King Randor retired to his room after his conversation with Duncan and found Marlena getting ready for bed, her flight suit neatly hung on the back of the door.

"You don't want to take that back to the museum?" He asked her.

"Not when it might be needed again. In fact, I don't think my ship needs to be there anymore either. It should be with the other vehicles on the loading dock on the upper level of the palace so I have easier access to it."

"I don't know how I feel about that," he responded warily. "I am grateful to you for the times you've jumped into battle when needed, but I don't want to come to expect that from you and put you at risk."

"You saw how weak Adam was, how his energy even as He-Man was so depleted he could barely move. The power of that cage sapped so much power from him that it forced him to revert back to Prince Adam. If it did that much damage, it may be awhile before we see He-Man again and just because we ran Skeletor off tonight, that doesn't mean he's going to stop trying to halt the royal wedding. The Rainbow may be needed again before he regains his full strength."

"But still, it could be dangerous for you. I know you were trained to be a warrior, but I can't help worrying for your safety."

"Randor, I love you. You know I do, but sometimes you have no idea how insulting the things you say sound. You have complimented me numerous times on my flying skills, but yet you still seem to believe I can't handle myself. Well, I have news for you. I graduated with honors from the Air Force Academy, obtained a Masters Degree in aerospace engineering and within a year, I was awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest military honor in the United States, then I was recruited by NASA and began flying spacecraft, all by the time I was Teela's age. That's pretty good for a girl from Boise, Idaho."

"I never meant to imply that you aren't qualified or that you can't handle yourself, but as you mentioned, we just witnessed Skeletor trying to kill our son. He's seen what a skilled warrior you are and I can't help worrying that now that you're jumping into battle more frequently he may target you as well, especially if this becomes a regular habit."

"No, my dear, he hasn't seen my skills. He's seen my ship, not me. Skeletor has never seen who was flying it because I have never let him. It's almost like having a secret identity of my own." She smiled at him. "Besides, who said I'll be the one flying the Rainbow? Teela's an accomplished pilot too and I've taught her everything I know about my ship. In fact, now that she's pregnant, behind the controls of the enclosed Rainbow Explorer with its arsenal might be the safest place for her if we have to go into battle again rather than the open Sky-Sled."

"You'd trust her with your ship?"

"Why shouldn't I? She's proven herself to be an outstanding pilot and she learns quickly. Just look at how fast she's adapted to the magical side of her legacy now that she knows she and Adam have a shared destiny as defenders of Castle Grayskull."

"Wait a minute!" A realization just occurred to him. "You've known all this time, haven't you; that Adam is He-Man?" If he'd felt betrayed by his long-time friend, Duncan, that was nothing compared to how he felt now when it was coming from his own wife.

"No," she replied honestly. "Not all this time."

"But you-" He thought back to the recent battle. "When He-Man – or Adam, I mean – when I said I saw Adam in the cage, you said 'just wait' as if you knew what was about to happen."

She sighed. "I didn't know for sure what would happen in that cage, it was just a feeling. I had long suspected that Adam and He-Man were one and the same, but I've only known for certain since the day you ordered Adam to find a bride. I've dropped hints to him for awhile now in the hopes that he would confide in me, but he only confessed the truth to me because I goaded him into it when he was so lost in trying to decide what to do about your mandate with regard to his love for Teela. I was trying to guide him toward expressing his feelings to her, but I knew I wouldn't be able to offer the right advice without acknowledging that I knew his secret."

"What does one thing have to do with the other?"

"Adam's biggest fear that kept him from sharing his feelings for her is that she only cared for him as He-Man, not Adam and he desperately desired for her to love him as the man he is and not just the powerful champion of Eternia."

"But from what I witnessed when he was in the cage and she was trying to free him, she already knows the truth," he argued.

"She does now, but she didn't until after they'd already admitted to their love for each other."

He sighed in frustration that Marlena always seemed to know what was going on with their son while he didn't and she didn't seem inclined to share with him. "I suppose he told you that too while leaving me in the dark again."

