Voltron the Next Generation
Chapter One
"Fate"
By: Cindra
Notes: I put colons between conversations noting silent thought between two characters.
' Is what I call the Heartlink or private communication between two characters usually a couple. Or rarely parent to sibling. (This is usually the way that soul mates talk to each other when they don't want anyone to know what they are saying.)
( )Twin link can't be heard by anyone but the other twin…or only if someone is extremely strong in his or her mental abilities.
** or italics That represents thoughts of the characters
Rand had Allura trapped. There was nowhere else for her to run to escape her captor. "Where do you think you're going, majesty?" Rand reached down to grab a fistful of her waist length hair.
"Let go of my hair, you monster!"
"I warned you what was going to happen to you if you tried to escape, Allura." Rand pulled out his sword.
"No! Please you can't do this to me! I have a family!" She begged him. "I won't try to escape… I promise." She whimpered.
"It's too late for that, Allura." He wrapped her hair around his wrist and sliced through her hair with the sword, until the huge mass was sheered off completely.
"My hair! My beautiful hair!" She screamed furiously up at him, clawing him across the face with her fingernails.
"Why you bitch!" He retaliated by shooting her with a tranq dart and she crumpled to the floor like a discarded rag doll.
"Get her out of my sight and this time make certain that she doesn't escape!" He roared at his men, before stalking out of the room to go tend to the claw marks on his face.
(Not far from Rand's Base)
"Daddy, you're staying here with the lions and that's final." Andy told her father.
"Since when do you have permission to order me around?" Keith glared down at his daughter.
"When you started to act like a five-year-old whose lost his favorite toy!" She snarled back.
"Get out of my way, Andromeda, your mother needs me!" He physically moved her out of his way.
"Does she need you alive or dead?"
"What did you just say to me?" Keith turned to glare murderously down at her.
"Think about this whole situation, Daddy. This screams trap and mom is being used as bait to lure you into a final show down with Rand!"
"Look, Andromeda, I have been dealing with Rand on my own since before you were born. So let's just drop it." He was tired of going around in circles with her.
"No I won't drop it! You are way too emotionally involved to deal with this situation with a clear and focused mind. You should have stayed home and let us rescue mom. You are no good to this mission, all you are is a liability to it!" Andy regretted her words the instant that she saw the hurt look in her father's eyes.
"Daddy, I'm sorry, it's just that I don't want you to go get yourself killed." She tried to apologize, only to have him vanish in front of her. :Dammit, Daddy, don't do this! You're only going to end up getting yourself killed!:
"Andromeda?" Eric tried to get her attention.
"What?!" She turned around and screamed in his face.
"Let's go." He ordered softly.
"Fine, Captain Lawson, you go on ahead! I'm going to stop my Dad from getting himself killed that's one nightmare of mine that I refuse to let come to pass!" She vanished in front of him.
"Oh hell!" Eric groaned in frustration. "Just once I wish that she would act like a normal female!"
"When hell freezes over comes to mind." Nate grinned at him.
"Did I ask you for your opinion?" Eric shot Nate a warning glance.
"Isn't it obvious, Nathan? Eric is in love with my sister." Ariel sighed dramatically.
"Not possible, Ariel!"
"So you prefer someone prettier than my sister like Angelica Sinclair." Ariel frowned at him.
"Why would you say that? She's the most beautiful woman that I've ever laid eyes on and for the last time I did not have any relationship with Max's baby sister! Angelica isn't even in the same class of beauty that Dromi is!"
"So you think she's beautiful." Nate arched a brow at him, not commenting on the rest about Angelica.
"Then it has to have something to do with her not being smart." Ariel surmised.
"Andy's intelligence is off the charts!"
"So now she's smart and beautiful." Chris grinned.
"Maybe you don't think that you can compete with those suitors that are always bugging her."
"Andy is mine and has been mine since I pulled her out of the lake eleven years ago!" Eric glowered down at her.
"So she's smart, beautiful, and yours. I hate to break this to you, buddy, but it sure sounds like love to me."
"I love Andromeda…" He frowned.
"I love Andromeda!" The frown turned to a grin.
His elation over the realization that he was in love with Andy was overshadowed by the fact that his future wife was most likely in mortal danger and so he shoved that aside and went after his soul mate. "The woman that I love is about to get herself killed!"
"Hey, wait for us!" They ran after him.
Keith and Rand were in the middle of a duel to the death. "Can't you do better than that, Rand?" Keith taunted his opponent, as he dodged and blocked all of Rand's moves.
"I'm surprised that you still haven't lost your edge." Rand reached into the leather pouch on his belt and brought out what would be Keith's undoing. "Do you recognize this?" He held up a long braided plait of what used to be Allura's beautiful blonde hair.
"Allura's hair! You touched her!" He roared furiously at his enemy. His concentration was totally blown and Rand used that to his advantage.
In minutes he had Keith on his knees and at his mercy. "I win and now you are going to finally die at my hand." Rand went to fatally wound his enemy.
"No! I won't let my dream happen!" Andy screamed, throwing her sword at an angle across the room.
Divesting Rand of his head.
"I won't let you kill my father!" She saw just how much damage she had caused her family's archenemy.
*Oh Goddess! I killed him! I wasn't trying to kill him! Just get him away from my Daddy!* She whimpered, trying to keep herself from losing it.
"What have I done?" Keith moaned before passing out.
"Daddy!" Andy shook herself out of her daze and ran to her father. She dragged him away from Rand's body and began checking him for any major injuries. "Thank Arus you're okay." She hugged her him to her. She was so busy tending to her dad that she didn't see the twenty or so scarlet clad ninja's entering the arena.
"Master!" A young ninja cried out at the sight of his slain master. "We shall avenge you!" He vowed, bowing in respect for his slain leader.
"The fight is over. Your master has lost. If you leave peacefully you have my word of honor that you will not be harmed." Andy stood up and bowed in respect to Rand and then to the ninja's.
"You murdered our master?" The young ninja accused her.
"He dishonored my clan." She answered coolly.
"Then you must die as well." He growled, attacking her, only to find that he was hopelessly outmatched and easily defeated.
"Anyone else want to try?" She challenged them.
"I do." A voice growled softly and all the scarlet clad ninja's bowed to Shaitan as he entered the arena.
*Oh Cripes, that's Shaitan...Help! Eric! You coming to my rescue would be nice about now!* Andy tried not to let her panic show when she spoke his name. "Shaitan."
