Coran's POV

Plates were on the floor in one piece, some of the chairs were knocked over, and green food goo was all over the place once the food fight finally ended. I watched Allura slump down on one of the chairs still standing, while the Paladins looked at one another and saw them covered in goo, causing them to burst out laughing.

"Enough!" Allura said, "Do you see what you're doing? You're finally working together as one!"

"Hey, she's right!" Keith noticed,

"I actually don't hate you right now." Lance replied.

"You guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Hunk asked,

"Let's go form Voltron!" Shiro said, earning a cheer from the other paladins.

"Actually, I was thinking dessert." Number 2 admits, "But, yeah! Let's do it!"

They turned to leave, but in the excitement, we all forgot about the handcuffs, and the five paladins tumbled to the floor and brought their chairs down with them.

"Oops." I sheepishly pushed the remote control button to free the Paladins, "Sorry about that."

Normal POV

Once the mess was cleaned up, the Paladins took their respective elevator, glided down on their ziplines, and rode their speeders to their lions with success.

"Everyone ready to do this?" Shiro asked as he got to the Black Lion's controls,

"Roger that!" Pidge radioed in from the Green Lion.

"It's on!" Lance said while powering the Blue Lion up.

"Yes, sir!" Keith affirmed the second he got to the Red Lion's controls.

"I was born ready!" Hunk replied as the Yellow Lion powered up.

The Black Lion let out a roar, "Then let's go!" Shiro ordered.

"Yeah!"

Allura's POV

Seeing the lions launching, Coran and I ran outside to witness the Paladin successfully forming Voltron again.

"I told you I could get them to do it." I said to Coran, feeling extremely proud of the new Paladins. "They just needed a common enemy."

"It's true." Coran agreed, "Like the old proverb says, 'A man can be driven to do anything, if a beautiful woman is just really, really mean to him.'"

That's not how that proverb goes, but I also knew that it was Coran's way of telling me that 'playing the bad guy' was unnecessary. And I admit that there were moments that even I felt were completely out of line. I should apologize to the Paladins when I have a chance, especially Shiro.

Pidge's POV

Once we got Voltron back to lions and piloted them back to their respective hangars, we changed out of our armours and retired in the Castle's Lounge. I noticed Allura's mice close by and decided to greet them.

"Man, that was cool!" I can hear Lance exclaim, "I'm so charged up, I don't know if I'm gonna be able to sleep tonight."

"Not me." Keith replies, "When my head hits the pillow, I'm gonna be lights out."

"I just want you to know that I realized when we were in Voltron," Hunk said as he slid down to sit between Lance and Keith before bringing those into a bear hug, "we're brothers, man. You know? Like, we're totally connected. No secrets, no barriers, no nothing. Brothers all the way." Shiro placed his hand on my shoulder as I patted one of the mice's heads.

"I love you guys." Hunk finished as Shiro got up to leave,

"G-forces mess with your head a little bit?" Keith asked.

"Yeah, maybe a little." Hunk admits, "I-I don't know. It's been a tough few days."

The three of them broke the embrace and decided to follow Shiro's lead to retire to our sleeping quarters for the night.

"Going to bed, Pidge?" Shiro asked me when he looked back,

"In a minute." I replied.

"Good work today. We're really coming together." Shiro commended before leaving the room with the others. I frowned when I remembered what Hunk had said a few seconds ago; Hunk and Lance don't even know that 'Pidge Gunderson' isn't who they think 'he' is. And I don't even know if the brothers realized it when I told them that my dad and Matt were with Shiro on the Kerberos Mission.

With the mice looking on, I pulled out and looked at the photo of me and my brother.

"I'll do everything I can to find you and Dad."

Shiro's POV

I was almost to my quarters when I noticed Princess Allura standing by the door, looking concerned with something.

"Shiro," She spoke up when she saw me, "May I… have a word with you for a moment?"

I opened the door and let the princess enter first before following her in.

"Is everything alright, Princess?" I asked once the door closed, causing Allura to sigh.

"I wanted to help you form Voltron by acting as a common enemy for you to hate." Allura confessed, "But I now see that it was never necessary. And that there were times where I've crossed a line, and even put you and the others in danger. I hope that, on behalf of the other paladins, you would accept my apology."

I was surprised, but it did make me think of today's events.

"Thank you." I replied, "This morning's surprise drill and your choice of words were nothing new where I'm from. And the ends justify the means."

"That, too. But I meant having the defense system attacking you, and the Gladiator."

Oh… I guess the former was a little overboard, and I wasn't exactly proud of how I froze up like that during the latter.

"The Gladiator just reminded me of some Galra sentries," I said rubbing the back of my head, "And the Castle attacking us did cause my hand to flare-up until Pidge gave it a little modification."

"That reminds me," Allura slightly changed the topic, "When exactly did you learn it does that?"

"It was when Pidge and I rescued the prisoners while Keith was retrieving the Red Lion." I explained, "We were discovered by the sentries near the escape pods. I ran over to Pidge and got ready to fight, and that's when it first activated."

"Does it hurt?"

"Only at the first time." I answered truthfully, "But it also flared up earlier during the surprise drill when Coran said over the system that you were dead."

Allura's POV

I blush with shame when I remember that before recomposing myself.

"If I had known, I would have informed you before—" I began before Shiro calmed me down,

"You had no way of knowing, Princess." he said, "When it comes to surprise drills, it would be less of a surprise the more people know about it. But it shouldn't flare up again thanks to Pidge's modification."

And with that, he activated it as a demonstration. His entire hand up to where his wrist should be glowed Galran violet as I sensed a powerful energy similar to the quintessence manipulated by a Lanayran.

"Careful, Princess." Shiro warned as he carefully brought his hand closer to him, "I don't want you getting burnt."

I realized that I subconsciously tried to reach out and, with the heat radiating off of his hand, would have received burns if he hadn't warned me.

"Thank you."

"I'll relay your apology to the others." Shiro spoke up after a brief moment of silence, "But it may take a bit before they accept it."

I nodded in understanding before he added, "But I've already accepted your apology, Princess."

I was surprised, but grateful.

"Thank you, Shiro. And there's no need for formality." I said, "After all, Pidge was right what he said. And most of the other paladins use my name."

"You're still a princess, with all due respect." Shiro told me, taking me aback with his persisting formality toward me.

"Anyways, you should go get some rest. I imagine you and Coran had a long day."

Hearing him say that made me realize the subtle fatigue I was feeling, and reminded me that Coran already retired for the evening; but not before pleading with me to get some rest by saying that the last of the Castle's rebooting could wait until tomorrow.

"Thank you again." I said, "for accepting my apology. And for reminding me to get some rest."

Shiro nodded as he escorted me to the door, "Of course, Princess."

"Allura." I corrected before remembering that he'll still refer to me as 'Princess' out of respect, "If you'd like."

"Have a good night, Pri– Allura."

"Oh, good night, Shiro." I said before walking down the corridor toward my room. I was honestly taken aback by how he corrected himself when bidding me 'good night'; it was the first time that Shiro had just said my name.