It had been five years in the making but Scorpia was finally going to host a prom, and Adora, Catra, Glimmer, and Bow were all invited.
It had been a weird half-decade for the Best Friends Squad. While the foursome had promised one another that they would travel around the universe to re-introduce magic, practical considerations had almost immediately put a delay on matters. For while the war might have been won, the shattered infrastructure of the Horde needed to be destroyed and entire planets had to rebuild. Even on Etheria, where the releasing of magic had purified the lands, people needed a place to go and homes needed to be rebuilt.
So Adora’s long-needed vacation was delayed for years (which she would’ve stalled out for longer if it hadn’t been for Catra’s complaining for more than half of them). But eventually Adora relented, and the Best Friends Squad went on vacation.
Throughout the universe the group travelled with each world they visited being more marvelous than the last. They revived lost aquatic cultures, moved peoples back to their native homes in poisonous trees, escaped perils on planets made of glass, and did as their hearts fancied for a year when they received the message from Etheria that Scorpia was hosting a special edition of Princess Prom. So, Darla 2.0 turned around and traveled back to Etheria.
Upon their return they were greeted with a flurry of activity. Friends and family needed catching up with, outfits needed to be picked, and the debate turned to whether going as She-Ra was a faux pas or not. The group’s excitement reached a fevered pitch until at last it was the night of the prom.
Examining her reflection in the straight sheet of water that functioned as her mirror, Adora couldn’t help but be impressed with the ensemble she was wearing. Half of it was Catra’s choice – Adora’s day-to-day fashion sense was infamously bad now that she no longer had to wear combat slacks. Adora didn’t mind, though. She wouldn’t have picked this white dress with golden trimmings on her own. It reminded her too much of She-Ra. But, with sufficient persuasion and compromise, she had her outfit.
The circlet adorning her head was all her idea, though; a memento from a distant world, a little reminder of all the travels that she had been on. The sage who had given it to her had even warned her only to wear it at special events when with her special someone. So, it had been gathering dust on Darla 2.0. Princess Prom was as good a time as any to bust it out, especially considering her plus one.
The last few checks were methodical. Hair was brushed exactly right. Poof had just enough poof to it. The gold trim wings shimmered every way that Adora turned. The train behind her… did not get in the way yet. If there was one thing Adora would get rid of, it would be that.
Just as Adora gave the dress a tug, the door burst open and Catra spilled through with Glimmer hot on her tail.
“Just let me brush it!” Glimmer yelled out, brush in hand as the two dashed into the room. A blur of unkempt hair tied in a ponytail and the familiarly playful gleam in Catra’s eyes slipped past Adora as a sparkling cape and pink dress outfit skidded to a halt in front of her.
“No! Don’t let her touch me, she’s going to torture me!” Catra growled at Glimmer from behind Adora’s back. The two circled around one another, keeping Adora as the barrier in the middle.
“Do you always have to be this dramatic?” Glimmer lashed back, with the sparkles in her hair flaring up as she prepared to teleport.
This seems too familiar.
“Come on, guys!” Bow leisurely made his entrance, strolling up to Glimmer who gave her husband a quick look-over before resting her head on his shoulder. “If we’re late to Scorpia’s first ball she’s going to kill us.”
The two cut an impressive figure together. Must be the weight of the daily duties being king and queen of Bright Moon, Adora thought to herself. Their styles were reminiscent of their early days as the Best Friends Squad: lilac with hints of gold for Glimmer, and white, red and blue with an exposed midriff for Bow. Their outfits matched thanks to the sparkling capes covering their shoulders and framing their outfits, and the identical earrings the two wore in opposing ears.
“That and if Scorpia doesn’t do it, I will,” Adora said, fists clenched tight. “I worked too hard on this outfit to have the two of you RUIN it with your shenanigans!”
Glimmer and Catra turned their gazes to the train behind Adora, and sheepishly averted their gazes.
“Fine! You’re off the hook.” Glimmer turned her gaze back to Catra, who was sticking her tongue out at her. “This time.”
