The hug felt amazing. Both parties could silently agree on that. Neither girl wanted the moment to end but they were still inside the bowels of a malfunctioning First One's Ruins and they needed to get to safety.
"Come on." Catra said as she broke the silent hug and stood up. "We need to leave before those crazy spiders call me back."
"But I still haven't found Light Hope…" Adora argued. "I still don't know how to heal Glimmer!"
"Adora, Glim-Glim will be fine.." Catra assured her not realizing the use of her old nickname for the Brightmoon heir. "Entrapta's the smartest person I know, there is nothing this crazy temple can teach you about that sword she couldn't tell you within an hour of studying the thing."
"But what if she breaks it!" Adora whined adorably as she hugged the sword to her chest possessively afraid to let it go.
"She's not going to break it Adora." Catra rolled her eyes. "She's a little… much yeah, but she DOES understand to be careful with things that don't belong to her. Stars mom and dad trusted her to enhance the defence system of Halfmoon. There wasn't a single explosion or power failure during the whole process."
"Fine." Adora relented and got up as well. "She can study it but I want constant supervision! I know you trust her but I can't risk losing She-ra… I'm nothing without her…"
She muttered the last part but Catra's keen ears picked it up.
"Nothing without.., Adora tell me you're joking!" Catra groaned and rubbed her head as if trying to stave off a migraine. "You can't seriously believe that."
"Well it's true!" Adora grunted and trudged forward keeping pace with the magicat. "If I wasn't She-ra the alliance never would have let me join! One of the guards almost cut my head off on sight!"
"Wait what!? When did this happen!?" Catra demanded to know after a double take.
"Ugh.. the first day I was in Brightmoon.." Adora answered. " It was awful. First Bow and Glimmer failed to tell me I would need to hide in Glimmer's room while they talked things over with Queen Angella, Then they made me scale one of the towers to get INTO Glimmer's room, after that I spent who knows how long trying to get the dumb sword to actually work and let me transform, only to be found by the guards when I went outside to see if the air would help… it didn't and I managed to turn a horsey white give it orange hair rainbow wings and a horn! If I didn't meet Razz who showed me how to focus on transforming I think I would have been tossed in a cell or worse.."
"What the actual fuck…." Catra's jaw dropped trying to process all of the mind breaking information. "And you STILL fought for them after that!? Stars Adora I would have bare minimum ranted about how the staff treated guests of the princess or something!"
"It didn't matter." Adora sighed. "The Alliance wants to protect the planet from the Horde. So it didn't matter how I felt about my first day besides once they knew I was She-ra they all started cheering."
"So what? It's okay they tried to kill you on sight?!" Catra shouted.
"Well I mean I WAS technically flailing around the sword when they caught me in my Horde shirt." Adora mumbled.
"...You.. you didn't even change clothes?" Catra's blue eye twitched before it dawned on her that Adora was wearing her old uniform even now.
"Can we drop the subject please!" Adora yelled flustered. Her hands having been clenched tightly and sharking a bit from the strain.
"Fine.." Catra nodded. "For now." She was not going to let Adora off easy on this but she would need Sparkles and Arrow-boy to fill her in with what Adora was trying to hide.
Both girls continued to walk in silence still wary of spiders and the possibility of more visions. Although ever since the cliff the temple had seemed to stop trying. The ruins floor started to tilt up which the pair took to mean they would soon be out of here.
"Um..Are we good now?" Adora meekly hoped as they neared what looked to be an exit.
Catra winced and sighed. "No..Adora. You really hurt me by leaving..I know you didn't understand what you were doing and you thought you were doing what's right but. This is going to take time."
Adora looked down and sighed as well. "Yeah I get it.. you hurt me to.." Adora began to list off each thing Catra had done "you shocked me in the back..twice, you tried to distract and beat me up at Salinas.." Adora touched her face where Catra had scratched her wound had healed thanks to She-ra's healing bit thinking about the wound gave a phantom pain.
"And then there was the prom…." Adora sulked as she spoke, the event still far too fresh in her mind.
"Okay yeah I was a bit of an ass at the prom I'll admit that." Catra nervously laughed trying to lighten the mood but it was clearly not working.
"You tricked me, humiliated me, put me in very uncomfortable positions, got me banned from Snows, blew up the castle, kidnapped my friends, and left me hanging over a wall of ice holding on only to a hair pin after I had saved your life…" Adora said bluntly.
"Like I said..I was an ass.." Catra looked away. A few weeks ago she would have been proud to have messed with Adora so thoroughly and to have caused such a blow to the alliance. But now she could only look away in shame.
"Yeah you were.." Adora replied with a somewhat endearing tone. It took a few seconds but soon both girls were laughing at the sheer unbelievability of their past.
"We really are messed up huh?" Catra chuckled in mirth.
" We really are…" Adora snorted back. "But Catra, we can fix this, us, can't we?" Adora asked the Magicat her question being asked like a prayer awaiting an answer.
Catra looked into Adora's pleading eyes. She still felt the pain of being abandoned and the first reaction would have been to say no but not only did she no longer believe that but it did not compare to the pain she knew she would feel denying Adora something they both needed to hear.
"Yeah Adora, it might take a while but we can." Catra answered.
Adora's face brightened with a grin she had not seen her..friend?...ex-bestie?..Adora her Adora make since before she left the Horde. The action alone not only made Catra feel she definitely said the right thing but also made her realise just how much Adora truly missed her.
As if a haze had been lifted from them the way out of the temple was clear and then two made their way through the exit escaping the existential nightmare that was the First ones temple.
"I still can't believe you wanted me back so much." Catra smiled as she led Adora back to Halfmoon.
"What are you talking about? I missed you more than anything!" Adora clammered.
