So...I've had this written since about a week after season two was released. I'm only just now getting around to posting it, but I hope you like it.
I wrote a small KxA story (for VLD) previous to this and, while I didn't plan for this one to be connected to the first one, it very well could be. So, if you care to, you are welcome to read my other VLD story, Care.
(If you are interested in reading a two-part story I've written based on the original anime, feel free to read About Time and Making a Change.)
Now, on to the story. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own no part of the series, Voltron: Legendary Defender.
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Less than a day had passed since they dealt Zarkon his biggest defeat in ten thousand years and Shiro...vanished. Allura had decided that since they were safe, or at least relatively safe, for the moment, they should take advantage of that fact. After a quick repair, Coran was able to set the castle's defensive sensory arrays to sound an automatic alarm if any enemy ships appeared nearby, allowing the Paladins and their allies to get some uninterrupted rest.
That was a great idea - in theory.
But late that night, Keith found himself in an observatory on one of the lower decks of the castle. He had lain in bed and stared at the ceiling until he couldn't take it anymore. Giving up on sleep, he had gotten up, threw on the closest clothes (a pair of sweatpants and an over-sized shirt), and roamed the castle halls, finally ending up in the spacious room.
Keith looked around, only partially interested in what the room looked like. He had never been in this part of the castle before, primarily staying in the upper levels. The observatory was a large, open room with comfortable looking couches scattered around, all facing the enormous viewing windows. The windows gave a spectacular view of the surrounding space, but as Keith walked farther into the room, he noticed that he was not alone in the room.
He stepped forward and took a seat at one end of the couch closest to the windows. "Can't sleep?" he asked, turning to face the other occupant.
Allura sat at the opposite end of the small couch, curled up under a blanket and staring out the window. She shook her head slightly, not looking at him. "I know I should - I'm still not back to my normal energy levels, but I just couldn't anymore."
Keith nodded, though he wasn't sure she saw. He was honestly surprised any of them could get to sleep at all after everything that had happened in the last...week? Weeks? Geez, he couldn't remember when things had started to go so badly. "Same here," he finally responded and turned back to the window in front of them.
A moment passed in silence before Allura spoke again. "Keith..."
He looked back at her as she continued.
"I must apologize again for how I treated you. After I thought about it, I realized that you had your suspicions for a while, didn't you?"
"After we met Ulaz," Keith confirmed. "When I saw the mark of the Blade of Marmora on his sword, I recognized it as the one on my dagger. It's what got me thinking about my past."
Allura nodded, finally looking at him as she spoke. "You tried so hard to get me to understand that maybe not all Galra are evil and I refused to listen. I'm ashamed to admit that a small part of me wondered if we could trust you...and I feel horrible I even thought that. You have shown over and over that you're loyal to us, to Voltron."
"I don't blame you, Princess," Keith responded. "To be honest, I still have moments when I'm not sure I can trust myself. I still don't know for sure who my blood-relatives are and exactly what parts of me are Galra. What if something were to happen and I turned against you - against the other Paladins - like Zarkon did against your father?"
He tried to keep the self-doubt and worry out of his voice, but must not have been successful, because Allura immediately got up. She laid her blanket over the back of the couch, revealing a outfit of soft pants and a loose sleeveless shirt. She quickly resettled herself next to him and placed one hand on his.
"That will not happen," she said firmly and locked eyes with him. "I know this, because I know you. You are the person that willingly went into battle against Zarkon to help distract him so the rest of us could escape. You are the person who, when you thought Zarkon might be tracking us through you, decided to leave, rather than put your friends in more danger."
Keith interrupted her. "You did, too."
Allura nodded. "That is true, however I was not the one who was carrying all their belongings along with them, was I? Like I said, you have proven that you are loyal and destined to be a Paladin of Voltron."
Keith wasn't convinced by her words and she seemed to know it.
"If you want further proof," she continued, "That you are a friend, a Paladin, and a good person, look at your Lion. Red Lion has the most temperamental of all the Lion personalities. He is extremely discerning when it comes to his pilots and would never have bonded with you if he didn't trust you. And if that isn't enough..." Allura broke off, gathering her courage.
"As you know, the original Black Lion Paladin was Zarkon. But the original Red Lion Paladin...was King Alfor."
Keith stared at her, dumbfounded. "Your father?" he asked, fully aware of how idiotic that sounded - how many King Alfors did he know? Allura nodded.
"Yes. Red Lion would not have trusted you as he trusted my father if he did not see something worthy in you. You are meant to be a Paladin, Keith. And a Paladin has a family that is stronger than one formed by blood - you have the other Paladins, myself, and Coran. We will not break if you need to share your burdens with us. You can trust us to protect each other, even from ourselves."
Keith smiled slightly. "Thanks, Princess...that means a lot to me."
Allura returned his smile and gently squeezed his hand before turning back to gaze at the open space in front of them.
After a few moments, Keith broke the silence and turned to face her. "You know, Princess, that family goes both ways."
She looked at him, a question in her eyes. Keith was suddenly all too aware of her hand still laying atop his own.
"I mean, you just said that I could share my burdens with you, but you can do the same. It can't be easy for you. You're not only the one of the last Alteans, but you're the Princess and you have a history we will probably never know. And while we're out fighting in Voltron, you and Coran are here, keeping the castle safe and giving us a home to come back to. Not to mention the fact that you've pushed yourself to the point of exhaustion several times to push back against Zarkon's rule."
