Happy Christmas Eve to All!
The Garden
Later that afternoon, Allura was sitting by the fountain, trying not to think about her conversation with Keith. Instead, as she looked at the fountain, sitting in the middle of a formally laid out flower garden, she thought of the happy times she had had here. The garden and fountain were the center of a large hedge maze. To get to the area, you had to know you way through the maze. She and Lennalt had played tag here a lot; he always let her win. She was thinking of that, and the fountain. It had been made to celebrate her Grandparents' 25th Wedding Anniversary. It was white marble, carved with dolphins and waves. She listened to the water flow over the figures.
Pidge saw her sitting there, as he walked up to the bench. "You look like you are thinking happy thoughts." He said, sitting down next to her. "Just remembering my family. I still remember how wonderful it was, when you and Hunk finished restoring this." Allura replied. "You have Hunk to thank for that; he found the fountain, after it had been packed away, before the invasion." Pidge told her, smiling. He said, "I'm hoping this place is private enough for a conversation." Allura nodded and said "Someone could be looking down from the castle, but no one can eavesdrop. Actually, there is one corner of the maze that can't be seen from the castle."
"Well maybe after we talk, you can show me where it is, so I can kiss you again." He said, and watched her blush. "Of course if you didn't like it?" He stopped, waiting for her reaction. "Oh, I liked it a lot." She said, with sparkling eyes. "I thought you did" Pidge said, and then went on "I enjoyed it too." Allura's first blush had faded, but now another one swept across her face. Her heartbeat was racing, and the butterflies were multiplying fast.
"Allie, I have to ask you something, and it might be none of my business. If so, you can tell me that, but if our relationship is going to go any further, I feel I should know." Pidge said. Allura, looking at him with concern asked "What do you want to know?" Pidge took a deep breath, and said "Were you and Keith ever involved?" Allura's eyes opened wide and she asked "Why are you asking?" Pidge explained "It is the way he is about you. He stares at you, I saw the amount of emails he sends – no, I didn't read them – and the video thing this morning, well it seems excessive." Allura, now understanding what Pidge was saying, shook her head.
"Pidge, when you all first arrived on Arus, I was 15, very sheltered, and very lonely. I will admit, I developed a crush on Keith; and it was bad. He kept me at arm's length, which of course, just made him more interesting." Allura stopped, hoping she was explaining this right. She went on "On the night of the celebration, after we defeated Lotor, Keith started to kiss me, there in the garden. I thought I was getting my fantasy fulfilled." Pidge asked, in a calm voice "So, what happened?" Allura laughed, and said "The sirens went off, the Lions were going mad, and everyone was panicking. Two days later, Keith was gone, without one word to any of us, just a joint letter, if you remember.
Pidge, thinking back to that time, did remember. He said "He didn't talk to you privately?" shaking his head with amazement. "No, he didn't. And, being a silly teenage girl, I was devasted and sad. On top of everything else going on, I was moping around about that. It was pitiful." Allura finished. "So what happened?" Pidge asked with interest.
"It was almost a year after he had been gone; we were talking one night, on video chat. Coran was still so sick, and you all were working so hard at Galaxy Garrison. We were all exhausted, and rather dejected." Allura stopped, and Pidge, remembering that time nodded his head. Allura went on "As we were talking it came to me that no matter what, we were all there for each other, and had always been there for each other. And when Keith decided to go out on his own, without consulting us, I realized how selfish that was of him. We would never have done that to him, but he did it to us, without a second thought. It made me mad, very mad."
"How long did you stay mad?" Pidge asked, fascinated by this insight into her thought processes. "Oh, a long time! If you remember, I never asked about Keith." Allura said, going on "I didn't stay mad forever, but it was enough to get me through the next year. Things eased up, Coran got better, you came to visit more often, everything improved. Pidge, when I saw Keith again, after five years, the feelings I had had for him, weren't there. I was not a teenage girl with a fantasy crush anymore. Does that make sense?" Allura stopped.
Pidge, hearing that whole story, decided that Keith was wound even tighter than he had ever thought. He could understand Keith keeping his distance with a 15 year old girl, but at 18 there was no reason anymore. Thinking about the effect that Allura had on him, could only imagine what Keith was going through; and it concerned him. Pidge knew from history and music, unrequited love never ends well. He pushed that thought to the back of his mind, for his next song, and got back to Allura.
"So, you two have never discussed what happened between you?" Pidge asked, wanting to clarify the issue. "No, and I have tried several times, but he shuts down." Allura said, shrugging her shoulders. Pidge said "Well, at some point, you two should talk, but we don't need to worry about it now – I think we have other concerns."
Allura tilted her head at Pidge and asked "Like what?" Pidge looked at her with a smile, and said "Well let's see." He went on "You live in a fish bowl; this castle has more video surveillance than anywhere else, you have an ex-crush with a stalker mentality and at the end of the day, I am not the Prince you are expected to marry." Pidge looked at her, thinking how beautiful she was, how much he loved her, and said "I want to take you out, I want to spend time with you, but I don't see how we will have any privacy, and it might not matter if Keith and Coran ban me from Arus."
