The First Ones ship was fast - Obviously - It was capable of travelling between planets and solar systems, of course it was fast. It was capable of getting whoever was in it around Etheria rapidly if that was what they wanted. It could get someone to the other side of the planet in under an hour if that was what they wanted. It could get them to the farthest moon of Etheria in about the same time if that was what they wanted. Mara's ship, ancient as it was now, was still an absolute marvel of both First Ones technology, and of known technology in general, the Galactic Horde aside.

If they wanted, this ship could get someone from it's starting location, to an obscure village a hundred miles from its starting position within a few minutes. It couldn't go full speed because that would, according to the AI that inhabited the ship, not end well at all. But it wouldn't take long one way or the other.

Why this trip felt like it was taking longer came down to nerves.

"...So, uh… Are you nervous?"

Catra's tail flicked on its own at the question. She didn't say anything, just watching the land pass by as they flew above it, headed to their destination at a speed she couldn't begin to calculate. Trees were a blur, clouds passed by in rapid succession, and hills far away moved quickly as well.

That was all easier to focus on. Much easier to focus on.

It was strange, but not really unexpected. She hadn't been nervous about ten minutes ago, but the realization that this was actually happening seemed to hit her harder the closer they got to their destination. As reality began to sink in more and more.

In her head, it was easy to admit - Yes, absolutely she was.

She wasn't sure what was going to happen once the ship landed. If she were being completely honest, she half expected there to be a fistfight - And she didn't want that. She was tired of fighting. All the reasons for fighting were gone.

The war was over.

….Personal conflicts weren't though. And there were a lot of those to go around thanks to the war.

…. And plenty were thanks to her own actions.

Having nerves like this was still foreign to Catra. She'd never had time to really reflect on them before like this. Maybe the closest she got to nerves like this was after she'd been rescued by Adora and the rest from the Galactic Horde, and had her chip removed, and approached them afterwards. That was the closest it got. This was different though. This was a situation she was walking into a hundred percent of her own accord.

The nerves felt different now.

Adora bowed slightly, tilting her head to try to get a better look at Catra's expression. It gave away pretty much everything there was to give away - Obviously she was nervous. It made sense. Even back in the Horde, it wasn't like she would have expected this to fill her with joy and excitement. Now she looked… Anxious. Something that she wasn't used to seeing on Catra's face.

Before she could say anything though, Catra spoke.

"...I guess so."

"...To be honest I'm kind of surprised you admitted it."

"Yeah, well, someone told me I need to be more open with that sort of thing, so, here we are." Catra gave her half-joking-but-also-half-serious reply, look, and smirk, before she let out a long sigh. She scratched at the back of her neck, feeling in particular at where her chip had used to be. She shuddered slightly, before she turned to her girlfriend. "...Are you?"

This time, Adora paused, but it was only for a couple of seconds. "...A bit. We didn't exactly leave on the best of terms last time we saw each other." Adora let out a small sigh of her own. She didn't have a much better track record if she were being completely honest. Not over the last couple of years, anyway. Then she placed her hand on Catra's shoulder, and gave her a warm smile of encouragement and endearment. "Then again, you and I didn't, and look at us now."

Letting herself smile and calm down a bit, Catra placed her hand on top of Adora's. That… Helped. "Don't get mushy on me."

Adora let herself chuckle. "Whatever you say, Catra."

The end of the war had brought about a lot of… History, was probably the best word for it, for Catra. The Horde was defeated, peace had taken over Etheria, and reconstruction had begun. Those who had fled the Horde's ranks, surrendered and the likes, were now being reformed and put to work at rebuilding the communities that they had damaged throughout the war. What few holdouts there were, the absolute fanatics, had more or less been completely rounded up.

A lot of those people had suffered because of Catra. Both in the Horde and out of it.

In the face of the Galactic Horde, a lot of old grudges and issues seemed to have been put aside by a majority of the population, living both equal parts in fear, and in fury towards their new oppressors. When the Rebellion fought back, everyone fought back, former Horde and all. It had made the process of reintroducing them to the wider society of Etheria a much easier process.

But it didn't change the people that Catra had hurt throughout her time in the Horde. She'd been one of the highest ranking members, and held power over others. Nearly all others. With nothing else to fill the hole in her heart, she used that power more or less however she saw fit. Abused it to fulfil her own personal grudges that she thought would make her feel better.

Against people who couldn't do anything against her.

Well, now she was going to face the music.

That was where the nerves came from.

Outside, the scenery began to move slower and slower, until it eventually came to a halt. Then it started to get closer and closer, taller and taller, and the pair of them realized that they had arrived. For a moment, they stood still, letting the reality of the situation sink in for them.

