Hi All!

Wow! Thanks for the great reviews. I'm not going to give you too many hints as to what is going to happen, but this story is coming together rather quickly. You'll just have to wait and see, or keep guessing :-) I do have some interesting ideas though…

Starlette Rose, C-Town Chica, RedLion2, Anony, Craze, Mustang Ace, d – Thank you all so much for your reviews. I really do appreciate them and they keep motivated.

Thanks!

Enjoy,

Failte

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Sky woke slowly the next morning, disoriented and feeling stiff. It took a moment for her to realize where she was. A smile slowly crossed her lips as she turned and brushed the hair from Erik's forehead as he slept.

They were cuddled up in one of the big overstuffed chairs on the Observation Deck. The two of them had talked long into the night. She had found out his worries about being leader and the animosity he was feeling from Gideon. Erik was worried that the younger man felt cheated out of Black. Thinking back on the past few days, Sky could remember a few times when Gideon seemed quiet and angry, treating Erik disrespectfully.

They spoke about Voltron, practice, and the Bittor threat. They talked about what they wanted to do and finding time to do it. But when Sky brought up his upcoming birthday, he shied away from the subject.

"It's coming up next month," she reminded him.

"I know."

"What do you want?"

He had wrapped his arms around her, "I already have what I want."

Sky rolled her eyes, "Don't get cheesy on me now."

"I'm not," he murmured, nuzzling her throat.

"You're leaving your teens behind forever, you're officially going to be an adult."

"Mm hm." Erik continued to kiss her neck.

"You're trying to distract me."

"Mm hm."

The two of them teased and flirted for a while before falling silent. Sky didn't know when she had fallen asleep, but she woke before the sun. She lifted her head from his shoulder and watched as he slept. He was so handsome and sweet. She gently caressed his cheek.

"Erik?"

His eyelids fluttered, "Hm?"

"We have to get up before anyone finds us."

"I don't care," he mumbled, tightening his arms around her.

"No," Sky pulled his arms away and stood, stretching her arms above her head.

Erik opened his eyes a bit and watched her. The way her shirt rose when she lifted her arms, exposing a smooth span of her tight stomach. Without even thinking, he reached out and grabbed her by the waist, hugging her and resting his cheek against her stomach.

"Erik?" She was startled by his quick, unexpected move. "Come on, we have to go."

"I had fun last night," he whispered.

Sky ran her hand through his hair, "So did I."

"We should do it more often."

"We'll see. But we can't get caught, it's got to be almost six. Come on, Commander."

Groaning, Erik stood and stretched. "That's how I want you to refer to me from now on."

"I can only call you Commander?"

He nodded and stumbled toward the door.

Tucking her tongue firmly in her cheek, Sky moaned, "Ohhhh, Coommmmander!"

He looked over his shoulder, "Yeah, see, now that was hot."

Laughing, she pushed him through the door. "See you in the gym, Commander."

……………………………………………………………………………………………….

Sky ran into the gym, hoping to make it by 0600 only to be greeted by Hunk at the door.

"Keith wants you all in the conference room."

"What's going on?"

"You guys are meeting the newest member of your team, so your schedule is going to be changed this morning."

She nodded, "Okay, thanks Hunk."

Sky cringed when she noticed that she was the last one to arrive in the conference room. Declan was sitting back with his feet up on the table, Gideon was tapping his fingers on the polished surface, and Erik sat up straight and looking polished and alert. You would never guess he had spent the night cramped into a chair. Sky scowled, having pulled her still wet hair back into a ponytail and thrown on a set of workout sweats.

"Declan, feet off the table now," Keith barked as he entered the room. "If I catch you sitting like that again, you will be cleaning the entire floor of Castle Control with your toothbrush, understand?"

"Yes, sir," Declan sat up straight.

"All right team," Keith walked to the head of the table, followed by Hunk and Lance. "Green has chosen a pilot. Pidge is going to bring her in in a moment."

Gideon and Declan glanced at each other and Declan mouthed Her?