Satisfied, Bow and Glimmer turned to make their way out of the room with Catra making a few steps to follow before turning to look at Adora.
“You coming?” Catra asked as she offered her gloved hand.
For the first time since Catra had burst into the room, Adora had a chance to look at her partner. Colour-wise, it remained pretty similar to her day-to-day outfit: a burgundy-red, short sleeved dress shirt with the top three buttons open, and a high-waisted pair of pants with thigh-high boots over the top. Adora knew this part of the outfit: it had taken Catra weeks to decide upon. The golden trimming on the boots was something that the two of them had even coordinated on. It was the white jacket, dramatically slung over Catra’s left shoulder, that was entirely new. The golden shoulders and sleeve cuffs matched that on Adora’s dress. Must’ve been the same tailor.
The thought that Catra continued to put the effort in was deeply striking, as Adora reached out to take her hand.
That isn’t how this went. As Adora’s hand touched Catra’s, a wave of panic washed over her. For a brief instant, Catra’s form disappeared, replaced with a silhouette that Adora hadn’t seen since their return from space: the silhouette of Horde Prime.
The flash of panic was brief, but it didn’t make it past Catra’s gaze, who grasped Adora’s other hand and pulled her in.
“What’s wrong? You OK?”
Adora hadn’t even realised she was holding her breath as Catra’s blue and yellow eyes pulled her back to the moment. With a sigh, she let go of Catra’s hands and started scratching Catra behind the ears.
“Everything’s OK, don’t worry. I just had a… flashback. Back to when we were in the Heart of Etheria.” Adora pulled Catra close, kissing her on the forehead. Her hair smelled sweet, like candy. “Have I ever mentioned that I wouldn’t have made it out without you?”
She had, Adora knew this. She just liked seeing Catra’s response, whose eyes darted from a moment of shock to a soft, blushing smile.
“You might have. Once or twice.”
Adora pulled Catra in for a quick kiss before touching Catra’s nose with her own, staring deeply into her eyes.
“I’m staying with you. Always.”
“I know.”
“And I have been looking forward to this night for years,” Adora broke the tender silence as she grabbed Catra’s hands. “A special night out with all of our friends, special outfits made for all of us, an important moment for Scorpia, a big dance with you…”
“Who knew you had such a feminine side?” Catra shot Adora a coy glance, pulling Adora into an embrace. Adora made to give a witty reply, but the first letters barely made it out of her mouth before a voice came from the doorway.
“Aww, you two are so cute together!”
It took a moment before the two realised that Bow had been watching from the door frame.
Catra pulled out of the embrace, pivoting to glare at Bow. “I am not cute!” she exclaimed.
With an audible “mm-hm”, Bow turned around again.
“If you two lovebirds don’t hurry up, Glimmer’s gonna leave without you!”
The two scrambled to follow Bow, knowing full well that Glimmer did not make empty threats. Either they teleported with her willingly, or she would teleport them over regardless of what state they found themselves in. Part way through the halls of Bright Moon, Catra entwined her arm with Adora’s.
“Did I mention that you look beautiful?” Catra spoke up as they walked through a long hallway with windows looking out over the Moonstone.
“I mean, this was mostly you. And—”
“—I love how you’re letting a bit of She-Ra come through,” Catra interrupted, squeezing Adora’s well-toned arm.
“Catra! What did we agree upon when it came to She-Ra’s arms? There’s a time and a place, and now is neither!” The slight heave of laughter of Bow’s hair and shoulders made the duo realise that they had not discussed their She-Ra rules with the rest of their friends.
“Besides, I’m nowhere near as beautiful as you; I mean have you seen yourself?” Adora continued, toning down her voice. “Even the hair suits it perfectly, and you can ignore what Glimmer says on the matter. You should have told me you wanted to coordinate! I would’ve insisted that there would be some more red in my outfit, I’m sorry. Oooh, I knew there was something off about it…”
“No! No, absolutely not. There is nothing wrong with your outfit.” Something about the way that Catra was bashfully forcing herself to speak piqued Adora’s curiosity. “In faaact, I have just the thing…”
As the two passed through a doorway, Catra’s free hand darted out of Adora’s vision to one of the jacket’s pockets. To another pocket. To yet another pocket. Back to the first pocket. As Catra continued to scramble to find whatever it was she was trying to give Adora, an increasing look of frustration and panic creeped into her eyes.
