Two years earlier

Lance sat in the Control Room, watching the monitors. Lotor had been entirely too quiet as of late, and Keith suspected he was planning something big. So did Lance, which was why he had kicked the technician out to take monitor duty himself.

Footsteps sounded behind him, and he smiled. "Evening, Princess," he said without taking his attention from the monitors.

"How do you and Keith do that?" Allura demanded, dropping onto the console beside him.

"Easy." Lance turned to grin at her. "You have the lightest footsteps of anyone that would be coming in here, and," he sniffed, "no one else wears Arusian Lilly perfume."

She sighed. "You make it sound so easy. I never know which one of you boys is coming up behind me."

"It is easy, if you're paying attention." Lance got to his feet. "Pidge and Hunk are easy; Pidge's footsteps are very light; Hunk's are very heavy. If you listen to me walk. . ." he took a few steps. "I kinda favor my left leg; I busted my knee pretty good at the Academy. It didn't heal as it should have, and the gravity on Arus isn't kind to it. I always limp a bit, but it's worse when I'm tired."

Allura had never noticed, but now that Lance pointed it out, she could see that he stepped heavier on his right leg. But. . . "If it happened at the Academy, why didn't it heal right? I thought there were doctors there?"

"Of course there were. I fooled them into thinking I wasn't as hurt as I actually was." Lance dropped back into the chair, wearing a shadow of his usual grin. "I was terrified of losing my flight status. So, I iced it, lived on painkillers for a while, and convinced the doctors I didn't need surgery."

Allura shook her head. "You ARE a stubborn one, Lance McClain. It's only flying; was it really worth the risk of crippling yourself?"

Lance's green eyes flew wide. "Only flying? That's like saying it's only breathing." He shifted in his chair, looking away from her. "For me, for Keith, flying is everything. There's a peace, a balance we can find in the cockpit that we can find nowhere else. It saved my life, getting in the air when I was 16. I don't think I could live without flying. I don't think I'd want to live." He turned his attention back to the monitors. "I really can't explain it any better than that. It's just in our blood."

Allura nodded and looked down at her watch. "Oh! I've got a meeting with Coran in two minutes! I'm going to be late!" Lance laughed and kissed her cheek as she jumped up and sprinted from the room, settling back into the routine of his shift. A part of his mind wondered that he had told her so much; only Keith and Sven knew about his knee. It had always been one of his most closely-guarded secrets, but. . .he shrugged. If he couldn't trust Allura, who COULD he trust?

On her way to lunch after the meeting, Allura caught sight of Hunk out on one of the balconies, back pressed firmly to the wall, but craning to see over the parapet. Curious, she stepped out to join him. "Hunk? What's going on?"

The big man startled, then smiled warmly. "Hiya, Princess. Pidge is showing the kids some of his gymnastics moves down there. I wanted to watch, but he said I would make him nervous." He craned to look over the balcony again, still pressed to the wall.

Allura took his hand. "Silly, you can see better from the railing!" She started to pull him away from the wall, only to be stopped dead as he didn't move. She looked back to see his face was white. "Hunk?"

The big man gulped audibly and shook his head. "Sorry, Princess. Kinda got a thing about heights. I'm OK in the cockpit, but otherwise. . ." He looked at her almost shyly. "Don't tell anybody? The guys know, but. . .I'm supposed to be all tough and brave, y'know?"

She nodded and patted his hand. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, Hunk. Everybody's afraid of something."

"I know, but still. . ." Hunk looked away, watching Pidge with the children. A ghost of a smile flitted across his face. "He's still so much a kid himself," he said softly. "I can't tell you how much that means to us, how hard Keith, Lance, Sven and me have fought to keep him like that. He's only 18, y'know? And with what we have to do. . .We try to keep him as innocent as we can."

Allura leaned against the wall with him, watching until Keith called them and said lunch was ready. Lunch in the Castle was a casual affair, usually consisting of sandwiches the team made themselves and soup or salad. They sat at the table with no consideration for rank, talking about what they were working on, any news from home the boys had gotten, what Sven and Romelle were up to. . .

After lunch, Keith called a quick Lion practice; Lotor had been too quiet of late, and he didn't want them to get rusty. Following that, he and Lance took Allura to the gym to work on her hand to hand combat, going easy on her as there was a ball in a few days and they didn't want her bruised.

Before dinner was a strategy meeting with Keith, Lance, and Coran, going over the security plans for the ball. Keith had, as always, thought of everything, and Lance was to escort her. The two of them promised to dance with her as often as possible, to keep the worst of her suitors at bay. It made her smile, how they always protected her, regardless of the cost to themselves. Finally, dinner was announced, and Keith offered her his arm to escort her in. Lance followed behind them, pulling her chair out before taking his own seat at her left as Keith sat at her right. Dinner conversation centered on the ball, the boys listening attentively to Allura talking about her dress and who she hoped to dance with. They even managed to keep their eyes from glazing over.

Lance watched Allura carefully as they ate. Something had seemed off about her the last few days; he just couldn't put his finger on exactly what, so he had made up his mind to keep an eye on her. It didn't seem to be anything bad; she was eating normally, was apparently happy, just . . . a little too happy, and glowing. It finally connected in his mind, and he grinned. "Who's the lucky guy, Princess?" he asked softly when Keith was talking to Hunk and Pidge.

Allura was startled. "I-I don't know what you mean," she denied hastily.

"Oh, I think you do," Lance countered with a chuckle. "C'mon, this is ME you're talking to. I know you better than anyone. And you're showing all the signs of a woman in love." He took her hand gently. "It's all right; you don't have to tell me if you aren't ready. I just hope you are happy with whoever he is, and he damned well better treat you right, or answer to US." Allura blushed and thanked him; he smiled gently. "We love you, Princess. All we want is to see you happy."

After dinner, Allura claimed a headache and went to her room, bypassing the usual Tuesday night movie with the boys. As she closed the door behind her, a male voice spoke gently from the darkness. "I've missed you. Did you have a good day?"

"I did!" Allura smiled and rushed into her lover's arms. "I learned so much about the boys today!" She kissed him, then excitedly told him what she had learned about each of her teammates. "I can't wait for you to meet them," she finished, looking up at him shyly. "But right now, I want. . . " she blushed, unable to finish the sentence. Her lover chuckled and swept her up, taking her to her bed.

Much later, she curled into his side, sated and sleepy. "I love you," she murmured, falling into an exhausted sleep. Her lover kissed her tenderly, tucking her closer to him as he lay awake. He should have thought of this strategy months ago. Allura wanted to be loved, and to have someone be attentive to her. Three weeks of paying attention to her babbling, and pretending to be kind, had gotten him further than he ever dreamed possible. Lotor smiled in the dark. Next step would be to use his darling's information to break her protectors, the Voltron Force.