Teela's face was red with effort as she pushed yet again with all of her might. When the contraction had passed, she fell back, gasping and listless. Adam watched her with worried eyes. She'd been at it for nearly an hour, and hadn't made any progress. He didn't know what to do for her. The baby was more than two weeks early. 'It can't possibly be too large,' he thought. 'Is all labor like this?' He nearly smacked his hand against his head as he recalled overhearing a couple of women talking about childbirth. "If it were easy, it wouldn't be called labor," one of them had joked. Right now, he doubted he and Teela would ever joke about this. 'I swear, if she ever does get pregnant again, we're not leaving the palace from six months on,' he promised himself.

"You're doing great, Teela," Adam said, keeping his voice upbeat. His mind scrambled back to the class he and Teela had taken a month ago. "I want you to grab behind your knees again and push with everything you have next time, okay?" Teela glared at him. 'Oh boy, if looks could kill…' Adam thought a bit nervously.

'I can't do this,' Teela thought. 'I'm not sure I have anything left.' But in spite of her look and her sour thoughts, she did as he said, a yell escaping her as she bore down, putting every last ounce of strength into that push. Adam watched in awe as the head moved towards him for the first time.

"That's it, Teela!" he said excitedly, his heart racing with anticipation. "A couple more and we'll be done!"

"I don't know if I can do a couple more," Teela whispered, sweat pouring down her face. She fell back, fatigued down to her marrow.

"Yes, you can," Adam assured her. "You're the strongest woman I know. You can do it." He wiped her brow tenderly with a wet cloth, then, as the next contraction hit, moved back into position.

Teela gathered strength from reserves she thought had long abandoned her and pushed once again. There was a sudden release, and Adam cried out to her, "The head's out, Teela! You're almost done!"

'If he says that one more time I'm going to smack him upside the head with that stupid sword of his,' Teela thought wearily, but she didn't have the strength to voice the words. Adam was carefully cradling the baby's head. One more push had the shoulders out, and then a blessed, newborn cry filled the cavern.

Ever so gently, Adam cradled the tiny baby in his hands. 'A son,' he thought, overwhelmed by a range of emotions. 'I have a son.' Finally he found his voice. "It's a boy, Teela. It's a boy." Their eyes met in mutual love and amazement for a second; then their son took another breath and cried out again.

"I know, I know," Adam crooned as he eased his son onto a clean blanket, cut the cord and cleaned him off as best he could. He glanced at Teela. She had leaned back and had her eyes closed. He wrapped his son tenderly in a blanket. "It's cold and empty out here, isn't it? Don't worry, we'll have you in Mommy's arms in just a minute." He grabbed the portable scanner and did a quick check of his child, an incredible sense of disbelief and love overflowing from his heart the entire time.

Another contraction hit Teela while he took care of their son, and with it came the final end to the ordeal. She smiled weakly as Adam brought the baby over to her and gently placed him in her arms.

"Congratulations, Princess Teela," Adam said in a soft, wondering voice. "We have a beautiful, healthy baby boy." He gazed at Teela with a look of awe on his face, part of him unable to believe all she'd just done. Teela smiled again then turned her attention to their son, her smile growing wider and her pain all but forgotten as she held the little miracle. Adam too looked at the baby and his lips parted as he marveled over the new life before them.

"Hello, Josiah," Teela said gently. She stroked his soft cheek with one finger, astounded at the soft skin. "You're beautiful. Isn't he beautiful, Adam?"

"The most beautiful baby on Eternia," Adam agreed. "And you're the most beautiful woman on Eternia." He dropped a gentle, loving kiss on her temple. "And I'm the most blessed man in the universe."

"I thought you were the most powerful man in the universe," Teela teased, glancing up at him.

Adam only smiled back as he reached down and stuck one finger in his son's tiny hand, his heart overflowing as the incredibly soft, strong fingers grabbed on tightly.

"No, it's not true," Orko protested, slowly sinking towards the ground as shock permeated his entire mind and body, momentarily preventing even the slight magic of levitation. Dree Elle dropped beside him and put a comforting arm around him.

"I-I'm afraid it is, Orko," Cringer asserted, his yellow eyes looking distinctly Battle Cat-like in his uncharacteristic anger. "C-Callie and I b-both heard Man-at-Arms and the king talking about it."

"I can't believe it," Orko said faintly. His eyes narrowed. "It's got to be some sort of spell."

"You and I would have most likely sensed it if a spell was on Adam," Dree Elle pointed out gently.

