A/N: honest-to-god i only wanted to write a cute catradora happy-ending kiss i don't know what happened but then it was already half-done, and then corona virus hit so I lost focus, and then the release date was announced and there WASN'T ENOUGH TIME BUT WHAT THE HECK so here watch me add a rushed End of Catra's Redemption Arc to my Beginning of Catra's Redeption Arc without having written anything for the Middllllleeeeeeee (or even necessarily tying them togetheeeerrrrr...)
Title from Sara Bareilles' "Saint Honesty"
Additional warnings: this fic deals with some of the fallout of Adora and Catra's abuse and trauma, and includes (in ch 3) a description of a panic attack. Also, I have been told that my descriptions of viscerally-experienced emotions can be distressing for some people so please read with caution, and take care of yourself!
There is a lot of angst here but also lore, plot, feelings, and a happy ending!
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For something to be confirmed, it must be checked three times.
That's what's written in the Horde's cadet training manual. Check your supplies, check your weapon's voltage, check for your exit; double check, and then triple check. Check something three times to confirm it, and then proceed. The Horde may be wrong about most things, but they were right about training, and this particular rule has never let Adora down. She checks things three times.
Like this: Catra's here, in the Castle. She and Glimmer crashed a small, unfamiliar spaceship the Whispering Woods. No injuries. Glimmer's fine. Catra was escorted to the spare room and placed in a magic containment circle. One.
Glimmer was barraged with questions from the Princesses, but was too exhausted to tell them more than the basics; she and Catra were captured by Horde Prime, the opponent that the Princesses have been eyeing warily since his ships appeared on their horizons; Glimmer and Catra got out in a stolen pod; she and Catra have intel that can help the Rebellion when Horde Prime mounts his attack. On her way back to her room, Adora had passed by the spare room – guards on either side, circle glowing and unbroken, Catra sitting on the floor, staring at her hands. Two.
Glimmer had caught her.
"I think we can trust her, Adora," she'd said. "I don't think she wants Etheria destroyed any more than we do."
"That's what I used to say!" spluttered Adora. "And you never believed me!"
"Well, I didn't see –"
"And you were right!" Adora continued. "I should have listened but I – please, Glimmer, listen to me this time. I tried so many times to make Catra see that what she was doing was wrong but she just kept –"
"That's just it, Adora," Glimmer said, looking down and clutching Adora's hands in hers. "When I was making all those bad decisions...I know I should have listened to you, but I didn't and – and I didn't realize why I should have until I was facing the consequences myself."
Adora shook her off. "Catra's been neck-deep in consequences for ages!" she hissed. "She stayed with the Horde even after she saw what they were doing, she helped, she made everything worse –"
"And I'm not saying she didn't!" Glimmer rushed to say. "Or that her helping us now will erase any of what she did. I'm just saying...that there was a reason it took her so long to figure it out. But I really think she has, now."
"She's tricking you!" Adora insisted. "That's what she does."
Glimmer shook her head. "She's never been as good at tricking the rest of us as she was at tricking you, Adora," she said gently.
Adora took a step back. "I don't..." she stammered.
"I'm not asking you to forgive her," Glimmer continued. "I'm saying that we need her help to take out Horde Prime, and that we can trust her with that, at least."
Adora crossed her arms around her middle.
"Adora," Glimmer reached out to touch her shoulder. "I'm not making this decision without you, ok? Not anymore. I get what you're saying and if – You know Catra best, so if you really think she has a way to betray us, we won't risk it. But please listen to me when I say I think at this point, with everything we're facing, it's worth the risk."
"Can I have some time to think about it?"
"Of course."
Which is why Adora is back here at the spare room, in the middle of the night. To check a third time that their prisoner is secure.
Adora passes the guards and steps into the room, sitting on the floor against the wall, and stares across the grand, dimly lit room at the person she used to know better than anyone else.
Catra's lying curled up on the purple-backed chaise, the blue light from Glimmer's containment spell casting shadows across her face, outlining the crease between her eyes that's never eased, even in sleep. She's still wearing her new, Horde-styled black and red jumpsuit. And she's not snoring.