"Adora we both know I never mattered in the Horde, I was just your shadow and ...well you know what they all called me.".
"You Matter to ME!" Adora shouted as she grabbed onto Catra's shoulders and looked her dead in the eyes. "And not just me!, You..you have a family you have an entire kingdom how could you ever think you don't mean the world to m-us!?"
Catra's ears were pulled back as the princess tried to make herself look smaller in shame. "W-well you know Shadow Weaver always said.."
"FUCK SHADOW WEAVER!" Adora shouted, interrupting whatever Catra was going to say before gasping and clasping her hands over her mouth, her cheeks tinted red.
Catra was speechless, her mouth agape yet silent in shock. Adora, the prodigal child, the one chosen to be She-ra, the girl who learned every curse word for the sole purpose of never accidentally saying one. Had just cursed Shadow Weaver's name in defence of her. While she was still reeling from the surprise the Magicat could not suppress the purr that broke her silence.
"Um…sorry I uh lost control there for a moment.." Adora said sheepishly still glowing red at her verbal slip up. "B-but the point still stands. You're smarter than me Catra you knew from the start Shadow Weaver was a monster, you are too bright for her manipulations so please don't let her worthless words get to you.' She then pressed her forehead to Catra's own and the two were calmed down and continued the trek back to civilization.
With Catra leading them the journey back was much quicker than when Adora set off alone. She made a mental note to ask Catra how she was so good at navigating the woods, but that could wait As Halfmoon came Adora's belly rumbled loudly for Catra to hear.
"I guess we WERE in there for a while huh." Catra teased poking Adora's tummy. " Surprised you can still want food after that dinner training earlier."
"She-ra takes a lot of energy;" Adora tried to defend herself. "It's only natural for me to have a big appetite!"
"You know I would believe you weren't always this ravenous in the horde." Catra contered laughing.
"Why you-." Adora grinned and lunged at Catra wrestling her towards the Halfmoon gates laughing the entire time. The guards rolled their eyes at the childish display of the two and let them proceed.
One back at the Castle Adora had only a moment to get her bearings before she was assaulted by the bodies and barrage of questions yelled by her friends and fellow princesses.
"Oh my stars what happened you are filthy!"
"Where have you been? We were worried sick!"
"Why didn't you tell us where you were going, you moron!"
Adora just made a small cross between a meep and whine when she and Catra were forced into a deathly tight group hug by Scorpia.
Kaita then leaped onto Catra hugging her while simultaneously hissing at Adora. "Are you okay sis? What happened? Did that jerk hurt you again!?"
"No, Adora and I just had to fight our way through an evil temple while being forced to live through moments of out past and chased by robot spiders." Catra answered noogieing the younger princess.
"Adora you went back to that temple that tried to kill us? Why?!" Bow squeaked.
Adora looked down. "Sorry to worry you guys I just.. I thought I could find something there to help me figure out how to use She-ra's full power."
"That was still dumb not to tell us!" Glimmer groaned, folding her arms. " Seriously if Catra didn't see you wander out we would have been panicking trying to find you!... Nope, still weird saying Catra and doing something helpful."
"Still trying to get over that myself Sparkles." Catra laughed. "But as much fun as it is picking on Adora's lack of brain cells."
"Hey!" Adora interrupted playfully elbowing Catra in the side.
"I'm sure the Queen and King would like to know we are fine." Catra Continued.
And with that she walked through the crowd gripping onto Adora and marched her way to the throne room. Upon entering the throne room Catra saw her mother, but more interestingly she was a small creature conversing with her.
This being was no more than 6 inches tall,it looked nearly identical to humans, however it had a mouse like ears and a furry white tail.
Catra's eyes were locked onto the tiny mouse person as her instincts once again took over. Before anyone could react she was already on all fours running at them. Catra pounced at the tiny being intent on having here for lunch.
The mouse person, I am without even looking on Catra's direction, flicked her wrist and out of the ground arose a thick slab of stone right in front of Catra causing the Magicat to smack headfirst into it.
"Ah this is Catra presume?" The mouse person questioned Cyra. "I was convinced your statement of her lack of instinct control was blown out of proportion, I can see now that they were not."
"Catra allow me to introduce you to a friend of mine." Queen Cyra cracked a smile as she watched her daughter get up from her abrupt stop. "This is Yin Whitetail, Elemental Princess of Ground and princess of the Whitetail Crag Mouselings."
Catra groaned and rubbed her head getting up and getting a better look at the now dubbed Mouseling. She was wearing a bright teal dress, she had crimson red hair draped down her back to the small, vivid green eyes, lightish skin,and her tail and ears were a silken whiteas her last name would imply.
"Nice to meet you Yin." Adora piped up with an earnest smile and extended a finger for the small princess to shake while Catra grumbled and rubbed her head. "I am-"
"She-Ra Princess of Power." Yin answered for her "I am well informed of who you are, my people have communication networks all over the planet." The mouseling snickers and shook the finger.
Both princesses were caught off guard by Yin knowledge and connection. " All over the planet?" Catra questioned. " If that's true why haven't either of have ever seen let alone heard about your people?"
"To put it simply because we did not want you to." Yin replied. "Being caught outside of the burrows rarely ended well for the captured mouseling, our history is rife with our kind being captured or sold as pets. We felt it best to allow Etheria to forget our existence and record information in the shadows."
"Then why show yourself to us now?" Adora asked. " Doesn't this go against your whole plan to well… you know...stay hidden?"
Yin just smiled and chuckled. " Yes that is indeed true however both Queen Cyra and Queen Angella have earned my trust, they have helped guard our existence for years, so it is only fitting I aid them in a time of need."
"Meaning…?" Both girls urged her on.
Yin gave a soft smile and answered. "I believe I can aid you in the quick restoration of Princess Glimmer powers."
