########################################################################
Enemy My Friend
Arus
arus-dot-geo-at-yahoo-dot-com
Voltron and its characters are owned by World Event's Productions.
########################################################################
----------------
Chapter 17
----------------
----- Arus, 3 weeks later ------
Allura let out a groan as she seated herself in a small chair in her
study. She placed her hand to her side, where a thick amount of
bandages was now covering the small laser wound there.
"Damnit," she swore under her breath, as the pain shot through her.
"Shouldn't have done that."
She looked over the paper work before her, checking off what Coran had
assigned her to do. She was glad that she was able to catch up with
everything she was behind on. This was the last of the main work she
had to do.
As she placed the papers she finished on the side, she came upon a
folder, that had been buried under all of her work. It was the only
folder in her pile, so she was glad that it was probably something
formal needed to be addressed for the Galaxy Alliance. After filing a
30 page report about the happenings on Argos, and their cooperation
with Prince Lotor and Princess Zeya, she was surprised that they did
not come to question them about it more. The Lazon deposits alone,
would have brought out the scientists for the various Galaxy Alliance
planets alone. Though, she attributed their silence on the subject due
to the small detail about people getting ill if they remained too long
on the planet.
As she flipped open the folder, she realized that it wasn't a report
to be reviewed for Galaxy Garrison. Instead, it was the personal file
of Captain Keith Hayashi that laid before her.
A small note, in Coran's handwriting was placed at the top of the
file, indicated that this would be a request to be discharged from
active service with the Galaxy Alliance.
"Discharge?" Allura asked.
She went through the file, noting all the reports given and taken
concerning Keith. She was amazed at the accomplishments he had
achieved, yet working with him closely for the last four years, she
realized that she barely knew him. Here he was fighting the demons of
his past, yet devoted his time and energy seeing to the protection of
her own planet.
She leaned forward and pressed a button on the small com link on her
desk. Coran appeared on the screen before her.
"Coran, please contact Awnyor," she requested.
"May I ask as to what this concerns?" Coran replied, knowing that
Awnyor was one of Arus' only living religious leader. Respected among
the royal families, he was the one that crowned each king and queen
and inducted every Arusian knight.
"I wish to officiate the two teams as royal knights of Arus," she
stated. "And arrange a special honor to be given to Captain Keith
Hayashi, on his retirement from military service."
Coran slowly nodded. "I see that you've read over the request," he
stated. "You do know..."
Allura shook her head. "If I get Awnyor to induct the two teams as
official knights, that little technicality will not matter," she
stated. "However, it will be his choice to stay as commander."
Coran nodded with a slight smile. "I assume that you will speak to him
on this?" he asked.
Allura nodded. "I'm sure he knew that I would come to see him on this
request," she stated. "Besides, we have a few things to, speak on."
Coran nodded. "I will go ahead and send a message to Awnyor on your
behalf," he stated.
"Thank you, Coran," she said.
As she pressed the button on her com link again, she slowly stood,
closing the folder on her desk. She looked toward the bay windows and
saw that the sun was sitting low on the horizon. She breathed in
deeply, knowing that Lance and Keith were now by the moat, running
drills with the Beta Team.
She then headed for the door of her study, to join them.
-----/-----/-----/-----/------/------/------/------/-----/-----/-------/------/------/------/------/------/-----/------/------/------/------/------/
Lance smiled as he watched as the five members of the Beta Team
surrounded Keith. He stood in a clam stance as they circled him.
"Now!" Lance yelled as he started the time on the stopwatch he was
holding.
Katherine was the first to attack and before she could comprehend what
had happened, she found herself lying flat on her back on the ground,
just as Teri and LiAnne attacked him together.
Katherine let out a loud laugh as the five members just ended up in a
pile on the ground.
"Damn, Keith, you were slow this time," Lance said as he approached
his friend. "Took you 90 seconds to take them out."
