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In the years after the war, Royals Balls had become a rather common occurrence in Brightmoon. Glimmer loved any excuse to throw a big party (or even not having an excuse at all). Clearly something of Castaspella's that had rubbed off on her. However, the one taking place that evening was going to be a very special one indeed. For tonight, it would be the first one that Adora and Catra's child Finn would be attending.
However, Finn had made it very loudly clear that they didn't want to go and they were going under protest. They thought that parties would be dumb and stupid and wouldn't be any fun at all. But Finn's complaining did nothing to assuage their mothers. If anything, Finn pouting about it only made them even more cute and deep down, Adora and Catra knew their little one would have a good time.
As Adora walked into hers and Catra's suite shortly before the ball, she saw her wife putting the finishing touches on Finn's outfit. Finn was mewling in over-dramatic woe, begging their mother to stop torturing them. "Mom, please!"
"Trust me, kiddo, you're gonna thank me later," Catra replied as she finished tying Finn's little bow-tie. While Catra had been happy to rock a untied tie back at Princess Prom all those years ago, she knew Finn deserved to look a bit smarter than she had been.
"I can't breathe!" Finn whined.
"You can breathe just fine," Catra insisted. "Now hold still will you." She tied up the last little knot. "Aaaaand done!"
Finn muttered under their breath, feeling embarrassed.
Catra just giggled. "You think that was bad, you still need to have your hair brushed." She grabbed the hairbrush and began to see to Finn's little head of brown hair, straightening it out from the wild little mane it usually was.
"Is Finn almost ready?" Adora asked, peaking over Catra's shoulder.
"Take a look!"
Adora looked down at Finn... and her heart melted. Finn looked utterly precious. Finn was wearing a little tiny white and gold tuxedo with a golden sash across their chest with She-Ra's crest upon it. They made for simply a dashing little Prince. Finn was just blushing deeply in embarrassment, turning their head away from their mother Adora, but Catra yanked Finn's head firmly in place so she could brush it.
"Hold still, you wanna look good don't you?" Catra remarked.
"No, I look silly!" Finn pouted.
"I don't think you do," Adora insisted, sitting down in front of Finn. "I think you look very handsome. You've got your mama's looks alright, Finn."
"But I look so stupid!" Finn protested. "I hate wearing actual shoes!"
"Well, you can't exactly attend a royal ball barefoot, Finn," Adora giggled. "Besides, your friends Serenia and Archer are going too. So's Flora."
Serenia and Archer were Glimmer and Bow's two children, both younger than Finn, though Serenia was only younger by about a year. Flora was Scorpia and Perfuma's daughter, born literally the month after Finn. When Finn was born, it clearly opened the floodgates for everyone else in the Alliance to start having children.
"I bet they look silly too!" Finn complained.
"I'm sure they won't," Adora replied, petting Finn's little head.
"Why do I have to go anyway?" Finn grumbled. "This stupid party isn't for me."
"Because you're the child of two very important people," Adora explained. "I'm She-Ra and Princess of Eternia, Catra's the co-leader of the Princess Alliance with Glimmer and the General of the Royal Guard. That makes you probably the most important kitten on both planets."
"But I didn't get dragged to that party on Eternia!" Finn whined. "You let me stay here with Aunt Glimmer."
"Well, things might be changing and you'll be expected to attend those too. You are second in line for the throne after all." Finn looked down and Adora plopped down in front of Finn, hopping them onto her lap. "Can I tell you something, Finn? I was so nervous the first time I went to a party. It was my first Princess Prom. I tried to make up for it by planning and preparing for everything as I usually do... but it all ended in disaster, because your other mom showed up and kidnapped your Aunt Glimmer and Uncle Bow. But I rescued them and... okay, I don't know if I actually have a point here."
Catra sighed, knowing she would have to step in. "Point is, kiddo, it's alright to feel like this. But I promise you everything will be fine. You'll have friends there and you won't get lonely."
"Are my friends happy about this?" Finn wondered.
"Oh yes! I saw that Serenia is wearing a new dress for this," Catra pointed out. "And you know Flora loves parties." She gave Finn a once-over, making sure their little suit looked pristine. "Now, make sure you don't spill anything on this suit. We had it tailor made just for you."
Finn pretended to choke, trying their best to get out of going to the stupid party. "Moms! Help! I'm dying! I'm choking!"
Rolling her eyes as Finn's mature dramatics, Catra knelt down and loosened Finn's collar just a little, Finn doing an over-the-top gasping for air. "You're not dying, trust me, you'd know if you were." Finn really had picked up a lot from hanging around their Auncle Double Trouble it seemed.
Finn sighed and seemingly admitted defeat.
Adora walked to the door and opened it for her wife and child. "Now come on, we mustn't be late."
As Finn walked out of the room and followed their mothers down the hallway, the nearby flight of stairs gave them one last chance. They suddenly sprinted down the stairs, hoping to get to the ground floor and rush straight into the woods. Unfortunately for the little kitten, Catra had already prepared for this eventuality as with a simple mental command, Melog appeared from her invisibly cloak and grabbed Finn in her mouth by the scruff of their neck.
"Noooooo!" Finn cried out as Melog carried them with little effort, no matter how much Finn tried to wiggle free.
"Good girl, Melog," Catra praised her alien companion, petting her head as she dropped Finn back on the floor. Catra smirked at her child. "You really thought you could escape there, didn't you?"
"I would have!"
"But you didn't, because no one escapes from me that easily," Catra said in a teasing tone.
"This is so not fair!" Finn let out a tantrum. "This stupid party is going to be so boring and I'm not gonna have any fun! You're mean!"
Adora scooped Finn up into her arms and looked them right in the eyes. "Finny, please, it won't be anything like what you're imagining. But if you are feeling strongly about it, you can go back to your room if you want and we'll just go without you. But... Can you at least try to enjoy the party? For your mamas? It will mean the world to us and you do love making us proud, don't you?" Adora batted her big, beautiful blue eyes at Finn, knowing this was her last resort.
"...Yes," Finn admitted, finally giving in. "Okay, I'll go to the stupid party."
"You won't regret it," Adora promised.
When Adora and Catra finally arrived, the ball was in full swing. Guests from all over Etheria had arrived and people were already dancing and enjoying themselves. Finn's eyes widened and indeed, this party did look kinda fun after all. Before Finn could do anything else, two of their friends rushed over to them, Serenia and Flora. Serenia was indeed wearing a new sparkling purple dress that matched the highlights in her hair and Flora was similarly looking lovely in a cute green dress.
"Hi Finn!" Serenia chirped. "You look great!"
"You wanna come dance with us?" Flora offered.
Finn gulped. "S-Sure!" They replied, before Serenia and Flora grabbed their hands and pulled them to the dance floor.
Adora and Catra giggled at the sight, as Glimmer and Bow finally joined them.
"So on a scale of one to ten," Glimmer wondered with a knowing smile. "How much trouble was Finn giving you over this?"
"Deftiently a good seven," Catra replied with a laugh. "It was as bad as you thought it was and then some."
"Well, I know it runs in the family," Glimmer pointed out. "Remember Scorpia's first ball? How I had to chase you across the whole castle just to even try to brush your hair?"
Catra grumbled. "Don't start, Sparkles."
"Well, it looks like Finn is going to have fun after all," Glimmer remarked as the four of them watched the children dancing.
Adora nodded, watching as Flora attempted to awkwardly dance with Finn, Finn doing their best not to step on her toes. It was so cute and was very much worth all of Finn's protesting. Glimmer was right, Finn was going to have so much fun tonight.