Voltron Next Generation
Chapter 12
"Jace's choice"
By Cindra
Notes: I put colons between conversations denoting silent thought between two characters.
' Is what I call the Heartlink or private communication between a two characters usually a couple. Or in rare cases parent to sibling. (This is usually the way that soul mates talk to each other when they don't want anyone to know what they are saying.)
( )Twin link can't be heard by anyone but the other twin…or only if someone is extremely strong in his or her mental abilities.
** or italics That represents thoughts of the characters
(Arus)
A huge mat was laid out on the castle lawn and a crowd of curious spectators had gathered to watch Arus's first annual Martial Arts Competition. The grand prize was to train with Eric, Andromeda, and the rest of the dream team.
Andy was currently demonstrating weapons use and the skill that it took to achieve control over the dangerous weapons. "A true master is a master of their heart, mind, body, and spirit." She lectured her cousins and siblings.
"Gee, Sis, you're amazing. It's hard to believe that you're pregnant." Lilly was in awe.
"Yeah, Dromi, I thought that Eric said no fighting." Drew chuckled when his sister glared at him.
"Well?" Tony arched a brow at her.
"Okay, smart guys! Drop and give me two hundred push-ups." Andy smiled sweetly at the twins.
"But, Andy, it's true!" They groaned in protest.
"And control, boys, a true master is always in control at all times." She patted the two of them on their heads. "As you all can see I have no problem treating everyone fairly."
A young man watched from the crowd and wasn't very impressed with anyone other than Andy.
"Nor do I, sweetheart." Eric appeared behind her. "Now go sit by your parents while I take over class for a while." He picked her up and set her next to her parents and their little girls.
"Wicked cool! Now we get to really kick some butt!" The twins jumped to their feet and grabbed some weapons.
"Okay, boys, new game plan…I want fifty back flips now!" He glared at the boys.
Drew and Tony complied with his order. "Ah, crap!" They groaned in unison.
"I have a surprise for, my beautiful wife, from her baby sister." Eric grinned at Lilly, who was dressed in a white Gi.
Lilly bowed to Eric, Andy, and her parents.
Shawn sat on the grass just outside of the mat and gave her the thumbs up sign.
She proceeded to go through a series of ten kata's ending the last on her knees in front of Dromi's feet.
"Why, you little sneak, and here I thought that you were mad at me." Andy jumped to her feet and gave here sister a hug.
Lilly hugged her back. "I wanted to surprise you. Eric, Nate, Kane, Jenn, Matt, and Uncle Darian have all been secretly training me." She smiled proudly. "Oops and Mommy and Daddy…sorry Daddy…sorry Mommy."
"It's okay, angel." Keith and Allura grinned.
"So the twins have some big competition now." Eric glanced over at the boys in question that were still gaping at their sister in complete and utter shock.
"Alex is going to flip." Allura grinned.
"We can take on our baby sister any day of the week." Tony laughed at Eric's remark.
"Yeah," Drew echoed.
"Okay, guys, three point matches. Which one of you's first?" Lilly motioned to her brothers.
'Keith! Stop them, before they get hurt!' Allura hissed.
'Who the twins or Lilly?' Keith arched a brow at her.
"No fair, Eric! That's two against one!" Shawn growled in protest.
"Easy, Kid, she wants to fight the two of them separately."
"Listen, boys, there will be no dirty tricks. Either fight fair or you answer to me." Andy glared at them.
"No sweat, we wouldn't dream of hurting our baby sister." They gave her an innocent look.
Lilly bested her brothers and only allowed two points to be scored against her. "Anyone else?" Lilly grinned.
Shawn took up on the challenge and to the twins displeasure was the only match for her.
"Wow! Daddy, she really has been holding out on us." Andy frowned.
"It's amazing what you can do when you want some quality time with your big sister." Keith arched a brow at his daughter.
"Have I been that busy?" Andy sighed.
"Does the word appointment mean anything to you?" Allura frowned.
"Mother! I happen to be four months pregnant! Eric and Daddy make sure that I have to have guards around me at all times!" Andy sighed in frustration. "Do you think that I enjoy living in a bubble!?" She stalked off to pout.