"Hey, I'm doing this one armed," Keith said with a shrug, showing
Lance the cast he wore.
"That's still fast, Captain," LiAnne said as she extricated herself
from where she was lying on the ground. "The fasted recorded time at
the Academy was 93 seconds."
Lance snickered. "Who do you think set that record?"
LiAnne's mouth fell open as the others started to stand from where
they were. Neive laughed as he closed her mouth. "You're going to
catch flies if you keep that open," he stated. "Besides, just tells us
one thing anyway."
"And what is that Neive?" Katherine asked.
"We just haven't found the right distraction for our esteemed
Captain," he stated.
"Distraction?" Lance asked. "What do you mean?"
"He means that everyone can be distracted by something," a voice came
from behind them.
Keith and Lance turned as they watched as Allura joined them. She then
smiled as she watched as the five members tackle Lance and Keith to
the ground, pinning them against the cool grass.
"Or someone," she said. She smiled as Katherine grabbed the stopwatch
Lance was trying to hold onto and LiAnne sitting on Lance's legs to
prevent them from moving. "I take it that you guys are having fun?"
"Ah, princess, you gotta tell these two that all work and no play can
drive us nuts," Shane stated as he stood. "They've been drilling us
all afternoon."
Allura smiled as the seven of them pushed each other off, and slowly
got to their feet.
"Well, before I interrupted your play-time, I wanted to let all of you
know that Nanny will have dinner ready in an hour's time," she stated.
"And as I recall, LiAnne and Shane have to finish their duties to her
before dinner is served."
LiAnne's eyes widened. "Oh MY, I totally forgot!" she exclaimed. "We
were supposed to have the dinning room cleaned."
Allura smiled. "Im sure that it will be alright with Keith and Lance
that you two are excused to finish that?"
Keith and Lance could only nod and they watched as LiAnne and Shane
raced each other back to the Castle.
"So, is practice over?" Katherine inquired.
"Seems it is," Lance stated. "But, early duty tomorrow. We have a lot
of work for you guys to do. If that battle with the robeast on Argos
was any indication of what you guys can do, we have a lot of work
ahead of us."
"Hey!" Kit nearly yelled. "I thought we did good out there!"
Allura smiled as Lance started to walk away, covering his ears with
his hands as Katherine chased after him, as she tried to get him to
listen to her.
"And I want to go over those new improvements to the Castle's
securities with Hunk and Pidge," Teri stated. "See you at dinner."
Neive suddenly felt like the third wheel when he realized that he was
the only one left, with Princess Allura and Captain Hayashi. He
quickly smiled and turned to Allura.
"If it's alright with you Princess, I wanted to speak with you about
my mother's interest in my progress here," he stated. "Can we arrange
a meeting tomorrow sometime?"
Allura nodded. "Have her contact me and we can arrange to have Galaxy
Garrison send over your files."
He nodded. "Well, then, I will see you at dinner?"
Allura nodded. She smiled as Neive headed toward the Castle, now
leaving just the two of them together.
"So, I take it that you're driving them away was part of your plan?"
Allura turned to Keith and saw that he was smiling at her. "What do
you mean, driving them away?"
"You hardly come out to their training sessions," he stated as he
started to walk away from her. "So, what's up?"
Allura crossed her arms. "Well, I wanted to speak with you on your
request to retire from service," she said.
He turned to her as he picked up a rock from the ground and tossed it
toward the lake.
"You think I shouldn't?" he asked.
She slowly shook her head. "I just wanted to hear your side of it?"
she said. "Because you do know that if you do retire..."
He slowly nodded. "Yeah, Coran basically said the same thing," he
said. He then smiled. "He also said something strange to me when he
told me my files had arrived."
"What did he say?"
He looked to her as he walked up to her.
"How much time we have until dinner?"
"An hour or so."
He then wrapped his free arm around her.
"Let's go somewhere private."
With that, she let out a gasp as he held her tight against him and
they flew into the air together.
