A/N: Brief warning: there is a bloody nose and injuries from hand-to-dagger combat in this chapter.

"This is bad."

"How bad?"

"On a scale of one to ten? I'm gonna go with a nine. Maybe nine point five."

"Then what would be a ten?"

"Probably doing a one way wormhole into Zarkon's high command. Probably. You know, not that we have experience with that or anything."

Hunk grimaced and looked from Pidge to their other teammates, all of them shivering and covered in snow and ice. Keith, whose coordination had taken an obvious turn for the worse and whose words were beginning to slur, was by far in the worst shape. Shiro and Hunk had the red paladin sandwiched between them in an attempt to shield him from the worst of the cold, but they too were feeling the numbing effects of the vicious weather. Lance was better off than any of them and had taken up the role of scout, ranging out short distances into the swirling blizzard in an attempt to pick up their trail, but even he kept chafing his arms and hands. Now he stomped up to the rest of the group and ducked down with them behind the rocky outcrop where they'd taken shelter. "I've tried everywhere, guys, but this wind has wiped out any tracks we left. I can't figure out what direction we came from. And I haven't been able to make contact with the Castle or the Shilquas, either."

"They'll be sending out search parties soon," Shiro replied, with a confidence they all knew he didn't feel. "As soon as this storm lets up."

"Yeah, that's kinda the problem." Pidge huddled down next to Hunk, wrapping her arms around herself as she tried to preserve body heat. "The Shilquas said that these storms can last for days. That's why we were supposed to finish the mission before it hit."

"Thanks for the sparkling optimism, Pidge," Lance grumbled, and directed a pointed look at Shiro. "How's Keith?"

"Not great." The black paladin rubbed the younger boy's back, brows knitted. "If we're going to be out her much longer, we'll need a better shelter and a fire."

"Good luck with that," Keith grunted. Oh good, he was still conscious. Hunk had started to wonder. "No fuel out here."

"And not really any shelter, either," the yellow paladin felt obliged to add. "We were lucky just to find these rocks."

"Well, we can't just sit here until we freeze to death," was Shiro's edged reply. He seemed to be about to pull himself up for a look around, then thought better of it and sat back with a frustrated sigh. "Pidge, any ideas?"

The green paladin began a rambling discussion about science, and wind calculations, and cloud movements, which meant she didn't actually have any ideas but wasn't willing to admit it, and Hunk tuned her out. His heart rate was kicking into a faster gear than was good in these circumstances, and he huddled in on himself as he focused on breathing the way Shiro had taught him.

In, hold, out. In, hold, out. Breathe. Calm. Center.

Center…

He blinked, and looked around. Snow, and stone, and…

Center.

That way.

"Uh, guys?" Hunk pushed himself to his feet, glancing from his friends to the snowy curtain around them. "I, uh, I think I know the way back."

The others exchanged looks. Shiro frowned at him. "How?"

"I don't really know, exactly, but… I think north is that way, and we left the city heading southwest, which means we need to go…" Hunk turned through the storm, reaching out for that wispy sense of anchoring, of centering, orientation, and pointed. "That way."

The others blinked at him, and at each other. Then Keith suddenly started to his feet, wobbly but determined. "I'm with him. Let's go."

Perhaps the wisdom of the guy with hypothermia wasn't the best thing to go by, but it got the rest of them moving, and with Lance and Shiro flanking Keith and Pidge taking up the rear Hunk forged his way into the storm. He was going on feeling more than sight and had to fight to squash the voice of logic and doubt and fear in the back of his head that he was going the wrong way, this was stupid, they were all going to die…

The yellow paladin swallowed, and felt his way forward. No. Center. This is right.

The voice finally fell silent when they almost walked smack into the city wall, hidden as it was in massive drifts of snow. They lost no time in pushing their way through the gate and getting somewhere warm, with blankets and a change of clothes and hot drinks in front of a fire. It wasn't until they were all huddled on the pile of cushions that served as a couch for the Shilquas, basking in the heat of a fireplace full of glowing coals, that Lance turned to Hunk with a bemused expression. "So, buddy, how'd you do that?"

