1Voltron and its characters aren't mine. Allura wouldn't always wear pink it they were. Pink is ok, I guess, but a little variety wouldn't hurt. The white spacesuits would go. Nanny would be a believable character. (In this fic, she is an ok person.)

5- Sunset

Rose was taking her stroll as usual. The sun was very bright on this spring dawn. It was going to be warm, and the millions of flowers in the trees would burst open this very day, releasing their scent. She had soon figured out the new pattern of the spies. They had five separate strategies, and they picked them at random. To know which was the pattern of the day, she just had to spot one of them.

Pink Mammoth is in that group of trees, its pattern number three. Or Fidget is in tree x, pattern number two. This morning she had not spotted any yet. That meant pattern one. She would meet Marble in a couple of kilometres.

But then, she saw the telltale shadow of a spy cloak. Now that one didn't belong there at all! Perhaps they had a number six now, but she didn't think so. Their boss was pretty unimaginative. She smiled in delight. The prince had returned!

"Hello!"

"Good morning Rose," answered the cloaked figure, rising from his post. He had a rather big bag this time. "I knew you would spot me," he said. "We have a little more then half an hour before a spy passes this way again, is that correct?"

"Yep, it is... What wonders have we today?"

"Well, today you'll have the honour of being the first person I'll apologize to since I was ten."

"What for?"

Lotor was very near to her now. He threw a powder in her face. Immediately, she became utterly limp. She could still see and hear, but she couldn't move a muscle, save for her eyelids. Lotor gently caught her as she fell and laid her down on the moss. He removed his hood, and got out the biggest item from his bag: another spy cloak. He enveloped her in it.

"That's what for, flower. I'll bet you knew all along who I was, didn't you, little ferret? You are so very sharp. That's why I had to find some way to delay you. I need a good head start, and I'm afraid you're smart enough to guess my purpose. There," he said as he finished tucking her in the cloak. "This will keep you warm. Don't be afraid, it won't last very long, just about an hour. You'll be perfectly all right. I'm sorry. Here. I'll show you what I need this time."

He showed her a box.

"This one is for Allura. It's my laser sword. I don't want Zarkon to have it, it came from my mother's side. She can either keep it or destroy it. I don't care either way, just so long as father doesn't have it."

He had been right. Rose guessed immediately what was happening and tears leaked out of her dark eyes.

"This one is for you. In the red package are cubes filled with everything I could gather from father's databases. In those scroll cases, there are letters. The blue one is for Allura. The black is for the Voltron Force."

He gently brushed her tears away.

"I assure you I'm not worth it, little ferret. But if it can help at all, I've never been at peace ever since the crash. I know should have died. I'm just correcting a mistake."

He turned his face toward the sun.

"A sunset from real close must be very beautiful. Not to mention liberating... I'm just setting myself free."

He smiled at her, put his hand to his lips, then to her forehead, covered her entirely with the cloak and simply left. Rose was desperate! In her mind she screamed and screamed "Help! Don't let it happen! Somebody help"

**** **** ****

Allura was tending her garden as usual when a cold shift in the air told her she had company. Ghosts were just plain cold, and no matter how much they loved you, they always made you shiver. She turned and smiled at her father. Her smile disappeared as she saw he looked alarmed and was pointing toward the forest.

Suddenly feeling a great sense of urgency, she ran in the direction he indicated. She noticed a wave in the air currents, just like Rose had described. A cloaked ship escaping! She ran even faster and came into the forest.

She couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, but the silhouette of her father was standing and pointing resolutely at an empty spot. She approached and saw a shadow that came out of nowhere. Only one thing could throw shadows without being seen. She opened the spy cloak and found Rose all bundled in it, with boxes and scrolls around her. It soon became evident that she couldn't move. Allura called for help. 'Hurry up,' thought Rose helplessly, 'hurry up!'

It seemed to take forever for them to carry her in the medwing, where they gave her something to brake her lethargy. She immediately tried to talk, even though everyone told her to relax, that she was safe. She managed at last to be coherent.

"It's Lotor! He's going to fly his ship into the sun!" She cried.

"What?"

"These are farewell letters! Open the blue box, Allura, you'll see! I'm sure! He practically told me! He said something about a sunset."

Allura opened the blue box and found the familiar, ornate laser sword. She immediately called her companions.

**** **** ****

As he had thought, it was truly beautiful. He was close now. The ship's cloak had fallen, and the life support had begun to fail. The shield was inexplicably still holding, but that would soon fail too. He was hot, but he didn't mind. The heat made him relaxed and limp. When the shield would go down, he'd be reduced to atoms in a split second. He wouldn't feel anything. He was utterly at peace. He smiled when he thought of the face Zarkon would make when he'd finally catch up with his bionic arm, thousands of light-years away.

He had known it wouldn't be so bad. He could see only the flames now, and their swirling dance was entrancing. He could feel himself slip away. That dark spot... what was it? But it didn't matter really, and he gratefully welcomed a velvet dark sleep.

"I got him guys," announced Lance. "But he must be fried to a crisp in there."

Red lion was best equipped to handle the sun this close. Lance was truly amazed the tiny smuggler ship had made it this far. They had picked its trace when the cloaking device had failed. The others were at a safe distance, and they all hurried back to Aris.

**** **** ****

He awoke. How could he awaken? That was flat impossible. He hurt all over, how could that be if he was dead? Perhaps hell existed after all. He wanted to scream, but his prone body refused to comply. He slipped again into darkness.

