A mere two hours after Lotor had been blown away, the Braintron Force found themselves filing out on the ceremonial balcony along with their human counterparts to greet the throngs that had gathered below the Castle balcony. Word of the PinkyBeast's defeat had spread quickly throughout the realm, and any citizens who lived less than two hours away from the Castle had come forth to celebrate the victory of good over evil, and the fact that another day had passed by without any of them becoming RoBeast foot fodder.

After a mercifully short speech from Coran, the cheering grew in intensity as each member of the Voltron Force was introduced by a radiant Princess Allura and stepped forward to receive his accolades from the Arusian people.

The Brain felt his eyes prickling with tears as he watched the crowd below pay joyful homage to their heroes. "Take note, Pinky! See how regally and graciously the Voltron Force accepts the peasants' simpering admiration as their due! I hope we can acquit ourselves as favorably once we take over the world...uh I mean, Planet Earth."

"When will that be, Brain?" Pinky replied, his eyes never leaving the stately form of the Princess who now was waving and smiling at her people.

The Brain startled a bit, then smiled ironically. Hearing Pinky speak normally was still taking some getting used to. "Soon- very soon, Pinky! With the New and Improved Braintron Big Suit and anime type weapons at our beck and call, it won't be long before Mecha lovers everywhere will fall at our feet," he gloated. "The time is coming, make no mistake about it, in which an entire population will stand below us and cheer for us alone!"

At that moment the Princess hushed the crowd so that she could acknowledge the invaluable contributions of her bewhiskered backup team, adding a special mention of the heroic feats of Captain John Brain and the courageous Antonio Banderas. As thunderous applause filled the air, Allura beckoned the rodent crew to step forward so that her people could thank them directly. The dazed mice exchanged glances, surprised and gratified that the Princess had bestowed such high honor upon creatures most humans regarded as vermin.

Pinky turned a wide-eyed, happy gaze to his friend. "My goodness, Brain, your prediction has already come true! Why didn't you tell me you were a psychotic?"

Cheddar also turned and sent the Braintron Captain a dubious look. The Brain merely shrugged and smiled sheepishly. "Psychic, Pi-Antonio-I believe the word you want to use is psychic!" He replied quickly.

Pinky clapped a hand to the side of his head in astonishment. "Well, I'll be jiggered, Brain...so it is! That's astounding- you can read my mind, too!"

The Brain sighed. "Pinky, reading your mind is the equivalent of watching endless reruns of 'Teletubbies' after drinking ten pots of coffee."

Cheddar snickered.

"Oh I simply love the Teletubbies-La-La's my favorite!" Pinky gushed.

The Brain covered his eyes with a paw. "Pinky, some day I swear I will-I will...oh, never mind!" He sighed and turned to his crew. "Let's go team! The Princess and the public await!"

And so it came to pass that Cheddar, Cheesy and the rest of the Space Mice, along with Antonio 'Pinky' Banderas and Captain John Brain proudly rose on their hindquarters and walked forward to stand at attention at the feet of Braintron, which had been placed upon a raised pedestal for the occasion. The sun shone warmly upon their multicolored visages and cast a fabulous golden aura around the Armani- clad Braintron Big Suit.

It would have presented quite an impressive picture-if anyone on the ground had actually been able to see it. As it was, the people took their young Monarch's word that the tiny rodents and their flying Mouse-headed Spacesuit were standing somewhere on the pedestal, and therefore cheered wildly.

One by one the mice bowed deeply to the crowd, their tiny helmets tucked under their arms as they did so. When each had acknowledged the applause, they turned and saluted the pilots of the Voltron Force by placing their right fore paws across their chests.

"YES!" The Brain shouted, raising his paw gleefully into the air as he watched the Lion pilots return the salute, then start to enthusiastically applaud their support team. "There's just nothing better than hearing the sounds of extremely raucous public adulation!" He paused. "Say...are you pondering what I'm pondering Pinky?"

Pinky nodded soberly. "I think so Brain, but don't worry about it...the Princess didn't really see anything because Keith was wearing a towel!" He declared earnestly.

