Author's Note: I'd like to wish a Happy Easter to anyone who's celebrating! If not, well, the chocolate eggs and bunnies are still yummy. :-)

Again, the best portrayal of the Drule High Council comes from DDP comics. I don't own that, but I do own all of my characters.

To Sally On - Got your message! Yes, I miss you over here too, but I'm glad you were still able to enjoy Pidge's "creepy old uncle" moment.

To Petronille - I'm so glad you're onboard! I love happy family moments with Sven, Romelle and Erik. Question is, how long will it last?

To Emie Mac - Pidge as the creepy old uncle? Whoever would've thought that Lance's role would be filled by Pidge? Man, Ginger must be workin' her magic.

To bknbu - Yes, Wade Wells' girl Merla is making a cameo appearance in this chapter. What does the future have in store for her? Only time will tell.

To Wade Wells - I know how sappy you are when it comes to love, romance and family. We're cut from the same cloth, remember? Love you!

Title Song: "Thoughts" by Tori Amos


Wade was infatuated by the Drule Supreme Council. He looked like an interloper, and he technically was; a human in the midst of the summit meeting had never occurred before. Not that he felt inferior - no, Charles Herbert Wade had never lacked for arrogance or confidence.

That was a good thing, because Lotor seemed to be lacking both of those traits at the moment.

Surrounded by his peers and equals, the king should have been in top form, but he was not. Merla had rattled him with her laughter. To the Sky Marshal, it was an embarrassment on behalf of the Ninth Kingdom.

King Bhorn - How is the old man even still alive? Lotor thought with disgust - sat in the center-most box seat, surrounded by a swarm of young, beautiful Drule servants. "As ruler of the First Kingdom of the Drule High Supremacy, I, King Bhorn, now call this council meeting to order. I prefer for you to announce yourselves in the numerical order of your kingdoms." He rested his cheek against his fist as his servant girls tended to his comforts.

Lotor held both his breath and his tongue as the roll call began, mentally commenting to himself as each ruler was announced.

"King Skath of the Second Kingdom." Ah, so Meer has finally passed on...

"Queen Lirinska of the Third Kingdom."

"General Krai Soltorn of the Fourth Kingdom." She's still in command? Obviously, this is one woman I would not want to cross.

"Queen Xarnaren of the Fifth Kingdom."

"King Grae of the Sixth Kingdom."

"Queen Merla of the Seventh Kingdom." What? She's QUEEN now? Oh, Lotor, times have changed...

"Lord Vyrketh of the Eighth Kingdom." He's still just a boy!

"King Lotor of the Ninth Kingdom," he announced begrudgingly.

"King Dharlok of the Tenth Kingdom."

After the customary introductions, Wade sat back in his chair on Lotor's left side. He did not care that he was the only white-skinned being in attendance, and no one else seemed to be bothered by it, either. This was a huge opportunity for the Sky Marshal, and he fully intended to gain as much insight as he could from the experience.

How disappointing, he thought, that Lotor does not feel the same way.


It was an early wedding present. No, not the extra-large bottle of Ciroc vodka she'd smuggled off Earth for him, though that was definitely an added bonus. It was the room. The room itself was Allura's wedding present to her fiancé.

It had been Alfor's personal study. Now it belonged to Keith; his own personal sanctuary within the castle where he could be alone to think. Aside from the honor of being able to spend his life as Allura's husband, there was no better wedding present he could have asked for than this room.

Keith enjoyed spending time in solitude with only his thoughts to keep him company. When he was younger, before he attended the Space Academy, it was his way of staying sane; his refuge as he was bounced from family to family in New York's foster-care system. When he was at the Academy, it was his coping mechanism as he dealt with classes, personal issues and, of course, a tumultuous on-and-off relationship with Morgan. Once he was on Arus and was leading the Voltron Force, it got him through some of the worst times in his life and in his career.

At the moment, he was thinking over the idea of Larmina as the pilot of Blue Lion. He had spoken privately with Coran, unbeknownst to his fiancée, to tell him that he wanted Allura to relinquish the role after the wedding. She couldn't be the queen and a Voltron Force pilot at the same time.

Well, she could, he thought grimly, but she would never be able to give her full attention to either role. At best, she would only be giving each job fifty percent of her thoughts, time and energy. And that's no way to fulfill either role.

