And here is the last chapter of this story. Next story will be up for Christmas, it's one in the Harry Potter universe :)
Awakening to a Better Future
He heard quiet beeps close to him but he couldn't determine the direction where they came from. His head wasn't clear yet. It was as if there was some kind of fog that he first had to get through. He didn't know how long it took, but he could make out other noises. Some steps he thought, then some metal hitting metal, water running from a tap, and after a while a child crying. The last one pulled him forward to seeing where the child was.
He managed to slowly open his eyes, finding a white ceiling over him. He didn't know where he was. He didn't know why he was where he was. Thinking was difficult. He also felt heavy and weak. He didn't know how long it took, but then he heard a door opening.
"Hello," he heard a voice saying, "Can you hear me?"
"…" he tried to speak but no sound came out.
"Wait a moment, I will call the doctor. He will say what you are allowed to get, if it is okay for you to drink some water to help with your probably very dry throat," said the voice, a female one if he heard correctly.
He heard steps leaving and soon after more steps came toward his position.
"Coran, I'm Dr. Gorma. You have slept for a long time. I will perform some tests to see how your condition is, then you can have a little bit of water to moisten your mouth. Drinking will have to wait until you have been awake for a while, as you might get it into the wrong pipe," explained Dr Gorma, "First, if you understand, blink once."
Coran managed to blink once.
"Good to see you can understand me. Now, I wish to ask some questions. For yes, blink one, for no, blink twice. Okay?" asked Dr Gorma.
Coran blinked once, even if that was tiring. He wasn't used to being this weak.
"Now, do you feel pain anywhere in your body?" asked Dr Gorma.
Coran though about it and then blinked twice.
"That's good. Can you lift your right hand?"
Coran tried, but he was too weak, he had to blink twice again.
"I see, I didn't expect much. We will schedule physical rehabilitation when you have become a bit stronger again. For now, we will work on letting your body get used to being awake again. Can you lift your finger?"
Coran tried and with effort he could lift his pointer finger a bit. He blinked once.
"Very good. Then the nerves aren't damaged and you only need some physical rehabilitation to regain basic motor functions. It was to be expected."
Coran wondered how long he had been asleep for the doctor to think that.
"Do you remember how you were injured, Coran?" asked Dr Gorma.
Coran though about it. He couldn't really concentrate on it. He blinked twice.
"I see. Perhaps the head trauma caused amnesia for the event. It might come back later. Do you remember your name?"
He blinked once. He knew who he was.
"Were you the royal advisor of Princess Allura?"
Another time blinking once. Well, if he had suffered a head injury it made sense for the doctor to see how bad the damage was now.
"Alright, at least you didn't lose all your memories, that was a big concern we had after you didn't wake up when you should have. As I know that you will wonder, you have been in a coma for nearly three years and many things have happened during this time. For now, be assured that Arus is safe. You can take it easy and regain your strength. Do you feel up to seeing some people that have prayed for your recovery since you were injured?" asked Dr Gorma.
Coran though about it and blinked once. He suspected that Princess Allura would be among these people. She would have been hit hard if he was as badly injured as Dr Gorma said. Three years in a coma. After all, he had raised her after her father's death. And he wanted to see her with his own eyes. While he didn't feel up to long visits, it would be good to know she was alright.
"Okay, I will call the King and the Queen. Coincidentally they are here for a check-up of their baby girl. You have great timing in waking up," stated Dr Gorma.
Baby? Queen had to mean that Princess Allura had married and for her to have a baby was wonderful. That meant her bloodline wouldn't die out. Even if a girl wouldn't be able to inherit the throne. Still, any royal child was a blessing.
He had to wait for the nurse to get them while Dr Gorma examined him and tested some reflexes. Then he heard steps coming closer to him.
"Coran," he heard the voice of his princess, no, it was his queen now. He turned his head towards the voice, very slowly, but he managed. It was very exhausting.
He smiled seeing her there. She was holding a baby in her arms, the daughter that Dr Gorma had mentioned.
"It is wonderful that you finally woke up again. We were so worried. So many things happened while you were asleep, but we will tell you all about them when you have regained your strength," promised Allura, smiling happily, a small tear running down her cheek.
He wished he could talk, but that wasn't possible yet.
"Coran," he now heard a familiar male voice, then Keith stepped into his view, surprisingly not looking like he did before, but wearing some more regal clothes.
"It is great that you have woken up. I guess you have many questions, but they can wait until you are stronger again. We will answer them all. I promise. But I would like for you to meet our daughter first. She's actually our third child, her older brother and sister are currently watched by Juliette, Nanny's apprentice. This is Princess Cassandra. We named the twins Aseon and Alisia," Keith told him.
Coran was happy. Three children, not just one. And a prince to inherit the throne from his mother when he was old enough. That was wonderful. He smiled more. He could wait for more answers. He felt really tired.
"I believe it is best for Coran to sleep for a while. Now that he has woken up from the coma, he will get better bit by bit. I will keep you informed, your majesties," promised Dr Gorma.
"Thank you, Dr Gorma. That Is a relief," replied Keith.
