Work Text:
Despite warnings about Horde attacks, Bow was not afraid to walk alone in the forest. He grew up in Bright Moon after all… this was his home, and he knew every raspberry bush, every broken log, every mysteriously yellow creek. So when his dads got into their academic stupors, holed up in the family library Bow would sneak out and explore. And that’s how he found himself, one night, by the Bright Moon castle.
Anyone else might turn back now – if the tall guards with pointed spears meant anything – but Bow knew there was nothing to be afraid of. After all he grew up in Bright Moon, and in this castle, lived his Queen. Queen Angella was known to be beautiful and benevolent, and if she happened to find Bow wandering around that evening, she would surely greet him with the utmost friendliness. (She didn’t find him that night).
Bow, being just tiny and enough and quiet enough to sneak around without drawing suspicion, circled the castle, searching for an unguarded door, or maybe a window he could crawl into. From the periphery of the castle, the windows were all a lot higher than he thought they’d be. Big magnificent spires reached out and poked the sky, all surrounding what seemed be a light source emitting such a powerful glow it rivaled the sun. He longed to be closer to it. It felt comfortable, familiar, like he’d somehow been here before.
He sat down in the dirt, using a nearby twig to draw schematics for a contraption that would allow him to climb his way up one of these towers, when suddenly, something exploded over his head. He ducked quickly, scampering under a nearby tree, and scanned the area. It didn’t take long to notice the sparkles descending carelessly to the ground. He followed the trail up and saw the nearest window to him was emitting light, and occasionally, the light would build and burst into a small explosion, little bits of sparkle and fairy dust falling short after. It must be a fairy, he presumed, because Bright Moon is full of magic, even though Bow hadn’t seen any himself, he knew it was all around him (those were his favorite of his Dads' stories, when they took a break from perpetual motion theories and wandered into the realm of magic – the force that defies all laws of the natural universe).
Now that his fear had worn off, Bow longed to be closer to the source of the magic. He was midway through weaving several vines together into a long rope when another explosion happened, this time followed by a scream, and something round and purple fell into the bush in front of him. Bow gingerly approached it.
“Um… hi?” The crack in his voice betrayed his nervousness. He wrung his hands together. “Um… hello? Are you… what are you?”
The purple thing rolled around a bit, and then he saw it had arms and legs, and a face! His eyes flit from the purple bruise to the lilac eyes to the magic dust that was tumbling off lilac hair.
“Owww.”
Then Bow noticed the tears.
“Oh no… no, hey… its okay.” He instinctively put his arms around her, and to his surprise, she hugged him back. He began stroking down the back of her neck, the way his dads would do to him when he was hurt. “Are you okay? What’s your name?”
“Gl-Glimmer,” she wailed. She clutched at Bow’s shirt and sobbed carelessly into his shoulder. He was thankful for the few inches she had on her; it made it easier to cradle her head.
“What hurts?”
“Everything!”
“Can I see?”
He heard some sniffling, and Glimmer slowly extricated herself from Bow’s arms. Her whole face was flushed pink now, and her bruise was almost black, which contrasted with her near bioluminescent skin.
“This looks… kind of bad. Should we get your dad?”
At that Glimmer wails harder. This finally alerts the local guards and before Bow can think to do anything about it, Glimmer is swept away from him and after waiting there -stunned- for a minute, he decides its time to go back home.
The next time he goes to the castle he does meet the Queen. He’s perfected his bow and arrow design and was intent on showing Glimmer. He was going to use it to scale the castle walls, but it turns out Glimmer can teleport! That’s what she was trying to practice the night Bow found her. Her bruise was completely gone, though she complained that her cheek got fatter. Bow didn’t quite see it, but he nodded anyway.
