Chapter Text
“-And Catra, this is your room. It’s right down the hall from Adora’s.” Glimmer says cheerily, gesturing her open hand to the door in front of her. Catra gives her a small smile, hand in hand with Adora as they come to a stop in front of the doorway. “It’s a standard room, bed, dresser, waterfall, the basics.”
Catra shifts her eyes towards Adora. “Waterfall?” she mouths in confusion.
Adora squeezes her hand in response. “I’ll explain later.” she says quietly.
Catra brings her head back towards Glimmer. “Thanks, Sparkles.”
“Oh!” Glimmer points a finger up. “There’s some pajamas and basic toiletries in the first drawer and if you need anything , most of the guards have returned to their posts, they can get you what you need. And of course you’ve got Adora, she knows her way around the castle.” she offers.
Adora hesitates. “Uh, yeah.” she says with a breathy laugh.
Glimmer is quiet, expecting Catra to say goodnight and head into her room. But her and Adora say still at the door frame, hands still clasped. Catra rubs her thumb up and down Adora’s nervously.
It’s quiet for a beat too long.
“Well,” Glimmer starts. “I’ll let you two get settled.” Catra notices her throw a knowing smile at Adora before heading down to hall to her own room.
Catra looks at Adora. “You know your way around this giant maze?”
“Not really.” she confesses. “I usually just keep walking around until I find where I need to be.” She starts walking towards her own room, gently pulling Catra along.
“Hey!” Catra gives a mild protest. “Where are we going?”
“My room!” she says. As if it's the most obvious thing in the world. She looks back at Catra. “You don’t want to spend your first night in Bright Moon on your own, do you?”
“Well, no-”
Adora’s smirks. “Come on, I’ve got extra clothes for you to sleep in and all my pillows have been defluffed!”
Catra eyes widen in genuine curiosity. “Wait, you have more than one pillow here?”
“Oh, yeah! It’s a real upgrade from the Fright Zone.” The blonde pushes open her bedroom door, bringing Catra inside with her. It's a weird feeling, having Catra here in Bright Moon with her. She sometimes pictured Catra here with her. Most of the time those daydreams had Catra in the “spare room”, Adora pleading for her to join the rebellion. She never imagined Catra would be here willingly, let alone hand in hand with her.
Catra lets her hand fall out of Adora’s as she stands at the front of the room, looking around and marveling at the high ceilings and colorful fabrics draping from them. The room is a plethora of open space and ornate furniture. “Whoa.” she lets out in disbelief.
“I know, right?” Adora responds, heading to the bureau to get them both something to sleep in. She grabs some clothes and turns back in Catra’s direction. “It takes a while to get used to.”
She watches Catra walk towards the open window, her face adorned with a soft expression of wonder. Windows in the Horde base were hard to come by and an open window was unheard of. Catra spent a lot of time sneaking up to the high balconies and walkways of their old home, the open view always invoking a bit of hope for a bigger world waiting for them beyond the edges of the Fright Zone.
Adora pauses for a moment, smiling at her.
She comes up behind her, wrapping her strong arms around Catra’s middle. “I can’t believe you’re actually here, in Bright Moon.”
“That makes two of us.” she laughs, overlapping Adora’s hands with her own.
Adora squeezes her a bit, tucking her head into the crook of Catra’s neck. The two of them share a comfortable silence, looking out at the star filled skies of their planet that were once empty.
Catra twists in her hold, facing her. She brings her arms up and around Adora’s shoulders, linking them behind her neck. There’s a softness in both of their faces when their eyes meet and Catra is the one to close the distance between them. She presses her lips to Adora’s gently. After a moment, Catra brings her palms to Adora’s jawline and deepens the kiss. To her delight, Adora responds with matching eagerness, gripping her hips as Catra playfully nips at her lower lip.
