Outside the Castle of Lions, Arus.
They had just finished practice and Allura was relieved. It had been grueling - especially today. Keith could be a hard taskmaster at times. Of course they always had to be on guard, especially when Lotor was so quiet. They had recieved no threats from Lotor lately the Force wondered if perhaps some sort of upheaval occured, but there was no sign that it had happened.
She climbed out of her lion, which for the time being, was near the woods bordering the Castle of Lions. She swung her hair loose as she took off her helmet. Her hair usually came loose from it's pins lately, so she hadn't bothered with it much. She took a deep breath when suddenly she heard a cry. It sounded like a child.
The sound was coming from the edge of the woods and so she ventured in carefully, ignoring the others who had also landed. As she crept closer, she heard sobs - quiet ones - as if whoever was crying didn't want anyone to hear. There - under a bush..she parted the leaves and saw a small figure with long white hair.
"Are you all right? Are you lost?" Allura said gently.
The child looked up startled. Golden eyes - familar ones - looked up at her. Allura paled. What in the world was this? The child looked like Lotor! Could this be one of his children, perhaps?
"D'ya belua c'haatu?" the child queried, wiping the tears from his face.
Allura could understand Drule. She knew the child was asking her name.
"E'belua Allura.." she smiled. "D'ya belui C'haata?"
The child got up and stood proudly before her. "E'belui Lotor D'eyauastaan, Boiida Xani!"
Allura digested those startling words. "I am Prince Lotor D'eyausasttan!"
Lotor? A child?
Allura said in Drule, "Who is your father?"
Lotor replied, "My father is King Zarkon, ruler of all the Doom Empire!"
She switched to Basic, hoping he would understand.
"Your father is King Zarkon?"
The boy nodded and then he said, "Yeah."
Allura was thoroughly confused. This couldn't be - unless Hagar's magic was involved somehow. She looked at the small boy who looked about the dark woods fearfully.
"I'm lost." he said. "Some ugly stupid bots were chasin' me an' I hid an' then I feel asleep so I took a nap. Then I felt a big bump an' it made me wake up…"
Allura's heart turned over with pity. If this child were Lotor, it didn't matter. He was still a child. His eyes were not arrogant with pride - not yet. If this were Lotor, could they somehow help him?
She knelt down and took the small boy's hand. He looked down as if such tenderness were something familar to him. Allura caught a slight smile on his small face. How old was he? Allura guessed maybe four or five - it was hard to tell. To her surprise, Lotor hugged her fiercely.
"There, there.." Allura said soothingly. "It's all right. We'll help you get back home."
The small boy pulled away and said in accented English, "You will?"
Allura smiled and nodded. She saw his face light up with a smile.
"You're pretty, 'Lura. Not like ol' Hagar." He made a face. "Can I stay with you?"
Allura was taken aback. She still couldn't make sense of all this and it could all be just some elaborate trap for all she knew. Still her heart went out to Lotor. His face was innocent and yet it held the look of having seen terrible things. Where COULD she send him back to? The Revenge?
She glanced back behind her. The others were coming. No doubt the questions would be flying. She needed to get Lotor to Dr. Gorma to examine him. Allura smiled at Lotor and said, "Well, perhaps for a little while. Why don't you come with me to the castle? I bet you're hungry."
The small prince said, "I'm starved and I gotta.." he trailed off embarrassed.
She smiled. "Umm, I understand.." she took his hand. "Let's go."
Without saying a word to the guys, she took the small Drule prince to the Castle.
Dr. Gorma finished running his scans on the Drule boy. Allura and the others stood nearby. She could hear them talking amongst themselves.
"Princess.." Lance said, "You shouldn't have brought him here. You know he could be a trick of Hagar's."
"I don't think he is, Lance. I just sense that about him."
"Hmm..it's hard to think of Lotor as a little kid!" Pidge eyed the small boy.
"Even Lotor was a child once, Pidge - even if it is hard to imagine." Keith looked at the boy solemnly. Was this his enemy - the Alliance's number one enemy swinging his legs on the table before him? And if this child WAS Lotor, just what were they going to do with him? He certainly couldn't be taken back to prison. This was going to create problems - if this were proven.
Dr. Gorma turned to Allura and said, "Well, I have compared the child's DNA with Lotor's DNA records from his medical files at Bastille-12."
"And?" Allura quirked an eyebrow.
"Perfect match. He is Lotor. I've gauged his age to be about four years old.."
Lotor looked about bored. He was tired of that doctor poking at him.
