Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Voltron characters. This is a "for fun only" story.

Setting & Rating: Takes place sometime during the Go Lion original series. Rating of Teen but hardly even that as it's very mild. J

Author Note: This chapter is a lot longer than the previous one, but I couldn't see a good way to break it up, and actually, I just didn't want to. :-)

Chapter Three: Mistletoe Mischief

What happened about two months ago, right before Christmas…

It had all begun when Lance started hanging mistletoe all around the castle so that he could steal a kiss from unsuspecting (or sometimes suspecting and eager) maids. While Nanny disapproved completely, and made a show of tearing down mistletoe whenever she found it, Allura merely giggled and said the space explorers should be able to have some of their holiday traditions too. Allura seem to enjoy finding the mistletoe around the Force (when Nanny wasn't around). She would even call out to them that she was standing under the greenery. Some member of the Force, or even Coran, would always go give her a friendly peck on the cheek; however, it was never Keith.

"Just give it up, will ya?" Hunk called from the snack area of the Rec Room as three member of the Force lounged around listening to music.

Lance snickered and replied, "I'm not going to 'give it up' Hunk. I know those two have feelings for each other and if they would just kiss, I KNOW they would figure it out."

"Well, I think you're right about the feelings," Pidge added in as he put both feet up on the coffee table, "but you don't want to get Keith angry about you meddling or embarrass Allura."

Lance broke out with a loud laugh. "Allura embarrassed? Have you seen how much she's been enjoying hunting out all the mistletoe I've been hanging up? There's no embarrassment there. Can you deny that if Keith is in the room with us and she's under the mistletoe, that she looks at him first? She wants him to kiss her, but he won't even look in her direction if there is a piece of mistletoe in the room."

"Yeah, I've noticed," Hunk said while chewing a piece a summer sausage, "it's like he's on a military scouting mission every time he walks into a room: find the mistletoe and eliminate the threat!" All the guys started laughing at the mental picture of Keith, stalking and hunting down the evil mistletoe.

The door swished open and Allura walked in. "What's so funny?" she asked. "It must be really good to cause that much laughter."

Lance jumped in before anyone else could answer, "We were just talking about all the fun we've had with the mistletoe, except for Hunk and Pidge's experiences of having to kiss Nanny under the mistletoe."

Allura's bright laughter came out as her eyes moved from Pidge, who was sticking his tongue out, to Hunk, who just shrugged his shoulders. "You're joking! Nanny hates the mistletoe tradition!"

"Well, actually Princess, Nanny hates the tradition when it comes to you and kisses but she seems to love the mistletoe tradition for herself," Pidge added in, still with a slightly disgusted look upon his face. "She's already got Hunk, me, Coran, and Keith. Only Lance has managed to avoid her."

Allura's smile dimmed a little as she turned a thoughtful face to Lance. "She's gotten Keith to kiss her?"

Lance gave her a serious look straight in the eyes and said, "Yes she has. I think she has gotten him twice. Both while he was trying to sneak around the kitchen." He thought to himself, "she knows, she has to, that Keith has feelings for her and he's not avoiding the mistletoe, he's avoiding her AND the mistletoe." Allura was not one to give up on a challenge, so the question that intrigued the lieutenant now was, "What is she going to do about it?"

He got his answer about thirty minutes later as Hunk and Pidge started talking mechanics and hydraulics regarding the lions and he moved over to change the music to a different station. Allura came up beside him and glanced back to be sure that Hunk and Pidge weren't interested in her conversation.

"Lance, can I have some of your mistletoe? I have a few spots I'd like to hang it myself." There was a gleam in Allura's eyes as she said it.

"Anything for the Princess of Arus. When would you like to have it?"

"Before tomorrow afternoon if you don't mind Lance." Allura glanced back at the other two pilots. "And I'd like to keep it a secret from everyone."

Lance's eyes now held the gleam as he responded in a conspirator whisper, "I'll treat it like a state secret."

