Allura and Keith jumped down from their Lions and surveyed the devastation that was once Alderon. Now that the villagers had left, the haunting silence only emphasized the amount of damage the Ro-Beat had done to the once thriving and beautiful town.

"So, where are we going to start?" Keith asked her. "You've already got all the construction workers you've got working on Whares. By my estimates, we can't get to work in this place for another six months, maybe more."

"There has to be something we can do," Allura said.

She ran a hand along a broken wall as they walked down the street. It was hard to believe that they had been here two weeks before, enjoying the scenery. Keith took off his helmet and shoot out his thick black hair. Allura shadowed his movements and they left their helmets on a windowsill that was really just a ledge now.

"Maybe we can pull out half of the workers and take them here," she thought out loud.

Keith shook his head. "The people of Whares need a place to stay. They can't stay in Corona much longer, what with the Alderonians there too. You have to finish one city before starting on another."

Allura knelt and sifted the dust in her hand. She sighed. "I know."

"What if you got the Alderonians to work here and clear up the debris so when the workers get here they can get started on building right away."

Allura smiled up gratefully at him. "That's a great idea. By the looks of things, the people could be at work here for three months or so, breaking things down and sweeping things up. I'll get maybe about ten to fifteen constructions workers to supervise."

They walked on and found themselves in front of the café they had eaten at. The chairs and tables were smashed to smithereens and there was only the outline of the main building left. Allura's heart sank at the sight. She hadn't realized she'd made a sound until Keith put an arm around her shoulders.

"We'll come back here when it's built, Allura," he said, his tone strangely, yet, pleasingly, intimate. "We'll have dinner here and it'll be my treat."

Allura smiled at him. "Promise?"

He nodded. "On my honor as a space explorer I promise to you that we will be back." He tilted his head to one side and frowned questioningly. "One question, though."

"Yes?"

"Why did you want me to come out here? Coran would have been a better advisor. After all…it is his job."

She shrugged. "I wanted to try things out for myself. Of course I had only hoped you would be a sounding board, but I suppose I should have known you would be the source of my genius," she said, smiling ruefully.

Keith laughed. "I like how that sounds. Behind every great princess is a lowly man."

She gave him a chiding look and clasped his elbow. "Not lowly, Keith. Never lowly."

The way she looked at him and the way she said it made Keith's insides warm. He crooked his elbow slightly at her grip and escorted her back to her Lion.

For once in his life, Lance did not notice how uncomfortable it was to wear his dress uniform. Instead, his attention was riveted on Jenica's coffin, the fifteenth and last one to be put into the ground that day. On either side of him were Keith and Hunk. They were both on alert, fearing that their friend's knees would give way. But one look on his face made them change their opinion of his emotional stability. They had never seen him steadier that he was at that moment.

Allura said a few words to the people when Jenica was finally at her final resting-place. She conveyed her sympathy and grief over the loss of fifteen innocent lives at the hand of Zarkon. The people didn't seem to want to hear her until she spoke of the plan to rebuild Alderon.

"But why is it just cleanup? Why can't we build right away?" A man demanded. "What kind of princess are you?"

Seeing red, Keith went and stood by Allura's side, the others right behind him.

"She's giving you all she can," Keith said calmly. "Have you forgotten about Whares? It was a town destroyed before yours and right now we are rushing to have it finished so that we can get started on Alderon. I think you should review your facts before speaking so harshly. Cleaning up is better than sitting around and doing nothing, don't you agree?"

Several people nodded, including the man who had spoken. He apologized to the Princess, but his barb was not to be forgotten. It had settled into her mind and refused to leave. The cemetery began to clear, and the Voltron Force followed behind the last of the mourners. Coran and Keith walked on either side of the Princess.

"What do the polls say, Coran?" she asked.

There wasn't an immediate answer to her question and Allura's fingers picked nervously at her black gown.

"Coran?" she repeated, her voice hard.

"The people have complaints, Princess. They think you're not doing enough," he replied, knowing that that was far from what she was doing.

Behind them, Pidge sputtered.

"Don't they know she's flying that Blue Lion and defending them against Zarkon?" he asked.

"And balancing the government at the same time, too," Lance added. "Don't they know, Coran?"

"Yes, but they can't see past their own lives," Coran replied. "The Princess' troubles are not their concern. What they know is that she's supposed to be here for them, and right now they don't believe that is the case."

"She gives them a hundred and twenty percent," Hunk remarked. "It's not easy doing what she's doing, even with help."

Allura was a little uplifted by their words and even more so when Keith squeezed the hand she didn't realize she had rested on the crook of his elbow.

"Give them time," he said to her. "They'll realize soon enough how much you're doing for them."

"I meant to talk to you about this later, Princess, but now seems like a good time," Coran interrupted.

They all got into the ground car. Allura focused on the floor.

"What is it now?" she asked tiredly.

"The people are demanding that you be crowned as Queen and married as soon as possible. They want a secured throne and an heir to it. They want a sure leader." He didn't have to say and not flying around shooting Zarkon's fighters out of the sky. It was understood.

