Allura was being very patient with her child. It wasn't Wren's fault that she was just at that age. You know the age, the age where bed time is something that is seen as a terrible thing and the child is worried about going to bed and missing out on all the fun. Oh, yes. Wren was just at that age.

"Wren, I don't know what more I can do to get you to go to sleep," Allura sighed. She'd gotten her daughter a drink, tucked her in, and sang her an old Altean lullaby. There wasn't anything else she could think of to do.

"Mommy, I want a story," the small six year-old replied in her half-accent. She was a daddy's girl wrapped in the trappings of her mother. She was a half-breed, but she retained the likable traits of both the Altean and human genes. Wren really was a beautiful child.

"What kind of story?" Allura asked as she laid down next to her daughter. Bedtime was always much easier with Shiro, but tonight he was working late. He'd picked up an extra shift at the police station so Lance could study for his finals. Allura always found it funny that Shiro's coworkers called him "dad." However, it was times like these where her husband went out of his way to help them that she could see why they gave him that nickname.

"I want a fairy tale in space!" Wren said with stars in her eyes.

"A space fairy tale? Like Star Wars?" Allura asked thoughtfully. She squinted her eyes as she tried to figure out just what to tell her daughter. She didn't know any Altean stories that sounded like that… except maybe the story of Voltron and how she met Shiro. She was a princess, princesses were in fairy tales. They had lived in space. That counted, right?

"Alright. One story, and then you're going to bed," Allura said as she got into a more comfortable position to tell her story. "Once upon a time, in a faraway region of space, one man tried to control the universe. He was cruel and horrible, taking over planets and whole galaxies through his quest for power. The universe feared him."

"Who was he, mommy?" Wren asked as she pulled the covers up to her nose.

"Zarkon. The people were scared that they would never be free from his reign, as it had already lasted 10,000 years and involved the destruction of countless realms, including Altea," Allura continued.

"Mommy, isn't Alteea where you're from?" Wren said. She had heard her mother talk of a place known as Altea on many occasions.

"Yes, it is, sweetheart," Allura smiled before continuing, "Little did the universe know, there was a group of five who could defeat Zarkon, for they were the pilots of Voltron, only they didn't know it at first. In fact, they found out their true identities by accident. They were just a bunch of normal high school students at a school for pilots and crews when a man fell from the sky."

Wren gasped, "was he hurt?!"

"No, he had escaped from Zarkon's grasp and came back to his home, back to Earth, to warn the others about the warlord threatening to take over the galaxy. The teens found the man and saved him from being held prisoner in his own land due to his arm," Allura said.

"What was wrong with his arm, mommy?" Wren asked.

"His arm had been replaced by a druid witch in space. It now was a powerful weapon that he himself didn't quite know how to use yet. Due to the dangerous nature of the aliens and the fact that none of the scientists on Earth knew anything about his arm, they were afraid of him. However, the kids knew the man as a hero and decided to save him. They broke into where they were keeping the man and stole him away. Once he was awake, he told the kids about where he'd come from, and that the aliens were looking for a robot called Voltron. One of the teens, a fiery tempered boy, had found something odd in the rocks nearby. After deciding that it may lead to the robot, they decided to go search for it."

""Fiery tempered' isn't that what you call Uncle Keith?" Wren chuckled.

Allura smiled, "I guess I do call him that, don't I? Well, anyways, they came across a cave full of markings that looked like a lion. One of the teens moved to touch the wall, causing the markings to light up as the floor gave out beneath them."

"THEY FELL?" Wren asked incredulously as she sat up in bed.

"They didn't fall too hard, and they landed in water, so they were okay. When they stood up, they saw a giant blue lion robot sitting in front of them," Allura said.

"WOAAAAH! Is that Voltron?" Wren asked excitedly.

"Not quite. The five of them were shown a vision of five lions that connect together to form a robotic man. That, Wren, is Voltron," Allura explained.

"Mommy, I want a Voltron," Wren said.

"You haven't even heard the rest of the story. Maybe you'll want something else afterwards," Allura teased before continuing, "The lion let them aboard and took them off into space. They travelled through wormholes, fought some of Zarkon's fleet, and finally landed in front of a palace."

"IS THAT WHERE THE PRINCESS LIVES?" Wren said.

"Yes, but they didn't know that yet. The five of them walked into the palace, following a trail of lights that led to an open room. Suddenly, out of the floor, two healing pods emerged," Allura said ominously. She was really getting into it.

"What's a healing pod?" Wren asked in confusion.

"It's like… Well. I suppose it's like a little tiny room, about the size of your closet that heals people when they're hurt or sick," Allura explained to the best of her ability.

"That sounds useful," Wren nodded.

"Oh, it is. It's able to heal people, or to just keep them in a state of homeostasis until the pod is reopened. Which is exactly what happened here," Allura explained, "As one of the pods opened, a woman fell out onto the pilot of the blue lion. Since he was a very, very flirtatious man, he tried to flirt with the woman, however she just tackled him to the floor."

"Mommy, isn't that how you met Uncle Lance? He tried to hit on you after you woke up from a long nap. Or at least that's what daddy says," Wren shrugged.

