A/N: Hello everyone! Thank you to everyone who's come this far with me, and to everyone who's leaving comments – they're keeping me going, riding this catradora train to the last stop.

Now is the time whereupon you judge if the ending is satisfying enough for all the pain I have hitherto put you through. Treat me gently.

000000000000

Adora sits in the armory in the early-morning light and listens to Spinnerella and Netossa prepare to defend Brightmoon, as she herself sharpens her sword. Her regular sword. Her non-She-Ra, non-planet-killing sword. It feels too light, too small in her hand. Just a simple, symmetrical blade that she can lift with ease. Its blade doesn't reflect her image like a mirror, and there's no magical stone to adorn the hilt. It's...just a sword.

Glimmer walks up to her, peers at her carefully. "Are you sure you don't want to –"

"I'm sure," Adora says, and her stomach clenches violently. "I'm good."

Glimmer sighs, but squeezes her shoulder. "Okay. I'll meet you in the council room with the other Princesses after Mara's ship takes off."

Adora nods down at the murky light reflecting off her blade.

"Are you ladies ready?" Glimmer asks Spinnerella and Netossa, who look up from a particularly sharp-looking weighted net to address her.

"Just about," Spinnerella says. "We're mustering the Rebel forces on the steps of the castle in half an hour. Scouts still haven't reported any unified Horde activity, but the bandits and rogues will no doubt see the Moonstone go out when you disconnect from it."

Glimmer's mouth twists.

"Don't you worry about that," King Micah says. "I've increased the strength of the spells all along the perimeter. We might have a fight on our hands, but it won't get to you."

"And I gotta say," Netossa says, lifting the net appreciatively. "You did pretty well smuggling weapons in here all these years. We're prepared for pretty much anything the remnants of the Horde can throw at us."

"Good," Glimmer says, clasping her hands together. "And Entrapta showed Bow how to read her enhancements to the laser canon schematics, just in case..." she takes a breath. "Well, just in case."

Spinnerella and Netossa nod solemnly at her, and Glimmer nods solemnly back. They were trained for this – for combat, for consequences, all of them, their whole lives. So was Adora. But she knows if she tried a nod like that now, a nod she's given a hundred times before, she would throw up.

Glimmer salutes the room, and everyone in the armory bows. King Micah takes Glimmer by the shoulders. "I'm so proud of you," he says, tears in his eyes, and then he adds "Your Majesty," and Glimmer looks like she's about to cry too, but instead she grips his hand and squeezes for, one, two, three seconds, and then walks out of the room, chin high and stance proud.

King Micah watches her go, shoulders slumping in her wake. "I'm just also so worried."

"I've got her," Adora rushes to say, jumping up. "Your Highness, this won't be easy for her, but I won't let her go through it alone. She can do this."

King Micah smiles at her, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "I know."

Netossa steps forward and puts a hand on his shoulder. "And we've got you. We'll make sure you're reunited with your daughter once more."

"Truly, I am fortunate to be fighting alongside the bravest warriors in Etheria," King Micah responds, with a nod to her and Spinnerella. "Thank you for never giving up on the Alliance."

Spinnerella and Netossa look at each other. Netossa reaches up to tuck a strand of hair behind Spinnerella's ear, and Spinnerella reaches up to press Netossa's hand to her cheek and hold it there. They smile at each other, and it occurs to Adora, that this was probably – how they met. The first Princess Alliance, when they were so much younger, and had so much to lose in front of them.

Netossa grasps Spinnerella's hand and holds it between them, faces King Micah. "Princesses don't give up on each other," she says, like a pronouncement, a vow, and the fire in Spinnerella's eyes when she looks at her wife could power the Moonstone for a decade.

Adora's stomach heaves up, and she doubles over, dry hacking at the floor.

"Adora?" King Micah's hand comes to rest on her shoulder. "Are you feeling ill?"

"I – have to go," Adora says, wiping her mouth with her sleeve and straightening. She gets one more look at Spinnerella and Netossa, both concerned and still holding hands, and then bolts from the room.

00000

Mara's ship is parked in what used to be the Royal Gardens, because that's where Adora and Bow crashed it on their way back to Brightmoon. Bow and Entrapta have fixed it up but it's still obvious what happened – there are gouges in the lawn as tall as Horde tanks, and all of the surrounding shrubbery has been reduced to ask. The glass of the greenhouse that Shadow Weaver had been using lies shattered on the ground. But the ship itself is ready for launch, the loading plank down as Entrapta coaxes Emily onboard.

Catra is standing to the side, her hands caught between Glimmer's. Adora can't hear what they're saying, but their heads are bowed close to each other, their gazes hard, their fingers twined tightly. Adora's stomach roles again, but she manages to keep it down.

