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Catra and Adora were running late to the party.
“Shit shit shit shit shit shit,” Adora muttered as she threw the present in the back of their carriage. Catra rolled her eyes as she slid into the passenger’s seat, running a hand through her always-wild mane.
“Babe,” she said, “we’re fine. It’s just Kyle.”
“And Rogelio!” Adora cried as she hopped into the driver’s spot. She turned from her wife to Swift Wind, the winged horse who sometimes drove their carriage if she asked very nicely and/or provided financial compensation.
“We’re going to Kyle and Rogelio’s place,” she said, “over in Lohery.”
It had been eleven years since Catra and Shadow Weaver’s other wards had defected from the Horde and joined the Bright Moon Rebellion, and ten since the rebellion had prevailed. Today, Etheria was long-rid of the Evil Horde’s villainy and existed in relative piece. Catra and Adora still lived at Bright Moon castle, though, along with their longtime friends Glimmer and Bow—both of whom had left for the party hours beforehand, still in need of gifts.
“Ready?” Swift Wind asked the carriage’s two companions. Adora nodded enthusiastically, while Catra just frowned.
“As I’ll ever be,” she said, and Swift Wind took off into the air.
It was no secret that Catra hated flying, and much preferred ground travel to traversing the sea or sky. Adora giggled and put her arm around her wife, whose expression resembled that of a cat who probably wouldn’t land on her feet.
Adora and Catra had been married for about five years now. They had been reluctant after the rebellion’s victory, unsure and still awful at communication despite their undeniably deep love. Finally, Adora had popped the question at the breakfast table, causing Catra to nearly go into cardiac shock.
Their engagement had been brief, the marriage ceremony more for the sake of their many friends than anyone else. As Catra and Adora were both orphans, and their adoptive mother figure was an evil sorceress who currently resided in a magical prison, they didn’t really have any family to worry about. And besides, Catra and Adora had known that they were it for each other since childhood—marriage, by that logic, had been nearly redundant.
But still, they had finally tied the knot. Catra in her tux, Adora in a white pantsuit and a veil, in the throne room of Bright Moon castle.
And here they were now, five years later, en route to the baby shower of two of their oldest friends.
Kyle and Rogelio had also been wards of Shadow Weaver, back at the militant Horde. Once they defected to the Rebellion, they shared a special bond with Catra, Adora, and other cadet Lonnie, who would also be in attendance today. They had married quickly after the Rebellion’s victory, overwhelmingly grateful for their freedom from constant battle pressure. And now, they were preparing to adopt their first child.
“Hey, Adora,” Catra said coolly, trying to ignore the nausea from flight. Adora nuzzled into her wife’s neck as they traveled above the Whispering Woods.
“Yeah?”
“We’re, like, adults.”
Adora chuckled. “Uh, yeah, Catra, we’re adults.”
They had been adults, technically, even before Adora had found the Sword of Protection. But still so young, and far from where they were today.
“With a marriage. And other married friends who have kids.”
Adora lifted her head and looked thoughtfully towards the clouds. “Well, Rogelio and Kyle are just starting out. And Mermista and Sea Hawk, well, they’ve been together forever.”
“Sure,” Catra said, her voice surprisingly vulnerable. “But so have we.”
A chill traveled down Adora’s spine as she realized what Catra meant to say. “Catra… do you… do you want to have kids with me?”
Catra turned slightly green, and it wasn’t from the nausea. “I—what?—no!”
“Because I know you pretty well, and it sounds like that’s what you’re trying to say.”
“Listen to me, Princess, I’m just making commentary on the lives of our friends—”
“And I haven’t brought it up, like, ever, and maybe that’s bothered you…” Adora’s voice trailed off, and she traced circles on Catra’s thigh. “Am I getting there?”
Catra swallowed and nodded reluctantly. “Fine. Yeah. I’ve… considered it.”
“You have?”
Catra nodded slowly. After years of marriage, and even more years of mutual love, being vulnerable with Adora was still a challenge.
