Author's Note: I meant to get this out yesterday, but got busy making food for a brunch party I have to go to today. Thank you for all the comments – yes the boys in the band get the chicks! Welcome to Serenimon02 – glad you like the story. I probably won't get another chapter up until tomorrow, but I hope you all enjoy this one!

Lotor Calls

Larmina was sitting with everyone having breakfast, several days after the announcement about her birthday party. Her Aunt's social secretary had told her that everyone who was anyone wanted an invitation. Larmina really wished she was just having a small party with her friends, and not the grand event of the galaxy.

However, thinking about that was easier than dwelling on what had happened in the gym with Pidge, the other morning. She knew he had been all set to kiss her before Hunk walked in, and she was really curious to know what it would have been like. Larmina consoled herself with the thought that he wanted to do something with her after her birthday. That brought a smile to her face, and she wondered what he had in mind. She was only half listening to the conversation at the table.

Keith was lecturing Daniel on the physics exam he still had not passed. Larmina was pretty sure that Daniel was using that as the excuse to keep away from the Lions. She knew that once they sensed the haggerium in him, it would be all over. Larmina was still struggling with keeping the secret from the team, and she wished the lions would figure it out. Daniel said "I'm sorry Keith; I really haven't had the chance to study it."

"I would think that you would have memorized it by now, so you could get back to flying." Lance told him, not understanding why Daniel was having so much trouble with an easy subject. Vince thought to Daniel 'you know they are going to figure it out, if Larmina doesn't tell first!' Daniel thought back 'she has been avoiding us! Of course she is busy with her Lion now!' Vince sighed, hoping it was only Blue that Larmina was busy with.

Hunk was not unhappy about Daniel not flying, as it meant Larmina had more time to spend with him. She had helped him yesterday with some work on Yellow, and it had been a fun afternoon. Hunk figured the longer Daniel was grounded the more time he would get with Larmina.

Keith said "Well, I think I want Pidge to spend some time with you going over the subject. As the resident genius he should be able to figure out what you are not getting!" Pidge was not happy when he heard that, and said in a terse tone "I think it is probably a concentration matter more than anything else!" Keith looked at him, and said "Well, get to the bottom of it, please!"

Pidge was in fact frustrated that he had not been able to get any time alone with Larmina, since the other morning! Yesterday had been particularly bad because Hunk monopolized her time while working on Yellow Lion. He had walked by the hanger bay at one point, and heard them laughing. Pidge knew that he shouldn't be jealous, but he couldn't help it. It also didn't help thinking about her underneath him and the kiss he didn't get.

He looked over at Daniel with a sour look, which Daniel saw. He knew Pidge's opinion of his intellect and he sighed. He thought to Vince 'oh wonderful, the great genius is going to make me feel very stupid!' Vince for his part preferred Pidge spending time with Daniel rather than Larmina, but didn't indicate that to Daniel. Instead he thought 'you are being very stupid, trying to keep it a secret!' Daniel thought 'do you think the reason Larmina has not come to the Lair is because of me?' Vince 'I wouldn't be surprised! She made her thoughts very clear two weeks ago!'

Once Keith finished with Daniel he turned to Lance and started talking about some updates from Garrison HQ. At the back of his mind he wondered why Pidge, Hunk, and Vince were all out of sorts. He knew why Daniel was, so didn't give that a second thought. Keith looked over at Larmina and smiled at her; at least she was happy.

Keith had thought it would be hard not having Allura at the table for the breakfast meeting, but it wasn't turning out that way. He was now in the habit of going up to her study every afternoon; to brief her on what was going on with Voltron. He liked that even better because it was just him, no one else.

Keith had spent a lot of time thinking about her while he was gone, and now that he was back he had decided to make up for lost time. The only fly in the ointment was Lance, who seemed to have an easy close relationship with her. At the back of his mind he wondered if they had gone out while he was gone, but had never been able to prove his suspicion. He consoled himself with the thought that Allura was too high minded to enter into a casual relationship.

Everyone's thoughts were interrupted when the alarms started shrieking through the castle. Keith brought up a holscreen, and they saw a Drule cruiser class ship entering Arusian airspace. He gave the order to launch the lions, and took pleasure in saying to Daniel "You stay here, and monitor the ship from the control room!"

Larmina felt the thrill go through her again as Blue roared to life, and she enjoyed the rush as they left the cave and flew through the water! Once she joined the other lions she saw that there was in fact over 20 Drule ships of various sizes. She heard Hunk ask, over the com link, where they all came from, but no one had an idea.

"Leave it to Lotor to have an extra fleet on hand!" Lance said, and Pidge said with fury in his voice "I'd give the credit to Maahox more than Lotor!" Hunk said "Little buddy, I don't think you like him!" That made everyone laugh, and Larmina said "After that whole zombie thing he pulled on Balto, you can't blame him!"

Vince was riding with Pidge, but could still hear Daniel in his head. As the Drule ships started firing, Vince thought to Daniel 'stop it! I need to concentrate!' With that he blocked anything further from Daniel. Keith said over the com link "Spread out and fire at will. Let's take out as many as possible, and save Voltron for the big ship, lurking in the background.

The next 15 minutes were nerve wracking and exciting for Larmina. She had never flown by herself and done the shooting at the same time. Blue helped her figure out how to fly and shoot together. Once she got the rhythm down she did very well, taking down several ships. Larmina got so busy with firing that she missed the little cruiser on her tail.

Pidge saw what was happening, and turned Green Lion in that direction and fired. He took the little cruiser out, but not before it had hit Blue Lion. Everyone watched in horror as Blue went flying across the sky. "Larmina, are you all right?" Keith asked into the com.

