*Disclaimer in 1, blah blah blah.

***This one is dedicated to LadyNiko's overactive imagination. Enjoy and as always any input is more than welcomed!

CHAPTER 10: CROSSING OVER

This time, He-Man used the Sword of Power and the polite way to get into Grayskull.

On her throne, Teela perked up as she heard his voice and the thunder of the jawbridge as it moved. She had been so worried that he wouldn't come back that she had dreaded the worst. But true to his form, he was there, sword and all.

She had missed him so much over the last five years. Their talks, their arguments, hells, even their all-night military strategy sessions where they would argue their points until dawn.

He was the best friend she had had for her entire life, and when he yelled at her earlier, she felt her heart being ripped out of her chest.

In her training, Zodac had told her she couldn't get too close with the ones who carried the Power Swords because their futures would always be uncertain. Determined only by each action taken in battle.

"It is forbidden for you to cross that line, Teela," Zodac had instructed her with his usual charm. "You can not become too involved with either Adam or Adora," he smirked insinuating something between the two warrior women. He could be such a pig. "You will need to keep a clear head and let's face it, feelings tend to cloud decision-making skills. Your mother knew that, that was part of the reason she gave you up."

She hated that. How was she supposed to train herself from having not feelings for someone they had already been there for a lifetime? But she agreed. It was part of her duty.

She stood up from her throne and practically flew down the stairs as He-Man entered the room. After five years, He-Man looked surprisingly a lot like Adam, only tan, about a foot taller and with a whole lot more muscles. Teela smiled, despite herself.

"You came back," she said happily. "Thanks the elders. I thought we were doomed."

He-Man nodded but didn't smile. Teela's smile faded, something was troubling her friend.

"What is it?" she inquired.

He-Man rubbed his hands together and walked towards her. He didn't want to look at her, but he couldn't help it. She had taken her headband off and her fiery hair was down around her shoulders. She seemed to have a soft glow about her that made him feel uneasy. She was beautiful and he knew it; that was starting to scare him.

He loved his wife, but for years before, he had loved Teela. He was devastated by the loss of the possibility of a future with her and never thought he would have feelings for anyone again until he met Erin.

Then when she died, he VOWED never to have feelings for anyone again, and here was Teela, his best friend, alive, in the magnificent looking flesh and smiling at him. That old, tight feeling he used to get in his chest when he was around her came back, and he was fairly alarmed by it. He felt guilty.

Adora's words screamed in his head.

".she would want you to let her go and move on with your life."

His gut twisted a little.

"Look, about what I said earlier." he mumbled. "That was way off base, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have unloaded on you like that."

Teela half smiled. She was glad he was apologizing but she also knew what he was feeling inside and she couldn't hold that against him. She wondered if he would always associate the death of his wife with her.

"Well, considering the news that had just been dumped on you," she reassured him. "I suppose all could be forgiven..." a sly look formed on her face.

"This time, anyway."

He-Man mustered up a smile and put his hands behind his back. He was so fidgety, Teela almost laughed. Almost.

"The time is drawing close," she said, her smile changing to an expression of worry. "I can feel the danger growing stronger in the air with every hour. Have you alerted the Defenders?"

He-Man nodded his head, still looking at her intently.

"Yes," he replied. "They should all arrive here by dawn. It's been so long though, I hope they will be able to withstand this kind of battle."

Teela turned her back to him. It was almost as if he was reading her thoughts. She too had been wondering if time had taken a toll on all of them. She also wondered if she would be as good of a sorceress in battle as she had been a military leader. But she couldn't let on that she had doubts. In her position, strength of will was everything and doubt could result in defeat, which in turn could only lead to destruction.

"The Defenders will be ready," she said with mock confidence. "As will you be and as will I be."

She looked at him with concern.

"Something else troubles you, I can sense it," she inquired. Then she realized it. He was alone. She knew Adora had returned to Eternia, she opened the portal herself, yet she was not with him.

"Where's She-Ra?" she prodded.

He-Man took a deep sigh and looked at the ground. He wondered how she would react to his request.

"Adora," he stressed. "Is back at the palace and she will stay there to protect my son and family upon my request. She will not join me..us in this battle."

Teela's eyebrows rose. This new revelation stunned her and she wondered what he could have possibly said to convince the most powerful woman in the universe not to stand by her brother and fight in what would most likely be an ultimate battle for the ages. She didn't know what to say.

"Why on Eternia?" she mustered up a half question. "Why would you ask her to do that?"

He-Man's expression was hard for her to read. He looked relieved yet pained at the same time. He wasn't sure how well this was going to go over.