Jenna sat on her window seat watching all the fun while she was cooped up in the castle. "Look at them, Buttons! It's not fair! They're having fun and I'm cooped up in here with this blasted cast on my leg!" She muttered in total misery.
Matt knocked on her door.
"Go away!" She snarled.
"No!" He pounded on her door.
"I am not in the mood for a royal visit from Crowned Prince Matthew Alexander Anderson!"
"The name is Matt! Daughter of known terrorists Rand and Kari!" He snarled back at her, as the door opened.
"What do you want!?" She screamed at him, using the frame of the doorway to keep standing.
"You, Jenna." He growled, sweeping her up into his arms.
"Matthew Alexander! Unhand me at once!"
"Oh no! Two months of you giving me the cold shoulder is enough!" He lowered his mouth down to hers.
Jenna's eyes widened, "Matt, this isn't the time or the place for this." She whimpered against his mouth, as it continued to explore her own.
"I was a complete jerk about Jace and you've held it against me ever since I got back. I've sent you countless gifts and that huge stuffed bear for your birthday…" Matt set her down on her bed and then lay down beside her.
"I'm sorry, Jenna. I love you and will do anything to make things right between us. If that means that I have to befriend your brother then that is what I am going to do." He vowed to her between kisses.
"You left the planet and I was stuck in this cast! What good are presents when you aren't there to give them to me in person?" She shoved him off of the bed.
"I was lucky that my parents didn't kill me!" He exclaimed in his own defense after he hit the floor.
"We completed our mission, Matthew, nothing else matters." She looked down at him.
"I wasn't there for you, Jen, and you had to save my butt! I was kind of sore about that." He admitted.
"That's okay Fawn and Lilly have been keeping me busy." Jenna winked at him.
"Poor Lilly…trying to get near Andy these days is next to impossible."
"Andy has almost been abducted at least ten times…it's a wonder that Eric let's her out in the open like that." Jenna frowned, as she glanced over at her window.
"No wonder you're sulking, here you are cooped up in here, when you belong out there." Matt scooped her up in his arms and carried her out of her quarters.
"I'm not dressed for this." She buried her face against the crook of his neck.
"You look like a young princess, especially in that electric blue sundress." Matt kissed her on the tip of her nose.
Princess Christina, who was watching over Jessie and Jasmine, entranced Jace. His mission was to get Andromeda and Jenna, but he couldn't take his eyes off the enchanting strawberry blonde. *Great, the little rugrat just threw her ball at my feet!*
Christina went to get her little cousin's ball, only to find it at the feet of a very handsome young man. "May I have my ball back please?" She requested in a voice that sounded as if an angel were speaking to him.
Jace stared at her, awed by the strikingly beautiful angel in front of him.
"Excuse me, but I would like my ball back." She repeated her request, ignoring the way her heart was doing flip-flops, as she looked up at the dream hunk standing in front of her.
Jace reached down and picked up the colorful little ball. "I'm sorry, my lady, but your beauty left me speechless." Jace couldn't believe that he had just said dribble like that.
"I'm watching my cousins." She pointed to the twins. "They want their ball back." She smiled shyly.
"Of course they do, my lady…children tend to get very attached to their toys." He handed her the ball.
Christy reached out and took the ball. "Thank you. My name's Christina." She hugged the ball to her chest, as a case of nerves overtook her.
"Hello, Christina. My name is…" He paused for a moment and then decided to use his middle name instead of his first. "Michael." He smiled at her.
"Michael? Nice name, maybe I'll see you again sometime." She called over her shoulder, as she headed back to the twins.
"You can count on it, Christina." Jace growled, as he watched her rejoin the rest of the family.
Andy went into defense mode when she sensed that Jace was nearby. "Now, I'm really getting jumpy." She muttered to herself.
Eric knew that something was bothering her and immediately raced to her side. 'What's wrong?' He growled.
'Nothing, Eric…I'm fine. It's just that these days I jump at every shadow and its making me edgy.' She rested her head against his shoulder.
'Is Michael okay?' He placed a protective palm over her rounding belly.
'He's fine. I'm the one who's edgy.' She sighed.
"Look who has come to join us." Eric grinned at Matt and Jenn.
