Chapter Seventeen

Adora prided herself on her ability to look at a person and know exactly what they were thinking. This skill served her particularly well in combat, since her opponents usually had no idea that everything from the width of their stance to the lift of their chin spoke volumes to the young woman. She was especially good at reading faces, even those of the most stoic of warriors.

Yet the cold, proud face of the woman standing before her revealed nothing. Adora had no way of knowing how precious the title 'Mother,' coming from her lips, was to Marlena. She could not understand how desperately Marlena wanted to cross the short distance between them, or how she ached to hold her child in her arms. Adora also could not hear the gentle endearments pushing against her mother's throat, straining for release. What she heard instead was,

"Who told you?"

Adora frowned. This was not going at all the way she had imagined it would. Her mother was supposed to be embracing her right now, not asking meaningless questions.

"No one told me. Hordak hinted at it, when he came to Eternia. He wanted me to return with him, so he said that my mother was still alive. Of course, I didn't believe him at first, but last night I remembered something from five years ago, when I was so ill. Do you remember that time?"

Marlena nodded ever so slightly. She could tell by the hurt, angry tone of Adora's voice where this was going, but was powerless to stop it.

Adora felt her body begin to flush in anger. Why didn't the woman say something? She had to take several deep breaths before she could continue. "I heard what I knew was my mother's voice, and when I woke up, you were there. I had never really thought about that before, but it all came together last night. You saved me." She smiled a little at that. Marlena waited. She knew that Adora was not quite finished yet. After a moment, the smile faded, and Adora said, "You saved me, and then you lied to me. You blatantly lied to me. Not just then, either. You have lied to me for my entire life, and I want to know why."

The words sounded harsh even to Adora, and she hated that the reunion had taken this turn. She had told herself before entering the tent that she would not ask these questions; that no matter how angry she might be at the lies she had been told, her mother must have had a very good reason for telling them. But Marlena had spoken exactly three words in the last five minutes, and she had yet to show any kind of emotion. At that point, Adora would have said anything to make Marlena talk. So she did.

"Do you know how many times I longed for a mother? How much I needed to know about my family?" Adora laughed bitterly. "Of course you knew, because I told you. You had all the answers, everything I ever wanted to know, yet you kept the truth from me. You withheld your love. What kind of woman- what kind of mother- does that?"

She turned away, choking back sudden tears. For several long, painful minutes, the only sound was that of Adora's strangled sobs. How could her mother just stand there? Did she simply not care? Had she ever cared? Where was the woman from her childhood, who had read to her, sang to her, rocked her to sleep?

Adora gasped. Her childhood had ended when she began training as a Horde soldier. Her memory of the seven years before her indoctrination might be hazy, but everything that had occurred afterward was painfully clear. She had eagerly embraced her new life, learning everything she could about combat. She had swallowed every lie fed to her, never bothering to question what she was being told. In short, she had become the perfect soldier for Hordak. She was never defeated and had garnered many victories for the Horde, both as a simple soldier and as a Force Captain. She had been proud of that fact, too. So very proud.

But her victories meant the capture of thousands. She had truly believed what she told He-Man, that the Horde only imprisoned those who deserved it. She now knew that no one had ever deserved what the Horde's victims endured, but that knowledge did not change what she had done. It did not bring back the people who had died in slavery.

Adora groaned as another realization came to her. She had tried to avoid injuring the villagers that she captured in raids, but sometimes it could not be avoided. People who tried to escape the raids had to be captured, and that often required physical force. Not fatal force, of course, but enough force to send the new prisoners to the Horde infirmary: where Marlena was.

Adora began to shake. Her mother had seen it all, every atrocity Adora had ever committed. Adora had hurt people, and her mother had healed them. Every prisoner who entered the infirmary must have served as a reminder to Marlena of what her daughter had become. Adora whimpered softly. No wonder Marlena did not claim her. What mother would want to admit to having such a child?

The princess was preparing to flee when her mother finally spoke, so softly that Adora could not hear her. She turned back around and stared at Marlena. "What?"

"Your first word was 'Mommy.'" Marlena repeated. She had wrapped her arms around herself, and was gripping her elbows so tightly that her knuckles were white. She looked straight into Adora's eyes, never flinching from the emotions she saw there. "You had heard me say it so many times, and when you were nine months old you repeated it. You looked right at me when you said it, and I knew it was not just a word to you. You really knew who I was." Marlena smiled, the joy of that moment shining in her eyes. "I was so happy. There we were, trapped in Hell itself, but all that mattered was that my baby had just said her first word. You were so proud of yourself, too. You kept saying that precious word over and over again."

Marlena looked up for a second, blinked rapidly, then looked back at Adora and resumed her tale. "That afternoon, Hordak came to see us. You. He wanted to make sure you were healthy. As if I could not be trusted to care for my own child!" Marlena's anger at that was evident in her voice, and her emerald eyes flashed for just a moment before she was able to control her emotions and continue. "While he was there, you demonstrated your new ability. He was furious. He wanted your complete devotion even then. So he told me to lie to you, to tell you that your family was dead. I never, ever wanted to. Please believe that."

Marlena's voice had dropped to a ragged whisper as the rage and sorrow of that day washed over her. Her arms ached from holding herself so tightly, and eighteen years' worth of tears threatened to spill from her eyes. Yet this story had to be told if she and Adora were to have anything resembling a normal relationship, so she forced herself to continue.

