A/N: Eight years later, I still don't own 'em. And the dang plot bunnies are still in control.

Adam

"Adam?" There was an insistent knock on the door. "Adam!"

Drat it. I had fallen asleep on the bed. I rolled to a sitting position and bid Orko—I could tell it was his voice-to enter. I stumbled to my bathroom as he came in and splashed some cold water on my face.

"Your father sent me to get you for dinner," Orko said in an apologetic voice. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's okay," I said in between drying my face. "I didn't mean to fall asleep for so long. Am I late?"

"Not yet. The dinner bell-" Before Orko could finish his sentence, the dinner chimes rang. He and I exchanged glances and flew out of the room, Cringer on our heels. It was so much like old times that we burst into the dining room full of laughter. Out of habit I choked it back and started to apologize to my parents for being late, but the words died in my throat. They were beaming at me.

"Nice to know you haven't changed much," Father said with a smirk.

That did it for all of us. I guess we all needed some relief from the tension, because every one of us burst out laughing.

After the laughter died down, however, Teela's empty chair was painfully obvious to me, especially when Mother asked if she would be coming.

"I don't think so," I replied in a subdued voice. "Teela's angry with me for some reason, and I'm afraid I have no idea why." Thankfully Adora was not present to chime in with her opinion.

Father put the pieces together immediately. "So her actions and subsequent resignation…" His voice trailed off as he stared at me, his brow furrowed.

"…may have been my fault," I confirmed miserably. "But that spell I got caught up in…it wiped out my memories from the last month. Whatever it is I did must have happened during that time."

"And she wouldn't talk to you about it?" Mother asked, obviously surprised. I couldn't blame her. Teela and I used to share everything.

"No," I replied. My eyes narrowed as it suddenly occurred to me that the Sorceress, with her magic, should be able to see into the past to find out. Yet she hadn't offered, hadn't even mentioned that anything was wrong with Teela. The only thing I could think that meant was that it was something she felt I shouldn't know about my first day back on Eternia. Which of course was no help at all in figuring out what it might be.

"So, Adam, I understand you've met your sister," Father said, obviously trying to change the subject to what he probably thought would be a safer topic.

Ha. Little did he know. I mentally scrambled for something to say.

"Yes. Apparently she and Teela have become good friends." Oops. I had intended to say that in a factual sort of way, but it came out sounding a bit…ah…I believe the word might be jealous…even to my ears. I couldn't imagine what it sounded like to everyone else. I continued on, trying to cover up my gaffe. "She arrived at Teela's cottage while I was there."

"I think they understand each other very well," Mother agreed smoothly. I mentally blessed her for moving the conversation along and turning Father's thoughtful eye away from me. "They were both raised to be warriors, and though it is obviously through very different circumstances, both have found that is no longer their destiny," Mother continued. "I think it is only natural they would bond over it."

Put that way, it made sense. But coming back to find that my place as Teela's friend had been taken over by a woman who clearly detested me was still hard to swallow.

Duncan cleared his throat. "I understand He-Man headed up some sort of security function on that planet you two found yourselves on," he said.

"That's right," I replied, taking a sip of wine and flashing him a glance of appreciation.

"What did you do?" Mother asked innocently. "I always wondered what you might have become if you weren't the prince, Adam."

Oh boy. Leave it to my mother to put me in another tight spot. "I basically just helped He-Man," I replied with a shrug. "We always believed our time there was temporary, and it seemed an easy job to groom someone else to take over."

"So you and He-Man spent a lot of time together," mused Father. One side of his mouth twitched as one of the servants placed dessert on the table. I nearly choked on my food, but managed a nod. Father beamed at me, a huge grin on his face. "That's wonderful, Adam! I trust your fighting skills have improved."

There was a hint of laughter in his eyes I didn't understand, but I didn't spend much time dwelling on it. This mess was getting deeper by the minute. I hated the deception to begin with, and moments like this made it almost unbearable. My fighting skills had only not improved, they were probably worse from all the time I had spent as He-Man. My coordination as Adam still wasn't up to par; for all I knew it might never be.

