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Images of Catra’s green eyes flashed in Adora’s mind again. Those lifeless, empty orbs belonging to the puppet her Catra was turned into. The disturbing voice of Horde Prime mixed with Catra’s hollow one torturing her ears again.
Unaware to the fact that she was dreaming, Adora’s hand reached forward, but Catra only seemed to get further. She couldn’t reach her. Catra was being taken far away from her and she couldn’t do anything about it.
Adora screamed. Desperately, painfully. Even breathing was becoming a complicated task for her. Everything turned dark, and Catra’s emotionless and monotonous voice echoed in her mind again.
You broke my heart.
“Adora.” A voice was heard in the distance as her vision began to get blurry. “Adora!”
With another scream, Adora finally opened her eyes. Confused at first, she looked at her surroundings, searching for something – or someone. Two hands urgently grabbed her shoulders and kept her in place, stopping her abrupt and alarmed movements.
And there she was, Catra. Her Catra. She wasn’t the mind controlled Catra who appeared in her nightmares, this Catra’s eyes were blue and yellow, and her hair was longer, reaching her shoulders. And her expression did show emotion; concern this time.
“Catra.” Adora finally spoke in almost a whisper, her rapid breathing beginning to calm down.
“Are you okay? You’re shaking.” With her claws retracted, Catra’s hand moved to her girlfriend’s forehead. “And sweating.”
“I’m okay.” Adora shook her head. Though that wasn’t entirely true. “It was just… a bad dream.”
“Was it that nightmare again?” Hesitantly, Catra dared to ask, “The one about me when I was… chipped?” She struggled to say the word.
“… Yes.” Adora looked away. “That one.”
Catra averted her eyes as well, staying silent until two specific words urged to leave her mouth. “I’m sorry.” She spoke in a low tone.
Adora sighed, her expression growing a bit warm while he placed a hand on Catra’s shoulder. “What he did to you is not your fault.”
“But Adora, I–”
“Don’t start again.” Adora pleaded before adding a low, “Please.” Slowly, she dared to move her hand up to cup Catra’s face, her fingers barely brushing her hair. “Just stay here with me.”
Catra’s face showed she was still conflicted. Still, she respected Adora’s wishes and lied next to her again, face to face. Waking each other up from nightmares wasn’t uncommon, unfortunately for them both.
And some of them usually had to deal with their fear of losing the other. Sleeping beside each other was comforting for them both not only in terms of sharing a bed with the one they loved, but also because seeing the face of the person they dreamt of losing was almost an instant way to calm them down.
“Maybe this is a senseless idea, but isn’t there some kind of magic which deals with dreams?” Catra wondered. “Maybe there’s a way to stop the bad ones.”
Adora’s eyes went wide open for a split second. “Honestly, I’ve never thought of it. We could go to Mystacor and ask Glimmer’s aunt or any of the sorcerers there.”
“We could.” Catra nodded.
Lying on her back, Adora’s eyes looked at the ceiling. “Did you have any good dreams recently? Or were they all nightmares?”
“Hmmm.” Catra tried to remember, imitating Adora’s position. “Some of them have been nice. I’ve missed those.”
Out of mere curiosity, Adora asked, “What were they about?”
Catra opened her mouth to speak, but close it again when she realized how embarrassing her next words were. “Things.” She murmured.
“Come on, tell me.” Adora’s head slightly turned to look at Catra, and found out she was blushing. A grin instantly appeared on her face. “It’s related to me, isn’t it?”
“No it’s not.” Catra lied through her teeth.
“Then why is your face red?” Adora teased.
“My face is not red.”
“Yes it is!” In a swift motion, Adora jumped to hug Catra, trapping the girl in her arms and rubbing her cheek with hers. “Your cheeks are even warm, it’s so cute.”
“Not this again.” Already knowing the outcome if she tried to freed herself from Adora’s grip, Catra looked away out of pure embarrassment.
“I really want to know.” Adora insisted in a pleading tone. “Please?” Catra said nothing. “Pretty please?”
“Fine, fine!” Catra sighed deeply, once again unable to say no to her girlfriend. “Just don’t look at my face.”
“Guess I’ll have to accept your conditions.” Adora spoke as she buried her face in Catra’s shoulder, her arms still around the other woman’s waist.
She swallowed, having a bit of trouble finding the words and praying she wouldn’t stutter. “You told me that you dreamt about a future of us together with Glimmer and Bow when you were in the Heart of Etheria, right?”
“I remember.”
“W-well,” Catra’s voice was impossibly lower. “A few days after we talked about that, I dreamt of it. Of us getting older together, without any wars to fight in,” She paused. “Wearing similar clothes since it’s tradition here if I remember correctly.”
“It’s tradition for married couples.” Adora corrected.
Feeling her own body grow even warmer, Catra found surprising how easily the word slipped from her mouth. “Exactly.”
When Adora understood the implication of Catra’s words, she moved her face away from her shoulder and looked at her with wide, surprised but happy eyes. “Catra.” Was the only thing she could say.
“I-I don’t mean we should get married now.” Catra mumbled. “B-but maybe someday?”
“Catra.”
“Only if you want to though.”
“Catra.”
“And if you don’t, that’s completely fin–”
Catra was silenced by Adora’s lips. She didn’t take more than two seconds to respond to the kiss, letting Adora’s tongue part her mouth and brushing hers in the process. One of her hands went to Adora’s neck while the other blindly looked for the blonde’s hand, intertwining their fingers.
The need to breathe caused them to eventually break the kiss, but their foreheads kept pressed together. Catra could only stare into Adora’s mesmerizing eyes, unable to articulate a word. It was Adora the one who ended up breaking the ice.
“I would love to marry you someday.” Her voice was sweet, tender, loving. “I’ve also dreamt about that as well.” She admitted, her face being the one turning red now.
“Have you?”
Adora nodded. “When I dreamt about the future, it always included you. Always.”
Catra felt like crying. In a good way. Even when they had been enemies, Adora’s subconscious never stopped thinking of her, believing in her. “I love you.” Catra blurted out. She usually didn’t say it that easily, but it just came to her. She had to say it.
And once again, Adora’s response was and will always be, “I love you too.”