Prologue

Stars didn't shine over the Fright Zone. For as many things that have changed for Catra and Adora since those days, one thing they never took into consideration was the possibility of being able to stare up at a starry night sky in Brightmoon. It wasn't as exciting as going for flights on Swift Wind's back and doing loopdy-loops. It wasn't quite as interesting as going to Madame Razz's for tea and pie. Sea Hawk wasn't here to set any ships on fire, and Glimmer and Bow weren't around to pick on for eating so much cake.

But alone together under the starry night sky, Adora and Catra took solace in their time together. They didn't need swords or staffs to have a good time, they were content just lying together and basking in the glory of the universe around them while appreciating one another's company.

One thing they could both agree on is that between the two, the universe was the second best part.

Adora is the first to wake up the next morning, the sounds of birds chirping and a whistling calm breeze creating the soundtrack to an already perfect day. One thing that's really changed since winning the war has been finding more time to relax, but with Catra's help, she's had a much easier time than anticipated in getting used to the finer things in life. Like laying on a hammock, just taking in a beautiful day with her cat girlfriend resting peacefully on her chest and purring all the while. She looks so beautiful even in her sleep, and Adora can't help but smile as she gently caresses her hand across the back of her head. That's when she notices the way she smiles too.

"You're not falling back asleep, are you?" she asks, inviting her to look up to her with those conversely gorgeous yellow and blue eyes of hers. Catra makes her wait a moment before doing so, meeting her with the same content smile as before.

"I don't need to. I've got everything I'd dream about right here," she answers.

On the inside, Adora feels her heart beat a little faster as butterflies flutter in her tummy. On the outside, her cheeks just pinken a little before she tells her, "Wow. That was really corny."

Catra just keeps smiling the same way Adora does though. "Eh, gotta keep you on your toes. Can't be mean to you all the time."

"Well I appreciate it," Adora simply says, those heterochromiac eyes compelling her to kiss her girlfriend's forehead. Catra doesn't seem to mind one bit, only bashfully looking back to her for a moment before nuzzling against her chest some more. They just lay like this for a little while, gracefully easing out of their sweetest dreams and into the waking world that awaits them. There's so many things they could do today, but they aren't in any hurry to let their time together be interrupted.

Catra eventually gets tired of the quiet though, choosing to share a thought of hers with her knight in shining sweatpants. "So Adora… Have you given any more thought to this road trip of yours?" she asks, again choosing to look up to her eyes. This time, Adora seems a little more apprehensive to accept them.

Her smile wanes as she considers how to respond, almost like she's nervous about how to answer. "I mean, there's some places I've thought about. I guess we just need to think about where the most important places to go are. Maybe ask Entrapta or Micah about some things. Figure it out from there…"

She meant to be more casual with her question, but judging from Adora's terrible acting, Catra knows something might be troubling her. Something that maybe she's even considered herself. She was always a fan of playing it cool and being subtle though, and that doesn't change even now that they're like… girlfriends, or whatever. So she just calmly sits herself up. "But what do you want?"

Adora can see that she isn't teasing now, and she too sits up to think over her answer. The last time she was asked this, she felt she didn't have much choice. Things were much more dire. Now, there's no Horde to worry about. There's no war, no fighting, just her and her oldest friend, her newest lover. The one person she can confide everything to.

So if there's anyone to open up about this with, why not Catra? "I want to know more about myself. Where I come from, who my parents were," she begins, still somewhat anxious. She can see the way Catra just watches on with patience and understanding though, and it helps her feel a little more at ease as she decides to elaborate further. "I still have so many questions about the First Ones and why they did the things they did. I want to know why I was taken through that portal… I just don't want to put what I want over what's important, you know?"

"What you want is important though," Catra is sure to let her know. She's also sure to let her know there's compassion and conviction in her words as she takes her hand, and she offers a smile too as she continues on. "You defeated the Horde, Adora. I think you're entitled to one personal mission."

