Hi all!

Thanks for the great reviews! 

A quick note in response to a couple of the reviews:

1. Koran and Nanny didn't try to stop Allura from going to Keith or giving him her father's sword because they didn't know she was doing it.

2. Dee ~ I had written in a previous author's note that I was not going to tie in this story with my previous story "Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder".  You can either consider that a stand alone story or pretend you have never read it :-)

Thank you all!

Enjoy,

Failte

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

Allura stood nervously beside the tarmac, hopping from one foot to the other. 


"You okay?"  Lance whispered.

"No," she whispered back.  "Where is he?  Does he need help?"

"No, he said he would be right out."

"Princess."  Koran appeared at her side.

"Yes?"

"Colonel Exhel just contacted us, the fighters are in place around Arus."

"Thank you, Koran."  She felt rather than saw him tense beside her.  Allura followed his line of vision to see Keith walking out onto the tarmac carrying the case containing her father's sword.  He handed it to a guard to load onto the ship he and Hunk would be taking.

"I gave it to him," Allura said before Koran could speak.  "It was mine to give and I wanted him to have it."

"Yes, your highness," he replied stiffly.

"It was the right thing to do, Koran."

He nodded.

Allura watched as Keith spoke with Hunk before looking up and meeting her eyes, smiling and winking at her.  She felt her heart race and the heat rising to her face.  It was like they shared a very special secret. 

Keith clapped Hunk on the shoulder and then crossed to where Allura stood with Koran, Lance, and Pidge.

"Captain," Koran shook his hand.  "Good luck."

"Thank you, Koran."

"You don't need luck, man," Lance said.  "You're going to kick Lotor's ass."

Koran cleared his throat and glared at the Lieutenant.

"Sorry, I mean, you'll do well.  We'll see you in a few hours."

"Thanks Lance.  Just do me a favor and make sure nothing happens to Allura while I'm gone."  Keith saluted.

Lance returned the salute half-heartedly, "No problem.  Does that mean I get to marry her if something happens to you?"

Allura gasped.

Keith snorted, "No, keep your hands to yourself, Lieutenant."

"Good luck, Cap," Pidge said, saluting.

"Thanks Pidge.  I need you to keep Lance in line while I'm gone."

"Can I use tasers?"

"If necessary."

Lance smacked Pidge upside the head.

Keith stepped in front of Allura and smiled.

"Come on," Lance whispered, grabbing Pidge's arm and signaling to Koran to follow them.

"Remember your promise to me," she said.

"I will, always."

"Just be careful."


"I will."

Ignoring the guards who stood on the tarmac, Allura threw her arms around Keith's neck and hugged him tightly.  "I need you to promise something else to me."

"Hm?"  He asked, burying his face in her hair.

"If Lotor plays dirty, just leave.  It is more important that you come home alive, not that you prove some silly point to Lotor."

"I will be home tonight."

"I'll be waiting."

Keith pulled back and looked down at her, "I'll try not to keep you waiting too long."

"I'd appreciate that."

Hunk cleared his throat.

"I have to go," Keith whispered.

Allura stood on her toes and pressed her lips to his, "Good luck, honey."

"Thanks, babe."  He squeezed her hand quickly before following Hunk to the small ship they were taking to Dewhur.

It was a three hour flight to Planet Dewhur, a relatively uninhabited planet run wild with animals.  It was nearby and had no Doom loyalists, which had appealed to Keith.  He had been there three times in the past on exploratory missions and had come away feeling good about the planet, even thinking about taking Allura there camping someday.

"You alright, Cap?"  Hunk asked as they took off.

"Yeah," Keith mumbled, watching Allura's tiny figure disappear as they ascended.

"She'll be fine, Keith, Romelle and Sven will be there within an hour."

"Yeah, Romelle will be able to get her mind off things, maybe talk about the weddings."

Hunk chuckled, "I can't believe you are really getting married."

Keith turned to him, "Why?"

"I don't know.  I guess it just seems a little surreal that you and the Princess are getting married.  You're going to be staying on Arus."

"Any idea what you want to do when your time is up here?"

The big man shrugged, "No idea.  I'll figure that out when the time comes."

"Yeah, who knows what might happen tomorrow, I mean, I never thought I would be marrying Allura when we first landed on Arus."

"Oh, come on, Keith, you were smitten the first time you laid eyes on her."

"Smitten?  I was never smitten."

"Yes you were."

"No," Keith shook his head.  "Maybe Lance was."

