As always, thank you so much to everyone that takes the time to review! I appreciate you all! Yes, my best friend is a bit nutty (as you can probably guess from her review), but she has a good excuse! Her husband is in the Navy (currently in the Middle East) and she is home with five children, two of whom are nearly-one-year-old identical twin boys. I couldn't do it, so I have a lot of respect for her! Love ya Sarah! I'm not going to get any computer time later tonight, so you get an early update! Anyhow, here's the next installment. Enjoy...

Making his way through the silent corridors of the palace Adam stopped in front of Adora's bedroom door and knocked lightly. Adora cautiously opened the door and looked at him in surprise.

"Adam!" she exclaimed and opened the door to pull him inside. "What are you doing here?"

"You're keeping me awake," he told her dryly. "What's wrong?"

Adora bit her bottom lip and sighed, motioning him into a chair by the window as she sat in the other one. "It's Hawk," she said softly. "I've been dissecting our relationship."

"Go on," Adam told her.

"Well, we've been courting for a year now and he hasn't really made his intentions clear," she told him. "I have no idea where our relationship is going, or if I'm just keeping him company until he gets bored."

"Adora, he hasn't done anything~" Adam started angrily, but was cut off by his twin.

"No!" she said hastily, "no; he hasn't~ we aren't~" she sighed. "He hasn't even tried to get me to do anything like that," she assured him. "But he hasn't told me that he loves me or made any hints about marriage, either. I have no idea where we stand and I'm afraid if I ask him I'll scare him away."

"Wouldn't it be better to do that and know than to be losing sleep over wondering?" Adam asked gently. "I don't want to see you get hurt, but at least then you would know for certain where you stand with him."

Adora sighed again and nodded, cursing the tears stinging her eyes. "You're right; I'll talk to him tomorrow."

Adam stood and pulled her to her feet, kissing her forehead. "It'll all work out somehow," he told her. "If Hawk is the one meant for you, it will all work out."

"I wish I was as certain of that as you are," she told him. "This is all so confusing."

"Love is confusing," Adam told her.

Adora smiled and lightly punched him in the arm. "Go back to your wife," she told him. "I'll see you when you return from your honeymoon."

Adam hugged her and left her room and started heading towards his suite, but he detoured mid-step and walked further down the corridor and knocked on another door quietly.

After a moment the door opened and Hawk looked at Adam in surprise. "Is everything all right?" he asked, immediately on alert as he opened the door to let the prince in.

"You tell me," Adam said quietly. "I just left my sister's room. She and I can sense when the other is in trouble or in pain, or even if one of us is distraught about something. She was keeping me awake because she's so agitated, so I went to find out what's bothering her."

Hawk stood with his arms folded across his chest and waited, his expression unreadable.

"You're bothering her," Adam said.

"Me," Hawk asked in surprise. "What did I do that's bothering her?"

"I think it's more what you haven't done," Adam sighed. "Look, I don't want to break my sister's confidence, but the two of you need to have a serious discussion about your relationship. She told me she'll talk to you about it tomorrow, so I thought you deserved a head's up. I don't want to see my sister hurt, but I'd rather you be honest with her now than to keep dragging this out and end up hurting her worse later."

Hawk blinked and nodded. "I see," he said slowly and then chuckled slightly. "Funny, I've been awake all this time thinking about the exact same thing."

"Oh," Adam queried, taking the seat Hawk offered him and watching as he sat down, too. "What do you mean?"

"I know that Adora is someday going to want to return to Eternia for good," Hawk told him, "and since she's a princess there is a whole lot of… responsibility… that comes with courting her. I don't want to hurt her Adam, but I have to really take the time to be sure that I am ready~ and willing~ to take on everything that comes with marrying her. I'd have to leave behind my ship, my crew and my home world. Not to mention that being land-logged all the time is something I'd have to adjust to. It's not as simple as whether or not I'm in love with her; I have to consider whether or not I can be happy, for the rest of my life, with the responsibilities and expectations that would be placed on me as her husband. I know she is worth the sacrifices that I would have to make in order to be with her; I just have to be sure that I'm willing to make them and that I wouldn't end up resenting her in the long run because of them. She deserves better than that."

Adam smiled approvingly at the pirate. "That makes me feel a lot better Hawk," he said. "I'm glad to know that you're really thinking this through. Let me give you some advice: be honest with Adora and tell her what you just told me. She isn't the kind of girl that's going to get all melodramatic on you; Adora appreciates honesty and she'll understand that you have to consider all of the possibilities. When you tell her it's because you don't want to see either of you hurt in the long run, I think she'll really understand and you'll put her mind at ease."

"Thanks," Hawk said nodding.

Adam stood and when Hawk stood as well, he shook his hand. "I'm going to go get some sleep and allow you to do the same. Will you be here when I return from my honeymoon?"

"If your parents don't mind my staying I will be," Hawk grinned.

"Oh believe me they won't mind," Adam said. "The longer they have to get to know you, the happier they'll be."

Hawk didn't know what to make of that statement so he just nodded and followed Adam to the door. "Good night," he said.

