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Chapter Text

3rd Professional Season
First Game of the Season

The stadium lights were bright and just a little too harsh. The strong scent of beer hung in the air. The screams of the fans and too familiar chants of the more die-hard, hardcore supporters echoed loudly. At first, it was overwhelming. The lights. The noise. The sight of the crowd.

The Fright Zone, as the stadium was dubbed years ago, was loud and tonight it was full. Every seat was filled, most by the home fans, but there were some supporters of their opponent in the crowd as well.

Chants and cheers echoed. The stadium’s retractable roof was open for this game, which Adora was grateful for. If the roof was closed, it would have made the already thunderous applause and screams of the crowd almost unbearable.

Adora Grayskull was in the middle of her warm-ups alongside the other bench players. During games, FC Horde always had their bench players do their warm-ups on the south side of the stadium, behind one of the goals. They did a mix of stretching and quick exercises to keep the muscles loose and ready.

The warm-ups were always in direct view of the Force Captains. They were some of the Horde’s more hardcore fans and the official supporter’s group. They were intense; constantly heckling players from the other team (whoever it may be that week), the referee, and even fans of the opposing team.

They spent the entire ninety minutes of the game chanting, jumping, and waving homemade flags or scarves bought from either the team store or some of the local shops. Some members of the Force Captains were actually pretty nice. They would usually give out a hand-made trophy to one of the players at the end of every season. But some of them were… too fierce in their fandom.

Even now, despite the fact that she had been doing this for about three and a half seasons now, Adora would still feel a little dizzy and a little anxious. When she looked up, she could see nearly eighty-thousand people, almost all dressed in varying styles of FC Horde’s jerseys, staring back at her. Their eyes were watching and scrutinizing her every move.

Every bad pass, whether it was her own fault or her teammate’s; every missed shot on goal, every time she lost the ball during a dribble, every missed tackle… all of it, every single mistake was held against her. It was held against everyone on her team. Even longtime fan favorites like her team’s captain, Huntara, couldn’t escape the judgment from their fans.

It was a love and hate relationship. There were days where she really loved their fans; like when they showed their support for her on social media and in the stadium when her grandmother died… RIP Razz… Instinctively she brought her arm up and kissed the glasses tattoo as she continued on with her warm up.

Razz had a unique pair of glasses, Catra once asked her if they were custom made when she saw a picture of them, and so she decided to honor her by getting them tattooed on her forearm.

Other days though, especially after particularly bad games, games where she was already angry and frustrated with herself, she would leave the stadium to jeers and insults. Even when she got home, she still wasn’t rid of it.

She would open her socials and either be greeted by a plethora of DMs, some wishing that she would get injured in the next game, some demanding that she never wear the Horde uniform again, some bearing threats… More than once, she had to block people or make police reports (the threats weren’t always exclusive to her, sometimes they targeted her family as well). She didn’t look herself up online anymore. It usually just brought more stress, doubt, and even anger.

Catra had it the worst though. Whatever backlash Adora faced for a simple mistake in a game, Catra faced it ten-fold. Somehow, just the mere fact that she was a magicat was held against her. ‘Fans’ (a term that Adora used very loosely whenever she thought of those specific incidents) would often scream some very unsavory things at Catra for simple mistakes.

They were things that made Adora see red and filled her with rage. More than once, she had to be restrained by the stadium’s security and sometimes even her own captain. Most of those ‘fans’ were banned from most stadiums in the league now, per the rules of the league; but that didn’t stop them from going online and continuing the verbal abuse.

The whistle sounded harshly, breaking through the angry screams of the fans. The referee sprinted to the group of players, their yellow uniform a sharp contrast to the sea of pink and red on the field. They were all arguing. Arguing with each other. Two of Adora’s teammates were animatedly discussing the alleged foul with one of the players from Bright Moon Alliance. Arms were waving wildly and for a moment, it looked as though someone might even throw a punch.

Adora didn’t see the face of the Bright Moon player, her back was turned so that just the last name Knight number 6 on her bright pink jersey was visible to give Adora any idea of who it was. She racked her brain, trying to remember who that player was… A took a second but a name finally presented itself in her head… Juliet Knight.

She was a regular starter for Bright Moon if Adora remembered correctly. She usually anchored the midfield for them. Her play style was more defensive; she often joined the attack but her main job on the field was to be the first line of defense and try to break up any plays before it got to Bright Moon’s half.

Adora’s gaze trailed a few paces away from the mix of Bright Moon and Horde players arguing. One of the Bright Moon players on the ground. Adora had missed whatever had happened but she assumed that someone from the Horde tackled the Bright Moon player to stop the attack from advancing.

Another Bright Moon player was around the group, but she elected to ignore the arguing. She looked young. Maybe around Adora’s age. She had short hair, dyed pink. Adora couldn’t see the name or number on the back of her jersey, but she was pretty sure that she’d met that player before in some league media day event.

She just couldn’t remember the woman’s name at the moment. The unknown player reached out her hand to the player on the ground, helping her up. After a moment, Adora realized who it was… Mara She-Ra.

Mara took the offered hand and got to her feet. She stepped past her teammate and towards the three players arguing. She put her hand on Knight’s shoulder, and then said a few words to the two Horde players. Adora couldn’t hear what was said. The boos and jeers of the crowd as Mara got up were drowning out whatever was said on the field. Mara ushered Knight away, leading her to the teammate that had helped her up.

The ref finally made it to the group. She reached into her pocket and immediately brandished a yellow card and pointed to one of the Horde players, who began to argue with the ref until her teammate pulled her away.

Oh, Huntara… Adora cringed as she watched her captain continue to yell at the ref as she was ushered away. It was really hard to do warm-ups when the game was getting this intense and the score was so, so close. It was 1-1 right now and tempers on both teams were running high.

Unfortunately, her captain could be a little intense during games. That fire was a big part of why she was team captain though. She held her team to a high standard, she held herself to a high standard, but unfortunately, she tended to get a little too into it. Too invested in what was going on in the game (and even practice, which led to constant friction between her and Catra). Her emotions ran high and sometimes it caused issues between her and the refs…

The ref ignored whatever insults Huntara was spouting off. A good thing for FC Horde. Adora continued on with her warm-up… or at least she tried to. She did the high-knee workout that their trainer showed them, but her head was turned, her gaze on the field and what was going on there.

Mara She-Ra. Her childhood hero was here. Right here in the same stadium, playing on the same field that Adora had played on. She-Ra was a legend. She began playing as a poor kid from Eternia but her skills quickly got her noticed by scouts from some of the top clubs in Etheria. At the age of twelve, she was scouted by Bright Moon Alliance and brought to Etheria to play for their academy. At sixteen, she signed for them professionally. She made her professional debut just a day after signing for them and over the course of nine years, she won numerous trophies with them.

She-Ra had also won a few trophies with the Eternian National Team. She hadn’t won the major trophy with the national team, the World Cup, but still… Those continental soccer trophies meant something… At least to Adora, they did.

She-Ra left Bright Moon for a few years, plying her trade in Eternia and a few other countries. There were several rumors on why she left. Some believed that it was so she could challenge herself and become better for the national team. Others reported (another term that Adora used loosely sometimes) that she had some relationship trouble and thus requested to leave for a change of scenery…

It didn’t matter now though… Mara was back in Etheria and playing with Bright Moon once more. Actually, this was her first game with Bright Moon since her return.

It was also the first game of the season. All eyes were on them. It was speculated that it was because of Mara’s return, but the very first game being played this season was against FC Horde and the Bright Moon Alliance; two bitter rivals.

The games were known for getting testy. Yellow cards were a constant. Sometimes even punches were thrown between players. Even the supporters would brawl with each other during and after the game, most of them were a drunken mess by the time that happened and even the sober fans in attendance would partake in that as well.

The young player from Bright Moon plucked the ball from where it was on the ground, forgotten after the foul on Mara. Adora paused her warm-up, watching intensely as her childhood hero took it from her teammate. The mystery teammate’s back was turned to Adora finally, so she saw the name and number on the jersey: Moon 27.

Oh yeah… Adora had met her before. There was something else about that name that was familiar though… She thought back… Moon… And then she realized it was the same name as Bright Moon’s current coach: Angella Moon.

Adora soon became aware that all of her teammates on the sidelines stopped warming up. They were all watching as Mara took the ball to a spot just outside of the goal box. All of her teammates were waiting with her, holding their breaths as Mara placed the ball down.

Her teammates on the field hurried to the goal box, forming a quick wall. Huntara yelled out instructions, trying to organize them. A few of Bright Moon’s players were in the box now as well, waiting…

Mara took a couple of steps back. The other player, Moon, stood outside of the box as well, as if she might be taking the kick instead of Mara. There was no way though. Mara was an expert when it came to free kicks. Giving up a foul this close to their own goal, with Mara of all people taking it… It was like a death sentence. Adora had watched her hero score enough goals from this spot while she was growing up.

The whistle sounded again, Mara jogged up to the ball and kicked. It sailed over the wall of Horde players. All of them jumped but no one could reach it. The Horde’s goalkeeper leapt, hand outstretched to block. It curved in the air, spiraling downward now, just barely grazing the tips of the goalkeeper’s gloved fingers and– It hit the back of the net!

Immediately the crowd erupted into a mix of cheers and boos. Plastic bottles and some trash were thrown onto the field, prompting security to scream at the fans and a short stoppage of play.

2-1, Bright Moon!

Mara rushed towards her teammates, high-fiving them and led them back to the center line. Only half an hour remained in the game now. Security tried to get the crowd to settle.

The assistant coach for the Horde screamed at the benched players to resume the warm-up and so they did. They switched up from the high-knee exercise and were now doing quick sprints from one cone to the next. They would do that and then turn back around and form a line, each player waiting for their turn. Some of the players stretched in line as they waited.

As Adora reached the end of the line, her gaze returned to Mara. All children from Eternia grew up wanting to be just like Mara, and she was no exception. Growing up, Adora had a poster of She-Ra on her bedroom wall back in Eternia.

She had several jerseys with She-Ra’s name on the back, followed by her iconic number 10. She had one for each team Mara had ever played on. She stopped wearing the Bright Moon jerseys once she joined FC Horde’s academy team when she was thirteen.

Occasionally she would wear the Eternian jerseys with her hero’s name, but it was only rarely. There were a few who would comment on her social media posts or stories whenever she wore them demanding to know where her loyalties lay, so she found it easier to just avoid wearing them for the most part, rather than get heckled online.