"Guarding me yourself?" Catra asks without opening her eyes, and Adora tenses. Catra rolls onto her back and stretches, arms reaching and back bending. She doesn't look at Adora. Adora can't look away from her. "Don't you trust Sparkles' spellcasting? Go get some sleep."
Adora glares at her. "I can't."
Catra sighs and dangles her legs over the chaise. "Because Horde Prime could attack and any moment or because you think I'll murder you in your sleep?"
"Would you have?" Adora snips. "Doesn't seem very you, getting it over with so quickly."
Catra's tail twitches. "I wouldn't have," she whispers. "I wouldn't have hurt you, not like that."
"Hurt me?" Adora cracks a laugh. It sounds like something breaking. "You hurt me dozens of times, Catra. I still have scars on my back from the Battle of Bright Moon. I still have nightmares about being infected with that First Ones virus, and I lost the only real parent I ever had when you opened that portal."
Catra's ears droop. She bites her lip, but doesn't say anything. And she doesn't look at Adora.
And Adora waits for her to do – something, but Catra just sits there, not looking at Adora.
"You can't even begin to count the number of ways you've hurt me," Adora growls.
Catra does nothing.
The next thing Adora knows she's on her feet, standing right outside of the containment spell's ring, slamming her hand against the barrier. "Say something!" she screams.
Catra startles. Looks – glances – at Adora but then away. "Like what. What could I possibly say? You're right."
"Tell me why," Adora pants. "Why did you hurt me, why wasn't it enough all those times I tried to bring you to our side, to bring you with me? Why was it that you were so mad at me for leaving you, but then I wasn't enough for you anymore?"
Catra blinks and goes completely still, in that way only Catra has ever been capable of doing. All Adora can hear is her own breathing. There are tears on her face and she doesn't know how they got there.
Finally, Catra says, "I didn't know you felt that way."
"Wha –" Adora's breath hitches. "Yes, you did! I told you a hundred times!"
"No," Catra shakes her head, tone going hard, "No you didn't. You told me I wasn't enough anymore."
Adora steps back as if Catra's slapped her.
Catra has slapped her, before.
"Wait." Catra reaches out, still on the other side of the barrier, voice suddenly shaking. "No, I'm sorry, I messed that up, I –"
I'm sorry.
It rocks through Adora, Catra's shaking voice tumbling down into her. It reaches down her throat and pulls at her stomach so that she feels like she's going to be sick. She spins on her heel and leaves, running, she's running –
I'm sorry.
And it hadn't even been for the right thing.
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Adora keeps smacking the dummy with her practice sword, but all she sees is Catra. Catra, claws out, coming for her throat; Catra, weaving around her to scratch her where she's weakest; Catra, poking her finger into the middle of Adora's forehead with a sneer.
You'd never have the guts.
Adora screams and hits the dummy's head so hard it rips off and goes flying, landing with a muffled crash in a bush on the other side of the training grounds.
Catra, scrambling away from her in the snow: Adora, wait –
Gasping, Adora drops the sword and falls to her knees, panting at the ground. The grass is blurs in front of her as she digs her fingers into it. "You're wrong," she grunts, wiping at her eyes. "That's not what strength is. It never was. You're wrong."
"Adora?"
Adora whips her head up towards the voice, but it's Bow. Just Bow.
"So, I brought you some tea," starts Bow, kneeling to sit down next to Adora. He holds a decorated teacup out towards her. "I thought maybe you could use a break from training. It's lavender," he adds as she takes the cup. He smiles in that kind way that means she's definitely supposed to know why lavender would be helpful.
She doesn't.
She sits back on her heels. She opens her mouth to say thank you but what comes out of her mouth is, "Do you think we can trust Catra?"
Bow glances back towards the castle. "Honestly? I have no idea. She's really wily. And I know at the pass, when we took it back from the Horde, and it turned out Catra wasn't there? Well, I can you see why you were afraid that she would be."
Afraid. Adora's throat tightens with it. "She could be planning anything, Bow. Who knows what happened with her in space! She could be in league with Horde Prime! She could be here just to press all my buttons and distract me while someone else does something awful! But apparently she's our best chance to save the world?" Adora leans back and crosses her legs under her, tearing blades of grass out of the lawn, which she probably shouldn't do, because the Royal Gardeners must have worked so hard...
