Hey! Hope everyone's having a good day. Since there's no more Sendak (regular Way Big would have killed him too, with his planet busting capabilities), the party will be the main focus, along with the ship. I kinda wrote myself into a corner there, didn't I? A reminder that when Kevin's middle name was revealed, Ben laughed, since, while he is mature for the most part, he's still 15. Anyway, here it is!

Castle of Lions, Arus

It was the night before the Castle of Lions was going to leave. As such, the arusians decided a going-away party was in order, seeing as they had saved the village from Myzax.

"And the monster fell from the sky!" shouted the king, telling the story of the battle. "It was an epic battle, but Voltron was victorious!" The Myzax actors, stacked to show the monster's height, threw a ball, knocking over the Voltron actors. "No, I said Voltron was victorious!" the actors swapped positions, causing the crowd to cheer.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for that wonderful production," said Allura with a forced smile. The whole thing had gone as badly as the ending. Kevin and Lance snickered, earning an elbow from Gwen and Keith, respectively. "It saddens me that we must leave tomorrow, but we must continue our battle with Zarkon and spread peace throughout the universe. Your Highness, please accept this gift." She handed him a communicator. "This will allow you to contact us anytime you need help." He smiled, knowing his people would be protected should another monster show up. "Arus will be the first planet in the Voltron Alliance."

The king raised the communicator skyward and shouted "Hoorah!" casing the crowd to cheer once again.

As the party began, Hunk said, "We ought to get something like that."

"Like what?" asked Lance.

"You know, like a cheer," Hunk answered. "Like, a team cheer that we do."

"No, nuh-uh, no way," said Kevin. He already had to deal with "It's hero time!" from Ben and the names of his many transformations.

"Mm-hmm," said Lance, thinking. "Yeah, okay. How about, uh... I say 'Vol' and you say 'Tron.' Vol!" Nobody answered.

"Uh..." Keith eventually responded. "Voltron?"

"No!" Lance began before Kevin cut him off.

"My thoughts exactly," he said, earning a glare from Lance and his girlfriend. "What? I already have to deal with Ben and his name shouting."

"I guess that's fair," said Gwen, much to Lance's dismay. He took a sip from his drink and almost vomited.

"Coran," he said to the nearby altean, "what is this?!"

"Oh, this is Nunvill, the nectar of the gods," replied Coran.

"It tastes like hot dog water and feet," shot back Lance.

"Yeah, makes a wonderful hair tonic as well," said Coran as he applied it and walked off. Lance couldn't hold it anymore and vomited into his now empty cup.

"Not feeling well?" Coran asked Shiro as the latter watched the door vigilantly. "Try some Nunvill. Settles the stomach and brightens your smile."

"I'm not sure we should be letting everyone wander in and out of the castle like this," Shiro shot back. Little did he know that in the original timeline, he was right. Now, however, his fears were not to be realized. "It doesn't seem safe."

"Oh, these arusians won't hurt anything..." began Coran, as two floated by, riding the drinks tray. "...much." They crashed, causing Coran to wince. "Besides, it's only fair to let them see the inside of a castle that's been sitting on their planet for so long."

"But who knows when Zarkon will attack again?" asked a nervous Shiro. "I'm going to do a perimeter check, just in case."

As the party safely continued, Allura looked out over the balcony. "Look at them," she began, "the new paladins of Voltron, and our new friends. The fate of the universe is on their shoulders." She didn't realize just how accurate she was. She then saw Keith and Lance joking around, making the arusians laugh. "I must portray strength, so no one can tell how concerned I am about the fate of our mission."

A mouse squeaked in her ear, signaling its presence. "You should tell someone how you feel," it said.

"Let's keep that a secret." replied Allura, her telepathic connection allowing her to understand.

"The mouse is right, you know," said Ben, signaling his presence. He could understand because of the ultimatrix's translator function. Allura and the mice were shocked at his presence, though not his understanding, as they knew about Team 10's translators.

"How long have you been standing there?!" she asked, panicked.

"Long enough," replied Ben, much to Allura's dismay.

"Promise me you won't tell anyone," said the princess.

"Only if you talk to me about it," said the hero.

"Alright," said Allura.

"You know I've been fighting alien warlords since I was ten, right?"

"Yes, but how does that relate to my problem?"

"I did the same thing then that you're doing now. I put on a brave face and tried to tackle my problems head-on. When my grandpa got put in the hospital helping me, I ran away and tried to go it alone." Every word left her more shocked. Just what had this poor kid been through? "I immediately got in over my head, and I had to be bailed out by Gwen. The moment didn't last, though, since the hospital was attacked. I only saved it by fighting alongside Gwen and my now healed grandpa. Long story short, you're not going to beat Zarkon by hiding from your team. You need to let them be there for you. Otherwise, you're just doing Zarkon's job for him."

Allura was stunned. He was right. She would have to tell the others eventually. One of the mice, in an attempt to cheer her up, then said, "You know, you're not the only one with secrets."

"Who else has secrets?" asked the princess, before remembering that she was not alone. Her face turned bright red as she began stuttering about how she didn't mean to pry.

Ben just raised an eyebrow and said, "I don't know, it does sound fun." Once again, the princess was shocked, but she quickly regained her composure, signaling for the mice to begin.

"Hunk tried to eat fake fruit on the first day," they began.

"Hunk tried to eat what?" she said, already feeling better.

"That's hilarious," said Ben. "What else?"

