Disclaimer: I do not own Voltron or any of its characters.
2nd Response to Mylari's "Sports Team" Themed Challenge for August 2014. I am NOT a swimmer, so forgive me if I use some wrong terminology. And suspend reality a little as I know that it is unlikely that men that haven't been devoting themselves to swimming would be able to complete in our style Olympics. However, I think that the other worlds participating in these games might have also been devastated by Doom and therefore, not at their best with athletes and training. If you can think in this way, I think you'll enjoy the story.
Rating/Setting: Rating is T. Setting is DotU at the time of the infamous "Space Olympics" episode… you know, the one with the shower scene. *wink, wink*
Chapter Seven
The Space Olympics had gone wonderfully well, with no major incidents. Coran was breathing a sigh of relief that after the days games were finished, he could finally take a breather. Even though there hadn't been a major problem, just trying to maintain order around what was largely a younger, energetic crowd had been taxing on him. Not to mention keeping Nanny in check when it came to the princess. The woman just couldn't see that Allura was a young woman and had the feelings of one. He saw the way the Voltron Commander and Princess Allura looked at one another. This ridiculous notion of Nanny's that only a prince would do was balderdash. There, he'd said it. Balderdash indeed. Well, he'd deal with Nanny after the games were complete. Hopefully, Allura wouldn't do anything rash before then and cause an uproar with the governess. Please, he thought, just let me get through one more day of insanity and then I can deal with Nanny.
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Allura was waiting for the guys to come out of the changing area so she could wish them luck on their final race – the 4x100 Medley Relay. The games had been successful for Arus, especially considering the shape the planet had been in only a year ago. Arus had won several medals in the track and field events including two gold medals. The boys had also done really well in swimming. Lance and Keith had both taken the bronze medals in the 100 meter swims for their specialties: butterfly and freestyle. And since neither was a full-time swimmer like the other medalists, their medals were sweeter to her. She grimaced slightly. Sven had managed to take the silver medal in the 100 backstroke and he had had few reservations about lording it over the rest of his friends. However, they all took it good naturedly. But now, it was the 4x100 final. They had qualified yesterday with no problems along with Pollux and six other teams.
According to the guys, at the Academy, Pidge and Hunk had swum in the qualifying heats. The final relay was usually done by Sven, Lance, Keith, and Thomas. Thomas had been the swimmer in the picture that she didn't know. But they assured her that they would be fine with just the four of them.
Several other teams had come out and they had all eyed the lovely princess from Arus. She was wearing a gold sequin sleeveless dress that draped close to her body curves. It stopped at mid-thigh and showed off her shapely toned legs. Gold sandals and bangles were her only accessories besides her circlet. Her hair hung in golden waves down her back and swayed back and forth as she paced outside of the changing room.
When Lance opened the door to the room and stepped out he immediately saw Allura. "Wow! You look like a million bucks, Princess!"
Laughing, Allura said, "Thanks, Lance! You look like…" Allura didn't quite know what to say as he stood there in his speedo. "Well, anyway, good luck!" She was blushing furiously. Really, even when he didn't try anything, he still managed to make her blush. She looked to the side of him and saw Keith. A smile lit her face as she moved closer to speak to him. "Good luck, Keith."
Keith dropped his hands from where he was trying to tuck one last unruly piece of hair in his swim cap. "Thanks, Princess. We'll need it." Lowering his voice, he said, "Based on the qualifying times, I think we can beat everyone but Pollux. Their time was faster than ours and they are seeded first in the final."
They heard the cheers from the crowd as the final race before theirs was completed.
"Well, time for me to go." On the spur of the moment he leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He was rewarded by a brilliant smile from her. "Wish us luck."
Allura watched him walk away with the rest of the team and thought, win or lose, we'll both win after this race.
Walking around the edge of the natatorium, she made her way to the box reserved for Arus and joined her guest – Romelle. The two chatted nervously as they watched the guys on the deck getting ready.
"Even with those caps and goggles, they still look hot." Romelle's eyes were glued on Sven as he was joking with the Force members. He was wearing the sapphire blue trunks of Pollux that had a repeating band about two inches wide along the bottom of the leg that had the royal crest. The style was the same as Keith's – low-slung waist with legs stopping above the knee. With the caps and goggles, they looked very similar.
