"Catra? Catra, where are you?" Adora ran through the halls of the Fright Zone, getting increasingly worried about her feline friend. It had been several hours since she had last seen her – since Shadow Weaver had dragged her away. Catra had dared to disobey her orders during a training simulation, and had instead sacrificed herself to save Adora - again. Now she was being punished - again. Adora sighed and paused her search. Shadow Weaver should have released Catra by now. She could not still be undergoing punishment. Could she?
"Hold on – Catra is in there right now? CATRA?!" Mermista yelled in disbelief. Glimmer pinched her nose before taking a deep breath.
"Look, I'm not happy about it either, but someone disobeyed my orders and went to Beast Island – and now Adora is dying and only Catra can save her." Bow frowned and said:
"That's not fair, Glimmer. We rescued Entrapta and your dad." Glimmer groaned before muttering:
"Yes, okay - sorry! I'm just really worried about Adora. She's my friend – my best friend. If she dies, I don't know what I'll do…" Glimmer then burst into tears and collapsed in Bow's arms. Mermista awkwardly looked away while everyone else averted their eyes. No one wanted to see the queen cry.
Catra lay in a bed in the med bay, completely unable to move. After Shadow Weaver was done electrocuting her, she had decided to test some awful paralyzing agent on her. It was supposed to wear off eventually, but she had been lying like this for almost two hours and was getting genuinely concerned that she would never be able to move again. As her eyes began to well up with yet more tears she could not wipe away, Catra heard a familiar yell:
"Catra? Are you in here?" Catra closed her eyes. It was the only part of her body she could move. She did not want to see Adora. She could not cope with those beautiful eyes filling with tears.
Shadow Weaver broke the tension by stepping forward and saying:
"Your majesty, you have to let me back in there! You do not know Catra like I do – she does not care about Adora! She's probably letting her die as we speak!" Scorpia then yelled:
"That's not true! Catra cares for Adora! She wants to save her!" She then turned to Bow, who was still holding a sobbing Glimmer, and asked:
"Didn't you say she agreed to come?" Bow nodded and said:
"She surrendered." Mermista then growled:
"If she surrendered, then why is she by herself in a room with our friend? Someone needs to be in there with her! She needs to be arrested for her crimes!" Entrapta then put her hand on Mermista's arm, making her jump and look down. She spoke quietly:
"Catra is not a good friend. She betrayed me and sent me to Beast Island. But all the data shows that she wants to save Adora, and she is more likely to succeed if she is alone with her."
When Adora saw Catra lying on the bed nearest to the entrance of the med bay, her heart sank. Catra had bandages along her arms, legs and across part of her face. Her uniform was torn and looked like it had been set on fire. That was not what alarmed Adora the most, however. Catra was not moving – at all. Adora immediately ran over to her and saw that her eyes were closed. She screamed:
"CATRA! CATRA, WAKE UP!" Catra slowly opened her eyes and tears rolled down her cheeks. Adora resisted the urge to cry as she picked up Catra's hand and pressed it to her cheek. She forced herself to smile as she said:
"It's okay, Catra. It's just me. I'm here."
Micah finally stepped forward, clearing his throat as he did so. He said:
"Right, well, I must say I wish I was meeting you all under better circumstances. I'm very sorry that Adora, who risked her life to save mine, is now in danger of losing it. While there is little I can do to help her, I would like to offer to help you, baby g– I mean, Queen Glimmer." He coughed awkwardly before continuing. Everyone eyed him with varying degrees of curiosity and wariness.
"I suggest we all adjourn to the war room and discuss what needs to happen now that the Rebellion has won a decisive victory over the Horde. Not only is their army defeated, but we have their second-in-command within these walls right now as our prisoner. The sooner we strike, the greatest chance we'll have of victory." He turned to Glimmer, who had stopped crying and was wiping her eyes like a little child. He asked:
"Would that be a good idea, Glimmer?" Glimmer looked up at her dad and nodded. The two of them had not had much of a reunion since his arrival, and her concern for Adora currently overshadowed her joy at seeing him again. Upon seeing her nod, Micah wordlessly turned and headed to the war room. Everyone silently followed him. Soon it was just Bow and Glimmer standing in the corridor outside Adora's room.