"No, Lance flirted harmlessly with her, but there was something special between the two of you from the moment you met."

Keith looked out the window, mulling over what Hunk had said.  To think about it now, he couldn't imagine life without her or even what it was like before he had met her.  Maybe they had been meant to be together.  Maybe it had been decided by something bigger than the two of them long before they had met.  Before he had come to Arus, he had never believed in magic, now it seemed to be touching every aspect of his life.

"Cap?"

"Am I stupid Hunk?"

"What?  No!  Of course not."

Keith laughed, "I'm not asking as your Commander, but as your friend.  Am I stupid to be doing this?"

"Honestly?"

"Honestly."

"Uh, well," Hunk shifted uncomfortably.  "Yeah, you are.  But I know that you really feel this is something you need to do."

"Thank you for coming, Hunk."

"I'm glad I was able to, Keith.  I'd follow you into any battle, we all would."

Keith smiled at his friend, "That really means a lot to me, man, thank you."

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

Allura paced Castle Control.  Keith had left an hour earlier and she found it impossible to sit still.  Nanny had tried to make her eat something, but Allura insisted she wasn't hungry.  Lance had tried to get her up in Blue, thinking flying would get her mind off things, she had waved him away.  Everyone else had just decided to let her do her thing.  When she was ready to talk, she would.  Hopefully having Romelle around would help her get through the day.

"Your highness?"

"What?"  Allura turned sharply to the guard who approached her.

"Uh, there…there is a, uh, a ship approaching, asking for permission to land," he sputtered nervously.

She swept over to the main console and opened a line of communication, "You have entered Arusian airspace, state your name and business."

"Allura," Sven replied.  "It's me and Romelle and ve are here to pester you vhile your man is off playing hero."

"And to plan weddings!"  Romelle shouted in the background.

Allura grinned, "Bring it in on the main landing strip."

"Allura!"  Romelle raced across the tarmac after they landed and hugged her cousin.

"I am so glad you're here," Allura confided.

Romelle couldn't help but notice how tightly Allura hugged her, "It'll be alright."

"I'm going out of my mind."

"He may be stubborn and a bit thick-headed, but Keit knows vhat he is doing," Sven said.

Allura hugged him, "I'm really glad you guys could come."

"Yeah, apparently we just aren't exciting anymore," Lance said, walking out onto the tarmac.

"Vell, you do get annoying after avhile," Sven teased shaking the hand Lance offered.

Romelle slipped her arm through Allura's and steered her back towards the castle.  "I think I have picked out my wedding dress."

Allura smiled, happy for the distraction.  "Tell me about it."

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

Hunk brought the ship in for a smooth landing on the edge of the clearing where they were to meet Lotor.  Keith stood and attached King Alfor's sword to his belt.  He felt more confident and stronger as soon as the weight of the weapon fell against his leg. 

"You ready Cap?"  Hunk asked.


"As ready as I'll ever be."

"No sign of Lotor," Hunk muttered, scanning the onboard computer.

Keith rolled his eyes, "He always liked making an entrance."

"What do you want to do?"

"Let's head out and look around."

Hunk nodded and followed his Captain down the steps and onto the soft, mossy ground of Planet Dewhur.  It was a beautiful, overgrown planet.  The natives lived a simple, honest existence, farming on the other side of the planet where the woods weren't so thick.  Keith had spoken with their leader and had procured permission to meet with Lotor here as long as they didn't harm any of the wildlife.

"This place is beautiful," Hunk breathed.

"I thought you had been here before, Hunk."

"I have, it's just been a long time."

"It is amazing," Keith sighed, his hands on his hips, taking in his surroundings.  "I just wish we were here under better circumstances."

They both looked up at the sound of an approaching ship to see a Doom transport descending.  It landed beside the Arusian transport and the two men watched as a short gangplank lowered.  A young man dressed in a tattered cloak hurried down and stepped to the side, his head down and his hands at his sides.  A moment later, Lotor appeared in the doorway, he looked around and narrowed his eyes at Keith.  Sweeping down the gangplank, his cloak billowing around him, Lotor approached Keith, followed by the young boy.

"Captain."

"Lotor."

"I'm surprised you showed up," the Drule smirked.


"I'm not surprised you're late," Keith retorted.

Lotor unhooked his cloak from beneath his chin and handed it to the boy, "Shall we begin?"

"Who is that?"  Keith asked, nodding his head toward the boy.

"He is no one of consequence."

"You were to come alone."

