Author's Note: Inspired by the MP's March intro, "Operation Fluffy Bunny." Thanks to Lynne for commenting on an earlier draft.

The usual Relative disclaimers apply.

Keith was starting to get a headache.

He tried a different tactic. "Allura, everyone is expecting the Easter Bunny. You don't want to disappoint them, do you?"

Her muted response came from behind the closed (and locked -- he had tried) door, "Yes, I know that, and no, I don't, but Hunk has worked very hard to put this Easter brunch together for the HRH members and staff, and I'm not going unless I'm everything he expects in an Easter Bunny." The last twenty minutes had passed in a similar vein.

Keith sighed exasperatedly and raked his hands through his hair yet again. He strongly suspected that by this time he was beginning to resemble a frazzled hedgehog, but as he was not in Lance's habit of carrying a pocket comb and mirror everywhere, there wasn't much he could do about it now. He straightened his dress whites for the third time. ~She is the most stubborn...~ He cut himself off before his blood pressure went any higher. ~It's a wonder I haven't gone bald yet,~ he thought dazedly. ~Doesn't she understand the importance of punctuality?~

Keith frowned at his communicator. Hunk hadn't answered his last six hails; he probably wouldn't answer this one either. ~Where is he?~ he wondered with irritation. Brunch was supposed to be starting in a few minutes. Suddenly, the communicator beeped. "Keith here," he answered crisply, automatically shifting back into Captain mode.

"Yo, Chief, how's our Easter Bunny look?" Hunk's voice boomed out as best it could from the small speaker.

~At last!~ Keith thought, rolling his eyes both in relief and frustration. "Invisible," he grumpily informed the gentle giant.

"What? You can't find her?!" Hunk's voice crackled through, laced with panic.

"No, she's in her room, but she won't come out. She insists on speaking to you first," Keith explained, massaging his aching temples.

"Me? Why?" asked Hunk, genuinely puzzled.

Keith's voice had a strong edge to it. "Well, she won't tell me, so I strongly suggest that you get over here, RIGHT NOW!" Shouting relieved a little bit of his stress, but not much. He was losing it, clearly. ~I really need a vacation...~ He leaned his head against the wall in the hallway outside the Princess's suite. The cool steel against his forehead eased the pain a little. ~This kingdom for an aspirin,~ he thought, desperately.

"Yessir, on my way!" Hunk cut the transmission.

In the recreation room, Hunk turned to the others who, like him, were heavily laden with baskets of brightly colored eggs which had just finished drying. "OK, it looks like the Princess is having some stage fright, so we need to swing by her room first to get her. Then it's off to brunch."

"No problem," said Pidge.

"Maybe you'll wind up wearing the bunny suit after all," smirked Lance, tugging at the collar of his dress uniform.

Hunk just gave him a look before they all traipsed out of the recreation room en route to the Princess's wing of the castle.

By the time they arrived, Keith was pacing agitatedly in front of the Princess's suite. They were now one minute late for brunch. Keith noticed their approach and called out to Allura, "OK, Hunk is here now, so he can evaluate your bunniness." He couldn't resist adding, a little testily, "Not that any one of us couldn't have done it just as well and saved some time."

"Thank you," came the prim reply.

Keith gave Hunk a mild glare and gestured at the closed door with a grand flourish. Hunk swallowed. ~Boy, he's really cranked. Wonder if they had an argument?~

The Princess's anxious voice cut into his musings, "Hunk?"

"Yes, Princess? I'm here," Hunk replied. He felt a little silly talking to a door.

"I apologize for probably making us late," Allura began, "but I wanted to make sure the costume was OK."

"It should be just fine," said Hunk, confused. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Well," Allura explained, "the costume you gave me was too big, and with all the brunch preparations, Nanny didn't have time to alter it. But, I happened to mention to my cousin Romelle earlier this week about dressing up as a bunny, and she said she had the perfect thing. It arrived just this morning, however, and I haven't had a chance to try it on until now."

"Doesn't it fit?" Hunk asked. He couldn't imagine that it didn't; Romelle and Allura traded clothes all the time.

"Well, yes," she admitted, "but it doesn't look like the other costume, I'm afraid."

