Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He was late. So late that the sun had set hours ago and the desert had already cooled beneath the night sky and all its softly twinkling stars. So late that Keith had caved and made dinner for himself instead of waiting for him to bring home the takeout he had promised.

Pulling out the hot plate, he'd started making himself a can of ravioli. It wasn't his favorite food, but he didn't really know how to cook anything else yet. Not that they had the appliances to do much cooking in their little shack. He couldn't wait until construction on the house began. They could take all their stuff back out of storage and he could sleep in his own room again, in his own bed.

He ate the pasta in silence, curled up on the couch by the window so he could look outside.

Why wasn't he home yet?

Then Keith saw it: the headlights of a car in the distance. It turned onto the only road leading to their property and it was quickly approaching. He frowned. His dad took the hoverbike to work this morning. If a stranger was way out here at night, they couldn't be up to anything good.

Abandoning the ravioli, Keith scrambled to shut the curtains and turn off the lights. Then grabbing the dagger his dad had given him years ago for his birthday, he crawled beneath the couch and waited. He held his breath, his heart pounding rapidly against his ribcage as he heard the car pull to a stop outside. Its doors opened and closed, and there was the crunching of grit and sand beneath two pairs of heavy, booted footsteps as whoever was here drew nearer. The wooden planks creaked as they stepped onto the porch, and Keith could just barely make out the garbled chirp and static-filled chatter of a radio from beyond the wall.

A long moment passed before there came a knock on the door. It made Keith jump with how the shack trembled. Still, he didn't move. His grip tightened around the handle of his knife, turning his knuckles white. There was another pause before the knock came again, longer and more urgent this time.

"Keith? Are you there?"

Keith stiffened. He recognized that voice. He'd met him only a few times before at the station, but it was his dad's boss.

"It's me, Captain Hutch. Open up, kiddo."

He sounded strained. Pleading. Almost sad. Why was he here?

A new knot of dread settled in Keith's heart. He emerged from his hiding spot, sheathed weapon still in hand, before unlocking the door and opening it a bit. He reluctantly peeked through the crack and scowled at the captain. A Plaht City police officer stood behind him, his expression strangely grim and pitiful as his eyes landed on Keith.

"What do you want?" Keith asked, unsure whether he was addressing the captain or the cop. "Where's my dad?"

Hutch let out a shaky sigh. He knelt to be at eye level with him, his face tight around the edges. He reached out to place a hand on Keith's shoulder, but thought better of it when he inched back.

"Keith…An electrical fire broke out downtown today," he began slowly, carefully. "It was bad. Really bad. We told your dad not to go back into the building, but he…he was trying to save someone…"

He trailed off, starting to get choked up. Keith swallowed, his mouth going dry as the knot in his chest grew tighter, larger.

"Where's my dad?" he asked again, harsher this time. Frantic. "Where is he?!"

Keith looked past Hutch and the officer, desperately searching for him. He waited for him to pop out from the back of the police cruiser and come running up the porch to scoop him up into one of his stubble-scratching hugs. They'd eat dinner together. They'd talk more about the house rebuild. They'd stargaze for a bit, and maybe he would tell Keith more about his mother – he always got nostalgic about her whenever they looked to the evening skies. And then they'd go to bed, tired but safe and warm and together.

Hutch's eyes were rimmed with red as Keith dragged his gaze back over to him, waiting for his answer.

"...He didn't make it, Keith," he said finally, voice quivering and full of remorse. "He's gone."

The funeral service and headstone were paid for in full by his father's firefighter colleagues. Even some of his EMT friends and his buddies from the police station had pitched in. They were all teary-eyed, saying nothing but regretful things as Heith Kogane's remains were lowered into the ground. Hutch stood over Keith, his hand consolingly resting on his shoulder, but he hardly felt it. His eyes were glued to the coffin adorned with flowers, his whole body oddly numb and his chest hollow as it disappeared beneath the surface. The murmured lamenting of the people, of the strangers in black surrounding them, seemed to seep into the emptiness that had been left behind in his heart.

"Oh, if only he hadn't run back into that building."

He was stubborn, Keith thought vaguely to himself. You could never tell him what to do.

"I should've tried harder to stop him."

Then why didn't you?

"He was working so hard. Too hard. He shouldn't have taken on more hours."

He was saving up for the house. He was doing it for us.

"He wouldn't have had to if he didn't have that young boy to take care of."

…

"A shame the mother left them. Who was she, anyway?"

Who cares.

"No one really knows. Heith never talked about her."

He said she was clever. Serious and strong. Unlike anyone he'd ever met before.

"He was so kind. He deserved better than her. He deserved better in life."

"Ignore them, Keith," Hutch murmured. "He was a hero. And he loved you more than anything. You were his entire world."

And his dad had been his. But now, he was gone. His light had gone out, swallowed by the merciless flames. Keith had nothing left. No mom. No house. No family. No dad. Nothing.

The family his father had saved before he'd died stepped forward to deliver their condolences. A couple and their daughter, who looked a few years older than him and had a mess of curly brown hair. Tears pooled in their eyes and they trembled as they wept. They had a few bandages covering burn marks here and there, but they were all alive. They were together. They were happy it wasn't them being buried, being cried over.

Keith didn't hear what they said. He didn't want to. For the first time since Hutch delivered the dreadful, awful news, something hot and angry burned in his chest. It wasn't fair. He was so much younger than that girl. She had both her parents while he'd had no one else but his dad. Why had his dad chosen them, complete strangers, over him? Why did they all get to stay together while everything was taken away from him? The fire in their house had killed his dad. It was their fault he died. It was their fault he was dead!

And then, before he could stop himself, before he knew what he was doing, Keith started screaming. Thrashing. He wanted to hit them. To hurt them. The daughter clutched her mother's arm, frightened, and their happy and whole family backed away. It made his rage flare even more, and Hutch had to hold him back, stopping him from pouncing on them. The other mourners shifted with unease, deadly quiet as Keith's tortured cries filled the air. No one sought to comfort him. No one knew how. No one wanted to get close to the sobbing boy, nothing more to them than their dead friend's strange, desert-born child.

Heith's will didn't say much. All his property and money would simply go to Keith when he turned eighteen. But that was a long way off, years down the road in Keith's now seemingly bleak and unpromising future. Until he was legally old enough to claim what was his and live on his own, he would be put into foster care.

Keith didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay, waiting for the house that would never be rebuilt. But there was no one willing to finish the project his dad had started. He had no relatives. And his dad's so-called buddies had their own lives to get on with, each of them claiming they simply couldn't afford to take in another kid. Not even Hutch could take him, already busy with the station and raising his own three daughters. It had absolutely nothing to do with Keith's violent little outburst at the funeral either, they all assured him.

So, left without much of a choice, Keith's belongings were packed and the social worker assigned to him, Miss Lisa, brought him to a group home closer to the city.

It was so different from their little shack in the desert. The home was large and made out of stone with plenty of windows. Trees and thriving grass were everywhere. There was even a shopping mall just a few minutes down the road. Several kids around his age were playing outside when he arrived, and as the Group Home Manager, an older woman named Miss Debbie, gathered them together to meet him, they grinned and introduced themselves.

After the first few months, Keith decided he hated it there.

It was always too loud. There were always too many people around, all strangers. Couples looking to foster and hopefully adopt often swung by for interviews. Parents and siblings of the other foster kids would come and go, visiting on a confusing mess of a schedule that Keith had yet to understand. The adolescent inhabitants of the home always seemed to be changing, and he had a terrible time connecting with them. At one point, he stopped bothering to remember their names.

Ms. Debbie was kind enough, but she was a major worry wart. Apparently, she had once worked as a nurse in a children's hospital and was extremely uncomfortable with the fact that Keith carried his dagger everywhere he went. She'd freaked out the first time he'd unsheathed it to show one of the other kids, and had ended up confiscating it. He'd almost had a panic attack, and he'd had to dig through her "No-No" junk drawer, as the other kids called it, in the dead of night to get it back. Since then, he'd carefully tucked it under his shirt, hiding it from her sight.

To make matters worse, she'd enrolled him in school. Actual school, not the homeschooling system his dad had set up where he'd teach him in the evenings and on the weekends. He loathed it all: the rigid schedules, the confusing subjects, the boring mountain-load of nightly homework, the condescending teachers who weren't afraid to call out his mistakes and unusual upbringing, and of course, the bullies who constantly liked to rag on "the foster brat's" unfortunate life and start fights just for the fun of it. The only positive thing he gleaned from any of it was that he learned how to take the bus.

It all felt wrong. So wrong to be living in a house full of strangers, with "siblings" who already had their own families and hardly gave him the time of day. So wrong to be living in a house without his father. This wasn't his home, and it would never be his home.

He didn't belong here.

He wanted to go home.

He wanted his dad.

One day after school, he took the bus as far as it could go to the edge of the city. When he asked the driver if he could take him to the desert, he informed him that their routes didn't go out that far. In other words, no.

But, he could take him to the cemetery.

The evening sky washed the gravestones in a strange golden light as Keith picked his way over the rows and rows of unfamiliar names. It took him a few minutes to find it, but he finally arrived at his dad's resting spot. He stood in front of it, panting as he took in the stone and the bouquet of dead flowers that laid before it.

Sometimes, he didn't think his dad was really buried here. He had dreamt of him coming home so often, he almost didn't believe he was actually gone. Like he had just disappeared somewhere and would be back if Keith just kept looking for him.

What if he was at the shack right now, wondering where Keith had gone? What if he was waiting for him? Keith could go back to the familiar desert and the solitude of their tiny home. Back to the warmth of his dad's hugs and teasing smirks and scratchy kisses.

Keith stared at his father's name and the still far-too-recent dates etched into the surface of the stone. He ran his fingers over the numbers, reminding himself that this was real, that this was his reality. He would never be able to see or touch his dad or hear his voice again. Would never be able to laugh at his jokes or try more of his cooking or learn from him how to ride the hoverbike. He would never get to explore the canyons with him or listen to the rest of his stories about Mom or rebuild their house and live in it together again.

"You were his entire world."

Keith's hands curled into fists, his eyes stinging. The inescapable pain he had tried to stuff down for so long gnawed mercilessly at his heart, erupting in full. A choked sound escaped his lips and he hunched over, unable to stop the tears from falling as sobs racked his small frame. His ears rang, the sounds of the city drowned out as he screamed.

His dad wasn't waiting for him. He was never coming back.

For the first time in his life, Keith was truly and utterly alone.

Chapter Text

"Do you like soccer?"

From his spot on the swing, Keith stared at Cliff Marvins as he stood directly in front of him. His new foster sibling was a pudgy kid a couple years older than him, and he was juggling a classic black and white soccer ball back and forth between his hands.

"…No," he mumbled.

Cliff grinned. Then snatching the ball out of the air, he hurled it at Keith. It slammed into his face with enough force to send him falling off the back of the swing. His breath was stolen away as he crashed into the dirt.

"ThEn WhY dOn'T yOu MaRrY iT?" Cliff jeered, and he ran off laughing with the ball, continuing to kick it at the tree in the yard.

Keith's blood boiled as he cupped his hand to his throbbing nose and newly bleeding lip. He didn't understand the joke, if that was what it was supposed to be. It didn't make any sense. But then again, he didn't get most jokes, making him a bore at school. And Cliff was pretty stupid, even when it came to something as simple as successfully delivering a joke he'd picked up from his friends.

But he was the apple of his parents' eyes. He was their only child and an aspiring jock. From his seat on the porch, Cliff's father snorted, not even bothering to hide his smile as he continued to grill the burgers. His mother, either ignoring or truly ignorant of her brat of a son, continued to read her magazine.

Keith still wasn't quite sure why they had decided to take him in. Cliff seemed popular enough at school and had lots of friends. And from the looks of their massive house and all the nice things it had, the Marvins seemed very well off too. Maybe they just wanted to boost their self-image by bringing a poor and unfortunate foster kid into their home. Or maybe they just wanted a more enriching home environment for their precious baby by giving him a live punching bag. Whatever the case, Keith despised it here.

But he supposed it could be worse. In the few years he had been in the system, he'd had some questionable foster families. Secret alcoholics, abusers and gaslighters, money-grabbers. Of course, some were relatively normal, like this family. But even in those instances, those parents and caregivers had never held onto their interest in him for long. Whether it was another fight at school, a fight with one of his new siblings, him sneaking out to visit his dad, or them getting fed up with Keith's gloomy attitude in general, they would always call up the agency to "regretfully" inform them that this wasn't going to work out. He simply "wasn't a good fit" for their household.

He hadn't stayed with a family for more than six months. He'd be lying if he said it didn't sting the first few times it happened. But now, it had become an expected outcome for him. A constant cycle of rejection. And like a fraying thread, he could sense his time with the Marvins would be coming to end soon as well.

It happened one afternoon when Cliff had a friend over. They sat on the floor in the living room, playing a video game about driving and car theft. Keith sat behind them on the couch. He hadn't used the console much – Cliff cried the first time he caught him beating his high scores on a space adventure game, and Mrs. Marvin ended up scolding Keith and banning him from playing it. Thus, he was forced to watch the two boys crash their cars every five seconds and streak ungracefully down the virtual roads, laughing stupidly all the while and groaning whenever they failed a mission. Keith's fingers itched for the controls, knowing deep down he could win. But he stayed quiet, lest Cliff start screaming and his mom come flying down the stairs from her studio to fret over him.

"This is too hard!" Cliff huffed after barely an hour of playing. He carelessly threw his controller on the floor, adding a new crack to its surface. "Let's do something else."

His friend ditched his own controller, opting to scroll on his phone. "We can go to the movies," he suggested.

"No, my mom's working," Cliff said, shaking his head. "She doesn't want to leave Keith home alone, anyway. He might break something."

Keith rolled his eyes. Like he was stupid and clumsy enough to do that. Besides, if they were actually worried about him making a mess of their perfect house, they could always just suck it up and take him along. If they could afford buying Cliff a new game controller every other month, then he was sure they had the pocket change to spare to buy an extra ticket.

"Soccer?" his friend wondered.

"The ground's still too wet," Cliff groaned.

At least he'd remembered that it had stormed the night before.

"What about your dad's collection?" his friend proposed next. "You said you'd show it to me next time I was here."

Mr. Marvins was a history buff and had a keen interest in hoplology. His office was full of antique pistols, armor, and swords from all across the globe. They were displayed in cases on the wall, each with a plaque that had a blurb about their usage and impact on warfare. It was like having a mini museum in the house, and although Cliff had no interest in the stuff, he liked to brag about all of their expensive collectables to his friends.

"Fine," Cliff relented, pushing himself off the floor. "Let's go."

He led the way down the hall towards his father's office. He paused, glancing at the stairs and listening for his mother before he tried jiggling the doorknob. To his dismay and Keith's relief, the door didn't budge.

"Dang it," Cliff tsked. "It's locked."

"Where's the key?" his friend asked.

"I dunno."

Mr. Marvins always kept his office locked when he wasn't home. He didn't like anyone snooping around his things without asking. Not his son, and especially not Keith. They'd have to wait until he came home from work, and by then, Cliff's friend would have gone back to his own house.

"You're not supposed to go in there anyway," Keith muttered as Cliff continued to yank on the handle.

Cliff scowled at him, crossing his arms over his chest. "No, you're not supposed to go in here," he said, matter-of-fact. "This is my house. He's my dad. Everything that's in here is basically mine already."

Keith glared evenly back at him. "Then go ask your mom for the key."

The smug gleam in Cliff's eyes flickered. "W-Whatever. I've seen that junk a million times before. It's boring," he insisted, and his friend pouted in disappointment. Then quickly trying to change the subject, he said, "Why don't you show us your special knife, Keith?"

Keith stiffened, now very much aware of the sheathed blade tucked under his top. "I don't have one," he lied.

"Yes you do. You carry it with you all the time, under your shirt," Cliff stated, pointing right at where it was hidden.

Keith pressed his lips into a thin line. But he didn't say anything, prompting the older boy to continue.

"He brings it to school even though he's not supposed to. He hides it in his backpack," Cliff explained to his friend. He smirked as he turned back to Keith. "You're lucky I haven't told the teachers. Or my parents."

It was a threat. One that made Keith's anger begin to flare. "It's mine," he stated flatly. "I'm allowed to have it."

"Yeah, right. I bet you stole it," Cliff jeered. "It's probably one of my dad's old knives."

"It's not!" he snapped. "My dad gave it to me."

"Then prove it!"

Or else.

The unspoken warning hung in the air, and Keith hated how it made his heart clench. His hands curled into fists, his shoulders tensing with indecision. …He just had to show it to him, right? Show him that it wasn't one of his dad's boring old swords from World War One or whatever.

Keith's glower never wavered from Cliff as he reluctantly pulled out his dagger for them to see. The friend's eyes widened, a delighted smile breaking out across his face.

"Cool!" he gushed, bending down to get a closer look at the handle. "I've never seen one like this before."

"Lemme see!" Shoving his friend aside, Cliff snatched it from Keith's grip.

"Hey! Give it back!" Keith demanded, and he internally smacked himself for how pleading he'd sounded.

Cliff grinned as Keith desperately grabbed for it, holding it just out of the smaller boy's reach.

"No. Not until I'm done looking at it," he said, and Keith grit his teeth as Cliff unsheathed the knife.

"It's so shiny," he noted, staring at his reflection in the metal. He twisted and turned it, admiring how it caught the light. Then his fingers picked at the cloth around the hilt. "What's under this? Is it broken?"

Keith's heart leapt into his throat as he began to undo the wrappings. "Stop it! Don't touch that!"

Cliff only continued to unwind it. "Is this your crappy repair job to keep the blade from falling off the handle?" he snickered. "What a loser."

Then, before Keith could stop him, the cloth fell away, revealing the strange, jagged insignia on the hilt. It emitted a soft, dark blue glow, eternally lit up by a power source Keith had never been able to find or understand.

"Whoa," the friend breathed, gawking at the unusual blade in awe.

Cliff frowned, his grubby thumb rubbing over the symbol. "What's this funny mark?" he asked. "How's it glowing like that?"

He scratched at it, making Keith bristle. "Okay, you've looked at it," he almost growled. "Now give it back."

He reached for it again, only for Cliff to skirt out of the way, almost mesmerized by the knife he clutched in his hands.

"Hmm…my dad doesn't have anything like this in his collection," he mused. He experimentally stabbed and slashed the air with it before nodding in approval. "It fits my hand perfectly too."

It didn't. Keith could see that it didn't. The dagger looked awkward and clunky and stupid in Cliff's fat, greedy fingers. It felt wrong. So wrong. That was his knife, given to him by his dad. He didn't want anyone else touching it. He didn't want anyone else using it. Only he could hold it. Only he could use it.

"Give it back. NOW." Keith's voice came out a snarl, deep and throaty and dark with his rising fury. It was bubbling and broiling now, the lid on his growing rage threatening to pop off.

Cliff's friend flinched and nervously inched away. But Cliff stood his ground. His face twisted into an irritated frown, and he closed the distance between them. He shoved Keith so hard, he stumbled and fell onto the hardwood floors on his butt.

"You don't tell me what to do," Cliff spat, low and final. He loomed over Keith, waggling the dagger in his face before promptly sheathing it. "Besides, you don't deserve a knife this cool. I think I'll keep it. Consider it an early birthday present."

He moved to put it in his pants, forever to be tucked out of Keith's sight and reach.

Then, something inside of him snapped.

With a furious shout, Keith launched himself at Cliff, tackling him to the ground and sending the dagger flying from his grip. His eyes stung with tears and he saw red as Cliff squirmed and thrashed beneath him. Clawing, punching, biting – Keith did it all, unleashing the pent up hatred he felt for the boy who would never, ever be his brother. It was frightening how relieving it felt. Almost…good.

Naturally, Cliff screamed. Panicked and writhing, he desperately tried to wrestle him off. But he was no match for the ball of rage Keith had become. It wasn't until Mrs. Marvins had scrambled down the stairs, summoned by her son's frightened friend, that Keith's rampage was put to an end. The light of a mother's overprotective wrath blazed in her eyes as she shoved him off her baby, sending him right back onto the floor.

"What are you doing?!" she shrilled. "What have you done to him?"

Keith didn't respond. He panted heavily as he watched her help Cliff to sit up. The fire burning in his core began to die down as he took in the other boy's beaten form, his face covered in swelling bruises and sluggishly bleeding scratches. His eyes were wild, terrified as he clung to his mother.

"M-Mom, he – he attacked me out of nowhere!" he sobbed, pointing a shaky finger at him. "His eyes, they – they went all w-weird! They were yellow! It wasn't normal!"

"I saw it too!" his friend chimed in, his voice quivering.

Yellow eyes? Mrs. Marvins squinted at Keith accusingly, her gaze raking over his face. Keith self-consciously lifted a hand to press the soft flesh beneath his eyelid, as if expecting it to have changed. How hard had he hit Cliff that he'd started seeing things? Or perhaps he just felt the need to make up such outlandish lies to further convince his mother of Keith's monstrous personality.

"He's a freaking animal! A freak! I don't want him here anymore!" Cliff shrieked, trying to scoot further and further away from Keith. He gnashed his teeth, baring them like a dog. "Get out of my house, you freak! Stay away from me, freak!"

Mrs. Marvins hushed him, soothingly running a hand through his sweaty locks. When she turned to Keith again, her glare was cold, unloving. The frail thread tying him to their family had snapped with his rampant outburst.

"You. Up to your room and pack your things," she ordered, the harsh edge to her voice cutting right through the tension in the air. "This isn't going to work out."

Keith didn't move. He was still reeling from that word. Freak. He'd never been called that before. "Weirdo" and "brat" and sometimes "bastard" murmured under the breath of adults when they thought he couldn't hear. But never "freak."

"GO!" Mrs. Marvins practically barked at him, yanking him out of his thoughts. "NOW!"

His face hot and his heart hammering inside his chest, Keith clambered to his feet. He scooped up his dagger and the discarded wrappings before racing away from them, escaping up the stairs and into the guest room the Marvins had given him. He slammed and locked the door behind him and huddled beneath the quilt on the bed, his breathing ragged. Hugging the knife close to his heart, determined more than ever not to let it go again, his mind went numb as he forced himself to think of nothing.

Freak.

For some reason, the word stung more than the other bad names he'd been called. It meant he was different. Odd. Abnormal. Less than human.

Keith leaned against the bathroom sink, pulling down his eyelids as he inspected his eyes in the mirror. They were the same as always: bluish-gray irises with white sclera. Very much like his dad's. There wasn't even a hint of yellow anywhere to be found.

Freak.

It reminded him of how much his dad disliked taking him to the doctor's. He was always more nervous than Keith, especially when he got shots or the doctor required routine samples for physical check-ups. His dad told him he could never give blood. Could never be an organ donor. When Keith had asked why, his dad had given him a small and sad smile, saying, "It's too painful. And you're too special for that."

Freak.

Yeah, Keith's hearing was better than the average kid's. And yeah, his sight was really good, even in the dark of night. And yeah, he was quicker to anger than most. And yeah, he sometimes had strange dreams about colorful lions in the desert who could fly and soar amongst the stars.

But Keith was human. He was normal.

He wasn't a freak.

Slipping out of the bathroom, Keith returned to his room. All his things had been packed, stuffed into his duffel bag and backpack sitting on the floor. He sat on the window bench and looked out at the Marvins' backyard. The deck, the grill, the swingset – it was all washed in the darkness of night, the light of the moon casting strange shadows over the sleeping Earth.

When Mr. Marvins had come home hours ago, Keith had heard Cliff pounce on him downstairs. He had yelled, making a big production out of relaying the events of the day. He insisted Keith had stolen a knife from his collection in the office. He'd said that Keith had tried to kill him with it, his eyes turning yellow and glowing. Mrs. Marvins then explained that she had come downstairs to see Keith sitting atop of Cliff while he hit him. He hadn't stopped even though Cliff had been screaming. Their son's injuries seemed like nothing serious, but she was going to take him to the doctor's tomorrow to get checked, just in case.

Mr. Marvins confronted Keith after dinner. He'd been kind enough to bring him a plate, but he didn't hold back as he bluntly told Keith he was no longer welcome in their house. He knew Keith hadn't stolen anything, at the very least – he'd checked his collection and had confirmed that nothing was missing. But he and his wife had called the agency nonetheless. They would send someone to pick him up first thing tomorrow morning.

And now, Keith was here, unable to sleep and staring up longingly at the star-filled skies.

He'd be going back to the group home again. Ms. Lisa would be here in several hours to take him there. Ms. Debbie would be disappointed to see him back. She'd never admit it, but he knew he was a particular thorn in her side. Out of all the kids she'd had living in her home, he'd been her most constant resident, always coming back when she wanted to be rid of him already. It was in her eyes, the way she constantly cast him tired and strained looks. The way she would sigh heavily every so often whenever he was in the room. She was desperate to help him and have him gone with a family who was truly a good fit, but she was unsure of how to actually keep it that way.

But Keith was okay with that, with her frustrated unease. He wouldn't change just to make her happy.

He didn't want her to succeed in finding the perfect home for him anyway. And even if she did, the moment he turned eighteen, he'd be out of there. He'd decided long ago that if it wasn't with his dad, he didn't belong anywhere. He'd collect what his dad had left him and he would finally go back to their small home in the desert.

Chapter Text

James Griffin was possibly the most annoying person Keith had ever had the misfortune of knowing. He was a goodie-two-shoes, the top of their eighth-grade class, and a snitch and a suck up to boot. The total opposite of Keith. And to make things worse, he would not SHUT UP about the special guest that was coming into class today.

"Oh, my gosh, I can't breathe," James squealed, practically fanboying in his seat in the front of the classroom. "I can't believe we're gonna meet him!"

His friends murmured giddily in agreement. Keith rolled his eyes, trying to block them out as his attention dragged over to the window. He rested his head against his hand as he watched a couple of birds peck at the pavement.

When the principal walked in, everyone instantly shushed and sat up straighter. Keith's gaze briefly flicked over to her. She was a rigid and stern woman who loved giving out detentions. Or maybe she just loved giving them to him, considering he found himself serving time in her office at least once a week. A young man in uniform trailed behind her, and together they stood at the front of the room.

Keith rolled his eyes. Great. He was a military man. Another hardass here to nag them about serving the country or whatever. He looked back out the window, finding the birds again as they flew from the parking lot to perch on the branches of a nearby tree.

"I've brought a special guest with me today. I'm sure you recognize him," the principal proudly announced. "He's the youngest pilot ever to lead a mission into space, Takashi Shirogane!"

Keith had never heard of him before. He didn't like watching television and he rarely used the cellphone Ms. Debbie had given him. But his classmates, of course, seemed to know exactly who he was, and they erupted into a round of applause and fervent whispers.

"Thanks for having me," Takashi Shirogane smiled warmly at the group. "You can just call me Shiro."

"Shiro broke the record for the fastest orbital velocity, beating the old heliocentric speed by about fifty kilometers per second," the principal shared, sounding just as excited as her students.

Another round of applause ensued.

The birds outside preened their feathers, hopping along the length of their branch. They were a pretty color, Keith noted.

"The Galaxy Garrison sent me to schools in the area to help find the next generation of astro-explorers," Shiro was explaining. "Who's ready to find out if they've got what it takes?"

Hands shot into the air, the class shouting in a frenzied flurry of "Me, me, me's!"

The birds were a nice mix of dusty oranges and soft grays and browns. Keith wondered what kind they were, what sort of song they were singing. Maybe they were sparrows?

"All right, all right," Shiro chuckled in the face of the others' enthusiasm. "Well, in order to do that, we're going to give you a test."

Faces fell and hands dropped, the elation in the air replaced with groans and griping.

The birds flapped their wings before taking flight. They climbed higher and higher into the sky until they disappeared from Keith's sight, leaving him stuck on the ground. Leaving him behind.

"By playing a video game," Shiro reinvigorated the room of youngsters, a playful grin on his face as their laughter and cheers returned.

Keith wanted to be like a bird, without a care in the world. He wanted to fly far, far away from here. Away from the group home. Away from James and the principal and school. Away from everything.

He was abruptly pulled from his thoughts when the class started moving. Everyone was heading outside, following Shiro. The principal shot Keith a pointed look from across the room, and he reluctantly dragged himself away from his desk and the window to follow suit.

Shiro led them to the parking lot where he'd parked his vehicle. A detached trailer sat on the ground next to it, carrying some sort of metal box compartment. He hopped onto the platform and faced their class.

"Introducing the Orbit Axiom X, the Galaxy Garrison's most advanced flight simulator," he said, fondly placing a hand on top of it. "Cadets not much older than you use simulators just like this to train to become the next generation of space explorers. Let's see what you got."

James and the others gasped, their eyes alight with an eager fascination. From the edges of the group, Keith scowled, his arms crossed as he glared at the pavement. This was so stupid. He just wanted to go home already.

Shiro opened his flight simulator, letting the other kids cram inside. They took turns sitting in the pilot's seat, cranking the controls and trying their hand at the asteroid game on screen. They laughed when they passed a level or two and screamed when they lost, the displays buzzing loudly to announce their failure. Keith found himself sitting on the curb by himself. He watched the ants crawl between the cracks in the asphalt, counting them off as he waited for this torturous visit to be over.

Finally, after an hour had dragged by, Shiro and the other kids filed out of the simulator. He smiled helplessly at them as they muttered about their sucky rounds, and he placed his hands on his hips.

"We've had some great tries, but nobody's made it past the third level yet," he noted. "Looks like you're the only one who's left."

And then, Keith felt a pair of eyes on his back. He stiffened and looked over his shoulder, surprised and uncertain if he was the one Shiro was actually talking to. No one ever wanted to talk to him, after all. Not his classmates, not even his teachers, unless they were scolding him for doing something they deemed stupid. But sure enough, Shiro was looking directly at him with an encouraging grin on his face.

He jerked his head towards his simulation machine. "You got what it takes?"

No. Keith was tempted to shut him down right then and there. But the way his classmates and James and the principal looked at him, all doubtful and uncaring, made him hesitate. A spark of anger ignited in his heart and it made him stand. Brushing off his dusty butt, he marched past them and walked up the steps into the simulator. Shiro followed right at his heels. He stood behind Keith, wordlessly watching him sit at the controls and start up the first level.

Keith cranked the joysticks, bucking and weaving through the virtual asteroid fields without a problem. It was easier than he expected it to be. Much easier. He passed level one. Then two. Then three, then four. Behind him, Shiro hummed in pleasant surprise. Keith's classmates began to cram back into the simulator, gawking and oohing and aahing as they watched him play.

"That emo kid's doing it!"

"Look at that!"

"So cool!"

They were showing more interest in him now than they had all year. More than they had since he'd first entered the public school system. A tiny smirk pulled up the corner of Keith's mouth. He was proving them wrong. And he liked it. He laid on the controls with a grunt, diving right into level five. They gasped, their eyes glued to the display as he smoothly dodged and spun past the space rocks. The simulation chirped and the victory screen popped up, congratulating him for completing the level.

"No way! Keith made it past level five?" James exclaimed, practically yelling in his ear as he grabbed the back of the pilot's seat. "Thing's gotta be broken."

Keith scowled at him. But for once, he didn't feel like retorting and starting another fight with him. Finally, there was something James didn't instantly excel at. And Keith did, of all people. This was his thing, and it made him feel all bubbly with exhilaration inside. It had been a long time since he'd felt this way, and he wouldn't let Jealous James ruin this moment.

Ready to see how far he could go, Keith dove into level six. But on the fringes of all the excitement around him, he couldn't help but hear as the principal continued to speak with Shiro outside the simulation machine.

"I've compiled a list of students I think would make the best candidates for the Garrison," she said, followed by the faint beeps of the tablet as Shiro looked through it.

"Is this guy on there?" he asked after a moment. "Looks like he's just about ready to fly the real thing."

The principal paused. "Keith?" she asked, and there was an unmistakable disdain in her tone. "He's a bit of a discipline case. I don't think he'd necessarily fit in with the rigid Garrison culture."

And just like that, the joy in Keith's heart was squashed. It was an insensitive jab from yet another adult who didn't and would never care to understand him, let alone give him a chance to try. Shiro didn't respond, didn't even question her. Keith grit his teeth, his all-too-familiar anger flaring in full. Shiro wasn't any different from the other adults. No one ever was when it came to dealing with him.

Fine. If a hopeless disciplinary case was all they saw when they looked at him, then he might as well give Mister Spaceman Takashi Shirogane a taste of just how unruly he could be, right?

Keith stormed out of the simulation machine, leaving the game for another student to play. He snuck around Shiro and the principal, who was now introducing him to James (of course), and he hopped onto the pavement. He made a beeline for Shiro's car and popped open the door before sliding into the driver's seat.

A few months ago, one of the older and newer wards of Ms. Debbie's home showed him and a few of the others how to hotwire a vehicle. They'd taken her car on an hour-long joyride before she had called the cops and they were all dragged back to the home to be punished. Keith never saw that kid again, having been transferred to a new home a couple weeks after the incident.

He was sure he could do the same thing with this car, military vehicle or not. But as his eyes landed on the dash, he realized he wouldn't have to: Mister Spaceman's ride was one of the newest models of quick n' easy starting cars, no keys or hot wiring needed. The Galaxy Garrison did have some impressive and advanced tech, after all.

What idiots.

At the push of a button, the engine roared to life, startling the principal and his classmates. Shiro's eyes widened in surprise to see him at the wheel, but Keith didn't give him any more reaction time than that. Stomping on the gas, he peeled away from them and the school, zooming down the road until it was out of sight.

With a vehicle in his possession that was more than capable of traveling off-road, Keith had been planning on going back to the desert. Back to the little shack he had shared with his dad before his world went to shit. He could finally go home.

But before he could even leave the city, the police were on his tail and pulling him over. They dragged him out of the driver's seat and escorted him and the stolen car to the juvenile detention center. Shiro was already there, waiting for them.

"Sorry about the kid, Shiro," one officer said. Both of his hands were on top of Keith's shoulders, his grip unfriendly and firm in case he tried to make a run for it. "He's a real piece of work."

"This ain't his first time here. He's got sticky fingers, if you know what I mean," the other officer explained, his brow pinched in irritation as he looked at Keith. "He knows exactly what he's gotten himself into this time. You wanna press charges?"

Keith tensed, his gaze averting guiltily to the floor as he awaited the screaming reprimands from Mister Spaceman.

"No, it's fine."

Keith's head snapped up to look at him. To his surprise, Shiro was smiling, warm and friendly. There wasn't even a hint of anger lingering in his dark gray eyes, much to Keith's confusion. What was wrong with this man? Why wasn't he mad? Everyone always got mad at him! Was he really that stupid?

"The car's back in one piece and the kid's safe and sound," Shiro continued, his grin widening as he glanced at Keith's shocked expression. "I think I can let it slide."

"You sure?" Officer One asked. "We can call up his home manager and work something out."

Shiro shook his head. "That won't be necessary," he assured him, and he patiently waited until the officer had released Keith.

"Okay…if you say so," he said slowly. Then jerking his head towards the doors, he scowled at Keith. "I don't want to see you back here, kid."

Keith pressed his lips into a thin line, wisely saying nothing.

"Thanks for your help, guys," Shiro said, giving them one last appreciative nod before leading the way out. The glass doors slid shut behind them, leaving them to walk out into the lot towards his car. An awkward beat of silence passed before Keith couldn't take it anymore.

"I don't get it," he blurted. "I steal your car and you respond by helping me out?"

The driver's door slid open and Shiro hopped inside before turning to Keith. "Yeah. So you owe me one," he said, and there was a knowing, if not playful, glint in his eyes. He pulled a business card from his pocket and promptly held it out to Keith. "Be at this address tomorrow at o-eight-hundred hours."

Keith hesitated before he took it. He stared at the card and the unfamiliar names and numbers written there before glancing back at Shiro, doubtful and uncomprehending.

A sort of sympathetic understanding flickered across Shiro's features. "You're getting a second chance," he said, soft but sure. Then without another word, the hood of his car activated and he drove off down the road, leaving Keith to mull over everything that had just happened.

A second chance. He was getting a second chance. At what, the simulator? Or…at becoming someone like Shiro? Did he really think he could be a pilot? A space explorer? Sitting in that chair, pretending to soar beyond the stars, it had come so naturally to him. It had felt…normal. Right. Like he was always meant to fly away from Earth, like he had never even belonged there in the first place.

Living at the Galaxy Garrison couldn't possibly be any worse than being stuck at the home or shoved into another foster family, right? Maybe this was his calling. Maybe piloting really was his thing. It certainly wouldn't hurt to try it out. And hey, if things fell through, he would just go back to waiting until he was eighteen to escape the system. He had endured it this long. What was another few years in the home?

But right now, he had an address to look up. And a ride to organize with Ms. Debbie. And a study session about space and the Galaxy Garrison to cram in before eight AM tomorrow. The spark of motivation that had been lit in his core burned bright and hotter with each passing second, and he found himself running down the sidewalk to get to the library. This was his first second chance since forever, and it was given to him by a stranger. A weird, world record-breaking guy who was crazy enough to think Keith had the makings of something greater than the parentless, nobody runt he was.

He had a second chance. And he wasn't going to give up on it just yet.

Chapter Text

The sunrise was very pretty the next morning as Keith ventured out into the desert. The dark blues and purples of the sky gave way to pinks and oranges, and soft golden rays washed over the dry earth, already starting to bake it.

The address Shiro had given him was the Visitor's Center on the Galaxy Garrison compound that housed all the old spaceships. It was open to the public for the most part, and it was right next to the launch runway, where new rockets and their teams would be sent up on missions beyond their world. The campus was, surprisingly, close to his dad's property, just several miles away. But today, he wouldn't get to visit his old home. He was here for his second chance.

Ms. Debbie dropped Keith off at the front. She'd be back in an hour to pick him up, she said. Then she promptly drove off, leaving Keith to take on the security guard at the gate by himself.

"Hey, there," the man beamed, tipping his hat in greeting. "I'm sorry, but we don't open for another hour."

Keith stood in front of the counter separating them, suddenly nervous. "I, uh…have an appointment," he managed, his walls up and prepared to defend himself.

"An appointment?"

"Yeah."

"With who?"

"Um..." Keith lamely raised the business card Shiro had given him. "Takashi Shirogane."

The guard blinked. Then his face lit up in recognition. "Ooooh! You're the kid Shiro's been talking about!" he realized. "Keith Kogane, right?"

Keith shuffled from foot to foot, unsure how he felt about a stranger already spreading his name around this place. "Yeah…"

"Well, come on in!" he grinned, opening the gates and allowing him to enter. He turned and pointed to a section of the building closer to the runway. "He's waiting for you in the right wing hangar. It's open, so just let yourself in."

"Thanks," Keith mumbled, and he hurried away from the overly chipper guard.

The inside of the building was chilly and bland. About as boring as Keith expected a military facility to be. A few officers and a couple cadets in orange uniforms milled about, throwing the kid in street clothes strange looks as he passed. But no one stopped him as he found his way to the hangar.

A lone ship sat in the vast space, its nose pointed towards the open hangar doors. Keith couldn't help but stare at it as he circled around to its front, taking in its pristine exterior, sleek wings, and powerful engines. He'd never been this close to a real spaceship before. It looked so heavy, too clunky. He almost couldn't believe it was capable of flight, let alone imagine a small human such as himself flying the thing.

"That's the Calypso, the first ship to carry astronauts to the moons of Jupiter."

Keith almost startled. He'd been gawking at the ship for so long, he hadn't even noticed Shiro as he came to stand beside him.

The Calypso…that's right, he remembered reading about this ship last night. Named after the lonely nymph in Greek mythology who had been cursed to live on an island by herself. There had been a ton of articles gushing about the groundbreaking success of this aircraft and its first team.

"It took them three years to get there," Keith found himself saying. "Longest voyage of its kind."

That fact had really stuck out to him. He'd been shocked by it, considering it now only took the Garrison just a few months to travel out that far into their solar system. It was admittedly amazing how far their aerial tech had advanced since the Calypso voyage.

"That's right," Shiro chuckled. "Reading about that mission is what made me wanna be a pilot. Those astronauts braved the unknown. People can accomplish incredible things if they're willing to put in the time and effort."

He paused, carefully choosing his next words before he turned to Keith.

"I wanna help you, Keith. I think you've got a lot of potential," he finally said. "But what you decide to do with that potential is up to you."

Keith looked up at him. Shiro stared back. He sounded painfully honest, and the warm look in his eyes exuded a sincerity that no one had ever directed towards him before. It made Keith's heart clench, but with what, he wasn't sure. He glanced back at the Calypso, mulling it over.

A second chance. Potential. Those words, those concepts, they had been missing from his life for so long until now. And here Shiro was, still a stranger he had only met yesterday, giving him another chance. Believing he had potential. He had extended a hand to Keith. Now he just had to decide whether or not to take it.

That same defiant spark from yesterday burned anew in his chest. He turned to Shiro, his resolve set.

"What do I do?" he asked. "To get into the Garrison?"

Shiro smiled, bright and full of hope and excitement. "There's an entrance exam being held at the end of the month," he explained, and he pulled out an official recommendation form from his pocket to hand to Keith. "It consists of three parts. When you pass the written portion testing your basic math, writing, reading, and comprehension skills, then you'll get a run in the flight simulator. And when you pass that, they'll perform a medical physical. And when you pass all three, you're in. If you fly as well as you did yesterday, you shouldn't have any problems with the simulator. You're gonna have to study some more for the written test, but I think you can handle it."

Keith grimaced. He couldn't argue there, his grades were horrendous. But it's not that he was bad at school or tests or homework. He just didn't like any of them. But he knew he could do it. He understood the subjects and their content well enough. He just had to study a bit more, like Shiro said.

Taking the paper from him, Keith skimmed over it. Shiro had already completed his portion and signed it. He'd come prepared, Keith realized, confident he could convince him. If it had been anyone else, he was sure the gesture would've irked him. But Shiro didn't seem annoyingly arrogant. He was just…kind. Humble. Smart and sure of himself and the decisions he made. In a way, he reminded Keith of his own dad.

He wished more adults were like Shiro.

"What comes next if I pass?" he asked, tucking the form in his jacket. He'd have to fill out his info and get Ms. Debbie's signature later before submitting it.

"When you pass, we'll reach out to the foster home and agency," Shiro said, an encouraging glint in his gaze. "The Galaxy Garrison will become your new home and we'll get you settled into one of the dorms here."

Keith raised a skeptical brow at him. "Does the Garrison make it a habit to take in orphans?"

Shiro grinned. "Only for special exceptions."

Special exceptions.

Special.

"That sounds sketchy," Keith muttered, frowning at the floor as the heat rose to his cheeks.

Shiro chuckled again. "Don't worry. I'll be your legal guardian while you're there," he promised. "As long as I'm around, you'll be in safe hands."

The next few weeks leading up to the Galaxy Garrison's entrance exam, Keith worked harder than he ever had before. He turned in Shiro's form and got his name on the list of examinees. He did all his homework. He studied for his tests and answered every question. He stayed out of trouble and stayed away from James, who was, unfortunately, also expected to take the exam.

But Keith didn't let that bother him as he continued to work. He went to the library every day after school, brooding over books and records in preparation for the big exam. He even started studying spacecraft controls and star charts, familiarizing himself with what he hoped would one day be his future work space.

He ate everything Ms. Debbie cooked for him and the other kids, finishing breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Sometimes he'd even push himself for seconds. He didn't know what the healthy height and weight was for a boy his age, but he knew he was well below the average. He could stand to be a bit more muscular too, he thought, and he started going on evening jogs when the sun had set well below the horizon and it was nice and cool outside.

Everything he could do to prepare himself for all three parts of the exam, Keith did it. He could tell his change in behavior was freaking out the other foster kids and Ms. Debbie. But for once, it was in a good way. She seemed to relax more around him. Smile more. She was no doubt relieved that he was finally getting his act together and would be out of her group home for good soon enough.

Then, the awaited exam day came. She dropped him off at the Garrison campus again, this time in front of one of the more central buildings that housed offices and classrooms. Aspiring cadets and their parents were already milling about the lobby, each waiting nervously for the test instructors to arrive. These people were all his competition, Keith noted. There were only so many students the Garrison would accept, and there were only so many who would be admitted to the piloting track. He wondered how good they were in the simulator.

Hovering near the front desk, he spotted James and his mother, both conversing with a tall and bulky officer with a scruffy goatee and a commander's cap. His face was pulled down into a constant frown, his brow furrowed. Even as he spoke to civilians, he stood rigidly at attention and on guard, his hands clasped tightly behind his back.

Keith scowled. Unlike Shiro, this man really was a military hardass. He practically oozed unquestionable authority and harsh discipline. Retreating to the wall near the entrance, Keith tried his best not to draw attention to himself. For now, it would be best to avoid James and people like that man. He wouldn't risk blowing today.

But despite being small and alone and unassuming in the diverse crowd, Shiro somehow managed to find him in no time.

"Hey!" He waved to Keith from across the room, making his way towards him.

Excited murmurs washed over the other examinees, their eyes locked onto Shiro. Of course they knew him. He was the Garrison's pride and joy, their poster child. He had no doubt been sent to their schools weeks ago too, testing them with his fancy simulation machine, just like he had with Keith and his classmates. It made the bubbly feeling in his heart deflate a bit, and his walls shot up as Shiro stood in front of him with a hand on his hip.

He grinned, more eager than Keith to begin. "You ready?"

Keith shrugged. He couldn't bring himself to look Shiro in the eyes, and he frowned at the other kids, several of whom were already glaring at him. "As ready as I can be," he decided, crossing his arms over his chest.

Shiro's face softened, and it amazed Keith how quickly he'd picked up on his change in mood. "You're gonna do great, Keith," he gently assured him. "Just take deep breaths and take your time. Patience yields focus, okay?"

Patience yields focus. He'd never been good with controlling his patience. He wanted to hurry up and become an adult. He wanted to hurry up and live on his own. And right now, he wanted to dive into this exam and get it done and over with. But deep down, he knew Shiro was right. This exam could be life changing for Keith. If he wanted to do well, he couldn't afford to rush. He couldn't afford to get distracted by the competition or his nerves.

Patience yields focus…Keith would try taking that advice. He slowly nodded, and Shiro's smile returned.

"So, this is the kid you've been bragging about."

Another young officer sidled up next to Shiro. The corner of his mouth quirked up and he pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose as he looked at Keith.

A huff of a chuckle escaped Shiro's lips, his gaze fond as it diverted to his colleague. "Keith, this is Officer Adam West," he introduced him. "He'll be leading the first part of the exam today."

"It's nice to meet you, Keith," Adam said, holding out his hand. Keith took it, indulging him in a polite shake. "Shiro's told me a lot about you."

Keith blinked in surprise before his hand fell to his side. "He has?"

But Shiro still hardly knew him. What could he have possibly told this man about him?

"Yeah," Adam nodded. "I've never seen him get so hyped up about a recruit before. Said you were the next genius pilot."

"I-I didn't say all that, exactly…" Shiro stammered, suddenly sheepish as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Adam rolled his eyes and threw him a playful smirk. "Whatever, deny it all you want," he drawled. "I'm just glad you're finally showing interest in new talent besides your sister and Matt."

Shiro nudged him in the ribs to shush and Adam snickered.

Keith stared at them, eyes wide and mind reeling. Next genius pilot. Next genius pilot. That was…an extreme compliment. An extreme expectation. Great. No pressure or anything. For what was probably the umpteenth time since he had met him, Keith didn't know why Shiro had so much faith in him. It was so strange, but certainly not unwanted as that giddy, bubbly feeling of hope returned in Keith's heart, his motivation restored.

The watch on Adam's wrist beeped, pulling Keith from his thoughts. He glanced at his device and shut it off.

"That's the five minute mark. Time to get everyone settled for the first part," he said, already peeling away from Shiro and Keith. "I'll see you later, Takashi."

