Circlet of Queens Part I
Allura let the giggles spill from her uncontrollably, throwing back her head in a ripple of white curls and sparkles skipping off her Altean marks as Acxa regaled her with Lotor’s first time in the ballroom.
“And after he had finished dancing on my toes,” managed Acxa between bursts of laughter, “this allied princess practically threw herself onto his arm, gushing about what an amazing dancer he was! And Lotor was all smiles and politeness, of course, but his eyebrows! They were through the roof for the entire night!”
Allura cackled, shaking her head and reaching over to tuck a stray strand of hair behind Acxa’s ear. The general’s breath hitched at the movement, at the faintest brush of Allura’s fingers leaving a trail of fire along her cheek, and the peony sweetness of the princess’ smile stealing away the tension from her shoulders. She stuffed the rest of the chocolate-and-pomegranate bar into her mouth, lips twisting into a grimace, and Allura let out a ringing peal of laughter.
“I agree,” the princess replied, tossing away the wrapper with a wrinkled brow. “I have not the faintest clue how Lan loves those so much, but it keeps him happy during road trips.”
Acxa chuckled.
“I think the fact that you keep them there makes him happier,” she replied, eyes settling soft as petals on a compartment nearly bursting with bars. “He always eats more of them when you’re not around.”
Allura’s Altean markings gave a twinkle, and she slid her fingers along a pink beaded barrette, soft clicks filling the Red Lion as they flew ever closer to the coordinates Lotor had slipped into Acxa’s hand with that knowing smile.
“He is a good brother,” murmured Allura, a faint pulse of blue lighting up along her arm. “I miss him already.”
“Don’t worry, he’ll be fine,” promised Acxa, covering Allura’s hand over the controls and tilting her lips into a smile. “He is a most renowned fighter. And he has much to live for. Your new Earthen family seemed quite large and lively.”
A shadow crackled across Allura’s celestial eyes, her lips pursing and fingers tightening under Acxa’s. She clutched the barrette harshly.
“Your story about Lotor—the dancing one—it reminds me of my first ball,” stated Allura haltingly, flipping away from the topic like it had more magic than Haggar. “I was wearing this horrifically long dress and, no matter what Coran and I did, it would not stop catching on my heels! I practically knocked over all of my partners, and by the time the last ambassador had to dance with me, he looked like a man resigned to fate.”
“A fate of walking to his doom?” Teased Acxa, pointing carefully to the left as they passed into the solar system. “Has your brother accepted his similar fate?”
“No, I have greatly improved since then. As have my tailors,” she added with a chuckle. “What about you, General? How are your dancing skills?”
Acxa smiled, reaching over to pluck the barrette from Allura’s fiddling fingers, and parting the back of her hair into two sections.
“They are unremarkable,” she replied with a faint chuckle, snapping one of the sections into the chipped—and were those acid burns?—barrette. “Enough that they do not disgrace Lotor, but not so much as to attract anyone to me.”
Allura leaned back into the fingers running like streams through her waterfall of hair, combing out the tangles in a hopeless struggle, massaging the base of her skull. She hummed softly, casting her crystalline eyes back at the breathtaking general, and nearly melted through the chair as she took in the red armor, thick to any blow, golden accents spiralling through the metal and drawing eyes away from the thinner gray bodysuit underneath that lent Acxa flexibility on the battlefield. It was impervious and yet pliable to Acxa’s needs in a fight, power glowing off each smooth plate into an aura of invincibility around the General; it was the perfect armor. Plus, it brought out her eyes.
“You do not wish for any suitors?” Managed Allura, nearly choking on her words (her brain was not helping!) as Acxa continued pulling half of her hair into what Lance had once called a “dush” braid (though she knew it as an Haljafri braid), her eyes glowing like Allura’s irises held the entire universe in their blue shimmer.
“No,” stated Acxa, clearing her throat self-consciously and winding a hair tie around the completed braid; since when had she started carrying those on her? “I had a duty—have a duty—to Lotor. I am not only his General, but also his advisor; I dread to see what he would do without me. And…he saved all of us. He gave us a family, he gave us this future, he gave us this life. He isn’t just my Emperor or my friend,” she added with a smile spreading its wings over her face, “he is my brother, just as Lance is for you. He is irreplaceable.”
