Now What?, a voltron fanfic

Written for the 2018 KA Christmas Exchange.

Prompt 2

Games, win, lose or draw

Prompt 3

Oops, that's not what I meant to have happen

And now for something completely different! You will see why. I did not intend for the story to be written in this style, but in the end, it worked for me! And after a while, it became a challenge to keep it going.

Now what?

"Are you kidding me?"

"Do I look like I am kidding?

"What exactly am I supposed to do with this bomb you just dropped on me?"

"Help me figure out what to do next?"

"You should be talking to our vaunted Captain about this, not me."

"Riiiigt. Exactly how am I supposed to phrase this? So, you know those dreams you have been having? Well, they are not exactly dreams, but a plot between your second in command and I, and oh, by the way, we have been using a combination of magic and herbs on you?"

"Ok. Ok. It was not supposed to happen this way."

"You don't think I KNOW that? Human and Arusian physiological differences combined with the preventative measure should have made this situation impossible."

"Ok, ok. Let's back up a bit."

"I'm waiting."

"Just give me a minute, I am trying to process this whole situation."

"I gave you ten."

"Give a guy a break. It's not everyday you hear your best friends are having. . . "

"Sex? You knew that part."

"No, that was the plan the whole time. It's the other part."

"The deception we have engaged in?"

"Nah, we could work around him on that one. I mean we did have a plan on that one."

"I never agreed with that plan, by the way. Pretty terrible one of you ask me. Rig a win, lose, or draw game around the ball that will happen next month? Force him to attend rather than hiding in the shadows or in the control room the entire time? THAT grand plan?

"Ok, maybe it was a terrible plan."

"Which does not help with our current predicament."

"Ok. Ok. What we got him drunk? Ok, don't raise that regal eyebrow at me. Really, really drunk? And a lip curl too. O fine. What is your grand plan?"

"I. DON'T. HAVE. ONE. How many times do I have to state that?"

"It's not like we can keep this hidden much longer. Do we have to worry about the people?"

"In general? No. They will be trilled. Their favorite member of the team? That is my least worry right now. Except for one person. Who is a bit of a stickler for propriety. Especially mine."

"Who. Oh. Right. Can we just skip that part?"

"Maybe we leave it to someone else?"

"I am completely down with that. Shit. Alarms, now? Wait. Shit. Shit. Shit. Can you fly?"

"Should I remind you of Earth's Amazon's?"

"Talk and run, talk and run. Do I bring up their legend status?"

"Perhaps a jog. Gallag's D'Nach society. Trorna Fas, Tinda's Nar, should I go on?"

"Nope. See you in the skis."

"See you in the skies."

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"On your six, Red."

"Blue, picking it up."

"Yellow, take the cruiser in grid 4."

"Black, on it."

"Green, coverage on the mine."

"Heading out now. Ground forces spotted, Castle send out to Grid 10"

"Castle responding, Beta force out."

"Black, you have four coming in from grid 7."

"Not on my radar. Looking on visuals."

"Black, I see them coming up behind."

"Thanks Red. Any sign of a large, hairy monstrosity?"

"Castle control shows no energy build up."

"Maybe we ill be lucky today and that witch has a cold."

"Or a hot date with Zarkon. Hey don't groan, she CAN change her appearance after all."

"Castle control shows engine burn in Cruiser, grid 4, and a 40% decrease in speed."

"Yellow here, hit the main thruster area. It looks like they will try for a run, I am forcing them down in Grid A12. Have Delta team approach with caution."

"Delta team deployed. Showing 3 additional cruisers departing atmosphere, one trailing atmosphere. Perhaps the launch of the big hairy could not occur."

"Fight's thinning. Team, pull back to purely defensive. Green, report."

"Beta team taking minimal losses, looks like clean up should be easy."

"Castle control reporting engine burn on all remaining shops and atmosphere breaks expected in the next few minutes."

"Black acknowledges. Team, keep your distance, but let's encourage them to continue their journey away from us."

"Aye, aye captain."

"Castle control, Lions will return to base as soon as we harry the last of the ships along their long lonely route home. Control is now yours."

