Allura cursed under her breath as the wind stung her face. Well, the part of her face left exposed, which wasn't much. Mostly just her eyes and bridge of her nose felt the bite of the icy air, her eyelashes sticking together every time she blinked back tears. Her knitted scarf was protecting the rest of it, a burst of steam escaping whenever her breath met the frigid atmosphere.
The sun hung low in the sky, painting the clouds deep pinks and purples as it sunk into the horizon. Soon the dark night would chase it down, littering the sky with sparkling stars and, with any luck, the aurora borealis. They'd chosen this for their final spring break holiday; Keith wanting to see the Northern Lights, and Allura hoping to see the diamond studded Milky Way.
She considered herself lucky that it was the middle of April and not January, when the weather would have been significantly harsher. She was also glad for the warmth of the person holding her to keep her from turning into a human popsicle.
Keith was sitting behind her on the snow mobile, his arms wrapped tightly around her. He shoved his hands into her coat pockets to rub her fingers as a token of appreciation she presumed. Either that or to ensure neither of them lost a digit to frostbite. Whatever the reason she welcomed them eagerly.
"Of all the things you could have asked for as a graduation present it had to be this?"
Allura felt rather than heard his chuckle, the low rumble of his chest somehow making its way through her multiple layers of clothes. He leaned closer to respond, the hot wind from his mouth tickling her sensitive ears.
"Should I have chosen another plus one? The invitation wasn't specific, I'm sure Shiro would be enjoying this."
She twisted slightly to shoot a dirty look at him.
"You wouldn't be here if it weren't for me, maybe next time I'll invite someone else," she huffed.
His arms squeezed a bit tighter, a light kiss falling on her forehead.
"Never gonna let that happen," he teased. "Besides, I'm sure Lotor has moved on by now."
As much as she hated hearing her ex's name, she had to admit dating him worked in her favor. They'd been an item all through high school and she expected to marry him after college. Thankfully he showed his true colors freshman year. She'd forgiven him one indiscretion that she was aware of, never comfortable with his promises of future fidelity. In reality she'd stayed with him because it was expected of her.
Being the daughter of a wealthy family meant attending the finest private schools. Lotor was the guy every girl wanted to date, so when she landed an invitation to the school fall dance it was a big deal. The two were an item through graduation and had decided to go to the same college, which happened to be a state run university since Lotor's dad had cut him off financially almost entirely.
Keith was at the school on a scholarship, studying to go into law enforcement. Allura was majoring in international law. Still somehow their paths didn't cross until the spring semester of their sophomore year.
Allura smiled to herself when she remembered her first encounter with her now-boyfriend. He was working at a gas station near her apartment and she had stopped by for snacks to munch on between classes. She was short a dollar so he fished one out of his pocket to give her. After that she became a regular there. Because she ate the same thing every day Keith had usually rung her up by the time she reached the counter.
He was so cute she couldn't help but ask him questions about his life, although she felt guilty about flirting with him. Especially when Lotor came in with her one morning because his car was in the shop next door.
To her embarrassment her ex had noticed Keith preparing to leave work on his shiny red motorcycle and decided he wanted it. It was bad enough he made an offer way too low for the bike, but then he insisted that someone poor enough to work retail must be desperate for the money. Finally, she managed to drag him to her car, apologizing to the young cashier profusely.
The drive to school that day was awkward silence punctuated by his occasional requests to skip a song on her playlist. Well, most of the songs. She and Lotor had vastly different tastes in music.
Then came the argument in the campus parking lot that sent him storming off to his English Lit class while she stomped to her Modern History course. Which, if she'd been in her right mind, she would have remembered was the next day. The realization didn't hit her until she saw Keith slink into the classroom and sit at the end of her row.
He'd noticed her and threw a confused look, which she responded to with a slight shrug and then turned her attention to her phone. She should have been in biology.
Best mistake she ever made.
She left the room flustered and red-faced, tripping over Keith's foot as she tried to quickly exit the lecture hall. He easily caught her before she reached the floor. His strong arm had wrapped around her in what she could only describe as a perfect fit, his steel blue eyes looking at her with concern.
After he'd helped right her she simultaneously thanked and apologized to him. Allura couldn't help but sprint out of the class, mortified at what had just happened. Once she stopped to catch her breath a hand grabbed her shoulder and spun her around.
He'd followed her.
Not like a creepy stalker followed. It was a genuine kind of care that she'd never really encountered from a boy before. Keith was truly worried about her.
So of course she started crying. Gross, snotty, ugly sobbing.
The handsome young man from the gas station- who had been humiliated by her boyfriend and in turn saved her from humiliation- didn't run away.
He didn't even look at her funny. Simply reached in his pocket and pulled out a clean handkerchief.
"What's wrong, Princess?"
The title startled her. Was he insinuating she was a spoiled, childish woman?
"I'm not a princess, you know," she responded curtly.
"You should be. Your perfect hair, perfect voice, perfect—"
Suddenly it looked like he remembered he needed to be somewhere else, shuffling his feet and looking over his shoulder at nothing while trying to hide his flushed cheeks.
"Perfect what?" She couldn't let that go, not now.
His face grew ruddier and it seemed that the ground at his feet had grabbed his attention.
"Face," he had mumbled quietly to prevent her from hearing properly.
A giggle escaped her lips before she could smother it. He looked up at her like he expected her to spout a derogatory remark a la "Prince" Lotor.
"Then maybe we're perfect for each other," was her response instead.
Now her face was growing hot, no doubt redder than his.
