"Enough. You will leave now."

The sound of a steel staff slamming onto the metallic floor echoed through the grand throne room. The ornamental bells that hung to the top jingled lightly to the stunned silence of the Voltron paladins.

"Y… Your Majesty, I insist…" Allura began politely. Her voice trembled slightly.

King Illya of the planet Samalli stood his ground. Despite being only half of Allura's size, he proudly held his head high, unflinchingly meeting her gaze. The beetle-like pincers protruding from his mandible quivered with warning and his small wings were beginning to peek out from beneath his mantle. "No," he stated as his staff hit the floor once more.

Allura faltered for a moment before pulling her shoulders back stubbornly. "Your Majesty, the Galra will be here tomorrow, and they will not stop until every ore on this planet has been mined and taken. No matter the cost for the local population."

There was a nervous buzz of pincers clicking that filled the audience section of the hall where the elder Samalli council sat.

"No," King Illya repeated.

"But-"

"We have protected our world for hundreds of years and will continue to do so for hundreds more to come."

"Do you think the Galra care about your traditions and pride?" Allura's voice rose to dangerous levels.

King Illya's beady red eyes hardened. "Leave."

Allura all but threw her helmet to the floor when the paladins returned to the Castle of Lions.

"I, uh, take it that it didn't go well?" Coran timidly eyed the fuming Allura.

She muttered something in response and stomped out of the bridge before anyone could stop her. Coran turned to Shiro for answers.

Shiro took off his helmet and ran a hand through his tangled locks. "Negotiations… went sour," he responded with a tired sigh, "The Samalli are determined to fight their own fight."

"I know we're Voltron paladins and defend the universe and all," Lance chimed in as he landed heavily in his chair, "but they're making it really hard to, you know, defend."

"Yeah, and what's so special about this ore anyway? Its chemical composition isn't anything special." Hunk pulled a silvery rock from his pocket and tossed it into the air only to catch it then repeat.

Pidge turned suddenly to the stone in Hunk's hand. "Where did you get some ore? I asked and they told me I couldn't have any."

"Found it," Hunk snorted.

"Stole it," Pidge corrected with a grin.

Coran swiped the stone out of the air as Hunk threw it up once more. "The Samar Ore doesn't become valuable until it is processed," he stated matter-of-factly, "In fact, it's one of the hardest yet pliable metals in the universe. Large battleships, especially the Galra's, are often made from this material for its durability."

"And at the rate we've been destroying battle cruisers," Shiro added with furrowed eyebrows, "They're no doubt racing for more."

Coran nodded grimly.

Shiro straightened his back. "Then we can't leave. Whether the Samalli want us here or not, we can't give the Galra any chance to replenish their resources." He began to move toward the exit.

"Where are you going?" Lance asked.

"Find Allura."

The metallic doors slid close behind him.

Shiro wasn't surprised to find Allura in the training room practically tearing the sparring droids apart with her bare hands. In that sense, she reminded Shiro a little bit of Keith. But, as he watched Allura fight, he noted that the similarities ended there. When Keith was stressed, he sparred recklessly: swinging widely and not worrying about getting hit. Allura, however, was deadly precise.

Instead of her paladin bayard, she fought with a practice blade. Fighting five droids at once, she ducked, slid, and spun. She only hit each droid once: killing blows. Her hair wasn't in its usual neat bun either. Whether out of haste or disregard, Allura had only tied her hair back into a simple low ponytail, so with every turn and whip of her body, the pale curls spun around her in a decisive, perfect flurry.

She was a storm.

Shiro swallowed the beating heart in his throat, assuming his position as black paladin of Voltron rather than the lovesick schoolgirl that lay (not as deep as he would have liked) underneath.

Allura disabled the final droid with the decapitation of its head. She straightened her body and rolled her shoulders, clear ferocity still etched on her face through her flared nostrils and creased brow. Shiro took pride in being able to discern such clues.

