Magic of Etheria

Chapter 1 | The First Morning of Peace

'Hm?'

'Where did you go last night? I kind of thought you wouldn't be coming back.'

Catra's claws dug into my back, but she didn't run. She just held onto me for a moment, before releasing a deep breath. 'I just – I needed to think. So much happened yesterday... I left you behind, Horde Prime hacked the planet, Shadow Weaver... and you. I just needed some time, some quiet to process it all.'

Shadow Weaver. Right at the last moment she had sacrificed herself to take the guardian with her, allowing Catra and I to go on to the Heart of Etheria safely. Without her, without her sacrifice, we may not be here right now, holding each other close – I had never, never considered that Shadow Weaver could have some good left in her, and I never would have considered, or even imagined, that she would do anything as selfless as that when she was so close to having all the power she had ever wanted.

My hand moved back up and threaded itself back into Catra's hair, stroking through it gently, and I smiled when I heard and felt the soft purr vibrate against me. I couldn't believe how long we had been fighting each other on opposite sides of a war, always trying to get one up on one another. At some point, I realised that I had started hoping to run into her on our missions, if just to see that she was okay. I angled my head down and kissed into her hair, relishing in the little sound she made as I did. 'You can take all the time you need; I'm not going anywhere. I'll never leave you ever again.'

For only the second time that morning, Catra looked up at me and I met her gaze. She had such beautiful eyes, practically glowing at me with tears forming within them. I slowly moved my hand up to her face, aiming to wipe the tears from her eyes.

But I stopped dead as a familiar twinkle of magic sounded in the room, and I became suddenly aware that we had guests.

'Adora! Are you awake? We can't find Catra anywhere-' Glimmer started to say, speaking incredibly fast, even for her, but cut herself off when her eyes landed on the bed and saw Catra and I in each other's arms. Catra buried her face back into my neck, her tail thrashing around behind her, displaying her embarrassed annoyance for all to see. At least, I could tell that's what it means, I wasn't sure about Bow and Glimmer, who seemed to have ceased functioning as their brains caught up with their eyes.

'Morning, guys.' I greeted, wrapping one arm around Catra and using the other to pull the duvet up and over her in an attempt to make her feel more comfortable. I struggled against her trashing tail for a bit but got there in the end.

'Good morning, Adora,' replied Glimmer, 'and Catra,' she added pointedly, 'I should have known she would be in here with you.' I felt my face warm up as the blush spread across it.

Catra growled against my neck, but I could tell there was no menace behind it. 'Ugh. Leave me alone, Sparkles.' She leant up on her arms and hissed in their general direction.

'She didn't mean that.' I added, not wanting my friends to get the wrong idea about her little outbursts.

'It's okay, Adora, it's just soo cuuute!' Bow cooed, his eyes grew two sizes and seemed to sparkle while he watched this scene unfold. Catra would likely hiss at me if I admitted this, so I didn't say it out loud, but I had to agree with Bow: she was adorable. I suddenly felt extremely lucky to be able to have this moment and be a part of it. Had events not played out the way they did, had Catra not found her way to the Heart, I might have actually died. For a brief moment, the vision of the future I saw in the Heart flashed in my mind, all of us together just like this. Well, not quite like this, but together, alive, and smiling. Or snarling. I'll take whichever.

'So, what's the plan?' I asked, bringing myself back to reality. 'Now that the Horde is gone, what's our next move? Rebuilding? Bringing magic back to the universe?' I noticed Catra was looking at me and I briefly met her gaze before she moved away and buried her face in the pillow next to mine. I felt a frown encroach on my face – had I said something wrong?