-----/-----/-----/-----/------/------/------/------/-----/-----/-------/------/-
-----/------/------/------/-----/------/------/------/------/------/
overlooked the robeast arena below her. She could see that citizens of
Doom were gathering to watch their next battle of monsters created by
Haggar compete against each other.
She groaned a little as her right shoulder began to ache again, but it
soon went away as fast as it appeared. Breathing was still a little
difficult for her, but she knew she owed her life to whatever craft
Haggar and Zeya had put her through to cure her from the Lazon poisoning.
She had sent word to her mother on Vallis that she was fine, and would
return as soon as Haggar agreed that she was fully able to function
without her help. Even though they were able to cure her of the Lazon
poisoning, the wound she had received from the robeast, caused her
much greater damage. She had lost the use of her right wing, leaving
her unable to fly. Something that she knew she would regret losing,
but again, glad that she was able to live through the entire ordeal.
The door the room she was then opened. She turned around and watched
as a young Doom girl entered, carrying some linens in her arms.
"Your highness," the girl stated. "I brought these up for you."
Anala smiled as she nodded and crossed the room to meet with her.
"Thank you, Anri" she stated. "But, when Im here on Doom, you can just
call me Anala."
"Oh, I must not, Your highness," she stated. "It would be disrespectful."
"Its alright," Anala stated. "I was never one on formalities."
"Your high--, I mean, miss Anala, may I ask a question."
"Anything," she stated.
"Is it true?" she asked. "That Prince Lotor is seeking an alliance
with your planet?"
"We have a mutual truce, Anri," she stated.
"Even if you're part of the Galaxy Alliance?"
Anala slowly nodded. "Vallis will support the Galaxy Alliance on
whatever they do, but our position with Planet Doom will always remain
neutral," she stated. "A condition I pushed for when we joined the
Galaxy Alliance. If Drule or Alliance sets foot on Vallis, none shall
do harm to one another."
The girl nodded. "I am glad to hear that you think differently than
most leaders, my lady," she said. "Do you wish to have the bed turned
down for the evening?"
Anala shook her head. "I'll be fine," she said. "Thank you, Anri."
With a bow, the young girl quietly left the small room as the door
closed behind her.
Anala walked back toward the balcony as she stared down at the arena
below, seeing that the competition was underway. She then heard her
door open again.
"Anri, I..." she started to say as she turned around. She then took a
step back seeing that Princess Zeya was standing in her doorway.
"Zeya."
"Its good to see you moving about, Anala," she stated.
"Im still running short of breath if I do anything physical," she
stated. "But feeling better."
"Good," Zeya stated. "Do you think you can handle a small walk?"
Anala slowly nodded. "Is it time?"
Zeya nodded. "He is waiting."
Anala breathed in deeply as she walked to where Zeya was standing. She
then nodded as she walked out of her room.
-----/------/------/------/-----/------/------/------/------/------/Allura let out a sigh as she and Keith sat atop the head of the Black
Lion, watching in the distance as Arus' sun was slowly descending in
the sky.
"Don't tell me that you do this often," she said with mild amusement.
"When I can get away," he said as he turned to her. "Its about the
closest thing you can feel to being in heaven."
"Despite the fact that you can fly, Im sure heaven is something you
can experience often," she stated.
He shrugged as he turned to face the setting sun. "This is better than
flying," he said. "I get to see a beautiful sunset, over land that has
remained unchanged for years. The birds flying high as they race back
to their nests to rest for the coming evening. The breeze is just cool
enough, allowing a crispness to the evening. Its neither too cold or
too warm, and one can be comfortable in just dealing with their own
thoughts. These are all things that I didn't get to see much of when I
was growing up on Earth."
Allura slowly nodded. "I guess everyone needs someplace to escape to,"
she stated. "Have you heard from your sister?"
He slowly shook his head. "She's still on Doom, recovering," he said.
