Chapter Text
Adora could insist that Bow and Glimmer’s persistence wore her thin. She could say they wouldn’t have let her work alone in peace if she hadn’t agreed. But they knew her resolve wasn’t so weak to give into their constant pleads and bargains. And she knew that, if they really sensed she didn’t want to go, they wouldn’t have forced her to do something she wasn’t comfortable with.
And their words did hold some truth to them. She was overworked, over-stressed. This final choreography project was kicking her ass with a creative block that prevented her from coming up with anything worthwhile. She was running herself into the ground, operating on no sleep and all caffeine which, of course, wasn’t healthy for anybody.
It was Bow who found her knocked out in one of the practice studios with some form of classical “thinking” music playing on her portable bluetooth speaker. It was Bow who messaged Glimmer alerting her to the state he found her in, mumbling a jumble of incoherent and, quite honestly, physically impossible dance routines in her sleep. And it was Bow and Glimmer who insisted that she take the night off to not think about school and just let loose and find something enjoyable to occupy the evening instead.
Adora was reluctant to take the break. There wasn’t time to relax, a part of her mind would nag at her. She couldn’t afford the luxury, it was too risky. But Glimmer wouldn’t have it. She wouldn’t let her go on thinking that one night of fun was going to ruin her, her grades, or her future. She was much too talented, and Bow agreed that she would definitely figure something out tomorrow. But tonight, she needed to let herself rest and have a chance to feel refreshed and somewhat normal.
Again, they would not force her if she really did not want to go out tonight, but they would see to it that she leave her school work alone. They could always just Netflix and chill, order some pizza and just enjoy each others’ company if she had decided to stay in. However, part of her did want to go out, to just relax and dance without it having to relate back to her course work. Part of her thought it was just what she needed, that it could even bring back the inspiration and spark she required to finally push past this block.
That was how she found herself outside of the “Black Garnet” dance club with its muffled music leaking past the cracks of the closed door. The stand outside the door read “feat. DJ Entrapta” and Adora wondered if that was their stage handle or real name.
“Her mixes are really good.” Bow spoke into Adora’s ear, snapping her attention from the sign, “She’s, like, a genius with electronic music. You can’t just sit still and listen, it’s like her beats compel you to move.”
Adora gave a polite chuckle, she didn’t get it a hundred percent but she at least understood that Bow was obviously a fan.
“Then what are we standing around out here for?? Let’s get in there!” Glimmer’s hands pushed at the two’s backsides, excitedly herding them closer towards the door.
As the bouncer was checking their IDs to confirm their ages as well as the legitimacy of the identification cards, the crowd could be heard roaring and hollering and cheering on something they were enthusiastically surrounding. Adora, curious as she was, tried to get a glance of what they were looking at, but found the surrounding bodies much to dense to catch even a sliver of a window. However, judging by the scene and the crowd’s reception, it was easy enough to wager a guess.
“What’s going on over there?” Glimmer’s voice suddenly came into Adora’s ear, the abrupt shift making her jump slightly as she turned to look at her.
“Oh, I can’t really see from over here, so-” she started to respond, her shoulders easing off the tension, but was cut off before she could finish.
“Well then, we’ll have to get closer, won’t we?” the pink haired girl took hold of the blonde’s hand as she pushed her way through the crowd, “C’mon, Bow! Before we miss it!” she shouted back, but the tall boy was already hot on their heels to follow their path. Glimmer, ever so assertive to get what she wanted, found her group of friends a spot within the front of the surrounding crowd where they could easily see the spectacle that got them so hyped up and excited.
Adora’s hypothesis was proven correct upon their arrival: it was a young woman, dressed in a crimson sports bra and burgundy joggers, dancing to the hip-hop trap beats that burst through the speakers. But she wasn’t sure if the thudding in her chest came from the bass, the stomping of feet, or the striking heterochromatic eyes she spied between the shifts of the woman’s wild and thick black hair.
Catra? The name flashed in her mind along with the memories associated between the two women.
What kind of coincidence was this? After years of seeing neither hide nor hair of her, how did Adora’s string of luck lead her into this kind of chance encounter? Of all the nights in existence and all the dance clubs for miles upon miles, she happened to find the deeply rooted childhood friend on this night in this club that she stood in right this very second.
