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i. the first day of christmas
The moment Adora hears the keys scrape in the apartment’s lock, she jumps up, ready to enact her plan. It’s a plan she’s had in motion for quite some time, one she’d been perfecting for almost two weeks. Since mid-to-late November, at least.
Today is December 13th. As of right now, there’s officially twelve days until Christmas. And yes, Adora knows that you’re technically supposed to celebrate the twelve days of Christmas after the 25th, but that’s a stupid rule and she’s ignoring it, given that the run-up to Christmas is where all of the exciting things happen.
The apartment door opens, and when the person walks through, Adora doesn’t stop herself. She rushes forwards, wrapping her arms around Catra’s waist, and pulls her in for a kiss.
Catra lets out a muffled mmph in surprise, but soon melts into Adora’s kiss, letting go of the handle of her suitcase in favour of cupping Adora’s jaw and bringing her closer. Adora is very aware of the heavy guitar case in Catra’s other hand, and reluctantly pulls out of the kiss and takes it for her – always the embodiment of chivalry.
Catra flashes that mischievous smile of hers, the one Adora loves so much. “Well, that was a nice greeting. Any reason for it? I know I’ve been on tour, but still. You never normally jump me at the door when I come back.”
“Look up,” Adora says, and Catra raises her eyebrows, glancing up at the mistletoe Adora had taped to the door frame, “mistletoe, see? It’s Christmas, after all.”
“Okay, first, that’s holly,” Catra says, and Adora blinks, frowning at it in confusion, “second, do I have to remind you yet again that Christmas is exclusively on the 25th. Maybe the 24th too, if I’m being generous.”
Adora pulls the holly from the door frame before Glimmer can come home and make fun of her for it. She pockets it and shrugs as Catra greets Melog. She remembers the conversation she and Catra had on FaceTime, the one that had led to Adora formulating her plan in the first place.
“I can’t wait for next week,” Adora had said on their daily FaceTime call, “it’s Christmas!”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with your calendar, but Christmas isn’t for basically another month,” Catra had rolled her eyes, smiling fondly, “besides, Sparkles will kill you if you forget her birthday. Isn’t that December 1st?”
“Okay, aside from Glimmer’s birthday, December is basically just Christmas,” Adora had justified, “I mean, it’s Hannukah too, but I don’t celebrate that, and when I was younger, my mom and I basically made the entirety of December the month of Christmas. The run-up to Christmas Day is better than Christmas Day itself. Don’t you agree?”
“I don’t really care about any of it, to be honest,” Catra had shrugged, and Adora couldn’t hold back her horrified gasp. Catra had laughed at that, “why are you looking at me like I just killed someone?”
“What?” Adora had shrieked, and Catra winced on her phone screen, “what do you mean you don’t get excited for Christmas? It’s Christmas!”
“I’ve never really celebrated it, besides last year when we hung out at Razz’s after your school went on break,” Catra shrugged again, “I mean, maybe I did stuff with my birth mom when I was younger, but I don’t remember that. Weaver never did anything with me, that’s for sure.”
“Oh,” Adora had realised, and suddenly she felt a whole lot of sympathy for Catra, “so… so you never went to see Santa, or watched all the classic Christmas movies, or had a huge dinner on Christmas Day?”
“Not really,” Catra said casually, “they did a Christmas dinner at the orphanage, but I was only there for like, three years, and I never went downstairs for it because I was scared of the other kids.”
“I’m so sorry,” Adora said seriously, “we’re going to fix that.”
Despite Catra assuring her that it didn’t matter and then swiftly changing the subject, the moment they finished their call, Adora had started planning. Based on when Catra would get home from her tour, Adora would have twelve days up to the 25th to give Catra a magical Christmas.
It won’t be the first Christmas they’ve spent together. Last year was different, though – Adora was still in college and didn’t get home until December 18th, and she still had all of her last-minute rush of shopping to do. And she and Catra weren’t even a couple back then; Catra was still recovering from everything that happened with her record label and working on herself, so they’d only really celebrated the big day, which meant swapping presents, eating dinner and watching a couple of Christmas specials with Razz.
This year, Adora is going to do everything she can to give Catra her first real Christmas experience. It’s the first time she’s ever been truly organised about anything – she has a checklist of every single Christmas experience she can think of that Catra might’ve missed out on, and she’ll make sure she checks everything off. She’s going to make it perfect, like something out of a cheesy Christmas rom-com.
The mistletoe – or holly, apparently – was the first on the list, which Adora makes sure to strikethrough in her phone notes as Catra drags her suitcase towards their bedroom door. She’s careful with Catra’s guitar case as she follows them through to the room, but her girlfriend is still quick to swipe it off her and unclasp the lid, taking her guitar out and hanging it in its rightful place on the wall.
Then, instead of unpacking her heavy suitcase, Catra flops down onto their bed and pats the right side – Adora’s side – with a soft smile on her face. “C’mere,” she says, reaching out with a hand, “I’ve gone two months without cuddling you. I can’t take two more minutes.”
Melog takes that as an invitation for him. He jumps up on the bed, hops right onto Catra’s stomach and curls up. Catra smiles, petting the little cat gently and nudging him over to her left.
“What about your suitcase?” Adora teases her, “don’t you want to unpack it?”
“Later,” Catra dismisses her, “just come here. I’m tired and jetlagged and I need my girlfriend.”
Adora doesn’t need to be asked twice. She smiles, lying down next to her girlfriend on their bed, on top of the sheets. She pats the duvet cover and asks, “do you like the new sheets I bought?”
“They’re a little obnoxious,” Catra laughs, tracing a calloused finger over the outline of one of the reindeer decorating the sheets. “But I guess I can tolerate them until January.”
“That’s good enough for me,” Adora says, reaching out and brushing Catra’s hair back from her face. She reaches behind her, pulling her girlfriend’s hair out of the ponytail it’s in, letting her fingers run through the soft brown locks. “I missed you, baby. Merry Christmas.”
“I missed you too,” Catra says, leaning in to press a gentle kiss to Adora’s lips, “so much.”
“Hey, don’t you want me to have a merry Christmas too?”
“For the last time, idiot, it’s not Christmas yet.”
ii. the second day of christmas
“Oh, good, you’re in here.”
Catra raises her eyebrows over the bowl of cereal she’s halfway through eating. “Where else would I be?”
Adora shrugs, ducking down to search the cabinet for the second thing on her list. “I don’t know, the bathroom or something.”
“Please, we’d know if she was in the bathroom,” Glimmer snorts with laughter as she passes by to start brewing a pot of coffee, “she’d be a) singing at the top of her lungs and b) using all of the hot water.”
“At least I can sing,” Catra sticks her tongue out childishly, “unlike the banshee squealing I hear from you.”
Glimmer rolls her eyes, but there’s a smile on her face as she replies, “are you sure you aren’t listening to yourself?”
“I don’t know,” Catra shrugs, “maybe I’ll ask the Recording Academy. You know, where I got my… oh, yeah, three Grammys?”
“Yeah, we get it,” Glimmer says dryly, “you’re famous.”
“Got it!” Adora announces as she finally finds the box she’d stashed. Glimmer looks over her shoulder with mild interest as she pours her coffee, and Catra barely even blinks, just shovels another mouthful of fruit loops into her mouth.
“Ooh, a gingerbread house,” Bow remarks happily as he passes by Adora to pour himself a cup of coffee too, “can I help build it?”
He’s the reason she’d hidden it; Bow loves his sweet treats and no doubt would’ve built and eaten the entire thing in a day.
“Actually,” Adora says, “I kind of wanted it to be a couple thing,” she glances over at Catra and meets her gaze with a soft smile, “but you guys could build your own and we can vote on who wins.”
“There’s four of us, doofus,” Catra says, pausing for another spoonful of cereal, “we’d all vote for ourselves so it’d be an inevitable tie.”
“Everybody wins,” Adora shrugs, “that’s basically the spirit of Christmas.”
Catra snorts. “It’s not Christmas.”
No matter how many times she says it, Adora won’t let it discourage her. Glimmer opens her mouth to say something – probably to expose Adora’s entire master plan – but closes it when Adora shakes her head quickly.
“Will you make the gingerbread house with me?” Adora asks, pouting at Catra when she looks up from her bowl of cereal again. “Come on, it’ll be fun.”
“You know I will, dummy,” Catra smiles that soft smile, the one she only ever directs at Adora. Adora’s stomach flutters, and she tears open the gingerbread house box, putting it down onto the kitchen counter as Catra finishes off the milk from her cereal.
