King Randor and Queen Marlena gasped simultaneously as Adam walked away from them.

"Adam!" Marlena called out but Adam kept going.

She was about to run after him, but Randor grabbed her arm and said, "Let him go."

"But, Randor!" she cried.

As Adam disappeared around the corner, she wrenched her arm away from her husband and asked angrily, "What has gotten into you? Did you see the look in Adam's eyes just now? He's heartbroken and your only response is to let him go?"

"He needs time to cool down," explained Randor; "He needs time to think about what he's doing and if it's worth all of this, Marlena. I have faith that our son will make the right decision. He'll come to us and tell us what has been bothering him and what he's been hiding."

Marlena shook her head and said, "I don't think so. I think we just drove him away and pushed him further into his shell."

=)=)=)

The door slammed and Adam immediately pressed his back against it. He felt drained and wanted nothing more than to crawl in to bed and never wake up. The only problem was he didn't feel like he could make it to the bed. With his back still pressed tightly against the door, he slid down to floor. He instinctively brought his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them in a protective posture he hadn't been in since he was a young boy.

He was afraid. He was afraid that his parents would discover his secret. There was no telling what would happen if that happened. Would they be proud? Would they be angry because he had kept them in the dark for so long? Would they try to stop He-Man from battling Skeletor if they knew he was really Prince Adam? Would they be able to keep the secret and not slip up in any way which would make others pause? That's what the Sorceress feared, he knew. What parent would want his or her child to battle the very essence of evil day in and day out? It was dangerous; he could die during any of Skeletor's plots. He knew that, and they would know it, too, if they knew the truth.

But that wasn't the only thing he was afraid of. He was afraid of losing his parents' trust and respect.

Adam felt tears slipping down his cheeks and he wiped them away with disgust. "Who am I kidding?" he asked himself silently. "They don't trust me…and they certainly don't respect me. How could they? They said so themselves--I'm a terrible prince in their eyes."

He got up and walked to his mirror. He looked at his swollen red eyes and the streaks tears had left on his face in their absence. He shook his head and banged the dresser chest before him as he hunched over it in self-pity.

"A-Adam?" came a questioning voice behind him.

Adam squeezed his eyes shut but breathed deeply to calm what he knew would be a shaky voice. "Yes?" he asked. It was the only thing he could muster at the moment.

"What's wrong?" asked Cringer, finally getting up from the rug where he had intended to rest all day. He walked beside Adam and stood there silently, waiting for an answer.

After they stood there for several seconds silently, Adam finally turned and walked away from his pet. He sat down in his favorite green chair which faced the doorway and away from Cringer. Finally, he spoke. "Everything's wrong," he choked out. He looked down at his hands, shook his head, and said, "What good is power, Cringer, when it turns your entire life upside down? No good ever comes out of having power. I know that better than anyone. It destroys you regardless of how you use that power or why. Look at Skeletor. It drives him to prey on the weak, and yet, he never gets anywhere. He doesn't have a life. He's always devising the next big plan to defeat He-Man and take over Castle Grayskull. What kind of life is that? Look at my father. Sure, he has power and uses it for all the right reasons, but it drives him away from us, from his family. Then, there's the Sorceress, who has a multitude of power, but she can never leave Grayskull without the threat of being killed. She can't take her powers with her wherever she wishes to go. It keeps her trapped in confinement. People are allowed to go in, but she can never go out to simply enjoy life and Eternia. She couldn't even raise her daughter whom she loves more than anyone alive. And, then there's me…"

Cringer walked over cautiously, rested his head on Adam's knee, and repeated, "And, then th-there's you."

Adam nodded. "I'm the strongest man in the universe." He shook his head and added sarcastically, "I have the power. But look at everything that power has cost me. I'm the laughing stock of Eternia. My parents don't respect or trust me. They probably never did. The same can be said about Teela. She's the only woman that I…" He stopped his words as he petted Cringer and forced himself to grin. "But I know it's for the good of Eternia and the ones that I love."

They sat there silently for several minutes before Cringer finally lifted his head from his master's knee and asked, "Wh-what happened, Adam? I've never heard you talk like this before. It scares me."

Adam only shook his head in response.

=)=)=)

Teela walked towards her father's workshop with a genuine smile on her face. She couldn't remember when she had last been this cheerful. When she finally strolled into the workshop, she was humming and swinging her arms happily in her long stride. "Hello, Father. Hello, Orko," she said happily to the room's two occupants.

"Hi, Teela," replied Orko enthusiastically as Man-at-Arms studied his daughter carefully.

"What are you two up to? Did you get the new Skyspy up and running?"

Orko floated to Teela and said, "Man-at-Arms was just telling me not to go near it this time."

Teela laughed and said, "Yes, and I agree with him. Who knows what planet you'll land on next time if you do!"

"Nah-uh," Orko said, shaking his head wildly. "There's no way I'm going near that thing. I've learned my lesson…even though I did make two new friends."

"Orko," Teela warned but with a smile still covering her face. "Don't even go there or think about it. It's better to stay out of all potential trouble. Isn't that right, Father?"

Man-at-Arms rubbed his chin thoughtfully and said, "You're absolutely right, Teela."

Teela nodded and walked, still humming, to her father's monitor which looked out towards the launch pad. Man-at-Arms followed her and asked, "What has gotten you so happy today?"

"Huh?" she asked but then quickly exclaimed, "Oh!" She shrugged and answered, "It's nothing really. It's just that I had a wonderful talk with Adam this morning." She got a faraway look and smiled.

"That's great," replied Orko happily, clapping his hands. "What did you talk about?"

"I was going to ask the same thing," said Duncan.

