New Year's Tradition
Prompt: Allura is introduced to an Earth tradition; confusion ensues! (Setting is DotU)
Written for a fanfic gift exchange earlier this year. I waited until this time of year to post. Hope you enjoy!
As always, I don't own any of the characters.
Allura sat enraptured as Hunk described a time he went to New City for something called 'the ball drop.'
"Yeah, there's nothing like it: the mass of people, the cold, the blinking glowing light of the ball…"
"And everyone can see it?" Allura asked as she leaned forward putting her elbows on her knees and her hands under her chin.
"Well," Hunk said as he scratched his head, "the ball is actually on top of a building, but it's shown on large screens and across the world." He draped his arms across his stomach as he leaned back. "It's all about the atmosphere, Princess."
"For me, it was all about family," Pidge said as he opened the refrigerator in the Rec Room. "My brother and I would get together at the academy every New Year's Eve to celebrate. We didn't have anything like it on Balto."
"For me it was all about the parties and the booze," Lance said as he leaned back and placed his hands behind his head. "And, of course, the ladies. You know the holiday, the excitement, and the booze all made them a little more—"
A throat cleared loudly. "PG Lance," Keith said as he walked into the room.
"So you went to Time Squared as well?" Allura asked Lance.
"Once, but wherever Lance is on New Year's there's always a party," Lance said with a twinkle in his eye.
"And it's Times Square, Princess, not Timed Squared," Pidge whispered to her.
"Thanks, Pidge," she whispered back and then looked over to Keith as he sat down. "How about you, Commander?" she asked with a smile. "What did you do on New Year's Eve?"
Keith shrugged, "Sometimes I went to a party and sometimes I volunteered for duty."
"Of course you did," Lance snickered.
Keith shot Lance a glare and then turned back to the princess. "Why the interest in our New Year's Eve celebrations?"
"Well, the Arusian New Year is getting ready to occur and when I mentioned it, Hunk told me all about the wonderful celebration at Squared Time," she said with a smile.
"Times Square," Hunk said.
"Yes, yes, of course," Allura said still smiling. "I want to do something similar for the Arusian New Year."
"Sounds great, Princess," Lance said as he put his hands down and leaned forward. "I take it some of the local people will be invited to party?"
Allura giggled, "Of course! Don't worry; I'm sure that you'll be able to find someone to celebrate with."
Lance leaned back with a smile, "Oh, yes, I'll definitely be rocking in the New Year."
"Lance," Keith growled out.
"Will you help me?" Allura asked Hunk with a look of excitement and hope on her face.
Unable to turn her down and not really wanting to, Hunk replied, "I'd love to!" His face grew thoughtful. "Let's see, we'll need to get party hats and those horn things—"
"And I'll work with Coran to put a brightly lit ball on top of the castle!" Allura said as she clapped her hands.
"Make it blue," Lance said with a smile.
Allura looked at him puzzled as Keith cleared his throat again.
"What wrong with a big blue ball? I'm sure that you're familiar—" Lance began but was cut off.
"White lights will be perfect, Princess," Keith said as he cut his eyes from Lance back to the princess.
"How about confetti?" Pidge asked. "Don't they use that in New York?"
"Oh, yeah, got to have that!" Hunk said as he grabbed a data pad. "Got to make a list."
Allura laughed as Pidge and Hunk started on the list with a few suggestions by Lance. Her eyes drifted to Keith who was being rather quiet but still had a small smile on his face as he watched his team plan what was in essence a party.
- DotU—DotU-DotU—DotU -
"Come on, man!" Lance said as he leaned his hips back against the console in Castle Control. "The big Ball Drop is tomorrow night! You can't do this to the princess!"
Keith continued working and sighed, "I'm NOT doing ANYTHING to the princess."
"You sure as hell have that right," Lance said with irritation.
Keith stopped what he was doing and crossed his arms over his chest and glared at his second in command. "Do you have a point, or are you just wanting to have night shift for a month?"
Lance lifted his hands in front of him. "Whoa! I'm just saying that this is a big and special deal for Allura and Arus and I think she wants you to be a part of it."