It was time. Arus needed Allura to be its queen. Coran had agreed with Keith's assessment, grateful that he had brought the subject up to the advisor. "I didn't want to track you down to have this conversation, Captain," he'd said, obviously relieved.

His thoughts were interrupted by a banging on the door. Instantly, he knew who was on the other side. "Keep your pants on, Lance!"

He opened the door and was greeted by his second-in-command's Cheshire-cat grin. "Oh, Crankypants, how did you know that I was having a tough time doing that around you?"

Keith let Lance into his private study. "You disturb me. You know that, right?"

"Well, it wouldn't be right if I didn't accomplish that, now, would it?" He sank into a leather chair and looked around. "Hey, is that a bottle of Ciroc over there? You mean to tell me you've got a stash of Earth imports in here and you've been holding out on me?"

"Lance, why are you really here?"

"The tuxes. We've gotta get fitted for our tuxes, remember? Final alterations and adornments before the wedding so, you know, you don't have to worry about it at the last minute?" He rolled his eyes. "I hate this wedding planning business. See, this is one of the many reasons why I don't ever wanna get married."

"I see." Keith raised an eyebrow. "You're right, Lance. You have been doing a lot of wedding planning. Which is why I'm so surprised that I had to take the liberty of planning my own bachelor party. I thought that you of all people would want to be in charge of that, and instead I had to take matters into my own hands."

"Hey. You stuck me with Nanny. You deserve what you got."

Keith grinned. "The night before the wedding, the brotherhood is going to hang out in here. Just the eight of us: you, me, Pidge, Hunk, Sven, Aidan, Jeff, and Cliff. We're going to smoke cigars and drink Ciroc and shoot the breeze until we pass out. The boys on Earth are taking care of the supplies. You just need to show up."

Lance pouted. "Well, since they're bringing all of the stuff, I sure hope that Aki remembers to supply my beanbag chair, too. Hmpf."

At that, Keith laughed.


The commander was in his private quarters on the Explorer. Captain Newley had taken over command of the bridge to allow the commander time to eat, but he really wasn't in the mood to go to the cafeteria. Nor was he hungry enough to stomach the meals that Sammy haphazardly threw together. Instead, he sat at his desk, looking over the Explorer's maintenance notes from over their last break.

As he was reading about the repairs and upgrades made to the ship during that two-week time period, he heard a knock at the door. Placing the paperwork down, he moved to answer it.

Lisa was standing in the hallway. "Good evening, Commander," she greeted him almost timidly. "Am I interrupting anything? I'd like a few moments of your time."

"Certainly." Hawkins stood aside and allowed his Sea Team member to step into his quarters, closing the door behind them. He returned to his spot at the desk, and she settled into one of the reddish-brown leather chairs across from him.

"Sir," she began, twisting her large aquamarine engagement ring on her finger, "it should come as no surprise to you that Aidan and I have already begun planning our wedding. We'd like a traditional, formal affair."

He smiled absently. "That's wonderful. I look forward to attending."

She shot the commander a sad smile. "My family...I think you might know that I'm not very close with my biological family. My mother passed away when I was eight years old, I haven't heard much from my older sister since she went to college, and my dad and I have a very strained relationship. He didn't ever like the idea of his daughter enrolled in the Space Academy, and I feel as though he's written me off entirely these past few years."

"That's too bad, Lisa. I'm sorry to hear all of that. I had no idea."

Lisa nodded. "So, as I was saying, Aidan and I have decided on a traditional affair. I've been giving this a lot of thought, Sir, and I would very much like for you to walk me down the aisle. I mean, as far as I'm concerned, you've been a father figure to the entire Voltron Force, and since you've married into my non-biological family..."

"It would be my pleasure." Hawkins flashed her a pleased grin. "I'm honored that you hold me in such high regard, Lisa."

"Thank you, Sir. Thank you so much!" Lifting herself off the chair, she moved over to where the commander was seated, and threw her arms around his neck.

Hawkins found himself returning the hug, thinking about how nice it was to be part of a family. It also made him eager to start his own family, wondering what it might feel like to walk his own daughter down the aisle one day.


Cossack had never been one to look down on his king. He might not always have agreed with Lotor's - and previously Zarkon's - rulings and assessments, but generally he respected their wishes. At this moment, though, the general had to agree with Wade: Lotor was an embarrassment not only to the Ninth Kingdom, but to the Drule Supreme Council as a whole.