Hunk blinked at him, and at the others as they, too, turned curious gazes in his direction, and shrugged. "Honestly I have no idea. I just was doing that calming breathing thing Shiro showed me, and then I just… felt where we were, I guess. Like I had a compass in my head."

"Well, it's a good thing you did." Keith was all but sitting in the hearth, his hands extended to the dancing flames as he soaked up their warmth. "I don't remember much of that trip back. Probably wouldn't have lasted much longer." He shot the yellow paladin a sober look. "Thank you."

Hunk shifted on his cushions, uncomfortable with the praise. "Really, I just went on a gut feeling, it wasn't anything special. Lance could probably have carried you back if he had to. He did way better in the cold than the rest of us."

"Nah, man." The blue paladin shook his head. "Maybe—maybe—I could have hauled his fat butt this far, but I wouldn't have had a prayer of going in the right direction if you hadn't shown us the way."

Shiro gave Hunk's shoulder a squeeze. "Good job. I don't know how you did it, but you really saved us out there."

Hunk felt his ears go warm. Not from the fire. "Well, aren't you all just super sappy tonight. Maybe you should get mostly frozen more often."

A pillow smacked him in the face, and he heard Keith chuckle.

"Don't count on it."

"Guys, I need help!" Yellow pressed against the base of the massive tower in a bid to stop its fall as Hunk's voice crackled over the comms. "It'll come down on the city if we don't get it back up!"

"Kinda busy right now!" Lance yelled back. "Pidge, watch your six!"

"There's too many of them!" Red blazed past, taking out a pair of fighters before looping back toward the shuddering tower. "We may have to cut our losses."

"We can't just let it drop!" Hunk shot back. "There are too many people in the city!"

"We need you up here or we'll get overrun!"

Shiro braced himself against his controls, torn and furious. For a moment he felt as though he were floating, with no sense of gravity to anchor him, and he shook his head to clear the sensation. Such spells had been occurring every so often ever since they'd joined Voltron, and now was really not the time.

Beneath his hands, his Lion thrummed.

Push.

Shiro blinked as Black tangled in his thoughts. Pressure. Force against stone. The groan of metal, and determination, and a question.

Shiro breathed deep, and reached back.

Together.

Black rumbled, and shot toward the tower as Shiro barked out orders. "Pidge, Lance, Keith, keep those fighters off us for just a little longer. Hunk, can you use your boosters to push the tower back up?"

"Yeah, but I'm a pivot point, it needs something to hold up the other side."

"I'll take care of that. You just push when I say!"

The tower quivered, and groaned, and Black charged toward it without slacking her pace. There was no time. Shiro gritted his teeth and slammed the joysticks forward, oh man, this was going to hurt...

They crashed into the tower with enough force to make it shudder. Over the comms, Hunk yelped in surprise. "What was that?"

"That was me." Shiro hauled in air, gasping as his Lion's effort trembled through him. She'd pressed her head against the tower to use her neck for extra leverage, which was brilliant and not exactly what he'd had in mind and his head and neck were already starting to hurt. "I've got the far side. Boosters!"

"Ten-four!"

The two Lions shoved together. Slowly, painfully slowly, the tower creaked back toward its proper foundations as fighters shrieked around them. Shiro could hear Hunk groaning from Yellow's exertion, and stars flashed in his vision as he and Black poured every ounce of power into the endeavor. The world narrowed down into push, and push, and the feeling of stone against metal. He yelled without words, sweat dripping into his eyes, and dredged up from somewhere a few fragments more, and something groaned and gave. Red exploded behind his eyelids as the tower rocked back into position and the pressure suddenly eased.

Shiro hung over the joysticks, gasping for breath, grateful that the vehicle beneath his hands was capable of handling herself long enough for him to get his brain back together. One hand went to his face, and came away sticky.

"Whoo! You guys rock!" Lance's voice filtered in, coaxing his awareness back to the world around him. "The base'll need a patch job later, but the tower's back up!"

"Oh, man." Hunk grunted, and from the pop Shiro guessed he was twisting his spine back into alignment. "That was way harder than I expected. What do these guys build with, anyway?"

