Bow was only dimly aware of how uncomfortable the space suit was. He pulled again on the life line connections to make sure he and Adora were tethered properly. It was unnecessary; both he and Adora had already checked multiple times, but Bow needed something to do while they waited for the signal that Glimmer had reached their quadrant.

He couldn't believe they had finally made it to this point. All of the stress and hard work over the last few weeks was finally paying off; they were in space, they knew where Glimmer was, and soon she'd be safe with them…assuming all went according to plan. Bow sighed as he let the lifeline go slack in his hands, knowing how important and dangerous the next few minutes were going to be.

Adora watched Bow's nervous pacing and obsessive checking of the lifelines, knowing all too well how he felt. "Hey," she said gently as she approached him. "Bow, maybe I should be the one to go out there -"

"No." Bow didn't even let his friend finish the sentence. It had to be him; he couldn't bear the thought of waiting on the ship and watching from afar; he needed to get to Glimmer as fast as he possibly could, to feel in his own arms that she was okay. She-Ra was gone, and Bow knew he was just as capable as Adora to do this. To be honest, even if she had her full powers, Bow knew his answer would have been the same. It had to be him.

Nodding, Adora let it go; clearly it was a battle she was going to lose.

Darla luched suddenly, nearly knocking the two of them off their feet. "Sorry! Sorry. My bad!" called Entrapta from beyond the ship's walls. Bow and Adora glanced at one another in concern, both wondering how much they could really trust their ship's engineer. Before they could say anything, Entrapta called back once more. "This is it! We're at the coordinates Catra sent us. Any second now we should see her…Glimmer, that is, not Catra. At least, I don't think we're going to see Catra, unless she…."

Her voice faded to the back of Bow's mind. He couldn't process anything after hearing Glimmer's name; all he could do was scan the vast black stretch of space beyond the ship's hull, looking for her. They were only going to have one shot at this, so they couldn't jump too early…at the same time, they had to move quickly to get Glimmer into the oxygenfied ship before she suffered any damage. There was no telling how long she had, exactly, but Bow knew that every second counted. He knew this was one of the most important things he would ever do in his life, but despite the pressure, his head was clear and his hands were steady. He was ready to go as soon as the moment was right.

Beside him, Adora was scanning for Glimmer just as intently. Suddenly, her eyes grew wide and she gasped. "There!" Bow's eyes had already found the speck of green light that was hurtling towards them. He took a few steps back, making sure his lifeline was out of the way and giving himself room to launch off the back of the hull. His eyes didn't leave the green light for one second.

"Steady, Bow," Adora said softly. "She needs to get a little closer first."

His body was tense and ready to go, but he trusted Adora's judgment. In silence they watched as the speck grew to a small dot, then transformed into an oblong, vaguely humanoid shape. Though it was still much too far away to tell for sure, Bow was almost certain he could make out a mop of pink hair through the green glow. His heart raced in his chest as he waited for the go ahead. It all came down to this.

Finally, Adora called out "Now!" and Bow ran hard out of the ship without hesitation. HIs foot pushed off the edge of the hull, propelling his body forward into the empty void beyond. Despite the space suit, a deep cold pressed itself around his entire body the moment he left Darla's simulated atmosphere. But there was no amount of discomfort or pain that could break his concentration as his body lurched forward toward the light. Soon, he was close enough to see the outline of Glimmer's body; it was really her, it wasn't a trick. All Bow had to do was close the distance between them.

Bow leaned forward as hard as he could, knowing that he couldn't actually accelerate at this point but wanting to feel like he had some kind of control. It felt like he was going much too slowly; now that he could actually see her, the distance felt even greater than it had back on the ship. He was so close, but every moment she wasn't actually in his arms felt like an eternity.

"GLIMMER!"

There was no telling if she would actually be able to hear him, but he screamed her name over and over anyway. He was getting close, but she wasn't moving at all; her body was eerily still with no indication she had even noticed his approach. Fear started taking over and Bow found it harder to draw breath the closer he got to her body. He tried to convince himself he could see her chest rising and falling, but he knew at best it was wishful thinking. The only thing he could tell for sure was that the green light - that he assumed was protecting her - was starting to dim.

With his arms stretched out, Bow braced himself for impact as he finally reached Glimmer. As their bodies collided, Bow twisted and tried to take the brunt of the force without hurting her. He wrapped his arms tightly around her shoulders, pulling her close to his chest. His lifeline tugged around his waist as Adora pulled them back toward the ship.

"Hurry!" he yelled. They didn't have much time. Glimmer was unconscious and her protective orb was nearly faded. Hold on Glimmer, We're almost there. I've got you. I've got you. Bow knew the danger was far from over; they still needed to get back onto the ship, there was no telling what condition she was in, and there was almost certainly an army of Horde soldiers getting ready to search for them. But despite everything, a huge wave of relief had washed over him the instant he felt Glimmer in his arms. For a moment, his world felt whole again.

The trip back felt much faster. Adora pulled the two of them back into the safety of the ship, but before they could get comfortably settled she yelled "ENTRAPTA - NOW!" and they took off. Bow saw for a split second before they sped to safety a Horde ship was hovering near where Glimmer's body had just been.

