Have we met before?

Sleepover pt.2

Catra plopped herself out onto the bed, stretching herself out comfortably, causing Adora to giggle as she shut the bedroom door. Quietly padding over to the nightstand Adora opened the drawer to pull out the tattered old notebook, Catra watched with attentive eyes. After a moment of hesitation Adora let out a deep breath she hadn't realized she was holding in, sitting on the edge of the bed to slide the notebook over to the wild haired girl. She looked up at the taller girl with inquisitive but gentle eyes as if she was asking permission to touch the tattered old notebook, Adora smiled warmly nodding encouragingly. Catra grinned a toothy smile wrapping her clawed finger around the book and excitedly opening it to the first page.
'Hi Catra! It's me Adora Miss Light Hope said I could write you letters and send them to you she doesn't know where to send them to yet but I was too excited to wait. I miss you so much where are you? Did you find a nice family? I'm in a group home until miss Light Hope can find a family for me. Everyone is nice here but it smells weird and it gets cold at night without you. Fang keeps me company (He even smells like you) but I wish we were still together. Anyways I miss you and please write back about where you are! -Adora'
Catra's eyes filled with emotion as she read the letter, slowly looking up to see Adora was watching her with an anxious expression. A slow smile went over Catra's face, blinking back a few tears as she looked at Adora.
"It sucks I never got to write back." Catra finally mumbled out, Adora shook her head quickly reaching out a comforting hand to place it on Catra's thigh. The smaller girl's breath caught in her throat.
"It's not your fault, I'm just happy you finally get them. Even if it's a few years late." Adora chuckled at the last part making Catra do the same, gently laying her own hand over Adora's.
Another beat passed before Catra turned back to the notebook and turned the page to the next letter. Adora sounded so hopeful in the pages after pages of letters, always saying how she was excited to hear from Catra soon. A pang of guilt went through Catra, it wasn't her fault that she had never gotten the letters but she still felt responsible. The next one that Catra turned to however wasn't as hopeful, and a bit of tears leaked down her cheeks.
"Hey Catra, I miss you a lot but are you even out there? Ms.Lighthope hasn't been able to find you in 3 years where could you be? Fang doesn't smell like you anymore. The last foster home I was in took our old blanket saying it was too old to use. I have to hide Fang in case she takes him too. It feels like I am never going to see you again. I hope I get to send this letter. -Adora"
Adora saw the tears running down Catra's face and quickly moved her hand from the girl's thigh to her cheek, gently brushing the tears away. She leaned her forehead against Catra's shut her eyes and leaned into the touch, a few more tears falling down her face at the comfort.
"I wish I knew you were looking for me, I thought you would've given up on me." Catra slowly murmured making Adora instantly shake her head firmly.
"I will never give up on you, Catra." Adora's voice was gentle but firm as she spoke, and as Catra opened her eyes again Adora's bore into hers with fierce determination. Catra could feel her face heating up and her heart started to beat out of her chest, she had never had a friend care so deeply for her. 'No one is ever like you Adora.' Catra thought to herself before slowly turning her attention back to the notebook.
Adora let her, moving herself to sit next to Catra instead and swing an arm around the smaller girl's shoulders, who almost instinctively leaned her head on Adora's shoulder. It was hard reading the next few pages, the letters were getting shorter and the hope fading in every word, it broke Catra's heart.
'Catra, I won't give up. I know it's been 5 years but it has to mean something that I am still looking for you right? This home I'm in the lady is so mean, not as bad as Ms.Weaver, but she constantly yells at us. I feel like my heart is gonna explode out of my chest every time she starts. Do you feel like that wherever you are? I hope not. You don't deserve it. I hope I get to send this letter. -Adora'
Catra glanced up at Adora who was looking at the letter with dull eyes, she felt a protective surge run through her but she pushed it down. Adora was here now, no one could hurt her now. 'I won't let anyone hurt her.' Slowly turning her attention back to the letters she started to turn the pages for the last time, it only had a few left now. The words seemed so lifeless now, loss of any hope that was once there and replaced with grief and mourning. As Catra turned to the final page she felt Adora's grip tighten on her shoulder and she briefly glanced at the blonde to see her eyes were tightly shut down in an attempt to hold back tears. Catra turned to the notebook to read the final letter.
