Hi,
Thank you so much for your wonderful reviews.
I love writing so much and I am having fun writing these stories. Anony said that my stories are like a therapy
for her, well writing them is definitely a therapy for me. I have come up with a few more ideas for this
story and I will take into consideration the suggestions I have received from
you guys. It means so much to me to know
that you are enjoying my stories. Thank
you for your thoughtful reviews!
Enjoy,
Failte
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Keith said good night to Allura outside her room and waited until the door was closed behind her. It had been a great night, the picnic had been perfect and he knew he had surprised her, which was his real goal. He had hoped to get her mind off of the horrors she had experienced at the hands of Lotor.
Keith nodded to the guard he passed as he went back to the Observation deck, he had promised Nanny that he would clean everything up after their date. He was pleased to see Allura had eaten, she had been picking at food over the past couple of days, and they were all worried that she wasn't getting enough to eat. As he piled their plates he grinned to himself, remembering how she had laughed and relaxed with him.
"Captain."
Keith looked up to see Kadmus standing in the doorway. "Kadmus, how are you?"
The old man slowly limped into the room, leaning heavily on his walking stick. "Oh, I'm alright, a little stiff, I do believe we'll be getting rain soon."
"We can use it," Keith said, folding the blanket.
"How did your evening with the Princess go? If you don't mind my asking."
"No, it's alright. We had fun. It was nice to be able to talk about things other than the war."
"She's an amazing young woman," Kadmus said, sitting down on one of the chairs. "She has her mother's beauty and her father's strength."
Keith nodded as he unplugged the stereo and wrapped the cord around it.
"I will be leaving in the morning."
"So soon?" Keith asked, surprised.
The wizard smiled, "I've been here nearly two weeks, Captain. I have cleansed the palace of the evil energy left behind by Haggar. You should notice a definite change in the overall atmosphere within the castle."
"Thank you, Kadmus, for everything."
"I'm just glad I was able to help Alfor's daughter."
Keith cleared his throat and looked up at the other man, "You, uh, you said something to me a few days ago…"
"About your children."
"Yes, um, well, I was wondering, when? How many? Are you sure?"
Kadmus chuckled, "Yes, Captain, I am sure. I don't know when exactly, but you will have a large family."
"Wow, Allura and I having a family. I just seems surreal to think about. I never thought this would happen."
"Oh it won't be easy, Captain, you still have a war to fight. There will be many changes to come, but you will pull through it all stronger."
Keith crossed to the old wizard and offered him his hand, "I don't know if we can thank you enough."
Kadmus took his hand and stood, "If you ever need me again, do not hesitate to contact me."
"When are you leaving?"
"I'll be gone before any of you wake?"
"Why? I'm sure Allura would want to see you off."
"I prefer to leave under the cover of darkness," he said cryptically.
Keith nodded, "I understand."
Kadmus stood, "Allow me." He waved his hand and all the rose petals disappeared. "You are about to win some big points, Captain."
"What do you mean?"
"You'll find out in the morning," Kadmus smiled and winked at him. "Good night, Captain."
When Allura woke the next morning, she found rose petals sprinkled over her bed. She smiled at the memory of the night before, feeling a pleasant thrill skitter down her spine.
**************************************************************
"So, what's the occasion?" Lance asked throwing his feet up on the coffee table.
Keith and Allura had called the rest of the Force along with Sven and Romelle into the rec room and told them that they were taking the next day off. It had been Allura's idea to go on a picnic by the lake.
"The rebuilding is going well," Keith told them. "Lotor has been quiet for a couple of weeks. What's not to celebrate?"
"And this," Allura pulled a parchment from her pocket and unfolded it, holding up for everyone to see.
"What is that?" Pidge asked, squinting at the paper. The only thing he could make out was Allura's big, looping signature on the bottom, above a red wax seal.
"It is the law," Keith said dramatically.
"De law?" Sven asked, perplexed.
"The one that says Keith and I can, uh, date," Allura grinned.
Lance held his hand out, "Can I see it?"
