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Mystacor Cloud Beaches

Summary:

Catra had talked to Micah about it. Not to ask for permission, but he had become a sort of father figure for her after the war, so it was only fair that she asked him for advice on something so important. Aunt Casta was harder to trust, Catra had no idea how the woman had managed to keep it a secret, being as excited as she looked, but Catra had needed her help, so she told her anyway.

Another work I should have posted a month ago, but hey, at least I finished it, right?
For Glitra week, day 7: Proposal

Notes:

Here I am, once again, posting works a month late

Huge thanks to Nny11 for making a mess of paragraphs into something you guys can enjoy

So, enjoy <3

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

Catra was trying to control her nerves. She looked around, checking to see everything was in place for the thousandth time. The picnic was set up on a large tablecloth on the sand along with a bottle of wine, two glasses, a basket, and dozens of candles lit in a circle around the spot. The sun was about to start setting, giving the beach the romantic atmosphere Catra was aiming for. It was a calm afternoon for the clouds, so she had taken the risk and arranged everything maybe a little too close to them, hoping the tide didn’t ruin her plans. The cold misty breeze told her that wearing a coat had been a good call, but it also made her wish she’d gone for a bonfire instead of candles to light their spot after the sunset. 

She had talked to Micah about it. Not to ask for permission, but he had become a sort of father figure for her after the war, so it was only fair that she asked him for advice on something so important. Aunt Casta was harder to trust, Catra had no idea how the woman had managed to keep it a secret, being as excited as she looked, but Catra had needed her help, so she told her anyway. 

Reassuring herself that everything was going to work out perfectly, Catra dialed her girlfriend on her tracker pad. It took a second for her to take it, and Catra could see the queen’s once-in-a-lifetime relaxed features, apparently sitting in the guestroom Castaspella had offered them. 

“Looks like you enjoyed your relaxing day in the thermal waters.” Catra said, and Glimmer threw her head back, reclining further into her seat.

“Holy Mara, I needed that! This trip was, like, the best idea you’ve ever forced me to agree with. Thank you!” 

Catra smiled at her girlfriend’s antics.

“You really needed to chill, and sometimes you need me to remind you of that.” She said, smiling. Then, trying not to sound suspicious, she asked “Hey, are you busy right now?” 

She knew she wasn’t, Casta had assured her that by sunset Glimmer would be in her room, fresh out of the bath, and with nothing to do on her hands. 

“No, just finished taking a bath after the thermal springs and sat for a while to read Bow’s and Adora’s messages.” Then she inched closer to the screen and stage-whispered, “Also, I’m kinda hiding from aunt Casta cause she’s been acting super weird today, bossing me around and timing everything that I do.” 

Catra bristled, but tried not to let it show on the screen or in her voice. “Haha, weird. Uh, do you think you can pop over to the beach for a sec? I’ve got something for you.”

Glimmer perked up at that. “What, you finished exploring the wilds and decided to make your amazing girlfriend a surprise?” She asked, already getting up from her seat. 

“Something like that, Sparkles.” She said, grinning at the screen. 

“Careful, people are gonna start getting the impression that you like me.” She fussed around in the room, apparently looking for something. Then, she grabbed a coat and said, before hanging up, “Alright, I’ll be right there.”

As soon as she hung up, Catra could feel the change in the atmosphere, signaling the arrival of her girlfriend. She materialized a couple steps away, wearing her coat over her casual clothes. Vacation meant no queenly garments, the one earring being the only reminder of Bright Moon’s regency until they returned home tomorrow.

Glimmer approached Catra and hugged her tightly around the shoulders. Catra hugged her back.“Is it weird that I already missed you?” She asked, softly.

“Of course not. Who wouldn’t miss me ?” Catra’s reply came with a smugness that she knew could get a rise out of her girlfriend, who slapped her shoulder as she pulled away from her. 

“Nah, I take it back, I didn’t miss you at all. It was probably just a fever.” And then she looked away from Catra and towards the clouds. She gasped, pointing at the picnic. “Wow! Is that for us?”

