God, I'm so stupid! Kissing her like that, she probably hates me now. Not to mention Keith. What's he going to think about his older best friend kissing his younger sister? I'm an idiot.
My internal monologue is cut short by a knock on the door. I open it reluctantly, expecting it to be Keith, ready to murder me. Instead, there stood Princess Allura, an unreadable expression on her face.
"You know, running off after that kiss deeply hurt Y/N. She won't eat any of the food Hunk and Coran have prepared, and even Lance and Pidge doing idiotic things can't make her laugh. I may not have known her for long, but I do know she cares for you. You should talk to her about it. She's good at hiding it, but she sees herself as a monster. She didn't say it, but while she was reassuring you, she was thinking it. She needs you." I felt tears well up in my eyes.
"What if I hurt her, Allura? I couldn't live with myself."
"You won't. You are the most kind and caring paladin the Black Lion could have asked for, and we are all grateful to have you as our leader. But ignoring her, that's hurting her, right now. She probably feels like you think she's unworthy, or not good enough, or that she's a monster. I know I'm not very experienced in this field, and the least qualified person to be giving you advice, except for probably Lance, but I am telling you, right now, she loves you, and you need to show her that she deserves to be loved, too." With that, Allura gave me a soft smile and left my room, closing the door behind her.
For hours, I mulled over what she said. Does Y/N, my beautiful warrior, that Y/N, really love me? She can't. Right? No one can love a monster. But she doesn't see me as a monster, Allura said. She thinks she's the monster. How could anyone so lovely, so kind, so smart, so strong, so... perfect, think they're a monster?
The next day, I went to the training deck early in the, hoping to clear my mind, only to be met with a sight I hadn't seen in a year. Y/N was battling a small army of heavily armed gladiator droids, Coran monitoring her vitals from the observation deck.
"Augh!" She had been using purely hand to hand, no weapons or powers on her end, and was caught by one of the drones's foot as it kicked. She was thrown to the side, hitting the wall and sliding down it, sprawling onto the floor. When she raised her head, her eyes were black, and you could see stars and galaxies in them. She spat out a mouthful of copper, standing shakily and floating slightly, hovering about six inches or so above the ground. She approached the bots slowly, a smirk making it's way onto her face. She screamed and flew up higher, her body emitting a large burst of dark energy, vaporizing her android combatants.
"Great, Y/N! Thank you for showing us what you can do, with both hand to hand and your powers!" Coran exclaimed, his cheery voice seeming out of place amongst the ominous aura. Said girl nodded, slowly descending, the sinister atmosphere slowly fading. As her toes touched the floor, her eyes became their normal, lovely shade of E/C once again. The stars, however, lingered. No one else seemed to care or even notice, so I didn't bring it up.
"Are you sure?" I heard a soft voice ask, flowing like silk. I listened further, wondering who was speaking.
"Yes. I'm sorry, Y/N, but there's nothing else I can do for you, but perhaps Coran or the others could-"
"No!" There was a silence, then a sigh. "I'm sorry, Princess, but I don't want anyone to worry. It's bad enough that you know."
"Take care of yourself, alright?" There were no other voices, only the sounds of someone moving, footsteps approaching the door. I scrambled away, avoiding being seen. All that night I mulled over what I had heard. We may only have had her on our team for a week or two, but Y/N is our friend, and we care for her. So what is she hiding? What doesn't she want anyone to worry about?
