"How many diplomats are we meeting with today Coran?" Allura asks as they walk down the hall of the castle to the dining hall where the leaders of some planets were waiting to discuss possibly joining the coalition.

"Only three today. But tomorrow you are meeting with ten." Coran says and Allura's eyes widened.

"Ten!" She exclaims. "Coran that's far too many! I-I don't think I can handle-"

"Yes you can." Coran says. "I have faith in you." He opens up the doors and the meeting with the three that were there today begins.

Keith was exhausted when he returned from the blades. The frequency of the missions had been slowing down lately so they let him go back to Voltron. As if he didn't already have enough stress with being the leader of Voltron, now he was trying to balance that with his Marmora training! He thought things would be easier with Shiro back but...now it seemed like it only made things worse. He felt like he was being pulled apart by two different forces. As he took off his jacket and collapsed on the bed in his room he let out a loud sigh of relief and closed his eyes, his bangs covering them a bit and tickling his forehead.

He relished in these peaceful moments. It was moments like these where he didn't have to think too much. There wasn't anything to be scared about, no need to worry. A few ticks when the future could be forgotten, all of the uncertainty and fear gone. Keith couldn't remember a time when he felt like this. Then suddenly he started to. He thought about his past and remembered how he used to have moments like these when he rode around the desert on his old bike. His bike...He hadn't thought about it in awhile. He was upset at first after he joined Voltron and realized he had left his bike on Earth and might not see it for some time. He had worked so hard to build that thing and now he would probably never get to use it again! But then he remembered something...He had another bike on the castle. The lions came with them. Red was the fastest lion so he obviously assumed that bike would be the fastest but he hadn't gotten a chance to test out Black's yet... He smiled and got up and made his way down to the hangar.

Allura groaned and buried her face in her hands. She had written out notes and was rehearsing responses and questions to ask these diplomats but she just couldn't seem to wrap her head around how to address ten people in a diplomatic manner all at once!

"What has Coran done to me?" She asks the mice who were giving her looks of concern. "I appreciate his support and confidence in me, it greatly helps me handle tasks such as these but I fear that this time he's given me more than I can handle." She sighs.

The mice climb onto her lap and onto her shoulders, trying to comfort her. She smiles, grateful for their efforts. Suddenly her ears perk up. Someone was walking down the hall stealthily. The mice listened too and one of them squeaked excitedly.

"You hear it too?" Allura asks the mouse and he jumps off her lap and runs over to a vent and crawls in it. He comes back and squeaks on the ground and bounces excitedly.

"Who is it? Has someone snuck on board?" She asks in a concerned tone. The mouse shakes his head no. "Is it one of the paladins? What would they be doing sneaking about? It's after curfew. They should be getting ready for bed." The mouse nods yes. "It is one of them! Who is it?"

The mouse holds his tail and makes it stiff and jabs and swings it like a sword. Then he fluffs up the hair on top of his head and makes and frowning face and growls.

"Keith?" Allura asks and the mouse nods.

She giggles from the mouse's imitation of the paladin. Her heart warmed at the mention of him. She had missed him lately. When he was on the team they hadn't been particularly close but...ever since they had that adventure when they left in the escape pod together she had started to feel something inside of her draw her to him. And whenever he left to train her spirits were dampened by his absence. She wasn't sure what it was, but her father always taught her to follow her heart. So perhaps she should try that tonight.

"Perhaps I should see what he's up to." She declares to the mice. "It is past curfew after all. He wouldn't be sneaking about if it wasn't for something important." And with that she got up and left her room to follow Keith.

With a grunt Keith pulled the hover-bike out of the black lion. He let out a low whistle and ran his hand over the seat. This alien technology was truly incredible. He tentatively gripped the handle of the bike and then swung his leg over the side. He felt a warmth spread through his chest. He missed this.

"Going for a ride?" He jumps and falls right off the bike when he hears Allura ask him that question.

The mice crowded around his head and crawled on his chest, checking for injuries. He gently brushed them off and stood up to stand in front of Allura.

"Yeah. I mean we've landed the castle on a planet. It's been awhile since I could just go outside for some fresh air and I finally have a break from the blades... I figured I should try to go for a ride. Just to relax you know." He explains. She smiles.

"That sounds lovely. You have been so busy lately. You deserve to have some time to relax. I only fear that Coran will bring his wrath upon you for sneaking out past curfew." Allura says and the two paladins giggle.

"I've faced worse wrath from my teachers at the Garrison. I think I can handle whatever Coran decides to throw at me." Keith says and sits on his bike. "What about you?" She looks confused.

"Me? I'm not sure what you're asking?" She asks.

"Well you decided to follow me out here." Keith says. "So technically you're sneaking out too now."

The princess's cheeks flushed. She had been too focused on what Keith could be up to. She hadn't even considered the possibility of possibly getting herself in trouble as well.

"Oh my! I should get back to my room-" She says and turns to leave. But something stops her. A tug at her heart. "Or..." Keith perked up and met her gaze as she turned to him. "I could come with you?" She suggests.

