Nanny laid the tray with the huge tub on top of it on the table. Curious, all of them tried to move in to get a closer look. She slowly pulled the lid off the tub, drawing the moment out as much as she could, grinning all the while.
 
 "Tad-dah!" she announced, raising the cover with a flourish. A sweet, intoxicating smell rode the air, mingling with gasps of surprise and delight..

 "Chocolate ice cream!" Pidge exclaimed, clapping his hands delightedly and running his finger on the discarded lid. "I haven’t had any of this for years!" He popped the finger into his mouth and sighed in appreciation.

 "Sure brings back memories of home," Lance said wryly, already pushing his cup forward to be filled.

 "It’s not just any kind of ice cream, it’s made according to my very special recipe," Nanny boasted. "Real chocolatey with a pinch of nuts and nougat mixed in, just the way Allura always liked it." She smacked Hunk’s hand away from the tub to the chorus of everyone’s laughter. "Wait for your turn. There’s enough for everyone. I still have four tubs this size in the kitchen freezers."
 

 She tossed off the covers, stood up and paced her room for a few moments, hoping that it would help bring her adrenaline level down enough for her to finally feel sleepy. As she paced, she reviewed the events of the day inside her head, ending with dinner and Nanny’s delicious chocolate nougat ice cream.

 Allura grinned at the memory. Nanny was right when she said that the ice cream was just the way she always wanted it. She hadn’t had any in years and surprised the boys when she managed to finish two and a half scoops in one sitting. She loved ice cream, loved the sensation of the sweet icy chocolate-flavored spoonful melting in her mouth. When she was a little girl, she used to sneak down into the kitchen late at night to get an extra mug of ice cream that Nanny had never allowed her during dinner.

 She suddenly stopped pacing and grinned even wider. That was an idea! She picked up her wrap from her chair and put it on. Here was one other thing she hadn’t done it years -- but since she couldn’t sleep, she might as well give it a shot.
 

 Allura peeked around the corner and smiled in satisfaction. No one was there. She was off, scot-free! Clutching her wrap more tightly around her, she made a dash for the dining room doors...

 And ran smack into someone running into the corridor from another wing of the Castle.
 
The collision didn’t hurt, just threw her off-balance. She could feel herself falling, and she let go off her wrap to use her arms in an attempt to regain her balance. No good. Luckily, the "wall" she had crashed into had a better sense of balance than she did and placed his arms around her to keep her from falling. She ducked her head, feeling her face heat up. Great... all she had wanted was some ice cream, and now here she was, locked in some sort of semi-embrace with...

 "Princess?"

 "Keith?" She looked up and found herself staring at a pair of very puzzled dark eyes. She blushed even more, not quite knowing if she should give him one of her ‘I’m-a-princess’ looks for crashing into her and... and...

 As if he suddenly realized the direction of her thoughts, Keith dropped his hands and stepped away, rubbing his neck awkwardly. He was wearing his blue pajamas and bedroom slippers -- and he was blushing like a little boy. "Um..." he began, still looking rather flustered and running his hand through his unruly hair. "I’m so..." he paused, taking in her nightgown and her wrap. "Uh..."

 "What are you doing up?" they asked each other at the same time. Both of them glanced guiltily at the dining room doors, so close yet so far away, then back at each other, eyes wide. "You too?"

 They stared at one another for a long tense moment, then burst into quiet laughter.

 Keith caught himself first, clearing his throat and trying to look serious but failing entirely. "I never knew chocolate ice cream could actually reduce you into taking midnight kitchen raids, Your Highness," he commented solemnly, eyes dancing mischievously.

 Allura grinned back at him, feeling absurdly happy at catching him doing something so silly. "You don’t know half of it," she said on a small chuckle. "And look who’s talking! The Captain of the Voltron Force, no less. What weakness." She cautiously looked down the corridor, making sure no one was watching. She tossed him a challenging glance. "First one into the kitchen gets first dibs on the ice cream!" Without waiting for a reply, she dashed off in the direction of the dining room doors in a flurry of billowing white nightgown and wrap.

 "And such underhanded ways from the Princess of Arus, no less..." he called out, chuckling, giving chase just slow enough to let her win.
 

