Author's Note: Boo! Vacation is coming to a close. I always hate when that happens. Blech. On the bright side, as a parting gift before I get on the plane tomorrow, I'll have a REALLY good chapter out. You know I can't keep a cliffhanger going for long. As always, I own nothing but the characters I've created. Their problems, too.

To Sally On - I so love dresses. And you're right, it's going to be a LONG haul for our friends on Pollux. And just when you think things are finally rounding a corner, a chapter like the next one turns up, and they have to start from square one all over again.

To Emie Mac - I put some Jeff in this chapter for you! Don't worry, Queen Anadora's gift to Lance is simply a friendly gift. Though there IS a reason I wanted Lance to get his hands on a garnet ring... ;)

To Wade Wells - I think all that time in the hole was a long time for Captain Crankypants to mull over his intimacy issues. Not that he's past them, of course, but he's starting to come to terms with them.

Title Song: "Cruel" by Tori Amos

The dinner plates were just being cleared from the table, which left the wedding reception open to dancing. Prince Erimar, seated at the same table with the guests from Arus, stood and politely asked Larmina for the first dance. The cadet blushed nearly the same plum color as her gown, but she accepted.

"Would you like to dance?" Keith asked Allura.

"In a little bit," she replied, taking her cardigan off and baring her ivory shoulders. She looked to the dance floor, where she noticed Romelle dancing with Stephane, Bandor dancing with Clarissa, and Sven dancing with Emma. Erimar and Larmina joined in on the festivities.

"Nobody here dances with his or her significant other," Keith noted.

"I suppose that's all right," Allura noted, slowly processing the information with her eyes and ears. She watched the way Romelle danced with Stephane and how every time her cousin turned, she would catch a glimpse of Larmina dancing with Erimar, and she would smile. "You know that I owe Erim another dance, don't you?"

He nodded. "I have no problem with that. We both owe it to him." He remembered the last time Erimar had danced with Allura, and how the prince had somehow known that she wanted to be nowhere but in Keith's arms. Keith had been dancing with Lenora at the time, purely for show, and they exchanged partners. Lenora had kept Erimar occupied while Keith and Allura declared their feelings for each other.

Then Sven came down the stairs, and everything changed.

As they watched on, they saw how partners changed. Suddenly, Romelle was dancing with Erimar, and Sven was with Larmina. Allura nearly blushed when she saw the way that her niece was looking up at the Norwegian. There could have been a million reasons for the look on her face, but Allura guessed there could only be two real ones: Blue Lion and Lenora. Those were the only two things they had in common.

"Sargeant Holgersson," Larmina whispered quietly, "can we get out of here and talk?"

He furrowed his eyebrows. "You want to talk to me? About what?"

From the look in her eyes, he knew the answer.

"Ja. Slutten." He extended his elbow for her to take, and she did, lifting the hem of her dress with her free hand. He knew that they were on the receiving end of some odd looks - from his wife and her aunt, especially - but whatever the Lady of Arus wanted, he wasn't about to cause trouble.

Even she felt the eyes follow them out of the ballroom.

The common area of the Explorer was not exactly where Lisa wanted to be at the moment. She wanted to be back in Aidan's arms, in his bed, at his apartment. In New York. And if she couldn't have that, then she wanted to be alone in her room.

If only Ginger would allow that.

"Come on, Roommate!" she'd begged, dragging her down to the common area for a drink. "Stop being so stubborn! I know you love Aidan, but he loves you too, and you'll see him again in eight weeks. He's not going anywhere."

So now she was sitting between Chip and Ginger at the booth, a glass of pinot noir in front of her, and Jeff, Cliff, and Crik sitting across from her. She stared into the barely-touched glass of wine and thought again about Aidan. It was getting harder and harder to leave. Truth to be told, she was starting to resent being a member of the Voltron Force. Why should she be away from New York and the man she loved? And why should she be the one putting her life at risk to fight the Drules when she could be home?

It was more fun to be a member of the Voltron Force ten years ago.

"Hey Lis? You okay?"

When Lisa looked up, she was surprised to see that it was Jeff who was concerned about her. Jeff, the man she'd always thought she wanted to marry, the man who broke her heart at Soltoro over nachos and margaritas, and in front of an audience, no less. Jeff was the one who was worried about her.

She nodded, clutching the stem of her wineglass. "I just miss Aidan, that's all."

If he was jealous or hurt by her comment, he didn't show it. Instead, he reached across the table, covering her hand with his. She thought that the whole situation was cruel and unfair - not only was she missing her boyfriend, but she had to be pitied and consoled by her ex-boyfriend. "I know, Lis. It's okay. I miss Chris, too."