“Get it, gurl!!” a woman’s jeering cry stirred Adora out of her own head, her eyes now forced to pay attention to what everyone else had already come to conclude.
Catra really was getting it on, her body rocking and shaking and thrusting to the rhythm, working her assets without a care for their staring eyes, nor mercy for Adora’s own gawking gaze. Watching her now after all this time apart really drove home just how long it had been since they were together, taking the same dance classes, practicing the same routines, and spending every waking free time immersed in each other’s company. The initial distance back then was jarring, a disturbance to a routine as natural as breathing. Now… now it made Adora’s chest clench to watch Catra, her best friend Catra, dancing as freely as she ever wanted and having grown so much without Adora’s knowledge or presence.
She couldn’t tell if this tightness she was feeling was excitement to be able to watch Catra dance again or anguish that she was only seeing this because Catra hadn’t noticed her yet among the crowd. So engrossed in the music, it was as if she was in her own little world and Adora was left at the same level as the gathered crowd: a dance enthusiast watching at a distance.
As the music was bleeding into the next set, Catra saw it fit to take the chance to cool down and let her body rest and rehydrate. That was when Adora felt a hand pressing to her shoulder, grounding her back to reality and out of her submerging thoughts.
“Adora?” she looked over to attach the hand to Glimmer, “You okay? You had this weird distant look on your face this whole time.”
“You need to sit down?” Bow interjected as he leaned into her opposite side, sandwiching Adora in the middle of their concerned gazes.
“I’m fine, really. Just… had a bit of a blast from the past.” Adora answered, her eyes drawing back to find Catra by the bar.
The two followed her line of sight, “You know her?” Glimmer asked, staring at the olive skinned woman, looking for some form of recognition.
“She’s my friend… well… was my friend.” a somber look came to Adora’s face as she had to force the correction out of her mouth. It left a bitter taste on her tongue to refer to their relationship in the past tense.
“Was?” Glimmer pressed on.
“It’s a bit complicated, but, long story short, we had a falling out a couple years back. I haven’t seen or spoke to her since. Didn’t think I’d find her here.”
“That’s heavy.” Bow commented in a sympathetic tone.
“Yeah,” Glimmer agreed, “But, you know what this means though, right?”
A brow raised on Adora’s face, she did not know what this meant.
“Obviously something wanted you two to meet again. I mean, what were the chances, right? This has to be a sign that it’s time you two fell back in.” There was a determined glint in Glimmer’s eyes as she spoke. She had no idea what the two’s falling out was even about, but, by the look in Adora’s eyes, she was ready and aching to mend things.
However, despite Glimmer’s confidence in her assumption, Adora still looked far too uncertain, “I don’t know… I mean… it’s already been three years. If she wanted to patch things up by now, she would have said something, right?”
“So? Maybe she was waiting for you to make the first move instead.”
“But-”
“Look,” Glimmer cut her off quickly before she could let another excuse muddle up any resolve she had left tonight. Her hands planted firmly against Adora’s shoulders and spun her around to face the bar, “See that girl there? That there is a relationship just waiting to be revived. If you don’t do this now, then you never will. Who knows when this kind of chance will come up again, so it’s now or never.”
“But what do I even say?” Adora was getting a bit more panicked the more she was being convinced that she should go talk to her.
“You’re smart, use that big, beautiful brain of yours.” And with that, Glimmer shoved her forward, starting her walk towards the noirette and forcing her to act first and think later.
“You really sure that was such a good idea?” Bow asked, watching Adora stiffly soldier walk her way over towards the bar.
“Trust me,” Glimmer clapped a hand over his shoulder, “This is just what she needs to turn this into a worthwhile night.”
Adora’s body was operating on autopilot, following the motions to advance forward while her mind was preoccupied with coming up with some kind of conversation starter. She insisted to herself that she’d give a simple greeting. She insisted to herself that she could always start with Catra’s little display. Engraving those into her battle plan had been simple enough, but the worse part of overcome, what she couldn’t seem to fathom, was that this was just Catra. Not some hideous monster hell-bent on ruining her life, just her normal, run of the mill “Catra”. The Catra she grew up with, the Catra she shared everything with and vice versa. But, staring at her now, how she’d grown, how she’d matured, it was proving to be a difficult pill to swallow.
