Catra isn’t entirely sure how she ended up standing in front of Shadow Weaver’s greenhouse in the middle of the night. She had woken up from a nightmare, thankfully quiet enough that it didn’t disturb Adora. She’d crawled out of their shared bed, giving Melog a scratch under the chin to assure them that she was okay, and slipped out of the room like a ghost. She’d wandered the halls for who knows how long, before finally ending up outside.
For the fresh air, she’d told herself.
Except now, standing in front of the glass building that contains Shadow Weaver’s old plants, she feels like she’s suffocating. Some of them are magical, some normal, but all of them are upsetting to Catra. And honestly? She doesn’t exactly know why. They’re just stupid plants.
Instead, she just stares at the structure. Part of her craves to tear into it like she did that outpost by Salineas. She wants to scratch the glass walls, throw rocks and stones until everything shatters. She wants to uproot the plants one by one and burn them, watching all of Shadow Weaver’s work go up in smoke.
But the other part of her, the part that Catra wishes wasn’t there, wants to take care of the plants, nurture them and let them grow. She wants to decorate the greenhouse, maybe ask for Perfuma’s advice. She wants to keep the place standing, and again, she isn’t sure why.
Angry, frustrated tears threaten to well up in her eyes, but they’re forgotten when a voice startles her from behind.
“Can’t sleep either?” The question echoes through the night, and Catra turns around to see Glimmer, still dressed in her day clothes.
“Sparkles?” she questions, “What are you doing up? Have you slept at all?”
“I could ask you the same thing.” Glimmer pauses, pursing her lips. “Actually, I kind of did, so…”
Catra snorts. “Yeah, well, I had a nightmare is all. What it was about isn’t important.” At this point, she can’t really remember, anyways; some nights, all of her fears just morph together like one big monster she can’t quite kill. Since she had that argument and subsequent talk with Adora, it’s all been a little better, but still not great. “I just…” she glances towards the greenhouse behind her. “I needed some air.”
“I get that.” The queen observes the greenhouse also, and Catra can’t tell what she’s thinking. It unsettles her. “I was doing some paperwork, and I couldn’t really get away from it.”
Catra knows that paperwork is Glimmer’s way of escaping sleep, considering the pink-haired woman hates paperwork and everything involved with it. But she does it when she doesn’t want to sleep just yet, and Catra is tired enough to let all of that slide for now.
The magicat sinks down to the ground, her back turned towards Glimmer so she faces the greenhouse fully. After a moment, she feels a warmth against her, and she can’t help but smile.
That’s their thing. It’s weird to Bow and Adora, but neither of the two girls can fully explain the comfort that the action brings them both. It’s grounding for both of them, and it shows that they’re willing to talk about what’s bothering them without judgement. In this space, they never have to be the queen, or doting girlfriends, or strategists; Catra is just Catra, and Glimmer is just Glimmer.
“You know, I was in there a few times, back when I was, uh, looking for advice from her.” Glimmer doesn’t have to specify anything for Catra to know what she’s talking about: Shadow Weaver. “It always made me feel weird, watching her tend to plants and stuff, considering who she was. I’m sure half of them were poisonous.”
“I don’t know how to feel about it,” Catra murmurs, resting her chin on her knees. “I mean, part of me just wants to destroy the entire thing piece by piece--”
“--Definitely don’t blame you for that--”
“--But the other part of me wants to keep it up, you know? Because if I destroy it then…” She swallows the lump in her throat. “Then she’s really gone, I guess.”
Her friend doesn’t say anything for a few moments, and the two girls just sit in the silence of the night. The entire world thrums with magic now, but it’s something that they’ve both gotten used to. It’s a soft background noise that blends into their thoughts, like the crickets in the night or the wind blowing by.
“Maybe you should talk to Perfuma about it,” Glimmer finally says. “‘Cause yeah, you could destroy it, but you could also take care of it, at least for a little while. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. And if you do decide to get rid of everything, she could probably tell you how to dispose of the plants in a way that won’t kill you.”
Catra can’t help the laugh that escapes her throat. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”
She hears a gasp from behind her. “Catra? Admitting that I’m right? Are you sure that you’re feeling okay?”
“You’re going to lose your back-to-back privileges,” Catra threatens, but they both know that it’s an empty claim.
The feline wants to bring something else up, but she worries about how her friend will react. It’s a sore spot, she’s sure, but she doesn’t want to avoid it any longer. Perfuma has been working with her about talking through her issues rather than bottling them up, and now is as good of a time as any.
“Hey, uh, Glimmer?” She turns, and Glimmer turns too, so that they’re talking to each other face-to-face. “I… I never said it, but… I’m sorry.” At the confused look she receives in response, she pushes on. “About… about your mom. If I could change what happened, I would in a heartbeat.” Glimmer’s face morphs into an unreadable expression, and worry settles in the brunette’s gut. “I-I just wanted you to know.”
“I… I know, Catra,” she says softly, and anyone would be able to hear the strain in her voice. “I’ll never be able to forget, but I’m sure people aren’t going to forget what I did with the Heart of Etheria either, so…” She takes a deep breath and meets Catra’s eyes. “I forgave you a long time ago. I’ve seen how hard you work, how much you care about making things right, and yeah, some days it’s a little hard for me to look at you. But… those are bad days. They come and go.”
“Take the good with the bad,” Catra says, and Glimmer smiles.
“Yeah. And… as much as I miss her, I wouldn’t trade you or anyone else for my mom back, because I know that isn’t what she would want.”
“She’d be proud of you.” She’d never met Queen Angella, but the feline means what she says. The current queen smiles wider.
“Thank you.”