Allura said her nothing, her eyes becoming frighteningly blank. Her friends were quiet, knowing the last thing she needed was more words and even if words were needed, they had none to offer her. Even Coran kept his mouth shut, letting her absorb what he had said.

Keith found Allura sitting on his bench out in the gardens. She was still in the gown she had worn to the funerals, but her blonde hair was loose and cascaded down her back. The light breeze blew strands of it in the air and around her face, but she made no move to tie it back. She also made no move to face him when he came closer.

"Allura?"

"Why?" was all she said.

"Why what?" he asked quietly.

Allura turned an angry face to him, her eyes filled with unshed tears. Her lips quivered, as did her voice, when she spoke, but she refused to cry.

"I do so much and give so much. All they do is take and take and take. I hardly have any more to give without giving the rest of myself to them and that's what they want the most. The last part of me that I have control over," she said in a low, dangerous voice.

Keith sat beside her. He put an arm around her, and it was his touch that finally undid her. She buried her face in his chest and he held her close as she cried dry racking sobs that tore at the very core of his being. He didn't know what to say to her. He couldn't even imagine half of what she felt, but as a leader himself he had an idea of what she was going through. And his heart ached for her. All he could do now was hold her because he didn't know what else to do for her except be the shoulder she could cry on once and a while.

"Let's run away," he whispered into her hair. "We can go to some uninhabited planet where there will be no fighting, no ungrateful populous, and most of all, no Zarkon. It will just be the two of us and our peace."

Allura let out a small muffled laugh. "Nanny would insist on coming. The two of us alone would be highly unacceptable."

"I said peace, Allura."

She let out a full laugh this time. "I knew you would make me feel better, Keith. You always do."

He ducked his head to hide a blush. "I'm glad. "

Allura straightened and wiped her tear-stained cheeks. Her expression turned stormy once again, but Keith saw that the tears had passed. He now waited for the explosion.

"You know, I'm thinking of letting out a planet wide announcement telling them that I will never get married, especially under those terms. I am the only ruler they will have and they're going to have to let me do things my way."

"That sounds like a dictatorship," Keith said quietly.

She stood and started to pace in front of him. She clasped her hands behind her and took out a determined countenance.

"Well, I'll say something like that. You know what I'm trying to say." She pointed at him. "You can help me write it, but I want to get my message across at all costs. I don't want them to tell me what to do with my life. Telling me how they want things for them is fine, but not my life. I'll be crowned if they want, but that's it. No marriage to some pompous prince from Dreamland in the Paradise Cluster and having a rosy-cheeked baby boy…besides, I want girls!

She clasped her hands behind her back and looked earnest. "I will always give them the best that I possibly can in terms of government and their lives, but when it comes to my life, it's off limits."

Keith smiled proudly at her. "Perfect."

This was far from the Allura he had first met. It was a little disconcerting that someone seemingly soft and gentle could change so rapidly in a short time. She still retained some of that sweetness but most of it was replaced by something far more admirable. She was steel wrapped in rose petals and he knew that she could rule her kingdom with that strength.

"Good," she said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him to the castle. "Let's get started on that speech."

"Where are Keith and the Princess?" Lance asked Pidge.

The other three members of the Voltron Force had been playing Fantasy Island for over two hours and had seen neither hide nor hair of the other two.

"I don't know," the younger boy replied. "Last I heard, they were in the garden and she was yelling at him."

"Lover's quarrel?" Hunk inquired, a teasing quality in his tone.

The fact was not lost on any of them that their Commander and Princess where spending a lot of time together. Not enough time to make certain of any suspicions, but enough to make one wonder.

"I doubt it," Lance said. "Allura was pretty upset over Coran's announcement and was probably just letting out some steam."

"Most likely," Pidge agreed.

"Who told you about their garden trysts?" Lance asked.

"The gardener saw them."

"Is something going around the castle?"

"Like what?" Hunk asked.

"Gossip…about Keith and the Princess," he added exasperatedly when the other two still looked blank.

Hunk shrugged, but Pidge nodded excitedly.

"Oh, yeah," he said. "The maids are all talking about how Keith is courting Allura. They say that they're always walking in the garden after dinner in the moonlight. A very romantic atmosphere, don't you think?"

Lance couldn't stop a grin from spreading across his face. "Wow. Keith and the Princess. I suspected it would happen."

Hunk gave him a look. "Since when?"

"Since always, you big oaf. They would make the perfect couple. Two people that fit like the pieces in a puzzle. They probably just realized it now with all the time they've been spending together."

"You know," Hunk said. "The people will hear of this and their demands for the Princess to get married will get worse."

"Pressure is the best way to break up a budding relationship," Pidge said wisely.

Lance and Hunk turned to him amusedly.

"He has a point, although it sounds strange coming from his little head," Lance conceded. "So what do we do?"

They stared at each other.

"Keep our mouths shut," Lance said, answering his own question. "If we tell them, they'll stop what they're doing and end it right there."

"If we don't, they still might," Hunk pointed out.

"Yes, but it'll be better if we don't tell them. Trust me." Lance put his hand out. "Deal?"

Hunk and Pidge shook with him then each other.

"Good," he said. "Now let's get back to our game. It's my turn."

Outside the door, Nanny turned and went down the corridor towards Castle Control.