Before she knew it, her feet had already arrived by the bar, stopped behind Catra with the other too preoccupied on her phone to notice.
She implored her brain to connect with her mouth, to say something before she started looking like some kind of bar creep.
“Hey Catra.” she finally spoke up, her voice lower than she would have liked but it was a start.
There was a subtle jump from the stool the noirette was seated, instantly finding recognition in the voice before turning around to look the blonde up and down. Teal blue and amber gold irises traced every bit of the familiar figure in front of her, from her striking baby blues to her sculpted thighs in those high-rise shorts of hers.
“Hey Adora.” Catra’s tone sounded a bit off, caught off guard by the unexpected, but there was nothing malicious or telling that she wanted to be left alone.
A good sign, Adora internally breathed a sigh of relief as the worst possible scenario was successfully avoided. However, she had been too absorbed in her own self-satisfaction in herself that she nearly forgot that conversations usually go for longer than the initial greeting.
“I saw you dancing back there.” she made a quick gesture back towards the dance floor, “It was, um, you were really good.” She forced a laugh past her throat to clear the nervous lump forming in her esophagus, “Glad to see you haven’t lost your touch one bit.”
Any sort of startling surprise Catra had left remaining on her face quickly melted away into a coy and smug smirk as she breathed out a chuckle, “What? Did you expect anything less from me?”
It was that one simple shift at the corner of her lips that finally allowed Adora to relax, to start to have some expectation that this was going to turn out just fine.
“Well, you were the one that liked to skip practice.” Adora retorted, answering with a knowing smirk of her own as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“That’s just because I’m that naturally gifted.” she shrugged her shoulder and Adora couldn’t help but giggle at Catra’s ‘I’m just too good’ attitude.
Right, this was Catra. Same ol’ smug, overly confident Catra.
“So, you want to sit down, or…” Catra’s voice trailed as she nodded towards the bar stool on her left.
“No one else is using it?”
“Do you see anyone else’s ass using it?”
Adora took her up on the offer, planting herself comfortably on the cushion before turning the seat slightly to continue their conversation.
For the most part, everything was going well. They were laughing, reminiscing about old memories between the two and sharing stories that happened to either one of them when they were apart. It was like Adora had her old friend back, and she couldn’t help but relish in how good it felt. Sure, her new friends were amazing, she couldn’t think of any real gripe she had with any of them, but being around Catra was different. It was a different level of soothing comfort when she was nearby, a different kind of wanting to spend time with her. One she was never able to replace.
The laughter of a passing joke died down on Adora’s face, her smile softening with a hint of sadness in her brow, “I really missed this.”
Catra, a little behind in Adora’s thinking, responded back, “Missed what?”
“This. Us. Just talking and joking around like we used to.” she answered, her tone getting a bit excited as she offered the clarification. “I just missed it… I missed you, Catra.”
That was when Catra’s smile died on her face, turning her eyes into the glass of water sitting in front of her, fingertips tracing the rim mindlessly. “You know, you wouldn’t have to miss anything if you’d just stayed.” the comment left her lips softly, part of her wanting to enjoy this reunion a bit longer but the other part couldn’t let the bitter, negative feelings go.
Adora was left speechless and visibly hurt by the comment, which Catra actively refused to acknowledge, but she swallowed it down and steeled herself, “It wasn’t easy for me either.” she paused, waiting for some kind of response but continued as she saw none coming, “I had to start all over in a new town, in a new school and with new people. Those first few weeks were hard for me… and you and your silent treatment didn’t make it any better.” Her eyes glared in Catra’s direction, recalling how she needed Catra then more than ever before and how she couldn’t count on her at all.
“So what do you want? A fucking medal? You want me to apologize or something? That was your choice, nobody forced you to take their scholarship.”
“You’re right, no one forced me and it was my decision to go, but you can’t be mad at me for wanting to make something of myself. Brightmoon has opportunities that the Horde could never match.”
The noirette’s irritation made itself notably heard through a loud, exaggerated groan and a roll of her mismatched eyes.
“You know, if you were so heartbroken about it, you could have come too.” Adora’s tone grew softer, gentler, “You’re a talented dancer, Catra. I know you would have made it into the program. Money wouldn’t have even been an issue for someone as good as you.”