Glimmer moves to sit next to Catra rather than in front of her, lightly nudging her with her shoulder. The latter can’t hide the ghost of a smile that haunts her lips.
“You know, part of me was always jealous of you, back when you were with the Horde,” she says, and Catra stares at her, bewildered.
“What? Don’t mess with me, Sparkles.”
“No, it’s true.” Glimmer looks up at the sky, which is now twinkling with a thousand little lights that, before recently, didn’t exist on Etheria. “We all forget it sometimes, but you’re an excellent military strategist. You always had a plan, always looking for our weak points. Without Adora, we would never have won the war.”
“You don’t mean that. She Ra wasn’t the only reason you guys won in the end.”
“I didn’t say She Ra, I said Adora.”
They’re both quiet for a moment, and Glimmer allows Catra to process what she’s said. She fiddles with her worry stone. Her ears are pressed flat against her head, her voice low. “What are you getting at?”
“I mean, in the end, you could’ve taken down She Ra, Catra. But you didn’t because it was Adora. Like when you let us escape from the Horde after Frosta’s Princess Prom? Can you say you would’ve done that for anyone other than Adora?”
Catra doesn’t even need to answer. They both know without verbalizing it, that no, Catra would never have let them escape.
“It didn’t last long,” she says instead, “me protecting Adora. When we were in those ruins, I…”
“Yeah, you had some... moments,” Glimmer says, trying to phrase the first part delicately, “but I really do think that you would’ve found a way to win the war if it hadn’t been that you love Adora. And, you know, I think we would’ve won sooner if you hadn’t been the one we were fighting.”
“How come?”
Glimmer shrugs, nudging Catra with her shoulder again. This time, Catra nudges her back. “Because Adora loves you, too, and so she would protect you. Sometimes I don’t even know if she realized that she was doing it.”
“Really?”
Glimmer nods. “Listen, the point of this whole conversation is to remind you that you’re important, Catra. You’re a strategist, someone who analyzes others and makes her movements accordingly. It’s impressive, and… we need you for this reconstruction.” She looks Catra in the eyes, entirely serious. “I want you to be my advisor, Catra. I think you would be perfect for the position.”
Catra’s eyes widen, and her ears perk up. “You… you’re serious?”
“Absolutely serious. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the Princess Alliance has a record of going into things without much thought. You’re a good balance to that. But I know that you’re dealing with a lot, and I don’t want to put extra pressure on you. It’s your decision.”
She lets Catra absorb everything she’s said.
“Can I think about it?”
She nods. They sit there in silence, enjoying each other’s company. And when they both finally go to sleep that night, curled up with their respective partners, both girls feel a bit lighter.
The next morning, Catra wakes up to find Adora’s arm wrapped around her waist. She turns in her girlfriend’s arm and presses her forehead against the blonde’s, peppering her face with kisses. After a few, Adora’s nose begins to twitch, and Catra can’t help the chuckle that escapes her.
“Sleep well?” the brunette asks, a teasing grin plastered on her face.
Adora’s grin is much more dopey. “Always, when you’re by my side.”
Catra rolls her eyes and presses her palm against Adora’s face, pushing her away as the latter laughs. “Ugh, that was so cheesy.”
“You love me.”
“I admit to absolutely nothing.”
The two stay in bed for a few more minutes, just content with each other’s presence. However, there’s only so long Adora’s stomach can go without grumbling, which forces the two out of bed for breakfast.
Glimmer and Catra don’t address what they talked about last night, or even that they talked at all; instead, they laugh and joke with the rest of the Best Friends Squad during breakfast, with Catra giving tentative thought to Glimmer’s offer.
“I want you to be my advisor, Catra.”
Catra knows that a position like that would come with lots of paperwork, and probably backlash from somewhere. It would probably be packaged with more sleepless nights and loads more work. After all, any job that required keeping Adora, Bow, and Glimmer out of trouble would be a Herculean task. But the warmth in her chest that blooms when she thinks about all of that essentially solidifies her answer.
Catra swallows a bite of fruit from her plate and clears her throat, interrupting the laughter coming from around the table. “So, what’s the plan for today, Sparkles? Since I’m going to officially be your royal advisor and all.”
Adora’s immediate “What?” combined with Glimmer’s excited squeal, not to mention Bow’s look of absolute confusion, all make it difficult for Catra not to laugh.
“You’re doing what? Since when did this happen?” Adora questions, looking between her girlfriend and her best friend.
“Since this morning at around…” Catra pretends to check a watch that she doesn’t have. “Oh, like, 2am?”
“Why were you up at 2am?” Bow asks, disapproval lacing his voice. “Is that why you came in so late, Glim?”
“We had a talk,” is her answer. “And I offered her the job.”
Adora and Bow glance at each other, but quickly shake off the shock for something more supportive. “That’s wonderful!” Adora says, her voice full of warmth and sincerity. “I think that’s going to be great for you, Catra.”
While Adora raves about how excited she is and Catra soaks up the praise like a sponge, Bow grabs Glimmer’s hand.
“What did you guys talk about?” He asks, his voice a whisper.
Glimmer just leans up against him, her head on his shoulder. “The greenhouse, my mom, her and Adora. Kinda just jumped back and forth. But it was a good talk.”
Bow smiles softly, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “I’m proud of you.” He glances towards Catra, who has situated herself in Adora’s lap. Her tail swishes back and forth at her side, her fangs peeking out from a smile. “I’m proud of both of you.”
Glimmer just closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “Me too.”
She knows that what she said to Catra was true, that she’d never forget what happened with her mom. But she also knows that she likes Catra much more as a friend than she ever did as an enemy.
She thinks her mom would agree, too.