“Well, you two have fun,” Glimmer says, “I’ve got to get to work. Unlike some people, I’ve still got another week to do.”
“I’ll drive you,” Bow says, and as he passes Adora to leave the kitchen he whispers, “save me some gingerbread!”
“You’re not going to make me put jeans on for this, are you?” Catra asks as she cleans her cereal bowl. She’s still in her pyjamas, a pair of old running shorts and one of Adora’s t-shirts she’d stolen, and Adora still doesn’t know how she manages to make pyjamas hot. Must be a popstar thing.
“You can stay as comfy as you like,” Adora assures her, pulling her closer by the waist, over to the decorating station she’s set up, “all we’re doing is assembling the house and making it look pretty. Just like you.”
“Oh, shut up,” Catra rolls her eyes, but there’s a blush on her freckled cheeks, “stop flirting with me, dummy.”
Adora smiles as she reaches over to grab one of the gingerbread walls and an icing tube. She kisses Catra’s cheek and promises, “never,” before placing the gingerbread in front of Catra. “Okay, decorate it however you like. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Actually, it’s more fun when it isn’t.”
Catra grabs the red icing and shrugs. “Don’t expect a masterpiece, then. I might be slightly musically inclined but art is a whole other thing.”
“I’d say you’re a little more than slightly musically inclined,” Adora rolls her eyes, “little miss platinum-selling recording artist.”
Catra laughs, a pink, embarrassed blush on her cheeks. “Stop. It’s fun to wave my Grammys in Sparkles’ face, but any other time, I like to forget about all of that when I’m at home.”
“I know,” Adora says, icing a shaky window on one of the gingerbread pieces, “honestly, I forget most of the time. Then I see you on stage performing like a badass and I’m like, oh, yeah, my girlfriend’s a popstar.”
Catra cringes. “Please don’t ever call me the p word again.”
Adora laughs, leaning over to kiss her cheek. “You are, though. I know you don’t make pop music anymore, and I know you always wanted to make rock music, and I’m so happy for you now that you finally can. But I think you’ll always be a main pop girl to a lot of people.”
“God, please stop talking,” Catra groans dramatically, “main pop girl. Whoever came up with that deserves jail.”
Adora chuckles. “You’re such a drama queen sometimes. Don’t worry, I think it’s cute. Anyway, you forgot to go on a private session on Spotify, and I saw you were listening to Wildcat, so I’m starting to think you don’t hate those songs as much as you used to.”
Catra’s eyes widen, but she scoffs and murmurs, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Good thing I took a screenshot,” Adora announces, dropping her little icing tube to pick up her phone and go to her camera roll. She finds it, holding the evidence up in front of Catra’s face. “Look at what it says there. Catra listening to Wildcat by Catra.”
“That wasn’t me,” Catra says, refusing to look at Adora’s phone, “that was a ghost. You’re obsessed with Christmas, we’ll say it was the ghost of Christmas past.”
Adora laughs, pocketing her phone and picking up the icing tube again. “Honestly, it’s a good thing that you don’t hate it anymore. Means you’re moving on and healing. And that’s always good.”
Catra sighs quietly, rolling her eyes. “Of course, we can always count on your optimistic ass to find some positive moral.”
“Yeah,” Adora says, ignoring Catra’s sarcastic tone, “you can.”
Catra sighs again, but when she looks up from the gingerbread she’s icing, there’s a small smile on her face. “Look. At the time I was angry and irrationally hated those songs because they were pale imitations and butchered versions of what I really wrote. But,” Catra rolls her eyes again, “they’re catchy. And maybe I’m going to steal Sparkles’ idea and remake those albums the way I wanted them. Not right now – I want to let Freedom sit for a while, and maybe release a fifth album before I get started – but with three albums to remake, I might as well get started on thinking about the things I want to change.”
“Three?” Adora questions, rather than going on a little speech about how proud she is. She knows that embarrasses Catra. “I thought you liked your debut album. Since it was… what’s the phrase you used? Pop-punk?”
“It’s more pop-rock than pop-punk,” Catra says, like Adora has any idea what the difference is, “and I do like that album. But there are still some things I wanted differently that the label swayed me away from. Heavier guitars, for one.”
“Of course,” Adora smiles, “you love your guitars.”
“The best instrument there is,” Catra shrugs, meeting Adora’s gaze with another smile. She reaches up with her free hand and cups Adora’s jaw, pulling her in for a kiss, and then says, “enough about me. Let’s make the best gingerbread house this world has ever seen.”
It’s definitely far from the best once they manage to get it assembled, and honestly, Adora thinks she’s seen gingerbread houses done by toddlers that are neater. But it’s perfect when Catra takes one look at it and bursts out laughing, immediately pulling out her phone to snap a picture.
She posts it to her Instagram story, and when Adora looks up from her own phone after sharing Catra’s story to her own, there’s a little black cat and a collapsed gingerbread house on the counter. A cat-sized bite has been taken out of one of the walls, and when Adora looks at Catra, her girlfriend is already looking back at her, grinning.
“Well, we should’ve seen that coming.”
iii. the third day of christmas
This one will probably end up exposing her whole plan, Adora thinks as she roots around in her closet for the necessary items, but it’ll be worth it. It’ll be especially worth it when they reach the final goal – couples’ Christmas cards.
Even though they basically only have Bow, Glimmer, Razz, Entrapta, Scorpia and Double Trouble to send Christmas cards to, it’s a fun little Christmas tradition that Adora has actually never partaken in. She can already see their perfect Christmas card in her head, and she has everything necessary to recreate that idea in reality.
She’d waited until Catra excused herself to the shower to leap into action. They’d spent most of the morning cuddling, and Catra had finally dramatically crawled out of bed, heading straight to the shower to get ready for the day. Because Catra takes long showers, that gives Adora plenty of time.
First, she gets three things from their closet. Two of the ugliest, most obnoxious Christmas sweaters she could find at the mall, and one cat-sized elf costume.
Second, she finds Melog and pins him down for long enough to dress him in said elf-costume. He claws her for it, but Adora takes photos and tells him firmly, “I’ll post these on Instagram if you don’t behave.”
Third, she finds Catra’s camera, the one she uses when she films her YouTube covers. When her girlfriend walks into their bedroom, in nothing but a towel, Adora almost forgets to ask what she wants to ask about it.
Catra interrupts her, probably knowing the thoughts going through Adora’s head, and using her dressed-down state to distract Adora enough for the truth. “Okay, one, why is my cat dressed like an elf, and two, why are you messing with my camera?”
Adora blinks, staring at her, managing a quiet, “Uh…”
Catra smirks. “You really are too gay to function sometimes, aren’t you? Anyway, answer the questions, dummy.”
“So, like, I had an idea,” Adora says, and Catra raises her eyebrows, “Christmas cards. Does this take photographs?”
Catra nods, frowning confusedly. “Why do we need to send Christmas cards? We have like, six friends, live with two of them, I refuse to send one to Double Trouble because they’ll post it on Twitter to embarrass me, and the other is your grandma.”
“Because it’s a fun Christmas activity,” Adora says, and swiftly changes the subject, “anyway, get dressed. I’ve set out some clothes for you.”
Catra snorts. “What are you, my mom?”
It’s a joke, and Catra must think the clothes are too, because when she sees them, she laughs. Adora had picked out her usual ripped black jeans, but paired it with the bright, obnoxious Christmas sweater.
“Oh, that’s a good one,” Catra laughs, “like I’d ever wear that. I wasn’t called one of the best-dressed at the Met Gala for nothing, you know.”
“I’m serious,” Adora says, “come on, it’ll be cute for the Christmas card. We can wear the matching sweaters and hold Melog in his elf costume, and take the picture on your camera.”
“Oh my god, you really are serious,” Catra realises, laughing, “look, Adora, I know you’re kind of fashionably inept and it’s totally adorable, but—”
“Fashionably inept?” Adora repeats, “wow, thanks, baby.”
“I said it was adorable!” Catra nudges her lightly, “I mean, come on. You literally wear Crocs on a near daily basis.”
Adora pouts. “You said you thought they were cute. You even bought me that Pride flag charm for them.”
“It is cute,” Catra says, “in an oh my god, my girlfriend wouldn’t know fashion if it punched her in the face kind of way.”
Adora frowns. “I have no idea if that’s a compliment or an insult.”
“It’s a compliment,” Catra says quickly, reaching out to take her hand and kissing her cheek gently, “I love everything about you. Even your bad fashion sense.”