"Hi, Guys. We couldn't let you have all of the fun." Matt grinned, as he sat down on the empty lounge chair.
"Did you enjoy Lilly's surprise?" Jenn smiled at her cousin.
"Yes, I liked my surprise. So, you two, finally made up did you… it's about time." Andy smiled at them.
"Jace is here." Jenna instantly searched the crowd for her brother.
"I was hoping to be wrong." Andy sighed in frustration.
Eric picked her up, as he called over to Christy to bring the twins inside. "Matt, take Jenna inside." He ordered.
"Why?" Matt frowned at Eric.
"Jace is here." Jenna informed him.
"Damned rotten timing!" Matt carried Jenn back to the castle.
"You're telling me! I happen to like fresh air!" She wailed in utter misery.
'We'll think of something I promise.' Matt kissed her on the nose.
Keith put two and two together and stopped them in their tracks. "Jenna, how long are you grounded for?" Keith frowned down at her.
"Until my cast is removed and I'm able to walk on my own again." Jenna couldn't even look her Uncle in the eye. "But I can't control Matthew." She whimpered in her defense.
"Come on, Uncle Keith! Nearly two months apart is long enough!" Matt glowered at this Uncle.
"Look, kid! Jenna is also a target and she can't run for help like Andy can! That is why she is grounded inside the castle, until she is fully healed!" Keith glared back at his nephew.
"I'll keep her safe." Matt growled.
"Or get yourself killed trying." Keith muttered under his breath. "Matthew, you're fully healed from your last ordeal, so try and stay that way." Keith took Jenn out of his arms.
"I love him, Uncle Keith." Jenna stared up into Keith's eyes.
"I know that, Jenna, but you can't let your feelings cloud your judgment." Keith sighed then rolled his eyes heavenward when Matt spotted Max walking towards them as they entered the castle.
"Hey, Max! When does Jenn get her cast off?" Matt cornered him in the corridor.
"When I say it's ready to come off and not a moment sooner." Max informed him.
"Max! This thing is getting irritating! Please!" Jenna pleaded with him.
"Very Well, Jenn, I will take off the cast, but only if you do as I tell you." Max growled.
"I hate lying around here doing nothing when Dromi's in constant danger all of the time!" Jenna glared at him in frustration.
"Andromeda is fine. In fact, she's proof positive that there's a Homo-superior race of humans. I'm just beginning to discover just how special she really is." Max loved talking about Andy, as if she were his favorite new project. "She uses the full extent of her brain and has unlimited psi abilities as well…It's as if her unborn son has unlocked her mind."
"Watch it, Max, you know how Andy hates it when you start analyzing her as if she were some sort of lab experiment." Keith growled.
"I don't know what the big deal is…I mean, since when has Andy ever been normal." Matt grinned.
"Truer words were never spoken." Keith grinned.
"Max is really starting to annoy me! He's having another conversation about how unique I am!" Andy paced their room.
Eric gave her a sympathetic look. "Michael sure has unlocked your hidden talents."
"Not funny, Eric! Why won't he just leave me alone?" She burst into tears.
"Relax, love, I can do whatever you can. I just don't flaunt it like you do." He ducked when she threw a pillow at him.
"Okay, smart guy. What's your son thinking right now?" Andy challenged him.
"Come here and I'll tell you." He patted the pillow beside him.
She laid down next to him, frowning when Eric moved down on the bed until his ear rested on her belly. 'What are you up to?' She hissed.
'Shh…I'm talking to our son.' He growled.
'Sure you are.' Andy sighed.
'Our son wants you to relax and as for craving chocolate he'll try to be better about it.' Eric chuckled when Andy stared at him in shock.
"How did you?"
"I'm not done yet. He wants a nice plate of fresh fruit." Eric looked up at her. "Especially strawberries dipped in whipped cream." He crawled back next to her and pulled her into his arms.
"He's just like his Daddy." Andy giggled when Eric started nibbling on her neck.
"How would you like to spend the next few months on Lera? It'll be just the five of us and the cats." Eric growled.
"Lera?" Andy frowned. "Can we take Fawn with us?"
"Just us and the Cats." Eric growled.
"No! I'll miss our family! Forget it, I like it here in our home!" Andy got up and stomped out of the room.
