Bright Moon was always beautiful, but there was something particularly magical about how it looked tonight. The moonstone was serene against the night sky, its glow subdued as if transferring its power from one monarch to another left it feeling thoughtful. It was quiet on the terrace, at least compared to the party. Glimmer could still hear the din from all the way out here, laughter and music combining into an indistinct blur of sound.
It had been fun for a while. The familiar faces were all clustered in the same section, the alliance filling one raucous table, Adora spinning the tale of their battle in the catacombs with a flourish that did Sea Hawk proud. Bow was busy with King stuff and, in his absence, their friends were just as happy to toast Glimmer and Adora. Everyone was a little toast-happy, desperate for something to celebrate after the despair of the last few weeks.
Glimmer had slipped out a while ago, but no one seemed to have noticed she was gone. Not surprising, considering how packed the place was with visiting dignitaries and fancy royals or how many drinks in her friends were. They deserved it after how they'd pulled this whole amazing party together despite the chaos of this morning, but she just wasn't feeling it.
Maybe it was her brush with death earlier at the hands of the Bright Moon guardian, but Glimmer wasn't really in the mood for celebrating. Not that it seemed to stop Adora. They'd danced together earlier, Adora in a rowdy, triumphant mood that didn't match the hollow feeling in Glimmer's gut.
It wasn't just the loss of Queen Angella. She was grieving something else, something she couldn't even define. As lovely as everything looked tonight, it was pretty banners and colorful frosting covering up change. Change so big none of them really knew what came next. Bow's reign as King was only just beginning, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something else was ending.
Things would be better now. Easier. Or was that wishful thinking? If there was one thing this experience had taught her, it was that grief wasn't a predictably straight line and hardly ever looked like you thought it would. It was a process that seemed to change day to day.
To see Bow up there giving that speech to the alliance, ascending to his mother's throne with pride, looking all the world like a powerful King when just a few weeks ago he could barely get out of bed felt wrong somehow. Like it had been too easy. Which was ridiculous, of course, because it hadn't been easy at all. For all his good days and the cheerful face he plastered on, there were still the nightmares, the nights he was so numb he couldn't sleep at all, the random outbursts of rage at nothing or the gray mornings where all she could do was hold him helplessly until the tears ran out.
That was why she'd had to get out of there. It was too much. Too loud, too optimistic. Like the punch and peppy music had made everyone forget Queen Angella was still gone, the Horde was still at their door and they were still the same collection of idiots they always were who could barely work together long enough to throw a party, let alone save the world.
Glimmer sighed and sank down onto the grass. Maybe she should have had some of the punch after all. She could use some liquid optimism right now.
Come on, focus on the positive. Bow had done a great job with his speech! Way better than it had been when he practiced it with her last night and looked half a second from passing out from nerves. Everyone had been really impressed, and it looked like he might have finally convinced some of the southern kingdoms to join the fight.
But even that put her back in a sour mood. Obviously she understood that having to schmooze and charm was part of his duty now that he was King, but it still brought up familiar ugly feelings. It had been easier in the days leading up to the coronation. Sure, visitors would monopolize his day and talk over her like she didn't even exist, but what did that matter when she was the only one he wanted when everyone else had gone to bed and he was alone with his thoughts?
Though she'd promised herself they'd stop blurring the line between them after the coronation.
"There you are!" There was a flash of pink, too bright against the night sky, and Bow appeared before her.
"Here I am," she replied, a little pleased that he'd noticed she was gone and came searching for her. He looked different now. More regal. Almost intimidating, especially with the ceremonial coronation robe artfully draped across one shoulders like a cape. It wasn't just that he was dressing differently now, the whole way he carried himself had shifted. And, of course, there was the silver circlet nestled in his curls. "Does it feel weird wearing that thing?"
"Sort of. I'm still not used to it. Sometimes I feel like I'll never get used to it. Like it's always going to be this distracting weight on my head." He blinked furiously and then added. "Plus, it's freezing!"
She chuckled, and he rewarded her with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Well, it makes you look handsome. Very kingly, King Bow."
"Ugh. King Bow. King BOW. That's going to take some getting used to." He plopped down onto the grass next to her, a very unkingly gesture.