Keith continued, "Now that the five Lions have their pilots, we are going to double up on practice time. She has been given a portfolio with our formations and schedules. The five of you will talk and get to know each other. Keep in mind how difficult this will be for her, the four of you have grown up together, you were friends before you were teammates. She is the outsider. I know you will all do what you can to make her feel welcome. She really is the best one for the job and I am sure you will all get along. So for now, get to know each other, go over formations, and you will have practice in about an hour."

"Yes, sir," Erik responded, quickly echoed by the others.

"And tonight Sven, Romelle, and Delora are coming. There will be a dinner and, of course, you are all invited."

"How long are they staying?" Gideon asked.

"Through the weekend, they're leaving next week. You all ready to meet your new teammate?"

Sky looked down at the gray sweatpants and navy blue sweatshirt with an orange bear on it and sighed. She knew who the new pilot was and she had hoped to make a better first impression.

Erik reached over and gently touched her arm, "Okay, Sunny?"

She smiled weakly at him, "Yeah."

The door slid open and Pidge walked in with a beautiful young woman dressed in a plain, green flightsuit. Her dark red hair was pulled back into a ponytail that fell halfway down her back, her large green eyes dominated a warmly pretty face with full lips and a nose just slightly too large for her oval face. Declan and Gideon both sat up a little straighter and all three guys swept their gazes up and down her beautiful figure.

"Brina Morrigan, I would like you to meet Erik Johansson, the Voltron commander and Black Lion pilot, Schuyler Collier, second in command and pilot of Red, Declan and Gideon Whitaker, Blue and Yellow's pilots. Gang, this is Brina Morrigan, Green's pilot."

Everyone stood as Declan nearly pushed his brother down to get to the new pilot first. "It is a pleasure, Brina, I am so glad you have joined our crew here."

Erik laid a heavy hand on his shoulder, "Brina, how are you?"

She smiled shyly up at him, having to tilt her head back as he towered over her five foot four frame, "I'm fine, sir, thank you."

"Please, call me, Erik," he took her arm and directed her to the table as Keith, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge slipped from the room. "Have a seat, please."

"Thank you, Erik."

"You've met Declan, this is Gideon Whitaker and Sky Collier," he introduced her around.

Brina nodded shyly to each of them, "It's a pleasure to meet you all. This is such a great honor, I have to admit I'm nervous, I don't think I got a wink of sleep last night."

Erik returned to his seat on the other side of the table, "We're glad you're here, it is nice to have the team complete."

"And you are quite a way to complete us," Declan said as he sat in the chair beside her.

"Thank you, Gideon, I…"

"I'm Declan."

"Oh," her face turned bright red. "I am so sorry."

"That's all right," Gideon said. "You'll be able to tell us apart before long. Dec tends to be more obnoxious."

"And Gid is usually more dull," Declan muttered.

"Boys," Erik interrupted. "What do you say we get to the task at hand?" He turned back to Brina. "We have a lot to go over in a short amount of time. The threat is near and imminent. We are all overwhelmed with all that has been thrown at us so quickly, but we are going into this fight together and with the most amazing team ever known to Arus training us, we will do just fine. We're all going to be working rather closely together, Brina, so why don't you tell us about yourself?"

"Um, okay," she shifted nervously in her seat. "I'm nineteen, I was going to start my second year of training in a couple of months. I was born and raised in Alforia, I've been in the top five percent of my classes for as long as they've been keeping track of grades. I have a younger sister and brother, um, I guess, I really enjoy movies and music. I like dancing, I really enjoy working with my hands and I love flying more than anything else. I am excited and terrified, but when I flew Green for the first time it just seemed so…right."

Erik nodded and smiled reassuringly at her, "I think we can all understand that."

"What, uh, what about you guys? I mean, we've been introduced and, of course, I know of you all, but I don't really know you."

"Okay, I guess I'll go first and we'll go around the table. I'm Erik Johansson and I'm from Pollux, my mother is Princess Romelle of Pollux and my father is Sven Johansson, the original Blue pilot before he was injured and I have a younger sister, Delora. I've been training for several years now with my father, but I was surprised to receive my calling from Black. I, um, let's see, I'm not exactly an exciting person…"

"That's for sure," Gideon teased.

