Chapter Text
~Sunday~
Castaspella truly is a storm, just like her daughter. It doesn't matter that they don't share the same genetic code, aside from appearances, they have the same penchant for dramatics, the same paranoia about their loved ones' wellbeing, and the same wild spirit.
She appears on their doorstep on a Sunday, two weeks after they finally found the time and a year after they had saved up the money to move into a bigger apartment. Glimmer was confused about it, always wondering out loud why they would move into another apartment until Adora explained that Catra wanted to wait until they were married to get a house.
"Whipped." Glimmer had called her.
"Adorable." Bow had cooed.
"Shut up." Catra had grouched at both of them.
They’re sitting in the new living room, finally choosing to unpack the utensils after stubbornly ordering take-out because they were both too prideful to submit to the labor of unpacking.
That and, Catra is making another batch of healing exlirs and she can’t find the jar of mermaid tears. She always loses the jar of tears no matter where she puts it.
"Oh," Catra turns around from where she was digging through one of the bigger boxes in the pile and snaps her fingers as if she remembered something. "I forgot to tell you."
Adora raises an eyebrow from where she's trying to sort out the books they brought. Normal people would have separated their books by who owns them. But Adora is not 'a normal person.'
She's efficient.
So she had just thrown all the books they owned into one box and called it a day. 'A problem for future Adora' as she likes to tell herself way too often. Now, she's stuck with the task of separating the books into two separate piles: one for her, one for Catra, simple. Or. It would be if she didn't clearly hate herself. Now she tasked herself with separating the books into smaller piles. Textbooks (hers), crime novels (Catra's), sci-fi novels (Hers), and various journals annotated to the death in some witch language (Catra's, obviously).
"My mother's coming to stay with us, for a week - if I remember correctly."
Adora fumbles with the book in her hand, it drops to the floor anyway. "What? Why?"
Catra finally locates the jar of tears, eyeballs two tablespoons of it, and dumps it into the currently steaming pot. After stirring the mixture a few times she goes back to digging through the numerous boxes for the next ingredient. Adora wishes she could say she was the more organized one in their relationship, but unfortunately she and Catra are matched in terms of disorganization. In her defense, college changes a person.
"Um, mold," She opens a ziplock bag of red powder and sprinkles a pinch into the pot. "Or it's not really mold, but that's what she told the...whoever gets rid of mold when the asked. I don't know why though, I mean, they're not stupid - it's literally their job to identify mold, but whatever. She was going to stay at my aunt's, but decided it's been 'far too long since she's seen me--"
"--Uh, didn't we visit we see her during Christmas?"
"That's what I said! But anyway, long story short, she's coming here in..." Catra digs her phone out of her back pocket. "Three days."
Adora blinks, attempting to absorb the information dumped onto her. "Okay, that's - wow, anything else?"
Catra purses her lips in thought, eyebrows furrowing in the way they do whenever Catra racks her brain for anything. "Nope, that's what I've got."
"Okay, well do you wanna help me sort these books? Half of them are yours so there's only one correct answer."
"Is it no? Because I'd literally rather do anything else. Plus, you look so sexy putting books into useless piles."
"Flattery never works for you outside the bedroom."
"Damn it."
~Monday~
luv of my life
can u pic up one of those blow up beds? thx
blow up beds?
...yea
look idk what their called
inflattble mattress?
u spelled inflatable wrng
idc
why tho
remember when I said my mom was coming in three days
catra, no
catra, yes
she's like five ft away from me
why do you abbreviate words that don't need to be abbreviated
its only four letters, it's not that hard
um, i asked u to pic up a blow up bed
not critique my texting
it's not a 'blow up bed' for the last time
stop b4 i block u again
its not like you don't already block an average of six times a week
[This user no longer receives your messages]
"Fuck."
"Can I help you, ma'am?"
Adora whips her head around at the second voice. It's a boy, probably no older than sixteen, wearing the uniform to the small corner store she's currently looking like a fool in.
The boy raises an eyebrow at her. "You sounded frustrated."
