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It turned out that after an almost universe-ending invasion, a lot of rebuilding was necessary. She-Ra may have healed the planet, but thousands of people were still without homes. And so, instead of kicking Hoard ass, the Princess Alliance had taken to rebuilding.
And there was a lot of rebuilding to be done.
Every town and village had their own customs and traditions, which was pretty cool. Especially considering when the rebuilding was done there was usually a huge party. But it also meant that there was a lot of slogging through the forest looking for sacred beetles, or butterflies, or on one memorable occasion, sacred ants.
Adora shuddered at the memory.
She hated ants.
This time around, Adora had managed to snag Catra along for the adventure. They’d been searching for some sort of pink spotted flower for about an hour in a huge market where most sacred items were actually pretty easy to find. It was kind of nice to be able to get away for a little while even if they were still technically working. The both of them had just been so busy working lately that they hadn’t been able to see each other much. And honestly, Adora kind of missed hanging out with Catra.
Well, not kind of . Adora had been feeling pretty pathetic about how much she missed Catra.
Which is probably why Adora felt like she’d just saved the entire world (again) as she walked through the market, hand-in-hand with Catra.
“Jeez, I didn’t even know it was possible for places like this to exist,” Catra said as they walked through the busy marketplace.
Adora chuckled softly. “I know. I always feel a little surprised whenever I come to places like this.”
“ Places ? Plural? Wack,” Catra shook her head in amazement, and Adora (pathetically) fell a little more in love with her.
Adora couldn’t help but laugh happily, her chest filling with a bubbling sort of joy. She tugged Catra along, hoping to get the mission over quickly so they could maybe grab one of those cute pink drinks Adora had seen people carrying around.
(Adora desperately wanted this to be a date.)
However, it didn’t take long before Adora was recognized. The worst part about being an 8 foot tall glowing, magical woman who saved the planet through sheer force of love was definitely the part where that made her a globally recognized public figure.
“She-Ra!” Someone called, and Adora was forced to look because apparently it was a bad look to ignore the people of Etheria when they called for her, even if Adora was desperately trying to turn a work outing into a date.
A young woman, no taller than Adora’s sternum and looking no older than time itself, grabbed Adora’s free arm. “Yes! The She-Ra and her lover! You must allow me to give you both a reading!”
“A reading?” Adora asked, a little confused as she looked up to the woman’s stall. It was a leaning cloth construction with a banner proudly advertising love potions and romantic foresight. “Uhh...No thanks. I’ve had enough spiritual ladies telling me what I need to do for my future.”
“Please!” The woman begged, her eyes, large and round under her wispy bangs. “Your auras are so lovely! I would love a closer look!” Her tiny, cold hands tugged on Adora’s arm, her bracelets clinking softly.
Adora looked back at Catra who had been uncharacteristically quiet. At Adora’s look she shrugged. “What harm could it do?”
“You wanna do this?” Adora asked, feeling a little bit of disbelief. She thought for sure this would be the opposite of Catra’s sort of thing.
“Sure,” Catra shrugged, taking the lead this time by stepping towards the woman. “Come on, it’ll be fun. Just trust me,” she said, throwing one of her knockout smiles Adora’s way.
Adora sighed softly and was helpless to resist. They followed the woman into the stall, which was actually much larger on the inside, making Adora wonder where exactly the tent was actually built.
“Cool,” Catra mumbled under her breath as she looked around. Adora had to agree. The tent was awfully cool.
They were led to a small table with two chairs on one side and a single chair on the other. The small woman gestured to the set of chairs before she herself dropped into the single on the opposite side.
Adora shrugged at Catra and they both took a seat.
“Oh, here we go! I can see your auras much better now!” The psychic said as she put a pair of glasses on her face, the lenses some sort of kaleidoscope crystal rather than clear glass.
Auras? Catra mouthed over at Adora, mock impressed and Adora had to bite the inside of her cheek not to laugh. She reached out to hold Catra’s hand under the table smoothing her thumb across Catra’s knuckles affectionately.
“Ahh,” the psychic hummed. “Your relationship is new. Congratulations! However, I can see here that while you both have spoken deeply about your feelings, there are still many things left unsaid between the two of you.”
