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For the lowest part of Bright Moon, the queen had made some daring requests. Instead of only rebuilding, she had ordered the construction of a whole new district, in order to accommodate the lot of war refugees she expected to arrive during the following days. She wanted to gamble on the fact that mixing people from both side of the war, working and living together, would help them get over it.
And to prepare for that, Catra and her team had a lot of cleaning to do today. The deal was simple, anyone willing to come would have to work on the construction, and follow Bright Moon’s law. Nothing less, nothing more. Then everyone would have a chance to find a new job. This had to be done properly, or else the tension between people would just skyrocket out of control. For that, the queen could not welcome new people in some hastily made-up camp out of town, and so, building had to begin as soon as possible.
Truthfully, the refugees from the Etherian Horde had limited options. Go back to the Fright Zone, were Scorpia was cleaning up the mess and would re-establish her lost kingdom in the future, but for now, for most it was the symbol of a past they wanted to forget. Either because they regretted what they did, or because they felt that they had lost. The Crimson Waste was always open for those who had enough of laws and rulers.
A lot of soldiers also managed to get accepted in small numbers in different villages. Prime’s arrival had thrown everything into chaos. He didn’t care about the Horde in place. He treated everyone the same, as objects he wanted to control, and overnight, ex-Horde soldiers in garrison all over Etheria were hiding alongside the people they were previously invading, or were chipped with them. In the oddest cases, those trained soldiers were the only hope for the smaller villages to resist.
After Prime’s defeat, some had to flee the retribution, but most were simply, silently accepted as part of the people around them, as long as they wanted to change their ways. They discovered one terrible thing about war, only when it ended did people realise the other side was made of simple normal people too.
And for others there was Bright Moon.
But right now, Catra had a more urgent problem. Her princess was acting crazy today, and after she became utterly uncontrollable and even more clumsy than usual, Catra had forcibly accepted Netossa and Spinnerella’s offer to have tea with them and talk about it.
She was dragging Adora by the wrist on the road back to the castle, followed by the two princesses. The two wives were worried, but at the same time they had difficulty stifling their laughs at the sight of Catra adorably angrily pulling along a nervous Adora, who seemed to have no clue what was going on.
Netossa and Spinnerella had spent so much time in Bright Moon during the slow days of the Princess Alliance, that Angella had given them their own apartment in a side wing of the castle, to make up for Glimmer’s incessant calls. It wasn’t that much bigger than Adora’s room, but they had a kitchen, a separate bedroom, a little veranda, and everything else that Bright Moon usually offered.
Spinnerella made Catra and Adora sit on a sofa, in front of a large low table, and she sat on the couch on the opposite side while Netossa was preparing tea. They were apparently well equipped to receive guests, and Catra remembered something about hosting game nights, whatever that was. She would have to ask another time.
For a moment, they sat in silence, safe for the little clangs from the tea being prepared. Adora was looking all over the room, curious. She might not have been there as often as Catra thought.
It seemed that everyone was waiting for Catra to speak first. She sighed. That wasn’t making her comfortable, but it was probably fair given the way she had brought the others here.
“I need to ask. Why are you helping me?” It was more something like a routine taking place between her and the princesses than a real question. She was used to the Alliance accepting and worrying about her, but she felt compelled to ask nonetheless.
“Netossa told me,” Spinnerella began softly. “when I was chipped, you talked to her. You wanted to comfort her, saying I would be okay. She told me how uncomfortable you looked, how hard it was for you, yet you had nothing to gain from it. That helped her more than you think. And you were the only one who could make her believe those words. That’s enough for us.”
Catra wasn’t sure herself what she thought at that moment, but she probably tried to share a little warmth and hope that Adora had given her on Prime’s ship. She made a grateful nod. “So, what is wrong with Adora?”
“What’s wrong with me?!” Adora jumped. “What’s wrong with you?”
“You’ve been weird! I thought things were fine between us with last night being so sweet and all, but you were acting crazy all day!”
“You two calm down.” Spinnerella intervened.
Netossa came back hastily from the kitchen. “Are we talking about their bed time already?” She grinned. She was aiming for a joke, but Catra blushed all the way to the tip of her ears. “What, seriously?” Netossa’s surprise seemed to unsettle Catra.
“After what you two told me at lunch, what were you expecting?” Catra asked honestly. Adora’s brain had a hard time following the conversation, but her face shortly caught fire too.
“We don’t mind talking about whatever you want, but we expected to talk mostly about your feelings?” Netossa blushed a little too and glanced at Spinny.
They might have misled Catra a little with their teasing earlier. It wasn’t like they would mind talking though, having another couple of girlfriends around was kind of fun. The three expectantly looked at Adora, waiting for her to stop the conversation if she wanted to.