The mice squeak in surprise and Keith's eyebrows raise and his cheeks flush.

"You want to come with me?" He asks.

"Yes." She says confidently. "I have been rather stressed lately and I have never gone on a ride on one of these simply for fun." She comes over to stand in front of the bike, looking down at him sitting on it. "I'm rather curious about the experience, and if I'm bound to face Coran's wrath anyway it might as well be for something fun...Would you mind if I tagged along?" She asks.

Her heart was pounding. But that didn't shock her. What shocked her more was the fact that she heard Keith's heart pounding as well. Then he smiled.

"Hop on princess." He says and gestures for her to get on behind him.

The mice squeak in excitement amongst themselves as they watch Allura mount the bike behind Keith.

"What should I hold onto?" She asks.

"Well this thing doesn't have a second set of handlebars so I think you'll just have to hold onto my waist to keep you stable." Keith explains.

"Okay. I can do that." Allura says and blushes as she wraps her hands around Keith's waist.

She blushed from how firm it was, and she felt her face heat up. She also found the warmth of his body very inviting. Little did she know she was making the paladin flush as red as his former lion from her proximity to him.

"Alright now hold on tight!" He says and they take off out of the castle and into the wilderness of the planet, leaving the mice behind.

The motor of the bike purred as Keith raced them through the woods. His adrenaline was pumping from the thrill of speeding out of the woods and onto a beach, kicking up sand behind him as he effortlessly steered the bike across the sand. He was happy. He felt at home. Until he felt himself nearly choke as a strong arm wrapped around his neck and waist and Kallura scream.

"Keith slow down! You're going too fast through the woods we're going to crash!" She wails. Her face was buried in his shoulder, she couldn't see that they had left the woods.

"We're not in the woods anymore!" Keith chokes. "Please loosen your grip you're choking me!"

She immediately loosens her grip and rewraps her arms around his waist.

"Oh! My apologies..." She says and blushes.

Then she realizes where they are and gasps.

"Oh my..." She says as she looks around.

It was beautiful. A pale moon shone brightly on the shore, and the stars glowed so brightly she could see them sparkling on the sea. She took a moment to calm her rapidly beating heart and relish in the feeling of the sea breeze blowing on her face and through her hair.

"Oh Keith it's beautiful out here." She says and rests her chin on his shoulder. "It's absolutely breathtaking." She sighs in awe.

"Yeah it is pretty amazing." Keith agrees and looks around.

"Go faster!" Allura begs and Keith smirks and the motor roars and they speed forward even more and the princess squeals in delight.

"You like this?" Keith yells back.

"I love it! I feel so free!" She yells and hangs onto him tighter. "How far do you think this beach goes?" Allura asks.

"I don't know. It could go on for the entire planet." Keith proposes. "But we'd probably run out of power on this bike before then...Wait a minute..." He pales when he feels the bike start to slow down and Allura looks confused.

"Keith...why are we slowing down?" She asks.

"Probably because we're out of power..." Keith says and the bike comes to a stop.

"Is this because you pushed the bike at full speed for this entire ride?" Allura asks.

"Oops." Keith says and attempts to give her an apologetic smile.

Allura wanted to be mad at him. But she was a bit thrown off by how he was trying to make her smile. With how stressed he was lately she had rarely seen his lovely smile. She doubted he smiled at all when he was with the blades. He dismounts the bike and goes around to the back of it. She swivels around on it to watch him. He opens up the back and inspects it.

"Can you come read some of this stuff to me?" He asks her.

She gets off of the bike and shivers as a breeze blows by. She was only in her thin nightgown, and without Keith's warmth and the warmth of the bike under her she was left to the mercy of the cold ocean breeze. She goes over to Keith and looks under the bike to read the labels on the machinery.

"It looks like there's an ability to recharge the battery." Allura notices.

"Sweet." Keith says and takes off his jacket. Allura blushes as he places it on her shoulders.

"Why did you give me your jacket?" She asks and gently tugs the opposite ends to the center of her chest so it fit more snuggly on her shoulders.

"You seemed cold." Keith says and studies the machinery. "Besides it's bad to wear long sleeves when working with machinery. Easy to get your arm caught in stuff." He says. "Can you read out the labels to me and I'll set up the bike to recharge?"

"Of course." Allura says. "You know how to fix this?"

"Yeah. I work with bikes a lot. I made my own back on Earth actually out of a bunch of scrap metal I found in a junkyard." Keith explains.

"Oh my..." Allura says and smiles. "That's incredible! I'll have to tell Coran to find you some material for you to make another one that can go as fast as you like without the battery burning out..." Keith laughed.

She reads out the labels to him and Keith worked his magic on the bike to set up the battery charger. Allura was impressed with how quickly he was able to set it up.

"All set." Keith says and closes the hood and wipes his greasy hands together. "It'll light up when it's done charging." He explains.

"How long will that take?" Allura asks.

"I'm not sure." Keith says and runs his hand through his hair. "Could take awhile."

"I suppose we should get comfy then." Allura says and gracefully sits down beside the bike, her back resting against it and she snuggles into the warmth of Keith's jacket.

