Hi all!

Hmmm….so I confused some of you, huh?  Well, I was hoping to leave you all wondering what was going on…I guess it worked :-)

The end of this story is near, probably just a couple of more chapters.  I know I say this every time, but my stories really do tend to take on a life of their own.  I am really enjoying writing this story and I hate to see it end, but it would be even worse if you all got sick of it!

Enjoy!
Failte

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"A lion?"  Lance repeated, his brow furrowed in confusion.  He was sitting in the small waiting room of the hospital between Pidge and Koran, watching Allura pace in front of them.  Hunk had been taken into an examination room by Nurse Helene to have his cut cleaned.

"That's what he said," Allura muttered.

"Vas it a lion dat ran into Hunk?"  Sven asked, leaning against the wall beside Romelle's seat.

"He said he doesn't know what it was that knocked him down."

"Allura, you're making me dizzy," Romelle said lightly.

The Princess sighed deeply and threw her hands in the air, "I don't know what else to do right now.  Why hasn't Dr. Gorma told us anything?"

"Because he has only been examining Keith for five minutes," Pidge replied.

Hunk shuffled out of the examining room, his face cleaned up and a small bandage on his chin.  "Any word?"

"Not yet," Lance told him.

"Was it a lion?"  Allura took Hunk's hand in hers.  "Whatever it was that knocked you over, was it a lion?"

"It…it might have been," he scratched his head.  "I didn't see it, but I felt it.  It came at me from behind, it was big and furry, but it might have been a lion."

"Are lions native to Dewhur?"  Sven asked.

Pidge shook his head, "No they're not.  But it is possible that they were transported there thirty years ago when various animals were moved off of Planet Nahsol in order to make room for further development."

Lance stared at the Green pilot, his mouth hanging open.  "How do you know that?"

"Sometimes it's helpful to read something without pictures, Lance," Pidge quipped.

Lance scowled as Sven laughed.

"How could you not have seen it?"  Allura asked Hunk.

"It came at me from behind," he repeated.  "It knocked me into a tree and left me feeling dizzy for a moment.  When I got up, I was all turned around and I couldn't remember which way I had come.  It took me about fifteen minutes to find Keith and by then he was on the ground, bleeding from a wound on his chest and Lotor was gone."

"Do you think Lotor brought the lion?"  Romelle asked.

"It's possible, but he has never had anything to do with animals before."  Lance said.

"Just Haggar's cat," Pidge added.

"What if it was Haggar's cat," Lance began.  "Think about it.  We know she has powerful magic, maybe she was able to turn Coba into a lion."

Koran rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "It's certainly a possibility."

"Maybe we should call in Kadmus," Allura said, clasping her hands in front of her.  "If it was Coba, this could be more dangerous than we thought."

"Let's wait and see what Dr. Gorma has to say," Lance suggested.  "If he thinks we need to contact Kadmus, then we will."

"I tink ve should vait and see vhat Keit says," Sven spoke up.

"Oh why did he have to do this?"  Allura cried.  "We knew Lotor would fight dirty."  She stopped pacing and turned to face the door of the examination room as it opened and Dr. Gorma walked out.  "How is he?"

"The Captain is beat up," he began, walking into the waiting area.  "He has bumps and bruises brought on by fighting, three stitches above his left eye.  The wound on his chest is what worries me the most.  It looked much worse than it was, he lost quite a bit of blood so he is weak."

"What is the wound on his chest?"  Allura asked nervously.

"He said he received it when a lion knocked him to the ground, but the wound doesn't seem to match what one would expect to get from a lion attack."

Lance stood, "What do you mean?"

"It's like a scratch, not too deep, but deep enough to bleed a lot.  But the scratch doesn't look like it was made by a claw."

"What?"  Allura stepped closer to the doctor.  "What does that mean?"

"To be honest, I'm not sure," Dr. Gorma admitted.

"Should ve call in Kadmus?"  Sven asked.

"I asked the Captain that, but he said that wasn't necessary."

"Can we speak to him?"  Allura asked.

"You may for a few moments, but he is worn out, so don't push him."

Allura looked at Lance, he nodded.  Together, the two of them quietly entered the Captain's hospital room.

"Hey," Allura sat gently on the edge of Keith's bed and took his hand in hers.  "How're you feeling?"

"Like I was run over by Black," he murmured.

"Yeah, you look like hell man," Lance grinned.

"Thanks, bud, you know how to make a guy feel special."

"Do you want to tell us what happened?"  She asked carefully.

Keith dragged his tongue over his dry lips, "Well, I was fighting Lotor, he seemed to be fighting a fair fight, he is actually quite good at hand-to-hand."

"Too bad he's an evil asshole," Lance mumbled.

Allura glared at him before turning back to Keith, "Go on, honey, what happened?"