"I'll watch it all from here," Keith said with a wave of his hand. "And it's BECAUSE it's a big deal to the Arusians that I want to have night duty so that everyone can attend the celebration. They've had so little to celebrate that I think they ALL should participate."
"I agree. I'll take the night shift," Lance volunteered with a gleam that told Keith he thought he had backed his commander into a corner.
"You enjoy a good party and we don't want to disappoint all those lovely Arusian girls now do we?" Keith asked with a smile. "I'm still commander and I'll decide who has duty tomorrow night and it's not you." He turned back to his work. "Now go and don't worry about me."
Lance moved away from the console but he wasn't going to let Keith sit in Castle Control while Allura stood on top of the Castle… alone.
- DotU—DotU-DotU—DotU -
Allura rushed around the top of the castle preparing for the night as glittering confetti rained down. "No!" she shouted as she waved at two young men. "No! That's for later! AFTER the ball drops!" Her voice rang with exasperation as she brushed confetti out of her hair.
"Sorry, Princess!" they called.
Allura smiled until Coran blew something loud and something hit her in the ear. "Coran!"
Coran chuckled as he looked at the party favor that had been passed out. He stuck it in his mouth and blew again causing another honking sound and it hit Allura on the nose this time as it unwound.
When Coran did it for the third time, she snatched it from his mouth threw it in a nearby trashcan. "Enough, Coran!" Her patience was at an end.
Coran just chuckled and reached in his pocket and pulled out another one of the party favors. "Oh, come on, Allura. Have a little fun. Isn't that what you wanted?"
Allura blushed and apologized. "I'm sorry, Coran. I was—I mean, I am looking forward to tonight." She could feel Coran staring at her but she couldn't look him in the eye.
"It would be nice if the Commander were here wouldn't it?" When she didn't answer, he chuckled.
"Coran, I don't—"
**POOF!**
Allura stopped speaking as another shower of sparkling confetti fell around them.
"Sorry, Princess!"
- DotU—DotU-DotU—DotU -
The Voltron Force, minus Keith stood on top of the Castle along with about fifty of the castle staff. It was less than an hour until the glittering ball on the top of the castle would drop. The castle itself was surrounded by hundreds of Arusians waiting for the countdown display to start. Hats and noise makers had been passed out and the castle had provided some food but the villagers had brought their own as well as fermented beverages.
As Lance glanced over the castle parapet, he said, "Yeah, I think they'll do New York proud." Smiling he grabbed one of the girls nearby and gave her a great big kiss on the lips.
Allura laughed as the girl blushed and clung to Lance. "Are you going to kiss every girl?"
"No, just a few. It's a New Year's tradition to kiss someone at midnight when the New Year starts." Lance looked at Allura and smiled. "Well, toasting and singing Auld Lange Syne are also traditional."
Allura frowned a little. "I know about the toasting and the words to the song mystify me a little."
"I told you; it's about remembering old friends," Lance said with a smile and then gave the girl at his side a quick kiss on the cheek and let her go. He stepped closer to Allura and said, "Enough about the song and the toasting." He wagged his eyebrows. "Who are you going to kiss?"
Allura blushed scarlet and took a step back from Lance. "Um, thanks for the offer—"
"What?" Lance asked horrified. "Hell no! I don't want to be torn limb from limb—"
"Oh, Nanny wouldn't— Oh, you're right she would—" Allura continued but Lance broke in.
"It's not Nanny that worries me. Keith would tear me apart before Nanny even got a chance!"
Allura's blush had started to subside but it was building from the collar of her jacket up her throat once again.
"Come, Princess," Lance said softly. "I think we both know who you want to kiss."
Allura wrapped her arms around her and stepped around Lance to look over the crowd gathered below. "It's kinda hard to think about that when he's sequestered himself in Castle Control."
"But if he shows up, will you follow tradition?" Lance asked as he moved to stand behind her.
She turned around quickly and narrowed her gaze. "What are you up to, Lance?"
