Author's Note: This chapter is kind of long for only one topic, but I felt it was important. I actually started to cry a little when I wrote the dialogue between Morgan and Allura. Thanks again for reading and keeping up with these characters of mine. As always, they're the only things I own.

To Emie Mac - We're gettin' a wedding! Whoohoo!

To Sally On - There may not be much of a catfight in Allura's quarters, but Keith had better watch himself and try to do right by the princess.

Title Song: "White Flag" by Dido

As she daintily bit into a cucumber-and-cream-cheese tea sandwich, Allura couldn't help but wish that it was Lenora herself across the table from her and not Lenora's best friend, Morgan. At least she knew that the Space Marshal had never dated Keith.

Then again, there might be something useful in that knowledge.

Morgan hadn't eaten anything - not a tea sandwich, not a petit four, not a scone, nothing. She simply held the cup of tea in her hands, no cream or sugar, and took an occasional sip. Mostly she stared at the princess intensely with those violet eyes.

"Are you watching your weight, Mrs. Rackens?" Allura cracked unkindly. "I noticed you haven't eaten anything."

If the woman was shocked by the catty comment, she didn't show it. "It's too pretty to eat," she replied cautiously. "It reminds me of the last time I saw David's parents. They live just outside of London, and the last time we visited them, his mother insisted on taking me to high tea at the Four Seasons Hotel." She paused to take a sip of the tea. "It looked something like this. It was beautiful."

"Oh." Allura looked down at the spread of scones, jams, and clotted creams. "This is a nice spread. Nanny, Drea and Sofia do a wonderful job." She shrugged. "Though Nanny doesn't do as much anymore. All she wants to do is look after everyone's babies. Sven's and Romelle's son Erik in particular."

A look of sadness fleetingly passed over Morgan's face. "Allura, I know you think I wanted to talk to you about Keith - and we still can, if you wish - but I really came here to discuss Sven. He's a good friend of mine, at least he used to be, and I've been trying to figure out what in seven hells happened to him after he got here."

Allura nodded, momentarily distracted by the fact that she was talking with the woman Keith used to love. "Earlier, I gathered that you and Sven had been close. It's the navigator issue, correct?"

"Correct. But it's not only that. We both loved Len, and apparently, we both still do. So what I'm trying to understand is, what happened in the last ten years that made him marry this Romelle chick and have a baby?"

Trying to keep the smile off her face, Allura responded, "This 'Romelle chick' you're referring to is my cousin."

Morgan blushed. "Seven hells. Open mouth, insert foot."

At that, Allura did laugh. She was finding it increasingly difficult to dislike Morgan, despite the fact that she'd spent several years dating Keith. The princess could see why her boyfriend had been drawn to this woman, and how she would have been good for him.

"Well, at least I'm glad you're laughing and not yelling at me," Morgan admitted sheepishly, hiding her face behind her delicate teacup. "Though you have to admit, you can see why I'd rather side with Len and not Romelle, right?"

"I do. In fact, some days I miss Lenora so much, I feel like I should just pop on over to the Garrison and barge into her office. Just to say hello."

"She'd like that, you know." Morgan finally picked up a biscuit and broke it in half. She spread each half with clotted cream and topped it with a dollop of strawberry preserves. "She misses you, and she especially misses your niece Larmina. She told me that she had a wonderful time here on Arus, and I can honestly say I'm starting to see why."

Allura picked up the tray with tea sandwiches and held it out towards Morgan, who inclined her head slightly and took one, placing it down on her plate. "I miss her too. All the time." She placed the tray back down on the table. "Now, concerning Sven, do you know anything about his injuries from Haggar's cat and robeast?"

"Of course. We heard about how he had to rescue Lance from the witch - that was how he got in trouble to begin with." Her expression momentarily darkened. "That blasted McClain. You know, he and Sven were roommates at the Academy. It didn't surprise any of us that he would go after Lance to rescue him." She took a bite of her biscuit. "Lance is quite the instigator. Always has been, always will be."

