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skipppppy · 3 years

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I’m so fascinated by your she ra fan character! I’m trying to understand the storyline but it’s a little hard to find everything, and I was wondering if you would mind explaining it here?

Thank you very much! Her story is SUPER convuluted, I elaborated on it a bit on another ask about her relationship with Entrapta, but I’ll try to sum it up as cleanly as possible but a lot of different factors come into play so it still might be LOOONNGG. It’s also not a very happy story, unfortunately, but it would be helpful for me to get it all written down!

In terms of things that might be triggering, her backstory involves mention of a wide range of abuse. It won’t be explicit but I just want to be safe!

I’m actually gonna put most of it under the cut for the sake of anyone who follows me or any tags so they aren’t cursed with a mile long post on their timeline. I know the pain 😅

So here it is! I present A COMPREHENSIVE TIMELINE OF ALL THE BULLSHIT ARIA HAD TO PUT UP WITH!!!!

-For background context, she’s a Wingfolk, a species of Bird People native to Etheria who live in a kingdom built into a forest of giant trees named Ornithia. I could go on about them for hours but all you really need to know is that they have hollow bones to achieve flight (which is also the case for real life birds), which makes Aria’s body very light and frail. So she’s basically useless in physical combat which is why she never really defends herself. She was also a particularly weak flyer, which is why she doesn’t avoid a lot of situations by simply flying away.

-EXTRA BACKGROUND CONTEXT, Aria was born around the time the Horde landed on Etheria. Her father was a sorcerer at Mystacor, who had a reputation for ignoring ethics in the name of science. This all came to a head when a meteorite struck the surface of the planet; he rushed to the sight, stole it, studied it for a while, and after learning it had a powerful magic, decided to try a ritual in which he extracted the magic from the meteorite and fused it with his daughter’s soul. It took a few years for people to find out but when they did he was exiled for his actions, and Aria, still a child, was given to her mother.

-ONE MORE SMALL DETAIL: from about the age of 18/19 onward, she started having dreams about a mysterious figure made of blinding light who knew secrets about the universe and promised to find her one day so they could “finally be together again.” 3 guesses who THAT is lmao (hint: it’s Horde Prime)

-I won’t go into details about her childhood because we’d be here forever but the most important things you need to know are 1) Aria’s mother was a HORRIBLE parent and preferred to get blackout drunk rather than look after her children. 2) Aria had 4 younger brothers who, due to her mother’s negligence, she had to raise entirely by herself, which is why she feels responsible over others and has such a “nurturing” disposition, it was forced on her. 3) She took her brothers and ran away from Ornithia when she was 15, and built a home in a small woodland in the mountains of Dryl where she has lived ever since. 4) Throughout her childhood she befriended Princess Entrapta and the two were extremely close due to their isolated upbringings.

-When the BFS visited Dryl for the first time in Season 1, Aria was there acting as both a lab assistant and royal advisor to Entrapta, and joined the rebellion alongside her. Nothing crazy happened, but when Entrapta “died” Aria was beside herself with grief and ended up leaving the rebellion in order to go tend to Dryl, since it needed a ruler and as advisor it was her job to step up and take responsibility. Unlike the others, however, she refused to return to aid in the battle of Brightmoon, since she was kinda miffed at how the Princesses treated Entrapta (lookin’ at you, leash lady Perfuma) and was thoroughly pissed that they didn’t even TRY to go back for her, even if it was just to find her body and give her a dignified burial.

-Season 2 was when things truly went to shit. When the Horde came to claim Dryl, Aria resisted but was defeated pretty easily. When Glimmer and Bow came to scout out the situation, they saw her being hauled away and tried to save her but basically got caught in a stalemate where they couldn’t act because the Horde threatened to harm Entrapta if they acted. They told Aria to go with the Horde and promised that they would form a rescue party to save the both of them. But after they learned that Entrapta had joined the Horde by choice and had more important missions to deal with, rescuing her just..stopped being a priority. She wasn’t a rebel so they had no obligation to get her, so eventually they forgot about her entirely.

-Aria was kept as a prisoner for a while, but Entrapta found out pretty quickly what happened and went to find her. At that point Catra was growing frustrated with all the menial paperwork she had to do, and since she’d had experience being an advisor/secretary type, Entrapta basically proposed to Hordak that Aria act as his assistant in the same way she used to at Dryl. He accepted since it meant he would be spending less time running the Horde and more time building the portal. Aria was against the idea of helping him since she was still holding out hope that the rebels would come save her, but she was simply threatened with the classic Evil Horde punishments (torture, more torture, being locked in a cell for weeks without food or water, a tad more torture). So from mid-Season 2 to the end of Season 4, that was pretty much the position she was in. Being the Fright Zone’s resident desk jockey.

-Not much happened in that timespan, most of what occurred revolved around the portal incident and the aftermath. While Aria had been playing the part of Hordak’s pretty little secretary she was trying to find weak points in the Fright Zone’s security system so she could bust her and Entrapta out of there. Due to her and Hordak building the portal (and smooching lol) she’d been spending less and less time with Aria, which had been making her a little upset. She felt like someone she’d spent her entire life caring for was replacing her for something better, but her suspicions weren’t confirmed until she asked Entrapta about leaving together and she refused. That was the first small nudge towards a downward spiral. Then Catra returned with Adora and the Sword in hand and the Princesses came to stop the Portal. The rebels had come to save Adora and forgot about her. She was willing to forgive and join them, until they saw that she had been assisting the Horde, assumed she had betrayed them alongside Entrapta, and decided to leave her behind without giving her a chance to explain herself. That was the second, slightly stronger nudge that made her teeter over the edge of a breakdown. And then Catra told her that Entrapta had abandoned her to rejoin the rebels. While it was a lie, it was perfectly placed salt in the wound, and the straw that broke the camels back into her shifting allegiance and properly joining the Horde.

-Throughout Season 4 she had the same role as before, except this time she actually cared about her work, and had taken on the additional role of helping Hordak with his busted tech since Entrapta wasn’t around to do it. He had already come to rely on Aria for paperwork, but now she was helping him with his machines and they had a shared trauma over being “abandoned” by someone they cared deeply for. She was literally filling the void Entrapta left, and in a way they started to care for each other. Aria, being a hopeless romantic who had read about a trillion love stories about gentle protagonists who healed the evil monster men with their kindness, took to him like a moth to a flame and happily played the role of “the next best thing” against her better judgement. It wasn’t really a healthy relationship, but they did genuinely care for each other and found comfort in one another’s presence.

-It didn’t last, however. Catra was vaguely aware of the “thing” they had, and while she was indifferent for the most part, she was dealing with a downward spiral of her own, and she slowly became paranoid that Aria would distract him from completing their plans. In her poor, burnt out kitty cat frame of mind, the only way to deal with the situation was to get rid of her. So, deciding to kill 2 birds with one stone, she told Hordak that Aria had been jealous of his relationship with Entrapta, and SHE had been the one to send her to beast island. And Hordak believed her.

-I won’t go into detail about what happened after that, because it was VERY GRUESOME! We all saw how Hordak reacted when he found out what Catra had done in the original show. Now remember when I mentioned that Aria has hollow bones that made her incredibly frail and physically incapable of defending herself? Yeah. It was not pretty. Hordak wasn’t completely at fault, since he thought his anger was warranted, but by the time he’d learnt the truth and realised his mistake she was dead. In the space between the incident and learning what really happened he’d thrown her in the abandoned black garnet chamber with no food or water and basically left her to rot. He was EXTRA mad at Catra for pulling that with him, but he didn’t have time to grieve since he, Glimmer, Catra, and Aria’s lifeless corpse were beamed up into Horde Prime’s flagship.

-When Prime initially found her she was still dead. However, remember the healing magic that came from the mysterious meteorite that had now fused with her soul? Spoiler alert! It belonged to him. The meteorite was one of his most prized possessions, and the dreams Aria had been having were the magic’s attempts at trying to establish a connection with him across dimensions. (the meteorite was somewhat sentient. This is perfectly normal and well thought out writing I swear) And being reunited caused a huge surge of magical energy that resuscitated her, allowing Prime’s clones to give her some much needed medical help.

-After being pretty much comatose for 2 weeks Aria finally woke up, and was finally able to speak with Prime in person. When she found out that the “mysterious figure” from her dreams who had promised to find her was REAL and had just saved her life, she basically just latched onto him. She was, understandably, TRAUMATISED from the last 2 or so years of her life, so she was too scared to go anywhere else or trust anyone, so Prime didn’t even have to try to win her allegiance. He was also very happy to have his meteorite back, even if it now had a mortal body with skin and a face and a slew of emotional baggage. So she spends most of Season 5 being showered in love and affection by Prime and all her attendants, eventually being crowned Empress. While Prime was unequivocally evil and Aria was aware of that, he mostly sheltered her from what he was doing, in fear that her loyalty to him might falter. Maybe in a fun au she could’ve convinced him to leave Etheria alone so they could be together for longer, but alas, it was not to be.

-In the aftermath of the Heart being destroyed and Prime being killed, her downward spiral returned and shifted into OVERDRIVE. The people who had abandoned and neglected her took her one safe person away from her and they were being hailed as heroes for it. While she now knew that Entrapta had never abandoned her and was instead sent to beast island, seeing her get a happy ending with the man who had, to be quite blunt, physically abused and assaulted her, shattered any part of their friendship that might have been recoverable. She retreated into herself, taking over Horde Prime’s role as ruler over the Clones. She turned the Velvet Glove into their new home, trying to be civil with the other Princesses but eventually descended into a cold, bitter, vindictive Empress who ended up making terrible decisions as a cry for help.

-I’m still undecided on what to do with her after her fun villain arc, but I do know that in the aftermath she’d probably either step down from the throne so she could properly heal from her trauma, or work with her clones to fix up Prime’s flagship and get as far away from Etheria as possible and find peace in a new life away from everything that hurt her. I may also bring back Horde Prime from the dead through my sheer will to ignore canon so they can be together, since they are for all intents and purposes, soulmates. And I don’t think it would be very fair to let my poor hopeless romantic who just wants to be loved lose her handsome prince forever. I think it would be sexy if I committed necromancy I think.

ANYWAY...THAT WAS A HEFTY READ..SORRY IT WAS SO LONG, BUT THANK YOU FOR THE ASK!! I CAN COME BACK TO THIS FOR REFERENCE NOW

TLDR: babygirl has had it ROUGH

#spop oc #she ra oc #aria

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pennamesmith · 3 years

Text

Skeletor Takes a Holiday

Catra thinks on the past. Adora gives out presents. Glimmer looks to the future. Entrapta drives a tank. Hordak and Bow do their best. A She-Ra Day Special.

More “Skeletor” stories here!

“Blast you, you miserable cat! Let me go!” Skeletor squawked.

“Reel it in, bonehead,” Catra replied coolly. She was leading Entrapta’s rebellious reprogrammed robot by what amounted to an ear, his arms full of stolen sugar plums.

“Please, let me explain!” Skeletor protested. “I must save the children!”

“Tell it to the queen,” Catra shrugged back. “If you really wanted to get away with it, you wouldn’t have let me catch you. And anyway, Wrong Hordak says we need more help at the snack tables.”

