Well folks, things have advanced a few years. In the between years, things proceeded much as you would think. Normal everyday lives, interspersed with stark terror as new beings and old enemies threaten the planet. Children arrive, friends marry, and life continues.

Often, writers skip the "in-between" because, honestly, who wants to write boring or read boring? Certainly not I!

Tissue rating: 0.5

Mad rating: 0.25 (well, you know things will go worse for Keith at this point, and you already know the beginning of the end! Besides, it's Haggar's fault!)

This goes out with much thanks to everyone who takes time to read, review, and stick with the very different flavor to this tale. As you see, at heart, this is Keith and Allura's story and how sometimes love does not mean letting go, but holding on tight and growing into something new. Sometimes dreams change. On the outside, we mourn for the dreamer because no one should have to give up their dreams. Yet the dreamer does not mourn. It only means a curve in the road or perhaps leaving the road for a track through the forest. Dreams should change and morph as we continue our journey. Perhaps an infinitesimal change that only the dreamer notices. Perhaps a complete shift into a new landscape. It may happen easily or painfully, but in the end, as long as the dreamer loves and is loved, the rest is only noise.

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January 2716

"Uncle Keith, Uncle Keith!"

Keith turned around and watched one of his nieces and two of his nephews come barreling down the hallway. Kora and Makus would turn six soon and Nikko would turn five. They had recently hired a private teacher to come in a start with some basic lessons. He put one knee down on the ground and opened his arms as the three ran to give him a group hug. All three started talking at once until Keith held up a hand. "Let me see if I understand, you have been released from Mrs. Pratt and are ready for your lesson from me." All three heads nodded in violent agreement. "Well then, go change into your work out clothes and meet me in the gym."

The three yelled in agreement and ran down the hallway to their rooms to change. Keith smiled and put his hands on his knee to stand only to have his leg collapse out from underneath him. He caught himself hard on his hands and felt the vibration all the way up to his shoulders. "Well, shit," he mumbled to himself under his breath. That's a new one. Placing his right foot down, he carefully stood. His left leg tingled, not painfully, but as though it had fallen asleep. Taking a step, his left leg tried to collapse underneath him, but he caught himself. "Double damn and crap on it." Shaking his left leg, he lifted it up and down several times until the tingles started to dissipate. When they finally did, he carefully walked down the hallway to don his own exercise gear and meet the children in the gym for their martial arts lesson.

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"Based on the latest testing, it looks as though the virus has started to attack the nerve connections to your legs."

Keith stood and walked over to stand in front of a painting of the Arusian countryside. He did not speak for several minutes, taking in what the doctor and Skeith had determined. "How long?"

Skeith looked puzzled, "How long, what?"

"How long until I can no longer fly?"

"We have no way of determining that. Much will depend on how the latest treatment takes and if we can slow the thing down."

Keith turned around with a rueful look on his face, "And what is the projected outcome? Or should I guess?"

Doctor Gorma looked at his patient and man he had come to admire over the last seven years. "Best medical guess? I cannot say. We will begin administering the regen treatments tomorrow. I cannot predict how long, and it will depend on how the toxin fights back but we will try to regenerate the nerves as best we can." He pursed his lips together, "Knowing Haggar's work after all these years, I imagine it will be painful."

Keith nodded, "'Bout what I figured." He turned around to contemplate the picture once again. "How long?"

"Months at most unless we can stop the deterioration. You will still be able to fly for pleasure, but as the nerves start to wither, you will lose reaction time."

"Anything else?"

"Not now."

"Then if you gentlemen will excuse me?" Without waiting for an answer, Keith strode from the room. Mikko and Skeith sat in quiet, both lost in thought.

Skeith finally stirred. "He holds his emotions in far better than most people I have ever met. Most people given this information would rage or cry or deny what you tell them. Yet he simply walks away after acknowledging what you have told him. In most people I would say this is another variation of denial, yet I do not feel that from him. I would also say in most people, this behavior would cause me great worry. This man offers so many quandaries. Even after knowing him for five years, I would say we are close friends, for all I have shared with him. Yet he shares little in return but makes it seem as though he has shared much. I know his body more intimately than any lover, yet his behavior remains a mystery to me. Mikko, do you now aught of his background?"

Mikko paused to refill his tea cup and take a biscuit from the ever present tray before answering. "Keith seems to deal almost solely in facts. I know little of his background save that his parents died when he was young and Galaxy Garrison took him in as an Orphan of an Officer. He forms friendships easily and you have seen him with the children. He does not tolerate bullying or liars, yet he forgives and helps those who make honest mistakes. In some ways he seems to be a paragon and, what is the literature term? For someone who seems too good to be true and better than everyone else in the story? Mary Sue. That's it. When you look at him on the surface, he is a Mary Sue. But I have seen him coldly and calculatedly tear someone down and he has little mercy for those who hurt others. The way he deals with bullies can be down right frightening, and anyone who threatens his family should run. It's almost as if he is driven only by love or rage.

