Allura sighed tiredly, plopping herself down onto her satin sheets, mind in a whirl wind. She wanted to think. To think about all the things she'd lost in what appeared to be just a couple of months, but in actuality it had been centuries. Centuries since everything she had ever truly cared about was violently ripped away from her. Altea was gone, her father was long dead, and the to her knowledge, the only remaining Alteans in the entirety of the universe were her, Coran, and Zarkon's vile witch, Haggar.
In all honesty, Allura really didn't give herself time to grieve. If you can call sobbing profusely into the nearest person's shoulder for three minutes "grieving", then maybe she had. But, definitely not enough for her to feel emotionally stable. Obviously, there were many things that caused Allura pain, but there was one thing she refused to ever acknowledge, even when she was deep in her thoughts, and that was her only brother, Lance. Who she believes died in the attempt to stop Zarkon, and even if that wasn't true, even if her precious sibling made it out of Altea unharmed, Allura had been sleeping for ten centuries, surely her little brother would be long gone by now.
Allura shook her head and removed those thoughts from her head, instead she looked around her elegantly decorated sleeping chamber, everything was exactly the same as it was when she first called it her own, thousands of years ago, "Fit for a princess!" her parents would say, smiling warmly, or at least that's how Allura always remembered it.
After a while, Allura eyes wandered towards her digitally projected clock, "11:00 pm earth time. I wonder if anyone is up." She questioned, before quickly getting up to stretch, she guessed at least Pidge would be up, they were always up to something no matter the time. Heading towards her closet for some more appropriate than a pink slip, she eventually walked out of the room with a Voltron onesie on. She got it when the gang went to a space mall, and well there was a really convincing Unnaloo with some very great, totally not self-promoting, merchandise.
As the current paladin of the Blue Lion, Allura proudly wore the Blue Lion onesie, Keith occasionally wore his Red lion onesie, Pidge practically lived in the thing, Shiro only wore it for "family pictures", Hunk slept with it on, and well Coran had to be included so he very happily wears The Voltron onesie, all the lions together into their amazing, Galra fighting space robot.
Allura skipped down the halls, being pleasantly surprised by the echoing laughter filling the corridors. "What could they be laughing at? At this hour?" She wondered, quickening her pace to wherever the cheerful sound was coming from. After about five minutes of randomly popping her head into any rooms she thought could be producing the joyous noise, she eventually stumbled into the lounge, where a projector seemed to showing home videos of Allura, and a random tan, freckle wearing, white haired boy no one knew except her and Coran.
No one asked questions, instead they all continued to enjoy the short clips and pictures, completely ignoring the fact that a boy who looked exactly like her was also there. Pidge was perched on the couch, Keith was sprawled on the floor, Hunk was holding the popcorn, with his legs crossed below Pidge, but at ground level, Shiro sat at the end smiling goofily, his legs crossed over each other as he also enjoyed the Allura compilation, and Coran's eyes were glossed over, completely mesmerized by the screen.
It hurt, seeing Lance hurt, seeing Altea's lush gardens hurt, seeing her parents smiling face hurt. So, Allura quietly sat down, unnoticed, and also decided to indulge in bittersweet memories, and as the salty hot tears ran down her flawless skin, streaking her cheeks, she smiled because even if it hurt. She had a family, and she wasn't going to fight alone, because even if they didn't know everything, they knew something, and that goes a long way.
Keith groaned, two hours of home videos and everyone except him was passed out on the floor. "Are you guys serious? It's not even that late!" He complained, kicking Shiro softly only to find there was no way in hell he was possibly waking Shiro up. 'Fuck me' Keith rolled his eyes, quickly glancing over all of his passed-out teammates.
After a long internal debate, he decided he would go to everyone's rooms, grab the nearest comforter, and gently lay it on top of each one of them. So, without much further delay, Keith made each individual journey to team Voltron's rooms, and helped them stay warm.
Finally, he reached Allura's room which was last on his list. He walked in groggily, it was 1 am earth time, and his body was envious of the satin comforter he saw dead ahead of him. Without really thinking, Keith pulled it off half half-hazardless, and a small piece of paper slipped from out of under the pillow. Suddenly, Keith was interested.