Glimmer stands up on her toes to hug Catra, and Catra puts her arms around Glimmer's shoulders. Nudges her side with a smirk as they part, and Glimmer nudges her right back, and for a second they look almost relaxed, but then Catra turns, and sees –

Scorpia. Who is now walking towards her with purpose. Glimmer squeezes Catra's hand one more time and retreats.

"Hey," Scorpia says, and Adora can hear her, possibly because Scorpia has never been quiet a day in her life.

Catra's face spasms. In the shadows cast by Mara's ship, she looks smaller, somehow. "Hey."

"I, uh." Scorpia stops in front of Catra and scratches the back of her neck with the side of her claw. "I wanted to wish you luck."

"Thanks," Catra says, turning her face away.

"I know we haven't...haven't actually talked much," Scorpia continues.

"You don't have to talk to me," Catra says.

Scorpia's shoulders slump, and she starts fidgeting. "Look, I – it's not that don't want...I want you to know that, even past the mission, I just want you to be okay. Like, I think you've been through a lot and you deserve the chance to be okay. I'm just...not ready yet. To be part of that."

"You don't owe me anything, Scorpia." Catra's hands are clenched fists at her sides, and she's looking at the dirt as though she wants to burry something there.

"I know," says Scorpia, and then falters.

Catra's arms come up to clasp around her middle. "Good."

"But...I still think you're really talented, and that you've got this. The mission, and figuring out how to fix things after this. I really believe you can do it, even if I keep my distance."

Catra sniffles sharply, swiping at her eye. "That. Kind of thing. Meant more to me than I ever told you." She rubs at her other eye. "Maybe someday I'll be able to tell you properly."

Scorpia smiles, small but firm. "Okay."

Catra rattles a breath in, then out again. "Okay," she agrees, and gives Scorpia a smile back, small and flighty, like a bird.

Past them, Adora sees Double Trouble walking up the gangplank and into the ship. Double Trouble catches her eye, lifts an eyebrow, and then keeps walking.

Scorpia turns and walks away but Adora doesn't see where she goes because her legs are moving and suddenly she is right in front of Catra, and Catra's standing ramrod straight like Adora's managed to sneak up on her for once.

Didn't expect to see me? Is what comes to mind to say, because that's what she would have said, if Catra were still the enemy. If Adora knew how this conversation was going to go.

But she doesn't, and she just sort of stands there, glaring at Catra, and Catra's startled look of guilt slowly falls and settles into something resembling the kind of amusement she has where Adora is the butt of the joke, but – softer. "I said I'll be fine, Adora."

Adora doesn't say anything. After a moment, Catra moves like she's going to walk away, and Adora can't–

She reaches out and takes Catra's forearm. Catra stills, and so does Adora. Catra looks back at her, eyebrows raised. "I," Adora says, curling her fingers around Catra's wrist. "I, um."

They stare at each other a long time. Adora feels like she's not breathing, like the only way to understand the concept is to see the gentle rise and fall of Catra's chest. She loses count of the number of times Catra blinks, but Catra doesn't look away. She stares back, her gaze roaming over Adora but always landing back at her eyes, and a shot fires up Adora's spine every time it does. It's not at all how she's used to looking at Catra, and yet it feels familiar...have they always stared at each other like this?

And slowly, slowly, Catra moves her hand to take Adora's. Adora lets her. Shooting furtive glances at Adora's face, Catra slowly, slowly brings Adora's hand up and holds it to her chest. Still, Adora lets her.

"Adora, I –" Catra looks away from Adora, then back, away again, and back again, like she can't work up the courage to do either for more than an instant.

"What," Adora asks.

"Nothing," Catra says, and every muscle in Adora's body prepares for this to be the most important thing Catra's ever said to her. "I – I don't expect anything. But. Since you want answers." Catra takes a deep breath, and one last look at Adora's face, then slowly, slowly, brings Adora's wrist to her lips, and kisses her there.

Adora can feel every inch of her skin, from her scalp to the bottoms of her feet in that one instant. And then Catra pulls away. Adora makes some sort of sound, but Catra doesn't look at her again. She squeezes her hand as she lets it go, whispers, "I'm sorry," and then boards the ship.

For every step away that she takes, Adora counts four beats of her heart.

I'm sorry.

Three times to confirm.

But four is – what is four times?

00000

Catra – Mara's ship – left an hour ago, and Horde Prime's ship hasn't moved. They're hoping that's a good thing. They're hoping that means Horde Prime doesn't consider them a threat, instead of that he's set a trap. They're hoping he's still there because he's not ready to make a move with Glimmer's power yet.

They're hoping a lot of things.

And also rearranging furniture. Adora, Glimmer, Mermista, Perfuma, Frosta, and Scorpia clear the council room's table and the chairs to the sides, placing them snug against the murals, and then gather in the center of the chamber. Glimmer takes Adora's hand, and Adora takes Perfuma's, and soon they're all standing in a circle holding hands.

