The Adventures of Elevator Lance:
The Kiss Heard Around the World
It had been a week since Lance was suspended from flying Red Lion. It seemed that Keith didn't take kindly to sitting in a puddle of honey, especially when he was wearing a freshly cleaned flight suit.
With an extra bounce in his step, Lance went through his morning routine then left his quarters. All thoughts of crazy elevator adventures were far removed from his mind.
"Oh Red, how I've missed you," he thought to himself as he waiting for the elevator to arrive. When the doors opened he was surprised to find Allura was already on the elevator.
"Allura, is everything ok?" he asked as he stepped in. He could tell that she had been crying only a few moments earlier.
"Oh Lance, I just received some terrible news," Allura said, struggling not to cry.
"What is it, Princess?" Lance asked after pressing the button for the first floor.
"It's….it's…" Allura was having trouble speaking.
"Go on," Lance told her.
"It's about Katherine."
"What about her?" Lance asked.
"She's…dead," and with that statement Allura wept uncontrollably.
Instinctively, Lance moved to Allura, wrapped his arms around her and held her as she cried.
"It's ok to cry," he told her softly.
The movement of the elevator and the ambient noise of its machinery were drowned out by the cries of the heartbroken princess.
"It's all my fault," Allura cried out. "I shouldn't have let her go to Earth."
"It's not your fault," Lance told her. "Do not blame yourself."
Allura pulled back just enough so she could look into Lance's eyes.
Lance felt the strings of his heart get pulled in every direction. Here was the Princess of Arus, his teammate, his friend, in pain and there was practically nothing he could do. He hated to ask, but he wanted to know. "What happened to her?"
"She was on a shuttle, traveling from Galaxy Garrison to the moon…" Allura looked down at her feet and took a breath. She used all her strength to keep from crying so she could explain what happened. "She was supposed to take a ship from the moon to Arus, she was coming to see me. But there was a malfunction with the shuttle…it reentered Earth's atmosphere at the wrong angle and…" Allura felt that she didn't need to continue the tale.
"Allura, I'm so sorry…"
Allura burst into tears again. She buried her face against Lance's neck and cried onto his shoulder.
Lance just stood there, holding her. He felt his jacket become soaked with Allura's tears but he didn't care. He just wanted to be there for her.
After a few moments, Allura lifted her head up again. "Thank you, Lance. You're a good friend."
"Anything for you, Princess," he said while looking into her red, teary eyes. Before he knew what had happened, Allura's lips pressed against his.
In a way, the kiss happened so fast that Lance couldn't react or stop it. But it also felt like it had happened in slow motion. "What am I doing?" Lance thought to himself. Before he could answer, the elevator stopped and the doors opened.
"I did NOT see that coming," Hunk said from the hallway.
Allura and Lance broke their kiss and looked out the elevator doors. Standing there was Hunk, Pidge, and Keith.
Keith locked eyes with Lance, who had that look of a boy who got caught with his hands in the cookie jar.
"It's not what it looks like," Lance said as he backed away from Allura.
"I've heard that before," Pidge joked.
"Keith, I can explain this," Allura said.
"There is no need," Keith said flatly. "But if you two are done, we have some work to do." With that Keith turned and walked away. Hunk and Pidge exchanged glances then winked at Lance. The pair then followed their leader down the hall.
Lance glanced over at Allura as she glanced over at him. "Uh oh," was all Lance could say.