Allura sat in Blue's second seat, not paying much attention to Larmina's flying. She was supposed to be giving her niece tips on navigating magnetic fields, but she found it hard to concentrate on anything other than Lance's voice barking instructions over the comms. She had held out for the first day and a half of his odd three day waiting period before finding herself outside his door. She hadn't knocked or rung the chime, but…the override code had proved too tempting. Luckily, he hadn't even been inside at the time and there had been no shirt carelessly tossed aside to tantalize her. She was fairly certain she could get him to stop ignoring her if she could get him alone to talk for just a few minutes, but if he continued to employ his impressive evasive tactics, she was in for another sleepless night. She couldn't see herself lasting another day and a half – that was almost two days! – especially given the previous day and this morning had been given over to meeting with Keith and Coran regarding their strategy for their visit to the Qirillians. No such distractions would be so readily available once they left later this afternoon.

"Allura, don't let her keep diving at that trajectory! She's not going to be able to pull out!"

She blinked as she realized the waters of Lake Arus were indeed coming up much faster than advisable. "Fire the forward thrusters, Larmina."

"Right. That's…"

"Allura!"

She tapped her foot impatiently and Blue lit up the appropriate control on the panel as an aid. A few moments later, Larmina had stabilized Blue and put her in a hover over the water. Allura tried to disregard that Lance had used her name instead of her title for the first time in over…it hadn't really been so long, but it grated on her ears every time he said 'princess.'

He has to concentrate very hard to say it each time.

She jumped. She and Blue had a strong bond, but they rarely communicated in words. She concentrated hard. How do you know that?

Red knows. Red talks. A lot.

Allura smiled in spite of herself. Somehow, I'm not surprised. What did surprise her was the sudden and unexpected conversation with her Lion. Why don't you talk more?

I did not think it mattered to you. You always understand without words. Special attention is needed for such a feat.

She sighed. I wish I could understand Lance that way.

You do.

A more familiar sensation than Blue's voice suddenly invaded her consciousness. She cried, "Larmina, evasive maneuvers!"

"Why?"

Allura braced herself for an impact that rocked Blue. "That's why."

"Whoa, why the weapons? I thought we were just doing some flying drills!"

Lance sounded annoyed as he replied, "Yeah, because Lotor always sends us a nice card and a photo of the latest Robeast so we can prepare before he drops it here. You have to be ready for anything!"

Larmina muttered, "Bet you won't be ready for my foot up your…"

"Open channel, cadet."

Allura was thankful Larmina didn't understand the subtle destabilization of their flight pattern was caused by Blue's laughter. "Just relax, Larmina. Don't feel like you have to control every last little thing. Let Blue do some of the work."

"But I thought I was supposed to be the pilot!"

"You are, but you still have to work as a team with your Lion."

"See, this is why I don't like relying on technology. I mean, at least if I'm fighting hand-to-hand and my Voltcom craps out, I've still got a chance!"

Lance again joined the conversation from afar, "Yeah, but Robeasts tend to fight harder than Vince."

"Hey!" Vince shouted from Green.

"No offense, cadet," Lance replied with a hint of sarcasm. "I want both of you to try that dive again. And this time try not to let me hit you so many times."

Keith watched the skies over the castle as Lance put the cadets through a tough training session. He had opted out of this exercise in favor of leaving Black with a full charge before departing with Coran for the Qirillian Empire. Red was flying circles around Green and Blue in spite of the fact that Pidge and Allura had gone up with Vince and Larmina in their respective Lions. Keith had the feeling it was some kind of compensation for Daniel's injury. Lance could only make himself feel better by forcing the cadets to be better.

He flinched as Blue took a direct hit and forced himself not to call Lance to tell him to back off. He knew Red was firing at less than ten percent strength during training, just a small zing for a Lion, but there was a part of him that felt almost ill every time he saw one of the Lions struck. Especially Blue. He told himself it was a result of seeing Allura take so many beatings in the Lion when she'd first been learning to fly, but he knew it was more. And now he had to confront the reality that 'more' was no longer an option.

Coran was suddenly standing beside him on the balcony. "Excellent day for Lion training."

"Don't think the cadets would agree with you."

"I recall standing in this very spot, watching with Nanny as the four of you put Princess Allura through the same drills. At the time, I didn't believe you were serving her best interests."

"Are you saying you've changed your mind?"

"Merely asking you to keep an open mind. Also, I feel I should mention that flying was the only activity that persuaded them away from young Daniel's bedside. Dr. Gorma thinks he needs rest more than socialization at this point."

"I'll mention it to them. And I'll ask Lance to…actually, I'll ask Allura to keep them from moving into the infirmary."

Coran chuckled. "Perhaps if you set the example."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"How many nights have you spent sleeping on a couch in the waiting room when a member of the team was injured?"

"That's different. I…they…growing kids need their sleep." Keith turned his attention back to the sky as the Lions departed toward their dens with a roar, not wanting to think about Coran's reminder of emergencies past. He couldn't exactly fault Vince and Larmina if they were ignoring the medical staff to keep Daniel company. "We should get going."

"Once the others return?"

They could be in the hangar in Black and gone before…no. "Right. I suggest you make sure you have all your luggage loaded."

Coran nodded and Keith turned toward the Control Room. Larmina and Allura were already emerging from Blue's chute. "…and when you feel your Lion going into a spin…"

"I know, Aunt Allura!" Larmina replied with a pronounced roll of her eyes. "Tell Vince when he gets back I'm going to the infirmary." She stalked off without another word.

Allura caught Keith's glance and showed off her own impressive eyeroll. "Sometimes I wish I could lock her in the simulator until she could run through those drills in her sleep."

"But?"

"It's hard to be irritated when she's so worried about one of her best friends."

As if on cue, Vince popped out of Green's chute and sprinted past them, saying, "Pidge is calibrating something and says he'll be back in twenty minutes!"

Allura smiled as the door closed behind the running cadet's back. "He's in a hurry to see Daniel, too, I guess."

Keith frowned, knowing he couldn't put off his real question much longer. "Allura, have you talked to him yet?"

"Daniel? I spent some time in the infirmary yesterday. I think he made us taste some of every type of candy Hunk brought back from Earth for him."

"You know that's not what I meant."

She made herself busy with a replay of the training session on one of the holoscreens. "I tried. He said he needs time."

"Time?"

"He promised me a conversation in three days." She glanced across the Control Room as Lance exited Red's chute. "One and a half, now."

"I want this settled one way or the other by the time I get back. This is the kind of tension that could damage the team." He didn't wait for her to respond before walking out into the hangar and calling over his shoulder. "Lance? A word?"

Lance started talking the moment he began to saunter over. "Hey, don't worry about things here. I'm not gonna lead a coup or sell off Yellow and Green for scrap metal or anything like that."

"You know, I wouldn't have worried about any of that if you hadn't mentioned it."

"Oh." He stopped at the edge of the catwalk and tapped his knuckles against Blacks open jaws. "Well, I'm still not gonna do it. Got some last minute orders for me?"

"It's not exactly an order, but…more like some advice." Keith took a deep breath and lowered his voice. "Allura isn't interested in me."

Lance raised an eyebrow, then laughed. "Yeah, sure she isn't."

"It's the truth, Lance."

"That doesn't sound like advice. More like stating a questionable assertion." He rubbed the back of his neck. "But if you're trying to say that you're backing off… I guess that means neither of us get her."

Keith gritted his teeth and leaned close to Lance's ear. It felt like a knife in his guts as he whispered, "You've already got her. Don't fuck it up."

He turned and entered Black without another word.