DISCLAIMER :
VOLTRON AND ITS ELEMENTS ARE OWNED BY WEP.
Mystery of the Christmas Star
Chapter Ten
Allura rolled onto her side to find that she was lying beside someone. Opening her eyes, she saw her fiancé smiling down on her. When Keith caressed her cheek with his fingers, she knew that she wasn't dreaming. The morning sunlight filtered through the curtains and shimmered on his handsome face.
"Good morning. How did we get in the same bed?" She snuggled up to her love until her head was resting on his chest.
Keith chuckled softly as he gave her a gentle squeeze. "Nanny ordered that we were to be in our bed before we awoke. She was doting on us when I woke up about an hour ago."
"OUR bed?" Allura looked all around her, and shortly noticed that this wasn't her or Keith's room – they were in the Royal Bedchamber, what had once been her parent's room (only occupied by the planet's reigning King and Queen).
"Yes love, she is going to let us get married. It seems that the cockpit recorder was still going as we slipped away, so they know all of our wedding plans – including that we want our day to be next Tuesday." Keith chuckled as his bride-to-be smiled and grabbed a hold of him tighter in her happiness.
Allura giggled at it all. She would at last be with the man she felt was every bit her equal. "I love you, Keith. And I won't leave you – till death comes for us again."
Keith brushed a stray hair from his lover's eyes. "Do you know how close we came to not being rescued?"
Allura shook her head. Keith explained that the doctor literally had the pen hovering over their death certificates when Gorma's newest nurse saw them come back after they had died. And then he explained that the planet they slammed into had prevented a second bomb from going off.
What was worse, no ship could track the planet's coordinates. The teams had followed an unusual star, before it vanished above their crash site. According to Lance, the planet disappeared once the team was safely away with the couple on board – as well as the voice recorders. That's when the remnants of the couple's ship exploded.
"We really were part of some kind of miracle, weren't we Keith?" Allura worriedly looked up into his strong brown ones. His smile calming her fears of what might have been. "Yeah. Oh, Lance brought me this. He and I agreed that if I wasn't able to get this that he would."
Opening a small box, Allura was half shocked to find a diamond ring inside. Keith pulled it out and slid it on her left ring finger – it fit perfectly. "That is if you are still interested in marrying a mere Captain."
Allura playfully slapped Keith's chest, before planting a kiss in the same spot. "I will have no one else at my side, Keith. That is if you can handle a spoiled Princess for a wife, Keith. As well as all of the hassles of becoming King that go along with her."
"I would thank you kindly to not make fun of my future wife! My Princess is far from being spoiled, and the hassles that she brings are fine with me – so long as I have her at my side." Keith winked at his beloved. Allura's eyes misted as she hungrily devoured his lips in the deepest kiss she had yet gave him.
A knock at the door brought the couple back into reality. It was a visibly nervous Lotor; he wasn't sure how they felt towards him. "How are you two today?"
"Lotor, you can come in you know. We heard your mom and our dads' explanations, and we saw your actions. I know that you have changed. Now get in here and tell us about this new girl-friend of yours!" Keith grinned his 'got ya' smile at their former enemy.
Lotor straggled into the room, in shock from what he had just heard. "How do you know about Emily?"
"Your mom told us. So, why does she need my help?" Allura smiled as the man sat beside Keith on the bed – obviously numb from surprise. She sat up and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek and a friendly hug.
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At the end of November, Lotor was going over reports from his spies. In the middle of the papers was a note:
Prince Lotor,
Get off of Doom now! King Zarcon has ordered your death. It is to be a public assassination that he can blame on the Voltron Force!
For the sake of your life – go right now! If you confront him, you will be killed on sight!
Rynok
Rynok was his most trusted of spies, so Lotor took the man's advice. In less than an hour, he was disguised and out of the Castle. He was able to commandeer a bartering ship, but was under heavy fire not too much later.
It was a good ship, since it got him all the way to Earth. But, that was as far as it could go. It crashed in a mountain near a small town. He was thrown from the wreckage, or else he would've burned to death.
It was a colder than normal night, and he was in the lower edge of the highest elevation. His injuries prevented him escaping. But an hour later, before Zarcon's troops could get to him, a young woman found Lotor.
She had four companions, all of whom she had to beg and plead into helping her. Then Lotor slipped into unconsciousness.
Lotor next woke up on a somewhat comfortable bed in a small studio apartment – if it could be called that. It had no walls separating the different parts of the place, but it was about the size of two small rooms put together.
