((A super late request by alteanbae who requested that I write a quick oneshot about Keith and Allura training together.

This one got kinda lost in the ask box somehow, and I managed to uncover it just in time for Kallura Day. So sorry for the lateness but please enjoy this little oneshot!))

It wasn't as thought Keith was unused to sparring with someone else.

For starters he'd taken self defense classes back at the garrison, and had spent hours each day seeing how many people bigger than himself he could lay flat on the mat.

Then of course training to be a better paladin of Voltron required that he spar with his teammates in the interest of keeping their skills sharp so that they would have at least a marginally chance at defeating the Galran empire.

But this time it was a bit different.

This was Allura.

"Come at me from any angle you please. I'm ready." She said it with so much confidence that it almost sounded like boasting.

Keith wasn't entirely sure how he was supposed to approach this situation.

The princess was… well Keith couldn't help but set her apart from everyone else.

He'd known Shiro long before the Kerberos mission and the whole defenders of the universe thing. The man was honestly one of his closest (and only) friends, and had earned Keith's unerring respect and dedication.

Hunk was an alright guy. He'd only known him for a short time, but the two got along swimmingly. Plus he was arguably one of the sanest people on the ship.

Pidge was… interesting to work with. Her determination was remarkably like Keith's own, and though they frequently butted heads they were usually on the same page.

Keith could honestly do without Lance's constant attempts to get a rise out of him, as well as his stupid insistence that the two were lifelong rivals. (He still had no idea where Lance had gotten that idea). But the blue paladin was steadily reliable when he wasn't singing his own praises.

Hell even Coran seemed to fit in with his encyclopedic knowledge on all things alien.

Everyone seemed to have their own place. A piece in the metaphorical puzzle.

Except Allura.

Well, that wasn't strictly true.

For starters the princess was the only one who could open portals and reliably fly the ship. She had the greatest amount of prior knowledge when it came to their current enemy. And she seemed level-headed when under pressure. (Except when holding a blaster according to Shiro).

Allura had her own piece and it fit snugly into the puzzle that made up team voltron. The connections were neat, everywhere they needed to be, and what few cracks there were still melded together to form a fully functioning pictures.

So then why did Keith always set her apart from himself and the others? Was it the fact that she was a princess?

That didn't seem logical. Keith had never met any princess's before, and it didn't make sense why something like that would affect his perception of her.

It may have had something to do with the fact that Allura wasn't… well he couldn't really say she wasn't aggressive. Her actions when they were trying to form Voltron the second time had clearly indicated just how harsh she could act. But she wasn't combative.

Yeah that had to be it.

Allura's strategies for dealing with adversaries always involved diplomacy. Peace first and all that. And if they couldn't solve things peacefully; he and the other paladins usually had to get involved.

All the others, even Coran to an extent, were people keith could mentally imagine in a combat role. But he couldn't imagine such a scenario for the princess.

Even when decked out in her own armor and looking ready for anything, Keith could still see her looking more at home signing a peace treaty than breaking men on the battlefield.

She wasn't a fighter.

Which only made his current situation all the more challenging.

"I'm waiting." The princess's voice cut into his thoughts. "If this were a battlefield I'd have snapped your neck by now."

Keith somehow doubted that but regardless of his personal perception he couldn't exactly tell Allura that he wouldn't spar with her because he was afraid to hurt her. She'd probably get offended.

On the flip side though, if he DID spar with her and somehow managed to hurt her, even just a little, Keith was sure Coran and the others would come down on him like a ton of bricks.

Oh well, he inwardly sighed as he put on his helmet. I'll just have to go easy on her.

Not a minute later Keith was flat on his back and staring at the ceiling.

His mind slowly processing what exactly had just happened.

Keith could remember charging. He could remember grabbing Allura's arm. He could remember his leg somehow being swept out from under him. And then he ended up like this.

Allura stared down at him. A disappointed look on her face.

"Did you really think trying to overpower me was a good idea? I mean for quiznaks sake your footing was so off throwing off your balance was child's play."

He frowned at that.

She may have managed to flip him but that gave her no right to lecture him. If that was how she was going to act when he was going easy on her, then Coran's rage be damned he'd get right back up and teach her a lesson.

And so he did. This time being careful of his balance and footing.

Only to be flipped back onto his back again.

"That was… better?" The way she phrased it as though it was a question made the red paladins blood boil. "I mean your stance is better, but I can still use your speed against you."

"If you think you can do better, then why don't you try attacking me?!"

It was a suggestion Keith quickly came to regret.

Especially when he ended up on the floor for the third time that day tenderly touching his nose and wondering if Allura had managed to break it.

"Are you taking this seriously?" the princess sounded seriously annoyed. "If you aren't then you're wasting both our times. And if you ARE taking it seriously, then I have some serious questions regarding how you've managed to last this long."

The red paladin growled. "I'll show you just how serious I can get!"

And he did.

But this time, things played out a little better.

He'd run at her three times now, so it seemed obvious that taking her from the front wasn't going to work. She kept knocking his balance off way too easily. And when he tried to compensate with speed she managed to use that against him to trip him up.

So this time, he did what he used to do behind the gym back at the garrison.

He cheated.

While still laying flat on his back, Keith grabbed the princess's ankle and pulled. Taking her by surprise and knocking off her balance.

Rushing forward, he went to pin her to the floor. Letting gravity do the rest of the work.

Only to end up flat on his back.

Allura had grabbed the front of Keith's armor and swung him around changing both their momentum.

As a result Keith was now pinned flat on his back with the princess sitting pretty on top of him.

"Much better." She said in a highly satisfied voice. "Not perfect, mind. You'd still be dead if this was an actual battle. But at least it wasn't like shooting Grilgrils in a pond."

Keith's initial reaction was to ask what a Grilgril was and whether or not it was something like fish.

But then he noticed that a bit of Allura's hair had come undone.

His hand rose, unbidden and tucked it back into place behind her ear.

The princess froze.

Keith froze.

They both stared at one another.

Allura glanced at Keith's hand, which was still gingerly touching her cheek.

It probably would have been a very touching moment.

If Keith's instincts hadn't kicked in.

His ability to act on outward stimuli without really have to think had always worked out for him in the past. But this time he cursed his subconscious as his body moved on its own. Grabbing Allura, and rolling them both over so that now she was the one pinned underneath him.

Victory? Assured.

Moment? Lost.

The princess took a sharp intake of breath.

"W-well," she cleared her throat. "That was clever of you."

"What?" it took a moment for Keith's conscious mind to catch up. "I-I mean yes! Right. Of course. Plan the whole time."

He couldn't have gotten off of her faster.

They both sat there a little dazed. Looking anywhere but at one another.

"I think it's time for a break." The princess said as she got up.

"Yeah." Keith remained seated on the floor.

"Next time we spar, don't waste time going easy on me." She scolded, taking the red paladin by surprise. "I've been in this game a lot longer than you have."

Keith's mouth hung open as he watched her walk off, suddenly becoming very aware of the luminescent blush on his face.

Once she was out the door, he buried his face in his hands in an attempt to stifle the feeling of embarrassment.

God, why did she have this effect on him?

No one else had ever had this effect on him before.

A part of him already knew the answer.