The princess looked down at her fingernails, avoiding Morgan's gaze and the pain it held as she replied. "Sven never held a grudge. He never once blamed Lance for his foolishness - though looking back on it now, that's what it was - and moved beyond the event quite well. Mentally, anyway. Physically, not so much."

Morgan nodded. "His injuries were unbelievably extensive. In a way, it's good that it was Sven and not anyone else on the Voltron Force. He had always been the toughest out of those five, and if any one of them could survive an attack that bad, it would be him." She took a sip of her tea, trying unsuccessfully to hide her tears. "You have no idea what that was like, though. When we found out about his injury, and how you sent him to Ebb to heal...my God." Her lips thinned into a straight line. "Oh, my God."

"It was difficult, Morgan, I won't lie." Allura swallowed. "We had no other choice but to send him to Ebb. At the time, Arus didn't have the medical technology, and he surely would have died if we kept him here."

"No. We're not blaming you. God, I wish I had some vodka instead of tea right now." Morgan smiled through the agony as she recalled those first few months after graduation. "There were four of us from our family - and when I say family, I should really clarify for you and say our floor - left at the Garrison. It was me, Len, Aidan, and Kelly Asimov. Our other ten floormates had been dispatched to either Arus or the Explorer." She closed her eyes, unable to look at the princess as she relived the events in her mind. "In case you didn't know, Len graduated as a Technical Sargeant, much like Pidge and his twin brother Chip, but she was immediately employed by Space Marshal Graham as a Lieutenant. He was quite fond of her, and she was his favorite new acquisition, for lack of a better term. She was with Graham when the report came in from Arus that Sven had been grievously injured. To state the obvious, it didn't go over well."

Allura shook her head. "No, I can't imagine it would have."

Morgan wiped her eyes. "Blast it, I've been doing too much crying here."

"It's all right."

"Once the news came in, the three of us took turns on suicide watch, because we were terrified that Len would try to kill herself. We begged Graham and the High Council to let her go to Ebb to see him. It took a few days, but they finally relented, with the condition that she return within ten days."

"But Sven was in a coma for over a month."

"I know." Morgan drew a deep breath, her eyes bloodshot. "I went with her. Graham figured that since I was Len's best friend as well as Sven's fellow classmate and navigator, I should go as well. At first, the Ebbian healers wanted no part of us - they said Sven's condition was too dire. But she pleaded with them, telling them that she was Sven's fiancée and that she needed to be with him."

"Knowing Len, she would."

"They finally relented - they thought it might help his healing process when they learned about the engagement. She didn't leave his side for the entire time we were there. The Ebbians weren't bad, though. They looked after her too, insisting that she eat and rest. She slept in the bed next to him the entire time, weaving her hand through the stabilization cages to touch his broken body. It was the saddest, most miserable thing I have ever witnessed in my entire life." She swallowed down her tears. "How could I be sad about the end of my relationship with Keith after I saw that? She loved him so much. When he hadn't woken up after ten days, she looked as though I might as well bury her next to him."

Allura discreetly wiped a tear away. Having seen Sven and Lenora together at the ball, she could understand. "That must have been difficult for you, as well."

"It was. It was the most difficult thing I have ever been through. Between seeing my friend Sven like that, so injured, and Lenora so gutted...I have never hurt or grieved so much in my entire life as I did then. When we left Ebb and headed back to Earth, she might as well have been dead, too. The only thing that kept her going was her honor and her sense of duty. She returned to her role as Lieutenant, even if she hated the fact that Graham only gave her ten days on Ebb."

There was silence for a moment. Allura sipped her tea, too disturbed to even think about the beautiful high tea spread in front of her. "So you want to know what happened that all of that love between them went awry."

"Yes." Morgan didn't mince words.