One day, she would share the field with Mara. As teammates, not just rivals. She could see it now. Wearing the familiar sky blue jersey of her homeland, playing the perfect pass, Mara scoring from it. Playing in the World Cup final. Winning the World Cup final. She was closer to that dream now than before. She was a professional. She just had to put her head down, put in the work, and–

“Grayskull!” The assistant called, waving her over. Adora startled out of her thoughts. She threw a quick glance at Catra, who was right behind her in the warm-up line.

Catra shrugged, looking as confused as Adora felt at that moment. Maybe the assistant coach caught her being distracted by the game (or well… She-Ra mostly) and was going to reprimand her and remind her that She-Ra was the enemy right now and to fan-girl after the game. She sighed, Catra casting her a concerned look. Adora broke from the line and jogged over to the assistant coach.

“Yes, Coach Cobalt?” she asked as soon as she reached him.

“You’re going in for Huntara. Straight swap, you’ll be up top. Just stay up and continue the attack.”

Adora froze. It took a moment for the words to register. You’re going in for Huntara… Going in…? Going in…to… The game!

Adora quickly nodded and then sprinted to the bench. She struggled to pull off the gray training pinnie off of her Horde jersey, handing it to this season’s intern kit-man. She vaguely remembered Lonnie telling her that his name was Kyle.

The head coach of FC Horde, a stern man named Hordak, glanced at her and then at the nearby linesman, nodding to him. As Adora approached the sideline, up went the scoreboard. It flickered for a moment and then two numbers came up. In red was Huntara’s 9 and in green Adora’s jersey number appeared. It was a tribute to Mara’s first number as a professional: 30.

Huntara glanced at the sidelines, scowled but hurried off the field. As soon as she crossed the white line of the white, Adora sprinted out. She could hear the echo of the loudspeaker as the in-stadium announcer thundered, “Folks! Give it up for your team captain! Number Nine! Huntara Crimm!!”

Huntara’s face flashed on the screens in the stadium and the crowd erupted into cheers for their star striker. There were a few boos at the announcement but Adora figured that had less to do with Huntara herself and more to do with the decision to sub her out. Huntara had the lone goal for the Horde in this game.

Unfortunately, she was also the one who fouled Mara and she earned a yellow card for that foul. She was a great striker but with her history of earning yellow (and occasionally red cards), Adora figured that the sub had more to do with wanting to prevent their captain from getting a second yellow and forcing the team to play with ten players rather than the standard eleven. Her potential ejection would also affect the next game as well. If she was ejected from this game, then she wouldn’t be available for the one next Saturday.

The announcer’s voice boomed overhead again, “Entering the game now is number thirty! Adora! Graaayskuuuulll!!!” The crowd cheered but not as loudly as they did for Huntara.

At least they’re not booing… Adora considered that an improvement. She was still relatively new. She needed to earn the approval of the fans. Of her coaches.

She signed professionally at seventeen after playing for the academy team since the age of thirteen. She was twenty now. She wasn’t a constant part of the first-team. She made maybe five appearances in her first season. In her second season, she played a lot more, but most of her appearances were from her coming off the bench.

This season was supposed to be more of the same. Some appearances from the bench to close out games. Maybe some starts in the lower stakes games… She was surprised to make the bench for this game. Not only was it the home opener, but it was also against their most hated rivals. Pre-season had been rough though. So many of her teammates had gotten injured and now she, Catra, and Lonnie were expected to fill the void left by them, despite still being labeled prospects for the first team by both journalists and their coaches.

Adora sprinted to the centerline. As soon as she reached it, she turned; her back to Bright Moon’s goal and waited.

There wasn’t much time left now, just under thirty minutes. It was 2-1, Bright Moon. Horde could still tie it.

All Adora needed to do was not lose the ball. If she got the ball, she could hold it, and pass it forward to a sprinting teammate. Maybe she could get an assist.

Just don’t lose the ball, she reminded herself. All the potential situations flashed before her eyes.

If she did lose the ball and Bright Moon scored from her mistake… then it would be too late for them to rally back.

The Bright Moon player, Moon, took a shot at Horde’s goal. The goalkeeper saved it easily and ran up to the edge of the box, drop-kicking it deep to one of Horde’s midfielders. The midfielder received the ball easily and dribbled a few paces. She then kicked it up and forward, towards the center line– This was her chance! Adora threw a quick glance over her shoulder, she was clear! The ball floated towards her. She brought it down with ease and turned, immediately dribbling it down Bright Moon’s half of the field.

She cast a quick glance to her left and right. No one. She was alone. She had no choice but to continue the dribble. She fought the urge to look at the ball, instead trusting that it was by her feet. She kept her head up, watching for any Bright Moon players as she took the ball down the field.

A defender rushed toward her. She could try to dribble through them. Maybe it would impress Mara. All eyes were on this game. If played well, maybe she would get an invite to the next Eternian National Team training camp. The defender was approaching fast! She needed to decide–

“Grayskull!” some called out to her right. Her gaze flickered in that direction. There was a teammate running down the field. Without the ball, they were quicker. Adora opted to pass and sent the ball up in the on-coming path of her teammate. Her teammate ran into the ball and continued the dribble. Adora kept on running as well. The defender that had been marking her switched to her teammate, so her teammate sent the ball forward, a few paces ahead of Adora.

There was a flash of pink as another Bright Moon player rushed past her. Adora quickened her pace, just barely reaching the ball before the Bright Moon player. She scooped the ball up with her feet and turned. The Bright Moon player was closer now. Adora turned again, the Bright Moon followed, though a bit more unsteady now. Adora switched directions for a third time, the Bright Moon player tried to follow suit but she tripped over her own feet and fell to the ground.

Adora continued her mad dash toward the goal. She could hear someone coming up behind her. She was so close to the goal now. She glanced at where her teammate was and saw that they now had two defenders trailing them, so she couldn’t pass to them now. She threw a quick glance at her right, another defender was there and was trying to close her in now.

She continued on towards Bright Moon’s box. She became more and more aware that someone was behind her. She was just inside the box now. She shielded the ball with her left foot and turned– Whoever was behind her tried to stop but their legs gave out and they just slid forward, completely missing Adora and the ball, which gave Adora the space she needed.

It was her and the goalkeeper now. A woman with purple and long hair. She kicked the ball and it sailed right into the upper right corner of the goal, just out of reach of the goalkeeper’s outstretched hand. 2-2! The crowd screamed. Behind Bright Moon’s goal, red smoke erupted, casting that end of the field in a smoky haze. Adora sprinted to her teammates who were nearby and hugged them. A loud, piercing siren sounded throughout the stadium.

After some hugs and high-fives, Adora and her teammates made their way to the centerline, smiles plastered on all of their faces. The announcer’s excited voice boomed over the loudspeakers again, “Goal scored by number thirty! Aaadddooorrraaa!!! Graaayskuuull!!!”

Her face flashed across the in-stadium TVs, followed by a replay of the goal. Adora looked up at the screen as she and her teammates waited for Bright Moon to meet them at the centerline. She watched the replay of her feint and the goal. The crowd cheered loudly at the replay. It played again. Adora’s eyes went wide… Was that…?

It played a third time and Adora realized just who was running behind her on that play, just who she had to beat to score the goal… Mara.

One of her teammates shook her by her shoulder as they went back to their position. They said something to her, probably congratulating her, but she was in too much shock to pay attention to whatever it was. She just beat Mara.

No.

She beat Mara and scored. She beat Mara and scored the tying goal. The goal that should guarantee that they start off the season on even footing with Bright Moon at least.

As Bright Moon slowly made their way back to the centerline, the announcer’s voice boomed once more over the loudspeakers. A sub. Someone from FC Horde sprinted off the field. Adora didn’t catch the name of who was called off but definitely heard the name was who was coming on to replace them.

“Entering the game now is number thirty-three!! Catra D’Riluuuth!!”

The crowd, still high off of the goal, erupted into cheers again! She saw Catra run up to her out of the corner of her eye and held a fist up for Catra to bump as she made her way to the other side of the field.

“Congrats!” Catra whispered as she sprinted by Adora, barely stopping to return the offered fist bump.

“Thanks,” Adora mumbled, still trying to process what just happened. She offered Catra a small smile, Catra returned it, her fangs almost glistening under the too bright stadium lights.

The ref blew the whistle for the game to start again–

The game ended 2-2. Catra got close to scoring what would have been the winner from a ball Adora played to her. Unfortunately, she had misjudged how hard to strike it. The crowd had groaned loudly when it sailed over the goal. Hopefully with it being the first game of the season, the fans wouldn’t be too harsh… Still though, this was a match against their bitter rivals…

Adora wouldn’t want to check social media if she was Catra right now… A part of her did want to check on Catra’s behalf though, if just to block people who dared to talk smack. She used to go online and defend Catra. She used to spend hours of her free time arguing with strangers online. She only stopped after Catra asked her to.

The players all shook hands. Catra found Adora just after she finished shaking hands with that young player from Bright Moon; the one with short, pink hair.

“Well, are you going to ask her?” Catra asked, flashing her a smile.

Adora glanced in Mara’s direction. Two Horde players were shaking hands with her and snapping a couple of pictures with their phones. Even though Mara was a rival, she was still one of the biggest names in the sport and no one could really pass up the opportunity to ask for a photo with her.

Weeks before the game, Adora asked her team if they would be okay if she asked Mara about swapping jerseys. It was a tradition for many players. Trade jerseys with old teammates, friends, or even players you just had respect for. Fortunately, no one else on her team really seemed to want to add a Bright Moon jersey to their collection, which meant that no one really had a problem with her asking Mara. A few of her teammates sneered at the idea though, believing that Mara would never trade with a Horde player.

She had been so ready to ask Mara. She spent weeks hyping herself up. Practicing how she would ask in her room and sometimes in the bathroom in front of the mirror. Now that the moment was here though, her courage failed. The too familiar anxiety that plagued her since she left Eternia hit her.

“I… I don’t know…” Adora stammered, glancing between Catra and Mara. She was a coward. The moment was here and now… And she now felt nothing but dread at the idea. She sighed and focused her attention on Catra now, who was watching her with concern shining in her mismatched eyes.

“You know… Mara might not even want to–”

Catra sighed and grabbed her by her shoulders. She began to push Adora towards Mara. “Wh-what! Wait! Catra!” Adora tried to complain, but Catra ignored her.

“You don’t know until you ask,” Catra huffed in annoyance. Adora turned her head to look at her friend. Her tail was twitching behind her. Usually, that was an indication that Catra was irritated but instead of scowling, Catra offered her a small smile when their eyes met.

They were just a few feet away from Mara now. Her back was to Catra and Adora. The Horde players left and Mara began to walk away, back towards her team.

“Hey! She-Ra!” Catra shouted before Mara could get too far.