'Catra.. This is my last letter, not that you even know, but it's been so long Ms.Lighthope doesn't even tell me to try anymore she just tells me to let go. I can't. Why can't I let go? I just can't keep writing these and hoping they'll get to you it hurts too much. I'm between homes again. It feels like I will never find a home, I'll probably age out of the system and start over on my own. I hope you found a home and friends and a family who loves you, you deserve it. I don't know if I deserve it, maybe that's why you got taken from me, maybe that's why I can't find a home, I don't know. These letters have turned into more of a diary at this point. Anyways, I hope this somehow reaches you. I miss you. -Adora'
Catra paused for a second gripping the book as emotions flashed through her eyes, Adora opened her mouth to speak but was quickly cut off as Catra flung herself onto her. Catra pinned her to the bed, sitting on her hips she stared down at Adora with a piercing look, tears just at the edge of her eyelids. Adora's eyes went wide in surprise, trying to reach out a hand to touch the girl's cheek but Catra was quicker grabbing her wrist and effectively pinning it above Adora's head.
Adora blushed staring at Catra with confusion until the girl above her managed to find her words. "You did not deserve any of the bad things that happened to you, Adora." Catra spoke through gritted teeth as tears started to fall down her cheek, guilt and worry pulled at Adora's heart as she reached for Catra's cheek again with her free hand.
"Catra.." She cooed softly but Catra quickly pinned her other arm too, intense emotions flashing through her mix-matched eyes. 
"No." She growled simply and Adora flinched a little, worried she had angered Catra. Her voice softened a little as she spoke again. "You spent years trying to find me, trying to find out if I was ok and before that you spent years taking care of me every time I got hurt." Adora's eyes filled with tears as Catra slowly released one of Adora's wrists to lay her hand softly over her cheek. Adora leaned into her palm slowly shutting her eyes at the comforting touch. "You did all of that for me, let me be here for you." Catra murmured so softly making Adora's eyes flutter open again, staring at the girl for a moment she felt tears start to pour down her face.
She flung her arms around Catra's waist pulling her fully on top of her and buried her face into the other girl's shoulder. Catra curled one arm around Adora's neck and the other she gently ran through her golden hair as the girl below her began to shake and whimper with sobs. Catra tightened her grip gently scratching Adora's scalp in a comforting gesture as she played with her hair, Adora resisted the urge to lean into Catra's hand and just pushed further into the girl's shoulder. 'I don't want her to see me cry. It's bad enough that I'm being so weak right now.' The thought made Adora pull Catra to her tighter, gritting her teeth in an attempt to stop crying. It was no use though, the tears kept pouring down her cheeks and her body was racked with sobs.
"Hey it's ok." Catra finally murmured into her ear, still gently playing with her blonde hair. "I'm here, let me take care of you." The girl's words sent more tears down Adora's cheeks but she slowly pulled back from Catra's shoulder to look into her golden and blue eyes. There was no anger or annoyance on her face, only a gentle patient smile making Adora's heart do a small backflip. Catra let go of her grip around Adora's neck to slowly wipe away her tears as she sniffled and sobbed, Adora finally giving into her desire to lean against Catra's comforting hands. Adora's hands slowly travelled up from Catra's waist to her back, gently slipping her hand under her shirt to softly run her hands over the scarred flesh. Catra stiffened a little but soon relaxed as she felt Adora's strong hands delicately touch her old wounds.