Speaking of Wade, he was horrified. He had expected that Lotor would be miserable throughout the meeting, but he hadn't expected him to publicly put his misery on display. He thought that the king would at least hold himself together instead of acting bored and disrespectful the entire time.

The Sky Marshal was wrong.

"See, I told you two that this meeting was complete and utter drivel," Lotor hissed under his breath to the general and the Sky Marshal. "It's antiquated. Bhorn is an old man who should have given up the throne a long time ago."

"I didn't see it like that," Wade countered non-defensively. "I enjoyed it. I gained a lot of insight from the meeting."

"Well," Lotor sneered, "don't expect me to put you on the throne. Oh, no. I waited far too long for my father to die so I could take his position, and I'm not about to relinquish it." He paused, stopping in his tracks as he did. "And just what, pray tell, is this?"

Maahox had left the ship and was in the royal courtyard outside of Naraku's palace. Lotor didn't care about that part; no, he cared more about the fact that the occult scientist was animatedly speaking with Merla, his one mechanical eye popping out of his head in delight.

Though she was nowhere near as beautiful as Allura, Lotor had to admit that Merla was striking. She was Drule, yes, but a light-skinned Drule who looked like she'd been dipped in white paint mixed with a drop or two of a vibrant violet color. Her waist-length hair was the same color as an Earth raspberry, and she wore it in a thousand or more tiny braids, all twisted into one meticulously-crafted updo. Her amber felinoid eyes were rimmed with dark liner and her lips were painted purple. As she moved, he could see the outlines of her lithe, taut body beneath her form-fitting black dress, long-sleeved with cutouts at the shoulder to allow her pale skin to show through.

She made quite an impression. The king heard Wade's breath catch in his throat. At the same time, Cossack tripped over his own feet. Idiots.

Seething, he stormed over to Maahox and Merla, stomping his feet like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum. "What do we have here?" he asked angrily, shooting deadly expressions at the two of them. "What is the meaning of this, Merla? Why are you bothering my occult scientist?"

The queen laughed again, and Lotor wanted to strike her. "Ah, Lotor, it's good to see you again," she greeted him with amusement. "It's been awhile. I heard that you had died. That the Voltron Force had killed you off." She placed her hands on her hips, and Lotor noted that each finger had a silver ring on it. "Maahox here told me that I had heard correctly, that you had died and he reanimated you."

"MAAHOX!" Furious, Lotor delivered a blow across the occult scientist's face. That one eye went flying.

"Oh, Lotor, for shame. You know that he could have kept his mouth shut, but I'd have found out what I needed to know anyway. Or have you forgotten about my telepathic abilities?" A sultry smile curled up her purple lips.

"You look like a witch," he spat out as a retort.

Behind him, Wade buried his face in his hands.

Gently, Merla tucked back a lock of the king's gleaming white hair. As she did so, she ran a finger over the scar on his forehead. "Such a shame that you still can't get over your obsession with the princess of Arus, Lotor. The two of us could have ruled the universe together."

The king narrowed his eyes. "You know, Merla, they burned the witches at the stake. I suggest you remember my words of advice."

Gently, she threw back her head and laughed. "Oh, Lotor. Time was, I thought that you and I were destined to be together. But now I know better. We would have killed each other if we had ever married." She blew him a kiss before turning to walk off. "It was good to see you, my dear. Try not to get yourself killed...again."

Lotor's hands fisted at his sides. He gritted his teeth together, not only because he was enraged, but because he couldn't think of the perfect reply to her cutting remarks. As he stared after her, Maahox gathered his eye and returned it to its rightful place. "I'm sorry, my lord," he apologized.

"It doesn't matter," Lotor grumbled. "That woman is a witch, Maahox. Like she said, she would have found a way to extract the information from you even if you had kept your mouth shut."

"I don't care," Cossack piped up idiotically. "That Merla is hot. I wish she would've looked in my direction."

Disgusted, Wade headed back to the command ship by himself. He was so disappointed. Lotor had squandered two glorious opportunities: one to learn valuable insight and knowledge at the Drule Summit meeting, and the other in making an ally and confidant out of Queen Merla.

For some reason, he thought that because of his stupidity, the Drule king would not survive his next showdown with the Voltron Force. The next time Lotor encountered the mighty robot, he would perish. And he was fairly certain that Maahox and Cossack thought the exact same thing.