Adora managed to avoid Catra for the rest of the day by helping search the woods. Though, with her inability to focus thanks to Catra's words playing over and over in her head, it was more akin to wandering aimlessly than anything actually productive. She didn't get back to The Dancing Dove until late, and by then she was too embarrassed to be around Simon or Max, and still too annoyed with Catra to stay for dinner, grabbing her bowl of stew and rushing to her room.

As she ate, she couldn't help but once more think over everything they had said that afternoon. It felt like back when she was fighting against Catra, begging her to come back with her. It frustrated her to know that in spite of everything she'd done - everything she'd given up - the greatest obstacle to achieving her destiny are those she was trying to save. She'd done her best to shoulder the responsibility that came with wielding the Sword of Protection, but still her dreams were haunted by those she's failed asking her why. Why couldn't she do more? Why couldn't she save them?

Ghosts haunted her every moment, and she could feel the power of She-ra burning inside of her, demanding she change, that she release everything in a whirlwind of rightous fury. It scared her, sometimes, that she could almost hear the spirit - or whatever it was - of She-ra in the back of her mind. Its constant whispers about her destiny, how the fate of Etheria rests on her shoulders, how she needs to embrace the powers she's been given.

Sometimes, the whispers would grow so loud that Adora had a hard time blocking them out. When that happened, she felt like she was going to drown in that golden power. Sometimes, it even leaked through when she wasn't transformed, and Adora would find she had accidentally crushed whatever she was holding, or punched straight through her training dummy. Whenever that happened, she would rush to the Crystal Palace and train to burn off some of that energy, Light Hope's constant 'encouragement' droning on in the background. When she finished, her control would return, but it left her feeling numb every time - like another part of her had been carved away to make room for that shining brilliance when she transformed once more.

When she finished eating, Adora didn't have the energy to do anything else but try to fall asleep. Ghosts and spirits chastised her even then, but Adora was grateful that, like every night since they left for Gren, the sound of purring chased them away. Opening her eyes, Adora looked up into Catra's as she rested on her lap, the soft candlelight making them glow sapphire and gold as they crinkled with the slightest trace of a smile. Rolling, Adora buried her face in the exposed fur on Catra's stomach and groaned.

"I'm supposed to be mad at you."

"That's fine," Catra replied, her voice soft and husky. "I'm not doing this so you'll forgive me."

Adora whined. "You're not supposed to be all nice and stuff when I'm mad at you!"

"Don't worry, I'll go spit on a baby or whatever it is you imagine I do later."

Adora snorted. "That's not funny."

"It was a little funny."

Adora didn't say anything. The two of them had been arguing about Catra's... abraisve nature for years. They'd done it before, and would probably have it again, so she saw no harm in just laying there and soaking up the the comfort Catra was offering while she still could.

"Why won't you let me use the Sword when we're practicing?" She murmured, nearly asleep and hating herself for always having to ruin the moment.

Catra, to her surprise, seemed just as calm as she was before. "I already told you."

"It doesn't feel like you're telling me everything, though," Adora pressed. "You always seem so angry when you mention She-ra."

"Adora, are you really going to lay there and tell me you can't think of any reason why I might harbor just a little resentment for She-ra?" Catra asked rhetorically. "Besides, I only said that you wouldn't use it during our morning practices. If you wanna turn into her and practice on your own, that's fine by me."

Adora flushed. She couldn't completely fault Catra for feeling like it was She-ra's fault for her leaving. Once again, she wanted to try and explain everything.

"Catra, I -"

"Don't," Catra said, interrupting her with a gentle prod of her claw to the base of Adora's skull and sending shivers down her spine. "There's still a few hours left before sunrise, try to get some sleep, Princess."

Adora wanted to protest, but didn't have the strength as Catra started stroking her hair and purring once more. The last thought she had before sleep finally claimed her was about how their places when sharing a bed had seemingly reversed, and how nice it felt to be held.

When Catra woke her again, the sky was grey and she moved as if in a fog until they got to the little clearing outside the village and Catra managed to bury her fist in Adora's gut.

"Cheap shot!" Adora wheezed.

Catra rolled her eyes. "Sure."