"They've got some sort of ultra-dense metal alloy," Pidge started. "It's what allows them to—"

"Not the time, Pidge!" Keith barked. "Keep those fighters back! Shiro, what's your status?"

"Functional," the black paladin managed. He hauled himself back into an upright position, hands fumbling over the control panel. "I've taken some damage, but we're still up and flying."

"What sort of damage?"

"Black used her head to get a little extra push." Shiro closed his eyes for a moment, feeling the bent and battered plates along his Lion's muzzle. "It worked, but she got a bit dented. And I've got a bloody nose."

"Okay. You take it easy, with that tower back up this won't take too long. We can handle the rest."

Shiro didn't sit out the remainder of the fight, but with the smell of iron in his nose and the extremely distracting sensation of trickling blood it was just as well that his team was competent enough to mop up the rest of the fighters on their own. On reflex he kept wiping at his face, and his hands and controls were soon smudged with red. He chuffed a soft laugh. "Sorry I'm making such a mess on you. I promise I'll clean up later."

Mess, both of us. Wry amusement. Need patching up.

Shiro grinned, and rubbed his nose, and winced.

"Yeah, I guess we do."

A polite knock made Keith jump, and he snapped his lighter shut a bit guiltily. "Come in."

The door slid open and Shiro took two steps into the room, opening his mouth to say something—and then closed it, and folded his arms as his face dropped into disapproval. "Keith, we've talked about this."

Keith looked down at the charred bits of paper in his hand and felt his cheeks go hot. "I was being careful!"

"Look, I know you of all people are careful with fire." The older man sighed and leaned one shoulder against the wall. "I'm just worried this is getting out of hand. What's with you and burning things lately?"

"I—" Keith swallowed, dropping his gaze. "It's… I can't…"

"Hey." Shiro's tone was soft, like Keith remembered from those times at the Garrison when everything had just been too much and people were stupid and he was too angry to think straight. "Just talk it out. Some things don't lend themselves to words. Just give me the gist."

The red paladin clung to that and took a deep breath. "It's like… if I don't have fire, I… I'm hungry for it. When we were with the Shilquas, and they made us that fire when we got back from the field… I could have stared into that forever. The flames, watching the wood burn… it's like I—I need fire, Shiro. I don't know why, I just… it feels right. Like something fitting into place." His lips twitched, ever so slightly. "Like Hunk and his rocks. I can go without it, but… something just feels off if I do."

"Is that how he described it?"

"Yeah, kinda." Keith glanced up, frustrated—he'd never been able to talk well, that hadn't been right at all—

"I've been being too hard on you."

Keith blinked. "Huh?"

Shiro regarded him with a thoughtful expression. "I've been trying to get you to stop burning things, but I've also seen how much calmer Hunk is if he has a stone in his pocket. If fire is the same for you…" Grey eyes creased, ever so slightly. "You need it."

"Thank—hey…"

Shiro flashed him a smirk, then sobered. "But if you are going to burn things, there need to be some ground rules."

Uh-oh…

"First." The black paladin raised one finger. "Never start a fire in a place it might spread, and always make sure it's out completely."

"I do that already!"

"Good. Just figured it could stand to be repeated." Another finger rose. "Second, only burn things where it can easily be cleaned up. Coran had to scrub off scorch marks and ash when you burned that napkin in the kitchen, and he was not happy."

Keith ducked his head. Oops. He'd kinda forgotten about that one.

"Third." Shiro shot a pointed glance around Keith's bare room. "You need to have some sort of flame retardant close by, just in case—sand, water, whatever, but we're on a space ship that's one of the highest military targets in the known universe. Accidents are going to happen. And fourth, no burning anything that shouldn't be burned—no napkins, clothing, bedsheets, anything like that. Paper is fine. Wood is fine. But not stuff that can't be immediately replaced."

"…Is Coran still mad about the napkin?"

"You might want to apologize for it," the older man replied dryly. "Apparently it was part of a set, and now there's an uneven number."

Oops. "Okay, I will."

