Author's note: Thank you, dear readers, for your kind reviews. This story is intended to be a fun adventure/romance - nothing too serious, but definitely some action scenes. Teela has always seemed to be the intuitive type to me: she makes seemingly hasty decisions, but she's committed to those decisions. This chapter is all about that commitment! I'm introducing some original characters here, plus bringing out some old favorites. I don't own MOTU or its characters.

Chapter 2: Seventeen years later

Resourceful as ever, Teela swiftly undid the restraints around her hands and ankles, then loosely restored them to give the false appearance of being bound while she awaited her inevitable rescue. She had just re-staged the scene of her imprisonment in Skeletor's throne room, when the villain himself, plus four of his followers, burst in arguing with each other about what to do with their latest victim.

"A simple ransom exchange - we need the cash!" exclaimed Tri-Clops the inventor. Trap-Jaw nodded at the sound logic.

"But the life force of a queen has supernatural properties that could strengthen us - we could dominate Grayskull at last!" mused the witch Evil-Lyn. Beast-Man growled in agreement. Skeletor seemed to give it thoughtful consideration.

Not liking the sound of that proposal at all, Teela decided to distract her enemies with words. "You fool, Skeletor! Hah - you're a fool leading fools! My husband's strike team will be here any second, and they will show no mercy. All of the Masters, the Royal Army and the power of Grayskull, too. You'd better release me now, before Snake Mountain is flattened!"

"Hmmm, you make a valid point, royal skank," laughed Skeletor. "If you are correct, then the king's palace will be defenseless - with you as our decoy -"

Suddenly, Snake Mountain shook, and the place was filled with the sound of solid rock being smashed. A cloud of dust billowed into the throne room, and out of that dust emerged He-Man, the Master of the Universe, holding a very big chunk of the rubble.

Everyone's eyes turned to the giant hero, and Teela used the distraction to break off her restraints, grab Skeletor's Havoc Staff and smash it against the wall, destroying the ram's head talisman on the end. Sparks flew in all directions from the magical impact. He-Man threw his boulder and managed to knock out both Tri-Clops and Trap Jaw with one shot. Teela broke the Havoc Staff in half over her knee and used the jagged end to charge at Beast Man, impaling him through the abdomen. He-Man threw another big rock at Skeletor, causing him to fall backwards and knock his skull on the stone floor. Evil-Lyn was firing magical energy bolts without much accuracy until He-Man threw another rock that hit her shoulder, pushing her into a corner. Only a few seconds had elapsed, but Teela was already next to He-Man. As soon as he threw the rock at Evil-Lyn, he said in a lowered voice, "Piggyback."

She didn't need to be told twice. She jumped onto the hero's back, and he made a supersonic exit through the same hole he'd made in the side of Snake Mountain. He leaped straight out into the night sky 200 feet above ground, Superman-style.

Having fought beside He-Man for years, Teela knew that this guy could not fly - she closed her eyes, held on tight and hoped she wasn't about to die. But He-Man called out, "Sorceress! We need a lift!"

Instantly, a powerful, hurricane-force wind met them mid-air. The wind slowed their descent and pushed them further away from Snake Mountain. Evil-Lyn was still trying to shoot energy at them, but the wind paradoxically blew the bolts back at the mountain. A falcon flew alongside them, though Teela didn't understand why the bird wasn't being blown away. It almost seemed to be acting as a type of guide. He-Man landed gently on the ground, and the wind disappeared - and the falcon, too.

Teela was so freaked out that she was still locked onto He-Man's back. The champion's partner, Battle-Cat, had apparently been waiting for them here on the plain, and he knelt to allow mounting.

"See? I told you it wouldn't take long, Cat," said He-Man. "Let's return the queen to her family now." Instantly, they were galloping across Eternia with Teela pressed up against the smoothly waxed skin of He-Man's back. Close to her ear, he said, "Queen Teela, are you injured at all? Your child?"

"How did you know - did Adam - ?" They hadn't even told close family members about the pregnancy yet - how could He-Man possibly know?

"Your husband is beside himself with worry, my queen - he begged me -"

"You know, He-Man," Teela interrupted, "I really prefer my military title, General Teela. I've given instructions not to be called queen while my mother-in-law is still living."

"But you're married to a king, right? You were crowned right beside him, weren't you?" He-Man was glad she couldn't see his face, because he was having a hard time suppressing laughter. Obviously, she and the baby were perfectly healthy, or else she wouldn't be starting an argument with him!

"That's not the point, and you know it," she chided. "Sharing a bed with the king doesn't define me!"

"Perhaps not - but I would argue that it defines him." It took all of He-Man's super-strength not to laugh out loud.

"Ugh, you've missed the point again, He-Man. I earned my military rank, and that's my life's work, I'm not just an ornament or a babymaker…"

"No, but you excel at both! Are you carrying a son or a daughter?"

"We told the healers to keep it a secret this time!"

