Chapter Text
Hope was a dangerous thing. The more you have it, the more disappointed you get. Catra knew that, but after all that light show in the bathtub yesterday, she couldn’t help but hope that the potion would be the long-awaited solution for her curse.
The moment she woke up, though, she immediately knew that it was nothing but false hope.
Catra could already feel the tail and ears like an extension of herself, so she didn't even have to look for a mirror to know that they were there. She also noted other changes in her body. There were tufts of fur growing everywhere on her – on the back of her neck, her arms, her legs – and her nails got longer and rougher, turning into claws.
Catra is beginning to fear that she won't even be a cute, little cat. No, to make things worse she will probably become a wild, feral beast.
What if she loses all her sanity after she transforms? Will she have anything human left on her or will the animal instincts take over?
Catra is midway into a panic attack when she feels Adora stir at her side.
"Good mor–" the sentence dies down as Adora's takes on Catra's anxious state. Her eyes track her down, realizing the obvious. The ritual failed. "Catra. I'm so sorry."
Catra shakes her head ruefully. "It's not your fault."
"But it is." Guilt colors Adora's expression. "If I hadn't left the Horde when I did, if I had waited for you, none of this would have happened."
"If you hadn't left, Weaver would just have cursed you too," Catra reasons. "And it would’ve been even worse. She would have never let you go." Adora bites her lips in the nervous habit of hers, still looking as guilty as before, so Catra turns in her arms and looks straight into her eyes with all the openness she can muster. "I don't blame you, okay? There's no use blaming yourself. This is no one's fault but Weaver's."
Adora hums for a moment, considering the words, before nodding.
"You’re right,” she says. “Fuck Weaver."
The curse is so unexpected coming from Adora’s mouth that Catra just stares at her for a moment before laughing in surprise.
“Did you just swear?” she asks, feigning shock.
“I said Fuck her ,” Adora repeats with confidence. “Fuck Weaver. She will still pay for all she did.”
“Wow, okay.” Catra raises her eyebrows. “Never expected you to curse so much in one morning.”
“Well, the situation calls for it.”
Catra can’t argue with that.
Just then Adora seems to realize she is still holding Catra. Her cheeks become slightly flushed as she pulls her arms from Catra’s torso. Looks like she is about to get up, but then her eyes land on Catra and they go wide.
“Catra, your eyes!”
Before Catra can ask her what she means, Adora surprises her by sitting up and leaning closer. Adora puts a hand on her chin, tilting her head up to stare intently at Catra. The whole staring deeply at her eyes takes Catra so off guard that her breath hitches.
"Your eyes are different," Adora says in an awed breath. "They're all... catish ."
Catra’s gaze darts around to avoid the focus of Adora’s curious look.
"What?” she asks in a confused, strangled voice.
"Your pupils are just slits, like… wait, they’re dilating now," Adora exclaims, sounding entranced by whatever she was seeing. Catra really hopes Adora doesn’t realize the reason why her pupils are dilating is that Catra is now looking at her, who even just having woken up already looks ridiculously gorgeous, with bed hair and all. "It looks so cool.” Adora smiles softly. “But your eyes were always beautiful, anyway.”
Something shifts in Adora’s face, becoming less curious and more… something else Catra can’t quite pinpoint what it is.
It doesn't seem like Adora is examining just Catra’s eyes anymore. Her eyes trail all over Catra's face, like she is committing it to memory. Maybe she is just realizing that Catra won't have that face for much longer.
Catra's heart climbs her throat the moment Adora's gaze settles on her lips. Is she imagining it or–
The door of the room suddenly bursts open.
"What in the name of Merlin is my saucepan doing in the bathroom?"
Catra and Adora both startle. Standing on the doorstep with her hands on her hips, is Madame Razz.
"Razz!" Adora exclaims. She straightens, her hands dropping from Catra’s face. "You're back."
"Good thing I am,” Razz says. “I leave for five days and someone spoils my best cooking pans with potion making!”
Adora smiles guiltily. "I can explain."
"Explain it over breakfast." She gestures impatiently. "Hurry up, you two. Razz made pie."
When Razz storms out of the room, leaving them alone again, the previous mood from the moment Catra shared with Adora is definitely gone.