She eyed him seriously for a bit, and Bow realized that though he had gotten a good look of Glimmer the other night, she hadn’t quite gotten a look at him. He felt suddenly self-conscious. His dads always told him that appearances weren’t as important as heart, and friendship, and passion (but that all their children were beautiful regardless). Bow knew this deep down, so he wasn’t feeling particularly insecure, but he was feeling something, if the sweat pooling at the base of his neck was any indication.
After a few minutes of Glimmer circling Bow like a dog, she finally perked up. “I really like your shirt! It has a heart on it!”
“Oh yeah. It does.” He looks down at his tunic, and tugs at the hem so it’s a little loose from his pants. He likes feeling the air flow through the bottom (his dads always tuck it back it when he goes home).
“Okay well, I can teleport you inside if you want,” Glimmer declares.
Bow grins. “Okay! Lets do it!”
Glimmer grabs Bow by both arms and squeezes her eyes shut. Bow’s heart skips in anticipation. After a few seconds Glimmer groans and lets her hands drop to her side.
“Ugh, this always happens!” Tears form in her eyes. “Why can’t I do it?”
Bow steps closer to her again, and wraps his arms around her. ‘That’s okay! You’ll get it! Maybe you’re forgetting a step. Or maybe you need to say a magic spell or something?”
“That’s not it!” Glimmer shoves him away. “I just have to concentrate really hard, and then I can teleport wherever I want. My mom can do it, and she said I can do it too. Or… well… I’m supposed to do it, but sometimes…” a tear slips out, and watching it take a few seconds to curve over the apple of her cheek, Bow thinks maybe her cheeks are exceptionally pudgy.
“Its okay,” he says again. “I get mad when stuff I make doesn’t work too. We just have to take a break, and then try again! I know you can figure it out!”
Glimmer looks up at him with wide eyes. “You really think I can do it?”
“I know you can!”
Glimmer pulls him into a hug again. “I’m sorry I pushed you,” she mumbles into his shoulder. Bow can’t help but laugh. He wants to pat her back, and reassure her, but she’s squeezing him so tight, and suddenly he can’t feel his hand anymore, and suddenly, they’re falling into a river.
As Bow struggles to stand up he hears Glimmer’s triumphant cry.
“I did it!”
And then-
“-Princess Glimmer! What is the meaning of all of this?!”
Even though Glimmer says she can’t remember when they first met (“it’s like I’ve known you my whole life!”) Bow secretly treasures the time Glimmer came tumbling down into his life when they were kids. He had always been unafraid; his dads taught him that nothing exists without a reason, and if you could find out the reason for stuff happening, it often made it less scary. But when he met Glimmer, for the first time, he felt brave. Because the way his heart shook when she cried on his shoulder, and the way he forced his hands to remain steady, that took something in him he didn’t realize he had.
So now when Glimmer laughs it off, as Angella asks her again to remind her when she and Bow first met, Bow tucks a small smile away just over his shoulder. They’re having a lovely afternoon eating castella cakes and tea before Angella’s evening war meetings. Before they finish up Glimmer begins her usual argument, insisting Angella include the reigning Princess of Bright Moon to the war meeting. As usual, Angella fervently disagreed.
“Ugh! Mom! How can you do this? I’m the Princess of Bright Moon, I should be there! Other princesses go!”
“Glimmer, I said no. You are far too young-“
“-you’re always saying that. But what does it matter when the rebellion is dwindling in size and we’ve lost contact with another kingdom?”
“What? Where did you hear that?”
At that Bow’s ears started to get hot. He rubbed behind his neck, thanking his complexion for masking his blush.
“Nevermind where I heard it-“
-phew-
“-the point is, I’m right and you can’t keep ignoring me and shutting me out!”
“Glimmer! That’s enough! I won’t hear another word of this-“
“-yeah ignore me like you always do. Just pretend I don’t exist. You might as well go and tell people you don’t even have a daught-“
“-Princess Glimmer”
Bow sat up straight in his chair and Glimmer did the same. The tension in the air was palpable. Bow tried to focus on the sounds of the indoor waterfall, the peaceful river that flowed in and out of the castle atriums. He didn’t dare look over at Glimmer, but he thought he could hear her sniffle once. Angella stood up and left without another word.