Adora frowned a little and glanced at Catra. She didn’t quite know what that meant. They talked almost every day about what they were feeling and Adora, personally, always tried to let Catra know if something was bothering her.
“Do not look so alarmed,” the old woman said, her hands coming up in a placating gesture. “This is a small hurdle you two will have to cross in a long and loving relationship.”
Adora let out a little of the tension in her shoulders, but still somehow felt a little uneasy. “Well, at least we know we’ll be together for a long time,” she said, looking to Catra with a smile.
Catra met the look, but didn’t say anything. Adora did not feel great about that.
“I know just the thing to help,” the psychic said, turning to a cabinet beside the table. She rummaged inside for a few beats before she pulled out a pair of pink glowing vials. “If you both drink one of these, your problems will be easily solved,” she said. “Don’t worry. It’s totally harmless. Just a little something for you both to be able to understand each other better.”
Adora and Catra both hesitated before Catra said, “I’ll drink it.”
“Wait, you’ll what ?” Adora borderline screeched.
Catra turned to her with a roll of her eyes. “It’s going to help us, Adora. We should at least give it a try.”
“But,” Adora glanced at the woman before looking back at Catra. “It could be poison,” she whispered.
Catra rolled her eyes, grabbed the potion, and downed it in one swig. Adora held her breath, silently panicking about all of the horrible ways Catra could die from this, already getting ready to summon She-Ra.
“Huh, nothing happened,” Catra said after a few beats.
“Of course nothing happened,” the young woman across from them said with an odd smile on her face that made Adora believe that something indeed had happened. “She-Ra, you must also drink yours.”
Adora hesitated for a moment before carefully drinking her own.
Huh, it actually tastes kind of good, Adora hummed to herself.
“See?” Catra said. “Not bad at all.”
The psychic smiled widely at the two of them. “Oh, and the flower you’re looking for is in stall number 463. Very nicely priced too,” she said.
Adora thought that was kind of weird, but nodded with a smile. “Um, thank you,” she said, grabbing Catra’s hand and making a hasty exit.
Adora could not stop worrying about what happened with the Psychic back at the market. She said that they were hiding things from each other, but there was no way that was true because Adora talked about everything with Catra. So if Adora wasn’t hiding anything, logically that meant that Catra had to be the one hiding something. Adora didn’t know how to think about that.
Did Catra not trust her? Or was Catra hiding something that would hurt Adora?...Did Catra not want to be together anymore? Did she realize she was better than Adora? Better and cooler and smarter?
Adora couldn’t stop thinking about it. It haunted her all the way back to Bright Moon. Adora was so hung up on thinking about the stupid secret Catra was hiding, that she almost completely forgot about the potion the Psychic gave them.
“God, is it really necessary for Bright Moon to glitter so much? I’m going to be blind by next year if I keep living here , ” Catra said, interrupting Adora’s spiralling thoughts.
“The glitter is definitely the most difficult thing to get used to,” Adora agreed, thankful for the distraction. “Maybe we should get sunglasses or something,” she joked.
Catra startled a little when Adora spoke and turned to her with this odd little weirded out look. “What?” Catra asked.
“I said the glitter is the worst part,” Adora said. “You know, agreeing with what you said…?” The more Adora explained, the more weirded out Catra seemed to get.
“Adora,” Catra said, a false calm injected into her voice. “I didn’t say anything.”
Adora was speechless for a moment. “Are you sure?” Adora asked weakly.
“Why wouldn’t I be sure if I spoke or not?” Catra asked, her voice going a little shrill.
“Okay, well I definitely heard you, so maybe you did speak and you just didn’t remember,” Adora shot back.
“Wh—Adora that makes no sense!” Catra exclaimed. “I thought about glitter. You know, in my mind !”
“Yeah, well, I heard you,” Adora huffed.
And then they both paused.
And then they looked at each other.
And Adora didn’t need to be able to read Catra’s mind to know they were both thinking the same thing.
“The potion,” they said together in realization.
Hearing Catra’s thoughts might not have been so bad if Adora hadn’t been so busy. They were in the middle of a rebuild, after all, which meant She-Ra was often needed to help move large pieces of building too big for just teams to lift. Which also meant Adora got a lot of:
Holy shit, muscles.
Hnnngggh.
Gods, her ass. Squats should be illegal.
Oh shit, oh fuck!
