Only With You

by Tybalt-tisk

Shiro and Allura grow up together as best friends.

6. The Pilot, The Prince, and The Princess

Shiro was a boy of order. Like his parents, he preferred to follow a set schedule and changes, regardless of how small they were, did little to impress him. For four months, he followed the same weekday routine: he woke up at an ungodly hour, ate his favorite oatmeal for breakfast, hugged his papa goodbye, then he traveled to work with his mama where he would spend the majority of his day with Allura in the daycare.

He liked his life. He liked his daily routine even better. He liked the fact that he knew every day he would get to spend time with his best friend. Most importantly, he liked that Allura would rather spend the majority, if not all, of her time with him. Wherever she would go, he would be sure to follow.

Their bond was the strongest in the daycare and Shiro didn't want anything to change that.

So it's safe to say that the first time Shiro met Lotor was probably the worst day of his short life. Not because he was a new kid in the daycare but rather because it changed everything.

It started out like a normal day with Allura and himself playing as they normally did, before He showed up, everything was perfect.

"You did not!"

"Yeah huh, I saw it."

Unconvinced, Allura stared at him with folded arms. "You did not see the Mystery Machine."

Shiro shook his head. "How do you know?" he asked her casually, calm as ever. "You weren't there. You don't have my eyes."

Shiro laid stretched out on his back beside her on the floor. He shifted until his left arm was folded so it could support his head while the other was used to help him count all of the artificial clouds that hung from the ceiling. His stuffed lion was tucked into his side with Allura's own propped up next to it.

Allura and Shiro were the only two children in the daycare. Well, the only two who were awake. Because of a quickly approaching deadline, the workdays started much earlier than usual. It was a small change Shiro had a little trouble adapting to. Unlike Allura, he was not an early riser.

The new schedule left the daycare full of cranky, sleep-deprived children. The few who couldn't quite shake the sleep from their eyes, lay undisturbed on the other side of the room resting on soft mats in a deep slumber. The lucky few whose parents didn't have to clock in at the crack of dawn would filter in slowly one by one over the next couple of hours.

With Tiny Voltz in this somber state, now would be the perfect time for Allura to hoard toys from the other kids, or at least rotate the hiding places of her secret stashes scattered around. But with no one trying to catch her in the act, the idea quickly lost its joy. There was no challenge.

And where was the fun in that?

Shiro felt her shuffle beside him before darkness filled his vision. "Was Freddy driving?" she asked after a minute of silence, leaning over him. Her silver curls fell from over her shoulder and surrounded him in a curtain of starlight. He let a small giggle and scrunched his face when the ends of her curls tickled his nose. She blocked his view from the clouds but her hair effortlessly replaced it. He honestly couldn't tell where the clouds ended and she began.

He blew her locks out of his face with a puff of air. "No, I didn't see any of the gang. But there was this super old man driving." He recalled the memory, then made another face Allura dubbed as his thinking face. "He looked really mean...and sneaky...like he was up to something." As soon as the words left his mouth, his eyes widened a fraction and his expression of realization was in perfect sync with hers.

"Old Man Jenkins," they whispered together in unison.

Allura sat back on her haunches. "We have to save Scoobs and the Gang, Shiro," Allura said with determination. "He stole their van and only we can get it back. Because if we don't, then who's gonna catch the bad guys?"

Shiro yawned. "The police."

She shook her head. "No, no, no, it has to be us."

"But Allura...we can't drive..." he tried to reason. He was just as tired as the other children but he didn't want to leave Allura to roam the daycare without his company. It was way too early for this.

She snorted. "But you can complain." She looked off towards the daycare door and a familiar spark came to her blue eyes. Before Shiro could comment on the look of adventure, the spark was gone and boredom quickly replaced it. She let out an exaggerated sigh then she sprawled out next to him, careful not to squish the stuffed lions at his side.

Mimicking Shiro's position, she placed her hands behind her head before speaking, "Eh, he probably just went to put gas in it because they don't make enough monies solving mysteries to get their own gas."

The influence of being raised by business savvy men along with spending most of her time in a billion-dollar corporation. This trained intelligence was clear to see in her economic reasoning to why an old man would steal the Mystery Machine. She blindly reached out to grab her lion and hugged it against her chest then she looked up towards the clouds. Unlike Shiro, she didn't bother to count them. Instead, she opted to stare blankly past them. Her gaze was miles away and focused on nothing in particular.

Shiro turned towards her with a frown. "Are you okay?" Allura was never one to back down from an adventure regardless of how small it was. Any reason she came up with to leave the daycare, for any reason at all, she took it without hesitation and dragged him along with her.

Allura let another sigh as she continued to look past the clouds that hung above them. "I don't know," she said truthfully. "I feel like something bad is going to happen." Her fingers started to fiddle with the mane of her lion.

Shiro raised an eyebrow. "Something bad?" he repeated with confusion. Shiro was always the one to say something bad was going to happen in direct relation to their actions, not her. He could feel their roles reversing and had no idea how to stop it, or at least how to deal with the changes.

The clouds above swayed carelessly with the light breeze the vents brought into the daycare. Allura's gaze never left them, even when she answered his question. "Yeah. I don't know how to explain it. Like my tummy hurts but I don't think medicine can help it. I just feel weird." She did her best to explain the gut feeling of impending doom, however, she couldn't quite form the words into a sentence to make him understand her.

Shiro frowned. He had never seen Allura struggle to express herself. She always knew exactly what she wanted to say in every situation she found herself in. She even knew what Shiro wanted to say before he could find the words himself. Like the times when he would only give her a look and she understood exactly what he wanted to say as if though he had said the words out loud.

Shiro continued to watch Allura as she watched the clouds. He didn't know what to say or what to do to help ease her mental dilemma because she was usually the one who helped ease his. He shifted until he returned to his original position, laying on his back to watch the clouds with her.

He thought to himself for a minute before an idea came to mind. He raised his hand to point at a cloud in the far left corner of the daycare. "That one in the corner looks like a puppy," he told her suddenly, snapping her back to reality.

He turned to Allura to watch her reaction. She shifted her gaze to followed his finger and her eyes landed on the cloud he pointed out. She made a face then turned to him, expression riddled with confusion. "That cloud?"

He nodded. "Yeah, that one."

She raised her brow and she looked at the cloud again. "But a puppy?" She didn't understand what he wanted to look for. Puppies don't fly. They can drive but they can't fly.

Shiro gave her a goofy grin. "Yeah! C'mere, you gotta look from here!" He pulled her to lay closer to him so she could see the shape-shifting cloud from his perspective. "If you squint your eyes and tilt your head like this, it looks like a puppy. One with pointy ears like Balto! See?" He gave her a demonstration of what she needed to do to see what he saw then waited patiently for her to do the same.

Allura did as she was told. She squinted her eyes, tilted her head slightly to the side and stared at the cloud for a long moment trying to see the hidden pup. Within seconds, her look of concentration twisted into one of annoyance. Shiro rolled his eyes because he knew what was going to happen next.

Sure enough, she pouted with furrowed brows. "Shiro, I don't see a p-" In the middle of her would-be rant, Shiro reached out a hand from under his head to tilt her head to the opposite side. Her eyes suddenly widened and she let out a gasp followed by a giggle. "Ah! I see it! I see it! Aww, it's so cute!" she cooed as hugged her lion tighter to her chest. Eyes beaming, she turned to him. "Let's do another!"

Shiro smiled when her fire returned. She searched excitedly for another cloud and when she spotted an animal shape that she was familiar with, she pointed it out. "Look! That one's a bunny!"

Shiro pointed to another cloud. "And that one over there looks like a T-Rex!" he half shouted, careful not to wake the slumbering children. Allura agreed before she directed them to another cloud followed by a fit of giggles.

How much time had passed was lost to them as they laughed along with the rising sun. Most of the children were finally able to return to the land of the living and some even joined them in their game.

Over the laughter, Shiro vaguely heard the door opening in the distance along with Amy's usual morning greeting, although there was a slight surprised edge to it today. He disregarded the slight change in her demeanor to focus his attention back on the clouds.

He craned his neck so his eyes could focus on a cloud they had yet to identify. From his position, the world was upside down. He squinted his eyes and tilted his head to get an angle that he could work with but no matter what he did, the cloud refused to be anything other than a misshapen wad of cotton attached to a string.

He turned to Allura for help. "What about that one, Princess?" Maybe she could identify what he couldn't. "Because I think it looks like a clown or a car...but one of those weird cars. You know the ones with the wrinkly top? One of those." He thought for a second then suddenly snapped his fingers. "OH! I know! It looks like a-" A shadow suddenly filled his vision, cutting off his thought process.

"Lotor?"

Huh?

There was suddenly silence in the daycare. It was probably the quietest it's ever been. The children playing along with them stopped to give their full attention to the scene. Towards the entrance, Amy also watched them carefully. They all knew something Shiro didn't and it put him on edge. He didn't like being left in the dark.

Shiro narrowed his eyes to focus on the figure hovering over them. He blinked as his eyes finally adjusted and he took in the stranger that disrupted their game with questioning eyes.

There stood a boy about their age. His complexion was slightly similar to Allura's and his hair was almost as white as hers except it was cut short and it lacked the curly texture she possessed.

Shiro's eyes widened. 'A prince?' He shifted his gaze to meet the newcomer's stare...or was it a glare? He couldn't really tell from his position but he could see that the stranger's eyes were a familiar shade of amber as they narrowly peered down at him with a sense of superiority. The boy's gaze went from Shiro to Allura then to the two matching stuffed lions set between them. Something dark flashed in his eyes before they shifted back to focus on Shiro, his glare still in place.

The surrounding children continued to watch their every move and Amy took a step closer. She pretended like she wasn't watching them by masking her curiosity with the task of folding the discarding blankets scattered around, but she was definitely watching.

A sudden movement from Allura caused Lotor's hard gaze to leave Shiro and flicker over to her again. The look in his eyes going from masked aggression to warm in an instant. "Allura," he greeted her with a posh accent that sounded more refined than hers. He took a small step back to give her room to stand. Mere moments later, his arms were full of her. She embraced him deeply but he made no move to return her hug.

Shiro saw the way Allura's face lit up when she saw this boy and he felt a sense of uneasiness in the pit of his stomach watching the two. Sure, he received hugs from Allura daily but with each day that passed, they became less and less enthusiastic. He couldn't remember the last time he was tackled to the ground because of her overexcitement.

Was she getting bored of him?