Bow waited until the door shut to get up and comfort Glimmer. He hadn’t even fully lifted his arms before she clutched his sides and pulled their bodies close together. “She h-hates me!”
Bow felt his heart start to shake. Using one hand to press Glimmer’s head tight to his chest, he took the other to lace their fingers together. “She doesn’t hate you,” he tried to say as calmly as possible. He always got nervous when Glimmer cried. Maybe it was because she had no filter; she didn’t try to disguise it the way his siblings did, clenching their jaws shut and hiding their tears behind their hands. He wondered if it was maybe an extension of her powers, that every time she laughed he wanted to laugh too, and every time she cried, he wanted to cry too.
“Hey… hey!” Glimmer grabbed Bow’s chin and squinted through her tears at his face. “Are… are you… crying?”
“No…” Bow whimpered.
Either Glimmer had exhausted her own tears, or she was simply fascinated by Bow’s, she stopped crying entirely and placed both hands on Bow’s cheeks, wiping them instead of her own.
“I’m… I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I always put you in situations like this.”
“Its okay.”
Glimmer shook her head.
“Do you want to go play teleport and seek?”
“Okay.”
She reached for his hand and squeezed tightly, dragging them out the door without another word.
(Glimmer was a little brusque, and a little too open, and very loud, and sometimes annoying, but she was also super nice. And if Bow was feeling sad -and he rarely even knew that he was- she would change all of a sudden, taking his head into her tiny hands and making him feel bigger than the whole world. He wondered if he made her feel that way too. Everything with Glimmer was always grand and new.)
Its not that Bow doesn’t have other friends, but Glimmer is kind of his best friend. He’s not afraid to say it. She whispers it to him one night, when he’s sleeping over in her room, and she sounds kind of choked up about it, so he answers back quickly,
“you’re my best friend too.”
At that Glimmer smiles, and he likes to see her smile, so he scoots a little closer to her on the bed (over the course of an hour they had inched closer and closer on Glimmer’s pool-sized bed until there were only a couple throw pillows between them). They just watch each other for a moment, then Glimmer clears her throat and looks away suddenly.
“Hmm?”
“You’re… you’re actually my only friend.”
For once Bow is stumped. Glimmer doesn’t look back up at him, instead focusing on a loose thread in her blanket, and picking at it relentlessly.
Bow knows what its like to have few friends. His dads were so worried about him simply walking out of the house, he didn’t even get to meet a boy or girl that wasn’t his sibling until he was 8 (until saw Glimmer fall into the honeysuckle bush). He knew what it was like to be 11, and feel like your parents just don’t get you, and like you’d rather just run away from them and be somewhere else, with someone else, doing something else. He knew what it was like to be 13, and have a crush, and spend hours waiting by the cliffside to watch the boats dock in the afternoon, and catch a swath of jet black hair, mussed up from a heavy pirate’s hat sitting on it all day. He knows what its like to go home and write in your journal about the boy who can sing a shanty so energetically it makes you bounce on your toes from your hiding spot 15 feet away.
He remembers Glimmer, and tries to catch her eye, but she’s still not looking at him. He suddenly feels that thing, that heart shake, but its heavier, like someone with metal fingers are gripping it too tight. He wants to get rid of it, but every minute spent in silence makes it sink in deeper. He just wants Glimmer to look at him.
They don’t talk much for the rest of the night. Glimmer gathers up her cloud pillows and squeezes her eyes shut, and doesn’t open them again for as long as Bow can remember. The next time he sees her eyes again is that morning, when she tries smothering him with the blankets.
“You’re so annoying,’ she says, though a grin is on her face. Despite the comforter and sheets threatening to suffocate him, he feels like he can finally breathe.
