I'm Not Losing You

Chapter 9: I broke the sword you made for me

Hey everyone! Thank you so much for waiting for this next chapter! I know it's been a while so here's a recap of everything that's happened so far:

Catra and Adora are traveling in a space pod which is hit by an asteroid that sends the ship crashing into a nearby planet. Adora wakes up to find Catra's unconscious body injured in the rubble of the ship, but Adora is kidnapped before Catra wakes up. Later, Catra comes to, and finds Melog in the ship's ruins. Citra and Melog set off to find Adora as spies follow the pair, collecting information about them as they trek through the alien planet. Eventually, the spies incapacitate Melog and Catra, and load them onto airships where Catra overhears a conversation the guards are having before they realize Catra is awake. After a brief scuffle between a guard and Catra, Catra is tased and she and Melog are taken to their cell, where they are both locked in magic-proof chains. Meanwhile, Adora wakes up in another cell and is also shackled in magic-proof chains that prevent her from transforming into She-Ra. There, she meets Astra, who tells her that she is on a planet of First-Ones. Astra knows her name without Adora saying it, and Adora ponders on her situation and the confusion of it. After a while, a young girl, Nova, skips into Adora's room. Adora tells her stories about pirates to entertain her, when Nova's watch beeps and she quickly leaves the room, but not before mentioning another prisoner, who Adora hopes to be Catra.

In Catra's cell, Astra reveals to Catra that the First-Ones have Adora, and that she knows that Adora is She-Ra, which Catra initially denies. This causes Astra to torture Catra, who then admits that Adora is She-Ra. Astra tells Catra that, because she complied, she will let her see Adora, if Catra tells her to "activate the machine" when they meet, but threatens to torture Adora if Catra mentions anything else to her. Back in her cell, Adora is sleeping when she is woken by Nova. Nova mentions that her parents died from an illness when she was two and that her aunt takes care of her. Adora figures out that Nova is the queen but Astra acts as her regent, and Nova has little real power. Nova checks all the laws Astra creates, so as to pass them, but due to not being taught how to read, Nova has no idea what laws Astra creates.

Then, Astra takes Catra to Adora, and the two reunite. Catra tells Adora to activate the machine, but as she leaves, she mouths "lie" to Adora, so Astra can not see. Back at her Cell, Astra praises Catra for her compliance. She tells Catra she will let her see Adora sometime again. After she leaves, Nova comes into the cell and talks with Catra. Nova says that Astra hates magic, causing Catra to ask her what she thinks of it. Nova states that she thinks whatever Astra does about it, and Catra tells her that she does not have to follow Astra in whatever she thinks, explaining that Nova can choose for herself what she thinks about magic. Catra asks Nova to push the lever that will free her, but Nova says that her aunt wouldn't want her too, and quickly leaves the cell.

                                                                    Adora POV

Alive. Alive. Alive. Catra was alive! She was okay, she was here, she was...gone now. I sat on the ice-cold floor of my cell, head in my hands as my brain repeated what had just happened. I had been just sitting here. Just like all the other days. But then she came in. Head all scraped with a scab on her lip, and walking like she had a busted rib, but she was alive! And she said something about a machine?

Most confusing of all was what she mouthed to me before the door slammed shut. "Lie." Was she telling me to lie? Or did she mean that she was lying about the machine? I took a deep breath as I felt the ghost of Catra's presence, allowing the hope of seeing her again to fill my heart with motivation again.

I sat there missing Catra's hug for a few minutes until the door opened again. My breath caught in my throat and I snapped my head up hoping to see my girlfriend again. But that woman entered instead. "What do you want?" I growled, turning my head away from her.