I hope everyone enjoys this chapter, as well.

Noticing Adam Chapter 5

Marlena stood in her bedchamber staring at her reflection in the mirror. So many thoughts were plaguing her: She thought about Adam's constant disappearing and behavior. She thought about Randor's disapproval of Adam during those times. Eventually her thoughts drifted to their trip to Grayskull. She wondered what she would find out when they returned. As sad as it was to say, Marlena didn't believe Adam when he said he didn't remember anything that had happened yesterday. She knew her son well enough to know when he wasn't being honest. She had years of practice of catching the subtle signs: He would stutter and look around elsewhere while trying to find a suitable and rational explanation.

"He's been doing that a lot over the last few years, far more than I'm accustomed to in recent weeks," she thought to herself.

That's what was really bothering her. She always knew since Adam matured that he had a secretive side that he liked to keep hidden. What young man didn't have secrets from their parents? She had accepted that fact a long time ago. That's why she never really questioned Adam on his whereabouts when he left and reappeared. She thought it was only natural, a part of his growing up and becoming independent. The last month or so began to make her think otherwise. She began noticing that his disappearances were becoming more frequent than she liked and his tiredness was becoming much of a concern.

She remembered the one time she questioned him on his tardiness to dinner. He had been missing all day and no one in the palace had seen him. When he finally showed up, offering his apologies to them and especially Orko for interrupting his latest magic routine, she actually asked him where he had been. The response she got was the one she expected, but it nonetheless saddened her. He stuttered and talked such nonsense that wasn't even remotely coherent and then silenced as if he offered up some truly vital information and didn't have anything else left to say on the matter. She had glanced at Randor, who clearly thought their son had been off having "fun" again and told Orko to continue with his show.

She didn't know what was worse. Was it Adam's constant running off, or was it Randor's blindness to the situation concerning their son? Oh, he was well aware of it now because she pointed it out to him, and now it was consuming his every thought. But did that really make up for his lack of understanding and patience with their son? As much as she hated the notion, she couldn't help but wonder if Randor was why their son had become so withdrawn. Did he run off and hide things from them because he was worried what his father would think? She knew it was possible. Every time Randor chastised Adam for his tardiness, clumsiness, or whatever else happened to be the case, she would notice Adam's ever constant response of lowering his head and closing his eyes almost as if he was submitting and accepting his father's words as gospel towards his character.

She shook her head and finally walked away from the mirror to the window so she could look outside. She immediately gasped. Randor, Adam, Cringer, Duncan, and Teela were climbing out of the AttackTrac; they were back from Grayskull.

Marlena quickly ran out of the room and headed towards the courtyard. She couldn't wait to reach them and possibly find out what was going on with her son.

-

Randor let out a great sigh of relief as he watched Adam and Teela exit the AttackTrac. He was glad that the Sorceress, once and for all, put a stop to all the worries he had about Adam's whereabouts yesterday and whether he was lying to him or not. He had the impulse to go over there and hug him, but before he could he noticed Marlena running from the palace.

"You're back," she yelled to no one in particular.

Adam looked at her and jokingly said, "Yes, and you're acting like you haven't seen us in years."

At Adam's words, Marlena stopped her feverish pace and looked around at everyone sheepishly. "I'm sorry," she said, quietly. "It's just that…"

Adam laughed wholeheartedly for the first time she had heard in ages. He walked over to her, hugged her, and whispered, "No need to explain. I'm glad you're happy to see me."

Marlena hugged her son tightly and peered over at Randor who had a big toothy smile on his face. She smiled as she pulled back and said, "So I take it everything's good, then? No need to referee between you and your father?"

Adam gave her a confused look and said, "Since when have you ever played referee between Father and me?"

She chuckled and said, "You know what I mean. Well?"

He nodded and said, "Everything's fine."

"Good to hear," she said beaming a smile at him.

Adam smiled back and suddenly they could hear a large rumble, almost like a growl. Adam laughed and said, "Um, excuse me. I haven't ate since you brought me that lunch this morning. I'm starving."

"Thank Goodness," Cringer piped in. "I'm starving, too."

The queen laughed and said, "Run along and get ready for dinner. I had the kitchen staff keep it warm until you got home."

Adam immediately started walking towards one of the palace's entrances with Cringer following close behind.

Marlena smiled and finally made her way to Randor. "He seems like the old Adam, so full of life and carefree. I can tell he's still a little tired and sore, but I know he'll be okay." She looked into her husband's eyes and asked, "So, did the Sorceress tell you what was going on with that dear son of ours?"