Allura hummed warmly, but Acxa bit her lip as she slid to the other side of Allura’s hair, snapping the barrette free of the thick white curls. Because she meant every one of those words; even if he hadn’t given her this priceless world, Lotor had given her his trust, his friendship, his honest self that so few got to see, the true Lotor. And that was more than she could ever imagine, more than she could bring herself to believe she deserved, no matter how much Lotor insisted that she deserved the best of life. He would say she deserved the sun if she asked for it, and he would stop at nothing to pluck it from the sky for her.
But he never seemed to understand that he deserved all that and more.
Acxa slid the black clips into place, the final reminders of her childhood on the streets still slotting so easily into her hair, almost too easily, like nothing had changed since then. Like those alleyways were still piled high with garbage instead of scoured clean on Lotor’s command, like those biracial children’s hollow, wide eyes still greeted her arrival with food instead of running down to a laden table in the families Lotor had found for them, like she still had the constant taste of blood in her mouth from protecting her street family instead of a gun in her hand to guard her true family. Like the greatest gift she would ever be given were these hair pieces thrown at her head to get her out of a grumpy man’s shop. So much had changed, but Acxa still felt at times like, if she blinked too long, she would wake up in a garbage heap again to discover that all of this was just another dream.
“Acxa,” called Lotor, the door clicking shut behind him and a white plastic bag dangling from his fingers, “they had your ‘sinnamun’ buns at the store, so I grabbed three packs of them.”
Acxa chuckled, hopping off the bed and padding into the kitchen as she tied her jacket around her waist.
“Did you get breakfast for yourself?” She asked, eyebrow arching as she folded her arms, a faint smirk on her lips. “One you can actually eat?”
“Of course,” replied Lotor, flipping his hair dramatically while pulling out the sweets and laying them across the table. “I have gotten myself a donut instead of those terrible excuses for meat on a stick.”
Acxa snorted with giggles, sliding his cup of coffee across the table to him in exchange for a pack of cinnamon buns.
“Our garbage will appreciate it greatly,” she teased, yanking her coffee cup out of his reach and grinning at the faint pout to his lip. “I have good news for you.”
Lotor groaned, rubbing at his forehead, and gulped down a good half of his coffee.
“Acxa, if the sun is not up, I don’t even want to think about the cloning facility—”
“No, it’s not that,” interrupted Acxa, sipping at her tea and smiling softly at her brother. “We have the day off; Allura saw to it that all meetings today would address the Green Paladin’s scheduled departure, not yours. She saw that I—uh, that we—were too busy handling the plans for the final battle to worry about the expedition details in addition to the affairs of the Galran Empire, so she coordinated a free day for us.”
Lotor slurped slowly at his coffee, letting the sound fill the apartment as he arched an eyebrow pointedly at her. Acxa stuffed a cinnamon roll in her mouth.
“That must have been difficult,” he finally stated, “given how much has yet to be decided. We have not even finished pinpointing the landing spot, fuel required, flight path, or timing to return. I cannot imagine the effort she must have had to expend to allow us a free day; truly, a labor of love,” he concluded.
Acxa scowled, and Lotor bit into his donut innocently.
“Lotor, if love had anything to do with this, then it was for you,” she replied. “Allura agreed as soon as I brought up concerns about your health.”
“So, as soon as you were distressed.”
Acxa threw up her hands, and Lotor snickered, powdered sugar billowing from his donut in self-satisfied waves. At least they didn’t touch Acxa’s coffee.
“Lotor, I know you like her.”
The words were spoken softly, nearly swallowed up by the silence of the apartment, but they were loud enough to freeze Lotor’s donut halfway to his mouth. Acxa sat back in her chair, arms folded again and thunder on her brow. “Don’t try to hide it. I’ve known you for, what, nine decaphoebs? Ten?”
“Eleven,” muttered Lotor, setting down the donut on its wrapper and lacing his fingers before meeting Acxa’s gaze.
“Eleven decaphoebs,” agreed Acxa. “Did you really think I wouldn’t notice? From the moment you walked back into the Castle of Lions, you had eyes only for her. When you chose me to go and help Voltron defend against the strike, I though it was because they were a valuable ally, so you wanted your top general arriving first. But that wasn’t it, was it? You wanted your best there to show Allura who she would have by her side as the Empress of the Galran Empire. You wanted me to be there so Allura could see the universe you’re trying to create, so she could see your true heart.”
