Hi all!

Thank you all so much for your reviews, I really appreciate the time and thought you put into them, they mean a lot to me. 

RedLion2 ~ I am so glad you are enjoying this story, I am having so much fun writing it.  I'm afraid that Keith and Allura are both going to start rebelling against Nanny's strictness ;-)

Anony ~ Good catch on Lance's reaction :-)  Thanks for your continuing support!

Dee ~ Thank you for your review!  Nanny still sees Allura as her baby and it is so hard for her to let go.

Black Knight 03 ~ Great hearing from you!  I'm glad you're enjoying the story!

Unfortunately, due to the fact that I will be busy and traveling the next few days, my next chapter will most likely be delayed.  Sorry!

Enjoy!

Failte

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

{{  "Oh Allura, how awful," Becca whispered, hugging Pidge tighter, imagining what the young Princess had gone through.

"For about three of the longest hours of my life, I was afraid Keith was dead," Allura said, her voice trembling at the memory.  "If I didn't have Dana to worry about, I would have curled up in that cell and died myself."

Keith gently massaged the back of her neck as she leaned against him, "We were lucky, but that just goes to show how evil Lotor was."

"You actually told Nanny that it was more your place than hers?"  Darcy asked, impressed.

"Yeah, well,  if she thought for one second I was leaving Allura that night, she had another thing coming," Keith muttered.

Becca smiled softly, "This is like a fairy tale."

"You're over romanticizing again," Pidge whispered to his wife.

"No," Darcy disagreed.  "This is romantic."

"To look back on our relationship now, I guess you can say it was romantic, but while we were living it, it was scary, exciting, intimidating, intense, and frustrating."  Allura said.

Keith looked at her, "Is that flattering or not?"

"It didn't sound very flattering," Hunk said.

"It makes for an awesome story, though," Paton added.

"Well," Keith continued.  "I wasn't exactly in Nanny's good graces after that…}}

Keith woke slowly the next morning.  Allura had slid off him during the night and was lying on her stomach, her arm wrapped across his chest, clinging to him in her sleep.  He smiled softly, pushing her hair from her face, she looked so peaceful, so beautiful.  Ignoring the dull ache in his head, he looked up at the clock.  It was ten!  Keith looked around for his communicator, wondering why no one had wakened him.

Allura moaned when he moved and tightened her grip on him, "Don't go."

"I have to, honey, it's late."

Clutching his shirt in her hand, she turned on her side and propped her head up on her other hand, looking down on him, "I don't care."

Keith pushed her hair behind her ear and caressed her cheek, "You can stay here and rest, take the day off.  But I have to go and see about the repairs."

"No," she sighed and rested her head against his shoulder.  "You're injured even worse than I am and it is my responsibility to see to the repairs, it's my castle."

"Allura…"

"Did you really kick Nanny out of here last night or did I dream that."

"I asked her to leave," he told her, picking up a strand of her hair and twirling it between his fingers.  "And she did."

Allura snuggled closer, softly kissing his neck and his cheek, "I love you."

"Angel, stop it," he warned.

"Why can't we just stay here forever?"  She whispered, rolling over on top of him and wrapping her arms around his neck.

"For the same reason we couldn't stay in the lake forever."


Allura lifted her head and looked down at him, "We'd wrinkle up?"

Keith smiled and crossed his arms over her back, "No, but something more…dangerous might happen."

"Do I have anything to fear from you, Captain?"  She cocked an eyebrow.

He rubbed her back, "You have no idea, Princess."

"Maybe…maybe I like it when you frighten me."

Keith eyes darkened as he searched her face, "Baby, if I didn't have a killer headache and if we weren't both a little over emotional because of recent events, I would take you up on that."

"I wish some things could be different."

"Like what?"

"Like I wish we weren't at war and had to worry about Doom all the time and I wish we could take a day off and just be together…"

Keith interrupted her with a kiss, "And if wishes were fishes, there'd be no room in the river for water."

Allura laughed, "What?"

"Just something I read in a book when I was younger," he shrugged.  "But we do have to get up."

With a deep sigh, she rolled off him and landed on her back.

Keith sat up and stretched, "Tell you what, lets go see how the repairs are going.  If things are clear and the work is getting done, maybe tonight we can have another date."

"You promise?"

"Depending on how the repairs are going."

"What about your family?"

"They're not invited."

Allura sat up, "Alright.  I guess I need to know what all is going on."

He gave her a quick kiss and slid from the bed, "I'm going to shower and dress."

"I'll find you later, sweetie."

