Allura waits for Keith to come out of the cryopod again, even after everyone else leaves. She thinks Hunk and Lance went to bed, and Pidge is probably off working on something in the Green Lion's hangar. Allura's not sure where Coran is, but he always seems to be wandering around the ship, finding things to tinker with.

When the cryopod opens, Allura catches Keith when he stumbles out of it. "Are you alright?" she asks. "It was worse this time."

"I'm fine," Keith says. "Just tired."

He shivers a little, and Allura wraps him up in a blanket. "You should sleep, then," she says. "Most of the others are asleep, I think."

"Not waiting to ambush me over tomorrow's dinner?" Keith asks, some dry amusement in his voice.

"We simply want to help you take care of yourself, Keith," Allura says. "Is that so hard to believe?"

"I can take care of myself," Keith says.

Clearly he can't, but Allura doesn't say so out loud. "That doesn't mean we can't try to help."

Keith shifts a little, looking uncomfortable. "I'm fine. Really."

Part of Allura wants to push, but Keith has just gotten out of a cryopod, and he's clearly still exhausted. It's not the time. "If you need us, we'll be here. For now, though, you should go to bed."

"Yeah, probably," Keith agrees, his relief obvious. "Uh. Goodnight, then."

"Goodnight, Keith."

Keith pads down the hall, blanket still wrapped around his shoulders. Allura should probably go to sleep too, but she feels a bit too keyed up to relax. Instead of going to her room, she wanders until she reaches the library. The texts that Hunk and Lance were using to research the Eyuri are still out on the table. Allura sits down and drags one in front of her. She'll do some research of her own, and then she'll go to sleep. Just a bit of reading first, to relax her…

One moment, she's reading an incredibly boring passage for the third time, and the next, Coran is shaking her shoulder gently to wake her up. Allura lifts her head slowly up off the book that served as a very uncomfortable pillow. "Coran?"

"It's morning," Coran tells her. "Everyone else is awake and beginning to discuss plans for what to do once we leave Eyuria. I thought you'd want to be there with them."

"Thank you," Allura says, standing and checking to make sure her hair hasn't gotten too messy overnight.

"Of course, Princess," Coran says. "Keith is up too, and seems alright."

"I was there when he came out of the cryopod," Allura replies. "He seemed alright then too."

"It's a good thing you got him in there so quickly," Coran says. "If you didn't…" He shudders. "That poison could do pretty bad things!"

"Only one more night of this," Allura says with relief. "And from now on, we're checking every planet before Keith so much as steps foot on it."

"I doubt Number Four will agree to that."

"He won't have a choice," Allura says in her most regal princess voice. Keith doesn't always listen to that, but the other Paladins normally do, and if they're all on Allura's side, perhaps they'll be able to sway Keith with sheer numbers. It's unlikely, but Allura can hope. Far more likely is that they'll have to do this without telling Keith and hope he never finds out about it.

They'll never stop helping Keith, of course, but he certainly doesn't make it easy.

Allura and Coran leave the library and head for the lounge. The others are all in there, and as Allura gets closer, she can hear raised voices. Unsurprisingly, one of the voices is Keith's. The point of contention, as far as Allura can tell, is tonight's dinner.

"Do you think we'll be able to convince him to skip tonight's dinner?" she asks Coran.

Coran laughs. "I think you'd have an easier time separating a mother klanmuirl and her young."

Allura sighs. "I agree, unfortunately."

"But at least it's only one more night," Coran adds. "And the cryopods have healed him the past two times, so they should work again tonight. It would be better if we didn't need them, but…"

"But Keith is as stubborn as a glaxal, so we will," Allura finishes.

Coran shrugs.

Allura sighs and enters the fray.

"Keith, you almost died last night!" Pidge is yelling. "If you go to this dinner-"

"It'll secure an alliance that we need," Keith retorts.

"Keith-" Lance begins.

"I'm going," Keith snaps, whirling around and jabbing a finger in Lance's face.

"I think we should all calm down," Allura says in a voice that brooks no argument. Keith often argues with it anyway, of course, but perhaps he won't this time. "Tensions are high, and we should not have a discussion like this while we're not thinking straight."

"I made some breakfast stuff," Hunk offers, raising a hand.

"Perfect," Allura says. "I suggest we adjourn for breakfast, then."

They all file into the dining room. Keith still seems to be fuming. Allura puts a hand on his elbow and refuses to show any reaction when he whirls on her, glaring.

"What?"

"I want to talk to you," Allura says.

"I'm going-"

"I wasn't going to try to stop you."

Keith blinks at her and deflates. "Oh."

