Oops, I wrote a second chapter! (I'm as surprised as you.) I had a half-baked idea to write a second chapter where Adora found out about Shadow Weaver's death too, but you can thank (or blame?) UnsolvedRubixsCube on AO3 for making it a reality with their comment on the last chapter. So... here ya go!

(Thanks to Veilder for being a champ and betaing again! Love ya.)

A small sound, like a rustling and a light scrape against stone woke Adora with a start, and she shot upright as her fingers closed on the hilt of the dagger underneath her pillow. She relaxed when her bleary eyes made out the shape of the figure now seated on the ledge of her balcony, one leg pulled up near her chest and the other swinging lazily.

Catra glanced down to the dagger in Adora's hand, eyebrow arched as a smirk formed on her lips. "Hey, Adora."

Adora dropped the dagger with a fond but exasperated sigh.

"You do know I have a door, right?"

"Aw, but I get so nostalgic when you threaten to stab me."

Adora flopped backward, one arm flung over her eyes. "Catraaa. It's too early for this."

A soft sound as Catra jumped down the from the balcony. "You're getting soft," she teased. "The morning moon's been up for half an hour."

Adora groan-mumbled something about the moon not having to train with five bull-hybrids for six hours yesterday, appreciating the slight chuckle that brought from Catra. That was good. Something had sounded a little… off in Catra's tone today. The bed dipped slightly as she sat down.

"You're back late from your patrol," Adora observed. "What'd you do, find a good tree to nap in and oversleep?"

There was a silence, and Adora propped herself up on her elbows, nudging Catra with her foot through the blanket. "What, no witty comeback?" At this closer distance, Adora finally noticed the slight redness around Catra's eyes, the exhausted slump of her shoulders. All humor dropped and she immediately sat up straighter, reaching a hand toward Catra's shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah. No, I-" there was a breathy, humorless laugh followed by a shaky inhale.

"Shadow Weaver's dead."

Oh.

Oh. Okay.

Adora braced herself for a rush of emotions, unsure what was to come-relief? Happiness? Anger? Guilt?-and waited. And waited.

And felt…nothing.

She shook her head, pulling her feet out from under the blankets and sliding next to where Catra sat on the bed. She could worry about her malfunctioning emotions later.

"Are you okay? I know how horrible she was to you, but… I know she meant something to you, too."

Catra scoffed, turning her head away. "Don't you act all perceptive on me now. I know how stupid you are."

"You literally told me, you idiot," Adora replied, gently returning the playful jibe. It was true. Part of the long, slow journey toward their reconciliation had involved conversations that stretched long into the small hours of the morning, the kind of communication that had been so desperately needed and sorely lacking for such a long time. Some of the things Adora learned made her shake with anger or nearly drown in guilt, but Catra was there, telling her it was over now, they were kids, she didn't blame her anymore.

Adora took in the dark circles under Catra's eyes, the slight puffiness around them.

"Really, are you okay?" she insisted. Catra heaved a long-suffering sigh.

"Yeah, I think so." She flopped backward onto the blankets, eyes closed. "Or I will be."

Adora opened her mouth to speak, but Catra's eyes darted to hers in a warning gaze. Not now. Please.

Adora shut her mouth and obliged.

"What about you?" Catra asked a moment later, still horizontal. "You're probably the only person she came close to really caring about." Most of the bitterness had faded from the words, but a hint of it still lingered. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." The words came quickly, and Catra's eyes narrowed in response. "Yeah," Adora repeated, more slowly. "I think… I stopped caring about what she thought when I realized how much she manipulated me. And then after I realized what she had done to you for all those years, it was hard to feel anything toward her except hate." She looked at Catra. "I think I'm okay. Really."

Catra raised an eyebrow, but didn't reply.

"Okay," she said, a moment later, reluctantly pulling herself up off the bed.

"Come on. We've got a meeting to go to."

Angella folded her hands and rested them on the table, mentally reviewing the meeting's agenda-and its newest, most significant addendum. The last attendees of the meeting filtered in, Catra and Adora among them. She gave the pair an appraising glance. Adora seemed… fine. Normal. Either the news hadn't affected her as deeply as it had Catra, or her ability to hide her emotions had vastly improved. Catra's gaze slid sharply to the side as she felt Angella's eyes on her-of course she did-and Angella gave her a small nod and a gentle smile. Catra started slightly, eyes darting away, before returning the small smile with a somewhat flustered expression.