Of course. Of course he would say something like that. Though she wasn't normally the jealous type, Lisa felt the need to keep her temper in check. What did Keith's little sister have that she didn't? How could he love that one girl so much, and not her?

Then again, she did love Aidan more than she ever loved Jeff.

Breaking the contact, she lifted her glass of pinot noir and took a sip. It was good, really polished and elegant, and it distracted her for a moment from thinking about Jeff and Aidan. Ginger looked over at her worriedly, then stood up. "Come on, Lisa. Let's get out of here." She winked at Cliff. "You know how it is, boys. Us girls need a little space for ourselves."

Dragging Lisa and her wine over to a quiet, empty booth, Ginger stared her down. "Okay, Lis," she began, her voice thick with concern, "if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were acting like one of those girls who can't stand to be without her boyfriend. And that's not just juvenile, that's very uncool, and so not like you."

Lisa exhaled dramatically. "So I miss my boyfriend. So sue me. You don't seem to worry about Jeff missing Christiane, or the Commander missing Len. Why do you hafta worry about me and Aidan?"

"Because," Ginger answered honestly, "I can't do this without you. We get a new commander? Fine. Jeff leaves? Okay, I can deal with that too. But if you leave, I've got no reason to stay here. Got it?"

"You'd have Cinda."

"Trust me, Cinda's on the verge of leaving, too. If you left, she'd follow, no questions asked. And if both of you are gone, then I'm out too." She paused, a look of despair flashing in her blue eyes. "And unlike you, I don't have a boyfriend to go home to. In fact, I don't even have a roommate to go home to anymore. No offense."

Lisa suddenly felt guilty. "What about Shannon? He'd be crushed if you left the team."

Ginger shook her head. "Thank God Aidan stopped me at the wedding. That would've been just another disastrous hook-up under my belt."

"Maybe you should stop drinking obscene amounts of gin. That might help."

Ginger shook her head. "If you can't drink at an open bar, then when can you drink?" She grinned playfully. "Seriously, Lis. This team is all I've got left. I have nothing else outside of this. And if you and Cinda leave..." Her voice trailed off, and she looked away from her roommate and down at her fingernails.

Lisa nodded in understanding. "I'll stay. For now, anyway."

Out on the balcony, Larmina rested her arms on the rail and looked out into the vast lands that comprised Pollux. She looked sad and thoughtful at the same time. Sven knew what she had called him out there to talk about, but he didn't know why.

"You loved her," she said accusingly.

"Yes." No need to go into anything further.

"She loves you too, and you took the chicken way out." Larmina gripped the railing, clenching her teeth together so that the tears wouldn't make their way past her eyes. "She freakin' loved you, Sven. That week she was with us...I never felt better. She understood me. She got me. And I got her. I knew how much she loved you." She wrapped her arms around her torso in a self-hug. "I don't understand why you loved her but you wouldn't stay with her."

The Norwegian sighed. He didn't know what to tell the Lady of Arus. "Things are complicated," he said finally.

"That's what she said."

Blast that Lenora; they always had been on the same wavelength. "What would you like for me to say? I loved Lenora. I still love Lenora. But she wouldn't have me. She wouldn't accept the terms I laid out at her."

Larmina looked up in shock. "And what terms would those be?"

Sven thanked God for the fact that Pidge had come up with those injections, otherwise he was sure that his Haggarium rage would be out in full force. "Why do you feel the need to drill me about my old girlfriend, Lady Larmina? Because, I assure you, it's doing no good for anyone!"

She looked back over the railing, her aquamarine eyes a well of sorrow. "I miss her. She was the only person who understood me, and now she's gone. And she's probably never coming back, because of you." She looked over at him again and locked eyes with him. "That would be the reason why I ask you for all of this information. Because I can't get it from my teammates. I can only get it from you. And I feel like you owe it to me."

Sven exhaled and cursed in his native tongue. "You're cruel."

"I don't care. It's a means to an end."

"You certainly act a lot older than you are, my dear." He paused, crossing his arms over his chest. "On the night of the ball, I was ready to divorce my wife and seek full custody of our son. Lenora wouldn't allow me to. She lost her father at fourteen and wouldn't let my son lose his mother." He looked out onto the Polluxian landscape with her. "Then Romelle came to Arus the following morning, giving me an ultimatum: either come back to Pollux with her, or file for divorce and lose my son. She won."

"Wow." There was silence between them for a few moments, then she looked up and over at him. "Is it true? Was she really like me when she was my age? That's what Keith and Lance keep saying, that I remind them of her."