"Aren't you going to get grass stains all over that fancy suit?" Glimmer asked, realizing she probably should have thought of that before she sat down. Great. She'd already been feeling drastically under-dressed compared to everyone else in there, and now there was probably dirt all over her backside.
Bow shrugged. "Who's going to give the King of Bright Moon a hard time for having grass stains on his pants?"
"Me." Glimmer said matter-of-factly and Bow laughed, a rare sound these days. "Probably Adora too. And Sea Hawk might— "
"Alright! Though Aunt Casta has been in such overdrive about today, it wouldn't surprise me if she spelled all our clothes to be stain proof while we weren't looking."
"Is that a thing?" Glimmer looked down at her plain yellow dress and realized it seemed suspiciously clean considering they'd been crawling around underground and had an entire battle earlier today. "Wow. Can she do that to my entire wardrobe? I'd never have to do laundry again!"
"I'm pretty sure it only lasts a little while. But she's promised to start teaching me some sorcery next week, so as soon as I learn that one, we'll try it!"
"Really? I mean, that's great!" she added quickly, because this was a huge deal for him, something he'd wanted since he was little, even if it felt like yet another thing to take him further away from her. "Why now?"
"I think she wants to distract me. Spend more time together. Apparently, someone implied she was shirking in her aunt duties and she thought it might be a nice way for us to stay connected."
He gave her a little half smile, and she blushed. OK, so accusing Castaspella of abandoning her nephew in his grief and telling her to go fuck herself was possibly not her finest moment, but if something good came from it, then maybe it wasn't all bad.
"We're going to need to use everything at our disposal if we want to have a chance against the Horde. Besides, my mom was always the one who objected to me learning it and, well... " Bow shrugged, his eyes on the waves as they lapped against the base of the moonstone pillar.
Glimmer debated for a minute and then lay her head on his shoulder. After all, it technically wasn't after the coronation yet.
"I keep thinking this is how she must have felt about my dad all these years. This ache. Never really getting better, just different." Bow took her hand and sighed. "It wasn't supposed to be like this. She was supposed to live forever."
"I wouldn't be able to stand being immortal. How could you let yourself love anything when you know you'll be alone in the end?"
Bow was quiet for a long time, long enough that she was afraid maybe she'd said something wrong. She started to apologize when he spoke again, his voice soft.
"I might be immortal. Or long lived anyway. There are ways to find out, but I've never... I don't know. I'm not ready to deal with that yet. Especially because, look at my mom. What does immortality really mean anyway in a war where any of us could be the next casualty? The future is never guaranteed. Not for any of us."
Glimmer said nothing, focusing on their joined hands in his lap. She didn't want to think about more casualties anymore than she wanted to think about Bow being maybe immortal and running off into forever without her.
Bow held his free hand out in front of them, making a ball of pink light as if it took no effort at all. "I have so much power now. Too much. It feels like I could never run out. I could probably teleport the whole alliance across the planet and back without even using a fraction."
"Well, that's a good thing, right? No more recharging. No more counting teleports."
"Yeah, I guess." He exhaled, his thumb sliding along the back of her hand. "Glimmer, the thing is... there's nowhere you can go where I can't follow. Anywhere you are, I could be there in a flash. But I won't chase you if you don't want me to."
Glimmer lifted her head to look at him. He was watching her face, the moonstone reflected in his eyes. "I'm right here."
"You are. But sometimes, even when you're right next to me, it feels like you're a million miles away. And all this new stuff, being King and the sorcery, it's got me in my head about everything. So many of the people in there act like they're my friends but they don't care about me, not like they care about 'King Bow.' And every time I think I know where you and I stand, you push me away again and I question if even you... I don't know."
Glimmer studied his face, trying to figure out what exactly he was worried about. "Everyone in there loves you, Bow! Our friends adore you, not just because you're their leader or the most powerful, but because you're you."
"They love you too. Not just our friends, everyone. You saw how they applauded, the way they went just as crazy for you as they did for me and Adora. They love you. I love you." He hesitated and then took her other hand too, his look intense. "I love you."
"What the fuck do you want me to say to that?"
"How about 'I love you too'?"
"What the hell, Bow?" She got to her feet so she could turn her back on him. "Like this wasn't already hard enough without you... putting it out there like this! At least when it was unsaid, I could pretend!"
"Look, if you don't feel the same, just tell me and I will never bring it up again."
