See you tomorrow." "Bye…" The catgirl waved as the blonde left with her mother. Eventually, she's gone. Nowhere to be seen.

"Ready to go home?" The snake-woman asked. Catra nodded. "Yeah, I wanna see Dad." "Alright, let's go."

When the two of them returned home, the first thing Catra saw was Melog running up her, followed by Madara and Haya. "Big sis! Daddy has a cool friend!" Madara exclaimed. 'Cool friend?' Catra thought as she petted Melog, the shapeshifting cat purred contently. She then heard her father's voice coming from the kitchen. "Honey, is that you?" "It's me!" Her mother replied. Catra took off her shoes and walked to the kitchen. There she saw a strange woman sitting at the table. A woman with long, red hair and golden eyes. Her hair was tied in two low-hanging pigtails. She was wearing a white blouse with blue pants and black boots. She also had these odd blue stripes on her cheeks. She lacked any animal features, so it was unlikely she was a relative. Just, who is this woman?

"Um, who are you?" Catra asked. The woman took notice of her and got up from her chair. "You must be Kiba's eldest daughter!" The woman gleefully gave the catgirl a few head pats, much to her annoyance. "I said, who are you!" The woman gave a hearty laugh. "Oh! I'm a friend of your dad!" The redhead then picked up into her arm. "Aw! You're so cute!" Catra's tail bristled. "I'm not cute!"

"Homura, put my cub down." Catra's ears twitched as she heard her father's voice. The tiger-man came in and gently grabbed his daughter out of the odd girl's arms. He then carefully placed her back onto the ground. "Relax, I was just playing with her!" The cheerful woman said. Catra then quickly hid behind her father's leg. "Dad. Who is this and why is she here?" The tiger-man sighed.

"This is Homura Fumetsu. Local ace detective and annoying childhood friend."

"An annoying childhood friend is still a childhood friend, buddy! Besides, you invited me here!"

"And I'm already regretting it." The tiger-man massaged the bridge of his nose. "Look, I called you here to look into some cases for me. Can you try not to break anything while I go get the case files from my room?" "Sure thing!" The redhead said cheerfully as she returned to her seat. "Moriko, keep an eye on her, okay?" Catra nodded as her father leaves the room. "Okay!" The catgirl went and sat at the table with the detective. Catra stared at the woman's striped face, something that the redhead took notice.

"Is something on my face?"

"Stripes?"

"Hm?"

"Why do you have stripes on your face? Is it part of your Quirk?"

"Heh-heh. These stripes aren't part of my Quirk, it's just something I inherited from my dad. My Quirk is called 'Auto-Regenerative Flames.'"

"Auto-Regenerative Flames?"

"That's right. When I'm hurt, these cool-looking blue flames come out of my wounds, replacing any missing or damaged cells I have. I can heal from any injury! Although… I do get super hungry afterwards, so give and take, you know!"

"So, you burn calories to heal?"

"That's one way of putting it!" The redhead said with a laugh. "Say, you're pretty smart for a kid. How old are you?" Catra panicked for a split second. "F-four! I'm four!" The catgirl then heard her father's footsteps re-entering the room. The tiger-man placing two files envelope on the table. "Alright, here. This is what my sidekicks and I found so far. Are you sure you can handle the rest?" "Don't worry! Just leave it to me!"

As Homura picked the files off the table, Catra noticed the words written on the envelopes. One reads: Case File: District Wide Vandalism and Robbery. The other reads: Case File: Missing Person. A part of her wanted to ask what the file's about, but she knew it wasn't any of her business. After all, what would a four-year-old girl do with that kind of information anyways? It's not like she could do anything, with how small she is now.

Little did Catra knew, the files had more to do with her then she realized.

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I personally enjoyed writing Homura! Feel free to tell me what you think of her so far!