"I flipped him and he ended up on his back.  When he, uh, when he got up, he pulled his sword, so I pulled mine.  I deflected a couple of blows from him when I heard a noise, like someone or something in the woods behind us, so I told Hunk to check it out.  I raised the sword to strike and the next thing I knew, this huge lion knocked me down and pinned me with a paw to my chest.  I couldn't move.  It, uh, it leapt off me and went after Lotor.  I heard him scream, then there was a flash and he was gone."

"Gone?"  Allura asked confused.

"Lotor had brought a boy with him, he said he was no one of consequence, but I think it was Haggar in disguise.  I just had this feeling."

"Do you think they brought the lion with them?"  Lance asked.

Keith shook his head slowly, "If they had, why would it attack Lotor?"

"Maybe it wasn't attacking him, maybe it was rescuing him from you."

"I don't think so, Lance."

"What do you mean?"

"It's just a feeling I have."

Lance raised his eyebrow, Keith's feelings were never wrong.  "What do you mean?"

Keith yawned, "I'll tell you about it later."

Allura stood, "You rest, honey, I'll talk to you later."

He tightened his grip on her hand, "I want to talk to you alone."

She looked up at Lance.

"I can't take a hint," Lance said dramatically.  "Let me know if you need anything, Cap."

"Thanks Lance."

When the door closed behind him, Allura sat down on the bed again, cradling Keith's hand in both of hers, "What is it?"

"I, uh, I don't really know how to tell you this, to explain it," he began.

"What?"

"Lotor didn't bring the lion."

"How do you know?"

"I just do.  It…it knocked me down and pinned me to the ground with its paws on my chest, but I wasn't scared.  I mean, it was a huge lion, I would say nearly a thousand pounds and almost as tall as me when it was on all fours.  It…it pinned me down and brought its face down to mine, we were nose to nose and I thought it was going to kill me.  It was weird."

Allura unconsciously tightened her grip on his hand.

"I was lying there, staring up at its big black eyes," Keith continued.  "And I suddenly felt safe.  Very, very safe.  I knew it wouldn't hurt me.  Then it looked up at Lotor and leapt off me.  I heard Lotor scream, my chest felt warm, there was a flash, the lion roared, and Lotor was gone.  The lion came back to me and looked at me for a moment before disappearing."

"I don't understand," she whispered.


"It came to protect me, Allura.  When I raised your father's sword, the hilt began to grow warm and the blade started to glow.  That was when I heard the noise in the woods and I asked Hunk to check it out."


"But why did it hurt you, your chest?"

"It didn't really hurt.  I felt warm and a little dizzy, but I didn't even realize I was hurt until Hunk was kneeling next to me, pressing a towel on my chest and promising to get me home."

"I just don't…what happened?"

Keith put his hands on the bed and slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position.  "Help me," he asked, pulling at the tape that secured his gauze.

"I don't want to see it," she said.

"I need you to.  Please help me."

With shaking hands, Allura helped him unwind the dressing from around his chest.  Beneath the wrap was a large piece of clean white gauze.  Very slowly, Keith peeled the bandage off his chest. 

"Dr. Gorma didn't know what to make of it, do you?"

Allura's eyes widened.  The bloody claw marks she had expected to see weren't there.  Instead a red wound in the shape of entwined loops stood out against the dark hair on his chest, slightly left of center.  "It's right over your heart," she gasped.

"I know.  But it isn't claw marks.  Do you know what it is?"

Her hand moved on its own accord as she reached out to touch it, stopping as her fingers brushed the soft hair surrounding the wound, "Does it hurt?"

"No."

"I've seen it before."

"What is it?"

She licked her lips as her cheeks darkened, "It's the, uh, the Love Knot."

He raised his eyebrows, "Love Knot?"

"An old Aruisan tale my mother used to tell me.  It represented the unexpected twists and turns that come with life, but it is continuous, neverending, like the bond of two people truly in love.  Two people who belong together, forever.  She had a necklace my father's father had given her when she became betrothed to my father.  It was a way of accepting her into the family and acknowledging the love she and my father shared."

Keith watched her silently as she circled the wound with her fingertip, careful not to touch it.  She was mesmerized by it.  "Allura."

"The lion is not only the creature that forms Voltron, it is the symbol of our planet, our history.  My father's sword called the lion to your side to protect you and it marked you with…this.  You've been accepted, Keith."

"But how?"

She looked up and smiled softly at him, "They may be gone, but my parents are all around us.  I still talk to them and I swear I sometimes see them.  I don't know how they did it, but this was my father's way of giving you his blessing."

Keith mulled this over a moment before responding, "But was that really the best time to do that?"

"Maybe he could only give his blessing through the lion," Allura suggested.  "And it could only come when it was called."

He shook his head, "This is too weird."

"Did I tell you why I gave you the sword?"

