As the team reemerged from the tunnels after lion practice, a waiting communiqué informed them the two ensigns joining the team would arrive in the early evening. Cheers rose from the group. Finally they would have someone to spell the on Voltron and could return to a more normal deployment schedule. After four years of 24/7 duty, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and hope gave the team a boost they needed. Fewer mistakes and injuries due to pilot so tired they saw double. A chance to really heal their bodies after injuries or illness instead of aggravating dangerous conditions. Perhaps even time for purely social functions where they did not double as body guard or have to worry about an alarm sounding to interrupt a date.
The long term plans for Voltron involved training a batch of Arusian fighters and return the tradition of Voltron to the rightful people. After this upcoming battle, they would be able to evaluate the new graduating class for those with the interest, drive, and most importantly ability to pilot the giant robot. Captain Kogane had pushed the new recruits hard, but could not be everywhere at once. They would rely on the Garrison pilots for now, and look to begin a training program within a few months. If all went well. Keith had brought the princess around to his way of thinking. Rebuilding could wait, education could not.
Arus had started rebuilding, but much of the planet still had to hand draw their water, did not have adequate sewers or aqueducts, means of powering anything beyond the most basic things like lights. Every town had modern communications stations, but few individual homes had connections. In many ways, Arus would benefit from the need to rebuild literally from bare ground. This would give them an opportunity to modernize without sacrificing much of what made Arus unique.
Lance, Pidge, and Hunk quickly went to make themselves presentable for the arrival of the newest members of the Voltron force. Allura detoured to request Nanny prepare a welcoming meal before heading to her quarters. She no longer fount it odd to have an interior room within the castle. The small suite had its own individual bathing chamber, small bedroom, and living area but certainly not on the same scale as her old apartments. After Lotor had spirited her out of her old rooms with the large windows and balcony, Keith had instructed the staff to move her belongings to a new chamber he had chosen. It had less damage than many other rooms in the castle because of its placement within the interior of the castle. It looked over the small inner courtyard, but had no direct access to it.
The castle walls blocked her view of the sky, and had missed standing out on her balcony watching the sun set and the stars emerge from the darkness. Allura had fought hard on the move, not wanting Lotor to dictate where she could and could not live. Keith had listened while she raged about her rooms for nearly 20 minutes. Finally, he cut off her objections when she started repeating herself for the third or fourth time.
"Princess, your belongings have been moved to the suite next to mine. There they will stay and the staff have orders to move anything that appears in your old suite back to the new one. If you will excuse me, Cady and I have a date." With that he had bowed and left her standing in the middle of her old suite without a rejoinder.
Smiling at the memory, she touched the panel to open the door. That particular argument had struck her dumb and silenced all her objections. Sleep only a door away from the man she adored? It took no time at all before she had the new rooms ordered how she like them. Cady had given her a picture of the stars she could no longer see. Four years later, it still hung as the centerpiece in a collage of prints and pictures along one wall. Cady had given her other pictures over the years as her skill improved, but the first one was given with love and insight.
The first night in her new room, Allura had felt a little out of place. She had bustled around moving a small ceramic piece here or there. The walls looked rather bare and still smelled of fresh paint. Her beautiful furnishings; her canopied bed, large wardrobe, and vanity would not fit in the new rooms. They had found some mostly undamaged furniture for her use, and Allura knew it would be some time before new furnishings could be made or found. She had very little familiar around her and strangely enough, felt a little 'homesick.'
Just as she was working herself into a funk, the princess heard a knock on the door. On the other side stood Keith with his daughter in front of him. He leaned down next to Cady's ear and whispered something.
The little girl had looked at the princess and then held out something in front of her. "Happy new rooms!" she had said.
Allura had reached down and taken a large piece of paper with a drawing on it. There was a lot of blue on the paper and colorful blobs on top with spikes sticking out from each of them.
Cady looked proudly at Allura, "I made you stars."
"You made me stars?" the princess repeated, a little confused.
"Uh huh," Cady nodded, "Cause you like stars."
Allura looked at Keith for a little help, "Cady likes watching the stars on your balcony with you," he shrugged a bit, "so she decided you needed stars in your new rooms to match the ones in your old one."
Carefully, Allura put the picture down on a table by the door and then held out her arms to Cady. She gave the girl a large squeeze, "Thank you, sweetheart! I love the picture and I am putting it on my wall right now."
Cady wiggled down and walked over to the wall and pointed to the center. "Here."
