Allura always resented having to make such grand entrances at formal events, but Coran had insisted that it was a royal tradition that even the stubborn princess could never change. To him, it may have been royal protocol, but to her, it was a silly charade that made her self conscious. She never minded appearing or speaking in front of her people, but there was something about having to contend with other planetary leaders that made her feel as if she were on display in her underwear. Maybe she felt as if they were judging her based on what Voltron had, or had not been able to do for their planet during the war. There were many instances when Voltron had been needed in two places at once, and a choice had to be made. Other times, the distance to travel was just too far to leave Arus unprotected (that had been one of Zarkon’s favorite tactics.) Those days were long past, but wounds were still in the process of healing, and unfortunately, it was going to take some time for true peace to settle across the galaxy.

These were her usual concerns about events such as this, but tonight was different. She had other, more personal issues, on her mind. Allura smoothed the delicate black fabric of her dress with her free hand and took a deep breath.

“You ready?”

As they stood at the entrance of the platform overlooking the great ballroom, she wasn’t so sure she was ready.

She tried her best to smile and wave as the large, appreciative crowd cheered. The ovation was long and seemingly genuine, but Allura barely noticed. She was scanning the crowd for something, or rather, someone. But before she could get a good look, she found herself being led down the large, curved staircase leading to the main floor. For some reason, Allura always had a fear of tripping down this particular staircase, and so she held onto her escort just a little tighter.

Lance, while being careful to help the Princess, was still thinking about the brief exchange he’d had with her just a minute ago and was starting to worry a little about actually agreeing to help with this whole plan of hers. It was one thing for him to tease Keith on a certain level, but it was an entirely different situation to make Keith think that he was trying to mess with Allura. Hadn’t that been what he’d agreed to? To help Allura make Keith jealous? To make matters worse, he had a degree of feelings for Allura, and Keith knew it.

Lance was beginning to think that this was a bad idea, but it was already too late. After all, he had agreed to help. Besides, if Keith wasn’t man enough to step up to the plate, maybe he didn’t deserve her. Allura needed someone who could let her know that she was appreciated, and maybe he was just the guy for the job. Feeling a bit guilty, he tried to think about something else but was distracted by the soft, floral perfume coming from the woman next to him.

Allura, glad to have survived the staircase, finally had a chance to inspect the ballroom. Almost immediately, she noticed that the entire room, ceiling to floor, had been decorated for the upcoming holiday season. Red, green, and gold decorations sparkled in the soft chandelier light of the ballroom, creating a dance of light that played around the room and the people in it; poinsettias lined every stairwell, every table top; mistletoe hung from the ceiling in merry, festive bunches; hundreds of Nanny’s decorated cookies were set up on every table.

It was so like her governess to plan something so uniquely wonderful, and of course, Nanny knew just how much Allura loved the holidays. If it had been any other occasion, she could have succumbed to the joy and celebration that seemed to permeate throughout, but her heart kept reminding her of what was to happen the very next morning. She had tried desperately not to think of her first Christmas in three years without her family, but the familiar, uneasy feeling had found its way back into the pit of her stomach. Allura’s heavy heart reminded her to look around the room. In such a large crowd, it was difficult to be inconspicuous. She would have to be patient and look discretely.

Lance tried not to notice Allura’s searching eyes, took her hand, and smiled. “A lady, lovely as yourself, shouldn’t build up dust on the sidelines. Allura, would you care to dance?” he asked grandly, bowing in accordance with proper behavior.

Allura appreciated the opportunity to get her mind off of her thoughts, and she really did feel like dancing. Besides, what better time to get her plan underway than the present. “I’d love to, Lieutenant.” Heading for the dance floor, she was still very much attached to his arm.

Allura couldn’t help but think that she was acting like a silly schoolgirl. As of late, she’d prided herself on the idea that she’d grown into a mature adult, yet only an hour ago, she’d been scheming and giggling like some teenager with a crush. For a moment, she almost found herself resenting Keith for it having come to this. Maybe Allura had never been in love before, but she could imagine that it was supposed to be…different.

She’d always thought that if you loved someone, really and truly loved someone, you would yell it aloud, from some high mountain somewhere, so the entire world could her you! It was supposed to be hearts racing and music playing in your head. It wasn’t meant to be some sort of game. And it wasn’t supposed to take so long.

Allura almost couldn’t bear her next thought, ‘Maybe it is a game…and I’m the only one playing.’

She had never really considered the notion that perhaps Keith didn’t feel the same for her as she did for him. She’d always known that he held her in high regard, but maybe that was all it amounted to, a nice, respectful friendship. That would make sense, seeing as the war was over, and nothing between them had changed. And they were leaving tomorrow, and he still hadn’t made a move. Her heavy heart could take no more, and she fought back the tears that filled her eyes. It was hopeless. She was destined to lose everyone she’d ever loved. With that thought, she relaxed into the comfortable arms of her escort, and her wandering eyes stopped searching the crowd.