"You, a mere kitten, killed my older brother?!" He snarled at her, not believing her statement.
'Focus, Andy. Stay clam and focused and you can defeat anyone.' She could hear Eric lecturing her in her head.
"Yes." She answered him and prepared for the fight of her life. *I never even got to tell Eric that I loved him! No, that's not going to happen! I'm going to beat Shaitan and then confront Eric about my feelings for him!*
"Impossible!" He sneered, bending down to pick up her sword. "To my Shadow, love Daddy!" Shaitan glared murderously at her as soon as he finished reading the inscription on the hilt of her sword.
'Just stay calm, focused, and in control. Do not let fear overcome you and you can beat him.' There was Eric in her mind again! *Since when was he able to do that?*
"There's nothing left for you, so take your men and leave." She never once took her eyes off her opponent.
"All of you get out my sight!" Shaitan snarled at his men and all but one vanished.
"I want my father's sword and to see the face of his killer!" Jacen recovered his father's sword.
"Jacen Michael, I told you to leave!" Shaitan ordered his nephew.
Jacen ripped off his mask and glared at Andy. "Have you no honor!"
Andy pulled off her mask and glared back at the young boy. "I suggest that you leave, Junior, before you end up getting hurt."
"I will never forget what you did to my father!" Jacen vanished from the room.
"You interfered." Shaitan advanced on her with her own sword.
"I wasn't about to let him kill my father." She hissed back.
"It's a shame that I'm going to have to mar that flawlessly beautiful face of yours." He was almost on her now.
"No thanks, I happen to like my face the way it is." She drew her sai, just in time to block a blow from her own sword, and counterattacked by spin kicking him in the chest.
"You're no match for me, little girl." Shaitan taunted her, landing one blow to her side, while two others just grazed her chest.
"That may be true, but I'm sure going to try to beat you." She vaulted over his head and nailed him in the back with the side of her sai. "And I am not a little girl!"
"I'm growing tired of you, pet!" He easily disarmed her in one move, sending her sai sliding across the arena floor.
"Pet!" Andy kicked her weapon out of his hands. "I'm no ones pet!" She was not expecting him to throw a barrage of ninja stars at her and one sliced up her arm from her wrist to her elbow, sending her to her knees in agony. *I'm sorry, Eric… I never got to tell you that I loved you.*
"Now, I will take you in replace of my brother." Shaitan bent to get his prize, only to cry out in pain, as throwing stars bit into his hand and up his arm.
"Get the hell away from her, Shaitan!" Eric roared at him.
"Well, pet, it seems that you're going to win this round by default." He vanished.
"Oh God!" Eric shouted in panic when he saw just how badly she was injured.
"Andy? Sweetie, it's Eric, can you hear me?" He tore open his first aid kit and began slapping pressure bandages all the way down her wounded arm, but she was bleeding badly and the bandages were soaked in minutes.
"Look, angel, I'm gonna have to sew up that wound or you'll bleed to death." He tried to stay focused, as he gave her a shot to deaden some of the pain.
"This is seriously gonna hurt like hell, but we don't want that wound to get infected." He poured antibacterial liquid all over the long gash on her arm and breathed a sigh of relief when she flinched.
"Now, baby, I need you to lie completely still." He painstakingly sewed up her arm and wrapped it with fresh clean bandages. "Please talk to me, Dromi." He pleaded softly.
"I'll throw up if I open my eyes." She coughed hoarsely, "Are you mad at me?" She whimpered, barely able to talk.
"Oh, baby doll, you could say that I'm seeing you in a red haze." He carefully pulled her onto his lap.
"I'm sorry, Eric."
"You're sorry!" He glared down at her. "You almost got yourself killed, before I can tell you that I love you, and all that you have to say is you're sorry?" His voice gentled and he bent down to kiss her tenderly on the lips.
"It's about time... I have always loved you, Eric." She lost consciousness in his arms.
"Andy!" He gave her a gentle shake, but she wasn't even moving, and her pulse was weak.
"Keith! Wake up!" He shouted over at the man lying on the ground.
"What hit me?" Keith groaned.
"Rand! Now get over here and help me! Andy's in really bad shape! We have to get her home now or we'll lose her!" Eric was amazed to see him spring to his feet and then walk over to him.
"My baby!" Keith eyed his child in horror. "She saved my life..."
Eric stood up with Andy carefully cradled in his arms, "That's right, now let's get her back home."
"Have they found Allura yet?" He frowned at the man holding his child in his arms.
"I couldn't say, sir. I've been chasing after your daughter." He grinned when Keith shot him a lethal look.
Nate was checking Allura for any injuries. "She seems to be fine except for the new haircut." Nate carried Allura out of her cell.
"Mother! What did those monsters do to you?" Ariel eyed her mother in horror.
"Let's go, Ariel, her hair will grow back." Chris and Ariel followed Nate out of the base.
"Eric? It's, Nate. We've found the Queen and are on our way out." He reported.
"Andy is seriously wounded and we need to get home as soon as possible. We'll meet you at the lions." Eric reported.
"Andy! I can barely feel her!" Ariel ran out of the base and to the lions.
(Arus)
"Alex, did you hurt your arm?" Cassie frowned at her niece, who had been pacing the sunroom and clutching her right arm for the past hour.
"No! I'm not okay and I didn't hurt my arm! Dromi is hurt and I'm feeling some of her pain!" Alex snapped at her Aunt.
"Sit down, Alexandra, taking it out on us isn't going to help you or your sister." Lance motioned for her to sit down next to him and Cassie.
Alex scooped Lilly up in her arms and sat down. "Something terrible has happened to her and all that I can do is sit here and wait for them to get here!" She began to cry.
"No cry, Lexi." Lilly sniffled.
Scotty, Alexis, Beth, LJ, Jason, Zach, Kitty, and Shawn ran over to give Alex a hug. "We love you, Alex, don't cry." They sniffled.
"I love all of you too, but I'm worried about my baby sister. I'm glad that Drew, Tony, Matt, and Christy are all still in school for the day." Alex looked over out at the lake and saw that Black lion had landed right in front of the castle. She sprang to her feet and glared at her Uncle. "See! Something is wrong, Uncle Lance!" She set Lilly in his arms and raced form the room.
"Sissy hurt!" Lilly burst into tears.
"Easy, angel, she'll be okay." Lance rocked the little girl in his arms.
