Adora opened her room door after talking to Bow and Glimmer for a bit at the library and was surprised by the amount of papers that were scattered on the floor, which was a lot more than usual. Catra was hurriedly going back and forth through various papers and continuously ripping out pages from the book that Glimmer had given her.
"Catra?"
The feline was too engrossed in what she was looking at that she didn't even properly respond to Adora, she gave a grunt in response and started to scribble something down.
Fed up with the lack of communication she was getting, Adora stomped over to see what Catra has been so invested in for the last hour an a half now.
On the old map there was a fairly large island with a red circle around it while the new one had and empty circle with question marks surrounding it along with some questions Catra had that surrounded it.
Looking at the pages that Catra had ripped out and left scattered on the floor, she noticed that the ripped pages of the book that Glimmer had given her just hours prior were on a specific topic, or to be even more specific, an island.
Analyzing Catra's work more closely, Adora's heart dropped a bit, "Catra are you... are you planning to leave? If something is bothering you then I can help make some adjustments to make it better-"
"Adora no, it's nothing like that. This is something... personal."
Catra finally looked up from the papers she was reading and looked Adora in the eye.
"So personal that you're practically ignoring me and can't even tell me what's going on?"
"Adora-"
"Answer the question, Catra."
The feline looked back at the papers, then to Adora, and let out a defeated sigh, "I'm not ignoring you Adora, not intentionally, but I still have to get some more answers. This is something that could be life changing for me in many ways. I know you have questions, I have too many to count, but I don't have answers yet. Not firm ones at least."
Adora walked over to Catra, who was sitting on the ground surrounded my pages that were ripped out from the book, and sat beside her.
"Then tell me what you've found so far, you've been going at this for an hour an a half Catra, I'm sure you've found something."
Catra paused before speaking, "It's a long story."
Adora shrugged her shoulders, "I have time."
Catra shook her head softly and started, "When I woke up after Hordak captured me, the bastard, he said that this stone in my side is my runestone. And as you know, only princesses with powers or whatever have a runestone, so if I'm a princess, then that must mean I have a kingdom, right? And if I have a kingdom, then that might possibly mean I have parents that are alive and living in that kingdom. So come here."
"Whoa whoa whoa, wait- you Catra? A princess? You hate princesses."
"That's exactly what I thought when Hordak told me this was my runestone."
Catra led Adora over to her bulletin board where her she had both the maps pinned up side by side, "This is the old map of Etheria from before- I think- we were even born, this island," she pointed to Alunu Island, the one that was circled, "I've never heard of this island before, but it's miles away from the Crimson Waste. Then in the new map it's gone, and Hordak told me he attacked my homeland when I was younger but didn't say where in Etheria he attacked."
Adora nodded her head, "But how are you so sure that this island is where this stone in you is from?"
"Alunu Island says its the kingdom of flames, and this stone is a fiery orange color, connect the dots."
"Ouch Catra." Adora mocked fake hurt and put a hand over her chest.
"I still haven't fully mastered my new found power, so what if I can control fire like you and Scorpia were talking about earlier? I need to master this so I can really see if somehow I'm really connected with this runestone and this island."
Then a sudden idea popped up into Catra's head, "I need to go back to the Fright Zone and break into Shadow Weaver's quarters."
Adora did a double take, "WHAT?! Catra, if your going back there your bringing backup this time and I refuse to allow you to go alone!"
Catra started to gather up the ripped out book pages and both maps, "Adora, relax, I'm not going anywhere until this war is over and I don't have to worry about you guys getting attacked out of nowhere without me. I just need to break into her quarters and steal her files. If they're still there." Catra muttered the last part to herself.
Adora silently nodded her head and helped cleaned up until the room was spotless once more. Catra had stuffed her papers into a nearby bag and then plopped down heavily onto Adora's bed, staring wordlessly at the mask that was still at the end of the bed. The blonde followed suite and laid beside her.
"I'll be out in that clearing again later to train if you need me, okay? For now can we just lay here together?"
Adora smiled and simply nodded her head as she turned to face the feline, closing her eyes and getting comfy. The magicat turned her head towards the blonde as well and stared at her resting face for a bit before staring at the soft mattress.
When Adora opened her eyes again to reposition herself, Catra suddenly tackled her back down onto the mattress and trapped her in her arms.
"Catra! What are y-"
"You know I would always come back for you even if I had to go away... right?"
Adora, wrapped the brunette in an equally tight hug, "Yeah, we made a promise right? I'm sorry for breaking it but I really didn't mean to leave you on purpose, Catra. But why are you saying that like your going to leave in the middle of the night or something?"
"... I know, I'm trying to tell myself that, and you never know what may happen, Adora. One day I might just have to set out alone to find this island myself."
Adora pulled back from the embrace to look at Catra's face, "Why do you feel like you have to do everything alone, Catra? You have me and the rest of the rebellion on your side to help you out."
"No, I don't. I still have yet to earn their trust personally, I'm sure the only reason they came to the rescue mission is because of you. I'm sure they would have left me there had they had a choice. Not only that but I still have yet to show my loyalty to the queen and I still have so much work to do to be able to redeem myself and-"
Adora quickly pressed a finger to Catra's lips, which quickly silenced what would have been a very long ramble of something they've gone over a few times before already.
"Catra, we talked about this. One step at a time, okay? You don't have to do all of this at once and definitely not alone. I promise you, the rebellion is on your side whether they trust you yet or not, alright? Please don't feel like you have to do all of this alone, I'm right here to help you."
Catra stared at the blonde for a moment before smiling and nodding her head. Adora returned the smile with her own and started to rub the brunettes shoulder in a comforting manner when something woke her up immediately.