Lance was true to his word and left the box right inside her chamber door sometime after they had their morning Lion practice. Allura picked up the box and thought back to the morning. She had felt a little guilty at breakfast when Lance would catch her eye. She knew that he had some inkling of what she was planning. Her guilt melted away like the butter on her pancakes, however, when she saw Nanny and knew that Nanny had gotten at least two kisses from the man she would love to have just one real kiss from. A sigh escaped her as she took the box over to her bed and sat down on the edge of it. If she were truthful with herself as she fell back across the bed staring at her ceiling with a dreamy look, she would admit that she wanted more than one kiss.

Allura put the box to the side, knowing that in just a few hours, she would put her plan into action.

Three hours later…

Allura rushed back to her room. Her time attending to royal duties had taken her longer than she had expected. Coran had brought an additional village request to her attention that need to be looked at immediately and couldn't wait. She hoped that she gave it the concern it was due, but she had to admit she was distracted by her plan for the mistletoe and that she may have to revisit that village request tomorrow. She quickly changed into some jeans and a soft sweater. She didn't want her first kiss with Keith to be in that pink gown that Nanny always favored for her royal duties. She gave herself a last look in the mirror and pulled out the pin that held her hair in a bun and watched as her golden curls fell down to frame her face. There. Now she was ready. She turned and walked purposefully out the door only to go a few steps and return to her room to get the mistletoe and sticky gum that she would need. "Boy, I really am distracted!"

She checked the corridor that housed Keith's office and saw no activity but she had to be sure, so she checked two more corridors that intersected with Keith's hallway. "Okay Allura, this is it," she whispered out loud to herself. Now that the moment was here, she was suddenly nervous. The Christmas holiday would soon be over and with it, the mistletoe and this opportunity would be gone for a year. With that in mind, she got out the materials and put the mistletoe in place, right over the doorway into Keith's office. Getting the mistletoe above the door was a challenge as she didn't bring a stool and she couldn't go in Keith's office to get anything to stand on. She took one last worried look up at the mistletoe. Hopefully, it would stay in place and he would think that Lance had put it up and not her. Her face turned red as she thought about what he would think if he knew she put the greenery there.

Allura drew a calming breath. She was going to follow through on this. She had thought of a reason that she needed to speak to him so she was ready for any questions that might come up, but then, hopefully questions wouldn't be on his mind if they were kissing. A soft smile came to her face and a twinkle to her eye as she stood right in the doorway and hit the buzzer.

Keith's eyes were crossing as he was finishing a second hour of pilot performance reports for Gallaxy Alliance when he heard the door buzzer. He was glad someone was here as he needed a break. "Come in." He looked expectantly towards the door but no one entered. The door buzzed again. "Come in," he said, this time a little louder. The door remained irritatingly closed. If it was Lance, or someone playing a joke, he wasn't in the mood. He moved briskly toward the door and it opened automatically for his exit.

Allura really had been standing directly in the doorway, so when Keith exited, he bumped right into her, grabbing her arms to prevent her from failing. Allura let out an involuntary, "Oh!" as their bodies came into contact with one another.

Keith's eyes widen with surprise when he realized that he was holding Allura by the arms. "Princess! I'm so sorry, I didn't realize it was you! Are you okay?" Questions were coming out of Keith's mouth one after the other.

"I'm fine," Allura replied softly and then lifted her eyes to look right above Keith's left shoulder.

He wondered if she could feel the quick pace of his heartbeat as he looked at her sapphire eyes. From the direction she was gazing, there was something in the doorway over him and he knew what it had to be. He was going to kill Lance. There was no way out, he hadn't prepared for something like this and now that he was caught off-guard he was going to have to give her a kiss. To buy himself a moment, he turned his head to follow her gaze and saw the offending greenery hanging there. Well, at least the guys weren't here to witness it. He squinted at the mistletoe, it looked like it was getting ready to fall. Lance must have been in a big hurry.

Allura had to get Keith's attention back. He was looking way too hard at that mistletoe. Allura cleared her throat, perhaps not the most romantic thing, but it did get Keith to turn back to her. He started to lean down to give her a kiss on the cheek and she didn't want him to give her the same friendly kiss that all the other Force members had given her. His warm hands were already holding her arms and she wondered if he could feel her trembling as she moved her arms up quickly to go around his neck and she leaned in to kiss him on the mouth. When her arms had moved up to his neck, his arms had moved reflexively to go around her back. She sighed against his mouth as she felt him tighten his embrace.