Eric got up and went after her. "Do you like being a target?"
"No! But, I refuse to be kept away from everyone!" Her stomach started to roll. "Now look what you've done!" She raced for the bathroom.
'This was your parents idea!' Eric went to go get her some crackers.
Khan paced his throne room glowering at his men. "You can't capture a pregnant woman!?"
"Master! Princess Andromeda is no mere woman!" His men pleaded for their very lives.
"She's with child and can't fight!" Khan kicked his man in the face.
"Master! You don't understand! She's changed, even you couldn't capture her!" Darrel one of his Captains growled.
"Fools! I'm surrounded by idiots!" He roared. "Get out of my sight! I'll do this myself and she'll come to me willingly!" He devised a way to get Andy by kidnapping Lilly.
"Master, you're making a big mistake. I've seen that little one fight and she is good." The poor fool found himself being strangled by Khan's whip.
"Fool! She's a seven-year-old! I think that I can handle a little child!" Khan threw him across the room. "Leave, before I kill you!"
(Castle of Lions)
"Not fair, Daddy! She can't go to Lera! I worked my butt off to spend this time with her!"
"Lilly, lower your voice!" Keith snarled.
"Daddy! It's not fair!"
"She has no choice, Lilly! She needs to be able to relax and to do that she needs to go into hiding!"
"Then I'm gonna go into hiding with her!"
"That is not going to happen, Lillian! I won't allow it!" Keith lost his temper completely.
"I'll go with or without your permission!" Lilly ran out of his office in tears.
"Get back here, young lady!"
Jenna sat on the exam table with her incased leg propped up on the table. "Well, is it going to be taken off or not?" She snapped at Max.
"Yes, but only under one condition." Max told sternly.
"Name it."
"You are to stay off of your leg, use these crutches, and attend physical therapy here everyday with either Ashley or myself." He growled.
"Yes, I promise." She sighed in defeat.
"Jenna!"
Matt quickly stepped in and made the decision final. "I'll make sure that she's here everyday and that she stays off her leg." He promised Max.
Max removed her cast with a laser scalpel
Jenna loved the feel of air against her skin again. "Yes! Free at last!" She smiled. "Now, I'm going to celebrate by soaking in a nice hot bubble bath for a few hours." She left the exam room, not caring whether Max wanted to check over her leg or not.
"Excuse me, Max, I need a nice cold shower." Matt muttered, as he ran out of the room.
Jace was scoping out the castle from the garden maze when Christina decided to take a walk to the center of it. "Damn, this is the last thing that I want or need!" He snarled under his breath. His emotions however were not following his thoughts as she walked below him.
Christina felt his presence the moment she entered the maze. "Hello? Is anyone out here?" She called warily.
Jace forced himself to ignore her.
"Michael, is that you?" She asked.
"Yes, it's me."
"Where are you?" She began looking around her.
Jace pealed off his mask and left it on the top of the eight foot hedge. He wore only a black fisherman's sweater, black jeans, and black kid-leather boots. "I'm over here in the next corner of the maze." He called her over to him.
Christina followed his voice, ignoring any warning signals that were going off in her head. "I love this maze, I feel free when I come here." She sighed.
"From what?" Jace inquired curiously.
"Oh…responsibility, pressure that sort of thing." She smiled at him.
"So you feel free to be yourself, instead of following someone else's rules." He grumbled, as he thought of the way his father treated him all of the time.
Christy felt his mood change, but didn't become frightened by it. "I'm usually free to be myself most of the time and I only have to follow rules for my own safety or because of my duty as a princess."
Jace gave Christy a long searching look. "Aren't you breaking a rule by talking to me?"
"No not really, because to me you aren't a stranger, and I don't feel the least bit threatened by you." She sensed what he was thinking.
"But, I am stranger and you have no idea what I could do to you." He continued to stare intently at her.
"Maybe, to other people, but never to me." She closed the distance between them and gently reached up to place her hand against his cheek.
"No never to you, Christina." He covered her hand with his own.
"Your eyes seem so familiar to me, but I can't remember where I've seen them before." Christy whispered.
"I have to go now." He growled harshly, turning his back on her.
