Hi all!

Well, I couldn't wait to get started on my latest story. Like I've said before, writing these stories are a type of therapy for me. Between work and the approaching holidays, I need them :)

This is a holiday story concerning the second generation of Voltron pilots. I had so much fun writing my last story, I just fell in love with these characters, I can't seem to let them go. No, it won't be the same story as my other holiday one, there will be plenty of fluff and fun, but with a bit more adventure.

I hope you enjoy it!

Failte

P.S. By the way, part of this chapter is done as a conversation on Instant Messaging, I'm not sure if it will work since this website is really funny about those sort of things. But if it doesn't work out, I'll pull the chapter and try it another way.

……………………………………………………………….

Princess Cady Whitaker sat at her desk and stared out the window in front of her. The eraser of her pencil tapped out a beat against the pages of her open book as she allowed her attention to wander. She was supposed to be studying, but was finding it hard to concentrate. Christmas was coming soon and there were less than two months until Tristan could return to Arus.

After he had surprised her at the picnic her parents had held in celebration of the defeat of Vinn and the Bittor Coalition, she and Tristan had a whirlwind week together. They had talked and grown closer, deepened their relationship and their feelings for each other. When he had to return to Terra for his assignment, it had been the most difficult day of her life. She had moped for a couple of days until her mother forced her to snap out of it and get back to work. Allura had pointed out that if she kept busy, the time would pass more quickly. So Cady threw herself into her schoolwork and duties to keep busy.

But now, in the midst of the holidays, she longed to be with him. She wanted to share all of this with him, the beauty of the season and the emotions that arose. She wanted to sit with him by the warmth of the fire at night and go for walks in the snow covered woods.

Cady was so lost in this romantic fantasy that she didn't hear the tone coming from her computer that indicated an incoming instant message. The second beep brought her attention to the screen and a smile to her face.

Maverick84: Hey there, beautiful.

Maverick84: You there, Cady?

CadyWhitYeah, I'm here. How're you doing?

Maverick84: Pretty good. How are you?

CadyWhit Better now. You are a great distraction to my schoolwork.

Maverick84: You work too hard, my Princess.

CadyWhit It keeps me occupied until you can come back. How're things on Terra?

Maverick84: Boring. I found out today that I'm stuck here for another two weeks and then they're sending me on a short assignment until my tour is up.

CadyWhit Where?

Maverick84: I don't know yet. All I'm doing here is pushing papers and it is driving me nuts. I can't wait to get to Arus, your father said there will be an opening for me on the Air Brigade so I can get back to flying.

CadyWhit You miss it, huh?

Maverick84: Not as much as I miss you.

CadyWhit Good answer, Lt.

Maverick84: I have some bad news.

CadyWhit You can't come.

Maverick84: I can't come.

CadyWhit Why not?

Maverick84: I'm only getting a two day leave for Christmas and by the time I got to Arus, I would have enough time to give you a quick kiss before I had to turn around and come back. And even then I would be late returning.

CadyWhit I can't deny that I'm disappointed, but I understand.

Maverick84: You know I want to be there.

CadyWhit I know.

Maverick84: I love you.

CadyWhit I know.

Maverick84: I'll be there in a couple of months.

CadyWhit I know.

Maverick84: Stop pouting, Cady.

CadyWhit I'm not pouting.

Maverick84: You can't lie to me.

CadyWhit I really miss you, Tristan.

Maverick84: I miss you too and I would be there if I could.

CadyWhit I know. Next Christmas we'll spend together.

Maverick84: And the Christmas after.

CadyWhit And every Christmas after that.

Maverick84: How's the family?

CadyWhit As good as ever. The team is still working hard. Two more Vinn supporters were captured.

Maverick84: I read about that in the paper. I can't believe there are still Bittor stragglers. You're being careful, right?

CadyWhit Don't lecture me, you're starting to sound like my father.

Maverick84: I worry about you. How's the shoulder?

CadyWhit Fine, it hardly hurts at all any more. Only when it rains.

Maverick84: I hate to do this, but I have to go. My CO is calling us to a meeting.

CadyWhit Will you be on later?

Maverick84: I'll try. If not I will definitely call you tomorrow night, regular time.

CadyWhit I really, really miss you Tristan.

