A/N: Inspired by the song "parachute" by Covet

~ o ~

Even covered in beautiful flowers and leaves, the Fright Zone still lived up to its name. Its jutting spires and twisted metal landscape remained, peeking out from the foliage like the corpse of a hulking beast slowly but surely returning to the earth. It was a reminder that, even though the war was over, the scars the Horde left would take generations to heal.

And yet, to Adora, it was also a home, haunted with memories both painful and pleasant.

Adora hadn't been entirely surprised when Catra had told her that she wanted to visit the Fright Zone together. They'd been living happily in Bright Moon for months now, but she could tell that Catra still didn't entirely feel like she belonged there, no matter how much Adora tried to convince her otherwise. The need in Catra's eyes had been apparent when she'd casually suggested the outing to Adora. Despite Adora's own complicated feelings about returning, she'd happily agreed to go with Catra. She'd support Catra through whatever it was she needed to do.

Now, looking out at the fortress they'd grown up in together, neither girl knew what to say. Adora finally broke the silence by simply announcing, "We're here."

"Yep," Catra said, but it was clear her mind was elsewhere. She was staring straight ahead, ears tucked back and tail wrapped around her body.

Adora leaned against her. "You okay?"

That seemed to bring Catra back to her senses. She turned to Adora and smiled, flashing all her teeth. "'Course I am." She leaned into Adora's touch, nuzzling their heads together. "I have you with me."

Adora giggled. "Since when did you get so corny?" she asked while turning away to hide the blush that was no doubt blooming on her cheeks.

"It's your fault!" Catra said, her face similarly red. She took off suddenly and called over her shoulder, "C'mon, last one down there's a rotten egg!"

"Cheater!" Adora yelled, clambering after her.

Catra had enough advantage even without the head start. The once-barren landscape was now covered in lush greenery. While Adora kept getting tripped up by vines and branches, Catra was lithely twisting her way past every obstruction without breaking stride.

"Fine," Adora muttered when she nearly face planted after getting her foot caught in yet another root. "Two can play at that game."

In a blinding flash of light, Adora transformed into She-Ra. With boundless energy now flowing through her, she sprinted ahead at top speed. The plants in her way responded to her presence, shifting aside to grant her passage.

Catra could only shout as Adora zoomed by. "Hey, no fair!"

Adora stuck her tongue out, but Catra was already far behind her. By the time she reached the fortress's entrance, Catra was nowhere in sight.

As she waited for Catra to catch up, Adora pondered their next move. Catra had been vague about her plans, and Adora suspected that even she didn't know what it was she wanted to do here. It was like the Fright Zone was calling to her, a siren song from the past, and Catra was helpless against it.

A sudden collison yanked Adora from her musings. She found herself pinned down on the ground, Catra grinning from on top of her. "Caught you."

"Yeah, but that doesn't change the fact that you're a rotten egg," Adora said before leaning up to kiss Catra. "Lucky for you, I love rotten eggs."

Catra bit her lip, but she couldn't stop herself from bursting out laughing. "Was that supposed to be romantic?"

"Yes?" Adora kissed Catra again. "Did it work?"

"Hmm." Catra glanced away, looking like she was thinking deeply about her answer. "Your flirting could use a bit of practice," she decided as her eyes met Adora's again. With a grin, she added, "But your kissing makes up for it." As if to demonstrate, she leaned in for another, and Adora happily obliged.

Even after all these months, Adora still wasn't used to kissing Catra. Every time might as well have been their first with the way it left her swooning. She lost herself in the feeling of Catra so close to her, their bodies and hearts intertwined. She never wanted it to end, and yet at the same time it felt like she might disappear if she let it last too long, dragged under a sea of swirling emotions.

When they finally broke apart, Catra smiled at her, her face flushed. "Actually, I wouldn't mind getting more practice with that too."

"I could live with that," Adora said. She was leaning in once more when she noticed how the shadows around her had lengthened. The sun was beginning its descent towards the horizon. "Later, though. We should get moving."

Catra pouted, but she stood up and offered her hand to Adora. "Fiiine."

"Thanks," Adora said as Catra helped her to her feet. "So, where do you want to go?"

"I don't know," Catra admitted. "I hadn't really thought that far ahead. Honestly, just being here is making my fur stand on end, but I feel like I can't leave yet."

Adora hated how lost Catra looked, her form silhouetted as she stared up at the imposing entrance before them. "Why don't we go to our old bunk?" she asked, breaking Catra's trance. "I haven't seen it in ages, and I kinda miss it."

Catra laughed at that. "Even though it was barely better than sleeping on the floor? I couldn't believe it the first time in our new bed. I didn't even know mattresses came that soft!"

Adora smiled at the memory. "Yeah, I didn't think I was ever going to get you out of bed again." She thought back to her own first night in Bright Moon. "Actually, there used to be a different bed in there. That one was too soft; I couldn't sleep at all. I ended up just sleeping on the floor for a while."

"Yeah," Catra said, deep in thought. "It's like, even though we left this place, it's still affecting us. I probably would've had to do the same if I hadn't had you with me."

Adora took Catra's hand. "It's a good thing I was there, then." She started walking forward, pulling Catra behind her. "C'mon, let's go."

As they walked, Adora let the old memories flow through her. It was like she could see straight through the new plant matter to the bare metal bones beneath. Right there was where Adora had fallen and chipped a tooth when she was six. And down that way was where she and Catra would sneak off to play Force Captains and Princesses. And that storage room over there was where the two of them had spent a whole night comforting Kyle when he and Rogelio got in that fight.