 "Here it is, the tub we had at dinner," Allura declared triumphantly, her voice muffled  inside the freezer. She closed the freezer and held up a tub of ice cream towards Keith like a trophy. "About time, too. I was about to turn into an ice cube myself."

 Keith, sitting Indian-style on top of the metal counter, offered her a huge spoon and a mug. Allura frowned thoughtfully at him and at the mug, then took the lid off the tub of ice cream and peered into it. She looked back at him, laughter dancing in her eyes. "There’s just about enough here for the both of us," she told him hesitantly. "Would you mind terribly if… I mean… since this is a kitchen raid and all…" She took the spoon and gestured at the mug, shooing it away, half-afraid she would think her unrefined if she told him how she wanted to eat the ice cream – and her a princess, no less.

 He stared at her motions towards the mug and sudden comprehension dawned in his eyes. He grinned at her. "I thought you’d never ask. A kitchen raid is not a kitchen raid when you eat the food you steal properly," he said, chuckling and putting away the mug.

 She sighed in relief and slid onto the counter, placing the tub of ice cream between them. Keith shifted so that he would face her and the ice cream, spoon clutched in his hand in  anticipation. "Ready?  Dig in!" she quipped, sharing another conspiratorial grin with him as they dipped their spoons deep into the tub for their first spoonful of the night.

 "Mmmmmm!" she said, eyes closed in pleasure as the first spoonful made its way down her throat. "Now I remember why I used to go through all the trouble of sneaking out of bed just to get another serving of this ice cream." She opened her eyes to find Keith looking at her with a thoughtful look on his face.

 "I can’t believe I’m doing this with you," he said, shaking his head and getting another spoonful of ice cream from the tub. "I mean, if someone had told me the Princess Allura was actually a veteran kitchen cat-burglar…" He trailed off, sticking the spoon into his mouth. He sighed appreciatively as the taste exploded on his tongue. "Then again, this ice cream is almost worth anything. This is really powerful stuff. Maybe we can use it to bribe Zarkon to leave us alone."

 "Ha!" she exclaimed, brandishing her spoon like a demented fairy with a magic wand and splattering them with brown spots and earning another soft chuckle from Keith. "Don’t try to kid me, Captain Keith – you’re a veteran freezer napper, admit it." She got another spoonful and took a gulp before she started to stare him down. The candle flame cast playful shadows on his face and seemed to punctuate the small motions of his lips as he struggled to keep his grin back. "Admit it, Keith, you are a certified member of the midnight snack club."

 "And you aren't?" he countered, finally breaking into a grin.

 She stuck her tongue out at him. "Only when there’s ice cream in the freezer."

 "Tell me about it?" he asked. "If you do, I’ll leave you an extra spoonful of ice cream."

 "You eat ice cream so slowly compared to me that you won’t even realize I’ve managed to steal most of it away from under your nose," she told him in a smug tone of voice, getting in another spoonful of ice cream for emphasis.

 "Ha!" he said, taking another spoonful of his own. "I’ve been putting it away faster than you have – you just haven’t seen me do it. So, when was the last time you went on a raid like this?"

 Allura stuck the spoon inside her mouth and sucked on it a few moments, scratching her head thoughtfully in a child-like gesture. She took another spoonful from the tub. "I was about… um... eight at the time, I think. Same ice cream, same freezer, same MO," she said, pausing to eat the ice cream already beginning to melt. "I was determined to get another serving of ice cream after Nanny had limited me to one mug, so when I got into the kitchen without any trouble from anyone, I couldn’t stop eating it. Nanny made sure I couldn’t sit for days after I pulled that stunt."

 "Got caught, huh."

 Allura shifted uncomfortably. "Er… no, not exactly," she admitted reluctantly. "Keith!" she exclaimed as Keith snatched the tub away from her, holding it above her reaching arms playfully.

 "’Not exactly’? What was ‘exactly’, then?" he asked, grinning at her slightly annoyed glare. "If you don’t tell me, I won’t share."

 She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "’Exactly’ is what is going to happen to you if you finish the remaining ice cream in that tub by yourself."

 He put the tub down and gazed at her thoughfully. Then he began to laugh in loud peals.

