The Battle for Bright Moon

Sea Hawk, Adora, Sea Hawk's crew, and about one hundred members of King Randor's army stepped through the gate in Duncan's laboratory. They emerged close to Whispering Woods.

The soldiers gazed around at the rather colorful world. The grass was green, but the trees were pastel-colored. "You'll have to wait here while I get one of the rebel leaders," Adora told them. "There is a force field around the Whispering Woods, to keep out the Horde."

"Yes, Your Highness," said one of the soldiers; this was Major Brendan.

Adora went through the force field with Sea Hawk. A little way down a cobblestone path, they encountered Bow. "Sea Hawk! Adora! What're you doing here? I thought you'd be on Eternia!" he exclaimed.

"We decided to come help you free Bright Moon from the Horde, and my father-in-law sent a hundred soldiers with us. They came voluntarily," Sea Hawk explained.

"That, my friend, is good news," Bow said emphatically as he followed his friends to the entrance, so he could "process" the Eternian soldiers. "We'll have them train with what's left of King Micah's army and talk some strategy."

"When were you wanting to start attacking?" Adora asked.

"We were actually thinking in a few weeks," Bow replied. "We've been successful in finding new recruits. People have to be vetted first, of course, to make sure they won't betray us. This is a big deal, because freeing Bright Moon will be a huge turning point in our struggle against the Horde."

A few days later, Adora and Glimmer were sitting on the grass and watching the soldiers train, Bow and Sea Hawk among them. The weather within the force field was kept constant; it could be snowing outside the force field, but within the invisible dome, it was always nice, even when the sun wasn't shining. The rebels took full advantage of this. Hopefully the Horde wouldn't come up with any way to defeat it, though no doubt it was something Hordak wanted to do.

"Once this battle is over, Bow and I are going to get married. Now that my parents are back and have been recovering, I'll feel better at going ahead with the wedding," Glimmer told her friend.

"Your family certainly has cause to celebrate," Adora smiled. She turned and looked at the pink-haired girl. "My mother likes to say that bad things can happen for good. Had I not been abducted, your parents would likely still be prisoners."

"Or dead," Glimmer said. "I still can't thank you enough, Adora."

"I couldn't just leave them there," Adora said.

The training session was apparently over, as the men were scattering. Sea Hawk came up to Adora. She held up her hands, and he gently pulled her to her feet. "Let's go to our quarters, my lovely," he said.

Hand-in-hand, Sea Hawk and Adora walked to the tiny house they'd been in before. Adora lounged on the couch to read a book while Sea Hawk stripped off his clothes and got into the shower.

About fifteen minutes later the young man emerged, a towel around his waist. "Are you wanting a massage, Hawk?" Adora asked as she put down the book.

"If you don't mind," he said.

Adora smiled. "I don't mind at all."

She followed him into their bedroom, where he lay face-down on their bed. Adora straddled him and started pushing her hands into his muscular back, in the way she knew would help.

"You sure know how to make a man feel better, Adora," Sea Hawk moaned. "Sure glad I snapped you up before anyone else could."

"You sure didn't waste any time," Adora grinned, recalling that he'd managed to convince her to marry him the very day they'd first met. So far she didn't regret it.

"I'll have to reward you for this," Sea Hawk murmured as she continued the massage.

Adora was lost in thought as she worked on her husband's back and shoulders. So far she had not conceived again; at this point it was probably just as well, since there was a battle ahead. Still, she was concerned, although she'd been told by the midwife and the Court Physician on Eternia that she could still have children. "Hawk…would you still love me even if we don't have a child?" she found herself asking.

"Oh, Adora…of course I would," he said. "Just give it time. And it's not like we haven't been working on it."

"I have mixed feelings at this point…what if I'm pregnant and you die in battle? I'd have a fatherless child."

Sea Hawk pushed up a little, indicating that she could get off him. She did so and lay next to him. "Adora—I'd like for you to stop worrying," he said as he rolled onto his side. "I'll be fine. I care about you too much to just up and die on you. We'll throw the Horde out of Bright Moon, and we'll go back to Eternia and raise our family."

"I'm just telling you how I feel, Hawk," Adora said in a small voice.

"Your concerns are duly noted, my lovely," he said as he leaned over her and kissed her.

"I also don't want to lose you," Adora said. "I sometimes wonder if we shouldn't have stayed on Eternia."

"I have my own score to settle with the Horde—for the deaths of my parents. I didn't exactly drag my heels when we came back here," Sea Hawk reminded her. "And if, by chance, I die and you're expecting our child…you'll still have part of me with you."

Adora nodded. That was true enough.

"Now relax, my lovely," he whispered as he tugged at her clothing. "My turn to make you feel good."

Close to a month went by. The excitement in Whispering Woods was palpable. They were going to attempt it—they were finally going to try to free Castle Bright Moon from the Horde.

Great care had been taken to keep any rumors from getting out that the rebels were planning a massive assault. People had also been sent out to squelch any rumors. The rebels needed the element of surprise. They were aware, though, that the Horde would likely take extra precautions, since King Micah and Queen Angella had been freed.