She scrambles for a response. "Uh, no, I'm sorry - it's just my girlfriend, she tends to do this thing -you know how girlfriends are..."
He tilts his head. If Adora's being honest it's kinda adorable, he's still got tons of baby fat attached to his cheeks - like a chipmunk. "I don't have a girlfriend."
Adora blinks and before she can stop herself she reaches out and pats his head. Once. Twice. "Oh, don't worry, I'm sure there's someone out there for you..." She steals a glance at his name badge. "Andrew."
To her surprise, the boy doesn't pull away, but he does give her a vaguely judgemental look. "I'm gay."
"Oh," She wants to crawl into a hole and die. "Good for you." If Catra were here, she would be laughing her ass off at her. If Glimmer were here… she would also be laughing her ass off. God, those two could be twins if they didn’t look so different.
"So, do you need any help or can I...?" Andrew points his thumb towards the counter.
Adora scratches her neck awkwardly, waving the teenager off with what she hopes is a reassuring smile. 'Oh, yeah, totally! I'll just be here...you know... Shopping."
Andrew shoots her one last confused look before quickly exiting the aisle they were standing in. Adora checks her surroundings for any stray teenage workers before slapping her face with her hand, groaning.
"I'm so fucking stupid," she mutters to no one.
She walks out of the corner store, making sure to duck and leave when Andrew wasn't looking. Not her finest moment, but desperate times call for desperate measures and she really wants to get home as quickly as possible. The longer she's exposed to society, the greater the chances of her embarrassing herself are.
Adora speed-walks down the sidewalk, debating with herself if she should just break into a jog instead to speed up time when her phone starts vibrating, nonstop.
Glimmer
Hey so, cat texted me
when did my aunt get into town??
your asking me??
idk, cat stopped answering my texts when I started integrating her
bruh she hates that
I know! i know!
but as her cousin I feel like I should a pass on these things!
u mean her... boundaries?
...
good point, nvm
anyway why is casta at yall's place
it's tiny af lmao
ok fuk you first of all
also she just appeared this morning?
she was supposed to come in three days but-
wait hold on-
ok, so turns out
she was supposed to stay my parents place
but the last time she stayed with them she accidently 'poofed' a couple of my dad's journals
so they're being petty about it even tho he has copies
what does that mean?
it means aunt casta's stuck with yall until she leaves
...w o n d e r f u l
imma come over with bow in two days
try not to commit in your sleep okay?
no promises.
Adora finally arrived at the local Sam's Club, ready to stroll inside with a purpose. The purpose was locating the inflatable mattresses, hauling one onto a cart, and arriving home with it - all at the not-so-nice demand of her girlfriend, who would be owning her many cinnamon rolls afterward.
As she pushes the cart, now filled with one inflatable mattress, whistling the latest trending sone she heard on some random person's radio she feels her phone buzz with a notification.
luv of my life
nvm, don't buy anyhting
too late
lol, just return it
Sam's week before return policy
damn
lol, imagine wasting a credit card like tat
we share a back account
...
[You can no longer send messages to this user]
"Bruh, what the fuck-"
~
Adora jogs up the stairs to the third-story, inflatable mattress left behind at the bottom. If she's going to go and buy a mattress and it turns out they didn't even need it, you best believe she's gonna make Catra help her lift it up the stairs.
She hears muffled voices behind the door before she reaches it, the shouting audible even through the seemingly thick walls. (Their landlord was a filthy liar).
Concern is what makes her pick up the pace in getting out her keys and unlocking the door, ready to defend her girlfriend from whoever she's trading blows with.
Adora unlocks the door and immediately regrets ever coming back home.
"Mom, I swear, you don't need to perform another ritual-"
"But the one for the Sprites!" Castaspella, dressed in semi-formal attire gestures widely at a very detailed circle of what looks like - and Adora's only pulling straws here - pure cocaine. "You always forgot to perform the one for the greed spirits!"
"Okay, that was one time and I was fifteen."