**** **** ****

Rose was seated at his side, holding his hand. They kept him sedated. She stayed with him and told him stories in a voice as steady as she could manage, just in case he didn't sleep, but was paralysed like she had been. He was her secret friend, and they'd had such fun together...

Later, Rose gasped when she opened her box. It was a rose, its petals made of a shining and translucent material she had never seen before. The petals were blue on the outside, and the purest white within, and when you held it to the light you could see the blue in an intricate pattern of veins. The slim stem was made of velvet like green material and the leaves were set with emeralds. It was exquisite. It had lots of sharp thorns. Lotor had told her once that she was a pretty Rose, but she had thorns like a shark's teeth. That he was sure glad they were not enemies. He had asked her, since she gave nicknames to everyone behind their back, what was his? Snow, she had answered. She had told him that he should be more careful, because every now and then a white lock would fall out of his hood.

**** **** ****

"Its not that bad," said the doctor. "Physically, that is. It's mostly heat stroke. There's a badly healed wound that will need some attention. We'll wait for him to recover, gather a little strength and then we'll remodel that right shoulder. Whoever did this was a butcher. We can have something much more sophisticated, with your Majesty's permission..."

"Of course, Doctor," said Allura. "When do you think he'll wake up?"

"Not before we decide."

Allura sighed, relieved. That would give her some time to think about this mess. What the hell was she going to do? She could not send him back to Zarkon, and it somehow didn't feel right to send him to Bastille 12. The place had driven him to insanity. Besides, Zarkon had controlled it for years, and she didn't believe that they had cleaned the place properly. Maybe she could get the Alliance to show leniency in view of the information Lotor had procured them. Pidge was still sorting it out. If she asked for the custody of the prince, she'd probably get it, but was it the right thing to do? She was very confused, and as always in such moments her garden seemed the best place to find answers.

She thought it would be a good time to be surrounded by friends, and she called a meeting in her garden. She had the black scroll case with her and played with it as she sat waiting for them. By now the sun was low on the horizon, and it fringed every single new leaf with golden light. She was gazing at the colourful sky when they arrived.

"I think we should read this," she said. "It may contain important information. Commander, would you?"

"Certainly, Princess."

He took the scroll and got the letter out. It read:

" My dearest enemies. I hope that you rejoice in having lost a player in our little game. It just wasn't fun anymore and our side lost quite some time ago. Why father persists in dragging it is beyond me. At the beginning, I thought his mad caper might actually work, that he would have his empire back and that I would eventually get what I desired most. But just one look in a mirror was enough to show me it was quite impossible. It made everything rather pointless, something I realized that when I was finally able to sit down and think through my rage.

I am not a computer wizard and father protected his files. But I copied everything I could. That should make your job easier. Father has been strengthening his reseau of corrupted politicians and I believe he is preparing a coup on Vh'taï. I'm sorry I can't tell you more, but I never was his confidant. Still, you have the proper codes to hack into his system, and your Pidge should pull it off.

We are filthy rich, so you might try to trace Zarkon's financial resources. There was only one account I could have access to and I included the code for that, but he has dozens of others. Since you'll have access to my fortune, steal it. When father's back he'll be sure to block the account. Don't waste time and empty it.

I would like this money transferred to whatever charity is helping drule refugees. That way dear father will have made at least one gesture to help his lost people. That will infuriate him and it should make Allura smile. I can at least give you that much, my love, can't I?

By now father knows I escaped. I put my arm and its tracking device in a ship programmed for a little trip through hell. I added the blue magical stone to give him some real motivation to follow. He is chasing it now. Just imagine his face when he finds the ugly thing perched in the pilot seat... Hagar still hasn't figured a way to enlarge the stone's sphere of influence, but she eventually will. From what she said, she encapsulated the white magic it contains with black magic. That implies she knows some white magic, which I found rather unbelievable. It made me wonder what her story is. But it doesn't matter now. By the time you read this, I shall be happily sleeping.

I have only two regrets: you can figure the first one for yourself. As for the second, I truly wanted to avenge the murder of my mother. I always suspected father. I wanted to take Zarkon's place so I could crush him like an insect for what he did to her. But I failed her. I had two goals in my life and I realize I'll never attain either of them. I must use this rare moment of lucidity to repair destiny's blunder. Do not underestimate father. He's up to something. You should be very careful in your future battles. I was always trying not to harm Allura, but Igor or whoever will take my place will not have this weakness.

I wish to thank Hunk for having made it possible for me to enjoy a few months of freedom. I hope he likes his laser scalpel. Rose also helped me but I'm sure you can see it wasn't done with evil intent. I wish to thank her, as well, for having shed a little light in my dark universe.

Farewell."

"If anyone had told me that Lotor would someday bring me to tears," said Hunk in a husky voice, "I'd have laughed in his face."

"I'll look into what he said about the money," Pidge said softly. "If we could stop the money flow or at least spy on it, that would certainly pull the rug from under Zarkon's feet."

"And we should investigate the Vh'taï angle," said Lance. "I'm used to those smuggler's haven planets. I can volunteer for that."

"And I'll go as well to keep an eye on you," said Keith, smiling at his adventure-seeking friend.

"But what will we do with Lotor?" Asked Allura. "I would welcome suggestions..."

Nobody seemed to have a proper answer for that. By now the sky was a star filled dark indigo and only a fiery strip of colour remained. A truly beautiful sunset, they thought.