"Good night," Adam replied and left. He finally made his way to his own suite and climbed wearily into bed. A glance at the chronometer told him he was supposed to be getting up in four hours, so he closed his eyes and willed himself to sleep.

Teela awoke and stretched before shutting off the alarm. She turned on her side and faced her husband, brushing his hair away from his face. Smiling, she kissed him to wake him up.

Adam's arms wrapped around his wife and he opened his eyes with a smile. "Now that's the best way to wake up in the morning," he grinned. "Is it time to get up already?"

"Already," Teela questioned. "We've been asleep for nearly eight hours."

"No, you've been asleep for nearly eight hours," he corrected. "I was up half the night dealing with Adora's love life."

"Explain that to me please," his wife asked with a confused look.

Adam sighed and briefly told her what had transpired the night before. "When I finally came to bed it was only about four hours until the alarm was set to go off."

"Well when we get to our destination and get settled in, we can both take a nap," Teela promised. "I just want to get out of here before everyone sees us and wants to talk to us."

Adam chuckled and nodded in agreement. "You shower first and I'll have the kitchen send up breakfast… do you need some erimint tea this morning?"

"As always," Teela grimaced and rubbed her stomach. "Remind them to send enough of the tea leaves for us to take on our trip, too, please."

"Okay," Adam said as they both climbed out of bed.

Teela headed for the lavatory and Adam pulled on his robe before going out to the sitting room and calling down to the kitchen. Then he carried their bags, which had been packed the day before, into the sitting room and placed them out of the way near the door.

Breakfast was brought up on a cart and Adam had them move it to the dining area in their small kitchenette.

"Good morning Prince Adam," the maids said with a curtsy.

"Good morning Ayla, Geneva," he replied with a smile.

"Chef Allen sent this up," Ayla told him, handing him a basket. "He said that it contains enough erimint tea for your trip and he also sent some of your favorite treats to take with you."

Adam took the basket from her and peered inside. "Tell Chef Allen that I said thank you, please?" he said with a grin.

The maids curtsied again and quickly finished setting out their breakfast, and then they pushed the cart out of the suite.

"Princess Teela's so lucky," he heard Ayla say as the door was closing.

Shaking his head he went to check on his wife and found her fully dressed and ready to go. "There's a pot of tea on the table with breakfast in the dining area and Chef Allen sent up a basket with enough tea for the trip and a variety of snacks for us to take along. I'd advise you to wait until the morning sickness has passed before you open the basket, though."

"Thanks," Teela said dryly. She stood from where she'd been putting on her shoes and kissed him. "Hit the shower, mister," she said.
"I thought I'd eat with you first," he said.

Teela shook her head. "If you take the cover off your plate before the tea has had a chance to kick in I'll be sick and it will delay our getting out of here. We can eat together after you shower and get dressed."

Adam nodded in understanding and made his way to the lavatory, wondering how long morning sickness lasted. He showered and dressed quickly and then made his way into the dining area where Teela was finishing a cup of erimint tea. "How many cups does that make?" he asked.

"This is my third one," she said. "I think I'm ready to actually eat something now."

"Do you know how long morning sickness is supposed to last?" Adam asked her as he sat down and lifted the cover from his plate, smiling at the delicious-looking meal.

"Your mother says it usually ends sometime in the fourth month or so," she shrugged. "Some women have it their whole pregnancy." She lifted the cover from her own plate and tentatively took a bite of toast. When she didn't feel sick, she ate more of the toast before she started eating the omelet. Chef Allen had made her a mushroom and cheese omelet this morning and she eyed Adam's vegetable omelet full of onions and peppers with a shudder.

"I hope that you aren't one of those unfortunate women," Adam said. "I hate seeing you sick."

Teela smiled at him softly and nodded.

They finished their meal and then Teela went to the lavatory while Adam double-checked to be sure that they had everything. When Teela entered the sitting room she looked at him.

"Are we ready?" she asked.

"We are," he confirmed, picking up their bags and the basket Chef Allen had sent along. "Let's go."

They made their way to the hangar bay and managed to avoid seeing anyone other than a few guards and servants and climbed into an Attack Trak. They had already arranged it so that Duncan would see that it was returned to the palace from Castle Grayskull.

When they arrived at the castle the Sorceress was waiting for them. "I will contact you telepathically if He-Man is needed for any reason," she told them as they walked towards where the portal would be opened. "If either of you need anything you can contact me telepathically and I will answer as quickly as I can. Enjoy your vacation," she said, hugging each of them and then opening the portal.

Adam took Teela's hand and led her through the portal and they came out in front of a house a short distance from a white-sand beach with a beautiful tropical forest behind it.

"Where are we," Teela asked in awe as she looked around her at their magnificent surroundings.

"The planet is called Orinar," Adam told her, leading her up the steps of the house and through the front door. "I own~ well, we own~ the island, which is in the Opinari Ocean. The people that live in the village about a mile from here are very friendly and welcoming. I hope you'll love it here as much as I do."