"But you know, don't you? You always know."

"How do you - you won't tell my husband?"

"Your secret is safe with me."

"Another daughter, just as Adam wished - he's going to be so happy."

"I think he already is - very happy. I'm afraid we must part ways here - it's time for me to return to Grayskull." He-Man told Battle-Cat to slow down, as they were approaching a military outpost - in a matter of minutes, they had already traveled hundreds of miles from the Dark Hemisphere to the frontier towns of Eternia. The champion graciously helped his passenger disembark, and Teela couldn't help thinking that his mannerisms, his manly scent, the laughter twinkling in his eyes, reminded her of someone she knew…her husband...but He-Man was bigger and wider and didn't have a single scar on his rippling muscles...and He-Man was clean-shaven with chin-length hair (King Adam wore a full beard, and his blond hair flowed just past his shoulders, and his chest and arms were covered in a fine reddish-gold down, and - Teela felt weak in her knees just thinking about her husband's physical charms)...they were completely different men. So she shrugged off that thought.

"My queen," he said (and she was annoyed that he persisted in calling her 'queen' even after she specifically told him not to!), "Your husband the king is indeed very fortunate to be... embraced... by so much beauty. I am grateful for this opportunity to enjoy your embrace, even if it was only fleeting." He winked at her.

"He-Man, are you flirting with me?" Teela was shocked at his impudence!

A group of soldiers approached from the outpost and saluted their general and queen.

He-Man climbed back on his cat and said, "I only speak the truth. Farewell, my queen." In a flash, they vanished into the nearby woods.

Less than a minute later, an elderly green and gold Eternian tiger went slinking out of the other side of the woods in the direction of the royal palace, while King Adam of Eternia followed close behind on a Sky Sled. He did a u-turn back toward the military outpost, making it look as if he was traveling directly from the palace.

Another Sky Sled, tucked away in a shadowy cluster of bushes a little distance from the woods, started up and followed the king. Two teenage boys with wavy strawberry-blond hair blowing in the breeze were riding the sled together. One boy said to the other, "Totally predictable as usual."

The other boy answered, "Yep."

Adam arrived just as General Teela finished giving orders to the soldiers. "Scrap that," she said. "Here's my ride home."

She turned toward her husband with a brilliant smile. He hopped off the vehicle, broke into a run and wrapped her up into his arms, lifting her off the ground. Nuzzling her ear, he whispered, "Are you all right, my love? And our baby?" As he set her feet back down, one of his hands slid down her back and around to her belly.

Teela decided that the most efficient way to answer was with a long, passionate kiss. While they were oblivious to the world around them, the second Sky Sled landed and the two teenagers walked up to them. One teen said, "Also totally predictable."

His twin brother responded, "Yep."

Teela violently ripped herself away from her lover and turned to the teens in fury. "Prince Randor and Prince Duncan! WHAT ON ETERNIA ARE YOU DOING HERE? Your orders were to protect your sisters and your grandmother! I ought to have you court-martialed for abandoning your posts! HOW DARE YOU DISOBEY -"

The teens backed away from their mother in terror. "We...we just...uh...the girls are all safe in the bunker...we made sure..." They made fleeting eye contact with their father in a desperate, unspoken plea for mercy.

Standing behind Teela, Adam responded to his twin sons with a stern look, clearly communicating that he would cover for them this time, but he was definitely unhappy to see them. He broke in, "Teela, my love, I invited them to follow me, after we ensured that the palace lockdown was complete." Teela looked at her husband in disbelief. He had never, not even once, directly contradicted her military orders in the past seventeen years. The boys had violated a standing order that was an integral part of their family's crisis action plan. Adam continued soothingly, while steering her toward his Sky Sled, "Please understand, love, that these emergency missions are a necessary part of their training and education. Remember, I had planned a journey to Grayskull with the boys tonight, as part of their sixteenth birthday celebration, but we had to postpone that when Skeletor's crew took you...so I told them that they could come with me and bring you home…"

One of the boys began, "Mama, we were so worried about you…"

The other boy added, "And we brought you some towels and a change of clothes…" He smiled humbly, offering a little bundle.

Teela was slightly mollified by their concern. "Not another dress, I hope?" Teela hated formal wear - it was absolutely the worst part of being queen. The party dress that she was wearing tonight had been shredded at the hem and torn in several places. It was covered in filth from the slimy walls of Snake Mountain.

"Of course not, Mama. Standard-issue fatigues." He knew his mother well: she always wore combat boots, even under fancy gowns.

"All right. No court martial," Teela said, taking the bundle. "But you're not off the hook. I'll put these on, and we'll go home together." She went to change in the nearby barracks.

Adam glared at his sons in silence for a full minute. One of the boys tried to speak. Adam interrupted, "I don't want to hear it. I know perfectly well that you've been spying on me. Hmph...Truth and Dare...your granny nailed it with those nicknames. The three of us will go to Grayskull tomorrow. We'll settle everything then. Tonight we take care of your mother and sisters. That's it."

