Adora had changed into her nightgown and slipped between her sheets, but she tossed and turned, unable to get Hordak's terrible plans for He-Man out of her mind. She rarely questioned Hordak, but this was wrong. She wasn't a fan of slavery to begin with, although she had been taught of its necessity to strengthen the Horde against the rebels. But this…Adora sighed loudly and flopped onto her back, finally reaching the conclusion that there would be no sleep tonight. She had to figure out a way to change Hordak's mind about his plans for He-Man.

"Adora!" an insistent feminine voice called, interrupting her thoughts.

Adora bolted straight up in bed and stared at the sword in the corner of her room, where the voice seemed to have come from. The jewel in the center glowed brightly, lending a surreal light to the stone walls and floors.

"Adora, please hurry!" the voice requested. It was definitely coming from the sword.

Without really knowing why, Adora went into motion. She dressed as quickly as she could, watching the sword out of the corner of her eye the entire time. She was so nervous she was practically shaking. Just as she managed to pull on her last boot, the glow intensified.

"Adora!" the voice called again. Hesitantly, Adora approached the sword. A woman's head floated in the gem, looking as if it were surrounded by feathers. Adora blinked her eyes hard a few times, but the image remained. "Adora, the time has come for you to break loose from the bonds of the Horde and embrace your destiny."

"My destiny?" Adora repeated, confused and skeptical. She was also afraid. Something strange was happening, and she felt as if she were on a high tightrope, about to fall. But there was something about the sword and the woman's voice that kept her standing there, staring at the small gem within the sword. She felt an urge to look away, to step back, but a warmth reached out to her. She wanted more of it. Her fists clenched as the conflicting desires and emotions wound their way through her.

"You are to be a champion of goodness, Adora, battling evil oppression and standing up for the rights of those who cannot stand for themselves," the woman told her, the head shimmering in the gem, her voice strong and confident. It halted some of the noise in her head for a few seconds. "Just like He-Man."

"He-Man? But he-" Adora's voice trailed off as she recalled what she knew of him. He had released her when she had been a prisoner. He had turned down her advances. He had done nothing but try to talk with her. He had fought battles that were defensive. He hadn't attacked once. "I don't understand," she whispered. An odd tension built in her mind, as if a battle were occurring there. The gem seemed to brighten in response. "He's a rebel warrior. Nothing more," Adora finished faintly. Nothing more. The phrase echoed in her mind. Adora closed her eyes, one hand going to her temple.

"No, Adora. He is He-Man, champion of goodness and defender of all life," the woman gently reprimanded her. Adora opened her eyes again, and the light filled her with that warmth again. The tension in her head faded. Adora took a step towards the sword as the woman continued. "But to you, he is even more. And you must save him, now. Hurry, Adora. There is little time."

"What do you mean, he is even more to me?" Adora ventured to ask. She felt as if she were being torn in two. Part of her was responding to the woman's sense of urgency. The more her mind cleared, the more she wanted to reach out and grab the sword's hilt, and…and…do something with it, though she wasn't sure what. But part of her remained skeptical. Her logical brain, trained by the Horde, demanded explanations and understanding.

"Adora…" The woman sounded as if she were going to argue with her, but then her tone changed as she went on, becoming more understanding and patient. "Adora, your parents did not abandon you when you were a child. You were stolen from them. So not only were you denied the joy of knowing your parents, but you were also denied the love of your twin brother—a man once known as Adam, but now called He-Man." The woman's voice began to fade, as if the connection were growing weak.

"My…my brother?" Adora repeated in shock. Something in her snapped. She took a step back, then her knees gave out and she fell to the floor before the sword. "My…no. No, you're lying! It can't be true!" But in her heart she believed the woman's words. Something about He-Man had stirred her very soul, and this would explain why.

"It is true, Adora. And now his life is in danger, and only you can save him." The urgency was back in the woman's voice. "Please, Adora. For the sake of your brother, your parents, and indeed all the universe, trust me. You must save He-Man."

"How? What can I do?" Adora asked, tears forming in her eyes. Hordak had said He-Man had to remain in the charger until his willpower was drained. She couldn't go against Hordak's orders. Could she? "The charger—it could kill him." She had nearly forgotten. The sudden desire to save her brother drove her back to her feet. "Tell me what to do!"