"ACK! No, no, no...I was just thinking as the future Ruler of Earth, perhaps I should have a balcony just like this- a place where the grateful rabble can come and worship me daily as I wave and smile. Remind me to add that to our What- To- Get -When -We- Take- Over- the- World list, Pinky."

"Will do, Brain! But...do you think we can actually find a decent castle to live in?" Pinky asked, while watching how Keith watched the Princess when he thought no one was watching.

"Well of course we will...although I doubt it will be as technologically advanced as this one. We're only into the twenty-first century." The Brain then frowned, hesitated- and then blurted, "And by the way, I have to ask...why would Keith be wearing a towel in the shower?"

"Instinct. A good commander always covers his rear." Pinky replied matter-of-factly.

The Brain looked at his friend in surprise. "I see. That's quick thinking, Pinky, I believe there may be hope for you yet!"

Pinky grinned. "Why thank you, Brain! I just thought of something else too-there's a simply smashing castle I saw on TV in this really humungous amusement park in Florida, and I really don't think anyone is living there except for Mikey the Mouse of course and he's pretty nice so I think he'd at least sell us a time-share." The taller mouse's ears wiggled in delight. "Oh Brain, wouldn't it be fun to live next to a roller coaster and have silly-willy people in big headed animal suits dancing, and parading and singing cheerfully all day long and-"

"I think the Princess is going to kiss Lance!" The Brain interrupted, now desperate to cut off his friend's pointless monologue.

"OOOH! Now I'll get to see him do his funny little dance of rapture!" Pinky squealed with delight, but then sobered quickly after glancing at the perplexed looking Voltron Captain. "Although, I don't know why Lance is even getting a kiss this time. Poor, poor Captain Keithie...he tries so hard and never gets a reward..."

The Brain glanced at the man in the red flight suit, and frowned as he noticed the pitifully wistful smile that crossed Keith's face as he watched his best friend blushingly accept the Princess' kiss and then do a spastic sort of jig.

"Why doesn't Keith ever just kiss her?" He asked Pinky suddenly.

"Probably because he's just a pilot and she's a Princess," Pinky replied, shrugging sadly. "At least that's the widely accepted theory."

His friend snorted. "Nonsense! I think he's just using that as an excuse to hide his fear of rejection. The man's had a stellar career and is an interplanetary hero. I highly doubt that he could lead the Voltron Force so effectively if he had a poor self image!"

Pinky scratched his head. "If you say so, Brain!"

The two mice watched as Allura glanced hopefully at Keith, who quickly looked away and Allura's buoyant expression quickly faded to one of intense frustration.

"The Princess looks very unhappy." The Brain murmured thoughtfully. "I really think she would have rather kissed Keith but is too shy. " The cynical mouse met Pinky's startled look and added, "Not that I want to encourage any of that schmaltzy romantic drivel, mind you."

"She and I were plotting ways to get him to give her a smoochie-woochie before the cat butted in," Pinky sighed. "She decided to ask him to kiss her."

"WHAT?" The Brain suddenly yelled, startling the eavesdropping Cheddar. "She shouldn't have to do that! She's the Princess of Arus!"

A speechless Pinky blinked in surprise at his cynical friend's passionate outburst.

"Is the boy completely DAFT? Allura's kind, courageous and beautiful, loves him to distraction, and she can, quite literally, give him the world! What more could a man ask for in a woman?" The genius mouse seethed, throwing down his helmet in disgust much to the astonishment of his crew.

They continued to watch in stunned silence as The Brain looked to the heavens, shaking one tiny paw as he yelled, "DO YOU All YOU WRITERS OUT THERE HEAR ME? The one plot device I absolutely cannot tolerate in any situation is unresolved romantic tension, so let's RESOLVE IT now shall we? Don't make me come out there and HURT you!"

As the Space Mice anxiously scanned the skies for falling foreign objects, Pinky's whiskers quivered in astonishment as he watched The Brain leap down off the pedestal onto the balcony. He started to wiggle with growing delight as his grim-faced friend made it safely over to the Captain, who had retreated to lean against the wall in the background behind the assembled group- presumably, to sulk and brood.

"He made it...could it be that they're actually going to...no, no-it's too much to even hope for!" Pinky whispered to himself.

