Glimmer had many names.
For Etheria she was the breed of an angelic being and one of the most powerful sorcerers, the princess of Bright Moon, then the leader of the Princesses Alliance, and in the end, after her mother’s disappearance, the queen of Bright Moon.
Queen Angella pronounced her name in a weird way, Glimmah, or something like that, making it sound shorter, and giving it some sort of gravitas.
It also didn’t help she used to scream it at the top of her lungs more times than one could count, because Glimmer was a professional troublemaker, and if danger was near, she was most likely to run into it.
Especially willingly.
Her father, since she had been lucky enough to get him back, called her with a simple baby, it was his way to make up lost time. She didn’t mind though, if having him in her life meant staying a child a little bit longer, she would happily oblige. But just for him.
Her friends called her simply Glimmer, because no matter what title or responsibility was thrusted upon her, she was Glimmer to them, the reckless pink haired girl who was always overexcited and that would go above and beyond for every one of them.
For most of her life she had also been just Glimmer, or sometimes Glim, for Bow, until something had changed between them, now from time to time she was also honey, babe, and her favorite above all love. She would never get used to it, she kept blushing all the same every time he used any kind of pet name.
And then there was Catra, who ages ago had started calling her Sparkles, just to mess with her.
Even after slowly becoming friends, the nickname just kinda stuck. It had slowly stopped sounding like an insult and had become an inside joke between the two of them.
Glimmer was so used to it, that she couldn’t imagine being called in any other way by her.
She had soon learned that when Catra used her proper name, something was wrong.
Once Catra had screamed it, panic in her throat, when Glimmer hadn’t seen coming a particularly huge blast that had knocked her over.
She remembered, as she was passing out, quietly laughing at the absurdity of hearing Catra, of all people, call her by name.
Later she had turned out fine, no major injuries, but she couldn’t help but tease the magicat because she had actually been worried about her.
Catra had tried to dismiss it like it was nothing, but Glimmer would never let it go, she cherished it like a precious thing. It was proof that Catra cared.
She knew that of course, but sometimes a reminder was needed, especially for something still so unexpected to her. Something so unexpected as their friendship.
“Just…don’t do that again” Catra had mumbled through her teeth “be careful next time.”
And that meant the world to Glimmer.
She had gotten used it so much to Catra never using her name, that when she would slip it over her tongue, Glimmer flinched. She had almost started to dread it, especially if Catra spit it like it was pure venom, whenever she was mad or upset at her. The sound of it became odd to her.
She sensed something was off when out of nowhere Catra absentmindedly started calling her Glimmer.
But they weren’t fighting, nothing bad had happened between them, at least nothing that Glimmer was aware of. She could have easily marked it as an accident, but it kept happening. And it felt wrong.
Glimmer was Sparkles, like Catra was Horde Scum. It was their thing.
But it seemed like Catra didn’t even notice what she was doing, she had also been acting wary for days.
Glimmer supposed it had something to do with hers and Adora’s recent engagement, it was normal to be jittery, she sure was before her own wedding.
Catra had surely made a lot of progress in time, she was more open, less self-destructive, and really trying to express herself without feeling weak or guilty. She was happier. But some habits die hard.
And sometimes she just fell back to her old self like an old coat, trapped inside the cage of her strong emotions. In those moment Adora, Bow and Glimmer knew they had to give her space, to adjust, to remind herself that she was safe, she was home, she was loved.
So, Glimmer knew better than to push her, she would wait for Catra to come to her on her own terms.
Catra could be mean, and sometimes obnoxious, nonetheless she was her friend. And she missed her.
Something finally shifted at one of the Alliance’s meetings.
Weirdly no one had pointed out Catra’s strange mood or raised any question about the meeting not being interrupted once by one of her snarky comments or inappropriate jokes.
The queen of Bright Moon had kept quiet, but she had noticed Catra barely paying attention, she kept fidgeting like something was troubling her.