Lotor raised an eyebrow, "As I said, he is no one of consequence."

"Send him back to your ship."

"You have no right to order me, Captain, I am not one of your men."

"If you do not follow the rules we laid down, I will not fight you."

"So you are afraid."


"I'm not afraid, but I am not stupid either."

With a smug smile, Lotor nodded to the boy.

Keith and Hunk watched as the boy bowed his head and shuffled back to the ship.

"Shall we begin?"  Lotor asked, widening his stance.

"I thought you'd never ask," Keith said as Hunk stepped out of the way.

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

The day passed at an excruciatingly slow pace.  Allura had spent time with Romelle, tossing around ideas for the weddings and dresses, she had also met Koran to have their daily meeting, but all day her mind was elsewhere.

Romelle found Allura standing in the Observation Deck, watching the sky.  "Allura?"

"Why haven't we heard anything?"

"I don't know.  Have you tried contacting him?"

"There was no answer."

Romelle wrapped her arm around the Princess' shoulders, "This could be good.  This could mean that Keith has handed him over to the Garrison and is now wading through paperwork."

"He would have contacted me."

"Hello ladies," Lance meandered into the room, his hands in his pockets.

"Lance, have you heard anything?"  Allura asked eagerly.

He shook his head, "No, Allura, I'm sorry."

"Can you try to contact them again?"

"We can, if you want."

"Yes," she gathered her skirt in her hands.  "Let's try Hunk's communicator see if he answers."

Lance pursed his lips and followed the Princess out of the room.  He was feeling uneasy about the lack of communication with their Commander.  Keith had been gone for five hours now.  If they factored in his travel time, it had taken three hours to arrive on Dewhur, which left two hours to fight Lotor.  They had expected to hear from him by now.

"Collier."  Lance answered his communicator as they neared Castle Control.

"Lieutenant, we need you in Castle Control," Private Kalpan replied.

"On our way, what's up?"

"We have an incoming message from Lt. Landers, sir."

"We'll be right there."  Lance snapped the communicator shut and broke into a jog, "Come on, Allura, Hunk's on the line."

She broke into a run after him and they reached Castle Control in record time.  Hunk's image was interrupted by static as they approached the monitor in the main console.


"Hunk where are you?"  Allura asked.

"We're, uh, we're about two and half hours out," he sounded shaken up and looked a little pale.

"You're picture's bad, Hunk," Lance said, turning various knobs.  "Can you tune in any better on your end?"

The picture flickered and Hunk's voice broke up.  "Sorry, Lance…interference…it'll clear up as we get closer…I'll try back…"

"Hunk!  How's Keith?"  Allura shouted.

"Not good…Dr. Gorma standing by…"

Lance swore, "Call us when you get closer!"

"Will do!"  Hunk shouted just as the picture went black.

"Oh no," the Princess whispered.

Lance looked up at her, "I'm sure he'll be fine.  I bet Lotor is in much worse shape."

"We don't know that," she said, her voice a little shrill.  "If he had defeated Lotor, he would have turned him over to the Garrison."

"Maybe they did, but Hunk couldn't tell us."

She threw her hands in the air, "Oh why did he do this?"

"Come on," Lance took her arm.  "Let's go for a walk."

"I don't want to…"

He tightened his grip on her and steered her away from the console and toward the door that led outside.  "I want to talk, Allura."

"What?"  She asked haughtily as they walked out into the late afternoon sun.

"Do you really understand why Keith did this?"

She sighed, "Because he wanted to prove to Lotor that he was stronger and better."

"No," Lance stopped and ran his hand through his hair, carefully planning what to say next.  "Okay, so you might not fully understand.  Keith doesn't have anything to prove to Lotor and he knows that.  He doesn't have anything to prove to anyone. This is about doing what's right."

"How is going into a fight that will most likely turn dirty and very likely…hurt him, doing the right thing?"

"He wants Lotor to leave you alone, and Arus.  He wants you safe, he wants to someday have a family with you and he wants them safe.  That isn't possible if Lotor is still a threat.  He is doing what he thinks is right and that is what Keith does, you know that."


Allura led the way as they walked through her garden, "I know.  We almost didn't get together because he thought it wasn't right.  We almost didn't…"  She broke off when she realized that she was about to tell Lance about the night before.

"You almost didn't what?"  He asked.

Blushing, she shook her head, "I sometimes think his need to do the right thing overshadows everything else."