Callie raised a paw and licked it, though her flicking ears told them she was still paying close attention to the conversation.

"We don't always sense every spell," Orko argued, his voice beginning to take on a mixture of anger and confusion. "That's got to be it. There's no way Adam would have called Skeletor back to Eternia without telling any of us, and then allowed Evil-Lyn into the palace."

"I can't b-believe he didn't even tell m-me," Cringer muttered, laying down on the floor dejectedly. "He doesn't talk to me as much now that he and Teela are m-married."

Callie stopped grooming herself and began licking Cringer's head. 'You don't need him as much either,' she purred gently, 'now that you have me.' Cringer returned her affection briefly before turning back to Orko.

"Adam would never do something this stupid," the Trollan muttered, now pacing on the floor as he thought aloud. "Skeletor has done too much to him. He tricked him into thinking he killed someone, he wiped away his memory and sent him to another world, he almost killed Adam…" Cringer whimpered a warning worriedly, but Orko was oblivious. His voice trailed off for a second, then he asked in exasperation, "Why on Eternia would he go near him without us, even as He-Man?"

"Orko!" Cringer finally yelped, staring at Dree Elle.

Dree Elle's normally slanted eyes were now perfectly round. "Adam is He-Man?" she asked, dumbfounded.

"Oops," Orko gulped. "You weren't supposed to know that."

"You mean you weren't going to tell me?" Dree Elle asked.

"I couldn't," Orko rushed to explain. "Only people who figure it out are supposed to know."

"Did you figure it out?" Dree Elle asked testily.

"Um, no," Orko admitted. "I found out by accident, and the Sorceress let me keep the memory. She said I'd be more help to He-Man if I knew."

"Hmph," Dree said, folding her arms and levitating.

Callie rose and shook herself, then growled to Cringer. He nodded. "Um, we're going to go now, guys. We'll see you later." Cringer mentally shook his head as they left. 'Life sure is a lot more complicated now that we all have mates,' he thought, filled with a brief nostalgia. There had been a time he and Orko would have teamed up to go find Adam and confront him right away, or help him if that's what he needed; but now Orko had a wife to concern himself with. Cringer knew Callie would go with him if he asked, but with that horrible storm, he wasn't sure he could find Adam without Orko's help. There would be no scent to follow. He would just have to wait until Adam returned.

Then he'd give his partner a piece of his mind.

Adora giggled at her grandfather's gallantry and Lyn blushed uncomfortably, but still sat in one of the two chairs that Miro held out for them. Keldor smiled at his father and nodded. He reached to push Lyn's chair under the table as Miro did the same for Adora.

Miro sat quickly between Lyn and Keldor. "Now about my grandchildren."

"Well," said Keldor, clearing his throat. His father looked at him expectantly. Adora's gaze was a mixture of amusement and anticipation. "The two oldest are adopted: Micah and Neara. Lyn and I began taking care of them soon after we arrived on Carina. We, um… didn't officially adopt them until some time later."

"And?" Miro asked eagerly.

"Lyn had Keelyanne a little over six months ago," Keldor said softly. Adora was shaken by the tender look he turned toward Lyn. 'How could this be Skeletor?' she wondered again. It just didn't seem real.

"Keely-" began Miro, but his voice caught. He cleared his throat quickly. "Keelyanne, you say."

Keldor nodded. Lyn reached into a pouch tied at her waist. "Here is a hologram we had made of them before we left. I had two made at the time though I didn't know why. You are welcome to this one," she said as she placed the small metal disc beside his plate.

"How do I see it?" Miro questioned, eagerly grabbing the coin-sized disk.

"Tap it with your finger, Father," Keldor explained. The mage touched the small circle on his father's palm and instantly a small globe of glowing light showed three children: two pale with deep brown eyes and a scar across each of their smiling faces, and in between these two was a third child that they were helping to sit—a tiny blue baby with wavy white hair and deep lilac eyes. She was cooing and waving her tiny fist as the recording went through its thirty seconds and then started again.

"She's beautiful," gasped Adora. "They all are."

"I think so too," Keldor said quietly.

"I just don't understand what could have happened to change you so much," Adora whispered more to herself than to anyone else. These didn't seem to be the same two people she once knew and fought against. She knew change could happen to anyone. She knew that fact better than most people, but this change was so complete…so unexpected.

"It is a long story," said Keldor. "But it looks as if we will be here for a while until this storm lets up, so I suppose it will help pass the time," he added, pouring everyone a glass of wine from a chilled bottle as he began his story.

