The sun was beginning to set on Planet Arus, bathing the rec room in the Castle of Lions with a warm orange glow. Allura gazed out the window and watched the last rays of sunlight dance on the waters of the lake. Tears gathered in her eyes, and she hurriedly wiped them away lest any of the others came in and saw her. Never mind if her gossamer white veil was partially covering her face. It was her wedding, for crying out loud. She should have been crying tears of joy…
She heard the door swish open, and she whirled around as quickly as her billowing white skirts allowed her. Was it time? Coran was to escort her from here to the Ballroom, where he would finally give her away. But it wasn’t Coran at the door.
It was Keith.
Keith started upon seeing the Princess. He hadn’t expected her to be here. He thought that she would be waiting for the beginning of the ceremony in her chambers.
He himself should have been at the Ballroom with the rest of the Force, but he had felt a need to be alone with his thoughts before the wedding began. He needed the time to think about the plan he, Lance, Kayla, and Hunk had talked about that morning. It wasn’t much of a plan, relying much of faith and luck, but it was the best they could do given the circumstances. He had to think of the possible things that could go wrong and how to counter them, if he could. Because he didn’t want to think of what would happen if he couldn’t.
Their eyes met and held for a moment.
"Keith," she said, her voice thickened by her tears.
"Uh… hi," he said, forcing a grin. "I didn’t know that this room was occupied." He took a step closer to her, he couldn’t help himself. She looked… he shook himself mentally. Now was not the time to lose his head. Not with so much hanging in the balance. "How are you feeling?" he asked, injecting some cheer into his voice. "Nervous?"
Miserable, she thought. "Pretty good, considering," she said, clearing her throat of tears and turning away from him. What did she expect him to say? She turned back to the sunset – and felt the force of Keith’s hand on her shoulder, gently turning her towards him.
"You’re crying," he said simply. He slowly lifted the veil covering her face and watched as the red gold light began to bathe it in its warm glow. "Am I allowed to do this?" he teased. "I might suddenly find myself being called out to another duel…" He raised his hands to her cheeks and used his thumbs to gently brush off the tears on her face. "Such a beautiful bride shouldn’t cry on her wedding day – it’ll make her nose swell and her eyes red."
She stared up at him bemused, stunned by the affectionate gesture. If only…
"Well," he said, trying to coax her into stopping, "This the first time since I’ve met you that you don’t have very much to say. The world isn’t coming to an end, is it?" He dropped his hands and grinned his crooked grin at her.
Allura hesitated then, remembering that this man was her friend, Keith, she threw herself into his arms. "Oh, Keith," she sobbed. She felt him tense for a moment then slowly put his arms around her comfortingly. "Why can’t anyone make it all better?" She didn’t know she said the last sentence out loud until she felt Keith’s hand under her chin, raising her face towards him.
For long moments their eyes locked, Allura’s longing and at the same time hopeful, Keith’s dark and intense. For a heartbeat, Allura thought he might kiss her, but he only traced the curve of her cheek with his fingertip. After a moment, he dropped his hand and reached into his pocket, drawing out a small blue box that fit into the palm of his hand. He offered it to her.
"I wasn’t able to give this to you yesterday, what with all the excitement," he explained awkwardly, running one hand through his hair in a boyish gesture and giving her a crooked grin. "I got it from one of the artisans at the village. It… it reminded me of you. Happy birthday."
She looked at him, disoriented. He took her hand and put it into her palm. Flipping the hinged lid of the box, she saw that it contained a blue stone pendant carved in the shape of a rose hanging on a delicate silver chain. "Keith, it’s lovely," she breathed in wonder, drawing the necklace from the box and dangling it between them. "I… I… Thank you."
A charged silence hung between them once more.
"Trust me," he said at last. "Whatever happens, all right? Trust me."
She laid her head back against his chest and wished she could hide there forever.
"I must go," he said, reluctantly letting her go. Allura suddenly felt bereft. "I’ll see you later." As he walked away from her, he suddenly broke into another smile. He turned back and gave her a wink, with an apparent ease that he was far from feeling. "Remember."
Trust him, she thought as the doors shut with a whoosh. No matter how bleak the next few hours of her life were promising to be, she could not help it – she did.
Allura's Wedding -- The Ceremony