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Adora liked keeping herself busy. And when it came to rebuilding Etheria from the destruction left by Horde Prime's wake, there was plenty to do to keep busy. There was the physical rebuilding of towns where She-ra was used to help with the heavier construction. But, there was also the political side of rebuilding that Adora, herself, was helping with.
Though, the work Adora did in that department was more of a moral support to Glimmer, who was doing the bulk of the work. She was good at commanding armies, not so much reinstating kingdoms, finding places for ex-horde members to live, and creating peace between kingdoms and ex-horde members. That was more Glimmer's and Bow's thing. She was just there to cheer them on.
Their biggest project had been figuring out what to do with all the Hordak clones. As they couldn't necessarily go back to space considering Horde Prime was gone. The eventual solution was to have them all live in the Fright Zone, going through Wrong Hordak "realizing your individuality" program. At the head of the Fright Zone was Hordak, who was developing technologies with Entrapta that were made to help, not hurt, Etheria. As his own sort of redemption and apology.
It had all been a lot of work. But Adora liked it, she liked helping. I'm fact, she wasn't sure what she'd do if she wasn't helping people.
That's why it took her by surprise one morning, during their routinely meeting, when Glimmer said, "Actually guys, I was thinking we could take a break today."
"Huh?" Adora asked, "But isn't there a lot to do?"
Glimmer shook her head. "For once, no. Not really. There's nothing really pressing to do right now and everything can be handled by everyone else."
"Oh."
Bow let out a sigh of relief and slumped in his chair. "Thank goodness, I could use a break."
"I know, me too!" Glimmer chimed in, "We haven't done anything fun since our victory. All we've been doing is working hard to get things back to normal. We deserve a break."
Adora chuckled nervously. "Oh, okay. So, what are we going to do together on our day off?"
"Oh, actually, I was thinking I could take the day to spend some quality time with my dad," she responded.
"That's a great idea!" Bow said.
"Yeah, you could use some bonding time with him," Adora then turned to Bow. "I guess that means it's just going to be you and me."
"Actually, I think I'm going to hang out with Sea Hawk today," he responded. "He keeps begging me to do another boys' night with him and Swift Wind. I think singing like an idiot in a pub is just what I need right now to unwind."
"Oh."
Bow tilted his head. "Will you be alright without us?"
"Pffft of course I will," Adora said. "I have plenty of things I wanted to do...that I can do now that I have a day off."
"Sounds great!" Glimmer cheered.
With that, the trio went their separate ways.
Adora was so tempted to find some kind of work to do. She knew Glimmer and Bow would want her to take a break, but helping people was what Adora was good at. It's what made her a hero. And, even in peace, people still needed her help.
No . Adora shook her head and reminded herself what Mara had told her. That she was worth more than what she could give to others. It was hard, though, to believe it. Saving people is all she had done since she left the Horde. She wasn't sure what else made her useful besides saving others.
You deserve love, too.
Adora made her way to the east wing of the castle. Into a back hallway that usually remained empty. A place, Adora knew, was Catra's favorite spot in the castle. She found the girl sitting alone on a window sill.
"Hey Adora."
Even though she had heard that line a thousand times before, Adora's heart skipped a beat. "Hey Catra."
Catra, herself, had been keeping busy trying to rekindle her friendship with Entrapta and Scorpia. Even though the two had forgiven her, Catra was still working towards being a better friend. She had been working with, shockingly, Perfuma. Somehow the princess had been able to convince Catra to meditate with her and attend her self improvement workshops.
As far as Adora knew, Catra openly hated those sessions yet secretly liked them. The important thing was she was making strides to be a better person, and Adora was so happy for her.
Yet, despite their busy schedules, they had still found time to give each other 'I love you's' in passing and soft kisses in the corridors when no one was looking.
"What's up? Shouldn't She-ra be out lifting buildings or something by now?" Catra asked.
"I actually got the day off."
"Oh wow, they let big mighty heroes take days off now?"
She was teasing, but she could tell there was a bit of resentment in Catra's words. "Well this hero does," she said, crossing her arms.
"Come on, I was just joking. You've been working too hard lately, you need to learn to relax," Catra responded.
"Yeah, I guess I do...um," Adora fidgeted. "So...you got anything planned for today?"
Catra quirked an eyebrow. "Not really."
"Then maybe we should...go on a date!" Adora blurted out.