Erik reached out and smacked him upside the head, "I'm not afraid to use corporeal punishment on the twins. I enjoy movies as well and music, we'll have to compare disc collections sometime." He tapped Sky on the arm, "Your turn, Sunny."

She nodded and gave Brina a small smile, "I'm Schuyler Collier, but everyone calls me Sky. My father is Lance Collier, he was Red's pilot, my mother is Darcy Collier, she was a backup Voltron pilot before she was sidelined with injuries. I was also born and raised here on Arus. I haven't officially started my training yet, but I've been flying in Red since I was a little kid and I've been around the Castle my entire life. Flying Red has been my destiny pretty much since I was born and I am really excited about having this opportunity to fly her and defend Arus. I read, a lot, um, I don't particularly care for dancing, but I do like good music, uh, movies and…"

"Long walks in the moonlight," Declan interrupted in a breathy voice. "And I put out on the first date, so if you pick me I'll make you very happy."

"Keep it up, you punk," Sky warned. "Just remember, payback's a bitch."

Dec snapped his fingers in a sassy way, "Bring it on, girlfriend!"

Erik held up his hand as Brina giggled, "All right, children, break it up. Gideon, why don't you go next?"

He nodded, "All right, I'm Gideon Whitaker, the younger and better looking one of the famous, or infamous, Whitaker twins. You know who my parents are, as well as my siblings. I am flying Yellow Lion, why? I don't know, that's who called me. Most of my pre-training time was spent with my girlfriend, Lynnai, and keeping my idiot brother out of trouble. Now my time is spent working out and flying. Dec?"

Declan flashed Brina his most charming smile, "I am Declan Whitaker, the oldest, by eight minutes, and more successful twin. Aside from the fact that I will be flying Blue and I don't have a girlfriend at the moment, just take everything Gid said and you have me."

"And now that the introductions are over, I think we should get down to work," Erik said. "Keith said you've received your information, so we can discuss flight formations, we'll be putting them to practice later."

……………………………………………………………………………………….

As the new Force talked and got to know each other, Allura made her way into Castle Control, looking for her husband. She had just finished getting her three youngest children up and Nanny was now making them breakfast.

"Good morning, Allura," Hunk greeted her.

"Good morning, Hunk, how're you doing?"

"Good, thanks, and you?"

"Oh, I'm fine, thank you. Have you seen my husband around?"

"Yeah, he just went to his study, said he'd be right back."

She nodded, "Thanks, Hunk."

Keith sat behind his desk, his eyes scanning the computer screen, reading some new Intel that had just been forwarded to him. Having the five pilots chosen was a huge weight off his shoulders and he really did believe that they had made the right choices. But Bittor was on the move again after laying low for about two days. "Come in!" He called at the knock on his door.

"Hey, honey, how're you doing?" Allura asked, slipping into the room.

"Fine. What's up?"

"We need to talk."

"Uh,oh," he sat back in his chair. "What is it?"

Allura sat in the seat across from his desk and smiled weakly, "Last night, Nicky came to our room, he was wakened by the thunderstorm."

Keith nodded.

"I took him, before he could wake you, I know I tired you were. We went to the Observation Deck, but someone else beat us there."

"What are you getting at?"

"Well, I don't know how long they've been together, but it looks like our suspicions were correct. Erik and Sky were there…alone."

"Maybe they were just talking."

Allura shook her head, "Trust me, honey, they were not just talking."

He sighed, "I guess we all knew this was coming, I just hoped it wouldn't happen until after the threat had passed. We'll have to talk to them."

"I think we should wait."

"What? Why?"

"They didn't see me, Keith, I think they're trying to keep this under wraps for now, keep it private. Unless it gets in the way of their work, we should let them handle it in their own way."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, I am. As long as it doesn't interfere with their work, I don't think it's our business."

"I don't like this," he insisted.

"I know you don't, but I don't think we should make this any more awkward for them."

