A month passed faster than Allura had expected. She and Keith continued their nightly practices, but there was now a barrier between them that both of them had put up against the other. A repeat of what had happened that night would not happen again if it was up to either of them. But Allura felt a small ache in her heart when she thought of it. Every time she did, she would busy herself with something else. She still had a society to rebuild. She didn't have time for thoughts of something that she didn't even want to acknowledge.

Hunk, Lance, and Pidge did not notice anything strange going on between their captain and the Princess, though Lance swore something was up. They did not seem so chummy anymore. But they had other things to worry about and the topic was soon forgotten. They had a pilot to pick.

Keith walked down the corridors. He was headed towards the rec room to give his announcement. He had made his decision that night Allura had showed him her scar. It was like a big sign had appeared over her head when she did. This was a woman who had sacrificed everything for her people. To not allow her to fly the Blue would be like taking away her leadership from the Arusians. She deserved to be up in the skies with them, protecting the people she loved and cared for. It was her duty as a Princess of Arus and a daughter of the Royal House, as Alfor's daughter.

He entered the rec room where they all waited. Allura looked at him with expectant eyes. Jeff took one look at his face and knew he was going to have to pack his bags. Keith held the oval key of Blue Lion in his hand. Without a word, he took Allura's hand and placed it in her palm. She looked as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She smiled a small smile of relief.

"Thank you, Keith," she said sincerely. "I won't let you down."

They looked at Jeff who had stood, his hands in his pockets.

"You did a great job, Princess," he said. "You deserved this."

"Thank you."

He nodded and left. Lance slapped Allura none too gently on the back. She slapped him back, harder. He raised his hand to do it again, but Keith grabbed his wrist, feeling like a parent.

"Where were you going with that?" he asked with a laugh.

"It was a congratulatory pat on the back," Lance replied innocently.

"Mine was a response to his pat on the back," she said.

"Congratulations, Princess," Pidge said. "You did a great job with the Blue. I can't believe you learned that quickly!"

"Call it luck," she said with a smile. "Well, are we going to go practice, or what?"

"Let's go. We can't go too high though," Keith said. "There's a meteor shower outside."

Lotor entered the Arusian atmosphere without being detected. The meteor shower that Hagar had created for him cloaked his ship's signal from Castle Control. He did not have a fleet with him. He didn't even have a laser cannon, his ship only equipped with two side laser rifles. What he did have a little device that he requested be made by Doom's best computer expert. It was an old-fashioned circuit disruptor. He wanted nothing more than to cause even just a little bit of mischief and this little thing could be just ticket.

He had a hunch that the Voltron Force had not even considered it because it was something that hadn't been used in a long time. It was easily prevetable with the right tools and he was betting that they didn't have them. It just wasn't necessary since the disruptor was basically extinct as well as forgotten and during Alfor's time it hadn't been invented yet, so the Lions did not have it built in. It was created when the Lions were forgotten and neglected. He was lucky to have found something to have been born and destroyed in such a short period of time.

The Prince spotted the Lions flying around beneath him. Counting under his breath, he dropped the scrambler and activated it by remote when it was approximately in the center of the Lion formation. He smiled evilly and disappeared into the blackness of space and out of range of their sensors.

Pidge grinned as he readied his guns. The Black was coming into his sights and he was going to shoot like a maniac until he hit Keith. He didn't care whether it was good shooting or not. He just wanted to be known as the only person to ever hit the great Commander Porterfield.

Suddenly, his control panel went dead. Green Lion hovered in mid-air and then began to fall. It hit Blue Lion, which had been beneath it. Allura's head whipped back and she felt a sharp pain shoot through her neck. She gasped as she saw Pidge's head fall forward, slamming against the panel. Keith saw it all happen and he paled, his eyes huge in his face.

"ALLURA!" he yelled. "PIDGE!"

She moved her mouth, but no sound came out. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she passed out. Keith hit the control panel before him as one by one the lights on the console went out. It hadn't completely shut down like the Green, but he was losing his maneuvering capabilities. He was helpless.

"Catch them!" he yelled at Hunk and Lance, who were unaffected.

