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She hadn't seen Catra in a while. Maybe it was for the best.
After the Portal she convinced herself that she had made her choice and she wouldn't come back to the side of good with her. That the only thing she could do now was stop her, and the only way she should treat her was like someone she couldn't allow to hurt any more people.
It didn't mean she could just shut her feelings for her off. But she was She-Ra and it was her responsibility to protect Etheria, a responsibility no one else would be able to carry out. Which meant it was only up to her to stop Catra. So she had to push those feelings down.
Even if what defecting Scorpia said about Shadow Weaver was true, even if she knew all too well how that woman could mess up someone's head. She would still have to stop her. She couldn't be distracted.
But in all that time she only had to face Catra a total of... one time. Double Trouble confessed to the Valley of the Lost encounter under the influence of Glimmer's spell - she learned that from a guard who'd overheard it. So that wasn't her.
And then Catra just sort of... disappeared. Hordak emerged at the front of the Horde's advance, leading the armies that were always his, ravaging the coastal towns and becoming their main problem, the one she had to stop.
And now... she was no longer She-Ra. It was no longer her who had the fate of the entire planet resting on her shoulders, being responsible for everyone's safety. She became just one of the people who were still fighting against the Horde, but if she were to fail it would no longer result in all of them failing.
She just... didn't matter that much anymore. Especially when it came to fighting against the Galactic Horde - the clones made anything Catra and even Hordak had done look like child's play, simply dropping on them from the sky and taking Brightmoon in a breeze, forcing them to hide in the woods and resort to guerilla tactics.
What could Catra be doing now that they were here? Was she still somewhere there with them? Was she still... alive? Still plotting? It didn't seem like they would even need her, not with how effective they were. It felt like Catra... didn't matter that much either.
It was like now there was distance.
And Etheria wouldn't crumble if a simple blonde girl who was no longer a powerful magical being would allow herself to try to sort out how she felt about someone who used to be her best friend.
She didn't expect that how she felt would burst out in a flood when Catra's voice came on the radio on Darla's bridge.
*
Horde Prime could see right through her. She wasn't sure how, but he could. He could read both her and the sparkly Princess like an open book, like one of those ridiculous Mermystery novels.
He foiled her plan of making herself useful by supplying the super weapon information right away, manipulating Sparkles into pouring it all out.
He manipulated her just as easily. When the feed cut off, purposely not allowing her to see how Adora's battle with the bots ended, she did feel... something.
One thing was clear - Horde Prime wasn't someone who she'd be able to manipulate or swindle, or take down like she did Shadow Weaver or Hordak. He really did see all. Everything here, all the clones, is was all him. There would be no "making her way up" here as she hoped to. He made it clear to her - the only reason he kept her around was so he could use her, she was nothing other than that. He just left her to aimlessly wander around - she was his prisoner, even if she wasn't confined.
That's why she kept coming back to Glimmer despite his wishes - it no longer mattered what she would do, if she would rise up to his expectations or not.
That, and because the Princess was the only one on this ship that wasn't him, somewhere where she could feel like she wasn't constantly in his presence. She was the only one here who felt sort of... similar to her, something from home, a presence that made her feel less alone. Even if she was the last person she would want to talk to.
There was not much else left to do.
There wasn't even Adora to blame.
Because it wasn't Adora who opened the Portal and made it possible to contact Horde Prime, it was her. Sure, Sparkles contributed to him swooping down on them so quickly. But she wouldn't if she didn't. Adora wasn't to blame for where she was.
And now, when there was no longer anyone she had to prove anything to, no struggle to come out on top, no task to perform to save herself from being suffocated or battle to be won to give meaning to everything she had done, and no one left to blame but herself, she could finally... just think.
That maybe Adora wasn't to blame for other things she blamed her for either. For not being her friend.
She wondered what Adora was doing now. She hoped she was still alive.
She was surprised that when Sparkles mentioned her she felt that... she missed her. She could let herself just remember the good things now, what the two of them used to have. Knowing that she lost that.
She didn't expect that when Horde Prime offered to give her a meaning, to become useful to him, she wouldn't be able to convince herself to go through with it, even if he made it clear what would happen if she disobeys. Somehow, it was no longer more important than Adora.
She didn't expect to sacrifice herself to save her.