Adam couldn't even remember a time when he hadn't been deeply attracted to Teela and right now he wavered on the boundary-edge between impulse and regret.

Years ago his mother and father had explained to him the restrictions of being crown prince. A King must never bully people for the sake of simply getting his own way and Adam was encouraged and influenced towards being honorable in his dealings with friends and family. While many very young children could afford to be selfish and petty, Adam's training had worked to subvert those tendencies, tendencies which young Adam barely possessed. He had been by nature a kind child.

As he grew into his maturity, Marlena learned of his crush on Teela after watching them interact and she chose to intervene by having a discussion with Adam about how he needed to take care in his dealings with women.

Usually, a decent man could take a chance with a woman and let her know his feelings without doing any lasting harm to the woman's sense of well-being. This was not the case for Adam. Adam's life circumstances were very different from those of his peers and he had a special duty to watch out that he neither exploit nor be exploited. The object of Adam's interest might feel threatened or compelled by his interest even if he didn't exhibit forceful tendencies because rejecting him would be rejecting one's future King.

Equally disturbing were the girls and women who would seek Adam out explicitly for his power. This latter scenario was far more likely than the former due to Adam's good looks and kind nature, and yet Marlena knew that she didn't need to fear for Adam's well-being. The girl he had chosen to love was as honorable as he was. Marlena worried that Teela didn't seem to return his unspoken feelings. She wasn't sure if Teela was truly uninterested, hadn't reached that stage in her maturity, or if she was really good at hiding her feelings.

Marlena hadn't wanted to embarrass her son, so she brought up Teela as a special example. If he ever made Teela feel uncomfortable she would likely retreat rather than deal with the situation directly and in doing so, would lose the only home and family she had ever known.

Adam had taken Marlena's advice seriously and was careful in hiding his feelings for Teela. He had hoped she would one day begin to show him these same feelings but she never did. Teela was all work and duty as she grew older and never had time for men. She didn't discuss men with Adam either and he often wondered where she stood on the subject.

Everything changed when He-Man appeared. Although Teela prized her dignity above all else, she did treat He-Man differently from all the other men in her life. She displayed a mix of awe and attraction whenever she interacted with the hero and he was the only one other than her father who saw her softer side. With He-Man she seemed to be trying to act more feminine and less masterful – a fact that always troubled Adam because he knew that the true Teela was hidden under the layers of a carefully constructed veneer. For whatever reason, Teela had been afraid to show the world her true self.

Adam knew he couldn't bruise her dignity by kissing her now. If he did, she would regret it later because she would have felt that she had given away too much of her *soul* too quickly without really understanding how she felt about Adam or he felt about her. Adam feared that if he kissed her now she would resent him for it later and go into hiding. Regret clouded his eyes as he realized that he was still far away from any kind of resolution to his feelings for her.

Teela dropped her gaze as soon as she saw the regret in Adam's gaze. She felt deeply ashamed that once again she had sent out romantic signals to this man and they had been deflected. Adam had to know what she had wanted to do. His refusal to even acknowledge it spoke volumes. Adam must know her feelings and he clearly didn't return them. Although he had called her beautiful he hadn't contradicted her assertion that Adam and He-Man never showed any interest in her as a woman.

She stood up briskly, walking with measured steps away from him so he wouldn't see her agitation.

"It's almost time for me to start my day," she said, her voice not betraying an ounce of her distress. "I think it's time I called my father."

Adam wasn't fooled by Teela's attempt and his initial impulse was to apologize for hurting her feelings.

"Teela," he began, not knowing how he was planning on finishing the sentence.

She turned to face him, drawn in by the edge to his voice and her gaze connected to his. The emotion and intensity in his eyes took her breath away and she found herself momentarily unable to speak.

Without warning she felt her throat tightening as tears burned in her throat, her eyes and even her nose. She cursed herself for this weakness and desperately sent out a psychic plea to her father magically show up and save her from further humiliation.

Her distress prompted Adam to move towards her in an instinctive urge to offer comfort. His brain finally engaged and he stopped in his tracks realizing if he did this now he would be damaging her dignity. He waited in the space of the silence not knowing what he could possibly say.

"I'm sorry," Teela muttered, wiping angrily at her face. "I'm tired. I didn't sleep much the last few nights."

"Of course," Adam accepted her lie gratefully. "Is it possible for you to take the day off?"

"No," she said harshly, silently warning him not to make it an order. . "I'll be fine. "

"Well, try to take it easy," he suggested gently making it clear that he was talking to her as her friend and not her prince.

"My morning is spent with the guard," she said absently. "I'm scheduled to spend the afternoon with you."

He winced. It sounded odd hearing her describe their time together as duty. It made her sound like a paid companion. On the heels of this, he was grateful that he hadn't given into impulse and kissed her. Now wasn't the time for that.

"Well, maybe we can just take it easy then," he flashed her grin that normally would have triggered annoyance in her that the Prince once again didn't seem to want to do the things he needed to do.

She returned his smile hesitantly.

"I might not mind that," she returned, knowing that she truly needed the rest.

Adam nodded, knowing that he would not ask for her help as He-Man until he was sure she had a decent night's sleep.