The loud clearing of Glimmer’s throat reminded the duo that they were supposed to be going somewhere. Apparently, they had made it to the throne room, where a procession of guards stood ready to witness Glimmer teleporting the Best Friend Squad to the Fright Zone, where Scorpia was hosting the prom. Glimmer and Bow held their hands out, beckoning Catra and Adora over.
Catra, however, clearly had other plans now that her first one had clearly fallen flat on its face. She slipped out of Adora’s grasp, yelled something along the lines of “I’msorryIjustrealisedIforgotsomethingbebackinfive”, and darted off back into the corridor on all fours.
“You’re planning something, aren’t you?” As Adora pondered her partner’s actions, the familiar, sparkly bamf of Glimmer teleporting behind her drew her attention back to Bow, whose hand was covering his face. Adora walked up to him as quickly as her dress allowed her to.
“This is going to be another touch and go, isn’t it?” Bow sighed, exasperated.
“Seems like it,” Adora shrugged, before turning her attention to Bow’s outfit. “But look at you though! You look so dapper!”
“Thank youuu!” Bow responded enthusiastically, striking a few poses to the applause of Adora and the nearby guards. “I’m glad that we agreed to match on the cape,” Bow continued as he gave a little twirl, leaving a trail of magical sparkles behind him. “I haven’t worn a cape in years! So, what did you do to match with Catra?”
Adora’s gaze fell. “I’m feeling kind of bad about it, to be honest. Catra has that adorable jacket slung over her shoulder, and I’m just sitting here looking like She-Ra without the sword or magical powers or anything useful…”
“That’s not true Adora, you look absolutely stunning. Besides, didn’t Catra have that—”
“—I have had it up to here with your shenanigans!” Suddenly, Glimmer bamfed in between Adora and Bow along with Catra, who was kept in a practiced headlock. It wasn’t needed at this point anymore; even after ten years of bamfing around, Catra still turned slightly green after a teleport. “I said we were leaving to go to the prom and leave we will! If you had anything you wanted to take with you, you should have done so before we ended up falling two minutes behind schedule! Adora, Bow, hold on now.”
Adora and Bow knew better than to resist Glimmer when she got like this. Adora quickly squeezed Catra’s hand, and the two shared a quick smile as Adora’s other hand made her way onto Glimmer’s shoulder. As Bright Moon’s throne room disappeared around them, she couldn’t help but wonder what Bow was about to say to her.
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No matter how many times Adora visited the Fright Zone, the transformation that it had undergone from the cold, industrial military staging grounds of her youth never ceased to amaze her. Her initial freeing of Etheria’s magic did an incredible number on the already-abandoned Fright Zone and it had only been changing further and further since Scorpia reclaimed her ancestral home. Together with Perfuma, the two had worked together to breed a dark ebony tree that channeled the more electric energies that were now flowing free throughout the planet. The Thundertree (as Scorpia had ended up naming it) towered over the surroundings, much like what was once Hordak’s tower had done before. Long, thick, and gnarled roots weaved through – and at times assimilated – the old metal plates that once belonged to the Horde’s base of operations. The result was a majestically faux-industrial landscape, ripples of blue energy shooting through black trees and arcing across rusting metal plates that outlined much of Adora’s familiar Fright Zone.
The beast-kingdom of Thundertree felt… Alive. Which was more than could have been said when Adora lived there.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
The foursome had bamfed onto an elevated walkway, surrounded by repurposed and re-decorated Horde skiffs that were coming and going with princesses, guests, and goods from across the nearby galaxy. While Dryl functioned as the starport for Etheria, Thundertree functioned as a home for those who had fought for the Horde and now no longer felt like they had a place to belong.