"What's it say?" Hunk asked.
Lance cleared his throat loudly and read, "A royal lineage is no longer necessary in order to court and/or marry the ruling monarch of Planet Arus. The law stated in Section 3C, Subsection 2, Part 1-A of the Arusian law books is null and void."
"Short and sweet," Romelle said.
"I have signed it and Koran has notarized it," Allura told them. "It is official. All we have to do now is have it officially placed in the law books."
"When do you go public with your relationship?" Lance asked.
"We're going to wait a while on that," Keith explained. "The people of Arus have a lot going on right now and we would like to try and build our relationship privately, not under the glare of public scrutiny."
"But my people have a right to know and we will eventually tell them, just not right now," Allura added.
Romelle grinned at her cousin, "I am so happy for you."
Sven and Romelle had been on Arus for over a month now and they were both growing healthier and stronger with each day. They had both gained some weight and no longer looked gaunt, Sven was working with Dr. Gorma in the gym to build up his strength without doing further damage to his back. Before long, Romelle was going to head back to Pollux, but she wouldn't go without Sven and so she was waiting until he was up to traveling.
"So be ready at eleven tomorrow morning," Keith told them.
"I'm going to help Nanny bake for the picnic, want to come?" Allura asked Romelle.
"Uh, Allura, how much are you going to help?" Lance asked carefully.
She stuck her tongue out at him, "Enough to learn."
"And I'm sure you'll do a great job," Keith slung an arm around her shoulders.
"Thank you, sweetie," she gave him a quick kiss.
"If we're going to go tomorrow, I would like to request no public displays of affection," Pidge declared.
"And vhat is wrong vith a little public affection?" Sven asked before turning to Romelle and hugging her tightly, kissing her.
"There is such a thing as too much."
Keith grabbed Allura and dipped her back. "I love you," he whispered before kissing her deeply.
"Looks like you're just going to have to get used to it, buddy," Hunk told Pidge.
"Ach, Princess really! This is not the proper way to behave!" Nanny stood in the doorway.
Keith stood, still holding Allura, still attached at the lips.
"Captain!"
Keith pulled back and grinned at Nanny, "Sorry, I couldn't help myself."
Allura knew she should have been embarrassed, but instead she was pleased and felt light-hearted. "Come on, Romelle."
Romelle pulled herself from Sven's grasp, kissing him gently on the cheek and followed her cousin from the room.
{{ "You never got over your dislike of public displays of affection," Becca teased her husband.
Pidge shrugged, "There's a time and place. Besides, there was a time when you couldn't walk down the hall of the castle without seeing Keith and Allura making out, or Lance and Darcy or Hunk and Paton. After awhile it gets on your nerves."
"Oh, Pidge, you're exaggerating," Allura laughed.
"Well, not about Lance and Darcy," Keith mumbled.
"Hey," Lance spoke up. "First of all, stop talking like we're not in the room. Second, look at this woman? Can you blame me?" He kissed Darcy on the top of the head as she rested her head on his shoulder.
"Alright, I'm going to be sick," Pidge scowled.
"I think it's sweet," Becca whispered.
Pidge rolled his eyes, but tightened his arm around her.
"So if we were to go get the law books, we would find this law you wrote?" Paton asked, trying to get the topic back on track.
"It was added to the books, but the law that we wrote and I signed is framed and hanging in our bedroom," Allura explained.
"Really? Can I see it sometime?" Becca asked.
"Of course. That was actually a wedding
present from Koran. He made copies of it
for the records and had the original framed."
"What a neat idea for a gift," Paton sighed.
"Yeah, I love it. It's something we can pass on to our children," Allura said.
"But den ve tought you guys might not get de opportunity to use de law," Sven pointed out.
"What happened?" Becca asked, resting her head on Pidge's chest.
"Ve had a visitor at de picnic…}}
"Come on Lance," Pidge whined. He was standing in the doorway to Lance's room watching his teammate dig in his closet for something.
"Just a second," was the muffled reply. "I know it's in here somewhere."
"What are you looking for?"