"No, my dear," she answered and went on to explain further, "When he and Teela were telling the story of what happened to them during that storm, I was able to read between the lines because I knew his secret. I was able to pick out the things they weren't saying. When they spoke about the rockslide and how He-Man rescued them, I deduced that he'd been given no choice but to transform in front of her to save her since she was buried by the rocks. I had already urged him to tell her the truth about himself, so I'm glad it worked out that way because now he knows she truly loves him and not just He-Man."

"But if they're the same person I don't really understand what difference it makes."

"It's similar to what you told me about yourself not long after we first met when you were caring for me while I recovered from crashing my ship; how you were being pressured by much of the kingdom to marry and produce a royal heir and that you had numerous women who wanted to be your queen."

He nodded in acknowledgement and added, "But I wanted to marry someone who loved me for me, not simply because I'm the king."

"It was just lucky that you met me because I fell in love with your generous, giving heart. You not only dug me out of the wreckage of my ship, but you took me into your home, gave me a place to rest and recuperate when I was injured and cared for me until I was able to care for myself. I wasn't thinking anything of being a queen as we didn't have royalty in the United States so I wasn't as awestruck by your title or position as women here were."

"No royalty on Earth?"

"Oh, there are still royal families in other parts of my world and U. S. citizens have often been fascinated by the royals, watching their public events on television, royal weddings, processions and the like, but it's not as prominent as it once was as many countries are now governed by a president or prime minister or other similar title."

"So, then I guess we don't have to worry about Adam behaving himself while he and Teela visit Earth on their honeymoon?"

"No, I'm sure the entire country will be enamored of a visiting prince from another planet and with his natural charm, there shouldn't be any problem at all."

"Speaking of which, I wonder why with the way he's been known to charm women all over Eternia and even a few on Etheria, why he didn't just use that to his advantage with Teela."

"Teela's different. First of all, she's a soldier, not a silly, swooning schoolgirl. She's not easily swayed by a charming smile, but also she's been his best friend since they were small children. She knows him so well that any hint of insincerity from him would turn her off immediately and get her scolding him again. I know you love our son, but you've been so blind to everything he's been going through for years."

"Clearly when I never knew he was He-Man in disguise."

Marlena shook her head. "That's where you're wrong; He-Man IS the disguise. He's Adam all the time even if he looks and behaves differently. Every noble, brave, and selfless act He-Man has ever performed has come from Adam. Castle Grayskull may provide him with the extra strength and power, but the heart and soul behind his heroism all comes from our son. Think about it, Randor, how many people do you know that could be handed that much power as a teenager and not be corrupted by it or use it to their own advantage? Like with Teela for instance. It caused him no end of pain when she would praise He-man's bravery while scolding him for his cowardice. The day he finally confessed his secret to me, I suggested that since he knew Teela was looking for a man that had qualities of both Adam and He-Man, he could solve his problem by simply telling her the truth. But he refused to do so because he didn't want to win her love that way; he wanted her to love him as the man he is, not the all-powerful hero, the same way he's always wanted you to be proud of him for who he is."

King Randor hung his head, looking ashamed. "I had no idea."

"How could you?"

"You did. You say you suspected the truth before he told you."

"It's like I told you, I'm more observant about the little things than you are, just as I knew by his body language and facial expressions that he was carrying a torch for Teela."

"Why didn't you ever tell me of your suspicions?"

"You needed to figure it out on your own as I did. You wouldn't have believed it otherwise because your mind was so focused on seeing all of Adam's faults before his virtues. In that mindset, you would never have accepted that who you see as your weak, cowardly, womanizing heir is actually the bravest, most selfless and most loyal man I've ever known. I'm quite proud to call him my son and you should be too. I am glad this is out in the open now because I've hated keeping this secret from you for the past week, but it was never my secret to tell."

"I wish Adam could have trusted me enough that he had told me himself," the king said sadly.

"He did trust you enough," Marlena informed him. "He wanted to tell you. In fact, that's why he went to Etheria in the first place. He was ready to tell you after you had your man-to-man talk with him when he returned from his tour, but he didn't feel he could rightfully do so without Adora's blessing because revealing his secret would reveal hers as well."

"Adora," he sighed. "We've had her in our lives for such a short time and I was so happy to have her back, but now I don't know how to feel knowing that she's been keeping this huge secret from us the entire time."