Maverick84: I miss you too, Cady.

CadyWhit I love you.

Maverick84: Love you too, Gorgeous.

CadyWhit Good bye.

Maverick84: Bye.

Tristan closed the connection and stared at the blank screen of the computer. At least Cady was keeping busy. He was going nuts. When he had returned to Terra after his two week leave to report for duty, he had been assigned to a field office in the Midwest where he spent most of his time filing. Tristan longed to back in the thick of things, but he knew that wasn't going to happen any time soon. Word had reached his CO that he wasn't planning on signing back up when this tour of duty was over, so they were just using him to do busy work. He couldn't prove it, but Tristan was sure that Captain Klari, his former CO, had written an unflattering report about him. She had known that he had grown close with Cady and the others while he had been on Arus and she had not approved of it.

With a sigh, Tristan shifted his gaze to the picture he had propped up against his computer monitor. Sky had taken it when he had been on Arus. He was standing behind Cady while she leaned back against his chest. With his arms wrapped around her middle, he had rested his chin on her shoulder and smiled as Cady had lifted her arms up around his neck and a small grin crossed her lips. He loved that picture. They were completely wrapped up in each other, both physically and emotionally.

Just two more months, he reminded himself. Then he was returning to Arus to take up a position with Commander Whitaker and the Arusian Air Brigade. He couldn't wait. The Whitaker family had opened up their home to him and welcomed him. Cady's brothers, Declan and Gideon, still gave him a bit of a hard time, but that didn't bother him. Tristan knew they were just looking out for her and he felt better knowing that they were looking out for her when he couldn't be there.

He had also made friends with the others on Arus. During his time there, Tristan and Erik, the new pilot of Black Lion and Cady's cousin, had become good friends. More than once he and Cady had gone out on double dates with Erik and his girlfriend, Sky Collier, the pilot of Red Lion, and Cady's best friend.

Tristan loved the time he had spent on Arus and he was looking forward to returning. He truly felt as though he belonged there.

"Lieutenant?"

Tristan looked up to see Colonel Dawson standing in the doorway to his cramped office, "Yes, sir, I'm on my way now."

……………………………………………………………………………….

Sky rapped quickly on Cady's door and waited to be granted admittance.

"Come in!"

The Princess was still sitting at her desk, but she had pushed aside her books, giving up all pretenses of studying. Her chin was resting on her fist as she stared out the window.

"How's it going?" Sky asked as she fell across her friend's bed.

"Crappy."

"Crappy?"

"Crappy."

"Crappy how?"

"Crappy as in Tristan isn't coming for Christmas."

Sky raised herself up on her elbows and watched her friend as she continued to stare out the window, "I'm sorry, Cady, I know how badly you wanted to see him."

"You have no idea," Cady sighed as she turned around. "You know, I thought that five and a half months didn't really sound that long when we had talked about it, but now it seems like it will never end. I miss him so much, Sky."

"It's not much longer now and at least you guys get to talk often."

"Yeah, I know."

"Look at it this way, Cady, at least he'll be here in time for Valentine's Day."

"True."

"Oh suck it up, Princess, if you sit here and wallow in self pity you'll become unbearable. Nanny is starting her holiday baking and wants to know if we want to help."

"I don't want to bake."

"Neither do I, but we can eat them."

Cady opened her mouth to decline, but quickly changed her mind. "All right, you're on."

Sky jumped to her feet and threw her arm around her friend's shoulders, "Nothing like cookies to take your mind off a man."

"Are we really that easy to get over?" Declan asked as he stood in the doorway.

"Yes, you are. For chocolate, we can forget men completely," Sky said.

"Thanks for the info, what food makes you miss men?"

"There isn't one."

"Damn," he muttered.

"Trying to think of ways to coerce Brina into staying with you?" Cady asked her brother.

"Whatever it takes."

Sky patted his shoulder as they walked past him, "Try slipping her a mickey."

"Hm," he rubbed his chin. "Not a bad idea."

Cady rolled her eyes, "How pathetic is it that you have to drug a girl to get her to stay with you?"

He scowled at her, "At least my woman is on the same planet as me."

She punched him in the arm, "Jerk."

"Brat."