Catra smiled and nodded, suddenly nervous about her plans for the evening. 

“Yep. C’mon, let’s sit.” She took Glimmer’s hand and guided her to the center of the picnic set.

Catra noticed that the sun had started to set, painting the sky a mix of oranges and purples, casting beautiful shadows across Glimmer’s features. Her girlfriend’s gaze, instead, swept across the set up, admiring Catra’s work. “Did you make all of this?” She asked, her gaze now fixed on Catra, who felt her cheeks grow warm at the attention. 

She nervously scratched at the back of her head,“Well, I had some help from the kitchen staff, but mostly, yeah.” 

Glimmer gently tugged Catra’s hand from behind her neck and held it, intertwining their fingers. 

“Have I told you that I love you?” She asked in a playful tone.

“Not today, no.” Catra played along. 

“Well, I love you, like, a lot.” Glimmer said, smiling.

“You haven’t even seen the best part yet, Sparkles.” 

So she reached inside the basket and retrieved a wooden bowl. Opening it, she presented the contents to Glimmer, who gasped again and looked at Catra with the softest of expressions. 

“Are these the dum-” She started, and Catra finished with her

“Dumplings you made for us on Mara’s ship the day you guys rescued me? Yes, it is!” Catra smiled widely at her girlfriend’s excitement. 

“But how did you know how to…?” Glimmer trailed off, but Catra understood.

“Micah kinda gave me the recipe. The one your mom used.” She said, half confident and half scared of what Glimmer would think of that. 

To her relief, Glimmer just grinned and nodded eagerly. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s see how your cooking skills pay off!”

Catra dug into the basket and carefully retrieved the porcelain bowls and wooden chopsticks the kitchen staff had helped her pack. With all of it set, she plated a couple dumplings on each bowl, using the chopsticks with a skill that Bow had helped her master not too long ago. She took the two glasses in one hand and poured the sparkling rosé wine with the other one, trying not to spill as Glimmer took the moment to caress her lower back. They toasted to their lives and sipped the sweet drink, the bubbles caressing Catra’s tongue and irritating her nose as the first sip always did. Then, after a quick peck on bubbling lips, they took their bowls and chopsticks and started eating. 

The first bite had Glimmer closing her eyes and humming in contentment. “Stars, Catra. Marry me.”

Catra just stared at her, wide-eyed. Did she know? Had she guessed it? Glimmer, not understanding her reaction, looked around as if she’d find an answer, before turning back to her in confusion. 

Catra lowered her dumpling back into the bowl and took a deep breath to build some courage. Now or never, right?

“That’s actually the idea.” She said, putting her bowl down. “I was gonna wait ‘till we finished eating and the sun was gone, but... since you brought it up.” 

And then she stood up, offering a hand to Glimmer. Her girlfriend looked really confused, raising an eyebrow questioningly, probably wondering where they were going. She was also reluctant to put her food down, but she did it anyway and took Catra’s hand, letting herself be guided to her feet. Catra ran her thumbs across her knuckles, before she reached inside her pocket and retrieved a small box. Glimmer finally seemed to put two and two together and gasped, shocked, putting a hand on her chest. Catra opened it, to reveal a silver ring with a moonstone in the center surrounded by amethysts on either side. 

“Glimmer, the years I’ve spent with you by my side have been, so far, the best years of my life . You made me appreciate myself for who I already am when I was used to trying to be someone else. I am a better person and I treat myself better when I have you by my side, and I want to make you as happy as you make me, and to love you and be there for you, too, for the rest of our lives if you let me.” Then, she got down on one knee in front of Glimmer, sinking slightly into the warm sand, and presented the ring to her, watching closely as her girlfriend’s face lit up under the colors of the fading sunset. “Would you give me the honor of being my wife, and have me as yours?”

She was trying so hard to get to the end of her proposal without letting the anxiousness, fear, excitement, and all the love threaten to overflow in the form of tears. So she felt immediate relief when she heard her girlfriend answer her.

