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The Princess Prom turned out to be just as stressful as Adora had thought it would be.
She had tried to keep her worries to herself, knowing how excited Glimmer and Bow were for the ball, and for her to experience her first proper party, but her friends were nothing if not perceptive of her feelings, and did their best to help her through the necessary preparations. How to enter the hall, how to approach the host, how to greet the host, how to walk away without causing offence, even rules for dancing and eating: it was all too much, in Adora’s opinion. The Horde had taught her subordination and to respect her superiors until she outranked them, and that had always seemed clear and simple in her mind. The exact purpose of the intricacies of high Etherian society were completely lost on her.
So she planned for the ball the only way she knew how, like it was a battle where any wrong moves could cost her her life. She found comfort in knowledge and planning for every eventuality, which helped ease her mind a little. Soon after, Glimmer had charged into her room and picked out her dress, pinning her hair and applying makeup. When she was done, Adora had taken a few minutes to just gaze at herself in the mirror.
Personal appearance was not important in the Horde. Everyone wore the same uniform and was expected to keep clean and tidy, but beyond that, vanity was shunned. Adora had never seen herself in anything but her uniform, her hair pulled back and her face bare, leaving her with a very average impression of her looks. But now, she beamed at herself. The red dress showed off her muscular arms and toned calves, and was made of the softest material she’d ever felt. Glimmer had loosely curled her ponytail, and her makeup was natural, earthy colours highlighting her eyes. She looked beautiful, and she felt it too. She was aware of the stares she attracted as She-Ra, many of them lingering for longer than was polite, but she was also aware that She-Ra’s form was not entirely hers. The height, the muscles and the hair were enhanced versions of her own body, but only with the magic from the Sword of Protection. Now though, she felt beautiful as Adora, not just as She-Ra.
She had ridden on that high all the way to the ball only for it to slowly crash around her. Frosta was cold and distant, refusing to join the Alliance, Glimmer and Bow were having best friend issues she decided to stay well clear of, causing the former’s mood to be low the whole night, and then Catra had walked in on the arm of a Horde Force Captain.
Catra had led her in circles, grinning and teasing as Adora followed her around the ballroom. She knew that Catra wasn’t stupid, and neither was she, that this was exactly what Catra wanted her to do and that she was playing directly into her hands, but she couldn’t stop. Every sharp-toothed smirk, piercing laugh and raised eyebrow when her friend caught her staring directly at her enticed the blonde. The form-fitting maroon suit she wore made Adora’s mouth go dry, offsetting her wild and uncombed hair. Everything about Catra screamed DANGER in big red letters, but she had never wanted to run to her friend more.
Being away from her only highlighted how much she missed her after growing up together, being with each other every single day for years on end. She loved her new friends, but they just didn’t, couldn’t, understand her like Catra did. She missed sparring with her, escaping the barracks at night to explore, lying around on afternoons when there was nothing to do and just being. And if in the past few years, as they moved towards the later years of their teens, their touches had became more frequent and lasted for longer, and their shared glances had become less subtle and full of an emotion neither dared to name, Adora would admit she missed that too. She longed to look Catra in the eyes again with no animosity between them and to lead her away from the Horde hand in hand. A traitorous, cowardly part of her wanted to escape the whole war between the Horde and the Rebellion, and find a place just for them, where they could be happy.
She wasn’t enough of a fool to believe it could really happen as simply as that.
“It is my solemn duty as hostess to now announce,” Adora was broken from her thoughts at the sound of Frosta’s voice and the sudden dimming of the lights. “It is time for the first dance of the ball.”
She found herself swept up in the crowd of girls and women flooding to the ballroom floor, and in a moment of panic she tried desperately to remember the dance steps she had so meticulously learned. Now wasn’t the time for her… embarrassing and complicated feelings about Catra to compromise her dignity as a princess!
The world, unfortunately, had other plans. As couples paired off for the dance, she looked around frantically and couldn’t find Glimmer, or even Bow or Perfuma among the couples. What she did find was Catra walking towards her, fangs bared in a mischievous smile and her hand outstretched as the music began to play around them. Her heart hammered in her chest as she gave one last look for her friends.
“Don’t leave me waiting, princess,” Catra smirked, wiggling her fingers lightly. “It’s against the rules to turn down a partner once the music has started.”
Adora sighed, watching her friend’s face light up with amusement as she resigned herself and took her hand, ignoring the way her heart fluttered at the light contact. Of course Catra read the rule list as thoroughly as Adora herself had: it wasn’t a bad plan to trap her, but it also allowed her to keep her own eyes on Catra.
The dance was simple enough, really, and Adora did know all of the steps. She just found them increasingly difficult to remember everytime the smaller girl took her hands or slid her strong arms around her waist. Catra didn’t miss a beat, and she knew she was relishing having the upper hand for once. At least she wasn’t making a fool of herself, the steps coming naturally after having practised them so much, and her expression tempered and neutral despite the heat she could feel in her cheeks.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m having a blast at this party.” Catra grinned as they circled each other, joined by their hands. Adora’s face pinched indignantly at her feigned innocence.
“Whatever you’re planning, it won’t work.” she shot back, meeting her eyes dead on. Catra’s lips twisted into a dry smile at her determination. Adora knew her too well than to be fooled when she was lying, after all. But it was so easy to get rises out of her, and she was ever so cute when riled up.
“You sure?” she laughed as they spun away to different partners, voice echoing in Adora’s ears.