Catra stared at Adora longingly. She knew that no one else even remotely cared that she had been fried within an inch of her life, only to then be used as a test subject for one of Shadow Weaver's sick experiments. Only Adora cared. For some reason, Adora not only saw her as a person, but as a friend. That was why Catra would always jump in the way of the lasers in the training simulations. It was why she would always cover for Adora whenever she did something wrong. It was also why she would always stand by her and support her, even when Catra herself was consistently let down and abandoned by everyone around her.
Another hour passed with little to no movement on Adora's part. Then Catra suddenly regained feeling in her face and breathed out:
"Hey Adora."
It had been several minutes since everyone had left for the war room. Glimmer had almost fallen asleep in Bow's arms when he finally broke the silence:
"Glimmer, we need to talk." Glimmer sighed and, without moving, asked:
"About what? How you didn't listen to me? How you don't trust me? How this is all your fault?" Bow took a deep breath before replying:
"No, Glimmer. It's not my fault. Entrapta needed us. Not only that, but she taught us more about the Heart of Etheria than we could've ever hoped to learn on our own. We now know that it must never be activated!" Glimmer groaned and stepped away from Bow.
"I also learned about the Heart of Etheria from Light Hope. It's not nearly as bad as Entrapta made it seem! All we have to do is get Scorpia to the Black Garnet chamber so she can re-connect with her runestone. Then the planet will be balanced and the magic will be released!" Bow finally raised his voice:
"Yes – through She-Ra! She-Ra is the weapon, and she's currently lying unconscious in her room needing her worst enemy to save her!" Glimmer's eyes went wide as she yelled:
"That's not my fault, Bow! I told you not to go to Beast Island! I know it sounds bad, but Entrapta could've waited! My dad's been waiting for years! If you two had not gone like I asked you to, Adora would not be dying right now!" As if on cue, Catra's voice was then heard screaming:
"Adora? ADORA!"
"Catra! You can talk!" Catra coughed and spluttered:
"Barely. Everything hurts." Adora hugged Catra even tighter. She asked:
"Does that mean you can feel again?" Catra groaned:
"A little bit. You know your knuckles are digging into my back, right?" Adora immediately pulled back from the hug exclaiming:
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" Catra smiled, even though it hurt to do so. Adora was such a dork. What had she done to deserve her?
"It's fine! Don't be an idiot, you can still hug me if you want." With that, Adora climbed onto the bed and lay down next to Catra. She put her arm over her and nuzzled into her mane.
"I'm sorry Shadow Weaver hurt you again." Catra sighed before muttering:
"I don't care. We'll get out of here someday, and then we'll be the ones calling the shots. Shadow Weaver will have no power over us anymore."
Bow and Glimmer burst into Adora's room, only to see Catra desperately leaning over her doing chest compressions. Glimmer yelled:
"What happened? What did you do?!" Catra yelled back:
"Nothing! I'm trying to save her!" Bow ran to Catra's side and said:
"I'll take over – go and get the doctor! He's just down the hall!" Catra reluctantly stopped what she was doing, letting Bow take over. She then ran past Glimmer and out into the hall. She noted that there were no guards, and that the nearest window was open and close enough to the ground for her to escape. She thought about it for a moment, but only for a moment. Adora was more important. She had always been more important. Catra ran down the corridor, yelling:
"DOCTOR! COME QUICK! ADORA NEEDS YOU!"
Adora smiled at Catra's speech. She loved how ambitious Catra was, not to mention how brave, beautiful, intelligent…Adora literally fell asleep listing the many things she loved about Catra. She could not understand why Catra felt the need to keep saving her, especially when she kept getting punished like this. No one else cared that much about her – they were all resentful of how she was Shadow Weaver's favorite. No one seemed to understand how much pressure she was under – how she was given more work than anyone else and how much more severe the punishments were if she failed. IF she failed. Catra kept covering for her when she did. Why did she do that? What had she done to deserve Catra?
