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The effervescent smoke of Shadowweaver’s magic dissipated around the alliance, the Moonstone shining bright above them, and with a breath of relief, everyone fell into a celebration at the realization they were
alive
, and the world was repaired, no longer lost to time and space—they had done it. Everyone but Adora, still standing tall as She-Ra, rigid and watching the rest with a weak smile, the image of bright light bursting around Angella before swallowing her whole between two dimensions, haunting her.
Glimmer was hugging Bow in celebration, hoisted into the air by her best friend, tearing up in the relief that they were okay, a big smile stretched onto her lips as she looked down at Bow.
“I’m probably going to be grounded for the rest of my life, but , reality is back to normal!” Glimmer laughed, her arm outstretched in disbelief, a little pained laugh escaping her as Bow set her down on her feet again. “Speaking of which, I guess I should go find my mom… maybe she’ll be so happy to see me she’ll forget about grounding me.”
Adora went still, more tense than she already had been, and she turned to Glimmer with wide eyes, prompting the sparkly-haired girl to notice her with confusion as she finished her sentence, a hand resting on Bow’s arm.
“Adora? What is it?” she asked, puzzled, a little worried by the grief that hid behind Adora’s eyes, the taller girl stepping over to her friend.
Her lip trembled, unable to find the words to say; she wasn’t prepared to break this news to Glimmer, and she felt in her heart of hearts that she shouldn’t even have to be doing so. It wasn’t fair, none of this was. It should’ve been her that was trapped, not Angella. Glimmer didn’t deserve to lose another parent, not when she’d seen...how happy she was in that perfect reality, with Micha and Angella both at her side.
White-gold light consumed She-Ra for a brief moment, and Adora stood closer to Glimmer’s eye. She shut her eyes painfully, her hands balled into fists, before she wordlessly bent at the waist, enveloping Glimmer in her arms and pulling her into a tight hug against her chest, tears starting to fall down her cheeks.
“Angella… is gone. She stayed behind, she— she went into the portal. She wouldn’t let me go. She—” a choked sob left Adora’s throat, cutting through her words, and Glimmer’s arms stayed slack at her sides, her entire body trembling. “She saved us all, Glimmer. I’m sorry.”
Glimmer felt frozen where she stood, shock and disbelief coursing through her veins and making her blood feel like it had run cold. “What?” she asked, pulling back from Adora, tearful eyes full of denial. “You—no, no,” she shook her head, sniffling and turning to look off the platform, toward the castle, where her mother had been flying what felt like merely moments ago to her. “My mom, she was here. I saw her, before we teleported. The world is repaired. If we’re all back, she is too. I know she is!”
“Glimmer..” Adora tried to calm her, reaching a hand out to her shoulder, but Glimmer flinched away. Bow stood frozen where he was, and thought about reaching out to her as well, but before he could, Glimmer was gone in a burst of sparkles, materializing beneath the Moonstone, and breaking out into a sprint towards the palace door, bursting through and heading straight for the throne room, then her mother’s room, her room, the Alliance meeting, every single room until it felt like her legs were going to give out beneath her. And they did. She fell to her knees, sobbing her eyes out and screaming for her mother, letting out a piercing wail of anguish, an ugly cry that made her throat burn and her voice break.
“No! No, mom - no,” she sobbed, falling forward and banging her fists against the floor, head bowed down. “Not you too, mom- please, please, I can’t lose you, please,” she pleaded with nothing, curling up where she lay. Her hands buried in her own hair, gripping it like she might rip it out, and she sobbed her heart out, shaking so bad that she felt like she couldn’t move.
Adora and Bow quietly approached the door, the rest of the Alliance hanging out in the hall, the celebration sombered entirely by the sound of the Princess wailing. Adora stopped in her tracks, guilt resting in her chest and making it feel heavy; Bow gave her a look, and she shook her head, hugging herself and turning away. He sighed, and approached Glimmer, kneeling beside her. When she noticed him, she choked on a sob, and slowly, her entire being trembling as she did, picked herself up, only to collapse in his arms, burying her face in his shoulder and sob even harder than she had been. Bow sniffled himself, tightening his arms around her, and rubbed a comforting hand against her back.
Queen Angella was gone. Everyone felt that truth sink in, heavy on their hearts.