A/N — Enjoy!
Disclaimer — I don't own Voltron, just my imagination.
They laid with each other for over half an hour, enjoying their own company, when Allura suddenly perked up and jumped out of the bed to run over, grab a remote, and present it to Keith with a flourish. At Keith's puzzled expression, Allura took the remote, and aimed it at the wall across from them. Almost instantly, a white and black fuzzy picture appeared on the wall.
"It's a vid of the area above. We're seeing the blizzard rage overhead. I don't see the castle. I guess they are still without power." Allura commented. Keith looked at the image, stunned by it.
"Whose been holding out, now." He asked mildly, concentrating on the snow and any possible images behind it. He watched the storm whip around and over the camera with a wild frenzy that was a little frightening to behold. He couldn't imagine that you could see more than a metre in front of you, if you were unlucky enough to get caught out in that maelstrom. He had long ago heard about people on the pioneer homesteads that would miss their homes by centimetres in a blizzard, and walk out onto the prairie and die, looking for a home that might be only metres away. If he hadn't believed it before, this storm had him convinced.
"Allura, where are we getting our power?" Keith was suddenly conscious of the fact that the fire wouldn't last forever, and the charging Voltcom and the vid must be drawing some significant power. Depending on how long the storm lasted, and how long the castle was without power, they could still be in some serious trouble.
Allura shrugged and motioned to a small computer console in one corner of the room. "That's the main terminal for the whole complex. I didn't read everything, but it looks like there is a massive underground battery, that takes advantage of some underground thermals in the area. There are also some solar arrays hidden in the debris of the old city. There is another room through that door, that has massive amounts of wood, blankets, food, water, and – most important for our needs – medicines and medical equipment."
"While you were out, I rummaged through what was available and found some useful things. I gave you a shot of antibiotics and a shot of painkiller, about ten minutes before you woke up. The pain meds aren't as good as the ones in the Voltcom, but you were starting to move around and I was terrified that you'd hurt yourself. I didn't dare remove your Voltcom to replace it with mine for that reason. I didn't want to risk your ribs and leg being unprotected. The antibiotic was the recommended dose, but I'm sure Dr. Gorma or Andria will be able to give you better treatment when we get back." She had grabbed his hand again, clinging to it as she willed him not to worry about anything but getting better.
Keith smiled at her reassuringly, but blew out a breath in contemplation. He should have known that the lessening of the pain was too good to be true. He also didn't feel as feverish, so the meds must have had an extra fever reducer in them too. He stared at the snowy screen, thinking about the castle and the people inside. He hoped that everyone was okay. The team would be worried when they couldn't reach them on the 'com unit. Of course, everyone would be frantic that the Princess was missing.
Keith snorted to himself. The council would be more frantic that the Princess was missing with him than they would be that she was simply missing. He was sure that it would relieve them to no end that he had been injured during their time out of contact. It would have prevented him from getting too handsy with her. He smiled inwardly at the horror they would feel if they knew how often she contrived to get her hands all over him!
After a moment, he looked up into Allura's beautiful green eyes and his heart softened in gratefulness and love. She had done an incredible job of not only looking after him, but also rescuing them both from potentially – no, definitely – life threatening situations. He knew she was worried, not only about the people in the castle, but about the people who lived in the area and were pinned down, hopefully somewhere warm. That would be the first thing they would do when the storm abated – get the Lions and check to make sure that everyone was safe.
Keith smiled up at her again, taking her hand to bring it to his lips in a chaste, romantic kiss. "I'll stop worrying if you will, my princess." He said, gently, watching as her lips curved up slightly in a smile at his teasing. He glanced at the screen again. "I don't think that there is anything more that we can do tonight. Why don't you lie down with me and we'll get some sleep. We've both had a very stressful, trying day, and we'll need our wits about us when they start to look for us."
Allura hesitated for a moment, and then nodded her assent. She was exhausted from their ordeal, and she would have to get up at least once more in the night to give Keith his antibiotic and pain medication. There was nothing to be gained by remaining awake in the interim. She had to be alert for Keith when he needed her, and if her presence gave him some comfort, then she wouldn't deny him.
She went back to her original position, curled up beside him as she pulled the blankets over them, with her cheek touching his shoulder. His arm snaked under her neck, trailing across her shoulders and his hand left to rest on her arm. He reached over and kissed her on the forehead, resting his head on hers. She smirked. "Well this isn't the way I pictured us spending our first full night in bed together."
Keith snorted in response. "Yes, I was expecting a great deal less clothing when that glorious day occurred." He laughed softly at the blush that tinged her cheeks. "I like this as well, though. Having you right here beside me feels amazing, no matter how it came about."
"I want this forever." She said quietly, her eyes closing as the combination of the blankets and Keith's strong body beside her, made her feel warm and safe."
"We'll have it, my love." He whispered into her hair, letting her comforting presence wash over him. It was the first time that she had spoken about forever. She usually studiously avoided that concept with him. His soul soared at the thought that she was letting her heart trust in the idea of life beyond the war – of a forever for them. "The council won't be able to keep us apart for much longer."
The council weren't evil, he thought to himself, they were just terrified of Doom, and their faith in Voltron wasn't as strong as theirs was. They saw an alliance with weapons and ships and money coming to Arus. Keith knew what would most likely happen. Voltron would be the actual currency of a royal alliance, and the mighty robot was way more valuable than any fleet or weapon they could give Arus. It frustrated him to no end that they couldn't see this simple truth.
While Voltron protected all of Arus, and by extension her allies, the reality was that he was owned by the royal family – namely Allura. He or she, who controlled the royal family, controlled Voltron. That was not public knowledge, but the council had to be aware of that fact. He knew that Coran had not been pleased when he had made the connection for himself, and had asked him to keep it quiet when he had confronted him about it.
The idea that they would be willing to have any prince come in and, not only take the planet as his own, but essentially give this person the keys to the greatest defender of peace in this galaxy, just boggled his imagination. They were also willing to give him their princess, who he knew that they really did love and respect. It was enough to send him into a rage if he thought about it too much. Marriage for the sake of an alliance was wrong – more than that, it was dangerous. He had always worried over that kind of alliance, even beyond the shredding that it would do to his own heart.
He and the team were still Alliance pilots, specifically Space Explorers, and their loyalty had first been given to the planets of that alliance. If an Arusian treaty resulted with a planet that was not allied to their Alliance, the team might have to be recalled and assigned elsewhere. The problem was, they were still bonded to their lions, and none of them had any idea how to break that bond, other than death. Time and distance didn't seem to matter. How could they leave Arus and their mecha? How could he watch Allura marry someone she didn't want – become someone she didn't want to be, for the sake of protocol and a crown? He had never been able to answer those questions.
"We will hold firm, and stay the course." He finally said, confidently, holding to his faith in her. "I'm not going anywhere, and only your word will make me leave – will make us leave. You and I will be together all the time soon, and you'll start to get bored of having me here beside you, hogging the covers and snoring."
He heard a tired chuckle, and a sleepy "not possible" come from under the blankets as her breathing settled into the regular rhythm of sleep. Keith smiled down at her, and then stared at the screen of snow for a little longer, letting his eyes get heavy, overriding the low grade pain in his chest and extremities. He would need a shot soon, but he ignored it for now, revelling in the feeling of her beside him, as he fell asleep.
