AN: Whoa, thank you so much for the lovely reviews! I'm glad that this lil ol' fic of mine is getting some love. So… dat Season 3 tho. Eh? I binged it as soon as it dropped. I'm still debating whether or not I should go ahead and write a small Shallura one-shot idea I have because of a certain scene that happened in S3. Hmm… anyways, I used minor terminology from S3 in this chap.
All I'll say is that I was really happy to see Kolivan again. I can't wait to see how the Blade of Marmora will help out the paladins in future seasons and get the love and much needed 'thank you' that they deserve from new planets they save from Zarkon's evil quintessence fueled clutches.
Anyways I know that you're all dying to know the origins of Lance and what's going on with his whole dad situation and Allura's past in general but all I can say for now is that patience is key. It's coming. Whether in the next chap or the following after – it's coming soon and with a lot of feels to boot. It's a little bit of a dark/hard/touchy subject. My lips are sealed.
Shout out to FadhiliTheOne and a Guest reviewers – thank you for the suggestions. It's funny since I had similar ideas in mind! I'll try to see how I can incorporate certain scenes into future chapters! I already have a juicy one in mind for the next chap. Mwahahahaha. Oh, I'm a such a tease.
Ps. Before I forget to mention this. I went and revised a few chapters, I fixed minor spelling errors that were bugging me. The only 'major' thing I changed was the name of the Galra homeland. From Municipality of Galra I switched it to the Municipality of Daibazaal. To y'know be more accurate.
Happy reading~
The Heart Of A Paladin
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Hey, Allura… uhh… I've decided to change babysitters for reasons… *shudders* so in the meantime, do you mind watching Keith for the day? I promise he's good, just give him a book and he's set. They called me into work on my off day so this is kinda an emergency.
D'aww old man Slav is a wonderful babysitter but I understand if you wish to no longer keep him as your babysitter. Sure! I'd love to take care of Keith, I'm sure Lance will be excited.
Thanks, I really appreciate it. Slav is just so… old. Sometimes I wonder if Keith is watching over him or if Slav is actually, y'know… babysitting.
Lol, no worries. Whenever you're ready, just come in. The door will be unlocked.
Thanks, you're a life saver.
Allura happily sighed pressing the power button on her phone to turn off the screen. Setting her phone aside, she continued her work on her laptop on the dining table. "Lance! Can you come here please?" she slightly raised her voice an octave higher, calling her son who was currently playing with his toys in his room.
"Coming!" he yelled back and ran down the hall wearing a blue towel as a cape. The length of the towel dragging behind him as he made airplane noises, "Look, mommy! I'm a fighter pilot! Blue paladin ready for action!" he puckered his lips and tried to whistle to give himself sound effects.
Allura shook her head amused and played along by closing her laptop and twisting her torso so she could receive him with arms wide open. "Blue paladin to Castle! This is Princess Allura, ready for your landing" she giggled as Lance jumped straight into her arms.
She hugged her son tightly and gave his cheek a big kiss. "I love you so much, Starshine" she contently whispered as she held him.
"To the moon and back" he finished and stayed in her embrace until she announced that she had a surprise for him.
Not long after Allura told him that they were expecting company, they heard a soft knock coming from the entrance with someone opening the door.
Lance hesitated, knowing he wasn't allowed to open the door or get near it unless his mom was standing right there. Looking at her for permission, she nodded as he excitedly ran towards the door when he heard Shiro and Keith entering.
"Keith! You're here! You're here!" Lance bounced around.
"Wanna go play? I brought my red paladin Kaltenecker and toys!" Keith proudly held his cow plushie to show him as he turned his body sideways to show Lance his little red backpack.
Lance nodded, "sure! I'll go get my blue paladin Kaltenecker from my room! Wait until you see my toys!" he said, grabbing Keith's hand and running with him into the blue themed bedroom.
Shiro chuckled, "guess I'll see Keith later"
Allura giggled, "I'm glad that Lance has made a friend so quickly and one that lives nearby"
Shiro agreed, "again, I'm really grateful to you Allura. In the past I used to take Keith to my cousin Sven who lived down the street but he moved to the Puig Alps. He was the one who recommended Slav but again… the old geezer has lost enough marbles as it is"
Allura playfully rolled her eyes, she agreed to some degree but on Altea, her people highly respected their elders so it was hard for her to not love crazy ol' Slav from Apartment 88 just the way he is. "You know… you've never told me where you work"
Shiro smirked, leaning closer to her causing her to back up further against the wall at the entrance standing next to the hallway table. "And you've never told me yours"
"Gentlemen, first. I do insist" she coolly said, trying not to blush.