Lana went straight to the throne room when she arrived at the palace. Randor wasn't there, but Marlena sat on her throne with a troubled look on her face, obviously lost in thought. The queen looked up in surprise at the unfamiliar sight of the disheveled woman before her.

"Lana!" she exclaimed, rising from the throne and stepping down. "You're drenched!"

"I'm grateful that's all it was," Lana said grimly, her normally peaceful face carrying a worried look.

"What's wrong?" Marlena asked in alarm.

"I've heard rumors that the storm between Stone Mountain and here has been far worse," Lana explained. She pushed a wet lock of red hair off of her face. "A few travelers made it to Anas. They said there were tornados, hail the size of your fist…and they spoke of a long lull earlier this evening."

Marlena glanced out the window into the inky darkness, where the storm could still be heard. "I've never seen such a storm," she murmured to herself. As she mulled over Lana's words, a horrified understanding came over her. "You think Adam and Teela may have started back during that lull."

"Yes," Lana admitted, her green eyes shining with concern. "I have the strongest feeling that Teela needs me."

"I've had the feeling that one of my children needs me, but I don't know which it is," Marlena confessed.

Lana raised an eyebrow. "Where is Adora? I thought she was here."

The queen frowned at the darkness outside as she answered slowly. "All this time, Adam has had a way to call Skeletor back to Eternia, and he never told anyone. Did you know?"

"No," Lana said, her eyes narrowing.

"A few days ago he disappeared for a few hours, and when he returned, he said Hutch had held him and a man captive in Snake Mountain. He said during his imprisonment, he was hurt, and the man, who is a wizard, healed him. Together they escaped. The wizard's wife, Lyn, was here up until this afternoon." Marlena turned back to Lana, whose mouth was dropping open incrementally as she listened. "Around the same time that Randor learned Adam could call Skeletor back, Lyn and Adora and Miro left to meet Lyn's husband at the rendezvous point, which only Adam and Lyn knew."

"You think she was Evil-Lyn, and that Adam called her and Skeletor back to Eternia?" Lana asked incredulously.

"We do," Marlena admitted.

"Adam would never do such a thing," Lana protested immediately. "He would never willingly bring that vile piece of filth back here." Her voice grew venomous as she spoke. Marlena's eyes widened in surprise, and Lana swallowed as she fought to get herself under control. She had thought her anger towards Skeletor had abated over the years since John's death, but obviously she still harbored ill will towards the snake. Compounded by the idea that Adam may have betrayed them all like that, the sudden swell of emotions seemed overwhelming.

"I initially felt that way as well," Marlena said quietly. "But after I thought about it…I didn't say anything to Randor, but maybe it wasn't willingly."

"You think Hutch may have found out and forced him to do it?" Lana guessed.

Marlena nodded. "I want to go search for them, Lana. I know something's wrong. Do you want to come?"

Lana didn't hesitate. "Yes. When do you want to leave?"

"How about now?"

"I will cherish this hologram all the more now, that I know how important Micah and Neara were to bringing you back, Keldor." King Miro was swallowing the lump that was threatening to bring him, once again, to tears.

Keldor chuckled. "I suppose figuring out this whole good thing is all their fault."

Adora laughed heartily. "Well, Uncle, you always did have a soft spot for children."

Keldor grimaced. He did not want to remember the whole Christmas and Horde Prime debacle. Yes, he'd eventually done the right thing, but he'd been such a fool during that time.

"And," Adora continued, enjoying Keldor's discomfort as much as Lyn, "manchine puppies. I'm told Relay really missed you."

"Puppies?" asked Lyn with an amused smirk. "Really, and didn't you just tell Micah that he could not have a pet?"

Adora and Miro laughed harder.

"I told Micah that he could not have that annoying anarchist of an akeslen in the house after the thing destroyed my favorite chair," Keldor clarified through clenched teeth. "Argh," he moaned as all three dining companions laughed harder, "will this humiliation ever end?"

"Not if I can help it," Adora promised as she grinned. She still had some reservations, but she was convinced that this was truly a new man who sat before her. She wouldn't trust him with the secrets of Grayskull, but she could allow him the chance to begin building a relationship."I intend to treat you like a full-fledged member of our family from this point on. And that includes merciless teasing. You'll just have to grin and bear it."

"And I thought the prison mines were the worst things that could happen to me when I got back here," Keldor groaned, then he chuckled ruefully.