Catra immediately began to retch like she was about to throw up a hairball. Like clockwork, Glimmer loosened the headlock and began to scratch her feline companion behind her ears, just below the ponytail. Before too long Catra was standing again, with a hint of a purr and a spring in her step as she grabbed Adora’s hand and pulled her down the long road that led to the grand hall.
It did not take long before Catra grew bored of walking and started complaining.
“Sparrrrkleeeees… Why didn’t you teleport us clooooserrrr…”
With a twinkle in her eyes and sparkledust in her hands, Glimmer grabbed Catra’s hand.
“If you want, I can teleport us again, but I know how much you studied and want to stick to-”
“-to the time-honored traditions and the 251 individual parts that make up the ancient tradition of Princess Prom, I know. Fine. We’ll walk.” She straightened herself and, with a faux-grouchy expression on her face, the foursome took off once more.
It did not take long before Catra got distracted once again, this time by a rapidly moving jolt of red magical energy which she swiftly pounced on, slapping at it with her hands.
“Catra!” Both Adora and Glimmer protested, but it was too late; Catra leaped off the walkway, after the shiny red dot as it darted away.
“Please don’t ruin the outfit!” Adora yelled after her, with only a single cry of confirmation and the sound of trash cans being thrown over as answer. The remaining trio let out an exasperated sigh, before Bow stepped up and grabbed a gadget he had hidden away on what was apparently also his toolbelt.
“I’ll go get her,” Bow offered, and he leaped down after Catra.
It took Glimmer a moment to process what had just transpired.
“The nerve! And he had promised he wouldn’t be taking any gadgets with him as well,” Glimmer said as she glanced at Adora.
“Wait, he promised that?”
“He did! Not that I expected him to follow up on it after discovering that Entrapta and Hordak would be here.”
Hordak’s tale had been a curious one, following the defeat of Horde Prime. The Princesses of Power had witnessed Hordak’s betrayal of Horde Prime at the Battle for Etheria, but for most civilians he was a painful reminder of the time under clone occupation. While many clones initially looked up to him to fill the role of Horde Prime for them, Hordak’s blunt refusal to “pretend to be someone he never was or would be” meant that he was left with only the Princesses of Power vouching for his capabilities. However, together with his lab partner he had earned the respect and admiration of many Etherians through inventions that made lives easier, better, and safer. This event was his first public appearance as a full-fledged member of the Etherian Tinker’s Association, none the wiser that most people considered him and his lab partner “woefully inept at the whole feelings-for-each-other thing.”
Adora’s mind briefly wandered back to Glimmer’s last Princess Prom, where her jealousy of Bow attending with Perfuma had managed to get both captured.
“This is beginning to seem familiar,” Adora wondered out loud as the duo started walking again. “You sure you won’t be feeling jealous later tonight?”
Glimmer quickly shook her head. “We agreed beforehand that we would navigate the social circles separately up until event 61,” Glimmer started as she made vague circular motions with her hands. “Bow needs to speak with some of the historians as well as the members of the Etherian Tinker’s Association that are attending, and I’ve got a number of dad’s students in attendance that I want to check in on. Neither are really in the other’s ballpark, so we decided to get them out of the way at the beginning of the night so we could spend the rest of it meeting up with old Alliance and Rebellion friends together!”
With a smile on her face Glimmer stopped and turned back to look at Bow, who had managed to bring Catra back and was currently in what appeared to be a heated discussion with his feline friend. As Bow looked up, Adora noticed what appeared to be a brief look of concern on his face before his trademark smile broke out once again, his matched earring dangling as he waved to his partner.
Adora’s gaze quickly shot past Bow to Catra’s concerned expression. Oh, she tried to hide it to make sure that Adora wouldn’t worry, but Adora recognised the ‘something went wrong in my date plan and I don’t know how to recover from it’ look in her eyes. Years of Horde drills and plans of attack (many foiled eventually by She-Ra herself) had made Catra a schemer and, even though things had been better for the past 5 years, Catra still struggled to overcome the panic of a plan gone wrong.