"Hordak threatened to hurt you if I did not obey him, so I did. I trained you not to call me 'Mommy.' I told you the lies Hordak wanted you to hear, and you believed them. As the years passed, you became increasingly curious about your family, so I had to lie more and more. I could see how much sadness these lies caused you, and I even knew that you might one day hate me for the lies I told, but I always told myself that at least you would be unharmed." What she did not say- what Marlena would never tell her daughter- was that as Adora's beauty had grown more and more apparent to the males of the Fright Zone, Hordak had threatened... other things to ensure Marlena's continued obedience. He was never specific about these threats, but it had not been difficult for the queen to discern his meaning. That type of assault was one of the few horrors that Marlena had managed to avoid, and she was determined that her daughter would not have to endure it either.

"I don't hate you." Adora said softly. She hung her head and whispered, "But you must hate me."

"Oh, my child!" Marlena breathed. In two strides she was there, pulling Adora against her. "How could I ever hate you!"

Adora pulled away, in her guilt denying herself of the very thing she wanted the most: physical, tactile proof of her mother's love. "I captured all those people!" She cried out. "It's my fault they died! How could you ever love someone like me!"

"A spell was cast..."

"I know that!" Adora sobbed. There was no abating the guilt that assailed her. "But I should have been strong enough to break it!"

"You were a child, Adora." Marlena cupped Adora's face in her hands, forcing the younger woman to look at her. "A sweet, innocent child." She ran her thumbs across Adora's temples. Adora closed her eyes, and tears spilled over her mother's fingers. Marlena wanted to weep with her child, but instead spoke around the tears in her throat. "How could you be expected to break the evil spell placed on you? No one could expect that of you. Certainly I did not." Adora shook her head, unconvinced. Marlena embraced her tightly and murmured tenderly, "I wish I could take your guilt away, make everything right for you, but I cannot. But I love you very, very much, Adora. I have always loved you, even before you were born, and I will always love you. Nothing you have ever done, nothing you will ever do, could ever make me stop loving you."

"I asked you once if my mother would be proud of me, and you said yes."

"And I meant it." Marlena rubbed Adora's back soothingly, the way she had when Adora was a child. "I have always been proud of you, Adora."

Adora sobbed harder at that, releasing her sorrow, anger, and even some of her guilt into her mother's shoulder. She wept not just for herself, but also for her mother, for the lives they both might have led if Hordak had never come to Eternia. She was no longer angry at her mother for lying to her. How could she be? What mother would not have done the same in Marlena's position? All her life Adora had lamented not knowing a mother's love, but now she knew that her mother had loved her in the only way she could, in the only way that would not bring harm to her child. And Adora had never doubted that 'Lena' loved her.

She frowned at the thought, then pulled away and looked at Marlena. "Why did you change your name? Did Hordak make you?"

Marlena smiled at that. "You changed it, actually."

"Me?"

"Oh, yes. You couldn't pronounce my name, although it certainly was not for lack of trying!" Marlena laughed heartily, and Adora began to grin. "I had three names for awhile: 'Malena,' 'Marena,' and 'Mawena.' The third one was my personal favorite. Anyway, you finally settled on something entirely different."

"'Lena.'"

Marlena nodded. "Yes."

Adora looked down at her hands, which Marlena was holding in her own. She smiled. "Mother," she whispered. Tears fell onto her hands, but they were not her own. It was only then that she realized that Marlena had begun to quietly weep. This time it was Adora who initiated the embrace, Adora whose shoulders were soaked with tears. She started to cry again, and for the first time ever the two women held each other as mother and child.

Adora pulled back first. "Wait here, okay?" She whispered, and patted her mother's hand before breaking away. Marlena nodded and began wiping away her tears, only mildly curious about where Adora might be going.

The princess found her brother talking with Queen Angella. He stopped when he noticed her, frowning at the tear tracks on her face. He watched her carefully as she walked to him, a question in his eyes. She grinned broadly.

"It's her?" Adam asked.

Adora nodded, and for the first time Adam saw that her face was actually glowing. "It's her."

Adam's jaw dropped. He looked at the tent from which Adora had just emerged and tried to breathe. There, less than fifty feet away, was his mother.

Adora laughed at him. "Are you just going to stand there?" She smiled at Queen Angella. "Please excuse us, Your Majesty." The Etherian monarch nodded serenely, hiding her confusion well. Adora pulled at Adam's hands. "Come on."

Adam let his sister drag him to the tent, which she opened with a flourish. Adam stepped inside and found himself looking at a thin, auburn-haired woman who was only slightly taller than Adora. She was touching some sort of gold jewelry at the hollow of her throat, but stopped when she saw Adam. Her eyes widened, and her lips moved: two syllables, a name. His name?

Marlena's breath caught in her throat. All she could see were the young man's eyes... his deep blue eyes... eyes she had not looked into for eighteen years. "Adam," she whispered. It was not a question.

Adam was visibly surprised. "You know who I am?"

Marlena nodded. "I would have known you anywhere."

That was all Adam needed to hear to know that this woman was really and truly his mother. He moved forward at the same moment she did, and they were embracing each other a second later. Marlena whispered his name over and over again, and when they finally pulled away, she ran her fingers lightly over his, making sure he had the same number as when she last counted.

Adam did not know that was what she was doing. All he knew was how happy he was, how happy his mother and sister were, and how very happy his father was going to be. He reached over and took Adora's hand into his free one. Adora reached for her mother's hand, and they formed a small circle. For a moment no one spoke, but simply smiled at one another, unable to neither express nor contain their joy. "So, what now?" Adam finally asked.

Marlena tightly squeezed the hands of her children. "Now we go home."