A/N: Hoo boy, who's ready for a less heavy chapter after that insanely dark one? I sure am! I'm at ClexaCon but I didn't want to leave you guys hanging too long on that note, so here's a heartwarming chapter for your souls.

CONTENT WARNING for bullying, victim blaming, and emotional and physical child abuse.

(But I swear, it's really not that dark overall. Just parts of it.)

Rubbing sleep from her eyes, Catra stumbles out into the hall, gladly escaping her quarters after another night filled with terrors. She'd thought maybe the nightmares of Shadow Weaver would stop now that she's dead, but they've been decidedly worse the last few nights. Shadow Weaver is haunting her, perhaps literally. Catra never believed in ghosts before, but the air in this hallway has an ominous chill and the fur on her neck is standing on end. Hugging her arms tighter around her middle, she speeds up as much as she can without looking like some kind of coward.

Unsure where she's going other than away, Catra veers toward Entrapta's lab. She doesn't technically have any new orders for her or Scorpia, but she can always get an update on whatever Entrapta's working on these days. She frequently loses track.

When the door whooshes open, Entrapta's head snaps Catra's way and she flips up her mask, showcasing a massive grin. "Catra!" Spinning over on her rolling stool, she reaches out with her hair and yanks Catra into the lab. "I have so much to show you! This medic mini bot has such potential to improve our operations in the field! It's going to find and repair damaged and malfunctioning bots and return them to action, eliminating the need for trips to the Fright Zone! Melding my control systems with the technology of the Horde is always tricky, but I'm optimistic! I mean there was a tiny explosion but the second try went much better! Oh, and Scorpia brought me tiny food!" she finishes with a flourish, pointing excitedly at the platter of miniature cupcakes on her desk.

Catra can't help staring in amazement. She's not sure Entrapta took a single breath during that entire rant. Her eyes flick to Scorpia as the hulking woman shrugs and scratches the back of her neck, her face flushing to match her red exterior. "It's not a big deal. Just wanted to make you feel welcome." Her mouth twitches in a small, sympathetic smile. "I know what it's like to feel like an outsider."

Entrapta beams. "Thanks, Scorpia! Cut up ration bars can only do so much to feed my creativity!"

Snorting, Scorpia waves her off. "Please, like you ever stop working long enough to eat."

"I could, with the right motivation," says Entrapta, shooting Scorpia a cheeky grin. Scorpia somehow goes even redder, and Catra might laugh were it not for the tightness in her chest. She has to avert her eyes at the sound of Entrapta's triumphant giggles.

Catra doesn't miss Adora, definitely not, but she does miss their easy, teasing banter. The comfort level they had with each other. Catra's never been able to connect with anyone else so easily. And here these two are practically best friends after like a week of Entrapta living in the Fright Zone. But of course they are. They're both princesses.

"Well… well, good," stammers Scorpia. "You need to take better care of yourself. Both of you do." As her eyes land on Catra, her face falls. "Catra, you okay?"

Catra must look as miserable as she feels. Wiping her face of emotion, she shrugs indifferently. "I'm fine."

Scorpia's head tilts. "Aw, what's wrong, kitty?"

Catra's eyes narrow with a guttural hiss. "What did you say to me?"

Even Adora wasn't allowed to call her kitty, at least not in front of other people. Catra can't even count the number of times she got cornered in the hallways by kids with taunting expressions and grabby hands going, "Here kitty, kitty…" Scorpia got away with it the first time they met because Catra was more angry with Shadow Weaver at the time, too preoccupied to remark on the demeaning nickname. This time, she's getting a piece of Catra's mind.

Catra's taking a menacing step toward Scorpia when Entrapta pops up between them, wearing an inquisitive expression. "You seem to be angered by references to your species, Catra. Are you uncomfortable being the only Magicat in the Horde?"

That's another reason why these two get along so well. They're both incredibly fucking annoying. Claws digging into her palms, Catra grits her teeth and growls, "Entrapta, if you don't shut up, I'm going to set your pigtails on fire and send Emily to the scrapyard."

"Catra," Scorpia says immediately. Catra's stomach turns even before she meets her gently scolding gaze. The disappointment in her tone is worse than anger ever could be. She gets her share of anger, too, when Emily makes a squeak of protest from the corner and raises one of her robotic arms in a vaguely threatening gesture.

