Always Forever (Catradora)

Chapter Twenty-Three

Adora

Sleep must've found its way to Adora once more, for she was awoken to a soft nudging against her arm; words that were muffled and bubbly bounced around in her foggy mind for a moment. Her world grew fuzzy and numb, wrapping her mind with a veil that she couldn't get past.

Everything seemed to be working against her as she groggily forced her eyes open, meeting the eyes of the person who was shaking her awake hesitantly. Their eyes gleamed over with a milky concern, their lips moving as they spoke to her... still it was nothing more than a milky tune, bouncing and weaving around her consciousness, before finally taking form.

"Adora! We're back!" Glimmer hissed, slowly breaking Adora from her daze as she blinked at the other, taking in the world around her. Daylight had begun to spill in through the windows of the building, painting the floor with gentle glows. Children were laying about the room, each one of them sleeping in such a way that made them almost seem as if they weren't alive anymore. They almost resembled mannequins.

Groggily, Adora lifted her head a tad bit, noticing that Hailey herself was smothering Bow in a hug as she whimpered about how much she'd missed the two of them. It took Adora a moment to recollect her thoughts on the night before. She blinked.

Oh... That was right... the person that had been there in the middle of the night...

Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted as Glimmer tilted her head in a bit of concern for Adora's silence. "Ah... well how did it go?" Adora questioned, before her expression lit up a bit. "Did you find out a way we can find Catra??" She was suddenly on her feet, her eyes filling with a bit of desperation and hope as Glimmer's expression faltered.

Adora immediately felt the hope that had begun to bubble up within her deflate within moments. She bit her lip absently, her eyes furrowing in a bit of worry as Glimmer rubbed the back of her head, playing with her hair as a way to calm herself. "Well... my mother said the only way to get to her would be opening another portal and we just don't have that type of technology..." Glimmer avoided Adora's gaze, her eyes shifting as they filled with misery of the situation.

Not the right technology... so it wasn't impossible, though? Her mind threw around ideas, molding and playing with them as she desperately tried to figure out a way to find and help Catra. Who knew what was happening to her? Every moment they weren't there with her, she could have been being tortured... or she could have already died; Adora had no idea what was going on with her and it was driving her insane.

She could feel her heartrate begin to increase as she gritted her teeth and her hands begin to tremble as she attempted to keep her rage and worry from seeping from her body. Instead, she parted her lips, allowing a deep breath to circulate its way through her body, calming every nerve as it brushed against them... it promised them that everything would be okay, even if they weren't sure of when or how... things would work out. They had to.

Adora wouldn't allow otherwise.

Once she had calmed down a bit, Adora lowered her gaze slightly, allowing her thoughts to commence throughout her mind before glancing back up at Glimmer. "That's okay... From what I know, The Horde has a lot of technology that is simply more advanced than others..." Adora spoke, allowing the thoughts to roll off of her tongue and bounce from her lips as they came to mind. Glimmer's expression shifted as Adora brought her hand to her face, tapping at it absently as she thought. "I'll have to go back... maybe I can find something there," she muttered as Glimmer's eyes shifted and Bow frowned in her direction.

"We can't just leave these children here on their own," Bow pointed out gently, his brows furrowing with a slightly worried expression. Adora glanced up hesitantly, her eyes softening in Bow's direction as his lit up in recognition of her plans.