Work Text:
GLIMMER'S POV:
I felt the anger bubbling up in me. Sitting in my mom's chair while looking at Adora in my old spot. My mom should still be here. I know Catra started the portal, bit Adora had so much to gain by its opening. She wanted to find out about her family and the portal could have given her answers. She didn't fight hard enough to keep it off. She's still here and my mom is gone. An immortal Queen is dead and there's nothing to show for it. I'm all alone now, my parents are dead.
"We should be forcing the Horde farther back. The portal caused a great deal of destruction at the Fright Zone after it was shut off, so now would be the perfect time to completely shut them down, " Adora said, pointing at whatever map she had drawn up now. Her plan was a Horde plan. Kick them while they're down is Horde mentality. She might be a princess, but she was raised as a Horde soldier. She was raised by Shadow Weaver with Catra acting as a sister, the two cruelest people I know have forced their personalities down her throat. She was still Horde scum at heart, whether she knew it or not.
"You won't open the portal again while we're there, right, Adora?" I spat and everyone gave me a look of started unbelievement. I could feel their gazes on me, but my eyes were locked Adora's. She looked shocked at my accusation. She wouldn't betray us on purpose, I know that, but she did leave Catra behind. She only thinks about herself and what she wants and I know that what she wants is answers on where she's from and to learn about her family, probably even meet them. I couldn't blame her for wanting that, but I had to make sure she knew what the cost of getting that was.
"What? Why would I ever want to open it?" I felt my jaw tighten, one of Adora's habits I had picked up at some point. We all had been gaining each other's habits as we got closer. I saw her picking up around my room the other day instead of Bow. I wasn't aware of it until then, but now I'm hyper-aware of it and I wasn't sure I liked it.
"Because of what you have to gain by opening it!" I jumped to my feet and leaned across the table. "You aren't from this planet! You aren't even from this time period if I understand that right! All you've been looking for is answers and opening the portal again might give them to you at the cost of Etheria!" Everyone looked shocked, I guess I forgot the other princesses hadn't learned of that yet. Bow was trying to signal for me to stop, desperate to get back to the planning everyone was so bored of before.
"You're right, I've been looking for answers. That's why I went back for the sword and it's why I stayed with you and Bow. I ran out into the Crimson Waste in hopes of learning anything about my past and about who I am. I knew opening the portal might give me the answers I want, " she pauses to take a deep breath. She knew if she paused for too long, I would jump at her throat, so she makes a point to continue quickly. After all, what she had just said was beyond reason enough for me to be angry. "I also knew what it would cost. Mara trapped us here for a reason, she wanted to keep us safe. I won't put Etheria at risk and undo what Mara gave her life to accomplish for answers, not even if it meant meeting my family. I fought against the people who raised me to keep it closed and when that failed I kept fighting them. I punched Catra as hard as I could just to get her off my back for long enough to get to the sword. I fell in and thought I failed, I was fading when Angella rescued me. I wanted to be the one to stay behind, but she wouldn't let me. Glimmer, I know you think she's dead, but I saw Mara in there. I looked her in the eyes even if it was only briefly. She's alive and so is Queen Angella. We will find a way to rescue them." She was jumping from topic to topic in an attempt to get it all out, or maybe she just had so much to say that different topics were dragging her attention to them. Still, I knew what had been left unsaid. She had been fighting the people she saw as a family ever since she got that sword. Catra, Shadow Weaver, Lonnie, the weak blond, and the lizard guy were all once her family, the only one she had ever known. She never held back when fighting them either, at least not that I could see.
"What happens if we can only rescue one? Who would you save?" The tension in the air rose as everyone assumed who's name would escape Adora's lips. We knew what drove her and we knew who could help her find the answers she wanted. Everyone knew she would say 'Mara'. It was her obvious answer.
"Mara could answer all of my questions, " I was ready to scream at her, but she continued before I could. "But Angella cared about me. She is the first adult that I truly respect. Respect, not fear! She was kind to me and even though we didn't interact all that much, I truly care about her. I would save her a thousand times over even if it meant giving my own life. Mara is a savior, she saved Etheria, but so did Angella. They just saved us in different ways. Mara got to live her life, what she had to accomplish is done. Angella still has things she needs to do in life."
"What do you mean?" It slipped out before I could even think about it.
"She still has to watch you grow up, Glimmer. She deserves to watch you grow into the young woman you're becoming." I smile and teleport next to her, wrapping her into a tight hug.