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“Alright, cadets, Lord Hordak wants us to start a new spy unit to infiltrate the princesses. This will include your regular training plus dancing lessons.” A tall scorpion woman with short black hair announces from the front of the room.
The cadets look at each other with confusion.
Kyle steps forward with his hand raised and hesitantly asks, “what is dancing?” Adora can see Shadow Weaver shake her head in annoyance at the front of the room.
The force captain sighs. “It’s better if we just show you. This is a video taken from the last ‘Princess Prom’ in Brightmoon.” The force captain says with a grimace as she pulls up the screen and starts playing a video.
Adora feels like she’s being pulled into the screen. The room is beautiful, with high ceilings and windows overlooking the ocean. The walls are pink with gold detailing that shines in the evening light. Adora looks over at Catra. Her eyes are wide and her mouth pulls up a bit at the end, admiring the ballroom.
Adora turns her attention back to the video where the camera was focusing on two people standing in front of the golden thrones: a man who was short with long dark hair who is holding hands with a slender woman with pink hair and wings.
The woman tilts her chin up and announces, “it is now time for the first dance of the ball.”
The force captain pauses the video, pulling Adora out of her trance. “That,” she points to the graceful woman with pink hair “Is the queen of Brightmoon, the Horde’s biggest rival.” Adora squints at the woman, re-examining her. How can this be the fearsome leader of the rebellion? Where are her claws and sharp teeth?
”Make sure you pay attention to this next part for your dancing lessons.” She unpauses the video and music fills the room.
Eight couples stand in a circle in the center of the room. Including the queen and her king, Adora presumes. They stand with their right arm held out, palm pressed to their partner’s, and their other arm folded behind their backs, both grinning from ear to ear.
Adora has never seen clothes like the ones they wear. Suits trimmed in gold and dresses made of sparkles move elegantly across the floor. The dancers circle each other and switch partners in time with the music. They look like the gears of a well-oiled machine. The music swells as the dancers switch back to their original partners and finish with a bow.
“You cadets will be learning the first dance and how to waltz to make sure you blend in well.” The force captain says, turning off the video. “Since there are only 5 of you, you will be partnered with my squadron for your lessons. You are dismissed.” The squadron turns to Shadow Weaver and she nods, disbanding the group.
---
“Can you believe those princesses? Having a ball in the middle of a war .” Catra laughs. “How stupid can they be?” Adora gives her a half-hearted laugh in response. Catra drops down next to her, dangling her legs off their spot on the roof.
Catra’s eyebrows furrow like she's going to punch someone. “What's wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong.”
“No, no, no, I know that face. Something’s wrong.” The girl in front of Adora scans her face with her piercing blue and gold eyes.
“I liked the video.” She mumbles, shamefully looking down at her legs.
Catra looks at her incredulously. “Really? I thought you hated princesses.”
Adora stands up. “I do, but,” she smiles imagining that faraway castle across the Whispering Woods, “it was like something from a dream.” She spins around imagining herself dancing in that glimmering ballroom. She turns again and Catra is standing with her arm out. Adora didn't even notice her get up. “Oh!”
“Come on, princess, don't leave me hanging,” Catra says, her face a light shade of pink, looking at Adora with hopeful eyes and a smirk on her lips.
Adora grins at the girl in front of her and takes her hand. They don’t remember all of the dance and stumble a lot, but what they lack in skill, they make up for in enthusiasm. It would grow to be one of Adora’s favorite memories from the Fright Zone.
---
“Listen up, cadets!” The force captain from the day before yells out interrupting the squadron's training exercises. Adora and her teammates run to their lines and stand at attention for the captain.
Another squadron walks through the door with another scorpion woman leading them. This one is shorter than the other and has white hair. The black-haired woman sees her walk in and her face lights up. They must be friends like she and Catra are.
The other squadron walks up and stands parallel to them. Adora looks at the girl in front of her, and by the look of her tail and pinchers, she must be related to the force captains. She looks older than Adora. She has short white hair and beams at the team across from her with a contagious smile. Adora can't help but smile back.
“Scorpia?” The girl across from her, Scorpia, turns her head to the captains.
The white-haired captain smiles at Scorpia. “Sunshine, can you please switch with James? We need every girl matched up with a boy.” Adora wrinkles her nose at that and glances over at Catra. She is glaring at the force captains with the same look she gave Adora before she told her about the video. Like she was going to claw one of them.
“Yes, mo- force captain.” She adds an unneeded salute at the end and moves. Replacing her is presumably the squadron's best guy.
James is tall and has pretty defined muscles for a teenager. His eyes are what stick out to Adora. They’re heterochromatic like Catra’s, but instead of her blue and gold that fill her whole eye, they are brown, green, and human. James scans her body with a smirk, slowing when he gets to her chest. Ugh, of course she gets paired with a creep.