"Yes, thank you," agreed Allura, "Coran, just concentrate on recovering. Dr Gorma is a wonderful doctor and we are lucky to have him. Just listen to his instructions and you will soon be strong enough that we can tell you all the things that happened while you slept."
Coran felt his eyes drooping and heard the steps leaving his hospital room before he fell asleep again.
It took three weeks before Coran was up to getting more information and conversing with anybody again. But from the time he woke up for the first time in three years, he steadily improved. At the beginning he couldn't talk, but he regained that ability within a week. He slowly got switched from the IV nourishment to normal food, even if everything was easy on his stomach. Due to the long coma his stomach had shrunk and he couldn't take much food in. Dr Gorma was confident though that with time he would get better again. He still didn't remember how he got injured or the last attack on the old castle.
Now he was waiting for Keith and Allura to tell him more things about how the planet and the people were doing. It had been a shock to him when he finally processed that Allura had married Keith of all people. But he couldn't get any proper information from any of the nurses or Dr Gorman and his students, as none of them had been around when the wedding took place. Still, it was good to hear the medical staff describing them as a great couple and wonderful rulers for Arus.
Dr Gorma had given strict rules what could be told to Coran to not interfere with his recovery. He was also to rest a lot of the time. He still couldn't sit on his own power; thus, the head part of his hospital bed was raised to allow him to lean against it in an upright position. When he heard a knock on the door, he called for the person to enter and when the door opened, he saw two young children rushing into the room, followed by Keith and Allura. Keith held the baby he had seen when he first woke up.
"Hello Coran," greeted Allura with a smile.
"Hello Queen Allura," he replied, "King Keith."
"Hello Coran how are you doing?" asked Keith.
"Better. I'm glad to finally be able to speak for longer periods of time. I also got started on something else than clear soup yesterday," answered Coran.
"That sounds great. Aseon, Alisia, I would like to introduce you to Coran. He raised Mummy when she was younger," said Keith.
"Hi Coran," chirped the twins and waved cheerfully.
"Hello Prince Aseon and Princess Alisia. I hope you are well," he greeted the two toddlers.
The twins nodded and then looked around the room. It was different to the suite they were used to.
"Mummy, Coran sick?" asked Alisia.
"Yes. Coran is sick, but he is getting better," nodded Allura.
"Coran cold?" asked Aseon.
"No, Coran doesn't have a cold," explained Keith patiently and slowly, "He slept for a long time and is very weak. Dr Gorma helps him get okay again."
The twins nodded, not really understanding it. Then Keith took out some toys and a blanket from the bag he had carried and set them up in a corner of the room.
"Now, why don't you two play for a while and Mummy and Daddy talk to Coran," suggested Keith.
Aseon and Alisia nodded happily and sat on the blanket Keith had placed under the toys and soon babbled happily, engaged in their game.
"How old are your children?" asked Coran.
"Alisia and Aseon will turn two in three weeks. Cassandra is four and a half months old," answered Allura.
"How did you marry?" asked Coran a question he really wanted answered.
"Well, it began when I swore to protect Arus and Allura and kissed her hand in the old castle when my team arrived here," started Keith and explained how he and Allura had noticed their strong and strange feelings for each other and had wanted to figure out what they were about and had worked around Coran. How after his injury Father Zeto had finally explained to them what was going on and how they decided to not wait to marry because if it would happen anyway, and they were in love with each other, it would only help if he and Allura had official positions that nobody could doubt.
Coran listened, somewhat exasperated that he hadn't noticed anything before his injury, even if Keith and Allura admitted that their relationship had done the greatest jumps forward when they had worked closely together to deal with things after he was out of commission. Allura described how she had used Keith as a pillar of strength in that difficult situation and how things had simply developed from there.
Once they had finished, there wasn't much time left of the approved visiting time, thus they told Coran that they would tell him more about the development of the situation during their next visit.
"One thing I want to tell you already though. Zarkon and his son Lotor as well as Haggar are dead, therefore, there currently isn't any direct threat from Doom towards Arus. They are too busy with internal fights for power. You don't have to worry about that while you recover," stated Keith, "We will tell you more details during future visits, perhaps some of the other guys will do so when they come to visit you. Lance, Sven, Pidge and Hunk want to come visit you too, but we decided that our visit would be the first one. And Dr Gorma only allows one per day, to not exhaust you too much."
"I guess that is reasonable," nodded Coran, "Just knowing that the threat from Doom is currently dealt with and that our planet and people are recovering from the years of suffering is a great help. And to see our royal family growing again."
Allura smiled, knowing how traditional Coran was. Still, she wouldn't let him order her around again. He would need a lot of time to get healthy again anyway, therefore, that topic could be postponed. And she had learned how to express her will as Queen. Still, she was happy that he was finally awake and would be okay over time. Everything else they would deal with when the time came.
Coran sat in a chair on one of the balconies of the castle, watching how in the garden below King Keith was teaching Prince Aseon and Princess Alisia how to ride on a pony. Both twins were six years old and today they had wonderful weather and there wasn't much work that needed to be done immediately. Each of the twins had a similar looking pony, as otherwise one of them would have complained. And despite his reservations of the twins being raised nearly the same, it seemed to work for them.