 "Keith, it isn’t that funny," she began, rolling her eyes. He kept on going. "You’re going to get us caught..." She bopped him on the head with her spoon. "I couldn’t get out of bed the morning after – my stomach was churning. I was screaming loud enough to wake the dead, and Nanny was almost sure I was possessed until I started complaining about her ice cream being poisoned. When she heard that, she really let me have it." Keith laughed even harder at than, and she finally broke down and laughed at the memory with him. Their laughter bounced of the walls of the kitchen, and the candle flickered playfully, as if it was laughing with them.

Allura  controlled herself long enough to get another spoonful in her mouth. She gave another long sigh of satisfaction. "Come to think of it, Nanny hasn’t made ice cream for me again until tonight." Catching him unawares as he stuck another spoonful into his mouth, she reached out and took the tub away, cradling it to her side. "Your turn! Honestly, now. You really did used to go on kitchen raids, too, didn’t you?"

 He raised his arms in a gesture of surrender, one hand still clutching the spoon, his face twisted into a goofy grimace that made her chuckle. "You got me there. Guilty as charged."

 "When, where, how?"

 "Lots of times when I was a kid, of course," he said.. "It helped that I never had any fear of the dark. The most memorable one was during my last year at the Academy, after Christmas Eve dinner." He gave her a wide-eyed innocent look that didn't fool her for a moment. "Can I have some ice cream now?" he asked reaching for the tub again .

 Allura frowned, transferring the tub back between them. "What were you doing at the Academy on Christmas eve? Nanny told me that that was one of your special family holidays on Earth…" She trailed off, raising an eyebrow at him in question.

He shrugged.  "I and a few other guys stayed over, mainly because we really didn’t have anywhere else to go," he explained, reaching for more ice cream and missing her sudden troubled frown. "Anyhow, since it was Christmas eve, they had prepared a special vanilla custard dessert for us who had stayed over. Of course, they only gave all of us one small serving – hardly enough! So later that night, we drew lots to see who would have the task of filching the remaining custard from the kitchen, and I got drawn." He grimaced suddenly. "I almost got expelled from the Academy for that stunt."

 "Expelled?  For stealing left-over custard on Christmas eve?" she asked indignantly, digging into the ice cream rather in a fierce gesture.

 "Well, ah… not exactly," he said evasively, his turn to shift uncomfortably.

 "OHO!" she exclaimed triumphantly, grabbing away the tub of ice cream just as he was about to dip his spoon back into it. "What exactly is ‘not exactly?’"

 "Ah cof an ofsher maknout wif a lady chef," he mumbled, rolling his eyes at the memory.

"Pardon?" she asked, leaning forward to take a closer look at his face as she held the tub of ice cream above her head. He looked like he was… blushing!

"It was supposed to be an easy raid," he explained with a sigh. "Most people were home for the holidays, and all the halls were deserted. I was in the kitchen without any trouble five minutes after I left our quarters. I even got the custard from the fridge less than a minute after I got in. Unfortunately, it was dark and  I didn’t walk out the same way I came in and I… ah… stumbled over one of the junior officers… ah…celebrating Christmas with a lady chef on the kitchen floor."
 
"Celebrating Christmas?" she asked in bewilderment. Then she blushed as comprehension dawned on her. "Oh!"
 
"Oh, is right," he said wryly. "There I was, container of vanilla custard and all, smack on top of two half-clothed people, one of whom happened to be my instructor in special weapons training. I only got off with ten demerits because of the lady chef, who thought it was such a hoot – of course, only after she got her clothes back on." He reached for the ice cream and smiled at the memory. "Guess she was flattered that we would go through all that trouble just for another serving of the vanilla custard that she made."

 "But in the KITCHEN?" she asked, eyes wide in shock and still rather scandalized.

 He shrugged and grinned mischievously, popping another spoonful of ice cream into his mouth. "Whatever works!" he mumbled, wiggling his own eyebrows playfully that she just had to laugh, at the sheer joy of sharing ice cream with him in the dark kitchen, at seeing this side of him that he didn't allow her into very often. It felt like he had given her a gift.

 Their laughter trailed off into a companionable silence for a while, both of them lost in their own thoughts.

Allura bit her lip thoughtfully, suddenly realizing that she still knew so little about his life, so little about this brave man who gave so much of himself to all of them but asked for so little for himself.

And she wanted to know so much more.

 "Penny?" he suddenly asked softly, as if he was afraid of intruding into her silence.

 Startled, her disturbed blue glaze shot to his. "What was that?"