It was an amusing sight, Catra, who had literally laughed in the face of so many dangers and had defied a lot of people far more powerful than her, was visibly trembling about something.
“And that’s it, we are done for today.” Glimmer concluded and her words were gladly welcomed by the others with a sigh of relief “Next meeting is in two weeks. See you tomorrow at the party.”
“Oh my god, I am going to drink so much tomorrow. Finally.” Mermista groaned stretching her arms.
A few laughs erupted between them, no one could blame Mermista, they all had been waiting for an occasion to properly relax since forever.
The Princess Alliance started to clear the room, saying goodbye to Glimmer and the others, indulging in their own chatter until they finally left, and the noise slowly quieted down.
Soon enough there was only the Best Friends Squad in the room.
Bow was leaning on Glimmer’s chair, while Catra and Adora remained seated, quietly whispering something back and forth.
Until Catra suddenly stood up “There is one last matter to address.”
Adora beside her quietly laughed “So dramatic…”
“Shut up, this is important.” Catra hissed, the blonde shook her head, still smiling, and put a comforting hand on her fiancée’s clenched fist, succeeding in calming her down a little. In response the other gave her a loving look.
“What is this about?” asked Glimmer, rearranging the documents on the table in front of her.
“The queen of Bright Moon was requested for a ceremony.”
At the sound of her title, Glimmer snorted “Queen of Bright Moon? What’s up with you lately? First you start calling me Glimmer…”
“It’s your name.”
“You never use it.” Glimmer tilted her head and narrowed her eyes, so much for trying to not to push her “You have been awfully quiet and now you are being weird.”
Catra rolled her eyes “Please take this seriously.”
“Okay, okay I’m listening, what ceremony?”
“Ours” she paused “mine and Adora’s wedding”
Glimmer abruptly stopped fumbling with her documents, while Bow’s eyes widened.
“Wait, what?” she stared at Catra, not fully processing what she was saying, the brunette wrinkled her nose embarrassed. “Do you really want me to spell it out for you, Sparkles?”
A part of Glimmer relaxed at the sound of the familiar nickname, but she still didn’t understand.
“Just say it. For real this time.” Adora slapped Catra’s arm “You are freaking her out.”
“Fine.” Catra gave up “Sparkles, the thing is… do you want to be the one to marry us?”
Glimmer stopped breathing altogether and started shooting looks between Catra and Adora, to make sure they were not messing with her “You… want me to marry you? You want me to officiate the ceremony?”
“Yes, if you want to.” replied the blonde, who couldn’t help but smile at her best friend’s reaction.
It took a few seconds, Glimmer was frozen like a statue, then suddenly she was gone and had teleported herself behind the future brides. And she was screaming.
“OF COURSE! OF COURSE I WANT TO! I WOULD BE HONOURED!” and leaped at both of her friends for a hug worthy of Scorpia, that Adora returned gladly, Catra just stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do, and eventually decided to pat her slightly on the back.
“Oh my god I am so excited. I am going to marry you, guys!” her eyes were sparkling, she was so happy and also pretty relieved to find out that this was the reason behind Catra’s slippery behavior.
Meanwhile Bow was crying his eyes out “This is gonna be the best!”
“Why are you crying, you idiot.” Catra walked to him and started to scold him.
Adora took advantage of her fiancée’s distraction to hug Glimmer again and whisper something in her ear, then like a kid caught with both hands in the cookie jar, she quietly slipped away giving her a knowing look.
Glimmer felt her heart clench and teleported right beside Catra, who barely managed not to appear startled “What the hell, Sparkles!”
“It was your idea?”
Catra narrowed her eyes at Adora, then she let out a defeated breath and smirked “Don’t make this into a big deal.” she was fidgeting again “I did it for Adora, so she won’t have to choose between you and Arrow Boy to be the best man… or maid of honor… whatever, since Scorpia is going to be mine. It’s a win-win for all of us.” maybe she could have gotten away with it if she hadn’t been blushing.