“You overgrown fur coat,” Skeletor grumbled. “How dare you embarrass me in front of everyone?”

They were walking down a hallway of Bright Moon palace, making their way toward one of the large common rooms. On most weeks, Wrong Hordak used the space to hold a support group for clones and other former members of the Horde, who met to talk about their lives and their feelings. Together, they healed, held on, and let go. And, with great bravery and reluctance, they tried new ways to be themselves.

Today, they were hosting a wellness afternoon.

Catra pushed open a pair of double doors and was greeted by the sight of a warm, bustling room. The therapy group regulars were there, but so were various palace staff and citizens of Bright Moon, as well as former Horde soldiers cautiously following the flyers distributed by an enthusiastic flock of clones. Mixed together, they mingled, tentatively.

Stations were set up in this and the adjoining rooms, each providing sample servings of various simple self-care options. In one area, Netossa and Spinnerella taught comics and cartooning to a circle of curious clones. In another, Swift Wind pranced at the head of an aerobics group. Glimmer had set up a portable kitchen by the window and was showing some palace guards how to make vegetable dumplings. Just about everyone looked like they were having a good time.

Catra waded through all of this and found Wrong Hordak teaching an improv comedy workshop — alongside the regular support group’s newest member, who was currently hanging off the cheerful clone’s shoulder like a feathered boa constrictor.

“Yes, and?” Double Trouble prompted the group, raising an emphatic hand. “Tell me what comes next! Show me passion! Show me imagination!”

“Start the performance! I demand to be amused!” interrupted Skeletor.

Everyone fell silent and turned to look at Catra. “I got Skeletor back,” she said simply, showing off her perturbed prisoner.

“Wonderful work!” Wrong Hordak exclaimed. He pulled a small instruction manual bearing the seal of Dryl out of his pocket and flipped through the handwritten pages. “Skeletor, please perform…” He squinted at the messy longhand. “...Relationship-building subroutine eighteen. Ah, I think I see what the problem was.”

Skeletor abruptly saluted, dropping most of his plums in the process. “I hate to leave this touching scene, but I see my plan has failed! I’ll be back another time, my friend,” he said, marching off to greet new arrivals and attend to the snack tables.

Catra turned to go, but found her way blocked when Double Trouble materialized in front of her.

“It’s good to see you back, kitten,” the lizard smirked. “We almost thought you’d abandoned us! And speaking of, look who I found while you were away.” They pointed. “Some old friends of yours!”

Following the gesture, Catra looked around and felt her insides do a flip-flop as she recognized Kyle, Lonnie, and Rogelio among the group. Double Trouble seemed about to say more, but was instantly distracted when Wrong Hordak winked and called them over for help with an armload of props and costumes.

...Which left Catra alone to face her three erstwhile friends. Who had already made eye contact and started walking towards her. The former force captain wished furiously for an alien abduction, or to be struck down by lightning, but she had no such luck.

“Hi Catra!” Kyle squeaked. Rogelio rumbled something in a friendly tone.

“Catra,” Lonnie greeted simply, wearing an unreadable expression.

“Oh wow,” Catra stammered. “It’s, uh, it’s been a while guys. Haven’t seen you since…”

“Since you went off the deep end and we deserted the Horde?” Lonnie finished for her.

Catra shrank a little. “Yeah. Since that. I’m… really sorry about all that, by the way. Have you all been okay?”

“We stick together. We have a good life. And we heard that you and Adora got married, so now I guess I owe Rogelio money.” Lonnie laughed. “No invitations for us, huh?”

“It was really small,” Catra muttered, feeling worse by the second. She touched her ring. “Just a few guests in the park. Nothing major.”

Lonnie held up her hands. “Hey, it’s cool, none taken. I just hope you treat her better now than you did when we were in the Horde.”

Catra felt her hackles rise and did everything she could to squash them back down again. “We’re fine,” she managed, eventually. “You haven’t seen her around anywhere, have you?”

“Yeah. Over by the board games with the science princess and, you know...” Lonnie mimed a tall, fanged figure with a squinting scowl. “Though I still don’t know how I feel about those two.”

Kyle and Rogelio looked at each other.

“Thanks,” Catra muttered, and slunk away.

Catra found herself stuck in her own thoughts as she wandered in the direction Lonnie had pointed, barely able to muster a friendly wave as she passed Scorpia in Perfuma’s yoga group or Bow at the jigsaw puzzle table. She kept replaying the conversation in her head, thinking about things she could or would or should have said.

In the pit of her chest, she could feel the faint fear of a voice that said she hadn’t changed at all. Unbidden, the image of her own hand on the portal lever came to her. Stupid, stupid, she thought at herself, until the self-loathing drove away the shame.

Catra sighed. She was working on it.

Fortunately, she didn’t have long to perseverate. Sure enough, Adora was in the board games area, seated around a table with Entrapta, Hordak, Emily, and Imp. All five of them were thoroughly engrossed in a heated round of Betrayal at Horror Hall.

“I’ve rolled a three,” Hordak declared as Catra approached. “Is that good?”

“No, it means you’re still trapped in the Dark Dimension,” Entrapta explained evenly. “My turn! I move into the throne room and attack the ghost!”

“Attack! Attack!” Imp echoed in her voice.

Emily beeped.

“Hey Adora,” Catra sighed with relief as she joined them. “How’s it going?”

“Emily betrayed us all, the Dark One has escaped, and I’m dead!” Adora wailed. “In the game, I mean,” she clarified, gesturing to her battle figurine, which was tipped on its side. Catra smiled and settled in, already feeling more assured of herself.

“Oh, and you have got to try Hordak’s new coffee,” Adora continued, proffering a steaming paper cup. “He called it a… peppered mint mo-cah?” She looked at Catra with immeasurable eyes and giggled. “I think I can hear space.”

Catra had a thought. She glanced at Entrapta.

“That reminds me,” Catra started cautiously. “You know that charity stunt or whatever you goons have planned for the night before Adora’s birthday?”

“You mean She-Ra Day Eve?” Adora asked, a huge grin plastered on her face.

“Yeah, that one. I changed my mind about staying home. I want in.”

“Oh, yay!” Adora nearly fell out of her seat leaning over to hug her wife. “We’re gonna have so much fun!”

“It will be a significant benefit to have extra helpers,” Hordak added with approval as he looked up from the game board. “Entrapta has engineered quite an undertaking for this event.”

“She has? Uh, how elaborate are we talking, exactly?” Catra asked, already beginning to regret her decision.

Entrapta leaned across the table. “Oh, it’s gonna be big,” she boasted, grinning. Then she sat back in her hair and laughed madly, swinging her feet with delight.

Catra gulped. Somewhere, she could hear a bell ring.

They were standing outside in the starry night.

It did not snow in Bright Moon, but the air was chilly, and everyone assembled was wearing heavy winter coats. Catra, sinking into hers like a turtle, leaned against Adora’s arm and groaned.

“I’m gonna be so bad at this,” she complained.

“You’re gonna do fine,” Adora cajoled. “You’ll get to throw stuff at people! You love doing that.”

“It wouldn’t be the same without the whole Best Friends Squad anyway!” Bow added, as Glimmer nodded beside him.

“It’s better with you here,” the queen said, smiling.

Catra felt her stomach twist and looked away. But that only faced her toward the group’s tallest member, looming lazily on her other side.

“You seem stressed, Catra.”

Catra glared back up at Hordak. “Easy for you to say! Your wife’s birthday isn’t a national holiday!”

Hordak huffed. “Perhaps not where you come from.”

“I can’t take much more of this,” moaned Skeletor.

Catra threw up her hands. “Okay, and why is Skeletor here?” she asked helplessly.

“Silence, you furry fool!” Skeletor retorted. “You ought to know me better than that by now!” He crossed his arms and sulked.

“We require a full crew for this endeavor,” Hordak explained, more calmly. “Entrapta insisted upon using one of the larger models.”

“Models of what?” Catra demanded.

As if on cue, a loud rumbling sound filled the air. The ground began to shake, and an enormous Horde tank rounded the corner, trundled down the road, and came to a juddering halt in front of the gathered friends. It was covered in tinsel and had been repainted with jolly, festive colors.

“Speak of the gremlin,” Catra mumbled, staring.

The tank’s front hatch popped open and Entrapta emerged astride Emily, hefting a huge burlap bag. Imp was sitting on her shoulder, wearing a new pair of booties with curled and pointed toes.

“Merry She-Ra, one and all!” Entrapta crowed. “Welcome aboard the Wrapper Tank!” As they filed past her up the ramp, she rummaged in her bag and passed out what appeared to be accessorized figurines resembling each member of the group.

Skeletor stared long and hard at his. “Only one is really me! Which one is it?” he mused.

Glimmer was delighted with hers and immediately set about making it hold hands with Bow’s. Catra held hers uncertainly while Adora toyed with the miniature She-Ra’s sword arm action.

“Look, it’s a tiny Hordak!” Entrapta squealed with glee as she presented her partner with his own likeness. “Isn’t he cute?”

Hordak smiled as he accepted the gift. “Your craftsmanship is remarkable, as always.”

Inside the tank was a command bridge the size of a throne room. Several more bags stuffed with small toy princesses rested in the center of the floor. On every surrounding wall there were blinking control panels and swiveling gunners’ chairs. Skeletor sat down in one and spun giddily.

“I made tiny versions of all the heroes of Etheria!” Entrapta exclaimed, sweeping her hands over everything. “Bow helped with the designs. And then I used my fabrication lab to mass-produce them!” She held her sides and cackled wildly.

“We’re going to give them out to all the homes in Bright Moon,” Adora added, settling into another chair. “Something for the kids, you know?” Catra, already brightening at the sight of weaponry, grinned and joined her.

Entrapta tossed herself back into the pilot’s seat. “If this experiment goes well, we’ll be able to expand the operation to other kingdoms next year! Maybe even the whole planet!”

“Okay, but how are we going to be able to deliver presents to every house if we only have one night?” Bow asked.

“That’s easy!” Entrapta bragged. “Behold, the power of the Wrapper Tank!”

With a flourish, she dropped one of the trinkets into a large funnel near the control panel. In seconds, automated arms had bound it in wrapping paper and a purple bow, and fired it out the front cannon at high velocity.

“This baby can do thirty of these things a minute!” Entrapta shouted proudly as she continued shoveling toys into the machine.

“Is everyone comfortable?” Skeletor asked. He didn’t wait for an answer before pushing as many buttons as his bony arms could reach.

With a roar, the engines came to life, and then they were rolling down the road, strafing the kingdom with presents that mostly landed where they were supposed to go. The inside of the tank became a bustle of activity as the crewmates passed gifts to one another and sent them shooting off into the night. Distantly, they could hear people cheering, as well as the occasional sound of something breaking.

“Is this what we’re doing all night?” Catra asked. She flipped a switch and raised her eyebrows as a Frosta doll hurtled through someone’s window. “You were right, it is kinda fun.”

“This is the main event, yeah,” Adora replied, launching a volley of Sea Hawks down the block. “We’ve got a few more personal stops to make on the way, though. The first one’s in the Whispering Woods!”

Catra froze for a moment, imagining the ghosts that were waiting for her in those dark and shifting trees. She shook her head and ignored the thought.

