Hello…once again all relative disclaimers apply, I don't own any of the characters, I'm just having a little fun.  This chapter is a little longer than the first two, but it explores Keith and Allura's relationship a bit more.  I hope you enjoy it.

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            Much of the next morning was spent in the lions.   After deciding who would fly Black in Keith's absence, both Allura and Sven assuming the other would pilot the main lion, they took off.  Sven took over the controls of Blue, feeling as though he had never left and Allura was accepted by Black, although it took a few minutes for her to become comfortable with the much larger lion.

            After going through various formations and shooting practice, they moved on to a secluded part of the planet to race.

            Allura was shocked at the power within the Black Lion.  She shot ahead and won every race.

            "So it isn't Keith's ability that allows him to win races, it's all in Black."  Lance muttered.

            "I heard that Lance," Allura said.  "What makes you think my flying and racing talents aren't as good as Keith's?"  She teased.
            Her question was answered by deafening silence.

            Sven grinned, "Go ahead, Lance, answer de Princess."

            "Yeah, Lance, what did you mean by that?"  Pidge asked.

            "I think the Princess is a very talented pilot."  Hunk added.

            "Alright, alright so I was insensitive with my remark.  It was uncalled for and rude.  You have proven yourself to be a talented and competent pilot.  Please accept my apologies, dear Princess."  Lance sounded as though he was reading a script.

            "How long have you been practicing that, Lance?"  Allura asked with a smirk.

             "I try to apologize and I'm put down."

            "He learned a long time ago to know how to properly apologize to vomen," Sven explained.  "Lance has had a lot of practice in dat."

            Allura's transmitter went off, "Yes, Koran?  Is everything alright?"

            "Yes, your highness, everything is fine.  Nanny wanted me to contact you to announce lunch."  The castle advisor announced.

            "We'll be there in a few moments."  Allura ended the transmission and called the team back to the castle.

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            After lunch, the team went their separate ways.  Sven, suffering a bad back spasm, retired to his room to rest.  Romelle accompanied him, saying she felt rather run down.  Hunk, Pidge, and Lance played video games in the rec room while Allura attended to paperwork in her study.

            I wonder if Keith is right, Allura thought, setting aside a proposal for an alliance with Planet Sildar.  It seems too quiet.  I keep waiting for the alarms to go off.  What if Lotor comes tonight? What if Sven isn't up to flying?

            Allura pushed the last question out of her mind.  Sven was a soldier first.  She knew he had suffered so many physical attacks and he often felt the consequences in back spasms and severe pain.  But he would never admit it to anyone.  If Romelle hadn't told her, Allura would never have known about it.  He would grit his teeth and fight through the pain.

            I just miss Keith she mused as her gaze fell on the framed photo that sat on her desk.  She knew an exact copy was on Keith's desk.  It was taken on the day of the official announcement of their engagement.  Keith wore his dress uniform and Allura wore a pale blue gown.  He held her hands as he looked down at her, grinning, and Allura returned his gaze with a laugh.  The photographer had taken over two dozen pictures, but this particular one was the most natural.  It was the last one taken, Lance had shown up and was making smart mouthed remarks.  Keith had looked down at her, smiled and rolled his eyes.  Allura laughed as Lance made kissy noises in the background.

            Just one more month.  A pleasant chill ran down her spine.  I can't believe Keith and I are going to be married.  I never thought this day would come.

            Allura was lost in memories of their awkward beginning.  Both of them had felt a deep attraction to the other, but they were both too unsure to say anything.  He had silently watched as various suitors from other planets had approached to ask for her hand, always thinking he wasn't good enough to marry a Princess.  It took a near tragedy for him to admit his feelings for her.

            Lotor attacked in the middle of the night, as he was prone to do.  They fought back hard, but he had a different tactic, using battle ships instead of a robeast so they stayed separated and did not form Voltron.  The Blue Lion was captured in a strong tractor beam and pulled onto a large Doom ship. 

            Lotor had reached his breaking point.  He no longer tried to reason with Allura about the benefits of a union and he didn't try to convince her of his love.  He too had watched as various princes came and asked for her hand, but he also noticed the way she spent so much time with the captain of the Voltron team.  He was going to break her.

            The Princess was chained to a wall in a dark, windowless room.   She remained there alone for over six hours before Lotor entered.

            "No more games, Princess," he announced.  "We will be married."

            "In your dreams."  Allura spat at him.

            "We can make this easy or hard.  You will either agree to marry me or you can stay chained here until you agree.  I suggest you go with the first choice as I am not a patient person."

            "I'm not afraid of you."