“You can tell me,” Adora said softly, stroking Catra’s arm. “I… I’ve thought about it, too.”
“Really?” Catra asked, her eyes wide.
“Of course, idiot,” Adora teased, resting her head on Catra’s shoulder. “Like you said… everyone’s doing it, right?”
“That shouldn’t matter, though,” Catra said, frowning. “I mean, this is about…”
“Us,” Adora finished. She closed her eyes as she wrapped her hand around Catra’s waist.
“It wouldn’t be just us anymore,” Catra said quietly, frozen by anxiety, reluctant to return the affection.
“I know,” Adora said. “It’s a pretty massive change."
“We’d probably be awful at it.”
“That’s likely,” Adora admitted. “At least, some of the time.”
“I mean,” Catra said, “we seriously could fuck a kid up.”
Adora paused and removed herself from Catra. She gently took her wife by the face and forced her to stare into her eyes.
“Catra,” she breathed, her voice quiet but still somehow carrying over the wind.
“Adora,” Catra answered, mesmerized, terrified, and still.
“It won’t be how it was,” Adora assured, “with Shadow Weaver.”
Catra inhaled sharply, the name making her hair stand on end. Adora sighed and brushed it back down.
“I love you,” she said, kissing Catra’s ear, “and you love me.”
“Yes,” Catra breathed, leaning into the gesture, finally giving in.
“And we’ve always made a great team,” Adora whispered in Catra’s ear.
“Mm,” Catra agreed, her tail instinctively wrapped around the other woman’s leg.
“So…” Adora said, withdrawing, smiling as Catra all but fell into her lap. “What do you say?”
Catra hummed and smiled. “I think… it’s an idea. I, of course, had never considered it before—”
“Oh, of course not—”
“—but Adora… I would be… overjoyed… to be a mother. With you.”
Catra looked up and kissed Adora on the mouth. Adora pulled away, just for a second, and Catra could tell that her state had changed.
“You okay?” she asked, pulling a strand of blonde hair out Adora’s face.
“Yeah, yeah,” Adora said, fumbling with her own vulnerabilities. “I just… well, I just remembered how I left you, if only for a year, and it was awful, and what if I…”
Catra shook her head. “You wouldn’t do that to our child,” she said. “You’d never, Adora.”
“I let Shadow Weaver take it out on you,” Adora argued, “when I abandoned the Horde.”
“We’ve talked about this a million times,” Catra soothed. “It’s okay. It’s okay.”
“But—”
Catra sighed and kissed Adora again, passionately, world-endingly. It was them. After everything, it was them. Then she sat up and resumed her casual posture, as though nothing had ever happened.
“Look,” Catra said, taking Adora’s hand. “You know I’ve forgiven you. And you forgave me. Ages ago.”
“I know,” Adora said quietly.
“But we’re never gonna be past it completely.”
Adora sighed. “Yeah.”
“And that’s… okay.”
Adora frowned. “I just wanna do a good job. I don’t want this kid to hate me, or resent me… for any reason.”
Now it was Catra who nuzzled her head into her wife’s hair. “Won’t happen,” she said simply. “Maybe they’ll get pissed, annoyed, because they’re just a stupid kid… but it’ll be all right, Adora. They’ll love you, despite it all… just like me.”
Adora pet Catra on the head. “You promise?”
Catra froze, and then slowly returned her gaze to Adora’s eyes. She didn’t need to say a word.
Smiling serenely, Adora leaned back on the carriage seat, while Catra looked out towards the sky. Somehow, her nausea had disappeared.
“You’ve thought of names, haven’t you?” Adora said in a quiet, deadpan voice.
Catra snorted. “Oh, yeah, for hours.”
“Got any good ones?”
“Well, anything’s better than fuckin’ Catra.”
“Mm,” Adora said play-thoughtfully. “I, for one, love fuckin’ Catra.”
“ENOUGH!” Swift Wind shouted. Adora and Catra burst into laughter, and then tears, and held each other until they reached the forest’s edge.