AN: hello again. i obviously have a knack for starting things despite the fact that i haven't finished anything else. i've recently started reward voltron and just like the first time around, i am in love. so i decided to write about shiro and allura because i love them. as the poorly written summary states, these will all be based on songs i've been listening to. mind you, not all of the song may influence the whole drabble, just parts of it. i also obviously don't own voltron. so, please enjoy this hastily written drabble and i'll try to crank another one out soon.

"Powerless" by Waterparks

Shiro thought about lots of things when he was allowed any quiet time to think – the war, Allura, Zarkon's impending doom on the universe, how and when and if they could ever stop him, Allura, going home to see his mother, Allura, Allura, Allura…

Of those things, however, Allura was what he thought of the most. It shamed him sometimes, because there were so many other things that he needed to think of like war plans and keeping his team safe and what he would do if Zarkon got his hands on her ever again. But he couldn't help himself most of the time, feeling like he was thrown back into high school crushing harder and harder on the prettiest girl at school. Her image often flooded his mind and a newfound sense of calm fell onto him that he hadn't felt in what seemed like an eternity.

She was starlight made flesh and he always thought that if moonlight had a sound, it would be her voice. He also always wondered if she thought anything of him; besides being the closest thing she had to a war general. He'd stare at her in awe a lot whenever they made time to eat dinner together; as a team, as a family. He'd sneak glances between bites of Altean mush and divert his eyes whenever she'd look at him. His heart would sink further and further into the depths of adoration and love whenever she'd laugh at Hunk's jokes and he often times caught himself chewing the inside of his lip rather than the food he was supposed to be eating.

He couldn't understand how she could make him feel so powerful yet powerless at the same time. And it wasn't the sort of powerless that he felt in Haggar's captivity when the druids ceaselessly experimented on him. It was the sort of powerless that could bring him to his knees in front of this goddess that decided to grace them with her presence. He often wondered if he could consider himself lucky to have met Allura, despite their given circumstances.

There were times in between battles and flying through the endless void that Shiro would walk aimlessly throughout the castle when everybody, even the lions, were asleep. The days and night spent in Zarkon's prison haunted him to the point where he thought if he slept now, all of it would be a dream; escaping, becoming the force that could defeat this evil, meeting Allura. And it wasn't uncommon that he would find the Princess roaming the halls herself, a shawl pulled tightly over her shoulders. She'd smile at him and he'd smile at her, and they'd end up on a balcony encased in thick glass that jutted out from the ship. She'd watch the stars as they zipped past them and he'd watch her, eyes twinkling like they knew they belonged among the shooting stars.

And those were the moments he cherished most; the times he and Allura had to themselves to recount their homes. Hers lost, and his misplaced.

"Oh, I wish I could show you the fields and mountains we had on Altea," she said wistfully one night, "they looked as if they would never end. And the flowers. They were absolutely divine."

He looked at her carefully, a soft smile on his lips as she stared off into space like she always did whenever they were alone.

"We have similar things on Earth," he told her quietly. "They might not be as amazing as they were on Altea, but from what you've been telling me, they sound close enough."

She beamed at him when he told her that and he chewed the inside of his lip to keep from gawking at her.

"Lance often talks of the seas Earth has and Pidge speaks fondly of the forests," Allura said to him, eyes looking upward as she recalled what the kids had told her. Shiro nodded.

"They're amazing," he paused and looked at her, "and maybe—maybe when this is all over, I'll take you to see them all."

He realized, more oft than not, that once the war would be over, Allura would have to rebuild her kingdom from the ground up. She would have to find a new planet somewhere far, far, far away from Earth to land her ship and craft a council of non-Alteans to help her rule as the queen she was meant to be. And for all the times he thought of that, he'd push those thoughts away because he couldn't bear to think of what life would be like without Allura in it. And that was him being selfish again; trying to take this queen away from her duties and have her focus on him, but like always, he couldn't help himself. He could have his daydreams as long as they didn't harm anybody.

But she didn't remind him that she needed to be queen after the war's end; instead, she smiled a wide, toothy smile and looked at him hopefully.

"Will you?" She asked and he wondered if she felt the same way about him. He wondered if he'd ever gain the courage to tell her what he really felt.

"Of course, Princess," he promised and wondered if that would be an appropriate time to tell her that he was in love with her. He caught his tongue, then, and figured there would be a different time. A better time to do it.

Of the things Shiro thought of and realized, the one that escaped him was losing track of the time. Of course, the possibility of dying in action sat idly in his mind like a huge boulder blocking the entrance of his peace of mind, but he never put two and two together. He never thought of the possibility of being lost before letting Allura know how he felt about her and finding out what she thought of him (although he had a feeling he already knew what it was); he was always hopeful that the time would arrive before anything befell him. A selfish, and stupidly hopeful thought it was. It clouded his judgement of the way time passed during war.

And so that was where his thoughts laid as he was sucked into some sort of black tunnel. He could see nothing but the princess and he could hear her voice echoing, calling his name. He didn't know where he was going or where he'd end up, or what had happened once Zarkon's battle armor had blown up right in front of them.

It was an eternal darkness that engulfed him and he couldn't tell if he was floating or laying still. He couldn't move any of his limbs, leaving him alone with his thoughts. The thoughts that drifted towards Allura and how he wouldn't get to tell her that he loved her now. He wasn't sure if he would be stuck here forever or if there was even a way to pull him out of it. He didn't know.

Sometimes images faded in and out before his eyes. He wasn't sure if he was imagining them or if whatever put him in this place wanted him to see them. They were images of his team, a ragtag group of teenagers, sleepless and weary. Pidge working incessantly at the command board and in her room, looking for him like she did with her father and brother. He could see Hunk carrying things in and out of Pidge's room, his face pale and contorted with fear. And there was Keith who was in his room, never leaving his room, and barreling punches into the wall until his knuckles were bloodied. Lance stood beside Coran who tried everything he could to find him and when the old advisor grew tired, Lance himself spent the endless nights searching and searching.

Shiro felt pained and helpless, watching as they did everything they could to find him. And he wondered again if he could be found. And he wondered where Allura was during all of this. He wondered if she missed him. He knew that she must've missed him the way a friend misses a friend who moves away; the uncertainty of them returning unknown. But he couldn't help but wonder if she missed him the way he missed her. If she missed their late night talks and the way their skin felt when they brushed each other in passing. He wondered if she missed his voice like he missed hers. He wondered and wondered and wondered until…

There was a soft crying that caught his attention and he found the image of the Black Lion in front of him. She sat upright in her hangar, a few lights illuminated. Shiro didn't know the lions could cry. And he was suddenly sucked into the cockpit of his lion, the dim cabin seemingly empty. It wasn't until the view spun around to show him a figured curled up in the command seat.

Her silvery hair fell all around her as she clutched the bayard close to her chest and cried. Her face was wet with tears and it looked as if she hadn't been sleeping. Shiro suddenly couldn't tell how much time had passed. And he couldn't tell what was real anymore, or even if any of this was real. But it was real enough for him.

The sight of his friends working endlessly to find him and being stuck in this limbo and Allura's tears.

It was bittersweet, the way he found out that Allura did miss him the way he missed her and it made his heart swell with happiness but also deflate in sadness.

"Allura" he whispered, not caring if she could hear him or not. "I'll come back to you."