Nayni was bracing herself against the control panel. The Teludav jump had made her sick but there was no time to have any of Coran's tea. Coran was behind her, manning the Castle's helm. The view of the Terrapin system was spread out before them. The planet was like an orange marble floating in an obsidian sea. The status of the Galra fleet hadn't changed. They were bracing for that to change at any moment. The Blade of Marmora fighters blazed by the Castle leaving a trail of violet behind them. The shabby rebel ships were puttering towards the Galra vessels. The bridge was full of the sound of chatter over the communications system. Her heart was racing. She wasn't ready for this. She wasn't ready for a lot of the things that had started happening. She didn't recognize half of the voices that were coming out of the speakers. Coran seemed to have that handled at least.
She was typing into the control panel. She thought she was prepping the Castle's systems but Nayni wasn't entirely sure she was even doing that properly. Coran was working so swiftly it seemed as if he was moving in a blur. The dizziness she was feeling wasn't really helping with that. Nayni found that her hands were shaking a bit. The five Lions flew in formation across their field of view. This was it. Nayni was fixated on the Blue Lion as it weaved around the other fighters. Nayni believed in Allura's abilities but she still hated to see the Princess out on the front lines.
"Nayni," Coran called.
She looked over her shoulder, her ears perked up.
"I need the particle barrier up," Coran said.
She ran her fingers across the panel and the blue barrier erupted around the Castle. If they were going to die at least Nayni would be able to slow them down. It was hard to imagine that just a few vargas ago they'd been writhing on top of this very control panel like a couple of adolescents. Her ears were flushed before she realized it.
"Coran, if we die-" Nayni began.
"No one's dying," Coran assured.
She'd have to tell him afterward. The Galra ships were already firing on them. Their neon violet lasers were cutting through the inky blackness of space. One of the beams barely caught the Castle and the vessel shook. She nearly vomited. The tranquil view of Terrapin was now occupied by chaos. Explosions and laser fire of every color were flying across their view and fighters were whizzing around them like a swarm of insects. Nayni had been so conditioned to wait for orders that she was frozen. Coran had already started firing off the main canon. She watched the Galra fighters in its path explode into stardust.
"Nayni, we need to lay down some cover fire for the Paladins," Coran said.
He didn't even glance away from his monitor as he spoke. Nayni hesitated over the console for a moment before she started turning on the cannons. Coran was setting up the targeting parameters on his monitor. Nayni waved her hand across the controls and the Castle's lasers rained down on the fighters. Another blast from the Galra's dreadnaught slammed into the Castle's barrier. Nayni braced herself on the control panel again, her feet slipped on the floor.
"We need to take out that ion cannon!" Coran transmitted to the fleet.
Nayni was firing off the Castle's lasers as fast as she could command them. She froze when she heard Shiro's voice crackled over the transmitter.
"All right, team," Shiro said. "Form Voltron!"
It had been so long since she had seen this moment and even still it was from a much farther distance than this. Her violet eyes grew wide as she watched the Lions weaving around each other. They radiated quintessence as the Lions reassembled themselves and joined together. In an explosion of blue light, they came together and Voltron hovered before them. She was awestruck. Allura was part of this. Her Princess was a part of this.
"Nayni!" Coran hollered. "Keep firing!"
She started working the control panel again. It seemed so pointless now. Voltron tore through the Galra forces like they were made of paper. For every fighter the Castle took out, Voltron destroyed several more. The robot formed its shining blade and sliced through the Galra warship. Nayni had to shield her eyes from the bright flash of the explosion. Coran let out a holler of celebration. Nayni couldn't help but cheer too. Coran kept operating the main console. He'd fire off the main cannon and adjust the targeting parameters. Nayni could barely keep up with him. He took to this so naturally.
"We're gonna make a break for the surface," Keith said over the transmitter.
Nayni watched the Marmora fighters dive to the surface of Terrapin. The Castle took another hit from a Galra warship and shook. Voltron sliced through their ion cannon before they could fire another shot. They were really pushing them back. All of her doubts and fears had been for nothing. Another explosion of light indicated the loss of yet another Galra ship. The way Voltron moved through the battle was like watching a well-rehearsed performance.
Voltron ripped through the last of the warships. The remaining Galra fighters started to flee from the system. The purple blips on Coran's monitor began flickering to the edge of his screen. It wasn't over yet. The rest of their fleet could return but after she'd witnessed how the new Paladins worked, Nayni wasn't as fearful as she should be. Voltron flew through the smoldering remains of the battle. Stray ships parts were floating through space, bouncing off of one another. They were heading for the surface.