A very relieved Cheddar sidled over to him and emitted a few wry squeaks.

"Cheddar, I really think there's a chance they might let him do it. I'm sure they understand how much he hates it when people he respects don't rise to the occasion."

Cheddar grinned. He let out some quiet squeaks, and then tugged on his tail suggestively.

Pinky went scarlet, covered his mouth with a paw, and then started to giggle hysterically. "No, Cheddar! I didn't mean that sort of occasion....oh my....hee hee hee...POIT!"

Keith crossed his arms and surveyed the scene before him with weary resignation, thinking for the umpteenth time that Lance had to be doing something in exchange for getting those kisses.

~Maybe he's bribing the writers.~ He thought sulkily. ~That has to be it! No one else gets kisses just for showing up!~

At that moment a sharp tug at the leg of his flight suit broke into the Captain's sulk and made him look down.

The large, scowling, fierce visage looking up at him would have greatly taken him aback, if it hadn't looked so ludicrous perched on a tiny little mouse body. His lips twitched.

The Brain put his front paws on his hips and intensified his glare, sensing the Captain was not taking him seriously before he had even begun. "A word with you, Captain, if you please." He demanded sternly.

Keith bit back a chuckle as he replied, "Of course, John! What's on your mind? Wait-here, let's get eye to eye. " He knelt, extending his hand, and The Brain stepped into it with as much dignity as he could muster. Keith then straightened and brought his hand up so that the misshapen mouse was level with his chin. "Okay, shoot! Something's troubling you -maybe that Lotor and Hagar got away from you after what they did to Antonio?"

"No, actually it's-"

"I know! It's because we didn't form Voltron! I know you wanted to see how we do it-Pidge told me."

"No, that's not it-"

The Black Lion pilot snapped his fingers. "I've got it! It's because Lance got a kiss from the Princess and you didn't! You feel hurt and left out. That's it, isn't it?" The Captain ran a hand through his lustrous but unmanageable hair. "Don't feel bad- you probably noticed the rest of us didn't get one either." ~And some of us have never gotten one. Hmph.~

The Brain sighed, rolled his eyes and then gave Keith his most withering stare-the one he usually only used for Pinky at his most idiotic. At this instant in time, however, this clueless human had certainly more than earned it. "Captain, the way your mind works is about as clear to me as the electoral college is to any American."

"Huh?"

"Precisely! Now, if you'll zip it, I'll tell you exactly what is bothering me-"

Allura's sweet voice cut in "Something's bothering you, John?" She had silently slipped up unnoticed by either of them, and stood close beside Keith, her shoulder and arm brushing against his. He immediately blushed at the contact and edged away, looking around him uneasily as he noticed that the balcony was now deserted except for the Braintron Force. Even the din of the assembly below was starting to fade away as the happy Arusians headed home.

"Hey, where did everyone go?"

Allura sighed in resignation. Once again the tender words with which he had drawn her close during the heat of battle had been disregarded, and he was again pushing her away. It was an occurrence that she had come to expect, but that always made her feel like a yo-yo. " They went in to have tea and some cheesecake. I said I'd stay and round you two up. Now...please do tell me what's wrong, John!"

The Brain snorted. "What's wrong?" He waved a paw at the Captain's flushed face. "He's what's wrong!"

Allura gaped at Keith, and then at The Brain. "What has he done?"

"Nothing! And therein lies the crux of the problem!" The Brain declared. "I'll be blunt. Ever since Antonio and I arrived here we've watched two supposedly levelheaded and poised people moon around here like a couple of pie-eye adolescents- and it simply has to stop!"

Keith frowned. "Hey watch it! You can't talk to the Prin-"

"Yes I can, because I am fed up with all the sappy, gee-whiz-what -I wouldn't-give-to get- a -kiss-from-Princess looks I see every time you're near her. You're giving me hyperglycemia!" The Brain ranted.

He then turned his glare on Allura. "And you! Explain your logic in kissing Lieutenant Smirky all the time when you know that you'd much rather give one to the Captain?"

"Oh my," Keith said, blinking rapidly. "Lieutenant Smirky... that's a good one! May I use it?"