"We're all a lot stronger than we used to be," Bow reasons. "And hey – you've been hoping all along that Catra would come to our side, right? I mean, I think you're right to be suspicious. I just want to remind you that this could be a good thing."
Adora shakes her head. "I've already let her go. I can't hold out hope for that now."
"Right," says Bow. "And I know that took a lot of strength, and I'm really proud of you –"
"Where are you going with this, Bow?"
Bow sighs and puts a hand on her arm. "Catra's personal growth is not necessarily connected to your personal growth. The timing may be bad, but...You don't have to forgive her. Or let her back into your life. But how you feel about her doesn't really affect where she's at right now."
And Adora can only stare at him, because of course, that makes perfect sense, that's how people work, but...
But.
A shadow falls over them.
"More troubles within the Rebellion?" Shadow Weaver asks. "It's a wonder you ever managed to keep the Horde at bay this long."
Adora stands, straight up with her arms at her side, a reflex. She grits her teeth. "We weren't asking you."
Shadow Weaver's eyes narrow. "I know Catra better than anyone, Adora, even you. If you want my advice –"
"We don't," Adora snaps, turning on her heel.
"But –" Bow starts, so Adora grabs his arm and drags him along behind her as she marches away.
"You'll need me eventually, Adora," Shadow Weaver calls after her. "You're too attached to deal with Catra yourself. If you're not careful, you'll slip into old patterns."
Adora rounds on her. "My old patterns were believing what you told me and letting you make all my decisions. And I won't fall into them again."
"If you cannot see the threat Catra poses –"
"I thought Catra was a good-for-nothing layabout who didn't have the potential to threaten anything," Adora snarls, and Shadow Weaver pauses. Hesitates. Adora's never seen that before. "Hah," she says, humourless, "I guess she showed us, huh?"
And she turns away again and stomps up the castle steps, bringing Bow with her.
"Adora –" Bow starts.
"No," Adora mutters, storming down the halls. No.
"'No,' what, Adora?"
Adora doesn't answer, just keeps walking them back to...to Catra's room. But she doesn't need to be here, because she already checked three times. Catra's in there. It's been confirmed.
Bow puts a hand on her shoulder. "'No', what, Adora?"
"Just," Adora puts her hands to her temples. She's breathing hard. Her heart's still racing from the training. "Promise me you won't go to Shadow Weaver, Bow, she's poisonous, she's manipulative, she'll –"
"I know," Bow assures her, rubbing at her arm. "I wasn't going to. I just wanted to ask if you were okay."
"Yeah," Adora says, dropping her hands. "Yeah, I'm fine. I think I'll just go...check the armoury." And she walks off in that direction, even though it means going in the opposite direction she's just come. "I'll talk to you later."
"Okay..." Bow says. He doesn't sound convinced, but he does let her go.
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They have a war council that evening, the night after Glimmer and Catra reappeared. The Princesses have never looked so tense. Perfuma's not even trying her meditating, is instead twisting a strand of her hair around and around her fist. Frosta keeps sending Mermista worried glances, and Mermista keeps looking like she's about to kill someone. Entrapta has her welding mask down. Scorpia can't keep still, tapping the tips of her claws incessantly against the table. Only Spinnerella and Netossa look composed, and Adora caught a look at their hands, clasped tightly together underneath the table, as she came in.
And Adora...has imagined Catra sitting with her at the Princess Alliance's War Table so many times, but now, sitting opposite her, looking at her in her black and red jumpsuit with her hackles raised and her head down, Adora wants to vomit.
"So," Gimmer says, clapping her hands together loudly. "I've been brought up to speed on what's been happening since I've been gone." She spares a grateful nod to Frosta, who nods back proudly. "You've all been amazing – I can't thank you enough for keeping Brightmoon safe."
"It's not been easy," Perfuma protests. "More and more refugees are entering my kingdom, but we can't even keep the borders safe from rogue Horde soldiers!"
"Some of those soldiers are forming small bandit groups," Netossa adds, more calmly, "but it looks like Hordak kept power pretty centralized –" Adora looks back at Catra, but Catra doesn't lift her head – "There are no large factions of ex-soldiers, just lots and lots of rogues. Some of them are taking what they can, some of them are running, but all of them are causing chaos."