Acting a bit awkward, Adora goes to the bathroom, while Catra goes after the aforementioned pie. Catra fears that she is intruding by coming to Razz's home while she wasn't there, but Razz doesn’t seem bothered at all with her presence when she sees her.
"Sit down, dearie,” she says. “This pie won't eat itself."
Catra takes the invitation, feeling less self-conscious as she sits down to eat. When she takes the pie Razz offers her, she finds out her reputation is true. rThe pie is one of the best things Catra has ever eaten.
"This is delicious," she says truthfully.
Razz, sitting down before her on the table, smiles at the compliment.
"I'm glad you like it." Then, shifting the conversation without warning, she asks bluntly. "Are you dating my fool of an apprentice?"
Catra chokes on a mouthful of pie.
"Wha?" She takes the glass of water Razz set for her on the table and downs it in one go. More composed, but barely, she answers. "Adora and I are friends."
Razz tsks. "I might be old, but I'm not blind."
Fortunately, she drops the subject before Adora comes walking into the kitchen.
"Blueberry pie!" she says with excitement, flopping down on the chair beside Catra. "It's my favorite."
"Don't eat it all by yourself," Razz warns, shaking a spoon in Adora's direction.
"I won't eat the whole pie by myself," Adora says, though Catra is pretty certain that she would be capable of it. "But I do love your pies.”
"Flattery will get you nowhere. Are you going to explain why you were making potions without supervision in my bathroom?" Razz asks. "You're not ready to make potions by yourself yet and you know it. Magic can be a dangerous thing if you don’t do it right."
Adora’s shoulder hunch forward. Before she can apologize, Catra beats her to it.
"Adora was just trying to help me," she says. Although Razz doesn't look particularly angry, Catra doesn't want her to blame Adora, much less fire her or something because of it. “I am under a curse – you probably noticed it, it's hard to miss –, and Adora was just trying to break it.”
"Ah, yes, I noticed it,” Razz says casually, like Catra's cat-like appearance doesn't faze her. “Don’t worry, dearie, that’s just a silly curse."
It definitely doesn’t feel silly to Catra. It feels like a pain in the ass – quite literally, since she is trying not to sit on her tail at the moment.
"Does that mean Catra will be fine?" Adora asks.
"But of course," Razz scoffs like it is a ridiculous question. "All she needs to break the curse is a true love kiss."
An incredulous laugh escapes Catra.
True love kiss? She can't possibly be serious. Except Madame Razz isn't laughing.
"You gotta be kidding me," Catra says slowly. "Please tell me you can just make me a potion."
Razz starts cutting another piece of pie, not minding Catra's bewilderment.
"There's nothing more powerful than love," she says, putting the pie on Catra's plate. "Eat more.”
Catra stares blankly at the plate, still processing the words. Once again, hope has let her down. She thought that maybe Razz would have a solution for her. Well, she had , but not the solution Catra needed.
"How–" Catra doesn't even know how to finish the question. Seems like all hope is leaving her body at once, making her deflate like a balloon.
"Get your true love kiss until the sunset and done, no more curse," Razz says. "Easy thing."
There was nothing easy about that.
How was she supposed to find someone who loved her and wanted to kiss her until the sunset if she spent eighteen years of life with no one loving her? Besides, Catra knew who she loved. And it was useless.
Adora wears her heart on her sleeve, so if she liked Catra, she would have already said it by now. But Adora didn't. She could have said it when she left the Horde. She could say it right now . But when Catra glances at Adora, she has a pained expression on her face.
"There's no other option?" Adora asks in dismay, showing that she doesn't even consider kissing Catra as an option. Why would she?
Catra obviously imagined what happened back in the guest room. Adora was curious by the change in her eyes, nothing more. She was worried about her friend. Friend. Catra felt awful when she thought she had lost their friendship, and she would never want to lose it again. She could be happy just being Adora's friend, she had accepted it long ago. Still, right now, Catra can’t ignore that it hurts.
"Excuse me," Catra mutters, already standing to leave.
She goes straight to the bathroom and locks herself in there for a little privacy.
When she catches sight of her in the mirror, Catra startles, finding herself terrified at her own reflection. She doesn't want to see herself becoming an animal, but she can't look away.
