Destined
----
Adora
The alarm on her cracked phone begins to blare out at six in the morning.
Adora sits up and quickly turns it off, excited for the day. She hasn’t slept that well in months. Years, maybe.
Today is the day that Bow and Glimmer are taking her shopping so that she doesn’t only have a small handful of clothes. They told her that they’re going to Brightmoon Plaza to find clothes, and then going to the local grocery store to get some food for their apartment. Adora has no idea where either the grocery store or the plaza is, despite having lived here for the past few months. She had mostly survived off of gas station snacks and her backpack of belongings.
She stands up out of her bed and puts on her outfit for the day. A thin grey long-sleeved sweater and a pair of ripped jeans that definitely weren’t ripped when she got them.
After brushing her teeth and tying her hair into her signature ponytail, Adora heads into the kitchen to prepare breakfast.
Okay, maybe ‘breakfast’ is a little bit of a stretch. She’s going to microwave the only food they currently have in their fridge, which is leftover lasagna from Angella’s dinner yesterday.
She takes the container out of the fridge and puts it in the microwave for 1 minute. While the food is heating up, Adora scours the kitchen for some plates and cutlery and places them at their small dinner table.
The beep from the microwave must wake up the other two residents of the house because shuffling and a loud, annoyed groan that sounds like Glimmer’s voice come out from the hallway leading to the bedrooms. Turns out Glimmer isn’t exactly a morning person.
As Adora takes the container out and places it on the table, a yawning Glimmer and Bow come stumbling out of the hallway and into the open area that connects the kitchen, dining room, and living room. Once they smell the food, they both seem to wake up a little more.
Adora stands up straight again and smiles at them, “Good morning! I made breakfast. Well, I don’t know if leftover lasagna can be considered breakfast but it was the only thing we had other than granola bars and I’m pretty sure you don’t want to eat-”
Her rambling is cut off by Glimmer, “Adora, it’s fine. It smells great, thank you.” Adora nods and her smile turns sheepish. She should really work on talking less.
The three of them sit down at the table, Glimmer and Adora beside each other and Bow in front of Glimmer, and eat their food. They talk about random things and laugh together, but eventually, Bow asks the question she was dreading.
“So, Adora, are you excited to go shopping today?” Adora looks up at him and smiles despite her nerves. She really is looking forward to going with them, but is a little anxious about finding new clothes. She never had to choose her clothes at the orphanage, or ‘The Fright Zone’ as all the kids there would call it. They gave her clothes and she never had a choice in the matter. But now she could choose, and she had no idea what to get.
“Yeah! Thank you so much for coming with me, guys. I really appreciate it.” They all finish their food and clean up the table, bringing the plates to the sink to be washed later.
“It’s not a problem, Adora. We have to go get some food, anyway. Besides, it’ll be fun! I can’t wait to help you pick outfits,” Glimmer responds as she walks back to her room to change, followed by Bow.
While they get ready for the day, Adora opens some of the previously closed curtains of the windows in their apartment to allow some natural light to come in. It’s surprisingly refreshing and Adora takes a deep breath. She looks out onto the street below. There’s a woman walking her dog across the street, but that’s the only thing happening. Everything else is completely still. It’s a lot nicer than the crime-filled streets of the Crimson Waste that Adora grew up seeing.
Adora hears footsteps behind her and turns around to find Bow and Glimmer both ready to go. They’re both wearing comfortable hoodies (Bow’s hoodie is cropped), while Glimmer is wearing black leggings and Bow is wearing baggy grey sweatpants. They look comfortable, but still stylish.
Bow, Glimmer, and Adora put on their shoes and head downstairs to drive to the plaza. Bow’s driving today, so Adora’s going to sit in the passenger seat while Glimmer has the three backseats to herself.
As Bow drives them to their destination, Adora is a lot calmer than she thought she would be. Her plan is to just buy basic clothing, nothing too fancy, and maybe a winter jacket for the cold. Her red varsity jacket just isn’t going to cut it by the time December rolls around.
