I know the chapter is shorter this week, but I think you will find it worthwhile…

I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.

Origins: A Legend Unfolds: Chapter 37

Standing near the monitors, Keith hears the doors to the control room open and looks over, only to be disappointed when it isn't Allura arriving. His eyes widen in surprise when he sees Pidge walking in instead, hand in hand with Devika, their marks lit up. She is smiling up at him as he says something to her then laughs.

Moving away from the screens, he nods to Devika then glares at Pidge, "I need a word with you."

Pidge smiles reassuringly to Devika then follows Keith across the room to a more private corner. The look on his commander's face isn't reassuring as he angrily states, "Devika is only fourteen, Darrell..."

Holding up his hand to stop the barrage that is coming, Pidge explains, "We've already discussed it and Queen Arielle is in agreement. While we consider ourselves married, we will wait to have relations at least until she is sixteen…which is when a lot of Arusian women are married anyway."

Taking a deep breath, Keith tries to reason with him, "Even at sixteen, on Earth you would be arrested…"

"Stop Keith. I know that, but as my wife so tactfully pointed out last night, this isn't Earth. You must also keep in mind that even though Devika is only fourteen years old in age, mentally, she is older than you are," states Pidge as he crosses his arms, "She's fourteen going on thirty."

"Much like you…" Keith grumbles in agreement, rolling his eyes. He looks over to find the young princess studying them closely, her hands on her hips and an eyebrow arched at him in question. Reminded of the look his aunt on Earth used to give him when she thought he was causing trouble, the commander sighs. Turning back to his friend, he gives in, "Very well, but I want your word Pidge…nothing until she is at least sixteen."

Pidge rolls his eyes at his commanding officer then replies, "Of course…"

"Even then, we will have to turn in an affidavit to Garrison stating your marriage so you don't get brought up on charges…"

"I know. Thanks Keith." Walking away, Pidge returns to Devika.

Keith watches as the young man wraps an arm around her shoulders and speaks to her quietly. The doors to the room open again, revealing Sven and Romelle, followed by Hunk and Kaya, with Audric excitedly talking to Bandor behind them. The couples are animatedly talking to each other as they move across the room. They stop by Pidge and Devika, the younger couple soon joining in the conversation as the boys move to the other side of the room to talk without interference from the adults. Shaking his head at them, Keith starts back for the control center when the doors open a final time and Allura finally walks in.

She smiles up at him then moves over to greet the others before heading toward the control center. Her eyes move over his form in an assessing way, causing Keith to feel his cheeks reddening as she comments, "You look well this morning, Commander."

Clearing his throat, Keith replies, "I am, thanks," then looks down to see a humorous expression on Coran's face as the older man stares straight ahead at the monitors, his mustache twitching. Irritation fills him at the thought of being a joke until he feels Allura move up next to him. Her fingers brush his lightly as she asks, "When are you going out in the lions?"

"We are just waiting for Lance," he answers as he stares down at her. She smiles up at him then looks over at the advisor to greet him, "Good morning, Coran."

"Good morning, Highness. I trust you slept well?"

Keith almost chokes at the question and Allura's eyes twinkle with humor as she responds, "Very well thank you. Better than I have in years."

Coran turns to face them both, an eyebrow lift in question as he asks, "And was the commander the reason for this uninterrupted rest?"

"He was, but not in the way you are thinking." Allura leans down to place a kiss on his cheek as she whispers, "He does not think of us as married yet. So we simply slept in the same bed together, nothing more."

Nodding to her, Coran stares up at the commander to quietly state, "I love this young woman as my own daughter. Do you understand me?"

"I do," Keith replies as he stares down at the older man unblinkingly. "I won't dishonor her."

"No, he will not," adds the princess in a dry, humorless voice, "Even when I asked him to."

Trying hard not to laugh at his ward, Coran clears his throat to say, "When do you intend to consider yourselves married?"

Putting a hand on the princess' shoulder to stop her from answering, Keith replies, "We will sit down and discuss that. I'm not sure what Arusian traditions are…"

"According to Arusian tradition, you are already wed," interrupts the advisor.

