Lance woke up to the sun streaming in from the window. He blinked, disoriented. Something didn't feel right. The walls of the room were too...flowery. The bed was much too soft. And...something was lying across his chest.

Then, he remembered.

Carefully, he turned his head and came face to face with Link Varun's sleeping face. Smiling in wonderment, he reached out and brushed a raven lock from her forehead with a gentle hand. She stirred, but didn't waken. Her arm tightened around his chest and she snuggled closer to his side. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and a smile drifted across his face.

The night before had been magical. Lance was not a stranger to one-night stands, but this was different. She was different. He had never reacted to a woman the way he reacted towards Link. The first time he saw her, he immediately knew that he was looking at the other half of his soul. Lance had never been the romantic sort, but now he understood why other men bent over backwards for the women they loved. Because he knew, even though he'd only met Link the night before, that he'd do anything for her.

"You're still here," she murmured, her sleepy eyes gazing up at him.

"Where would I go?" he countered.

"Don't you have Lion practice or something?"

"Not recently. We've been too occupied. In fact, I haven't flown my Kitty in a while."

"Will the others be looking for you?"

"Probably." He played idly with a strand of her hair. "It's early anyway. I'm not due to be at Castle Control until 0900 hours."

"Oh ok. We have two and a half more hours." She grinned. "Isn't this crazy?"

He winked and grinned back. "My middle name is Crazy."

"Alderain is going crazy," Allura said, practically breathing fire.

"Why do you say that?" Gwen asked.

"He's...he's..." her hands fluttered around as she searched for the best word to describe her suitor.

"Extremely happy," Keith supplied.

She pointed at him. "Exactly. I don't know what's wrong with him."

"You probably smiled at him accidentally and he doesn't know what to do with himself," Lance said easily, entering Castle Control just then.

"Lance, you ass, if I didn't need this cane, I would launch it at you," Allura growled.

"I'm not worried. You throw like a girl."

If Keith hadn't been nearby to put a hand on Allura's, he was sure it would have been indeed thrown in Lance's general direction. Allura was so startled at his touch that she put the cane back on the ground and pinned him with a surprised look. He only smiled and gave her hand a squeeze before letting go. She blinked and hoped to Riaru no one noticed the little action.

"If you two are finished, we have things to talk about," Coran said. "First, Princess Romelle sent a list of transports that are available to us. We must begin organizing the exodus from Pollux."

"Very dramatic," Gwen commented.

"Coran's just plum full of it," Lance told his sister.

Coran looked at them as if they were errant children, and continued. "Romelle has already spoke to Bandor and he's already told the people to get ready to move. We are to give them three days in which to gather their belongings. It's up to you to make sure we have enough transports."

"We'll make it a team effort," Keith said. "This is going to take too long if only a couple people work on it. We need a list of people so that we can assign them to ships. We can approximate how much they're bringing with them."

Coran nodded. "A good plan, Commander. Also, Hunk has informed me that the Lions are finally fully functional and we now have Voltron at our disposal again."

"Vonderful," Sven said. "I haf missed flying."

"Me, too," Keith agreed.

"Me, three," Allura sighed.

"And three-fourths of the fighters are repaired as well," Hunk said, walking in with Pidge in tow. He immediately made a beeline for Gwen, but stood a chaste distance from her, though his eyes were smiling when they exchanged a look.

"Great job," Keith remarked.

"Thanks. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to give my crew the rest of the week off. They worked their butts off to get everything in tip top shape in a month and a half. That's not an easy thing."

"Give them two weeks," Allura said. "And a raise."

"They'll be glad to hear it," Hunk said.

"Well," Keith said, clapping his hands. "Let's get to work then. Lance, could you stay a minute?"

Looking like the kid who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, Lance fidgeted as the others left. Allura and Keith simultaneously crossed their arms and regarded him seriously.

"So, the sentries tell me you didn't come home last night," Keith said sternly. "Dare I ask who you were with?"

"No one," Lance mumbled.

"Would this no one be Linkadriel Varun?" Allura said.

"What if it was?" Lance replied belligerently.

"If it was, I hope that you haven't done anything stupid," Keith said. "You know, like other times you've been with a woman."

Glaring at him, Lance retorted, "No, I didn't do anything stupid. In fact...I had a great time with her."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Keith warned.

At that, Lance grinned. "Somehow Keith, I think you wish you could do what I'm doing."

Keith could feel the heat rise to his face. Allura cleared her throat.

"Get out of here," she said. "And if I hear that you did something deplorable to that woman..."

"I know, I know."

Lance hurried out of the room. Allura glanced at Keith and was amused to find that he was still trying to recover from Lance's words.

Lotor paced the length of his room. He was bored, restless, and more than a little tired of waiting for these Arusians to get moving. He wanted to get to Pollux so he could get to work on his bigger scheme--not that toying with the Princess and her two suitors wasn't fun. He was looking forward to dinner that night.

"Sire, here are your robes," a young woman said meekly, coming into the room.

"Thank you...what was your name again?" he asked irritably.

"Ala-ranima'ti," she answered, practically bent over double with fear.

"That's too long for me to remember." Suddenly, he smiled. "I will call you Kyra."

"Yes, Sire. Whatever you wish."

"Now, help me put my robes on," he said, his voice lowering, and his yellow eyes gleaming dangerously.

The girl began to shake, but she did as she was told. Fortunately for her, Lotor's viewscreen chimed. With a groan, he waved her off and turned it on.

"If you ever dare show your face before me again, I will kill you!" Zarkon screamed, his face turning a darker shade of blue. "I cannot believe that my own son would do this to me...this vile betrayal! I will find you and I will destroy you. Mark my words..."

Lotor made a big show of studying his fingernails. After their last confrontation, he resolved to remain calm and show his father what he's really made of.

"Are you quite finished?" he asked calmly. "Frankly, Father, I'm surprised to be hearing from you since our last chat."

Zarkon was so furious that he could only sputter at his son's indifference.

"Honestly, in all the years you've known me, have you ever seen me as a traitor? Or worse...a coward?"

Zarkon only stared at him.

Lotor sighed. "Alright...have I ever acted like a coward purposefully?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Zarkon demanded, annoyed, but intrigued.

"This is the greatest of all strategies, Father. All these years we've been trying to destroy the Alliance by attacking its planets, its ships...to no avail. It has only grown stronger. And now with this..this Voltron, we're practically helpless. You haven't attacked a single planet in months!"

"We have to rebuild. The whole mixup with Niloc destroyed us."

"He was a fool. He was acting only on his emotions. I have a better plan. A plan that will work and we'll have the Alliance on its knees," Lotor said, his smile feral.

"If you don't tell me what this great plan is in ten seconds, I will..."

"We're going to destroy them from the inside."

Zarkon blinked, surprised by the genius of Lotor's plan. Amused and satisfied by the expression on his father's face, Lotor leaned back in his seat, resting his feet on the surface of his desk.

"I will take care of it, but I will need your help on one thing," Lotor said.

"What's that?"

The Prince smiled. "Well..."