I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I loved writing it. Feedback and corrections are welcome, but please be gentle! And be forgiving with the grammar since I'm not a native speaker. This is a fan fiction story, no copyright infringement is intended, I don't own any of the characters or property related to He-Man and the masters of the universe. I do not profit from this, it is just a tribute to the much beloved series I watched as a kid.

The air was sweet and warm. Everyone was out celebrating the harvest. At the palace, the Great Hall was overflowing with people from all over Eternia, while cheerful music played until dawn. The Upper Gardens, right outside the Great Hall, were filled with tents and vendors of all sorts, must of them sold wine and food and the finest produce of the season. Every year, this night was when the palace felt like a true public space, rather than the private dwellings of the royal family and the heads of state.

Teela found herself a quiet spot on the terrace, looking out into the starry night, lost in her own thoughts.

A tall figure, covered with a hooded cloak, approached her.

"Hello, Adam," said Teela without turning around. Adam stood right next to her.

"How did you know it was me?"

"I would recognize you anywhere."

He smiled at the private joke, since she had been many times beside him without knowing it, and then, he said, "It's a really good party, isn't it?"

"Yeah… It is not."

To that point, he hadn't noticed she was drunk.

"Look around, Adam. Everyone is having fun, but us. You need a disguise so you can be around people without them stepping aside in reverence. And the most stimulating interaction I've had so far is with this bottle of wine."

"You two have been interacting quite a lot."

She rolled her eyes.

"Yes, grandpa…"

He took the bottle from her hands and drank in a fair amount of wine. He'd lost track of how many toasts he had drunk to in the last few hours.

Two guards passed by and saluted Teela on their way to the ballroom. When they were already gone, she mockingly saluted them back.

"I've heard them gossip and make inappropriate remarks about my body, but no one ever acts on it. Sometimes I wish they forgot I'm Captain Teela. I get lonely."

This abrupt confession took Adam off guard. He had never heard Teela say something that intimate.

"We deserve to live a little, don't you think?" She had a playful grin. Adam swallowed. Was Teela teasing… him?

She didn't even wait for him to answer, "My body is built for battle, I've trained it hard long hours… and yet… sometimes that feels pointless. This might be the perfect opportunity for us to find out what else it's good for. Are you in?"

Adam had a silly expression, eyes and mouth open in disbelief.

This made her laugh a little.

"Oh, Adam, I've seen how you look at my legs!"

He stood still; petrified would be a better way to describe it, which seemed to disappoint Teela. Then, something caught her attention. "Look, that's the fun I'm talking about," she giggled.

Teela pointed at a couple making love in the moonlight, two tiers below, partially hidden by the garden bushes. Adam looked down to the barely distinguishable figures and then back to Teela, not knowing what to say. She leaned her body dangerously over the balcony, to catch a better glimpse; at some point, it seemed she was about to lose balance.

"Careful, now!" Adam caught her in his arms, pulling her away from the balcony. She didn't fight it. She paused for a moment, then she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him softly, before whispering, "Take me home, Adam, come with me…"

"Yes, Teela," he answered, and picked her up in his arms, effortlessly.

As Adam walked towards Teela's quarters, careful that nobody saw them, he remembered all the times he had fantasized about a moment like this. The circumstances were different every time, but the result was always the same. Somehow they ended up making love. Only this time it was for real. For a moment, he wondered if she had ever imagined something of the like.

When they arrived at Teela's quarters, she handed him the key and for the first time he entered her place. Everything was clean and calm. Almost at the entrance, there was a small receiving area that Teela used also for dining and reading, by the look of it. Beyond, the sleeping chamber had a big bed, one of the few luxuries Teela couldn't spare.

He laid Teela on the bed and sat next to her. She took away her headdress and all the pins that held her hair up, liberating her long auburn hair over the pillow. Then she smiled at Adam and untied his cloak in a way that sent shivers down his spine.

The promise of their naked bodies under the sheets was overpowering.

Adam sighed deeply; all his lasting feelings for her re-emerged loud and clear. He looked at her for the longest time.

Something was off.

Her eyes were only halfway open, and she looked a bit disoriented.

Teela was not herself. Had he tried to kiss her while she was sober, she would have punched him in the face. For sure.

This was something he wanted beyond doubt, and she said she wanted it too. Yet, it didn't feel right.

He sat up straight, and Teela protested.

"Let me get you some water," said Adam, and then walked to the small cabinet used for food storage, close to the entrance. There was a jar filled with water, over the tiny table. Adam noticed there was only one chair. "She doesn't expect visitors," he thought.

He drank a full glass of water, to clear his throat and his mind.

"Adam!" she moaned.

He handed her a glass of water that she drank avidly.

Adam picked up his cloak from the floor, and Teela realized he was leaving.

"Stay…" she begged, in a way that made his heart ache.

"I'll be back tomorrow," was the only promise he could make.

He let himself out. Before closing the door behind him, he hesitated and turned around to get back in.

But something stopped him. He knew Teela well, she hated being vulnerable. She was going to be resentful, even furious, either if he stayed or if he left. But this way, their bond wouldn't be irreversibly tainted by the effects of alcohol.