"Uh, is this the part where we just...believe in ourselves really hard?" Mermista asks. She's biting her lip, a sheen of sweat on her brow.

"I don't experience our usual bond in terms of conscious believing," Perfuma says, "so much as the unconscious act of trusting each other in that belief." She's shaking so hard that Adora's whole arm is vibrating along with her.

"Okay, I didn't understand that at all," Scorpia says. She's standing tall, and though her shoulders are tight, she looks more confident than Adora is used to seeing her. "But I know our bond is strong. We used to be enemies, but now, when I fight side by side with all of you, I feel totally at ease with your presence. I can sense you around me in this comforting haze."

"Well," Frosta hedges. "That's good. But this isn't a battle."

"We can try to capture that same feeling?" Glimmer suggests. If Adora wasn't holding her hand, she wouldn't notice that Glimmer, too, is shaking.

The Princesses all look at Adora. "Uh," she says.

"Is that what it felt like to disconnect from your Runestone, Adora?" Perfuma looks unconvinced. "Like...you were relying on our bond?"

"Um," Adora says.

"But I tried to feel that when I connected with my Runestone," Scorpia points out. "Isn't this the opposite of that?"

"You said it felt like coming home," Frosta says. She looks at Adora. "So should we try to...run away from home?"

"I..." Adora says.

She's only run away from home once.

I just need to get another look, it feels...important, somehow.

Seriously, did you just immediately get captured right after you snuck out?

"Or we could try running away from, like, the concept of power?" Mermista tries.

Not even She-Ra can take out an army of Horde soldiers all on her own.

Then what good is she?

"What went through your head when you broke the connection?" Frosta asks. "What was it that finally made it snap?"

I never wanted to leave you.

"I don't know," Adora blurts, tearing her hands away and taking a step back. "I'm sorry, I don't – understand how I did it, I –"

"It's okay," Scorpia says, placating. She smiles at Adora. "I was scared, when I left the Fright Zone to come find you guys. And when I connected with my Runestone, and when the Heart activated, and...it's okay to be scared."

"That's it!" Glimmer exclaims. "We're scared. Feel it."

Perfuma balks. "Why?"

"Because we're allowed to!" Glimmer says, a gleam in her eye. "This is terrifying, and no one can tell us otherwise! But we have each other." She reaches out to Adora, holding out her hand again. "Feel that more."

Adora shakes her head. "I don't know if I can lead you," she admits.

Glimmer smiles at her, wiggles her fingers. "Then just be with us." Over her shoulder, the Princesses all nod – all terrified, all determined. Adora reaches out her hand.

"Okay," she says, and wraps her fingers around Glimmer's.

"Okay, Glimmer repeats, addressing them all. "Let's do this."

The Princesses all close their eyes. Adora keeps hers open. Closing her eyes in the midst of battle is something she was trained never to do unless she's plunged into darkness, and hopefully they won't be. Perfuma's frowning, Mermista's scowling, Frosta has this eerie look of focus...Glimmer's straining. The air around her feels like it does when she's about to disappear, like she's reaching for her magic. But nothing happens.

Will Adora even know when it happens? Will she feel it?

"Scorpia?" Glimmer prompts. "Take us through this some more. What else does connecting feel like? What do we have to run away from?"

"Uh..." Scorpia stammers. "O-ok. Like. Hmm. That feeling of being safe. Coming home. Getting wrapped in a big hug. Like there's a current connecting you to the very sky. Or I guess ocean, or, or moon, or flowers, or whatever an ice crystal is made of."

"I feel it," Frosta says immediately.

Perfuma nods, tightly. Mermista's still scowling.

"Right," Glimmer says. "Now we have to let it go."

Mermista spasms. Perfuma sobs.

"Or!" Scorpia exclaims, "What if we transferred that feeling to each other? That's what we agreed on, right? To have each other's backs. To have faith in each other. We don't need the Runestones anymore. They don't define us. We can build a home without them. You already have!"

There's a thunderous boom, and the whole castle shakes. The Princesses grip each other tight just to stay standing, but none of them opens their eyes. Adora can't tell if the shaking continues, or if that's just Perfuma and Glimmer on either side of her.

"Adora?" Glimmer gasps.

"I – yes, it's working," Adora says, even though she has no idea if that's what's happening. "You can do it, keep going."

"It's not working," Mermista grunts. "I can't – it won't let me go."

"It's gripping me!" Frosta cries. "I can't control it!"

"Adora!" someone calls again.

The ground falling out from beneath her.

A hand, reaching out to catch her.

Go must let go.

Tears fall from Adora's eyes, and she finally shuts them. "You can't control it. You have to let go."

"I can't!" Frosta repeats.

