While Adam and Adora were mending fences, Teela and Hawk were walking together on the grounds below them.
"I hate that Adora is fighting with her brother, but I have to admit I'm glad it worked out this way," Hawk told Teela. "Maybe it would help me deal with this better by talking to someone who's already accepted this dual identity, superhero thing. How do you do it? How do you fight by He-Man's side while having Adam as your lover?"
"It's been a challenge," Teela confessed. "Especially at first when I realized that the hero I admired and the man I loved who'd been my best friend my entire life were the same person. But since I've always known them as two separate individuals, I still kind of keep them that way mentally because it's important to remember that I'm marrying Prince Adam tomorrow, not He-Man. I have tremendous respect for He-Man as a warrior and I admit that I was a little bit physically attracted to him for a while, but it's Adam that I'm in love with and the more I see what he can do just as a man, the more I see that He-Man is simply a costume he wears to channel the powers of Grayskull, like my mother and her falcon outfit. Everything about He-Man is a projection of Adam. He's the driving force behind all of He-Man's actions, even that annoying swagger. I've seen a little bit of it in Adam during our training sessions when he gets cocky about besting me in a fight."
"I'm not sure I like the sound of that. She-Ra is a great warrior and I'm glad she's fighting to free our world, but she's got that annoying swagger too. It drives me mad and once the fight's over, I have to get away from her. And now I know that irritating trait is somehow buried inside the woman I love."
"Maybe that swagger and that cockiness is just a side effect of channeling all that raw power. I wonder if that's why Eternia went so long without having a champion before He-Man. My mother told me that power won't be handed to just anyone, only someone worthy of it. I didn't really understand what that meant at the time, but I now think it means someone who has a good enough heart to handle all that power without letting it corrupt them; someone who still maintains their humanity in spite of being able to become superhuman. I think that's why a solid, loving relationship like you have with Adora and I have with Adam is vitally important to them. They may have the weight of our worlds on their shoulders, but you and I are going to have to be the ones to keep them grounded, and I imagine we'll have to do the same with our children in the future, keep them human and remind them that it's not just about the fight, but the things worth fighting for."
"Wow, it sounds like you've really got a handle on this."
"Not completely, but I'm getting there. I still wonder how I'm going to deal with fighting by He-Man's side in the future and not being able to acknowledge that he's my husband in disguise."
"I feel that way too. She-Ra was amazing in that fight today and her superior strength and skills were definitely needed, but when it was over, all I wanted was Adora back in my arms. It's hard."
"Well, you have one thing going for you that Adam and I don't."
"What's that?"
"Adam is the Crown Prince of Eternia and after tomorrow, I'll be the Princess of Eternos; someday we'll be King and Queen of Eternia which means the people are always going to be watching how we behave and looking to us for guidance and leadership. He and I have to be extremely cautious and can't let anyone believe there's more than friendship between He-Man and me. It's different for you because Adora has no interest in her royal title and spends most of her time on Etheria where she's not under that intense scrutiny. Even when she visits here, it's not the same for her as it is for Adam because she's not the future ruler of our world."
"But she does have people looking to her and following her lead in a way because we live under a dictatorship and she's the leader of the rebellion," he argued.
"I understand that, but people don't make the same kind of judgments of her as they do with Adam. I was there not long ago and I saw how much they respect her as a leader. Besides, if you keep fighting, maybe it won't always be that way, but to achieve that, you have to accept that She-Ra is necessary. I believe there's a reason that my mother couldn't find Princess Adora for years. It had to happen when she was ready to accept that responsibility."
"Someone worthy," he repeated her earlier words. "Adora is definitely not one to let all that power corrupt her. Thanks for the talk."
"Anytime, but I should get back inside. Guests will be arriving soon to be here for the wedding and since I'm the bride, I should be there to greet them."
"Sis!" King Randor exclaimed as he went to hug his sister, Princess Leonora.
"Randor, you look a fright!" She indicated the dirt and bits of grass on his clothes.
"Sorry about that. We had a bit of a situation here today on the drilling field and I didn't have time to get cleaned up and change before your arrival, but it's all resolved now. While we're on the subject of resolving a situation, we need to have another conversation about your disrespectful daughter."
Oh, yes, Edwina. She told me you'd barred her from the palace again."