"Lura, I'm hungry an' this is BORING!" Lotor swung his legs out a little harder, accidentally hitting Dr. Gorma in the side.
"Ooops..sorry.." Lotor giggled. "Mister, are we done now?"
Dr. Gorma smiled despite himself. He remembered a certain princess acting much the same way when SHE was four years old.
"Yes, young man. We are done."
"Yippee!" Lotor jumped off the table with glee. " 'Lura, can we go eat now, huh?"
Dr. Gorma said, "Princess, I must let you know about something."
Allura nodded and said to Lotor, "We'll go eat in a moment, Lotor. Dr. Gorma wants to tell me something very important.
"But I wanna go now!" Lotor pouted.
Lance smirked and said lowly to Keith, "Now THAT looks like the Lotor we all know and love."
Keith gave him a look, "Lance.."
It was Hunk who stepped up to Lotor and said, "Hey, kid. I'm hungry myself. Wanna come with me?"
Lotor looked up at Hunk. He was SO big - well for a human guy. Nobody was as big as his father was. He looked at Hunk a little suspiciously and then looked at Allura.
She said, "It's all right, Lotor. Hunk will fix you one of his special sandwiches."
Pidge said lowly, "Hopefully it's not his pickle, peanut butter and bacon sandwich.Yuck."
Hunk gave Pidge a glare. "Whaddaya say, kid?" He couldn't call him Lotor. It felt too weird.
"Will 'Lura be there?" Lotor asked.
"Yes, I will, Lotor." Allura smiled at him reassuringly.
Lotor smiled and then took Hunk's hand, his small blue hand disappearing in Hunk's massive one. Hunk smiled. Lotor was kinda a cute kid. He led the little boy down the hall towards the kitchen.
Lance said in wonder, "That's something I never thought I'd see - Lotor and a member of the Voltron Force hand in hand.."
Keith and Pidge nodded in silence.
Allura said, "Now Dr. Gorma, what was it you were going to say?"
"Princess, as I said, The boy is Lotor. He checks out exactly genetically, but as to how he became this way, I do not know."
"I think it's probably Hagar's magic.." Pidge said.
"But why?" Allura said. "I mean, Lotor as a small child wouldn't be able to lead his forces."
"Maybe she's wanting to take control.." Keith said.
"It still doesn't make any sense to turn Lotor into a child!" Allura frowned.
"Anything to do with Lotor never has made sense, Princess. The question is, is this permanent and if it is, WHAT are we going to do with him?" Keith asked.
"I was just getting to that, Keith." Dr. Gorma said. "It appears that his condition is permanent."
Lance interrupted, "So somebody's gotta RAISE Lotor?"
Pidge quipped, "Hey, Lance, It coulda been worse! He could have been a baby! All those diaper changes, two am feedings.."
Lance gave him a glare.
Allura sighed. "Guys, you are NOT helping.."
"As I was saying, his condition APPEARS permanent, but I believe that will go through his aging stages at a rapid pace. His cellular structure appears to be changing. I would like to keep an eye on him while he is here at the Castle - that is, if you plan to keep him here, Princess."
"Of course I do." Allura said.
Lance said, "Princess, do you know what you are saying? If Zarkon hears of this, he'll flip! I can just see it now - "Princess and Minister of Peace involved in custody battle."
"Since when did you care about what the media thinks, Lance?" Allura raised a brow.
"I don't give a damn, Princess, but think about it. He IS Zarkon's son and you know Zarkon. He'll butter it up to where you're the villain in this We have enough troubles as it is with Amalgamus, not to mention if Hagar's behind this! I say we place him in a holding area until we can figure out what - "
"Jail! That's what you're saying, Lance!" Allura flew at Lance in a fury. "How COULD you? That is a child! Never mind that he IS Lotor! If he stays here, maybe we can make a difference. But jail? I don't THINK so! And I'm NOT putting him in Zarkon's care. There is no telling what he'd do with Lotor then. He's staying here.and that's a ROYAL order."
"Princess, think about this." Keith said. "This is no ordinary child. This is Lotor - the most wanted man in the galaxy."
"Who is now just a lost child.." Allura said softly. "Dr. Gorma, if you are finished, I have a lunch date."
Dr. Gorma nodded quietly.
Allura stalked out of the exam room without a single word. Keith, Pidge and Lance knew one thing - don't mess with the princess when she was mad.
They just hoped she knew what she was doing.
The Heart At Full Circle - Four
Voltron The Third Dimension
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