"Castle control acknowledges. Control is now here. Secondary teams to Beta Channel."

"Beta channel confirmed."

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"Lance. Lance. ARUS TO LANCE!"

"What? Geez, your most royalness, give a guy a break, huh?"

"Like we have time for that!"

"Can I at least have a shower and some food?"

"No."

"Can you at least have a shower and some food?"

"Are you insinuating something?"

"Nope. Making fairly clear subtle observations."

"Jackass."

"Spoiled Brat."

"Overgrown Tilgit!"

"Shrieking Harridan!"

"Fine! 10 minutes in the conference room. YOU ask Nanny for food."

"Deal. 10 minutes."

"Ok, maybe you were right about the food."

"And the shower."

"And the shower. So. Now, what?"

"Look, I think the best way is to just tell him. Straight out."

"And how do you think that will go over?"

"Honestly? No matter what we decide, it is going to suck. Big time. Basically, we have been lying to him for months."

"Well, I don't know if we were lying, precisely. I mean. . . "

"Princess, I love you to the moon and back, and as your co-conspirator in crime, he is not going to see the distinction."

"I know, but. . . "

"No buts. I cannot tell you what he will say or do. But remember. He loves you. That was the whole point of this fiasco, right?"

"Lance, what if. . ."

"No what ifs. It may take time, but you KNOW he will never leave you or Arus. Come here and give us a hug. No more sniffing, and no more tears."

"Ok. Big breath. Ok. You want to page him, or shall I?"

"I know there is a deck of cards here somewhere. . . "

"Seriously? Now? Win, lose, or draw, NOW?"

"Ummmmmm, yes?"

"Gah. Sometimes."

"Kogane, here."

"Keith, please come to the 4th floor lounge."

"Can it wait, Princess? I have meetings to prep for."

"Give them to Kala. She is more than capable of doing the debrief."

"What is this about?"

"Just come to the lounge, please."

"Fine. Give me twenty minutes."

"Twenty minutes."

"Shall I stay, or shall I go?"

"Go, please. I think is a conversation best done without anyone else around."

"You did not end up here on your own. I aided and abetted."

"And I love you for that. But I think this will be hard enough without his best friend as a witness. I am sure there will be other conversations you need to have without me present."

"Truuuuuue. But. . . "

"Just go. The Goddess will watch out for me. Just remember, She and He Above must have a plan for this to have happened against all the odds."

"If you really think it is for the best, Princess."

"I do. I really do."

"Well, I am going to hit the cafeteria. More food is in order. Send for me when you need me."

"I will. Now shoo."

"Shooing."

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"Princess Allura?"

"By the window. Would you like a drink?"

"Not now. Can you tell me what this is about?"

"Have a seat?"

"Fine. Are you feeling ok? You look a bit pale."

"I feel good. Well, mostly good."

"Mostly good? Do you need to see Gorma?"

"No."

"Ok, we have been sitting here in silence for several minutes, can you please tell me what is going on? Why do you keep twisting your hands?"

"I'm pregnant."

"You're pregnant."

"Yes."

"I. see. No. I don't see."

"Well, say something."

"We will have to rush Jular's training. I am assuming you will need to be grounded sooner rather than later?"

"Yes. No. That is not what I meant."

"What did you mean, Princess?"

"You seem rather calm about the whole thing."

"Would you rather I shouted?"

"No? Maybe? I don't know."

"Does Coran and the ruling council know?"

"No. I. . . . needed to tell the father first."

"I see. And when did that happen?"

"About 2 minutes ago."

"About 2. . . . . Is this a joke? Did Lance put you up to this?"

"No."

"Because this is not amusing, Princess."

"It wasn't supposed to happen this way!"

"Oh? And exactly how was this quote 'supposed to happen'."

"You were supposed to realize that we could be together. That dreams can become reality, and it was supposed to be a slow process. I just had to show you first, and dreaming seemed to be the only way to garner your attention. It just went further than I thought, and that first time, when you swept me away with your passion. . . "

"Wait! Back up. I am missing a piece of the puzzle. WHAT first time?"

". . . . . "

"I cannot hear you."

"Threemonthsagoaftertherideintheforest."