“What idiot started this whole thing anyway?” Skeletor griped.

The tank made its first stop at a tiny cottage, so small and low that it would have been easy to mistake for nothing at all.

“Madame Razz?” Adora called as she ducked through the doorway. The others followed behind her in a curious huddle.

“I brought you some cookies and sweets and stuff,” Adora said, setting the goodies on the table. Bow and Glimmer gazed with interest at the many mystical odds and ends decorating the walls. Entrapta struck up a conversation with the broom. Hordak, who was taller than the ceiling, crouched in as dignified a manner as he could manage.

“Who knows what evil lurks behind these doors?” Skeletor hissed in a hushed whisper.

At the far side of the cottage, Razz sat in a rocking chair and tipped slowly back and forth, staring at nothing. Catra felt her hair stand on end.

Adora looked worried. “Razz? You there?”

Madame Razz blinked and snapped out of her trance. “Yes, yes, deary! Come in! I remembered this was going to happen.” Leaping to her feet, she held out a stuffed doll with pointed ears, blue hair, and soulless eyes. “Look here! I have a gift for you also.”

Adora took it gingerly. “How… nice. What is it?” She turned the doll over in her hands. It wore a rainbow jumper and a plastic smirk.

“It’s a Loo-Kee on a Ledge!” Razz explained cheerfully. “You put it in your home. Move it every night. Tell the children it can see them. Makes the young ones more obedient!”

“Thanks, that’s terrifying.” Adora passed the doll to Catra, who seemed far more interested in its potential applications. “I bet it’ll make a nice game.”

“Game?” Razz turned and stared through her glasses in confusion. “We are not here for games, we are here for fruit cake!”

Before Adora could stop her, the old woman had rushed to her little cottage oven. She made a show of reaching inside with protective mitts and extracted a cold stone brick, which had been placed in a pan with some wild nuts sprinkled on top.

“You want a slice now?”

“Oh, absolutely!” Entrapta pushed her way to the front of the group, producing a small buzz saw and a sample jar. “I’ve been reading up on geological gastronomy!”

”Uh, hey, Entrapta!” Adora intervened. “Did I ever tell you that Madame Razz knew some of the First Ones? Like, personally?”

“What? Really?” Entrapta turned toward Adora in surprise, and then back to the old woman with renewed interest. She peered through a pair of multi-lensed goggles and raised her eyebrows. “Though that would explain all the tachyons in here. Quick, how many temporal causalities am I holding up?”

“Ah! You’re a sharp one, deary!” Razz laughed.

Entrapta shook her hands and pulled a recorder from her pocket. “Aah! You — you’re a walking quantum event! Tell me everything!”

And in her own way, Razz did. As they chattered back and forth, Adora looked between the old witch and the scientist and wondered why she hadn’t introduced the two of them sooner.

“That’s a handsome, strapping lad you’ve got there!” Razz whispered conspiratorially to Entrapta. “Does he have a brother?”

Entrapta smirked.

“You have a brain that could warm my heart,” Skeletor said. “If I had a heart!”

Much to Catra’s consternation, their next stop did not take them out of the Whispering Woods. While Entrapta and Skeletor tuned up the tank, George and Lance cheerfully embarrassed their youngest son in front of his friends.

“We’re delighted by your presents!” George punned as his husband passed out mugs of hot cocoa. Hordak took two and carefully decanted the extra into several tiny thermoses.

Bow handed his fathers a huge stack of neatly handwritten pages. “We brought these for you — Adora’s been helping me translate some of the First Ones records you found at the ruins!”

“It’s… not very exciting,” Adora admitted. “There’s a lot of complaining about this one guy who just sold really terrible etherium.”

Despite this, George and Lance seized upon the pages and flipped through them eagerly, talking over each other in excitement. While they sat and chatted energetically with Adora about what the writings contained, Glimmer dragged Catra away to show off her increasing knowledge of the expansive library.

This left Bow standing alone with Hordak for the first time in the night. The archer and the ex-lord looked at one another, the former desperately searching for something to say while the latter gently nursed his cocoa. They both seemed to sense that some sort of social interaction would be appropriate, but were entirely unsure of what that ought to be.

“Excuses, excuses! I’m tired of all your excuses!” Skeletor yelled from outside. “Fix the problem and go!”

Hordak cleared his throat. “Entrapta tells me you are the one who gave my brother his rather... derivative name,” he tried after a moment.

Bow made a noise.

“He thanks you for it,” Hordak said sincerely.

“I’m sorry! I mean, what?” Bow cautiously opened his eyes.

“He considers it an essential part of his journey to freedom from Prime’s grasp.” Hordak studied his claws with a careful expression. “Many have encouraged him to take on a more singular moniker. I am among them. Perhaps someday he will. But for now, it is as beloved to him as that theatrical lizard seems to be.”

“You’re… welcome?” Bow ventured.

“You are a highly competent engineer,” Hordak stated. “I once mistook your work for Entrapta’s. When we were still enemies, that is.” He hesitated. “I… am pleased that we are not enemies any longer.”

“Thank you?”

Hordak bowed.

Skeletor popped his head around the door.

“Get a move on, you slugs!” he called. “Hurry! Faster, faster!”

Eventually, the Wrapper Tank rolled to a stop at the front gates of Bright Moon palace, precisely where it had begun. There was only one visit left to make.

“Micah! It’s so good to see you!” Entrapta chirped. “How have things been since we both lived at the mercy of techno-organic island monstrosities?”

“Quieter,” Micah remarked. “And my food doesn’t get stolen nearly as often.” He smiled. “It’s good to see you, too.”

“I made you She-Ra Day crackers!” Entrapta exulted, holding out a pile of shiny paper cylinders. “They’re an old Dryl tradition, ever since last year. When you pull the ends, tiny snacks come out! And I’ve improved these ones with twenty percent more explosives!”

“It should be quite a blast!” Skeletor chuckled. “Enjoy the fireworks!”

Gingerly taking the armload of gifts and setting them down as carefully as she possibly could, Castaspella welcomed everyone into a warm and cozy den. She and Micah had lit a roaring fire in the fireplace and were decorating a fir tree with glowing light-charms. A small table held a large platter of cookies, which Adora immediately set about devouring.

Skeletor paused at the door. “Tell me a riddle!” he demanded.

Castaspella looked confused. “Excuse me?”

“He thinks it’s what sorceresses do,” Entrapta told her. “You gotta humor him!”

“Oh.” Castaspella tapped her chin. “Well, in that case, um… why did the twigget cross the road?”

Skeletor considered this for a great deal of time before surrendering. “Oh, I’m horrible at riddles,” he groused. “Who’s good at riddles here?”

However, everyone else had already settled in around the fire, tired from a long night of bauble bombardment.

“What do you think of our She-Ra Day decorations?” Castaspella asked proddingly. “Micah wanted a fake tree, but I set him straight on that. Honestly, I don’t know how my brother survived on Beast Island without me.”

“You certainly would have helped scare the monsters away,” said Micah.

“Y’know, I’ve always wondered what it would be like to have a sibling,” Adora thought out loud. “Could you imagine me with, like, a long-lost First Ones twin? We’d kick so much butt!”

Hordak, Bow, Micah, and Castaspella all shared a look that spoke to something universal.

“It’s a mixed bag. Casta used to trick me into stealing food for her,” Micah complained. “Pretended it was a game and I got more points if our parents didn’t see me sneak into the kitchen.”

“He hit me with a tree branch once, you know,” Castaspella responded.

“I did no such thing!” Micah argued. “All I did was lead your horse under a tree. It’s not my fault it had remarkably low hanging branches. Or that you didn’t duck in time.”

“Anyway,” Bow cut in, “I think what Micah and Castaspella are trying to say is that despite their differences they get along now and they’re glad to still have each other after all this time.” He glanced at Hordak. “...Even if they used to be enemies.”

Micah nodded sagely. “That is precisely what I meant,” he lied.

While they continued with their conversation, Glimmer noticed that Catra was standing alone at the far side of the room, her back to the others, staring at a small portrait of Angella hung above the door.

“Fascinating,” Skeletor said. “That little insect is feeling sorry for itself!”

Glimmer whispered something to her father and stood up to approach the fretting feline. “Hey, everything okay?” she asked. “You’ve seemed off a lot tonight. You didn’t even laugh when I showed you that book of dirty First Ones jokes in George and Lance’s library.”

“Huh?” Catra looked up, surprised to have company. “I guess so. Maybe. I don’t know. I mean… are you really sure I should be here?”

“Well, it’s all Adora has been talking about for the past week, so yeah, pretty sure.”

Catra shook her head. “No, I mean here at all. Being happy, instead of rotting in a dungeon somewhere.” She scowled. “I know we’ve talked about it, but I just… I did so much bad stuff, back in the Horde. I hurt people. I was awful to Adora. I’m even the reason your mom…”

Catra trailed off. A deep gulf of silence stretched between her and Glimmer. The queen appeared pensive.

“I’ve done some really bad things too,” Glimmer said eventually. “So I guess maybe I’m the wrong person to ask?” She gave a lopsided smile.

“But what do you do when people hate you? And you deserve it?”

Glimmer looked concerned. “I don’t think anyone here hates you. Not currently, anyway. Where’s all this coming from?”

“I’d hate me if I were you,” Catra quietly admitted.

“Maybe. But I’m not you, and you’re not me.” Glimmer turned away and hugged herself. “I’m always going to miss my mom. And it’s always going to hurt. But… I don’t think it’s much use to make that hurt worse by hating you.” She looked back up. “I think anyone can make up for a mistake, as long as they really know it was a mistake. I hope so, anyway.”

Catra scratched her head. “So, what, feeling bad means that I’m good?”

“Something like that,” Glimmer giggled. “Seriously though, there’s responsibility in this. We never stop working on it.”

“Was that a royal ‘we’?” Catra quipped.

“No, it goes for both of us. All of us. I mean it.” Glimmer gazed around the room. “Mistakes… never really get completely fixed, you know. It took me a long time to get that. But we can grow something better and stronger with the lessons we learn from them.”

The queen smiled again. “Besides, I’m happier being friends. Look at us all!”

Catra did.

Everyone, in one form or another, was relaxing around the glow of the fireplace. Entrapta and Imp knelt by the hearth, doing something with chestnuts and an acetylene torch. Hordak and Micah sat on the couch, swapping horror stories about Shadow Weaver. Bow watched closely as Castaspella instructed him in a new knitting pattern. And Adora appeared to be trading pleasantries with Skeletor as though they were age-old friends.

“Here, She-Ra! A gift!” Skeletor said. He held out a freshly-baked doomberry pie.

Catra laughed. Suddenly feeling lighter, she went to join them. Glimmer followed. And the great world spun on.

Entrapta clapped her hair. “Thanks for coming, Catra! This was loads of fun!”

It was early morning and they were all going their separate ways again. Glimmer had already dragged a dozing Bow back to the palace, while Catra and Adora disembarked in front of the small home they shared together.

“The mission was a great success,” Hordak agreed as Entrapta leaned into his side. “You showed exemplary courage in the field.”

“Thank you,” Catra said, and meant it.