Angella's heart ached. This girl was so painfully unfamiliar with even the slightest signs of affection.

She cleared her throat, silencing the pre-meeting murmur of conversation. "Be seated, please. The council is called to order."

The meeting itself was largely uneventful, aside from the news of Shadow Weaver's demise. Angella glanced around the table, trying to observe the reaction of the two girls without making her gaze too obvious. Catra's tail twitched behind her at the words, her head facing forward but her eyes on the girl seated at her side. Adora, for her part, appeared to have no reaction at all-her gaze fixed resolutely at some point on the battle map spread across the table. A muscle in her jaw tensed, but that was all.

Hm.

Adora remained mostly silent for the remainder of the meeting, apparently lost in thought, the crease between her brows slowly deepening.

Angella tried to make her way toward the girls after the meeting adjourned, but it seemed that every individual in the room had a "critical matter" that needed her "immediate input" this morning. In reality, most of the matters could have- should have-been handled by her subordinates. She was in the middle of informing yet another person of this when she noticed the two girls finally standing from their seats to leave the meeting room. Catra jumped suddenly, hair fluffing slightly as she clasped an arm around her middle and Adora looked to her in surprise-and then laughed, grabbing her arm and pulling her out of the room while saying something about breakfast.

Angella suppressed a smile at their antics. This might not be an easy time, but at least they had each other.

A short while later, Angella rounded a corner on her way to the kitchens and was surprised to find Adora standing alone before the mural of the first princess alliance.

"Adora," she greeted, surprise coloring her tone. "I thought you would be in the kitchens with Catra?"

Adora gave a small smile of greeting, then returned her gaze up to the mural. "I told her I'd catch up." There was a strange tenseness to her shoulders, and her hand flexed like she was making a conscious effort not to ball it into a fist.

Somehow, Angella knew that this frustration was not directed toward her.

Angella nodded, looking up to the mural as well. The likeness of her husband towered above her. The face was blank, stylized, but she always felt a familiar warmth from it. Like he was there, smiling down at her. It was no wonder she often found her way here while wandering the castle halls at night.

"She tried to use him, too," Adora said quietly, staring up at Micah's likeness. "Shadow Weaver."

Angella inhaled, exhaled. "Yes."

"Just like she tried to use me. Us," Adora amended.

Angella nodded sadly. Adora sighed, sliding down the wall opposite the mural to sit on the floor. Her head was down, now, knees to her chest, shoulders curled forward. Angella quietly sat next to her.

"I should hate her," Adora said with quiet fervor. "I do hate her. Ever since I realized how she really treated Catra when we were growing up, how she manipulated both of us her entire life-I've spent spent so long hating her. But now..." she paused, her voice trailing off into something frustrated, angry, broken. "Now all I can remember are the good things, or the things I thought were good. And instead of hating her, I hate myself." Adora's hand tightened into a fist at her side, then slammed into the ground so hard that Angella wasn't sure if she was more afraid of Adora's hand breaking or the stone. Her fist stayed there, clenched, trembling. "I know she never really cared. I know all she wanted was to use me. But when I remember her teaching me how to read, how to tie my boots, telling me stories-" she huffed a brief, wet laugh-"even if they werescary enough to keep me up all night-I... I forget." Her fist trembled again, muscles in her forearm straining as though she was trying to drive it through the stone floor. "I shouldn't forget."

Angella reached for her hand, slowly, gently pulling it up from the floor. Adora's muscles resisted, then gave way. One at a time, she gently unfurled Adora's fingers from their tight fist, revealing deep indentations from her fingernails that almost broke the skin of her palm. Adora barely flinched when Angella's thumb passed over her knuckles, which were already starting to deepen in color from angry red to bruised purple. She gently folded Adora's hand between her own.

"You'll love many people in your life, Adora," she said, quietly. "Not all of them will deserve that love, but that doesn't make you a fool for giving it."

Tears fell from Adora's eyes, hot with guilt, anger, and grief.

"How could I ever love someone who was such a monster?" Her voice was wet and shaking. "I should… If I did, I would be just as bad as… as her."