"She had it coming," Adam interjected as he and Adora entered from the courtyard. "Aunt Leo, it's nice to see you again." he said as he hugged her.
His aunt laughed and hugged him back. "I can't believe you still call me that," she teased.
"Aunt Leo?" Adora questioned.
Adam laughed. "Yeah, when I was little, I couldn't say Leonora, so it became Aunt Leo and it's just kind of stuck since then."
"Look at you now," his aunt gushed. "How grown up you are and now you're getting married." She turned her attention to his sister and said, "And you must be Adora. What a lovely young lady you are."
Adora flushed at the compliment. "Why, thank you. It's nice to finally meet you." She reached out to shake her hand as Teela and Sea Hawk entered the room. "Oh, and this is my boyfriend, Sea Hawk." She gestured for him to join them.
"As for Edwina," King Randor informed his sister. "She will not be permitted to visit here again until she learns to behave like a lady. She's twenty-eight years old and should have long ago outgrown being the spoiled brat that she is."
"And spoiled brat is putting it mildly," Teela huffed as she joined Adam.
"Oh, Teena, I didn't see you there," Princess Leonora said.
"It's TeeLA," she corrected sharply.
"Of course, and you've grown up yourself too. I think the last time I saw you, you were still in pigtails and beating up all the boys."
"She still beats up all the boys, including me at times," Adam laughed as he put his arm around her.
"Well, I guess that explains it."
"Explains what?" Teela narrowed her eyes.
"The way Edwina tells the tale, you used some rather vulgar language to insult her, but I suppose that's to be expected from a woman who pretends to be a man."
"That's quite enough of that," King Randor stated firmly. "Leonora, you're my sister and I love you, but I won't tolerate you behaving the same way your ill-mannered daughter did."
"I don't suppose Edwina told you how insulting she was to Teela first, did she?" Adam questioned her. "She was rude, arrogant and completely dismissive of my bride, at our engagement ball no less."
"You can hardly blame her," Leonora replied dismissively. "We always expected you'd marry a princess, someone worthy of being the future queen, not a soldier who spends all day teaching people how to fight."
"Have you forgotten that my soldiers are the ones who protect your home?" Teela barked.
"Yes," Randor acknowledged with a firm nod. "Furthermore, Teela is a member of this family already and has been for many years and tomorrow we make it official as she is plenty worthy to be the future queen. She's a good woman who makes my son happy and that's all I need to know to approve of her. If you continue to verbally abuse her as your daughter did, you'll be barred from here as well."
"But, Randor, you really should understand that just as you wish to protect your son, I also wish to protect my daughter. You can't imagine how distressing it is to her that she's the first-born grandchild of King Miro, but her younger cousin will inherit the throne."
"That's not how it works and you know it. I'm the first-born child so the line of succession runs through me and mine now, then Stefan, then you."
"But you're not really the first-born," she scoffed and made a sour face. "We all know about our father's indiscretion with that horrible Gar woman."
"So, you'd rather have Skeletor as King after he murdered our mother than have Teela as your future Queen?"
"No, of course not, but it's just proof that these things can be changed."
"Are you suggesting that Edwina should be queen?" He laughed. "That's ridiculous. Even if both Adora and Adam relinquished their birthright, she'd still have our brother and his two children and you in line before her. You think that simply because you got married when you were little more than a child while Stefan and I waited until we were older and more mature, that the law should be changed just for your daughter?"
Adam shook his head. "I'm sorry, Aunt Leo, but Edwina would be a terrible queen. She doesn't know the people and doesn't care to because she sees them all as beneath her and that's no way to be a leader."
"Adam's right, you know," King Miro said as he entered the throne room behind them.
"Grandfather!" Adam and Adora greeted him in unison and rushed to hug him.
"Father," Leonora acknowledged Miro with a curt nod.
Miro released his grandchildren and addressed his pouting daughter. "I have spent the last two years travelling all over Eternia, getting to know it again and its people and it's quite clear that they need a leader who cares about their well-being. Adam has that and so does Teela."
"I know my people in Dyperia found Teela to be quite charming when she and Adam visited on their tour," King Stefan added as he entered the room with his family. "She'll be a fine queen one day."
Greetings and introductions were made all around.
Stefan addressed his older brother. "Speaking of queens, Randor, where is yours? I don't see Marlena anywhere."
"I imagine she's still directing the guard out on the drilling field," Randor gave a brief summary of the events that had transpired.