"Well, when Sven finally awoke from his coma, he needed to undergo intense therapy and rehabilitation on Ebb. He had been hurt so badly that he couldn't just pick up where he had left off. He was in the process of regaining his strength when Doom's fleet, led by King Zarkon, attacked Ebb. They took all of the patients who were well enough as slaves, and those who weren't were executed." In a decidedly un-princesslike fashion, Allura slammed her fist on the table, rattling their liquid-filled teacups without spilling a drop. "It was then that they took him as a slave. So twice Sven had to endure their cruelties as a slave on Doom."

"It's not fair." Morgan buried her face in her hands in an attempt to stave off more tears. "Why him, of all people? Sven's a good man. What did he ever do to deserve that?"

"I don't know. However, that happened around the same time Lotor captured my cousin Romelle and kept her as his pleasure slave, as well." Allura shuddered to think about the horrors that Romelle had endured during her abduction, especially rape. "Finally, he threw her into the Pit of Skulls with the intent of killing her. When he asked his soldiers to retrieve her dead body, they found that she hadn't been killed - she had been rescued by an underground 'wild man' who was more than willing to fight against the forces of Doom. That 'wild man' was Sven."

"Leave it to the Viking to beat the odds," Morgan grinned.

"That was when he rejoined the fight with us. He and Romelle led quite a few missions on Doom; mostly reconnaissance, but sometimes rebellion. Sometimes the two causes were joined." She grinned. "In any case, during our final victory, it was Sven who took down Lotor from the main tower. They fell from the tower and landed in the moat. From there, Lotor retreated to his private residence on Doom, where Voltron followed him and finished him off. Romelle and her team pulled Sven from the moat and returned to Pollux together so Bandor could laud them as heroes."

"This is where the story begins to come together." Morgan sighed, then took another bite of her biscuit. "Wow, this clotted cream is like silk."

"Mmm-hmm."

"I'm not sure what the heck happened on Pollux, but as Voltron had its victory over Doom, Space Marshal Graham was retiring," Morgan continued. "He had chosen Lenora to succeed him, but because she was so young, he decided to have a transitional Space Marshal for a period of three to six months to oversee her work. Unfortunately, he chose Wade. Right from the start, we knew he was no good. We knew it." Her violet eyes narrowed in anger. "The night the Alliance hosted the Lion Voltron Force, we all watched from a distance as the lions went crazy. And then we heard about Wade's takeover of the Garrison - how he fired the members of the High Council, ousted Len from her position, and recalled the Vehicle Voltron Force back to New York."

"Those were bad times for all of us."

"Definitely. For some reason, once he recalled Voltron and the Explorer, Wade decided not to fire Commander Hawkins, instead promoting him to second-in-command, just under Wade himself." Morgan shrugged. "No one knows why. However, we do know that Wade had read Len's classified file and wanted her gone. Dead or in the Void, it didn't matter as long as she was gone." A wild grin suddenly flared out on her face. "Little did he know, Jon had been harboring a crush on my girl Len since the moment he met her - you can ask the Vehicle Team and the Explorer's bridge crew about that - and he was hardly about to let anything bad happen to her. He hid her out for four years."

"At the same time, Keith was performing his covert operations to get Black Lion back," Allura concluded. "Which makes sense. From what I learned from my cousins, after the lions went crazy, Sven went back to the Garrison. The news about the lions being impounded hadn't yet traveled to Pollux, so Romelle simply thought that he was going to Earth to celebrate, maybe meet up with us. None of them ever would have thought..."

"...that he was going back for Len." Morgan nodded. "All of the pieces fit. Sven went back to Earth to find Len, and she was already gone. We were all gone because Jon told us to make ourselves scarce, otherwise we'd be hauled in for questioning. So Sven must have figured that she was gone, or dead, or whatever rumors he'd heard, and headed back to Pollux."

"Then he married Romelle."

"Exactly. Knowing Sven the way I do, he must have figured that if he couldn't have Len, he'd have the next best thing." She shrugged. "Let's face it, he could have done a lot worse than a princess."

"I know." Allura exhaled. "But I get it. Romelle's wonderful, but she's not Lenora. All he's ever wanted was Lenora."

