Have we met before?

Old wounds

A/N: Trigger warning for some child abuse memories, nothing to heavy just mentions of it and no heavy details! There will be some mentions of trauma through out the story but there will always be a warning before each part, let me know if anyone needs me to add more warming's but if not I will just put one before the chapter. Enjoy!

The mall was absolutely giant, Adora could barely believe her eyes when she saw it. As Glimmer pulled into a parking space in the packed parking lot, crooked as always, she noticed Adora's wide eyes and smiled. The three made their way through the parking lot, Bow and Glimmer leading while Adora trailed behind a bit taking in the extravagant place.
"What do you guys wanna do first?" Bow's voice brought her back to the conversation. Glimmer pressed a hand to her chin in thought, looking around the entryway to decide which way to go.
"I think there's a pet store upstairs, is that ok with you Adora?" Glimmer turned towards Adora, who's eyes were instantly lit up.
"Uh yea! Let's go!" Adora took off towards the elevators, Bow and Glimmer now the ones trailing behind the long legged girl.
"Someone's excited." Bow teased as the trio piled into the elevator, Adora was grinning widely bouncing from foot to foot.
"I love pet stores, I've never been allowed to have a pet so looking in the stores is the closest I get." As the doors opened to the second floor Adora shot out again, before freezing and turning back to her friends. "I just remembered I have no idea where I'm going." They burst out laughing at this, Glimmer easily linking arms with Adora and Bow to show the excited blonde the way.
"You know I'm sure mom wouldn't mind you getting a pet if you asked." Glimmer said with a small grin, Adora looked back at her with hopeful eyes. 'Maybe if I'm here long enough I'll ask.' Adora thought silently to herself, but she couldn't help but smile like an idiot at the thought.
The storefront was a pale blue with a neon sign that read 'Theo's Petstore' and as they entered the place it felt like a very chilled out area. Adora quickly changed that as she squealed, hopping from cage to cage greeting each animal. Bow watched Adora with the softest expression and Glimmer laughed at the two, but she couldn't help but soften too.
"Guys look at this one!" She called excitedly, pointing at a fat yellow snake in the terrarium. It was curled up looking at her with vacant eyes, but Adora looked at it with all the love in the world.
"Oh he's.. pretty!" Bow tried to compliment the animal.
"Yeah, very yellow." Glimmer nodded in agreement. If Adora noticed their struggle to compliment the fat sausage snake she didn't comment, instead starting to jump from animal to animal again greeting them all.
"I think she has been deprived too long." Bow leaned over to whisper in Glimmer's ear, the pink haired girl shrugged.
"You might be right, I think I might have to convince mom to let her have one." Adora was now trying to converse with a parrot and rather than try to intervene, they simply followed the excited girl around admiring all the cute animals.
Adora ended up saying hello to each animal, petting each animal she had gotten a chance to, talking Bow and Glimmer's ears off about the different care each animal required. Glimmer's stomach gave a low growl and she smiled sheepishly at Adora, who nodded in understanding.
"Alright I'll leave all my new friends.. just for food." Adora sighed dramatically as they exited the store.
"Oh hush we'll come back another day!" Glimmer gently pushed Adora's shoulder with her own and the two couldn't help but giggle.
"Let's get some pretzels, the ones at the end of the food court are the best!" Bow exclaimed, leading the way towards the delicious smell of pretzels. Glimmer got them all giant soft pretzels and the trio found an empty to relax at while they ate.
"I like it here, this place is cool." Adora said around her bites of pretzel, Glimmer smiled softly at her foster sister.
"We can come back whenever, it's fun, not far away, Bow loves shopping so he'll always come." Bow threw a bit of pretzel at Glimmer making the girls laugh.
"I'll have you know everything I buy is essential." Glimmer rolled her eyes at him, he returned a glare.
"Sure.. I'm sure all those crop tops are sooo important." Glimmer teased.