She turned, finally noticing them, and gave them both a bright smile. Catra shifted slightly. She was still behind Adora but she put an arm around her. Adora assumed that it was probably to keep her from bolting. A smart move by Catra because she really wanted to run right now.

Mara closed the distance between the three of them, the smile never leaving her face. She held her hand out as soon as she got to them. There was a moment of awkwardness as Adora just stood there, staring at Mara’s outstretched hand. Fortunately, Catra acted fast and took Mara’s hand to shake it. Then Mara offered it to Adora.

“That was a good goal!” Mara congratulated her warmly, and then she asked, “You’re Greyskull, right? The kid from Eternia?”

There was a beat of silence. Adora was still standing, staring at the hand Mara continued to offer, as if she couldn’t believe it was really there. Catra nudged her, gently chiding in her ear, “Dummy…” The gesture snapped Adora out of her surprise. She hurriedly took Mara’s hand and shook it.

“Y-yes!” Adora stumbled over the single word excitedly. Her childhood hero knew her! This was the best day of her life! Her face turned red though as she then realized that she was still shaking Mara’s hand and she hurried to release her hero’s hand. She heard Catra clear her throat behind her.

“Adora, don’t you have something you want to ask?” Catra probed, quietly. Based on the puzzled look Mara gave her though, Adora was certain that she heard Catra.

“Oh! Yes!” Adora began excitedly and then the anxiety returned again.

This was probably stupid. Bright Moon and Horde were rivals. There was no way Mara would even want a Horde jersey in her collection. Still though… She knew that Catra wouldn’t let her leave until she asked Mara. The worst thing Mara could say would be ‘no’, right? So there was no harm in asking… Adora took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves.

“Um… I was wondering… If it isn’t too much trouble that is… And you can totally say ‘no’! But… um…” She was really stumbling over her words now. Her thoughts were racing. What was the best way to ask? She heard Catra sigh again behind her.

“Mara,” Catra began to intercede on her behalf. Mara seemed to understand what was going on though and held a hand up, quieting both of them.

She flashed Adora a kind, understanding smile and chuckled, “You wanna swap jerseys?”

“Yes, please!” Her voice was just a bit high. She was pretty sure that she heard Catra snicker nearby. She felt her face immediately flush. She wasn’t sure if it was because of her embarrassment of looking like such an idiot around Mara or if it had to do with Catra quietly laughing at her.

“Sure thing!” Mara quickly pulled her number 10 jersey off, leaving her in a black undershirt. Adora quickly tried to tug her red number 30 jersey off, but in her haste got tangled up. She struggled for a bit. She could feel her face continue to flush.

“Dude… stop…” Catra sighed in exasperation, and she helped Adora pull the jersey off. Catra handed the jersey back to Adora, who then handed it to Mara with a sheepish smile.

Mara returned the nervous smile with her own amused smile and exchanged jerseys with Adora.

“Looks like you forgot something when you scored,” Mara mused, gesturing to the message on Adora’s own black undershirt.

“Wh-what?” Adora glanced down at her undershirt. In white letters was a simple message: ‘Happy 23rd Anniversary’. She groaned. Her parents’ anniversary was today. She didn’t expect to get in the game, let alone score, but on the off-chance that she did, she wanted to congratulate her parents in-game if she could… Apparently she had forgotten…

She heard Catra’s familiar, squeaky laugh behind her. Great… She looked like an idiot to both her childhood hero and her best friend… This was perfect…

She couldn’t focus on her embarrassment for long though. Seeing the jersey exchange, a camera person for both FC Horde and Bright Moon Alliance hurried towards them and began to snap pictures.

Several were taken. At some point during the impromptu photo-op, Catra moved out of frame and snuck away, leaving just Adora and Mara, who were then instructed to hold up the jerseys, with the names of both players front and center. It took a few moments, but after a while both cameramen were satisfied and left the players alone, thanking them for their patience.

Mara turned to Adora and smiled again, “Anyway, great game today!” She walked away, finally rejoining her team. Adora glanced at the pink jersey clutched tightly in her hands. She-Ra 10… Game worn… And Mara now had her jersey…

The last hour flashed in her head. She saw Mara score… Right in front of her, Mara scored off of a free-kick! Not only that, but she actually shared the field with Mara! And not only that, but she scored against her hero! And her hero told her that she played great today!!

A grin broke out on her face as she stared at the jersey. First game of the season! First goal of the new season! And she swapped jerseys with her favorite player! This was going to be her year! She could feel it!

Chapter Text

This is the Year of Greyskull?

The photo of her and Mara accompanied the headline. It was an article on the official Etherian Professional League’s website. In her head, she knew that the title was just to bring in clicks, to spark excitement among the supporters of FC Horde and maybe give more casual fans another player to watch.

She was currently sitting on the little bench in her locker. She’d been checking her messages and somehow got distracted by her socials. They were in the training locker room today. FC Horde had two different changing facilities for their professional players (they had some for their academy teams as they were definitely not as nice as the ones the pros used).

The locker room used on game days was extremely fancy and large. Each locker had a high-resolution photo of each player as the backdrop for each individual locker. The carpet in that locker room was bright red, with the emblem for FC Horde embroidered on the rug.

The everyday locker room, as they were dubbed, was still nice. It was nicer than some gameday locker rooms they’d used when playing away from their home stadium, the Fright Zone. The lockers and ceiling were glossy white.

A plaque adorned each locker with the last name of the player and their jersey number etched on the shiny metal. To start the season, the lockers were in numerical order. Sometimes this order would get wrecked during the season with some players being brought in after the plaques were put up, but by the time the new season rolled around, the locker room was redone and the order restored.

Her gaze lingered on the picture. She was holding Mara’s pink Bright Moon Alliance jersey, the name She-Ra and number 10 on proud display. She was grinning ear-to-ear. Mara stood beside her, holding out Adora’s red FC Horde jersey: Grayskull 30. Mara was smiling warmly.

Adora’s beaming face in the online image was reminiscent of the one had in an old childhood photo. It was her seventh birthday, her grandmother Razz gave her an Eternian National Team jersey; it was her first non-youth team jersey ever. It bore the name She-Ra, followed by the iconic 10.

The jersey was still one of her most prized possessions. She even brought it with her when she moved to Etheria. It didn’t fit anymore, it hadn’t since she was around nine, but she held onto it. It was special. Now it was folded up in a trunk in her closet along with other precious mementos from her life.

It was Friday, October 17th, almost two whole months since that game against Bright Moon and Mara, and since then Adora had made a name for herself in the league. In September FC Horde played six games.

She came off the bench in the game the week after the one against Bright Moon. In just thirty minutes of play, she had two assists. Hordak had her first the third game of the season and she scored two goals in fifty minutes of play. She started the fourth game, another goal and two assists. Game number five, she played the whole ninety minutes, the first time she had ever done that at the professional level, and she scored her first hat trick, three goals in a single match. Game number six, she had two assists.

She was getting noticed. She was getting calls from her agent almost daily, companies were asking her to endorse their products, and journalists wanted to interview her. Her jersey was now among the top three being sold in the team store. Huntara’s jersey was the second most popular one sold and despite not being on Horde’s roster anymore, longtime fan favorite and still legend Kiara King was still the top jersey sold in the team store.

King hadn’t played for FC Horde in almost eight years now, but her popularity with the fanbase was unmatched. Worldwide, she was a legend. She put Halfmoon on the map back in the day and brought them the furthest they had ever been in a World Cup. She hadn’t won the tournament yet and at thirty-seven, it was looking unlikely that she would but still… She was definitely one of the best to ever play the game.
She was still playing now. She was actually playing for some team in Eternia. Her contract was set to run out at the end of the season though, so she could end up transferring again soon. There were even some rumblings online that she could end back up with the Horde, a rumor that she noticed Catra was following with great interest.

The first few weeks of October had gone by much like September. FC Horde has played four games this month so far; two weekend matches and two midweek. The last game they played was on the 15th and it was a tournament game instead of the standard league game. Despite it being against a much weaker team, Adora started. She scored twice and had two assists before being pulled out around the 60th minute, due to soreness.

So far in October, she had three goals and five assists. Two weeks ago her name had been listed online among the possible call-ups to the upcoming Eternian National Team camp in November. A few days ago her agent called her and told her it was official.

The league would stop play for about two weeks at the beginning of November for the “international break”. Usually, those two weeks meant that Adora had a nice mini-vacation during the season. Training was canceled for a little over a week, allowing the players not called up to their respective national teams a chance to rest. She usually went back to Eternia for a week to visit her family. Catra would travel to Halfmoon and spend the week with her mom.

This time though she wasn’t spending it with her family. She would be flying out to Eternia but it would be for more training, maybe, possibly a game here or there. The list of called-up players would be released on Monday, so she had to stay quiet about the news. Catra knew. But Catra knew everything. She was usually the first person Adora would tell something about. Lonnie knew, just because she was the third roommate in their apartment and happened to be home after Adora got off the phone with the head coach of Eternia.

Immediately after her agent called, Eternian’s head coach called to congratulate her. She couldn’t stop shrieking afterward, prompting a very worried Lonnie to ask her what the matter was when she finally left her room that day.

She was still sitting in the locker room right now, dressed in the familiar grey training uniform with the Horde’s emblem on the front. Even though she was inside, she could still hear the loud rumbling of thunder as a storm passed over the city. Every now and then, after a particularly loud boom of thunder, the lights in the locker room would flicker for a moment, but they never shut off completely.
Even with her ponytail, strains of her blonde hair still stuck to her forehead, which was slick with sweat. Training was called early due to lightning in the area. She assumed that it was raining now. She continued to scroll through her social media. Articles about FC Horde and her play in particular flooded her timeline:

Is Grayskull the next She-Ra?!

A photo of her sprinting down the field with the ball at her and two defenders chasing her down followed that caption.

Rumor: Greyskull to Make Senior International Debut

A picture of her during her time with the U-20 Eternian National Team accompanied that post.

Report: Greyskull Makes Senior Eternian Roster

A photo of the roster for the Eternian National Team followed the post.

Nothing had been officially announced, at least as far as Adora knew. Still, she clicked on the image, which was just a blue ground followed by a list of names. She scanned it, but she wasn’t searching for her name. She knew most of the names on the list. There were a couple she didn’t recognize.

Before she found the name she was looking for, another caught her attention: Teela Gellar. Teela was playing professionally in Eternia right now, but the two of them knew each other. They played together for the U-20 national team last year and together they had been considered a bright spot for an otherwise disappointing U-20 World Cup campaign for Eternia.