Keith carried Allura into the Sunroom and sat down on one of the lounges. "This has been one hell of a day." He groaned.
"What happened?" Cassie raced over to them.
"Andy, saved my life, killed Rand, fought Shaitan, and was seriously injured." Keith growled.
"She doesn't do anything halfway. She's just like her father." Allura whimpered against his chest.
"She's going to be fine." Keith reassured her.
"Fine, is not being put on oxygen! Fine, is not almost bleeding to death! She is not fine! She would have died, if Eric hadn't stopped Shaitan in time!" Allura glared at him.
"Doc Steven's will fix her up as good as new. Speaking of medical attention, I still think that we should have you looked at." Keith eyed his wife.
"I'm fine! My baby is in there fighting for her life and I am not moving until they tell me that she's going to be okay!"
"Momma!" Lilly raced over to cling to her parents.
"Lilly!" Allura scooped her into her lap. "I missed you so much."
"You hurt."
"No, baby, I'm fine." Allura cuddled her in her arms.
"Daddy hurt?" She frowned at his battered appearance.
"No, angel, Daddy's a little bruised and battered, but other than that I'm just fine." He kissed her on the top of her head.
"Mom!" Alex ran into the room and straight for her parents.
"It's okay, Alex. Everything is going to be fine." Allura smiled at her daughter.
"Your hair!" Alex eyed her mother's shoulder length hair.
"Will grow back. Where is Ariel?" Allura asked.
"Trying to keep Eric from breaking down the door of the med-wing... Andy went critical a few minutes ago and Eric lost it." Alex tried not to let the panic and fear show in her face. "What if she dies, mom?"
"She's a fighter, Alex. She isn't going to let this tiny setback interfere with her plans for Captain Lawson." Allura brushed away a tear from her cheek.
"Plans…what plans, Allura?" Keith narrowed his eyes.
"She loves him, Daddy, and he loves her so live with it." Alex glared at her father.
"Let's go, Keith. I need to know what's going on."
"Lance and the others are converging on the med-wing as we speak. I feel so helpless not being able to do anything, but sit and wait for them to tell us something." Keith got up with Allura still in his arms and headed out of the Sunroom with Alex right behind him.
(Days later with Andy still in a coma.)
Eric sat intensely watching for any sign that she was waking up. He hadn't left her side for three days and wasn't about to move until she finally woke up. He had watched as she had fought her way back from the brink of death, only to be told the rest was up to her, after he demanded to know why she wasn't waking up. Her parents and family were going out of their minds with worry and Bella had refused to move from the foot of her hospital bed.
"Please wake up." He gave her lifeless hand a gentle squeeze and almost shouted with joy when she squeezed his hand back. "That's it, sweetie, open those beautiful amber eyes of yours." He growled, his voice hoarse with emotion and unshed tears.
"Eric?" She slowly opened her eyes and frowned at him. "What happened? You look like hell…" She whispered hoarsely.
"You're on Arus in the Medical wing of the castle. Shaitan happened and the reason that I look like hell is because I haven't moved from your bedside for the past three days." He smiled down at her, tears streamed down his cheeks.
"Why are you crying?" She whispered.
"I thought that I'd lost you..." He whispered against her hair.
"And miss hearing you tell me that you love me." She smiled up at him. "Not in this lifetime."
"I love you so much." He kissed her.
Keith stood in the doorway and tried to remain calm. "May I come in?" He walked over to his daughter's bedside. "Hello, angel, welcome back. How are you feeling?" He smiled down at her.
"I'm sorry, Daddy." She whimpered and then burst into tears. "I had to do it! He was gonna kill you." She tried to sit up, but her arms were strapped down to the bed. "I hate this!" She wailed miserably.
"Its okay, sweetie, you get some rest okay." He reached out and brushed away her tears.
"So my worst patient is awake." Doc Stevens teased, as he entered the room to check on her. "Out, you two, I need to check on my patient." He herded them out of her room.
"Eric? May I ask you a question?" Keith pinned him with a look that had Eric rooted to the floor.
"Now, don't go jumping to any conclusions, because nothing has happened between us. Except for one major detail, we both love each other." He eyed him warily.
"If it had you wouldn't be breathing right now." Keith growled softly.
"Now calm down, sir, I would never hurt her." He slowly backed away from him.
"Let's just say that if you so much as cause one tear to fall down her cheek that I will hunt you down and tear you in half." Keith glared murderously at him.
"A tear, sir? Isn't that a little severe?" Eric gulped when Keith advanced towards him.
"Andy never cries, so no I don't think that it's too severe."
"She's a girl and it's common knowledge that all girls cry." Eric tried to get him to see reason.
"You got a problem with that, son!"
"Your damn right I do!" He snarled back. "You have no right setting up rules for my relationship with Andromeda! You're making this into some kind of competition and all I have to say is this! You can take your rules and go to hell!"
"You are really pushing it, mister!"
"No, your majesty! You're the one who stepped over the line! Stay out of my relationship with your daughter!" He stalked off down the corridor.
"I'm not through with you yet! Get back here!" Keith stalked after him.
"I think we are, sire, and if you don't drop this you might end up losing your daughter. You see, when it comes down to it, she sure as hell isn't going to choose you over us. I'm gonna marry her and there's nothing that you or anyone can do to stop me." Eric gave him that warning, before he headed back towards his quarters and a quick shower.
"Did you and Eric have a talk?" Allura frowned at him when he stalked into their quarters.
"He told me to mind my own business!" Keith snarled. "Who the hell does he think he is? She's my daughter and what I say goes!"
"He's the man that's head over heels in love with our daughter. He's also the man that's going to be the one to take her away from you." Allura tried to get him to calm down. "And that scares you to death, because she's found someone that she loves more than you.
"Well, I don't have to like it." Keith sat down next to her and began to sulk.
"She's eighteen and besides that you saw this coming thirteen years ago." She turned his face so he was looking at her and kissed him on the nose.
"She's my baby, Allura. I changed her diapers, gave her that first flying lesson, and taught her that first kick! How can she do this to me?" He buried his face in his pillow like a little kid.
"You are overreacting, Keith. They're only in the first stages of love and he hasn't even asked her to marry her yet."
Keith sat up and frowned at her, "They're way beyond stage one in their relationship and you know it. What if they act on their feelings towards each other?"
"Then we'll throw them the biggest wedding the universe has seen in years." She pounced on him.
