Chapter 1: I'm Sorry
Chapter Text
“Adora? Adora, stay awake!” Catra looked nervously upwards to the Heart of Etheria. The sickly neon green of Horde Prime’s virus had begun to light up the room.
“I’m sorry,” whispered Adora. She held Catra’s hand against her cheek.
“ADORA!” Catra desperately tried to get Adora to wake up, but her consciousness was already fading. “You can’t give up. You have never given up on anything in your life.” She paused for a moment. “Not even on me. So don’t you DARE start now.”
Adora’s eyes fluttered for a moment. Catra held on to her tightly. “I’ve got you. I’m not letting go.” Tears streamed down her face. “Don’t you get it? I love you. I always have. So please, just this once… stay.” Her voice cracked. “Stay.”
Adora’s shield formed in her hand and then disappeared. Her eyes opened, staring up at Catra. Her voice was barely louder than a whisper. “You love me?”
“You’re such an idiot.” Catra laughed slightly, and saw her love smiling up at her.
“I love you, too.”
Catra hesitated before cupping her hand on Adora’s cheek and kissing her. In the moment, nothing else mattered, and it was just the two of them, together. They started to glow, superhuman, as the failsafe for the Heart activated.
“I’m sorry.” Adora’s body went limp against Catra’s.
“NO! Please, Adora, please come back, I can’t do this without you!” Catra held Adora close not letting her go. She recognised the sound of Glimmer Teleporting in and laughing celebrating the defeat of Horde Prime.
“We’ve done it, we’ve actually done it!” Glimmer shouts out with so much happiness. She starts running towards Catra who was hugging Adora.
“STOP. Stop celebrating” Catra yelled with all her breath. “She’s gone. Adora’s gone and she not coming back. Stop celebrating when I’ve just lost the only woman I loved. She even said it back!
“Said what?” Glimmer asked her in a confused voice.
“I love you” Catra responded with barely a whisper.
It took Glimmer a few seconds to understand what had happened, her eyes starting to well up with tears. She quickly teleported over to Catra and found Adora limp in her arms with green liquid flowing throughout her body. She was still holding her sword by her side.
“I don’t understand, Shadow Weaver said that she would be fine! Catra! What happened?!” Glimmer practically screamed at her. Her face completely covered in tears.
“Horde Prime got a monster to attack her with a virus, I got there just in time found her collapsed in pain in the corner of the previous room. I started to attack the monster and told Shadow Weaver to take her the to the Heart, SHE wouldn’t leave ME behind. ADORA wouldn’t leave ME behind.” Catra was choking out the words as she thought back to Adora’s last moments.
“In the end Shadow Weaver gave her life so Adora would use the failsafe. But by the time we got the heart, the virus had be in Adora’s system for too long. She… she went limp in my arms and said, sorry… then the failsafe activated, then she was gone.” Catra finished with barely a whisper.
“But… there has to be a way to get her back. THERE HAS TO BE!” Glimmer scanned Catra’s eyes to find only sorrow.
Glimmer quickly huddled into a hug with Catra trying to comfort not only Catra but herself.
They walk out to the surface where everyone was celebrating, when Scorpia saw Catra and Glimmer walk out she pulled them both in a hug.
“You are the last ones I need to give a victory hug, oh wait I also need to give Adora one. Where is she?” Scorpia asks laughing.
Catra shoves Scorpia aside and finds her friend Melog curled up in a ball, she joins her. Scorpia stares at Glimmer.
“What’s wrong?” she asks innocently.
“Adora saved us all, she stopped Prime. But she paid the price for us.” Glimmer whimpered.
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Everyone is wearing white, not black like normal funerals. All of Etheria is wearing She-ra’s crest on the back of a long white coat.
Glimmer stands and walks over to the podium ready to perform her speech.
“It’s been 2 weeks since Prime fell, since Adora saved us. We never knew we would have to pay such a large price for Etheria to be safe. When I was learning magic there was one crucial rule that I forgot. And that rule was that magic always comes with a price…” Glimmer takes a breath “… But Adora knew there was always a danger in her job of being Etheria’s protector, she died doing what she loved doing most, Helping others.