And until now, they only learned things in playful ways. With the riding lessons, which both children had begged their father to be allowed to have for at least five months by now, it was a bit different. Sure, Keith still wanted that they had fun while riding, but he also explained to them that a pony was a living being and as such they had to treat them well. They had to clean them before the riding lesson, they had to help feeding them and only cleaning the stables was done by the people in charge of the royal stables. He wanted to teach them responsibility for their ponies. They weren't toys after all.
For the last month, both children were taught the basics of how to do these things by one member of the Voltron Force, though Keith always made sure to take a few hours each week off to spend them with his children at times when they were still awake enough to enjoy it. Today was such a day. He had freed two hours for the riding lessons and had helped the twins to clean the ponies and then put on the saddles and bridles. Lance was also there to lead the second pony, as Keith could only hold the long line for one of them. If not for the twins always wanting to do things together, they could have arranged that they switched after a while. Well, it wasn't a big problem, as the ponies were bred by the master of the stables for different tasks anyway.
The children had already got explanations how to get into the saddle and were now tasked to try on their own, even if the two men would help if they didn't manage it yet. But Keith wanted that the children learned everything properly from the beginning. When both sat on a pony, he started explaining to them how to sit properly and how to keep balance in the saddle. For the beginning there was leather rope tied to the front of the saddles that the children could hold onto until they had learned how to stay on the pony's back without it. For the beginning, Keith and Lance would lead the ponies around the track and let the twins experience how it felt while the ponies moved slowly.
Then Keith would take over letting one pony trot on the long line and have the twin he had there attempt to do rising trot, the easiest way to begin with the gait. Lance meanwhile would lead the second twin around, letting the child perform some easy exercises that helped build up security on the pony's back and a sense for how to keep balance. After ten minutes they would switch around. Overall, Keith planned to have thirty minutes of training with the twins, then they would bring the ponies back to the stables and let them go to the other horses on the meadows.
It was a nice sight how much the twins tried to follow the instructions of their father and their Uncle Lance. All members of the Voltron Force were considered uncles by the princes and princesses. By now Keith and Allura had five children. The twins Aseon and Alisia, four years old Cassandra, then two years old Joshua and one week ago the youngest Michelle was born. Two boys and three girls was a handful to manage for the monarchs, but they refused to let a governess raise their children. They worked on time management to be there for their children while they grew up. They had a nanny employed that assisted them with the work, but the main raising was done by them.
By now, the Arusians had moved into new villages and towns in places where fertile soil could be found to have fields close by that would feed the people with the harvests gained from there. Each settlement also got a work force of ponies to help with ploughing the ground in spring and pulling carts at other times. That was the main reason they bred the animals. Contrary to larger horses, ponies were easily held by the people in the new settlements and they didn't need quite as much space for stables. They also didn't need as much food. And for the jobs that existed, ponies were more than enough.
They didn't have the resources to build machines like tractors for the work, therefore they resorted to ponies. While Lance had also trained some deer for jobs, ponies were more resilient. Not to mention more popular with the people. It was amazing what had been achieved since his accident and following three-year coma. Thanks to a lack of attacks from Doom, they were still fighting over who got to rule the planet, Arus could concentrate on internal matters. Still, Keith ensured that they had a fully trained defence force and by now, there also was an Alliance base on the planet. Should Doom try to attack them again in the future, the chance for new devastation was a lot lesser.
Coran had by now made his peace with the developments while he was asleep. Arus was prospering and Keith was a great king, even if he went against all Coran had been taught and pushed equal rights for men and women in all areas of life through. Allura ruled Arus as much as Keith did, the only time she took some time off was when she was close to giving birth to another child and the three months afterwards to recover. Otherwise, she simply arranged things in a way that she could keep the youngest child around to be there when she needed to nurse the baby.
He hadn't believed it possible, but he was proven wrong. Good organisation made it work. Next to setting up childcare groups both inside the castle and in the settlements all over the planet. Thanks to also accepting settlers from overpopulated planets like Earth, there had been a major increase in pregnancies and births. Especially the soldiers from the Alliance, which were mostly male in the beginning, often found partners in the Arusian women and married them. As a newly formed military force also offered great career perspectives, it was easy to keep most of them on Arus.
The resulting children needed to be taken care of while their parents worked, thus Hunk took charge of setting up places like kindergartens, schools and playgroups that parents could send them to for some hours or a whole day, depending on their needs. Most of them were set up to allow the mothers to work in the morning and get the children back during the afternoon. Mainly because it was already a great change compared to what had been before the attacks of Zarkon. It took time to change things.
His own health had improved greatly, the only reminder of his long coma was that his hair had turned white. He didn't mind that part. Alone the fact that he was still alive and could see how his beloved home planet rose back from the ruins was worth anything. Yes, by connecting Keith and Allura God had truly blessed their people and planet. He looked hopeful towards what the future would bring.