"Do you think we really have the right to judge either of our children for keeping their secrets when we kept just as big a secret for two decades?"

"I guess not. I mean, Adam was right when he said that we should have told him he had a sister and that maybe he could have even brought her home to us earlier if he'd known. But if I'd know he was He-Man and had the power to find her and reunite her with her family, I might have told him sooner about his twin."

"I suppose that's possible, but we'll never know now and I urge you not to be angry with Adam for keeping his secret. What I would encourage you to do is try to think of all those good qualities you admire in He-Man and I don't mean his strength and power, but his bravery, his loyalty, his selflessness and apply those to our son because He-Man wouldn't have those things if they weren't a part of Adam first. Now, it's been a long day and we need to get some sleep. We can talk about this more tomorrow."


After the prior evening's revelations, breakfast was a subdued affair with no one knowing quite what to say to each other as Randor was still unsure how to address his daughter or his wife now that he knew about the secrets they'd kept, but then Marlena had been right in saying that they had kept secrets from their children too.

Duncan sat quietly pushing his food around his plate thinking about all that had transpired, wondering how Adam was going to deal with his secret being out to his father. He knew it's something that Adam had always wanted in order to have a closer relationship with the king, but he was quite sure he hadn't wanted it to be revealed this way.

Adora kept stealing glances at her father, wondering if he was still angry with her for keeping her and her brother's secret. She didn't want that kind of tension between them as she spent little enough time with her family as it was because she was needed on Etheria.

Marlena, being the pragmatic one, as usual, finally broke the silence. "Has anyone checked on Teela and Adam this morning after last night's ordeal?"

"I poked my head in the door before I went to bed last night and they were still sleeping," Duncan answered.

Adora nodded and added, "And I checked on them around two when I came in and it was the same. They hadn't moved."

"You didn't come in until two AM? Humph, maybe you're more like your brother than I believed."

"If you mean in the sense of protecting the people around him, then you're absolutely right. I am like him in that respect," Adora replied with a slight edge in her voice. "I was patrolling the grounds for hours, picking up robot parts and destroying them so Skeletor can't put them back together again and I was also making sure that none of his flunkies stuck around to stake out the palace. Now, if you mean the fake, cowardly, lazy persona he's put on for years to protect you, then you're dead wrong. I'm not like that at all and neither is he. How could you have lived with him, raised him all these years and know nothing about him?"

When Marlena laughed, Randor frowned. "I don't know what you find so funny."

"I told you all of this over a week ago," she replied.

"Like mother, like daughter," Randor grumbled.

"You know someone really should check on them," Duncan changed the subject. "And maybe take them some food. They must be starving by now since they both slept through dinner last night."

"I'll do it," Adora offered, anxious to get away from the tension in the room.

"Let me," Randor suggested. "I want to have a conversation with Adam anyway."

"Don't do it if you're going to berate him again," Marlena warned.

"I won't, I promise. I just still have questions that only he can answer."

A short time later, Randor walked down the corridor to Teela's bedroom, breakfast tray in hand. He walked through her sitting room, but paused to listen by the open bedroom door, hoping it wouldn't be like last time he was in the room. When he heard nothing, he stepped inside and found that both of them were still sleeping.

He noticed that they were still spooned up together, Adam's arm draped over Teela's waist, his hand on her abdomen. He smiled at how peaceful they looked. The sight reminded him of years ago when Marlena had been carrying his twins, how he'd often laid next to her just like that in an attempt to feel closer to his unborn children and couldn't help wondering if Adam were doing the same thing.

He let out a sigh as he hated to disturb them, but he knew they needed to eat. He set the tray down on the nightstand and nudged his son. "Adam," he said his son's name.

Adam didn't stir right away, but Teela did, with a light groan, "Mmm, what is it?"

"It's me, King Randor. I brought you some breakfast."

She opened her eyes and stretched as much as she could with Adam still wrapped around her. "Is it morning already?"

"Yes and since neither of you ate last night, we thought you might need food."

"Oh, that was nice of you," she replied, a little more alert now. She reached for Adam's hand, brought it to her lips and placed a soft kiss on it. "Adam, wake up, your father brought us breakfast."