When I first met Adora Bow and I were looking for a piece of First Ones Tech and it turned out to be she-ra’s sword, but as we arrived at the sword Adora arrived at the same time. Bow and I both did a battle cry which we both thought were terrifying but now that I look back on it they were ridiculous.”
“I didn’t trust her one bit but when we arrived at Thaymor, Bow introduced her to all the cool things like a party, she didn’t even know what a birthday was. Then the Horde attacked. She ran off telling us to get as many citizens as possible out, she went running to tell them to stop attacking Thaymor. I ran to her looking for help because we couldn’t do it, I barely had enough magic to teleport us out of there. I gave her the sword hoping that she would do the right thing and she did. Adora saved Thaymor.” Glimmer gave a thoughtful look at Bow.
“The main thing is that Adora may have started up in the Horde, but she was more of a rebel than any of us and always stood for what she believed in. That is what made her so strong.” Glimmer finished with a small smile.
“I would now like to invite Bow to say his speech for Adora.” Glimmer turned and walked back to her chair to sit down.
“Hi everyone, Adora was one of my best friends. She was always a funny person when she got angry and she was always able to forgive the ones who hurt her. Whenever we had an argument Adora was always the first to forgive. When we rescued Glimmer from Horde Prime, I wasn’t easy to forgive Glimmer for how things ended with us before Horde Prime arrived but Adora easily forgave Glimmer, she even tried to help Glimmer feel better about how things ended. She didn’t just forgive because she could, she would forgive others because she believed in the best and truly believed that we could do better.” Bow took a pause.
“When we had an accident at Dryl, and She-ra was infected by an old First One’s virus. Because of that incident, I’ll never have to imagine her drunk.” That got a few giggles from the audience. “After that, Adora was really on edge, so we visited Mystacor to try and calm her down. We didn’t believe her but she ended up being right about something being wrong. Shadow Weaver had infiltrated Mystacor and nearly destroyed it but Adora stepped up and saved all of Mystacor. Showing us that her belief in friendship and her new family was strong.” Bow took a breath, “In the end Adora was an incredible friend, our friendship will continue from here with everyone remembering her as the amazing person she was.” Bow stood there for a few moments before realising he had an extra line to say.
“I would now like to have a moment of silence for all the people Adora saved…”
A minute passes
“… Catra would now like to say a few words about Adora.” Bow went back to his chair and sat down.
Catra stood up and walked to the podium. She stood there for a few minutes trying to blink back the tears that formed with the stories that her new friends have just shared.
“Thankyou everyone for coming, I’m not just saying that, you being here shows how much effort Adora put to keep you all safe from the Horde… and from me. Adora and I were best friends from the start, as soon as I arrived at the Horde, Adora took me in. She protected me from all the other cadets who would bully me because I was the only magicat in the Horde.”
“Even when we were fighting in the war, I couldn’t pull myself to kill her and neither could she. We had such a big bond that we would smile as we were fighting, even go as far as bringing up old memories whilst we were trying to battle each other.” Tears started to well up in Catra’s eyes and she had to take a pause to wipe them from her face.
“When we slept in the Horde I would always go from the top bunk into the bottom bunk where Adora slept to sleep at her feet. I would sometimes have bruises in the morning from when Adora would wrestle in her sleep” Catra chuckles at the thought. “She would always make me feel safe and encouraged those around her to be their best.”
“When Adora told me the plan to use the Failsafe, I didn’t want her to do it because she always had to do it. Every time something life threatening came up she would do it. She would never let anyone risk their life especially if she could do it instead. When she took the failsafe into her system…” Catra took a deep breathe.
“She looked like she was in so much pain, she went through that pain so no one else would ever have to. When we were in the chamber of the Heart, she, sh-…” Catra had to take a few breaths before continuing.