They arrive, and Adora is immediately pulled into a retail store so fast that she couldn’t even read the name. Bow and Glimmer seem more excited for today than Adora.
Adora stands with her arms out as Bow and Glimmer pile clothing they think she’ll like into them. She told the two how inexperienced she was with buying clothes, so they agreed to help her pick out clothes that work for her.
She’s guided into a fitting room once they’re done while Bow and Glimmer stand outside, waiting eagerly.
The first outfit is obviously one that Bow picked out, given that the shirt is cropped. Adora already knows she’s not getting this one, given how uncomfortable the exposed skin makes her, but she shows Bow and Glimmer anyway.
They both gasp theatrically as they look over the outfit. Bow looks very proud of his outfit choice, while Glimmer is slightly gawking at the muscles on Adora’s abdomen.
Once their initial reaction wears off, they notice how uncomfortable Adora is in the outfit. Her arms are crossed and she looks like she would rather be anywhere but where she currently is.
They both pretend to think over the outfit, and then shake their heads decidedly. “Nah. I’m not a big fan of it.” Bow nods his head in agreement. Adora sighs in relief, and Bow goes into the changing room to take out any of the crop top outfits he chose for her, which was almost all of them.
They keep going through all of the clothes picked out, taking out any that are either ugly, too expensive, or make Adora uncomfortable.
The only thing left in the pile at the end is athletic clothing in a variety of colours. Glimmer also somehow manages to get Adora to include one dress and a few fancier outfits in her pile. After paying for the clothes, they also buy some hangers for her closet from a different store. All in all, the trip went way better than Adora had previously expected.
They drive to the grocery store and stock up on everything they could possibly need. They probably spent more at the grocery store than at the mall, if Adora were being honest with herself.
She decides to drive them back, as a ‘thank you’ of sorts. By the time they arrive back at their apartment, all three of them are laughing and smiling with each other. Adora couldn’t be more grateful for her two amazing friends.
Adora opens the car door and gets out, but before she can close it, a voice alerts her.
“Adora?!”
She quickly turned her head in the direction of the voice to see a woman around her age with tan skin, cornrows, and an undercut standing in front of the tattoo parlor beside Brightmoon café. Adora’s eyes widened and she gasped when she recognized her.
“Lonnie?!”
Bow and Glimmer look back and forth between the two women with a confused stare. They didn’t know that Adora knew anybody in town. To be fair, though, neither did Adora.
Adora quickly walks over to Lonnie and pulls her into a tight hug. Lonnie reciprocates the hug with a bright smile on her face, similar to the one Adora also has on her face.
Adora pulls back, still keeping her hands on the other woman’s shoulders, “What are you doing here?”
“I live here! I have since I got adopted, actually.”
Adora’s smile falters slightly as she remembers the day Lonnie got adopted.
----
Adora, 8 years ago
Someone came in to yell the children awake at 8 in the morning. This was the usual time they woke them up on a Monday morning at Crimson Waste Orphan Home.
Adora blearily opened her eyes and sat up. She heard a thump near her and turned to see Lonnie, who had just jumped down from the top bunk, now beside her. She looked exhausted and angry, which were two very common emotions at eight o’clock in the morning on a Monday.
Adora groggily stood up and the two walked towards the cafeteria for breakfast. Their breakfast was the same as it was every day, large grey granola bars that they said were ‘essential’ for building strength. Nobody was sure what was in those bars, but they definitely weren’t what any 14-year-old should be eating.
As Adora and Lonnie at their bars in comfortable silence, a tall woman with black hair and an emotionless look on her face approaches the two girls.
“Lonnie, come here. I need to speak to you,” the woman says in a dark, stern voice. Adora avoids eye contact and continues eating, trying to force herself to stay calm and act natural.