They all breathed a sigh of relief, especially Pidge, when they saw Blue right himself and come back to the fight. "I'm fine, but Blue has some damage on his rear flank. I'm compensating with some extra rudder, but I think he will need some repairs when we get back." Larmina said into the com link.

Blue thought to her 'I will need my den more than anything else!' Larmina stroked his control panel and thought back 'no problem!' It took another 20 minutes to take care of the small ships, and then they formed Voltron and had Blazing Sword take out the big ship. As it sped away Lotor's face came over their airwave.

"I am not done Voltron and I will be back!" His glowing purple face looked even more hideous than usual, with seeping purple eruptions all over it. Pidge couldn't resist and sent Larmina a private text message "Don't you think Maahox could at least solve his acne?" Larmina sent a smiley face back, while she giggled.

Vince was aware that Pidge was sending some type of a message, but didn't have access to it on the back screen. He was capable of hacking into Pidge's account, but couldn't do it with him right here. Vince really wanted to know who Pidge was texting, and as he was thinking that thought, Daniel popped into his head.

'What the hell is going on? First you tune me out, and now you are mad at Pidge! Are you all right?' Vince wasn't all right, but didn't want Daniel to know what was going on. He thought back 'sorry, it has been confusing up here. Blue was hit, and will need repairs when we get back.' Daniel felt the haggerium surge as he thought about Larmina getting hurt. Vince felt it too, and thought 'she is fine, calm down!'

Keith ordered the lions home, and told Larmina to bring Blue to the hanger bay, but Blue wasn't having any of it. Larmina said "Blue wants to go to his den first, to recharge." Since Keith knew how the lions worked, he understood.

Larmina entered Lake Arus and let Blue guide himself through the water to his den. Once there he sat down and closed his eyes. She had stepped out of the lion, and watched as he started emitting the blue glow that meant he was charging. No one understood how each lion was able to recharge from its element, but they knew that it worked.

She was all set to go back to the castle when she felt Blue asking her to stay, but not saying why. Larmina sat down on one of the rocks in the cave and figured she would have to wait until he explained what was going on. Larmina wasn't sure how long she had been sitting there when she heard someone coming through the chute and into Blue's den.

Larmina was surprised and glad to see that it was Pidge! He came up to her and said "Is everything going ok?" She wished he wasn't standing so close, as it was making it hard to concentrate. She said "I think it is fine. Blue just seems to want company while he charges." Pidge said "Do you think he would care if I looked at the damage on his flank?" She felt Blue respond to her 'he is welcome to look'. Larmina told Pidge that, so he walked over to the rear of the lion.

Pidge was in fact thrilled at how things at worked out. Once they got back to the castle both Allura and Daniel had been waiting, so they had to do a quick debriefing. When Larmina had not come back, Allura had gotten concerned. Hunk quickly volunteered to go check on her, but Keith had said he needed Hunk to organize the removal of the wrecked Drule ships. Keith then told Pidge to go to Blue's den, and see how much damage had been sustained.

Hunk put a good face on, but Pidge knew he wasn't happy about how things had turned out. Even the thought of more scrap metal for the Hunkyard was enough to offset not getting to go to Blue's den. 'At least', Hunk thought, 'it wasn't Daniel heading out to Blue's den'

Pidge ran a scanner over Blue's flank, and then announced "Nothing too terrible here, just some minor body work and adjustment to the steering mechanism!" Larmina felt relieved, and said to Pidge "I feel so bad that I got him hit!" Pidge looked at her, and saw concern in her turquoise eyes. He put his hands on her shoulders and said "Larmina, when you fly combat you are going to take some hits! It is part of the process. The important thing is to dish out more than you take. And you did that today!"

Larmina looked up at him, and suddenly she felt like she had stopped breathing as she looked into his eyes. The green flecks were glowing with an intensity that was incredible. Pidge realized how close they were standing to each other, and that his hands were on her shoulders.

Without a second thought he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her right up against him. He lowered his head and found her lips. Larmina had felt him pull her against him, and she put her hands around his chest. When his lips met hers, she felt them parting of their own accord.

She couldn't believe the sensations that surged through her as his tongue entered her mouth and found hers. Larmina felt her body melt into his as their tongues intertwined, and he felt her hands moving up and down his back. Pidge had never had an experience like this before, and didn't want it to end. He was aware of a soft floral smell coming from her, and wanted more.

Larmina felt him deepen the kiss, and she went along, wanting to get as close to him as possible. Pidge felt the change in her, and realized how much he wanted this to go on. He would have been happy to have gone further, but he felt something vibrating at his back.

Pidge was also aware that his wrist was vibrating, and he and Larmina both went very still. Pidge raised his head, and saw that his voltcom was glowing. Larmina saw that hers was too, and they looked at each other with secret smiles. Pidge answered his and said "What is happening?"

Lance's voice was on the other end asking "Will you be done in time for dinner? And is Larmina still there?" Pidge smiled as he replied back "Yes, she is here but has not had the chance to answer her voltcom. I have the scans all done on Blue, so we should be heading back shortly."

After the exchange he shut the voltcom off and turned to look at Larmina. "Are you ready to go have dinner?" Pidge asked her, wishing that he could keep her here instead. Larmina had a wonderful smile on her face, and her turquoise eyes were soft and glowing as she looked at him. "Yes, I guess we should go get something to eat!"

When they were gone Green's spirit came to Blue's den. 'Good evening brother of the wind!' Blue told him, and Green said 'Good evening brother of the water! Thank you for what you did; you have made my pilot very happy!' Blue replied 'My pilot is also very happy. These two are much easier to deal with.' Green said 'I agree with you, but it helps that there is strong attraction there.' Blue replied 'there is strong attraction and no fear!' Green said 'Let's hope that these two show the other two how to take the leap of faith!'