“You’re one to talk,” Adora mumbles, biting down on her bottom lip to contain her grin, “when you wear ripped black skinny jeans and some rock band t-shirt every day. Maybe spicing things up with a flannel shirt on top.”
“Ouch,” Catra laughs, but Adora knows that she knows she looks effortlessly cool and pulls off the ‘rockstar’ look, considering she is one, “I guess I deserved that.”
“Yeah,” Adora leans in and kisses Catra properly, pulling back with a small smile, “you did. Anyway, you don’t have to wear the sweater or take the picture if you don’t want to. I just thought it’d be cute, that’s all.”
The left side of Catra’s mouth quirks up in a half-smile, something softer than a smirk. She lets her towel drop, and Adora’s jaw drops with it until she reaches out and tugs the sweater on.
“Hurry up and change, then,” Catra says as she’s pulling her jeans on and Adora is still stood staring at her in awe, “Melog won’t stay dressed like an elf for long, you know.”
“Oh, right, yeah,” Adora realises, snapping to attention and switching her current sweater for the Christmas one, “sorry, I just—”
“You were too gay to function,” Catra laughs, “I know. Happens to me too, when I watch you working out.”
Adora blushes at the comment, but then laughs when she remembers, “oh, yeah, like that time you fell off the treadmill because you were too busy admiring my biceps.”
“Okay, one more comment like that and I won’t take your lame picture.”
Adora smiles and offers up her hand. Catra takes it and lets Adora pull her up from the bed, leading her out into the lounge. They haven’t decorated the apartment for Christmas yet – Glimmer insisted on at least a week passing after her birthday and Bow’s been busy with work, and Adora was too until she reached this week, which she’d booked off as holiday to extend her Christmas break. So, Adora added decorating for Christmas to her master plan.
But that means there’s not really a ‘Christmassy’ background for their picture. Adora pouts as she sits down on the couch, and scratches Melog behind the ear as he writhes in Catra’s arms, desperate to tear the elf costume off.
“We probably should’ve decorated the apartment first,” Adora says, looking around, “I didn’t think about that.”
“Why would we decorate the apartment when we’re not even spending Christmas here? Aren’t we heading to Razz’s in a couple of days, anyway?” Catra shrugs. “We’ll run it through photoshop and make the apartment look festive.”
“I don’t know how to work photoshop,” Adora says, “I’ve never used it, so it’ll look like a toddler made it.”
“I’m practically an expert, so I’ll do it,” Catra assures her, leaning over to kiss her cheek, “I’ve got your back, baby.”
Adora frowns, and as she tries to find a good position for the camera, she asks how Catra acquired that skill. “You use photoshop to edit your YouTube videos or something?”
“No,” Catra laughs quietly, “I used to mess around on photoshop a lot when I was a teenager. Usually editing Weaver into the mouth of some hellbeast where she belongs.”
“Okay, now I have to see that,” Adora laughs, setting the camera up perfectly and then realising, “does this have an automatic timer?”
“Hold Melog, I’ll get it ready,” Catra says, dumping the writhing cat in Adora’s lap before she can protest. Adora holds onto him gently as Catra messes around with the camera, putting it back in decision, and saying, “get ready.”
The camera flashes before Adora can even try to get ready, more focused on trying to hold Melog still. Catra laughs, reaching forwards to look at the picture and snorting.
“We’re definitely using this,” Catra holds it up and shows her, and in the photo, Adora is wrangling Melog, looking blurry, and Catra is smiling next to her, looking as perfectly photogenic as she always does.
“Uh, no way,” Adora puts the camera back to her, “take another one, and this time, you can hold Melog.”
Catra laughs, picking the cat up and kissing him on the top of his head. Naturally, he calms down the moment he’s with her. “Aw, I’m sorry, buddy,” she says to him, “I know, the mean lady is making you wear stupid clothes. I’m right there with you.”
Adora rolls her eyes, muttering mean lady, you’re the mean lady, under her breath as Catra watches her reset the camera in amusement.
It takes around twenty tries for Adora to finally take a picture she’s happy with, but that doesn’t stop Catra from posting the hilarious outtakes on Instagram. It’s worth the public embarrassment to see the smile on Catra’s face.
iv. the fourth day of christmas
“Are you sure about this?”
“Of course I’m sure,” Adora says as she straps herself into the ice skates, “anyway, we’ve already paid now, so there’s no backing out.”
“Entry was ten dollars each, I think it’d be fine to leave,” Catra says, but Adora shakes her head. She frowns concernedly, watching as Adora gets the other ice skate on. “It’s just… and I don’t mean this in a bad way… but you’re kind of the clumsiest person I’ve ever met. And that’s when you’re not on ice.”
Adora snorts, standing up and immediately wobbling. Catra grabs her by the waist to support her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not that clumsy.”
Catra raises her eyebrows, but she knows how stubborn Adora can be and just shrugs. “Okay. Whatever you say. But I have total right to say I told you so when you end up on the ground.”
“We won’t end up on the ground,” Adora says, wobbling over towards the ice, “I’m just shaky right now because we’re not on the ice. It’s hard to walk in these skates.”
“And you think stepping on a slippery surface is a good idea?” Catra asks incredulously, but Adora just holds out her hand at the entrance to the rink. Catra sighs, taking it, and they both slide out onto the ice. “I still don’t get why you wanted to do this.”
“It’s Christmas,” Adora justifies, “ice skating is a fun Christmas activity.”
Catra snorts. “Or it’s a fun way to get a concussion.”
“It’s fine,” Adora assures her, as Catra leads the two of them around the rink, her arm around Adora’s waist still, “see, you’re like, a natural.”
“That’s because I actually know how to balance thanks to all the dance lessons the label forced me into,” Catra says, “unlike you, which is why I’m not letting go of you. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I won’t get—” Adora starts, slips on… well, the ice… and ends up on her ass. Because she refused to let go, Catra ends up on the ground with her, wincing. “Hurt.” Adora finishes, cringing.
“Yeah, okay,” Catra pushes herself up easily, and holds out her hand for Adora, “you were saying?”
“Okay, so maybe I’m not a professional ice skater.”
“Oh, wow,” Catra answers sarcastically, “never would’ve guessed. Hey, at least I’m finally better than you at a sport. And by the way… I told you so.”
Adora smiles gently, rubbing her hip where she’d hit the floor. “Are you okay? I kind of dragged you down with me.”
“I’m okay,” Catra smiles back, nodding towards the rink entrance. They’re barely ten feet away from it. “Come on, dummy. Let’s ditch these ridiculous skates and get a hot cocoa or something.”
“That’d probably be the safer idea,” Adora agrees, almost falling over again. This time, Catra steadies her, and they inch towards the exit. “Can I still check this off my list, though?”
Catra frowns. “What list?”
“Oh, uh,” Adora realises what she’d let slip, “nothing. Just my Christmas list. Of things I have to do.”
“You’re the worst liar in the world, you know?”
“I know,” Adora laughs, breathing a sigh of relief as they land on dry ground, and Catra helps her over to the bench. “Okay, you might have noticed that we’ve been doing a lot of festive stuff since you got back from tour.”
“Might have noticed?” Catra laughs. “Yeah, I did.”
“Well, you mentioned, a while back,” Adora starts, “that you’ve never really celebrated Christmas. It’s partially because this is our first Christmas as girlfriends, but I just wanted to give you a chance to experience everything you missed out on as a kid.”
“Oh,” Catra realises, and then she smiles. She bumps against her gently, reaching out to take her hand. “Okay, so, you’re the best girlfriend I could ask for. I just want to get that out there first. But you know I’ve accepted that I didn’t exactly have the best childhood, and that’s- you know, it’s something I can’t change, but I have healed from it. You don’t have to do things that will potentially injure you just for me.”
“I know I don’t have to,” Adora says, “I want to. For me, growing up, Christmas was this magical time where my mom and Razz and I would do all of these festive things together. It was always my favourite time of year. When my mom passed, Razz and I kind of stopped doing it. So I guess part of it is me wanting to recapture that, but also letting you experience it for the first time.”
“Okay,” Catra smiles, squeezing her hand, “show me your list. I need to make sure there’s no more potential dangers going forwards.”
Adora pouts. “But I wanted it to be a surprise.”
Catra looks conflicted, but after a few moments, she nods. “Okay. As long you promise me the rest of the list is Adora-proof. Let Bow check it over and then he’ll tell me.”
“Okay,” Adora nods, and then leans in to kiss Catra’s cheek, “I love you. And I’m glad we’re doing this.”