Adora, gazing at the sky in contemplation next to her, suddenly realized that the stars weren’t the only things twinkling.

“Entrapta?” she asked. “You know the space tree?”

“The large plant growth that overtook Horde Prime’s flagship when She-Ra defeated him and which remains in low Etheria orbit as a constant reminder of the power of love and healing? Yes, I’m familiar with it.”

“Did you put lights on it?”

Entrapta beamed. “Yeah, little blinky ones! Or at least they look little from here. They actually have a diameter of about one Darla each. Alternating current, naturally. Aren’t they great?”

“You know,” Adora smiled, “I really think they are.” Catra concurred.

They turned and went home together, which left Entrapta and Hordak to return to the Wrapper Tank hand in hand, relaxing into each other’s arms as they sat and shared a tiny thermos of hot cocoa. Under Emily’s supervision, Skeletor and Imp drove the tank back to Entrapta’s Bright Moon lab, and only argued over the steering wheel once along the way.

As soon as they returned, Hordak sought out their bed and fell gratefully into the soft sheets. Entrapta made to follow him, but before she did so she pulled Skeletor aside with one ponytail, hands hiding something behind her back.

“And what do you think you’re doing?” Skeletor questioned.

“Skeletor, you’ve been a big help over the past year,” Entrapta said to the spindly robot. “And I wanted to say thank you. So, I made you another present. You deserve to have a helper too!”

She pulled her hands from behind her back and revealed a lop-eared robot puppy with wide and innocent eyes. It sat up in her arms and fixed Skeletor with a curious gaze.

“His name is Relay! What do you think?”

Skeletor gasped in surprise, reaching out to take the robotic canine. “Even Hordak doesn’t have anything like this!” he gushed in a joyous tone.

The puppy wagged its tail and let out a tiny synthesized bark. It licked Skeletor’s face.

Skeletor hummed happily. “This is perfect!”

Above them, the stars and the lights shone brightly. And even Skeletor, despite his better instincts, was merry. The world was at peace.

“A season of love? Caring? Joy? Ugh! Very clever, you muscle-bound moron,” Skeletor conceded. He patted Relay on the head. “Another time, She-Ra! Another time!”

#She-Ra #fan fiction #skeletor #catra #adora #entrapta #hordak #glimmer #bow #madame razz #bow's dads #micah #castaspella #entrapdak #catradora

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foolforshera · 3 years

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I heard you wanted some fic so I got you some fic! It's the newest installment in The Long Shadow of Our Pasts! From my summary over on AO3: "Adora and Glimmer have gone off to handle the problem with Shadow Weaver while Bow stays behind with Finn and a sleeping Catra. Bow's nervous but he's working hard on not passing that on to Finn because while he's worried about his wife and friend, he knows he and Finn will be alright because nothing bad can really happen in Bright Moon after all."

*****

Bow tried not to think about what Adora and Glimmer had gone off to do as he flipped through his tracker pad and then handed it to Finn so they could see a flyer for an electronics club in the Bright Moon village. Behind them, Catra continued to sleep.

“You think you’d be interested in that?” Bow said, giving a little yawn as Finn read it.

“That’d be great!” Finn said as they read it. “Will you go with me?”

Bow nodded and said, “Sure! I’ll free up the evening if I’ve got something going on already.”

Finn flicked through Bow’s tracker pad looking for a circuit design program Bow had on it. Adora and Glimmer had only been gone for a few minutes and he was already a little nervous. As Finn pulled up the program, Bow covered his mouth as a huge yawn escaped from him.

Read the rest at AO3!

#adora #catra #glimmer #bow #finn #the long shadow of our pasts #my fic

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jeserai · 4 years

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keeping up appearances

for the @sherawintergiftexchange , i had @nbdoubletrouble who requested a high school au with head cheerleader catra and football captain adora—hope you like it

"The cheerleading captain always goes to prom with the football captain. And they always get crowned prom king and queen. It's gone on longer than I can remember. And this year, well...based on the way you and Adora were acting…"

"Watch out!"

Catra flinches and whips around at the loud call that comes from the football field. Someone's just kicked a ball and Catra finds herself frozen in place as it hurtles towards her, and—

Someone crashes into her, dragging her down with them. Though they've shielded her head with their hands, Catra's breath is still stolen from her with a grunt as she hits the ground hard. And then she looks up, and whatever air she'd managed to gain back leaves her again as she sees clear blue eyes and a gentle smile that belong to a familiar blonde. Adora. Of course it's her.

"Sorry, princess," Adora says. She's still smiling, though there is an edge of sheepishness in it that only pisses Catra off even more. "Kyle's got a good leg, but he hasn't quite managed how to control it, and—"

"Would you get off of me already?" Catra interrupts. She can practically already see Adora's wounded puppy pout and she shoves at Adora's shoulders until she rolls away. When Adora stands, she offers her hand out, and Catra pointedly ignores it as she stands on her own and dusts her cheer skirt off.

As Adora passes by without another glance, Catra watches with a scowl as two of her teammates come running up to her, likely congratulating her for her save.

God, she hates the football team.

"Ouch, darling, that was so harsh."

Catra's scowl only deepens as DT drapes their arm around her shoulder, and she easily shrugs them off without hesitating. "Shut up. Can we go home now? I've had a long day."

"I don't know, you looked pretty comfortable in Adora's arms for a second there, and who wouldn't want—" DT cuts themself off as they squint down at Catra, a frown slipping across their lips as they observe her. "What's wrong, kitten?"

"Don't call me that. Let's just go."

"You're no fun today. And so mean to Adora too...you're really going to break tradition, aren't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Ah...I keep forgetting you don't care much about school spirit. Well..." DT steers Catra towards their car, taking their sweet time now that they know they've got Catra's attention. "The cheerleading captain always goes to prom with the football captain. And they always get crowned prom king and queen. It's gone on longer than I can remember. And this year, well...based on the way you and Adora were acting…"

"Why should I care about a stupid tradition?"

"Oh, I figured you wouldn't. Be up to the challenge, I mean. Wonder who Adora's going to go with...everyone loves her, don't you think?"

"Back up, what do you mean, I'm not up to the challenge?"

"Why, ki—Catra, getting Adora to go to prom with you!" Like always, DT opens the car door for her, and Catra slams it way harder than she has to to get her point across.

Once DT is seated, Catra glances at them sidelong, muttering, "I am not going to prom with her."

"Pity," DT sighs, "you two would've looked so gorgeous together."

"Flattery won't get you anywhere, you know." But—

They would look good together, and while Catra couldn't care less about some dumb school tradition, the prom crown…

"Oh, I like that smile. Whatever are you planning now, darling?"

Catra wipes the smile from her lips and turns to glare out the window as if that will wipe the smug smirk from DT's lips. After months of time spent with them, she knows that it won't. "Just drive."

_____

Today is Thursday, so Adora will be sitting with the rest of the football team for lunch. Back when they were still close, Catra used to hate that Adora was popular enough to sit with a different group every day. The fencing team on Mondays, the student council on Tuesdays, her princess pals on Wednesdays, the football team on Thursdays, and Fridays...well. Friday was their day up until the middle of sophomore year. Adora's seat had been left empty until the beginning of junior year, and now DT fills the spot across from Catra so easily that it only hurts a little to look up and see Adora sitting by herself, surrounded by textbooks as she studies.

But today isn't Friday. Today is Thursday, and Catra marches up to the football team's table halfway through lunch, cocking a hip and crossing her arms as she waits for them to notice her. One of the freshmen chokes on his drink as he sees her, and Catra bites the inside of her cheek to keep from grinning.

"Kyle, dude, you gotta—" And as Adora glances over, her smile freezes as she sees Catra standing there.

Only now does Catra let her own grin slip loose, and she waves at Adora, her heart pounding in her chest as she says, "Hey, Adora."

"Catra...what are you doing here?"

"Oh, don't be like that, can't I say hi to an old friend?" God, DT is rubbing off on her.

Adora still looks confused—and rightfully so—and Catra jerks her head at the guy sitting next to her. "Move."

Immediately, the whole row scoots down, and if any of them notice that poor Kyle gets pushed off the bench, none of them care. They're all watching, wide-eyed, as Catra slips into the spot next to Adora, and more than one wolf-whistle starts up as Catra leans her head on Adora's shoulder.

(She stays like that until the end of lunch.)

As the bell rings, Adora catches Catra's hand under the table and squeezes once. For a moment Catra is surprised that Adora remembered their childhood code, but...it's Adora. She squeezes twice back, and Adora breathes out a sigh of relief.

And when the last of the football team has left, Catra pulls herself away from Adora, cracking her neck as she waits for Adora to speak.

"Catra...what are you doing?"

She sounds...tired.

Catra purses her lips and looks at Adora, really looks, for the first time in what feels like years. She looks...good. She's ditched her age old ponytail for a messy bun, and despite the fresh bruise reddening her cheek, she looks. Really, really good.

"What happened here?" Catra reaches out to touch the bruise, and Adora catches her wrist easily.

"Catra, please. I'm really not in the mood—"

"Okay. Fine, god." And before she can lose her nerve, Catra blurts out, "I need you to date me."

As Adora opens her mouth to reply, the warning bell rings, and she shakes her head before standing up. “We can talk after your practice ends. I’ll pick you up.”

“Don’t you have practice too?”

“I cancelled it, a lot of the juniors have a big calculus test coming up. I try to be fair about that stuff if I can.” And that’s...nice. It’s so much like Adora that an unwilling smile tugs at the corners of Catra’s lips. Adora mirrors it, hesitant and genuine, and quietly, she says, “I’ll see you after practice, then?”

“Yeah. See you after practice.”

(They’re both late to class, but Catra can’t bring herself to mind. Not one bit.)

_____

Catra is in the middle of leading stretches when she notices Adora.

The football captain is sitting in the bleachers, and though she has her laptop out, she’s paying attention to Catra’s girls. Some of the underclassmen are smiling and giggling, their attention fixed on Adora, and Catra rolls her eyes as she stands. “So what I’m hearing is that you all want to run more laps? Okay, ten laps, last man up.”

The smiles and giggles immediately stop, and though a few of the girls cast Catra dirty looks, everyone obediently lines up in groups of six. One of the freshmen raises her hand, and when Catra arches a brow at her, she quietly asks, “Isn’t that...a bit much?”

“If you can’t handle one person in the bleachers watching you practice without falling all over yourselves, do you really think you’ll be able to perform in front of the whole school? I know I definitely wouldn’t want to be a flyer for you with that level of concentration. So no, it is not too much. If you think it is, you can leave. The rest of you, start your laps.”

Predictably, everyone stays, and Catra falls into line without a backwards glance Adora’s way. And with Catra keeping a careful eye on the girls, the rest of practice goes off without a hitch. And if she dismisses them early with claims about making up for her behavior, well. No one has to know that she’s really just excited (or nervous?) to talk to Adora again.

Said girl comes bounding down the bleachers, leaning against the fence as Catra’s girls file off the field. She’s got that stupidly cocky grin on her lips as the last of the girls leave, and Catra pulls out her phone so she doesn’t have to watch Adora watching her as she approaches.