Adora hoped that this list was accurate, if only for Teela to make her first appearance in the senior camp as well. She continued to check the list. She saw her own name… But– She didn’t see Mara’s…

She frowned and checked the list again. Still no Mara. Her eyes scanned it a third time then. Nope. A fourth… Was she missing it? No… Mara’s name wasn’t on there. Strange…

Mara hadn’t appeared in Bright Moon’s last two games. But she wasn’t listed on the recent injury reports that were online. She hummed in annoyance as she went back to scrolling through her timeline. Usually, if a player was out injured, it had to be reported. Otherwise, the teams could face fines. It mostly had to do with certain teams in the past using their big names as a way to draw in more fans and then charge them ridiculous amounts for tickets.

She decided that this list must just be a fake and not an actual leaked photo of the roster. Unless she was injured, there was no way the legendary She-Ra would miss a camp with the Eternian National Team.

Adora left that alleged leaked list and went back to scrolling through her timeline. Another headline caught her attention. The photo was the one of her and Mara together:

Rumor: FC Horde’s Rising Star Linked with Rivals Bright Moon Alliance

Her eyes went wide as she read the caption. She read it over a few times. Bright Moon was… linked with her? She clicked on the article, which directed her to a random soccer blog. Probably not the best source for transfer news but whatever… She was intrigued.

She was greeted by the jersey exchange photo and then the article:

FC Horde’s recent rising star Adora Greyskull has been the target of several clubs over the last couple of weeks.

Last couple of weeks? Her agent Shadow Weaver hadn’t told her anything about clubs reaching out to sign her. She read on:

Numerous clubs in Eternia have approached FC Horde about signing the future Eternian legend (legend… She felt a small mix of both pride and embarrassment at being called a future legend). So far FC Horde have rejected all bids for their rising star.

The latest bid for Greyskull was around 7 Million and was made by fellow Etherian club Bright Moon Alliance.

Adora’s eyes went wide again. She reread the sentence. 7 Million… Bright Moon had offered the Horde 7 million? For her? She continued to read:

FC Horde rejected the bid, saying that they have no interest in selling the player. FC Horde have said that they will not consider selling the player at this time as she is important to both their short-term and long-term plans.

It is assumed that Bright Moon is looking for a possible replacement for aging star Mara She-Ra. She-Ra has been mysteriously absent from both matches and training for Bright Moon for the last two weeks.

Adora frowned at that paragraph. Where was Mara? Also… possible replacement? Mara was around thirty-five now but she was still at the top of her game! Were the fans, bloggers, and journalists really so ready to cast her aside like that?! It made her a little angry.

Before she could stew on that paragraph for too long though, a familiar voice broke her out of her spiraling thoughts:

“Are you still staring at that photo? Seriously, Adora, it’s been like two months now!”

Adora glanced up from her phone. Catra was standing in front of her, an amused smile on her face. Her tail swayed behind her. She was now dressed in her “street clothes” as they dubbed them, a pair of dark blue jeans, black sneakers, and a black graphic hoodie. The graphic was of a cat’s face. It looked as though it was painted on with spray paint, some of the lines appeared to be running down the hoodie. The lines detailing the cat's face were gold.

Adora had bought the hoodie for Catra a few weeks ago. It was supposed to be a birthday present but unfortunately, she couldn’t keep a secret to save her life (one of the many reasons that Catra always knew everything that was going on with her). The hoodie quickly became Catra’s go-to choice of clothing.

There were several reasons why Adora chose that specific hoodie for her. Catra’s childhood hero Kiara King was an artist on the side. According to interviews that both of them watched as kids (even if Adora believed that Mara was way better than Kiara, she would still support Catra whenever she would fangirl over King), art helped King relax and gave her an outlet away from soccer.

The graffiti-looking cat was one of King’s designs. It was a recent one, actually. She would usually print her designs out and sell them on clothes. Unfortunately, Adora had been too late to buy the hoodie in stores and had to settle on buying it from some scalper online, probably not her brightest decision but hey, she got the hoodie… And more importantly Catra loved it.

The specific coloring of this hoodie was why she had to buy it. The gold on it not only matched Catra’s one gold eye but also the eyes of her pet cat, Melog. The black on the hoodie also matched Melog’s fur, making it the perfect gift in Adora’s opinion.

Suddenly, Adora became very aware that she was the only one still wearing the training uniform. She had gotten as far as removing her cleats and shinguards but got distracted when her phone dinged. She had gotten a message from her brother Adam, answered it, and then for some reason got distracted checking her socials. Her long black socks were pulled down to her ankles.

A few of her teammates still lingered in the locker room; they were chatting, while some were gathering the last of their personal belongings from the lockers. Different conversations had been going on around her but she hadn’t paid attention to any of them.

“Are you still not dressed?”

Lonnie was walking over to her now. She now stood beside Catra and crossed her arms, looking a lot less amused than her best friend. Like everyone else, apparently, Lonnie had already changed, she’d ditched the training uniform for a pair of black jeans, a leather jacket that was already zipped up to combat the cold the three of them would face whenever they left Horde’s facilities.

“She was staring at that stupid picture of her and Mara together,” Catra supplied, but the small smile on her face made Adora believe that Catra was only calling it stupid as an attempt at ‘good-natured teasing’... Still though… Sometimes it could be hard to tell with her.

“Still?!” Lonnie asked, “Adora!” She winced a bit at how loud Lonnie said her name. “Hasn't it been like months?!”

“That’s not… That’s not what I…” Adora sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Her wrist shifted a bit forward, making her phone dip in the direction of Catra and Lonnie. Her thumb hit the screen, causing the article to scroll all the way to the headline–

“Hold up!”

Catra reached out and took Adora’s phone before she could protest. Lonnie leaned closer to Catra, peeking at the screen. Catra’s eyes narrowed as she read the headline but she was oddly quiet. In the past, whenever the odd rumor about one of them would come up, Catra would crack a joke and laugh at the ridiculousness of it… Not this time apparently...

“Rumor… FC Horde’s…” Lonnie began to read it aloud, her voice fading into silence and then–

“A transfer rumor? You’re really reading a transfer rumor about yourself?” Lonnie sounded just a tad too judgmental.

She glanced at Adora, giving her a disappointing stare then continued, “Adora, you know these are usually untrue, right?” She raised an eyebrow as if to emphasize her point at how ridiculous it was to read such an article.

“It’s probably just some wishful thinking by some Bright Moon fans. Or maybe even something your agent put out there to raise your stock.”

Adora rested her palms on the bench of her locker and looked down at the floor. She figured that the rumor was false. She just assumed that it was created by some fans or wanna-be journalists trying to make a name for themselves. She didn’t think that her agent could possibly be behind it… But what Lonnie said made sense.

Her current contract was good for another season. Sometimes the club liked to negotiate new deals earlier though and with her playing as well as she was right now, her agent Ms. Weaver could negotiate a much higher salary for her, which in turn meant more money for herself.

Add in the rumor that more teams are interested in, especially a rival that is among one of the top clubs in the world… And well… It could force FC Horde to offer her more money than they really wanted to. A big payday for her and her agent.

Adora’s phone slid into her view, which prompted her to glance up. Catra handed her phone back with an unreadable expression on her face. She took the offered phone, frowning a bit as she noticed the very quick twitch of Catra’s tail. That was usually a sign that she was frustrated. Lashing her tail, or even a lightning-quick flicker like she had just done… Yeah… Catra was definitely angry. Was it because of the rumor?

“You know, the two of you really need to get a new agent,” Lonnie said suddenly, glancing between the two of them.

“Kind of hard to do when she was the one who opened her house to us when we got here,” Adora mumbled under her breath.

Originally Ms. Weaver had been a coach for FC Horde. She coached their U-20 team when Adora and Catra first arrived in Etheria and the two of them were placed under her care until they turned eighteen, or until Adora turned eighteen… She was a couple of months younger than Catra and they decided a few months after they signed their first professional contract that they would find an apartment together and split the rent.

At some point, Lonnie got involved in those conversations and now the three of them were living in a three-bedroom apartment a couple of miles away from the stadium, close enough to where they could walk to practice and occasionally games (though lately Adora had been playing enough minutes now that was often too tired after matches to make the two-mile walk back home, she really needed to get her driver’s license).

Adora and Catra didn’t have an agent when they first signed professionally but as their guardian, Shadow Weaver helped them check over the contracts, believing that Mrs. Weaver had their best interest at heart, Adora decided to ask her if she would be willing to be her agent after she got fired from as the U-20 coach a couple of years ago.

She wanted to repay the woman who had opened her home to them after all. Catra followed suit just because of Adora, though she and Shadow Weaver were always at odds.

The only reason Shadow Weaver even considered taking on Catra as a client as well was because Adora argued on her behalf and Ms. Weaver made it abundantly clear that was only taking on as a favor to Adora.

…Yet another thing I owe her for, Adora thought gloomily, mentally adding it to the list.

So far, Ms. Weaver had given them a free place to stay, provided them with food, extra training so they could even have a shot at going pro, and helped them with their contracts…

The list just seemed to grow…

Lonnie sighed and gave Adora an unamused look. She then glanced at Catra.

“I know you don’t care for Weaver-” Adora winced at the lack of Ms. attached to Ms. Weaver’s name. “So, why are you still with her?” Lonnie asked, either not noticing Adora’s reaction or not caring.

Catra’s tail twitched behind her. She crossed her arms, as her ears flickered back against her short hair. Adora looked at her curiously. Lonnie offered to give both of them the contact information of her agent in the past. She refused, of course! She was loyal to Ms. Weaver, but Catra… She figured that Catra would have switched agents immediately.

“I’m…” Catra began to mumble, she was actively looking away from Adora and Lonnie. There was something unreadable in Catra’s expression. Usually, Adora could read Catra fairly well. For some reason though, she couldn’t this time and it bothered her greatly.

Catra sighed heavily and her mismatched eyes fell on both of them once more. Whatever expression that was on her face left, replaced now with one that Adora definitely did know: annoyance.

“I’m hungry,” she whined, her tail now thrashing behind her. An amused smile flickered onto her face… So, it was faux annoyance then…

“Can you please change so we can go?” Catra demanded, her voice now in a mock whine.

Adora pushed herself to her feet, her legs surprisingly still sore from training. She felt exhaustion creeping in and like she could crash at any moment. She shoved the tiredness aside and turned to dig through the little cabinet in her locker that held her “street clothes”.

“Yup!”

***

It was the 60th minute and Adora was drained. Her legs felt like lead as she trudged back up to the center line, waiting for the pass. Her lungs were burning. Her back was still sore from when she hit the ground hard earlier after a particularly bad tackle from the opposing team.