"You know damn well how I feel!" Like he hadn't always been able to read her better than anyone?
"Then what are we doing?" He was on his feet now too, putting a hand on her shoulder. "It doesn't have to change anything between us. I'm not expecting anything. But if I could at least understand what you're feeling, then maybe I wouldn't be driving myself crazy fearing—"
"What I'm feeling? Bow, look at that room!" She spun around, pointing back towards the party. "Packed with people, important people with impressive credentials. I don't understand why we're pretending when we both know that's how this ends! You marry one of them, someone who's actually important because it's your duty, and I'm left behind!"
She covered her face because she didn't want him to see her crying, but couldn't stop the tears from coming. Why had she let herself indulge these feelings for so long? It just made this so much harder.
"Is that really what you think? Glimmer, there is no one in there who is even half as impressive to me as you are. Most of them are jealous of you!"
She snorted bitterly. "Yeah, because they think I'm using you to get—"
"No!" he said so forcefully she finally lowered her hands to look at him. "Because you're amazing and brave and strong and so much MORE than the rest of them, even without magic. Haven't you ever realized that for all their powers and titles, you're the only person I have ever fully trusted to have my back? Who I know cares about me and not… all this other stuff? You have always been and will always be my first choice."
Glimmer opened and closed her mouth uselessly.
"I don't know what to say," she mumbled, feeling suddenly very foolish.
"You don't have to say anything." Bow shook his head. "I shouldn't have put you on the spot. It's just the way things have been between us lately have been so incredibly important to me and I don't want to... but forget I—"
"I love you too," she blurted, before she could over-think it. "What you said… You're also my first choice. You've always been."
"You..." Bow blinked at her like his brain was still trying to make sense of what he was hearing. When it registered, his eyebrow raised, his face lighting up. "Oh! Well, that... that's good!"
"So... yeah." Glimmer said, shifting from foot to foot, not really sure what happened now.
"Does that mean... I mean, no rush if you're not ready for uh..." Bow chewed at his lip, wrestling with something. "Can I kiss you?"
"Sure. I guess." Not the most enthusiastic of answers, but she was processing a lot right now.
"We don't have to—"
"No, I want to! It's just... new, I guess, and I'm kind of freaking out." Glimmer laughed, mostly because the vibe between them right now was so awkward she was dying of embarrassment. That and her heart felt like it was about ready to slam out of her chest. "It's just... first kiss. Lot of pressure."
"Is it?"
"Uh, yeah? I don't want it to be completely awful!"
"No, I meant... is it our first kiss?" He held out his hand, and she only hesitated a second before taking it, letting him pull her into his arms. He was giving her that stupid, smug look of his, the one that made her feel all fluttery. "Because in the portal world—"
"It's our first kiss," she said quickly because if they were going to consider what happened in the portal as "real" that meant Bow had also already seen her half naked and groped— Yeah, no. They weren't going there.
"Ok, fine. First kiss." He leaned down so his forehead was against hers. "First of many."
"Exactly."
He was taking too long, so she decided to just go for it, tugging him down by his lapels. Maybe not the greatest kiss in the history of kisses considering it was just a quick peck but certainly passable for a first try. She was considering trying another when he took her face in his hands and captured her lips with his, so much deeper and more intense that t took her breath away. She almost panicked, because Bow was amazing at this and it was a sharp reminder that he'd done this a bunch of times before with other people and had way more experience than she did with basically all of this relationship stuff. But then he parted her lips and brushed his tongue against hers and everything disappeared but the feeling of his mouth against hers.
This might be their first real kiss, but it didn't take them long to pick up right where they'd left off in the portal. Tentative touches turned to passionate exploration and all Glimmer could think of was that she was an idiot to have denied herself this for so long. She tugged him closer, his fingers twining through her hair like they were both trying to make up for lost time.
When they finally pulled away, breathless and flushed, they looked at each other and then burst into giggles. Without warning, Bow scooped her up and gave her a twirl until she was laughing too hard to breathe. When he finally stopped spinning them, Glimmer used her higher vantage point to kiss him on the forehead.
In a flash of sparkles, he'd teleported them back down the grass. She immediately rolled on top of him and kissed him again because it seemed stupid to finally be able to kiss your best friend and not be doing it every second. When they parted again, he was looking at her like she was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen.