“Adora went limp in my arms, in my final hope of admitting to her about how I felt. I screamed at her with everything I had not to give up, and that I loved her…” Catra scanned the crowd. “…And the best thing happened… she responded I love you. At that moment I didn’t know what to do, so I did what any confused lover would do. I kissed her, she kissed me back but then we started glowing. I didn’t know what was happening at first but then I realised that the Failsafe had activated and that Adora was still her normal self not She-ra. The last thing she said…”
Catra was practically crying as she said these last words. “I’m Sorry.” Everyone in Bright Moon went silent. They never realised how much pain Adora went through when she was helping everyone.
“This apology was meant for everyone here. It was an apology to Bow and Glimmer for leaving so soon. It was apology to the citizens for not being able to protect them. And it was an apology to me, for only admitting our love at the end. But please, make sure you remember all the good she did for everyone and the smile she had on her face at the same time.”
Catra’s face was covered in tears as she finished her speech with, “I’m going to hand this back over to Glimmer.” She walked off the stage and went behind the curtain for some privacy.
“Well, would anyone like to say a few words about Adora?” Glimmer said thinking and replaying the final thing Catra said.
Glimmer was surprised when she only saw a few hands go up. Kyle walks up to the podium having been chosen by Glimmer.
“Adora was the Force Captain of my squadron in the Horde before she left, I never realised how much pain she went through. I always thought that she was carefree but after listening to these speeches it tells me that Adora was one of the most caring people I’ve ever known. I never knew about the pain she went through after she left the Horde or how much she gave up for others to be happy. When everything around us started to shine and the land grew all green I thought, it’s over, its really over but then Catra and Glimmer arrived and I realised nothing is ever truly finished.” Kyle struggled to find the right words.
“Adora will forever hold a place in my heart and I think that quote stands for everyone on Etheria, we are all standing here because of the biggest loss this entire planet has faced. So please, when you think of Adora don’t think of her as She-ra, think of her as a kind-hearted person that would give everything up for everyone else to be happy.” As Kyle finished everyone started applauding.
Catra ran out from behind the curtain and gave Kyle a long hug. “Thank You” she whispered into his ear.
Chapter 2: Peace?
Summary:
Everyone starts moving on with their lives but there's some weird activity in the cosmos.
Notes:
Well here's what I've edited so far. Its a pretty short chapter because I just want to get it out of the way but enjoy it.
Chapter Text
Adora was confused, too many things were happening at once. First she saw the blinding light of the Failsafe activating and then nothing, suddenly all around her lit up is a nice pinkish glow and in front of her stood Mara. Adora started to piece everything together and realised that she is now talking to the spirit of Mara since she is a spirit herself.
“Mara, I don’t know what to say, what do I do here? I need to see Catra, I can’t left her like that, Mara! Please tell me there’s a way to go back.” Adora desperately tried to find a way.
“Well I really don’t know about it, I’m not sure if you can get back. I’m sure I can’t but your situation is different, you can become She-ra without the sword and your only here because you used the failsafe of the Heart. Otherwise you would just be dead. This is a place where Etherians who have died doing something to keep Etheria safe go… There is someone who you probably want to talk to.” Mara turns and points Adora towards a small cloud where you could see a figure seated.
Adora walks towards the figure and after a few seconds her eyes adjusted, she saw Angella. “Angella?! You’re here! I mean of course you here, you saved us from the portal.” Adora stared up at the immortal queen
“Yes I am here but it is a shame that you have joined us so quickly. The reason I stopped the portal was so you could live a life that was taken from you by the Horde. I’m glad you left on a somewhat free note by admitting your feeling to Catra but I hoped you would survive.” Angella speaks with her soothing voice.
“Is there a way for me to go back?” Adora asks whilst passing through her memories when Angella was still on Etheria.
“normally no but you have a different case. When you freed the magic of the Heart there was some left over magic that wasn’t needed in Etheria so that magic has stored itself into your spirit, if you are able to harness that magic and use it to create a portal you can return to your body. The other She-ra’s wouldn’t be able to do this because they had the physical sword but you have harnessed your inner magic to summon you own sword, which in turn gives you the ability to create the portal because you create your own magic.” Angella says it like she was reading out of a book.
You can tell she was ready for this in case Adora freed the magic of the Heart.