Adam made an unintelligible noise and didn't move.

Teela removed his arm from around her, pushed him onto his back. "Wake up!" she said louder. "You need to eat."

He opened his eyes blearily and said, "Tired."

"I know, Love, but you need to at least sit up long enough to eat, then you can sleep some more."

"Okay," he agreed, but struggled to pull himself up to a sitting position. With Randor's help, Teela managed to get him upright and then Randor brought the tray to them.

They began to eat, Teela with more gusto that Adam as he was still feeling the effects of Skeletor's energy drain. "Dad, I appreciate the gesture, but if you're hanging out in here just so you can yell at me for lying to you, can it wait until I'm at least recovered enough to defend myself? Look at me, I'm supposed to be the most powerful man in the universe and I can barely even lift my fork."

"No yelling. I just have questions, but if you're not feeling up to it, it can wait. Adora answered some of my questions last night and Duncan, some others , but I guess I really just wanted to talk to you about it, to clear the air between us once and for all."

"I appreciate it, but I'm just really not feeling up to it."

"I had a thought about that," Teela pipes up. "Since your sword is what gives you your power, can you channel the power through it to help you heal?"

He nodded. "I've done it before when I have been weakened, but the trouble is that I still have to raise the sword skyward to channel the power and I don't think I can even pick up my sword right now, let alone raise it above my head, but if I could do it some other way, what were you thinking?"

"Well, my mother told me that the cage was created using the power of Grayskull that Skeletor stole the day that we chased him out of the abyss. Now my mother and I channeled it back into the castle where it belongs, but unfortunately, that includes all the energy the cage absorbed from you."

"So, you're thinking that maybe I could try and take my energy back somehow?"

"It's worth a try, isn't it?"

"I suppose, but I'm thinking I'd have to be at the castle to make it work if I can't use my sword."

"Could Adora – or She-Ra – help?" Randor asked. "She has a magical sword like yours, right? And she wasn't affected by the cage as you were."

"That's a great idea!" Teela replied. "My mother was telling me that the reason She-Ra was having trouble healing me alone was because I'd been so weakened from a combination of all the magic I'd used and the lightning strike, but that when she combined her powers with mine and Castaspella's, it created a three-way magical conduit like a triangle and she said that's a powerful magical symbol and three is a powerful magical number."

"No, Teela. I don't want you risking hurting yourself to help me. I saw how weak you were on Etheria and it scared the daylights out of me. I thought I'd lost you."

"I felt the same way when I saw you in that cage," she countered. "Besides, I think a big part of what happened on Etheria is because of the lightning. I was a little weak after breaking up those storm clouds, but I was still conscious before I nearly got struck by lightning. If I'm right there in the castle directly connected to the power, I should be fine."

"I don't want to take the risk of you getting hurt. You're pregnant, remember? If you won't think of yourself, think of our babies."

"Both of our babies are linked to Grayskull as we are. They'll be fine. In fact, maybe the fact that I'm carrying the next Sorceress after me will even help as there will be three generations of that power there."

"I still don't like it."

"Well, I don't like you being this weak!" she argued.

"Um, Adam? I don't want to get in the middle of a lovers' quarrel here, but you may as well give in. One thing I've learned in twenty-four years of being married to my own fiery redhead, she's always going to have the last word. You should've heard the lecture I got from your mother when I suggested that for her own safety, she not dive into battle so recklessly as she did last night."

"Oh no!" Teela laughed. "What did she say?"

"I just reminded him of how much training I had long before I ever met him," Marlena answered as she entered the room, Adora right behind her. "And you're father's right, Adam, you should never mess with a redhead."

"But how am I even going to get to Castle Grayskull when I can barely move?" Adam questioned.

"I can take care of that," Adora said. "But what are we doing once we get there?"

Teela filled Adora in on the plan and when she finished, Adora said, "Then I guess we need She-Ra." She reached for her sword.

"Not just yet," Randor said. "I mean, you still have to keep your secret from the world at large, don't you? How is it going to look if the whole family is here to look after Adam, but then suddenly Princess Adora disappears?"

"Good point, but what alternative do we have to get Adam to Castle Grayskull?"