"That is what I told him," adds Allura as she runs her fingers along Keith's hand, lightly touching his mark then pulling away before being seen by anyone else.

Ignoring the sudden need to pull her close to him, Keith finishes as if he was not interrupted, "But on Earth, there is a ceremony where we both agree to devote ourselves to each other. I won't consider us married until we go through that together."

Coran nods as he stares up intently at the younger man, "Very well, I will leave it up to you and Allura to make those decisions. However, I wish you to understand, the people of Storm Kingdom know what has happened and already think of you as her husband and soon to be king. Do not take too long or there will be repercussions if the people think you have rejected her."

"I understand," states Keith with a short nod of his head. He turns to look around the room to find the Arusian workers watching them covertly. Sighing as he realizes the enormity of his new situation, Keith looks back at the advisor to ask, "Any sign of Red lion? I spoke to Lance ten minutes ago; he should be up in the air by now."

Turning around in the chair, Coran presses a button then calls out, "Storm Kingdom to Red lion, come in please."

"Red lion, reporting in. I just left Fire Kingdom, will be there in a few minutes."

Keith grabs the microphone from the older man to respond, "Stay in the air, we will join you."

"Roger that."

Turning around to face the remaining men, the commander orders, "Let's get going."

Pidge kisses Devika on the cheek then turns around to run out of the room as Keith walks off the platform to join the others on the floor. They watch the dais rise up into the air. He nods to the remaining men and all three make for their launch chutes. His eyes float up to meet Allura's as he reaches his entrance. He notes the encouraging smile on her face just before he grabs the T-bar and disappears down the chute.

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Running the lion out of the cavern, Keith silently pulls in a deep breath as the blue sky above becomes visible and he pulls back on the controls to lift the lion up into the air. He notes on the rear screen, Green lion flying up behind him and finally calls out, "Report in!"

"I'm coming up to you now," replies Lance and Keith can see the Red lion on the horizon.

"Be there in a minute, Cap," Hunk states followed by Sven, who calls out, "ETA, two minutes."

Keith stops Black lion mid-air and waits. He watches Green lion pull up alongside of him then Red lion. A moment later, Yellow lion joins them. Finally, Blue lion stops just in front and Keith pulls up the other pilots on his video monitor, "Everyone ready to try this again?"

"I was ready the first time we tried it," Lance retorts with a grumpy look on his face and everyone else laughs.

Feeling a smile tugging at his lips as well, Keith calls out, "All right, follow my lead."

Pulling back on the controls, he flies forward then starts to head up into the stratosphere. After ensuring the others are following in the reverse-flying V, he calls out, "Ready to form Voltron, activating interlocks," and hits the button to begin the sequence. He watches the subsystem rise up out of the main control systems and relief fills him as he watches it light up, "Dyno-therms, connecting!"

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Inside Storm Kingdom's control room, everyone can hear the excitement in the commander's voice as he calls out, "Infra-cells up!" Allura glances behind her to find everyone had stopped their work and moved closer to the control center to watch the monitors as the commander finishes, "Mega-thrusters are go!"

As the lions begin changing in form on the screen and locking into place onto the Black lion, Allura whispers, "Go Voltron…"

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Within Black lion, Keith can feel a slight shudder as each lion connects to his. His excitement grows as he feels Black lion's head adjust and suddenly he is looking out of Voltron's eyes as each of the lion heads roar. The lights on the control panel flash, showing sequence completion. Twisting the controls, he flips the robot in the air and listens as his men yell, "Hey!"

Leveling out the robot, Keith calls out in victory, "We have Voltron!"

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The control room within Storm Kingdom erupts with cries and laughter. Allura bends down to hug her advisor then turns to face the rest of the room. Queen Arielle stands beside her daughter, hugging the girl close to her as tears run out of her eyes. Next to her, Kaya stands with a hand on Audric's shoulder, her eyes over bright with unshed tears. Romelle had moved over by Bandor, brother and sister staring up at the monitors in awe at the robot now flying around the Arusian sky.