Adora still can’t believe they’re doing this, that she gets to hold Catra like this, gets to feel her claws lightly scratch against her cheeks, her eyelashes tickle her cheeks. But just as Catra’s hands start to drag down Adora’s neck, towards her collarbones, the worst possible feeling overcomes Adora. She scrunches her nose to repress the inevitable, but it’s too late.
She lets out a loud yawn.
Catra looks overly unimpressed when Adora opens her eyes. She quirks an eyebrow. “Sorry, am I boring you?”
Adora is quick to take her hands in hers. “No! No! Not at all! It's just been such an exhausting few days and I think it's all catching up to me-” she says, a little too desperately.
Catra holds her eyes tight on Adora for a moment. Then cracks a smile.
Adora’s face eases. It’s only been a few hours since she defeated Horde Prime. Glimmer had insisted on them spending the night in the Bright Moon palace after months of sleeping in camps and spaceship cots. She-ra’s powers had rid the palace of previous Horde destruction and the sun had set for the first time on a new, magic filled Etheria.
But the exhaustion was truly catching up with her and she hated her body for betraying her brain’s desire to keep Catra as close to her as possible.
“Let’s get some sleep, we’ve got the rest of our lives for me to kiss you into boredom.” Catra says, giving Adora’s hips a final squeeze turning to grab the clothes on the bed.
“The rest of our lives, hm?” Adora teases.
Catra lets out a dramatic squawk, shoving Adora’s clothes at her chest. “You know what I mean!” Catra retorts.
Adora accepts her pajamas, smug grin refusing to leave her face. “Yeah, I think it means you want to be with me forever or something?”
“Ugh, what have I gotten myself into?” Catra grumbles, refusing to meet eyes with Adora as she starts undressing.
Not a thought is put into changing in front of Adora, they’ve done it their whole lives. She drops her own clothes into a pile on the floor and puts on the soft cotton set. She can’t remember a time she wore something this loose, having lived her whole life in tight, conforming Horde uniforms. For the first time in a while, Catra feels like she can breathe. She thinks there’s more than one reason for that.
Adora folds her clothes neatly and places them back in the dresser. She climbs into bed, adjusting her pillow a bit before reaching over to adjust the pillows in the space next to her. When she turns back, Catra is standing over her. She looks down at Adora and shoots her a wicked smirk before jumping over her into the empty space next to her, making sure she gets a quick face full of her tail. Adora laughs and gives her a playful smack.
Both womens bodies turn to the middle of the bed, a mess of limbs reaching out to hold each other as they settle into the cushions. Catra lets her head settle on Adora’s chest and hooks her bare leg in between Adora’s.
“You know,” Catra whispers. “You’re kind of amazing.”
Adora hums. “Yes, keep saying things.”
“Ugh,” she rolls her eyes. “And obnoxious.” She gives her thigh a small scratch with the claws of her foot. “But really. I mean, you saved the universe Adora.”
The blonde can barely believe it herself. It had felt like an impossible task at times, with dire consequences. And now she was safe, their whole planet was safe, and she had the love of her life wrapped in her arms.
“Thank you for staying with me, in the heart.” Adora turns her head slightly, lips pressing against Catra’s forehead. “I hate that you risked your safety, but I really needed you.” Her eyes feel heavy and her body lighter.
Catra hums softly in agreement. “Goodnight, Adora.”
She fights sleep long enough to whisper back, “Night, Catra.”
++
The sunlight coming through the glass windows hits the sheets of Adora’s bed, warming the two occupants in the early morning.
Catra wakes up slowly, feeling soft fingers brushing up and down her arm and feeling a pair of eyes on her before she even opens hers. She keeps her own eyes shut, reveling in Adora’s stare for a few quiet moments. Then she breaks their silence.
“Why are you staring at me like a creep?” she pipes, a smile flickering across her face.
Adora hums a laugh, her hand rising from Catra’s arm and coming to place on her cheek, below her ear. “You look so peaceful when you sleep, you’re beautiful.” She says the last two words softly, to assure that Catra is the only being in the universe able to hear her. She sounds astonished, that the other woman is in front of her, letting her gaze at her so intimately.
