Magic of Etheria

Chapter 1 | The First Morning of Peace

It then occurred to me that this is only the second time Catra has slept next to me instead of being curled up at the end of the bed. In the Horde, you were not allowed to share a bed, let alone sleep next to one another. A collective fear of Shadow Weaver's wrath had kept us from going that one step further. We had talked about it, of course, after I asked Catra why she didn't sleep next to me. "Shadow Weaver," she had said. She didn't have to say any more.

Catra's ear suddenly twitched and her purr stopped abruptly. I froze, my fingers still trailing over the darker fur of her stripes on her arm. After a moment, nothing happened, so I started pulling my hand away from her arm, but Catra's hand met mine and held it in place on my chest. I dared not move my head, in case she was still asleep, and this was just her involuntary moving in her sleep. But that idea was shattered when she leant up on her other arm and met my gaze with tired, half-lidded eyes. I couldn't help but smile wide when I saw her face. It was, after all, the first time I saw it since she ran off the night before. After a moment, her expression softened, and she returned my smile with one of her own before beginning to stroke the back of my hand with the one that had pinned it to my chest.

'Hey, Adora.' She whispered. The sound of her voice sent a shiver of happiness coursing through me. I moved without thinking, reaching up to cup her cheek before reaching behind her head and threading my hand into her hair and pulling her towards me. Catra let out a startled whimper as our lips touched for only the second time and instinctively tried to pull away. I let her, meeting her eyes as she held herself above me. But after a moment she licked her lips and dived back down again, kissing me with more force than I had been expecting, cupping my face with her free hand, holding me as I kissed her back gratefully. In that moment, I was convinced I had never been happier. It was perfect, it felt so right, good, happy. If I had the choice, I felt that I could have stayed there, in that moment, forever.

Catra then moved her hand to my shoulder and buried her face in my neck before I had chance to see her face. I could feel her heavy breathing against me and used the hand in her hair to scratch just under her ear. I leant my head back to give her more access and sighed when she began to rub her cheek against me, slowly working up towards my jaw. Suddenly, thoughts that Catra may not have wanted me to kiss her flashed through my head and I started worrying that I had just majorly overstepped.

'Was... was that okay? I'm sorry for kissing you out of nowhere, I just-' I was cut off by a low growl coming from Catra as she paused her movements against my jaw. 'Catra?'

'Never say sorry for kissing me. You- you can do it whenever you want. I liked it.' Her voiced trailed off towards the end as her stern tone died down and she buried her face in my neck once again.

'Okay,' I acknowledged, letting go of the lump of worry that had formed in my throat. 'I can do that.' I felt a surge of confidence well up within me as her words sunk in. 'Maybe don't forget to breathe next time though.' I said, smirk evident on my face.

'Shut up, I can still take it back.' Catra huffed into my neck.

I heard a snort escape me before I grinned and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her close and holding her against me. Catra's arms slowly reached around me too, but her face remained where I couldn't see it, no doubt hiding the blush that definitely covered her face.

There was something I wanted to know before we started the day, before we had to get out of bed and leave the room. If I didn't ask her the question before then, I knew that I would just end up worrying about it until I got the chance to ask again. So, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, savouring the moment. I relaxed my arms around her, giving her the means to escape and run if she felt the need to. 'Catra?'