“You snored all night!”
Finally joining the Rebellion wasn’t what Bow thought it would be. He thought he would get armor and a cape, and a Rebellion issue weapon. Instead he used the bows and arrow he had been developing since childhood. And instead of joining an army force, he was sneaking out with Glimmer just like he had been doing since childhood. The only difference is that now, there was Adora.
He had never met someone so confused about being good. She always seemed to have her heart in the right place, but couldn’t get the rest of herself to follow. It happened one clunky step at a time, introducing her to parties, and hugs, and sleepovers. And then suddenly, just like Glimmer used to say, they just became best friends. He almost couldn’t recall the moment they met (almost … a glowing girl with a sword is kind of hard to forget). When Adora was snort laughing into a bowl of Plumerian delicacy, it felt like he’d known her all his life.
Bow loved Bright Moon, it was his home after all, and he’d never been scared of it, and now he wasn’t scared of protecting it. Coming up with war strategies (and custom Best Friend Squad mini-models) was fun and exciting. He finally felt useful. He felt seen. He might not have been prepared for the unicorn, the crazy cat girl, and the constant near death experiences, but he was dealing with it. At least… he could deal with it when it was just himself.
(Being a part of the Best Friend Squad, however, meant that there was always someone else.)
Now there were two someone else’s Bow had to worry about all the time and it felt like they never ever gave his heart a break. Worse, besides worrying about them constantly, Bow had to deal for the first time with feeling a little ignored (a little betrayed). Bow had never had a serious argument with a friend, but when Glimmer was having an emotional meltdown at the Princess Prom, and nearly ruining their whole plan, Bow fumed with a rage he didn’t know he could conjure up.
(Even when she apologized later, it left a bruise on his heart he always felt anytime he looked at her).
Still, they had to press on. There wasn’t a chance to dwell on petty feelings when the threat of the Horde grew ever stronger. Adora was derailing, trying to take on more responsibility than she should, and Glimmer and Angella’s fued was reaching new peaks.
(Still. Bow could not have prepared himself for what would happen next.)
Things with Glimmer were always grand and new. Being the royal consorts to an official coronation ceremony for his best friend was something Bow didn’t think he’d ever experience in his life (at least… not so soon).
Glimmer hadn’t cried as much as Bow thought she would. For someone he knew by the sound of her cries, her loud desperate wails at the injustice of being grounded, or her excited happy shrieks at discovering a loophole to a stupid rule, Glimmer was not the kind of person to stay quiet about her emotions. Bow was begging her, any chance he could, for Glimmer to take a break, and hopefully, talk about some of her feelings.
Every time she would squeeze his hand, and give him this little head shake that meant “not now”.
(And how could Bow know that meant “not ever”?)
After everything that happened, Bow had no delusions about his capabilities. War was messy, and though he was proud to fight for what he believed in, he couldn’t fathom everything he had lost. He barely had a second to grieve over Angella when suddenly Glimmer was being snatched away from him as well.
He tried to warn her. He grits his teeth, and works on triangulating Horde Prime’s ship. She should have trusted in him. He slams his fist on the control panel.
“Hey, Bow, its okay.” Adora comes over and places a warm hand on his shoulder. He places his own hand over it. ‘Take a break… Entrapta can work alone for a few minutes.”
Bow wants to resist, because even though he’s tired, he knows this is the only thing he can bear to think about (everything else going through his mind is pretty grim). Adora squeezes his shoulder once, as if reading his mind, and tells him to sit down in the captain’s chair.
He ambles over in defeat, feeling his body sink down into it as if it were one of Bright Moon’s fluffy mattresses. Again he grits his teeth; clenches his fists.
Vaguely he wonders about the infinity of space. He used to dream about going to space so long ago. One time Glimmer promised to transport them both there -once, when they were still young- and Bow got so excited he kissed her on the cheek. She giggled and hugged him and Bow got so excited thinking they were going right then. Turns out it was just a hug. (He misses just hugs.)
