He didn’t recognize where he was when he awoke. Everything was blue, for one thing. He felt enclosed, but otherwise better. His memories since the EGC address were hazy, mostly pain and fear. And then, something had soothed him. And after that, it was just …sleep. He felt refreshed. None of this meant he knew where he was.
	“Takashi!” The blue tinge he’d been seeing everything through dissolved as Allura ran up to him. He almost toppled forward, but she caught and steadied him. “Careful!”
	But once he had his feet under him, he hugged her tightly. He never wanted to let go, especially when she returned his embrace. He whispered her name into her hair and focused on how warm she was. 
	“I’m so glad you’re awake,” she said quietly. “You scared us.”
	“Us?”
	“Your friends and me. Everyone, really. We should get you back as soon as I explain a few things.”
	“Back?” He, reluctantly, pulled away enough to look at her and then around at his surroundings. “Where am I?”
	“Aboard my ship. Don’t worry, we’re still on Earth,” she teased lightly. 
	“Aboard…?” He turned to look behind him, just in time to see a tube descend into the floor.
	“You were hurt badly, Takashi. The Earth hospital was running out of options for what they could do for you. I insisted on bringing you here.”
	He whipped back around to her. “They let you bring an active service member aboard an alien ship?” He could think of at least a dozen reasons why that would be bad. I know that Allura would never hurt me or try to force me to give up military secrets, but they don’t know that.
	“Well, after Commander Holt allowed it, yes.”
	He broke out into a grin. “Figures Sam would throw his weight around.”
	“He seemed rather scrawny to me?” Allura asked.
	He chuckled. “Idiom. I…” That was when it hit him. His right arm felt…different. He looked down at it and gasped in shock.
	Where there had once been flesh and blood was now gleaming silvery metal. The joints – like his elbow – and a good deal of his hand and fingers were black, flexible …fabric? rubber? He wasn’t sure. But when he thought about wiggling his fingers, his new hand responded.
	“Yes, that’s one of the things we need to talk about. Come with me, so we can sit down?”
	He looked to her and shook his head. “N-no. Just tell me here.”
	She sighed and said, in Altean, “As you wish.” 
	He couldn’t help smiling a little. That smile faded as she explained.
	“If we had brought you back as soon as you were injured, you might very well still have your arm. You probably wouldn’t have the scars you have now, either. But by the time I got you here, too much damage had been done. Your body had accepted its new fate and was resistant to the replenisher’s changes. We had to remove the arm, but I directed this one be made for you.” She took his new right hand in one of hers and gave it a squeeze. “How does that feel?”
	“Good, I guess?”
	“Does it feel like you expect it to feel when I do this?”
	“Mostly? It’s a little… distant, I suppose.”
	“Hm. We’ll have to make some tweaks. I’m afraid it won’t ever really feel the same as it did, but you should have full range of sensitivity.”
	“This… honestly, it’s all incredible.”
	“There’s more. Um… here.” She waved over a floating mirror, about half-length, and positioned it in front of him.
	He almost didn’t recognize himself, even aside from the fact that he had a white full-body suit practically vacuum-sealed to him. There was a scar across the bridge of his nose and some of his hair had gone white. But when he moved, the reflection moved as he expected. He touched the scar with his right hand and then his left, to feel it with his own fingers. Though I guess these metal ones are my fingers now, too.
	Allura explained the extent of his injuries. “You likely have some scarring on your chest and side as well. I do so wish I’d insisted on bringing you straight here. I had no idea your medical technology was so far behind ours.”
	He smiled at her. “You saved me though.”
	She smiled back. “You saved me first.”
	“So I guess we’re even?”
	“For now,” she replied. 
	He chuckled. “What day is it? What time? I need to report in.”
	She sent the mirror away. “It is Saturday, about three hours post-meridian local time. The Garrison has set up a ‘mobile command center’ outside the ship.”
	“Good. I need to get back into uniform and get out there.”
	“Um.” 
	He turned to look at her. “What?”
	“You, uh, were brought here from the hospital. You had only a loose smock of some sort on. I honestly don’t know where your uniform is.”
	He groaned. “I need to talk to Keith or Pidge or- or Commander Holt.”
	“The command center has an Altean communicator. You can talk to them from here if you are uncomfortable being seen in the healing suit.”
	“That would be…” He looked down at himself and then back to her. “Yeah, I think that’s a better idea.”
	“But I have a price for allowing you to use our communications technology to avoid embarrassment.”
	He arched an eyebrow. “What’s that?”
	She wrapped her arms around him. “I need a ki-” 
	He didn’t let her finish. His life was suddenly a lot stranger. There were a lot of questions, and he didn’t know how things were going to go now. But his love for her was an anchor in this wilderness of what ifs and wonderings. Kissing her and holding her steadied him, even if it didn’t supply him answers.