"I suppose that is how I met Uncle Lance," Allura blushed. It really was a weird meeting. "Finally, the other pod opened, revealing a man with a mustache. He had been the King's advisor, which is why he was put in the pod to take care of the princess once she woke up. Now that the two were awake, they learned that they had been asleep for 10,000 years. Their planet, Altea, was gone, and Zarkon had conquered most of the known universe. It was then that the princess told the five Earthlings that they were the paladins of Voltron. The blue pilot already had his lion. Now it was up to the others to find theirs in order to form Voltron. The yellow paladin went off with the blue paladin, and the green paladin went off with the man."

"What color was the man? And what about the last paladin? You said there were five, but only four of them left," Wren pointed out as she counted on her hands.

"Very observant, my little one. The man was the black paladin, and the red paladin stayed behind because they didn't know where his lion was yet," Allura explained as she booped her daughter on the nose. "After the others returned with their lions, they learned that the red lion was on one of Zarkon's ships that was now headed towards the castle."

"Oh, no! How are they gonna form Voltron with only four lions?" Wren gasped. "Who will protect the princess?"

Allura scoffed, "The princess could take care of herself, I'll have you know."

"But, Wren is right. The heroes sound like they're running out of luck," A voice said from behind them. Allura turned to see her husband leaning on the door frame to Wren's room.

"Daddy!" The little girl exclaimed.

"I see you've been giving your mother some trouble tonight. How'd you sucker a story out of her this time?" Shiro smirked.

"I told her that I wouldn't go to bed until I got one," Wren replied with pride.

"She's almost as stubborn as you are," Shiro said to his wife as he walked over and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Yes, I know, and you're not helping me get her to sleep. The only thing you're doing right now is interrupting my story," Allura sighed in frustration.

"Well, if you're not including the sound effects then you're not telling it correctly. I have yet to hear a 'BLAM! BLAM!' thrown around," he mock chided.

"Oh really? I thought the correct sound was PITCHEW PITCHEW," Allura laughed.

"MOMMY, CAN WE PLEASE GET BACK TO THE STORY?" Wren whined. "I wanna know what happens to the paladins."

"Well," Shiro said as he took over, "they came up with a plan. The yellow and blue paladins were going to pretend to give up their lions while the green paladin was going to sneak aboard the ship with the red and black paladin to find the other lion. After they were aboard, the yellow and blue paladins would stop pretending and attack the ship while they found the other lion. Only, the plan changed. Pidge wanted to see if her father and brother were onboar-" Shiro was cut off by Allura whacking his chest.

"AUNT PIDGE IS A VOLTRON PALADIN?" Wren said in disbelief, "Does that mean that… Okay. So the red one sounded a lot like Uncle Keith, and the blue one has to be Uncle Lance because he flirts with everybody, according to Uncle Keith and Aunt Pidge anyways. That means… the yellow one must be Uncle Hunk since he always wears yellow. AND UNCLE CORAN HAS A MUSTACHE SO HE MUST BE THE KING'S ADVISOR," Wren said as she worked it all out. Her logic seemed sound to her. Allura and Shiro shared a look between themselves. "But then… who's the black paladin? And who's the Princess?"

It was then that Wren turned to look at her parents, and really look at them. She took in her father's arm, how the metal clashed with the skin of the rest of his body. Then, she looked at her mom, noticing for once how her ears were different from anyone else's that she knew besides Uncle Coran. Her eyes went wide as all the puzzle pieces clicked into place. "You're the princess and the black paladin," she whispered.

"Yes," Allura answered as she sighed. She wasn't prepared to have this talk with Wren. She knew her daughter would have so many questions and she didn't want her daughter to think poorly of herself because she was different than the rest of the kids her age.

"THAT'S SO COOL!" Wren exclaimed. "Wait… Mommy, does this mean… that we have Voltron?!"

"Actually, Uncle Coran has Voltron in the castle," Shiro explained.

"Shiro!" Allura scolded.

"WAIT!" Wren said interrupting what was about to be an argument about how Wren shouldn't be told these things at such a young age. "What happened to the paladins?"

"Well, long story short?" Shiro asked.

"Long story short," Wren nodded as she yawned.

"Uncle Keith found the red lion, we headed back to the castle and got my lion. Then we somehow formed Voltron and attacked Sendak's ship, destroying it and living another day," Shiro told Wren.

"What about Zarkon?" Wren asked sleepily. All the excitement was taking it's toll.

"We continued to fight him for a few years before finally defeating him," Shiro said as he tucked his daughter in.

"Good. Evil men shouldn't be allowed to rule the universe," Wren mumbled before snuggling into her pillow, "Night, mommy. Night, daddy."

"Good night, Wren," Allura said as she took Shiro's hand and let him pull her off the bed. They made their way to the doorway, shutting the light before leaving. After they left, Wren turned and looked up at her ceiling. Unbeknownst to her parents, she'd placed glow in the dark stars on her ceiling, spelling out the word "Voltron." She had heard it whispered around her house by her parents and their friends. Up until now, she was convinced that it was some sort of guardian angel. She was just finally glad that she knew what it really was. Defender of the universe definitely sounded better than guardian angel.