Shiro nodded in confirmation, permitting Adam to move to the front of the room. He stood next to the rigid commander, reeling in everyone's attention as he announced that the first part of the exam would be starting momentarily. Then he ordered all examinees to follow him down the hall to the first testing sight.

The room shifted as kids bid their parents goodbye before eagerly grouping together to follow their instructor. His heart racing, Keith pushed himself off the wall, ready to join them.

"Hey, Keith?" Shiro said, stopping him before he could get too far.

Keith paused, turning to him. "Yeah?"

"I'll see you for part two of the exam," Shiro said, his smile wide and warm and confident. "Good luck."

The tiniest of grins tugged at Keith's lips, the older man's joyful light infectious. "Thanks."

Sitting in one of the Garrison's empty lecture halls, the examinees were separated by every other seat and given tablets with the exam questions on them. They were allotted two hours to complete it. Adam and the rigid commander, introduced as Mitch Iverson, stood at the front of the room, watching them like hawks. If anyone's eyes wandered or someone cheated, they would know, and they would terminate the examinee's test on the spot.

Keith zipped through question after question, the answers coming to him surprisingly easily. In no time, the two hours had passed and he had finished. Adam collected their tablets and began to go over each exam on his own device, diligently checking their answers while the kids sat there, anxiously awaiting their results.

Keith sat back in his chair, feeling oddly calm. He stared at the back of James' head where he sat a few rows in front of him, watching him nervously bounce his leg up and down. Keith couldn't help but smirk. What irony it would be if the boy with the best grades in school, if the boy the principal had talked up so much to Shiro, had failed the first entrance exam.

Finally, the results were in. Adam displayed a list of names and percentage scores on the big screen behind him, and several kids inhaled sharply as they quickly began to search for their names.

"If you don't see your name up on screen, please return to the lobby," Iverson barked, instantly silencing the fervent whispers that had begun. "The rest of you, congratulations. You've passed the first part of the exam."

Over half of the participants slumped in their seats before reluctantly standing and sulking towards the door. The remaining group gasped, delighted smiles lighting up their faces.

"Oh, thank Dios," a boy with brown hair and dark blue eyes sitting next to Keith breathed out in relief. "I passed!"

"Barely," a larger boy with dark brown hair and deep brown eyes whispered next to him. "You're, like, second from the bottom."

"Who cares! I'm gonna be a pilot!" Boy One cheered, and when Iverson shot him a nasty look, he instantly quieted down. He squinted at the list, his gaze trailing upwards. "Let's see, who got the top spot…" He frowned at the name. "Who's Keith Kogane?"

Keith didn't move. He sat frozen to the spot, unable to drag his eyes away from his name sitting at the very top of the list. And right below it in the number two spot was James Griffin. He could feel James' incredulous glare zeroed in on him even now, but he didn't care. He couldn't believe it. He'd done it. He'd passed!

From the front of the room Adam gave him a small smile, impressed. "Don't get too cocky just yet," he said, addressing the room of grinning youngsters. "There's still the second part of the exam to get through."

That brought Keith back down to Earth. He blinked and took a deep breath, steadying himself. That's right, there was still the flight simulation to get through. But at least the hard part was over. Now came the fun part. The part Keith knew he would absolutely excel at, no studying or practice needed.

"Oh no, I'm gonna do so bad," Boy Two groaned, unable to share his relief. "Why do the engineers have to do the simulator?"

"Garrison engineers have to get used to flight travel," Boy One reminded him. "How else are they gonna do their jobs?"

Boy Two hugged his tummy, already looking queasy. "Do you think I'll get disqualified if I throw up?"

Boy One shrugged. "Probably."

"Ugh…"

"Just hold it in, Hunk."

With part one of the entrance exam completed, Iverson herded them deeper into the Garrison. He brought them to a circular room where more Orbit Axiom X simulation machines sat in rows along the floor. Viewing windows were set in the walls, where several officers were already watching the potential new cadets.

But, as promised, Keith saw Shiro again. He was leading this part of the exam, and he threw Keith a tiny but knowing smile before directing the examinees to their own respective machine.

Keith sat in his assigned pilot's chair. His fingers curled around the controls, the joysticks feeling natural in his grip. His screen hummed to life, displaying the same simulation graphics from when he had first played at school.

Exam Two was simple and straightforward, Shiro explained to them. Get past the first ten levels of the simulation within a set time. There were no redos. If you failed a level, you failed the exam and you could go home.

The test began. Keith passed level one. Then two. Then three and four and five. As he dove into six, he started to hear the familiar buzzing of other examinees failing the level, followed by frustrated groans.

He moved onto seven. More buzzing.

Then eight. More groans.

Nine. His heart was racing as he zipped through the asteroid field on screen. He was going faster and faster by the second, the virtual space rocks beginning to blur around the edges. But his eyes could keep up with all of it. He could see every opening, could predict which ones would get in his way and how much he should move to avoid crashing.

Ten. Bucking and weaving, dodging and spinning through the air, all done easily without a care in the world. This level of control, this wild and unrestrained speed, it was exhilarating. He loved it. He wanted to do more of it.

He wanted to experience the real thing.

His simulator chirped, the victory screen popping up into his view. Keith grinned, ready for the next level, but his machine shut off. There was no need for him to continue. He had already met the requirements for the test.

Reluctantly, he slid out of his seat and was directed to stand in line amongst the other examinees who had made it past level ten. Their numbers had been thinned even more. There were only nine other kids besides him now, Boy One, Two, and James included.

Boy One scowled at the results on screen as Shiro put them up. He'd gotten ninth place. Boy Two, looking very green around the edges of his face, had gotten tenth. And James, he was second, right below Keith in first again. His heart swelled with pride, unable to stop himself from smiling at his score. He looked to Shiro, almost expectantly, and he nodded to Keith in silent celebration.

"You all have some great times," Shiro said, addressing their group as a whole. "Congratulations, everyone. You've passed part two of the exam."

The ten examinees sighed as a second round of relief washed over them. Now all that was left was part three, the most effortless stage of the entrance exam: the physical examination. It was a routine check-up with one of the Garrison's doctors. They did all the standard stuff – checking their vitals, testing their vision and hearing, evaluating their organs and muscles, assessing their reactions and reflexes, and asking general questions about their medical history.

Keith's vitals were all normal, and his vision, hearing, and reflexes were excellent, according to his doctor. He was a little underweight, as he'd expected. But the doctor assured him the Garrison had a strict and healthy meal regimen set in place for the younger cadets that would help him gain the extra pounds and muscle.

And with that, Keith passed the final part of the entrance exam.

He was on cloud nine for the rest of the day. He had a hard time listening as Shiro and Iverson conversed with Ms. Debbie when she arrived, already beginning to discuss preparations for Keith's transfer to the dorms. She was more than delighted to get the process started, overjoyed that her longest and most frequent resident had finally found a home that would be just right for him.

Numb with disbelief and an excitement he wasn't quite sure he knew how to process, Keith was now an official junior cadet of the Galaxy Garrison. He was on his way to becoming a pilot.

Chapter Text

It didn't take Keith long to realize how vastly different Garrison life was from foster care life. He hadn't realized how much freedom he'd had living in Ms. Debbie's group home until now. The Garrison was full of strict rules, and the hardheads in charge didn't take it lightly if you broke even a single one.

There was a dress code. If you were unkempt, out of uniform, or if you wore it improperly, you were punished.

There were early-morning wake up calls and a set curfew. If you were caught outside your dorm even a minute after the designated hour, you were punished.

There were unannounced room inspections. If your room wasn't cleaned to the inspector's satisfaction or you had prohibited items somewhere in sight, you were punished.

There was a tight schedule of classes. If you were even a second late to any of them, you were punished.

There were controlled food portions and a limit on your junk food intake. If you were caught sneaking snacks onto campus, you were punished.

On top of all that, junior cadets weren't permitted to take out a car or a hoverbike from the armory. And even if you were eligible, you still needed a million different levels of clearance from the higher-ups before you could borrow one. You even needed permission to leave campus, and you could only go out on the weekends.

Then of course, you constantly had to stand at attention in the presence of your superior officers, salute, address them with "yes, sir" or "yes, ma'am," and make sure you got all their different ranks and titles correct.

It was all a big hassle for Keith, and keeping in line became an increasingly irritating and more difficult chore as the academic year progressed. To make things worse, he learned that all junior cadets in the pilot track started out in the Cargo Pilot Class, or as he liked to call it, the Lame Amateur's Class.

As cargo pilots first, they learned the basics: the science associated with flight and it all worked. The intricate array of a ship's parts and their functions. The cockpit controls and how and when each one should be used. How to listen to and execute orders. How to control your speed. How to constantly be aware of your surroundings in the sky, and how to take your "precious cargo" into consideration. Boring things like that.

Pilots who stayed in the Cargo Class would only be flying ships on Earth, transporting people and supplies on missions for the Garrison facilities around the globe. Only a certain selected few from the pilot track could be promoted to the Fighter Pilot Class, where they'd actually learn how to fight and perform daring and tricky maneuvers in the air. These pilots were the ones like Shiro who would actually go on missions into space with a research crew.

It was almost maddening how much Keith wanted to start the fighter pilot training already. He wanted to go fast. He wanted to try the risky moves. He didn't want to be stuck on the ground, forced to slowly and carefully transport stupid cargo. He knew he was better than that. Knew he could do better. He was meant to fly beyond their stars and explore the galaxy, just like Shiro.

But his teachers begged to differ. It was irritating how much they insisted he run the same low-level simulator drills as the others and take the same boring tests. Sometimes he thought the instructors were blind. The other students in his class clearly weren't as skilled as him. He just wanted to fly for real already.

"Bank right and maintain heading at zero-point-two-seven degrees," Shiro instructed over the speakers from the simulation control room. "Increase throttle by thirty-five percent and bank left."

Keith shifted his controls. There. Done and done. He yawned, bored out of his mind as he and several others in his class flew their virtual ships in a tight formation. At least this session would be over soon.

"Increase elevation, fifteen degrees."

Click-click. Done. Easy.

There was a groan over their connected comms. "Oh, I'm getting dizzy…I knew I shouldn't have eaten so much. Oh, make it stop."

Keith rolled his eyes. He had become all too familiar with the nauseous griping of Hunk Garrett. As a junior cadet in the engineering track, he was required to participate in their flight drills. It was annoying having him on the verge of hurling every session. Why was the Garrison even allowing him to train here if he was so motion sick?

His irritation flaring, Keith pushed on his controls. He surged forward on his screen, startling the ships next to him before circling back to get in formation.

"Fall in line, Cadet," Iverson ordered, and Keith stifled the urge to smirk, keeping his expression neutral for the observation cams.

"Sorry, just testing my controls," he said, nonchalantly. "Stick's loose."

Lance McClain, a fellow pilot, tsked. "Keep this up, and you'll be stuck as a cargo pilot," he hissed, but his warning left Keith unfazed.

"Yeah, Keith, you're gonna get us in trouble," James snapped.

James…still a massive thorn in his side. Still a prissy, suck-up of a goodie-two-shoes who vied for every chance he could get to bring him down. Even now, he was trying to ruin his mood. The other cadets glared into their cameras at him from the edges of his screen, always taking James' side. Keith clenched his teeth, his grip tightening around his controls.

"Decrease elevation by twenty-two degrees," Shiro directed them next.

Unable to stop his anger from bubbling over, Keith laid on his controls. His ship shot down, breaking formation with the others before he surged forward, leaving them far behind him. They shouted at him, but he ignored them. The spark in his core burned hot as he streaked through the clouds, going further and further until the simulator was shut off and he and the others were lined up outside. They stood at attention, their hands clasped behind their backs as Iverson marched down to meet them from the control room.

"Hope you all like it in the simulator," he growled, briskly walking up and down their line. "You can thank Pilot Fancypants over there for the privilege of spending the next three weekends in here running drills!"

He stopped in front of Keith, shouting that last part right in his face. Keith didn't say a word. He didn't flinch. He didn't even blink. He just kept staring straight ahead at the wall. Iverson didn't scare him – there were a lot scarier men out there than the gruff drill instructor, and Keith had met them first hand during his time living in the system. And unlike them, Iverson couldn't, wouldn't hurt him, at least not physically. Iverson's eyes narrowed in dissatisfaction at his lack of reaction before he peeled away without another word.

Beside Keith, James shot him a nasty look. "Thanks a lot."

Keith briefly glanced at him. "My pleasure," he replied coolly, silently enjoying how it made the other boy bristle.

"We all know the only reason you're here is because of Shiro," he retorted.

This hadn't been the first time James had vocalized such a statement. Keith and Shiro's relationship wasn't exactly a secret. And yeah, Shiro had been an immense help in getting Keith to develop an interest in the Garrison and his future. But he had passed the entrance exam by himself, with nothing but his own hard work and preparation. He was here because he had the skill and talent. And he was leagues better than Jealous James, who had placed second all the way through the entrance exam.

Keith's eyes narrowed at him in challenge, his temper building again. "I can outfly anyone in this building."

James raised a doubtful brow, refusing to back down. "Oh, yeah?" he scoffed. "Is that what Mommy and Daddy told you before – "

Keith's rage exploded, and he was punching James across the jaw before he could even finish his sentence. James fell to the floor, stunned, and he leapt on him. They wrestled and thrashed, both of them struggling to get the upper hand. James got a few good hits in, but with every stinging blow, Keith's rage only grew. Finally, he straddled James' stomach and grabbed him by the collar of his uniform, keeping him pinned. He raised his fist, ready to punch his lights out, when Iverson stopped him.

"Hey! Hey, break it up!" he snarled, almost tackling Keith off of James.

He hauled him kicking and shouting towards the door, dragging him all the way to the Disciplinary Office waiting room and practically throwing him into one of the chairs. Keith didn't hear what he screamed at him. His ears were ringing too loudly, his breathing heavy and ragged to match his racing heart. But eventually Iverson left and James was brought in. He was sat down on the other end of the waiting room, glaring silent daggers at Keith, before they were both left to cool off.

Keith stared at his scuffed up knuckles, his hands balled into fists on his lap. His head throbbed as his fiery anger gradually subsided, leaving him feeling numb and hollow. Just like that time he had fought Cliff, something inside of him had snapped. His eyes had stung and he had seen red with James beneath him.

Freak.

He lifted his fingers to his swelling cheek, massaging the tender flesh beneath his eye. He wanted to look in a mirror right now. He wondered if James had seen his eyes go yellow, just like Cliff claimed to have seen. But James had said nothing about it. Neither had Iverson or any of the other cadets and officers who had watched their fight. Maybe it really was just the lie of a spoiled little kid.

When Shiro arrived, Keith refused to look up at him. He was afraid to see the disappointment on his face, the regret for having ever supported him. He didn't want to see that sort of rejection from Shiro. He didn't think he could handle it.

But Shiro didn't say a word to him or James. Instead, he entered the office and began to speak with their superior commander. Keith tried to block out what they said, but it was impossible with how loudly she was speaking, with how harsh she was being. She was reprimanding Shiro since he had been instructing their training session when the fight broke out. It was infuriating to Keith how Shiro kept quiet through it all. How could he obediently take the scolding and absorb her words when this had all been his fault in the first place? Why did Shiro have to be punished?

"The only reason this kid is here is because you vouched for him," she snapped, finally wrapping up her lecture. "You need to make sure this doesn't happen again."

There was a short pause from Shiro. "Understood," he said finally, quietly. "I'll handle it."

Then he left the office, allowing James to enter and receive his own scolding and punishment from the dragon lady. As soon as the door slid shut behind him, Shiro turned to Keith, moving to stand in front of him.

"Hey," he said, and it hurt how soft and gentle he was still being towards Keith. Shiro was too kind. Keith hardly felt worthy of it.

He didn't look at him, opting to frown hard at a spot on the floor just a few steps away. "Look, I know I messed up," he said, getting straight to the point and saving Shiro from the pep talk. "You should just send me back to the home already. This place isn't for me."

Keith hated to admit it, he really did. But it was true. He was so stupid for thinking he'd finally found his calling. He didn't belong here. He didn't belong at the home or with any foster family. He didn't belong anywhere. Shiro should just stop wasting his time on him.

But Shiro didn't budge. He stood his ground as he pressed onward. "Keith, you can do this. I will never give up on you," he promised. "But more importantly, you can't give up on yourself."

His words ran through Keith, a strange but not unwelcome warmth coursing through his system. He drew his gaze up to Shiro, searching for the lie, but he couldn't find one. Shiro was so patient, so honest. He always seemed to know exactly what to say. Even now, he was exuding an unmistakable sincerity, more sure of this promise than anything else. It almost made Keith want to believe him, to trust that he actually meant it and would stick by him no matter how unruly he could get.

Keith scowled at him. "You don't even know me." He'd said it almost testingly, watching and waiting to see how Shiro would react to him trying to push him away.

"You're right. I don't," Shiro agreed, but there was a stubborn and pleading light in his dark eyes. "But sometimes, we all need a hand."

Then, to Keith's surprise, he held out his hand to him, open and ready to tackle the endless challenges that were thrown their way. Whatever it was, they'd face it together, as equals.

Keith stared at his extended hand, another choice awaiting his decision. Shiro really wasn't like Iverson or any of the other Garrison officers. He wasn't like Ms. Debbie or the Marvins or his old principal or any of the other foster families he had stayed with. Shiro truly was…exceptional.

For the first time in a long while, Keith found someone he truly wanted to let into his life. And he wanted to make him proud.

A tiny smile tugged up the corners of his lips, his motivation rekindled. Then he took Shiro's hand, ready to try again.

Keith's training seemed to get easier and more tolerable after that. He did well in his classes and he continued to excel at their flight drills. He even got into less fights with James, a silent but mutual agreement passing between them to leave each other alone.

He still didn't have any real friends except for Shiro, although Adam had introduced him to one of their colleague's kids, Matthew Holt. He was a communications cadet a year or two older than Keith, and he leaned on the weird side. Matt was a major nerd who always talked about the latest tech and his dream to meet aliens, making it hard for Keith to hold a conversation with him. But he lived with his parents and little sister on the part of campus that provided more spacious housing for the teachers and senior officers with larger families, meaning Keith didn't see him around that often anyway.

More than anyone else, Keith talked to Shiro. Whenever he was troubled, whenever he needed to get away from campus, if only for a few hours, he confided in Shiro. And he was always there to help him, no matter the issue. He'd take him out for drives around the city or through the desert, listening carefully to Keith's most recent problems before offering the best advice he could provide. He always gave Keith a new and refreshing perspective on life, thinking of solutions he would have never even considered otherwise.

Gradually, Keith told him more about himself. He didn't talk about his dagger – cadets weren't supposed to have unauthorized weapons in their possession, and he'd been keeping it tucked away in his personal bag in his dorm trunk. As much as he trusted Shiro, he didn't want to risk having it confiscated, never to be seen again.

But he did tell him about his father and their little shack in the desert and the fallen through plans to rebuild their house. He told him how it had been a while since he'd been able to visit his grave, and Shiro had responded by taking him to the cemetery, saying it had been a while since he had visited his grandpa there too. He told him about the group home and Ms. Debbie and some of the foster families he had stayed with. He told him when his birthday was when Shiro had asked, only for him and Adam to surprise him with a cake and a trip around the city on the very day. And when he told him how excited he was to inherit his dad's hoverbike, currently locked away in storage, Shiro began taking him out on the weekends to give him riding lessons on the Garrison's bikes.

It was unsurprising how quickly Keith picked it up. They glided smoothly at exhilarating speeds along the canyon paths in the desert miles away from campus. The wind whipping back his hair, the freedom provided by the open land, the challenge of racing against the Garrison's star pilot, it all gave him the rush he had been craving since the entrance exam.

Shiro laughed and cast a glance over his shoulder at him. "Come on, catch up!" he teased, surging ahead.

The ground widened beneath them, and Keith grinned. Revving his thrusters, he rushed forward, taking the lead. They dodged the jagged rocks in their path, expertly angling their machines and stirring up clouds of dust as they did so. But Shiro was still better. It took him seconds to zip past him again, jumping from one side of a canyon to the other and landing on a narrower path carved into a lower part of the rock wall. Keith didn't hesitate to follow. They streamed down the trail, going faster and faster, until he realized they were headed straight for a cliff.

Panic taking over, Keith hit the brakes. Shiro, however, didn't even slow down. Rather, he picked up speed and dove right off the edge. Keith screeched to a halt at the ledge. He pushed up his goggles, watching in terror as he fell. But before he could go splat at the bottom, Shiro pulled up, the hover mechanics on his bike stopping him from crashing. Keith watched in awe as he smoothly continued to ride along the earth below as if nothing had happened, heading deeper and deeper into the desert.

By the time Keith rode down the canyon and finally managed to catch up with him, the sun was setting, casting their world in warm golds and reds while the skies darkened to purple. He pulled his hoverbike to a stop where Shiro was waiting for him, leaning against his own bike with his arms crossed and a triumphant smirk on his face. Keith slid off his seat and joined him, yanking off his goggles again and laughing from the thrill of the day.

"Alright, you won this round. But I'll get you in the next race, old timer," he grinned, certain of it.

Shiro chuckled. "I don't doubt it."

"How'd you do that dive, anyway?"

"You liked that one, huh? It's all about timing," he explained. He held up his hand, showing Keith. "You pull up too soon, and you won't have the momentum needed to create lift. Too late, and there won't be enough lift to avoid the crash."

Keith frowned. He'd heard the terms in class and he knew what they meant. But he still wasn't quite sure he understood how he'd execute the move Shiro had just described. "You think I'm ready to try that?" he wondered.

"What do you think?" Shiro asked, a knowing gleam in his eyes.

Keith mulled it over. "Maybe I should be patient and keep focusing on the basics first," he decided, slowly but surely, and Shiro's smile widened.

"Ah, you're learning," he mused, and the corners of Keith's mouth quirked up. There was a pause between them before Shiro spoke again. "So, you grew up out here?"

The joy in Keith's heart wavered, his walls instinctively starting to go up. He stared at the familiar horizon, imagining the little shack that sat out there somewhere, waiting for him. "Yep. Just me and my pop," he finally answered.

"He was a fireman, right?" Shiro tentatively asked.

"Yeah. He was a real hero." It came out flatter than Keith had intended, and he shifted his gaze to the desert floor, his chest starting to ache. "Everyone told him not to run back into that building, but…you couldn't tell him anything."

"Sounds like someone I know," Shiro said, full of a kind and understanding warmth. It made Keith's smile return, if only for a moment.

The faint beeping of Shiro's wristband interrupted their conversation, and he turned away from Keith to silence it. He pressed the button on top and Keith could catch the soft swifting noise it made as it did…well, whatever it was intended to do for Shiro. Keith had noticed him starting to wear the device several months ago, but he had never bothered to ask what it was for. It clearly wasn't a watch, that was for sure.

"What is that?" he asked, the question slipping from his lips before he could stop himself.

Shiro covered the device with his jacket sleeve. The mirth in his eyes dwindled as he almost stammered out a response. "Oh…these are just some electro-stimulators to keep my muscles loose."

"What's wrong with your muscles?" Keith asked next. A fresh pool of dread settled into his stomach, fearful of Shiro's answer.

"Ah, nothing. This is just what happens when you get to be an old-timer," Shiro said, shrugging off his concern with a huff of a humorless chuckle. Then before Keith could question him anymore, he quickly mounted his bike and threw him a small smile. "Come on. We should get back to the base."

Keith didn't say anything as he watched Shiro put on his goggles and start his engines. It was obvious he was hiding something from him, and he couldn't help but feel worried about it. Yet, he couldn't find the words to argue with him and press him for the truth. He didn't want to push his luck and overstep a boundary, especially not after everything Shiro had done for him. For now, all Keith could do was respect Shiro's privacy and hope that there really was nothing wrong with his first and only friend.

Chapter Text

As the years passed, Shiro began to share pieces of his own life with Keith. He never talked about his electro-stimulators again. But he told Keith plenty of other things.

He told him when he got engaged to Adam, grinning like a kid on Christmas all the while. He told him about his favorite missions and record-breaking feats. He told him how he was practically raised by his ojiisan – apparently, his mantra of "patience yields focus" was his most treasured piece of wisdom he'd gained from his late grandfather. He told him briefly about his fretful mother, once a talented singer who now worked as a vocal coach. He told him about his calm and quiet father, who worked as a construction manager. He told him about their family pet, a sleepy black cat named Kage. And he told him about his feisty little sister who had inspired him to look more into the Galaxy Garrison and its piloting track long ago.

On the rare occasions Shiro wasn't around on campus for the weekend, he and Adam were visiting her. She was supposedly a year younger than Keith, and had plans to take the Garrison's pilot entrance exam once she graduated, hopefully early, from high school. Keith was often quiet whenever Shiro spoke of her, especially when he not-so-casually threw out the suggestion that he come with him and Adam to hang out with her sometime.

Despite having never met her, Keith decided he didn't like the little Shirogane sister whose name he never could remember. The way Shiro described his troubles with her, she sounded like an ungrateful and standoffish brat with anger issues. Although, Keith supposed he wasn't one to talk…Still, Shiro was the kindest person ever. He would kill to have a sibling like him. And yet, someone like her, who seemed to take Shiro for granted, already had it all, had everything he had ever wanted: friends, family, a normal childhood, a stable lifestyle, and the world's most perfect and loving older brother. She was Shiro's family. More than Keith would ever be.

Thus, as much as he appreciated Shiro's invitations to learn more about his personal life, he had to politely decline them. He didn't think he'd have anything nice to say to Little Sis Shirogane if they met, and the last thing he wanted was for his tongue to slip in front of Shiro's family.

Besides, there was one thing he had that she didn't: experience. She may have wanted to be a pilot, but that didn't mean she would be any good at it. She was still a normal high schooler, after all, forced by her parents to finish her regular schooling first, according to Shiro. Meanwhile, Keith had several years of training under his belt and the natural talent to boot. He had already advanced to the Fighter Pilot Class a couple months ago. Even if she passed the exam, she'd be left in his dust, stuck in the Cargo Pilot Class.

So, shoving his own jealousy away, Keith continued to focus on his own progress at the Garrison. He had the highest scores on all the simulation levels, and he was getting very close to beating one of Shiro's from when he had still been a cadet. He was on his way to Shiro's office, excited to tell him all about it, when the stern shouts of Admiral Sanda made him freeze in his tracks outside the door.

"No, absolutely not!"

"Why not? He's cleared all his physicals."

That voice belonged to Samuel Holt, Matt's dad. Shiro had told Keith that Sam had led many of their missions before. And with the upcoming Kerberos mission, it wasn't unusual for him to be here, discussing it with his pilot. But why was the admiral here? She hardly ever visited this section of the Garrison campus unless it was urgent or some sort of award ceremony was being held.

"I don't care what the doctor says," she continued. "This man is sick and he shouldn't be sent on another mission, especially as far away as Kerberos. I have to report this to Flight Command."

Keith frowned. Sick? Who? Shiro? No way…that wasn't possible, right? Shiro was fit. He was healthy. He was the poster boy of the Garrison. He was still young despite all the 'old timer' teasing Keith liked to do. He couldn't be sick.

"Shiro is the best pilot in the Garrison by far. He's saved my bacon in deep space more times than I can count," Sam insisted, and Keith was glad he was there to defend him. "If he doesn't go on this mission, neither do I."

Keith couldn't sleep that night. He kept thinking about Shiro and the Kerberos mission and everything he had overheard. Admiral Sanda had begrudgingly let Sam have his way, permitting to keep Shiro on the crew. But this would be his last mission in space, end of story. Shiro's career as a fighter pilot would be over right after Kerberos.

He wished Admiral Sanda had put a co-pilot on the team. But no one else at the Garrison could fly at Shiro's level, except for maybe Keith himself. If only he could go with them. If only they let senior pilot cadets go on deep space missions. If only he hadn't been pegged as a "disciplinary case." If only he was eighteen already. It almost wasn't fair that Matt would get to go on such a groundbreaking journey – he was a senior cadet just like him, but because he was over eighteen and on the communications track and the best in his class and because his father would be leading the mission, Iverson had made an exception and assigned him to the Kerberos team.

Keith shook the envious thoughts away, refocusing on the main issue here. Sam nor Shiro had denied the admiral's claims about him being sick. Shiro hadn't even argued with her. It must have been true then, he realized. There really was something wrong with Shiro.

That same horrible pool of dread in Keith's stomach expanded, and his heart clenched painfully at the thought of losing the only other important person in his life. He clutched his sheathed knife to his chest, but for once, it provided little comfort in warding off his growing fear.

The next morning, Keith confronted Shiro about it. He found him outside doing maintenance on his hoverbike, a task Keith had learned that he rarely completed on his own unless he was trying to get his mind off of something. Steeling himself for the conversation that was to come, he shoved his hands inside his pockets and marched up to the senior pilot.

"When were you gonna tell me?" he demanded, cutting right to the chase.

Shiro looked up from his work, almost surprised to see him. "Oh. Hey, Keith," he greeted him. He sounded friendly and nonchalant enough, but there was no missing the hint of unease lingering at the edges of his voice.

"So, what is it?" Keith pressed, coming to a halt in front of the bike. "Are you sick or something?"

Shiro hopped down from the bike, wiping off his grease-smudged hands with a rag. "I'm not sure I follow – "

"I was outside your office. I overheard you and Commander Holt talking with Admiral Sanda," Keith almost snapped, his anger rising. He was fed up with the secrets. He was mad that Shiro had kept something so important from him for so long and was still trying to cover it up. "Tell me the truth. Tell me what's wrong. I'm not a little kid, I can handle it."

Shiro blinked at Keith, a little taken aback by his forwardness. But Keith stood his ground, refusing to back down as he waited for an answer.

It didn't take long for Shiro to crack. The resolve in his eyes faded and the mask of bravery he always wore fell away. He sighed, heavy and tired and regretful.

"I…have a disease. And it's getting worse," he admitted quietly, and hearing him finally say it was like a punch to Keith's gut. "I'll only be able to maintain my peak condition for a couple more years, and after that…"

His voice trailed off, unable to say for sure what awaited him in the future. It couldn't possibly be anything good. He turned back to his bike, his shoulders hunched as he leaned against it.

"The Garrison doesn't want me up there," he continued grimly, staring hard at the metal surface beneath his fists. "Neither does Adam. My family and Sam are about the only ones who approve of me doing this."

Keith's eyes trailed to Shiro's hand where the electro-stimulator device was still wrapped snugly around his wrist. But the silver engagement ring he'd worn for so long was now nowhere in sight. Keith's anger died down, replaced with his growing concern.

"So, what are you gonna do?" he asked, although he had a suspicion he already knew the answer.

Shiro's brow furrowed and his jaw clenched in determination. "I'm going on the mission," he stated, his decision final and unwavering. He wouldn't be persuaded otherwise by anyone. Not by Admiral Sanda. Not by Adam. Not by his family. And not by Keith. Shiro was going to Kerberos, and that was that.

The day of the launch came much quicker than Keith would've liked it to. It's not that he wasn't happy for Shiro. He was, really. But there was no shaking that gnawing sense of dread in his stomach, that ever-present worry. It didn't help that he hadn't been getting much sleep lately. He'd begun having strange dreams again – some featured lions bursting up from the desert to fly in the sky, but most of them were nightmares about Shiro collapsing and dying during the mission. The latter disturbed Keith to his very core, and he desperately tried to convince himself that they were only dreams. Nothing more, nothing less.

The Visitor's Center was packed on the day of departure. Civilians, cadets, and officers alike milled about, eager to send off the Kerberos crew. It would be impossible to find him in the throng, but Keith knew Shiro was here somewhere, no doubt bidding farewell to his adoring fans and family. He decided to just stand by the doors that led to the launch pad and wait for him to come over when he was ready to leave.

But even getting there proved to be a challenge. It was like wading through molasses with all the bodies packed in here. For the love of god, he hated big launch days like this! Why did so many random and annoying people have to show up? His irritation rising and getting the better of him, he started to shoulder past people. He ignored their indignant huffs and glares, his attention zeroed in on the doors ahead.

Then, one teenage girl in civilian clothes actually ended up shoving into him to get past. It had been unexpectedly hard and forceful, nearly knocking Keith off course. He turned on her, putting on the nastiest scowl he could muster.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" he growled, unable to keep a lid on his anger.

She whirled on him, and Keith almost startled at how bright her eyes were. A familiar dark gray color, they burned with a fierce fury that was directed solely at him. He'd seen plenty of grumpy Garrison cadets yell at outsiders before, and they had all cowered in the face of the military personnel. But it was clear that this girl was not one of those people.

"I could say the same to you, jerk!" she snapped, and the bite in her tone was scathing.

Her reaction had surprised Keith initially, but he decided he wouldn't let this random girl get the better of him. He already had so much else to worry about today. He didn't need to get into a fight on Shiro's big day and wind up in Iverson's office for attacking a visitor.

Gritting his teeth, Keith shot her one last glare before turning his back on her. "Whatever," he muttered.

Behind him, he heard her let out a furious tsk. But she didn't engage any further as she disappeared into the crowd, leaving him to continue on his way towards the door.

Leaning against the wall, his arms crossed as he sourly regarded the passerby, Keith waited for Shiro to swing by as the time until departure ticked away. Unfortunately, Matt came by first, already on his way to the prep deck with his dad. Sam smiled and nodded Keith's way before disappearing through the doors, leaving Matt to linger by the younger cadet.

"Man, I am so excited!" Matt gushed, unbothered by Keith's uninviting frown as he sidled up to him. "We're gonna be making history traveling this far out into the solar system. If we find signs of life out there, I think I can die happy."

He was grinning from ear to ear, his excitement uncontainable. He didn't mean to brag, Keith knew. Matt wasn't that kind of guy. But still, he couldn't help but feel jealous of him and the chance he'd been given.

"You're just going to Kerberos," Keith said flatly, trying to sound bored and unimpressed. "There aren't any aliens out there."

"But we don't know that for sure, yet," Matt countered, giving Keith a wink that made him roll his eyes. He chipperly slapped him on the back before saying, "I've gotta suit up now. Keep working hard and don't piss Iverson off. Bye, Keith!"

Without another word, he practically skipped through the exit, following after his dad.

Then, finally, Shiro approached. The crowd parted for him easily as he moved towards the door, his adoring fans and students and colleagues watching him with nothing but awe and respect in their gazes. To them he was their idol, an untouchable god. None of them really knew him though. None of them knew about the very human pain and frustration and determination he carried beneath the friendly smile he often wore. Not like Keith did.

Even now, he was smiling as he stopped in front of Keith, as if he didn't have a care in the world that this mission would be his last. That it was minutes away from beginning. That the career he loved so much would be ending after this.

"Hey," Shiro greeted him, pleasant and warm. "You came to watch the launch."

Keith straightened. "Of course I did." He paused, his heart suddenly heavy. "So…this is it. Goodbye, I mean."

Shiro chuckled. "Don't make it sound like I won't be coming back. Have a little more faith in me."

"I-I do! I just…" Keith sighed, struggling to find the right words. With so many people around, watching them, listening in on their conversation, he felt awkward trying to convey the troubled emotions stirring within him. "Just stay safe, okay?" he finally decided.

Then he held out a hand to Shiro. Maybe it was to wish him luck, a sign of his support in Shiro's decision. Maybe it was just what people did when they wanted to say goodbye to someone but didn't think they were on the hugging level just yet. Maybe he just wanted to feel Shiro's hand in his one more time, reminding himself that he was still here and real and alive, and that their friendship hadn't been a figment of Keith's imagination. Or maybe it was all of those things, coalesced into something as simple as a handshake between mentor and mentee.

Shiro's features softened as he looked at him. He didn't hesitate as he took Keith's hand, clasping it firmly, warmly. "I will," he promised, sounding more certain of this than anything else. "I'll tell you all about the trip when I come back. So stay out of trouble, until then."

Keith shrugged. "I'll try."

Shiro grinned. Their hands fell away from one another, their promise set. He gave Keith one last reassuring pat on the shoulder before saying, "I'll see you later, Keith."

"Yeah. See you later." Then Keith smirked, calling out to him as he opened the door and prepared to leave. "Expect all your simulator records to be broken when you come back!"

Shiro laughed and threw him a knowing look. "I don't doubt it."

And with that, he slipped from Keith's sight.

The launch proceeded without issue. Visitors stood outside and crowded around the observation windows, cheering as they gawked at the ship liftoff. It streamed away from the surface, a puffy line of smoke trailing in its wake, until it broke through the atmosphere and disappeared from view.

Sam, Matt, and Shiro were gone, leaving Keith behind on the ground, on Earth, where he didn't belong.

Chapter Text

She'd passed the entrance exam. Aced it, apparently. She'd started classes at the Garrison a few months ago. Keith hadn't seen her, not that he knew what she looked like. Heck, he still didn't even remember her name. He'd just heard she was here, referred to as "Shiro's sister" by the gossip he picked up on while passing through the halls or eating in the cafeteria.

One Shirogane out of the Garrison only for another one to come in. She could never replace Shiro, though. And quite frankly, Keith didn't think she'd be as good a pilot (or a person) as him either. She was still a newbie, after all, a junior cargo pilot. And now, she not only had her brother's records to beat, but she had Keith's to conquer as well.

Despite Shiro's absence, he'd been doing well in his training. He was the best in his class, by far, and he was so painfully close to beating Shiro's simulation scores. Nothing could ruin his good mood…

…Except for the rumors about the failed Kerberos mission that suddenly spread like wildfire throughout campus one day.

"The Garrison made a public statement a few days ago. It's been all over the news."

"Commander Holt, Matt, even Shiro…they're all missing."

"The Garrison says they crashed due to pilot error. They say they're all dead."

"What? No! Not Shiro!"

"It's true! Shiro's parents even came here earlier. They pulled his sister out of the Space Exploration program."

"I saw it. They had to drag her out of Iverson's office, she was kicking and screaming so much."

"They'll be holding a funeral for him soon."

"I hope it's not private, I want to pay my respects."

The Kerberos crew was gone. The ship had crashed. The mission had failed because of pilot error. They were all dead. Shiro was…

Keith's mind was reeling. His heart raced as he hurried down the halls, the flood of news hitting him painful wave after wave. No. No, this couldn't be happening. This wasn't real. Shiro wouldn't have crashed. He wasn't that sick. He was the best pilot in the Garrison, in the whole world. Sam and Matt had faith in him. Keith had faith in him. No, no, no…Shiro WASN'T dead!

By the time he skidded to a halt in front of Iverson's office, he was out of breath, his angry determination to find some answers burning hot inside his chest. The door was wide open, revealing the mess that was inside. Tablets, papers, pens, files, and binders, they were all strewn across the floor. Even the commander's keyboard and monitors were askew, toppled and threatening to fall off the desk. Everything was no doubt ripped up by the furiously grieving sister, Keith realized vaguely. She sure knew how to leave in a blind rage.

Adam and Iverson were both trying to tidy up the scene, but Keith didn't let them get very far. He entered the office, skipping the formalities and not even bothering to announce himself.

"What happened to Shiro?" he demanded, and he hated how his voice cracked with desperation.

Adam's eyes were rimmed with red, the sorrow written as clear as day across his strained features. He let out a shaky sigh, straightening as he faced the cadet.

"Keith, now's not the best time," he began, but Keith shook his head.

"What happened to him?" he asked again, refusing to be pushed away. He needed answers, and nothing was going to stop him from getting them. "Where is he?"

Iverson's scowl deepened, his irritation getting the better of him. "Get out of my office, Cadet!" he barked, but Keith remained where he stood.

"I'm not leaving until you tell me what happened!"

"Officer Shirogane is dead. He was too sick and crashed the ship," Iverson snapped, curt and final. He didn't elaborate, and when Keith looked to Adam for confirmation, he wouldn't meet his gaze. His lips were pressed into a thin line, his shoulders tense as he glared at the floor. They were hiding something. Keith could feel it.

"I don't believe you."

"Then that's your decision," Iverson replied coolly.

Adam looked at the commander, his resolve to stay quiet flickering. "Sir, maybe we — "

"You're lying! Shiro was the best pilot here!" Keith growled, ignoring Adam as he stared down the beast of a man before him. Iverson had been the nagging authoritative thorn in his side since he'd entered the Garrison, and he was getting sick of the way he treated him. Like he was better than him. Like he was nothing more than a stupid brat. Like Keith wasn't worthy of being here.

Adam turned to him now, all too familiar with his short temper. "Keith, you need to leave and calm down," he ordered him sternly.

Calm down? At a time like this? He might as well have been telling him not to run out of a burning building. "I'm not leaving!" he shouted. "Tell me what really happened to him!"

"Get out of my office right now before I have you demerited for insubordination!" Iverson snarled back just as fiercely.

The threat didn't faze Keith. Figuring this out was far too important, and the lid on his rising fury was dangerously close to blowing off. "Tell me the TRUTH!"

But Iverson wasn't having it. His patience worn thin, he marched towards him and grabbed him roughly by the bicep before starting to drag him out. He was infuriatingly stronger than Keith, and he writhed uselessly in his grasp. He needed to break free. He needed answers. He couldn't let himself get pushed around like this. He needed to find Shiro, he couldn't give up on him!

His chest was hot. His eyes stung. The grief and anger-fueled spark grew bigger and brighter with each passing second until Keith was seeing red.

And then he snapped.

A surge of adrenaline rushed through him, and before he could really register what he was doing, he whirled on Iverson and punched him right in his bad eye. Hard. He howled, his hat flying off as he released Keith and stumbled back into his office in shock. Adam startled and quickly helped him to remain upright, preventing him from falling and hitting his head against the desk. Iverson hissed and grunted in pain, clutching his throbbing face. Between his fingers, Keith could see his eye already starting to swell – it would be a real shiner in no time.

Seething, Iverson's gaze locked back onto Keith. He gnashed his teeth together and the veins were practically popping out on his bald head. His good eye burned with a righteous fury, and it dawned on Keith immediately just how badly he'd messed up. He went too far. Way too far. Getting into a fight with another student was one thing. But assaulting an officer, Commander Iverson out of all people, was a totally different and unforgivable matter.

This was bad. Really bad. He'd screwed up big time, more than he ever had before. There was no going back from this now. Shiro wasn't here to protect him anymore.

The moment Keith had been waiting years for finally arrived. The day he turned eighteen, he packed his things and left Ms. Debbie's group home, never to return again. He collected everything he was due: his dad's red hoverbike, the keys to their shack and storage unit, and the file containing all his important documents, the deed to his dad's – Keith's property included.

He'd been anticipating this moment for so long, but now that it was here, he didn't feel excited. He didn't feel like celebrating. As he rode down the desert path on his bike, his chest felt hollow, his thoughts numb. He'd gotten his freedom back, but what did it matter now? He'd lost the future he had been striving towards. He'd lost the only other person in his life that had truly cared about him.

Keith didn't go to Shiro's funeral. He refused to believe that he was truly gone. Going would have been like accepting his death, accepting the lies Iverson had told him. He would need concrete evidence that told him otherwise if anyone ever wanted him to accept any of it. Because at least with his dad, they'd had a body to bury. But with Shiro, there was nothing. He had to still be alive, somehow, somewhere.

Maybe it was naive thinking on his part. Maybe it was just him staying in denial. But every time Keith even considered accepting Shiro's death, his heart would constrict so painfully, if felt like he was going to die. So he didn't accept it. He didn't move on. He wanted to keep going, but for what, he wasn't sure.

It would be impossible to find the truth about the Kerberos mission now. Iverson hadn't even wasted a second kicking Keith out of the Garrison after he'd decked him. He'd sent him straight back to the home, banning Keith from campus. His career as a pilot had ended before it had even started. The hope for the future he had been given had been snuffed. There was nothing left for him now. No friends. No family. No future. No Shiro.

Keith's eyes stung and he absentmindedly blamed it on the dusty desert wind blowing in his face. He hadn't worn his goggles, after all. The sun had long since set below the horizon, and a chill washed over him as the baked earth began to rapidly cool. He needed to make his way home soon.

But then the ground widened beneath him and he recognized the path he and Shiro had raced along so many times before in the past. Keith dodged the jagged rocks and jumped from one side of the canyon to the other. He revved his thrusters, zipping straight towards the cliff he knew was waiting for him at the end of the trail. He went faster and faster and faster, feeling eerily calm and empty even as he dove right off the edge.

For a moment, he was airborne. He tilted his head to the dark sky, his eyes lifted to the starry display, searching for something, anything. Their dazzling light and wonder were silent, so far away from him and this place and now forever out of his reach.

And then, he was falling, the ground quickly rushing up to meet him. Time seemed to slow as Keith considered his options. His body screamed for him to pull up when it was time, to hurry up and go home. But in the back of his mind, he wondered what would happen if he didn't. If he just let himself crash. No one would care if he was gone. He wasn't anyone else's problem anymore. They probably wouldn't even find his body way out here until it was nothing but bones.

He could see his dad again, he thought vaguely. Maybe meet his mom too, if she wasn't still around. And maybe, just maybe, he'd even see Shiro on the other side.

But before he could decide what he wanted to do, something tugged at his heart. An indescribable sensation, like some sort of energy, rippled through him, obliterating those negative thoughts. His ears rang, and for a split second, it sounded like the ferocious roaring of a lion.

Startled out of his stupor, Keith pulled up on his bike. The hover mechanisms groaned as they kicked in again, abruptly bringing his fall to a halt just inches from the ground. He sat there, dumbfounded, struggling to calm his ragged breathing and racing heart.

What had that been? A figment of his imagination? He blinked, staring across the darkening desert landscape. Just faintly, like a tiny whisper breezing over him, he could still feel that strange energy in the air. Like an invisible thread, it pulled at him, asking for his attention and gently urging him to come find its source.

Keith's grip tightened around the handles of his bike uneasily. The desert had never felt like this to him before. It had always been so calm and quiet and sleepy. But now, it felt like it had suddenly woken up, had come alive and was watching him, waiting for him. For what exactly, he didn't know. And he wasn't sure he wanted to find out either.

Starting up his engines again, Keith shook off the feeling the best he could before he took off into the night, finally ready to go back home.

The little shack in the desert was smaller than Keith remembered it to be.

…No, it wasn't smaller. He had just grown.

Everything was just as he had left it, albeit, now coated in years of dust. The flimsy couch, his dad's old computers and machinery, the makeshift curtains, their books and albums, the slab of wood sitting atop cinder blocks that had functioned as their coffee table – it was all here. The tree next to where the house had once stood was still alive and thriving. Even the old tire swing his dad had made for him was still hanging from its branch.

Cranking the generator and getting the power back on, Keith spent the next few hours cleaning to the best of his ability. He dusted off every surface, removed every cobweb, washed down the attached bathroom, beat the rug and cushions, and swept the creaking wooden floors free of every speck of dirt. He opened a window and got a fan going to air it all out before finally collapsing on the couch, exhausted. With his knife tucked safely beneath his pillow, he fell into a dreamless sleep.

When he woke up the next morning, he felt grimy and sore. The blinding morning light shone easily through the thin curtains, already starting to heat up the little shack. Groaning, he peeled himself off the couch and got the AC unit going. Then his stomach rumbled loudly, begging him for breakfast he had yet to buy. One cold and quick shower later, he hopped onto his bike and made his way towards the city. The warming arid air dried his damp hair, turning it into an unruly mess by the time he parked. He flattened it the best he could before entering the store in search of groceries.

He brought back mostly canned and non-perishable foods. They were cheap, and it wasn't like he had a fridge to store things in anyway. The one he'd shared with his dad had been moved to storage for their house rebuild, too big to fit in the shack. Maybe he'd splurge and buy a mini-fridge for this place sometime soon.

Cracking open a can of lukewarm peaches, Keith sat on the floor and ate in silence at the table. He pulled out one of the albums, flipping through the old pictures of grandparents he'd never met, his dad, even himself as a baby. Not a single one of them featured his mom.

