Turning Thorns to Petals

CHAPTER 1

The war had been going on for such a long time. It seems as though people have forgotten what life was like before then. War is war no matter which side of it you're on. Planning attacks, retreating, training, losing battles. But, when the war takes over your whole life, who are you when it's all over?

Catra
Why am I not happy? This is exactly what I have always wanted. I never thought it'd actually happen. War is over. Shadow Weaver is gone. I have Adora now. But, I don't feel happy. I don't know what's wrong with me.

Catra still gets her nightmares. Most nights she can't get to sleep at all. So, she just lies awake waiting for morning to come. She's curled up at the foot of Adora's bed. Her eyes are closed but she's the furthest thing from asleep.
Adora knows Catra isn't sleeping. She's done this before when they were kids. She's patient with Catra and waits for her anyway.

Glimmer and Bow are in their own room next door. They've been awake for some time now, making the bed and getting dressed for the day.

Now that the war has ended, everyone has more free time to do the things they love. Ever since Glimmer had made food with Wrong Hordak on Mara's ship she's been passionate about cooking.
Glimmer has started getting up early each morning to make breakfast for everyone. Bow insists on helping out but Glimmer always wants to "make it a surprise."
They usually just end up flirting and having a food fight, leaving the kitchen in a big mess. Wrong Hordak is happy to help clean it up though.

Bow knocks on Adora and Catra's bedroom door. Adora gets up quietly so that Catra can still rest. She opens the door.

"Glimmer and I are getting started on breakfast now, you guys should come down soon."
He says it happily with a warm smile.

"We'll be there."
Adora nods and returns a smile.

"Come on, Bow!"
Glimmer calls out excitedly, grabbing his hand, pulling him away from the door.

Adora closes the door and Bow and Glimmer continue down the hallway holding hands on their way to the kitchen.

Catra opens her eyes now, pretending that's what woke her up. Adora grins when she sees Catra's eyes open.

"Good morning."
Adora's eyes sparkle when she looks at Catra. She gets this warm fuzzy feeling and a sudden rush of nostalgia, remembering all the times they'd wake up together in the horde as kids.

Catra sits up and stares back at Adora sleepily.

"Morning."
She says it weakly. It's hard to get words out in the morning but she pushes herself to do it anyway because she doesn't want Adora to feel like she isn't trying to be a better person.

Adora walks over to the closet and puts her red jacket on. She's not even sure if she still likes the jacket, it's just become routine at this point. She looks into the mirror and pulls her hair back into a ponytail. Catra stays sitting up in bed staring off.

"Why aren't you getting dressed?"
Adora asks calmly with genuine curiosity. She doesn't want her words to come off accusatorily so she continues getting ready, facing away from Catra so the question is casual and doesn't feel like confrontation.

"Just...tired, I guess."
She exhales, her voice is croaky and exhausted. She pauses momentarily then continues. This time her voice is clear and steady.

"You can go, I will meet you down there."

"Okay."
Adora agrees but wonders if Catra is upset or really just is tired. Either way she wants to let Catra have her space so she leaves.

Catra waits until she can no longer hear her footsteps outside the door. She gets up and looks underneath the bed. She grabs her journal that stays hidden between the mattress and bed. She sighs as she opens it up to a new page. She grabs her pen from her night stand and begins writing.

Catra's journal:
I couldn't sleep last night. I tried so hard. I'm exhausted, it should have been easy to fall asleep. But, I kept thinking about things that I don't want to think about. The past few years have been hell. And it's over now. Am I just supposed to forget? I thought I would've been happy now. This is the life I have always dreamed of. But, I'm not happy. What if I'm never happy?

She looks at what she wrote briefly then closes her journal, blushing, ashamed of having it at all. She puts her journal and her pen back where they belong. She catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror just for a second then looks away. She gets dressed and prepares herself to go downstairs to be with everyone. She wishes Melog was with her but they were out roaming Etheria with Swift Wind. Her tail flicks around anxiously.

Just breathe.

She takes a deep breath in, opens the door, and heads out.