A/N: I do not own Voltron, nor any of its characters. Otherwise, all people in this tale belong to me. (Possessive little wench, aren't I?).
Thanks to yamatoforever and Craze for their reviews. Don't worry yamato, the rest of the Voltron Force will be leaping into Lance's love life pretty soon, much to our hero's discomfort, too, I might add…
Lissa practically ran from Lance, driven by fear of what she had admitted to him, not because she'd only spoken the words to comfort him, but because she'd actually meant what she'd said. Her life had been empty without Lance. She had immersed herself in service to the Legion, volunteering for mission after mission, always keeping on the move. Running away from her memories, though she hadn't realized it until now. The shock of seeing Lance again after so long had forced her to remember the things she'd spent so much time trying to forget, and that was why she'd left the dining hall when Prince Ower dismissed her. She'd needed to get away from Lance's disturbing presence, and so she'd done what she always did when confronted by her emotions. She'd run. In fact, she'd been considering other planets where she could hide Prince Ower when Lance had found her.
Now she'd given her word that she would remain on Arus until it was safe for Prince Ower to return to Alcon, and her word was her bond. She couldn't leave now, as much as she wanted to. Part of her knew that remaining was dangerous, but a promise was a promise. Fire Storm had been correct when he'd said that Lance was a threat to Lissa's peace of mind. She had spent years forgetting him, and now here he was, back in her life again and as compelling as ever. Yes, she definitely wanted to run, her common sense was practically screaming at her to get off of this planet, to get away. To flee to the safety of emotional isolation.
And it wasn't because she couldn't stand to be around Lance. Nothing could be farther from the truth. She was drawn to him, just as she'd always been. In fact, he seemed more handsome now then he was in her memories, perhaps because he was no longer the uncertain boy she had once known, he had grown into a man who seemed very confident and sure of himself. She had always admired his quick mind and sharp wit, and of course she'd found him devastatingly attractive. She'd never felt so alive as she did when she was with him, and that was why she'd decided to leave for the Legion without saying goodbye to him.
If she had gone to bid him farewell, she might never have joined the White Riders. At the time she hadn't thought she'd be strong enough to walk out of his arms and away from him, and so she'd simply not gone to him at all. It was easier that way. Perhaps she had been a coward for leaving him with no explanation, but it had seemed like the right thing to do. After all, she'd spent most of her life training to be in the Legion, and how could she put her petty desire for love before the duty of defending the helpless people of the universe?
Her father had trained her from an early age to put duty and honor before all else. He had recognized her talents when she was still little more then a baby, and had sent her to be evaluated by members of the Legion. They had determined that she had immense raw psychic talent, and that she would one day make an excellent addition to not only the Legion of Light, but to its very best unit: the White Riders. From that day on, her life had been devoted to training to be a member of the Legion.
Her father saw to it that she attended the finest academies, that she was trained in combat by the most lethal warriors, and that her latent psychic abilities were awakened and shaped by the most certified instructors. Her gift, that of telekinesis and matter control, including transmutation, was incredibly powerful. And it had an almost limitless potential for being dangerous, so control of her mental abilities had the most emphasis placed on it. Lissa had never been allowed to live as other people her age did. There had been no time for play, no time for relaxation, no time for love.
Then she had been sent to briefly serve in the Alliance at Galaxy Garrison, and her life had been turned upside down. There, she'd met one dashing young pilot by the name of Lance, and she'd never been the same. Lance was charming, outgoing, reckless, and downright delicious. He had a habit of rebelling against the status quo, and to someone like Lissa who'd spent her whole life doing as she was told, his attitude was both refreshing and intoxicating.
Lance had treated her like a person, not an experimental bio weapon, and Lissa had fallen madly in love with him. She hadn't stood a chance. He'd valued her opinions, encouraged her dreams, and spent hours on end finding ways to make her laugh. He was a perfect gentleman with her, never crossing the line, although at times she could tell he wanted to. She was absolutely mad for him. And when he admitted to being in love with her, she realized there was more to life then duty and honor, but she was still bound by the knowledge that she had a rare gift, and it would be a crime to not use it in defense of the weak.
Her life had become a living hell. On the one hand, she was deliriously happy with Lance. Her heart pounded at the very mention of his name, and her knees got weak whenever he was nearby. They were so well suited to one another that it seemed as if they had been made for one another. Soul mates. On the other hand, she was guilt stricken by the knowledge that if she didn't join the Legion, many innocents might suffer because of her selfish desire to be a normal woman, to live out her life with the man she loved. In this one decision, Lance refused to help her. He said he didn't want to unduly influence her, and so he'd remained silent.
