Momento

In her life Netossa had the moment.

And for years that's how she referred to this certain point of time. She didn't remember it very well- it was as if someone had opened her brain and cut her memories. Maybe once or twice per year, seconds before falling deeply asleep, she would remember. The dizziness, the feeling of weightlessness and unnecessary distractions fade into the nothingness. But somewhere in the background of all of this... smell of vomit, sound of crying, screams around and around. And a certain blue-eyed non-elemental princess, looking down at her not with pity but desire to help her.

It has been years and, unknown to the public eye, Netossa almost relapsed once. Almost. But Spinnerella, her Spinny, was there to pour some rationality in her head and to stop her from ruining her life. She forgot about it eventually, married the love of her life, took part in the both the original and new Princess alliance, almost lost her wife to the shared mind of an extraterrestrial being, celebrated the victory with everyone else and then when with her normal life once again. And never looked back at the time when she was depended on certain substances to keep her up. 

So when Queen Glimmer told her about Adora, Netossa's heart broke. She didn't show any emotion, just nodded her head upon the queen's explanation. But her stomach rumbled. Her heart sunk. There was even bile against her throat. Adora, their hero, the girl that carried the world on her arms, was gone. Instead there was a... something. Because once you get depended on substances, once nothing else sparks happiness, then you are no longer you. You are nobody. And Adora should never be nobody. 

'Don't vomit. Don't.' Netossa mentally reminded herself. 

"You have been there." Glimmer told her. "Can you help us?"

Without a second doubt Netossa agreed. And so did Spinnerella. Netossa secretly didn't wanted her wife to be that for that. Because seeing Adora at the condition she was supposed to be now meant seeing what Spinny saw all this years ago. But on the other hand there was Catra. At first Netossa brew deep hate for the feline- enough to be okay with smacking her with something heavy on the head. But Catra changed, just like Netossa changed once, so today she was her friend. And Spinny coming meant Catra having a supporting shoulder, because having to watch your loved one slowly melt out of existence was as scary as being exposed to it first hand.

When they arrived at Bright Moon, Netossa immediately felt chills on her back. The place was quit and somber, even cold. All of the colors looked desaturated, everything felt blank. Bow and Catra were waiting at the old war room, siting in silence. First thing that  happened when they entered, was for Spinnerella to let go of Netossa's hand and to sit beside Catra, whispering something to her ear, to which the feline answered with a nod. Spinny slowly put her hand on her back and started messaging it.

"Thank you guys for coming." Bow said quietly. "Netossa, we know that this won't be easy for you. We just don't know who else to call."

"It's alright. I am here for you all." she answered back with a slightly forced smile and turned toward Catra. "But so you know- it won't be easy. And not a nice picture."

"I don't care." Catra whispered and then swallowed hardly. "I just want her to be fine. No matter what."

"Well first things first, we will need to get her clean.  When was the last time she took any of those... painkiller?"

"Yesterday." Catra said, to which Bow made a strange groan beside them. "We took them all. She is sleeping right now. Perfuma and Scorpia are with her."

"Alright. So you all know, detoxing from substances results in various withdraw symptoms. We will have to monitor her all the time, because symptoms may be even life-threatening." 

To those words Catra suddenly scratched the table, resulting in all eyes on her. 

"Sorry." she whispered, but clearly didn't care. Which was normal.

'Did Spinny acted the same way when I was like that?' Netossa thought to herself, before turning to Glimmer.

"We will need bismuth subsalicylate for her stomach cramps and any medication for... diarrhea. She will also most likely vomit, a lot. Can you get any of the healers ready in case we need them?"

Glimmer nodded. "Of course."

"Perfect. I will go and check on Adora now. You guys stay in here for now. Spinny would like to tell you something, right?"

They have been married for a few years now, but dated long before that. And now they were to a point, where Netossa felt like they read each other's mind. Because Spinny immediately agreed and smiled faintly at them. So Netossa left them to talk and cry out all of their feelings as deep down she knew that that was on it's way. There were hard times coming where everyone was going to be infected in different way. Pain, both physical and emotional. Adora was going to suffer the consequences of her doings, Catra was going to have to go through the harsh reality of watching her love go through hell. Glimmer and Bow- they would be burdened with the need to look stronger than Catra and be there for her, but most likely will feel the same emotional hole. 

As said Scorpia and Perfuma were keeping Adora company, not that the blond knew. She was knocked out on her bed, curled up in her blanket. 