"I don't like shirts! They're restrictive." Bow cried, crossing his arms in false hurt.
"Such a big baby." Glimmer flicked the side of his head and the two started wrestling around playfully fighting. Adora watched them quietly eating her pretzel and giggling at their antics. Once everyone finished their food they spent the rest of the time looking through the stores, helping Bow pick out some clothes, Glimmer ended up getting some as well. Glimmer tried very hard to get Adora to let her get her things but the taller girl was insistent that she didn't need anything.
"Angella bought me so much Glimmer, I promise I'm fine." Glimmer whined a little more but gave in eventually, Adora was just too stubborn. The sun was setting by the time they left the mall, climbing back into Glimmer's small car Adora couldn't help but wonder when they could come back. 'Mostly to see that cute snake again but shopping was fun too..' She smiled fondly at her friends, it had been a great day and as they headed for home she felt a warmth grow in her chest. 'I really like it here.'
XxX
That night as Adora laid in bed doing homework she felt herself begin to relax, Glimmer and her spent the last few hours eating dinner and telling Angella all about her first day at the new school. 'And a little about the pet store.' Adora mused to herself, she hadn't asked Angella for permission but she didn't seem opposed to Adora getting a small animal friend. 'Hopefully I'll be here long enough.' Adora glanced over at her open old duffle bag, she hadn't unpacked it yet just simply used it as storage for her clothes and small bit of belongings. Angella hadn't said anything but Glimmer had prodded her a couple times wondering when she would unpack. 'Maybe it's time..'
Adora finished off her homework before climbing out of bed, carefully pulling things from the slightly tattered bag she started to fill the dresser and closet with clothes. She didn't have a ton of clothes but Angella's shopping spree from when Adora first arrived helped fill things out a little more. As Adora looked through the rest of the bag her heart felt a bit heavier, her belongings consisted of an old photo album, a falling apart spiral notebook filled to the brim with pages upon pages of writing, and her favorite of all her stuffed cat. She hugged the soft plush cat to her chest, letting the smell of old faux fur fill her nose. It had lost the smell of the person it once belonged to a long time ago, but Adora still clung to it as if it was her childhood friend. 'Catra.. I miss you.'
She carefully put the photo album into the drawer of the nightstand, almost putting the tattered notebook in with it. She felt a tug of nostalgia and decided to flip through it, crawling back into bed she opened the notebook onto her lap and gingerly placed the old stuffed black cat to her side. As she read over the first page she felt tears at the back of her eyes, they were all letters she had written for her lost friend over the years. 'The case workers kept promising me they'd find her so that I could send her letters. They never were very good at keeping promises.' The thought bitterly clawed at her heart but Adora quickly pushed it away, returning her thoughts onto the notebook.
The letters started when they were separated at 9 years old, the home they had been in had been an awful one full of pain and fear. Adora shivered at the memory of that place, she had been too afraid to say anything, but Catra after years had enough and got them help. She had snuck out in the middle of the night, waking the neighbors begging anyone to help them get out of the unloving hands of their foster mother. Adora could still remember the look on Ms.Weaver's face when Catra returned, two officers behind her and a crowd of furious neighbors ready to fight for the two of them. It was the first time in so long that Adora had felt like anyone had cared about her other than Catra. Within the next few days their case workers had found placements for them in separate homes, Adora's stomach turned as she remembered crying for Catra. Catra screaming for Adora, the feeling of being physically pried away from the only friend she ever had, she remembered Catra even trying to fight her case worker for taking her away. The memory of her scrawny wild haired friend attempting to bite the man's hand flashed in Adora's mind and she laughed a bitter sweet laugh. 'She was such a shithead.'