Adora had never really been taught how to be a girlfriend in the Horde. She had never really been taught how to on Bright Moon neither. And though kissing came pretty naturally to her, the other romantic stuff that girlfriends were supposed to do felt like tracking through the dark. Was this the right thing to say? To do? Adora didn't know.
The only thing she knew was she wanted to spend time with her girlfriend.
Catra's eyes widened. "A date?" She asked.
Adora bit her lips as she watched Catra's shocked expression suddenly changed to an outburst of laughter.
"How dorky can you be?"
Adora pouted."I don't see what's so funny."
"Adora, I don't know if you knew this but we've been dating for a couple of weeks now," she explained through her chuckles.
"Of course I knew that! We've been...kissing and stuff."
This only made Catra laugh louder.
"Fine, if you aren't going to take me seriously, then I'll leave," Adora turned and started to stomp away.
Catra caught up to her quickly. "Oh come on, you can't blame me for laughing," she poked her cheek, "You were all blushy and embarrassed asking me to go on a date with you."
"So?"
"So? We've been together for weeks now you could have just, I don't know, said 'want to hang out today?' and I would have known what you meant," she explained and blushed as she said, "Because, you know, we're girlfriends."
Adora huffed. Of course, it was just like Catra to tease her about the dumbest things and yet blush herself. "Well, sorry I'm not as cool as you."
"Mm, it's okay, no one really is."
Adora rolled her eyes. "Oh shut up," she playful shoved Catra. She squealed, taking a step back, and then retaliated with a shove of her own. Then Catra dashed down the hallway before she could counter attack.
"Hey!" Adora yelped and ran after her. She caught up but clumsily slammed into Catra instead of catching her and the two tumbled onto the floor.
They looked at each other, in their disheveled state on the ground, and both of them burst out laughing.
"Hey," Catra said when she had calmed down.
"Hm?" Adora asked before her girlfriend leaned over and kissed her.
"So, miss romance, where are you taking me on this date, huh?" Catra asked.
It took a second for Adora to answer, still woozy over the surprise kiss. "Oh, uh, I guess we could go somewhere to eat."
Adora ended up taking her to a breakfast cafe not too far from Bright Moon. She actually didn't know much about the restaurants in the town, most of her time was spent in the castle or off on missions. There was very little point in going out to eat when the castle had professional cooks make her meals for free. This cafe was the only one she had visited. It was only one time, because Bow and Glimmer wanted her to try coffee, but nevertheless it was the only place she knew in Bright Moon.
"Ta-da!" Adora cheered. She put out her arms for dramatic effect. "Welcome to the cafe. These places are so awesome. All you have to do is sit and the employees bring your food to you! You don't have to get up at all."
"I know how cafes work, Adora."
"Oh.." she said and slowly put down her arms.
Catra crossed her arms. "You know it's been awhile since I've been in the Horde. Of course I've spent time experiencing the Etheria culture or whatever."
"Haha yeah, makes sense," Adora scratched the back of her head. "Too bad, I was really looking forward to showing all the stuff that the Horde had kept from us."
"Well, maybe if you hadn't been so busy with your She-ra duties" Catra mumbled under her breath.
Adora winced. The hostility there was impossible to miss. "Okay, let's go sit down!" She said quickly, and dragged Catra to a nearby table.
It didn’t take long for a server to come by and talk their orders. Adora, who never had to worry about money being friends with the queen and whatnot, ordered the biggest stack of pancakes they were willing to give her.
“Wow,” Catra commented, “You got a thing for pancakes?”
"I guess you could say so, breakfast food in general is my favorite. Like I always say, you can never go wrong with breakfast" Adora said and then quickly added, "I mean, that's what I started saying after I left the Fright Zone and had the opportunity to actually eat foods that weren’t gray slabs. So, you'd have no idea that's something I'd say…"
“Mm, right.”
Adora didn’t know much about dates, but she felt like this one was going badly.
"So, how about you? How has the whole ‘eating real food’ going for you?"
Catra, who didn't have any regards to manners or safety, leaned back in her chair and plopped her legs up on the table. "Pretty good. Turns out my favorite food isn't gray colored bars. I've been missing out on fish my whole life."
Adora had to suppress a snort at the very cat-like answer.
"It's Scorpia, actually, who has been the one introducing me to real food. She hasn't been out of the Horde too much longer than me but, surprisingly, she knows a lot."
"Oh, yeah? And how are things going with Scorpia?"
"Pretty great, actually. She has been extremely forgiving, all things considered," she said, then smirked, "Though, I think she's jealous that we are dating."
