Enjoy! This chapter is a little on the M side. Please read with discretion. Thanks!

"There's nothing half so pleasant as coming home again." Margaret Elizabeth Sangster

Chapter 29: The Return of the Prodigal Son

When Keith arrived to his chambers, he immediately threw himself on to the bed. Physically and emotionally drained, he closed his eyes wondering why the pain in his body continued. It had been a while since he remembered Haggar telling him the pain would go away, but it still lingered and now felt stronger.

The prince sighed heavily. His head ached and he felt pulses all over his body. He stood up from the bed, walked over to the mirror and stared at himself for a moment. He looked extremely tired. Inside, however, he felt sick.

He achieved a second victory for Doom. He captured Voltron and annihilated a potentially powerful adversary in just under a few days. What Lotor couldn't do in two years, he had done it in a matter of weeks. No wonder Zarkon was proud. Keith smiled a little remembering how his 'Father' gloated and boasted in front of everyone at the assembly.

His mind shifted again to the members of the Voltron Force when they kneeled before him. He didn't know why, but something felt wrong about the situation. They were the enemy…that he knew. Keith remembered everything about them and a sort of friendship he had with them. But, that felt so foreign to him. As if that life with them had never existed and yet somehow it did. "This doesn't make sense," he said aloud. "How can they be friends and enemies at the same time?"

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. Slightly annoyed, he walked across the room. When he opened the door, he saw a couple of guards waiting in front.

"I thought I said I didn't want any interruptions tonight," Keith irritably told them.

"Our apologies, your Highness. Your father ordered us to bring you a cocktail for the evening."

Keith rolled his eyes, "I said I didn't want any cocktails tonight. Take her back." He replied, not bothering to see the woman who stood behind the guard.

Instead of walking away, the guard continued his taunt. "But sire, are you sure you don't want this cocktail?" He asked as he pushed Allura from behind him and showed her to Keith.

Dressed in an extremely tight black slip dress, Allura stood in front of him. Her golden hair was delicately brushed and hung straight down her back. Keith detected her perfume emitting around them. She smelled of lilies.

Although the perfume was enticing, he somehow remembered that Allura always smelled like vanilla, not lilies. He didn't understand why he noticed something as trivial as he studied the princess. Allura looked at Keith, frightened at first. But, her features soften a bit at the sight of him.

"Father brought me Princess Allura?" Keith asked in condescending tone. "I thought she belonged to Lotor." He stated looking at her and smiled at her with mockery.

"She no longer belongs to Lotor. The king ordered that you should have first choice in regards to the princess. Part of your reward for the victory you brought him."

"And if I refuse?" He asked, still maliciously smiling at her.

"The princess will be brought to the guards in the dungeon tonight."

At the sound of that, Allura's face paled and she began to tremble. She noticed how Keith stared at her coldly and darkly, enjoying her fear. The princess knew then that hope was lost for her. She was quickly surprised however, when instead of dismissing her, Keith raised his hand and extended it to her. "My Lady, would you do me the honor of joining me tonight?"

Sighing with relief, Allura took his hand and allow him to lead her inside the room. Once he shut the door, a new terror emerged when he continued to stare at her with those dark, distant eyes that felt so unfamiliar to her. She knew that once again hope was lost.

VVVVVVVVVV

Inside her lab, Haggar prepped the room with all the equipment she needed to start the procedure. Suddenly, her yellow eyes closed as an immense feeling of unease sparked within her. She suddenly felt danger around her. Evil always had a way of coming back, but this time, she was prepared. This time, she wouldn't play fool's games.

Putting her instruments down, she briskly walked over to a cabinet toward the back of the lab. Taking out a key she kept on a necklace around her neck, she opened the cabinet and took out the object that she secretly kept from everyone's knowledge.

It was an amber colored, circular stone held by black metal cord. She didn't know why, but something evil lurked around the castle and it was angry, very angry. The amulet glowed faintly, alerting her the time drew near. She closed it around her hand and drew power from it, knowing she would need it soon. The stone began glowing and she absorbed the power from it. Minutes later, it was over and she reopened the cabinet and placed it back inside.

The feeling of uneasiness never left her, somehow, it now felt worse.