But the worst, the absolute worst is the shock on Entrapta's face. She looks like she's been slapped. "I'm sorry. I- I just wanted to understand why you're mad at Scorpia. She's only trying to be your friend." Her eyes fall, and her voice is almost a whisper when she says, "I wasn't trying to annoy you."

Catra squirms, averting her eyes. The guilt is back, and the fear. The fear that everything Shadow Weaver ever said about her was true.

"Making friends as always, I see."

Catra snivelled as quietly as possible, brushing tears from her bruised cheekbone while Shadow Weaver's back was turned. Her other hand was busy holding back the stream of blood from her nose. The injuries hurt her pride more than her body. They made her look weak. Really, she could've easily won the fight if she'd used her claws, but she'd already made that mistake once (twice, if you count her attack on Octavia). It made no difference to Shadow Weaver if she was defending herself, clawing another person was far worse than scratching inanimate objects. Sitting down had hurt for days afterwards.

Her assailant, an older boy, had been dismissed a moment ago with barely a slap on the wrist. Apparently pulling another cadet's tail and trying to pick her up by the scruff of her neck was not enough to warrant much in the way of disciplinary action. Now Catra was alone with Shadow Weaver, and her gut was churning with anxiety. She did her best not to tremble as the sorceress floated closer, something concealed in her hands.

When Shadow Weaver started to extend a hand toward her, Catra couldn't help but recoil. But all she was holding was a handkerchief that she roughly shoved against Catra's bleeding nose. "Hold that there."

Catra blinked dumbly and obeyed, surprised by the kind gesture (or kind by Shadow Weaver standards, anyway). "Thank you."

"Yes, you should be grateful," snapped Shadow Weaver, and Catra tensed again. "You don't deserve any help. What did you think was going to happen?"

"He started it! I didn't do anything!"

"Not this time, perhaps. But there's a reason this happens, you know. Do you realize how tiring you are to be around? You have a bad temper, you're disruptive, impatient. You don't even try to get along with others."

"That's not true," Catra protested weakly. That earned her a vicious backhanded slap that caught the previously uninjured side of her face. Catra's lip snagged on her fang and blood seeped onto her tongue. The shock and pain made her eyes sting but she willed the tears not to fall.

"Don't contradict me, child. You're getting on my last nerve," warned Shadow Weaver. Fighting the urge to argue more, Catra stared down at her feet. A trip to the prison was the last thing she needed at that point. "Do you really expect the other cadets to be kind to someone so dislikable? Even Adora doesn't want to be friends with you. She just feels sorry for you."

Catra's lip quivered and more tears welled in her eyes. This time, she couldn't keep them from spilling out. Shadow Weaver scoffed, the white eyes of her mask narrowing in disgust. "Stop crying. You're too old for that nonsense. Do you see Adora crying when she has a bad day?" Yes, actually, but Catra wasn't about to rat out her best friend. She shook her head, but that wasn't good enough for Shadow Weaver. "I can't hear you."

Catra swallowed the sob lodged in her throat. "No, Shadow Weaver."

Shaking her head, Shadow Weaver heaved a sigh laden with disappointment. "I don't even know why I bother. You'll never amount to anything." Turning to her cauldron, she waved a hand to dismiss Catra. "Get out of my sight."

Catra hates apologizing. It reminds her of the humiliation of forced apologies. The panic of desperate apologies, feeble attempts to avoid punishment. It reminds her of cowering under Shadow Weaver's raised hand. But she can do it, if it will keep Entrapta on her side. And if it will make the guilt go away.

Lifting Entrapta's face with a gentle claw under her chin, Catra does her best to convey her sincerity. "Sorry, Entrapta. And Emily," she adds with a quick glance to the robot. "I didn't really mean that." Catching Entrapta's eye again, she twitches her mouth slightly and admits, "And yeah. It's not fun, being the only one."

"It must've been really lonely," murmurs Scorpia.

Catra shrugs this off before she can think too much about it. "It was okay. I had Adora." The past tense in her statements makes her frown. Was. Had.