"I understand that you're going to go to this dinner whether we want you to or not," Allura says. "But I suggest that we make a few changes. We will tell the king that we are call for something, and if the dinner is going even more poorly than usual, we will leave early. Perhaps we should both go down in the Blue Lion as well, although the Eyuri seem to like seeing the Black Lion, so perhaps not. Do you think the Black Lion would allow me to pilot her if you were incapacitated?"

"Black pretty much piloted herself last night," Keith says, hesitantly agreeing to Allura's ideas. "I think she could do it again."

"Good," Allura says. "Then I suppose we can go down in our own Lions again. But I could see that the poison affected you more quickly last night, so we'll need to come up with some way to get you back to the Castle early if we need to."

"Fake a distress call?"

"What if they want to help?"

"Fake a distress call that's minor enough that we don't need help to deal with it."

"I suppose," Allura agrees. "Will you allow me to tell the others of this plan myself? I think I can talk them into accepting it, but it won't be easy."

"You're better at talking to people than I am," Keith says. "Go ahead."

Allura nods. "Let's go tell them, then."

They rejoin the others, who definitely noticed that they were gone. "Did you talk Keith into not being an idiot?" Pidge demands.

"Pidge, Allura is amazing, but I'm not sure even she can work that much of a miracle," Lance says.

Keith bristles. Allura cuts in quickly before he can say something. "Keith and I have come to a compromise."

"Compromise?" Lance says, frowning. "What compromise?"

"Keith will attend the final dinner-"

"WHAT?"

"-But we will put contingencies into place to make sure that it's as safe for him as possible," Allura finishes.

"As safe as possible for him to eat poison?" Pidge demands.

"I mean, he's probably gonna figure out a way to go even if we try not to let him," Hunk says. "This is Keith we're talking about."

"I'm right here," Keith says, sounding a little annoyed. "And like Allura said, I'm going. This is the last dinner. We've almost gotten the alliance. If we don't see this through, then everything so far will be a waste."

"You know what, I'm okay with that!" Lance cries. "Dude, you are literally volunteering to eat something that will kill you. Do you have any idea how stupid that is?"

"I'm volunteering to do something that needs to be done," Keith retorts. "If anyone else could do it, I'd step aside, but no one else can do it, so I can't."

"Keith is the leader of Voltron," Allura says firmly. "Whether or not to go to this dinner is ultimately his choice. All we can do is support him in whatever he decides to do."

"And I decide to go to the dinner," Keith says.

Pidge sighs and throws up her hands. "I guess I'll go back to work on the antidote, then," she says. "Maybe I can get something done before the dinner tonight."

"Eat some breakfast first," Hunk says, handing her a plate. "Everyone should eat."

"Thanks, Hunk," Keith says, taking a plate and piling some food onto it.

"Yes, thank you, Hunk," Allura agrees, doing the same.

"This is stupid," Lance mutters, but he starts to eat too.

Clearly, no one is happy about the new plan, but at least they've all agreed to it. And honestly, the only people who needed to agree were Keith and Allura. Allura's not thrilled by the plan either, but she's a princess, and she knows the value of a good compromise. This one is perhaps weighed a bit more in Keith's favor, but… Well, they could use this alliance, and if Keith is insistent on going to the dinner, Allura might as well get a new member of the Coalition out of it.

It's only one more night. They can make it through one more night.

"Wait!"

Keith and Allura pause before they go to their Lions. Pidge is running towards them, something in her hand. When she reaches them, she doubles over, gasping for breath, then pants, "I made an antidote."

"You made an antidote?" Allura says, her heart lifting. "Pidge, that's wonderful!"

"Well, actually, antidote is a bit of an exaggeration," Pidge says, adjusting her glasses. She hands Keith a small box. "This has a shot in it. The injection should put the symptoms from the poison on hold. It won't fix them, but they shouldn't get any worse either. Or if they do progress, they'll at least progress more slowly. I don't know how long it'll work, but…" She shrugs. "It's rudimentary, but I didn't really have time to come up with anything better yet. But it's better than nothing. I mean, it would be better if you didn't eat poison at all, but…"

"Thanks, Pidge," Keith says. "So I should use it after I eat?"

"Exactly," Pidge says. "You should be able to fit the syringe in the belt pouch. Use it as soon after you eat as possible, and the symptoms shouldn't get any worse on your way back to the Castle."

"I'll do it," Keith promises.

"I'll make sure he does," Allura agrees. "Thank you, Pidge."

"I'll work on making a better antidote while you're gone, just in case," Pidge says, turning away and heading back to her lab.