"But it wouldn't hurt to check twice-"
"Mom-"
Adora must have been standing at the door like a duck for too long because both heads snap to stare at her. "Honey, I'm home." She says with an awkward wave.
Catra furrows her eyebrows at the strange greeting before turning back to her mother with a scowl. "Look, Adora can vouch for me - Adora, tell my worrywart mother," Castaspella narrows her eyes. "That I've performed all five cleansing rituals."
It's true, Catra has performed cleansing rituals - the first day they got arrived at the apartment Catra wouldn't let her step one foot inside until she finished. Adora thanked her lucky stars that they chose an enclosed apartment building, she couldn't imagine waiting outside in the mid-January cold without keeling over and dying.
There was always a reason why she chose to spend most of her winter breaks huddled right next to a fireplace.
"I'm not sure exactly-" A groan from Catra. "-But I'm pretty sure she did five."
Castaspella frowns, then sighs in defeat. "Fine. I'm sorry I just worry. I guess I'm still used to checking and rechecking every spell you do."
Catra's frustrated expression softens. "I'm twenty-two, mom, I've been on my own for four years, I think I've got it handled."
Castaspella reaches out and cups one of Catra's cheeks with her hand, stroking it softly. "You do, I know. I remember the days when I would turn around for one second and when I turn back, there you are - trying to stick a goblin's eye into your mouth."
Adora can't help the snort she lets out, running the mother-daughter moment. She was doing so well...until Casta brought on the imagery of a much younger Catra, eyes filled with endless curiosity, attempting to stick something as gross as an eyeball in her mouth. And Catra calls her the weird one.
"Okay, moment ruined," Catra gently pries Casta's hand off her, glaring at her girlfriend. She walks over to where Casta had dumped her luggage, lifts one up, and promptly drops it into Adora's arms, not bothering to check if she caught it.
Spoiler alert: she did.
Catra wipes her hands as if she did any hard work. "For ruining the moment, you can carry mom's stuff to the guest room."
It doesn't take long for Adora to readjust the suitcase so that it sits on her shoulder, arm wrapped around it for support. "Hah, jokes on you. This doesn't weigh a thing."
Whatever," She snaps her fingers. "Chop, chop porter boy."
Adora, gracefully, decides not to embarrass Catra further by commenting on the obvious ogling she was doing when Adora readjusted the suitcase. Because she's just so nice.
~Tuesday~
Adora’s working through some forgotten homework, a fully printed out speech of exactly why her professor should accept it two days late lays beside her. She wrote the speech as a Plan B. She really hopes it works because she's not like Bow who always has plans B-T on standby at all times.
Catra’s organizing her things. Adora would help, and really she would, but Catra has her own way special of organizing her things. Adora’s tried to figure it out - out of courtesy and curiosity - but her head had started to physically hurt anytime she attempted. So she dropped it and accepted it as the 9th wonder of the world.
No, she has no idea what the 8th is - yes, she will take it to her grave, Glimmer, thank you very much.
All in all, it’s a peaceful Tuesday afternoon.
Until Casta barges out from the guest room wearing a brightly colored sundress complete with a handbag, which she was waving in front of herself.
Casta practically bounces over to Catra, eyeing her daughter with a glint in her eyes that Adora's not sure she likes all that much.
"Mother-daughter bonding time!"
Catra chokes on something that looks suspiciously like the sour gummy worms Adora hid in one of the boxes before they moved. Wait a minute-
"What?" she asks, a confused expression written all over her face.
Mother-daughter bonding time!" Casta grabs Catra's hand, lacing their fingers together and pulling her closer with a mega-watt smile. "It's been so long since I saw you last, we must catch up!"
"Mom, we really don't," Catra attempts to pull away but her attempts prove useless when Casta only pulls out a medium-size photo, the edges well worn from fingers repeatedly grabbing the corners.
"Remember, darling? When we visited that art museum that you had bothered me about for weeks?-"
"It was not for weeks!" Catra huffs. "Besides, how do you even remember I was practically a baby then."