"Look, I have to think about the whole picture here," he said slowly, trying not to look her in the eyes. "If this battle will be as big as you claim, there are not going to be any guarantees of victory. If something happens to me," he paused contemplating the possibility. "If I don't make it, Adora has strict instructions to take Adacan and my parents off Eternia, to protect them from Skeletor. If I fall in battle, you will have to make sure a portal is opened in the Royal Chambers of the palace for them to escape."

He placed his hands on her shoulders. He would beg if he had to.

"Can you do that for me please?" he asked softly. "I can't take the chance of that monster hurting anyone else I love."

Teela lowered her eyes. She hoped the scenario he was describing wouldn't play out as such but she knew he was right. The end of this chapter in her life would be very unpredictable.

"I will do as you ask," she consented softly.

He-Man smiled and hugged his friend. He had expected more resistance from her in both situations but did not find any.

"Thank you so much," he said as he rubbed her back softly.

She squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn't believe how good she felt in his strong embrace. It was almost magical and it felt right, that is until he opened his mouth again.

"I have one more request," he said. "After you close the portal behind Adora and my family, you have to get out of here too. Go to the Universal Counsel, follow Adora to Etheria, go to Earth even. Just get yourself to safety and away from Skeletor."

This request, she did not like. She jerked herself out of his arms as hard as she could and jumped back several feet away from him. Her face was red with anger, her green eyes were flashing. The muscles tensed and flexed all over her body.

How could he, the person she thought knew her best, next to her father, ask her to leave a battle when the going got tough? She was angered and insulted, and he was damn well going to find that out.

"I will not!" she yelled, her hands clenched in the familiar "Look out, Teela's pissed off" fashion. "My responsibility is to Grayskull. I will not, under any circumstance abandon it, not even for you! If Grayskull falls to Skeletor, I will fall with it. That's just the way it is. I will fight here, beside the Defenders and you, but I will not leave! Don't EVER ask me to forget my responsibilities again!"

She thought about the hypocrisy in her last statement. A minute ago, she would have been more than ready to cross the line that Zodac told her was forbidden and now she was throwing the rulebook in his face.

She wasn't sure if she should laugh at the thought or cry. Instead, she opted for silence and put her head down as she tried to calm down. She had never stood up to him like that before. Her head swam as He-Man walked quickly over to her.

She thought round two of the fight was about to start when it happened.

He-Man grabbed her head with one hand and her back with the other and with passionate force he kissed her hard, squeezing his lips and his body firmly against hers. The walls of the castle seemed to shake right along with her legs.

That, she wasn't expecting. As she wrapped her arms around his tanned neck, and reciprocated what she thought would never happen, she swore she saw the rulebook fly right out the window.

******

Meanwhile in the halls of the Universal Counsel, the debate continued.

The advisor was obviously ticked off and was giving Zodac a piece of its mind, which was hard to do considered it wouldn't, but not couldn't, speak.

Zodac non-chalantly rebutted each argument.

"Look, I know this isn't exactly going the way it was meant to for you, but you of all..whatever.know that things can change. Nothing is ever concrete. We've had this discussion before," his eyebrow cocked. "Well, sort of, anyway."

Zodac was getting tired of this argument. He had missed the game and it was getting late, not that time meant anything in the halls of the Universal Counsel. Still, he was bored and wanted to be done with this.

"Look, go back to Eternia," he yawned. "Advise her, tell her what her options are, but that's all you can do." His eyes narrowed. "But do not become physically involved, you know what the consequences will be for you if that happens."

The advisor was about to show Zodac just exactly what it intended to do when they both stopped and looked at each other. Around them, a sudden great force seemed to shake the walls of the Counsel's meeting room as well as the two inhabitants themselves. Zodac's goblet of ale fell off the table and shattered on the ground.

It was a very powerful moment, one that rarely occurred in the scared hallways. Rarely, for a good reason.

Zodac clenched his fist and stomped his large foot.

"Damn that girl!" he yelled so loudly it seemed to echo out into forever. "Why is it she never listens to me? I swear she's more trying on my patience than any other Sorceress ever!"

Zodac went on with his tirade, cursing and stomping around. The advisor, however, had a different reaction as its hood just dropped down and its shoulders slumped in sadness.

*******

It was late, one of the three moons of Eternia shone down brightly through the trees of the evergreen forest. Two were already covered by storm clouds, as thunder rumbled in the distance.

Adacan pushed his way through bushes and jumped over fallen trees at a fast pace in order to keep up with the glowing orb he was following.

He knew his father would be upset with him for staying out so late and he knew his family would worry, but at the moment he didn't care. He was completely fixated on the orb and where it was leading him.

The orb continued through the foliage, around trees, under and above branches. Adacan thought it was dancing as he tried desperately to keep up. He wasn't far from the palace, but he wasn't exactly close either.