Allura stared at him, not expecting his words; he continued, before he lost his nerve.
"I heard about what happened when you, Kolivan, and Antok went to Zarkon's ship. Going over there like that, when you were already weakened from using the teludav...you are always putting the missions ahead of your wellbeing. We, as Paladins and as your family, need you to be safe and healthy...I need you to be safe."
Keith immediately looked away before Allura could see the blush he could feel rising in his cheeks. A moment passed in silence before she spoke.
"You...you are right, of course. And I thank you. There is much I am not able to speak of yet, however..."
His attention was brought back to her as she spoke. "I have not told anyone this, not even Coran, But, somehow, I think I'd like to share with you."
Allura stopped then and Keith let her gather her thoughts. He turned his hand in her grip and returned the reassuring squeeze she had given him. She caught his gaze and he could see the gratitude in her eyes as she began to speak.
"When I was on Zarkon's ship, fighting the witch Haggar - and I still don't understand exactly what happened, nor how I was not killed - I knocked her to the deck and her hood fell back."
"Was she that ugly?" Keith joked feebly, trying to lighten the mood, even slightly. His effort was rewarded with a small smile from the princess.
"No, Haggar was not ugly. Quite the contrary, actually. She had the purple skin and red facial markings of a Galra...but her bone structure, her ears, her hair..." Allura's voice trailed off again for a moment before she finished her sentence.
"Keith...she's Altean."
That statement hung heavy in the air. Keith was dumbfounded. Haggar, Altean? No way.
"An Altean? Working for Zarkon? Are you sure?"
Allura's face showed her unease.
"I'm sure. I don't know how - I know very little of the events after Coran and I were put into cryosleep. It's possible that she joined Zarkon before he took over. But I know what I saw. Haggar is, at the very least, part-Altean."
Wow, Keith thought, no wonder she couldn't sleep. He gently squeezed her hand again.
"We'll deal with that the same way we deal with anything else - together." Keith realized immediately how that might have sounded and stumbled over his next words.
"I-I mean, you know - as a team. We can figure all this out - Shiro, Haggar, all of it."
Allura smiled at him, returning the pressure on her hand. "Thank you, Keith," she said.
Before he could react, she leaned up and gave him a fleeting kiss on his cheek. He sat there, frozen, as she settled back down beside him, looking at the view in front of them.
After a time, Keith's brain restarted when he felt a weight against his shoulder.
"Ah," he murmured, turning his head to the side to look at her. His next words caught in his throat. She had fallen asleep, her head lying on his shoulder, which explained the weight he felt. A soft smile spread across his face at the sight.
Keith carefully reached around the sleeping princess with his free hand and tugged the discarded blanket from earlier off the couch. He drew it across the two of them and laid his head back against the couch. Sleep was starting to sound pretty good right now.
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"Oh, man...you two are going to be in so much trouble..."
Keith's eyes shot open at the sound of the voice. He blinked, bringing the big form of Hunk into focus. Allura stirred beside him...no...she was on top of him. What the? Keith's senses were fully awake now and he realized that they must have shifted in their sleep.
He and the princess were now lying down on the couch, with Allura's upper body lying across his. Keith felt the blood rush to his cheeks.
"Hmm? What?" muttered Allura, her voice still heavy with sleep. "Hunk? What are you doing here?"
The Yellow Paladin stood a few feet away from the couch, shifting on his feet.
"Well, everyone else woke up hours ago and Coran went to find you, Princess, but he couldn't. The internal castle sensors are still offline, so when we realized that Keith was missing, too, Coran had us split up and search the castle manually. Looks like I was the one to find you...but maybe you didn't want to be found?"
Allura looked down at Keith. He could see the dawning comprehension of their positions rise on her face. They both tried to jump up and away from each other at the same time; Keith ended up falling to the floor while Allura was able to stand up without a problem.
"Nothing happened, Hunk," Allura stated, trying and failing to look like she wasn't hiding anything while Keith scrambled to his feet. "I just came in here to think and Keith joined me. We sat here, talked, and ended up falling asleep."
Reaching up to scratch his neck, Keith couldn't resist teasing the blushing princess, if only a little bit. "You did kiss me, you know."
She whirled on him. "Not helping!"
He grinned, letting her know he was just joking.
Allura addressed the Yellow Paladin. "Hunk," she said, her voice turning to that 'don't-mess-with-royalty' tone it sometimes had. "Nothing. Happened. We merely fell asleep on the same couch. That's all."
Hunk nodded, but was unable to keep much of a straight face. "Of course, Princess...I'll just go tell the others I've found you, so they can stop searching."
The big guy turned on his heel and walked out. Allura picked up the fallen blanket and started to fold it, her movements sharp, betraying her annoyance. Keith took a slow step toward the princess.
"I'm sorry if I upset you," he said, realizing his moment of fun may have really hurt her.
Allura turned to him and he could see forgiveness in her eyes. "It's alright. You did tell the truth, after all."
She laid the folded blanket over one of her arms and held her free hand out to Keith, smiling. "Hunk is right, though - Coran will likely not be too happy that I've 'disappeared' for hours. Shall we face the beast together?"
He took her proffered hand. "Yeah...that sounds good."
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I couldn't resist that little nod to another of my favorite series (if you recognize it, let me know). Please R&R if you liked it.
Trekker