Casta gives her an unimpressed look. "You were nineteen."
"Yeah, like I said, practically a baby."
"Um," Adora chimes in, with a plan that she knows Catra is going to hate her for, but it's in her best interest. Adora sees the way Catra longingly strokes the various photos of her and her mother scattered around her workspace. When they were growing up, Adora could tell that Catra and Casta were close, even though Catra would probably hex herself before admitting it out loud.
Adora ignores the betrayed glare that Catra boring into the side of her head and continues. Camellia Day is coming up anyways, she has time to make up for it. "I think that's a great idea, Casta. Catra needs the break anyway."
"What?" Catra's glare grows in intensity. "No I don't, I haven't even been working that long."
Adora gives Catra an unimpressed once-over. "You haven't even eaten breakfast yet," she points out flatly.
"Yes, I have!"
Casta raises a finger. "Darling, sour candy doesn't count."
"Especially if it's my sour candy," Adora mutters under her breath.
Casta claps her hands together. "Then it's settled! We're going to have a mother-daughter bonding time, just like the old times! I get t catch up on your life and you get to rewind."
"I don't need to rewind-"
"Then it's settled."
Catra groans and turns to walk back into their room to get changed into something she deems more appropriate for the world outside their apartment, but the excited glow in her blue and gold eyes gives everything away. It's what Catra does, pretends to resist her mother's attempts to hang out when really she would love nothing more. Adora thinks it's the result of spending half your childhood traveling the world with one person.
A small part of Adora mourns for what she could have had as a child. Sure Mara and Hope love her -and she doesn't doubt that for a second -but they're more of big sisters to her. Watching Catra and Glimmer, even Bow- interact with their parents always makes a small part of her heart, the one that manages to hate Shadow Weaver in the same breath, ache.
(She knows, that her former foster mother's name is 'Sharon', but she's never been more than a shadow that lurks in the background of Adora's memories. A shadow that Adora consciously makes an effort to forget)
A soft hand strokes her cheek, gently bringing her out of her increasingly depressing train of thoughts.
"Hey," Catra says, dressed in a simple, black top with herbs printed all over and a pair of light wash skinny jeans. “You good?”
Adora leans into the touch. “Yeah, I’m good - or I will be.”
Catra pulls away, the worried glint still lingers in her eyes but she’s smiling and that’s always a plus in Adora’s book.
Casta calls out for Catra, from outside in the hallway. Catra yells back a response and shakes her head, mumbling something about “impatient mothers”
”Okay,” Catra grabs her keys from the rack. “Wish me luck.”
Adora snorts but gives her a kiss on her cheek anyway. “She’s your mom.”
Catra gives her a flat look. “That’s exactly why I said, ‘wish me luck.’”
“Whatever.” Adora gives her girlfriend a gentle push out the door. “Bye, love you.”
Catra throws her a lazy salute and a “love you too,” before exiting and joining her mother.
Adora let’s out a sigh, pulling out her phone and sending Glimmer a quick, ‘hey, when do you get here?’ before getting to work on putting the supplies Catra let out away.
She doesn’t put them away entirely, partly because she doesn’t know where they go, but she would rather not find out what happens if she were to trip on a random ingredient or potion without anybody around to fix it.
Adora would also put in the effort to unpack the last of their boxes, but the idea of doing work without the background noises whenever Catra’s working on something is very unappealing.
She’ll use the time with Glimmer and Bow as a way to decompress from writing her essay, (see, Bow? Adora can create a work-life balance).
Adora sprawls on the couch for twenty minutes before Glimmer and Bow arrive if the incessant ringing of the doorbell is to say anything.
Adora yanks the door open with a glare. "Are you trying to get me kicked out not even a week after moving in?"
Glimmer laughs as she pushes past Adora, which earns a scowl from the said owner of the apartment. Bow has an apologetic look on his face as he hands her a still warm container filled with cookies.
