Baby steps

PP week 9 - Spacial Awareness

Adora and Catra both have questions, neither of which are happy to answer. In between removing Horde chips and finding She-Ra again, something forces the two together - that Catra wasn't prepared to face.

Set during S5 EPs 6 & 8

~

"How's Catra?" Adora wrang her hands as she approached the console. "Good, I think. I j- I keep checking on her, but she's been sleeping for a while, do you think I should check on her again?" She shifted nervously on her feet. "Adora, you should let her rest," Bow said. "Scrap that, Adora, you should rest. Have you even napped yet?" She ignored the question. Right, right... But what if she wakes up and needs something?" She began to back away to the doors. "I'm j- I'm just gonna go check on her-" She stumbled to a stop as Glimmer stepped in front, blocking her path.

Adora debated snapping something nasty... but she thought the better of it. "No, no, no, you're right. Letting her rest," She chuckled nervously. Glimmer tapped her shoulder happily. "Come on, guys. We faced Horde Prime and made it out alive!"

Bow puffed a breath of air out. "I honestly cannot believe it worked!" He agreed. Glimmer wrapped her arms tightly around Adora's middle. Adora didn't like it. Glimmer didn't deserve to give her hugs. Glimmer was the reason she was in this godforsaken fucking space jungle anyway! And... and it'd been four weeks since she'd seen Violet last. And contrary to what Adora gave the impression of:

she missed her.

Deeply.

Not like she would a friend's departure, no. This was something deep, something primal. Something that would stop at nothing to protect her baby girl from the horrors of the world... one of which was probably trying to find her as Adora meandered through space.

All because of Glimmer.

"She-Ra's back!"

Because that's all Glimmer cared about: She-Ra. Not Adora... Adora meant nothing to the rebellion. Sure, she was strong, but not as strong as the Princesses. Hell, even Scorpia was a Princess now... the only person that Adora semi-related to. The rebellion didn't care when Adora drove herself to the point of dangerous exhaustion... to the point where she physically couldn't move. They simply... continued without her. It wasn't like that when she had She-Ra, no. If She-Ra was out of commission, the rebellion would cease its actions, waiting until their darling hero was stupid enough to push through her injuries.

"How did you do that without the sword?" Bow's voice broke through her thoughts. The dark fog that had settled over Adora's shoulders faded slightly. Adora knew it was her PPD still fucking with her mind. It hadn't really left. Sure, it'd dulled down enough for her to bond with Violet, but it hadn't quite released its claws into her daily life. She still had dangerous thoughts; dark thoughts. Like how she initially didn't want to save Glimmer... that she'd see her happily tortured, simply because of a mistake.

A mistake that cost you so much.

Adora sighed heavily, but lightly. She plastered a fake smile onto her face, one she wore often." I don't know. I just... suddenly felt her again. Like she'd never left. Like she's been in there all along just waiting to come out," She glanced at her hands. "I just have no idea how to do it again," She chuckled, hoping that'd be the end of that.

It wasn't.

"You'll figure it out. What's important is that she was there when your friends needed her," Glimmer said with a smile. Of course, She-Ra was the reason they were talking again. It was the reason they'd stopped talking all those weeks ago. Never mind Adora risking her own life to rescue Glimmer from space, not having a magical being to revive her afterwards. Or how she faced off Prime to save Catra... the one person who saw Adora for Adora. Not a killing machine, not the perfect poster princess, not a warrior.