Serve and Protect

Chapter 42

A couple of hours and one expensive vet bill later, everyone was back at the Brightmoon home and gathered around the expansive dining room table like the most awkward family reunion of all time. As she looked around the room, Adora couldn't help but feel like she was in the middle of a particularly vivid fever dream. After so many days together, the edges of her old life and her new one blurred together as a surreal sense of familiarity settled over the group. Logically, Adora knew it didn't make sense for Glimmer and Bow to be sitting in the same room as Scorpia and Entrapta. And yet there they were, chatting quietly with one another like... well, perhaps not like old friends, but amiably enough considering they'd all been enemies barely a week earlier.

And then there was Catra.

Perched closely at Adora's side, Catra's entire focus was trained on the freshly bathed and bandaged stray that sat purring loudly on her lap. The cat was so content that it didn't even seem to mind the ungainly plastic cone of shame that hung around its neck. Out of the corner of her eyes, Adora marveled at the small but genuine smile that played on Catra's lips as she scratched behind the cat's ears. Under different circumstances, Adora might have cooed out loud over how cute the scene was. But right now, her mind kept wandering back to the way Catra had paid the vet bill, seemingly without a second thought. She knew it was a strange thing to be hung up on, but she couldn't help it. After a lifetime of poverty—of rarely having more than a few dollars to their name—Adora wondered if Catra would be able to walk away from the comfort only a well-padded bank account could offer.

Across the table, Glimmer cleared her throat.

"So," she said, her voice cutting through Adora's thoughts, "I guess the cat's staying then?"

"Melog," Catra said by way of reply.

Glimmer blinked. "Excuse me?"

"That's his name," Catra explained. As if on cue, the cat let out a meow that, surprisingly, sounded a lot like it was saying Melog. Catra gestured at him as if that settled the matter. "And yeah, he's staying." Adora was about to give her a warning nudge—a gentle reminder that she was supposed to be playing nice—when Catra lifted her eyes for the first time since they'd all sat down. Adora clocked the slight twitch at the corner of Catra's mouth, the involuntary tick that betrayed the anxiety Catra always worked so hard to mask. But while the others may not have noticed it, Adora knew Catra too well to miss it. Without speaking, she laid her hand atop Catra's knee and gave it a gentle, reassuring squeeze as if to say I see you, I've got you. Melog looked down at Adora's fingers and considered them for a moment before laying his own little paw on her hand. Seeing this, Catra let out a shaky laugh.

"I wanted to say thank you," Catra said as she looked around the room. "Y'know, for taking care of me. I appreciate it, especially after everything I've put you guys through."

Adora held her breath, watching to see how her friends would take this rare moment of vulnerability from Catra. After a beat of surprise, Glimmer and Bow smiled.

"Well, if Adora likes you then we figured you couldn't be all that bad," Bow said with a wink, sending a heat racing up Adora's neck that spilled across her face. To her surprise, she noticed Catra's cheeks flush too.

The touching moment was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a ringing phone. Scorpia jumped in her seat and fumbled with her cell as she silenced the call. Adora noticed the way Scorpia's face paled as she looked down at her caller I.D. Beneath her hand, Adora felt Catra tense.

"It's him, isn't it?" Catra said. There was something low and resigned about her voice, and it sent a chill down Adora's spine.

Scorpia sucked in a sharp breath between clenched teeth as she forced a smile. "Maybe?"