Chapter Text
Stratos lay in the hospital, unconscious still, with Man-At-Arms sitting in the chair besides the bed, head in hands. A knock sounded at the door, and after a moment, the king walked in, standing over Stratos. “How could this have happened? He was such a good man.”
Man-At-Arms shifted, sitting upright. “We left him out there for five years… five long years. While we were down here hiding, he was… up there. With him .”
Randor shuddered, coming to sit next to Man-At-Arms. “At least he’s here now. When he wakes up, I just hope he stays calm. We don’t want an unfortunate repeat of… what happened. Speaking of which, has He-Man returned?”
Man-At-Arms shook his head. “Castle Grayskull is far from the village. And you know how he is; only showing up in times of need.”
“True enough. Well, I wish I could stand vigil with you, but…”
“Go on, do your kingly duties. I think I can watch a sleeping man.”
“Thank you, old friend.” The king stood up, heading to the door. “Oh, by the way, have you seen my son around lately? I haven’t seen him since he left with you to the village.”
Man-At-Arms froze for a split second—short enough that the king wouldn’t notice. “I think he went for a little walk in the woods. Something about clearing his head.”
The king nodded. “Makes sense. Seeing one’s hero act… he needs the time. Well, I’ll be leaving. If he wakes, contact me.”
Man-At-Arms nodded. “Understood, your highness.”
The king left, leaving the room silent except for the faint beeping of the machine. A little while later, a nurse came in and checked the vital signs, taking notes on a clipboard.
Man-At-Arms cleared his throat. “Excuse me… if it wouldn’t be too much to ask, could you sent Adora in here? I would like to speak with her.”
The nurse nodded. “Of course!”
She left, and a few minutes later Adora came in. “Ah, Adora. Here, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble, could you go and talk with He-Man? I think he needs it. He’ll be at Grayskull; I trust you know the way?”
Adora shrugged. “Yeah, it’s not too hard to remember.” She walked over to Stratos. “Do you know if he’s close to waking up?”
“The nurse says it’ll be anywhere from now to this evening, but he’s not in a coma. Just malnourished and the like. Do you need a skiff?”
“It’s not that far.”
“Fair enough. Well, don’t let me keep you waiting.” He waved her out.
Adora walked into her apartment, tossing some food in her pack. Catra walked out of their room, yawning. “Hey, ‘Dora. You going somewhere?”
Adora looked up from the water bottle she was filling. “Yeah. I’m going to go talk to He-Man, he’s been at the castle for a while now. You wanna come? I think it’ll be ok. After all, you do already know who He-Man really is.”
Catra stretched, rolling her head around. “Sure, why not. I could use a hike.”
They got ready mostly in silence, Adora bringing along their jackets—it was still spring, and the nights were chilly. They left the palace complex, walking through the forest to the castle. After a little, Catra looked at Adora, and started running. “Race you there!”
Adora sputtered, running after he girlfriend. “Hey, you don’t even know where it is! And not fair, I’m carrying the backpack!”
Catra jumped over a log, turning back to stick her tongue out at Adora, then went down on all fours, speeding up. Adora’s daily workout paid off, though, her strong legs allowing her to start catching up. “Can’t get rid of me that easily!”
They ran for a bit, Adora managing to be close enough to never quite lose sight of Catra. Eventually, they broke out of the forest, both of them panting from the exertion. Not far away stood the castle, a large ravine surrounding it. “Well, well, well, looks like I actually beat you in a race for once.”
Adora turned to Catra, smirking. “We’re not there yet.” Catra took a second to process it, and in that moment Adora started running. Catra started running soon after and was actually able to close the gap, barely pulling ahead by the time they got to the bridge—then Adora started glowing, her enhanced legs easily propelling her to the edge of the bridge.
Catra caught up to Adora. “Hey, that’s not very fair, is it.”
Adora shrugged, panting deeply. “Not… not my fault that… hoooo… gimme a second.” She took a swig of water, breathing deeply. “S’not my fault that you can’t turn into an 8-foot tall magical being, that’s on you.”
Catra lightly punched Adora. “Ah, shut up. Anyways, how are we going to go inside?”
At that, the great drawbridge creaked open, thudding into the ground near them. Adora shrugged. “Gee, I have no idea. Any ideas?”
Catra sighed, walking inside, Adora right behind her. Adora turned down a side pathway, navigating the maze with surprising ease.