"You honor me, Captain. Feel free to use it whenever you like." The Brain replied.

"WHO TOLD YOU THAT?" Allura half-shrieked, making both Captains jump. "Who told you I wanted to kiss - I mean... oh, I hope Antonio didn't-" She let out a mortified groan.

The Brain slapped his paw to his massive forehead.

"Please, Your Highness, allow me to assist you from the Fantasy to the Self-Help title section in the Library of Your Life! No one needed to say anything-for the simple reason that everyone on this planet can see you two have a thing for each other ... everyone in the Denubian and Diamond GALAXIES can see you two have a thing for each other!"

Allura gasped. "Everyone?"

The Brain took a deep breath and pondered. "Um...check that, there probably are a couple of villains and their followers on Planet Doom who may still be in denial. Frankly, though, I don't get the both of you! Here are two people who can face Hagar's nastiest spells, go up against the vilest RoBeasts and think nothing of facing Lotor head on...but still they can't seem to overcome the simple obstacle of 'Golly gee, what would Nanny and Coran think?'"

Allura glanced at Keith, who gave her a shyly speculative look, which she returned, before demurely lowering her eyes.

"The only people who just don't seem to get it are you two!" The mouse continued sarcastically. "Odds Bodkins, even the humans on the planet where I come from can see you are secretly in love with each other!" The mouse shook his cranium in disgust.

The Princess' hands flew to her cheeks in a vain attempt to cover her perpetual blush. "B-but John, I don't understand...how could anyone on your planet know that I am secretly in love with K-"She stopped, flustered at how easily the revelation had almost escaped her. "With anyone," she amended hastily.

The Brain looked startled, and then anxious. ~Curses! I completely forgot that none of these people know that their lives are televised public record on Earth, or that many admirers have chronicled the adventures of the Voltron Force. How am I going to explain this one without ruining everything I have worked to achieve with the Big Suit?~

As he pondered his response, one overly large sweat drop formed at the back of The Brain's head, which he also would have wondered about, if fate and the authors had not intervened.

The Black Lion pilot had moved closer to the flustered Princess, with a playful expression. "Gee...don't stop now, Allura-it was just getting interesting. How could they know that you secretly love... who?" He asked huskily, his dark eyes intent upon her face.

"If I told, then it wouldn't be a secret now, would it?" She retorted pertly, pulling down one eyelid and sticking her tongue out at him. "Besides, I have it on good authority that this person wouldn't tell me if he returned my love because of who I am, so..."

"How did this authority know? Did they actually ask this man?" Keith moved even closer, giving The Brain a close and personal view of the Princess swallowing nervously.

Uh...noooo...not exactly," Allura replied faintly, her blue eyes widening as the Captain gently smoothed back a strand of her hair that had drifted across her cheek, then cupped her cheek with his large hand.

Surprisingly, Allura held her ground, and even tilted her chin upward towards the Captain's. That meant that a mere mouse was now the sole impediment between two pairs of lips that he was sure that an untold amount of people wanted to see locked together, and who would most certainly exact deadly retribution on his tiny rodent body if he didn't get out of the way.

A sudden vision of the falling anvil that had almost taken out Pidge flashed into his mind, and The Brain shuddered with horror.

He was debating whether or not to grab a strand of the Princess' hair to swing to the safety of her shoulder, when suddenly Keith's hand lowered and the mouse genius found himself staring at the white valley between two soft, pillowy pink hillocks.

Well how do you know unless you ask him?" The Captain's voice inquired softly from above his head. "You might be surprised at the answer."

The Brain's mouth dropped open as he saw the hillocks swell, and then start to rise and fall rapidly. ~I think this is one of those K & A moments Pinky keeps babbling about. Sheesh, talk about getting an eyeful!~ He thought, deciding that it was time to bail out before he was crushed or smothered to death. The Royal cleavage, though delightfully soft and warm, could still be a deadly place for a mouse if compressed too tightly.

He cleared his throat loudly. "Excuse me..."

Keith gave a start and looked down at his hand held passenger. "Yes?"