Mermista points at Glimmer. "Please tell us you brought back some amazing intel from the Primus Ship, or whatever."
"Well," Glimmer takes a deep breath. "I know his plan to destroy the planet. So, with that knowledge, we can come up with a plan to stop it!"
"What?" Frosta shrieks.
"Destroy the planet?" Entrapta yelps. "But that would destroy the Heart! Surely that's reason enough for him not to – oh," she says, sagging, "that's it, isn't it? He's going to use the planet as a weapon and it's going to kill us all."
"Not if we can stop him first," Glimmer contends. All around the table, Princesses fidget. Even Bow can't stop playing with his hands.
"Is that why we haven't kicked her out yet?" Mermista scoffs, glaring in Catra's direction. "We're going to like, use her as bait or something?"
"No," Glimmer says, firm. "She's here as an ally. She helped me escape! And she can help us come up with a plan to defeat Horde Prime. He trusted her with valuable information that could help us –"
"Right," Mermista says. "Unless she made a deal with him to give us false information! She could be selling us out to ensure her own survival."
Though Catra doesn't visibly move, Adora can hear the faint, soft scrape of what she knows to be Catra's claws digging into something. But Catra doesn't say anything.
"Catra's not going to do that," Glimmer says.
"How do you know?" Perfuma asks. "After everything she's done, how can you possibly –"
"Oh!" Frosta interrupts. "Did you cast that truth spell on her? Are you sure it worked this time?"
"I, um," Glimmer stammers. "I didn't try it at all, actually."
Spinnerella and Netossa share a worried glance. "So you're just taking her word for it?" Spinnerella asks. She doesn't sound accusatory, which is somehow worse.
Glimmer looks down at the table. "Yes."
"If...you're worried about it being like before..." Frosta stops as she sees Glimmer's mouth twist, and Adora's stomach twists right along with it.
I wasn't going to actually hurt him!
"What about your Dad?" Frosta continues. "He was able to hold his own against even Shadow Weaver. We could ask him to come in here –"
"No," Glimmer says, firm.
Everyone stills.
"No?" Mermista growls, leaning forward. "You're just, what, giving her a pass because you were prisoner buddies together?"
Glimmer glances at Catra, and Catra moves, for the first time, to meet her gaze. "I don't do Truth Spells anymore," Glimmer admits.
"What do you mean?" Bow asks, shooting a look at Adora. "Glimmer, you still haven't told us a lot about what happened to you on Horde Prime's ship. Did something happen to –"
"I just!" Glimmer clenches her fists. "Don't. Do those anymore. You don't need to know the details."
"You just don't?" Mermista snarls.
"Glimmer," Bow presses.
"Just stop!" Glimmer sobs, banging her hands on the table. "Just leave it alone!"
Adora's throat clenches, like it's being squeezed. She reaches out to Glimmer –
But Catra gets there first. Just places the tips of her fingers on top of the tips of Glimmer's fingers, and Glimmer lets out a rattling breath, curling her hand up so that she's holding Catra's fingers between hers.
"Look," Glimmer says. "Being on Horde Prime's ship – it was awful. None of you were there, you don't know...but she was." She jerks her chin at Catra. "We only got out of there by working together. We needed to trust each other, and we did, and here we are. So."
The phantom hand gripping Adora's throat tightens. She puts a hand to her diaphragm and tries to remember...deep breaths from the abdomen increase the flow of blood and oxygen throughout the body...
"That doesn't prove anything," Mermista says, voice stilted.
"Nothing can prove anything!" Glimmer exclaims. "Not when Horde Prime can control his army with his mind. This is something we're going to have to take on faith."
"Faith in what?" Perfuma asks, voice trembling. "Last time we operated solely on trust, you ignored all of our warnings and brought us out of Despondos, and here we are, right in the middle of hostile territory!"
"And now I'm trying to fix that!" Glimmer pleads.
"You think you can fix having a new, even worse enemy by bringing in an old one?" Mermista asks. "She attacked us over and over again!"
Adora's breaths come in shallow, straining to get past her closed throat.
"So did Scorpia!" Glimmer argues. "And look at her now!"