“Better look where you’re going if you don’t want a repeat of last time,” Adora calls out, and the clear mirth in her voice is enough to make Catra grin. Her anxiousness suddenly fades in the light of Adora’s familiar laughter, and as she follows Adora to her car, Catra can almost pretend that this is normal, that every day Adora picks her up and takes her home. That they never stopped talking at all.

And then they get to the car, and—”You kept that old thing?” Catra reaches out to touch the old, beat up plush toy that she vaguely remembers giving Adora when they were ten. It’s hanging from the rear-view mirror now, and it swings gently between them when she lets it go.

“Of course. You gave it to me.”

It’s so like Adora that Catra can’t even bring herself to retort. And as they drive down the familiar roads in silence, Catra realizes that this is...nice. Driving home with DT is often filled with their gossip, and fighting over whose playlist should be played, and good-natured arguments that end in spontaneous trips to get ice cream or McDonald’s or whatever else they’re craving.

But with Adora, the ride is quiet. Unlike Catra, Adora’s never been the type to study with music, and she guesses it’s the same when she drives as well. They would probably talk, if Adora hadn’t hurt her the way she did, but—

“You can turn on the radio if you want, Catra. I know you need your music.”

“And I know you need to focus, Adora. I’ll be fine without it. And where are we going anyway?”

“Ella’s.” Though Adora’s reply is short, she’s smiling, and Catra finds herself lost in all of the childhood memories too. They’d spent countless afternoons at the diner, tried out the whole menu so many times before. Catra still remembers their old orders: chicken tenders and french fries for herself, popcorn shrimp and veggies for Adora, a giant smoothie and flavored iced tea to share, and for dessert, a giant molten lava cake that they always happily split in two.

“I haven’t been there in ages…”

“I haven’t either. Or, I go to visit, but...I haven’t eaten there since…” Adora trails off, and as they come to a red light, she sighs. “It just isn’t the same without you, I guess.”

“Oh.”

Adora hums in agreement and Catra finds her gaze again drawn to the bruise marring her side profile. Before she can ask about it, Adora says in a much brighter tone, “They’ll be glad to see you! Ella always asks about you, and I never really know what to say.”

Again, Catra is left breathless.

_____

“Adora!” Netossa calls out as they enter. The smile freezes on her face as she notices Catra standing half-hidden behind Adora, and with one brow raised, she asks, “And who is this stranger you’ve brought with you?”

“Oh, be nice,” Adora laughs, “where’s Ella?”

“Where else would she be? You go say hi to her while I talk to this one.”

Adora glances back at Catra, and while she does look concerned, she obediently makes her way into the kitchen in the back of the diner. Only after the door closes behind her does Netossa turn back to Catra, her hands on her hips as she stares for a long few moments. “Well? What are you doing here?”

“Nothing, I just needed to talk to Adora, and—”

“Why now?”

“God, what does it matter? Am I not allowed to talk to her?”

In a very quiet, very strained voice, Netossa says, “You hurt that girl when you left her. She spent months crying over you, and me and my wife spent even longer picking up the pieces of the mess you made of her heart. Do not hurt her again, Adora is the last person in the world that deserves that.”

Stunned to silence, Catra nods, her gaze wandering to Adora as she comes out of the kitchen with Ella at her side. She seems only a bit surprised to see Catra there, but she smiles warm and soft, and Catra mirrors it even if it comes out forced. Adora beckons and Catra follows her to their usual booth in the very back of the diner; even just sitting in their usual spots brings back a rush of nostalgia that makes Catra’s heart ache.

“God, it’s been...so long.”

“It has, hasn’t it?” Adora props her head up with her fist, staring at Catra like she’s a puzzle she can’t quite figure out. Catra feels her cheeks begin to burn with the intensity of Adora’s gaze, and she pulls a menu closer to herself, ducking her head to hopefully hide her blush as she looks at the menu without seeing it.

Adora laughs a little under her breath, nudging Catra’s foot with her own to get her attention. “Do you remember our tenth birthday dinner?"

"How could I forget that? You got whipped cream all over me!"

"You had fun though, didn't you?" Adora's got a smug smirk on her lips, and she leans back, crossing her arms as she stares Catra down.

"Until your germs got me sick the next day," Catra grumbles. But there's a grin tugging up the corners of her lips as she says it, and she finds herself mirroring Adora's posture without even thinking.

"Hey, you got better, it's fine."

Catra scoffs and shakes her head, twirling a curl around her finger as she looks, really looks at Adora. "It really has been a long time, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, I…" Adora cuts herself off as Netossa comes over holding two giant milkshake, one cookie dough and the other strawberry. Their favorites.

"Enjoy, you two."

"Thanks, we will!" And after giving Netossa a bright smile, Adora begins to carefully scoop out the chunks of fruit from the top of her milkshake. She hasn't changed at all, Catra realizes: the girl sitting in front of her now is the ten year old girl that sneezed whipped cream in her face, and the seven year old girl that made up a silent code to keep them both grounded. She is the fourteen year old girl that snuck into Catra’s room to hold her as she cried herself to sleep, and the twelve year old girl that pinky promised Catra that she’d never let anything bad happen to her.

Catra can’t believe that she let herself believe Adora for as long as she did.

“You’re not eating?” Adora asks, still focused on her milkshake. The top of it is now devoid of fruit, and Catra watches quietly as she starts on the mountain of whipped cream, suddenly exhausted.

“Why are you...being so nice to me?”

At that, Adora finally looks up, confusion written all over her face. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I hurt you.”

“You were hurting too,” Adora points out, “and that doesn’t excuse anything, but...I wanted to help you, I didn’t want to drive you away if I was one of the few good things you had. Even though I guess I kind of ended up doing that anyway, didn’t I?”

And. That should make Catra feel better, she knows it should, but all it does is make her even angrier. “You never helped me, Adora, not in any way that mattered. All you did was make it worse!”

“We were kids! I didn’t know what I was doing any more than you did! All I knew was that you didn’t look as sad when we were together, and that you flinched less when you were at my house, and that I knew I wanted to keep you smiling. I would’ve done anything to keep you safe, Catra.”

“Yeah, well. I’ve learned to protect myself, so you can stop feeling guilty. I don’t need you anymore, I never did.” And sure, there are still cracks in her heart, but she’s learning how to force herself to stop jumping every time someone tries to touch her, and she knows how to swallow all of the paranoia and rage back down. She doesn’t feel quite so alone anymore either, and maybe they’re not perfect either, but DT helps, even if they don’t know it. Most times, Catra gets the feeling that they do.

“Why are we here then? Why did you say that you need to date me?”

Catra winces and shakes her head. “Forget it, it was stupid—”

“Tell me.” There is an unspoken plea in Adora’s voice, and that tiny, foolish part of Catra has always bent to her every will and whim, so—

“Prom. It’s tradition for the cheer captain and the football captain to go together. I told you it’s stupid.”

“Tradition,” Adora snorts, “I never pegged you for one to follow tradition, especially if it’s as stupid as you supposedly think.”

“Yeah, well. I want the prom crown, that’s all.” That’s the only reason, Catra reminds herself, it’s not because she misses Adora or anything stupid like that.

As if reading her thoughts, Adora leans forward again, staring at her hard. “And why pick me out of everyone?”

“Told you, tradition. Do you want to do this or not?”

And she’s more than expecting Adora to say no, or maybe even just get up and leave, but—”Fine. I’ll do it. I guess that makes us girlfriends then.”

“Just until prom,” Catra adds, but the sudden rush of giddiness at the thought makes her have to bite the inside of her cheek hard to keep from grinning. She focuses her attention on her milkshake, and tries to ignore the way Adora is smiling, bright and genuine and so very smug all at once.

They finish their drinks in relative silence and as Adora gets up to pay, she tosses Catra her keys and tells her to warm up the car. If they were anywhere else, Catra would argue back, but she can still hear Netossa’s words echoing through her head, and she can practically see the disappointed look on Spinerella’s face, so she obediently slips passed Adora to start the car.

Adora slides into the driver’s seat only a few minutes later, pointedly turning on the radio (to Catra’s favorite station, at that) before starting the familiar drive home. A few times, she clears her throat like she’s about to speak, but she always closes her mouth with a tiny shake of her head before she manages to say anything.

On the third try, Adora finally blurts out, “Why don’t you answer my flashlight signals anymore?”

And—oh. Oh. “I don’t...live there anymore. Haven’t for a year.”

“Oh.”

The silence between them has never felt so loud, and Catra nervously plays with the hem of her shirt as she asks, “You still signal?”

Adora looks just as self-conscious as Catra feels, and her cheeks are a faint pink as she says, just as quietly, “Yeah, I...I never stopped.”

“Oh.”

_____

It starts raining during the next game after Catra and Adora talk. They don’t really talk in school, but they don’t ignore each other like they used to either. Now their relationship has bloomed into small smiles when they pass each other in the halls, and sitting together again at lunch when their gazes happen to meet, and a nod when they pass each other at the end of Catra’s practice and the beginning of Adora’s.

People have started to talk about their new relationship, and every day while they stretch, Catra’s girls try to get her to talk about Adora, but as soon as she threatens more laps, they shut up. Unfortunately, Catra knows that Adora’s teammates don’t do the same; but Adora doesn’t seem to mind that much by the way she just laughs and shoves them away from her.

It’s starting to rain now though, and Catra’s never been good with the rain, or the cold. She’s already shivering as she bounces on her toes, trying and failing to convince herself that it’s not as bad as it could be. Like with every game, she’s focused on running through all of their formations and cheers, so she doesn’t notice Adora coming up next to her until she gently nudges her.

“Hey.”

“Holy—what is it?”

“Just know that you’re bad with the cold,” Adora says as she shrugs out of her varsity jacket. She carefully places it around Catra’s shoulders before she can retort, and Adora looks so satisfied when she pulls back that Catra rolls her eyes.

But the jacket is warm, and Catra pulls it around herself more snugly, ignoring the giggles of her girls and the cheers that start up from the football team. Adora looks even more pleased with her work, her dimple winking out as she smiles big, and just because she can’t be outdone, Catra stands on her toes and kisses Adora’s cheek before she can think better of it.

“Go win your stupid game,” she mutters when she pulls back, very pointedly not looking at Adora. All she gets in return is Adora’s good-natured laugh before she jogs back the way she came.

(Catra keeps the jacket around her shoulders for as long as she can, even after the rain stops. And Adora wins the game. And after, as her teammates swarm her, Adora’s gaze remains locked on Catra, standing at the sidelines. Catra doesn’t think she’s ever seen Adora smile quite as big as she does when she sees that Catra is smiling too.)

_____

“So,” DT drawls, and before the words come out of their mouth, Catra knows what they’re going to say. “You still have Adora’s jacket, huh?”

“Shut up. It’s cold out, that’s all.”

DT just laughs and pushes themself off of the wall opposite the locker room. “Of course, kitten, that’s the only reason.” They must decide that teasing her isn’t worth it for once, because they then say, “Come on, let’s go home, I’m absolutely famished.”

“I’m actually...going out. With Adora.”

Catra’s never seen DT look more smug in the two years she’s known them. “Oh really now? What happened to hating her, kitten?”

“I don’t know, okay? And stop calling me that!”

“Fine, fine, I’ll be nice!” Their gaze shifts to something behind Catra, and their smile turns more sharklike than she’s ever seen. “And there she is now.”