"I'm hoping that she is doing fine."
"I know it's a strange situation," Allura stated. "But it seems that
she has always maintained some sort of neutral relationship with them."
"Im sure she knows what she is doing," he said. "Im not there to tell
her what to do; she's capable of deciding what is good for the people
of Vallis."
Allura nodded then was silent for a moment. "How about you?" she
asked. "Anything that is a side-effect of what happened?"
He shook his head. "Since that encounter, all that I felt before, I
.." he seemed to search for the right words. "It's like, before. Where
everything that I went through, I didn't."
"So you're saying that all the..special gifts we've seen you exhibit,
you no longer...have a feel for them?"
He nodded. "Kind of," he said. "Im more aware of everything, but all
that was I had, whatever Ylren was showing through me, I no longer
feel it." He then looked at her. "Back to normal I guess?"
She smiled. "If leaving you with the only ability of flying is normal,
yes I would agree," she said. "So no more of Ylren?"
"He's totally gone," Keith stated. "I can no longer 'feel' him."
She nodded. "Some normalcy returns," she commented. "It's good to see
that you are in good spirits."
"I guess because I have less to worry about," he stated. "I just have
Arus, the teams and everyone here to worry about."
"Do you really need to worry about us?" she asked.
"You don't like me to worry?"
She turned away from him. "I don't want you to burden yourself with
anything unnecessary. But, your concern is greatly appreciated."
"Sometimes, I wish Nanny would show that," he stated in amusement.
"She means well," she stated. "But I can see that she sometimes goes a
little overboard."
"A little?" he asked. "Did you know that she had Shane, Teri and Pidge
clean out the three of the lower storage rooms?"
"For what?"
"I don't know," he stated. "Do you realize how big those rooms are
when they are emptied?
Allura laughed to herself. "Yes, I used to use them as hiding spots
when I was younger," she stated. "I used to like the ones that were
filled. Many places to hide."
He smiled. "That must have drove her nuts."
"She recruited 10 of my father's guards to search on storage room for
me, one time," she said. "It was quite the ordeal. I recall that I
couldn't sit normally for about a day or two."
She silently laughed to herself. "I miss those days."
"Which is why we are dedicated to make sure that your people will
never have to go through what you did," he stated.
She met his gaze. "Why are you leaving the service?"
"To be honest?"
She nodded.
"Recently, there has been other things in my life that I find more
important," he said. "I know it jeopardizes what I do for the force
and everything, but weighing the options I have, I don't think that
continuing in the service will help me. In fact, I think it would only
pull me away from a place that I consider home. I mean, what prevents
them from reassigning me to other areas? I don't want to go through
that. Not when Arus has become my home."
Allura smiled inwardly, warmed to hear that from him. "Im glad that
Arus has given you that...feeling," she said.
He then turned to face her, the sun already having set in the distance
behind the mountains. The fading light cast and unusual glow around
the both of them.
"It's more than that," he stated. "Somehow, it feels that I truly
belong here. And I haven't felt that way in a long time. Even on
Earth, growing up, I wanted to so much to be among the stars, to find
that place where I'd be welcomed. Here, I look forward to every time I
return. The people, here have come from such hard lives, yet they
trudge through it, knowing they will be safe as long as we are around.
They aren't burdened with the hardships that the rest of us experienced.
"I love it here, Ally," he stated. "And I don't ever want to leave."
Allura turned to him as she moved to lean more toward him, putting her
weight on her arms as she met his gaze.
"Is that all?" she asked. "Arus being a home for you? Is that all that
there is that makes you want to stay here?"
She could feel her heart to race as she held his gaze, her face coming
closer to his.
"Is Arus and its people the only thing that makes you feel at home here?"
Keith could only meet her gaze. "No, it's not the only thing," he stated.
"Then tell me, what else has made you come to love this planet?" she
stated.
And for the first time in a long while, Keith could not find the words
to say.