"Lance poses by the mirror every morning," the mice revealed.

"That's not a secret, that's Lance," said Ben. "Try harder."

"Pidge is a girl!" said the mice.

"Not that hard," said Ben, his smile turning to a frown.

"Pidge is a what?!" said a shocked princess, now staring at Pidge from across the room. "Are you sure?" A mouse nodded. "I'm getting to the bottom of this."

"I don't think that's such a good-" started Ben, but Allura had already left. Ben selected Ghostfreak and hid.

Lance and Hunk were talking, but Lance started to tear up. He immediately left, headed past the balcony, which made Coran turn and miss the specter that grabbed Allura behind him and phased them through the floor before she got to Pidge, who wasn't leaving as she had no clue where her family was.

In the training room, Ben released Allura, who got one look at her captor's body and screamed. In the light, he was a gray ghost with one eye, cracked all over and bound in chains. She then noticed the symbol on his chest and realized who it was. "Why are you-" she angrily started.

"So I could make you intangible and bring you here," he answered in a raspy voice. "I needed to talk to you before you did something stupid." In a green flash, he was human again. "Minor secrets, like Hunk's, are just harmless fun. Secrets like Pidge's, on the other hand, are things you don't talk about. You let them come clean on their own time unless it's actively degrading trust, which Pidge isn't. And if you do confront them, you had better be alone and apologetic." Looking at the princess, she was clearly sad again. For some reason, it really got to him. He figured he had better take his mind off of it, so he said, "It's alright. Do you want to train? I mean, we are in the training room."

"Yes, I- I think I'd like that," said Allura. She was blushing, and for some reason, so was Ben!

Why would we be blushing? thought Ben. There's nobody around but- uh-oh. He had enough trouble dating an athlete like him. If that didn't work out, even if they ended on good terms, what hope did he have with a literal princess? He put the thoughts aside and focused on the gladiator.

Allura wasn't faring much better. When her face felt hot, she thought she was sick. The problem was, she didn't feel sick. I feel good, she thought. I feel happy. Why would my face be- oh. She realized what was going on from how her father looked when he talked about her mother. Focus, Allura. Pay attention to the fight, not- Her thoughts were interrupted by a staff about to hit her.

Before it could, Cannonbolt took out the gladiator and said, "So... something's clearly up. Since I'm clearly not helping, why not talk to your dad?"

"I think that would be best, yes," was her reply. Once she left, he sighed. It took him way too long to take down his gladiator, so he figured he should talk to his team before things got worse.

?

Speaking of getting worse, Paradox was struggling. He knew that, assuming the damage didn't accelerate, he could stabilize the timeline long enough for his allies to heal it, but they were damaging time at a rapid rate. Things were looking fairly bleak. Without Sendak, there would be no reason to go to the balmera, and Team Voltron's first real ally would never be made. That, however, could be worked around. If Team Voltron simply went to the nearest galra hotspot first, that would be the balmera. Unfortunately, there was something that would never be worked around. Alfor wouldn't die. Without Sendak infecting him, he would live on, unknowingly damaging time. Should Team 10 succeed before the universe collapsed, time would be stable enough to heal itself. Unfortunately, time was running out. Zarkon would need to be defeated first try if they were to succeed without pulling anyone else.

Castle of Lions, Arus

Back with Allura, things were a lot less tense. She had started the walk to Alfor's room by listing what she liked and disliked about Ben, trying to make sure she liked him. Her suspicions were rapidly confirmed. When she got there, she braced herself and walked in the door, expecting to be scolded for thinking about romance at a time like this.

Ben was having confidence issues, too. He knew that it was possible for love to bloom in war. Heck, it had happened to him and Julie before they drifted apart. He also knew that everyone here wasn't just a soldier, but a person, too. His concerns were with him screwing it up. Since the party was over, he had his friends to himself. He knew Gwen would push him to admit it, but he didn't know if Kevin would tease him or support him. All he knew was that, as usual, he couldn't do this alone. However, that was okay, since he didn't need to. He had his team with him.

?

Paradox, meanwhile, was about to pull Gwen and Kevin. He didn't like it, but with everything going wrong, he had no choice. Then he saw something. He saw a scene that would make anyone's heart ache. You see, Digital Alfor was never meant to replace the original. He was meant to make sure she was safe and say goodbye. In the main timeline, Team Voltron was too inexperienced for him to do that willingly. Team 10, on the other hand, was very experienced. With them guarding his daughter for the foreseeable future, at least until Voltron was ready, he fulfilled his purpose, allowing his daughter to say goodbye, and went offline. Allura was devastated. However, Paradox found the moment bittersweet. Alfor had both went offline and pointed Team Voltron to the balmera, since the Castle of Lions's crystal was about to run out. With time somewhat patched up, Paradox was no longer forced to pull anyone, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Team 10's schedule just became a lot more forgiving. He just hoped that good fortune would hold out.

Castle of Lions, Arus

Allura couldn't believe it. Her father was gone, ripped from her again. She was devastated. She never even got to ask her question, but that didn't matter. When Ben came around the corner, she grabbed him and started crying. Neither understanding nor caring why at that moment, he held her and tried to comfort her. She needed him, so he would be there, not just out of love, but out of his good nature as well. Being there when he was needed was his job, after all. With most people, though, he would give them to someone more qualified if he could and move on to the next problem. Not this one, though. He would see this one through to the end.