AN: I got a little muddled in my fics and just wanted to clarify a few things.
Ages.
Adora: 21 (Jan baby) | Catra: 22 (October baby) | Violet: 5 (November baby) | Prime was defeated four and a half years ago. Vi was six months old when Prime was killed. Adora found the Sword nearly seven years ago. She was fifteen when she found the sword, sixteen when she beat Catra & when she fell pregnant with Vi. She had Vi in November but turned 17 in January.
This fic is currently, as of this chapter, based in late September/early October. Adora is also 6 months pregnant now.
Catra knew she should wake up Adora, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. "Catra, the Sorceress really doesn't like to be kept waiting," Teela warned from the doorway. Catra huffed. "Yeah, I'd gathered," She slumped in the chair. "You're like… the fifth person to tell me that," She glanced at Adora again. "Is she ok? The nurses were in and out quite a lot last night," Catra furrowed her brow. "How do you know that?" She asked. Teela gestured to Adam. "Dumbass is still in here, remember? Plus, I'm the head of the Royal Guard. And that now includes the protection of Adora and Violet as well as Adam and my own daughter,"
Catra quirked her brow.
"And Adam is a loudmouth," Teela added with a small chuckle. Catra didn't meet her enthusiasm. "She's fine. She kept glitching whenever she puked, and, believe me, it was a lot... They were worried about her stitches bursting… but everything's fine now," She took Adora's hand and rubbed her knuckles. "They're both fine and will be," Teela hummed. "Well, take it from somebody who knows the Sorceress well, the grief you're gonna get from not turning up will be worse than waking Adora up," Catra turned to face the guard. "How do you know her so well then?" Teela shifted nervously on her feet. "It's a long story," She answered vaguely. Catra gestured around. "Ok? They're both asleep if you couldn't tell. It's not like you have much guarding to do while they're out," She gestured to her wife and her brother. Teela hesitated, looking back and forth. "I don't like anybody knowing this," She forewarned. Catra snorted. "Well, we're gonna be leaving in two weeks, so I doubt we'll have much say over anything,"
"Why're you leaving so soon? Doesn't Adora want to stay?" Teela asked, walking in and shutting the door. Catra cleared her throat. "Yes, she does. But it takes just over two weeks to get home, and I don't want her travelling too close to the end of the pregnancy," She shifted underneath Teela's icy stare. "In my defence, our daughter came at eight months. And none of us are equipped to handle a mid-flight spaceship birth," Catra's hand moved to the small scar on the side of Adora's exposed belly.
She'd gotten hot in the night and substituted her gifted nightgown for a sports bra and pair of Bow's shorts that they'd found on the spacecraft. Washed first, obviously. "What with the stitches holding her together right now, we just don't wanna risk something happening when she gives birth. Entrapta's good, but she's not that good," Catra shuddered as very dark images flew through her brain at a million miles an hour.
"I don't mean to state the obvious, Catra, but have you seen where you're sitting? You're in a healer's ward," Teela leaned against her staff. Catra sighed. "Wow, really? Couldn't tell," She drawled. Teela rolled her eyes. "No. We don't wanna fly back with a newborn. We don't know how their body will react to space travel," Catra finally answered. Teela hummed softly. "Fair enough," She paused. Catra cleared her throat. "So?"
"So what?"
"How do you know the Sorceress?" Catra pressed. Teela bit her lip. "The Sorceress isn't a person, rather she's a spirit as old as Eternia itself. She was the one who forged the initial Swords of Power and Protection, over a thousand years ago. The Sorceress preserved her spirit by passing down into her daughter, and her daughter, and so forth…" Teela shifted slightly. "The body is currently my mother. When she dies, I'll become the Sorceress, and then so will my daughter," She scrubbed her face. "It was decided before I was even born… kind of like a destiny, if you will," Catra snorted. "Eternia's big on destiny's, huh?" She chuckled. Teela frowned. "How do you mean?"
