I've had this story written for awhile, but have been so busy with life that I haven't been able to post it. Thanks once again to my wonderful friends, Mertz, Wade Wells, and Xia for editing.

Let me know what you think!

I do not own Voltron or the WEP characters!

Peace has visited Planet Arus and the members of the Voltron Force prepare for a nice relaxing day. Lance walks next to Princess Allura out of the main entrance of the castle, carrying a basket filled with food for a picnic. Lance asks, "Wow, what did Nanny pack in here?"

Allura giggles, "Why Lance? Is it too heavy?"

"Ahhh…of course not." Lance says as he straightens his posture and puffs out his chest. "It just seems like there is a lot of shi…I mean stuff in here." Allura smiles at Lance's cover.

As they walk out of the castle, they see the rest of the group waiting for them by the carriage that will take them to the picnic site.

Hunk notices Lance struggling with the heavy basket and takes it from him as he smiles at him. Keith smiles at Allura as she walks up to him. Trying not to make it obvious, Keith runs his eyes along her body. He feels a tightening in his groin as he watches the way her knee length sun dress sways with the movement of her hips.

"Hi." Keith says.

"Hi yourself." She replies and begins to enter the carriage. As Keith takes her hand to help her up, the castle alarms begin to blare. Looking up into the sky, Keith notices many small images blotting out the light from the sun. "Doom! Let's get back into the castle!"

"Ah man! Not now!" Lance whines and runs with the group back into the castle.

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As the Voltron Force enters castle control, Keith says to Coran, "Let me guess…Lotor!"

Coran nods his head in agreement and raises the chutes that will lead the force to their lions.

As the lions meet in the air, Keith says, "Let's get rid of them quick so we can still have our picnic!"

"You don't have to convince me." Says Lance.

Hunk agrees, "Me either…I'm really mad. I could taste Nanny's fried chicken."

"Well, stop the chit chat and let's get 'em!" Pidge states as he moves his lion ahead.

Doom fighters engage the lions in a fight, but they do not last long. The lions move in, easily destroying any that get in their path.

"Man! What is up with all these fighters?" Lance yells.

"I don't know where Lotor got them from. Didn't realize Doom had so many and, they aren't putting up much of a fight!" Keith responds.

"Ah…hey guys! Don't look now, but it looks like an entire fleet is going after one particular person!" Pidge warns.

Keith and Lance look into their monitors to see many battalions of enemy fighter planes chasing blue lion.

"ALLURA!" Keith yells. He turns his lion to go after the fighters and the rest of the team follows.

Hunk suggests, "Keith, how 'bout Pidge and I take care of the fighters on yours and Lance's back while you take care of the Princess?"

"Sounds good Hunk! Guess I didn't think about that minor detail." Keith admits.

Allura continues to dodge enemy fire as she fires upon fighters in her view. Why are they just after me? Probably because I'm a girl they think I can't fight…well….I'll show them just what I have! Allura thinks to herself as the anger boils inside her. She increases speed and moves through many fighters.

"Wow! Look at the feisty monarch attack!" Lance boasts.

"Cool it Lance. She's so angry right now she doesn't know what she is doing." Keith says, trying to bring Allura down from her adrenalized state. "Allura, I need you to calm down."

"Kind of hard when I have all these fighters on my rear Keith! "

"We got your back Princess." Lance states.

Keith and Lance continue to bring down the enemy that is insistent on staying on Blue lion's tail. Doom fighters fall from the sky as Allura watches them crash in a nearby town. "NO!" She screams, watching the burning of the buildings as tears stream down her face.

"Allura?" Keith says, trying to get her attention. When there is no answer, he raises his voice, "Allura!"

Allura snaps out of her sorrow and realizes that she is being fired upon. "Hang tight Allura…Lance and I will get these jerks off your tail in just a few seconds." Keith says.

Just then, fighters begin to split away from the Blue lion. Keith follows half and Lance does the same with the other half. Allura doesn't realize the change as she is too busy chasing her own enemy ships. She feels a slight shake and imbalance to the lion and scans the area to see if perhaps she was hit by a laser blast. "That's funny…nothing behind me." She says to herself.

"We almost have them all Keith!" Hunk confidently states.

Keith smiles slightly as he takes out another enemy ship. "I can't believe Lotor doesn't have a robeast for us."

"Please don't say that. The fight isn't over yet." Lance whines.

"I don't think he has one for us this time Lance. If he did, I don't think he would allow us to be destroying all these fighters. He would have released the robeast by now." Keith says.

