Honestly...

Recklessly

So originally I was only going to write a oneshot of this fic, ending chapter one.

That didn't feel finished, so I wrote two more chapters and called it a complete fic.

Then I got a comment that confirmed what I'd been thinking: that this fic doesn't feel complete.

So, uh, this literally happened with my last Catradora fic. What was meant to be eight chapters turned into fifty. My goal is not to make this a huge fic, but to complete it in a more satisfying way.

Hopefully those two points can coexist lol.

...

Glimmer blasted a nearby bot. It crumpled under its weight, letting out a satisfying scream. Beside her, Bow readied his arrows, shooting an array of nets and explosives that rivaled Glimmer's power.

Glimmer teleported back and forth, over and under the bots as she worked. Luckily, Perfuma was there, and she used nearby tree branches to wrap around the bots, keeping them in place. All it took then was a good blow with Glimmer's magic for them to shut down.

They had won the battle a few minutes later, Perfuma, Bow, and Glimmer all heading back to Brightmoon. Glimmer didn't have enough teleports to get them all back, so she decided to lag behind with all of them. They were more company than Adora these days.

It had been weeks since her confession, and since then Adora had only been focusing on work. In fact, she was probably with Light Hope right now, trying to learn (again) how to heal people. Some nights she even slept over there, and Glimmer and Bow would come over just to bring her food.

This had happened once before, when they first met Light Hope, but they had been able to pull her out of it. Now, Adora wouldn't even listen when they suggested rest.

"I need to get stronger," she'd said. "I need to be able to heal people when I...when they get hurt."

Glimmer had been about to reply, but Bow'd stopped her, and later he'd say, "this isn't really about the healing."

"I know that, but she can't live like this."

"She needs a distraction, so let's let her have it. She'll be back to herself soon."

But she hadn't been. And they needed not only her, but She-Ra. If Catra had been there, then, well, who knows what would have happened to them?

"So, where's She-Ra?" Perfuma asked. "It's been awhile since we've seen her. You guys haven't been hiding her, right?"

Bow laughed nervously. "Right," he said. "We're keeping her. That's a good one, Perfuma."

"Well, can she come out for tonight?" Perfuma asked. "I wanted to ask her today, but since she's not here...well, it's a lot. The Hoard has tried taking one of my cities, and when I tried to fight back, I couldn't do it alone."

"Why didn't you say anything? Of course we can help."

"Well," she said. "Their tanks need a lot of muscle to fight, so I was hoping Adora..."

Glimmer's mouth pressed into a firm line. "No," she said. "We've got this. Just trust us, okay?"

...

"We don't got this," Bow said, staring at the wall that they had built around the city. It was at least ten feet tall. Beside him, Glimmer groaned and teleported to the top, where she found piles of smoke overlaying the ground.

"This is strange," Glimmer said. "I'm going down-"

Bow grabbed her arm. "We don't know what's down there-are you sure we can handle this alone?!"

"Of course," Glimmer said. "We can't rely on She-Ra all the time."

"Lately, we haven't been!"

"Well, you said we have to give her space, so that's what I'm doing. Why are you being so-"

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," someone said, and Glimmer turned to find one of Catra's goons rushing towards them. Glimmer teleported behind them, and jabbed them with her staff. They stumbled and barely caught the edge of the platform. As they dangled, Glimmer held her staff over her knuckles.

"First," Glimmer said. "What are you doing down there?"

"Like I'd tell you."

Glimmer frowned. "I can just teleport down there, you know."

"Good luck dealing with all the soldiers," they said. "Sure, you've gotten most of our bots, but we have more planned for you. If you go down-"

Glimmer teleported down, and nearly choked from all the smoke. She waved it away, and got a glimpse of moving soldiers. There was a machine nearby, and Glimmer hid behind it.

This was like the first time they had met Perfuma, when the Hoard had used machines to sicken the greenery in the area, but much, much worse. Thry were rooted in the trees, in the shrubbery, connected to bots. These bots were made of stronger material than at brightmoon, and their claws looked like they could attach to anything-or anyone, and immoolize it.

One attached to a tree behind her, sleeping as it poured green gas into the tree, and it huffed and puffed.

Glimmer touched the tree, feeling a loss of energy from the creature. Instinctively, she pulled away, only to feel a small tingle as to where her hand had been.

She exhaled, and the alarm sounded.

"PRINCESS IN THE FORTRESS!" Someone-probably the goon, yelled. "WE HAVE A HOSTAGE."

"Bow," Glimmer said, and she turned to go, but someone grabbed her arm and slammed her into the machine.

"Of course," Catra said. "It's you. So is the hostage arrow boy or blondie this time?"

Glimmer kneed her in the stomach, and she gasped, which gave Glimmer an opening to teleport behind her, but Catra had anticipated that, and she grabbed Glimmer again, pulling her over her head, hitting the wall.

"I don't have time for this," Catra said. "If it's Adora, I have to-"

"You leave her alone!" Glimmer punched her in the face.

Catra tried to punch back, but Glimmer teleported again, and everytime Catra tried to grab her, Glimmer slipped out of her grasp. She could only see red as she faced her.

"Adora would do anything for you," she said. "Why would you do something like this if you loved her? You're destroying everything she-"

This time, Catra got in a punch, making Glimmer's head hurt. She bumped into that tree again, and felt her energy drain.

"You have no idea what you're talking about, Sparkles!" Catra said. "Everyone blames me for not going, but nobody blames her, no, not perfect Adora, for leaving. She's the one who decided to be the enemy, not me."

"She's not your..." Glimmer tried to finish the sentence, but she found herself unable to keep herself awake, and she felt her body draining away.

She couldn't help but welcome sleep.