Disclaimer: Voltron is owned by WEP not me.

A Night in the Cave

Chapter 2

Several hours passed since Allura had fallen asleep in Keith's arms. It was morning and some faint light had shown through the small opening of the cave. The light had awoken Keith but didn't wake Allura yet because her head was practically buried in his chest and facing away from the light.

Keith opened his eyes and noticed he wasn't alone. He almost jumped up in surprise upon seeing her lying with him, but stopped himself. He didn't want to wake her just yet. He felt the warmth of her hand in his and closed his eyes. He listened to her steady breathing and felt her heart beating against his chest. A warm feeling flushed through his body. It wasn't a feeling of desire, although he did feel that too, but a feeling of completeness and security. It was a feeling he never felt before (at least not as strongly) even with his former fiancé that died in a plane crash. He thought about Beverly and his feelings for her for a moment and realized that she was not the one who completed him but perhaps it was Allura. Maybe he was just lonely, but the connection he felt with her was almost unreal.

It was Voltron that joined the team together. They all had a bond that no one could explain. As they formed Voltron they were one mind it seemed. Keith and Allura, however, felt connected together so much stronger than the others. It was a connection to another human being that Keith felt he would never have but did. After losing his parents and fiancé Keith had given up on having any kind of close relationship with anyone. He buried himself in his work and basically lived his life in a cloud. When the opportunity to resurrect Voltron came along he jumped at the chance to get away. What he didn't count on was finding her and caring for her so deeply.

As he lay holding her close to him, he was trying to decipher what he actually felt about Allura, about his losses, and about his life in general. He still felt deeply guilty about Beverly's death-one he felt responsible for.

(FLASHBACK 2 years)

Eight weeks prior to Keith's and Beverly's wedding date, Keith was pacing nervously across the living room floor in his apartment. He had just called her over to have a discussion with her. It was one he knew would be the most difficult one of his life. He dreaded it with all his being but he knew it was the right thing to do. In his hand was an envelope. It contained the tickets for his honeymoon to Hawaii. After just receiving the envelope, he realized that he couldn't go through with marrying her. He was passing the envelope from hand to hand as he paced.

Suddenly he heard a knock at the door. It was Beverly. She let herself in and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. She didn't notice the worried look on his face at first as she had a big smile on her face. She was an attractive woman about 5'5" with light brown hair and green eyes. She was rather athletic in her build, not very skinny but not too fat. She was a fairly sweet person but a little overbearing at times. She had a take charge attitude which Keith liked but probably would have resented later had he married her. He liked her for her compassion toward others and because she had something he didn't-family. He asked her to marry him after a few months because he felt secure in the relationship and he thought he loved her. He did love her but more as a friend than a husband. She was starting to babble about wedding plans when Keith stopped her.

"I need you to listen to me." He said very seriously.

"What's wrong?" She said starting to look worried.

He couldn't think of what to say so he handed her the tickets.

"I…I want you to have these." He said shakily.

She gave him a perplexed look. "Oh, these are our honeymoon tickets. Are you afraid you'll lose them?"

"No, I need to talk to you about something." He said sternly.

Beverly became gravely concerned. "NO! You're not!" She shouted. "Don't tell me you are canceling the wedding." She sobbed.

He said nothing.

"You're just getting cold feet." She said trying to convince herself.

"Beverly," Keith pleaded. "This is extremely difficult for me but I know it's the right thing to do."

"Canceling our wedding is "right". That's ridiculous." She said.

"Is there another woman is that it?" she asked.

"No." he said. "The truth is that I was in love with the concept of having a wife and family and you were so compassionate and loving toward me. I think you loved enough for both of us. I love you for who you are but I don't love you the way a husband should love his wife."

Beverly just stood there with a shocked look on her face. "It's because I am too much of a nag isn't that right? When we first met I was so excited to have a man who was kind to me, who cared for me, not just someone who wanted to sleep with me. I pushed you too far." She sobbed.

He put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. She shoved it off. "I am so gad we didn't do it!" she spat.

"How could you?" She shouted.

"I've been having those dreams again." He said calmly.

"What dreams?" she asked.

"About that girl who comes to me. I've had those dreams before I met you, but they stopped when we started dating. I thought she was you." He answered.

"In the past week or two they came back stronger than ever. I came to realize she is not you. The feeling I get from her is so strong I can't ignore it." He said.

Beverly became flustered. "So let me get this straight. You are breaking up with me so you can pursue some fantasy girl in your dreams? Please, Keith this is not like you! You are the most logical, level headed person I know. Why would you act on something so…so illogical?"

Keith sighed. "All I know is all my life, I've been Mr. Logical, Mr. Cautious and to be honest with you I even approached our relationship based on logic. In every sense, we are compatible which is why I thought you were who I was meant to be with." He started to become more visibly upset. Flustered, he ran his hand through his hair. "However, I've come to realize that love is not logical!"

Beverly folded her arms. Ignoring his comment for the most part she asked angrily gritting her teeth, "Is she prettier than me? And is she really a real girl you don't want to admit you are seeing?"

