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The people of the rebellion grew up in a time of war, so they knew how to be calm and collected when it came to battle and those who were leaders knew how they needed to lead.
Adora out of everyone should be able to remain focused during a fight, especially when she goes out as She-Ra. She knew this and she kept telling herself how important it was, and yet she still fidgeted during the meeting in the war room. Glimmer gathered a few of the princesses along with Adora and Bow to plan a rescue mission for the town of Glisston.
Nothing about the mission is unusual, they've freed towns like this time and time again without fail. Even though everything felt normal, Adora couldn't shake off this paranoia, this feeling of impending doom. She could only compare the feeling to how she felt when Shadow Weaver followed her to Mystacor. This time it didn't make sense to her, she couldn't pin down why she had these feelings.
Adora is snapped back to attention when a hand rests on her shoulder. She looks up to see Bow looking down at her, a comforting smile greeting her back to reality.
"Are you okay, Adora?" Adora nods, taking in a deep breathe and shaking her head slightly. Maybe she can shake away the bad feelings.
"Something feels off about this, but I don't know why and it's making me more nervous." Adora admits as she begins fidgeting with her hands again.
"It's going to be okay. I think you're just used to expecting the worse, but this mission isn't any different from the others." Bow removes his hand from her shoulder. "After this is over we can have a Best Friend Squad slumber party to celebrate!"
"Yeah. Thanks, Bow." Adora smiles in thanks as Bow exits, Adora soon following after him and the other princesses.
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The feeling returns after the princesses arrive at the outskirts of Glisston. Adora was already transformed into She-Ra, the extra strength and armor easing her worries during their journey, but now the uneasy dread filled her bones again, stronger than before.
She's supposed to help lead the fight alongside Glimmer, like usual, but she shivers at the realization that her hands are shaking. Glimmer looks at her and then to Bow, she knows what they're thinking, but she doesn't have answers to their unspoken questions.
"Are you all ready?" Glimmer asks, her gaze staying on Adora, waiting for her answer.
Adora nods. "Yes, let's free these people." She smiles at Glimmer who nods, her fingers lighting up slightly with magic.
"Let's do this." Glimmer runs forward, teleporting ahead as everyone splits up in teams and heads into the town.
Adora reaches the town with Bow by her side, the sword tearing through Horde soldiers as Bow helps civilians evacuate. Her confidence is still hindered by whatever feeling is plauging her, but her need to help people is put first on her emotional priority list, making it so she can still function as usual.
The rescue is going as it normally does, the Horde attacking and failing to kill or remove the princesses while Adora destroys Horde machines and sends soldiers fleeing. Even as the mission begins to reach its end, Adora feels a weight on her chest. It's almost hard to breathe with it.
Glimmer teleports next to Adora, her fists glowing with her power as she looks up at Adora.
"We got everyone out, time to end this." Adora nods as they both charge to what remains of the Horde tanks and stray soldiers. Glimmer picks off the soldiers using her teleportation, leaving the machines to She-Ra and her power.
The sword swings effortlessly in her hand as she tears away metal from metal as if it were paper. Moments like this it almost feels like She-Ra takes over the fight instead of her, but today she has to remain focused in order to not collapse under the dark feeling.
She throws tanks aside, moving further into the battle to make sure no one would be willing to chase after them. All of this is normal, this is all going as planned, so why does it still feel so wrong? Why is it getting worse?
Adora breaks through the tree line and there she sees it. She doesn't have time to count how many more tanks were hidden behind the trees before she's blocking shots with her sword and dodging.
The tanks look different from one you would usually see the Horde using. Adora knows this means they probably have some sort of upgrade to them, but she has no idea how she'll figure out what's different while fighting them.
Adora knows she doesn't have the energy to keep up constantly dodging or blocking, she needs to figure out a place to take cover, but besides the trees they're in an open plain. Tanks could tear every tree apart before she even came up with an attack plan.
The feeling suddenly begins to drown her and it's enough to cause one mistep. Adora yelps as a shot from one of the tanks grazes her arm, her hand instinctively putting pressure on the wound.
"Adora!" She hears Bow shout as he shoots one of his fog arrows, the smoke immediately hiding her from the tanks so she's able to run back into the trees towards Glisston.
This wasn't what usually happens, they usually don't have to retreat and the fact they did now makes Adora feeling incredibly guilty, but also exhausted.
"Adora! I'm so sorry, one of the guards caught me by surprise and I couldn't get to you and now you're injured!" Glimmer cautiously reaches her hands towards Adora's wounded arm, her fingers hovering over Adora's clasped hand as Glimmer frowns.
