I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.
Enjoy Chapter 8
Mertz
Several hours later, Keith moans in pain as he slowly awakens to the sounds of the machines hooked up to him. Whispering begins around him and finally one voice emerges, "Keith?" He forces his eyes to open slowly as the sound of a door closing reaches him and Hunk's kindly face smiles down at him, "Hey Cap…"
After blinking several times to make his vision clearer, Keith hoarsely whispers, "Hunk? Where am I?"
"MedTech Keith…" Hunk takes a step back so Keith doesn't have to stare up at him before he continues, "You lost a lot of blood with that shoulder wound and fell unconscious. I brought in Black lion and you immediately went into surgery."
Keith finally notices that his right arm is immobilized against him and his memory slowly starts to clear. He tries to sit up as panic fills him, "Allura?"
Hunk pushes him back down against his pillows as he says, "She is here, Keith. Lance and Pidge are with her…" He pauses a moment before adding, "Princess is catatonic Keith. We don't know what Lotor did to her, but according to Dr. Gorma, he didn't rape her. However, we can't get Princess to speak to us."
Starting to rise again, Keith's commanding voice makes Hunk jump, "Get Dr. Gorma in here and get me unhooked from these damn machines. Only I can wake her up."
Hunk nods and quickly walks out of the room.
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Hunk follows Keith as he slowly walks down the hallway with Dr. Gorma in his wake, "Commander, this is a very foolish idea. If you rip out those stitches you could injure your shoulder worse…"
Keith ignores the doctor's continued protests as he reaches Allura's room and walks into it. He spots Lance sitting by Allura's bed as he talks to her, "Please Princess…wake up and speak to us. You are safe."
The noise of the door shutting has Lance turning around and standing up with an astonished look on his face, "Keith! What the hell are you doing out of bed? You only got out of surgery a few hours ago!"
Keith ignores Lance as he makes his way to Allura's side. He almost stumbles and Lance grabs him, "Dammit Keith!"
Pulling away from Lance, Keith sits down beside Allura, "I can wake her…"
The doors to the room open as Coran and Nanny quickly walk in. Keith glances at them then turns back to Allura. Rage fills him as he takes in her bruised cheek and cut lip. He takes a deep breath and shakes his head to clear his mind of the painkillers' interference and concentrates on penetrating her closed thoughts, 'Allura, you are safe now…come out of hiding.'
She doesn't move her face still carefully blank as she blinks occasionally. Keith takes a deep breath and leans over her as he tries again, 'Allura, I told you I would come to you when it was safe. Come back to me love.'
Coran watches as Keith stares down on the princess and thinks, God please let this work. If he is truly her soul mate he should be able to bring her out of this.
Frustrated by her lack of response, Keith leans down so his lips are just above hers and projects his thoughts to her as hard as he can, 'Allura…I'm going to kiss you. Feel my touch sweetheart and return to me.'
Keith gently presses his lips against hers and in his mind; he hears a faint whisper, 'Keith…'
As she begins to respond to his kiss, he feels her fingers moving up his good arm and Keith lifts his face up, breaking the kiss so he can look into her eyes. Sapphire eyes fill with tears and a collective sigh of relief is heard around the room as she finally whispers aloud, "Keith…"
Keith smiles softly at her and moves his good arm to push her hair out of her face, "Welcome back…"
Tears run out of her eyes as she sits up, wrapping her arms around him and sobs out, "Keith…"
A groan of pain escapes Keith as she unintentionally hits his injured shoulder. Allura pulls back and looks him over before finding his eyes again, 'You were injured? How? When?'
Keith sits up slowly away from her as he painfully grimaces, 'Lotor's sword…I'll be fine.'
At Lotor's name, Allura's eyes tear up again and she looks away from Keith as she collapses back onto her pillow. Keith notices and reaches down to touch her bruised cheek, 'You are fine Allura…we got to you before he could rape you.'
Allura looks up to find Keith's dark, tender gaze looking deeply into her eyes. He takes her hand and a feeling of calmness spreads over her as Keith surrounds her with a feeling of safety.
Lance watches as Keith continues to converse with Allura via their link and calms her down. He glances over at Coran and notes the satisfied expression on his face as he watches the two before Coran turns to people in the room, "Princess Allura appears to be fine. Let's let her rest."
