Adam braced his hands on the rail and looked out over the city as the sun set. Fifteen years. It was a long time to have shouldered the responsibility, the burden, of being He-Man. Now on top of this mess with Teela, his father was pushing him to get married.
"You're not getting any younger, Adam," Randor had said at dinner. "You need to settle down and marry. The throne will be yours soon, and you'll need an heir."
Adam dropped his head. That's just what he wanted: the weight of the crown along with the Power Sword. He'd always optimistically—and foolishly, apparently—assumed he and the Masters would defeat Skeletor long before he had to take the throne. But Randor was nearing sixty, and Adam knew his time as a background prince was growing short—perhaps not as short as the Sorceress had indicated, but shorter than Adam would like. How am I going to be both king and He-Man? Adam shook his head, realizing he was deliberately avoiding the immediate issue—Teela.
A familiar screech pierced the air, and Zoar landed on the railing, her black eyes even sharper than her voice.
I was in Duncan's workshop this afternoon.
Panic burst open in his chest, then subsided. "So you know," Adam stated calmly.
Yes. And regardless of what Duncan thinks, I believe you are right, Prince Adam.
He frowned; he didn't want to hear that. "I'm not so sure. Why do you think I'm right?"
Your duty is to the throne and to honor your promise to Grayskull. Teela's is to safeguard the castle. The falcon eyed him disapprovingly as Adam shrugged and looked away. You are deliberately being difficult.
"Man-at-Arms got me thinking," Adam confessed. "What if I did tell Teela, and she feels the same way? Is there a way it could work?"
The falcon shook her entire body. Without it being a distraction? You cannot rule from Grayskull, she cannot leave it. What of your children? Would they be raised here, away from their mother, as Teela was away from me? Would not the powers of darkness target them, and you, as a way to gain entrance into Castle Grayskull?
They were familiar statements. Adam had made them to himself several times over. "I know you're right," he said, disheartened. "But it's not easy to accept." He sighed. "And I don't know how to let Teela in without revealing my feelings completely."
I will help you.
With the Sorceress' help, Adam learned to control his feelings more carefully. He'd always been able to hide them completely—when his duty as He-Man called, he didn't have a choice—but now he learned how to tamp them down instead of turning them off. Over the next week, Adam went to Grayskull several times, and now that Teela could sense his feelings, the two of them began to regain the footing in their friendship.
During his third visit Adam invited Teela to go for a walk. "You might as well get out while you have the chance," he teased her. "After you take over, your social life will go down the tubes."
Teela laughed. She had been so dedicated to her job as Captain of the Guard that she had had no social life before, and Adam knew it. "Good thing you're not the one taking over," she teased back. "You couldn't handle giving up your social life."
He grinned at her. "You're absolutely right," he admitted cheerfully. "Shall we?" He held out an arm, and Teela slipped her hand into the crook.
"So I hear your father's giving you a hard time about getting married," Teela said, smirking at him. She glanced around. "Hey, where's your shadow?"
Adam chuckled. "I sat down with my parents, and between me and Mother, we managed to convince Father to call him off—after I beat both Saul and Jason in a few rounds of sword play."
Teela's eyes widened. "You didn't."
Adam nodded. "I did. Father was speechless." He grinned, obviously delighted with himself, and Teela giggled.
Adam's grin faded and he sighed lightly. "Unfortunately, he can never be happy with me for long, so Father immediately moved onto the marriage kick."
Teela clucked sympathetically. "At least he didn't enforce that stupid rule that you have to be married by the time you're thirty."
"Yeah," Adam answered softly, glancing at her. "That was good."
"Well, what have we here?" came a familiar voice.
"Whiplash!" Adam hissed through clenched teeth. His arms were suddenly grabbed painfully in pinschers. He didn't need Teela's horrified gasp to know it was Clawful.
"What should we do with them?" Clawful asked.
"You don't actually have us yet!" Teela cried out, taking a defensive stance with her staff ready in both hands. Whiplash swung his tail at her, and she ducked.
Adam struggled against Clawful, who tightened his grip further. Adam felt something wet dripping down his arm, and knew the creep had drawn blood. He stomped on Clawful's foot, then whirled out of his grasp and punched him in the face. His reward was a sharp pain in his head, and the prince fell into darkness.
"Adam!" Teela cried out as Whiplash's tail caught her childhood friend in the left side of the head. Adam was knocked sideways several feet, and lay still.
"It's just you and me, girlie." Whiplash grinned nastily. Teela realized that Adam had managed to knock out Clawful after all.
Teela smirked, stood up straight, and fired a stun blast from her hand. Whiplash, caught off-guard by this unknown power of hers, was thrown backwards, unable to move. Teela rushed to Adam's side.
A dark bruise was already forming on the side of his head. Teela's eyes traveled the length of him, checking for other injuries, but she found only a few puncture wounds on his arms where Clawful had squeezed. Teela put her hands on Adam's shoulders and shook him.
"Adam? Adam! Wake up," she insisted.
Using her empathetic powers was becoming a constant habit for Teela, and so she was tuned into Adam when he finally came to. His blue eyes opened, unfocused, and saw her blurry face.
"Teela?" he murmured. Adam stared up at her, feeling confused. Was this a dream? Was there something he was supposed to be doing right now? Teela's face was less than a foot away from his, and she seemed to be leaning towards him.
Adam's love for her suddenly swelled. He reached up and touched her face tenderly before his vision cleared and he realized this wasn't a dream. His sense of duty set in and Adam dropped his hand, but their eyes locked, their emotions laid bare. In that brief, unguarded moment, the love he felt for Teela rushed through her, leaving her momentarily stunned. Then her own heart flared in response.