She takes on her ears, her slitted pupils, her fur, and her eyes well up with tears she tries to swallow back. This is who she is now. Fur and claws. And it will only get worse. Soon she won't even recognize herself in the mirror.
It takes a long time for her to finally leave the bathroom. It doesn't surprise her to find Adora waiting for her outside, leaning on the wall opposite the bathroom. Adora perks up when the door opens, and steps closer to Catra in the already narrow hallway.
"Are you okay?"
"I’ve been better," she says quietly, still trying to hold back the tears that insist on coming back.
Adora doesn't fail to notice the tears, no matter how hard Catra tries to hide them. She opens her mouth, as if she is about to say something, but closes it again. Instead of words, Adora reaches forward and gathers Catra in her arms.
She holds Catra tightly, like she wants to protect her from the whole world, and Catra doesn't hesitate in melting into it, hugging her back.
"I’m so fucking angry," Catra mutters on Adora's shoulder, but her voice is still lacking its usual heat. “This whole thing is ridiculous. It’s not how I imagined I would go.”
Adora holds her even tighter. "You're not dying ."
"I might as well be. The person I am will be gone by the end of the day."
Adora breaks the hug, but she doesn't let go of Catra completely. Her hands rest on Catra's waist as she presses their foreheads together.
"I'm not giving up on you, Catra."
Maybe you should , Catra thinks. She had given up on herself already.
Everything they tried had no effect. Even if she went begging to Weaver to break the curse now, Catra doubts that she would do it. Not that Catra would ever lower herself like that, anyway.
She had to accept the fact that this was the end of the line. But she knew that telling Adora this would do no good.
"If you really want to help," Catra says, looking right at Adora's concerned blue eyes. "Just stay with me."
"Always," Adora answers without missing a beat.
Because being this close to Adora was becoming increasingly hard – their faces are inches apart, for Morgana's sake, how much restraint does a girl have to have? –, Catra puts some distance between them.
"Will you spend the day with me while I enjoy my last moments as a person?" she asks.
Adora looks like she wants to correct Catra's phrasing with more of her optimism, but she opts not to do it.
"Of course I will,” she agrees. “What do you wanna do?"
Catra tries to think about it, but it is hard to decide what to do when you know it's going to be the last thing you will do. The more she thinks about it, the more the list of things she would like to do – and will never have the chance to – grow.
"Nothing special," she decides, knowing that choosing one specific thing to do would be impossible. "Just walk around town with you or whatever."
“Alright. I’d love to do whatever with you.”
As they get ready to leave, Catra once again uses the sigil to make her tail invisible and puts her beanie on top of her ears, but she can’t hide the fur or the eyes. She decides not to care about it. At this point, what difference does it make?
The first place they stop by is Scorpia's house. There, Catra changes her clothes and lingers a while to listen to Scorpia tell her all about the dinner date with Perfuma. When it's time to leave, Catra surprises Scorpia by initiating a hug, something is usual, since it is always the other way around.
"I might be going away for a while," Catra says after she pulls aways. "But don't worry about me. I'll be fine."
"Going where?" Scorpia startles. "You can stay here as long as you want–"
"I know, Scorps. I just have to figure out some stuff." Catra smiles at her. "But I'll miss you."
Scorpia looks at her like she just spoke in another language.
"You're scaring me," she says. "I'll miss you too, of course, but you don't usually say stuff like that. Are you sure that you're not still sick? Could be a fever."
"I'm perfectly fine," Catra lies. "And I just told you not to worry."
After Catra manages to convince Scorpia that yes, she is healthy, and no, she is not in trouble, she finally leaves the house. Adora is sitting on the doorstep, waiting for her. She had decided not to enter to give them some privacy.
"Where to now?" Adora asks.
Knowing she will soon not have hands anymore, Catra decides to make the most out of it. She reaches for Adora’s hand the moment she is beside her. Maybe this whole curse thing is making her more touchy than usual, but Adora doesn't seem to mind, linking their fingers together.
"Anywhere."
"Lucky for you, I happen to know where anywhere is."
"Oh, really? Lead the way, then."
Adora guides them to the streets as they walk hand to hand at a leisurely pace. The day is not too hot but pleasantly warm, like the perfect weather is the last gift to Catra, and she finds herself enjoying the stroll. She almost forgets about the curse altogether as they chat idly or as Adora tells stupid puns just to make her laugh. At some point, Adora stumbles and would have fallen face-first on the ground if it wasn’t for Catra holding her by the waist. That makes Catra laugh so hard in the middle of the street that people turn to stare at them.