Allura put her hand on Pidge's knee, and looked up at him. "You have done more for Arus than anyone else. I think that counts for a lot more than a title." Allura got a wicked grin on her face "Plus, I think Coran is rather off of Prince hunting; not only are there not that many, but I think the issue with Cassius was more than he could handle." Pidge had to laugh at that comment. Allura looked him in the eye and said "I don't know what is going on between us. You make me feel things I've never felt before! I want to spend time with you to." Going on, she said "My entire life is scrutinized from what I wear, what I eat, do, and say. I don't want our relationship to go through that – we will have to be careful – and that goes for Keith to."
"So how can I take you out? And I guess we don't say anything about our relationship?" Pidge asked, hoping she had a good answer, and trying not to think about her hand on his leg. Allura got a gleam in her eye, and said "I have been thinking about that actually! A good plan is so important!" She stopped when Pidge smiled in acknowledgement, then took a deep breath and said "Before you all came back I would go into town incognito – just to get away from the castle. I would wear simple clothes, and take my bodyguard with me. No one suspected it was me. It was great because I could walk around, and see what life was like for normal people."
"So you did this a fair amount?" Pidge asked, admiring her sense of adventure. Beyond enjoying just being with her, he felt like he was learning even more things about her; and he had already known so many! "Yes I did. I realized that people expect Princess Allura to look a certain way; if I don't look that way, they don't think it is me." Allura replied, and then "If you pick somewhere in town, I can meet you there, and we can spend time together by ourselves." Pidge liked the sound of that, but then had a thought "What about your bodyguard, will he sit with us?" She laughed and said "No, he will be discrete and won't bother us. But I can't leave the castle without him, or it would cause a lot of suspicions. He will be discrete about us too; all the bodyguards are trained to keep their mouths shut. If they didn't they wouldn't have jobs."
"Ok, so that has solved one problem. However, I won't be able to kiss you with your bodyguard around, and there is not lot privacy in the castle." Pidge said. Allura stood up with resolve, and said "Follow me!" Pidge enjoyed watching the slight breeze play with her hair, sparkling like spun gold. She walked through the maze in a different direction than Pidge had come in. After several turns, they arrived in a corner of the maze that was overhung by a giant tree outside of the maze.
Allura turned to face him and put her hands on his chest, saying "You're a genius right?" Pidge nodded his head "Yes, Yes I am." He moved closer to her and put his hands on her waist. Allura worked very hard not to think about them, because she had more to say. This was her chance, and she wasn't going to waste it. "Didn't you oversee the reconstruction of the castle, and the installation of the security system?" Pidge nodded his head, trying to follow her chain of thought. She moved right up against him and put her hands around his neck "I'm sure a genius like you could figure ways around the system, right?"
When Allura had moved against him, it took his breath away. He started moving his hands up and down her waist, and then let them explore her back as he pressed her into him and kissed her. When their tongues met, Allura was sure her knees were going to buckle. This was even better than the other night; now she knew what she was doing! Her hands ruffled through his hair and caressed his neck, deepening the kiss. Pidge felt her moving against him as her tongue played in his mouth. Wanting more of her, he pushed back against her tongue, moving inside her mouth. No place was immune from his tongue, and he explored everywhere. Stopping to get some air, he started laying light kisses on her face, feeling her eyelashes flutter against his lips. He had never thought anything could be like this.
He looked down at her neck, and remembering his thought from the other night, started kissing the spot just below her ear. When Allura felt his lips on her neck, she let out a sigh and arched her neck, giving Pidge more space to work with. He moved his lips and tongue down her neck, leaving a trail of light, wet kisses behind him. He couldn't believe how soft her skin was, and how good it tasted. When he got to the pulse spot, he could feet her heart rate racing. He took his tongue and started licking the spot, in time to the pulses.
Allura at this point couldn't think of anything but Pidge's scent and touch overwhelming her. Suddenly she felt a vibration at her back. "Pidge, I think you're vibrating" Allura said, trying to get his attention. His lips and tongue had moved slowly back up her neck, and were back at her ear; his tongue moved slowly up and down the back of her ear. "Allie" He gasped, "With what you do to me, I probably am vibrating." Whether it was his words, his breath on her ear, or what his mouth and tongue were doing, Allura felt a wave of excitement hit her hard; without a second thought she moved her groin against his hard erection, which made him emit a growl.
Allura, for some reason she didn't understand, liked hearing him growl! At the far corner of her brain she thought 'is this what I do to him? Wow!' Even as she was thinking that, she again felt the vibration at her back, along with sharp pieces of the hedge pressing into her. "Pidge, I think it is your volcom." Allura said, finally getting his attention. Pidge stepped back from her, and looked at his arm. The volcom was lit up, with a message coming in. Allura stepped off to the side, so she would not be in the picture when Pidge turned it on.
When Pidge brought up the screen Keith was on it. "Where are you? Are you all right? You look off!" Keith said. Pidge, who had been trying to catch his breath, and his thought process, finally managed to say "I'm outside. What is going on?" Keith replied "We have advance notice of a robeast coffin heading to Arus. Get back to the Control Room ASAP." With that he was gone, and Pidge looked over at Allura, who was breathing heavily through parted lips that were very pink from being kissed "Go ahead and get back, Allie, I'll be there in a couple of minutes." He smiled, and went on "I'll work on the security issue so we don't have to spend all of our time out here." Allura blushed, smiled, and then headed back to the castle.