Thank you all for your support. Life has been crazy, and since this isn't may paying job it takes a backseat a lot. I haven't forgotten it, rest assured.

We are still at day five after Adam returned to Eternia.

Adora was waiting when Cringer and I returned, her gaze a bit anxious. "Did you find out anything?" she asked briskly.

Duncan must have told her where I'd gone. I glanced around, but he wasn't in sight; nor was anyone else. "I did ask the Sorceress for permission to marry Teela," I said lowly. Adora's eyes grew wide and she looked slightly ill. "She refused." I stopped, unsure if Adora knew of Teela's parentage. I had only found out by accident, after all.

Adora's fists clenched and her jaw jutted forward. "That's ridiculous!" she hissed. "We're not supposed to marry?"

I shrugged. "If I were to want to marry Teela now, she would give her blessing."

Adora rolled her eyes and blew out a breath. "That's about as much help as Bow without his arrows."

"Huh?" I asked in confusion.

"Never mind," she answered dismissively. "The point is, you have to tell Teela."

"I can't," I denied.

"What?" Her eyes spit blue ice chips at me. "This has defined her for nine years! She has blamed you every day, and it wasn't even your fault! You have to tell her the truth! All of it."

My mouth dropped open as I understood her implication. "Are you nuts?"

Adora crossed her arms stubbornly. "She's suffered enough." Her gaze softened as she examined my face. "It's not fair to either of you, Adam," she added quietly.

I sighed, touched by her empathy but a bit exasperated as well—the sudden loving-sister act wasn't something I was ready for. "It's not that simple, Adora. First of all, the Sorceress forbid it, and the Castle's magic will find a way to protect its secret. Secondly, I still don't remember what happened. Everything I know I have pieced together from what you, Father, Duncan, and the Sorceress have said. I can't confront her. And I can't hurt her more by telling her I'm starting to remember some things, but not the most important things." I closed my eyes, willing the pain in my head to go away. "In fact, I'm not even sure what to do about it today. I-I'm not sure I can face her to spar again today, now that I know—or think I know—what's happened. I need some time to adjust to the idea, figure out what to do."

Adora placed a hand on my arm and I opened my eyes to meet her kind gaze. "Do you want me to go talk to her?" she offered.

A mix of denial and longing welled up in me. I wanted to see Teela and talk this out, but I wasn't sure what "this" was yet or how I even felt about it all. I felt like it hadn't even sunk in yet. "What would you tell her?" I said, aching at the thought of hurting her. And not showing up would hurt her. I knew that.

Adora pursed her lips as she thought. A wicked smile grew on her lips. "That you're too sore from yesterday to face her again, and you went fishing. I'm sure you could go find a nice quiet place to fish to make that true."

I smirked. "She would believe it in a heartbeat, too." A vague image flashed across my mind, along with a sharp pain in my head. I suddenly realized how much the short morning had taken out of me. My eyes and my limbs even felt heavy. "Actually, tell her I went to take a nap," I suggested wearily. "I may not be sore, but I am feeling exhausted and I've had a headache since yesterday. I'm having a lot of trouble adapting back to Eternia for some reason."

"Stress can wear you out," Adora pointed out understandingly.

"I guess," I agreed. "Maybe I'm just feeling my age." Adora snorted as I took a deep breath, trying to stave off another yawn, but I failed miserably. "Tell her I'll come by tomorrow," I requested. I narrowed my eyes. "And tell her she better have a dress for my welcome-back party tomorrow night, because I'm not coming back to the palace without her."

Adora clicked her heels sharply and gave me a mock salute. "Yes, sir, Prince Adam sir." With a wave she was on her way to do her pre-flight check on the wind raider.

I stared after her even after she was gone from sight, marveling for a moment over the sudden change in our relationship, then went to find Duncan, Cringer close on my heels.

For once Duncan wasn't in his workshop. I searched for close to an hour—you'd think I would have just used the com-link to learn his location, but it's usually very easy to find the man—anyway, I eventually caught him in the hallway. By now I could barely see straight due to the pain in my head, but I was bound and determined to let him know what the Sorceress had said.

"Duncan!" I called when I spotted him. He moved rapidly towards me.

"The Sorceress told me what she knew," he said tightly. "What I can't figure out is why she never said anything before. When I think of all Teela has gone through…" His fist clenched. "Maybe some of this could have been avoided, if only we had known."

"She said never had reason to believe there was more to my reason for asking," I said, fighting to keep my voice level. "So apparently the fault was mine, Duncan. I must not have told her everything."

He muttered something under his breath, clearly aggravated, and I ducked my head, guilt welling up within me. I felt so sick at heart that a wave of nausea hit me. I sagged against the wall, an arm around my stomach and a hand at my mouth. Cringer pressed himself against me worriedly.

"Adam?" Duncan said quizzically. "Are you okay?"

I swallowed hard and squeezed my eyes shut as I tried to respond without vomiting. "Not feeling well," I whispered.

"You're very pale," Duncan said bluntly. I opened my eyes to find him studying me carefully. "I think you've caught a virus of some kind, Adam. You might want to use the sword before someone finds out, or you'll be in the sick wing or your bedroom until it's passed."