"It's too strong!" Mermista wails. "I don't know what will happen if I tear myself away!"

"You can't know!" Adora shouts over the wind. "You have to let go anyway!"

"I'll catch you!" Scorpia promises, and Adora opens her eyes to see Scorpia's teeth bared and her eyes glowing red. All of the Princesses are glowing, and all of the lights in the castle are out. Adora can hear the wind outside blowing, the floor shaking, the thunder getting closer.

Perfuma gasps, eyes shut tight. "We'll catch each other!" she cries, and drops Adora's hand.

The castle rocks like a boat at sea. Perfuma's eyes stop glowing. She sags, body going limp, and falls.

Adora lunges for her. Catches her around the shoulders as they fall to the ground.

There's a sound like metal tearing, and then Scorpia's knees hit the ground, too. Then Glimmer's. She falls onto her palms and pants as the floor continues to sway.

"Argh," Mermista groans. "Come on!" And then she lurches to the ground. With a scream like she's been stabbed, Frosta follows suit.

The wind roars from outside, air filling a void, and then everything falls into ringing silence.

The Princesses sit there, panting, only barely visible in the dark. There's no glowing. No magic. The air tastes like static and ozone.

"Did we do it?" Glimmer asks, close to Adora's ear.

Adora tries to feel something, some difference. She feels nothing. She-Ra's connection was already gone. "Does it feel like you did it?" Adora asks, and her voice comes out sounding relieved.

"I feel...clean," Scorpia says, in awe.

"I don't know if I like it," Mermista says.

"Me neither," Perfuma says, pushing herself out of Adora's lap.

There's a rush of fabric, and then Frosta crashes into Adora, flinging her arms around her. "Thank you," she whispers into Adora's stomach, hacking sobs shaking her whole body. "Thank you."

Adora looks around at all the Princesses, her eyes adjusting enough to see the shine in their eyes as they look around at each other, smiles like new snow.

Adora wraps her arms around Frosta, pulling her in close. "Thank you," she says, and feels, for the first time in her life, like she can allow herself to stay like this, on the floor, a while longer.

00000

Glimmer's the one who gets up to turn the lights back on. The council room looks entirely too normal in the familiar light. "I have to go check on Brightmoon's forces," Glimmer says.

"I –" Mermista shakes her head. "I don't think I'm in any shape to fight."

"That's okay," Glimmer says. "Not having your powers...it's hard to adjust to. You rest up here. I'll let you know if we need reinforcements."

"I'll come with you," Scorpia offers. "I can't say I feel good, but I'm used to not having powers. I'll be okay."

Adora gets to her feet. "I should come, too."

Glimmer gives her a small smile, then goes to the war table, pushed to the side of the room. She picks up a tracker pad and walks over to Adora, holding it out to her. "You should stay," she says. "In case Catra, Entrapta, or Double Trouble comm in."

"You might need my help," Adora protests, but her hands reach out and close around the tracker pad, fingers clasping it hard enough to bruise.

Glimmer shakes her head. "Helping isn't always fighting, Adora." She nods her head towards the others. Mermista, Perfuma, and Frosta are all still sitting on the floor. "Okay," Adora says. She looks down at the tracker pad, at the little dot in the corner that indicates it's picking up a signal from Mara's ship. She swallows. "Thank you." Glimmer just squeezes her arm.

As Glimmer and Scorpia leave, Adora hauls the war table back into the center of the room. Her legs feel wobbly, so she leans against it, staring down at its holo-map of Brightmoon and clutching the tracker pad beneath her fingers. Eventually, Mermista gets up and sits on the table, arms crossed, and Perfuma crawls to sit under it, knees brought up to her chest and chin on her knees. Frosta goes into a battle-stance, arms out and brows furrowed, concentrating on the space between her hands. When nothing happens, tears gather in her eyes.

"You'll get it eventually," Perfuma says from the floor.

Frosta's arms drop. "You don't know that."

"No," Perfuma admits. "I guess I don't." She holds her hand out, palm up, and Frosta takes it, going to sit beside her.

Adora can't sit. She waits at the war table, nails digging into its surface but leaving no mark. Perfuma and Frosta lean into each other, Perfuma's fingers combing through Frosta's hair. Mermista starts playing with the holo-maps, checking over the Rebels' positions in each kingdom, pausing at Salineas to stare at the ruined Sea Gate. Adora wants to say something, but her teeth are clenched so hard her jaw hurts.

The Princesses rouse when the door opens and Glimmer and Scorpia return. "Our forces are doing well," Glimmer announces. "There are some bandits who have noticed that the Moonstone has gone out, but that freak weather seems to have damaged a lot of their crafts. The General isn't having too much trouble fending them off."

Perfuma exhales noisily. "Well, that's something. For now."

