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Catra sat on the windowsill, taking in the field of grass below the castle. It was dark, but she could see the wind being swept through the field. The leaves on the trees swayed in the warm summer air. She let out a deep breath; one that had been stuck inside her for ages.
"Catra?"
Catra looked to where Adora lay, where she was rubbing the sleep that was stuck in her eyes.
"You okay, Adora?"
Adora stretched a little and gazed at Catra from their bed; Catra was bathed in moon and star-shine, hues of blue and black cascading over her. She smiled warmly at Catra. "I was going to ask you the same thing. What are doing at the window in the dark of night, trying to be mysterious?"
Catra smirked and looked out the window once more. "Maybe I am. You have a problem with that?" Adora shook her head. "But seriously," Adora pushed a little, "are you alright?"
Catra didn't make eye contact.
"I keep thinking about.." Catra hesitated and scratched her arm, though it didn't really itch. "I keep thinking about the things I did to you when I was still in The Horde."
Adora was silent for a moment.
She patted the empty space in their bed softly. "Come here, Cat."
Catra peeled herself from the windowsill and sat gently on the bed, still avoiding eye contact. Adora grazed Catra's arm and then her cheek, resting it softly there. Catra finally looked at her.
"None of this was your fault, Catra." Adora's voice trembled as she looked into the equally traumatized girl's eyes. "You have to know that." Catra placed her hand atop Adora's, the one that was still caressing her own cheek. "But.. it is. If I would've just.." Her breathing wavered. She took a deep breath in to try and collect herself. "If I would've listened and went with you at the beginning, none of this would've ever happened."
Adora shook her head vehemently and grabbed Catra's hands in her own.
"Catra, you were a cog in a fucked up machine. All of us were. If The Horde wanted to, they could've easily tossed us to the side and continued on with their twisted plan. Without us." Catra stared down at their joined hands but didn't respond.
"You didn't come up with any of those plans, now did you?" Catra looked up at Adora and shook her head, confirming what Adora already knew. "You didn't want to do what The Horde made you do, right?" Catra shook her head yet again. Adora lay her hands on Catra's shoulders.
"Look at me, Catra."
Catra's puffy, wet eyes met Adora's.
"You only did what you had to do in order to survive." Adora paused a moment. "We all did."
Catra nodded for a last time and hung her head, and the sobs that suddenly wracked through her echoed in the large castle bedroom.
Adora immediately shot forward and took Catra into her embrace. She watched a girl that she had known her entire life grasp desperately onto her nightgown and wail into her chest. Adora stroked Catra's short hair and whispered sweet nothings to her.
"It's okay Catra, you're alright. I'm here. I'll always be here."
"I love you, Adora," Catra managed to gasp out through her hiccups and shaking. Adora let out a sob of her own. "I love you too."
The two cried for a long while. Exhausted and weak, they molded into each other in the morning light.
As Catra finally lost consciousness, she felt at peace. Adora's word was exactly that, and Catra knew that the girl never said anything she didn't mean. If everything else in the world was upside down, Catra could still count on Adora staying by her side.