Title: The First Kiss

Pairing: Adora/Glimmer, Adora/Casta, Adora/Mermista

Archive: If you're so inclined. Just let me know where it goes.

Summary: Adora shares kisses with various lovers over the course of the war.

The first kiss Adora gives to Glimmer is one of an optimistic former force captain, who is certain that her newfound powers will help lead the Great Rebellion to victory. It's a gentle kiss, between a woman raised to be a fighter all her life and a virginal princess, neither of whom have ever had an occasion to indulge romantic whims with anyone else. Adora's lips taste of freshly picked berries plucked from the bushes of Whispering Wood, and Glimmer's lips taste of the sweetest wine Brightmoon could produce.

The first kiss Adora gives to Castaspella is one born out of yet another bitterly disappointing end to a battle the Rebellion should have won. It's a kiss between a knowing older monarch and a frustrated young general, both of whom are closer to admitting they are fighting a losing war than they ever have been before. There's not a hint of pause, prelude, or foreplay to the sex that follows the hasty lip lock, and the two lie on Casta's elegant golden sheets only long enough for both physical yearnings to be sated.

The fist kiss Adora gives Mermista is one of regret for the toll the war has taken. It's not at all a kiss between equals. Adora has grown hard and embittered that the war they should have won long ago drags on, her heart saddened and angered by all the casualties they have suffered. Mermista's underwater home is comparatively unaffected by the Horde, and she maintains an innocence that Adora can only hunger for, and wonder if she would still possess herself, had Eternia's guards been better capable of guarding their infant children. Mermista's lips taste of the salt of her homeland, and each further taste deepens Adora's thirst.

The first kiss Adora gives to Glimmer after the war is also to be the last one they will ever share. It is a kiss between princesses, both of whom have duties to attend to now that their warrior duties have been fulfilled. There are families to begin, lineages to continue, and homes to return to, and neither are selfish enough to declare their own urges to be more important than the needs of their kingdoms. But the duties are put on hold for one sweet, precious last hour, in which the kisses give way to a fuller celebration of all they had shared as friends, warriors, and lovers.