Codependency

Part 16 // lost, kicked puppy

(I don't know how to title things so I no longer take it seriously. Anyway My chest has a deep gash in it that won't heal and I've tried all the herbs :/
ALSO it's come to my attention that I wrote in a reference to the portal having happened even though queen Angella is alive currently, so... god damn. Sorry)

Adora jolted upright from her sleep, instinctively reaching to grab Catra. She was relieved to feel the girl still laying unconscious on her lap. When Adora looked down, she saw Catra slumped over her legs, breathing in slowly and sighing out through her slightly parted lips. Adora let her hand rest on Catra's shoulder as she stared at her.

It's morning. Adora realized, peering through the duskily-lit doorway on the other side of the empty room.

They couldn't have been asleep for more than a few hours, but Adora already felt infinitely better. Now that she had a clear head, though, Adora was growing anxious about what was to come. She had promised to leave the rebellion behind for Catra. Even though Catra had not given her a straight answer, Adora worried that she hadn't told her friends. It's not like she could just say 'Hey guys, I love you but I'm running away with the girl that's tried to kill us all many times'. They would surely come looking for her soon... if they weren't already on their way.

Adora was not able to even put a label on what she and Catra were. There was too much bad blood for them to be friends, right? Much less more than that. However, they both had an obvious dependency on one another. Adora remembered a time she hadn't felt that way- when she had joined the rebellion and met a support system. When Catra had captured Adora, though, she had shown Adora her pain through her claws and fists. Pain Adora had caused by leaving Catra.

Adora stiffened, giving a start of surprise as she sensed something familiar in the area. A twinge in her head gave her the knowledge that there was someone coming, someone looking specifically for her. She had felt this before, when Lighthope had sent she and Swiftwind on a mission to bond. Swiftwind was coming, and he was probably already in the village!

At least it isn't Bow, or... Glimmer. Adora thought regretfully as she carefully lifted Catra's head off her lap, crawled out from under her, and lay her back on the floor with intense caution as not to wake her.

They definitely sent him. Adora realized, making her way out of the little cottage and stepping out into the open village. When I didn't come home last night, my friends sent Swiftwind to track me.

Adora wandered a few feet from the hut where Catra slept, waiting for Swiftwind to make himself known. She could hear him now as he crashed through the trees and galloped between the abandoned structures towards Adora. Soon enough, her companion rounded the corner of a ghosted market hut and slid to a halt in front of Adora, throwing his wings out to help him stop. Adora winced as he threw up a plethora of dirt with his hooves, spraying her with dust and filth.

"Adora!" Swiftwind bellowed, grinning hugely at his friend. "I've come to save you from Catra!"

Adora's heart skipped a beat.
"What? Who? I mean, Catra? I haven't seen her. I've been... doing something for Madame Razz."

Swiftwind blinked, his smile not dropping at all.
"Nope. She captured you again. I found the temple and it was scratched uuuup. Was obvious Catra had been there, so I went in to ask Lighthope and she totally confirmed it!"

Adora took a step back as Swiftwind flapped his wings, sending a harsh gust of air over her. And more dirt.

"So now..." Swiftwind raised his head and lifted his front leg in a very dramatic pose, "I'm going to save you from all this danger that's happening!"

Adora stared at Swiftwind for a long minute as he held his pose. She could hear creatures skittering nearby in the stretched silence. Swiftwind stood frozen for a painfully exaggerated amount of time, before lowering his hoof and doing a double take.