Catradora College Band AU

Chapter 5 - Memories

Adora's POV

"Okay tell me about her," Perfuma said grabbing a notepad and pencil, "Okay, her name is Catra. We're the same age except I was born in January and she was born in October so for a lot of the time we were together I was the older one, the responsible one. When we were six and seven our "mother figure" brought us instruments, she and I started learning guitar and ukulele. The first lesson Shadow Weaver had started by teaching me basics about guitar and I learned one or two chords in ten minutes and I had a hard time learning. In her ten minutes, she had learned five chords and a basic strumming pattern. She was a natural, I was very impressed and so was Shadow Weaver, she said that if I practised more I could be as good as or even better than Catra. After that Catra kinda got worse and I got better and better, since then Catra became a slacker but she still managed to be second behind me. Though where she was a natural I had to put in a lot of effort to come on top, sometimes I would even ask her for help. And she always said she wasn't that good but that she would try to help me. The school lessons were hard for me but when Catra would help me everything became easier and clearer, she was a great teacher," I said, I was going to continue but Perfuma asked me a question before I could, "Why do you think she started slacking?" the question caught me off guard and I had to think for a while, "I don't know actually," I said. "Okay, continue and then maybe you will find your answer to my question," she said, writing something down.

"Me and Catra loved to sing together, The Middle was actually one of our favourites to sing together. I remember we used to face each other and basically shout the lyrics into each other's faces then laugh after we finished," I said, smiling at the memory and I looked at Perfuma who was smirking while writing something down. "What?" I asked, "Nothing, please continue," she said chuckling, "Okay... When I was eleven Shadow Weaver started to verbally abuse Catra, telling her that she was worthless without me and that the only reason she was still there was because of me," I said, frowning a few tears falling down my cheeks, "She used to come to bed crying and I would hold her and reassure her, I would tell her how amazing she was and that Shadow Weaver was wrong about her. Since then she used to always sleep at the end of my bed, I don't even remember the last time she slept in her own bed. When she was fourteen Shadow Weaver started to physically abuse her, she used to come back with scars and bruises on her back, I would sneak out to get the first aid kit and I would take care of her wounds. Then at 16, the abuse got more serious because Shadow Weaver started drinking, so I had to step in because she was going to hurt Catra really bad so I stepped in front of her and took the hit for her. I blacked out for a few days and Catra took care of me in the meantime, when I had regained consciousness I felt something wet on my face, I slowly fluttered my eyes open and saw Catra wiping my face with a wet cloth, "Am I in Heaven?" I said slowly sitting up, but Catra pushed me back down, "You're such an Idiot," she said, tears falling down her face. I hugged her and she nuzzled her head in the crook of my neck, "Hey, it's okay. I'm here, I'm okay," I said, rubbing her back, "I was so worried about you. Why did you do it Adora? Why'd you take the hit? You could have died!" she said frantically. "Would you rather it had been you?" I asked her pushing her away a bit so I could see her eyes, "Yes! We both know I don't matter!" she said, starting to stand up, "You matter to me!" I said grabbing her wrists. She started crying more and I held her close, stroking her head "It doesn't matter what they do to us, you know? You look out for me and I look out for you. Nothing really bad can happen as long as we have each other," I said, she looked up at me with teary eyes "You Promise?", she asked me "I Promise," I told her..." I started to cry more and Perfuma hugged me.

We stayed there for a few minutes and I calmed down, she pulled away from the hug a frown on her face, "That is one of the saddest stories I have ever heard. I am proud of you for telling me all that," she told me, which made a small smile form on my face. "Thanks, leaving and breaking my promise to Catra is my biggest regret in life. I hope that when I see her again I can make it up to her, she's the most important person in my life and I don't want to lose her again," I said, sadly but confidently, "I'm sure she can learn to forgive you, but I think when you see her again you should give her time and space. Don't push or force her, from what you've told me she is very traumatized," she said, sincerely. "Okay I'll try not to," I told her, "Now do you think you can answer my previous question?" she asked me, "Honestly I still don't know," I said, rubbing the back of my neck. "Well from your story, I think that you were always number one in Shadow Weaver's eyes and that when she was better than you she felt bad and scared of what Shadow Weaver would do if you fell behind. So she started slacking so that you could be number one and she wouldn't have to deal with that much pressure of being the best. Since she was a natural she wouldn't have to worry about falling behind too much. Do you think that could be it?" she said, I took all of her words in and thought about it, "You really think that's the reason?" I asked her. "From what you've told me I think it is plausible but only she would know for sure," Perfuma said shrugging, "Okay, maybe I can ask her someday. Thank you for this Perfuma, it felt nice to tell someone, like a weight lifted off my shoulders," I said smiling at her, "Any time, I am not only your manager but also your counsellor," she said smiling and standing up. "Well, I think it has been a long day," she said, clasping her hands, "Yeah, I'll see you soon and thank you again," I said standing up, "No problem," she said waving me off. We went into the other room where everyone else was and we decided it was best to go back to our dorms, so we said our goodbyes and left.

A/N

Word count: 1200

Sorry if I made you cry in the second paragraph, I just had to use the opportunity to sneak in quotes from the show. This was a heavy chapter but I hope you enjoyed it and that I didn't kill you with the quotes. Leave any suggestions or ideas you have, I'm not very good at writing trauma so tell me if I can do anything better.

Peace out ✌️