Teela's eyes widened when the Wind Raider landed and she saw who had arrived to help.
"Queen Marlena?"
Marlena smiled at Teela's obvious shock. "Close your mouth, dear. This spell Skeletor has placed on He-Man is very strong, and there aren't very many of us who can resist it."
"When we see him, we have to focus on all of the good things we know about him," Duncan said. "The spell works to make us think of every little thing about He-Man we don't like, real or imagined, and magnifies it into hatred."
"What's not to like?" asked Teela, honestly stumped.
"Let's not go into that, it'll only make our task harder," her father said shortly. He'd always hoped Teela and Adam would end up together, but now that it was close to happening, he just didn't feel ready for it, especially since Teela didn't know the truth yet. "Teela, you, Orko, and I will have to go in and hold off the guards while Battle Cat and Queen Marlena find He-Man and free him. This isn't going to be easy."
"Wait a minute," Marlena interjected. "I have an idea. It could be risky, but…"
He-Man came to again with shouts reverberating in his ears.
"Hurry up, Skeletor!" It sounded like Teela. "I can't wait to be rid of him for good!"
"I want to be the one to kill him!" echoed another voice. Duncan's?
"Not until after I get my chance to beat him up!" Orko!
He-Man squeezed his eyes shut tight and took a deep breath. Could they really have come to kill him? Had even these three, two of whom knew his secret, betrayed him? I don't believe it. It can't be true.
Skeletor appeared at the door to the cell, laughing in his maniacal way. "He-Man, I have some visitors for you. I'm afraid they aren't here to comfort you, though." He unlocked the door and motioned the others in. He-Man couldn't see who was there from his position on the table. "But I'm a fair man, He-Man. I'll give you a chance to defend yourself, even though I know you won't risk harming your friends." With a wave of his havoc staff, He-Man's bonds were gone. He-Man sat up, and to his surprise, Skeletor even threw his Power Sword to him. "I'm going to enjoy watching this!"
He-Man stood and caught the sword. He looked over to the door to see Teela, Duncan, Orko, Battle Cat, and Queen Marlena all there, weapons in hand. His eyes widened in disbelief and fear. With the exception of his father and sister, all those he loved most dearly were present. Their faces were stone masks of hatred, but Skeletor was right. He-Man would never risk hurting any of them, even in self-defense. Feeling dizzy from the loss of blood and the emotional turmoil he was experiencing, he dropped his sword and stepped back. Skeletor cackled again and turned to the group outside the cell.
"Have at him, my good people. I'll wait here to enjoy the show," he coaxed, planning to lock them all in the cell. Duncan entered, but as Teela walked past Skeletor, she suddenly turned and snatched his havoc staff. At the same time, Battle Cat knocked the villain to the ground with a roar.
"Argh!" Skeletor cried. He had been overconfident in the spell, he realized angrily. "You tricked me! But you won't get away! I'll have every guard down here in seconds!" With that, he transported himself out of the room.
"He-Man quickly!" Duncan urged, handing him the Power Sword.
He-Man raised it and called, "By the power of Grayskull!" The magic came upon him again, healing his wounds and restoring his strength. "I have the power!"
"That's better," he said. He started towards the door of the cell to help Teela and Battle Cat with the robot guards who had already arrived, but stopped in shock. Marlena stood there, watching him with an understanding smile.
"Mo—Queen Marlena," he stammered. Duncan slipped out the door to help the others.
"Well," she said a bit dryly. "That explains why you're usually so healthy. Why, in spite of all you do, I've never seen a single injury on you." She walked forward and hugged him tightly. "No spell of hatred can make a mother hate her son. I'm so glad you're all right. I love you," she whispered in his ear.
His arms went around his mother, and he felt as if a physical burden had lifted. She knew. He'd suspected that, but there was some relief in having it confirmed.
"I have to help the others," he said quietly. She nodded with a smile. Now that she "officially" knew, she looked forward to watching him in action.
She wasn't disappointed. In addition to the robots, Skeletor had returned with Whiplash and Trap Jaw, and their friends had their hands full. He-Man practically roared out of the cell, smashing into one robot with his fist, which flew back and took five others with it. He kicked another, sending that one straight into Trap Jaw.
Teela didn't know how He-Man had recovered so quickly, but she was delighted to see him back in fighting form. His entrance renewed her own lagging strength, and she managed to blast a few more robots before she and Duncan were surrounded. Then Battle Cat leaped in from the side and took out half of them, and father and daughter sliced through the others with their swords, getting some help from Queen Marlena, who managed to bash in a few robots with a club. Teela was relieved the queen was still unharmed. Orko wandered around, happily turning the robot's cutters and lasers to flowers and water.