"You ready?" Adora asked.

"About as ready as I think I'm gonna be." Catra said, letting out another, smaller sigh. She bit her lower lip, and scratched at the back of her neck again.

Somehow, she had a feeling that today was going to be one filled with sighs.

"Catra." Adora spoke a bit more firmly, but when Catra turned to face her, she had nothing but a reassuring smile on her face for the short-haired woman. "It'll be fine. We'll… We'll figure it out. I promise."

"You saying that to me or to yourself?"

"I can't do both?"

"How comforting." Catra rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help but feel… A bit better, she supposed. Adora had that effect, even when she didn't want her to.

"Come on. Let's… Figure this out." Adora pulled Catra's hand into a hold with hers, and led the two of them to the back of the ship, where the exit would open up and let them leave, and face what awaited them on the other side.

It took surprisingly little time to reach the back end of the ship once someone had the layout familiarized - The ship wasn't exactly small, so figuring out the layout took a one had it down though, they could find all the shortcuts and corridors that got people where they were needed quickly and easily. Practically living in the ship for a while meant Adora had all of them figured out.

And within a few minutes, they were ready to go, when they felt the ship land.

The door began to open up.

Catra felt herself gulp. Nerves again.

Adora squeezed her hand, to remind her she was there.

Catra gripped onto it.

The entire process took only a few seconds, until the open door provided a ramp for the two of them to walk down. The ship had landed almost in the perfect position - At the foot of the ship ramp, the three of them stood.

Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio.

Their old squad.

Before anyone even moved, their eyes all seemed to lock with one another's, even though it was three-to-two. None of their expressions gave… Anything away. There wasn't any anger. No joy. No fear, no… Anything. Not on display anyway. Like they couldn't believe that they were seeing one another here either.

Once more, Catra let out a long sigh. She stole another glance at Adora, and Adora gave her a small nod of encouragement.

Then the both of them began the descent down to meet their old squadmates.

With the war ended, and the Horde defeated, it really was just a matter of time until they ran into one another again, through sheer coincidence or not. It wasn't coincidence that had brought about this reunion though.

It had been from Scorpia that they had learned where their old three squadmates had been, in a village north of the Fright Zone. Scorpia had managed to run into them somehow, either through pure luck or because she had had some kind of estimate on where they would end up going, from listening to them talk or because she just paid attention to them back in the Horde or… Something. Catra honestly had no idea how Scorpia had managed to run into these three, of all people.

Regardless of how it happened though, it had been Scorpia who had managed to convince them to meet with one another here, to try and…

...Catra didn't even know what Scorpia expected to happen here. A big hug? Some sort of big emotional moment? This was Scorpia, actually, she probably was hoping for something like that.

She couldn't help but wonder exactly what percent of them all agreeing to meet again was out of some actual desire to… Do whatever they were expected to do here, and how much of it was because it was Scorpia of all people who had asked them to do this.

It only took them a little to reach the earth beneath them, and by then, they were only a couple meters away from Lonnie and Rogelio. They were both in front of Kyle, who seemed to be more apprehensive than them about all of this now it was in motion. He wasn't so much hiding as he was just sort of standing behind the two of them, trying to get a glance of the two newcomers from between the gap of his two companions, apparently not thinking to just… Move around them. Catra felt herself swallow.

Of everyone there, it really wasn't a surprise that it was Adora who took the first step. Her hand raised slightly, and opened up into a small, awkward wave. "Erm… Hi, guys."

It wasn't exactly the best opener, but what more could reasonably be expected of her?

"...Hi." Lonnie was the only person to acknowledge the response, eyes narrowed, and fists balled up by her sides, like she was expecting a fight to break out just as much as Catra had been.

"...It's er, been a while, hasn't it?"

"For us." Lonnie stated flatly, looking at Adora. Her glare then turned to Catra. "Less so for us."

Feeling her ears twitch, Catra tried to open her mouth to speak, but she found herself unable to say anything. What could she even say in this situation? The last time she had seen any of these three, it had been when she was in the middle of a breakdown and unleashed hell on them at pretty much every turn. What were you even supposed to say in that situation?

She'd told Adora about it. What she'd done. The state she was in. That had been difficult enough as it was, but it had needed to be done. It had taken Adora a while to figure out what to say to that herself. She knew Adora didn't know what to say either, so how was she supposed to -

"A - Are you here to arrest us?"

Blinking back into reality, Catra looked behind Lonnie and Rogelio, seeing Kyle step up front and into the line of sight. Like he always was, he seemed nervous, like he was on the verge of having a panic attack.