	And when he was done, he looked into her eyes and brushed some hair back behind her ear with his new hand. It handled such a delicate motion as naturally as if it were his own, and she blushed faintly. She smiled and murmured, in Altean, “I love you, my arlnath.”
	He blinked. “Arlnath?” he repeated. “That one wasn’t on our vocab lists.”
	“I’ll explain it later. For now, let me get a screen up and a link open for you.”
	He cleared his throat and tried to pull his military bearing on, even if he didn’t have the uniform to go with it at the moment.
	A blue framed screen appeared in the air in front of Allura. “Major Iverson!” she said brightly. “I have an update.”
	“Oh? What’s the news, Your Highness?”
	She pushed the side of the screen and it slid over to him. He saluted. “Reporting for duty, sir.”
	Iverson cracked a grin. “How are you doing, Shiro?”
	“Never better. Though, uh…” He dropped out of the salute and waved his hand. “I guess it couldn’t be saved.”
	“Hm. That’s going to make things interesting.”
	“I agree, sir.” He could already hear the arguments about him walking around with a piece of alien technology strapped to him.
	“Well, we’re stationed just outside, so…”
	“Uh, excuse me, sir, but the princess brought it to my attention that my uniform didn’t come over with me from the hospital.”
	Iverson blinked and then snorted. “I’ll have it delivered. And, Shirogane?”
	“Sir?”
	“You listed that hotheaded brat as your next of kin?”
	That took Shiro a second but then he nodded. “Closest to it I have left, sir.”
	Iverson shook his head. “If I’d known that, I’d’ve Section 8-ed you out ages ago.”
	Shiro laughed. “Understood, sir. Am I to be Section 8-ed out now?”
	“No. Well, not right now, anyway. I’ll have your ‘next of kin’ bring your things in, assuming the princess has no problem with him coming onto the ship?”
	“Does he mean Keith?” Allura asked him.
	“Yes.”
	“Oh, then that’s fine.” 
	“She…”
	“Yeah, yeah, I heard. And the second you’re back in uniform, I want you out here in person, understood?”
	“Aye, sir.”
	“Okay. Over and out.” The screen disappeared.
	“How long do you think it’ll take Keith to deliver your uniform?” Allura asked immediately.
	“Not sure. Why?”
	“I thought I might give you a tour,” she said, taking his (right) hand again and smiling slyly. “Starting with my bedchamber.”
	He rolled his eyes a little and raised her hand to his lips. “Another time.” He kissed her hand reverently, and she laughed at the old greeting they’d had between them back on Altea. 
	“I didn’t actually expect you’d take me up on it. Not now, anyway.”
	“If I had?”
	“Well, I wouldn’t have turned you down,” she admitted, “but I would have been surprised.” She stepped in to hug him again. “I almost lost you, Takashi. Very few people ever have an arlnath and I almost lost mine as soon as I found him.”
	He was happy to hold her while they talked. Happier still not to think about how close he’d come to death. Fortunately, she’d provided a convenient change of subject. “Speaking of, could you translate arlnath for me? I’d like to be sure it’s not some sort of insult.”
	“The very opposite,” she assured him. “It means… well, it means we’re like Buttercup and Westley. True love.”
	He blinked and pulled away enough to look at her. “It means ‘true love’?”
	“Well… it’s not a good translation for it, but…” She chewed her lower lip in thought, then said, “It means that our quintessences – our life forces – have synced with one another. We are bound to each other.”
	He was about to ask why she thought they were synced, but then he remembered. “Is that…? Is that why I feel like I can’t tell where you begin and I end? Is that how I know what you’ll do when we’re together, how I can…”
	“…know exactly how to please me in that moment?” she finished for him before nodding. “The longer we are bound, the deeper the connection grows, but for your quintessence to sync with mine is a rare and beautiful thing. Even my own parents were not bonded in this way. We are meant to be together.”
	He couldn’t even question it. Everything about being with her felt like destiny. “Arlnath,” he repeated. He smiled. Even without a direct translation, it made him feel warm.
	She smiled and shifted her height a little so they could touch foreheads easily as they held one another. He closed his eyes and could almost feel the energy of her at that single point of contact. It was calm and excited all at once, but it felt… like himself but not. It was her and it was him and it was the two of them together and it was like their souls were dancing with each other. 
	Ever since he’d met her, he’d felt like there would never be time enough to spend with her, like some part of him was trying desperately to hold onto every moment with her because there might never be another like it. It always seemed like time was against them.
