AN: Still the same night. And a longer chapter than the last. Go figure. XD

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Allura had finally fallen asleep when she felt it.

The electric thrumming along her cheek jolted her awake, in turn waking up the mice sleeping next to her. She stared with sleepy eyes at the blue glow of her father's AI sitting on her bed.

'Allura. My beautiful daughter.'

"Father. You can move outside of the chamber?"

She felt his electric hand move to her forehead. She flinched at the sudden zap but did not withdraw from him. Her eyes half closed a tick later. The mice shook their heads as their minds felt fuzzy.

'You left the chamber too soon.'

"I did," she murmured quietly.

'We should continue talking.'

Her brows furrowed a little. "But Coran said I should sleep."

Her father stroked her hair, his hand glowing a darker shade of blue. The frown on her face eased as her head lazily laid back on the pillow. The mice's heads dropped down as well.

'When was the last time you saw the ballroom?'

"I...can't remember."

His hand went to the back of her head. Her eyes closed as memories arose from the past. Altean flutes and stringed instruments filtered into her mind as swirling dresses and coat tails danced along the floor. The blue flames of the glowing lights surrounding the court made her father's armor shine as he stood up with his hand out for hers...

'Your coming out celebration.'

"Yes...You had announced me as heiress. The future queen." Her eyes opened and she gave him a small pout. "You also invited the court to announce any offers for my hand."

He heartily laughed. 'It's tradition.'

Her cheeks were flushed. "It was embarrassing."

'I thought you liked Mulful's son.'

"As a playmate when I was a child."

'You would have meetings together first. Then decide whether to go into courtship or not .'

"I suppose." Her eyes looked downwards. "Not that any of that matters."

'Your people do not matter?'

"Of course they do. But such traditions are not relevant anymore."

'Why not?'

"...Altea was destroyed."

'According to who?'

It's not there." Her brows furrowed. "Coran and I searched for it but -"

His hand glowed and went along her head. Her face distorted a little with his shock then relaxed once more.

'Altea is alive.' He stroked her hair again. 'Would you like to see it?'

"Yes," came her soft whisper.

Her father went to the door. She slowly pushed off the covers to follow.

Lance thought he had a lot in common with Allura.

They were both attractive, lean, and brave. She was a princess and he was charming enough to be a prince. They'd be the ultimate powerhouse couple if she'd ever just admit her true feelings.

He also thought that he was the most sympathetic of the humans when it came to Allura's homesickness. That said, it still came as a big shock to him when they ran in to see Allura creating a wormhole to a no longer existing planet.

"Ah, where are we going?"

"Home," she murmured half in a daze. "To Altea."

Her smile was heart wrenching.

"Princess..." Lance frowned. He almost didn't want to say it. "Altea isn't around anymore."

"Father says it still exists. They hid the planet from Zarkon. He destroyed a decoy."

"Really?"

Keith rubbed his forehead as Lance's stupidity continued to show no bounds. He could somewhat understand Allura falling for it. He wasn't sure she was completely awake and aware, given her glazed eyes. But Lance -

"It's a lie," Keith grumbled out. "Obviously."

Shiro stepped up to her. Now was not the time to be thinking about his mistake with Sendak. His team needed him to be focused. They needed a leader. After this...He wouldn't think about that now.

"Allura -"

He was abruptly halted as a force field blocked him. Lance jumped up in the air as King Alfor yelled out a warning to stay away, his face suddenly in every reflective surface in front of them.

"Madre de Dios!"

Shiro ignored the warning, choosing to hit the force field again. Keith and Hunk joined in but they only ended up getting shocked. They fell down from the force, only Shiro managed to catch himself on one knee.

"It's too strong," Keith grunted as Hunk helped him up on his feet.

They suddenly were out of the wormhole. The room was a blaze of angry red light.

"Is that -" Lance choked out.

"It's going supernova," Coran gasped.

"Guys..." Pidge's voice was low as she stared at the burning star. "That's going to engulf us any second."

"Allura, turn the ship around," Shiro pleaded. "We're in danger!"

She seemed to have heard him but Alfor kept her distracted with something.

'This is real, daughter. This field, the sky, everything...'

They watched her bend down to pluck something but it was just air to them.

"The juniberries," came her wistful, joyful sigh. "The most exquisite flower..."

