Just Allura

by (Kitty)Shannon

Disclaimers: Voltron and all associated characters are owned and copyrighted by WEP. Original/new characters belong to the author.

Rating: PG - Mild Language and Innuendo

Chapter 5

"Well, young man, if you need to speak with me, you aren't going to just stand there while you do it." Nanny's tone was filled with impatience as she pointed Lance in the direction of a sink full of dirty dishes.

Lance looked from Nanny to the task at hand and decided that maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. But he had already gotten this far and really wanted to do what he could to help his friends. So he took off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves and started washing, all the while fighting the urge to tell the old maid to stick it in her ear and then stroll out the door.

Of course, Lance's good nature made Nanny all the more suspicious of him; on any given day she kept a close eye on him, but today she knew he had to be up to something. She watched closely as a stack of clean dishes started growing on the counter and had to admit that she was a little disappointed - she'd always secretly admired the way this one wasn't afraid to stand up to her. Deciding that it was best to get this over with, she spoke.

"What is so important that we need to have this private meeting?" Her tone was quite short. "Out with it. I am busy and I don't have all day."

~'Okay buddy, you can do this. Just a little longer,'~ Lance silently repeated to himself as he pasted on a rather charming smile and turned to face her. He was sure to choose his words carefully, knowing that at the mention of 'her baby' she could easily fly into a fit.

"It's about Princess Allura." He paused only long enough to take a deep breath, then rushed on. "The team and I were talking about how hard she works and how much she does for all of us, for all her people. And she never stops or complains. We wanted to give a small party in her honor. Now before you get all worked up, I've already discussed this with Captain Keith and he thought it would be a great idea to do something nice for Al-, er, I mean the Princess. He told me before he would agree to anything, though, I would have to speak with you and Coran, and get your blessing. Coran thought it would be a good idea..."

Nanny smiled softly, remembering the lovely bouquet of flowers she'd found in her room last night. Princess Allura always did do the most thoughtful things; she loved that young woman as if she were her own child. Maybe this was a good idea. The Princess deserved as much happiness as they could give her and a small party would bring the Arussian monarch so much pleasure. She held up her hand to stop Lance's rushed speech.

~'I guess that means I can forget it...'~ the young man thought, a sinking feeling in his heart.

"I think it would be a wonderful idea to give a party in Princess Allura's honor, too."

Lance's eyes widened with shock as he let out a breath he didn't even realize he'd been holding.

But, before he could say anything, she said, "I will help in any way I can, but for now, I want those dishes spotless."

"Well, I'll be..." he mumbled as he watched Nanny disappear through the door.

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:)

As the lovely Princess of Arus approached Castle Control, she slowed her pace. Upon reaching the doorway, she paused and looked around the cavernous room. Castle guards and Arussian technicians moved about busily, attending their duties, working diligently to help protect their world and its people.

If Voltron was the soul of Arussian defense, then surely Castle Control was the heart. The room was filled with some of the most amazing technology around. The assortment of computers, machines and weapons allowed these normally peaceful people to defend themselves whenever they were attacked by the evil forces in the universe. Thankfully, it had been some time since the last attack on her planet. The pretty monarch sighed with relief and returned her attention to the moment at hand.

Once again, she glanced around the room and this time her gaze fell immediately on Coran and Pidge. It seemed her advisor was explaining to the boy genius how something on the control panel worked. Most likely, he wanted to know if it could be improved and knew that Pidge was the one to ask.

She resumed her journey, heading into the massive room and making her way to where the two gentlemen stood. The surprising thing was that no one noticed her. This beautiful young woman, so regal, so formal in her flowing pink gown, and no one noticed her. Indeed it was not that there was nothing about her to notice, but rather that her training as a member of the Voltron Force and pilot of the Blue Lion had taught her many lessons. One of the most important had been how to move stealthily through a room, attracting little to no attention to her person.

When she stood behind her advisor and young friend, she smiled (in part a congratulations to herself), before she spoke.

"Hello."

Coran and Pidge both startled and quickly spun around.

"Hello, Princess," the advisor began, "What can I do for you?"

"Actually, I was hoping Pidge wasn't too busy. I thought he might be able to help me with something."

"Sure Princess, what is it?" The youth couldn't help but smile, he was absolutely enamored with this delightful girl.

She returned the bright smile. "Come with me."