	But here, now, it felt like he had eternity to hold her like this; he’d be the happiest person in all the universe if he could. Real life threatened. He had so much he had to get used to now – the hand, his hair, the scar, the aftermath of the shooting, what command was going to say about all this – and that was just what was going on in the world, let alone his own mind. Sometimes, he could still see Mulcahy aiming at him…
	But the memory was pushed away. By Allura. Almost literally; it was like her… quintessence, he guessed, was pushing the fear and adrenaline away. She couldn’t cure it, couldn’t make it all better. But she could soothe him in the moment, and for now, that was enough. It was just enough to hold her and know that they were both alive. Whatever else happened from now on, they’d face it together.

	“Do you know why you’re here?”
	“Of course I do. Can we skip the bullshit and cut to the chase?”
	“Fair enough. After you.”
	“They’re going to destroy us.”
	“And how do you know that, Lieutenant Duffy?”
	“The major told us.”
	“Major Mulcahy?”
	“Yeah. I mean, why else would they come here unless they saw us as an easy target?”
	“Peaceful trade?”
	“Please. This is a recon mission. Scouting out our weaknesses, figuring out where best to strike. They’ll leave and then the real invasion will come. They’ll destroy or enslave us.”
	“You sound very sure of that.”
	“Isn’t it obvious?”
	“Let’s pretend they wanted peace before. How do you think they’re going to look at things now that you’ve tried to kill their princess? Or say this little action had succeeded. You didn’t think that you might be making things worse?”
	“THEY. ARE. COMING. It’s inevitable. At least this way we might have had a chance. Steal their tech, their weapons. Reverse engineer all that shit. Maybe even take the princess hostage if we were real lucky, but we weren’t counting on that. Safer to just kill them all.”
	Pidge stopped the playback. “I’m still getting the rest of it. EGC SecDiv protocols are even tougher than the Garrison’s.”
	“Why couldn’t you get the whole thing at once?” Hunk asked, confused.
	“It’s a stream. I got the beginning of the stream, and my systems have to catch up with where they are now.”
	Shiro mused over what they’d seen while the others talked.
	“Why do we even have SecDiv handling this in the first place?” Keith muttered. “He’s GG.”
	“That’s why,” Lance explained. “Who knows if he has more sympathizers in the ranks? Better to let someone else handle it.”
	“And so the EGC can show they’re doing something about this,” Pidge put in. “It’s at least partially a show for the public and for the Alteans.”
	“At least he’s not hiding anything,” Hunk said. “He’s the only surviving member of Mulcahy’s team; there’s no one else to interrogate. Lucky for us, he’s so afraid of Alien Invasion, he’s willing to talk to anyone with a security clearance.”
	“Pidge,” Shiro said, “let me know when you’ve got the rest of this. I don’t like being covert like this, but I also don’t like the idea of letting the chain of command decide whether or not we get to know about it.”
	“Aye.”
	“Also, thank your mom for the pie. It’s delicious.”
	Pidge chuckled. “You’re welcome. I’m just glad you’re okay.”
	“How’s the, uh…?” Keith nodded at the prosthetic.
	“It’s surprisingly good. I forget that it’s not my real arm sometimes, though that might be phantom limb messing with me.” He curled his hand up into a fist, then loosened it and wiggled his fingers again. “It’s clearly not my arm or my hand, and sometimes I can feel the difference, but it’s very slight.”
	“Their tech is amazing,” Hunk breathed in appreciation. “I’d love a chance to study it up close.”
	“Same!” Pidge agreed. “If I could just get my hands on even a little bit of it…”
	“Nerds,” Lance declared. “I’m more interested in finding out if the princess has a cousin somewhere.”
	Keith rolled his eyes. “Stop thinking with your dick, Lance.”
	“At least I have one instead of being one.”
	Shiro stepped in immediately. “Knock it off.”
	“You two can whip out the measuring tapes later,” Pidge muttered.
	“Pidge, you’re not helping.”
	“Was I trying to?” she replied sweetly.
	“For now, let’s focus on gathering the intel we need to keep the princess safe.” 
	“How much longer is she staying?” Hunk asked.
	“I don’t know. Not long, probably. A few days, maybe?”
	His team shared a look amongst themselves. “Are you going with her when she leaves?” Keith asked.
	“Am I… what? Why would you even ask that?”
	“You’re in love,” Lance said.
	“True love,” Hunk corrected.
	Shiro groaned and flopped into a chair. “I don’t know what I’m going to do, honestly. I need to talk to her about it, but…”
	The elevator dinged, and everyone jumped to their feet. Allura walked out and looked around. “Takashi, did you even eat while I was gone?”
	“We were busy,” he said defensively.
	She tsked at him. “I’m going to order you something from the kitchen. What do you want?”
	“Nothing, I’m fine.”
	“You need nourishment,” she insisted.
	“It’s like they’re already married,” Hunk cooed.