Bow knows that holding a grudge isn’t productive, but he’s also never been one to hold his emotions back. Neither has Glimmer. Its been hard to ignore her puppy dog eyes, silently pleading with him every time they walked together in silence. She wanted him to forgive her. Bow didn’t even know what he was supposed to forgive.
Forgive her for trusting Shadow Weaver?
Forgive her for trying to harness the heart?
He knew all these things were not completely her fault. Shadow Weaver was manipulating her, Adora said so herself.
And Glimmer tried to stop herself in the end, but it wasn’t something that could be easily reversed.
If it were anybody else, maybe, Bow would have forgiven them easier. Everything is hard, its been hard for a long time, and everyone could use a little empathy. (But still.)
“Wrong Hordak,” she says. “I bet he knows a lot about cooking!” Bow watches Glimmer whisk away Wrong Hordak on some unnecessary task, and after Adora leaves too he finally groans into his hands. Why did everything have to be like this? They got Glimmer back, they even got Catra (Bow is still on the fence about this decision). Why was everything still so hard?
He thinks back to when he was a kid -he can’t help himself for remembering- because little kid Bow would’ve been so excited to be in space. He would have been so excited to see other planets, and stars, and to pilot an actual spacecraft that was going to save all of Bright Moon!
He groans again and pinches the bridge of his nose. He knows being mad at Glimmer won’t help the team; it especially won’t help him concentrate, when he’s constantly still worried about her (and she’s constantly still getting herself into trouble).
Bow toys with the config and runs over his estimated arrival calculations once again. Bright Moon was his home; the place he loved; the place he was proud to defend, and it would never be the same place he knew again.
Bright Moon shined brighter than it ever had before. All of Etheria had a new glow about it. Even though Adora claimed she didn’t know exactly what she did, everyone agreed that it felt like the light of She-Ra was watching over them. They felt comforted; protected. Bow sighed with relief as he glanced up at the sky; so after all this time, some things actually do the stay the same.
Glimmer had her hair neatly coiffed -she decided to keep it short- and was testing different bracelets while Bow waited leaning against the door frame of her room. Bow’s eyes would wander aimlessly between the big open windows, the billowing curtains, the waterfall, Glimmer, clattering around at her vanity.
Just as she pricks herself with an earring Bow laughs. “Hurry up,” he nods at her, “we’re going to be late.”
Glimmer doesn’t start moving any faster, and Bow is content to just stand there and watch her a little bit longer.
It had only been a month after the war finally ended, but Bow felt like a century of time had passed.
As if on cue, Catra scurried past him, followed by Adora wielding a hairbrush in one hand and a rubberband in another.
“Guys help! Adora is trying to torture me!”
Bow watched the scene unravel with amusement. Glimmer remained unfazed at her vanity, finally settling on the right earring/bracelet combination, while Catra had somehow leapt onto the awning, and Adora was hurriedly trying to fashion a lasso out of Glimmer’s bedsheets to yank her down.
“Okay that’s enough guys-“
“-no-“
“-hey!-“
Glimmer quickly teleported to both Adora and Catra and dumped them in a pile at the foot of Glimmer’s bed.
“Come on guys,” she said, with a little twinkle in her eye, “we’re going to be late!”
She walks over to Bow and molds herself into his arms instantly.
“That’s what I said,” he whispers into her hair.
“Shh, lets pretend I said it first.”
They both giggle, and Adora and Catra -already engaged in their game of tag once again- flurry around them.
Bow knew Bright Moon would be forever changed, but he didn’t realize how he would change with it. He didn’t ever think he’d be living in the castle, with Glimmer, not as her royal consort, or royal “best friend” but as her boyfriend. He would get his own crest. Their wardrobe would all be designed to match. He wouldn’t have to worry about sleeping too close to her on her bed. And he would be so so happy.