Author's Note: Well, I'm back after a short hiatus. I should explain - I had short story, "Locked Out of Heaven," that I'd been trying to write for months, and it wasn't getting done. Finally, it said, "Enough, Kath! Put the other book on hiatus until you finish me!" Who am I to turn down such a request? But now I'm back, and even more eager to get this show on the road!

As always, I own nothing except my characters.

To bknbu - I think there may very well be some plans to bring your favorite non-character, the beanbag chair, to Arus for Keith's bachelor party. Expect an ensuing argument between Jeff and Lance.

To FroofyB - I am so glad you were blessed to have an uncle who was thrilled to do the honors! I will try to make you proud. And yes, as a side note, Lotor can be VERY stupid...

To Sally On - I miss you, Sally! I'm so glad you enjoyed the Wade/Cossack/Lotor/Merla exchange. The baddies, as you can well attest to, are always fun to write.

To Wade Wells - Lovey! You should know that every time I write Merla, I think of you. ;)

Title Song: "Soldier of Love" by Sade

Keith sat in front of the monitor, performing his usual morning routine of sipping his black coffee and doing perimeter scan. It didn't matter that the man was getting married in less than two weeks; he was a creature of habit and didn't plan on deviating from the norm until the day Allura walked down the aisle. He watched as the cameras began to show different views on the screen.

He was not surprised to see Larmina on the balcony, performing a series of Sun Salutations.

"Keith," he heard a voice come up behind him, "I just wanted to let you...whoa."

Pidge had never seen Larmina perform yoga on the balcony before. It was all pretty run-of-the-mill for the Voltron captain, but Green Lion's pilot had yet to see the lady of Arus perform her daily morning routine. "Uh, Darrell? Were you going to say something?"

The systems analyst shook his head. Then, his eyes glued to the cadet's lithe body, he recanted and nodded. "I, uh," he sputtered, his eyes never leaving the screen, "I just wanted to tell you that the part we needed for the systems upgrade will be in within the next three days. So the entire surveillance and security systems will have completed upgrades by your wedding day."

The screen changed, and Larmina's image disappeared. Once it was gone, Pidge visibly relaxed. "That's great," Keith told him, never taking his eyes off the monitor. "I knew you could do it." He conveniently refrained from calling Pidge out on his all-too-obvious feelings regarding Allura's niece.

Soon to be his niece.

"Uh...yeah." Pidge jammed his hands into his pockets. "I just wanted to keep you updated, Chief. I'll let you get back to perimeter scan now."

"You'll be in your lab?"

"Yeah. And if you're looking for Vince, he'll be there with me."

Keith didn't look over his shoulder as his teammate left Castle Control. He couldn't believe it: Pidge had a crush on Larmina. Pidge. At least with Lance, he knew enough to expect comments regarding the cadet and Downward Dog, but that was as far as it would ever get.

Green Lion's pilot was another matter.

He raised an eyebrow as the images on the screen continued to switch. Hmm. Maybe that's the reason Pidge is sitting at the head table with us...

Since she was leaving for Arus the following morning with her husband and child, Romelle had committed herself to helping Emma gather a trousseau to take to Arus. Pollux was still in recovery, and there was no one to help the new queen gather a wardrobe. Its princess was the best hope.

"What do you think about this one?" Emma held a long formal gown up against her body, looking at her reflection in the full-length mirror. "I wish I'd thought to have the royal tailor make me something new for this wedding. Oh well, can't win 'em all." She rolled her eyes. "Though I can guarantee that Rizz has a dress she'll look spectacular in."

Romelle laughed. "Why do you care about what your sister is wearing? You're the one who's part of the bride's family."

Emma rolled her eyes. Without words, she laid the long gown across the bed and picked up a shorter, less-formal strapless dress. The queen's fondness for bare necklines, despite the fact that it wasn't exactly royally acceptable, was beginning to spark trends on Pollux. The princess found it exciting; it seemed like the beginning of a revival of sorts on her planet. "Yeah, I know," she responded glumly after a time. "It's just that...well, Steve's not going to the wedding, so Rizz is going as the Exxusian representative. And now that we're both queens, people are going to start drawing comparisons."

They both knew that Queen Emmaline, wife of Crown King Bandor of Planet Pollux, had always felt inferior to her older sister. Crown Queen Clarissa of Planet Exxus was older, taller, smarter, and prettier - well, according to Emma, at least. And this wedding, being the first big event she would be attending as queen, made her feel all the more insecure.