As they left Castle Control behind, the Princess turned to face her friend. "It's so nice of you to help me, Pidge." The youth smiled and started to reply, but she cut him off. "You know, I think of you as my own little brother. I always hoped I would have many brothers and sisters, but when Mother passed on, well... that was very difficult. Then to lose Father, too. It just means a lot to me to have you here."

Pidge was feeling quite honored and didn't know what to say, but he also got the feeling that this was going somewhere. He just wasn't too sure about where - or why. So, he decided to play along and see if he could find out. "Thank you, Princess. I love being here. And you help the feelings of homesickness stay away."

She nodded. "Boy, Lance was certainly acting strange at breakfast this morning... When I asked Keith about it, he acted awfully strange, too. I wonder why. I got the feeling that there was something that they weren't telling me." She looked at Pidge, concern written all over her face, "Is there anything that I should know about?"

~'Uh oh, she's on to us.'~ The boy's mind raced. He gulped and took a deep breath before he said anything. "Nothing I know about."

The Princess noticed Pidge wouldn't look her in the eye, but before she could press him further, he decided he'd better make a run for it.

"Uh, I forgot, I have to do something for Keith. I'd better hurry! I don't want him to get mad at me!"

Then Pidge rushed out sight, a flurry of green, before Allura could say another word.

~'That's it, now I know there's something going on!'~

Even more determined to get to the bottom of this mystery, she started making plans to extract the information from the only one left.

Poor Hunk.

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:)

Later that night found the dinner table surround by it usual occupants. As the meal was served and the evening wore on, Princess Allura couldn't help but notice that everyone seemed in particularly good spirits. She smiled, sure that her surprise would bring them all even more happiness. As the dinner dishes were finally being cleared away, Allura rose from her seat and cleared her throat, quickly attaining the group's attention.

"I made a cheesecake for dessert tonight." She smiled in Hunk's direction. "Actually, I made two. One is just for you Hunk, because I know how much you love dessert, especially cheesecake."

At this point, one of the maids brought in the two cheesecakes and placed them on the table. One directly in front of Hunk, just as the Princess had directed her, the other near the monarch. The maid then sliced the second cheesecake into pieces and distributed them around the table.

Hunk's mouth watered as he contemplated the scrumptious treat. "Gee, thanks Princess, I don't know what to say..."

Keith, Lance and Pidge all added their own thanks, but all four young men knew exactly why their sweet friend had made cheesecake for them. And why she had made Hunk one of his own.

You see, right after his encounter with the Princess, Pidge had immediately set out to find Keith and Lance. Once the youth had located them, he was sure to tell them everything Allura had said. They had all gone to find Hunk and warn him that the Princess was on to their little plan, although they were sure she still didn't know exactly what that plan really entailed.

"You are all very welcome. Anything for my friends," the Arussian monarch said, returning to her seat and enjoying her own dessert. She looked around, trying her best to gauge the moods of her friends and perhaps catch anything that seemed out of the ordinary. Keith and Lance exchanged a look, which didn't go unmissed by Allura.

Lance had to keep from laughing as he decided that the Princess must be nearly desperate to go to such measures and that not knowing what they were planning must be driving her crazy. Keith was hoping that Allura wouldn't catch him alone and corner him; he knew if she looked at him with those big blues eyes, he wouldn't be able to keep quiet about anything. Last but not least, the fair maiden whom it seemed was occupying so many people's thoughts this eve, was sure that her plan had worked and her friends felt bad enough they would just tell her everything.

The Princess took another forkful of her confection and hoped that once Keith, Lance and Pidge finished their own sweets, they would head off to the rec room, leaving Hunk to her mercy. But, instead, as each finished, they remained in their seats talking amongst themselves until the Big Guy was done. Then together they all headed out the door with only a "good night" to her.

"Well, I never!" she said to no one. Her mind began to race with possibilities. They certainly had been acting strange around her of late. It seemed whenever she had time to spend with any of them, they were quickly racing off to attend some task - and most of the time, that task seemed very vague and unimportant at best.

And then another thought struck her. Perhaps she was wrong, maybe they weren't up to something after all, maybe they were avoiding her.

~'What if they just don't want to be friends with me?'~

Nanny, Coran, their constant chastising... Maybe it was just too much to take! She couldn't count the number of times the boys had been belittled just for being her friends. These young men risked their lives every day fighting to protect her planet, and in return, their thanks came in the form of insults and disrespect. Perhaps, they'd finally decided that the cost of friendship with the Princess of Arus was just far too expensive!

She felt tears well up in her eyes and before she embarrassed herself, quickly ran off to her chambers, where she threw herself on her bed and started to sob.