Work Text:
The best friend squad made their way to the meadow not far from where they had collapsed, with relief and joy, victorious in their win over Prime a few weeks earlier. They wanted to relax. Needed it. With their new adventure to bring magic back to the universe taking shape in greater detail each passing day, they needed a little time to unwind and continue growing closer as friends. Though initially hanging out together, they eventually paired off ; Catra and Adora started a makeshift picnic with some fruits and cakes They had ‘stolen’ from the Brightmoon Royal Kitchens,While Bow And Glimmer sat under a tree some distance away as he played his lute (quite impressively now) for his queen.
The young queen's Eyes were closed at first listening to the Sweet sounds her boyfriend was making with the instrument. when she opened them she spotted their friends some distance away. They seemed to glow in the mid day sun. She smiled and waved. They waved back then went back to focusing completely on each other as they most often did, though in the most healthy of ways. Glimmer watched them thoughtfully, Staring at Adora and Catra in a moment of knowing silence , then almost imperceptibly her gaze slowly focused on Catra.
"What is it?" Bow asked ,gently touching his once childhood best friend now girlfriend's hand. "this is the fourth time in as many weeks that I’ve seen you look at Catra that way . And I noticed that you’ve taken to getting her advice on matters like the creation of the new restoration policy and some of the military restructuring With the Horde deserters.You're even having her accompany you to meetings with King Micah." Then he too looked toward their friends. "I often wondered how close you two must’ve become during your ordeal on Prime's ship, but you never talk to me about that. I didn’t want to pry because I know it had to be sensitive .You know, watching Catra's reactions whenever anything about Prime is mentioned ,and I noticed you tend to shut down too."
It was a delicate, subject, and a painful one, but Bow deserved to know the what happened. Glimmer looked at Adora and Catra again, took a breath,then began to speak.
“We actually talked a lot Bow. We talked SO much before I even realized that she had been ordered not to interact with me, pretty much from the very beginning." She looked at Bow with the soft realization that he had tensed up and had become concerned himself and looked over at their ‘so cute’ magicat friend while holding Glimmmer's hand just a little bit tighter at that moment.
"And yet she kept coming back. She kept talking to me… Looking back now ,and even then... I KNOW those talks were largely responsible for keeping me sane all those weeks trapped on his ship." The queen of bright moon hung her head “trapped with my crushing guilt and regret about activating the heart,and how I had spoken to you and Adora,when you were only trying to help...to look out for me...to be there ...for me." The Queen's eyes suddenly opened wide as she quickly replayed those horrible days in a flash of newfound discovery. Glimmer just realized in that moment of painful honesty with Bow, that she had forgotten about how very sensitive Catra's hearing is, and how maddeningly quiet ,if massive ,Prime's ship was, and that many of Catra's visits...visits in DIRECT defiance of Primes orders ,coincided with most,if not ALL of Glimmers hushed fits of tears, self blame and quiet sobbing. Undignified Anguish ,unbecoming a queen ... anguish that she thought NO ONE could hear while she was held prisoner. But She was wrong. All those times, in her lowest most pain filled moments ...Catra heard. And all those times, without taunts or arrogance, And with the very real possibility of a terrible punishment… Catra came. She was there for her. And to top it off, Catra acted like it was just her boredom that brought her to the queens cell. She never once mentioned Glimmer’s tears, or the sobs ,or their obvious possible cause, Allowing the queen to keep her dignity ,even though now recalling it with shame,she once even called Catra out for being lonely herself. The realization of this fact, of Catra's visits and why she made them made Glimmmer's heart twist deeply into a bittersweet knot, and in that moment,she yet again grew even closer to her former enemy turned friend. No. Former enemy turned BEST friend.