"Glad to hear it."

"Anything else?"

"Not at the moment." Shiro grinned at him. "Just don't do anything crazy enough to merit adding another rule. Deal?"

"Deal." Keith returned a smile of his own, rolling his lighter between his fingers as he contemplated the flame waiting to be given spark. He raised his eyebrows as something occurred to him. "Uh, what did you stop by for, originally?"

"Oh yeah, thanks for the reminder." The black paladin rubbed his jaw, looking pensive. "See, I was talking with Pidge and Hunk, and we had this idea…"

Hunk found himself backed into an alcove with Allura as the assassins overran the hall, neither of them armed or armored and the princess hampered by her flowing formal gown. Darn Ekshin political customs. Several assassins closed on them, and one jumped at Allura. Another grabbed Hunk—and man was the guy strong, even Allura seemed to be having difficulty holding her ground—and threw the yellow paladin hard against the wall.

Lights exploded in his vision, and he lay on the floor for a moment as he tried to figure out which way was up. Cries and snarls echoed around him, and he lifted his head to see that two more assassins had joined Allura's first attacker. Between the three of them they'd wrestled the princess to a standstill. Another assassin moved in, holding what looked like a ceremonial dagger, and Hunk's insides went cold.

No time to think. Just move.

The dagger stabbed downward, and Hunk launched himself across the alcove.

For a moment the world stood still.

Hunk choked and staggered, staring at the weapon protruding from his stomach. From somewhere far away he heard Allura crying his name, but his senses weren't working properly, and it hurt, it hurt, and blood was everywhere… He went down on one knee, gasping for breath, or breathing too much, and everything was going grey, and—

—And he blinked, and drew a steadying breath, and lifted his head. Blood still flowed over the fingers he had clamped to his wound, and agony still sang through every nerve, but despite the sensory overload his head was somehow clear. He felt tingly, too fast and too slow all at once, as though he was either slightly separated from his body or more present than he'd ever been before. An invisible stream seemed to be flowing into him from somewhere outside, and as he reached for it in puzzlement the answer came rushing in and he smiled through the taste of blood.

Share. Give. Support. Yours, and mine. Ours.

With Yellow's quintessence, so solid and strong, giving his body borrowed strength, Hunk got to his feet. The assassins still holding Allura hissed with shock as the opponent they'd thought was down for good picked himself off the floor and closed in, one hand still clamped to the tear in his gut while the other arm swung out to hook around an enemy's neck.

Step. Drop his weight. Pull.

The assassin's yelp of surprise cut off abruptly as Hunk flipped him over his shoulders, the sound of cracking vertebrae loud beside the paladin's ear. Then the others yelled with alarm as Allura, now with an arm freed, went on the attack. Familiar shouts announced that backup had arrived, and Hunk kicked the feet out from under another assassin just as Keith and Shiro bulled their way into the alcove while Pidge and Lance covered their backs. The yellow paladin flashed his friends a strained grin. "Hi guys, what took you so long?"

Keith took one look at the other boy and his eyes went wide. "Oh, quiznak—guys, Hunk's hurt bad!"

"I'm managing." Hunk kept one hand against his torn stomach, feeling blood and pain and Yellow's quintessence flowing in equal measure. "Just… let's get to our Lions? Y'know, fast?"

They did their best. As the other paladins grouped around them in a defensive knot Allura pulled Hunk's free arm over her shoulders, and he leaned gladly on her as the others fought their way out of the hall. Hunk wasn't about to complain about the VIP treatment as blood loss made his senses start to wobble, and by the time they made it outside to where the Lions waited his head was buzzing, alert and distant all at once. Yellow pressed against his thoughts, concerned and comforting and angry, and Hunk reached back through the ropes of lent quintessence that held him to consciousness. "It's okay, buddy, just a little longer…"

"Allura." Shiro's hand was glowing as he spearheaded their little group. "Get Hunk into Black. His Lion can fly to the Castle on his own."

"Are you sure?" The princess kept a firm grip on Hunk's arm. "The Lion might not—"

"He'll come," Hunk interrupted. "He's… he's keeping me awake. If I go in Black, he'll follow."