"Aw, thank you," she reaches in and takes out an M&M cookie. Adora has to physically hold back the moan that almost escapes her mouth at the overwhelming sweetness of the cookies. Bow's baking was always the best.
"Thanks," Bow smiles. He moves a few things, then arranges himself on one side of the couch, a bright orange crop top sweatshirt clashing against the baby blue couch. "Catra texted my a few days ago begging for some homemade cookies, I think she texted the wrong person, but I was inspired."
She takes another bite. "Have I ever told you that you're too good for the world? Because you are, these cookies are heavenly."
Bow gives her a thumbs up. "Anything for a member of the best friends Squad!"
Adora pauses. "You know, now that I hear it out loud - Catra's right. It does sound kinda dumb."
"Ew," Glimmer injects. "that sounded like something Cat would say, her pessimism is rubbing off on you."
Adora raises an eyebrow at her friend. "Weren't you the moaning about the name to me over the phone when Bow first named it?"
Glimmer narrows her eyes at her, leaning forward on the couch, ignoring her boyfriend who is wilting in betrayal beside her. "Okay, but I have girlfriend privileges, so I can trash- gently complain all I want."
Adora snorts. "That's like me saying because I'm dating Catra, I can gently complain about all her choices that I disagree with."
Bow raises a hand, despite not needing to. "Um, that's because you already do it to her face." He taps his chin, considering. "Actually a large part of you guys' relationship is you two bullying each other."
Adora smirks, internally cackling at the trap Bow's led himself into. "Yeah, and an even larger part takes place in the-"
"Stop!" Glimmer slams her hands over her ears. "Lalala, I don't wanna know what my cousin's like in bed!"
Adora turns to put the remaining cookies in the kitchen on top of the counter where it's easily assessable to anyone who wants one. "Haha, argument won."
"Yeah, wow," Glimmer says, sarcasm thick and heavy. "With those argumentive skills, you should become a lawyer."
"And you should look into life counseling," she shoots back. "Can't be giving precious pieces of wisdom for free."
Glimmer flips her hair. "Rich people paying me to tell them how to live their lives? Hell yeah."
"That's not exactly how it works Glimmer," Bow says.
"Doesn't matter I'm still getting paid."
Glimmer and Bow stay over for another two hours. They spend their time mostly catching up on each other's lives, (Bow's going in for his graduate's in Psychology), unpacking while jamming to whatever pop playlist Glimmer forces onto them, and watching the latest Brigderton episodes on Adora's laptop.
Something warm blooms in her chest between season two's episodes. Nostalgia fills her as she recalls the nights when the Best Friends Squad (it's still a stupid name) would huddle under three blankets and watch whatever movie they all manage to agree on first. Nights filled with soda, sour candy, sticky popcorn, and even stickier hands. Half of the time, they would get chastised by either Angella or Micah for staying up past their bedtime, but those nights were some of the best in Adora's childhood.
"Hey," she says softly. "We should do this more often."
Glimmer turns from the screen and gives her a soft smile. "We should."
Bow hugs them both in agreement.
~
luv of my life (except when she blocks me >:C )
so funni story
u wont believe ths 1
my god, you really are a lazy typer
wat did i sya bout the critcim?
>:/
ok, go on
so remmbr how I'm allrgc to mint?
yeah lmao
still one of my top ten moments in life
anyways...
turns out I'm allrgc to pneapple too
omfg
like, how allergic?
um...
im currntly chiln in the emergency room
oh my fucking-
stay right there I'll be there in 20
i mean...
it's not like im gong anywhere,
heh
>:( not funny, didn't laugh
tuff crowd
ill bring cookies that bow baked
tell bow i luv him
tell him urself
again currently in the er
not the point
Adora has never gotten herself dressed faster in her life. Literally.
It's funny how she leaves Catra alone for four hours and then the first thing she hears from her is how she landed herself in an emergency room? It's not to say that Catra isn't capable of looking out for herself. For all that the hurricane that she proudly calls her girlfriend, Catra is one of the most level-headed people she knows. She and Bow are similar like that.