"She didn't like her picture being taken," his dad had told him once. But Keith knew better than to believe that now. He was sure she had just left right after he was born, easily ditching the baby she probably hadn't even wanted.

His gaze lingered on the last photo he and his dad had taken together. It had been the day his dad had settled the deconstruction contracts to rebuild the house. His dad held him as they posed in front of their old home while Hutch had taken the picture. It was meant to be the "Before" image of a before-and-after photo set, but now, there would be no "After" shot.

Keith had considered rebuilding the house, finishing what his dad had started. But what would be the point? It wouldn't be the same without him living there. Besides, the money his dad had left behind was limited. It definitely wouldn't cover the cost of an entire house rebuild. He supposed he could always get a job, someplace that would hire someone without a diploma. But it would never compare to the thrill of flight. Even just thinking about working a rigid nine-to-five at a dingy and static place bored Keith out of his mind.

Draining the can of fruit, he sighed. What was he supposed to do now then? He had already done everything he was supposed to do to move in. How was he going to keep himself busy? He had no friends and he was never in the mood for socializing with strangers. …Maybe he should just go on a long and mind-numbing joyride until it got dark.

Suddenly, the same sensation he'd experienced yesterday reappeared in full, making him jump. It was calling to him again, a faint roar urging him to come out into the desert. To chase phantom whispers that were probably nothing more than a product of his troubled and tired mind.

Still, Keith couldn't ignore it. It was a constant thrumming that was almost annoying, energizing his every cell and begging him to search for…something.

It would be a good distraction, at least for the day, he thought to himself, slowly giving into the idea. He'd once wanted to explore the canyons more anyway. His dad had been so eager about it too, always saying this place was special, just like him.

So, with a heavy, if not reluctant heart, Keith mounted his hoverbike and ventured deeper into the lesser known parts of the desert, searching for whatever was calling out to him.

Chapter Text

What was meant to be a one day search to tame his curiosity turned into a several week-long hunt. Day after day, the energy kept calling out to Keith, begging him to keep looking around the desert caves and canyons. He'd pulled out maps of the area, starting to mark off certain places when he found nothing there. He wrote himself notes on where to look next, developing a plethora of theories on what and where the energy source was, and why it was connected to him. He never found any solid evidence to confirm any of them, but the massive cork board in the shack turned into a conspiracy theorist board nonetheless.

Sometimes, he thought he was just spiraling deeper and deeper into some sort of desert madness, driven crazy from the heat and grief and solitude. Maybe he had just been imagining something was calling out to him this whole time. He was on the verge of giving up when he finally found it: the caves with the blue lion markings.

They looked ancient, untouched and unnoticed by modern man. And they were everywhere, different stories carved in the ceilings, floors, and walls of this hidden cave network, all about this mystical blue lion. The pleasant thrumming in the air was so strong here, practically screaming "Here! Here!" to Keith. This had to be the source of the strange energy, and he eagerly marked down the area on his map.

But what exactly was this energy? And why had it reached out to him so intently? Was this place cursed or something? Haunted by the souls of the people who had carved the lion pictures? Maybe it had something to do with the stories being told on the walls, with the blue lion these people seemed to have worshiped. He started exploring as many of the caves as he could, searching for an answer in the different narratives, only to come up with nothing.

Then something changed one weekend: someone else had found the caves.

Stopped dead in his tracks at the mouth of one of the caves, Keith could see them just barely illuminated by the orange glow of their phone as they took pictures of the markings on the wall. They shifted, and Keith instinctively ducked out of view, his heart hammering against his ribcage. Who was this person? What were they doing here? Were they someone from the Garrison? Or maybe they were some sort of researcher?

Cautiously, he peeked around the corner. They were still standing there, just staring at the walls. They hadn't seemed to have noticed him. He squinted through the darkness, making out their street clothes and curving form. They were a girl, a civilian. A teenager, maybe.

Why was she here? No one else lived this far out, besides him. She could've been a tourist, but all the designated hiking paths were way on the other side of the canyons. No regular person ever came out to this part of the desert by themselves, it was too secluded. Maybe she was lost? No, she didn't seem panicked enough.

His frown deepened, his suspicion rising as he watched her. This was his place, his special discovery. Seeing anyone else here, it felt like an invasion of his space. Like she was a home intruder and was stepping all over his toes without a care in the world. He wanted to barge in there and tell her to get out. Maybe he could scare her into leaving, never to return again.

But before he could devise a plan, she started moving. Shoving her phone and the notebooks on the floor into her bag, she slung it over her shoulder and brushed the dirt from her pants. Then, she started running, fleeing deeper into the cave.

What the…What was she doing? There were a lot of dead ends in all the caves he'd explored so far. Had she found something new in this one? A secret entrance or a hidden room that Keith didn't know about? His curiosity getting the better of him, he scrambled to enter the cave, determined not to lose her.

But he already had. As he neared the back of the cave, he'd completely lost sight of her. There wasn't another exit that he could see. Where had she gone?

Suddenly, Keith got his answer. Her leg snapped out from behind a group of boulders near the wall, catching him off guard as she swept him right off his feet. He grunted, catching himself before he could face-plant on the dirt floor, but she wasted no time in shoving him all the way down. Jumping out from her hiding spot, she drove her knee into his back and grabbed his arm, swiftly pulling it back. Now unbalanced and unable to support himself, he was forced to go down. The air rushed from his lungs as he collided with the earth. He coughed, the disturbed dust flooding his nostrils.

Pinned beneath her weight and unexpectedly strong grip, Keith's irritation flared. He thrashed, trying to break free, but she had him thoroughly immobilized, one hand restraining his arm painfully behind his back and the other pressing his wrist into the floor. He tried kicking at her, hoping to land a hit that could shake her off, but his attempts were cut short as she pulled back on his arm, making it throb even more. A string of curses slipped from his lips, his blood boiling.

He wanted her off of him. NOW.

Keith panted, struggling to reel in his fury and think straight. Despite her strength, she was still just a kid, he reminded himself. She could be reasoned with, hopefully. If she thought he was a threat, he had to prove that he wasn't. He had to try talking with her.

"Hey!" he snapped, his voice cracking and coming out muffled with his cheek smushed against the dirt. "What do you think you're doing?"

"What do you think you're doing?" she spat back just as fiercely. "What are you, some kind of stalker?"

What?

"No!" he growled, his eyes narrowing as he tried to shoot her an incredulous look the best he could from his awkward position beneath her.

"Then why were you spying on me? Are you from the Garrison or something?"

The Garrison? Why would she be worried about someone from there watching her? It's not like they were trespassing onto Garrison property, even if they were unnervingly close to campus.

Hell no, I'm not with them! Keith wanted to respond, but he thought better of it.

"No. And I wasn't spying on you," he huffed. He squirmed in her hold, growing more uncomfortable by the second. "Will you just let me up and explain?"

She hesitated for a long moment, considering it. Finally, she complied. Letting go of his arms, she pushed herself off of him and stood. She backed up several steps, inching closer towards the entrance, but she didn't leave. Keith groaned, his back and shoulders aching as he rose to his feet. He rubbed the dirt from his face and patted the grit from his clothes as he turned to her.

"You're freaking crazy," he muttered, and she stiffened, her glare narrowing as she watched him.

Now that she was right in front of him, Keith got a much better look at her. She was donned in a purple leather jacket, a dark gray shirt, black jeans, and boots. Her long black hair was tied up into a ponytail and a mask hung around her neck. She really was just a teenager, probably not much younger than him. But what really caught his attention were her eyes: a sparkling dark gray with long, black lashes. They looked so familiar, but at the same time, they were completely different, completely foreign. A constant and stubborn anger burned behind them, a flame threatening to burn him.

Then it hit Keith: this was that same girl he'd run into during the Kerberos mission launch. His guard, on instinct, shot up in an instant, and he crossed his arms, scowling at her as he waited for her reaction.

"Well? Start explaining," she demanded, her impatience rising. "You can start by telling me who you are."

So, she didn't recognize him. He almost felt relieved by that. But now that he was standing and no longer at her mercy, his defensive feelings for this place crept back. He didn't want to answer her questions. He wanted her to leave.

"I could be asking you the same thing," he said finally, infusing as much hostility into his response as possible. "You're acting like I just broke into your house when you have no more of a right to be here than I do."

If she was fazed by his attempt at taking on the authoritative role in their situation, she didn't show it. She didn't respond, her frown even as she stood her ground, stubbornly waiting. Keith rolled his eyes. What a brat.

"I'm Keith," he relented, tight and curt and to the point. "I live around here, and I've been exploring these caves for a while."

A lot longer than you, he wanted to add.

She raised an eyebrow at him, doubtful. "Really? You live near here, out in the middle of the desert?"

Oh, please. It wasn't that impossible and outlandish. According to his dad, there had once been a ton of ranch properties out here before World War Three. But the Kogane property was the last one in the area, nothing more than a troubled boy's lonely abode now. Keith didn't feel like explaining that to her though. There was no point in wasting his breath, considering she probably wouldn't care.

"Your turn," he huffed, prompting her explanation.

She sighed. "Fine. I'm Mariko. But most just call me Mari."

Mariko…Mari…Why did that name sound familiar? Like a memory long forgotten. …No, it was more like an answer to a silly question on a test that he had taken years ago, and it had slipped from his recollection, not important enough for him to remember in the long run. Maybe she was a new recruit at the Garrison and he'd seen her name on the announcement board. Or maybe he'd heard it spoken in passing walking down the halls.

"You a Garrison student?" he found himself asking, the mystery of it all nagging at him.

She laughed, bitter and humorless. "Do I look like a Garrison student to you?"

"Then why are you out here?" he pressed.

There was a pause from her, and she glanced uneasily at the walls. "I've been studying these markings in my free time," she said, briefly pointing at them. "Just like you, apparently."

"Why?"

"I…can't really explain it." She rubbed the back of her neck, placing one hand on her hip in frustration as she searched for the right words. "At first, it was out of boredom. But then, it was like…like some energy was…"

Keith's eyes widened. "...Telling you to search?" he wondered, sounding oddly small and thin.

She looked at him in surprise. "You've felt it too then?" she asked, and he nodded grimly.

So, he hadn't been imagining that strange sensation this entire time. His maddening treks through the canyons these past few months hadn't been a waste of time and effort. There really was something off about this place, calling not only to him, but to this girl as well. How many more people could feel it? Was it just the two of them?

They stared at the cave drawings, a million unanswered questions hovering in the tense air between them.

"What do you think we're supposed to be searching for?" she wondered quietly, almost to herself.

"I don't know," Keith admitted. "But I have some theories."

"Same here." Then she cast him a wry smirk, adding, "I'd be happy to share them anytime, too."

Keith tsked, his walls creeping up again. Was she seriously implying what he thought she was? Even if she was feeling the same pull to this place as him, they were still nothing but strangers. And he didn't exactly like the idea of getting chummy with an angry chick who had basically attacked him not two minutes ago. Besides, he'd always worked better alone. This was his thing. He would figure out this mystery by himself, without her poking her nose into it.

But before he could deny her, a soft buzzing emitted from her bag. She rummaged around inside and pulled out her vibrating phone, silencing it as she skimmed over a new text message. Whatever it said made her grimace and sigh heavily.

"I guess our discussion will have to wait," she said, stashing the device once more. "I've gotta get going now, but maybe we can meet up tomorrow or something?"

"I'm not really interested," Keith stated flatly, taking his chance to push her away now that she was leaving. He nodded towards the cave entrance, encouraging her to go, but she remained where she stood.

Rolling her eyes at him, she fished a pen and a small piece of paper out of her bag, starting to scrawl on it. "Well, if you ever want to talk to someone about it, just give me a call," she said, before holding out the completed note to him.

Keith glanced at the cell number she had written, ready to refuse it. But then his eyes landed on the name she had jotted down, her full name, and his heart nearly leapt into his throat. He snatched the paper from her, staring at it in disbelief.

"Your last name is Shirogane? Like Takashi Shirogane?" he asked, and saying Shiro's name made the despairing ache in his chest return. "As in the pilot from the Kerberos mission?"

Mari's lips pressed into a thin line, and something flashed behind her eyes, an unexpected mixture of anger, jealousy, and grief. "Yeah," she answered, her response hollow and clipped. "He's my brother."

Keith's mind was reeling. No way…No. WAY. This was Mariko Shirogane? Shiro's little sister? The same little sister Keith had loathed and had been avoiding meeting for years? Of all people to run into, of all the people to have been feeling the same energy as him, why did it have to be her?

She didn't miss his reaction. "You know him," she said slowly, and Keith stiffened. Her glare returned, roiling with hostility. "You're 'the next genius pilot,' Keith Kogane, aren't you? You said you weren't from the Garrison."

The next genius pilot. Shiro had told her about him. How many people had he bragged to about him over the years? His hopes had been so high for him, only for Keith to end up here, flunked and amounting to nothing. He grit his teeth, angry at himself. Angry at her for mentioning it and stirring up the painful feelings.

"I'm not anymore," he shot back, a harsh edge to his tone. "I got kicked out."

She blinked, waiting for him to elaborate. When he didn't, some of the tension seemed to leave her shoulders. "I guess that makes two of us then," she muttered, bitter and detached. "Sorta."

That's right, her parents had pulled her out of the Space Exploration program. She'd trashed Iverson's office and had to be dragged out. She was no better than him, angry and lost and stuck on the ground, unable to fly. They'd both lost someone important to them, someone the Garrison claimed to be dead. And now, in some weird turn of fate, they were both being called by some strange energy to the same place, at the same time.

Maybe it was all just a coincidence.

Or maybe it wasn't.

Mari's phone buzzed again, pulling him out of his thoughts. She huffed, irritated, and refused to dig it out and look at it again.

"You know what? Just forget what I said, okay?" she said, turning and marching towards the exit. "I'll just investigate this place by myself."

"That's a lot of ground to cover," Keith blurted out without even thinking. His feet seemed to move on their own as he caught up to her. "I think I've found most of the caves. I can show you where I've already looked."

Why had he said that? Why was he even offering? Maybe he just felt bad for her. He knew how painful it was to lose family. Or maybe he just didn't want her snooping around his space anymore than necessary. Whatever the case, the words had been said and there was no taking them back now.

Mari stopped at the mouth of the cave, the sunlight washing over her. "Really?" she asked. Her gaze turned skeptical though the longer she looked at him. "Why the change of heart? You're not doing this out of pity, are you? My brother's not here now, you don't have to pretend to be nice to me."

What was her deal? She was harsh and cold and wary, as if she were used to this sort of thing and had long since decided to stop playing along. Well, whatever the reason, she was right about one thing: Shiro wasn't here. And Keith wasn't one to be nice, even for pretend.

"I didn't say we would be working together," he clarified, unfriendly and to the point. "I'm just willing to show you the map. That's it."

She stared carefully at him, searching for the lie. Her eyes seemed to shine brighter in the golden rays of the early evening, their deep sadness hidden beneath the light.

"Fine," she finally decided. "Call me whenever you're ready to talk."

Chapter Text

Almost reluctantly, Keith added Mari's contact to the phone he rarely used. He'd spent nearly an entire day staring at the information he'd collected on his bulletin board, mulling over what to do, when he finally caved and decided to call her. He gave her his address and late the next morning, she arrived on a motorcycle. Parking next to his hoverbike, she popped off her helmet and eyed his ride with keen interest before taking in his little house.

"You really do live out in the middle of nowhere," she noted, unimpressed, and he rolled his eyes.

She hopped onto the porch, the floorboards creaking beneath her feet, and followed him inside. Her face scrunched up at the sight of the worn down interior and crummy furniture.

"How do you live here?" she murmured.

Keith's irritation flared, suddenly very defensive about the shack he and his dad had shared. "I'm used to it," he ground out. "Not all of us can have luxurious lifestyles."

Mari's brow furrowed at the jab, looking like she wanted to snap back with a retort of her own. But she wisely kept her mouth shut, her grip tightening around the straps of her bag as she stepped deeper into the house. Her attention was quick to land on the corkboard and she moved to stand in front of it, regarding the marked map Keith had pinned up to track his progress.

"Wow. It's a bigger network than I thought it'd be," she said, frowning at the general area he had circled and labeled as 'Energy Source!' She skimmed over a few of the sticky notes, reading some of the theories he had loosely jotted down. "Really? You believe in curses?" she asked, almost amused as she tapped one of the squares that read 'Burial Ground? Haunted? Cursed?' "Lemme guess, you think cryptids are real too, right?"

Keith scowled at her. "I just think there are a lot of things in this world that can't be explained."

"Right," she drawled.

"Well, what do you think it is?" he huffed.

"It could just be nothing more than cave markings, made millennia ago by the people who used to live here," she said slowly, unsurely. "Maybe they had some sorta myth about a blue lion. Like it was their god or a spirit that protected them."

She paused, setting her bag on the table and opening it before continuing, "But I've never seen ancient drawings like these before, let alone heard of ones that give off that kind of energy. And it seems like there's nothing like them that's been discovered anywhere else in the world."

She pulled out a thick binder and set it on the table with a heavy THUD. She opened it for Keith to see, revealing not only dozens of pictures of the blue lion markings, but images of other cave drawings from across the globe. Research papers and articles written about ancient religions, ruins, myths, lions, and the purpose of artwork for primitive peoples had also been stuffed inside, heavily highlighted and annotated by her. It was almost as impressive as all the photos and data he had collected, except she had gone beyond just theorizing. She had taken a much more scholarly approach, something he hadn't even considered.

"You've done a lot of research on this," he commented, almost overwhelmed by the sight of it all.

She shrugged, as if it were nothing. "I have a lot of free time now." She picked up one of her photos of the blue lion markings and held it up next to one Keith had pinned on the wall. "These drawings are so detailed," she murmured, almost to herself. "And the lion almost looks…mechanical. It's like – It's like they were looking at a reference, something that was here for a long while. Something that was out of their world."

Keith stared at her, long and hard in his disbelief. "Wait. Are you saying you think, what…aliens made these markings?"

She glanced at him, totally serious. "Maybe. Or that the people who made these drawings saw something alien."

"Seriously?" he snorted. "You believe in aliens, but you don't believe in ghosts?"

"I didn't say I don't believe in ghosts. I just don't believe in things like curses placed on land," she corrected him with a scowl. "And yes, I do believe in the possibility of life existing beyond Earth. The universe is always expanding and we've hardly explored any of it. With that much space and potential for life, it's not impossible for there to be aliens out there."

"Geez…You're just like Matt," he muttered.

She averted her attention back to her research pile, returning the photo back to its original spot. "I'll take that as a compliment," she decided. "I've heard nothing but good things about Matthew Holt."

Keith sighed, quiet as she snapped her binder shut. He waited until she had returned it to her bag before he spoke again.

"So we've figured out where the energy is coming from. But what's actually causing it? And why is it so strong?" he wondered, frowning at his map. "I've lived out here for years, but I've never felt it before, not until recently."

"Maybe something's changed out there?" she said, unable to give him a concrete answer. "Maybe the rock's special in that area, like it gives off weird magnetic waves or something."

"Are you an expert on rocks too now?" he scoffed, and she visibly bristled, her annoyance spiking.

"No. I don't know, I'm just throwing things out there," she snapped back. Then, a bit hesitantly, she added, "What if it's space rock or something? We can get a sample and have it checked."

Keith raised a brow at her. "We?"

Mari rolled her eyes. "Oh, my bad. I will be getting a sample checked. You've already fulfilled your generous offer, and I've returned the favor by sharing my stuff." She promptly slung her bag over her shoulder and crossed her arms. "Therefore, we can now go our separate ways, right?"

Keith pursed his lips, staring her down. He didn't know what sort of game she was playing, but she had somehow gotten him too interested. He wanted to see the photos she had taken and read the articles she had collected. She had a much more analytical approach to all of this than he did, a habit drilled into her by her years of regular schooling. She knew how to conduct research. And she clearly had connections to some third party resources if she knew where they could get the potentially energized canyon rock checked out. At this rate, she just might solve this mystery before him. And he was not going to let that happen…at least not without being there himself.

"Okay, fine," he relented, although he wasn't happy about it. "We can work on this together."

"You sure?" Mari asked, tilting her head at him. A smirk danced on her lips, irking him even more. "I've been told I'm not very pleasant to be around."

Keith could already see that. But if she wanted to egg him on, then he'd show her he could do the same. He could play just as dirty, if need be.

"I'm not either," he replied, cool and calm as he gave her a tight smirk of his own. "Hope you can suck it up and deal with it."

Her eyes blazed at the challenge, her anger burning hotter. "I'll be able to handle it," she assured him, before brushing past him and moving out the door.

Keith was quick to follow her, closing up the shack behind him. She leaned against his hoverbike, waiting, and he realized she expected him to do all the driving around today, as if he were her chauffeur. Sure his hoverbike would be faster than her ride, and it could more comfortably fit two people. But still…that brat.

Mounting his bike, he threw her an irritated scowl over his shoulder as she slid on. At least she was careful not to touch him, opting to hang on to both sides of the seat. He started up the engines and the hoverbike thrummed to life, lifting off the ground. But before they set out towards the canyons and the caves with the blue lion carvings, Keith turned to her.

"By the way. We are not telling anyone about the caves," he said, stern and leaving no room for argument. "And if there is something up with the rock, we're not saying where we got it."

Now that someone else had discovered the caves, he was even more protective of them. This special thing was no longer just his, but it still felt like it was a secret that needed to be kept, like it was a place that only a select few were meant to discover. He didn't need word spreading that a new historical site had been discovered and have hordes of tourists and researchers flocking to the caves. And sister of Shiro or not, he still didn't really know her. She wasn't Shiro, and that was enough for him not to trust her completely just yet.

She at least seemed to share his sentiment though. "Duh. Of course not," she said without missing a beat, as if not telling anyone should've been an obvious given. "I'm not stupid."

Then she nodded forward, encouraging him to get them moving.

Mari was apparently a frequent visitor of the Plaht City Observatory. Enough so that the front desk workers and several scientists milling about the visitor's center recognized her and said hello. It was almost too easy, too simple how she walked up to the space rock exhibit and started chatting away with the lab-coated woman managing the setup. She smiled and laughed easily with her, pulling out the canyon rock they had collected from the caves and asking her to inspect it. From the side of the room, Keith quietly watched them like a hawk. He was almost jealous of how naturally it seemed to come to Mari, getting along with people who were practically strangers.

But the fruits of their labor turned out to be for naught. After carefully looking over it and scanning it with several devices, the lady reported with a hundred percent certainty that the rock they had brought was nothing out of the ordinary. It really was just a regular piece of the Earth's crust.

"What a bust," Mari tsked, setting their rock sample onto the table once they'd returned to Keith's shack.

"What did you expect?" he huffed, plopping onto the couch. As stumped as they were now, he was almost glad that woman hadn't found anything off about the rock. That would've just raised more questions. "Did you really think she was gonna say it was an alien substance?"

She shot him a nasty look before turning her back to him, continuing to inspect his wall of information. She sighed, shuffling from foot to foot and brainstorming how they should proceed.

"What if…we try deciphering the actual stories behind each marking?" she finally suggested. "They all feature a blue lion from what I've seen. And blue lions aren't exactly common in cave paintings. There's gotta be some sort of secret symbolism behind it."

Keith mulled it over. "We should finish searching the rest of the caves then," he said. "There might be more we're missing."

Several months seemed to fly by as he and Mari worked day after day scouting the blue lion caves, adding more images of new carvings to their collection.

But despite all the time they spent together, Keith hardly learned anything new about her. He was somewhat grateful she kept their conversations strictly all business – he hated personal small talk – but it did nothing to encourage him to start trusting her more. She was closed off, almost as much as him, her default moods seeming to be angry, annoyed, and sarcastic. He racked his brain trying to remember bits of information Shiro had shared about his precious imouto, only to come up with vague pieces about her past.

She'd practically been raised by their ojiisan, right alongside Shiro. And she'd taken several martial arts, which explained how she'd taken him down so easily in the cave, Keith recalled sourly to himself. He was pretty sure Shiro had mentioned once or twice a few years ago how she was going through a video game phase. And he definitely remembered how disappointed Shiro had gotten when she'd called him to come get her from the police station, having been caught on the illegal drift track not too far from the Garrison. And, of course, she loved all things space.

Mari didn't wear an electro-stimulator device like Shiro had. If she had the same disease as him, Keith didn't know. He didn't want to ask. He didn't want to get closer to her at all, if he was being completely honest. Just because they were working together, just because Shiro was their mutual connection, it did NOT make them friends. As soon as they figured this whole energy thing out, as soon as her curiosity was quelled, she would leave. And that would be perfectly fine with him. He could return to his quiet life in the desert, in the shack he had shared with his dad, and live out the rest of his days alone.

But for now, her constant presence was…tolerable. Not comfortable. Not friendly or welcoming. Just bearable. She was nowhere close to harboring Shiro's wisdom or natural level of warmth and patience. But she did have a sort of kindness of her own. She always called ahead, warning him before she came over for the day. She openly shared all her research with him and even took the rest of their pictures, printing them out for free at her house so he didn't have to pay to do it at the library. And whenever Keith was running low on food or when they were working late into the night, she bought them takeout with the so-called "pity allowance" she received from her parents. She bitterly claimed it was their way of saying sorry for pulling her out of the Garrison and crushing her dreams.

It was another thing he didn't understand about her. Shiro had nothing but good things to say about his folks, for the most part. But Mari…had almost nothing to say about them at all. With the little she did mention, he could always sense a lingering resentment hidden behind her words. It irritated Keith, this part of her seemingly ungrateful attitude. Her parents had already lost one child to the dangers of space. Couldn't she see they were just looking out for her? She was lucky she still had both her parents, lucky to have a family who loved and cared about her.

One night, Keith could hear her pacing back and forth outside the hut, shouting into her phone. He wisely waited for her to hang up on whoever she was arguing with before he ventured out. She had sat down on the edge of the porch and was slumped against one of the wooden columns that held up the portico, silently fuming. She stared at the tree across the property, watching the tire swing sway gently in the warm breeze.

"Who was that?" he dared to ask, standing in the doorway of the shack.

"My mom," she muttered, her response hollow and detached. "I told her I'm not coming home for dinner tonight and she blew up at me."

He crossed his arms, his annoyance sparking. "She's just worried about you," he said, leaning against the doorframe.

"No, she's not," she insisted, sharp and sure. "She's always been like this, trying to control everything. Always trying to make me the bad guy. Always trying to make me feel like…nothing."

He rolled his eyes. "I think you're just over-exaggerating."

Mari snapped her head towards him, her gaze ablaze with that constant fiery anger. "Don't talk like you know me!" she growled. "You don't know anything about me or her."

"I know Shiro trusted your parents. And I trust his judgment," Keith shot back, his own temper bubbling forth. "They were supportive of his decision to go to Kerberos."

"Ha! Is that what he told you?" she laughed humorlessly. "He conveniently left out the back and forth arguing for weeks before they finally caved?"

Keith stiffened, but he didn't respond. Shiro hadn't told him that. He couldn't even imagine Shiro getting angry enough to get into a heated argument. So…everyone really had been against him going to Kerberos, except for Sam.

"Well, he got his way, as always." Mari tsked and turned away from him, averting her attention to the star-filled sky this time. "And now look where that got him."

Keith's eyes narrowed at the back of her head. He was older than her, more experienced in so many aspects of life by far. But she always had this way of making him feel like a fool, acting like she knew more than him. Like she knew Shiro better than anyone else. Better than him.

"He knew your parents wanted the best for you two," he said, determined to get the last word, vying for the last jab no matter how it may hurt her. "You should be lucky they care so much about you."

There was a long pause from her. She didn't look at him as she barely uttered, "She doesn't care about me. She just wanted the best for him."

She'd said it so faintly, he was sure she hadn't meant for him to hear that at all. But his excellent hearing had once again caught words that weren't intended for his ears. He regarded her, unsure of how to react. So he didn't, and a tense silence settled over them. After a few minutes, Keith considered retreating inside and leaving her to cool off when she suddenly spoke up.

"Why did you want to be a pilot?"

He nearly startled, taken aback by the sudden question. By that question, of all things. She had never asked him about his personal life before. On any other day, in any other situation, he would've skirted around answering it or given her some bullshit reply. But it didn't seem like she was trying to pry. She had sounded…incredibly small. Honestly curious. Thin and tired, like if he didn't answer seriously, she just might break.

Keith sighed, carefully considering how he should respond. "Shiro thought I had the potential. He gave me hope for the future," he said finally, quietly. "He gave me a chance when no one else would. So I took it."

She hesitated, absorbing his words. "Have you ever felt like you don't belong here?"

He stared out across the desert landscape, his walls wavering. "All the time."

A heavy beat of silence passed. Then two. Mari inhaled and exhaled deeply as if to steady herself, her gaze longing as she stared up at the celestial display blanketing their part of Earth.

"It's beautiful up there. I've always thought that," she reflected evenly, almost to herself. "I want to see what's out there, to see the stars up close and in person. I want to know what it feels like to fly, to have control over where and how fast I go. I just…I just want to fly away from here."

She was desperately searching for her calling, longing for a place to call her own. A place where she belonged, possibly somewhere beyond their world. Keith's heart clenched, and he found himself humming in agreement. In understanding. He knew that feeling all too well.

What a sad and strange thing to have in common.

But at least it was something.

Chapter Text

It was clear that the blue lion markings told some sort of linked story. Figuring out what the story was, exactly, was the hard part.

They gleaned that the blue lion was massive and powerful. And the ancient people who had made the carvings must have believed it had magical properties, if the magic-circle-esque carvings were any indication. In many images, the lion would be shown roaring at these circles in the sky while six figures stood below it, cheering. They thought that maybe it was the depiction of some sort of summoning ritual.

Then one day, as they were pouring over the mess of photos they had taken, Mari gasped. "What if it's a calendar?" she asked, her head snapping up to look at him from where she sat on the floor next to the bulletin board.

Keith lifted a brow at her, more comfortably sitting on the couch. "What?"

She shoved the pictures she had been studying across the table for him to get a closer look at. "You see these dots above some of these?" she said, pointing them out with her finger. "I thought they were just paint flecks, but it looks like they were put there intentionally. I think they're constellations."

Taking a pen, she connected the dots. Then she showed him the tablet she had brought with her today, where a star chart program had been pulled up on screen. It displayed a handful of different constellations, all identical to the formations she had just drawn.

"See?" she grinned, clearly excited, and Keith vaguely noted that he hardly ever saw her smile this genuinely. "These ones only show up in the late nights and early mornings of next month."

He stared at the tablet and the pictures, uncomprehending. "...Okay? And?"

"And these constellations are only drawn over the summoning carvings," she continued. "I think whatever's happening in these pictures is going to happen next month."

"You seriously think these are predicting an event? For next month?" Keith asked, and he frowned when she nodded, unable to shake his disbelief. "Are you sure you're not just jumping to conclusions? These markings are thousands of years old. What if these paintings are just a commemorative thing for something these people already witnessed? How do you know whatever this is hasn't already happened?"

Mari's gaze never wavered from him as she looked him dead in the eye. "Because I can feel it," she said in all seriousness. "Can't you?"

Keith didn't respond right away. He didn't want to admit it, but he had. The energy, the sensation calling out to him, had only just started this year. And as the months passed, it had only gotten stronger, more intense. Something was coming. And for some reason, the universe had decided he'd be involved in it, whether he wanted to be or not.

"Okay. Say this is giving us a date for next month," he said finally. "What day is it?"

Mari shrugged, uneasy and uncertain. "I don't know. But it doesn't hurt to prepare."

"Prepare how? For what? We don't know what's coming."

"Maybe we can gather provisions? Get ready in case alien blue lion invaders come? I don't know! Something!" she pressed, exasperated. "I can't be the only one generating ideas here."

Seriously? Prepare for an alien invasion? They weren't living in a sci-fi, fantasy film. This was real life. Besides, if aliens existed and posed a threat to Earth, the Garrison would inform the public about it, right? If anything foreign entered their solar system that proved to be potentially dangerous, they would know.

Still…there was no ignoring the unexplainable energy nagging at him, begging him to do something. To be ready. And there was no ignoring how intently Mari was scowling at him, waiting for his answer.

"Fine," he huffed, giving in. "I'll figure something out."

The dream of the ship crashing into the desert near the Garrison came to Keith the day before it happened. He woke up in a cold sweat, his heart racing as the images of the flaming light slamming into the Earth replayed over and over again in his mind. Scrambling off the couch, he combed a hand through his tousled locks and threw on his jacket and boots before fishing his cellphone out of his pocket.

"It's happening tomorrow night," he said, throwing any sort of greeting out the door as soon as Mari picked up.

"What?"

"The event. Something's coming here."

"Wait, what's coming?" she asked, struggling to catch up with his reeling mind. "How do you know?"

"A ship. Someone's coming here," he insisted, more sure of this now than ever. "I can feel it."

There was a hesitant pause on her end. "Dammit…" she murmured. "I have plans today. But I can come over first thing tomorrow morning."

Keith blinked in surprise. That was a first. Her having plans, that is. Despite all the free time she claimed to have, she never seemed to use it to hang out with the friends he was sure she had. Instead, she had been spending every day with him, wandering the caves. Maybe she had some sort of family thing going on today that she was obligated to attend. But of all days, of course it was today that she had to be busy.

"Fine," he said curtly before hanging up.

Shoving his phone back where it belonged, he hurried out of his hut and mounted his bike. He'd just make do by himself for the day. Not like that was anything new for him. But at least with her gone, he'd get work done faster…probably. Either way, it was time to prepare for the off-world visitor.

"Explosives? Are you crazy?" Mari hissed.

As promised, on the day of the mysterious event, she'd arrived at his house just after the sun had risen. She seemed grouchier today, even more so than usual as she scowled evenly at him. Keith silently presumed that her plans from the day prior had ended on a sour note. But that didn't mean he'd let her push him around just because she was in a bad mood.

"You said to prepare and I did," he fired back, crossing his arms in his defense. "We don't know what we're up against. We need something to defend ourselves."

She grimaced, unable to argue with him there. She cautiously eyed the series of homemade explosives he had spent all of yesterday putting together, hesitant to come any closer into the hut.

"Where did you even get these?" she asked.

"I made them."

Her brow lifted. "And why do you have that particular skill set?"

"I picked it up from the Garrison."

All cadets were required to take a basic weapons course or two, usually once they were promoted to senior cadets. The Garrison was still a military academy, after all. They'd learned how to assemble and shoot different types of guns, as well as how to build their own mini-bombs in case of dire wartime situations. It hadn't been Keith's favorite type of training, especially since he was far from being a good shot. But he had to admit, the lessons did end up coming in handy.

"Okay…" She shuffled uneasily from foot to foot, but didn't question him. "So, what's the plan for these?"

"We wait until whatever it is crashes," he explained. "If the Garrison gets to it first, we use them to make a distraction and draw them away. Then we go in and investigate."

"Hold up," she said, quickly stopping him. "You want us to go after the foreign visitor we know nothing about?"

"Why not?" he huffed. "Aren't you dying to meet aliens?"

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not dying to rush in and accidentally get myself killed by a Garrison grump or a potentially hostile lifeform."

He tsked, his irritation rising. "Do you have a better plan then?" he prompted. Then with a tiny smirk, he wondered, "Or are you just scared?"

She visibly bristled, a fresh wave of stubborn anger washing over her. "I am NOT scared," she snapped. "Fine. Let's go with your crazy little plan. If we get arrested or killed, I'm blaming you."

Keith decided he could live with that. Now all they had to do was watch and wait for the chaos to begin.

It really was a ship that broke through Earth's atmosphere. Keith and Mari watched as it fell, a crackling and blazing light against the darkening skies that crashed dangerously close to the Garrison. Gathering the explosives, they hopped onto Keith's bike and made their way towards the campus.

As Keith had suspected, the Garrison got to the ship well before they did. They'd already seized it and were putting up some sort of heavily guarded quarantine tent next to the crash site. There were too many soldiers milling about the place, but thinning their numbers would be easy enough.

A little less than a mile away from the setup, he and Mari placed the bombs. They set the timers and quickly jumped back onto the hoverbike, speeding away from them seconds before they went off. The line of explosions shook the ground beneath them, making the bike quiver. But Keith expertly maintained their balance, taking them back around towards the camp just as the majority of the Garrison forces peeled away to investigate the sudden detonations.

"I'd say we've got about ten minutes until they come back," he estimated, pulling them to a stop behind a large boulder near the lab. "Stay here on lookout."

Mari's brow furrowed and she opened her mouth to protest. But he didn't have time to hear it. He yanked the bandana he'd brought with him over his mouth and nose, his makeshift mask for the occasion, and hopped off the bike, leaving her on watch duty while he made a beeline for the lab entrance.

His heart was racing, his every instinct on high alert as he sprinted down the metal walkway leading inside. He'd been waiting months for this moment, agonizing over the mystery of the energy and the markings and desperately searching for answers. He didn't know what he expected to find here. But he knew that whatever it was, he'd be ready to face it.

The doors of the lab slid open. Three Garrison officials stood by chirping monitors and a gurney, where a humanoid…something was strapped down and unmoving. Keith's attention zeroed in on the humans in the room, all of whom had whirled on him, startled by his sudden appearance.

"Hey!"

Oh crap. That was Iverson. But before he could wonder if the old grump recognized him, all three of them charged. Keith raised his fists and took on a defensive stance, an angry adrenaline flooding his veins. There really would be no going back from this. But he didn't dwell on it long. He didn't have time to waste fighting them. He'd end this quickly.

He punched the first soldier with an unexpected amount of strength that surprised even himself. He sent them flying off their feet and crashing right into one of the computers. He punched the second over the exam table. And as for Iverson, Keith delivered a roundhouse kick to his face, slamming him against the end of the gurney before he crumpled to the floor, all three of them rendered old cold with one hit.

Damn. It really was so much easier to fight now that he wasn't such a squirt anymore.

Hopping over Iverson's body, Keith rushed to inspect the prone form tied to the bench. He yanked off his bandana, panting from the exertion of the fight, only for his breath to catch in his throat.

No way…It couldn't be…

With shaky fingers, he titled the head of the unconscious figure on the bed, getting a better look at his face. A scar ran across his nose, a tuft of his hair had turned snow-white, and his right arm…had been replaced with a metal prosthetic. But Keith would recognize him anywhere, no matter how much he changed. Not dead and returned from space, this was…

"Shiro?" His voice came out a whisper, cracked and on the verge of breaking. His heart constricted inside his chest, a year of pain and loss and confusion coming back to hit him all at once. His eyes stung, but he quickly bit back his rising emotions. They could celebrate and catch up later, he told himself. Right now, he needed to get Shiro out of here.

Whipping out his knife, Keith sliced off the restraints, freeing Shiro from the bed. He slung his flesh and blood arm over his shoulders and wrapped a hand around his waist, lifting his dead weight up the best he could. But before he could take even one step forward to leave, the door slid open and three teens in street clothes entered the room.

What the – Who were they? Why were they here all of a sudden? And why hadn't Mari stopped them outside?
The lankiest of the three marched towards him, a determined frown on his face. "Nope. No, you – No, no, no. No, you don't," he insisted, speaking a mile a minute as he shoved the gurney out of his way. "I'm saving Shiro."

Then before Keith could stop him, he grabbed Shiro's other arm and draped it over his shoulders, taking half of the older man's weight. Keith stared at the strange teen, confused.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Who am I? Uh, the name's Lance," he said, as if this should've been obvious. He paused, waiting for Keith to react. When he didn't, he blinked at him in disbelief. "We were in the same class at the Garrison?"

Lance…Lance…The name sorta sounded familiar.

"Really?" Keith wondered. "Are you, uh…an engineer?"

"No, I'm a pilot!" Lance snapped. "We were, like, rivals. You know, Lance and Keith, neck and neck."

A fellow pilot? Rivals? Wait a second – was this Lance McClain? The annoying kid who always cast him irritated looks across the classroom and nagged him in the simulator? Keith had barely seen him around after he'd been promoted to Fighter Pilot Class.

"Oh, wait. I remember you," he said, unable to stop himself from shooting him a scowl. "You're a cargo pilot."

"Well, not anymore," Lance said, his eyes narrowing at Keith in return. "I'm fighter class now, thanks to you washing out."

Wow. At least him getting kicked out had benefited someone, Keith thought dryly to himself. It was a wonder Lance had even made it to fighter class. He didn't remember much about him, but he knew the other boy had always been on the lower half of the simulator's scoring charts.

"Well, congratulations," he drawled, unimpressed.

Lance tsked and grit his teeth. But he didn't argue as he worked with Keith to drag Shiro out of the lab. The other two boys rushed ahead of them, keeping watch for the Garrison team, leaving them to approach the hoverbike where Mari was still waiting. She straightened in the seat, her eyes widening as they landed on Shiro's unconscious form held between their arms.

"Takashi…" she whispered, her voice quivering. "He's…you…"

Keith's irritation flared as he looked at her just idly sitting there. "I told you to stay on look out," he grunted, and her gaze flicked to him, furious.

"Oh, I'm sorry. And what was I supposed to do if someone was coming, huh genius?" she spat back. "Was I supposed to make a stupid bird call or something to alert you? Hm, I don't know. Because you dove right into this without a solid plan!"

"Will you just shut up and move over?" Keith hissed, his impatience growing. The Garrison crew were coming back. They had to get out of here already.

Mari pressed her mouth into a thin line, seething. But she obediently scooted backwards in the seat, allowing him to sit up front at the wheel. Still carrying Shiro, Lance shuffled towards the wing of the bike, his two friends scurrying from their lookout post to join them.

"Uh, do you mind if we catch a ride with you?" the bigger of the two nervously asked.

WHAT? No! Absolutely not! It was bad enough he had to carry Mari and now Shiro and Lance. There was no way his old bike would be able to get all of them out of here. A denial formed on Keith's lips, but before he could vocalize it, the big guy and his small buddy clambered onto the back of his vehicle. With the sudden excess weight, the whole thing lurched violently, threatening to tip over and throw all of them off. If Keith hadn't been gripping the handles, he was sure he would've been sent flying.

Everyone scrambled to readjust themselves. Lance grunted and groaned, struggling to reposition himself and Shiro. He paused in his efforts though as his eyes landed on Mari.

"Ooh! Well, hello there," he said, suddenly suave and without a care in the world. It made Keith want to turn around and smack him. "The name's Lance. And you are?"

Mari wasn't anymore amused. "Pissed off," she growled, making Lance grimace. Then she frantically gestured to Shiro, who had started sliding towards the ground. "What are you doing? Help him get on!"

"Okay, okay!" Lance shrilled, adjusting his hold on him and letting her help him properly position him on board. "Geez…"

The bike creaked dully beneath them, and the smallest of the strangers shifted uneasily where he sat. "Is this thing going to be big enough for all of us?" he asked.

"No," Keith ground out, as if this should've been obvious.

He was so tempted to shove the three randoms off, but it was too late to ditch them. The Garrison vehicles were upon them now, their headlights trained on their group as they barreled straight for them. It was time to make themselves scarce.

Starting the engines, Keith lifted them off the ground and peeled away into the desert. He navigated the dry landscape easily, as familiar with it as the back of his hand. He knew exactly how he could shake their pursuers. He just hoped it worked with this heavy of a load.

Behind him, his passengers continued to bicker in his ear.

"Why am I holding this guy?"

"Because shut up and I said so."

"Hey, we did all fit."

"Can't this thing go any faster?"

For the love of god, why couldn't they just be quiet? Keith was already pushing the bike to the fastest it could go, its speed drastically hindered by Lance and his friends.

"We could toss out some nonessential weight," he suggested flatly.

"Oh, right!" Lance gasped, and it took him a good long second for him to realize what Keith had been implying. "Okay, so that was an insult. I get it."

"Big Man, lean left!" Keith called out, ignoring Lance as the ground widened beneath them.

Thankfully, the big guy did as he was told. They dodged the jagged rocks, but several of the Garrison cars behind them weren't so fortunate and nimble. They crashed behind them, unable to keep up.

"Aw, man! Mr. Harris just wiped out Professor Montgomery!" the Big Man whimpered. "No, no. He's fine."

Something about his fretting sounded oddly familiar to Keith as they climbed further and further up the canyon path. Had this guy been in the same class as him too? He wasn't sure. He couldn't afford to rack his brain and try to remember now either. They still had two more pursuers to ditch.

"Big Man, lean right!" he ordered, veering them towards the edge of their path.

They jumped from one side of the canyon to the other, and the terrified screams of his three extra riders rang loud and clear in his ears. Not a word had left Mari's lips, but now she wrapped her arms around his waist, holding onto him for dear life. In all their rides together, she had never done that before. But then again, Keith had never driven them around so fast, so evasive and erratic. Still, the move was so sudden, so unexpected, it made him jump and want to crawl out of his skin. He was not used to personal contact, especially not from her.

Focus, he urged himself, and he swallowed down his feelings of discomfort.

The two Garrison vehicles on their tail had followed them, only for one to tumble out of commission. Keith revved his thrusters, surging right towards the cliff at the end of the path. It didn't take long for his passengers to take notice of it too.

"Guys? Is that a cliff up ahead?" the Big Man stammered, drawing the others' attention to it.

"Oh, no, no, no," Lance began to panic, but Keith ignored him, a nervous excitement beginning to bubble beneath the surface.

It was time to shake this last Garrison car. They were gonna fly.

"Yep," he grinned, and they shrieked as they shot right off the edge of the rock.

Of course, the car behind them screeched to a halt, leaving them to fall freely towards the earth below. The air whipped all around them, and for the first time in a very long while, Keith felt the thrill of flight, long forgotten ever since he'd been kicked out of the Garrison. Ever since Shiro had disappeared. But now, it was back, rekindled and flooding his heart with a joy that nearly made him forget about the tag-alongs squealing bloody murder behind him.

"What are you doing?" Lance shouted over the wind, pulling him from his elated state. "You're going to kill us all!"

"Shut up and trust me!" he called back to him before his gaze zeroed in on the ground rushing up to meet them. Just a couple more seconds…and…now!

Right on time, Keith pulled up on the bike and the hover mechanisms kicked in again with a groan. They straightened out and proceeded to glide easily along the dusty floor, speeding off into the night towards Keith's hidden little home in the desert.

Chapter Text

When Shiro finally woke up, he was more than a little confused to find himself on the couch of Keith's hut. But he was relieved to be greeted by the familiar faces of his mentee and his little sister.

Mari became a mess of tears and angry swearing, slurring out remarks in both English and Japanese that made Shiro wince. Keith watched as Shiro's big brother mode kicked in, no questions asked, and he gently guided her outside to calm down. But before he followed after her, Keith presented him with a pair of regular clothes to change into.

He'd dug out one of his dad's old outfits, too big for him to wear, but just right for Shiro's muscular build. Keith figured he'd be more comfortable in them instead of the strange, tattered uniform he was wearing when they'd found him. And to his relief, Shiro had agreed, and he smiled as he ditched the rags.

Big Man and his small friend politely averted their gazes while Shiro changed. But Lance couldn't help but stare, gawking at his metal arm and the scars that now covered his body. Keith shot him a nasty glare to knock it off, but he didn't seem to notice.

Once he was fully dressed, Shiro went outside to join Mari. They stood a ways from the house, leaving Keith to hang back and stand in the doorway. He watched as they conversed, lost in their own private conversation. Shiro held her close while her shoulders trembled, and a twinge of familiar jealousy tugged at Keith's heart, suddenly feeling like an outsider again in his best friend's personal life. He waited for the first rays of dawn to peek over the horizon, gradually beginning to light up their world, before he steeled himself and approached the sibling reunion.

Mari stiffened when she saw him coming. She quickly turned away, embarrassed as she brushed away the last of her tears, scrubbing the stains off her cheeks. Keith pretended not to notice, keeping his attention locked on Shiro.

"It's good to have you back," he said, tentatively patting his shoulder. The emptiness in his chest that had been plaguing him for the past year had all but disappeared. He felt so much lighter, so much happier just having Shiro back in his world.

