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Tonight I might change my life, all for you, all for you
The ominous hum of the Galran ship’s innards does little to calm Romelle, as she tiptoes throughout the maze of corridors.
The sudden sound of metal marching from the corridor perpendicular to hers has her stopping in her tracks and ducking into a crevice in the wall. A sentry patrol.
Luckily, Shiro had given her the pattern for their patrols, and she was able to evade them so far. But the sudden stoppage of metal footsteps has Romelle’s breath hitching.
Suddenly, the purple red glow of a Sentry’s eye swoops the dim floor of the ship in front of her, as it looks for movement in the hallway Romelle was just in.
Romelle holds her breath, watching intensely as the eye seems to look back and forth a couple of times, before it disappears and the sound of metal footsteps resumes, slowly growing fainter.
Holding her breath for a few extra moments, she exhales, beyond relieved. She can’t make it this far just to fail.
Pulling up the map Pidge was able to hack, Romelle checks her spot, which is indicated by a little blue dot, and sees she’s just a couple turns from the red dot - her destination. She felt so close, yet so far, her desire turning tantalizing.
“C’mon, Romelle, you can do this,” she whispers to herself, before resuming her quiet dance of tiptoeing down the hall.
The first turn goes smoothly without a hitch, but just as she’s about to make her second turn, a cold hand from behind grabs and yanks on her arm, stopping her.
“Agh!” She gasps quietly, struggling to turn her head. “Let me go-!”
“Ah, so there you are.”
Yellow sclera and dark blue irises stops Romelle’s world entirely.
“I’ve been looking for you, you know,” he says. “I was so sad to hear you just suddenly left.”
“L-Lord Lotor, I-”
Before she can finish, Lotor is slapping a pair of cuffs on her. Struggling in vain, he hands her off to a pair of sentries, who grab her by the arms and lift her up and off of the ground. Kicking her feet against the sentries, she winces as her feet clash against hard, durable metal.
“Release me at once!” She yells, trying to not let desperation leak into her voice. “If you don’t, the Coalition will be dispatched to destroy you!”
Lotor raises his brows and smirks, but doesn’t say anything. Turning to his sentries, he gives them a nod.
“Toss her in the lockup.”
“No!” Romelle yells, tears threatening to spill over. “Y-You can’t!”
The sentries turn her around and begin their metallic march, and Lotor disappears from Romelle’s view.
“LET ME GO!” She screams, still trying to struggle. The sentries tighten their grip and Romelle bites back a cry at the stinging pain. Slowly, she succumbs to fatigue, and as the door for a cell opens, she loses consciousness.
The cold has oddly become a warmth for Allura in this hell.
Her empty stomach has long since stopped growling, and her fortnightly meals offer her just enough to pass by. Enough to keep her alive, albeit barely.
She had been contemplating giving up, but she knows she can’t. She can’t let down Voltron, and all the paladins - her friends- no, family . She can’t let down Coran. She can’t let down the Coalition, or give up on her father’s dream of a new Altea.
And most importantly, she can’t give up on her . The one she’s been in love with ever since she arrived at the Castle of Lions in tow with Keith and his mom all those phoebs ago.
Ever since then, Allura has found herself in love. A true, genuine love. And she can’t give up on that love. Not this time. Not now, not ever.
She didn’t want to go undercover and spy on the Galra, but she was the best one suited for it. Especially since she had the Altean power of shapeshifting. And it was only supposed to be a single movement, at most.
But that was before things went to hell. Before her cover was suddenly blown.
Sighing, she tries to stand, but the abrupt sound of the cell door unlocking has her ceding her motions, and she looks up, expecting some sentry to slam down a tray of food.
But she received her meal just a couple quintants ago, unless they’re upping the amount they’re giving her?
The heavy door swings open, and Allura looks away from the violet glow of the sentry’s eyes.
As expected, the sentry drops off something, probably Allura’s next meal, and leaves without so much as a second glance.
The door slams shut, and a clicking sound emits twice, as the door locks itself.
Finally looking up, Allura goes to check out what she’s received this time, but one look has her whole world coming to a screeching halt.
A delicate body with lush blonde hair lays in a heap in the center of the room, as still as a rock.
Crawling over on her hands and knees, Allura shakily brushes some strands of hair away from the body’s face, gasping when she confirms her suspicions.
There, lay her beloved, seemingly lifeless.
