Chapter Text
A young Adora, about 7 years old, wandered the Fright Zone hallways. She had just finished her weekly meeting with Shadow Weaver, and everything felt wrong. Her mind was fuzzy, she barely recognized her own feet stepping in front of her. Adora didn’t remember anything of the meeting, she remembered sitting down, Shadow Weaver’s glaring eyes on her, and then Shadow Weaver ushering her out, an hour later. She didn’t really want to know what happened in the gap of time, and she certainly didn’t want to know why she suddenly had new bruises covering her body. Adora had made it back to the barracks faster than she realized, and now she was standing in front of Catra, who wore a concerned expression on her face. “Your meeting went 30 minutes overtime,” Catra’s eyes grazed down Adora’s body, noticing her wrinkled clothes. “What happened?” Adora shook her head, “Nothing happened, I had my meeting, and Shadow Weaver wanted me to train a bit.” It sounded like something Shadow Weaver would do, but Adora didn’t know. Her brain still felt fuzzy as she tried to remember her meeting. Something flashed in Catra’s eyes, “You look kinda sick, are you sure you’re ok?” Adora suddenly felt a rush of nausea, hadn’t she just felt fine? Her vision swam as she shook her head, “I’m fine, just a bit tired.”
Adora sat at the castle balcony, watching the stars. She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. “It’s ok, it’s just me,” Adora turned to meet Catra’s eyes. Catra’s eyebrows furrowed, when she noticed Adora’s frown. “Are you ok?” Adora nodded, “Yeah, I just-“ She paused, looking back at the sky, “I can’t believe that the war is over, that we’re here in Bright Moon, safe.” Catra hugged her from behind, resting her head on Adora’s shoulder, “We’re here Adora, safe, together,” Catra frowned when Adora didn’t answer. “Hey, Bow and Glimmer are in the kitchen. Best friend squad dinner?” “I’ll never get used to you being a part of the best friend squad,” Adora turned to her, smiling. Catra chuckled, “I guess your friends made me soft.” “Right,” Adora rolled her eyes. The two walked to the kitchen, hand in hand, meeting Bow and Glimmer.
Catra watched Adora sleep, watching her chest move up and down. Something was wrong. Catra wasn’t exactly sure what, Adora was Shadow Weaver’s favorite- she would never hurt her. At least, it didn’t seem like she would. There were a few times Catra watched Adora suffer Shadow Weaver’s wrath, but everyone got punished sometimes. Even Adora. But it still didn’t feel right. Dark bruises covered Adora’s wrists and neck, and Catra could see magic burns peeking under Adora’s shirt. Catra dismissed her thoughts, if something was going on with Adora she would have told her. They’re best friends, and best friends tell each other everything.
Adora sat at the table, pushing food around her plate, ignoring the uncomfortable squeaking of her fork hitting the plate. She wasn’t listening to the conversation, Bow and Glimmer were happily chatting, Catra occasionally spoke her thoughts, but seemed to be worried about Adora. Adora turned her head to her hand, which Melog sat licking worried. Adora wanted to look up, and tell Catra not to be worried, that she was perfectly fine. To be honest, she didn’t even know what was bothering her. Maybe it was a combination of things, maybe it was the fact they just finished a war, or maybe it was the things she was remembering? from her childhood. But that was silly, and she was just being over dramatic. Etheria was fine, she was fine.