Keith slowly looked around the room suspiciously before quickly approaching the mystery paper. It was upside down, so when Keith went to grab it, he realized it was actually a photograph. Full of questions and anticipation, he flipped it over in his hands, examining it without looking at it, and when he finally did, his jaw dropped.
Keith stared in awe at the man in the photograph, he was clearly a dancer or a model, the point was his body was absolutely perfect, gorgeously sculpted, but not excessively. He looked like Allura, but sex appeal to the maximum, and his smile, oh dear stars, it was obviously flirty, but genuine, with glistening teeth, a toothy smirk. Then there were his eyes, unlike Allura's who's were sky blue, his were sea blue, like the darkest part of the endless ocean. Eyes you could get lost in.
Keith's heart beat out of his chest as he stared down at the flawless man in the picture, that's when the questions stared pouring in. 'Is this the boy from the home videos? Who is he? Why is he so hot?' Keith bombarded himself, not realizing it had already been ten minutes since he first walked into Allura's room, satin comforter laying in a heap next to him.
Begrudgingly, Keith put the beautiful photo down, placing Allura's pillow over it again once again as if nothing ever happened. Then he waltzed his ass out of the princess's room and headed towards the lounge to finally cover her with her own source of warmth.
When he got to the lounge, everyone was exactly as he left them, Shiro was face down on the floor, Hunk leaning on the couch for back support whilst snoring, popcorn spilled everywhere, Pidge still perched on the couch, but laying down arms and legs dangling from either side, Coran in fetal position at the couch's end, and lastly Allura who was curled into a ball near the back. They were all covered now, and Keith happily covered Allura before making his way to his soft, comfortable bed.
The morning was hellish, ever single muscle and bone in Allura's body ached, while it also cried in agony. She struggled to get up, and came to realize she was the last one to get up, after all there were blankets sprawled all over the place, it looked like a bunch of 12-year-old girls had a binge session of the Hunger Games. Yes, Allura knew what that was, thanks to the lovely Pidge, always introducing her to earthen things.
Allura limped her way through the hallways, her body naturally drawn to kitchen for a good breakfast. The closer she got, the more her nose caught of Hunk's exquisite cooking, it was a mutual agreement between the team that Hunk cooks, and whatever castle maintenance that needed to be done would be alternated between everyone, excluding him. The man's a genius, and an innovator when he has a kitchen to his disposal, of course he could be pardoned from chores.
At last, she walked into the not so lively kitchen, per usual Keith was nowhere to be found even though it was nearly 12 pm, and the team gathered around the breakfast bar, probably discussing battle tactics. They were in a war after all.
Currently, Zarkon is out of the picture due to a recent battle between the paladins and him, so his son, Lotor, is in command, alongside his four generals. Lotor and Allura, go way back, Lotor only being a year older, and since long ago Zarkon was the black paladin, he had very close connections to the Altean royal family. Even when they were young, Lotor also had a very strong interest in Lance, and that's probably what ended their friendship before it really ever started. He was forceful, manipulative, and refused to leave her little brother alone even when he repeatedly told Lotor to do so.
After zoning out, Allura eventually joined the discussion, space juice in her hands as they deciphered the details to liberate the next Galra occupied planet named Lazereth. Their strategy was relatively simple ever so slightly routine. They first attack the heavy artillery, with the Blades of Marmora obviously waiting to strike the smaller group of soldiers, then they have all rebel forces in the area get the citizens safety, seems simple, right?
1 pm, Keith finally walks into the kitchen, suited up and ready for battle. "We leaving or what?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow before snatching a piece of toast from Shiro's plate, Shiro looked rather upset for a moment, but then he smiled and simply said, "Alright Voltron, meet you outside the castle in five."