Shiro and Allura looked at him, then at each other. The black paladin nodded once, short and sharp. "Good. You two get moving, we'll cover you."

They all made it back to the Castle in one piece, with Hunk drifting in and out while Shiro flew them as fast as Black could manage and Allura tended to his wound. Yellow continued to pour quintessence into him through the bond he could feel but not see, and upon their arrival Coran carefully patched him back together in the infirmary with an expression that mixed concern with wonder. "This might not be the best time, but… you really shouldn't be conscious. Probably shouldn't have made it back here. You really got torn up."

Numb from topical anesthesia and aching and exhausted, Hunk shrugged beneath the surgical lights. "My Lion's keeping me going. But, y'know, neither of us would mind if I get into a healing pod stat."

"I won't mind either." The Altean applied sutures and bandages and wheeled his patient straight to the pod chamber. The others helped him move the yellow paladin into a pod Allura had already prepped, and with a grateful sigh Hunk let the healing cycle pull him into unconsciousness. As welcome darkness closed in he reached out toward the anchor that had sustained him for all this time.

Thanks, buddy.

The Lion reached back, solid and gentle.

Yours. Mine. Ours.

Lance blinked at their resident tech geek, not sure if he'd heard right. "You want to visit a botanical garden?"

"Well, yeah." Pidge waved excited hands. "We're on a whole new planet, with its own flora and fauna. I wanna get a look!" She turned a sly grin on him. "One of the ambassadors said it's got a waterfall."

"Oh, twist my arm, will you." The blue paladin rolled his eyes and reached for his jacket. "Fine, I'll go."

They made it out of the ambassadorial wing of the Kenkishian palace without anyone telling them they couldn't leave and escaped down the street. Pidge had gotten directions from someone, and she led the older paladin straight to a soaring metal gate with an inscription neither of them could read. Lance raised an eyebrow at it. "You sure this is the right place?"

"Yup. And we can just walk in, it's free."

Pidge suited action to word, and they stopped just inside to take in the expanse before them. The garden was vast and sprawling, with massive trees and garden beds overflowing with flowers and a beautiful lake right in the center of it all. It was tidy but natural, not like the rigid, formal gardens they'd seen in some other places, and Lance stared around him in amazement. "Wow. This is amazing. Uh, where do you want to start?"

The green paladin smirked at him. "Let's find you that waterfall first."

At first they couldn't locate the falls at all, and their search took them in a wide arc through the garden. Lance found himself having to constantly wait for Pidge as she bent over another new flower, and he began to get impatient. Not that he didn't appreciate flowers too, but he didn't need to look at every single one, and what was her deal anyway? I thought she hated the outdoors… Guess she got the bug from the Olkari…

At last, after she had stopped by yet another soaring spike of pink and orange blossoms that resembled oversized snapdragons, he gave up. "Hey, Pidge, mind if I go on ahead? I think I can see a bridge, and that waterfall's probably close by."

"Yeah, no problem." The girl barely glanced at him, hand extended to cradle one of the flowers in her palm as she breathed in its fragrance. "I'll catch up to you in a bit."

With a sigh of relief, Lance stepped out briskly toward his goal. Sure enough, by the time he stepped onto the sculpted stone of the bridge the music of falling water was echoing all around him, and he leaned his elbows on the railing as he took in the sight. It wasn't a wide waterfall, but it was a high one, almost as tall as Blue's shoulder, and its curtain of roaring water swirled away beneath him in a tumbling race toward the lake. He grinned and tipped his head back to catch the feel of the spray across his cheeks as the cascade's rumble vibrated through his bones. Now this was nature.

A flicker of movement caught his eye, and he looked over to see one of the Kenkish pruning an overgrown shrub. The alien's four eyes were watching him sidelong, and Lance waved. "Uh, hi, just looking."

"Hello. Are you not enjoying the garden?"

"Er, I am enjoying it."

"Then why do you have no flowers?"

Lance looked down at his hands, then back at his interrogator, confused. "No… flowers?"

