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The sun was starting to set and Allura still needed to do her hair.
She muttered her speech under her breath as she turned over the overstuffed pillows of her lounging chair but came up empty. With a huff she blew the hair out of her face and moved on to the vanity. She already checked twice but maybe she wasn't being attentive.
There was a knock on her door.
"Come in," she called half distracted. "Coran, have you seen -" she blinked upon seeing Pidge in the doorway, "Oh, sorry I assumed -"
"It's alright," the teen shrugged off, "I just wanted to give you this."
"My diadem!" Allura smiled as she took the metal headpiece from Pidge, "Where did you find it?"
"Well, I don't know where it was originally but I saw the mice trying to drag it through the hallway. Figured I'd help out."
The mice scurried in and squeaked.
"They thank you Pidge. We all do."
"It was nothing." Pidge shifted in place as if the thanks made the paladin uncomfortable. "Say Princess...there's something I -"
"Princess Allura!"
They turned towards the doorway as they heard Coran's voice down the hall.
"Ah, I should go. You're still getting ready for the celebration."
"I am, but we should talk later Pidge," Allura smiled encouragingly.
"Sure..."
Pidge walked out, shortly afterwards Coran came in a little winded.
"Princess you are going to be late!"
"I know," she groaned out loud now that it was just the two of them. Had anyone else been around she would have withheld the urge. A proper princess never makes such sounds.
Coran tutted. "Sit down. I'll wedge that crown in place.
Allura did as she was told. She was used to this ease of speech with Coran. He'd been with her family for years and had been a close friend of her father's. Her eyes closed as the brush went through her hair. She didn't know what she would have done if she had woken from that pod without him.
She shivered at the prospect of being the sole Altean alive...
"Did I tug too hard?"
"No Coran." Pause. "Pidge found my crown."
"Really now?"
"Yes." She smiled to herself. Breakfast had been amiable this morning. First Hunk gave her first 'dibs' of a treat he had been experimenting on then Lance had pulled out her chair without some absurd flirtation. Even Keith was relaxed instead of scowling at someone. Ever since that talk with Shiro she felt like the atmosphere was calmer. Welcoming, even. "I feel as though we're finally coming together as a team."
"Your father would be proud."
She squeezed the crown in her hands. "I think so too."
Arusian horns sounded into the air along with the soft patter of the drums.
The night was much cooler than the afternoon had been. The celebration of the defeat of Myzak had been set for the following night to allow them to prep the castle and give the warriors their due rest. Coran watched as Allura easily conversed with the Arusian King. He had known her as a child and could tell even now that she would have made a magnificent Queen.
The royal advisor leisurely strolled the main hall near the entrance of the castle. Lively conversations filled the air as everyone smiled and laughed. In the middle he spotted Lance still recovering from his first taste of Nunvil while Keith and Hunk mischievously prodded at his ill stomach.
Coran felt a smile appear on his face. I remember my first sip. It was a rite of passage to experience that pungent flavor and swallow all of it without grimacing. He took a hearty drink of his cup, feeling it warm his insides and tickle his stomach unpleasantly. It was a bit more tart than usual, what with fermenting for 10,000 years but he smiled anyways.
In this easy atmosphere it almost felt like Altea.
Coran turned around, spotting a familiar black and white figure leaning against the archway before the long hallway that led to the outside. He grinned widely, grabbed a cup of Nunvil and made his way over.
"Still where I last saw you, eh?"
Shiro turned his eyes away from surveilling the entrance. He eyed the cup of purple space juice and declined it with a quiet, "I'm good."
"You are allowed to relax after battle."
The Black Paladin gave him a rueful half smile. "We are." The smile fell as he watched Arusians filtering in and out of the castle. "But being off guard is something we can't afford."
"Paladin Shiro," Coran sighed then put Shiro's untouched cup on a passing hover tray, "I understand that you've gone through much, but a soldier must learn to let the battlefield stay where it was left."
At that, Shiro turned completely to Coran.
Shiro didn't know how old the Altean was, nor of his experiences in war. He himself was fairly new to it. He allowed himself a moment to look over Coran's shoulder. There were so many people around, his team included. He caught movement higher up, having seen Allura's light hair as she moved to lean over the bannister on the second level.
"With Zarkon," he murmured low as he looked back at Coran, "you know what we have to lose."
Coran's bright eyes grew somber. "Was it that terrible with the Galra?"
Shiro's lips twitched as if to say something but they stayed in a firm line.
"I'm going to check the perimeter."
The conversations around their little group quieted as Pidge spoke up.
Shiro couldn't say he hadn't been expecting this but he had hoped it would have been much later in time. As it was he could feel Allura's accusing stare drilling into him but he did not look away from Pidge. He'd have to talk to her later. Right now Pidge needed his attention.
"You're leaving the team?"
