More thanks for the lovely, talented, amazing KS for her continued Betas! I rather inundated her with much to read in a short amount of time.
I know how I ended Battle cause no end of consternation. All you K&A fans, this one's for you.
WARNING: ADULT SCENE.
Keith watched as Black took off with Tsuyo and Cady aboard. Magda and Saria had left hours earlier in the ground car, Magda's knitting needles flashing wildly and Saria already spinning an improbable tale. He raised both arms above his head to stretch, wincing as the he pulled the left shoulder too far. It still did not rotate as well as it could, but Saria swore it had more mobility than before. Keith believed her, but it still did not feel like it to him. Shaking off the somber thoughts, he looked around the glade. It looked strange without Black taking up most of the space. The entire area felt large and quiet. Without anyone else around, he could hear the wind through the leaves, and the occasional chirp from one of the cricket like creatures.
A person did not realize how much noise other people made until the other people all left. He could hear no one else breathing, or walking, or making any of the hundreds of noises people tended to make all unknowing. Taking a deep breath and rotating his neck, he let the tension of the morning fall away. Glancing at his watch, he decided to take a long walk in the glade before lunch. He turned back to the house to grab a water bottle and a snack. In the kitchen, he filled a water bottle, then paused to look at the myriad of notes lining the cupboards and the countertops. Looking at the detailed instructions Magda and Saria had left, he smiled, bemused, and felt loved.
"Behind this cabinet you will find the herbal teas. They do not do any good staying in the cupboard."
"The meals are color coded, so just pick a color. You are on your own for breakfast."
"Glasses in this cupboard, not tools or other bits."
"Press the button marked automatic to wash the dishes. Use the box marked dishwasher tablets ONLY."
Opening the various cupboards, he found more notes. "This is dishwasher tablets. They go in the dishwasher. ONLY the dishwasher."
"This is dish soap for the sink. Do NOT use in dishwasher."
Szheezsh, make a mistake once and never live it down. Just because the bubbles made it all the way to the hallways before they stopped. . . At least the floors had a good thorough cleaning.
Meandering to the exercise room, he found a folder hanging down from the door way with READ ME. . . or ELSE written in black marker. Laughing out loud, he set aside his water bottle, pulled down the folder, removed the ribbon and opened the folder. As he expected, he found another note typed in large, bold, and underlined font.
THIS IS YOUR SCHEDULE FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS. I WILL GIVE YOU A PASS ON ONE ITEM PER DAY. THAT'S IT. ONE. A SINGLE ITEM. AN INDEX FINGER ITEM. DO NOT MESS WITH ME ON THIS ONE. HUGS, SARIA.
Keith laughed even harder; he could hear Saria's voice in his head. Flipping through the pages, he did not find anything too onerous and mentally promised Saria to follow her schedule.
Over the last month, she had really worked him hard, but in a way that actually led to healing. He could finally make it through a short work out without feeling like an octogenarian. He had started sparring with his daughter again. Although he ended up with rather large bruises, no bones had broken, he did not require a three-hour nap after fifteen minutes, and his lungs did not feel as though they would explode. Saria did not promise he would heal to the same place as before, but she thought if he did everything she said, Keith would come close. They just did not know enough about the long-term effects of everything his body had gone through.
Moreover, Keith no longer felt like an alien in his own body. He still needed to gain weight, but at least he looked only scrawny instead of emaciated. He could even shed one of the layers of clothing he had taken to wearing to keep warm.
In all, Keith felt better. Saria had weaned him completely off the muscle relaxers, although she had left not only a supply of them, but emergency injectors in strategic places around the house. The number of spasms which occurred had dramatically decreased, but had not vanished completely, as expected.
Putting the folder down on a bench, he wandered across to his bedroom and leaned against the door jam. Years of training had left him nothing to tidy or neaten. Magda had left flowers in a vase on the night stand closet to the window. Keith smiled and then blew out a large breath before walking back to the front of the cabin.
Feeling unsettled and restless, he walked out the front door and headed toward the lake rather than through the glade. Lost in thought, he arrived at the lake without noticing the passage of time. One of the benefits or detriments of the last month. No one had really kept a schedule. Breakfast and dinner usually occurred around the same time, but everyone had taken lunch as they saw fit. Some days he had gone on picnics or adventures with Cady, some days he needed sleep more than food. Especially the first week.
A fish jumping out of the water broke the quiet of the afternoon, and Keith watched the ripples as they spread out over the surface, and then dissipated. Briefly he considered grabbing a fishing pole, but that would involve gutting and cleaning anything he caught. Tsuyo often teased Keith that he could wade through battle without blinking an eye, but gutting a fish made him gag. Keith had given up explaining years before and just took the gentle teasing from his friend. And then made someone else gut and clean the fish.
