I don't own Voltron or anything even remotely associated with it. Heaven knows if I did, I would still have the toys. A regular update again, you are all going to fall over in shock. A week is the best I can do, I apologize but there is this nasty little thing I have to do 5 times a week, otherwise known as work that gets in the way. I apologize, too, for this being nothing other than a conversation, but I think it's a conversation that will please most of you. :)

Confrontation

Allura leaned back against the door leading to the sitting room of the apartments she shared with Liran, recognizing the comfort brought by the solidarity of the structure and clinging to it as the only solid thing left in her existence. Already pacing the length of the room, hands clasped behind his back, Liran didn't even spare her a glance, his brows knitted together. Watching him for several moments, Allura chewed on her lower lip and willed herself not to falter. For ten years she had known this day would come and for the past five she had dreaded it as she dreaded no other thing and now that it was here, she was strangely limp. Everything felt as if it was happening to another person, not herself, and if she just closed her eyes and opened them again she would find Cael safe in the palace and the truth of what had passed between her and Keith something known just to the two of them. Part of her was furious with Liran for having the idiotic need to confront Lotor over a wrong he had never committed while another was furious with Lotor for answering him truthfully. The one time she had needed the Doom Prince to lie and he chose to be honest. It was fitting in a way. More than anything she wished she could feel relieved that Liran knew the truth, or at least suspected it, but the feeling refused to come. Perhaps...once this was over...she swallowed and tried to banish her doubt that this would ever really be over and took a hesitant step away from the door. This time Liran threw her a glance, the anger in his eyes so poisonous she instinctively retreated and found herself back to back with the door a second time. Uttering a noise of disgust under his breath, Liran continued to pace relentlessly across the length of the room.

"Liran..."Allura ventured finally, the word scarcely more than a whisper. Liran's head snapped in her direction but he still did not say anything. Taking a deep breath, Allura tried again, feeling no more confident in her success than she had a moment before.

"Liran, please let me explain..."

"I don't think there's really any need for you to explain, Allura. I understand perfectly," Liran retorted, the speed of his pacing only increasing.

"I don't think you do."

"I don't think it matters to you whether I do or not. You were perfectly fine lying to me for the past ten years. You would have lied to me for the rest of our lives if your precious Lotor hadn't exposed you."

"My precious Lotor?" It came out as a shriek even though she didn't mean it to and Liran finally stopped, his eyes blazing as he turned to look at her.

"It seems any man who comes into contact with you becomes precious in some way. He didn't find your tracking device by accident, did he?"

"No," Allura answered a moment later, finding it incredibly difficult to swallow. Nodding his head in disgust, Liran threw up his hands and resumed pacing.

"But still he didn't have you first, did he? But you said he did. A clever lie, my dear, very clever. How you must have congratulated yourself on getting me to believe it all these years. I remember it so well the night you told me, it was our wedding night, if you recall."

"I remember."

"'Liran, there's something I have to tell you before we..." and I listened, thinking it was just the usual jitters. But instead of fears, my new bride tells me a story, a story of a princess captured by a man who had always desired her and how that desire finally was fulfilled. But she was so ashamed, so hurt, so mortified she couldn't tell anyone it had happened, not even her companions, and she could only tell me now that we were married and she was certain I would not turn her away. And I, fool that I was, not only believed it but kept your phony secret for you all these years. Did it give you pleasure, Allura, thinking how you had duped me into protecting your infidelity?"

"No, it did not give me pleasure. It wasn't some grand plot to make you look like a fool. I had to tell you something anything other than the truth. It was the only believable explanation. I never dreamed you would have the chance to confront Lotor about it."

"Oh so that makes everything all right then?"

"No. Why won't you listen to anything I have to say? It isn't as if your feelings have really been hurt, only your pride."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Liran stopped pacing a second time, his eyes no longer blazing as he looked at her though his voice retained its chill. Stifling the urge to laugh, Allura forced herself to meet his gaze directly as she said,

"Apparently you've forgotten the conversation we had the day before our wedding. The one where you spoke of love and how you knew you didn't feel any for me and if I didn't feel any for you, it would be perfectly understandable. That ours was to be a marriage of companionship, not simply convenience, and if we grew fond of each other over time, that would be a pleasant side-effect but not a goal to be achieved. Don't you remember?"

"I remember."

"You've never said you loved me...and I've never said I loved you."

"But your Captain has, hasn't he?"

"Don't bring Keith into this." She had to drop his gaze then, knowing it would give him the answer he thought he wanted but unable to do anything else. Harshly Liran laughed and shook his head.

