Hi all!

Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews!  Over 200!  Wow!  They really do mean a lot to me, to know that you are enjoying my story and taking the time to review it.

RedLion2 ~ Once again, thank you so much for your review!  I love showing Keith's tender side where Allura is concerned. 

Anony ~ I think Allura has seen the error of her ways.  No matter how determined she may be to show her independence, she isn't invincible.

T.F. Kit ~ Wow, thank you so much for your review.  I am always writing, it seems to be as important to me as breathing.  Maybe I will someday develop the nerve to post something original.  I have to say that I am very impressed with your story.  You have me sitting on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happens and if there will be a resolution.  Please update soon!

Queen Merla ~ I felt bad for Euclida too, for such a strong woman, she isn't dealing well with her heartbreak.  But then who hasn't made a complete idiot out of themselves over someone.

Thank you so much!  You guys are awesome!

Enjoy,

Failte

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

"Anything?"  Keith asked as he rushed into Castle Control.

"Not yet, Cap," Hunk informed him.

"Have you heard anything from Dr. Gorma?"

Koran looked up at him, "Princess Romelle had to be sedated, it was too much for her.  Princess Allura has been checked out, but she refused anything other than a few aspirin."

"Where is she now?"

"She went to change, she said she'll be right back."

Keith sighed, angry with himself and frustrated with the situation.  "We have found no sign of Lotor outside."

"No signs as to how he got on the planet," Pidge walked over with a printout.

"So he just appeared?"

"It looks that way, Cap."

"That is totally unacceptable," Keith snarled.  "We have to figure out how he's doing this."

"We will, Captain," Koran assured him.

The door slid open and the four men turned to see Allura walk swiftly into the room.  She had changed into a clean flightsuit, ready to fly if necessary.  Her hair was pulled back in a French braid and she looked determined.  If it wasn't for the small bruises on either side of her chin caused by Lotor, you would have never known anything was wrong.

Keith quickly crossed the room and met her halfway, grabbing her arms, "How are you?"

"I'm fine."  Her tone was clipped.

"Allura…"

"What have you found?"

"Not much yet, we're still working on it.  Why don't you go rest, check on Romelle.  We'll contact you if we find anything."

She shook her head, "I don't need to rest.  Sven is with Romelle, she's asleep, Dr. Gorma gave her something.  I want to be here if you find something.  If he wanted to attack he would have then, I think he just wanted to scare me…us."

He rubbed his hands up and down her arms, "What did he say to you?"

"Nothing."

"Allura, it might help us figure out what is going on if you told us."

She looked down, studying the design on the floor, "He, uh, he just threatened me, nothing new and he was just a little heavy handed.  I'm fine."  She looked up at him, "I want to know what's going on."

"Alright," he sighed.  "But we will talk later."

With a shrug, she pushed past him and went to debrief Koran.

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

Sven watched as Romelle slept.  When he had found her, huddled against a tree, shaking and crying, he felt his heart break.  This was too much.  It was too soon.  She wasn't ready to face Lotor and the memories he brought back. 


Everything had been going so well for them.  It had taken months for her to come out of her shell.  When they had made love for the first time, it had been the most amazing night of his life.  He was completely consumed by her.  Seeing her in pain, seeing her too terrified to even speak, had the anger welling up inside him.  If he so much as saw Lotor again, he would kill him with his bare hands.

"Hm."

"Romelle," Sven reached out and gently stroked her cheek.

She whimpered again and let out a little cry.

"Elske."

She turned her face to his hand, her eyes still closed.

"Open your eyes, Elske," he whispered, moving to sit on the edge of the bed.

"Sven?"

"Ja."

Her eyes fluttered open, "Why am I so tired?"

"Dr. Gorma sedated you, just rest."

"Every time I close my eyes, I see him," she whispered. 

"I'm so sorry, Elske, but you are safe now."  He leaned over and kissed her forehead.

"I thought I was over it, I thought I wasn't afraid of him any more."  Her voice shook.

"It's alright, Romelle, it's alright.  You're allowed to be afraid, he is von mean son of a bitch."

"How's Allura?"

"She's fine.  She's helping de others vith de search."

"He kicked her hard, I was sure she might have a cracked rib or something."

Sven shrugged, "She's stronger den she looks."

"I'm so tired."

"Give into it, Elske."

Romelle smiled softly.  She loved it when he called her that.  He would sometimes whisper to her in his native tongue, and although she had no idea what he was saying, she loved listening to him.  "Lay with me, Sven."

