Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Adora? Adora, stay awake!” Catra looked nervously upwards to the Heart of Etheria. The sickly neon green of Horde Prime’s virus had begun to light up the room.

“I’m sorry,” whispered Adora. She held Catra’s hand against her cheek.

“ADORA!” Catra desperately tried to get Adora to wake up, but her consciousness was already fading. “You can’t give up. You have never given up on anything in your life.” She paused for a moment. “Not even on me. So don’t you DARE start now.”

Adora’s eyes fluttered for a moment. Catra held on to her tightly. “I’ve got you. I’m not letting go.” Tears streamed down her face. “Don’t you get it? I love you. I always have. So please, just this once… stay.” Her voice cracked. “Stay.”

Adora’s shield formed in her hand and then disappeared. Her eyes opened, staring up at Catra. Her voice was barely louder than a whisper. “You love me?”

“You’re such an idiot.” Catra laughed slightly, and saw her love smiling up at her.

“I love you, too.”

Catra hesitated before cupping her hand on Adora’s cheek and kissing her. In the moment, nothing else mattered, and it was just the two of them, together. They started to glow, superhuman, as the failsafe for the Heart activated.

“I’m sorry.” Adora’s body went limp against Catra’s.

“NO! Please, Adora, please come back, I can’t do this without you!” Catra held Adora close not letting her go. She recognised the sound of Glimmer Teleporting in and laughing celebrating the defeat of Horde Prime.
“We’ve done it, we’ve actually done it!” Glimmer shouts out with so much happiness. She starts running towards Catra who was hugging Adora.
“STOP, stop celebrating” Catra yelled with all her breath. “She’s gone… Adora’s gone, she not coming back. Stop celebrating when I’ve just lost the only woman I loved. She even said it back!
“Said what?” Glimmer asked her in a confused voice.
“I love you” Catra responded with barely a whisper.
It took Glimmer a few seconds to understand what had happened, her eyes starting to well up with tears. She quickly teleported over to Catra and found Adora limp in her arms with green liquid flowing throughout her body. She was still holding her sword by her side.
“I don’t understand, Shadow Weaver said that she would be fine! Catra! What happened?!” Glimmer practically screamed at her. Her face completely covered in tears.
“Horde Prime got a monster to attack her with a virus, I got there just in time found her collapsed in pain in the corner of the previous room. I started to attack the monster and told Shadow Weaver to take her the to the Heart, SHE wouldn’t leave ME behind. ADORA wouldn’t leave ME behind.” Catra was choking out the words as she thought back to Adora’s last moments.
“In the end Shadow Weaver gave her life so Adora would use the failsafe. But by the time we got the heart, the virus had be in Adora’s system for to long. She… she went limp in my arms and said, sorry… then the failsafe activated, then she was gone.” Catra finished with barely a whisper.
“ But… there has to be a way to get her back, THERE HAS TO BE!” Glimmer scanned Catra’s eyes to find only sorrow.
Glimmer quickly huddled into a hug with Catra trying to comfort not only Catra but herself.
They walk out to the surface where everyone was celebrating, when Scorpia saw Catra and Glimmer walk out she pulled them both in a hug.
“you are the last ones I need to give a victory hug” Scorpia laughs.
Catra shoves Scorpia aside and finds her friend Melog curled up in a ball, she join her. Scorpia stares at Glimmer.
“What’s wrong?” she asks innocently.
“Adora… Adora saved us all, she stopped Prime. But she payed the price for us.” Glimmer whimpered.
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Everyone is wearing white, not black like normal funerals. All of Etheria is wearing She-ra’s crest on the back of a long white coat.
Glimmer stands and walks over to the podium ready to perform her speech.
“Its been 2 weeks since Prime fell, since Adora saved us. We never knew we would have to pay such a large price for Etheria to be safe. When I was learning magic there was one crucial rule that I forgot. And that rule was that magic always comes with a price…” Glimmer takes a breath “… But Adora knew there was always a danger in her job of being Etheria’s protector, she died doing what she loved doing most, Helping others. When I first met Adora Bow and I were looking for a piece of First Ones Tech and it turned out to be she-ra’s sword, but as we arrived at the sword Adora arrived at the same time. Bow and I both did a battle cry that we both thought were terrifying but now that I look back on it they were ridiculous.”
“I didn’t trust her one bit but when we arrived at Thaymor, Bow introduced her to all the cool things like a party, she didn’t even know what a birthday was. Then the Horde attacked. She ran off telling us to get as many citizens out, she went running to tell them to stop attacking Thaymor. I ran to her looking for help because we couldn’t do it, I barely had enough magic to teleport us out of there. I gave her the sword hoping that she would do the right thing and she did. Adora saved Thaymor.” Glimmer gave a thoughtful look at Bow.
“I would now like to invite Bow to say his speech for Adora.” Glimmer turned and walked back to her chair to sit down.
“Hi everyone, Adora was one of my best friends. She was always a funny person when she got angry and she was always able to forgive the ones who hurt her. Whenever we had an argument Adora was always the first to forgive. When we rescued Glimmer from Horde Prime, I wasn’t easy to forgive Glimmer for how things ended with us before Horde Prime arrived but Adora easily forgave Glimmer, she even tried to help Glimmer feel better about how things ended…” Bow took a pause.