Adora gave Catra a smooch on the cheek as she and Bow caught up. By the mercy of the First Ones, she was beautiful.
“Did you catch it?” Adora inquired as she offered Catra her arm.
“No!” Catra puffed up as she took it. “I chased it all the way to the tank hanger and it just disappears on me! Can you believe it?”
Adora couldn’t – as far as she knew, the tank hanger used to be on the other side of Thundertree. She decided not to pursue it further, as she leaned in to whisper in Catra’s ear.
“Hey, Catra. I don’t know what you had planned for tonight, but I would not have come here without you. So, don’t worry about it, okay? We’re going to make it a special night, just the two of us.”
Catra’s face darted through various expressions as it turned increasingly redder. As the two passed through security and into the threshold of Thundertree she straightened up after glancing through the crowd, a coy expression on her face once again as she leaned closer to Adora.
“You got yourself a deal, princess.” Catra gave a knowing smirk, which Adora returned. Following Bow and Glimmer through the crowd, they made their way to the reception area for the hostesses.
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They heard Scorpia before they saw her.
“Oh! My gosh, thank you so much for coming to my first ball. So glad you could make it. There’s punch and snacks in all kinds of sizes over at the buffet down the stairs and to the right, and the bathrooms are down the hallway to the left down the same stairs; can’t miss them, very clearly marked. Hope you have a great time tonight!”
They heard the same spiel several times, each more enthusiastic than the last. The four made small talk among themselves and the occasional acquaintance who waved at them as they made their way up the stairs.
Catra’s expression remained one of apparent apathy, as if meeting the hostess of a ball was the most normal thing in the world for her. Adora, however, saw the excited anticipation of seeing one of her oldest friends in her tail flicking back and forth. She gave Catra’s hand a good squeeze, one that Catra eagerly returned as they crossed the threshold of the highest stair.
As they topped the stairs, they were greeted by the flower-decorated thrones of Scorpia and Perfuma, long-time partners ever since the invasion of Horde Prime, upon which sat the queen and consort of Thundertree. While Perfuma, in a floral summer dress and sitting on a throne decorated in all manners of flowers was the very image of natural serenity, Scorpia in her refined, sleek black dress looked like she could barely keep her excitement in check.
The foursome had built an incredibly close relationship with Scorpia after they had defeated Horde Prime, and the main reason why they were on time was so they could support their friend in something that mattered a great deal to her. In unison, they paid their respects to the hostesses; Bow and Catra entering a deep bow, and Glimmer and Adora performing picture-perfect curtseys.
“As tradition dictates, we pay our respects to the hostess of Princess Pro—”
Their greeting was cut off as they found themselves being crushed in one of Scorpia’s great hugs.
“You made iiiit!” Scorpia kept them in her embrace for a good few seconds before letting them down, with Bow and Catra holding on for a little while longer. “And you’re early as well! Gotta admit, I was, uh, expecting you guys to come a little bit on the late side considering this sleeping beauty over here.” Adora and Glimmer got to see Scorpia’s tail pointing to Catra, who was only now letting go of her old friend.
“Look at how beautiful you all look! Bow and Glimmer, I love love love the matching capes and earrings, works great on you. Adora, Catra, you two are so cute together like this, it makes our matched outfits look simple in comparison!”
“Of course we were going to come early to your big day!” Adora opened up, with Bow picking up after her. “Yeah, we couldn’t wait to see what you two made of the place and it’s amazing!” A hint of the voice cracks typical of younger Bow slipped through here as he looked around the room as it pulsed and buzzed as if charged by lightning.
“If you think the room’s already great, then get ready for some of the great things we have planned out for the rest of the night! We’ve got snake tamers from the Crimson Waste! Lonnie, Kyle and Rogelio are manning the confetti cannons—” Adora and Catra’s ears perked up at the mentioning of their former Horde squad mates. “—and as highlight of the night I’m gonna be—”
“Ahem.”