"You told me it was because you felt I was meant to have it and you wanted your father to look out for me."

Swallowing hard, looking down at the blanket, unable to meet his gaze, she explained.  "I was terrified, Keith, I didn't want you to go.  I knew Lotor would fight dirty.  The night before I gave you the sword I couldn't sleep.  I did what I used to do, back before I would come looking for you when I couldn't sleep.  I sat in the chair in the corner of my room, the one that used to be in my parent's room, and I spoke to my father.  I know, it sounds crazy, but I felt him there with me.  I must have dozed off because I had a dream, I saw my father, I spoke to him.  I haven't had a dream like that in years.  I used to be able to talk to him in my dreams whenever I needed him, before you guys came, before…before I had you.  I thought it was just a dream, my memories of him helping me.  But he told me to give you his sword, he told me he would watch out for you because you were the man I love."

Keith reached up and cupped her chin, forcing her to look at him, "Do you really believe this?"

"What else can it be?"  She asked, her voice shaking.  "A lion attack doesn't usually leave a scar like that."

"A scar?  You think it's permanent?"


"I didn't know you were so vain," Allura teased lightly.

"I'm not."

"You're marked, babe," she leaned over and kissed him gently.  "You're mine."

"I was yours before I was marked," he whispered.


She smiled mischievously, "You aren't very observant, are you?"

"What do you mean?"

Sweeping her hair aside, she turned to show him the birthmark just below her hairline on the back of her neck. 

With trembling fingers, Keith reached up and touched the dark pink mark.  It was an exact copy of the Love Knot he had on his chest.

Allura turned back to him, "When I was born I was almost completely bald so it stood out more.  My mother used to tell me that it would someday lead me to the one I was meant to be with.  I didn't know what she meant, until now."

He smiled softly and cupped her cheek with his hand, "I guess no one can say we don't belong together now."

((  "Was it permanent?"  Becca asked.

Allura nudged Keith with her elbow and winked at him.  Shrugging, he unbuttoned his shirt halfway and pulled it to the side, showing them the stark, white scar that showed clearly against his tanned skin and dark chest hair.  It was clearly in the shape of entwined robes.

Becca leaned forward in her chair to examine it closer, it was defiantly scar tissue.

"Alright," Pidge took his wife by the shoulder and pulled her back.  "Are you done ogling Keith?"

"I'm not ogling, I'm examining.  I would have seen it eventually, I will be taking over for Dr. Gorma very soon."

"I don't want you to step in as castle physician if it means you're checking Keith out."

She rolled her eyes, "I was not checking Keith out.  It was strictly clinical."

Pidge snorted.

Becca kissed his cheek and whispered, "I promise to only ogle you."

Keith chuckled as he buttoned his shirt back up, "I couldn't believe what Allura told me.  Even after everything we'd gone through, I still had trouble believing in magic."

"What did you do?"  Paton asked.

"We called in Kadmus and asked him to examine Keith," Allura told her.  "He told us that the wound did have magical roots and it marked Keith as my soul mate."

"That is so romantic," Becca sighed.

"What happened to Lotor?"  Darcy asked.

Keith smiled smugly, "He had been pretty roughed up even before the lion attacked…}}

It was two days before they received word from Lotor.  Keith was up and about, his chest was a little tender, but there was really no pain, so he refused to stay on bed rest.  His bruises were fading and considering everything that had happened, he was in good spirits.  It was also obvious to everyone in the castle that something had happened between him and the Princess.  Keith and Allura were even closer than they had been before.  Their behavior wasn't something the others could pin down, but the couple seemed to have a deeper connection to each other.

"Looking good, gang," Keith said as the team returned to Castle Control after morning practice.  "Lance you're on duty, everyone else you're dismissed."

Allura crossed to him, "What are you going to do now?"

"I have some reports to see to so I can have the evening off," he told her.

"Good, we're having a special dinner for Sven and Romelle tonight, they're leaving first thing tomorrow morning."

"Oh, that's right," Keith murmured distractedly.

Allura laid her hand on his arm, "What is it?"

"What?  Oh, nothing, I'm just thinking."

"About what?"

He shrugged, "Just wondering why we haven't heard from Lotor yet."

"Do we know how badly he was injured?"

"We haven't heard anything."

"Hm," Allura sighed thoughtfully.  "Do you think he's too badly injured to contact us?"

"I don't know, I would think that someone would have contacted us.  We would have heard by now if he had been seriously or fatally injured."

She gently squeezed his arm, "Should we contact Doom?"

"No," he shook his head.  "We're not going to go looking for trouble."

"Alright, I'm going to go change and then go get some work done.  Let me know if you hear anything."

"I will," he promised, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.