“When we had an accident at Dryl, and She-ra was infected by an old First One’s virus. After we had resolved that incident, Adora was really on edge. We visited Mystacor to try and calm her down and she ended up being right about something being wrong. Shadow Weaver had infiltrated Mystacor and nearly destroyed it but Adora stepped up and saved all of Mystacor. In the end Adora was an incredible friend and I wish our friendship didn’t end here.” Bow stood there for a few moments before realising he had an extra line to say.
“I would now like to have a moment of silence for all the people Adora saved…” a minute passes “… Catra would now like to say a few words about Adora.” Bow went back to his chair and sat down.
Catra stood up and walked to the podium. She stood there for a few minutes trying to blink back the tears that formed with the stories that her new friends have just shared.
“Thankyou everyone for coming, I’m not just saying that but you being here shows how much effort Adora put to keep you all safe from the Horde… and from me. Adora and I were best friends from the start, as soon as I arrived at the Horde, Adora took me in. She protected me from all the other cadets who would bully me because I was the only magicat in the Horde.”
“Even when we were fighting in the war I couldn’t pull myself to kill her and neither could she. We had such a big bond that when we would smile as we were fighting even bring up old memories whilst we were trying to battle each other.” Tears started to well up in Catra’s eyes and she had to take a pause to wipe them from her face. “When we slept in the Horde I would always go from the top bunk into the bottom bunk where Adora slept to sleep at her feet. I would sometimes have bruises in the morning from when Adora would wrestle in her sleep” Catra chuckles at the thought.
“When Adora told me the plan to use the Failsafe I didn’t want her to do it because she always had to do it, every time something life threatening came up she would do it. She would never let anyone risk their life if she could do it instead. When she took the failsafe into her system…” Catra took a deep breathe.
“She looked like she was in so much pain, she went through that pain so no one else would ever have to. When we were in the chamber of the Heart, she, she…” Catra had to wait a few minutes before she could continue.
“Adora went limp in my arms, in my final hope of admitting to her about how I felt. I screamed at her with everything I had not to give up, and that I loved her…” Catra scanned the crowd. “…And the best thing happened… she responded I love you. At that moment I didn’t know what to do, so I did what any confused lover would do. I kissed her, she kissed me back but then we started glowing. I didn’t know what was happening at first but then I realised that the Failsafe had activated and that Adora was still her normal self not She-ra. The last thing she said…” Catra was practically crying as she said these last words. “ I’m Sorry” Everyone in Bright Moon went silent. They never realised how much pain Adora went through when she was helping everyone.
Catra’s face was covered in tears and finished her speech with, “I’m going to hand this over to Glimmer.” She walked off the stage and went behind the curtain crying.
“…umm…well I am going to choose someone from the crowd to say a few words about Adora” Glimmer said thinking and replaying the final thing Catra said.
Glimmer was surprized when she only saw a few hands go up. Glimmer chose Kyle. Kyle walked up to the podium.
“Adora was the Force Captain of my squadron in the Horde before she left, I never realised how much pain she went through. I always thought that she was care free but after listening to those three speeches it tells me that Adora was one of the most caring people I know. I never knew about the pain she went through after she left the Horde or how much she gave up for others to be happy. When everything around us started to shine and the land grew all green I thought, it’s over, its really over but then Catra and Glimmer arrived and I realised nothing is ever truly finished.” Kyle struggled to find the words.
“Adora will forever hold a place in my heart and I think that quote stands for everyone on Etheria, we are all standing here because of the biggest loss this entire planet has faced. So please when you think of Adora don’t think of her as She-ra, think of her as a kind hearted person that would give everything up for everyone else to be happy.” As Kyle finished everyone started applauding.
Catra ran out from behind the curtain and gave Kyle the biggest hug she had ever given. “Thank You” she whispered into his ear.
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Adora was confused, to many things happened at once. She saw the blinding light of the Failsafe activating and then nothing, suddenly all around her lit up is a nice pinkish glow and she saw Mara. Adora started to piece everything that happened together and realised that she is now talking to the spirit of Mara as a Spirit herself.
“Mara, I don’t know what to say umm… what do I do here? I need to see Catra I can’t have left her like that, Mara! Please tell me there’s a way to go back.” Adora desperately tried to find a way.
“Well I really don’t know about it, I’m not sure if you can get back. I’m sure I can’t but your situation is different, you can become She-ra without the sword and your only here because you used the failsafe of the Heart. Otherwise you would just be dead. This is a place where Etherians who have died doing something to keep Etheria safe go… There is someone who you would probably want to talk to.” Mara turns and points Adora towards a small cloud where you could see a figure seated.
Adora walks towards the figure and after a few seconds her eyes adjusted, she say Angella. “Angella?! You’re here, well of course you here, you saved us with the portal.” Adora stared up at the immortal queen