Shakily, Allura slowly envelopes Romelle into her arms, cradling her head against her chest, as she silently cries, soaking Romelle’s gorgeous hair. She cries till there’s no more tears and begins dry heaving, clutching Romelle’s body.
As exhaustion hits her, Allura buries her face in Romelle’s hair - it still smells like the Juniper Berry shampoo she gifted her a while back. The familiar smell offers a little solace in this hellish nightmare, but it quickly fades, like a drop of water in the desert.
She stays like that for a while, simply holding onto Romelle. She breathes in, and hopes to who or whatever might be out there listening, to have Romelle wake up.
And, at last, the universe throws her a bone.
A few doboshes more pass by, before finally, Romelle stirs and whimpers.
Allura gasps, as a couple tears breach from her eyes, slowly sliding down her cheeks. Gently, as if handling a newborn baby, Allura taps Romelle’s cheeks a couple times.
“R-Romelle? Can you hear me?”
Romelle’s face screws up, before her eyes slowly open. Slowly, the blonde girl takes in her surroundings, before her eyes navigate towards Allura. As recognition sets in, Romelle’s mouth drops open, before tears of her own slowly form.
“Ah- L- ‘Lura? Is that you?”
For the first time in what feels like forever, Allura finally feels herself smiling.
“Yes, Rom. It’s me.”
Allura yelps as she’s suddenly tackled, and both girls hit the cold floor. Allura laughs hoarsely as Romelle latches onto her, crushing her in a hug.
“I found you!” Romelle cries, her grip growing stronger.
“Rom, I’m glad to see you too, but- ow! You’re crushing me!”
“Sorry! Sorry!” Romelle squeaks, throwing herself off of Allura and backing away, giving her some space.
“No no!” Allura laughs, opening her arms. “It’s alright, Rom. C’mere. Just don’t break my ribs.”
Romelle’s bottom lip juts out in a pout, still slightly embarrassed, but obeys Allura’s command. Like a moth to a flame, she sidles up next to Allura and, much more gently this time, hugs her.
“I-I thought I’d never find you…” Romelle whispers.
“I thought I’d never see you again,” Allura admits, before pulling away and grabbing Romelle’s face with her hands, squishing her cheeks. “But… you found me, Rom.”
“Heh, I did, didn’t I?”
Allura hums in agreement, before releasing Romelle’s face.
“Speaking of which… how did you even get here?” Allura questions, raising a brow and giving Romelle her best look of disapproval.
“You can thank Pidge and Hunk for that,” Romelle says around a guilty chuckle. “Hunk helped rig a shuttle with a cloaking device and Pidge was able to procure a map and schematics of this ship for me.”
“So, the rest of Voltron is clueless?”
“Heh, hehe… maybe…?” Romelle says, half wincing, half smiling. “But please don’t be mad! I wanted to be the one to find you.”
Allura sighs, but gives Romelle a tiny smile. “I could never be mad at you.”
Romelle grins, before clapping her hands, and standing up, wobbling a little from her dwindling energy.
“Now, let’s say we get out of here?” Romelle asks, offering Allura a hand
Her smile growing wider, Allura takes Romelle’s hand, and gets to her feet.
She wasn’t done fighting. Not now, not ever.
“But how are we going to get out of here?” Allura asks.
Romelle cheekily grins, and digging through her pockets, she brandishes some sort of… device.
“Pidge gave it to me!” Romelle exclaims.
Ah.
“Ah,” Allura laughs. “Got it.”
“Those stupid metal hunks of trash didn’t bother to search me before tossing me in here with you.”
Thumbing through the small touch screen section on the hand held, Romelle presses a button, and like magic, the door of the cell wooshes open.
Peeking her head out, Allura scans the corridor, and steps out when she fails to spot any sentries.
“Looks like it’s clear,” she tells Romelle. “Let’s find a pod and jettison as soon as we can.”
“Right,” Romelle agrees, still nose deep in Pidge’s device. “Looks like the pods are to the right, and down a right turn and two lefts. Should only take a dobosh or two to reach them.”
Allura nods in acknowledgement and as she turns to the right, she hears the foreboding metal footsteps behind her.
Not wasting a single tick, she grabs Romelle’s arm and takes off down the hallway.
“Gah!” Romelle yelps, looking behind them and screaming as a couple laser bolts go flying past.
A few ticks later, the purple lighting of the ship turns a dim red.
“Oh dear,” Romelle whimpers. “This doesn’t look too good.”
