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Adora stretched out as a gentle breeze swayed the hammock she laid on outside of Bright Moon. It was the first relatively soft-anything she found herself on since destroying Horde Prime. Almost everyone from the group at the direct confrontation immediately rested on the same battlefield whence everything ended. Entrapta was the only exception, who immediately set out on corralling the Hordak clones into some cohesion. Come morning a very wired Entrapta assured Adora she had a solution for the Hordaks to live harmoniously on Etheria. Adora didn’t question and trusted her intelligence. Entrapta was a princess of scientific process after all. She would probably put the clones to work at Dryl castle. Catra too returned to The Fright Zone, wanting to ensure a peaceful transition would be started there. Promising to return in a day or less.
Worry was at the top of Adora’s mind with Catra. She already lost Catra once, almost lost her a second time, and absolutely wanted to accompany her. Unfortunately Catra insisted on going alone. It confused Adora, but her mind was too exhausted to dwell on Catras reasonings. Blowing away Horde Prime had expended a considerable amount of energy. Thankfully the magic in the air was softly tickling at Adora as she sighed and smiled, allowing it to slowly recharge her own magic. At least she assumed it was still her magic inside. In less than a day it felt as if this was a completely different planet. The glowing presence of yellow warmth from Etheria was felt deeply, right down to each strand of her golden hair. Did Etheria always have this much magic trapped inside? Glancing to the Moonstone tower to see if its large crystal had increased any more, her eyes instead fell on something else. Or more specifically, someone else, as they melancholicly ambled through the lush emerald grass towards her.
“Catra?”
The question went unanswered as Catra continued to approach the hammock slowly. She swayed with half lidded eyes. One hand clutching her forearm, a dour expression on her lips.
She's in pain. Why is she in pain? We just defeated Horde Prime and returned everything to Etheria. Adora once again asked the question, softening her voice. “Catra. Is everything okay? Did it all go okay in the Frigh-”
Catra rushed forward suddenly. Her hand grabbing Adora’s own. A trembling was immediately felt and it seemed as if the entire body of the feline was shaking now. The dour expression turned to quivering lips, shortly thereafter stained with salty tears as Catra silently cried.
“I don’t know,” Catra choked back. “This all feels too perfect. They’re calling it the Bright Zone now, and are thinking of unifying with Bright Moon. Lonnie’s already got things… I don’t know if… I don’t… I just don’t!”
Adora’s eyes widened as she shuffled to an edge of the hammock. “Hey. Hey! Hey. Catra! Catra, come on up. Let’s talk about it. Like when we were kids.”
Catra looked at the space now free on the hammock, and back to Adora with a sniffling blink. “O- okay.”
Helped along by Adora’s steadying hand, Catra slowly sank into the hammock.
“So…” Adora hesitated.
“He’s gone,” Catra sobbed as she laid facing Adora, her knees curling towards her chest. “Good riddance and all that, but… now what? I’ve been so horrible with everything I’ve done. Can I just –can I just go on and have a happy ending? Do I even deserve this? Is this really okay?”
Adora softly gazed at Catra, reaching out and resting a palm against the side of her feline companion’s face. “It’ll be okay,” she said, as her other hand slowly traced along Catra’s striped arm fur. Adora paused at a slight wince. Catra’s body tensed before relaxing into her touches.
“Is it really over?” Catra gulped, her hand slowly grasping on Adora’s as it caressed her face. “I don’t deserve any of this. I’m a horrible, awful person.”
“No.” Adora frowned. “That’s a lie, you’re not horrible. None of that matters now anyways. None of the what ifs or what was. I’m here with you now. We’re together. And that’s all I want to focus on.”
“But-” Catra tried to disagree. “The others. What about…”
Adora’s hand stopped its tracing pattern on the striped fur. It skimmed around Catra’s back before both arms gently wrapped around. Carefully shifting, Adora guided Catra to a position above herself. Her hands now both delicately running up and down the felines back.
Skin met soft fur as Adora leaned her head against Catra’s forehead. “Are you already forgetting the fact it was your kiss that probably saved all of Etheria and indeed the whole galaxy?” Adora whispered. “I think that’s enough to absolve a lifetime of misdeeds. Besides, as much as Mermista was grumbling about Entrapta and Hordak, everyone seems okay with it. I’m sure it will be no different with you.”