"It's okay, Glimmer, I should've been more on guard. I've been having this bad feeling all day, it threw me off." Bow pulls out a bandage and has Adora stop walking for a moment as he looks at Adora's hand.
"This will help for now, but when we get back to Bright Moon we'll need to look at it further." Bow explains. Adora hesitates before she removes her hand, hissing as it jostles the wound slightly. Bow doesn't change his expression as he quickly wraps her arm, a smile returning to his face when he finishes.
"I'm exhausted, I can't wait for a nice bath and some sleep." Adora admits, a soft smile on her face.
"You fought hard, you deserve some rest." Glimmer says as she looks up at Adora.
"We can have that slumber party I suggested before we left!" Bow exclaims, his eyes wide with sudden excitement.
"Sure, as long as we don't get too crazy, I would actually like to sleep tonight." Glimmer laughs as Adora sighs.
"I'm actually feeling really tired now." Adora whispers as she feels herself lose balance, Glimmer and Bow immediately latching onto her arms and holding her up even in her She-Ra form.
"Adora, are you okay?" Glimmer asks, borderline panic evident in her voice.
"Yeah, I just think…" Adora laughs slightly as the world feels like it's drifting away, the feeling from before now swallowing her completely and turning into panic. "I think we might need to wait for that slumber party."
Adora transforms back to normal, the transformation bringing immediate pain that causes her to fall to the ground, writhing in agony.
She can feel the hurried footsteps of the other princesses approach her, but she can't hold still long enough to see them. There's yelling around her, but she can only make out words that don't quite make sense.
"Adora!"
"Please… not… okay... can't…"
"Why...how...help...late"
Adora clings to her arm as she feels herself being lifted from the ground, the electric feeling of magic surrounding her before she's placed on her bed.
She's drowning, the feeling, the fear of dying forcing it's way to her hyperventilating lungs. The burn of the wound in her arm digs deeper into her body, causing her to shiver and shake as she loses focus on all of reality.
She sees Glimmer hold the sword up, a pleading look in her eyes as she screams.
"Turn back… She-Ra!" She can't, she can't move, she can't breathe.
She can't see.
The darkness of the feeling covers her like a blanket as she lays in complete darkness.
"Hey, Adora." Adora gasps as she looks around for the familiar voice echoing around her.
"So it finally happened, huh? You let yourself die for people you don't even know. You just have to be so flashy all the time." Catra is sitting on some non-existent ledge above her, her tail flicking as she speaks.
"It's what you wanted, isn't it? Wasn't this all a part of your plan?" Adora answers as she stands. Catra glares at her as she hops off the ledge, her body inches away from her own.
"Of course this isn't what I wanted, Adora!" Catra yells, the snarl on her lips melts as her eyes water. "I loved you, I still do."
Adora reaches out her hand, Catra jerking away for a moment before accepting the touch. Her hand cups Catra's cheek as she looks at her up close.
"There's a letter in my room in Bright Moon. I've wanted you to have it for so long now, but you've never let me have the chance." Catra chuckles as Adora brings her other hand to Catra's right cheek. Her face moves in closer, their noses almost touching.
"You really thought I wanted to leave? That I hated you? Catra, you're everything to me." Adora confesses as Catra leans her forehead on Adora's. "I love you too."
Adora moves closer, her lips brushing against Catra's before Catra moves away.
"Now it's too late, Adora. Our time is gone. You felt that before you even went into that fight." Adora nods as she looks down.
"Is there a way I can stay?" She asks, but she knows.
"Not this time, Adora. This isn't something you can fix this time. It's just something that shouldn't have happened." Adora nods again, the sting of tears in her eyes as she stares into Catra's eyes.
"I know this isn't real, but I need an answer." Adora says, her hands gripping Catra's shoulders.
"Will they be okay? Can you help them be okay? Please, Catra." Catra looks taken aback by the intensity of the question.
"You know I can't answer this, this is all in your head." Adora breathes in deeply as she lets herself fall to her knees, Catra following her to the ground. The inky darkness starts filling up the space, like water rising up to eventually drown her.
"Just promise me, promise that it'll be okay. I did so much, Catra, does none of it matter?" Catra looks conflicted as she stares into Adora's eyes. The darkness rises, the cold consuming her.
Catra wraps her arms around Adora, pulling her to her chest as she embraces her. "It'll be okay, Adora. You did good, you did everything you needed to. It's going to be okay."
Adora smiles as she cries into Catra's shoulder, the darkness reaching her chest.
"Please find the letter, I need the real you to know how much it all meant to me. I need you to know how much I really do love you." Catra lightly runs her claws through Adora's hair as the darkness climbs higher and higher.
"It's okay, Adora."