They pass by some of Catra's favorite spots in town. The old bookstore that Catra could get lost in for hours, the playground where they used to play as kids, the arcade where they would spend all their coins during summer. In some of them, they stop for a while, in others Catra just takes a look from outside and revisits the memories. She was believing that Adora was just taking her on a city tour with no destination until she stops in front of a japanese restaurant.
"Adora," Catra halts at the restaurant's entrance. "I don't even have any money."
"I'm paying. Since japanese is your favorite, I thought you'd like this place," Adora says. "But if you want to eat something else, that's fine too."
"That's not the point. This place looks expensive," Catra counters. "What happened with the homemade lasagna?"
"I'm saving that for later," Adora says with conviction, as if she really believes there will be a later . "Besides, the owner of the restaurant is a friend. She can give us a discount."
"How many new friends do you even have now?"
Adora opens a smirk and throws an arm around Catra's shoulder.
"Don't be jealous,” she says. “You will always be my favorite."
Catra huffs, unconvinced. “Right.”
The grin on Adora’s face morphs into something more sober and genuine. She looks openly at Catra.
“I’m serious,” she says. “You’re my favorite person, Catra.”
And Adora is serious. Catra can tell by her expression alone, but also by the earnest way she says it.
Catra’s heart picks up speed by the declaration. It is a relief to know that despite all the changes in both their lives and all the people Adora got to meet, she still held a special place for Catra.
"Even when I'm not a person anymore?" she teases.
"Even if you weren't a person anymore," Adora corrects. “Yes, Catra. It will always be you.”
With that, Adora manages to pull a completely stunned Catra to the restaurant with no further reluctance.
Once inside, they are greeted by a blue-haired hostess. Not actually greeted , since their presence doesn't stop her from scrolling through her phone with a bored expression.
"Mermista,” Adora calls out, making the girl finally look up.
"Oh, hi, Adora,” she answers.
“How’s it going?”
Mermista groans. “Ugh, Sea Hawk almost set the kitchen on fire twice this week already. And it's only Wednesday." Only then she seems to register Catra's presence and casts a curious look on both of them. "Got a hot date, Adora?"
Adora immediately flushes red at the question. Catra simply clears her throat awkwardly, waiting to know what Adora's answer will be.
"This is Catra," Adora says instead. “Thought I should bring her to the best japanese restaurant in town.”
"Hm, no need to compliment us to get a discount.” Mermista stands and motions them to follow her. "I'll get you guys a table. We owe you a whole ass free meal after you helped us."
As they start to follow Mermista, Catra comments. "Sounds like there is a story in there."
"She scared the shit out of some jerks that were trying to rob us."
"It wasn't a big deal," Adora quickly says, but Mermista continues as if she wasn't interrupted.
“It was totally badass. Definitely one of the hottest things I've ever seen." Mermista turns to Catra as if she was sensing the way Catra starts to glare daggers at her back. "Don't even worry, I have a boyfriend.”
Seemingly eager to change the topic and take the attention from herself, Adora asks. “Are you and Seahawk back together?”
“While he doesn’t get on my last nerve, yes.” She stops in front of a table and gestures lazily at it. "Here you are. Someone will be here soon to take your order."
With that, Mermista leaves them on a table half-isolated from the rest of the restaurant. The dimming lights give them a sense of intimacy as they talk, sitting in front of each other on the tatami. Adora tells Catra about the almost-robbery incident and how she scared the guys off using a display katana she took from the wall. Catra laughs so much at the story she almost chokes on her sushi. Then Catra tells Adora about how she gave Weaver the middle finger when she left, and Adora does choke from laughing too hard.
The lunch passes by with many laughs and good food. For a last meal, Catra could say it was probably the best she could have.
After leaving the restaurant, they resume walking around unhurriedly. Adora insists on stopping by Frosta’s Froyos for dessert, even though they already ate enough for the whole day. While Catra was stuffed, Adora manages to eat her own froyo and finish Catra's half-eaten one. Adora also manages to convince Catra to take a selfie together, to which she only begrudgingly agrees because she figures a picture would be something for Adora to remember her by.