"Princess! In a volume in which I can hear you."

"Three. Months. Ago. After. The. Ride. In. The. Forest."

"Three months ago. . . As far I as can recollect, we did not take a ride in the forest three months ago, as I was in the hospital."

"Not while awake, no."

"Not while. . . Princess Allura, what the hell is going on here?"

"Ok, just listen."

"I am TRYING to."

"There is a very old tradition on Arus. Dreamwalking. We use it in religious ceremonies, and to help explore problems in a safer setting. The one who guides the session can use it to take a person to a setting, and then explore problems. The people in the Dream are not asleep, but not quite awake. They have control of their bodies, but it allows the mind to wander free. Dreamwalking is also used to help people bond at a deeper level."

"You are talking about one of the spiritual bonds which can occur between Aurisans?"

"Not just spiritual."

"Not always, no. Under certain circumstances, people can be physically present, or rather, they are physical but the setting is a dream experience."

"Wait. What?"

"It's like being in a virtual reality, but you are still physically present."

"So what I thought was a dream. . . "

"Was reality in a dream scape."

"The last three months, then. . . all those dreams, actually happened?"

"Yes. Keith, I did not mean for it to go so far, but after that first time, I could not give you up. Do you understand? I should have told you that morning, but you had that fever set in, and then things just happened."

"I have to go."

"But Keith. . ."

"Not now, Princess. I cannot talk or look at your right now, because I will say things. . . Just. Stay away from me for a while."

"Keith, please?"

"NOT NOW!"

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"Lura? You did not page, but it has been a while. Is Keith still here? I did not see him in his office or usual haunts. So, I figured you two must still be talking. Lura?"

"By the window, Lance."

"Please tell me you are nursing that drink."

"I think having a drink or twelve is the least of my worries right now."

"A drink or twel. . . please tell me you did not have twelve. Gorma will have my head."

"Bertanie, actually. She is the midwife around here. And no, it has not been 12."

"Lura, your hands are like ice! What happened?"

"He left. He did not yell or raise his voice. Did not even swear at me. Just said to leave him alone and left."

"Huh."

"That's all you have to say?"

"When did he leave?"

"About ten minutes after he arrived."

"Hold on. Let me see if. . "

"What?"

"You seen our vaunted leader?"

"No. Kala did the debrief, Darrell went to town, and I am tinkering. Why?"

"Just had a question for him."

"Is he not answering his radio again?"

"Advanced Communication System, you mean?"

"Yep, radio."

"You know how he gets."

"Yup. Black is here. Office?"

"Already looked. Nor Gym, nor the usual haunts."

"Huh. That's new. I will keep an eye out. Want me to run a search?"

"Nah, not yet. He probably just found a new hiding spot, so he can do all those damnable reports without interruption."

"Until we find that one too. Ok, back to tinkering."

"Ciao. What do you want to do Lura?"

"Has he done this before?"

"Ye-aaah, but not for a long time."

"When?"

"When we received the assignment to come to Arus."

"You mean the punishment detail?"

"Yes. He checked himself out of Base and disappeared for two days. When he came back, he never said a word about where he went, or what he did. He also never said a word about the assignment other than making sure he harangued people as much as possible to make the assignment as palatable as possible for the rest of us."

"I thought you four volunteered to accompany Keith?"

"We-ell, kind of. For me… I knew with my record the chance of another commander giving me any kind of real chance. . . well let's just say zero. For Sven, he would not let his best friend endure the assignment alone. Our two resident geniuses. . . neither have said outright, and Keith would never break a confidence, but they did not fit in with standard Garrison culture. Most commanders found Darrell just an annoyance, which is how he ended up with the nickname of Pidge."

"And this name?"

"Referenced an annoying insect and his then puny stature."

"Ah. I see."

"Hunk, well, if you are not a machine, he does not really have time for you. Including upper brass."

"And how does this involve Keith?"

"Keith does not really care about someone's background or personality. He cares about a person's talent, and how developing those talents or giving someone the ability to develop on their own can benefit his current command structure. Keith knows how to play the political games that someone needs to do in order to advance in the ranks. He wanted to become not only an Admiral but wanted to be tapped someday to be the Admiral in charge of Garrison."

