Adora stifled a gasp as she stumbled over yet another root.

Oh, this was so bad.

The plan had been to cut off one of the Horde's supply routes. The Fright Zone couldn't exactly grow anything and animals were scarce, so if the Rebellion cut off the supplies one by one, they could lay siege to the Fright Zone and essentially smoke them out.

They'd underestimated how protective the Horde was of their supply lines. It was understandable why they would be, but they'd still underestimated them.

And apparently they'd gotten some bigger guns.

They hadn't seen that coming.

Seriously, how was the Horde's technology suddenly making leaps and bounds beyond what it'd ever been before?

Adora allowed herself a moment to lean against a tree and breathe. She clutched her side, trying to halt the flow of blood coming from the gash that cut through there. It was by no means fatal, but it was still a hindrance.

The Horde's counterattack had been brutal, so Glimmer had called for a retreat. Adora had covered their escape, but a final blast from their latest laser canon had managed to get her. She-ra had been able to withstand it, but naturally, Adora had lost her sword in the aftermath and her scrambling to get away had resulted in her being injured.

Adora needed to find her sword, shake off the Horde, and meet everyone else at the rendezvous.

No problem, right?

Adora tripped and fell flat on her face. She groaned before flipping herself over and huddling up against the nearest tree. She scowled at the sky as she desperately tried to think of a way out of this.

The sound of pounding footsteps made her still and she listened hard as the shouts from soldier to soldier grew louder and faded away. She began to relax and made to haul herself up. She had to get out of here before they returned.

A dragging sound made her stop in her tracks.

"Hey, Adora."

Adora whirled her head up, taking in Catra who looked decidedly unimpressed, one hand on her cocked hip. Adora hadn't even known she was here.

And then her gaze fell on the Sword of Protection in Catra's grasp, its tip digging into the ground.

Adora looked between the sword and her former friend. Catra just stared back, her tail whipping back and forth as she seemed to be weighing her options.

Adora knew that in her current state, there was no way she'd be able to escape. At least not without her sword and ultimately She-ra, but that clearly wasn't an option. She only really had one option left and it was the one least likely to work from past experience: trying to appeal to Catra's better nature.

"Cat - "

"Commander!"

Adora's mouth snapped shut at the sound of an approaching soldier. Her eyes darted between the sound and Catra, her stomach sinking as realization hit.

This was it.

She'd failed.

Catra didn't even blink. "What?" She called back, eyes never leaving Adora.

"There's still no sign of She-ra and the rebels! What are your orders?" The crinkling grew closer.

Adora hunched in. Catra was going to reveal her and then take her back to the Fright Zone. The Rebellion was over, and Glimmer, Bow, and the others would all be tracked down and killed and -

"Return to the convoy! If we haven't found them yet, we probably won't as they have that pesky teleporter." Catra ordered. "Our supply lines take priority. For all we know, this could've been a feint to draw us away."

The footsteps hesitated. "Are you su- "

"Do you want to be the one to explain to Lord Hordak why we're running low on supplies if they end up attacking?" Catra snapped, finally turning towards where the soldier was coming from. "Send out the signal to return! I'll continue searching a bit longer to make sure it's not a trick."

"Yes, Commander!" The footsteps slowly made their way back, the sounds of machinery to send out the signal following them.

Catra rolled her eyes. "Idiots." She hissed, as she faced Adora once more. "How did anything ever get done with this lot?"

And all Adora could do was stare. "You - you didn't turn me in…" Her brow furrowed as she turned the thought over and over in her brain, but it was going nowhere fast. It simply didn't make sense.

Catra snorted. "Well, maybe don't look so pathetic."

"Catra…" Adora slowly slid up the tree she was against so she could look her in the eye. "Why didn't you - "

Suddenly, Catra was a lot closer, crowding into Adora's space.

"Make no mistake." Catra hissed once more, her eyes narrowed into slits. "This isn't because I like you."

Adora blinked. "Catra, what - "

Catra shifted and the last thing Adora saw was the pommel of her own sword as it rapidly approached her face.

And then there was darkness.

"Adora!"

Adora startled awake, frantically looking around but only seeing Glimmer and Bow's worried faces crouched over her.

"Glimmer, Bow." She took in several large breaths to calm herself. "What - " Now that she got a better look at her surroundings, Adora could see that she was laying in the grass at their rendezvous point and the rest of their allies had gathered around her. "What happened?"

"You tell us." Bow said, his expression beginning to clear as she sat up. "We lost track of you during the retreat, but we found you here unconscious and with your wounds treated."

Adora jumped. "What?" And while her head did ache, she looked down and saw bandages wrapped around her torso, securing her wound. She gingerly touched the bruise on forehead, as her eyes fell upon her sword laying next to her. "I…" The bruise matched the shape of the end of her sword, proving that all of that had been no dream.

There was really only one explanation for this, but it made no sense.

Catra had saved her.

Catra had protected her, treated her wounds, and brought her to the rendezvous point so her friends would find her.

Last time they'd met, Catra had tried to kill her.

Adora didn't get it.

"I - I guess I got lucky and someone helped me." Adora finally said, and luckily that seemed to pacify her friends. "Let's get out of here." Glimmer nodded in agreement and directed the others to start the journey home.

Adora stood up and wobbled a little, though she gave Bow a small smile at his outstretched hands, ready to catch her should she fall.

She quickly picked up her sword and used it as a crutch to make her way over to their transports, her mind whirling with impossibilities.

Catra had protected her. Despite everything that had happened between them, despite what she herself had done to Adora, Catra had still chosen her.

Why?

Adora knew that it was pointless to ask Catra when they next saw each other. Instinct told her that Catra was going to go right back to trying to kill her. She'd probably never know why Catra had spared her.

"This isn't because I like you."

Catra's words rang in her head.

If it wasn't because Catra liked her, then why would she do it?

Adora didn't know.

And for some reason, as Bow checked her over once more, as Glimmer navigated them home, that thought made her chest ache.

And Adora didn't know why that was either.

AN: So I saw a meta a while back that Catra only really fights against She-ra, and besides the whole leaving her on a cliffhanger thing, she hasn't really engaged Adora when she's herself. Even at the end of Princess Prom, Catra was just dancing around her without fighting her before she got away. Plus I like the idea of Catra occasionally just letting Adora go because she can (and because part of her wants to protect Adora still, just like she always did).

Here, she makes the excuse that Adora looks too pathetic to fight and turn her in at the moment. But we all know that she'd lying to herself. And all it does is make Adora confused.

Also this takes place before the Rebellion learns that Entrapta is alive and Catra's been promoted to second-in-command.