Hey guys! Thank you all so much for your reviews, follows and favourites, it makes me smile to much to know that you like my story!
I'm sorry I don't update this regularly and I cannot promise to do so in the near future, but I will try my best not to have you wait for too long!
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Enjoy!
"Why? Because Shadow Weaver is evil, that's why!" Glimmer wildly gestured with her hands as the four of them walked down the hall, letting out a groan when Catra continued to ignore her. Adora sighed under her breath, trying to catch at least one of the differently clouded eyes.
"She manipulated us for years…" she began with an empathetic tone, Glimmer knew would not work. Sometimes – well, all the time – she wondered why Adora was trying so hard when all she got were sassy remarks and ignorance. It was not like the Horde officer was acting less impolite towards her than towards anyone else. Their relationship simply did not make any sense to her and she could not even imagine them behaving differently without others around.
Then again, perhaps she did not want to imagine them alone.
"Duh," Catra rolled her eyes, "Did you ju-"
"Just figure that out?" Adora predicted, hearing the words resound in her best friend's voice. Not that she remembered that, but Adora did. Too well for her own taste, but it seemed as if her brain had created – or always had – a separate file for Catra's words, her actions, her voice and movements. An entire sector for Catra.
"So, we're now just camping around here because you conveniently ran into these people?" Catra frowned, keeping a steady pace for being the only one to roam the palace of Bright Moon for the first time, "And they're just hosting us 'cause, let me guess, they're the 'good guys'?" She raised a single brow, eyes not even flashing over to them from the side.
"No, Catra, we're supporting them in the fight against the Horde,"
"What?" The feline stopped abruptly. She spun to face Adora next to her. With a pitiful frown, the blonde took Catra's hand, guiding her along, but Catra wrenched it away. They kept walking in an anticipating silence, waiting for her to burst out again.
Adora, however, was the first to dare speaking up.
"You know the Horde does horrible things; we have to help-"
"Whoa, woah, so… okay, so you're telling me that, what, you know these people for like a day and decide that everyone you've ever known and grew up with is evil now? That they're better, because they tell you they're the good guys?"
"Actually," Bow hurried to fall into step with the two arguing girls, "Adora's been here for quite a while now and you only just-"
"What he's trying to say is…" Adora cut him off, feeling the piercing gaze of mistrust on her. She inhaled audibly, pressing her lips together as she faced the accusing eyes. "I trust them." She firmly said. "They're my friends."
"And what does that make me?" Catra shot back, halting once more. Adora opened her mouth, being beaten to the punch. "Evil?" the blonde winced, "Worthless?" Catra's tail whipped from side to side as she spat her assumptions, "Do you expect me to just follow suit and work my ass off some place else? Start from the top when-"
"Okay, hold on, you didn't really work- well I mean…,"
"Go on…" The feline burned her enraged gaze into Adora, her tail twitching sharply.
"Just… give us a minute…" Adora grabbed Catra's wrist this time, dragging the out of surprise yelping girl into the next room.
Glimmer's expression dropped when the door hectically banged shut. She stared at it, dumbfounded.
"I can't believe she doesn't change…" Bow quietly said, as if to himself. She turned to him raising a questioning brow, annoyance practically radiating from every fibre of her body, "I mean, she lost quite a lot of her memory… and still, she's on their side – full-on knowing it's wrong…"
"And that surprises you because…?" Glimmer fumed, throwing her hands up.
"It's just so… ah, I don't know, it's all really messed up, isn't it?" He shrugged helplessly, giving a goofy, unconvincing smile. He did not even look to be convincing himself.
"It'll be even more messed up when my mum finds out Adora gave her a room," the short Princess groaned once more, turning to lean against the wall. She was aware of Adora's unexplainable trust towards the – in Glimmer's eyes – prisoner, but she did not trust the feline one bit. She would stand guard, already suspicious of the silence that engulfed the room.
Carefully, Bow nudged his best friend back to stand upright, urging her to come along and leave the corridor. Her own room was only a few doors away; she would have to live with the compromise.
"And meeting your mum again at dinner toni-"
"Arrgh, I completely forgot about that!" She exclaimed, dramatically stretching the skin on her face with her fingers, "Bow," Glimmer stopped him from leading her away, holding on to his shoulders – well, arms – as she spoke in a serious tone. "We have got to keep that from happening."
The voices in the hall slowly died down as the duo walked away. Catra still hardly dared to breathe.
The second she had been forced into the room, Adora had practically pushed her against the wall and then frozen up. So had Catra.
