Allura was strong, none of the paladins doubted it. She had had to deal with so much in such a short time, one of them being that she had slept for ten thousand years and that her entire planet had been destroyed. Even so, she never appeared sad or shaken by the whole situation close to her friends, they had more important things to worry about, just like her, there was no time for sentimentality.
Now that they had succeeded in getting Zarkon to stop following them all the time, they were heading toward the headquarters of the Blade of Marmora, where they would try to form an alliance with the Galra rebels who also wanted to see the Emperor out of power. Allura, despite being able to hide her feelings very well, was not hiding her suspicions from anyone while refusing to agree with that plan. The Galra empire had betrayed her people once, what prevented them from doing the same again? She thought she would never have to trust one of them again, but couldn't deny that the alliance with them would be of great help to their purpose, and Shiro was the first one to be sure they were trustworthy after his reunion with Ulaz.
She understood perfectly. Ulaz had saved Shiro from a terrible fate and she couldn't have been more grateful, but she was almost certain he was one in a million, since the Galra were no more than cruel and vile creatures, who cared for anything but power and wanted to dominate everything they encountered.
If the paladins noticed the Princess's discomfort on the way to the secret base of the Blade of Marmora, they didn't say anything, but Shiro noticed. He always did. Allura's reactions never went unnoticed by him. Whenever she smiled, was tired, sad... And especially when she was annoyed.
"Can we talk for a minute?" Shiro asked as he stood beside the altean. Allura turned away from the holographic screen in front of her to look into his dark eyes. "In private."
She watched him glance at something behind her and also looked, seeing the other paladins and Coran cast curious glances in their directions. They both knew there would be no privacy there and that they would probably be cut short if started to discuss in front of them, so she nodded and walked behind Shiro out of the main room.
"What is so important that they can't speak in front of us? I thought we were friends!" They heard Lance grumble.
"Leave them alone..." Keith sighed.
The door closed before they could hear an argument begin between the two pilots. Shiro led Allura down the hallway until they were far enough from the door and turned to face her, looking deep into her eyes, those bright, bright eyes that he would love to spend days looking at until he'd discovered how many colors there were in them beyond that turquoise blue.
"I know what you're going to say, but I can't just forget all the things Zarkon did to my people and pretend I can trust the Galra willingly!" Allura released the bomb before he could begin to say what he wanted. "Ulaz may have saved you, but thousands of his kind would like to see our heads impaled on top of their ships. You can not be so naive as to think...
"Allura," the tone of the black lion's paladin wasn't reprimanding or authoritative, he'd just spoke loud enough to catch the altean's attention, so she would stop putting words in his mouth. "I didn't call you to try and convince you to trust the Galra rebels of the Blade of Marmora."
She opened her mouth to retort something she didn't even know what it was, but closed it when she heard what he had said.
"You didn't? So what…?"
"I know they hurt you, in a way no one should be hurt, they took everything that was most important to you and betrayed your trust. They also hurt me... A lot."
Shiro avoided looking in the direction of his bionic arm, while Allura's eyes fell instinctively toward it, returning to the paladin's eyes quickly when she realized that it was not nice to stare.
"I'm not going to ask you to forgive what they did, even I don't know if I could forgive them. I just want you to understand that we can't judge others by their species without being sure they are a threat."
Allura's jaw clenched and she frowned, turning her face to the wall beside them as she heard Shiro. He delicately placed a hand on the princess' shoulder, taking a step closer to her. His closeness made the altean's facial expressions softer, but her eyes continued away from his.
"I promise you that I will make sure that these members of the Blade of Marmora are reliable and that they are willing to do anything to defeat Zarkon, and I won't let them approach the Castle or the other paladins until I am absolutely sure they are our allies." He was silent for a while, as if trying to decide what he would say next, or if he should say. "I know you don't trust them and that's why I've brought you here to ask you to trust me. I would never let anyone hurt you again, I will give my life if it is necessary to keep you safe and for the universe to be freed from the Galra empire."
Allura almost caught her breath audibly as she felt the warmth of the paladin's gloved hand slide over her shoulder and up her neck until it touched her face. His touch was so subtle that it was almost as if a ghost touched her, but the sense he conveyed was one of comfort and security. She had to raise her eyes to his, and only then she realized that they were only a few inches from each other, and she could even smell the inviting scent he emanated.
"I trust you with my life, Shiro... But I would never ask you to give yours in exchange for mine." The princess's voice went low and almost failed. How could that mere human was able to make her speechless just by touching her face and being so close, she would probably never know.
The black lion's paladin remembered when they invaded Zarkon's ship together, how she had sacrificed herself to save him, to save the leader of the only beings who could defeat the Galra empire. That was the most selfless action he had ever witnessed, and the one that made his heart hurt the most. He would have stayed in her place if he hadn't been forced to leave, he would have given his life for hers any time, just for being selfish enough not to want to lose the woman he loved.
Allura grabbed his hand on her face, not wanting to stop feeling the paladin's thumb caressing her cheek, but needing to touch him too. In the midst of that war, she was certain that Shiro was her safe harbor, someone she could count on and with whom she had an unquestionable chemistry, and she always loved to talk to him for hours, even if it was discussing the performance of the other paladins. She had spent ten thousand years sleeping and then finally awake at a time when that incredibly handsome, determined, brave human was in her life. And she would spend another ten thousand years sleeping if, when she woke up, he was going to be there beside her.
Without realizing it, their faces were closer, now their noses touched and the altean had her beautiful eyes fixed on the lips of the paladin, wondering how soft they were and how she wanted to find out soon. Shiro took his non-bionic hand to the back of Allura's head and guided her closer, knowing that she wanted it as much as he did, and not hesitating as he joined their lips in a tender, calm kiss.
At first, he just let her get used to the idea of kissing, as he didn't know if alteans showed their affection through that kind of act. But after a few seconds, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his, parting her lips more to deepen the kiss. Without complaining, and loving the fiercest form with which she kissed him now, the paladin allowed her to explore his mouth and did the same with hers, caressing her warm and skillful tongue with his own. Alteans were undoubtedly great when it came to kissing, or at least she was.
The princess was out of breath after a few minutes, but she didn't want to stop, the taste of him was addictive and the heat that spread through her body as his hands ran over her slender body made her want to emit sounds from the back of her throat, sounds which she had never done before. When she felt him bite her lower lip slightly, she allowed that sound to escape, a low moan of pleasure that was heard by the paladin.
Shiro pulled away enough to let his forehead rest on hers and catch his breath, his face flushed, almost hiding the scar on his nose. Despite her darker skin, Allura was also visibly flushed and her blue eyes were half open, still looking ecstatic.
"Do you trust me, Allura?" Shiro finally managed to say as his attention left the swollen, reddish lips of the altean.
"Yes," she whispered, stroking his face and sliding her thumb over his thin lips and strong chin. "Always."
He smiled and laid a long kiss on the princess's forehead, moving farther away so that they could return to the main room with the others, for they would soon be arriving at the secret base. As they stepped into the room, they saw that Coran and Pidge were far from the control panel, looking a little embarrassed by something, while Hunk was gaping beside a mortified Lance.
"What happened?" Shiro asked, slightly concerned with the expressions of the other paladins.
Keith sat in his chair and smirked, not looking at his friend as he spoke.
"There are security cameras in the hallway, you know." Upon hearing this, the two leaders froze in place, both again feeling their faces burn.
How had they not thought of that before?!