"I'm afraid even He-Man has his limitations, Father," I quipped with a quick grin. Everyone laughed on cue, but inwardly I feared that Father had not been joking, and I dreaded the moment he learned I was still no better at fighting than I had been nine years ago.

I might have learned some patience while I was on Draedus, but not as much as I probably should have. As a result, I ate breakfast early and then intercepted Adora as soon as she finished eating—as tempting as it was to interrupt her morning workout in the training yard, I did manage not to do that. I figured the two of us confronting each other on empty stomachs was a recipe for disaster.

"Adora, I'd like to speak with you," I requested, keeping my voice calm and friendly.

She stared at me coolly, then nodded. "Alright. We can talk in my study."

Perfect. Except that her study used to be my study, and walking in there was like a blow to the stomach. The furniture was the same, the view was pretty much the same, but the way things were set up, the knickknacks and trophies and awards—it was all different.

For the first time since I'd arrived home, a surge of anger over the situation plowed through me. I clenched my fists and went to the window, taking deep breaths to calm myself as I stared out.

"Problem, Brother?" There was an odd mix of tones in Adora's voice. It was like she wanted to be helpful and to reach out to me, but there was a definite sarcasm lacing the words. I thought maybe there was also a note of sympathy. It was hard to tell.

Still...sympathy. Adora had been lied to her entire life about who her family was, who she truly was. She had missed what should have been her entire childhood and formative years with us. She certainly could understand what I was going through. And maybe if I was honest about what I was feeling, she'd open up a little in return.

"I've lost so many years," I said in a low, hoarse voice. My emotions were too tight for me to speak any more clearly. "I can't get them back. Everything's the same, yet everything's different. I feel like I've woken from a coma. I should have been here. I should have been here to help Duncan find you, to keep Skeletor from gaining so much power, to prevent Teela from…" I raised a hand, at a loss for words to describe her situation.

Adora made no move towards me. "Yes, you should have been here," she agreed sternly. I closed my eyes and hung my head for a few seconds, struggling to regain control of myself. From the tone of her voice, it seemed that this approach was not going to help things. "But if you had been," she continued, "you would have come after me alone, and most likely been killed in the process." I turned to her, stunned by her assertion, but she met my gaze unflinchingly. "I've seen you fight on the memory projector, things Teela and Duncan showed me. You're used to Skeletor and his bumbling minions. The Horde troopers were well-trained, expert marksmen. You wouldn't have stood a chance with the way you operate." She raised her chin haughtily. "I heard you got hit by Evil-Lyn yesterday, in fact."

My face must have been as red as Orko's robe by the time she was done. "And I see you're having a dashingly easy time with them," I retorted. "They're clearly all behind bars where they belong."

Adora crossed her arms. "They're better warriors than they were before you left. I'll get them in prison where they belong, even without your help."

"Enough!" I snapped. I drew myself up to my full height, and could practically feel the fire spitting out of my eyes. "I worked with the Masters for years before Skeletor sent me off to the Crossroads of the Universe. I understood you had come and done the same, that you were a team player. A natural warrior and leader, that's what everyone said as soon as I returned home yesterday. But right now, Adora, I find that hard to believe. What the Blazes is your problem with me? You don't even know me!"

She stepped forward, going nose-to-nose with me even though she was a head shorter. "I have no use for men like you, who use their position and power to bed women!" she growled.

Well, if you had told me that Cringer had just single-handedly beaten Skeletor and taken over Snake Mountain, I couldn't have been more surprised. I stood shocked for a moment, then my brow furrowed up as tight as it would go. "What?" I whispered. Anger flooded back in quickly. "Who told you such a lie?" I demanded.

"None of your business," Adora sneered. "Obviously if you have to ask, it's true. You've bedded so many women you can't even remember their names."

"Not that it's any of your business, but I have never lain with anyone!" I growled. I shook my head in disbelief. No wonder she had such a low opinion of me, if she were listening to crazy rumors. "People make up stories all the time as a way to lay claim to the throne. But obviously you're going to believe what you want to, Adora. I thought we could talk out whatever it was that got us off on the wrong foot, but apparently you don't have any interest in building a relationship. So I'll tell you what. You stay out of my way, and I'll stay out of yours."