That was all he needed to hear as he gently climbed over Romelle to the other side of the bed.  He pulled her close and held her tight.  Romelle laid her head on his chest, clutching a handful of his sweater in her hand.  She wanted Lotor out of her mind, out of her life. 

Sven gently rubbed her back as she tried to get closer to him.  "Ve can go home if you vant."

"I don't want him to win anymore," she mumbled into his chest.  "Let's wait and see what Keith says."

"If you're sure," he said uncertainly.  "But all you have to do is say de word and ve vill head straight home for Pollux."

She nodded, closing her eyes, "I love you, Sven."

"I love you too," he kissed the top of her head.

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

"So he's gone?"

Four hours had passed since Lotor had attacked Allura and Keith was sitting in his study with the Princess, Lance and Koran

"It looks that way, Captain," Koran said.

Keith nodded, looking down at the printout in his hand, "No one else has seen him?"

"No reports have come in," Lance told him.

Allura shifted uncomfortably.  She was sitting beside Lance on the couch and her side was hurting badly.

"Are you okay?"  Lance whispered.

"Yeah," she whispered back.  "I'm fine."

"What's wrong?"  Keith asked.

Allura shook her head, "Nothing.  I contacted the Garrison, they're sending more ships from Planet Zettle.  They're going to scout the area."

"Good, and I am putting three more guards on duty at any one time."

"That'll be tight," Koran commented.

"That includes the guys in the Force and me."

"Sounds good," Allura pushed herself up.  "It has been a long day, I'm going to head off to bed."

Keith watched her.  She had been quiet all evening and it worried him.  "You haven't eaten yet," he pointed out.

"I'm not hungry, I'll see you all in the morning."

"She's been rather quiet," Koran said when the door shut behind her.

"She'll talk when she's ready to," Keith told him.

Lance stood and stretched, "Has she told you anything more?"

Keith shook his head, "No.  When she is ready, she'll talk."

Koran nodded and stood, "I am going to Castle Control and see if they've found anything new."

"What is it, man?"  Lance asked when they were alone.

"I don't know, Lance.  I think Lotor said something that has her really shook up and I think she's hurt more than she's letting on.  But I haven't had a chance to talk to her alone since this happened."

"You going to try and talk to her now?"

"Yeah, I'm going to go grab some food and see if I can get her to eat something."

"Alright, buzz me if you need me for anything."

"I will, Lance, thanks."  Keith made his way to the kitchen.  He was able to find some food to put together sandwiches.  It was still relatively early, he hoped he could talk her into have a little picnic in her room, maybe get her to tell him what Lotor had said.  He placed the food and a couple of bottles of water on a tray and started toward her room.

"Hey Keit"

"Hey Sven, how's Romelle?"

The tall Norwegian sighed, "She's shaken up and she doesn't vant to be alone.  Allura is in vith her now."

"Where are you headed?"

"I am going to get someting for us to eat."

"Here," Keith held the tray out for him.  "Take this."

"No, Keit, I'm not taking your dinner."

"No, take it, I want to talk to Allura."

Sven shrugged and took the tray, "Tanks, Keit."

The women were both sitting on the bed, talking quietly when Keith and Sven walked in.

"How are you feeling, Romelle?"  Keith asked, sitting beside Allura.

"I'm fine, Keith, really," she smiled weakly.  "I wish you would all stop worrying."

Allura squeezed her hand, "We'd go crazy if we didn't have something to worry about."

"Then worry about how you're all going to get to our wedding."

Sven set the tray on the table beside the bed, "And you had better find a vay to get dere."

"We will," Keith vowed.

Sven sat on the bed beside Romelle and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "You should eat something, Elske."

"What does that mean?"  Allura asked.

Romelle smiled, "Love."

"Come on my Elske," Keith stood and took her hands.

"Find your own vay to impress your voman," Sven said.  "Dat's my word."

Allura smiled and patted Romelle's hand, "If you need anything at all, please ask."

"I will.  Good night."

Allura and Keith bid them both a good night before slipping from the room.

"Let's go get something to eat," Keith suggested lightly.

Allura covered her mouth as she yawned, "I meant it when I said I'm not hungry."

"You need to keep your strength up, babe."

"I just need a good night's sleep."

Keith glanced at her, "Fine, I won't push you."

"Thank you."

"But I still think you're hiding something from me."