She was perplexed by the ferociousness of Adora's hug, the intensity that wordlessly hit her like a wave, the almost unbearable silence. Usually, it was Catra who would pin Adora down – in mock battles, small fights, play fights, training sessions… She would always be the one in control or at lest try to be. All the time. On every occasion. Only…
Only now, it did not feel right to fight back. Suddenly, it felt utterly and completely wrong and even repulsive to shove Adora away, play down the obvious affection they could not seem to work out. No matter how much she internally screamed at herself to move, willed herself to resist and pretend a cool, uncaring attitude, she could not.
She did not want to.
Not letting Catra go, her arms flung around the feline's torso while her head pressed Catra into the wall, Adora let out a sigh. It took her another moment to release her best friend, arms sinking slowly.
Catra remained silent. She stared into the apologetic face now directly in front of her. For the split of a second, she thought she saw tears stinging the blonde's eyes. Her heart – which had picked up pace so drastically, she wondered how Adora had not been alarmed, as she had most definitely been able to feel it hammer against her ear – nearly stopped at the smile Adora gave. So full of hurt and relief at the same time, it made a shiver of honest guilt travel down the feline's spine.
"I've really missed you…" Adora breathed.
For another minute, Catra was speechless. She felt her own shoulders drop, closing her mouth.
What had happened? What had she all forgotten?
She knew Adora to be more open with her feelings – not as brutally honest in most things as Catra, but capable of displaying affection. Putting it into words. And without feeling stupid and vulnerable. It was almost as painful to Catra as not saying anything was to Adora. Then again, Catra liked most things Adora did. The way she was – open, somewhat naïve and quick-witted. She liked the way they could mock one another, brawl and chat, never doubting the strong affection they had towards the other.
Exhaling sharply, Catra diverted her eyes. If all of their time and memories together ended up in false accusations of being 'evil', what was this worth? This attempt of persuasion. She did not want to follow, just because she was told so; especially not because of that. She had already been replaced, had she not?
"You know I'm gonna make a run for it whenever I please,"
"Catra-"
"I don't know what they did to you, but I'm not falling for it,"
"No one did anything to me," Adora pleaded, turning around herself as she watched her best friend examine the room, "I followed my own sense; you know this is the right thing to do!" She went on, stepping after the feline. Catra dismissively waved with her tail, twitching an ear to let Adora know to have heard her, showing that she did not find it necessary to answer.
She let her eyes travel across the curtains in front of the window – locked –, the bed and the cupboard. Was she seriously expecting her to move in here? With the Princesses? Without Adora in the same room…?
Catra snorted, already guessing the blonde's new friends to have taken over that role, making her unwanted. Unneeded.
She felt anger rise in her, trying to force the hurt out.
"Catra, come on, you-"
"Stop it, Adora, I can't hear it anymore!" Catra spun around, clenching her fists.
"Stop what? Saying your name?"
"It's irritating,"
"Well, you better get used to it, 'cause I won't stop saying it in a hundred years!"
"I won't agree with you, just because you're being super annoying-"
"So what? I don't have to do what you say either, Catra,"
"Urgh, you drive me crazy!" Catra whipped with her tail, about to charge the blonde.
"So do you," Adora tensed up, mirroring the attack stance, "Catra! Ah!" She shrieked when Catra jumped at her, dodging her by a centimetre. She whirled around, closely ducking from the next assault. She thrust her arm forward, flinching at the groan of pain from the feline.
Hissing furiously, Catra charged once more, sending both of them to the ground. They landed with huffs, too tangled to keep fighting.
"Catra- ah!" Adora yelped when Catra managed to wrench her leg out from between Adora's knees, giving a growl.
"Stop it!" Catra yelled, driving her fist into the floor right next to Adora's head. The wood splintered, capturing her fist. To Adora's surprise, the feline did not try to take it back out immediately, desperately frustrated complaints coming instead. "Stop it, just…" Adora gasped when a tear tumbled onto her cheek, "stop…" Catra slowly sank together. The arm holding her up on the other side of Adora's face scraped across the floor, leaving her to harshly slump down.
She could not show tears in front anyone – least of all Adora! Cursing inwardly, Catra tried hard to keep from jerking with light sobs, squinting her eyes shut to prevent further tears. They came anyway.
Calmly, Adora enclosed Catra with both arms, laying still, closing her eyes as well. She knew that – even if unintended and unknowingly – she was partly to blame for her best friend's broken life. She loved her too much to stop trying to convince her, though. The words hung on the tip of her tongue, but she remained silent.
For now, all she could do was hold Catra, who was too lost to be left alone – again.