And when Catra spins around, she sees that they’re right: Adora, alone and showered and changed, is coming towards them both. She waves and Catra elbows DT in the side before waving back. “Be nice,” she hisses.

Instead of listening to her, DT thrusts their hand out when Adora is close enough. “Adora, right? I’ve heard so much about you from my kitten, though—”

“Okay, that’s enough, we’re leaving now!” Catra bats DT’s hand away from Adora and twines their fingers together, dragging her down the empty hall as fast as she can.

Not to be outdone, DT calls out, “Have fun and come home soon, darling!”

Catra decides in that moment that she might just have to kill DT when she gets back.

Adora seems just as annoyed as Catra feels; she stays silent until they get to her car, and it isn’t until they’ve driven for a block that she says, “Kitten, huh?”

“Ugh,” Catra groans, “they won’t stop calling me kitten because they know how much I hate it.”

“I think it’s kind of cute,” and with a grin thrown her way, “kitten.”

A furious blush stains Catra’s cheeks, and she slumps down even further in her seat, trying. “Drive.”

Adora laughs, light and pretty, and as she obeys, Catra finds herself glad that Adora’s apparent irritation has faded. Somehow, even just the sound of her laughter and the thought of her happiness makes Catra feel just a little bit better too.

“Where to, princess?”

“We can see if there’s anything at the boutique by the library...it shouldn’t be as expensive since prom isn’t for a while.”

“Then that’ll be our first stop, kit—”

Catra practically lunges to turn the radio up enough to drown Adora out before she can finish saying it. Somehow, it doesn’t help.

_____

The boutique is as empty as Catra thought it would be: it is just them and a rather bored looking girl standing behind the register, and Catra turns to Adora after inspecting the rows of dresses for a long few moments.

"What color were you thinking?"

"Oh, I uh...figured you'd take care of that."

And right. Adora's always had the worst fashion sense.

"I think you'd look good in just about anything, but..." Catra holds up the skirt of a black dress, considering. "No, not black."

"Why not?"

"It just doesn't suit you. It'd look good, but we don't want good. When I get my crown, I can't just look good. So you can't either."

Adora snorts as Catra turns back to the dresses, but she doesn't offer any resistance, so Catra keeps moving down the line of dresses. "What about red?"

"Why red?"

"It's your favorite color, and uh...you just look good in red." When Catra glances over, she finds that Adora is looking away, blushing.

"Red, huh?" The varsity jacket that Catra has safely tucked into her duffle bag had been red. "You'd look good in red too."

Adora gets that smug look on her face again, and before she can speak, Catra picks a random dress off of the rack and thrusts it her way. "Here, go try this on."

"I thought we were wearing red?" She still sounds smug.

"Go try it on."

Adora laughs, but obediently makes her way into the first dressing room with the dress Catra blindly chose for her. While she changes, Catra carefully peruses the section of red dresses, and though nothing really jumps out at her, it's only because she knows what she likes, and—

"I don't really like it," Adora grumbles. And—no. The dress...isnt bad, but it isn't all that great either, at least on Adora. It's far too frilly, too much. Adora needs something sleek, something simple. Something like…

"There was something I passed earlier...here it is."

"What about you?" Adora grumbles as she takes it.

"I already know what looks good on me. You're the hard part, Adora. Now go put on the dress."

This time, Adora looks more skeptical, holding out the dress with both brows raised before she trudges back to the dressing room. "If this looks bad, I'll pick the next one."

Catra ignores her, focusing instead on the mannequin on display in the . Across the store is a mannequin on display, clad in a navy blue velvet suit, and—

"Excuse me," Catra calls out to the girl at the register. When she glances up from her phone, Catra asks, "Do you have this in red?"

As the girl heaves a sigh and gets up, Adora steps out of the dressing room, arms crossed over her chest. "I'm picking—"

"No, we're done here. That girl is getting your outfit."

"What outfit?"

"What the mannequin is wearing, but in red. I saw something before that'll be perfect for it, I just have to find it again."

"But—"

"Here's the suit," the girl from the register interrupts. "I hope it's the right size."

"Go," Catra says before Adora protests. With a roll of her eyes and a long sigh, Adora trudges back to the dressing room, and Catra goes back to the first row of dresses to find the one that had first caught her eye.

Her fingers catch it before her eyes do as they meet soft velvet, and as Catra pulls the dress off the rack, she just knows that this is the one.

Quickly, Catra heads to the dressing room next to Adora, slipping out of her clothes and into the dress. It somehow looks even better on her than it did when she held it up: a simple spaghetti strap with a deep v-neck. It is long and red and it hugs her body in all the right places but for the killer slit on the right side of the dress.

It's perfect.

"Catra?" Adora calls out then.

"I'm in the room next to you, come in."

"In—are you sure?"

"I'm dressed, you dork. Come on, I need your opinion."

She can hear Adora grumbling as she enters her dressing room, but as Adora turns around and sees her, her eyes go wide and a flush comes back to her cheeks again.

And it's all types of romantic and all types of cliche, but the only thing that Adora manages to say is a quiet, "You look..."

She's still staring, and suddenly Catra feels self-conscious, stepping back in a futile attempt to widen the distance between Adora's honest, open gaze.

"You...you like it, then?"

Adora's gaze slowly, slowly crawls up the length of the dress, and she takes a step forward to close the distance between them again. "Catra, you look breathtaking."

Catra's heart skips a beat and then two at the awed sincerity in Adora's voice. Hesitantly, Adora reaches out, cupping Catra's cheek with her hand, and Catra realizes with a shock that Adora could kiss her right now if she wanted. And more than that, she wants Adora to kiss her.

But Adora just takes a shaky breath and tucks a lock of hair behind Catra's ear before pulling away.

"Do you like the suit?"

And honestly, Catra had almost forgotten, but—

Her eyes follow the dip of the delicate necklace Adora is wearing to the velvet blazer; it also has a deep v-neck and Catra frowns before reaching out to unbutton it, and. Adora squeaks in surprise but Catra ignores her because she is wearing a silk bralette beneath and below that is abs.

"This needs to stay open."

"But—" Adora crosses her arms, blushing furiously. And...she always has been pretty self-conscious about her body.

"I think it'll look better open, but if you're more comfortable with it staying closed, fine." Not much of Adora's skin is showing anyway; the pants are high waisted, and if she keeps even just the bottom button done, it should hide everything but the subtle curves of her chest. It'll look good. They'll look good.

"You know, we look good together." Adora gently turns Catra towards the mirror, standing beside her, and—yeah. They look like an actual couple.

Catra kind of likes it.

DT is just finishing straightening the last of Catra's hair when the doorbell rings. "Is that your Adora?"

Catra glances at the clock—8:30 on the dot—and nods. "Perfectly on time, that'll be her. Can you...?"

"Who says I'm ready?" DT huffs, but they obediently head downstairs to open the door for Adora as Catra finishes getting ready. All that's really left is her makeup—because as much as she loves them, there is no way she's ever letting DT get a mascara wand anywhere near her face again.

From her room, Catra can very faintly hear DT and Adora laughing, and the thought of them becoming friends is what makes her really hurry. Because it'd been bad enough with DT trying to get under Adora's skin, but with all Adora knows about Catra's childhood and what DT knows about her now? The very thought is enough to make Catra shudder as she slips on her shoes.

After one last glance in the mirror, Catra heads to the top of the stairs, her heart in her throat as she descends. Adora is in the middle of telling DT something, but as she spots Catra, her eyes go wide and she stops and stares.

There is endearment on DT's face and Adora looks nothing short of awestruck at the sight of her, and Catra's never felt more on display in her life.

It feels kind of nice, though.

"Well?" she asks, trying for nonchalant and failing miserably, "you sure do love to stare, you know."

Adora offers Catra her hand, smiling wide when Catra takes it without protest. Her hand is calloused and warm and Catra has held it so, so many times before in her life, but she still cannot get used to how easy this feels again. "You look beautiful," Adora finally breathes out.

"Stunning, kitten," DT adds. They come close enough to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear, and though they don't say it, Catra knows how happy they are for her by the softness written all over their face.

"Thank you for everything," she whispers, and that, that is just for them.

DT nods, and then turns back to Adora, one brow raised. "You remember what I told you, right?"

Adora flushes pink but nods quickly, and before Catra can ask, DT steps back, grinning again. "Have fun then, you two!"

"You're not coming with?"

"No, I'll give you two lovebirds your privacy, you can thank me later. Now shoo, I need to finish getting ready."

After hugging DT one last time, Catra takes Adora's hand and follows her outside and to the car. They are both unusually silent; Catra can tell how nervous Adora is by the way her hands tremble on the steering wheel, and she covers one of Adora's hands with her own even though her own heart thuds fast in her chest.

"You don't have to be nervous, it's just me."

Adora huffs out a laugh, but she turns her hand over to lace their fingers together, her thumb rubbing against Catra's in gentle, idle circles. "That's why I'm nervous."

"Why?"

"These past eight months have been...amazing. I guess I just don't want that to end."

And even though she feels the same, Catra can't bring herself to say so. The car ride remains silent, and their hands remain linked.

By the time they get to the school, people are already beginning to dance, but before Adora can ask Catra to dance, some of her princess pals eagerly wave her over.

"Do you mind if I...?"

"No, go ahead." And sure, maybe Catra does mind, just a bit, but there is Entrapta by the snack table, and Scorpia is by her side, so no, she does not mind one bit that Adora immediately leaves her for her other friends.

And now Scorpia is waving her over. Suddenly annoyed, Catra pretends she hasn't seen them and makes her way to an empty table, pulling out her phone and idly scrolling through it as she waits for Adora to come back.

Strangely, she doesn't feel as excited as she thought she would, especially with the crown so close, and as much as she hates to admit it, she agrees with Adora.

Because spending so much time with Adora again has been fun, especially once the fencing season ended. Things aren't like they used to be, but they are good now, and to think that this is the last night, well...

Catra wants to make the most of it. Maybe that's why she's so upset. Certainly not because—

Someone holds out a hand, and as Catra looks up, her heart stutters hard at the sight of Adora standing there, looking so serious for once. "Dance with me," she says, and it should be a question, but they both know what the answer will be. Catra takes Adora's hand, lets herself be pulled up, lets Adora lead her to the middle of the floor.

There isn't much room, not really, but the song is slow enough that Catra tucks her face into Adora's neck and breathes her in as Adora fits both arms around her waist, keeping her close. It feels more than enough to sway like this, to feel the warmth of Adora's hands and know that at least for tonight—

Before she can even let that thought play out, Catra pulls back just enough to look Adora in the eye as she blurts out, "You know, I don't even care if we get the stupid crown."

"Why?" And though she's got a perplexed little smile flirting with her lips, Adora still sounds so faithfully earnest that Catra flusters again, and she tucks her face back into her neck instead of answering.

She feels more than hears Adora's huff of laughter, and just when Catra thinks that Adora has dropped it, she steps back, holding Catra at arms length as she stares at her again. And then, very quietly, she says, "Hey, Catra?"

"Yeah?"

Before Adora even opens her mouth to speak, Catra knows that whatever she says next is going to big, is going to be important. And—"Will you be my girlfriend? But like...for real, this time."

