"What's going on?"  Keith demanded.

Hunk, Pidge, and Koran stood by the main console speaking quietly.  Hunk looked up grimly when the Captain and the Princess entered the room.

"Doom attacked Ebb, pretty much destroying the planet and taking the people as slaves," Hunk told him.

Keith nodded, "Sven?"

"They destroyed the hospital, reports came in that they thought the patients were useless, so they took the doctors and nurses captive and bombed the building," Hunk handed Keith the report that had come down. 

Keith skimmed over the report.  His senses seemed to dull.  He couldn't see right or hear properly.  His voice was caught in his throat and his hands shook.  There was no way Sven was gone.  It couldn't be.  No, God no, not Sven. 

Allura watched as Keith stared unseeingly at the report.  His hand that clutched the paper shook convulsively, but his face appeared calm.

"Captain?"  Pidge asked, timidly.

Keith snapped to attention, "Pidge what did you figure out about Doom's new weapon?"

"Uh, well, I examined Blue and I think it, uh, it's a matter of tweaking our, uh, shields.  No big deal."  He nervously pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Take care of it," Keith ordered gruffly.  "Hunk, stay here and keep me posted on anything else you hear."

"Keith," Allura said quietly.

"What?"

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to see if Lance is awake."  He turned back to Hunk.  "I have my communicator on if you need me for anything."

They all watched as Keith walked stiffly out of the room.

"Is…is he going to be alright?"  Allura asked Hunk and Pidge.

Hunk shrugged, "He and Sven had been friends for a long time."

Allura knew better than most what it felt like to lose someone close to you and her heart broke for Keith. 

{{   "What happened?"  Becca interrupted the story to ask Sven.

"Vell, I vas captured by von of Zarkon's men who recognized me as von of de Voltron pilots.  Vhen it became obvious that I vas too veak to be a useful slave, dey tossed me into de Pit of Skulls and left me to die."  Sven explained.

"About a year later I was sent to the Pit of Skulls as well," Romelle explained.  "Sven had survived down there and I found him hiding in the shadows.  It took some time and pleading…"

"Bitching," Sven mumbled.

"Excuse me?"

"Noting, darling I love you."

Romelle smirked, "Uh huh, whatever.  Anyway, I eventually convinced Sven to help me escape and we ended up contacting the Castle of Lions and letting them know he was alive."

"For over a year we thought he was dead," Keith added.

"Ve ended up helping them escape from Doom.  Romelle vas amazing."  Sven said.

"And it was the first time I saw Romelle since we were very little children," Allura spoke up.  "Our families had gone their separate ways and we had lost touch many years before."

"So not only were you reunited with Sven, Allura was reunited with her family."  Becca commented.

"Yup," Allura grinned.  "What had started as one of the worst things to happen to us, ended up being one of the best."

"But dat is a story for another time," Sven pointed out.  "Ve're trying to point out what a couple of idiots Keit and Allura vere."

"Yeah, so stop interrupting," Lance chided his sister-in-law.

"Come on, Lance," Pidge sighed.  "Don't make me have to kick your ass."

"Yeah, I'd like to see you try," Lance snorted.

"Alright, alright, before this goes any farther, lets continue on with the story," Hunk said, playing the peacekeeper.

Lance pointed at Pidge threateningly only to have the Green pilot mouth 'Bring it on'.

Darcy poked her husband in the ribs with her elbow, "Knock it off.  Go ahead, Hunk."

The big guy smiled and shook his head, "Okay, so we had just received the bad news about Sven…  }}

Lance was still asleep when Keith went to check on him, so he left strict orders to be contacted the second Lance woke.  He wanted to be the one to break the news to him.  The three of them had been like brothers and to lose one of them was, well, it was unbearable.

Keith was lost.  He knew there was always a possibility that one of them could get injured or killed.  They had been told this at the Academy, they had all thought they were prepared for it, but when it actually happened…

Keith stumbled into his room, swallowing hard around the lump in his throat.  He fell back across his bed and threw his arm over his eyes, realizing he still clutched the report in his hand.  Angrily, he balled it up and flung it across the room where it bounced harmlessly off the wall and landed in the corner.  The last time he had cried was when he was fourteen years old.  It wasn't when the General came to his dorm at the Academy and told him his father had suffered a fatal heart attack.  It wasn't at his father's funeral.  It wasn't until nearly four months later on what would have been his father's 49th birthday that he broke down and cried.

While he laid on the bed in his room in the Castle of Lions, he stared at the ceiling, thinking about Sven.  Keith had always been the studious voice of reason in their little clique at the Academy.  Lance had been the smooth ladies man.  Sven had been the suave athlete.  Both of them had left behind a string of broken hearts and unrequited crushes.  Keith worked hard, earned his degree and dated only a handful of women.  As different as the may have been, they were the best of friends.  The three Musketeers.

Keith didn't know how long he laid on his bed, but his thoughts were interrupted by a tentative knock on his door.  He sighed deeply.  Why couldn't they leave him alone?  But he was the commander and he couldn't ignore his men and his responsibilities.

