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It wasn’t the first time she felt so alone.
Since the moment she fell from the healing pod after a ten-thousand-year sleep and she just noticed that everything she lived for, every single thing that lived with her, disappeared between her fingers.
Having Coran, her father’s counselor, by her side had given her more strength to endure the loss, both supporting each other to survive the pain. And the brief coexistence with Lotor had opened her eyes to a new way for her life, having found the forgotten legacy from Altea and expanding her horizons with knowledge on alchemy. And seeing Romelle getting out from the altean pod with Keith and Krolia had relived her in an inexplicable form, knowing that she wasn’t the only survivor from Altea in the universe.
But that altean trapped in the body of the robot that almost fade them from existence, that little signal that there was something like a scam or treason, that there was some kind of direct link to an action made by Haggar and her intention to destroy them, had left her scared for what else was coming.
She sniffed, feeling the itch in her eyes and knot in her throat causing the tears, and she wiped her face trying to avoid let them fall, her hands getting wet by the vague attempt to not be seen crying. It wasn’t as if someone could see her, anyways, being alone in an abandoned hallway from the Garrison, the lighting being poor even though it was the middle of the day, but she didn’t want to be the one to be comforted, not when she had her time to cry her losses and miss her beloved ones that had protected her.
They had arrived to an enslaved Earth, oppressed by the Galra, an Earth that could’ve been destroyed the same way Altea was, an Earth that they saved, different from the tries to save her own home.
She wasn’t princess of Altea anymore. She wasn’t part of the royalty, nor part of a world that had been destroyed. It didn’t care that there was a possibility that there were millions of alteans in some place in the universe. It didn’t matter because they didn’t belong to the culture that was before the negative influences and Lotor’s lies.
Her crown had lost value even before she pulled it out of her hair to stabilize Shiro’s arm. Her crown had lost value even before she started using it beneath the helmet to pilot the Blue Lion. Her crown had lost all the value even before she got out of the healing pod that maintained her life for ten thousand years.
She huffed, shaking her head, and wiped out again her tears before they dared to fall, knowing that in a few minutes she should be back with her team, with her friends, and smile the same way she had been always, acting as if she wasn’t hurt.
“Princess?”
She jumped, turning so fast that it took her a few seconds to regain her composure, cleaning her tears clumsily when she noticed him standing behind her.
But Keith had seen her, his eyes open in surprise and his expression starting to be concerned.
“Princess, what’s wrong?” he asked, taking a couple of steps, and the mere fact that he called her by her old title made her sob.
“I-I...”
Keith stood in front of her after halting for a bit, but she cleaned her face quickly and smiled at him with a sad grin, making him stop his hands reaching for her shoulders.
“Princess...”
She scoffed, shaking her head, and Keith frowned.
“It’s really curious you keep calling me that,” she said with more bitterness than she wanted, Keith flinching and looking confused.
“Is it?” he doubted carefully, his hands falling to his sides and his head tilting to a side.
“It is,” she huffed, once again wiping her face more roughly than she should, “I’m princess of nothing. I have no right to be called that. I...”
She took a deep breath, trying to contain her tears, and she flinched when he felt Keith’s hand in her shoulder, in a weird attempt to comfort her.
“You know,” he murmured softly, making her look up to him, “I know...” he started a little hesitant and inhaled shortly, looking around them with caution, as if he was assuring they were alone, “I know you’ve lost so much. A lot. And there’s no way I could comprehend everything you and Coran had suffered, especially what happened to Romelle. I can’t be emphatic and say that I understand to be able to comfort you.”
She shrugged, biting her lower lip to swallow up a sob. Fortunately enough, Keith kept talking.
“I know you think you had lost everything and that apparently you now believe you don’t have the right to have the title of ‘Princess’. But I don’t think that’s true... Princess.”
She looked at him, prepared to show disgust, but her surprise overwhelmed her at the little mocking grin Keith had in his mouth, knowing what he had done when calling her that once again.
“Continue,” she ordered rolling her eyes and hearing him huff.
“What I’m trying to say is, you still have that diplomatic attitude every time we encounter potential allies. You still have that elegance that characterizes royalty. You still have that personality that thinks about a greater good, even above yours. And all those things aren’t attributes for someone who shouldn’t be called a Princess.”
She lifted her sight to him again, seeing him looking to a side thoughtfully before continuing.
“Here on Earth, they always wrote and painted princess as those that had to be rescued, as those that were always in danger and couldn’t defend themselves, as those that were too weak.”
She tightened her fists, almost hurting herself, and dropped her gaze to the ground, feeling abruptly as one of them.
“But you aren’t like that, at all,” Keith huffed, looking back at her and reaching for her face to make her look at him, “Believe me when I say that I would like the whole world to take you as an example, a real princess, over the fictitious ones that can’t do anything by themselves.”
She opened her mouth, confused, and closed it again when she couldn’t find anything to say, flustered by the weird compliment that Keith had formulated.
“You’re strong, Allura, smart, and full of abilities that everyone would like to have,” he continued with a sigh, “And even when you lost everything and think that you don’t deserve that title, I still believe you’re the perfect image for a Princess.”
She gasped quietly, and she didn’t notice when she had jumped into him, hugging his shoulders tightly and feeling his hands get away from her in confusion.
“Oh, you and your surprise hugs,” he laughed nervously a couple of seconds later, his arms wrapping her waist and his fingers caressing her back.
“Thank you, Keith,” she murmured in the hollow of his neck, and let go of him a bit later, now with an honest smile in her mouth, “I can’t believe you were the one who comforted me. You’ve changed.”
He shrugged, his hands still in her hips.
“Two years traveling between space and time can change you.”
She huffed, stepping back and sighing, feeling a bit strange by the feeling of insufficiency after the hug.
“Are you alright?” he asked when he saw her staring at the ground, leaning over her space and making her jump back half step, “Oh, sorry...”
“Oh, don’t be,” she said with a wave of hand, looking her frown, “You just surprised me, that’s all. I’m better, thank you.”
Keith nodded slowly and looked over his shoulder, clearing his throat.
“I think we should go back,” he suggested turning back to her, “There’s still a lot to do for training, and I’m pretty sure Lance will notice your absence in not too long, Princess.”
She scoffed when he saw him roll his eyes, and she smiled openly at him.
“Yes, thank you.”
But Keith didn’t move when she passed beside him, staring at her until she stopped a few feet away from him.
“Keith?”
“Oh, yeah,” he blurted out, looking bashful, and then followed her up the hallway.
And even when it looked like their relationship got closer, she was still confused by the warmth that she felt when being by his side.