“Alright, when dancing with a partner, the girl, or the shorter one, places her right hand on the guy, or the taller one’s, shoulder.” The white-haired force captain, Adora, and the other girls step forward. Adora hesitantly places her hand on James’ shoulder.
“The guy will then place his left hand on the girl's back where her shoulder bone is, keeping his elbow out. You might have to get closer to be comfortable.” The black-haired captain places her hand in the correct position looking at her friend in the eyes and smiling. Adora’s never seen two people look at each other like they do. She turns her head back to James who is now only a few inches from her face. He smirks at her and she rolls her eyes, leaning back to put as much distance between them.
“With your other hand, just hold your partner's hand.” The captains split up and walk around the room examining the cadet’s posture and adjusting where they need to.
Adora tries to muffle a laugh when she looks over at Catra, who is partnered up with Kyle, but she ultimately fails. While she looks ready for murder, Kyle is about to pee himself. Catra turns her head to Adora and her face softens. An almost smile graces her lips until she notices how James’ hands wander, then her expression turns to something colder.
The captains teach the squadrons the basic four steps to waltz and some of the switching partners dance. Almost immediately, Kyle has to trade partners. He gets paired up with Scorpia and that’s a better match until he somehow sprains his ankle. Catra gets paired up with Rogelio, which is probably a good match since he can't annoy her.
Over the past week of dancing lessons, a red-headed girl from the other squadron hurts her arm during training and a blond boy gets a concussion. Adora is stuck with James now, since they are down two boys.
One day, the team will get through both songs without any casualties, but today is not that day.
The captains introduce the cadets to the dip. “This is a move used at the end of a dance. It is pretty difficult, so I don't blame you if you just want to bow at the end of a dance.“
The cadets practice the move. When Adora is lowered, James uses one hand to hold her up and the other to grab her- Adora’s eyes go wide and she feels white-hot anger run through her veins. She’s tired of seeing James’ stupid smirk and him putting his hands in the wrong places.
Adora places both her feet firmly on the ground and tightens her grip on his shoulder. She uses James’ body as leverage to headbutt him as hard as she can.
When Adora comes to her senses, James is on the ground clutching his bleeding nose and the force captains are running over to them.
“You must have come up too fast.” The white-haired one explains to Adora.
“Y-yeah,” she agrees, still processing what has just happened.
“Scorp, Evan, can you please take James to the infirmary?” Scorpia perks up from where she was sitting. A dark-haired boy stops dancing with Lonnie and helps rush James out of the room.
“And then there were five.” The light-haired captain says. Adora looks around at who is left. Catra hasn’t killed Rogelio so that is a good sign; Lonnie is left without a partner and so is a blond boy from the other team.
“I think I'm gonna-” the blond boy gags when he sees the blood and sprints into the hallway.
“Four.” “This is a disaster.” The captains say at the same time.
Lonnie pipes up. “There’s still four of us and I can partner up with A-” She looks over at Catra who is glaring daggers at her. “A-Rogelio. I can partner with Rogelio.”
The captain nods at her and turns to Adora and Catra. “You don't mind dancing with each other, do you?”
---
She looks gorgeous in her dress but Catra would never admit that out loud. It is a needed change from her ratty red jacket and she would never complain about seeing Adora’s muscles on display. The plan is working perfectly, Adora was following her like a puppy and Scorpia was nowhere to be seen. Obviously, her new friends were unreliable.
“It is now time for the first dance of the ball.” The snow princess announces from her throne. A familiar melody begins to play from the band. Catra knows the tune but it's been updated since the last Princess Prom.
Catra is about to go back upstairs to keep from dancing when the crowd rushes down pulling a certain blonde onto the middle of the floor. Catra sneaks behind her like a predator stalking its prey and holds her arm out, mimicking what she had learned years before.
When she turns around her blue eyes widen in shock at Catra’s outstretched arm but soon screw up in determination when they lock eyes.
“Ugh.” Adora rolls her eyes and takes Catra’s hand, mirroring her stance.
“I don't know about you, but I am having a blast,” Catra says with a smirk as they circle each other in time with the music.
“Whatever it is you’re planning, it won’t work.” The girl across from her says. Her face like a mask, hiding any expression but anger. Catra wants to knock the mask off. She wants her Adora back, not this hero taking her place. But what she can do is feed into Adora’s paranoia.
“You sure?” She replies and spins to her next partner. She switches partners twice before falling back into Adora’s arms.
“Maybe my plan won’t work, but then again...” She pulls Adora’s arm off her shoulder and steps back. Catra is supposed to be the “girl” in this dance, but who is she to play by the rules?
She yanks Adora back towards her and pulls her into a dip. “Maybe it already has.”
Adora stares at her lips for a moment then locks eyes with her, shock apparent on her face. She pulls her back up and spins her out before saying, “Where's your friend, Bow?”
Realization hits and the mask of anger is back. Adora tackles Catra to the ground.