Lotor bit his lip, and Acxa reached across the table to squeeze his hand. “And that heart, in all its honesty, has belonged to Allura since you first saw her. No matter how hard you try to fight it, you love Allura. You are in love with Allura.”
“Acxa—”
“So don’t think for even a tick that I’m going to make a move on her,” stated Acxa, drawing herself upright and boring her molten eyes into Lotor’s. “She is yours to court, Lotor. You never even considered marriage before she showed up, but don’t think I missed those romance books you snuck to your room. I know you’ve wanted love. I know you’ve waited for decaphoebs to feel that connection, to have someone take that place in your life, to have someone by your side who is just as in love with you as you are with them,” she continued, swallowing as light pooled in Lotor’s eyes, and she offered him a shaky smile. “Do you actually think I could possibly take that away from you? Lotor, she’s everything you’ve never dared to want. She’s everything I’ve wished you to have. You have a chance with her, don’t waste it. Go to Oriande with her, okay?”
“Acxa, I can’t—”
“You can,” insisted Acxa, even as she began tugging on her finger again. “I’ll retract my spot and go with Kuron to the cloning facility instead. Oriande is meant for Alteans, after all, so it would make more sense for you to be there anyway, and it’s an easy excuse to maintain good rela—”
“Acxa!” Broke in Lotor harshly, leaning forward as tears flashed in his eyes. “Enough. I’m not the only one who is in love with the princess. I have known you as long as you have known me, and it would take a fool to not see how she has become your world. She is not just your love,” he pressed on, flipping his hand over and squeezing Acxa’s softly, “she is your everything. You have sacrificed so much for me, Acxa. You have put your life on the line for me time and time again, you have supported me with rebuilding Altea even though it would put you through torture if discovered, and you threw away any chance of romance so that you could support me. Oh, don’t give me that look, I know you can dance better than half of the princesses at those balls. You have given me more than enough just by staying beside me, by being honest with me, by loving me as I have loved you. You are already more than enough. And, Acxa, that love you know I want? That connection? It has to be mutual,” he managed, gulping down a quiet sob. “Neither of us can decide who the princess will choose. That is up to her and her alone. I know the choice she has made, and I have already accepted it, as has she. You are the only one who has not. So, please,” he continued, standing and gesturing to the nearest closet, “accept the prin—accept Allura—as she is, and accept yourself as worthy to wear the royal armor.”
Acxa grimaced. As soon as he had become Emperor, Lotor had made all his generals a set of royal armor, something limited to the crown family. Lotor was her family, he always had been, but to claim to be his family where royal blood flowed through those veins and mud shot through her own…it was too presumptuous.
“You are my sister, Acxa. You always have been,” insisted Lotor, placing one hand on her shoulder and giving her that soft, warm smile that always brought tears to her eyes. “So, please, hold your head high. For your brother, okay?”
Water slid down her cheeks, and Lotor wiped it away with a flick of his fingers, flinging away anything that could ever make her sad, just as he always did. And just as she would always do for him.
“Okay.”
Acxa snapped a hair tie around the second Haljafri braid, pulling herself from her own thoughts and straight into Allura’s celestial eyes, her sunshine smile, her glowing markings. Straight into the beauty of the first person she ever had the courage to love.
“I would love to see you dance sometime,” Allura was saying, flicking through controls on the Red Lion’s panel, a steady hand guiding them ever closer to Oriande, to all Alteans’ dream. “We are the only ones in the Red Lion, so hopefully you needn’t fear any…unwanted suitors.”
Allura’s markings flared pink, little pockets of glow on her cheeks, and Acxa could feel the silver shooting to her own ears. Allura’s fingers hovered over a song, her crystalline eyes fixed on anything but Acxa, and her lips compressed into a single, hard line. She was hesitating, waiting for Acxa’s permission, eyes transposing the pressure of the decision onto the pink star out the window, doing everything in her power to keep their alliance separate from this conversation. Because Acxa knew that diplomacy had nothing to do with this, that if she laughed and refused, made some excuse, Allura would laugh along, drop her hand from the song, and never offer to dance again.