"Oh," Scorpia says, shrinking back, "please don't bring me into this –"
"Scorpia wasn't leading them!" Mermista shouts. "She didn't raze my Kingdom to the ground, and then try to do the same to the rest of Etheria!"
"Well, she did help the Horde invade my kingdom –" Frosta points out.
"It isn't the same! Don't even try to pretend having a party crashed is the same as losing your kingdom!"
Adora's vision starts to go fuzzy at the edges.
"Well as someone whose kingdom was invaded before all of yours, I think we need a better way to evaluate potential allies," Perfuma huffs. "Yes, Scorpia has proven herself, despite all the times she fought against us. Entrapta is here too, and we need her, but she was the one who hacked the Black Garnet and started this whole mess in the first place –"
"And I still haven't forgiven her for it," Mermista glowers.
Perfuma throws her arms out. "So aren't we doomed either way? Entrapta's the only one who understands how the Heart works, and if Catra's the only one –"
"We just need information from her," Frosta points out. "We don't have to let her help –"
"There is no way I'm trusting a single word from that manipulative, cowardly – "
"Stop it!" Adora yells, getting to her feet. Her head spins and she grips the table-edge to keep from falling down. Bow puts a supporting hand in her back. "We can't," she chokes out, "we can't do this."
Everyone is silent a moment.
"Adora's right," Catra says, and all eyes snap to her. Catra's fur is still hackled, and her shoulders are still tight, but her chin has a determined set to it again. She's not looking at Adora. "Fighting amongst yourselves won't help you any. It's how I beat you, every time: distract and divide, divide and conquer. I wouldn't even have to lie to you to do it at this point. Trust me or not, but if you turn on each other now, Horde Prime's plan will work."
Mermista narrows her eyes. "You didn't beat us last time, remember? We got wise to your tricks and repelled your forces from Brightmoon. For A second time."
Catra's eyebrows raise, almost a challenge. "Yeah? So act like it."
Mermista jumps to her feet, face furious, but Glimmer puts her arms out. "Okay! Okay, just," she glares at Catra. "If you want them to cooperate, can you not. Provoke them."
And Catra, after a second, sits back in her chair and crosses her arms. "Fine," she says. Just like that. Just like that. Adora's throat squeezes again. She sits back down.
Glimmer lets out a breath. "Okay," she repeats to the room at large. "It's my fault Horde Prime is able to attack us. I know that. And it's Catra's fault that the Rebellion is in such bad shape. But how is keeping us from trying to fix our mistakes going to solve anything? If you guys have any other ideas for how we can fend off Horde Prime, I'll listen to you, like I should have last time. But I need you to listen to me in return. Horde Prime is a greater threat than anything we've faced before, and we can't hold out against him as we are now."
Frosta draws herself up. "Well then: what is Horde Prime's plan? How does he plan to take control of the Heart?"
Glimmer pauses. She looks to Catra – Catra nods and stands up, hands curled into fists are her sides. "He's going to do exactly what I did. He's going to try to hack the planet by using the power of one of the Runestones."
"But we did that using my Runestone," Scorpia says. She's looking anywhere but at Catra. "Horde Prime doesn't have one, does he?"
Catra lets her gaze slide off Scorpia, shaking her head. "He's got some of Sparkle's power. Queen Glimmer's."
"Uh, what does that mean?" Bow's voice cracks, his head swiveling in Glimmer's direction.
Glimmer looks down at the table, fidgeting with her hands. "Horde Prime...he siphoned off some of my power. Like Shadow Weaver did, except – well, except that I couldn't use my powers myself while I was in space. I guess I was too far away from the Moonstone. But Horde Prime has these..." she breathes heavily, staring at the table.
Bow whimpers and clutches Glimmer's shoulder. Adora reaches out to her, but Catra moves to stand next to Glimmer and glares at them like if anyone asks any follow-up questions, she'll rip their throats out. Adora lets her hand fall.
"He has some pretty creepy tech," Catra summarizes. "He was able to wipe Hordak's memories in like, three seconds. And now Hordak's going around doing Horde Prime's biding like some sort of zombie."
"What?" Entrapta murmurs.
"The point is," Catra plows on, "Horde Prime has Sparkle's power. We have to be prepared for his attempts to use that power to hack into the Heart of Etheria and activate it."