Since she had become a new “face of the Horde”, it seemed as though there was a target on her back. Every game she was now earning her team a free kick or two… or five. Some teams were smart. Some would wait until the ref wasn’t looking and foul her then. Some would only foul her when she was too far away for the free kick to be any real threat.

She was pretty sure that one member of the Force Captains had started bringing in a sign saying Hack-A-Grayskull and was tallying each and every foul she sustained in a game. She would have glanced over her shoulder at the Force Captains to check, but they were on the other side of the field right now, too far away for her to see. Plus, staring up at all those full seats… Sometimes it made her feel just a bit dizzy.

She jumped in place, trying to loosen her muscles as she waited for the pass. One of the Horde’s defenders had the ball now and was passing it to another defender across the box, who passed it back as they tried to wear out the Thaymor United’s attacker. She stopped jumping for a moment and bent down to massage her knee for a quick moment, glancing up to ensure that the ball wasn’t coming for her yet.

Her knee hurt. Her legs hurt. Everything just hurt. Everything was sore. She stopped massaging her knee and stood straight again. The ball was passed slightly up the field, to Catra, who had come into the game just after the first half.

Adora took a few steps to be more in line in Catra’s sight. Her kneecap twinged with a bit of pain as she moved. She hissed and fought the urge to massage it again. She should probably ask for a sub. She could ask for a sub.

It was the 62nd minute now. The score was 3-2, with FC Horde leading. So far, Adora had a goal and an assist, and she even started the sequence that led up to the third goal, Huntara’s goal. Her actual assist was on Catra’s goal, her fifth of the season.

The game was close. It was probably too close for Coach Hordak to really consider letting her sub out. Maybe she should just push through the pain. Push through her exhaustion. The team needed her after all. The fans expected her to be on the field. Everyone was counting on her! Everyone– Catra glanced up mid-dribble where their eyes met. Adora caught Catra looking a little further up the field. Adora nodded and turned, sprinting deep into Thaymor’s half.

“Someone get thirty!” She heard on the sidelines call out.

She clenched her teeth as she ran down the field, biting back the hiss. She heard someone call her name. She threw a quick glance behind her as she ran, Catra was now sprinting down the center of the field without the ball.

Adora looked up, the ball was soaring in the air, dipping slightly now. She kept running but slowed her pace just a bit. She had to time it perfectly. She heard the thunder of footsteps behind her. Someone was rushing to catch up. The ball landed just a few paces in front of her, bouncing on the field. She quickened her pace. Her right foot just made contact with it when–

Pop!

Someone collided with her. She tumbled forward, her body slammed onto the ground.

She bit back a cry. The pain in her leg exploded. She heard a whistle and immediately after, some arguing nearby. She was on her side. She reached out for her leg. It hurt. It hurt so much.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Catra. Catra was standing toe-to-toe with two of the Thaymor players. Her tail was thrashing about as it always did when she was angry. The Thaymor players were waving their arms at her. Some words were exchanged. Adora couldn’t hear them and she was focusing too much on this stupid pain to really read their lips.

She watched as Catra shoved one of the players, which prompted another whistle. The ref was now in her field of vision, rushing in between Catra and the two Thaymor players.

“Hey, kid, you good?” She heard Huntara say nearby. Her captain knelt beside her, putting a hand on her shoulder. Adora glanced away from Catra and whatever situation was playing out there and looked at her captain. Her brows were furrowed and she looked… concerned.

There was more shouting nearby. Huntara turned her head and glanced in the direction of Catra and the Thaymor players. She grumbled and without looking back at Adora said, “Hang tight, kid.”

Huntara then looked behind her and shouted, “Lonnie! Check on Adora! I gotta go deal with–” She growled and gestured in Catra’s direction. She stood back up and jogged over to Catra.

Adora took another glimpse at what was going on. The ref was trying to separate Catra from the Thaymor players. She could see the ref’s lips move, he was saying something to Catra… A warning probably. Huntara was almost there now.

“Hey, Adora, you good?” Lonnie was crouching beside her, a hand on her shoulder.

Adora wanted to nod. She wanted to brush Lonnie off. She wanted to stand back up, take that stupid ball and score another goal to shut Thaymor up. She couldn’t. Her leg felt–

“Do you need a trainer?” Lonnie asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.

Adora nodded. Tears were starting to cloud her vision. Lonnie nodded and turned, waving frantically at the bench. After a moment, she turned back towards Adora and said, “Alright, they’re coming. How are you–” The crowd gasped, drawing Lonnie and Adora’s attention back to Catra.

There were more Thaymor players now. There were more Horde players as well. They were all in a group. She couldn’t even see Catra anymore, but she knew that she was there… Somewhere in the scuffle. There was more arguing. A few of the players were shoving each other.

The crowd erupted in… cheers? Cheers for what?
“What’s going on?” Adora asked through clenched teeth as the pain became even more unbearable.

“I don’t– Oh!” Lonnie’s voice picked up. Adora tried to look into the mosh of players. She saw Catra for a moment. For a brief moment, between a couple of players, she saw Catra, her hand in a clenched fist. She saw a Thaymor player standing across from Catra, cupping their nose as if they had just been punched. The whistle sounded again. The crowd of players came together, blocking Catra from view.

There was more arguing. The whistle blew again… And again… And again… The linesmen were rushing toward the players now too. She heard Lonnie sigh above her.

“A freaking brawl,” was all she said.

She heard someone panting heavily nearby. She turned her head away from the scuffle and saw one of the personal trainers from the Horde sprinting to her. She was new to the organization. A scorpioni woman, Adora was pretty sure her name was Scorpia.

Scorpia crouched down beside Lonnie.

“Hey, what’s going on?” she asked, her voice way too cheery for everything that was currently going on. The shouting nearby intensified. Scorpia glanced away, seemingly finally realizing that a fight was breaking out nearby. She watched as her eyes grew wide.

“Um…” Scorpia murmured, as she watched the situation nearby unfold.

“Aaannnddd now we lost Catra…” Lonnie huffed.

Sure enough, the announcer was heard over the loudspeaker.

“A red card has been issued to Thaymor United player…”

The crowd erupted with cheers at that. Unfortunately, the cheers were short-lived as the next announcement came.

“A red card has been issued to FC Horde player number thirty-three, Catra–”

The collection of boos drowned out Catra’s last name. Adora sighed. She watched as one of the assistant coaches led Catra off the field. Weird. When had they–?
“Hey, do you think you can walk off the field or…?” She dimly heard Scorpia ask. Her leg hurt. But she really didn’t want to be stretchered off, especially in front of everyone. After a moment of hesitation, she nodded. She saw Lonnie stare at her disapprovingly but didn’t say a word. Scorpia helped her to her feet and let her lean heavily on her.

The crowd’s boos quieted down now. Adora could feel all eyes on her as she trudged off the field supported by Scorpia. Her knee felt as though it was about to give out with every step she took. She bit back every hiss and pained grunt that threatened to come out with every step.

For some reason her mind went back to the headline she read yesterday, or at least part of the headline: Year of Grayskull. Her teeth clenched together, so hard that they started to hurt.

Year of Grayskull…

This was just a bump in the road…

This could still be her year…

Right???

Chapter Text

“What. Was. That?!”

Catra was sitting on the little bench in front of her locker. Her arms were crossed over her chest. Her ears pinned down. Her tail thrashed behind her. She was growling, more to herself than at her captain, who stood, towering before her.

Huntara was fuming. Catra didn’t have to look up to know that her captain had a scowl on her face. She was focusing her gaze on the carpeted floor of the locker-room or her bright red cleats. The flag of Halfmoon adorned the side of both her cleats, close to her heels. They were customized, a gift from a shoe company that was still new and trying to make a name for themselves. In addition to the Halfmoon flag, which were on the outside of the cleats, visible to all, the inside of her cleats had a quote, one quote per cleat.

The right one read: This is your time; Now go out there and take it

The left one was the same quote but in Halfmoon’s native language. It was a way to keep to that part of herself. She hadn’t lived in Halfmoon since she was thirteen. She had gone back to visit many times. Every offseason she would spend weeks at a time back in her home country.

She had even taken Adora there a couple times. They had walked around her old neighborhood. Practiced and worked out for the upcoming season at the soccer field she played on when she was young. Taken her to the local businesses that were still near and dear to her heart. The owners of those businesses had even hosted events with the two of them in tow, giving them free meals or a gift basket in exchange for an hour or two of their time to sign autographs, take pictures with fans, or even just host a quick Q & A session.

In Halfmoon she was a hero. She was the story youth coaches and parents told the next generation. A few had even begun to compare her to Halfmoon’s current legend Kiara King. Some even called her the next King. Or even a legend in the making. She had nearly busted out laughing when a reporter back home had called her that. But it made her swell with pride as well.

She knew the Horde’s feelings towards her tonight wouldn’t be as warm. It might not be for some time.

3-2.

That was the score in the 62nd minute. She had scored the goal that pushed them into that lead. Had...

After Adora was stretchered off the field and she got into a fist-fight with Thaymor’s stupid player and was substantially ejected from the game, FC Horde fell. They fell hard.

Both teams had lost a player. Both teams had been reduced to playing with ten players instead of the typical eleven. Somehow that didn’t stop Thaymor like it did the Horde. Thaymor was able to rally. In a span of thirty-five minutes (the ref had signaled that the game would have an added seven minutes to counter the time Adora was down on the ground), Thaymor had scored not once. Not even twice. But thrice.

It was a slaughter. The match was playing on the tv that hung up in the locker-room. On the near-muted speakers of the TV, she could hear the boos and jeers of the old Horde faithful as they were subjected to a live-massacure. She swore she could hear them even without the TV a few times, despite there being several feet of heavy concrete separating the locker-room from the stands.

She wasn’t going to check her socials today.

Maybe.

Probably.

No… She knew she shouldn’t. All that would do is anger her. She already had her team and the fan base mad at her. She didn’t need to give anymore fuel to that fire.

She didn’t glance up at Huntara. Her captain was still standing before. She was angry, maybe rightfully so. Technically Catra had cost them the game. But then again, that could be faulted on the Thaymor who injured Adora.

None of them had any news on her. They hadn’t even taken her to the treatment room, just straight to the hospital. Catra wanted to check her phone and see if Adora had texted her yet. Her phone was in the little cubby in her locker. But if she did, she would be in even more hot water with Huntara. And maybe the rest of the team. At least the rest of the team was ignoring them right now, letting Huntara deal with the situation as they probably saw it.

She was still in her jersey. Her shorts too. All she had done when she got to the locker-room was angrily rip her shinguards out and throw them at the wall. Kyle the kit-man just picked them up when he came across them. He had shot her a sympathetic look and then chowdered when she snarled at him.