“So you just want me to follow after you like some loyal pet.” she grumbled through clenched teeth.
“That’s not what I’m saying at all. I just mean that you could make something of yourself at Brightmoon-”
“What?!” That had been the last straw for Catra. She had reached her level of tolerance for this whole topic of discussion and now she was just done. “You seriously think I need to be in your preppy little dance school to make something of myself?! Well guess what, princess, I’ve been doing just fine without you! Even better now that I don’t have to be in your fucking shadow…”
Adora blinked away the tears threatening to show in her eyes, “Catra… that’s not what I meant-”
“Could've fooled me…” her teeth sunk into her lips, biting back whatever it was she was going to say. It wasn’t worth the wasted breath, “Whatever…” she stated as she leapt off the bar stool and made her way towards the exit.
“Catra, wait!”
“Bye, Adora.” And the wall was back up again, an air surrounding her that she was no longer willing to be bothered. That she was done dealing with the emotional strain it brought and the strain to keep it all hidden.
Adora couldn’t do anything but watch as Catra strode over towards the exit. Well, she could have gone after her but that would just make things worse. So, what she did instead, the only thing she could think to do, was let her head fall to the bar countertop, her forehead pressing against the cool, wooden surface.
“What happened??” Glimmer’s voice called from behind Adora’s back, “It looked like it was going well.”
“What do you think? I put my own foot in my mouth.” Adora grumbled as she pressed her skull further into the furniture.
“I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.” Bow tried reassuring her, pressing the palm of his hand against her back and rubbing small, comforting circles.
“I pretty much insinuated that she had no future. You don’t get much worse than that!” Adora snapped, her head shooting up to show the glistening wetness of her eyes before slamming her head back onto the table.
“Ouch…” Glimmer muttered while Bow’s face cringed to mirror the comment.
“Now there’s no doubt about it, she hates me.” she mumbled away.
Bow and Glimmer looked between each other for a moment before looking back at their friend. “Well, I wouldn’t go as far as hate.” Glimmer spoke up as she leaned over Adora’s body.
“And what makes you so sure?”
“You’re pretty dry, aren’t you? If you said that to me, and I hated you for it, I would have chucked my drink into your face.” the pink haired girl stated with a bit of a laugh.
Adora’s head looked up and she thought about it for a moment. Her eyes looked towards the abandoned glass with the condensation still dripping down the surface.
She breathed out a short chuckle, “Yeah… knowing her, she would have climbed over the counter and dumped all the bottles over my head.” she stated, gaining a laugh from the other two as they imagined the scrappy young dancer dumping the clubs property in an act of vengeance.
“Right, she might be angry but I wouldn’t say you lost your chance with her. There’ll definitely be a next time.” Bow smiled, instantly making the dimly light club feel ten times brighter.
“Yeah…” Adora’s thumb rubbed away the tears that were building up in her eyes, “Thanks you two.”
“Anytime, Adora.” Glimmer smiled as she wrapped her arms around Adora’s body the moment she saw Bow moving in to hug her first, successfully sandwiching the blonde between the two of them.
Adora’s arms wrapped around the two’s shoulders, squeezing them tightly to remind herself of the good that came with deciding to accept Brightmoon’s offer. She breathed out a heavy breath, letting herself relax and ease the tension off her body.
“You still wanna dance?” Glimmer asked as she pulled away slightly.
Adora looked away with a slight, embarrassed flush on her cheeks, “Actually… you mind if we head home…? It’s still kind of fresh, you know.”
“No no, I get it.” her friend responded quickly, urging that she not feel guilty about going home so soon.
“We can just chill tonight. Take it easy.” Bow added with an affirmative nod of his head.
“Thanks.” Adora muttered softly with a gentle curve on her lips.
The three friends made their way to the door, leaving the club behind for the comforts of their apartment. Adora couldn’t say for certain if she could call the night either good or bad as a mix of emotions circled around in her stomach. But she was certain, at least, that it was a night she wasn’t going to be forgetting anytime soon. And, with Catra’s thrusting hips and sweat glistened stomach still fresh in her mind, heavens she’d definitely wouldn’t be forgetting tonight.