“I can go back?! I get to go BACK! Can you help me learn how to harness the magic of the Heart? Please I can’t leave them yet, I still have so much to do and say.” Adora asks Angella for her guidance on the journey.
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Catra asked Glimmer if she could use Adora’s old room. Glimmer said yes because she thought it would help Catra get through the grief of her departed friend. Slowly as time passed, Catra accepted the choice Adora had made and started to move on with her life.
In the end, Catra knew that Adora didn’t save everyone for her to be stuck in the past. Adora gave her life for Catra to live.
After a few months, Catra started to see Perfuma to talk about everything that happened and how it made her feel. The hardest part was at the beginning because that meant actually accepting that Adora was gone.
It started off slow, but once Catra accepted Adora’s absence she was able to rebuild herself into a new and reformed person.
Catra wasn’t the only one that started to move forward with her life, Glimmer and Bow finally started dating each other and were living a happy life.
All the other princesses were the same, moving forward.
Each year a commemoration is held to honour Adora and the sacrifice she made. It is held in the grassy area in front of the Crystal Castle and was declared Shera’s kingdom. A statue was of Adora was built, it was of her civilian form. Catra argued that the person should be remembered as themselves not their princess form.
Another statue was built for Mara as well since she was the Shera that came before Adora.
The inside of the Crystal Castle had to be cleared since it was left abandoned after Etheria was moved out of Despandos. A proper entrance was created and all the murals were lit up to show the history of the many past Sheras.
Each year, people would tell stories of how Adora had saved them and what they had done with their chance at life.
Flowers would be dropped off in gardens and people would continue to visit throughout the year to honour her memory.
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As time passes, everyone’s lives continue to move forward. Bow and Glimmer are married and rule Brightmoon together. They’ve helped rebuild the damage from the war and have offered shelter to those in need.
Its been 2 years since the funeral, Glimmer built an entire museum to commemorate Adora and all the brave things she did for Etheria. It had both She-ra’s old broken sword and her new sword in glass cases protected with magic, they were to be guarded at all times since they are considered priceless.
Adora’s coffin had been placed in the spare room in Bright Moon with a white cloth covering it. The white cloth had She-ra’s crest on it in gold.
Every single day, Catra wakes up and visits Adora’s coffin, she places a fresh batch of flowers beside the coffin, replacing the ones from the previous day. Catra and Glimmer wanted Adora’s actions to be remembered so surrounding the room, there are pictures of her in battles, helping people in need and even her just sitting in the sun.
Catra writes in a journal about how her day went, she doesn’t do it because people have told her it’s a good thing to do to occupy her day, she does it because she believes Adora would want to know what’s been happened whilst she was away.
When Catra dies she hopes that she will travel to wherever Adora is then they can both read the journal together and laugh about all the funny moments.
Another few days passed when the most bizarre thing happened. A guard stationed in the Museum reported that Adora’s sword went missing. Glimmer ordered everyone to look for it since it was an important part of history.
A few hours later, Swift Wind arrived at Bright Moon and ran toward Glimmer, nearly tripping over his legs as he did.
“I can sense her! Adora’s back!” Swift Wind Shouts with happiness towards Glimmer. But Glimmer doesn’t want to hope. She doesn’t want to believe her friend is back just to be disappointed.
“Swift Wind, she’s not coming back. She’s dead we can’t change that.”
“But I can feel her, she’s so close. Please believe me!” Swift Wind pleaded Glimmer but she wouldn’t budge.
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A few days have past, Adora knows she’s back in Etheria but she can’t move. Being inside a coffin does that.
Adora summoned all the strength she had left in her arms and shovs the coffin lid off. It makes a loud noise but no one appeared to check on it. She looks around and finds that she’s dressed in a white robe decorated with She-ra’s crest on her chest with gold lining.
Adora struggles to stand, probably because her physical body hasn’t moved for so long, she summoned her sword to her side as soon as she was back so she quickly uses it as something to lean against.
She looks around the room and notices all the photos that surrounding her are photos of herself. She never realised how she had so many of them taken of her.