She breathed deeply and tried not to be bothered by her burning cheeks. “What do you mean I’m acting weird?”
“I don’t know. What you did outside the meeting, for a start.”
“I remember you doing things.”
“Why did you look so sad? Did I do something wrong?”
“What? No no no! That was amazin-” She stopped herself, uncomfortable to give more details in front of the two other princesses. “But you looked like you were about to cry! I thought I did something bad!”
“Then you did it again in the afternoon!”
“You know how I feel like I can do anything when I’m She-Ra! I hoped that it would be different, but you made that same face again. I didn’t know what to do, so I ran away. And I couldn’t stop thinking about it so I may have slightly lost focus on my tasks afterward-” Adora looked away in shame.
“You call that slightly? You nearly smashed the bridge a bunch of times!”
A loud whistle made them pause. Netossa walked to the kitchen again and came back soon after with a trail holding teapot and cups. She also grabbed a box, which content, delicious looking cookies, made Adora and Catra’s faces brighten and briefly forget their conversation. She offered them some right away, and the two girls relished in the wonderful taste for a moment.
“First point for me.” Spinnerella grinned smugly at Netossa, seeing the duo enjoy her baking.
“So, both of you are saying you made a sad face because the other did first. That doesn’t make sense, does it?” Netossa summarised.
“Catra did it first. Unlike her, you know I can’t stop anything from showing on my face, and I… am somewhat aware of it. I would have known.” Adora murmured. She was not comfortable with blaming Catra and ashamed to admit her lack of control.
Catra froze. She was not used to Adora blaming her either. It hurt, but she had to see this through. She grabbed the princess’ hand to encourage her to continue.
“You… thought you weren’t deserving me again, didn’t you?” Adora was visibly having trouble saying it to Catra’s face, even more in front of other people.
“Of course I do! You know what I did to you. But I’m working hard to believe I’m worthy of you! When I saw your happy face as I was touching you, I felt... wrong. I didn’t mean to show it.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“What was I supposed to tell, please hug me until I feel better?”
“Why not?”
“It’s not that easy for me! And I can’t keep bothering you like that whenever I feel a little soft and needy!”
“Then put yourself in my place for a moment! I left you! We fought for so long, and I had to deal with almost losing you more often than I can count. I had to go against my friends, against my duties because I couldn’t forget about you. When I finally reached you, Prime nearly killed you in front of me! And now that we can be together at last, every time you act like that, I feel like you deny how much I love you! It hurts so much. Bothering with your little needs is nothing compared to that!”
Catra was carefully listening, looking at Adora with wide surprised eyes. She realised she still had the princess’ hand in hers and tighten her grip. She looked tenderly into Adora’s eyes. “I’m sorry. You know it’s not-”
“She might know. And she might not.” Netossa cut in. After her uncharacteristic outburst, Adora was looking too embarrassed to talk herself. “Catra, even if she’s aware of it, her mind might not always acknowledged it. You have to say or show those things. Adora too, don’t pile up so many feelings inside. Let them out, I’m certain Catra won’t run away.” That felt a little too solemn for Netossa and she started to pour four cups of tea to not think about the three gazes upon her. “And that’s one point for me.” She whispered.
Adora looked back at Catra, and slowly let herself smile a little.
After distributing the cups, and some hands grabbing another cookie, they drank in silence. Catra winced. She had no problem with hot drinks, it just happened at that moment. She was still shaken by the emotions, and had to painfully gulp down a chunk of biscuit. And already the princesses were grinning and she knew what would follow.
“Oh, your tongue is as sensitive as a cat’s too?” Adora said it smugly because she knew it wasn’t true, but she couldn’t resist.
Catra sighed and looked frustrated at the princesses. “So. What’s a cat?”
The three princesses looked at her in shock. Their jaws dropped incredulous. “You… don’t know?”
“I know it’s an animal.” Catra started embarrassed. “But I thought it was a ferocious beast, and Shadow Weaver confirmed it. I believed she expected me to feel bad to be told how feral I was. But since I joined you guys, everyone call them cute and all? So I guessed she was messing with me...”
“It’s true we didn’t have many pets in the Fright Zone.” Adora laughed.
Netossa stood up and went to the bedroom for a moment. She came back with her cat, visibly a little unhappy to have been woken up during its nap. She nuzzled and cuddled the feline to make up for it before putting it down gently on the table in front of Catra.
The feline girl slipped from the sofa to sit on the floor, looking attentively at the beast. She poked its ear. It twitched. She scratched the back of its head, and the cat meowed softly and looked back at her.