She would never reach out to cradle Acxa’s hand in her own like it was precious with all its scars, not in spite of them. She would never go to Acxa when her fears about the mission were crushing her, when the idea of leaving behind her family to face Sendak by themselves was tearing her to shreds, when her entire body was shaking and all she needed was to be drawn into a tight hug, to be reminded of the strength of her family, that they had faced down worse odds and come home again, that they loved her too much to fail. Allura would never go to Acxa to be promised that she would never be left alone again. After all, Acxa had murmured, running her fingers through those thick curls as Allura sobbed against her shoulder, I will always be here for you.
Allura would never eat dinner with her alone in the Castle of Lions, laughter light as bells filling the hall, stories flying back and forth between the two, and all decorum dropped for the chance to get to know Acxa better. She would never pull up outside the apartment in the middle of the night when Acxa had a nightmare, the hoverbike practically screeching to a stop, and take the stairs three at a time to burst through the door, ignoring Lotor’s confusion, and hold Acxa close to her until the visions were beaten back by the warmth of her smile. She would never walk side-by-side with Acxa after a mission, close enough that their hands were just brushing, so close to sliding into one another’s.
She would never be this Allura to her again, the brilliantly shining girl who devoted herself to those she loved with an open heart, helping hand, and steady shoulder, who had more strength in those eyes than most people possessed throughout their entire life, who was sweet and gentle, constantly striving to be better, to be the best version of herself that she could be for her family. Ally, friend, or maybe eventually family, she would never be this Allura with Acxa again, this close or open or…loving. She would never be Allura to Acxa again; she would be Princess.
And Acxa would fight for Allura, no matter the cost.
Because Acxa wanted to kiss Allura’s knuckles when she took Acxa’s hand, she wanted to sweep Allura off her feet and chase the tears from her cheeks with a date, she wanted to feed Allura some of her food at dinner and laugh at the rosy blush on her cheeks, she wanted to wake up to Allura’s warmth after a nightmare, to intertwine their fingers as they walked down the hall, to finish every promise she made with the single truth she would stand by beyond death: I love you.
And, as Acxa reached past Allura and pressed play on the song, she could almost feel Lotor’s hand on her back, pushing her that last step forward. Go, he whispered, take your place in her heart.
Acxa squared her shoulders with a faint clink of her armor, sliding one leg behind her, and leading Allura’s hand to her lips as she knelt into a regal curtsy before the only queen she would ever give her heart to.
“If I may lead you to the dance floor, dear Allura,” she said, a gentle smile on her lips as Allura’s Altean marks lit up like fireworks on her cheeks; she hadn’t slept through her time by Lotor’s side in the royal court, “you would make me the happiest person in the universe.”
Allura’s breath stuttered, tears pooling in her eyes and, as a traditional Altean dance song began, a smile that could eclipse all the darkness in the universe blossomed across her face. This, this was why Acxa had fallen in love with her at first sight. This smile that blew apart all the pain she carried in her heart, that lifted the weight of cruelty from her shoulders, that gave her wings with just a single ray of its light, that shone brightly despite the agony that Allura had endured. She had lost everything, her family, her home, her planet, her life as the Crown Princess of Altea, and had been reborn as an orphan of war. But she had picked up her castle, her fortitude, her faith, and her courage, and had become the Queen of the Voltron Alliance.
She was a force of nature.
But she was also a princess who had barely come of age in time to be courted, and had certainly not been courted in the old ways since she had stepped into that cryopod. And, if nothing else, Acxa swore she would give Allura back this piece of her old home.
So, as a single tear slid down her face and Red flipped into autopilot, Allura slid her hand into Acxa’s and allowed the woman she loved more than she thought possible to lead her off the pilot seat and into a close, sweeping dance. It may have been decaphoebs, but Allura remembered this dance better than she did the color of her hairbrush. She could still feel her mother’s hands guiding her across the dance floor, her father’s distant sobs that his little baby girl was growing up echoing from the not-quite-closed door, and Coran’s proud tears as she completed the hardest twirl “with the elegance of a true queen.” She could never forget those hours they had spent teaching her the first half of the most sacred dance in Altea, the one that would guide her into the future, that would define her reign, because leading was not the job of the King or the Queen, but rather the job of the King and Queen. Whoever she chose would carry the future of Altea on their shoulders just as much as she would, and they would be determined through this dance.
This dance that Allura thought had died with her parents.