Angella's heart broke for what felt like the hundredth time that day. "Loving someone will never make you a monster," she said with gentle firmness. "She doesn't define you. She never has, and she never will. You are so much more than her, now." She brought up a hand to Adora's hair, then stopped short and wrapped it around her shoulders instead. "You both are."

Tears fell faster from Adora's eyes, and then she turned her face into Angella's shoulder, wrapping her arms around her in a surprisingly strong embrace.

"Shh," Angella said quietly, gently returning the embrace and rubbing a comforting hand up and down Adora's arm. "It's all right." She closed her eyes to keep her own tears at bay. "It's all right."

When Adora returned to her room some time later, the first thing she saw was Catra standing on her balcony, drumming her fingers on the low wall. She stopped as soon as she saw Adora.

" There you are!" Catra exclaimed. "Geez, I thought you got kidnapped or something. There's probably still some food in the kitchen, if you want it. No bacon, though. Someone ate all of it. Definitely not me."

Adora laughed on her way over, and it was only a little unsteady. "Whatever you say, bacon-breath."

"Wow. Rude." Catra gave her an intent once-over despite her joking tone, her concerned gaze lingering on Adora's face. Adora glanced away self-consciously and wiped at her nose with her sleeve before joining Catra to leaning on the balcony wall.

There was a silence as they both stared across the water. Adora felt Catra's eyes glancing in her direction.

"You okay?" Catra asked, softly.

Adora gave a shaky sigh. "Yeah." Catra narrowed her eyes, but Adora continued. "I ended up talking to Angella. I didn't mean to, it just… kind of happened."

"Huh." There was a pause, and Catra's mouth opened and closed as if she was trying to decide whether to speak. "I talked to her last night," she said, eventually. "It… helped."

Adora glanced up in surprise. "You did? Good. That's… good. I'm glad."

Catra's tail swished self-consciously.

"She's weirdly kind of good at this stuff, huh," Adora said.

"Yeah. She's... not too bad. For a queen."

Adora smiled, leaning in to nudge Catra's shoulder with her own. "You like her."

Catra flushed. "No, I don't."

"Yes, you do." Adora continued as Catra opened her mouth to protest. "It's okay, I like her, too." Catra looked away. "Glimmer's pretty lucky."

"Yeah," Catra admitted. "I guess we got pretty lucky too, in the end."

"Yeah." Adora leaned close enough to press shoulder against Catra's, enjoying the feeling of warmth filtering through the sleeve of her shirt. "Yeah, we did."

"I'm sorry, you know," Adora said quietly, voice thick with emotion. "For how she treated you. I should have seen it so much earlier."

Catra's tail flicked. "Yeah, I know," she said. "You've only apologized about a hundred times since I joined the Rebellion."

"Still. I'm sorry."

"Forget it, Adora. It's not your fault you're dumb." The corner of Catra's mouth was curled in a teasing smirk.

"Hey!" Adora objected, despite feeling a mischievous smile of her own spread across her face. She shoved Catra, who stumbled a half step away.

"It's part of your charm," Catra teased, rapidly regaining her balance. "Good-natured, strong, and stupid. Kind of like a cart horse."

"I will push you off this balcony."

Catra laughed at the empty threat, resuming her former place leaning on the balcony wall with her shoulder brushing Adora's. They stared across the woods, silent, watching the bright midday light filter through the clouds and glitter like gemstones on the surface of the water that stretched between the castle and the trees beyond.

"I mean it, though." Adora said quietly. "The apology," she scrambled to clarify, "not that I would push you off the balcony."

Catra scoffed lightly. "I know."

Silence for another moment. Catra's tail brushed against Adora's leg in an unconscious sign of affection. "I forgave you a long time ago."

There was silence again. Catra gave a long sigh.

"She really was a piece of shit, you know?"

"Yeah. But she was our piece of shit." Adora sighed. "It's hard to get past that."

Catra didn't respond, just swallowed and continued staring forward. Adora lifted her arm, wrapping it around Catra's shoulders.

"But we will." She tightened her arm around Catra's shoulders. "Together."

"Yeah," Catra said, finally letting herself relax into Adora's half-embrace and looping an arm around her waist. "Together."

I wanted to get this out for Mother's Day and I BARELY made it, lol. 15 minutes to go in my timezeone. For everyone who has a hard time with this holiday... much love to you.

Thanks for reading! As always, please let me know if you liked it!