"Oh, role reverse? Okay" he said in such a way that made it sound not as innocent as it should be. His dark gray eyes bore into her blues, like hard steel trapped in a tidal wave. "In the mornings, I work at an auto repair shop and during the night I'm a freelance web designer so I help to run websites or make them for clients. I used to be a senior officer at the Garrison Military Academy but I'm long retired from that"
"You really are an old man" Allura teased.
Shiro laughed, "Guess so. I miss it but it took a lot out of my schedule, I never had any free time. What about you?"
"Cupcakes" she simply told him. She wasn't about to blurt out how after her dad passed away, she inherited everything he left from stocks, bonds, titles, etc. She had money, yes, but refused to tap into any of it unless she really needed to. She was saving the majority for Lance's education and enjoyed living a humble life in the city.
"Cupcakes?" he asked.
"Yup. I run an online cupcake shop. The Balmera's Brew and few other little shops around town buy from me. Weekends are hectic with orders but I'm happy. I'm self-employed and love baking"
"You bake?" Shiro took a step back, dramatically gasping and covering his hands over his mouth.
"Why am I just now finding this out?" he questioned out loud.
Allura lightly punched his left arm and sighed, "because you've never asked"
Shiro made a 'hmm' noise that rumbled deep within his throat as he braced himself to act a little forward with her. Quickly he took hold of her hand and lifted it up to meet his lips, leaning down he kissed the top of her hand and looked straight into her surprised eyes. "There's still a lot that I don't know about you but I'd really, really like to. Anyways, I'm going to be late for work, I'll text you when I'm on my way back" he said still holding onto her hand for a few seconds before he let go and walked out the door with a small wave.
Allura peeked her head out the door as she watched him go as he descended the flight of stairs. Her throat pulsed from her heart suddenly working on overdrive. She closed the door behind her and stayed still for a moment against the door as she tried collecting her thoughts.
"Oh gods, help me" she quietly pleaded to herself.
She wanted, so, so, so desperately to allow herself happiness. To give her heart a chance at healing, to learn to move on from the past. But that's the thing about the past and her nagging memories - it still haunted her each and every single day. Some days she'd wake up drenched in sweat and gasping for air. Other nights, Lance would wake her up in the middle of the night from her screaming and would stay to sleep with her.
She wanted to break down and cry because someone actually likes her for her. Not because of the status she once held nor because of her father's influence. Someone was falling in love with her for her, not Allura the daughter of an ambassador but just plain ol' Allura.
Allura caressed her hand that not even a minute ago was held so gently as if she'd break if he was any rougher with her. Her hand and finger tips tingled from the sensation which quickly started to spread and tingle in her reddened cheeks. She continued to hold her hand and looked at it with a somber smile.
She knew that if Shiro found out the truth and saw how much of a burden being with her would be, she knew that she'd scare him off. Five years ago, she convinced herself that she was destined to be alone for all eternity. No man would ever want her, of course not, not after that.
"I'm so stupid for believing" she gritted her teeth, trying to fight back her sudden tears.
Meanwhile two little boys were sitting on the carpeted floor playing an action intense make-belief game about being in space and needing to form voltron the giant lion guardian robot.
"We need your freeze ray to destroy the evil song coming from the bogwaggle cape, Blue!" Keith ordered as he made fighting noises with action figures he brought with him.
"On it, Red!" Lance yelled back as he got up from the floor and pretended to fly around while holding his blue lion toy.
"Preparing to freeze the cape!" Lance said along with, 'pew' 'pew' 'pew' noises to follow the imaginary firing of ice towards a towel they had set on the floor.
Keith switched roles from the red paladin and took hold of the towel on the floor and rolled around in it while evading Lance's attacks with his plastic blue lion toy. He was pretending to be the evil music playing bogwaggle cape while singing the voltron kid's tv show theme song out of tune.
Both Kaltenecker paladin plushies sat next to each other as the kids played with other toys. Running around, jumping, and giggling as they reached the victorious climax of their cape vanquishing adventures in space.
Focusing back on her work, Allura continued to fill in and take orders from her online shop until noon when she noticed the time. Getting up from her work station at the table, she walked to the kitchen and raided the fridge to see what she could make that was quick and easy. She always kept lunch simple and then made a proper meal for dinner every night.
