Keith and Allura remained locked in a passionate embrace; their arms wrapped tightly around one another. Their kisses slowed into gentle caresses before finally ending, leaving the pair breathless. Leaning together, forehead to forehead, they sat quietly with their eyes closed. At last, Allura broke the silence with a soft whisper, "I'm not cold anymore, Keith." She started giggling and he couldn't help but join her in laughter as he held her close.

He pressed his lips against the top of her head and spoke quietly, the hint of a chuckle in his voice. "I'm glad, Princess." He hesitated for a few moments, just enjoying the feel of the woman in his arms. "Allura, I've wanted to do that for a long time." He leaned back and held her at arm's length in order to look her in the eyes. "I don't want you to think I was taking advantage of you or the situation, but when you turned around and got so close…" his voice trailed off and he closed his eyes, breathing deeply to regain his composure. "I… I just couldn't help myself."

"Keith, I hope you realize now, that I wanted that just as much as you did." She reached up to caress his cheek before lightly kissing his lips once more. "I've been dreaming about it since right after you arrived. I guess it's safe to tell you that I have a crush on the Black Lion pilot…" She glanced up at him with a shy smile.

He chuckled in response. "Then I guess I should tell you about my crush on the princess…" he uttered huskily as he bent down to capture her lips once more.

The young boy lay unconscious on the floor of the cavern, his breath coming in slow gasps. A rough scraping sound echoed through the empty space, but he was too far gone to hear it. Moments later a bright light sliced through the darkness and came to rest on his limp form. A muffled shout of "He's in here!" reverberated off the walls, but even this was not enough to rouse the child. The scrabbling sound grew more desperate as hands worked frantically to enlarge the opening. Minutes later a man squeezed through the hole and gained entry to the cave. He rushed to the boy, turning him in order to assess his condition. Seeing the bluish tinge to his skin, the man stripped off his own jacket and wrapped the child in it. He then lifted the flaccid body into his arms and carried him back to the cavern's entrance. The man handed the boy into a pair of waiting arms before following him into the outside world.

"Alright, I think that does it." Pidge called out to Lance.

"Then let's get her fired up so we can head back to the castle while I still have some feeling in my fingers," he groused in reply.

"Here goes nothing," Pidge mumbled under his breath as he reached out to press the switch that would reactivate the newly repaired power generator. He nearly whooped out loud when a low hum issued forth from the machine. He made his way back out to Lance, a smile plastered on his face. He lifted his thumbs into the air to indicate the success of their mission as he fell into step with his teammate. After replacing their tools in the shed, the duo boarded the aircar for the frigid ride back to the castle.

Keith and Allura sat drowsing on the couch, still wrapped in a close embrace beneath the blanket. Suddenly the lights flared back to life, nearly blinding the couple. Allura turned her head and hid her eyes in the hollow of her companion's neck. Keith squeezed his eyes shut against the onslaught of brightness before suddenly opening them wide as realization sank in. He gently tapped Allura's shoulder as he whispered into her ear, "Princess, the power's been restored."

She lifted her head and blinked at him sleepily as his words sank in. A grin spread across her face as she flung herself back into his embrace and hugged him tightly. He returned the hold briefly before releasing her once more. "C'mon, we need to go check on the others."

She hesitated for a minute, refusing to move as she stared into his eyes.

He returned her gaze, a frown furrowing his brow. "What is it, Allura? Is something wrong?"

She broke eye contact with him and occupied herself by fingering a lock of his hair.

"Hey, talk to me, what's going on?"

She swallowed then lifted her eyes to his once more. The blue orbs were obscured by tears that she tried to blink away before regaining enough composure to speak. "Keith," she started, her voice cracking. "Where does this leave us?"

He looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Well now that the power's been restored are you going to want to go back to the way things were before?" A single tear escaped her eye and slowly began to roll down her cheek.

He watched it glisten in the light for a brief second before reaching out and tenderly brushing it away. He leaned in and gently kissed the eye it had fallen from before lifting her chin and capturing her gaze once more. "Why on Arus would I want to do that? I just found out that the girl I've wanted to be with wants to be with me too." He moved closer and grazed her lips with his own before continuing. "Do you really that I'm willing to forget that and go back to the way things were before? Why would I want to give up being able to do this?" his voice lowered to a gravelly whisper as he caught her lips with his once more. This time he coaxed her into a deeper kiss and threaded one hand through her hair as he held her close with the other. He smiled into the kiss as he felt her relax in his embrace and begin running her hand along his jawline and into his hair.

Half an hour later, Keith and Allura, hand in hand, joined Lance and Pidge outside Hunk's door. The big man had not made an appearance since the power was restored and the rest of the team was getting worried. Lance knocked on the door as they all called out Hunk's name. When there was no response, Keith nodded to Pidge. The smaller man removed the panel to the locking mechanism and fiddled with the wires inside. Within seconds the door began to slide open. A series of shocked gasps filled the hallway as the sight of Hunk's prone form came into view. They all rushed inside and dropped to their knees around him, shouting his name. Keith shook the big man's shoulder trying to being him around. Finally, a short time later, his eyes began to twitch. Slowly opening them, Hunk looked around at the concerned faces of his teammates.

"What happened?" He asked as she struggled to sit up.

"That's what we'd like to know. What do you remember?" Keith asked gently but firmly.

"It was cold and dark," Hunk whispered. His normally strong voice had softened to that of a child. "I was alone. There was so much snow. I had no food. I was so cold and so tired. They told me that it was safe in there; that it would be fun to explore. They were supposed to come with me, but instead they left me and a storm caused an avalanche. I was trapped and scared." His eyes started off unseeing as he recounted the nightmare of his childhood.

"No wonder you hate the cold weather so much, Hunk," Allura said gently as she embraced the large man. "But it's ok now. You're safe, with friends. We won't let anything like that happen to you again. You just need to trust us and talk to us so we can help you."

Hunk blinked as his vision cleared. He reached out and returned the princess's hug gently. "You're right, Princess. I should have told you all, but I was embarrassed. I shouldn't have believed them. It wasn't the first time that my brother and cousin had tricked me like that. I nearly died because of them."

"Hunk, you have nothing to be embarrassed about. Remember, we care about you. If we had known, we'd never have left you alone during the storm." The princess released him and stood.

Hunk nodded as he got to his feet. Together, the five companions strode across the room to stand before the windows. Keith's arm was draped across Allura's shoulders; her arm wrapped around his waist as the group watched the sun peek above the horizon. A new day was dawning filled with new beginnings as the darkness ended.