"Do you realize this is where we met?" he asked, his fingers tracing down the exposed skin on her back. She flushed, thinking about all the possibilities being together like this opened up.
"Huh. I guess it is." It felt like a lifetime ago that she was a scared little girl far from home, asking the kid she had no idea was the prince of Bright Moon if he wanted to play pirates with her. "Guess this is a lucky place for firsts!"
"Oh, yeah?" He raised his eyebrows suggestively, and she smacked his chest.
"Stop it! We're not having THAT first in the garden, that's for sure!" Luckily, it was so dark out here he probably couldn't see that her face was absolutely on fire.
"Why not?" he said innocently, kissing her again. "It's our castle. We can do whatever we want."
"'Our' castle, huh?" she teased, figuring he said it by mistake. But from the absolutely unwavering way he was watching her, she wasn't so sure it hadn't been intentional. There was a lull in the music, reminding her that didn't really have the luxury of goofing around out here all night. Reluctantly, she rolled off him and got back to her feet. "We should probably get you back in there. People are going to think we're out here making out."
"Uh, we are?"
"Well, yeah, but we don't want people to know we are." She hesitated. "Do we?"
"I do." He'd wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed her neck. It felt so good it might actually kill her. "I'd send out a proclamation to the entire planet if you'd let me, let everyone know you're finally mine."
She laughed. "Maybe we start by just telling our friends."
Oh, gods and her dads. They were going to FLIP. Well, one thing at a time.
"Very well."
"So, what are we telling them exactly?" she asked.
"That we're dating." A kiss on her temple. "Together." Another, a little lower. "That I love you more than anything in the entire universe and I never want to be apart from you for as long as we both shall live."
"OK, dial it back." She leaned back into his chest, feeling warmer and happier than she had in a very long time. "But yeah. Me too."
He nibbled on her earlobe. "Does this mean I can give you my necklace back?"
"Do you not remember what happened the last time you put that on me? If I walk into that room wearing it now, all those prospective suitors are going to assume we're engaged and…" Glimmer considered this and the merits of NOT spending an evening jealous out of her mind watching hot people hang all over Bow. "Actually, yeah. I'll take it."
Bow laughed as he removed it from his own neck and clasped it onto hers. It reminded her of that moment before Princess Prom nearly two years ago, except this time, he planted a gentle kiss on the back of her neck that sent a thrill through her.
Glimmer considered the gem, heavy with everything it represented but glinting with wonderful possibility. It looked out of place against her simple dress. "Now I feel even more under-dressed."
"Well, I think you look stunning. But if you're worried about it... May I?" He took her hand and she let him pull her into a spin, as if they were dancing, but when she'd completed the turn she looked down to see her dress dotted all over with glittering flecks of light, like some kind of mystical ball-gown. She was glowing, the material twinkling every time she moved.
"Wow. Neat trick," she said, pulling him close. He ran his fingers through her hair, leaving streaks of twinkling sparkles behind, glowing pink highlights against the black. "What else can you do with those new powers of yours?"
His laugh was a breath against her ear, his voice low and flirtatious. "I'd be happy to give you a more thorough demonstration this evening."
Whoa. OK. They started kissing again, and Glimmer couldn't stop thinking about the portal and how their sleepovers were probably about to get infinitely more interesting. She was about to say as much when someone cleared their throat.
"Your majesty?" It was General Juliet. Glimmer jumped back but Bow didn't move, like he would have been perfectly fine with the General watching them kiss. "Apologies for the interruption, but they are waiting for you to start the dancing."
"Thank you, General. I'll be there in a moment."
The General bowed to Bow and then gave Glimmer a small smile and a quick bob before turning back towards the party. Glimmer watched her silhouette as moved across the terrace and tried to figure out if it was her imagination or if the general had just bowed to her too.
"What's that about?"
Bow groaned. "It's a silly superstitious tradition. Who the new royal has their first dance with is supposed to mean all sorts of things, from predicting good fortune for their home kingdom to how good the crops will be. But you can't choose who you dance with. You've got to go with whoever asks first. Which, of course, means the second I walk back in there, all those people..." He shuddered. "Can you blame me for wanting to hide out here with you?"