"I have never experienced what you and Keith have," Lance admitted quietly.  "I really hope to someday and I hope that when it does happen, I can be the kind of man Keith is and fight for her."

"But he doesn't have to fight for me."

"You have to understand, Allura, he wants to, he has to.  He's not just fighting for you, he's fighting for both of you, for the future you'll have together.  He is hoping this will be the end of Doom's threat."

"But he's coming home, injured, and there is no word of Lotor being turned over to the Garrison, so it was pointless," her voice cracked.


"We don't know what happened, Allura, and no matter what, it wasn't pointless."

"I just think it would be better if we had gone into this fight together."

Lance nodded slowly, "I understand how you feel, but, well, I guess it's a guy thing.  He wants Lotor to know that if he wants you, he has to go through Keith."

The Princess wiped the back of her hand over her cheek and sighed, "I just want Lotor to leave us alone."

"Maybe that will happen now."

"I hope so."

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and turned her back toward the castle, "Come on.  We have to let Dr. Gorma know Keith's coming."

Allura nodded, "I wish I knew how he was doing."

"He'll be fine.  He's a strong, stubborn S.O.B."

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

Just over two hours later, Lance, Pidge, Koran, Sven, and Romelle watched as Allura paced the floor of Castle Control.  She was wringing her hands and muttering under her breath.

"Princess," Koran stepped forward.

"Don't talk to me right now," she snapped.

Lance exchanged a worried glance with Sven.  He knew she was upset, but this was ridiculous.  After they had notified Dr. Gorma, she had gone to her study and locked herself in there alone, coming out ten minutes ago to start pacing Castle Control and waiting for word from Hunk.

The tone sounded, alerting them to the arrival of a ship into Arusian airspace.  Lance beat Allura to the console and opened up a line of communication.

"You're entering Arusian airspace, state your name and business."

"It's us, Lance," Hunk responded tiredly.

"Bring it in on the main landing strip, Dr. Gorma will be waiting," Lance gestured to Koran to go get the doctor.  "I will clear the Garrison fighters escorting you, just get your ship in."

Allura hurried to the door and rushed through as soon as it opened.  It seemed to take forever as she watched the ship come in for a slow, clean landing.  She made to rush forward but was stopped when Sven put a hand on her arm.

"Vait, Allura, let dem get Keit off de ship first," he said.

"But I…"

"He's right, Princess," Koran added.

Romelle stood beside Allura and slid her arm into her cousin's and watched as Lance hurried out with Dr. Gorma and a nurse pushing a gurney.  Hunk came out first and spoke to Dr. Gorma and Lance.  He looked pale and tired.  There was a line of dried blood from a cut on his chin and a bruise on his cheek.

Dr. Gorma nodded and motioned for the nurse to bring the gurney closer.  Hunk waited outside while Lance and Dr. Gorma boarded the ship.

"Hunk!"

He looked up when Allura called to him.  With a sigh he jogged over, "He's beat up, Allura, I, uh, I don't really know what happened."

"What do you mean you don't know?  You were supposed to be backing him up!  What happened?"  Her voice rose.

"They were in the midst of fighting and it looked like Keith was going to take Lotor down when there was a noise, like an animal, and Keith asked me to go check it out.  I…I followed the noise and I was knocked into a tree by something," he indicated the cut and bruise on his face.  "I heard a scream, Lotor, and I went to see what was going on, but I got turned around.  By the time I found them, Keith was knocked out on the ground and Lotor was gone."

"You were supposed to be there!"  She shouted.

Romelle laid a hand on Allura's arm, "What was it?  What knocked you into the tree?"

He shrugged, hanging his head, "I, uh, I don't know."

Allura's attention was diverted by movement at the doorway of the ship.  Lance and Dr. Gorma were helping Keith down the steps to the gurney.  He was frightfully pale with a black eye and a swollen lip.  But what drew her attention was the blood soaked towel Dr. Gorma was holding to Keith's chest.

Breaking free from Romelle's grasp, Allura ran across the tarmac.  "What happened?"

"I need to examine him," Dr. Gorma said, helping Keith settle back on the gurney.  "Then you can question him."

Allura pushed Lance out of the way and stood over Keith, taking his hand in hers, "Keith, what happened?  Are you okay?"

"Allura," Lance took her arms and pulled her back.  "Let Dr. Gorma do his thing and then we'll talk to him."

Keith shifted his glassy stare to Allura, "A lion."

"Come on," Dr. Gorma pushed the gurney toward the castle.  "Let's get him to the hospital."