Some time passes and she notices Keith is not going to sit near her. He's just leaning against the other side of the bike looking out over the ocean. The princess was disappointed to say the least. She was hoping that being stranded out here would at least give her and Keith a chance to talk. But yet he still seemed to be avoiding her. Why?

"Keith..." She calls softly and he turns to her. "Why don't you sit down with me?"

"I thought you might be mad at me." He says.

"Mad at you?" She almost laughs. "For what? You haven't done anything wrong."

"Yes I have." Keith says. "I shouldn't have been going full speed on the bike and burnt out the battery. It's my fault we're stranded out here. And I know you guys have been annoyed that I've been switching back and forth between you and the blades. I've been holding you all back from forming Voltron. All of you are probably pissed at me."

"Keith come over here." Allura demands.

Keith sensed the authority in her voice and instantly he came over to her and sits on his knees in front of her, obediently. He may be the leader of Voltron, but in his mind she was definitely higher ranked than him. And that meant he was way out of her league. He bowed his head in shame. She seemed upset with him. He braced himself for the rejection that was to come. She took his hands instead and it took everything in him not to cry right there. When he looked up at her and saw her smile at him he didn't know what to think. He tried to pull his greasy hands back. They were dirty, filthy, and she was a princess, too pure to be tainted by him.

"No one hates you Keith." Allura says and gives his hands a gentle squeeze to keep his hands in place. "Everyone on this team cares about you and wants to see you do well with the blades and as a leader. It's just been hard for us to be able to deal with your absence is all..."

"You miss me?" He asks, a slight crack in his voice.

"Yes." Allura says. "Terribly. Voltron is nothing without you."

"Once Shiro regains his bond with-"

"It's not because we don't have a black lion when you're gone Keith." Allura tells him. "It's because we don't have you. Paladin or not you are a vital part of this team and when you're not here and out on those dangerous missions without us there to help you..." She starts to cry. "And the castle feels so empty without you and I can just hear everyone's hearts drop when you leave and-" He cut her off by hugging her tight. She sobbed softly and hugged him back, burying her face in his shoulder.

Keith felt incredibly guilty. Because of him Allura was crying.

"I know it's hard." She says, regaining some of her composure but staying in his arms. "And I will support you with whatever you decide to do. I'm facing my own struggles too with this meeting Coran set up for me tomorrow and I'm not even sure if I can talk to ten diplomats and-"

"Allura." Keith said firmly. Now he was the authoritative one. "You are capable of doing this. You are able to persuade the paladins to fight, to inspire them to never give up. You can do anything. And right now the coalition needs you to persuade a lot of planets to join in our fight. You have the power to move the hearts of people."

"I wouldn't say that I can change hearts-" Allura starts.

"You changed mine." Keith says and gently brings her hand up to cover his left pec, over where his heart was. She spread her fingers out over his chest on the material of his shirt. "Before I met you, Shiro was the only other person who could get through to me. Stop my self-loathing. But then I thought he was dead, and that I should be alone forever. And then he came back, and I met up with Lance, Pidge and Hunk and then we found you and Coran. And suddenly my walls started to come down. And princess, you've broken down the most. I miss all of you when I leave. But I miss you the most. In some way or another you always come back to my mind. And I'm scared of what that means, because I know that I don't deserve to even be in your presence much less deserving of even a piece of your heart-"

His eyes went wide when he felt Allura press her lips to his. She pulled back and he stared at her.

"You have it." She tells him. "You've had it for awhile now. Never say you are undeserving of me Keith Kogane you are more deserving than anyone I've ever met. You have grown so much since we met. You've gotten stronger. And along the way I think I may be falling for you too-"

Keith lunged forward and kissed her again, hungrier this time. He had to be sure what he was hearing was real. That she was real, that this wasn't all some dream and he would wake up in his room on the castle, with the blades or even worse back on Earth. Eventually he let go to breathe and Allura rested her head on his chest.

"Don't ever think you're worthless. Because to me you are worth so much more than you could ever possibly imagine." Allura says.

"Thank you Allura." Keith says and places a kiss to the top of her head.

The bike whirred to life.

"Looks like we can go back to the castle now." Keith says.

"No." Allura says and holds him tighter. "I don't want to go back. Because once we go back you'll have to go back to the blades and I'll have to reassume my responsibilities as a princess and a paladin. I just want to stay here with you a bit longer. Here, where we're both just people with no responsibilities. I want to be that for a few more ticks. Please."

"As you wish." Keith says and snuggles her close and they both just rest there under the moonlight listening to the waves crashing against the sand.

When they returned to the castle Allura was fast asleep. Keith didn't want to wake her The mice squeaked around him excitedly as he carried the princess bridal style back to her room. He gently laid her down on the bed and tucked her in. He watched her peaceful sleeping face and gently stole another kiss from her lips. "Goodnight princess. Knock 'em dead tomorrow." He says before leaving the room and coming face to face with Coran.

"Now just what do you think you were doing in the princess's room past curfew young man!?" Coran exclaims at the paladin and he only smirks and shakes his head.