15April 2014

Disclaimer: Under no circumstances do I own any of Filmation's, MYP's, or Mattel's characters. I do not profit from writing these stories; this is done only for my own amusement and hopefully for the amusement of others on the site. Please don't sue! I'm not affiliated with the official He-Man/She-Ra universe. I'm just an average schmo who likes reading stories revolving around our lovely Prince Adam. :-P

Author's Note: Hi fellow He-Man fanfic followers! I LOVE reading all of your stories and was inspired to write one of my own. Let me start by saying I am not a writer; I simply had an idea that I wanted to explore. I thought I'd give it a shot and I hope it doesn't suck too badly. This story has the potential to grow to several chapters, however, I'm posting the first chapter to see if anyone likes it. If you do, then I'll post more! If you don't, well, then it'll just be a flash in the pan one-or-two-shot thingy and accept my sincerest apologies. LOL

FYI that the Adam and Teela in my story are based on Filmation however it's my understanding that my Adam's personality strongly favors MYP's version. So, I'm going to say the characters' personalities are a fusion of Filmation and MYP's. I thought it would be fun to make them the same age in this story too.

A HUGE THANK YOU goes to Foxy11814 for beta-ing for me and a thank you and high-five to Alphalover for encouraging me to post my idea. :-D

*gulp* With that said, here goes...

A Royal Pain

They stood dumbfounded. Aurellius, Eternos' biggest bully, had just backhanded her across the face. She fell hard to the ground, hip then shoulder. The dust flew angrily upwards in response to the brutality of the attack. He stood over her with a pompous gleam in his eye and a victorious smirk on his lips. He'd just proven that no one, especially a weak little girl, would talk back to him without feeling his wrath. He was the king of the schoolyard. If he wanted to pick on David, it was his business.

A small crowd of teenagers formed around the two to watch the altercation. Until she hit the ground, some were cheering for the redhead. Some supported Aurellius to avoid becoming next weeks' victim. The girl's lip began to bleed, split open as she pawed at the ground dazed by the blow. The spectators were silent as she lifted herself up on shaky arms and wobbly legs. The dizziness threatened to send her into darkness as she fought to regain control of her body.

With determination in her eyes and her jaw set in defiance, she slowly got to her feet for another face-off against the bully. She had witnessed him picking on her good friend David, Duke of Aberra, from afar and knew she had to intervene, especially since Aurellius had muttered something about "wimpy royals" in the past. David was thin and small in stature even though he was the same age as she and her best friend.

He reminded her of her best buddy to some degree: blonde hair, blue eyes. The glaring differences between the two boys was that her best bud was taller, built a little more solid, and had a mischievous streak. David was more mild-mannered and accommodating.

Aurellius was 17 years old, a full two years older than Teela but she didn't care. She always hated seeing the weak victimized by the so-called strong. Her body swayed a bit as she stood toe-to-toe with this monster. She was physically no match for him; outweighing her by at least 40 pounds and built like a shadow beast, her trim 15-year-old frame didn't stand a chance. She began to panic as he geared up for another blow.

As the bully drew back to deliver a deadly punch to her jaw, Teela braced herself lifting her arms in defense to block the intended blow.

Suddenly, there was a gasp from the onlookers as someone slid beneath the crowd into the center of the fray from behind her and swoop-kicked the bully onto the ground. Surprised, Aurellius put his left arm out to break his fall but instead, he broke his arm as he fell at an unnatural angle. There was a distinct "crack" heard and the boy screamed in agony as the crowd let out a sound of surprise and horror. He crumpled to the ground writhing in pain and cradling his arm. The blonde-haired rescuer grabbed both Teela and David's hands jerking them through the crowd, and the trio ran at top speed towards the palace.

After a safe distance, Teela exploded. "Adam! How on Eternia did you know how to do that? And, where did you come from? Weren't you supposed to be at the summit with your father?" She didn't mean to sound ungrateful but it irked her when she had to be rescued, especially while she was attempting to rescue someone else.

"I'm not needed until tomorrow," he calmly replied. "I was helping your father repair a sky-sled out back when I spotted you arguing with some goon down by the schoolyard. After he back-handed you, well, I saw red. I ran down as fast as I could. And, by the way, you're welcome."

Teela seethed a bit while he smirked and opened her mouth to reply when David cut in. "Thank you, Adam, for coming to our aid. I told Teela to ignore Aurellius, but she wasn't having any of it," David quietly explained.