Shiro's frown was pained. The corrupted AI was tapping right into her fondest memories. It was clear she wasn't going to break out of this alone.

He turned to Coran. "Can you -"

The royal advisor was on it before Shiro finished asking. "Princess! It's not real!"

"...Coran?"

'All of this has been saved for you. Come home and see. We can stroll through the fields of juniberries before sunset.'

"...They're in season now," she murmured with a small smile. "You can see them past the hills..."

'Yes, right by the lake where you lost your favorite blue hair ribbon.'

"You remember that?"

'Of course, my darling. A father never forgets.'

Pidge closed her eyes for a couple of seconds. She was fond of her father too...wherever he was. This was going to be hard to overcome.

"Anyone else really hating Alfor right now?"

"Lance -" came Shiro's tired voice.

"Not now," Lance finished for him in an almost equally tired tone.

"Princess," Coran swallowed the small lump in his throat. "Altea - Your father is not here. There isn't anything to see - the juniberries! There's no sweet scent coming from the flower, is there?"

Allura stared at her hand then scented the flower they could not see. They saw the moment when the spell shattered. Something in her eyes shuttered and shrank away, hiding the light that had shown when she told them they were going home.

Coran hated seeing that sharp enlightenment dull her eyes.

"That's... not Altea."

"No," he murmured to her sadly, "It's not."

Coming back onto the ship was a mix of feelings.

There was the relief to still be alive but it was a bitter taste. They all knew what having control of the ship again meant, what it had cost the Princess that had already lost so much.

Allura quietly sat in the healer's alcove as Hunk plucked out the glass shards from her hands and arms. Her choice in embracing her father's AI tank to shatter it hadn't been the brightest idea but she had been overcome by so much emotion.

Father's memories are gone.

In the chamber she had felt so much but now she felt...empty.

"I'm almost done."

She nodded at Hunk's words, blankly watching as his large gentle hands held her left hand while he plucked out another shard. He was quick and efficient. She didn't feel much except for the moment when his tweezers gripped glass.

"You're good at this," she murmured.

He hummed, not looking away from his task. "I can pluck out the smallest of fish bones." He dropped the last shard in the bowl and then started dabbing the injured areas on her left forearm with the healing salmute. "My grandpa can do it the fastest. He didn't like to waste cooking time doing the cleaning."

"Did you learn to cook from him?"

"Yeah. And my mom."

He started doing the gauze. It wasn't tight enough, she could tell but she didn't have the heart to tell him. They were all being so careful with her, offering quiet condolences.

"I'm done...I think."

"Thank you Hunk."

She lifted her hand to grip his but the bandage came loose. Hunk rubbed the back of his neck with some embarrassment.

"Sorry, I'm not used to this part. Let me get Coran." Pause. "Do you need anything else?"

"No thank you."

He gave her a smile then left the alcove. She began undoing her left arm's bandage. Not long after she heard footsteps coming into the infirmary. She looked up but saw Shiro instead. His face was calm though there was something off with his eyes.

"Hunk said you need assistance."

"Well yes," he walked to stand in front of her, "but I thought Coran -"

"He's navigating right now. There's too many obstacles to go on auto pilot."

He took the bandage from her hand. Her hand flinched when she felt his warm fingers. He drew his hand away from her upon seeing her reaction. The fleeting expression that passed his face made her internally wince.

"Sorry," he murmured softly.

"You did nothing wrong."

He managed a small grin. "Your reaction begs to differ."

"Shiro," she firmly grabbed his left hand and pulled it back to her arm, "it was unexpected. That's all."

He stared at her for a couple of ticks then looked down at her arm. He pulled her robe's sleeve up a little more but it wouldn't go any further.

"Is the cuff too narrow?" she asked.

"Yes, but -"

She slipped her arms out of the robe's sleeves. Her nightwear's sleeves went to mid arm. Quietly he rolled it above her elbow then started the bandage.

His eyes trailed away from the bandage when he spotted pink. He turned her arm a little, seeing that there were indeed curved lines of pink in the same shade as her facial markings. She followed his gaze, saw what he saw, then pointedly looked away.

He continued with his task. "That was a brave thing to do."

She glanced back at him. "A bit foolish. I should have just disconnected the tank instead of breaking it."

He tied off the first bandage. "Sacrifices are never foolish."

She looked at his metal arm then back at his face.

"How true," she murmured.

He broke the gaze in the pretense of working on her right arm.

