Coran's worried face appeared on the screen. The lines that age had bestowed him through the years had deepened and the bags under his eyes sagged. But, he removed all traces of exhaustion from his face and was all business as he faced the two runaways.

"I suggest that you get yourselves back here immediately!" he practically yelled.

"I will see you on Sunday, Coran," Allura told him. "Keith and I need some time away. I know that this is on short notice..."

"Short notice! That's not all it is!" Coran pointed at Keith. "You are to act like a responsible adult in this, Captain. Between the two of you, you're the one with the better judgment. Tell her the right thing to do. If you do this, I will make sure you will not be court marshaled."

Keith stiffened. Allura put her hand over his.

"Coran, as Princess of Arus, I am ordering Keith to step down from duty for a week. He won't be court marshaled for that."

"You tell him, Princess!" Lance's voice came from the background.

Coran ignored him. "Allura, you are the pilots of the Lions, you need to come back here or else Arus will be defenseless. When Lotor learns of your absence, he will attack."

"I vill be dere soon, Coran," Sven spoke up. "And I am sure dat Keit has prepared properly and has a standby trained and ready to fly."

"Coran," Allura began, her voice honest and earnest. "Please let us have this time. We have to sort out what's between us without yours, Nanny's or anyone else's interferance. And I want you to leave us alone for just one week. It's all we ask." She pointed her most convincing gaze at him. "You can trust me with running a planet, but you can't even trust me to run my own life," she said, her tone picking up momentum. Please. Give me this. Trust me."

Coran's shoulders sagged. "There's nothing I can do to stop you. Princess, you will take responsiblity for whatever the outcome of your actions are. I do not agree with it, but your actions these past three days have shown me the extent of your determination." He took a deep breath. "I am resigning as your Chief Advisor, Princess. Effective immediately."

"No!" Allura cried, her hand unconcsiously shooting out to press against the screen. "I need you, you can't do this! Think about this first, Coran."

"I am here to advise you, but you do not listen. I have no job here. You are absolutely certain that you are right, but I know you aren't."

"Quit being a whining baby, Coran!" Keith exclaimed suddenly. He had remained silent up to this point. "Allura has done everything you've asked except for a few exceptions."

Coran raised an eyebrow. "A few? She's risked her life countless times flying the Blue Lion, and now she does this. She may listen to me when it comes to the little things, but when it comes to the great choices, she only does what she thinks is best."

"Isn't that what a princess is supposed to do?" Romelle interjected, finally coming in. "Don't be foolish, Coran."

"Don't leave yet," Allura pleaded. "Wait for me to come back and then we'll talk about it. You owe it to my father and me to wait."

Coran nodded, but they could see the stubborness gleaming in his eyes. "As you wish, Princess. But I warn you that my mind is made up."

He looked at them. "I will see you in a week."

"Good-bye," Allura said.

Coran severed the connection and Allura covered her face with her hands. Sven and Romelle left to give them some privacy. Keith put a hand on her back, thinking that she was weeping, but when she raised her head, her face was dry.

"Let's pack," she said.

"Are you sure about this, Allura?"

"Yes, but we're not going to Earth. He was right about one thing. We can't leave Arus unguarded."

He nodded in understanding. "I'll let Lance know that we're coming."

Allura kissed his forehead and went to his room to collect their few things. Keith reopened the link to Arus and specifically requested Lance's attention. His friend's face appeared on the screen. Lance grinned broadly.

"Hey, buddy. Long time no see," he said.

"Allura and I are coming back."

"Oh...so it's Allura and I now?"

Keith had to grin at that. "Yes, it is."

"Good, 'cause Pidge, Hunk, and I got into a lot of trouble for you two."

"Thanks for helping her."

"That's what friends are for. We'll have the red carpet rolled out when you get here."

"Thanks, Lance. Tell Pidge and Hunk that we're grateful for all that they've done."

"See you later, Cap'."

Keith severed the connection and stood. He couldn't believe the way his life had changed in less than a week. He looked to the heavens and prayed for strength. Sven was right. It was going to get a lot harder before it got easier.

Allura hugged her cousin. Next to them, Sven and Keith shook hands. Two servants placed their things in Hunk's ship.

"Thank you," Keith said sincerely.

"For everything," Allura finished.

Romelle grinned. "Look at you two. You really are a couple. Finishing each other's sentences already!"

They laughed. Sven put an arm around her. Keith and Allura looked at each other and smiled. Her hand slid into his. They boarded the ship and Keith settled into the pilot's seat. Allura grinned at his unconscious decision to take the power seat, but said nothing. They waited until Romelle and Sven were clear of the tarmac and lifted off.

They flew in silence, digesting what had happened and preparing themselves for what was going to occur as soon as Coran got his hands on them. Keith snuck peeks at the Princess and saw how tight her shoulders were. If they got even a smidgen tighter, they would be touching her ears. He put the ship on autopilot and stood to go behind her. She didn't even notice, so deep in her thoughts was she. Only when he rested his hands on his shoulders and began to massage did she realize where he was. She opened her mouth to tell him to sit back down, but her head began to roll in relaxation. Her eyes drifted shut.

"That...that feels niiiiice," she drawled.

He smiled mischieviously. "If you scoot over..."

Her eyes flew open and she flushed rosily. "Keith!"

He shrugged. "Just thought I'd loosen you up."

She looked up at him with a bemused smile. "Is this really you talking?"

He kissed the tip of her nose. "Love does strange things."

