Momento

They stay entangled in each other's arms for some time- maybe 5 minutes or a even a hour, Catra couldn't know. She was just too shocked from her girlfriend's confession. At some point Adora's breath evened out and she became heavier in Catra's embrace, passing out from pure exhaustion. Catra didn't move for a moment, instead decided to rewind the whole situation in her mind. Adora has been in physical pain. Bad enough to start using opioids to numb this problem of hers. And Catra never saw it? Really? She never saw Adora crying at night while at the Horde? Or when she hunched at the middle of the night after taking the Failsafe? Or all those moments when she clearly wasn't listening, instead just massaging her temples and shaking lightly? And now, when she suddenly got better out of nowhere- feeling well enough to do tasks without proper sleep?

Catra almost didn't remember how she got back to Adora's bedroom. Her girlfriend dangled from her arms unconsciously, her head pressed at the feline's shoulder. Breathing short and shallow, and after this moment did Catra actually realized just how thinner Adora was- she could even feel the blonde's ribs through her shirt. And her skin was too cold for Catra to bear with. She put her down on the bed, pulling the blanket all the way to Adora's neck and planted a small kiss on her forehead. Adora didn't answer of course, instead she just gave out a very small cough and turned the other way. Catra stayed seated at the end of the bed for some time, just watching her girlfriend undisturbed sleep, until finally deciding to move. It took some time and a little amount of effort, until Catra found a small metal box from under the bed. She opened it only to be greeted by at least 10 syringes, filled with an orange liquid that almost looked as it was bubbling inside. At that moment she could feel every single pound in her chest. There was a cluster of spark that plugged in her abdomen and her thoughts were accelerating inside her head. They were here? In their room? And to a point Catra was even sleeping over them?

She remembered them. In the Horde, they meant peaceful slumber and sometimes even the end of the route. Catra never got to experience them- Shadow Weaver couldn't care less for her pain. But she knew for sure that Adora once had a shot.

"It's like... you suddenly go numb. And you breath better. And you can finally sleep. It's just nasty when they give it the wrong way- you can even get bruised from the needle. I never knew you can get bruises like that." Adora had told her years ago, but never again did she mentioned them. And Catra never asked, because she knew she had no chance to feel this  feeling.

The needles shined under their caps. Catra's gaze was locked on them, until she finally put the box down to her side, before reaching toward Adora. Carefully she took her right hand and slowly rolled her sleeve, watching for any signs of waking up. But none- Adora was heavily knocked out at this point. And on her arm Catra found spreading purple welts with yellow blotches on the surface. It took an insane amount of self control for Catra to not return her breakfast- her stomach lurched at the sight of her best friend's hand and she could almost feel the vomit forcing its way out of her mouth. Catra immediately let go, before grabbing the box with the painkiller and leaving the room. The feline walked as fast as she could through the corridor, her legs tangling into each other. The whole place was spinning and she could feel the cold sweat building up on her back, sticking her shirt to her fur. 

Catra never saw that coming. She had only heard about people getting addicted to stuff like those, but never imagined that Adora could end up like that. In her eyes, Adora was not a Princess- she has always been like a Goddess. Pure perfection- with all of her minuses and pluses. Even when crying sometimes at night or even acting like the total dork she was- and there was this part of Catra that never imagined, that this God-like figure can do something like that. Maybe she wanted to deal with her problems herself, but eventually got too far? Or she needed something better in this life? Or... Or...

It didn't matter- in the end the results were out and now they had to deal with the aftermath of their ignorance. Because the problem has been there all this time, right in front of their eyes; under the bed Catra even slept on. And they never suspected a thing. Not until now.

Bow, Glimmer, Scorpia and Perfume were waiting for her at the Meeting room (the old war room). When she entered like a storm through the door they all jumped at their places, but didn't say a thing; not until Catra almost threw the box at the table, before crashing down on her seat. 
"What happened?" she heard Bow's voice echoing in the distance.

Catra drew a breath, hitched and sound, until she finally answered "It's nothing like what we thought. Worse. Way, way worse..."

She heard the sound of the metal box squeaking.

"What are those?" Glimmer whispered, but Catra felt like she didn't have the power to answer, so she just let Scorpia explain.

"From the Horde. I have never seen them myself, but know soldier who took them."

"Alright", Bow said. "But what are they exactly?"

"Sedatives", Catra answered in a low voice. "Powerful pain killers, strong enough to numb any pain. Most of the time they used to be given to...dying soldiers."

There was some shifting around, then she heard Bow mumble something,pocking sounds, and finally: 

"What do they have to do with Adora..."
"She has been taking them! For months!" Catra yelled with the top of her lungs, slamming her hands hardly at the table. The others just stood there like statues, not understanding the true weight of the orange syringes, No stunning surprise. No frozen wide eyes. So Catra started explaining- from Adora's lack of sleep few months ago and then the so sudden change in mood and sleep pattern. From the many moments her girlfriend looked emotionless with empty eyes, possibly high on drugs. And suddenly everything started making so much sense, that enraged Catra even further. How did they not seen anything sooner? How did Catra now figured out Adora's state of mind upon their fight over... What? They had an argument over something so stupid, or Catra was hurting in that moment so much, that she generally couldn't remember why the argued. But there was no time for that. The very least not right now.

"And by this point Adora has been high for months and has no idea how to stop it; and we never saw it; and she is scared of having headaches again; and we don't know to help her and..."

Her words were spilling out of her mouth without her even registering. It was when Bow put his heavy hand on her back, that Catra actually took a deep breath and slowly started coming back to her senses. Her shirt was soaking wet from sweat and her vision had started getting blur.

"Breathe, Catra. It's alright," she heard Perfuma's voice coming from somewhere around her.

"No, it's not. We have to... We..." she tried to tell them, but she was unable to inhale properly. Why was she doing that? Adora was the one with the problems now. Not Catra. 

"We will do whatever it takes to help Adora," Glimmer said, while rubbing her back. "But you need to calm down first. Breath in and out."

Catra tried. She really did.  Her breaths were coming in gasps and she felt like she was going black out. Her heart was hammering inside her chest like it belonged to one of the orphans in the Horde. 

"What if we are too late?" Catra finally asked. From across the room Scorpia slowly nodded her head in agreement. They both knew what those syringes meant. They both had seen Horde soldier slowly disappear after taking them for too long. Those stuff are way too messed up and was there really a way to turn back time? 

"No," it was Bow's voice this time. "Everyone makes mistakes. Adora has made a mistake, but we are her friends and we are here to help her deal with those problems. It won't be easy, but everything is fixable." 

"But we don't know how exactly to help her." Catra whispered back. "What are you going to do? Go tell her you are there for her? It won't work that time, because fun fact- we were by her side while she was taking! We need someone who has been there and knows exactly what to do and how to act."

Second of silence. Then another. Then another. And then Glimmer finally spoke:

"We may not know what exactly Adora is going through or how to help. But Netossa will."