"Well, I don't think her jealousy issues are anywhere near as bad as yours, so I don't think I have to worry," Adora teased.
"I don't have jealousy issues!"
"Oh really?" She questioned, still teasing. "What about the time you hit Lonnie because we were playing together without you?"
"Oh come on, I was like 8 then."
"Pfft okay, and we are just going to ignore the tirade you went on when I left the Horde?"
Catra put her feet back on the ground. "I'm still really sorry about that," she said in a soft voice.
"No, no I know, I just-"
That was the wrong thing to say. This date was definitely going wrong.
"Oh, I have an idea," Adora tried to change the subject, "I need to take you to a party. They are my absolute favorite thing. Your first one is going to be so fun."
"Adora, I've already been to parties. Several of them."
Adora sank in disappointment. "Oh man, you're mad at me aren't you? For spending time re-building the kingdom and not spending time with you?"
"Wait, no, I," Catra took a deep breath, "As your girlfriend, I respect your time and space."
Adora couldn't help but to snort. "Is that something Perfuma taught you?"
"Yes!" Catra said, the hair on her tail started to flare up. "Oh my god, do you have any idea how infuriating her lessons can be? She doesn't know the years I've spent waiting and hoping for us to be a couple. And now that it's finally here I have to wait?"
"Catra.."
"And it's not long before we go off on our space mission! Where they'll be even more She-ra work for you to do. When will we ever have time to be girlfriends?"
"I don't know how to be a good girlfriend!" Adora blurted out.
Catra's eyes widen.
"I know I've been busy with post-war repairs, it's just that,” Adora sighed, “It’s just that being She-ra is the only thing I'm good at. The only thing I know how to do. I'm not good at dates. I've been doing my best researching how to be a good girlfriend, but reading all of Bow's romance novels hasn't helped in the slightest."
"Huh?"
"That's why," Adora sighed, "That's why I've waited so long to ask you out on a date. I didn't want to until I was ready, until I knew how to do it right."
Catra chuckled, her expression softening. "You idiot," she scoffed, "Don't you know what I've been trying to tell you? You don't need to be perfect at everything, you don't need to be a hero all the time. I fell in love with Adora, not She-ra."
It took a moment for Catra's words to fully sink in. But when they did, Adora groaned. "Oh man, I ruined everything didn't I? By trying so hard to be a good girlfriend, I ended up being a bad girlfriend."
"I wouldn't say that."
"Well this date was awful because of me."
"I wouldn't say that either, more like a complete awkward mess." At first, Adora thought there was malice in Catra's words. Until she saw the sparkle of amusement in her eyes.
Adora knew that look. She had seen it many times growing up. It was the look of playful competition. A non-verbal challenge to Adora to do better. She might not have known how to be a girlfriend, but taking on Catra's challenges were like second nature.
"When we were both in the Horde, and you had a crush on me, what did you envision our dates to be like?" Adora asked.
"Huh? Why are you asking me that?"
"Come on, just tell me."
Catra blushed, turning her look away. "Well, I don't know. I guess I wanted to do the fun stuff we usually did. Like climb up on the scaffolding and play around."
"Okay, I have an idea."
After wolfing down breakfast, Adora lead Catra to Bright Moon's rocky terrain. The tall mountain near the castle, the one with a waterfall crashing down its side, looked promising to the couple.
"Come on, Adora!" Catra called from above."You are so far behind."
Adora leaped from boulder to boulder. Avoiding the dust spray Catra was leaving behind as she clawed up the mountain. "It's not my fault, you were made to climb."
"Sounds like just an excuse to me."
Adora smirked and picked up the pace. Throwing caution to the wind as she hauled herself up as fast as she could. Catra, above, started laughing.
"I'm almost to the top, I'm going to win."
"Oh, no you don't," Adora yelped and continued to race faster.
In the end, though, Catra made it to the top first. But, when Adora made it up after there was no gloating. Only laughter as the two lay down in the dirt, exhausted from their hike.
"See," Catra laughed ,"You are a lot more fun to be around when you are just let yourself be Adora."
"Well, you are a lot more fun to be around when you aren't trying to kill me."
"Fair enough!"
The breeze felt nice against her hot skin. And, though it was gross, she held her sweaty hand in Catra's. It was nice, laying beside her as the two watched the peaceful, slightly cloudy sky.
"Hey," Adora said.
Catra turned to her.
"I love you."
"I love you, too," Catra purred.
For the second time that day, the two of them kissed while laying on the floor next to each other.