Gracefully Broken

Chapter 6: "Please Tell Her...I'm Sorry. For Everything."

Catra knew what it would feel like before she hit the water. She knew what it would feel like the second Horde Prime had narrowed his eyes and motioned for her to be dragged away. A lifetime of electrocution had prepared her for this moment, and she endured the pain much longer than Adora had been able to. However, like Adora, she eventually gave in and let her mind go. The last memory that played was that of a young Adora looking into her eyes lovingly and saying:

"You look out for me and I look out for you. Nothing really bad can happen as long as we have each other." Catra gasped in the water:

"You promise?" She then saw a grown Adora smiling at her, saying:

"I promise." Catra smiled as her world faded to black.

***

When Adora woke up, she was surrounded by princesses in some kind of tent. She screamed and pulled at her restraints, unable to break them. That was when a man with a black beard and purple outfit approached, put his hands on her head and, along with several other people in long colourful robes, began to cast a spell. Adora screamed again and tried to resist, but it was no use. Her vision became blurred and she passed out.

Adora then woke up several hours later. This time her only bedside companion was a giant horse with wings, who was also asleep. Adora tugged at her restraints once more and felt the one around her right hand begin to loosen, but then the horse woke up. Adora raised an eyebrow as she tried to remember how she knew what kind of creature now stood before her. She had never seen it before, and it had definitely not been mentioned in the mission briefing. The horse then began to whinny happily, exclaiming:

"Hey, you're awake! Welcome back, Adora!" Adora grunted in confusion:

"You...you can talk?" The horse gave such a frustrated groan that Adora regretted voicing her thoughts.

"No, not this again! Come on, Adora! Don't you remember me? Micah did a spell on you! It should've brought back your memories!" Micah? The guy with the purple robes? Adora then groaned in pain as her head began to hurt from the effort of her remembering. At this point, two more people ran into the tent – a sparkly girl dressed in pink with a blue cape and an archer with a literal heart on his outfit. The girl exclaimed:

"Adora! You're awake!" The boy then asked:

"How're you feeling?" They seemed so friendly and familiar – Adora could not help but smile. She could not quite remember who they were or what was going on, but she knew she was safe and that they were her friends.

"I'm okay. My head hurts, that's all."

***

Catra's head hurt so much. She did not know where she was or how much time had passed since her forced baptism, but the pain was so intense that she did not care. As far as she could tell, she was in a cell on Horde Prime's ship. She was lying on the ground, handcuffed to the wall.

Slowly, Catra moved her hand to feel her head. It hurt to move, but she had to figure out if she was bleeding. She was not, but her head did feel different. Catra gasped when she realized her hair was shorter. It was not just shorter, it was cut short.

Beginning to panic, Catra looked down and was shocked to see that she was in a clone's outfit rather than her usual uniform. What had happened? What was going to happen? Why was her last memory that ghastly pool of electrical water? Her questions were soon answered, but not the way she wanted. The green force field of her cell suddenly disappeared to reveal Shadow Weaver. She growled:

"Hello Catra. It seems you have once again escaped punishment. How do you do it?"

***

A couple of days had passed since Adora had been saved by the Rebellion. She remembered everything now, and it had taken her a while to process. Adora had profusely apologized to everyone for what she had done to them after Beast Island, and while working for Horde Prime. Of course they had all forgiven her instantly, but Adora could not bring herself to do the same. How could she have messed up so badly? She shuddered to think of Scorpia and Entrapta still on Horde Prime's ship, and Catra...Adora punched the wall of the building she was supposed to be searching.