Someone might have mistaken her for a ghost. A lone, pale form in a soft pink nightgown, floating through the steel halls of the Castle of Lions. An apparition without footsteps, a spirit without awareness of its surroundings.

Since the day of the picnic, she had forgone meals, and it was starting to show. Her normally svelte frame was starting to turn gaunt with neglect and malnutrition, and her usual rosy complexion had faded to a dull, pasty white, save for the black and blue that looked out of place on her normally flawless skin. They had tried to get her to eat something earlier, but the stubborn Princess would have none of it. After all, what good does eating do if it is impossible to keep it down?

Since leaving the infirmary earlier that evening, Allura had been wandering the halls, unaware of the many curious glances and whispers of castle staff and security. No doubt that someone had called Coran or one of the Force to come get her, but for now, she was trying her best to stay out of their way. She knew that they would try to force her to go to bed, and too much was going through her mind tonight to sleep. She had thought of going down to the tomb to visit her father, but she quickly changed her mind. Surely he knew what had happened, and she just couldn’t bear the thought of facing him, having him know something so dreadful.

Suddenly, she heard the echo of many footsteps coming her way through the distant corridors. They were coming to escort her back to her room like some sort of child. Well, she would have none of it.

Allura picked up the length of her nightgown and tore off as fast as she possibly could in the opposite direction of where she had heard the approaching footsteps. She would hide in the place that only she and her mice friends knew about - below the floor of castle control. For some reason, she felt the need to get there before they found her. They intended to lock her up in her room like some sort of mental patient. It always seemed to Allura that a princess was in charge of her planet, but not her own life. It was ludicrous, and she grew more weary of it each passing day.

As she turned a corner, she stopped dead in her tracks. Impossible! The footsteps were in front of her now!

Allura took off down the opposite end of the hall, but she could still hear them. They were coming up on her faster than she could outrun them. She tried to pick up her pace, but she was growing weak and slowing. Her heart was pounding fast and hard in sheer terror, adrenaline being the only thing fueling her exhausted muscles.

Something inside her mind was screaming for her to run faster. Danger! Run! Her chest heaved with fright. She couldn’t let them get her!

Allura stopped at an intersection. Which way should she go? The echoes now seemed to be coming from all directions. Louder. Louder! LOUDER!

She ran down one of the corridors, desperately hoping that it was empty. They were now calling her name.

“Princess!” Their voices grew in volume with their increasing proximity.

She began to whimper under her haggard pants. And as she turned the last corner toward freedom, she saw them. She thought she could run right through the calvary, but it was not to be. Arms stronger than hers engulfed her.

“Princess?” Lance, heading up a handful of castle security, was almost toppled by the fleeing Princess as she turned the corner. “Slow down, Allura.”

She looked up into the familiar friendly eyes, but they held no meaning for her at that moment. All she knew was that she’d been captured.

She tried to struggle free, but his grip was relentless. The terror inside her finally let out a piercing screaming. “No!”

And then the struggle became fierce. She tried kicking and writhing against that which held her fast, and she almost managed to get away, but then…she heard them come up around her from all sides. They engulfed her like leaches. She could feel their collective hot breath on her bare shoulders.

She screamed louder this time. “No!!”

And then came the inevitable. She felt a familiar poke on her upper arm.

“Why?” She cried as the blackness surrounded her. “Why?”

She heard a voice in the distance. “Everything will be all right, Allura. We won’t let anything happen to you.”

A prisoner in her own home.

She knew by the scent of fresh Arusian daffodils that she was in her own room. A glance at the clock told her it was not yet two in the morning. There was no moon, and it was fiercely dark. Just the faint glow of the outside lights to prevent blindness.

She thought about crying, but instead, she decided to become angry. They weren’t going to get away with this. Although they may have intended well, they had made a grave error in their judgement. She would call a meeting before dawn and punish the responsible parties, even if they were her friends. She had very little patience these days, and they had crossed a fatal line with her the night before. Technically, she could charge them all with treason. In reality, she would simply vent her frustrations and make them forcefully aware of their lack of judgement. If there was confusion with who was in charge around here, she was going to clear it up.

She let out an exasperated sigh, and began mentally preparing her words for later that morning. That is, until she heard a noise.

In one, blackened corner of her chamber, she heard something. Not a typical “noise” per-say. More like the rustling of fabric when one is rising from a chair in a quiet room.

Instantly, she knew who it was, and her temper flared. “You can leave now, Lance. I don’t plan on escaping any time soon.”

