"Keith, good, you're back."

The paladin was a bit taken aback to find his mother sitting on the sofa in his room, uninvited. Maybe he should have told her he had gone out as it seemed she'd been waiting for a while.

"Hey mom, what's up?"

"Shiro's been looking for you, something about testing the new weapons system on the Black Lion."

"Sure, no problem," he responded noncommittally.

"He also wants to put Coran in charge of the menu from now on," she continued dryly. "Says Earth food is making the Garrison staff weak."

"Sounds good to me."

Keith opened his closet to grab the things he needed, picking up and putting down items without looking at them. In his mind, however, he was busy trying to form an excuse for why he had been out for so long. Acxa had simply asked him to show her around but knowing his mother she'd turn it into something scandalous.

"And rumor has it Lance just proposed to Allura and she said yes."

Without a pause Keith spun around wildly and nearly fell over his own feet, much to the amusement of his mother. "What did you say?"

Quickly she wiped the smirk off of her face and sat up straight. "So you were listening to me. Here I thought you were totally distracted. Is that Acxa girl so interesting?"

"For the millionth time there is nothing between us," he retorted. "I'm just trying to help her get used to life here on Earth."

With that he went back to gathering his things. His mind was racing, trying to make sense of what his mother just told him. They'd only been on Earth for a few months, how had things moved so quickly between Lance and Allura? He'd noticed the time they'd spent together, but were they really that close?

"So, what are you going to do about it?"

Keith froze for a moment, wondering what he must have missed. Had she said something important for him to answer? At this point he decided to backtrack to earlier in the conversation.

"I'm going to find Shiro, what else?"

There, maybe that'll end whatever she wanted to talk about. As many times as his mom had tried to push him into a relationship with Acxa he was beginning to wonder how much longer he could come up with an excuse not to. He'd given her every reason, from cultural differences to lack of attraction; most failed spectacularly considering the fact that his father was human and his mother a purple alien.

Maybe he should just give in. After all his parents worked out well together- or at least until his mother had to leave the planet. He respected Acxa, and she respected him. There was no reason it wouldn't work, he supposed. Especially if Allura was no longer available.

Wait, why did that even matter? They'd been on edge around each other since the incident in space, when he'd insulted her father and then accused her of hooking up with their enemy. Although in fairness-

"KEITH!"

Krolia's shout startled him so much he accidentally knocked over the lamp on the table next to him. "What?" he asked nervously. "Is something wrong?"

His mom raised her eyebrow like she always did when he did something annoying. "Like I just said, I wasn't talking about Shiro."

She motioned for him to join her on the couch. He groaned as he dropped to the spot next to his mother, expecting some kind of scolding for not listening to her. Not that he didn't deserve it, but he really just wasn't in the mood right now.

"Son, I just told you that the woman you love is getting married. What are you going to do about it?"

"What do you mean the woman I love?" he responded incredulously. He'd never once told his mom how he felt about the Princess, so how could she know?

Krolia reached over to cover his right hand with hers. "Do you think I don't notice how you look at her? Or how you call her away from Lance whenever they start to get too close?"

"But I-"

"Do you think I can't see the tears in your eyes when she walks away from you without a proper goodbye?"

There it was. His heart laid out on a cold metal pan, dissected and tagged. On the largest section was a stick pin holding a card in place which simply read "Allura".

"It's no less than I deserve I suppose," he responded, his voice cracking under the weight of his guilt. "Allura must hate me so much."

"You never told me what happened between you two," she answered, wrapping her left arm around his shoulders. "Maybe I can help you two patch things up."

Keith tried to take in a deep breath before responding, but his lungs would not comply. "I said some cruel things to her when we were drifting through space. I hurt her pretty badly."

Krolia squeezed him a bit tighter, her head tilting to rest against his. "Did you mean what you said?"

At first he wanted to respond no, he didn't mean them. But that wasn't entirely true. He meant them, just never intended to let Allura know how he felt.

"She wants so much to be like her father," he started, "but she doesn't even realize she's surpassed him. The Princess has accomplished more than he ever could have hoped to."

"Ah, so you told her that?"

A heavy sigh raised from his chest. "No, instead of telling her she was right I told her he was wrong."

"Oh."

"Thing is, if he had defeated Zarkon all those millenia ago, I would have never met her," he continued. "No, I would have never existed."

Krolia chuckled at his belated realization. She must have thought him an idiot for saying what he did, but that wasn't even the worst of it. He'd struck a second blow, blaming Allura for something the entire team was guilty of.

"Is that all?" Krolia prompted, possibly suspecting his silence was prelude to another confession.

Keith shifted a bit, his body initiating its fight or flight reaction. Still, he answered her question.

"I also accused her of getting too close to Lotor. Of putting the team in danger."

"Didn't the entire team trust him?"

"The entire team didn't fall in love with him though," he replied, his voice barely above a whisper.

For a moment his mother didn't respond, her attention turned towards the doorway. She looked at it expectantly, as if it would open any moment. When that didn't happen she finally turned back to their conversation.

"So what you're telling me is that the things you said to her were out of pain?"

"I guess."

Krolia stood up and turned to face Keith, her hands squaring his shoulders. "Then you need to apologize out of love."

If she hadn't been holding on to him, he imagined his body would have slumped to the floor.

"It's too late," he complained. "I'm sure Lance wouldn't want me being chatty with his fiancee."

"How do you know she's his fiancee?" his mom laughed.

Keith looked up at her, trying to piece out the puzzle she was assembling.

"But you said you heard a rumor they were engaged."

"I said there was a rumor," she said, winking playfully. "I didn't say who started it."

"Didn't the entire team trust him?"