Catra looks at her, her beautiful eyes sparkling, and Adora kisses her again before she can say anything. Pulling back, laughing, Catra smiles and says, “I love you too, loser.”
v. the fifth day of christmas
“Okay, if I knew this was on the list, I would’ve said no.”
Adora chuckles at the faux-negativity as they walk through the grotto. “Seeing Santa is an essential Christmas experience, Catra.”
“Yeah, when you’re six,” Catra laughs, “I’m twenty-three. This is weird. I really don’t want any paparazzi pictures of me sitting on some random old guy’s lap going viral.”
“You don’t actually sit on his lap,” Adora says, “just stand and tell him what you want for Christmas.”
Catra shrugs, meeting Adora’s gaze. “I already have you.”
She smiles knowingly, and Adora’s stomach flips. She reaches out to take Catra’s hand and brings it up to her lips to kiss the back of it. “Oh, you flirt.”
“I’m not joking,” Catra says, “I can’t think of anything I want. All I ever really wanted for years was to be happy, and… I’m there now. Being with you, making the music I’ve always wanted to make, and having good friends… it’s enough for me.”
“Aw,” Adora lets slip, and Catra rolls her eyes fondly. Adora knows how she dramatically refuses to be called cute, even though what she said is practically the definition of the word. “Well, your adorable heartfelt speech aside for now, I’m still getting you a Christmas present, and I need to know what you want. So you’re going to tell Santa, and I’m going to take notes.”
It’s a lie, one she actually manages to play off – Adora already has Catra’s Christmas present bought and shipped to Razz’s house. She’ll wrap it when they get home and Catra is in the shower or something.
“You don’t have to get me anything, dummy,” Catra laughs, “besides, the only thing I ever really buy for myself is a new guitar occasionally, and you wouldn’t have any idea what to look for there.”
“Oh, really?” Adora raises her eyebrows challengingly. Admittedly, she doesn’t know much about guitars, but she does listen when her girlfriend talks about her interests. “You like PRS the best, because you like the sweeter tones they have. To be honest, I don’t know what a sweet tone is, but I know you like it. You also browse the Gibson and Fender custom shops every once in a while, but you feel like you shouldn’t justify spending when you already have your PRS private stock which you got custom-made for yourself when you were eighteen. You did, however, love the sound of an ESP Eclipse when you tried it out in a store a few months ago.”
Catra blinks at her. “How do you know all of that?”
“I listen when my girlfriend talks about her interests,” Adora smiles, “duh. I like listening to you talk about the things you enjoy. I know you do the same for me, when you ask me about my workout routines and how my personal training sessions are going.”
“I love you,” Catra says, and Adora puts an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer as they reach the front of the line, “really, you just proved my point. All I want for Christmas is you.”
“You, baby,” Adora sings, and Catra laughs, “come on, sing with me. You don’t have three Grammys for nothing.”
Catra laughs quietly. “I’m not breaking out into song in public.”
“Isn’t that like, your entire job?” Adora reasons, and Catra blinks, frowning, clearly realising that in a way, it is. Concerts are basically an organised event where she breaks out into song in public. “Ooh, we’re next. Come on, think of something material I can buy for you.”
“I told you,” Catra says as one of the elves ushers them into Santa’s grotto, “all I want is you.”
“Ho, ho, ho!” The guy playing Santa announces with a big, jolly smile on his face. He frowns at the two of them, and asks inquisitively, “and where is our little one? Shy?”
“Nope,” Adora nudges Catra forwards and explains, “my girlfriend never got to go see Santa Claus as a kid, so I’m making sure she gets every positive Christmas experience she deserves.”
“As everyone deserves!” Santa agrees, meeting Catra’s gaze. The jolly smile turns into confusion, and that vague do I know her look that Catra always describes getting in public. “Have we met?”
“I don’t know,” Catra says, rather than answering, “you’re the one who sneaks down chimneys and drops off presents.”
“Fair point,” Santa laughs jovially, “I just can’t help feeling like I’ve met you before. So, what should I call you? I know I’m supposed to know, but Santa’s getting old. Memory’s not what it used to be.”
Catra hesitates, and Adora knows what kind of mood she’s in when she answers, “Catrina.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Catrina,” Santa says, “and what would you like for Christmas?”
“As I’ve already told my wonderful, amazing girlfriend,” Catra says, and Adora knows she’s blushing, “I already have everything I need. Give an extra present to someone who needs it. ‘Tis the season of giving, after all.”
“Very true,” Santa nods, “a nice, generous outlook. Now, let’s take that picture and you can be on your way.”
Catra takes Adora’s hand to make sure they’re both in the picture, and once it’s taken, Adora pays the elf the ten dollar fee and they turn to thank Santa and head out.
“Oh, I know where I know you from!” Santa announces, and Adora notices the way Catra’s jaw clenches a little. Not like she’s really annoyed, just disappointed she’d been recognised. Lately, she doesn’t mind if fans come up, but if someone shouts or makes a scene, it usually leads to a mob, which nobody would like. “My daughter has a poster of you on her wall. You’re a singer, aren’t you?”
After a few moments of hesitation, Catra nods. “Yeah.”
“I like the newer ones she’s been playing rather than that processed pop stuff,” Santa says, and quickly adds, “no offence, of course, that’s just not my cup of tea.”
“Wasn’t mine either,” Catra says, and she seems to brighten a little at Santa’s opinion, “how old is your daughter?”
“Fifteen,” he says, “she actually asked for a guitar for Christmas. Said you inspired her to learn with your new music.”
“Oh, that’s really cool,” Catra says, “it’s always crazy to know my music is inspiring people the way my favourite bands inspired me. If you’re interested, there’s still a few VIP concert/meet and greet tickets left for my next show here in LA. I could send them to you.”
“Oh, no, that’s quite alright,” Santa says, “we couldn’t afford it. We had to stretch to get the guitar.”
“I don’t want you to pay for them,” Catra replies, “like I said, Christmas is the season of giving, after all. Do you have something I can write my business email on? Contact me and I’ll send you the tickets online.”
“Are you serious?” Santa asks, and when Catra nods, he quickly searches for something, finding an unused Christmas card and a pen. As Catra writes her business email down, he says gratefully, “oh, thank you so much for this. My daughter is a huge fan, this will make her whole year.”
“Tell her I look forward to seeing her at the show, and I’ll ask her about her guitar progress to make sure she keeps learning,” Catra says as she passes the pen and card back, “merry Christmas.”
Santa calls after them as they head out of the grotto, “a very merry Christmas to you!”
Adora waits until they’re far enough away to laugh.
“Okay, you realise you basically just stole Santa’s job, right? Seriously, who gives Santa Claus a present?”
“Adora… you do know that wasn’t really Santa, right?”
vi. the sixth day of christmas
In an age of streaming, it would definitely be more dramatic for Adora to have each and every movie they’re going to watch on DVD and drop them on the coffee table in front of Catra. It would show just how many classics there are, and how much time it’s going to take.
But everything’s basically online, so Adora can’t just walk over, drop a load of movies on her, and tell her to get comfortable in the other item of clothing Adora had purchased for her.
(Clothing? Does a onesie really count as clothing?)
She still dumps the onesie down next to her anyway, and Catra frowns at it. “Did you skin a bear or something?”
“Very funny,” Adora rolls her eyes, “no, it’s a onesie. Item six on my Christmas experience list. Onesies, hot chocolate and Christmas movies.”
Catra raises her eyebrows, laughing quietly when she notices the cat ears on the onesie. Adora almost expects some dramatic response to that, but instead, her girlfriend just smiles.
“Do I get to cuddle with you?” Catra asks, “because I haven’t been cuddled enough since I got home. You’re slacking on your snuggle duties.”
“I’m definitely going to tweet that you just said that,” Adora teases her, kissing her cheek, “obviously we’re going to cuddle. Today is the day of the three Cs.”
“The three Cs?” Catra repeats, “okay. Tell me the three Cs.”
“Well, number one, obviously comfort,” Adora says, “which is why the onesies and the cuddling are a hundred percent necessary. Number two is chocolate, in parentheses, hot. The ultimate festive drink—”
“I thought the ultimate festive drink was like, eggnog or something,” Catra interrupts, “I’ve never tried that, and to be honest, I’m not sure if I want to.”
“Well, you don’t drink alcohol, so,” Adora shrugs, “I’m not going to give you eggnog. And that doesn’t start with a C either.”
“Okay, okay,” Catra laughs, “what’s the third C?”