"My dear, he's always been a part of this whether he's physically been here or not. If you recall, I also asked you during that conversation whether or not you had loved one of the departed Voltron Force. Do you remember your answer?" Still closing her eyes, Allura turned her face away from the heat of his stare, felt even without being seen and answered in a whisper,

"I said I may have had a girlish crush on one or two of them, but nothing substantial."

"And I believed that, knowing that it was natural considering how much time you spent with

them. I even thought it was a rationalization for the way your face would always change whenever the Captain was accidentally mentioned as rare as it was that anyone spoke of him when you were around. I even used it as the excuse for Lance's ongoing flirtation with you and your obvious delight in it. But I was once again deceived. So tell me, Allura, how long have you been sleeping with the Captain?"

Allura's eyes flew open and she stared at Liran for several moments, her features hardening before she said in a level tone,

"I haven't slept with anyone besides you since our wedding."

"You really expect me to believe that? After the way you look at each other?" Liran scoffed, a snort of laughter escaping from him.

"It's the truth, whether you choose to believe it or not. He would never deliberately do anything so dishonorable."

"Ah yes, his honor. The honor that supposedly keeps him from bedding another man's wife but doesn't hinder him in any way from keeping a mistress at Galaxy Garrison."

Any retort she could have made died on her lips and she simply looked at him for several minutes in stunned silence. Satisfaction flooded Liran's features to see that he had finally hurt her at last and he watched with some interest as her face flickered with several different emotions. Feeling strangely numb, Allura found herself transported back to the stairwell the one night she and Keith had both let down their guard enough to realize nothing had changed between them in ten years. His expression, strangely embittered and more than tinged with self-loathing flashed before her eyes as he admitted there had been at least one other woman in his life since leaving Arus. But I haven't treated her nearly as well as I should have and she deserves someone far better than I ever could be. She's been good to me and I have done nothing for her in return except give her an illusion of what she'll never really have, his words echoed in her mind and she fought against the feelings of betrayal their true meaning created. It was no different from what she had been doing with Liran, even if he hadn't married her, but it still stung more than it should have.

"For a man who guards his secrets so well, it certainly was easy to discover the true nature of their relationship."

"Stop."

Liran's brows arched and his interest only grew as he studied her averted face for several moments.

"You are still in love with him."

It wasn't a question, it wasn't even a statement, it was more an embittered confirmation of something he had always known. Allura kept her face turned away from him, not wanting any of this even though she had known it was inevitable. Liran continued to peer at her, almost as if she were a specimen to be studied, his own features a myriad of different emotions.

"You still love him and I'd swear to the fact that he still loves you. Why else would the man stay away for ten years and only come back when there was no possible way he could refuse? How long did it take before the two of you were reunited at last? Was it the first night or did you at least wait a week?"

"I haven't slept with Keith. I don't intend to sleep with Keith."

"Because of his precious honor?"

"Because I'm married to you. Though the fact of our marriage doesn't seem to hinder you in

your affairs." His features changed and satisfaction coursed through Allura in waves so strong it was nearly intoxicating. She had finally said it to him at last. After years of suspicion and confirmation, she had said it and she didn't wish it unsaid. Eyes widening, Liran simply goggled at her for several moments before regaining his composure and saying in a flat tone,

"I didn't think you knew."

"No. I didn't want you to," she replied, meeting his gaze and smiling faintly. "It didn't matter, not really. And I know it has nothing to do with me or our relationship, it's just something you have to do. I never thought of it as infidelity...there wasn't really anything for you to be faithful to."

"Then why..."

"Because you need to know everything. So do I."

Several minutes passed where the monarchs of Arus looked at each other and then Liran's jaw dropped.

"You're going to give yourself up to that madman again."

"I have no choice."

"You're going to give yourself up to him and this time...you're not coming back."

"I don't think anyone can save me this time. Not even Keith." The regret in her tone was unmistakable and something flashed in Liran's eyes.

"He'll save you. He won't rest until he does." Allura shook her head almost wildly, the beginnings of tears stirring behind her eyes despite all her efforts to prevent them.

"He's not going to be able to. Don't you see? This whole thing, abducting the pilots, luring the original Force here...Lotor just wants a second chance to do what he failed to do ten years ago. And this time...he'll succeed."

"What?" Genuine surprise flickered across his features, replacing the anger that had flashed there a moment before as he looked at her with renewed interest. Swallowing, Allura apologized silently to Keith before saying softly,

"Keith won't be able to kill Lotor again."

"You believe that when your Captain comes to save you, he won't be the victor?"