“That’s how people see me when they say I’m cute?” Catra asked, not sure herself if she would rather have the others acquiesce or deny.
“Not me.” Adora retorted and looked away from the cat.
“You do share a lot of adorable traits with them.” Netossa said simply, earning a slight elbow strike on her side and a frown.
“They are a lot of other things, too.” Spinnerella pouted. “Mischievous, stubborn, needy, they always decide when you can pet them, and when you need to leave them alone.”
Catra tried to catch the cat’s tail and it hissed at her angrily. She hissed back reflexively which made the three princesses giggle. Catra calmed down embarrassed and observed as the cat did the same. She wiggled her ears, and the cat tilt its head curiously staring at their motion.
Spinnerella tried to caress its back, but the feline decided it was enough petting for now and jumped away, probably back to its nap. She growled, slightly furious. “See?” Netossa smiled and took her hand in hers as compensation.
Catra sat back on the sofa, not losing sight of the cat until it entered the bedroom. She noticed Adora still staring at her and looked back. “If you were smiling like that this morning…” Catra mumbled.
“Was I looking that bad?” Adora whispered.
Catra glanced at the two other princesses, who were very much listening to everything, and the embarrassment stopped her.
Netossa smirked. “Oh, little Cat-ra is afraid of talking?”
“Really? You scared?” Adora went along with it smugly. The familiarity of teasing Catra was helping her get over the situation way too easily for Catra’s taste. Though she would choose that Adora over the sad and anxious one any time.
“You two aren’t fair,” Spinnerella started with a wide grin too. “ganging up on her, there’s no way we would hear a single word from her after that, right?”
“I hate all of you!” Catra jumped and stared at the three princesses. There was clearly no way they would let her get away without speaking. “Fine. I… am pretty sure Adora had a lot more on her mind than me looking sad.” She sighed. “But there was so many emotions on her dumb face that I couldn’t read it.”
“Another point for me.” Netossa whispered.
“Hey, we share that one!” Spinnerella retorted too loud for Catra to ignore.
“Are you two taking this seriously?!” Catra shouted, furious at the princesses obvious sidetracking.
“Of course we are!” Netossa cleared her throat, her grin still showing. “Please continue?”
Catra growled. But Adora was looking at her expectantly and with each second of silence, her expression was turning more sour. Catra started to panic, having no idea how to say what she wanted to.
“Adora, are you feeling guilty for wanting Catra… physically?” Spinnerella intervened and Catra nodded at the welcome help.
Adora jumped and looked away. “I think so.”
“Why?” Catra simply asked.
“You mean everything to me already, I feel like I shouldn’t want more?”
“Didn’t stop you last night.” Catra couldn’t help but scoff.
“Yesterday I was fine, but today I was so …… that I feel bad about it.” Adora mumbled the word so quietly that nobody understood. The other princesses grinned, having some ideas about it anyway.
Catra looked annoyed to be the only one left in the dark. “You were what?” She insisted.
“I was so horny that I feel guilty! It reminds me how I put you over everyone else. I convinced myself it was okay at night, but during the day… maybe I shouldn’t be that selfish, but then I feel like I’m neglecting you-”
“It’s okay, I know how much everyone counts for you.” Catra tried to reassure her, but that only made Adora angrier.
“But you know you are more important!”
“I… do?” Catra’s question was genuine. She didn’t doubt Adora’s love, but the princess always wanting to save everyone was making it difficult for Catra to call herself more important. And she was okay with it after all that happened, at least for now.
“How can you not know? I thought it was clear after the Heart.”
“I know you put me first there for a moment...”
Adora’s shoulders dropped, realising that Catra missed her point, and misunderstood what had happened at the Heart of Etheria. “And then what? You thought that love magically saved the day? That your confession acted as a password like for the honour of Greyskull?” She rolled her eyes and made a ridiculous gesture at the magically and Greyskull parts.
Catra looked at her, sceptical and blinked a few times, admitting that it did sound sketchy when Adora put it that way. She had not dwelt on it because everything was now fine, but it was true that the princess’ sudden burst of power didn’t really make sense.
“I thought I was ready to die fighting for everyone, but deep down, I had given up. Because there was nothing left for me. Because you left me. Since you weren’t there in my future-”
“But I came back-”
“I believed you would leave again once our job was done!” Adora paused to breathe and her eyes softened. “Until you said you loved me. I didn’t realise how much strength I had been unconsciously holding back, simply because living without you seemed bland and not worth giving my all for. Mara tried to show me that I could have what I wanted, but I was blinded by what I had to do. I didn’t acknowledge it, but in my heart I felt that saving everyone was pointless if I couldn’t have you. She-Ra’s power had always been there and strong. It was me without this selfish wish that was too weak to use it. Until you promised me a future with you. You even kissed me to make sure I got it! I thought you understood too.”