In the end, duty had won out over love. She rationalized that leaving Lance was the best thing for both of them. He had known she was in training to join the Legion when they met. He'd known she would have to leave him. White Riders rode alone. They were forbidden to have even memories. And so she'd left him, walked out of his life without so much as a good bye, because she knew if she'd gone to him, she would never have been able to leave his side.
She had lived in despair since that day. At first, it had been easy to not think about him. The initiation into the Legion of Light was a grueling test of mental and physical endurance that lasted for weeks, where a new member was sent to a war torn planet, alone, and left there to either defeat the tyrants responsible for the wars and then liberate the innocent civilians, or die trying. After passing her initiation, she was sent to be viewed by the Elders of the White Riders.
That had been far more difficult. When a person joined the Legion of Light's elite unit, they left behind all contact with the outside. This was necessary for the survival of the Legion, and it insured loyalty as well. The Elders could see into a person's heart and soul, and if they found so much as a trace of weakness, it meant rejection. Only utter exhaustion from her initial test as a member of the Legion of Light saved her. She'd been too tired to think about Lance, or anything else for that matter, and so she'd passed the scrutiny of the Elders.
Then she had been given into the care of Fire Storm, her Familiar. She knew that most people thought a Familiar belonged to its master, but Lissa had found that this was not the case at all. While her bond with Fire Storm did increase her natural talent, her beloved companion was hardly subservient to her will. He was, in fact, loud and demanding, and quite arrogant, often going against her decisions in the first year of their bonding. She had been too busy learning to deal with the nuances of her relationship with her Familiar to give much thought to her lost love, though at night her dreams had been haunted by Lance.
But as time wore on and she fell into a routine, she often found her mind returning to the long ago days she had spent by his side, and she grew restless, wondering if she'd made the right choice after all. Fire Storm had sensed her unhappiness through the bond they shared, but Lissa had refused to discuss it with him, and because their link was mostly empathic, he was unable to discover the nature of her sorrow. She had started volunteering for increasingly dangerous, drawn out missions. The Elders had been only too happy to comply with her seemingly boundless enthusiasm for charging into the midst of evil and destroying it. Fire Storm knew the truth behind her actions, that she was hiding from something, but he quietly went along with her choices of assignments, no matter how risky they were.
Ironically, it was her Familiar's devotion that finally led to Lissa coming to her senses, enough at least to stop taking every suicide mission that the Legion had to offer. On a campaign against a Mage Lord on the planet Erent, Fire Storm was nearly killed when he took a blast from a death spell that had been intended to strike Lissa down. She had felt his pain through their bond, and his love for her, and she had been humbled by it and sickened by her selfishness, for she'd not only been exposing herself to harm, but her companion as well. She had taken a vacation after that mission, insisting on remaining inactive until Fire Storm was completely healed.
During that time, her mind had been idle, and it had strayed to Lance one too many times. Fire Storm was able to guess that it was a man from her past that troubled her so, and while it was in conflict with her Oath to serve the Legion completely, free of regret, his loyalty to her was so profound that he never once considered turning her in to the Elders. Once he was healed, Lissa had thrown herself into work once more, plagued by her sense of loss and her growing feelings of unhappiness. However, this time she made certain to volunteer for only moderately dangerous missions. That was how she'd ended up as Prince Ower's bodyguard.
Planet Alcon was in the midst of civil war. Many of its lords thought Prince Ower was too weak and narrow minded to rule, and Lissa was inclined to agree with them. Prince Ower was arrogant, impatient, and uncharitable. He had no redeeming qualities that she could think of. She would never swear allegiance to a man such as him, and she could see why many of the people of Alcon were rebelling rather then adopt him as their sovereign. But it was her duty to keep him safe, and so she would protect him with her very life if necessary, much as she disliked him.
And now here she was, stuck on Planet Arus with the one man she'd fought so hard to forget. Fire Storm was no fool, he'd figure out Lissa's feelings for Lance in no time. She wasn't worried that he'd report her to the Elders, he was her Familiar, and she alone commanded his fealty. But he would doubtless wish to leave Arus once he discovered the truth, and Lissa had given her word that she'd stay until the revolts on Alcon were taken care of. That could be months from now, and she knew Fire Storm wasn't going to like remaining on Arus one bit, not when the one man in the universe who could inspire her to have thoughts about leaving the Legion of Light happened to be there as well.
Ok, so I need a little help here. In the next chapter, Lance is going to get a bit of a shakedown. I haven't decided which member of the Voltron Force is going to antagonize him, yet. I want to know who you think would be the best person for the job. There are a lot of angles to go from with this one (ie should I incorporate humor, such as Pinch giving Lance love advice, or perhaps put in understanding, with Keith-who knows all too well about forbidden love, etc., etc), and I can't make up my mind, so please, help me out!