The woman’s name was Sharon Weaver, but all the kids called her Shadow Weaver when she wasn’t listening. But that’s the thing with Shadow Weaver. Nobody knew when she was or wasn’t listening.
“Yes Ms. Weaver,” Lonnie stood up with perfect posture and a blank face as she walked with Shadow Weaver down a corridor.
Adora felt anxious for her friend, and couldn’t finish her food due to the sick feeling in her stomach. She threw the bars into a garbage can when nobody was looking and sat back down.
----
Adora was doing her homework when Lonnie ran into the study room with a bright, excited smile on her face. Adora felt herself let out the breath she didn’t know she was holding at the sight of her happy friend.
Lonnie stood in front of her, jumping with excitement. “I got adopted!”
Adora could almost feel her heart be ripped out of her chest at those familiar words. She forced a smile onto her face, “Really?”
Lonnie didn’t seem to notice her friend’s sadness, “Yes! I just met my new family, and they’re so nice! They have-”
Adora tries to listen, she really does, but Lonnie’s words are drowned out by her loud thoughts.
This exact situation has happened more times than she can remember. She’ll make a friend, she’ll let herself be vulnerable and get close with them, and then they’ll leave. Whether they’ll get adopted, or get sent to a new facility, it doesn’t matter. It hurts the same every single time. It goes the same way every time. She’ll make a new friend, and she’ll tell herself “This time they’ll stay. This time they won’t leave me,” and then once they do leave, so does a little bit of her hope.
By the time she becomes friends with Lonnie, she’s down to her last shreds of hope. They were friends for only two years, but it was the longest friendship Adora ever had. She had actually begun to think that, maybe, just this once, she would get to keep one friend. One single friend that would stay with her.
What an idiot she was. How could she possibly think that, after all this time, someone would finally stay? How could she possibly think that anyone would want to be her friend? Adora wouldn’t make that mistake again. She couldn’t. Adora knew then that she was destined for a life alone.
Later, she watched Lonnie get into a car with her new family from the window of the orphanage. Lonnie waved at her as she smiled, but Adora couldn’t find it in herself to do anything but stare with an empty look in her eyes.
That was the last time Adora saw Lonnie, and the last time she made a friend.
----
Adora, Now
Adora somehow finds it in herself to smile at Lonnie, but takes her hands off her shoulders, “That’s great! I’m so happy for you.”
Lonnie seems to see Adora’s distress and changes the subject quickly, “So, what are you doing here?”
Adora is grateful for the change, “Oh, I went shopping with my friends! I just moved next door a couple months ago.” Lonnie’s eyes widen at that, “Oh, you live next door?” Adora nods with a grin.
“Where did you move from?”
The question was meant to be simple small talk, but Adora can already feel her heartbeat quicken. She doesn’t want Lonnie to know that she was never adopted. That she was never wanted.
“I-...” Adora takes a small step back, already considering escape plans. She turns to Glimmer’s car, where Bow and Glimmer are turned away from her talking. They likely wanted to give her privacy. Adora greatly appreciated that before, but now she desperately wishes they would look her way and get her out of here.
Lonnie's brows furrow, but the confusion quickly turns to sadness when she realizes why Adora isn’t answering. “You… you were never adopted?” She’s almost whispering, despite nobody being around them.
Adora turns her head down to look at the sidewalk and wills the tears in her eyes not to roll down her face. The one thing that would make this so much worse is Lonnie seeing her cry. She doesn’t nod or say yes, but Lonnie knows it’s true.
Lonnie places her hands on each of her shoulders, which makes Adora quickly lift her head to look at her with a confused look. Their eyes are both shining with unshed tears, but Lonnie smiles at the blonde sadly. “That’s okay, Adora. I’m glad to see you’re doing well.” She tries to change the subject to make her feel better, “Isn’t it so crazy that we’d both end up in the same small town, though?”
It really was a coincidence, when Adora thought about it. Most people who go to the Crimson Waste stay in the Crimson Waste. And if they do leave, they don’t go very far. They definitely don’t drive 2 hours to a small town called Brightmoon, which is known for its beautiful scenery and friendly people.
