'It's not supposed to end like this.'

The thought echoes through Allura's head as she stares in horror at the scene before her, at the pieces of lion drifting through the battle even as the remaining three try desperately to fend off Lotar's ships, who have orders to destroy them, and to hell with whether the lions survive or not.

'It's not supposed to end like this, we were supposed to-'

"Hey, Princess."

The communication channel from the Blue lion blinks on and Lance's tired, battered face comes into view. He gives her a painful smile.

"So, looks like we've finally hit the conditions where you'll go on a date with me, right?"

The look he's going for is cheeky, but it's a far cry from his familiar grin, and it falls flat as he coughs, then grows serious.

"Allura? I- I have an idea. I don't know if it'll work, but… I think it might be all we've got. And-"

"You're right," she interrupts, "We're out of options."

"Thought so, I just…" he hesitates, gulps, gives her a smile more pain than joy, "If I don't see you again… it's been a privilege."

And he reaches down, lifts his mask and slips it on in a gesture that has become oddly familiar by this time, the white face a stark contrast to the bleak universe around them. Lance takes a deep breath, and when he speaks again, there is a weight to his voice, like several thousand years of history.

"Wouldn't it be funny," he says to her, words rippling through reality, "If you had dreamed this whole thing…?"

OoOoOoOoO

Allura wakes with a gasp, disoriented and shaking in someone's arms, a dark face and a familiar smile looking down at her.

"Well hello there. Sleep well? You took quite a bump during training."

Her eyes widen, then water as she stares for a moment. Then she's moving upwards in a surge that knocks them both over.

"Father."

OoOoOoOoO

The history of Queen Allura of Altea is one strangely shrouded in mysteries, but the greatest one reaches back to even before she assumed rule. To this day, no one is certain why she chose to accompany a random diplomatic expedition, but her presence in it is listed as a key link to the discovery and capture of the traitor Zarkon. Though his insurrection was brief, it is chilling to think what he might have done, as a paladin of Voltron, had his plot been given more time to gather momentum.

She is known for gathering a more multicultural group of advisors about her than even her father, King Althor, had, including Coran of Altea, Naliethquy of Roudou 6, Aiel of the Enzarian Cluster Balmera, and Tazone of the Galra, and for her interest in expanding the borders of the known universe purely for the sake of encountering new civilizations. Her crest was a simple juniberry blossom, surrounded by the phrase "From Laughter, Hope."

OoOoOoOoO

…so, you know that feeling when you have this really cool AU going on, but then you get an idea for ANOTHER AU within the first one, but both can't exist at the same time? Yeah. Basically my Voltron fanfic Masks is/was canon to this universe, but this universe is not canon to Masks. I might do another chapter of this showing how the lives of the paladins are different/similar in this universe.

Could Lance's mask actually pull something like this off in the canon Masks universe? Eh, probably not. I don't actually have the strength levels of any of the masks really pinned down.

Masks: a Different Life and the concepts contained within, including archetype masks, (c) Tie-dyed Trickster 2017
All Voltron characters and settings (c) their respective owners