"Catra!" Adora screamed as she sat up on her bed, tears running down her cheeks as air failed to reach her lungs. She brought a shaky hand up to her face, trying to forget whatever dream that was. Catra was there walking away, Adora begged her to stay but she didn't. Catra always said things that hurt Adora, but deep down the blond knew it was not true. When Catra told her, she hated her, it hurt but Adora knew it wasn't true. But this dream… Catra wasn't angry, she was just… done…
Adora got out of bed and walked toward the balcony feeling like she needed some fresh air. Her hands shook as she stared at them, so she clenched and unclenched trying to relieve the shaking of her hands. Adora let out a loud sigh, looking down to the whispering woods. "What the hell was that dream?" she mumbled to herself. "What did Catra mean when she said she was done running after me…?" Somehow those words didn't sit well with Adora.
Catra's eyes open slowly, as she takes in the room she is in. It was clearly the medical bay but flowers decorated the room. She saw Scorpia sitting next to her bed, sleeping with her arms crossed. Catra smiled softly, "Hey Scorpia, sleeping on the job?"
Scorpia hiccuped herself awake, blinking her eyes in surprise as she saw Catra staring at her. "Catra!" she cried out, moving forward towards the girl. She didn't quite envelope her in a hug, although Catra could tell she wanted to. "You're finally awake!"
"Yes, well…" Catra raised an eyebrow, "How long have I been asleep?"
Scorpia tapped on her chin with her claw in a reflective way, "About a week…" she said with some aprehension.
A look of shock formed on Catra's face. "A week?" she managed to gasp out, feeling like all the air in her lungs had disappeared. She looked around, her hand landing on her rather empty stomach. "Wh-where is…? Is it…?" she wanted to ask, she wanted to know if it had survived but the sentence was just not forming, her throat failing her.
Scorpia's eyes widened at the realization that Catra must have thought the worst, "No, no! She is fine, she's just in another room."
Mismatched eyes widened in surprise, "She?!" Catra's mouth felt dry.
Possibly sensing it, Scorpia grabbed a pitcher from the side table and poured her a glass of water, "We were super worried about you and the baby, she got here a month too early and you had passed out from fatigue. But even with all that, Morat said he didn't understand why you weren't waking up..." Scorpia's eyebrows knitted together, "But the little kitten is stable currently! Now that you are awake, we can go see her! Of course, once you get the okay from the doctor." She paused for a second, a goofy smile forming on her face, "Though maybe you'll be surprised, little kitten is not much of a kitty."
Catra raised an eyebrow, "What?"
Of course, Morat had shown up a minute later, relief written across his face. He had provided her details of what he thought happened to her. From what Catra could understand, she acted recklessly and her body had accumulated enough stress to kill an entire army. Fortunately, the blood she had seen on her hand that day, was of a small wound near her inner thigh. Still, it had been enough to throw her into a state of shock.
Now that everyone had gone, she had a moment to herself to think over the information she was given. The baby was alive and apparently doing very well even for a month early. Although she would think that was due to Adora's genes. She had seen how quickly Adora would heal, the girl was a princess after all. Catra's body, on the other hand, heals a little bit slower. Still faster than your average human, after all, she was a magicat. Her thoughts paused as she saw Morat enter the room, a small bundle in his arms.
Her body seemed to tense up as the man walked up to her, a small smile on his face, "She's been waiting to meet you." His smile only seemed to grow as he laid the small human in Catra's arms.
Catra looked down gently, her gold and blue eyes, meeting a pair of bright blue. Time seemed to freeze as the baby looked up at her, seeming to recognize Catra as her mother. Her tiny hands flailed around and Catra offered her pinky finger, feeling the small baby hand tightening around it. She choked on her tears as she smiled.
"Fascinating!"
Surprised by the sudden interruption, Catra looked to her side, Entrapta hovering over them staring at the baby in Catra's arms.
"Every time I see her, I forget that you were the one to give birth to her." Entrapta's eyes shined, "She didn't inherit nearly any of your qualities other than your hair color. Oh man! Aren't genes fascinating!"
Looking down, Catra took in her daughters' appearance. None were the familiar magicat ears or fur but instead, she took on a human appearance. Small ears and soft skin, a strand of hair standing up, it kind of reminded her of Adora's hair puff. For all intents and purposes, her daughter had inherited Adora's looks, typical of a princess.
"Gosh, my heart just melts watching you, Wildcat."
Catra didn't know when but somehow Scorpia was standing next to her as well, their eyes glistening with happy tears. She stood next to Entrapta who had a quizzical look on her face, her hair tapping at her chin pensively, "You know," Entrapta started, narrowing her eyes at the baby in Catra's arms, "she reminds me of someone."