Randor smiled as he grabbed his wife's hand and started walking towards the palace. He was glad he was the one giving her the news: "Yes, it turns out Adam was telling the truth about yesterday. He really doesn't remember what happened. Skeletor was up to some of his old tricks again and sent a magic orb to destroy Grayskull. Luckily, He-Man stopped the orb and destroyed it. There was some kind of explosion and unfortunately Adam was in the range of it, I'm afraid…He-Man is awfully sore, too. You could tell when he was fighting today, even though he was trying to hide it. I hope Skeletor didn't notice."

Marlena nodded and said, "I'm sure He-Man will be alright. What else did you find out about Adam?"

Randor paused in his movements, looked at her, and asked, "Was I supposed to find out more?"

Marlena sighed and said sadly, "No, I guess not. You went there to find out what happened yesterday. It's just that I was hoping she would tell you about all the other times, as well."

"The other times," Randor asked.

Marlena opened her eyes wide as she stared at her husband and said in louder voice, "Randor! You know as well as I do that this isn't the first time Adam has run off. You said so yourself that Man-at-Arms admitted to helping Adam other times when he's in trouble without our knowledge."

Randor shook his head quickly, and looked behind him to see Man-at-Arms and Teela following them in the distance. He shushed the queen and whispered, "I never said Duncan admitted to it. I just said he didn't deny it."

"Same thing," she said, quickly. "Regardless, the point is that despite what we do know for certain now, we're still no closer to knowing what is going on with our son, Randor. Doesn't that bother you?"

Randor thought silently for a few seconds before nodding and saying, "Yes, it does. I was just so happy to learn that he was telling the truth about yesterday that I forgot about the larger picture. I guess I'm going to have to talk to him again."

"Do you think talking to him will get anything done," she asked doubtfully, as they resumed walking to the dining room.

Randor's face became one of stone and he said firmly, "I can't just stand idly by and do nothing. I have to try."

-

Randor and Marlena walked into the dining room with Teela and Man-at-Arms following a few feet behind. Adam was already there and as soon as he saw them, he chuckled and said, "Hey, for once, I beat all of you!"

Teela laughed at Adam's expression because he seemed genuinely pleased with himself. "Never mind the fact that we're having dinner later than usual," she thought to herself. She shook her head as she sat down and looked at everyone else. Her father's lips were slightly upturned, so he obviously thinking along the same lines she was. She, then, looked at the king and queen and paused. They weren't grinning. In fact, they looked kind of worried.

She cleared her throat and said, "Is everything alright, your majesties?"

Instantly, Marlena and Randor tore their gazes away from Adam, just as everyone else looked at them.

"Yes," Randor said, softly. "Everything is quite alright. Why do you ask, Captain?"

Teela shrugged and said, "Oh, I don't know. Forgive me for putting you on the spot. You just seemed troubled."

Randor nodded and said, "I've had a lot on my mind recently."

Adam quickly entered the conversation. "Is there anything I can do to help, Father?"

Randor turned his complete attention to his son, who was obviously concerned, and said, "Probably."

Despite the fact he had offered to help, Adam was surprised at his father's response. His father did frequently include him in matters of the kingdom, because he was the prince, after all. He would one day rule, but when it came down to concerning matters, his father never wanted his help. He preferred Duncan's help, or even He-Man's help. Prince Adam was never on the totem pole. This immediately told him this was a personal matter. He lowered his head and looked down at his plate as the kitchen crew came out to serve their meal.

Randor stared at his son for several seconds before asking, "Well, are you going to ask me how?"

Adam looked up and smiled at the attendant who served him his plate. He, then, looked at his father and said, "I'm sorry, Father. I just got the impression that it was a personal matter and that it was something…" He paused and looked at Man-at-Arms and Teela. "…That you might prefer to talk about in private."

Man-at-Arms immediately nodded at Adam's assessment while Teela's brow furrowed.

The king was about to open his mouth to speak when suddenly Orko appeared at the center of the table. "Good evening, ladies and lords," he said, happily. "Even though we're having dinner later than usual, I thought we could still use a little magic."

Adam watched as Randor turned away from him to watch the Trollan try to perform his latest tricks.

-

The next morning Adam woke up and was thankful he didn't have any surprise visitors in his room. He turned over and looked down on the floor beside his bed. Cringer was sleeping and snoring softly. Adam smiled, sat up, and said, "Come on, Cringer, it's time to get up."

Cringer opened one lazy eye and said after a yawn, "Ah, come on, Adam. Can't we just sleep all day?"

He laughed and said, "We did that yesterday."

"No, w-w-we fought Skeletor yesterday. That's hardly sleeping the day away," was his reply.

Adam shook his head and said, "And, how would I explain my laziness to everyone? Maybe you can get away with sleeping all day, but I can't, especially not right now."