"Oh. Is that why he deals so well with the Council?"

"Yep. Your current council is child's play to someone like Keith, who cut his teeth on Garrison politics."

"So, he disappeared for two days. Came back, and put together the best team possible in spite of the fact the mission was intended as a punishment?"

"Yes."

"What did he do to warrant this? If he is as politically savvy and did everything in order to advance to the top spot at Garrison, that does not fit."

"Honestly? I do not know. No matter how we tried, neither Sven nor I could ever find anything out. Even Darrell, breaking in to the Garrison computers could not find any information. There was only a line in Keith's file about his assignment to the Arus project and nothing further."

"Do you think he is coming back?"

"Don't cry, Lura. It may take a while, but he will come back. I promise you."

"I just wanted a little piece of happiness for myself. One selfish thing."

"Don't give up yet, Lura. Just hold tight."

"Can you just sit with me for a while? Hold me?"

"Of course, Lura. Whatever you need."

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"Lance, no one has heard from Keith since he sent that cryptic message yesterday."

"I know, Yoshi. Hard to trace a message that comes in the form of a verbal message. We know, at least, he stopped by the village long enough to send the message."

"But no one remembers him in the village, and no idea which direction he went."

"Well, he DID pick a messenger on the edge of town. He did not take any electronics with him, just saddled a horse and left."

"And this did not strike the messenger as strange?"

"Would you question the Captain of the Voltron force that has saved your planet and has become the face of the rebuilding effort?"

"Point."

"He will be back when he comes back."

"Just damned strange that he just took off like that. Any idea of what prompted it?"

"Well according to the maids. . . "

"Right. Like I believe he has a side-bit somewhere."

"You never know."

"Pretty sure I do. Not seen him date in the last couple years. Not after that incident with Gilla."

"Well, that was enough to sour anyone on dating."

"But for two years?"

"You know our fearless leader, perfection before anything else."

"Honestly, I think. . . well, never mind. Get out of my shop, I have tinkering to do."

"You think?"

"Done talking, Lance. Tinkering."

"Scheesch."

"Carson! What kind of crap repair job is this?"

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"Tsuyo? I received your message. Why did you want me to come to the gardens?"

"Because I asked him to send you a message."

"Keith! You came back! Are you all right? Where did you go?"

"Princess. Princess. Allura. Stop fluttering."

"It's just that. I mean I. You."

"Allura. Just sit a minute. Come here."

"I. Ok."

"Keith. I did not mean for things to go this way. It that you just were so closed off and I did not know how else to.."

"Stop talking a minute Allura. You had your say, now I need to speak. Yes?"

"Yes, Keith."

"On Earth we have a practice called marriage. It has its roots in both religious and secular practices dating back to the earliest written history we have discovered. Marriage binds two people together by promises and vows overseen by witnesses. People of religion and belief on Earth make their promises before their deity or deities incorporating their belief into their bonding. I know that Arus practices something similar here, called T'lak'na, although most of my research shows that people just call it the Binding or Joining.

"Allura, I am asking you to join your life to mine, whether in an Earth style marriage ceremony or an Arusian Binding ceremony. On Earth, one partner often offers the other a ring as a sign of love and commitment. As a circle never ends, so too does the love that flows between those who love one another. The ring that I offer you, my Dad offered to my Mom. She left it to me as a reminder that I came from a relationship of love, friendship, and commitment. So, then, I offer it to you as a symbol of my desire to have a relationship of live, friendship, and commitment with you. I will take whatever role you wish me to have in your life, and I only ask in return that I share equally with the raising of our child."

"Keith, I. . . "

"Tears, Allura?"

"I just thought you would leave. Or rather, I felt terrified you would leave."

"Allura, just because I feel angry or even more than anger, will not change the fact that I have loved you for a very long time. It may take me some time to finishing processing what has happened and stop feeling. . . what I feel, but that does not take away from the fact I do love you. I will love our child and will do anything for that child. It does not negate or diminish my desire to build a life with you as your partner and lover. It just means, like most relationships, we have a problem that needs addressing."