"It's good to be back," Shiro said, managing a small but grateful smile in turn. He glanced between him and Mari, adding, "I'm surprised to see you two together. How'd you finally meet?"

"We, um, met outside the Garrison," Mari provided, and Keith raised a brow at her. Interesting how she'd conveniently left out the part about how she'd pounced on him in the caves. Still, he nodded stiffly in half-hearted agreement when Shiro looked to him for confirmation.

"I see." He paused, processing. "Wait, outside of the Garrison? What are you two even doing out here? You can't leave campus without permission. …Please don't tell me you snuck out."

Keith grimaced and Mari's jaw clenched. "He got kicked out," she stated, cold and blunt. "And I got pulled out."

Shiro stared at them, eyes wide. "What?"

"Mom and Dad got really scared after you went missing," she explained, at least on her behalf. "They came themselves and pulled me out of the Space Exploration program."

Shock and sympathy flooded Shiro's expression as he looked at her, at a loss for words. "Mari, that's…I'm so sorry."

"It doesn't matter anymore," she replied almost too quickly, her voice tight and curt. "I'm over it."

Keith knew that was a lie. She loved the idea of space travel. Her life's dream had been crushed in an instant. And with how she still looked longingly up at the stars, how she bitterly spoke about her parents and their attempts at expressing their condolences, there was no way she had just "gotten over it" already. She lied so easily to her brother. She didn't hesitate to keep her true feelings from him. And Shiro had sensed it for years, knowing for so long that something was off with her, but never understanding how he could fix it. Even now, Shiro's gaze was full of a helpless worry, and Keith felt guilty as he proceeded to direct it at him, waiting for his explanation.

He sighed and crossed his arms over his chest out of habit. He wouldn't be able to keep the truth from Shiro for long. Might as well get it out there.

"After the Garrison announced the failure of the Kerberos mission, I confronted Iverson about it. Things got out of hand and…he booted me from the program," he provided slowly, carefully. "I'm sorry, Shiro. After all you did for me, I ended up blowing it."

Shiro had spent years going out of his way for him – enduring the scoldings on his behalf whenever he messed up, spending his weekends training him and driving him around and listening to his problems, always putting in a good word for him whenever he spoke to his professors. Shiro had gotten him out of the home. He'd given him a chance at a better future. And Keith had ruined it, all because he couldn't control the anger that had gotten him into so much trouble his entire life.

His shoulders involuntarily tensed, bracing himself for Shiro's disappointed response. Maybe he would even be angry. But when he finally drew his eyes up to the older man, there was nothing but that gentle warmth and patience in his gaze as he looked at Keith.

"It's okay, Keith," he assured him, soft and full of understanding. "I know it must've been hard."

He consolingly patted him on the back, and Keith thought he just might crumple with relief. Even after having been gone for a year, enduring who-knew-what sort of hell out in the depths of space, Shiro was still endlessly kind. Keith was so glad that at least hadn't changed about him.

"Ugh, who cares what the Garrison hardheads think. That's not important right now," Mari muttered, interrupting their little moment. "You're back, Takashi! And you've got a lot of explaining to do."

Shiro's smile was small as he looked at her. "I don't even know where to begin," he admitted.

"Well, you can start with how you got this white tuft," she suggested, playfully flicking his white locks. "Or how you earned that scar on your face. Or…"

Her voice trailed off as her attention settled on his metal arm, the mirth draining from her eyes. Shiro winced at her reaction, and he self-consciously rubbed at where the prosthetic met flesh beneath the fabric of his shirt. Keith shifted his weight from one foot to the other, hurrying to find a way to break the tension.

"Everyone said you were dead," he finally chimed in. "What happened out there? Where were you?"

Shiro crossed his arms, ignoring the weight of his new arm as he stared out across the dry landscape. "I wish I could tell you," he said, quiet and clearly troubled. "Sorry…My head's still pretty scrambled."

"It's fine, just go slow," Mari gently encouraged him. "Tell us what you can remember."

Shiro took a deep and shaky breath, mentally preparing himself the best he could. "I…was on an alien ship. But somehow, I escaped...It's all a blur." He sighed, his brow furrowing as he struggled to recall. "How did you two know to come save me when I crashed?"

Mari cast Keith a hesitant look. "It's…sorta a long story," she admitted.

Shiro wasn't the only one with a lot of explaining to do, Keith realized. They still had the mystery of the blue lion markings and the energy source to deal with. Even now, he could feel the strange sensation persistently calling out to him, begging him to come into the desert to the caves. It was all connected somehow, him, Mari, Shiro, and the lion carvings. Maybe Lance and his two buddies were involved as well, since they had also appeared at the time of the arrival.

He knew he could trust Shiro. And he supposed it wouldn't hurt to reveal their little desert research project to the other three as well. They had months of research and theories to catch them all up on – might as well start now.

Keith jerked his head towards the shack, where Lance and the other two boys were still waiting inside. "You should come see this," he prompted, and he led the way back into the house.

Hunk and Pidge, Keith learned, were the names of Lance's friends. Thinking about it now, he knew something had felt familiar about Hunk – he remembered his nauseous whining from when they'd completed flight simulation drills together in their early Garrison days, back when he'd still been a cargo pilot and Hunk had been a junior engineer. Something felt oddly familiar about Pidge as well, although Keith knew for a fact that he had never met the younger boy before – who could forget a name as weird as Pidge? But where had he seen him before? …Or maybe he hadn't. Maybe it was just the big round glasses that he wore and all the nerd talk that reminded him so much of Matthew Holt.

Either way, they were all here now. And after Keith had shown them their bulletin board of research, explaining how they'd found Shiro the night prior and how there was a strange energy source in the desert, Shiro was able to recall a bit more about what had happened to him. He'd been captured by aliens on Kerberos – they did exist – and they were coming to Earth in search of some sort of weapon. Something called Voltron.

Keith almost didn't believe it. Almost. If he hadn't witnessed Shiro crashing into Earth on an unidentifiable ship after a year of being missing in space, if he hadn't trusted Shiro with his whole body and soul, he might not have. And Pidge only added to his belief when he admitted he had been following alien radio chatter, and Hunk said he could track the wavelength that this Voltron thing was emitting.

And it led them right to the canyons, right to the caves with the blue lion markings.

The moment their group stepped inside the dark space, Keith felt something about the energy shift. Lance touched one of the carvings on the wall, and like a rushing ocean, the energy roared dully in Keith's ears, joyous and triumphant and relieved. After months of calling out to him, he had finally done what it had wanted him to do.

Suddenly, all of the markings lit up, each of them glowing a bright blue. Then the ground beneath their feet cracked and caved, sending them all falling down a watery slope. Thankfully, their descent was short-lived. They crashed into a shallow pool of water, finding themselves in a new underground cavern. And with them, was a giant, metallic blue lion, shielded in some sort of forcefield.

This was what was causing that strange energy. This was what had been calling out to them. Mari had been right: this was what the people who had made the cave drawings had been looking at this whole time. A highly advanced, mechanical, alien object that was definitely out of their world.

And just as the markings had glowed, the lion abruptly activated at Lance's touch.

The forcefield dissolved, and the lion unleashed a wave of rippling power that made Keith's vision briefly go white. Images of the lion flashed through his mind, except now, there were more of them. Yellow, green, red, black – they soared through the sky with the blue lion, merging to create one giant mech: Voltron.

When the strange vision had ceased, the lion lowered its head to them. It opened its mouth and lowered a ramp, encouraging them to enter. Lance, either incredibly bravely or stupidly, ran up the ramp first, throwing all caution to the wind as he explored the alien lion. Keith and the others had no choice but to follow.

It didn't take Keith long to realize why Lance had always been at the bottom of their simulation drill rankings.

The Blue Lion was a ship. And it, for some unknown reason, had chosen Lance to be its pilot. Not Keith, who had higher scores than him in the simulator. Not Keith, who had discovered the Blue Lion caves, had found Shiro, and had brought everyone together in the first place. He almost would've been jealous if it weren't for the fact that Lance's crappy and unhinged flight job was threatening to send the rest of them bouncing around the cockpit like ping-pong balls on drugs.

After bringing the Blue Lion to its feet, Lance had ungracefully broken them out of the canyons. They'd burst through the rock, no doubt destroying half of the hidden cave network with the Blue Lion markings in the process, and he took them into the air. They spiraled and dove and rolled violently through the sky before sprinting along the ground, a beast finally freed from its millennia-long prison. Then they shot back upwards, going airborne again. But this time, they climbed higher and higher into the atmosphere, and Lance nor the Blue Lion had any intention of stopping.

They were going into space. Right here, right now. Five cadets and one officer who was the only one among them who had any true flight experience. Keith was finally flying, for real this time. He was finally leaving this place. But he wasn't the one behind the wheel, and it was with some of the last people he had ever expected to experience it with. And it was all happening so fast. Too fast. But there was nothing he could do to stop it now. Things had gone far out of his control.

It only got worse with the appearance of the aliens.

A long and dark warship came to meet them as they zipped away from Earth. The Blue Lion was a peanut compared to the massive weapon that was the foreign cruiser. And as soon as it had spotted them, it began to besiege them with a torrent of purple laser blasts.

Lance fought back to the best of his ability. The Blue Lion fired its own attack from a mouth cannon. It used its claws against the sides of the ship, leaving behind scorching gashes. But it wasn't enough. Despite its advanced might, the Blue Lion was only scratching the surface of the cruiser. Lance peeled away from Earth, making a run for it whilst drawing the aliens away from their planet.

They traveled deeper and deeper into space, moving at an unfathomable speed that brought them to the edges of the Milky Way Galaxy in seconds. But it wasn't enough to shake their pursuers, who remained right on their tail and were drawing ever closer.

Then, a swirling magic circle materialized directly in front of them, the Blue Lion urging them to go through it.

All at once, it hit Keith just what was happening. The magic circles from the cave drawings had been portals, just like the one that had appeared before them. The ancient markings hadn't just been predicting an arrival — they'd been depicting their departure. From Earth. From the Milky Way. From the safety of their simple home and everything they had ever known.

Keith's heart raced as Lance drove the Blue Lion straight through the portal, but whether it was with giddy excitement or an uneasy dread, he didn't know. But somehow, he could feel it. An adventure, a purpose that was bigger than any one of them laid in wait on the other side of the portal. No longer grounded, he had broken free of his restraints on Earth, his world opening up infinitely before him.

He was finally going to find his place in the universe.

He was finally going to find a place where he belonged.

Chapter Text

Being a paladin wasn't easy. The intense physical and mental training Keith could handle. It was almost no different from training at the Garrison, except on the Castle of Lions, he had way more fun and freedom battling the Gladiator droid with his bayard sword. And bonding with his lion, getting to see what Red could do, and getting to test his own skill in the field was exhilarating. He was slowly, but surely, mastering the most difficult Voltron lion to control. Finally, finally he was pushing his limits and flying for real. No more simulators. No more teachers to boss him around. He was going on real missions now, doing real work in the skies. He was helping others, just like Shiro. Just like his dad had.

Unfortunately, everything else about being a paladin was a bit more difficult to handle.

Like the mandatory teamwork. He was abruptly thrown onto a team with a bunch of strangers (except for Shiro), tasked with the mission to form the legendary hero Voltron to save the universe from an evil, near-immortal alien emperor named Zarkon. And they were all expected to bond with each other and their lions just like that. Thankfully, things had worked out for them so far, but still…Keith wasn't used to being a team player. With Shiro's steady presence and leadership, he didn't mind the group effort – it certainly made working with the others more tolerable. But good god, sometimes he wanted to strangle the other paladins. Mostly Lance, who was always irritatingly overconfident, flirty, talkative, and constantly pushing Keith's buttons and testing his patience. And then Pidge when she (yes, a she – turns out she was Matt's little sister, Katie Holt) was on the verge of leaving Voltron in favor of searching the universe for her father and brother.

And then there was the alien princess, Allura, and her advisor, Coran, who were now their new bosses. They were a million times kinder than Iverson and a lot quirkier, but they were almost just as nagging. Do this, don't do that. Always peace first before resorting to fighting. Always give people the benefit of the doubt. Always help those in need, no matter how small or large their problems. Always consider the lives of your teammates and civilians before your own. Always keep your guard up. Be careful who you trust. And always, always be prepared for anything…

…Such as the regular attacks from Galra fleets and ruthless commanders like Sendak. Or the fights with Zarkon's robeasts. Or even the inner turmoil that arose within their own team.

Mari often tended to be at the heart of this last point. Her presence on the Castle of Lions, on their little adventure as a whole, was a mystery to Keith. She wasn't a paladin. Allura had initially thought that maybe she could be a candidate for the Red Lion's paladin, but Red had chosen Keith instead. And now, with no lion to pilot, she could only wait on standby on the bridge with Allura and Coran.

She was such a strange case. She had felt the Blue Lion's energy, but she wasn't destined to be a paladin. She couldn't fly. She couldn't manage the Castle. So why was she here? What was her purpose out here with them in space? She must've had one. Why else would the Blue Lion have brought her out here with them?

Keith almost felt bad for her. She'd worked so hard to uncover the mystery of the cave markings and it had brought her into deep space, only for her to get shoved to the sidelines as she watched the others set out on a path to greatness. Despite how she assured the princess and Shiro that she was fine with her position on the team, Keith could tell it was infuriating for her. That unspoken sense of uselessness. The rising jealousy as she was forced into Voltron's shadow. She seemed to get even more closed off and angrier than before they had launched into space. It was a change that hadn't gone unnoticed by Shiro, and it clearly troubled him. And in turn, it bothered Keith. He couldn't understand for the life of him why she was like this. Why was she so angry when she'd had everything growing up? Why did she hurt Shiro when he hadn't done anything but show her kindness and patience? It was all so frustratingly annoying, especially since he couldn't seem to reason with her.

Then, right before they left Arus, she'd fallen from that cliff. And it was all Keith's fault.

Well…not completely. She had climbed down herself. She had taken the risk herself, all to save a lost crystal that belonged to an Arusian. She had said that hurtful thing to him, hitting him where it hurt and making his own envy and dislike of her flare up. But Keith had left her in the end. He had made her think he was abandoning her, just to get back at her. And then, while he was gone, she had fallen, making Shiro panic as he scrambled to get her to a healing pod.

Shiro didn't blame him. No one did. But Keith was still angry at himself, especially when they learned more about Mari's past and why she acted the way she did. Her mother had always played favorites between her and Shiro. She'd shamed her young daughter. Gaslit her. Abused her. Had wished she died instead of Shiro. And like a sponge with hardly any say at all, Mari had been forced to absorb it all. She grew angry and conflicted, struggling to process the pain and her desire to prove her worth until she had locked it all away. She had looked so forward to finally excelling as a pilot, but even that had been ruined, her dreams crushed with the failure of the Kerberos mission. No matter how hard she tried, she was always stuck on the ground in Shiro's shadow. And it had been breaking her.

Shiro hadn't known. He hadn't realized that she had been this tormented ever since their youth. It wasn't his fault, Keith had thought. But he, on the other hand, had intentionally been a jerk to her. A hypocritical asshole. He hadn't tried to understand her. He'd only judged her, made assumptions about her because he was jealous. He hadn't given her the second chance that he himself had always longed for others to give him. She had been struggling, but no one had reached out a hand to her when she'd needed it. At least not until now. Not until the entire team confronted and comforted her about it, finally giving her the support she'd needed.

It was amazing Mari had been willing to open up to all of them about this, about all her trauma and insecurities. It was amazing that she had been willing to forgive him for leaving her on that cliff, even if she didn't quite remember what had happened between them. Keith wasn't sure he'd ever be able to do such things, even with the teammates he was slowly growing closer to.

She may have not been a paladin, but Mariko Shirogane certainly had an irreplaceable place amongst their strange little space family, he decided. She'd been a monumental help in figuring out the meaning behind the lion carvings. She'd helped him find Shiro. She helped them with paladin training. When Sendak had attacked the Castle, she and Pidge had stopped him from stealing the lions. Then using the Castle's cannons, she had shot the head off the robeast that had attacked the Balmera. She'd even helped Allura access and destroy King Alfor's infected AI unit before they could all be burned to ash.

Even now, in the depths of the Galra space hub, she was determined to do whatever she could to help out their team and ensure their mission was a success. But to Keith's annoyance, that, for some reason, meant following him around the facility while he searched for the hooded figure and the golden substance they had been transporting. She was supposed to stay behind with the others in the control room where it was safer…but then again, so was he while Shiro and Allura were investigating the Galra ship. The point is, he wasn't happy to see her trailing after him, alone in the middle of enemy territory.

"What are you doing here?" he hissed when she'd finally caught up to him.

"I'm making sure you don't get caught, or worse, killed," she said. "You shouldn't just go running off by yourself."

Keith's glare deepened, hoping to get her to back down. "I told you not to tell me what to do," he ground out. "Just go back to the others already. You'll be safer there."

Apparently, that had been the wrong thing to say. Mari's eyes flashed with an all too familiar anger, her stubborn rage only encouraging her to stay. "Okay, one: you're such a hypocrite! I don't have to take orders from you either!" she snapped back. "And two: 'I'll be safer there'? We're in a Galran base, Keith! Nowhere inside this facility is completely safe!"

She had a point. Still, he wouldn't admit that to her. "Why do you have to be so difficult?" he huffed. "Shiro is going to be pissed if anything happens to you."

She rolled her eyes. "Nothing will happen to me. And he won't be mad because he doesn't have to find out that we did this."

Keith grit his teeth, his irritation boiling. "I said no, okay? Just go back already!" he insisted.

"No. Not unless you're coming with me."

"Well, I'm not going back until I find out what that stuff is."

"Then I guess you're stuck with me."

"Mari!"

"You shouldn't be wandering around by yourself here!" she emphasized once more. "But if I can't stop you, the next best thing I can do is go with you for backup…Plus, I don't know if I'll be able to find my way back to the control room."

Keith almost laughed at that. Her? Providing him with backup? She may have been a good fighter on the training deck, but she didn't have armor. Or a shield. Or a bayard. Her only weapon was a staff. And she didn't even have any real fighting experience in the field, unlike him.

"I don't need you as backup," he scoffed. "I can handle myself in a fight."

She visibly bristled, furious. Keith braced himself, waiting for her to explode and blow their cover. Instead, she inhaled and exhaled deeply, her boiling rage lowering to a simmer.

"Okay, look," she said, sharp and even as she spoke. "There are sentries scattered all over this place and you don't know what that thing down there is capable of. I don't care how good your skills are, you're freaking screwed if you get found out and they call for backup. Having another fighter by your side in that sort of situation is better than fighting alone."

She, unfortunately, had a point. Again. But the restless feeling deep in his gut begged for him to keep trying to send her back. He pressed his lips into a thin line, frustrated and indecisive until he realized their target had begun to move out of sight through a set of massive metal doors. He needed to make his choice. Quickly. Now.

He let out an exasperated grunt, letting her know that he was still mad and displeased with her. Yet he relented, letting her stick with him and follow after the hooded figure.

"Fine! Let's go."

Letting Mari come with him had been the wrong decision. And fighting the hooded freak had been an even worse one.

Always consider the lives of your teammates and civilians before your own.

Always keep your guard up.

Always be prepared for anything.

Keith had failed all three of those things. Not only had his hand nearly been burnt to a crisp, but they had lost the quintessence. And Mari…that thing had taken her. Grabbed her right in front of his eyes before they'd vanished in a poof of dark mist.

She was gone. And so was Allura. Both of them captured and on their way to the heart of the Galra Empire.

It was his fault, really and truly this time. But Shiro didn't blame him. He was still too kind. But Keith could see the panic in his gaze, just barely hidden beneath the surface. And he knew, deep down, that he had failed him.

He'd failed as a paladin.

He'd failed as a friend.

Their plan to rescue Allura and Mari was not going well. They'd tracked their biorhythms on Zarkon's central command ship, but they were on two totally different sides of the massive HQ. And somehow, when they had been in the midst of their heroic charge, Voltron had malfunctioned and they'd been forced apart. Now they were all trapped within a massive shield, forced to take on countless Galra fleets separately in their lions. To make matters worse, Shiro had been forcibly ejected from the Black Lion and it was being drawn in towards Zarkon's HQ.

His jetpack damaged, Shiro decided to enter the ship and get Mari on his way towards Black. The others were in charge of rescuing Allura while Coran provided support in the Castle. But even now, Keith could see the Black Lion drawing ever nearer into the heart of enemy territory, dangerously close to capture. If Shiro was saving Mari first, he wouldn't make it to Black in time. They'd lose the head of Voltron to Zarkon if they didn't get the lion out of there right now.

So, Keith made a decision. One he hoped was the correct one.

"You guys get the princess without me."

"What?" Lance shrilled over their comms. "We've got to stick together! What are you doing?"

"Whatever I can," he said, already driving towards Black.

Flying at full speed, he rammed Red into the Black Lion, sending it careening away from the enemy's grasp. It spiraled into the lower right side of the ship, crashing into the surface and skidding to a halt, slumped over and lifeless. Keith hovered closer, ready to protect it until Shiro returned, when a figure zipped out from the center of the HQ. Boosting themselves past Red, they nimbly landed before the fallen Black Lion. Broad-shouldered, dark, and menacing, they stood there without a helmet, tall and confident in front of the lion, unfazed by the battle going on around them. Their narrowed eyes glowed, an old and threatening air emanating off their person.

Keith's guard went on high alert, his instincts screaming for him to be careful around this person. "Whoa…Who is that?" he asked, sending a closer image of them to Coran.

The old Altean advisor gasped. "It's Zarkon!" he exclaimed, the fear and panic evident in his response. "Keith, get out of there, now! Zarkon's too powerful!"

This was Zarkon? Their enemy number one? This was the same being who had captured Shiro. Had made him fight in his twisted gladiator arena and taken his arm. He'd nearly killed Lance, had almost destroyed the Balmera, and had taken Allura and Mari. This was the same being who had been ruling the universe for ten thousand years, slaughtering and enslaving countless innocent lives. And now, he was right here in front of Keith, unarmed and out in the open.

He could do it. Right here, right now. He could end millennia of oppression.

His blood boiling, Keith's grip tightened around Red's controls. "This is my chance to put an end to the Galra Empire! I have to take it!"

"Keith, don't!" Coran begged him, but it was too late.

His sights set on Zarkon, Keith thrust Red forward. He powered up the mouth cannon and unleashed a scorching blue beam upon the Galra emperor. But to his shock, the laser had only pushed Zarkon back. He'd blocked the blast with a holo shield, manifested from…a bayard. The black bayard. The one Allura had claimed to have been lost with its original paladin.

"You may have a lion, but its power is weak in your fledgling hands."

The deep and chilling voice of the ancient emperor echoed over his comms, and Keith hated how it made a shiver run down his spine. Gritting his teeth and shaking the icy feeling away, he circled around, trying to find another opening to attack. But before he could charge another blast, Zarkon transformed his bayard into a wicked-looking sword. He slashed the air and a ray of purple energy shot forth from the blade, slamming right into Red and sending it tumbling.

Keith grunted as warning alarms chirped across his lion's dash, warning him of the damage they were taking. He quickly stopped Red's fall, righting it as he regained control over its wild speed and fiery attitude.

"You cannot stop me," Zarkon sneered. "The Black Lion will finally be returned to its original paladin."

Original paladin? Zarkon? He was Black's…Well, that did explain why he had the black bayard. And possibly why he wanted Voltron so badly.

Keith didn't know how or why Zarkon had ever been the pilot of the Black Lion. Those would be questions to ask Allura and Coran on another day, when they weren't all in imminent danger. All that mattered now was stopping Zarkon from taking the Black Lion. And Keith would absolutely not let him steal it right out from under him. It had chosen Shiro. He was its paladin now, never again to be Zarkon.

His stubborn and rage-fueled determination set, Keith fired on the enemy emperor, only for him to form a shield and block it once more. He landed Red before Zarkon, ready to square off against him, and the emperor was more than prepared to oblige. He formed his sword and Keith charged, firing shot after shot at him. But Zarkon was fast and incredibly agile, expertly dodging each attack until he had closed the distance between them. Keith scrambled to move Red out of the way as he brought his blade down, but he wasn't fast enough. The slash caught his lion, sending him sprawling.

But Keith refused to give up. Red stood and tried again. And again. And again. Back and forth they went like this, but each time Zarkon always seemed to have the upper hand. With nothing but his bayard and his brute strength, accumulated and honed over his ten thousand plus years of life, he was easily and mercilessly throwing Red around like a rag doll.

With Red down once more, Zarkon turned his bayard into a cannon and fired. Keith just barely managed to escape the shot, the blast soaring past his lion and taking out a chunk of one of the Galra's structures. Zarkon wasn't afraid to kill his own. He didn't care about his surroundings or damaging his own facilities. He was dead set on obtaining the Black Lion, no matter the costs. It made the pool of dread in Keith's stomach grow even larger realizing just how ruthless and powerful of a force the emperor truly was.

"Keith, get out of there!"

He ignored Coran, too preoccupied with evading Zarkon's explosive follow-up attacks. As terrifying as this battle was, he still refused to leave Black. He couldn't. Not until Shiro made it back. Leaping into the air, he circled Red around, jaw blade forming as he found Zarkon amongst the dissipating black smoke. The emperor glared up at him, prepared to delve into another round of their fight.

"Keith, do you copy? You don't know what you're dealing with! He's too powerful!" Coran continued to press, and his nervous pleading grated against Keith's ears. "Listen to me, it's imperative that you don't engage the – "

Gritting his teeth, Keith silenced their line. Then he laid on his controls, charging Zarkon. The emperor responded by transforming his blade into an energized whip, snapping it every which way at Red. Keith nimbly evaded the attacks at first, but once again, Zarkon was much too quick. Much too experienced at predicting the lion's movements. The whip wrapped around the back of Red's legs and Zarkon jerked Keith out of the sky, brutally throwing him and his lion into the exterior of the ship.

Keith groaned, his head throbbing from the rattling impact. More warning alarms rang out in the cockpit and Red's displays fritzed dangerously. Then his heart nearly leapt into his throat as he realized the emperor was making a beeline right for them. The tip of his bayard blade scorched the metal hull of his ship, sending up sparks, and he surged forward, intent on finishing off the weakling paladin inside the Red Lion.

"No…"

Keith's heart hammered frantically inside his chest, his breathing turning desperate and ragged in his rising fear and anger. His face was hot, his eyes starting to sting with his boiling rage. He couldn't lose. Not here. Not now. He still had to make sure Shiro got back to Black. He still had to apologize to Mari. He had to survive and make things right as a paladin.

With a furious scream, he infused every last bit of his rage into yanking on Red's controls. Red hauled itself to its feet, and to Keith's surprise, a brand new energy cannon appeared on the lion's back. It unleashed a crackling blue beam at Zarkon, stopping him in his tracks as he tried to block it, until it ultimately sent him rolling away. The laser whizzed past him, taking out a huge piece of the Galra structure behind him.

"Whoa!" Keith stared at the damage in awe, a tiny spark of hope returning to him. Finally, he had a chance. He wasn't out of this yet. He could still keep Zarkon away from the Black Lion.

Taking Red into the air, Keith locked onto the emperor and fired again. The new cannon released another blazing beam, mercilessly cutting into the surface of the Galra central control and forcing Zarkon to fly along the exterior to avoid the blow. The attack left a long and smoldering line in its wake, and Keith lost his target in the dense clouds of smoke.

"You fight like a Galra soldier."

Zarkon had said it like it was some sort of compliment. Like it was an approval of his opponent's stubborn and unhinged anger.

Freak.

It disturbed Keith, driving an icy spike of fear right into his very soul.

Freak.

He searched desperately for the source of that dark and chilling voice, for the enemy that was lurking just beyond his sight.

Freak.

Suddenly, Zarkon was leaping up in front of him, soaring above Red.

"But not for long!" he snarled, and before Keith could react, the emperor manifested a giant mace and pummeled Red.

His lion slammed back into the surface of the ship with so much force, the metal cracked and began to cave beneath them. Red's cannon had disappeared, the lion's systems sparking and completely unresponsive now. Above him, Zarkon had turned his mace into a jagged metal sword and he was charging the fallen lion, ready to deliver the final blow. The killing blow.

Panic clutched at Keith's heart. "Come on!" He was pleading with Red and pulling on its controls, begging it to move, to at least come back online long enough for him to dodge. "Come on!"

But Red was out and down for the count. And Zarkon was mere seconds away. Even with a lion, Keith was no match for the emperor. He was going to be killed right here and now. And there was nothing he could do to stop it.

He'd failed again.

Why did he always have to screw up?

Why did he always have to lose?

Just as despair threatened to swallow him whole, the Black Lion abruptly zipped into view and fired at Zarkon. Taken by surprise, the emperor didn't have time to even consider blocking it, and he was thrown into the hull of his ship in a fiery explosion. With Zarkon out of commission for the moment, the Black Lion swooped down and scooped up Red, taking them away from the ship and heading towards the Castle of Lions.

"I got you, buddy!" Shiro's voice piped up over their comms. "It's time to get out of here."

Shiro had made it back to his lion. Keith had bought him enough time to get back to Black before it was taken. He may have lost the battle with Zarkon, but he'd given the emperor a heck of a lot of grief. And he'd survived. They all had. Allura and Mari had been retrieved and were, hopefully, safe. And Voltron was still within their possession.

Always consider the lives of your teammates and civilians before your own.

Always keep your guard up.

Always be prepared for anything.

Keith nearly sagged in his seat with relief as they entered the safety of the Red Lion's hangar. He supposed he hadn't failed completely as a paladin, at least.

Chapter Text

Because enduring a rescue mission/harrowing battle against Zarkon in the heart of the Galra Empire wasn't bad enough, the lions had to get scattered in a wormhole jump gone awry. And to make matters worse, Shiro was injured and in trouble…and all the way on the other side of the barren planet he and Keith had crash landed on, both of their lions down for the count.

But after running across the unstable and rocky landscape and nearly getting burned to death by explosive geysers of steaming water, Keith had almost reached Shiro's location. He just had to figure out how to cross the massive ravine that now sat in his path.

He glared at his newest obstacle. He was exhausted and frustrated, worn thin from the stress of the day and all the worries that still weighed on his mind. But he had to keep going. He couldn't – wouldn't stop until he was sure Shiro was okay. At least now he had a possible idea forming on how to cross the chasm in his way.

He sighed, heavy and tired. "Patience yields focus," he chanted, more to himself than anything as he peeled away from the edge of the ravine.

"That really stayed with you, didn't it?" Shiro murmured over their comms. Despite how strained he sounded, Keith could hear the small smile in his voice.

"You've given me some good advice." Keith paused, stomping on a crumbly section of the ground and watching as the geyser spewed forth in a towering column of hot water. "If it wasn't for you, my life would have been a lot different."

"Yeah. You wouldn't have crashed a flying lion on an alien planet and be stuck with little hope of rescue," Shiro chuckled, humorless and bitter. "So, you're welcome."

Keith grimaced. He didn't like Shiro talking like that. He sounded so full of despair. The warmth he always carried was wavering, like a flame flickering in the wind and threatening to go out. It was hard to hear, it was so unlike him. It was the pain talking, Keith decided, and he silently wished the gushing water would hurry up and stop.

On the other end of their line, Shiro coughed vehemently, making Keith's heart drop into his stomach. Every cell screamed for him to run, to hurry up and get to him right now. But he couldn't. Not yet. Just a few more seconds…and…there! The water had stopped.

"Stay with me, Shiro," he urged, and he hoped he didn't sound as panicked as he felt.

Summoning his bayard, he transformed it into a blade and stood on the edge of the ravine. Then in two swift slices, he cut free the section of earth beneath his feet and the build-up of pressure from the underground geyser system sent him flying forward. He grinned in success, surfing through the air over the abyss. But his glee was short-lived as the rock crumbled underfoot and he was left free-falling, still out of reach of the other side of the chasm. In a terrified moment of genius, he activated his jetpack and boosted himself upward, streaming higher and higher up the wall until he practically threw himself onto the solid ground of the opposite ledge. He clung to it for dear life, panting hard with his racing heart. When the ringing in his ears died out, he could hear Shiro fretfully calling out his name, having heard his terrified grunts and screams from the ordeal he'd just survived.

"Hang on. I'm on my way," he promised weakly, using his boosters to haul himself over the ledge to continue his trek towards Shiro.

"Good, because these guys just started digging."

Shiro had said there were some sort of nasty-looking creatures after him. Keith wondered how big there were, how many of them there were. Depending on the answer, he didn't know if he could take them down by himself. But leaving them to hurt Shiro was out of the question. Maybe he could just grab Shiro and they could hide out in the Black Lion.

As if on cue, said lion appeared on the horizon. He chuckled with relief, glad to finally be here, to have finally reached his friend. "Shiro, I have a visual on the Black Lion," he announced, drawing ever closer to it.

But Shiro didn't answer. Instead, he screamed, and the fearful sound was quickly followed by grunts of pain. Then his end abruptly went dead.

"Shiro, what happened?"

No reply. The silence made Keith's blood run cold and he gnashed his teeth together, on the verge of losing the shallow reserve of patience he had left. Pouring every last ounce of adrenaline he had into his aching muscles, he surged forward, pushing himself to go faster towards Black.

Finally, he reached the lion. He hurried past it and stumbled to a halt as he spotted Shiro in the pit below, running from four massive lizard-esque animals. Even if Keith went down there and could make it to Shiro before he was mauled to death, he would just be setting himself up for annihilation next. Those things were too big and there were too many of them to take on by himself. He'd just be killed and eaten right alongside Shiro. He had to find another way.

Then, a familiar energy coursed through him. A lion's roar echoed faintly in his ears, drawing his attention towards the Black Lion. It laid there, quiet and unresponsive, the light from its eyes having gone out. But maybe Black was like Red and the other lions. Maybe it could muster up the strength it needed to save its paladin.

Without wasting another second, Keith flew over to the head of Voltron and landed before its tightly shut jaw.

"I know I'm not Shiro, but he's in trouble," he said, rushed and desperate as he called out to the lion. He placed a hand on its mouth, trying to will it to get up. "We need to help him."

The Black Lion didn't respond for an agonizingly long moment. Keith stared at it, hard and pleading, silently begging for it to do something. They needed to help Shiro. He would do anything to save him.

A joyful determination sparked within Keith's core as the Black Lion's eyes lit up. It shifted, opening its maw and permitting him to run up the ramp and enter the cockpit. He plopped down in the pilot's seat and grasped Black's controls, the lion's energy thrumming beneath his fingers. It felt so much different from Red's fiery and temperamental nature, he noticed. Black was calm and controlled, radiating an intense power that was almost too much for him. And when he began to move the lion, he realized just how large and clunky Black really was, far too heavy and slow compared to Red's nimble speed and movements.

But it would be enough. He didn't need to fly the Black Lion for long or anything. He just had to save Shiro.

Laying on the controls, Keith leapt into the pit, landing Black right over the creatures attacking his friend. He tried stomping on them and smacking them with Black's tail, stirring up clouds of dust and debris and scaring them away. When there was only one left, Black let out a vicious roar and it scurried off, wise enough not to try its luck against the giant metallic beast.

After loading Shiro onto the Black Lion, Keith flew them back to where Red had crashed. Then he and Shiro sat outside, trying to calm their racing hearts as they waited for rescue.

Using the few scraps of dried wood he could find, Keith managed to make a small fire to ward off the chill as this planet's sun slowly began to set. He made Shiro eat and drink one of the food goo and water pouches stored in the lions for emergency survival situations. Then he tried to inspect his wound, only to stop short as he realized he'd never encountered a magical glowing injury before and wasn't sure how to treat it. With a tight smile, Shiro had said it was fine and was adamant on keeping it covered with his hand in the meantime.

As the skies slowly began to darken, an uneasy silence settled over them. Shiro, scuffed up all over, was leaning back heavily against a rock. His forehead was beaded with sweat and his eyelids drooped, no doubt on the verge of passing out as he set his gaze on the horizon.

"Thanks for saving me," he managed after a moment, his voice almost a whisper.

Keith watched him worriedly from his spot next to him, ready to catch him in case he started listing towards the fire. "You'd have done the same for me," he said. "How's your wound?"

"My wound's great. It's getting bigger all the time."

Keith stared at him, unamused, his concern unwavering.

Shiro's gaze flicked to him, almost apologetic for the lame attempt at a joke. "Just trying to lighten the mood."

Even now, injured and on the verge of delirium, Shiro was trying to make Keith feel better. He was still so kind. Almost too kind. Keith wished he'd actually worry about himself for once, especially now.

"Hang in there," he encouraged him nonetheless. "When Allura and Coran find us, they'll fix you right up."

Shiro's frown deepened, his brow pinched in concern as he struggled to focus on him. "Keith," he grunted, thin and strained. "If I don't make it out of here, I want you to lead Voltron."

Those words were like a punch to the gut. That became drastic real quick. Keith stared at Shiro in disbelief, his heart already aching. No…Absolutely not. It wasn't going to happen. Shiro had already "died" once on the Kerberos mission. It wasn't going to happen again. Not if Keith had anything to say about it.

"Stop talking like that," he ordered, but it came out almost as a plea, begging him to not lose hope. To never even suggest such a thing ever again. "You're gonna make it."

Shiro didn't offer much of a reply. He simply granted him the tiniest of exhausted smiles, neither agreeing or disagreeing with Keith. It's just the pain talking, he tried to assure himself once more. Shiro was just tired. Confused. He'd stop thinking like that as soon as he was healed.

Nothing was going to happen to Shiro, Keith promised himself that much. And he was never, ever going to lead Voltron.

She'd been tortured by the same witch who had stolen Shiro's arm. Luckily, none of her limbs had been hacked off, but she'd been hurt enough to need a cryo-pod. The sight of her suspended behind the blue-tinted glass, sleeping and frozen in time, made Keith's guilt gnaw at him all over again.

He hadn't expected both Shiroganes to need healing pods after this mission. Seeing her and Shiro side by side like this, he vaguely wondered if everyone in the Shirogane Family was a magnet for bad luck and injuries.

After Pidge had helped pull the Castle out of the corrupted wormhole, saving Allura and Coran from a time loop, they'd found and collected him and Shiro next. And now that they had retrieved Lance and Hunk, they caught one another up on their separate misadventures over a dinner of Hunk's makeshift space lasagna.

Pidge had been stuck on a trash nebula. Lance and Hunk had saved a mermaid civilization from a brainwashing space creature. And Keith had, reluctantly, explained how he'd briefly piloted the Black Lion to rescue Shiro from the lizard beasts. The others had stared at him in shock, doubt swirling behind their wide eyes. They hadn't questioned him, but it was clear they didn't quite believe him. He didn't care though. It wouldn't be happening again, anyway. Besides, they had more pressing matters to worry about, like Shiro's recovery. And Mari. And the fact that Zarkon had been the former Black Paladin.

Keith considered confronting Allura about it, but then thought better about it. If the princess had kept such vital information from them, it was bound to be a touchy subject. One that he'd probably have a better chance at successfully broaching with Shiro's help. But until Shiro was healed and returned to the realm of consciousness, there was nothing Keith could do except wait…

…And train. His losing battle with Zarkon was still a fresh and humiliating blow to his pride. It was insane how strong the ancient emperor truly was – he'd beaten Keith and an entire Voltron lion with nothing but a bayard and brute strength. It shouldn't have been possible. But it was, and Keith felt like an idiot for ever thinking he could've single-handedly ended the Galra Empire.

"You fight like a Galra soldier."

A shiver ran down Keith's spine. He knew he wasn't anything like Zarkon or his troops, but the fact that the emperor thought otherwise disturbed him deeply nonetheless. He was just a small human from Earth with a troubled past and a short-temper. He was normal. He wasn't different or special. He wasn't some –

Freak.

Keith gritted his teeth, his anger involuntarily spiking. He furiously shook the thoughts from his head, forcing himself to think of nothing as he marched towards the training deck. He needed to get stronger. Work harder. He wouldn't let any of his teammates get taken right in front of him again. He wouldn't let any of them die on him, especially not Shiro. And he wouldn't let himself get taken down so easily, not by Zarkon, not by a Druid, not by anyone ever again.

He needed to be a better paladin. It was his calling. This was his job and where he belonged.

…Right?

Chapter Text

Sometimes, Mari was too kind, just like Shiro.

She didn't blame Keith for her kidnapping. Not in the slightest. She insisted there was no one else to blame but herself, the Druids, and Haggar. Her stubbornness never failed to be frustrating, and for once, Keith wished she'd get mad and yell at him for having been a reckless fool.

But she didn't. She forgave him, if only to shut up his insistent apology. Then she walked with him to dinner, smiling and chatting with him as if nothing had ever happened between them. It made Keith's heart lighter in a way, knowing that she was giving him another chance. That their strange little friendship, if that's what their relationship had grown to become, wasn't damaged.

But there was no denying the fact that a part of Mari had changed.

She was quieter, if not calmer, keeping more to herself than before. And there were the nightmares, a constant plague on her sleepy mind. She had grown to fear the dark and seldom wanted to be left alone during the later hours of their evenings on the Castle of Lions. Keith didn't know what he'd do if the day ever came that she sought out his company over any of the others during one of her restless nights. He didn't know what he'd say or if his presence would even be able to truly put her troubled heart at ease. But she never went to Keith for comfort. Rather, he was usually a last resort for her, a decision that he was almost grateful for.

But despite her time in enemy captivity, that brilliant fire still burned in her dark eyes, ever present and inextinguishable. What's more, she still didn't completely hate the Galra. Supposedly, a Galra soldier had helped her when she'd been imprisoned in Haggar's labs.

Allies of Voltron still exist within the empire, even amongst the Galra.

After ten thousand years of ruling, it almost seemed impossible that there could be allies amongst their supposed enemies. But Shiro backed up Mari's claim. He'd been rescued by a Galra soldier as well. It was how he escaped back to Earth. And this Galra, a man named Ulaz, had given Shiro coordinates to contact him.

Allura, understandably, was skeptical. They all were. And it didn't help that Ulaz and his little gremlin of a sidekick, a Utearen girl named Scarlett, snuck onto the Castle after they'd arrived in the Thaldycon system. But what made Keith's breath catch in his throat and his heart nearly drop into his stomach was seeing Ulaz's blade. The jagged and glowing insignia on the metal was the exact same as the one on his dagger. The one his father had given him all those years ago.

How and where had his dad gotten the knife? Was it an alien weapon? And why did he give it to Keith, treating it like some family heirloom? What did it all mean? A flurry of questions and fresh worries slammed into Keith as he struggled to put it all together, but he couldn't. There were too many pieces missing. Too many answers he couldn't possibly find without making himself look suspicious to the team or to Ulaz and Scarlett. He had to be careful about this, lest he risk exposing himself and driving away their only ally and his only potential source of information. Just be cool. Be casual.

"What's that weapon you carry?" he asked, forcing himself to remain as nonchalant as possible. He hoped Ulaz couldn't hear his heart rapidly hammering against his ribcage with those large ears of his.

Ulaz glanced at him, pausing briefly in his data-transferral task for Pidge to indulge his curiosity. He unsheathed his sword and held it reverently in his hands to show Keith.

"It's a ceremonial blade that each member of our order carries," he explained.

Keith stared at it, drinking in the sight of the blade and committing it to memory. It was definitely different from his knife, bigger and curved. A real sword as opposed to his small dagger. He was tempted to reach out and touch it. To hold it. To see what it felt like in his grip and if it felt the same as his own knife. But Shiro and the others were right there, watching them, and Keith got the feeling if he did that, it would arouse suspicion.

So, he wisely swallowed back the urge to ask more questions and settled on lamely muttering, "Hmm, nice."

Ulaz resheathed his weapon and returned to his work at his base's control panel, diverting the attentive gazes of the others in the process. Keith nearly let out a sigh of relief until Mari nudged him in the ribs.

"This is the first time I've seen you so fascinated by, well, anything. Didn't know you were so into swords," she said almost teasingly. "Although, I guess your bayard is one. And you always carry around that little dagger. I bet you want a weapon like Ulaz's now, huh?"

It all was like a punch to the gut. He didn't know how, but she'd seen right through him. Not even Shiro had picked up on his uneasy curiosity. Shiro didn't even know he had a dagger. Yet Mari…Had she always been this attentive? What else did she know?

Keith stared at her, panic taking over as he took half a step back from her. The smile on her face disappeared, replaced with genuine concern, and as she opened her mouth, he feared she would draw everyone's attention back to him again. Back to the sword. To his dagger. To the secret he was keeping from all of them.

But thankfully, before she could speak, the Utearen piped up, dragging Mari's attention away from him and dropping the topic. This time he did sigh, but the tension never left his shoulders. He needed to be more careful from now on, he silently promised himself. He couldn't let his walls slip like that again. And most importantly, he couldn't let anyone on their team find out about his dagger until it was the right time. Not until they had successfully befriended the Blade of Marmora.

Hiding his little secret became harder and harder as the days passed. Keith was too curious. He wanted to know more about the knife. Him and the Blade of Marmora, him and the Galra, they were all connected somehow, and he had to find out why and how. It was going to drive him mad otherwise. It was almost agonizing waiting for Shiro to strengthen his bond with the Black Lion so Zarkon couldn't track them.

But finally, he did it, and it was time for them to go to the Blade of Marmora headquarters. The coordinates had been given to them by Ulaz before he'd sacrificed himself to save Voltron from Haggar's newest robeast. And now that the awaited day was upon them, Keith's nagging restlessness gnawed at him in full.

The Blade were only allowing two people from their team onto their base, and they had to bring Scarlett. They also were to come unarmed. Shiro would be going. And he had chosen Keith to accompany him since Red could withstand the heat of the sun next to the base. As he tugged on his paladin armor, reluctantly leaving his bayard behind, he gripped his dagger in his hand, hesitant. He knew he shouldn't bring it – if they really were as secretive as Scarlett had said they were, it would be difficult to gain the trust of the Blade of Marmora. And they needed as many allies as they could get in this war against Zarkon.

But Keith still needed answers of his own. His whole life he'd been confused, unable to understand and shake his peculiarities that labeled him as an angry outcast by most. He hadn't belonged on Earth. But now, maybe this was his chance to really, truly figure everything out. He needed to know who he really was, and he refused to let anything or anyone stop him.

And this strange knife was his key to finally getting somewhere.

Keeping it tucked safely in its sheath, he stashed it beneath his chest plate. It pressed right between his shoulder blades, hidden from sight. He couldn't honor the Blades' demands to come unarmed – not that he would ever hurt any of them with the dagger, anyway – but as long as he kept it hidden throughout their meeting, they wouldn't know the difference. And as soon as their groups settled on an alliance, he'd casually take it out and start asking questions. Simple as that.

"Keith, is everything okay?"

Shiro's question made Keith stiffen. On instinct, his guard shot up, and his grip tightened on Red's controls. He was already on edge enough as it was with Scarlett standing behind him, boring a hole into the back of his head. He didn't need Shiro worrying about him when they had such an important mission right in front of them.

"I'm fine," he managed, curt with a forced nonchalance as his shoulders hunched involuntarily.

Shiro's brow lifted, not missing his defensive reaction. "You kind of blew up at everybody back there," he said slowly, carefully. "You'll have to control your emotions if you're going to lead this group someday."

Keith almost startled. There was no way Shiro was being serious, right? Why was he still thinking about that? He thought he'd dropped that topic when they'd been rescued from that planet. Maybe he was only kidding now, his lame attempt at trying to lighten the dour mood of the cockpit.

"Lead the group?" A huff of a chuckle escaped Keith's lips, his racing heartbeat starting to return to normal.

But Shiro didn't laugh. Didn't even crack a smile. "When we were stranded, I told you, if anything ever happens to me, I want you to lead Voltron," Shiro said, steadfast in his decision.

Keith's brow furrowed and he glanced at him. "I thought you were just delirious with pain. Why would you make me the leader?"