Whiplash went for He-Man's head, but He-Man caught his tail with ease. "It's not nice to hit people from behind, Whiplash," he said lightly. He swung the creature around, and let go, sending him back into Trap Jaw, who had just risen to his feet.
Teela saw Skeletor raise his hand to blast He-Man with his magic. He-Man was just starting to turn; he wouldn't see him in time. She reacted as she had been trained to do, not thinking of the consequences, knowing only that someone she loved was in danger.
"Teela, no!" He-Man shouted as she threw herself in front of him. She took the brunt of the blast, and it knocked her into his arms. They fell to the ground together.
"Teela!" her father gasped.
Orko was livid. "You hurt Teela!" He put all his power into his magic and fired at Skeletor, who was caught by surprise. He disappeared with the blast.
"Is she…" Duncan was afraid to ask. He-Man shook his head quickly, climbing to his feet with her in his arms.
"I think she's just stunned, Duncan. But maybe we should get her to Grayskull to be sure."
Marlena's eyes were wide. It had all happened so fast..."Orko, what did you do to Skeletor?" she asked suddenly.
Orko froze. "Uh, I'm not sure. I just wanted him to go away."
"Hopefully we won't be seeing him for a while," He-Man said as he led the way out of Snake Mountain.
Teela was waking up by the time they reached the Wind Raider.
"What happened?" she asked, holding her head. He-Man placed her gently in the flyer.
"You took a stun beam meant for me," he told her. Duncan and Marlena, and even Orko, held back, sensing the two of them were barely registering anyone else's presence. "Thank you for doing that."
"Just doing my job," she joked lightly.
"What?" Her job was to protect Adam, not him.
"It's all in the training. Someone I care for was in trouble. I didn't stop to think, I just reacted," she explained. "I couldn't stand by and let Skeletor hurt you."
He-Man squatted down to look her in the eye. "Better me than one of my best friends. Please don't place yourself in danger on my account, Teela."
Teela stared at him, wide-eyed. Better I should die than my best friend. "A-Adam said almost the same thing a few weeks ago." For a moment, she saw Adam in the man before her, then her head seemed to get fuzzy.
He-Man nearly bit his tongue. He had tried to temper the words so she wouldn't pick up on it, or would think it merely a coincidence. Obviously he shouldn't have said anything at all. Fortunately, he could tell that even though she was thinking of him and Adam, the idea that they were the same person was just too much for her to fully comprehend. The Sword of Power's protection over He-Man would not allow her to make the connection...yet.
"Duncan," he called, straightening up. "Since Teela seems to be okay, I'd like to escort the queen back to the palace. She and I have some things to discuss."
Duncan nodded. "Of course, He-Man. Teela and I will take the Wind Raider back. The Attack Trak is over that way, just beyond that rise." He walked past the hero, and He-Man heard him say teasingly, "Chicken!"
"Hey, what about me?" Orko asked.
"You can ride with us, Orko," Duncan called. Then he slapped his hand to his head. "What do we do about the spell that was placed on He-Man?"
The Sorceress' image appeared before them. "Have no fear, Man-at-Arms. His friends' willingness to risk anything for him, including death, has broken the spell. Love has conquered hate, as it always will." She faded away, and He-Man breathed a sigh of relief. His head suddenly spun, and he grabbed hold of the Wind Raider's wing to steady himself.
"He-Man, are you okay?" Marlena asked. A smile tugged at his mouth. She always was the first one to ask, even before today.
"I'm all right, Your Majesty," he said. His gaze darted towards Teela, and Marlena understood to say no more. As they walked off together, He-Man found himself feeling a little nervous around his mother, now that she openly knew his identity.
"Do you want to change back into Adam, or whatever you do, before we leave?" Marlena asked him, sounding a bit off-center herself.
He-Man shook his head as they walked towards the Attack Trak. "I can't. Normally I have no side effects, but today was a strain on my body. Grayskull's power heals my wounds and restores my strength, but as Adam, that strength leaves me. I'll be exhausted, and I don't want to sleep on the way home. I'd like to talk with you."
"So that's why you're always napping," Marlena concluded. He nodded. She glanced over at Battle Cat. "I still can't believe you're Cringer, though. Why is that Grayskull's power changes Cringer's personality, but not yours, He-Man?"
Startled, he replied, "But it does change me. It gives me greater wisdom and understanding, and more confidence."
Marlena shook her head. "You already have those in great supply, son. And as you showed a few weeks ago, you also have an iron will. Your leadership skills come out when you're not trying to fool everyone." He-Man could feel his face redden. "I'm amazed that no one has picked up on this other than me."
"My sword protects my identity," he explained as they climbed into the vehicle for the ride home. "I answer questions vaguely, and the sword makes that answer good enough. The Sorceress thought maybe you weren't as affected by the sword's power because you're not from Eternia."
"But Teela's also close to figuring it out," Marlena said slyly.
