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The following is a story of Voltron I made up based on the T.V. cartoon Voltron by World Events Productions. I did not have World Events Productions' permission to do the story and therefore it does not have World Events Productions' endorsement.
After Hunk and Darah had left Castle Control together to find Dr. Gorma to check Darah's shoulder, Lance was looking for a way to sneak off with Karla, and Karla was likewise hoping for the opportunity.
"So Karla," began Lance who was standing a short distance from her over by Pidge, "since you've decided to stay here on Arus, how about I take you on a tour for a look around?"
"Sure," Karla happily consented.
"Oh no, you're not," said Keith to Lance somewhat angrily. "You and I have got to talk."
Lance suddenly felt very small, though he hadn't done anything wrong. Karla was scowling at her brother Keith, feeling too angry to even say anything.
"Let's go, Lance," ordered the king.
Lance followed Keith out of Castle Control, into the hall, and into an empty room. Keith had the door close behind them.
"All right, what'd you do with my sister?" demanded Keith.
"Look, I haven't done anything with her. Last we saw each other, all we did was talk," said Lance. Then he started sounding a little angry himself when he said, "What's your problem, Keith?"
Keith had had his back to Lance and then he whipped around and answered, "She's my sister, Lance! You're one of my best friends and you've got a thing for my sister!"
"How was I supposed to know she was your sister when we met? I didn't even know you had a sister!"
"How'd you two meet anyway?"
"We'd only met once before, and like I said, we just talked. Remember the leave we were granted after our assignment just before getting assigned to Planet Arus?"
"Uh huh," affirmed Keith.
"And remember how I was the only one who went somewhere?"
"Yeah, so what's your point?"
"Karla. She was on the same space cruise as I was. We sat by each other and talked the whole time."
Sudden realizations came to Keith: the whole story his sister had told him when they got together for the first time since he had started the academy. It was just before his leave was over and just before he’d been assigned to Arus. She had just returned from an excursion in space on a space cruise and told him how she fell in love with a man she just met, but she didn't even remember the guy's name. Yet when she saw Lance for the first time again on Lotor's ship, she knew his name right away. Keith wondered why his sister would lie to him.
Lance talked on, “After she was gone, I knew I had fallen in love, but I had no way of ever finding her again. I thought I'd just get over it, but I haven't been able to get her out of my head since. And now she's back." Then Lance beamed as he said, "Keith, I've never been happier!" But he wasn't looking straight at Keith at the time. When he did and saw Keith wasn't at all happy for him, Lance's smile disappeared and was replaced by a look of angry annoyance. "What?" he asked in angry bewilderment over why Keith could still be so upset.
"You don't really expect me to believe that do you?" retorted Keith.
"Yeah, I do. It's the truth," stated Lance.
"Oh come on, Lance." Then Keith sarcastically mimicked, "'I thought I'd get over it, but I haven't been able to get her out of my mind since.' That's a line of garbage and you know it. Since you've come to Arus you've ogled plenty of women, and you know it! Especially Allura! I think you even had a thing for Farla from Planet Lira. I don't know why you didn't do more to pursue her."
"You know what, Keith? You're right!" said Lance sounding angry and raising his voice. "I have been looking to find someone else. I knew I'd never find Karla again. I never imagined that I would. I was looking for anyone to get her off my mind. And yeah, I had a thing for Allura. We all did! I'll bet even Sven did too! You're just the one who hid it best without realizing how obvious your love for her really was. She was the closest I've ever come to getting over Karla. But even with thoughts of pursuing Allura, Karla was still stuck in my head. And as for Farla, there were many reasons why pursuing her would have been difficult. But as far as why I didn't, the most obvious for me was I was still stuck on Karla. That's why!"
"So you love my sister?"
"Yes, I do! It's kind of freaky that she's your sister, but she's Karla and I love her. I've never forgotten her."
"So you're trying to tell me that the reason you didn't continue pursuing Allura is because you loved Karla, even though you thought you knew there'd be no way you'd ever meet Karla again? Is that what you're expecting me to believe? I know you Lance. And you expect me to believe that?"
"No, that's not completely true," admitted Lance. "I loved Allura. I wanted Allura. I loved her just as much as anybody except probably you. I still love her although not in the same way. She was the closest I ever came to getting over Karla."
"I don't get it, Lance. I was thinking you still loved Allura, but I never asked. I've never understood why you made sure I told Allura how I felt about her. Why'd you do it, Lance?"
"Geez, Keith. You're my best friend. Need I say more?"
"Yeah, you do. I don't get it. Why'd you do it, and what took you so long?"
