I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.

Chapter 1

Inky black space retreated slowly out of view as Earth's magnificent splendor encompassed the entire window panel that stretched wall to wall in this bedroom suite. Oceans, mountains, and deserts peaked behind swirly white atmosphere. This planet's blatant display of life never failed to still the heart of this room's permanent occupant. For the first half a dozen trips she's made to Earth, Queen Allura always found time to gaze out the window at this exact moment her royal ship, The Alfor- named after her father the late King Alfor, aligned itself to the blue planet. After 5 years of shuttling back and forth on diplomatic duties for the Alliance, the novelty seemed to have worn off, Queen Allura, head intently bent in concentration over the itinerary pad was busy discussing this two week visit with her aide, Kerala.

'Oh, Ker, I was thinking of dropping by Napa Valley on our way to The Alliance this weekend...maybe on Sunday?' Her voice trailing with uncertainty when she quickly skimmed through her Monday's schedule. Oh dear. Just thinking about hours and hours of sit-ins and debates regarding inter-planetary concerns stretching to the wee hours of the morning is enough to make her want to turn this ship around and go home. All her appointments before Sunday were a breeze. Mostly, benefit lunches and dinners hosted by local royalty and Alliance bigwigs.

'Your highness, you are scheduled to attend the birthday party for Hank's twins at four in the afternoon this Sunday. Ehm, I believe there wouldn't be enough time to visit Dr. Yoshimoto.' Kerala's hastily delivered statements with that high-pitched voice wavering across the room cannot be helped as she wasn't used to asserting herself over the the Queen. In ordinary situations, asserting one's opinions or contradictions or any other similar horrific manners of speech toward members of the Royal House of Arus were frowned upon. But the Queen gave specific instructions to Kerala, not in ANY circumstance that time spent with her loved ones be bumped off. Her family and friends come first. Always. And Hank, his wife Beth, and their children were family.

Tilting her head to one side and barely suppressing a grin, she asked, 'Oh yes! I forgot about that. So what do you suggest I do?'

'Well...I suppose...' Kerala began hesitantly.

'You suppose?...' Queen Allura pouncing in while slowly removing her glasses to rub her eyes. Travel weary, she must be getting old she thought. Kerala cleared her throat and said, 'We could schedule the visit next Sunday.' Queen Allura pushed back her glasses and frowned into space.

'The rest of the team might want to join you, your highness. You can bring up the idea this Sunday at the party. It is summer in California, a lovely time for a picnic.' Kerala smiled confidently now, sure about her idea.

'That's bril, Ker! I'll do just that!' The Queen smiled, not that she was thinking the same thing of course. She wanted to spend more time with her former team mates on this trip. Especially on this trip. Given that the team will be together this Sunday, she might lure them into joining her again the following Sunday.

'Do just what Princess?' Lance the former captain of the red lion came into the room. Pointedly ignoring the negative vibes Kerala was emitting for calling Allura princess when he should be addressing her as the Queen or her majesty, he fixed his attention on Queen Allura. She was wearing a white long-sleeved blouse with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. Her knee-length gray pencil cut skirt twisted about as the itinerary pad sat precariously over her crossed legs. Her left elbow was leaning against the armrest of the club chair, her hand palm up cradled almost half the side of her face. Lance can bearly see the Queen's blue eyes behind her gold rimmed wire glasses but he knew a couple of tiny lines crinkled as she gave him a welcoming smile.

'What do you say about a picnic, Lance?' Queen Allura asked enthusiastically, loosened her left shoe and slowly began to swing the suede black kitten heel back and forth. 'I was thinking of maximizing my weekends with you guys, I know we're suppose to be at Hanks this Sunday for the twins b-day party, but I though you guys might want to spend some time with me again next Sunday too.'

'A picnic?'

'Yes, a picnic!'

'No, thanks.' Wrinkling his nose, he went behind her shoulder and peeked at the work schedule. 'C'mon, it will fun!'

'What's fun about sitting on the ground getting my ass wet, princess? I'm sure... I can find other things to amuse myself.'

'May I remind you, yet again, that her majesty should be addressed properly as the Queen, ' interjected Kerala.

'What's wrong with a picnic? Honestly, Lance I think Kerala has too much in her hands to keep tabs on you every time we're here.'

'Hey, no harm done, just good fun.'