He grinned shyly at her, as if sensing the shift in her mood and not knowing how to react to it.  "I was offering you a penny for your thoughts. It’s something we used to say back on Earth," he explained. "So, what’s bothering you so much that you’ve suddenly left the ice cream at my mercy?"

 "Do you... do you  miss it much?" she asked hesitantly, tearing her gaze away from his and occupying herself with getting another spoonful of ice cream.

 "What, raiding?" he asked brightly. She knew that he knew what she meant, but that he wasn’t that enthusiastic about answering her. On any other day, she would let the subject the drop, but for some reason, tonight  his answer was important enough to her that she didn’t.

She shook her head.  "No, I meant being home," she said, pinning him again with her earnest blue gaze. "Earth."

 "Earth?" he asked wryly, breaking eye contact and trying to sound flippant. "I guess I do, sometimes. The buildings, the bustle of being in a city – yeah, I miss them. But..." He paused and took another spoonful of ice cream, obviously reluctant to continue.

 "But..." she prodded gently, inwardly holding her breath.

 He sighed and continued, placing the spoon on the counter and leaning back on his arms. He turned his face in full view of hers, and his face was lit witha rueful smile. "But - most times I don’t really mind. After all, it’s so beautiful here and there really is no one there calling me back there." At the curious tilt of her head, he gave a resigned grin. " I... I lost my parents when I was a little boy."

Her eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat as she stared at him.

Keith noted her stricken expression and reached out to comfort her by laying one of his  hands on hers – a gesture she found all the more endearing when she should have been the one comforting him. "It’s okay, really. I got used to being alone growing up, and I did have my friends to make up for it," he soothed.

 "I’m sorry," she said, tears clogging her voice. "I... I didn’t know."

 He shrugged and gave her a wry grin. "It’s not something I go around telling everybody about."

 "You don’t have to go on if you don’t wa..." she said softly, sorry that she had managed to open a topic painful to him.

He silenced her by taking her spoon and gently filling her mouth with ice cream.

"Ssssh," he hushed. "I... I want to tell you." Her eyes widened at the statement and a pleasant warmth seemed to flood her as she bit back a smile. She watched in silence as he put the nearly-empty tub of ice cream behind him and put his hand back on hers.
 
"Mother and Father were both space explorers, among the best the Galaxy Alliance had. When I was born, Mother went into a sort of a temporary retirement status and Father, who was one of the youngest space admirals in the history of the Alliance, asked for a desk job so that they could be home with me. But once I was old enough to go to school, space drew them back like a magnet... not that I blame them, exploring is something that calls to me, too. I guess it’s inherited.

"Anyhow, when I was about ten, they were sent off on a mission into deep space to study a... I think it was some sort of cosmic fissure emitting large amounts of energy. I was already boarding at the Academy then, in the first phase of my training and determined to finish as early as possible so I could go with them the next time. In fact, Dad even promised to ask permission from his superior officers to let me go on their next mission." He paused, his memories flooding him, and Allura put her other hand on top of the hand he had placed on top of hers and squeezed it comfortingly. "They... they never came back."

"And you stayed at the Academy and became a pilot, one of the best pilots they ever had," she concluded softly, watching the candlelight play on his face, admiring the man he had become even more, knowing where he had come from. There was no bitterness there, only lonely resignation. "But why, Keith?  Why did you stay when it seemed that it was what took your parents away from you?"

"When I was younger, I... I guess I thought if I worked hard enough to become the best pilot in the Alliance, I would find them when no one else could," he said, giving a another dry chuckle. "The arrogance of being young, I suppose."

"No, just the dream of a hopeful little boy," she said, slowly shaking her head. "And when you were old enough to know better?"

 He shrugged, his gaze far away. "As I said, I didn’t really have anywhere else to go. They let me stay on scholarship because they saw my potential and because they respected my parents, especially my dad,"  he smiled wryly. "So, I guess you could say that the Academy was the closest thing I could call ‘home’ then."

Allura didn’t reply, only bit her lip thoughtfully and gazed at their joined hands on her lap. "And... and now?" she finally asked, holding her breath for the answer.

