Future in the Stars | Catradora

16 - Old Memories, New Path

Adora's POV

It wasn't until after we took off that I realized we had accidentally brought y/n and Roe along with us. Neither of them said anything about it for the first little while, but their expressions showed exactly what they were feeling. While y/n was sitting motionless against the back wall, terrified, Roe seemed completely content with this whole situation. She was sitting next to Catra by the window, giddy with excitement.

"Hey, you want me to take over for a while?" I asked Bow. He'd been driving the ship for the majority of the trip so far.

"Nah, that's okay. I was about to put Darla in autopilot anyway."

And with that, he pressed a button and stood up from the chair. He went to go join Glimmer in the kitchen, while I looked over at Roe and Catra and started walking towards them. Before I got to them, however, I glanced back at y/n, and turned around.

"Hey, you okay?" I asked, sitting down next to them. They seemed completely checked out.

"Hmm?" they mumbled. They shook their head, and finally broke out of their trance. "Sorry."

"It's alright!" I assured them. "If anything, I'm the one who should be apologizing. It's my fault you got dragged into this."

"How is it your fault?"

"Well, I kind of set off a chain of events that led to—"

They cut me off with a wave of their hand. "I had the choice to come on board or not, and I wasn't thinking straight, I guess. I shouldn't have followed you guys onto the ship."

I put my hand on their shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry, y/n. We're gonna bring you home."

"When?" they asked, but their tone suggested they already knew they weren't going to like the answer.

"I... I don't know," I admitted. "We have to repair Darla before we even attempt to land again. Speaking of which, I better talk to Bow about going out to fix the ship mid-flight..."

y/n put their hands on either side of their head. "I still can't believe this is happening," they muttered. "I'm half expecting to wake up tomorrow morning and be back in my apartment... but if this is a dream, I can't tell if it's a good one or a bad one."

"Well, other than the fact that your car probably got confiscated by the police, I'd say it's a good dream," I told her. "It was a cool adventure."

"Yeah, I guess it was."

We stayed silent for a few moments, before y/n got up to use the washroom. I pointed them in the right direction, then I got up to go join Catra and Roe. I sat next to my girlfriend and leaned my head on her shoulder as I tried to figure out what their conversation was about.

"So, basically, you call out some stupid phrase, a floating creature gets sucked into a piece of jewlery, and you become an animal-themed superhero," Catra clarified.

"That pretty much sums it up, yes," Roe laughed. "I only got to use a miraculous once... and come to think of it, the one they gave me was a little insensitive."

"Really? What animal was it?"

"A panda."

"How is that insensitive?"

"Because of Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcal infections."

Catra and I stared at her with confusion.

"It's a condition I have," she explained bashfully. "The acronym is PANDAS."

"Uh... okay," I muttered, then I whispered something in Catra's ear. "What's PANDAS?"

"No idea," she whispered back.

"Long story short, my brain is under attack by my own antibodies," Roe said with a shrug. "I went under treatment for five years and I'm a lot healthier now... but sometimes I lose control when I'm sick, tired, or nervous."

"Lose control of what, exactly?" Catra asked.

"Myself," Roe shrugged. It looked like she was trying to make light of a topic that had painful memories attached to it. "The antibodies get confused and they go after the behavioural part of the brain, and then I get bursts of tics and mental disorder symptoms."

"What's a mental disorder?" Catra asked.

"You know what? Let's just forget about it," Roe sighed. "It's hard to explain."

I gave her a sympathetic smile, which she returned, but then she just went back to staring out the window. Glimmer and Bow announced that dinner was ready, so I looked to Catra, but she had her eyes still fixated on Roe. I watched as she cautiously moved closer.

"If you ever need anything, I'm here for you," she whispered. Her voice was so quiet, I could barely hear her. "We all are."

"Merci," Roe said. "And the same goes for you."

I was so proud of Catra for showing empathy like that. It made my heart swell with happiness just thinking about how far she's come.

"Adora! Get your butt over here so we can eat dinner as a family!" Glimmer yelled. "Catra! You too, young lady!"

"You're starting to sound like your mom," Bow remarked. "Remember when she used to ground you all the time?"

"Yeah," Glimmer laughed, then stood up on the captain's chair to mimic Angella's height. "GLIMMAH! GO. TO. YOUR. ROOM! THAT IS NOT A REQUEST!"

"She sounds bossy," y/n said as we all laughed.

"She was," Glimmer replied once the laughter died down.

Y/n's face went pale. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't..."

"No, it's okay. Don't worry about it," Glimmer said with a forced smile. "She died a hero—she won't ever be forgotten."

"What happened?"

Glimmer was about to answer, but then Catra cut in.

"It was my fault," she said.

"Catra..." I started. I didn't want her going down this path of self hatred again.

"No, Adora. It's the truth," she pressed. "Angella sacrificed herself to shut off a portal that I activated."

"Wow," y/n muttered. "That's really brave."

"Her last words were 'take care of each other,'" I said, thinking back to the memory. I glanced around at the new and improved Best Friends Squad. "I think we did a pretty good job at that."

"Agreed," Glimmer said.

"How did she do it, exactly?" Roe asked casually, grabbing a plate of food. "Shut of the portal, I mean."

"I'm not exactly sure..." I admitted. "I saw her fly up to the centre of it, and it somehow deactivated it."

"I think Entrapta said something about her getting trapped in it," Catra said, curling her knees into her chest.

"Trapped?" y/n repeated. "So... there's a possibility she's not dead?"

My eyes widened. I exchanged glances with Glimmer, who looked equally as baffled.

"You mean she might be alive?" Glimmer asked y/n.

They shrugged. "I don't know. It was just a thought."

"Well, I think I know what the next part of our quest is," Bow said. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Darla, set course for Etheria," I said. "After some repairs, we'll start our search for Angella."