He stood up out of bed and rolled his neck around a couple of times to get the kinks out. Then, he quickly went to his wardrobe and put on his common attire. Once he stepped out of his room fully dressed, he saw Teela walking down the hall towards the throne room. "Teela," he yelled down the hall and ran towards her, smiling.

Teela kept walking even as Adam reached her.

"Good morning," he said, with a soft smile.

Teela glanced sideways at him and kept walking silently.

Immediately, Adam frowned and touched her shoulder, stopping her forward progress. "Teela, what's the matter?"

Finally, she turned her head and looked straight at him. "Nothing, Adam. What makes you think something is wrong?"

"Let's see, the fact that you were ignoring me and now you're snapping at me. You always acted like this when we were kids and you were mad at me for something I did. Don't tell me you're still mad at me for getting hurt. It wasn't my fault. If we can blame anyone, let's blame He-Man. He's the one who made the orb explode."

Teela gawked at her childhood friend and repeated in a shrill voice, "Let's blame He-Man!"

Adam shook his head and said, "I'm only kidding, Teela."

Teela stomped off and said loudly, "That's some sense of humor you have, Adam. I don't find that funny one bit. He-Man doesn't deserve any of the blame for you getting hurt. It's Skeletor's fault, and maybe even yours, because you were the one who put you in the vicinity…"

"Teela," Adam started, walking after her quickly.

"Oh, never mind, Adam," she snapped at him. "I'm not even mad about that, anymore."

He ran in front of her, stopped her by grabbing her shoulders again, and said, "Then, what is it? What did I do?"

Teela looked at Adam and slowly left his grasp. She walked to a nearby window and looked outside. Adam followed her. "Teela," he pushed softly.

She sighed and said, "You didn't do anything, I suppose. It's just that I thought we were friends and that you trusted me. I am your bodyguard, after all. You trust me with your life…I guess I was just surprised to learn that you don't trust me with what's going on in it. I got so mad…"

Adam shook his head quickly and said, "Wait, I'm confused. We are friends, Teela. What on Eternia are we talking about?"

She stepped in front of Adam with a stubborn expression adorning her face. "Yesterday, when your father wanted to talk about whatever was troubling him, you stopped him because Father and I were in the room. Do you have any idea how that made me feel? It made me feel like I wasn't supposed to be there or welcomed. If that's the way you feel, Prince Adam, all you had to do was say so. I won't attend anymore dinners or…"

Adam quickly stopped her rant by putting a large finger to her mouth. "Teela, you are more than welcomed at the dinner table. I didn't mean to make you feel like that. It's just that…" Now, it was his turn to sigh and look out over the kingdom. He looked back at her and said, "Maybe you've noticed that things have been a little stressed with me and my parents recently."

Teela's hard expression melted and said, "No, not really. I know they are concerned because of your latest mishap, but we all were."

Adam shook his head and said, "Well, that's not all that's going on."

Teela rubbed Adam's arm and whispered, "What is it, Adam? Talk to me."

Adam smiled and said, "We haven't really talked about our real troubles with each other since we were kids."

"I know," she said, " and I think it's something we should resume. I always find myself wondering what's going on with you, especially recently. I mean, you are my best friend, and it's odd that I don't know what's going on in your head half the time anymore."

Adam laughed and said, "Teela, you're my best friend, too, and I never knew what was going on in your head when we were kids, so I don't expect that to be changing anytime soon."

Teela chuckled softly and pushed on his shoulder playfully. "Come on, Adam. Talk."

Adam smiled and said, "Basically, the reason why I told my father we should talk about whatever was troubling him in private was because I knew it more than likely dealt with me…and well, I didn't really want to talk about it."

"What do you mean, and what makes you think that?"

Adam sighed and said, "Recently, my parents have this weird notion that I'm hiding something from them. They question where I go when I run off and why I'm so tired all the time. This has been me for years, and they've never suspected anything before, so why now?"

Teela nodded and said, "Well, you have been disappearing more frequently recently. I've been wondering where you've been running off to myself. But of course, I know you. Monkey business is your specialty and number one pursuit."

"Why don't you tell my parents that," he quipped.

"Why don't you," she countered. "Just tell them the truth and they'll get off your back. It's not that hard of a situation…unless you're ashamed of your actions. In that case, you need to change, Adam. You have to admit you should take a more active role in the kingdom and not goof off so much."

Adam wanted to get mad at Teela. He did take an active role in the kingdom, and monkey business was most definitely NOT his number one pursuit or priority, but that was what he led everyone to think. How could he get mad at her for believing what he wanted her to? He sighed and said, "If it were only that easy, Teela."

"Of course, it is! Just stop running off so much. Fun is all well and good, but we have more serious things to do here. The well-being of Eternia and your people should be your number one priority. Maybe if you start showing a change for the better in these areas, your parents will get off your back…and so will I."