VVVVVVVVVV

"Once again I saved you," Keith stated flatly as he headed to the closet. "I seem to remember that I have saved you from Lotor a couple of times in the past as well."

Rather than answering him, Allura took a couple of steps back to the door. She knew she couldn't get away, her fate already sealed like the door that held her freedom. Somehow, part of her didn't mind though.

"What are you going to do to me?" she asked.

He took out a long robe from his closet and walked toward her, "Don't worry, Princess, I'm not doing anything to you."

She looked surprised.

"Believe it or not, I'm not Lotor. I don't believe in forcing myself onto others as he does," Keith laughed a bit, before he continued. "They come to me willingly."

He wasn't going to count the slave girl from weeks passed or even his night with Starr. He couldn't help that his father fed him that cocktail that made him act like a complete imbecile. From now on, I'm paying much more attention to Father's games. The prince suddenly thought.

Allura breathed a sigh of relief. "Aren't you cocky?" she asked a bit cautiously.

He smiled, but didn't answer her. Instead Keith ordered, "Wear the robe." He threw it at her rather brutally. "I'm sure you're not comfortable appearing to me in rather exposing attire."

She immediately put it on.

"I need to get some rest," the prince turned and headed to his dresser, pulling out some clothes. "I have to meet with some people tomorrow for my next mission."

"Where are you headed?"

"None of your business," he answered her harshly as he looked at her. "Don't think I'm that nice. You can sleep on one side of the bed, I'll sleep on the other. Tomorrow, I'll give a command for you to stay in my rooms if you wish. If not, you can stay in the dungeons with the rest of your friends." Keith shrugged then as he continued, "Although, staying in the dungeons won't protect you from the guards at this point, especially with what you are wearing. They are safer there than you will ever be."

"They are your friends too, Keith."

He ignored her, "I'm taking a shower. For your sake, I hope you're fast asleep by the time I get out," he turned and walked into the bathroom.

Allura stood there, a single tear rolled down her cheek. She couldn't believe what Keith had become. She couldn't believe she was losing him to an evil that clouded his mind.

Then, she realized what he had done. He had saved her. There's something good left in him! He cannot be completely bad. It was then that the princess realized that she wouldn't allow him to lose himself in that sickly abyss Zarkon put him in. She was going to save him, no matter the cost.

She wanted to save him. He was her best friend, the one person she would not accept her life without, her reason for fighting the war. He was what kept her sane from the constant living hell Zarkon placed her life in since she was eight. Keith was everything in her life. He played a part in every aspect of it since he arrived on Arus. Her hopes, her victories, her defeats, her insecurities, her challenges, her joys, her sadness…he knew them all.

Keith knew everything about her and she knew her life would not have the joy that it had if he wasn't there. "God Keith, I love you so much. Why didn't I realize it before?"

Allura had known, she had always known, what she felt for him. She had been afraid that taking things further would result in losing not only the greatest and only love of her life, but her best friend as well. Now, it seemed that she was losing him either way and she couldn't allow herself to lose him.

Now determined, Allura would show him, convince him, that she truly loved him. Maybe, that would break whatever influence Zarkon had over him.

She walked over to the mirror. I am no longer a child Allura thought as she took a look at herself in the mirror. "I will let him know. He has to know." She took off the robe and looked at herself in that tight black dress. Prepared to show him who she really was, Allura vowed that Keith would know person she was capable of becoming.

xxxxxxxxxx

Wearing only black pajama pants, Keith walked out of the bathroom as the steam from the shower dangled behind him. He saw Allura standing tall in front of him without the robe he had given her earlier.

He stopped when he saw her, "I told you, I'm not going to touch you," he stoically reaffirmed his statement from before.

"I need to speak with you," she told him, countering his emotionless stare with a hard one of her own.

"If this is about your friends, save your pleas. You will not convince me of anything. Now, let me rest, I have a rather long day tomorrow." The prince walked past her and headed toward his bed.

Turning around, Allura spoke to his departing back, "I want to speak with you about what happened the night of my birthday party."

He remembered that vaguely. Again, another foreign memory that to him lied in limbo, "Spare me the memory."

"I wasn't truthful to you," she ignored him and continued.

Memories of that night and a feeling of disappointment, regret, and shame filled him. He turned to look at her, "You were more than truthful to me. I believe you told me exactly how you felt."

