Author's Note: Ho hum… In case anyone gets confused about the next few scenes, I don't like writing things in a straight line. So, this scene takes place two months before the previous "chapter."

Thanks again for reading, and if you're out there, Rayne… thank you for the encouragement. I'm starting to write again! Hopefully I'll update soon.

Alexander - Pidge - Pendleton sat in Keith's office going over the younger man's assignments for the next two weeks while the latter would be on vacation. Keith had started the morning by meeting with Lance and then Hunk. It was 11:45 and he was almost done with Pidge.

Keith used part of his brain to listen to Pidge outline a plan of action for the weapons upgrade and another part to observe the young man. When they had first gotten to Arus, Pidge had not even been sixteen years old. True, he had been brighter than the four older men put together, but he had still been a kid looking for his place in the scheme of things. That he partially worshipped Keith had been obvious, but his loyalty from the beginning had always belonged to Allura.

Now at 19, he was coming into his own. He would never be the tallest of the Voltron Force, but at just shy of six feet tall, he towered over Allura - had for the past two years. He had traded his round glasses for smaller, more stylish ones. Lance had suggested contacts, but Hunk's opinion had won out. Keith had agreed that a lot of Pidge's charm was from his serious scholarly look.

Pidge wore his hair short now, though he had tried to grow it as long as Keith's one summer. It hadn't worked as he had planned, and his current style kept the sides neatly trimmed, long brunette bangs falling over one eye. When he walked into a room, Pidge no longer blushed when a woman spoke to him; it was now the other way around. Keith thought it was poetic justice, but sometimes he missed the boy that Pidge had been.

"Do you miss Balto?" Keith asked when Pidge was done.

Pidge sighed. He was still young enough to not have the self possession of the rest of the force, but he was beginning to shed the awkwardness of the boy genius behind him. Unconsciously, he squared his shoulders and leaned back into the leather chair. He thought about the question for a moment, the shook his head, "No. I miss my family, but not Balto itself. I was so young when I left it. And then Earth wasn't really home either. But Arus, Arus is home."

"So if the war were over tomorrow, you would stay here?"

It was a question he had thought about often. Sometimes when they sat around the rec room playing, the If game, it always came back to what if the war ended tomorrow?

"I miss Chip and it would be nice to be together, though I don't know if they'd ever put the two of us in the same assignment. I'd like to stay here. Of course, I'd move out of the Castle. Whoever Allura marries probably won't like having me around."

Keith refused to rise to the bait.

"...but I guess if she married someone I looked up to that would be a different matter. If he didn't mind me, and I liked him, I'd stick around."

"Well, then you better start making friends with all those princes roaming around. If you can find one who'll even talk to you that is. They all have such sticks up their asses."

"You know, Keith, that's been said of you a lot of times, too," Pidge reminded. In fact, Lance had said that this morning right before Keith had cancelled practice for the day.

"Fair enough, Alexander... remember you're not too old for me to take across my knee-"

"You'd have to catch me first, and I'm really fast."

Keith laughed and pushed away from his desk, standing and making his way around it. "I think we're done here. You have fun with your projects and I'll see you in two weeks."

"I will - I can't wait to see if Hunk can really modify the weaponry to your specs."

"You guys never fail me. Now go ahead," he put his hands on the younger man's shoulders and led him out of the room, "I'm sure that Lance and Hunk haven't left for the village yet."

Pidge turned and said goodbye, "Have a great time off! Do things that I'm not old enough or experienced enough to do yet, OK?" Pidge slammed the door behind him.

Keith's intercom system beeped. Glancing at the clock he saw that he still had a few minutes before his final meeting and he gave a verbal command, "Sorren accept."

The screen behind his desk flashed the Galaxy Alliance's insignia and then Jeff Daniels' face replaced it. Jeff glanced around the room that was impeccably clean and tidy until his eyes settled on the captain as he stood next to one of large windows, "Are you working? Aren't you supposed to leave in three hours? Have you even packed?" The staccato of questions were pure Jeff.

"Yes to all three. How can I help you, Commander?"

"Well, Keith, I'm actually playing messenger boy. Lisa said something about wine. I was supposed to remind you about wine."

Jeff motioned to someone off camera and Lisa's face popped on screen for a second with a quick, "Don't forget the '60 Arusian reserve, Keith." She blew him a kiss and then was off.

"She's going shopping. I don't know if I even have any money left. Well, you know what they say, 'Champagne wishes...'"