Christy couldn't understand why he was suddenly so angry with her, so she placed her hand on his shoulder. "What did I say that upset you so much?" She whimpered when she felt his body stiffen the moment that her hand touched his shoulder.
"Look into my eyes, Christina. What do you see?" He turned around and roughly pulled her into his arms.
She was surprised, but not frightened by his actions. "I see confusion and fear, because you don't think that you are capable of any of these emotions." She refused to let him scare her away. "I see dark sapphire eyes that mirror how you truly feel about me."
Jace refused to listen to her voice or let her eyes weaken his control. "No, princess, you only see what I want you to see. What I allow you to see!"
Christy knew that he was going to kiss her, even though she knew that he was fighting that urge with everything that he had in him. "I like what I see and I don't mean…" He cut her off by kissing her.
Jace meant to scare her by letting his control slip and thoroughly ravishing her mouth, only he found himself gently exploring her mouth with his own. When he felt her kissing him back, he deepened the kiss pulling her even closer to him. "Forget me, Princess…I can't allow myself to cause you any pain…it would kill me. Farewell, my love, you will not see me again." He kissed her one last time then vanished from her arms.
Christina felt her whole world collapse, as she fell to her knees and burst into tears.
Jenna lay content in her bubble bath, she had soft music filtering in the room, and the only light came from strategically placed candles all around the room.
"Finally, I can lie here and read Romeo and Juliet." She sighed contently and started where she left off. The windows in the room were open, so that she could let a nice cool breeze enter her room.
Jace stood outside on the balcony of her bedroom. He wanted to talk to someone about Christina, so he entered her room and walked into her bathroom.
Jenna was so engrossed in her book that she didn't even hear Jace enter her room, let alone her Bathroom. "Dead! How could it end like that?" Jenna tossed the book down right at Jace's feet.
Jace picked up the book and read the title. "Romeo and Juliet? Jenna, you are getting soft." He growled.
Jenna was surprised by the appearance of her twin. "Do you mind? I'm trying to take a bath." She frowned at him. "Please leave." She closed her eyes and proceeded to ignore him.
Jace sat down in a lotus position on the tiled floor of her bathroom. "You know why I'm here." He frowned when he spotted her crutches. "Who hurt you?!" He felt furious that someone had hurt his twin. *What the hell is happening to me!* His mind screamed.
Jenna's eyes flew open when she heard him ask her who had hurt her and could feel the fury behind every word. "Why should you care?" She ran a sponge over her leg.
Jace let his temper cool off before he answered her. "Answer the question, Jenna, who hurt you." He snarled.
"No one hurt me! I hurt myself! Is that enough for you?" She hissed.
"For now," He stood up and paced the tile floor.
"My turn then. Why are you here?" He was really starting to annoy her.
Jace found himself asking the same question. "Someone has poisoned me, Jenna." He sighed in frustration.
"Who could possibly want to poison you?" She asked, her voice was laced with sarcasm, as she continued to run the sponge over her body.
Jace threw a fluffy towel at her, "This is too awkward! We'll talk when you get out of the tub!" He snarled at her, as he left the bathroom. "Put this on and get out here!" He tossed a blue silk kimono into the bathroom.
Jenna swore under her breath and got out of her still steaming bubble bath. "I will not ask him for help." She snarled in frustration when she saw that Jace had taken her crutches with him. "I'll kill him!"
Jace locked the door to her room and disabled the camera that was hidden in a hanging basket of stuffed toys. "Need any help, Jenna?" He called into the bathroom.
Jenna tried to walk, but pain shot up her leg, and she dropped to her knees is agony. "Dammit, I hate being vulnerable." She whimpered.
Jace absently rubbed at his leg when it started to ache and walked into the bathroom to get his sister. "Problems?" He asked, as he scooped her up into his arms.
"I'm not going back!"
"Who said anything about taking you back? I just wanna talk." He set her gently down on her bed and to his chagrin grabbed a pillow and put it under her leg. "Relax, I could careless about what our parents want anymore."
"So you've finally decided to make your own decisions." Jenna sounded impressed.
"Oh, I've offered father my services, but for a very high price."
"So you are here for Andy and I, but something has distracted you from your work." She arched a brow at him.