Adora and Lyn laughed, but Miro looked at the others with a worried expression on his face. "What did you mean by that?" he asked, alarmed.

Keldor grimaced as he felt his father's anxiety. He tried to look nonchalant and shrugged. "I mean that after we free Illgar from the Alma'Odela, I assume that I will be brought to trial for my crimes against Eternia. Not the least of which is high treason against the crown."

Miro started to protest when Keldor held up his hand.

"Father, I am guilty of all of the charges filed against me over the years and others that no one—not even Lyn—knows about. I deserve to be tried and punished for my crimes."

"You expect that, but you came back?" asked Adora, shocked again.

Keldor nodded. "I owe Adam everything. If he had not risked himself to save me from a fate worse than death, I would never have rethought who I was and what I had allowed myself to become. I would not have become Keldor again. My children are alive and well because Adam held out hope for change to me when I had no hope for myself. I could not refuse to return when he called me."

"Wait," Adora interrupted, stunned even further. "Adam called you back? Why? How?"

Keldor shrugged. He felt a need to be completely honest but wasn't exactly sure why. "He said he was told to by Good, and that the Sorceress confirmed it."

"Did he know who you were?" asked Miro, obviously flabbergasted as well. 'But why wouldn't he have told me if he knew?'

"I'm not sure he was certain, but I think he had figured it out," Keldor said slowly as he replayed his conversation with Adam in Snake Mountain. "He had an old letter of mine. One of the ones you found," Keldor said looking to his father, "and he compared it to the last letter I left for him telling him how to contact me if he ever needed my help again. He said the similarities between the two helped him confirm his suspicions."

"He's had a way to call you back for the last two years?" Adora echoed dully.

Keldor and Lyn exchanged concerned glances. "Yes," Keldor admitted.

"Oh, I'm going to KILL him," Adora growled. "He could have told us."

"I asked him not to," Keldor said quickly. "I asked him to wait until after we handled the elves."

Adora took a deep breath and nodded. 'Grandfather doesn't need any more drama tonight. I'll deal with Adam later.'

Miro nodded as well, but another look crossed his face, one of sadness and hurt. "Son, why didn't you come back to me right away after you changed? I've been missing you for so long."

"I couldn't face you. I didn't want you to know what I had allowed myself to become, Father. I thought it would be better if you thought I was dead, rather than know I was Skeletor. Even now I wonder if you fully believe that I was who I said I was." Keldor searched his father's face for a few seconds, then his gaze dropped, as if afraid of what he would find there.

Miro took his hand. "I have to admit that you are partially right. I think I am pushing that part of everything to the back of my mind." The older man looked down at their clasped hands, rubbing Keldor's between his two as if to assure himself his son was truly there. "Maybe I'm not ready to completely face that part of the truth yet, Keldor. But know this. Nothing will ever stop me from loving you." Miro raised his eyes to his son's again and added vehemently, "Nothing."

Keldor looked into his father's face. He knew in the deepest part of himself that Miro meant every word of what he was saying. The intensity of the feelings was too strong; he looked away quickly. "Thank you," he said quietly.

Lyn recognized that Keldor was close to being overwhelmed again. She yawned behind her hand, hoping to stop things from becoming uncomfortable again.

"I'm sorry, my dear," said Miro turning to look at Lyn. "You must be very tired from our journey here."

"It has been a long day," Lyn agreed. "I doubt this storm is going to blow over before tomorrow morning. Perhaps we should all get some rest."

Adora nodded and stood. Keldor saw both her and his father to their tent. Adora went in with a friendly good night wave. Miro turned and hugged his son tightly. "Remember," he whispered in his ear lightly that no one else could hear, "I will always love you."

"And I you," whispered Keldor back.

With those words, father and son parted. Within minutes Lyn and Keldor were alone in their tent.

Lyn nodded to the now empty table and grabbed one end of it. Keldor took the other and together they shifted it outside their small tent and stacked the chairs on top of one another next to the gently swaying canvas of their ivory tent walls. Keldor knelt down to open up his bedroll. He knew that Lyn might want to talk about tonight, but he didn't. He still wasn't sure he wasn't in the midst of some strange dream. Sleep—some time oblivious to the maelstrom that was his reunion with his father and Adora—seemed to be the perfect escape. He stiffened when he felt Lyn press herself to him from behind. "I missed you," she whispered tenderly as she tucked an errant strand of Keldor's shoulder-length hair behind the point of his ear.

