Work Text:
13 years ago
“Hey, Adora… you awake?” Catra whispered quietly from her top bunk.
“Yeah,” Adora whispered back, almost immediately. “Why?”
Catra was silent for a moment. “...I can’t sleep.”
Adora thought for a few seconds before saying, “You can come sleep in my bunk, if you want.”
Catra seemed to hesitate for a second, but then she swung down gracefully and landed on her feet and hands.
It was very cat-like, Adora noticed.
“Can I touch your hair?” Adora asked, knowing the answer was most likely going to be no. And she would respect that.
Catra made a grunting noise and flopped down next to Adora.
Adora didn’t want to push, so she didn’t ask again, but then Catra sighed, “Fine.”
“Really?” Adora blurted. She didn’t mean to, but it slipped out before she could stop it.
“Yes, get on with it before I change my mind,” Catra grumbled.
“Y- um, yeah,” Adora stuttered. She gingerly pressed her fingers to Catra’s hair. It wasn’t silky, or smooth, or anything like hers, but it was definitely fluffy. It was fluffy and soft and Adora never wanted to stop feeling it.
She started running her fingers through it; still gentle, but less hesitating.
Catra started vibrating, and she jumped. “A-are you okay? What’s happening? Are you going to explode!?”
“What? No! I… It’s called purring, I think. It’s something my body does when I’m… happy.”
“How come I’ve never heard you… purring… before?” Adora questioned.
Catra’s face looked a little sheepish. “I don’t know.”
Adora thought that Catra knew exactly why, but she didn’t press. She just wanted to feel that soft hair again.
“Okay. Can I… keep doing that?”
“Okay,” Catra said too fast.
Adora smiled as she ran her fingers through that soft hair again. Catra started vibrating— purring— again, and Adora almost cooed as she noticed how calm Catra is.
“Can-can I sing a song to help you fall asleep? I heard one of the lullabies some of the older soldiers sing to their kids—“ Adora whispered, a little afraid to push too far, before she realized she was rambling.
Catra just hummed, and Adora took that as a yes.
“You are my sunshine,” she started. “My only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are grey. You’ll never know, dear, how much I love you. So please don’t take all my sunshine away.”
She sang it slowly and badly, but Catra didn’t seem to mind.
Adora noticed as she sang that maybe she related to the song a little more than she initially thought. She loved Catra (as a friend!), but she would never say it. It would make her look weak, and Catra probably just… didn’t love her as much. But she never wanted Catra to leave. So she decided, right then, that the only time that she would ever tell Catra that she loves her was in this song. A song that was probably just a silly melody to Catra.
But the next night, Catra crawls into bed with Adora and asks her to sing the song again.
And the next night.
And the next.
Until it’s the only thing that can make her sleep except pure and utter exhaustion.
Until Adora leaves her.
Until she can only remember that melody, but when she quietly sings it to herself, it doesn’t sound right.
Now
Catra cried out as the poison flowed through Adora and she dropped to the ground.
“ Adora! Please, you have to wake up!” She sobbed against Adora as she pressed her closer. “You can't give up. You have never given up on anything in your life. Not even on me. So don’t you dare start now,” she sniffled, her face a mess with tears and snot sticking to her fur.
“It’s too late. I’ve failed,” Adora mumbled against her shoulder.
“No, no! I’ve got you, I’m not letting go.” Her heart pounded in her ears. “Don’t you get it?” she sobbed. “I love you, I always have. So please, just this once… stay.”
Adora convulsed against her in a sob. “Y-you love me?”
“Yeah, dumbass. Please . Don’t die on me now.”
“I… I love you too. B-but… I don’t think I can stay for… very long,” she admitted, pulling back and opening her eyes with some effort.
“N-no, Adora, please, ” she sobbed. Gods, I just got everything I wanted and now it’s being ripped away from me again. I just wanted her to love me, and she does, and then she won’t, cause she’ll be…
“You can’t go,” Catra pleaded.
Adora let out a sob-chuckle. “I don’t have much of a choice.”
“B-but I love you! Isn’t something supposed to happen? True love’s kiss or something?”
Adora smiled sadly. “I don’t think that’s how this story ends, Catra.”
“But it wasn’t supposed to end at all,” Catra whimpered. “It was supposed to be happy and we could be together and— and—“
“And you’ll do so many things the same, but without me,” Adora said lovingly. “I love you, Catra. I really do.“
And so, as Adora died in her arms, Catra hugged her close and began to sing:
“ You are my sunshine. My only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are grey. You’ll never know, dear, how much I love you. So please don’t take all my sunshine away.”
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And then her sunshine was gone, and the world seemed dark.