Keith was quiet, trying to decide how he wanted to handle this. There were so many things they were going to be doing as a team that would throw them into close quarters, would the two of them be able to handle it without letting their…hormones get in the way.

"Keith?"

He looked up at his wife, "This changes everything, Allura."

"I know, but it could be for the better. You and I have no right to judge them when they are doing exactly what we did."

Keith smirked, "Just wait until Lance finds out."

"That could be part of the reason why they are trying to keep it quiet."

"I'm sure that's the entire reason," he sighed and leaned over his desk. "This does make me wonder if we should go through with what we have planned for Monday."

Allura nodded, "Absolutely. We need to know they can do this. I think, maybe, now Sky and Erik have something more they have to prove. Even if they are together, they can do this."

He nodded, "All right. But I reserve the right to take them aside the second I think this is getting in the way."

"That's fine," she stood and smiled at him. "You're a smart, logical man, I know you wouldn't do anything that would upset or embarrass them."

"Nah, I'll leave that up to Lance."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

"There you are!"

Sky looked up from where she was punching in the code to open her door, "Here I am. What's up, Cady?"

"I need your help," the young Princess followed her into her room. "You're done for the day right?"

"I have to go on duty in Castle Control, but that isn't until later tonight. Why?"

"I have a date tomorrow night, it was supposed to be tonight, but Uncle Sven and Aunt Romelle are arriving at any minute, so I had to change my plans. I have no idea what to wear."

Sky snorted, "You're not really asking me for fashion advice, are you?"

"Yes, I am. I have it narrowed down to three dresses and I would rather you help me choose, you'll be honest with me and you never bitch if the top is too low cut or the skirt is too short." Cady explained, falling back into the chair by the window.

"Cady, you have nothing to worry about," Sky assured her, pulling her hair out of its ponytail. "All your clothes are beautiful and they look great on you."

"And I will need your advice on my hair, I was thinking about this new style I found in a magazine, but I don't think I can do it alone."

"I want to take a quick shower before dinner."

"That's all right," Cady sighed. "Can I borrow your heart necklace?"

"Yeah, go ahead, it's in the top of my jewelry box."

"Oh, where did you get this?"

Sky turned from the closet to see Cady holding up the trinity knot necklace, "Uh, from Erik, for my birthday."

Cady sighed, "You are so lucky."

"Stop it."

"Can I borrow it?"

"Uh, well…"

"That's okay," Cady laid it back in the box. "I understand. So how did practice go today?"

"Good," Sky called through the bathroom door. "Brina is picking it up quickly."

"Well you guys were out there for what? Five hours?"

"Yeah, we have a lot to do."

Cady leaned against the bathroom door and lowered her voice, "What is she really like?"

"She's nice."

"She's beautiful."

Sky wrenched the knobs of the shower a little harder than necessary, "I hadn't noticed."

"The twins did."

"Good for them."

"What are you wearing tonight?"

"I don't know!" Sky called back, sticking her head under the water.

Cady pulled open the closet and mumbled, "I'll find something for you. A guy doesn't give a friend a necklace like that."

Ten minutes later, Sky walked into her room, a towel wrapped around her, to see an outfit laid out on the bed and Cady going through her jewelry box. "What are you doing?"

"I swear, Sky, don't you have any makeup?"

"I don't really wear any."

"I know that, but you have some, right?"

"It's in the bathroom. What are you doing?"

"We're going to do you up for dinner."

"I don't need to be done up."

Cady whirled around, her hands on her hips, "Schuyler Collier, really! This is Erik we're talking about here and we have to make sure his head isn't turned by that new girl."

"What, uh, what do you mean?" Sky stammered.

Cady raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest.

"We're, uh, we're just friends, I mean, we're working together and, uh…"

"You're going to need makeup to cover up how red your face is right now."

Sky buried her face in her hands and groaned, "I suck at lying."

"Trust me, Sky, I am your best friend and I love you. I only want to see you happy. Go ahead and be a soldier, but you're also a girl, don't be afraid to show it sometimes."