"As to dealing with this situation, I think that Haggar already took the single most important thing from his life, and the rest of this is just noise. Think about it Skeith, it has been over 5 years since he had intimate contact with anyone. Not through choice, but knowing that it would doom them to the same virus that is systematically destroying his body. For the rest of his life, he can have no intimate contact. Moreover, she took away his ability to have children. You have seen Keith with the children. They may not be his DNA, but no one could ever deny the connection he has with them. She also took away his ability to marry his dearest love.

"As to flying, I will make you a bet. I will bet you a 50 year Kensian Port that he will find a way to fly with Black until the very end. Haggar may take his legs, but she will not take his heart.

"I know physicians are supposed to keep an emotional distance from their patients, but I cannot do that with this man. He knows that, were it not for you, the toxin would have taken him in that first year so he treasures each day he has. He knows that it will be a slow painful death but he does not dwell on it. In his shoes I would go mad thinking about it. He makes contingency plans and spends as much time as possible with "his" children. I would guess that within the next five years he will turn the military over to either Lance or Kristof and act in an advisory capacity only. I would guess he will spend his time with the children."

Gorma stopped and took a sip of his cold tea. The two friends sat in silence as the sun began to set, turning the room burnished gold and red. The lights slowly brightened as the outside darkened before either man felt like speaking again.

"Thank you, Mikko. That does explain much. As I contemplate what you said, I realize I have seen him lose his temper, but it is a very cold temper instead of hot. I would not want to be the one to cross him. I think he does a terrible job taking care of himself, and I am thankful that he and Magda have found each other."

"Gorma nodded. In him, she found some of what she lost when the Drules killed her children. I think he finds someone who can love him with a mother's love. They fill a hole in the other's heart. Magda has certainly softened since they found each other."

"Well, enough of this maudlin talk. Did I hear something about Kensian Port?"

Gorma chuckled. "That you did my friend, that you did."

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Keith walked to the control room in a daze. Yet another blow from that damned fucking witch. It was not enough that she had to isolate him from people, from the woman he loved, and take away his ability to have children, now she would even take the comfort of flight from him. Well, fuck that and the broom she rode in on. He would never give up flying. It was the one comfort he could still take for himself. Stopping before the control room, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes to appear calm and controlled before walking in the room. When he felt he could appear before his men, he walked through the doors and to the dais.

As he entered the guards at the doors looked and saluted him. "Commander in the room," the Duty Chief turned to salute Keith, while men at the consoles briefly turned to give the abbreviated salute those on duty gave to officers.

Keith nodded at the men and turned to address the Duty Chief. "Taking him out, Duty Chief."

"Yes, sir. Shall I recall Ensign Roberts?"

"No, continue the regular patrol schedule. I am going to just take a silent run, communicator on emergency contact only, beacon on."

"Yes, sir."

"Corporal, raise the launch tubes."

The launch tubes slowly raised and Keith walked over to the tube corresponding to his lion and sat in the shuttle chair. Darrell and Yoshi had worked hard over the last five years to upgrade the technology in the castle. After the initial fall of Doom in 2709, they had used the relative quite to replace the old transport tubes where the pilots had to hang by a bar with more efficient shuttles. It still took time to transport to the lions, but reducing the amount of transfers had cut the time by 30%. It also increased the safety to the pilot.

Keith waited until the doors closed before leaning his head and closing his back for the 90 second journey to his lion. He could feel his heart racing and his head pounded with the latest assault from Haggar. Best medical guess? Months at most. Best medical guess? Months at most.

The man started to breathe in through his nose and out through his mouth, trying to calm his racing heart and slow the circle of thoughts. He did not know how long he had sat in Black's cockpit before the lack of vibration penetrated the fog around his thoughts. Patting the control panel, he took a breath and forced everything to the back of his mind. Some flying therapy would help. "Ready my friend?" The control panel blinked in response, "Then if you wouldn't mind?"