Granted it was totally against character for her to say such a thing, yet there it was all laid out like an offering of peace between two enemies. All she could do was hope that this didn't end in a stalemate or a friendly handshake.
His eyes finally met hers and he cleared his throat. She braced for a stern "no thank you" that was sure to follow.
"Wasn't that guy your boyfriend?"
"Let's just say he's my soon-to-be-not-boyfriend," she countered.
In her mind she had already played the scenario using every possible outcome. Her darker side secretly hoped Lotor would beg her to stay. Her logical side hoped he'd simply walk. Any option that would get her to the point where she so desperately wanted to arrive.
Soon the quad was busy with students scurrying to their next classes. Allura knew where to find Lotor and decided now was as good a time as any.
"Well, wish me luck!"
"Wait, are you going to see him now?"
A smile and a nod were the best response she could give, waving as she turned on her heels and headed to the library. He didn't have a class at that time and would often wait for her there since she'd be in College Algebra for the next hour.
Allura didn't have to enter the building before she spotted him. He was sitting on a stone bench next to a very attractive brunette. She stayed in the shadow of the building's overhang to watch the proceedings. The two were talking and laughing, seemingly comfortable with one another.
Then he kissed her.
That made things a lot simpler.
Forgetting every word of the speech she'd prepared she rushed to stand in front of the two, waiting impatiently for them to come up for air. Patience not being her virtue she tapped Lotor on the shoulder. Several times.
The look on his face was priceless. He jumped to his feet, effectively knocking his confused partner off her seat.
"I, uh, didn't see you there darling."
Allura quirked her eyebrow, "because if you had seen me you would have played the good boyfriend I suppose?"
On that she went to make her escape, stopping abruptly when a firm hand grabbed her forearm. The pain caused her to wince which frighteningly seemed to amuse Lotor. He was used to getting what he wanted, her included.
"Let's talk about this. Don't be so rash, we can work this out. Let's go buy you something sparkly. You like shiny things, don't you?"
She attempted to loosen his grip on her arm by twisting it free. In turn he simply increased the force of his vise-like grip.
"Let me go! We're through, Lotor," she sneered.
"Now, how do you think our parents will take the news of us breaking up? My father can destroy yours, you know," he threatened in return.
"You need to learn how to treat a lady, asshole."
Allura turned towards the voice to see Keith standing behind her, hands clenched in anger. She wondered if he'd been there this whole time, waiting to protect her should she need it.
"And you are?" Lotor questioned, not even recognizing Keith from two hours prior.
Dropping her arm, Lotor stepped towards the raven-haired stranger. Sizing him up, he looked certain he could take the shorter man easily.
Without warning his fist was flying towards Keith's face. Allura cringed, expecting to hear the crack of bone when knuckle met jaw. Instead Lotor's hand only found air, Keith having ducked to avoid the blow before chasing the taller man's chin with an uppercut of his own.
Lotor stumbled backwards, tripping over his own feet and landing in the shrubs that fenced the walkway. Keith moved to loom over him, pulling him halfway up by the collar of his very expensive sport coat.
"Don't you ever, ever, touch her again. She said she's done with you. Understand?"
At that he dropped the injured man back to the ground and returned to Allura's side.
"May I walk you to your next class, Princess?" he offered, extending his bruised hand.
"That nickname's going to stick, isn't it?"
He laughed as she cautiously took his hand, worried that the swelling may need to be tended to.
"How about I take you to get some ice for that instead?"
He shook his head and shuddered a bit. "Nah, I hate the cold."
A gentle nudge from Keith brought Allura back to the present.
"You still awake?"
She sighed and nodded, sinking a bit further into his chest. The sun had finally set and the swirling arm of the galaxy slowly emerged from the darkness.
No pictures, no videos she had seen could have prepared her for the sight. The magnificence of seeing far away suns twinkling from their galactic neighborhoods, knowing that chances were on one of those distant planets someone was looking back at them.
"You finally got your sparkly. Hundreds, no thousands, to be exact," Keith cooed in her ear.
"Technically I paid for the trip so don't think you're off the hook, my love."
"I didn't," he said, pulling his hands from her pockets and moving to stand next to her.
Allura watched breathlessly as he knelt beside her, a small velvet covered box in his shaking hand. He opened it smoothly, revealing a beautiful silver ring with a pink sapphire stone set in the band.
"Princess, never in ten thousand years would I ever have imagined meeting someone as amazing as you. All of human history has brought me to this place, this time, to be with you. If I could simply ask to spend the rest of my life with you, if you would grant me that, I would be forever grateful."
This time the tears were happy tears, leaving salty trails on her cheeks and staining her scarf.
"How could I say no to that perfect face?" she smiled, removing her glove before presenting her hand for him to place the ring on it.
Allura pulled her scarf away from her face, leaning to kiss his frost-chapped lips. Keith reached to cup her cheeks, smoothing over them with his hands. She would have been content to stay that way for hours had a flash of light not pulled her attention back to the sky.
She broke the kiss, tilting her head in the direction she wanted him to look. Brush strokes of greens and pinks danced brilliantly against the canvas of space. It was breathtaking.
The rose coloring was almost the same as the gem in her ring. She stretched her hand to the sky, the stone catching the single headlight beam and sparkling beautifully in the night. Keith had done a wonderful job choosing this for her, he must have been saving for months. No, years.
Just then a thought hit her.
"Keith, my love, how did you manage to buy this ring?"
"I sold the motorcycle," he grinned. "To your ex."