Stefan shook his head after hearing about Skeletor's attack. "After all these years, he still thinks he can take the crown by force."
"It's not just that, Uncle Stefan," Adam chimed in. "He seems determined to disrupt our wedding. He seems to think that if he can stop us from marrying and producing another heir to the throne, it will make it easier for him to finally get what he wants and take it over."
"But that's ridiculous!" Stefan exclaimed. "Whether you and Teela have children doesn't matter when Keldor was removed from the line of succession thirty years ago."
"Well, Skeletor is ridiculous," Adora commented. "And more than a little crazy."
"You're not wrong there, my daughter," Queen Marlena replied as she entered the room still in her flight suit and carrying an armload of the Horde Troopers' laser wands.
"Queen Marlena," Princess Leonora greeted her with a little disdain in her tone as she looked her sister-in-law up and down. "That's a new look for you, isn't it?"
Marlena laughed at her own appearance, nonchalantly brushing off the other woman's attempts to insult her and replied, "Actually, no, it's a very old look for me."
"You might remember that before she was my queen, Marlena was quite the skilled space pilot," Randor added with a stern look directed at his sister.
"How skilled could she be if she crashed here?"
"Have you ever flown a fighter jet spacecraft through a heavy meteor shower?" Marlena countered, narrowing her eyes at Leonora. "It's not a walk in the park, especially when a warp in space has disabled your navigation system and a meteor has destroyed one of your engines and blown the fuel lines. I trained for just such an event for years and even with only one functioning engine and no navigation system, while rapidly losing fuel, I still managed to land here safely. I guarantee you couldn't have done it. You don't even know how to fly a simpler craft like a Sky Sled."
Sensing the trouble with the aunt she'd just met was about to begin again, Adora changed the subject. With a gesture to the weapons her mother was holding, she asked, "Mom, what is it you plan to do with those?"
"Oh, these are a fascinating weapon," she explained as she held one up, testing its weight in her free hand. "And much lighter than your standard laser pistol so I thought Duncan and I might put our heads together and attempt to reverse-engineer them, perhaps even duplicate them for the guard. It might also help you in your fight against the Horde on Etheria to have them for your rebel force. How satisfying would it be to use their own weapons against them?"
"I like the way you think," Teela said with a smile at her future mother-in-law.
"Well, I find this whole thing very unseemly," Leonora sniffed. "What kind of queen spends her time thinking up battle strategies and messing about with weapons?" She cast a disapproving look first at Marlena, then at Teela.
"The exact kind of queen I need," Randor answered as his annoyance with his sister flared up again. "You live in your sheltered far-away mountain palace where all you do is sit around and bark orders at your servants and teach your daughter to be an insufferable snob, but here in the capital, we can't do that when we're trying to protect an entire planet and keep the people on it safe. You think my wife is unfit to be my queen because she doesn't simply sit around and look pretty all day or that Teela is unfit for Adam for the same reason, but you're very wrong about that. You're able to live the privileged life you do because here in Eternos, we are a family of warriors. Adam was brilliant in leading the defense when we were under attack today, Adora is the leader of the rebellion on Etheria trying to free her people from the tyranny of the Horde, Teela excels at training and leading our troops and my wife has fought many battles by my side as well as leading the Guard a few times herself. I wouldn't want it any other way. If you can't accept that, then you should be on your way and I would strongly advise you to remember that I'm not just your brother, I am your king and I will not allow you to come into my home and show such blatant disrespect for me or my family!"
"My apologies, Your Majesty," she groveled in a remorseful tone and bowed low to her brother after seeing the cold look on his face. "I meant no disrespect to you, but-"
He silenced her with a wave of his hand. "You disrespect my family, you disrespect me," he admonished her. "That's why Edwina was banished from the capital. I have no tolerance for that sort of behavior. Would you like to join your daughter in her exile from Eternos?"
"No," she bowed lower.
"Oh, get up!" he snapped. "I don't ask you to bow to me, just that you keep your snide comments to yourself and learn to appreciate everything this family does for you."
"I understand." She nodded as she stood upright and met his eyes.
"Good. Now, let's get all of you settled into the guest quarters so you have time to unwind before the wedding rehearsal." He nodded to the guards at the doors to lead his extended family away.