"Take the sword and embrace your destiny, Adora," the woman replied. "For the honor of Grayskull, Adora. For the honor of Grayskull!" The woman's face and voice faded and the gem grew dark once more.

Adora reached out and grasped the sword. "For the honor of Grayskull?" she whispered. She felt a warmth permeate her hand and travel up her body. Her mind suddenly cleared, and she understood everything, like a puzzle falling into place inside of her. She remembered. The lies, the manipulation…Shadow Weaver had cast a spell on her. The witch and Hordak had been controlling her for years through training and magic. Her so-called Etherian "parents" were nothing but evil dictators.

She knew something else as well. The woman in the sword had been telling the truth. He-Man was her brother. And she'd throw herself into the Valley of the Lost before she allowed him to die or become a slave.

Knowing what to do now, Adora raised the sword high above her head. "For the honor of Grayskull!" she called out.

"Well, rebel, this is a fine mess you've gotten yourself into," chortled a rough, evil-sounding voice.

He-Man raised his head. "Hordak. What…do you…want?" he asked haltingly. His arms and legs trembled with weakness-it would have annoyed him if he'd had the strength to care.

"I want you to obey me. I am your new master." Hordak paused and waited for his response, continuing to stare at him.

"I…serve…no one," He-Man managed to ground out. The words seemed to cost him; he felt as if he were breathing in water, and slowly suffocating.

"Interesting," Hordak said slowly. "It would seem your will is so strong it is in danger of destroying you." He walked away a few steps, looking at a gauge on the wall. "No matter. Draining your willpower has been far more successful than I ever dreamed. The power will be stored, and once I've constructed the magnabeam, I will send your rebel friends to the Valley of the Lost." He tapped a finger to his forehead. "What to do with you, though? If-"

He-Man lost what Hordak was saying. Now he knew what they were doing to him. Draining his willpower to make a slave out of him. The very idea angered him. He focused on that anger, gathered his strength, and leapt up with all his might. As his hands collided with the top of the encasement, a blinding white light exploded in his mind.

The next thing he was conscious of was that somehow he was on the ground, a crunching noise mingling with a ringing in his ears. He couldn't seem to breathe. He-Man forced his eyes open, but could only see a blur.

"Fool." He might have imagined the word, but he thought it was Hordak's voice. The giant blur moved away. He-Man struggled to draw a breath, then everything went dark.

Adora, now transformed into She-Ra, climbed up to the roof where she knew the charger's storage container to be. The woman in the sword had told her she had to rescue He-Man, but She-Ra knew Hordak planned to create a terrible machine that would be powered by the willpower he was draining from He-Man. She figured that she could take care of two problems at once. She could destroy the storage unit, at the very least causing a set-back for Hordak, and create the distraction she needed to sneak back in and rescue He-Man.

He-Man. Her brother.

Part of Adora was in shock at the moment. The knowledge that she had been stolen as a baby, that she had been lied to by everyone she had trusted, that she had this special destiny of being She-Ra, that she had a brother—saying it was overwhelming was an understatement. But she shoved it to the back of her mind because she had to. He-Man's freedom, if not his very life, was on the line.

She pulled herself onto the roof and soon stood before the storage container, which was showing full power. Catching the low murmur of distant voices, She-Ra acted quickly. With one roundhouse kick, the entire storage container was nothing more than a pile of rubble. A strange green mist rose from it.

Hearing the pounding of feet on the stairs as the voices grew louder, She-Ra leapt off the roof, landing on a ledge two stories below. Within seconds she was back inside the Fright Zone. Hiding in a little-used side hall, she changed back into Adora and stepped back into the main hallway just as several troopers ran by.

"What's going on?" she asked innocently, sure she wasn't going to get away with it, that they would hear her heart pounding.

"We're under attack," one of them replied as he hurried by. "Up on the roof!"

