Adora celebrates her first birthday with the Rebellion.

~

Initially, Adora thought she'd died. She'd been peacefully asleep, dreaming of nothing for a nice change, no She-Ra stuff, no Light Hope stuff, and most importantly, no Catra stuff. She was nice and warm and overall, probably the happiest she'd ever been in her whole life. She rolled over, adjusting the eye mask Glimmer had given her, snuggling deeper into the pillow.

BANG

She shot awake, knife brandished. "Who's there?" She snapped. Upon the sounds of snickering, she lifted off the eye mask. "Surprise!!!" An array of colourfully shredded paper flew into her face with another bang. "What are you guys doing!?" She asked, sliding the knife back under the pillow. The brief energy she had faded, leaving her exhausted as she stared at her friends.

"It's your birthday!" Bow cheered another bang following his words. Adora wiped her face, taking off any shred of paper. "My what?" She yawned. "Your birthday! You're nineteen now!" Adora tried her best to not glare or throw something very heavy. "If it's my birthday-"

"Which it is," Bow chimed with a grin.

"Then why did you wake me up?! Surely I can do what I want!" Adora argued. Glimmer tutted. "You were taking too long," She shrugged. Adora glanced outside. "The moon isn't even at its high!" She argued. Glimmer shrugged again. "I like birthdays," Adora levelled her with the best deadpan glare she could. "Oh come on! You get presents and a party and cake!" The girl gushed. Adora rubbed her eyes, colours bursting behind her lids. "Get up! We've got presents for you in the mess hall!"

~

Adora, still sleep-deprived, was dragged down into the mess hall (still in her shorts and tank top, mind you) where an array of colourful food lined the sides, decorated with strangely coloured boxes. She pointed. "What're they?" Bow made a wounded sound as he dramatically collapsed. Glimmer fake fanned her eyes. "I forgot you were raised by savages," She fake cried. "They're presents, Adora. Gifts," She pushed the blonde down onto a beanbag. She thrust a box into her arms. "Open it!"

She began to peel back the layers of paper methodically... at least until Glimmer snatched the box with a whine. "No!" She cried. "You don't do it like that! You've gotta rip it off! Like this!" She proceeded to tear the paper off, discarding it to the ground. Adora watched in fond amusement. "You wanna unwrap them?" She asked. Glimmer's face switched from joy to eagerness to despondent. "No, that's your job,"

Adora made a show of ripping open the gifts, just as Glimmer had instructed. The Princess huffed at the arrogance but smiled nonetheless.

When she was done, Adora sat there, legs crossed, waiting for Glimmer's next instruction. She shrugged. "You not gonna say thank you?" Adora cleared her throat softly. "I uh... I didn't know you had to," Glimmer shrieked in fake shock. Bow slammed his hands down on the table. "Adora. We are gonna make up for every single birthday you've ever missed... all eighteen,"

~

Adora was marched back up to her room, though she wasn't sure why Glimmer wouldn't just teleport... but whatever. "Shower and get dressed! My mother wants to speak to you about your birthday, and you need to blow out the candles!" Adora understood about half of that, but she shrugged and did as Glimmer said. As the Princess had said multiple times: She'd had eighteen years of birthdays. Adora hadn't. Glimmer clearly knew what she was talking about. She finally, having put on the outfit Glimmer insisted on, made her way to the throne room. She pushed open the doors, gasping in shock.

"What happened here?" She asked, looking around. Glimmer clapped her hands, grinning from ear to ear. "We decorated! This is what a birthday party looks like!" The colourful paper from earlier was now in fuller, longer bits, hanging from the ceiling in waves. "Mom hung the high ones, but Bow and I decorated the ground stuff and filled the balloons," Adora felt tears brew in her eyes. "Guys," She whispered, rushing forward. Bow and Glimmer ran into her arms, squeezing her tightly.

A little while later, Glimmer brought out a huge cake. Like... huge. Adora gawked. Glimmer grinned sheepishly. "I may have told the chefs to make it really big..." She admitted. Bow snorted and began to laugh, swiftly followed by Adora. Angella simply stood to the side, watching in amused fascination. "Go on! Blow them out!" Glimmer cheered. Bow cleared his throat. "You need to wish first," He raised his finger, looking a lot like Lance for a moment.

Adora opened her mouth, "My wish-"

"NO!" Bow screamed. Adora jumped. "No. Your wish must be kept a secret, otherwise, it won't come true!" He exclaimed. Adora shook her head softly. She made her wish, then leaned forward to blow out the candles. Bow and Glimmer cheered loudly. "Happy birthday Adora!"

~...~...~...~...~

Three years later, Adora lay on a blanket on the balcony, Catra curled tightly into her side. "It's midnight, Dora. Happy birthday," The magicat whispered, pecking her lips softly. Adora grinned. "Bow's superstition about wishes on birthdays," Catra purred from her spot. "Yeah? What's that?" Adora sighed into the starry night sky. "Apparently if you say your wish out loud, it won't come true," She said. Catra snorted. Adora lightly slapped her shoulder. "Well, regardless of what you think," She poked her bare shoulder. "It worked,"

Catra sighed softly, and Adora could feel the eyeball. "And what did you wish for?"

Adora smiled to herself. "For this,"

Catra snorted. "You sap," Adora fake gasped. "Are you saying you don't want us? Ugh, how rude!" She dramatically turned onto her side. Catra's arm snaked around, curling around her swollen bump. "No, I think you're all money suckers," She whispered into Adora's shoulder. The blonde scoffed. "Nice. Hear that, baby? Mom doesn't want us," She huffed dramatically. Catra's hand clipped the back of her head with a chuckle. "Don't go telling our son lies already. At least let him be born first,"

Adora rolled back onto her back, laughing softly. Catra kept her arm around her swollen bump, purring to the baby inside. He kicked. Adora grinned at Catra's suspiciously wet eyes. "And you called me a sap,"

She was slapped.