"If you'll excuse us," Sky interrupted. "There are various types of cookies calling to me."

Declan watched his sister and his teammate disappear down the hall before he turned and went back to the task at hand. With Christmas only a few weeks away, he had to find something for Brina, but he was at a total loss.

"Hey, Gid!"

Gideon looked up from his computer as his twin brother burst into his room. "Hey, Dec!"

"I need your help, bro."

"What is it?"

Declan picked up a baseball that was sitting on the bookshelf and tossed it between his hands as he paced the floor. "I haven't gotten anything for Brin yet and I have no idea what to get her. You have to help me."

Gideon smiled, "You're telling me you have no idea what to get your girlfriend for Christmas?"

"Yeah."

"How long have you been going out? Three months?"

"Three months, three weeks, and four days."

"So it'll be four and a half months when Christmas arrives, give or take a day."

"Yeah. So what do you give for four months?"

Gideon shrugged, "How should I know?"

"What are you giving Lynnai?"

"That's different, Dec, Lynnai and I have been together forever. For our first Christmas as a couple I gave her a stuffed bear and an ID bracelet."

"A bear and an ID bracelet? What were you? Thirteen?"

"Fourteen. And if you want my help, I would suggest you don't make fun of me and she still has the bear and the bracelet."

"So you think I should go the jewelry route?"

"It depends on the jewelry, I mean, don't give her a diamond ring."

"So, what? A necklace? A bracelet?"

"She's your girlfriend, you have no idea what to get her?"

"And this is why I've never had a girlfriend for longer than a month before. I suck at this."

Gideon rolled his eyes, "Stop it, Declan. You will find something. Where have you looked?"

"Looked?"

"What stores have to been to?"

"I haven't gone shopping yet."

Gideon stood and crossed to his brother where he smacked him upside the head. "Tomorrow, moron, you and I will go shopping and we will find something. We'll drag Cady along too if need be."

"Speaking of the brat," Declan set the ball back on the shelf. "I heard she and Sky were going to help test Nanny's cookies."

"Nanny's baking?"

"Yeah."

"Then what are we doing here?"

……………………………………………………………………….

Now Nanny was used to having children around and, while she put forth a gruff and stern exterior, she loved every second of it. She was smiling into the bowl as she stirred the flour into the wet ingredients. Three trays had already been set out to cool while the youngest Prince, Nicky, and Princesses, Charlotte and Tess, helped her cut cookies out of the rolled dough. Sky and Cady had stopped in and were helping to decorate, and eat, the cooled cookies. Sky had turned on the radio and Christmas music played in the background as the children talked and laughed.

"Are we doin' little men next, Nanny?" Nicky asked.

"They're gingerbread men," Charlotte corrected her younger brother.

"Yes, Nicholas, we are," Nanny told him. "But we have to finish these first and get them packed away into the freezer. Schuyler, if you eat any more cookies there won't be any left."

"I haven't eaten that many," Sky muttered through a full mouth.

"Keep it up and you won't be able to fit into your flightsuit any more," Declan teased as he and Gideon walked in.

"How come?" Nicky asked.

"'Cause she'll get fat from eating too many cookies," Gideon explained, swiping two cookies off the cooling rack.

"I have amazing metabolism," Sky assured them.

Nanny shook her head, "Enjoy it while you can, dear."

"Oh, I am."

Cady put the finishing touches on a tree cookie with icing and candy. She held it up to examine it, nodded her head, and bit it in two.

"Ohhhh…cookies!" Declan grabbed two and stuffed them both in his mouth.

"Declan James!" Nanny pointed at him with a spoon. "Don't ever let me catch you doing that again, young man!"

"Mmmph flrm mmphmm," he replied.

Sky swallowed and unclipped the communicator from her belt when it beeped, "Collier."

"Hey there," Erik grinned at her. "Whatcha doin'?"

"We're in the kitchen, Nanny's baking."

"I'll be right there," he said quickly, closing the communication.

"Can I put the eyes in the gingerbread men?" Nicky asked.

"Only if you stop eating the cookie dough," Nanny told him.

"Cady, have you heard from Tristan?" Gideon asked.

Sighing heavily, Cady took another cookie.

"He can't come for Christmas," Sky told him.