Catra loses all the air in her lungs, and though Adora deserves an honest answer, it is all she can do to nod around the sudden lump in her throat. She feels moments away from tears, Adora swimming in her vision, but she's never been happier, and Adora looks the same.

Quieter now, and as shy as Catra's ever seen her, Adora again asks, "Hey, Catra?"

"Yeah?" And if her voice breaks on the word as a tear slips from her eye, well, no one has to know.

Adora gently cups Catra's cheek with her hand, very carefully wiping the tear away with her thumb. Even once it's gone, Adora's hand remains on Catra's cheek, and her voice is barely a whisper now. "Can I kiss you?"

Instead of answering, Catra leans up and kisses the trembling smile from Adora's lips.

And—yeah. This is much better than any crown could ever be.

#she ra #shera #catradora #she ra winter gift exchange #she ra secret santa #my writing

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mcatra · 5 years

Text

Oh my god they were lab partners pt. 2/2

part one

A03 LINK

Highschool AU fic of Hordak and Entrapta becoming lab partners. Hordak may have accidentally fallen in love with her somewhere along the way.

Hordak's never liked anyone before in his entire life. Not even as friends. So whatever this was? Completely out of his depth.

There was no stopping it- these feelings. It was insane how much her name plagued his thoughts in random places at all times of the day. These symptoms formed in unexpected ways, like how he had thought he was having a heart attack, when really all that happened was that Entrapta smiled at him. Or how his face would heat up and his hands would involuntarily go clammy when she would drag him by the hand to go somewhere.

Hordak had even learnt how to braid. He had gotten pretty good at it too, if the complicated french braids and buns Entrapta was sporting before lab now was of any indication.

It didn't matter though, since she obviously didn't feel the same. She's had dozens of friends before, and he was just one of them. But Entrapta was his first friend- but he's already screwed that up. It's taken him this long to find someone that he can actually tolerate the presence of, and it seemed fate was determined to take that away as well.

So he crushes the feelings deep inside, though they threaten to spill out every few minutes when he's with her. He's fine with being friends, really.

The school holidays was starting, which would give him plenty of time to get over his feelings.

This plan is immediately compromised when Entrapta insists on texting him several times a day.

Entrapta:

yakult is the perfect size of drink but it's not fizzy!! (〒﹏〒)

Hordak:

Perhaps you should try packaging your drinks in smaller sized Yakult bottles.

Entrapta:

:00 yea ur right!! I'll ask my butler to do that be righttt baackkk

Hordak:

A butler?

Entrapta:

yep my parents r always busy working!! Soda pop makes the best lunches ヾ(´ ▽ ` )

[image.attachment]

It's a photo of what seems to be her lunch, bite sized cookies, scones, and of course pink fizzy lemonade in a tiny bottle.

Looking at it, he thinks it's only customary to send a photo of his own lunch.

Hordak: [image.attachment]

Entrapta: ???????‽‽ Σ(°△°|||)︴

Entrapta: NOO9OOOOOO what is THAT ??!!!

He's confused by her response. It was all that Prime stacked their food cupboards with, he didn't see anything wrong about his grey ration bars. It wasn't even the brown kind today.

Hordak: That is my lunch.

Entrapta: (ಥ﹏ಥ) I'm so sorry hordak…

pleaseeee let me come over and deliver U some of my food!!!

He wishes she would, but he can't afford letting Prime see her. There's a reason why he's dodged every request from her to come over.

Hordak: Thank you for your consideration, but that won't be necessary. It gives me enough nutrition for the day.

Entrapta: FINEE but when we get back I'm giving you all the food U can eat!!! I'll even make them big!! Just for you!!

Hordak: I look forward to it.

Entrapta: (≧▽≦) ♥️

Did...Did she just send a heart? What did that mean?

He stares at the screen in disbelief. Every time he thinks he's doing well she sends his mind into overdrive.

Scratch that, what was he supposed to send back?

He falters on a response, anxiously trying to decide one before she got suspicious and asked him why he was taking so long. A solid 5 minutes later, he finally settles on one.

Hordak: :]

---

...

[Incoming video call from Entrapta]

He bolts upright in bed, hair in disarray.

The clock reads 1am. What was she doing calling at this hour? He scrambles to lower the volume, unlocking it in the process, and when he does Entrapta's face fills the screen.

She's in her pajamas, her hair tied up haphazardly into a messy bun on the top of her head. It seemed like she had attempted to recreate the neatly tucked bun that Hordak always did for her, but couldn't quite figure it out.

'Hordak! I've just made the most fascinating discovery- oh sorry, were you sleeping?'

'Ah, no. I wasn't.' He fibs, not wanting her to hang up. He didn't want to admit it, but he missed seeing her face. 'Do go on.'

She digs through a stack of letters, and brings it up triumphantly to the screen.

'I've found some scholarship offers buried in my junk mail!' She chirps through the pixelated video feed.

'Got one from California Institute of Technology, Harvard and MIT! They loved my research papers and scientific breakthroughs!'

He blinks in shock. That was huge.

'Congratulations!' He bursts out- those are incredible opportunities. ‘Which one will you be attending?'

'Oh, that's why I called! I needed help deciding. So I was wondering…' She looked oddly nervous, tapping two fingers together. 'Which university would you be going to?'

Hordak hadn't even applied to any university, let alone receiving offers from Ivy League schools. It had been decided since he was a kid that he would be working for Prime's company right after graduation. He hadn't considered any other alternative before.

'I…have not applied to any yet.'

'What?!’ She cries out, appalled. ‘You should definitely apply! You have more knowledge of cosmic forms than I do, Hordak. Plus your grades have improved exponentially this year- I even made a graph!'

Before he can ask why on earth she had made a graph of his grades she brings out a spreadsheet of his progress.

'According to the numbers you can definitely apply to any of the surrounding schools in the area! Oh but how fun would it be if we could go to the same university?!'

'I can't possibly afford the tuition-'

'Bank loans, and you can work part time! You could even apply for financial assistance. Please come.'

Hordak hesitates, looking at the door behind him. Imp was stirring in the room next door. He lowers his voice.

'I.. I...'

He starts and aborts a few sentences. He clenches his scarred arm unconsciously. Of course he wants to. But he had responsibilities that weighed heavily on his shoulders, and circumstances that a carefree sheltered girl couldn't even comprehend. No amount of optimism or daydreaming could fix his grim reality.

'I can't.' Is all he manages to say.

She looks slightly taken aback, and he can see her trying not to look disappointed.

'..That's okay. I understand.'

A horrible sense of guilt spreads in his stomach. Entrapta changes the topic and they don't bring up the subject again.

---

Entrapta has always had trouble making friends. People usually ignored her when she talked about her interests, or were telling her what she did wrong. Usually it was a missed social cue, or she had used words that were too technical for them to understand.

Hordak was different though. He always listened, understood her technical jargon and offered his own knowledge that sometimes even outweighed her own. She had been curious about this elusive person that everyone was afraid of since she had met him behind the bathroom block. He didn’t seem like the vicious animal that the rumours made him out to be. So on a whim, she had volunteered to be his lab partner.

At first she was just ecstatic to find someone who liked the same things she did, but soon it was more than just the shared love for science. Entrapta had thought for years that the only way she could make friends was allowing them to copy and take her work, but Hordak had showed her otherwise. A shared solidarity for two outcasts.

Even though he showed a tough angry exterior to everyone, with her Hordak was surprisingly kind.

He always did little things for her without prompting. Once she had forgotten to bring her jacket when it was cold and he had wordlessly handed his over for her to wear. Or how he noticed when she hadn't slept that night and bought her an iced coffee from the vending machine. He had even poured it into the lid in an effort to make it the way she liked it.

She began to notice things about him as well, like how he got embarrassed easily, or how despite his old demeanor he could be surprisingly childish. His reactions became even more fascinating than her experiments. Entrapta catalogued them in her mind, keeping track of the emotions he would show. He was always so stoic, the primary emotion being anger or quiet indifference. A few smiles here and there, scattered in between.

However when Hordak laughed for the first time ever, she was caught completely off guard.

When his eyes crinkled into little slits, and his laughter exposed his canines, her brain was shaken only leaving one thought.

Beautiful.

Entrapta had found something more valuable than any discovery she's made in her career as a self made scientist. She wanted to discover more about him, however he never talked about himself, which both enthralled and frustrated her to no end. But graduation was coming soon, and the last thing she wanted was for Hordak to not talk to her anymore like Adora and the others.

She had tried to put off the deadline, ignoring the growing stack of offer letters that could whisk her away to anywhere in the world.

Come with me.

I can't.

Why? Had she misread them this whole time? Did he not want to be with her too? But she was wrong with Adora and her friends, and Catra.

Someone told her once how people cannot be quantified, calculated, predicted. Feelings can be there one day and gone the next. She is no stranger to failure. But it doesn't mean she isn't afraid.

-----

School resumes again for their final term, and Hordak is inwardly thrilled to see his friend in person again. Entrapta waves at him from the school gate, before diving headfirst into all the things that happened over the holidays she couldn’t show over text.

They agree to be lab partners again without hesitation, and fall back into their comfortable friendship.

Soon it’s prom season, and the halls are decorated in banners, posters and flyers. People are pairing off left and right, chattering away about how to ask their dates out.

Hordak never attends these sort of events, he always blatantly refuses to go. However during one of their study sessions in the library, Entrapta tries to convince him to come with her.

‘It’s meaningless to go to such an event. Mingling or dancing is not a productive venture.'

'But it could be fun! I’ve been wanting to conduct a social experiment and it’s the perfect place for it.' She protests. 'Also Prom is imperative to the high school experience.'

He waves her away, unconvinced. It's not like he could afford the tickets anyway, and Prime would never let him go.

'I refuse to squander my time on something so pointless. There will be no further discussion on this.'

She pouts, turning back to her notebook. The sulky charade lasts for a record 10 minutes before she caves and starts running her mouth again.

He's still adamantly against it, but that sentiment gets stopped in its tracks when he catches someone approaching Entrapta.

'Hey, Entrapta was it?' The tall blonde says languidly. ‘Can I speak to you for a moment, over there?’

'Oh, sure!' She says, getting up from her chair. 'Can I get you something?'

'Certainly!'

Hordak listens to the conversation happening behind the bookshelf. He doesn't like the look of them, all greasy smiles and cocky demeanor.

'A date to the prom, please.' They smirk, their tall stature allowing them to lean over her.

Hordaks jaw drops, and the feeling of jealousy flares in the pit of his stomach. He fights the urge to throw that cocky bastard across the room. But the knowledge that he has no right to be angry when he had already turned down her offer kept him rooted to the spot.

Thankfully Entrapta doesn’t seem to get it.

'Oh I'm not organising that.’ She says, tapping her chin. ‘I think Frosta and her prom committee are. Or you could ask our school captain Adora and her prefects, they’ll know who to talk to get tickets.'

They look dumbfounded, but hastily amend their wording.

'No, I meant- will you be my date. To the prom.'

'Me?'

At this point there are marks on the wooden bookshelf from Hordak’s nails. The other person looked almost cocky in their confidence, smirking while waiting for a response.