The two of them trained for longer than they usually did, and Adora felt some of the stress and anger that lingered from the previous day melt away. It finally was starting to feel like old times, when she and Catra would always pick each other for sparring practice. She was starting to make Catra work for it, but her reflexes and speed were no match.

"I don't understand how you can just be okay with getting the stuffing beaten out of you every morning," Glimmer said with a shake of her head when Adora joined her and Bow in the woods.

Adora scoffed. "I'm fine. Besides, there's no such thing as training too much, and Catra wouldn't really take no for an answer anyway."

"Yeah, but wouldn't you be better off practicing as She-ra?"

"I do practice as She-ra," Adora argued. "This is just in case something happens and I lose the sword."

Bow grinned and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "That's what you've got us for! Something goes wrong, and we got your back!"

Adora smiled, but it didn't feel as genuine as did before. "Thanks guys. Hopefully we find these bandits soon. I don't think Captain Leon is Catra's biggest fan."

"Maybe if she actually helped us instead of lounging around The Dancing Dove all day, people would start to appreciate her more."

Adora cringed, but Bow was talking before she managed to get a word in. "Is that where she is? I hardly see her except for when we come back for dinner. You don't think she's, you know, planning anything, do you?"

"What? No!" But even as she said it, Adora couldn't help the kernel of doubt forming in the back of her mind.

"Not if she doesn't want to get shipped off to Netossa's prison with Scorpia and Entrapta," Glimmer replied, rolling her eyes. "I still can't believe Mom agreed to that."

"Maybe, but she must have figured that the benefits outweighed the risks," Bow argued. "We should just trust her."

"Ugh, I hate it when you make sense!" Glimmer moaned, throwing her hands up in the and Adora snickered, but the joy the three of them were feeling faded rapidly when a rustling in some nearby bushes caught their attention. Drawing her sword, Adora watched as a man stumbled out and nearly fell on his face had Bow not been there to catch him. His skin was pale and clammy, and Adora swallowed the bile in her throat when she saw what looked like a giant, hooked spear sticking out of both ends of his torso.

"Please," he whimpered.

"Woah! Hey! Calm down," Bow said, gently lowering the man to the ground. "What happened?"

"Message... from Gren," the man tried to breath, but ended up coughing wetly, blood leaking down chin. "Brought supplies... ambush..." With one last chest-rattling cough, the man stilled and Bow leaned forward to close his eyes, resting his head on the ground.

Adora was staring wide-eyed at the corpse that now lay in front of them. She remembered Catra berating Captain Leon yesterday, demanding he send a request to Bright Moon for more supplies. Rage simmered as the pieces fell into place just as a dull boom shook the trees around them and a plume of smoke swam into the air.

"The village!" Glimmer shouted.

Adora wasn't able to register what was going on around her as Glimmer teleported them back to the village. Catra had goaded Leon into sending the supply request back to Bright Moon, had told him to send only one man. She raised her sword, bellowing that familiar phrase that had changed her life, and She-ra sang with excitement as the symphony of battle filled her ears.

*(OoO)*

Catra plunged her spear in the gut of one of the attacking bandits and was grateful when his buddy threw a crude firebomb at her just as Adora and her friends appeared so that they wouldn't be able to blame her for the towering inferno that devoured the town hall and a handful of other buildings around the village. She knew that Leon - for all his ambition and greed - was still a military man; when she had informed him that she answered only to Adora and the Queen of Bright Moon, he had taken it to mean that she outranked him, and followed her orders to the letter. Simon had agreed that buildings could be replaced far easier than people, and quietly evacuated the town one or two people at a time after Adora had interrogated them. He and Max had just left with the last of them when the first bomb flew over the walls and lit one of the watchtowers up.

The primal scream of rage accompanying the usual flash of golden light told her that Adora had caught on to her little plan, and she would have to deal with her later. For now, she maneuvered quietly around the fighting to the entrance to the village, where a massive bear-man stood waiting with his arms crossed. Unlike Leon, who looked like he'd be winded by a light jog, this man radiated strength.

"Don't wanna join your boys?" She called out.

The bear-man scowled in her direction. "So, you are the infamous Wild Woman? I thought you'd be taller."

Catra shrugged and nodded to the massive harpoon hanging from his back. "At least it's clear I'm not compensating for anything."

The man growled and Catra smirked. "I'm not here for you, Woman. Let me and my boys take what we're owed and we might even consider leaving without the princesses."