While they go here and there, the time flies by faster than Catra would’ve liked. Just by looking at the sky, she knows it is almost time for the sunset.
They are walking through the Whispering Park, Adora excitedly pointing at the colorful bugs she spots on the trees. If it was anyone else getting this excited with a beetle, Catra definitely wouldn't find this endearing. She was such a goner. Catra likes to watch the way Adora's face brightens up at the small creatures and how her first reaction is to point them out at Catra.
After exercising her legs for more time than she is used to, Catra is grateful when they sit down on the grass by the lake.
"Tired?" Adora asks, putting an arm around Catra to support her weight. "We can go now, if you want. Razz made me promise I'd bring you for dinner."
The notion that Catra will probably not be herself anymore by dinner seems to go unnoticed by Adora.
Catra lies her head on Adora's shoulder. "Nah, let's just stay here for a while."
Beyond the lake, Catra can see the sky becoming pink. It is a matter of minutes now. Oddly, she was not freaking out. She had resigned to the situation. It was shitty as hell, sure, but there was nothing else she could do about it.
There was only one thing still unsolved.
She remembered Perfuma's words the day before. It's hard keeping your heart open . Damn it was. Has Catra ever done it before, open her heart? No, just thinking about it was terrifying enough. She was afraid that if she opened it, it would bleed out. It could be like opening a can of worms. It could be a disaster. Or , it could go better than she even dared to imagine. But it doesn't make you weak, and I have to believe it's worth it.
Is it really worth it?
Catra glances at Adora. She drinks on the features of her face, on how her skin becomes golden on the sun, on the small scar on her chin, on every detail and imperfection. The corner of her lips curves up when she notices Catra staring.
"What?" Adora asks.
All this time, Catra believed there was no reason to tell Adora how she felt. She guessed that Adora wouldn't say the same, so there was no reason to say anything. But now, Catra has nothing left to lose.
She needs to say something before it is too late. Not only to take out this weight that she has been carrying inside her chest for years, like a pendant shaped in Adora’s name, but also because Adora deserves to know she is loved like that.
There is no right or easy way to say it. Catra has no idea how to put it into words, but she’s got to try. She has to. She opens her mouth and…
The sound that leaves her throat is not words, like she intended to. It is, without a doubt, meowing .
The sound startles both her and Adora. Catra tries to talk again, but again she can't conjure the words.
It is too late. The sky is orange now, the dying sun reflecting its last rays on the waters of the lake.
"Catra." Adora has tears in her eyes as she cups Catra's face in her hands. "It's gonna be okay."
They both know it won't, but Adora seems to need to be reassured as much as Catra does.
"I made a promise, right? I promised you would be fine."
Catra shakes her head, wishing she could tell Adora that it was alright, that she released her from the promise. Since she can't say it with words, Catra presses her forehead against Adora's, hoping that the gesture is enough to express the feeling. Tears continue to fall from Adora’s eyes as she raises her hand to touch Catra's cheek.
"I said I wasn't going to give up on you, Catra. And I won’t," Adora says, and they are so close Catra can feel her breath on her own lips. "Because I love you."
The words spiral inside Catra like a tornado, lifting her heart in a sudden flight. Adora loves her?
Even if she could speak, Catra wouldn’t have words right now. Adora’s sentence keeps repeating in her mind like music. A symphony. A Grammy-worthy song. Because I love you .
Catra could have kissed her on the spot, but the realization has not yet settled on her when Adora keeps talking.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers. “But there is one last thing I have to try.”
Then Adora is kissing her.
It is so gentle and tentative and achingly tender, Adora’s trembling hand on her face revealing how nervous she is. Catra is stunned for a moment, until she realizes that Adora is kissing her, and she grabs Adora by the shoulders, kissing back with all the pent-up feelings she's been accumulating for almost a lifetime. Adora responds just as enthusiastically, holding her by the waist to pull her impossibly closer, halfway to her lap, leaving barely any space between them as the kiss deepens.
With their eyes closed, none of them notices the blue light glowing softly around them. The world could have melted away and they wouldn’t have noticed. They only pull away when they can’t breathe anymore, but still don’t disentangle themselves, once again pressing their foreheads together, panting as they look at each other with similar smiles.
