A/N: I do not own Voltron, its characters or settings. Anything new is mine.
Thank you Yamato for reviewing. You know our Lance pretty well…
Lance was a bit troubled when Lissa didn't come down for dinner that night. It wasn't like her to miss out on food, even for the sake of some rest, and so he went up to her room to check on her. Even though Fire Storm had told him she wasn't injured, he couldn't help worrying about her. He knocked on her door and when she didn't answer, he called out, "Lissa, it's Lance. Are you feeling okay?"
He was met with silence. He frowned, but didn't knock again, just in case she might be sleeping. He wandered to the Rec Room, his appetite diminished as he agonized over what he was going to do about his troublesome beloved. Pidge was the only one in the Rec Room, and Lance considered leaving the moment he saw the half pint, but Pidge spotted him before he could escape.
"Hello there, lover boy. I'm surprised you could tear yourself away from Lissa's side," the young man said, his voice higher then normal and distinctly annoying thanks to the teasing note in it.
Lance glared at him and muttered, "She's sleeping."
"Ahhh," Pidge laughed. "You might want to get some rest yourself. You're going to need all the energy you can get once Keith tracks you down."
Lance scowled at the bright tone, and was about to tell him to stuff it when Pidge said, "So when are you going to get around to telling her you love her?"
Lance blinked at him stupidly, stunned that his feelings were so obvious someone as inexperienced as Pidge had been aware of them. "Um, what are you, I have no idea what you, I mean, how did you…"
Pidge roared with laughter as Lance's garbled words finally ground to a confused halt.
"Man, you've got it worse then I thought! She must be the ONE. Are you going to marry her, settle down and have dozens of arrogant, high handed sons?"
Lance winced, unable to hide his vulnerability where Lissa was concerned. His face darkened with pain as he imagined a life spent with Lissa as his wife, raising their children together somewhere, and living in eternal bliss. If only…
"No," he finally snapped, his voice almost a growl. "She's a White Rider. She can never marry. She can never even have a boyfriend, much less a husband."
Pidge's grin immediately vanished, his expression turning to one of disbelief. "Man. That just…stinks!"
"Welcome to my life, pal," Lance said, sinking onto one of the couches and leaning his head back to gaze forlornly at the ceiling.
Pidge frowned and said, "Can she leave the Legion?"
"Sure," Lance replied, his voice heavy. "She just has to die."
Pidge recoiled from him and then shook his head. "That is one of the most terrible, pointless things I have ever heard of!"
"Terrible yes, pointless, no," Lance sighed. "A life of service ensures loyalty, as does a life of solitude in that service. If you have nothing else, you will be even more dedicated to your duty."
"I suppose," Pidge grumbled, "but I don't know if that kind of life would be worth living."
The pilot of the Green Lion left before Lance could respond. He agreed with the youngster. But there was really nothing he could do about it. Lissa had made her choices years ago, and she was now bound by them.
The door to the Rec Room suddenly flew open, and Lance looked up to see the frowning face of one very annoyed Princess Allura. "Hey Princess, how-"
"Can it, you thoughtless idiot," she barked in a voice so hostile he wondered if this was really the Princess or some new Roe Beast created by Hagar that simply looked like Allura.
Before he could respond, she waved a piece of paper in the air, inches away from his nose and said, "Just look what you've done! I can't believe you told her to leave! I was actually starting to develop a friendship with that girl, and I know you're head over heels in love with her, so I just don't understand why you insist on acting like such a fool where she's concerned and-"
Lance held his hands up, whether to calm Allura down or protect his face from her flailing hands he couldn't say, but his expression was one of true confusion as he said, "Hold on a minute there Princess. What are you talking about?"
Princess Allura rolled her eyes and shrieked. "Uh!!! Men!! Sometimes you can be so clueless…Well, most times, really. What am I talking about? What do you think? Do you love more then one person, genius?"
"I get that you're referring to Lissa, but what are you talking about exactly? I never told her to leave."
"Well, she sure seems to have been under the impression that you did," Allura said, once again waving the piece of paper at him as if she wanted to bludgeon him with it. "Which means, even if you don't think you told her to leave, you probably did because, I hate to have to point this out to you, but you suck at communication! Not that it's totally your fault. All men seem to suck at communication, and-"
"Will you just calm down?" Lance snapped, realizing there was something else bothering the Princess besides the letter she had, but more interested in what she had said about Lissa thinking he wanted her to leave.
Princess Allura blinked at him for a moment, as if waking from a deep trance. She glanced around the room, and blushed a brilliant shade of crimson. "Forgive me, I have no idea what came over me. I'm not completely angry with you and I should never have screamed at you like that. I have no idea why-"
"I'm sure it has something to do with Keith," Lance said, not bothering to tip toe around the turbulent relationship between the Captain and the Princess, his attention on that letter she was holding. Allura's mouth fell open but he waved at her impatiently. "Don't bother denying it. Not to me. Just tell me what that letter says."
Allura sighed and said, "It just says that she was glad to have met me, and that she thought Arus was a beautiful world and she would feel awful if anything were to happen to my people because of her. She also apologized for interfering with Voltron's duties, and being a distraction and a hindrance."
Lance stared at Princess Allura, a feeling of dread seeping into him, sensing that wasn't everything the letter said. He vaguely recalled saying something to Lissa about her being a hindrance, but only because he was driven to distraction every time she was near him. "Go on," he said, his voice grim, certain he already knew what the Princess would say next.
"She's gone, Lance," Allura whispered.
It was the answer he anticipated, but Lance's eyes still closed in anguish as shock reeled through him. "Damn her," he hissed, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. "She's running again. She always runs from me!"
"Lance, it seems to me she left because she thought that was what you wanted," Allura softly replied.
Lance's eyes opened, and the Princess was astonished to see fury burning in their depths. "I have had enough of this," he growled, and for a moment she thought he had gone mad.
His next words relieved and alarmed her immensely.
"I have had enough of our miscommunications and her habit of running away. I am going to go after her and tell her I love her and she's a fool to think I want her to be anywhere in the universe other then by my side," he said, storming out of the Rec Room.
Allura stared after him for a moment, stunned and pleased, before she blinked and yelled, "Lance, wait! I haven't told you where she's going yet."
Lance paused to glance back at her expectantly. She hesitated for a moment, debating whether or not to tell him when he was wearing such a fierce expression, but she was certain he wouldn't harm Lissa.
Lance misunderstood her silence and said, "I will simply take the letter from you and read it myself if you don't tell me where she's gone," he said in a deceptively soft voice, turning to face her.
Allura had never seen him so threatening before, but she knew it was love that made him act in such a bizarre manner. Keith had the same influence on her, it seemed, to transform her from a sweet tempered woman into a raging virago… "She took the Prince to the planet Tanor."
Lance gave a curt nod and said, "Thank you."
She watched him stride down the hall and suddenly knew he meant to take the Red Lion out after her, because the Lion would be faster then any other ship on Arus.
"Lance, you can't take the Red Lion. What if Planet Doom attacks?" she called after his retreating form.
Lance ignored her and Allura whispered, "Dear lord, what have I done? I should have gone to Keith with this first and had him come with me to break the news to Lance. Instead I just had to go tell him myself, and now Lance is going to run off with the damned Red Lion. Keith is going to kill me!"