"Shall we go, then?" Allura asks.

"See you down there," Keith agrees, tucking the syringe in his belt pouch and heading for the Black Lion's hangar.

Allura heads to the Blue Lion and follows Keith down to the planet's surface. She's struck by how beautiful Eyuria looks from above. It's a lovely planet for anyone who's not Galra, and the people seem kind. If not for everything that's happened with Keith, Allura would find Eyuria very pleasant.

They land their Lions and Keith steps out. "You ready?" he calls.

"Are you?" Allura replies.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Keith replies. "Let's go."

They head to the now-familiar courtyard, where the king is waiting. "We are honored by your presence, friends," he calls.

"We are honored by your hospitality, Great One," Allura replies.

The king smiles. "Come, eat with us in goodwill."

"We are honored."

They sit in their seats on the king's sides. "We eat!" the king declares, serving himself, Keith, and Allura. Just as he did the day before, he serves Keith less food than he serves himself or Allura.

"Now, Princess Allura, Black Paladin," the king says. "Shall we discuss Eyuria's alliance with the Voltron Coalition?"

The talk goes very well. Allura and the king discuss the details of their alliance, and while Keith doesn't say much, he also doesn't seem to be suffering too much from the poison. His face is a bit paler than it was before, and the muscles of his jaw are a bit tighter, but otherwise, he seems alright. Allura hopes he's okay.

The dinner comes to an end with the gong, and by the time it's over, Allura and the king have an alliance. They make plans to meet on the Castle of Lions the next day to finalize things, and even though Keith is starting to go a bit ashen, Allura's smile is almost real. "I'm glad we were able to come to an agreement, Great One," she tells the king. "Your people will be a valuable addition to the Voltron Coalition."

"I hope we can help," the king says, inclining his head. "And I wish you the best, Princess Allura, Black Paladin."

Keith manages a wan smile and is about to say something when one of the buildings near the courtyard explodes.

Allura pulls up her shield and tries to block the king from as much of the debris as she can. On his other side, Keith is doing the same. People are screaming, and when Allura looks back at the king, she sees that he's looking up at the sky in horror.

"The Galra are back."

Allura follows his gaze and sees the horribly familiar sight of Galra warships hovering over the planet. She exchanges a look with Keith, then calls into her comm, "Paladins, to your Lions!"

"Already in them," Lance replies. "We're going out now. Are you coming?"

"We're coming," Keith says. Allura looks at him with wide eyes and only barely manages to bite her tongue before she spills their secret in front of the king. But… Keith can't expect himself to fight in this condition, can he? Surely he'll go back to the Castle and wait it out while the others fight back the second invasion. It would be the logical thing to do.

Allura has the horrible feeling that Keith is going to do the exact opposite of that, because he's Keith.

"I wish you luck, Paladins," the king says as Allura and Keith stand. "Make the Galra regret ever coming here."

"We will," Allura promises. She stands, holds a hand out for Keith, and together they run to their Lions.

The second they're out of the king's sight, Keith pulls out the syringe from Pidge with the antidote and stabs it into his leg. "Go get into Blue," he tells Allura. "We'll join the others up there."

"Keith, you can't fight like this!" Allura cries. "You're-"

"I'm just going to be in the Black Lion," Keith replies. "I'll be fine."

"Keith-"

"Get in the Blue Lion, Allura! That's an order!"

Allura is seething, but this isn't the time to get into a power struggle with Keith, so she goes over to the Blue Lion and rushes up to the cockpit. "Everyone," she announces, "Keith and I are on our way."

"Keith is coming?" Hunk asks, sounding shocked.

"Tell Keith to get his skinny ass back to the Castle," Lance demands.

"We might need Voltron for this fight," Keith counters. "Anyway, I've got Pidge's antidote-"

"All it does is keep the symptoms from getting worse," Pidge protests. "It doesn't reverse them. And I don't know how long it'll last."

"I'm not letting the Galra take this planet back," Keith says firmly. "Anyway, if I don't fight, the people will want to know why, and we don't want word getting out that the Black Paladin is a Galra, do we?"

They don't, as much as Allura hates to admit it. There would be far too great a backlash. There are some people who would accept it, but there would be a great many who wouldn't. It could cause infighting within the Coalition, and that's not something they can afford. Maybe later, when they have the upper hand in the fight against the Galra - assuming that ever happens - Keith can stop hiding his heritage, but until then…

Allura and Keith reach the battle at about the same time. The Galra forces this time are stronger than the first invasion force. They seem more prepared to fight against Voltron. Allura won't tell Keith this, but she thinks they probably do need him for this fight.