Bow and Adora didn't get a chance to properly brace themselves, and all three of their bodies crashed up against the back wall of the hull as Darla entered a safe area and slowed down. Bow crashed to the ground, immediately collecting himself and reaching for Glimmer who was still unconscious. He pulled her body up onto his lap, supporting her head in the nook of his arm. Adora struggled to get to her feet, holding her head as she stood up. "Glimmer," she said softly as she made her way over to her friend.

For a split second, Glimmer's body remained limp in Bow's arms. There was a shared moment of panic when it didn't appear as though she was breathing; but all of a sudden Glimmer sat up, gasping for breath as though she had been underwater. Her eyes fluttered as she fought to keep them open, trying to catch her breath.

"B–Bow?" she asked weakly when she realized he was holding her, leaning back into his arm.

"It's okay, Glimmer. You're safe now." Bow's voice was gentle but steady, and seemed to calm her. After a moment her eyes closed once more, exhaustion taking over her; but this time at least her deep breaths were evident.

Bow could do nothing but look down at Glimmer's face, having a hard time believing this was real, that she was alive, and that they had escaped. Before long, his vision was blurred by hot tears filling his eyes. So many emotions had been building up inside him, and now that she was indeed safe, he could no longer keep them in. Sobs soon took over his body, and he held Glimmer closer to him while his shoulders shook. All the fear and anxiety and worry of the last few weeks seemed to pour out of him at once.

Adora approached, wanting to give her friend some space but also wanting to comfort him as well. She knew all too well how he felt; she felt her own tears streaming down her cheeks as she saw Glimmer come back to life. Adora placed a gentle hand on Bow's shoulder, feeling as though words weren't necessary in the moment.

Eventually Bow calmed himself, and he pulled away slightly from Glimmer, looking down at her once again. He wiped his face on the sleeves of his space suit, and Adora noticed his body start to stiffen. A look came over his face that she couldn't quite place.

"...Bow?"

He didn't turn his head, but there was definitely a perceivable shift in his mood. Adora tried again. "What's wrong?"

"We did it. Our plan was to save Glimmer, and we did it. Now here we are." His voice was hard.

Adora blinked at him. "Um…yeah? I thought…I don't know. I thought you'd be a little happier about it?"

"Happy?!" Bow whipped his head around so he was now looking at her. "Of course I'm happy, Adora! This is the only thing I've wanted ever since I let her get taken by Prime. I've never wanted anything more in my entire life than to get Glimmer back safely. And we did it! So…" His gaze drifted back to Glimmer. "So now what, Adora? Do we pretend like the entire last year didn't happen? Do we forget about how Glimmer treated us, all the things she said, how she fought us every step of the way?" Bow's voice was growing louder and more angry.

"Do we forget the fact she activated the heart after we literally begged her not to? Do we act like she didn't pull the 'queen' card on us, her best friends, and treat us like we were some common subjects?" His hands were shaking in anger at this point, and Glimmer's hair bounced slightly off the floor where it hung over his arm. Adora said nothing, not wanting to interrupt.

"Of course I'm happy, Adora," Bow said again. "But does the happiness cancel out the hurt, or the anger, or the sadness that she's made me feel the last few months?"

The question hung in the air for a moment; Adora didn't know how to respond. Of course she had felt the same emotions Bow was talking about, on some level…but Glimmer was her friend, and Adora knew at the end of the day she was just doing what she felt was right. She could respect that. And seeing Glimmer back in one piece was enough to make Adora choose to move on and forgive her without thinking twice.

But it was clear from the distraught look on Bow's face that it wasn't quite so easy for him. Adora knew that he and Glimmer had a different relationship with one another than she did. Not only had they been friends for many years longer than her, Adora also suspected (or rather, knew) that their feelings for one another were far deeper than just friendship. Adora supposed that did complicate things, and that Bow probably struggled more than she did with everything that had happened before Glimmer was captured.

Bow gently lowered Glimmer off of his lap and onto the ground before standing up. "I…I just have a lot of things to think about," he said quietly, and made his way back towards the door.

The shift in position and the conversation between her two friends had caused Glimmer to stir. She slowly sat up and looked around, trying to get her bearings, and caught the back of Bow as he disappeared through the doorway and into the main part of the ship. Her shoulders slumped; though she didn't quite hear what was said, Glimmer didn't really need to. The fact he had left her behind in the hull before waking up all but confirmed her biggest fear.

"Hey…" Adora said softly, catching Glimmer's gaze and moving closer to her. "He'll come around. He just needs some time. Bow spent so much time thinking about your rescue mission that I don't think he's really given himself a chance to process…everything else…" Adora's voice trailed off.

Glimmer's eyes filled with tears and her lip trembled. "Adora…oh, I'm so sorry. For everything that happened, I was wrong…I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" It was clear Glimmer had wanted to say more, but she choked on tears and couldn't get the words out. Adora wrapped her in a big hug.

"It's okay, Glimmer. I'm sorry too. I'm just glad you're safe, that's the most important thing. We're going to fix everything else. That's what we do best, right?" She smiled encouragingly at Glimmer, who nodded but couldn't manage a smile back.

"And…do you think…" Glimmer's voice trailed off as she couldn't find the words she wanted. She couldn't help but glance at the door again.

"Yes, I think you can fix that too."