Most of her teammates were heading to the showers. Hordak had come in, briefly after the game. He didn’t seem angry with the team. All he did was glare at her for a moment and then went into the usual post-game loss spiel. He ignored her too (except for the second-long glare). He left quickly then, his assistant coaches trailing behind him, leaving them all to get cleaned up and changed.

“Thirty-Three!” Huntara barked out. That made Catra look up. Her brow furrowed even before she met her captain’s eyes though. Her tail thrashed even more.

Whenever she was angry. Whenever she was fed up with her squad. Or whenever someone had made a mistake… Huntara would refer to someone by their kit number rather than their name.

A few of them had theorized that it was to help their captain separate the person from the player she needed to guide. A way to establish boundaries in relationships with the team. After all, they were all technically coworkers. But most of the squad had strong friendships with each other off the field. Catra, however, called bull on that. She believed instead that Huntara just liked to mix it up whenever she was yelling or scolding one of them.

Catra opened her mouth to reply. Huntara was fuming. Well, Catra was enraged. Not only had Thaymor injured Adora but the bitch didn’t even keep her mouth shut. No. She had to go on spewing comments that made the fist-fight more than justified. Unfortunately either no one else seemed to hear the slurs and words that were thrown at her (and Adora), or they didn’t care.

Well… Catra would make them care.

Catra opened her mouth to retort. Huntara will hear her out. That fu–

“D’Riluth!” A sharp voice, commanding and loud cut through the noise of the locker-room. It broke through whatever verbal fight she was sure her and Huntara would have gotten into.

She shut her mouth. Her and Huntara turned their heads to the doorway of the locker-room. Assistant coach Cobalt was standing in the doorway, his eyes fixed on her.

“You’re being requested for the post-game conference,” Cobalt said simply. He then ducked out of the doorway. Catra huffed and pushed herself to her feet. She growled, this time at Huntara, and nearly shoulder-checked the captain as she sauntered past. Her ear flickered back as she heard Huntara grumble something behind her. She paid it no mind. It was time for a stupid press-conference.

Hordak looked absolutely annoyed and a little disheveled as he sat at the table. He had an elbow propped up on the table. His fingers were rubbing vigorously at the side of his head. Catra couldn’t see his face. She was standing in the doorway just behind the table. Even from behind him though, she could tell, he was at his limit.

The room was small. Smaller than the locker-room. A single table was at the back of the room. Behind the table was a door that led out into one of the many hallways. The hallway where Catra came from and that led straight to the locker-rooms.

The table was set on a raised stage and was a few feet away from the dozens of chairs that were set out for the journalists, reporters, and soccer pundits. On the other side of the room was another door. It led through a different hallway, one that these reporters had clearance for.

The locker-room was sacred. The coaches barely went in there themselves, choosing instead to spend most of their time in their offices. The locker-room was for the players. Catra wished she was back in there now.

The logo of FC Horde adorned the wall behind the table and the wall on the opposite side. It was large. It was almost intimidating.

Cameras flashed intermittently. Several phones and mics were being shoved in his general direction. A multitude of voices, masculine and feminine were clambering on top of each other. Her ears twitched. She caught a few phrases and questions but with everyone talking on top of each other and wanting to make sure that they were heard, it was hard for her to focus.

This is why she hated press conferences. And why she refused to do them. So far the club had honored her refusal. She wasn’t a big enough name for people to care. She was barely a regular in games. This season she was becoming a regular. Coming off the bench to score or maybe earn an assist. But so far this season, the headlines had been about Adora.

She would have told Coach Cobalt to F off. Maybe she should have. She didn’t have the patience or the mental or emotional state to deal with reports and pundits right now.

Unfortunately, she hadn’t proven herself enough to completely refuse to do press-conferences. Even Kiara King still did them. Maybe not as often now but it was a reward allotted to select players. Supposedly some players even got it written into their contracts that they never had to do them. Maybe she should get Weaver to do that for her on her next contract.

Maybe.

One of the front office people from FC Horde, who had been standing beside the doorway, suddenly stepped forward. He was wearing a red polo shirt with the club’s logo on the left side, just above his chest, and tan colored pants. Catra recognized him as one of Lonnie’s friends. He was a lizardman. Catra couldn’t remember his name at the moment but she was pretty sure it started with “R”...

She should have remembered his name. She had seen him at their apartment a few times, along with Kyle the kit-man. But her mind was preoccupied with other things right now.

The front office worker– Was it… Rogelio? Rogelio sounded familiar… Let out a little roar. He waved his arms and then Hordak pushed his chair back. He planted his palms on the table and pushed himself to his feet. Catra wasn’t sure what Rogelio had said but apparently it meant that Hordak could go. Lucky Hordak…

Hordak limped as he walked around the table. She had a few stories on why but wasn’t sure if they were true. She could have looked them up online herself. Apparently Hordak played professionally himself when he was much younger. His name was well known enough that the Horde had specifically requested him to coach their team.

Catra stepped out of the doorway and moved out of the way as Hordak hobbled by. He gave her a side-eye scowl but kept walking. Her ears twitched as she strained to hear him say anything, just anything under his breath. She dared him to say something. She wasn’t above being in another fight. He was quiet, except for his breathing. As he ambled out into the hallway, the door shut behind him.

Rogelio said a few more words… or well… growls. Catra glanced at him. He was now gesturing at her.

Okay! Time for a press conference! She tried to psych herself up. She sauntered over the table and took a seat. Immediately she was greeted by what seemed to be hundreds of camera flashes. Phones and microphones were shoved towards her. She bit a growl. Even if they were all still several feet away from her, she hated having things thrusted out in front of her.

All at once, every reporter and pundit began to speak. Every. Single One. All. At. Once. Her ears flickered back and forth and from side to side. She strained to pick up a single question or comment but it all meshed together. She caught snippets from a few:

“Can you tell us–?”
“How you feel about–?”

“--attribute the loss to–?”

“--regret the–?”

She couldn’t focus. Every question brought her thoughts to a new direction. Just when she was about to answer one question, three more popped up. She could feel her tail flickering behind her. Her claws had come out at some point and were now digging into the mahogany table. She closed her eyes, trying to will herself to not scream.

Rogelio let out a loud roar and the room immediately hushed. Catra’s eyes blinked open and she gave the lizardman a confused glance. He wasn’t paying attention to her though. He said something. Apparently everyone else could understand him, or they at least got the gist of it. He pointed at one of the reporters and she stood up.

She looked like a deer. She was wearing black slacks, a white button-up shirt with a collar, and a black blazer over it. She introduced herself but Catra didn’t catch the woman’s name.

“What are your thoughts on the initial reports that Grayskull will be out for the rest of the season? Will you–?”

“Hold on!” Catra pushed herself to her feet. Out for the rest of the season?! Was Adora really? Catra hissed under her breath. She should’ve checked her phone before coming here. She wished she did, even if that would’ve put her further up on Huntara’s shit-list.

“What do you mean Adora’s out for the season?!” Catra demanded. Her tail was swishing wildly behind her now.

“Adora Grayskull,” the deer-woman repeated the name slowly, hesitantly, as if she was now scared to talk. “Th-there have been some reports online that she’s out with an ACL and a–”

Catra slowly sat back down. She was aware that the deer-woman was still talking but the words didn’t reach her. Adora. Out. For the rest of the season? This was supposed to be their year! They were going to prove to everyone that they were the next big things! That the future was now! Catra felt her heart beat faster.

She remembered her own injury, shortly after they signed their professional contracts. It had taken a while to recover. It felt as though it had taken even longer to get back to her previous level. She didn’t want that for Adora. Now that she was better, the two of them were supposed to–

“Miss D’Riluth?”

Catra realized she had been staring at the table now. She slowly looked up, her eyes meeting the deer-woman’s. The reporter looked nervous. She looked almost sad. She was young, Catra then noticed. Maybe her age?

“I’m sorry,” Catra mumbled as she shifted to sit straight. As soon as she finished this up, she could go back to the locker-room. She could check her phone. She could check on Adora. She had to finish this stupid press-conference first.

“What was the question?”

The deer-woman seemed to deflate and sighed. She recovered a second later though, her face flushed as if she had realized what she did. She cleared her voice, perhaps thinking she didn’t speak loud enough the first time or that her voice was too scrappy or something and repeated more slowly and a little louder (Catra hated that, she just wasn’t paying attention!), “How will you approach the rest of the season without Grayskull? Do you think this will be your time to shine?”

Catra’s brow furrowed. Her tail thrashed. Do you think this will be your time to shine? Seriously?! Her teammate and friend is injured and they’re trying to play it off as it’s her time to shine?! How stupid–? Catra forced herself to take a deep breath. She was already in hot water with Huntara and Hordak and probably the whole club at this point. Not to mention the fans… She didn’t need to give them any more ammo.

It was at this moment, Catra remembered something her hero had said in an interview once. Soccer is a cruel game. No matter what, someone will always be gunning for your spot. You must treat your teammates as friends and rivals. Soccer, especially at the professional level, is not for the faint of heart.

Well… Catra D’Riluth wasn’t faint of heart. Catra D’Riluth was a professional through and through. She thought back to past interviews and press conferences she had watched. She thought about how someone like Adora or Kiara would address this question.

Soon enough the words poured out. Words that came with a couple of years of media-training, “We’re not reliant on one player. We’ll be fine,” and then she added, a bit harsher than she intended, “Adora will be fine. Everything is fine…”

“I’m fine, Mom,” Adora said exasperatedly.

Catra stepped out into the living-room. The TV was on, the volume was low. The familiar Etheria Sports Network logo flashed on the screen. It faded away and three soccer pundits surrounding a desk appeared. They were all dressed in nice suits. Instinctively, her ears strained towards the TV. She picked up a few words: She-Ra. Upcoming international window. Not seen in training. She elected to ignore the talk on TV and head to the kitchen.

She walked past the couch where Adora was currently lounging, her leg was propped up on a few pillows. She cast a quick glance at Adora. She was holding a tablet in both hands. She saw Adora’s mom on the screen. A video call. Her mom was probably checking up on her.

Catra also noticed that Adora wasn’t alone on the couch. Three cats were snuggled up with her. Cringer, a gray tabby was fast asleep beside her legs. Swiftie, who was orange with white stripes on his head, back and tail, was curled up on her chest. And Melog (huh! So that’s where Melog has been this whole time… Traitor…) was sleeping on Adora’s stomach. She could hear the faint, sleeping purrs of all three cats as she strode by.

“Mom, I promise I’m okay,” Adora repeated. She sounded tired. Worn out by both her injury and the conversation, it seemed.