"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you." Adora finally choked out, a fresh wave of tears flooding down her cheeks. "I'm sorry I couldn't keep us together, I'm sorry my letters never got to you I'm-"
"Hey." Catra's flat tone cut off Adora's apologies, gentle eyes now softly glaring down at the crying blonde. "None of that was your fault, we were kids, there was nothing you could've done." Catra carefully wiped away the tears of the now silent Adora. "You are not responsible for everything, it's ok." Catra's words hit Adora in the heart, sniffling a little she buried her face into Catra's chest. This time not to hide her tears but to listen to Catra's comforting heartbeat, which was going surprisingly fast. "We're together again, that's all that matters. I won't ever let you go again." Catra whispered the words into Adora's ear making the crying girl tighten her grip on Catra's back.
"I won't ever let you go again either." Adora murmured the promise into Catra's chest, slowly shutting her eyes as she let her tears run freely finally. They stayed like that for a long time, until Adora's sobs were gone Catra held her close to her chest silently playing with her hair.
Slowly Catra slid off of Adora's hips, settling in beside her as Adora turned on her side to face her friend. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying and Catra's face flushed with embarrassment as she looked at her. 'Why is she so cute.' Catra tried her best to push the thought away but her eyes travelled down to Adora's lips and she felt a pull at her heart. She snapped her eyes away a small wave of shame rolling over her as she looked back up into Adora's eyes that were now shut. Exhaustion had finally taken over the both of them and Catra yawned making Adora giggle softly.
"It's your bedtime." Adora sleepily mumbled, Catra rolled her eyes as she slowly squirmed closer to Adora.
"No you." She shot back. Adora paused for a moment in hesitation before slowly wrapping her arm around Catra's waist to pull the girl closer to her. Catra stiffened and Adora blushed in embarrassment.
"Sorry, is this ok?" Catra quietly nodded, draping her own arms over Adora and tangling her legs with Adora's. The taller girl smiled snuggling her face into Catra's wild hair.
"Goodnight Adora." Catra quietly mumbled into Adora's chest, already half asleep and her eyes shut. Adora hesitated another moment before giving into her desire to kiss Catra softly on the forehead.
"Goodnight Catra." She mumbled back, shutting her own eyes as Catra's deep breathing filled the air. She was already asleep.
XxX
The next morning Adora woke up to Catra still curled up in her arms, she smiled sleepily as she snuggled into the wild brunette's hair. 'She smells nice..' Adora's tired thoughts made her smile to herself. Catra slowly stirred in her arms and Adora's strong arms instinctively clung to her tighter making Catra chuckle.
"Adora.." She whined softly, Adora shook her head stubbornly and kept her grip on the smaller girl. "We have to get up."
"Why? You never get up for anything." Adora shot back and Catra chuckled again, letting herself relax against Adora's chest again.
"That's fair." She murmured, gently scratching Adora's back with her claw tipped fingers. Adora made a small murmuring noise of approval as she leaned into the feeling.
A soft knock on the door made the two whine, pulling the blanket over themselves. "Adora, Catra." Glimmer cooed softly, Catra stiffened against Adora's chest but Adora held her tight and grumbled something incoherent to her foster sister. A pair of giggles made Adora realize Bow was there too.
"Go away, sleeping." Adora growled, Catra giggled against her chest and Adora could hear hushed voices discussing something. The whispering stopped and Adora silently hoped the pair had left the room, until in one swift movement the blanket was ripped off Adora and Catra, who screeched in terror.
"What the-" Catra's eyes were suddenly open glaring at Bow and Glimmer, who were suddenly gaping at the sight of the girls under the blanket. Catra's face began to burn in embarrassment as she realized she was still tangled up with Adora, quickly shooting up and flinging herself across the bed. Adora whined reaching for her eyes fluttering half open now, Catra quickly swatted her outstretched hand away making Adora whine again.
Bow was the first to break the silence, eyes and mouth wide. "Were you guys-"
"No!" Catra shouted instantly, face getting even redder. Adora finally sat up sleepily staring at her friends, hair a fluffy mess and eyes only half focusing.
"Why are you guys up?" She mumbled, seemingly unaware of Catra's embarrassment and Bow and Glimmer's shocked faces.