She read through the letters all night, memories of all the fear she had when she left the awful foster home scrawled out in every word. How dearly she had missed Catra, how much hope she had that the letters would reach her friend so she could know what happened to her. The last letter ended when Adora turned 14, she wrote a final letter hoping that she could finally get the stuffed notebook to Catra. But she lost hope after that final letter, acceptance that she would never see her savior ever again. A few tears ran down Adora's face and she quickly brushed them away, it was still painful to think about Catra, to think about that house. She tried her best to keep the thoughts away but she couldn't help but linger on them some nights. She fell asleep that night curled around the soft plush cat that once belonged to her feisty friend, notebook tucked safely away into her nightstand as she tried her best not to get lost in the memories.
XxX
Adora felt groggy the next morning, she had stayed up later than she had meant to look through her old things. When Glimmer came barreling into the room to greet her with an energetic good morning she caught sight of Adora's empty bag and visibly began to vibrate with excitement.
"You unpacked!" The shorter girl embraced Adora in a bone crushing hug, she stiffened a little but chuckled at Glimmer's enthusiasm.
"Yea.. sorry it took me a while." She mumbled an embarrassed apology but Glimmer simply waved it off.
"No sorries! I'm just excited you're feeling at home." Glimmer beamed at the blonde who returned a tired smile. Adora turned back to the dresser drawers to finish getting ready, Glimmer flopped onto her bed stretching herself out comfortably. She noticed the old plush cat tucked delicately under the covers as if it was sleeping and grinned. "Aw! Who's this?" Glimmer questioned gesturing to the toy, Adora turned around a little embarrassed that Glimmer had seen the old thing.
"Oh that's Fang." Adora quickly shimmied out of her pajama pants and into a pair of worn jeans.
"Cute name, where'd you get him?" There was a hint of hesitation in Glimmer's voice but Adora smiled making Glimmer's worries melt away.
"A friend gave him to me when I was little." Adora said simply, finishing getting dressed now she ran a brush through her long hair and threw on one of her hoodies. "Come on we gotta go." Glimmer glanced at the time and cursed a little rocketing out the door with Adora in tow.
"Goodbye girls have a good day!" Angella's voice gently called behind them as they locked the door behind them, jumping into the car and speeding off to school. The girls made it with time to spare, meeting up with Bow they spent the rest of the morning talking about having a movie night soon. The first bell rang and the trio groaned, it was too early to be here.
"Alright I'll see you guys at lunch, love ya!" Bow gripped them both in a group hug before jogging off to his own class. Adora and Glimmer walked for a bit before saying their own goodbyes as Glimmer ducked into her first period and Adora headed to her own. Walking into the sleepy art room she felt a bit more relaxed, waving at Ms.Razz as she took the same seat she had yesterday. She pulled out her sketchbook turning to a blank page and she absently began doodling some of the animals she had met the day before at the pet store. The class was the same as yesterday, sleepy but talking and laughing amongst each other. No one made an attempt to sit by Adora again but she was so enthralled by her doodling she wouldn't notice if they did.
The final bell rang and the last wave of people came skirting in, Ms.Razz seemed to be lost in her thoughts as she painted on her own canvas by her desk and didn't move to address the class. The students shrugged, pulling out their own work to occupy the time. Adora suddenly felt eyes on her, trying her best to ignore it, she just kept doodling but she could see out of the corner of her eyes a pair of shoes pointed in her direction. After a moment Adora couldn't manage to ignore the person anymore and looked up to ask why they felt the need to stare but words were quickly gone. Adora's ice blue eyes went wide as they met a pair of mix matched ones, staring back at her with disbelief. The girl opened her mouth to say something but quickly shut it as none came out, the two just staring at each other for what felt like hours.
"I..A-Adora?" The wild haired girl finally managed to get out, snapping Adora back to reality.
"Catra?"

A/N: Catra would bite a cop 100% no one can convince me otherwise. Anyways hope you all enjoyed! Sorry for getting a little heavy in there but having Catra and Adora have that bond of trauma is a really important part of their relationship I feel like so I wanted to figure out a way for it to work in a human AU. Again I will put a trigger warning on all chapters mentioning abuse but this is about as graphic detail as it gets nothing too crazy hope that's ok!