Archive of Our Own

The door to the locker room slid open, Adora and Catra stumbled in together. Barely able to stand on her own, Catra's arm was slung over Adora's shoulder as she was practically dragged in by her friend.

"Well, that was pretty terrible," Catra said breathily, "Think we--cough--set a new record for fastest loss or what?"

Adora gave an exhausted huff, coaxing Catra along and trying to ignore the blood that had soaked her jacket, unsure whether it was hers or Catra's: "It was a training exercise. I don't think we were meant to win, Catra."

"Shadow Weaver has some weird ideas about training then." Catra rubbed at one cheek with the back of her hand then pulled it away once she realized she was just smearing around more of the mud that she was covered in as well. "Only thing I learned was how hard our butts could get kicked, hahahaaAUGHHHH. Ribs. Very bruised."

Catra growled in pain and nearly collapsed, but Adora quickly looped an arm around her waist to support her.

"They want us to be prepared for the real fight. Training in the holo-arena can only gets us so far, you know. It's not the same as fighting the enemy on their home turf." Despite understanding why it was important, right now Adora wished they hadn't had to go through with the exercise at all. Especially with how banged up they got. Catra was putting on a brave face like usual, but Adora could tell she was hurting a lot more than she let on.

"If every real away-mission involves crawling around outside in the dark and the rain and mud like that, I gotta start figuring out how to get put on the homeguard squads instead. Blech." Catra looked down at their clothes, completely soaked through and spattered with mud all over.

Adora chuckled to herself, "Come on, let's go get cleaned up and wash this crud off. The bath's just right over there."

"WHAT!?" Catra squeaked, "No no no. No bath."

She pushed away from Adora and then pawed at the nearby wall to try and support herself when she remembered the thing about having trouble standing on her own. Instead, she ended up sliding down and slumping to the floor, trying her best to look casual in this unflattering position.

"Catra, really?" Adora crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, "You're already drenched. What difference does it make?"

Catra only grumbled in response, fidgeting with one of the many twigs that had gotten tangled in her unruly mane.

"I'll help you clean those cuts and wash your hair. Unless you'd just rather sit there looking like a total mess."

"Ughhhhhhh," Catra groaned, rolling her eyes.

Adora pulled Catra back up onto her feet and the two limped over to the bath.

Steam rose off the surface of the water in the massive tiled bath in the communal area. Now and then, a stray drop of condensation would fall from the ceiling into the water, sending ripples across its surface. Catra sat with her back facing Adora in the bath as the other girl helped clean her up.

"Ow. That stings," Catra hissed.

"Are you going to keep saying that each time I do this?" Adora muttered, continuing to dab at Catra's wounds with disinfectant.

"Yep. Gotta keep count of how many scars I'll have." Catra winced, wishing this would be over already, but also feeling somewhat thankful she didn't have to do this herself, "The more you have, the cooler you are, isn't that right Adora?"

"I think it's the other way around." Adora tossed the blood-soaked cotton swab aside, where it landed atop an already sizeable pile nearby. She reached over and grabbed a small pitcher from the corner of the bath and filled it with water, then began to slowly pour it over Catra's shoulders to wash more of the mud away.

"Psh, you would say that, wouldn't you?" Catra scoffed, shifting and reflexively trying to get away from the water, "What's next? You gonna switch your uniform and start wearing all white into battle too? To see if you can come out as pristine as you went in?"

"Shush, you keep squirming and making it hard to get all this junk off you," Adora said, refilling the pitcher with one hand and tugging at a bramble stuck in Catra's hair.

"Maybe one day I'll be as fearsome a warrior as the invincible Ad--ghrhbfglfht!" Catra's attempt at snark was abruptly cut off as Adora dumped the entirety of the pitcher of water over her head. "HEY!"

Adora chuckled to herself and then quietly set to work, combing her fingers through Catra's hair and trying her best to gently disentangle it. Deciding that she'd done enough perfunctory struggling, Catra huffed and then leaned back to let Adora work more easily, propping herself up on both hands and trying to ignore that her arms were still shaking a bit. She stared up at the ceiling and watched the water droplets fall, enjoying the peace of the bath and Adora's quiet humming. Catra tilted her head back just enough to look over her shoulder at Adora's face, her expression was one of complete focus and concentration, even for such a minor task like this. How did she manage to do everything with such intensity, Catra wondered? How could she be calm after everything that happened today?