"Any news from Catra and Entrapta?" Scorpia asks.

Everyone looks at Adora. Adora curls her fingernails into the meat of her palms and says nothing.

"Not yet," Mermista supplies.

Glimmer places one of her hands over one of Adora's on the table, and Adora's chest constricts, pushing the air out of her lungs. She keeps her head down and her fists curled.

And then Glimmer doubles over, gasping. She glows.

"Glimmer!" Adora yells, and the others scramble to their feet.

Glimmer puts a hand out to wave them off, breathing heavily, sparkles coming off her like firecrackers. Adora hovers, not breathing at all, but then Glimmer straightens up, staring at her hands as the glow fades. "My powers!" she laughs, brittle, but her smile is real. She holds out a fists – the air around it shimmers pink for a second, then sputters out.

"Well," Glimmer sighs. "It's something."

"If your powers are back –" Frosta starts.

"Then Double Trouble broke Horde Prime's containment chamber!" Scorpia exclaims. She lunges for the tracker pad. Adora yanks it away.

"Don't!" Glimmer exclaims. "We can't risk alerting anyone on Horde Prime's ship! We'll just have to wait for them to check in."

Scorpia glares at the tracker pad as though she can force a transmission to come in through strength of will. Adora cradles the pad close and stares at the dot in its corner. She can't feel her legs.

Chairs are brought back around the table, the Princesses settling in, but Adora remains standing. Time is impossible to tell, somehow, despite the fact that there is a clock on the tracker pad that Adora is staring at. She knows, in her brain, that the seconds are passing, being counted, but she can't see it, can only see the unchanging dot right next to –

"Your Majesty!" The General crashes through the doors. "Mara's ship has been sighted! It's coming in for a landing."

Adora's heart stops.

"Where?" Glimmer demands, heading for the doors.

"The lake," the General responds. "There's a lot of smoke – I think they're crashing. Spinnerella and Netossa –"

Adora runs.

Past Glimmer, past the guards, through the halls, out onto the bridge. The Moonstone has fallen onto its pedestal, which is cracked badly down the middle. The sky is brightening with the first light of dawn. And on the horizon, blinking blue and billowing smoke, getting larger, fast, is a ship –

Adora takes the stairs down to the lake three at a time.

She hears shouts from the water – "get back!", "retreat!" – sees a large glowing net cast across half the lake, feels the wind rise around her –

Everything goes dark again as Adora reaches the ground. She looks up to see Mara's ship, missing an engine, throwing its shadow onto the lake and falling from the sky like a missile.

She pelts towards the shore, but someone catches her around the middle.

"Adora!" they yell, pulling her back.

She fights. Ropes snap around her, pulling her up short. It's Bow.

"Adora, we have to stay back!"

A sonic boom breaks over them – Bow pushes Adora to the ground – a gigantic wave surges from the lake but wobbles sideways, lurching into the Woods – Mermista, up on the bridge, arms in the air – smaller waves crash into the shore – Mara's ship bobs to the surface, caught in the net, listing sideways.

Adora heaves herself up, shaking. Bow slides off of her. Rebellion forces are converging on the lake, sending out rescue skiffs. Adora's ears are ringing. She pulls weakly at the ropes tying her arms to her waist.

Bow takes out a knife. "Slowly," he tells her. She nods, and he and cuts the ropes off.

Adroa gets to her feet and stumbles to the shoreline, unable to feel her feet. She stands at the edge of the lake, trembling on the verge of the water, and watches the crews on the skiffs pull people out of the ship.

Sea Hawk is at the tiller of the first skiff to make it back to shore. "General," he says, and Adora realizes the General is behind her. "We have a prisoner for you. He surrendered himself willingly."

And Entrapta helps Hordak off the boat, Emily rolling out after them.

The General nods, but does not lower her weapon. "Hordak. Come with us."

Hordak nods back, and a guard of soldiers come around him and begin escorting him up to the castle. Entrapta says something else, but Adora wanders down the shore, craning to see the next skiff as it approaches.

When it slides up on shore, it's Double Trouble who jumps out, steadying the boat and extending a hand back over the rail. "Come now, darling, accepting a bit of help won't kill you," they say, and a clawed hand reaches out to grip theirs.

Adora hears splashing, finds herself right next to the boat as Catra climbs off. Catra's ears prick towards her, and then she looks up, letting go of Double Trouble's hand. She's favoring her left side, and the sleeve of her jumpsuit is torn, but she's whole and she's – here –

I'll come back.

Adora staggers forward. "Catra," she says, and pitches into her, landing with her arms around her.

Catra catches her, one of her hands settling lightly across Adora's shoulder. "Hey, Adora."