“Classic Christmas movies,” Adora says, and then on a whim, adds, “there’s one other secret C, too. Actually, the fourth one is the most important of all.”
“Oh, really,” Catra says, and Adora hums in confirmation, “care to enlighten me?”
“The fourth C represents my favourite person in the whole world,” Adora says, “I love her a lot, and she’s the only person I’d ever want to spend the rest of my life with.”
“Damn,” Catra says, fighting a smile, “she’s a lucky girl. You’ll have to introduce me to her.”
“Go look in that mirror over there,” Adora says, “then you’ll meet her.”
“Oh, stop,” Catra laughs, finally letting her beautiful smile show. She grabs the folded-up onesie and pushes herself up from the couch. “Alright. You get the first movie ready. I’ll go and get changed.”
Adora reaches out and takes her hand and stops her from leaving just yet. Slowly, her thumb caresses Catra’s knuckle, and she says, “I want you to pick the first movie.”
“Okay, how about we watch these movies in bed?” Catra suggests, “just you, me, your laptop, and the hot chocolate you mentioned. I’ll get it set up and you can make the drinks.”
“I like the sound of that,” Adora says, “on one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“I get to be the big spoon.”
vii. the seventh day of christmas
“How are we going to do your little Christmas list thing if we’re spending all day driving home?” Catra asks, idly petting Melog on the passenger side of Adora’s car. “This is basically eating up a whole day.”
“It is,” Adora says, “but driving home for the holidays is also kind of like a Christmas tradition.”
Catra hums, reaching forwards with her free hand to plug her phone into the aux. “So, what, we just drive home and act like it’s festive?”
“Put some Christmas music on!” Adora says the moment Catra presses play on one of her playlists, and a guitar riff plays out. “Come on, some Christmas music is good.”
Catra doesn’t make a move to put anything else on. “Every single Christmas song that has ever been released is nothing more than a soulless cash grab.”
Adora takes a moment to let that Grinchy opinion sink in, and then realises, “wait… didn’t you release a Christmas song a few years back? That duet with Double Trouble.”
“And it was a soulless cash grab from the label,” Catra says, “I didn’t want to do it. Double Trouble didn’t either. Which was pretty much how every single thing our labels asked us to do went, us not wanting to do it and the label forcing us.”
“We should listen to it,” Adora says, and Catra looks at her like she’s finally lost her mind, “come on, it’s not Christmas if we don’t drive around listening to soulless cash grabs.”
“I’m not listening to me and Double Trouble pretending to be straight,” Catra says, but she scrolls through her Spotify, and the rock song playing cuts out for the Bruce Springsteen version of Santa Claus Is Coming to Town. “But I will put Christmas music on. Just because you’re so pretty and you convinced me.”
“Good to know I can use my dashing good looks to get you to do whatever I want,” Adora retorts, and her stomach does that fluttery thing when Catra laughs. “Keep a lookout for Christmas lights while we drive. I know it’s daytime, but when it gets dark. That’s on our list for later though, so don’t go overboard.”
Catra frowns. “Why are you saving that for later?”
“It was always a Christmas Eve tradition with my mom,” Adora explains, “after all the presents were wrapped, after we’d watched our specific Christmas Eve movie – the one movie we didn’t watch the other day – we’d go out for a drive around Etheria and look at the Christmas lights and decorations. Then she’d claim she just saw Santa, and we’d have to rush home so I could get to bed.”
Catra is quiet for a moment, and when Adora glances over quickly to make sure she’s okay, there’s a soft smile on her face.
“That’s really cute,” Catra tells her, “I’m glad you want to make new memories with me. Thanks for doing all of this. Making your list—”
“Checking it twice,” Adora interrupts, singing, “gonna find out who’s naughty or nice.”
Bruce Springsteen finishes the next part of it on the car’s radio, and after one soft smile from Adora, Catra joins in.
“Santa Claus is coming to town,” the two of them sing along, “Santa Claus is coming to town, Santa Claus is coming to town!”
After the song ends, Catra laughs. That gorgeous, mischievous laugh, the one Adora melted at the first time she heard it. It’s cold outside, but when she hears Catra’s laugh, Adora can only feel warmth.
When her laughter dies down naturally, Catra reaches over with her hand and squeezes Adora’s knee. “I think I’m starting to understand why people say Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year.”
Adora can’t stop herself from smiling. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Catra hums in reply, “let’s do All I Want for Christmas is You next. I want to see if I can hit that high note.”
Turns out she can. Adora isn’t surprised, and spends the next half hour of their journey teasing Catra for how talented she is, just to see how much she can make her blush.
viii. the eighth day of christmas
“Thank you for offering to help with the tree, Adora, dearie,” Razz says as Adora pulls the next box of decorations down from the attic. “You know your old grandma can’t reach the top these days! I swear I’m shrinking.”
“It’s okay, I like to make the house look all festive,” Adora says, “and Catra’s never decorated for Christmas, that’ll be fun for her.”
“I like that girl,” Razz says, “she’s good for you. You have that glow about you ever since you brought her home.”
Adora laughs, bringing down the last box and then folding the stepladder up to close the attic door. “What glow?”
“Oh, you know,” Razz says as Adora grabs one of the boxes, “you’re happy all the time. Glowing. And she’s the same. She was so sad when you first brought her over. She’s like a whole new person now. You both help one another and that’s the way you want it to be. A relationship is a partnership after all.”
“Partners in crime,” says a voice behind her, and Adora turns around, nearly dropping her box. Catra smiles and takes it from her. “Tree’s up and ready to be decorated. The floor might need vacuuming, though.”
The tree is an artificial one, one that Adora picked out when she was a kid at the store with her mom. It’s pre-lit, so at least they don’t have to wrap loads of lights around it before decorating.
Adora hauls the other box up and follows Catra over to the lounge. “I can do that once we’ve decorated. Then I can put your present under the tree.”
“So you’re going to lay under the Christmas tree for the next four days?” Catra retorts, letting out a quiet oof as she puts the other box down. “Sounds like that’d be pretty uncomfortable, baby.”
Adora rolls her eyes. “Very funny. I did get you a legitimate present.”
“I suppose I should’ve expected that,” Catra says, shrugging, “I got you one too, but that’s neither here nor there.”
Adora smiles. “Aw, are you saying you like me?”
Catra tosses a bundle of tinsel at her. “I definitely don’t like you. I don’t know where you’d ever get that idea from.”
“It’s because you love me, right?” Adora laughs, wrapping the tinsel around her shoulders. “Yeah, I know.”
Catra smiles fondly, grabbing a few baubles out of the box and looking over at the tree. “So, what’s our game plan here?”
Ignoring the subject change, Adora nudges her lightly and says, “hey, I love you too. Also, I have a present for you to open right now. Hold on.”
Adora gets up and rushes down the hall to her bedroom before Catra can protest properly – she hears her calling after her, but Adora just ignores it, grabbing the wrapped present from her bag. Catra’s real present was shipped directly to Razz’s house, and Adora had given her grandma clear instructions to hide it. This is just a little thing that she thought would be cute.
She finds the present and heads back into the lounge, ignoring Catra’s continued, “Adora, you didn’t even need to get me one present.”
“Don’t be dramatic, baby,” Adora laughs, “besides, it’s more of a necessity than a present. Open it.”
She holds the wrapped gift out, and Catra rolls her eyes but opens it up, frowning at the little box inside. She flips it over to look at the front, and after a few moments, there’s a flicker of a smile on her face.
“A bauble,” Catra says, “shaped like a guitar.”
“A lot of the decorations in here,” Adora tugs the bauble box towards her and lifts a couple of the ones she’s going to reference out, “they’re ones I picked out. Once a year, we’d go to the store and my mom would let me pick a bauble. I’d always pick one based on like, whatever I liked that year, or something I did. So… this is kind of like me doing that again, in a way.”
“Well,” Catra laughs, opening the box up and hanging the guitar bauble off her finger, “I’m definitely something you did multiple times this year.”
Adora blushes, reaching out to lightly smack Catra’s arm. “Should’ve known you’d make that joke.”
“I had to, it was right there,” Catra smirks, but it melts into a soft smile and she leans over to kiss Adora’s cheek. Adora turns at the last second so Catra’s lips meet her own. Catra is still smiling when she pulls back. “Thank you, though. This is really cool.”
Adora shrugs. “You’re family. It seems only right that you should have an ornament of your own on the tree.”
It’s one of the few times Adora has ever seen Catra genuinely surprised. She blinks, and even though she’s half-smiling, there are tears shining in her eyes.