Shiro looked at him head-on, unfazed by his scowl. "Because I know what you're capable of, if you can learn some self-discipline."

Keith squirmed beneath his steady gaze. He didn't like how adamant and certain Shiro sounded. He didn't like how insistent he was being. Why did he have so much faith in him? He had never been leader material, and he never would be. He could hardly keep himself together, let alone an entire team.

"Why me?" he demanded, desperately searching for an arguing point that would get Shiro to change his mind. "Why not, I don't know, Mari? Don't you trust her?"

Shiro hesitated, his frown wavering. "Mari…still has a lot to learn," he finally admitted. "She may be a good fighter, but she has no idea how to pilot the lions, let alone be the head of Voltron. She needs to get better at controlling her emotions before she's ready to lead a whole team."

Keith could sense the overprotective side of Takashi Shirogane creeping into Shiro's response. Pidge hadn't been a pilot and yet she flew the Green Lion well enough. Same with Hunk and Yellow. Besides, Shiro was giving Mari flying lessons now, wasn't he? And she got along with their teammates. She just might be able to fly Black as well as her brother if she was given the chance. Why couldn't she be the next Black Paladin? Why did it have to be Keith?

"And our resident hothead is in control?" Scarlett scoffed, pulling Keith from his thoughts. "They're both bad choices for leader if you ask me. No offense."

Keith didn't say anything. He couldn't argue with her there. But Shiro smiled at her, his choice unchanging.

"I've known Keith for a long time," he said. "Trust me, he's more capable than he lets on."

The pure and honest admiration hidden in Shiro's tone made the heat rush to Keith's cheeks. A mixture of embarrassment and stubborn anger swirled and bubbled beneath the surface as he searched to brutally end this conversation topic.

"Why are we even talking about this?" he snapped, and he internally slapped himself when his voice cracked. "Nothing is gonna happen to you, Shiro."

"It's just in case," Shiro said. He placed a comforting hand on Keith's shoulder, encouraging him to relax. "I need you to get focused. When you and Allura ran off, it put us all in jeopardy. If you're going to be a leader, you've got to get your head on straight."

See? That was just another reason why he shouldn't be the next leader. Not only had he run away, he'd taken the princess and Mari with him. As grateful as he was to learn that Zarkon wasn't tracking him through his dagger, he'd still nearly cost the team a mission because of his own paranoia. Leaders didn't do that. They didn't abandon or kidnap their teammates. They didn't have potential identity crises to deal with.

No, Keith was never going to be the leader. He was perfectly fine with his role as the right hand of Voltron.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, glaring hard out Red's dash so he wouldn't have to meet Shiro's gaze. He was very much aware of the dagger still pressed to his back, its weight seeming to grow heavier by the second. "I've just had a lot on my mind."

"I know," Shiro said, calm and gentle as always in his response. "We all have."

He sounded so sure that he understood exactly what Keith was going through, and it made his guilt nearly double. Shiro had known him for so long, had listened to all his worries and troubles in the past, that he was sure he knew exactly how Keith was feeling. He was sure he knew exactly what to say to him to help assuage his worries.

But the truth was that Shiro, kind and smart and endlessly patient, understood nothing about the secret Keith was keeping. He didn't understand at all the inner turmoil he was facing. It was the one thing he had kept from Shiro in all the time they'd known each other, his fear of having his knife confiscated having morphed into a fear of being rejected by the person he cared about most in the world.

How would Shiro react if he knew about his dagger? It was an alien weapon that was cherished by the very same race that had kidnapped him and stolen his arm. The same race that had destroyed Allura's planet and killed countless innocents. The same race that had tortured his precious sister. Would Shiro look at him like he was a liar? Would he feel betrayed? Would he look at him just like so many people on Earth had, with contempt burning in their eyes? Would he think of him as…as some sort of…

Freak.

Keith swallowed thickly, a pang of guilt tugging at his heart. He didn't think he could take it if Shiro reacted to him that way. But as Red drew nearer to the Blade of Marmora base, he shook the spiraling thoughts from his head. He supposed he'd be spilling the beans soon enough. For now, he had to focus on protecting Shiro and Scarlett, and befriending their potential new allies.

The members of the Blade of Marmora were frustratingly perceptive. Keith didn't know how they knew he had the dagger on him, but they had wasted no time pouncing on him. One of the larger Blades had grabbed him, sweeping his legs out from under him and pinning him to the floor. He'd snatched the dagger from its hiding spot, revealing it to the entire room of Blades and Shiro and Scarlett.

"He has one of our blades!" he growled. "Who did you steal this from?"

"I didn't! I've had it all my life!" Keith snapped. He squirmed beneath the Blade's iron grip, his heart racing as his face heated up in a mixture of sheer terror and humiliation. It was too early. He'd been exposed too early. They had hardly even spoken to the Blades about an alliance. He'd thrown the mission way off track.

"Lies!" the Blade hissed, and Keith grunted as he applied more pressure, pressing him harder into the floor.

"He's not lying!" Scarlett squeaked, clearly frightened but refusing to let the Blade slander Keith. She was the only one on their team who knew about the dagger, having read his mind at the space mall. It was something Keith hadn't exactly been grateful for until now.

"Silence! You were not asked for your input, Utearen," the Blade pinning him down ordered her, but that only seemed to fuel her stubborn indignance.

"Well, you're getting it!" she insisted, refusing to back down. "He's telling the truth. I've read his mind, I saw it in his memories."

"And how did he get it?"

"I-I don't know," Scarlett stammered. "I know he's had that knife for a while though."

"False memories can easily be conjured," Kolivan reminded her. "You should never be quick to accept them as truth."

Scarlett's lips pressed into a thin line and her antenna glowed brighter in her rising anger. But she made no move to argue with him, prompting the leader of the Blades to continue.

"Can you corroborate your friend's statement?" he asked, addressing Shiro now. "Does this blade truly belong to him?"

Shiro hesitated, glancing unsurely between his two teammates. "I…I don't know."

The steady warmth and confidence in his eyes wavered as they settled on Keith, and it was enough to make his heart clench with guilt and regret. He should've told Shiro about the knife long ago. He should've trusted Shiro with this secret. And now, when he needed backup the most, when he needed someone to believe in him and support him, he had no one. Not even Shiro.

Dozens of gazes were locked on him, accusatory and confused, and for a moment, Keith found himself back at the Marvins' house. His knife was stolen and Cliff was towering over him, taunting him as he sat there, alone and powerless. But then he blinked and he was back in the base, his mind reeling as he desperately searched for a way out of this situation. He couldn't lose this. He couldn't give up yet.

Pushing himself up as much as he could, Keith looked to their leader, to his best friend, to the person he trusted most in this whole entire universe. "Shiro, you know me," he said, practically begging him to believe him, to not abandon him. "I promise you I didn't steal it. I've had this knife as long as I can remember."

Shiro's eyes widened, but he didn't respond. Keith was pushed back to the floor by the Blade holding him down. "We can't trust them," he snarled.

But Keith's anger and determination only flared. "I'm telling the truth," he promised, and he looked to Kolivan next. "I saw Ulaz had a knife like this. I asked Scarlett about it and she told me you would have answers. Tell me what it means."

Kolivan regarded him, unmoved by his demands. "Our organization is built on secrecy and trust. You should leave. Now."

The Blade waited a second longer before releasing him, allowing Keith to push himself off the floor and stand. He held his throbbing arm, a helpless fury bubbling beneath the surface. Nothing was going according to plan. They weren't getting an alliance, and he wasn't going to get any answers. Keith turned to Shiro as he came to his side, silently begging him to do something, to help him. An evident worry was etched into Shiro's features as he searched Keith's face, his protective instincts kicking in as he chose to defend his team instead of stirring up further conflict.

"We came here to form an alliance, but obviously, we're not welcome," Shiro said, his voice dripping with disdain as he glared at Kolivan. He glanced at Keith and Scarlett before jerking his head towards the exit. "Come on, you two. We're leaving."

Shiro didn't get very far though as more Blades moved to block his path.

"You may go," Kolivan said. "But the Utearen is staying here with us."

Shiro whirled on the leader of the Blades, incredulous. Scarlett looked just as pissed, stomping her foot as she exclaimed, "What? No way!"

"Despite your childishness, you are one of the universe's most brilliant minds. Continuing to stay with the paladins puts you at a higher risk of falling into Zarkon's hands," Kolivan claimed, cool and even. "That is a risk I am not willing to take."

"I'm not staying here with you!" she shrilled, adamant. "Especially not after you refused to help us!"

"We're not leaving without her," Keith agreed, coming to defend her now, just as she had him. Besides, they still had his knife and they'd given him no solid answers in return. He refused to let the Blades keep it, not after he'd spent his whole life trying to protect it. "And I'm not leaving without some answers."

"…It is time for you two to go," Kolivan stated, and there was no missing the harsh edge creeping into his voice, his impatience growing.

In a way, he reminded Keith of Iverson. That angry air of a stoic and insistent commander seemed to radiate off of him, and it only made Keith more determined to stay. He wasn't one to back down in the face of authority. And he wasn't going to start now.

"Where did it come from?" he pressed. "Somehow, one of your knives ended up with me on planet Earth. Tell me how."

"Leave. Now."

"Not until I have some answers! I have to know."

Kolivan didn't say anything for a long moment. He didn't move, staring him down. Keith's hands curled into fists at his side, ready to fight if he had to. He was going to stand his ground. He wasn't leaving this base unless they dragged him out.

Finally, Kolivan spoke again. "You seek knowledge? Fine. There is only one way to attain knowledge here."

"How? I'll do it!" Keith replied almost a little too quickly, and he could feel Shiro stiffen behind him.

"The Trials of Marmora," Kolivan replied. "Should you survive, you may keep the blade and its secrets will be revealed."

"Survive?" Shiro hurried back towards Keith. He held him by the shoulder, forcing him to look at him. "Keith, this is crazy. If they're not going to help us, let's get out of here."

Keith clenched his jaw at the sight of the fear in Shiro's eyes. He was making Shiro scared. A fresh round of nagging guilt gnawed at his consciousness, and he had to remind himself that he had to do this. They had to make this alliance. And he had to get that knife back. It was the only piece of his dad that he had with him up here. It was the only clue he had to figuring out who he was and where he belonged in this universe.

"I'm not going anywhere," he ground out, and he forced his gaze away from Shiro so he wouldn't have to see his fretful look.

"Don't be an idiot!" Scarlett snapped, drawing his attention to her. "Every Blade newbie has to go through the Trials and not even half of them pass. What are you gonna do if you get seriously hurt?"

They had healing pods on the Castle, Keith reminded himself. He'd gotten into tons of fights before, he could handle himself. Besides, the Blades wouldn't actually kill a Paladin of Voltron, right? That would just be asking to be annihilated, either by a vengeful Allura or Zarkon and the overwhelming power of his massive fleets.

"I'll be fine," he assured the Utearen. "Besides, we can't just leave without you. I have to do this."

"Keith…" Scarlett frowned, but she couldn't find the words to argue with him.

"Antok, give the boy the blade," Kolivan instructed, proceeding with the Trials now that Keith's mind was made up.

The Blade who had forced him to the floor held out the dagger he had taken, the small knife looking pathetically small in his massive hands. Keith would've snatched it back from him if he didn't grip it tightly at the last second, stopping him short.

"We will meet again," Antok warned him. Threatened him. Then he released his hold on the dagger and Keith whisked it away, glad to have it back in his possession.

He glowered evenly at Antok, taking him up on the challenge. It was time to get some answers, no matter how painful it would be. He couldn't wait to punch the gigantic jerk in the face.

"Can't wait."

Chapter Text

These trials result in one of two things. Knowledge or death.

Kolivan really wasn't kidding when he'd said that. The Blades were merciless, and Keith was getting the absolute shit beaten out of him. One after the other, they rose from the floor, demanding he surrender his blade. And when he wouldn't, they'd fight. Just him and his small dagger against their full-blown swords and years of grueling training.

They didn't stab him or deliver any fatal blows. But they cut him up all over, easily blocking his attacks and brutally landing sickening punches and kicks that often sent him sprawling and gagging for air. It was like his hours and hours of practice on the training deck had done nothing to help him improve his skills. Maybe if he'd had his bayard, he'd have a chance at winning. But he didn't. He didn't even have his armor. He only had his knife and the body suit the Blades had made him wear for the Trials.

Door after door, room after room, Keith fought the increasing amount of Blades that awaited him. Hours, maybe days passed. He wasn't really sure. Time became a blur and he lost count of how many rooms he had entered, how many people he had fought and lost against. The only thing he was keenly aware of was the increasing pain afflicting his body. Everything hurt so, so badly all over. Sweat beaded his forehead, his breath coming in gasps as his stamina was pushed to its limits. Every cell in his body was on fire, screaming for him to stop.

Surrender the blade and the pain will cease.

No! No, no, no! He wouldn't quit, he couldn't!

But he couldn't ignore the fact that he was rapidly losing steam with each passing round. Black spots were starting to dance across his vision, and his knees were starting to get dangerously wobbly. At this rate, he'd collapse and fail the Trials. He would be beaten up and humiliated for nothing, left without answers and without his knife.

Patience yields focus.

Shiro's voice in the back of his mind suddenly sparked a fresh wave of determination within him. He'd been rushing through everything without a plan until now. He had to calm down. He had to take a moment and breathe. He could get through this. He just had to focus.

Inhaling and exhaling deeply, Keith winced at the stabbing pains the movement sent through his chest. He clutched his arm, the gash in his shoulder burning as if a million white-hot knives were being thrust repeatedly into his flesh. Stepping into the next room, the new challengers began to rise from the floor, ready to drag him into another bout of agony.

You are not meant to go through that door.

He had to think. There had to be another way out of here besides the door on the other end of the room. There were no windows. The only other exits were…the hatches in the floor.

The Blades stepped off their platforms and they began to sink back into the floor. Rushing forward before the hatches could seal themselves completely, Keith hurled his knife with an incredible accuracy that stunned even him. The blade lodged in one of the hatches, stopping it from shutting, and Keith made a beeline for it. Despite the way his body shrieked at the movement, he managed to kick aside two approaching Blades before trying to tackle a third, who immediately threw him off. He slid right towards the hatch and snatched back his knife before dropping down the chute, grinning in success at his escape.

He landed roughly on the lowering elevator platform, panting heavily. His entire body throbbed as he struggled to process the last few fights. That puzzle had taken him way too long to figure out. If he had only calmed down and listened sooner, he might've been able to spare himself from a few hurts.

"Guess I really wasn't supposed to go through that door," he muttered to himself as the elevator doors opened and he stepped into the new room.

There were no Blades waiting for him here, much to his relief. There were no more hatches in the floor either. Were the Trials over? Could he leave and get some answers now? He wanted to see Shiro again. He wanted them to go back to the Castle, where the others were waiting for them.

He started for the door on the opposite end of the room, certain he had to go through there. Certain that Shiro was waiting for him on the other side. But he didn't get very far as his vision began to blur. The adrenaline from the fights that had kept him going had all but drained out of his system, and he felt himself fading fast. His knees buckled, and before he could stop himself, he collapsed to the floor.

The cold metal felt good beneath Keith's burning body, and he let his eyes slide shut, if only for a moment. His head went blank, and for a startling handful of seconds, he felt himself drifting towards unconsciousness. No…He couldn't sleep yet. The door was right there. Shiro and all the answers he sought were right there, just a few steps away. He was beyond tired, but he had to keep going. He had to get up.

Mustering what little strength he had left, Keith pried open his heavy eyelids. His vision was still blurry, and for a moment, all he saw was a smudge of black and white approach. He blinked, trying to focus on the figure towering over him.

"Hey, man." Shiro leaned over and extended a hand to him. "You did it."

"Shiro?" Surprise and relief washed over Keith. He was so glad to see a familiar face after facing nothing but enemies. He was so glad that this was all over. He took Shiro's outstretched hand, letting himself get pulled to his feet.

"Kolivan told me you lasted longer than anyone ever has in those battles," Shiro said. "You don't have to keep this up."

Keith's moment of joy fell away in an instant. "What are you talking about?"

"Just give them the knife and let's get out of here," Shiro urged, granting him an encouraging smile.

Keith's frown deepened. Had he failed the Trials? Or had Kolivan just sent Shiro to get him to give up? But he'd told Shiro he had to do this…Why did he still not understand?

"I can't give it to them, Shiro," he said, and his heart clenched when Shiro's brow furrowed.

"What is it with you and that thing?" he almost snapped, disgust dripping from his tone as he glared at the blade still clutched in Keith's hand.

"It's the only connection I have to my past," Keith said slowly, carefully. There was no use hiding it from Shiro now. He might as well explain. "It's my chance to learn who I really am."

Shiro didn't look convinced though. "You know exactly who you are, a Paladin of Voltron," he insisted. "We're all the family you need."

Keith didn't reply right away. He'd had the knife longer than he'd been a paladin. He'd had questions about it and himself for almost his entire life. He was a paladin, yes…but he knew he was more than that. And he needed to find out what. As for family…the knife was still one of his last real connections to his dad. Sure the others on his team were like a family, but…no matter how close they got, they would never be his dad. They would never be his real family. They couldn't help him feel like he truly belonged.

"Shiro, you're like a brother to me," Keith admitted finally. "…But I have to do this."

"No, you don't," Shiro persisted. "So, just give them the knife."

"I can't do that."

"Just give up the knife, Keith!" Shiro demanded in a rare display of anger that reminded him very much of Mari in that moment. "You're only thinking of yourself, as usual!"

The bite in that statement admittedly stung, and Keith stiffened. He didn't want to disappoint Shiro, especially not after all he'd done for him. But still…He couldn't give this up now. He'd come this far. And he was so close to finally getting answers. He needed to finish things here. He needed to do this for himself. Shiro out of all people should have understood that.

Keith set his jaw. He couldn't bring himself to look at Shiro as he said, "I've made my choice."

Shiro's eyes narrowed at him, his gaze ablaze with an angry betrayal. "Then you've chosen to be alone," he decided, and he promptly turned, walking away from him.

Keith's resolve threatened to crack, fear making his heart nearly leap into his throat.

Freak.

This was it. Shiro was abandoning him, just like everyone else had.

Freak.

Was this really worth it? Losing his first friend, his mentor, his brother-figure, over a stupid knife? Over his selfish desire for finding a purpose?

Freak.

Maybe…Shiro was right. Maybe being a paladin was enough. Maybe their team was enough. Maybe he should just take what he had and be grateful for it.

Shiro was moving further and further away from Keith, and it struck him with panic. He had to stop him. He had to apologize.

"Shiro! Wait!" he called out, and he ran to follow after him.

Suddenly, Shiro and the rest of the room were swallowed by a blinding white light. Keith inhaled sharply, stuttering to a halt in his pursuit and closing his eyes to protect his retinas from getting scorched. But when he reopened them, Shiro was nowhere in sight and he was no longer on the Blade of Marmora base. He was back home. Back in the shack in the desert on Earth.

Keith stared at his surroundings, confused. How had he gotten here? Was he seeing things now? Dreaming? What the actual heck was going on?

Without warning, the entire shack rumbled, as if an explosion had gone off just beyond the walls. He turned towards the door, ready to go out and inspect.

"Keith."

Keith froze in his tracks, his heart skipping a beat. It had been so long since he'd last heard that voice. So many long and painfully lonely nights had passed where he wished nothing more than to hear it again. He whirled on his heel, almost afraid to see him.

"Dad?"

Heith Kogane turned to him. "You're home, son," he said, and the soft smile he gave Keith made his eyes sting and his heart scream. After all this time, his dad looked and sounded exactly as he remembered him.

Another boom shook the shack, startling Keith from his stupor. He looked towards the windows, the sheer curtains just thick enough to hide whatever was happening behind the glass.

"What's going on outside?" he wondered.

"Don't worry about that. We'll be fine as long as we stay in here," Heith assured him. His smile was unwavering, totally unconcerned with the rumbling. "Don't you want to catch up?"

That drew Keith's attention back to him. As if that were even a question. "Of course I do."

"Son, so many years have passed," Heith began. "I have so much to tell you."

Answers…He was finally going to get some answers. This was his chance to learn all about everything his dad had never been able to tell him before he'd died.

There was another explosion outside, pulling Keith from his thoughts again. They were getting closer and closer to the house, he realized.

"What is that?"

His dad never gave him a real answer. "Everything's fine," he murmured, watching as Keith moved over to the window and yanked back the curtain.

To his horror, a Galra cruiser hung in the sky, razing the ground with a deadly purple beam. Screams pierced the air, and an army of sentries were marching towards the property. Standing on top of one of the canyon walls, the Red Lion was waiting for Keith. It was waiting for him to come out and stop the Galra before they completely destroyed this part of Earth.

"Dad, I-I'm sorry. I gotta go," he stammered, turning back to Heith. "There's people that need me out there."

Heith's smile had disappeared, replaced with a melancholic frown. He gingerly held Keith's dagger in his hands. "Don't you want to know about where you came from?" he asked. "Your mother gave it to me."

Keith's eyes widened. "Mom?"

His dad was going to tell him about his mom, right here and right now? He'd hardly ever talked about her. Keith hadn't even known the knife had been hers. She hadn't left anything else behind, not even a photograph. He had been so sure she had just up and ditched them without a care in the world after he was born. Now it turned out that his most prized possession had come from the woman he had been so sure didn't care about him.

There was another quaking boom, snapping his focus back to the attack outside. The Garrison was in danger. So was Plaht City. Adam, Shiro and Mari's parents, Lance and Hunk's families, Pidge's mom, they were all going to be at the mercy of the Galra.

"She'll be here soon," Heith promised him.

Keith grit his teeth, a mess of conflicting emotions boiling beneath the surface. He had to fulfill his duty as a paladin. He couldn't afford to wait while the world began to burn around them. He couldn't let innocent people die. But…His dad was right here in front of him. After so long, he was finally seeing him again. And he was finally going to learn who his mom really was. He had to speed this up somehow. He could do both, finding the answers he wanted and saving the planet.

Couldn't he?

"You gotta tell me, Dad. I have to know," he pressed, frantic as he faced his dad once again. "Where did the knife come from? What does it mean?"

Heith looked down at the dagger sadly, still unbothered by the chaos occurring just on their doorstep. "Your mother is almost here. She'll tell you everything," he promised.

Yet another trembling explosion sounded outside. Fire danced across the desert, washing everything in angry reds and oranges. The destruction really was getting closer. At this rate, their little shack, the only home Keith had ever known, would be blown to bits.

"I can't wait around anymore," he said, frustrated and apologetic as he hurried towards the door. "I have to go."

His fingers wrapped around the knob, but before he could twist it and run out to Red, Heith stopped him. "If you go out that door, you'll never find out who you are."

Keith swallowed thickly, his mouth suddenly dry. This was the price of being a paladin. Putting the countless lives of the universe over his own. Leaving behind his home and the history it held. Leaving his dad…

No. He wouldn't be leaving him behind. His dad had died long ago, but he'd still live on in Keith's heart forever. Their house in the desert was still waiting for him. And it would always be there until he was ready to go back. As for his mom…well, he'd gone this long without knowing her. He could go the rest of his life without meeting her, if need be.

He would put himself on the back burner. Right now, he needed to help the people who were here and still alive. He needed to make sure this alliance with the Blade worked out. And he needed to make sure he did whatever he could to help defeat Zarkon and protect the universe.

He had a decision to make. And he needed to make it now.

Keith faced his father, soaking in his presence one last time. "Goodbye, Dad," he whispered, before opening the door and heading outside. As soon as he passed over the threshold, he was swallowed by a red light and thrown into darkness.

Leaving his dad hurt like hell, much more than Keith expected it to. But at least he had finally gotten to tell him goodbye.

When Keith woke up, he was back on the Blade of Marmora base, lying on the cool floor. His dagger was still clutched in his hand, and the relentless aching of his body came back to assault him in full. The room rumbled all around him, debris trickling from the ceiling, but he made no move to get up. He didn't even know if he could. He numbly stared off into space, struggling to process it all. It felt like his head had been stuffed full of cotton, and he feared moving now would make him pass out again.

His gaze dragged over to the door as Shiro sprinted towards him. Concern and honest fear swirled behind his dark eyes, but Keith could still see their familiar warmth as he knelt down next to him. It made his heart faintly flutter with relief. Shiro was back. He hadn't left him after all. He hadn't lost his best friend.

Gentle yet firm, Shiro handled Keith as if he were made out of glass. He wrapped his arm around Keith's shoulders and lifted him off the floor, supporting him as he stood on wobbly legs.

"Keith, are you okay?" he asked, more out of nervousness than actual ignorance.

His voice was quivering, unable to completely hide his fear. Keith was sure Shiro already knew the answer to his own question, and he didn't have the strength to reply. His entire body was aflame, and he was starting to see stars again. If Shiro hadn't been there, holding onto him for dear life, he was sure he would've collapsed all over again.

Kolivan, Antok, Scarlett, and several more Blades suddenly burst through the door. Scarlett hurried to their sides, flitting around them anxiously, but the Blades stayed where they were, blocking the exit. The base shook again, sending more dust and stones raining down.

"Stop what you're doing!" Kolivan barked at them, sounding genuinely angry and desperate.

Keith stared at him, hazy and uncomprehending. "What are you talking about?" he croaked. Just the effort of talking was draining, and it left him sucking in ragged and unsteady breaths. "What's going on?"

The base rumbled again. "Call off your beast!" Kolivan demanded.

Beast? Did he mean Red? In the back of his muddled mind, Keith could feel his lion's unhinged rage. He could feel it hounding the facility, desperately trying to reach him. Keith weakly tried calling out to it, but he couldn't focus. Everything hurt too much. He could barely see straight, let alone think properly.

Shiro's grip on him tightened. "Move out of the way!" he ordered, glaring down Kolivan and his troops. "We're leaving!"

"You're not leaving with that blade. It does not belong to you," Kolivan refused. "You failed to awaken it!"

Keith glowered at him the best he could, starting to get exasperated himself. "What does that mean?"

"Give up the blade!" Antok insisted.

He refused to answer any of his questions, and he was prepared to use force to take the dagger back. Producing his own sword, he charged. But Shiro was livid and well into protective big brother mode. He wouldn't let Antok, or anyone else for that matter, touch Keith. His arm glowed to life and he released Keith, running to meet the furious Blade. Without support, Keith's knees nearly buckled beneath him, and Scarlett scrambled to help keep him up.

Antok swung his sword and Shiro expertly blocked it. But the Blade was still twice Shiro's size. And if Keith had gotten the crap beaten out of him so easily by the other smaller Blades, then Antok was absolutely going to crush Shiro. He wouldn't let that happen. He had to save his friend and their alliance.

"Wait! Just take the knife!" he shouted, stopping them both before their duel could continue. Antok lowered his blade, and Shiro cast Keith a hesitant look, the light fading from his arm as it fell to his side. Keith sighed, steeling himself as he held out his dagger, the last gift from his father and the only gift from his mother.

"It doesn't matter where I come from. I know who I am," he said, slow and unsure, but ready to relinquish it to Kolivan. He was a paladin now. And he had Shiro and the others. He didn't need it if it meant they'd be safe. "We all need to work together to defeat Zarkon. If that means I give up this knife, fine. Take it."

He waited for either Kolivan or Antok to stride forward and snatch it from his grip, but neither Blade moved. Their focus was glued to his dagger, where the jagged insignia on the hilt had begun to glow. It had never done that before, not in all the years Keith had had it. The metal thrummed beneath his fingers, a thing come to life as it grew brighter and brighter, illuminating the room in a brilliant bluish-white light.

"You've awoken the blade!" Antok gasped, and Shiro and Scarlett looked just as shocked as Keith felt.

The entire dagger morphed right before their very eyes, elongating into a magnificent sword. Keith held it stiffly in his hand, unsure of what to do with it now. He still didn't understand what it meant to have "awoken" the thing. He was almost afraid to lower his arm, lest the strange and magical alien sword in his possession suddenly turned into some sort of super explosive weapon.

Kolivan was quick to pick up on his confusion and disbelief. He stared at Keith, the anger gone from his voice as he explained, "The only way this is possible is if Galra blood runs through your veins."

That claim alone and all its implications was like a punch to the gut. "What?" Keith asked, his voice coming out a whisper that threatened to crack.

"Your life force has been connected to that sword," Antok elaborated. "The only way you can awaken one of our luxite blades is if you are of Galra lineage."

Galra. Keith was part Galra. The blood of their supposed enemy was coursing through him, pumping through his heart. His head was spinning at the realization, and he almost dropped the sword. He started listing and Scarlett squealed, on the verge of being crushed beneath him. Shiro hurried back to them, taking Keith's weight.

"It's okay, buddy," he murmured. "I've got you."

Kolivan and the other Blades parted as Shiro helped Keith get back to the changing room to retrieve his armor. They were letting him keep the blade. They were letting them leave. And now, they were more than ready to agree to an alliance and accept Voltron's help in their fight against Zarkon.

Keith had succeeded with their mission. And, whether it had been the answer he'd wanted or not, he'd managed to receive several pieces of the massive puzzle that was the mystery of who he truly was.

Chapter Text

Thinking about it now, his dad must have known. It made sense now why he'd always been so nervous during Keith's doctor visits. Why he'd said Keith could never give blood or be an organ donor. Why he'd always said Keith was "special." It was all because he had alien DNA that wouldn't be compatible with the normal human body.

It explained so much more about his own body too. Why he could hear and see better than the average person. Why he was so prone to anger. Maybe even why he loved flying so much. It was all because he was genetically wired to survive in deep space and explore environments beyond Earth and the Milky Way.

But really…Why did it have to be Galra? Why did it have to be the race that took Shiro's arm, tortured Mari, kidnapped Pidge's family, and destroyed Allura and Coran's planet? He was already dreading their reactions, their looks of shock and rejection…

No, he had to stop thinking about it. He had already decided he wouldn't worry anymore about who he was for the time being. He had already decided he was a paladin, whether the others liked it or not, and that duty came first. He had to focus on the task ahead. And right now, that was currently not passing out and successfully getting Shiro, Scarlett, Kolivan, and Antok to the Castle of Lions.

The journey back from the base was a blur. Every cell in his body felt like it had been dipped in kerosene and lit aflame. His ears were ringing and his head was pounding so badly, he thought his brain was trying to break out of his skull. His forehead was beaded with sweat, making his hair cling to his skin uncomfortably. His palms were just as damp, and he kept a death grip on his controls to stop himself from falling out of the pilot's seat. He was an absolute mess of frayed nerves and pain, and his lion could tell, its soft roars echoing worriedly in the back of his mind. It was a wonder he was managing to keep Red on the safe path back towards the Castle at all.

Shiro hovered next to him, prepared to catch him if he fell. Keith hadn't missed how he'd put himself between Kolivan and Antok when they took off. Both Blades were unapologetic in the brutal beating they had dealt Keith, and he could tell Shiro was still pissed about it.

"We're almost there, buddy," he murmured, keeping a steadying hand on his uninjured shoulder. "Just hang in there a bit longer."

When Keith finally landed Red and they disembarked, it took every ounce of stubborn strength and willpower he had left not to pitch down the ramp and fall flat on his face in front of everyone. His entire body tensed, his hands curling into fists and his jaw clenching as he took small steps, refusing to let Shiro or Scarlett help him. Kolivan began speaking with Allura, but he missed everything they said. The room was starting to spin and he was zoning out, too focused on the immense effort that was simply standing there.

"...Keith needs a healing pod first."

Keith blinked, snapping back to reality as he looked at Shiro. He'd drawn everyone's attention to him, and an uneasy dread gnawed at his gut beneath their concerned looks.

…Actually, in hindsight, Keith was sure his body was only overreacting. He just wasn't used to losing a fight and getting more than a couple punches. Yeah, that was it. He was sure he didn't need a healing pod, at least not right away. He could endure a few more hours of discussion if it meant they'd form a plan to stop Zarkon. They didn't have to worry about him. He didn't want to disrupt their mission again.

"I'm okay, Shiro," he began, and he hated how thin and feeble his voice had come out. He cleared his throat before continuing, "Stop worrying about me, we have to figure out how to stop Zarkon."

Shiro wasn't having it. He could see right through him, as always. "We're not planning anything until you get medical attention."

"Why does he need medical attention?" Allura asked, picking up on Shiro's evident concern.

I don't.

"He got the daylights beaten out of him," Scarlett murmured, and Mari inhaled sharply as she looked at him, taking notice of the cuts and bruises on his face beneath his helmet visor.

No, I'm fine!

Allura's eyes widened. They blazed with a furious accusation as she turned to Kolivan and Antok. "What did you do to my paladin?"

No…No, no, he was ruining this. He was jeopardizing their alliance. She was going to find out about him. They all were. He wasn't ready for that round of potential abandonment. He was in no shape to handle it right now.

"I'm fine, Allura," he croaked.

She ignored him. "Answer me!" she snapped, and Hunk, Lance, and Pidge tensed behind her.

"He sought knowledge from us and we obliged," Kolivan replied, unaffected by the growing unease in the room.

"Knowledge about what? How it feels to get beaten to a pulp?" Lance scoffed, and Keith was surprised by the unfriendly harshness in his voice. He almost couldn't believe Lance was actually worried about him.

"About one of our blades," Kolivan elaborated. "He's awoken the one in his possession."

"What blade?" Allura pressed. "Keith, what is he talking about?"

Here it was. The dreaded, yet unavoidable, reveal. There was no escaping it. Keith felt like he was going to hurl. Maybe if he passed out now, he wouldn't have to explain himself. But of course, now his body wouldn't let him, a fresh round of adrenaline coursing through his system and putting him on high alert.

His limbs screamed in protest as he produced his luxite blade, now returned to its dagger state. He jerked to a pause, taking a moment to clutch his throbbing side and steady his breathing. Then, reluctantly, he held out the weapon for everyone to see, showing them the glowing insignia of the Blade of Marmora.

"I've had this knife for as long as I could remember. When I saw Ulaz had one like it, I wanted to know what it meant. Where did I get it and why did I have it. But I decided none of that matters." The words came tumbling out, clumsy and quiet and unpracticed. His face burned with shame, and he couldn't stand to look at them, afraid to see their reactions to what he did next. "And then…this happened."

The dagger pulsed beneath his fingers, and at his will, it glowed and transformed into a sword. Coran gasped, the breathy sound bouncing off the hangar walls, and the others' jaws had dropped. Allura's hands were fists at her sides, her body beginning to tremble with a quiet rage.

"And what, exactly, does that mean?" she demanded.

"It is the awakening of a blade," Kolivan stated. "It means your paladin has Galra blood running through his veins."

A stunned beat of silence passed. Then two.

"W-W-WHAT?" Hunk exclaimed, making Keith wince. "Keith is – is part alien?"

"Whoa…" Pidge breathed out in a mixture of awe and disbelief.

"No way. That – That's not possible, right? Right?" Lance stammered. "That would mean an alien, a Galra, came to Earth and…and hooked up with a human."

Allura was frozen where she stood, looking like she'd been slapped across the face. The absolute horror and betrayal that flooded her eyes as she glowered at Keith became scorched into his memory. He felt small and sick in the face of it all, and he couldn't bring himself to face any of them. Reverting his sword back to its dagger form, he sheathed it and frowned at the floor. His vision was starting to blur again around the edges, the dizziness returning as his heartbeat evened out.

"Look, it doesn't matter how or why it happened. It doesn't change anything. We're all still a team," Shiro intervened before the others could really delve into a freak out. His tone was firm, leaving no room for argument. "For now, let's just focus on figuring out how to defeat Zarkon."

"I agree," Kolivan said. "Our time is limited. We must begin discussing a plan."

"Coran, can you get Keith set up in the med-bay?" Shiro asked, turning to the gaping Altean advisor.

Coran startled, his brow pinched and his expression conflicted as his gaze flicked from Shiro to Keith. "O-Oh! Yes…Yes, of course," he managed. He briskly turned on his heel and swiftly made his way towards the door. "Come along, Number Four."

Keith grimaced at how fast he was moving. He took a step to follow after him, only for his whole body to seize up. His knees buckled and he felt himself pitching forward. If it wasn't for Shiro's attentiveness and quick reflexes, he really would've face-planted on the floor.

"Keith! Are you okay?" Shiro had wrapped his arms around him again, holding him upright. Keith scowled at his feet, silently reprimanding himself and his stupid wobbly legs.

"I'm fine," he muttered, and he unsuccessfully tried to inch out of Shiro's grip.

"Dude, no, you're not," Lance said, and Keith shot him a glare, an action that made the whole room spin nauseatingly.

"We can get you a wheelchair or a gurney or…something," Hunk timidly piped up.

The suggestion made Keith's face grow even hotter. It was bad enough he was putting on such a pathetic display in front of their allies, he didn't need to be wheeled out like some sort of damsel. He wasn't so weak that he couldn't walk out of this on his own.

"No. I can make it by myself," he insisted. "Just give me a sec."

He pulled away from Shiro, but he didn't get very far as he stumbled, threatening to fall over again. An irritated tsk sounded in his ear, and before he could stop her, Mari had grabbed his arm and pulled it across her shoulders, holding him upright.

"You're so…" Her voice trailed off and she huffed. "I'll stay and help Coran with him. You guys get to the bridge and start putting the plan together."

Shiro looked at the two of them, uncertain. "Are you sure?"

She nodded. "Positive."

The others hesitated, but Allura didn't need any more convincing than that. Without a word, she quickly stomped out of the hangar, prompting Kolivan and Antok to follow her. Coran shot them a wary look and the other paladins caved, trailing after the two Blades and the fuming princess to the bridge. Shiro still hesitated though, his gaze lingering on Keith.

"I'll be fine, Shiro," he weakly assured him. "Go and help them."

Shiro glanced at Mari, then he stared at him, long and hard. The worry was still bright in his eyes, but his shoulders relaxed knowing he was in good hands. "...Okay," he finally relented. "I'll come get you when you're done."

Keith's heritage had been exposed to the rest of the team much, much sooner than he would've liked. But there was no going back now. He was part Galra. And he and the others had to live with that fact, no matter how much he or they may have disliked it.

Coran had had a hard time looking at him as he prepped the healing pod. And Mari had been oddly quiet at first, no doubt still mulling over the shocking news of him not being completely human. Then, when Keith had wondered why she didn't hate him, just like Allura clearly now did, she had surprised him by yelling at him. But she wasn't mad at him for being part Galra. She wasn't mad that he'd almost blown their alliance with the Blades. Rather, she was mad that he'd gotten himself hurt and had asked her such a stupid question.

Nothing had changed between him and her. Nothing had changed between him and the team, she promised him. And although Keith didn't really believe that, especially concerning Allura, he was silently glad that Mari was there for him, trying so hard to comfort him. She had said all of it of her own accord, in her own angry and honest way, bickering with him as if it were just another day of their space adventure. It almost made him forget that his entire world and everything he knew about himself had just been flipped upside-down in only the last few hours.

She was still too kind, just like her brother. But at least she hadn't given up on him. She knew there was more to him than what was in his blood.

Allura, on the other hand, ignored him as much as she could during the days leading up to their plan to take down Zarkon. Keith tried not to let it bother him, he really did. He knew she was conflicted and hurting, almost as much as him. But still, he couldn't stop the involuntary twinges of pain as she blatantly refused to talk to him, casting him tight frowns every so often.

Focus on the mission, he kept telling himself. They were in for the fight of their lives. And if all went well, this war with Zarkon and the Galra would end. And maybe, just maybe, things would go back to normal between him and Allura.

He was grateful it would all be over soon. They wouldn't need Voltron. He wouldn't need to be a paladin anymore. He'd be free again to do whatever he wanted, whether it be going back to Earth or…searching for his mom.

Kolivan had said nothing about her, not that Keith had asked. The Blades really were incredibly secretive. They'd almost killed him just for asking about his dagger. But maybe once this war was done and the Blade of Marmora was no longer needed, he could safely ask Kolivan more about it. If the knife had truly been his mother's, that meant she had been a member of the Blade of Marmora. Or, at the very least, that he'd had a Galra aunt or uncle or grandparent who had been a member. Maybe Kolivan knew who she was. Maybe he could tell him how she had ended up on Earth. Or if she was no longer living, then maybe Keith could just learn more about his potential Galra relatives.

Keith had thought he was alone for so long…but he might actually have had a family up here in space this entire time. A family that went beyond their Voltron team and actually knew about his heritage. Once all this paladin business was over, he decided he could try looking for them. He could continue to fly and explore the rest of the universe. Maybe even Shiro and Mari could come with him so they could continue pursuing their own dreams as space explorers.

Anything to stop himself from being grounded again would be fine. After all he'd been through, the last thing he wanted was to be forced to waste away in the shack in the desert on Earth. He still didn't know where he belonged in this universe. But he knew now, for sure, it wasn't on that planet.

The bout of silence between Keith and Allura broke when he decided he'd sneak onto Zarkon's ship. Thace wasn't responding. And the security system for Zarkon's central fleet needed to be shut down if they wanted to upload Scarlett's virus and set their plan into action. Keith had to do this. This had to work. None of them could move on otherwise.

Just as Pidge finished setting up his pod with a cloaking device, Allura entered the hangar. She was rigid and frowning, but there was a decisive, if not angry, light burning in her bright eyes.

"Pidge. May I have a moment with Keith, please?" she asked, her tone firm and commanding. It almost wasn't a question, Keith thought. It was more like an unwavering order.

Pidge glanced between him and Allura unsurely, the awkward tension building rapidly around them. But she did nothing to disagree with the princess, and she peeled away from Keith and the pod.

"Sure thing," she muttered, looking anywhere but at the two of them as she moved towards the door. "Uh, have all the moments you like."

And just like that, she quickly escaped the hangar, leaving Keith with the scowling princess. She marched up to him, and on instinct, his shoulders tensed, already preparing himself for whatever fight or lecture she wanted to drag him into. For a fleeting moment, he wished Pidge hadn't left them alone together. But then he internally slapped himself for being so apprehensive. This was bound to happen eventually, this confrontation between him and Allura. They couldn't avoid each other forever. And he couldn't back down from whatever this was. No matter what the princess thought of him now, he would defend himself. He wouldn't be unfairly pushed around, not by anyone on Earth and not by his teammates.

Keith steeled himself as he faced her. "Is there something I can help you with?" he asked, and Allura stopped short from reaching him, placing around six feet of space between them.

"I-I just wanted to say…" She paused, struggling to vocalize the right words. "...the Galra, they've done terrible things. Destroyed entire civilizations. They took my family. But, in time, I've grown to consider you and the paladins my family. So, when I learned you were Galra, I…I didn't know what to think. I wanted to hate you."

She sounded strained, understandably conflicted, and it made Keith feel a twinge of guilt. He didn't want her to force herself like this. She didn't need to pretend to like him and accept him just because the others already had. He didn't need her false sense of pity just because he was currently seconds away from going out and risking his life. He'd understand if she never wanted to acknowledge him again. He almost wanted her to stay mad at him for the rest of her life if it gave her a sense of justice for all the people she'd lost to the Galra. …To his people.

He sighed, heavy and hurt. "Allura…It's – "

"But it's not you. It's me," she adamantly cut him off, and when Keith looked up, her eyes were swimming with apologetic remorse. "My anger has blinded me for too long."

Then, before he could register what was going on, Allura closed the distance between them. She leaned on him in a tentative sort of hug, her chin resting on his shoulder. He stiffened beneath her touch, taken aback and unused to this sort of affectionate physical contact. But it wasn't an unwanted feeling, and he made no move to push her away. Hesitant, he lifted his own arms and gingerly returned the embrace.

"I'm so sorry I misjudged you," Allura murmured, sounding honest and small as she spoke right next to his ear. "You've proven it's not what's in your blood. It's who you are that counts. Please come back to us."

Her statement sparked something inside of Keith: relief mixed with a newfound determination. Allura had accepted him on her own terms, in her own time. No one had forced her to do this, and for that, he was silently grateful. He couldn't change who he was. He couldn't help the fact that he had Galra blood, just like Zarkon. But he could help her avenge the loss of her planet by taking down the monstrous emperor who had ended it.

He could do this. He was more certain of it than ever now. He wouldn't die before their plan could actually get started.

His resolve set, Keith nodded. "I will," he promised.

Chapter Text

Shiro was gone.

Things had gotten a little hairy towards the end, but they had won their battle against Zarkon. How had he just completely disappeared from the cockpit of the Black Lion, leaving nothing behind but the bayard he'd taken right out of the losing emperor's hands? What had happened? Where had he gone? Black hadn't ejected Shiro. He was nowhere to be found amongst the wreckage of the fight.

It didn't make any sense. And it pissed Keith off just as much as it confused him. Somehow, Shiro had vanished on him, lost to the mysteries of space once again. But at least this time, Keith could actually look for him and bring him home.

Keith knew he wasn't dead, he could feel it. Day after day, he ventured out on his own in Red, repeatedly scouring the sight of their last battle. But no matter how many times he checked, nothing had changed. There was no Shiro. Not even a single clue that could hint to his whereabouts.

To make matters worse, the others offered little to no help in his search. While he was out looking for their leader, Hunk, Lance, and Pidge continued their paladin work with the Blades. Scarlett was busying herself with a personal project. Allura and Coran had begun putting together a coalition, insistent on holding more and more diplomatic dinners on the Castle. And Mari…she was despairing in the wake of her brother's second disappearance.

She stayed in her room all day, curled up in bed. She hardly ate. She barely spoke to anyone. They took shifts bringing her food and trying to coax her into a conversation, but it often seemed like their efforts were useless. She was losing weight at an alarming rate, and the fiery light in her eyes had gone out. She had no motivation to go on, to do anything.

Keith wondered if it had been this bad for her after Shiro had disappeared from Kerberos. It was so strange, so unnatural seeing her so…lifeless. Whether she was reigniting their fighting spirit, pulling them back from the brink of despair during battles, or simply cheering them on and offering whatever comfort and assistance she could, Mari always had her own way of bringing their team together. Even if she didn't think so, she had a stubborn and undying flame in her heart that seemed to light a fire beneath each of them. But now, seeing her like this, so hopeless and broken…Keith realized she wasn't just depressed. She was dying, slowly but surely. And that scared him. A lot.

But he didn't know what to do. What could he do besides continuing to search? She had lost something, someone who could never be replaced. Keith didn't know how to comfort her. He hardly knew how to process his own feelings let alone someone else's. And between his mission to find Shiro and his duties as a paladin, he already felt like he was being pulled in a million different directions all at once. He was getting tired and frustrated and his focus was running dangerously thin. The last thing he wanted was to snap at her. She didn't need to be hurt any more than she already had been.

The dining hall was deathly quiet as they all sat around the table for dinner. Hunk had been experimenting with new ingredients from the planets they had recently liberated from Galra rule, cooking up dishes that were similar to those on Earth. The spread on the table looked and smelled delicious, but it was hard to enjoy it in the dour atmosphere that had settled over them.

The doors swished open and Pidge came trudging back to her seat, the plate of food that had been meant for Mari still piled high. She set it on the table with a frustrated CLINK and plopped down in her chair in defeat. Hunk wrung his hands together, glancing between her and at the untouched plate.

"Still no luck?" he asked.

Pidge rubbed at her tired eyes and shook her head. "No."

Allura shifted where she sat at the head of the table, her brow pinched with worry. "This isn't good. She hasn't eaten in days," she said. "What if she keeps refusing to eat?"

"Do we force feed her?" Scarlett tentatively wondered, and Pidge grimaced at the suggestion. "Hook her up to an IV?"

Coran sighed, heavy and troubled. "I hate to say it, but at this rate, it just might come to that."

An uneasy beat of silence passed. Keith glared at his dinner, his appetite waning as he was forced to imagine how that would go down. It would be a type of torture all on its own. If they had to wrestle her out of bed and hold her down to shove food down her throat, Mari would never trust any of them ever again.

"There has to be another way," he insisted.