"Oh, hey Netossa." Scorpia said slightly louder, to which Perfuma alarmingly put her hand on Scorpia's leg.

"It's alright. She won't wake up that easily." Netossa said, throwing the sleeping Adora one more look. "We will start her detox immediately and will need to supervise her the whole time. It won't be a pretty sign, so I will completely understand if you don't want to stay around guys."

"Is she going to be in pain?" Scorpia asked in her innocent voice. Sometimes Netossa even questioned how such a child-like person could have ever been part of the Horde.

"Yes." 

There was no point in lying. Silently Netossa watched as Perfuma and Scorpia shared a look and Scorpia whispering:

"I want to stay."

"So do I."

To be honest, if Netossa called anybody right now, like anyone, they would come. Because Adora deserved it. She deserved the biggest support system in existence. That made Netossa question Adora's action. If she would have just told somebody about what she was going through, than maybe, just maybe, non of this was going to happen. Adora, Adora... When was she going to learn, that she was loved?

"What went through your beautiful head, sweety? Netossa whispered after Scorpia and Perfuma left, while stroking Adora's hair. "It's alright now. We got you."

Later that night they decided on their plan. The ideas was to have no more than 3 people in the room, so it won't get too crowded when the ugly part begins. Even during night they were going to take shifts in staying awake, so that if Adora was to vomit, there would be someone to stop her from chocking on it. Netossa was going to be with Adora all the time and Spinnerella was going to be with the others, so she could support them. 

For tonight the squad was going to be Netossa, Catra and Scorpia. It wasn't much of a choice though- as much as she loved Adora, Glimmer still had queen duties that she couldn't just forget. Bow was still too emotional, so both Spinnerella and Perfuma decided to work with him. 

They got ready- medicine, pillows, blankets, water, food, towels. Adora slept the entire day, which scared Netossa a couple of times, but upon examining, she found nothing wrong with the blonde. Now, as her shift was starting, she once again checked Adora for fever, swellings, if her airways were clean and if she had... pissed herself or something else. It was the harsh reality. For now there was nothing to clean, but there was going to be at some point. The opioids Adora used were longer-active, therefore the withdraw symptoms should start in 2-3 days and last for 10-14 days. It was going to be incredibly hard, but they had to do it. For their friend.

Catra found the the darkest corner of the room and dragged her pillow bed there, before hugging her alien friend Melog and starring into the wall across the room. Scorpia on the other hand slept right under one of the lamps (she said it had to do something with her life in the Horde, where the lamp meant that they need to get up immediately). 

It was maybe 30 minutes after Scorpia fell asleep, that Catra silently asked:

"She will be alright, right?"

"It will take time, but things will get better. I promise you."

But Netossa had no right to promise such a thing. That was going to be Adora's fight, not hers.

"You have been there? Glimmer told us..."

"I have." Netossa said, without looking at the feline. "But Spinnerella helped me out. It wasn't easy, but it was worthy."

"But why? Why do you start?"

Netossa froze for a second before fixing Adora's blanket and slowly walking toward Catra, before sitting down on the ground.

"It's different for everybody. I started after my Papa passed away. I was young and angry, because he had promised to be a grandfather to my children one day. I lacked hope that I will be happy again. I was so miserable, that it started effecting me physically- chest pains, shortness of breath, problem sleeping. So I started, in order to escape those thoughts. And without knowing, I got addicted. The stuff I took provided me with some semblance of what life was once like before the pain."

"But you got better?"

Netossa nodded with a soft smile.

"She did, yes. It was ugly and emotional and fulfilling. She got me out of there. I started a new life. Here," she pointed at her pink necklace "Spinny gave it to me after getting cleaned. It was supposed to represent the start of my new life. My momento."

Netossa allowed herself a moment of silence, before staring at Catra's eyes.

"I know you love her the same way I love Spinnerella. And I know that what is coming will be hard. And certainly not pleasing. But we are also here for you, okay? Every feeling right now is completely normal. If you need to, cry it out."

"I..." Catra chocked and her eyes started feeling with tears. "I..."

"Oh, sweetheart..." Netossa moved, hugging Catra into a tide embrace. Surprisingly Catra didn't fight it, instead clinging into Netossa's shirt. And she cried for some time. Rough and painful tears, full with regret. Netossa allowed a few tears on her own. Let them be. Cry now, because tomorrow the hard work begins. For their friend. For Adora.