He-Man sighed. "I don't know what to do about her, Mother." Marlena felt a twinge of surprise at hearing him call her that. "She is getting closer to the truth, and that wouldn't bother me if it were just that she's figuring it out. But I think that she's following me as Adam. She's almost caught me transforming twice today."
Marlena suddenly gasped. "Is it safe to talk about this in front of Trak?" she whispered.
He-Man chuckled. "Yes, Man-at-Arms programmed Trak to automatically forget almost anything to do with Adam and me, except that we exist and he obeys us."
"Oh," she said, settling back in her seat. "That's a relief. So what's the big deal about Teela? If she catches you, the truth is out, and you two can move on in your relationship." She laughed at He-Man's startled expression. "You two have been dancing around the truth for years, treating each other like brother and sister. Did you think I wouldn't notice you've been hiding your feelings for her?"
He-Man swallowed nervously, and hurriedly moved the topic to things he felt more comfortable with. "How long have you known I'm Adam?"
Marlena's gaze grew distant. "Just a couple of years, son. There was no sudden moment that I knew the truth. It was, at first, just a thought that I saw in you the man I wanted Adam to become." It felt funny, talking about Adam like another person, and she tried to adjust the way she spoke. "Then I started to see things in what you did as Adam. You were hiding something; you avoided questions, were gone long periods of time. You may have been mischievous, maybe even lazy, but you were also intelligent, and I knew you were no coward." She turned to him. "How long has it been?"
"My eighteenth birthday," he replied softly. "Six years, seven months, and thirteen days."
His mother regarded him with some sadness. "So much responsibility for one so young. It did take me a while to figure it out; I'd say it was sometime after your twentieth birthday that I first had this crazy thought that you were He-Man. I dismissed it, but then I started seeing that Adam and He-Man were never around at the same time. By the time you were twenty-one, I had realized that everytime Adam disappeared, He-Man showed up within a few minutes, and that when either of you was gone on a trip, so was the other. By your twenty-second birthday, I had just accepted it as a truth."
"But why didn't you ever say anything?" He-Man asked, puzzled.
She laughed lightly. "On Earth, there were many stories of 'superheroes' with secret identities, and why they kept them secret. I thought if I was supposed to know, you or Duncan would tell me. And selfishly," she added, "I didn't want to know for sure. I didn't want to have to lie to your father." She sighed. "There were so many times I wanted to tell him, when he was being so hard on you. I tried to intervene at first, but I couldn't say anything that would help. So I said nothing in the end. I'm sorry I didn't do more."
He-Man's hands tightened on the steering mechanism, remembering his last encounter with his father. "It's not your fault or your responsibility, Mother. He has to learn the truth in his own time."
She nodded. "I know. This is a bittersweet day. I've longed for it, but dreaded it as well. I won't tell him, you know."
"I know." He-Man paused. "If you'd rather forget, the Sorceress can-" He broke off as Marlena shook her head emphatically.
"No," she said quietly, but firmly. "Tell me about how you became He-Man."
So as they journeyed, she heard from her son how the Sorceress kept in contact with him as a child, how Man-at-Arms had brought him to Grayskull on his eighteenth birthday, and how he had tried, at first, to deny he had such a fantastic destiny. How in the end, Skeletor's attack had driven him to accept the responsibility, because there was no one else to stop the evil. And how the Sorceress, Duncan, and he had decided that he must do everything possible to prevent his enemies from finding out the identity of He-Man.
He had just finished the story when they arrived back at the palace. Jumping out of the vehicle, He-Man took a quick glance around and raised his sword.
"Let the power return!" With an anticlimactic flash, he was Adam again, and Battle Cat was Cringer. A wave of dizziness hit him, as it had earlier. He leaned against the wall and put a hand to his head.
"Adam?" His mother's voice sounded far away.
"I was afraid of this," Duncan said, entering the room.
"What is it, Duncan?" Marlena asked, her voice full of concern. She stood close to Adam, as if ready to catch him, even though she probably couldn't hold him up if he did fall over.
"He-Man's never taken an injury like that, where he lost so much blood," the old soldier replied. "Grayskull's power healed all of his wounds, but apparently didn't replace the blood he lost. He's not completely recovered." He took Adam's arm and slung it over his shoulders. "Come on, lad, let's get you upstairs." He was surprised when Adam pulled away.
"Just give me a minute, Duncan," he said, sinking to the floor and resting his head on his arms.
"Adam, please let Duncan help you," Marlena pleaded. Duncan put a hand on her shoulder.
"Your Majesty, Adam's been doing this a long time, and he knows his limitations. He'll let me know if he needs help. Why don't you make excuses for him regarding dinner and arrange a tray to be sent to his room? I doubt he'll be up to attending."