She moves in, and Adora thinks she’s going to kiss her again. But then Catra pulls her in for a tight hug, burying her face in Adora’s shoulder and mumbling, “I love you.”
“I love you too,” Adora says, running her fingers through Catra’s hair, “so much.”
“I just,” Catra starts, pulling back slightly, “I never- when I was younger, all I really wanted was a family. I mean, I was taken away from my mom when I was five, and then stuck in that orphanage until Weaver adopted me, and then she was… well, a stone-cold bitch. And then all the fame stuff happened and I thought I’d never just get to have something normal, with people who cared about me, not because I was some famous musician. And now I finally do have that, and… I don’t know, I guess it kind of makes me a little emotional to realise it.”
Adora smiles, pulling her back in for another hug. “I love you. And you’ll always have this, okay? You’ll always me and Razz and Bow and Glimmer. It’s maybe not the kind of family you thought about when you were a kid, but—”
“It’s better than that,” Catra says, cupping Adora’s jaw with her hand, “it’s better than anything I could’ve asked for. Mostly just because you’re there.”
Adora laughs. “I knew you liked me.”
Catra rolls her eyes fondly. “I love you, dummy.”
Adora holds out her hand, nodding towards the tree. “Come on. Let’s christen the tree with your bauble.”
Catra doesn’t hesitate to take her hand.
ix. the ninth day of christmas
Like their lord and saviour Santa Claus had sent a message to the forces that control weather, when they wake up the next day, there’s a blanket of thick white snow outside.
Adora gets up immediately, leaving a tired Catra in bed and making mumbling promises that she’ll get up in a minute. Adora doesn’t believe her, but she gets dressed and gives Catra ten more minutes before she goes in and jumps on her, announcing that it’s snowing. Melog yowls, irritable, and jumps off the bed to go curl up in his favourite spot by the fire in the lounge.
Catra lets out a quiet, tired groan, and asks just as tiredly, “I’m guessing snow is on your list, right?”
Adora laughs. “Yup. Come on. Get up, get dressed, and come outside and frolic with me.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever frolicked in my life.”
“Well, good, because that’s the whole point of the list is for you to do the things you’ve never done, so…”
Catra laughs, yawning, but she sits up and stretches. “Okay. I’ll get dressed and come out and play with you.”
Adora kisses her forehead. “Thank you, baby. I’ll wait by the front door.”
She jumps up and heads out of the room before she can expose herself for the lie she just told. Actually, she’s not going to wait by the door. She’s going to wait outside, with a snowball ready to fire. It’s a sneaky, devious tactic, one that will inevitably start a war, but that’s the fun of it all.
Adora hides in the bushes, waiting for her moment. Catra takes fifteen minutes to get herself ready, and when she finally comes out, Adora thinks that the freezing time she’s spent hiding is so worth it when she jumps up with a deafening war cry and throws the snowball.
It hits her girlfriend’s shoulder, and Catra blinks at her, scoffing in an offended manner that almost reminds Adora of Glimmer. “What the fuck was that for?”
“Snowball fight!” Adora announces, already scooping up her next snowball, “get ready to be fucking destroyed, baby.”
“Oh no you don’t,” Catra mutters, ducking Adora’s next attack and scooping up some snow in the process. She balls it up and tosses it, but completely misses, groaning frustratedly as she ducks down for more.
Adora smirks because she knows she has the advantage. Scooping up more snow, she hides behind the bush for cover and jumps up at the right time. At least, what she thinks is the right time. She hadn’t heard Catra approaching, and when she jumps up to throw her next snowball, Catra surprises her.
She smushes a handful of snow right in Adora’s face, and Adora splutters. “My vision is compromised!”
“That’s what you get!” Catra calls distantly, already running off to hide somewhere while Adora wipes the snow from her face. “Sucks to suck, baby.”
By the time Adora can see again, she’s already disappeared. Adora scowls, scooping up more snow and creeping out from her hiding place behind the bush. She thinks she heard Catra’s voice going towards the side of the house, so she heads that way, letting out a gasp in surprise when a snowball hits her back.
Adora whirls around, but Catra is already back in hiding. Now knowing the direction, she turns to sneak around and get her revenge, but Catra charges out at her, pelting her with snowballs.
Adora launches her own at Catra, getting her in her arm, and ducks one of Catra’s throws for more snow. Catra runs to the right, and Adora follows. At the end of the day, Adora is faster, more athletic, and she pushes herself as fast as she can, pouncing on her girlfriend and knocking her flat into the snow.
“I win,” Adora announces, and if she was feeling really childish, she’d smush the snow in her hand right into Catra’s face as revenge. Instead, she drops it and leans down to kiss her girlfriend victoriously. “I told you I would.”
“Okay, okay,” Catra rolls her eyes. She’s breathless and smiling, so Adora counts this as a success. “How about we call a truce and build a snowman together?”
“Can I name the snowman?” Adora asks, “Swift Wind the Great!”
Catra laughs. “Isn’t Swift Wind the name of your stuffed unicorn?”
“It is,” Adora nods in agreement, “but like, snowmen come to life. I’m just building him a body so he can take us out on adventures later.”
“Like that movie you made me watch,” Catra hums in realisation, “okay, you can name the snowman. Now get off me, I’m getting snow down the back of my coat.”
Adora leans down to kiss the tip of Catra’s nose and obliges, “yes, ma’am.”
x. the tenth day of christmas
“I can’t believe you were serious about this.”
“Of course she was serious,” Glimmer says easily, “anyway, you should be happy about this. You are a singer.”
“Uh, yeah,” Catra retorts, “a professional one. I don’t go around performing for free, Sparkles.”
“Damn, you think highly of yourself, don’t you?” Glimmer says, “where’s your Christmas spirit, Catrina? Don’t you know you’re supposed to give things? Imagine how happy the children of Etheria will be when obnoxious pop star Catra shows up on their doorstep to sing them a song.”
“And then imagine how sad they’ll be when they see her weird, sparkly stalker,” Catra retorts, “and she subjects them to her screeching.”
“Ouch, that’s cold,” Glimmer says, “like I’d ever be so tasteless as to stalk you. If I was going to stalk anyone, I’d stalk Ariana or Taylor.”
Catra smirks. “I have both of their numbers. Sucks to be you, Sparkles.”
“Okay, are we going to actually go carolling,” Bow interrupts before Glimmer can fire back, “or are you two going to just keep doing your weird insult-flirt thing right in front of your significant others?”
Glimmer takes Bow’s hand and says, “aw, no need to be jealous. You know you’re the only one for me. Though… in an alternate universe, we would be pretty hot together.”
Catra smirks. “I knew you secretly had a crush on me, just didn’t think you’d admit it.”
Adora rolls her eyes. “Okay, come on, let’s go sing.”
“What’s the point of this, anyway?” Catra asks as they head down the street and Adora takes her hand, “doesn’t everyone hate carol singers?”
Admittedly, most people do, but Adora shrugs. “Well, the other people don’t have a professional musician in their midst. Anyway, we’re going to donate whatever we make to charity, so…”
“Yeah, by the way,” Catra says, “I’m going to hide in the back.”
Adora pouts, but she honestly understands. She knows Catra still feels a little uncomfortable around fans and being recognised, even though she’s trying her best to get comfortable with it. “That’s fine. Just as long as you’ll harmonise with me.”
Catra laughs. “Do you even know how to harmonise?”
“I mean, not technically, but…” Adora shrugs, “I can hear it when it happens.”
Catra hums in agreement. “You do have a pretty good ear for music. It’s partially why I always come to you with new songs. That, and I just like you being the first person to hear what I’m working on. You know, since you’re my biggest fan, after all.”
Adora smiles knowingly – Catra always teases her about being a fan, bringing up the fan contest Adora won when they met – and she squeezes Catra’s hand gently. “I’m proud to be your biggest fan. I get to tell everyone that my girlfriend is the greatest musician of our generation.”
“Now you’re just flattering me,” Catra says, “trying to butter me up so I’ll stand front and centre when we’re annoyingly hammering on people’s doors to sing at them.”
“You know I’d never make you do that,” Adora says as they walk up the driveway of their first victims, “I get that you still feel a little uncomfortable with the fans.”
Catra shrugs. “I’m trying to feel better around them. After all, you were a fan. Besides, they’re not like the record label. They treat me the way they do because they care about me, in their own way. I’d just… rather not get screamed at sometimes, you know? Save the screaming for the concerts.”