Catra heard Marlena say something but she tried to avoid overhearing the conversation. It wasn’t for her after all. But she couldn’t help but pick up a few words such as home and Eternia.

“I’m pretty sure they want me to stay here anyway and recover,” Adora said firmly, and then in a lower voice, she muttered, “We don’t even know yet if I even need surgery.”

Catra walked into the kitchen that was attached to the living-room. She opened the silver, metallic colored refrigerator and scanned the shelves for something to eat. Nothing in particular looked appetizing. It would be weird to not grab anything though. She caught sight of a vanilla pudding cup and quickly snatched it. She shut the door with her elbow and went to grab a spoon from the drawer beside the sink.

Their apartment wasn’t particularly large. It had three bedrooms. Hers and Adora’s were directly across each other’s in the hall. Lonnie had claimed the biggest bedroom as hers just before they moved in and had her own bathroom because of it. Which Catra didn’t mind too much. Her and Adora had shared a bathroom before, so it made sense in her mind. Why change up what worked?

The kitchen was small. It had a bar where the three of them ate their meals, so they didn’t bother getting a table. There was a good-sized fridge. A deep sink with two drawers on the left and a single drawer on the right. Plenty of cabinets above and below the sink. Cabinets above the fridge.

It was a nice apartment. Not incredibly, for three professional athletes but it was nice.

She heard Adora groan and cast a concerned and confused glance towards the couch.

“Listen, Mom! If anything changes I’ll let you know, okay? If I’m out for the season, I’ll come home for a bit but… We don’t know anything for sure yet!”

Yet... That word felt like a brick dropping in Catra’s stomach. The reports online had misspoke. Adora was injured. Badly. But so far the doctors and the club haven’t said that it was a season-ending injury… yet...

Adora was optimistic. She believed that after a few weeks she would be back on the field. She had confided in Catra that she was scared of being out for a month or more… Catra hadn’t had the heart to tell her that she was pretty sure she would be out longer than that.

She had seen the reply of Adora’s injury online. It made her see red again. And she wished she could run into that Thaymor player on the street. Injuring someone and saying the things she said… That Thaymor player better be hoping she never runs into Catra again.

“Listen, Mom, I gotta go.”

Adora’s voice brought her out of her anger-induced spiral. She went back to the fridge, grabbed another pudding cup, snagged another spoon, and made her way to the living.

“Love you too! Bye!”

The familiar chime of the video call ending sounded just as Catra approached the couch. Adora sighed and almost slammed the tablet on the top of the couch.

“Here.” Catra offered the extra pudding and spoon to Adora. The blonde glanced at her and a small smile touched her lips. She moved to sit up more and graciously took the snack from Catra’s hand.

“Thanks!”

Catra grunted in response and sat down beside the couch on the floor. They really needed to buy another chair for this living-room.

“Sorry! Do you want me to–”

Catra held a hand up and Adora quickly shut herself up. She wasn’t able to make Adora move. She glanced at the blonde’s injured leg. Yeah… She wasn’t going to let Adora move. She could sit on the floor. Adora did it herself when Catra got injured.

“I’m good,” Catra replied and Adora nodded. She tore the lid off of her pudding cup and began to dig in.

“So,” Catra began to prob, “Everything okay back home?”

Home. Even now, after spending years in Etheria, they always referred to their Eternia and Halfmoon as home. Etheria was home too, she supposed. But it wasn’t the same.

“Yeah,” Adora murmured. She sounded distracted. Catra knew the blonde must’ve had a lot on her mind.

“My mom’s just… worried. She believes everything she reads online.” Adora sounded annoyed. Catra couldn’t blame her. So much was said about them online. In addition to fans, the two of them had haters and trolls they had to deal with. Every player did.

“You know some people are saying my career’s over now?” Adora mused. Though there was a bit of hurt in her voice. Catra offered her a small, sad smile.

Injuries were an unfortunate part of their occupation. And injuries could and sometimes did mean the end of careers. Even for those just starting out like they were.

“When’s your next appointment?” Catra asked, opting to ignore Adora’s comment.

“Tomorrow.”

Tomorrow. Catra hoped that the injury wasn’t serious. Maybe it wasn’t. Maybe the dread she was feeling was just… Maybe there wasn’t a reason for it.

Chapter Text

3rd Professional Year
Last Game of the Season

“Ladies and gentlemen!” The voice thundered. Parts of the crowd roared to life. Cheers and clapping echoed through the stadium. At some point during the season, sometime after Adora’s injury, the in-stadium announcer had quit. The new voice behind FC Horde was the team’s summer social media intern. They were charismatic. They were dramatic, which Adora found to be just a tad annoying sometimes.

No one really knew what the announcer’s actual name was. They always went by their social media handle DT. It was even on their name badge. DT was a fan-favorite.
Numerous fan accounts had been made for them. Somehow DT 69 had become one of the most bought and worn jerseys at the stadium. It had even beat out Adora’s jersey sales.

Not that I can blame them… Adora thought bitterly. She hadn’t played in months. She hadn’t even trained.

Adora was at the end of the players’ tunnel, just out of sight of the fans. The field was spread out before her. Her teammates were working on warmups. She didn’t want to leave the safety of the tunnel. She longed to be watching the game from the safety of the VIP deck, out of sight from any who weren’t actively looking for her and thus out of mind for many in the fanbase.

It wasn’t perfect. A few of the more diehard supporters had started #AdoraWatch online. Anytime someone had spotted her anywhere near the Horde’s facilities, the info was plastered online, sometimes along with a blurry, out of focus picture.

She couldn’t even go out to dinner with Catra and Lonnie anymore without someone snapping a picture and posting it online. She was injured. She knew it. The supporters knew it. So, why did it have to be everywhere? Why couldn’t she at least be allowed to go outside and forget that her future could be hanging in the balance?

Adora sighed and stared down at the ground. She couldn’t delay it forever. This was the last game. She needed to make her appearance on the sidelines. The club’s PR team had been begging her for months to do this. Her crutches suddenly felt as heavy as lead, her feet might as well be buried in the concrete floor.

She glanced back up. The heaviness that had settled on her easing somewhat as she spotted Catra warming up on the field. Catra had just received a pass and played it back. Her tail whipped around as she awaited another pass. She must have sensed Adora starting at her because she suddenly glanced in the direction of the tunnel. Their eyes met. A soft smile graced Catra’s lips. Adora smiled back and waved. Catra waved too but her brow was furrowed in worry and her tail twitched.

Catra knew how much she had been dreading today. The ball came back to Catra’s feet. She quickly passed it back and glanced again at Adora. Her ears flickered forward as if someone were calling to her and she turned her attention away from Adora.

Between the music being played on the loudspeakers, the chants and songs of the Force Captains supporter group above her, she couldn’t quite hear who was talking to Catra or what was being said, but after a moment, Catra glanced back at her once more, gave a small wave, and jogged out of sight.

Adora returned the wave. One of her crutches slipped out from under her arm and fell to the concrete floor.

“Damn it,” Adora muttered, with a defeated sigh and glared at the fallen crutch.

She tried to crouch down to pick it up, all while keeping her remaining crutch upright. Before she could retrieve it, she heard hurried footsteps and the aged, husky voice of one of the long-time security guards, “Hold on, Grayskull, I got it!”

Adora grumbled. Her eyes screwed shut in annoyance. She couldn’t wait for this stupid day to be over. To be away from the stadium. Away from the constant reminders of everything she couldn’t do right now.

“Hey, Kyle, can you please help her up?”

Wait.

Kyle was here now too?

…Terrific…

The security guard was close to her. But apparently he was not fast enough. Or he just assumed that Adora would continue to try and pick up her own crutch if someone didn’t stop her.

Which is stupid! If I needed help, I would understand, but I don’t need help…

Adora’s eyes opened and she side-eyed Kyle as he approached from behind her. She could hear him rushing down the tunnel, a heavy sounding bag thumping against him. Before she could even attempt to get to her feet on her own, she felt a pair of hands on her arms.

“Sorry,” Kyle apologized meekly as he led her back to her feet.

“Yes, very sorry, Grayskull!” The security guard was now crouching on the ground near her. He snatched the crutch up from the floor and practically slid it under Adora’s free arm without her asking.

Adora swallowed the rant that was building up in her throat. She took a deep breath, trying to relax and calm herself. She looked at the security guard, an older looking man. His hair was already gray with age. Wrinkles and sunspots covered his face. Two tired looking blue eyes stared back at her apologically.

“We should have gotten here earlier,” the security guard added, giving her a sad smile.

They’re just trying to help… They’re just trying to help…

She repeated the phrase in her mind. She tried to remind herself that needing help wasn’t a sign of weakness. The therapist the team was making her see had told her that multiple times…

But for some reason, after every session with her therapist, her agent would call immediately after and berate her for not being ‘in-training’ yet. Every day she was on rest, was another day the club could use against her when it came time to contract renewals, Ms. Weaver had told her.

So, Adora pushed herself. She tried her hardest to make one more, just one more appearance this season…

But today was the last game of the season. It was too late. Despite how hard she had worked with the trainers and the physical therapists, she had failed. The doctors told her she would. They warned her, she would, when she tried to brush their original return to training date, which would be roughly a year after she got injured.

Which would put her potential return game at nearly the middle of next season. Because even if she was cleared for training, she would still need to work her fitness levels back up. She would need to earn her spot on the field again. She would miss the first game. She would most likely miss a bulk of the next season.

There were rumors online that FC Horde were already looking at her potential replacement. Although FC Horde would win the title officially today (they were four points clear over Bright Moon today, even if Bright Moon won their game and the Horde lost, the Horde would still have one point to make them the champions), the title race for too close for comfort for the owners, the fans, and Head Coach Hordak.

Ms. Weaver had started sending her every stray rumor and ‘report’ of FC Horde signing a new forward, as if it was a reminder that the life of a professional athlete was cruel and fleeting. Although a few sources claimed the new signing was to be a back-up to Adora and to help keep her workload down when she returned, and help with minute-management, a part of Adora feared that the new signing would eventually be her replacement and Ms. Weaver did nothing to quell those fears. She only seemed to feed into them.

She hadn’t told Catra. Although a part of her wanted to. Catra was having a great season. A break-out season in fact! If it wasn’t for Catra, Bright Moon probably would’ve won the title this season.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” DT’s voice rumbled through the stadium once again. And Adora had to remember just why she was there then.

“Put your hands together! Get up off your seats! And make some noise!!!”

The tunnel became deafening. Adora’s heart began to pound. This wasn’t her first time back in the stadium since her injury. Her first game, she had to make an appearance on the side-line, show the supporters and fans her face, as the club’s PR team put it.