"Relax, Em," Romelle soothed her, holding up another dress. "You've got nothing to be nervous about. There's nothing to worry about. You're gorgeous, and you'll continue to look gorgeous no matter which dresses you choose to wear."

"No." Emma shook her head. "I'll still be nervous, 'Melle. There's more to it than just the competition between me and Rizz." She accepted the garment from her sister-in-law and distractedly held it against her body. Looking straight into the mirror - it was less painful to speak to her reflection instead of directly to Romelle - she continued, "Tyvel's prince is going to be there. And so will Space Marshal Stensson."

There was no misinterpretation of her words. Romelle knew that the woman she considered her sister was more concerned than anything else about her marriage. The fact that the objects of both Sven's and her affections were invited guests at the Arusian royal wedding...well, of course the poor girl would worry.

And she had enough on her plate to worry about as it was.

"Oh, Em," Romelle tried her hand at reassurance, "Sven and I are still working things through. But I know you can tell that our relationship is better - and even stronger - for it. I have no desire to see Prince Erimar again. What we did is inexcusable, but I have closed that chapter."

She truly meant the words as she said them, but even as they escaped her lips, she wondered what would happen when she saw him again. How would she react? How would her body react to his presence? Would it betray her again, the same way it had when she first had the affair with him?

And then there was her husband and his old fiancée...If I'm already worrying about Erimar, what will Sven do when he sees Lenora?

Emma looked back at her anxiously. "I love you, 'Melle. I love Sven, too, and I don't think I need to tell you how much I adore Erik. I want nothing but happiness for all of you." She wrapped her arms around the Polluxian princess. "I need you two to soldier on and keep fighting for your marriage. Because if you don't make it, then I have no one to look up to."

Romelle knew what the queen meant. It wasn't that she was unhappily married to Bandor; on the contrary, they adored each other. But the girl had never had any married couples in her life to serve as role models; her parents had passed away when she was too young to remember, and neither of her siblings were married. All she had to look up to was Sven and Romelle.

She didn't know if she would exactly call their marriage a model to be emulated. Regardless, she knew that Emma was right. She would soldier on, for both her marriage and her family. She would fight for love. And she hoped against hope that Sven would do the same thing.

Being on a course different from their usual mission was exciting. It reminded them all of their days under Space Marshal Graham, when they were on the hunt for new and livable worlds to help ease their overcrowded planet; the days before Wade took over the Garrison. Forming Vehicle Voltron's three main team vehicles - the Strato Fighter, the Turbo Terrain Fighter, and the Aqua Fighter - they flew ahead of the Explorer on their way to Arus.

Hey, it wouldn't hurt if they discovered a new planet along the way.

Ginger, in particular, was eager to get to Arus. It wasn't only because of Lance, because he certainly had a large part to do with it. She was also looking forward to seeing her old friends, putting on some pretty dresses, drinking, dancing, and generally acting silly...and dealing with wedding plans that had nothing to do with Lisa.

As the maid of honor, Ginger had already been through countless hours of wedding "planning" with the newly-engaged woman. They had looked at wedding gowns and bridesmaid dresses. With the groom, they had chosen a lovely venue for the much-too-large reception - much too large in her opinion, anyway - and checked out hairstyles, make-up, shoes and undergarments for the bride. And the bubbly blond Air Team member was already over it.

Not that she didn't love Lisa. She adored her old Academy roommate. No, it was Bridezilla Lisa that she couldn't stand. And it was getting old. So was it wrong of her to want a massive royal wedding to put the Bridezilla to shame?

Yes, she giggled to herself. And If it's wrong, I don't wanna be right.

She tried to get her thoughts off Lisa's and Aidan's wedding. She wanted to think about Lance again. A year ago, after they'd left Arus and returned to New York, she'd purchased a ring for him. It was a beautiful ring, yellow gold with a flat brushed oval face and his monogram carved into it. No, she wouldn't be proposing marriage to him. She didn't believe in marriage. But she did believe in a lifetime commitment, and if she had to be the one to swallow her pride and ask for it, well, she would.

It was a huge risk for her, but somehow she knew that Lance would say yes.