And there was so much more. It seemed everywhere she looked there was a new ghost to uncover. She glanced at Catra, whose expression was unreadable. What must this be like for her? What kinds of memories was she replaying?

Adora squeezed Catra's hand. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Catra said. "I think so. It's just weird being back here. Even though it looks so different, it feels like we never left."

"I know what you mean."

"Was it hard for you at first? When you left the Fright Zone and went to Bright Moon."

Adora laughed humorlessly. "Definitely. I thought about going back all the time, especially since you were there. The only thing stopping me was, you know, all the evil."

Catra winced. "I hate that that wasn't enough for me to leave too."

"No!" Adora said, shaking her head. "I didn't mean it like that. I know it must've felt impossible giving up everything you'd ever known, even if you hated it here."

Catra was silent for a moment. "Did I ever tell you how much you helped?" she finally asked. "Even though I couldn't admit it then, knowing you always had your hand out, ready to pull me up, meant the world to me." She smiled as she gave Adora's hand a squeeze. "I'm glad I finally had the courage to take it."

"I always knew you would," Adora said.

They were in the barracks now. Just like the rest of the facility, it was covered in plant life. Still, the two of them were able to find their old bunk without any hassle. It took some effort to clear a spot to sit, and once they had, they were rewarded with the stiffest mattress imaginable.

"It's even worse than I remembered!" Adora said, laughter in her voice.

"I think the floors at Bright Moon are softer than this!"

"Right?" Adora lay back. "It's weird though. Even though it feels like I'm lying on a wood plank, I could drift right off."

"Maybe it's because it still feels like home?" Catra said. She turned to look at Adora and then snorted with laughter. "Or maybe it's the moss pillow you're using."

"Huh?" Adora bolted upright and looked back at where she'd been lying down. Sure enough, there was a giant clump of bright green moss right where her head had been. "Gross! Please tell me there isn't any in my hair."

"I could tell you that," Catra said, "but then I'd be lying." She laughed as Adora started frantically batting at her head. "C'mere, let me help."

Adora gratefully tilted her head towards Catra, who started plucking out what seemed like an endless supply of moss. Catra's touch sent tingles down her scalp, and she had to suppress a shiver.

"There," Catra finally said. "I think that's all of it."

"Thanks," Adora said as she snuggled up to Catra. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

They sat like that a while longer until Catra suddenly shot up, a gleam in her eyes. "I have an idea. I'll meet you at our garden. I just need to grab something first."

Adora was curious, but she just nodded. "Sure, I'll see you there." She got to her feet, and the two of them left the barracks together before heading off in opposite directions.

"Garden" probably wasn't the right word for where Adora was headed, but it had been the closest thing to one in the Fright Zone when she and Catra were kids. They'd found it one day when they'd snuck off together after training, just wandering around and talking about anything and everything while dodging all the adults looking for them. It was a patch, just beyond the gates of the fortress, that was a little bit less barren than the rest of the wilderness. At the time, the scraggly brown weeds had been one of the most amazing things Adora had ever seen.

After that day, she and Catra had claimed that spot as their own and made it their mission to keep their garden healthy. They'd watered it as often as they could, and after some time Adora thought the plants looked just a little bit greener and a little less like they were about to wither away. Catra had told her it was just wishful thinking, but she'd kept watering them all the same.

"Oh wow," Adora said when she rounded the corner.

Beautiful couldn't even begin to describe the sight that was in front of her. Their garden was teeming with flowers of all kinds. Adora had never seen so many colors in one place. It was like something out of a storybook.

"Woah," Catra said when she arrived. "I was expecting plants, but this is something else."

"I think maybe I did this," Adora told her, awestruck.

"Well, yeah." Catra sounded confused. "You made all the plants show up when you released Etheria's magic."

Adora shook her head. "No, this is different. I think that I must've subconsciously sent a surge of magic right to this spot. I bet that nowhere else on Etheria looks like this."

"Then it's the perfect spot for this." For the first time, Adora noticed that Catra had something in her hands.

"Is that Shadow Weaver's mask? Didn't it get destroyed?"

"It's not like she only had one of these things," Catra said. "I just grabbed one from her collection."

"What are you going to do with it?"

Catra looked down at her feet. "I want to bury it. I feel like, maybe it'll help me move on from this place. Like I'm burying my whole horrible childhood."

Adora lifted Catra's chin and looked her in the eyes. She seemed so vulnerable, like she was trying not to break, and Adora wanted nothing more than to hold her in her arms until everything was better. "I think that's a great idea," she said instead.

"Thanks, Adora." Catra smiled. "To be honest, my first thought was to blow this whole place up, but I don't think Scorpia would be too happy about that."

"You never know. Maybe she'll decide it's better to tear the whole place down and build something new."

"If she does, she'd better put me in charge of the demolition!"

Adora laughed. "I'm sure she will if you ask nicely."

With that, the two of them got to the task at hand. Thankfully, it was easy going. Unlike how it had been when they were children, the soil here was soft and fertile, It wasn't long before they had a hole big enough to lay the mask in.

"Should we say a few words?" Adora asked.

"Yeah," Catra said. She looked at the mask in her hands. "Don't think your noble sacrifice makes up for everything you put me through growing up. But thanks." With that, she placed the mask in the hole, and the two of them covered it up.

"How are you feeling?" Adora asked.

"Like maybe I'm finally ready to move on."

Adora smiled. "Good." She took Catra's hands in her own and leaned in close. "I'll always be right there with you."

~ o ~

A/N: Thanks for reading! Reviews are always appreciated :)

If you'd like, you can also find me on Tumblr with the same username.