"'Caviar dreams,'" Keith finished. "You can't say you didn't know what you were getting into, Jeff. Don't worry, I'll pay for the wine."

Jeff chuckled, "You should pick up some of the tab... Hey, guess who I ran into when I visited the Academy last night?"

The door creaked and Keith turned to see Allura step through the door. Seeing Jeff on screen, she asked silently if she should leave but he motioned her in.

"Hi, Princess!" Jeff greeted as she took her seat in the one of the chairs.

"Hi, Commander," she waved at his looming face. "Your ship is overdue for a visit." She was in one of her pink dresses, but had pulled her hair into a loose knot at the nape of her neck. She had just come back from a ride, her face still flushed.

"We'll be there in a few months. There's supposed to be an amazing planetary alignment happening in your solar system. We wouldn't miss that, so we rearranged our schedule. We'll be there for your birthday of course," Jeff assured.

"Are you on vacation, too?" She asked noticing he was wearing a flowery shirt and ... beads?

"Yup, though I'm a week into mine. Keith, aren't you ready to party?" He was drunk that much was obvious, but still had enough facilities to make an intergalactic call.

He put his face closer to his camera so that his head look strangely disproportionate and Allura giggled. She pushed at the controls on Keith's desk, activating the camera and placed her eye right next to it. On Earth, Jeff jumped back in his seat as a giant blue eyeball stared at him. She redid the controls so that they were normal and Jeff turned his attention towards Keith again.

"Children, behave," Keith admonished. "It's not even lunch time here and I'm sober, Jeff."

"Well, that's a buzzkill. I'm gonna go. Since Lise's shopping, I'm going to order a pizza. In your honor, Sorren, I'm going to have one with lots of pepperoni."

"Thanks, Jeff. I'll call you when I'm in earthspace."

"Daniels out." The screen blanked out.

Allura swiveled her chair so that she could face him, "How was your day, Captain?"

Her smile was sunlight in the room and her blue eyes luminescent. The chair she leaned against was huge, and she looked like a child with wisps of hair escaping the simple binding at her neck. The dress was one of her favorites. She had three like it in her closet, Nanny had told Keith a while back and every year another was made to replace the one invariably worn out. Allura needed some constants in her life; Nanny had said and then thanked him for being one of them.

"The meetings went well. I told Hunk to mind Nanny, I told Lance to mind you. And they all promised me that they wouldn't blow up anything in the castle. This team will work so efficiently while I'm on Earth that none of you will notice I'm even gone."

"Well, if the Black's grounded, we'll notice," she assured. He didn't turn to speak to her, his gaze continued to be drawn to the front of the castle. She took the moment to etch every line of him into her mind. In case he didn't come back. The few times he did leave Arus for any reason, she always lived with the fear that the Alliance would offer him something he couldn't refuse. He was their golden boy and they wanted to keep him happy. Arus was supposed to be a year, two at best, before they could offer him something better. She had been told that he had requested this assignment and top brass had balked at it. She still didn't know what strings he had pulled to get here.

That he was still here three years later pissed them off to the high hells, as Lance put it. She told no one that she still fought with the Alliance every now and then as they asked she release him for his own good. She was a princess royal; she would keep him for her own good.

But those were thoughts of the past, and though she was preserver of Arus' history she was also charged with assuring its future. A smile came to her lips at the thought and she was glad he was still engaged elsewhere.

He was tall and beautiful in a way that only a man could be. His body was that of a finely tuned instrument, or a weapon, she thought. Whose weapon, was always the question on Coran's mind. "Does he belong to the Alliance, Allura? Or to Arus?" Coran had asked as Keith entered his third year of service. As they passed their time together, she wondered if there was another way to frame the question - was he his own weapon or hers?

He was dark from his days working in the sun, though she had known him long enough to realize that his natural color was only a shade darker than her own. His physique of course was only part of what made him imposing. The gods had gifted him with beauty. His dark hair dangerously long, just below his shoulders, invited women to run their fingers through it. He was blessed with dark eyes almost black, soulful and serious until he cracked a smile and then they would crinkle at the corners to even his temperament. It was the smile that she loved most about him. His mouth was too sensual without it, she thought. When he smiled he deigned to be as human as the rest of them. She had wondered about kissing him even at seventeen, but now she was no longer that child...

He had already changed for the trip, wearing the dark gray flightsuit common to the Garrison. Nanny had once told her all the clothes in his closet were same: VF uniforms, his red flightsuit, Garrison regs, and the two formal uniforms he owned.