Teela's smile grew bigger and she replied, "Things, just things that have been on his mind. You know, Adam and I haven't discussed anything personal in a long time. We usually only discuss He-Man, Skeletor, or his combat lessons nowadays. You know, things like that. But today, Adam opened up to me. I had started to think I had lost him somewhere between being his best childhood friend and becoming his bodyguard and Captain of the Royal Guard."

She looked at her father and complained, "It was short lived, however, because the king and queen interrupted us. They wanted to talk to Adam."

"The king and queen?" asked Duncan nervously. "They're talking to Adam, now?"

She stared at her father, curious at the worry she heard in his voice. "Yes, the king asked me to leave and I came straight here. Why?"

Man-at-Arms turned away and said, "No reason. I'm just curious what they had to talk to him about."

"Oh, well, I can answer that."

Duncan whirled around and gasped, "You can?"

She nodded. "They're discussing what Adam can do to help the king."

Duncan and Orko looked at each other with confused expressions.

Teela rolled her eyes and explained, "Remember at dinner last night when the king told Adam he could probably help him with what has been troubling him recently, and then Orko showed up? That's what they're discussing now."

"Oh," Duncan said, turning away and looking worriedly at the door.

"Hey, no fair!" cried Orko. "I want to know, too! What's troubling the king and what can Adam do to help?"

Teela smirked and said, "I guess we'll find out when Adam gets through talking to his father."

=)=)=)

Duncan walked towards the prince's bedchambers nervously. Adam and Cringer didn't show up to breakfast and the king and queen didn't question or even mention it. He knew in his bones something horrible had happened. And, what's worse, he knew that horrible something had nothing to do with Skeletor and any of his henchmen. No, it dealt with Adam and his parents.

He stood in front of Adam's door and looked both ways. With no one coming, he took a deep breath and knocked. "Oh, please, be there," he whispered to himself.

He waited for several seconds before knocking again and then opening the door slightly. "Adam," he called out into the darkness the room was engulfed in.

Suddenly he heard a raw voice that could barely be recognized belonging to the prince. "Did I give you permission to enter?"

Man-at-Arms opened the door, went inside, and closed it behind him. "Since when have you ever made me acquire permission?" he asked, facing the prince after flipping on the overhead lights.

Adam was still sitting in his favorite green chair with Cringer laying down beside it. He avoided Duncan's gaze and answered, "Since now. Leave, Man-at-Arms. I want to be left alone."

Duncan stared at Adam and could see the inner turmoil shining in his tear-bright eyes. "I can't do that, Adam, and leave with a clear conscience. I know you talked to your parents earlier. Teela told me."

Adam brought his arms up to rest on his elbows, folded his hands in front of his face, and leaned his forehead against them. "And?"

Duncan frowned, dropped to his knees in front of Adam, and said, "Remember what I told you yesterday before we went to Grayskull?"

Adam dropped his arms and finally met Duncan's eyes with a questioning look.

He explained, "I told you that I would help you solve any problem and I'm here for you. You're not alone, Adam. I know things seem rough right now, son, but things will get better."

Adam sighed and looked away.

"I can't help if you won't tell me what's going on, Adam. You've said that enough to others who are in trouble. Let me help you."

Adam stayed quiet until Cringer could take no more. He stood up and pleaded, "Adam, p-p-please talk to us. Let us help you. We've always been in this t-t-together."

Those words made Adam whip his head towards the tiger. He smiled affectionately at the animal, petted him, and said, "You're right. We have always been in this together." He paused for a moment as he scratched behind Cringer's ears. "Thank you for reminding me."

Wiping his eyes for what seemed like the hundredth time in disgust and embarrassment, he looked at Man-at-Arms and said, "My parents don't trust me. They think I'm a coward, an uninterested nobody, and a horrible prince."

Duncan immediately shook his head. "They don't think that."

"Father said people think that about me. When I questioned if he and Mother felt that way, he didn't deny it. They're ashamed of me. I don't think Father as any faith in me as a future ruler. I've never made him proud and I probably never will. I know he loves me. He loves me because I'm his son…but that's the only reason."

Duncan shook his head. "That simply isn't true, Adam."

"Why isn't it?" he asked. "I've given him no reason to be proud of me. He-Man has all the glory and respect. He-Man has the adoration of Eternia's people and the ones I love. He is…everything I'll never be."

"But he is you," insisted Duncan as he took the chance and touched Adam's arm to give him a sense of comfort.

"No one knows that!" replied Adam. "They probably never will." He abruptly stood and Man-at-Arms had to stumble back in order to avoid being hit. He watched as Adam walked over to his window and looked out over Eternia. "But I have to do something," he whispered. He pounded his fist on the windowsill and thought about what Teela had said to him earlier: You need to change, Adam.

Adam nodded and said to himself, "She's right! All I need to do is stop sleeping so much during the day and stop running off when I'm actually going out to have fun. If I'm always professional and everything my parents could ask for in a prince, maybe they'll get off my back when I do disappear to be He-Man. They'll just think I'm off having fun, but at least it won't be as often as it is now. Surely, they will expect me to go off and have fun by myself every once in a while, so they won't question my whereabouts. And, besides, they might not even notice when I disappear if things are chaotic enough."

Adam nodded to himself and immediately committed himself to his plans. Of course, there was that little nagging voice in the back of his mind that was questioning what would happen if he became too tired or too overwhelmed with both acts he would now be performing during all waking hours of the day, but he couldn't afford to think about that. He just knew he had to do it and succeed. It was the only way.

He turned around to Man-at-Arms, took a big breath, and said, "I'm going to show my parents that there's more to Prince Adam than laziness and goofiness, starting today." He rounded his shoulders and strode proudly to the door. "Are you coming?" he asked Duncan and Cringer.

Man-at-Arms and Cringer looked at each other hesitantly before following Adam.