Of course she’d accept, they were just friends after all, and she didn’t owe him anything. However Entrapta cuts through his spiralling thoughts.

‘Thank you. But I won’t be going.’

Hordak looks up in surprise, shocked at her response. So do they, as Entrapta swiftly passes them and lights up when she spots him behind the shelf. ‘Hordak, there you are!’ She chirps brightly. ‘Come on, I wanted to show you progress photos of my new upgrades with Emily.’

He feels awful as she leads them back to their desks, it seems like he was letting down Entrapta a lot these days. First with the university, and now this. However Hordak is determined to make it up to her, racking his brain for ideas until he remembers the bandaids she had given him years ago.

Cupcakes. Despite not having much he managed to scrounge enough coins to buy ingredients.

Half of them end up charred to a crisp but he manages to salvage a few through enough scraping. With the help of Imp, he manages to frost and decorate them purple and blue to cover up the scorch marks.

Hordak thrusts the cupcakes in her face before class, before realising that he hadn't prepared anything to say.

'I, uh, wanted to..here.' He stammers, dropping them into her palm. 'I made them. For you.'

She looks at the cupcakes, stunned. To his complete and utter horror, Entrapta's eyes start to water.

Oh no. Did he mess up? His mind goes into overdrive in panic, and he looks around frantically for a way to calm her down.

'Were they unsatisfactory? I will try again. Please allow me to dispose of those-' He reaches out to take them back but she pulls it away.

'I love them.’

She wipes her eyes with her sleeve, and she's beaming a crooked smile.

He hesitates, unsure what to make of her reaction.

‘E-Entrapta..I, um…’ He begins, remembering the person in the library. He fishes around in his pocket and pulls out two tickets. ‘Do you want to.. Go to the prom. With me. So you can study people, like you said.’

Entrapta gasps, a long and drawn out one that gets higher in pitch.

‘THANK YOU HORDAK!!’ She squeals, and she practically launches herself into his chest, nearly toppling them over. ‘Of COURSE I will!’

He smiles at this, glad that he had been the one to put that grin on her face. Anything was worth making her happy.

-------

It’s a bad night again. He wants nothing more than to stay in bed but he forces himself to get up, if nothing else to get away from Prime. His older brother had found out about the money he had taken to buy the prom tickets and make the cupcakes. This resulted in having the life beaten out of him while Imp watched, cowering behind the door. He gets his phone taken from him, a clear warning not to talk to Entrapta again.

It’s summer, but Hordak opts for a black turtleneck sweater under his uniform and a baggy jacket. He however can’t disguise the bruises on his face, as usually Prime would avoid making markings that would arouse suspicion.

He can hear his classmates whisper amongst themselves, saying that he’s gotten into a fight and beat the rival gangs in the area. Hordak growls at them menacingly, and they scatter. He watches them go, and for the first time in a long time goes to skip class.

It’s nice out, a cool breeze on the rooftop soothes his skin. He gingerly takes his uniform off, wincing as he peels off the slightly blood stained sleeve.

He should be used to it by now. But it doesn’t get any better.

‘You didn’t reply to my texts.’

Hordak nearly jumped out of his skin, whipping around to see Entrapta. She has a delicate frown on her face, and looks at him up and down.

'You shouldn’t be here.’ He says, turning away.

She doesn't look convinced, and starts to walk towards him. ‘Hordak-’

‘I said, GET OUT!’ He shouts, furiously wrapping his uniform back around his shoulders. ‘The prom’s off. Leave.’

Entrapta disregards his outburst, striding forward to confront him. 'I can’t keep ignoring this, Hordak.’ She catches his wrist easily, looking at his wounds.

'You come to school with these new burns, these bruises, and you never TELL me anything.’ She says, pained. 'People say you got them in fights, but I know you. What really happened?’

He stares at her, but she looks determined. Ever the scientist, always looking for answers to things she didn’t understand.

'You really want to know?’ He growls, tearing his arm from her grip. ‘I am an orphan. My brother Prime got full custody since he’s the only one old enough to earn money to support us. I can’t leave, no matter how much he beats me. My younger brother, Imp. He’s only a toddler- if I go, what happens to him? I couldn’t possibly support the both of us.’

She looks shocked, but doesn’t say anything.

‘He’s ordered me not to talk to you. So that’s what I’m going to do. Don’t make it any harder for me.’ He tries to sound angry, but it comes off more like pleading.

‘No.’ She says simply.

He looks at her, incredulous. ‘Did you not hear what I just said-’

‘No, I heard you.’ She replies, bringing out bandages from her backpack like the first time they had met.

‘I’ve got an idea. I’m breaking you out of there.’

‘You’re what?’

----

Lab Partner: Are you ready??

Hordak: This is such a bad idea.

He’s had no idea how he ended up in this situation. As per instruction via Entrapta’s burner phone, he had packed a getaway bag with their documents for him and Imp, and was waiting for several of her tiny bots surveillancing the area to give the all clear.

Entrapta had temporarily disabled the security cams in the entire neighbourhood, and was currently waiting in the getaway car.

Hordak: I can’t believe I’m turning on my brother.

Lab Partner: Its okay, we can work on that crisis later!!

Lab Partner: I've also got your disguise in the car :))) 💃💃

Prime was still out at work, and it should be a few more hours until he came back. Hordak leads Imp by the hand down the driveway and fastens him into the booster seat of the getaway car.

'He is so cuute!' Entrapta coos, poking his baby brother’s cheek. ‘I’m Entrapta. We’re gonna make sure you’re safe, okay?’

Imp nods, somewhat confused. ‘Entrapta.’ He repeats, and she grins.

They peel out of the driveway, and although Entrapta is a terrifying driver they make it safely to her house outside the city.

When they arrive, he is rendered speechless. Was this a castle? A mansion? The guards out front nod at Entrapta and the security gates open, letting them through.

At least he knows Prime couldn’t possibly follow him here, thanks to Entrapta’s parents security team.

Imp has taken to the place, admiring the many robots she had engineered. Her butler offers him some tiny beverages as he waits for Entrapta to finish whatever she was doing upstairs.

After a while she comes down the stairs and he can practically feel himself stop breathing. She’s gorgeous, dressed in a purple velvet suit, tied together with a vest and a bow tie. Her coattails swish as she walks towards Hordak, who had been stunned into silence.

‘I...ah..’ He stutters. ‘What is this for?’

Imp kicks him in the shin.

‘Uh. Y-you look... exemplary. A magnificent choice of attire.’

‘It’s prom today! Did you forget?’ She grins, whisking him from his seat and plonking him in front of the mirror. ‘We bought the tickets, we may as well go!’

‘But Imp-’

‘-Will be safe. There’s no way he’ll find him here. We’ll be in and out, and be back before he’s even left work.’

Entrapta takes out a makeup brush and some black lipstick, and starts applying it onto his face. For some reason he lets her work, he’s never really been able to say no to her. She styles his hair so some falls across his face. ‘Now for the good part!’ She declares, and brings out a long black dress combined with an inner red cape, with slits on the sides. They’re accompanied by tall black heels and a black clutch.

‘I-I don’t know.’ He says. He’s never worn anything that bold or attention grabbing before, usually choosing clothes that would hide his scarring.

‘Just try it on!’

------

They arrive at the prom arm in arm, and people audibly gasp as they walk down the stairs into the hall. The crowd clears from their path as they make their way down the venue, their stares turning into ones of admiration.

The person from the library shoots them an affronted look, much to Hordak’s satisfaction. Perhaps this wasn’t so bad after all.

Entrapta starts grabbing random food off the tables for Hordak to try. As he eats she starts recording Hordak’s different reactions to each new food into her little recorder.

‘It’s absolutely fascinating how social groups function in peculiar ways! For example,’ She commentates, pointing at her old group of friends. ‘Catra asked Scorpia out to make Adora jealous.’

He watches the brunette antagonize her ex friend, and Adora seemed to be taking the bait. Scorpia watches on, looking disgruntled.

‘Seems like it is working.’

‘No mind, Glimmer’s only Adora’s date to make Bow jealous. But according to my observations, that seems to be less successful.’

He nods, seemed like there was a lot going on in Etheria he had never cared to notice before.

Soon they are interrupted by loud commanding voice on the microphone. It’s Frosta, and she’s announcing the first dance. She looks impossibly small up there behind the podium, which happens when you skip a few grades.

‘Let’s go dance!’

‘I don’t know how to-’

Entrapta drags Hordak onto the dance floor before he can object, joining the other couples paired around them. She puts a hand around his waist, and clasps the other in his.

'Also, Hordak! I got you something.' She says, almost shyly, handing him a box. 'Instead of a corsage...'

He peers inside and in the box is a beautiful purple crystal, embedded onto a necklace. It has some sort of foreign script engraved into it.

‘Wait, is this…’

‘Yep! It’s the crystals we grew together at the lab last term!’ She beamed excitedly. ‘Didn’t they grow so beautifully?’

He turns the crystal in his fingers in awe. It’s been months since the incident with the beaker. ‘What does it say?’

‘O-oh. Um….’

She turns slightly red, embarrassed. Hordak is fascinated, he’s never seen her look like that before. He presses again, curious.

Entrapta mumbles something incoherent, blushing up to her hairline. Her grip tightens on the fabric of his dress as she buries her head into his chest.

‘Loved.’

His eyes widen in shock. She finally looks up, eyes burning with sudden conviction. The rest of the prom seems to fade away into the background.

‘I love you, Hordak.’

Now it was his turn to go completely red- she also looks mortified, so now they were just two embarrassed teens in the middle of the dance floor.

‘I-I love you too!’ He bursts out, awkward and fumbling but finally honest.

‘Really?!’ She says, her hair floofing in excitement, like she can’t believe it. ‘You really do?’

‘Of course-’ and before he can explain the months of agony of being unable to fight his feelings she mashes her face against his.

His knees almost buckle out of pure shock, but can feel himself melt into the kiss, her lips are unimaginably soft. He can feel her smile against his own, and she breaks it, giggling. She goes to say something but he's the one to interrupt her this time, kissing her over and over again as she squeals.

He chuckles at her response, he doesn’t think he’s ever felt this happy.

---

It's been a year since, and they find a cozy apartment in between their universities. Entrapta’s studying engineering at MIT while being cross registered at Harvard.

Meanwhile Hordak studies space science at Columbia University, while working part time.

Hordak had collected all of his and Imp’s legal documents, voice recordings and picture evidence of the abuse and emailed them to Entrapta’s lawyers. Since he turned 18 he was able to win the court case against Prime and take Imp in to be under his legal guardianship. Thankfully he also managed to get a restraining order after a few incidents since Prime was outraged at losing his servants.

‘I’m home.’ He says, opening the door to find Entrapta chasing Emily around the apartment, his younger brother perched on top. She picks up Imp from her bot holding him in her arms.

'Welcome back!' She greets him with a kiss. 'Ready to start our new project?'

Hordak smiles, he's been doing that a lot lately. All the suffering he'd been through was all worthwhile if it brought him to this happy little family. He thumbs his little LUVD necklace which he wears every day.

'Always.'

#she-ra #she ra #entrapdak #spop #entrapta #hordak #she-ra and the princesses of power

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