Keith awoke the next morning with an unrelenting, pulsing ache just adjacent his right eye. Groaning against the thought of having to get up, he put two hard fingers against his temple in an unsuccessful effort to block the pain. It would be a monumental effort to complete the morning run today, but he didn’t have any other choice. She would be expecting him. Keith stretched and put forth just enough energy to sit up and throw his legs over the side of the bed.

And suddenly, he was met by the overwhelming sensation that something seemed amiss.

As he looked around the room, his heart stopped. The room was bright, and through the open window, he heard the chirping melody of a handful of birds. He abruptly turned to glance at the clock near his bed - 11:00 am. He had slept in.

He jumped from bed and dressed faster than seemingly possible, trying desperately to figure as to how he could have managed to oversleep his duties. He awoke every morning at 5:00 am sharp, and had even before his days at the academy. He never set an alarm because he never needed to; his internal clock always woke him just before first light. Why was today different? And why hadn’t someone come to wake him for lion practice?

He began to panic when his thoughts turned to Allura. She had been outside…by herself!

Keith quickly made his way down the hall in search of answers. Nearing the recreation room, he heard familiar voices and quickened his pace.

Inside, Lance and Pidge were involved in a one-sided game of chess, very much in Pidge’s favor.

“I don’t care what you learned! You can’t just jump my Queen with your Knight and take it! What do you think this is, checkers?” Pidge’s voice indicated an obvious frustration with his reluctant pupil.

Lance, trying not to throw the board in his teacher’s face, studied his Queen intently, hoping to forge a safe move for her. He sat back and shook his head. “I just can’t get this, Pidge. Now, maybe if it involved a little more hands-on maneuvering like with the lions…”

His opponent sighed, “You know, Lance? For someone who graduated with honors in military strategy from the Academy, you certainly do stink at chess.”

Lance’s retort was cut off before it was even formed as Keith all but flew into the room, compose lacking and breathing heavily.

“Well, well, if it isn’t sleeping beauty,” the First Officer mused before turning his attention back to the game.

The Captain’s voice was broken, still catching on ragged breath. “What’s going on? Why didn’t someone wake me up?”

The sight of their dutiful, respected Captain with his guard down and his fly undone was almost too much for Pidge to take. “Nice hair, Skipper! Looks like you stuck your finger in a dynatherm socket.”

“I did try to wake you this morning, but you wouldn’t budge,” Lance offered. “You just started mumbling something about a village and some “friend” of yours. We thought maybe you needed the rest, so practice was conducted without you.”

Lance surveyed Keith for any impending lectures and continued, “You have looked awfully tired lately. Besides, it wasn’t my decision; it was a “royal order” that we let you sleep.” Lance gave him an obvious, cocky wink.

Keith finally started to relax. Maybe he needed a little more rest than usual, and from what his gut was telling him, he would need every bit of rest he could muster come soon enough.

“Where’s Allura?”

Pidge and Lance exchanged a brief, shared glance before going back to their non-existent chess match.

“I think she’s reading a book in her study,” Pidge offered as he began rearranging the pieces for a new game. “When I passed it, the door was open. Isn’t that strange, Lance? Allura never leaves her study door open. I wonder why she did today?”

Keith ignored the implication and turned to leave. He was almost out the door when he heard a voice call out from behind him, “Don’t forget to brush your hair first! And for God’s sake, zip your fly!”

Keith couldn’t help but chuckle. In the confusion, he had all but forgotten to properly dress himself. It was thankful then that he arrived back at his quarters without running into Nanny. Quickly undressing, he threw his clothing into a small pile on the floor and headed for the bathroom. His headache had finally begun to ease, and he was actually starting to feel good. Maybe it was the extra rest, maybe it was the thought of who he would be seeing in the near future.

Keith stepped into the shower and turned it on, letting the warm water wash the sleep off his rested body.

A friend? A village? He must have had a dream regarding that letter, but what exactly it was about, he couldn’t recall. His parents were there, and Allura, and that was all he could remember.

The rare lapse of relaxation he was feeling began to fade as the brevity of what he had received a mere twelve hours ago began to hit. With all of the confusion in sleeping in, he had conveniently filed it away along with all the other things he never wanted to think about again. But Keith was never one to ignore a situation, even one that he would have rather forgotten altogether.

He couldn’t decide what bothered him more; the letter he had received, or the one that Lotor had sent Allura. It sent chills up his spine in knowing that Lotor had been able to get that close to her.

Two letters in one day. They most certainly were from the same person. Only Lotor could be that cruel as to use his parents’ disappearance in an attempt to pick at his nerve. Well, it worked. But that information was classified, so Lotor couldn’t have known about his parents. Allura didn’t even know. Then who did?

Keith pondered the question as he dressed again for the day, making sure this time to secure the zipper of his flight suit. Should he say something about this whole thing to Lance? Should he go to the village and meet this “friend”? The dull ache next to his eye began to throb again.