Adora shudders, buries her face in Catra's shoulder. Catra smells like smoke and salt water and Catra, and the feeling comes back into Adora's legs all at once, leaving her cold. Catra shifts against her, wincing, and Adora pulls back. "What –"

"It's fine," Catra says, lifting her right arm. It was hard to see through her sleeve, but there's a burn there, dark and angry red beneath a thin layer of first-aid salve.

"Catra," Adora starts, reaching out.

"Well don't touch it!" Catra screeches, swatting her away. "Honestly, Adora."

"We need to get you to a medic," Adora says.

Catra lifts an eyebrow. "Don't you have magic healing powers?"

"She-Ra had magic healing powers," Adora corrects.

Catra's head tilts and she frowns. "Same difference," she says, like she believes it, like she's taken it for granted all this time.

Adora's fingers hover over Catra's arm. "Who –" she chokes.

"Does it matter?"

"Of course it matters!" Adora growls. "Was it –" she glances up towards the castle. "Hordak –"

"No," Catra says. "Not this time."

Adora's throat closes, and she reaches out to Catra again, curling a hand around her good arm. "You saved him," she croaks.

Catra's face twists, and she looks down. "I just – didn't want to be like him. Anymore. I wanted to be like Entrapta instead. Do what she would do."

"Well," Adora says, struggling. Catra's arm is warm against her palm – Catra's always been so warm. "You did. You are."

Catra tsks, her gaze skirting over Adora's face and then away across the lake. "It's not enough."

"It's a start."

"The start of what?" Catra snaps, but she doesn't shrug Adora off.

"Of whatever you want!" Adora says. She touches her fingers to Catra's chin and nudges Catra's face towards her. "What do you want?"

Catra's gaze lands on her, startled, flies away – lands back on Adora to roost. Blinks, slow and deliberate. Adora can feel her heartbeat in her palms. Then Catra frowns. "Are you blushing?"

"No," Adora responds, knee-jerk. Swallows. "Yes," she confesses.

And Catra stares at her, eyes wide and round like Adora's finally surprised her.

"I mean, nothing's fixed," Adora hurries on.

"I know that," Catra says, but she keeps looking at Adora.

"You still have a lot to make up for if you want to help everyone you hurt."

Catra's chin lifts in challenge, still in Adora's grip. "You ever known me to back down?"

"But we could do that together," Adora says, "is my point."

Catra bites her lip. Does look away, now. "You don't have to do that."

Adora huffs. "Well maybe that's what I want! Maybe I'm tired of not being on the same team!"

"I'm not a good teammate, Adora," Catra says, gritting her teeth. "I don't even know what that is, right now."

"You can learn. It doesn't have to come right away."

"And when am I going to do that? There's still a whole war coming. Horde Prime's not going to give up that easily. He's probably readying his ground troops as we speak."

"Well there we are!" Adora exclaims. "Help me beat them. Help me stop him. You saved Glimmer. You helped save Etheria. Those are choices, too, Catra. If that's the kind of thing you're choosing from now on, then we can figure out the rest as we go."

"The rest is bad, Adora. I'm not – like Glimmer, a little grit with a lot of heart –"

"I think you are," Adora argues. "I was there for the bad stuff, and I remember what's under it. I have bad stuff, too. Everyone does. But if you're not going to hurt people anymore, then I accept every part of you, bad stuff included."

"Why?" Catra asks, voice cracking. She finally looks at Adora again. "Why do you still care? How could I be worth that?"

"I don't know," Adora admits, shaking her head and pulling Catra closer. "I just do. You just are. There's no reason."

Catra chokes, shutting her eyes tight. Slowly, slowly, Adora lifts her hand to cup Catra's cheek, the pad of her thumb skating across Catra's fur. Catra lets her. Slowly, slowly, Adora leans in to rest their foreheads together and still, Catra lets her.

"I just do," Adora repeats. The third time.

Catra breathes out, long and loud between them. Opens her eyes again to roam them over Adora's face, searching for – Adora doesn't know. She's tried so many times to show Catra what she needed to see but maybe...maybe that's why it never worked.

This time, Catra keeps looking until her eyes fill with tears. The first time she's cried in front of Adora since they were nine. Adora rises up and presses a kiss to Catra's forehead, right between her eyebrows. It startles a purr out of her. Catra glares as Adora pulls back, but she doesn't stop purring, and Adora laughs, because she'd almost forgotten what it was like when Catra was happy but Catra is happy –

And blushing, all over her face, underneath her freckles and right to her hairline, and the warmth of it seeps into Adora's chest somehow, making her skin buzz.

"Come on," Adora says, taking a step towards the castle and holding out her hand.

Catra takes it.

00000

[Three Months Later]

Catra watches the Prime soldiers in the control room below, tapping sedately at the keys to Hordak's old mainframe. They won't be sedate for long. Catra's heartbeat sure isn't. "If we wait much longer, they'll hear that the Rebels are advancing, and they'll delete the info," she hisses.