Adora can't help but smile back, and she softly sighs as she runs her thumb over Catra's. "Fine. I guess I'll take your advice. But only on one condition."

"Always so dramatic with you, isn't it?" Catra amusedly scoffs. Sure she'll listen to her most intimate secrets and stuff, but she's still gonna play it cool.

Adora knows that. It's not going to stop her from being really sappy sometimes, though. "I want you to be right there beside me when I go," she tells her, bringing her face close to hers.

Catra's tempted to just turn and kiss her right on the lips, but she decides to have a little more fun with her. So instead she just tells her three words she knows she'll love hearing. "Now that's corny."

They share a laugh, both of their faces rosy with blushes. Even with the threat of Horde Prime looming over them, they found it easy to make one another laugh being together again. Now that there's no big bad villain to face though, and now that they've eliminated any pretense that they aren't head over heels for one another; they just embrace the things they feel together. Things deep and intimate, and some things just a little more silly and fun like finding new ways to tease one another.

"You know I'm really starting to like your hair," Adora tells Catra as she runs her hand through her short brown locks. Catra playfully shoves her way.

"You didn't before?"

"Nope. It was scraggly."

Catra meets her pompous grin with a little bite of her own. "You would know about scraggly. You were the manliest cadet at the Fright Zone."

"Pffft, no way. Kyle's definitely more manly than me," Adora jokes, deciding to lie back down on the hammock for a bit with her signature brand of bravado. Catra wants to keep razzing her, but the Kyle quip is just too funny to ignore, and she cracks.

"You're so stupid!" she laughs before deciding to lay down herself. She teasingly uses her toes to play with Adora's hair, and Adora swats her foot away before remembering something that makes her laugh too.

"Remember that time we all played hide and seek and he started crying because we made him hide in the broom closet?"

Catra unashamedly belly laughs again. "We were so mean to him!" They really were.

"He honestly made those games as fun as they were," Adora says, wiping a tear from her eye. She seems so at peace and confident with how the conversation is going. It would be a shame if someone ruined that for her, Catra deviously thinks to herself before deciding to have a little more fun at her expense.

"Someone had to. You suck at hide and seek."

Over the years, Catra's learned a lot of neat ways to get under her adorable girlfriend's skin. She hates it when people steal food from her plate, and she has a strong pet peeve for people that don't push in their chairs. She almost hates that as much as she does people opening doors and then not closing them on the way out. Nothing riles her up quite like questioning her skills though. No one is as competitive as Adora.

Which is why Catra just smiles as she jolts back up with a sour look on her face. "I do not!" Putty in her paws...

"You totally suck! Scorpia is better at hiding than you and she's a tank!" she furthers, just toying with her now.

"You haven't even played hide and seek with Scorpia!" Adora retorts, frowning at her as she takes her turn just coolly lying back without a care in the world.

"Well I'm going to. Just so I can prove she's better than you," she arrogantly answers, chill as can be. At this point, Adora realizes she's just being a butthead to get on her nerves. But if there's one thing she likes more than letting Catra feel good about herself, it's proving her wrong when she's being a butthead. So she wickedly smiles as she hatches an idea.

"No, I've got a better idea," she says before lightly jabbing Catra's leg to get her to sit up.

It works, and she just rubs the tender spot as she meets her eyes again. "Oh yeah? What's that bubble butt?"

"We're gonna play hide and seek right now, and I'm totally gonna kick your butt!"

Catra can't help but guffaw. "Hide and seek? You're such a romantic," she sarcastically tells Adora, who doesn't even wait for an answer before hopping out of the hammock to get her game on. She doesn't need to say anything, her snide grin does all the talking as she does a little stretching to get ready. Catra sees she's serious, and what the heck? Why not take some time to show her who's boss? "Fine. Go hide then. I bet I can find you in five minutes!" she claims as she too dismounts the hammock.