She took out the celery, carrots, and the gallon of milk out setting them on the kitchen counter. Moving on to the pantry she took out the white bread, peanut butter and a jar of Altean purple berries jam.
As she made the pb&j sandwiches, she had her radio on one of her favorite stations that wasn't plagued by dreadful news for once as the soft music filled the kitchen. With the statue ceremony and remembrance for the Altean riots happening not long ago, the news stations both on tv and radio were still going on nonstop about it. She wished that they would just drop their investigating on the matter. None of the royals nor politicians made it out alive except for her by chance of incredible luck and sacrifice.
Leaving the music on, she went to go set the plates of food and cups with milk on the table having already taken her laptop back into her room before calling the boys to come eat.
"Oh boy, purple berries!" Lance said as he sat down and noticed the purple jam oozing out of his sandwich. He squished the bread flat causing even more to come out.
"Lance, don't play with your food" Allura told him as she watched him.
"Are you sure this isn't poison?" Keith asked, staring at the pb&j sandwich with caution.
Allura let out a tiny chuckle, "of course not, Keith, what makes you say that?
Keith made a weird face as he poked the bread once eyeing the purple jam as it oozed out. "Daddy made me a sandwich one time with Galran purple berries"
At the mention of the Galran version of purple berries, Allura let out a genuine amused laugh as Keith tilted his head curious.
"Oh no, Sweetheart. Galran purple berries are extremely sour when you don't cook them. These are Altean, they're very sweet and delicious" she reassured him. In the back of her mind, she made sure to tease Shiro about this later.
"You promise?" Keith still wasn't sure to trust her despite seeing Lance already done with one slice of his sandwich.
Allura nodded, "I promise"
Keith hesitantly took a tiny bite out of a corner and gave it a thoughtful chew before his eyes widened as he gasped.
"It is good!" he sounded surprised.
Lance took one look at him and rolled his eyes, "of course it is, my Mommy is the best cook in the world!"
"I'll need to tell Daddy about this. He's not the best at cooking" Keith sighed, taking a sip of his milk.
"No?" Allura said curiously.
"Daddy works a lot and he's always tired but you know, he's not so bad. He doesn't know how to make a lot of things but he likes trying to. Sometimes he uses me as his guinea pig" he grumbled while crinkling his little nose at the mention of that but continued, "Daddy's really nice and silly and he can be clumsy and forget things alllll the time but I can tell that he's trying his best so that I don't worry about him but I do" Keith commented.
Even if he was still five, he wasn't stupid. He knew that his dad really liked his friend's mom. Even though he didn't fully understand it and thought it was gross, he didn't object to the idea even if part of him didn't mind how things were now. Just the two of them but he knew that his dad deserved happiness too.
"Why do you worry about him, Keith?" Allura softly asked the boy.
"Because Daddy tells me that he's scared of… hmm… he said, 'screwing things up,'" Keith told her as he bit into a carrot stick, hearing the vegetable crunch as he swallowed. "I don't know what that means but I love my Daddy because he's the best in the whole wide world and he tells me that you're really pretty and nice and smell good so I trust you too Lance's Mommy" Keith gave her a stern look with a nod of approval.
Allura was taken back by the small boy. He was still so very young but very insightful. Something deep within her told her that she could trust Shiro with both her heart and healing but her mind constantly nagged her to continue playing hard to get and eventually cause him to grow tired of this game of cat and mouse so that she could stay alone forever.
She didn't want to lose Shiro and this blossoming relationship.
Hearing Keith describe and teach her something new about Shiro made her feel the need to continue fighting her mind over control to her heart. She needed to be brave and find a chance to properly talk to him. If he accepts her for who she is now in the present, then they can figure out whatever this relationship is together for the future moving forward.
"Thank you, Keith" she brightly smiled at the boy.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Done! To be continued.
As I type up new chapters, I ask myself, "are these chapters going to just get longer and longer?" lol. When I'm trying so hard to stick to shorter chapters so I can update faster. I'm cursed to write whatever my brain comes up with next. All the fluff, drama, and angst that I can come up with. Yes. I'm sure only the author here is suffering.
Until next time! Uhuhuhuhu, it's gonna be a good one. Ice cream, a Spongebob reference, hot summer day, sweat and grease. Ahhh, yes. So good.
Remember to R&R! Plz & Thankies! :]