He was in a small amount of pain, not half as much as he had been after the crash. It was early in the morning and he could hear someone in the room, but it hurt too much to move.
"Hey, you're awake! How are you feeling, Lotor?"
"Aching all over. Why have you save me? That sack of shit I called a father have some bounty on my head?"
Her blue eyes darkened with worry. She pushed locks of brown hair off of her shoulder as she took a seat on the edge of the bed. "No. You were hurt, probably in danger, and were in no shape to care for yourself. Looks like you're coming down with a cold now too. I'll ask the doctor to come by when I get back from work. Is there anything in particular that you like to eat?"
"Anything without poison in it." He snapped hoarsely before turning his face from the beautiful terran female, who had to swallow a tear at it.
She bent down and placed a kiss on his cheek, "I'll be back on my lunch break. Maybe I can find something nice at the store. I moved the bookrack closer; it should be in arms reach now. Sorry, but a telemonitor is a luxury item for me right now. I'll be back by no later than 12:45. Please don't do anything to hurt yourself between now and then. Bye."
Another kissed cheek later, and she was off. Lotor drifted back into sleep, only to wake at about eleven in pain. As luck would have it, the woman returned moments later – early, with what sounded like a lot of bags.
"Hey Lotor. We were let out early, so I thought that I'd get a little shopping in before getting back. Oh no!"
His pain was showing in his face, no matter how hard he fought against it. The woman grabbed his arm, and stuck him with a needle. A few moments later, he was feeling better.
As the days passed he discovered a lot about this woman. Her name was Emily Heavner, and she had an unusual past.
One night before Christmas, when she was a young child, a man named Randy Heavner brought her home as a gift to his mother, Joyce – a granddaughter. With his past record for violence and drinking, she doubted his story of an orphanage closing and needing to find the girl a home – but with most places closed or bombed out, she had no way of disproving it either.
Seeing that the child had a bracelet with strange writing on it, she hid it for the girl – telling Randy that she had sold it for food. Years later he was killed in an accident, which didn't sadden the girls too much.
Emily's adopted grandmother raised her until the old woman died two years prior. Emily was working on a holiday play – even though she had a rare blood disease that Lotor's father had caused.
Everyday Lotor listened to Emily read her lines out loud – she was the understudy for one of the main characters, along with all of the other parts she could be forced with. She taught him kindness, and would even rest at his side once his ribs had healed – that is when she did rest. For a seriously ill woman, she had amazing energy. Some nights he would actually have to force her to lay down.
The very thought of her made him smile. When he came back to where he was, Keith and Allura were nodding in complete agreement – Lotor was certainly in love.
"I asked her to be my wife. She agreed, so getting her well is important – since she's running out of time and fast. All she has ever wanted was to find her true family, and now it is all the more important. See she needs a blood sample from a close relative – preferably a sibling – to rebuild her genetic code, which is deteriorating fast." Lotor couldn't look at his new friends any longer. It was impossible to hide his tears of fear, frustration, loneliness without his Emily, and worry that they wouldn't find her family in time.
Keith finished what Lotor was obviously saying, "The doctors can cure Emily, but not without the family line. And with so many planets that she could be originally from, along with her time running out, makes this worse than looking for a needle in a haystack."
Lotor only nodded. To the future King and Queen of Arus, Lotor was sincere and desperate. This couldn't be a product of a mere coincidence. It had the feeling of another holiday miracle. But, could such a thing happen in the same Royal Family twice in the same year? And if it was possible, what was the next miracle going to be?
"I'd like to meet this Emily. After all she made so major a change in our friend, right my love?" Keith kissed his fiancée's cheek.
Allura lightly blushed, "I agree. Besides, I could use a trip without landing in the middle of a planet!"
"The play she's in is tonight. I think it has something to do with some carol?" Lotor smiled at them, hope blazing in his tired eyes.
Keith couldn't believe his ears! "A Christmas Carol? That's my favorite of all holiday shows! Jeff and I used to watch it on the telemonitor every year as kids. But, I've never seen it performed live before."
"And I have never heard of it before. As long as we all go together, with the team, I highly doubt that Nanny will have a problem with it." Allura beamed as she hugged both men tightly.
At first Nanny didn't like it, but she finally gave in when Lotor explained what was happening. Lotor had no problem getting them seats in the balcony, that way they wouldn't be noticed until after the show. In the seat next to him were two-dozen white ice roses – only found on Arus. He told them that they were Emily's favorite.