Keldor felt her relief at his safety and her love for him flow so strongly that he wondered briefly whether or not she was intentionally sending these emotions via telepathy.

Keldor's curiosity evaporated in a flame of passion he felt as Lyn wrapped her arm about his waist and began pulling his top from his pants. "As I missed you," he murmured, as Lyn trailed a line of kisses down his neck. Keldor turned and pulled Lyn to him in a kiss that let her know exactly how much he missed her while they were separated.

As uncomfortable as their makeshift bed was, Adam and Teela slept soundly until they were woken by Josiah's cries of hunger.

"I thought babies were supposed to eat every two hours," Adam mumbled as Teela and he snuggled back together after the first feeding. He had glanced at his watch and was surprised to see five hours had passed.

Teela chuckled tiredly. "Your mother says that comes after the baby's had a few days to recoup from being born. Apparently I might actually have to wake him up to get him to eat enough at first."

Adam raised an eyebrow. "You mean we spend a few days teaching him to wake up to eat, then a few months from now we'll be trying to change that and get him to sleep through the night?"

Teela laughed softly at that, even as she started to drift off again. "Something like that," she mumbled.

Adam held her for a while, staring at his wife and son in the dim light. He knew that something had changed within him; if Damien had shown up at that moment and threatened either of them…Adam swallowed nervously. This desire to protect them at any cost was stronger than anything he'd ever felt before. An irrational, random thought suddenly occurred to him, and he found himself fervently praying, 'Please protect them. Keep them safe from Evil, from all that Damien wants to do to them. Please don't let family history repeat itself. I don't want to know the pain of losing a child.'

Adora looked over to the place where her grandfather was lying still on top of his green steeping bag. "Are you asleep?"

"No," answered Miro. He turned to face his granddaughter in the dimming light of the solar lamps.

Worry creased Adora's brow. "How are you feeling?"

Miro paused. Had the light been bright enough, Adora would have seen a faraway look in his eyes as he searched through the jumble of emotions that was still surging through him. Joy was tied so tightly to sorrow that Miro could not separate the two. Pain, hope, sadness, shame, forgiveness, and disbelief swirled around in his head like a fierce mental windstorm.

Above all these feelings, though, there was a deep and painful regret—his son had seen his mother murdered in front of his very eyes, and then endured years in painful slavery to the cruel masters of the Alma'Odela. Such an experience was enough to break even the strongest of men. He was sure that the pain and hurt of such an enslavement were key in Keldor's complete breakdown and turn from all he knew to be right. And the betrayal that Keldor no doubt felt when he saw Randor's presentation—Miro shuddered. He understood why his boy would have been deeply wounded, but to turn so far into evil…it boggled Miro's already chaotic mind.

"Overwhelmed," Miro finally choked out. "But mostly guilty."

"Grandfather, you have nothing to—" Adora began.

"Oh yes I do," Miro protested. "I should have never hidden him, Adora. I should have told my family everything after Keely's death. I should have sent out search parties and combed every inch of that blasted Jungle. Because I didn't act, the good child that was my son was hurt and warped into something vile beyond imagination." Miro took a shuddering breath. "I know that my boy never would have become something so evil if I'd been there to protect him the way I should have."

Adora opened her mouth to tell her grandfather that he was wrong, but she stopped. What Miro was saying was, at least in part, true. But he was torturing himself for wrongs he'd committed unknowingly. Adora knew that sort of pain all too well. She had made peace with most of the wrongs she had committed as a servant to the Horde, but forgiving herself had been a long and difficult process. It would be so for her grandfather, and, she thought, feeling suddenly very sorry for her former enemy, it would be a hundred times worse for Keldor.

"Grandfather," Adora began gently, "what good will it do you or Uncle Keldor to dwell on past mistakes? It can't help your son now. He's going to struggle so much with facing everyone that he will need you. And you will not be able to help him now if you don't take your mind off your own guilt."

"I know you're right," Miro answered heavily. "I just hurt for him so much. At the same time I'm horrified. All the evil he's done, Adora… I just can't comprehend how my son could do those things. I probably don't even know most of it, since he first returned to Eternia while I was a prisoner of the Enchantress. But the worst part is, because he did such evil, I feel like I shouldn't…" Miro trailed off. He swallowed the lump of sorrow and shame that was threatening to choke him right now.

Adora heard the confusion and pain is her grandfather's voice. "You feel you shouldn't still love him because of all he has done?"

