That evening was a feast, an enormous event that spilled from the gates of Bright Moon Castle and into its well-kept, grassy campus. Queen Glimmer declared it an official holiday about an hour in, adding she would "name it later." There were thousands of guests to attend to, and all of them were wrapped up with a frenetic energy, bursting into song and dance and then settling into contemplative peace in a chaotic tango. Tomorrow would come tomorrow; today they would celebrate.

In the great marble halls of Bright Moon Castle, among the swirling crowds, Adora and Catra danced. Lost in one another, drunk on victory, immune to the subtle glances from strangers, remaining silent and near one another, they danced as the evening crawled by. Tomorrow would come tomorrow.

Seconds stretch out as Adora's grip on the cliffside loosens. In the time it takes for her to inhale as though to speak, her eyes widen, her mouth opens, and her fingers fall from the stone one by one. In her expression, there is nothing but terror, and as her pale face disappears into the darkness below, her words, whatever they may have been, are swallowed. Above, Catra stands at her full height and feels a smile creep across her face.

But it's not right. Suddenly, a sharp coldness pierces her diaphragm. The sensation spreads through her in a wave and then disperses, leaving behind only a gaping hollowness.

For a moment, the moonlight blinded her, and she raised her arms over her face defensively. Then, she recalled where she was. Over the past few days, she'd been awoken several times by her dreams, something that had never happened before. Frankly, it was getting on her nerves.

She rose to a sitting position, looking around the room. It was vast and dark and empty. Feathers from the ruined bed were scattered across the white and violet tiles - it was too soft to sleep in, and it turned out to be fragile as well. Just like everything around here, fragile and soft. She finally fell asleep in the corner on the floor, probably a few hours ago. But she couldn't tell.

She brought her knees to her chest and sighed, a long, calming sort of sigh, but it didn't work. She'd never once slept alone. It made her nervous. And that wasn't all; the fragments of the dream, although mostly forgotten, upset her stomach. Ever since the sparkly one - Glimmer - led her to her own room the night before, she'd felt something gnawing at her, a faint hint of that frustration that had been driving her for years.

She closed her eyes and pushed away the desire to break something. She'd figured when she woke up everything would be more clear - at least, it wouldn't be as lightheaded and dreamlike as the day before. But, for now, it seemed to be more of the same, and it was beginning to wear on her.

Moments later, she'd opened the door and had begun making her way silently through the wide, decorated halls, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. "Why is it so cold in the magical castle?" she muttered, scowling at the cold, scowling at herself. "Waste of time. You should just grin and bear it. You're gonna wake her up."

It took her a bit of wandering, but, if her memory was correct, she'd found Adora's room.

She froze as soon as she reached out for the door, suddenly overwhelmed with apprehension. "Waste of time," she muttered again, feeling her face grow warm, and knocked.

A few seconds passed as Catra was carried away again by her thoughts. They were half-formed, more felt than reasoned. Then, the door opened. Lit from behind with the cool bluish light of the glowstones, Adora stood, staring. For a moment, it seemed like she was going to speak, but she said nothing.

The memory of her dream ran through Catra, and she shuddered. "... Did I wake you?"

Adora shook her head, still silent.

"I can't sleep," Catra offered, pulling her blanket tighter around herself. "These rooms are too empty."

"You too, huh?" Adora replied lowly, offering a hand.

Catra hesitated, then took it carefully, and Adora led her into the room, the door closing slowly behind her. For a moment, Catra looked away and grabbed her wrist, aware of the implications. She glanced back, hesitated again, and decided against addressing those implications at all. But she smirked when she saw Adora still had that perfect little tuft of hair on top of her head, though it must have been well after midnight. "You put your hair up just for me?"

Adora laughed, took her by the shoulder, placed a hand on her cheek, and drew her into a kiss. It was the first time since the day before. Finally, proof that it wasn't just a rogue daydream. She melted into it, and it was suddenly as though all of her apprehension was somewhere in the distant past, irrelevant to here and now and her and them.

She awoke with a gasp. The memories of the dream immediately faded, but she felt her claws digging into flesh for half a second before they did. Instinctually, she checked the corners of the room, which was now lit by the soft light of just before sunrise. She closed her eyes for a moment to steady herself, turning towards the window. Adora was beside her, sharing her covers.

A pang rushed through her. She reached out cautiously to touch her bare shoulder, stopping just before she did. It seemed almost too good to be true, and if something seems that way, it usually is. She sat up and rubbed her face.

Then, the bed stirred. She swallowed the instinct to hop away as Adora sat up behind her. "Catra?"

"It's nothing."

"I didn't even ask what's wrong yet." She moved a little closer and Catra felt a warm hand on her shoulder. "But I'm going to."