Silence.

Rustling again.

“I said get out, Lance!”

It emerged from the shadows. Just an outline. A tall, black figure with only a faint light around it to indicate its presence.

“Lance?”

And then it spoke. “Do you have any idea how beautiful you are when you sleep?”

Allura froze. She knew instantly who this figure was who approached her bed, but she was not afraid, despite that she had good reason to be. Disbelief was more the emotion of the moment.

“It can’t be.”

He approached the edge of her bed, and they stared at one another for endless moments. She could see his eyes now - only his eyes - his face was still shrouded in the darkness of night. Without apprehension, she stared blatantly into them. He no longer seemed like the angry, violent man whom she had only encountered a day ago. Tonight, his eyes…his very presence beheld an emotion that she had never even seen in the old Keith. He seemed sad somehow…pleading…and desperate. He was in pain.

It must be a dream. She must be dreaming him here.

“I’m dreaming.”

“I hope you are,” the man replied. “Then this all would have been some sort of terrible nightmare.”

She wanted to hold him, but she quickly remembered what happened the last time she had that urge.

“What are you doing here?”

“I needed to see you…and apologize…maybe explain.”

Allura’s thoughts turned toward the silent alarm that was only inches away from her bed.

“I need to talk to you, Allura.”

She shifted under the covers in an attempt to position herself to hit the trigger button before he was able to stop her.

“And to give me another black eye?”

“I’m sorry,” he replied quietly in the dark. “I…I’m not myself lately.”

“We know,” she said blatantly. “You’re under the influence of that Tyrusian wine.”

He nodded. “Are you going to trigger the silent alarm?”

How easily she forgot. He knew every inch of this castle, even better than she did.

“Keith, if you know what’s happening to you, why don’t you let us help you? We have the antidote that can make you well.”

He let his gaze fall to the floor. “You don’t understand, Allura. There’s more going on than you realize. But I want you to know that I’m doing all this for you…for Arus.”

“For who?” She sat upright. “You’re doing this for who? For me? Well, I have news for you, Captain, but what you’re doing is killing me! Do you have any idea what this is doing to me? To all of us? Hunk hasn’t said a word in the past week. Pidge is talking to himself and sleeping in your bed every night. Lance and Sven are out of their minds with worry. And I’m…I’m…” She let the words trail off. There were none for what she was feeling.

He looked as if he was about to say something but changed his mind to say something else. “You don’t look well.”

She bit back the angry sobs that now threatened. “Well, I don’t get thrown into tables very often.”

He immediately took a step back into the darkness and disappeared.

“I’m sorry, Allura. Please. I’m so, so sorry.”

She now sat up fully in an effort to maintain her regal composure. “I know it’s not your fault, Keith. But you have to make things right now. Come back to us now. We can help you.”

And then he came out of the shadows and leaned in so close she could now see the blood-shot sclera that surrounded his dilated pupils. “But you don’t understand, my love. It is us who can help you. Arus can become prosperous and rich again. He’s offering that to you.”

Allura couldn’t help but laugh. “Who? Zarkon? I’ll forgive you for that remark, but only because you have no idea what in the hell you’re talking about right now.”

He knew that she would never truly understand it, but she would come to accept it. In time, she would realize that it was all for the best.

“Just a little diplomatic difference in opinion,” he said with a smile. “We’ll just have to work things out after the wedding.”

The words hung in the darkness while Allura gathered her composure. In her entire lifetime, she never, ever imagined that she would be saying this to the man who she cared for more than anything.

“I can’t marry you, Keith.”

Silence.

He nodded and stood up straight as his eyes searched the ceiling for something.

This might be her only chance. With all her might, she leaned over and hit the silent alarm with a forceful fist. Instinctively, she jumped out of bed and backed away.

Would he try to escape? Would he run after her? No. He simply stood his ground, his gaze heavy with a mixture of emotions.

“I deactivated the silent alarm.”

She wasn’t surprised. Perhaps because she knew that Keith was too smart to allow himself to be trapped when he didn’t want to be. Maybe she just didn’t care any more. Her emotions had burned themselves out, and she felt mentally void.

Her head shook in disbelief. “We were so close, Keith. So close.”

He knew what she meant. He knew, but he didn’t resign himself to the same sentiment. “Why does it have to be over?”

