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VOLTRON AND ITS ELEMENTS ARE OWNED BY WEP.

Mystery of the Christmas Star

Chapter Six

Allura was getting so light headed, and the darkness was engulfing her faster now. Yet, it wasn't scaring her at all now. If anything she was happier than she had been in a long time. She rested her head on Keith's dead chest heavier as her eyes closed one last time.

Again she was warm, and it was easier to breath. Then she heard a voice that had once been stilled forever – it was her Keith. "Time to wake up, love. Are you ready to go home yet?"

"Oh Keith, you waited for me! Yes, let's go home – together." Allura gratefully took his extended hand, and stood to her full height – as if she had not been in the wreckage.

Turning slightly, Allura was startled to see that she was still sitting in Keith lap in the cramped shuttle seat. From behind her, she felt Keith wrap one of his arms around her in an embrace. "Those were only our shells, my love. You didn't have to talk to me at your end. I would wait forever to go home at last with you on my arm."

"Let's go home, Keith" Allura smiled with such joy as she looked up at his all the more handsome face.

All around them seemed to be a tunnel that was covered with string after string of Christmas tree lights – each a different color. At the end they kept moving towards was a bright, warm light. Neither had ever been this happy in their lives. They spoke to each other as they made their way to that beautiful light, both knowing exactly where they were going.

Keith squeezed her shoulders slightly in his happiness. "I wonder who will be waiting for us when we make it to the pearly gates. I hope my folks are there – you're going to love them."

"This is so wonderful, Keith! You've never met my mother or baby sister."

"What sister Allura? Why didn't I ever hear about her before?" Keith lifted his love's chin to look into her shimmering blue eyes.

"My sister Lauren was kidnapped as a baby, I was only five and she was two. It hurt too much to talk about it, so I never told you or the others. Keith, look! It's my parents!" Allura squealed in the last.

At this Keith clearly saw the familiar figure of King Alfor, with a lady stand beside him and a group of children giggling and playing around them – maybe eight or ten in all, then again it could've really been more.

Three kids – two girls and a little boy – ran to the new couple with faces that begged to be picked up and cuddled. A few more steps and Keith saw two familiar people as well, his own parents! The kids got down and ran back with the others, who were going back into the light.

"Hi mom, hi dad. I missed you both more than words can say." Keith broke down into tears, but they seemed to vanish as soon as his eyes made them – along with the aching in his heart.

"My boy, a great Captain and now a Prince Consort on top of that. I am so very proud of you, son!" General John William Falton hugged Keith tight.

A beautiful woman kissed Keith's cheek and wrapped her arms around his neck next. Gail Falton was just as her now grown son remembered her. "We have heard you every time you thought of us, my baby. And yes, Allura is a wonderful young woman – why else would we and her parents do all that is allowed to bring the two of you together?"

"Really? I never knew." Keith saw his fiancée had come to his side. The light from Heaven bathing her into a beauty he never suspected was in his beloved – the image of her was soft and gleaming. "Allura, these are my parents."

 "I know my love. My parents want to have a talk with you, and I'd like to get to know my in-laws."

Keith nodded, and then walked over to King Alfor and his Queen, Deanna. In is own mind; Keith wondered if they would blame him for not saving Allura. Then that strong and gentle voice Keith remembered broke into is thoughts. "Keith, if Allura wasn't meant to be here with you then she would still be alive."

"Yes sir. It is an honor to at last meet you Queen Deanna. Allura has told me much about you." Keith wasn't sure how to act or what to say to them.

"And she has told us all that she thinks of you, my son. We chose you to care for our daughter because of how you handled her so long ago. I'll bet that you think she has forgotten the sweet little boy who saved her life when she was nine and he was eleven." Queen Deanna smiled and hugged Keith.

Keith blushed. He himself had almost forgotten that snowy camping trip his dad took him on – the last trip they were to ever have together. He had gone to gather more firewood, and had heard a girl sobbing. Dropping the wood, he checked the girl all over to make sure that she wasn't hurt.

Keith remembered how cute Allura was as a child; big blue eyes that made his heart melt and golden curls that glistened with melted snow. She had gotten lost, was scared of the woods at night, and just wanted to be with her father. Allura was only in a heavy sweater and jeans – defiantly NOT prepared for a night in the woods.

He gave her his winter coat, zipping it up and tying on the hood himself. When she found the candies he had in the pockets, Keith gave her one. It still surprised him how she insisted on help carrying the wood back to the camp he was sharing with his father.

They had fun that night – singing songs, telling stories, and laughing. When they settled down to sleep, Keith was going to sit up listening for anyone calling out for her. But, Allura insisted on them sharing his sleeping bag so that neither of them would catch cold. He liked holding her close – it was as if he had found a piece of himself in her.

The next day they ran into the King and Nanny as they were heading back to the Royal retreat to begin the search for the missing Princess once again. Only twice since had Keith seen Allura that happy, and both times were when he was coming back to her after coming close to dieing.

Keith came back from his memories when his parents came over to the meeting with Allura in between them. His father had that old 'ya gotta be kidding' grin on. "You know that we held back those memories from both their minds, Deanna. After all, they had to make these decisions on their own."

"I remember it all now Keith. That was the first time I was ever given a candy by anyone other than Nanny or Father." Allura grabbed a hold of his chest as she snuggled happily in the arms of her true love.

"And now we'll be together forever." Keith kissed the top of her head and smiled.

Queen Deanna worriedly gazed at her children. "But son, do you really want to go on to judgment now? You both are so young, but the choice is yours."

A young woman walked over to them, one that neither Keith nor Allura knew. But, it was obvious that she knew the couple very well. "My son still needs the two of you to continue on the right path. He has risked all that he had with his father just to find the two of you, hoping that you can help his new love. Lotor can be a good man, with her and the two of you aiding him – but, she will find it hard to keep him without the two of you."

"You are Lotor's mother! I'll bet he misses you terribly." Allura gasped out. She remembered what it was like after losing her mother, and then her father later on. At least her father was a good man, unlike Zarcon.

That beautiful woman merely nodded and smiled at the couple. And, yet she wasn't the only one who needed the pair to live. The trio of children that they had cuddled with when they first arrived came back from the light once again. One little boy spoke up for the others. "And what about us? We haven't even had a chance to live yet."

"Who are the three of you? Where are your parents?" Allura asked as she picked up the outspoken boy. All three children giggled at her question with the innocence of youth.

Alfor rested a hand on Keith and then Allura's shoulders, his smile beaming with joy and pride. "They are the children you would have in your first pregnancy. Before the two of you make up your minds, I think that you should see what is happening back where you have come from."

"But, what about sissy? Can't I see Lauren?" Allura's face fell as she rested her son in her mother's arms. Somehow it felt like she wasn't going to be coming back here for a time.

Deanna called out to them as they left with Alfor, "she was not here to greet you because she is not here. She is still alive, and could use her big sister very soon! We hear you whenever you think of us, my babies! Take care of each other and my grandbabies!"

"And tell my son how proud I am of his change. That I miss him as much as he misses me! That I hear his every thought of me!" Lotor's mother called out last.