	“Hunk. Stop,” Shiro warned him, but he just snickered. 
	“Has he let any of you eat?” Allura asked the group.
	“Not a single bite,” Lance pouted. “Do they have garlic knots?”
	“Lance, you have a chance to get a meal from one of the best chefs in the world, and that’s what you want?!” Hunk was insulted. 
	“I just want a sandwich,” Pidge said. “I’m working on something.”
	“Oh my GOD,” Hunk groaned. “Princess, may I?”
	“Oh, please do,” she said with a bright smile.
	“Will you be dining with us?” he asked politely.
	“No, I just ate with Coran and my staff. I had instructed Takashi to see to his own dinner.”
	“We were busy,” he reiterated.
	“Okay then, dinner for five coming up!” Hunk declared. “And maybe a light dessert for everyone. Let me at that phone.”
	Allura smiled as Hunk headed over to put in the food orders. “I hope you were able to get whatever it is you were looking for?”
	“Some of it, anyway,” Shiro confirmed for her. “We’re still working on it.”
	“So, when are you leaving?” Keith asked her. His direct nature was a double-edged sword for Shiro. 
	He shot Keith a glare, but Allura didn’t seem to notice it. “Well, I have to finish my address to the EGC. After that? I suppose it depends on what Takashi decides he’s going to do.”
	That knocked him out of his annoyance. “Wait, what about me?”
	She seemed surprised at his surprise. “I am not going to leave my arlnath. Not ever again.”
	“What’s an ‘arlnath’?” Lance asked.
	Shiro ignored the question for now. “So, y-you want me to decide whether we’re staying here or going back to Altea?”
	She nodded. “Exactly. If you stay, I will stay, and everyone else will go back to Altea. Well, I suppose a few guards will stay with me, just in case. Coran’s so overprotective.” 
	“I… I don’t even know what…”
	“Then I’m staying until you do.” She said it so simply, as if it were obvious and not some sort of life-shattering decision on her part.
	“But you’re the heir to the throne of Altea!” he protested. “Doesn’t that require you to go home?”
	“It would be difficult for me to stay here,” she acknowledged diplomatically. “But Father is ruling now. For the time being, my staying here is fine. And I already told you: to be bonded to someone like this is no small thing.”
	“No, I know it’s not.”
	She walked over and took his hands in hers. “This is a rare gift the universe has given us, that we could find each other. Rulers of planets are commonplace in comparison. This is what I have to do, and Father will understand that.”
	He let out a shaky breath. “I just… I don’t…”
	She leaned in and kissed him quickly. “You don’t have to answer right now. It will be a few qui- …er, days before I address the EGC again, at a minimum.”
	“MINIMUM a few days,” Pidge broke in. “Everyone in the entire freaking Garrison has to be scanned and evaluated now, EGC Security Division is taking over on the ground, and… yeah. It’ll be a bit.”
	“Food ordered!” Hunk declared loudly. “I had a great talk with the chef, and I’m really looking forward to what he’s going to cook up for us.”
	“Just so long as it’s not too weird,” Lance protested.
	“It won’t be weird!” Hunk shot back.
	“Gourmets eat all sorts of weird food,” Lance insisted. “Like… chopped up duck spleen or whatever.”
	“Duck liver.”
	“WhatEVER. It’s gross and weird.”
	“Guys!” Keith interjected. “Shiro’s trying to figure out some serious shit right now.”
	“I-it’s okay, Keith,” he said quickly. “I have to talk to the brass first before I can decide anything anyway. For now, let’s just relax a bit. Get our minds off things.” Like how my decision could influence life and politics on two different worlds. “Maybe a movie?”
	“Predator!” Lance suggested immediately.
	“Maybe something without murderous aliens in it?” Shiro said.
	“I liked The Princess Bride,” Allura offered.
	“80’s flicks!” Pidge crowed. “Oh Tesla, please tell me we can watch The Goonies!”
	“No, no,” Keith said. He looked Shiro dead in the eye, as serious as a heart attack. “Shiro, please tell me you showed the princess the original Star Wars trilogy.”
	Everyone was looking at him.
	“I, uh… hadn’t gotten around to it yet?”
	There was a chorus of groans from the guys. “Okay, that settles it!” Hunk declared. “Princess, I hope you have nothing on your schedule for the next 376 minutes!”
	“Um…can someone translate that into doboshes for me?” she asked.
	“It’s a little over 6 hours,” Pidge said.
	“Oh! Well, I was planning to drag Takashi off to bed at some point, but I can do that later. We don’t have to be up early tomorrow, after all.”
	He felt his face heat as the team laughed. “Alright, alright, knock it off, all of you. Let’s get the princess properly educated on Classic Earth Movies.”
~End of Chapter 6~