Allura hummed softly to herself as she followed the maze of corridors leading to her office. Actually, it was more like a lounge, but she liked to call it an office since it was where she took care of all the voluminous paperwork Coran loved to draw up for her. Proclamations, certificates of valor, declarations of defiance, and Alliance condemnations of the latest Doom atrocities were the usual fare that crossed her desk. She'd be glad when the Advisor got the new word processor she had ordered for him, it would cut down on the paper waste.

She finally reached the proper door and placed her hand on the identification scanner.

"Greetings Crown Princess Allura of Arus, you may enter this space," a tinny sounding voice greeted her.

Allura stuck her little pink tongue out at the pretentious security device. Why did they have to program the thing to talk, anyway? It was so annoying, unless...maybe she could tamper with the message a little, have some fun with it.

A wide smile turned up the corners of her mouth at the possibilities. One message could be really fun if done correctly. She spoke her thoughts aloud, in the style of the automated voice, to test her idea for shock value.

"Greetings Captain Keith of the Voltron Force, you may enter the Princess' personal space right away, as she finds you extremely worthy."

She giggled wildly at the double entendre; Lance would be so proud of her. There was another good idea, maybe Lance could help her reprogram the darn thing. He'd do anything to get a rise out of the Captain, which made them like two peas in pod, although she was hoping for a rise more like she had just seen a few minutes ago after Keith had elbowed her.

Realizing she was still standing in the hallway with a goofy grin on her face, Allura went into the room, not noticing the furry little rodent that skipped in right behind her before the door slid shut.

She groaned as she spied the pile of documents and folders, and sank down in the nearest chair, which happened to be a papasan, letting the chair's bowl shape comfortably cradle her body. She closed her eyes in bliss, then opened them with a start as she felt a gentle tickling on her face. She gazed, almost cross-eyed, at the huge pink nose, whiskers, and beady, bugged out eyes just inches from hers, and screeched heartily.

Pinky yelled too, and fell backwards off her chin, landing on something firm and bouncy.

Egads! He was too afraid to look at what he was sitting on... poit! He could already feel the imaginary weight of Nanny's skillet upon his puny head. Noticing he was in shadow, he warily looked up, and breathed a sigh of relief. Oh, there they were, hanging high over his head, like two pink clouds. Thank goodness.

Allura recovered her composure, glanced down and started to laugh at the sight of the blushing and flustered rodent. "Well, you must have decided to keep me company instead of hanging out with the boys, is that right, Antonio?"

A shy grin was her response.

"That is so thoughtful of you," she smiled. "I know you can't understand me completely yet, but I hope you at least are familiar with my nature. I have always found all mice to be rather intuitive." She plucked the now cheerfully smiling mouse off her stomach and set him on the chair's edge, at eye level. "I could use someone to talk to right now, Antonio, because I am just so frustrated."

Pinky's face grew serious, and he nodded vigorously, indicating he was willing to listen.

"Keith, our Captain, is my true love, and I know he has feelings for me, yet I can't get him to kiss me, or affirm his feelings for me," the perplexed Princess confessed to her audience of one.

Pinky thought for a moment, then pantomimed a response, kissing and hugging an imaginary being.

"Good idea, but I already tried making him jealous, with Lance. It worked, but it didn't provoke him enough to kiss me, it just made him mad at Lance."

Pinky gestured some more, running to and fro in slow motion.

"Another good idea, Antonio, but the next Love Bridge festival is four months away, and I can't wait that long. By the way, I am so impressed that you are familiar with our legends."

Pinky then hopped around, grimacing and swooning. Allura shook her head sadly.

"Tried fainting already- he catches me gently, sweeps me up into his wonderfully strong arms... and takes me to Dr. Gorma, who gives me castor oil as a punishment for wasting his time." Both mouse and Princess shuddered at the thought.

Pinky made a slight motion with his paws, as if conversing, and then puckered up.

She looked stunned. "Ask him to kiss me? Why, I am the Princess of Arus! I am the leader of an entire planet, one of the founders of the New Alliance, the pilot of Blue Lion and..." her voice trailed away as she saw the mouse lower his head in dejection, his tiny white shoulders slumping forward. "And... I'm just a woman who is desperate to be with the man she loves to distraction, " she finished miserably.

Pinky lifted his head and gazed up at her with shining, soulful eyes, went down on one knee, and lifted paws clasped together in entreaty.

"Oh Antonio, you're so sweet, but I'm afraid Keith has my heart for all time." Allura said kindly. "I'm honored that you asked me, though."

Pinky sighed. It had been worth a try.

"Maybe I should just ask him," Allura mused. "He said he'd do anything for me."

Pinky grinned in agreement.

"Okay, I'll do it tonight, " she said, smiling brightly. "I better get through my work so my schedule is clear for Operation Kiss."

She leaned over and placed a gentle peck on Pinky's head. "Thank you Antonio, I am so glad you are here, I guess love is a language we all understand."

Meanwhile, back at the Think Tank, Pidge and the Brain were having difference of opinion and a silent tug of war with the Big Suit's innards.