"You can put me down. I've inserted the key for you, Captain- now the rest is entirely up to you." The mouse informed him gravely.

Keith shook his head and then winked. "Right! Okay, we're going down... main floor-ceramic tile and white boots!" He chuckled, as he knelt and deposited The Brain safely on the ground. He then stood slowly, and moved forward, leaving the smallest amount of space between him and Allura possible without touching her. He gazed deeply into the azure depths of her eyes, saw the intense longing he knew was mirrored in his own expression and then took her hand. Softly, reverently, he brushed his full lips across her knuckles.

She blinked up at him dazedly.

"K-Keith?" She stammered.

"Yes, Princess?"

"Um...I wanted to say that... in regards to... a-asking a certain someone if he l-loves me...uh...well...I-"

He laughed softly. "You don't need to ask...I do."

"You...do?"

"Yes. I love you, Allura."

"And I love you...oh Keith!" She gave the Space Explorer a fierce hug, which he returned while the Brain shuddered both at his narrow escape and at the excessive sappiness of the moment.

The Princess drew back. A brilliant smile had spread across her lovely features. "Prove it! Prove that you love me!"

He gaped at her. "Prove it? But I just said the words... I love you, Allura!"

She winked out at the world behind him . "No, silly, not to me...to them!"

Keith turned and looked out as well, with a small smile playing around his sensual lips. "All right... I suppose we do owe those two something for keeping them in limbo for so long."

And so, right in front of a handful of mice and at least two other giggling voyeurs, the Black Lion pilot took the Blue Lion pilot into his embrace and kissed her, tentatively at first, and then with all the bottled up passion that had been simmering inside him since he had first laid eyes on her. The Princess moaned and matched his ardor, pressing herself against him, while she twined her fingers in his incredibly sexy, raven-black hair.

The Brain watched with a critical eye until Keith parted Allura's lips with a groan and a flick of his tongue, after which the mouse turned and scurried back to his team, a self- satisfied smirk pasted on his dour features.

Pinky greeted him with an elated hug. "ZORT! Gosh, Brain, you really did it! Narrrfff...."

The Brain stared at Pinky and then shrugged. Evidently the power of Allura's love couldn't transcend everything.

"It was only a matter of time, my quixotic friend. I just jumped in before their raging hormones did, that's all." He replied modestly.

"That's very nice of you Brain, but I really don't a bunch of moaning trollops would have helped at all." Pinky informed him.

As The Brain sputtered, his sidekick glanced over at the entwined couple and gasped delightedly as he saw them sink to their knees. "Ooo, I think they got tired of standing up...and look, the Captain must be really getting warm because the Princess is helping him unzip his flight suit!"

The tall mouse yelled in protest when his Captain abruptly spun him around and herded him into the castle along with the equally indignant Space Mice.

"What'd you do that for, Brain?" Pinky whined. "The kiss was just getting good!"

The Brain smirked as Cheddar glared and gave him an emphatic 'thumbs down' gesture. "There are just some K & A moments that aren't for everyone," He told Pinky firmly. "That one is for mice ages eighteen and up."

Pinky pouted. "Zort! Life is so unfair....poit!"

"Besides, someone has to drink their tea and eat their cookies so Nanny won't wonder where they are." The Brain added slyly.

"Ooh! Pick me! I'll do it, I'll do it!" Pinky squealed, clapping his paws together in excitement.

"All right, but for heaven's sake stay away from the nectar! I'm going to need a sober co-pilot for the trip back home!"

"OH BOY! Righto, Captain Brain! Aye aye, Skipper, I read you! That's a big 10-4-"

The Brain clapped his paws to his oversized ears. "PINKY!"

His side-kick stopped in mid jig. "Yes, what is it, Brain?"

"Don't make me hurt you."

"Oh...Narrrfff. Right. So sorry." Pinky said sheepishly. He offered his forepaw to his friend with a dignified bow. "Shall we go to tea, then?"

The Brain's scowl faded to a look of surprise and then faint amusement. And then, after a long moment... he firmly linked arms with the friend he loved and had almost lost.

"Yes, Pinky, we shall go to tea."

Next...the Finale. Yes there's more. Heh.