The creature tipped his head, studying him. "It is the custom of all Kenkishian gardens that those who enjoy them leave with some token of their enjoyment."

"But… doesn't that kill the flowers?"

A furred shrug. "It is tradition."

"Uh… okay. Not gonna mess with tradition." Lance glanced about, wondering if he should just pick some random flower, and his eye lighted upon one particular patch of color. Specific colors. He blinked at them, and grinned as an idea suddenly came to him. "Just wondering… does it matter how many I take?"

"Most only take one or two, but there is no requirement concerning number."

"Right, awesome. Thank you very much!"

The alien gave him a solemn nod as he went back to his pruning. "You are welcome."

Lance gathered his supplies and retreated to the bridge, the better to enjoy the waterfall as he worked. It had been a while since he made one of these, but images of his sister Veronica's deft fingers weaving in and out of stems and greenery trickled through his memory, aiding his progress. By the time Pidge rounded the bend he was ready to shove his surprise behind his back and grin at her. "Hey there, slowpoke, what took you so long?"

"Oh my gosh, the plants here are amazing." Pidge flopped against the railing, tired and happy. "There are just so many species, and they're all so different from the ones on Earth!"

"Like you paid any attention to Earth plants."

"Well… okay, fair point." The tech geek flashed a sheepish grin. "But the flowers… oh my gosh, so many colors, and most of them smell so amazing…" She trailed off, narrowing her eyes at him. "Are you hiding something?"

"Actually, yeah." Lance pulled his finished project out from behind his back. "Since you suddenly seem to like flowers so much… I made this for you."

Pidge froze, staring. Then she slowly reached out and took the flower crown in both hands, cradling it as though she were afraid it'd break. "You… you made this?"

"Yeah, my sister taught me how." The blue paladin gave her a small smile. "Thought I'd pass it on."

"You're not showing me how to make it, silly." But Pidge lifted the hoop of stems and blossoms to her head, settling it over her poof of hair with a sudden shyness that surprised Lance. He chuckled as she all but crossed her eyes trying to look up at it, and reached over.

"Hang on, it's crooked."

He straightened out his work, a weave of delicate fern leaves intermingled with tiny white flowers. Dotted throughout the emerald foliage were larger blue blossoms with yellow centers, as well as several daisy-like red flowers that darkened to black in the middle. Hazel eyes peered up at him with a questioning look, and Lance grinned back down at them. "There you go. You look like a fairy princess."

Pidge snorted, but she brightened nonetheless. "In these clothes? Yeah, right."

"I'm serious." Lance poked her in the ribs. "Next time we have one of those big fancy parties where we have to dress up, you should put flowers in your hair. It looks really good."

"Thanks." The girl swatted at his hand, beaming. "If I do, will you show me how to make these?"

"Sure thing."

Someone was in the courtyard.

Allura fell back into shadow, peering out the window of her tiny room as she watched the dark figure move along the portico and come to a halt beside one of the columns. Their hosts had assured them of their quarters' security, but she was always a bit on edge whenever they were in the midst of forging an alliance, and you could never be too careful.

The figure, however, came no closer. It instead sank onto the ground beside the column, and as it relieved itself of a bundle it had apparently been carrying Allura saw with a sigh of relief that the person was human, with the starlight catching on familiar white hair. Then she frowned.

What is he doing out at this hour?

Curiosity drove her through her bedchamber's narrow door and out into the courtyard. The flagstones carried lingering traces of the day's heat, but the air was chilly, dry and crisp in a way only a desert night can be. Though her bare feet made little noise she made no particular effort to conceal her approach, and Shiro turned to look up at her as she drew near. "Good evening, princess. What are you doing up so late?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

Amusement, and a hint of challenge, flickered in his eyes. "I asked first."

Allura folded her arms, as much as to look miffed as to wrap her robe more tightly against the faint breeze from the courtyard wicket gate. "Fine. I was simply reviewing today's negotiations so as to better commit them to memory for tomorrow. Then I saw you skulking around out here." She raised an eyebrow. "Care to tell me what that's about?"