“When were all of these taken, actually how did I not see them being taken.” Adora asked herself.
Catra was about to go visit Adora but Glimmer wants to talk to her first.
“Look, Adora’s sword has gone missing and I want you to come clean with me. Tell me where it is, you are the obvious person to have it. So I’m only going to ask you out of respect, do you have Adora’s sword Catra?” Glimmer tries to keep a calm temper when talking to Catra because she doesn’t want Catra to get the wrong idea.
“Look I know I’ve done some stupid shit but I wouldn’t do that, Adora’s sword is for everyone to admire, I wouldn’t steal her sword. Okay?” Catra responds, she’s a bit hurt that Glimmer accused her first but its understandable.
Glimmer walks off seeming to be satisfied with Catra’s answer. Catra starts walking towards Adora’s coffin room. As she enters the room she sees the coffin is open and Adora’s body is gone.
Catra runs out of the room screaming “Glimmer, where are you Glim…” Catra’s cut off as she turns a corner and finds Adora facing her standing up, “Hey Catra…” Adora collapses to the floor.
Chapter 3: Hey Catra
Summary:
A/N:
Hi everyone! I've just finished 3 weeks of exams so I can finally focus more on this fic. Please let me know of anything you want to see.**Adora is back and Catra doesn't know what to do**
Chapter Text
Catra did not know what to do, she was too surprised to see Adora standing there and say her name. “A…Adora” Catra runs towards her. Catra carefully picks her up and starts sprinting towards the throne room where Glimmer should hopefully be.
The first thing Glimmer sees is Catra struggling to carry Adora’s body and her sword. “Catra! What the hell, why are you carrying her body around!” Glimmer is screaming as Catra reaches her.
“You don’t understand, I went to go visit her like I normally do everyday and talk to her, but I found her coffin empty. I was starting to run here but when I turned a corner I saw Adora standing in front of me and say ‘Hey Catra’” Glimmer couldn’t believe what she was doing, she teleported right next Catra to check if Adora really had a pulse which thankfully she did!
“But she died. For the past 2 years Adora’s been dead how is this possible?! Catra quickly, take her to the med bay to get her examined to make sure she’s ok and whilst you do that, I need to call Bow, he’ll be so happy!” Glimmer runs off, she could not believe what was happening.
“Ok!” Catra starts the walk towards the Medical Bay but soon that walk turns into a jog then into a sprint because she realised that Adora could leave just as fast as she arrived.
It’s been 36 hours since Adora collapsed. Catra, Glimmer and Bow sat by her side the entire time.
It was late at night and all three of them had fallen asleep, they all miss when Adora wakes up, she chuckles to herself and says, “Good thing I didn’t die, you would have slept right through it.” Everyone jolted away at the sound of Adora’s voice.
“Your awake!” Bow shouted with excitement, “I never thought I’d see you again. This is amazing Adora!” Glimmer squealed.
“Hey… I didn’t know if I was going to see you again.” Catra hugs Adora, as she hugs her Catra says “This is not because I like You” Adora smiled at the old fraise.
“It’s so great to finally see you guys again” Adora replied with as much excitement as she could.
“Adora how are you here?! It’s been over 2 years.” Glimmer asked through all her excitement
“Well, when I died, I was taken to a spirit haven where the saviours of Etheria go. Glimmer, your mum says hi and that she is so proud of the woman you have become. She’s the one who helped me get back here.” Adora says it like any other day.
“Wait, my MUM was there. Can she come back too?” Glimmer was on her feet thinking of seeing her mum again.
“Sorry Glim, I was a special case. When I activated the Failsafe…” Adora started
“Wait! YOU activated the Failsafe” Catra screamed. Adora was now regretting her word choice.
“Look, light hope appeared in front of me, I had to use some of my magic to say yes silently. I wanted to enjoy our moment.” Adora says with a sad smile. “Anyway, as I was saying, when I activated the Failsafe, I was taken to Etheria’s spirit haven, I met Angella and Mara. Angella told me that there was left over magic from the Heart that had stored itself inside my spirit. Using that magic I was able to create a spirit portal to take me back to my body. Only a She-ra can create a portal out of the blue but Mara didn’t have the Heart’s magic in her spirit and she couldn’t summon her sword. I used my own magic to turn into She-ra and materialise my sword.” Adora finished but she noticed how Catra had a frown on her face.
