Hello again! Just a word of warning, there is a sexual situation at the end of this chapter. If you think you might be offended, please don't read. All disclaimers still apply. Thank you for the reviews, I'm glad to hear you're enjoying my first ever piece of fan fiction, I really appreciate the support!
Thank you!
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The next morning found Allura, Lance, Pidge, Hunk, and Sven in the rec room, waiting for Keith to join them for morning practice.
"Is he still asleep?" Lance asked.
"It's not like him to sleep in this late; he's always the first one up." Hunk yawned.
"Maybe somevon should check on him." Sven suggested.
Allura stood, "I'll go."
"Do you vant me to come vith you?"
"No, that's okay, Sven. He said last night he was really tired, the meetings were long and boring. I'm sure he just overslept."
Allura approached Keith's door and listened for a moment. There was no sound. She raised her hand and knocked, softly at first. When there was no response she knocked a little harder.
"Whaisit?" Came the muffled response.
Allura overrode the command to open his door and walked in.
The room was dark with only a sliver of light peeking in through the curtains. A lump on the bed rose and fell steadily as Keith breathed deep and continued sleeping.
"Keith?"
"Hm?"
"Keith it's 7:00, aren't you coming to practice?"
"No."
"Are you canceling practice?" Allura asked, incredulously.
A dark head appeared from beneath the covers, "That's exactly what I'm doing."
Allura sat on the edge of his bed and pulled the covers back a bit more. Keith looked back with dark eyes under disheveled hair.
"Talk to me Keith. What happened?" She asked softly.
"I'm just tired."
"Keith, I've seen you tired before. I've seen you so exhausted that you could barely stand. But I have never seen you like this."
He stared at her, silently.
She reached up and stroked his face, "What happened?"
He turned his face and kissed her palm. "I feel so weak." He whispered.
"What?"
"I sat in on those meetings and listened to all the other planets begging for help. All that we have fought over the past years and we are still where we started. Lotor is even stronger. He has millions of slaves. There is murder and pain and suffering all over the universe. Have we even done any good? Don't you ever wonder if we're wasting our time?"
Allura sat in
silence, shocked, for a moment. "Are you serious? You make it sound as though we should just
give up and let Lotor win."
Keith remained silent.
"We have done so much good! We have protected my planet and my people. We have helped rebuild towns and villages. Voltron has defended not only Arus, but others as well. Lotor's power is waning. He is not as strong as he once was and you know that. Are you losing faith?"
Keith turned away from her.
A knock sounded at the door. Allura crossed the room to answer it.
"Is everyting alright?" Sven and Lance stood in the doorway.
"Practice is canceled for now. You guys can take the lions out if you like, but Keith and I won't be joining you." Allura said before shooing them away and shutting the door.
The Princess looked at her Captain and sighed. This was a side of Keith she had never seen, never thought she would see. He was always so strong and confident.
"Keith, maybe you need some time off to get your mind together." She said. "We'll figure something out. Maybe we can get Sven and Romelle to stay here for a few months. He was going to come here for a few days after the wedding to help with covering for us while we went on a honeymoon. Or we can talk to the Garrison about sending some back-up pilots now."
Keith sat up and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry Allura. I don't know what came over me."
Allura sat on his bed and looked at him, "This is hard on all of us. There are times I've wanted to give up. But I can't, we can't. There are too many people depending on us."
Keith reached out and pulled Allura into his arms, "I'm sorry. I'll be fine. We can have practice this afternoon."
Allura laid her head on his chest, "I'm worried about you. If you need a day or two off I'm sure Sven will cover for you."
"No. I'm Captain of the Voltron Force. I will do my job." He kissed the top of her head.
"Okay, get up, get dressed. You and I will go for a ride, maybe we can have a picnic. Just the two of us." Allura disentangled herself from him and threw the covers back. "We can call off practice, officially. That's a royal decree. We can skip it for one day."
Keith smiled, "I think that's exactly what I need."
"Okay. Be ready in twenty minutes. I'll meet you in the stables." Allura crossed to the door.
"I'll be there."
Thirty minutes later Allura stood in the stables watching a groom saddle her horse. She had gotten Nanny to pack a quick lunch and then went to speak with Koran. She gave instructions that they not be disturbed unless it was an emergency.
Allura checked her watch again. Keith was already ten minutes late. He was usually so prompt that she expected to see him in the stables before her.
"Sorry," he jogged up, five minutes later. "I was held up."
"Is everything alright?" Allura asked as she walked her horse out.
"Yeah."
"Garric saddled your horse for you."
Keith grunted in response and took the reins. Allura watched as he swung onto the horse effortlessly. He usually offered her his hand and helped her onto her horse before mounting his own. As an accomplished rider she didn't need his help, but it was such a sweet gesture.
"Where to?" He called over his shoulder.
"Why don't we head to the clearing by the spring." Allura suggested. It had been the place where they had had their first date.
They rode in silence, reaching the clearing in ten minutes.
"I'm starving," Keith announced as he dismounted.
Allura waited an instant to see if he offered her a hand. When it became evident he wasn't going to, she slid off her horse and began unpacking the lunch Nanny had made.
"What have we got?" He unwrapped a bundle containing a couple of cold ham sandwiches. "What's this?"
Allura looked over, "It's ham. Nanny had to whip this up on short notice."
Keith smiled at her, "I know and I appreciate it."
Allura spread out a blanket and they finished unpacking the sandwiches, potato salad, a sweet Arusian fruit salad, and two large pieces of chocolate cake. The cake recipe had been sent to Nanny by Keith's mother when Allura had requested something special for his birthday a few years back.