Catra has completely forgotten about the curse until Adora leans back with a gasp.
"Catra, your eyes."
For a second, Catra is afraid that it was a bad kind of gasp. But then, when she stops to notice it, she can feel the difference in her body.
There is no tail uncomfortably curling around her leg. She is not picking up all and every scent around her. And when she takes off the beanie and walks her fingers through her hair, she finds no cat ears, only her good old human ears in their usual place.
Her face creaks into an incredulous smile.
"I can’t believe it worked," Adora says in awe.
With a bewildered laugh, she leans forward to press her lips against Catra's once again. They barely manage a decent kiss this time because they're both smiling so hard.
"You're such an idiot," Catra mutters against Adora's lips.
"Why I'm not surprised these are your first words?" Adora pulls back enough to raise her eyebrows at Catra. "Is calling me an idiot your way of saying you love me too?”
Catra laughs, and because she can't get enough of it now that she had a taste of it, she plants a peck on Adora's mouth.
"It has always been."
Adora visibly lightens up at the words.
"Then you must love me a lot, because you’re saying that all the time," she teases.
"Yeah, dummy." Catra has no trouble agreeing. "I do love you a lot."
The answer makes Adora speechless. She lets out a quiet "oh", her cheeks turning a beautiful shade of pink that Catra wants to kiss away. So she does.
"I can't believe you waited for the only moment I couldn't speak to tell me you love me," Catra says. "And why the hell did you say sorry before kissing me? Did you really think I wouldn't want you to?"
"I didn't know," AdoraI confesses. "I didn't want to kiss you without your consent, but I had to try the true love kiss thing. Even if you didn't feel the same, I thought maybe my feelings for you would be enough."
"Adora,” Catra scoffs. “I couldn't have made it more obvious that I liked you."
"Oh, you mean, by calling me an idiot and punching me when I tried to compliment you?"
“Yes. That’s basically my love language.”
“Right, it was so obvious.” Adora snorts a laugh, wrapping her arms around Catra’s waist. “Tell me more about how your love language works.”
“I can show you instead.”
And Catra does just that, pulling Adora for another kiss.
EPILOGUE
2 years later
The black cat snores happily on top of Catra's chest, who in her turn is having her own cat nap. One would think that after her traumatic experience, Catra wouldn't even want to look at cats anymore. But what happened was the opposite, she seems to have developed quite a liking for them.
Adora watches her girlfriend with a fond smile, about to end her peaceful sleep.
Quietly, Adora creeps to the couch, her footsteps muffled by the carpet. In a deliberate motion, Adora pokes Catra's side. Her response is to squirm a little, still asleep. Adora tries again, attacking Catra's ticklish spot with her fingers.
Catra stirs in alarm with a yelp, jumping so abruptly that Melog gives an indignant meow and leaps out of the couch.
After her initial stupor, Catra realizes the reason why she woke up so suddenly and opens an indignant face. Adora is too busy doubling over laughing, so she is caught off guard when Catra pulls her by the wrists, making Adora fall on top of her.
"You're the worst," Catra says with narrowed eyes, circling her arms around Adora's waist to keep her in place.
"Tell this to my girlfriend." Adora opens a smug grin. "She says I'm the best."
"I don't remember ever saying that."
"Oh, yeah?" Adora traces a finger deliberately on Catra's jaw and pauses on her chin, tilting her face up. "Do I have to refresh your memory?"
She leans in. Catra's eyes flutter close in anticipation, their lips brush and...
Adora plants a loud peck on Catra's cheek, smiling wickedly as she pulls away. Catra snaps her eyes open with a betrayed look.
"It's such a shame that there is no time now," Adora singsongs. "Come on, we need to get ready."
She sits up and tries to pull Catra with her, but the latter refuses to give in, falling back on the cushions with an exasperated sigh.
"I literally hate you," she groans.
Adora chuckles. "That would be more convincing if you didn't wanna kiss me so bad."
That makes Catra raise her eyebrows in challenge. She sits up only to climb right into Adora's lap. Adora feels her smug smile falter as Catra straddles her thighs and snakes her arms around her neck.
"You were saying?" Catra teases.
This time, when Adora leans in she doesn't stop before searing Catra's lips with a kiss. After a long minute, Adora manages to pull back long enough to remember why she had woken up Catra in the first place.