Lance raised his hands in a defensive gesture. "I'm not up to anything but I'm just saying if another tall, dark, and a little less handsome officer happens to show up…." Lance paused and looked her directly in the eye. "Are you willing to follow tradition?"
Allura nodded. Heaven help her. She nodded. With a smile and a bounce to his step, Lance walked away. Allura glanced to the clock: twenty minutes to go.
- DotU—DotU-DotU—DotU -
"Listen, Coran. I'm telling you I'm fine," Keith said as he spun the chair around. "Go enjoy the celebration."
"I've already been enjoying the celebration. It's your turn now." Coran seated himself in the chair next to Keith and pulled up the recent surveys.
"Coran—"
This time Coran spun his chair and glared at Keith. "It isn't me who Allura wants to share this moment with."
Keith flushed. "I, um—"
"Oh, come now, Commander. I may be older. Note I said 'older' not 'old.' But I'm not blind. Anyone can tell that the two of you have feelings for each other." He crossed his arms in a matching stance to Keith's. "Why do you think that Nanny fusses about you so much?"
Keith relaxed and closed his eyes. "But Allura, she's a—"
"Just. Stop. It!" Coran's eyes twinkled. "She's waiting up on that roof and if you don't go up there young man, YOU'LL be the one on night duty for the next month."
Keith stared at Coran a moment and then smiled. As he stood, he simply said, "Thanks."
"Should old acquaintance be forgot…." Coran sang as Keith exited Control with his jacket in hand.
- DotU—DotU-DotU—DotU -
Keith pulled on his jacket as he exited onto the roof. He looked at the digital countdown displayed on a large screen: 6:45 (6 min & 45 sec) and counting down. His eyes scanned the crowd.
"Hey, buddy!" Lance said as his hand clamped down on Keith's shoulder. "Glad you could make it."
Keith turned to his friend and asked, "Did you talk to Coran?"
"Who me?" Lance asked innocently. "Nah, he talked to me." Lance raised a glass to his lips and sipped. "I'm telling you this tastes just like Scotch," he said as he looked at the liquid in the glass.
Keith turned back to the crowd in front of him and looked at the time: 5:03. "Have you seen Allura?"
Lance lowered his glass and looked around. The last time I saw her, she was over near the confetti launchers. The guys have been shooting the damned things off accidentally and she's worried that there won't be any left for the ball drop." He snickered.
Keith shot him a quick glance. "You're drunk."
"No, but I am pleasantly mellow." He gave Keith a push. "Now go find the girl and kiss her like you mean it."
Keith shook his head. Pleasantly mellow my ass. But he didn't have time to bother with Lance at the moment. 4:11.
Swearing under his breath, Keith left the second confetti launcher and moved toward the third. Should have asked exactly which launcher he saw her at. He'd already been to two and if she wasn't at this one he doubted he'd make it to the last one. 1:24.
"It's almost time!"
Keith's head snapped in the direction of the feminine voice. "Allura!" he called out and moved quickly in her direction.
She must have heard him too because she jumped down from her place on the launcher and ran toward him. "You made it!" she said with sparkling eyes.
"It's dropping!" someone shouted and both Keith and Allura turned their gazes up to the blinking white lights of the ball that was slowly descending a pole on the top of the Castle of Lions.
"10!"
"9!"
"8!"
"7!"
Keith's eyes left the ball and took in the shimmering light that flashed across her face. She was beautiful. He pulled her into his arms and her eyes flashed to his.
"3!"
"2!"
"1!"
"Happy New Year, Allura," Keith said as his lips met hers and confetti fell around them like a glittering shower. And deciding to take Lance's advice for once, he kissed her with all the passion he felt.
When they pulled back to take a breath they heard the cheering and looked around. They were the center of attention and the applause was for them.
Keith's eyes found Lance's and his friend raised a glass in toast. He was brought back to the present moment when Allura said, "I think this a tradition we should definitely do every year."
"As long as I'm the one you're kissing," Keith replied as he leaned down to kiss her once again but looked up as another shower of confetti fell around them.
"Sorry, Princess!" the boys called.
"I'm not," Allura said as she pulled Keith's head down for another passionate kiss. She loved traditions.