Allura strained to hear the response but was interrupted by the sound of footsteps in the corridor. She quickly and quietly stepped away from the door to Keith's room, trying desperately to not look guilty as she saw Shiro round the corner at the other end of the hallway. Allura walked briskly in his direction to keep him from interrupting the mother-and-son conversation.

"Princess, what are you doing in here?" Shiro asked, genuinely curious.

Oh, just a little eavesdropping she thought to herself. After all she'd accidentally heard Keith say her name followed by "hate" and, well, why wouldn't she be a bit curious? Still, that wasn't an answer she could give Shiro at this moment.

"Well, I- I heard Acxa was looking for Keith," she started, her stammer making her sound less than convincing. "So I came to help her find him."

Shiro cocked his head to the side as if he wasn't quite buying her story. "Didn't Keith just get back from spending the morning with her?"

That piece of information shouldn't have bothered her as much as it did. She'd realized during their escape from the Galra pirates that Acxa had feelings for Keith. What she wasn't sure of was if he shared them. But if he'd spent half a day with her, what could that mean?

Allura slumped against the wall, willing herself to stand. "Perhaps she had something she forgot to give him," she pondered, forgetting her own lie.

"Like a goodbye kiss?"

Suddenly the wall seemed to push back, launching her into a full upright position. "They've kissed?" she hissed, her fingers flying to her mouth when she realized her mistake.

Shiro waved his hand dismissively as he turned to walk away. "What do you care, you have Lance after all. Aren't you two dating or something?"

The Princess rushed to catch up with him, huffing at his flippant remark. "We were... maybe... a little bit."

The former paladin stopped suddenly, continuing to look in the distance as he spoke. "You want to tell me what happened?"

"Well, I liked him. Or I thought I did," she confessed. "After what Keith said, I was hurt and angry. Lance has always been so nice to me it just seemed to make sense."

The sound of voices in the hallway prompted Shiro to grab Allura's arm and pull her into the closest room, which happened to be where the men's showers were located. Luckily no one was using them at this time of day, so they found a bench between the lockers to continue their talk.

"So, does that mean you and Lance called it quits?"

Allura nodded her head slowly. Thankfully it had been a mutual decision, leaving her feeling somewhat less guilty but not entirely.

Shiro sat silent for a moment, occasionally checking his watch before finally asking the most dreaded question.

"So it's all Keith's fault then?"

She'd thought so before. Since that moment she'd believed that he was being cruel and hurtful for no reason. Space madness or not he had broken her heart.

Now? After hearing what Keith told his mom she was beginning to realize that what he said and what he meant weren't quite the same thing.

"Perhaps not entirely," she admitted. Suddenly the memory of it all came crashing back down on her. "I may deserve a bit of blame myself."

Shiro hummed as he looked to the ceiling. The speckled tiles looked a bit like dark stars on a white sky, and it still chilled Allura to think of the time spent floating aimlessly in space. During their hours adrift she'd been enjoying the time they were together, since she hadn't seen Keith for so long.

Since Keith had left them.

That was her truth. She'd wanted him to stay. He refused. Maybe she wasn't enough for him. Maybe Acxa was.

"So you think he is angry with you as well?" Shiro pondered, although it sounded as much like a statement as a question.

"I think he hates me."

The laughter in response to her statement was jarring. Shiro didn't laugh much so his outburst piqued her curiosity. It also pissed her off.

"And just why do you think that's funny?" she demanded, her arms crossed tightly over her chest.

The look Shiro gave her made her feel a bit silly for saying that now. Keith never hated anybody, not even Lance. He'd said some harsh things but now she understood his reasoning.

After all, every decision she made revolved around what her father would have done. And yes, as good a leader as he was he'd made mistakes. It never felt right questioning him or his actions, but maybe she needed to try. Watching Admiral Sanda refuse advice from those with a better understanding of the Galra should have been a wake-up call to accept help when needed.

"I accused Keith of leaving us."

Shiro's head dropped into his hands, his fingers rubbing at his eyes in frustration. "You told a man who had been abandoned and made to fend for himself that he left you?"

Suddenly Allura's fingers were the most interesting things in the room. The polish on her fingernails was beginning to chip and she was tempted to scrape the rest of it off. Anything that would keep her from thinking about what she'd said.

When she didn't respond Shiro continued. "Obviously I don't have memories of that time, but I know how the team responds to Keith. They back away from him like he's an injured animal."

The accustation stung. He wasn't wrong however. They'd always treated him as a loner. Allura was the only one who ever tried to seek him out but it was really when she needed him, not the other way around.

Shiro stood and stretched, seemingly content to leave things with one final comment. "You know, besides me you were the one he cared about the most. If he left it was likely because he felt you'd be better off."

That was it. Lance had always been vocal about his feelings for her, but with Keith there was so much uncertainty. War and the looming threat of death had given her a desire for something to be a known as her life was a constant battle of the unknown. It wasn't Keith's responsibility to give her that if she didn't ask for it, though.

"Perhaps I should apologize."

"That's a good start."

Allura stood to face Shiro directly. "What should I say to make it better?"

"Tell him the truth," he responded emphatically as he headed to the exit. "He's a trained Blade. Information is valuable to him. Once he has the intel he'll make his decision accordingly."

Whatever response was firing in Allura's brain took too long to make its way to her mouth, because what she actually said was "Then I should tell him I love him."

At that moment she heard the door open and a loud thud. Unsure if it was Shiro leaving or someone else entering she froze in place. A few ticks later water could be heard running in the shower. For fear of being caught she stayed in place, barely breathing, hidden by the row of lockers.

Soon the squeak of pipes indicated the person was finished showering. She waited until they left and then snuck back into the hallway, making a beeline to Keith's room.

Expecting that his mother was still with him she failed to knock, barging in with a confession itching on her lips. What she found was a dripping wet Keith with a towel wrapped around his waist. What she lost was every thought she'd had up until that moment.