Finally the orb seemed to stop in a clearing. Adacan sat down and tried to catch his breath as the orb hung in mid-air over him. He looked around the odd place. He seemed to recognize it, but he hadn't been there in a long time and he didn't remember this rock wall.

He stood up and put his hand on the great, circular wall and walked all the way around it. It was huge, in width and in height, but there was no way in.

"How do I." Adacan whispered to himself as he looked up. For a second he considered going back for some iron vine to climb with, but then the orb moved again, slowly.

It floated to the other side of the wall and stopped. Adacan looked up to the remaining moon as its rays cast an illuminant light over the great stone. Soon the clouds would overtake the third moon and Eternia would be totally dark. Adacan hoped he had enough time to get back to the palace.

Suddenly the orb flashed and disappeared, along with a section of the wall.

The light blinded Adacan. He rubbed his eyes and tried to focus. As his vision became less blurry, he saw a garden inside the stone structure and walked in towards it. That's when he saw the statue.

In the moonlight, it shone brightly. He could tell it was a statue of a woman and walked closer to investigate. It towered over him, casting a shadow on the 10-year-old. He examined the statue's work and detail but he couldn't see its face too well, it was hidden by shadows. He started to walk to the side of it when he swore he saw it flinch.

He jumped back nervously, breathing hard. The statue remained still as the scared boy looked around as if to ask someone who wasn't there if they saw what he saw.

He stared at the statue again for a few minutes. Nothing. Feeling silly, he walked towards it again, albeit slowly. He was glad Leva wasn't here to see him acting like Cringer. She'd never let him live it down.

He felt a cool breeze blow over him as he approached the base of the statue again. Something about it seemed strange. There was a familiar scent in the air.

"Aaaadddaaacccaaannnn."

He heard the whisper in the breeze, it was soft and it was comforting, yet he had know idea whose voice it was.

He examined the statue closer but jumped back suddenly as he swore he saw the statue's face move. He shook uncontrollably because his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. The whole body of the statue seemed to wavier, as is it were made of water.

His eyes grew wide. He wanted to run but was frozen to the ground in a state of fear-induced paralysis. As the moonlight started to fade under the storm clouds, the statue took on a whitish-lavender glow.

Adacan couldn't react; he was too scared to. He watched the ghost slowly pull itself from the statue. It was the ghost of a lady. She was wearing white dress and a light blue cloak. She smiled as she walked, or rather floated, closer to him.

Light shone dimly around her. Adacan swore he head music.. she was humming a song he recognized.

His jaw dropped as he stared at her. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. It, SHE, couldn't be real.

"Mom?" he gasped breathlessly.

*******

Adora looked frantically around the palace for her nephew. No one had seen him since dinner. She had the guards on alert, and Man-At-Arms was checking the outside grounds.

"Great," she thought to herself. "My brother gives me one simple task and I blow it within a few hours."

She brushed a strand of hair off of her face. She wondered why Adam was taking so long to get back from Castle Grayskull.

"Maybe I should hope he stays a little longer," she thought. "It gives me more time to find his kid."

The heels of her red boots clicked on the floor as she paced back and forth between rooms, hoping that her nephew was in one that she might have missed.

No such luck.

The Queen was visibly upset and let her know it, that's why she was avoiding her parent's room. She figured if he was in there, they would find her and let her know.

In the meantime, she was trying not to fear the worst.

She walked out onto a balcony and looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of the boy with the blonde hair and the gray streak.

"Adora, come in." Man-At-Arms had given her a communicator. "Are you there?"

Adora took a deep breath and hoped it was good news. She took the communicator off of her belt and held it up to her face.

"I'm here Duncan, did you find him?" she asked eagerly.

Man-At-Arms paused then answered her.

"Not exactly," he said slowly. She exhaled slowly in disappointment. "But I did find a set of footprints out by the stables leading into the forest. I think they're Adacan's."

Adora crossed her arms.

"It figures," she said shaking her head. "I'll be down in a second."

She should have known a kid with Adam's genes would take to exploring whenever he wanted, no matter what time of day it was. Claps of thunder became more frequent and louder. She hoped they could get to him before the storm hit.

As she walked down to the stables, she wondered if it wouldn't be easier for She-Ra and Swiftwind to find him.

She was so caught up in her thoughts she didn't hear Jerry barking behind her.

"Hey, stop!" he howled, finally getting the Princess's attention.

Adora turned around and looked down at the panting rottweiler. Her eyes narrowed.

"What is it, Jer? I've got to go find Adacan." she said abruptly. The dog whined.

"You mean he's not here?" he grumbled. "We've got to find him and like soon."

Adora's eyebrows raised. "What's wrong?" she asked.

The dog shook his head. He wasn't sure himself.

"I don't know, but I think he's in danger." He whimpered and put his paw over his eyes.

At that point Adora became certain that She-Ra was needed.