"Remember when we took that little getaway to Mystacor together and she freaked out when she got in the water? "
"Yeah,Because of Primes torture." Bow added hesitantly.Glimmer knodded several small nods in rapid succession against budding tears"Even Though when she CHOSE to do that “one good thing in her life“ that I begged and pleaded with her to do… She KNEW what would happen if she saved me ,and she did it anyway .A pause ."And Bow, I could tell by her actions once she got me into that transporter ,she had never once thought about saving herself along with me.When we talked I know she sounded brave, nonchalant, and even smug on some subjects when we quizzed each other about how much we knew about Adora and her habits, all of those hours we spent talking about things on the ship." She sniffed back a sob. "I was so self absorbed with my own guilt, it didn’t hit me how much pain CATRA must have been in...until that call when she was letting Adora know that she was sending me to you guys in space, as she cried out she was sorry -“ tears welled in her eyes immediately” Oh Bow , it was heart breaking-that's when I knew she TRULY loved Adora. More than that -she was IN love with Adora and she always had been in love with her. And that maybe, Adora was with in love with her too, especially after you told me how she reacted to the call. "She frowned looking into the distance in the direction of where the fright zone once was in its full evil glory,though now overgrown with beautiful magical greenery ,it’s original subjects the scorpions beginning to return along with refugees princess scorpia was helping as she rebuilt her kingdom."Somehow circumstances conspired against them in the horde in a way that those feelings could never surface in a healthy way ...not the way they were raised ,not the environment they were in and certainly not with Shadow Weaver looming over them and continually abusing Adora and Catra… She stopped for a moment to gather herself, clutching Bow’s hand gently, her own hands trembling ever so slightly. "Bow ,the stories she told me of what that woman did to HER to punish ADORA and sometimes just to prove that she could do it... I can see through her fur some of the scars and marks that are still on her in the exact places she said they were...and it's just horrible ." her voice broke into a hushed sob on that last word."some of them are really small circular burns from magic , she has spell induced broken bones , even lightning -like scars from full on dark magic ."
“No wonder Catra STILL isn't completely comfortable Around magic”.Bow interjected softly.Glimmer frowned deeply, a rare swell of what could only be called hate briefly rising in her chest, Only to be replaced by a chasm of heartache that Bow could actually feel as his Queen put her forehead to his chest and as his own sadness at their joint realization of the truth, Catra's Truth ,struck them like a landslide: How awful it was,that their dear friend had been made near deathly afraid of the one thing that most of Etheria, her home ,nearly all of her friends ...and especially ,the young woman she loved more than life itself are pretty much made of."All to make them fearful of becoming too close ,to keep them at odds with one another ,to keep Adora feeling she was only worth what she could give to others and to keep Catra Feeling that she was worth nothing at all! " through that soft ,sobbed yet forceful statement The hate came back ,but only for a moment.Fresh tears welled in her AND Bows eyes at that last sentence ." And to keep them too afraid to go in any other direction than the direction Shadow Weaver wanted!" She hissed the last three words tightly through her teeth ,remembering how sensitive Catra's hearing can be and not wanting to ruin their friends' peaceful loving vibe, if Catra were to hear them. Glimmers eyes grew glassy with tears as she watched her other two best friends playfully feed each other fruit and look deeply into each others eyes in a way that she knew : silent conversations where your feelings must’ve hurt once ,only to later become something more than deep friendship. She and Bow looked at each other that way too,and often."On that ship We had become close somehow and she had truly come to know just how much we think of Adora ,how much we love her, and in that moment As she was saving me that I asked her "what about you?" and she said all she did was hurt people and there was no one in the entire universe that cared about her... it hit me she felt she had done so much wrong ,and so much wrong to Adora ,that she'd hurt the ONE person she loved the most in the world so much ...that she genuinely believed sacrificing her life to save me was the only way to atone for it .She never in a million years thought Adora would forgive her, Let alone risk everything with OUR help to come back for her. "She ..."her eyes met Bow's with a quiver of genuine pained empathy,"REALLY didn’t think she mattered ."More tears on that last statement from them both."She had no scheme,no back up plan, certainly nothing left to gain.Adora really IS everything to her ,and She acted in those moments she was certain would be her last...totally and completely out of love. I realized that she had developed some form of strange caring or respect for us and that even though I could see the anguish and the pain in the final seconds before I teleported away when she apologized to Adora which broke my heart even at that moment but especially after I found out from Adora in another conversation that Catra Hated saying sorry and pretty much never apologized for anything."-Glimmer drfted away while her mind continued. To replay events lf:(even though Glimmer knew Adora heard Catra's voice breaking at the end of the transmission, she had never had the heart to tell her that Catra was crying as she blurted out her apology while simultaneously fighting off the clones,gods...so MANY clones ...untiil the last thing she saw was them overwhelming Catra as she kept them from the controls until Glimmer was beaming safely away. THEN. "Oh ...No."She remembered in a startling moment of clarity something that yet again folded her heart into itself with pained understanding...she clearly no,vividly recalled that the smallest ,satisfied smile of relief crossed Catra's tear-stained lips watching Glimmer fade away from their reach ,from the danger . The danger Catra would now face alone.Again. Yet again,alone . Even so,she was happy to have saved Adora no matter what came next. Another fresh set of tears Rose and spilled over. Just the memory returning to her hurt. She didn't think Adora could take it ,hearing those heart wrenching details of those moments ,even now. So she planned to withhold them always,unless Adora ever asked her directly).When she realized she had drifted off in thought, she blinked back tears as Bow took both her hands in his ,realizing that she had gone somewhere terrible in her mind even if just for a moment.