"She wanted Sven. But when we saw her again for the first time after being in hiding for four years, she was wearing that massive diamond that Jon put on her finger. She talks about her relationship with her husband sometimes, but not much. She's told me that their marriage is sacred." Morgan shrugged. "Don't get me wrong, Allura. I love Jon. He's wonderful, and I swear to you that he and David are like brothers. I think of him as my brother, too. But sometimes I worry that she married him solely as a way to get over Sven. And then, when you guys told us for the first time that Sven was married and had a child, it all made sense as to why she came back from Arus and moved the wedding date up."

There was silence between them for a long time. Allura thought about Sven in a coma on Ebb, surrounded by stabilization cages to hold his body together. She pictured Lenora laying in bed next to him, reaching her hand through the metal framework to touch him. The image broke her heart. "Does Sven know that you two went to Ebb?"

"No. And it should probably stay that way - it wouldn't do anyone any good." She shook her head. "Allura, did you want to talk about Keith, or have I depressed you enough?"

The princess let out a long sigh, then reached towards the tray of petit fours for her favorite flavor. "Mmm, almond cake with vanilla buttercream. Please have one, Morgan. It's my favorite."

"Will do." She reached for one and bit it in half, smiling. "I have to say, I'm glad you're referring to me as Morgan and not Mrs. Rackens anymore. Any time I hear that name, I think of my mother-in-law."

"I must apologize for my pettiness. I was worried that maybe you'd try to steal Keith back."

Morgan shook her head. "My dear, I spent five years of my life in and out of a relationship with Keith Kogane. The first thing I have to do is apologize for his 'one that got away' comment. Really, he never should have said that in front of you." She sighed. "I feel like I'll be spending the rest of my life cleaning up after that man's messes, and we've been broken up twice as long as we were together."

The princess snorted with laughter. It was true, and as much as she loved Keith, even she had to admit that he'd really messed everything up since Bandor's wedding. "I suppose that he had too many women who meant too many things to him come into his life at once, and he just didn't know how to handle it."

"It's not just that. He's emotionally stunted from his parents' deaths when he was twelve years old. He never really recovered from it. Christiane was eight, so she took it a little better because she didn't understand as much. But Keith...let's just say it left him unable to trust in love for a long, long time. And because he couldn't trust, he wouldn't allow anyone in." She looked down at the table. "Like me."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Morgan shook her head. "I learned a lot about Keith in five years, and I'm okay with how everything turned out. And really, he seems to have let you in better than anyone else." She didn't say it maliciously, only matter-of-factly. "That's good," she continued softly. "It means that he's coming around. And if he's let you in, maybe he can let Christiane in, as well."

"And you too."

She shook her head. "He doesn't need to let me in anymore, Allura. I think that door's been permanently shut." She thought back to Senior Night, when Keith had told her that he would always love her. She thought back to his words from earlier, when he told her they would have been married right now had it not been for the mission to Arus. Although the thought made her sad, it also made her think about how important David was to her. "I love my husband. I swear to God I do."

"I would hope so," Allura teased.

Thinking of her husband's smile and beautiful grey eyes, Morgan couldn't help but feel grateful that everything turned out the way it had. Yes, a part of her loved Keith and would always love Keith, but the bigger part of her was grateful that she was able to go home to David at the end of the day. He was her rock and the other half of her heart. Perhaps this whole ordeal had occurred for a reason. Maybe there was more to it than just getting Christiane back.

Everything happens for a reason.

"A toast," Allura said suddenly, holding out her teacup. "Here's to us. To new friendships, new alliances, and maybe knocking some sense into Captain Kogane's thick skull."

"I'll second that." Morgan clinked her teacup against Allura's.

It appeared to be an odd scene, Keith's former and current lovers sitting together and enjoying each other's company. Yet the princess felt strangely comfortable, feeling as though the white flag had been raised between them. There was no need to carry on the feelings of hostility and insecurity. Morgan was only trying to help.

But Keith, on the other hand, would not be getting away with his actions so easily.