Adora giggles, and the unshed tears clear from both of their eyes. “Yeah, that is crazy.”
“So, can I meet those friends of yours over there? Or are they just going to continue pretending not to see us.” Adora laughs louder and waves to her friends, who turn instantly and walk over.
Glimmer and Bow stand beside Adora with smiles on their faces. Adora turns to that she’s facing all three of them, “Guys, this is Lonnie. We went to the Fright Zone together,” Lonnie snickers at the nickname, “Lonnie, these are Glimmer and Bow. They’re my roommates, and we all work at the coffee shop beside here.”
Lonnie shakes both of their hands out of politeness, “It’s great to meet you two. I hope you’re taking good care of Adora, here. She’s not very good at doing that herself.” Lonnie punches Adora in the shoulder lightly. Glimmer and Bow laugh a little, and Adora blushes sheepishly.
Their conversation goes well from there, and Bow, Glimmer, and Adora are about to head back to their apartment when Lonnie calls one last thing.
“Hey! You wanna meet your other neighbours?” She has one eyebrow raised as she awaits an answer.
The three walk back, nodding, and Lonnie guides them to the front door of Horde Tattooing.
----
She spins around in the chair behind the cash register again hoping it’ll speed up time. It doesn’t.
She groans loudly and Scorpia, the only other person in the store, laughs. “Today is so slow! What are we supposed to do?!” Catra throws her arms out in front of her wildly.
Today has been a really slow day at the parlour. They’ve finished all their appointments for today, and nobody has come in since then. Huntara’s doing paperwork in her office at the back, and Catra, Scorpia, and Lonnie are waiting for more customers. Well, Catra and Scorpia are. Lonnie went for her break 10 minutes ago and hasn’t come back since then.
Catra is convinced she left and isn’t coming back until she peeks out the window to see her talking to a blonde. She immediately sits up in her chair to tap Scorpia on the shoulder with the back of her hand, “Hey, who is Lonnie talking to outside?” Scorpia looks out the window to see Lonnie, the blonde, and two other people now talking in a group. “I don't know. Some friends, maybe?” Catra hadn’t seen the two other friends before. Just as she’s about to turn away, Lonnie punches Adora in the shoulder. They probably know each other pretty well. The other two friends, the purple-haired one and the guy with the crop top, don’t seem as close with her. They do seem close with each other, though. Their shoulders are touching, and they’re practically leaning on each other as they talk to the other two.
Catra’s detective skills are cut short by the three friends leaving. Lonnie doesn’t move from her spot, though. Catra can see her yell something to the three, and then all four of them are walking to the door.
Catra and Scorpia immediately look away and pretend to look nonchalant as they do other random tasks.
Catra doesn’t look up from the notebook she pulled out to make it seem like she wasn’t just spying on her coworker, but she can hear people shuffling in slowly. They’re probably looking around the tattoo shop and the drawings put up all over the place.
She hears Lonnie proudly yell, “Welcome to the best tattoo shop in Brightmoon!”
That makes Catra lift up her head with a snort. She really regrets it, though, because she immediately loses all her confidence once she sees the blonde that's in front of her. She’s currently looking at one of the drawings that Catra made with an intrigued look, and the bright lighting directly above is hitting her perfectly. Her hair, which is in a tight ponytail, is a wheat-coloured blonde and looks as soft as silk. Her eyes, which Catra can only see one of, are a bright blue under the light.
The blonde turns back to Lonnie, “Who drew this?” Lonnie smirks at Catra. She definitely saw her staring, but didn't say anything about it. Instead, she points in the direction of her, “Catra.”
Catra panics, but only for a second. She puts on a neutral face as she feigns nonchalance. The blonde walks up to her eagerly. “Hi, I’m Adora. Did you make that drawing over there?” She points over to the part of the wall that has a paper with Catra’s drawing on it.