Watching her hug this boy the way that she used to hug him planted something resentful deep within him and it began to take root. It was an emotion he's never felt before until now. Was this the bad feeling Allura was talking about? Because he thought it was supposed to happen to her and not to him. Who was this person and where did he come from? And why couldn't he stay there?

Far, far away.

The other kids remained silent. Their eyes constantly shifting from Lotor to Shiro as if they were watching a tennis match unfold.

Behind her, Lotor's eyes once again found Shiro's. If Shiro wasn't sure that Lotor sent him a glare earlier, he was more than positive that he was now. He threw Shiro a ghost of a smirk before slowly returning Allura's hug as he made sure not to break eye contact with him.

Shiro had enough. He pushed himself onto his elbows. With tense limbs and his mouth drawn into a frown, he sent Lotor back a glare of his own. It was a glare he had picked up from studying Allura when she watched the other kids touch the things she was forced to share. He couldn't help it but there was something about this boy that set Shiro's teeth on edge and he didn't even know him. One thing he did know was that this boy was trouble and that he was going to ruin everything.

Lotor only snorted at Shiro's pathetic attempt at a glare. Grabbing at her shoulders, he then tried to peel a reluctant Allura away from him. He let out a sigh when she didn't budge and held on tighter. She was being stubborn and all three of them knew it. Sometimes, she would get excessively clingy when she felt the need to. It was one of Allura's character traits that Shiro had learned to live with. She would let go when she felt like it and from the look of it, it wasn't going to be anytime soon.

Shiro's frown deepened at the thought.

Lotor frowned. "Allura, let go," he commanded with no aggression behind his words. She shook her head in response and he rolled his eyes at her in annoyance. "You hug me now, but last time we had a sleepover, you told me that you couldn't wait for me to leave."

Shiro grumbled. Allura didn't have any sleepovers with him.

Allura smiled up at Lotor with a fake innocence. "Well, you shouldn't have told Coran that I wanted a bunch of lollies for my birthday."

Lotor narrowed his eyes. "That's because you told me to wash off my cotton candy after I dropped it!" Lotor argued back, his voice almost breaking. His tone held anger that wasn't there before. It was like he suddenly remembered how his heart broke when his cotton candy disappeared within milliseconds after touching the water. Allura's malicious laughter still haunts him whenever his mother gives him the whimsical treat. It was like he could still hear it.

Maybe because she was still laughing.

Right now.

"Allura, it wasn't funny!" he yelled at her while trying to put distance between the two. "You melted my cotton candy!"

She continued to let out a few more giggles before she could properly form the words. "But I gave you half of mines," she told him, still trying to stifle her laughter. Was it really that funny? Lotor didn't think so.

He sent her a hard look before he once again tried to push her away. "That's because your father made you," he grunted out trying to shake her off.

When she showed no intention of releasing him from her tight hold that would make Hulk Hogan jealous, Lotor reached behind her and pulled on a few strands of her silvery locks. Her laughter was immediately replaced with a pained sound before she jerked her body away from him. Her hands shot to her head and her fingers began to rub soothing circles around the abused area.

Shiro was on his feet in an instant and took a protective step forward ready to avenge his friend. Lotor folded his arms with a smirk. "I told you to let m-ah!" He wasn't able to gloat for long before Allura reached out and grabbed a fist full of his short white hair in retaliation. Unlike Lotor, who let her go the second she withdrew from him, Allura was taking no prisoners. So why should Lotor? Within seconds they had each other's hair in their grasps, both whining in pain but both too stubborn to cave in first.

Shiro was torn. On the one hand, he wanted to help Allura but on the other, he knew that she was far from helpless. She was a fighter without hesitation or fear. He honestly felt sympathy towards the boy because he knew Allura's grip was painful because there were times where she didn't know how strong she was. By the looks of it, she knew exactly how strong she was and used every ounce of her strength to make Lotor pay.

The children, previously silent, let out a collective sigh before returning to their own forms of entertainment. With the tension broken, there was no reason to pry.

Allura continued to pull at Lotor's hair until a voice crashed over them.

"Nooope. Nu-uh. No, no, no, no. We are not starting this again. And especially not this early, you two." All three looked up to see Amy standing over them with her hands perched on her hips and she did not look happy. "Allura. Lotor. Cut it out. Now." Her voice held an authoritative tone that Shiro didn't know she possessed.

Turns out, the grumpy, sleep-deprived children weren't the only ones affected by the earlier work hours.

The feuding children looked up at Amy, then glared at the other, but neither moved from their gridlocked position.

"But he started it!" Allura was the first to defend herself while tightening her grip on his hair.

"Me? I did nothing wrong!" Came Lotor's hissed reply, trying to edge away from her clutches.

"He pulled my hair!"

"Because she wouldn't let me go."

Her grip tightened. "I'll never let go!"

God, she was so stubborn.

Before Amy could respond, muffled shuffling followed by a whine could be heard on the other side of the daycare. All four looked over with wide eyes at the heap of blankets that came to life on the cot closest to the window as it continued to move around.

They stood in silence for what seemed like an eternity waiting for the shuffling to subside. Even the children who were awake froze where they stood. Crayons in the middle of coloring sheets halted mid-stroke. Juice boxes seconds away from being punctured by straws left children thirsty. A parent in the processes of zipping up a backpack also stopped in his tracks to eye the moving pile of blankets. Time seemed to stand still as everyone waited for the child to stop her rustling.

"Does she still do that thing?" Lotor asked quietly as he tried to keep his voice just above a whisper. His hand was still entangled in Allura's hair and her's in his.

"Yeah," Shiro answered, eyes still glued to the shifting blanket.

Out of all of the children in Tiny Voltz, there was one child who should never be woken from a nap.

Megan Plaxum.

She was the main reason why most, if not all of the children, including Amy, did not like early work days. Megan was an absolute nightmare to ease back to sleep. Why? Because she was cranky, fussy, and most importantly, she was loud.

Mercilessly loud.

Whatever misery she went through to shake off her sleep, she made sure to drag down everyone within a two-floor radius down to suffer with her. Putting her back to rest was like easing a sensitive bomb into a Barney blanket made from fiberglass. There was no way anybody was trying to wake up her before she was ready to do so on her own accord.

Cautious not to move too fast to wake the child teetering on the edge of premature consciousness, all eyes slowly shifted to Allura and Lotor in a death glare. Shiro's included. Sure Allura was his best friend, but he was absolutely not in the mood to deal with Megan. He was not in the mood for any of this.

Not today, not ever.

Amy took a deep breath before she spoke in a stern voice, "Allura...Lotor...if you two wake up Megan…" The caretaker left her threat unfinished because Allura knew what it implied.

Exposure of her secret stashes.

And judging by the look on Amy's face, Allura was sure Amy was going to expose every single one of them. Or even worse - distribute them out to the other kids. Allura looked to Lotor and their eyes met. She was never one to give up, especially not first. But while Lotor had nothing to lose, Allura had everything. She refused to go from riches to rags, it was simply not an option. She gave his hair one final squeeze out of spite before she reluctantly let go. He did the same and both slowly backed away from the other.

The child continued to rustle for a few more seconds before her whining stopped and she settled back into her heap of blankets. The entire room let out a collective sigh of relief at the close call. The parent who wandered in at the absolute worst possible moment quickly zipped up the small backpack and kissed his child on the forehead goodbye then left without looking back. He was extra careful not to slam the door on the way out.

Amy still remained over them with her hands placed firmly on her hips. "Apologize to each other. Now."

Allura folded her arms and gave him a pout before she mumbled out a quick half-assed apology. She had clearly run out of excuses for her behavior. It's not like she regretted her choices, she just wanted to pretend like she did.

Amy pointed to her eyes then at them. "I'm watching you. The both of you." The young woman gave them a final warning before she left to tidy up the discarded blankets.

Allura stuck her tongue out at Amy's back before she sat back down beside Shiro, who was confused about what had just happened between the two. One second, Allura was drowning Lotor in the affection she hadn't shown him in days and the next, she had him by the hair in one of her death grips.

So were they friends or not?

As if they weren't just fighting moments ago, Allura reached up and pulled down Lotor to sit beside her. Her forceful nature took over and she pulled him just a tad too hard and Lotor came tumbling down.

Allura ignored his annoyed glare and turned to Shiro. "Shiro, this is Lotor," she introduced him like he didn't already know his name. "He's my god brother and Uncle Zarkie's son." Shiro's eyes widened with realization. So that's why the boy looked slightly familiar to him. He had the same eyes as Zarkon's. And Allura had a god brother? She never mentioned him before. What other secrets was she hiding from him?

Snapping out of this thoughts, Shiro noticed that Lotor was watching him again with an unreadable expression. Over time, he had somewhat of a grasp on what Allura was thinking when she chose to communicate only with her eyes. With this Lotor kid, he felt like it was his first day all over again. It made him feel uneasy the way Lotor's eyes inspected him. Whereas Allura's intense gaze was inviting and riddled with curiosity, Lotor's gaze was corrupted with a sense of dominance and mystery. Like he was looking for the tiniest chink in his armor for the sole purpose of exploitation.

Shiro took a deep breath. Maybe he was being too harsh because he didn't actually know Lotor. He only knew what he saw on the outside. And so far, the outside was completely uninviting. However, his mama always told him to never judge a book by its cover. He decided to try a different approach - one that wasn't as aggressive as Lotor was being. But why should he make the first move? He wasn't the newcomer here, Lotor was.

Shiro swallowed his pride and extended his hand. He tried his best to mimic the way his parents held out their hands as they initiated handshakes. "Hi," Shiro greeted somewhat stiffly, his tone barely qualified as friendly.

Lotor eyed Shiro's hand for a few seconds, then eyed Shiro before completely ignoring him altogether. He turned to Allura. "Allura, I want to go watch a movie," he announced in a bored tone before he stood up and waited for her to join him.

Shiro slowly dropped his hand as he felt his eye twitch. He tried to be the bigger person and get to know Lotor, but he would only do so much before he decided to move on. Sure, his mama told him to never judge a book by its cover.

Too bad Shiro couldn't read.

Allura didn't stand, instead she pulled Lotor to sit back down again. "Be nice," she hissed in his ear.

Lotor folded his arms across his chest and stared blankly ahead. His attention was elsewhere as he half ignored Allura's threat and fully ignored Shiro's presence. A jab to his side caught his attention and he winced in pain.