"You'll probably cheat like you always do," Adora says with a mocking voice before turning her attention to a certain magical feline that rests in a spot by the balcony railing just a few feet away. "Don't help her, Melog!"

Melog just perks their head up, blinking once before scratching their ear with their foot.

One last fighting glare is shared between the two young women, and seeing that neither one of them is willing to give even an inch in this battle of playground sportsmanship, they waste no more time in getting to brass tacks.

"I'm counting now! One!... Two!..." Catra declares as she turns to do just that, burying her face in her forearms by the nearest column. Adora takes a second to laugh at her before getting very serious about finding a hiding place. No more messing around, it's life or death! Or, well, hide and seek… but still! She hurriedly looks in every direction, quickly deciding that no hiding spot will do out here. She'll have to hurry inside and try to find something suitable in there!

And of course Catra peeks as she hears her beloved meathead of a girlfriend trying to sneak inside the palace. She thinks she's being really quiet as she motions the glass sliding door open, but she couldn't be anymore wrong. Fortunately for Catra, she's a lot more sneaky with her quiet little laugh.

Once she's sure Adora is so focused on finding a hiding spot that she won't bother checking on her anymore, she makes her way over to Melog. Her magical companion and friend perks their ears up a little upon noticing, and Catra gives them a little chin scratchies as she kneels to their level. "Go make sure she finds a good place to hide and not just a lamp shade to stand under," she instructs with a warm smile.

Understanding her command, Melog stops purring and rises up from their cozy little resting spot to set forth. Catra decides to be nice and give them and Adora a little more time to get situated, and after one deep breath and few seconds to stretch, she hollers out, "Alright Wonder Bra, ready or not, here I come!"

This will be a piece of cake. Adora's always been awful at this game. Sure, she's the baddest brawler in the world, and she's the master of pretty much every sport Etheria has to offer. But anything that requires not being a bull in a china shop? Nah. That's where Catra has the advantage. And she owns that as she just casually struts her way into the palace, pretending to look like she's trying hard to find her.

"Oh gee, wherever could she be?" she says aloud, peering all around their bedroom, checking the lamps first to see if any posts have been replaced by tone, young blondes. Whether Melog got to her in time or not, she has to give Adora some credit, she at least didn't make it that easy. However, she doesn't stay very impressed for long as she sees two familiar boots sticking out from underneath their bed.

She has to laugh. "Really Adora? This is dumb, even for you." She then creeps her way over to the bed, building some suspense for herself before quickly reaching to grab her ankle. "Gotcha!"

She's genuinely surprised to see that the boot isn't on Adora's stupid foot, and that it was instead set in place to trick her! And it worked! She digests this new information, somewhat impressed, but whatever pleasant surprise she felt soon becomes subjugated by the more powerful desire to crush her rival in this extreme contest of wits. "So that's how it's gonna be, huh?"

She looks around the room for a moment, realizing that there's nowhere else in here for her to hide. Nope, Adora has taken off for somewhere else in the big, sparkly castle, and with the help of Melog, she could be anywhere! In a way, she's excited at the prospect of actually being challenged for once. On the other hand, she said that it would only take five minutes to find her. And she hates being proven wrong.

"Alright you gorgeous, bird-brained piece of trash. Time to get serious!" she cries out before making her way out into the hall to continue her pursuit.

Hey there true believers, I hope you're doing well. Still recovering from the series finale? Yeah, me too. Fret not, though! Through the power of fanfiction, we can cope! :D

Basically, I'm writing this as an epilogue of sorts for the series. I plan to explore all the major ships and characters from the show, all leading up to a Princess Prom to end things on a high note. We'll get to that in the next chapter, but I kind of wanted to get this out here as soon as possible so I stopped after the first scene to hurry and publish something xD

I have nothing better to do right now besides stay home, quarantine, and obsess over Catradora, so hopefully the next update will be pretty soon. Until then, thanks so much for checking this out, and I hope to see you soon, friends of Mara!