Pidge did not look at Allura, instead keeping her gaze with Shiro. "I encrypted some of the data we got from that Galra ship. The information's not as recent as I would like but it's something."
Shiro felt the weight of her look, trying to get him to understand.
For a moment, he put himself in her shoes: an inexperienced cadet...a teenage girl who had been looking for her family for at least a year, finally finds one survivor of the mission with a scar on his face, hair partially turned white and a cybernetic right arm - not to mention partial amnesia. And that was damage dealt to someone that had some combat training. What was the damage to two scientists against a ruthless, battle heavy empire?
He felt his gaze soften a little. "Pidge -"
Keith did not have such a moment. "You can't leave."
Pidge broke away from Shiro's gaze. "You can't tell me what to do. Shiro's the leader, not you."
"None of that will matter if we can't form Voltron," Keith spat out.
"Hey guys - " Hunk attempted to intervene.
"I can't just turn my back on my family!"
"No one will have families," Keith hissed, "if Voltron's not there to stop Zarkon from zapping the hell out of everyone!"
If Allura hadn't been directly in his line of view Shiro might not have seen her face pale with Keith's colorful image.
"Keith -"
"I have family too," Hunk added in. "I want to see them but...well, actually, Shiro did say this was a choice..."
And Allura's face had color again. Shiro just wished she didn't have to look so angry at him.
"You want to leave too?" Allura directed to Hunk.
"Well yeah. I mean, we just happened to get here. Completely on accident. We didn't exactly sign up for all of this -"
Keith stepped up to Pidge in anger. "You want to choose two people over the lives of millions? I can't believe how selfish -"
"Keith."
Shiro stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.
"You choose to fight as Voltron, I respect that." He kept his hand on Keith's shoulder as he turned to Pidge. "If you choose to leave, I'll respect that too." He looked back at Keith with a steady gaze. "A team has to respect each other's decisions. If you force someone to be in a team," he glanced at Allura for a second, "you'll get chaos and tragedy."
Keith said nothing but he didn't seem like he'd advance on Pidge again. With a sigh to himself Shiro turned fully to the youngest member of their team.
"If you think you have to go we won't stop you."
Pidge felt the pressure on her shoulders lift a little, but then Shiro's eyes grew solemn.
"But please...consider what it is you're doing."
The heavy weight of her decision came back. She almost preferred Keith yelling at her than Shiro's soft plea. It would have been an easier decision to voice out. As it was, she couldn't bring herself to look Shiro in the eye.
"I have to go...I'm sorry."
They watched Pidge walk away.
"I cannot believe this," came Allura's quiet voice.
"Princess -" Shiro cut himself off as her gaze suddenly turned to him. He could see the anger just simmering in her irises. It would have been hypnotic any other time. "May we speak in private?"
For a moment he thought she wouldn't agree. Her eyes narrowed and then she gave a sharp nod. Shiro quickly followed her lead as she strode along the edge of the hall, turn a corner and into a side room. Somewhere behind him he heard Coran say something and the music started up again. He had just barely closed the door when she let him have it.
"If you didn't keep stressing how they could turn away from their duties so easily -"
"That is not what I told them and you know it. Pidge is anxious. We all are."
"But we were doing so well," Allura put a hand to her forehead then moved her hand to give him a suspicious look, "what have you told them recently?"
"Nothing that would make them suddenly miss Earth," Shiro easily caught onto her train of thought. "It was bound to happen. You had to have known that."
"If not you then someone else must have been expressing discontent. Before tonight not of one of them wanted to go home until Pidge -"
"Don't go blaming her for -" he cut himself off too late.
"Pidge told you she was a girl?"
He could feel pressure building along his forehead. "I figured it out. How did you-"
"The mice," she bit out. "Or else I would not know."
And we're back to the first issue. "They might not have said anything to you," Shiro irritably stressed, "however -"
He realized his second mistake in the middle of saying it.
"...Not to me, then - you..."
He nearly winced at the sullen look she had. "Princess, it's nothing personal. They just felt better telling me instead of -"
"You knew they felt this way but said nothing to me?"
"There wasn't anything to do about it. We're galaxies away from Earth."
The sullen look was quickly replaced with frigidity. "You withheld information," her hand tightly gripped the back of a chair, "after that quiznaking conversation about secrets and teamwork?"
He stared at the chair. Was it the lighting or was the metal giving way to her grip?
"Allura -"
"Princess Allura, Paladin." She gave him a glare as she released the chair and went to the door. "Do not forget it."
On the other side of the door Allura leaned against it, closing her eyes tightly.
That 'ease of atmosphere' and unity she thought she had felt at breakfast that morning was quick to evaporate. It had been in my head. A childish wish for a family that she no longer had. Her eyes opened as she looked up at the ceiling.
Her own naiveté was turning her stomach.
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AN: Thank you for the views and reviews! I appreciate each one. :3 We're getting into parts I really want to write about. :D