a/n: this was originally written as a prompt for a friend a loooong time ago for a diff vld ship, but after something about one of the characters was confirmed that i had been suspecting, i dropped this doc in the trash. i found it a couple of weeks ago, and i kinda of did really like some of the descriptions in here so i thought maybe i could tweak some parts and write it for my fav vld ship: allurance!

ok context for this story: basically lance gets captured by the galra along with pidge and hunk, and allura comes to rescue him. this is set after s6 w/o taking any of s7 into account. so everything after allura bringing shiro back to life in the s6 finale isn't relevant to this story. honestly, the only reference i make to canon in here is the scene where lance breaks down after learning about how shiro was dead the whole time and him feeling guilty about that.

rated t for one tiny swear and just mentions of violence. let me know if you catch any mistakes, i hope you like this!

*I FOUND YOU*

The first thing Lance noticed was Allura's hair.

He had always been fond of Allura's white mass of curls; it had reminded him of the foam that used to cover on the ocean surface, pristine as snow in the silvery moonlight. During sleepless nights, comfort could be sought in brushing out the tangles and braiding it as Allura narrated different aspects of Altean history and lore.

Now, it looked like it had been hacked away with a sword, leaving only white locks that brushed a little bit past her shoulders, curling up into ringlets already. Not that she didn't look any less gorgeous than before.

She was striding towards him; no, it was more of a stumble. Was that blood she was sporting on her hip? Oh no . . .

"Llura?" His words sounded slurred, as if he was drunk. A couple of weeks in Galra captivity had not done any favors for him, and he was sure that Pidge and Hunk weren't doing so well in the cells next to him either.

He watched as she swung at the sentry guarding his cell with the bayard that she was clutching with her right hand. The sound of the robot getting dismembered and clattering to the floor barely registered in his ears. He could only stare as Allura tore the door open, the last barrier between them, dropped her bayard, and ran to his side. She was sporting a black eye as well as a cut on her forehead that was staining the roots of her hair red, yet she looked like the sun coming up after a dark night.

"Lance." Her voice was low and riddled with exhaustion, yet he could detect an undertone of excitement.

This isn't real. Lance managed to think despite his addled brain. He couldn't count the number of times he had envisioned a scenario in his food deprived state where a teammate coming to free him of this purple misery. Sometimes it was Keith, shouting his name as he slashed at the Galra soldiers behind him. One time it was Shiro, fully recovered and heroically cutting through Galra lines with barely a scratch on him. Other times, it was Hunk in tow, battered but grinning as he cut off his shackles. Sometimes it was Pidge, whose tiny glasses were cracked and smeared with Galra blood.

He always stopped his imagination after that. Lance didn't want to, didn't need to imagine what would happen to Allura if she came for him. Not that he doubted her capability for rescue missions. But after seeing Shiro - the real Shiro, not that fakeass clone - lying slumped on the ground, not breathing, not living because he didn't do anything he should have said something, his heart had felt like it had collapsed on in his chest and his ribcage ground to dust. Call him selfish, but he never wanted any of his teammates getting hurt over a stupid screw up he was responsible for, especially Allura.

My mind must be playing with me again. He tried to reason.

"Lance?" The illusion that looked like Allura watched him with worry evident in her features, and Lance wanted to smooth out the tension lines between her eyebrows, illusion or no illusion.

"Are you real?" he croaked out.

She bit her lip, whether to stop herself from crying or laughing, he couldn't tell. "Yes," she said, hesitantly reaching out for his right arm. When he didn't flinch, she threaded their fingers together, giving the hand a little squeeze. "I'm right here, Lance."

Something started to unknot in his stomach, and for the first time in weeks, Lance felt a little at peace. There was something he couldn't name that was present right now, something that never came up in his weary envisionings.

"Allura." Her name on his lips sounded like a prayer, one that had never been granted until now.

She beamed and hugged him tight, pressing her nose into the crook of his neck. Lance could smell the faint aroma of pine and cinnamon that always seemed to accompany her. "It's me, Lance. It's me."

"Allura," he repeated, softer this time, "what happened to your hair?"

She laughed, and if he had to listen to that sound for the rest of his life, he would have been content. "It is a rather amusing tale. I'll tell you all about when we return home."

Home. When had the castleship become their home? Maybe around the time when Lance started thinking about how much it would hurt when the war was over and each one of them would go their separate ways, he mused silently. His heart fluttered at the thought of going back to the castle and he let out a small laugh, which abruptly turned into a cough. Allura leaned back in concern, but relaxed when she saw the stretch of his lips. Lance smiled at her and the corners of her eyes wrinkled in happiness. The sheer relief he felt washed over him like a tsunami, and just like that he started to cry, hiccuping and laughing with joy. Allura was crying and laughing with him too, looking absolutely radiant as she cradled his head in her hands, bringing it down to press a kiss on his forehead, not seeming to care about the fact that they were both bloody and broken and beaten.

Allura brought their foreheads together, still wet from tears, and Lance could spot the specks of violet and gold scattered in the blue of her eyes. He thought that all the secrets of the universe could be found by gazing into those eyes.

"I found you." she whispered. "I found you."

i didn't know if it was too obvious, but the line where lance thinks that 'all the secrets of the universe could be found by gazing into those eyes' were inspired by 'aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe'. i loved that scene so much :')

now i'm kind of realizing that this story wasn't as great as i thought it to be. oh well lol

oh, also: after vld s7, i don't think i'm gonna be writing any more vld. s7 destroyed any love or hopes i had about this show, and it makes me depressed just thinking about it. i probably will only work on any allura/allurance wips i have rn bc allura is quite literally the only thing i care about from vld anymore, but even then it's kind of depressing so who knows if those will ever go up :/

please leave a review if you liked this or if you have suggestions on how i can do better! even a smiley face is greatly appreciated :D come talk to me on tumblr if u want ;) until next time!