"Aha!" Lance jumped out of his closet triumphantly, holding a football. "Found it."
"Sweet! Come on, they're waiting for us."
Pidge and Lance raced down the hall, Pidge winning by about three inches. The others stood by the door, Hunk holding the handle of a large picnic basket, Keith had a blanket over his arm and held Allura's hand with his other.
"It's about time," Sven teased.
"I had to find this," Lance tossed the ball into the air and caught it with one hand.
"What is that?" Romelle asked.
"It's a, uh, fooseball!" Allura said proudly.
Keith snorted, "Close enough."
"Football, Princess," Pidge told her.
"Come on," Hunk opened the door. "Let's go."
"Oh, what a beautiful day," Romelle sighed as they walked out into sunshine and a slight breeze.
"I ordered it specially for today," Allura told her.
Keith scanned the sky and land surrounding the castle. The buildings of Alforia were now visible from the castle grounds, the town was growing quickly as the people of Arus realized they were safe with Voltron.
"It's clear," Allura whispered to him. "There has been no sign of Doom for a while now."
"But we must be vigilant," Lance, Hunk, Pidge, and Sven all chimed.
"I've trained you well," Keith said proudly.
"Alright, who's playing?" Lance asked, tossing the ball from hand to hand.
"I'm in," Hunk said, setting the basket on the ground beside the blanket Allura and Romelle spread out.
"Alright, Lance, Sven and I against Hunk and Pidge," Keith announced as he unholstered his blaster and set it on the blanket, the others following his example.
"That's not a fair game, two against three," Allura pointed out.
"No, it's fair," Lance explained. "Hunk is so big it usually takes two of us to take him down and Pidge is so fast, he usually out runs all of us."
"Can I play?"
The guys all looked at her, unsure how to answer.
"Well, I guess if we make it a touch football game instead of tackle," Keith shrugged.
"No, come on, I want to play like you guys play," she whined.
Pidge threw his arm around her shoulders, "Alright, you're on our team, Allura, and we are going to kick their butts."
"Do you vant to play?" Sven asked Romelle.
She shook her head, "No, thank you. I think I'll watch this time since I have no idea what you're doing."
"Okay, gather round," Lance called. "Our end zone is the space between those two trees over there. Yours is between the tree and the bush over there. We'll play to 28 points."
"Touch or tackle?" Hunk asked.
"Touch."
"Tackle."
Keith and Allura spoke at the same time.
"What's the matter, Captain, afraid you'll look bad being tackled by a woman half your size," she taunted.
"No, more like I'm worried about you being tackled by a man twice your size."
"Oh, I can take it."
"Don't worry, Cap," Lance winked at her. "We'll be gentle with her."
"Come on, let's play!" Hunk clapped his hands.
"Just be careful with her," Keith told his team as the huddled.
"Oh for Pete's sake, Captain," Lance rolled his eyes. "We're not going to hurt her."
"She's not going to break," Sven muttered.
"Let's go!" Hunk yelled, his team already in formation.
"Bring it on!" Lance roared.
"You're going down!" Sven yelled at Pidge.
Keith winked at Allura. She, in return, licked her lips seductively and blew him a kiss. He raised his eyebrows.
"No!" Lance interrupted their flirting. "You are not allowed to distract him like that, Allura, that's playing dirty."
"Feeling threatened?" Hunk asked.
"Oh will you just play already!" Romelle called from where she was sitting on the blanket with her back against a tree trunk.
The six of them fell into formation, Lance won the coin toss and choose to throw first. Sven ran in for a touchdown while Lance and Keith blocked. It took all three of them to tackle Hunk down before Pidge ran in for a touchdown. Allura couldn't help but notice how they continued to throw the ball over her head and make sure she wasn't tackled.
"Come on," she stood with her hands on her hips after twenty minutes of play. "Why won't you let me have the ball?"
"You're just not catching it," Lance teased. "Can't help it if girls can't play football."
Allura gasped, "Oh that is it! You guys are going down."