Letting the peace sink into him, Keith took several steps back from the edge of the lake. Setting a timer on his watch, he closed his eyes and let the sounds of nature move him in a slow Tai Chi meditation, letting his mind drift.
x
x
x
Allura parked the ground car before the cabin, and nervously pushed her hair behind her ear. When Nanny M. had retuned the day before, she had immediately pulled Allura aside for a long talk. A long embarrassing talk about her marriage to Keith. Nanny had not only asked some very pointed questions, but had bluntly talked to her about her husband of a few months. She had given Allura some very specific instructions, and then told her she needed to pack for a holiday with Keith at the cabin for the next two weeks. Magda had already coordinated Allura's schedule with her secretary, and the kingdom would survive without her so she could take a long overdue trip with her husband. Earth had a tradition called a "Honeymoon," and Magda decided Allura and Keith would have one.
Furthermore, when they returned, the leadership of Arus would discuss Allura's schedule, Keith's schedule, and a restructuring of their responsibilities. Magda also wanted to restructure the castle personnel and management. It had done fine without her direct supervision, or at least mostly fine, for the last month, so she had decided to work less, delegate more, and set the example she expected from Keith and Allura. Magda would work on it while Allura and Keith honeymooned. Then she shooed Allura off and walked to the kitchens.
Feeling a bit dazed, Allura had done as Magda asked. Now, she sat in her transport, hands gripping the steering wheel until her fingers turned white, her head bowed as she tried to gather the courage to leave the car. She had not felt nervous around Keith for years, yet here she sat, unable to open the door to go and greet her husband.
A tap on the window startled Allura from her reverie. Outside she saw Keith smiling at her, before opening her door, holding out a hand. Allura pried her hands off the steering wheel, unbuckled herself and allowed Keith to pull her from the car. He studied her a minute before leaning down to brush his lips over hers. Allura felt her eyes close and she raised her free hand to place two fingers over her lips before opening her eyes and looking at Keith. The man raised his hand to tuck a stray strand of hair behind Allura's ear. "I have always enjoyed seeing your hair down. It always signaled a time when we could just relax or have fun."
"Oh." Allura suddenly did not know what to say or do. Keith had not let go of her right hand, so she nervously brushed her left down her shirt. Her husband followed the movement with an appreciative glint in his eye. Allura looked at their joined hands, at Keith's right ear, at the cabin behind Keith, then back at the buttons on Keith shirt before licking her lips and raising her eyes back to his.
Keith leaned over to give her one more soft kiss before tugging her hand to have her fall in step with him. Rather than pulling her toward the cabin, he took the path around the side. "Thought you might like a small walk, since you have had a long drive."
Allura nodded absently, amazed at the change she found in her husband. He had sought out physical contact with her and seemed to even want her company. Tsuyo, Magda, and even Dr. Gorma had tried to talk to her many times over the last few months about what Keith needed from her. Nanny had laid it out on the line last night, and Allura felt determined to follow every one of Nanny's strictures.
Keith started making small talk, asking questions about some of the staff, and what Allura had done for the last month. Even though they had talked nearly every day, the conversations had felt formal and stilted. For the first time since Keith had nearly died, Allura felt herself relaxing into the camaraderie they had built over the years, and simply enjoyed the time with her love.
"You did not!" Allura gasped, caught between laughter and horror. "Oh that poor man."
Keith shrugged, twirling his wine glass before taking a sip. "Nope. But believe me, he deserved it."
"Oh dear. And here I thought you were this ultra conservative, always follows the rules kind of guy."
"After Cady was born, maybe. Of course, after Cady was born, we were all too tired to find much trouble. Except Lance. I swear, he brings trouble to himself like a lodestone finds a magnet." He looked over at his wife, cheeks rosy from wine and laughter, hair tumbling down behind her, her fingers absently running up and down the stem of her wine glass. Keith felt something turn over in his chest at the lovely sight she presented to him. Standing, he reached out a hand for her, "Dance with me?"
"There is no music."
"We can make our own."
Allura shook her head and allowed Keith to pull her upright. He pulled her close, wrapping his right hand around her waist, left hand taking her right. With a smile, he pulled her into the Arusian version of the waltz, and guided her right out of the door. Allura laughed as he moved her in large swoops and swirls, exaggerated as they danced across the glade behind the cabin, Keith taking advantage of the space. The sun had just started setting, and the purple and gold hues transformed the glade into a magical place. The lightening bugs had just started emerging, and the evening brought the sounds of the nocturnal animals starting to stir. They whirled until both felt dizzy and laughed with delight until forced to stop, breathing hard, standing face to face.