Allura stopped and looked at him, seriously studying him.  "Alright," she sighed.  "Romelle and I were talking about sex, not the weddings, when you walked in on us this afternoon."

Keith's mouth fell open and he stared at her a moment, "Of all the things I expected to hear you say, that was probably the last.  But it was pretty hot."

Allura giggled and kissed his cheek, "Good night, Keith."

He watched her walk to her door, "Hey."

She looked over her shoulder, "Hey what?"

"You know you can tell me anything, right."

"I know."

"Just call me on my communicator if you want to talk."

"I will."

"Love you."

"Love you, too, Keith."

"Good night."

"'Night."

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

Keith's eyes flew open.  His door had just opened and closed.  He held his breath and listened, there was definite movement.  Silently counting to three, he swung out in one smooth movement, grabbing his blaster from the nightstand and turning on the light, swinging the weapon toward the doorway.

"Dammit Allura!"  He yelled angrily.

She stood in front of his door, her hands clutching the hem of the shirt she was wearing.

His heart racing, Keith slid the safety back into place and returned his blaster to the bedside table before falling back on the bed.  "Dammit, Allura, I could have shot you!  You know better than to sneak up on me."

When she didn't answer, he raised his head to look at her.  She still stood motionless by his door, wearing a pair of pink floral pajama pants and his old Tampa Bay Buccaneers shirt.  He couldn't remember when she took it, but she had had it for a while and he loved the way she looked in it.  The pants and shirt clashed terribly, but she looked sweet.  She continued to toy with the hem of the shirt and not speaking.

"What is it?"  He asked.

Allura raised her eyes and looked at the bed, "Can I?"

"Yeah," Keith moved aside and held the blankets up.

She clambered into his big bed and laid on her uninjured side, her back to Keith.  Without a word, she pulled the blankets up to her chin and scooted back until she felt him.

Keith lay on his side and spooned with her, wrapping his arm around her stomach, "What is it?"

"Nothing," she mumbled into his comforter.  "Just couldn't sleep."

He glanced at the clock and saw that it was after one in the morning.  "I thought you were tired."

"So did I."

"Was it a nightmare?"  When she didn't answer, he tightened his arm around her.

Allura winced, "Careful."

Keith pushed the blanket down and lifted her shirt.  He swore when he saw the large purple, blue, and black bruise. 

"It's not as bad as it looks."

"Bullshit," he pulled the shirt back down and pressed down on her shoulder, forcing her onto her back so he could see her face.  "Tell me what happened."

"There's nothing more to tell.  He cornered us, threatened me," she cleared her throat when her voice cracked.  "Then he knocked me down and kicked me.  I've had worse."

Keith studied her a moment, "Why are you here?"

Her jaw twitched as she clenched her teeth, "Fine, I'll go."

"No," he gripped her arm.  "I think you're here because you were spooked.  He said something that scared you and now you're having trouble sleeping."

"What scares me is that we don't know how he got here.  He has proven that he can still get to us."

"You're safe, Allura, I promise nothing will happen to you."

"You don't know that for sure, Keith."

He felt an irrational anger at her comment, "You don't think I can keep you safe?"

"It's not you, Keith.  He's evil and very powerful…"

"You don't think I can keep you safe," he repeated.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "It isn't that."


"Then what is it?"

A tear slid out from under her closed eyelid.

Keith cupped her cheek and wiped the tear away with the pad of his thumb, "Talk to me, Allura."

"He…he said that if we went through with this marriage that our children would pay for it," she whispered.

"That won't happened," Keith vowed, resting his forehead against hers.  "He would have to go through me, Lance, Hunk, Pidge, Koran, and every guard in the castle.  Not to mention you.  I've seen you when you're angry, you're capable of ripping a man's arms off.  We will defeat him.  We will be fine, all of us."

She opened her eyes.  He was so close she couldn't focus on his face.  "Why can't he just leave us alone?"

"Because he's psychotic."

"I am so sick of this, I'm sick of living in fear.  I'm sick of having to worry every time I leave the castle."

Keith lifted his head and smoothed her hair back, "You were the one who said we can't let Lotor dictate our lives.  We didn't come this far and go through everything we've gone through to give up now.  We will defeat him.  We will get married."

Allura cupped his cheek with her hand, "I know that, honey.  I just get so frustrated sometimes."

He smiled, "So do I, but we can't give up.  We are all in this together and we will win."

Sliding her hand back into his hair, Allura brought his mouth down to his.  "Thank you, Keith."