"Can I join?" He asked with a resolute step into the sparring ring.

Allura turned, the wrinkles on her forehead diminished as she realized she had an audience. "Oh, Shiro, um, I… I don't think…"

Ignoring her reluctance, Shiro shrugged off his armor chest plate and began working on the armor around his legs.

Allura sucked in a sharp breath between her teeth. Nothing quite like the tightness of Shiro in his black bodysuit to dissipate her anger.

By the time Shiro took off all his armor and had turned back to Allura, she was desperately trying not to look at his pectorals. He made a beckoning gesture with his fingers. "Come on. Just a quick hand-to-hand spar."

Allura bit back a groan. "I'm not quite in the proper mindset for a personal spar," She squeezed her eyes shut, "I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't hurt me," Shiro replied with a smile.

Allura's eyes snapped open and she looked back at Shiro. A smirk spread across her lips and she raised a questioning eyebrow.

Shiro's smile faltered a bit and a nervous chuckle fell from his lips. "Okay, well, maybe at least not beyond repair."

Allura let out a genuine laugh, feeling herself relax for the first time since she came back from Samalli. She tossed her practice sword outside the ring. She squared her body and fell into a fighting stance. "As you wish," Allura enticed with a smile.

Shiro could feel his stomach turn at the mere sight of her smiling at him like that, but he pushed it down to lunge forward at her. Allura backed up just out of reach and grabbed his outstretched arm. She went to kick his knee to cause him to stumble, but Shiro turned and used to momentum to pull Allura with him. She staggered slightly, so Shiro used the opportunity to grab at the back of her neck. He positioned himself behind her to push her downward onto her knees, but she widened her stance to strengthen herself against him.

Allura threw her bodyweight backwards, slamming her back against Shiro's chest. As she heard the breath escape his lungs, she also felt his grip on her neck loosen. Allura changed her grip on Shiro's arm, pulling it roughly over her shoulder. Shiro faltered, and Allura couldn't fight her grin; he was hers. She pulled him forward, trapped his arm, and set her position. In a flash, Allura pulled Shiro entirely over her shoulder and threw him to the ground.

Shiro's back made a satisfying thud against the floor for Allura, but the following bang of his head also hitting the floor immediately made her stomach sink to her feet.

"Oh quiznak! Shiro! Are you alright?" She dropped to her knees next to him, her hands fluttering around him.

Because of his forced escaped breath, Shiro's reassuring laugh was more of a wheeze. "I'm okay," he gasped. He scratched where the back of his head where it connected with the floor. "You got me pretty quickly."

"Don't rub it like that!" Allura swatted his hand away then gingerly placed one of her hands behind his head, gingerly lifting it up.

"I-It's fine, really. Prin-"

Allura stopped listening. Her eyebrows furrowed as she concentrated on her fingers feeling the back of Shiro's head. Her fingers stopped, and her eyes become even more concentrated. She shifted, and Shiro half expected her to drag him to the infirmary, but instead, she moved on top to straddle him and properly get both her hands behind his head.

"A-Allura!" Shiro gasped, his face and ears heating up to dangerous levels. "What are you-"

"Shh." Allura hushed him harshly. "I'm checking for serious injury. What's the Earth word you used once? Concession?"

A sputtering laugh escaped Shiro's mouth. "Concussion," he corrected, still reeling from Allura's position over him.

Allura's lips pressed together thinly. "You are injured."

"I-"

"Stay still."

Shiro anxiously tried to avoid Allura's gaze because of their sudden close proximity, but his eyes snapped to her as he realized that the markings underneath her eyes glowed with a gentle light. Allura's eyes went slightly out of focus as her eyelids began to droop slightly.

Shiro was about to ask what was happening when an incredible feeling of relaxation engulfed him. Not only did the pain of his injury subside, but Shiro also felt his shoulders loosen. His eyes fluttered close and a light sigh left his mouth.

