A/N: Sorry for the delay. As for any reviews potentially upsetting me...I've had far worse than that. So I thank you all for your support, but understanding this issue is much larger than one comment made on my story, I'm going to just leave it at that.

I stepped into Grayskull's dim interior, and the gate behind me faded almost immediately. My eyes darted around and came to rest on the Sorceress. A huge grin split my face nearly in two. "Sorceress!"

"He-Man!" She looked unsteady on her feet and fairly fell into my arms. She must have spent a great deal of energy trying to contact me and in creating that portal. I lifted her and twirled her around, I was so excited to be back on Eternia.

"You found me!" I exclaimed.

"He-Man, it is so good to see you again!" she said with that dear, familiar smile. "I feared I would never find you!"

I set her down and regarded her more somberly now, with a mixture of gratitude and anxiety. "I owe you one, Sorceress. Without you, I would have been lost to Eternia forever." I frowned as I tried to recall exactly what had happened, how I had ended up on Draedus. "Sorceress, what did happen? How did I get there?"

She tilted her head to the side inquisitively. "Skeletor captured you in a forcefield and erased your memory with a spell," she replied slowly. "He-Man, what's the last thing you remember on Eternia?"

I shook my head, feeling as if I were trying to wade through the Tar Swamp in my mind. "I-I'm not sure. It's been so long...I remember fighting some monster..." I drew out the words as the events slowly came to mind. "Something to do with Orko. A demon, named Daimar.." My frown deepened. "I...I think that's the last major thing I remember."

The Sorceress gained an endearing little furrow in her brow. It reminded me of Teela. "That was nearly a month before you disappeared. You don't remember anything after that?"

My looked around, as if I would find the answer on Grayskull's stone walls. Finally, I shook my head again, frustrated. "No."

The Sorceress laid a gentle hand on my arm. "Do not fret, He-Man. It may be a natural side effect of the spell. It will most likely resolve itself over the next few weeks."

I blew out a breath, reminding myself that missing a month compared to the twenty years I had lost before was nothing. "I know." She continued to stare at me and I shifted uncomfortably. "What?"

"Well…" She paused, and I cocked my head curiously, wondering what could have her so hesitant. "What of the world you settled on? Have we taken you from a family, He-Man?"

I shook my head quickly, touched that she was so worried about my happiness. "Not in the way you mean," I replied. "There was a boy there I had sort of taken under my wing, so to speak," –I couldn't help the twitch at the corners of my mouth at that- "but I had no family." I frowned a bit. "But what has happened here? Are my parents all right? What about Duncan and Teela? Cringer? Orko?"

She laughed lightly, clearly understanding my concerns all too well. "I will be glad to tell you about all of them, He-Man, but for now, I think you ought to revert to Prince Adam again."

I chuckled. "I almost forgot." I unsheathed my sword, but hesitated as another urgent question came to mind. "How long have I been gone, Sorceress?" I asked, lowering the sword.

She swallowed hard, but met my gaze directly, sympathy in her eyes. "Nine years, He-Man."

"Nine years?" I repeated in shock. Surely it hadn't been that long. Had I really missed almost a decade of my life? My friends, my family, were all going to be nine years older than what I remembered. As was I. "Nine years?" I said again, in a whisper this time. "By the grace of Eternia."

"He-Man," she said softly. I turned dazed eyes to her and she motioned to my sword. "You have not been Prince Adam in nine years. Since no guardian of Grayskull has ever spent this much time in their altered form, I cannot say for sure how you will feel once you relinquish the power."

"I understand," I said, though in truth my mind was still reeling with how much time had passed. Finally I shook my head slightly and raised my sword. "Let the power return!"

As the power left me, a wave of weakness passed over me. I stumbled backwards a step, trying to catch my balance, but I caught an uneven part of the floor, which caused my leg to crumple under me. The sword clattered to the ground. Strong hands grabbed hold of my shoulders and eased me down gently, and a familiar face appeared in front of my darkening vision.

"Hello, Duncan," I mumbled weakly. Then the blackness became complete.

I must have only been out a minute or so. I came to kind of slowly, their voices gradually starting to make sense.

"Remember, he had been He-Man for nine years, Duncan. His body is not used to being without the magic of Grayskull."

"Are you saying he might go through some sort of withdrawal?" Duncan asked, his horror at that thought clear to me even through my fuzzy thinking.

I opened my eyes to see the Sorceress raised her hands in a helpless gesture. "I do not think so, at least not in the way you mean. He will not crave the power. His body simply needs to adjust to not having it. While He-Man's body has been used each day, Prince Adam's body has not. The magic restored him to his original condition, including his strength, but to Adam, it may feel unusually weak."

"Thanks for clearing that up," I said faintly, my own voice unfamiliar. They looked down and I did the best imitation of a grin that I could manage. "Good to see you, Duncan. Give me a hand up?" I held up a slightly shaky hand. Duncan hesitated a second, then grasped my forearm and hauled me to my feet. My other hand went quickly to his shoulder until I had regained my balance. Then I looked him in the eye and grinned. For a moment, it was as if the last nine years had not existed.

"Ancients, but it's good to see you lad," Duncan said with heartfelt emotion, the stupid grin on his face matching my own.

"It's good to be seen," I replied, chuckling a bit. "How is everyone?" I grew more serious as I looked from him to the Sorceress and back again. They were both tense. I could still read them, as if we had just parted yesterday. "Something's wrong. What is it?"

The Sorceress delayed the inevitable for a moment, inviting us to sit and offering us something to eat. I must have lit up like a firework.

"I haven't had meat in nine years," I admitted wistfully.

"Then your system won't be used to it," the Sorceress warned.

I grinned cheekily. "Sure it will. Grayskull's power reverted me back to how I was nine years ago, isn't that what you said?"

The Sorceress' mouth dropped open a fraction, then she smirked, shaking her head slightly, and waved her hand, producing a luscious-looking platter of my favorites. I dug in with enthusiasm, closing my eyes after my first bite.

When I opened my eyes, Duncan's brow furrowed. "So does that mean it's as if the last nine years didn't happen for Adam? I noticed he doesn't look any older."

Alarm shot through me at that idea, but the Sorceress shook her head. "He's just aging well, Duncan," she teased. "Unlike you."

He growled at her, scowling darkly, as I laughed. He reached up and scratched at his mustache, and I eyed him critically. He did have a few more wrinkles around the eyes and mouth, and his skin was getting a bit leathery looking. There were even some gray hairs sneaking in here and there. But he didn't look that old.

"Oh Duncan, I'm only teasing," the Sorceress laughed at him. That only made him scowl more, and I couldn't help myself; I laughed harder.

"Ancients, but I missed you two," I said, shaking my head. My smile faded slowly. "Now what's going on?"

"Well first of all, almost everyone is fine," Duncan said briskly. He must have seen the immediate question in my eyes, because he answered it without pausing, his tone somber. "We've lost a lot of good men to Skeletor's forces over the years."

I swallowed hard. "Dead?"

Duncan nodded as he named some of the soldiers I had known. I was silent for a moment, mourning the loss of men and women who had protected our kingdom, some of them people I had grown up with. Then I looked at Duncan and knew that whatever was bugging him, he thought I was going to be even more upset over it than I was over the deaths of these good people. "There's more, isn't there?"

He nodded, not bothering to deny it. The Sorceress was watching, seemingly as serene as ever, but I could tell she was nervous as well. "The thing is, Adam…well, you're not an only child anymore."