"Coran, keep an eye out for reinforcements," Shiro commanded over the transmitter. "We'll let you know when you're clear to land."
Voltron slowly shrank as it descended to the planet and disappeared in its orange atmosphere. Moments ago this sector had been filled with sounds of explosions and laser fire. Now it was a silent graveyard. Nayni realized that her hands were still trembling. From the stories they'd told her, she knew Voltron was capable of so much more but to see it in person again was something else entirely. It was almost a spiritual experience. She refused to leave her post until the order was given. She didn't need to be warned about the dark things that could crawl out of the silence at moments like this.
"It's all right, Nayni," Coran said.
He seemed to read her mind. The only idea they had of what was going on on Terrapin's surface was the garbled chatter over the transmission channels. She looked at him. He was still working the console but with much less gusto now. His eyes kept flickering over the tracking programs. He flashed a smile at her and she couldn't help but return it.
"I told you, no one was going to die," Coran teased.
There was still plenty of time for people to die. He motioned for her to join him at the main console. Her joints were aching already. She had been standing so rigidly at her post and concentrating so hard. She was exhausted. The pin she'd put in his collar had fallen away and his neck was left exposed again. Even amidst all of this, he was a tad bit distracting.
"You were amazing," Nayni said.
She glanced out the window to the spacescape.
"They were amazing," Nayni said breathlessly.
It'd all gone by so quickly. It was still going. Coran rested a hand on her shoulder.
"You were amazing," Coran said.
She snorted. He'd done most of the heavy lifting. She'd just figured out how to press the same set of buttons over and over. The Paladins had taken out most of the fleet on their own and now they were mopping up what remained of the Galra forces on the ground. They still couldn't completely be at ease. She kept expecting the alarms to sound and to see the reinforcements jumping into the planet's orbit. Surely the Galra had sent out some kind of distress signal when Voltron arrived. But they continued to wait. Coran continued to stare at the monitor and nothing appeared. Something just didn't feel right to Nayni.
Terrapin's surface was even more beautiful up close. The landscape was rolling deserts made up of pink sands and enormous white mesas. Giant green cacti sprouted up from the ground with patches of long yellow grass, swaying in the wind. Nayni felt strange when she realized this was the first planet she'd set foot on in ten thousand years. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was very off. Coran must have felt it too. His posture was tense and stiff. When Shiro had told them to land the Castle his tone seemed grim.
The Terrapin village was littered with broken Galra drones. Whisps of grey smoke rose into the air from the twitching limbs of the broken robots. The Paladins were gathered around the village elder. The hulking alien hand a sagging wrinkled neck and a missing eye. The edges of his protective shell were well worn and grey. Keith was with them, clad in his dark armor. None of them looked to be in high spirits. Allura looked frustrated. She was pleading with the elder and it seemed as if this had been going on for quite a while.
"No," The Elder said. "No meeting until Lotor comes."
He waved his thick clawed hand through the air as he spoke.
"Lotor has biggest stick, you do not have biggest stick," The Elder said.
Coran and Nayni exchanged a confused look. This was not what they'd expected of the Terrapin. Keith sighed and shook his head.
"We literally blew up an entire fleet of Galra with Voltron!" Keith snapped. "What else could you possibly want!?"
This deeply offended the Elder. He stuck his head out even farther from his shell.
"Keith, now there's no need for all of that," Coran said.
The red-haired Altean stepped forward. Coran puffed out his chest and beat his hand against it once. Nayni assumed it had been the customary greeting of these aliens. The Elder nodded in approval and pounded his claw against his armored chest.
"The orange one has manners," The Elder said.
Keith folded his arms and grunted. Allura sighed with relief. Coran approached the Elder. He kept his posture rigid and tall.
"This orange one is called Coran and I'm the Advisor to Princess Allura and the Paladins of Voltron," Coran said.
He spoke with such authority. Nayni found her heart fluttering a bit.
"We know this and we don't care," The Elder said.
The folds of his neck jiggled as he spoke. The other Terrapin around him nodded with agreement.
"But Voltron is the biggest stick," Coran assured. "Surely, Lotor told you all of this."
The Elder scowled, well it looked like he scowled. His face seemed to be perpetually scowling so Nayni wasn't sure.
"But there is no Lotor with you, so you are not true friend of Lotor," The Elder said.
All of the Paladins groaned.
"We've been stuck in this loop for a while now, Coran," Shiro explained.