---
Since her other exit is destroyed Catra has no choice but to go to the roof to wait for Scorpia’s ship. It isn’t her fault Adora decided to follow her.
If it was anyone else, Adora’s attacks might have landed a hit, but Catra knows the Hordes' training and she knows Adora. Catra backs her up to the ledge and takes a swing at Adora’s face. Apparently, Adora knows her as well. She dodges the strike with ease.
Catra’s falling and the whole world seems to slow. Her body is suddenly aware of the freezing conditions and the ice on her feet. The snowy mountain tops around them glisten in the evening light. She looks down at the drop, a layer of fog blocks her view of the ground. A warm hand grabs around her waist and she turns to look Adora in the eyes.
Their moment is interrupted when a block of ice is put back in its original position and the whole castle shakes, knocking them off of the roof.
---
The ice palace is empty but, not in a bad way, oddly comforting. Airy music plays from somewhere. Adora stands in the center of the ballroom looking up at the details in the ice above her and the intricate carvings in the columns holding up the second floor. This palace is truly a work of art.
“Hey, Adora,” a voice drawls from behind her.
Adora feels her heart rate speed up. She turns around to see her best friend. She’s without her mask this time, with her dark hair tied back in a ponytail and wearing that scarlet suit Adora loves so much.
“Catra,” she says with a smile. A feeling of warmth spreads from her chest through the rest of her body. Catra steps closer and looks at Adora’s hair.
“You’re going to go bald if you keep wearing this dumb ponytail.” She reaches her hand up and pulls the tie out of her hair with one motion. Adora’s hair falls around her face. Strangely enough, she doesn't hear the metal of her hairpiece hit the floor. Before she can think too much about that she hears a familiar song begin to play.
Catra leads her through some of the dance but instead of switching partners she pulls Adora to her chest and wraps her arms around her waist. Adora reaches around Catra’s shoulders and they stay like that, just holding each other.
When the song comes to a close Catra dips her again, slower this time. Adora still gasps when she realizes how close their faces are and looks down at her lips. Catra tucks a stray strand of hair behind Adora’s ear and leans in. Her lips part to kiss Catra and then-
She wakes up alone, back in her bedroom in Brightmoon.
Adora’s embarrassed by it, but she dreams of that night. Tonight is one of the worst; Catra has never tried to kiss her before.
She tries to push it down but she misses her so much. Catra is- was her best friend. They grew up together, they shared secrets, they relied on each other, she knew Catra better than anyone else, and Adora just threw that all away.
She wishes she had someone to talk to about all of this but nobody would understand. It’s not that easy to say to the princess of the rebellion, “Hey, I’m in love with the enemy Force Captain who kidnapped you and regularly tries to kill us.”
Adora sighs and gets up from her bed, walking over to her dresser. On top of it is an old record player that Bow had found at his dad's house and restored. He gave it, and a few old records, to Adora because he knows she has trouble relaxing. Adora pulls out a random record and places the needle on top.
A familiar melody begins to play.
Of course this is the record she pulls out.
Adora feels a wave of exhaustion hit her with the memories the song brings up. She sits down on the floor, leaning against the dresser, and falls back to sleep, dreaming of the girl with blue and gold eyes across the Whispering Woods.
---
“Dance with me.”
“What?”
“Please, Catra” The blonde pleads, begging with her big blue eyes. Hand, held out for her to take.
Catra looks around the ballroom. It reminds her of the last ball she went to all those years ago. The same people but a different place. A place with a deep and dark history now masked by flowers and laughter. Catra can still hear the whirring and clanging of metal.
She turns her attention back to Adora. Her white dress looks pink under the ballroom lights. The gemstone in her tiara seems to glow a dark red. Catra can still see the child underneath her jewelry and dress, with the same hopeful eyes and golden blonde hair. She remembers chasing her through these same halls until they grew tired, and their muffled laughter late after everyone else had gone to sleep.
Catra can still remember the feeling of cold, emptiness, and fury that she felt when Adora left. The piping hot anger and jealousy that filled her when Shadow Weaver still wanted Adora back after she had defected.
She can remember her enemy’s firm posture. The smile that made even the worst of days feel like pure magic, gone, replaced by the face of determination. Her once bright, hopeful eyes turned cold like the metal of her sword. The claw marks tracing her body that they dare not talk about. A pleading voice begging her not to do it. The girl she almost destroyed the entire universe for, just to prove she wasn’t as perfect as everyone had thought.
But at the same time, the girl she loves. The grin on her face and the tears in her eyes when they were reunited. The looks they shared when Glimmer and Bow stared at each other a little too long. The pure look of hope on her face after she said those three words for the first time. Her scrunched-up face when she wakes up in the morning. The tilt of her head when she doesn’t understand something. Her shaking hands pressing her gold pin into Catra’s.
She looks back up at the girl who saved the universe, who had saved her,
and takes her hand.