"I don't think it's a virus," I managed. "It feels like a migraine."

"But-" Duncan broke off and rubbed his chin. "Ah. I see." He lapsed into silence.

I stood there, concentrating on the cold stone wall at my back and taking deep breaths. "I'm going to go rest," I said when the nausea had subsided.

"You've had a lot of stress the last few days," Duncan acknowledged cautiously. I could tell he thought I wasn't going to like what he was going to say. "Whether I'm right or you're right, I don't think that welcome-home party is the best idea for tomorrow. I will speak to your parents about postponing it."

I wanted to argue with him. I had always loved parties, no matter what the reason for them. I enjoyed watching people and speaking with them and dancing. But he was right. If I was ill, I would most likely not be up for a party for a few days. If it was all in my head, I obviously needed some more time to work through things and accept them and make decisions. I had a sudden, clear image of this being not only my homecoming party but an opportunity to announce the marriage I should have claimed nine years ago. It was impossible. I wasn't ready for that, and neither was she. But the image was there, as real as if I was remembering it instead of imagining it.

The pain in my head increased. "I think I'll take you up on that, Duncan," I said weakly. "Could you call Adora and let her know too? She's on her way to Teela's-or there already."

Duncan nodded and grabbed my arm to put it around his shoulders. "But first I'm going to see you safely to your room, Your Highness." The use of the title surprised me.

"That's not necessary, Duncan," I assured him. I tugged at my arm, but he refused to let go. I pulled away roughly and glared at him. "Duncan, I'm fine."

"Humor me, Adam," he said. His black eyes were full of worry.

Reluctantly, I acquiesced and let him escort me, although I was determined to get to my room under my own power. I wasn't that sick. "Somehow I don't think this will go over well with the nobility and the people," I muttered.

"They'll probably have you on your deathbed with some disease you brought back from Draedus," Duncan agreed. "Which is why you're going to let me look at your vitals, or I'm calling the healers in."

I glanced at him, alarmed. "Do you really think that's what it is?"

Duncan pursed his lips. You could always count on him to give you an honest answer, instead of saying what you wanted to hear. "No. It is more likely that your body is reacting to the environmental change and the physical change, and to the stress."

I frowned. The Sorceress had indicated there would be no side effects to speak of, but Duncan could be right. My body might be reacting to not having He-Man's strength any longer, in addition to returning to Eternia and all this turmoil. That idea was certainly better than the idea that I was carrying some deadly disease. But that didn't mean I liked it.

"Or you could have caught a regular old Eternian virus." Duncan's matter-of-fact voice left no doubt as to what he thought the real answer was, and I couldn't help but sigh in relief as we neared the Royal Wing.

Taking Duncan's advice to heart, I used the sword before he left my room. It didn't help much. Duncan looked at me expectantly, and I shook my head slightly. "Still got that headache and nausea," I said, sounding stronger than I felt because I was He-Man at the moment.

Duncan looked relieved. "That's good on several counts."

"How do you figure?" I asked as I raised the sword to relinquish the power. Duncan watched quietly as I did so. I collapsed heavily onto the bed, wanting nothing more than to sleep.

"If you had a contagious disease from Eternia or Draedus, it would be gone," he pointed out. He hesitated for a moment. "And if you were addicted to Grayskull's magic and power, it would have relieved the symptoms." Obviously that had been a fear he hadn't bothered to voice earlier.

I was actually glad he had pointed that one out, but it left only one conclusion. "So it's all in my head," I said dryly.

Duncan tilted his head at me. "Adam, you've lived in peace for nine years and within a five-day time frame not only regained your memory but have had everything you thought you've remembered thrown back in your face, as if your memories mean nothing because everything has changed so drastically. You didn't even have time to prepare because you remembered who you were one minute and were back on Eternia the next. You have been handling things admirably, but frankly, I believe you've been in a state of emotional shock a good part of the time. It's wearing off, lad. You're bound to be angry and even physically sick as you start to accept it all." He lowered his eyebrows at me in warning. "Don't try to ignore those feelings. I'm here if you need to talk."

I nodded my appreciation, though given my biggest distress right now was his daughter, I didn't see that happening. "Thanks, Duncan." I glanced at my pillow. "Right now, I just want to sleep." I gave him a half-hearted grin. "Pillows are a huge benefit of being back home."

"You didn't have pillows?" Duncan asked, his interest piqued. He was always eager to learn about other worlds when I went to visit them.

"Not until I managed to find a plant that grew some fluffy stuff that didn't decay," I said with a yawn. "The humanoids on Draedus had a layer of soft, dense fluff around their heads; they didn't need pillows."

Duncan's gaze sharpened. "So you knew what a pillow was and had an idea of how to make one?"

"Yes," I said thoughtfully. "I remembered general things like that; it was specifics about myself I couldn't recall. Like I didn't know I was so strong as He-Man, but the first time I tossed one of the robots, I knew I wasn't supposed to be able to do that, that a normal man couldn't have done it."

"Interesting," Duncan mused. He opened his mouth, presumably to ask another question, just as I let out a huge yawn. He nodded sharply. "Have a good rest, Adam. I'll take care of postponing the party."

"Thanks, Duncan," I mumbled. I think I was asleep before he left the room.