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Within Fire Kingdom, a similar celebration is taking place in the control room as Maia stands beside her commander and both stare up at the monitor excitedly. Loud voices fill the room as different people enter, look at the screen for a moment then run back out to report the happenings to other members of the kingdom. Maia smiles as she thinks, 'It is going to happen…Arus will be free to live again.'

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Allura watches as the monitor lights up with calls from Wind and Earth Kingdoms, and listens to Coran confirm that Voltron once again lives. Her eyes move back to the screen showing Keith's image from within the robot as he calls out directions to the others.

"Ok guys, we are going to run through every system, check every weapon. I want us to know how this machine works inside and out." His eyes gleam with determination on the screen as he finishes, "When Doom comes next time, we will be prepared for them."

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Shuffling her way down the long, dark corridor, Haggar's eyes flash yellow off the little light given off by torches as she approaches the cavern's interior. The sound of Prince Lotor's voice echoes in the small space as he continues yelling at someone. Reaching the entrance to the cavern, she spies two men down on their knees in front of the Doom prince as he continues to blast them, "You idiots! You could have ruined everything!"

"Highness, we couldn't help it. We had to silence the guards," mumbles one of the men, his head bent down in deference.

"But you did not have to leave the bodies behind to be found, you moron!" retorts the prince as he looks up to find the old witch nearing him.

His eyes are narrowed with his irritation as he informs her, "Security at the compounds has likely been increased, thanks to these two fools. They had to kill two guards who came upon them in Fire Kingdom."

Her malevolent gaze moves back over the two guards to find them flinching and edging backward on their knees. She tilts her head to the side as if listening to something no one else can hear. The smaller of the men cowers, lowering himself to the floor and putting his hands up to protect his head, as if expecting a blow. Snorting in derision, Haggar looks back at the prince, "It matters naught. They will do as they have been instructed or they will answer to me."

"And if there are extra guards impeding us?" asks the prince cautiously, his eyes studying her closely.

A malicious smile crosses Haggar's face, "They die…"

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Unable to stop from enjoying himself, Keith continues through the weapon controls console that became when available after forming Voltron. They had spent the last few hours discovering what weapons each button corresponds to and documenting it. His eyes move over the console, checking the systems until his eyes light a button he had missed. Set off to the far side, the button sits in the middle of a small-multicolored five-point star. "Hey guys, I missed a button."

"Well, hit it already!"

Smiling at the eager sound of Lance's voice, the commander pushes it. A second shoulder harness comes up out of the back of his seat and folds over his chest. Next, he hears a humming sound as if the robot is powering up. He feels a force shoving him back in his chair and hears his men yelling as he watches the monitor in amazement as the lion heads detach and fly forward on their own.

Suddenly, he hears laughter from the normally logical Pidge, who sounds like the teenager he is as he calls out, "This is SUPER cool!"

Nodding his head in agreement, Keith watches the lion heads circle around then return to Voltron before reattaching. Sven's voice interrupts his thoughts as he states, "That could come in handy during a robeast attack."

"Very much so," agrees the commander, "that attack could take out one of those robeasts entirely or at least damage it enough so that we can finish it off."

"Um, Commander, not that I'm complaining or anything, but can we take a break?"

Flipping the screen so that he can look at the private, Keith asks, "What's up Hunk?"

A loud rumbling sound echoes over the speakers as the big man replies, "It's way past lunch time…"

The other men break out laughing as the commander feels a bright smile crossing his face. Glancing at his watch, he is amazed to find that not only have they worked the entire morning away, but they are well into the afternoon and it is almost time for dinner. Clearing his throat, he agrees, "I think we've earned our next meal. Let's deactivate and head back for the compound."

At the cheers of his men, Keith hits the buttons to start the deactivation sequence, "See you guys in the dining room."

"Last one in is a rotten egg!"

"Lance, if anyone but Hunk is the last one, there won't be any food left!" Sven interjects with a laugh.

"HEY!"

Laughing at the sound of indignation coming from Hunk, Keith breaks up the fight to order, "After dinner, let's check in with each kingdom then meet in the conference room. I want to go over what we've learned today and how we want to carry that information forward."

Ignoring the groans coming from Lance, he pulls back on his controls and heads for the tunnel to land his lion.