Perfuma’s little cough was sharp enough to cut through Scorpia’s boisterous voice and cut her off before she could spoil any more. She had silently walked up as Scorpia was hugging the group.
“Dear, what did we agree about telling our friends about the plan?” She laid her hand on Scorpia’s claw before smiling at the group.
“Oh yeah, right. In that case, I won’t keep you long; the line’s only getting longer… oh, that’s a long line. Anyway, drinks and foods of various sizes can be found on the buffet down the stairs and to the right, and the bathroom’s—”
“—down the hallway on the other side of the buffet. Can’t miss it,” the foursome parroted back.
“Ah! So you were listening! Good. Definitely keep yourselves available after, uh, event 130 or something, we can hit the floor together.” As Scorpia turned around, the only thing that prevented the group from hearing her wonder if it was 130 or 150 was the soft music playing throughout the hall. Perfuma quickly grabbed everyone’s hands before addressing them.
“It’s great to see you all! We should get the old gang to stay the night and we can all catch up again. See you later!” Perfuma gave the group a big, contagious smile before she turned around to sit back on the throne, a smile the group carried down the stairs with them.
“All right, so just to double check,” Bow spoke up as they made it to the bottom of the stairs, pulling an itinerary from a hidden pocket. “We’re gonna go our separate ways for the coming, uh… 47 events, and then we’re going to meet up in front of the buffet? I got that right?”
Quick nods from both Adora and Catra confirmed that neither was really listening too particularly well. Adora had been eyeing the buffet for a good few minutes at this point, after noticing that Horchefan – the name that Wrong Hordak went by at this point – was manning it. His experiences as a part of the hive mind had helped propel him to rediscovering and reintroducing galactic culinary traditions that had been lost for centuries. If an event wanted to call itself worth going to, they hired Horchefan.
“All right!” Bow clapped his hands together before giving Glimmer a kiss on the forehead. Adora didn’t really pay much attention to Bow’s promise to Glimmer that he would meet up with her a bit before their agreed-upon meetup time, as she had much more serious things to think about. Step by step, she was formulating the best way to maneuvre herself through the crowd with both Catra and that annoying train behind her in tow, all while hitting all the food stops that had caught her eye.
“Okay! We’re dismissed, so go and eat your fill, Adora!” Glimmer chuckled as Adora wiped a little bit of drool that was leaking out with her wrist.
“Catra they have tuna…”
“What?! Where?” Those four words immediately drew Catra’s attention, as her eyes shot towards the buffet. She grabbed Adora by the hand and began pulling her in the direction of the buffet.
“Aren’t they adorable together?! All right, I’ll see you in, uh… 43 events. I’m gonna go find me some of my tinker friends!”
Something about the way that Bow had almost announced the last part piqued Adora’s curiosity, but the flash disappeared as fast as it had come up as she disappeared behind Catra in the crowd. She took the lead, pulling Catra through the crowd in what Adora could only describe as preparation for the ballroom dance that was coming later in the night. The duo weaved their way throughout the crowd, with Adora taking the lead during more confined and unclear moments and Catra taking the lead where there was more room for her to follow her nose.
It was during a particularly close fit of people that Adora bumped into a solid suit of metal on the dance floor. Normally Adora knocked people over when this happened – the physical prowess of She-Ra no longer gated by the Sword of Protection showed up in Adora from time to time, depending on her mood. This person, however, brushed it off — or rather, this robot, Adora realised as she let go of Catra as she made to apologise to the familiar form of Emily, accompanied by both Entrapta and Hordak.
“Oh, hi Adora! Hi Catra! Imagine running into you here.”
“Entrapta, of course they would be here. All Princesses receive invitations to Princess Prom.” Hordak tried to explain, probably for the umpteenth time, the concept of Princess Prom to Entrapta, but she had pulled both Adora and Catra in for a hug, completely ignoring him.
The three of them stood in an embrace for a few moments, with Catra holding Entrapta for just a moment longer as Adora broke loose to address the former tyrant of the Fright Zone.
“Princess Adora,” Hordak offered a short, curt bow.