"I should get these to Duncan's workshop," Marlena said. "And go change so I at least look more like a queen, even if I don't behave like one." She cast a glance at Leonora, amusement dancing in her eyes.
When everyone began to disperse, Sea Hawk, who'd remained silent during all this family drama offered Adora his arm and asked, "May I walk you back to your room, Princess?"
"Just a moment, you two," the king stopped them. "I'd like a quick moment to speak to you in private."
"I guess that's our cue to go too," Adam said as he reached for Teela's hand.
"No, stay. The two of you should hear this as well."
"What is it, Dad?" Adam inquired.
"Listen, I know that I've been a bit rigid with all of you regarding your – displays of affection – But I have come to accept that you are all adults and as such, I have no right to attempt to assert dominance over your private lives, however, with a palace full of visitors here for the night, I must insist that you all show a little more discretion than you have been. You all saw what just transpired and I'd rather not add more fuel to the fire by having people return to their homes thinking I allow any kind of impropriety under my roof. Do you all understand?"
When he received affirmation from all four of them, he nodded. "Good, now you have about two hours of free time before the rehearsal, but please use that time wisely… and cautiously. Now, I should go get cleaned up. My sister was right about one thing, I do look a fright." He turned away and left the young people alone.
"You know, Adam," Teela suggested. "We should probably get some of the servants to help us move the boxes out of our rooms and into our new apartment since it's going to be our home after tomorrow."
"Good idea," Adam agreed.
Adore turned her attention to her boyfriend. "If you're up for it, maybe we could take Spirit for a ride down by the lake. Bow and Glimmer have looked after him while I've been away, but I've missed having him around."
"Lead the way, Princess," Hawk agreed.
While Marlena had returned to the throne room, Duncan, Orko and the Sorceress were organizing robot parts in his workshop and when they'd put the last pieces away, Duncan, wanting a moment alone with his wife, said, "I think that about does it, Orko. Now, have you finished cleaning your room?" He knew he hadn't because the last time he'd seen it, the room was still a mess of spell books, magical artifacts and just general clutter.
"S-sure, Man-at-Arms," Orko replied with a nervous chuckle.
"Orko-o-o," Duncan drawled with a scolding look.
"Okay, okay, I'm going." He started to float away.
"And no magic!" Duncan called after him. "The last time you tried to use magic to clean your room, you nearly flooded the entire palace."
The Sorceress laughed as Orko flew down the hall. "He means well, you know."
"Oh, I know. His heart's in the right place, but he just doesn't seem to learn from his mistakes. It's like having another child to raise."
"Maybe that's just what you need," she replied. "I mean, we only ever had one child. It's like giving you a chance to raise the son you never had."
"You know I never cared about having a son," he reminded her. "As for only having one child, that was your choice, remember? We could possibly have had more, but you didn't even bother to tell me about the one we had until that day you summoned me to the Crystal Sea when Teela was in danger of being sacrificed by Merman to the sea demon, Bakull, along with you."
"It was your choice to move here instead of staying with me at Castle Grayskull," she pointed out.
"And it was your choice to stay at Castle Grayskull instead of moving here with me," he fired back angrily.
She shook her head sadly. "Why do we keep doing this, reliving these same old arguments?"
"Because nothing has changed. I still can't turn my back on my responsibilities here," he gestured to the robot parts and added, "And you can't give up your responsibilities there."
"But what about our responsibilities to each other as husband and wife?" she questioned in a melancholy tone. "We were so happy once when we lived at the castle together. Do you remember?"
"I remember," he nodded with a deep sigh. "I have spent years longing for us to be that happy together again; dreamed many times that I could have my wife back permanently." He reached for her hands and held them tenderly in his.
She looked down at their clasped hands and commented forlornly, "Yet you no longer wear your wedding band."
He followed her gaze and ran his thumb across her bare ring finger. "I haven't worn mine in years because I've lied to the king all this time about even being married, but you can't hold that against me when you no longer wear yours either. I know you haven't worn it since the day you threw it at me. And you could get away with it much more easily than I could when everyone who knows you had always believed you to be a widow until recently."
"I know, but somehow it didn't feel right to wear it when we were not together anymore, especially when I hurt you so terribly."
"You didn't hurt me any more than I hurt you," he admitted guiltily. "I don't understand why we keep doing this. We have made each other so happy, given one another so much pleasure, but-" His words faltered as his voice became choked with pain.
