Disclaimer: I do not own Voltron, and I make no money off of this.

Chapter 2: Surprise!

Things were uneventful for the next few days. Everyone finished their shopping and were able to wrap gifs with the beautiful paper Keith picked out. Hunk and Pidge spent a lot of time in the garage working on lights and Nanny's and Coran's presents. Lance even did a little bit of woodworking to build the stable for the crèche scene. The Voltron commander was proud of his team. This was going to be a good holiday at this home-away-from-home. He just wished the peace that was promised would come to this scarred planet.

Christmas Eve Morning dawned with anticipation.

Breakfast was attended with more cheer than had been shown by everyone in the last six months. It even spilled out onto Coran and Nanny. Princess Allura was happy for the change although she was completely lost as to how it came about. The tree had been up for almost a week with no other activity than Nanny's first outburst of horror at such desecration. She looked like she wanted to ask something, but Coran took a moment to remind her of the diplomatic affairs awaiting her today, and the question left her.

The morning was spent in Lion practice and the meal afterward was as usual except that Her Highness didn't join them today. She was busy hosting a luncheon for the visiting dignitaries. Keith thought about the party for tonight and hoped that they could convince her to join them. Actually, that wouldn't be hard for she enjoyed spending leisurely time with her teammates any chance she got. No, it would be convincing Nanny to let the young monarch to stay up past her bedtime, as if Allura was still ten years old.

Sighing with empathy for the princess' plight, Keith turned to the task of making Christmas cookies.

Dinner that night was even more festive. Twinkles of excitement lit up the Voltron team's eyes. Coran was mildly concerned about the jovial mood at the table; there was a war going on, after all, and the soldiers needed to be on guard at all times. Keith gave him a reassuring nod. Nanny was enjoying herself, much to everyone's relief especially when they began listing off the activities for tonight, until Lance finally asked, "So, Princess, would you join us tonight for a rockin' good time?"

Nanny burst out before Allura even had time to process the inquiry. "Heaven's, no! According to your own testimony, this evening's frivolity will be quite inappropriate behavior for Her Highness. You pilots" [Insert 'heathen scoundrels' here, Lance thought.] "can go and have your Terran holiday but don't expect Arusian royalty to partake of such non-sense."

The Voltron team felt deeply insulted, and frankly, so did Allura. "Nanny, you have no right to insult them. They have given up everything to come and protect this planet, and the least we can do is help ease their homesickness. This holiday sounds mostly relaxing and peaceful, and we could use more cheer around this gloomy old castle. Besides, it would be an opportunity for me to learn about other people's cultures and customs, which is necessary if I am to make diplomatic ties to other worlds. The misunderstanding that happened today with the Haldoff delegation is proof of this. I was afraid we'd lost another ally due to my ignorance of their treaty methods. Thankfully, they were forgiving, but I don't wish to repeat the experience."

"Learning about other cultures is indeed useful knowledge to a monarch." Was Coran actually agreeing with her?

"Thank you, Coran."

"Rubbish, this isn't about other cultures; it's just a party," chided Nanny.

"Yes, and these are just my friends who have been risking their lives for you. In my esteem, they've earned a small celebration, and I intend to join them." The Princess of Arus' voice rose to a firm declaration, indignation flooding tension through her limbs.

Nanny fell stunned. She wasn't used to the princess asserting herself on anything outside of flying her Blue Lion.

"Way to go, Princess," Lance said soto voce.

"Yeah, let's go celebrate!"

As they all neared the recreation lounge, several ran off to other parts of the corridor.

"Where are they all going?" Allura asked.

"They went to go get the rest of the decorations." Keith explained, leading her into the lounge. He motioned for her to get comfortable on the sofa while he inspected the tree to make sure it had enough water.

The rest of the team returned moments later with their packages. Hunk placed his box on the floor and turned to the control panel built into the east wall. "I put this together for us yesterday." A few strokes of the keys and suddenly an intriguing yet sweet melody consisting of piano and violins sprang from the speakers, then a rich baritone singing:

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
Jack Frost nipping at your nose
Yule-tide carols being sung by a choir
And folks dressed up like Eskimos…

Pidge looked up and grinned. "Good choice!"

"There's lots more coming." Hunk went back to his large box where the youngest member had started pulling out lots of wires with tiny bulbs everywhere. The two pilots unraveled the strands and began placing them on the tree, starting at the top and spiraling down.

Keith and Lance were unpacking the various glass ornaments. "Wow, these turned out great." Lance handed one to Allura for her inspection. The tear-dropped shape was immaculately formed, with a small red ribbon attached through a hole in the top. She looked at the others that were being placed on the branches.

