She tossed and turned restlessly in her four poster bed, her silky auburn hair unbound and flowing on her soft feather pillows, her dainty pink cheeks pressed against the purple pillow she hugged so tightly across her chest. The little wine she drank to help her sleep was not at all helpful to give her a dreamless, peaceful slumber she longed for. Her semi conscious state were haunted by those piercing blue eyes, the color of the sky in a summer's day, his aristocratic handsome features that seem to look more and more disarming each day. She reached out to brush her fingers to his golden mane as she drowned in his boyish grin that often tugged at her heart but as her red polished fingers touched him, he vanished and Teela sat up from bed gasping for air.

She looked at her clock and saw it was only 4 in the morning. She had three hours before it was time to resume her duties as Captain of the Guards of the Royal Palace. She sighed and blew a strand of her curly red hair that fell across her face. Curse that Prince Adam. Why is he plaguing my dreams for the last couple of days? We are only friends. He is the crowned prince and I am nothing but his trainor and protector in the eyes of Ethernia.

Since it was a warm night she had foregone her wrap and went straight to palace kitchen to get a glass of water. She needed to shake off those dreams about Adam. She had often times reprimanded him that he needed to be more responsible, needed to take his fighting lessons more seriously, and often times he just laughed and didn't mind her scolding, and dissaproval of his charming but easygoing nature. Until that fateful day... a few days back when she was especially hard on him for she was getting disconcerted with the growing feelings she was developing for him. She tried to stop herself, told herself it was all wrong, he was the prince and she would only be heading for a heart-break, but those inexplicable feelings led her to be quite hurtful and told him why couldn't he fight like He-Man when he was the crowned prince that should be protecting his planet. She saw the somewhat brief change in the look in his eyes, and then she was surprised that he dispalyed combat moves, and defences that she'd never seen him use before. He out maneuvered her, and flipped her as though she was not the skillful warrior she was. She ended up flat on her back on the courtyard, with his full weight atop hers as he grinned down at her, "Well, my captain Teela, does that meet your approval?"

With all her strength she tried to push him away from her, tried to free herself from his embrace but to her astonishment it was futile. She would have flared up in humiliation at the display of her helplessness in the courtyard if it weren't for her awareness of the every muscular inch of his form so intimately pressed against her.

She couldn't breathe, not because he was heavy, surprisingly he felt ever so gentle against her but she could feel his breathe on her cheeks, and she could see herself in the pool of his blue eyes. She tried to look away, afraid that he would read her feelings in her eyes.

She wanted to bite his head off with a retort but she couldn't come up with any witty remark.

"Adam, perhaps, Teela has had enough combat training with you for the day."

Man-at-Arms's fatherly voice interrupted them, and before either of them could reply, he was directly beside them, his arm outstretched to help her daughter up from the ground. Adam had no choice but to get his weight off Teela.

Adam gave Man-at-Arms a boyish grin with a touch of embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Duncan, I must have gotten carried away," he said as he held out his hand to pull up Teela on her other hand.

Teela pulled her weight up as she held his father and Adam's hand. She haughtily brushed off the dust from her legs and her warrior aoutfit. "He just caught me off guard is all."

Man-at-Arms smiled at both of them. "Oh, Adam, you really must be careful now. You used to wrestle with Teela a lot when you were just children but remember you're both grown up now, you're a man of twenty five years and you might end up hurting her," he reminded gently.

"Don't you worry about me, father. How can he hurt me when I'm a better fighter than he is," said Teela.

She hoped her father couldn't see her flush of embarrassment at having been caught in such an intimate position with Adam. Why was she suddenly reacting to Adam this way? It's not suddenly, you've been fighting it the seven years.

Suddenly it was like she was back in the courtyard again... or was she still dreaming?

The next thing she knew Adam in his pajamas was so close... shaking her shoulders gently as she was leaning on the kitchen cupboard, her furry slippers soaked and the kitchen floor wet.

She gasped as she came back to relaity. Adam took the pitcher of water the overflowing glass of water from her hands and putting on the table.

"Teela! Teela! Are you okay? You have a far-away look in your eyes. You didn't feel the over flowing water drip on the floor?"

She felt her face turn crimson as she became aware how soaked her gown was and it was clinging to her skin. To save her from further embarrassment, Adam immediately took off his pajama top and draped it around her before he took some kitchen towels to wipe the floor.

"I...I... didn't know you're still awake," uttered Teela.

"I'm sorry, I must have been sleep-walking..."

"I couldn't sleep. There were things I had to attend to. I heard your bedroom door open and I followed you here. I better talk to Duncan to take some work off your load. You must be working too hard..."

"No! I'm fine, really," protested Teela as she tightened her hold the enormous pajama top that engulfed her.

"Why do I keep finding you both in such compromising situations," said Duncan in wry amusement.

"Father, No! It's not what you think?" protested Teela.

Man-at-Arms tried to hide his amusement and sound stern, "How do you know what I was thinking? You're dressed in Adam's clothes... he is naked... well partially naked..."

"I'm dressed beneath, Father..."

"Go to your room. It's almost dawn and the kitchen maids will be up in a few minutes. They can clean up."

Without a word, without looking at her father Teela ran back to her room.

"Well, Adam, if I don't know you like I do, I would have suspected something illicit going on between you and my daughter..."

"There's none, I assure you, Duncan. She is like a sister to me. I would never comrpomise her."

"I will take your word for that, Adam," said Man-at-Arms.