Lotor started to speak after a moment with a slight smirk. "Allura, let's go watch a movie. Please." He was being sarcastic and it resulted with another hard jab from Allura. "Fine." Lotor huffed then turned towards Shiro with an unimpressed look. "Hello, Shiro. It's a pleasure to meet you." He spoke the words through his teeth as if they were acid. Unlike Shiro, he made no effort to shake hands. Or look approachable.

Shiro figured this was the best he was going to get from him at this moment. Allura must have felt the same because rolled her eyes. She grabbed both of their lions and stood. Shiro joined her and took his black lion from her arms and held it to his chest.

Lotor eyed the matching lions with a look of envy. His eyes traveled up further and landed on Shiro, who had a not so hidden triumphant look plastered on his face.

Take that.

Feeling confident, Shiro pulled Allura's arm towards him. "We can't go look at a movie because we're playing Cloud Shape Guessers." Allura gave him a look at the name he chose for their game. Obviously, he was bad at naming things because Mystery Clouds was obviously the superior name choice for their game.

Lotor eyes flashed before he stood and pulled at Allura's other arm. "I saw you play that game and it looks stupid," he said with a frown, tugging at her arm harshly. "That is why we should watch a movie. But just us, not you. You can go watch fake clouds and guess what dumb animals they look like."

Shiro's grip on Allura tightened. "It's not just animals! There are other things clouds can be, too! Like planes and spaceships!" He was offended. "And why can't I watch the movie?" He was offended and his feelings were hurt but he wasn't going to tell Lotor that.

Lotor rolled his eyes. "Because you want to watch dumb clouds that aren't even real. If you watch the movie, you'll probably just point at all the clouds in the background."

"Nu-uh! But if it looks like a turtle, I'm going to bring it up. There's like 7 different kinds of clouds in The Land Before Time!" His argument was solid.

Lotor's lip twitched.. "That's why you can't watch it with us because then you'll watch the wrong thing," Lotor sneered. "Allura let's go." He pulled at her again until Shiro's grip on Allura loosened. Lotor took the opportunity to pull at Allura again, edging her in his direction.

Shiro saw the look on Allura's face and it was not one he liked to see often. He let go before he felt her wrath and watched with amusement as Lotor pulled on her once again. Not a second later, she jacked her arm away from him. "Don't pull on me!" she yelled before her leg lashed out and made contact with Lotor's shin. He immediately let her go with a look of pain and betrayal.

"Sometimes, I hate you," he told her through clenched teeth while he nursed his bruising shin.

She smiled down at him. "You don't mean that."

He met her smile with a glare. "Yeah, I do."

She laughed. "I'm your sister, so you can't hate me!"

"God sister," came the swift correction. He corrects her now, but there were plenty of times he's referred her as his sister when she wasn't around.

Not happy with his response, she pounced on him and smothered him under her weight. "It's the same thing, Lotty."

He frowned. "Well, sisters don't kick their brothers in the leg."

She gave him a toothy grin. "Only when they deserve it."

Lotor wiggled under her. "I didn't deserve it and get off, you're heavy."

"Get off, you're heavy," she mocked as she made her accent heavier. She folded her arms. "Are you calling me fat?"

Lotor smirked. "I can't breathe so yes."

She gave him a light smack, then got off of him. She reached a hand out to help him up. Just before he took a hold of her hand, she snatched it back. "Sike!" she laughed but it died down when Lotor gave her a frown. "Aw! Don't make that face! Get up." She pulled him up into a standing position.

When Lotor finally got to his feet, he dusted himself off and narrowed his eyes at her. "I'm going to watch a movie. Are you coming or not?" He walked with an exaggerated limp towards the TV and she rolled her eyes before she followed.

Shiro's eyes widen, then his expression fell with heartache. His head hung and he turned to walk away holding his lion loosely by one of its paws. It was like she had forgotten that he was standing there the whole time. She's never done that before. It was always just the two of them and never had her attention focused on someone else for so long.

"Shiro, where are you going? C'mon!" Allura almost shouted, still mindful of Megan the Screecher. Shiro turned around to see her with her hand stretched out towards him and an annoyed Lotor standing impatiently behind her with his arms crossed over his chest. Shiro smiled in relief before he ran to catch up with them. He grabbed Allura's outstretched hand and let her lead him towards the TV. Lotor rolled his eyes but stayed silent.

Amy put on a movie long ago and it was set to loop again once the majority of the children were awake. They had no idea what movie was going to play, so they sat in silence as they waited for the credits to finish.

Allura had no interest in knowing who voiced what character. She has turned to Lotor with the intent to start drama. "Did you miss me when you went at London?" she asked, breaking the silence.

Lotor snorted. "You don't go at London, you go to London," he corrected her with a roll of his eyes.

Allura gave a wicked smile. "...Did you miss me when you were to London?" She knew what she was doing. She just wanted to get under Lotor's skin the same way he got under hers and simple grammar mistakes were a quick way to do it. A bored Allura was a dangerous Allura.

Lotor smirked. "No, I didn't miss you," he told her. "Not even a little since you want to go around kicking my legs." Almost immediately he was bombarded with a stuffed lion to the face. Lotor didn't mean to laugh but he did anyway. He guarded his face when she took aim at him again. "Okay, okay," he yielded, using his arms to block her onslaught. "I missed you. But just a little." Shiro didn't miss how he scooted a little closer to her.

She stuck her tongue out. "That's what I thought." She turned back to the tv and was surprised that the credits were still scrolling. How long were these things? It felt like an hour. Or 2 minutes. She didn't really know the difference.

It wasn't long before her legendary impatience got the best of her. "I'm going to go ask Amy to make it go faster." She placed her lion in Shiro's lap then stood to go seek out Amy.

Her departure left Shiro and Lotor alone together for the first time. They sat in silence for a moment, each not bothering to speak to the other.

To pass the time, Shiro fiddled with the two lions in his possession. He checked their seams for any rips or snags that might develop into holes. His lion was a gift from his best friend and he was going to do his absolute best to take care of it. He took longer to go over Allura's lion because he knew that she was unnecessarily aggressive with all of her possessions. While Shiro took pride in being gentle with his lion, he was sure Allura liked to practice wrestling moves with hers.

It wasn't long before Shiro felt Lotor's hard gaze on him. With a roll of his eyes and a heavy sigh, he turned to the boy. "What?" It came out harsher than Shiro had intended. "Allura wanted me to watch the movie so you can't make me leave," he told Lotor as he continued to inspect the lions, moving on to go over the paws.

Lotor didn't move. He started to pick at the welted areas in the carpet in a bored fashion. "Allura is only your friend because I wasn't here," he said the words so casually that it took a second for Shiro to understand the dark meaning behind them. "Now that I'm back, she's going to forget all about you. So you should go away before she does so you won't get your feelings hurt."

He dealt with bullies back home and the easiest way to deal with them was to simply ignore them. However, this boy was different. There was something about him that makes Shiro's skin crawl and his fingers twitch.

Shiro's eyes snapped to him and his hands gripping the lion tightly. He shook his head rapidly before he answered. "That's not true! She told me that I was her best friend. She even got us matching lions," he said desperately, shoving the two plushies in Lotor's face as proof.

Lotor eyed the lion darkly before he pushed it from his face. "Because she felt bad for you." Lotor was just as manipulative as difference was that Allura's clever wit was for defense, but Lotor specialized in offense. "Why do you think she wanted to watch the movie and not play your stupid game? Remember, she followed me and not you. She only invited you because you have no one else to play with. She wants to be my best friend. Not yours. You were just filling in for me until I got back."

Lotor stretched his arms above his head and accompanied it with a bored yawn. He peeked at Shiro from the corner of his eye to make sure he was hitting his target. He turned his attention back towards the TV just as Allura returned with their guardian.

Amy rolled her eyes as she approached the television and grabbed the remote that was just out of reach for a very good reason. "There are only two minutes of credits left, Allura," Amy said when she noticed how quickly she skipped through them.

Allura shrugged her shoulders. "Two minutes too many, Amy." She took her lion from Shiro and set it in her lap. Reaching into both of the pockets of her dress, she pulled out several treats. She must have gotten from one of her stashes while she was away. She handed Lotor a box of raisins because he knew that her godbrother's taste in snacks should be a crime, and she gave Shiro a sugar-free brownie. She pulled out and opened her own resealable bag of grapes her papa prepared for her this morning. She hummed happily and did a little dance before she popped one into her mouth.

Shiro mumbled out his appreciation softly. He looked down at the treat in his lap with an empty look. The movie began to play but he paid it no mind. He told himself that Allura was his best friend because she wanted to be his best friend, not because she felt bad for him. The longer he sat, the longer he told himself Lotor's words had no effect on him.

Except that they it did.

For the majority of the movie, Lotor's words were all he thought about. What if what Lotor had said was true? Had Lotor been there on Shiro's first day, would Allura had even forced her way into his life? Everything they had been through seemed out of her own self-interest now. She only needed him because she didn't have Lotor. Maybe he was a just a temporary replacement for something better.

For the first time since he had met her, he doubted her loyalty to him as well as their friendship.

Allura turned to Shiro with a frown. "What's wrong?" she asked in between bites of her fruit, snapping him away from his thoughts. She eyed the unopened brownie in his hands, then focused on him. She finished chewing before she spoke again, "You don't want the brownie? It's sugar-free. Papa also gave me strawberries too if want those instead?" She offered her grapes to him. "Or do you want these?" She popped one more grape into her mouth in just in case he did want them. Sure, she was willing to share, just not completely ready give them up.

Shiro looked at Allura. Behind her, Lotor ate another raisin. His eyes were still glued to the screen but Shiro knew it was just a facade. He knew that Lotor was listening to every word exchanged between the two. He fiddled with the mane of his lion again. Its fur wasn't as soft as it was just a few minutes ago.

He declined the fruit she offered with a shake of his head before he spoke in a soft voice, "I'm...I'm okay." He wasn't okay. "I-I think I want to take a nap." And he wasn't tired. He just wanted to get away.

Allura examined Shiro's face carefully. He didn't look tired. When Shiro was tired, he got cranky. He would roll his eyes and fold his arms and sometimes drag his feet as if they weighed a ton.

But he was never quiet.

This was a new expression he hadn't shown her yet. The way he wouldn't meet her eyes. The way he would bite at the inside of his lip. The way he held on to his lion like it was a grudge. It was all new to her. He looked distant, nervous, and full of self-doubt. Like he was unworthy or…

Allura's head snapped to Lotor so fast, she threatened to break the sound barrier. "What did you tell him?!" she demanded as she snatched the box of raisins from his grasp.

Lotor didn't flinch. "I didn't tell him anything," he lied smoothly while reaching for his goods that shouldn't qualify as a treat.