Allura hurried to her room, her body still sore, but too focused on her priorities to actually complain. She walked into her room, almost slipping because onesies don't give you the best traction, and she suit up. Allura wore pink armor, even though she had the blue armor available to her, she wore pink for those who had fallen and did it for Altea, she wore it with pride. Before leaving, she approached her milky white pillow, and lifted it up just enough to snatch the precious picture beneath, it was from Lance's dance team winning Universals (Universal dance competition). She stared momentarily, reminiscing in Lance's giddy smile when he was called to receive the prize, or how drunk he got that night, but she quickly snapped out of it and kissed the picture lightly, safely tucking it back under her pillow.
She was the second outside, soon followed by the others, and with an encouraging bob of the head, they began their course towards Lazareth. When they arrived it was unusually calm, there were no atmosphere intrusion alarms, no fleets on each of the lion's tail. It was uncomfortably comfortable, but they all agreed to investigate. They were all paired, Shiro and Pidge, Hunk and Allura, and Keith was left to go alone.
Keith separated from his team, the all took different directions to cover as much ground as physically possible. He happened to stumble upon the village which was full of life, and there wasn't any Galra to be seen. Keith was suspicious, so he put on his 'Hi, I'm a paladin of Voltron. Please help' face and approached the closest person he could find. Keith lightly tapped them on the shoulder, and an attractive male turned around, he wore a cloak so Keith could only see his jawline, fair skin, and nicely shaped lips, but he knew art when he saw it. "Hi, my name's Keith, I'm a paladin of Voltron. Could you answer a few questions for me?" Keith smiled, eyes a little squinted from the angle of sunlight. The brooding man thought for a few moments before speaking whilst taking his dark cloak off, "The name's Matt, Matt Holt. I'm a rebel fighter and my partner and I have been keeping this place safe." Matt concluded, flashing a smile.
From the moment the cloak came off, Keith knew this was Pidge's older brother, then Matt said his name and it sealed the deal. They looked practically identical, except Pidge's gender expression confuses the shit out of people, while his is clearly not confusing whatsoever. Keith was curious about Matt's partner in rebel crime, but he felt a family reunion was slightly more important at the moment. "Hey, Matt. You know Pidge?" Keith smiled as Matt's face lit up, "YES, OF COURSE! DO YOU KNOW WHERE THEY ARE?" Matt exclaimed, eyes wide and hopeful. "Of course, they're a teammate of mine. I'll call them over right now." Keith concluded happily, calling Pidge over the communication system.
They responded slightly annoyed, they rather not have people talk to them right into their ears all the time. "What's up, Keith?" Pidge asked, not at all ready for the words they were about to hear, "I found Matt. I'm sending you my coordinates." Keith chuckled, grinning wide at the idea of a practically tumbling down the streets Pidge excited to see their brother.
Just as Keith predicted, Pidge was barreling past the villagers, ignoring all of the rules of paladin etiquette. When they saw their older brother, they burst out in a mixture of hysterical crying and laughter, same goes for Matt, they embraced tightly and Keith's heart envied it, but it warmed at the sight. Pidge finally had their older brother back, and Keith couldn't be more thankful to have been part of the process.
The happiness was short lived however, because suddenly the apparently disabled artillery powered on, fleets rapidly approached the ground, and mobs of centuries flooded the streets. "It's an ambush. Fuck. I got to contact my partner, please keep them at bay. He'll know what to do." Matt pleaded, switching on a tiny microphone and bringing earbuds to his ears. They conversed and Matt signaled Pidge to go, but for Keith to stay behind.
Keith was confused as to why exactly he had to stay when he could be helping his team, but he decided not to argue against the people who had managed to keep this planet safe from harm longer than he had. To Keith's surprise, Matt was clearly anxious, pacing around the street in anticipation, "You know your way with knives, right?" Matt questioned, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead.
Keith looked at Matt dumbfounded, searching for any additional cause for his stress other than the invasion, and he couldn't find anything that stood out, other than if he got this anxious, how the hell did he save the planet? So instead, Keith simply answered Matt's question, "Of course I do, moron." Keith replied, still studying Matt carefully even with all the commotion. "Good, because he needs backup." Matt sighed in relief, suddenly looking ten time less tense than he was five seconds ago.