Adora turned as if headed to the throne room, then ducked down another side passage after a few steps. She followed it until she came to the Plunder Room where the charger itself stood—or had stood. She froze as she came to the entry way. The charger's glass was blown outwards in all directions. He-Man was lying on his side in the center of the mess, his eyes closed, his chest still, burns covering his face and arms. She was too late.

"No," Adora whispered. She glanced around. Seeing no one, she drew her sword and called "For the honor of Grayskull!" for the second time in as many hours. The power flooded her, but unlike the first time when she had been caught unaware and was completely amazed by it, this time her mind was full of worry only for He-Man.

She-Ra ran to her brother as soon as she finished transforming, ignoring the glass that dug into her knees as she knelt beside him. He drew in a short, shallow breath as she did so. Relief flooded her.

"He-Man? He-Man!" she called, gathering him up in her arms. She cast an anxious glance at the door as he breathed again, but otherwise did not move.

"Who…are…you?" he managed, not even opening his eyes. She-Ra's heart broke as she recalled the hours he had fought against the Horde troops to defend Castle Freeze. Now the proud warrior could barely draw a breath.

"A friend," she said gently, knowing that he was too far out of it to understand the complexities of who she was at the moment. "I'm sorry, He-Man, but I've got to get you out of here." Without wasting any additional time, she hauled him over her shoulder. Keeping to little-used hallways and the occasional large ventilation shaft, she managed to get him down to the stables where her horse Spirit resided.

The horse neighed loudly as she approached. She-Ra eased He-Man to a sitting position on a block of hay. "Easy, Spirit, it's me," she whispered, raising her hand close to the horse's muzzle. "Adora." The horse sniffed her hand suspiciously, then nodded his head wildly.

"Sword," He-Man managed to say from where he sat, slumped over. His eyes, which had opened for a second, closed once more.

"Oh, my brother, what have they done to you?" She-Ra murmured in despair. It was a rhetorical question; she knew what they had done. What she wasn't sure of was how it had affected him, or if he would recover. Around her, the alarms began quieting down, but She-Ra wasn't fooled. Hordak would continue to scour the Fright Zone for the person who had damaged his precious charger. Aided as he would be by Shadow Weaver's magic, She-Ra knew she might already be out of time.

"The sword," she murmured. She drew it out of her scabbard, wondering what He-Man had meant. The jewel began to glow as if in answer. Shrugging, She-Ra pointed the gem towards Spirit. To her surprise, a powerful beam surged forth and surrounded the horse, who promptly grew a pair of large, colorful wings and a horn on his head. A mask, martingale, and saddle magically appeared. He let out a neigh as he finished transforming and turned to her.

"I am Swift Wind now, my friend," he said in deep voice. She-Ra's eyes burned with relief. Escape should be easier with his help. The batmeks took time to prepare for flight; they would have a five-minute head-start in the air.

"Swift Wind, do you think you can carry both my brother and me out of here?" she asked urgently. On some level, she was stunned that she continued to act as if all this was normal, but the warrior within her knew it was simply her instinct for survival that kept her thinking and acting logically.

"I will do my best," the unicorn replied.

"That's good enough," She-Ra cheered, mentally adding, 'I hope.' She hauled He-Man onto Swift Wind's back, opened the stable doors wide, then mounted up herself. "Let's go!"

Seconds later they were airborne, leaving the horrors of the Fright Zone far behind.

Teela and Battle Cat raced through the Whispering Woods, Bow and Glimmer mounted on Arrow, running alongside. Madam Razz zoomed above them on Broom. The small group was guided by a light Glimmer had produced.

Teela's teeth ground together, a sick feeling in her stomach. Perhaps she had been wrong to go back and get help. She has been sure her vision was just a result of her overactive imagination, produced by her own worry, but what if it hadn't been? What if it was a premonition of some kind? Her hands tightened on the saddle in front of her. Strategically she knew she had made the right choice; her rebel friends knew the Fright Zone and the Horde far better than she. But if anything had happened to Adam because of the delay-

"He-Man's developing a rather bad habit," Bow commented dryly, interrupting her thoughts, "of getting captured by the Horde."

"And it was probably Adora's pretty face that did it to him again," Teela growled lowly, not intending for anyone else to hear her.