Allura turned back to Shiro. "What did he tell you?" Her tone lost its sharp edge when she addressed him but it was still firm and demanding. Behind her, Lotor's eyes pierced him into silence.

Shiro weighed his options for a moment. If he wanted to know if what Lotor had said was true, then he needed to see it for himself. He needed to see who Allura would choose if it came down between Lotor and himself. He started to fiddle with the packaging of the brownie again.

He mustered up the straightest face he could and looked her in the eyes. "I'm okay. I just...I just really want to take a nap," he told her again in a steady voice.

Allura's eyes narrowed, searching for the lie. She didn't believe him but she didn't want to push it. If he didn't want to tell her what was wrong now, then that was fine, because she would definitely find out later. She had her ways.

"Fine," she finally said after a moment of soul-searching. She turned back to glare at Lotor because she just knew that he had something to do with the way Shiro was acting.

Lotor rolled his eyes. "I don't know why you think I would do something to him." He reached for his raisins again and once again, she pulled them just out of his reach.

She rattled the box in her hand. "Because you're a bully," she told him before she took one of his raisins into her hand. She examined the dehydrated grape with a look of disgust.

Lotor looked offended, not that he actually was. He brought his hand up to cover his heart in a semi-dramatic display of deceit. "I'm not a bully. If anyone is a bully here, it's you." He pointed to his leg where he was sure a bruise had formed under his pant leg.

Shiro had the feeling that Lotor was the only person to talk to Allura in such a manner. She looked at him for a moment, her face void of emotion. It was the same face she had when she agreed to let Coran make them those nasty lollies. Shiro immediately recognized it as her, "Petty Face".

Allura decided to temporarily put aside her distaste for the snack and popped one of his raisins into her mouth. Then another. And another. It wasn't long before she started to shake the box to get the raisins that were stuck to the inside walls loose enough to fall into her open hand. Still chewing and without hesitation, she dumped them on the floor, effectively tainting them.

Lotor reached for his raisins before she could ruin the rest of them. "What are you doing!?" Without breaking eye contact, she stuffed more into her mouth. Lotor almost growled before he lunged at her trying to take back his treat. "You're gonna call the ants!"

Another raisin met the ground. "Ants don't have phones!" came her bitter reply. "And plus, we won't get ants because no one even likes raisins." Not true. Her papa adored raisins, but she wasn't going to tell Lotor that. Plus, her papa was old. Old people liked raisins because raisins were just old grapes. They had no choice other than to bond.

But Allura had a choice and she chose to be petty.

"Then why are you eating them if you don't even like them?!"

"I like the taste of you not getting them," she told him aggressively before she continued to shove more raisins into her mouth. She chewed them fast and aggressive so she wouldn't have to taste them before she swallowed. Lotor reached over her again but she used her legs to keep him away. She narrowed her eyes and casually tossed another raisin behind her.

She reached out behind her, trying to pass the box to Shiro. "Shiro, here! Eat some!"

Sometime between yesterday and today, Shiro finally learned how to tell Allura no. "I'm not eating that." As much as Shiro disliked Lotor, he couldn't bring himself to eat his raisins. It wasn't a moral thing, he just didn't like the texture of them.

"Allura, that's not fair!" Came the shallow whine as Allura's legs took Lotor's full weight. His arms hung loosely to his side in a defeated fashion. He didn't understand why Allura was being this way. After all, she didn't know what he had told Shiro, she could only assume it wasn't nice. She wasn't wrong but she had no idea she was right.

"Then tell me what you said to Shiro!" she demanded. Lotor huffed before he tried in vain to reach for the box.

Shiro decided to put an end to their bickering. "He didn't tell me anything." Their dynamic became more confusing than anything ever before. Once again, they were civil one moment and the next, they were at each other's throats, egos, and food.

Even though the fight had started over Shiro, they both completely forgot he was present. They both paused in their ministrations. Lotor hanging over Allura's locked, outstretched legs while she held a nearly empty box of trash fruit just out of his reach.

Allura eyed him but didn't say a word. Shiro took the box from her hands and handed it to Lotor. "Really," he reassured her again, hoping to calm her rage.

Lotor snatched the box away from Shiro and he almost screamed when he discovered that only two raisins survived her rampage. "Allura!" he whined. "They are all gone!"

Allura looked into the box and dug her fingers into them so she could get them out. When she realized that she couldn't reach them, she shook the box violently until they fell into her hand. "They aren't all gone. There's two left. See?" She held out of the lonely pair of raisins. She moved to give them to Lotor, but "accidentally" dropped them in the process. She only shrugged her shoulders. "Whoops." She was completely unbothered by her actions.

Before Lotor could complain about his compensation of her horrid deeds, she gave Lotor her plump, youthful grapes. She always planned on giving them to him, she just wanted to make him suffer first.

Rising to her feet, she stretched her limbs then made her way to the cubbies. It wasn't long before she returned with a dark blue blanket littered with stars dragging at her feet, a matching pillow piled on top of it and a soft purple mat that was half draped over her shoulder.

It was Shiro's naptime equipment.

She almost tripped over the mat twice as she approached him. She stood over him with his pillow pinned under her chin and his blanket half in her arms and half on the ground. Stretching her neck slightly, she released his pillow from her under her chin and it fell to the ground with a soft thud. The blanket and mat followed shortly after.

She dropped the mat in her previously occupied area and half of it drooped over Lotor's leg. Before he could voice out his annoyance, she sent a glare that was strong enough to silence him. He ate another one of her grapes spitefully before he continued to focus back on the movie he had no interest in if she wasn't going to watch it with him.

Allura straightened the mat out then arranged the blanket and pillow on top. Shiro watched her curiously. "What are you doing?" he asked but still helped her arrange the blanket neatly.

Allura rolled her eyes and pulled back the blanket just enough for her to slip under them. "You said you wanted to take a nap, so we're taking a nap," she tells him curtly while settling their lions on the pillow.

She was never one to take a nap. She was the one who had the energy of the fucking sun and the stamina of the Duracell battery rabbit. Shiro honestly doesn't know how he's kept up with her all these months. She settled down in the blankets and propped herself up on her elbows so she could still watch the movie comfortably.

Shiro edged closer to her but didn't get under the blankets. "But you aren't tired?" He didn't like the idea of her doing this just to please him.

"Neither are you." She had spoken the words in Japanese to gain some sense of privacy. The language barrier Allura set up immediately caught Lotor's attention. Like her, he knew multiple languages, unfortunately for him, Japanese was not one of them. The feeling of isolation was something he wasn't used to. He ate the rest of Allura's grapes in cold anger.

At Allura's words, Shiro looked away stubbornly, his expression just short of a pout. She brought her lion closer to her and tucked it under her chin to support her head. She knew that he wasn't going to tell her what was bothering him anytime soon. She let out a frustrated breath then pulled back the blanket to invite him in beside her.

Careful not to move around the blanket too much, Shiro slipped under it beside her. She moved over a bit to give him more room but she completely hogged the pillow in the process. Under the blankets, it was warmer than he liked but he quickly grew accustomed to it. Shiro looked to Lotor. The prince's mouth was drawn into a tight line with his fists clenched in his lap and his chest moved along with his deep breaths. Earlier when he first laid eyes on him, he couldn't read past the boy's cold expression. However now, he knew exactly what the boy was thinking. He was seething.

Shiro felt his lips pull into a satisfactory grin at Lotor's reaction. It was a small victory against a war he wasn't sure he was fighting but he knew he was winning.

That was all that mattered.

He snuggled further under the blanket and propped himself up on his elbows to finish the movie. After a moment, he let his head fall onto his plush lion and closed his eyes for a second. He lied earlier when he said that he was tired but under the warmth of the blanket and the satisfaction of getting under Lotor's skin, his eyes started to feel heavy. The early work days finally seemed to have an effect on him. With Allura by his side and Lotor on his nerves, he felt himself drift off to sleep.

~•xXx•~

Shiro didn't know how long he was asleep for but he knew that when he woke up, Allura wasn't next to him.

And neither was Lotor.

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes before he uncovered himself. He grabbed his lion and set out to look around the daycare in search of his best friend and his enemy in the making. He asked around but no one wanted to give him a solid answer. They always gave answers that could double as questions as if they were afraid how Shiro would react to the truth. Just as he was about to question Amy about their whereabouts, in came Coran through the door carrying Allura over his shoulder and holding Lotor by the wrist.

Shiro's eyes widen in shock, then narrowed in anger, and finally lowered with sadness and betrayal.

They went on an adventure without him.

She chose Lotor over him.

Lotor was right, he was just a replacement for someone better. Someone that he could never aspire to be.

"Found these two wandering around the 7th-floor break room," Coran explained to Amy. He let go of Lotor so he could firmly grab Allura from over his shoulder to set her down.

Allura latched on to Coran's leg and looked up at him with big eyes. "But Coraaaan!" Allura whined. "We wanted to try coffee!"

Coran detached her from him before he bent down to her level. "And have you more hyper than you already are? Ha! I think not, little lady." He bumped her nose along with his answer. Allura puffed her cheeks out and folded her arms in response.

Lotor spoke up, "But I heard Thace call it, 'the sweet nectar of the gods!' If we drink it, we can be super strong and no one can stop us!" There was a fire in his eyes that shouldn't be there. Coran only brushed it off.

Coran laughed. "Maybe when you two are older, then we can get you that, 'sweet nectar'."

He patted Allura on the head and ruffled Lotor's hair a bit then he turned to leave. Before he reached the door, he turned to Amy. "I noticed that Shiro wasn't in attendance on this little excursion. Something happen?" Ever since they met, Allura and Shiro were inseparable. It was a little odd to see Lotor back at her side instead of the shy, yet brave child she called her best friend.

Amy shook her head. "Not that I know of, no," she answered truthfully. She turned to watch the kids go back to the play area. "Shiro took a nap earlier but that's it. Maybe they wanted to go back to old times?" she said with a shrug of her shoulders. Before Shiro, there was Lotor. The two would sneak out when they got bored, however, they were more like enemies than they were friends. Sure, they cared about each other, but they would tease each other and fight every chance they saw fit. With Shiro, the two got along as if they were made for each other.

Coran narrowed his eyes. "I see," he said slowly. He brought his hand up to his mouth and ran his index finger and thumb over his mustache thoughtfully. "Well, keep an eye on them for me, will you?. Shiro and Allura, I mean. Lotor is…" he made a questioning sound, "let's say that Lotor doesn't exactly know how to share all too kindly." With those final words, Coran left the daycare.