"Alright," Keith says. His voice sounds steady, and Allura hopes this means Pidge's antidote is working. "Lance, you're the fastest, try to take out as many of the fighters as you can. Hunk, you and Allura try to take down the cruiser to the left. Pidge, you and me take down the cruiser to the right."

"Will do, fearless leader," Lance replies, the Red Lion already twisting its way through the groups of fighters and blowing up as many as it can. Pidge flies over to Keith, and Allura flies over to Hunk.

"Is Keith okay?" Hunk asks her quietly, opening up a private channel between the two of them.

"He seems alright," Allura replies. "But I'm not sure how much we can trust Keith's assessment of his own health."

"Oh, we can't trust that at all," Hunk replies. "But at least he hasn't passed out yet, right?"

"Indeed," Allura agrees. "I hope Pidge's antidote will keep the symptoms on hold until we're able to return to the Castle."

"Pidge is pretty smart. If anyone could make an antidote that fast, it's her."

"You're right." Allura sighs. "Now, how are we going to take down this cruiser?"

"Uh, I was kinda thinking I'd take the cannon out of commission, and you could go for the engines. Does that sound good?"

Despite everything, Allura finds herself smiling. "That sounds perfect."

Perhaps Allura takes out some of her frustration on the engines, and perhaps she decimates them rather than simply knocking them out, but it has the same effect, and she and Hunk are able to take down their cruiser fairly easily. Keith and Pidge take down theirs as well, and Lance takes out the fighters, and before too long, the ships that haven't been destroyed have fled. Allura breathes a sigh of relief, looking around at the other Lions.

"We can go back to the Castle, I think," she says. "Keith, we can get you into a cryopod now."

There's no response, and the Black Lion doesn't move.

"Keith. Keith. Keith, can you hear me?"

The others begin taking up the call, trying to get into contact with Keith, but he's stubbornly silent. Allura's blood runs cold.

"Hunk," she says, "you and I will have to carry the Black Lion back to the Castle."

"Sure," Hunk replies, sounding nervous, "yeah, that's- Okay."

"Pidge, Lance," Allura continues. "fly ahead and tell Coran that we're coming and he needs to have the cryopod ready for Keith immediately."

"Already on my way," Lance says, the Red Lion speeding off towards the Castle.

"Shouldn't somebody tell the Eyuri that we got rid of the Galra?" Pidge asks as she follows him back.

"I'll contact them once Keith is in a cryopod," Allura replies. She has nothing against the Eyuri - far from it - but Keith is her first priority. She's not doing a thing until she's certain he'll be alright.

Between the Blue Lion and the Yellow Lion, they're able to carry the Black Lion back to the Castle. The Red and Green Lions have already zoomed ahead to make things ready for them. Allura only hopes that they're not already too late.

"Princess Allura!" the king cries, bowing. Allura bows back. The image is a little grainy, but she's not sure if that's a fault with the Castle's screen or with the king's camera. "We are forever in your debt for beating back the accursed Galra again."

"We were glad to aid you, Great One," Allura replies.

"Would you and the Black Paladin like to return to Eyuria to finalize our alliance?" the king offers. "We had almost completed it when we were interrupted."

"The Black Paladin was injured during the battle," Allura says. It's a lie, of course, but the Eyuri can't know the real reason Keith is sleeping in a cryopod, slowly inching away from death.

"Oh no!" the king says, looking distressed. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"We've already treated him, and he should recover soon," Allura replies. I hope. "I can come down to the planet to finalize the alliance in his stead."

"Very well," the king replies. "I hope to see you soon."

"I'll be down in a few doboshes," Allura replies. She bows again. "Thank you, Great One."

"No, Princess," the king says, "thank you."

The picture fizzles out of existence. Allura sighs and leaves the bridge. She doesn't want to go straight back down to the planet, but all she needs to do is finish securing this alliance, and then they can leave Eyuria. If she has it her way, they - especially Keith - will never come back.

Instead of going straight to the Blue Lion's hangar, Allura detours to the infirmary. Keith is still deathly pale inside one of the cryopods. Coran and all the other Paladins are milling around the room. It doesn't seem like any of them have a real reason to be there, but none of them want to leave Keith.

It was only Pidge's antidote, as rudimentary as it was, that saved Keith's life. It wasn't able to entirely halt the progression of the poison, but it slowed it enough that he was still alive when they reached the Castle. They were able to put him in a cryopod immediately, and although it's going to take nearly a full quintant, Coran is mostly certain that Keith will make a full recovery.