"We really should get up now," Adora says without much conviction as Catra peppers kisses along her neck. "We said we'd be at Razz at eight."
"Uh hum."
Adora has no self-restraint to stop Catra when she kisses her again. It takes a few more minutes before Adora leans back, breathless.
"Okay, we need to get ready if we're going to leave on time." Adora holds Catra by the shoulders before she can distract her again. "Don't you wanna listen to Razz roosting my cooking?"
"Definitely. That never gets old," Catra agrees easily. In answer to Adora’s pout, she adds. “Don’t go pouting at me. You know I am in love with your cooking.”
Adora feels her face settling back in a self-satisfied smile.
"Just with my cooking?”
"I shouldn't be feeding your already gigantic ego." Catra rolls her eyes affectionately. "Good thing we got Razz to keep you humble."
Catra finally stands from the couch, stretching her arms up with a satisfied groan. Her t-shirt raises with the motion – it was actually Adora's t-shirt, but she didn’t care in the slightest that it got stolen –, revealing her stomach. Adora takes advantage of her privileged spot, still seated on the couch, to hug Catra's waist and bury her face on the soft brown skin of her stomach.
"I thought we were supposed to get up,” Catra says, brushing a lock of hair from Adora’s face.
"Right," Adora mutters, giving Catra's waist one last squeeze before jumping to her feet. "Let's go. Razz will definitely scold me if we arrive late again."
They do arrive late. Just fifteen minutes this time, which is a development. In their defense, the traffic from Despondos to Etheria was at least half of the reason for the tardiness. When Razz answers the door, she pulls Catra for a hug. Then she turns to Adora and smacks her shoulder with a dishcloth.
“You're late."
"Why only Catra gets a hug?" Adora says, sighing dramatically. “I feel like there is an unfair special treatment going on.”
"That's because Catra here never gave me a headache by making a mess out of my kitchen,” Razz counters, unapologetic. “Now come in, you two."
Once they go inside, Adora takes the pie she brought to the kitchen to heat it up, while Catra sits down in the living room with Razz.
"How's the business going?" Razz asks her.
"Good. Better than I expected, even," Catra says, recalling the many sigils she has been creating lately for the online shop she opened months ago. “The sigils for insomnia have been selling like hotcakes ever since I started to mark them on the sleeping masks.”
"And are you managing to balance it with college, dearie?"
"Yes, mostly," Catra says. "It’s hard sometimes, but it's better than a part-time job. And Adora has been helping a lot with the store, so I have enough time to study."
After graduating from high school, witches have the option of continuing their magical practice or choosing another path. Despite the invitation from Micah to join the Alliance, Catra has decided to give college a try. That doesn't mean she gave up on magic completely, since she was still working on her sigils and even opened her own shop. She just wanted to be able to try out all kinds of things, including the mundane ones. Meanwhile, Adora had chosen to focus on her magical skills. Per Razz's recommendation, Adora found herself a new mentor, Mara, whose skill was also healing.
They moved in together to Despondos, deciding to rent a small apartment together after Catra was accepted into a college there. Their friends teased them for u-hauling it after a few months of dating, but Adora and she have lived together almost their whole lives, so for them it was only natural. And this time they could have their own place, just for them, which sounded almost like a dream.
"The pie will be good to eat soon," Adora says as she joins them in the living room. "I hope this is the day when you won't find a fault in it, Razz."
"I wouldn't if you followed my recipes right."
Adora settles next to Catra on the couch, instinctively putting a hand on her knee. "What were you talking about?"
"Catra was telling me about how you two are doing. It's good to see you girls happy," Razz says with a pleased grin. "Smart thing I did back then, making up that story about a true love kiss.”
Catra exchanges a surprised look with Adora, raising her eyebrows as if to ask if she knows what Razz is talking about. Adora shrugs, also completely at loss.
"Hold on,” Catra says slowly. “What do you mean you made it up?"
Razz laughs, unbothered at their confusion.
"Do you really think a kiss would break a curse, dearie?" Razz tsks. "No, no. That only happens in fairy tales."
"Are you saying you lied to us?" Adora asks.
"Lie, no. Just changed the truth a little bit," Razz says like it was no big deal. "I said love was the most powerful thing. That was no lie."