Keith had heard Allura clear her throat and turned to give her the friendly kiss when she suddenly put her arms around his neck as his lips met hers. His arms snaked around her to keep her from falling, but he knew his arms went there for another purpose that had nothing to do with her falling. He could feel her warmth through the soft sweater. He didn't hear her sigh as his blood was pounding in his ears as he felt her soft lips against his. He didn't think, he just acted and kissed her back and then brought his hands up to entwine in her hair that was cascading down her back. He thought he might have groaned as they deepened their kiss with their bodies pressed close together, oblivious to everything around them.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Keith's computer was indicating he had an incoming message. It broke him out of the dazed stupor that kissing Allura had put him in. As he broke from their embrace, he didn't realize that he had been leaning against the doorframe, pinned there by Allura when she had initiated the kiss. Allura watched the passion leave his eyes as they widened and looked at her in disbelief.

"What have I done," he thought in dismay to himself. "Princess Allura, I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me," he said out loud to her with deep regret as he looked away from her. He needed time to sort out what happened. He rather formally said to her, "Please accept my apologies for this offence. I will have a tray sent here to my office so that I won't embarrass you tonight by dining with you."

"Keith, you don't have to-"

"Yes Allura, I do." He brought a serious gaze to bear on her.

She knew that the vulnerability she had seen in him just a few moments ago when they kissed was gone. He was back in Commander mode. How she hated Commander mode at the moment.

"Allura…Princess. I am the senior Gallaxy officer on Arus. I am both your commanding officer as a Lion pilot and your subordinate in royal affairs." He cringed a little at his use of 'affairs.'

She tried once again to interrupt and to try to diffuse the situation, "Keith, it wasn't a big deal!" As soon as she said it, she knew that her choice of words at this moment was far worse than his choice had been. She saw some kind of barrier go up behind his eyes. She was glad for just a moment, because she realized it had been a "big deal" for him. Her gladness faded away quickly…

Keith looked at her with disbelief that turned quickly into a shield to protect his feelings. Is that what the kiss had been to her? He had felt like his world had turned upside down and his heart was going to burst during that kiss. Was it nothing more to her than a fun tradition or perhaps a prank that she wanted to pull on the serious commander?

She could see that he had shut down. She would not be able to get through to him this afternoon. It was going to take time.

"I'm glad that it wasn't 'a big deal' for you Princess. I would never want to hurt you or cause you distress. However, as I was saying, it was inappropriate for me to behave as such with a member Arusian royalty. I will, for the moment, keep my distance."

"If… If that's what you want," Allura said looking at him and wondering how such a wonderful moment could have gone so badly, so quickly.

"It is," Keith replied stiffly. "If you do not feel this needs an official repri-"

"No Keith! No! I don't want you to have an official reprimand! Don't you think you're going overboard?" A touch of anger was starting to come out in Allura's tone. What was he thinking? A reprimand for a kiss? She had had numerous kisses from the Force members since the mistletoe had come out and he had never said anything like this about them…. And then it hit her. It was because it was the two of them and the kiss was much more than those kisses.

She was broken out of her train of thought by seeing the glare on his face as he replied, "Thank you for not requesting a reprimand. I will impose my own version of a punishment for inappropriate behavior."

He took her elbow and led her to the office door as the computer continued to beep. As soon as both of her feet were out of his office, his hand dropped from her elbow as if on fire. He took a step back into his office and the door closed on her looking at him. Keith leaned his head against the door after he keyed it so it wouldn't automatically open with his touch. Just touching her elbow had been hard to do after the kiss and the almost argument that they had had. "What am I going to do?" he asked himself out loud.

Right after the door closed on Keith, she heard him key it to locked. So the door and Keith were both closed to her. She jumped back as something fell on her and she looked down with distain at the greenery that had brought this misery upon her. No, that was wrong, she had used this simple tradition for her own purposes, without a thought as to what the repercussions would be. She would have to take responsibility for it. She would have to undo the damage the she had done. She just didn't know how.

If Keith had only realized that Allura was the instigator of everything that happened, the events of the next few hours, days, and weeks might have happened differently.