"We're very lucky women, Romelle," Allura giggled.
"Indeed we are cousin!"
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The guys were taking their positions and getting their goggles in place. Pollux and Arus would be swimming in the two center lanes since they were the top two qualifying teams. The order of the strokes would be backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle. Pidge and Bandor would be swimming the first leg of the relay for their teams and setting the pace. The other planets with taller and stronger swimmers would definitely challenge them on this leg, but the two boys wouldn't be swimming if they didn't contribute. Hunk would swim the breaststroke and Lance the butterfly. Sven and Keith would swim the anchor freestyle leg.
The guys took their places as Bandor and Pidge jumped into the pool to get into position for the backstroke. And then suddenly, the buzzer sounded and the crowd went wild. Everyone knew of the ties between Arus and Pollux as well as the former Blue Lion pilot swimming for Pollux. There were plenty of fans for both sides and the facility was crowded to capacity.
Romelle screamed Bandor's name at the turn as the boys were almost in a dead heat with Pidge edging Bandor out by a few hundredths of a second. As Pidge and Bandor came into the wall, Bandor edged him out giving Pollux a very small lead.
It was now Hunk's turn with the breaststroke. Even though Hunk made a great entry into the water, that was a lot of man going in and the waves he made were larger than the other swimmers. Contrary to what Hunk had initially joked to Allura, he didn't sink but swam fluidly as his head popped up and down in the water with each stroke. However, Hunk had been correct in the fact that his body wasn't built for swimming and the Pollux swimmer went into the wall with a body length lead.
Lance had the pass timed perfectly and entered the water like a torpedo. He knew he needed to make up some time. A body length was a lot for Keith to make up in 100 meters if the other guy was good. Freestyle wasn't Sven's best, but it was far from his worst. By the time Lance pushed into the wall to make the pass, he had made up half a body length. However, Sven had been right, he was going in with a lead.
Keith had positioned himself on the platform, ready to go. A slight smile curved his lips. He might not be the fastest freestyle swimmer at the games, but he was the fastest one with a chance to win. The silver medalist's team didn't make the final and the gold medalist from the 100 freestyle would start this leg in seventh place. Sven was a good freestyle swimmer, but he was better. I'm starting to sound like Lance. He watched Sven from the corner of his eye as he dived in and then he was in right after him as Lance tagged the wall. Timing was everything in a relay…
Romelle and Allura were on their feet, gripping each other's arms and screaming.
At the turn, Keith had caught Sven but the timer showed the Norwegian edging him out. But now it was the final drive to the wall to determine gold and silver. By the time they were at 25 meters, Keith had Sven by half a body and as Keith pressed to the wall, it was a full body length.
Sven and Keith congratulated each other across the lane divider and then Keith took off his goggles and cap and submerged under the water. Smiling broadly as he came up from his self-dunking, he accepted the assistance of his teammates to get out of the water. Then the digital board finalized the results that showed Arus in first and Pollux in second. Congratulations were going around the swim deck as Romelle and Allura made their way over to the area.
Romelle rushed to give Sven a big hug and kiss in congratulations.
Keith looked at his friend receiving his hug and kiss and smiled. Feeling a tug on his arm, he thought it would be just another swimmer. But it wasn't, it was Allura. "We did it!"
Looking at him with affection, she replied, "Yes, you did and you deserve something for it."
Nodding he said, "Oh, the medals don't mean that much to me. I'm just proud that I could do it for you and Arus."
Blocking out the noise around them, Allura moved closer and said, "I'm not talking about a medal." Reaching up, she molded her body to his wet one and pulled his head down for a kiss. It wasn't a passionate one, but it promised passion later. She knew that even though the kiss was pretty chaste, the fact that she had kissed Keith in front of the crowd in the natatorium would be a big deal. However, when she saw the smile on his face and in his eyes, she was glad she had done it. Coran would just have to deal with the media circus that was sure to follow.
Keith gazed at Allura with happiness and wonder. She kissed him. In fact, she kissed him in a very public way. She wasn't worried about their station or what others would think. Taking her hand, the two of them moved through the crowd that was still congratulating them. Later, Allura would present them with their medals, but he had already received his true prize. It was indeed true. If you have a lane, you have a chance….