"It's okay," says Entrapta, squeezing one of Catra's arms with a tendril of hair. "I know I ask insensitive questions sometimes. I'm sorry too, if I hurt your feelings."

"Don't worry about it," mutters Catra, eyes downcast. She notices Entrapta moving behind her, but assumes she's just going back to her desk until she feels Entrapta's gloved hands on her shoulders. The unexpected contact makes them clench and shoot up to her ears.

"You need to relax, Catra," Entrapta tells her, undeterred. Beginning to massage the rigid flesh, she asks, "Does this help? It should help. Interpersonal touch releases dopamine, which increases one's feelings of happiness and peace. Plus, er, your shoulders are as hard as Scorpia's exoskeleton."

It kind of does help. Once Catra got over her initial aversion to being touched without permission, she was able to sigh and roll her neck, release a bit of the tension. But being in Entrapta's grip and accepting any kind of help from her makes her tense regardless. Trying (not very hard) to pull away, she grumbles, "What's with you people and personal space? Ugh."

Scorpia steps in eagerly and hugs her from the front, sandwiching her between the two of them. "We just want you to know how much we care about you."

When Scorpia gives her another squeeze, Catra wriggles free and scampers out of reach. "Okay, seriously, you guys are too much. I appreciate the thought, but..." Catra hugs her arms around herself, avoiding their eyes.

Peering at her curiously, Scorpia asks, "Are you upset about Shadow Weaver?"

"No! Yes. I mean…" Catra drags her fingers through her hair. "It's complicated."

Scorpia gives her a look of reassurance. "Look, I know things weren't great between you two, but she was kinda like your mom. It's okay to be upset."

"Yes, you were forced to watch the execution of your maternal figure," Entrapta tilts her head, unblinking. "Feelings of grief are a perfectly normal response," she says, her expression somewhere between sympathy and intrigue. She's probably going to blabber into her damn recorder about Catra's fascinating behavior for hours as soon as she leaves.

"It's not…" Catra trails off with a sigh. "It's a lot of things."

Scorpia steps closer but keeps a comfortable distance this time. "Do you wanna go hit things again?"

Catra's teeth play at the inside of her lip as she considers this. "Maybe. Do you promise not to blindside me this time?"

Scorpia gives her a conspiratory smirk. "I think I can restrain myself." Catra can't help returning her smile, and jerks her head toward the door. Scorpia eagerly obeys the silent order, following Catra to the exit.

"Have a good time, you two," Entrapta calls after them, something that sounds like genuine affection in her tone. "Come back in one piece."

Catra stops and looks back, unsure how to respond. Why is it so hard to talk to people when she's attempting to be genuine? Words come easy when she's playing people. But Scorpia and Entrapta aren't a game, and since that revelation in the gym Catra has been trying to avoid treating them like one. Finally she settles on, "Uh… thanks, Entrapta. You too. No more explosions, okay?"

"No promises!" she yells, bending back over her prototype with an excited grin and glint in her eyes. Catra shakes her head with an affectionate chuckle as the princess pulls her mask down over her face. Well, at least she's honest.

***o***

Sweat rolling down her cheeks, Catra shifts her weight and throws a couple of hard jabs into Scorpia's punching mitts. Scorpia took the time to give her a little more instruction before letting her loose to throw as many punches as she wants, and she's thrown a lot. She could have technically moved from the ring to one of the heavy bags, but strangely doesn't feel any desire to put distance between herself and Scorpia right now. Maybe it's her warm smile, or her encouraging words. Maybe Catra is actually starting to grow fond of her company. That's a strange thought.

In any case, her bad mood is finally starting to fade. Not only is boxing a good release of aggression, it's a great distraction from what troubles her. But then Scorpia has to go and ruin that with her stupid fucking questions. "What's on your mind, Catra?"

When Catra responds with only a raised eyebrow and more punches, Scorpia digs, "Having nightmares again? No offense, but you look like shit. How many hours did you even sleep last night?"

"Too many," Catra grunts as she strikes Scorpia's mitts in a quick, crisp combo. "Hard to have nightmares when you're awake."

"About the execution?"

"No. Just about her."

Just like Adora, Scorpia doesn't give up easily. Gaze unwavering, she prods, "Something's eating you. Did she say something to you, before?"