Allura’s abrupt change in disposition didn’t go unnoticed by her dance partner, who was trying to figure out why she had suddenly become so quiet. Lance could only guess at where her thoughts were. Was she upset about Keith? Was she thinking about tomorrow? Did he accidentally step on her toes?

Lance didn’t consider himself much a master of words, but he had to do something about the drastic shift in mood. He couldn’t just let her wallow in whatever it was that was bothering her. The night was too short, as was their time left together. With the one hand he had wrapped around her waist, Lance slowly lifted her chin to meet his gaze and gently wiped away the single tear that had fallen down her cheek. At first, she was startled by the gesture, pulling away a bit, but after a moment, she relaxed, and they continued to dance. Soon, she fell into the strong embrace of her dance partner and began humming along to the music that filled her head.

As Keith made his way toward the ballroom, his inner voice began cursing Coran for being asked to do this favor. The Chief Minister had requested that Keith meet Queen Merla’s ship at the landing platform and escort her from there to the ball. It would be a visible show of Arus’ support for the formerly evil Queen and her revised “persona” if the Commander of the Voltron Force accompany her and her small entourage through the door, just moment enough to make an impression on the other guests. “Not a date,” Coran had said. Not a date was right. But it wasn’t that Keith disliked Merla. In fact, now that she was playing on the right side of the tracks, he was beginning to get along with her quite well. His only reservation was that he missed the opportunity to ask Allura to walk in with him.

On occasions such as this, it was always assumed that Coran was the Princess’ escort. Keith thought that tonight’s festivities would have been a good opportunity to change that tradition. Unfortunately, his work never seemed to be done and duty called, yet again.

Keith tried not to seem hurried, while he made small talk with Merla about the trip and the usual political rhetoric. He was, however, careful to stay clear of the topic of Lotor. He wasn’t quite sure how she was feeling about the events that brought about his defeat. He knew that Merla loved Lotor, although he really couldn’t see why she would bother. But love was tricky subject, and who was he to pass judgement.

As the two entered the main doorway, Keith noticed that the crowd was larger than usual. He glanced around the room, but it would take more than a quick once-over to find her, if she had even arrived yet. Coran had always made her enter late, for what reasons, Keith never could figure. Across the room, he spotted Lance, who was dancing with what looked to be a pretty blond thing in a black dress.

For an eternal quarter of an hour, Keith had been walking around with Merla, introducing her to some of his better acquaintances, when Coran came over to relieve him from duty. Coran had a feeling that Keith had better things to do this evening than to baby-sit.

Being as subtle as possible, Coran bowed politely to the exotic queen. “Commander Keith, if you wouldn’t mind, there are some people anxious to meet Her Majesty.”

Keith thought it best to play along. “No, Coran, I don’t mind, although you do realize that you’re stealing my date.” He bowed slightly and smiled, trying to be as much of a gentleman as he could be to another woman. Coran and Merla had barely turned to walk away, as Keith set out in his own direction.

Through the crowd, he spotted Pidge and Hunk sitting near the bar, observing the large crowd. Keith knew exactly what they were doing there, too. Pidge and Hunk would always sit next to the bar so that Pidge could drink without getting caught and so they could sit back and discretely make fun of people. Keith never really thought this to be a very nice thing to do, but it was funny just to sit and listen to some of their observations.

“I can’t believe that you guys are sitting in the corner. Tonight of all nights!”

“We’re just taking in the atmosphere,” Hunk replied without taking his eyes off the crowd.

“And making fun of people?” Keith asked.

Hunk paused, “Yeah, and making fun of people.”

Pidge was looking at the crowd too, but he was taking note of something else entirely. He had just been wondering why it was, that whenever Keith walked into a room, people always seemed to sit up and take notice…especially the women. He wasn’t sure exactly what it was about Keith that made him so appealing to other people. It may have been that he was the Captain, and the title demanded attention. That made sense, but it didn’t explain why the same thing had always happened at the academy, and everywhere else they went, for that matter. Keith was just one of those people who seemed to garner attention without working for it. For example, Keith had only been sitting with them for a couple minutes now, and already, about a dozen people had walked by just to say ‘hi.’

Pidge actually thought it might be a good thing that Keith was distracted, so he wouldn’t see what was transpiring on the dance floor. Hunk saw it too, and gave Pidge an expression of half shock, half worry.

“So,” Keith started, picking up one of the glasses of champagne from the many that were set on the bar, “has Allura come downstairs yet?”

Neither of them wanted to answer that one. “Yeah, she’s here.”

“Well, that’s a good start,” Keith began to scope the room. “Have you guys seen her anywhere in this mess?”

Pidge didn’t really want to do it, but he would see it sooner or later. “I think she’s on the dance floor.”

Keith’s gaze pierced the crowd and came to rest on…his worst nightmare. Was that Allura…and Lance? Why were they so close to each other? And what was she wearing? What was he…doing?!

Keith was off faster than Hunk could catch him.