"Alright, Princess," Hunk whispered as they huddled around. "This is their last run, if you can keep them from scoring, the next ball is yours."
She nodded determinedly, "Got it."
Lance handed the ball off to Keith and then hurried over to help Sven block Hunk while Pidge and Allura chased Keith. Taking a running leap, Allura attempted to tackle Keith. She succeeded in landing on his back piggy-back style. With her arms wrapped around his neck, Keith was slowed, but he kept going.
"Come on, Keith," she hissed in his ear.
"You wanted tackle football," he huffed. "If we were playing touch football, I'd be out."
He felt her arms slid from around his neck, there was a thump and muttered oath.
"Ow, ow ow!"
Keith turned to see Allura hopping on one foot, like she had injured her ankle. He ran back to her, dropping the ball, "What happened? Are you okay? I knew you shouldn't play."
Instead of answering, she scooped up the ball and ran toward their end zone. Keith stood stunned for a moment before taking off after her. Pidge blindsided him, tackling him to the ground while Hunk blocked Lance.
"Touchdown!" Allura yelled, hugging the ball to her chest and jumping up and down.
"That doesn't count!" Keith yelled.
"Yes it does! You fumbled the ball!" Pidge called back.
"She tricked him!" Lance pointed out.
"But he fell for it!" Hunk laughed.
"Dat's playing dirty," Sven mumbled.
"I thought it was a rather ingenious," Romelle commented.
Keith jogged over to Allura where she stood beside the tree, still hugging the ball. "That was low."
She grinned at him, "You should never underestimate a girl."
"That's 28 points!" Hunk called.
"Let's play for another 14," Lance suggested.
"No, I'm hungry."
Pidge smirked, "Lance is just upset that they lost."
"And a girl scored the last touchdown," Allura taunted.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Lance muttered, following the others to the blanket.
"I hate to admit it, but that was pretty good," Keith said, throwing an arm around Allura's shoulders.
"Oh, I know it was good," she pushed his arm off playfully. "You're all sweaty."
"Hey that was hard earned sweat."
"Yeah, but it still stinks."
"Vhat do ve have?" Sven asked, leaning back against Romelle while her fingers kneaded the stiff muscles of his back.
Allura sank to her knees beside the basket and flipped up the lid, "There are some sandwiches. Peanut butter for Lance, some and ham or chicken for the rest of us, um, some fruit, here's some juice and then cookies."
"Oh, pass me a ham sandwich, please" Hunk held a hand out.
The gang sat in a circle around the basket, feasting on the food Nanny had packed, and talking.
"I can't believe you guys ever misbehaved in school," Allura said as the guys told stories from their Academy days. "Well, maybe Lance."
"Hey, I had nothing to do with the flipping over of the vending machine in our dorm," Lance told her.
"What?"
"Late one night, a few of the gentlemen seated here, got hungry, but none of them had any money. So they came up with the brilliant idea of taking the snack vending machine, flipping it upside down and having all the candy fall out, then they flipped it upright and took all the candy. The machine was bolted to the floor after that."
Allura laughed, "Okay, I'm going to assume Hunk had a part in that, but who else? Pidge?"
The young man shook his head, "Nope, I had nothing to do with that."
"But you did partake in some of the spoils," Keith pointed out.
"Keith," Allura gasped.
"What? We were hungry, out of money, and, well, it was there."
"You and Hunk flipped over a vending machine? Wasn't it heavy?"
"Yes, that's why Sven helped."
"But they did it without me," Lance pouted.
"I was still mad at you for flooding my room," Hunk told him.
"Wait, wait," Romelle interrupted. "You flooded his room?"
"Well, not really, I mean it wasn't completely flooded," Lance explained.
"There were these huge plastic trashcans in the hallways of our dorm, about four feet tall and three feet across. One day, Lance filled one of these trashcans with water and tipped it against my door, then he knocked and ran. When I opened the door, woosh," Hunk spread his arms wide. "A tidal wave of water into my room."
"Lance, why would you do that?" Allura chided.