“I don’t believe you. There is something else.” Glimmer poked her, grinning from ear to ear.
For a moment looking at Catra’s side-smile reminded her of other times, darker times, when it was just the two of them against the world, or specifically, them against an evil spaceship full of scary aliens.
Who would have thought? You and me, friends. The force captain of the Horde and the queen of Bright Moon. It almost feels like a joke.
But it had happened.
Glimmer didn’t make a move, she knew how to be patient with her, how not to make her feel cornered, maybe she understood her so well because they were so much alike, they were sort of kindred spirits, funny as it sounded.
So, she waited, but she was visibly struggling not to say something, or hug her, or both.
In the end it was Catra that gave in “Fine.” she admitted rolling her eyes “it’s because I care, okay?” once she had begun she couldn’t really stop “I don’t want you to be there just for Adora… you are important to me too… You are my friend, and I wouldn’t want anyone else to do it… Happy now?”
Glimmer could have sworn her heart was going to come out of her chest.
“Thank you for asking me.” she hoped to converge her emotions as much as possible in those few words, so Catra could understand how much that meant to her. How much she meant to her.
Opening up was a huge step for the magicat but she didn’t appear bothered by her confession, a bit embarrassed maybe, but she also seemed more relaxed, almost lighter.
“Oh my god you really said that!” Bow’s voice made them both turn to look at him.
Glimmer saw Adora, smiling softly and glowing with pride, she moved to comfort him in some way, as he was a true mess, probably on the verge of drowning himself in his own tears “They are so cute.”
“I know, Bow.” she gently patted him on his shoulder.
“For fuck’s sake, Bow, if I told you I loved you too, would you die on the spot then?” Catra sounded annoyed, but it was clear to anyone there was something true behind her words.
In fact, Bow gasped “Do you?”
Catra quirked an eyebrow “Do I what?”
“Love me?” and then he was looking at Catra expectantly, with the biggest puppy eyes Catra had ever seen, even bigger than Adora’s famous ones, waiting for some sort of reaction. A scoff maybe, or even a confession at this point.
Catra’s face was so red, she glanced at the ceiling, probably praying for something to end all her suffering.
“Yes, you dumbass…” she practically muttered through her teeth “now stop being weird about it!”
It was pointless, Bow barely suppressed another sob.
Catra finally lifted her gaze to Glimmer, who was still staring at her, but she doubted she could stay still any longer, and Catra must have noticed, because she gave her a small wave that could only mean one thing.
Come on, just hug me already, I know you want to.
No more words were needed, Glimmer basically jumped on her with a hug so tight, that could have easily broken her bones, but both girls didn’t seem to have the faintest intention to let go of each other.
Their moment was quickly cut short by a sniff.
Glimmer suppressed a chuckle in Catra’s embrace, who, on the other hand, loudly groaned.
“Yes, Bow, you can join too... this time.” Catra didn’t have to say it twice, as she was quickly engulfed by the boy’s arms from behind, he even had the audacity to nuzzle into her shoulder.
Luckily for her, Catra managed not to purr, miraculously spared by her own body, and held herself from making any embarrassing sounds who would compromise her cool even further.
“Hey, I want in, I am getting married too.” whined Adora already spreading her arms.
“Get in here, you dork. Let’s take advantage of it until it lasts.” Glimmer fully laughed, picturing how it would appear if someone suddenly opened the door to this scene, she never would have thought something like this would happen. Not in a million years. And she was going to enjoy it thoroughly.
Catra mumbled something, probably some sort of complain, but she didn’t back away, she hid her face in Glimmer’s shoulder to hide her own eyes.
“We love you too, Horde scum” whispered Glimmer clutching tighter.
“Yes!” Bow smiled widely “Best Friends Squad forever!”
“Don’t ruin it, Bow!”