"Sounds good," Keith stopped at the door and turned.  "I love you, Allura."

She smiled, "I love you too, Keith."

Keith had to admit that he loved waking up with her.  Maybe they should just get married.  They were in love and they were planning on it eventually, so what exactly were they waiting for?  To be able to fall asleep with her every night and wake with her every morning, to be able to spend as much time as he wanted with her, to completely belong to each other…it sounded so right.

He turned down the hall toward his room and stopped short when he saw Nanny.  She stopped and pulled herself up, glaring at him.

"Nanny…"

"I am very angry, Captain."

He nodded, "I know, Nanny, but you need to understand…"

"She is an innocent girl."

"Nothing happened, Nanny, she was scared and hurt and tired, I wasn't going to leave her alone."

Nanny shook her head, "I would have stayed with her.  It was totally inappropriate for you to share a bed with her when you are unmarried."

"She thought I was dead, Nanny, she didn't want me to go and I didn't want to leave her.  Nothing happened, we just slept.  I needed to be with her."

The older woman shook her head again, "It was inappropriate and it will not happen again."

"Don't worry, we will marry soon."

Red spots appeared on her pudgy cheeks, "Don't let me catch you sharing a bed again before the wedding night."

Keith stared at her, not answering.

With a sniff, she hurried past him.

Fifteen minutes later, Keith was standing in Castle Control, surveying the damage.  There were blaster holes in the wall, but the equipment had been spared.  The door needed to be repaired, the work had already started.  Mostly it was simple cosmetic repairs, the more troubling damage was the casualties, twenty three men were injured and six had died. 

It was still unclear as to how Lotor entered the castle, there were no signs of  forced entry, it was as though they had just appeared.  But that was not possible, the wards Kadmus had put up were still strong.

"The repairs should be completed by tomorrow afternoon, Captain," Koran said.

"Why didn't you wake me sooner?"  Keith asked, running his hand over a hole in the wall.

"You needed rest.  Everything has been clear, we have it under control."

"Where's my family?"

"I believe they're in the rec room, Lieutenants Collier and Landers have been entertaining them."

Keith nodded, "Do you have the damage report?"

"Yes, I delivered it to the Princess' study."

"Thank you."

"Do you know where the Princess is?"  The advisor asked.

"She's dressing.  She'll be here soon."

As if on cue, Allura walked in.  She had dressed in a flightsuit with her hair pulled back in a thick French braid.  A good night's sleep had done her wonders, she looked rested and determined.

Koran filled her in on what he knew and the plans to repair. 

Allura turned to Keith, "Go, be with your family, Koran and I can take care of all this. I need to meet with the families of the guards who died and then the men still in the hospital."

"Can't you put that off a little longer?"  He asked worriedly.

"You know I can't."

"You've been through so much."

She took his arm and pulled him out of Koran's earshot, "Honey, if I didn't have you, I wouldn't be able to do all this, but because I do have you, I can handle it.  Go, find your family, I will come for you when I can."

He stroked her cheek, "You amaze me.  You know they will understand if I stay with you."

"Go, Keith."

"Alright, but I'll be back later.  I have my communicator on me if you need me."

"I know."

"Will you have lunch with us?"

She nodded, "Fine.  Go find your mother and let her know everything is alright."

He lowered his head and whispered, "Tonight, I want to hold you all night again."

Allura smiled, feeling herself melt a little, "I love you."

Keith winked and stole a quick kiss, "Love you too, Angel."

Lance and Hunk were in the rec room with Isabelle, Dana, Gerry, Allyson, and the boys.  They were in the middle of telling his family about their adventures with Voltron.

"Oh Keith!"  Isabelle jumped to her feet and raced over to hug her youngest son.  "How are you?  How's Allura?  Where is she?"

"I'm fine, Allura's fine.  She has to meet with Koran and get some things taken care of, she'll join us for lunch."

"Good, good, come and sit, tell us how everything is going."

"Everything is fine, Mom, really, there is nothing for you to worry about."  He sat on the sofa beside Dana.  "How're you doing, Dink?"

"I'm fine," she assured him.  "I'm just glad to be back here and that everyone is okay."

"So what do we do now?"  Gerald asked.

"You don't need to do anything," Keith told him.  "We will repair and move on, just like we always do."

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

After a lunch made awkward by Nanny so obviously snubbing Keith, Koran asked to speak to the Captain in his office.  Allura followed him, curious to know what was going on, but she was stopped at the door.

"This is between the Captain and me," Koran told her.