She didn't like how much of herself she saw in him right about now.

"S-Sorry, what?" Adora asked, blinking herself.

Kyle's fists seemed to be as balled up as Lonnie's had been. He repeated himself though, in spite of clear anxiety. "A-are you here to arrest us for fighting with the Horde? Because you two were too, you know! You can't show up here and pretend like you weren't - "

"Woah, woah, woah, calm down!" Catra quickly stopped him, holding her hands up to show her empty palms. "We're not here to do anything like that. We wouldn't have come out here if that was all we were going to do - Scorpia would've handled that."

Immediately, Kyole's entire body posture seemed to relax, and he let out a breath that he didn't seem aware that he had been holding onto for who knew how long. "Oh, thank the Gods…"

That statement seemed to relax Rogelio too, at least slightly. It was hard to tell with him sometimes, but he seemed to let his shoulders lull slightly.

Slightly.

"The war's over." Adora explained. "Glimmer made it a decree that any Horde soldier who stopped fighting or helped fight against the Horde would be given a full pardon and could re-enter society. None of you have anything to worry about, I promise."

Still skeptical, Lonnie continued to ask, "So, why are you here?"

"Well, Scorpia kinda asked us to come here…"

"She didn't say that you had to talk to us."

"Well, you're all here, and she kind of implied that was what she wanted us to do - "

"Okay, now you have, and you're still here, so I'm guessing that you want something."

Naturally Lonnie was the most hostile one. It made sense to Catra, given everything that happened between the two of them. And it was hard to blame her.

"...I was… I was wondering if you could show us this village you've been working with." Adora said. "And after that I… I was hoping that we could talk about… Well… Everything, I guess."

It was a deflection - Not a lie, but a deflection. Neither of them had mentioned the village before - Though both were curious what they had been up to since arriving here, this was true - It wasn't why they were here though. Adora had deflected like that because she realized Catra had gotten tongue tied and didn't know what to say. She'd frozen.

Catra bit her lip.

"Fine." Lonnie said. "Maybe hide your faces, unless you want to get swamped by just about everyone there, Saviour of Etheria."

"Maybe that'd raise everyone's spirits!" Kyle responded, a slight gleam in his eye, and an optimistic smile was being thrown Lonnie's way. . "Everyones been exhausted lately with the reconstruction… Maybe this would be good motivation for everyone!" He then seemed to notice an irritation in Lonnie's glare. "I - I mean… Everyone knows She-Ra, and it's… Kinda hard to argue that She-Ra beat the Horde…"

Rogelio made some sort of noise, seemingly in agreement with his blond friend.

Kyle nodded. "That too, yeah, Rogelio - There is also the fact a giant spaceship landed less than a mile away. I'm not sure we'll be able to hide that… I think people will have seen it coming - "

"Ugh, fine." Lonnie groaned. "Do whichever you want, I don't 's just get this over with." As she spoke, she turned and made her way down the path to the village. Kyle and Rogelio followed suit.

"...Well, they didn't attack us." Adora noted, trying to make light of the situation. "That's a positive sign, right?"

All Catra could do was nod. And sigh.

Definitely one of many today.

I have the work ethic of a dying snail.

SO - This was supposed to be a short project that focused in on a theme that my dumbass brain decided needed about 10,000 words of context, and that separating them into chapters would do better for the pacing and layout of the story as opposed to a 10,000 word oneshot SO that's what happening - I'm still writing this thing BUT I've not updated anything in a while and She-Ra was amazing and I felt like adding this to the fandom before that whole thing dies SO here we go, hooray for more stress from a tired British Anarchist : D

The actual part of the story i'm interested in is not one I'll be revealing here until it's actually written down, SO, ya'll're just gonna have to guess where I'm going with this. Have fun : D

I've been really busy and stressed these last few weeks, from Uni shit, the Corona, Uni applications and all the phone lines being dead and other projects and politics and research and theory and designing my own comic - I've been so busy, ya'll. You have no idea. I am eternally tired. But I'm still writing because I enjoy it and want to add to the fandoms and the likes so here we are.

MHA stuff still incoming - I swear! I just have other things I need to get out of my system before I can return to them.

Also I have Twitter - Follow me there if you want. I post Art and talk about my writing - sometimes. Mostly I talk politics and scream at conservatives and bait them into being idiots. It's a fun time - It's QuirkQuartz on there too.

I'm gonna go write like a lunatic now. Hope ya'll enjoyed and the next chapter will be… tomorrow or the day after. Haven't decided yet - Byeee