"How did things go while I was gone?" Keith asked around a mouthful of sandwich.
"Aside from the little visit from Doom, everything else was pretty normal. We do need to talk about Sven though."
"What about him?"
"Romelle was telling me about the pain he has been suffering. He would never admit it, but she asked me to talk to you about replacing him as a back up."
"Things are that bad?"
"I was surprised too. He hides it so well. But with the baby on the way she doesn't want him to take any chances that could damage his back even more." Allura explained.
"I'll contact the Garrison and see about them sending a couple of new recruits for training."
"Thank you, I'll tell Romelle when we get back. Oh, and speaking of Romelle, we decided on bridesmaid dresses."
"That nice," Keith said.
"We had to pick another pattern from the one I showed you last week, we needed something to accommodate her expanding figure."
"Mm." He replied through a mouthful of fruit salad.
"And Nanny, Romelle, and I went over flowers. I thought we should go with roses, the ones from garden."
"That'll be good."
The two of them lapsed into silence again while they ate.
After packing everything up into Allura's saddle bags, they lounged under a tree and watched the horses graze. Allura sat between Keith's legs, her head on his chest.
"This is nice," She murmured.
Keith agreed and ran his hands through the hair he had loosened from the bun she had placed it in.
"Just think, someday we'll be bringing our children here to play." Allura said.
"I can't wait for that day."
"Do you ever wonder about life after this war? I mean, we'll be settled here with our family. Will the others stay?"
"I don't know," Keith said. "I like to think more about right now and holding you in my arms."
Allura smiled, "You surprise me sometimes, Keith."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, here you are, the strong, tough, leader of the Voltron force and then you turn around say something so sweet."
"You deserve to hear sweet things." Keith cleared his throat. "I want to apologize for my behavior last night. I don't know what came over me."
Allura tilted her head back and looked up at him, "It's alright Keith."
He
leaned down and tenderly kissed her, "What about music for the ceremony?"
"Lance said he would help us
with that."
"Hm, well, we'll see about that." He smiled.
"Don't worry, we do have to approve of everything before he makes up a playlist. He did tell me that one of your favorite songs we should play is an old Terran song called 'Baby Got Back', did you you want to play that?"
Keith laughed, "We'll put some more thought into that playlist."
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It was nearing dusk by the time they finally returned to the castle. All thoughts of his earlier behavior had faded from Allura's mind as they had spent a wonderful day together. Talk had ranged from music for the wedding to names of the children they would some day have. The only thing they did not discuss was the meetings on Wit'ach.
As they walked back from the stables Keith took Allura's hand and pulled her close.
"I would like to extend my offer from last night."
"What?"
He stopped her before they reached the door, "I want to be with you."
Allura studied him a moment. "Alright. Tonight, after the others go to bed come to my room."
Allura went on ahead while Keith stood there, a smile spreading across his face.
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It was nearing midnight. Allura sat nervously on her bed, smoothing her nightgown on her lap. It was the first time she had worn it. Romelle had talked her into buying it a few weeks before on a shopping trip, she never would have bought it on her own. It was red, brighter than anything she normally wore, went all the way down to her ankles and had a lace bodice.
A quiet knock brought her to her feet. After wiping her sweaty palms on her gown she opened the door.
Keith stood there in his blue pajamas. Without hesitation he stepped into the room and took her into his arms.
"You're beautiful," he whispered.
They tumbled onto the bed, Keith roughly pulling at her nightgown.
"Keith, wait, stop." Allura put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him away.
"What?" He asked sharply.
"I, uh, I don't want you to tear my nightgown." She stood beside the bed, blushing under his intense gaze.
"I'm sorry, my love, I just got caught up in the moment. You look so beautiful I couldn't help myself." He rose to stand in front of her, running his hands down her arms.
"I want this to be special," she whispered.
"So do I." He whispered back.
Keith reached up slowly and slid the spaghetti straps of her gown off her shoulders. Allura turned around and showed Keith the elaborate ribbon laced up the back of the gown. He reached out and tugged at the ribbon. The gown loosened and fell into a ruby puddle at her feet.
Keith took her shoulders and turned her around. "My God, you're exquisite." He murmured.
Allura hesitantly reached out and began to undo the buttons on his pajama top. Her hands were shaking so hard the buttons kept slipping out of her fingers. He took her hands in his and brought them to his lips. "Allow me."
She watched as he made quick work of his top and slid his pajama bottoms off. Allura ran her hands over his well-formed chest, feeling his stomach contract as she lightly ran her fingers over it.
He groaned and wrapped his arms around her. They fell on the bed, kissing passionately. He picked her up and laid her on the center of the bed, looking at her.
"I can't believe we're finally doing this," he whispered.
"Neither can I." Allura's voice shook with nerves.
He looked
deep into her eyes, "I love you, Princess."
Her nerves faded as she stared
back, "I love you too."
Keith positioned himself above her and took her virginity with one, quick, painful thrust.
Most of what Allura knew about sex had come from late night chats with Romelle. Nanny had told her years ago where babies came from, but Romelle had told her what it was like and what to do. Her cousin had made it sound so wonderful, so beautiful. The coming together of two people in love. It was to be the closest two people could get. Romelle had warned her that the first time would hurt at first, but she would get used to it and would then experience pleasure beyond description.
What Allura experienced her first night with Keith had been quick and painful. He finished satisfying himself, kissed her tenderly, and then rolled over onto his side.
Allura laid perfectly still, feeling sore and somewhat dirty. She fought back the urge to race into the bathroom and shower. Slowly turning her head, she saw Keith, his back to her, sleeping.
Was that it? She asked herself, feeling ashamed.