Catra turns to the paper. It’s one of Catra’s favourite drawings, actually. It’s of a thin sword with an intricate hilt. There’s an oval-shaped blue gemstone at the top of the hilt. The sword looks magical, in a way. She doesn’t know why it’s her favourite, but it just is.
She turns back to the woman in front of her, Adora. She has an eager look on her face as she awaits Catra’s answer.
Catra decides in that moment that, despite how beautiful Adora is, she doesn’t like her. She seems like the kind of person to have been spoiled their entire life. She was probably the head cheerleader in high school and dated the captain of the football team. She definitely had perfect grades and an even more perfect life. Her whole life has probably been perfectly laid out in front of her, and she’s probably a nurse, or something, now. She looks like she hasn’t had a single problem in her entire life.
“Yeah, I did. What about it?”
Adora doesn’t seem fazed by Catra’s attitude, “It’s really beautiful.”
Catra wants to smile in that moment. It really does make her happy when people compliment her work, but she doesn’t want Adora to see her smile.
“Thanks. Do you want anything else, princess?” Adora looks uncomfortable with the nickname, blushing slightly. “No uh… thank you.”
Catra smirks as the blonde walks back over to Lonnie, Scorpia, and the other two friends that Catra doesn’t know the names of. They’re all talking together in one group, and they all look like they’re really getting along. Especially Adora and Lonnie. There’s definitely no romantic feelings, that’s obvious, but it irks Catra how well Adora fits in with her friends. They’re talking as if they’ve known each other for years, not a few minutes. They weren’t like that when Catra first got here.
Despite how much Catra wants to go join them, she knows she would ruin the mood if she did. That’s usually the effect she has on groups when she joins them. Everyone will immediately get uncomfortable and try to leave. Catra’s stopped trying at this point. She must be destined to a life alone, or something.
Instead of joining, Catra sits at her chair behind the counter and looks down at the floor.
Eventually, the three leave the tattoo shop and Lonnie, Catra, and Scorpia are left. Catra thinks she’ll finally get a chance to talk, but Lonnie interrupts.
“I’m going to go talk to Huntara for a second.”
Catra leans back in her chair, defeated. Scorpia goes back to doing whatever she was doing before those three showed up, and Catra sighs. That blonde really just ruined her entire day just by coming in.
----
Huntara
This paperwork is basically endless at this point. Huntara sighs and sits back in the desk chair as she stares at the pile of papers on her desk.
Just before she can sit up to continue working, she hears a knock at the door. Huntara turns to see Lonnie standing there, looking like she wants to say something.
“What is it?”
Lonnie looks like she wants to say something, but can’t find the right words. “I saw someone from the Fright Zone just now.”
Huntara’s eyes widen at that, and she stands up to close the door so nobody can overhear. Especially Double Trouble. They love to eavesdrop on her conversations for gossip.
“How do you know they were from the Fright Zone?”
“Because we were best friends there for two years until I got adopted.”
She notices how Lonnie is fidgeting with the hem of her shirt anxiously as she speaks. “Alright. You okay?”
Huntara also went to the Fright Zone, but she aged out at 18. Adora and Lonnie were 7 and 6 when Huntara left, so the two never met her. Lonnie started working at the Horde a few years after being adopted, and Hutara and her became good friends over their similar childhoods. They both know how difficult it is to adjust after leaving the orphanage.
“Yes, it’s just… she never got adopted. She aged out, like you. She only left the Crimson Waste a few months ago. I-I'm pretty sure she was homeless before that.”
Huntara sighs. Trying to get back on her feet after ageing out was one of the most difficult things she had to do, and she didn’t even live in the Crimson Waste when she did. She had managed to get a ride to Brightmoon immediately after leaving through a favour with an old friend. She couldn’t imagine trying to survive alone on the streets while in the Crimson Waste.
“What’s her name?”
“Adora Grayskull.”