Across from her in the old vent, Adora grits her teeth. "We wait for reinforcements," she bites, as though she honestly believes she is not being the most hypocritical person in the world right now.

"Scorpia needs that intel," Catra says, tail flicking behind her.

"Scorpia wants to take her kingdom back with minimal causalities –"

"Which will be so much easier if we surprise them –"

Adora massages her temples. "The reinforcements will be here any minute, if you just wait for once –"

"Commander!" shouts a soldier from below, running into the control room. "Report from East watch. There are –"

Catra jumps.

She lands on her feet in the middle of the room and goes right for the mainframe's power cord. "Ah!" the commander exclaims, taking a step away from the screen as it goes blank. Something falls behind him and he turns around – there's Adora, spear in hand, standing over the crumpled forms of the reporting solider and another one. The commander backs away from her, and Catra swipes his legs out from under him, pinning him to the ground before lashing her whip out at the other two technicians, throwing them against the consol, where they land in a heap.

"See?" she grins up at Adora. "The element of surprise."

Adora's eye twitches.

An alarm blares – the exact same grating red-alert blare that Hordak used to have, ugh – and Adora grabs Catra's wrist, pulling her out the door and into a run. "I don't suppose you have any idea how else we can get the information?" she snipes.

"As long as the consol is down, they can't delete it," Catra says, keeping pace with her. "Once Entrapta's here, she can –"

"Oh, now you think reinforcements are a good idea."

They skid into a side hallway, and Catra yanks Adora through a door.

"What –"

"Shortcut," Catra whispers, and leads her through the dark passage until they get back to a main corridor.

"This is where the Black Garnet Chamber is!" Adora accuses.

"Yep," Catra says, and presses the badge on her chest. A locator. The reinforcements will converge on their position. She smirks at Adora. "Gotta go for the heart."

Adora groans but follows her into the chamber. The Black Garnet glowing eerily, hooked back up to what's left of Entrapta's cable system, but otherwise the room is completely changed. The lights are white instead of green, and everything looks polished, pristine. Catra's stomach rolls as she takes in the familiar fan-pattern of a bank of computer screens. "Fuck," she hisses. "Prime himself has been here."

Adora pales. "Is he here now?"

"And how would I –"

"He's not!" Entrapta's face appears on all the screens. Catra jumps a foot in the air. "I sent him to the Crystal Palace on a wild goose chase, since there's nothing there anymore!" Entrapta beams.

"Oh good..." Adora wheezes, clutching her spear in one hand and her chest in the other. "How convenient..."

"Where's Scorpia?" Catra asks.

"Oh, she's already marching her troops into the Fright Zone," Entrapta says. "Wait, is it still the Fright Zone? What was the Magicorpion kingdom called again?"

Adora slides a hand down her face. "Why can we never stick to the plan," she mumbles.

"Well, Prime caught us a bit by surprise, so we had to move along faster than we planned. But since Catra's locator just got me close enough access to hack into the Black Garnet room, I figure there's no time like the present!" Her fingers fly across her own control panel, and there's a pneumatic hiss behind them. Catra whips around to see the cables scaling the Black Garnet disconnecting one by one and sliding to the floor. Another alarm goes off.

"That's one way to do it," Catra says.

"Okay, but if reinforcements aren't coming, we need to get out of here," Adora urges.

"Does a whole army count as reinforcements?" Entrapta asks.

"They won't get here before we're overrun by Horde soldiers," Adora points out.

"Oh, well, in that case –"

"In that case you might want to think of something better," comes a voice, and a Horde clones steps out of the shadows. "Good gracious, the Rebel forces really are a disaster, aren't they?"

Adora drops into a fighting stance, spear aimed at the Horde clone, but Catra just scoffs. "Not the time, Double Trouble."

The Horde clone smirks, tapping their chin. "Sorry, darling, couldn't resist. But your would-be paramour is correct – it's time to run. Ready?"

Catra twitches but holds her arms out. Double Trouble ties her hands loosely together in front of her, then does the same for Adora, who glares at them the whole time. "I hate this plan," she says, but she follows Catra and Double Trouble out of the Black Garnet Chamber and towards the East Gate.

"Oh this is improvisation, sweetheart, so look sharp," Double Trouble warns. They march Catra and Adora in front of them like a warden until they're stopped by the Horde clone on guard.

"More Rebel insurgents?" the guard says. "Why aren't they in the prison cells?"

"They're needed for questioning by the captain on watch. Something about an attack tomorrow? The captain wants to know what to look out for." Double Trouble's voice is monotone, blank, a perfect impersonation of a Horde clone, but the problem is, the Horde clones are brainwashed but they're not stupid.