“Lotor preserved it,” replied Acxa to Allura’s unspoken question, her eyes sparkling like a silver stream, her steps mirroring the Altean’s movements. “He insisted that we respect this ancient courtship dance, though he would not tell anyone where it came from. Since I helped form the Altean colony though…”
She shrugged, twirling Allura close to her and swaying in time to the slow beats before spinning Allura free and pirouetting to her princess’ side. “I felt it was only honorable.”
“Well,” replied Allura with a breathless chuckle, one arm slipping around her general’s back and the other dipping beneath her knees as Allura swept her off her feet, “you are certainly more honorable in your dancing than your word; you undersold yourself terribly on your skills.”
Acxa’s ears flushed a glowing silver, her arms looped around Allura’s neck and a smile on her lips that set off fireworks inside of Allura’s stomach. She spun Acxa to the floor, and her general interlaced their fingers as they danced around one another. And, sure, objectively Allura knew that this impromptu dance had nothing on the Altean balls of old, that it was nothing like what her first courtship dance should be. Their heavy boots clunked against the floor instead of tapping, their gloved hands clapped with a muffled pumf instead of an echoing sharpness, and Acxa’s divine eyes flashed with the red of the cabin rather than the mosaic of colors in a ballroom, but all of that disappeared when Acxa’s fingers clasped Allura’s waist and she was flown into the air, her hands tight around Acxa’s shoulders as her general spun them around the room, laughter trailing behind them, and Allura felt her heart blossom in her chest. Because it didn’t need to be perfect to be perfect to her; it just had to end with Acxa’s hand in her own and their hearts beating as one.
The song began to crackle, and Allura felt her blood quicken in anticipation within her veins. The first half of their dance was dictated by Altean custom, by decaphoebs of traditional steps and spins, by the history of her planet. The second part was different.
Allura giggled, anticipation mingling with delight as Acxa grinned up at her. The second half of the dance featured a different song chosen by the suitor, who would choreograph a matching dance. It had been the part that endlessly confused Allura as a child, because she had no way of learning the steps ahead of time, so how could she possibly synchronize with them? No matter how many times her parents explained to her that it was her partner’s job to pick something that resonated with both of them, something that Allura could catch on to, she couldn’t help getting hung up on the fact that the strength of their bond, their unspoken understanding of each other, the inherent communication of her as-yet-unknown suitor and herself would be tested in every spin. Because Acxa was not allowed to tell Allura about any step of the routine; they just had to feel it through each other, to reach out with their quintessence and confirm the bond their energy instinctively formed with their soulmate. For, when Acxa had stepped into the Castle of Lions, Allura had known instantly that Acxa was her soulmate, but she had no way of knowing if she was Acxa’s soulmate. Soulmates didn’t always match up, after all, and Allura didn’t want their diplomatic obligations to affect the relationship that had begun to weave itself between them that day.
She only hoped the tapestry was half as lovely as Acxa’s smile and, as the song began, she slid her hands into Acxa’s and took a deep breath. She trusted Acxa with her life; a dance was nothing. And yet it was everything.
“I suppose that I look different without the robes and crown,” sang Acxa softly as the song began, her hands gentle in Allura’s as she guided them in a tender sashay around the room. “I come this day before you with no riches, no renown,
For here I am no leader,” she added, guiding Allura close to her and crossing her princess’ arms over her stomach to twine with Acxa’s as they swayed together, cheeks pressed close. “I am just a humble man.
And I only ask you take me, you take me as I am.”
Allura’s throat closed, tears sparkling like jewels in her eyes, and her Altean marks glowing in time to their steps circling the room. Just as Altean had made up her past, had been the roots that nurtured her into the person she now was, so had it led her onto the dance floor with the person she most loved. But just as English had connected her to a new family, a new path, a new identity that she could flourish within, so too did it irrevocably tie her to her future hand-in-hand with Acxa. Not a single step was missed, not a beat was lost on her, and when Acxa’s fingers slid free of her own, Allura didn’t even need to look to twirl in sync with her partner across the Red Lion before reclaiming her love’s hand.
Some of the lights dimmed in Red’s cabin, splaying pinks and whites across the floor as well as the ruby red, and the couple’s quick steps dipped in and out of colors, eyes captivated by each other. Acxa could barely breathe as Allura squeezed her hand softly, her twin Dutch braids clipped together with the treasured sparkling pink barrette, and she could almost feel Lance’s approving nod from back on Earth. Treat her like the Queen she is inside.