Miro nodded, a look of pure misery on his face. Adora reached over from her sleeping bag and took her grandfather's hand.

"Grandfather, I understand. Over and over again while I was fighting the Horde on Etheria, I had chances to capture Hordak. I knew I should have. I knew I should have tried harder to bring him to justice. But I could never force myself to do more than foil his plots and seek to bring the Horde down without doing anything that would hurt him directly. I went to him a few times after I had turned away from his evil ways and was leading the rebellion. To try to talk to him. To convince him that he could change."

Adora sighed as she swept her eyes at the pale yellow canvas stretched above her. "Grandfather. I loved him. No matter how wrong he was. No matter that he took me from my family. No matter what, I knew he loved me in his own twisted way. And, Grandfather, I loved him. In spite of everything I knew about him. In spite of all of the suffering I knew that he caused. I could not make myself stop loving him. Even if it seems wrong to love people who've done so much wrong, and I don't think it is, sometimes you can't help it. He was the closest thing I ever had to a father as a child and there will always be a part of me that loves him."

Adora squeezed her grandfather's hand. "Hordak never did come back to good," she drew a shaky breath. She had finally made peace with this fact over a year and a half ago on Etheria, but it still hurt to remember. "I can only hope the fact that he died to protect me meant that he could have come back—that somewhere there was something redeemable about him. But Keldor came back. He's fully embraced good now. He's changed completely. I wasn't sure at first, but I am now. That man in the tent next to us is your son Keldor. Skeletor doesn't exist anymore. Of course you should love Keldor. It's so hard to change. To try to do the right thing after being wrong for so long. It takes bravery and commitment—and it takes the support of friends and family that love you. I'm willing to stand beside my uncle as he tries to do the right thing, Grandfather. There's nothing wrong with your making that same choice either. We can't fix the mistakes he made in the past. But we can support him as he seeks to repair what damage he's caused and do the right thing now."

A short silence followed her impassioned speech, though the tightening of her grandfather's hand on hers told her that he had listened closely and was pondering her words.

"You're so compassionate, Adora," Miro said, his voice thick with emotion. "Have I ever told you how much you remind me of your grandmother Ranay?"

"You have mentioned that I look like her," Adora replied with a small smile.

"Look like her, sound like her, and have her forgiving heart. I treated her so badly for the first year of our marriage, yet she simply forgave me and sought to help me. She never judged me or got angry with me. She simply helped me in any way she could." Miro shook his head as though to clear it. "You are right. I must look at it this way. My son was as good as dead to me, and now he is alive again. No matter what, I must focus on that and love my son fully while I still have him with me."

"We'll figure out what to do about the charges. We could just have him exiled back to Carina. He talked about the planet as though it was a home to him now. Then you could visit him whenever you wanted to. Magic could easily send you back and forth between worlds." Adora spoke hopefully, although she did wonder if they would be able to convince Randor of the punishment.

"Yes," agreed Miro. "We will work for exile for my son. And then I can visit him and my newest grandchildren on their world."

Miro's face hardened with grim determination as Adora drifted off to sleep. He knew Randor would make things difficult. He faltered a moment as he thought of how badly this was going to hurt Randor. Miro knew, though Randor never mentioned it, that Ranay's oldest son resented all of the time Miro spent wandering while Randor was a young prince. Now he would know that all of that time was spent looking for the man who later became his greatest enemy.

Miro shook his head sadly. Randor justifiably could blame Keldor for the loss of his daughter and the torture and near-death of all of his family members. And these were only the personal reasons for Randor's loathing—not included were the myriad of reasons that a monarch would have against someone who attacked the well-being and safety of his kingdom and its protectors. Randor had every right in the world to hate Keldor, and Ancients knew that Randor would be hurt deeply by the fact that Miro could not turn his back on Keldor.

Yet, what else could he do? Adora was right. Keldor had changed completely. Miro could see the remorse in Keldor's eyes. He had wept, a broken man, in Miro's arms. He was willing to pay for his crimes and eager to help those he once sought to hurt. How could he not help his son try to be a good man again? And how could life in the prison mines do anything but destroy all that was left of his son? Miro whispered a promise to himself as he too succumbed to sleep, "He'll go to a prison mine over my dead body."

A/N: Sorry again for the delay on this one; I know many were anxious to "see" the baby. Funny thing about illness...it often hangs on longer than you thought it would, and then just when you think it's over, someone else in the house gets it!

Thanks again to Delora2047 for beta reading and making us think. :-)