Adam looked at Teela sadly and said, "If only…"

"Adam," they heard a voice say behind them.

Adam and Teela turned around to see the king and queen walking towards them.

Adam took a deep breath and said, "Good morning, Mother. Good morning, Father." Teela immediately echoed the greeting.

"Good morning," Randor said cheerfully. He looked out the window and said, "Today is a beautiful day…a perfect day to just walk around and talk." He then looked at the Captain of the Guard and said, "Teela, would you please excuse us? I need to have a talk with the prince. I didn't have the opportunity last night since he ran off to his chambers so quickly after dinner."

Teela nodded and said, "Yes, your majesty." She leaned close to Adam and said, "Just tell the truth and then tell them you will change." She then walked off and headed towards her father's lab.

Adam watched Teela leave feeling like he was being left alone on a battlefield with no help in sight. "You want to talk to me, Father," he asked softly, when Teela disappeared around the corner.

Randor nodded and said, "Yes. I wanted to continue the conversation we started yesterday."

Adam swallowed and said, "Father, I thought the Sorceress straightened all of this out. I'm not hiding anything from you…"

"Yes, we know that you're not hiding anything about what happened to you two days ago, but we have more questions about other times," Marlena interrupted, tired of walking around the issue and getting straight to the point.

Adam widened his eyes and his thoughts were clearly written on his face: You, too, mother?

Randor stepped in front of Adam, blocking his view of his mother. "Adam," he said in an authoritative tone.

Adam immediately shook his head and said, "Look, I already know what you're going to say. You're going to preach to me that I should take more of an interest in the kingdom and that I should grow up. You'll say that I should spend more time learning how to run things incase something happens to you. You'll say I should spend more time sparring with Teela, so I can defend myself if the need ever arises.. You'll then question me about where I run off to all the time when I say I was out having fun. Am I right?"

Randor nodded and said, "You are."

Adam also nodded and said, "Yes, we've been over this many times. I will be ready when my time comes to sit on the throne, Father. I know you disapprove of me running off and having my fun, but I do it because I know when I become king, I won't have that luxury anymore. You're always so busy, Father, and I just want to have a little freedom before I'm tied down to all the responsibility I will one day have. Don't you understand that?"

"I do understand that, Adam" Randor said. "I just have the feeling that something else is going on here."

"Like what? What else could possibly be going on here?"

"I don't know, Adam," Marlena piped in. "That's the whole point. I've been watching you for a while now. You're always so secretive about where you run off to. Even now, you're not really talking about it. In fact, you NEVER do. You run off having fun, but where are your friends that you have this fun with? It isn't Teela. It isn't Man-at-Arms for the most part."

"Cringer," Adam answered, defensively.

"What could you and Cringer be doing that is so fun that it's worth all this hassle, that it's worth our suspicion?" she asked. "What is so fun that it makes up for the fact that people call you a coward, uninterested, and not a very good prince."

Adam's head popped up with that last statement. "Do you think I'm not a good prince?"

"I didn't say that."

"Then what's all this," Adam yelled loudly, surprised at his own outburst, but he kept going. He held his arms wide and said, "Are you hounding me because I'm an embarrassment to you and Father? What I do is MY BUSINESS, not yours. Just because I'm an embarrassment as a son and prince to you, it doesn't give you the right…"

"Doesn't give me the right," Randor questioned, angrily. "Young man, I am your father, so it gives me every right to worry about you and wonder what you're doing and if you're safe. It gives me every right to question you on your whereabouts and what you're doing with your life. I have every right because you will inherit my throne and responsibilities."

Adam looked at them and breathed in deeply. He closed his eyes and whispered angrily, "I'm here, aren't I? I'm not dead or hurt. If I was putting myself in danger, wouldn't you have had an inkling before now? Wouldn't I have needed you for help?"

"Not if your getting that help elsewhere from someone who is obligated to protect you," Marlena said softly. "Like Man-at-Arms. He's a trustworthy man and a great friend. I've noticed that you two have become very close over the years. You're together a lot, more than he and Randor are." She touched Adam's shoulder and said, "He's very loyal. I know from experience that if you ask him to keep a secret, he'll do it. How do you explain the fact that when your father questioned him if he had ever helped you when you were hurt without our knowledge that he didn't answer? If this had never happened his answer would have immediately been no. So, we ask again, Adam, what's going on with you?"

Suddenly all of the anger drained out of Adam as he stared at his parents sadly, "Do you trust me?"

Randor looked him in the eye and with tears in his eyes said, "I do and I want to, but I'm starting to wonder how can I trust someone who doesn't trust me?"

Adam immediately looked down and said, "I see," before walking as quickly as he could down the corridor, away from his parents.