Amy waved him off then turned back to watch the children. She could only get a glance at the trio before she was dragged away by giddy girls who wanted to play dress up. She saw Allura's excited face when Shiro greeted them. Lotor also gave the boy a smile. It was the first smile she had seen from the silver-haired child all day. Maybe Lotor was getting along with them well after all. She smiled and was soon whisked away by greedy hands.

Allura rushed into Shiro, wrapping her arms around his frame. "Shiro, you're awake!" She seemed happy to see him but her previous actions make Shiro believe that she wasn't.

"Yeah." He looked emotionally drained.

Allura pulled away to look at him. "Are you still tired?"

He snorted. "No." His response came out harsher than he planned to and Allura must have noticed because she searched for any indication if he was cranky. His curt response set off an alarm within her.

She brought her brows together. "What's wrong?"

He took a step back from her. "You went on an adventure without me?" He tried his best not to sound angry, so it came out hurt and vulnerable instead. His adventures with Allura was something that he always looked forward to. Apparently, she didn't need him now that she had Lotor.

She made a confused face. "You said you wanted a nap!"

"Why didn't you wake me up?" he questioned. He sounded so desperate and he hated that he felt this way. He was far from a crybaby but he thought that they would at least attempted to wake him so they could all go.

She reached up into his hair to pick out a piece of fabric that must have got lodged in during his nap. She released the fuzz with a puff of air then she addressed his question. "Lotor said that we had to go find coffee to get powers! He said that when Auntie 'Nerva drinks coffee, she gets stronger! We were going to bring you some back so you wouldn't be so sleepy!" Her voice was light and void of any malicious intent.

Shiro had stopped listening the moment she had mentioned this was Lotor's idea. He knew that she wouldn't willingly leave him. She must have been tricked into it!

Shiro looked past Allura while she spoke to him and sure enough, there stood Lotor. Smirk in firmly in place. "Maybe you can come next time, Shiro," came the fake attempt at being civil. Shiro knew he wasn't invited. He knew that whatever Lotor could to try to separate him from Allura, he wouldn't hesitate.

Shiro wasn't going to let that happen.

Shiro narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, maybe next time."

She bounced on her toes and grabbed him by the shoulders. "I'll make it up to you one day, I promise! Oh! I think I found a way to sneak past Mia! There's a vent behind the plant by the elevator that goes into Uncle Zarkie's office!" Allura's voice once again broke the tension between the two. She was completely oblivious to the storm brewing. "We need to plan our next adventure, Shiro! Lotor, you can help, too because we'll need a decoy." She pulled Shiro along and Lotor followed with a scowl.

And just like that, the duo was now a trio. It wouldn't have been a problem if Shiro had actually liked Lotor. Or if Lotor had even slightly tolerated Shiro. Or maybe if Allura wasn't so oblivious to the animosity between the two. There was always a first time for everything and it was the first time Shiro was sure that he hated someone.

Maybe tomorrow would be better, he tried to tell himself. Maybe they could get along and play something that they both liked. He already had a couple ideas that would be a fair compromise.

Yeah, tomorrow would be better for sure.

~•xXx•~

Well, tomorrow came and Shiro was sure it was the second worst day of his life.

And the 3rd. And of course, the 4th.

Shiro didn't know exactly how long a week lasted but he knew that Lotor ruined all of it. Lotor was insufferable. Everything about him was designed to test Shiro's patience. Shiro told himself that he only had to tolerate Lotor for one day. He didn't know why he believed that. The boy would constantly try to drive a wedge between Allura and him. Every time Allura would talk to him, Lotor would distract her to the point where he took all of her attention away from him.

It didn't take a genius to realize that Lotor only liked to pick fights with Allura because that meant that the more time she spent bickering with him, it was less time she had to interact with Shiro. It was all a part of his evil plan and Shiro saw right through it. Too bad he knew it was working.

Jealousy was something that Shiro wasn't used to. He didn't know how to handle it or even address it. Before he met Lotor, he didn't even know what jealousy felt like. Now he knows the feeling all too well.

Everything he would do, Lotor was there to one-up him. Every idea he had, Lotor had a better one. Every joke he made, Lotor had a funnier one that made Allura laughed just a little too hard. It wouldn't have been so bad if Allura wouldn't constantly choose anything Lotor did over his version of the same thing.

The shift in dynamic changed something within Shiro. He became withdrawn. He talked a little bit less. He smiled a little bit less. He laughed a little bit less. When he did speak, his words held more of a sharp edge to it whenever Lotor would speak to him and on occasion, that edge would carry over when he spoke to Allura.

"Do you need a nap?" Allura asked him for the 3rd time with a raised brow. Shiro had been tense all day. Whenever he spoke, it was like he was speaking at her rather than to her. She noticed it immediately but let it slide considering the company still had an early work day. However now, it was starting to become worrisome. This wasn't the Shiro she was used to.

Shiro occupied himself with trying to fit an oddly shaped piece into his puzzle but it was more like he was smashing it into places that it didn't belong. Like Lotor. He didn't even look at her when he replied, "No." His answer showed his irritation. "Why do you keep asking me that?" He moved the piece to a new location and to see if it would fit there instead.

She took the puzzle piece from his abuse and replaced it with one that was more likely to fit. "Because you're cranky. You've been cranky all day," she told him while she pointed to the location it would fit on the puzzle.

He obeyed her instructions and the piece easily clicked into place. "I'm not cranky." He tried to be cautious of his tone with her but it was still defensive.

She scooted closer to him and handed him another puzzle piece. She guided him again and pointed to the location it belonged to. "Not just today, you were cranky yesterday, too," she reminded him. "I think you need another nap. I can go get your blanket for you. Or I can tell Lotor to bring it? He's close to the cubbies. He can also bring you a snack."

It was an innocent suggestion but he completely lost interest in the puzzle. His temper flared as soon as he heard Lotor's name. "Why do you want me to take a nap so bad?" he questioned her. "So you can go with Lotor on other adventure without me?" Or more like interrogated her.

She raised a brow. "What?"

Across the way, the bane of his existence sat eating a snack at one of the small tables. He glared at the back of Lotor's head then back to her. He took a deep breath in to calm himself before he felt a surge of anger arise within him just at the thought of him.

Frustrated, he pushed the puzzle aside. The sides crumpled in the process. He stood up and pointed an accusing finger at her. "You only want me to take a nap, so you can sneak out with Lotor and leave me here by myself!" Saying the words out loud hurt more than he thought it would. It was like he was finally admitting to himself his biggest fear.

Allura pushed his finger aside with narrow eyes. "No, I don't. I want you to take a nap because you're always cranky!"

"I'm always cranky because of you!" It was the first time he's ever yelled at her.

Allura furrowed her brows. "Me?" She was at a complete loss. "What did I do?" she asked him honestly.

"You don't want to play with me anymore!"

She frowned. "I'm playing with you now."

He shook his head. "No, you're telling me to take a nap," he corrected her. "Ever since Lotor came, you stopped caring about me." He folded his arms stubbornly. "You only want to play with him. You only want to go exploring with him. You only laugh with him."

She looked taken aback. How long had he felt this way? "Shiro, don't be silly. I do care about you." She held out his lion to him. "You're my best friend."

Without thinking, he pushed his prized possession away from him, shoving it back into her. "Well, you don't act like it." Her eyes widen a fraction and a look of hurt briefly flashed through them. It was gone within a split second and he continued to speak. "Lotor was right."

Her shoulders tensed. "Lotor?"

"He said that you liked him better than me and you wanted him as your best friend and not me. You've been ignoring me all week so I guess he wasn't lying."

She stood causing his lion to tumble from her lap and onto the ground. "Why didn't you tell me that Lotor told you that?"

"Because I wanted to see if it was true and it was, Princess." The nickname sounded more like an insult than anything. "You think you can replace me, well not if I do it to you first! I don't need you as a friend, I can go find somebody else." He looked around for another kid. "Like Reggie."

In the distance, the redheaded child stiffened then shook his head stiffly. He wasn't about to get in between Shiro and Allura.

Shiro stood and began to walk in the other direction far away from both Lotor and the person who he thought was his best friend.

He didn't get far before Allura was beside him again walking at his pace. "Shiro, stop! Where are you going?"

He didn't slow down to allow her to step with him easily, opting to walk faster. "Away from you so stop following me," he commanded. "Go play with your new best friend. You like him better, anyway."

She caught up to him so she could grab his hand to get him to stop walking but before she could get a solid grip, he ripped himself away from her. "Go away, Allura! I don't want to be your friend anymore!" The words came out louder than he meant to. Or maybe it was the weight behind them that made it thunder over everything else.

Allura came to a complete halt. Her hand was still outstretched towards him but it soon fell to her side. She watched him with a blank face for a moment but made no effort to continue to pursue him.

"Is everything alright, you guys?" Amy's voice cut through the tension. Shiro almost forgot about all the people in the daycare. All too fast, he became hyper-aware of all the eyes that were suddenly glued to them. He knew somewhere, Lotor was also watching them, too.

Shiro watched as it took a split second for Allura's facial expression to change completely at the sound of Amy's voice. It was almost as if a switch had flipped. It went from completely blank, to the cheerful Allura everyone always saw. He didn't know she could do that.

Allura's eyes snapped to the caretaker almost immediately and she forced her lips into a grin. "Yeah, we're okay, Amy!" Her reply came out too high pitched and way too fast. With a little tweaking, it almost sounded like her world didn't just crash around her. "We were just talking about our next adventure! But we can't tell you because then you'd try to stop us!" She flashed Amy a smile that showed too many teeth.

Amy sighed. She heard exactly what Shiro had said. They all did. The way Allura responded to the situation was not at all how any of them thought she would.

The caretaker crouched down to their level and reached out with her hands to pull them both in closer. She wanted the two to make amends as soon as possible. Amy put on a warm smile. "Allura, maybe we should talk about what hap-"

Allura looked away. "Amy, I'm hungry," she said, abruptly cutting off whatever solution Amy had. With her fist clenched and head held high, she turned and walked further into the daycare.

Shiro watched her walk away with a frown and turned away. She was probably going to go play with Lotor and they were probably going to leave him alone in the daycare. He didn't care. There were plenty of other kids to play with! Like Reggie.

Wait, no. Not Reggie. Maybe Jakob. The boy had always wanted to play with the duo but Allura always scared him off. Now that he thought about it, there were plenty of other kids who wanted to play with them but Allura was too greedy to share her time and resources.