Catra gestured to Adam and Adora. "I've been reading up on the lore of She-Ra, and consequently He-Man, in the past week, and found that they were twins some thousand years ago. There's not much else, but He-Man passes down a line, like the Sorceress. But She-Ra will choose the body she wants to fight in," Catra brushed Adora's knuckles. "This one was chosen for some ungodly reason," Adora shifted in her sleep, turning onto her side. She smiled softly, as she brought Catra's hand up to her chest, tucking it beneath her chin. "Well, I know everything about He-Man and She-Ra thanks to her… so the Sorceress will be able to tell you whatever you wanna know, probably,"
Teela glanced at the clock. "If you don't make her wait too much longer," Catra groaned loudly. "Yeah, yeah, I get it, Jesus,"
Teela frowned. "What is Jesus?" She asked. Catra hummed. "What?" Teela gestured. "Jesus. Who, or what, is it?" She asked. Catra froze for a moment before settling on a shrug. "Dunno. It's a curse word on Etheria. Like fuck, shit, cunt, bastard," Teela's face flushed slightly. "Yeah, ok, we have those four… Do you have "goddesses be damned?" as a curse word?" Catra snorted. "Nah, that's way too prissy," Teela sucked her teeth. "Then that's our equivalent," She turned to leave. "Don't keep the Sorceress waiting, I mean it. She'll offer the bare minimum when you go, so if you're after something, the sooner the better,"
She paused. "Also, you guys will need to change. You'll both have to wear the formal occasion dresses she demands. Otherwise, the Sorceress won't see you," Catra scoffed. "She's six months pregnant and just had surgery. Can't the all-mighty Sorceress give us a pass?" Teela shook her head. "No. Either you wear the clothes or you don't get seen. The Sorceress is a sticker for tradition…" Teela paused visibly. Catra sighed heavily. "What now?" Teela cast her gaze downwards. "While the castle and most of Eternia are accommodating towards same-sex marriages, the Sorceress isn't. I'd take the rings off, or lie and say you have a husband," Catra scoffed. "This Sorceress is starting to piss me off," She hissed. Teela shrugged once. "The sooner you see her, the sooner you leave,"
She turned out of the room. "Believe me, I've been doing it my whole life,"
"Ugh, how much farther?" Adora groaned, stepping over her ninety-billionth step. "A few more, baby. Then you can rest while she looks at you," Catra pushed her up the stairs a little further. "Pregnant women shouldn't have to walk this much," She grumbled. Catra scoffed. "You were literally fighting a war when you were pregnant last," She winced softly beneath the steely glare of her wife. "I'm sure you can manage a few more steps," Catra took her hand softly. Adora groaned theatrically. "In my defence, I hadn't just come out of surgery," She said. Catra chuckled as she helped her over the final five steps. "No, but let's be honest. If you had, it wouldn't have stopped you," She paused as Adora crest the final step. "Remember when Lonnie and I fought and you stepped in between us, but Lonnie ended up shattering your knee? You were back in simulations, like... four days after you'd been operated on,"
Adora chuckled breathily as she leaned against the wall. Her hand came to rest on her swollen belly with a pinched expression. Catra frowned immediately. "You ok? We can take a break before seeing her," She closed the gap to put her hands on Adora's shoulders. Adora shook her head, taking slow and steady breaths. "No... I'm good. Just out of breath," Catra's eyes flicked to the flickering Failsafe, smooshed between Adora's boobs. "That's hurting you... isn't it?" She asked. The blonde looked away. "Let's just get this over with," She pushed off the wall.
...