"I had the situation well under control, Adam," Teela replied glaring at David. "You didn't have to do that, you know." Her face reddened. She hated appearing weak, especially in front of the prince.

"I see," Adam quirked an eyebrow. "Tell me, just how much control were you exhibiting by lying face down in the dirt?" The mischievous sparkle in his eyes drove her insane. He did this whenever he knew he was right and she was acting like a moron.

"I was merely following a common military tactic," she lied. "Let the enemy take the first shot. Then, his over confidence will let you exploit his weakness." She swore she had heard that somewhere. Straw grasper, she thought.

Adam eyed her suspiciously, clearly unconvinced. Turning to David, he stated, "Your mother is looking for you. She asked the Queen about your whereabouts. Mom sent word to Man-At-Arms to find you."

"I'll get back to my quarters. Thanks again, Adam. Teela, I'm grateful to you for at least trying to save me," David replied sheepishly before taking off running to their temporary quarters at the palace. His family was in town from Aberra for the Summit of Kingdoms.

Adam glanced at Teela whose cheek was forming an ugly bruise. Not thinking, he reached a hand to her face, furrowing his brow. She flinched causing him to pull back self-consciously.

"Can I get you something for that?" he asked as they both turned to walk towards her father's workshop.

"No, I'm fine. You don't have to dote on me. I can take care of myself. I'm not one of those weak courtiers who fall apart when they break a nail." Teela couldn't understand why she was being so defensive today.

"I never said you were." He was starting to get annoyed. "Why do you become unglued whenever I help you? You always get this….attitude. As if you think you're invincible."

"I do not."

"Do too."

"Do NOT!"

They stared at each other for a few moments; defiant emerald eyes met a sapphire glare. Teela's fists were on her hips. Adam's arms were crossed over his chest.

"Okay Cap'n," Adam finally broke the stand-off. He seemed to relax. "To answer the barrage of questions you threw at me earlier, first of all, I learned that move from your father. And hey, someone's got to keep an eye on you. Even soldiers support each other as a unit. Leave no man behind, right, Cap'n?" He winked at her knowing she hated the nickname he had saddled her with.

Teela's eyes narrowed. A couple of years ago, she had confided in him about her plans to join the Royal Guard and perhaps make it to Captain. Since then, he knew how to push her buttons whenever she would engage in heroics and fail.

"Are you mocking my aspirations, Prince Adam? Some of us common folk have to make a living, you know. We all can't live the privileged royal life." As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted them.

Adam looked stricken. Unbeknownst to Teela, he was actually proud of her bravery and sense of honor. His use of her nickname was a term of endearment and not meant to belittle. He had feelings for her. He had no clue what they were exactly, but he sometimes hid behind teasing in self-preservation. He wasn't sure how she felt about him. Well…beyond exasperation at times anyway.

"No, I suppose not," he replied quietly. "You'd better get that bruise looked at. I'll see you at dinner."

Teela tensed as she watched him turn and walk away. Why did she always seem to act like a brat around him lately? She knew she had crossed the line a little. Sighing, she made her way towards the quarters she shared with her father, the King's Man-At-Arms. She was covered in dirt and had what promised to be a heck of a shiner on her right cheek.

Duncan had walked into the shop. He didn't hear the exchange between the two 15 year olds but he read the body language. Teela was on the defensive and Adam seemed hurt. He walked towards the prince as Adam hovered over the sky-sled.

"Everything alright, lad? Seemed you two were having a little argument."

Adam sighed. "We're okay." He fumbled with the sled's engine absent-mindedly, seemingly deep in thought. "I just don't get Teela sometimes. Lately she's been acting…how do I put it? Mental."

Duncan couldn't help but chuckle a little at Adam's look of confusion. "You're both 15 years old. You're growing up. Your relationship will encounter peaks and valleys during your friendship. It's natural as you grow into the next stage of living."

"Yeah. Mother had an Earth term for it. She called it 'pooburty'."

Duncan laughed loudly this time causing Adam's eyes to fly up in surprise. "That's 'puberty', son. Hormones are changing all while you're dealing with emotions and life experiences. It's normal albeit awkward since you're not exactly children anymore, yet you've not yet reached adulthood. Give it time, son. Your friendship with my daughter will survive." Duncan ruffled the prince's hair as they both walked out of the shop.

A/N: Please tell me what you think :)