Sven smiled. "I haven't spent enough time with you to know that. The only thing I do know is that you seem to be passing fond of Blue Lion, and that's all." He smiled. "But that's good enough for me."

She sighed. "I'd like to know more about her."

"Then you should ask her. It would do nothing but kill me."

"Sorry."

"Come on. We need to get back in there, otherwise people are going to start talking." He grabbed Larmina's arm and dragged her back into the castle and into the ballroom, where he noticed that Romelle was still dancing with Erimar, looking enchanted.

As much as he hated to admit it, they looked rather good together.

Once they'd landed the Albegas mecha and returned them to their proper bays in the hangar, the team headed to the locker room to strip out of their flight uniforms. In the many months since they'd begun flying, they'd become quite good as a team. Aidan had proven himself to be a competent leader, Taye's piloting skills were growing unmatched, David's gunning was impeccable, Morgan's navigational skills were second to none, and Christiane's technical skills were rivaling the Space Marshal's. Aidan was proud of his team.

"You guys are kicking butt and taking names." Kelly appeared in the locker room, already stripped out of her First Officer uniform and dressed in her street clothes. "I am so impressed. I betcha Hawkins would be too, if he were actually here anymore."

"Dude, speaking of which," Aidan glanced at his watch, "I've got a date with his wife. I wish the guy knew I've spent more time in his triplex with his wife in the last six months than he has."

Morgan rolled her eyes. "Dalloway, you shouldn't talk like that. And you shouldn't be spending that much time with Len."

"Why not?"

"One, you've got Lisa. And two, Len's a married woman."

Aidan shrugged. "I think of it a different way: Hawkins is spending time with my girlfriend. So I'm spending time with his wife. Nobody's doing anything illegal or immoral, unless rooting for the Patriots over the Giants is considered immoral in the state of New York."

"Which it is, by the way," Taye shot out. "No to the Pats."

"Oh, so we're in the clear. Nobody in that triplex is rooting for the Pats."

Kelly coughed, trying to change the subject. "What are you guys doing tonight? You wanna get something to eat? And, more importantly, something to drink?"

Aidan shook his head. "Nope. Got a date with the Space Marshal. Rain check?"

"Oh, get out of here." Kelly swatted him on the butt. "And stop calling it a date. It's not."

"Okay, then. I'm off to my non-date. See you guys tomorrow."

Taye reached for Kelly's hand. "We were gonna go to Sullivan's. Are you three in?"

Morgan and David looked at each other and nodded. "Don't have to ask us twice. Chris, Honey? Are you in?"

Christiane nodded. "Anything to take my mind off Jeff. I hate it when he leaves. And unlike our fearless leader, I don't have anyone else whose significant other is on the Explorer to hang out with."

Morgan reached for her hand. "Come on, Baby. You know we'll always take care of you."

She nodded. "I know. You're my family."

Sullivan's Bar was busy, but not overly-crowded, which made it easy to find a table to accommodate them. The group of five sat down and looked over the menu, but not before ordering a couple of pitchers of beer. They decided on the usual bar treats - wings, burgers, and nachos.

"The heroes of the realm," David joked. "Seven hells."

"If this is wrong, I don't wanna be right," Taye quipped.

Christiane quietly sipped her beer and contemplated breaking away from the group and going home. She missed Jeff, and having had him for only a few days was like torture. She wasn't really in the mood for partying or drinking or going out, not while she watched Taye with Kelly, or worse, David with Morgan. Not that she begrudged any of them their happiness, but it was hard for her to be out with other couples when her boyfriend was already in space and she wouldn't see him for eight weeks.

"Excuse me for a second, I think I'm gonna use the ladies' room," she mumbled. "Be right back."

She got up from the table and made her way over to the restroom at Sullivan's. It was near the emergency exit, with the glass door opening onto the busy street. As she looked through the glass door to watch the couples on the sidewalk holding hands, she continued to feel sad and lonely. Yes, she'd missed Jeff before, but it had never been as painful as this.

I should leave, she thought to herself in the bathroom. She splashed some cold water on her face, trying to bring color to her cheeks. It didn't work; it seemed like her sadness sucked all of the color out of her face. Gazing into her lackluster turquoise eyes in the mirror, she made the decision to tell the crew that she was going home.

As she walked out the bathroom door, she heard a familiar voice ask, "Christiane Kogane?"

Before she could even turn her body to reply, she felt something hit the side of her head. As she fell to the floor, she vaguely remembered seeing Sky Marshal Wade's cruel smile in her line of vision before she blacked out.