“Wow, pressure’s on for our second kiss then huh.” Catra blinked a few times as she sat up, freeing twinkling remnants of tears. Her body weight fully sitting atop Adora’s legs. The hammock swayed slightly from all the movement. She rubbed her fingers against her eyes before gracefully vaulting off with a shake of her head as she landed. “It’s cold out here, You don’t even have fur like I do, how can you even stand this breeze?”
“I guess I didn’t feel it as much with all the magic around. It is getting late and colder.” Adora nodded quickly. Her hands balancing at the edges of the trembling hammock, somewhat annoyed at how quickly Catra had removed her warm body from her own. “Maybe we should both get back to the castle then, and both get under covers for the night. Wait a moment… You’ve never been in a bed!”
“Of course I’ve been in a bed dummy.” Catra rolled her eyes. “We literally shared a bunk at the academy?”
“No!” Adora started to practically beam with giddiness as she hopped off the hammock. “You’ve never been in a bed, bed . Just trust me. Things are a bit different in Bright Moon.”
“Uuuuugh,” Catra groaned. “As long as it's not as cold as being outside here, that’s all I care about.”
~
To say things were ‘a bit different in Bright Moon’ was an understatement. Catra figured the entire bed, mattress, and all of it, was made of pillows. And not like the pillows from the former Fright Zone. Pillows which were three times as fluffy as anything she had seen. She felt one would sink into them like a quicksand of plushness.
“Is it even safe?” Catra asked, her ears tilting. “That can’t be comfortable.”
Adora laughed, “You should see Glimmer’s bed. It took me a while to get used to it when I first came here too. But trust me. It’s comfortable.”
“If you say so…” Catra stretched out. As much as she was loath to admit it, between the battle and rushing out to ensure nothing went awry in the Fright Zone, she was tired. Exhausted even. When was the last time she got a proper night's sleep?
“Now where did we leave off,” Adora mused, gently tugging at Catra’s top suddenly, as if urging her to take it off.
“I can get into nightclothes myself!” Catra hissed, speaking a bit more forcefully than intended. She recoiled, quickly throwing off her shirt before turning to Adora.
“Sorry…”
It was the soft tone from Adora’s apology along with her frown which Catra felt most guilty for. She still had a long way to go on her anger management. Perhaps Plumeria would best help with that. “I’m sorry too, Adora. Sorry, it’s, it has been a long two days.”
Adora shook her head and seemed to bounce back quickly from Catra’s reflexive slight. “You can say that again. Which is why we both need to rest.”
Catra was suddenly playfully pushed towards the bed. As she fell, her mind went to a similar moment of play fighting from their Academy days. The thought quickly faded as the softness of the bed hit her fur.
The bed felt softer than soft. Catra didn’t think it was possible for something to be this soft. And then the smell, it was Adora’s smell mixed in with whatever perfume had been used to clean the sheets. It felt like love, comfort and calm, all rolled into one fluffy pile of heaven. Catra barely registered she was now literally swimming atop the sheets, rubbing her cheek and nose throughout the cotton fabric in a circular pattern.
“Having fun there are we Catra?”
“It’s- It’s so comfortable,” Catra mumbled, looking up to Adora and squinting for a second. Adora was now undressed herself and in her nightclothes. Her soft but muscular stomach on full display. Catra never thought much about it but the colour of Adora’s skin was beautiful, glistening in the moonlight. Adora’s golden hair had fallen too, the usual balled mass now freely flowing across her shoulders. She was beautiful.
“And you’re not even between the sheets yet.” Adora smiled.
Catra looked downwards. She originally thought the thin sheet she was atop was the only sheet and everything else beneath was the bed. Upon closer inspection she realized there were three sheets.
Adora shuffled herself underneath some of the sheets before grabbing each one in order. “There’s the top sheet, what’s called a comforter, another top sheet, and finally there’s also a fitted sheet on the mattress itself,” she spoke, pinching the sheet she was now laying atop. “That one is just so you don’t sleep right on the mattress.”
Following Adora, Catra also shuffled between the pillowy layers. Everything on the fabric was smooth. It had no scratchiness like any of the bedding in the Fright Zone. Adora’s smell additionally enveloped all the layers of fluffy comfort. Every inch of Catra’s fur was being caressed by bliss.
“Cozy?” Adora asked as her warmth now joined the caressing fabric. Her body pressing up against Catra.