He paused, taking both her hands in one of his own and gently moving her face to face him with the other. Their gazes locked. "Now... now, it’s here," he finally answered, breaking the silence. "You guys are my family now – and Arus is... home." He grinned cheerfully, trying to lighten the mood again. "At least it is until Galaxy Garrison sends me off somewhere else."

At that she shook her head vehemently. "No," she said, feeling tears fill her eyes because she was so touched at what he had just said . "Arus will always be home for you, as long as you want it to be." She smiled, taking her hand from his and gently touching the side of his face. "That will be true no matter where you go and how long you are away." She took her hand away, smiled shyly, and tried to look away.

He cupped her face in both his hands gently and smiled into her eyes solemnly. "I... thank you."

She looked puzzled. "For Arus? It’s the least we can do, after all you’ve given us so much. I..."

He placed a finger on her lips to silence her, shaking his head. "No, not that. For... for you."

Allura found that she couldn’t look away from his eyes as he smiled tenderly at her from only inches away, the candlelight bathing him with its warm glow. His face was so close that she could feel his warm breath fanning her face, smelling faintly of sweet chocolate. Her heart beat loudly in her ears, and she could feel heat flooding her face. She closed her eyes and felt herself moving closer to him, felt him moving closer to her...

Light suddenly flooded the kitchen, and they sprang apart abruptly; Allura clutching her wrap closed at her chest; Keith, off-balance, almost falling on the floor. The candle between them tipped over, flickered indignantly, then snuffed itself out. Their gazes shot in the direction of the light switch by the door.

"Lance, Hunk, looks like the coast is clear," Pidge whispered loudly, beckoning to unseen people outside. He turned around and started when he saw Keith and Allura sitting on the kitchen counter staring at him in dazed bemusement. "Uh... guys... wha-wha..."

Hunk and Lance burst into the kitchen, Hunk at a run, Lance rubbing his hands greedily.

"Lead me to the ice cream..." Lance said, grinning evilly, stopping in mid-stride when he saw them. "I... uh... hi, Princess, hi, Keith." Lance glanced speculatively at the two who were both trying their best to avoid each other's eyes. "Did we... uh... inter –"

"They finished the ice cream!" Hunk bellowed, cutting Lance off and snatching the now-empty tub from the counter-top. He looked close to tears.

 "Don’t worry, Hunk, there are two more tubs in here!" Pidge said in a muffled voice,  head stuck inside the freezer. He lifted one out and placed it on the counter opposite Keith and Allura, peeling off the lid with a greedy grin and obviously oblivious to anything else. Hunk was beside him in a flash, running his finger on the lid and licking off the ice cream on it.

Lance shook his head in disgust as he handed Hunk and Pidge spoons, then picked up a mug from a shelf, frowning at it thoughtfully. "Nah," he finally said, putting it back down and heading towards the newly-opened tub that Pidge and Hunk had already begun attacking. "Good ol’ kitchen raid sure brings back memories, huh, Keith." Allura saw Lance glance over his shoulder at the two of them and at the tell-tale spoons beside them.

"Yeah," Keith replied, leaning back on his hands on the counter, sharing one last conspiratorial grin with her before he began to chuckle in earnest. "It sure does."

Lance shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Sometimes, Keith, the mysteries of the universe are a lot easier to understand than you are." He took a huge spoonful of ice cream and closed his eyes with an appreciative sigh. "Mmmmmm... Then again... maybe it’s just the ice cream."
 

"Nah, she looks really tired," someone else answered. "Keith, maybe you can carry her..."

"Yeah," someone else whispered from above her, sweet warm breath smelling faintly of chocolate fanning her forehead.
 
Suddenly, the wall she was leaning on shifted, and she felt herself being lifted up. Instinctively, she snuggled closer and rested her cheek on it, sighing contentedly. She felt like she was floating, being gently cuddled and rocked against the wall of warmth under her cheek. After a while, she felt herself being lowered on a bed of clouds... and fell into an even deeper sleep.

She smiled softly in her sleep, dreaming that her knight in shining armor, with his laughing dark eyes and dark unruly hair almost past his broad shoulders, was softly whispering to her and tenderly kissing her good night.
 

He smiled fondly down at her then hunched down beside her bed, still gazing at her peaceful face.

"Princess, you are home," he whispered just beside her ear,  knowing she wouldn’t hear him. After a moment, he kissed her forehead lingeringly, stood up, and silently went out the door.
 

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