“Apparently they save the bras for concerts too,” Adora murmurs, and Catra clearly hears, because she chuckles, “I saw the jokes on Twitter.”
“Listen,” Catra laughs, “I told them to stop throwing their bras at me. I can’t help that I’m so irresistible that girls’ bras just fly off their bodies and gravitate towards me.”
“Can you two stop talking about bras and hurry up and sing backup for me?” Glimmer whispers as Bow knocks on the door in front of them. “We wish you a merry Christmas…”
Catra meets Adora’s gaze with a grin and an eye roll, and then starts to harmonise with Glimmer. Adora throws an arm around her shoulders and sings along with her.
The door in front of them opens, and a teenage girl frowns at them, goes to close the door, sees Catra, and murmurs, “oh my god.”
Catra laughs good-naturedly and stops singing to say, “wait until Sparkles has finished her solo to freak out or I won’t make it to Christmas.”
The girl nods, dumbfounded, and Glimmer breaks out into a dramatic vocal run and finishes on a high note. All the girl says in response after she drops a dollar into the Santa hat Bow holds out is, “can I get a picture?”
“I can’t say I’m surprised she wants one,” Glimmer says, “I am fabulous.”
Bow laughs and squeezes Glimmer’s hand. “Come on. We’ll head off to the next house and you can get your moment.”
Adora lets go of Catra so she can take a selfie with the girl. Breathlessly, the girl says, “I love your music,” and Catra smiles. The compliment definitely means more to her now that she’s making what she wants to make. “Thank you.”
“The new album is amazing,” the girl continues, “I can’t believe you made it all by yourself without a record label.”
“Well, my friend Entrapta helped with the production, and I had a studio musician for the drums, but,” Catra shrugs, “yeah, besides that, it was all me.”
“It’s amazing,” the girl says, “everyone loved it. I bet you’ll get another Grammy for it.”
“I don’t know about that, but I appreciate that you guys believe in me and in my art,” Catra says, “anyway, we should probably catch up with our friends now. It was nice to meet you.”
“You too,” the girl says, and calls after them, “you guys are a cute couple!”
Adora laughs as they head down the driveway. “I didn’t know you’d made an announcement.”
“I haven’t,” Catra replies, “but we post cute pictures on Instagram, walk around holding hands, and we’re both pretty obviously gay, so… I guess it’s natural they’ve made some assumptions.”
They meet Bow and Glimmer at the end of the driveway of the next house, and Bow nods towards one across the street. “We’ve done the next two while you two were there.”
“Slackers,” Glimmer says jokingly, and then adds to Catra, “this is basically going to be a meet and greet tour through Etheria, you know.”
“Trust me, I know,” Catra says, “but apparently carolling is an essential Christmas activity, so I’ll deal with it. Thankfully, I didn’t decide to wear the ugly Christmas sweater my fashionably inept girlfriend bought for me, so I’m prepared for selfies.”
Adora pouts in offence. “I’m not fashionably inept!”
“I hate to say it, but I agree with Catra,” Glimmer replies, “you are. You’re literally wearing Crocs.”
“Bow likes my Crocs,” Adora says, “right, Bow?”
Bow laughs nervously. “Uh, yeah. Sure, Adora.”
“Actually, that reminds me,” Catra says, pulling something from her coat pocket, “merry not-yet-Christmas.”
Adora frowns, tearing the wrapping paper off a small box. It almost looks like a ring box, but when she pops it open, there’s… a Santa Croc charm inside. She laughs, pulling her girlfriend in for a hug. “Thanks, baby. I knew you secretly liked my Crocs. I’ll get you a pair and then we can have matching charms—”
“Please don’t.”
“Already picking the colour.”
xi. the eleventh day of christmas
“I have no idea how you managed to make yourself busy on Christmas Eve, but I kind of applaud your dedication to the cause,” Catra says as she chops up a carrot in preparation for dinner tomorrow, “I know we helped with dinner prep last year, but still. You had an entire list purely for today.”
“This might be an unpopular opinion, but I think Christmas Eve is better than Christmas Day,” Adora says, “also, today’s the day where I have a few Christmassy rituals I need to do, or it’s not Christmas.”
“Christmas rituals?” Catra raises her eyebrows, pulling another carrot over to herself and starting to chop it. “Is this the part where you sacrifice me to like, Santa Claus or something?”
“Oh, for sure,” Adora laughs, “I’ve already got my knife and the sacrificial rock ready in the garden.”
Catra mimes putting the knife in her hand in the back pocket of her jeans. “I’ll just hang onto this.”
Adora laughs, pulling her in for a kiss. “I love you. Anyway, we have to finish up helping Razz with the prep—”
“So basically when she kicks us out of the kitchen,” Catra hums in reply, “got it.”
“Then we’ve got to watch Home Alone. The first two, obviously,” Adora says, “I always watch them on Christmas Eve, and we skipped it last year because someone wanted to go to bed.”
Catra smiles sheepishly. “We weren’t dating then. I wanted an excuse to snuggle with you and falling asleep and rolling over worked wonders.”
“Well, we’re watching both of them this year,” Adora says, “you’ll notice I missed them out when we had our Christmas movie marathon.”
“Does this mean getting the onesies out again?” Catra asks, and when Adora nods, she laughs. “Okay. But you have to cuddle me.”
“Deal,” Adora says, “that brings me onto our other item of business. When it gets dark, we need to go for a drive and look at Christmas decorations.”
“Okay, captain,” Catra says, finishing off the last carrot, “sounds cool.”
Razz swoops in and takes the knife from Catra, pouring the chopped carrots into a pot for later. “Okay, I don’t need any more help. Run along, dearies. Old Razz will get Christmas dinner ready.”
Catra starts to protest. “Razz, you really shouldn’t—"
Razz hushes her quicky. “Don’t be silly. You’re turning into Adora, she’s always been a little worry-wart. Go. You helped enough.”
“Come on, before she gets the broom out,” Adora laughs, taking Catra by the hand. She worries a lot about Razz, especially now she’s moved out, even though they hired a carer to check in on her every day. But she’s trying to relax about it a little bit. “We can get started on Home Alone. Have you ever seen it?”
“Like I answered at the start of every Christmas movie we watched the other day,” Catra says, “no, I haven’t. I told you, I basically spent my Christmases doing nothing for the first twenty-one years of my life.”
“Well, for the next 77 years, I’m going to make Christmas amazing for you,” Adora says, tugging Catra into the lounge. It’s still daylight outside, but Adora draws the curtains and switches the tree lights on for that Christmas effect.
“I don’t think I’m going to live until I’m a hundred, but I appreciate the optimism,” Catra says, “I’m going to get changed. I’ll drag your onesie out of the closet for you.”
Adora realises suddenly that Catra’s present is in the closet, so she can’t go anywhere. The wrapped box is big enough for her to realise what it is easily. “Wait! You put the DVD in,” Adora thrusts the box over to her, “I’ll get the onesies. You can’t go in the closet.”
Catra raises her eyebrows, smirking. “What’s in the closet, Adora?”
“Nothing, you just can’t go in there,” Adora lies unconvincingly, rushing out of the room. She changes into her own onesie, and hangs out with Catra’s beside her until the other girl comes into the room. She smiles nervously and says, “I thought I should supervise. Just so you don’t go peeking.”
Catra snorts with laughter. “Oh, that’s why you want to watch me undress. Totally no other ulterior motives, hm?”
Adora blushes, rolling her eyes, and she tosses the onesie at her girlfriend. “Just get changed, asshole.”
“Ouch, that’s mean,” Catra says, and she slips her jeans off, ‘accidentally’ dropping the onesie she’d slung over her shoulder. She smirks, leaning down slowly to pick it up, and Adora can’t tear her eyes away. “Wow, pervert,” Catra laughs as she pulls the onesie on, tossing her AC/DC sweater across the room to reveal she isn’t wearing a bra.
Adora gulps, and she knows she’s flushed when she replies, “I’m allowed to perv on you, you’re my girlfriend.”
Catra laughs, zipping the onesie up. “Fair enough. Come on, let’s watch your lame movie.”
She holds out her hand, and Adora reaches up and takes it. They get settled on the couch, Catra resting her head on Adora’s shoulder, Adora’s arm around her gently, and watch the movie.
Adora realises it’s maybe not the best movie to watch with Catra about fifteen minutes into the whole thing. Kevin outright wishes he didn’t have a family, and Adora remembers the theme of the movie quite quickly. She glances down at Catra, and like her girlfriend read her mind, she laughs quietly, shuffling closer to her.