"Oh, I like Tristan," Charlotte said.

Cady nodded, "So do I."

"Well, we can pack up some cookies and send them to him if you like." Nanny said as she put another cookie sheet in the oven.

"That would be great, Nanny, thank you."

"Cookie, cookie, cookie," Erik chanted as he rushed into the kitchen.

Nanny threw her hands up in the air, "I don't know why I bother! With all of you here there won't be any left for the holidays."

"Oh come on, Nanny," Declan wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "You're not really mad are you?"

"Yes, I am."

Gideon joined his brother on the other side of their old governess, "We'll help you bake new cookies, Nanny, we're good for it."

She snorted, "Yeah right. I've seen what you boys do in the kitchen."

The twins each laid their head on one of her shoulders and said in unison, "I love you, Nanny."

"They're good," Erik whispered into Sky's ear as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

She watched as Nanny melted under the twins charm and patted them each on the cheek, "They've had years of practice."

"Hey Erik!"

"Hey Nicky!"

"If Sky eats anymore cookies she's gonna get fat!"

The twins burst into laughter as Tess ducked her head to hide her smile and Charlotte elbowed her brother in the side.

"That's okay," Erik squeezed her. "I like my women with a little meat on their bones."

"I'm comfortable with who I am," Sky said as she snatched another cookie.

"I came looking for a little snack and I find a feast of cookies," Becca said as she waddled in, followed by her five year old daughter, Tori.

"Aunt Becca, how are you?" Gideon pulled a chair over for her.

"I feel great," she assured him, rubbing a hand over her swollen stomach. She and Pidge were expecting their third child in about two months and she had cut back on her hours in the hospital, Dr. Gorma coming out of retirement to help out.

Tori stood quietly beside her mother, watching the others as the cut out the cookies.

"Go, sweetie, you can help them make cookies," Becca gave her a gentle push toward the table.

Tori was taking her responsibilities as a big sister very seriously. So seriously, in fact, that more than once Pidge had to take her out of the castle just to give Becca some breathing room.

"Come on, Tori," Nicky waved her over.

Nanny tied the last of the aprons around Tori's waist and set her up next to Nicky with her own cookie cutters.

"Thank you, dear," Becca smiled up at Cady when the Princess handed her a couple of freshly iced cookies. "You guys are doing a great job."

"Since we're still on duty," Erik told Sky. "I'm staying for Christmas, so my parents and sister are coming here."

"Oh, good," she kissed his cheek. "I was wondering how we were going to do this."

"Oh, my goodness," Allura gasped as she entered the kitchen. "You are doing such a great job! They look delicious!"

"We're makin' gingerbread men next, Mommy!" Nicky told her excitedly.

"Yummy," she kissed the top of his dark head. "Sounds great."

"When are we going to get our Christmas tree?" Tess asked.

"Daddy was thinking we would go tomorrow night," her mother told her.

"My parents and Lora are coming for Christmas," Erik told her.

"Wonderful! We're going to have a full house. Have you heard from Tristan yet, Cady?"

"He's not coming," she mumbled, taking another cookie.

"Poor Cady," Becca reached over and took her hand. "I remember what that was like. Before I moved here, Pidge and I had to endure a long distance relationship for two years."

"I guess compared to two years, five months isn't so bad."

"But it's still hard. Just remember that you're more than halfway there and when he is finally here, it will all be worth the wait."

Cady smiled softly, "I know. Thanks, Aunt Becca."

Allura wrapped her arm around her daughter's shoulders and hugged her, "Don't let it get you down, Cady, I know you want to be with him, but you can't let it mar your Christmas celebration. And you know Tristan wouldn't want you to be upset."

"I know. I'm fine, Mom, really."

"We'll make sure you can get in touch with him on Christmas."

"Enough of this pouting!" Declan announced. "You know what we need?"

"What?" Nicky asked.

Declan and Gideon exchanged a glance before breaking out in song, singing 'Jingle Bells' at the top of their lungs. Nicky and Tori joined in followed soon after by Erik, Sky, Charlotte, and Tess. Nanny covered her ears with her hands and rolling her eyes.

Sighing, Becca pushed herself up and moved from the room mumbling under her breath, "My poor baby is going to be born tone deaf."