Love is Magic, and Magic is Love

Magic is Love

I can't leave her like this, I think, watching fresh tears roll down Adora's cheeks. Will she be okay? What about Melog and the others?

"Please," I whimper. "Let me stay..."

I'd do anything to take another breath, to feel her heartbeat next to mine, and feel her touch.

"Please," I croak, watching my tears trickle down, watching my form fade further and further into nothingness. "Please, I want..."

I float higher and higher, until I'm directly above my lifeless body. In just a few moments, I won't even be inside Darla anymore. I won't ever see Adora again. I don't even know if I'll exist at all, or what comes next.

A thick knot forms in my throat, and I scream out one final, desperate plea...

"I WANT TO LIVE!"

Suddenly, there's a blinding blaze on the floor beside the bed, and Melog pounces onto my cot, their orange form poised on top of me. They open their jaws wide in a silent, defiant roar.

"Hey Melog," I whisper, watching my tears drip through their back. "Calm down. And look after Adora for me, okay?"

Melog lays down on my body, and looks over their shoulder, staring directly at me.

"Your wish has been heard."

"What?"

"My soul, to your soul."

My mind is suddenly filled with a vision of endless stars, swarming towards me, and planets, life forms, all so new, all so alien. And then Melog, as that small, magical being, as they are first born into their world, ready to live countless stories, and experience countless adventures.

"My heart, to your heart."

I feel a sudden, heavy thud in my chest, my arms become completely visible again, and a strange, tingling numbness floods through my fingers.

"Melog... what are you doing," I whimper, watching as their form bursts into a brilliant white glow.

"My life, for your life."

"Stop it!" I exclaim.

"Do not be afraid, Catra. I will always be by your side."

I watch as their form evaporates into a golden mist, each particle seeping down into my other body.

"Don't you dare, Melog! Don't. You. DARE!"

Suddenly, I'm yanked towards the table and pulled into my body, feeling a desperate, hungry breath fill my lungs, and just a moment later, a hot, burning heat searing through me. It's so agonisingly painful, but also beautiful, somehow, because I feel Melog, feel the very essence of them flooding into me, all the way to my marrow. For the briefest moment it's like I'm sailing through the stars, weightless, surrounded by their warm embrace.

"I love you."

"MELOG!" I yell, hearing my own hoarse voice ring in my ears. I reach out for them and clutch them tightly to my chest, feeling their form shrink down, smaller and smaller, until there's nothing left in my hands.

--

I become numb, feeling nothing for a short while, and then slowly, steadily my limbs start to tingle, and my senses return. I feel myself panting, hear my heartbeat ringing loudly in my ears, and I snap my eyes open, noticing that several pairs of hands are holding me down.

I blink a few times, looking from one person to the next, finding their eyes wide. "Uh, hi?"

"Catra!" Adora chokes my name out, and buries her head into the crook of my shoulder, sobbing loudly.