"Oh. Keith. I love you. I will walk with you as we journey. Beside you as equals, supporting you when you falter or tire, but always with love in my heart. Though our journey may sometimes encounter rough patches, with you I will build bridges to cross them together. I promise to love you always."

"That's. . . that's beautiful Princess mine."

"It is part of our Joining Ceremony. I do not always have the words I want, but. . ."

"I understand. I would like to kiss you, Princess, while I am cognizant of what I am doing."

"Always, my Prince."

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"Tsuyo! Where have you been? Darrell told me you took off yesterday and I wanted to talk to you about. . ."

"Yep. I know. I was tinkering."

"Tinkering? But. . ."

"You broke something and so I had to tinker."

"I. . broke. . . wait. What?"

"Tinkering does not always mean having a tool in your hand, Lance. Sometimes it means listening to the machine and letting it tell you what is needed. Sometimes machines only need a bit of lubrication and a good flushing so there is nothing left that would cause corrosion or excessive wear. Sometimes two parts need a bit of filing to fit better together."

"You found Keith?"

"Did I say that?"

"No, but. . ."

"Leave it alone, Lance. Done talking. Going tinkering."

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"Lance, you have been standing staring at that door for 10 minutes looking confused."

"What? Huh? Oh, Darrell. Tsuyo just said something, and I am trying to process it."

"Don't bother."

"What do you mean?"

"Tsyuo is probably the most brilliant person I have ever met."

"But you. . ."

"Oh, when it comes to technology or general knowledge, I can win Trivial Pursuit every time, but Tsuyo. He is like the Dali Lama, Buddah, Jesus Christ, and the Kala'na, all rolled up into one. Have you ever noticed that he fixes not just machines but the people and relationships he encounters? In a way that few people ever notice."

"He berates people all the time! That man has the largest most colorful vocabulary of anyone I have ever met."

"Yes."

"I totally don't understand."

"Nope. Neither can I."

"So do YOU know where he was?"

"No, but I can tell you that Keith and Allura have been closeted in the gardens for the last three hours. I can tell you that Keith and Tsuyo walked into the castle together about 30 minutes before Allura went to the gardens. I can also tell you that all cameras and observation devices have not functioned in the garden for the last three hours. I can also tell you when I went to talk to Tsuyo about where he went, he only muttered, 'It may not have been how it was supposed to happened, but it should not need any more tinkering.'"

"Three hours? They have been alone in the gardens for THREE hours?"

"Dude, that's all you took from my observations? And why are you dancing like that?"

"Do you know what this means?"

"No?"

"It means that FINALLY those two will be together!"

"What? Keith and Allura?"

"Yes! Keith and Allura!"

"Huh. Guess I should pull my head out of the computers once in a while."

"You mean you need to pull your head out of. . . "

"Watch it."

"Whatever. Ooooh, crap."

"What?"

"Nanny."

"What about . . . . . oooooh. Wait, gotta go!"

"Not so fast my friend. Maybe we need to invite Tsuyo to a friendly little game of Win, Lose, or Draw or rather, Win, Lose, or Be The One To Break the News to Nanny."

"Shit. This is NOT what I meant to happen when I came to talk to you. Stop rubbing your hands together and cackling."

"Dibs on planning the bachelor party."

"Do they even have bachelor party's on Arus? I am going to have to go and research. . .

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Epilogue

"Hello, little Princess mine. I am your Daddy."

"Hey, Daddy! Are you going to let me hold our daughter?"

"Yes, yes. In a minute. You have had her for all this time, after all."

"Keith! You have been standing there with her for thirty minutes. Not a good time for teasing."

"Did you hear that, little Princess mine. Your Mommy may be feeling a bit impatient."

"Thirty. Minutes."

"Ok, Allura. I think our little one may be ready for her first meal, yes?"

"Oh Keith. She is perfect. Our little Amelia."

"I love you Princess mine. Thank you for our perfect little Princess."

"I love you Keith. Now, and for the rest of our journey."

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Author's note: Tsuyoshi's Idea – not mine. He kept telling me he would fix everything, I just had to let him "tinker." So I did.