"But also caused each other so much suffering and stung one another with harsh words," she completed and moved closer to lean her head on his chest as tears threatened to overwhelm her.
He wrapped his arms around her, leaned his head against hers, and held her close as they silently wept together, grieving over their broken marriage.
After a few minutes of quiet reflection clinging to each other, they pulled back to gaze into one another's eyes as they had for that brief moment on the training field. He brushed a stray lock of her fiery red hair out of her face, leaned in and placed a tender kiss on her forehead. He gently stroked her long hair and said, "I like seeing you like this, even if it's only for a short time. With your hair unbound and flowering free, it reminds me of the happier times we spent together early in our marriage. It's almost like old times."
"This is new since then though," she mused as she reached to tenderly stroked his mustache and then rested her hand on his cheek. "You didn't have it all those years ago when we were first married."
"Do you dislike it?" he asked. "You certainly didn't complain about when we were making love two weeks ago."
"No, I like it a lot. Actually, I think it makes you look rather dashing like the courageous soldier that you are." She pressed her lips softly against his, not at all minding the tickle of his facial hair against her skin.
He moved his hand to the back of her head to deepen the kiss, his tongue teasing her lips as she laid her hands on his shoulders and opened her mouth beneath his, letting out a low moan as his tongue met hers. Their kisses intensified as they took a step closer to each other.
"Duncan, I brought you the-" Marlena's voice dropped off as the couple pulled apart, both sighing at the interruption. "My apologies. The door was open. I just came to bring you the laser weapons from the Horde Troopers like we talked about outside."
"Just lay them over there.' Duncan waved his hand toward his work table, never taking his eyes off his wife.
Marlena hurried to drop the laser wands on the table, said, "I was never here," and bustled back out the door, closing it firmly behind her to give them their privacy.
"I'm sorry," Duncan apologized. "I shouldn't have kissed you like that, not when we still can't find a way to be together."
"Why should you be sorry? I'm the one who kissed you first and I'm not sorry."
"No?" he questioned hopefully as he idly played with her hair.
"No," she shook her head. "Our daughter's wedding is tomorrow and it might be nice if we could present a united front to help her celebrate her marriage even though ours is damaged."
"Is that the only reason? I mean, not that it isn't a good one. Through all the disagreements we've had over the years, the one thing we've always agreed on is how much we both love our daughter and want to do what's best for her to keep her safe and happy."
"That's not the only thing we've always agreed on; we also agree that despite the turmoil and confusion, we have always still loved each other." She kissed him tenderly, one soft sweet kiss, "And always wanted each other." She kissed him once more and then continued, "For the first time in many years, we're going to be spending the whole night under the same roof instead of you sneaking out of the palace at midnight to be with me and I don't see any reason that we shouldn't take full advantage of it."
Duncan took a shuddering breath as he saw the look of raw desire in his wife's eyes, a look he knew all too well from the numerous times they'd fallen into each other's arms since their separation out of desperate need for one another, but every time, it had always ended the same way, with them parting ways again, but still having to work together for the good of the planet. He wanted to believe that it could be different this time; that it could happen with no hurtful fallout, but too much had happened in the past to fully trust what he was feeling in the moment. "And then what? Go our separate ways again when the wedding is over and you go back to the castle while I stay here?"
"I don't know," she replied honestly. "I just know that I miss you terribly when I'm alone at Castle Grayskull."
He knew all too well what that meant, if he gave in and took pleasure in her arms again, it would only be temporary as it had been every other time they had come together since their initial separation. He finally broke his eye contact with her, turning away from her in frustration as he huffed, "Not enough to make it work."
"Duncan," she whispered his name and she gently laid her hand on his shoulder.
He shrank away from her touch and said sadly, "Don't, Teela. Don't touch me again, not unless you really mean it this time." He shook his head as if to shake off the thoughts that were plaguing him. "I'm still all dirty from that fight. I need to go shower before our daughter's wedding rehearsal." He yanked the door open without looking at her.
"What about putting on a united front for Teela?"
Without turning to face her because he knew he wouldn't have the willpower to say no if he looked into her eyes and saw that hungry expression again, he stated firmly, "I will happily present a united show of support for our child, but I'm not uniting with you again unless I know it's for good this time." Without another word, he quickly strode off before he could change his mind.