“I’m not looking for perfection, I’m not offering a saint,” sang Acxa, fingers shifting slightly in Allura’s, and her princess’ eyes lit up like nebulas as she spun away, leaving a hand to trail on Acxa’s waist as their arms flowed out like wings and their feet danced in a light circle. “I’m not looking for a pretty bird to put in some restraint,” promised Acxa, catching Allura’s hand and raising it for her princess to slip under, steps pulling them apart and fingers flying out as if to catch the wind.
Because she didn’t want to trap Allura, she never wanted her to feel captured in Acxa’s embrace. She wanted her princess to choose Acxa’s arms around her, their fingers intertwined, their hearts dancing together for all time. She wanted Allura to want this future with her.
And as Allura’s hand slid around Acxa’s arm, their fingers lacing together and rising behind them, legs stretching out to clunk their toes against the ground to form a pyramid, Acxa felt their hearts pound in unison. “The only thing I want is that you love me if you can,” she sang, water glistening in her eyes as she felt her answer thrum through their intertwined hands. “And I only ask you take me, you take me as I am.”
Allura giggled as Acxa twirled her away, their hands crossing and thumbs tapping through their armor, the metallic clang bringing a glow to her Altean markings. It reminded her of wedding bells. She spun back to Acxa’s side and continued twirling past; Acxa’s fingers were looser than usual.
“I offer you a look inside,” promised Acxa, guiding Allura’s steps in a circle behind her, never once twisting to guard her exposed back, “I offer you that trust.”
Acxa’s arm caught Allura’s waist as she turned, a spark in her eye, and Allura arced over her hands, letting her fingers drift along as they spun in a slow circle. Her smile turned blissful, and her heart sped up to match Acxa’s because, suspended over the ground on a single person’s arm with her head hanging freely, Allura had never felt safer.
“I need your strength to help me fight the battles that I must,” admitted Acxa, guiding Allura to standing tall again, and she swung their intertwined hands forwards as their back arms flared out. “I need you to remind me of the light we bear within,” she continued, her fingers slipping free of Allura’s to pirouette together, their eyes catching each other’s between spins.
Acxa’s heart felt like bursting as their legs landed low, hands fast around each other’s waists and arms still spread wide as they twirled around each other. The words nearly caught in her throat as Allura’s arm slid around her shoulders a split tick before her own hand looped beneath her princess’ front knee and, when their eyes met, the universe stood still.
“That there’s more to life than struggle,” sang Acxa, joy painting her words a vibrant pink as she spun Allura off the ground, twirling around the Red Lion’s cabin in an endless loop, just like she hoped their happiness together would be, “and the things we seek to win!”
Allura’s toes rippled back to the ground, and she spun an arm around Acxa’s shoulder just as her general did the same for her once more.
“Don’t take me out of duty,” begged Acxa, her jewelled eyes fixated on Allura’s as their feet popped forward and backward in time with the beat, and Allura placed her heart in her own eyes because duty has nothing to do with us; I just saw a beautiful girl and fell in love, “and don’t take me out of pride,
Just take me if the man you see is one you’d stand beside.”
Allura twirled back, facing Acxa head-on, and placed a hand atop her shoulder, reaching out for her general’s free hand with a smile even as they sashayed softly around the room.
“I’m offering an open heart,” murmured Acxa, folding her fingers through Allura’s and bringing the soft hand up to press a kiss to her princess’ knuckles. “I’m asking for your hand.”
Allura pulled Acxa’s hand to her lips, returning the kiss, a giddy smile spreading across her lips as the unspoken words filled the air. Their hands, still glowing from the kisses, slid back into each other’s, and they swept around the cabin, each step feeling like it could leave glittering gold footprints behind with the sheer force of love spiralling through their bodies. Their ankles clanked together in time with the music, their toes squeaking as they twirled together, their steps getting faster and faster, the room spinning by in a blur of colors, their twined fingers the only thing that felt real anymore, even when they slipped with sweat, but all Allura could think as she gazed into Acxa’s eyes was this is what love is made of.
“And I only ask you take me, you take me as I am,” sang Acxa, dipping Allura so low her hair grazed the floor, their glowing irises never once breaking contact, “you take me as I am…”
She twirled Allura back to her feet, guiding her around with a light touch and, as they turned to where King Alfor and Queen Melenor should be, sitting and nearly crying as their daughter completed her last courtship dance, both girls bowed into a low curtsy.