"I cannot see a solution in which both of you are happy," The Sorceress began. She caught Catra's glare, however, and her attitude shifted. "But quite honestly, I do not care. My job is to care for the spirits of Grayskull, and their hosts... not their partners or children," Adora shifted on the chair uncomfortably in her white and golden dress. "Yeah, but... could you think of them? Just a tad?" The Sorceress stared levelly at her. "Perhaps I could think more carefully about your child," The Sorceress paused. "Children," She gestured to Adora's swollen abdomen. Catra's hackles immediately went up in warning. "They are, after all, half of your DNA, therefore, half She-Ra," The Sorceress paused. "If you have another girl, anyway," Adora's brow furrowed. "But I'm magic... won't any biological sons of mine inherit it?" The Sorceress shook her head. "Unlikely. She-Ra only passes through female bodies, as He-Man only passes through male bodies. Their makeup makes it impossible to reside within a body that isn't their own,"
Adora huffed. "However," The Sorceress paused. She leaned closer to the couple. Catra tightened her grip around Adora's shoulders. The Sorceress noticed. "I cannot tell if the child you are carrying has a magic signature, or if you, yourself, have a large signature. Perhaps you are magic despite She-Ra," She leaned back. Catra's tail remained bristled, waving in the air to display her irritation. Adora cleared her throat gently. Her hands came up to Catra's. It was only then did she realise she'd cut into her wife's shoulders slightly.
"Um... the Failsafe?" Adora prompted. As if on cue, the damned code lit up a brilliant blue. Adora groaned loudly, grabbing her head, and folding over in the middle. "Adora?" Catra moved to crouch in her eyeline. "Baby, breathe through it," Catra took one of Adora's elbows in her palm, and with her other hand, took her knee and rubbed it softly. "Come on, like we've rehearsed, in and out, and in and out," The Sorceress was quiet in this ordeal, simply watching with narrowed eyes.
"Can't-" Adora gasped. "Hurts-" She cried out, her form flickering between the eight-foot-tall goddess and her five-foot-tall pregnant self. "Adora, come on, breathe through it or get the sword," Catra tried to keep her voice steady, but watching as her body contorted between five foot and eight foot, glitching various shades of green, blue and white was slightly unsettling. "Can't-" She gasped out, throwing her arm to the side with a yell.
She shouted her catchphrase, and in a blinding flash of light, She-Ra sat before her. Catra's hand didn't even cover her kneecap. She breathed heavily, and if Catra strained hard enough, wheezed in between breaths. "You good?" Catra stood up, and even standing, only just came to Adora's eyes as she sat. She cupped her face softly, gently digging the metallic face crown into the pads of her fingers. Adora leaned into her touch, shutting her eyes. "Think so," Catra tried not to be alarmed as beads of sweat dripped from Adora's temple. "I'm ok, we're ok," She panted against her hand finally meeting her eyes.
The Sorceress hummed. "This is not the form you began with," She noted. Adora cleared her throat a few times. "No," She finally answered. "No, this is much stronger, I can sense the raw power within you without even testing it," Catra felt the hairs on her neck rise. "Not that you'd test on a heavily pregnant woman anyway, right?" The Sorceress said nothing, but her face pulled taut. "What do you do about the glitching? That's like... the whole reason we came here," Adora prompted. The Sorceress hummed quietly. "Yes. I know what ails you, Adora. But I'm sorry to say that it's not a simple fix,"
The blonde groaned loudly. "When is anything She-Ra related "simple"?" Catra was inclined to agree. "Nevertheless, it isa clear fix, but it's not simple," Catra frowned. "You're contradicting yourself," She said. The Sorceress stood up from the desk, slowly walking over. "I am not. The solution is clear, but it isn't easy," She reached a finger out to touch at the flickering Failsafe. Adora curved inwards, away from her finger, with a wince. "The Failsafe is struggling to hold onto the magic, to keep it simple. It is holding as much as it can, however, the overflow is supercharging She-Ra herself. Hence, the glitches,"
It flickered white beneath her finger. "The solution is clear. You must expel the magic out of the Failsafe. Otherwise, you will continue to have outbursts of power," Adora huffed. "But I already did that. I was fine for like... three months. Then the glitches happened again," The Sorceress hummed. "I cannot say for certain, not until I have done a reading on She-Ra's levels, but I can tell you that that expulsion removed less than one per cent of the power,"
Adora growled loudly. Catra stood behind the chair again, resting her chin on the crook of Adora's neck. "But it wiped me out for ages!" The Sorceresspt her gaze neutral. "That is because too much was pulled at once. It would need to be a consistent, but gentle, flow for no longer than an hour. And it would have to be done repeatedly until your magic is back to its original levels," Adora groaned a particular groan. "If you'll excuse me," She stood up shakily, not used to walking as She-Ra from nearly six months of unuse.