“No! How was I supposed to? I thought it was just a weird She-Ra thing. I didn’t knew it was that important, you didn’t say anything!”
“I felt so bad for needing to be selfish to be strong. I’m supposed to be the perfect protector She-Ra, how can I say that I would die without you! That I’m not able to save anyone unless I have you! That I’m useless alone-”
Catra’s loud chuckle echoed in the now otherwise silent room. Adora was about to cry a second ago, but the surprise completely stopped her. The three princesses looked curiously at Catra who began to laugh. It was a good laugh, however the way she had broken the serious moment was troubling.
“I’m- sorry, I can’t- can’t stop!” Catra tried to calm down and explain, but her laugh won easily and she had to wait a moment. “I never thought you were perfect!” She took Adora in her arms, still shaking with laughter. “You are clumsy, stubborn and confidently idiot, and I absolutely love you that way. But you are not perfect! And you certainly don’t have to try to act perfect in front of me!”
Spinnerella and Netossa burst out laughing too. Adora blushed furiously and smiled shyly when Catra kissed her cheek.
“I think Catra deserves a point for that one!” Netossa exclaimed. “She’s right. Nobody blames you for being a little selfish, Adora. It’s not healthy to deny how much you want her.” She winked at Adora who hid her face behind her hands.
Spinnerella kissed her wife’s cheek too. “In the end, love did save the day then! Like you saved me Darling.”
Catra scoffed at them. “You princesses always have to be so dramatic.”
“Like we just didn’t learn that you saved the world with a kiss.” Netossa replied with a wide grin.
“I didn’t mean to-” Catra pouted.
“You will make Adora cry if you say you didn’t mean to kiss her!” Spinnerella playfully interrupted her.
Catra looked at Adora. Her princess seemed definitely more likely to laugh than cry right now, as her face was slowly turning back to its usual colour. However the simple idea of denying her intent to kiss Adora, even for show, was starting to hurt Catra more than she wanted to admit.
“But you two need to share a little more than that. You have to open up to each other and show yourself naked.” Netossa smirked and made Catra and Adora blush again with her choice of words.
“Adora, remember what we said last time.” Spinnerella reminded her softly. “If you want a girl seriously, you need to show her all of you, the real you, not only the best you pretend to be.”
“What do you mean by last time? You already talked to Adora about us?”
“No. It was a long time ago, when we found out she was attracted to girls and she visibly had no idea about love and relationship, coming from the Horde. We thought we could help.”
Catra growled jealously and turned to Adora. “And how did they found that out, princess?”
“I was, kind of, a little, slightly, admiring Huntara?”
“The Crimson Waste’s woman?”
“Yes, but it was nothing really. I was trying to forget about you-”
“Did anything happen between you two?”
“Of course not! But Spinnerella and Netossa wouldn’t stop asking me, and they gave me a lot of advices, and-”
Catra jumped on her feet, and growled down at Adora.
Spinnerella stood up too. “There’s no need to get angry. Let’s talk quietly.”
“It doesn’t matter now! I couldn’t forget you anyway and I’m very happy with that!”
“You said there was never someone else!”
“But it was just a bit of looking!”
“I don’t like it!”
“Are you that jealous?”
“I don’t know!” Catra pulled her own hair out. “I haven’t had to think about that since Lonnie!”
“But we were little kids then!?”
“You two really need to talk more together, calmly.” Netossa interrupted.
“What do you know!” Catra retorted without thinking.
“I am perfectly calm!” Adora shouted, not realising that she had stood up too, competing in height with Catra, both on the tips of their feet.
Suddenly, a magical net trapped Catra’s whole body and she fell on the sofa. Netossa grabbed and dragged her to the kitchen. “We’ll be back!” She smiled at the two other princesses.
Adora was ready to run after them, but Spinnerella’s hand on her shoulder held her back. The wind princess softly waved at the two leaving with her other hand, making Adora understand that it was time to calm down and talk separately for a moment.
“You two were getting too agitated, so we thought it would be a good time to have a little chat that way. Both of you are really bad at saying what’s important calmly, you know?”
“But it felt so easy yesterday in bed-” Adora gasped and blushed all over again.
Spinnerella chuckled. “Yes, it’s simple when you are in your little bubble with your lover. I know you two only got together a few days ago, but with everything that happened, you will need to grow up a bit faster and talk about all kinds of things if you want to go through your new lives without hurting each other. Catra and you can’t really afford to miss each other’s feelings again.”
