Catra woke with a start. The last thing she remembered was a tornado of golden hair and a blunt sensation against the back of her skull. Now, she was sat in an insufferably pastel room. Sat was a generous word for it, because she soon discovered that she couldn't move her arms. Or legs. Or even her tail.
"You're up!" The familiar voice came from the door, and there she was, in all her golden glory. Well, she wasn't suited up as She-Ra. In fact, she apparently hadn't stopped wearing her Horde uniform, which confused Catra a little. But it was undeniably Adora, carrying a tray of breakfast and greeting her with a smile. "How's it going, Catra?"
"Guess." Catra narrowed her eyes at Adora, then the girl that followed her. She wasn't much younger than Adora, but she had a plain look about her. She'd have been the dullest girl Catra had ever seen, if it weren't for her rainbow pigtails.
"You're happy to see me?" Adora asked, as she sat on the edge of the bed just beside Catra's chair.
"I'm not talking to you!" Catra hissed.
"Sure you are." Adora's smile was infuriating.
"No. I'm not." Catra tugged at her bonds, but they were on tight.
"You really are. Catra, meet Princess Trutha." Adora gestured to the girl who'd entered beside her. She gave a little smile and wave to Catra, but quickly glanced away from the prisoner's ferocious gaze. "She's got a very special power. She can make people tell the truth, wash away their doubts, their negative feelings, that kind of thing. She's great for helping people get together, share their true feelings, and… That's why I've brought her here."
"I've never heard of her." Catra kept glaring at Trutha. She liked how she squirmed.
"That's because you're always fighting," Adora said. "And that's not what Trutha's good at. Trutha, why don't you stand behind Catra so we can start talking?"
Trutha nodded and shuffled around Catra's chair. She almost tripped when Catra snapped her teeth at her, but soon she was behind her, out of sight.
"One… Two..." Adora counted. "Three." Catra felt a cool breeze brush over her hair. "You should be feeling the effects about now. So, Catra, let's talk about this whole Horde, Princesses, our friendship, thing."
"What..." Whatever Trutha was doing, Catra did feel a little lighter. A little more free. "What? So you can betray me again?"
"I didn't want to betray you, Catra." Adora sighed. "I found out that I was She-Ra, that the Horde was hurting people, and we ended up facing each other before I could get a chance to explain it all to you. If I'd had the chance, I would have gone to you and told you all about everything we'd gotten wrong. But I couldn't, and we fought, and since then, you've never given me a chance to talk to you. Not properly. Not like friends."
"It didn't feel that way to me," Catra glanced off to the side. She couldn't bear to meet Adora's eyes. "It felt like my only friend leaving me."
"And I'm so sorry that I made you feel that way." Adora put a hand over her heart. "You were my first friend, Catra. The only real friend I had in the Horde. I've wanted you by my side since the day I joined the Princess Alliance."
"What… And all the times we had fights, it was the same thing? You'd still want me now?"
"Obviously!" Adora laughed. "Come on, Catra. We were a good team, when you could be bothered to show up. And the Princesses aren't like the Horde. Sure, there are disagreements, but we work together to build each other up. You won't have to constantly prove yourself like you do in the Horde. You know what happens if you fail here? We talk about it. We fix it. We don't throw you in a cell, or whip you with energy lasers, or starve you…"
"That does sound pretty sweet..." Catra let her head fall to gaze at her feet. "It'd be nice not to have Hordak breathing down my neck all day."
"You would have to put up with me," Adora pointed out.
"Urgh, nevermind." Catra wrinkled her nose. "Send me back to the Horde." She met Adora's eyes and they shared a little laugh. It was the first one in a long time. "So, is that it? I stop signing up with the Horde and start hanging around with Princesses and then we all live happily ever after?"
"No. I wish, but no." Adora shook her head. "We still have to beat the rest of the Horde. Hordak, Entrapta, Scorpia, the soldiers, the tanks. But we'll get to be friends again. You know all kinds of things about the Horde since I left, you're a great fighter, and… Who knows? Maybe you'll even be able to stomach some of my new friends."
"I have to share you with them?" Catra could feel a pang of jealousy, but it quickly faded.
"Yeah. You'll get used to it, trust me. And you know that nobody could ever replace you, right?" Adora flashed a grin at her. "We can even share bunks, if you want. They're a lot more comfortable here."
"I… I guess I could give it a shot," Catra said.
"Great! Let her go, Trutha." Adora waved to the girl, whose fingers nimbly worked at the ropes tying Catra to the chair. Catra had just managed to stand up when Adora lunged forward and wrapped her in a hug, one that Catra wasted no time in returning. "This is going to be great," Adora said, once they parted.
"Yeah." Catra bobbed her head. "Thanks to Trutha here." She met the girl's eyes. "Think you can work that magic on the rest of the Horde, rainbows?"
"Oh, yeah," Adora laughed. "Funny story… Uh, Trutha's not actually a Princess."
"… What?" Catra stared between the pair.
"I-I'm a farmer." The girl said, as she took off her colorful wig to reveal perfectly plain brown hair. "She-Ra, um, She-Ra wanted my, uh, help, so I… Here I am."
"I just thought you'd be more reasonable if you had an excuse not to get all prideful," Adora explained. "You're not mad, right?"
"No," Catra said. "But I'm gonna scratch you for making me look stupid in front of people," She held up a finger and a claw slid out.
"Not the face!" Adora dived away from Catra, who started to give chase across the room. As they ducked and dived, Catra reflected on the fact that it was fun getting to fight Adora without the pair of them trying to kill each other. She could get used to it.