"Allura, I can't handle this." He groaned in misery, as Allura kissed all over his face. "Did I mention how sexy you look with short hair?" He pulled her to him and kissed her back.
"You won't believe it, but I feel free and playful with this new look."
"Playful, huh?" Keith grinned at her.
"Yes, darling, very playful." She purred down at him and pounced.
(Later that night in Andy's Hospital room)
Eric and Andy lay sleeping in the king-size hospital bed. Eric had her cuddled against him. Little do they know that they're about to have company.
"Dromi, I had bad dream." Lilly whimpered softly, as she walked into her older sister's hospital room.
"Hmm…" She sleepily opened one eye to look at her baby sister.
"I had bad dream." She whimpered, clutching her stuffed lion to her chest.
"Lilly, you're fine now, go back to your room and go to sleep." Andy mumbled sleepily.
"No, Dromi! Is monsters under bed!" She cried loud enough to awaken the sleeping lion that had Andy cuddled protectively in his arms.
"Monsters?" Eric groaned, "I don't see any monsters?"
"Why's Eric sleepin' with you?" Lilly frowned in confusion.
"Lilly, he... um… protects me from, um..." She glared at the amused smile on Eric's face and tried to explain to her sister why he was in the same bed with her. "Monsters just like Sugar keeps your monsters away."
Eric was desperately trying not to laugh.
"Sugar is with the boys." Lilly was not buying her sister's quick explanation.
"I'm sure that Momma and Daddy will let you crawl into bed with them." She tried to get a handle on the situation, but Lilly became even more upset.
"I tried to go there first, but the door locked!" She wailed, "Why the door locked, Dromi?" Lilly questioned her sister, who was now blushing three shades of red.
Eric was nearly rolling with laughter. "Yeah, Dromi, why's their door locked." He echoed her sister's question.
"Well, Lilly, it's like this. Mommy and Daddy probably wanted some time alone and that's why they, um, locked their door." She smiled down at her sister and tried to ignore Eric completely.
"Why? Don't they love me anymore?" She was on the verge of tears.
"Lilly, they love all of us. It's just that even they need some quality time alone, like when you have tea parties with your dolls. Now do you understand?" She asked gently.
"Oh." She nodded.
"Would you like to sleep with Alex?"
"Can I?"
"Sure just go into her room and crawl under the covers. She's use to it, the boys did that all the time when they were your age." Andy smiled at her sister.
"I love you, Dromi." She blew her a kiss and then went to go crawl into bed with Alex.
"Back at ya, Angel face." She waited until Lilly was gone to deal with Eric.
"I'm sorry, Andy. I just couldn't help myself. She just looked so cute giving you that grown-up look that she does so well and let me say that you did some very fast thinking." He kissed the tip of her nose.
"This is just great, Eric. She's going to smile at Daddy tomorrow and say I went to Dromi's room and found Eric sleeping in the same bed with her." She moaned.
"Then I will say that I was merely protecting you from monsters. Besides, he knows that nothing serious can happen between us, as long as you're still recuperating from your injury." Eric frowned at her.
"Like my father would buy that. He'd tear you in half if he even thought that anything like that had happened between us. I don't even think that he knows about us yet." She sighed in frustration.
"He already knows, Dromi." He whispered in her ear.
"He what?!" She panicked, causing pain to shoot up her injured arm. "How does he know about us?"
"We had a little man-to-man chat after you woke up, about my relationship with you." He tucked her protectively against him, carefully placing her injured arm out of harms way.
"Well? What happened? Did the two of you pound your chests like barbarians or did you challenge each other to a duel?" She yawned sleepily.
"He told me to stay away from you." He growled softly, chuckling when she opened her eyes, and stared at him with amber eyes as big as saucers.
"What did you tell him?" She whimpered.
"That he should mind his own business and stay out of our relationship." He yawned sleepily and tried to go back to sleep.
"I bet Daddy loved that." She giggled. "Well? What else did he say?"
"He said that if I so much as made you shed one tear that he would… (Yawn)… hunt me down… (yawn)… and rip me in half." He was barely awake.
"And?" She jabbed him in the arm. "Wake up and tell me what you said to him?"
"Can't you wait until morning?"
"No, you big macho jerk! I can't wait until morning!"
Eric rolled on his side and pinned her with a lethal glare. "Macho jerk?" He growled at her and began toying with a curly silky strand of her hair.
"Now, Eric, I'm injured so quit thinking what you're thinking." She pulled the covers up to her chin and stared at him with wary eyes.
"Oh trust me, Andy. I haven't forgotten about how furious I am with you." He ran his fingernail along her jaw line.
"I said that I was sorry." She whimpered.
"I told your father that our relationship was off-limits to him or anyone else." His frown turned into a wicked grin. "As for your behavior a few days ago, let's just say that my feelings for you will not effect your punishment for disobeying a direct order."
"But, I had to save my dad...Don't you care that I almost got myself killed?" She whimpered in her defense.
"Yes, I care! So help me if you ever pull a stunt like that again..." His voice trailed off, as he struggled with his emotions, and the scene played over in his mind once more.
"I love you, Eric. I promise that I will follow orders, but don't try to put me in a glass bubble. I don't break that easily and can usually handle any situation." She pleaded in a soft tone of voice and once again found herself tucked against him.
"I love you too. Now let's try to get some sleep." He yawned.
Lilly walked into Alex's bedroom and crawled into bed with her, causing Alex to open her bloodshot eyes to stare down at her little sister. "Lilly, what's wrong? Did you have a bad dream?" Alex cuddled her baby sister in her arms.
"Uh huh. Dromi says come in sleep with you." She yawned.
"She's in too much pain for you to crawl into bed with her, huh?" Alex smiled down at her.
"No, She's got's Eric to keep monsters away."
"Eric?" Alex frowned down at her sister.
"Uh huh." She nodded.
"Poor Eric, he just refuses to leave her." Alex sighed. "That makeshift bed of his must keep him up all-night."
"Is sleeping next to Dromi…" Lilly mumbled sleepily.
"What!" Alex jumped out of bed and went to see what Lilly was talking about.
"She has gone way to far this time." She muttered to herself, as she ran all the way to Andy's hospital room. She peeked inside and there cradled next to Eric was Andy sound asleep in her pajamas.
"Alexandra? What are you doing up at this hour?" Allura frowned at her daughter.
"Just checking on Andy, mom. She seems to be fine, so why don't we both go back to bed." Alex tried to prevent her mother from looking inside the room.