King Micah, now looking and feeling a lot better since he and his wife had been freed, led the march. The women would be nearby to render any assistance. Adora and Glimmer had been taught nursing and would be able to help should there be any injuries. In Adora's family it was customary for any female members to become nurses during times of war, and it was the same for Glimmer's family.

Sea Hawk kissed his wife just before he joined the march. "Just remember, Adora, I love you," he said.

"You be careful, Hawk," Adora told him, tears in her eyes.

"I will," he told her. "I'll be back, and we'll work on having a baby. Not that it's exactly work," he added, smiling a little. He kissed her again, then went to join the men.

"I'm worried about Bow, you know what a daredevil he is," Glimmer said as she, Adora, and Queen Angella stood and watched them go.

That was certainly true. Bow could be rather cocky at times and tended to show off. No doubt he'd find plenty of opportunities to play hero here. Sea Hawk tended to be very level-headed and to think things out ahead of time. Glimmer probably had more cause for concern. Hopefully, casualties would be kept to a minimum.

It was early February and still winter outside the Whispering Woods. There was no snow on the ground at the moment, and the weather actually wasn't too bad. The conditions were ideal.

The battle raged all day. Adora, Glimmer, and Angella were kept busy looking after the injured, along with other women who had become nurses. Their men were never far from their thoughts, but they'd learned to push those thoughts aside and concentrate on whatever task was at hand.

There came a point where it was proving difficult for Adora. Towards the evening, Sea Hawk was brought in on a stretcher. He had a gash on the left side of his forehead. "He may have broken some ribs," one of the men carrying the stretcher said.

One of the camp physicians immediately took over. Adora went to assist him, since the other patients did not need anything at the moment. "Hawk," she whispered as she quickly cleaned the wound. She then put a bandage over it.

"He's alive, Adora," the physician said in a reassuring tone. "But it looks like he has a concussion. I'm going to do some scans on him."

There were some machines at one end of the tent that were used for diagnostic purposes. The men carrying the stretcher carefully laid Sea Hawk down on a bed at that end. At that point, Sea Hawk's eyes fluttered open and he let out a groan. Turning his head slightly, he murmured, "Adora…."

"Lie still, Hawk, you've been hurt," Adora said in a quiet voice.

The physician wheeled a machine over to the bed. It had what looked like a metallic arm that reached all the way across the bed. He pushed a few buttons and gazed intently at the screen that was in the arm as he slowly pushed it from the foot of the bed to the head.

"A few cracked ribs," the physician said softly as the arm of the machine passed over Sea Hawk's chest. "Those won't take long to heal, no more than six weeks."

The machine moved up over Sea Hawk's neck, then his head. "Slight concussion, no fracture," the physician said. "I want you to stay in bed and rest for a couple of days, for observation. In the meantime, let's have a good look at that wound."

Sea Hawk winced a little and Adora held his hand as the physician carefully removed the bandage and had a look at the wound. "It's going to need some stitches," he said. He went over to where a cabinet stood and got some things out of a drawer.

Adora wasn't normally all that squeamish when it came to this sort of thing, but she couldn't help but feel sorry for her husband. He seemed to bear it well as the physician applied an anesthetic gel to his forehead, then proceeded with the suturing.

After Sea Hawk's head injury was taken care of, Adora and the physician helped him out of his clothing, so he was down to his underpants. The physician put a special cloth wrap around him that went from his armpits to his waist. "That'll keep things still until your ribs heal up," he said.

The battle raged for an entire day. The next morning, word came that the rebels were successful, and that Castle Bright Moon had been retaken.

The victory had come at a cost, however. Several dozen men, including a few of the Eternian army, had died during the battle. Dozens more had been injured in varying degrees.

Sea Hawk had been carefully moved to the tiny house he shared with Adora, to help make room for the injured. He was sitting up in bed late that night when Adora came in.

She was exhausted. "You all right, my lovely?" he asked.

"Just taking care of all the wounded. I'm glad it's over and we won," she said as she went into the bathroom and got water running for a nice, warm bubble bath. Going back into the bedroom, she took off her clothes and put them in the hamper, and as soon as the bath was ready she got in.

It was regrettable that some had lost their lives. Adora wasn't sure how to feel as she soaked in the warm water and closed her eyes.

A sound caused her to open her eyes. Sea Hawk was sitting on the edge of the tub, a bandage around his head. He was dressed in just sleep pants, and the wrap was around his torso. "Shouldn't you be resting?" she asked.

"I'll be fine," he said dismissively. "You've really run yourself ragged, Adora."

"I'll live." She looked up at him. "I'm just glad you're alive." She reached up and took his hand, suds on her bare arm.

"And as I promised we'll work on having a child," he grinned.

"Thought you were supposed to take things easy," she reminded him.

"I'm not one to let a few scrapes stop me from anything."

Adora soaked for a time, then got out of the tub and got dressed in a nightgown. She and Sea Hawk got into bed together and she snuggled up to him, careful of his healing ribs; then the two of them fell asleep together.