“Hordak,” Adora replied, forgoing any titles that her former enemy would have gained by Entrapta’s good graces. She knew it would drive him crazy. The wounds of five years ago were minor scars at this point though, and Adora was comfortable poking fun at the clone, much like how Hordak was comfortable poking fun at her.
“It’s… good to see you,” Catra said as she broke free of Entrapta’s hair-hug. “Both of you.” She turned to Hordak and gave a bow, one that Hordak reciprocated.
“How’s the social experiment going?” Adora asked as politely and as discreetly as possible. She knew Entrapta and could guess why she was here with both Hordak and Emily at the same time, in the middle of a crowd of people in a ballroom.
“It’s so BORING!” Entrapta’s hair shot out in spikes as she raised her voice, grabbing the attention of most people around her. “You’d think that some people would be frightened by either Emily or Hordak, and so far, no-one’s even batted an EYE at them! I know that science dictates to not perform an experiment set up to support a particular hypothesis, but it’s just so disappointing to think that the conclusion will be ‘no-one cares about the events of years ago anymore the end’! Argh, I can’t stand it! Come Emily, I’m hungry and I always act irrationally when I am hungry. To the tiny food!”
As Entrapta’s hair shot out to grab both Emily and Hordak, the clone turned to Adora as he was dragged into the crowd.
“My apologies, Princess Adora, for this display from my lab partner. I hope we can, as your own partner once put it, touch base soon.”
And the threesome was gone. Adora shrugged, feeling her own pangs of hunger after Entrapta mentioned food, and reached out to grab a hold of Catra’s hand.
Only Catra was missing.
A concerned expression darted onto Adora’s face. Catra disappearing had not happened often in the past, and when it had happened it was often when things were not going well between the two of them. As she scanned the crowd, she quickly thought of all the things that might have caused Catra to get really upset at Adora.
The supposed lack of tuna and other meat sorts in meals at home? The meat topic had become a touchy one ever since Swift Wind had declared himself the guardian of all quadruped herbivores on Etheria, but the two did indulge in fish on a regular basis.
Was it the proposal of the name Finn for any future children? Probably not – it had been Catra’s idea.
The thing that she had wanted to give Adora before they arrived at Thundertree? If it were really important, Catra wouldn’t have even come to the ball. But then again, she knew how important it was for Scorpia…
Worried, Adora stormed to the buffet and filled up a plate with various sandwiches that were sure to get Catra in a good mood and cause Swift Wind a heart attack were he to ever find out what was in them.
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Catra never thought she would have been grateful for Hordak and Entrapta to have been reliably on time at events. Previous dinner parties had become slightly awkward when the invitation had stated a certain time and both Catra and Adora had counted on the guests arriving late in their preparations, only for Hordak and Entrapta to arrive at precisely the time specified on the invitation.
But Hordak and Entrapta knew what the Fright Zone had once been like the back of their hand and were master craftsmen besides. If anyone could help her out of her current predicament, it would be the two of them.
And so, Catra used Hordak’s insistence on social norms to be observed to sneak away from Adora to get a chance to present her situation to the two of them. Fingers crossed that they would help her out.
As expected, she found the two of them and their pet robot at the tiny food table. Entrapta was still fuming, and Hordak was making conversation with Horchefon.
Before she could open her mouth to speak, a lump sprung up in her throat. Sure, it had been five years ago at this point, but not a week went by that she didn’t think at least once of the hurt that she had inflicted on both Hordak and Entrapta. She had no excuses, she knew this. By all rights, they could easily say no.
But the thought of not being able to properly convey what she wanted to say to Adora hurt her more. Years of failing at this had defined their relationship. Had almost ruined it. Had almost prevented Catra from getting to experience the happiest five years of her life. She had to convey it, in one way or another.
And so, she spoke.
“Entrapta! Hordak!”
Emily and Hordak turned to look at her, with Entrapta turning after Emily tapped her on the shoulder and directed her attention to her.
Catra felt a single tear roll down her cheek. She had to ask.
“I need your help.”