"Your wounds aren't serious but I would change them at least three times a quintant."

"Alright."

He tied off the last arm then made to walk away. He felt her grab his left arm, halting him in his steps. He looked back at her but her head was bowed down.

"Princess?"

"...Thank you."

It wasn't what she originally wanted to say. But she didn't know why exactly she had stopped him for. She let his arm fall out of her grip.

He walked out this time.

It was late when Shiro heard the light knock on his door.

He didn't know what to expect.

But as he opened the sliding door to see Allura's wet eyes he knew it didn't matter what time it was. He lifted his hand but it merely hovered in the air in hesitation. He wanted to offer comfort as he would for the others...as he had offered to her a week ago.

But that was before the incident with Sendak, with the reminder of his bloodied hands. He wanted to drop his hand. He wanted to keep it moving up to her. But a princess shouldn't touch such hands.

He knew that. And yet...

"I...can't sleep. " Pause. "I thought I would be fine. But I don't think -"

Her voice caught suddenly, making her stop talking. He felt her lean into him, her forehead going against his left shoulder. Her body shuddered. He stayed still as more of her weight increased on him, depending on him to hold her up.

"Why do I feel like this?" came her quiet, broken voice. "I already lost him before today so why -?"

He couldn't stay still. Not in this moment when she needed him to do something. He wrapped his left arm around her shoulders. Her hands tightly gripped his sleep shirt. He closed his eyes as his chin went on top of her head.

"Allura," he murmured in sympathy.

Her face buried into his shoulder as she mourned.

Shiro's cot wasn't as spacious as her bed.

He was acutely aware of that as her sleeve touched the remaining skin of his right shoulder. There wasn't much space but he at least stayed on the cover while she slept under it. He shifted onto his side, putting his metal arm under the pillow and being mindful of the edge of the bed. The fighter in him had her slip in first so he would be the one facing the door.

The mice slept on the other side of her head. They had been in her robe pockets and came out once they found a place to sleep. Soon, the sounds of their combined breaths made him sleepy. His eyes drifted closed.

Shortly, he was awaken by her choked cry.

"Father-"

She was sitting up with her hand stretched out. Her breath was heavy. She was clearly disoriented. He gave her a moment to gather herself. Her hand dropped down onto her lap. With a tired sigh she fell back onto the bed. She turned so she faced the wall.

"Please don't ask," she half whispered.

"...Ok."

They laid quietly for a while. He dozed off again.

It was the mice that woke him up this time. He couldn't see them but he could hear their soft whimpers. He hadn't known mice could make such sad sounds. He sighed to himself. He scooted closer, daring to put his left arm around her but still on top of the covers. As he felt her shivering lessen he realized something.

I can't leave.

No matter the blood he spilt - Because of the blood on my hands already - he was their line of defense. He couldn't let Allura or any of them go through what he did. He didn't want them to go through what she was currently feeling. Not again. Not if he had a say in it.

He'll make the hard choices.

He couldn't let Allura be the only one to do that.

He tightened his hold on her for a moment, then gradually relaxed it as he drifted off to sleep now that his mind was more at ease.

Allura's eyes were closed but her mind was still awake. In that moment she found the answer to her question: how to lead someone with so many burdens...

She couldn't. For she was broken too.

Her fingers peeked out from under the cover to lightly touch the tips of his fingers. But being broken didn't mean they were alone. Or weak. If he could find strength despite what had happened already then so could she. She had plenty to offer, though she felt like she barely had anything left.

However.

She refused to give up.

Not now when she had such supportive people surrounding her. She was learning. They all were. She'll be the heiress her father saw. She'll be the co-leader Keith had seen when he went to her for help. Right now though...she needed to borrow Shiro's strength.

Her fingers curled on top of his hand. She felt his hand close around her fingertips.

She slept the rest of the night.

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AN: Since last chapter was more centered on Shiro's mindset I felt like this one should be around Allura.

I personally think King Alfor did some manipulation (besides talking lol) to make her believe Altea was alive. She even saw on the map that it wasn't. I get that it was kind of wishful thinking for her but to that extreme without some kind of mind manipulation?

...Or maybe Allura is a heavy sleep walker. XD

I keep seeing art with Allura having additional markings besides her face. I think it's a cool idea so why not go with it? XD And I will gladly run with it. :P

Thank you for the views and reviews! :D