"Unless you can miraculously pull Shiro out of your pocket, I don't think there is another way," Lance stated, dry and grim, and it made Keith's anger flare.

"Maybe if you actually helped look for him for once, we would've found him by now," he snapped, glowering at the Blue Paladin.

Lance made a disgruntled sound in the back of his throat and he straightened in his seat. He scowled at Keith across the table, looking ready to throw hands. But before he could retort, Pidge interrupted.

"We can't just drop everything that easily. We're all trying our best to do what we can," she said, her eyes narrowing at Keith in her building irritation. "It's not exactly easy being a paladin and searching the entire universe for one man. Hell, I'm still having trouble finding my own family, and that's with a lead!"

"Okay, guys. We're all tired and stressed, I know. But arguing isn't gonna get us anywhere," Hunk hurried to intervene and quell the rising tensions between them. "Let's just calm down. Have some dinner. One problem at a time, okay?"

Pidge huffed and sat back in her seat, but didn't argue with him. The fire died from Lance's eyes and he dispiritedly poked at his food with a spoon. Another long moment of silence dragged by.

"How are we supposed to help her?" Lance whispered, his question coming out thin and helpless.

No one had an answer for him. But it didn't stop Keith from racking his brain for one. What did he know about Mari? What had gotten her to keep moving forward after Shiro's first disappearance? How could he give her that second chance she needed to keep going? How could he give her hope for the future?

Then, like a ton of bricks, it hit him.

"We need to teach her how to fly," he realized.

The others stared at him, uncomprehending.

"What?" Hunk frowned.

"Where'd that come from?" Pidge asked.

"She's wanted to be a pilot her entire life. It's her dream to fly," Keith elaborated. "Shiro was already planning on giving her lessons. If she finally learns, she can help with the search for him."

Lance mulled it over. "That's…actually a good idea," he admitted slowly, his distress from earlier beginning to fade.

"Flight lessons just might give her the boost of encouragement she needs," Pidge agreed with a nod, warming up to the idea.

"She's gonna need to learn how to pilot anyway," Scarlett chimed in. "Otherwise my secret project will be all for naught."

She produced her laptop and opened it, spinning it around to show them. Pulled up on screen were working blueprint files of some sort of fighter ship.

"Holy crow…" Hunk whispered in awe as he took in the sleek design.

Pidge gawked at it, her eyes as wide as saucers. "Your secret project…is building a spaceship?!" she gasped.

"That's so cool!" Lance squealed.

Scarlett smiled, pleased with their reactions. "It's a gift for Mari," she explained. Then she promptly snapped her device shut. "I trust all of you can actually keep it a secret from her until it's built?"

"Of course!" Pidge exclaimed, and Hunk and Lance nodded vigorously. "Just as long as I can help you design it."

Scarlett hummed in thought. "Deal," she decided.

"So, uh, who's actually gonna be teaching her to fly?" Hunk wondered next. When no one responded right away, he continued, "As an engineer, I humbly step down from that task."

Lance grinned. "Well, your resident Fighter Pilot would be more than happy to take on the challenge," he volunteered, suave and exuding a haughty confidence. "The Tailor can show our rookie the ropes and all the tricks of the trade."

"The Tailor got our team killed in every round of the simulator," Pidge stated flatly, and he shot her a nasty look.

"So, it's decided," Coran said, pinching his mustache. "Keith will be Mari's teacher."

Keith stared at him, his heart nearly dropping into his stomach. "W-What? Me?"

"Yes, you," Coran nodded. "It was your idea. And you're the most skilled of our bunch."

"Hey!" Lance shrilled, but his indignation went ignored.

"Coran is right," Allura piped up. "The Red Lion is the most difficult to master, yet you are able to pilot it with nimble and graceful ease."

"Yeah, you were at the top of your class at the Garrison," Pidge added. "Matt always said you were the next genius pilot."

There was that title again. Next genius pilot. Of course Shiro had talked him up like that to Matt. And now the whole Voltron team knew about the nickname so full of Shiro's high expectations.

Still…they weren't wrong. Keith knew he was the best pilot among them now that Shiro wasn't here. He wouldn't be able to make a convincing argument against them about that. But just because he was good in the cockpit didn't mean he would be a good teacher. He wasn't a tight hardass like Iverson, or a great explainer like Adam, or a patient and confident expert like Shiro. How was he expected to successfully teach someone something as dangerous and skill-based as piloting? Especially considering that someone was Mari, who always knew how to test his temper and had hardly ever set foot in a simulator?

His internal struggle and doubt must've been written all over his face, because Lance's expression suddenly softened as he looked at him.

"You've known Mari longer than any of us. She trusts you with her life," he said, gentle but sure. "If anyone can convince her to get up and keep going, it's you, Keith."

Sometimes, we all need a hand.

Shiro's words echoed in the back of his mind, stirring something within him. Old memories and feelings of an empty loneliness that had only been filled by the endless warmth of a friend who had given him hope when no one else would. Shiro had believed in him. He had made an effort to understand him and help him. He had never given up on Keith, not even once. Now, it was time for him to extend a helping hand of his own. He wouldn't give up on Shiro. And he wouldn't give up on her. It was time to get up, get moving, and do something about their situation.

"Okay," he said finally. "I'll do it."

It worked.

Mari was flying. She was piloting. She was smiling, laughing as they easily soared through the air. And for her first time off the ground, she was doing surprisingly well, Keith had to admit. Maybe piloting really was a gift amongst the members of the Shirogane Family.

An unspoken relief washed over him as he regarded her from the passenger's seat of their Altean pod. It was like watching smoldering orange embers burning hotter and hotter. They glowed brighter with each passing minute, warding off the chill of the encroaching darkness until they sparked and burst into a brilliant flame.

It was beautiful.

Keith startled at the realization. Where had that word come from?

It bothered him. Confused him. …Way more than it should have.

As they returned to the Castle, Mari set them down in the hangar and they hopped out of the pod. She pulled her helmet off, her black hair tumbling down her back in a mess.

"Not bad for your first time," he noted.

"You think so?" Her voice was full of a giddy delight that Keith hadn't heard in months. "Guess Shiroganes just have a natural gift for flying."

She may have been right. If she had actually gotten to study at the Garrison, she just might have posed a threat to the fighter class pilots, Keith included. But he wouldn't let her know that.

"Oh yeah?" he smirked. "Guess I can make your training harder with each lesson."

She grinned at him like a kid on Christmas, her hope and dreams reignited. "Bring it."

Keith nodded, ignoring the odd fluttering feeling in his stomach and doing his best to shoo it away. He'd never felt ill like this in the simulator before. Not even when he rode in the other lions. It must've just been Mari's flight style that he had yet to get used to.

"Thank you, Keith," she said, pulling him out of his thoughts. She looked sheepish as she shuffled from foot to foot. "For doing this, I mean. I needed it."

Keith blinked at her. "Oh. Uh. No problem," he muttered, an awkward heat rising to his cheeks.

What was wrong with him? He was only doing this for Shiro. He was only doing this so they could find him. He needed to make that absolutely clear.

"I didn't – I mean, it's just so we can both look for Shiro," he fumbled to add. "And it wasn't just me, the others helped too. With the drones, at least."

Her smile returned. "Yeah."

An uncomfortable silence enveloped them. Keith coughed and cleared his throat, his lame and desperate attempt to clear the air. "We can…do this again tomorrow," he offered. "Practice more, I mean. If you're up to it."

She nodded, almost eagerly. "Of course."

"Right. Um…" Keith scrambled for a way of escape. He jerked a thumb towards the hangar door. "I'll, uh…"

"See you later," Mari finished for him. "At dinner."

She was willing to eat with them. It would be the first time in a long while since they all ate together…Well, almost all of them. That would make Hunk's whole night seeing her eat his new creations. But this was good. She'd get better in no time, back to her old fiery self. She'd become a full-fledged pilot. And then, they'd both work together to find Shiro.

Keith granted her the tiniest of smiles. "Right," he said. "I'll see you later."

Chapter Text

Keith didn't like piloting the Black Lion. He didn't like how big and slow it was compared to Red's thrilling speed. He didn't like how it still felt like he'd been guilted into the role as its new paladin, especially when he knew he didn't deserve it. He didn't like sitting in the same spot Shiro was supposed to sit, nor how it constantly felt like he was being watched in the cockpit. He didn't like the pressure that came with being their new leader.

But despite his doubts and lingering anger, Black was kind to him. It was patient despite his inexperience and constant screw ups. When things got hard, when Keith thought for sure he was on the verge of breaking during missions, in the back of his mind, Black would always gently encourage him to keep trying. He could do this. It believed in him. It wouldn't give up on him. It gave Keith the strength to keep going despite his lack of confidence.

Fly Black. Look for Shiro. Fight Lotor. Free planets from the Galra. Be a paladin. Try not to crack. And repeat.

Falmul was a bleak planet. With constant cloud coverage and on and off rain showers, the watery planet was constantly dark and gray and unpleasantly cold and wet. It had been taken over by the Galra on account of its abundant supply of edible fish, and it was a fairly major source of food for the empire's fleets. But with Lotor's loose reign over the empire, the Galra inhabitants ruling the planet had started overfishing, working the poor Falmulians to the bone and rapidly depleting their main food supply.

It had taken a while to destroy all the ground cannons and enemy cruisers, but Voltron finally managed to drive their forces off-world. The Falmulians were endlessly grateful for their help, and as recovery efforts went underway, they insisted on treating the paladins to multiple feasts and celebrations to express their gratitude.

Keith wanted to get back to the Castle as soon as possible. He and Mari had more ground to cover in their search for Shiro. He didn't have time to waste attending any more fancy dinners. But Allura begged to differ, and he was forced to sit through every meal and boring diplomatic meeting. She even made him indulge a giggling gaggle of Falmulian girls who had been following him around nonstop ever since he'd disembarked from Black, encouraging him to listen to their compliments, questions, and comments. Several even asked for his autograph, requests of which he reluctantly obliged. They crowded around him, threatening to burst his personal bubble as he signed their tablets as quickly as possible.

"What's it like being a pilot and traveling the universe?" one of them asked, her eyes wide and sparkling with admiration.

"It's dangerous," Keith admitted curtly. "But someone has to do it."

Another cupped her face in her hands. "It must be hard being the leader of Voltron," she drawled. "You're so brave."

It was hard. But "brave" wasn't exactly the word Keith would use to describe himself. He was nothing more than the temporary leader, only filling the role until Shiro returned. "Thanks…" he muttered, nevertheless.

Another Falmulian sighed longingly. "Your eyes are so pretty," she cooed, and he grimaced. "They're a nice deep blue, like our oceans."

He supposed the waters of Falmul did have a dull and bluish-gray color to them. "Thanks?" he managed.

He shifted uncomfortably, very much aware of how they were all inching closer. He feared for the moment one of them would try to glomp him, and he rushed to sign the last autograph. When he handed it over, the Falmulian beamed, hugging it close to her chest.

"Are you dating anyone?" she asked, failing at sounding nonchalant about it. "Probably not, because you're so busy being a great hero and all."

Keith almost laughed at that. He didn't know what was more ridiculous: him being considered a great hero or the idea of anyone liking him romantically, let alone him liking them back. That was a whole different level of confidence and experience he didn't have, and probably would never gain. He wasn't social or fun to be around and he didn't know how to talk to people, not like Lance or Hunk or maybe even James. Who would actually bother trying with someone like Keith, who was impatient, short-tempered, closed off, and so terrible with all things feelings. It wouldn't happen. He just wasn't datable.

"I'm not really interested in that sort of thing," he said, awkward but sure. The Falmulian girls sighed and pouted at him, looking on the verge of arguing to try and convince him otherwise.

"Why does everyone always like the bad boys?" Lance griped to Hunk from where they stood watching several paces away, and Keith could feel him glaring daggers at his head.

Hunk didn't have an answer for him. Neither did Keith. But he didn't concern himself with Lance's jealousy as their helmet comms chirped with an incoming call from the Castle. Keith almost sighed in relief, glad to have an excuse to make himself scarce. He peeled away from the Falmulian fangirls, retreating to Lance's side as he opened their line.

"What is it, Coran?" he asked, cutting right to the chase as the Altean advisor's worried face popped up on their screens.

"Erm…It's nothing urgent, exactly," Coran admitted, but his furrowed brow and the nervous light in his eyes betrayed his attempt to remain calm and unbothered. "I don't mean to disturb your work, but I thought you should know. Mari's gone out on her own."

The news was like a slap to the face. "What?" Keith hissed.

"We received a distress signal from Vurelle," Scarlett provided, popping up next to Coran. "She's gone to investigate in case it's from Shiro."

"And you let her go by herself?" Keith snapped, almost accusingly.

"She's only doing a quick search," Coran scrambled to assure him. "There are no Galra forces there."

"But there are space pirates," Scarlett confessed.

Keith grit his teeth, his anger bubbling just below the surface. Mari, that damn idiot. He'd told her she wasn't ready to go out on her own yet. None of them had gone on a solo mission before, let alone to a strange, scoundrel-infested planet. Not even him. But she had blatantly disobeyed his orders and jumped right into potential danger. How could he not be mad about this?

Patience yields focus, a tiny voice whispered in the back of his mind. He took a frustrated breath and dragged a hand down his face, struggling to remain calm.

"Coran, send me the coordinates," he instructed. "I'm going after her."

"Copy that. Remember to wear a disguise!" Coran advised before their line went dead.

Hunk nervously shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he glanced between Keith and the Falmulians who were curiously watching them from afar. "Keith, I know you're worried. But Mari's a capable person. And we still have a lotta stuff to do here," he needlessly reminded him.

"Yeah, we can't just leave!" Lance protested, indignant.

Keith was this close to strangling him. He couldn't believe they were choosing parties with strangers – strangers they had already freed, at that – over their own teammate. "Then you guys stay and finish it yourselves!" he growled, already turning and making his way towards the Black Lion. "Tell Allura I'm going."

"Keith! Don't leave the group again!" Lance called after him, but his pleas went unanswered.

Boarding the Black Lion, Keith input Vurelle's coordinates into the navigational system and shot away from Falmul's dreary surface. As he zipped towards the planet that was his destination, he tried opening a line with Mari. But he was only met with static, and his blood boiled at the sound. She better not have been intentionally ignoring his call. Or maybe that would be the preferred excuse. He'd rather have her ignore him than arrive at Vurelle to see that she had been captured by some nasty pirate.

Black's displays chirped, alerting him to the Red Lion as it made a beeline towards them. It caught up to Keith within seconds, easily keeping pace with his urgent flying.

"You know, you're not any less reckless than she is," Lance said flatly over their comms.

"What are you doing?" Keith snapped. "You don't have to follow me."

"Yes, I do," he stated matter-of-factly. "Allura sent me after you."

Keith stifled a groan. "She couldn't have sent Hunk or Pidge?"

"Hey, I'm only doing this because she asked me to," Lance fired back, a fierce and clearly irritated bite in his tone. "I'm missing parades with cute Falmulian girls because someone's gotta keep you out of trouble."

Keith snorted. "I'm fine on my own."

"Yeah, yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Mister Lone Wolf. But unfortunately for the both of us, you're stuck with me," Lance huffed. He was quiet for a moment before he added, "If it makes you feel any better, just think of this as me only being worried about Mari. Not you."

Keith rolled his eyes, but he didn't have time to keep arguing with him as Vurelle entered their sights. Stubbornly loyal to an almost annoying degree, Lance wasn't going anywhere now. Keith would have to suck it up and endure this mission with him.

They landed Black and Red behind a group of canyon walls about a mile from Vurelle's palace. Keith disembarked, his suit's cooling systems activating to accommodate for the heat, and surveyed the landscape. The entirety of the planet was a desert, sprinkled with water holes and succulent plant life here and there. It reminded him a bit of home, and some of the tension left his shoulders for a fleeting moment.

As Lance came down Red's ramp, he was shrugging on a dark cloak and hood. It was too long for him, and he almost tripped over the hem before he let out a frustrated grunt and hiked up the skirt.

Keith frowned as he watched him. "What are you doing?"

"Didn't you hear Coran? We've gotta wear disguises," Lance said. "You really think a buncha space pirates are gonna let go two Voltron paladins if they come strutting into their territory?"

He had a point, Keith begrudgingly admitted. Lance threw him the second cloak he'd brought and he promptly put it on. It was heavier than he'd expected it to be, an annoying extra weight on his shoulders. It'd be a hindrance in a fight, no doubt. But it did its job in covering the pristine white and red of his Altean armor, and most importantly, hiding the blatantly obvious Voltron 'V' on his chest.

Disguised as they were gonna get, he and Lance made their way towards the Vurellean civilization and entered the market. As promised, the place was full of scoundrels buying and selling an assortment of black market goods, people included. Keith tried to ignore it all, warding off other passerby and stall-keeps promoting their wares with an irritated scowl. Lance's expression was pained as they walked past the cages full of melancholic prisoners, appalled by the sight.

"This is messed up…" he murmured, his gaze lingering on one that held several mothers and their children. "We have to help them."

"We can't," Keith whispered back, quickly stopping him before he could whip out his blaster and try. "We'll only draw attention to ourselves."

"But we can't just leave them."

"We won't," Keith said, if only to stop Lance's nagging. "Finding Mari comes first."

They came to a stop at a corner stall where an Unilu was breaking down shop. He stacked crate after crate of his goods, pausing only when he noticed them approaching.

"Hey. Have you seen a human girl around here?" Keith asked, getting straight to the point and infusing absolutely no friendliness in his tone. After that Unilu had tried stealing his dagger at the space mall, he couldn't help but feel extra wary towards them, especially considering this one was peddling in a sketchy place like this.

"She's about this tall, has dark hair and eyes," Lance provided. "Has a really mean frown too."

The Unilu cracked a grin. "A lotta fellas got nasty faces 'round here," he cackled. "I haven't seen you two fleshies before, though."

His eyes raked scrutinizingly over Keith and Lance, scanning them for any valuables. But his obvious search was a futile effort with the cloaks covering them, and he frowned.

"So what if I have seen your girl?" he asked. "What's it to you?"

"She's our friend. We're looking for her," Lance said, offering no more give-away details than that.

"Ha! How precious."

Keith's irritation flared. "Have you seen her or not?" he snapped.

The Unilu tapped his chin. "Hmm…Maybe I have seen her. Maybe I haven't." He shrugged, and a sleazy grin stretched out across his face. "It's been a long day, my memory's a little fuzzy."

Keith's hand itched for his bayard. He was sure the guy's tongue would get real loose in the face of a blade. It would be so much faster and efficient that way, too. But he knew better than to do that. He was mad and annoyed, not stupid. There was no use wasting their time with a money-grubbing liar.

"Fine. Don't answer," he huffed, already turning away from the scumbag. "We'll find her ourselves."

As he and Lance continued to venture through the market, they carefully asked more shopkeeps about their teammate. Like the Unilu they had spoken to, most refused to give them a straight answer without wanting something in return. But some were more lenient, offering what little information they had. They learned that when Mari had appeared in the market, she'd gotten into some sort of argument with one of the stall owners. It had been unusual enough to draw a small crowd of onlookers before it was abruptly dispersed. Then she had disappeared, and no one had seen someone with her description since.

"This is bad," Lance groaned. They'd stopped in the alley between two abandoned stalls, struggling to formulate their next plan of action. "We haven't seen her anywhere around here. What if she's been captured already? What if they took her off-world?"

Keith didn't even want to think about that possibility. It was bad enough that Shiro was missing. He didn't need the second Shirogane getting lost in space as well. He wouldn't know what they'd do if Lotor, or some other crazy Galra warlord, or worse, Haggar and her Druids got their hands on her and tried to use her as a bargaining chip for Voltron. They'd torture her all over again, undoing all of the healing progress she had made.

Keith quickly shook the thoughts from his head. No, he couldn't let himself spiral like this. Mari wasn't completely incapable. She would've put up a nasty fight if someone had tried to kidnap her. Maybe they should check out the trafficking cages and the landing port more closely. Or look amongst the crowd for any severely wounded pirates. Captured or not, he had to believe she was still here somewhere.

Then, he saw it: those familiar bright eyes that burned constantly like a flame, hidden beneath a flash of Altean blue and white. A child was pulling her along, the two of them moving quickly down the path. They passed by where he and Lance stood in the shadows, but before they could get too far, Keith's hand snapped out and grabbed her by the wrist. She gasped as he yanked her to a halt and dragged her into the alley. Her hand flew to her hip to grab her staff, her face alight with a frightened fury, but she stopped short as she registered it was only him and Lance.

All at once, Keith's worry was replaced with an overflowing vexation as he took in her look of honest surprise. His patience breaking, his temper got the best of him as he hissed, "You'd better have a good excuse for coming out here on your own."

After everything she'd done, Keith was glad Morka was dead. The sharp and sure sounds of Mari's bones breaking in her grip and the guttural screams that followed still echoed in his ears. The gruesome images of his luxite dagger gleaming in the light as Morka's eyes and joints were slashed, the blood dripping down Mari's arm as she sawed off her long hair just to free herself…It all flashed on repeat in his mind.

Mari had done it for him. She hadn't killed Morka, but she'd still bloodied her hands, desperately trying to make up for her mistakes.

Despite nearly being crushed to death by the arena ceiling, they'd both, miraculously, lived. Keith had recovered and woken up in his healing pod before her. In a way, he was almost grateful for that. It gave him time to figure out what he was going to say to her when she regained consciousness. It gave him time to clear his head and focus on their work restoring Vurelle.

Thinking about it now, Keith wondered if maybe he had just been overreacting when he'd rushed from Falmul. If he and Lance hadn't left, they wouldn't have alerted Anka or Orix to the threat of paladins and Voltron lions on Vurelle. Mari could've safely escaped off-world and alerted Coran of the status of the planet. Maybe this all could've been avoided if he had just trusted her.

Oh, what did it matter now? There was no use overthinking about how things could've been. Everything had turned out well in the end, anyway. They had both survived. And Vurelle was free now. The coalition had gained an ally in Ellosh and Korlis and the other Vurelleans, and it was all thanks to Mari.

Still, in spite of all this, Keith knew she was going to try to apologize again. She was going to blame herself. That's just how she was. But he decided he wouldn't let her. Anka's oppressive reign and his capture hadn't been her fault. She had just wanted to help. She had just wanted to find Shiro. He wouldn't let himself or her wallow in guilt any longer, not when what was done was done.

Despite her reason for cutting it, Mari looked nice with short hair. Keith didn't tell her this, though. She always got defensive and tended to throw punches whenever someone complimented her looks, never believing them and taking their words as a mean joke. Besides, he didn't want to draw any more attention to the trauma they had just endured.

He blinked, bringing himself back to the present in the Black Lion. Why was he thinking about that now? Maybe it was because of the conversation they'd had in the observation deck a few hours ago. She hadn't been able to sleep their first night away from Vurelle and neither could he. She'd told him about the Quintessence Rings Ellosh had given her and how they were essentially promise rings that Alteans once exchanged to keep track of their loved ones.

"She wants me to share one with 'my most precious person' when I find them."

"What, so like with Aaren?"

Keith internally smacked himself. He still wasn't sure why he'd blurted that out. He'd even surprised himself with how flat and bitter he'd sounded. It bothered him that Aaren's name had been the first to come to mind, sparking an odd and unexpected bout of anger in his heart.

"Eww, hell no!" Mari had snorted, but her amusement had sounded tight and forced. "I was thinking more along the lines of saaaayyy…Takashi. He's the closest person to me that I can think of." She'd paused before casually adding, "Unless you want the other one. You know, to keep tabs on me."

Of course, that suggestion had been unexpected. Keith was pretty sure it had made his brain short-circuit for a few seconds, especially since he couldn't tell if she was joking or not. But he should've known right away that she was. He didn't know why he had hesitated.

There was no way Mari had been serious. If she had been, it would've implied a number of things, all of which had made his head spin. Him over Shiro as her most important person? That was impossible. Besides, those sort of rings were meant to be exchanged between people who loved each other. And if she had offered to give him one, then that would have meant she…

No. No, absolutely not. Mari wasn't like that. She couldn't have been. And, just as Keith had expected, she really had been joking, much to his relief.

The easy air between them had been quick to return as they both decided to head out on a search for Shiro. But even now, hours later, he didn't know why he was still thinking about it. Or why he had hesitated so much in responding to her joke.

Really, what was wrong with him tonight? He was supposed to be focusing on flying Black and looking for Shiro right now. He obviously wasn't thinking straight. Maybe he was just tired, overwhelmed by all the near-death events of the last few days.

He needed sleep. He needed to forget about all of these confusing thoughts. There was clearly nothing out here in this section of space. He supposed it was time for them to return to the Castle and get some rest.

"We should probably head back now," Keith proposed, unable to hide his disappointment in the face of another failed search mission. "We can pick up where we left off la — "

Suddenly, Black screeched to a halt against his command. It let out a thunderous roar that shook Keith right down to his very bones.

"What's wrong?" he asked, just as the control panel screens changed. A new dot appeared on their maps, highlighting an empty point in space near Thayserix.

"It's an SOS signal," Mari said, listening carefully to the rhythmic chirping of Black's displays and squinting at the new set of coordinates on screen.

Keith.

The tiniest of whispers tugged at the back of his mind, begging to be heard. A tingling warmth emitted from the controls beneath his grip, seeping into his hands and shooting a fresh wave of energy into his system.

Find me.

Shiro…Shiro was at those coordinates. Keith could feel it with a hundred percent certainty. They finally found him.

Chapter Text

Shiro was a mess when they'd dragged him out of the Galra fighter into the Castle. His hair was longer than Keith had ever seen it before. He was starving and severely dehydrated. And his leg was injured from a blaster wound. Coran rushed him to the med-bay, setting him up with food and drink before practically throwing him into a healing pod. And when he'd come out, he'd retired to his room to rest, his head muddled as he tried to process his absence.

Keith was relieved beyond words. His best friend was alive and returned to them in relatively good health. With Shiro back, he wouldn't have to shoulder Voltron's leadership all on his own. There was still the question of who would pilot the Black Lion, but…well, he decided they could deal with that later. Right now, they needed to let Shiro recover and figure out where he'd been.

"I don't know. The last thing I remember was Zarkon trying to overtake the Black Lion," Shiro uneasily provided when Keith had asked. "It told me to use my bayard. Then…just nothing. I woke up and I was back on a Galra ship."

Keith crossed his arms out of habit, mulling over this information as he tried to piece together a logical explanation. "Well…you'd just unlocked the Black Lion's ability to teleport. Could it have teleported you?" he wondered. "Maybe it was trying to save you."

"By teleporting me into the hands of the Galra?" Shiro asked, doubtful.

Keith's brow furrowed. No, Shiro was right. That didn't sound like something Black would do. Black was kind and patient and wise beyond their understanding. It had a reason for everything it did. But this just didn't make any sense. Why would it have sent Shiro into enemy hands instead of transporting him back to the safety of the Castle of Lions? It wouldn't discard its paladin like that so easily, right?

"Maybe Zarkon forced it to," Keith suggested. "He was trying to control the Black Lion up until the very last moment, right?"

"Yeah, maybe," Shiro muttered, but he didn't sound convinced in the slightest.

Keith sighed. Shiro clearly didn't have an answer or believable theories concerning the reason for his disappearance. Neither did he. There was still so much about the lions that they didn't understand. Maybe there was no use thinking about it anymore. Shiro was here now, back where he belonged. And that's all that really mattered in the end, right?

"Well, if you're feeling up to it, the rest of the team would be thrilled to see you up and around again," he said slowly, trying to lift the mood and divert Shiro's attention away from the gloom and uncertainty of their conversation. "They need you, you know."

"Yeah, I'll try," Shiro replied, and the tension left Keith's shoulders.

"Okay, we'll be on the bridge."

He headed towards the door to leave him to rest, only for Shiro to call after him.

"Hey, Keith?"

He paused in the doorway, turning back to him. "Yeah?"

The smallest of grins tugged up the corners of Shiro's lips. "How many times are you gonna have to save me before this is over?"

Keith was glad to see his sense of humor was still intact. He granted Shiro a smile of his own as he promised, "As many times as it takes."

The presence of two leaders on the Castle was more awkward and frustrating than Keith had expected it to be.

From the Castle with Coran, Scarlett, and Mari, Shiro took on the role of mission supervisor, providing directions and advice. Every course of action Keith suggested seemed to be the wrong one, with everyone usually quick to agree with Shiro's decisions. It was admittedly infuriating and humiliating for Keith, especially since he thought he had finally been getting the hang of this whole leadership thing. And especially since Shiro was now quicker to impatience and sometimes resorted to yelling at him to follow orders.

Shiro had never lost his temper with him before until now, not even when he'd been an unruly, know-it-all cadet. But Keith understood his frustration to a degree. He knew it must've been stressful and saddening to have to sit back on the sidelines, unable to protect and work with the team he cherished so much. Keith tried again and again to get him to try flying the Black Lion, but after it had rejected him the first time since he'd returned, Shiro insisted that he was okay with moving on from being a paladin. Thus, Keith was stuck as the Black Paladin and the head of Voltron.

And he didn't like it.

How could Black do this to Shiro? It was clear that he was better suited to being Voltron's leader. Shiro always seemed to know the right thing to do. He always stayed calm, even in the tightest situations. And the others always, always took his side. Keith wasn't cut out to lead. Why couldn't anyone else see that besides him?

Maybe that's why he had jumped so quickly at Kolivan's offer to train him as a Blade of Marmora. Keith was just a soldier in this war. He may not have been the best at following orders, but that didn't mean he was meant to give them. It was so much easier to have someone else calling the shots. It was so much less stressful when the weight of entire operations and the lives of his comrades weren't placed directly on his shoulders.

Besides, working with the Blade of Marmora, Keith felt like they were finally getting somewhere in their mission to take down the Galra Empire. They were actually serious and active about getting work done, unlike Voltron as of lately. While the Blades were taking over enemy bases, gathering critical intel, and tracking Galra supply lines, Voltron was putting on silly air shows and hosting stupid parties to "boost coalition morale and strengthen alliances" as Allura put it. And when they weren't doing that, they were transporting refugees and rebels and supplies to Olkarion.

Although those latter things were important, it still made Keith want to bang his head against the wall. They were making little to no progress on finding Lotor or the comet ships he was making. Even when Keith had alerted Shiro to the alarming news of the Blade's discovery of a new form of quintessence that may have been linked to Lotor, he'd been coldly brushed off and told to focus on Voltron. But he couldn't focus on Voltron, not when it felt like they were just sitting around and doing nothing.

So, he did what he could with the Blade. He volunteered to go on as many missions with them as he could. And not only did the work feel more fulfilling, but he learned a lot more under Kolivan's tutelage. He learned more about infiltration tactics, operating Galra tech, and enemy strategies. He learned more fighting techniques besides what the Castle's Gladiator had to offer, and he got to better hone his swordsmanship skills with his luxite blade against his more experienced Blade colleagues.

The one thing he didn't quite like about the Blade were their protocols. Particularly their tendency to err on the side of caution and not take risks, even when it came to saving the lives of their comrades. Keith knew now why the Blades had struggled to expand their forces and fight against Zarkon for millennia: agents were expected to preserve their own well-being, yet at the same time, sacrifice their lives for the sake of the mission above all else. With the Blade, it was every man for himself.

But Keith didn't let that stop him from continuing his training. He understood that the mission to liberate the universe from Galra rule was more important than any one of them. He wanted to do everything he could to help end this war, and he was doing so much more with the Blade than he thought possible.

The others didn't see it that way though, especially not Shiro and Allura. Keith could tell his more and more frequent absences from their Voltron shows and passive missions were pissing them and the others off. He'd be lying if he said he didn't feel a little guilty and torn about it all. But the more he worked with the Blade, the more he began to think that maybe he wasn't meant to be a paladin. He couldn't lead. He had a hard time aligning with the other paladins' priorities. And it felt so much more fitting and natural for him to work in the shadows rather than stand in the blinding spotlight that Voltron constantly stood in.

Maybe he had always belonged with the Blade of Marmora. Maybe becoming a paladin had just been some sort of sidequest that had led him to his true calling.

The thought of leaving Team Voltron first came to mind when Keith learned Mari was considering leaving for Vurelle to become a rebel officer.

At first, that familiar jealousy he'd initially felt towards her all those years ago came back to him in full. He was reminded of how much more free she was compared to him. She could go and do whatever she wanted. Nothing was tying her to the Castle and Voltron, unlike him. Leaving simply wasn't an option for him. She was still searching for her purpose amongst their team, and now she'd been given the chance to find it. He didn't understand why she was hesitating so much. He didn't understand why she cared so much about what he thought she should do.

"Do you really want me to go?"

Keith didn't know how he would've answered her question if he'd been given the chance. Mari was the one person left on the Castle who didn't jump right into lecturing him for being gone and giving him unwavering orders. She was the only one Keith still felt at ease talking to, without judgment and without anger. There was nothing keeping her here – if she had been given an opportunity to work for the coalition, then she should take it. Yet, at the same time, Keith didn't want to lose the one person who still listened to him and believed in him as a paladin. As a leader.

But it wasn't his place to tell her what to do. He couldn't hold her back like that.

Besides, he'd been alone before. He was more than used to it. And with how their supposed space family was changing, rifting, it was only natural that he'd end up alone again. He could handle it.

Nothing was meant to stay the same, after all.

Patience yields focus. Patience yields focus. Patience yields focus.

Keith repeated it over and over and over again as the days dragged by. It got him through the tougher Blade operations, full of intense chaos and destruction. It got him through dealing with witnessing the deaths of his comrades when missions went wrong. It helped him endure the displeased scowls Shiro and the paladins sent his way whenever he finally came back to the Castle after an exhausting day of work.

But today, almost thankfully, none of them were waiting to scold him as he returned to Olkarion. Instead, Scarlett was there to greet him as he hopped out of his Altean pod into the hangar.

"Hey!" she chirped, a giddy smile lighting up her face. "Guess what? I finally finished it!"

'It' was her secret project, the ship she had been spending months and months building for Mari. It was temporarily being referred to as such amongst their team to avoid arousing suspicion with its unsuspecting future pilot.

Keith removed his mask and pulled down the hood of his Blade of Marmora uniform. "Congratulations," he said, trying his best to sound enthused. "Did you test fly it?"

"The Olkari ran some tests, yeah," she said, tapping a finger against the tablet clutched in her hands. "But I was hoping we could have a human test pilot too. You know, since it's meant for a human to fly. Are you up for it?"

Keith hesitated. He was tired. And he already had so much on his mind. Did she really expect him to test fly this thing?

"Why don't you ask Shiro?" he carefully suggested. "Or Lance?"

"Shiro's busy. He and Coran are in a meeting with Ryner right now. And there's no way I'm letting Lance touch my brand new baby," Scarlett replied with an adamant shake of her head. "Besides, he and the other paladins are coordinating another air show right now. And I want our best pilot's seal of approval."

She looked up at him knowingly, almost pleadingly, and he stifled an annoyed huff.

"So my options are to help you or help them put together a parade?" he wondered, and she nodded.

"Basically," she said. When he didn't respond, she continued, "Don't worry, we've got free rein of the skies for the next couple hours. Mari's on a supply run."

He sighed. At least Scarlett was giving him a choice. If he either had to face the other irritated paladins or take a leisurely flight, he'd choose the flight any day.

"Fine," he relented.

Flying Scarlett's ship had been surprisingly relaxing. Gliding through Olkarion's skies, with nowhere to go and no missions to worry about, Keith realized it had been the first time in a very long time that he had flown just for fun, just for himself. It had been a smooth ride too, incredibly nimble and quiet and quick. The ship still didn't compare to the Red Lion's speed or the Black Lion's might, but it would be perfect for Mari and her growing skills as a pilot.

"So? How was she?" Scarlett asked when he'd landed.

Keith hopped out of the cockpit onto the ground to meet her. His heart was racing, not with fear or stress, but with that familiar elation he'd felt when he'd first flown Red or first tried his hand at the Garrison's simulators. He'd almost forgotten how thrilling it was just to fly and be free. He missed that feeling.

"It's great," he said, rewarding her with a small smile. "You did a really good job. Mari will love it."

"Thank you!" Scarlett beamed, her antenna glowing brighter with pride. "I'm thinking about giving it to her in a couple days. Her face is gonna be priceless! You have to be there for the big reveal."

The joy in Keith's heart faded as he was brought back to reality. Work had been getting progressively busier with the Blades. Kolivan's agents were being spread thinner and thinner trying to track Lotor and the secret supply of quintessence. The chances of Keith being here for that celebration was…unlikely.

"I can't make any promises," he muttered.

Scarlett's face fell. "Aww, what? You can't be here for at least a varga?"

"Don't count on it."

"Not even for Mari?"

Keith frowned, a twinge of guilt gripping his heart. "She doesn't need me around when she gets her ship."

"But she'd be happy if you were there."

"She'll be happy with it either way."

Scarlett's brow furrowed. She shuffled hesitantly from foot to foot, steeling herself before saying, "She's worried about you, you know. We all are. You've been acting different ever since you started your Blade training."

Keith stared at her, incredulous. "Me? I've been acting different? Have you taken a look at the others?" he scoffed. "They're off putting on stupid shows while I'm actually trying to get real work done. I'm the only one around here who's still taking our mission to stop the Galra seriously!"

"They are taking the mission seriously!" Scarlett snapped back, unfazed by his rising irritation. "Saving refugees and keeping hope alive amongst our friends and allies is still important work."

"They wouldn't have to worry about that if they actually focused on finding the source of this quintessence," Keith shot back. "Maybe we could have found Lotor already."

Scarlett sighed, heavy and troubled. She couldn't disagree with him, but she couldn't quite agree either. "Keith, I…As much as I appreciate all the Blade of Marmora has done for the universe, I can't agree with their battle mentality," she stated finally. "I've seen firsthand how recruits have changed because of it. The light from their eyes dims in the worst possible way. They lose their sense of self-worth. If we don't have a proper respect for our own lives, then we really will get nowhere in this war."

"I'm not like Immea," Keith scowled at her. "Or Ulaz. I won't die that easily."

She grimaced. "This isn't just about them – "

"I don't need you to worry about me. I know what I'm doing," he insisted, refusing to let her continue. Then before she could say anymore, he turned on his heel and left her with her ship.

He didn't need someone else to nag him about the choices he was making for his own life. He didn't need her telling him what he already knew. But he would be careful. He had survived this long, after all.

He would be fine on his own. He always had been.

Chapter Text

The day Shiro managed to pilot the Black Lion, Keith felt it deep in his gut. On his way back to the Castle from another Blade mission, he could hear Black roaring in the back of his mind. It sounded sad, almost reluctant. Then it had gone deathly silent, leaving Keith to stew in his own shocked thoughts.

As he finally landed, one of the Olkari told him what had happened: one of their medical supply squadrons had been attacked by a massive Galra fleet. With only four lions struggling against the relentless enemy firepower, their team had suffered quite the beating. But Shiro had managed to fly Black again, saving the day by coming to their aid and forming Voltron. The rebels and the supplies had made it safely to Olkarion thanks to him.

It admittedly hurt seeing how angry the paladins were with him. They felt abandoned by him. He hadn't been there for them when they'd been in danger. Of course they were pissed.

Keith supposed he had it coming to him. He was very much aware of how he'd been making himself more and more scarce in his paladin duties, ignoring the others' endless complaints. Their fury was only natural. And he deserved it, in a way.

On one hand, Keith felt relieved. Shiro had reestablished his bond with Black. He had proven himself to be the rightful leader of Voltron. In other words, Keith wasn't needed here anymore. He was free to leave and join the Blade of Marmora for good. But on the other hand…his absence had endangered his friends. And now that Black had chosen Shiro over Keith, it really did mean he had never truly been destined to be a paladin.

It was all the more reason for him to officially get out of their hair.

Keith told them about the secret network of supply lines transporting the strange quintessence. He told them Kolivan was putting together an intricate and deeply-rooted infiltration mission to find out where it was coming from and if it could lead them to Lotor. He told them he had to be on the mission, no matter what. He was leaving them.

The others had frowned at him, a newfound concern washing over them. Shiro was quiet for a long time, and Keith waited for him to object. But then, to his surprise and hint of dismay, Shiro had agreed with his decision. And, as always, the others followed suit, teary-eyed and sad as they said their goodbyes.

"We're here for you whenever you need us."

"We're really gonna miss you."

"Yeah, who am I gonna make fun of?"

"I know you'll make us proud."

Keith's face felt oddly hot as he left them on the bridge, his heart heavy. He should've felt happy that he'd finally been freed from his paladin responsibilities, but he wasn't. None of them had tried to stop him from leaving. None of them had asked him to stay. And that had unexpectedly hurt. But then again, why would they want him around? What would be the point? He had no purpose on the Castle anymore. He had no place within their Voltron team or their space family. Maybe he never had. He'd always been the outcast, after all, the 'Lone Wolf' of their group. It had been that way for his entire life. Why would it be any different with them?

He was replaceable. Expendable. This just proved he really did belong with the Blades.

Numb and despondent, Keith returned to his room and packed what little things he owned on the Castle. His casual clothes, phone, the keys to the shack on Earth, even the Vurelle rock from the little girl in the prize booth were all stuffed in his duffel. With his luxite blade sheathed on his belt, he slung the bag over his shoulder before he left his bayard on the bed for Shiro to find later when he needed it.

"I don't want you to go."

At least Mari had been honest and upfront with him before he'd left the Castle. It seemed like she was the only one who truly hadn't wanted him to leave. But what would her opinion have mattered? She had decided to go to Vurelle. Even if Keith had chosen to stay on Team Voltron, she wouldn't have been there. They wouldn't have had their meaningful little talks or teasing banter. They wouldn't have had their challenging sparring seasons. They wouldn't have had their late-night stargazing sessions, just sitting together and enjoying the comfortable silence and scenery outside the observation deck window.

It was all the more reason for him to just…go.

Keith's grip on the pod's controls tightened, a confusing storm of foreign emotions brewing inside him. He was very much aware of the Quintessence Ring that now sat on his finger. He had, almost reluctantly, slid it on after departing from the Castle before hiding it from sight underneath his suit glove.

Shiro hadn't wanted the ring, Mari had said. So, she had insisted upon giving it to him. To supposedly "keep tabs on him" just like he had once wanted to with her when they had been searching for Shiro.

"It's just for my peace of mind. You're…a very dear friend to me, Keith. Maybe even more than that. I don't really know yet."

He'd wanted to deny her. To refuse the ring and tell her to give it to one of her friends on Earth or to her father or to…someone, anyone but him. But he couldn't. Something deep inside of the churning cesspool of his messed up emotions stopped him from actually trying. It didn't help that she was so stubborn about it too.

"I know I'm being pushy and annoying right now, but no matter what you think of me, please just do me a favor and take one. It doesn't have to mean anything to you."

She had sounded desperate, almost begging. She'd never admit it, but she was genuinely scared for him, maybe even for herself. They were both leaving the closest friends they had come to know out here in space. They were both leaving behind the world they had grown so accustomed to, leaping into the dangerous unknown all alone.

"Just…Just please promise me that you won't die. That when this whole war is all said and done, you'll come back to us alive."

See this war through to the end. If it would get her to stop worrying so much, then Keith figured he could handle that. He would ignore these strange and confusing feelings, he couldn't afford to get distracted by them now. He just had to focus on the mission ahead.

"Okay. I promise I won't die," he'd told her before caving and taking a Quintessence Ring. "That's what this will mean."

Then she'd smiled, small and nervous, but grateful. Those brilliant eyes of hers had seemed to burn brighter, if that was even possible, and she'd nodded.

"Okay. Then I promise not to die either."

They had their rings and they had their promises. But deep down, Keith knew exchanging them meant more than that. It meant he was her next most precious person after Shiro. It meant their friendship was changing, but how it was changing, he wasn't sure. He was almost scared to find out. He didn't want to hurt her. And he didn't want to get hurt himself.

"...no matter what you think of me…"

"It doesn't have to mean anything to you."

He had to think about all of this, properly and in his own time, whenever that would be. Certainly not now, not when he was about to go on a critical mission. But sometime later, maybe after they had defeated Lotor and restored order to the universe.

"I'll see you later, Mari. And…I'll think about it."

"I'll see you later, Keith." She'd paused, her smile faltering. "Wait, you'll think about what?"

"What you mean to me. And how I feel about you," he'd replied, and he couldn't help but smirk at her surprised reaction. "And maybe I'll give you an answer when I'm ready."

Then, just like that, he'd left, refusing to think about it or her or his mess of feelings. But the next night, in the darkness of the small room Kolivan had given him on the Blade of Marmora's base headquarters, Keith watched as the ring on his finger began to glow. Soft and warm and steady, it was an acknowledgement of her thrumming life, of the heartbeat he now kept close to him. It didn't assuage all his worries in life, but it did make him feel just a little bit more at ease seeing it.

He would eventually get around to thinking about everything between them. That was a promise.

Much had changed in the weeks since Keith had joined the Blade of Marmora. Zarkon was alive and back on the throne. Hooray. And Lotor was now a wanted fugitive by the empire. It had put a complete halt on Kolivan's plans for infiltrating the quintessence supply line, making Keith and most of the other Blades restless. But luckily for them, the disorder that ensued amongst the Galra provided the coalition with the perfect opportunity to strike.

The next time Keith saw her, they were preparing for the Battle of Naxzela. He hadn't spoken to her, carefully listening to Shiro and Kolivan figure out their plan, but his eyes did wander a few times. In the garb of a rebel, she almost seemed to carry herself differently. She seemed…more comfortable. Relieved. Glad that she was finally making a difference for the coalition instead of doing supply runs on Olkarion. Rebel life suited her, he decided. She'd made the right choice.

Then the battle came. Mari was put in charge of firing the Teq Zaiforge cannon, working with him to take down enemies. She was calm and confident and they worked well together, their little rivalry returning and encouraging them to eliminate as many of their foes as possible. But their moment of victory in the fight was fleeting as they were forced to abandon their respective cannons to stop Haggar's cruiser before she could blow up Naxzela. Yet their team was getting nowhere with their efforts. The particle barrier protecting the cruiser was just too strong for their ship blasters.

Keith was getting increasingly frustrated, his anxiety and desperation peaking. Time was quickly ticking away and there was nothing they could do to stop Haggar's weapon. They were all going to die at this rate. Shiro, the paladins, Matt, Mari, the Blades, the rebels, thousands of innocent coalition lives, and Voltron itself…they were all going to be destroyed.

They were going to lose.

No! No, Keith couldn't let that happen. He absolutely would not let the universe's only hope fall at the hands of that monstrous witch.

He released shot after shot upon the enemy particle barrier, pouring every ounce of his anger into repeatedly pulling the trigger. But even with the combined force of the rebel's firepower, it still wasn't enough. And it never would be. Their blasters were simply too weak.

"Our guns aren't strong enough, even together," Matt gasped, sounding just as exasperated as he felt. "We'll never penetrate it!"

Keith racked his brain for a solution. Naxzela was going to explode any second now. Countless lives were at stake. They were all on the cusp of destruction unless he did something right here and right now.

The mission is more important than any one of us.

His heart nearly dropped into his stomach and his skin prickled as an idea struck. It was crazy, reckless – he almost couldn't believe he'd actually thought of it and was considering it. But they had no other choice. And it just might work. An explosion on that scale could be enough to shatter the shield.

One life sacrificed to save the lives of everyone in the universe…It would be worth it.

He didn't have time to think about it anymore. He had to act now. "Maybe not with our weapons…" he muttered to himself, thin but sure and completely forgetting that the others could still hear him.

His heart racing like it never had before, his vision tunneled as he locked onto his target. He gave them no time to respond as he drove his ship forward, streaking right towards the shield. His arms trembled, his grip on the controls so tight, he couldn't feel his fingers.

"Wait, Keith! What are you doing?" Matt yelled over their comms. "Keith, no!"