"Castle Control to Black Lion."

"Black Lion here Castle control. Go ahead." Keith states.

"Keith, sensors are picking up something attached to Blue lion. Not only that, but according to the lion's instrumentation; it appears that there is some sort of gas filling Allura's cockpit." Coran warns.

Keith snaps his head to his monitor and notices the object latched onto Blue lion. It is less than half the size of the lion and rounded in shape. Due to its small size, it doesn't appear to be much of a danger, but with what Coran had just told Keith, he wasn't taking any chances. "Allura! I need you to close all the vents to your cockpit!"

Allura notices the worried tone in Keith's voice. "But why Keith?"

"Just do it! There is some sort of gas being released into your cockpit Allura!"

As Allura reaches over and closes her vents, she asks, "Why hasn't my instruments informed me of this?" With her vents closed, the object falls off of Blue Lion and explodes in the air. The rest of the Force notices the fighters pull away and begin to leave the atmosphere, along with Lotor's command ship.

"Should we follow them?" Lance asks.

"No, we need to make sure nothing got into the Blue lion. We also need to check on that town and make sure no one was seriously injured. Lets land near the town."

"Right!" They all say.

____________________

"You ok Allura?" Keith asks as he places a hand on her shoulder.

Allura doesn't look at him; instead, she stares at the damaged town that is in front of her. Without looking at Keith, she slightly nods, "I'm fine," and walks away.

Keith and the others follow her movements and walk with her toward the town. "Your Highness!" Exclaims a young lady with some towns people following behind her. The woman wraps her arms around Allura and gives her a tight hug. As she releases her, she says, "We are so happy that you are safe!"

Allura stands with surprise on her face. "You're happy that I am safe? What about the people here? Is anyone in need of help?"

A young man comes up to stand with the woman. "No, your Highness. No one was seriously injured…just shaken up. Only some buildings were damaged."

"Well that's good!" Lance shouts out.

Everyone turns their heads to look at him. "Oh…sorry. I mean…that it is good that no one was injured."

Keith smiles, "It's ok Lance."

Allura turns to Keith and asks, "Keith, do you think it would be alright to come back once we assess the damage and help clean up and maybe start rebuilding the damaged buildings?"

Keith sees the desperation in her eyes and the love for her people. He smiles at her, "Of course Princess. How about first thing in the morning, we will be back?"

She smiles, nods her head and turns to the people in front of her. "We will send medical help and food as soon as we get back to the castle. So, I guess we will see you first thing in the morning."

She receives another hug from the woman and the woman says softly, "We can survive without buildings Princess, but we would not be able to survive without you."

A tear slides down Allura's cheek and she tightens her grip on the woman. "Thank you." She whispers.

The women break their embrace and Allura turns to walk back to her lion. The rest of the members of the Voltron Force follow. As Allura gets closer to her lion, Keith stops her with his hand on her forearm. "Allura, are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes Keith. Why?"

"It's just that Coran said some kind of gas was being released into your cockpit. I think you should get checked out by Dr. Gorma."

Allura smiles at him. "You worry too much about me. I didn't feel anything or see anything. As a matter of fact, I don't understand why my sensors didn't' alert me of this gas. I feel absolutely fine."

"Maybe I should fly Blue back for you…just in case." Keith suggests.

Allura holds a hand up. "No Keith. Everything is fine. We are close to the castle."

Keith sighs, "Ok, well, when we get there, I want Blue checked over…top to bottom."

Allura inches closer to Keith and asks in a low voice, "Why do you care so much?"

Keith begins to lift his hand to place it on her cheek, but stops himself. He stutters, "I...I…care for all my teammates. I don't want to see anything happen to you…or anyone on the team."

Allura backs away and lowers her head. "Oh…I see. Well, I guess I will see you back at the castle then." She turns away from him and heads to Blue lion.

Keith turns to see if anyone was watching them then he makes his way to his lion. He thinks to himself, 'What the hell is wrong with me? Just tell her the truth…that I would die if anything ever happened to her.'

"Ah Keith…you going home or what?" Lance asks.

Keith's aggravated voice beams over Lance's comm unit. "Yes I'm coming!"

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The Force enters the control room as Coran asks, "What happened to the object that was latched onto your lion Princess?"

"I don't know. I didn't even realize anything was happening until Keith told me to close my vents."

Keith interrupts, "I saw what happened to it. It fell from the lion and exploded in the air. There's no way to tell what it was."

Coran rubs his chin as he says, "Probably planned that way then. What is Lotor up to now?"