A scream of rage accompanied a man soaring through the air, impaling himself on a nearby tree. Catra snickered. "Good luck with that. She's really into the whole defender-of-the-innocent thing."

The man snarled for a moment before smirking. "There aren't any innocents to protect."

Catra stilled, playing at confusion. "What are you talking about?"

The bear-man shrugged his massive shoulders. "I've seen her type. Monsters in battle, striking down evil with righteous fury. Desperate to believe they're the good guys. Nigh unbeatable until one tiny little thing shakes their precious world view." He chuckled, a far off look in his beady, yellow eyes. "When people hear of Junta, Slayer of She-ra, they're gonna beg me to work for 'em."

Catra was done listening to him. She had spent the entire time listening to him looking for the opening she needed, but he was clearly a seasoned warrior. Any attempt at attacking him would be met with overwhelming power. But she had something he didn't, and, for the first time in weeks, she was finally going to let it go. Snarling, she pounced at him, calling upon the familiar warmth in her chest as she raised her spear to stab him. Junta laughed and plucked her out of the air, his fingers completely encircling her neck. She didn't have time to draw this out, so Catra seized her warmth and forced it out, lighting herself on fire and burning the giant hand around her neck.

Junta shrieked and dropped her, reaching for his harpoon with his other hand, but Catra didn't give him time. Rather than struggle to regain her breath, she leapt up, flaring her powers to momentarily blind him, and buried her spear in his armpit. The smell of burnt flesh stung her nose but she persisted as she used her momentum to take him down.

"Adora may be an idiot," she snarled, wrenching her spear from his side. "But she's my idiot." Quick as a flash, she grabbed one of the knives from her belt and buried it in his throat. Without another word, she turned back to the village to see the fighting was dying down. The Rebels had suffered pretty severe casualties, but the bandits were no better off with She-ra bearing down on them.

Catra watched with concern as She-ra buried her sword in the gut of another bandit, launching him into a house with a flick of her wrist. There was a gleam in her eye that sent a bolt of dread through Catra's chest.

"Adora!" She yelled. "That's enough!"

"You!" She-ra growled, her voice noticeably deeper and more threatening than what Adora normally sounded like. "You lured these villains to the homes of the innocent! You cost good men and women their lives! By my sword will you be vanquished!"

Catra jumped out of the way of a clumsy slash that gouged out a chunk of earth beneath it.

"Adora!"

"Stop!"

Adora's little friends came running, but stopped when She-ra held up her free hand. "Stay back, friends, lest you come before this fiend and her justice."

Catra growled and ducked under another wild slash only for the sword to suddenly lengthen into a staff and slam into her ribs. She sheathed her spear, knowing it would be useless against the Sword of Protection, and rolled to her feet, tossing one of her knives. She-ra ignored the knife as it soared through the air and sliced the side of her ribs. Blood barely had time to leak before the wound closed and she was upon Catra once again.

"Give her back," she snarled. It was clear that Adora wasn't in control anymore, and the thought filled Catra with unbridled fury as she slid under the swing of the staff and between She-ra's legs, burying her claws in the massive thighs above her as she went.

"She does not have the fortitude to do what must be done," She-ra argued, nearly crushing Catra's skull with her foot as she spun, only to land a devestating kick to the ribs that knocked the air out of Catra's lungs. "From the moment I have bonded with her, you have left nought but pain and suffering in your wake."

"You think I care?" Catra wheezed, grabbing the staff and swinging around to kick She-ra in the face. Her claws raked across the war-godess' face before a massive fist slammed into the side of her head, sending her barreling through the remains of the town hall. Blood filled her mouth and she choked as she tried to lift herself out from where she was pinned underneath the remains of a collapsed beam. She refused to allow herself to be killed here. There may not have been any question to her guilt, but so long as she had breath in her body, she would do whatever she had to, commit whatever crime was necessary...

It was her turn to protect something.

A warm embrace, all-encompassing and just a little too tight for comfort.

Idle chatter, going too fast to hear, about things too complicated to understand, reminding her she wasn't alone.

Old hands running through her fur, helping her relax when it all became too much.

Blonde hair, tucked under her chin, and soft snoring, filling her with happiness.