Scorpia imitates Entrapta's look, a laugh leaving her lips, "Oh! I see it, she looks like Ad—" Catra shot her a death glare, making Scorpia stumble on her words, "A—human, yeah, yeah, she doesn't even look like Catra." She let out a nervous laugh, "Yup, like a typical human found anywhere… in Etheria…"
Entrapta hums for a second, ignoring Scorpia rambling at her side. Her unblinking eyes made Catra shift uncomfortably under the girl's penetrating stare. Then out of nowhere, Entrapta grinned, "Welp, that's a mystery for another time! I have to return to the lab and add some extra upgrades to Emily. You must come by whenever you get out of here, Catra!" Entrapta laughs, her hair extending, waving at the baby in Catra's arms, "I must say she is very cute and tiny!"
Letting out a sigh Catra wondered where the purple-haired girl gets her attention span from because she could never stay focused for a second, not that she wanted Entrapta to focus on the details. She watched Entrapta leave the room and a sigh left her lips before her attention got caught by the small baby in her arms. She was finally a mother, and somehow that was the most terrifying fact she had ever considered.
Scorpia excitedly took pictures of Catra from every angle. Catra's shoulders were slumped forward, a tired look on her face as a sleeping infant lay, strapped into the baby carrier on her front. She was finally able to leave the medical bay with her daughter after weeks of recovery, though she was incredibly tired. The baby had refused to sleep for more than a few hours at a time, Morat had said that it was typical of babies to not sleep much. Her head tilted to the side, eyes closing as she stood there waiting for Scorpia to finish taking whatever pictures she needed. Catra wondered if Scorpia only got her way because of how tired she was.
A flash startled Catra making her groan, "Can we be done with this?"
"Yes!" Scorpia grinned, before taking one more picture, capturing Catra by surprise. "Okay, now we are done." She hummed happily as she followed an angry Catra out of the medical bay.
They both walked silently side by side, Catra letting out a yawn from time to time. Scorpia's eyes shifted between Catra and the infant, smiling softly, "Have you thought of a name yet?"
"Name?" Catra looked at Scorpia, confusion in her eyes.
"Uh, yes, you know... like your name is Catra, mine is Scorpia—"
"I know what a name is, Scorpia!" Catra glared at the white-haired girl, "I—just haven't really thought of one."
Scorpia eyed Catra for a second, a grin forming on her face, "No need to worry bestie! I've made a list of names in my notebook." She took out a notebook, but her claws couldn't hold it properly, and the notebook fell to the floor. Struggling to grab the notebook she mumbled, "Gosh, why do they make these things so hard to grab." Scorpia's eyes moved up to see Catra walking away rather quickly. "Oh okay, I'll catch up to you in a second, and then we can talk names!"
Ignoring the rather enthusiastic girl behind her, Catra quickened her step. The last thing she needed was for Scorpia to give her kid some weird name. She wandered around as she thought about how she still hadn't chosen a name for her daughter, but to be fair she had never named anything in her life. Her steps seem to stop in front of a cell. Somehow, she found herself in front of Shadow Weaver's jail cell.
Standing there frozen, she took in a shaky breath as Shadow Weaver noticed her, her eyes widening in surprise. Catra entered the jail cell, the baby yawned, waking up. Her bright blue eyes watching Shadow Weaver. "Hello, Shadow Weaver, how are you liking the cozy cell?" Catra smiled.
Shadow Weaver narrowed her eyes, "Why are you here, Catra?"
Catra's smile dropped, she didn't quite know why she was there. "I was just feeling foul, so I thought that coming here and seeing you in shambles would make me feel better." She let out a humorless laugh at her own comment.
"I see" Shadow Weaver was about to look away and ignore Catra's remarks when her eyes met with two tiny blue orbs. Standing up, Shadow Weaver stepped toward Catra stopping only an inch away as the chains held her back. The infant in front of her reminded her of all those years back when she first held Adora as a baby. "You must be so afraid, my child."
Shadow Weaver's words made Catra freeze, her heart beating wildly in her chest. She was indeed afraid, afraid of being a bad mother to her baby… the baby she didn't even have a name for! Anxiety filled her lungs, making her shake, maybe she did know why she was standing here in front of a woman who never really cared for her but who somehow knew her better than anyone at this point and time. "I-I'm n-not."
Somehow Catra had ended up within arm's length from Shadow Weaver, suddenly feeling the dark lady's hand on her cheek. "So afraid of ruining this child..."
Catra's eyes widened at the statement, anger rising inside her. She pushed Shadow Weaver, making her fall to the ground, "What do you know!? It's not like you were the best mom either!"
Weaver chuckled, "That's exactly it Catra, you and I are the same. We are destined to be second best, to be abandoned. Unlike Adora, love and care don't come easy for you. Sooner or later that child will also abandon you just like Adora abandoned me."
"Why do you always have to bring Adora into this?! She has nothing to do with me or—"
"By the looks of your child, I beg to differ."
