Bad End of the World

Close To The Edge

Catra

Catra stared blankly at the scene before her. Adora was on her knees with her palms held flat against the floor, and scattered around her fingers were small, sharp fragments from the blade of her sword. Bright blue eyes peered up between messy, blonde strands of hair, and Catra was flooded with a torrent of unwelcome emotions, of confusion, pain and frustration. She choked them all back, and fought the urge to cry.

"Adora," Catra said, her voice sounding hoarse, even to herself. "What have you done?"

Adora slowly, carefully stood up, keeping one hand on the wall for balance. Then she brushed her fringe away from her face, and smiled. "It worked... she's gone."

"You... you idiot!"

Adora appeared to be taken aback. "I thought you'd be happy? Isn't this what you wanted?!"

"Don't you dare tell me you did this for me, Adora," Catra said, stomping forwards, and jabbing a finger into her chest. "Because even if you did, it still doesn't change a damn thing." Except it does, Catra thought, feeling her heart hammer in her chest. It changes everything.

"I already told you," Adora said, placing a hand over Catra's finger. "I hated her too. I did this for both of us."

Catra sharply pulled her hand away from the touch, disgusted by how her whole body tingled at the brief contact. "Well you wasted your time, because I couldn't give a shit either way."

Adora sighed, and shook her head. "I'm running out of ways to say I'm sorry..."

"I never asked you for anything," Catra said, scowling. "You just came here and did everything that you wanted to do. The sword," Catra said, waving her hands over the broken fragments, "my leg," she continued, pointing down. "You did it all to ease your own conscience. Did it work?" Catra asked, feeling her anger spill over. "Do you feel better, Adora? Do you feel relieved?"

"No," Adora said, furrowing her eyebrows, "And yes."

Catra laughed. "Knew it."

"How could I not be relieved?" Adora snapped. "I literally had a monster living inside of me. You helped me realise that, and if you hadn't... who knows what could have happened in the future? But do I feel better? No. I'll never forgive myself for leaving you, or hurting you. Never."

Catra blew out a puff of air, and suddenly noticed the wall, right next to Adora. Their wall. She could see it'd been cleaned, all of her scrawl clearly visible. She wondered if Adora had seen her secret addition, the one she made a few weeks before Adora left her. I should claw it out, she thought, flattening her ears.

"I saw," Adora said, following Catra's gaze with her own, then trailing her fingers across the words. "And I'm so, so sorry..."

Catra's fur stood on end. She felt violated. "Fuck you."

Adora turned to face her, her eyes tinged with sadness. "Is it true?"

Catra stormed up to Adora, flexed her claws out and violently shredded the words from the wall, until there was nothing but a mass of deep grooves, and crumbling plaster.

"Not any more."

The room fell silent. Dust from the carnage settled all around them, and then Catra noticed that Adora's lower lip was trembling. She pushed back the urge to comfort her, and swallowed down how miserable all of this made her feel.

"I just..." Adora said, swallowing thickly. "I miss you."

Catra sucked in a sharp breath, and tried to ignore how deeply the words dug into her, how damp those baby blue eyes were, and how closely she was standing next to Adora. Close enough that she could feel the heat radiating from her.