Both teens bowed their heads and said, "Yes, Papa." But as they climbed aboard their Sky Sled, they glanced at each other with the same sly smile. Within a few minutes, Teela returned to them in her clean fatigues and her hair tied up in a messy bun. Adam offered his arm as she hopped up to the driver's seat, then he slipped on right behind her and kissed her cheek. Teela motioned for the boys to go ahead of her: she wanted to keep her eyes on them the whole way home.

It was quite late when they docked their Sky Sleds at the palace, but, in spite of the hour (or perhaps because of it), the group was met by a cluster of extremely hyperactive red-headed girls, all wearing camouflage pajamas, all jumping up and down, squealing and waving their arms. They took turns kissing their mother before tackling their father, and within a few minutes, Adam was walking through the palace halls with one sitting on top of his shoulders, plus one in each arm. Teela followed, waving off the nearby medical staff and firmly holding the hands of a 13 year old and a squirmy 8 year old, who looked back at her brothers and teased in a sing-song voice,"Rancan and Dundor are in trouuuble!" The boys stuck out their tongues and made faces at her.

"Aurora, you know very well how to call your brothers by their proper names," said Teela, before turning to the older woman who was walking with them. "Mother, is the baby already asleep then?"

Queen Marlena always smiled when Teela called her 'Mother.' "Yes, my dear, little Zara was all tuckered out from the excitement. I put her down as soon as we had the all-clear to leave the bunker."

"One down, seven to go," said King Adam, "But I suppose the boys won't give us any more grief tonight."

"No, they won't," said Teela. "Randor, Duncan, come kiss me good night." (She shot daggers with her eyes at little Aurora when she said her sons' names correctly.) Hugging each boy, Teela wished them a happy birthday and whispered, "I'm not ready for you to be my heroes just yet." The boys kissed her and cheerfully went off to their room. They couldn't believe they'd avoided punishment!

"Three down, five to go," continued Adam. "Girls, we need soft whispers only so the baby doesn't wake up. Mother, we still need you as back-up here." Queen Marlena carefully opened the door of the girls' suite, and they all tiptoed inside.

Adam was tucking in the 11 year old and the 13 year old, Teela was helping the three younger girls in the bathroom and Marlena was running interference, when baby Zara woke up crying. So Marlena took Teela's position in the bathroom, and Teela rushed to nurse her youngest child back to sleep. Within fifteen minutes, the room was finally quiet, and the adults slipped back into the hallway.

"I'll make you both a cup of tea," whispered Queen Marlena, motioning her son and daughter-in-law toward her suite, next door to the girls. "I want to hear everything."

Settled in Marlena's cozy sitting room, Teela relayed all that she saw and heard from the moment she had been kidnapped from her sons' birthday party in the Royal Gardens until her safe return home. Marlena nodded and considered every detail, including the sudden appearance of her grandsons at the military outpost. She understood that the curious teens were on a mission of their own, but instead she focused on other parts of the narrative.

Marlena said, "I believe the three most important pieces of intelligence here are: that Skeletor's magic staff has been destroyed, that he's in need of funding and that Evil-Lyn has this idea about taking a queen's life force. We have several queens in our family, you know...and I don't like the bit about Evil-Lyn's shots going wide even at close range…"

Adam picked up her train of thought. "You mean, she missed on purpose? As soon as she saw the Havoc Staff smashed, her loyalty shifted...away from Skeletor?"

As soon as he said it aloud, they all knew it was true. Only time could tell how this would affect Eternia's enemies.

Marlena yawned and stood up to say good night, pretending not to notice the shadows shuffling under the door frame - she was fairly certain that a pair of teenagers in the hallway had listened to every word of the conversation, and she wanted to give them a chance to make their escape. With a few inadequate words expressing their gratitude and love, Adam and Teela both kissed her goodnight: the King Mother was the anchor of the whole family.

At long last, King Adam and General Teela were alone together. Escorting his wife back to their suite, Adam still felt like a giddy teenager who couldn't believe his luck in winning his 'girl.' As he closed their bedroom door behind them, Teela recognized the same huge, goofy smile on his face that he had first revealed upon hearing her accept his marriage proposal seventeen years earlier. Her heart melted; she decided to forgive him for allowing the boys to abandon their post to bring her home.

"What are your orders, General?" King Adam was careful always to acknowledge his wife's military rank.

Maintaining a serious, authoritative expression, Teela answered, "First, a shower for us. Then we're going to burn off all this leftover adrenaline - even if it takes all night."

Adam saluted his commanding officer and said, "Ma'am, yes, ma'am!"

She purred into his ear, "At ease, soldier."

**Author's note: Yeah, I know I recycled some details in the action sequence from my other story. It's a scenario that I always wanted to see in the series. Anyway, please be patient. It may be a month or two before I can post again.**