Shiro huffed. "And I'm going to play with my friends, Amy!" he shouted loud enough so that Allura could hear it. He wanted Allura to know that he didn't need her and that she was easily replaceable. He wanted to make Allura feel the way he had felt since Lotor came. It was only fair.

He turned in the opposite way of the direction Allura had gone and walked off in search of his new friends. He put on a smile because he knew that he was going to have as much fun as ever.

~•xXx•~

Shiro missed Allura.

All of these kids were...weird. Not too weird but weird enough to place him completely out of his comfort zone. For starters, they talked too much. About absolutely nothing. They asked too many questions. About absolutely nothing. They argued with each other. About absolutely nothing. He didn't hate them, he just didn't like them too much and he found his patience thinning rapidly.

And they were so touchy. Shiro didn't liked to be touched. Allura was the only exception because she loved invading his personal space as much as she loved hugs and he would never deny her one. She invaded his personal space but she was always cautious not to smother him. These kids didn't care about personal space. They touched him whenever they pleased because they didn't care about germs.

One thing that really struck a chord with Shiro is that everytime they chose an activity, they simply refused to complete it. On the table in front of him, there were half colored pictures, half eaten snacks, and half-constructed buildings. Was it that hard to complete just one thing?

Allura made sure to always follow through with her plans. Sure, it took a while for her to come up with an idea but when she put her mind to something, she always followed through with it until the end. These kids didn't have any goals. They didn't have any aspirations. They only lived in the present and not towards the future. He hated it.

Shiro really missed Allura.

Now that he calmed down and thought over the events of the day, he completely regretted the way he lashed out at Allura. He felt absolutely horrible about it now. Never once had she treated him like he had treated her. When she yelled at him, it wasn't malicious, it was just because she couldn't tell the difference between her outside voice and her inside one when she was excited.

He let out a sigh and rested his head on the table in the nest of his folded arms. He wished Allura was here with him. He wished they were still best friends. He wishes he never yelled at her. He felt more alone than he ever did in his life and he didn't even have his lion to comfort him.

It wasn't long before Shiro heard the rapid tapping of feet approaching him and it only made him want to bury himself deeper into his arms. He didn't know who it was but he knew it wasn't Allura.

"Shiro, come play with hide-and-seek with us!" He recognized the high pitched voice as Marisol's. He thought it over for a few seconds before he raised his head to give her a small nod. He had been sulking long enough. Maybe playing hide-and-seek would get his mind off of things. He raised his head confidently and followed Marisol to the other kids waiting on them.

So what if his new friends couldn't finish things to completion? Everybody has their flaws. And besides, you can't half complete a game of hide-and-seek. This was going to be the most fun he had all week, he just knew it!

Shiro really really missed Allura.

Turns out, you can totally half complete a game of hide-and-seek. How? You just forget to look for all of the hiders. After 10 minutes, Shiro realized that he was one of the hiders that the seeker simply gave up on. He hid under the pile of blankets and thought about where he went wrong in life. Telling himself that these kids could replace his best friend was the first wrong step he took and it was all downhill from there.

He sighed before he pushed himself from under the hoard of blankets. He was done with this game. He was done with these other kids who constantly stressed him out. He was done pretending like he wasn't beating himself up over his mistakes. He was going to find Allura and he was going to make things right between them.

Looking around, he spotted the kids he played with give their attention elsewhere. He noticed that the group only consisted of half the kids they started out with and he knew there were more kids still hiding forgotten somewhere. That is if they themselves didn't forget that they were playing.

He walked silently to his and Allura's favorite play area so he could face her. When he didn't find her in their little grove, he searched their other favorite places. He checked over by the cubbies, in the reading corner, and by the snack area. He frowned when he realized that she wasn't in the daycare at all.

A smile tugged at his lips when he saw a flash of white out the corner of his eye. He ran to where he saw the top of her head over by the blocks. His smile was quickly replaced with a scowl and narrowed eyes when he didn't see his princess but only saw the malicious prince. He approached Lotor and felt his blood boil when he spotted Lotor coloring with his favorite crayons.

He looked around Lotor for the princess but once again, she nor their toy lions were anywhere to be found. "Where is Allura?" Shiro asked in a tight voice.

Lotor only shrugged as he switched between crayons. "Why do you want to know?" he asked Shiro evenly without looking up at him. He started to fill in the grass of the picture with a color that was more yellow than green. Shiro scrunched up his face at Lotor's horrible choice of his shade of green. If it had been Shiro filling in the grass, he would have chosen a dark green. Because everyone knows that grass is green-green. Not yellow-green.

He sucked in a breath before he spoke. "Because I want to talk to her," he said stiffly. He didn't like telling Lotor what his plan was because the boy would just use his words against him like he always did.

"But why?" Lotor asked in a bored tone. "She isn't your friend." Lotor started to fill in the sun in the corner of the page an orangish hue. Another wrong color choice and Shiro felt his eye twitch.

"But she is my friend," he argued back.

"That's not what you said," he countered. "You said that you didn't want to be her friend. You said that you had other friends to play with and that's why you didn't need her. If I were Allura, I wouldn't want to talk to you. Especially not after you yelled at me in front of everyone and made me cry." He finished with a ghost of a smirk on his face.

Shiro stiffed. "I made her cry?" he asked softly. Guilt swelled up within him. He didn't think his words had enough weight to make her cry. Now she'll never forgive him!

Lotor nodded. "Yeah, you did." He hummed in satisfaction at his finished picture before he flipped the pages to find a new empty page to color in. "She left to go see Uncle Alfor a long time ago. She told me that she was going to tell him what you did to her so he can fire your mother so you have to leave the daycare forever," he said with a satisfactory grin.

Lotor smiles more at Shiro than he frowns but it's never inviting. It's always a smile made of bad intentions and malice. Shiro admits that he is bad at reading Lotor but he doesn't miss the glint in his eyes.

"You're lying."

Lotor's smile fell and for the first time, his amber eyes met Shiro's. "I'm not lying," he said sharply as he flipped through the pages. He was looking for the perfect picture to color in.

Shiro took a step closer. "Yes, you are! You're always lying to me just to make me feel bad! I should have told Allura what you said but I didn't because I believed you!" he yelled.

"...So? I didn't make you yell at Allura. You could have just stayed quiet and played with her." He pauses to study a page only to flip to another one within the second. "But you didn't."

"You made me!"

"I didn't make you do anything."

"You made me think bad thoughts! I'll tell Allura what you did and she'll forgive me," he explained.

"Would you forgive you?"

Shiro thought for a moment. What if it had been Allura who yelled at him? He doesn't think he would talk to her again after that. His fist clenched and he felt tears well up in his eyes but he refused to let them fall. Especially not in front of Lotor.

His best friend was in the castle probably crying because of the mistakes he made and he was going to make it right. "Allura is different. She's not going to make me leave. She's still my best friend." He's been lying to himself all week. What's one more lie? Something deep inside him told him that Allura hated him and there was nothing he could do about it. But that wouldn't stop him from putting up a fight.

Lotor watched him in silence before he closed the artbook and replaced it with another one instead. Shiro frowned when he recognized the new book as his favorite animal artbook. It's the one Allura bought for him and he knows for a fact that the book was stored in his backpack. So why did Lotor have it?

Lotor flipped through the pages of this book almost in a bored fashion, purposely ripping some pages as he went along. When Lotor finally found the page he was looking for, he gave a wicked grin.

Shiro knew that everything Lotor said and everything that Lotor did was to get under his skin, so when he saw Lotor land on the uncolored lion in the artbook, he knew the boy was trying to rile him up. Especially since Lotor knew he was coloring in his book. The book Allura specifically picked out for him, not anybody else and especially not for Lotor.

"Hey, that's my book!" Shiro told him, taking another step closer.

"Your name isn't on it."

"You were there when she gave it to me!"

"Should have put your name in it."

Shiro's shoulders stiffened. "My name is in it!" he yelled.

Lotor flipped the book over to the back panel and in Japanese, Shiro had, in fact, written his name on the book. Lotor rolled his eyes and flipped the book to where he left off. "It just looks like squiggly lines to me," Lotor said while he took the time to spread his crayons out on the floor neatly. He took pride in himself at the way the colors were arranged properly. His fingers lightly dusted over each crayon as he thought about what awful color his lion should be and it directly corresponded to what color would make Shiro the angriest.

Lotor almost laughed when he picked out the perfect crayon to drag its waxy coating over the lion picture.

Shiro felt his eye twitch at the choice Lotor made. "Why are you coloring the lion white?" Shiro almost pulled at his hair in irritation. He wanted to rip the book from Lotor but held himself back. He didn't

"Because I like white lions," he told him as he dragged the crayon along the thin sheet. "They are real because I saw one at the zoo once. His name was Steve." Who names a lion Steve?

"But you don't need to color it white because the paper is already white," he yelled. "Just color the grass around it. Wait, no wait, don't color the grass." Shiro doesn't trust him to color anything ever again. And most certainly not in his book.

"Don't tell me what to do. You're not coloring, I am. So I get to choose what color I want the lion and I choose for it to be white." Lotor stuck his tongue out at Shiro. "I think I'll color the grass purple."

"No, you're doing it wrong!" When Shiro's temper finally boiled over, he snatched the book from Lotor's grasp. He had enough of Lotor taking his favorite art book and ruining it with bad choices. He'd rather the book be under the cubbies with his long-lost black crayon than in Lotor's possession.

"Give it back!" Lotor yelled as he stood from his seat. He reached for the book and snagged the edge of the cover. He gave it a tug to try and snatch it from Shiro's grasp but the boy had a good grip on it.

"No! It's mine!" Shiro yelled. "Allura gave it to me not you!" Shiro tried to pry Lotor's fingers from the artbook so he could gain leverage.

"I don't care! I found it, it's mine!" When Shiro planted his feet and refused to let go, Lotor decided he was going to end this.

"You didn't find it! You stole it from my backpack!" Shiro argued.

Lotor didn't like being called a thief. "If I can't have it, you can't have it!" With that, Lotor gripped the half of the pages with both hands and gave it a quick snag in opposing directions, effectively tearing the pages to pieces.

Shiro watched the ripped pages fall silently to the ground in shock and he felt tears threaten the edge of his eyes again. But this time, they were out of anger.

"There, you can have your stupid book," Lotor told him before he threw the remaining shreds in his hands at Shiro.

Shiro stood still as he took in rapid breaths to calm himself but it wasn't working. His anger was boiling over and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Lunging forward, Shiro placed both of his hands on Lotor's chest and pushed him back harshly.