Okay, I’m going to need new underwear.
Adora knew Catra was….fond of She-Ra and her amazing muscles, but not to this level. Any time Catra’s voice in Adora’s head got particularly low and gravelly, Adora would fumble or outright drop whatever she was doing. Not to mention the perpetual blush that stained her face red from embarrassment.
(Adora wouldn’t lie though. Getting these sorts of compliments were kind of nice when it was from Catra. She wasn’t super vocal about what she liked, so it was kind of a welcome change, if an inconvenient one.)
So, Adora had to take things into her own hands. Or rather, her own mind.
Catra, can you please stop thinking so loud? Adora thought at Catra, which was a weird sensation.
What? Stop thinking? Catra asked back telepath-ily, sounding a little exasperated. Adora, I know you’re not really used to having thoughts —
Hey! Adora exclaimed, affronted.
— Because your adorable head is empty, Catra continued, ignoring Adora completely. Adora could imagine the smug little smirk on Catra’s face then, and Adora became a little more fond.
Hey, Adora said anyway, because Catra still kind of insulted her.
But some of us actually can’t just stop thinking, Catra finished, and Adora imagined her crossing her arms and thrashing her tail adorably. She briefly worried if images could be shared over the mind link they shared.
Okay, well, can you at least stop distracting me? I have a million things to do , Adora said instead of asking if Catra was getting weird images of herself.
Catra scoffed lightly, which was strange from Adora to hear from the inside of her own head. That sounds like a you problem.
Adora pouted even though she knew Catra couldn't see her. Mean, she shot back before going back to work.
It wasn’t until much later, after all the work for the day had been finished and Adora was freshly showered and ready to eat that she realized not only was she getting Catra’s (adorable) dirty thoughts, but she was also getting a lot of half-finished, and aborted thoughts.
At first, Adora thought it was totally normal. Maybe Catra just got distracted mid-thought and had to move on. It happened all the time with Adora. But it happened often with Catra. Like, all day kind of often. And Catra wasn’t one who was that easily distracted.
But it wasn’t until it happened during dinner time, when Adora, Bow, and Glimmer had been wrapped up in their own conversation, that Adora started to think Catra was hiding something from her.
Adora caught Catra after dinner before she could disappear. “Hey, can I talk to you for a sec?”
Catra turned to Adora, her ears dropping down, flat against her head before she caught herself and straightened them again. “Sure, what’s up?” Catra asked lightly, but Adora heard, What did I do?
“It’s nothing serious, relax,” Adora said with a little smile as she affectionately tapped Catra’s shoulder with her own. Catra visibly relaxed and Adora at least hoped it wasn’t serious. She let her hand fall down to hold Catra’s hand and gave it a little squeeze before she asked, “Has something been bothering you? Like about me?”
“What?” Catra asked, sounding genuinely confused. “What’re you talking about?” Adora sighed and pulled Catra out of the main hallway and into an abandoned study. Catra tensed up and pulled her hand away before she said, “Hey! I thought you said it wasn’t serious!”
“I didn’t think it was, but you’ve been hiding things from me all day!” Adora exclaimed, feeling a little stressed out.
“What?” Catra exclaimed back, her hair visibly standing on end. She took a deep breath to calm herself and Adora tried to follow suit, but she was too keyed up; too afraid of what Catra might be hiding. “Adora, what are you talking about? I don’t hide anything from you okay?”
“Okay, you say that, but the mind-link thing tells me otherwise,” Adora said, trying to stay calm, but failing as her anxiety showed through. “You keep starting thoughts and then stopping them, but not in a, like, you getting distracted about something way. Like in a trying to keep something away from me way.”
Catra stood there, visibly shocked speechless for a few beats before she was back in full action, her fury rippling over her like a wave. “I’m not hiding anything from you, Adora! Some of us like to have some private thoughts! Not all of us are broadcasting idiots!”
“Oh, so now I’m a broadcasting idiot?” Adora asked, a little too far on the mean side of sarcastic.
“Yes!” Catra burst out. “You’re driving me crazy! I never thought it was possible for someone so air-headed to think so much! You’re so annoying!”
It was Adora’s turn to stand there, visibly shocked speechless. After a few beats of this, where Adora just got closer and closer to wanting to cry, she schooled her features smooth, kept her mind carefully blank, and said, “Alright then,” before walking out, her shoulder brushing Catra’s as she passed.