“Mmmhmm,” Catra replied, wrapping her arms around Adora, pulling her even closer. “This is cozier than anything I’ve ever felt in my life. This really is peace isn’t it?”
“Yeah. Now you know why we fought so hard for it.”
There wasn’t any helpful reply Catra could think of to that statement. So she opted to continue staying in peaceful bliss as Adora’s hands gently rubbed her fur. Catra herself absentmindedly returned the action, the feeling of her fur against smooth skin only amplifying the existing comfort.
“Is there anything else you’d like to get off your mind? My love? You never really did finish your thoughts from when we were at the hammock,” Adora spoke, breaking the silence. The last two words said with such a syrupy sweetness Catra almost assumed it was sarcasm if she didn’t know better.
Love. Well I guess we are technically dating now. Catra thought. “What about the next time we kiss? The last time we did, I literally caused you to explode in She-ra magic. So what if that’s like, a key or something. What if It’s dangerous? I’m worried.”
“A kiss isn't going to cause some magical outpouring again…” Adora giggled, “that was a one time thing because, boy was I in a state. I can control my transformation normally.”
“But what if it does?” Catra’s hand stopped, tapping on Adora’s back. “What if you can’t control it?”
“Then we’ll face it together. ” Adora’s wide eyes pierced into Catra’s own, her raised eyebrows almost speaking as if to say ‘trust me.’ “You’re still tense and I think I have a way to fix that.”
“Oh?” Catra’s ears raised in curiosity.
“Perfect, leave them just like that,” Adora spoke. Her hands traced a pattern from Catra’s back before gently cusping the pointed ears. “Trust me on this.”
Catra winced and braced herself. She fought against a primal urge to pull away from rough hands so close to her sensitive ears. A memory of Shadow Weaver once aggressively tugging on her ears in punishment and the stinging pain from it, started to enter her conscious.
Except it wasn’t that. The memories of pain made way to a feeling of warmth. Carefully compressed and comforting circles kneaded throughout both her ears. Catra felt as if a mother she had never known from her past was there with her. It was calming to her. How could someone not feline create such calm. How did Adora know how to rub her ears just the right way.
Allowing the calming feeling to wash over herself, what started as a low guttural sound started to escape from somewhere deep in her stomach. Or was it from her throat? Whatever it was, it was causing her whole upper body to vibrate and was getting louder. She thought she felt something like this briefly, right after the battle with Horde Prime. But she had pushed it away as nothing but a physical delusion brought on by the near disaster of a battle.
“Is that… purring?” Adora spoke. “I thought I read somewhere about it.”
“Purring. Right. So that’s what that was.” Catra marveled. “Someone asked me once if I could, given I was a feline. I thought it was gone. Something lost from a time when the first ones were here. I guess… I guess I’ve never been comfortable till this moment. I. I think I like it.”
“I like it too.” Adora smiled as she shifted and sat up slightly. “It’s calming to me and nice to know you’re feeling good. You deserve to feel great. You’re a good kitty, and a good person. Someone I can stay with.”
The warm touch of Adora moved from Catra’s ears to a gentle massaging motion down her hair. Catra felt a noise escape from her mouth, but was too busy leaning into the comfort Adora was giving her to care what it was. A good kitty. Am I really? All she could do was softly nod as the purring continued. Resolving to herself, that she was a good kitty. This was nice and she did deserve this. She deserved to stay with Adora, after all it was Adora that was willing it.
“Hey…” Adora's hand now rested under Catra’s chin. Gently nudging it up as her eyes met the felines. “You know what else I like? You. I love you. ”
Blissfully, Catra barely registered the subtle movements as Adora urged her mouth closer to her own. She had no time to pull away. The two lips met once more, for the second time ever. Followed by a third time, and a fourth. Tongues started to dance with each other as hands weaved soft paths betwixt skin and fur. Adora and Catra continued to entwine. Legs brushed against each other and the motor deep within her feline frame only increased in volume and intensity. There was magic in these kisses, but it was not the same as the first time. For a fleeting moment before allowing herself to just enjoy everything, Catra realized how silly she was for being worried.
To those two whom nature and magic hath so joined together, let no creature put asunder. That which unites the two is far greater than what divides. Their past no longer mattering, only the present, and the future of the two blossoming lovers. Like a lily blooming after a fire.
“I love you too, Adora.”