It's just - jarring. To hear that her girlfriend had an allergy reaction to an allergen that they didn't even know existed was bad enough to land her in the hospital? Her heart feels through her chest.
The logical side of her brain knows that if Catra was in the ER, then she was probably fine if the sass she was sending through her texts earlier confirms it. But, Adora also knows that Catra likes to use humor to mask whatever she truly feels as a reflex. It's second nature at this point, to cover up a cry with a laugh.
So she doesn't feel bad when instead of packing a few extra cookies, she brings the entire container zipped into a plastic bag. They probably won't finish it, but a few are for Casta, who Adora knows must be fussing up a storm.
Casta and Catra took their car, so she has to hail a taxi to get to the emergency room, slipping a few extra bills to the rough voiced driver for them to make it under fifteen minutes.
She's dropped off right in front of the entrance of the building. It's doesn't stand out particularly, with it being a smallish-neighbor emergency room - but it doesn't bring her any comfort either.
Adora takes a breath and steps inside, instantly locating the front desk. She taps on the desk twice, grabbing the receptionist's attention on the second tap. The receptionist smiles brightly, pink lips framing her even brighter teeth.
"Bright Moom Medical, how can I help you?"
"I'm here for Catherine De Luna, she had a severe allergic reaction."
The receptionist nodes and taps away on her keyboard for a few seconds. "Oh, yes, Ms. De Luna. She's in the fifth bed to the right."
Adora nods her thanks and makes her way over to the beds, mentally counting them off until she makes it to Catra's.
As soon as she opens the curtains, she's met with the sight of her girlfriend, sitting up in the bed, tapping away on her phone screen, the music from whatever mobile game she's playing fills the air.
And that's the catalyst for what happens next. The mundane picture of Catra sitting in an ER bed, playing games with a bored expression that turns into shock as soon as Adora rushes around to the side of the bed and collapses into her lap.
"Adora, what the-"
"Don't do that to me again," she interrupts, words muffled by the blanket spread across Catra's legs.
It's a testimony to how well they know each other when Catra only raises her hand to loosen her ponytail, fingers gently running through her scalp. It communicates all Adora needs to hear. 'I know and I'm sorry.'
A few moments pass by, and in those moments, no one moves. The sounds of the forgotten mobile game still running are the only sounds that fill their quiet corner of the bustling emergency room.
Adora slowly lifts her head from Catra's lap her right cheek now adjusting to the loss of warmth. She turns and digs for the bag of cookies she brought, deciding now it's Catra's turn to be comforted.
"Here, slightly fresh white chocolate chip cookies," she says brandishing the cookies. "From chef Bow himself."
Catra stuffs her mouth as soon as she grabs one. "Send the chef my compliments," she says with an appreciative hum.
Adora pouts. "What about the delivery girl? She worked hard too."
Catra laughs lightly. "Don't talk about yourself in the third person, you dork. It's cringy."
"Cringe culture is dead."
"So are you if you keep that up."
Adora lays her head back into Catra's lap, this time with her eyes open and looking up at her girlfriend. "So, how'd your dumbass end up here?"
Catra raises an eyebrow at the insult, but Adora only receives a light flick on her forehead for it, so she figures Catra's not that torn up about it.
"We were were at a cafe., that new one up on North Street. They serve milkshakes so mom and I ordered two different ones, I got mango and she got pineapple. We were gonna swap them out, to try each other. We get our drinks, sit down, chat for a few minutes, then swap." Catra's fingers wringing the hem of the blanket so Adora laces them with her fingers instead. "After that, I remember coughing a bunch after trying the drink, I tried getting up to as for a glass of water, but then everything went black."
Adora strokes Catra's hand with her thumb. "Anything else?"
Catra snorts, but it's dry and empty. "I woke up in the ambulance, for a few moments, but I don't remember much. I felt like I was floating, but not in a good way, you know?"
"Yeah, I get it."
Catra’s moving around much more now, her fingers trembling as she soothes the blanket out over and over again. A nervous habit, one she’s had since Adora was first sent to the hospital at eighteen.