For those things, she would gladly become the monster others thought her to be. She would fight, and lie, and cheat and bathe her soul in the hatred of others, so long as she kept those precious moments.

And now... some insignificant goddess thought she could kill her without giving back what she had taken?

No.

Catra refused.

Her justice is not our own.

The voice was soft and comforting, making Catra feel like she had when she was a child and Adora would protect her from the other cadets, while an undertone of power rumbled through it. We are governed by laws old as time. Time slowed as She-ra lumbered through the charred remains of the town hall to where Catra lay buried in debris. Warmth filled her as her strength returned, her injuries healed, and Catra suddenly understood.

"With you gone, perhaps the host will finally let go and accept me as her destiny," She-ra muttered, her sword turning back into its original form with a flash of light and she raised it above her head, ready to plunge it into Catra's chest. "May you find forgiveness in the next life, villain, for I have none." Adora's friends were shouting something, but Catra couldn't be bothered to do more than register it for a brief moment before she moved. There was no flash of light, no burst of magic - Catra wanted nothing more in that moment than to be out of range of the blade aiming for her heart, and it felt as if everything around her obeyed. There was a clarity that burned her mind, as untold secrets unraveled before her, and with it came the crushing weight everything. Every drop of water and gust of air. Every grain of sand and spark of heat. Every tick of the clock and light and shadow. The world itself unfolded and threatened to crush her, to subjugate her, but within the oppressive power were voices - countless millions of voices singing and begging to be let free. She saw a prison formed from six points of light, with a seventh linking them together. She saw all this and it fueled her determination. She would no longer be the prisoner, the protected, the prey. This power would answer to her, and she would get her Adora back, even if she had to beat her out of She-ra.

The weight did not disappear, but rather than crush her, it held her up as she turned around and swatted She-ra's sword away before punching her in the shoulder so hard the force carried through her and blasted a hole in the wall behind her. She-ra's hand hung limply at her side, the shoulder dislocated.

"What is this?" She-ra demanded.

"Give her back," Catra demanded quietly. She-ra scowled and swung her sword, but the ground beneath her feet shifted, throwing her off balance. A flash of light blinded her, before she felt claws rake down her back.

"What have you done?!" She-ra screamed, flailing her arm wildly. Catra stepped within her guard and slammed the arch of her foot into She-ra's knee, forcing her to the ground before grabbing her arm and buried her claws in her wrist.

"You are defeated, Eternian," Catra replied, the words and the booming voice that delivered them coming from somewhere beyond time despite still being undeniably her own. "My convictions stem from the oldest and deadliest of powers, you, who have none, and hide behind the whims of your own jailers, cannot hope to match me."

"What are you?!" She-ra screamed, struggling against Catra's grip."I am the mighty She-ra, none can best me!"

"You are but a child trying to do battle with a storm," Catra replied. "Give back what is mine, and wait for the next time you are allowed to indulge yourself like the pet you are." Catra dug her claws deeper into She-ra's wrist, and she groaned in pain as her hand opened by reflex, the Sword of Protection clattering to the ground. She eased her grip golden light bathed them, and her Adora was there once more. For a moment, she was tense and afraid, her eyes searching frantically, but once she and Catra locked eyes she slumped in her arms and slipped into unconsciousness. Catra sighed, the strange power dissipating as quickly as it had come, and hefted Adora into her arms, carrying her out of the rubble and past the other two.

Distantly, she heard Crop Top whisper, "Umm, what just happened?"

A/N: So that got a little wild, right? I don't want to spoil anything, but you don't have to worry about Catra suddenly being this godlike being or anything, at least no more than She-ra is. I had this idea where Catra is the only one who seems to notice that people care more about She-ra than Adora, but because the Rebellion is all "Friendship! Teamwork! Love!" and Adora couldn't even tell the Horde was evil, she can't see that she's just gone from one extremely toxic situation to one that, while an improvement, isn't as safe and supportive as she thinks.

I also thought it would be more interesting if the spirit of She-ra, or whatever you wanna call it, not only had a mind of its own, but also had its own goals that it was trying to further. Which is where Catra's sudden power up comes from. I imagine the actual being known as She-ra would be way more powerful than any host, so to get her gal pal back, Catra has to call on something even more powerful.

Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing, and I hope you tell me what you think!

TTFN