"Duncan and I got him into bed last night. I think we can get him to the loading dock and into a Wind Raider."

Once the plan was solidified, Duncan and Randor did their part to get Adam loaded onto the Wind Raider with Teela at the controls. She was just about to take off when Duncan jumped in, "Move over. I'm doing the flying. You're still weak."

"Dad I'm fine," she argued, but off his stern look, she did as she was told.

"I wish you weren't determined to do this when you're still not fully healed yourself."

"That's what I said," Adam chimed in from the back seat, his sister sitting next to him.

"And I told you that I'm alright," Teela argued.

"Well, I'm going with you to make sure you're alright when this is over with," Duncan insisted.

They had barely landed at the castle when the jaw bridge opened for them. Adora took out her sword and transformed into She-Ra so she could help her brother inside.

Once inside, they found the Sorceress had already set up a magical circle for them and was sitting on one side of it. "I'm all ready for you."

"What do we do?" Duncan asked.

She looked up in surprise at hearing her husband's voice. "Duncan, what brings you here?"

"I'm here to ensure that our daughter is safe after all she's been through these past couple of days," he replied coolly.

"Do you honestly believe I'd allow her to be hurt?" She looked insulted and more than a little hurt by his comment, but she shook it off, knowing they had work to do. "You may stay if you like, but stay out of the way. Since you have no magical ability, there's really not much you can do to help."

It was his turn to look hurt. "I am sorry that as just a mere mortal man, I might be in your way, but I believe I have a right to-"

"Can you two just deal with your marital issues another time?" Teela snapped at her father and then turned on her mother, "It's obvious that you don't want your husband here, but I'm trying to save mine and right now, that's more important to me than whatever your problems with each other are."

"He's not your husband yet," her father pointed out with a troubled look on his face directed toward Adam.

"But he will be," she reminded him wondering what was going on with him. Did he not want her to marry Adam? She knew he'd been angry to learn that she was pregnant, but she thought that once he'd gotten over the shock of it, he'd be happy for her. She thought back to their conversation in which he'd worried that she wasn't truly in love with Adam, but was instead letting her hormones guide her. She'd tried to reassure him that his fears were unfounded and thought she had, but maybe not with the way he looked now. She had no time to dwell on it though as her mother was giving instructions on what to do to try to restore some of Adam's energy.

She-Ra moved Adam to sit in the center of the circle and placed his sword in front of him and then laid her own across it with both blades facing toward him, his hands resting on the hilts and then the three women sat around him to form a triangle.

"Now join hands," the Sorceress instructed as she reached for her daughter's hand on one side and She-Ra's on the other.

"Should I focus on my healing ability?" She-Ra asked.

"Not this time. This isn't a physical ailment as it was with Teela. I want you to focus on drawing the power of Grayskull through yourself as you do when you transform and channel that energy into the crossed swords."

"What about me?" Teela asked.

"I want you to remember what I told you about your bond with Adam and concentrate on how deeply connected you are to him and try to separate his unique energy from the Spirit of Grayskull's and redirect it toward him. I will tap into my own powers to act as a conduit and keep you both grounded as I'm the most experienced with magic."

Teela closed her eyes and focused hard on Adam, on how much she loved him and her mind linked on that moment back in the cave when she knew she wanted to give him the child he craved, the intimacy of that time they'd spent together. She reached out for his mind and let out a gasp when she connected.

"Teela," Adam whispered.

Teela felt his presence even without touching him and she found that she was not only reliving her own memories of that day, but his as well. She felt his deep love for her, how much he desired her and the same longing she'd had to create new life together. She felt her body quivering as if she were still in that moment, feeling him inside her. She kept the connection going and tried to project those thoughts back to him.

Adam let out a low groan as the memories flooded his mind and he heard Teela calling out his name as she channeled all that energy back toward him. She opened her eyes and found his locked on hers as his swords began to glow in his hands and for a moment, the faint image of He-Man was superimposed over Adam's features, but as had happened in the cage while he was being forced back into his form as Prince Adam, it was fleeting. She pushed harder as her body began to spasm.

"What's happening to her?" Duncan cried out in alarm as he saw his daughter shaking uncontrollably.