"Why are you so mean to me?" Shiro yelled as he gave Lotor another shove. "I didn't do anything wrong to you! All you do is do things me to make me mad! You take my toys, you tear my favorite artbook and you took my best friend from me!" With every word, Shiro pushed him, letting his repressed feelings pour out. "You took everything and you still want more! Just stop it!"

Lotor's eyes widened at Shiro's words. Just as Shiro was about to give Lotor another hard shove, he was yanked back by their caretaker.

"Shiro! What has gotten into you?!" Amy scolded him. "You know we don't hit or push anybody!"

"But Amy, he tore my book!" Shiro explained desperately. Surely she saw him rip his book to shreds. He had a right to be angry.

Amy shook her head. "That's no excuse, Shiro! You know better," she told him as he pulled him further away from Lotor. "I am very disappointed in you." Just when Shiro thought she was only going to scold him, she turned towards Lotor. "And the same goes for you! You are not playing nice, Lotor. We've talked about this last time. Now you two are going to spend some time apart until you both cool off."

She guided Lotor to one part of the daycare and Shiro to the opposite side. Amy didn't isolate the children but Shiro soon found himself alone. He was supposed to be cooling off but he was making himself angrier. First he was at Lotor for ruining everything for him but eventually, he felt more angry at himself for letting Lotor get to him like that. His parents would be disappointed in his behavior and he knew he was in for a scolding when he got home. They always taught him to take deep breaths when he was upset but today wasn't a deep breath kind of day.

He took a handful of blocks and begin to stack them atop of each other. He didn't have any idea of what to build, he just knew that he needed a distraction to keep his mind busy. He smiled softly when he thought about the first time he met Allura. He was determined to play alone but she wouldn't take no for an answer and they were inseparable ever since.

His anger was soon replaced by his sadness.

He missed her so much.

Shiro didn't know how long he sat there stacking blocks but soon he heard his mother call for him. He didn't immediately run to her because he knew he was in for a scolding for pushing Lotor. But what if she didn't know about the incident? He immediately perked up at the thought.

When he approached his mother, her tight frown and crossed arms told him that she already knew everything. He should have known that Amy would snitch him out. He hung his head low enough so his hair could fall into his face to hide his shame. He wished he had his cap back. That way he could have something to hide behind. He hated when his mama was upset with him. The only worse than his mama being upset with him was his dad being upset with him.

Aiko held out Shiro's backpack so he could loop his arms through it. She cleared her throat. "Don't you have anything to say to Amy?" she said it as if it were a suggestion but Shiro knew better.

"He lifted his head a bit but didn't meet Amy's eyes. "I'm sorry, Amy," he told her, his tone full of regret.

"Don't you have someone else you owe an apology to?" she asked, pointing towards Lotor who stood not far from him. Shiro opened his mouth in protest but the look his mother gave him told him that he didn't have a choice.

Shiro slowly walked over to Lotor who wore the same stubborn face as him. With folded arms and a frown that matched his mother's, Shiro quickly grumbled out an apology. It was only when Amy nudged him, did Lotor do the same in a muffed grumble.

Lotor looked away with a frown. "There. I said it. Can I go now?" Lotor asked the question but he didn't wait for the answer before he stormed off deep into the daycare.

Aiko held her hand out and Shiro took a hold of it without question. "I'll be sure to give Shiro a talk. Thank you for informing me, Amy." She turned to leave with Shiro trotting right beside her, his head still hung low.

The walk to the car felt like they had been walking for ages. He didn't remember the trip being this long. With each step he took, he felt his heart thump wildly in his chest. And that, combined with the silent treatment his mother was giving him the entire time was not a good sign. He hated when he knew he messed up and his parents wouldn't say anything. It was like ticking time bomb and he had no idea when it was going to go off.

After Shiro was safely strapped into his car seat and the car was in motion, did Aiko finally speak. "So what happened today, Takashi?" She watched him from her rearview mirror when she stopped at the parking garage exit gate.

Not able to meet her eyes, Shiro looked down at his shoelaces as if they suddenly the most interesting thing in the world. "I don't know, Mama," he said honestly with a sigh. "Lotor made me so mad and I pushed him because he ripped my favorite artbook."

Shiro's actions today concerned Aiko because she knew her son was a sweetheart. He liked to laugh more than he liked to yell because he wasn't very confrontational. He was picked on back home, but none of the teasings ever ended in Shiro using his hands to inflict harm on someone else.

Once out of the parking garage, Aiko looked both ways before she entered the evening traffic flow. "You pushed him over a book?"

Shiro threw his hands up. "It wasn't just a book, Mama!" he defended. "It was my favorite book! The one Allura gave to me!" He folded his arms over his chest. "And Lotor destroyed it!"

"I think you and Lotor could be friends if you tried to be nice to him," she suggested as she made a right turn on a familiar street.

"I tried being nice to him! He doesn't like me and I don't like him! He's always so mean to me!" Shiro explained.

She raised a brow as she drove carefully down the narrow streets. "He's mean to you?" she questioned evenly. "Does he tease you?"

Shiro sat back in his chair with a huff. "No."

"Does he hit you?"

"No."

"Does he mock you?"

"...Only sometimes," he muttered, casting his eyes downward.

"Then what does he do?"

"I don't know, Mama!" Shiro confessed with a growl. "He's just...mean...and- and he's annoying. And he's always either ignoring me or staring at me!" Shiro finishes his rant with a kick of his feet.

"Staring at you?"

"It's rude, Mama! You said staring was rude! And he does it aaaall the time! Like he can see through my bones!"

Aiko tried to keep a straight face at her son's comment but couldn't help the snort that escaped through her nose. "Okay, yes. Staring at people is rude," she told him. "But that's all he does? That's what makes you upset, Takashi?"

"No, it's not just that! He does other stuff, too."

When she came to a stop at a red light, she could finally look back at her child in the rearview mirror. Shiro had his arms folded over his chest and a grumpy frown was etched into his face. He looked more upset than when they first started the conversation. Aiko could tell that he was riling himself up just thinking about the boy who he thought was his sworn enemy. "Like what?"

"Lots of stuff!"

"Like?" she urged him on.

"He's always trying to be funnier than me. Or every time I say what game we should play, he always says, 'Let's play this one instead, Allura.'." Shiro tried his best to imitate Lotor's posh accent but he didn't do a good job of it. "And he never lets me talk to her without him jumping in and ruining everything. I hate him."

"Hate is a strong word, Takashi," she warned. "You don't hate him."

Shiro shook his head in stubbornly. "But I do hate him."

"But why?" She wanted to understand of all of the bully Shiro had to deal, was this kid on the one that pushed him too far.

"Because he's trying to take Allura away from me," he finally muttered out.

Aiko made an understanding sound because everything finally clicked into place. Shiro was jealous. This was the first time anyone has ever threatened his relationship with Allura and he didn't know how to deal with it. "You're jealous, Taka-chan."

"I'm what?" he asked confused.

"Jealous," she repeated. "It means that you want to keep what you have and guard it from other people." It was the simplest explanation she could think of without confusing him. "In this instance, you only want Allura to yourself and when she's showing her interest in someone else - someone who you think is a threat to you, you lash out."

Shiro made a face and clutched and pulled at this shirt. "But I don't want to be jel-ass. How do I make it go away?" he asked desperately.

Aiko smiled as she made another turn. "It's pronounced jealous and the only way for you to make the feeling go away is for you to be comfortable with who you are and your friendship with Allura." Aiko paused for a second to see if Shiro had anything to say. When he kept silent, she asked, "Have you talked to Allura about Lotor?"

He fiddled with a loose thread in his shirt. "Yeah, but I didn't talk to her right. I yelled at her because I was...," he paused to make sure he could pronounce the new word correctly, "jealous. I didn't mean to yell at her, I just was so mad at Lotor and I couldn't help it! I told her that I didn't want to be her best friend anymore and I had other friends to play with." he choked on the mumbled words and wiped his eyes with the back of his hands.

"But I didn't mean it, I promise! I still want to be her friend. She's the best friend I ever had! And when I went to tell Lotor, he said that she went to Mr. Altea to tell him what I did so he could fire you and I have to leave the daycare. But I don't want leave! I want to stay here with Allura forever!" He was on the verge of letting himself fall apart and it broke Aiko's heart.

"Breathe Taka-chan," she told him gently, hoping her words would be enough to console him. "Everything is going to be alright."

Shiro took a deep breath shook his head. "No, it's not! She probably hates me now!" He took another deep breath and threw his head back before he spoke again. "Mama, what do I dooo?"

She smiled to herself before she turned the car into a familiar area. Shiro was so wrapped up in his feelings that he probably didn't notice where they were. "You just have to apologize to her, Taka-chan. Allura is your best friend and I'm sure she will forgive you," his mother reassured softly.

Shiro thought it over for a moment. Allura wasn't the one to stay mad for long, all he had to do was tell her how sorry he was and she would forgive him.

But what if she didn't?

His eyes went wide when an idea suddenly popped into his head. When his mama was mad at his dad, his dad always bought her flowers. That's exactly what he had to do, too!

He dried his tears, lifted his head high and started to swing his feet in excitement. "Mama, we have to go to Allura's house so I can tell her how sorry I am!" he yelled with clenched fists. "But first we need to go to the store so I can get her flowers! And we need glitter. Lots and lots of glitter, Mama. Like a whole hammock of glitter!" Neither he nor Aiko knew just how much a hammock of glitter was so he spread his arms wide to emphasize just how much glitter he was talking about.

Aiko almost laughed at her son's determination to win his best friend back. She carefully pulled her car into a parking spot before she cut the engine. "That's a lot of glitter, Shiro," she told him. She unbuckled her seatbelt and grabbed her purse.

"Allura likes all sparkly things, but she really really likes glitter!" he explained to her. "I need to get her flowers and glitter and cut up grapes because she only likes them when they are cut in halfsies. And we need to…" his voice trailed off when he noticed they weren't at the store or at Allura's house. They were in the park.

His mother stepped out of the car and went to the back to take him out of his car seat. He looked up at her confused when she unbuckled him and lifted him out of the car. He squinted his eyes at the brightness he was suddenly exposed to. Shiro clunch to his mother as he looked around to see that they had arrived at his favorite park. This one was the biggest park he'd ever been to. It was in the middle of the city and it had lots of friendly dogs and slide he liked to race down. His favorite part was the big sand pit he liked to dig in. He grew sad when he realized that he usually played there with Allura.