"Well I knew you two had feelings for each other. It was obvious since the moment you met. As time dragged on, I wasn't so sure. But then, after you kissed each other and said you loved each other . . . Then I knew it was true! Who am I to stand in the way of true love, Keith? I loved Allura and I wanted her to be happy, and geez Keith, I care about you. I'd never be happy knowing you loved each other. So what else could I do? Besides I figured I've eventually get over it, like I once thought of Karla. And you know I did get over it. When I saw you racing toward her on that horse and actually pick her up and ride away with her . . . Wow! At that instant I was completely over it!" Lance paused and then said, "Well almost . . ."
"Almost?" questioned Keith sounding a bit angry.
"Well, I thought I was completely over it except that at rare fleeting moments I'd catch myself wondering 'what if it had been me with her?' And then I'd find myself thinking about Karla. The impossible woman I'd never meet again, and yet I did. And now I am completely over Allura."
"Wow, Lance! I don’t know what to say. You really do love my sister, or at least you're in love with who you think she is. What if she's not really who you remember her to be?"
"That's what we're gonna have to find out if we're ever given the chance to get reacquainted!" stated Lance irritably. "But as long was we're on the subject, there's been some stuff that's been bothering me about you."
"And what's that?" asked Keith in an angry defensive tone.
Rather than cut straight to thoughts that bothered Lance most, he started off with less abrasive questions that he had wondered about over the years.
"Well for starters, you know I've never understood your calmness after we thought we had defeated the Doom side of the Drule Empire for good. You seemed so fine with returning to Earth, no sign of loss in your emotions over it all."
Keith was a bit leery of what Lance was leading up to. He was expecting a more insulting question to answer. But he went on to honestly answer Lance's question.
"Yeah. I did a pretty good job convincing myself not to get upset over leaving. Afterall, I had no realistic hope of ever getting together with the princess anyway. I rationalized not getting heartbroken over something that wasn't possible anyway. Besides, if it were meant to be, my leaving would have emotionally upset her, and she always seemed just fine over the idea that someday the team would leave Arus and I would return to Earth."
"Yeah, she never seemed upset over it either. I wonder what was up with that?"
"I never asked her. I guess I've always felt all along that she was doing the same thing I was for basically the same reasons. Or, at least I had the hope that she was. But at the time I convinced myself that was all just senseless hope on my part. It's pretty sad to think that I was happy when we ended up staying on Arus because peace had not really yet been established. Now that Allura and I are together, I'm convinced that she didn't seem so upset when all of us were leaving for the same reasons I managed to act coolly over the situation."
Lance continued off the beaten path of where he truly intended his questioning to go.
"Hey, do you remember when she once said she loved us all the same? Why do you think she said that?"
"Oh yeah. I remember. I'm convinced now that she did things like that to try to get me to react and show my weakness of feelings for her. You guys sure did!"
"Hey there were moments you did too!"
"Not after I caught on to what I hoped she was doing. I certainly didn't get all giddy over her to the extent that you guys did all the time."
"Right, you were just as giddy over her as the rest of us the time we all dived into the water to go ashore just to pick her some flowers. And you can't tell me you were really much better than the rest of us like when she lost her bikini top, or came running into Castle Control wearing just a towel, or walked in on us when we were all showering."
"The flower picking happened before I purposely started playing it cool. As for the other incidents, as I remember it, I did handle them all better than the rest of you guys. There were times later, after we found out peace hadn't been established and we were staying on Arus, that I dared to warm up to Allura a little bit."
"Yeah, I remember that. You both seemed to be warming up to each other more openly. But it wasn't enough to convince me for sure what was going on. I didn't know for sure without a doubt until I saw the both of you kiss."
"Yeah, I wasn't sure either. My hopes at times were great, but I was never convinced for sure that she felt the same way I did. Her father even approved of me . . ."
"What? King Alfor told you that? Before you even proposed to her? Before you kissed her?"
"Yeah, he told both Allura and I that. It felt so right the way she and I were holding hands afterward -- like we were meant to be together. But I couldn't avoid the nagging thoughts that likely wasn't what King Alfor meant, and Allura was just reacting in gratitude to my devotion to protect her and her planet."
"You're kidding. What else could King Alfor have meant?"
"You weren't there, Lance. It was the way he said it. It was more likely that he didn't mean anything deeper than what he said."
"What do you mean? He either said he approved you or he didn't say it. In what context does 'I approve of you, Keith' not mean he finds you acceptable to have his daughter's hand?"
"Well, he's not actually the one who said it. It was Allura who said afterward, 'Well Keith, I guess he approves of you!' "
"Wait a minute. I don't get it. So what did Alfor say?"