The black paladin chuckled softly and leaned back against the column, looking up at the visible patch of sky with an expression she couldn't interpret. "Couldn't sleep, is all."

"An unfortunate circumstance, but not one that necessarily preludes finding you out here." Allura shot a pointed look at his nightclothes and the blanket he'd wrapped around his shoulders. "And from all appearances, you seem to be planning to stay for some time."

"…You know, one of these days I'm actually going to get away with something."

"We'll see about that."

Shiro quirked a wry grin up at her, then sobered, his eyes sliding back to the night sky. "I was… The Halja gave me a room a little down the hall."

"Yes, next to Lance, wasn't it?"

"That's right. It was nice of them to make sure we were all close, but… my room doesn't have any windows."

Allura grimaced in sympathy, sinking down to sit beside him. The Halja were a hive race half her height, and they'd had to go to great lengths to arrange suitable accommodations for the Voltron emissaries. Even so, their chambers were still quite small, and as the Halja buildings were huge, hodgepodge conglomerates more than a few rooms had no direct access to the outdoors. "That must have been quite… constraining."

"Not really." Shiro caught the questioning tilt of her head and offered a shrug in reply. "I mean, yes, but… I've had smaller rooms before. When I was a Garrison undergrad…" He shook his head, cutting off whatever memory he'd been about to explore. Allura found herself sorry he'd done so. "It's not the size that's the problem, exactly, and even that at least didn't used to be a problem. It's… The air was so still, I felt like I couldn't breathe, and with no window outside I couldn't see the sky, and… I felt trapped, I guess."

Oh. Allura could have kicked herself. He'd been a prisoner of the Galra for a year, and prisons were never spacious… "Oh, Shiro, I'm so sorry. I didn't even think of it."

"Don't be." He flashed her a half grin before returning his gaze skyward. "But, I mean, the room just… didn't feel right, at all. So I decided to come out here." He pulled in a breath, exhaled in a relieved sigh. "It's nice out tonight. The sky's so clear."

"I'm always amazed at how different the stars look on every new planet we visit." Allura looked up too, taking in the glittering pinpricks of silver ever so far above them. "I wish I had time to learn the constellations for them all."

She felt more than saw Shiro turn to regard her, his expression thoughtful.

"What were the constellations on Altea?"

Allura blinked, and lowered her gaze to stare at him. "What?"

"On Earth we've our constellations names." Grey eyes were earnest as he sketched lines in the air. "One of the easiest to find is the Big Dipper, and you can use it to find the north star. It was the first one I ever learned. Then there's Orion, which is named after a guy from a myth and looks a bit like a man holding a sword and shield, and Cassiopeia, and Leo, and I've always wanted to see the Southern Cross…" He trailed off with a sheepish grin and turned a gently questioning look on her. "What about on Altea? Did you have names for your constellations?"

"We did." Allura smiled as she reached into bittersweet memory. "My favorite was the Dancing Swan, a line of brighter stars between two arcs of smaller ones—it always looked so graceful and delicate. Then there was Esturian, named after a character from folklore, and Seiva, and the Laughing Twins—we didn't have a north star like Earth, but the Twins always circled the pole, and we used them to find our way instead." She sighed and gazed skyward, feeling the familiar ache in her chest for all she'd lost. Shiro leaned toward her and gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"I wish I could have seen them."

Allura smiled wistfully, and turned her hand to tangle her fingers with his. "I wish you could have, too."

They settled into comfortable silence, shoulder to shoulder with their backs against the column and their eyes on the sky. Allura didn't see any real reason to go back inside, or to withdraw her hand, and she didn't protest when Shiro shifted enough to draw his blanket around her shoulders too. He pulled her close, the better to share warmth, and she dropped her head onto his shoulder.

The sky really was so beautifully clear.

A/N: The throw Hunk uses is a truly nasty move that should never be used in a spar, as it is intrinsically lethal. Demons run when a good man goes to war.

All those constellations Shiro listed off have significance. Anyone who guesses any of them right gets brownie points. (Also, you have no idea how tempted I was to name one of the Altean constellations "Shallura".)

Please review!