"But the kiss worked," Catra says, still trying to glue the pieces together. "It broke the curse."
"Not the kiss. The only thing it did was being the key to activate Adora's powers." Razz points a finger at her. "I told her before, To find your powers, you first need to find your heart . She practiced, practiced, but there was no heart in it, so there was no magic. But when she was with you,” Razz turns her finger to Catra. “There it was. She found her heart. And so, she found her magic.”
Catra blinks, processing the information as an unexpected emotion that climbs her throat. Adora reaches for her hand, squeezing it gently.
“Yeah, I really did find it,” Adora says softly. With a chuckle, she adds. “But you could have saved us the scare by telling us the truth sooner, Razz.”
“I knew what I was doing.” Growing impatient with having her methods questioned, Razz huffs and pulls herself to her feet. “Sometimes you need to give a little push for things to happen. Now come, I want to see that pie.”
They soon get distracted by Razz pointing out all things Adora should have done differently on the pie – they all know that despite it, she loves Adora’s pies. And at the end of the night, they leave Razz with the leftovers and a promise to visit again soon.
It is only when they get back home that Catra has a chance to think about the revelation.
Talking about the curse brought back memories, not all of them pleasant, since it was a scary experience for her, but, in the end, she took good things out of it. Catra left the Horde, leaving the abusive coven behind. Weaver got the punishment she deserved, getting stripped out of her magic after they reported her to the Conclave. But the best thing that came out of it was, of course, Adora. Her girlfriend – Catra would never get tired of calling her that, except when she starts calling her wife.
"I can't believe Razz tricked us," Catra comments as Adora settles on their bed, freshly bathed and smelling like their shared body wash. She immediately reaches for her, and buries her nose on Adora’s shoulder, planting a kiss on the crook of her neck.
"Me neither," Adora says. “I can't believe we were both so hopeless that an old lady had to play the matchmaker for us.”
"Talk about yourself,” Catra rebuts, sitting back against the pillow. “I was not hopeless."
"Right." Adora raises an eyebrow teasingly. "Because you were obvious about having a crush on me."
Catra nudges Adora's leg with her feet.
"Shut up," she says half-heartedly, wondering if Adora will ever drop this line. Not anytime soon, probably. "And who said I had a crush on you?"
"Oh, you did. Last time you got drunk you told me you secretly had a crush on me since we were like, six."
Last and hopefully only time Catra got drunk. She regrets ever telling Adora that, because now she would never hear the end of it.
"Okay, I didn't say six," Catra says, though the number is not too far off. “Don't exaggerate.”
Adora reaches for her cheeks and pinches them before Catra can stop her.
"Ah, you liked me. That's so embarrassing for you."
Catra grabs Adora's wrist to stop her from torturing her cheeks.
"We're literally dating," she deadpans. "And just so you know, I’m not embarrassed at all about liking you."
The smile that blooms in Adora’s face is a delighted one.
She always looks surprised on the rare occasions Catra declares her feelings so openly. For good measure, she climbs into her girlfriend’s lap, relishing the way Adora’s hand instinctively falls on the small of her back, and presses a kiss to the corner of the mouth.
"You know, it's kinda disappointing that it wasn't the kiss that broke the curse," Adora says, raising a hand to run her fingers through Catra’s hair. "I liked the idea of our true love being the reason."
Taking on Adora's expression, Catra realizes that she is genuinely upset at the revelation. Catra laughs lightly, shaking her head.
“Don’t be silly,” she says. “That might not have been the only reason, but I still think I got out of that curse pretty lucky.”
Adora hums and her eyes dance gleefully.
"A lucky kind of curse, huh?" she asks, cracking a provocative smile. "I wonder why that is."
Catra rolls her eyes. “You know it.”
"Do I?" Adora drawls. She pulls Catra closer on her lap, pressing her chest flush against hers, making Catra’s breath hitch. “Why don’t you tell me?”
"You're such an idiot,” Catra says, but she is too distracted by Adora licking her lips to put any teasing behind it. It is soft and fond and Adora knows exactly what it means.
"I love you too,” Adora answers.
And that is why. That is what makes even a curse be considered lucky. When Catra takes Adora’s face on her hands and kisses her, she is certain that there is no way she could get luckier than this.