Adora musters herself. "But the Heart needs the Sword. And I destroyed that."
"You what?" Catra yelps. Without warning, her eyes are right on Adora, yellow and blue, focused like search lights, and Adora feels her skin prickle all over. "The Sword's gone?"
"Oh," Glimmer says. "Yeah. Apparently when we connected all the Runestones, Adora fought back against the Heart's firing sequence and –"
"That's bad," Catra interrupts. "We need it."
"I had to!" Adora snaps. Her whole body is shaking as she looks at Catra, but she can't look away. "If the Heart had fired, the planet would have been destroyed!"
"The Heart can still be detonated without the trigger," Catra explains. "Like a bomb. You said the Sword was a key; the key to unlock the portal, the weapon, the whole Heart. But it could have also been the key to keeping it all locked. You're the Administrator or whatever, right? As long as you owned the Sword, there was a chance we could build a firewall against Horde Prime, but without it –"
"There are no defenses," Entrapta supplies. "Anyone can have full access."
"Anyone who can figure it out." Catra confirms. Finally, her eyes leave Adora, landing on Entrapta. "Unless you know some other way to set up a defense system?"
A tentacle of Entrapta's hair scratches under her chin. "Maybe. I was able to use the Black Garnet to hack into the Moonstone because the Runestones are all connected. And by working together, the Runestone Princesses have made that connection stronger. But if we disconnect them –"
"Horde Prime would only have access to the Moonstone," Glimmer concludes. Her mouth is set in a firm line. "He wouldn't be able to get to any of the others."
"What? No," Perfuma says. "Connecting our powers is the only thing that's made us strong enough to stand up to the Horde! If we get rid of that, we don't stand a chance."
"If you don't get rid of it, you won't stand a chance," Catra argues. "Your connection made you stronger because it was accessing the power of the Heart. But that Heart can be used against you if you don't take it offline."
Mermista crosses her arms, teeth gritted. "Or maybe you're trying to trick us into making our powers weaker, so that Horde Prime can march on Etheria unopposed."
"We wouldn't be totally defenceless," Frosta points out. "We'd still have the powers we had before the Princess Alliance."
"And Horde Prime would still have Glimmer's power," Mermista counters. "If he figures out how to use it, even without the Heart..."
"I can get her power back," says Catra.
Glimmer's mouth falls open. "What?"
"How?" Adora asks, immediately.
Catra's tail flicks. "I know where Horde Prime is keeping it. And I know how to get access. Sparkle's power is in some sort of containment chamber that Horde Prime had to build special. If I can destroy it, it'll set her power loose."
"But would that return Glimmer's power to her, or would the power just...disappear?" Bow asks.
Catra flinches, and looks at Glimmer for an answer.
Glimmer bites her lip. "I don't know," she admits.
"So that's all you've got?" Mermista flings at Catra. "You're here, and we're supposed to give you a chance, just so you can tell us how to make ourselves weaker?"
Catra's ears flick back. "I also have the schematics for a trans-atmospheric laser canon. Do you like that better?"
"That does sound promising," Entrapta says. It's hard to read her with her mask on, but she seems more subdued than she usually would be at hearing about a laser canon. "And all of the data I've ever collected on Runestones supports my hypothesis that disconnecting them completely would make the Heart more difficult to hack."
"More difficult, but not...impossible?" Perfuma fidgets.
"It's hard to say for sure. I'd need more data." Entrapta pauses. "About Hordak –"
"Look," Catra pushes on, "I know your whole Rebellion is built on talking things out, or whatever, but we need to get a move on. Horde Prime could be making his move any day now. I've told you what I know. You need to make a decision."
Adora's stomach twists, something hot and uncomfortable running through it, because Catra is standing tall and looking so sure –
"We can't leave my power in Horde Prime's hands," Glimmer decides. "We'll have to put together a plan to get it away from him. And I think disconnecting the Runestones is a good idea, at least for now."
"But, Glimmer," Bow says. "What if we mess things up and you end up losing your power forever?"
Glimmer draws herself up, looking, just for a second, like her mother. "We've all had to make sacrifices. And we'll have to make even more to win this war. If this is mine, then so be it."
The Princesses stare at her. Someone gasps, but Adora doesn't see who it is.