"Uh.." Glimmer glanced at Bow who shrugged, she cleared her throat and continued refusing to look directly at the blushing Catra. "We uh.. We wanted to see if you guys want to go to the mall?" Bow grinned widely, too widely, Catra had to suppress the urge to growl as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Adora smiled goofily at Catra making the annoyance slowly melt from her face. "You wanna go? It's lots of fun." Adora flopped back, smiling up at Catra.
Catra seemed to be thinking it over, glancing between the not fully aware Adora and the still embarrassed pair that wouldn't quite meet her eyes. "Yeah, let's go."
"Great!" Glimmer clapped her hands together, taking a step back with Bow quickly following. "So we will uh. See you down stairs! Yeah! Bye!" Glimmer and Bow waved as they backed out the room, shutting the door with a small slam. Catra huffed and Adora looked at her questioningly.
"Were they being weird?" Adora asked, quarking an eyebrow at her wild haired friend. Catra looked down at the blonde, confusion mixing with annoyance as she stared at the oblivious girl.
"You're an idiot." She replied flatly.
XxX
A now awake Adora came down the stairs, hair up with a button up tee and jeans, Glimmer and Bow smiled up at her, their earlier embarrassment gone. A still grumpy Catra came following after her, wild hair up as well with shorts and a shredded up crop top on, arms crossed over her chest.
"Let's get going!" Bow cheered running out the front door, the girls trailing after him. Glimmer and Bow hopped into the front seat, Catra and Adora in the back. Glimmer flipped on the radio as they pulled out of the driveway, some pop song came on that Glimmer and Bow started dramatically belting out from the front seat. Adora goofily smiled at her friends, kicking her feet as she listened to them sing, she didn't know the song but she was happy to hear them so excited.
Catra groaned, rolling her eyes, until her eyes fell onto the blonde next to her. A small smile tugged at her lips and she had to resist the urge to smile more by furrowing her eyebrows in annoyance at the pair in the front. "Your friends are dorks." She growled.
Adora shrugged. "They're your dorky friends now too." She replied, making Catra roll her eyes again, but a small smile tugged at her lips still. 'She's trying to hide it but she's having fun.' Adora thought to herself, eyes staying on Catra.
The rest of the car ride was filled with bad singing of pop songs, with Catra and Adora giggling and joking in the back seat. They finally arrived at the mall and Catra couldn't escape the car fast enough, the trio left in the car burst into laughter slowly making their way out of the vehicle and to the entrance of the mall. Bow was the first to speed off in the direction of some clothing store, Glimmer close at his heels, with Catra and Adora trailing behind. Bow and Glimmer were instantly shifting through racks of clothes, showing each other outfits they thought the other would look nice in.
Catra and Adora were close by watching the two work through the store. "They really are the same person." Catra murmured so only Adora could hear making the blonde laugh, Catra grinned crookedly as she did.
"Bow! Look!" Glimmer suddenly took off in another direction, Bow at her heel. The remaining pair glanced at each other confused before a devious smile spread over Catra's face. Adora started to walk off in the direction of her now out of sight friends but was stopped as a clawed hand grabbed her arm, she turned to question Catra and blushed as she came nose to nose with the shorter girl.
"Let's go explore, they're busy anyways." Catra said with a purr in her voice, the mischievous smile playing at her lips still.
Adora stuttered a moment longer before she managed to reply. "I uh- should uh.. Uhm should I at least tell Glimmer?" Catra laughed turning away to tug Adora out of the clothing store.
"Just text her, we'll find them later." Adora bit her lip glancing back over her shoulder for a moment before she gave in, jogging to catch up to Catra's side she pulled out her phone to send Glimmer a simple text.
"Catra and I got bored will see you in a bit."
Adora slipped the device away as Catra sprinted off towards the stare, shooting her a challenging grin she didn't need any more encouragement and flew after the other girl. The two erupted into laughter as Adora caught up to Catra's side, purposefully holding back to stay close to her, they made their way up the staircase. Laughing and panting a bit the two easily weaved their way through the crowds of people, always keeping sight of each other as they raced through the mall. Adora skid to a halt in front of the familiar store front of the pet store that she had visited with Glimmer and Bow. Catra, realizing Adora had stopped, attempted to do the same but too late and smacked into the taller blonde with a small oof. Adora giggled, unphased by the impact, gently shoving Catra off to run into the store.