Somehow, however, Bow caught her comment. "For someone who is just friends with him, you're awfully jealous," he observed casually with a sidelong glance at Teela. Behind him, Glimmer frowned darkly.

Bow's words froze re-directed Teela's train of thought. Jealous? Her? Of He-Man's future relationship with Adora? That was preposterous. Teela let out a soft "Humph." There was no way she was jealous of that beautiful, blond-haired, blue-eyed, sneaky siren, even if she was the other holder of the sword and probably destined to be Adam's soul mate and lifelong partner. Nor was she jealous that he had made love to Glimmer. Why-Teela broke off as a tear trickled down her cheek, surprising her.

'I am jealous,' she admitted softly to herself. She blamed her worry for her out-of-control emotions. 'After all, what do I have to be jealous of? Adam's like a brother to me.' Unbidden, she remembered the feel of his skin against hers, how close they had come to kissing. Teela knew that she had been disappointed when he had turned away. Those weren't the feelings a sister had for a brother.

'When did I start seeing him differently?' Teela wondered, barely noticing they were nearing the edge of the Woods. It didn't take long to know the answer. When he had become He-Man permanently. When she found out that her two favorite men-other than her father, of course-were one and the same. And that revelation made her feel guilty.

'I should have seen him for who he was long ago,' she berated herself. 'I don't even deserve to be his friend, never mind-" Her eyes widened. Never mind what? Before Teela could pursue that line of thought any further, they broke through the edge of the woods, the blackened earth of the Fright Zone's territory visible only as a shadow before them as Glimmer's globe faded and their eyes adjusted to the moonlight. Within seconds, a neigh rang out from above.

The small group looked up. A unicorn with wings was soaring out of the smog that surrounded the Fright Zone, an oddly shaped figure on its back. Battle Cat stopped in mid-stride, nearly throwing Teela, while Arrow reared up and neighed back at the stranger.

"Wow," Glimmer breathed. Bow strung an arrow across his bow string, evidently worried about an attack. The animal's wings beat fast as he strained towards them. Then he leveled out and dove down.

Battle Cat sniffed hard as the unicorn landed not far away. "He-Man!" he growled.

Relief slammed into Teela, but the figure that dismounted was far too slender to be He-Man. "Help us, please!" called an unfamiliar female voice. She kept a hand on whatever was still slung over the unicorn's back, steadying it as the unicorn walked towards them. "We've got to get him into the safety of the woods!"

"He-Man?" Teela asked, her throat tight. The woman seemed very familiar. Longer hair, a deeper voice, different clothes, but…. A suspicion began to form in Teela's mind.

"Yes." The woman and unicorn drew near. "Hordak drained his willpower away. I destroyed the machine that did it, but He-Man is still…" Her voice trailed off and she gestured to his limp form. "I don't know what to do to help him." Familiar blue eyes begged for their help.

Teela rushed to the flying horse's side, mentally urging the creature to remain still. "He-Man?" she called as she reached him. She placed a hand on his shoulder, not sure what she was going to do, but almost drew her hand back immediately. "He's so cold," she said, panic filling her. "Oh Ancients, please…" she breathed as she felt his neck for a pulse. "He-Man, please be okay." The unicorn tossed his head but otherwise didn't move.

"Who are you?" Bow demanded, his arrow still pointed at the warrior woman. "How do we know this isn't a Horde trick?"

After a few long seconds, Teela finally felt a slight pulse. She let out a long sigh of relief, her mind racing.

"You don't," the woman replied softly, her voice sad. "But if you can't trust me to come with you, at least take He-Man. Help him."

"We'll do that," Glimmer agreed, her tone also indicating her distrust of this new arrival.

"Wait," Teela said, surprising them all as she turned from He-Man. She motioned to the woman. "I need to speak with you. Alone."

The two of them walked a dozen yards away, a tense silence between them. Finally Teela turned to the woman. "You're Adora, aren't you?"

The woman's eyes widened. "How did you-I mean, my name is She-Ra. I don't-"

"This isn't the time for games," Teela said impatiently. "I know who He-Man really is. I know he came here to find someone to give that sword to. And I know that someone was Adora. You're Adora."