Adora wasn’t sure how she got back to their room, but the next thing she knew she was curled up under the covers and wrapped around Catra’s pillow. The pillow was wet below her cheek.
Adora tried to keep her mind carefully blank, but she couldn’t. All she could think about was Catra and this big secret she had and the fact that her secret would pull them apart.
Adora hadn’t heard a thought from Catra since their fight and Adora didn’t know what to think about that. Was Catra just that good at blocking her thoughts or was there some sort of effectiveness radius on their mind-link? Was Catra okay? Was she as upset as Adora was? Or...or was she totally fine? Was she happier without Adora hanging around constantly?
Adora turned, covered her head with a pillow, and let out a long groan of frustration. She really did just need to see Catra again. To know she was okay. And wallowing here in their bedroom was not going to make anything better.
With a large gusty sigh, Adora sat up. Catra, are you okay? Adora asked outwards.
It took a few minutes to get a response, but when she did all she got was, *Yeah.* Then a second later, *I’m alright.*
Good, Adora couldn’t stop the relieved breath she let out. I’m sorry I cornered you...Can we talk or do you need more time to cool off?
I’m sorry I called you a broadcasting idiot, and an air-head, and annoying, Catra said, effectively answering the question. We can talk. If you’re not still mad at me.
Adora huffed out a little laugh. I’m not mad. Are you?
Not really, Catra said. I’ve been meditating.
Adora smiled fondly. I’m really glad. Where are you?
The atrium, Catra said, It’s the only place I can really focus.
Would it be alright if I joined you? Adora asked.
Yeah, I think that would be alright, Catra agreed.
It didn’t take long for Adora to find Catra. She was sitting on a low branch in one of the taller trees in the atrium, her back against the trunk, one foot dangling off the branch, as the other acted as a sort of headrest.
Adora jumped and caught the branch before hauling herself up to sit next to Catra. “Hey,” she said once she got situated.
“Hey,” Catra said back.
“Look, Catra, I don’t know what’s been bothering you, but...you could talk about it, you know.” Adora asked softly, broaching the topic a lot more openly than before.
Catra sighed softly and hugged her knee closer to her chest. “Yeah,” she said. “I just...I guess I wasn’t ready.”
Adora bit her lip. “I’m sorry I pushed you. I just got so scared you were upset at me, or thinking about leaving me,” she admitted. “I just freaked out.”
Catra batted Adora’s hip with her foot. “I know,” Catra rolled her eyes. “I guess...what’s been bothering me is that I’m worried that you’re going to wake up one day and realize I’m not what you want,” she admitted. “I mean, I know that you crossed the universe to save me from Hoard Prime or whatever, but like, I’m still worried that even with all this healing and growth, I’m still going to be too broken for you to really love.”
Adora sat and listened to Catra, and when she was done, Adora placed her hand on Catra’s ankle. “Catra, I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember loving anything,” Adora said seriously, her thumb smoothing across the ball of Catra’s ankle. “I love all of you. Your broken bits and sharp edges and all,” she said with a little smile. “The fact that you’re putting effort into your healing process and your own personal growth, only makes me love you more. I’m so proud of you, Catra. I would never just wake up one day and realize I didn’t want you. I love you way too much for that.”
Catra looked away and sniffled a little. “Really?” She asked, her voice thin.
Adora smiled warmly at her. “Really.” She leaned over and wiped away Catra’s tears. “Is that what’s really been bothering you so much?”
Catra nodded and leaned into Adora’s hand. “I know in my rational brain that you love me, but sometimes the part of me that was really messed up by Shadow Weaver comes back and takes over.”
Adora caressed the side of Catra’s face. “You should talk to me when that happens instead of letting it build up like this. Then we don’t have to fight before you feel better.”
Catra sighed. “Yes, I admit it, talking it out is nice. You were right,” she blustered, but in a way that told Adora that Catra was feeling better.
Adora smiled. “Can you believe that even with a mind-reading potion we still managed to misunderstand each other?” She asked with a little laugh.
“Gods, who are we? Absolute idiots, is what,” Catra rolled her eyes and let out a laugh of her own. Adora joined in, leaning against Catra’s leg as they both laughed together.