"There," replied Allura. She stopped as Keith cleared his throat behind her. He held out a roll of tape. She smiled, he was always prepared. "Thank you."
For the next several minutes, she and Cady fussed with the perfect placement of the picture. Before she knew it, Keith had excused himself, Cady was Allura's first visitor and she felt less out of place. A short time later, the captain came to collect his daughter for bedtime. Cady promised Allura she would bring more stars for her room so she would not miss them so much.
That night began a great relationship between the two girls. One who desperately needed a mother figure other than Nanny, the other who needed someone who needed her care.
Looking at her wall, she sighed. She adored Cady with everything in her. At seven years old, Cady did not remember a time when the princess did not live next door. She had a personality much like her father. Allura had lost count of the hours they had spent worried over Keith and his latest trip to the hospital. In the beginning, Cady would stay in one of her 'Uncles' rooms until Dr. Gorma released Keith, but as time passed she started staying with Allura as well. During the longer hospital stays, Cady would split her time between her father, the princess, and her uncles.
As more people came to the castle for work, Nanny had arranged for child care for the staff's children. Many people needed to work, but the traditional two parent family had disappeared when Zarkon had first attacked. Many of the children of this generation had only one parent and often a relative to care for them. As people emerged from the caves and began rebuilding, Nanny found a teacher and a small school was established in the castle for the children living there. Cady attended the classes held in the morning. The afternoons were divided among Coran, Nanny, Allura, Hunk, Pidge, Lance, and Keith. In the process she was acquiring the most amazing education.
From Coran she learned protocol, law, and diplomacy. Nanny taught her manners, work ethic, and cooking. From Allura she learned poise, dignity, and negotiation as she watched her beloved princess during meetings with the council, foreign dignitaries, or the Arusian leaders. When Cady had first started coming with Allura, some of the leaders and dignitaries had looked at her askance. The little girl had quickly proven to be invaluable in keeping people from losing their cool and their willingness to be more flexible. No one wanted to yell or scream in front of a child, especially one who would look at them with wide grey eyes should they start to raise their voice or whine. In one of the first meetings she had attended, a mayor had started complaining about the lack of progress in rebuilding and how his town needed more than the others. After ten minutes of his ranting Cady had politely raised her hand like they did in school. It took another minute before the mayor noticed her. "What do you want little girl?" He asked huffily.
"Can you please stop yelling so loud? You are giving me a headache and I cannot hear what you want 'cause you are too loud." She said with a child's logic.
The man had looked at Cady and blinked. Then blinked again. Then sat down and did not say another word. After that, he became known for his brevity and modulation of tone.
Allura smiled at the memory and then turned her thoughts to Cady's uncles. They continued to teach her as they had from the day she was born. From Hunk, she learned how to build and repair. On her first birthday he gave her a child's tool set and every day he could had played mechanic with her. To Cady, it was all a game of take it apart and put it back together.
Pidge brought his love of problem solving. With Cady he played puzzles, logic games, and mazes. He constantly created new computer games with her. In return Cady forced Pidge out of his too serious role and let the young man come through. It was not unusual to find them both on the floor with old fashioned crayons, feet in the air as they created mazes and pictures.
From Lance, she learned laughter. He taught Cady how to relax and have fun. They did silly things together like have backwards clothing day or making funny noises with their hands. Lance spun crazy stories with improbably characters using silly voices and sound effects. He also taught her how to play tell jokes and laugh at herself. What a precious gift he gave her in that!
That left her father. . .Keith. Plopping on the couch, Allura gave herself permission to think about her knight in shining armor. Love. Keith gave Cady unconditional love. Through his example he taught her honor and right from wrong. He taught her to have high expectations for herself, and to strive to reach the goal. They spent time together every day, just the two of them. Often they could be found in the gym practicing either Yoga or Tai-chi. When time permitted, Keith and Cady would invite Allura to spend time with them in the forest, on a horseback ride, or just relaxing in the rec room. The princess adored this family time and over the last four years, it had become a staple of her day. Allura would join them as she could for their tai-chi practice although she readily admitted Cady would soon outpace her. Of course both had started the practice as soon as they could walk. It helped to have generations of practitioners in the family.
Her smile became a frown as she pondered her dilemma. Somehow she had to show Keith she could fit in permanently in their family. In her fantasies, Keith discovered how much he loved Allura and they would marry and Cady would be her daughter in truth. They would have more children and build a fabulous family. Shaking her head, Allura pushed the thought aside and forced herself to stand and ready for the arrival of the new recruits. Time enough to dwell on the Keith question later.