“PRISONER BREAK IN THE MAIN HULL.” The ship's robotic intercom blares. “BACKUP NEEDED IN SECTOR C1.”
Allura hangs the right, losing the sentries, and then hangs the first left. The metal clanking cedes, but as they hang the second left to enter the escape pod bay, they come face to face with five bigger, purple, scarier looking sentries. All of whom brandish giant blasters, pointed right at them.
“Halt.” The center one commands. “Halt.”
Allura skids to a stop, releasing Romelle’s arm. Gritting her teeth, she takes up a fighting stance.
“Allura!” Romelle yells.
“Well, well, well,” a dreaded voice smugly says, appearing from the shadows behind the sentries. “What do we have here?”
“ Lotor ,” both Allura and Romelle hiss in unison.
“Now, now, ladies, no need to be rude.” Lotor says, raising his hands. “I just want to have a chat.”
“Like hell we’ll talk with you!” Romelle snaps, though Allura remains silent, her eyes glazing over.
“‘Lura, you’ll talk with me, right?” Lotor asks, reaching his hand out as if he was holding an olive branch. “ You’ll understand me, won’t you?”
“Enough!” Romelle growls. “Let us go, now .”
“And if I don’t? Hm?” Lotor asks. “Then what’ll happen?”
As Romelle gets ready to pounce on the former Galran prince, Allura puts her arm in front of her to stop her.
“Romelle, no.”
“Allura, what ?” Romelle questions, spinning to give her a bewildered look.
“That’s it.” Lotor laughs. “Let’s talk, shall we?”
“Alright. So talk.” Allura bites out.
“I don’t know, can I?” Lotor asks, glaring at Romelle. “Or will this blonde brat try to attack me?”
“Don’t speak to her like that. And Romelle won’t attack you.” Allura calmly says. “So talk.”
“Hmph. Very well.” Lotor places his hands behind his back and takes a couple steps forward. “I’m willing to release you, Allura. But at a price.”
“Okay. But you’ll release Romelle too. So name your price?”
“Oh, dear Allura, you know that’s not how this works.” Lotor tsks.
“ Don’t call me that.” Allura growls.
“Why not? You know, Allura, in case you forgot, I still love you-”
“ Enough !” Allura yells, cutting Lotor off. “Release us now or else I’ll do it myself!”
Lotor sighs, turning around and waving his hand. “Very well. Sentries, kill the annoying blonde one, and detain Princess Allura.”
On command, the mechanical beasts raise their blasters, all aimed at Romelle.
As Romelle’s eyes go wide and she turns to look at Allura, the blasters glow red, but Allura feels time come to a grinding halt.
And then everything goes black.
The five red dots trained on her are the least of Romelle’s worries. What she cares about right now, is Allura.
Turning to look at the one she’s been pining over, she opens her mouth, but no words come.
“NO!” Allura roars , her eyes momentarily glowing white.
As bright as the sun of Altea or the spirit of the White Lion, Allura raises her hands at the sentries and makes fists.
One by one, Romelle watches in amazement as the sentries are lifted up off the ground, to be suddenly crushed into a sphere of metal and wires.
As soon as it begins it ends, and as the last clump of metal hits the ground, the color of Allura’s eyes returns, and she slumps over. Romelle runs over and catches Allura in her arms before she hits the ground. She quickly hits a button on an escape pod to open the hatch.
“WHAT?!” Lotor yells. “What Altean witchcraft has she learned?!”
“Fuck off!” Romelle yells back, slamming the hatch shut behind her.
Placing Allura down into a seat, she presses a button, and watches as Lotor slams his fist against the window before the pod jettisons. As they blast off from the ship, Romelle watches as Lotor’s face slowly fades away the farther they go.
Grabbing Pidge’s device, Romelle presses the radio button.
“Everyone, I have Allura, but I’m going to need a pod. Voltron, move in and stop Lotor from escaping!”
“Roger!” Six voices yell simultaneously.
“Glad to hear it went well, we were starting to worry,” Hunk says.
“Yeah, but maybe next time tell the rest of us,” Shiro scolds.
“Well hopefully there won’t be a next time!” Coran chimes in.
From the pod’s window, Romelle watches as the Castle of Lions appears from behind a moon, and as Voltron comes whizzing by, already formed.
In space, Voltron disables Lotors ship’s cannons from firing, but before they can do any real damage, the ship blasts away into hyperspace.
“Dammit!” Lance groans. “I thought we had him!”