Lance says agitatedly, "Who the hell knows, but I'm getting tired of it! He should go find himself another girl…this one's taken." Lance walks over and wraps an arm around her shoulders.

Keith's eyes go wide and Allura pushes his arm off of her. "Nice try Lance. I'm tired…I think I will go lie down for a little while." Allura laughs.

"Perhaps Dr. Gorma should take a look at you Princess." Coran suggests.

Allura turns, and with no emotion in her voice, she says, "If I felt like I needed medical attention Coran, I would go see Dr. Gorma. I'll tell you the same thing I told Keith…I feel fine. Now I'm going to lie down." She turns and walks out of the control room as the rest of the group look at each other in amazement at Allura's remarks.

"Well, I think that maybe all of you may need some rest before dinner. It was quite a long battle." Says Coran.

"I'm ready for dinner now, but I guess I could use some relaxation since we will be busy in the town tomorrow."

"Yeah Hunk, it's good that no one got hurt today!" replies Pidge.

Hunk, Pidge and Lance walk out of the control room. Before Keith turns to leave, he says, "Coran, I gave orders to the maintenance crew to clean the Blue lion. If there is any trace of this gas, it will be gone before Allura gets into it again."

Coran nods his head. "I hope your right Keith." He places a hand on his shoulder. "Please, go get some rest before dinner. I have a feeling Lotor will be back at some point."

Keith nods and walks out of the control room to find Lance is leaning up against the wall, of the hallway. "Lance…I thought you were already gone."

"Thought I would wait for you. So, how pissed was Coran with what happened to Allura in the lion?"

As they walk, Keith looks over at Lance. "He wasn't."

Lance raises his eyebrows. "He wasn't? Wow. Keith, we really have to do something about Lotor. He's getting way to close to Allura during these attacks."

Keith stops quickly, his whole body pulsing with his irritation, "Don't you think I know that?"

Lance holds his hands up as if in surrender. "Whoa buddy. I didn't mean to push a button."

Loosening his stance, Keith sighs, "Sorry Lance." Keith raises an eyebrow and asks, "By the way, what was that about back there?"

Lance cocks his head to the side in confusion as he asks, "What do you mean?"

"You know, putting your arm around Allura and saying she's 'taken'."

"Oh, well, I was just playing around with her. I like to get her all flustered." Lance says as he nudges Keith with his elbow. "Besides, I know how much you lo…care for Allura."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Lance begins to walk and catch up with him as Keith begins walking faster towards the rooms. Lance says, "Look Keith, we all get upset when something happens to Allura, but with you, I don't know, it is different."

"How so?"

"Well, you have a way of taking it a bit more personally than the rest of us. And let's face it, Lotor hates your guts more than any of us. I think there might be some sort of competition going on there."

They reach the door to Lance's room. Keith says, "Still have no idea what you are talking about."

Lance opens his door and steps inside. He says quickly, "Love Keith." He shuts the door before Keith can say anything.

____________________________

Allura lies in her bed with thoughts beyond her control. She dreams of the one person she despises…Lotor.

Allura…come to me. I am your one true love. Do not fight your feelings.

Allura's eyebrows knit together as she sleeps. Her dream changes course as she thinks about another. Feeling the warmth consume her body, Allura begins to feel a heavenly sensation between her legs. With her breathing becoming labored, she says his name as she awakens, "Keith." Opening her eyes, she sits up slowly. "What was that all about? I must be tired."

The sound of her door opening draws her glance to it. "I am sorry Princess. I didn't wake you did I?" Asks Nanny.

An uncontrollable feeling stews within Allura. She suddenly becomes hot and kicks the covers from her. Standing quickly, she turns and faces Nanny. "Nanny! What are you doing here? I thought we have discussed my privacy."

Nanny's eyes go wide in disbelief. "I'm sorry Princess. I just wanted to bring these fresh towels in to you."

Allura feels a bit ashamed at her anger and says with a soft voice, "Thank you Nanny."

Nanny begins to walk towards the door. She stops and turns reluctantly, her face neutral but her eyes showing her hurt at Allura's outburst, "Dinner is in about twenty minutes." She turns back around and leaves Allura's bedroom.

Allura lets out a breath and clasps her hand over her mouth quickly. Feeling nauseous, she runs to her bathroom and kneels quickly in front of the toilet. Allura heaves, feeling like her insides are making their way out. When she is done, she relaxes and sits against the wall, trying to catch her breath.

"What's wrong with me?" Standing, Allura looks into the mirror at her pale image.