"As soon as I see for myself." She poked her head into Andy's room and frowned. "Oh dear, I'm glad that your father is still sleeping." She whispered.
"Eric refuses to leave her side, so he seems to have found a way to sleep, and keep Andy under his protective care."
"There's no need to explain, honey. They love each other. So it's natural for him to want to protect her. Alex, is something wrong with your arm?" Allura noticed that Alex was favoring her right arm.
"Let's just say that it's a triplet thing and leave it at that." She yawned. "By the way, mom. Lilly crawled into bed with me after she came from Andy's room.
"Oh Dear, this is not good." Allura went to get her youngest daughter.
Eric awoke in the morning to find that Andromeda was nowhere to be found. There was however, one very unhappy father glaring at him and a highly amused mother. *That does it! She needs a keeper!*
"Good morning, Eric. Did you lose someone?" Allura smiled at him.
"Yes, Captain, where exactly is my daughter." Keith glared at him.
"Your daughter needs a keeper." Eric growled.
"Listen, Eric, I know my daughter and you're lucky she even lasted a day lying in that bed. She's like her father and can't stand to be cooped up in a hospital room." Allura smiled at him.
"Let's put it this way, she's not the type of girl that you can keep guarded and protected all the time. She doesn't like to be caged by anyone. So don't even try." Keith warned him.
"Do you really want to start this again?" Eric got out of the bed and stalked towards the door.
"We never finished what we started, Captain. Now get back here." Keith went after Eric, only to be pounced on by Bella who bared her teeth at him.
"Bella! Get off me!" Keith snarled up at the cat, but she refused to move. "If you don't get off me, cat! I will declaw you the hard way!" He threatened her, but she didn't seem at all afraid of his threat.
"Grizabella, move." Allura commanded the cat and Bella reluctantly got off Keith to go and sit beside Allura. "Better now, darling?" She smiled at her husband.
"Yes, darling. Look, Eric. I want Andy to be happy, if she needs you to be happy then so be it, but I will kill you if you ever break her heart." Keith growled softy.
"After I'm through with him of course," Allura added.
"Breaking her heart would be like shattering my own, so that's never going to happen." Eric left them to go in search of his reluctant princess.
Andy sat meditating in her favorite spot, the waterfall where she had always come to think. She needed time to sort out her feelings about Eric and the cagey feeling that she'd awoken with that morning.
"Why aren't you in bed, young lady? You're still recovering from your confrontation with Shaitan." Darian appeared out of the shadows.
"I needed some air."
"From whom," Darian asked the one question that she didn't want to answer and he knew it.
"From the situation…" She frowned.
"What situation?" He continued with his questions and her frown deepened.
"I don't want to talk about it."
"I can make you tell me, Andromeda." He warned and she opened her eyes to glare at him.
"Don't even go there."
"Then talk to me." He ordered.
"Fine! Here it is all of it! A few days ago I killed Rand and paid for my actions by losing to Shaitan and almost bleeding to death! I was then rescued by Eric. He finally told me that he loved me, and that shocked me to my toes, Uncle Darian! Then two days later I wake up bound to a hospital bed and what felt like a collar around my throat with Eric holding the leash! So I fled in terror to my sanctuary." She snarled at him in frustration.
"So you feel like someone has put you in a cage." Darian mused.
"I can't stand to be given guidelines, Uncle Darian, you know that! How, in the name of Arus, can I ever hope to withstand a serious relationship with Eric?"
"That's not easy, Dromi. It never is, but you can't let your fears drive you away from Eric. You love him too much to do that." He lectured her.
"He's like my soul mate. It's like he completes me and I think that we even share a sort of mental bond with each other." She sighed. "I love him so much that I hurt and that scares the life out of me."
"My advice to you is to take this relationship slowly and not let your emotions cloud your judgment."
"Do you honestly think that I'm ready for that yet?" She glared at him. "He hasn't even really kissed me yet and you think that I would be stupid enough to do what you're thinking! Leave before I hurt you!"
Darian beat a hasty retreat.
"And don't come back! Honestly, men can be so one-track minded sometimes!" She fumed and tried to go back to meditating, but instantly knew that someone else was watching her and it wasn't Darian. "Whoever you are, go away! I am not in the mood for any visitors." She warned her intruder.
"Is that right, Princess?" Jace jumped off his perch and landed a few feet away from where she was sitting.
"You really are Rand's son." Andy opened one eye to glare at him in annoyance.
"So you remember me." He was gawking at what she was wearing. "You don't dress like a ninja."
"Really and how exactly am I supposed to be dressed?" She asked, her voice oozed with sarcasm. "Is there something wrong with what I'm wearing?"
"No, but how do you expect me to kill you when you're dressed like that!" He snarled at her in frustration.
"Listen, junior, let me give you a little lesson about your life and how long that you're going to live it. You can: a) Be smart and go back home to your Uncle, b) Continue to drool at me and I make you sing soprano for life, c) Fight me and die anyway, or lastly and certainly not least d) Act like your father and perform all the above." She gave him a lethal grin.
"How can an injured girl like you expect to fight a trained ninja like me?" He laughed down at her and stopped laughing when Andy stood up to brush herself off.
"Listen, Jacen Michael, you don't get it do you. I've had more training than you. I'm better than you and frankly you don't even scare me." She rolled her eyes at him, sat back down, and closed her eyes.
"My Uncle prepared me for any situation and a girl will not insult me or my family name!" He attacked her, only go flying into the water.
"Next." She smiled, listening as Jacen sputtered to the surface.
"I'll get you for this!" He roared at her before he vanished from sight.
Andy laughed until tears were streaming down her face.
She looked up to see Black lion hovering directly above her. "Now the real fun begins."
Eric landed his lion and was standing in front of her in less than two minutes. "Andromeda Marie! Would you mind telling me what the hell you are doing out here communing with nature, when you just woke up out of a coma yesterday!?" He glared down at her, but she continued to act like she was meditating and ignored him.
"Hello, Eric." She opened her eyes and smiled up at him.
"Hello Eric!" He snarled down at her "Is that all that you have to say!"
"Hello, Eric. I love you." She purred up at him.
"Oh no, Andromeda, don't think that you can sweet talk your way out of..." He finally noticed what she was wearing. "What are you wearing?" He growled hoarsely when she stood up and walked over to him.
"You like?" She smiled, showing off her outfit.