Shiro clung to his mother's shoulder when she bent over to adjust her purse and lock the car door. He frowned when she set him down on the ground and he looked up at her with furrowed brows. "Why are we at the park?" he questioned. As much as he loved the park, this is the last place he wanted to be. "We gotta go to the garden and glitter store." He looked around a bit and when didn't see a garden or a glitter store, his frown deepened. As confused and annoyed as he was, he didn't resist when she reached out to hold his hand.

He tugged again at her hand. "Mama. I don't want to be here! It's not the same without Allura. We gotta go!" he begged as he tried to slow down her pace.

She hid a smile. "I think a little walk will do you some good." Shiro pouted. He didn't understand why his mama was being difficult. Every minute he spent here was another minute Allura spent without him. She was probably with Lotor now bad mouthing him. He heard the sound of laughter in the distance and was envious that it wasn't him having that much fun.

For every step his mother took, Shiro took two. It was a slow pace and as the sun beat down on them, Shiro found it easier to breathe. The wind was gentle as it flowed through his hair and caressed his cheek. The smell of wet grass filled his nose and the sweet sound of song birds in trees put a small smile on his face. His mama was right, the walk did help.

They continued to walk down the path hand in hand. It wasn't long until he saw the familiar playground in the distance and he suddenly remembered why he was sad in the first place. He tugged at her hand again, a little less harsh than he did earlier. "Okay Mama," Shiro started with a small voice. "We don't have to go to the store, but can we please go to Allura's house?"

Aiko continued to walk a few more steps forward until she came to a stop. She stooped down to Shiro's level before she answered him. "Why do you want to go to Allura's house?"

Shiro gave his mother a look. Wasn't she listening to anything he had said? He took a deep breath and pushed his white bangs out of his hair. The action reminded Aiko that Shiro was overdue for a haircut. "Because I need to go tell Allura I'm really, really, really, really, really-"

Aiko cut him off because she knew that this could go on for a while. She took both of his hands in hers and pulled him in close with a warm smile. "I mean why do we need to go to Allura's house? She isn't home." Her voice was light and held a mystery Shiro couldn't solve.

He frowned. "But where is she? We need to find her," he demanded. "I need to tell her that I'm sorry and that I'll never yell at her again!"

Aiko smiled, gripped her son's shoulders lightly, and turned him firmly towards the playground. "Then go tell her," she told him.

Huh?

When he saw the playground earlier, he didn't give it his full attention because it reminded him of what he'd lost. Now that he's forced to focus on it, he sees the world around him. He sees children running as fast as they can as they play a game of tag. He sees a dogs fetching a ball. He sees kites fly high above. Just when he was about to ask what was so special, his eyes caught a glimpse of silver hair peeking out of the sandpit. His eyes went wide and a giant smile plastered his face at the sight of her.

His head whipped back to his mother in excitement. She nodded towards Allura with a smirk. "What are you waiting for?" she encouraged. It was all the permission he needed before he bolted off towards her.

He made three steps before he turned back towards his mother and crushed her in a tight hug. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" he said rapidly before he was off again towards Allura. Aiko smiled warmly. She was sure it was his first smile all day. She stood up straight and made her way towards Alfor who was sitting on the bench close by.

Alfor looked up from his book to address Aiko. "How did things on your part go?" he asked with a smile. They had this meeting planned for a few hours now. Usually, Allura snuck into his office, but today she was escorted to him by one of his employees with a face that made him drop everything he was doing to console her. It broke his heart to see her so saddened. When he asked what happened, she explained to him the events of the day. He consoled her the best he could with a tea party and a movie he played on his tablet.

A quick email exchange with Aiko brought them both here after work. Aiko took a seat beside him and adjusted her purse to set in her lap. She let out a sigh. "We had a little chat in the car. He understands what he did was wrong and I've never seen him to apologetic. He wanted to buy her flowers and…" she drifted to recall exactly what her son said, "A hammock of glitter." She finished the sentence with a laugh.

Alfor's laugh joined hers. "Oh man, that would have won her over for sure." He continued to laugh but stopped abruptly to look at her. "You didn't get her glitter, did you? Because we already have an infestation at the house," he told her seriously with a tint of fear in his voice.

"And ruin your life? Heavens no," she said much to his relief. "Your blue suit still sparkles like Edward Cullen when you step out in direct sunlight." Both let out a laugh at the analogy and continued to watch their children reunite.

Shiro approached Allura rapidly. He ran to her as fast as his feet could carry him. When he reached her, he was out of breath and hunched over. She was playing in the sandpit. Tiny shovels and her lion surrounded her. Her eyes met his for a brief second but didn't do anything else to acknowledge him. She continued to dig out the hole in front of her so she could look for hidden treasures. Like nickels and pocket lint.

Shiro watched her and she was as unreadable as the day he met her. She had her eyes cast down and her lips drawn tight. "Hi Allura," he started softly, careful not to raise his voice just in case she was sensitive to him.

She didn't stop what she was doing. "Hi Shiro," she said, her voice blank. "Are you doing being grumpy?"

He sat down in front of her and he was mindful not to cause any sand to fall into the hole she was digging out. He fiddled with a pebble he found. "Yeah, I am," he admitted. "Allura, I'm really really sorry that I yelled at you today. I didn't mean it, I promise." He watched her see if she was buying it. "Are you still my friend?" he asked her. He was honestly terrified that her answer would be no and he'd be left all alone again. He didn't like being alone.

She continued to dig for buried treasure. "Friends don't yell at friends."

He leaned forward on his hands. "I know and I'm sorry. I was just so mad and I don't know what happened. Mama said that I was je- that I was jealous and that I didn't want Lotor to have you to himself and that I wanted you all to myself. I thought he was trying to take you away from me forever. And you're the best friend I ever had and I didn't want you to leave." It was a confession he didn't know he had in him. He spoke the truth to her because that's what she deserved.

She put down the tiny shovel after she found a tiny seashell. She looked at him. "Shiro, remember when I told you that you were my best friend?" she asked him.

He looked at her with uncertainty. Was she going to tell him to go away? His heart clenched at the thought. "Yeah."

"I meant it. You are my best friend." He let out a sigh of relief. "But best friends are supposed to tell each other everything. If you are sad then you have to tell me. Because if I don't know that you are sad, then I can't make you feel better. I can't fix it. I'm not pys- I'm not pysch-" she fumbled over the word she saw on TV once before she gave up. "I can't read minds, Shiro." She says that now, but there were plenty of times she knew exactly what he was thinking.

Shiro nodded his head. "Okay, I'm sorry. I promise to tell you if I'm sad," he told her. "I'm sorry that I made you cry."

She cocked her head to the side. "You didn't make me cry. Did Lotor tell you that?" He nodded his head and confirmation and she rolled her eyes. "Lotor is always making up things like that. Don't believe him. He's always trying to fool people."

"I wish you had told me that earlier." Had Shiro known that from the beginning, he wouldn't be in this situation.

She shrugged her shoulders. "Sorry, I forgot." She then gave him a smile that he didn't realize he missed so much. She handed him another shovel. "Here, help me dig for treasure! I think I saw something shiny!" she explained.

Her eyes went wide before she reached behind her to pull out his hidden lion. His eyes lit up with joy. He didn't even see it behind her when he approached her. "Here, your lion missed you, too!" She handed him his lion with a smile. He took it from her and gave it a squeeze. It wasn't long before he felt her weight on him and she tackled him to the ground in a hug.

As much as her harsh hugs put a toll on his body, he can confidently say that he missed them more than anything. He finally felt like he had his Allura back. He wrapped his arms around her and his lion and he knows that he's never felt happier.

~.xXx.~

After the incident and a stern talking to from both of their fathers, Lotor and Shiro's relationship was less hostile. They were far from best friends, but they could be civil when they were together.

In the Altea household, the trio sat in the middle of the living room. It was another playdate on a Saturday afternoon. They decided have a castle building contest. Whoever had the best castle when Coran's timer went off would be the winner with the prize of bragging rights. The adults were talked into being the judges.

Allura searched around her for a moment before her eyes caught sight of the block she wanted. "Shiro, can you pass me the green block?" she asked him with outstretched hands. She waited patiently while Shiro located and handed her the desired building block. With the block in hand, she carefully placed on the highest point of her castle.

Just as she placed the block exactly where she wanted it, Lotor came behind her to knock over two of the blocks on her outer wall. He gave a wicked smile before he mumbled out a not so innocent, "Oops, my hand slipped," he said with a flick of his tongue. Her castle was getting bigger than his and he couldn't have her brag about it later. He laughed to himself before he placed his own yellow block he imagined as a bush in the garden of his castle.

In the kitchen, Alfor's felt his red alarm go off. "Uh-oh, I should go stop her before she does something destructive." He made a move to approach the children before Coran held him back from interfering.

"Now, now. I think you don't need to worry yourself. Allura is growing and she is learning not to act on irrational impulses. I think Shiro really brought out the gentle side in her. Don't you think, Zarkon?"

Zarkon flipped another page of the financial report. He looked at Coran over the rim of his thin wired glasses. "Nah," he said almost bored. "She's gonna fuck him up. Remember last time when she drop kicked him because he got chocolate pudding on her dress?" He recalls the memory so casually as if their children fighting was an everyday occurrence. At one point, it most certainly was. It felt like they had to break up fights between Lotor and Allura every hour on the hour. Since Lotor's return, both have significantly toned it down. Zarkon was honestly surprised it took Shiro that long to finally confront Lotor about him...well being Lotor. He knew his child was sort of an asshole. It was being he himself was an asshole. Genetics was a bitch like that.

Coran shook his head in disagreement. "That was the old her," he dismissed. "I haven't seen her do anything like that in a quite a while."

"Lotor hasn't been here in a while," Zarkon countered. Can't have a scheduled fight if the only opponent is absent.

Coran held his head high and turned to Alfor. "I have complete faith that Allura will retaliate in a ladylike fashi-

A crash is heard in the living room as Lotor's body falls into his castle that was one block away from completion and completely destroys it. Blocks are scattered by the demolition and Allura is seen standing over Lotor's sprawled out body breathing heavy.

Coran lets out a defeated sigh not only because he is proven wrong but he also knows exactly what she is going to say next.

"Oops, my hand slipped!"

Shiro blinks at the mess, then looks towards Coran and a big smile comes to his face. "Does this mean I win the contest, Coran?"

Whelp. 42 pages worth of fluff and angst. Take it my children. Also, disclaimer, I personally love raisins.
Next Prompt is : Sleepover.