Pidge exchanged a mutual look of concern with Hunk. “This can’t end well. Think we should stop him?”

Hunk thought about that for a second. “I have a better idea. Let’s order another round and watch what happens.”

Keith had a total of ten or so seconds to the ballroom floor to compose himself enough not to fly completely off the handle. ‘Don’t jump to any conclusions, Keith. You don’t know the whole story. Besides, he has a right to dance with her. But he didn’t have a right to touch her like that! What was he touching her face for?’ All Keith knew was that she’d better have some dirt on her face, or Lance would be answering a lot of questions. Keith knew exactly how his first officer felt about Allura, but it had never been an issue. It was one of those unexplained loyalty-friendship things that Lance had done nothing to pursue Allura, knowing that his friend wanted her more. Keith was never exactly sure how it came about that way, but he wish he knew what had happened to suddenly change all that. Maybe Lance was just being his usual flirtatious self, but he never flirted with Allura, not really.

Lance had slipped his hand back around Allura’s waist and was holding her so close now, there existed almost no visible space between them. Through the thick, heavy material of his jacket, he could feel her warmth, and although he had held many women in his lifetime, he’d never known another to be this soft, yet be so strong. He tried hard to memorize the sensation. It was one of those moments that you don’t want to end, but he could plainly see that it was about to.

Almost reflexively, Lance stepped back and watched tentatively as his Captain made way through the crowd. There was no missing Keith’s intended look of contempt for him as they locked measured glares. He quickly concluded that no excuse was going to get him out of the situation cleanly, deciding that the only thing to do was to stand his ground. Besides, what had he really done wrong other than show Allura the affection that Keith was obviously too busy to give her. Allura didn’t belong to Keith; she wasn’t his property.

At the very last second, Keith’s expression exchanged for one of a forced smile. “Hi, guys!”

Allura jumped when she heard his voice, almost as if a part of her knew she was doing something wrong.

“Captain,” Lance acknowledged flatly, careful to show his annoyance at Keith’s unwanted presence.

Luckily, Allura was quick to break into the thick tension that was forming. But unlike Lance, she wasn’t apologetic for her position in the least. “Hey, Keith. Merla powdering her nose or something?”

Keith had been hoping that she would see them, that he wouldn’t have to explain himself, despite that he really hadn’t done anything wrong. After all, Coran had asked him to take her. But that fact would undoubtedly be lost on Allura. All she would see is a Captain who would rather follow any order than take his Princess to their last ball.

Keith tried hard to ignore the grin on Lance’s face, for fear that his temper might flame even hotter. Suddenly, he had a brilliant idea. “Lieutenant? Would you mind if I cut in?”

If it had been any other place, or any other time, Lance would have wanted to wipe the floor with his Captain’s face. Fortunately for Keith, Lance had too much respect for Allura to cause a problem in front of everyone. Therefore, he did the only thing he could. He stepped back, slowly bowed to the Princess, and gestured for Keith to take his place. As Lance turned to leave, he made sure that Allura could hear him, and whispered to his Captain, “Here you go, Keith. I kept her warm for you.”

Keith would have punched out any other man who had said those words. But he would have to deal with that problem later. Keith tried to relax and bowed to Allura before taking her into his arms.

Allura couldn’t help but notice the definite change from one partner to the next. Keith was a bit bigger, a bit taller than Lance, but it wasn’t the body size that Allura noticed first - it was the way each of them held her. Lance held her to him with a noticeably softer touch, although closer. Keith held her a little further away, but with a much stronger, almost forceful, grip. Lance felt nice to be with, but he had been gone not even a minute before Allura was made to forget the everything but the sensation that now surrounded her.

They danced without speaking, but their eyes had been locked in an unwavering stare for several minutes. Keith broke the silence first. “Allura, about Merla, Coran asked me to…”

“Don’t worry. I figured as much.”

There was another brief, uncomfortable pause.

“Keith, I have to ask you something. What was that little exchange with Lance I was just witness to? Are you guys fighting or something?” Allura hadn’t really picked up on the sincerity of Lance’s recent behavior and just couldn’t figure out how the situation had become hostile so suddenly. Had she succeeded already in making Keith jealous? Not once did she think that her and Romelle’s little plan would work that fast, or that well.

“Princess, everything is fine.”

Fortunately, Keith was saved from a further explanation by a break in the music. He thought it a good time to distract her with something else and led her from the dance floor, all the while ignoring Lance’s cold stare from across the room.

“Princess, can I buy you a drink?” Keith joked, as he plucked two full champagne glasses from a waiter’s serving tray.

She tried to return his humorous tone. “Why, that would be lovely.” She took the glass from his hand (that which wasn’t holding onto hers.) “What shall we toast to?”

Keith thought about it for a second and raised his glass, “To last chances…and world peace.”

She decided that both were worthy toasts, and drank down her entire glass.

Keith watched in amusement but didn’t think to comment on it. He simply replaced the empty glass with a full one and led her in the direction he’d last seen Sven and Romelle.