"This isn't gonna work, so just sit back down and listen." He tried not to give in to what his mind was screaming for him to do. *Look at her and she's all yours, so don't just stand there claim your prize.*
"Eric, I was wondering." She walked into his arms and cuddled against him. "Are you ever gonna kiss me?" She stood on her tiptoes and placed her lips against his.
"Andy, don't play with fire, unless you wanna get burned." He warned before running his hands through her glorious mane of hair and crushing his mouth down against her own.
Andy was lost in the kiss and his hands were slowly roaming down her back, as he pulled her even closer against him.
It only took a split second for her to break off the kiss and then run to Blacky in terror. *I'm soooo not ready for that yet and that was just from one kiss!*
"I hope that water is cold." He groaned, stripped down to his shorts, and then dove into the water. He surfaced near the waterfall and shook his head in frustration, cursing himself for frightening his future bride out of her skin. "She'll probably run and hide whenever she sees me." He groaned and decided to swim his frustration away. *She's mine and that's all that matters.*
Andy sent Devil, Eric's horse, to fetch him, as soon as she had landed and was back at the castle. She ran into the castle, only to find herself face-to-face with her grandfather's ghost, and he didn't appear to be very pleased with her.
"Why do you insist on causing so much trouble? You are the crowned princess and it is high time that you started taking the role as heir to the throne seriously!" King Alfor lectured her and frowned when she rolled her eyes at him.
"Look, Grandfather, I can't help it if trouble follows me wherever I go." She pouted when he continued to glare at her.
"From this moment none of the lions will be able to be activated by you until your arm heals. You will behave and dress like the Crowned Princess of Arus." He pronounced his judgment and then vanished.
"But, Grandfather, that's so not fair!" She wailed in protest then grumbled when she saw that her mother had heard the whole thing.
"Father is right, sweetheart, and right now is the perfect time for you to get started. Just think of this as a mother and daughter spending quality time with each other." She said happily, dragging her with her into the castle.
Eric wasn't in a very good mood when he returned home to the castle and getting riled by Nate was not making him any better.
"Hey, Eric! Did you see what she's wearing?"
Eric chose the silent treatment.
"Andy is, well…you should see what she's wearing!" He grinned at Eric who kept walking towards his quarters.
"Nathan, if you value your life you will leave me alone right now." He growled, "I know what she's wearing and why should you care?" He glared at his friend.
"Because, she hardly ever wears a dress." Nate frowned at him.
"A dress?" He narrowed his eyes at him, "Nathan, when she ditched me at the waterfall she was wearing a tank top and shorts, not a dress."
"Well then, something major went down when she came back home, because she's dressed like the crowned princess tonight. Oh and dinner tonight is black tie and all of us are supposed to be there." Nathan broke that news to him.
"Whatever, Nate! Now let me go take my shower in peace!" He grumbled before he entered his quarters and headed for the shower, which he stood under until the water ran cold, and he was forced to turn off the water and get ready for another boring formal dinner.
He found that his dress uniform was pressed and hung on the hook on the bathroom door. He could also hear muttering coming from the other room. So, he stuck his head out the door and found Andy sitting on the small couch in the corner of his quarters wearing a red strapless crushed velvet gown and her princess regalia. She was breathtaking and angrier than all get out about something.
"What's wrong, Andy?" He asked from behind the bathroom door.
"Hello, Eric." She smiled her fake princess smile at him.
"My poor, darling, what are they doing to you." He wanted to go cuddle her in his arms, but then he was still only in a towel.
"Can you believe what they've done to me?" She grumbled. "I have to behave like the crowned princess until my arm heals."
"Whose idea was that?" He asked from the bathroom as he dressed for dinner.
"Grandfather's can you believe it! Now he decides that I should act like the heir to the throne. I can't even access any of the lions." She continued to vent at him, but then stopped talking to stare at him as he walked out of his bathroom with his shirt unbuttoned.
"Poor baby," He crooned down at her, frowning when he saw the way she was staring at him. "Andy, what's wrong?"
"You're a dream hunk." She whispered taking in the view in front of her. *I can't believe that I just said that!* She was blushing from the roots of her hair to her scarlet painted toenails.
"What did you say?" He asked huskily, not believing his own ears, then again she was blushing scarlet so she must have said it.
"What? Me? Oh it was nothing, um, forget I said it." She replied in haste, but Eric sat down next to her and her heart skipped a beat.
"Dromi, tell me what you said." He nuzzled her ear.
"Eric, please forget it." She pleaded with him, but was lost when she looked into his golden eyes. "I said that you were a dream hunk." She whispered breathlessly.
"Now that wasn't so bad was it, sweetheart." He began to explore her face with his mouth.
"No…" She whimpered softly. She felt like she was melting in his arms and all she could do was sit there. "Eric, it's not fair if I can't touch you and have to just sit here and die a slow wonderful death." She whimpered in protest when he trailed kisses down her neck and then upwards until he was lip locked with her mouth.
"You can touch me, just be careful with your arm." He helped her wrap her arms around his neck.
"That's much better." She kissed him back.
"Sweetheart, we have to slow down." He groaned, as she raked the fingernails of her good hand up his back.
"Why." Her hands were now exploring his chest.
"Because this kiss is turning into a full-blown firestorm," He growled against her mouth.
"I love you, Eric." She began to rain kisses all over his face.
"I love you too, angel, and that's why we have to stop this before we lose control of the situation." He growled hoarsely.
"I'm sorry." She buried her face against his chest.
"There's nothing to be sorry about. We just have to take this one step at a time." He cradled her in his arms.
"These feelings are so intense that they scare me." She whimpered.
Eric removed her crown, pulled her onto his lap, and tucked her head under his chin. "I know, angel, believe me I know." He groaned.
"Keith, quit glaring at Eric and act like a proper ruler." Allura hissed in his ear.
Keith was glaring murderously at Eric, who was currently kissing his baby girl, as they danced around the ballroom floor. "It's bad enough that they love each other, but do they have to kiss like that in public!" He snarled and Allura jabbed him in the ribs.
"If I recall correctly you couldn't keep your hands-off me when we were their age." She grinned at her husband who was blushing. "Besides, the people love this. They've never seen her so calm before and frankly, Keith, neither have I." She sighed.
"Are you saying that Eric is her perfect match?" Keith arched a brow at her.
"Yes, she's found someone that understands her completely and who isn't afraid of who she is."