Keith almost didn't hear him, his mind was abuzz with frantic thoughts, all screaming in a pure terror he had never experienced before. Time seemed to slow as the reality of his situation really and truly hit him: he was going to die. His heart and thoughts would stop. His body would be no more. He would be no more.

But that would be okay. Small and unimportant, his existence was only a blip in the ancient lifespan of the universe. Besides, he wasn't a paladin. He wasn't a leader people needed. He was just a foot soldier who wasn't even that skilled. His life was nothing compared to the others he'd save. He was essentially…worthless.

So, he could do this. He could die for them.

What would the end feel like? He'd thought of death for years ever since the day his dad had never come home. What would be waiting for him on the other side? Nothingness? A new life if reincarnation turned out to be a real thing? Or maybe his dad?

He wondered if his dad would be proud of him now. Heith Kogane had given up his life to save that family on Earth, after all. And like father, like son, Keith thought vaguely to himself. Thinking about getting to see his dad soon lessened his fear of the unknown for a brief second. It gave him the strength to keep going, even in the face of his comrades' pleading shouts.

"Stop! Keith, we'll find another way!" Mari screamed. Her voice was shaking with an unhinged mixture of fear and anger. "Stop, please!"

Keith's heart clenched painfully inside his chest. Still, he ignored her. No matter what she said, nothing would stop him. She and Shiro and all the others would be sad after he was gone. Maybe they'd even be mad. But they would come to understand. They would be able to live and do what he couldn't. They would end this war and move on with their lives. They didn't need him anymore. And after this, they wouldn't have to deal with him ever again.

"I promise I won't die."

Keith screwed his eyes shut, bracing for the fiery impact with the shield that would end everything. He wouldn't be able to keep his promise. But at least she would live. She would move on from him and find someone better. She'd get married and grow old with them. She'd be happier than he could have ever made her.

This was goodbye. For good, this time.

Suddenly, the high whine of a cannon charging and firing made his eyes fly open. To his utter shock, Lotor's ship had appeared above them and had shot an explosive hole straight through Haggar's shield and weapon. Keith scrambled to pull back, dodging the scorching blast. The enemy they had spent months chasing was finally here. And he'd saved Keith, preventing his annihilation.

Of course, none of them trusted Lotor right away, even if he had saved all of them. Allura had him imprisoned for the time being as he awaited his interrogation.

Keith's entire body felt numb as he stood in the Castle's hangar. His head was strangely blank, and he didn't hear a word Shiro or Allura were saying to him and the other rebels. It wasn't until they had retreated deeper into the ship to rest, leaving him with Mari, Allura, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge, that he was dragged out of his stupor.

Mari was crying now, angry and ridden with grief at the loss of her comrades. The others gathered around her to comfort her, but Keith hung back, hesitant. He wasn't sure he wanted to get any closer. He wasn't sure he deserved to, not when he'd made her panic and scream in absolute terror less than an hour ago. Not when he'd been so ready to leave this world.

"You…Fuck you!"

Her unexpected snarl made Keith stiffen. He watched as she scrambled to her feet, her bright eyes glimmering with fury.

"Don't give me that pitiful look when you were willingly planning to join them!" she snapped, drawing everyone else's attention to him in a millisecond.

"What?" Lance's gaze locked onto him, frowning and waiting for his answer.

Keith didn't respond, the truth locked away just beneath the surface. He'd been seconds away from killing himself, seconds away from ending it all for their cause. But he'd lived, his death prevented by the strange and suspicious miracle that was Lotor's sudden change of heart. He hadn't been intending to tell anyone of what he had tried to do. It would've been a secret that he took to his grave. But Mari had ruined that for him. She was pissed, and she'd make him pay for what he'd attempted to do by bringing his secret to light immediately.

"He was going to dive bomb right into the cruiser's shield," she elaborated when he didn't reply. "If Lotor hadn't showed up, he'd be dead."

"What?"

The bite in Lance's tone this time was unexpected, and it was enough to make Keith grimace. He had to defend himself. He wouldn't let them worry over nothing, over something that hadn't even happened.

"…Our blasters were too weak," he said lamely, and he couldn't bring himself to look at any of them now. "It was the only way to stop Haggar…"

Then without warning, Lance stomped towards him and grabbed him by the collar of his suit. He drew Keith closer to him, startling him into looking the Red Paladin in the eyes.

"Are you an idiot?" Lance snapped, yelling right in his face. "After all we've been through, you were gonna end things just like that?"

Why were they so mad at him? It's not like he'd gotten hurt. Things had worked out and he had survived in the end. Why didn't they understand that he'd been trying to save them? Keith squirmed in Lance's grip, his own rage flaring and burning hot within his chest.

"I had to do something!" he growled back. "I was trying to help!"

He grabbed his wrists to try and pull him off, but Lance's grip remained firm. Apparently, what he'd said had been the wrong response, because to Keith's surprise, they triggered the waterworks. He froze as Lance began to sniffle, his blue eyes overflowing with tears.

"No, you were being an idiot! A reckless, mulleted, idiot!" Lance choked out, his voice quivering like a leaf in the wind. "Throwing your life away is not helping. Living for us, for yourself, is!"

Keith blinked at him, at a loss for words. What Lance was suggesting went against the Blade way. It went against their sacrificial, mission-central, and every man for himself mindset. This was the paladin way coming forth: Always consider the lives of your teammates and civilians before your own. This was their team mentality. And they all still expected him to follow it.

But he wasn't a paladin anymore…Did they really still see him as a part of their family? Even after he hadn't been there for him? Even after all the mistakes he'd made? Did his life really mean that much to them? Was almost ending it really enough to make even Lance cry for him? Keith wouldn't have believed it if he wasn't witnessing the tears roll down Lance's flushed cheeks right now, right in front of him.

Keith swallowed thickly. His face felt hot with embarrassment, his own eyes stinging as the guilty emotions within him began to swell. Lance released him to rub at his pooling eyes.

"Quiznak! And now you've got me crying for you!" he griped, just as Hunk crashed into them, smushing them in a tight hug. The three girls were quick to follow, threatening to squeeze the air from Keith's lungs

"Dang it, Keith…a fighter ship versus a particle barrier?" Pidge croaked. She shook her head at him, helpless and small. "I don't even think that would've taken it down."

"Man…don't — don't do that!" Hunk sobbed, shaking their entire group. "I don't know what we'd do without you!"

"The Blade of Marmora can go on without you, Keith, but we…we cannot," Allura whispered, gentle but sure. "I meant it when I first told you that, and I still mean it now."

"You're lucky I don't smack you," Mari said, and when he looked at her, she held up her ring, still steadily glowing. "You promised me you wouldn't die. Don't you dare think about breaking it again."

Their sobs and complaints echoed off the hangar walls, ringing in Keith's ears and stabbing at his soul. If they had been this upset by his attempt, he couldn't imagine how they would've reacted if he'd succeeded. They cared so much about him, more than he'd expected. And he'd scared them more than he could have ever imagined, right down to their very cores. He hadn't meant to. He hadn't intended for things to turn out like this.

"...I'm sorry, everyone," he murmured, and as soon as the words left his mouth, he knew they were true. "Really."

Lance shifted in their group hug. His eyes were rimmed with red and ablaze with a scolding light as he said, "Just promise you won't try to do it again."

Keith sighed. It would be another promise he would have to shoulder. But this time, he was determined to keep them all.

"I won't try to do it again," he decided. "…I promise."

Chapter Text

Keith had been on suspension since he'd botched the Kral Zera operation. Forced to stay on the base, he had nothing to do except train and wait while his fellow Blades went out on their own respective missions. But finally, one day, as he was lingering outside the hangar, Immea came to him with good news.

"You're off suspension, newbie," she announced. "Kolivan wants to see you now."

Keith sighed, relieved. "Finally," he muttered. Then, as she brushed past him to get to one of their ships, he asked, "Where are you headed?"

She paused, casting a glance at him over her shoulder. "I'm preparing to go to a stupid party."

"A party?" Keith frowned. That was unusual, for any Blade of Marmora agent.

"Lotor's holding an alliance ball in a few days. Kolivan's sending me as our rep," she huffed with a roll of her eyes. "He would've sent you if you hadn't messed up so royally last time."

Keith scowled at her. "Or if you hadn't let Sendak go."

He'd heard about how she'd found Zarkon's long-lost commander on Hutt. And how she'd almost killed him before letting Lotor's ex-generals take him. Almost was the key word there. She had let him go to save Scarlett and Mitsubishi, and it had cost them the return of one of their toughest enemies. Now, healed by Haggar, Sendak was back out there, defying Lotor's rule and causing all sorts of havoc amongst their allies. Suffice it to say, Kolivan was not happy with Immea about it, even if she had rescued their genius inventor.

Her antenna glowed brighter in her anger and her eyes narrowed dangerously at Keith. She grit her teeth in a barely suppressed irritation before she put on a haughty smirk. "All of your paladin friends and your human girlfriend will be there," she gloated. "Too bad you won't get to see any of them."

"She's not my girlfriend," he snapped, his own vexation rising.

"Hm. Could've fooled me."

"Just get out of here already."

She tsked. "Whatever," she hummed, turning away from him and throwing him a careless wave. "Good luck with Kolivan. You're in for a wild ride of a mission."

Immea hadn't been kidding. But then again, when did a Blade ever joke?

Keith would be going in solo for this mission. He was to infiltrate Commander Ranveig's base, find the mysterious superweapon he'd been working on before he'd disappeared at the Kral Zera, and destroy it. Additionally, he had to find their undercover spy and safely extract her from the base now that two rogue Galra factions were fighting over control for the abandoned territory.

For a split second, Keith wondered where Kolivan's renewed trust in him had come from: he'd never been assigned to a job without another Blade or two accompanying him before. On such an important mission, no less. But then Kolivan had hit home the protocol points he constantly seemed to be reminding Keith of.

"You cannot allow your feelings to cloud your judgment."

"The mission is the only thing that matters. Emotions are a luxury we cannot afford."

Even if he'd tried to deny it, Keith was still too emotionally-driven for a Blade. But no matter how hard Kolivan had tried to drill the lessons into his brain, he couldn't just ignore how he felt. He was bad at expressing his feelings, yes. But that didn't mean he could easily stuff down all his emotions until he was as stoic as Kolivan. It just wasn't that simple. He couldn't always swallow past his anger, or his fear, or his drive to help someone when they needed it. It was the human side of him coming out, the part of him that had been taught and raised on Earth by the kindest father in the universe. It was the part of him that had been trained as a paladin, encouraged to bond on a deeper, emotional level with his lion and his teammates.

But even with his silly human heart so full of silly feelings, Keith knew he could do this. He was a Blade now. He could do what needed to be done, emotional or not. Besides, this mission wouldn't be like the Kral Zera. Shiro, nor any paladin or other allies for that matter, would be there. No one important to him would be endangered and he wouldn't have to mess up the mission worrying about protecting them. It would just be him, the spy, and the two enemy fleets vying for victory.

That being said, he still had to keep his own life in mind. He had several promises to not die to keep, after all.

Safely passing through Commander Trugg's and Commander Ladnok's warring fleets in the skies above the base had been surprisingly easy…until a piece of debris smashed into the wing of his Galra fighter. He'd just barely avoided crashing to his death, expertly adjusting his controls until the ship tumbled and skidded to a halt just outside of the base. His head was pounding from having his brain rattled around inside his skull. And, he realized, he no longer had an escape ship for them to use. But he supposed they could figure out a workaround later – there were bound to be some extra fighter ships in the base, right? At least step one of the plan had been completed.

Step two was a bit trickier. It was painfully slow sneaking past the layers of security, including sentries, drones, and door locking mechanisms. Alarms blared overhead as the facility scrambled fighters and prepared to defend itself from the attacking forces in the sky. Keith crept around corner after corner, waiting for patrols and scurrying guards to pass, until finally, he stumbled upon his target: the Blade of Marmora agent named Krolia.

Peeking around the wall, Keith watched as she and a group of sentries headed for the central control room of the base. He paused, wondering how he should approach her. It probably wasn't a good idea to pop out now, lest the sentries were programmed to start shooting at every intruder. He should continue to follow her until she was alone.

Suddenly, Krolia stopped. As if sensing his stare, she looked over her shoulder his way, and out of habit, Keith ducked out of sight. He internally smacked himself. Why was he hiding? She was their ally, a fellow Blade. He technically didn't need to hide from her.

Still, he waited several long ticks before he chanced a glance around the corner. Her group was moving again. Before he could lose sight of her, he hurried to follow after, careful to keep his distance from the marching sentries, only to stop short. She'd disappeared. Where the hell had she gone so quickly? Maybe she had already gone ahead. Keith frowned and pulled his dagger out, more than ready to take out the sentries that were in his way.

Then, his skin prickled, his warning bells going off as a presence seemed to manifest out of thin air right next to him. His dagger shifted into a full-length sword and he raised it to slice into whoever had discovered him just as the whine of a blaster charging sounded right next to his head. When he looked up, he almost let out a sigh of relief as he realized it was just…

"Krolia."

She was impressively stealthy, Keith noted. Or maybe he just still had a lot to learn as a Blade. He hadn't even sensed her until the very last second. If she had been a real enemy, he would definitely be dead by now. Krolia's glare was unwavering as she took in the sight of him. He imagined she wasn't very moved by the apparently not-so-stealthy junior Blade that stood before her. It unnerved Keith that she was still pointing her gun in his face.

Her eyes flicked to the blade he was holding up to her neck. Something like recognition flashed behind them – perhaps it was confirmation that he was indeed one of her own teammates – before she lowered her blaster. Keith promptly brought down his blade, transforming it back into a knife before sheathing it.

"You're late," she stated flatly. "We don't have much time."

A hint of unmistakable annoyance crept around the edges of her tone. Keith tried not to let it bother him. If he were in her position, he'd be irritated too if Kolivan had sent a newbie to help her on such a crucial mission. But he was here now and there was nothing she could do about it except scowl at him.

Still, Keith wisely said nothing as she led the way deeper into the base. He followed her into the central control room, where not a sentry was in sight. As the doors slid shut behind them, he removed his hood and mask and waited on watch while she moved to the control panel. An awkward beat of silence passed, followed by a faint explosion from the fight aboveground, before Krolia finally spoke again.

"Why did Kolivan risk sending you here now?" she demanded, never once looking at him as she worked away at the computers.

"Because he's heard about Ranveig's superweapon," Keith said. "We can't let it fall into the wrong hands."

Another explosion shook the room, but Krolia remained unfazed. "I guess Ranveig's dead since Commander Trugg is attacking my base," she concluded.

Keith didn't understand how she could be so calm and patient. There was a destructive battle going on right over their heads, and it was only drawing nearer. They didn't have time to waste talking.

"Trugg is on the verge of crushing your forces," he reminded her, struggling not to sound rushed. "We have to destroy the superweapon now. What is the weapon exactly?"

"Warlord Ranveig intercepted an undocumented shipment of quintessence traveling through his territory. He took it for his own and began experimenting with it," Krolia explained, and when she turned to face him, her brow was pinched with concern. "It's more powerful than any quintessence we've received from the Empire, and it has some very unexpected effects."

Unexpected effects? Like what? But before Keith could ask, the room lurched violently with another explosion, nearly knocking him off his feet. The lights flickered and turned blood red as the base's alarms blared louder.

"First level breached!" a voice over the overhead comms alerted them. "Activating second level of defense!"

Krolia whirled back to her screens, pulling up the live security footage of several Galra cruisers as they landed.

"Trugg's fleet has touched down. We're running out of time!" Krolia growled. She sprinted for the door, gesturing for Keith to follow. "Come on!"

He didn't hesitate to do what he was told. Boarding the elevator, they rode down to the basement level of the base. They emerged in another control room where a heavily-fortified door sat in the wall farthest from them.

"Get to that console!" Krolia ordered, splitting from him to take the one on their right.

Keith ran to take the left, his hands hovering unsurely over the buttons and symbols. "What now?"

"We need to simultaneously enter this code," Krolia began, but before she could start reciting it, the door blew open. Trugg's sentries marched through the settling smoke, blasters charged and prepared to fire.

Keith didn't give them any time to react as he dove into fight mode. Sword flashing through the air, he took down the closest sentry. Then he took out another one. He stabbed his third opponent in the chest, but it hadn't been enough to send the robot out of commission. It grabbed him and flung him off with ease, sending him skidding across the floor while his blade was left stuck in its chestplate.

Thankfully, Krolia had his back. She unleashed a round of shots at the sentry he'd stabbed, taking it out for good. Then she'd blasted the heads off of two more. One fired at her and she nimbly dodged and ducked, snatching Keith's sword out of the fallen robot before slicing her attacker cleanly in two. Another one nearly hit her in the head. She turned and hurled his blade at it, impaling its head, and used her gun to take out two more. She grabbed his sword again, promptly cutting down yet another one.

Keith groaned and coughed, struggling to push himself off the ground. She was kicking their asses, all by herself. He felt a little stupid for having barely taken down three. But he wouldn't let that stop him from getting up and helping her. There were still more sentries coming. If he could just get his blade back from her, then –

Those thoughts were instantly snuffed as a clawed hand roughly seized the back of his neck and forced him onto his knees. Trugg, her second in command, and the rest of their sentries were looming over him. She grinned at his look of shock and easily pulled his arms behind his back, snapping a pair of heavy cuffs around his wrists. The rest of her crew aimed their charged blasters at Krolia, stopping her dance of sentry destruction.

"Surrender or die," Trugg snarled.

Krolia's scowl was absolutely murderous as she regarded the enemy commander. But, to Keith's surprise, she didn't argue. She didn't even put up a fight against her. Instead, she straightened, and his sword began to glow in her hand, reverting back to a knife. She lifted her arms next to her head in defeat, yet she never dropped either of her weapons.

Keith stared at her, uncomprehending. That was his blade. It was his sacred weapon. It was supposed to be connected to him and only him. No one else was meant to use it. Or at least, they weren't supposed to. She shouldn't have been able to transform it like that.

"We can make a deal," Krolia said finally, and the suggestion alone was enough to shake him out of his stupor.

What was she thinking? He'd been captured because of his own ineptitude. Saving comrade hostages wasn't in the protocol. It wasn't their mission. They were supposed to be destroying this place, not negotiating with the enemy. They had to keep that superweapon out of Galra hands, no matter what.

"What are you doing?" he exclaimed, incredulous.

Krolia looked at him, her expression softening just a tad. "I left you once. I'll never leave you again," she said quietly, almost sadly, cherishing those words as if they were some sort of long-held promise between them.

But Keith had no idea what she was talking about. He had hardly known her for more than a few hours, after all. And she'd been rather indifferent and bossy towards him for the few minutes they had actually been able to interact. Why was she suddenly acting nice? Why did she want to save his life so badly?

She didn't seem to pick up on his growing confusion, or perhaps she was just ignoring it. Her attention turned to Trugg again as she continued, "Give us a ship, and I'll give you the codes to the weapon."

Trugg scoffed. "Why should I trust you?"

"You don't have a choice. I'm the only one who knows the access code. If you try to break in, the room will self-destruct," Krolia countered. "Once we're airborne, I'll give you the code."

Trugg gnashed her teeth together, clearly conflicted. A tense moment of silence passed as she mulled over Krolia's proposition. Then she abruptly hauled Keith off the floor, tearing off his restraints and shoving him towards Krolia.

"Get them to a ship," she barked at the nearest sentry. "Now!"

Keith's mind was reeling as they were swiftly brought to the base's hangar. He was going to fail his mission. Again. Right after his suspension had ended too. Kolivan would never entrust such an important operation to him ever again.

He almost envied Immea with her alliance ball mission. He hated the thought of socializing at some party, but at least that would've been a million times easier to succeed at. But no. He'd been placed on this job with a Blade who also apparently had a problem controlling her emotions. And now he would have to endure the humiliation of another failed assignment.

"I still can't believe you'd give them the weapon just to save me," he snapped, not even bothering to hide the accusing anger in his voice. "You compromised the mission."

Krolia paused from where she was activating the comms in their new fighter ship to shoot him a nasty glower. "Keith, shut up and trust me," she ordered, clearly irritated with his near insubordination.

Keith pressed his lips into a thin line, glaring daggers at her. He wanted to argue with her, but it was too late to change their situation. There was no way he could fix this.

Wait. Had he…Had he told her his name?

…He was pretty sure he hadn't. She hadn't even asked.

Krolia turned back to her panel, ignoring his displeasure as she opened a line with the base. "Commander Trugg, we are prepared for liftoff. Are you at the weapon's console?"

"Affirmative."

"The code is Beta-five-two-seven-four," she carefully relayed. "Omega-five-four-five."

Keith grit his teeth, his irritation flaring in full. He couldn't believe her. How had she been a Blade for so long if she was like…this? If Kolivan was going to berate him for their failure, then he'd better yell at her too.

He huffed, fuming as he retreated to the cockpit and plopped onto the pilot's chair. He gripped the controls and started up their systems, frowning out the window as he waited for the moment he could take to the skies.

There was a long pause on Trugg's end before she finally responded. "Confirmed."

Krolia didn't waste a moment as she snapped back to him. "Get us out of here, now!"

Starting up their engines, Keith shot out of the hangar and soared into the air, peeling away from the surface and the enemy they were leaving behind to claim the superweapon. Not a minute later, the base's ion cannons came online, angling up and locking onto their fighter. Of course Trugg wasn't going to let them get away that easily.

"They're locking onto us!" Keith warned Krolia as he prepared for evasive maneuvers. "Hold on!"

The cannons fired, sending deadly beam after beam their way. Keith grunted, physically struggling to push their ship to its absolute limits in order to make the tight and nimble dodges. He laid on the thrusters and they climbed higher into the atmosphere, reentering the war zone. He spun through the air, dodging not only the ground fire, but the mess of debris that was littered everywhere. With their crummy little fighter, it was such a challenge anticipating the ground attacks whilst keeping up with avoiding the rubble ahead of them.

A scorching beam soared dangerously close to them and nearly clipped the wing. Keith's anger flared, his heart racing with fear.

"This is why you shouldn't have made that trade for me," he ground out, throwing what little shred of respect he had for authority to the wind as he lashed out at Krolia. "We could die and you just handed that weapon over to Trugg."

Krolia held on to her control board for dear life as his wild flying threatened to throw her off her feet. But despite his fury and their perilous situation, she retained her cool. "No, Keith. I handed them over to it," she said, sounding more certain of this than anything else.

"What?"

"The superweapon is a creature from the Quantum Abyss. Ranveig experimented on it with the quintessence the Blade has been tracking," she explained. "It is a monster capable of destroying even the strongest of Galra soldiers. Trugg included."

Keith was quiet for a long moment as he mulled this over. The cannons on the ground had suddenly stopped their assault and they were free to zip away from the battlefield, leaving the scene of destruction far behind them as both Trugg and Ladnok's forces fell. Krolia had known exactly what she'd been doing this entire time, he realized. …And he'd ignorantly yelled at her for it. Now he felt even more foolish than before. Stranger or not, she was still a Blade. A senior member, at that. She was way more experienced than him, and much smarter too. He should've trusted her.

When the planet was no more than a speck in the distance, Keith slowed their trek and set the fighter on autopilot. "We're far enough away," he decided. "They stopped firing at us."

Krolia said nothing as she watched him pull the pilot's seat back. He stood and faced her, suddenly feeling awkward. Should he apologize for snapping at her so much? She didn't seem offended, but it was hard to tell with how much she frowned at him. Maybe she was just used to dealing with arrogant rookies.

"I should give this back to you," she said, breaking their silence and producing his luxite dagger. She held it out to him and the anxious knot in his stomach loosened as he took it. He'd felt so naked without it. He was glad to have it back in his possession.

"How were you able to use it?" he asked, sheathing it.

Thinking about it now, Krolia had only used his sword and a blaster when she'd fought those sentries. Every Blade carried their own sword, even on undercover operations – she should've had her blade on her person. So why had she used his?

Krolia's hardened expression cracked. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to steel herself before she looked at him. "Because it used to be mine," she finally admitted, soft but sure. "Before I gave it to your father."

Chapter Text

The desert sun had lowered well below the horizon and the baked earth had begun to cool. The evening sky was darkening more and more with each passing second. Soon the stars would come out, flecking the blanket of night with dazzling tiny lights. Keith sat in his father's lap on one of the rocking chairs on the porch, watching as he flipped through the album while they waited for the celestial display to come.

"...And this is Nana Hanna," Heith was saying, pointing to the photo of another old woman Keith didn't recognize nor particularly cared about. She was long gone and he'd never meet her anyway. He just wanted to hear more stories about his mom.

"Why don't you have any pictures of Momma?" he asked, taking over the flipping of pages as he searched for her. He didn't know what she looked like, but he was sure he'd know it was her if he saw her.

Heith hummed and sat back in his seat. He rocked them back and forth, the house's old wooden boards creaking loudly beneath their combined weight.

"Your mom was a bit…shy around the camera," he said finally. "She didn't like her picture being taken."

Keith pouted at him when he reached the end of the album. His dad was right – there wasn't a single photo of his mother to be found.

"What did she look like?" he inquired next. "Do I look like her?"

Heith gave him a helpless grin. "Not much, kiddo. You take more after me," he admitted. "You have her smile though. And her frown. And her cute nose." He booped Keith on the nose and his face scrunched up. "And you have her incredible courage."

"You're brave too, Dad," Keith reminded him, and Heith chuckled. He leaned his head against his dad's shoulder, relishing his warmth in the cooling air. "What was she like?"

"She was special, just like you," Heith replied, placing a gentle kiss on top of his head. "She was clever. Serious and strong. She was one heck of a tough cookie."

"Was she as strong as Jane?" Keith asked.

Jane was one of his dad's coworkers. Muscular and bold and with a wide grin full of joy and confidence, Keith was sure she was one of the mightiest women in the city. The last time he was at the station, he'd watched her easily lift Captain Hutch like a sack of potatoes. And he was well over two hundred pounds.

Heith nodded and Keith gasped. "Much stronger," he affirmed. His gaze turned nostalgic as he looked out across the horizon. "Your mom was unlike anyone I've ever met before."

"Do you think she'll ever come back to meet me?" Keith wondered.

"Maybe," Heith said, but he sounded sad and the look in his eyes was pained. He brought his attention up to the sky as the first stars made their appearance. "I hope someday she will."

Keith felt like he'd been punched in the gut. The transforming of his blade that had been left to his dad and then to him. The thing she had said to him back at the base about not wanting to leave him again. How she'd already known his name. How they hadn't had a single photo of her in the family album. All at once, everything clicked into place, slamming him with the irrefutable answer to the mystery that had been his mother.

He gaped at Krolia, almost in disbelief. "You're my…mom?" he barely managed, his voice coming out thin and just above a whisper.

Krolia granted him the smallest of nods, and her confirmation was enough to send his focus all askew. A wave of confused questions flooded his mind, each one vying to be vocalized first as he sought answers and explanations.

"How? How did you get to Earth? How – How did you meet my dad?" He couldn't stop himself from stammering. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so nervous, so off-balanced and unlike himself. "How – how are you sure?"

"I'm sure," Krolia promised him, a hint of honest sympathy in her eyes. "This isn't how I hoped to meet you again, and this isn't how I wanted to tell you, but it's the truth. We can talk about this later."

"What?" he hissed, incredulous. "You drop a bomb like this and tell me you'll explain later?"

"We've got more important things to deal with right now," she firmly reminded him, trying to bring him back to the mission at hand.

More important things to deal with…More important things than dealing with him, her own son, she meant. Keith couldn't believe this. His entire world had just been flipped upside-down and she was just shoving it aside. As if it were nothing. As if he were nothing. She really was just another Blade. Emotionless. Indifferent. And that was apparently all he was to her now – just a defiant Blade newbie she had to rein in.

The mission would always come first, even before family.

Fine, he decided. She may have given birth to him, but she hadn't cared for him for his entire life. She'd abandoned him and his dad. If she wanted to keep things strictly business between them even now, then fine. She was nothing more than a fellow Blade agent then. Keith could handle that. He'd spent nineteen years without a mother. What was the rest of his life pretending she didn't exist, pretending that the truth had never been revealed?

"Fine," he muttered, struggling to shove down the hurt feelings that bubbled below the surface. He scowled at the ground, unable to bring himself to look at her as his face heated with his simmering anger.

If Krolia sensed his disappointment, she didn't mention it. But her tone was gentle as she pressed forward with their next task. "We're going after the enriched quintessence that created Ranveig's superweapon."

"What?" Keith frowned at her, confused. "Kolivan and I have been searching for that quintessence for a long time."

He thought they were supposed to go back to headquarters, not venture out on their own. In search of the source of that strange quintessence, no less. How were they so easily going to find something they had been searching months for without any success?

"I was with Ranveig when an unmarked cargo ship passed into his region," she explained. "When we checked it out, there was no crew aboard. The ship had been nearly torn to pieces, but inside, a single vat of quintessence remained. It was unlike any other quintessence we'd seen."

"Were there navigation records aboard?" Keith asked.

"No, but I analyzed the ship personally. The radiation signature indicated it had passed through the Quantum Abyss."

"Quantum Abyss?" he repeated. She'd briefly mentioned it before, but he had never heard of such a place. "What's that?"

"It's a part of the galaxy where dense neutron stars orbit even larger dark stars," she elaborated, turning back to her controls and pulling up the coordinates. "In the Quantum Abyss, planets and other celestial bodies are being pulled and torn in different directions. It's a chaotic, ever-changing environment. And the presence of such massive objects has unusual effects on gravitational waves and space-time itself."

Keith grimaced at the ever-changing readings on screen. "And that's where we're heading?"

"Yes."

Great. This was going to be undoubtedly dangerous. But sure, whatever. He could totally jump from one incredibly important and dangerous mission and dive right into another even more deadly and treacherous task.

Taking the pilot's seat, he grabbed the controls and input their new destination into the nav systems. Then they were off, streaming towards the unknown and the messy area of space that was the Quantum Abyss.

Hours dragged by in solemn silence. Krolia sent a report to Kolivan, leaving Keith to focus on flying. He didn't dare bring up his questions again, opting to stew in his own shock and dour thoughts.

"You cannot allow your feelings to cloud your judgment."

Keith grit his teeth. Kolivan had to have known. He had to have chosen him specifically for this mission knowing full well Krolia's relation to him. Why had he done this to him now? Was it to test Keith? After he'd messed up their Kral Zera plans, was this just Kolivan's way of further punishing him? Was this just his way of making Keith learn how to snuff his feelings?"

What bullshit. He'd wondered his whole life about his family. He wasn't going to just sit back when the answers were right here within his reach. He'd prioritize the mission, fine. But he wasn't going to just ignore his feelings and nagging curiosity forever. He still had questions. And he wasn't going to be content until he got some answers.

They were hardly five minutes in the Quantum Abyss when things went awry. Eyeball-like creatures attacked their ship, forcing them to ditch it as it got stretched into nothingness by a space-time drop-off. They were on the fringes of the territory now, exposed and without the coordinated path that would safely guide them through the chaotic scenery. But despite all this, Krolia still wanted to keep going. And Keith had no choice but to follow her. They hopped from asteroid to asteroid, slowly making their way towards the center of the Quantum Abyss.

Suddenly, the rock rumbled beneath their feet and the air vibrated with a strange energy. The center of the Abyss pulsated, releasing a rippling shockwave that made them take a knee. A blinding wave of light burst forth, washing over everything. Krolia leapt in front of him, putting herself between him and the golden rays. She protectively wrapped her arms around him, hugging him close and making him involuntarily stiffen. But before he could really react, they were both swallowed by the light.

When he opened his eyes again, he was nowhere. It was enough to make him physically startle, his nerves more than frayed after all the near-death experiences he'd somehow managed to live through today. He panted heavily, trying to calm his racing heart as he took in his new surroundings.

He was no longer in the Quantum Abyss. And Krolia had completely disappeared. There was no floor or sky or landmarks anywhere around him. There was nothing but a glowing whiteness. And, strangely enough, he was wearing his favorite casual outfit instead of his Blade garb. It had been so long since he'd gotten to wear his red jacket…But where the heck was he? What had happened? Was this a dream? Or…was he dead? Had that light killed him?

He swallowed thickly, unnerved by the thought, and he quickly shoved it away. He had to focus. Maybe Krolia had been transported somewhere here as well. If she was, he had to find her.

"Hello?" he tentatively called out into the nothingness.

There was no response for a tick. Then a baby's cries echoed from his right, and when he turned, his heart nearly froze. Emerging from the light was his dad. And their shack and their house before it had been taken down for the rebuild. He was standing outside next to Krolia, both of them paying no mind to Keith sitting in their yard as they fondly looked at the infant cradled in her arms.

"We'll name him…Yorak," Krolia was saying, and her smile was so soft and full of joy, Keith almost couldn't believe it was really her standing there.

His dad raised an unsure brow at her suggestion. "How about Keith?" he gently proposed instead.

"Keith." Krolia's smile widened as she repeated the human name. "I like that."

This was all so weird. What exactly was he watching here? Krolia's memories? He'd been two seconds away from being saddled with a name like Yorak, Keith realized vaguely to himself. While he was sure it was a…fine Galra name, he could already imagine the endless teasing he would've received at school. Thank gosh his dad had intervened with a backup name.

Keith pushed himself to his feet just as the scenery changed, casting him in a brief pitch.

"Hello, Keith."

The dark and echoing voice made Keith whirl on his heel. He found himself in some sort of Galra facility now. Glowing purple tubes stretched off into the distance on either side of him, and standing on the walkway in the middle of it all was Shiro. Except, he didn't look himself. His eyes were bright with an evil purple light and his face was twisted with unbridled hatred. A chill ran down Keith's spine as snippets of wispy voices began to bounce all around them. He could hear himself talking to Shiro, but his lips weren't moving. They were having a conversation Keith didn't recall, and Shiro sounded so odd, so angry with him.

"Shiro?"

" – gonna be okay."

" – I know."

"We just have to get back to the Castle."

"Shiro!"

" – are not going anywhere!"

The Shiro standing in front of him abruptly charged, a murderous intent gleaming in his eyes. It admittedly scared Keith, and he frantically moved to take a step back when he was suddenly enveloped in a white light again. When he opened his eyes, he was back on the asteroid with Krolia in the Quantum Abyss. He gasped, frantically looking around for Shiro out to kill him, but he was nowhere to be found.

"What was that?" he exclaimed, his voice shaking. "Were those visions real?"

Some of the tension in Krolia's shoulders faded as she realized he had come back to his senses. "Time collapses this close to dark stars," she said, rising to her feet. "Going through the light triggers glimpses of the past…and the future."

"The future?" Keith didn't like the sound of that. What could possibly happen in the future that would make Shiro act like that?

"The future is never set in stone," Krolia said, as if sensing his rising unease. "No matter what we see, we can't dwell on the scenes that have yet to happen." Then she pulled him to his feet and gestured towards the center of the Abyss. "Come on. We need to keep going."

More quaking bursts of light assaulted their party of two, sending them back and forth in time. Each ordeal was unnerving, and Keith nearly died several more times along their trek. But as their journey went on, the visions provided him with more and more information about Krolia and her past. It was like all the things she might have wanted to explain to him came pouring into his mind, like the light was responding to his desire for answers.

He found out that she had been working undercover for the Blade as one of Zarkon's scouts searching for the Voltron lions. She and another scout had picked up on the Blue Lion's signal, and she'd had to eliminate him before he could report it. The battle resulted in her crashing on Earth on his dad's property. He'd come running out of the house, naturally shocked at first to see an alien ship in his front yard. But that didn't stop him from pulling out his axe and cutting her free from the wreckage. He took her in. Nursed her back to health and listened to her story. His overwhelming kindness and selflessness and level-headedness had saved her, a total stranger – an alien – from succumbing to her injuries, or worse, Garrison capture.

"I just happened to be in the right place at the right time," Krolia said, a fond and happy sort of lilt to her voice as she looked at Keith.

Another flashback showed how she and his dad had found the Blue Lion together. Using the readings from her destroyed ship, she'd tracked it to the canyon caves. They'd found a hidden entrance that Keith and Mari, despite all their months of fervent searching, had never discovered, and it led his parents right to the lion.

Krolia had decided that she would stay on Earth to protect Blue – not that she had any way to leave or contact the Blades for assistance. She refused to contact the Garrison for help either, lest they make a big fuss over the lion mech and the first alien to have landed on Earth. Krolia didn't want to risk drawing any unwanted attention to the planet, and she would've been on her own for this mission if Heith hadn't insisted on helping her.

The love and affection Heith had held in his gaze whenever he looked at her was so bright and apparent in the visions. After only just a few months of getting to know her, he had already decided he would stick by her, no matter what curveballs life threw their way. Keith had never seen his dad look at another woman that way before, so kind and gentle and full of a devoted warmth. It was very similar to the look he had always worn when they'd stargaze and he'd share stories about Mom.

Heith had loved her so much. And Krolia had seemed just as smitten with him.

"There was no better place I could be," she admitted, wistful and honest.

But of course, she hadn't been able to stay on Earth for long. A few months after she'd given birth to him, more of Zarkon's scouts discovered the Blue Lion. With Heith's help, Krolia managed to get rid of them, but at the cost of him sustaining a bad arm injury. It was then that she had to make a choice: stay and risk endangering her family, or leave and protect them from Zarkon's soldiers and the Galra war. Giving Heith her knife to give to Keith one day, she had chosen the latter option and departed from Earth in an enemy fighter. But she hadn't left because she needed to fulfill her duty as a Blade and see through their mission to stop the Galra…

"I left to protect the person I most love," she said softly, and when she turned to Keith, the kindness and proud warmth in her gaze made his heart clench. "You."

Krolia wasn't the stoic and reckless and unapproachable senior agent he'd thought she was. Nor was she the cold and uncaring woman who had simply ditched him with his heartbroken dad he'd always thought his mother had been. He'd always thought she hadn't wanted him. But seeing her interact with him and his dad through her flashbacks, Keith realized she'd been so ready to give up the life she knew just to be with them. If the Galra hadn't kept coming, she would've stayed with them. She would've gotten to know him as she watched him grow up. He would've known a childhood that included his mother.

It was strange getting to know her in this way, through these unpredictable time-slipping visions. It was almost perfect for two people who struggled with expressing their feelings through words. Even now, Keith didn't know what to say. He didn't know how to react. His chest was aching and a mess of emotions were pooling in his gut. Guilt. Regret. Longing. Sorrow. And…happiness. Despite the conflicting feelings that remained, he was glad his major questions had been answered. He was glad he was finally starting to understand her.

Chapter Text

On their own, it would've taken them a lifetime to reach the center of the Quantum Abyss. But luckily for them, whale-like creatures of the Abyss glided past. They seemed to know how to safely navigate the chaotic territory, and they had thriving environments growing on their massive backs. Foliage, rivers, and even animals lived on these cosmic whales, able to survive thanks to the creature's ability to create its own atmosphere. At Krolia's suggestion, they hopped aboard one of the whales, hitching a steady ride towards their destination.

It was unknown how long their journey would take. But for now, they decided to focus on the basics of survival: finding food, water, and shelter.

They trekked through the forests towards the mountains and river. Hours and hours dragged by, but for the first time this entire mission, Keith felt like he could finally breathe easily. Maybe it had something to do with the clean air the cosmic whale was producing. Or maybe it was because he wasn't running from death every five minutes now that they were safely aboard its back. Or maybe it was because he was finally starting to feel more comfortable with Krolia. They weren't engaging in deep conversations or anything – family or not, they still might as well have been strangers. But the time-slipping light certainly helped them to slowly but surely get to know each other.

In one vision, Keith witnessed Krolia's return to the Blades after she'd left him and his dad.

"The Blue Lion is on a planet called Earth. I managed to eliminate Zarkon's scouts, but it is only a matter of time before they find it again," she relayed to Kolivan in one of the private meeting rooms on their base headquarters. An image of the Milky Way was pulled up on their holo-screens and the green and blue planet had been highlighted. "We need to drive them away from this section of the universe."

"Thace has successfully infiltrated Zarkon's central command unit. I'll have him divert their attention away from that quadrant," Ulaz said, already typing away at his controls to send out the message.

"To think a Voltron lion would be hidden on such a primitive planet…" Antok murmured. "You have yet to tell us how you survived on such a world for so long. Or how you misplaced your blade."

There was no missing the suspicion in his tone, and Krolia's eyes narrowed at him. "My blade was destroyed when my ship crashed," she stated. She sounded so confident and straightforward, Keith almost would've believed the lie if said blade hadn't been in his possession his entire life. "I made do with what I had and camped out in the Blue Lion's cave."

Kolivan regarded her for a moment, his expression as emotionless and unreadable as ever. Krolia stared evenly back at him, waiting for his response.

"Issue a full report as soon as possible," he finally ordered her. "Now that another lion has been found, there is much work to be done. We cannot let Zarkon find it."

She nodded. "Yes, sir."

When the vision ended, Keith turned to Krolia. "You didn't tell Kolivan about me."

"Yes. But it didn't take him long to find out the truth," she admitted. "He was furious."

"Why?"

"Your very existence on Earth could have endangered the mission," she explained. "He wanted to send an agent to look for you and your father."

"He was going to kill us?" he murmured, almost to himself. When Krolia didn't respond, he swallowed back his surprise and how unnerved her silent confirmation made him feel.

He tried to see things from Kolivan's perspective: Keith was still a Galra half-breed. And he was living right next to the Blue Lion on a primitive planet that had yet to discover the existence of aliens. If he'd ever been exposed to be anything less than human by doctors or, god forbid, the Garrison, it would've alerted humanity to the presence of alien life beyond their solar system and risked drawing the empire's attention back to Earth.

Freak.

"Kolivan was right to be worried," he decided after a long moment. "The mission is more important than any one of us."

"Perhaps. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't value your life," Krolia was quick to counter. "Our lives are not any less valuable or expendable than that of the mightiest kings or the lowliest of foot soldiers." She glanced at him, a steadfast certainty and protectiveness shining in her eyes. "You were just an innocent child. And I wasn't going to let anything happen to you."

Keith blinked at her, a bit taken aback by her mentality. It was so different from Kolivan's. It aligned so much more with how he'd felt ever since he'd joined the Blades. He just hadn't been able to put it into words until now.

"So…how did you change his mind?" he asked next. Obviously, Kolivan hadn't sent a Blade to take him out if he was still here, alive and well. "Did you fight him?"

Krolia shook her head. "I managed to convince him that you would not be a threat," she replied. "You were human and would fit right in on Earth. I'm glad you ended up looking more like your father than me."

Keith hesitated for a minute. "Dad said I have your smile. And your frown," he said, only to suddenly feel awkward the second the words left his mouth. "And your…nose."

The smallest huff of a chuckle escaped Krolia's lips as she smiled at him. "I think he was right," she agreed.

Their conversation was interrupted as a brilliant blue ball of fire soared above their heads and crash-landed in the bottom of the mountain in front of them. The ground rumbled beneath them and a trail of smoke rose up in a thin and steady stream.

"What was that?" Keith wondered. He squinted at the impact site, but whatever had slammed into the cosmic whale was hidden behind the forest at the mountain's base. It had landed right where they were headed in search of supplies and shelter.

"I don't know," Krolia said, frowning at the area. "But there's only one way to find out. Stay on guard."

They continued their march towards the foot of the mountain, following the smoke trail as they entered the woods. They pushed back the thick vegetation, weapons held at the ready, until they found the glowing crater that had been newly made in the surface of the whale. In the center of the pit, struggling to stand on wobbly legs, was a blue baby wolf. Two nasty-looking cosmic insectoids circled the poor thing, pinchers snapping and mouths clicking with delight at the discovery of their new prey. The wolf's shoulders hunched and it bared its tiny teeth, ready to defend itself in what would definitely be a losing battle.

Then, before Keith really understood what he was doing or why, he leapt into the clearing. Maybe the wolf reminded him of himself, as silly as that sounded – it was a baby, all alone with no one to take care of it, forcing it to desperately fend for itself. Plus, the paladins had given him that "Lone Wolf" nickname…Whatever the case, he wouldn't just let it get ganged up on and eaten before it truly had a chance to live. If nothing else would, he wanted to save it.

Sword in hand, he took on the creature closest to him, easily slicing through its legs. It screeched and flopped to the ground before Keith stabbed it through the head, silencing its screams. Its furious partner lunged at him, ready to impale him with one of its stabby legs, but Krolia tackled it to the floor. She blasted a hole through its face, killing it before it could even think about wrestling her off.

"Well," she huffed, shoving the corpse and letting it slump over. "We've got our dinner for tonight."

Keith grimaced at the creatures' remains. He supposed food was food when you were trying to survive. It wouldn't be Hunk's cooking, but at least it would fill their stomachs and last them a few meals.

The cosmic wolf was frozen where it stood, watching him and Krolia curiously. He was surprised it hadn't run off during the fight. He turned to it and leaned down, careful to remain on guard and keep his distance in case it suddenly tried to bite him. It was still a wild animal, after all.

"You're safe now, bud," he said, and he gestured to the woods surrounding them. "Go ahead. You're free."

The wolf tilted its head at him but didn't move to leave. Instead, it hesitantly padded closer. Keith stiffened, and on instinct, took a cautious step back. The wolf paused, staring at him through intelligent golden eyes before it continued to follow him.

"It seems to like you," Krolia observed, a hint of amusement in her gaze as she watched the wolf trot after him.

Why? Keith had wanted to ask. Was it because he'd jumped in and saved it? Had it imprinted on him because it was a baby? Whatever the case, he wasn't sure he could take care of it. They didn't know anything about it, and they had a mission to fulfill. And he was pretty sure Kolivan wouldn't be happy with him if he brought a baby cosmic wolf back to the base to live with him.

Still, the thing was stubborn. It had no intention of leaving him alone, nor did it seem interested in fleeing to the freedom of the forests. For now, Keith supposed they were stuck with it.

"Okay, fine. You can come along," he relented, ceasing his attempts to escape its interest. "But you're free to go whenever you want."

He didn't know if the wolf could understand him, but its tail flicked happily when he stopped running away from it.

With the wolf following behind them, Keith and Krolia gathered the bodies of the dead cosmic creatures and dragged them along the foot of the mountain. When they stumbled upon a decently sized cave near the river, they decided to set up camp. They gathered wood and started a fire, roasting the legs of the creatures on a spit over the flames.

Their meat was juicy and chewy and had a nutty and buttery flavor. It still wasn't anything in comparison to Hunk's dishes, but it wasn't bad. The wolf sat at Keith's feet, watching him intently as he ate, until he ripped off a piece and held it out to the hungry canine. It cautiously sniffed the chunk of flesh before taking it into its maw. It chomped on it eagerly, its tail swishing along the earth. Keith smiled as he watched it eat and gave it another piece.

This wasn't so bad, he decided. He'd never had a pet before. At one point, he was sure he'd wanted one, preferably a dog. His dad had shot down that idea though, worried a dog would run away and get lost in the desert, or attack Keith while he was away at work. But a cosmic wolf wasn't even close to being the same as an Earth dog. It seemed smarter at least, already loyal and friendly and definitely trainable. Keith had a feeling this little wolf pup wouldn't be causing them very much trouble.

It didn't take Keith long to figure out the wolf was a boy. A quick check under the hood confirmed it. He didn't do much howling, but he liked wrestling with Keith and hunting with him. He followed him around everywhere, Keith's own second shadow. He even curled up right next to him when he laid down to sleep, guarding his human's back even though Krolia stayed up late on watch. It was undeniably endearing, and Keith was secretly glad for their third companion.

One night, just as he was dozing off, a burst of the Quantum Abyss' time-slipping light rippled over them. Keith startled awake as he was sucked into a vision of the past, but this time, it wasn't one of Krolia's memories. He was standing in the cemetery on Earth in front of his dad's stone, the landscape washed in golden light. A bouquet of dead flowers laid on the ground in front of the grave. This was one of his memories, he realized. It was the first time he'd been able to visit his dad since the funeral.