"These are amazing. Where ever did you find them?"

"We asked the local glass blower to make them," Pidge replied simply.

Out of the corner of his eye, Keith was watching the princess' reaction and was pleased with the awe he saw there.

Once that was finished, Lance handed three medium boxes to his teammates while he hauled up the last big one. Inside was a three-walled wooden structure about a foot and a half tall which Lance placed under the tree. He also carefully unwrapped what looked to be a miniature feeding trough and placed it inside the wooden house.

What in the world? thought Allura. Her brough furrowed in perplexion.

The others had removed from their boxes several cloth dolls: one man in a tan tunic holding a staff, one woman dressed in blue and white, one infant, and one … horse? No, donkey. They positioned the figures in the house with the baby placed on the trough. Allura was even more confused.

Just about that time, Nanny came in with plates of cookies the team had made earlier and mugs of hot chocolate. "Here are the food items you requested, although it would be wise of you, Your Highness, not to eat any of the cookies. There's plenty of sugar in this chocolate."

Allura rolled her eyes and accepted the piping hot mug of liquid. The others followed suit, enjoying both cookies and libation.

"Thanks," said Hunk. "I guess it's time to put the star on top and then light her up!"

Pidge opened the last box and took out a large glass star attached to a glass cone. "Here, Commander, you should have the honor."

"Thanks, Pidge." He brought a chair over to the tree, took the star from his youngest teammate and climbed the chair. He carefully placed the cone over the single straight branch at the top of the tree, making sure it wouldn't fall over after removing his hands. It looked beautiful up there, but he knew in a minute it would be dazzling. He got back down and moved the chair away. "All right, Hunk, let's see her. Lance will you kill the overheads?"

"Sure." Lance waited until Hunk had the ends of the strands near the power outlet before turning off the main lights. It was dark in the room for a few seconds, then little firelights erupted all over the tree. The bulbs illuminated the various branches—the glow radiating into the room—but what was truly breathtaking was all the glass. The ornaments reflected light in even more directions, bouncing little slivers everywhere. They seemed to burn with their own inner fire, especially the star on top. Some even acted as prisms, throwing small chunks of rainbow on nearby neighbors.

Everyone stood stunned. "Upon my word…," breathed Nanny. Allura almost dropped her drink; she was overwhelmed by the brilliance. Then, the next song came on and it was a perfect match.

Oh, Christmas Tree, Oh, Christmas Tree,
How steadfast are your branches.
Oh, Christmas Tree, Oh, Christmas Tree,
How steadfast are your branches.
Your boughs are green in summer's clime
And through the snows of wintertime.
Oh, Christmas Tree, Oh, Christmas Tree,
How steadfast are your branches.

The small group all hummed along to the tune, sipping on their hot cocoa and admiring the vision before them.

"So, what is the story behind Christmas? What are you celebrating?" asked the monarch.

"Lance, you're good at story-telling," Keith said. "Would you relate the tale?"

"Sure thing, Captain. It all began a long time ago back on Earth. The Romans had control of two whole continents, enslaving the native peoples including a Jewish community in Isreal. Two prophets, Isaiah and Jeremiah, foretold of a coming savior who would free the people. Many years still passed. Finally, an angel from God was sent down to a girl named Mary and told her that she was to become pregnant with the Messiah, the savior. Mary was willing but unsure of these events since she was not yet married. The angel said 'Do not worry. The spirit of the Lord will come upon you and the child shall be the Son of God.' She accepted her role. Her betrothed, a carpenter named Joseph, was also unsure but an angel told him the same thing, and trusting in God, he married the girl. Later, the Roman king called for all the people to be counted and taxed, so Mary and Joseph moved to another town called Bethlehem. There were so many people in the city that no one had room for them, but one inn keeper took pity on them and let them stay in his stable. Mary gave birth to little Jesus and used the manger as his crib.

"That same night, shepherds were in the field watching their sheep when an angel appeared to them and said 'Fear not. I bring you tidings of great joy! For born this day in the City of David is a savior, which is Christ the Lord. And you will find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manager.' Suddenly the sky was full of heavenly angels singing and praising God. The shepherds were amazed and traveled into the city to find out if this was true.

"A star had appeared up above in the heavens, signaling the child's birth. Wise men from distant lands saw this new star, packed up their belongings and came looking for the babe. They also brought gifts for this new-born king: gold, frankincense and myrrh. So, tonight we celebrate the birth of the Christ child and the light and hope that He brought to the world."