That wasn't good. Coran stroked the edge of his mustache and held his head high.
"Well, Lotor's not here because he helped draw away the enemy fleet," Coran explained. "I'm sure if we just hale him from our ship we can get him here."
This suggestion struck a chord with Lance and Hunk. Nayni could see their distaste for it in their expressions. Lance's eyes darted to the Princess. His affection for her ran deep enough that she was his only concern it appeared.
"Then we wait," The Elder said.
There was going to be no avoiding a personal encounter with Lotor then. Nayni was going to see the notorious Galra prince in the flesh.
"What an inconvenience," Nayni said dryly.
The Elder stamped his large wooden staff on the ground and nodded.
"We will not speak of who has the bigger stick until you bring him to us," The Elder said.
This was an irritating turn of events. None of them really trusted Lotor and now to secure this alliance they'd have to have him present for their negotiations. It would either go smoothly or end up with a pile of corpses. She suspected that the latter would be the case.
"We just liberated your planet from the Galra! That should be enough for you!" Keith fumed.
The Elder's one eye grew wide.
"Allow us to crush the squishy one and we may compare sticks," The Elder proposed.
While this horrified the rest of them, it made Lance snicker to himself.
"There won't be any crushing happening here," Shiro said.
The Elder's neck wobbled as he retracted his head back a bit. The sharpness of Shiro's tone seemed to intimidate him. It did not take long for him to stick his head out again. He stretched his neck out even farther than he had before.
"Then we wait for Lotor," The Elder said.
He stamped his staff on the ground again and waved them away.
"We will not compare sticks until you do this," The Elder asserted. "You may rest on our great burrow for the night but you must leave if he does not return."
The Elder and the other Terrapin started to shuffle back to their red clay houses. Keith kicked a rock in frustration, a cloud of pink dust exploded into the air. Coran was the only one who didn't seem surprised by any of this.
"This was a waste of time," Hunk sighed. "I knew we shouldn't have trusted him."
Nayni didn't think this came down to a matter of trust. Lotor had drawn away part of the fleet. It was possible that he had planned to make a surprise attack but they had more time to prepare for it now at least.
"Are these turtle people even worth the effort? They seem pretty happy to just have things stay as they are," Pidge said.
Allura turned on the Green Paladin.
"Every liberated system is worth it!" Allura protested. "Every race in this universe deserves freedom."
Shiro stepped between them. His tuft of white hair was rustling in the breeze.
"Guys, this isn't the time to argue. We all need some rest," Shiro said. "Let's sleep on it and regroup in the morning."
It might waste valuable time but they all weren't sure what their stance on Lotor was. Nayni was pretty desperate to lay her head down too. She was still sick from the Teludav jump and the battle had been draining for her. She didn't have the same boundless energy that the rest of these youngsters had.
"We'll touch base in twelve vargas," Shiro suggested. "Sound good?"
They all grumbled in agreement. If the Terrapin were going to grant them safe harbor for the night they might as well take advantage of it. Now that the battle was done and it results were fully laid out, something else was nagging her. Nayni swallowed hard and looked to Coran. The Paladins were already marching back to the Castle. She was scared but there wasn't really a point to it anymore. Coran had made it pretty clear earlier that he was interested too. It was probably a bit more than mere interest.
"Coran," Nayni croaked.
Why was it every time that she had to address him about intimate matters she turned into a quivering little rodent?
"We should probably have a chat," Nayni said. "In private."
He ran his fingers along the curve of her cheek. His expression was soft and warm. He was already turning her legs into food goo again.
"Of course," Coran said softly. "Shall we meet in my quarters?"
Nayni's heart stopped beating for a moment. There wasn't really a better place was there? Anywhere else on the Castle would leave open the chance for someone to interrupt them. They'd already been walked in on once and she really rather not deal with that mess again.
"I suppose that will have to do," Nayni said.
This was going to be rather stressful and might require a great deal of alcohol.
It seemed that the control panel by Coran's door was staring right back at Nayni. It was taunting her. She felt like she was going to soil herself. She'd been going over what she wanted to say in her head. She'd gone over it a thousand times while she was scarfing down food goo in the kitchen. There was no alcohol on the Castle so she was going to have to build up the nerve on her own. They'd already wasted so much time. She had already wasted so much time. After what had happened on the bridge, there was no more running. They had to face this now.
She could hear Coran's footsteps echoing in the hall before she saw him. She felt so scared and excited that she thought she was going to retch. When he came into view she felt as if she were on fire. He lit up her face just as Tomyko had.
