Author's Notes:

Dropping all my ongoing / current fanfic projects, this is my reply to Cheetoy's KAEX CHALLENGE – ROYAL TWIST, Where Allura is non-royal while Keith is of royal birth.

Because this is a KAEX challenge, the story solely revolves around Keith and Allura. Also, I needed to tame the plot bunnies and contain the story and not balloon into an epic-sized fanfiction. So, for now it is a stand-alone, not-related to any of my other stories. There is the potential to grow as a series or a story arc.

Based on the 80s Voltron / DotU KA: Mullet Keith and Blue-eyed Allura.

Genre: SFR – SciFi Romance.

Definitely AU. Rating T with KA hot kisses.

Chapter One.

When their space ship finally came out of hyperspace, the stars were once again brilliant. He breathed a sigh of relief and eagerly unbuckled his seatbelt.

"I see you're still not used to space jumps," his father said.

"I want to see the stars shining when we travel in space." The young prince bolted towards the floor-to-ceiling viewing windows.

When the comm buzzed, Keith Kogane picked up the holo-videocall. "Yes, Captain Hamada?"

"Your Majesty, we have two hours until rendezvous with Space Station Uluru."

"Thank you, Captain. I'm sure our young space traveller will be happy to know he'll have two more hours in your ship. Well done on the hyper jump."

"Thank you, Your Majesty. It is an honour to journey with the Crown Prince's first official tour." The ship's captain smiled, tipped his hat, and then ended the call.

Ten-year-old Kenneth pointed at the colourful nebulas and galaxies. "Dad, look! It's so different up here versus the telescope from home."

"Your mom loved flying just like you." Keith proudly placed his hand on his son's shoulder.

"Imagine, two hours...just gazing at the stars." Kenneth gave a dreamy sigh. He pressed a nearby panel and raised two holo-bean bags. Walking towards the food replicator, he keyed in two buckets of popcorn. Within seconds, he gave one bucket to his dad and happily plopped himself in one beanbag, in front of the massive viewing windows. "At the rate we're going, I'd say the captain's doing top speed."

"Your Uncle Lance would love to hear you say that." Keith chuckled as he sat on the other beanbag beside his son. "And Nanny would kill us if she finds out that we sat on beanbags."

Kenneth gave a nervous glance."You're not telling Nanny, are you, Dad?"

"No." Keith chuckled, ruffling his son's hair. "Though I will tell Nanny how well you did on your first official tour as Crown Prince."

"Uh-huh," Kenneth said, munching on popcorn. "Two weeks and ten planets with five different languages and I have to write a report about it." He rolled his eyes.

"How about instead of saying it's a report, think of it like you're telling a story. Later on, when you grow up and have kids of your own, you'd remember sharing moments like this." Keith gazed at his son. Kenneth was a spitting image of him when he was his age, except that his son has brilliant blue eyes.

Sitting in companionable silence, father and son sat wordlessly star-gazing as their ship sped across the black vastness of space.

After a few minutes, Kenneth quietly asked, "Dad, how about sharing me your story...of...how you met mom."

"You miss your mom, don't you?"

Staring blankly at his bucket of popcorn, which was nearly half-empty, Kenneth simply nodded.

"Hmm…let me see, where do I start…" Keith thought for a moment as he scratched his jaw.

xoxoxoxoxo

Keith Kogane was quietly enjoying his espresso when someone behind the couch clapped his shoulder.

"How was your final exam this morning?" Lance asked, bounding over the L-shaped couch.

Hunk approached him with his arms crossed.

"Fine," Keith replied tonelessly and then sipped his coffee.

"That shooting match you had this morning," Hunk began, "Neither one of you could win the match, because neither one of you never missed."

Lance snapped his fingers. "Dang, I missed an epic showdown. I had an exam in galactic political science. So, who won?"

Just then, someone strode into the student lounge. Keith choked on his coffee. She's gorgeous as always. His eyes narrowed, staring at the girl in a snug pink tee shirt, grey cargo pants and steel-cap black boots. She stopped in front of the blank bulletin board. "Who do you think won, Lance?"

"What is it with you two? Ever since our first year in GA Academy, you've been toe-to-toe with blonde bombshell. She had aced everything you had aced. It's like tennis for the two of you: game, set and match." Leaning back on the couch, Lance placed his arms over his head. He glanced how Keith stared at his academic rival. Lance raised his brow; he was suddenly curious to try a different tactic. "Or is it, game, set, and love match? Damn, look at the curves on that chick. If she wasn't too perfect like Crankypants here, and equally ruthless on judo and GPAs, I could've dated her."

"You're not her type." Keith said without even looking at Lance. His eyes locked on the flawless figure in pink that patiently stood near the row of bulletin boards.

Without any warning, someone from the GA Academy's office arrived, tacking a printed paper on the blank board.

Keith stood up and walked towards the growing crowd.

"What's eating him?" Lance asked.

"Keith lost to her at this morning's shooting match." Hunk replied as he sat, taking Keith's place on the couch.

"So, that's three straight wins for her, and two wins for our boy. Pay up, big guy." Lance chuckled, stretching out his palm.

Hunk dug deep in his pocket, then handed Lance a couple of bills. "I can't believe you betted against your best friend." His eyes drifted towards Keith who edged his way to see the tacked list on the student board.

Keith glanced briefly at the list, pivoted, and searched for the girl in pink tee. Seeing that she was leaving the student lounge, he pushed his way through the throng of fellow students. "Hey, wait up," he hollered.

She froze in her tracks, hearing his voice. In the crowded and noisy student lounge, her ears easily picked up the distinct timbre of his voice. Her heart slammed in her throat. Why him? What's with Keith Kogane, always challenging and fighting her every move to beat her for top spot? She didn't turn around.

Keith faced her and extended his hand. "Congratulations, Allura."

She stared at his extended hand, and then dragged her eyes to his face. Was he…smiling? Why is he even smiling? Surprised, she hesitantly shook his hand. "Thank you. Though the margin between your final GPA and mine was a mere point zero five."

"Still, you beat me and ranked first. At the end, you won," Keith replied, smiling.

Letting go of his hand, she knotted her brows. If he only knew how many hours she burned just studying for the final exams. And here he was, standing all too relaxed for her liking, when she barely saw him studying at all. "I deserve it. I studied well."

"Good for you. So, you're going to the graduation party tonight?"

"I don't know," Allura rubbed her arm, avoiding his gaze.

"C'mon, it'll be fun," he coaxed.

She merely shrugged. "I have stuff to do." She waved him off dismissively and walked away, leaving him standing, staring after her.

(TO BE CONTINUED)