"What an odd story," mused Allura. "That a savior would have such a lowly birth; although, now that I think about it, one or two of our own heroes came from such humble beginnings." Not to mention the ones right here in this room. "And, I guess a baby in a feeding trough isn't so much different than my sleeping down in the caves in hiding."

"Well, keep in mind, Princess, that not all of us believe in the Jesus story. As an atheist, I don't believe in a god much less that he had a mortal son born of a virgin who later rose from the dead. It's all a bit preposterous." This was from Pidge. "The big problem I have with it is that this god supposedly made everything good: the land, the people, the animals. But, then the people broke his rule and he had to punish them for it. If they were created good, why did they sin? If god was as omnipotent as they say, he would have known this was going to happen, so why did he let it in the first place? It's all too far fetched for me."

"So, why are you celebrating?"

"Oh, I like the lights and the music and the gifts. But, regardless of the whole god thing, I do like the message that's in the holiday season: peace, joy, hope."

"Hmmm. We could use some of that here."

All at once, alarms started shrieking, and Coran's voice sounded from castle control. "We've got incoming ships. Looks like the Drule, again."

"Dammit!" yelled Lance. "Not on Christmas Eve!"

Keith responded, "Evil never sleeps, Lance. To the Lions!"

Everyone raced back to their rooms to quickly change and then onto their ships.

"Okay, Commander, I'm picking up two mother transport ships, three smaller command vessels and a dozen fighters coming in from the northeast."

"Roger that, Coran. All right team, we need to take out those fighters first before they damage any property. After that, Red and Yellow Lions, I want you to help me with those command ships. Blue and Green, go for the transports. Attack Formation C."

"Roger," they all responded. Five metal lions sped across the landscape, each emerging from its customary hiding place, to converge on the coordinates from castle control. The oncoming enemy looked ordinary enough, but all were aware that could be a false assumption.

"Pidge, give me a technical readout."

"Nothing we haven't seen before. No new weapons upgrades, no new energy signatures. Two transports could be carrying another dozen fighters. I'm picking up enough life readings for four squads of ground troops on the transports. The command ships have light crews of only a dozen people each. No sign of a robeast yet."

"Don't worry. It'll show," Lance interjected.

"Well, let's finish this quickly so they don't get a chance to launch it." Hunk said.

They all voiced agreement. Keith, Lance, and Hunk formed a front triangle and headed into the pack. Pidge and Allura were set to a larger revolving circle behind them to watch their flanks and fire upon outlying aircraft. The front group took out the first four fighters with ion lasers. The fifth one got through but was quickly incinerated by a missile from Pidge. Fighters six and seven managed to fire upon Yellow Lion before being dispatched.

"Hunk, are you all right?"

"Yeah, just minor surface scratches."

The next three fighters were much more evasive and got through both lines of defense.

"They'll be coming around from the back. Break formation. Blue, Green and Red Lions, open up your arsenals on those three while Hunk and I deal with the last two."

"Got it." Blue, Green, and Red Lions pivoted around to shoot at their pursuers. Pidge got the first one dead on, but Allura's shot went wide. Lance's laser fire grazed the third ship, damaging its port side. Both remaining fighters fired on the lions with direct hits. Blue Lion only took surface marks whereas Green Lion had more damage.

"Right thruster's down 15%. Re-routing power to compensate," declared Pidge.

Allura fired her proton missiles and managed to blow up one remaining ship. Pidge banked left to avoid the next round of fire, while simultaneously releasing a volley of depth charges. The other ship didn't have time to avoid the bombs and exploded.

"Great," Keith said over the com. "We got the last two. Now break off to …."

"Commander, launch of six more fighters from transport one."

"Okay, back into formation."

Just as they engaged the next set, another signal went off. "Captain, detected launch of robeast coffin." Pidge seemed a little more tense than usual.

"Let's finish these ships first. It will take a minute for the robeast to grow."

Lance piped in. "Shouldn't we be forming Voltron now?"

"No, we don't always need to, and I want to get these fighters off our backs first."

Four of the six ships had been destroyed by the time the robeast grew and made itself known to them. It was the strangest one they had seen yet: large hairy green skin and fur, two large bloodshot eyes, the most crooked awful yellow teeth and long claws. What really set it apart though was the hat on top of its head: red coned-shaped floppy with white trim.

Four male voices in unison yelled, "The GRINCH?"

Author's Note: I know my fight scenes suck. If anyone has any advice on improving them for future stories, please message me. Reviews are always appreciated too.