Lonnie and Catra have a fight; Adora intervenes in an attempt to stop them.
She gets hurt.

~~~

From the very start, Catra and Lonnie could never be described as "friends"
Friendly acquaintances, perhaps, at a push. But never real friends.

It'd started, really, as soon as Lonnie arrived. Adora was the eldest in their squadron, by a few months, but she'd been there pretty much since birth. She was two when Catra came into the barracks. The two became immediate best friends, latching onto each other quickly. Shadow Weaver was displeased to have another ward but accepted it nevertheless. Adora and Catra, the dynamic duo, grew to be the best-performing infant cadets, then junior cadets, sometimes even outperforming some of the cadets in the rank above.

Hordak decided to move some more children into Shadow Weaver's responsibilities. First was Rogelio, a hybrid lizard. He'd been scurrying around in the pipeworks and fell into one of Hordak's vats in his sanctum. Rogelio was a hybrid for one year less than Adora, though he was a lot taller and faster than her, so in theory, he could very much be older. Nobody ever asked him through. To be fair, the fact he didn't speak English contributed to that a lot. Then Kyle was moved in. A skinny, shy boy. Maybe 110 pounds soaking wet. Surprisingly, he clung to Rogelio the fastest.

Rogelio wasn't bothered by it.

Then when Adora was seven, five-year-old Lonnie was moved in. She was strong-willed and mouthy as a young girl. Hence she and Catra probably never got along. Adora tried to make Lonnie's first few nights easier, but the girl didn't take kindly to the help, and neither did Catra take kindly to the attention split.

Lonnie and Catra always sparred together in training while Adora took on Rogelio and Kyle. She'd be long done by the time the girls made any real progress. As training continued for several years, Adora would lean on her staff watching with disappointed eyes as the girls failed to get along. Adora was bumped up to squadron leader when she was fifteen after a particularly... tense... simulation.

Some dumbass had forgotten to disable the bots "kill" mode from the raids previously done. One bot burned Rogelio's chest, another went through Kyle's calf and one rendered Lonnie with a concussion. And Catra? Was nowhere to be seen. There wasn't a surprise there, but even so. It only failed to cause her further damage.

Lonnie and Adora took down the bots together, with Adora doing most of the work. Lonnie didn't take kindly to Adora taking a hit and destroying a bot that most definitely would've killed her. Whilst the instructors tried to break into the simulation room, the doors failed to open until the room was cleared of active bots.

As Adora lay in the infirmary that night with the others, resting her broken ribs, Shadow Weaver had arrived with Catra by the scuff of her neck. Adora sighed heavily, the question catching in her throat as her ribs protested. Shadow Weaver had presented Adora with a shiny badge. "For your performance in the simulation room today, Adora, Hordak has promoted you to Squadron Leader," She'd said in her sickly sweet voice. "Keep it up, and you'll be Force Captain by your sixteenth,"

Squadron Leader.
Adora.

Lonnie had screeched: "Why does she get a promotion after today!? I helped too!" Adora pretended not to be hurt. Shadow Weaver turned cooly. "You would do well to watch your tone, cadet," She'd warned. "Lest you forget, as Squadron Leader, Adora has the authority to punish you as she sees fit,"

Adora looked away when Lonnie glared at her. "And to answer your protest, cadet, it is because despite being severely injured," Adora wouldn't say severely injured per se... "She prevailed over the bots, and protected her teammates," Adora was positive the room grew colder as Shadow Weaver continued. "From what I saw, you only protected yourself! You didn't help Adora when she was wounded, neither did you attend to your fallen teammates," Adora winced as Shadow Weaver moved closer. "But- but they were dead!" Lonnie tried to defend herself. "Yes. But had you helped, perhaps they wouldn't have perished, hm?"

Their relationship was never the same after that.

~

The day after Adora's promotion was when it finally went wrong.

She was reading her book on tactical strategies when Lonnie came steaming in. "What do you do?" She asked, dropping angrily onto Adora's mattress. Adora dog-eared the page. "Huh?" Lonnie flapped her hand. "What do you do to get the treatment you get?" She asked. Adora raised her eyebrow. "Shadow Weaver loves you! She's never told you off! Or punish you! Shit, you've got Force Captain under your belt, and you ain't even eighteen yet!!" She screamed.

Adora placed the book into her lap with a soft sigh. "Believe me, Lonnie, I don't like it... she does it to drive wedges between me and everyone else," Adora began. "Look at what you're doing now. She does it to cause issues," Lonnie continued digging for an argument, despite Adora trying to placate the (understandably) angry girl.

"Hey!"

Adora groaned into the book. Lonnie spun with venomous eyes. "Catra," She seethed. "Leave her alone, Lonnie," The magicat stalked in slowly. "This ain't none of your business, Cata. Shut up and go away," Lonnie snapped.

It just kinda snowballed from there, to be honest. Realistically, Adora could've stopped the argument before it turned physical, but she didn't think to. Lonnie needed to hear what Catra was spitting, just as Catra needed to hear what Lonnie was snapping.

But then Lonnie shoved Catra back, and, well... Adora stepped in. Stupidly.

As Force Captain, she had a duty to her troops. That included bandageing them up when they needed it, or punishing them when it was required. It didn't include walking away from an argument with a broken knee.

Catra had launched herself at Lonnie, hissing and scratching. Adora lept up and began to pull them apart, screaming at them to stop. Lonnie kicked Catra in the ribs, knocking her off. Adora stepped in between the girls, holding her hands out. "I said enough!" She shouted. Lonnie either didn't hear or was too committed to her move to stop. She barreled into Adora, forcing all her weight onto Adora's left side. Adora's right knee buckled with the sudden brutal force and snapped, sending both girls to the ground.

She wasn't proud, but that was the first time Adora screamed in agony. She writhed on the ground, grabbing at the broken bone. Catra hissed at Lonnie as she helped. Adora's entire leg burned with a fire that wasn't hot. The tears that spilt burned her cheeks. "Catra," She whined. "I know, I know," The magicat purred. "Tell Shadow Weaver I'm taking her to the infirmary," She snapped. Lonnie stayed frozen. "Adora-I-I'm so so-"

"NOW LONNIE!"

The girl scrambled away from Catra's angry yell. "No, no infirmary," She whined. "Shut up. This is really bad Adora," Catra opened the barracks door. "This ain't something you can just sleep off," She wrapped an arm around Adora's shoulders, and one around her legs. "This is gonna hurt. So... don't scream,"

She didn't; Adora passed out with the pain.

~

Much later, in the infirmary, Adora dozed peacefully with Catra by her feet. The next few days passed in painful blurs. She'd come to know that Lonnie had been punished for the act; having been thrown into solitary for two days and on latrine duty for a month. Surprisingly, Catra had talked the punishment down from a lashing before the rest of the cadets.

Drugged up Adora believed it was because Catra cared for Lonnie, deep down.
Realistic Adora believed it was because Catra knew Adora would hate to see Lonnie in pain.