Allura gently placed his head back down and removed her hands, sliding one down to rest on his shoulder and the other to cup his check. "How do you feel?"

"Wha… What just happened?" Shiro's mouth felt dry but the rest of him felt… peaceful, wonderfully safe.

A small smile appeared on Allura's face. "I used some of my quintessence to heal you."

"I didn't know you could do that." Shiro began to move to sit up, but Allura's hand on his shoulder kept him firmly down.

"Don't move around so much," she ordered before continuing her explanation, "Alteans don't heal like this very often since even small injuries take a lot of energy, and we've properly been able to 'mechanize' the process with the healing pods." She smiled wistfully. "But, of course, my father wanted me to make sure I knew how to heal a little on my own."

"For all the trouble you get in?" Shiro asked with a smirk.

Allura gave him a toothy grin. "I don't want to hear that from you of all people."

The duo laughed together. Then, the laughs died down and they were left just the silence of their gazes. Shiro's hand hands travelled up to rest on Allura's hips.

"You should probably get up Princess." The gentle movement of his thumbs drawing circles on her sides heavily contradicted his words.

Allura fully cupped his face with both her hands. "Should I?" She wondered if the beating she could feel in her fingertips was hers or Shiro's. Either way, nothing mattered anymore but his eyes, his lips, him.

The blaring yell of the castle's alarms sent Allura rolling off of Shiro. She was on her feet attentively listening while Shiro continued to lie on his back, blinking and red-faced.

Coran's frantic voice echoed through the intercom. "Paladins to the bridge! The Galra are already here!"

Allura swore under her breath then turned to Shiro who was still in a state of shock. She offered him a hand up, and after a beat, he took it gratefully.

There was a short moment where their hands were still clasped and their eyes met. Shiro licked his lips and Allura bit hers. The sound of the others running through the halls stirred them out of their respite.

They nodded once to each other and began sprinting to the bridge.

Each paladin launched out of the castle in their respective lion.

"One destroyer. Heavily armed." Coran was frantically setting up the particle barrier as he spoke to the paladins.

Not a moment after he spoke, dozens of fighter ships launched out the destroyer. A few began flying toward the lions, clearly alerted to the presence of the paladins, but the rest set a direct route to Samalli.

"Intercept them! Don't let the fighters land!" Shiro barked.

The other lions took rounded routes to avoid the fighters flying their way and dashed forward to intercept. Shiro tore forward to attack the fighters focusing the lions.

"Coran, we need backup fire! Attack the destroyer, we'll take care of the fighters," Allura ordered.

"Yes Princess!"

A few moments later, the deafening sound of the castle's lasers hitting the Galra destroyer's shields rang out.

Shiro turned to the communication screens in his lion. "Hunk, Pidge, don't let up on the destroyer. The more we attack it, the less time it has to attack Samalli."

"Got it."

"Roger."

The green and yellow lions flew out to the destroyer. Pidge armed her lion with its cannon and large sprouts of plants began to emerge across the fighters closest to the destroyer. Hunk's lion slammed against fighters sending them hurling into the destroyer's shields, causing sparks of explosions to flash across Shiro's vision.

Lance, being the fastest in the red lion, was the first to intercept the fighters aiming for Samalli. With a whoop of excitement he cut through multiple fighters before three collected behind him. Allura came in quickly. Armed with the ice canon, she took out the fighters trailing Lance.

"Thanks Allura!"

Allura shot him a reprehensive look through the communication monitors, but her smile softened the reprimand. She opened her mouth to say something when a Galra fighter slammed into her lion. She exclaimed as her lion spun out.

"Allura! Are you okay?" Pidge shouted.

Allura grunted as she stabilized the blue lion. "I'm fine!"

As her vision cleared from the dizziness, Allura found herself facing Samalli. Five red blips on her screen caught her attention. Pressing a few buttons, the monitor zoomed in on the blips, revealing multiple Galra fighters entering Samalli's atmosphere.