At some point during her sleep, Catra moved and Adora found herself lying flat on the bed. This should have woken her up, but it did not. She then felt a sharp pain in her chest – a pain which kept going and then returning. It was like a rhythm, and it felt like her ribs were breaking under some external force. Adora fought to wake up, but was finding it exceptionally difficult to do so. She then heard Catra's voice yell:
"I'm trying to save her!" Catra was there and she was in distress. Adora had to wake up now. Using all her strength, Adora opened her eyes and was shocked to see a boy in an archer's outfit performing chest compressions on her. She gasped at the pain of it, and he immediately stopped. He leaned over her and yelled:
"Adora? Adora! Are you okay? Can you hear me?" Adora stared at him in confusion before frantically surveying her surroundings. She was not in the Fright Zone anymore – everything was so bright and colourful. Then an unknown female voice spoke up:
"Adora? It's okay! We're here!" Adora turned her head to see a literal princess on the other side of the room. What had happened? Had she been captured? Kidnapped from the med bay? Why? And where was Catra? Adora sat up and instantly regretted it. She collapsed back on the bed from the pain of her broken ribs. The boy then spoke:
"Take it easy, Adora. It's okay – you're safe now!" Adora growled angrily and then grabbed his shirt, pulling him towards her:
"I don't know who you are or what your game is, but you're going to tell me where Catra is - right now!" The princess then teleported next to the bed and separated them. She held her hands up defensively and said:
"Adora! What are you doing? It's us! Bow and Glimmer! The Best Friend Squad?" Adora scoffed:
"That's a stupid name." She then grabbed the jug of water next to her bed and threw it at them. The princess teleported herself and the archer out of the way, and they materialized in the doorway of the room. The boy then yelled:
"Adora, stop it! We're your friends!" Adora laughed mockingly:
"I would never be friends with a princess!" She then looked around for a weapon but, before she could throw anything else, a familiar voice rang through the air:
"Adora?" Adora looked back at the doorway to see Catra standing behind the princess and the archer, followed by a satyr in a white coat. She looked different, like the world had ended and she was the lone survivor. Her uniform was different too – it was darker with a very provocative boob window. Adora smiled and gasped:
"Catra! Thank goodness you're okay!"
Catra was beyond confused. When she had left the room mere moments ago, Adora had been at death's door and had been relying on CPR to stay alive. Now she was sitting up and talking to her? And yelling at Glimmer and Bow? Was she missing something? Had the piece of her mask messed with Adora's head? The doctor then pushed passed her and approached Adora:
"Okay, Adora – please lie back down. I need to assess your condition." Adora looked scared and confused. She did not listen to the satyr and instead turned to look at Catra. Realizing she was waiting for her assurance that everything was okay, Catra said:
"It's okay, Adora. He's a doctor. He's just going to make sure you're alright." Adora raised her eyebrow at Catra, but seemed to believe her. She lay back down on the bed and let the doctor perform his check-up. While he did so, Glimmer moved next to Catra and whispered:
"She doesn't remember us. What did you do?" Catra groaned in frustration before quietly replying:
"Nothing! I did what Entrapta said – I used my mask to wake her up!" Bow then moved next to her and said:
"Well, she needs to know that she's safe and that we're not her enemies. Could you go and sit with her until she returns to normal?" Glimmer then groaned and exclaimed:
"IF she returns to normal! There's no way of knowing!" Bow spoke sternly:
"Glimmer! Not helping!" Ignoring them both, Catra silently walked over to Adora and sat on the bed next to her. Adora looked up at her desperately - utterly confused by what was happening. Catra gave her a reassuring smile and said:
"It's okay. I promise everything's okay."
Adora was terrified. She was beginning to wonder whether she was suffering from memory loss. That would explain why the princess and her friend seemed to know her, why she was no longer in the Fright Zone, and why Catra looked so different. Her thoughts were then interrupted by the satyr saying:
"Two broken ribs from the chest compressions. Otherwise you seem completely healthy, Adora. Congratulations!" The doctor then turned to leave, only to have his exit blocked by Glimmer:
"Doctor, before you leave, Adora seems to be suffering from memory loss. Will she get better? Is there anything we can do?" The satyr rubbed the back of his neck and said:
"I really don't know. I don't know what brought on the memory loss. If it was the unconventional cure, it's anyone's guess. If it was the trauma of the situation, however, then I suppose there's a chance…" Bow, noticing that Adora was listening, interrupted him:
"Okay, thank you doctor! We'll call you if we need anything else!" The doctor nodded and left. Glimmer and Bow awkwardly stood in the doorway for a long minute before Adora finally broke the silence:
"Okay - Catra, what's going on? Who are they? Where am I? What happened?" Catra took a deep breath before rubbing a hand through her mane. Adora knew what that meant – she had bad news. Catra asked:
"What's the last thing you remember?" Adora thought for a second before saying:
"The med bay. I was in the med bay with you after Shadow Weaver paralyzed you for saving my life in the training simulation." The princess gasped in shock and the boy's eyes went wide. Catra looked away, presumably reacting to the pain of the memory. She then said:
"That was four years ago, Adora."