The Sorceress blinked in shock. Adora flew out of the door as fast as her pregnant body would allow, the door shutting behind. The Sorceress turned to Catra with a raised brow. "She's got hyperemesis gravidarum," She offered. The Sorceress hummed quietly. "In any case, that is what she will have to do. There is nothing else I can offer. All I can say for certain is to be careful. The power bursts are linked to her emotions, as was the case with He-Man and the previous She-Ra," Catra frowned slightly. "We were told by a sorceress back on Etheria that it puts ou-her baby at risk if she does one of those..." Catra flapped for the word. "Power things,"
The Sorceress sighed softly. "Do you really think me so naive as to not see that you two are romantically involved?" Catra sat in the chair Adora had been in. "We're not," She argued. The Sorceress hummed as she moved back to her desk. "I assume Teela got to you first. I'm sure she stated that I was "a stickler for tradition" and advised you to wear a gown and hide your marriage?" Catra swallowed. "Hm. I guessed as much. Whilst I am a traditionalist, it is exactly that. I am a stickler for tradition. I couldn't care less what other people do, least of all those who aren't my family, or of this planet,"
Catra tried to be offended on Adora's part, but she couldn't quite muster the genuine tone. "So you understand why I'm somewhat against the idea of her putting our baby at risk?" Catra asked. The Sorceress nodded. "Yes. Well, no, I don't. But the body I reside in does," Catra's nose wrinkled. "However, your sorceress was right in the respect that it would potentially bring harm to your unborn child when they were too young in utero, but now should be fine. Adora's body has built up protection around the child, even I can sense that," Catra sighed softly. "That being said, however, i would advise her to be careful. When releasing so much raw power, it can sometimes spiral away without notice. Then you have a problem. Somebody who is well-versed in magical transfers will need to supervise,"
"Why can't you do it?" Catra asked quickly. "I haven't left my tower in over a millennia, Caterina. I've no desire to do it anytime soon. My hosts birthed all of their children in this room. The best way I can suggest a safe transfer would be to visit magically depleted planets and return the magic. They, without a doubt, will accept it,"
Catra hummed. "Well, it'll have to wait until the baby is born. We're leaving to go home in two weeks. I'm not having Adora fly around too close to her due date," The Sorceress hummed dubiously. "Perhaps you can't remember. The magical outputs are heavily influenced by Adora's emotions," Catra shrugged. "And? They have been since she picked up the damn sword seven years ago," The Sorceress raised a brow. "How many emotions do you think a woman goes through whilst she is bearing life? Hmm?"
Oh.
Oh shit.
Catra didn't think about that.
"At the very least," The Sorceress began. "I would detour to a depleted planet on your return home. If nothing else, it would relieve some of the magic," Catra frowned. "But what'll happen if we don't?" The Sorceress shook her head. "In labour, at the peak of her physical and emotional pain, Adora would potentially release all of the power at once. It would change the entirety of Etheria's makeup. It would overcharge all of the Runestones, have adverse effects on the weather, wage storms and earthquakes... it has the potential to be catastrophic,"
Catra cleared her throat gently. The Sorceress nodded once. "Now, if you wouldn't mind, I have matters to attend to. My tower is always open for She-Ra and He-Man, should either wish to speak with me,"