Hunk briefly wondered what the Polluxian interpretation of an Easter Bunny would be. Probably instead of the soft yellow like the costume he had offered, Romelle's version was mismatched patchwork or bright polkadots. Polluxian festival garb could be garish at times.

"Do you have bunny ears and a fluffy tail?" he asked, just to be sure.

"Yes."

Hunk smiled. "That's all you need to be a convincing Easter Bunny. It doesn't matter what color the costume is," he said. "And no one will laugh at you," he added, getting to what he thought was really the crux of the problem. "Right guys?" Hunk turned to the others. Keith and Pidge shook their heads "No" as Lance rolled his eyes. "Lance?" Hunk growled.

"I won't laugh, but can we get on with this already?" Lance complained. "These baskets aren't getting any lighter!"

Hunk turned back to the door. "Didja hear that, Princess? No one's going to laugh. Now, come on out and let's get going," he said. "Oh, and be careful, those feet can be difficult to walk in."

"Yes, I noticed," came the reply. She unlocked the door. There was a brief pause as the other Voltron Force pilots waited expectantly, and then the door opened.

No one laughed.

In fact, there was dead silence for a moment, until it was punctuated by a low whistle from somewhere behind Hunk.

Hunk snapped his jaw shut and closed his eyes as he waited for Keith to pound the living daylights out of Lance. ~All those eggs,~ he thought in anguish. ~It took forever to color them.~

Another moment passed in silence. Puzzled, Hunk opened his eyes again and risked a glance at Keith. Keith appeared frozen in place. If Hunk didn't know any better, he'd think Keith was openly gawking at the Princess. ~Hope he didn't have a heart attack right there,~ Hunk worried. Well, if Keith wasn't going to defend the Princess, he'd have to do it. Hunk turned around.

Lance was perusing Allura's costume with a little too much interest for Hunk's taste, and as for Pidge, if his eyes bulged out any further they would pop the lenses right out of his glasses, which appeared to be fogging up. Hunk glared at both of them menacingly and jerked his thumb in the direction of the main hallway of the castle, indicating that they should just move along, thank you very much. "Get going, we'll catch up to you," he growled. "Explain that the Easter Bunny will be a few minutes late."

Lance blinked, "Huh? Oh, sure. Come on, Squirt," he said, prodding Pidge with his toe. Pidge started to walk down the hallway backwards in a daze until he felt the weight of Hunk's disapproving stare, blushed, and hastily faced forward. Hunk waited until they were out of sight before turning back to the Princess.

Unsteady on three-inch stiletto heels with feathery puff-balls on the open toes, Allura clung to the door jamb with one hand while waving the other in Keith's face in a vain attempt to snap him out of it. The bunny ears on her headband bobbed with the motion.

Hunk set his Easter baskets down and sighed resignedly. He knew what he had to do. "Um, Princess," Hunk began.

She turned to him, "I was right, this isn't a real Easter Bunny costume, is it?" she inquired. "I'm sorry I've ruined your surprise, that I was going to be the Easter Bunny," she added sadly.

"Well, it certainly was a surprise," he chuckled, blushing as he took in her apparel one last time: a headband with bunny ears, a strapless pink bodysuit, and high-heeled open-toed sandals. He didn't want to think about where it came from -- Romelle and Sven's private life was their own business. "But," he said, "you're right. It isn't really quite what I had in mind." She looked crestfallen, so he hastened to add, "Don't worry, I'll be the Easter Bunny this year, and next year, we'll be more organized. Maybe we can all dress up!" He grinned as he thought to himself, ~Even Lance!~

"I'm really sorry," Allura apologized again. She went back into the room, sans shoes, to get the other costume for Hunk. His eyes couldn't help but follow the bouncing fluffy tail on her backside, and he flushed scarlet. He looked over at the saucer-eyed, slack-jawed Keith again, who hadn't moved a muscle the whole time. ~Hope he doesn't start drooling,~ Hunk thought. He placed two fingers on Keith's neck to check that he still had a pulse. ~Well, that's a relief.~

Allura returned with the yellow bunny costume. "I'll change back into some more suitable clothes and then we can go to brunch together," she said. "That will work, the Easter Bunny escorting the Princess, don't you think?"