"No, I didn't," Allura said as her eyes began to tear, "Keith, I wasn't truthful. I was afraid to tell you that I love...I love you so much it hurts. I was afraid, afraid losing the best and only true friendship I had my entire life. That's why I didn't tell you anything."

He started laughing. He didn't want to believe her. Keith kept telling himself that her words had no truth to them, "Do you think I will fall for your stupid games, Allura?"

"It's the truth!" She exclaimed as she watched his eyes darken toward her. He walked toward the princess and grabbed her by the neck, slamming her against the nearest wall. She withheld her sudden panic; her eyes never left his, "Don't toy with my emotions!" He growled, his eyes spoke of his anger, but there was something more.

"So you still love me!" her eyes widen at the realization.

His expression changed when he realized that she had seen right through him, "It doesn't matter anymore!" Keith yelled back at her. "Don't you think I know you're trying to save yourself,? Don't you think I know you're lying?"

"I'm not lying! I love you Keith Kogane. You belong with me!"

He let go of her abruptly and walked over to his bed without looking back at her. Lying on his side; his hand supporting his head, he stared at her for a while before answering her. "Don't put words in your mouth you'll regret."

"No, I'm not regretting a thing," Allura stepped forward running her hand through her neck as if to soothe the pain away. "That's the truth. I do love you Keith, with everything in me, I love you."

The prince smiled wickedly at her, "Really?" He arched his brow, "What if I were to tell you that I've already made another mine? Would your love for me surpass that?" he kept the arrogant smile.

His manner surprised her. Clearly, the person in front of her wasn't the man she loved. But she had to look beyond the surface to reach the true man locked away in the dark abyss. Allura hadn't believed anything from the woman who visited her in the dungeons, but Keith now confirmed what she had told her.

He looked into Allura's eyes and felt an overwhelming sadness. He had hurt her. Although that feeling felt foreign to him, he suddenly felt guilt burst inside him. However, he wouldn't give her the satisfaction of showing her what he felt.

Keith was surprised when her shocked look, like the flipping of a switch, instantaneously left her. "If you did, I'm not holding you accountable. I know that if it wasn't for what Zarkon has done to you, you wouldn't have done it."

"For the record, Father has done nothing to me. What would you know about me, anyway?"

She walked up closer to the bed and firmly told him, "Everything. I know everything about you. I know somewhere deep inside your heart is a place that belongs to me. I know you still love me, as much as I love you."

With a mock and disbelief, he asked her, "You love me?"

"Yes,"

"You'd do anything for me?" Keith continued his questioning, smiling insolently at her.

"Yes."

"Prove it," he gestured her to come over to the bed.

Allura finished approaching the canopy bed with its blood red coverlet. Her eyes locked with his as she knelt beside his feet then moved up along Keith's body to lie beside him. She paid no attention to his insolent gaze as he ran his eyes down along her body. Moving along, he paused on her chest before he looked back into her eyes. A brow arched at her sardonically and Allura blushed, but refused to look away. With a sudden force, he lay down on top of her, pushing all of his weight into her as his mouth pushed against hers in a fierce kiss, the force of it so hard, it almost hurt.

VVVVVVVVVV

"So how do we plan on leaving this place?" Pidge whispered as he looked out to see if anyone was coming toward their cell.

After Marianne shot the robot, Hunk and Lance picked it up and hid it in the darkest area of the cell. Pidge began surveillance in case the sound of the blaster was heard beyond the entrance of the cells. It seemed no one heard the blast as no other robots entered the area.

"How many guards are outside?" Sven asked as he walked over to Marianne.

"Two by the entry doors and about three by the console," she answered immediately.

Lance walked toward the them as Hunk stood by Pidge in case he needed backup, "We have three blasters, one of us can take the two by the doors while the others start for the ones at the console."

"We'll need to do it fast. I don't want them to have a chance to press any of the alarms," Sven then warned, "If they do, we're all dead."

"We could crawl up the vents," Marianne offered.

"No," Lance shook his head, "If we leave, we have to do it fast. Besides, that is the first place they'll look for us."

"I managed to hide there for days without suspicion," the doctor countered.

Shaking his head, Sven replied, "You were lucky. Maybe they didn't expect a doctor to think that way. Lucky for you, you thought like a soldier. They'll expect that from us."