"Father, you really must stop frowning and relax. She looks stunning out there on the dance floor with Eric. Although, they do need to know how to be more discreet." Alex frowned at her father.
"They're only kissing, Alex, a kiss by a handsome man never hurt anyone, try to enjoy the evening. You can stop pouting now, Chris is back from patrol." She smiled at her oldest.
"Sorry that I'm late, angel." Chris smiled at her and brought her gloved hand up to his lips and kissed it. "Would you care to dance or take a walk in the garden?"
"A stroll in the garden is a wonderful idea." She smiled up at him and threaded her arm through his.
Ariel and Nate watched the scene from where they were cuddled up in the corner. "Love is so wonderful." Ariel leaned her head against Nate's shoulder.
"Ariel, look at me." Nathan growled softly and when she tilted her chin up to gaze up at him kissed her softly on the lips. "I love you."
"Nathan, I love you too." She wrapped her arms around his neck and returned his kiss.
"Oh My God!" Keith panicked, as he watched his two daughters willingly kiss their escorts in public. "I've had enough of this and it is going to stop right now!" He dragged Allura with him off the dance floor and headed towards Ariel and Nate.
"Now, darling, calm down," She tried to stop him as they advanced towards Nathan. "Let's not overreact."
"Overreact! Look at where their hands are and then look over there and tell me where his hands are!"
"They're eighteen and old enough to get married, so quit acting like a father and be happy for them." Allura hissed into his ear.
"They're my babies and I can't stand to see grown men with their hands all over them!" Keith lost it and the whole room went silent.
"Daddy! Could we speak to you for a moment?" Andy blushed three shades of crimson.
Ariel didn't say a word, she ran from the room in tears.
"Ariel, wait!" Nathan called.
He then turned to glare at Keith. "Are you satisfied now? We're going to marry your daughters whether you like it or not and there's nothing wrong with what we were doing. Kissing is not against the law!" Nathan punched Keith in the jaw. "Now I have to go find Ariel." He stalked off.
"Daddy, you're behaving like the three of us are deserting you, but we aren't! We love those guys with all our hearts and are going to marry them! So, just grit your teeth and keep your opinions to yourself!" She shouted angrily at her father, daring him to respond with her eyes.
"You will not speak to me in that tone of voice!" Keith glared down at her.
"I will speak to you in any tone that I feel like! I am eighteen and not a child anymore and deserve to be treated like an adult!"
"That is quite enough, Andromeda!" Allura slapped her hard in the face.
"Mother!" Andy recoiled from the sharp sting to her face.
"I will not have you talking to your father that way is that understood!"
"I can't believe that you're going to take his side on this one! I don't know why he's acting this way? I saved his life! You would think that in return he would back off and let me live my own!" She almost plowed over Eric in her haste to leave the party.
Eric had remained silent until now. "That does it! You have gone too far this time! I'll give you three guesses as to where she ran off to." He barely kept his temper in check. "I warned you that you would lose her if you continued to push this issue with her. I have a mind to go find her and then elope with her at the..." Allura reached up and grabbed a fistful of his hair.
"My daughter is going to be married in a beautiful wedding ceremony! Kissing is fine! Anything else before I see a ring on her finger in front of a church and the entire family is not tolerated! Do I make myself clear?!" She pulled even harder on his hair.
"Yes, your majesty, may I go now?" He whimpered like a scolded puppy.
"Yes, you may, but don't let me hear of any funny business or you will be singing a new song." She smiled serenely at Eric and then laughed when he bolted from the room in terror.
'As for you, Keith Michael, if you don't start acting like a sane person, you will be spending three weeks on the couch in your office!' She glared at him.
'Yes, Dearest…' Keith looked as if she had hit him.
"That's much better, now dance with me." She smiled up at him.
"You're lethal, I hope you know that." He growled down at her and then pulled her to him for a kiss.
"Yes and don't you ever forget it." She kissed him back.
Christophe and Alexandra were enjoying the tranquility of the garden maze and were unaware of the danger that lay ahead. Shaitan, Lotor, Devon, and Jacen were waiting for them at the center of the maze.
"This was a wonderful idea. I love being out here alone and under the stars with you." Alex sighed contently laying her head on his shoulder.
Chris stopped walking and pulled her into his arms. "Alexandra, is it safe to kiss you or are you still miffed at me for being late." He tilted her chin so she was looking into his eyes.
"Does this answer your question?" She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him.
Lotor was tired of waiting in the center of the garden maze and began to make his way towards the two lovebirds. "I see that he knows what he wants and takes it." Lotor grinned in approval when he spotted the couple kissing. He pulled out a tranq-gun and shot his son in the arm, causing Chris to collapse onto the soft grass of the maze.
"Christophe!" Alex cried out, dropping to her knees beside him.
"You are a pretty little thing aren't you?" Lotor appeared out of the shadows.
*Why didn't I pay more attention when Aunt Sheena was teaching us how to defend ourselves!* She tried not to panic. (Andy! Ariel! Help me!) She sent out a mental distress call to her sisters.
"What do you want, Lotor?!" She hissed fiercely and tried her best to protect her man.
"My son." He walked towards her.
"One more step and I will scream so loud that everyone in the castle will come running out here!" She warned him.
"I didn't come alone, kitten." He grinned evilly at her and the people in question appeared behind him.
"Dromi!" She wailed in terror, as she tried to drag Chris out of the maze.
"It's hopeless, Alexandra, so be a good little princess and we won't harm you." Shaitan growled.
"Dromi! Ariel! Eric! Nathan!" She shouted at the top of her lungs. "I need help!"
Andy paced the carpet of Eric's quarters and stared out of the huge window, his room had a perfect view of the garden maze.
(Lexi?) Andy frowned when she felt and heard her sister's frantic cry for help.
"Oh cripes, Alex and Chris are in major trouble!" She threw the nearest thing that she could reach, in this case a two-hundred year-old antique chair into the window. Effectively shattering the window, activating the castle alarms, and tearing open a few stitches on her arm in the process. "Dammit, that hurt!" She winced in pain, grabbing her arm.
(Hang on, Lexi! I'm coming!) She sent Alex the message.
"Damn! I can't fight in this thing!" She fumed, catching the material of her gown on what remained of the shattered window. She kicked off her heels, ripped the skirt of her gown until it resembled a mini dress, and raced into the maze.