Adora was ready to reply that they were okay, however Spinnerella’s insistent stare made her think better. “We didn’t really grow up and learn how to speak about feelings.”
“For example, did you two talked about what happened early this morning, before the meeting?”
“How do you know- We didn’t say anything about before the meeting?” Adora tried to look away, remembering too late she couldn’t lie.
“Then that’s a no. If I have to guess, I would say you need to say more of what you want, again, instead of brooding over it.” The wind princess looked at Adora for a moment. “Don’t you think Catra should be a little more honest and stop being so defensive all the time?”
“I don’t know. I feel weird talking about it behind her back. She did bring me here to help us talk after all. I know she cares.”
“Good! Then you two only need to stay calm and relax when you do talk.”
Adora winced. As difficult to admit as it was, relaxing wasn’t something she was familiar with. And both of them were pretty quick to jump into teasing or anger. “We might need some more help...”
Suddenly, Spinnerella’s face brightened up as if she just had a brilliant idea. “Netty!” She called loudly. Netossa’s head peeked out from the door. “We are doing the lists!”
Soon after, the kitchen duo came back and Catra sat down next to Adora again. Netossa gave them a refill of tea and offered some more cookies, before joining Spinnerella at the desk in the corner of the room.
The two wives began to write down and whisper actively, making sure to speak quietly enough so that even Catra couldn’t understand. They were going back and forth, stopping occasionally to put their ideas on paper, frequently looking at the couple sitting on the sofa.
Adora and Catra were holding hands again. They weren’t sure if it was intentional themselves, it just felt right and they observed the other two in silence. Catra couldn’t deny how much she liked the biscuits even if she wanted to and Adora was starting to feel like maybe, one day, a nice hot drink with Catra could be something she would call relaxing.
They noticed the other two staring at them for a moment, a worried frown on their faces. Adora and Catra looked at each other quizzically, they were quietly smiling and apart from the fact they were pressed a little too close for being in someone else’s house, there was apparently nothing that could make the wives frown.
After a few more whispers, Spinnerella ran out of the apartment, and they soon heard a loud wind presumably taking her away. Netossa smiled in a Don’t worry, she’ll be back soon manner, that had not much effect on the two, and started to think and write again.
Spinnerella did indeed come back quickly, with a small pouch made of colourful fancy fabric. She checked the two papers that Netossa had finished writing one last time and they rolled and sealed them like important scrolls before coming back to sit down on the couch.
Catra and Adora were starting to get uncomfortable at the secrecy and the vague answer they got didn’t change much about that either. They both received a written list of ten things they needed to do and share with each other, when they would be alone later. They had to follow both lists at approximately the same time, without reading ahead. In addition, Spinnerella also gave Catra the little bag.
It was getting late and way past tea time when Adora and Catra left. The older couple made sure to say at least three times that they would be happy to answer any question and help with any trouble that the younger could have. After that, the goodbyes didn’t last long as they would all see each other the next morning.
“That was unexpected. I know you opened up to Glimmer, but I didn’t thought you would bring me forcefully to talk to other princesses!” Adora said on the way back to their room.
“I can’t ask Sparkles about that.”
“Why? Are you scared of her teasing us without end?”
“That’s not… I can’t tease her back about her relationship, remember?”
“You care about that?” Adora asked surprised. In a previous conversation, Glimmer had made clear that because of her status, any joke about her and Bow would not be funny, as it could lead to serious trouble, at least until they made their relationship official.
“Of course, why wouldn’t I?”
“I’m sorry, I thought you would tease her anyway. I know you don’t mean anything bad with it, and she would probably understand too?”
“Adora! I owe her! I won’t do that! She saved me and helped me, nearly as much as you did. I can be sensitive too!”
Adora looked proudly at her. She blushed slightly guiltily, thinking that her surprise might have been a little rude to Catra.
“She did so much for me… I’m such an idiot! Adora, tomorrow evening, I’ll go talk to Sparkles about... you know… Angella.” Catra tried to sound confident, but her voice wasn’t much more than a murmur at the end.
“Are you sure about that?” Adora jumped. She could feel Catra’s hand trembling.
“Yeah. I am. But I’ll need you afterwards. So please be there for me?” Catra’s eyes were wide and pleading, and Adora softly looked back at her.
“I will.” Adora tightened the hold on her girlfriend’s hand. “What’s in the bag?” She changed the subject, letting tomorrow’s business be for tomorrow.
“I don’t know. They told me not to open it before my list asks me to.” Catra welcomed the distraction and smiled again.
Adora opened their room’s door and let Catra enter first. They sat on the bed’s side in silence for a little time, contemplating the three gifts.
“So. Are we doing this?”