She-Ra nodded slowly. "I thought I wasn't supposed to tell anyone. I'm not sure why I thought that. It just sort of came to mind when I used the sword and became She-Ra."

"And you're right," Teela assured her, looking back over at He-Man worriedly. "It's a long story as to how I know. But right now, we have more pressing matters to attend to." She led the way back to the small group. "Everyone, this is She-Ra. She is a friend of He-Man's. We have to return to Eternia right away."

"We?" She-Ra asked, one eyebrow raised. Bow and Glimmer exchanged glances. Madame Razz tapped her face thoughtfully with one hand.

"Yes," Teela said firmly. "You need to meet the Sorceress of Grayskull." She frowned. "You can use the sword to contact her, I think. He-Man told me we needed the sword to get home, so…"

She-Ra unsheathed the sword. "What do I do?"

"Um…" Teela hesitated, glancing apologetically at the others, realizing she had already probably revealed more than she should have. "She-Ra's sword has some secret powers. Could you all excuse us, please?"

Glimmer shook her head as they all gave Teela a brief farewell hug. "You people sure are secretive about a lot of things," she muttered.

"You don't know the half of it," Teela returned under her breath.

"Okay…" She-Ra said once everyone had gone. "What now?"

"Try just calling 'Sorceress,'" Teela suggested.

She-Ra sighed, looking awkward. "All right." She held the sword in two hands and stared at the jewel. "Sorceress! Can you hear me?"

"I hear you, She-Ra," the Sorceress returned, her face appearing in the gem. "I have been observing what has transpired; I was simply waiting for it to be safe in order to create the gate to bring you home." As she spoke, and orange glowing circle appeared a few feet away. "Bring He-Man through, quickly."

Duncan was already at the Castle when they came through. Teela ran to him and he embraced her hard. She trembled slightly as wave after wave of worry consumed her.

"I'm sorry, Father," Teela rambled softly, her voice choked. "I didn't do a very good job of protecting him. I shouldn't have gone back for help. I should have just gone to the Fright Zone with Battle Cat. It's all my fault."

"Hush, child," Duncan soothed her. "You did the right thing with the knowledge you had. To go into an enemy's unknown territory would only have caused you to get captured as well."

"But I knew something was wrong," Teela argued. "I should have-"

"By the Ancients," Duncan breathed, staring at She-Ra. "Can it truly be? After all these years?" Teela pulled away, frowning at the fact that he was more enamored with She-Ra than worried about He-Man.

"I am She-Ra, and this is my friend Swift Wind," the young woman responded, glancing at Teela uneasily. "And you are?"

"This is my father, Duncan. He is King Randor's man-at-arms here on Eternia," Teela explained briefly as she gazed at He-Man, who was still on Swift Wind's back. The Sorceress stood by with a hand on He-Man's shoulder.

The Sorceress smiled as she caught Teela's gaze. "Don't worry, Teela. I have already healed his injuries. Adam is not in danger of dying, nor will he remain in this state."

"How do you know?" Teela demanded. She flushed slightly as the Sorceress gave her a slightly amused smile. 'Silly question,' Teela silently reprimanded herself. 'She's the Sorceress. She knows a lot of things.'

"Because the machine did not break his willpower," the Sorceress said, a slight note of pride in her voice. "He is physically exhausted from resisting it, and his will is greatly weakened, but his willpower will return, as will his strength. It will just take some time." Her gaze turned to She-Ra. "In fact, if you would turn your sword on him, it might even speed the process a bit."

"I'll do whatever I can," She-Ra agreed hesitantly. She moved back towards He-Man with an awkward glance at Duncan, still obviously uncomfortable with the awed stare he was giving her.

"Set him down on the ground," the Sorceress requested. After She-Ra had done so, the Sorceress said, "All right. Try it now."

Unsheathing her sword, She-Ra called on its power, then pointed the jewel at He-Man. A warm ray reached out to touch him with a soft brushing sound. The ray bathed He-Man in its light, seeming to rest on him for a few seconds as the air around him glowed. Then he seemed to absorb the glow. After a moment, the ray faded. She-Ra lowered her sword slowly as they all stared at He-Man expectantly.