"I guess so," she said sleepily. "I'm lucky you love me, Keith."

He knelt down at her side and kissed her hand. "No, Allura. I'm lucky that you didn't give up on me."

She smiled and put a hand on his head. He sat down and rested against her leg until her eyes drifted shut. He heard her breathing even out. He picked her up easily and settled her into the cot in the back of the cockpit. She stirred, but didn't wake up. He tucked her in and kissed her cheek, his hand lingering lovingly against her cheek. She needed as much rest as she could get because they were really going to be deep in it when they land on Arus. He went back to the pilot's seat and watched over the readings to make sure no one was sneaking up on them. They were lucky that Lotor laid low these days.

The communicator beeped and he saw that the communication was coming from Arus. Lowering the volume as to not wake the Princess, he received it. Lance grinned at him.

"Bonjour, mon frere," he said and after a quick glance added, "Where's your lady?"

"Asleep," Keith whispered. "What's up, Lance?"

"I want details."

"We want details," Pidge said, sticking his head in.

Hunk popped in beside him with a grin. "If you don't mind, that is," he added.

"He won't mind. Right, Keith?" Lance prompted.

Keith had to laugh. "That wouldn't be the gentlemanly thing to do," he said. "So you guys can just mind your own business."

"Too true."

Keith felt a hand on his shoulder and saw Allura standing at his side. She chuckled as the boys on the screen blushed.

"Uh, hi, Princess," Pidge stuttered. "Did we wake you?"

"I wasn't completely asleep. I was gonna stay asleep if it was Coran calling, but since it's you guys, I'll grant you the grace of my presence."

"Looks like you didn't get enough sleep, Allura," Lance observed wily. "Busy last night?"

Allura, having had her maximum amount of blushes for one day, only glared at him. "Well now, let's think. I traveled several thousand light-years to chase after one stubborn Voltron captain and having had to convince him to come back for hours after having had no sleep, I'm going to have to say that....YES I was busy last night."

Lance chuckled appreciatively at her reply. "Alright, ok. I get it. I'll mind my own business."

Allura sat herself down on the arm rest of Keith's chair. Keith rested back in his seat and regarded his friends with a careful eye.

"You three look unscathed," he remarked. "I thought Coran would go down pretty hard on you guys."

Lance shrugged and at the mention of the Advisor's name, his mouth drooped and the couple could see through the facade that he had put up for them, as well as through the other two. They could see that Lance had been through a lot of sleepless nights since Allura had left. The Princess noticed that Pidge looked gaunt and Hunk looked like he skipped a few meals.

"I'm so sorry," she breathed, putting a hand over her heart. "I mean that, I really do. We thank you for everything that you've done."

Hunk waved a beefy hand in the air. "We love you guys and we've been wanting this to happen for so long."

"It was nice to be a part of it," Pidge added.

"Not as nice as I'd hoped, but kinda nice," Lance put in.

Allura could feel herself beginning to tear up. "Oh you guys."

Keith smiled at his friends as he took Allura's hand. "Thank you, for everything."

"We owed you," Lance said, smiling at him. "We owed you so much. Consider us even now."

He nodded. "I will."

They stared at each other, a lifetime's friendship gleaming in both black and brown eyes. Lance had to admit he was getting a little teary eyed himself. He wasn't about to let Keith see him crying.

"We better go before Coran catches us. We're on probation," he said. "Take care of yourselves."

"Get back here in one piece," Hunk said.

"We will," Keith assured them. "See you soon."

"Oh, Keith! Before I forget, I started to work on a cloaking device before Allura took Cupid," Hunk said. "The switch is underneath the control panel. See what you can do."

"Alright, buddy. Bye."

"Bye," the other three said in unison.

Keith severed the connection and immediately got on his hands and knees underneath the panel. Allura yawned loudly and went back to the cot.

"Are you coming, Keith?" she asked, settling in. "There's lots of room."

"Hang on. I'll set this thing up and I'll be there."

Half an hour later, Keith made the final connection and Cupid disappeared from sight as well as on any sensors. He went to the cot and laid down beside his Princess. He was asleep in seconds.

"How iz de Princess?" Nanny asked meekly from the rec. room doorway. She had heard the entire conversation and wished for the thousandth time that she hadn't did what she did to cause her beloved Princess to run away.

"She's fine, Nanny," Lance soothed. "She'll be home soon."

At first he had wanted to banish the woman from his sight, but when he saw how much she was tortured, he understood that she only told Coran about Allura and Keith because she cared for Allura. Though they didn't agree on where this relationship was going to go, Lance knew that her heart was in the right place.

"Goot, goot," she clucked. "Iz he takink goot care ov her?"

"He always has," Hunk replied. "He's not going to stop now."

She nodded. "I vill get her chambers ready."

She left them and puttered on to the Princess' room. On the way there, she paused outside Keith's room. Hesitantly, she began to go inside it. Keith hadn't wanted her to clean his room as she did for the others, and she had always considered him her favorite for that. Until he had stolen the Princess' heart. But Nanny knew that he loved Allura as much as she loved him. Although he had tried to do the right thing by leaving, she wasn't sure if it was so right anymore. Not after seeing Allura suffer the way she did before she herself left. Nanny stood at the doorway of the Commander's room and saw how clean it was. Lance was right. There wasn't a Prince in the world that could hold a candle up to Keith. She began to cry.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed to the missing occupant. "I'm so very sorry."