"Shiro!" Allura called out, "The Galra are sneaking in through the southern end of Samalli. We have to go help."

"What about the destroyer?" Hunk asked over the sound of his lion still slamming into fighters.

Shiro weighed his options. "We'll take out the destroyer with Voltron then head to Samalli," he declared. He met Allura's eyes through the communication monitors. She frowned, not entirely happy, but she nodded and began flying her lion to Shiro's.

"Form Voltron!"

The lions shone with color as they connected together. In a flash, Voltron emerged from the light and flew toward the destroyer. Defensive lasers shot out to ward off the robotic fighter, but Voltron spun and dodged easily. Pulling out the sword, the team easily cut through the destroyer's shield. Multiple fighters began pelting Voltron with attacks, but Voltron cut through the destroyer before they could do any real damage.

As explosions rang out across the destroyer, Shiro addressed the team through his monitors. "Lance and Pidge, stay behind to clean up the remaining fighters with Coran. Allura and Hunk, come with me to Samalli."

Voltron separated with another flash of light and the lions sped their separate ways, Allura's blue lion traveling far ahead Shiro and Hunk to Samalli.

By the time the trio entered Samalli's atmosphere and made it to the mountainside capital of Samalli, several Galra fighters hovered above the mountain, firing down onto the city. Explosions and fires in the city indicated battles being waged below.

"Alright Hunk, take out the fliers. Allura-" Before Shiro could finish dictating orders, the blue lion was speeding to the city.

"Allura!" Shiro groaned, realizing that Allura had closed her communications. He sped after her, and Hunk took to the skies to destroy the Galra fighters.

Allura landed the lion just outside the city and exited quickly, bayard drawn. Numerous Samalli were running out of the city, clutching whatever they could. A few Samalli soldiers in bright red armor wielding weapons led the crowd of citizens to safety. Allura swung her arm to beckon the frightened crowd her way. "Come to the blue lion! She can hold the young and injured!"

The Samalli soldiers hesitated briefly, no doubt because of the king's decision to send the paladins away, but the sound of a nearby explosion pushed them into action. A large crowd was making its way to the blue lion when the black lion landed right next to it.

Shiro came running out of the lion. "Princess! You wer-"

"I need to get to the city's center." Allura cut him off, still focused on leading the crowd to the lions. "The king and elder council might be trapped inside, and if I was the Galra, they would be my first targets."

"Allura!" Shiro grabbed her shoulders and spun her to look at him. "We need to move as a team," he shouted over the sounds of battle.

"We need to help the Samalli." Allura snapped back.

Shiro sharply inhaled through his teeth. He took a moment to look at the Samalli who were loading their young and injured into both lions for protection. He squeezed his eyes shut. "Fine," he relented. "I'll help finish leading the citizens to safety. Go to the center, and I will meet you there."

Allura relaxed, a tired smile spreading across her face. She reached up and touched his cheek gingerly. Then, she turned and was sprinting into the city.

Shiro clenched his hands that now felt entirely too cold. He turned on the communications inside his helmet. "Hunk, how's that air battle going?"

Allura made it to the city's center relatively quickly. She found a few Samalli soldiers fighting Galra droids along the way and stopped momentarily to help them. The inner halls of the Samalli castle were damaged, growing increasing more so as she got closer to the throne room. Throwing the doors open, Allura came face to face with three Galra soldiers and five droids backing an injured King Illya and the elder council into the far end of the hall.

"Paladin!" King Illya cried out just before one of the Galra soldiers pointed at Allura.

"Fire!"

Allura dove to the floor, somersaulting toward the droids. She swung her bayard forward, using its extended whip to grab a droid's leg and send it flying across the room. King Illya roared, using Allura's distraction as opportunity to attack. He jumped remarkably high into the air and used his hidden translucent wings to soar over the Galra. Brandishing his steel staff, he slammed down onto the Galra soldier that ordered the attack.

"Go!" he howled to the elder council, and the small group began rushing to the main door.

"Do not let them escape!" one of the other Galra soldiers shouted. The droids turned their guns onto the council and fired.

A few of the council members screamed, but before the blast could hit, a blue shield appeared before them. Shiro stood over them, just enough to block the fire, helmet-less, ragged, and breathing heavily.

Allura took out another drone with her whip, drawing the fire away from Shiro and the council. Shiro pushed the council out of the room. A few Samalli soldiers had followed Shiro inside and began escorting the council away while Shiro rushed forward into battle.

One of the Galra soldiers had Allura pinned, pressing his sword down onto her raised bayard. Shiro sprinted forward, metal arm glowing with power, and swiped at the soldier. The Galra jumped backwards to dodge the attack, and Shiro stopped himself next to Allura.

"Glad you could come." Allura joked.

"Said I would," Shiro panted.

Allura's gaze shifted and she quickly turned around as another Galra soldier charged them. She shifted and pressed her back against Shiro's before swinging her bayard's whip to catch the soldier before he could make it to them.

Meanwhile, the Galra in front of Shiro swung his sword down onto Shiro. Shiro used his metallic arm to block the attack and kicked the soldier in the chest, making him drop the sword and stumble backwards. Shiro rushed forward, grabbing the soldier's arm.

Allura pulled back on her bayard, and the soldier fumbled forward with a yelp. Allura grabbed at his arm.

For a brief moment, Shiro and Allura caught each other's eyes. They shared a knowing smile before they both pulled the soldiers forward, trapped their arms, set their stances, and simultaneously threw the soldiers over their shoulders and onto the floor with resounding bangs.

Within minutes, Allura and Shiro had the soldiers restrained and the droids destroyed. The rest of the paladins checked in through Allura's communications. Lance and Pidge had destroyed the rest of the fighters, safely landed on Samalli, and were helping the citizens. Hunk, who was left in charge of rescue efforts, reported no major injuries or causalities.

As Shiro began congratulating the team, King Illya stepped forward toward Allura.

"Your Majesty," she gasped, "you're injured."

He waved his staff at her. "Nothing more than what I have recovered from before."

There was an awkward silence as Allura stared down at the king. She clutched at her hands in front of her. Shiro stepping in beside Allura and gave her shoulder a gentle bump with his. She gave him a grateful side-glance.

She opened her mouth to speak but King Illya spoke first. "I told you not to come."

"I-"

"But," He tapped his staff against the floor, "What my people needed was their king, not his traditions and pride." King Illya lowered his staff, letting the silver bells touch the floor with small clinks, and lowered his head. "Thank you."

Allura felt her chest swell with satisfaction, and Shiro placed a hand on her lower back. When she turned to him, his smile was filled with pride.

By the time the paladins returned to the Castle of Lions, there was talk about congratulatory celebrations and parades. But, Allura didn't take part in the conversations as she grabbed Shiro by the back of his armor and tugged him into a side hallway.

"Prin-"

"Spar with me?" Allura was grinning up at Shiro, hands snaking up behind his neck.

Shiro laughed quietly, being careful not to alert the others. He grabbed her waist and pulled her into him. He met her lips with his and felt his knees buckle slightly as Allura hummed into his mouth. He pulled away slowly.

"Of course," he replied, letting his lips drag over hers.

I wrote this for the Shallura Secret Santa Exchange on tumblr run by the wonderful tumblr user shallura. This is specifically for the equally wonderful tumblr user ashesandhoney who also has an Ao3 account, ashesandhoney. There are some really good fics over there so seriously check them out!

I tried my best to touch on a little bit of everything on your wishlist (there wasn't really any cuddling but there was straddling sooo...)! I hope you enjoyed this! Happy (belated) holidays and Happy New Year!

Wishlist included:

Canon over AU

Cuddling

Power couple

World building

Altean magic

Happy endings

Pining