"If I wanted to take you back I would just drug you and that would be the end of it." He glowered at her.
"What's the matter, Jace? Is someone else after your prize? Is that who poisoned you?" She hissed at him.
"Anyone who challenged me would die." He laughed at her.
"I grow tried of this conversation." She reached under her pillow for her weapon, but Jace easily beat her to it.
"I was at the tournament today."
"I know!" Jenna glared at him.
"I saw someone unfamiliar to me." He began to pace her room.
"Go on, now I'm intrigued." She giggled.
Jace turned around and glared at her in frustration, "I found myself distracted from my work."
"Distracted, huh? So this someone must have been female."
"She was entertaining some rugrats and one of them lost their ball."
"So she came to get a lost toy that just happened to land at your feet?" She arched a brow at him.
"Correct. She then told me her name and asked me for my own, so I told her my name was Michael." He sighed in frustration.
"Well?"
"I gave her back the ball and told her that maybe we'd see each other again."
"Nice going, Jacen!"
"I immediately went back to what I had come here to do and she came upon me again, so I decided to scare her off."
"Pure genius, Jacen Michael!" Jenna started to say something else, but opted not to when she saw him absently finger the throwing star that he had in his hand. "Sorry, please go on." She added hastily.
"I found myself losing my sanity and control. I was unable to cause her any harm, because she trusted me completely." He stopped pacing and sat on the edge of her bed in defeat.
"You're not poisoned, silly. What you are is head over heels in love." She hooted with glee.
"I might as well be poisoned!" He moaned, burying his face in his hands.
"Why? She obviously feels the same way about you." She frowned at him.
"It can't work! Jenna! Ever!" He snarled.
"Why? Who is she, Jacen Michael?"
"Her name is Christina!"
"Christina? My best friend and Matt's baby sister…" Jenna gaped at him in surprise.
"Yes, Jenna…I've found that I have a heart, only to have it crushed, because my heart belongs to someone who I can never ever have." He got up and walked out onto the balcony. "This was different…I liked talking to you." He vanished before she could say anything to him.
"This is so not good!" She hugged her teddy bear to her. "Not good at all."
Lilly ran into the stables and had the grooms saddle Dancer. "Come on, girl, we're going to Dromi's." She stroked her muzzle affectionately, before mounting Dancer and galloping out of the stables.
Khan watched from the shadows, as she took off towards her sister's home. *Perfect the little one is going off alone and to her sister! I couldn't have planned this any better if I tried.* He thought gleefully, as he went to intercept his prey.
Jace was also watching Lilly's escape to her sister's and saw the silhouette of Khan and his men. "Yes, finally someone to take my frustration out on!" He grinned and followed Khan and his men.
Allura heard her husband shouting at the guard that he had pinned against the wall. "Keith, what are you shouting about?" Allura asked.
Keith let the guard go and turned to look at his wife. "This idiot let our seven-year-old daughter leave! When I left orders that she wasn't to be allowed out of this castle!" He snarled in fury.
"Where did she go?" Allura instantly began to worry about their youngest child.
"She went to Andy's, because she wants to go to Lera with them!" Keith snapped.
"At this time of night!? Something could happen to her!" Allura cried out in sheer panic.
"I know that, Allura! I should have listened to my conscience and said no to that tournament!" Keith stalked into the Sit room.
"Wait for me!" Allura ran after him.
Keith started to touch the computer keys when an animated 4-D face appeared on the screen. "Good Evening, your majesty. I'm afraid my mistress will be upset…you were suppose to be surprised for your birthday tomorrow." The animated face with the very soothing voice frowned at him. "Oh forgive me! My name is Einstein, but my mistress calls me E."
"She gave me her new prototype for my birthday!" Keith exclaimed in delight. "I need to speak with Eric. Could you up-link me to their home please and then contact Nathan at his home?" Keith asked.
"I am capable of processing much more than that." He frowned at Keith in annoyance, but did as he was told.
"Hello Einstein, welcome to our family." Allura smiled at E.
"Thank you, your majesty…I have established both links as you requested." E informed him.
Eric and Nate appeared on Split screen.
"What's up, Dad?" Eric frowned.
