Birthday Plans

It was a week since Allura had stopped flying, and as she worked in her study she knew that her decision had been correct. Coran was back, after presiding over Wade's trial, but there were just certain matters that only the ruling Princess could handle. She closed out one of them now as Coran walked in.

"Your Highness, are you ready to go over the agenda for the Dominion Council meeting?" He asked her, as he bowed to her. Allura smiled and said "Coran, you don't have to bow when you come in! Please have a seat!" She knew that she owed so much to him, and wished she could figure out some way to repay him.

Coran looked at her, and noticed how pretty she looked in a dark blue dress, ornamented with her pearls and some dazzling sapphire earrings. They echoed the blue in her eyes, and the stones in her coronet. After she had decided to quit flying he had gone down to King Alfor's tomb and offered up a prayer of thanksgiving! Coran thought to himself 'now I just need to find a husband for her'!

They had been going over the agenda for almost an hour when there was a knock at the door. Allura looked up to see Pidge standing there. She looked at the clock and said "Is it time already?" She had asked Pidge to come up to discuss something with him. Coran smiled at him and said "Pidge, when you get the chance I want to go over some new requirements for that aquifer that you designed."

Pidge had spent the five years helping Keith find Black Lion and working on rebuilding the castle and Arus. He said to Coran "Once I finish with Allura, we can talk if that would work?" In truth, he was always looking for a new challenge or a project. If he could find both, that was even better. Coran said it would work and he excused himself.

Allura watched as Pidge sat down and looked at her expectantly. She hoped that he would be able to do what she was going to ask him. "Pidge, thanks for coming up! I appreciate all the help you have given Larmina this last week. She has said it has made all the difference!"

Pidge was glad to hear that, having enjoyed the time he got to spend with Larmina. Some of it had included Hunk, which for some reason bothered him, but he pushed that thought aside. He wondered what else Larmina might have said to her Aunt. Pidge said "It's been very easy! She has caught on very quickly."

"How has it been with Daniel and Vince?" Allura asked, wanting to hear Pidge's opinion before asking Keith and Lance theirs. Pidge furrowed his brows and said "Actually Daniel has not flown this week. He flunked the physics exam, and Keith won't let him up until he retakes it and passes. However, Vince has been fine."

Allura was surprised to hear the news about Daniel, but glad that Vince was handling it well. She said now "Maybe Daniel flunking that exam was a blessing in disguise. I was concerned about how he was going to handle Larmina flying." Pidge said "The way I heard it, he wasn't happy but he understood the decision." In truth he found Daniel rather irritating most of the time, so he didn't seek him out for conversations.

"Well the reason I called you up here is to request a favor." Allura said to Pidge, who tilted his head in response. "Larmina's 18th birthday is next month, and I want to give a big party for the occasion." Allura told him, and Pidge saw where this was going. He sighed and waited for the request. "Would Stereolatic be willing to provide the entertainment for the occasion?"

Pidge had not realized that Larmina's birthday was next month, but knew that she would like a performance by Stereolatic more than anything else. However, having Stereolatic meant that he would not get to spend that much time with her. He consoled himself with the thought that she would be very happy to have his musical group.

"I think I can be in touch with them!" He told Allura with a smile, and then asked "You will have to help cover for me when I need to excuse myself though?" She gave him a big smile and said "Thank you Pidge! She will love it! And yes, we can work something out." Allura paused and then said "Since it is her 18th birthday it will be a grand event, and I will be inviting the Diplomatic Corps and representatives from the Alliance planets."

Pidge laughed and said "That sounds too main stream for Stereolatic! You will ruin my street cred!" Allura said "But it is Larmina's party at the end of the day, and I want her to have what she wants." They chatted a couple more minutes, and then Pidge excused himself to go see Coran.

Later that night Daniel, Vince, and Larmina were all down in the Lair. Vince was telling them about what he had found in Pidge's notes, from his work on Sven and his haggerium infection. Vince felt bad that he was going behind Pidge's back, but didn't want to betray Daniel's trust.

Larmina was listening and interrupted Vince to ask "How are you doing this without Pidge knowing?" She saw the guilty look Vince got in his eyes, and said "I bet he will be furious when he finds out hacked into his account!" She was already upset at having to keep the secret from her Aunt, and at the back of her mind knew that the team should really know what was going on.

She knew that her relationship with Daniel and Vince would change, once she took over Blue, but had not understood how it would affect her loyalties. Larmina was not enjoying the position she was being put in, and now knowing that Vince was hacking into Pidge's account, well it was too much.

Daniel could see that she was not happy and she said "Come on, how much stuff has Pidge hacked into? And if he was so concerned about his account he should have increased the security on it!" He thought to Vince 'let's hope that relieves her mind'. Vince thought back 'dude, I don't know if this is going to work!'

Larmina looked at Daniel and said "He doesn't expect his teammates to be spying on him!" She was struggling with her feelings when she was around Pidge, and didn't like the idea of Vince snooping in Pidge's private affairs. She decided that if he was just looking at the haggerium stuff, well maybe it was all right. Especially if it helped Daniel, who she liked most of the time.

She remembered how lonely it had been at the castle, until the boys showed up. At first she had pretended to be annoyed, but was really glad that they had come. Her Father had been Allura's younger brother, who had been killed the first year that King Zarakon had attacked. Her Mother had been a Princess from a neighboring planet, whose marriage had been arranged by King Alfor. Princess Zoya had been admired for her beauty and flaming red hair, which Larmina had inherited.

Unfortunately her Mother had died when she was visiting her home planet at the exact time the Drules blew it up. Princess Zoya had gone to see her Father, who was sick, but had left Larmina on Arus. The only memory she had was pictures, which she treasured very much.

Larmina took her mind off of her memories and said to Vince and Daniel "I don't think we should keep this a secret any longer! It will look a lot worse if they find out that we have been hiding it." Vince agreed with Larmina, but didn't say anything. However, Daniel picked up on his thoughts and pleaded 'please, don't! You can find a cure! I don't want to be kicked off the team!'

She knew that Vince and Daniel were doing the telepathy thing, and suddenly she didn't want to be with them. Larmina didn't like keeping stuff from the team, who had been very welcoming to her. She also didn't like the idea of Vince hacking into Pidge's account. She stood up, and said good night to them.

As she was falling asleep that night, she wished she could talk to someone about Daniel's infection. Before she closed her eyes she realized that she was probably going to have to choose between her friends and the team. And the person she most wanted to discuss it with was Pidge.