"Like I said, it's nothing." She pulled her knees to her chest again and turned a little. Adora obviously wasn't buying it. She huffed. "I don't know."

"Tell me."

Catra clenched her teeth, and the impulse to snap at her went away. It was replaced by a sudden, torrential welling of unclear emotions. "I don't want to make a mistake," she said. It spilled out of her mouth like a confession. "I've made so many."

In the quiet, cool light, Adora frowned, that earnest expression of worry that Catra had come to hate.

"Don't look at me like that," she murmured. "I just - I know I've hurt a lot of people. I've hurt you," she added, the phrase caught in her throat. Her eyes began to burn. "What if this just helps that keep happening? What if… us, together… what if it just hurts you more? Because it's me, Adora. If I'm around, I'm sure I'm going to ruin someone's day." She rubbed her eyes and wrapped her tail around herself, wanting for a moment to shrink away to nothing.

"Catra -"

"How is anyone ever supposed to get over everything I did and get used to me?" She paused, putting her head on her knees. "Maybe I should just go."

Adora sighed. "Look," she said, taking Catra by the shoulders and turning her around to face her. "Do you have any idea how long I waited for you to even start asking questions like that? Do you know what it means?" She moved a little closer. "It means you care."

Catra frowned, looking away. "Keep it to yourself."

"Point is, as long as you care… I can work with that." She put a gentle hand on Catra's cheek and guided her back to eye contact. "Maybe no one else will care back. Or maybe it'll take them a while. But I'll always be here." She smiled. "It would be nice if you were always here, too."

At that smile, something broke in Catra. There was no energy left to be angry. She felt the tears falling, and as soon as she did, wrapped Adora into a deep embrace. "I almost killed you…" she managed. "You almost died. I don't know what I would have done."

"Well, you didn't."

"That's not the point!" she yelped, pulling away. "The point is that I meant to do it! And… and I can't believe I meant to do it."

"It's because we didn't realize sooner," Adora replied, her voice low. "If we did… maybe none of this would have happened." She shook her head. "But thinking about that now won't change anything."

"Be honest," Catra hissed. The tears wouldn't stop now. Some dam, somewhere in her mind, had broken open. "It's me who needed to realize. You think that if you hit me with an 'I love you' six months ago that I would have dropped everything and changed?"

Adora paused. "It could have helped."

Catra couldn't help but laugh. "You idiot," she sighed. "You -"

She was cut off by a kiss, this one far more gentle and pointed than any of the others. Once again, she found herself lost in it. A warmth ran through her as she felt Adora's hand move to her neck. "I can say it now, can't I?" Adora nearly whispered. "I love you."

"Alright, okay," Catra stammered, drying her cheeks. "Sap. You better not tell anyone about this," she added, tapping a claw against Adora's forehead.

"Your secrets are safe with me." Adora stretched a little and lay back down. "I want to talk like this with you more."

Catra followed, resting against the few pillows that remained on the bed. "Don't count on it." She took a deep breath, in, out, and let the tension leave. She'd been learning that breathing helped. But there were still fragments of dreams nagging at her, and she stared up at the tall, dark ceiling, her thoughts churning in her mind. She felt Adora embrace her from behind, and momentarily sunk into it. Then she bristled. "Hey," she cried, perking up, "in what universe are you the big spoon?"

Adora snorted and turned onto her other side. "We'll come up with a schedule."

"You wish." She pulled Adora tightly to her, settling her head carefully down against the back of her neck. Gradually, she felt their breathing sync as the sun began to rise. Just before she drifted off, she pressed her forehead against Adora. "I love you too," she whispered.

For the rest of the night, she dreamed of dancing.

The door slammed open.

"Everyone gets Continue-the-Party Pancakes! Glimmer said she couldn't think of a P-word for 'continue.' Adora, do -"

Catra sat bolt upright. Adora did, too, yanking the covers up around both of them. "Bow!" she shouted. "Knock!"

Catra's eyes focused just enough to see the boy - Bow, as she was reminded - holding a platter full of colorful pancakes and blushing red as a tomato. "No pancakes! I lied!" he cried, turning and leaving and slamming the door behind him. There was the sound of a plate smashing against the ground and a groan.

Catra sat stock-still for a moment. "Does he do that often?"

Adora covered her face and fell back onto the pillows with an exhausted sigh. "No. Two or three times. He's excitable." She sat up, pushed her hair back, and slid out of the broad circular bed. "I guess we should head down there and see what the fuss is about. Sounds like breakfast is over."

Catra turned slightly. "So pancakes… is a food."

"You are going to be pleasantly surprised," Adora returned with a grin. "Oh, and I should get your clothes from your room. Hold on," she added, hurriedly pulling on a boot.

In a moment, the door shut and Catra was briefly alone again. Everything had started happening so quickly. Some part of her wanted to go back to the night before and stay there forever.

