Lance woke, disoriented, to someone calling his name. He opened his eyes to find Mira Holgersson crouching in front of him, careful not to touch him. "Sorry to wake you, Uncle Lance," she said softly, "but Mamma's being weird. She walked out of Pappa's room and wasn't even crying, talking about calling the Garrison, and getting Pappa's uniform together. . ." Her midnight blue eyes were filled with tears. "I'm scared for her, Uncle Lance. Something's not right."
His brain finally kicked in, reminding him of where he was and why. "Stay here; I'll go talk to her." He squeezed his niece's shoulders and got to his feet, heading for where he knew Sven and Romelle had their offices. Keith looked up as he walked past; Lance jerked his head towards Mira. "Romelle's lost it," he said softly, so only Keith heard.
"Do you want me to come with you?" the King of Arus asked, starting to get up.
Lance shook his head. "Stay here, keep Mira and Erik distracted. If I can't talk Romelle down. . ." he let the sentence trail off, and Keith nodded. Lance clapped him on the shoulder and slipped out.
Romelle's office was, as he expected, locked, but Sven had used the same override codes for years, and it only took a minute for Lance to open the door. The Princess of Pollux was busily writing, and didn't even look up. "Whatever it is, I'm busy."
"With what?" Lance asked incredulously. "Romelle, your husband just died! What the hell is so damned important that you have to do it now?"
She glanced up, irritation on her features. "Royal funerals don't plan themselves, Lance!"
"I know that. I also know Sven planned his funeral six months ago, as soon as the docs told him he was out of time." Lance came around the desk to look at what she was doing, and saw she had a to-do list made out. He took the pen from her hand and began crossing things off as he spoke. "Make announcement to the people. . . Bandor can do that. Contact Galaxy Garrison . . . Keith or I will do that; we can reach Marshal Dukane at odd hours no one else can, and he'd want to know from us anyway. Get Sven's uniform together. . . I will do that, myself. Talk to the Archbishop about final plans . . . this is what you have staff for." He put the pen down, then thought about it and picked it back up. "Your to-do list has one thing and one thing only on it." He quickly wrote, Shut the Princess of Pollux up and let Sven's wife out to grieve.
Romelle's eyes flashed. "Do you think I'm not? I have to be strong, Lance! I have a position to uphold!"
"To hell with that." Lance's voice was low; his eyes glittered with unshed tears. "You were loved by one of the best damned men I've ever known, Romelle. He deserves your tears!"
"I can't," Romelle wailed, jumping to her feet. "Don't you understand? One of the last things he asked me was not to cry, and if I start, I'll never stop!"
Lance's expression softened. "Oh, honey. . . I know that's not what he meant." He put his hands on her shoulders and looked down at her. "Sven never would have wanted you to be that cold, Melle. Come on. Let it out. I'll cry with you, if it helps." He gave her a shadow of his usual grin.
She looked up at him, tears spilling down her cheeks. "How do I live without him, Lance? He was everything to me. . ." she broke down in sobs; Lance pulled her against his chest, stroking her hair, ignoring his own tears.
"I know, sweetheart. I know. And you were everything to him. . . Go on and cry, Romelle. I'm here, I've got you. I'll always be here." He closed his eyes and tucked her head under his chin, letting his own tears fall as she soaked his flight suit with hers. Keith and Sven had always been his brothers, but his relationship with Sven had been closer, even before the Norwegian sacrificed himself to save Lance's life. And this time there would be no joy of finding him alive later to counteract the agony of loss. Especially when Lance knew that very sacrifice was what had torn Sven from them all far too soon. THAT was a pain and a guilt the Red Lion pilot would carry to his own grave. He tightened his arms around Romelle, his own sobs joining hers as he let out the pain he knew he'd keep locked down around the rest of the team.
As Romelle continued to cry, and Lance with her, he moved them slowly to the sofa. He sat down with the princess in his lap, holding her and rocking her. He wasn't trying to soothe her; just assuring her of his presence, supporting her as best he could. Finally her tears lessened and she looked up at him. "What am I going to do? He . . . he always took care of me... I loved him so much, Lance!"
"And he loved you," Lance whispered, his own tears having taken his voice. "You made him happier than I've ever known him to be, Romelle. Don't try to sort things now. Just . . . grieve for him. Everything else can wait."
Romelle curled into his chest, sniffling. Lance held her, rubbing her back and whispering soothingly until she fell asleep. As he settled her into the couch, a noise at the door caught his attention, and he looked up to see Allura slipping in. "Keith sent me to stay with her," she whispered. "He said the two of you should try to catch Jeff before he leaves his office." The Queen of Arus came and sat next to him, wiping the tears from his cheeks with gloved fingers. "I'm so sorry, Lance. Keith's taking this hard; I can only imagine what it's doing to you."
Lance took a deep breath. "I'll be all right; I have to be, for Romelle. I promised Sven I'd take care of her." He smoothed Romelle's hair back and stood, heading out the door to find Keith and break the news to their oldest surviving friend.