“Catra, of course I do!” She said excitedly. “Just… wait here! Don’t move!”

And then she disappeared in a cloud of sparkles. 

Catra just stayed there, on one knee, astonished and not knowing what to do with herself. What just happened? She asked herself, looking around for any clue of where Glimmer had gone. She said yes, didn’t she? Catra put the box back in her pocket just in case. Maybe they could just pretend none of this happened?

And then Glimmer popped back right where she was before, like she was never gone, and offered Catra a hand. 

“C’mon, I need you to stand for this.” She said, and Catra forced herself to get up, almost shaking with the prospect of rejection.

Then she finally noticed that Glimmer had a box in her other hand, and she was fidgeting with it.

“I was planning on doing this tomorrow right before we left, but since you brought it up.” She mimicked Catra’s words. 

Then she looked down at the box in her hand, and kept her eyes there. Catra thought she might die any moment now if her girlfriend - fiancé? - didn’t start explaining it. 

“I talked to my dad a few weeks ago, and seeing that we are on the same page about this, I feel even more assured that this is the right thing to do.” Then she looked up at Catra’s eyes and tightened the hold on her hand. “Catra, you literally saved my life. But more than that, you changed it too. You made me realize things I’d never have been able to see on my own, like what’s really important in life. We balance each other perfectly, and there’s so much about me that you’re the only person in the world who understands. And you crazy matches mine, which is more than I could ever ask of you, frankly.” 

They chuckled, Catra was calmer now, hearing all those things from the woman she loved. 

Then Glimmer let go of her hand and opened the box, revealing a single earring shaped like a drop. “And if you could face this lifetime adventure with me, I’d be more than honoured. So, will you be my Queen?” 

Catra thought her knees would give out from under her. She couldn’t believe the words she just heard. And she couldn’t find any words of her own, either.  So, she just grabbed her fiancé by the waist and lifted her up, spinning her around in circles until she dissipated enough energy to find her tongue. So she put Glimmer down and cradled her face. 

“Yes!” She punctuated with a kiss, and kept kissing her and repeating “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! A thousand times yes!”

Glimmer just giggled, the corners of her eyes wrinkling from the happiness. 

“You scared the shit out of me disappearing like that!” Catra said, still holding her face. 

“Wow, I just realized what that looked like, I’m sorry!” Glimmer said, flinching slightly. “Okay, but let me see how you’re gonna look with it!” 

Glimmer took a step back and Catra felt gentle fingers removing her ear pierce and replacing it with the regal jewel that matched the queen’s own. Glimmer stopped for a moment to appreciate the result with a teary smile, sighing shakily as  she nodded short and repeatedly,  signaling her approval.

“Your turn now.” Catra said, fishing the ring back out of her pocket and taking Glimmer’s hand to gently place the ring on her finger. Both of them stopped for a second to admire it, until Glimmer broke the moment by jumping and hugging her neck.

“I love you.” She whispered in the Magicat’s adorned ear. 

Catra smiled and whispered back “I’m taller, so I love you more.” 

Glimmer pushed her away, trying to feign irritation, but the smile that wouldn’t leave her face didn’t let her. 

“You’re stupid, that’s what you are.”

Catra raised her arms and opened them, indicating a headline. She said, much louder than necessary “Breaking news! Queen of Bight Moon is to marry a stupid, hot Magicat!”

When they managed to stop giggling and staring dreamily at each other, the newly engaged couple sat back down and laughed and kissed and cuddled, eating their dinner and drinking their sparkling wine for hours after the sun had set and the sand had turned cold.  With only a few surviving candles and the night moon lighting up the beach, they packed up together, quickly moving inside to escape the cold.  

On the next evening, when they arrived back at Bright Moon, their friends were waiting for them. Bow started tearing up at the sight of Catra wearing the earring, Adora ran to hug them both in a bone-crushing embrace, while Micah started telling them his plans for his retirement. 

Notes:

Sooooo, what do you think?