"You can't put the turbines there, it'll interfere with the warp coil!" Pidge practically yelled, lifting both the part and the mouse clutching it into the air in front of his sweating, bespectacled face.

The Brain gave the youth his best 'don't make me hurt you' glare as he dangled in mid air. This young whippersnapper may know his way around a computer, and probably had memorized an entire astrophysics textbook, but he knew nothing of the mechanics involved in operating the Big Suit.

Hunk intervened, taking the part and setting it down gently. Without more ado, The Brain hoisted it to his small shoulders and scurried off, chortling to himself.

The Green Lion pilot turned to his friend, his agitation causing his glasses to steam up. "Didja hear that little cheesehead? Didja? He's cackling just like Hagar does when she gets the best of us!"

"Cool it, little buddy, it's his spaceship, give him some credit! From what I can see, the technology that powers this thing is pretty primitive, and probably runs a lot differently than our ships." Hunk replied, trying to smooth Pidge's ruffled feathers.

They watched the rodent get to work, expertly installing the turbine.

"You have to give him credit, he sure looks like he knows a thing or too about mechanical engineering," the Yellow Lion pilot commented admiringly. He strolled over to observe the mysterious Mr. Noggin. In no time flat, the misshapen mouse had completed his task and stood back to let the Big Guy inspect it.

"Very nice, Noggin! I am very impressed with your mechanical skills, especially since you had to use such makeshift equipment," he commented, while eyeing a apparatus that strongly resembled what Terrans called a hand mixer.

The Brain was quite gratified to hear this, but dared not respond or give any indication he understood. He could acknowledge the general tone of the remark, so he smiled affably.

"Okay, the old framework is all in place, now let's soup this baby up! Ready with the weapons systems Pidge?"

"All set!" The youth carried over some fascinating looking computer chips and panels.

"Good, then let's get down to business!"

The Brain's eyes glinted with satisfaction as he stepped back to let the boys of Anime do their jobs.

Back at the Princess quarters, Pinky was making himself useful. He just loved to be helpful, and he happily licked and sealed all the envelopes Allura passed to him.

"This is so boring, isn't it Antonio?" She remarked after the better part of two hours had gone by. "You are so nice to help me."

Pinky tried to reply, forgetting that he was supposed to keep quiet. Mercifully for The Plan, the glue from the envelope had riveted his sizeable tongue to the roof of his mouth. He could only grin, which seemed to satisfy the Princess as a response.

A quiet scratching at the door startled both of them.

"What was that?" Allura said, rising from her desk. She strode over to the door panel and listened. After a few seconds, the scratching could be heard again, louder and more insistent this time, accompanied by what sounded like purring.

"It almost sounds like a cat," she commented and then looked in horror at her guest. "One of the new maids must have brought it in, because the older staff knows we have a ban on cats here, out of respect for my little friends." The Princess smiled reassuringly at the frightened Antonio. "Don't worry, I will take care of it at once."

She went to press the panel to open the door, then stopped and returned to the desk to scoop up her guest. She placed him to one side of the door, right below the control panel.

"There is a small recess there that you can stand in if the kitty happens to get in here," she advised him. "It'll keep you safe."

She opened the door, kneeling in preparation for a feline to coming creeping in, but nothing came into view.

"That's odd, I know I heard something." Allura pondered. She stepped out into the hall, and glanced both ways. "Nothing out here either. I'll just walk down the hallway a short distance and check. Stay here, Antonio."

Pinky nodded reflexively, and watched her depart. An uneasy feeling jabbed through his gut. He had only ever seen one cat on the show, and it belonged to that evil witch...

~THE BLUE CAT!~ A frantic Pinky started to scramble down from the ledge. It was then that he heard her scream. Jumping back up, he hit the big red button he was sure had to be the alarm. As the klaxons went off, he scooted down to the floor and ran out to the hall. At the end stood the Princess, now confronted by the most evil looking animal with yellow eyes Pinky had ever seen. It was the Blue Cat, and it looked like it was getting ready to pounce!

Without hesitation, Pinky scurried down the hallway, and put himself between Allura and the wicked creature.

The feline, diverted by what promised to be a tasty snack, broke off its attack on the Princess and focused on the mouse.

"Oh Antonio, no!" Allura cried. "Don't..."

The heavy clatter of approaching guards filled the air and the cat knew it had to escape. Lunging forward, he grabbed Pinky by the tail and ran off.

The mouse tried to yell, but the glue still kept his tongue from functioning.

The guards gave chase, but the wily cat eluded them all, knowing they couldn't fire on him while he held the rodent guest as a hostage. Everyone knew the Princess confided in the mice, and Hagar was sure to be so pleased with his catch, that she might actually let him have this delicacy after she had thoroughly interrogated it.

He nimbly leaped out the nearest open window, and ran along the parapets to a hidden, coffin shaped pod. The feline leaped in, and the hatch closed behind him. Soon the cat and the mouse were airborne, heading toward Planet Doom.

"Antonio!" Allura whispered, as she sadly watched the departing pad. "You brave, noble, foolish mouse..."

Spinning around, she pelted toward Castle Control, while notifying Coran to round up the team. She had told Antonio she would protect him, and she intended to keep that promise.

To be continued...