"I agree," Hunk turned to join the conversation, "Not to mention that Keith will know exactly what our next moves will be. However we decide to leave this place, we have to do it quickly and cause enough chaos to confuse them."

"Well, I think we can do that. The problem is that we can't leave without a certain person," Lance reminded them.

"Where could they have taken her?" Sven sighed in frustration.

VVVVVVVVVV

The prince kissed her hard and deep. He thought she'd fight him, proving to him once and for all that she lied about loving him. Surprised, he found Allura's mouth opening to allow him to deepen the kiss. This baffled him, but he wasn't going to give up that easily. He was going to prove to himself that the Princess of Arus was nothing more than the liar his father told him she'd be.

He worked his mouth to her neck, kissing her tenderly as he whispered to her. "I don't believe you for a second. Tell me I'm not sickening you." Keith continued whispering as he worked his way up her ear.

She turned her head, granting him more access. "You never have." Allura whispered back enjoying a whirlwind of feelings she never thought capable of feeling.

He tore his gaze away from her ear and let it roam about her legs. Keith opened the slit and ripped her black slip to gain better access, then used his hand to caress her thigh. He looked back up at her, she didn't even flinch. Her gaze never leaving his stare. Continuing to look at her, he slid his hand up, reaching higher; she shivered. Keith smiled. I have you now he told himself as he kissed her gently again. She whimpered.

"How far are you prepared to take this Allura?" he asked in between kisses.

The princess sighed, but didn't answer him. He sought to fully claim her lips once more as his hand continued to travel north. Unable to gain further access to her, he took the endpoint of her slit and ripped it even more, exposing her panties and firm belly.

Allura gasped at the sudden pleasure in what came next.

VVVVVVVVVV

Lotor walked out of the servant quarters feeling disgusted by his attire. He bathed the best he could with whatever the servant had in the chambers, which wasn't much. He wasn't surprised. His hair, although now fairly cleaned, was still missing its luster and definition. It was flat and dry, but at least clean.

He pulled it up with a bandana to hide it, knowing his hair would give him away for sure. Lotor wore a dreary and wilted, white sweater and ripped black pants; it was all he could find, but it would have to do for now. He also carried something hidden within his attire, a knife. He had found it in the servant's quarter. A lucky find, but he was glad he had something to protect himself. I have to protect myself in my own home, sickening! He thought to himself.

As the former prince walked the hallways of the castle, he found his attention directed toward a wing that seemed to be under construction. Hoping to go to his room and change into more sophisticated attire, he diverted for a moment and entered the area under construction.

Walking up to one of the workers, he slouched a bit as to hide his height and began to inquire carefully,

"Is the king adding more suites to this area?"

The worker, who was mixing some cement, didn't bother to look up at him. He just laughed. "Naw, this is going to be the new area for the king's suites. He's giving his area to the prince and princess once they marry.

Lotor, about to jump with shock, remained passive. He couldn't give himself away. "The prince and princess…interesting…" he coaxed to see if the man would divulge more.

"Oh yeah, Zarkon did a number on him for sure. Never thought that possible." He then laughed sarcastically. "Her, I knew. She would sell her soul as long as she got what she wanted…she sold it really good to Zarkon."

Lotor wanted desperately to know who these two simpletons' were that took his and Allura's place. As soon as I find out, I'll have their heads! He laughed to keep appearances but, continued questioning the man, who kept mixing the cement oblivious to who he really spoke to. "So, what do you think the king's plans are now?"

"Ha!" The man shook his head as he voiced a sarcastic tone. Then, he lowered it, not wanting to draw any attention as to what he was about to say next. "Well, I know the king is quite pleased with the new prince. Truthfully, he's done more for him in the last couple of weeks than what Lotor's done since his return. My guess…he's seriously thinking of giving him the throne."

Lotor wanted to growl in rage, but he kept it inside. His lips, however, couldn't hide the anger and they began to twitch uncontrollably. About to continue his questioning, he was cut off by the man.

"Look, guards!" He quickly pushed Lotor away. "Get away from me before you earn us some whips!"

The former prince took one look at the guards going over inspections. He noticed that they still hadn't seen him. Quickly, he turned before raising suspicion, leaving the area and working his way back to his destination.