"Well, can you blame them? You are Etheria's most eligible bachelor! Although…" Glimmer thought bitterly of Bow being swarmed by suitors when she'd only just gotten him for herself. She turned around to face him. "What if you're already dancing with someone? What does superstition say about that?"
He cocked his head at her. "I think I like where this is going."
She held herself very tall and bowed formally. "Your majesty, would you do me the honor of the first dance?"
"It would be my absolute pleasure." Bow smirked, pulling her into him so quickly she squeaked. They stayed like that for a moment, holding each other close, and then Bow started the dance, swaying them in time with the music they could only barely hear. She was a little rusty on the steps but Bow didn't seem to mind when she stepped on his toes or crashed into his chest and soon she was laughing and enjoying herself immensely as they danced their way across the garden.
Without warning, he twirled her and as she completed the spin and returned to his arms, she realized they weren't on the terrace anymore. The music was loud, but not loud enough to drown out the chorus of gasps and exclamations that accompanied their sudden appearance in the center of the dance floor. Glimmer panicked, stumbling over her own feet.
It was one thing to dance with Bow like that outside where there was nothing but the moonstone and the night sky watching, but there were so many people in here! People who were all staring at them. Not entirely unsurprising as they had just literally appeared out of thin air, but it made all her insecurities rise to the surface at once.
Bow pulled her closer so she could hear him over the growing murmurs. "Are you OK?"
"Everyone's staring."
"Good. Then they're seeing how beautiful you look."
She gave him a look, but he only grinned impishly and pulled her into the next step of the dance. How could he be so calm about this? People were watching, and they were going to think… they were going to know… She caught sight of Castaspella, her hands clasped in front of her with sheer delight. Alongside were her dads, sobbing openly in that utterly delighted way only parents seem to know how to do.
A shrill whistle pierced the ballroom, and she whipped towards it to see Adora standing on a chair, whooping with exactly zero of the dignity one would expect from the legendary warrior She-Ra. Their other friends were catcalling and shouting things she couldn't make out, and she was pretty sure she saw money change hands between Perfuma and Mermista.
No one was judging. No one was suspicious or mad about it. There were a few sour faces on some strangers, but what did it matter what they thought? Everyone who mattered knew who she was and what they were to each other. Most of all, she knew and nobody could take that away from her. And right now, on the arm of her best friend, her boyfriend, the KING, it was impossible to give even a single shit what anyone else thought about it.
She turned to look at Bow, who only tilted his head as if to say, See?
Had she maybe been a total idiot about this all along? What had he been saying outside about Queen Angella? The future wasn't guaranteed. So why waste a minute of what time they did have?
"Can I kiss you?" She asked the next time the steps brought them face to face. Bow nodded, looking surprised. She didn't waste any time, pulling him down to her, claiming his lips and not caring who saw. When they had to part for the next turn, he was wearing the happiest smile she'd seen on his face since he'd lost his mother and she could kick herself, knowing she was the only reason they hadn't been doing this all along.
Others had joined them on the dance floor, but it still felt like the two of them were in their own little world. She was still twinkling with his glowing magic, making her sparkle from top to bottom with every turn. Matching, just like he always liked them to be.
"So, what do your royal superstitions say about this?"
"Hmm. Let's see. Well, if the king's first dance is with his future queen, I'm pretty sure that's about as lucky as it can get." He was making it up, but being so adorable about it she couldn't do much more than giggle and blush. Having watched from a distance as Bow flirted with so many people over the years, having the full force of his charm concentrated on her and her alone was almost overwhelming.
"Your future queen, huh?" She teased as she linked arms with him behind her back, pressing a lot closer into him than the steps technically called for. "Are you proposing?"
She expected him to laugh, but he only spun her to face him, his face intense. "Yes. You accepting?"
Fuck, how did he DO that? Look so stupidly sexy but like an absolute dork at the same time. She laughed to cover up how completely flustered he made her. "Slow down, buddy. Did you forget we're still at war? How about we deal with that first?"
"She won't marry me until the war's over." He made an exaggerated sigh and tugged her into his chest. They'd basically abandoned the traditional dance steps now and were just using dancing as an excuse to hold each other and sway to the music. She wished they could freeze this moment, no war, no Horde, no duties, just stay this perfectly happy like this forever. He lowered his voice so that it was only a whisper in her ear. "Well, I guess that means I'll have to do whatever it takes to end this war."