"So why doesn't he come and question them lat –" the guard begins, and Catra leaps forward, snatching his tazer and throwing it to Double Trouble, then jumping over him and running into the yard, shaking off her bindings. There's another Horde clone parking a skiff by the wall, and she grabs his arm, twisting it around and kicking him in the back. He goes flying, just as Adora and Double Trouble catch up to her.

"Is this really going to be fast enough to get us out of here?" Double Trouble asks as they scramble on board.

"It will with Catra driving it," Adora huffs, but she takes up a position at the front of the skiff as Catra grabs the tiller.

Catra yanks on the tiller, gunning the skiff down the canyon. Another skiff tries to head them off, but as it comes up their starboard side Adora thrusts her spear into its hull and rips its metal plating off, sending it careening towards the canyon wall.

"Hold tight!" Catra yells, and steers them towards a moderate incline as something explodes behind them. "We're goin' up!"

00000

They make it to the top of the cliff, and Double Trouble only throws up a little. Catra's heartbeat starts to slow down.

From up here the three of them can see Scorpia's forces advancing on the Fright Zone's in the canyon below, banners waving and canons firing. Scorpia's lightening power zaps through the Horde's troops, dropping them like flies and casting everything into red shadow while her own soldiers seize the Horde's defense weapons. Scorpia never electrocutes anyone hard enough to kill them, but the voltage does start a few fires as it connects with the various pieces of Horde tech.

Catra watches the fires burn with something of a fire in her own gut, but – different from before, when she was the one setting them.

Your heart's never been in it – has it?

There's no need to stoke the flames higher, no thirst to watch them spread. Just a quiet satisfaction as she watches the Horde soldiers flee in the face of Scorpia's might.

Adora sighs, long and unhappy. "It's still awful to watch."

"Oh, come on," Catra tries. "It's not that bad. Scorpia won't hurt them too much. And it's her kingdom, she can set it on fire if she wants."

Adora frowns. "Why would she want to set it on fire?"

Catra shrugs. "To encourage sustainable slash and burn agriculture? To make an entrance?" She tilts her head. "You gotta admit, it's quite the aesthetic."

"You just like burning stuff."

Catra smirks at her. "I like what I like."

"Oh, yeah," Adora says, rolling her eyes. "The glow of war flames. Real romantic." She blushes as she says it, biting her lip, and Catra wonders – because lately Adora has been bringing it up – but they're standing on top of a cliff in the Fright Zone –

"Oh look," Double Trouble drawls, examining their nails with one hand and pointing towards the horizon with the other. "A sunset."

Adora's head jerks towards it. It's a deep orange, and it makes her hair glow as though the fires are much closer. Slowly, she sets her mouth into a smirk, and turns to stare Catra dead in the eye – a challenge.

And Catra's heart speeds right back up again, thumping hard against her ribs even as she lifts a mocking eyebrow – an acceptance.

Adora squares her shoulders and marches forward, head down like a bull, coming for Catra.

Catra lets her.

Adora grabs Catra's collar to yank her close, and Catra snakes an arm around Adora's neck, smirks right back at her for that split second before Adora's lips crash into hers.

Adora tastes like sweat and ozone and Adora, and Catra tugs at her hair, pulling it out of that stupid ponytail and threading her fingers through it as she cradles Adora's head to pull her closer. Adora clutches at Catra's jumpsuit like it's personally offended her, making them stumble, and a laugh bubbles up out of Catra and into Adora's mouth. Catra's pretty sure they're doing this wrong because Spinnerella and Netossa never seem to have this much trouble remaining upright, but then Adora lifts her off her feet, and Catra bites Adora's lip because Adora's mouth is warm and her chest is soft and Catra's heart is so into this, it feels like it's about to explode.

When they break apart, panting, Double Trouble's smirking at Catra from over Adora's shoulder, but why should Catra give a shit? No one else's opinion is worth the look Adora is giving her. Not even close.

"You were amazing," Adora admits, cheeks flushed and smiling. "You're so fast with that whip and I never would have known about that root to the Black Garnet –"

Sparks shoot up from Catra's stomach into her chest, and she noses along Adora's neck, fingers still running through Adora's hair. "See? Nothing to worry about."

Adora rests her forehead against Catra's, laughs a little, breathless. "I'm gonna worry," she confesses, like it's a secret Catra hasn't always known.

Catra grins. "Okay," she allows, and Adora kisses her again.

000000000000

A/N: Thank you so much for coming along on this crazy ride with me! This whole damn thing is based loosely off my headcannon that Adora lies awake at night wondering what evil schemes Catra is plotting next and also wondering if Catra's got enough sweaters for when the weather turns cold. Like, what if Catra's planning something dangerous and dastardly in the Northern Reach? What if Catra's in the fricking Northern Reach and doesn't have enough blankets? Etc. Etc. Etc.