Allura walked into her study thirty minutes later dressed in a casual dress and her hair pulled back into a simple ponytail.  The day was overcast and promised to be cool and probably rainy.  There was a stack of correspondence on her desk she had to attend to as well as having to meet with Nanny to do some wedding planning and set up a meeting with Koran and some of the town elders.  Letting out a long breath, she crossed to her desk and sat in the high backed chair.  She was finding it hard to get into the mood for work.  Picking up and then setting down the first envelope in front of her, Allura realized that she just wanted to play hooky.  She wanted to sneak off somewhere with Keith and goof off.  Find a hidden corner and snuggle.  Or do even more.  She blushed at the direction in which her thoughts were going. 

"No," she whispered to herself.  "I have responsibilities.  I have to get my work done.  Maybe tonight we can do something."  After everyone has gone to bed, she added in thought.

Allura completed her correspondence and after a few hours decided she deserved a break.  And so did Keith.  Checking her watch, she realized that it was almost time for lunch, so maybe she could interrupt his work for a pre-meal make out session.

"Come in," he called out rather tensely when she knocked.

"Hey there, handsome," Allura murmured huskily as she entered the room.

Keith looked up from his desk and couldn't help but smile as she leaned back against the closed door and gave him a seductive smile.  "What can I do for you, Princess?"

"Come here and I'll tell you."

Glancing down at his desk, Keith made a split second decision as to which was more appealing and pushed his chair back.  He casually walked over to where she stood and looked down at her, "Yes, Milady?"

"Well, I was thinking," she traced her finger down his chest.  "I finished most of my work and since we would both have to break soon for lunch, I would come and see if you wanted an early snack."

He leaned down, stopping a mere breath from her lips, "What do you have to offer?"

Too impatient to play this game anymore, Allura slid her arms around his neck and closed the gap between them, pressing her lips to his.  Keith wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her body hard against his.  Breaking the kiss to come up for air, Allura let her head fall back against the door as Keith moved his mouth across her cheek to her ear, whispering sweet promises before sliding his mouth over her throat.

"Or we could just blow off lunch," Allura gasped as his hands moved down to grasp her hips.

He brought his mouth back up to her ear and whispered teasingly, "This is all I'm hungry for."

With a quiet moan, Allura leaned against him, allowing her fiancé to lead them across the room.  They fell onto the couch, Allura landing on top of him, their mouths meeting, their tongues dancing together as their hands roamed over each other.

"Errr," Keith groaned as his communicator sounded.


"I am going to throw that out the window," Allura whined as her head fell against his shoulder.

Keith sat up and unclipped his communicator from his belt as Allura sat up beside him, straightening her dress.

"Whitaker."

"Hey, Cap," Lance greeted him solemnly.  "We've got an incoming message for you."

"From who?"  Keith asked unnecessarily.

"Doom."

"I'll be right there."  Keith snapped the communicator shut and turned to Allura, "Here's our answer, I guess."

With a nod, she took the hand he offered and stood.  "Let's get this over with."

Lance stood beside the videophone monitor in Castle Control when they arrived.  "He will only talk to you," he informed Keith.

With a nod, Keith turned to the monitor.  Lotor glared back.  His arm was wrapped tightly and in a sling, his face was bruised and beaten.  The Drule looked miserable.

"Lotor."

"Captain."

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"

"I want a rematch, Captain."

Keith raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

"What you did was inexcusable, Captain.  We had agreed that this would be you and me, man to man."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You brought a lion!"  Lotor shouted.  "You brought that lion to attack me!"

"I did not, I was just as surprised as you were."

"Like hell you were!"

"Look, Lotor, I know you had brought Haggar with you but I did not bring anything or anyone other than Hunk.  I don't know for sure where the lion came from."

"That's a lie!"  Lotor rose to his feet.  "You are a disgrace!  To think that you have the gall to trick the Princess into accepting your proposal of marriage…"

"I didn't trick anyone, Lotor."

"But it doesn't make sense!  Why would she pick a worthless pilot over the wealthy king of his own planet?"

"Love," Allure interjected.

Lotor shifted his gaze and noticed Allura for the first time, "Princess, this is between the Captain and myself."

"No, Lotor, it is not.  Keith did not trick me.  I agreed to marry him because I love him.  I will never, never, love you.  No matter how many times you attack us, no matter how many times you threaten us, I would sooner die than marry you."

Keith squeezed her hand, "Look, Lotor, I am not going to duel you again.  Our fight was disrupted by the lion and I choose to take that as sign.  You will never get to Allura as long as I am around.  The best thing you can do now is to turn yourself in to the Garrison and accept responsibility for your actions."

Lotor sneered at the two of them, "This is not over."  With the flick of his wrist, he closed the connection.

Allura groaned and laid her forehead on Keith's shoulder.

He brought his hand up to the back of her head, gently massaging.  "It's alright, Allura," he whispered.  "He won't get to you.  We've defeated him before and we'll do it again."