“If you can’t see it, Keith, then I can’t help you. But I want you to know that even though it might be over between us, that doesn’t mean that any of us are giving up on you. We’re still your friends. I am still your friend. Whether or not you like it, we’re going to stop at nothing to bring you back where you rightfully belong.”

“It’s too late for that now. Too much has happened.”

Allura took hold of her dressing table to support her weakening knees. “Is that why evil always stays evil? Because it can never live with the knowledge of its past?”

“Probably,” was the reply.

“Well I won’t accept that! I won’t! That is the sentiment of a coward!”

Allura could no longer stand. Her grip on the table gave way, and she melted to the floor. The sedative…the early hour…the stress…the malnutrition. She had nothing left to give her body, and it was rebelling.

He took a few steps toward her, but she put up a hand to stop him. “Stay where you are, Traitor!”

Somehow, that one word stung right through to the soft part of his heart. He never dreamed that word would be directed against him. Against him! And from her mouth, it was like a double-edged dagger, plunged deep into his soul, if he even had one anymore. Of all the pain he’d ever felt in his life, he never once felt agony like this. She still had that power over him, and somehow, through the haze and confusion of his mind, he knew that he still loved her. And he needed her more than ever. He needed her help.

He dropped to penitent knees and crawled across the floor to where she was propped up against the wall. As her face came into the light, he could see the tears. The sunken cheeks, now damp with sorrow, were the same cheeks that were once rosy with health and contentment. How he missed that sweet smiling face.

She watched him approach with silent resignation. He himself was like a drug. He was bad for her, but she couldn’t push him away. She needed him just as he needed her. She knew he needed her; she could see it in his eyes. He was begging for answers, just as she was begging to understand what was happening to him.

He stopped just short of her and reached out to touch her cheek, but he pulled back for fear of breaking her. She looked so frail in the faint light of the room. And then she surprised him; she took his outstretched hand and held it firmly to the side of her face.

For all the people that loved her in her life, no one, except maybe Nanny, had occasion to touch her. Maybe her royal status dictated some sort of ‘hands off’ policy when it came to physical affection. Probably. But still, she was human and needed it just like everyone else.

And here he was - the one human being who could reach to the deepest recesses of her soul, and he might be touching her for the last time. Who knew if things would ever be the way they were again. Once this was over and Keith returned to Arus, she knew that he would never stay. He might even leave his post with the Garrison. Not because he was a coward, but because of honor and guilt. She knew him that well. And so, here they were. This would be how it would end.

She opened her eyes to see him staring at her with a carefully concealed expression. “Allura? Help me, please. I’m in…so much pain.”

Her better judgement would have argued against it, but she reached out and rested her hand on his clenched jaw. His face was slightly rough from the five o’clock shadow that she had grown so fond of over the years.

“Will you…help me? I’m so…I…I need you.”

They remained locked in a visual embrace neither could break. Allura couldn’t believe that this was really happening. Everything in the past week had been so surreal, and this…this was like a dream. Her black knight on his knees, holding her. She, holding him in return. The dark serenity surrounding them. In all her twenty-one years, things had never felt so real, yet so unreal. Everything in her ran hot, all of her emotions burning brighter than they ever had. It was euphoric, sad, peaceful, and scary, all at once.

He still sat patiently, waiting for his answer.

“Of course I will help you. You belong here with us. With me.”

He nodded and an air of relief instantly came over his tensed facial muscles. Sliding closer, he increased his hold on her chin. His expression changing from humility to intent, and he lowered his gaze to hers. He whispered sweetly just as their lips finally met in desperate embrace.

She returned the gesture with a force equal to his, and their hungry mouths played together for so long, she could barely catch her breath. Unconsciously, she put a hand to his chest to find his heart beating with rapid need. Hers heaved in response to it, and she they began to drift into their own universe, far from the turbulent one that they knew now.

“Allura,” he whispered. “Please, I need you.” He ran a trembling finger up toward the hollow of her bare throat. “Make love to me tonight.”

How could she say no? Her heart ached for it; her body craved it. He knelt before her, pulsing with want, pleading for it with his eyes. Reason seemed foolish. Stupid, contrived, mortal reason.

She responded with a kiss.

And they danced in the darkness. Not as friends with a history; not as two people separated by circumstance. They were lovers, and that is all. Two beings, grabbing hold of the illusion of being one if only for a while. Neither with thoughts of consequence; neither with the will to find the meaning of it all. Tonight their bodies were their masters, and the concern of the mortal world, an unwanted intruder that lie outside of the bed in which they lay.