“Hey, Adora? Where are we going?”
Adora didn’t answer for a second, lost in thought. “I’m not sure. I just… have a feeling that this is the right way.”
Catra shrugged. After all, weirder stuff has happened to them.
After a minute of walking down dimly lit corridors, they came across a large wooden door, which Adora pushed open. On the other side lay a beautiful courtyard, flowers blooming by the small stream that ran through it. On a bench by the river sat Adam, his sword laying across his lap.
Adora walked over, shutting the door behind her and Catra. They walked over to Adam, marvelling at the plants. “May we sit with you?”
Adam looked up. “Oh hi, didn’t hear you. Sure.” He scooted over to one side, and the girls sat down beside each other. “So, why’d you come here?”
“We wanted to make sure you’re doing ok. You looked like you needed some support.” Adora sighed.
Adam grunted in agreement, holding the sword so it reflected his face back at him. “What happened back there… I don’t know if it’s going to happen again. I don’t know if I can take that risk again. I hurt my friends, and almost killed somebody. Maybe it’s best if He-Man retired for a bit.”
Catra scoffed. “That’s a terrible idea. Skeletor may be gone, but Eternia still needs He-Man—it needs you. I’ll admit, I’ve done horrible things to those I love. I’m not proud of it. But did I lock myself in my room and never come out? No. I changed.”
Adora laid a comforting hand on Catra’s knee. “She’s right. Anyone can change. Even Hordak, the person who nearly conquered our planet in the name of the Horde, eventually changed.”
Adam sighed. “But I didn’t choose to attack. I can’t change something I never tried to do. If I transform… who knows when it’ll happen again? Maybe next time I’ll badly hurt someone, or worse.”
Adora drew her mouth into a line. “I don’t like to talk about this much, but when I was forced to fire the heart… I nearly destroyed the entire universe. Lighthope, or at least the reprogrammed version of her, just took control of me like a puppet. I could barely even slow it down. In the end, I was able to stop it and shatter the sword, but only barely. We can’t condemn ourselves for things out of our control.”
Adam tapped on the sword, his nails clinking on the strange material. “You broke the sword… how could you do that? I know that in the moment that must’ve been the only way to save everything but… I don’t think I could ever do that. You didn’t even know you could bring She-Ra back.”
“I knew that I would make any sacrifice to keep my friends safe. And I’ll be honest, the first few weeks after it happened, it was really hard. I had gotten so used to being able to transform into She-Ra and just magic my problems away, that those weeks fighting Prime’s army was pretty much the worst I’ve ever felt.”
Catra set her hand on Adora’s and squeezed, Adora giving a grateful smile back. Adam looked up at her, and nodded. “Well, I don’t think I can do what you did, I’m not strong enough. But I will return to the palace. At least there’s not really much need for He-Man.”
They all stood up and left, passing the sorceress who was tending to a flower bed. They went through the maze, the drawbridge opening before them, and came out onto the stone bridge.
“So, where’d you park?”
Adora and Catra looked at each other. “We walked here. Well, mostly ran, but you know how it is.”
“You came here on foot? But the castle’s miles away!”
Catra smirked. “What, can’t you walk for a bit?”
Adam sighed. “Fair enough. Although, I was kind of hoping to be back in time for dinner. Clearing out that town took a lot out of me.”
Adora swung her pack off and handed him a foil-wrapped package. “Here, this should tide you over until we get back.” She hoisted her backpack up again, and they started walking. Shortly, Adam stopped, looking at the bar in amazement.
“What is this? It’s terrible!”
Adora looked puzzled. “Terrible? Let me see that.” She looked at the bar. “It looks fine. I made sure to only bring the gray ration bars. What’s wrong?”
Adam was shocked. “You guys eat these on purpose? But they’re just so… bland!”
Catra raised an eyebrow. “At least it’s not the brown kind. Trust me, bland isn’t the worst it goes. And I’ve been trying to tell Adora that we don’t have to eat these anymore but she just keeps insisting they’re good.”
“Hey! I’ll have you know they’re extremely useful! Plenty of nutrition, plus they’re super easy to pack!”
Catra stage-whispered to Adam, “Note how she didn’t say they tasted good.”
Adam chuckled, and Adora groaned. “Oh, hush. Next time I just won’t bring supplies, and we’ll see just how hungry you get.”
Laughing and joking, they entered the forest, heading back to the palace.