Keith could assume Matt meant his mystical partner, who he also assumed is the guy in charge. Then out of nowhere, from the top of a shop window, a duffel bag fell, catching Keith's attention and then man jumped right after. As soon as he hit the floor, he handsprings himself upwards, picking his duffel bag up with him and checks its contents. The man was lean, tall, muscular build, and wearing a dark cloak. He wore a sniper on his back, and he looked like Keith's person of utmost importance currently.
Mystery man approached Keith and Matt calmly, his plan having already through his head countless of times. Matt greeted him, but left him nameless, and that bothered Keith, he was well aware it was on purpose. They all discussed their tactics, Mystery man is a good shot close and long range, regardless he is smart enough to know backup is necessary, so him and Keith approach the city hall undetected, Matt messes up with the security forcefield around the city hall, Mystery man and Keith go in, negotiate, and this planet is home free.
Keith rather enjoyed the sound of Mystery man's voice, it was confident, but never cocky, reassuringly sweet and soft. It wasn't low pitched nor high pitched, but rather average. Eventually, Keith came out of his little trance when his partner rushed him towards the battlefield, out of the blue, the boy removed his cloak, and suddenly Keith couldn't keep his eyes off him.
It was the flawless man he'd seen in the picture, sea blue eyes, chiseled jawline, long eyelashes, toothy smirk, and Altean markings. All of it, it was all him, and Keith could feel his cheeks turning bright red as he continued to awe at the specimen in front of him. The man chuckled, maybe he was used to this, and then continued to steady his aim. Keith's mind was a mess, his heart was pounding, his face and ears were blindingly red, "What's your name?" Keith finally asked, having gained enough courage to do so, "Lance. Sorry if we didn't tell you, it's a habit." Lance shrugged, thinking of when exactly to time his move, so no one would see him or pretty red boy.
Keith was processing everything when he heard three piercing gunshots, all obviously timed perfectly to allow no interference with Keith and Lance's infiltration of the city hall. The reason they needed to go to the city hall was simply because Lance has something Lotor can't refuse, no matter how hard he tries, Lotor had always taken up the offer, even if in the end Lance weaseled his way out of his end of the bargain. Of course, Keith had no clue as to what that was, but his job was to save Lazereth, protect Lance, and make Voltron proud, so he didn't need to know.
When they marched into the main office, Lotor was awaiting them, he wore a devious face, and his eyes were full of lust. Lotor told the guards at the door to hold Keith's arms, for he wasn't the usual buddy tagging along with Lance, and Lotor had no idea if he was a pest or not. "Ah, my dear prince, what brings you here?" Lotor purred, perching himself on his neatly risen and folded hands. 'Prince?' Keith asked himself, puzzled but deciding to continue to listen. "We have an agreement, Lotor. You come here, and you only leave on the condition that I leave with you." Lance stated blandly, making Lotor purr louder. "Your attitude is overwhelming, but tell me, my dear prince of Altea, what are you when you're with me?" Lotor grinned, tilting his head slightly for he knew the response. Keith came to realize, Lance is the prince of Altea, Allura's little brother, the boy in the pictures, and protector of this planet because of some sick deal.
"I'm your pet." Lance retorted, disgust and distain written on his face, as he shot daggers with his glare. Lotor laughed as he tsked, waving his finger in the air, "That's not right, Lance. Say it right" Lotor glared, obvious sincerity in his tone. Lance took a deep breath, sure he looked in complete control right now, but on the inside, he was on the verge of a panic attack, "I'm your slut." Lance spat, never letting himself waver.
Now, Keith was angry, infuriated, how dare scum like Lotor treat Lance like an object for pleasure. So, with one swift motion, Keith knocked out both of the men who were restraining him and grabbed hold of Lance's arm. In all honesty, Keith scared the shit out of Lance, but he appreciated the gesture. "Keith, it's fine. I'm used to this- "Lance didn't get to finish, for the doors burst open. Allura marched through the door, and froze as soon as she caught glimpse of her little brother. "Lance?"