The engines started with a roar, and Keith took the controls and launched off the pedestal. The restraining straps dug into his chest as he pushed the lion to a fast takeoff. Watching the speed climb, he set the course for the mountains in the distance. Keeping the emotional part of his brain shunted aside, he simply enjoyed the speed and feel of the lion under his hands. A small vibration in his chair made Keith smile. He believed the lion purred when they had a chance to fly like this, fast, far, and without any threat. All too soon, the mountains grew large. Keith let the engines spin down and slow. Landing on a rocky plateau, Black let the engines stop. Silence filled the cockpit as Keith looked blindly out of the front panel. Finally, with a shuddering breath, he turned to a small storage locker and pulled out a winter coat and gloves. With a final pat on the control panel, he exited through one of the hatches leading to the mouth and one of the exterior hatches. Black had folded his legs and laid his head on his paws, much as a barn cat would do to make the distance to the ground shorter. Keith jumped through the slightly opened mouth and looked out over the vista.

The view did nothing for him today as his eyes blurred with the tears he let no one see. He knew the witch and Gorma thought he accepted these blows stoically, but he had decided that people needed to see him remain strong and accepting. Here, with only Black as witness, he could let all the grief, anger, rage, and fear escape. Tipping his head to the sky, Keith let loose one long primal scream after another. When the thin mountain air had him gasping he ran over to a pile of boulder and picked up a rusted sledge hammer tucked neatly away. Swinging again and again he smashed the boulder in front of him sending rock chips flying in all directions and added a barrage of bile, screaming at the top of his lungs. "Fuck you, damned bitch, bloody cunt, whore of dark magic, and skanky hobag." Keith let loose every curse and epithet he knew from his years in the military and in every language he knew.

Black lay in silent witness to his pilot's small breakdown, standing guard and quietly supportive. An hour later when Keith dropped the sledge hammer from sheer exhaustion, he came to sit on one of Black's paws, sheltered from the cold wind drifting from the snow covered peaks. He sat with his legs draw up to his chest, head down on his legs, arms wrapped around the front, breathing hard. As his breathing calmed, Keith's shoulders started shaking and the sounds of raw grief echoed around the rocky area building until even Arus herself seemed to grieve with the pilot.

Keith's lament quieted and he felt drained to the bone. Reclining, he threw his right arm over his eyes and just breathed. The tension started to drain as he listened to the wind blowing through the trees and the sounds of pebbles blowing across the rocky ground. Letting the peace relax him, he slept.

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Allura had Blue come in quietly and land in the open spot near Black. Seeing Keith sleeping on Black's paw, she shook her head and grabbed a blanket before exiting Blue and picking her way across the rocky ground. As she approached, she started quietly calling so as to not startle Keith awake. "Keith! Beloved, wake up. Keith." She saw him start to stir and move his arm from across his eyes, wincing as it started to protest having stayed in the same position. Allura crawled up next to Keith and wrapped a blanket around both of them, "Did you think to bring a blanket?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

A soft chuckle answered her question. "And m-m-mmiss the op-op-op-portunity to ssssshare a c-c-c-uddle with my beloved?" Keith's voice shook as he shivered violently.

Allura unzipped her jacket and wrapped herself around his larger form as best she could. "Do you know how long you slept out in the cold?"

Keith shook his head, shivering hard. "Ev-identally, l-l-l-ong enough t-t-t-o be ch-ch-chilled."

"The Duty Chief called me when you did not answer any hails and Black had not moved in 3 hours."

"Th-the ch-ch-children?"

"Napping; with Kristof happily ensconced with a book. I swear, you are two of a kind always reading history and mythology." She smiled and rubbed her hands on Keith's back to warm him up."

Keith only chuckled and a smaller shiver ran over his frame. The two sat in contented silence. Allura roused herself from a drowse, and raised her head to meet Keith's eyes. With a smile he bent his head down as she leaned forward to meet for a brief kiss. Allura raised her hands and placed them on either side of Keith's face, looking in his eyes, "Keith. . ."

"No, Allura."

"But."

"No, Allura. Kristof is my brother and my touch is death."

A single tear hung from the corner of Allura's left eye. With a sad smile, she leaned in and kissed Keith for a long moment. "I love you, always."

"As you will always be my dearest love."

She tuned to sit between Keith's legs and lay her head on his chest, closing her eyes. "Tell me what you see."

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Events:

2709 July Serena/Hunk Wedding

2709 October Overthrow of 1st Doom, Keith's infection, Haggar perspective

2709 November Initial meeting with Gorma and Skeith

2710 January Lance/Glenna wedding

2710 May Kora's Birth

2710 July Makus Birth, Keith cuddles Makus,

2711 May Allura fights meeting Kristof

2711 December Nikko's Birth

2712 March Keith leaves party early

2712 September Allura/Kristof Wedding

2713 November Alianna's Birth

2714 January Megan'Darren's Birth

2714 May Darell/Joanna wedding

2716 January Leg diagnosis