Allura tightened her hold on Acxa’s hand as she drew herself up tall, a faint sting prodding at her heart, but Acxa’s fractured breath shot her eyes to the front. Tears slid down over the shining Altean marks, and Allura pressed a hand to her mouth in a breathless laugh, a sob catching in her throat.
The Red Lion’s spirit sat there, purring softly as the quintessence flecked off it in red sparkles, and a faint smile on its lips. Allura couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t understand, how—
“I was Alfor’s Lion once, kit,” reminded Red as the Lion stood, padding over to Allura and pressing her forehead to the princess’. “I could never miss his daughter’s once-in-a-lifetime courtship dance.”
Allura’s hands couldn’t catch her sob, and Acxa wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close and tucking her against her chest. Red hummed, licking Allura softly, and sending a thrum of approval through their bond. “Be happy, my princess. You two have the celestial blessing that your parents would have gladly bestowed upon you.”
Allura’s throat barricaded any words behind it, but she mustered a nod, and Red chuckled gently. “Go on, then,” nudged Red, flicking her tail towards Acxa. “The ceremony is not complete until you declare your truth and seal it with a kiss.”
That was right; they were not official until she gave her assessment of the courtship dance. But, to be honest, even if Acxa hadn’t gone beyond her wildest dreams, Allura would have said yes phoebs ago. Because it had always been Acxa, only Acxa. She forced in a breath, turning to the person who held her heart, her soul, her very being, and pried her lips open as the truth filled her every thought in a neverending stream of I love you I love you I love you so much I can’t breathe I can’t think I can’t dream of living without you by my side I love you Acxa I love you—
Allura tipped up on her toes, arms wrapping around Acxa’s shoulders and noses grazing as their eyes slid closed. She could still feel it, the unconditional bond between them, that unparalleled understanding, it was everything she had ever wanted. Acxa’s hands slid to Allura’s waist, steadying her, and Allura melted into the touch as their lips—
“Allura!”
—were torn apart by Acxa’s warning cry, and Allura spun with one hand already on her bayard. She leapt across the cabin, grabbing the controls and jerking them away from the pillar of fire consuming their view. Red gave a confused snarl as she yanked back, pivoting under Allura’s fingers so they were still facing the flames, and the map gave an alarming beep.
Acxa frowned, stepping closer to the swirling circle of flames spinning just beyond the window, and rested a hand on Allura’s shoulder. Her princess was heaving breath into her body, a faint grimace on her lips, but the hand she pressed to Acxa’s was soft. The map beeped again, and Red nudged Allura with a playful purr towards the crescendo of fire. Because of course her Lion liked the idea of a flame bath, of course.
“Oh Altea,” she murmured breathlessly, tightening her hold on Acxa as a lion’s face roared through the fire, and Allura’s markings glowed white-hot. “We made it.”
Acxa could only nod, her eyes fixated by the roaring gate of flames, and she pressed her lips to Allura’s hand one last time before bowing with a flourish at the window.
“Oriande awaits, dear Allura.”
If Oriande was awaiting Allura, it was apparently rather mad about how long she had taken to get there. Not that she wasn’t getting a very warm welcome, but as she eyed the flames spiralling outside her window in the vacuum of space, she remembered with a chill that she didn’t know anything about Oriande. Her fingers curled around her bayard, and she tore her eyes back to Acxa.
Her general just smiled, and a thrum of faith passed through her bond. Acxa knew as much as Allura did about Oriande, but that didn’t shake her confidence in Allura. She had watched her princess win countless space battles, force a wormhole into existence, win an argument with the Red Lion, shoot herself into the astral plane in a weakened condition to save her brother and win a fight against the Black Lion only to turn around and complete a space battle afterwards. Oriande had nothing on her battlefield princess.
“Together,” stated Allura, reaching out with one hand as Red let out a roar and pounced at the gate of flames.
Acxa slid her fingers through Allura’s and locked their jewelled eyes, one hand already on her gun and a warrior’s smirk across her lips. Allura wished she had kissed those lips at least once.
“Together.”
“Alright, Oriande,” challenged Allura, a glint in her eyes to rival the Red Lion’s and Acxa’s hand in her own, “let’s dance!”