The trowel hit the tree with such force that it was embedded in the trunk. Keith looked at it thoughtfully before turning back to his petulant pupil. The young woman regarded him with a pout and a sour look. He only sighed the sigh of the suffering and retrieved the trowel from the tree. He held it out to her. She blew an exaperated breath out through pursed lips and took it back.

"One inch...two inches...does it really matter?" Allura asked, throwing her hands up, causing a bit of soil to fall from the trowel to her hair.

Keith put a finger in the hole he had just dug and made a measurement. With sure movements, he planted the small rose bush, patting the soil around it as gently as he would tuck in a baby. She watched him with an ounce of envy. He knew his way around her garden better than she did and she spent countless hours of her childhood watching her mother do the same thing he was doing now.

"It does matter," he replied, getting testy. "If you put it in too deep, it might not be able to grow properly. If you don't put it in deep enough, all its roots might not be in the ground."

Allura wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, leaving a streak of dirt across her head. She followed Keith's example, and with a few murmured instructions from him, finally succeeded in planting her first rosebush.

"What kind of flower is this again?" she asked.

"Roses."

"What color?"

"I don't know. I told Supply to surprise me."

"Can't you tell by looking at it?" she asked impatiently.

He threw her a disbelieving look. "You really haven't the faintest idea of what we're doing."

She raised an eyebrow. "You just caught on now?"

"Well, I got hints after you tried to plant the violets in the cement mix."

She shrugged. "I thought it was some special soil."

Keith laughed and a smile fought its way across her face. He was glad to see it. She had been a mite ill-tempered when he fetched her to begin work on her garden. She and Pidge had been working in Castle Control for hours, trying to set up the new database GG sent and it hadn't been successful. He thought they both needed the break after he heard Pidge yelling from his seat in the rec room. Pidge was not usually a yeller. So, he decided it was time to teach Allura the art of gardening, something she wasn't taking too easily to, if the trowel/tree incident was any indication. Still, he knew she appreciated the beauty that the right flowers could bring and that was why she was accepting his tutelage...and not throwing the trowel at his head instead of the tree trunk.

"So what have we planted?" she asked, sitting down on a stone bench that somehow survived Zarkon's attacks.

He sat next to her. "Lilacs, roses, violets, daisies, and a cherry tree."

"Hunk was pretty excited about the cherry tree."

"Because now Nanny will have real cherries to work with next time she makes a cherry cheesecake."

They watched the sun set. Allura unconsciously leaned against him as she was hypnotized by the fading light and the explosion of colors in the sky. He said nothing. Even though they had been on the surface for half a year and she had watched the sun rise and set almost daily, she still grew quiet when another one occured. She had learned not to take things for granted and although Arus was peaceful, she had a gut feeling that it wouldn't last. Lotor was not going to let them go easily. He knew she was right.

"How am I doing?" Keith asked quietly.

"I don't know," she replied faintly, her eyes not leaving the view. "We both agree that I know nothing of gardening."

"Not about that. I mean as captain of the Voltron Force. How am I doing?"

She backed up to look him in the face.

"What do you mean? You know you're doing a great job."

"I have big shoes to fill," he pointed out matter-of-factly.

"My father was a great leader," she conceeded. "But you're no slacker, Keith. You ended years of oppression in an amazingly short period of time, though you had help, but it was still fast. Even my father didn't do that. Why do you ask?"

"I have my doubts and you didn't really say anything about it. I know how you didn't like the interference..."

Even the most confident officer needs a little boost, she mused and said aloud, "You are doing a better job that I expected you to. You are an excellent captain," she said aloud. "And if every interference caused things like this to happen, I will welcome them with open arms."

He grinned. "Be careful what you wish for. GG might take the opportunity to send you more of their "heroes"."

She waved her arms at the imaginary officers. "Great, great. Send them on down. My garden needs to grow!"

They laughed companionably, dark eyes looking into blue.

"I think you're my best friend, Keith," she confessed suddenly. "I feel like I've known you for an eternity. No one has ever taken so much crap from me and still stayed a friend."

He smiled crookedly. "I just wanted to get to the marshmallow center I knew you had. There was something in your face, I guess."

She leaned back on her hands and tilted her face towards the sky.

"Well, I'm lucky that you found it."

"Did you notice we have our best talks near plants?"

She whipped her head towards him. "Don't turn this into another why-plants-are-our-friends lecture."

"I wouldn't do that," he said innocently. "It was just an honest observation."

"Uh-huh."

He turned his head towards her. "Allura."

"Yes?"

"Don't tell Sven and Lance, but you're my new best friend."

Her laughter floated in the wind like the notes of a lullaby. In the clouds a face watched the two young people talk and laugh together. It slowly faded away but not before smiling gently.