The intruder allowed the two to finish their rather drawn-out, passionate kiss before idling up to the ladder and tapping on the aircraft's hull. Keith and Alexis, startled, quickly pulled away from each other, faces red with embarrassment and fury for being caught unawares.

"Well, well, well...what have we here?" was the intruder's sarcastic response. "This is certainly somewhat interesting and rather confusing Captain Keith. How should I play this, eh?" the intruder continued while leaning against the aircraft.

"My personal life and hers is none of YOUR business!" Keith huffed back.

"Now, now, Keith. Tread carefully. What would Allura think of this? What kind of mixed signals are these?"

Keith sighed and remained silent. The intruder, Lance, was right. He was complicating matters with Allura by pursuing Alexis, but it couldn't be helped. To see Alexis again after all the years gone by had reawakened a part of him the he had to supress whenever around Allura. With Alexis, there were no formalities to overcome, no nagging Nanny or overprotective Coran to think about--no red tape whatsoever. Before Allura, only Alexis could stir him emotionally. They were kindred souls and a perfect compliment to each other...until Allura walked into his life.

Not liking the uncomfortable silence, Alexis attempted to speak, but Keith softly put a finger to her lips and spoke instead. "Look, I know you're always looking for scraps to be used to blackmail any of us, but I'm asking you, not as your commander,but as a long-standing, close friend--to just let this go and let me handle it."

"Perhaps a deal can be made here, but remember, Allura is my friend too and I'll not allow you to hurt her in any way."

"That is the last thing I want to do Lance! You know that! This is MY problem, and I'm an adult too. Just let me handle it. I don't interfere in your personal relationships do I?"

"I don't have relationships Keith so how could you meddle?" Lance sarcastically pointed out.

"A good reason for me to stay out of it, Lance! Your life moves way too fast anyway."

"Well, I'm in high demand y'know! Gotta keep 'em ALL satisfied."

"Sure you are Lance."

"You're a conceited, conniving, gigolo!" Alexis spat out.

"You know it and love it baby." Lance replied as he winked. "Just remember what I said, Keith. You'd better use good judgement or I'll be the first in line to level ya all the way back to Earth!" he threatened as he placed his hands in his pockets and strode out of the landing bay.

"I wonder why he came in here in the first place? Keith, your mysterious wanderings must be rubbing off on him."

"Hey, I HAD a reason for being here."

"That's not what I meant flyboy! But,tell me, was the plane you're main reason...or was it something else?" Alexis sheepishly inquired while running a finger along Keith's cheek.

"You're the recon and intel agent. You tell me?"

"Why you--" Alexis started, but the buzzing of the comm unit on the plane's console interrupted her.

"This is Cheetah. Come in Stingray. You copy?"

"Stingray here, Cheetah."

"We're en route. What course heading should we take?"

"Head towards the large white castle. No need for coordinates. It's a rather obvious landmark."

"See it on long-range scanners now. Will set down in 20. Cheetah out."

"Roger that. Stingray out."

"Well Keith, I guess we ought to inform Coran and the Princess of my squadron's arrival."

"Yeah. Follow me."

Coran turned around abruptly from the console at the sound of the Control Room doors opening.

"Alexis' squadron is en route, Coran."

Coran nodded and handed Alexis a piece of paper and the comm unit as she adjusted it to the proper hailing frequency.

"Cheetah, read?"

"Cheetah here."

"Land at castle bay 23. We'll meet you there."

"Roger. Wilco. Cheetah out."

"Stingray out."

Upon landing, Alexis' squadron disembarked and were given a tour of the castle, except for Cheetah, who remained behind to be breifed by her commander. She slowly made her way over to Alexis and the rest of the welcoming crew consisting of the entire Voltron Force and Coran. She quickly and sharply saluted her commander and Keith. They returned her salute and Alexis gave her the signal to remove her helmet. Upon lifting it off, long, raven-colored, unruly hair flowed down her back and large, dark-brown eyes looked back at the shocked welcoming party. Alexis laughed, noting Keith's dropped jaw.

"Coran, Princess, Voltron Force, meet my second in command, Lieutenant Kaitlin "Cheetah" Dewar."

Keith was still frozen in shock. Was this his kid sister whom he hadn't seen since he was eleven years old?

"What's the matter bro'? Looks like you've seen a ghost?"

