Oceans

It wasn't her first time staring out of her lion's eyes to cast her gaze upon an incoming planet. It was not the first time she had sent her gentle stare out into the vastness of space to take in the beauty of a magnificent planet that slowly spun on its invisible axel. Every planet appears different in some way, and she would have thought by now those differences would have occurred so often that she had simply become accustomed to them. Yet here she was, staring at a planet that seemed perfectly plain as if it was like looking upon her precious Altea, her homeland that would forever remain a causality in the war against the Galra.

This planet before was small in comparison to her own and lacked the familiar pinkish hue that had covered her home. This planet, she noticed, was almost completely wrapped in a spectrum of blues. There were patches of green that she assumed were what her Paladin friends called continents. Then outlining those patches were lines of a blue so faint they almost looked green. As her eyes traveled further into the depths of the water, just watched as the shade grew darker and darker, until the blue matched a midnight sky.

She had seen blue planets before, and she had seen planets entirely made of the life-given liquid that gave the planet's their color, but there was still something else about the shade that brought her a sense of familiarity and warmth. She felt oddly safe as she bore her gaze into the mysterious surface. The brows of her eyes furrowed as she pondered on this strange sensation.

"So whatcha think, 'Llura?"

The sound of her nickname coming from his lips pulled her back into reality. She shook her head and blink away her thoughts.

"It's um…it's wonderful Lance." She replied over the ship's communicator.

"That didn't sound very convincing." Even though the static of the machine they used to communicate, she could still hear the tease in his voice.

"Truly Lance, your planet is a magnificent sight to behold." She said with earnest as she marveled at the moving planet once again. "Those large bodies of water, what do you call them again?"

"Oceans!" His answer came quick, showing off his excitement at being able to share his culture with the alien princess. She knew it was a mixture of childish happiness and the idea that he someone sounded smarter by knowing something she did not. It annoyed her at first, for she thought he was just basking in the fact that she was now the clueless one, but by knowing him for so long now, she knew better. He was trying to impress her and that fact made her feel that same weird warmth in her chest and a tingling sensation in her stomach.

"Right, oceans, I like them the best." Oceans. The word rolled over her tongue as she continued to examine the swirling liquid below.

"They're awesome! And even better up close! Just wait until I teach ya how to surf!" The Red Paladin boasted from his ship.

Allura's mind filled with questions regarding his comment. What was surfing? What made the Earth's oceans better from a close proximity? But most of all, why did the tingling feeling in her stomach intensify from his innocent offer? Before she could seek clarity on the subject, another voice chimed in over the radio.

"Watch out, Princess sounds like Lancelot over there is trying to trick ya into going on a date with him."

"Shut up, Hunk! I am not! It's-it's just us…I mean I will just show her how to…ugh you know what never mind! It doesn't matter." She heard Lance grumble, while Hunk and the others snickered at his suspense.

Suddenly, the tingling inside of her slowed and clumped together, forming a giant rock in the pit of her stomach. She didn't bother to hide the frown on her face or the disappointment in her tone when she glared at the speaker.

"That's enough!" She commanded, her voice cutting through the feed like a knife and bringing the laughter to an abrupt halt. "If Lance wishes to share his knowledge of Earthly costumes with me, then I welcome the opportunity! If anyone has a grievance with that, please kindly keep it to yourself!"

Her outburst caused a surprised silence amongst the Paladins, and even she could feel the tension she had created. Still, the fact remained that she was not pleased with the others treatment towards her dear friend, even if it was all in good fun. The rational part of her brain felt a slight sense of remorse for her overreaction, but as she has been learning over the past few months, the rational part of her was no match to her more passionate feelings that have formed an irritating habit of showing up whenever the goofy Earth-boy was involved.

Growing tired of the awkward silence, she decided it would be up to her to restore the conversation.

"So Lance, tell me more about this surfing wish to teach me."

Her honey-sweet voice melted away any hostility and the excitable lad wasted no time in being able to describe one of his favorite hobbies to the girl of his infatuation. As he rambled on, with the occasional corrections made by Pidge or added descriptions given by Hunk, Allura found herself drifting back to the rolling depths of the ocean waves that steadily grew closer with every passing minute. Then like a shock from a blaster cannon, she realized just what those playful waves reminded her of.

"Hmm…I thought I recognized that color."

And with a comfortable grin on her face and a faraway look on her eyes, she leaned back in her chair and enjoyed the rest of her flight.