“Yes I am here but it is a shame that you have joined us so quickly. The reason I stopped the portal was so you could live a life that was taken from you by the Horde. I’m glad you left on a somewhat free note by admitting your feeling to Catra but I hoped you would survive.” Angella speaks with her soothing voice.
“Is there a way for me to go back?” Adora asks whilst passing through her memories when Angella was still on Etheria.
“normally no but you have a different case. When you freed the magic of the Heart there was some left over majic that wasn’t needed in Etheria so that magic has stored itself into your spirit, if you are able to harness that magic and use it to create a portal you can return to your body. All the other She-ra’s would be able to do this if they had the original sword but you have harnessed your inner magic to summon you own sword which gives you the ability to create the portal.” Angella says it like she was reading out of a book.
You can tell she was ready for this in case Adora freed the magic of the Heart.
“I can go back… I get to go BACK! Can you help me learn how to harness the magic of the Heart that is stored in my spirit. Please I can’t leave them yet, I still have so much to say.” Adora asks Angella for her guidance for the journey.
Catra asked Glimmer if she could use Adora’s old room. Glimmer said yes because she thought it would help Catra get through the grief of her departed friend. Its been 2 months since the funeral and Glimmer has built an entire museum to commemorate Adora and all the brave things she had done for Etheria. It had both She-ra’s old broken sword and her new sword in glass cases protected with magic, they were to be guarded at all times.
Adora’s coffin had been placed in the spare room in Bright Moon with a white cloth covering it. The white cloth had She-ra’s crest on it in gold. Everyday Catra visits Adora’s coffin and places a fresh batch of flowers beside her. It was placed here and now the entire room has pictures of Adora surrounding the coffin.
Catra writes in a journal about how her day went, she doesn’t do it because people have told her it’s a good thing to do to occupy her day, she does it because she believes Adora would want to know what’s been happened whilst she was away. When Catra dies she hopes that she will travel to wherever Adora is.
Another few days have past but then the most peculiar thing happened. A guard who was stationed in the Museum reported that Adora’s sword went missing, Glimmer ordered everyone to look for it because it was the most valuable treasure Etheria had.
A few hours later Swift Wind arrived at Bright Moon and ran toward Glimmer as fast as he could.
“I can sense her! Adora’s back!” Swift Wind Shouts with happiness towards Glimmer. But Glimmer didn’t believe him because he did this when he was grieving Adora’s loss.
“Swift Wind, she’s not coming back… She’s dead we can’t change that.”
“But I can feel her she is very close please believe me I’m over grieving.” Swift Wind pleaded Glimmer but she wouldn’t budge from her judgment.
A few days have past, Adora knows she’s back in Etheria but she can’t move very well as she in confined in a coffin.
Adora summoned all the strength she had left in her arms and shoved the coffin lid off. There wasn’t a very loud noise because there was a whole platform around her. She looks around and finds that she’s dressed in a white robe with She-ra’s create on her chest with a gold lining.
Adora struggles to stand because her physical body hasn’t moved from the spot for so long, she had summoned her sword to her side as soon as she was back so she quickly uses it as something to lean against.
She looks around the room and notices all the photos that surrounding her are photos of herself. She never realised how she had so many of them taken of her.
“When were all of these taken, actually how did I not see them being taken.” Adora said to herself.
Catra was about to go to Adora’s coffin but Glimmer wants to talk to her first.
“look Adora’s sword has gone missing and I want you to come clean with me and tell me where it is, you are the obvious person to have it. So do you have Adora’s sword Catra?” Glimmer tries to keep a calm temper when talking to Catra because she doesn’t want Catra to get the wrong idea.
“Look I know I’ve done some stupid sh*t but I wouldn’t do that, Adora’s sword is for everyone to admire no matter what I wouldn’t steal her sword. Okay?” Catra responds, she’s a bit hurt that Glimmer accused her first but its understandable.
Glimmer walks off seeming to be satisfied with Catra’s answer. Catra starts walking towards Adora’s coffin room. As she enters the room she sees the coffin is open and Adora’s body is gone.
Catra runs out of the room screaming “Glimmer, where are you Glim…” Catra’s cut off as she turns a corner and finds Adora facing her standing up, “Hey Catra…” Adora collapses to the floor.

Chapter Text

Hi everyone, not sure if anyone is even reading this anymore but long time no see! I was looking around on my laptop and found the file with this fic, turns out I actually wrote an ok amount of this a while ago (like at least 2 years ago) so I've decided to edit parts of the fic, adding more detail and reposting it. I am hopefully going to continue writing it regularly but right now I'm in my exam period so we'll see how I go.

I'll be posting the new story tonight hopefully and it will be named 'Why Do You Always Go?'. The first chapter is mainly the same, just changes to some of the speeches and I'm going to make the chapter shorter. I'll post what I've rewritten already and will continue to do it as I go.

Hopefully this isn't to no one but I hope I can continue to write this for a long time. 

If any one has any requests or ideas for things to happen please please please comment them, its always better to just say them than leaving them unsaid.

Becky Boo