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The first thing Scorpia notices about Catra is that she looks so much better.
Happiness looks good on her.
Scorpia is happier now, too. She never understood herself as unhappy, before. She’d thought that the way she existed, clinging to scraps of fleeting joy in a wash of horror and uncertainty, was the only way, or at least the best way. It wasn’t how Catra lived – one of the first things Scorpia had noticed about her, and the thing that had kept her so interested, was that Catra wanted things. What she wanted changed often enough, but it was fascinating to Scorpia to see her live in a way that seemed so different from how Scorpia did, and so exhausting.
Scorpia’s learned, since the last time she saw Catra, that whatever they’d been to each other hadn’t been good for either of them. Scorpia’s insistent devotion had grated against Catra’s walls, and the cracks in them that Scorpia’s tireless attention occasionally exposed were terrifying to Catra. She’d known all along that Catra‘a cruelty was part of an effort to push Scorpia away, but until the end she hadn’t admitted to herself how much it had hurt.
But that’s all in the past! These days, Catra smiles at Scorpia, lighter and freer about it than Scorpia had ever imagined. These days, Catra stumbles over words and cringes when she’s about to say something truly cruel, and usually Adora’s there next to her, squeezing her hand, acknowledging that she’s trying. These days, they’re surrounded by people who make Scorpia want to be herself and at the same time want to be better than she’s ever been, and she thinks Catra feels the same energy (Perfuma talks about “energy” a lot).
Still, though – it would be nice if Catra would talk to her.
The door to Scorpia’s room bangs open and shut, and by the time Scorpia looks up Catra is standing in front of her.
“You have to hide me,” she says, with so much fierceness in her eyes Scorpia is jerked back to a completely different time and place. Her spine straightens automatically. “Glimmer asked for my opinion on a dress and it looks awful, but if I say that she’ll kick me out of Bright Moon and if I lie she’ll find out using a truth spell and then kick me out of Bright Moon.” Catra’s gaze is peeled between Scorpia and the door and she’s in a familiar pose, standing on the balls of her feet and tensed to spring in any direction.
“I don’t think Glimmer is going to kick you out,” Scorpia says.
It’s the wrong response, apparently, because Catra just makes a big show of smoothing out her expression and taking a step back toward the door.
“But you’re welcome to stay,” she adds almost desperately, old longing hitting her with unexpected force. She’d cared way too much about Catra’s time and attention back then. Well, Catra had said that she cared too much. Perfuma would probably say that she’d cared exactly the right amount.
Catra freezes in place.
“I’ve missed you,” Scorpia says. She hopes that it isn’t too – well, too much of her, but this is the first time she’s been alone with Catra since she left the Fright Zone. Scorpia’s missed her.
Catra turns back toward Scorpia, and Scorpia feels like she does when there’s magic flowing through her, like she did when she stepped onto a stage to sing and Perfuma cheered her on. “I-“ she stops, swallows. Her hair is getting longer again, starting to fall into her face. “I’ve missed you too.”
“Then stay,” Scorpia says. She’s tuned in enough to Catra’s moods, even now, that it’s gratifying when Catra’s shoulders relax a little. She doesn’t sit down, but she stays. “What’s wrong with Glimmer’s dress?”
“Polka dots.” Catra says it so grimly it’s like she’s talking about a lost battle.
“What’s wrong with polka dots? You have polka dots.” Scorpia reaches out to poke at Catra’s cheek and is delighted when Catra lets her, pouting and glaring at her instead of jumping back.
“Those are freckles. It’s different.” Then Catra comes and sits at the other end of the couch Scorpia is seated on, bringing her knees to her chest and locking her arms around them. “I’m sorry,” she says, looking down at the floor.
Scorpia says she’s sorry a lot. She already knows it’s different for Catra, and if she didn’t, she’d be able to tell by the tense hunch of Catra’s shoulders.
“What for?” Scorpia asks, mostly because this is so new for Catra. She genuinely doesn’t know what Catra is trying to say.
“For being a bad friend.”
“Oh.” At Scorpia’s noise of surprise, Catra curls herself up even tighter. “You are?”
“Why does everyone keep –” For a moment, Catra sounds like her old self, then she purses her lips and visibly resets. “Yes, I am.”
“Aw, Wildcat, c’mere.” Catra doesn’t even try to resist Scorpia folding her into a hug, and after a moment she relaxes into it and even hugs her back.
Catra pulls away after a bit, and, much as she doesn’t want to, Scorpia lets her go. Boundaries are a thing she’s working on. Catra doesn’t really leave, though, just shifts where she’s sitting so she can look at Scorpia.
“Why were you-” Scorpia starts and then pauses. Maybe she should just leave it be.
“What?”
Or maybe…maybe she should trust her friend. “Why were you avoiding me, before?”
Catra frowns and pulls her knees up to her chest. “You noticed?”
“Of course I noticed. You’re my friend…right?”
“How could you possibly still want me to be your friend?”
Her eyes are narrowed toward Scorpia, who shrugs. “I just do.” Catra’s expression softens a little at that, so Scorpia tacks on “You still haven’t answered my question.”
“I just figured you wouldn’t want me around anymore,” she says.
“Catra, back then – well, also now – I’ve always wanted to be your friend because I like you. It certainly wasn’t because of the way you treated me. Heh.” Catra curls a little tighter around herself at Scorpia’s laugh. Maybe they’re not there yet, but probably Scorpia has earned it anyway.
“You deserved better,” Catra says.
“Yeah,” says Scorpia. “I think I did. But there wasn’t anything better, not in the Fright Zone.”
Catra laughs a little at that, but Scorpia doubts it’s because she thinks it’s funny.
“I never belonged there,” Scorpia says. “But I didn’t understand that I could do something better with my life. Being around you made me start to think about it.”
“What?” Catra’s tone is flat and disbelieving, but amazingly, she’s still listening.
“You didn’t have goals outside the Horde, but you had goals,” Scorpia says. “I always thought that the only thing I could do was try to follow orders and that I would be able to be happy if I was optimistic enough about it, but you…you cared so much. I stuck around because I really liked watching you care. Even if you didn’t exactly care about me.”
“I cared about you,” Catra says. “I didn’t want to. But I cared.”
Scorpia had sort of known that, but hearing it from Catra warms her all the same. “I’m not sorry I left,” she says. She’s wanted to say this for a while. “But I’m sorry if it hurt you.”
“Don’t be,” Catra says. “You did the right thing.”
“I really don’t think Glimmer’s going to do anything bad if you tell her you don’t like the dress,” Scorpia says after a few seconds of silence. “Things are different here.”
Catra sighs and narrows her eyes at the door. “I know.” She looks back at Scorpia and her face goes through a number of expressions before settling on resolve. She leans forward and wraps Scorpia in a hug.
Scorpia hugs her back and can’t help but let out a little squeal of excitement. This is the first time Catra’s ever initiated a hug with her, and it feels like magic.
“Thanks, friend,” Catra says as she pulls back. “Let’s hang out again soon.”
“I knew you had it in you,” Scorpia says. She’s earned a little smugness.
Catra smiles. “Yeah. You did.”