Another droplet fell, its 'plink' echoing throughout the empty room.

Catra swallowed the lump in her throat and managed to say quietly: "Hey, Adora..."

"Hmm?"

"Were you... scared out there?"

Adora paused for moment to think, then went back to detangling: "Scared? Kinda, yeah. A little bit, I think. But not really."

Catra was surprised by the ease of Adora's answer, the way she'd said it so casually. Hadn't they been there on the same field? Out in the darkness and the cold, surrounded on all sides under a constant barrage of attacks? It had been an incredibly tough fight, and Catra was still rattled by it. She didn't really want to admit that to herself, so she just murmured: "Why?"

Adora pulled her hands away from Catra's hair and Catra almost flinched, trying to stop herself from turning around to see if Adora was about to leave. Instead, she had to stop herself from letting out a surprised yelp as a pair of arms encircled her waist and pulled her closer. Even in the water, she could feel the warmth of Adora's skin against her own. They'd cuddled when they slept together, sometimes, so it wasn't unsual, but this felt way wayyyyy nicer. Despite herself, Catra relaxed and settled comfortably into Adora's embrace. Adora rested her chin on Catra's shoulder, then lightly butted her head against Catra's as she answered softly:

"Because you were with me the whole time, silly. We look out for each other, remember? As long as you were there, I didn't have to be afraid."

Catra felt a pull deep inside her chest, like a loose thread caught on a branch--tugging at the feeling of an old memory that she'd forgotten was there. She blinked a few times and felt something wet roll down her cheek. Probably just a drop of water from the ceiling. One that randomly landed right on her face. Yep.

"Whole lot of good I did out there though. I mean, look at me..." Catra said defeatedly, gesturing to all her cuts and bruises.

"You did great, Catra. You're stronger than you think," Adora said, hugging Catra a little more tightly, "I'm not gonna lie. The way you took down four people by yourself made me kiiiinda jealous. You need to teach me how to do that."

Catra gave her best nonchalant shrug while inwardly loving the praise. "Well, I guess I could... It wasn't that big of a deal."

"Uh huh, whatever you say." Adora lifted a hand to scratch behind one of Catra's ears.

"Shut up," Catra chuckled, shifting sideways to snuggle up closer and rest her head in the crook of Adora's neck.

Adora made a satisfied 'hmm' in acknowledgement and put her arms around Catra again, giving her a gentle squeeze. They sat there for for quite some time letting the day's stress and tension melt away in the water, Catra purring contentedly as Adora's fingers combed through her hair.

Too tired to stop and really think about what she was doing, Catra reached up and pressed her palm against one of Adora's cheeks, then nuzzled against the other and planted a small kiss there. "Thanks," she whispered.
Adora's face was already flushed from the heat of the bath, but it momentarily grew redder.

Adora bit her lip for a few seconds then made a decision. It wasn't smooth, but she shifted down and quickly kissed Catra on the lips.

Surprised, Catra sat up and pushed back slightly, resting a hand on Adora's collarbone for support. They locked eyes and something intense flashed across Catra's face briefly. Adora couldn't tell if it was panic, relief, or something else entirely. She didn't have very long to contemplate it, however, because Catra lunged forward and kissed her back. It was clumsy and desperate, as though it was something she'd been wanting to follow through on for a long time, and now finally she'd been startled into action. Adora could only give a muffled "MMF!" as Catra leaned into her, nearly losing her balance and slipping underwater. She found the wall of the bath while managing to continue kissing Catra back.

Catra, now on a mission, straddled Adora's hips and sat comfortably in her lap, hands holding either side of Adora's face as she relished the feeling of her friend's lips against her own. It was all Adora could do to match Catra's intensity, at a loss for what to do with her hands she settled for sliding them up Catra's back and trying to press Catra as close to her as she possibly could. Eventually, the two of them remembered that they needed to breathe and broke apart. They panted and huffed in both excitement and exhaustion, staring at one another but saying nothing. They searched each other's eyes and each saw exactly what they realized they'd been wishing was true, and that they now secretly hoped would always be true. A shocking sense of clarity, like something had clicked into place and now it all made sense.

"Maybe you're right about me after all, Adora," Catra said with the slightest of smirks once they'd caught their breath.

"I know I am," Adora held Catra's gaze and smiled, "But go ahead and prove it to me anyway."

Catra grinned widely and giggled, filled with an indescribable feeling of pride as she leaned down to kiss Adora once more.