"Andy! What, in the name of Arus, is going on in here?!" Eric ran into his quarters, just in time to see her jump out of his window, "Just once I wish that a day would turn out to be normal and boring!" He made a mad dash towards the control room and the tram to Black Lion.
"Now what?!" Nate growled. "Look, my Fire, we have to go to work, so you have to snap out of this."
"Alex, is in trouble!" Ariel jumped to her feet and ran out of the room.
"Ariel, wait up!" Nate ran after her.
"I can't! Alex is in way over her head!" Ariel shouted back running right into her father's arms.
"Care to explain why Eric no longer has a window in his room?" Keith frowned at her.
"Alex is in trouble, Daddy! Andy must be trying to rescue her, despite her injured arm!" Ariel winced when her arm began to ache.
"Black Lion just launched, so that means that Eric is on-the-job." Nate frowned.
"Shaitan, Devon, and Lotor, are all outside in the garden maze. Chris is unconscious and Alex is by herself!" Allura ran over to them.
"And I was hoping for a fairly boring evening." Keith snarled. "Let's go, but I'm willing to bet the crown jewels that Andy has this wrapped up before we get there."
"What the hell are you doing on my planet and what's wrong with Chris!" Andy appeared in front of her sister.
"Well, if it isn't the injured little kitten. Did you come back to finish where we left off?" Shaitan smirked at her.
"Not even on your best day, Shaitan. Ask your nephew what happened when he tried to attack me at the waterfall this morning." She shot back and grinned when Jacen's face flushed crimson.
"Yeah, well, you got lucky!" Jacen snarled at her in his defense.
"Lucky?" Andy laughed at him. "I was sitting on the grass in a lotus position and bested you with one arm and my eyes closed." She nailed him in the arm with three throwing stars.
"You are gonna pay for that!" Jacen clutched at his injured arm.
"That happens to be my nephew, little kitten." Shaitan attacked her, but fell to his knees in agony when she slammed a kick into his groin, and then followed through with a kick to his face sending him sprawling, and knocking him out cold.
"Next." She grinned.
"Andromeda, quit showing off and help me!" Lotor had Alex in a chokehold.
"Yes, hellcat, help her." Lotor growled.
"Don't worry, Lexi, it's going to be okay." She concentrated on getting Alex free from Lotor without hurting her.
"Andy, what are you up to?" Alex eyed her sister with wary eyes.
"Trust me, big sister. I know what I'm doing. Just don't move."
"If you try anything, I'll break her little neck." Lotor snarled at her just as he was kicked in the side of his face with her foot.
Alex was flung to the ground and Lotor went flying into one of the tall hedges.
"You were saying?" She helped her sister to her feet.
"Alex, are you okay?" She asked and was immediately hugged by her sister.
"Yes, I'm okay. I think that it might be a good idea to finish my training, after all. Do you think that you can find the time to help me?" Alex smiled weakly up at her sister.
"Look, Alex, we'll discuss this after I take care of Devon and the little brat that tagged along with him." She crooked her finger at Devon's twelve-year-old daughter, Diana.
"I just came to watch, besides I'm a kid." She snapped at her.
"Look, baby-doll, you're safe as long as your father doesn't try anything." Andy told her.
Devon pulled out a phaser and fired two warning shot at her. "Try to stop me." He snarled.
"Excuse me, Devon, but that's my future bride that you're shooting at!" Eric hovered above him in Black lion and all weapons where targeting Devon. "So I would suggest that you drop the phaser, before I drop you six feet under!" Eric's angry roar echoed in the night air.
"Hi handsome. What took you so long?" Andy took down Devon with a well-aimed kick.
"Gee, honey. I couldn't let you have all the fun." Eric shot back.
"Run along home now, little girl, because your Daddy is going to be locked up for a very longtime." She ordered the girl, who did as she was told.
"That's it, brat, run back to Mommy!" Eric didn't land his lion until Diana took off in her father's shuttle.
"So much for me acting like the crowned princess," She grinned at her sister.
"Dromi, you couldn't be a proper princess if you tried." Alex hugged her.
"Hey, not in front of the parents or they'll think that we actually love each other." Andy turned to greet her parents, who had finally arrived on the scene.
"Do you have any idea how old that chair was that you crashed through that window and what happened to your beautiful gown!" Allura eyed her daughter in disapproval.
"I think that taking down those guys was a lot more important than the chair or my gown," Andy grinned at her parents.
"Excuse me?" Eric pulled her into his arms and frowned down at her.
"Well, maybe not Devon. Eric saved my skin on that particular situation." Andy muttered under her breath.
"Darn right and you, my princess, need a keeper." He growled that last part into her ear.
"Are you asking me what I think that you are asking me?" She purred back at him.
"I had hoped to do this properly. When we were alone during a candlelit dinner for two, but we'll both be old and gray before that'll ever happen, so will you marry me?" He stared down at her smiling face.
"Eric Anthony Lawson, it would be my honor to become your wife." She whispered softly and was rewarded with a nice long kiss.
"Well, Allura, you'd better start planning the wedding." Keith took out his frustration on the only enemy that was still moving by giving Devon a knock out blow to the face.
"This is wonderful! The two of you are such a perfect match and Andy will look smashing in a beautiful wedding gown." Allura was on cloud nine, while Keith became even more depressed.
"One thing is for certain. They need to choose a site for their new home." Keith growled, giving Allura a stern look when she went to protest his decision.
"We have the perfect location in mind, the meadow by the waterfall." Eric grinned.
"Eric, you remembered." Andy cuddled against him.
"Just think, angel, a place where we can be alone with no interruptions." He pulled her into his arms and frowned when she flinched in agony. "Did you open the stitches on your arm?" He pulled her away from him and eyed her injured arm.
"It's nothing, Eric. I just popped a couple of the stitches." She shrugged her shoulders.
"Nothing! Look at your arm and tell me that it's nothing." Keith eyed the dark red stain on her bandaged arm.
Eric swept her up into his arms and carried her into the castle. "You definitely need a keeper." He growled down at her.
"Well, I did take out your window, so you could bunk with me tonight." Andy winked at him.
Keith ran over and took her out of Eric's arms. "I'll handle it from here and you're going to sleep in one of the guestrooms. Is that understood, Captain?" Keith ordered him.
"Daddy, you're no fun at all." Andy pouted up at her father.
Next Chapter Two
I in no way own any of the original characters in this story and Voltron. The new characters on the other hand are mine and under no circumstances are they to be used without my permission.
Cindra©1998-2015