Kerala snorted. How pathetic is this guy. He obviously has no consideration for anybody else but himself. No harm done indeed. In their last trip, Kerala had two junior officers assigned to her follow Lance during one of his midnight prowling, only to find them in the same inebriated state with the charge they were responsible for. One of the officers was brave enough to call her for back-up before things got worse. Apparently, Lance being Lance, boasted that he was the captain of the Black Lion to everyone within hearing distance, it got the attention of some bimbos in residence, Lance being Lance, gallantly offered to give them a tour of Black. They always took the Black Lion during their trips to Earth. And Lance was about to take a whole entourage of ladies back to the ship, when a boyfriend of one the ladies stepped in to stop them. That's when she got the panic call. Bracing herself as she went inside, she was anticipating a full on brawl, and was shocked to see Lance lounging on a corner sofa, eyebrows raised upon seeing her, sandwiched between the bimbo and her actor slash musician boyfriend.

Queen Allura tilted her head above her left shoulder and glanced at Lance as he nimbly picked up the itinerary pad from her arms and thumbed through her appointments on the electronic screen. After three years of war with Lotor and his equally horrid father the evil Zarkon, peace was finally achieved, followed by the painstaking rehabilitation of Arus. With the war over, the lion pilots were expectedly given new orders by the Alliance. Voltron's fame for defending its planet and others in need reached well beyond its own universe. It was not surprising that career opportunities opened up for the four pilots. Allura was twenty-one when the war ended. Her sole responsibility, according to Koran and Nanny, was to find her prince. A royal match to beget heirs. But she just can't make herself do it. She tried, initially that is, to host parties and attend balls within the galaxy, but the truth was, Arus needed her more. Attending royal parties and balls seemed frivolous when she should be with her people - consoling them, encouraging them as they rebuilt their lives. There were turbulent feelings of anxiety, loss, and sadness that she never spoke about with anyone. When the war began, she barely had time to grieve for the loss of her father. Painfully, she had to endure such parting once Keith, Lance, Hank, and Pidge took their leave. Her dearest friends, her partners-in-crime. Among the four pilots, Lance opted to stay behind. At the time, Lance had become attached to an Arusian named Cyon. The team met her for a rebuild mission after one of Hagar's robeasts devastated her town. Cyon, or as they called her, Cy, lost two young brothers, and three cousins to the attack. She came from a close-knit family, second child among eight children. She chose to work for the mission that coincidentally Lance spear-headed. Not before long, Cy rose within the ranks of the organization then she met Lance. She and Lance were of the same height, Amazonian, big boned, and had black chin-length wavy hair that tend to whirl about her head like a bird's nest. In other words, she was not the usual type Lance went for. He usually went for the pocket Venus variety, petite women who communicated their sensuality blatantly. Cy can never be described as sensual. She had a jolly countenance that had her facing misfortune with a shrug and moving on just as her beloved fellow Arusians did whenever Lotor inconveniently decided to show his continued pursuance of the Princess Allura by attacking the planet.

Leaving through the french doors from her bedroom, Allura briskly walked across the slate veranda, down some steps and paused on a patch of wet grass squishing a bit on the sole of her running shoes. She stretched her arms above her, inhaled the crisp green scent of early morning and surveyed the valley. The mist was lying low to her right grazing the top of pines trees opening to a circuitous secluded path to the woods some 500 meters below her. On her left, she can hear the staff make preparations for the alfresco breakfast beyond the corner of the slate terrace that wrapped around the main house. Moments of quiet solitude don't come easily for Allura and so it is with no surprise that she chose the former for her walk.

Keith wondered where Clem might be. He woke to find a scribble on a piece of paper under his watch that only said, 'Off to a walk'. Grateful for the reprieve once again. He couldn't face her yet. Clem had been patient these past few days but his intuition is telling him that his luck has run out. Not sure now if dragging her cross country from New York to California was a good idea, she had been obliging to his whim if not to the point of being docile that was almost embarrassing to see in a successful and in demand thirty-two year old orthopedic surgeon. He still can't believe that she dropped everything to accompany him on this trip. She was one of the top orthopedic surgeons in the eastern seaboard. Their secretaries would set up meetings just to align their schedules. What was he thinking? He had been restless these past few months-been making one impulse move after another. When the deputy secretary general of the UN asked him if he would like to be short-listed for the position he himself vacated late last year, he immediately said yes, then declining the next day again, only to find the the deputy secretary general and the secretary general himself gang up on him to stop prevaricating and accept the nomination. Three months ago he bought a brownstone on New York's Upper East Side that was still empty save for a worn leather reading chair that Clem presented him for his birthday. He has been staying in a serviced apartment nearer the UN for convenience's sake still. Again, what was he thinking. To cap it all, a Kerouac impulse for a road trip that propelled him after a bad bout of malaria contracted from the Philippines that confined him in a hospital for weeks.

