Castle of Lions, Arus

It was the night before the Castle of Lions was going to leave. As such, the arusians had decided a going-away party was in order, especially since Voltron 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, realizing their mistake, 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 smiled and 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 officially 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, 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 Gwen. "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.

Shiro P.O.V.

"Not feeling well?" Coran asked Shiro as the latter watched the door vigilantly. To so blatantly lower their defenses seemed wrong. "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 said, getting right to the point. 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." He then walked off to do his fifth check.

Allura/Ben P.O.V.

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. She was concerned for the fate of their mission, especially if jokesters were her only hope. "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 Team Voltron 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, smiled, 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 and reminiscing about home, 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. It covered her mouth to quiet her and phased them through the floor before she could get to Pidge, who had another major secret, one much more important.

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. "W-Why are you-" she angrily started.

"So that 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 eating fake fruit or Kevin's middle name being Ethan, 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 extremely apologetic." Looking at the princess, she was clearly sad again, since she had just been about to do something terrible. 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. You didn't mean any harm. 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 I be blushing? thought Ben, fighting a gladiator as Cannonbolt. There's nobody around but- uh-oh. He knew what was going on. He had already done it once, after all. 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, who was almost winning.

Allura wasn't faring any 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 so hot? She had no clue wat was going on. Focus, Allura, she chided herself. Pay attention to the fight, not- Her thoughts were interrupted by a staff about to hit her.

Before it could, Cannonbolt took out her gladiator, having finished with his own, 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.

?

Things were getting a lot worse. Paradox was losing the battle against the damage to the world, and he was about to pull the team, maybe sending them to a new world to live in, since their own would be destroyed in the imminent implosion. That is, until something happened, something that made Paradox's hairs stand on end.

"Hello, Paradox," said Eon.

Castle of Lions, Arus

Back with Allura, things were a lot less tense. It was still tense, mind you, but not as tense as Paradox's situation. As she described her "symptoms" to her father, she dreaded the possibility of being sick, especially now. Her father, meanwhile, was growing more concerned by the minute. Any father in his situation would be. Eventually, he stopped her and spoke.

"My daughter," he began, "I believe I know what is happening to you."

"What is it, father?" asked the princess.

"That is not for me to say, at least, not yet. What I can tell you is that you are physically healthy."

"Then what happened while I was training with Ben?"

So, he is the one my daughter has feelings for, thought the former king. The powerful shapeshifter from another universe. I must handle this with tact.

"I cannot tell you just yet," the king spoke. "However, I believe it would be wise for me to meet this shapeshifter you keep talking about." In truth, he simply wanted to make sure his daughter's feelings were well placed.

Ben, meanwhile, was having confidence issues. 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, so his plight wouldn't fall on deaf ears. His concerns were with him screwing it up. Since the party was almost 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.

At least, he thought he did. That illusion was shattered when Allura called him.

"Ben, as hostess, I must return to the party. In the meantime, my father has requested an audience with you to better gauge the strength of our allies."

And thus, he was about to meet his crush's remaining parent. Oh, boy, he thought. After calming his nerves, he stepped into the chamber.

It was beautiful. A field of flowers as far as the eye could see. He knew it was a hologram, but it was still pretty.

"This was Altea," spoke the dead king. "This was our home."

"It's incredible," said Ben, absorbing the breathtaking view.

"Indeed. Normally, this would be where I ask of your abilities, but you have already demonstrated those, both on the field and in training."

Ben immediately grew nervous. "What are we going to talk about, then?"

Alfor adopted a serious face, and said, "Tell me, what do you think of my daughter?"

?

"Look at you, my worst nemesis, so vulnerable," said Eon. "I could kill you now. But, doing that would destroy our world, taking away my supply of alternate Bens. As much as I hate doing this..."

He then did the last thing Paradox expected. He joined the time walker. With their combined strength, stability was ensured. Unless Voltron was destroyed, Ben and his friends would have all the time in the world to save reality.

Castle of Lions, Arus

One simple word filled Ben's mind.

Quiznak.

He was screwed. Thoroughly and utterly. His crush's dad had just asked what he thought of her. And it was written all over his face.

Alfor, though, immediately did something unexpected. He laughed. It wasn't a particularly large laugh, but it was a laugh nonetheless.

"Judging by your face, you have developed feelings for her," he said. "Not only that, but you have realized them as well. Good."

The fear on Ben's face was replaced by confusion. "W-What do you mean?" he asked.

"My greatest desire is to see my daughter happy. While she does not realize it herself, you make her happy. Now that I know you feel the same way, I feel at peace for the first time in 10,000 years. You have my blessing. In addition, if you ever wish to speak to me, you are welcome in this chamber."

To say Ben was shocked was an understatement. He was flabbergasted at what he had just heard. But, as long as the king was offering...

"I actually do have a question," he said. "Assuming I manage to work up the courage and ask her out..."

"What would be her favorite food?"