Adora crossed her arms again, glaring. "Sounds good to me," she said icily.

"Fine," I bit off, then turned and stormed out of the office.

Livid was too tame a word to describe the rage within me. I hadn't been this angry in…well. The last time had probably been more than a decade ago, when Skeletor had threatened my friends. No one had ever spoken to me like that—whether it was because they had no reason to do so or had not the courage, I had no idea, but of course I liked to think I hadn't given them a reason to. Like I said before, I try hard to be a nice guy.

I have to admit there was a grudging respect for Adora under all that anger. In spite of the misinformation that shaped her opinion of me, I found it a little admirable that she was holding to her own values so tightly. A little. Mostly I was just furious with her.

My subconscious chose that moment to connect the dots. You know how you get one of those fleeting realizations that flies through your head so fast you lose it right away? Yeah, I had one of those. I stopped short as my stomach turned over, and tried to chase the thought down mentally. However, fate intervened, as so often happens in life, in the form of a young boy, maybe about five, rounding the corner at full speed, straight into me. It threw me back a step, of course, and he went flying onto his bottom. He looked up at me with huge brown eyes.

"Sorry about that," I said, squatting down to get to his level. "Are you okay?"

He nodded emphatically and began talking at the same time. "I know you. You're Adam! I've seen your pictures! You're my big brother!"

"Oh, so you must be Abraham," I replied, smiling broadly at him, my mood lightening immediately. Maybe you think that's odd—after all, in spite of what Duncan said, Abraham was essentially my replacement. A lot of people would probably feel threatened by that, and yes, a small part of me acknowledged that "threat." But truth be told, I had my hands full being He-Man most days. If Father wanted to name Abraham heir to the throne, that would be just fine with me.

Naming Adora heir would be a different story.

Oblivious to all my internal musings, Abraham was frowning at me. "I don't like that name," he informed me. "No one calls me Abraham, except Momma and Dad."

"Oh?" I asked, one eyebrow raised. Father really had mellowed with age, then. It used to be he wouldn't allow any nicknames of any royal family member, especially not by anyone outside the family. Even calling me "Dear" was pushing it unless your name was Marlena. "So what do you like to be called?"

"Ham," he answered promptly, scrambling to his feet and grinning at me now. His brown hair was a bit curly, like Mother's, and the way it was cut at a slightly longer length to show off those curls gave him an impish look.

I could barely hold back a chuckle as I stood, because I had the distinct impression that his name matched his personality. "Okay, then I'll call you Ham, if you want."

"Good," he said with a big nod. "So where ya been? Everyone said you were missing. Did you let go of Momma's hand when you weren't supposed to?"

I had to laugh aloud at that. "I guess you could say that," I answered. "You know who Skeletor is?"

Ham's face grew very serious. "Yeah, he attacks all the time and when he does I have to go to the safe room with ten thousand guards around me."

"Well, that's a good idea," I said, my heart aching at the overprotective measures my parents had put into place. I knew the number of guards was an exaggeration, but we had never had a safe room before.

"So Skeletor took you?" Ham asked, drawing my attention back to his original question.

"He cast a spell on He-Man, and when I tried to help He-Man, the spell took me away too," I said, trying to keep the explanation as simple as I could.

Ham's eyes were huge. "You know He-Man?" he asked in an awed voice. "I saw him fight Skeletor yesterday. He was awesome!"

I tilted my head at him. "I thought you were in the safe room when Skeletor attacked," I reminded him. "How did you see He-Man?"

"Oh there are cameras all over the palace and the feed goes right into the safe room," he said, sounding much older than his years.

"Really?" I asked, carefully keeping my voice neutral. That might have been nice to know before I transformed yesterday, and maybe before Duncan and I had had that heart-to-heart chat. I'd have to ask Duncan about the cameras later. Obviously keeping my secret was going to be a bit more difficult now than it was nine years ago.

"Yeah," he said, nodding again. It was a wonder his head was still attached to his body with all that nodding. He squinted up at me. "Do you like to play catch?"

I remembered being that age and asking Teela to play catch with me. She had been my playmate, always there, for as long as I could remember. The memory twisted my heart, but I forced a smile to my face. "Yeah, Ham, I do."