“Told you we should’ve gone for the engines first.” Keith grumbles.
“Oh, yeah?! But then-”
Romelle tunes out Keith and Lance’s argument, and watches as Coran maneuvers the Castle of Lions to the escape pod, engaging the tractor beam and hauling the pod into the main hanger.
As soon as it's on the ground, Romelle flings the hatch open, dragging Allura’s body out of it.
Luckily, Coran is already down there, pod in tow. Now that they’re in a bright area with optimal lighting, Romelle can survey the damage, her heart sinking.
Allura’s beautiful dark skin has turned a couple shades lighter from malnutrition, and her skin feels clammy. Her cheekbones are more prominent, and in general the Princess just looks… frail.
Coran sighs sadly, and gets Allura into the pod. “My poor girl, you’ve really done it this time, haven’t you?”
Once he’s done, the lions and their paladins come back and land, each pilot disembarking as Coran sends the pod off to the med bay.
“Will she be alright?” Lance asks, his brows creased in worry.
“She will,” Coran confirms. “She’s been through worse, unfortunately, but she seems incredibly weak as of now.”
Turning to Romelle, he gives her a nod of thanks. “Splendid work, young lady. Just remember, that we Alteans are in this together! So tell me you need help before , alright?”
“S-Sorry,” Romelle apologizes, rocking back and forth on her heels. “It won’t happen again.”
“Good.” Shiro says with a nod, before turning to his paladins. “Nice work today everyone. Now go get some rest.”
They all go their separate ways, and Romelle gives Pidge back her device.
“Thank you,” Romelle says, bowing. “I am forever indebted to you.”
“Nah, don’t mention it,” Pidge waves off. “Allura is family, and we help out family, right?”
Romelle smiles, patting Pidge on the head. “I suppose that is correct.”
Pidge rips Romelle’s hand off their head, glaring. “But if you want me to keep helping you, I highly suggest you don’t pat my head.”
“Heh, sorry!”
Pidge sighs, rolling their eyes. “Anyways, shouldn’t you be checking up on your girlfriend in the med bay?”
Romelle’s face instantly goes red. “Wha- Allura is not my girlfriend!”
“Rrright,” Pidge laughs, dragging the ‘r’. “That’s funny, cause I remember Keith saying the same exact thing about Lance before they started dating.”
A faint “ SHUT UP!” can be heard from afar, and both of them start laughing.
“Seriously, though - go to Allura. She’ll want to see you when she wakes up.”
“R-right,” Romelle says, blush returning. “Thanks again, Pidge.”
“Uh-huh,” Pidge says, smiling as they watch Romelle scamper off. “I swear I’m surrounded by the most oblivious people in the universe.”
“Hey!” Hunk whines from where he’s working on Yellow’s paw.
“Not you Hunk. Everyone loves you.” Pidge amends.
“Aww, thanks!” Hunk coos, as Yellow purrs in agreement.
The frosty glass of the pod slowly melts, causing Romelle’s drooping eyelids to shoot open.
As she predicted, like a newborn animal, Allura stumbles out on uneven legs, but falls right into Romelle’s arms.
“Wha-”
“Hey.” Romelle quietly says, giving Allura a small smile. “Welcome back.”
Allura rubs her head, before making eye contact with Romelle.
“Y-you… saved me.”
“Pft, more like you saved us! Seriously, though, what was that?”
“I… don’t know.” Allura admits. “All I remember was your face, and a bright light, and… wanting to make sure you were alive, at all costs.”
Romelle’s smile disappears as realization hits, and then she allows it to return, this time not hiding her lovestruck grin.
“Yeah?” She asks.
“Yeah.” Allura breathes, her eyes widening. “Romelle, I-”
“Can I kiss you?” Romelle asks, resting her forehead on Allura’s and staring deep into the ethereal Altean blue of her eyes.
“Oh, please- mmph .”
Romelle presses her lips against Allura’s, who is quick to open her mouth in return and deepen the kiss.
After almost a couple doboshes, they are both forced to separate for air, though once their eyes open they never leave one another. Like binary stars, they remain in orbit around each other.
“I love you.” Romelle finally says, intertwining her hands with Allura’s.
“I love you too.” Allura immediately responds, smiling.
And there, in the med bay, they hold each other, slowly rocking back and forth.
The war may not be over, but Allura was reminded of why she’ll never give up.
And with Romelle, her beloved by her side, she knows that giving up will now be impossible. She won’t give up.
Not now.
Not ever.