Red and Yellow Lion had already went after the two Lions that wre falling before Keith's cry. The Red caught Blue Lion's tail in its mouth, slowing its descent and the Yellow dived underneath the Green, catching it neatly. Above them, the Black was still struggling to keep steady, but Keith was slowly losing control of it.

Lance dropped the Blue in the lake, knowing he didn't have the time to put it down gently. He hoped that Allura was buckled in tightly because there was one more life he had to save. He flew back up and positioned the Red underneath the Black.

"You can't hold my weight," Keith said, his voice tight as he struggled. "I'll take us both down."

"I'll slow your fall," Lance argued. "This is not the time to be stubborn, Keith."

Keith activated the magnetic attachment on the Lion's belly and with a loud clang, the Black attached itself to the Red. Lance gritted his teeth as it became more difficult to steer Red Lion with the added weight. Keith watched as the rest of his controls went dead. He didn't have a chance to warn Lance as they began to fall and fast. Lance gunned the thrusters, trying to keep them in the air, or at least keep them from falling too fast. They slowed a bit, but not enough so that they wouldn't make a crater when they landed.

"HUNK!" they yelled in unison.

Yellow Lion shot up from nowhere, taking the Black's tail in its teeth. Hunk pushed the booster rockets as far as it would go. They slowed enough to land safely, but not enough to prevent damage to the Red. When the Red landed, a huge dust cloud blew up, and it landed hard enough to give Lance a small case of whiplash. Keith took off his helmet and felt his head for any lumps or cuts. He had banged it against the chair, then the control panel, his landing a little more violent than Lance's because when the Yellow let go of the Black's tail, it fell over sideways. He blinked, trying to clear his blurry vision. The Yellow Lion was the only one that escaped damage.

"You two alright?" Hunk asked.

"Just fine," Lance groaned, lifting his head.

"Allura," Keith murmured, glancing at her prone form on the small viewscreen.

He would never forgive himself if she was seriously injured. Pidge was already stirring, his glasses resting askew on his nose. Hunk called Castle Control to send a med unit as he fished the Blue Lion out of the lake and deposited it next to the Black. He then jumped out of the Lion to go check on Pidge and Allura who had not yet wakened. Keith got up, his movements shaky.

"Careful, Keith" Hunk warned. "The hatch is at a weird angle."

Keith climbed out of it easily enough, but getting down was another problem. Every time he looked down, he felt like throwing up. Hunk climbed up to help him down.

"I hit my head a little hard," Keith explained weakly.

In the distance, they saw the med unit's ground car coming towards them. Hunk helped Keith to the ground. They went to where the Blue and Green laid. Keith ignored the sudden wave of nausea that hit him and opened the exit hatch manually. It slid open and he jumped inside. Allura was slumped over the controls, her eyes fluttering as she slowly regained conciousness. She moved to stand, but her shaking knees would not let her. Keith rushed to her side and helped her. She leaned most of her weight on him, blinking rapidly to clear her blurred vision.

"I feel like the Lion landed on me," she muttered.

"It gets worse," he said none too gently, pulling her closer to him.

She clung on to his uniform with numb fingers. She could barely keep her eyes open and her body ached. Her mouth was dry and she was shaking all over. She didn't even want to think about how much worse it could get. Lance came running into the Blue and helped Keith with the Princess. They brought her outside as the med units were arriving. It was then did Keith notice the small crack on the Princess' helmet. It was the helmet that was between a bad headache and a massive hemorrhage. And she had cracked it. She began to waver slightly and hung on to Lance to keep her balance. It didn't appear that she even noticed who he was as her eyes blinked rapidly. She was fighting to hold on to her consciousness, but it looked like she was losing.

"Allura," Keith began.

Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she started falling backwards. Lance caught her quickly, slowing her fall by slowly going down with her. He cradled her in his arms and looked up at Keith. He met their leader's grim look with horrified eyes. The paramedics took her from him and loaded her onto a stretcher. Pidge was already inside the ground car, his eyes closed as he leaned against the head rest. The medics closed the doors and sped off back to the castle. Keith watched them go, worry forming a knot in his chest. He wanted to go and make sure Pidge and the Princess were alright, but they had to get the Lions back to their hiding places.

"Hunk, Lance," he said, his eyes not leaving the retreating ground car. "Let's clean up."