Catra was trying so hard not to cry. She remembered that night in the med bay so well. It was the first time Adora had slept close beside her, as opposed to the way they normally slept (with Catra lying at her feet). They had only done this a few times, and it had been exclusively in the med bay where not even Shadow Weaver would dare to enter unless she had to.
Catra closed her eyes and sighed loudly. Why did this have to be Adora's last memory? She opened her eyes again, wiped away the tears that started to fall, and then slowly turned back to face Adora, who had been stunned into silence by Catra's statement. Catra was about to speak again when Glimmer suddenly said:
"I know it's a lot to take in, Adora, but I promise we're your friends! We won't hurt you! My name is Glimmer, and this is Bow. Yes, I'm a princess (well, technically I'm a queen now), but, even though you used to be with the Horde, we're best friends and we're just happy you're okay!" Adora's eyes went wide and she turned to Catra:
"'Used to be'? Did I leave the Horde? Did we leave together? Did Shadow Weaver let us?" With that, Catra began to actually cry. How was she supposed to explain that Adora had abandoned her and joined the princesses after only a few hours of knowing them? That the last three years had been spent fighting her - that the anger she felt at Adora's betrayal had pushed her to make so many terrible decisions and hurt thousands of people? She turned to Adora and tearfully said:
"No – I mean, yes. You left the Horde. You also left me. Shadow Weaver went after you, but you beat her. She took it out on me, but…I eventually beat her too." Catra wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. She could not do this. She really could not. Catra then felt Adora gently grab her arm, the way she used to, and she said:
"But, why would I leave you? I love you! We promised to stay together!" This was too much for Catra to handle. She stood up and tore her hand out of Adora's grasp, yelling:
"Oh really? Now you remember the promise?! It's been three years, Adora! It's too late! You may love me, but I don't love you anymore. It's over between us – it has been for a long time. Goodbye Adora." Catra then walked straight past Glimmer and Bow, leaving the room, and doing her best to ignore Adora crying out her name. As she entered the hall, turning back towards the throne room, she heard footsteps approaching. Her heightened senses told her that the rest of the Rebellion were heading her way. Catra closed her eyes and groaned. She could not cope with any more of this – she had to get out. She opened her eyes and looked around her. The window she had noticed earlier was still open. Without a moment's hesitation, Catra jumped out of it.
When the princesses approached Adora's room, the first thing they heard was Adora screaming Catra's name. When they entered, they saw Glimmer and Bow trying to restrain Adora from jumping out of the bed. Soon afterwards, the doctor came rushing in to sedate her. Once he had done so, Glimmer and Bow explained what had happened to the members of the Rebellion. They all listened in shocked silence and, when Shadow Weaver's past actions came to light, they all turned to stare at her. Shadow Weaver scoffed and defended herself:
"Adora's special – she always has been. Catra is not. Like me, she has had to earn her place in the world. Her greatness was not handed to her – she had to fight for it. I taught her that and turned her into one of the most fearsome Force Commanders to have ever served under Hordak's command." Glimmer glared at her and said:
"Yeah, well, when I found her she had just defeated Hordak. And she did not care – she wanted me to kill her! You did not train a fighter, Shadow Weaver! You trained a survivor – a scared girl who just wanted someone to care about her!" Glimmer then took a deep breath before continuing:
"This does not mean I condone or excuse her actions. Catra needs to face justice for what she has done. But so do you! Guards!" Before Shadow Weaver could protest, two guards appeared and dragged her away. Glimmer then turned to where Adora lay sleeping and said:
"We need to find Catra. Now."
When Adora woke up, she found that Catra was facing her and had her arm over her as well. The paralysis had worn off overnight and, at some point, Catra's wounds had been cleaned and fresh bandages had been applied. Adora marveled at the gorgeous smile on Catra's face, and her heart skipped a beat with every purr that came from her chest. Adora secretly wished it could always be like this – that she could wake up this close to Catra every day of her life.