"Sure thing, Princess," said Hunk. "I'll meet you back here in ten minutes."

"Great," she gave him a dazzling smile before closing the door. Hunk glanced at Keith once more before striding off to find a place to change.

Keith still hadn't moved by the time he came back. Hunk waved a yellow bunny paw wildly in front of his leader's face before knocking on Allura's door. She opened it just as Keith came back to reality. He blinked several times at Hunk in the bunny costume and Allura in a pink tea-length gown with ruffles and lace. "What happened?" he asked them, looking from one to the other confusedly. "I thought Allura was supposed to be the bunny?" Allura started handing him Hunk's Easter baskets.

Hunk offered Allura a fuzzy arm and clapped Keith on the back with the other, steering him down the hall. "Things just didn't work out the way we expected," he said. "Maybe next year."

Epilogue

Lance and Pidge entered the ballroom, which had been decorated especially for the occasion. Soft classical music was barely audible over the squeals of children running wildly in every direction despite being dressed in their best clothes. The Voltron pilots carefully waded through the melee to deposit their Easter baskets around the dais and throne which had been placed at one end of the room. Anyone who wanted could have a picture taken with the Easter Bunny later in the afternoon.

Lance scanned the room, trying to find Hunk's brunch co-coordinator KittyCaro among all the HRH members, castle staff, and their assorted progeny. He spotted her at one end of the buffet table, aflutter in yellow chiffon, apparently attempting to make excuses to Nanny for why the Easter Bunny hadn't arrived yet. Lance came to her rescue, explaining tactfully that there was "some problem" with the costume but that the others would be along in just a few minutes. Nanny made some comment about punctuality but otherwise seemed mollified. KittyCaro gave him a grateful smile and pointed him in the direction of KittyShannon, who was busy arranging tulips as a centerpiece on one of the tables.

KittyShannon dreamily hummed to herself as she arranged the flowers, ~How lovely Arus can be...~ She was so absorbed in her musings that she didn't hear Lance approaching until he was right behind her. "My, what a pretty Kitty," he whispered in her ear. Startled, she jumped, nearly knocking over the vase. "Hey, take it easy," he chuckled, turning her towards him. "I just wanted to know if you wanted to check out the buffet table with me. I'm really -- hungry." He gave her a cocky grin, amusement glinting in his eyes.

She blushed, to her dismay. ~Why do I always get so flustered when he's around?~ she thought. Nervously, she smoothed her green silk gown that so prettily offset her now heightened coloring and stormy eyes. Before she could give him an answer, a mob of screaming children rushed past and around them towards the door. The Easter Bunny had arrived.

"Are you OK?" Lance asked. KittyShannon blinked. He had pulled her close to prevent her from being knocked over when the youngsters rushed past. She blushed again, realizing that the heat from his strong embrace and the mingled scent of soap and aftershave had made her quite giddy. He moved to release her.

"Um, no!" she cried, not wanting the embrace to end. "I...I think one of the children stepped on my foot!" she lied.

"Oh, no," said Lance, frowning with concern. "Can you walk?"

"Um, I don't know..." KittyShannon was getting more flustered by the second. ~If KittyLynne and KittyCaro ever find out I did this, I'll never hear the end of it...~ Tears began to form. Luckily for her, Lance interpreted them as tears of pain and gallantly carried her to a chair, waiting on her hand (and foot) for the rest of brunch.

From another table, KittyLynne watched the proceedings with interest. ~Hmm, I'll have to ask KittyShannon which foot got stepped on,~ she thought. She turned to another at the table. "Well, Cheesy, you said you wanted to be invited to our next party. What do you think?"

Cheesy just looked at her. Cheesy's beautiful pearl-gray fur was rumpled and matted from children's sticky fingers coated with chocolate and marshmallow residue. She couldn't have answered if she tried, since her cheek pouches were bulging with jelly beans that she had stashed to the endless amusement of the youngsters. Cheesy glanced at KittyLynne's outfit; a regal purple gown in organdy, yet paired with those three-inch spike heels. ~Granted, it is a perfect color match, but...~ Cheesy's whiskers began to twitch.

"What?" asked KittyLynne.

Cheesy just gave her a huge grin and began to groom herself fastidiously, all the while humming "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas."