Welcome to my latest and greatest literary creation...the long awaited, Unearthly Secrets. I started working on this a little over two months ago after pausing on another story I was working on while I was waiting for information. I hope to go back to that other story and finish it soon.

Back to this monstrosity I've written...it is by far the longest I've ever written so far, at 222 pages in Microsoft Word and over 100,000 words. So this will take a while to post and I should have no problem finishing the other story and getting it ready to start posting before you see the end of this one. ;)

Many thanks to everyone who sent me emails asking where the heck I was and asking me to get a move on, it was much appreciated and believe me...I was going as fast as I could to the point I didn't get Xia's chapter 2 edited as fast as she wanted...and I heard about it. CMS has been uncommonly patient that I didn't get her newest story edited so she could post chapter 1. Are you feeling alright dear? ;) Let's not leave out my good friend Wade Wells who sent her editing to someone else so it could be finished sooner...she didn't want to wait for me either. LOL!

Sorry ladies...had to pick on all of you. Many thanks for so quickly editing chapter 1 so I could get this posted. You three have no idea how much I appreciated it and I'm sure the readers will echo that sentiment since they've been stuck waiting even longer. ;)

As a side note...there are some things in this story that may not be medically correct...after consulting with my good friend Nurse Harmony...and she agreed with me, I decided to go with the fact that this is work of fiction...I'm not a doctor or a nurse and am not concerned that not everything is medically correct if it takes out the good drama of the story. ;)

I make no claims to Voltron or any other WEP characters.

Enjoy!

Mertz

Without further ado...I present

Unearthly Secrets:

The Arusian sky is bright and colorful with pre-dawn colors in with bright oranges and pinks. The roar of mechanical lions suddenly disrupts the silence. Black lion streaks across the Arusian sky in a rush, its pilot breathing deeply as he tries to calm his anger before speaking, "Princess, I told you to flank Red lion…"

Princess Allura appears on his video screen. Her face slightly flushed, her eyes carry a hint of unrepentant arrogance as she tilts her head slightly with her nose up in the air as she replies, "I was just trying something…Commander."

Doing everything he can to keep control of his temper, Keith retorts, "Try something on your own time…Princess, during practice you will follow my orders."

Her eyes blaze with anger before she flips the video prompt off in response. Keith takes a deep breath to calm down before handing out his next order.

Practice ends an hour later and the group heads back to the castle. As they enter castle control, Keith states, "Princess…I need you to stay here." His eyes go to the other three, "Dismissed."

Lance arches a brow at him before turning around and following Hunk and Pidge out of the room. The dais lowers and Coran comes down to their level, asking, "Is there a problem Commander?"

Keith moves his glaring eyes from Princess Allura to Coran as he growls out, "I would say there is… Princess Allura is once again having trouble following orders."

Coran looks away from him to Allura to speak, but Keith overrides him as he turns his glaring black eyes back to her, "When I agreed to allow you to fly Princess, it was with the understanding that while we are in the lions, you will follow my orders like every other member of the team." He takes a step closer to her as he continues, "If you can't handle that then I will have no choice but to call Garrison for a replacement pilot. I can't be worrying in a battle if you will listen to the orders given to you."

Her sapphire eyes blazing, Allura crosses her arms as she states, "I just wanted to try something."

His tone turns glacial as Keith responds, "Then ask permission before you try it. Now, can you or can you not follow orders?"

Allura glares at the obviously furious man in front of her before she bites out, "Yes…"

Keith stares her down for a moment more before stating, "Very well, this is the last time I will speak with you about it Princess. If you fail to follow orders again, I will have you replaced as pilot of Blue lion."

Not even sparing Coran another look, Keith turns around and walks out of the room. Allura waits until the doors to castle control close before she screams out her frustration and turns to Coran, "He is insufferable!"

Coran arches a brow at her as he looks over his furious princess before quietly replying, "Perhaps…but in this case he was correct."

Livid blue eyes close narrowly on him as Coran continues, "Princess Allura, we have been over this… In any battle situation there can only be one in command. As Commander of the Voltron Force, Keith has every right to expect you to obey him, no matter that you are the princess and ruler of Arus."

Allura crosses her arms and looks away as she mutters, "He doesn't need to be such an ass about it though."

Coughing slightly, Coran steps toward her as he replies, "I'll pretend I didn't hear that remark…" His hands drop on her shoulders as he continues, "Princess, the Commander is a man of great leadership skills. You would do well to try to learn from him instead of fighting against him at every turn. One day you will be Queen of Arus and the people will look to you to be as great of a leader as your father was."

Her shoulders drooping, Allura mutters, "It isn't fair… I can never be what my father was…"

Coran smiles softly at her as he pats her shoulders then releases her, "You can be…with age, a little more maturity and a willingness to learn from others more learned than you are."

Her eyes rise and a mocking look enters them as she states, "As in Keith…"

His smile growing, Coran nods as he states, "I don't know what is with the two of you… Since he has arrived you two get along like oil and water…"

An irritated look crosses her features as she states, "He doesn't like me…and doesn't hide the fact either."

Coran manages to stop himself from laughing as he states, "Is it that…or the fact that you are used to men, like some of the princes that have visited, falling all over themselves to please you and the Commander walks away instead?"

Allura does an un-princess like snort and turns away to walk out of the room. Coran sighs deeply as he turns back to the controls, "Youths…and their crushes…" Shaking his head ruefully, he goes back to work.

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Keith has almost cooled off as he reaches his office to find Lance slouching down on the sofa waiting for him. Lance's eyes brows go up as he asks, "So…how did it go with "her royal pain in the ass"?"

Snorting his answer, Keith takes his seat behind his desk and picks up his data-pad to check for messages from Garrison. Lance rises from the couch and ambles over to the desk, taking the seat in front, "So…do we still have a fifth pilot or are you now sending a message to Garrison asking for a new one again?"

A deep sigh escapes Keith as he looks up at Lance, "No new pilot…but I've given Princess her final warning. I've had it with her attitude."

Smirking, Lance retorts, "Perhaps you should put in the request anyway since last time you asked for a new pilot, you were told it would take a while…"

Black eyes full of irritation rise to meet Lance's brown ones as Keith growls, "Don't fucking tempt me… I've never met a more impossible, arrogant woman in my entire life… I thought the women at the Academy were bad, but the princess could give them lessons."

Lance starts laughing as he responds, "Yes… well, maybe you should try using your charming side Keith… Princess seems to take a perverse pleasure in pissing you off, if you smiled at her instead..."

An even louder snort is Keith's answer and as Lance laughs even harder he responds, "When hell freezes over Lieutenant…what that woman needs is a spanking."

Lance rises to leave but Keith stops him, "Gym matt after lunch…we need to work on the princess' defense skills."

Nodding, Lance turns around and leaves the room.

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Lance wanders down the hallway to Allura's office, lightly knocking on the door. At the soft answer of, "Enter" he walks into the room to find Allura sitting at her desk, turned slightly to look out the window. Putting on his most charming smile, Lance saunters up to the desk asking, "So…I see you managed to piss off Keith again."

Turning around in her chair to face him, Allura snorts as she replies, "I just wanted to try something out… He didn't need to get so angry about it."

Sighing as he sits down in front of her desk, Lance replies quietly, "You know better than to try stuff during practice." He sits forward in the seat, "It is like you are trying to see how far you can push him Princess… Let me tell you, Keith won't put up with it."

Allura crosses her arms as she retorts, "Great…first Keith, then Coran, now you have to come in here to reprimand me? I don't need it Lance!" She completely turns her chair away from him to stare out the window once more.

Lance stares at the back of her seat for several moments before he stands up to walk around to stare at her again. She refuses to look at him though; her eyes are firmly on the windows, gazing out. Lance steps in front of her view. Once she turns her gaze to glare at him, he replies, "I'm doing it because I don't want to see you thrown off the Force Allura. Keith is serious about this being your last warning…don't mess with him if you want to keep flying Blue lion."

Forcing down the tears that are threatening to rise to her eyes, Allura looks away again as she asks, "Why doesn't he like me?"

Taken aback, Lance clears his throat slightly as he asks, "What do you mean? Keith likes you Allura."

Shaking her head, Allura turns her gaze back to Lance, "No, he doesn't…he never has." She stands up from her chair and wrapping her arms around her waist, she walks over to the window to look out.

Running his hand through his hair, Lance takes a step closer to her, "Look Princess…Keith is a hard man to know sometimes. He is all about discipline, responsibility and being a soldier."

Turning back around, Allura retorts, "Everything he thinks I'm not…"

"No, everything he thinks you are capable of being if you would just listen and learn." Getting frustrated with the entire conversation, Lance tells her, "Keith wants to work on your self defense some more after lunch…"

Letting her anger get the better of her, Allura nods coolly before responding, "One more thing I'm sure I'll fail to measure up to in Keith's opinion."

Shaking his head at her, Lance turns around to leave the room, "See you at lunch Princess."

She watches Lance walk out of the office before turning back around to look out the window again.

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Allura screams until the breath is knocked out of her as she lands on the matt on her back. An annoyed voice echoes in the gym, "Princess…how many times do we have to go over this?" Keith walks to stand over her as Allura glares up at him from her position on the floor, "You have to either break the hold or get your opponent off-balance…"

Drawing in deep breaths, Allura growls, "I'm trying! It doesn't help you are a damned master!"

Keith reaches down and pulls her up off the matt as he retorts, "It doesn't matter…if you are in a fight for your life, you need to be able to take down anyone, no matter their skill!"

He turns, walking away from her and Allura sticks her tongue out at his departing back. Lance catches the gesture and swallows his laughter as Keith strides over to him, "Come on Lance…we will show her again…"

Grimacing, Lance rises from his seat on the matt then proceeds to move in and out of holds against Keith until Keith manages to get a hold of him and flips Lance onto the matt as well. As Lance groans in pain on the floor, Allura's voice rings out, "If Lance can't stop you and he has had years of training, how can you expect me to?"

Keith snorts as he turns around to look at her. Princess stands with her legs parted, her arms crossed defensively with her blue eyes flashing her irritation. Glaring at her, he responds, "I expect you to last longer than ten seconds… Lance manages to keep me at bay ten times longer than you do."

He moves back onto the center of the matt, "Now get over here, we will try it again…"

Thirty minutes later, Allura is fighting to keep the tears out of her eyes as she rubs her aching bottom. Keith is moving away from her as he states, "We will practice more tomorrow…"

Lance smiles at her sympathetically then turns around to follow Keith to the showers. Allura watches them go then flops down on her back on the matt. The tears of frustration leak out of her eyes as she thinks, He is always such a jerk to me…why? After sniffling, Allura rises and slowly makes her way back to her room to shower and nap before getting ready for dinner.

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Allura sits at dinner that night, picking at her food as she listens to the men talk around her. Her eyes drift around the table, pausing on Keith as he laughs at Lance's retort to Pidge before she looks down at her plate again.

Hunk shakes his head at Lance then turns to Keith, "Hey Cap…Pidge and I think we have those new sensors ready to install for testing."

Turning his head to look at the big man, Keith responds, "Great! You and Pidge get them installed tomorrow after practice. I want the test results by sometime tomorrow afternoon."

Allura gives up her pretense of eating and rises to walk over to the large dining room windows. She listens to the conversations going on behind her as she looks over the moonlit, snow covered landscape before her. The snow had started to fall a month ago and the cold temperatures had kept it from melting. Allura sighs, I wish it was spring already…I hate this weather.

Turning around to look over the group again Allura states, "Commander…"

Keith turns his head towards her in question as she continues, "I wish to go visit my people tomorrow… Kindly plan to accompany me to the village of Teareen after morning practice."

His eyebrows up in the air, Keith opens his mouth to reply only to be cut off by Coran who states, "Princess, it is much too cold to be going out…"

Allura cuts him off, "I haven't visited any of my people in over a month and I'm tired of being cooped up in this castle."

Keith rises from his place at the table to try to reason with her, "Princess…if you would but wait for it to warm up just a little and for more of us to be available to you. I have work I need to finish, Hunk and Pidge need to get that sensor test done and Lance is on duty tomorrow…"

Raising a hand to stop him, Allura narrows her eyes as she states, "I am going tomorrow with or without you Commander, and that is the last I will hear on the subject." Turning away from them, she quickly leaves the room.

Keith swears profusely as he sits back down at the table. Pidge looks over at him and quietly states, "Either Hunk or I could go as well…"

Shaking his head before Pidge can even finish his statement, Keith says, "You and Hunk need to get those sensors installed and tested…" He growls out in frustration before adding, "I'll have to escort her…she isn't giving me any other choice!"

Coran stands up as he replies, "I'll speak to her Commander… I'm sure I can make her see reason."

Keith snorts and mutters, "Good luck…" as Coran walks out of the room. Lance arches an eyebrow at Keith as he states, "You could have suggested a spanking…"

He smiles at the irritated look on Keith's face as Keith throws down his napkin and leaves the room. Turning his amused eyes to Hunk and Pidge, he asks, "Anyone for a movie?"

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Allura runs out of the launch chute back into the control room the next morning and waits for Keith to return. He exits the launch chute a few moments later and she looks at him as she states, "I wish to leave in ten minutes Commander…"

Coran lowers the dais as he tries once again to reason with her, "Princess Allura, be reasonable…"

She raises her hand to stop him as she states, "I will not be made to change my mind Coran so stop harassing me about it." Her eyes move back to Keith, "I'll be down at the stable in ten minutes…"

Keith interrupts her, his eyes glittering with his irritation, "I'll be ready to go in thirty minutes, your Highness. I wish to have some breakfast before we go."

Nodding at him, Allura turns around and walks out of the room. Keith turns toward Coran, "What are the conditions this morning?"

Sighing, Coran returns to the command chair and flips on the monitors before answering, "Clear skies…temperature in the lower twenties…" He turns back to Keith, "Not optimal, but at least it isn't the near subzero temperatures it has been lately."

Keith nods and states, "I better get a move on, I still need to eat and add another layer to my clothing before I meet her in the stable." then turns to leave the room. Lance shudders as he watches him go before turning to Hunk, "I'm glad I don't have to go…they are going to be sniping at each other the entire trip."

Hunk nods as Coran is heard replying, "They are both stubborn mules and neither of them wants to give an inch to the other."

Lance sighs as he looks back over at Hunk and Pidge, "Well, let's go get some breakfast before we have to return to our duties." He leads the way out of the room as Coran continues to mutter under his breath about mules.

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Thirty minutes later, Allura enters the stable to find Keith tying down a sleeping bag to his horse. Arching a brow at him, she sardonically states with a smile, "This isn't going to be that long of a trip Commander…"

Keith turns to look at her briefly and seems to be gritting his teeth before he turns back to the horse and finishes strapping the bag down and adding other items to the saddle bag before he replies, "It is winter Princess…you can't just go out in weather like this and not be prepared for it."

Closing the flap over the saddle bag he turns back to her to state, "It's simple survival training Princess…be prepared for the unexpected. Besides…it is a specially made bag for extreme cold…"

Allura rolls her eyes as she walks over to her horse, surprised to find him already saddled. She makes a cooing sound at the horse as she rubs his nose before turning back to Keith, "Did you saddle him?"

He looks at her and curtly nods before turning back to get up into his saddle. Allura quietly says, "Thanks…" and climbs up onto her horse. Snapping the reins, she leads the way out of the stable and away from the castle.

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Later that afternoon, Keith rubs his gloved hands together to keep them warm as he watches Allura move amongst her people, smiling and talking animatedly to them. He sighs deeply as he thinks, She really does light up and come to life when she is with them… His eyes travel around and he notes that Allura wasn't the only one excited. All of the villagers take turns speaking with her and smiling at her. No wonder she gets so insistent about it.

He pulls back his glove and coat sleeve to glance at his watch then crosses the square to intercept her, "Princess…we really do need to start back if we want to get back to the castle before dark."

The smile falters briefly as she asks, "It is that late already?"

At his nod, Allura turns to the people, "I guess I must leave…" Most of the people surrounding her groan with disappointment. An elderly man pats her arm as he says, "The Commander is smart to leave now though…"

Allura manages another smile at the man before turning back to Keith, "Very well, lead the way, Commander…"

Arching a brow, Keith replies, "Highness…" and turns around to walk her back to the horses, left in the town square upon their arrival. Leading the way out of the village, Keith sighs as he pushes the horse into a trot.

With the afternoon sun starting to set, Allura starts to feel a bit colder as she asks Keith, "Why are we going this way? There has to be a faster way back to the castle!"

Keith pulls back on the reins of his horse to let her catch up with him as he replies, "This is the safest way Princess…"

She rolls her eyes while shaking her head at him and snaps the reins of her horse taking over the lead. As they near the large lake at the edge of the forest Allura turns her horse to cross the frozen surface.

Keith's voice sounds off behind her, "Princess stop!"

Allura turns around on her horse to glare back at him, "What's the problem Commander?"

Trying to control his temper, Keith fights to keep his voice even as he states, "Princess Allura…it hasn't been cold long enough for that ice to be able to withstand the weight of a horse and its rider…we need to go around the lake."

Snorting in reply, Allura turns back around on her horse and snaps the reins to get it to move forward, across the lake. Keith watches her in shock for a moment then snaps the reins on his horse to follow her as he mentally curses her to hell and back.

As they near the middle of the lake, the sound of ice cracking has Keith pulling back on the reins of his horse. He watches as Allura stops her horse as well, then a moment later, listens in horror to her scream as the ice breaks away under her horse and both of them disappear under the water.

"NO!" Keith jumps off of his horse, runs to the hole and dives in after them.

Trying not to gasp or breathe in the icy cold water, Keith forces his eyes open and spots Allura a ways in front of him. Swimming as fast as he can in the icy depths, he grabs a hold of her flailing arms and pulls her to him. Freeing one hand, he pulls his blaster off of his belt, aims at the ice above him and fires.

A small hole forms; he fires again to enlarge the hole then swims up to it, pulling Allura up with him. Both gasp for air as they break the surface and Keith growls out, "Hold onto my back…"

Allura maneuvers around and grabs onto his back. Keith reaches for his belt again and pulls off two knives, sinking them into the ice in front of him and uses them to pull himself and Allura up out of the freezing water.

Rolling off of Keith as soon as she can, Allura curls into a ball crying and shuddering. Letting out a deep sigh, Keith sits up and looks over to find his horse still standing where he had left him. Getting to his feet, he pulls Allura up, "Come on…we have to get out of here and find somewhere to dry off fast."

Shaking from head to toe, Allura moves slowly in the direction of the horse. Keith grabs her arm to propel her forward. He drags her to his horse, his muscles starting to freeze up from the cold and pushes Allura up onto his horse before pulling himself up behind her. Allura glances around as she feels Keith grab the reins and utters, "My horse…"

He growls into her ear, "Dead…because of your stupidity…" snapping the reins, he turns his horse away from the holes in the ice and gets to the edge as quick as he can before circling the lake. Pulling his comm. unit off of his belt, Keith tries to radio in, "Control come in…control…please come in…" Swearing he thinks, Dammit…the cold water fried it. He listens to Allura's crying as his mind works, quickly scanning the area for any kind of shelter. He spots a cave not too far from where they are, There is a cave along this lake…we have to get there and get these wet clothes off quick.

Pushing the horse to move a bit faster; Keith's eyes move to the cave a short ways ahead. Stopping in front of it, he pulls a flashlight out of his saddle bag and steps inside to check it out. Finding it empty, he walks back out to the horse and pulls Allura off of it, "Get inside and start stripping off your clothing. Allof your clothing Princess, until you are nude." Shivering, he finishes pulling the sleeping bag off of his saddle and hands it to her, "Once nude, get into this and zip it up around your head."

Shivering from cold, Allura mumbles, "What about…you?"

"We need a fire, I'm getting wood quick and I'll be in to join you, now get in there!" He shoves her toward the cave opening then turns to quickly walk over to the surrounding woods.

Allura walks into the cave and stops when she reaches the back wall. Shivering and willing her cold fingers to work, she undresses, dropping her wet and half frozen clothing on the ground. Shivering violently at this point, she struggles as she opens the sleeping bag and steps into it. Lying down along the hard ground, Allura finishes zipping it around her head then curls into a ball trying to keep what little body heat she has left close to her as the computer in the bag starts to warm it and her.

A few minutes later, Keith walks back into the cave with an armload of firewood that he's trying not to drop as he shivers violently. Glancing over at the sleeping bag the brief thought of, For once she listened… floats through his mind before he sets the wood down in an indent in the middle of the cave and quickly arranges it then struggles with his shaking fingers as he lights it.

Leaving his comm. unit close to the fire, hoping it will work once dried and trying to control his own shivering, Keith waits until he knows the fire will stay lit then stands up and starts stripping out of his cold and wet clothing. Once nude, he spreads his clothes out around the fire then kneels before it for a moment before calling out to Allura.

Allura's fingers shake as she unzips the bag a bit. Looking into Keith's face across the fire, she mutters, "I'm finally warming…"

Struggling to keep his body from staggering to the side, Keith speaks softly as he stutters with cold, "We…need…to…to share…body heat…"

Forcing his cold limbs to move, Keith stands and walks over to Allura. Her eyes go wide as she takes in his nakedness as Keith stutters, "Op…open…the…bag."

He doesn't wait for her, but grips the zipper and opens the bag. He slides in beside her and they move around until Keith is on the bottom with Allura laying on top of him as his numb fingers works the zipper back up as high as it will go, covering both of their heads as much as possible.

The warmth within the bag has Keith groaning with relief as he moves his hands to rub her back, trying to warm both of them up as he becomes acutely aware of the woman on top of him and fights to keep his body from responding to her. Son of a bitch…this is Princess Allura…the royal pain in the ass…

His traitorous body doesn't seem to care who she is though and once she shifts slightly as she warms up, Keith withholds the swear words on the tip of his tongue as he instantly hardens and instead growls, "Keep still dammit!"

Allura stiffens at the anger she hears in his tone and reaches for the zipper to take the bag off of their heads so she can lift her head up to look at him while asking, "Why are you being so mean to me?"

She gazes into his angry eyes before glancing down to find his jaw tightening as if he is gritting his teeth. She looks back into his eyes as he furiously answers her, "If you would have listened to me, we wouldn't be in this fucking mess." He grips her arms as he continues, "When the hell are you going to grow up? You don't know everything Princess and one of these days your inability to take advice from someone else is going to get someone hurt or killed…"

Eyes wide in shock, Allura starts to push herself up away from him, only to have Keith re-grab her, forcing her to lay back down, "Don't be a damned fool, we need to keep each other warm."

She moves her legs to try to gain leverage to push up again only to have her thigh come into contact with his hardened manhood. Freezing in place, Allura looks back into Keith's face to watch him close his eyes and shove his head back against the sleeping bag again before he shifts her off to his side so she doesn't feel it against her anymore.

After opening and shutting her mouth a few times, she finally utters in amazement, "You want me?"

Keith's eyes instantly open again as he growls out, "Hell no!"

Her mouth drops at his fast answer before she closes it then questions, "But…you are…"

Before she can finish, Keith laughs sardonically at her before stating, "Princess…I'm a man. I haven't had sex with a woman since before I left Earth over six months ago. Feeling a naked woman against me, any naked woman against me, would cause that to happen."

Tears instantly form in Allura's eyes as she turns away from him, trying to distance herself as much as she can within the tight confines of the sleeping bag while racking sobs escape her. Keith groans at the sound and mutters, "Don't cry Princess…"

As she starts crying in earnest, Keith swears under his breath before he pulls her back into his arms and starts stroking her back as he continues to plead with her, "Please Princess…don't cry. I'm sorry I was so short with you…"

Her crying continues and Keith pulls her as tight to him as he can while turning slightly onto his side, completely enveloping her into his body, "Shhh Princess…please…"

As her crying eases into shuddering gasps, Keith moves a hand from her back to her head only to encounter her cold, wet bun. Grimacing, he mutters, "It's never going to dry that way…" Allura keeps her face buried into his chest as she feels his fingers working the pins loose in her hair before she feels him pulling the wet mass off of her head so it flows more down her back.

Several moments of silence go by before she hears him softly saying her name, "Allura…" Taking a deep breath, Allura closes her eyes and pushes her face deeper into his chest while clinging to him. She listens to him sigh deeply before she feels his arms tighten around her as he says, "It's alright Princess."

His hands rubbing her back, Allura thinks, He feels safe… before she falls asleep.