Marlena bit her lip, staring at her son, then straightened her shoulders and nodded sharply. Her royal airs in place, she marched out of the room.
"I hope she's not mad at me," Duncan worried.
"She'll be fine," Adam mumbled without moving. "We had a good talk on the way here. She just has to get used to knowing her son is always in danger."
"Prince Adam, where have you been?" a sharp voice interrupted them. Adam groaned lightly and lifted his head to see Teela striding over.
"Father and I have been back for an hour, and I find that no one here has seen you since this morning. You shouldn't be leaving here without an escort! What were you thinking?" she demanded as she got closer. Adam shot Duncan a helpless look.
"Teela, the prince isn't feeling well," Duncan interjected smoothly, stepping between them. "He was just on his way up to his room."
As Teela studied Adam's face, her gaze softened. "You do look exhausted, Adam. You're not having nightmares again, are you?" she asked with real worry in her voice.
Adam shook his head. "No, Teela, I'm just worn out." He stood carefully. "I'll see you later, okay? Come on, Cringer."
Teela stared after him. See you around, Teela. Come on, Cat. He-Man's words a few weeks ago reverberated in her head. She saw the same strength and gritty determination in Adam's walk as he left the room that she'd seen in He-Man's. He-Man…Adam…her head grew fuzzy again, and she shook it slightly.
"Teela? What's wrong?" her father asked. He-Man…Adam…"Teela!" Duncan said more loudly, squeezing her arm. She stared at him blankly for a moment. She'd almost grasped something, but it had slipped beyond her understanding. Now she couldn't even remember what she'd been thinking about.
"Sorry, Father. I guess I spaced out for a second," she apologized. She left the room still looking a little dazed, and Duncan frowned. Adam might not be ready for Teela to discover the truth, but it sure looked like it would happen soon.
"Rise and shine, sleepyhead!"
Adam groaned and pulled a pillow over his head. "Go 'way," he said, his voice muffled.
"Nope, you need to get up," Teela said cheerfully. "We're going fishing!"
Adam pulled the pillow down just enough to peek out. "Fishing?" he asked hopefully.
"Father seems to think some sunshine and fresh air will do you more good than laying around in here," she replied, shrugging. Adam could tell she wasn't completely buying that, but she was being a good sport about it for once. She put a glass of orange juice and a muffin on the table. "He also thinks you should eat and drink this before you do anything else this morning."
"Okay," he said easily. "Guess I'd better do what Duncan orders." He raised an eyebrow at her. "Uh, a little privacy, Teela?"
"Oh, right," she said, turning a bit pink. He chuckled as she left the room. Having grown up together, they each occasionally forgot about propriety, to the dismay of their parents.
The two of them left a short while later, walking down to one of Adam's favorite spots. He was tired out by the time they got there, but not unbearably so. Just the sort of tired that made the ground really comfortable for a nap. He settled on the ground, a look of relief crossing his face.
"You've been quiet, Adam," Teela commented. "Is everything okay?"
Adam hesitated a moment, but he knew he had to say something. He tried to keep as few secrets between them as he could, since the ones he had to keep were so big.
"I know Clemence told you I wasn't with He-Man at Rock Haven," he said calmly. Teela's eyes went wide, and she swallowed. "Why did you ask He-Man about it, Teela? Why didn't you come to me?" He already knew the answer, since he'd asked as He-Man, but he needed to make it clear between them. It made it easier not to have to keep track of who told him what in which persona.
"Everything was happening so fast then, and you were so ill that when I saw He-Man first, I just couldn't wait any longer," she explained quickly. A spark of anger lit her eyes. "He told you? I told him I didn't want you to know."
Adam shrugged. "He felt I had a right to know."
"That wasn't his decision to make," Teela said firmly, her temper rising.
Adam looked directly into her snapping green eyes. "You put him in that position, Teela. He-Man and I are a lot closer than people realize. Of course he told me."
Teela's anger froze. His family, his friends, his home—all of them become targets, she recalled the Sorceress saying. That is why he cares about so many, but calls so few his friends. And of them, fewer still know anything about him. Her mind kept racing forward. He-Man resting against Battle Cat, the same look of relief on his face Adam had worn a few minutes ago. Adam…He-Man…her mind got fuzzy again. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to focus on where her thoughts were leading. Better I should die than my best friend, she heard Adam's voice say to her. Better me than one of my best friends, He-Man's voice echoed.
Adam saw her making connections, and he panicked. He wasn't ready for this yet. In spite of wanting to tell her for the last six years, seven months and fourteen days, he suddenly realized she wouldn't be happy as he'd always hoped; she'd feel betrayed and she would be furious.
"Teela!" he called loudly, but it was as if she were in a trance. So he did the only thing he knew would bring someone out of a trance. He picked her up and dumped her in the stream.