She attended a few games over the course of the season after that too, but always in disguise. She only posted a few videos of her view, high above the regular fans and die-hard supporters, in the VIP section with other celebrities and a few lucky fans who had won the weekly contest that upgraded seats.

No pictures of other supporters were permitted up there. And with a Horde logo baseball hat on, sunglasses, and street clothes, no one had ever seemed to recognize her up there. And if they did, they either never bothered her, or the two stadium security guards that flanked her (something she had asked Ms. Weaver to do for her and her agent happily complied), deterred anyone who would.
Today, she wasn’t granted that luxury. Since she had contributed significantly to the Horde’s hot start at the beginning of the season and was still a fan-favorite, she was needed on the side-lines today. She would sit on the bench with her teammates. Watch as they play the final game. And then she would join them on the field to accept the trophy and join in the celebration.

A part of her wished she could have watched the match from the VIP section. Away from prying eyes and the sad smiles and somber eyes of the fans. So many of them when they saw her at the few team events she was forced to go to would stop her and tell her how sorry they were about her injury and wish her luck on her recovery. Thousands had even DM’ed her online, telling her that they can’t wait until she was back on the field. Even today, months after the incident, she still had the occasional ‘get-well’ message from well-meaning fans.

She appreciated it. She really did! But… Sometimes it got tiring. Sometimes it grated on her nerves. But she didn’t want to push the fans away. She was grateful but–

“Please, welcome to the field!”

The loudspeaker broke her out of her spiral. She looked up. Kyle and the security guard were on either side of her. She avoided eye contact with them. She had been on these crutches for months. She could hobble down to the field alone. She didn’t need help. She had this!

“Adooora!!! Grayskuuull!!!”

The crowd erupted. Cheers. Screaming. Clapping like thunder. Adora hobbled out. She almost had to shield her eyes from the brightness of the sun. Today’s game was an afternoon one. All the games were today. They would all end at the same time. Tonight the bars would be full. The streets would be more crowded than ever. Hosting all the games in the afternoon allowed for those who didn’t want to participate in such festivities a chance to rush home.

Sometimes, after the last game of the season, things got crazy. They got wild. Adora used to not mind. Her, Catra, and Lonnie, would go out to parties. They would join the fans out on the streets. None of them had been famous or well-known enough for it to cause issues. But now, with crutches under her arms, and her and Catra (at this point), become more recognizable faces in the club, Adora knew she didn’t want to join the parties this year.

She wasn’t sure if Catra or Lonnie would still go. Although she wasn’t as well-known as them, Lonnie had been making more regular appearances for the club this season. More than likely, she would be signing a new contract with a slight extension at some point during the off-season. The club always did that with the younger players they wanted to keep.

Adora continued to hobble out, going as fast as she could to the benches. She glanced up at the stands, giving a small, cautious wave and flashing a smile at the fans. They cheered louder. A few waved back. Someone, a feminine voice, among the throng shrieked out, “I love you, Adora!”

Adora felt heat on her face and immediately glanced away, choosing to focus instead on her slow hobble to the bench. She tried to ignore how that comment made her feel. She hadn’t given much thought to love before. For so long she had been focused on achieving her dream of playing professionally. Then it was becoming a regular part of the first team; earn a call-up to Eternia’s senior national team…

But with the injury, her mind had a chance to wander. She spent a lot of time online. Checking the social media of old friends. A part of her felt as if she had fallen behind in life. So many of her old teammates from her childhood teams had already fallen in love, started families…

She was happy for them. She really was but… Sometimes, she worried that things like that were out of her reach. She was happy with her life. She was doing something most people only dreamed of. But with the injury, she found herself now craving something. She found herself wishing someone stood beside her.

Those feelings always seemed to fix themselves whenever Catra was around. She knew she couldn’t depend on Catra forever though. As much as she wanted to. Ever since her injury, Catra had been beside her. Offering to drive her to appointments when they didn’t conflict with training. She forced Adora to go out a few times, out to restaurants that were further away from the stadium and the city, where they were less likely to be recognized. Or even bribing a couple of places to stay ‘open’ a couple of hours after closing time but only to serve them.

She rarely left the apartment. She went to her appointments and did whatever PR or media assignments the club gave her (a surprising amount, actually. Despite not being on the field, the team was still going to put her to work.).

If she didn’t have the appointments, she would have gone back to Eternia for a bit. Stayed with her parents. See Adam and maybe even Teela. She probably could have run into She-Ra…

Apparently, She-Ra had been dealing with injuries throughout the season. After coming back from a recurring hamstring issue (the reason she had disappeared from Bright Moon early on in the season), Mara had gone down with another, more serious but unnamed injury and was placed on Bright Moon’s long-term injury list and didn’t make another appearance for them.

Hordak was standing on the sideline, looking stoic as always. He briefly looked away from the players training on the field and gave Adora a nod of acknowledgement and then went back to studying his players intensely, no doubt considering his game plan. Even though FC Horde would win the title regardless of the result today, she knew Hordak still wanted to end the season with a win.

Adora sat down on the bench, hiding under the bench cover. Although it was made of clear plastic, it was aged and scratched up and had a foggy-looking hue. The fans could still see her but barely. And since she was expected to be focusing on the game, she didn’t have to feel guilty about ignoring them.

…Hopefully…

Adora leaned her crutches against the hard plastic wall beside her. She propped her elbows on her kneecaps. Her chin rested in the palms of her hands, her fingers touched the side of her head.

She watched as her team continued to run through the pre-game drills. Her gaze lingering on Catra most of all. She felt a swell of pride as she watched Catra. Since their academy days, the two of them had promised each other that they would be running the Etherian Professional League one day.

Adora had been close. So close. Maybe next season, after she returned from her injury, she would do it. But Catra… Catra was already on her way to being one of the top players in the league.

Thanks to Adora’s injury, and quite a few public comments from not only Hordak but other coaches, such as Angella Moon from Bright Moon, the refs had been keeping a better eye on games and issuing more warnings and suspensions to the widely-known aggressive players to nip more potential injuries in the bud.

A whistle sounded and the players began to scurry off the field. Hordak walked towards the players’ tunnel as well, without a word or even a glance at Adora. Catra stopped and looked towards the bench, her gaze quickly finding Adora’s again. She saw Catra mouth something. Adora’s brow raised in confusion and Catra repeated herself. Adora was more careful to watch her lips as she spoke, trying to read the message.

It looked as though Catra was saying: Are you okay?

Yeah. That had to be it! Adora nodded and mouthed back: Yeah! She flashed Catra a quick thumps up and smile and then mouthed: Thank you!

A small, relieved smile touched Catra’s lips and she returned the thumbs up gesture. Her tail flickered behind her. She then looked in the direction of the tunnels and sprinted towards them. She was fast enough to outrun Huntara, Lonnie, and another teammate, so that she wasn’t the last one to arrive in the locker room and get in trouble for not paying attention.

Adora leaned back on the bench. Her back immediately met the back of the plastic cover. She folded her arms on her knees. The back of her head, or rather her ponytail, rested against the hard plastic.

Ninety more minutes. After ninety minutes the season would be over. Everyone, even the trainers would be off for a bit. She would return to Eternia for a bit and see her family. Catra would visit her mom in Halfmoon.

Hopefully by the time they saw each other again, Adora would be jogging around the field and much closer to her return to the field…
(Finish Section)

Click!

A light flickered on. A door shut gently. It was quiet now. The locker room connected to the little office had been in an uproar; players excited to start their vacations. Many of the younger players had been excitedly chatting away, bragging to their teammates about the everywhere they would soon see.

Coach Angella moved her chair back from her desk and sat down. She was tired. She was always tired at the end of the season. She glanced at the two framed photos on her desk. One was a family photo of her, Micah, and Glimmer back when she was younger. All of them were dressed nicely, smiling big for the camera.

The other picture was of her last professional game. She was among the other starting eleven. She looked younger then, she noted, her gaze lingering on the framed picture. Mara stood beside her in the photo, a giant smile on her face.

The end of the season usually meant rest. When Glimmer was much younger, she would take her family on a long vacation. That got harder to do after Glimmer began playing in Bright Moon’s academy.

Now that she was a coach, the offseason didn’t feel too much different from any other time. Sure, she didn’t have trainings to run, or games to prepare for, but the next few days were sure to be a whirlwind.

Before the end of the week, she would need to go over contracts, decide who would suit up for Bright Moon next year and who wouldn’t. Angella sighed. She wasn’t looking to this. She knew soccer. She knew how cutthroat the sport could be. Still, she didn’t want to be the one to crush someone’s dream. Or to force them to retire much sooner than they might want to…

Her phone buzzed. The ringer had been turned off and with the exception of a few contacts, it was set on Do Not Disturb. Glimmer was in the locker room. She knew Micah wouldn’t be calling or texting. There was only one other person it could be. She picked her phone up to return the text–

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Angella startled, nearly dropping her phone. She glanced at the door and saw Mara standing behind it, waving awkwardly. Angella set the phone down and waved Mara in. The cheers from the locker room sounded loudly as her star player opened the door and stepped inside. The ruckus muted immediately when she shut the door behind her.

“Hey, coach, do you have a minute?” Mara asked. She sounded nervous. Angella nodded and gestured for her to sit. Mara pulled up the chair across from her and sat down. Her leg was bouncing. There was a sadness in her eyes.

“So I thought about our conversations this season…” Mara’s voice sounded so quiet and uncertain. The shakiness in her voice and body, Angella remembered it well when she was the one sitting the chair Mara was in now. She opted to be quiet and wait for Mara to speak.

“I think… I think next year is gonna be it.” Mara’s voice caught briefly. She averted her eyes from Angella and took a deep breath. She glanced back up. There were a couple of stray tears but Angella didn’t comment on that. The sight made her heart ache.

Angella nodded. She knew it was going to come to this. Unfortunately. She knew how much this decision hurt.

“Also, if that other offer is still good then I was hoping to…”

“Yes,” Angella replied with a gentle smile.

Mara had done so much for the club. They still wanted her around, even if it wasn’t in a playing capacity. Next season Mara would still play… However, she would also begin to transfer to a player-coach role, and then after that, she would join Angella as one of her assistant coaches.

Mara pushed the chair back and got up. She held her hand out. Angella grabbed and shook it.

“See you in a few weeks then, Coach She-Ra.”

Mara nodded, thanked her, and left to rejoin the others in the locker room. Angella glanced back at her forgotten phone. Well, that was one issue out of the way. Mara’s looming retirement brought another problem to light though. They would need her replacement.