song: dedicated to the one I love
by mamas & papas
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Rogelio's POV
"C'mon Kyle, one more!"
The sound of the metal blade clashing with the punching bag strung from the ceiling fills the room, making both me and Catra flinch. The smell of sweat is putrid, but neither of us would pass down the chance to see He-Man and Adora in training.
"He's not bad actually."
Catra says, taking a swig from Adora's water bottle. I nod in agreement, beads of sweat forming on my forehead just from looking at him. I know he would never be able to do so much as Kyle, and it's strange seeing him so precise for once.
'It's a little weird to get used to.'
I say, making sure I'm quiet enough so that Kyle can't hear me. He ducks under Adora's arm as she swings at him and jabs the sword into the punching bag.
"Yeah, I getcha."
After what feels like only a couple of seconds more of exercise Kyle shifts back to himself and collapses into an exhausted heap on the floor. Adora grabs her water from Catra and downs it in one go.
"Okay, so He-Man is just as fit as She-Ra."
She says between gasps. Of course he is, I think, but I wouldn't dare say that to anyone else. When Kyle drags himself over to me I laugh with the sight of him falling dramatically into my arms with a huff of hot air escaping his lips, and secretly adore the way his hair falls even messier after a workout than it usually does, each blonde strand like a golden thread framing his pale but flushed face.
"Why... are you staring... at me?"
He pants. I smile at him and shrug, sure that he'll understand eventually. Adora slaps him on the back encouragingly and sits next to us on the bench, pushing Catra over to make room. Maybe it's just the knowledge that Adora's Kyle's sister messing with my head, but they look scarily alike, each glint in their eyes even more similar and every strand of blonde hair only looking more the same as time passes on.
"One training session before the mission isn't exactly good, but it'll do."
Adora says with a smile. Kyle grumbles something and hides his face in my chest again.
'Maybe for once all his training with the Horde will have payed off.'
I growl. Catra understands me and snickers when Kyle shoots me a glare, but Adora just looks to the floor silently.
"Are you two okay? I don't mean it like that, it's just... have you even had time to process anything?"
She says, catching me off guard. Her voice wavers as she speaks and sends a twinge of anxiousness through my head. Are we? Kyle looks up at me and out eyes remain locked for a few seconds, before looking back to the floor. I frown at the side of his face and decide not to say anything, not finding the right words even if I wanted to. Adora smiles and pats my hand.
"Sorry, I'm just worried. Sisterly things, I suppose."
The four of us sit in an uncomfortable silence for a while before Kyle decides we should probably go back to our room.
The room is beautiful as always. Being midday the sun is perched high above the castle on it's sparkling throne, hiding away from all of the chaos that will soon be brought over the crimson waste tomorrow. I stare at it through the large glass doors and wish for a second that I could watch from above, too. I glance over at Kyle, who's lying on the floor, and lie next to him. Our heads are side by side buy our bodies stick out in opposite directions.
'How are you doing?'
I grumble, as quietly as I can. Kyle glances at me from the corner of his eye and I notice how sore they look, how tired and utterly stressed they seem to be.
"Okay."
I frown at him and squint at a small spot on the ceiling. It looks as though it was stabbed with a knife, or was it a sword? It doesn't matter the second I hear him sniffle.
I sit up straight away and and he just stares at me from the floor, tears streaming down his face. My heart feels as though it was just taken from my body.
"I think I'm broken."
He whimpers. I shake my head and open my arms, inviting him in for a hug. He hugs me and buries his face into my shoulder.
"The flashbacks went away for a while, but now they're back. Adora's my sister... I'm he-man... It's so much to take in but..."
I rub circles on his back and he sniffs in a shaky breath.
"I feel nothing. It's like I'm numb."
He pulls his head away and looks at me with an expression so full of fear I don't think I've ever seen it before. I wipe his tears away and ruffle his hair with a smile.
'You're not broken. Not at all.'
I'm not sure if he understands me. It gets difficult when he's upset, I've come to learn. He nods and takes my hand into both of his.
"When me and Adora go into that ship tomorrow... can you wait for me on the ground?"
He asks. I take him into my arms again and rest my chin on his head.
'Of course I will, Kyle. I'll be waiting for you.'
He sniffles again and wraps his arms around me.
A knock on the door makes both of our heads turn.
"Come in!"
Kyle calls, still wrapped around me. The door creaks open slightly and a small blue creature runs in and leaps on top of of, sending us crashing to the floor. Lonnie comes in soon after and laughs at us.
Her eyes look bloodshot and tired, just like Kyle's do. Am I supposed to be this upset? I haven't had much time to think about anything.
"I just came in to hang for a while. You know, like we used to."
I smile at her as she lies in the floor next to us, outstretching her arms for imp, who crawls to her instantly.
"How you guys holding up?"
She sighs. Me and Kyle share a look of concern but he looks stronger than he was the first time I asked.
"We'll be okay."
Lonnie nods and rolls her eyes as she starts to laugh.
"What's so funny?"
Kyle asks defensively, sitting up and glaring at her. Lonnie laughs even more and I can't help but crack a smile.
"Back in the horde, you two were all over each other, you know. Like seriously."
Kyle raises his eyebrows and flushes crimson.
"That's not true!"
I laugh and sit up, too.
'It kind of is.'
Lonnie laughs and Kyle pouts at the floor for a while before joining in.
"It just got me thinking. All the time we missed these past few years... you guys have finally been free. Free to be together. I'm sorry I missed it."
I smile at her and shake my head.
'We understood why you needed a break.'
There's another knock on the door and the three of us look over in confusion when Adora and Catra peek into the room with smiles.
"Cadet hangout before the big mission?"
Catra asks, and we all laugh. They sit with us and we talk about where we've been, what we used to do, the things we used to joke about.
And for a couple of hours, it's all like it used to be.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Hi! Sorry for the long wait on this, I was struggling to write for a while!
This whole fic was very long and only really sped up when Kyle and Rogelio were #snatched so I'm sorry about all the unnecessary dragging out lol. The next chapter is the mission, as you know, where they plan on getting She-Ra's sword and sending Astra away.
So, unfortunately, it'll probably be the last chapter at all! There will be a epilogue chapter but that doesn't count lol.
So until then, I hope you enjoyed this story even though the pacing was kind of weird!!
-Rose 💗