"We can think about what to do with the Heart long-term after we defeat Horde Prime," Glimmer continues. "But right now, we need to make sure no one can get their hands on that weapon." She looks each Princess in the eye, in turn. "What do you think?"
"I do not like the idea of splitting up our powers," Perfuma says immediately.
"And I don't like the idea of trusting Cat-girl," Mermista says. Adora tenses.
"Well I don't like the idea of anyone being able to just...reach into us and use our power, like what happened when the Heart was almost activated in our last battle with the Horde," Frosta says. Her back is straight and her voice is hard, the Queen she was when they first met. She turns to Scorpia. "You know the Horde – and Catra – better than anyone. What do you think?"
Scorpia takes a huge breath and looks at Catra. Catra's ears push all the way back, but she meets her gaze.
"I don't know," Scorpia says at last. "I'm not so good at tactics, and plans... No one ever included me in all that." Now Catra does look away, and brings her arms up around herself. "But I came to you guys for help to rescue Entrapta because I knew you would help," Scorpia continues. "Because you're like that. And I think that's why Catra's here, too. Because she needs help and she thinks you will."
Catra's claws are digging into her arms, shaking, and Adora's throat seizes up again.
"I think Entrapta's plan is the right call," Netossa speaks up. "I'm not connected to a Runestone, so maybe it's not my place to say...but I've been leading Rebel forces against the Horde for years. Keeping a weapon out of enemy hands is the right tactical decision, even if it means you lose it. Otherwise you're looking at a long string of causalities."
"We don't have to trust Catra completely," Spinnerella adds. "But at this point, with Horde Prime on our front doorstep...I think the benefits of listening to her outweigh the risks."
Perfuma takes a deep breath, in and out, bringing the tips of her fingers together. "Okay."
"Okay?" Mermista balks.
"If this is the best way... Netossa is right. Disconnecting our power may be...absolutely terrifying, but we're Princesses – we have a duty to make sure our power is never used to hurt people."
"Or to hurt us," Frosta agrees. "If something happened to all of us at once, Etheria would lose its leaders when it needs them most. And as for Catra, after all we've seen that she's capable of, I'd rather have her on our side, even if we don't like it. We don't need a mind like hers, with the information she has, in enemy hands."
"Uuuughhhh, fine." Mermista crosses her arms. "But she has to stay in her room, or tied up. And be guarded at all times. We are not taking chances with this."
Glimmer looks worried, but Catra scoffs, arms still crossed. "Fine," she grits.
"And even if," Mermista continues, "by some miracle we pull this off, she's still banned from my kingdom. Forever."
"That's reasonable," Glimmer says. "Any other objections?"
Bow shakes his head. Glimmer looks to Adora.
And this feels like a moment Adora should make some big, epic, final decision, but when has she ever been able to – "If Catra's what we need to defeat Horde Prime, then so be it," she says. Catra looks at her again, dual searchlights honed in on her, and Adora's palms start to sweat. She gets to her feet, marches to the other side of the table to stand in front of Catra, to meet her head-on. "But I know you," she hisses, right in Catra's face. "If this is a trick and you hurt anyone, so help me I will eliminate you myself."
And this isn't strength, Adora remembers, as she glares at Catra, who meets her eyes, unresisting and resigned. Adora is not being strong right now.
You'd never have the guts.
"I know," Catra says.
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A/N: yeah so at this point I need to mention that I haven't read the Fire Princess, and apparently there's some lore in there that contradicts what I'm going to do, so that's where the Canon Divergence Tag comes from. That and the fact that in five days it will be all canon divergence anyway :P
Pulling this together has been a bit of a rush job, so I apologize for any world-building inaccuracies or plot-holes...feel free to tell me if you spot any! Constructive criticism is always appreciated :)
On a more serious note, this fic will deal with some of the fallout of Adora and Catra's abuse, so please read with caution. And while I have done some research to try and make sure there are characters who will handle the situation appropriately and supportively, I have no personal experience in this area, so please, if I'm doing something harmful, let me know.
Thank you for reading! Please consider leaving a comment or kudos, or sharing on tumblr – commiserating over Catradora hell is half of how I'm coping right now.
Be safe, everyone, and be kind, especially to yourself!