Allura sat in the empty A.I chamber with her hands folded in her lap. She sat with her back straight and her eyes closed, and in the silence she could envision the mountain juniberry fields. Spans of beautiful pink flowers cascaded along rolling hills and mountains all around her. A soft, warm breeze flitted through her hair and brought the sweet fragrance of the flowers to her nose. But it was only a memory. She would never smell those sweet juniberries again. She would never feel the grass beneath her toes and never find loose petals in her hair. Altea was gone. She would never be home again.

That reality was even more difficult today than any other day. Today was her first birthday since her father's death and Altea's destruction. It was proving to bring to surface a lot of difficult emotions.

She felt the familiar wetness of budding tears and straightened, taking a slow and calming breath. She pushed the tears back with focus. She would not cry anymore.

With the loss of her home she felt like she had gained an immense weight on her shoulders. Her father had died fighting for Altea. He had died fighting against the Galra. She could not allow his death to be in vein. She had to pick up where he had left off, and continue the fight. And yet, it felt so heavy.

It was terrifying. The Paladins…they were improving, but they still had so much work to do. The original Paladins had managed so many incredible feats and unlocked so many unfathomable powers with the lions and with Voltron. Could these new Paladins ever reach that level? They didn't have the time that the original Paladins had. They had an entire Empire to overthrow and an entire universe to liberate. It was…a daunting task.

She often found herself feeling overwhelmed by it all. When she did, she longed for Altea, and for her father. If only she could speak with him when she had to make vital decisions and doubted herself. If only she could speak with him and get his advise, she could feel more sure about her choices. But he wasn't here. Even his A.I. was gone. She was alone, trying to learn how to be a diplomat and a leader, alone.

Her father had made it look so easy. He had been a much loved ruler, with his people always first in his mind. He made hard decisions seemingly with ease and fought alongside many nations to bring peace to the universe. He had been such a strong person that she had always looked up to. He had been her role model. One day when she would be the ruler of Altea, she wanted to rule just like him.

But Altea was gone now, and she had been thrown into this position with no one to teach her. She had to be strong, like her father. She could not afford to show weakness. She could control her emotions. It was up to her to be her father's legacy. She would not let him down.

Control. She had to be in control. Even today, when the tightness in her chest kept on constricting and the tears in her eyes threatened to spill over. She had to be strong. Her strength would encourage the Paladins and instill confidence in their allies. She needed strength to gather a force that could reckon with Zarkon.

"You must be strong." She squeezed her hands together, focusing on calming her mind. The child in her kept thinking back to Altea. Memories flooded to the forefront of her mind. The past birthdays she had spent with her family that were such happy memories, were now filled with longing and sadness. She wanted to be back there, if not just for one day, just one day and then she could be strong everyday after.

She squeezed her eyes shut and the tears collected on her eyelashes. She focused on getting herself in check and spoke her thoughts aloud. "Altea is gone, Allura. I cannot dwell on it any longer. I have a mission I must focus on now. For Father's sake, I must focus on this mission. I am not a little girl anymore. I am a leader. People are relying on me to remain confident and sure in my decisions. They will not believe in a leader who is weak. I cannot be weak."

Not even for one day?

Her eyes snapped open as she heard the room's door slide open and Coran peered inside. He spotted her immediately, since the room was empty otherwise. "There you are, Princess. What are you doing here…?"

"I was just…thinking. That's all." She quickly blinked away the few tears that had managed to escape and gave him a forced smile. Hopefully it was believable enough. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes. The teleduv is good as new with the new scaultrite lenses and the Paladin's seem well rested now that Zarkon has stopped following us." He walked over to her and took a seat on the steps beside her, folding his hands over his knee. She turned her face away so he couldn't look at her and he got the message and faced forward. "What about you, Princess? Have you gotten enough rest?"

"Yes, I'm…I'm feeling just fine now." She stared at her hands, still intertwined in her lap.

"If you're feeling up to it, Hunk is putting together a rather interesting meal for everybody." He gave her a gentle smile. "Though I'm not entirely sure if it will be good or not, as humans seem to forgo nutritional value for taste and looks."

She was quiet for a moment. She wanted to be alone for a little while, still finding it very difficult to gather her emotions today. But hiding away in here wasn't going to help anything and she knew that. Maybe it would be better to distract herself. She forced a small chuckle. "Well, we won't know if it's any good until we try."

Coran smiled, but he had known her for her entire life. He had known that today would be a difficult day for her. Neither of them made any effort to move and a silence lingered before Coran broke it with a somber voice. "Princess, I know that your father would be proud of you, and I know that he would wish for nothing more than to be here with you today."

He saw her shoulders tense slightly and her fingers tightened as she hid her face behind her hair. Gently, Coran placed his hand on hers. She opened her palms when she felt something cold in his hands, and when he pulled away she looked at what he had given her.

It was a gold disk, about the size of her palm. Inlaid in the center of it was a beautiful blue gemstone carved in the shape of the royal Altean insignia. The gemstone was native only to Altea and it gleamed bright even from the minimal light in the room. Her eyes widened as she peered at it and she brought a hand to her mouth. Only the king and queen possessed one of these, and it was always on their person at all times. It was the equivalence to a crown on Earth. It was only removed when it was passed on to the next heir. She looked up at Coran, new tears in her eyes that she didn't bother to hide. "How…?"

"Your father gave it to me before he put me into the cryo-sleep. I made a lot of promises to Alfor that day." Coran's eyes were filled with both sadness and pride. Alfor's words swam in his head.. "He always knew you would become a great leader, Allura. Even with him gone, you have become such an incredible leader. He would be so proud of you."

Her hands trembled around the insignia, and she couldn't stop these tears that streamed down her face. She hugged the precious gift to her chest and let them fall, just this once. Just today.

Coran gently wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into him. He let her cry, because she had to. She couldn't be strong alone forever. Everyone breaks at one point, even Alfor, and he had been there for him when he had as well. And he knew that after she broke she would rise up even stronger than before. Just like her father. He would be there to support her every step of the way.

She cried. She cried into his chest and wailed into his shirt. So many pent up feelings were now unrestrained and breaking free. Grief, sadness, anger, bitterness, regret, mourning, loss, all of it came exploding out at once and he held her tight as she trembled and sobbed.

She let it all out, and when it was over, it was over. She sniffed back her tears and dried her eyes and stood tall. She would not cry anymore. She collected herself and she was in control. She would be strong, and she wore the Altean royal insignia with pride.

She would be her father's legacy.