Coran pushes everyone out of the room but Dr. Gorma. Dr. Gorma walks over to them and gently taps Keith on his good shoulder, "Commander, I suggest you get back into your own bed and rest."
Keith glances back at him like he would like to argue but a sudden feeling of exhaustion over takes him and he slowly releases Allura's hand to rise, "I think you are right."
Allura sits up and reaches for his left hand, holding it within hers, "Keith?"
Keith turns back to her and smiles softly at her while squeezing her hand, "It's alright Allura."
Dr. Gorma places his hand on Keith's good arm and turns him to direct Keith out of the room. Allura slowly sits up in her bed as if to rise but stops when she feels Coran's hand on her arm, "It is alright Allura, Keith needs to rest so he may recover from his injuries."
Allura nods and lies back on her pillows once more. Coran smiles down on her kindly as he states, "He brought you back. Keith is your soul mate."
A small smile crosses Allura's lips before it slips away again. She utters softly, "But he doesn't want me."
Coran smiles at her as he pats her hand, "Have some patience Allura. He will find his way to you eventually." Allura studies the kindly eyes looking down on her. She finally lets out a sigh and turns over as Coran adds, "Rest for now."
Coran watches her for a moment longer, saying a little prayer for her safe return before he turns and leaves the room.
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Late that night, Allura tosses her head in her sleep as her dream of Lotor attacking her continues. A cry of terror escapes her before a voice enters her head, 'Allura, wake up…you are safe.'
Her eyes open as Keith's voice continues to echo in her head, 'That bastard will never touch you again.'
Allura throws her blankets off and rises from the bed. Leaving her room, she walks down the hallway to Keith's room. Pressing the button to open the door, Allura walks in slowly as Keith turns his head toward her to ask, "Are you alright?"
Nodding her head slowly, Allura's gaze travels along Keith's body and pauses on his shoulder, 'Does it hurt?'
A sigh leaves Keith and Allura raises her eyes to meet his. Keith studies her battered face silently for a moment before he speaks softly, "Yes, it does. Do you hurt?"
Allura waves her hand dismissing his question as she walks over to the bed to stand beside him and asks, "Did you take anything for the pain?"
Keith shakes his head at her, "You know I don't like that stuff."
She lowers her hand and lightly traces the fingers of Keith's left hand with her finger tips. Keith grasps her fingers within his hand and lifts his gaze to find her watching him closely again. Her soft, pleading voice fills his mind, 'Can I sleep by you?'
He watches her for a moment before answering her, "Yes."
Allura crawls under the blankets and lies along his left side to avoid Keith's injured shoulder. Keith shifts his arm to make her more comfortable as she rests her head near his shoulder and lets out a deep sigh of satisfaction. The continuous throbbing pain from his shoulder lessens as Allura's feelings of contentment spreads through him.
Keith sighs as her feelings continue to project over him and he wraps his arm around her to hold her close to him. His eyes begin to drift shut as sleep finally claims him and as Allura whispers to his mind, the last thing he hears is, 'I love you.'
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Keith walks through a meadow full of flowers to the beautiful woman standing in the middle of them. He watches as she bends over picking several of them and arranging them within her hands into a beautiful bouquet.
The woman finally stands upright and glances over her shoulder at him and a smile crosses her face. Turning fully around, she walks over to Keith and hands him the bouquet. Keith holds the flowers up to his nose and inhales their sweet scent before his dark gaze rises and meets her blue one.
She grabs his hands and pulls the bouquet closer to herself once more and inhales the smell before smiling up into his eyes, "These are her favorites you know…"
Keith looks at her slightly confused, "Whose?"
A soft, fragile looking hand rises to caress his cheek before she replies, "The one you belong with."
Keith violently shakes his head in response, "I belong with you and no other."
The smile that crosses her face is a tender but sad one, "But you never belonged with me…"
Before he can protest again, she places a finger against his lips, "Don't throw it away for what is gone and can never be again."
She steps away from him and smiles sadly at him before disappearing.
Keith's eyes fly open but he can't sit up with the weight against his left side. Turning his head, he listens to Allura sigh deeply in her sleep as her hand tightens against his side; almost as if she is afraid he would pull away from her while she slept.