            Lotor walked over to the beautiful blonde and ran his finger down the side of her face.  Allura gave an involuntary shudder.

            "You think your precious Voltron team will come for you?"  He whispered.  "There is no way they can find you.  With Haggar's help it looked as though you disappeared into thin air.  With the new cloaking devise she created, there is no way they can track us."

            "They will find a way," Allura assured him.  "They always do."

            Lotor raised his hand and slapped her hard enough to slam her head against the concrete wall. 

            Allura blinked hard, trying to clear her vision as stars danced before her eyes.   

            "I am not a patient person."  He repeated before leaving the room.

            It was two days before Allura saw the Prince of Doom again.  Her wrists were chained to the wall out to the side and slightly above shoulder level.  As her legs weakened she was held up by her shackles causing her to lose all feeling in her arms and her shoulders and back ached terribly.  She was weak and lightheaded from the lack of food and water.  And worst of all she was beginning to doubt.  There was no way for her to tell how much time had passed and she was worried that Lotor had been right, the team couldn't find her.

            Allura blinked as the harsh light entered the room when Lotor opened the door.

            "How are you feeling today, Princess?"  He asked in a cheerful voice.

            When she didn't respond he continued.  "What's wrong?  Throat too dry to talk?  Well, I thought you would like to know that the Voltron team has made no attempt to contact us."

            "They'll find me."  Allura croaked in a low hoarse voice.

            "Your unending optimism is one of the reasons I love you.  Someday you will feel that way about me and our children."

            Allura could only shake her head.

            "Hm, I guess that means you aren't ready to accept my proposal?"

            "Never."  She whispered.

            "Fine.  I'll give you more time to think about it."  He turned on his heel and left her alone in the quiet dark.

            Allura didn't know how long she had been out, but she woke when she felt the shackles holding her up shake.  The next thing she knew her legs gave way and she fell into someone's arms.  A moment later a scream ripped from her painfully dry throat as an intense pain shot through her left shoulder.  The next thing she knew she woke up in the hospital wing of the Castle of Lions with Keith asleep in the chair beside her, his hand resting on hers.

            Keith woke with a start when he felt her hand move.

            "You're awake!" He jumped up.  "I'm going to get Dr. Gorma."

            After the doctor's examination, Allura was told she would be restricted to bed rest for a week.  Dehydration and exhaustion had ravaged her body and her dislocated shoulder was quite sore.  She would be fine though.

            "Tell me what happened."  Allura whispered to Keith after the doctor left.

            "You don't remember?"

            "How long was I there?  How did you find me?   Lotor said that you wouldn't be able to ever find us.  Haggar had magically cloaked the ship and no radar could find it."

            Keith sat on the edge of her bed, brushing a lock of hair off her forehead. "I want you to remember one thing, Princess, no matter what happens, ever, I will always come for you.  No matter where he takes you, I will find you."

            She looked up at him, tears in her eyes, "I know and I appreciate it."

            Keith lowered his head and filled her in on what had happened.  "You had disappeared into thin air; we were so engaged in battle that we didn't notice at first.  When we found you gone the Doom battle ships fought even harder to keep us from chasing after you.  We tried using the homing beacon to hone in on Blue, but the cloaking device Haggar had created actually scrambled the signal."

            Keith stood up and paced the room.  "Hunk and Pidge spent two straight days, without rest, trying to fix the signal.  When they found you, the ship was halfway on the other side of the Walerin Galaxy."

            "That's almost three days away."  Allura whispered.

            Keith stopped beside her bed, his face dark with anger and frustration, "Yeah, they had quite a lead and by the time we got there, he had had you for almost six days.  Lotor thought his cloaking device was enough, so he had no other ships with him.  This made our fight and boarding a lot easier than we anticipated.   We split up, Lance and I going one way, Hunk and Pidge another.  The plan was to find you and capture Lotor.  Lance and I came upon Lotor.  He had a handful of Doom guards with him.  We were able to fend them off and I had Lotor on his knees, preparing to take him in when…"His voice trailed off.

            "What happened?" Allura asked.

            "I, uh, we heard you scream." Keith stopped, cleared his throat and continued.  "I was distracted enough for Haggar to rescue Lotor.  Before we knew it, he had disappeared.  Lance and I found Hunk carrying you back toward the lions."  Keith fell into the chair beside the bed and leaned forward, elbows on his knees, and covered his face with his hands.

            Allura sat in silence for a moment before speaking, "Keith, what is it?"

            He let out a shuddering sigh, "For one brief moment, the longest moment of my life, I thought you were dead."

            "Oh, Keith."  Allura breathed.