Allura felt suddenly shy, and stared at Keith's neck rather than look at his face. She felt him pull her arm until it rested behind his neck, and he used his right hand to pull her until she stood flush against him from chest to thigh. His left hand glided down her right arm, down her side, and then back up until his hand rested on her back.
"Allura. Look at me. Please."
Very slowly she raised her gaze passed his smiling mouth, to his nose, and finally meeting his eyes. "Allura, I never looked for such an amazing gift in my life. You bring light and laughter to me and to Cady. You are beautiful inside and out, and you never give up on your people or those you love. I am blessed to have you for my wife, and I promise to be the best husband to you that I can. I promise to warm your toes at night, to laugh with you, to never to go bed mad, even when we fight. I promise to listen to you and do my best to hear what you are saying. At our wedding and coronation, I promised to take care of your people, and spoke all the formal words of joining between us. I wanted to give you something more, and something for you. I have no worldly riches to offer you, but I offer you everything that I am. I offer you a daughter to call your own, and a family. I offer to stand by your side in defiance of our enemies, in times of joy, and happiness and when sorrow comes. I offer to be the father of your children, as many as you wish. In return, I would ask for your patience, as I learn my new roles. I ask for your care. I ask you to share your hopes and dreams and help me build a life together as Allura and Keith as well as King and Queen and Mother and Father. I ask for your forgiveness for all the mistakes I will make and the fights we will have. I ask you to help me learn to be a better man, husband, and whatever role I need to take in the future."
Allura looked into his eyes, her own eyes tearing in response to his beautiful words. She had never hoped to hear such words from Keith. She knew he did love her but had always known that he did not love her in the same way she loved him. He had given her a family and care. He had always looked out for her, taught her, challenged her. They had fought side by side for four years, and he had never made her feel less. He protected those around him and fought fiercely against any perceived wrong. He had a temper, without question, did a terrible job of taking care of himself, and rarely admitted wrong. But she loved him. Without reservation.
"Keith, I never imagined a day when I could stand with you, in a such magical place, as your wife. I had resigned myself to a state marriage when the council would no longer accept my delaying the inevitable. You make me feel strong and confident. You do not always agree with my decisions, but once I have made one, you always give me unconditional support. I promise to laugh with you as often as possible. I promise to never go to bed mad even when we fight, and to always remember that dancing in the rain and the mud should take priority over meetings and ministers. I promise to remember to be silly and to keep you from being over serious. I offer my heart to you. I offer you children, as many as you want. I offer you my home as yours, my land, and my people. I ask you to build memories with me to share with our children and our friends. I ask for your patience as I learn how to be a good wife to you and a partner. I ask your understanding and forgiveness for when I lean too hard, demand too much, and sometimes refuse to listen to reason. I ask you to help me learn to be a wife, a mother, and a good ruler of our people."
A single tear of happiness ran down Allura's cheek and she rose to her tip toes as Keith lowered his head to cover her lips with his. Feeling her shyness melt away, Allura reached her hand under Keith's shirt to caress his bare back as she opened her mouth under his.
He responded by lowering his hand to her bottom and pulled her tighter against him, demonstrating his rising desire for her.
Allura decided to take Nanny's very explicit advice and participate in her own seduction. Lowering both her hands to Keith's shirt, she starting working it up his chest, until he pulled back from his exploration of her mouth to look at her with one eyebrow cocked.
She smiled, "You feel hot."
He gave her the sexiest smile she had ever seen on his face. "You may be right," and reached down to take off his shirt the rest of the way.
Before she could think better of it, Allura reached up to pull on the tie holding her dress. Nanny had packed several of the same style of dress, and given Allura specific instructions on what to do. When the tie came loose, she shook her hips lightly to let the dress fall all the way to the ground. She stood before her love in nothing but her sandals and red lace underwear. Tossing her head, she gave Keith he best seduction smile.
He stood frozen, his shirt forgotten in one hand as he very slowly ran his eyes up and down her body before bringing his eyes back to hers. She swallowed hard at the predatory gleam in his eye, but stood her ground. He took one step toward her before reaching out to grab her around the waist and fasten his mouth to hers. Before she knew it, he carefully lowered her to the ground, so he lay on top of her discarded dress.
He spent the rest of the night proving he meant every word of his declaration. So did she.