"Hunk wasn't totally innocent! He penny locked me in my room the day before!"
"Penny locked?"
"That's where you take a bunch of pennies and jam them in between the door and the doorframe, jamming the door shut," Pidge explained. "We had to take the door off by the hinges to get him out."
"You see," Keith turned to Allura. "Hunk and Lance had a bit of prank rivalry during our third year."
Sven nodded, "Dey vere constantly trying to von up each
other."
"Why would you…" Allura stopped in mid question when Keith's communicator went off.
He flipped it open, "Whitaker."
"Captain, ships are approaching Arus, you should all return to the castle," Koran told him.
"Alright, we're heading in," Keith snapped the communicator shut while everyone else started gathering up the food.
Hunk picked up the basket while Lance took Sven's hand and helped him to his feet.
"Do you think it's Doom?" Allura asked Keith.
He shrugged, "Don't worry, he won't get you again."
She smiled and took his hand as they headed up to the castle, "I know."
Lance and Pidge raced toward the castle, Lance convinced he could beat his teammate this time. Hunk jogged after them, making sure Lance didn't cheat, as he was sometimes prone to do. Sven and Romelle followed, Sven limping slightly, and Keith and Allura brought up the rear.
"Hold on a sec," Allura dropped to a knee to tie her sneaker.
Keith stood patiently beside her, his head tilted back, scanning the sky. He pulled his communicator off his belt when it beeped, "Whitaker."
"It looks as though the ships have left," Koran told him.
"Any idea who it was?"
"No. They seemed to hover just outside of our atmosphere, approached the planet and then left."
"Strange," Keith mused, offering Allura a hand to help her stand. "I'm coming in now to check things out."
"Yes, Captain."
Keith attached the communicator to his belt and turned to Allura, "Looks like whoever was here is gone."
"Good. We weren't expecting anyone and it always unnerves me when strange ships approach us," she confided.
He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, "Have no fear, my dear Princess, I will make sure you're safe."
"As long as you don't have to play football against Doom," she giggled.
Keith turned to look at her. They were standing alone near the garden, the others having gone inside. She smiled back at him flirtatiously. "You just think you're so cute, don't you?" He asked.
"Oh, I know I am, Captain."
He captured her chin between his thumb and forefinger, "You're lucky I think so too, or else you'd pay for that comment."
She fluttered her lashes at him, "What would you do?"
Keith laughed, he loved it when she was relaxed enough to be so goofy and flirtatious, "Something like this." He lowered his head and captured her lips with his own.
"Wow, I'll have to try and annoy you more often," she sighed when he lifted his head.
"Come on," he took her hand. "Let's head in. I want…"
"What is it?" Allura asked when he stopped.
"Shhh." He shoved her behind him and unholstered his weapon. "Run toward the castle, I'll cover you."
"What is it?" Her voice shook.
"Go, Allura, now. Tell Lance."
Without another word, Allura ran toward the castle as fast as she could.
"Who's there?" Keith asked.
There was no answer. He turned slowly, knowing someone was nearby, but he couldn't figure out where. Scanning the garden, he heard a muted noise, creeping footsteps on the grass. Before Keith could turn, a hand grabbed a fistful of his hair and a knife blade was pressed into his side.
"What makes you think you can have the Princess?" A voice hissed in his ear.
"Lotor."
"She is mine," he continued, pushing the knife into Keith's side. "I will kill you before I let you have her."
"Keith!"
Lance, Pidge, and Hunk raced toward them, their weapons drawn.
Lotor plunged the knife into Keith's side, feeling the flow of warm blood over his hand. He pulled the knife out and pushed Keith forward before turning and running toward the woods.
Lance fell to his knees beside his fallen leader while Hunk and Pidge ran after Lotor. Blood was flowing from the wound in Keith's side. "Keith, man, stay with me."
At first the pain had been intense, now he was just tired. "Allura."
"She's fine, Keith, she's in the castle, she's safe."
"He got away," Hunk said, running over.
"Come on, help me get him to Dr. Gorma, he's lost a lot of blood."