"I haven't-" Catra's voice cracks, but she doesn't seem to notice it. "I haven't seen mom since I woke up. The doctors said she was with me when they rolled me in, but after that nothing."
And Adora recognizes the sounds when her girlfriend is about to break down. Those rare moments when the burdens that Catra carries on her shoulders become too much when she needs someone to hold her while she lets it all out, to listen. So she makes her way onto the bed, beside Catra, and pulls her flush against her chest, resting her chin on her head.
"I just," Catra weeps. "I just wanted my mom."
"I know, baby, I know."
Adora rocks them gently, side to side, whispering soft reassurances into Catra's ears until her cries subside into the occasional sniffle. As she stroked her hands through Catra's hair, her mind wanders. Something isn't adding up here. She doesn't know why Casta wasn't her when Catra woke up, because it doesn't seem anything like her.
Castaspella was always the first person to fuss over Catra whenever she got hurt as a child. It's just how she was - the overbearing mother who watched over you, who sat at your bedside, waiting on hand and foot, until she was two hundred percent sure you were healed. Something must be wrong for Casta to practically abandon her only child at the hospital after a severe allergic reaction.
But Adora’s here now and she’ll be damned if she doesn’t try to make things better.
“Hey,” she says softly. “remember when I was sent to the hospital, back in senior year?”
Catra sniffs. “You mean when that she-beast knocked into you? Yeah, I remember.”
”Well,” she starts. “When I first woke up, I kinda freaked out.”
”Yeah, well, you were having a panic attack. The doctors had to sedate you.”
”You were there, beside me, for a few moments, then when I woke up again. It scared me, you know, being alone in a dark hospital room.”
”What’s the point of this, princess?”
”The point is, you left me a card so that I knew you were thinking about me. And Casta, she left you this blanket, didn’t she?”
Catra nods in response, hands now drifting back to stroke the soft fabric gently. “Yeah, this was one of my blankets as a kid.”
Adora smiles as images of a smaller Catra, wrapped in a giant piece of fabric ale their way to the front of her mind. “So that means she’s thinking about you. I think she’s just scared.”
”Scared?” Catra huffs. “Of what? She wasn’t the one that fainted in a cafe.”
”You’re right, but she probably was the one that caught you and the one that dialed 911. I think it was a little too much for her to see her child loaded onto a stretcher a second time.”
”The doctor said that I was lucky. That was a minute too late and I would have had permanent brain damage from the lack of oxygen.”
And Adora pulls back and takes a look at her girlfriend, really takes a look. And finds herself a little stunned at the tubes and wires hooked up to her. Allows her heart to drop for one second at the thought of losing Catra.
Because it really was possibly wasn’t it? That Catra may have never walked or talked again. That she would have to give up her dreams of becoming an official Covenant. Because who wants a Covenant that can’t remember half the spells?
Suddenly, the reasoning behind Casta’s actions are a lot clearer. She must have been terrified. Terrified that her daughter had almost been snatched from right out and under her.
She opens her mouth to say something, to crack a joke, or anything to lift the somber mood that seemed to have settled down around them.
but the hospital announcement beats her to the punch.
“Visiting hours are now over. All visitors must take the front entrance to leave, before 7 pm, thank you.”
Adora curses. She has wanted to stay longer, maybe text Glimmer and Bow to come down so they could stay with Catra in shifts, but it’s too late for that now.
She nudges her girlfriend carefully and nudges her again before realizing that at some point, Catra had fallen asleep. Adora let’s put a huff of amusement, even in the hospital Catras strict sleep schedule prevails.
She manages to untangle herself from Catra without waking her up, with only one slip up where she dropped her foot too hard that only led to a light stir.
Adora closes the curtain slowly, mindful of the other patients around her. She makes her way over to the front desk, signs herself out, and nods a farewell to the receptionist, who waves in response.
She knows that Catra is going to wake up tomorrow grumpy, but hopefully, the cookies she left behind are enough to satiate her.