Sometimes, Allura forgot that she is a part of their family too. She just needs Shiro to remind her.

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Shiro was strolling along the halls, humming a tune to a song he remembered when Black made her presence known.

'Paladin. Someone is still up.' Black purred within his mind.

"Oh? Where?"

'The bridge.'

He hummed in acknowledgement and made his way towards the bridge, already guessing who it was. When he stepped into the room, he was not surprised to see her.

"Princess," Shiro greeted.

Allura tore her gazes away from the starmap and looked at Shiro. "Shiro!" she gasped in surprise. "What are you doing here at this hour?"

"I should be asking you that, princess." Shiro countered. "We had a hard battle yesterday. Why aren't you resting?"

Allura shifted her eyes away from the paladin. "I... couldn't sleep." she admitted with a soft voice, rubbing her cold shoulders slowly.

Understanding what she meant, he quietly approached Allura, settling himself beside her before draping his human arm around her and pulled her into a hug.

Caught by surprise, Allura blushed at how close she is with Shiro.

"You know you can come to me or Coran when something is bothering you," Shiro offered lightly. "You're not alone anymore. You're not fighting this war by yourself."

Tears began to form in her eyes and she hastily wiped it away. "I know, I know. It's just... I sometimes remembered something about Altea and the fact that I won't be able to return to the sweet smell of the juniberries is..." Allura trailed off, her voice cracking a little.

Shiro could only squeeze her shoulder and stare at the starmap in silence, offering her a quiet support through his action.

"I lost my family when I left, Shiro. And then, just when I have my father back... I lost that too. And now... now I have none." Allura weeped at the pain of losing everything. Her home, her planet, her people, her father.

"That's not true. You have Coran. You have us." he reminded her. "And even though you have lost a family, you had also gained a new one."

Allura looked up at Shiro, confusion etched on her face. "I did?"

Shiro smiled at her. "Yeah, we're your family now. Coran, me, the mice, the paladins, even the Lions. They're your family now. We might not say it out loud, but we had already considered ourselves as one little family."

Allura stared at him in disbelief. "Really?"

"Truly," he answered. "Now let's get you back to bed. Not having your beauty sleep is not a good thing for your skin," he joked as he led both of them out of the room.

Allura chuckled a little. "You sounded just like Lance. "

"Oh no, what should I do? I'm going to start flirting if I become like him," Shiro gasped in a fake dismay, causing the Altean to laugh.

"Alright, alright. Enough joking around. Off to bed now," Shiro ordered as he ushered them two their rooms.

"Yes, Father," Allura joked, causing Shiro to grin. "Goodnight, Allura." he said before parting ways.

"Goodnight, Shiro," she replied as she watched him disappear around the corner. Stepping into her room, she was loudly greeted by the mice, chittering happily at her. She patted each of them and stepped out of her gown into a more comfortable sleepwear. Slipping under the comforters with the mice, Allura sighed in relief and slowly drifted to sleep with a smile plastered on her face.