"More like what'd he look like if he got a sex change." Lance jibed and was thwacked in the side by Allura.

"I uh, uh, didn't know you were still alive? I mean after mom and dad were listed MIA and I was in the Academy...nobody let me know what became of you."

"I was taken into foster care. The academy took care of you and I well, became a member of another family, at least until I could enter the Academy myself. I've been able to keep track of you though. You're rather renown everywhere! I didn't have to look hard to find you."

"But why didn't you contact me sooner, Katie?"

"Because of your track record actually. They knew who I was and immediately put me into the Stealth Elite. That means classified and limited, you know everything.

"It's really nice to see ya again. I still can't believe I'm standing right in front of you! You've grown so much since I last saw ya too."

"You too big bro. Y'know, your name is STILL plastered all over the Academy records, you show-off! I had a major challenge living up to everyone's expectations of the sister of Keith Dewar! You just have to be first at everything dontchya?!"

"Not everything." Keith replied quietly.

"Liar. Mom always said you were spoiled before I was born...and apparently still are. Here you are on a beautiful planet, living in a castle, around a beautiful princess and a prestigious job. Tell me I'm wrong, I dare ya?"

"It was by chance, Katie. We didn't know what to expect when we came here."

"You're still getting soft bro."

"Oh, hush you-"

Meanwhile Lance had mosied over to the two siblings. "So Keith, is your sis available?"

"Touch her and die a thousand different deaths!" Keith lashed.

"Keith, I can take care of myself now." Kaitlin calmly said while locking Lance's unsuspecting neck with her arms and dragging his head downward.

"You will behave and be more mannerly when around us ladies, now won't you?"

A soft, "yeah, sure" could be heard from the buried head.

"That's yes, m'lady to you, little boy." Alexis said while tightening her grip.

"Yes, m'lady."

"Good boy, now go over there and have a time out."

Everyone roared with laughter. Lance had never been 'put in his place' by the opposite gender before. He quickly noted that if there were any more females in this squadron, he was not even going to give them a second glance. "Stealth Elite females... ravaging beasts in disguise" he muttered to himself as he placed some distance between himself and the two female pilots.

Keith turned to Alexis and his sister. "Wow...this is so neat. Both of my dearest young ladies are in one squadron. How convenient."

"How convenient indeed. If you'll excuse me please." Allura huffed as she stormed out of the landing bay.
Lance turned and stared Keith down. Warning read, Keith excused himself and ran after the princess still not fully understanding what had just happened.

Both Alexis and Kaitlin were aware of Keith's affections for Arus' young ruler, but also knew vaguely why of the reasons why he didn't pursue her or consider anything beyond friendship. The Alliance's Code of Conduct for officers fraternization with subordinates (since Allura decided to fly Blue lion) and the Arusian Royal Code were very formidable adversaries. Keith's practicality, professionalism, and sense of honor and duty would stand in the way of any emotional judgement. Alexis felt the odds stacked in her favor. She also felt a pang of guilt, knowing Keith truly loved the princess. Then again, Allura could not give Keith what Alexis could. Pulling strings with Space Marshall Graham to place Kaitlin in her squadron put the ace in her hand. Allura's request for a survey/recon team put another. Guilt kept surging through her head as she wondered if she should pursue her long-time friend for a further relationship. "Keith will decide." she thought. "But I can still pursuade and maybe tilt the scale."

elsewhere in the castle....

"Allura, wait!"

She only ran faster, not wanting Keith to see the tears pouring down her face. She didn't want to give away how much she had fallen for the young captain, not knowing if he felt the same. Now though, it seemed obvious that he didn't. She reached her room and locked the door before Keith could reach her.

"Allura, please! We need to talk."

"What the hell for?! You have your sister and that hotshot female pilot. You don't need me interfering! It's your life, Captain!"

It suddenly dawned on Keith why she was so upset. She actually thought there was something more than friendship between himself and Alexis.

"Allura, please, could you open the door so I can explain. I'm not going to discuss this by yelling through a door!"

"There's nothing to discuss at the moment. Please leave."

Keith could feel his heart ripping apart. Unsure of exactly what it was he felt for either Alexis or Allura, he silently cursed to himself.

"Have it your way,princess. I'll leave. But if you want to discuss this, you know I'm here. We really do need to talk." "Even though I have no idea how to approach this" he finished to himself.