"Who is it?" 

"It's me."

Normally, the sound of Allura's voice made him smile.  Now he grimaced, but he couldn't be rude.

He punched in the code and watched the door slide open, revealing the very worried Princess.  "What do you need, Princess?"

"I, uh, I just came to see if you were alright."

"I'm fine."

"Would you like to talk about it?"

"No."

"Oh," she seemed a little surprised.  "Well, know that I am here if you ever want to talk."

His expression softened a bit, "I know and I appreciate it."

She looked as though she wanted to say more, but hesitated when his communicator went off.

"Whitaker."

"Captain, you wanted to know when Lt. Collier woke."  Dr. Gorma replied.

"Yes I did.  Is he coherent?"

"Yes, sir."

"Thank you, Dr. Gorma, I will be there momentarily."  Keith snapped the communicator shut and looked up at Allura.  "If you'll excuse me, Princess, I want to be the one to tell Lance."

She nodded and stepped aside, "Of course."

****************************************************************

The atmosphere in the Castle had become exceedingly tense over the next couple of weeks.  Keith once again threw himself into his work, trying to ignore his pain.  Lance was recovering well, but had lost his playfulness.  Hunk and Pidge had updated the shields on the Lions and went about their work quietly.  All of this was driving Allura crazy. 

No one was really talking to anyone else. Dinner was spent in awkward silences, everyone afraid to speak to the surly Captain.  And if anyone so much as mentioned Sven, Keith stood and left the room. 

She knew he was holding it all in.  He hadn't taken the time to properly mourn.  There was no body, which meant no real burial and no real closure.  Keith had also taken it upon himself to contact Sven's family back on Terra.  Allura tried to argue, claiming that since she was the planet's monarch, she should do it.  But one look from Keith had her stepping back and letting him lock himself in her study to make the call.

Three weeks after the attack, Allura had had enough.  She missed Sven and she knew how hard it was for them to go through this, but they couldn't stop living.  With everything that was going on, she needed them to act as a team.  She needed their help with her flying and practice, she needed them to protect her planet and she was tired of walking around the castle on eggshells.

A couple of weeks earlier, Allura had taken Koran aside and asked him to pick a room Keith could use as an office and to have it outfitted with all the equipment he would need.  His study was across the hall from Allura's.  She took the two strides and knocked on his door.

"Come in!"  Was the terse reply.

She opened the door and walked in.  Keith was bent over his desk reading a report.

"Keith?"

He looked up at her.  Dark shadows circled his eyes and lines marked his face.  He didn't look well.

"Yes, Princess, is everything alright?"  He wasn't overly concerned, the alarms hadn't gone off.

He hadn't used her name since Sven's attack.  "I think we need to talk, Keith."

With a sigh, he shut the folder in front of him and sat back in his chair.  "About what?"

Allura took a deep breath, hoping she didn't lose her nerve.  "I know what you're going through, Keith, really I do.  I miss Sven too, he was an amazing person, a great soldier, and a true gentleman."  She saw his jaw twitch, but he kept quiet.  "But would he really want you to behave like this? All of you?  You don't hang out together anymore.  Practice and dinner have become downright uncomfortable…"

"With all due respect, Princess," Keith interrupted.  "But do you have a problem with our performance?"

She started, surprised by his question.  "Of course not, you are doing a great job."

"Then I don't know what I can do for you."

"Okay, I'm not here to talk about your job performance, Keith, I'm here because I'm worried."

"I appreciate your concern, Princess, but I will muddle through this in my own way."

"It's not just you, though.  Don't you see?  Your behavior is affecting everyone, everything.  It's just not the same…"

"No it's not the same!"  He stood fast, startling Allura.  "One of my best friends is dead, Princess, it will never be the same again."

Allura took a step back, a little frightened by his reaction, "No, it won't be the same, Keith, but you can't stop living too.  You can't continue to turn inside yourself like this."

For a split second, she thought he was going to strike her.  He glared at her, his hands fisted on his desk as he leaned forward.  Then he seemed to deflate.  His face relaxed and his hands flattened on the desktop as he sank slowly into his chair.  Wordlessly, Keith buried his face in his hands.

She was right, he knew she was.  If anyone knew loss, it was Allura, and he knew her sympathy wasn't fake.  But when it hurt this much, when the pain was so intense he could almost taste it, it was just easier to think no one else could understand.  He found comfort in his misery and he didn't want to be happy again. 

Keith didn't realize Allura rounded his desk until he felt her small hand on his shoulder.

"When my parents died, I refused to play with any of my toys," she whispered.  "Koran would try to get me to play or laugh, which was quite hard considering what was going on.  It wasn't until he sat me down and explained to me that if I laughed and smiled, I wasn't forgetting my parents.  They would want me to be happy.  It is only by forgetting who I was that I dishonored their memory."

When he didn't respond, she gently squeezed his shoulder.  It was then that she realized he was shaking. 

"Keith?"

He inhaled shakily, "I was closer to Sven than I am to my own brother."