Catra gives her one last punch before stopping with an exhausted sigh. Scorpia's too damn intuitive. One thing she and Adora do not have in common. "She said a lot of things before. Did her best to take me down on her way out."

"She was wrong, you know," Scorpia tells her intently. "Hordak didn't make a mistake."

"I know that," huffs Catra.

"So what's wrong?" When Catra's eyes flick away, Scorpia guesses, "She said something about Adora, didn't she?"

Sighing again, Catra goes to scratch her sweaty hairline, scowls when the bulky glove smushes into her forehead. Fine, maybe giving Scorpia something will get her to leave her alone. Maybe talking about it will make it stop bothering her. She doubts it, but it's worth a try. "Can you keep a secret?"

Her face brightens like Catra just offered her a lifetime of hugs. "Of course!"

Such enthusiasm makes Catra's eyes narrow with distrust. "Scorpia…"

"I swear! I won't even tell Entrapta."

Hesitating a moment longer, Catra finally admits, "Something happened once, between me and Adora." Scorpia stares at her blankly and she sighs. Leaning in, she whispers, "Like, a kissing thing."

Scorpia's brow furrows. "Only once?" Catra glares daggers at her and she raises her pincers in a gesture of innocence. "What? From the way you guys act around each other I just assumed you were… involved."

"We would've been, if it weren't for Shadow Weaver." Scorpia raises an eyebrow and Catra shoots her a warning look even as she explains, "I really don't want to get into the details, but she scared me away from Adora and made Adora think I didn't like her that way. And I didn't realize until we talked before the execution that she was doing that on purpose, that she was fucking with Adora's head as much as mine."

Scorpia ponders this a moment, confusion plain on her face. "So now you feel… bad for Adora?"

"No, I'm pissed that Shadow Weaver stole our opportunity to be together when we had one, and now we never will again. And if we had been together, maybe she never would have left…" Swallowing the lump in her throat, Catra ruminates, "I mean I knew she was keeping us apart, but I didn't realize… Adora must have thought I was mad at her for kissing me, that I didn't want her to." She frowns, eyes falling. "I don't know why I didn't think about that before."

"Sounds like you already had a lot going on with yourself," Scorpia says gently. "You don't need to feel guilty about it."

"I don't feel guilty," huffs Catra. Raising her fists once again, she resumes punching. "I just… wish I could fix this somehow. Make it stop bothering me."

"Why don't you go talk to her?" suggests Scorpia, and Catra stops abruptly.

"Uh…" Catra looks at Scorpia like the idiot she is and starts listing the very obvious reasons. "a) She's in enemy territory, and it's crawling with princesses. b) She is the enemy. c) I'll look like an idiot. You can't just waltz up to your mortal enemy and say, 'Hey, just so you know, I wanted to kiss you when we were junior cadets.'"

Scorpia's eyes sparkle with mischief. "Why not?" Catra's eyes narrow and she points out, "Hey, if nothing else, it'll throw her off her game."

Tilting her head, Catra muses, "That's true." A sly, toothy grin splits her lips. "And it is a lot of fun to fuck with Adora." Scorpia smirks and Catra's tail goes stiff. "That's not-" she fumbles, "I said 'fuck with,' you pervert."

"I'm not a pervert," grins Scorpia, "I'm a romantic."

"Ugh."

"Come on, Catra," she teases, lightly punching her shoulder with one mitt. "Anyone with eyes knows you have feelings for Adora. You dipped her at the ball. That wasn't subtle." Catra's ears flatten, fists clenching inside her gloves. Just as she's mentally searching the Fright Zone for places she could hide such a large body, Scorpia adds, "I mean, I didn't see it, but Entrapta said it was fascinating."

Catra's lips slowly part in a grin. "I bet she did," she purrs, standing up straighter as she feels the power swinging back her way. "You know, if you're gonna get on my case about subtlety, maybe don't bring girls their favorite treats on a platter. Where did you even get tiny cupcakes in the Fright Zone, anyway?"

"I wasn't trying to be subtle, I was trying to be nice!" protests Scorpia. "And I didn't. I got one of the bakers at my family's castle to make them."