The ring was nearly attached to her at all times. She kept it in a small dark-green felt jewelry bag, safe and secure in the pocket of whatever garment she put on. It was always near her, a sort of reminder that she would never love anyone as much as Lance McClain. Ginger grinned to herself nervously, mulling over how she would present him with the ring. And, to add to her anxiety, she worried how they would ever be together if he did accept.

Shrugging her feelings off, she decided not to worry about that. If they were meant to be, they were meant to be, and they would find a way to be together. She just wasn't sure if they would have to go through all seven hells to do it.

David didn't go to shooting practice because he actually needed to practice. He was still the best gunner in the Garrison, and probably the whole of the Alliance. But to him, it was almost like going to church. It was cleansing. Healing. Spiritual in its own way.

"Geez, Dave. You make the Space Marshal look bad."

He looked over his shoulder at his shooting partner. For better than ten years - well, minus the four she had been in hiding from Wade - David Rackens and Lenora Stensson had been shooting partners. Though she hadn't specialized in defense at the Space Academy, she was a better gunner than most. Once she graduated, he'd dumped his old shooting partner and replaced him with her.

"Well," he retorted in his most proper British accent, "the Space Marshal just isn't as good as I am, now is she?"

She jumped on his back. "You stink, man."

"Me?" He shot her a faux-innocent grin. "I thought that was your Bro who stunk."

Lenora rolled her chocolate-brown eyes playfully. "My Bro does not stink. Don't hate, Dave. Lance may be my Bro, but you are my brother." It was true: as Lance had pointed out sometime in their second year at the Academy, she was the only girl he'd spent so much time with and not tried to close the deal with. It was then that they decided that they were Sis and Bro, and they always would be. But David? David had not only married Morgan, but he'd been the one to teach her to shoot.

Perhaps not blood related, but the next closest thing.

David dismantled his gun and prepared another. As he was cleaning it, he asked carefully, "Are you ready for your trip to Arus tomorrow?"

She nodded, following suit with her own weapon. She had her "weapons cache" - the knock-off VoltCom that had been confiscated from Wade after he was taken into custody; it was one of the many things she'd inherited along with the position of Space Marshal - so she didn't technically need a gun in solid form, but she liked to use it anyway. "I am. I know that Allura wants to make the sale. She said it'll be good for the Alliance."

"Agreed." The gun dismantled, he picked up his next weapon. "Now, tell me something: are you ready to go to Arus? Mentally, anyway?"

She frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He sighed. "Lenora, I know everything," he admitted. "Between your husband, your Wifey, and the guys at Jeffrey's stag party, I know about everything that went on between you and Sven Holgersson. So let me clarify - are you mentally prepared to run into your old fiancé on Arus?"

She should have known that he would be looking out for her. He worried, after all, though he tried not to show it. But she knew that her husband had requested for David to watch out for her in his absence; the two men may only have been brothers-in-law by association, but they had a bond tighter than almost any pair of brothers she had ever seen. "Not really, no."

"I think you might want to get a handle on that before the wedding day." He held up his new weapon and pointed it at the target. "Because I think Jon might have a few not-so-nice words to say to him if he tries to pull anything."

"He won't."

"Who? Your husband or your ex?"

"Sven," she replied pointedly, "will not pull anything while we're both on Arus. Don't forget, his wife Romelle is not only the Alliance's royal ambassador from Planet Pollux, but she is also Allura's cousin, and she will be there as well. And I'm sure she'll be watching both of us."

"I hope you're right." He aimed and fired.

Bullseye.

Lotor didn't care that what he was doing could be considered breaking and entering. In his mind, Castle Doom was his home, and therefore nothing was off-limits to him. Not even Maahox's lab was sacred.

The King Robeast, which would probably never be finished in the occult scientist's opinion, was magnificent. It was much more powerful than his father's King Robeast - but then again, that mess had been engineered by Haggar. The old witch's essence in Haggarium had proven more effective than anything she'd ever created with her own hands and her seemingly-inept magic. This King Robeast was powerful enough to shatter Voltron.

It was his Haggarium armor, its thousands of spikes charged up with the old witch's essence. The suit had been enlarged and enclosed, complete with a cockpit that rivaled any in Voltron's lion ships. All Lotor had to do, much like Zarkon before him, was lower himself into the head of the robeast.

From there, he would do what his father had not done and destroy Voltron...but not before claiming the beautiful Arusian princess as his trophy and wife.

Rubbing his hands together, he ran through his plan to victory in his head. Soon. It would happen soon enough.