“Baby,” Catra says, “I’m not so sensitive that I’m going to cry at a movie about a whining kid who’ll learn in the end that family is all that matters.”
She seems fine throughout the movie, until just before the final act. When Kevin asks the Santa Claus guy for his family back, Adora feels her girlfriend tense next to her. And as he’s walking home, and sees the happy family enjoying Christmas together, Adora hears Catra sniff quietly, and reach up with a hand to wipe at her eyes as subtly as she can.
“Hey,” Adora whispers, “I can switch it off.”
“No, it’s fine, really,” Catra says, and when she looks up, she smiles, “I just—I kinda felt that part pretty hard. Reminded me of—well, me, as a kid, after I was taken away from my birth mom. I don’t remember a lot from that time now, but afterwards, all I really wanted was to go home.”
Adora hugs her tightly, and opens her mouth to apologise for her movie choice. Catra doesn’t let her.
“But, hey,” Catra says, nudging Adora, “I’m home now. I always will be, as long as I have you.”
She turns back to the TV and leaves Adora to blush quietly as the movie plays. Things brighten up in the third act, Catra laughing at the Wet Bandits getting messed up, and by the end of the movie, she’s the one who gets up and puts the next DVD in.
After the second movie finishes, they head out to the car, still onesie-clad, because according to Catra, “we’re in the car, it’s totally fine.”
They drive around what feels like all of Etheria, looking at Christmas lights and decorations, pointing out their favourites, and Adora feels that warm, magic glow that you can only every really feel at Christmas time.
When the time feels right, she says, “oh my god, what’s that?”
Catra frowns. “What’s what?”
“Up in the sky,” Adora says, and Catra catches onto what she’s doing, rolling her eyes fondly. “I think… I think I just saw Santa in his sleigh. Come on, we’ve got to get home and go to sleep or we won’t get our presents.”
Catra laughs, but she nods. “Okay, dummy. Floor it.”
She doesn’t actually floor it, but they drive home, and when they get out of the car, Adora grabs Catra’s hand and rushes inside with her. She takes her through the house, past a confused Razz, into the kitchen.
“Milk and cookies,” Adora says, “we need to put some by the chimney for Santa. And a carrot for the reindeer.”
Catra laughs, heading over to the fridge for the milk. “Whatever you say, baby.”
“One year, I went to get milk out for Santa,” Adora says, chuckling at the memory, “and my mom was like ‘you know Adora, I think Santa probably fancies some wine this year’ and I still didn’t realise she was the one drinking it.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t call her out for letting Santa drink-drive,” Catra says as Adora plates up some cookies, “also, wine and cookies is a weird pairing. Maybe you should’ve left Santa a cheese board.”
“Funny,” Adora says, taking Catra’s hand as they take the milk, cookies and a carrot through to the lounge to place by the fireplace, “okay, follow me.”
Adora doesn’t give her much choice – she’s still holding Catra’s hand – and she tugs her through to the bedroom, nodding to the bed. “Lie down.”
Catra raises her eyebrows, glancing at the clock. “It’s like, seven-thirty.”
“Just do it.”
“Fine, fine,” Catra rolls her eyes fondly, clambering into bed, clearly waiting for Adora to follow her. Adora doesn’t. She tugs open her bedside table drawer and pulls out a book, holding the cover up to Catra. “The Night Before Christmas?”
“A classic,” Adora says, “I’m going to read it to you. Close your eyes.”
Catra gives her a look that reads a little bit like seriously? But after a few moments of holding Adora’s gaze, she resigns herself and nods, closing her eyes. “What now?”
“Just relax,” Adora tells her, “and listen to the story,” she pauses, clears her throat, and begins, “Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse…”
“…Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!” Adora finishes, closing the little book and feeling like Christmas Eve is finally complete. She looks down at her girlfriend, and for a moment, she thinks Catra legitimately has fallen asleep.
But then slowly, she opens one eye – the blue one – and peers up at her. Adora smiles, and Catra’s amber eye opens too. After a few moments, she stretches, and glances towards the door.
“Cute story, but can I, like, get up now? Or is this the part where you sacrifice me to Santa Claus?”
“It’s definitely the part where I sacrifice you to Santa Claus.”
“Oh, good,” Catra says sarcastically, “will I turn into an elf?”
“Thought you already were one,” Adora smirks, “you’re short enough.”
Catra scoffs in offence. “Oh, just because you’re freakishly tall. What are you, a Christmas giant?”
“That’s not even a thing.”
“I’ll make it a thing.”
xii. the twelfth day of christmas
When Adora opens her eyes, it takes a few moments for her to realise it’s Christmas.
The realisation hits her like a freight train, and she jumps up in surprise, startling Catra awake. Adora meets her tired, confused frown with a grin. “It’s Christmas!”
“Oh, yeah,” Catra realises, yawning, “what time is it?”
Adora shrugs. “Doesn’t matter, it’s Christmas. Come on, let’s get up and open presents.”
She grabs Catra’s hand and pulls her up. Catra yawns again, following her quietly as Adora pulls her through to the lounge where the tree is. After Catra had fallen asleep last night, Adora snuck into the lounge, deposited Catra’s present under the tree, drank some of the milk, took a bite out of the carrot, and ate all four cookies they put out.
Catra notices that the moment they walk into the room. “Damn,” she comments, looking at the crumbs left on the cookie plate, “Santa cleaned us out.”
Adora laughs. “He has a healthy appetite.”
“Mhm,” Catra hums tiredly, yawning. She glances over at the tree, opening her mouth to say something, and then frowning at the big box lying right in front of it. “That’s not for me, is it?”
“It is,” Adora says, “I had a feeling you’d know what it was just from the size of the box—”
“You didn’t get me a guitar,” Catra turns to her, wide awake now, waiting for her to say it’s a joke. “Adora. Tell me you didn’t.”
“Open it,” Adora shrugs, “and before you get all dramatic about spending, I have a good job and it really wasn’t that big a deal.”
Catra opens her mouth to protest, but at a rare stern look from Adora, she hauls the box over to the couch and rips the wrapping paper off. At the look of the box, Catra lets out a throaty laugh and rolls her eyes. “I should’ve known you’d do something like this.”
She opens up the box, carefully unwrapping the instrument, and Adora shrugs, smiling. Back in October, when Adora went to visit Catra on tour, they’d gone into a guitar store. Catra had played a few and liked one in particular but decided against buying it after deliberating for a while. Adora made a note of the model and colour and ordered it for her Christmas present.
“Thank you,” Catra leans over and pulls her in for a kiss, telling her, “you really didn’t need to do this.”
“You’re happy, I can tell,” Adora says, “I wanted to do it.”
Catra rolls her eyes. “I’m happy because I’m with you. That’s why. And since you make me so happy…” she pauses, carefully setting the guitar aside to go over to the tree herself and pick up a bag, “here.”
Adora takes the bag with a frown, and when she opens it, realising what it is, her jaw drops. “Baby… Cartier?”
“It’s one of the love bracelets,” Catra explains, and Adora just stares at her, “I lock it on you, and keep the key. It’s—it’s kind of like a present for me too, in a way, because I get to see it on you and know that you’re mine. But it’s more…” she pauses, taking a breath, and meets Adora’s gaze with a gentle smile, “I know it’s not exactly easy to be with me sometimes, with the job I have. I’m away a lot, touring, and I know it’s not easy because I know how much I miss you. So, when I’m away, you can look down at it, and you’ll know I’m there with you, even if I’m not there physically. Because I’ll always be right…” she reaches forwards and holds her hand over Adora’s heart, “here.”
Adora leans in and kisses her, and Catra laughs against her lips, leaning into the kiss, wrapping her arms around Adora’s waist.
“I love you,” Adora says, by way of a thank you, and then says the actual words, “thank you so much.”
“Can I?” Catra nods down at her wrist, and Adora bobs her head in confirmation. Catra leans forwards and takes her wrist gently, picking the bracelet out of its box and carefully locking it onto Adora’s wrist. Then, she brings Adora’s hand up to her lips and kisses the back of it. “I love you. And I’m so thankful every single day that I met you. You showed me how to be happy, you’re so patient with me, and I’ve never laughed so much in my life. Thank you for that. Thank you for giving me joy.”
Adora manages a quiet, wonderstruck laugh at the words. She cups Catra’s jaw again, bringing her in for another kiss. She opens her mouth to tell Catra everything she makes her feel, but all she manages is three words.
“Merry Christmas, Catra.”
Catra smiles, and finally says, “Merry Christmas, Adora.”