Adam didn't need Teela to say it; he could see that she did indeed love him. Joy swelled in him, yet his heart was ripped in half at the same time. Oh, Ancients, no…
Teela's own love and turmoil was added to what she felt emanating from Adam, and she nearly gasped aloud with the intensity of it all. I was a fool, she thought, dazed. I never realized how he felt…or how I felt. And there's nothing we can do about it. He's going to be king, and I'm the next Sorceress.
It seemed as if an eternity passed as they stared at each other. Finally Teela slowly drew back, slight tremors shuddering through her. Adam sat up, holding his hand to his head with a low groan as a wave of dizziness hit him.
"Here, let me-" Teela began to say.
"No, the sword can take care of it," Adam responded hastily, not sure he wanted to feel her touch at that moment.
"Let me try," Teela requested softly. Adam held her gaze for a few seconds, then reluctantly nodded. Teela touched her hand gently to the injury on his head. Adam shut his eyes against the flood of bittersweet feelings that rushed through him. The physical pain left after a few seconds.
"You're getting pretty good at that magic stuff," he teased her lightly, striving to get them back on familiar ground.
"I think it runs in the family," she replied with a casual shrug and a smile.
They walked back to the castle, neither acknowledging what had just happened. People were counting on them. Prince or champion, captain or sorceress, Adam and Teela were bound by their duties, by their destinies. The people of Eternia would come first—they always had, and they always would.
Adam was making his way back to the palace when he suddenly felt Teela's presence. He stopped and turned back. She stood in the southern tower's window, watching him. Adam buried the longing he felt deep inside, and allowed only a calm acceptance to respond to her. He raised a hand.
See you tomorrow, Teela.
A slight awe filled Teela as she sensed Adam's steady acceptance of their destinies. He was stronger than she had ever realized. At the same time, Teela's heart lifted at his words and at the fact that she could sense something from him. She'd been afraid he would distance himself even more from her.
If you aren't too busy taking a nap, she teased him. Though he was too far away to see his smile, she could feel it. She waved back at him and watched as he turned and continued on his way.
The new Zoar settled on the windowsill to watch the wedding. Teela had taken over from her mother more than a year ago, and she frequently flew to the palace to visit her friends. Even if she did usually have to remain a falcon, there were plenty who knew her secret who would talk with her. Then there were folks like Ram-Man, who would talk to her even though he didn't know who she was.
Zoar screeched in delight as the bride came down the aisle, her dark auburn hair spilling down her back elegantly. Two years ago, the rebellion on Etheria had finally defeated the Horde. Adora had returned to Eternia for good, bringing a surprise with her: Castaspella. It turned out that the Red Knight had been Casta's older brother, and with his return, she had a little free time on her hands. At Adora's urging, Castaspella came to Eternia, and never got around to leaving. She and Adam were engaged a year later.
Teela found, to her surprise, that she actually liked Castaspella. She was kind and polite without being sickeningly sweet. She would make a good queen and a good partner for Adam, and she and the former captain had already become friends. As for the prince…he looked happier than Teela had seen him in years, and she loved Adam enough to be happy for him.
Teelana still held hope that one day her daughter would find someone as well, but the new Sorceress knew better. Every sorceress of Grayskull was blessed with some knowledge when taking on the mantle of Grayskull's power. Teela knew that He-Man and She-Ra would either ultimately succeed or fail when it came to getting rid of the evil on Eternia. This stalemate would not continue much longer. If they lost, Grayskull would be lost and as the Sorceress, she would be lost as well. If they won, Grayskull would reclaim the swords and become hidden once more. And in that case, Teela would be its guardian until the next time it was needed.
She felt no sorrow at that. This was her destiny, and she was proud to serve the people of Eternia. She had loved ones all around her, and Adam was still her best friend. Teela was fervently thankful that neither of them had uttered any words that day when Clawful and Whiplash attacked them. They had quickly reverted to treating each other like brother and sister, relentlessly teasing one another. If one of them lost track of the jabs as their gazes locked, neither ever acknowledged it.
Their choice to sacrifice what could have been was mutual, and it was made for the greater good. For Adam, it was a choice he had made years ago; he knew in his heart he had to move on and fulfill his duty as the next king. He locked away the knowledge that Teela had returned his feelings. He didn't focus on what they had given up, but on the friendship they shared.
Teela treasured the memory of that one moment when Adam's feelings were revealed. It was enough to know that he had once loved her that much because it had to be enough. She didn't dwell on the lost future, but on the fact that the Sorceress and He-Man were needed to fight evil on Eternia, and that they would do so side-by-side until that evil was defeated.
As the newlyweds strolled back down the aisle, Zoar sent a message to Adam. I am truly happy for you, my friend. May your marriage be blessed with happiness. If Zoar had lips, she would have smirked as she projected the next thought. My wedding gift to you is that I will call on She-Ra for help while you're on your honeymoon.
Adam glanced over, a grin lighting his face. Well, that's very kind of you, Zoar, he replied silently. I know a few trolls who could take lessons from you!
Zoar let out a strangled cry that had to pass for laughter, since the falcon was not capable of such a noise.
Congratulations, Castaspella. Come by and see me when you return.
The former queen of Mystacore and future queen of Eternia looked at the falcon as well. I will, Zoar.
Zoar let out a screech and set off for Grayskull, enjoying the feel of the wind through her feathers and the joy emanating from the people she left behind. For the moment, her friends' happiness was her own.
A/N: Thanks for reading, everyone!