"Madame Nordontu," He said coyly.
Coran had greeted her this way millions of times but she melted to it this time. Her hands were trembling so she stuck them behind her back. There wasn't really a point to hiding her anxiety but she still felt the need to. He typed into the control panel and the door to his quarters slid open. The interior was a bit simpler than she'd expected but it still screamed Coran. A flamboyant outfit was hanging on the wall along with several pictures of King Alfor. He'd thrown a decorative blue rug on the floor and a pair of ridiculous slippers were placed at the foot of his bed. She ran her fingers along a shelf and looked over the various knick-knacks that were on display.
The door closed behind them and she felt a fresh wave of panic. She was afraid to even look at him. Coran rubbed the back of his neck. He even seemed nervous but not nearly as much as she was. She was absolutely certain of that.
"If this is too much, we don't have to do this," Coran said.
It was too much but there would not be another opportunity. Nayni had already blown so many chances with him that she needed to take this now.
"I've made too many mistakes over the years with you," Nayni said. "I'm sorry for that."
There was no point dancing around it.
"I kept pushing you away because I was scared. I was just a scared little girl the whole time," Nayni explained.
He reached for her hand. Coran held it in his, rubbing his thumb across her knuckles to soothe her.
"It's okay, Nayni," Coran said. "You lost your wife. That was the person you expected to spend the rest of your life with. Anyone would've struggled with that. It all made so much more sense to me after the Paladins revived Allura and I. We'd lost everything—I thought I'd lost you too."
Why did he have to be so perfect? She wasn't worthy of him.
"I wanted you for so long," Nayni confessed. "Ever since you asked me to dance."
The corner of her lips curled up into a smile. His did too.
"It started a bit earlier for me," Coran said.
If she was perfectly honest it had started as soon as they'd met. It just hadn't gotten agonizing until later. This mess was making her tear up. She'd been so stupid. She'd been such a fool. She couldn't undo all those years. All they had was now.
"I was always just the stuffy Captain of the Guard," Nayni chuckled. "And you were this charming, fashionable man who could've had anyone you wanted. Do you realize how many Alteans were scrambling for the chance to get in your bed?"
Coran smirked. The lines of his face suited him so nicely.
"Do you know how many times I imagined what your muscles looked like under that quiznacking uniform?" Coran teased.
She blushed. The fact that he had been thinking about her in such a manner was overwhelming. She sat down on his bed. The mattress was much plusher than hers. He must've replaced it. Coran took his place next to her. She rested her hand on his thigh. Nayni had never been so bold before.
"Our entire civilization is gone and we just happen to be the lucky few who are left," Nayni mused. "I'm not sure what's a bigger sign from the universe that I should-"
She was scared to say it. She'd said it to herself in secret. She'd thought it for so many years every time she saw him. Saying it out loud, to him, was terrifying. Tomyko would've been throttling her right now. She would've been screaming at Nayni to make a move.
"I've loved you for quite some time, Mister Smythe," Nayni confessed.
The words finally had come. She'd been stuffing them down for so long. The immense weight of them had finally left. Coran cupped her face in his hand. He leaned so closely that she could feel his breath on her neck. The hairs of his mustache were tickling her pointed ears.
"And I've loved you for quite some time, Madame Nordontu," Coran whispered.
She'd dreamt of this so many nights. She'd woken up covered in sweat in drenched sheets. Her face and ears flushed. Coran's lips moved along her neck, planting delicate kisses all the way to her collarbone. She melted to his touch. There was nothing to fear in this moment. They would always have this and she was going to savor it. She just wasn't sure what she was going to do with him. The last time she'd been with someone was Tomyko. It had been even longer since she'd been with a man.
She didn't want this to be like what happened on the bridge. This needed to be tender. This needed to be soft and slow. She ran her fingers along the thin patch of red hair on his chest. She slipped out of her shirt. She felt a twinge of fear about the jagged scar on her side but it didn't seem to bother him. They kissed slowly. He was always the one making the bold moves first. Their clothes ended up in a pile on the floor. Her brown hair fell around her face like a wild mane. They took their time. It was so slow and deliciously torturous. All of her fears seemed so silly now. She'd never felt as safe as she did in his arms. The last time she'd felt like this was with Tomyko.
They cradled one another in each other's arms. Nayni had wrapped herself around him like a vice. Coran ran his fingers along her shoulder. It made her skin tingle. Nayni nuzzled her face into his chest. She could feel his chin resting on the top of her head. He still smelled of spiced tea.