A pink tint paints Catra’s cheeks as she blushes. “Ugh!” she lets out a groan, pushing a hand to Adora’s face. “Shut up.” she whispers
Adora laughs, gripping Catra’s wrists to stop any further attack. She keeps Catra’s hands in her hold at her face. Catra peeks her eyes open, taking in Adora’s reverent stare. Her blush deepens.
Adora takes this moment of quiet to twist Catra’s hands ever so slightly and place a delicate kiss to her wrist. Catra thinks her whole face is red at this point.
“Let’s go get breakfast.” Adora suggests. “They make the best jam! You’re gonna love it.” Catra watches her face light up and before Adora can get herself out of bed, she takes her face in her hands and brings her down for a kiss.
Now Adora’s cheeks are tinged with pink and Catra is happy that they’re even.
“I don’t even know what jam is but if it's not a ration bar, I’m sure it’s gonna be great.” They get themselves out of bed and change into their regular clothes. The two spend a few minutes in the bathroom together, Adora putting her hair in a ponytail while Catra brushes her teeth. Their hips shove together playfully as they share the vanity mirror.
Catra heads out of the bathroom, turning back towards Adora to throw her a mischievous smile. “Come here.” She reaches her hand out at her. It's second nature for Adora to take it. Catra pulls her in, kissing her deeply. They stay like that for a few seconds before Adora gets a little brave. She breaks from Catra’s mouth for a second before peppering kisses across her jawline and to the top of her neck. Catra’s head drops back, giving her open space. There’s a satisfied smile on her face as Adora grazes her teeth along her skin. Catra feels a bit like she’s on fire at this new sensation.
But her moment of pleasure is cut short when she feels a slight change in the air. Her ears twitch towards the middle of the room as a gust of magic transports Glimmer into Adora’s bedroom.
“Adora, do you think we should wake Catra up or let her-” The queen is talking to the empty bed when she arrives, expecting her to be there.
Adora had sprung a 3 foot distance at her friend teleporting into her room. “Glimmer!” she exclaims and Catra can hear the nerves coat her voice.
“Oh!” Glimmer says unexpectedly. “She’s...already here.”
She’s giving them an innocent smile, looking between the two. Catra can see a wheel start to turn in her head, but stops her. “Yeah. I just came in a few minutes ago so Adora could show me where to get breakfast.” she answers smoothly.
“Yeah!” Adora offers, a little too eagerly. Catra’s eyes widen as she suppresses the urge to roll them.
“Breakfast is all set in the dining hall. Chef made these amazing chocolate buns and strawberry glaze. I think he’s in a real celebratory mood today, we’ve got so many sweets.” Glimmer brings her clasped hands up to her chest. “I can teleport us there!”
“No!” Catra exclaims before even realizing it. She catches herself, taking a breath. “Sorry, but-”
“Oh, right! Yeah, teleporting on an empty stomach isn’t a great idea.”
Catra breathes a laugh, moving to Adora to take her hand. “I think Adora and I will just walk, get myself a little more familiar with the palace.” Out of instinct, Catra’s head runs with strategies of counting doors, checking for insecure infrastructure, and finding all close possible exits. It's a hard habit to break.
“Great idea!” she smiles. “Well, I left Bow with some fresh cinnamon muffins so I better get back before he devours them all.” Glimmer says, sounding a little annoyed, but she’s got a fond look in her eye.
And as fast as she was there, she was gone.
“Ugh.” Catra turns to Adora. “Does she do that a lot?”
Adora grins. “Kind of.” she confesses. “Honestly, it’s never really been a big problem until-”
“-Until you needed a reason for some privacy?”
She snorts “Uh, yeah. Sorry...I know you were enjoying it.” Adora gives her a cocky smile.
“Shut up!” Catra retorts. “Come on, let's go get some food before your ego gets as big as your hair poof.”