"For what?"

"For being here for me now."

"I will always be here for you, Allura.  Just don't sneak up on me."

"Sorry.  I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk and I ended up here."

Keith propped his head up with his hand, looking down at her, gently laying his hand on her stomach, tickling her lightly with his fingers.  "You shouldn't be up wondering the castle alone."

She slipped her hand into his and brought their hands up higher, away from her bruise, "I know.  But I think, deep down, I knew I was coming here."

"You can't be caught in my bed before the wedding," he murmured, noticing that their joined hands were nestled between her breasts.

"I was serious when I told you what Romelle and I had been discussing," she whispered, huskily.

"Don't do this to me."

"I was thinking.  What if something even worse had happened to me today…"

"Don't Allura."

"Now let me finish," she brought his hand to her mouth and kissed his fingers.  "What if something had happened to me and we had never had the chance to be together."

"We have plenty of time for that," he promised, feeling his resolve shake.

"We don't know that.  I want to be with you, you want to be with me.  Why do we have to keep putting it off?"

"I don't have any…protection," he stammered.

"Protection?"

Keith raised his eyebrows in surprise, "Um, you know, birth control."

She furrowed her brows in confusion.

"Condoms?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You mean no one has ever discussed birth control with you?"

She blushed and said defensively, "I know where babies come from."

"But do you know how to prevent babies?"

"Why would you want to do that?"

Keith closed his eyes, he had forgotten how naïve she was about so many things.  She had grown up in a different place with different social mores.  If it was Nanny who had given her the 'birds and the bees' talk, he was sure she had glossed over a few things.

"Keith?"

"I guess this was something Romelle didn't talk to you about."

"I thought you wanted children."

"After we're married, Allura, not now.  Can you imagine the scandal if you became pregnant before the wedding."

She pouted, obviously disappointed by his response.  "Maybe we could…" she trailed off and released his hand to run her hand down his stomach, stopping at his waistband.  "Maybe we could just get to know each other a little better, just not go all the way."

"You're going to be the death of me," he murmured as she pressed her lips to his throat.

"I can think of worse ways to go," she answered, feeling his hands slide up under her shirt.

Heat coursed through Allura's body as he stroked her with his warm, rough hands.  Trailing kisses from his throat to his chest, stroking his abdomen, her heart picked up speed as he moaned.  She stopped and sucked in a breath when he accidentally bumped her bruise.

"Allura, I love you, I really, really love you," Keith said, fisting a hand in her hair and gently forcing her to raise her head.  "But we have to stop this now, please.  This is not the right time.  You're hurt and we're both tired.  Let's save this, please."

With a sigh, Allura rolled off of him and onto her side.


He twirled a lock of her hair, "Are you mad?"

"I…I just want to know what its like," she admitted quietly.  "Romelle said it was the most amazing night she had ever had.  I want to be that close to you."

Keith curled up with her, pressing his body along the length of hers, "When we do make love, Angel, it will be amazing, but we can't rush things."

"Can I stay?"

"Of course." He brushed her hair aside and kissed the back of her neck.  "As long as you get some sleep."

"I will," she muttered.

Keith reached back and reset the alarm so it would go off fifteen minutes earlier than normal so she would have enough time to get back to her room before anyone noticed she was gone.  "Good night, love."

"Good night, Keith." 

Keith's arm was draped over Allura's waist, below the sore bruise, and just feeling him close by helped her settle into a light sleep.  Keith, meanwhile, was busy occupying his mind with thoughts of flight formations and military tactics.  Anything to get his mind off the fact that the woman he loved, the most beautiful, desirable woman he had ever known, was lying with him so he could sleep.

Four and a half hours later, they both bolted awake at the sound of the castle alarms.  Instinctively, the both leapt from the bed and raced to Castle Control.

"What is it?"  Keith asked as they were joined by the rest of the Force, Nanny and Koran.

"Oh Princess!"  Nanny ran over to her and hugged her tightly.  "I went to your room and you weren't there!  Where were you?"

Allura looked helplessly over at Keith.

"Ach!"  The older woman sighed angrily.  "I should have known."

Koran spoke up, "I was called here by Private Clabe when a report came in about a missing person.  She was last seen with an attractive man with long white hair.  I immediately called to Nanny to check on the Princess, when we found her missing as well, we sounded the alarms."

"Who's missing?"  Allura asked.

"Miss Euclida Remikade."