Flecks of bright sunshine spotted the ceiling as Keith unconsciously rubbed the small area above his eyebrows in a clockwise motion. The headaches were gone, but he seemed to have picked up a new habit. He and Clem arrived well past midnight and was surprised to see the inn's facade well lit and a staff of two behind the desk chatting and sharing a laugh with two male guests lounging by the visitors area. They looked military from their built. Grateful for a room, they collapsed on their backs with only a brief wash and change of clothes.

A steady beeping sound suddenly intruded his thoughts, the phone on Clem's side of the bed was blinking. He reached across the bed and picked it up.

'You awake?' The quiet voice of the man on the other end of the line, tentatively asked.

'I am now.' Keith answered wryly, sitting up at the side of the bed, elbows on knees.

A chuckle escaped from the caller.

'Have you seen Clem?' He stood by the french doors trying to see as much as he can beyond the bevelled glass panels.

'Is that the name of the woman you are with? She left a message to save a table for breakfast.'

'Uh...okay.' He opened the door and stepped out into the slate veranda warming his bare feet. He squinted at the warm face of the morning sun.

'I have a better idea, why don't you join me, Mia and a group of friends for breakfast?'

'Alright. How is Mia?' Keith wasn't really up for meeting new people but grabbed at any chance to evade the dreaded conversation with Clem.

'Ask her yourself. See you in 15 minutes.'

Before John and Mia Yoshimoto bought the farm, the run down Tudor inspired main house was formerly used only by the staff seasonally hired by the former owners. The former owners chose to live elsewhere. The Yoshimotos decided, since they would be living in the farm permanently, to build an out-house for the staff instead and convert and improve the main structure to serve as an inn. Dr. John Yoshimoto used to be a genetic engineer for one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Opting for early retirement, he is now owner of a farm, named by a travel magazine as one of the most unique travel destinations in the west coast, and an experimental scientist/farmer second. His wife Mia never fails to remind him of the order of things. The income generating inn first, experimental farming second. The gravel path used to spread carelessly in a half-cresent in front of the main door, now replaced by a paved driveway with bamboo trees on the center rotunda and boxes of herb plants bordering the path leading to the main door. Not a lot of changes were made to the facade of the house, the alterations were mainly at the rear. From where the adobe ended, the extension took place in the form of smooth pine logs that sloped gradually following the downward terrain. Inside, a rectangular trellis garden served as a demarcation between the old and new structures. The main public rooms separated from the first four suites. These suites were mainly given to families with children. The more private suites were located on the third structure. It was l-shaped and held a total of six suites, the first four also had an inner courtyard tipped by a small brick archway, subtly the path narrowed when it came down to the two last rooms. The two largest suites were laid out back to back with verandas dripping with thousands of pink starburst flowers of rangoon vine. One suite faced a path that led to the woods and the other faced the artificial Koi pond.

The inn was full with the Fourth of July weekend upon them. With his fifteen minutes almost up, Keith closed the door behind him, only with his senses quickly assailed by the scream of an infant and toddlers running about. He smiled at a five-year old boy who bumped him behind one of his knees. He had curly blond locks and the clearest blue-eyes.

'Hello there.' He looked down and smiled at him but the boy just continued to look at him with a dazed expression of one who just finished a fine wail. The boy's face was covered with tear marks across his chubby cheeks. Brown patches that smelled like maple syrup rimmed his lips. Before he could continue with this one-sided conversation, the boy abruptly turned around to rush towards a female voice calling out to him. Keith moved purposely towards the main house, and while crossing the trellis he observed a lot of improvements made about the place since the last time he was here. He was very pleased for his friend. He was about to turn right toward the dining room entrance when he heard someone call out his name.

'Keith! Keith!'

He turned around and was surprised to see Pidge. Pidge, the former pilot of the Green Lion, is now a 3rd year law student at the Alliance Institute. Over six feet tall, he was now taller than him. His auburn hair was short and trim, a similar style that Keith also managed nowadays. Both his hands were inside the pockets of his khaki pants, only from the slight rocking of his heels did Keith detect an uneasiness from this unexpected meeting.

'Pidge! What the...?' Keith grinned at the former pilot of the Green Lion.