Notes:For a tumblr prompt game: things you said when it was over.
Real talk, I wanted to title this "i can show you the world", but I resisted. Instead I used a line from one of my favorite songs, Fade Into You.
"I imagine you'll be returning home now."
"Oh, uh, will I?" Shiro stuttered.
It hadn't even been a full Quintent since it ended—the war with the Galra empire. The rest of the team had spent the first few Vargas dog piled together, exhausted from their long final battle. One by one they'd each slipped away, Pidge and her brother slinking away to spend time with their father and get him cleaned up, Hunk following Coran to the kitchen, and Keith and Lance retreating to their own corner of the castle ship.
Shiro and Allura were the only pair left. She was tucked against his left side, leaning her head on his shoulder and he was absently stroking her arm.
She sat up and met his eyes. "Won't you?" she questioned evenly.
Shiro's heart shot up into his throat at the thought of what happened next. They didn't have to fight a war anymore; they could go home.
Allura was still looking at him, waiting patiently for his answer.
"I mean, I miss it…" Shiro said, trailing off. He tried to picture going back to his life as it was before everything. "I can't imagine going anywhere in the universe that didn't have you there, too."
"Shiro?" Allura tilted her head. Shiro took a moment to admire how beautiful and resilient she was—she had led them so fiercely in the battle.
The words danced on the tip of Shiro's tongue, the ones he had yet to say.
"Allura. I love you. I want to stay by your side," he said, picking up her hand and bringing it to his lips to drop a kiss to her palm.
Allura cupped his face and smiled serenely at him. She leaned forward and gently butted their foreheads together and they sat like that for a moment.
"Don't be silly," Allura whispered. She brought her other hand up to delicately trace Shiro's jaw line. "You need to return to Earth with the others. They need you more than I do."
Shiro made a sound of protest and leaned closer to kiss Allura, pouring all of his jumbled emotions into it, trying to convey what he couldn't quite put into words. She met him just as eagerly, making a faint sound as their lips moved together. An idea occurred to Shiro and he pulled back, feeling a stir of excitement fluttering in his stomach.
"You could…you could come with me?" he asked, smoothing his thumb over her cheek.
"Shiro, wha—"
"Come with me," Shiro repeated eagerly. "It's over now. I could show you the mountains, and—and the oceans! I think you'd like it."
"What about the universe? It can't just protect itself," she insisted.
Shiro's heart swelled with how much affection and love he had for her. He felt his face split into a grin and he couldn't contain himself, he swooped in again to kiss her deeply, sliding their tongues together and relishing the way it made her shiver in his arms and scrape her nails against his scalp.
"Princess," Shiro pleaded breathlessly when they pulled apart. "Please. Come to Earth with me, and we'll keep the castle ship nearby so that we can return to open space anytime you'd like. We're not just going to stop being the Paladins of Voltron because we've overcome the Galra. Just…come with me."
Allura looked overwhelmed for a moment before her face cleared and her brilliant eyes lit up. "Okay," she agreed, quietly at first, as if she was still convincing herself that it was a good idea. "Okay, yes, I'll go with you!"
An elated laugh bubbled out of Shiro as he wrapped her up in his arms and pulled her into a tight embrace. She hugged him back just as fiercely and buried her face against his neck, her soft hair tickling his chin.
"I love you," Shiro repeated quietly, dropping a kiss to the top of her head.
"Love you, too," Allura murmured back, her voice muffled by his neck.