            He looked up at her, his eyes wet, but no tears fell.  "Hunk said you had come to when they removed the shackles, but he had to pop your dislocated shoulder back into place, that's when you screamed and you passed out again."

            "Keith," Allura began, and then for lack of anything else to say whispered, "I'm sorry."

            He looked up at her and gave a half-hearted smile, "You have nothing to apologize for."

            They sat in silence, a think tension hung around them.

            "Allura…"

            "Keith…"

            They both smiled.

            "Go ahead," Keith said.

            "Always the gentleman," Allura said, fondly. "Thank you so much for…everything."

            "There is no need to thank me.  I love you." 

            Keith blushed, shocked at his own words.

            "What did you say?"  The Princess whispered.

            He ducked his head, "I'm sorry."

            "Please don't apologize because if you said what I think you said, you have nothing to be sorry for."

            "What?"

            A tear escaped down her cheek, "I have waited for years to hear you say that, I just want to hear it again."

            Keith looked at her, his heart pounding hard, "I love you."

            "Oh, Keith, I love you too."

            Keith stood and sat on the edge of her bed again, "Do you really mean that?"

            "Yes, I do.  I've turned down every prince who has come here because they didn't measure up to you.  I never thought you felt the same way, I was just a job to you."  Allura said.

            Keith took her right hand in his, "You were never just a job to me.  From the moment I first laid eyes on you I knew you were something special.  I knew my life would never be the same.  But I also knew that as a pilot I wasn't good enough for a princess."

            Allura furrowed her brow, "Well that's just a stupid thing to think."

            Keith laughed, "Your advisor, your nanny, and your people might not agree with you."

            "Well, it's not their life.  I love you and I want to be with you.  Screw them and what they think."

            Keith's mouth fell open, "Okay, you have got to stop spending so much time with Lance."

            "Well, that's how I feel."  Allura stifled a yawn.

            "So do I."  He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.  "You need to rest."

            Allura settled back against the pillows and closed her eyes, "Say it again Keith."

            He leaned down close to her ear and whispered, "I love you, Princess Allura."

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            That had been almost a year ago.  They had enjoyed months of just being boyfriend and girlfriend, something Allura wanted to experience.  She had been forced to grow up so fast and in the midst of this horrible war, she was able to find some happiness.

            Keith proposed on the fourth anniversary of the arrival of the space explorers to Arus.  They had sneaked off to her garden after dinner and sat on the little marble bench among the roses Keith had imported from Terra. 

            "Allura?"

            "Hmm?"  The Princess rested her head on his shoulder, her fingers laced with his.

            "Do you wanna get married?"  He asked.

            Allura sat upright and looked at him before bursting into laughter.

            Keith ran his hand through his hair, "Okay, that wasn't the reaction I expected or wanted."

            "Oh, no, Keith, of course I want to marry you, I want to spend the rest of my life with you, I just…"  She trailed off, trying to think of how to explain.

            "I know, that wasn't exactly a proposal made for a queen."  He muttered.

            "Keith, any proposal from you is the right proposal.  But you have to admit, it wasn't exactly the romantic one I always dreamed of."  Allura said.  "But I do love you and yes, I will marry you."

            Keith stood up, "Nevermind."

            "What!"

            "I said, nevermind.  I changed my mind.  I don't want to marry you any more and I certainly don't want to give you this."  He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a little gold velvet box.

            Allura jumped to her feet, "Oh, let me see!"

            Keith held the box above his head, "No, I said I changed my mind."

            "You can't, you already asked and I accepted."

            "Nope," he winked at her.  "You were right.  Sit down."

            The Princess sat back down on the bench and watched as Keith got down on one knee in front of her.

            "Allura, Princess of Arus, the day I met you was the first day of the rest of my life.  You have made my life worth living and everything thing I do and am is because of you.  I love you with all my heart and soul.   Will you please share my life and marry me?"  He flipped open the box and offered it to her.

            Nestled on snow white satin was a simple, elegant heart shaped diamond ring.

            She stared at it, speechlessly, with tear filled eyes.

            "Was that romantic enough for you?"  Keith whispered.

            Allura threw her head back and laughed, "Yes it was and yes I will marry you."

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            The sound of castle alarms going off brought Allura out of her reverie.  She set the frame back on her desk and raced toward Castle Control.  All five pilots arrived, Romelle close at Sven's heels.

            "What is it Koran?"  Allura asked, approaching her advisor as he stood over a monitor.

            "Doom ships, about half a dozen or so."  He told her.

            She turned to the four men behind her, "To your lions, boys."