At a loss, Allura looked to Keith for his reaction.

"What is this about, Koran?  Why can't Allura stay?"  Keith asked.

"This is just something we would like to talk to you about alone?"

"We?"

"Yes, Nanny and I would like to talk to you."

"Oh no," Allura swept into the room.  "You two will not gang up on Keith."

"Princess…" Koran began, but he was interrupted when Nanny entered the room.

"Princess Allura, this is between Koran, the Captain and I, now leave," Nanny demanded.

"I am not a child and it would be best if you and Koran accepted that," Allura sat primly in one of the chairs in front of Koran's desk.

Keith stepped forward when Nanny opened her mouth again, "Chances are I am going to tell her everything any way, so let's just let her stay."

Koran and Nanny exchanged looks.

"Fine," the older man sat behind his desk.  "But be forewarned, your highness, we are going to discuss a delicate matter and we didn't want to embarrass you."

"I'm not worried," she responded.  "I have nothing to hide from Keith and I don't think he has anything to hide from me."

The Captain shook his head and stood behind Allura, his hand on her shoulder.  "What is this all about, Koran?"

He cleared his throat, "Nanny came to me this morning very upset, saying she found you in bed with the Princess last night."

Keith rolled his eyes, "Nothing happened, Koran."

"Sleeping in bed together is not nothing, Captain, it is totally inappropriate and we can not allow it."

"I feel like a broken record," Allura spoke up.  "I am not a child.  Let me say it again, just in case you didn't hear me, I am not a child.  What Keith and I do is our business, not yours."

"Protecting your virtue is our business," Nanny said.

"Oh my God," Keith murmured, blushing.

Allura's mouth fell open, "You're kidding me, right?"

"We have had to step in in your parent's absence, Princess, and we need to make sure nothing…unexpected happens," Koran said carefully.  "Now I understand what happened yesterday and I know emotions were running high.  I also know that neither of you were up to….consummating your relationship last night…"

Keith groaned and buried his red face in his hands.

"But," Koran continued.  "We cannot let what happened last night happen again."


Allura stood angrily, "You want to know what happened last night, Koran?  I thought the most important person in my life had died and it killed me inside.  I needed to be with Keith, I love him.  I needed to be able to touch him, to know he was alive and with me."

Nanny gasped and sputtered angrily.

"As for my virtue," Allura's voice rose.  "It is up to me to protect it and I can take care of myself!  All of you need to realize that I don't need to be fawned over and protected.  When I choose to give my virtue to someone, I will do so willingly when Keith and I are ready." 

Keith closed his eyes and prayed for the floor to open up and swallow him.

"And when I do, we will not tell you because it is none of your business!"

"Allura," Keith croaked.

She whirled on him, "What?"

"Please shut up."

Koran cleared his throat, "This is a very delicate matter we're discussing..."

"No," Allura turned back to face him.  "We should not be discussing it at all with you and Nanny."

"We just don't want you to give your most precious gift so freely," Nanny said stiffly.

Keith took a deep breath, it was time to stop this humiliatingly awkward conversation.  "Allura has already given me the greatest gift she can, her love.  As for Allura's virtue, as you call it, I would never force her to do anything she wasn't comfortable with, I love her too much to do that.  We are going to get married and if I have to wait until our wedding night for her to be ready, then I will."  He felt Allura slip her hand into his and he reflexively curled his fingers around hers.

"You know so little about the world," Koran said carefully.

"I know more than you give me credit for," Allura replied calmly.  "And Keith is the most amazing man I know, he will be my husband so you will have to get used to us being together.  You need to accept that I am a grown woman, whether you like it or not and you need to trust that I can make the right decisions in my life.  I am who I am because of your influence and what my parents taught me."

Koran nodded tiredly.

Allura tugged on Keith's hand.  "I still have work to do, so if we are done here, I'd like to go so I can turn in early tonight."

Koran looked at Nanny, he could all but see the steam coming out of her ears.  "We're done."

Keith nodded to them and allowed Allura to lead him from the room. 

"How could you let them just leave?"  Nanny asked angrily.

"I thought you approved of the Captain."

"I did, as a boyfriend that we could groom into a potential husband, but not as someone who will treat our girl as a…a…a tramp."

Koran sighed and rubbed his hand over her face, "You know Keith is not like that and Allura would never allow herself to be treated that way.   She's right, we have to accept the fact that she is an adult now and we have to have faith in the way we've raised her."

Nanny sniffed, "Fine, but they will have a hard time hiding from me."