."Im sorry "She looked down fighting tears unsuccessfully, but Bow took one hand and delicately put his first finger and thumb on her chin and raised her gaze to meet his ever so gently.
"It’s OK ,whenever you're ready ,I’m right here. " No truer words have ever been spoken. Bow would always be "right there" and she knew it .Even back in her worst moments, filled with hubris and anger, he was still always there. For her, much like Adora is for Catra ,Bow is her everything. She finally continued after a few seconds of soft composure."In that moment I realized she was trusting that WE would take care of Adora And she wouldn’t be alone. Like Catra had been so alone all of those years, while Adora...had US. I know Scorpia and Entrapta TRIED to be close to her and there were the other three members of their squad that they grew up with them that defected, but everything was just so bad in the Horde in general for Catra by then ,well since always after Adora left her..."a pause ..."joined us. After that , I really think she couldn’t process anyone genuinely trying to care or be there for her.THEN…” The Queen's next words fired off like a repeating blaster" I think back to how I panicked at the princess prom when you went with Perfuma and how I went through all these awful things in my head about you liking her and other people better than me and maybe not being my friend anymore, and me being all alone again and then I think about how that basically ACTUALLY HAPPENED between Adora and Catra ,at least that’s definitely how it would look from Catra's perspective or maybe even to someone else on the outside looking in ,and it’s just so messed up!"Most of that exchange was said quite quickly,in Glimmers trademark expository barrage , When she needed to say something but the truth of it made her uncomfortable ,so she said it very quickly."Because of Shadow Weaver and the way they were raised, they couldn’t truly express themselves to one another ,Gods, I don’t even think they would’ve known what they were feeling to try and express it ,but without her influence I think at least Catra would have left with Adora that day in Thaymor and all that suffering between the two of them would’ve never happened.
Bow's eyes were filled with tears by now. He knew there was a lot that had not been said,but the depth of the pain and hurt and also what Catra had done for Glimmer,his love ,the young woman that was his very heart personified,and what Catra had BEEN doing for Glimmer when they were trapped on that ship well before she sacrificed herself in that transporter room ...it floored him. What kept him level was watching the compassion spilling from every fiber of Glimmers being. He actually fell more in love with his Queen as he listened to her genuinely hurt for those she loves.How did he get so lucky? He took a breath before he spoke" Wow, so much of that is terrible and yet,so much of it is beautiful because we KNOW how much she loves Adora ,we KNOW that she would literally jump through fire for Adora. Remember, that one time? "They smile at each other lightly amused, a brief moment of levity in the heaviness of the conversation "But who knows? maybe all those things HAD to happen -from Adora destroying the sword, and what happened to Catra on Primes ship -"
"You mean when she died?" Glimmer interrupted in a near whisper, as she looked away in the other couple's direction and then looked down.
"Yeah", Bow winced and tears came to them again,a clear picture of Catra's broken, lifeless body on the floor of Darla. Glimmer tenderly cradling her head in her lap before She Ra brought her back.She was just so ...still
"Yeah ...Bow trembled in fright remembrance of that horrible few moments." However, Adora might Never have summoned the strength to bring She Ra back otherwise,and remember, it was Catra finally telling her that she loved her, that she had always loved her that gave her the strength to survive the heart and save us all.. I know It sounds selfish to say,even bordering on..being a..bad friend, "his eyes grew wet and his lips quivered ( which basically tells you all you need to know about the young man, if that one thing,out of everything else in the world is one of his greatest fears) "but maybe all of that HAD to happen to get them out of the terrible situation that they were in ,to where they are now.From the horrible way they grew up , to where they are now so that they could truly express and show their love for each other"Those tears still flowed from them both yet smiles appeared gently on their faces as well. "And just think ...the love of our two best friends saved the universe" They both paused for a moment watching the two girls now playfully wrestling and giggling -Catra's hoarse ,slightly higher pitched cackle and Adora's signature goofy snort ringing out in the one patch of rainbow tinted sunshine within the tree shaded meadow ,filling both Bow and Glimmmer's hearts to overflowing with warmth and love. “Yeah“ Glimmer smiled looking at the couple "How many people can say their best friends saved universe? "Bow said as he wrapped both of his arms around Glimmer and kissed her on the forehead as he often did and they switched positions so that he could lean back against the tree and she could lean against him nestled in his arms. “only us“ she said as she looked up nuzzling her forehead under his chin as he continued now returning to his usual upbeat tone.
"One of the best perks of being the other two members of the best friends squad ."she smiled again reaching up to stroke Bow's face while they both looked at their two friends ,so in love, so happy,and BOTH so deserving of that happiness and love. A smile beamed across her face so wide ,it threatened to hurt." Yeah it Is ,isn't it?"