Moving his fingers lightly along Allura's exposed upper arm, Keith watches as goose bumps form along her skin where his fingers had touched. He pauses as Allura murmurs in her sleep and shifts against him, her breasts rubbing against his side.
As her distended nipples brush against his chest, Keith sucks in a deep breath as desire and longing suddenly suffuses his system, Allura's desire. Cursing himself, he thinks, Damn…that was stupid. Keith moves his hand away from Allura's arm and stills himself while trying to go back to sleep.
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The sound of voices wakes Allura the next morning. Slowly, she opens her eyes as Keith finishes his conversation with Dr. Gorma and then the doctor leaves the room. As she lifts her head, Keith turns his face toward her, 'Good morning.'
Allura smiles at him and tightens her grip around his waist, hugging Keith as she answers, 'Good morning.'
Keith studies her eyes for a few more moments before asking, 'Sleep well?'
A sigh escapes Allura as she breaks eye contact and turns her face into Keith's chest to rub her check against him, 'No more bad dreams.'
His brow furrows as he grasps what she said and Keith asks, 'What did you dream?'
'A lady came to me…she was beautiful. She told me, 'It is time…' Allura turns her face back to Keith. A sense of déjà vu settles uneasily over Keith as he asks, "What did she look like?"
Allura looks at Keith a bit confused before answering, "Oh, she was taller than me. She didn't tell me her name, but she had this long ebony hair, porcelain skin and ruby red lips. And her eyes…they were even bluer than mine." She turns her gaze back to Keith and becomes concerned about his suddenly pale face, "Keith? What's wrong?"
Words fail Keith as he processes Allura's accurate description of his wife. When he fails to speak Allura enters his mind, 'Keith? What's wrong?' A moment of silence passes before she adds, 'You are scaring me! Keith, please!'
Keith finally finds his voice as he quietly asks, "What else did she tell you?"
Shaking her head at his lack of answers, Allura blushes slightly before responding via their link, 'That the other half of my soul would be with me soon.'
Distressed, Keith pushes Allura away from him as he rises from the bed. Allura's pleading voice fills his mind, 'Keith! Please, what's wrong? What did I say wrong?'
He glances back at her to find tears sliding down her cheeks before he walks out of the room, the sound of Allura crying echoing in his mind. Keith brushes by the nurse who tries to stop him and leaves MedTech, dressed only in his pajama bottoms.
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Lance finds Keith sitting in the grass by the side of the lake twenty minutes later. He throws the robe he brought with him around Keith's bare shoulders as he approaches him, "It's a little cold to be sitting outside in just pajama bottoms Keith."
Keith glances up at him and Lance is shocked by the pain visible in Keith's red, tear stained eyes before he turns his gaze back to the lake. Lance sits down beside him silently for a few minutes before he speaks quietly to him, "Allura is freaking out that you walked out of MedTech. Most of the palace guard is looking for you."
When Keith fails to respond, Lance pulls his comm. unit off his belt and radios in, "I've found Keith, call off the search." Pidge's relieved voice responds, "Will do."
Lance turns his gaze back to Keith, "What's going on buddy? It isn't like you to just walk away."
Keith's voice is low and hoarse with tears when he finally responds, "Andrea told me to leave her…why would she do that?"
A concerned look crosses Lance's face as he asks, "Keith…Andrea is dead…how can you leave her?"
Tears continue down Keith's face as he utters, "Her spirit came to me Lance and she came to Allura and said the same thing to us, "It is time…" How can she ask me to no longer honor her memory and go to someone else?"
Finally understanding what is going on, Lance throws an arm around Keith's shoulders, avoiding his injury, "Keith, Andrea would never have wanted you to go through the rest of your life alone. She would have wanted you to find love again and to be happy. That is why she is telling you it is time…it is time for you to move on with your life."
Keith turns his gaze back to the lake as he works through everything she has told him in his dreams lately before realizing the truth, Andrea was telling him goodbye. Tears continue to run down his cheeks as a quiet sob escapes him.
Lance doesn't say anything; he just sits there beside his friend wishing he can take Keith's pain away as he joins Keith in looking across the lake.