"He said that Allura fought courageously and then told me that her and I fought well together and that I was a true champion. So what was I to think of all that? I didn't think anything of it until Allura said '. . . I guess he approves of you,' and we were holding hands. And yet what was I supposed to think of what she said? She is pretty free about how she shows her thanks. Like King Alfor, she just may have been expressing her gratitude toward me for being a good warrior for her and her people."
"Or, they both were expressing that you two belong together. Sheesh, Keith. Good thing I was there to witness the two of you kissing, or you would have just brushed that off too. In fact you tried to do exactly that!"
"Yeah I would have. I'll admit you talked some sense into me. Or, at least enough courage to try the course of recklessness."
"And that you sure did!"
"Lance, what's the point of all these questions? You're not asking what you really want to ask are you?"
"All right. What I really want to ask is about the queen. I really care about her and never want to see her hurt. You accused me of not really loving Karla because of interests I've shown in other women. But what about you? Sure, you express that all along you've always been trying to play it cool around her -- that you were in some sort of emotional upheaval underneath it all, wrestling with all your feelings you had for her but you couldn't believe she could have for you. But, have you ever had any interests in anyone else besides Highness? At least I was thinking I was never going to see Karla again. But what about you?"
Keith was quiet for a while and then turned away to the side as he confessed, "Yeah, I'll admit, I did kind of have a thing for Maryanne. Not that anything happened, but I did find myself having some feelings for her. But I knew Allura could never be mine. I mean at times I thought maybe it was possible. Like I said, even King Alfor approved of me, but he didn't specifically say that he approved of me having Allura's hand in marriage. At times I thought perhaps Coran secretly approved of it. Some of his actions seemed to show that he approved. But I never forgot what he and Nanny expressed just before we had all left in an attempt to help Planet Balto. They were dead set on making sure the princess married a prince. So logically it seemed that it had to be wishful thinking that we'd ever be together. And as it turned out, I sure was right about Nanny and Coran. . . I tried to get over her but . . ."
"It didn't work," Lance finished Keith's sentence after he had awkwardly paused. "It's the same for me with Karla. Now do you understand?"
"Yeah, I understand,” said Keith quietly as he looked down, feeling sheepish.
Then he turned back to Lance and looking straight at him said, "Lance, you have my blessings."
"Like I needed them," muttered Lance sarcastically.
"You telling me you need one of these instead?" said Keith jokingly as he raised his fist and smiled sinisterly.
"Nope!" answered Lance quickly. "I'm gone!" And Lance zipped out of the room and ran to get to Castle Control to find Karla.
Keith just let him go. He was just about to leave the room himself when Sven's head popped into view from around the frame of the open doorway. He hadn't heard any of the exchange.
"You took it easy on Lance, didn't ya?" Sven asked. "I heard about the story that he knows your sister."
"Yeah, things are fine," answered Keith, and he began walking out of the room. Unknown did either of them realize that it was all the makings of another deep discussion about to begin.
Commentary: In previous stories I wanted to make it obvious that Keith had a sense of misgivings over the apparent relationship Lance and his sister had with each other. I wanted to create a situation where Keith would "have it out" with Lance during which they could "clear the air" between each other. The reference I make to Keith remembering what his sister had once told him can also be found in the story I wrote Keith's Sister. The parts where I have Lance mention witnessing Keith and Allura kissing for the first time, and when Kieth sweeps her off her feet and onto a horse, can be found in the stories Keith and Allura: The Kiss and Keith and Allura: The Proposal. In the part where I had Lance explaining about what had happened between him and Keith's sister long ago, I had Lance mention that it was during a time when the team was on leave and Lance was the only one who went somewhere. That whole explanation goes back to a previous story I've written but haven't typed out yet. It was also fun having Lance bring up stuff he had wondered about Keith. I wanted to use the opportunity to present my interpretations of the original animated series of seasons one and two. In this story explain my interpretation of the interactions between Lance and Allura that had happened in the series. I also explain my interpretation of how I think all the boys felt about Allura. I explain why Keith and probably Allura too were so calm when the Voltron force at the end of season one was fully expecting to leave Arus. I explain what Keith's reaction possibly was to Allura once saying in the series that she loved all the boys the same. I explain what Keith's thoughts could have been over the encounter both he and Allura once had with King Alfor in the season two series. Watching the animated series, I got a sense that there were maybe some romantic feelings between Lance and Farla, and Keith and Maryanne. In this story explain what possibly was going on there. Also I explain what was possibly going on as for why the relationship of feelings between Keith and Allura were becoming more blatant in season two, yet still weren't for sure. At the end of the conversation between Keith and Lance of the "air being cleared" between them, I still feel like there's so much left to be explained. So I allude to the next deep discussion happening between Keith and Sven. And, that's what the next story is about.
[Author -- Sheila Bliss, based on the previous creation of Voltron by World Events Productions]
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