Eyebrow quirking, Catra remarks, "Quite the grand gesture."

Scorpia's arms fly up. "I wanted her to feel welcome!"

"In your pants," cackles Catra. Scorpia burying her face in her pincers only makes her laugh harder. "Scorpia, you're as red as your shell right now." Catra's absolutely loving this. For once she's getting to humiliate Scorpia instead of the other way around.

"You know what?" Scorpia throws down her mitts with a sharp flick of her claws, and before Catra can react she's swooped her up. Next thing she knows, Scorpia's got her ankles in one of her claws and is holding her upside down at arm's length. "Think you'll land on your feet if I toss you out of this ring?"

"Scorpia, stop it! Put me down!" Catra bats at Scorpia's face with her tail as her shirt slides down and bunches around her neck. Scorpia's grin makes her face flush in anger. "Now, Force Captain!"

"Nope, you asked for it," is all Scorpia says before she proceeds to tickle her exposed belly.

Catra shrieks and swats at her, only to remember her front claws are covered and she's basically defenseless. So much for not being humiliated. "Mmph, you're fired!" she grunts, in a last ditch attempt to salvage some dignity.

Though she stops tickling her, Scorpia's smile doesn't fade. "You can't fire me, my position is part of the terms of our alliance with the Horde." She releases Catra's ankles abruptly, letting her tumble on the canvas floor of the ring. To Catra's credit, she does a nice little tuck and roll and does, in fact, land on her feet. That makes the whole thing just slightly less embarrassing, but as Catra surveys the gym she sees a group of soldiers watching with smirks from the weights area. A frown forms on her lips. The last thing she needs is soldiers following Scorpia's example and disrespecting her.

Scorpia follows Catra's gaze over her shoulder and turns back with a strange request. "Here, punch me in the face."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because those guys are staring and you feel like an idiot. I know you hate it when people make you look bad." Scorpia leans in with a smile and pokes Catra's shoulder. "I pay attention, you know?"

Catra slaps her pincer away with a scowl. "Fuck you." She turns and storms toward the ropes, but not too fast, giving Scorpia ample opportunity to follow.

Scorpia does exactly that, closing the distance just as Catra reaches the edge of the ring. "Hey, come on-"

Before she can finish her sentence, Catra drops to the floor with a sweeping kick, taking Scorpia's legs out from under her. She lands hard on her ass with a loud, surprised grunt that makes Catra chuckle. Shooting a pointed gaze at their stunned audience, Catra dusts off her hands as she gets to her feet. Looking down on her fallen opponent with a triumphant smirk, she offers her a hand up. "Thanks, but I don't take pity victories."

"You fight dirty," remarks Scorpia, and Catra can't tell if it's a reprimand or a compliment. She grasps Catra's hand, allowing her to take a little bit of her weight as she stands.

"Tickling isn't fighting dirty?" Catra points out.

"Fair enough," snorts Scorpia. "Call it a draw?"

"Whatever." Hopping down to the floor of the gym proper, Catra saunters over to the bench where they left their stuff. After chugging several mouthfuls of water from her canteen, she grabs a towel to wipe her sweaty face.

"I meant what I said about Adora, you know," Scorpia pipes up as Catra's running the towel through her hair. It makes Catra's ear flick and body tense up. "I think you should talk to her."

Catra's blue eye peeks past the towel, narrowed irritably. "You expect me to take advice from you right now, you big oaf?"

Scorpia's smile grows bigger and brighter. "I just want you to be happy."

Catra scowls and pitches the towel at her face. "You have strange ways of showing it."

Scorpia chuckles and gives her a knowing smile. "Do you feel better?"

"I guess," admits Catra.

Scorpia grins broadly and slings an arm around Catra's shoulder, tugging her into her side as they head for the exit. "Could I interest you in a tiny cupcake, boss?"

A/N: EDIT: Added that reference to Octavia to clarify that this is referring to a separate incident (covered in chapter 7).

The Super Pal Trio owns my heart. I saw the promo image of Scorpia and Entrapta eating tiny cupcakes and I really couldn't resist integrating that. :D

Also, I am in full support of Scorpia forcefully loving Catra until she lets herself connect with someone again. Consent be damned. (Not really, but you know.)