"Yeah? Who's in trouble this time?" Nate yawned.
"No one yet," Keith answered, praying that he wasn't lying to them and that Lilly was still safe.
"What's wrong, Dad?" Eric knew that something was bugging him by listening to Keith's tone of voice.
"Is Lilly over there with you?" Allura asked worriedly.
Eric gave them both a puzzled look.
"No! Why what happened? Did you and Lilly have a fight?" Andy appeared next to her husband.
"She wants to go with you and Eric to Lera." Keith sighed in defeat. "And I told her that she couldn't go." He saw the look that Andy was giving him, as if she were recalling a similar argument that had happened between them long ago when she was Lilly's age.
"That's silly, Daddy! After all she's accomplished! Of course she can come with us…that is if we even go. She can watch the twins." Andy solved that problem.
"Besides, Dad, she also needs this time with her sister." Eric agreed. "I'll go out and look for her. Shadow needs a walk anyway."
"I'll cover the air with Cora. That way we can't miss her." Nate nodded.
"Excuse me, everyone, but if you wish to know her location just ask E and he will tell you." Andy frowned at them.
"She is currently ten minutes from the mistress's home, but she does not seem to be alone. There are two different parties following her, one consisting of an unknown male, and the other seems to be Khan and his men." E frowned.
Eric and Nate were already on their way to help Lilly.
"Khan, is after Lilly!" Allura fainted in Keith's arms.
"Don't even think about it, Andromeda Marie! You are staying right where you are!" Keith ordered his daughter.
"It's me that he wants! Why can't they just leave all of us alone?" Andy hated being helpless to do anything.
"She'll be alright." Keith growled.
"I can't defeat Khan! How can a seven-year-old even fend him off?" Andy burst into tears.
(A few minutes from Andy and Eric's home)
Lilly slowed her horse to a canter, because she knew that she was being followed, and that she was in extreme danger. "Easy, girl. It's okay."
Lilly tried to soothe her skittish mare. *How do I manage to get myself into these messes! That's Khan and his goons following me!*
"A little far from home aren't we, princess?" A voice growled from the eerie shadows of the forest.
"I'm not scared of a few shadows!"
"Then why is there fear in your voice?" The voice seemed to be getting even closer.
Lilly knew that Dancer was getting spooked and tried to calm the mare. "It's okay, Dancer. There's nothing to be afraid of." But it was too late Dancer began to buck and Lilly was thrown from the saddle.
Jace had only been a few feet away from her and easily caught her in his arms, while Dancer went bolting back to the stables. "Don't move." He growled at her through his mask.
Lilly was too shaken from her fall to argue and only nodded at him in response to his order as he set her down under a nearby tree.
"Princess! Do us both a favor and don't make me have to hurt you." Khan went in search of his prey, not knowing that Jace was watching from the shadows.
"My Daddy has everyone out looking for me by now!" Lilly shouted back at him. *Daddy, please come find me!*
"Are we bluffing now, princess? You children really are being taught early in life." He taunted her. "Sorry, little one, but Daddy won't be in time to save you." Khan revealed to her that he had brought a small army of men with him.
"Try and take me!" Lilly shouted at them and got into her defensive stance.
"Go and play with the little one, but don't damage her too badly." Khan ordered his men.
Saki and his men attacked the little princess from all sides.
"Great! You guys are better than my brothers!" She huffed, as she tried to fend off her attackers.
Jace admired the little imp's spunk, but decided that her fun was up. He deftly picked her up and carried her away from Khan's men.
"I said stay put!" He snarled at the little girl in his arms. His eyes mirrored his anger at her for disobeying him and she began to struggle in his arms. "Stay where I put you and don't move until I come and get you! You got that, little spitfire!" He snarled his orders at her.
Lilly glared up him. "I was winning!"
Jace laughed at the little princess's spunk and determination. "You were about to be Khan's latest pet." He chided her. "Now stay put until I come back for you." He vanished from sight.
"Fine, but I don't have to like it!" Lilly muttered under her breath.
Jace could hear Khan's men searching the forest for the little princess.
"Come out, little princess! We promise that we won't hurt you!"
"That's really too bad, because I'm in the mood to kill someone." Jace drew his weapon, as he appeared in front of the men.
