The New Prince

Chapter 37

The sun shined throughout the day and the mist cleared as the morning gradually passed. By noon, Nanny passed by Keith's room, bringing the princess lunch. At first, she didn't want to eat, but Allura realized that if she wanted Nanny out of the room, the best thing to do was to eat.

When she and Lance discovered what Keith had done, neither wasted time getting him to the cruiser and driving back to the castle. They had all gathered in the waiting room once again, fearing the worst. Luckily, Gorma managed to pump Keith's stomach in time to save him from any side effects and now, he rested comfortably in his room at MedTech, the princess by his side.

"You know Allura, he's not going anywhere. Dr. Gorma thinks he probably won't come to until later tonight." Lance mentioned as he stepped into the room of the infirmary, giving Allura a sympathetic look.

The princess sat on a chair next to Keith's bed as she watched him sleep. Not looking at Lance, she continued her gaze at the dark haired man, stroking his hair aimlessly. "I'm afraid to leave him." She began, "I don't know whether to hold him or punch him! I'm so angry with him."

Lance moved farther into the room. "Maryann warned us. Besides, his mind is so mixed up right now… shit, I'm pissed off at him too. I guess we were all expecting a fairy tale ending to this fucked up tragedy."

Sighing, Allura faced him, "Oh, Lance. If we wouldn't have found him…"

"But we did. Don't think about the what ifs. We found him, he's ok now. What's important now is to bring him back from that hell he's putting himself through, this loneliness, as he calls it."

Allura sighed as she stood up and shook her head in frustration, "I feel like I'm losing him all over again…and he still doesn't know."

Lance walked up to the princess and held her tightly. "It's ok Allura. You'll have a chance to tell him. You'll see." He kept silent for a bit, watching his friend, the princess by his side. He walked over to the other end of the room and grabbed a chair that stood by a corner. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." The princess nodded as she sat down.

"Why did you reject him the night of the party?"

Sighing, "Lance, if you would just understand what I have lost. Everyone in my life that I cared about practically vanished before my eyes. Coran and Nanny were the only ones left. I had no hopes, no desires…the thought of even finding love to me was absurd. How could I love when there wasn't anyone to love? How could I dream of love, when all I saw were men, women and children living down in caves, eating whatever little this land produced? Wouldn't that be selfish of me?" She shook her head, "I closed myself to anything that dealt with my happiness. I would not be happy until my people were."

He stared at her as he continued to listen.

"Then, you guys came." She smiled. "I know that to all of you, this was just another assignment at first, a mission. But to me…you were…hope. I still never expected to find love. I wanted my people saved from Zarkon's grasp, that's what I cared about…it was engrained in my mind from all the years I was alone."

"And then." Lance whispered with a smirk looking toward Keith.

Allura nodded gently. "And then." She repeated. "I don't know when I fell in love with him. I look back now and I think I always felt something special toward him, Lance. Subconsciously, at least." The princess began caressing Keith's hair again. "I felt that, out of all of you, I had to earn his respect and trust."

"Allura, he's always respected you." Lance reassured her.

She laughed a bit; "Maybe he did…you know…" she looked at Lance, her eyes full of thought, "I think I know when I began feeling things for him." Allura smiled. "I think I know."