The connection was broken by his outburst and Teela huffed at him, "Why did you do that? It was working." She nodded toward Adam. "Look at him. He looks better already."

"But what about you? You didn't see yourself. Your breathing was out of control and you were shaking as if you were having a seizure or something."

She rose to her feet angrily and shouted, "Well, I wasn't. I was perfectly fine, better than fine, but Adam's not. While he's better, he's still weak and you ruined our efforts to help him because you didn't stay out of it like Mother asked you to!"

"I'm your father and I was worried about you."

"Well, stop it! I'm a grown woman and perfectly capable of worrying about myself!"

"Teela, don't," Adam pleaded as he reached for her hand. "I don't want you and your father being angry at each other because of me."

"She's not the only angry one." The Sorceress glared at her husband.

"But I was only-" At seeing the look of pure fury on his wife's face, he thought better of finishing his statement.

"Come on, let's go home. We'll try again another time when we can do so without interruptions," Teela said as she reached for Adam to help him to his feet and to sheath his sword. They began to walk toward the door.

"I think that's wise," the Sorceress agreed. "Perhaps once you're back at the palace, you can contact me remotely as you've done before and we can try again. It should be easier to do so from a distance now that Adam's a little stronger."

Teela nodded. "Good idea."

"No, it is more certainly NOT a good idea," Duncan argued.

The Sorceress shot him a withering look and said, "She-Ra, why don't you go with them? I'd like to have a private word with my husband."

"Do you need a hand?" She-Ra asked Teela.

"It probably wouldn't hurt. He's at least walking now, but he's still weak."

She-Ra put her arm around her brother and together, she and Teela guided him toward the door.

Once they were out of earshot, Teela-Na railed at her husband. "I told you to stay out of the way. You should have listened."

"Do you mean now or about our marriage," he taunted her.

"This isn't about that."

"No? It feels remarkably similar to your insistence that we lead separate lives. In all your meetings with Teela, have you told her how many times you've invited me into your bed to keep you warm, but then kicked me out once your sheets grew cold again? I know you've been in Teela's head before she knew you were her mother. Did you encourage her to do the same to Adam, invite him into her bed just so she'd conceive the royal heirs you foresaw?"

"No, of course not. I'm her mother and I love her. I would never encourage her to do anything that would potentially cause her any kind of heartache. I would die if she were hurt."

"So would I. That's why I stopped this insane project of yours. She's pregnant and you could've put her or our unborn grandchildren at risk channeling that much power through herself."

"You should have seen all the things I did while I was pregnant with her," she argued.

"I would've liked to be here when you were carrying our daughter, but you never gave me that chance," he reminded her bitingly and stormed out.

When he exited the castle, he found that the others has just finished piling into the Wind Raider, Teela and Adam in the front seat, a transformed Adora in the back. "Wait for me," he said before they could take off without him.

"Fine, but I'M doing the flying this time! I'm not as weak or incapable as you think I am."

"I've never thought you were weak or incapable." He climbed in to sit next to Adora and replied, "But you are pregnant."

"I am well aware of that," Teela huffed in a annoyance before adding, "But being pregnant doesn't suddenly diminish my skills as a pilot."

"Of course it doesn't, but that's not what I meant. I'm more concerned about you channeling such powerful magic through yourself and possibly putting your babies in danger. You should remember that before taking risks like this in the future."

"I agree with your father on this one," Adam chimed in as he reached for her hand and squeezed it tightly.

Teela smiled as the contact. "Look at that; if you can squeeze my hand like that, your strength is already returning."

"I still feel like I could do with a nice, long nap, but I do feel a little better than I did."

"Then it was worth it, wasn't it, Father?"

"I suppose so," Duncan sighed in resignation. "But I won't deny that I still worry."

"Well, stop," Teela insisted. "My mother was already the Sorceress of Grayskull and was doing a lot more with magic than I am when she became pregnant with me and I turned out just fine."

"So I've been told, but since I wasn't allowed to be there to witness it, I'll have to take her word for it." He glanced backward at the Castle and caught a glimpse of his wife standing in her usual location in the upper window, a sour expression on her face and he couldn't help thinking the two stubborn women in his life were going to be the death of him.