"What are you looking at?" She tried again to get his attention.

"I see a new banner flying at the landing pad."

She got up to join him. They had started a ritual of flying the flags of the various dignitaries on planet. Because there were always princes visiting or just hanging around to get a glimpse of Allura the twenty-one poles that made up the Flag Pavilion were often full.

Some of the flags were constantly there: in the center the flag of the Arusian royal family flew highest, to its left the Galaxy Alliance banner, to its right the flag of Earth. The remaining flags were always flown lower than the center three. Keith noted the empty pole reserved for Pollux as he always did. He would miss Sven and Romelle's next visit while he was away.

But it was the new flag that caught his eye, a red dragon on a black field. The dragon was done similar to the Chinese style of Earth and Keith finally recognized which Kingdom it was.

"Crown prince Aidan of Arjuna," He remembered. They stood close together as they observed the front lawn. Keith's glance roamed over Lake Achuen and the bridge spanning the length of it. His eyes stopped at the Black Lion's monument standing as a greeting - or warning - to all who came to court the princess of the Lion Throne.

"You know their names better than I do," she reminded. It was only fitting as he had volunteered to coordinate all their security. "Who's going to do that job while you're away?"

"You mean babysitting the crown princes of the free galaxy? Lance has been itching for a reason to put them in their place. The other night one of them was stupid enough to call him out at the village hangout and took the girl Lance was planning to..." he let the thought trail, though they both knew what Lance did with girls.

"Lance is losing his touch."

"No, Lance just didn't punch him like he wanted to. Because of his loyalty to you."

"What was the Prince's name?" Allura asked, her voice soft but the steel under it unmistaken.

He turned his head to finally meet her gaze, "I've already told you."

She nodded in understanding, "Crown Prince Aidan of Arjuna."

He touched the command pad set in the wall and the windows darkened. They moved as one back to the desk and Keith sat on the edge of it. Allura remained standing an arm's length away; her hand draped against the back of a chair, and asked, "So, what have you devised to keep me busy while you're gone?"

He reached into his pocket and opened his hand in front of her revealing the key to the Black. "Lance and I agreed. You should use this time to practice."

Her smile was better than any thanks she could have managed, "Really? You're sure?"

"Yes. Maybe on your 20th Birthday, I'll even let you lead combined practices."

She reached for the key, taking her index finger and tracing it lovingly. This had been her father's key. She thought of Alfor, resisting the urge to push his image him away just because it made her sad. The past few months, it was a constant fight to remember the good times.

"Allura?" He asked with concern in his voice.

"I'm OK. Just thinking about my father."

He glanced towards the door the same time she did.

"I locked it, Keith."

Her finger was still on the key, and he took his other hand and placed it over hers. Bringing her fingers to his face, he pressed his lips against them. "What am I going to do without you for two weeks, beauty?" His frown touched her deeply.

She attempted a smile and moved to stand between his legs. She touched the curve of his cheek, the line of his jaw. "You'll come back?" She asked, not able to keep the fear out of her voice. His hand came round to the curve of her back, drawing her closer.

"Always," he answered before leaning forward to claim her mouth with his.

Coran watched on screen as the small transport ship broke free of Arus' gravity and headed towards Earth. Keith so rarely took his vacation days that when he had requested an extra week, Coran could not deny him. In what had become a tradition between them, Keith promised to bring him whiskey from his grandfather's stock. Coran had wished him godspeed and told him to enjoy himself.

Allura, from her sitting room, stood with her finger tracing the trajectory of Keith's ship against the tall windows. Her heart was in that ship, and she had no one tell.

She heard a knock on the door and Lance walked in without waiting for a response. "Hey, Allura, thought you could use a little cheering up." He flashed her a container of ice cream in one hand. In his other, he had bowls and spoons for both of them. He took a seat on one of her plush couches.

"I'm fine, Lance... but there's always room for ice cream." She plopped herself in the matching armchair.

"Don't worry, Allura. We'll break him down. One day - and one day soon - he'll crack and admit his feelings for you. Even if it kills me."

Allura laughed. One day, she would be able to sit Lance down and tell him everything. How the year she turned eighteen, Keith had taken her on a sleigh ride and given her the kiss that would change her life forever. Keith said Lance would probably die from the shock of it.

She supposed it were true, but she still couldn't wait to tell him.

Author's Note... Hope it made sense ... Remember it was TWO MONTHS before the previous chapter. People who think in straight lines - I'm not one of 'em.