I Love You, Not Her (Klance)

~•ƬƜЄƝƬƳ ƬӇƦЄЄ•~

"He cares about you." She finally said. Lance turned his head towards her.

"Well, I'd hope he does." He tried to joke, but the prince couldn't bring himself to smile. Allura sat down beside him with her hands folded in her lap.

"And you care about him."

"I do care about him. I care about him so much. I love him." Allura closed her eyes and let a sigh slip through her lips.

"I wasn't being fair to him."

"No, you weren't." Allura smiled lightly and she nodded her head.

"I deserve that."

"Yes, you do."

"It was funny only once, Lance."

"Well you didn't stop at only once, did you?" Allura looked at Lance, who had his brow raised.

"..no, I didn't." She let out a deep breath. "Lance, I'm so sorry. For the way I was behaving. For getting so out of control."

"Why did you do it?" Allura thought about it for a moment.

"Well, I didn't even really intend for it to become so...wild. It was the Galra hybrids who convinced me to attempt to mind control you."

"Of course. Blame it on more Galra."

"No Lance, I promise! I'm not blaming them just because they're Galra." Lance just hummed and turned back to Keith. "A-although...I see now, I shouldn't even be blaming them. The only person to blame is myself. They were only able to convince me because they could see how much I despised him. I'm so sorry for misjudging him, Lance." He held his knees to his chest as a way to shield himself from his sister.

"Tell that to him." Allura looked at Keith.

"I'm sor-"

"When he get's out." Lance rolled his eyes as he clarified. Allura blushed and lowered her head.

"Right." They heard quiet footsteps coming towards them. It was Lotor, staring at the floor as he shook his head.

"They got away." His voice was laced with disappointment, and he sat down next to Lance, burying his head in his hands, "They all got away." Lance held a hand on the Galran's shoulder, rubbing it gently.

"It's okay, Lotor. You did everything you could."

"But everything still wasn't enough! Keith got hurt! A-and I was supposed to be protecting him!" Allura turned her gaze away with a sorrowful look, "I convinced Father to keep Keith here on Altea! I convinced him I was going to be able to look after Keith, and I COULDN'T EVEN DO THAT!" Lotor's shoulders began to shake, "I broke my promise to him." Lance closed his eyes.

"..I did too." Lotor finally looked at Lance, then jumped at seeing Allura next to him.

"What is she doing here?" She wiped the tear from her eye before turning back to them. Lotor narrowed his eyes at her, visibly tensing.

"I completely understand how you feel about me, Lotor. I wouldn't trust me either."

"Then what the quiznak makes it okay for you to show your face here?" Lance grabbed Lotor's forearm in an attempt to calm the Galran prince.

"Easy, Lotor. Allura is still my sister." Lotor scoffed and pulled his arm from under Lance's hold.

"So what, you're saying you forgive her?"

"Well, I'm not sure yet-"

"What do you mean, you're not sure?! She could've killed my brother!" Lance held his hands up, again to calm him, so Lotor took a slow breath, "How is that something you can just forgive, Lance?"

"Alteans believe forgiveness is not always because the other deserves it, but because you deserve a peace of mind." Allura said. Lotor glared at her comment and stood up.

"You must not have had a 'peace of mind' then, huh? You blamed him. You blamed Keith even when he didn't do anything wrong. You've never even cared how he feels."

"But that was-"

"Or what about how Lance feels? He loves Keith, but you didn't bother to listen to him. You just cared about what you wanted. You're the most selfish Altean I know. You're a disgrace." Allura swallowed the lump that formed in her throat. Before she could respond, Lotor left the room. She hugged her arms, because no one else was going to.

"He's right." Lance bit the inside of his cheek, not knowing what to say, "I never saw the Galra as anything but cold blooded murderers, I thought that was what they were; what they would always be. I didn't believe it when Father said the war was over, I couldn't believe him when he told me I was going to be married to Keith. I was horrified; no good would have been able to come from that. I only thought of what I wanted, and my opinions were the only opinions that mattered. What you both say about me...it's true." Lance could only keep his eyes on Keith.

"Keith tried to be so nice to you. He really tried." Allura ran her hands through her hair.

"I know. And I can never make up for what I put him through. What I—put you both through." Lance didn't answer, and Allura sighed, "Well, now that I'm thinking about it, I guess there is...one good thing that came from all of this." Lance frowned confusingly at her.

"What?"

"..you and Keith wouldn't be as close as you are now." Lance's lips parted, his eyes gazing back at his love, "You don't have to tell me you love him, I can see that you do." She hesitantly hooked her arm with his, "You're my brother Lance, I—I love you. I promise I won't ever get in the way again." They looked at each other, Allura giving him a gentle smile. Lance smiled back and pulled her into a hug, surprising the princess.

"Thank you." Then he quickly leaned back with a glare, "You better mean that or you're gonna seriously regret it." She nodded.

"I do promise, Lance." He gave an approving nod and hugged her again.