"I'm certain of it," she whispered. Liran's brows threatened to meet his hair and he folded his arms as he stared at her in growing speculation.

"What makes you think this? I may loathe the sight and sound of your Captain but it seems

there isn't a task in this galaxy he isn't capable of once he sets his mind to it."

"That's true in all things but this. I can't tell you why...but he won't be able to do it. Not this time."

"Are you going to tell him not to come after you?" She shook her head emphatically and wiped away the tears that were starting to form against her wishes.

"He won't listen to me. And I'm not asking you to stop him. It won't do any good."

"No, it wouldn't. Lance?"

"He can't get through to Keith any more than the rest of us when his mind's made up. Lotor has Cael, Liran. The only thing that matters is getting him back. If I have to give myself willingly to Lotor...if Keith destroys himself trying to save me...it won't matter as long as Cael is safe." She let herself cry at last, looking at him steadily even as the tears continued to spill across her cheeks.

"Cael," Liran repeated, half-wonderingly. Allura nodded and momentarily buried her face in her hands. Looking at her without really seeing her, Liran walked to the other side of the room and stared at the wall for several minutes. When he spoke, his voice was so soft, Allura almost didn't hear it.

"He's not my son, is he?"

Swallowing with difficulty, Allura wiped furiously at her tears and took a deep breath, willing her voice to be steady as she answered,

"No."

"The Captain's?"

"Yes."

"He doesn't know."

"No."

"Why did you keep this from me?" He turned to look at her, his eyes strangely devoid of any anger, just a detached listlessness that was somehow more frightening.

"Because I thought he was yours." Liran snorted and Allura took several steps towards him, despite the shakiness of her legs.

"I had no reason not to. Cael was born nine months after we were married. He was late but still, the date coincided with what the doctors told me. I slept with Keith the night before he left Arus ten years ago, not before. If he was the father, then Cael was exceedingly late...I just assumed he was yours. The possibility didn't even cross my mind until..."

"My drunken confession."

"No. I believed he was a miracle, too, Liran. I believed he was your miracle...but there were little things...things that I pretended not to see. It wasn't until Lance asked me two years ago that I let myself see it."

"Lance knows?"

"He's Keith's closest friend. Do you really think he wouldn't be able to recognize his son?"

"I'm through, Allura," Liran said unexpectedly.

"What do you mean?"

"This...business with you, the Captain, Lotor...I want no part of it. Make your decisions, your sacrifices, decide what to do but without me. I don't care what you do."

"Liran..."

"Oh I'm not leaving you, so you needn't worry your pretty little head. I've violated our marriage contract a hundred times over in comparison to your one indiscretion. I'm trapped just as you are, as we've always been. And I'll keep the boy safe and see that all his needs are met...the illusion will continue just as it always has. But what becomes of you and your Force...I care not. I don't even care how it will look that I let my wife sacrifice herself to a madman without so much as a whimper of protest. I'm through."

"Liran!"

"Go to your Captain. He deserves to know the truth before he dies, seeing as you're so certain that's what his fate will be, though I don't give a damn about any of it anymore. I don't know why I ever bothered to care. This...is just what I deserved, what I was meant for. I am what I always was, the last of five sons whose only skill lay in diplomacy and who was only useful to his father for the alliance he could make through marriage. Tell the Captain his son will want for nothing so long as he is in my care, except, perhaps fatherly affection. I've never been able to give it to him and now...I no longer have to try."

"Liran, please..." Striding past her to the doorway, Liran laughed bitterly and paused with his hand on the handle. Throwing her a look over his shoulder, he smiled, though the expression was more of a twisting of his lips than a curve and his eyes were harder than she had ever seen them.

"I've promised you all I can give you, Allura. Think kindly of me during your captivity, though I cannot say I will do the same for you. And you were wrong...I have never said it and now I never will and perhaps it isn't exactly true. But I did love you...in my own fashion."

"Liran..."

She tried again but he merely strode through the door and slammed it behind him with a finality that sounded to the depths of her soul. Sinking to the floor, Allura stared at the space he had recently occupied, numb beyond all feeling. It was not the loss of her husband that shook her, nor the fear for her son, or even the strange relief to have finally told him everything at last. It was his sudden abandonment that shocked her and the realization that she really hadn't known him, in spite of their ten years of marriage. If he really had loved her...even slightly...then she really had wronged him, even without meaning to. But he had wronged her as well...and now it was too late. Too late to have an actual relationship with the man she had a married, a relationship that could have become something, even if she would never love him the way that she still loved Keith. Keith. How was she ever going to tell him Cael was his son?