After a quick shower, they dressed and headed down to the Banquet Hall together, looking around for any familiar faces. They passed guards, some still half-asleep from the party, and janitorial staff, most still cleaning up from the party. As they walked, Adora sidled up alongside Catra, mischief written clearly on her face. "Wanna hold hands?"

Catra scowled. "Adora."

"What?" She reached out a little, wiggling her fingers. "Would you be embarrassed?"

"If I have to go soft, I want to do it at my pace."

"I'm going to have you holding my hand by the end of the week. It's on the itinerary." She shot her a smug smirk as they found the stairs down to the Banquet Hall. Near the head of the table, across from two set places, were Glimmer, the sparkly one, and Bow, who must be some sort of boy Princess. This was unclear. They leaned forwards on the table almost in sync and stared, dopey smiles plastered across their faces. Otherwise, the room was empty, which was somewhat disquieting.

She glanced over at Adora as they took their seats, and saw with a measure of relief that she was flushed as well. She stared back at the two, narrowing her eyes. "And what does the Nerd Patrol want?"

The two looked at one another. "Nothing," Glimmer said.

As a small team of servers arrived from a nearby door with two stacks of backup pancakes, Adora put a hand on her forehead. "You haven't been spreading rumors, have you?"

"Ohh!" Glimmer cried, clenching her little fists and teleporting behind them. Catra remembered that well. "Everyone was trying to decide what was up with you two all day yesterday! Just tell us! Just confirm it!"

"I didn't say anything! Also, it was an accident and I promise to never do it again," Bow interjected, chuckling nervously.

"The dancing and the touching, and now -" she dropped her voice to a stage whisper "- you're sleeping in the same bed , and I saw you blushing! "

Adora looked down at the stack of pancakes. "Glimmer, this was, like, really sudden and really, really personal, and I don't know if we necessarily want to get into details right now…"

Listening to Adora start to prattle made hairs stand up on the back of Catra's neck. She folded her legs and picked up a fork. "Yeah, we're dating. Or whatever." She tore off a chunk of pancake and tried it. "Wow, this is good. It's fluffy."

She was interrupted by a sudden shriek and gasped, sending the pancake right to her windpipe. Glimmer grabbed her and Adora by the necks and pulled them into a hug, which did not help. "I can't believe it! Honestly, I sort of can't. How long has this been going on?" She gasped. "What happened beneath the Heart of Etheria?"

Catra felt Adora whack her square in the middle of the back, which cleared her throat. "I don't know why you're making such a big deal out of it," Adora grumbled. "I sort of wanted to take it slow. You know… understated?"

"Hand-holdy," Catra coughed, wiping her mouth. "I take it you're embarrassed?" she added with a sly smile.

"Well… not really. Just imagined it differently," Adora replied, offering her hand. Catra frowned and folded her arms. That would've worked usually.

In the meantime, Glimmer had sunk to her knees next to Adora's armrest. "Of course. Understated. My bad. That explains all the… not telling me and Bow." She leaped to embrace Adora again, which Catra watched with measured disdain. "I'm just so happy for you! You and Catra," she added, looking up at Catra with that same maddeningly earnest expression that Adora had perfected.

Catra felt heat rise to her cheeks and turned back to her plate to demolish another pancake. "I assume we're done with this subject," she managed with her mouth full, peering at Glimmer.

"Where's everyone else?" Adora asked quickly. "I guess they all got breakfast in their rooms, huh."

"They're around somewhere," Bow replied. "There's a meeting at noon so we can talk about this weekend. So at least I hope they're still around somewhere."

Adora blinked. "Did I miss a memo? This weekend?"

"I could have sworn I told you yesterday." Glimmer reappeared in her chair. "That's when Entrapta says she can have the spaceship up and running."

"Oh, the next mission! I completely forgot. But that's only four or five days away."

"Five," Bow clarified.

Catra put down her dish, licked clean. "What's going on? I feel like this is going to somehow involve me."

They turned to her all at once, as though shocked she didn't recall. "Our next mission," Adora said. "You know, bring magic back to all the planets."

"Right, we talked about this yesterday… this weekend, huh?" Catra felt herself blanch. That was soon - far too soon. For a moment, it seemed as though she would have the opportunity to fall into a rhythm with Adora, something that she hadn't experienced in what felt like decades. But there was no talking Adora out of whatever she committed herself to… unfortunately. Catra sighed. "I guess I'm a member of the Nerd Patrol too now."

Bow stood to strike a pose, and Catra preemptively rolled her eyes. "We prefer to be called the Best Friend Squad," he announced.

"... Cool," Catra jibed. Then, she allowed herself a small smile. Hopefully this chipper, do-gooder nonsense wasn't contagious.