"No, I don't know what she looks like. I…I can only remember the feeling of being with her. The dreams are non-specific but very strong. She seems to be in desperate need of someone to save her and she called out to me."

"So I guess you better go save her, Keith." Beverly replied sadly looking down.

"I am so sorry, Beverly, I really am." Keith replied with tears in his eyes. "I don't know why I have these dreams. I do know that I've always had a strong intuition and following my instincts was usually the best thing."

He looked at her sadly and touched her left cheek gently with his right hand and continued. "My intuition has always led me in the right direction, but not always without pain". A tear ran down the left side of her face and he wiped it away with his thumb.

To Beverly's surprise a feeling of complete and total understanding came over her. In his eyes she saw a deep love and determination for the mysterious woman he didn't even know really existed. It did hurt that she would not be marrying him, but she did not want to hold him back. She could tell that this love in his heart was the key to his spirit, his success and his very being. Keeping him with her would break him and she would never have his true love. Knowing that he had this spirit of love made her feel better, though. She also could tell in his eyes that there was a true love waiting for her as well.

She stopped being angry with him as she stepped away from him and headed for the door. Her head was down, but she stopped and looked back at him one more time. She felt as if this was the last time she would see Keith.

She smiled and said: "I hope you find your dream girl and I hope she appreciates you. If she breaks your heart, I'll break her face! Just remember, I'm here if you change your mind."

She looked down at the tickets in her hand. "I'll be in Hawaii for a week though." She said with a smirk.

Keith gave her a polite smile. "I'll talk with you when you come back."

"Don't worry about it." She said as she walked out the door. She cried that night and left for Hawaii in the morning.

On her flight home, she called Keith and told him that she had met someone and she was happy. Unfortunately, her flight never made it home.

Keith sobbed for three days before he isolated himself for close to a year. It was then that Hawkins had come to him offering him a chance for a new life; A new life that would be more than he would have ever expected.

(BACK TO PRESENT)

A tear fell down Keith's face. He felt so bad about her death but he now knew he didn't directly cause it. He looked down at Allura who was stirring.

"I won't let anything happen to you." He said.

Allura snuggled against him then woke up with an embarrassed look on her face.

"I guess you are wondering why I am here?" She started to explain but he interrupted.

"I must have looked like I really needed a hug. Thank you." He said gratefully.

She looked confused. He just smiled.

"We better go find out if the lions have decided to move yet." She said looking perplexed.

"You want something to eat first." He said handing her a food bar. "You really look hungry."

"Uh… Yeah, thanks" She said looking at him strangely.

Keith ate a little and watched her finish her food bar.

Suddenly, he had a flashback of something he had said to Beverly:

"No, I don't know what she looks like. I…I can only remember the feeling of being with her." His heart skipped a beat. The feeling he had with the girl in his dream, he had now. He desperately wanted to kiss her, but did not feel it was proper. He just looked at her longingly.

Allura did not pick up on the meaning of his expression at first. "What?" she said a bit uncomfortably.

"'What?' " he repeated "I thought you could always tell what I am feeling."

"You must be having mixed feelings." She replied.

"Ok, so now I know what to do when I don't want you to read my thoughts and feelings. I just need to mix them up a little." He joked.

"Not fair!" She teased back sticking her tongue out at him.

"Hey, didn't anyone ever tell you life's not fair?" He questioned.

"All's fair in love and war!" She said sarcastically.

"So which is this then?" Keith pushed forward and sat closer to her. His face was serious.

Although, she struggled to deny that it was true she began to understand his expression from before. "l-love" she stuttered quietly but looking directly into his eyes.

Keith took a deep breath and found himself lost in her deep blue eyes. With his right hand he held her face and gently pressed his lips against hers. He slowly pulled away knowing that he would have to take this love slow and probably in secret until the Doom threat had weakened to the point that they were safe.

A tear had fallen down the left side of her face, but Keith knew that it was a happy tear and he gently kissed it away. Allura pulled Keith into her arms and hugged him warmly.

"Thanks for looking after me last night," she said as they parted their embrace.

"I'll always look after you Allura. Just call to me, and I'll be there." He smiled.

"Ok" She smiled back. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes" he said getting up and gathering their things together.

One hour later, they were able to get back to the lions and get them started again. It seemed they just need recharging but Keith and Allura had their doubts.

"Ready to head back!" Keith said excitedly. "Maybe we can catch that 'Star Wars' movie Lance has been bragging about!"

"No can do right now!" said a voice on Keith's communicator. It was Lance. "We've got a big one coming!"

"What's going on, Lance?" questioned Allura.

"Robeast…and he's out for blood!" said Lance. "We've been looking for you guys all night. Good thing this robeast showed up recently and not a while ago. We really need to form Volton; my lion has lost some power in my search. Fortunately, Pidge and Hunk used cycles to search for you. They are getting to Green and Yellow right now. Here they come! Are you all ready to make some roasted Robeast?"

"Yeah!" everyone replied as Keith and Allura found Lance and the others.

…to be continued