Wanting to comfort, Allura slid her arm around his shoulders and pulled him closer to her.  He went willingly. 

"It'll be alright, Keith," she said, gently.

He didn't make a noise, just shook as tears raced silently down his cheeks.  Needing to get closer, needing her comfort, Keith turned and wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, laying his forehead against her stomach.

For the third time since she walked into his study, Keith surprised her, but this time it was in a pleasant way.  She felt his agony and wanted it to end, but she was pleased to know he was at ease enough with her to seek solace when she offered it.  Tightening her arm around his shoulders, Allura brought her other hand up and gently stroked his hair.  She didn't say anything, knowing he didn't want to hear it.  Tears filled her own eyes, but she blinked rapidly, fighting them back, knowing she needed to be strong for him.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled.

"There's nothing to be sorry for," she whispered.

He pulled his head back, his eyes were red and wet, feeling weak, vulnerable and like a colossal fool.  "I'm sorry for how I've been behaving."

Allura couldn't help but notice he still had his arms wrapped around her, holding her close, and she didn't mind at all.  "Keith, I understand what you've been going through, really I do, I just don't want you to hold it all in.  I'm here if you ever want to talk."

"Thank you," he said, slowly releasing her from his grip.

"Anytime, Keith, and I mean that."

He nodded, noticing she didn't move.  He could still feel her in his arms, firm but curvy.  She had fit so well.  His arms seemed to have a mind of their own and started to reach for her again, but he had enough control to stop himself before he made a bigger fool of himself.

An awkward silence surrounded them.  Allura shifted her gaze and looked at the folder on the top of his desk.  The label read 'New Garrison Dress Code.'  She smiled softly, he was willing to do anything to avoid talking to them.

"Come on," she took his hand and tugged.  "It's a beautiful day, it's been nearly a week since our last attack, let's go for a walk around the lake."

"I have to…"

"No you don't.  The new dress code can wait."

He enjoyed the feel of her hand in his, "Well, I uh, I don't think it would be appropriate."

"Okay," she smirked.  "Let me put it to you this way, I am going to take a walk and I know how you don't like it when I leave the Castle alone.  So I suggest that if you don't want me to go for an unsupervised walk, you should join me."

He smiled and shook his head, "Alright, I'll meet you at the front door in ten minutes."

Nine minutes later, Allura stood beside the main entrance to the castle, a shawl wrapped around her shoulders.  She had rushed from Keith's study to her room where she had quickly brushed out her hair and grabbed her shawl. 

Keith had waited until she had turned the corner before running to his own room where he had washed his face, embarrassed when he saw his reflection in the mirror.  His eyes were swollen and his hair stuck out in odd points from where she had run her hand through it.  It was his show of weakness that had humiliated him.  How could she think he was a good, strong leader if he cried like this?  He turned the corner and say her standing patiently beside the door and was surprised to realize he didn't feel so embarrassed.  He felt closer to her.

"Ready to go?"  She smiled.

"Yup, are you sure you'll be warm enough?"  He asked, offering her his arm and opening the door.

"It's not so bad out," Allura turned her face to the sun.  "Oh, it feels so good to be outside again.  For so long we were stuck indoors, only able to watch the sun, the trees, the flowers from the windows."

"We still have to be vigilant, Allura."

She felt her heart spasm at the sound of him saying her name.  "I know.  I don't think I'll ever be able to just go out and not look over my shoulder, I've been doing it so long."

Feeling bold, Keith slid his hand down her arm and laced his fingers with hers.  "You're safe now, Allura.  Next time you look over your shoulder you'll see me covering your back."

Blushing, Allura smiled coyly up at him and slipped her hand from his.  "Is that so, Captain?"

He saluted her smartly, "Yes, Ma'am."

She danced ahead of him towards the lake, "Even if I disobey and run ahead of you?"

He took off at a run and circled her, "I am faster than you."

Allura raised an eyebrow, "You think so?"

Keith grinned at her, "I know so."

"Care to race and allow me to prove you wrong?"

"Only if you want me to leave you in the dust."

"Alright," she stopped beside a bush.  "From here to the tree line and back."  She pulled the shawl from her shoulders and tossed it over the bush.

"What do I get if I win?"  He asked innocently.

"Hm, how about winner has to make loser dinner."

"I guess it's a good thing I'm going to win, Allura, since I can't cook."

"Then you'll have to get Nanny to give you lessons.  Ready?"

He nodded.

"Alright.  1…2…3 go!"

Keith watched her race ahead, giving her a head start.  When she was halfway to the tree ine, he burst forward.

"Get a move on, Captain!"  She teased over her shoulder.

Pushing himself forward, Keith was about to reach her as she approached the trees.

And then she was gone.

Keith skidded to a halt, looking around.  "Allura!" 

No answer.

"Allura!"  He yelled, grabbing his communicator off his belt when he heard a whimpering.  Running into the woods, he caught a flash of pink and the whirl of long white hair.

"Hunk!"  Keith called into his communicator.  "Lotor has the Princess, sound the alarms!"