Allura burst open in tears and threw herself on her bed.

Keith was no longer in any condition to return to the landing bay with the others. He needed to be alone and sort out the confusion racing through his brain. Leaving the Castle, he decided to go for a walk along the river.
"Why is this happening to me? I don't understand any of this! I'm so confused and disoriented that I wouldn't know my lion's head from it's tail right now! Why is things with females so damn complicated?! I slam myself into a wall before I even see the dang thing!"
Seeing a large rock by the riverside, he decided to plop down and just cool off.
For a long while, he merely sat there, plunking pebbles into the water every now and then. Deep in thought, he never heard the footsteps behind him.

"Hello young man." came the voice from behind.

Keith, completely startled, lost all balance and fell into the river. Moments later, one completely soaked officer staggered onto the bank and looked up at the person who gave him the unexpected bath.

"I-I'm really sorry young sir. I thought you heard me coming." replied the old man as he offered Keith a hand up. Keith grasped the man's hand and allowed him to aid his efforts to stand on the slippery bank.

It was Ballas, an elder and leader of a nearby village. Keith often sought his wisdom and experience as well as knowledge in Arusian history and culture. Ballas' former position was professor of history at the now destroyed Arusian University. He was one of the very few who could see through Keith's expressionless mask. He also was aware of Keith's affections for the Arusian princess. Keith had complete trust that whatever he said to Ballas would stay there.

"Ballas."

"You seem troubled commander. It's not like you to allow anyone to spook you so."

"Just lost in thought I guess."

"Must be very serious thinking to cause such a show. Would you like to talk about it?"

Keith nodded. Maybe Ballas had some experience or knowledge about women. One field Keith admitted, he had none in.
Ballas set down his fishing pole and took a seat on a nearby rock as Keith did the same.

"Now, my lad, what seems to be bothering you so?"

"The princess is angry at me." came a muttered reply.

"Yet again, another quarrel. You are both leaders of people. It's only natural for you two to bump heads now and again."

"But it's different this time, Ballas. A young lady from my past is here with her squadron as is my little sister. I made a comment about them both being in one squadron would make it easy for me to correspond with them and suddenly Allura tore out of the room. I followed her to her quarters, but she refused to discuss it any further. I still don't really know what it was that made her react like that. Then again, that happens a lot. I guess I'll just never understand the female mentality!"

Ballas couldn't help but grin. A young man feeling the pull of love, but still too young to fully grasp its meaning.
"And is the young lady from you past someone you look favorably upon?"

Keith sighed. "I've known her since I was four. We lived right across the street from each other. We went to the same schools and enrolled in the Academy together. We helped each other through good and bad. She was there for me when I had to deal with my parents' disappearance. She understood since she too lost a brother the same way."

"So she's like a sister?"

Keith's face reddened. "Not really. We kinda helped each other discover uh... well, each other."

Ballas fought back another grin. The boy was learning some things about females anyway. Not totally naive.
"So, she's someone you've known on an intimate level. Do you feel like you want to rekindle that now?"

"That's just it. I'm not sure."

"And her majesty?"

Keith lowered his head. "Ballas, is it possible to 'love' two people equally, but for different reasons?"

"Depends on your definition of love. I recall your friend Lance using the word love, but he's actually experiencing lust or infatuation. Love takes many forms, it's up to you to decide what they are. But you're still very young. Don't rush it. If it's true love, it will remain and show itself when the time is right and you'll know it."

"Thank you, Ballas. It helps shed some light on a subject I know so little about."

"Just don't run blindly and let what's truly in your heart slip away. Love needs time. Don't cut it off."

Keith stood and hugged the older man. "What I wouldn't give to have your wisdom and vision, Ballas."

"And what I wouldn't give to have your youth and vibrance, Keith."

"I guess we'll just have to live through each other's eyes then, eh?"

"A fair trade. Now get back to that Castle before your friends start a panic and red alert for their missing leader. It'll scare all the fish."

"Right again." Keith bowed then turned heel and darted for the Castle.

Ballas laughed to himself and glanced at the statue of the winged lion. "Well Alfor, he's so much like you when you were his age. Will he walk a path similar to yours?" he spoke in the statue's direction. As he began to look away, the statue's eyes glowed. A second glance back and the glow was gone. Ballas just shook his head and smiled while casting his fishing line.