The letter mentioned something about the Garrison lying about his parents’ disappearance. Impossible. Space Marshall Graham himself had talked openly about the case. The investigation was on-going, but the disappearance remained a mystery, a classic case of ‘Missing In Action.’ But still, a part of Keith had always wanted to know what happened exactly. He had lived the greater part of his life alone with that very question running over and over in his mind, and if only he knew them to be alive or dead, he could at least put the issue to rest and move on with his life, just as they would have wanted of him.

Keith made his way down the corridor toward the dining hall. He had just gotten up, but it was already lunchtime. With all that had happened in the last day and sleeping in, he couldn’t help but feel slightly out of sorts, but he would have to try his best to act, and think normally. The Voltron Captain could not afford even the slightest distraction.

He entered the hall, and ignoring the curious glances coming at him from all sides of the table, he took his usual seat next to its head.

“Good Morning, Keith,” the Princess offered in an attempt to dissolve the discomfort. “Are you well-rested?”

“Yes, thank you, Princess,” he responded, placing his napkin on his lap, avoided her directly.

In an attempt to steer the conversation in a new direction, he regarded his team, “So, I can assume lion practice went well this morning?”

Lance glanced up from his half-eaten bowl of soup, “It went very well. The princess performed most admirably in your Black Lion.”

Keith shifted his gaze from Lance to Allura, then back again.

Allura all but jumped out of her seat, shaking her head, “He’s kidding! Lance?! Quit trying to get me in trouble!”

Keith smiled and went about the business of eating his lunch. Actually, he wouldn’t have minded if Princess had taken the Black Lion. If something ever were to happen to him, someone would have to take over. That is, if the lion hadn’t been destroyed along with him.

The remainder of the meal was spent in silence, save for the conversation that Allura was having with her mice. Everyone seemed lost in his or her own thoughts, which was unfortunate for Keith. No matter how much he tried to push the letter to the back of his mind, he kept thinking about it. Maybe the only way to answer his questions was to see just what this “friend” knew about his parents’ disappearance. Perhaps it would give him the closure he always wanted. But then again, it could be a trap. This was a losing situation every which way he looked at it. He couldn’t go, but he couldn’t NOT go, and he couldn’t tell anyone either, at least he didn’t want to tell anyone. For the first time in his life, he had no idea what to do.

Allura couldn’t help but notice that Keith had been picking at his food since the beginning of the meal, but she knew better than to ask him if something was wrong in front of the others. Once in a while and if they were alone, she could get him to open up a little, but in front of the others, he barely talked at all unless it had to do with work. Allura thought that it might have to do with Doom not having attacked in so long, but it probably had more to do with Lotor and what happened yesterday.

Allura watched him out the corner of her eye. He looked tense, a sight that made her heart grow weary with concern. Keith always looked as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Well, he nearly did, but even SHE managed to remain somewhat relaxed, despite the constant threat of attack. But for some reason, he remained serious and sullen from day to day, and lately, it had gotten worse. Maybe later she would try to talk to him.

“Keith?”

He looked up from his barely eaten bowl of soup. “Yes, Princess?”

“I have some things that I need to discuss with you sometime tonight, just some security issues. Do you have some time?”

Keith hesitated, then answered. “Sure Princess, but can we meet later on, maybe ten or so? I have an appointment with someone else after dinner.”

“You did what?!” Zarkon, who had been sitting on his throne, was suddenly to his feet, eye blazing with fury.

Lotor immediately regretted he had even mentioned his trip to Arus. Why was his father so upset anyway? Lotor would have thought that he would have found at least some amusement in the gift he had given Allura. After all, he had been able to sneak past castle defenses and infiltrate the grounds with pathetic ease. But when his father became like this, Lotor knew better than to challenge him…at least for now. He fell to one knee and pleaded. “Father, it was a simple joke. Surely you can see the humor.”

Zarkon bit his lower lip, and a small stream of blood ran from it and down his scaly chin. It was nothing new for him to be angry with Lotor, but anyone in the room could see that it was something more today. But then suddenly, Zarkon sat back down and closed his eyes.

He spoke slowly. “Lotor, if you have managed to ruin my plan, I will kill you. If your uncontrollable sex-drive interferes with your better judgement ever again, I will kill you. And if you’re still here when I open my eyes, I will kill you. You have ten seconds.”

There was only a brief pause before the King heard footsteps. If anything, Lotor’s only redeeming quality was that he was a coward. Zarkon had long realized that Lotor had out-lived his usefulness. The miserable offspring had had his many chances, and now, he was nothing but a nuisance and a hazard. Zarkon smiled and opened his eyes. Soon, he would be rid of him…for good. Zarkon turned to his witch who had watched the exchange in silence.

Haggar was used to these heated exchanges between so-called father and son, but it irritated her none the less. Sometimes, she wished one of them would just succeed in destroying the other. It would save her having to hear their petty squabbling every day.

“Sire, surely he will not come. He’s too smart.”

Zarkon stood and began descending the mammoth steps of an overly-sized staircase. Only after a long while did he respond. “If there is one thing I know about Commander Keith, it is that he fears nothing and no one. He will be there.”

Just then, Haggar thought she heard laughing, but she looked over to see that his stoic expression had not changed in the slightest. It must have been her imagination.