KrissyKat91: And voila, she is done! I finally finished another story! Seriously, this thing took way longer than I thought it would.
Epilogue
"Hey, Orko?"
"Yeah?"
Adam pulled his attention from the sunset to look at his friend. The two of them—plus Cringer, who'd been napping in Adam's quarters and hadn't even known there was an attack until after the fact—had relocated to a little used balcony on the uppermost level of the palace, whilst Man-at-Arms surveyed the damages, the king and queen made rounds to reassure the other residents of the palace that they were safe for another day, and Teela took it upon herself to tell all and sundry exactly who had defeated Skeletor this time.
"Tell me the truth," Adam said slowly, crossing his legs and resting his elbows on his knees. "Could you have killed Skeletor today?"
For a long moment Orko didn't answer, merely crossing his arms and staring at the horizon, gaze unreadable. Then, very quietly, he said, "Yes, I could have."
Swallowing hard, Adam then asked, "Why didn't you?"
Turning his head slightly, Orko stared intently into Adam's eyes for several seconds, apparently searching for something. Whatever it was, he must have found it, for he sighed and said, "There is a saying on Trolla: 'In taking revenge, one is but even with his enemy; but in passing it over, he is superior*'. I think I'd rather be superior to Skeletor than even with him, don't you?"
"…Yeah, I think I would, too."
The prince and the magician sat in companionable silence as the sun finished its decent beneath the horizon, the Adam turned to Orko again.
"Sooo," he drawled, lips curling into a grin, "does this mean He-Man has a new ally in the seemingly never ending fight against the forces of evil?"
"That sounded rehearsed," Orko accused lightly. "Adam, I am a sorcerer, a scholar, sometimes an alchemist, and occasionally a pain in the neck, not a warrior. But, if you ever truly need my help, I'll be there. Now I think we should head back down. We missed dinner."
At that, Cringer (who'd been curled up behind Adam, listening to the conversation) jumped up with a horrified screech and rocketed back into the palace. Laughing, Adam and Orko followed.
*quote by Francis Bacon, slightly modified