"Hey!" Catra cried, running after her friend who was now babytalking a rabbit in a cage. The wild haired girl looked around realizing where she was and a bit of excitement filled her chest, she turned to Adora opening her mouth to speak but quickly lost her words as she caught sight of her distracted friend. Catra's face heated up a little as she realized her mouth was still open, quickly shutting it, she strutted over to Adora's side and playfully shoved her to get her attention.
"I could've beaten you, I just didn't realize we were stopping." Catra growled playfully grinning crookedly, Adora rolled her eyes before grinning cockily at her friend.
"Oh I'm sure." She teased, flicking her friend's nose, jumping back as she attempted to swat back at her, giggling as Catra glared daggers at her.
She turned her attention back to the animals in the store, eyes filling with wonder as she cooed and spoke softly to them. Catra watched with a gentle smile only half interested in the creature's at the store, eyes mostly drifting towards Adora.
Adora was crouched in front of a fish tank looking over the fluttering goldfish, Catra standing behind her arms crossed, when Glimmer and Bow came giggling in bags in hand.
"I knew we'd find you here!" Bow exclaimed, crouching down beside Adora to examine the goldfish with her.
"It's her favorite store." Glimmer added to Catra who gave a soft chuckle.
"Well of course, she loves every living thing. When we were little she would keep earthworms in old vegetable cans as pets." Catra grinned fondly at the memory as Bow and Glimmer cooed with "aww's".
"Catra!" Adora whined her cheeks burning a little as she glared at her friend who chuckled again, tugging the girl's ponytail playfully.
"Don't whine, Blondie, we're all friends here." Adora glared a little longer before turning her attention back to the fish, Bow however was staring at her with stars shining in his eyes.
"That is so adorable you kept worms!" Adora growled covering her face in embarrassment, making Bow and Glimmer coo "aww's" again.
"Yup and she named them too." Catra giggled but quickly yelped in pain as Adora punched her in the knee, jumping back to hold her bruised knee away from the grumpy blonde.
Glimmer started bouncing up and down grinning from ear to ear. "What'd she name them?" Adora got up now, hands curling into fists as she turned her glaring eyes onto Catra who was grinning smugly.
"Don't you dare." Adora growled flatly, Catra giggled cockily strutting up to the taller girl to meet her gaze.
Bow jumped up exclaiming excitedly. "Tell us! Tell us!" Both him and Glimmer were bouncing up and down now, egging on the wild haired girl.
Catra seemed to think it over as she looked up into Adora's ice blue eyes, slowly crossing her arms over her chest to drum her nails over her arm. "Well there was-"
Catra was quickly cut off by Adora throwing her arms around Catra's waist, throwing the girl over her shoulder, running out of the store with the screeching wiggling Catra. Bow and Glimmer gawked too stunned to run after them for a moment before coming to their senses and booking it after them erupting in laughter as they saw Catra struggling still.
"Adora put me down!" The smaller girl demanded wildly trying to find a way to grip Adora, who was making sure to keep a good hold on the thrashing Catra.
"Never!" Adora laughed as Catra growled in anger, the yelling of the trailing Bow and Glimmer could barely be heard now only Catra's angry yowling filling her ears. Adora's heart warmed in her chest, she couldn't even feel the aching in her legs as she ran, she felt whole. 'I never want this to end.' Catra's fists beating on her back brought her back to reality and she grinned smugly, grip tightening even more. 'I never want to let her go.'
A/N: Everything is happy and good.. I'm sure it will stay like that. :) Hope you guys liked the chapter I wanted to try my best to show everyone bonding and really getting along plus Adora's letters. Made me kind of sad to think Adora was writing for years with no answers. But hey she finally got them! Anyways hope everyone is staying safe, if you're going out to protest be safe wear masks go in groups love you! See ya'll later!