Mostly certain isn't certain enough for the Paladins, however, which is why they've all hardly left Keith's side.

"Hey, Allura," Lance calls. "Did you talk to the king yet?"

"I did," Allura replies. "I'm going to go back to the surface to finalize our alliance, and then we'll be able to leave."

"Good," Pidge says, savagery in her voice. "I hate this planet."

"I'm not particularly fond of it either," Allura agrees. "It'll be good to get away from it. Especially for Keith."

Everyone's gaze flickers to Keith when Allura says his name. He's been in the cryopod for nearly a varga, and he looks the same as he did when he went in. Allura knows that the cryopod needs time to work, but she wishes it could work faster.

"I should be back within a few vargas," Allura says, heading towards the infirmary door. "Tell me if anything changes with Keith."

"We will," Lance promises.

Allura leaves the infirmary, as much as she hates to do it, and heads to the Blue Lion's hangar. She'll be as quick as possible with the king, so she can return to Keith and the others. The Blue Lion feels and shares her concern, and they fly down to Eyuria as fast as possible.

"Princess Allura," the king says when she arrives. "All of Eyuria is overwhelmed with gratitude towards you and the rest of Voltron for driving off the Galra a second time. And we are so sorry that the Black Paladin was injured during the fighting. Will he recover?"

"He will," Allura replies, keeping her voice steady and hoping she's not lying. "He should be recovered in a quintant or so."

"If there is anything we can do to help, you need only name the favor," the king says. "As it is, our best cooks have put together a meal for you and all the Paladins. You may bring it back to your Castle, if you wish."

The irony of it leaves Allura torn between laughter and tears, but she only allows herself to smile and incline her head slightly. "Thank you, Great One."

She has the feeling all the food will be thrown right down the garbage chute.

"Now," the king says, "I have had one of my advisors draw up the terms of the alliance we agreed to. We need only sign the paper, and our alliance will be sealed." The king's smile softens. "And you may return to the Black Paladin, as you clearly wish to do."

"Thank you, Great One," Allura says again. "Where is the paper?"

They both sign it, then Allura takes the basket of food from the king and returns to the Blue Lion. "I'm on my way back," she says once she's inside. "The alliance has been finalized."

"So we can leave?" Pidge asks.

Allura takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, forcing herself not to give in to her desire to jettison the basket out of food out of the Blue Lion, at least not when she's still in Eyuria's atmosphere.

"We can leave."

Keith wakes just over a quintant after they leave Eyuria. All of the Paladins are in the infirmary, but Allura is closest to the cryopod, so she's the one who catches Keith when he stumbles out.

"Keith!" Hunk cries. He quickly wraps a thick blanket around Keith's shoulders. "You're okay!"

"I knew you wouldn't go down that easy, Mullet," Lance says, as if he hadn't worried just as much about Keith as the rest of them.

"You're an idiot," Pidge says firmly.

Keith blinks at all of them. "Did we defeat the Galra?"

"We did," Allura replies. "Over a quintant ago. You've been in the cryopod for a while."

"And the alliance?"

"Sealed."

Keith nods slowly. "Good."

"I have food for you, if you're hungry," Hunk offers. "Good food. Not-poisonous food."

"Sounds good," Keith says. He looks around at all the Paladins. "Were you all… waiting here for me?"

"Of course we were, stupid," Pidge says. "You almost died. We were worried."

"You're not Mr. Lone Wolf anymore," Lance adds. "And we've got a pretty vested interest in you not dying."

"We were all really worried," Hunk says.

"You're a member of this family, Keith," Allura says. She keeps her voice gentle, but makes sure it's firm enough that Keith knows there's no point in trying to argue with her. "We care about you, and we want you to be well."

Keith looks around at everyone. "Oh," he says.

"Are you telling me you didn't know that we cared about you?" Lance demands. "Jeez, Mullet, you're even dumber than I thought."

Keith bristles a little, but it seems almost half-hearted. Before he can say something to Lance to start an argument, Allura interjects. "What Lance meant-"

"Is exactly what Lance said," Lance mutters under his breath.

"-Is that we thought you already knew that we care for you," Allura continues, ignoring Lance entirely. "But if you didn't, now you do."

Keith's lips twitch into a very small smile. "Thanks."

"Okay, I need to give you a hug," Hunk says, and he grabs Keith in a tight embrace before anyone can say anything else. After a moment, Pidge joins in, then Lance, and then Allura, laughing, joins the hug as well.

She thinks she hears Keith whisper another thank-you, and when she gives him a light squeeze, she hopes he knows it means you're welcome.