"Finally a challenge!" Saki attacked the young hero clad in black attire.
Jace easily defeated him. "Next!" He snarled, as took him out with his own sword, and then tossed the bloodied weapon onto Saki's lifeless body.
"You will pay for that!" The other men attacked Jace from both sides.
"So are you really that eager to die? Oh well, suit yourself!" Jace snarled at them and defeated them all, until he was the only one still left standing. "Really, Old Man. Can't you find better help than this?" He laughed at his old mentor.
Khan glared murderously at this unknown hero. "You have angered the wrong person!" He ignited his sword. "You are going to pay for this with your life! No one interferes with my plans and lives to tell about it!"
Jace easily avoided his attacker and smashed Khan in the jaw with the hilt of his sword. "I'm surprised at you, Oh great one! You were supposed to be a challenge. Why don't you do us both a favor and quit while you can still move." He mocked him.
Khan attacked him with a series of lightning fast moves. "You have such confidence for a dead man." He sent Jace flying into the trunk of a tree.
"Famous last words!" He snarled, as Khan grabbed him by his throat and lifted him off the ground.
"Oh, I can promise you that you will remember my words!" Khan began to punch him continuously in the face.
Jace managed to bring his knee up hard against Khan's groin. "You were saying!" He snarled at Khan and sent him flying. He knew that he was hurt and he really wanted to stay in on piece for Christina.
"I will make you suffer slowly for this!" Khan roared at him through teeth gritted in pain, but before he could act on his threat he noticed that the Red Tiger of Voltron was hovering in the sky above them with all its weapons aimed at him ready to blow him into atoms.
"We will meet again and then I will kill you." He promised Jace before vanishing from sight.
"You can try, old man, but I don't die that easily." He took his little phaser out and got rid of the evidence that only he could see in the pitch darkness of the forest. "They can get the little princess…I need to go see Jenna again." Jace vanished from sight.
Nate scanned the forest and found no sign of Khan or the mysterious crusader who had been holding his own against him. He did however have a bearing on his little sister-in-law. "Lilly? It's Nate are you okay down there?" He used Cora's speakers and put a spotlight on her.
Lilly squinted up at Nate and Cora. "Am I ever glad to see you…" She waved up at him, only to be pounced on by Shadow, who immediately began to wash her face with his rough tongue.
"Shadow! This is no time for games!" Eric shouted at his panther. "Lilly!" He shouted in relief, as he pulled off Shadow, so that he could pick her up in his arms.
Lilly gave him a big hug. "Am I in trouble?" She blinked up at him.
"Major trouble and the punishment is five months with us on Lera." He answered her in a stern voice.
"Yes!" She shouted happily.
"Let's go home, brat." Eric started back towards the house, only to have Lilly leap out of his arms. "Get back here, Lillian Allura!"
"No! I promised to wait here until he comes back." Lilly sat back down in her spot.
"Who? There is no one here." Eric growled.
"Yes there was, Eric! He saved me and told me to say here until he came back to get me!" Lilly picked up a finely etched throwing star made of the finest gold. "See! He was here!" She held the star up so that Eric could see it.
Eric snatched the object out of her fingers, so that he could get a better look at it. "Who gave you this?" He growled softly.
"He must have left it." Lilly sniffled. "I hope he's okay. Khan and his men were really mean."
Eric picked her back up and headed back home. "Let's go, Shadow. It's way past this little princess's bedtime."
Shadow picked up Lilly's bag with his mouth and followed after him.
"But he was here and he fought Khan!" Lilly burst into tears.
"Nate? You can go home. I'll take this little runaway back home with me." Eric growled into his Com.
"Sure thing, Buddy….Oh and there aren't any signs of Khan or that guy that he was fighting anymore, so you won't have any surprises on your way back home." Nate headed back to Cora's lair.
"See! I told you so." Lilly sniffled.
"You win, Angel. We'll talk more about this in the morning." Eric sighed in defeat.
Next Chapter 13
Cindra©1999-2015
**DISCLAIMER** I in no way own any of the original characters in this story or the original Voltron. The new characters or robots cats on the other hand are mine and under no circumstances are they to be used without my permission.