Adora stood up and walked over to Catra, “Hey look I know I caused you pain and grief but I’m back now” Adora said smoothly. Slowly she leaned forward and kissed Catra.
Catra was so surprised she did not know what to do. Her cheeks produced a deep red blush, and she had to bring her hands up to hide it. “Sorry I’ve been waiting 2 years to do that.” Adora said sheepishly.
“Thanks, I’ve really needed this. Umm we’ll talk later” Catra gave Adora her signature smirk. Now Adora’s cheeks started to blush.
“Ha hmm, definitely” Adora replied “Glimmer, your mum wanted me to tell you something. When you became Queen, she knew you would grieve her loss but she was proud of how you stood up for the rebellion.” Adora says as she hugs Glimmer.
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As Adora walks into her old room, she finds Catra picking up all of Adora’s clothes that, for some reason were on the floor. “Why were my clothes on the floor?” Adora said with an unusually cocky tone.
“Umm, ok I’m not even going to try to lie, I started to hug them when I slept because they helped me sleep. But now, I have the real thing to hug when I sleep.” Catra replied as if it was just casual.
“Well, it’s getting late maybe we should go to sleep” Adora said knowing she’ll hardly get any sleep that night like usual. It seems sleeping for 36 hours was the longest she has ever slept.
“Yeah, I guess your right. There are some more clothes for you in the bottom draw on the left. I don’t know how you wanted to sleep on the rock-hard bed these plushie ones are so much better.” Catra said with an exaggerated sigh.
“Can I ask you a question” Adora said quietly.
“Can I stop you?” Catra replied.
“Does anyone else besides, you guys and the doctors know I’m alive or is it not public yet?” Adora said it slowly to be cautious of Catra’s reaction.
“No, this hasn’t been made public. Can we please stop worrying about everyone else and can you just come and sleep in the bed.” Catra said with a sigh
Adora quietly lay down onto the bed next to Catra but that was not enough for Catra. She pulled Adora’s arms over her head and around her body.
A few hours had past and Adora had not gotten a wink of sleep. She could hear a Catra’s light snores, Adora carefully took her arms out of the embrace and got out of the bed.
She walked out to the bedroom and to a balcony at the end of the corridor, Adora still has the ‘don’t let anyone see you cry it shows weakness’ embedded in her.
She starts sobbing, thinking over the affects her death had on the world. Adora’s starts to think if she should have even come back. If she didn’t come back, Catra would be able to go on with her life. She then started walking back to bed and lays back down and tries to sleep.
But for once, it was Adora’s turn to have some happiness, in the end it was her job to keep the planet safe and she can only do that when she is alive.
Nightmare:
“Why did you even bother coming back?? All you ever do is disappoint people, first you betrayed me and left me with Shadow Weaver finding new best friends straight away, forgetting me as soon as you could.” Dream Catra starts yelling.
Next Glimmer appears, “Why would I want you back when my mum is still in the spirit haven. You should have used the Heart’s magic to make a portal for her. You are the reason she isn’t here!”
“You know, I can’t always be the happy guy, you need to put effort into friendships as well.” Bow’s voices says from the darkness.
“You are always causing problems that you think you can be the useless solution too, well guess what nothing you will every do, will make up for what you did to me” Catra says as she slaps Adora.
Adora wakes up with a slight layer of sweat covering her body.
Adora always has nightmares and she can’t help but wonder if they’re right. What if she really can’t do anything but be a problem. Maybe its time for her to accept that.
silck on Chapter 2 Sun 03 Aug 2025 08:55AM UTC
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clexagirly on Chapter 3 Wed 20 Aug 2025 11:27PM UTC
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Becky_Boo_07 on Chapter 3 Thu 21 Aug 2025 10:09AM UTC
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