Taking a few steps back, Catra's mouth opened and closed in shock. She composed herself, glaring down at Shadow Weaver, "You are wrong! I'm nothing like you, I-I'm doing so much better than you, and I'll be a million times a better mom than you ever were!" With that, she turned around and left the jail cell, a shaky sigh leaving Catra's lips.
Catra didn't know what possessed her to steal a skiff and drive to the Whispering Woods. She was still recovering from her delivery, so she was strictly forbidden to leave the Fright Zone, especially with the infant. But here she was, once again breaking the rules, she could understand why the doctor was always frustrated with her.
Hopping off the skiff, Catra looked around at the familiar scenery, it threw her back to that one day when she and Adora drove here. It was also the day she lost the blonde forever. Walking around a bit, the forest seemed to open up for her. The infant appeared to be wide awake as if taking in the forest in front of her.
She was starting to believe that she was lost, when she found herself standing behind an old woman picking berries. Catra froze, not knowing what to do, she took a step back, about to sneak away since the old lady had not noticed her quite yet. But before she could fully step away, she stepped on a twig, startling the lady in front of her.
The old woman's eyes widened as a huge grin formed on her face, "Mara, deary!" She walked closer to Catra, making the feline shrink back, tail swiveling nervously. The old woman wasn't really looking at Catra but at the infant in her baby carrier, "Mara you seem to have shrunk since the last time I saw you." She narrowed her eyes at the baby, "You also seem quite a bit younger..."
Catra raised an eyebrow at the obviously crazy lady in front of her, but she was more surprised by the baby recognizing the name as if it belonged to her. "Lady, I don't know what is wrong with your head but my daughter— ow!" Catra yelped when she felt something hit her skull, she glared at the old lady as the woman waved a broom around.
"Mara was supposed to visit and help me gather some berries for the pie." The old lady turned around, walking toward the berry bush, "Mara appears to be too young now to help me pick anything, so you help out."
Grumbling under her breath Catra walked forward, helping the old lady gather berries. Catra held a berry up to the infant's face, the baby blinking at it, not quite sure what to make of it. She didn't understand what possessed her to want to show everything to the baby, but maybe she just wanted to show her child that there's more than the dreariness of the Fright Zone.
"What's your name, deary?"
Catra seemed taken aback by the sudden question but responded anyway, "Catra." The old woman started laughing as if Catra had made a joke.
"Beautiful name." The lady chuckled, making Catra slightly blush. "My name is Madame Razz" she hummed as she picked at a berry. "Oh, I have a feeling this pie will be especially delicious," Razz says happily.
Feeling a ghost of a smile on her face, Catra continues to pick berries. Thinking about how the old lady next to her was even stranger than Entrapta, maybe it was best if she just sneaked away when Razz was distracted. But in reality, this was the most relaxed she'd been in months, maybe staying for a little bit wouldn't hurt.
That few moments alone she had planned on had turned into hours. She had followed this crazy old lady to her house and was currently sitting in front of her home as she enjoyed the scenery of the forest. Catra didn't know why she felt like she had to follow Razz, it just seemed right to her. Maybe she was just really tempted to eat the pie the old lady was making, after all, Razz had raved about it quite a bit.
Laying back on the grass, she held the infant up, a small butterfly flying around the baby, the infant's blue eyes following the flying bug. Catra couldn't help but feel so much love for this little princess that had obviously stolen her heart, yet still didn't have a name. A thought crossed her mind and she mulled it over for a second before speaking. "Mara," she softly called to the baby in her hands, the infant looking down at her immediately.
Catra sat up crossing her legs as she laid the baby in between them, "You like that name don't you?" She poked softly at the infant, its blue eyes just staring up at her. Well, maybe the name wasn't very original but if her daughter liked it then she believed that matter was settled. Catra stood up with the baby in her arms, and put Mara back in her baby carrier as she entered Razz's house.
The old woman was very focused on preparing the ingredients for the pie when Catra walked in, "Hey old la—Madame Razz" Catra caught herself, she didn't want to be rude for once, "Um, as much as I want to wait for that pie… we have to get going before my friend starts sending an entire army to search for me." Catra scratched the back of her head, "Bu-but maybe Mara and I could visit again…?"
Madame Razz stopped what she was doing, smiling toward Catra, "Of course deary, I would love that." She turned back to her ingredients, continuing to prepare the pie. What seemed like hours passed for Razz as she waited for the pie to finish cooking. Feeling a presence at the entrance of her house, she thought it could be Catra and her baby but instead, she saw a blonde standing at the entrance of her door smiling at her.
"Hey, Madame Razz" Adora grinned, waving at the woman.
"Mara!" Razz said happily, walking toward the girl, "Oh! You've all grown up Mara deary, it felt like just moment ago, you were just a baby."
Adora's eyebrow raised, she was used to Razz confusing her, but stating that she saw her as a baby was a new one for her. She ignored it, "Madame Razz, I'm Adora."