She-Ra fics (2018)

Virus - P1

Adora has some... complications... after the animal in the crystal castle slices into her side.
~~~
Adora expected several things in the wake of Prime's attack. She expected, albeit not for long, that he would win. That he would take everything and destroy it... just because he could. She expected that some of the princesses would be lost in the war. She expected the heart would kill She-Ra. She expected, but hated it, that the heart's power would kill her too.

She didn't expect everything to be fine. Good was too much, and nothing was terrible. Everything was... fine. And it was strange. The heart's power surged through her veins, making her stronger than ever. Her She-Ra had survived. She wasn't dead! With the strength of Catra to help her up, they walked to the battle outside. Prime was trying to lord everything over the Etherian's still, but with a sly smile from Catra, Adora thrust her sword up to the sky a scream. The sheer power shone brightly as she struggled to contain it. She took a steadying breath and concentrated. The bright flash of raw magic blinded her momentarily as it disappeared into the atmosphere.

Prime's ship grew into a beautiful tree... in space. With a mental shake of her head, Adora fixated her neutral stare on him atop the cliff. The rage in his eyes almost brought forward tiny five-year-old Adora after she tripped over in a line of cadet orientation, breaking her wrist and Catra's arm. Hordak and Shadow Weaver screamed at her then, punishing her severely for it.

But she shook away the horrible memory. She brought her sword down into the ground with a scream, returning all the magic the First Ones stole. Distantly, she was aware of the elemental princesses, those with Runestones (including herself) throbbed with a soft glow as the stolen magic from their ancestors passed returned to their blood.

She glanced around quickly, sighing in brief relief. Catra was still fine. She was still okay. She was hugging Melog. Adora straightened herself up and marched to Horde Prime.

After she cleansed his spirit, Adora returned to herself with a content sigh. There was a slight pang in her side, but the euphoria surging throughout was too strong. She grinned at her friends as they ran at her, screaming in joy. "We did it! We did it! We did it!" Glimmer chanted, jumping around with Bow and Adora. "You did it," A sly, smooth voice whispered into her ear. Adora turned with a fond smile. "I couldn't without you," She whispered back. Catra snorted. "Whatever, dork,"

~

The party at Brightmoon was an incredible affair. Anyone and everyone was invited. Adora remained in her usual outfit, fitted with her trademark red jacket. Catra had removed her old head guard, leaving the little tufts of hair poke out. Adora twiddled them between her fingers with a soft smile, despite Catra's increasingly loud warning hiss. She sighed as she stood, wincing as she stretched. Catra narrowed her eyes. "Where are you hurt?" Adora flapped her hand. "I'm not. I'm just tired," She popped her back, rolling her shoulders after. "Using that much magic wiped me out," She shook her head. "I'm ok," She smiled. "Promise," Catra hummed. "I still don't believe you, but fine. If you think you're okay," She trailed off, waltzing out, her tail swishing tantalisingly. Adora grinned as she raced after, grabbing it.

They only stopped once for a spur-of-the-moment make-out session against a window. Adora's cheeks were hot with lust and Catra's tufts of hair were unkempt and messy.

The party went well. It was alight with excited energy, the air practically buzzing. Adora tried to enjoy it, she really did. The joy was contagious, hell, even Catra had a small smile as she stood by the punch table with Mermista. The problem was: Adora was tired. And she ached. And she just wanted to sleep for a thousand years. Her side also hurt... like... more than just a bruise-type hurt. Like she'd been cut. Maybe she had?

She cleared her throat with a small sigh. She slowly made her way to Catra, waving her down. "Hey, I need to pee. I'll be back in a second," She whispered in her ear. Catra frowned briefly. "You good? You don't seem good," Adora huffed. "I'm fine. I literally just need to pee," Catra raised her eyebrows. "Ok. Whatever," As Adora turned to leave, she called: "Cats can sense when something's not right, by the way,"

Adora shook her head with a small smile.

In the bathroom, she finally let her guard drop. Apparently, with the addition of the fluorescent lights, she looked a whole lot worse than she thought. Her eyes were slightly sunken in, and accompanied with the black circles underneath, made them look worse. Her skin looked slightly... green? To be fair though, her skin could just be incredibly pale. She was never a particularly tanned person, not even as a kid during the long hours in the Fright Zone. Not like Catra.

She pulled her jacket up slightly, gently tapping the slightly damp area around her right ribs. She gasped quietly when a small layer of blood marred her fingerprints. She took her jacket off completely, followed by her shirt. There was an angry red cut on her side, not particularly deep, but quite wide. It looked slightly green again... nah. It must be the lights. Wounds don't go green unless they're infected.

But with infected wounds come smells and puss, neither of which were apparent. She grabbed some toilet roll and ran it under the water. She placed the wet wad against her side, screwing her eyes shut as it pulsed painfully. Her breath caught in her throat as she pulled the tissue across the wound. The tissue came back slightly pink, but the wound looked better now it had been cleaned. Adora dried it with some more tissue, wincing again as it rubbed harshly.

She pulled her shirt and jacket back on with a small shudder. She suddenly felt very cold. Adora sighed heavily and grabbed the sink tightly both in contemplation and discomfort. "Dora? Are you ok?" Adora forced the typical smile back with a soft sigh. "Yeah. I'm good. Just tired," She answered. Catra huffed. "Sure, sure. Anyway, Sparkles has some cake for you to cut," She shrugged. "No idea what that means, but come on. Otherwise, she'll grab you herself,"

Adora snorted. "Yeah, okay. You're just mad it's not you," Catra rolled her eyes with a small smirk. "Sure, princess,"