Her dance cycle to Glimmer, and then Perfuma, then back to Glimmer went by in a flash, but it struck her with fear. Scorpia and Bow were nowhere to be found while Catra kept her busy in the middle of the ballroom. It would be of the utmost disrespect to the host (not to mention, against the rules) for Adora to abandon the dance halfway through and run off in search of her friend. She tried to tell herself that it was a coincidence. Bow had probably just gotten caught up talking to some of the new friends he’d made tonight, and Scorpia was a princess, surely she would be dancing somewhere among the crowd? But the glint in Catra’s eyes as they spun back towards each other told her differently. She steeled herself, feeling guilty over her anticipation at feeling Catra so near when Bow might be in danger because of her. He was a strong guy: she hoped he could hold his own for a little while longer.
Catra spun into her, back pressed against her front and their hands clasped over her left shoulder. Adora stilled for a second, trying to calm herself. Catra’s spicy scent was all around her and she wanted nothing more than to bury her face in her hair and hold her properly for as long as she wanted.
“Maybe my plan won’t work.” Catra said, face turning towards Adora’s, head leaned back on her shoulder. She met her eyes with a glare at the mention of what was endangering her friend.
“You better not hurt my friends, Catra,” she hissed as she turned in her arms, the two slow waltzing. “Where’s Bow?”
The other girls eyebrow raised in mock innocence at the question. “Who’s Bow? One of your precious new friends?”
Adora growled and tightened her grip on their hands. Through her anger, her traitorous pulse picked up. She hoped her blush wasn’t showing or else Catra would take her even less seriously than she already was. Something about the widening grin on her face didn’t reassure her. “Catra, I swear, if you harm him then I won’t let you get away with it. I don’t let anyone get away with hurting my friends.”
Adora felt the mood between them shift over those words. Catra’s face became darker and her mouth slackened in disbelief for the first time that night. As Adora prepared for the lift which was supposed to follow the waltz, she instead barely suppressed a surprised gasp as Catra grabbed her by the waist and dipped her.
The low lights of the ballroom blocked out the other dancers. In the middle of the crowded room, there was only Catra and her, staring into the others eyes with a mutually understood desperation. Time seemed to stop, the background music and chatter faded away. Adora could only feel her friend’s hands cradling her back and waist, claws brushing exposed skin on her shoulder, grounding her in the moment and making her feel whole. Adora’s own hands gripped the fabric of her suit, surely wrinkling the fabric, but that didn’t matter. Just as Catra’s hands grounded her, she could feel her friend trembling slightly underneath her grasp, and was sure her hands did the same.
Catra swallowed before she spoke, voice low and bright eyes boring into Adora’s. “I guess you only let people get away with hurting me, right?” she said, her eyebrows furrowing and her voice cracking, just for a second. “And maybe my plan already has worked.”
“Catra…” Adora started, heart thudding in her chest as her words ran through her mind. Is that how she’d felt all this time? She talked as though she was unimportant to Adora, when it was the exact opposite. Even despite her remaining loyal to the Horde, Catra was the most important person to her, the one who she wanted to protect, the one who she loved. “That’s not true, I…”
Almost without thinking, her grip tightened on Catra’s jacket, and she pulled her down, closer to her. Adora’s eyes slipped closed as Catra’s widened, and she felt clawed hands start to push her up to meet her halfway. Their noses brushed lightly and they paused, just for a second, before Adora felt Catra’s lips against her own.
It was soft and chaste, filled with the unsurety of two girls sharing their first kisses, but also with years worth of affection and trust. Adora could feel one of Catra’s hands sliding up her back, coming to support the back of her head. She gasped as it grasped her ponytail and pulled, not harshly, tilting her head back.
The first kiss had been for the friends, for the little girls who grew into strong women who protected and loved each other. The second kiss was for the enemies they had become. Teeth and tongue, biting and rough. For the betrayal they both felt echoing inside them. For the pain they had each caused the other and were undoubtedly still to cause.
When they pulled apart they were both breathless, opening their eyes to mirrored expressions of disbelief. Around them, couples continued to dance, although they had attracted many stares and hushed whispers. Adora let herself be pulled from the dip and spun out, the two rejoining the dance as casually as possible, not quite able to look the other in the eye. Where did they go from here?
“Catra,” Adora pleaded. “Come with me. You don’t have to stay and be the puppet of the Horde. We can fight them - together.”
Catra refused to look at her. “I can’t, Adora. You abandoned me, and for what? Glory? A shiny sword which makes you tall and sparkly?” she shook her head with a dark laugh, meeting her eyes at last. They were hollow, and dim of their usual glow. “I’ve always lived in your shadow, never able to prove myself. This is my chance. I won’t be second best to you anymore.”
With one final spin she was gone, leaving Adora alone as the music ended.
She trembled as she thought of everything that had just happened, trying to wrap her head around any of it. All she could do was press her fingertips to her lips, still tingling from the kisses and bite of Catra’s teeth. Her evidence that their relationship was no longer simple, that perhaps it never had been simple, but that there was still hope. She loved Catra, and she felt confident enough to say that maybe Catra loved her too. The lingering feeling in her lips felt like a promise that she wouldn’t give up on her. That she couldn’t. That one day she would join Adora’s side in the Rebellion.
And as she later watched Catra escape with Bow and Glimmer held captive on her ship, if it broke her heart to think how far away that day was, at least she had the memories of tonight to give her hope.