No…Keith didn't want to watch this. He didn't want to relive this pain again. But it was like he was frozen, unable to control his movements as his younger self ran his fingers over the name and numbers carved into the stone. He felt his eyes sting and his tears well up, his hands forming fists at his sides. He felt the awful clenching of his heart, the emptiness that tore at his gut. He hunched over and sobbed uncontrollably, his whole body trembling as he screamed.

When the vision ended and Keith was back in the cave, he blinked the wetness from his eyes and took a shuddering breath, trying desperately to calm his racing heart. Of all the memories to have relived…why did it have to be that one?

A few minutes passed before he felt Krolia's intense gaze on his back, and it hit him that she must have seen that. He went rigid, like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar. He hadn't told her about his father. He'd almost been too afraid to, considering she'd given up a life with his dad to protect him, only for him to die at such a young age. But she was still staring at him, waiting, and it was too late for Keith to pretend he was still asleep.

"Everyone said Dad died a hero," he admitted quietly. It had been so long since he'd last talked about this with anyone, but it still hurt. He couldn't bring himself to face her and opted to stare numbly at the wall.

Krolia didn't respond right away. She inhaled and exhaled deeply, steadying herself. "What happened to him?" she asked, her voice unexpectedly small and shaking around the edges.

"There was a fire. A family was trapped inside," he said, hollow and curt. "He died saving them."

There was another pause from her as she absorbed this information. "And what happened to you?"

"I lived with other families for a while. Then I lived at the Garrison to become a pilot," he explained, sure to leave out the sadder, unpleasant details. "Nothing really worked out in the end."

Almost thankfully, Krolia didn't ask him anymore about his past that night. Keith tried to empty his mind, hoping sleep would come faster to take him so he wouldn't have to think about any more painful things. When his breathing finally began to even out and his eyelids began to droop, he could just barely catch Krolia's whisper before he slipped under.

"I'm sorry, Keith."

As the days dragged by, it seemed like more and more pieces of Keith's past were being forcibly extracted from him through the irregular flashes of the time-slipping light. Krolia watched Heith raise him in their old house in the desert. She saw how excited Keith had been when he'd received the luxite dagger for his birthday. She saw him laughing as Heith pushed him on the tire swing outside. She saw how terrified he'd been when he'd almost fallen through the upstairs floorboards, followed by Heith deciding to rebuild their house. She saw how frustrated Keith had gotten when they'd had to move all their things into storage, only for him to watch in fascination as the house was demolished. She saw the moment Hutch came to the shack to tell him what had happened to his dad. She saw how miserable he was living at Ms. Debbie's home and all of the many foster families that followed. She saw him fiercely protecting his knife at every turn, even during the Trials of Marmora. She watched as his anger and loneliness grew with each passing year.

But with all the bad, Krolia also witnessed the good. She saw Shiro and how he'd helped Keith find hope for the future. She saw Mari and how she'd met Keith in the Blue Lion caves and helped him decode the carvings. She saw Allura and Coran and how they'd accepted him for who he was despite the wrongdoings of the Galra towards the Altean race. She saw Lance and how he always had Keith's back and encouraged him to do better. She saw Hunk and how he inspired bravery and peace and companionship. She saw Pidge and how she kept their team going with that brilliant brain of hers. She saw Scarlett and how she'd defended Keith against Kolivan before the Trials. She saw Keith working as a paladin and as a Blade, and how he had grown into a kind and courageous young man despite all of the hardships he'd endured.

"Your father would be proud of you," she told him. "I'm proud of you. I'm glad you've found a family when we couldn't be there for you."

Re-experiencing such important events with her, introducing her to the most important people in his life, it felt oddly fulfilling to Keith. Slowly but surely, their bond grew with each passing vision, a mutual understanding of each other's feelings and struggles developing between them.

But what continued to unsettle Keith were the rare snippets of the future he witnessed. Or at least, he assumed they were visions of the future, since he couldn't recall having ever experienced such situations before. Unlike the flashbacks, these were all hazy scenes, voices echoing and cutting off while the imagery flickered nauseatingly. They were all things yet to come, yet to be cemented into the history of time, Krolia had explained. That was why they looked so unstable.

Sometimes he'd see Lance and Allura dancing around a hall full of happy people. Then it would change to her and Lotor. Sometimes he'd be standing in a lush courtyard, staring up at a grand statue of Voltron. Then it would change to a statue of Allura. Sometimes he'd be standing on the porch in the desert while Mari stood next to him, pointing to a camera set up in the yard and nagging him about something he couldn't quite make out. Then it would change to just him on the porch, alone as the camera flashed.

But the vision he saw the most often was that first one he'd seen with Shiro in that Galra facility. Shiro always looked angry with Keith, a murderous intent roiling off his person. Their conversation was always choppy and unclear, but the bits of action Keith managed to see spoke for themselves. Shiro would attack him, mad enough with him to want to seriously hurt him. It almost seemed impossible, knowing Shiro's gentle and patient personality. Yeah, he had been a little irritated and cold towards him leading up to his departure from Team Voltron. Okay, a lot irritated and cold. But they were best friends. They were brothers. Shiro would never actually try to kill him.

…Right?

One evening, a new vision of their fight came to Keith when he was out with the wolf collecting firewood. He inched along the ravine path, the river flowing quietly beneath them, when he felt the familiar energized rumbling of an incoming time burst. He braced himself as the light swallowed him, fairly used to the sensation of being thrown back and forth through time. What he wasn't prepared for was the potential future scenario he found himself in.

He was lying on his back, pinned beneath the Black Paladin, and he was using his luxite dagger to block an energy sword Shiro was intent on bringing down on his face. His arms were trembling from the strain, no match for the older man's leverage and brute strength.

"Shiro…please."

" – go, Keith."

"You don't have to fight anymore."

" – already gone – saw to it myself."

Whatever Shiro was saying seemed to be sapping Keith of his strength. He couldn't push back. He didn't want to hurt Shiro, even if he wasn't in his right mind. He couldn't fight him.

"Don't give up," he wanted to scream at his future self. "Don't give up!"

But it was already too late. With one last grunt of effort, Shiro overpowered him and his arm blade sliced into his neck. Keith could almost feel it as it dug into his flesh, scorching it upon contact. He choked on his boiling blood, his chest convulsing as his breath was stolen away. Then, his writhing stopped with his heart and he ceased moving as everything faded to an eerie black.

The light flashed across Keith's vision and he was brought back to the present. He gasped, his eyes stinging as he vainly grabbed at his neck, searching for the deadly gash. He stumbled forward, desperately trying to regain his composure, only to lose his footing altogether. A string of curses spilled from his lips as he was sent tumbling down the side of the ravine, sticks and rocks and grass cutting mercilessly into the skin of his exposed face. Then with a solid THUMP, his head banged into the hardened riverbank and everything went dark.

"What is that noise?"

Krolia was standing in the kitchen of their old house, her ears twitching. She scowled at the culprit, the radio sitting on the counter that was blasting a bubbly tune. From where he stood at the stove, tending to a boiling pot, Heith grinned at her.

"It's a new music hit," he said. "Not sure what the song is called, but I've been hearing it everywhere."

"It's awful," she stated flatly, unimpressed.

"You don't like it?"

"No."

Heith adjusted the dial, skipping through several more stations before he decided on a soft and soothing classical song. "This better?"

Krolia listened to the instrumental for a moment before nodding. "Yes," she decided. Then she placed her hands on her hips, watching him as he continued to cook their dinner. "Why is modern Earth music so high-pitched and obnoxious?"

"Not all of it is like that," Heith said with a shrug. "You just don't like pop."

"Pop," she repeated, her face scrunching up in disdain. "An appropriate name for something that'll make my head explode."

Heith chuckled half-heartedly, sympathizing with her irritation. "I take it the baby's giving you a rough time today?"

Krolia placed a hand on her swelling belly and grimaced. "He's unusually active," she admitted. "He's kicked me in the spine at least five times in the last hour."

"Maybe he's just got his dancing shoes on," Heith said, his eyes twinkling with amusement as he glanced at her.

She raised a doubtful, if not confused, brow at him. Stepping away from the stove, Heith gently took her hands in his and started gliding around the room with her.

"What are you doing?" Krolia wondered, her shoulders stiff as she reluctantly let him guide her.

"We're dancing," he beamed. "We've gotta get the baby's energy out somehow."

Krolia rolled her eyes, but her expression softened with a smile and she seemed to relax in his hold. "That's not how that works."

Heith laughed. "Still doesn't hurt to try."

The floorboards creaked beneath their feet and their steps were clumsy and out of rhythm with the music. But they were happy and free in each other's company, swaying contentedly along with the comforting sound.

When the vision faded, Keith felt himself being pulled back to the realm of consciousness. His head felt heavy, like it had been stuffed with cotton, and he could feel it had been wrapped in gauze from the emergency first aid kit he kept in one of the pouches on his belt. As he pried open his eyes, he found himself back in the cave, lying on the ground near the fire. The wolf was curled up next to him, watching him through worried golden eyes.

Keith absentmindedly stroked his fluffy head, struggling to focus on what had happened. He could still hear the tune of the music ringing softly in his ears, until he realized it was Krolia humming from the other side of the cave. She stopped as her gaze flicked to him, relief flashing behind her eyes.

"You're finally awake," she noted, adding another log to the flames. "How are you feeling?"

Her question had sounded casual enough, but he could just barely catch the concern lingering around the edges of her voice.

"I've felt worse," he croaked. He cleared his throat, embarrassed, and winced as he started to sit up.

Krolia moved to help him. She propped him up against the wall before handing him a canteen and a small white pill.

"Drink and take this," she ordered. "It will help with the pain."

"Thanks," he mumbled, and he did as he was told.

The cool water from the river felt good as it ran down his parched throat. He rubbed at his neck, suddenly reminded of the scene he'd experienced of Shiro killing him. It had felt so disturbingly real. To die at Shiro's hands, the man who had given him hope and had become a part of his family…Keith couldn't believe it was a possibility for his future.

He swallowed thickly and turned his attention back to Krolia. "How did you find me?" he asked.

"He brought me to you and I carried you back," Krolia said, casting a glance at the wolf. "Thankfully, you weren't badly injured. I'd say you're only mildly concussed."

The wolf rested his head in his lap, permitting Keith to pet him some more. A smidge of guilt tugged at his heart as he brought his gaze up to her.

"Sorry…I should've been more careful," he said, small but sincere. "Thank you."

Krolia nodded and said no more. She returned to stoking the fire, keeping it blazing and warding off the chill as it began to rain outside. Keith was quiet for a long moment, watching it fall and soak the ground.

"That tune you were humming," he said finally, breaking their peaceful silence. "It's a song from Earth."

Krolia smiled fondly at the memory. "It was one of my favorites. I couldn't stand most of Earth's music, but your father had good taste," she admitted. "You seemed to like it too, after you were born. It always helped get you to sleep when you were restless."

He could remember how much his dad loved country music. Whenever he was in a good mood after work, he liked blasting it while he prepared dinner. But every so often, when Keith got cranky before naps or bedtime, he'd turn on the classical. Even now as an adult, Keith found it oddly relaxing.

"It still does," he murmured, more to himself than to Krolia.

He leaned his head against the cave wall and closed his eyes, listening to the soft and steady pittering of the rain. His mind wandered, slowly emptying and refusing to be troubled by the vision he'd seen. He could worry about it later, maybe even figure out how to avoid it, if possible. But right now, he was tired. He wanted nothing more than to sleep for at least a few more hours.

Without a word, Krolia started to hum again. The tension gradually left his shoulders, and he felt himself begin to doze off. He vaguely wondered if this was what he'd been missing out on, if this was what having a mother truly felt like. He'd never felt this way towards Ms. Debbie or Ms. Lisa or any of the foster mothers he'd had. This affectionate and soothing warmth, this sense of safety and solace…it was a new experience all on its own, unique to his interactions with Krolia.

It hit Keith then that when she'd said she wouldn't let anything happen to him, she meant it. She loved him with her entire body and soul. While she may have been absent for the first nineteen years of his life, she was here for him now. And she wasn't going to leave him behind ever again.

Chapter Text

Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. The cosmic whale continued to bring them ever closer to their destination, moving leisurely at its own pace. And the cosmic wolf grew ever larger and devoted to Keith and Krolia.

Since Keith's little tumble in the ravine, they'd set up hourly check-ins whenever one of them went out on their own. They established a strict wake-up time and a curfew and a watch schedule throughout the night.

"It's important to maintain discipline in survival situations," Krolia had explained. "It helps strengthen your mental acuity."

There was more she taught Keith too, like how to hide his presence so it would be easier to sneak up on enemies, and stealth missions could operate much more smoothly. She taught him more of the Galra language and more about the history of the Galra Empire, particularly the time before Zarkon came into power over ten thousand years ago. She taught him more about combat and swordsmanship, continuing his Blade training and improving his skills. And, almost most importantly, she taught him breathing and meditation techniques, helping him to soothe his troubled heart and mind whenever he started feeling uneasy after the flashes of time-light. Such practices helped him learn to keep calm and maintain focus in the face of uncertainty. It especially came in handy whenever his short-temper got the better of him and he started growing impatient about the increasing length of their journey through the Quantum Abyss.

Besides his training, there was always something for him to keep busy: studying the plants and wildlife that lived on the whale and observing which ones were safe and dangerous, hunting, fishing, fortifying their cave for more comfortable living, and playing with the wolf. Well, at least Keith tried to play with him. They liked wrestling and running and hunting together. But the wolf wasn't interested in normal dog games, like fetch. Whenever Keith threw a stick, he would just sit there and look at him, too smart to indulge him in the menial activity. Besides, why waste his energy running back and forth repeatedly with no gain when he could just teleport?

The first time the wolf had teleported, it had pleasantly surprised Keith. One of those cosmic insectoids had stumbled upon their camp when Krolia had been out. But before he could whip out his blade and cut it down, the wolf beat him to it. He disappeared right before Keith's eyes only to manifest outside the cave on top of the creature, taking it by surprise as he sunk his fangs into its head. Keith had scrambled to finish it off before the wolf could get flung off or stabbed.

The second time he had teleported, it had nearly given Keith a heart attack. They had been traversing the narrow ravine path after a good rain when the softened ground suddenly crumbled beneath their feet. He didn't even have time to shout before a sudden warm and tingling sensation coursed through his body and a flash of bright blue light flooded his vision. Then he blinked and he was on the opposite end of the path, standing on safe and solid ground. The wolf had looked up at him expectantly, and Keith had spent a good fifteen minutes just petting and scratching him as he processed what had just happened. So, the wolf could teleport other people and things too. Super useful and good to know.

As more days passed, Keith often wondered how Shiro and the other paladins were doing with Lotor as they tried to stabilize the empire. He wondered if the alliance ball Immea had mentioned had gone well. He wondered how Mari and Scarlett were doing with their rebel base on Vurelle. He'd check the Quintessence Ring still on his finger every so often, and each time he was relieved to see it still had its glow. But every time he looked at it, he'd only be reminded of the promises he still had to keep, the ones he'd made with her and the rest of the team and the ones he'd made with himself.

"I'll think about it. What you mean to me. And how I feel about you. And maybe I'll give you an answer when I'm ready."

Keith had all the time in the world to think about it, at least until the cosmic whale reached the center of the Quantum Abyss. But even now, he still didn't know what to think exactly.

Mari was his friend. A part of their space family. She was Shiro's sister, and Shiro was a brother to him. Similar to how Shiro made him feel, she made the fire in his core burn brighter and hotter, warming him from the inside out. But calling her his sister made him feel…wrong. And unlike with Shiro, just thinking about her and their relationship made his chest ache with an overwhelming mixture of fluttery yet heavy feelings. Hope, anxiety, longing, and comfort…they were all smushed together into a confusing knot in his heart.

He tried to imagine them as something more, just the two of them, but he had a difficult time picturing it. He didn't know the first thing about dating or how it felt to be romantically in love with someone. What would they even do together? Hold hands? Dance? Kiss? Did he even want that? Would she even want that? She'd once smacked him for teasingly calling her "beautiful." And she'd reacted so negatively to (ugh) Aaren stealing her first kiss. And if Lance's failed advances were any indication, any sort of flirting just pissed her off. Maybe she just wasn't interested in romance.

"I don't want you to go."

"You're…a very dear friend to me, Keith. Maybe even more than that."

But…so many things had changed now between them. Maybe because it was him, she'd let him get closer. Maybe she wanted to get closer, but didn't know how. Maybe she was feeling just as lost and helpless and confused as him, caught between her job and her feelings and overall unsure of how to proceed with them.

Or maybe Keith was just overthinking all of this and making assumptions about her.

Dammit…Why did this have to be so frustrating?

"I've gotta say…never in my life did I expect to wake up and find an alien crashed in my yard. Sometimes I still think I'm dreaming."

Heith stood by the far window of his room, the curtains drawn as the bright rays of the morning sun illuminated the desert outside. He was keeping a healthy distance from the bed where a bandaged Krolia sat, tense and scowling warily at him.

"Unfortunately for the both of us, this is our reality," she replied coolly, her sharp gaze never leaving him. "And to me, you are the alien, Terran."

"It's actually 'Earthling.' This planet is called Earth," he provided.

"I don't care. I need to get back to my ship."

She shoved the blankets off of her and swung her legs over the side of the bed. But as soon as she tried to stand, her knees wobbled and her face paled. She grunted, weakly sagging against the headboard and on the verge of collapsing altogether. Heith drew closer, ready to catch her in case she started tipping forward.

"Hold on now. That ship is as good as busted and you're still hurt," he gently reminded her. "You need to rest."

Krolia's grip on the headboard tightened, her nails digging into the wood and leaving behind tiny gashes. She bared her teeth at him, warning him not to try and touch her. "I need to report back to my group," she practically snarled.

If she scared Heith, he didn't show it. He pressed his lips into a thin line, insistent as he urged, "The ship isn't going anywhere. Rest for now."

He gestured to the bed and her glare narrowed. He held up his hands and inched back, giving her space to decide. She regarded him a moment longer before stiffly sinking to the mattress in defeat. Once she got herself settled beneath the covers and she was comfortably propped against the pillows, Heith spoke again.

"So…What's your name?" he tentatively inquired. "Where are you from? Why are you here?"

"That's classified," she stated, brisk and unfriendly.

"You don't have to be so cautious," he said, relatively unfazed by her hostility. "I live alone out here. We're miles from the nearest city and other humans. I swear, I won't tell anyone about you. You can trust me."

"Why would I trust you?" she scoffed. "I know nothing about you except that you live in solitude and are either incredibly naive or stupid."

Heith chuckled. "I've been told I'm stupidly big-hearted," he admitted with a shrug. "Really, I promise I'm not gonna hurt you."

"I know you won't. If I thought you were a threat, I would've killed you already," she assured him.

"I don't doubt it." He hesitantly eyed the luxite dagger that sat on the bedside table next to her before sighing. "Look, as long as you promise you're not here to invade Earth or probe me or anything weird like that, I won't pry anymore into your personal life. Okay?"

Krolia contemplated his words for a moment. "I'm not here to harm you or your people," she said finally, agreeing to his terms. "I'm searching for something that was placed on this planet millennia ago. It's somewhere here in this desert."

His brow raised, surprised. "Seriously? What is it?" he asked, purely curious. "Maybe I can help you look for it."

Her frown only deepened at him in response. Her hold on the sheets was so tight, she threatened to tear right into them. He smiled, sheepish.

"Right, sorry," he apologized. "No more questions from me."

She huffed, her irritation just barely contained. Her gaze flicked around the room, really taking in his humble abode for the first time before she returned her attention to him. "Why did you save me, Earthling?" she demanded.

"Because I wanted to help you."

"Why?"

He shrugged. "Do I have to have a reason to help someone?" he wondered. "If I see someone who's hurt, I'm not just gonna ignore them, even if they are a stranger. Saving a life is more important than the situation and the relationship, don't you think?"

She stared at him, eyes wide as she absorbed his words. Some of the tension left her shoulders and she granted him an amused smirk.

"You're a strange one, Earthling," she decided, her initial wariness beginning to fade. "What's your name?"

He grinned in return. "Heith Kogane," he said, and he held out a hand to her. "Pleasure to meet you."

Krolia blinked at him before taking his outstretched hand, clasping his arm in the handshake of the Galra. "Krolia," she introduced herself.

Heith's face lit up in delight, relieved that they were finally getting somewhere. "Well, Krolia, welcome to Earth."

As the vision faded, Keith found himself back in the cave, his dinner still clutched in his hand and the wolf gnawing on a bug leg next to him. Sitting across from them, Krolia continued to eat in silence, seemingly unbothered by the scene of her past she had just relived through. But it had gotten him curious. He'd been wanting to ask her more about her relationship with his dad in the hopes of gleaning some useful advice for his own relationship issues, but he hadn't known how to casually broach the topic until now.

He swallowed thickly, steeling himself for the conversation. "Can I ask you something?" he ventured, daring to break the comfortable silence of the cave.

She nodded. "Go ahead."

"Why did you choose dad? What made you…want to spend the rest of your life with him?"

Krolia briefly looked at him, a mild surprise flashing across her eyes. Then her brow furrowed, her gaze sad as she diverted it to her meal.

"Your father was endlessly stubborn. And incredibly kind and selfless," she said, a nostalgic smile gracing her features. "Somehow, he always knew how to lift my spirits. He wasn't afraid to express himself and show me how he truly felt. He reminded me there was more to life than the mission. There are so many more precious things to experience while we are here and alive in this universe. He wasn't like anyone else I had ever met before."

"Your mom was unlike anyone I've ever met before."

The corners of Keith's lips quirked up. She and his dad had really been meant for each other. Krolia really had been in the right place at the right time. He took another bite of his food, chewing thoughtfully.

"What does it mean to love someone like that?" he asked next.

Krolia was quiet for a moment, contemplating how she should respond. "From my experience, I think to truly love someone is to care deeply for them," she said finally. "You want them to be happy and safe. You want to be intimate with them. You respect them and want the best for them, whatever that may be. But more than anything, you want them in your life and you want to be in theirs."

Now it was Keith's turn to pause, mulling over her words. "It sounds complicated."

She cast him a knowing smile. "Only if you make it that way."

He frowned. Maybe he really was overthinking all of this, making it unnecessarily complicated in his search for an immediate and straightforward answer. He was trying to rush something that couldn't be rushed, he realized. He needed to breathe and calm these muddled thoughts, maybe put them on the back burner for now so he wouldn't get weighed down. Patience yields focus, remember? The answer would come to him, if not now, then eventually. He just had to be patient and not let his reeling mind get the better of him.

A year into the mission, a flash of Quantum Abyss time-light landed Keith on the porch of his house in the desert. It looked near exact to his childhood home, except the exterior was pristine and brand new. It confused him for a moment until he realized how hazy the scenery was. This was another scene from a potential future, one where he made it back to Earth and the house finally got rebuilt.

" – start filling that album – "

Mari's muffled voice came to his right. She was standing on the porch next to him, grinning while she talked to him. He vaguely wondered why she was here, but his future self didn't seem to have a problem with it.

"Maybe we should wait until – " His future self's voice was swallowed by a garbled mess of noise.

Whatever he'd said made her roll her eyes, but she continued to beam nonetheless. " – test the camera. We'll take another one together with them – commemorate the finished rebuild and all our hard work."

She pointed to the yard, drawing Keith's attention to the camera that had been set up there. They smiled, and he felt his future self wrap his arm around her shoulders, drawing her closer until they bumped into one another. Then the camera flashed, engulfing them in a brilliant whiteness before he found himself back on the riverbank on the cosmic whale. He sat there stunned for a long moment, nearly forgetting about their catch of fish until the wolf started to drag the net out of the water himself.

He and Mari…had a future together. At least, that's what it had seemed like. But whether he would reach it or not remained unknown and up to him.

She'd been a bother when he'd first met her in the desert. But now, he cared so much for her. He wanted to keep her in his sights, to keep her safe and happy. If it was with her, he wanted to be something more than good friends. He wanted to try and have a life with her, even if he wasn't quite sure how to do it. He'd be content just to be with her.

He'd thought long and hard about it the last several months. And now it was time to make a decision. Once this mission was over, the next time he saw her, he'd be ready. He'd finally give her an answer on how he felt. Even if she didn't reciprocate his feelings, at least he would get it out there and off his chest. But no matter how much their paths changed after that, he promised himself he'd still always be there for her, as a friend and as family.

Chapter Text

Into the second year of their journey, Keith continued to focus more on his training.

Krolia was a great teacher. Apparently, she'd been in charge of training new Blade recruits before she'd gone undercover to spy on Ranveig. With her tutelage, his footwork, the strength of his swings, his speed, his anticipation skills, and overall sword technique improved immensely.

It also helped that he hit an unexpected growth spurt, one that would've gone unnoticed by him if Krolia hadn't mentioned it. He was several inches taller, no doubt bigger than Lance now, and he had broader shoulders and more muscle on his once scrawny limbs. If he had a mirror to look into, he wondered if he'd look more like his dad now.

Along with his physical change, his attitude had mellowed out. Maybe living on the back of the cosmic whale for so long was to thank for that – it was quiet and much more peaceful than living cooped up in the sterile Castle or dreary Blade of Marmora base. He'd always enjoyed the outdoors, after all. It almost felt like he was on some sort of camping vacation, temporarily free from the chaotic drive and responsibilities that accompanied paladin and Blade work. He finally had time to think and bond with the mother who had been missing from his life. He finally had time to just breathe and be himself without judgment.

His head felt clearer and his heart felt steadier than they ever had before. He was calmer and more balanced, no longer filled with an angsty dread and emptiness. He wasn't a weak and uncertain kid anymore, and he could feel it.

But Keith wasn't the only one who had grown significantly. The wolf was huge, no longer friendly-dog-sized. He was now the size of a wolf from Earth, and he still seemed to gradually keep growing. How big he would get was unknown, and Keith could only hope he wouldn't get crushed one day when the wolf pounced on him in excited greeting.

The last vision Keith experienced from the burst of Quantum Abyss time-light brought him back to his fight with Shiro. It had been ages since he'd had a vision of the future, let alone this one. But at least this time, he knew (more or less) what to expect.

He'd decided that if he couldn't avoid the scenario altogether, then he would just have to work to change the outcome. His fear of that glowing blade cutting into his neck like butter was what made him get up and dive right into training each morning for the last two years. He was fairly certain he'd physically stand a chance against Shiro in a fight now. He would just have to ignore and deny whatever future Shiro said to him to make him lose hope.

The scenery of the vision was strangely and unnervingly solid this time, although the sound was still a garbled mess in Keith's ears. Shiro had him pinned once again, threatening to slit his throat, and Keith's arms shook as he struggled to push back against the energy blade with his dagger.

"Shiro…please."

" – go, Keith."

"You don't have to fight anymore."

" – already gone – saw to it myself."

Keith was losing his strength again. The sword was inches from cutting into him. But unlike last time, death didn't come for him. He was still holding his own against Shiro, still able to stop him from finishing him. But it was only a matter of time before he exhausted himself. The blade was so close to his face now, he could feel its intense heat start to burn his skin.

Keith wanted to scream in frustration, helpless as his future self was seconds from death. He'd thought he'd been so ready to prevent this moment and change the future that had yet to be set in stone. But maybe it really was impossible. Maybe he was only delaying the inevitable. Maybe he was just meant to die here at Shiro's hand.

…No! No, he would fight this! He had to. He wouldn't let himself die. He couldn't give up. He had promises to keep. He would save himself and he would save Shiro. They would both come out of this alive. They would fix this and make things right!

Suddenly, his future self shouted, startling Keith. He waited for the suffocating sensation of the energy blade cutting into him to come, but it never did. There was a flash of blue light and Keith felt his arm moving swiftly upward. But before he could figure out what his future self was doing, the vision faded to white and he was brought back to the present.

He blinked, his eyes adjusting to the solid landscape of the cosmic whale around him. He was still standing next to the wolf outside the cave, waiting for Krolia to return from hunting. The wolf nuzzled his snout into his hand, and Keith reassuringly pet his head.

He'd been able to fight back. He hadn't died this time. At least, that's what it seemed like, he concluded, his hammering heartbeat already starting to steady. Whatever the future had in store for him, he would live through it.

"Keith, I think we've made it."

Keith straightened, turning to where Krolia was looking on the horizon. The cosmic whale was entering the black mass that was the center of the Quantum Abyss, bringing them with it. He'd known for a few days that they were on the cusp of reaching their destination. But now that the awaited moment was finally here, it almost felt surreal.

"It's been two years," he said, almost in disbelief. But with it came a sense of relief. "We can finally finish our mission."

The mass gave way to a sparkling array of blue lights that swirled past them, each emanating from a light in the distance. The whale flew further and further towards it until they were swallowed by a blinding whiteness. When it faded and their vision cleared, they were streaming down some sort of cosmic tunnel, a million stars zipping past them at unfathomable speeds and becoming glowing streaks of blue and white in the sky. Then as soon as they had entered, they emerged on the other side into a hidden area of space. A rusty red orb with churning clouds floating over its surface sat in their path.

"Look, a planet," Keith pointed it out to Krolia, and her eyes narrowed at it in suspicion. She scanned the unidentified territory and her gauntlet screens chirped.

"I'm picking up some readings similar to those of the quintessence Ranveig found," she relayed.

The cosmic whale descended into the planet's atmosphere and landed on a stretch of empty land next to a set of mountains. Its back trembled beneath their feet as it let out a breath, relieved to be taking a much needed rest after traveling for so long without stopping.

He knew the creature probably couldn't feel it, but Keith gave the ground an appreciative pat nonetheless. "Thank you," he murmured. "For everything."

Helmet and mask on, Krolia, him, and the wolf disembarked the cosmic whale and ventured out into the unknown. They climbed over dusty and jagged rocks and gnarled vines and trees, dutifully following the quintessence signature. Finally, they came upon a massive, domed building of Galran design. Their little group stopped, guards up as they took in the remote facility.

"This is the source of the readings," Krolia said, her scanners chirping like crazy now. "Let's go check it out."

It was easy sneaking inside. Much too easy. There weren't any sort of security measures outside – no sentries, no flesh-and-blood Galra soldiers, not even a single drone or camera. The only thing blocking them from making a quick entrance were the massive metal doors, locked tight and only openable with a specific signal code. Whoever had built this place and was managing it had full confidence that it would be a secret, never to be reached by an outsider who was reckless enough to venture into the treacherous Quantum Abyss.

They'd been too cocky.

Locating the ventilation hatch above the entrance, they crawled through and busted their way inside. They dropped down to the floor, now on the other side of the main door. Keith led the way as they journeyed deeper into the facility, on high alert in case an enemy suddenly popped out of nowhere. But the halls were strangely empty and unguarded without a single soul in sight.

"I'm detecting several biorhythms through this door," Krolia whispered, bringing them to a halt in front of it. Her hand hovered over the keypad, preparing to open it. "Get ready."

Keith grabbed his knife and crouched out of firing range. The wolf tensed behind him, set to pounce on whatever foe may be awaiting them.

Krolia pressed his hand against the keypad and it chirped. The door glowed and hissed as it slid open, and they cautiously peeked inside. To their surprise, a thriving landscape greeted them. A field of green grass and pink flowers led to a lush forest. Birds chirped as they flitted from branch to branch before taking to the blue skies, soaring amongst the fluffy white clouds. There was a whole world hidden here, a little slice of serene paradise tucked away in the center of the Quantum Abyss.

"What is this place?" Keith asked, hesitantly stepping onto the grass. The wolf padded around him, curiously sniffing at one of the flowers before sneezing.

"I don't know. I've never seen a base like this before," Krolia admitted, frowning as she watched a flock of birds glide overhead. Then glancing at her screens again, she continued, "The quintessence readings are stronger than ever here."

"Let's keep going," Keith prompted.

They made their way across the field and entered the forest. The trek was quiet and cautious as they walked through the trees, their eyes peeled and constantly scanning their surroundings. The canopy was thick above their heads, providing coverage in case there were cameras or enemies in the sky. Save for the twittering of birds and the rustling of leaves in the gentle breeze, there wasn't another sound to be heard.

Then, Keith picked up the humming. He inhaled sharply and stopped in his tracks, whispering, "Wait, I hear something."

Their party was brought to a sudden halt, holding their breaths as they listened for the sound. It was high and soft and so faint, Keith almost thought he could be imagining it. But the wolf's ears twitched, confirming that there was indeed a noise, and he turned his head to their left, pointing towards it. Krolia and Keith exchanged a knowing look, their guards shooting up. Then they followed the wolf as he led the way to the source of the humming.

It grew louder and louder with each passing second, and it was quickly accompanied by the gentle trickling of water. They kept their steps as light and stealthy as possible as they crept from tree to tree, pausing every so often to warily peek around the trunks. Finally, the trees thinned, giving way to a stream where a young woman was crouched on the bank and washing a basket of clothes.

Suddenly, the wolf took a hesitant step forward, snapping a twig underfoot. The woman's pointed ears twitched and she stiffened, her humming abruptly ceasing. She turned on her heel, revealing a set of triangular teal markings beneath her widening purple eyes.

Keith stared at her in shock. "An Altean…" he murmured, almost unable to believe what he was seeing.

How was this possible? Altea had been destroyed millennia ago. Allura and Coran were the last survivors. Or at least, they were supposed to be. Just what exactly was this place? What was going on here?

The wolf took another step towards the Altean, making her yelp at the sight of it. She lost her balance, falling onto her butt and knocking over her basket as she tried to crawl away.

"Wait!" Keith emerged from the trees, holding his hands up in a calming gesture. "We're not here to hurt you."

The woman froze, her eyes narrowed and her shoulders tense. She made no further attempt to flee though, regarding them suspiciously.

"Keith, her quintessence signature…it's similar to the quintessence we've been tracking," Krolia said, frowning at the data on her displays.

"What?" Keith took a look at the readings. Sure enough, the patterns practically matched. So the strange strain of quintessence they'd been tracking this entire time had belonged to an Altean? No wonder they couldn't identify its source.

The woman squinted at Krolia, getting a closer look at her face beneath her helmet visor, before her gaze landed on the symbol on her uniform chestplate.

"You're Galra…" she realized, a fresh wave of fear flashing across her eyes. "Who are you? Did Lotor send you?"

"I'm Keith. This is Krolia," Keith carefully introduced themselves. "Lotor didn't send us. We're with the Blade of Marmora, allies of Voltron."

"Voltron?" She frowned, yet some of the tension left her shoulders. "I thought Voltron was only a child's tale. Has the legendary hero really returned?"

"Yes," Keith said. "Zarkon has been defeated. Lotor has taken the throne. Voltron and the Galra Empire are working together now."

"No! No, you can't!" she exclaimed, her brow pinched with a frightened anger. "Lotor is a bad man. Please, you cannot trust him!"

She was trembling slightly, desperate and pleading with them. What exactly had Lotor done to her to make her so shaken up? Keith frowned, his suspicion towards the new emperor growing by the second.

"We'll hear you out, we promise," he assured her. "What's your name?"

She hesitated for a moment. "My name is – "

"Romelle!"

She startled at the voice and scrambled to her feet. Keith, Krolia, and the wolf instinctively moved to hide behind the trees again, concealing their presences just as another Altean woman marched towards Romelle.

"Luka…" she murmured flatly.

Luka's eyes were bright with irritation as she scowled at her. "I heard voices. Who were you talking to?" she demanded. Her attention landed on the tipped-over basket and the damp clothes strewn along the bank. "And what are you doing out here? We have machines to wash these for a reason."

"I was talking to myself," Romelle lied. Before Luka could press her anymore on the topic, she quickly added, "And I like washing in the stream. The water is purer here, and I like the solitude. It's peaceful. It helps me think."

Luka tsked. "Don't give me that. The last thing we need is for your overactive mind to wander." When Romelle didn't respond, she rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips, continuing, "Ever since Bandor left for the sister colony, you've been isolating yourself from the rest of us. I'm starting to think it's driving you mad. …You should be happy for him and your parents, not selfishly sulking out here. I would give anything to be chosen."

Rage and sorrow twisted Romelle's features. Her hands curled into fists and she blinked back tears. "What do you want, Luka?" she ground out, doing her best to glower at her.

"Merla asked me to invite you to the council meeting," she replied, unfazed by her anger. "She thinks the social interaction will liven your spirits."

"I don't want to go."

"How can you be so childish and ungrateful?" Luka snapped, indignant. "Those meetings are for our wisest and most devoted leaders. You shouldn't even be allowed to go."

"Why do you care? It's not like you actually want me there," Romelle fired back, growing just as exasperated. "Just go to your silly meeting and leave me alone."

Luka glared at her for a long minute, her gaze full of disdain. "Fine. If you're being like this, then don't come," she huffed, already turning to leave. "I swear, Merla and Tavo are wasting their time worrying about you."

Keith and Krolia waited until they could no longer hear her footsteps and she was well out of sight before they emerged from the shadows. Romelle continued to frown where Luka had disappeared. Then she let out a heavy sigh and knelt to collect her clothes, now dirty with mud and grit. Keith tentatively bent down to help her and she granted him a tight smile.

"So there are more Alteans here," he concluded, and she nodded.

"Yes. Many, many more."

When all her garments had been retrieved, she scooped the basket into her arms and moved away from the stream to a more secluded section of the woods. She sat on a large rock and set her things on the grass next to her before folding her hands in her lap.

"My name is Romelle…as you've already heard," she began slowly. "Thousands of Alteans live here with me. Our colony has existed since the war with Zarkon began."

"How is that possible?" Keith asked. They'd all thought for sure Allura and Coran were the last of their kind.

"Lotor saved the Altean people. There were many off-world on trading expeditions when Altea was destroyed," she explained. "They were forced into hiding for decaphoebs until Lotor tracked them down. He hid them on this remote planet, protected from the outside by the Quantum Abyss. Lotor became their savior, worshiping him like some sort of god." She shifted on her makeshift seat, tensing as she glared at the forest floor. "But he is anything but those things. He is nothing but a deceiver."

Hatred roiled off her person, but a helpless light shone in her eyes. It was an oddly familiar sight, and it prompted Keith to crouch down next to her so they were on an equal level.

"What did he do, Romelle?" he gently asked.

She took a deep breath to steel herself. "Decaphoebs ago, well before I was born, Lotor said he was creating another colony, one far from our own," she continued. "He said it was in order to increase our odds of survival. He claimed he needed to determine which Alteans would be suitable candidates and able to survive the harrowing journey. He tested everyone, taking only a select few in a cargo ship to the second colony. Being chosen by him to go became the highest honor for my people."

"Do you know what he was testing for?" Krolia inquired.

"I don't know," she admitted, and there was no missing the bitterness in her tone. "We are not allowed to communicate with the second colony for fear of compromising the other's location. I've always thought it was a strange rule. So many families are separated, yet Lotor refuses to let us speak with one another. But no one except me seems to ever question any of his actions. They are all too devoted to their so-called 'god.'"

"Is your family on that second colony?" Keith asked.

"Yes. My mother, my father, so many of my dear friends…and recently, my brother, Bandor, was taken," she affirmed. "But…he managed to escape and returned on his own."

"Escape?" Keith repeated, the knot of dread growing in his stomach. "What do you mean?"

"He gave me a communicator he made before he left." Romelle rummaged in her pockets before producing a small device to show them. "It never worked when I tried to contact him and my parents. But one night, I received a call from him. He sounded so weak and frail…He told me to meet him in the forest. When I went, I found him in a transport that had crashed through the colony dome. He looked…horrible. So thin and deathly pale and dried up, like the life had been sucked out of him. He couldn't move. He could hardly speak. He told me Lotor had been lying about the second colony. And then he…he died in my arms."

She paused, letting out a shaky sigh as the tears welled. "I wish I could've taken him home with me. I couldn't even give him a proper burial. Lotor was too quick to track him and I had to flee before I was discovered," she croaked, pressing her trembling palms to her pooling eyes. "When I returned to the crash site the next day, there was nothing there. He got rid of the wreckage and had patched the hole in the sky. I have no evidence against him. No one would believe me without it. And I'm afraid if I say something, Lotor will send someone after me. My brother is dead and I – I can't go to anyone about this. I can't do anything about it."

She sobbed, the weight of her secret and her bottled-up grief getting the better of her now that she had finally shared her story with someone. The wolf gingerly nuzzled his head against her shoulder, offering what little comfort he could. Romelle gasped and swallowed in shock at the touch. She granted him a grateful pet on the head before scrubbing her tear-stained cheeks.

Keith's heart admittedly ached for her. She was so frustrated and lost without her family, stuck in a place she felt she no longer belonged. That loneliness, that sense of helplessness that made you feel like you were on the verge of drowning…He understood how she felt. Very much.

"You're not alone anymore," he finally decided, standing at his full height once more. "We'll help you, Romelle."

She sniffled, her eyes puffy and red around the edges as she looked at him. "You will?" she asked. "Why? You don't even know me."

"I know. But sometimes…we all need a hand." He held out his for her to take, and Krolia smiled at him proudly, knowingly. The heat rose to his cheeks beneath her gaze, somewhat embarrassed, but he didn't retract his offer.

Romelle blinked at him in surprise, the sadness swirling behind her eyes giving way to a newfound hope and determination. A small smile pulled at the corners of her lips and she took his hand, letting him pull her to her feet. With a new ally on their side, Krolia got right down to business.

"We've been trying to track down a strain of pure quintessence that we suspected was linked to Lotor somehow," she said, pulling up the readings on her screens for Romelle to see. "It led us here."

"Are there any storage facilities around here?" Keith asked. "Somewhere Lotor may be hiding it?"

"No. This colony only consists of our houses, shops, and the council hall," Romelle replied, regretfully shooting down that train of thought.

"We need to find that second colony," Krolia determined. "If your brother returned on the brink of death to warn you, Lotor is hiding something dangerous there."

"Romelle? Romelle, where are you?"

Romelle jumped and Keith and Krolia went rigid at the sound of the new voice. It wasn't Luka again. It sounded like another woman, and she was gradually drawing closer.

"That's Merla. We need to leave this place, we can't let her find you," Romelle whispered, worry etched into her features. She plucked up her basket and swiftly began to hurry upstream away from the nearing Altean, gesturing for the two intruders and their wolf to follow her. "You can hide in my home. I'm the only one who lives there now, it will be safe."

Keith nodded, their little party already moving after her. "Lead the way."

Chapter Text

It wasn't unusual for Galra soldiers to visit the colony, especially when supplies came in or new candidates were chosen to go to the second colony. But that didn't stop Romelle from wanting them to be extra cautious and avoid being seen at all costs. Making them briefly tug on her damp and dirty clothes, hiding their unusual attire from sight, she quickly led them along the outskirts of the Altean civilization towards her home.

As they went, Keith realized she really hadn't been kidding when she'd said the people of the colony worshiped Lotor. A massive statue in his likeness had been erected in the center of town atop a memorial of names, all of which belonged to those he had chosen to go to the second colony. Alteans milled about the structure, kneeling before it and setting out flowers while others closed their eyes, possibly to pray. Romelle didn't let them linger in the open for too long, rushing them to her house where it resided on the edge of the village. But the little he did manage to see disturbed Keith nonetheless.

Lotor may have been an emperor. He may have been strong and intelligent and capable of what most would've considered impossible. He may have saved an entire race of people from being hunted and driven to extinction. But he wasn't a god. No matter how many millennia he had lived through, he was still only a mortal, just like the rest of them. He wasn't perfect. He made mistakes. He made bad decisions. He was capable of lying and scheming. He could only do so much. But these Alteans were too enthralled with him to see that, undoubtedly wrapped around his finger and unquestioningly devoted to his every word.

It was strange and concerning that in all this time the colony had existed, Romelle had been the only one to question his decisions. It was even more concerning that Lotor hadn't told Allura and Coran that their race hadn't been completely wiped out, kept alive by his supposedly gracious hand.

After hiding them away in the back room of her house, Romelle quickly shooed away a few of her concerned friends when they came to the door looking for her. They waited until night had fallen and she could lock the entrance before they came out, making themselves comfortable in the main living area.

"I've been staying away from everyone ever since I found Bandor. I know they mean well, but I'm worried for them and for myself," she admitted, wringing her hands together. "I fear I may slip up about his death, and I…I'm scared about what they'll say, who they'll tell."

Some friends they are, Keith thought sourly to himself. They seemed to care about Romelle, but apparently not enough to acknowledge or comfort her lonely and grieving heart. She really was on her own in this place if she didn't trust confiding in anyone except them, two strangers from the outside world.

"If you really don't think any of them will believe you, then it's not worth telling them," he said, feeling rather defensive for her. "You made the right choice."

She shrugged, neither agreeing or disagreeing, but she didn't argue with him. Her shoulders sagged and she stared sadly at her boots, reminding him of a wilting flower.

"Given your brother's weakened state, he couldn't have piloted his ship for very long," Keith gently pressed onward with their mission. "The other colony has to be somewhere nearby."

"There is a moon orbiting this planet that could house a colony," Krolia said slowly, if not unsurely.

Keith considered it. They hadn't seen any apparent storage or production facilities in town during their quick dash to Romelle's house. There really was no other place they could look for the quintessence supply except that moon.

"Well…it's our only lead," he decided. "But how will we get there?"

A beat of silence passed before Romelle straighted. "I have an idea."

Behind her house was a small storage unit that had been used by her family. It was sort of like their personal garage, housing old furniture and boxes of miscellaneous tools, books, decorations, clothing, and machine parts. But most importantly, it held an Altean transport pod.

"These transports haven't been used in generations," Romelle said, opening the doors and revealing the old ship. "None of the Alteans in the colony would know how to fly one, even if we desired to."

Keith smiled at the ship, almost relieved to see it. The pod was small and quiet and discreet – it would be perfect for their journey to the moon.

"I think I got us covered there," he assured her.

She lifted a curious brow but didn't question him, watching as he activated the pod. It hummed to life, the windshield dematerializing and revealing the cockpit. He hopped into the pilot's seat, prompting Krolia to take the passenger's. The wolf teleported into the space behind them, and Romelle hesitated before following suit. She gripped the back of Keith's chair, nervous as the cockpit window manifested above and sealed them in.

"Are you sure you know how to fly one of these?" she asked.

"Yes. I'm a pilot," he answered.

"Yes, but…this technology is ancient," she reminded him.

Keith activated the displays, starting up the engine. It had been two years since he'd flown any sort of aircraft, but the skill and years of training were still there, ingrained into his very soul.

"Don't worry," he said, casting her a tiny smirk. "I've flown these things before."

Her brow pinched, confused. "You have?"

"Yep." He opened the domed roof of the storage unit, the unused bay doors creaking as they slid apart. "The Castle of Lions is full of them."

"The Castle of Lions?" she exclaimed. "The magical palace of King Alfor and Queen Melenor from the fairy tales?"

"It's not a fairy tale. It's real. I lived on it," he said. "Princess Allura flies it now."

"You've met Princess Allura? She lives?" Romelle gasped when Keith nodded, unable to contain her fascinated excitement. "Oh, I've always admired her! She isn't often mentioned in our stories of Altea, but I've always thought she was so brave for fighting alongside her father against Zarkon until the very end."

"Well, she's a big figure in the war now. She's a paladin and a leader of the Voltron Coalition," Keith said, gripping the controls. "Has Lotor really not told you any of this?"

Romelle shook her head. "None of it," she admitted, the keen interest draining from her eyes in an instant at the mention of him. "Voltron and Princess Allura's return, Zarkon's defeat…he hasn't informed us of any of it."

Krolia's eyes narrowed with concern and Keith frowned. All the recent changes and turned tides in the ten-thousand-year-long war against the Galra…Lotor had chosen not to mention them to the people he'd saved. Why he was still keeping the Alteans in the dark despite his alliance with Voltron was a mystery. Maybe he was just trying to protect them from Haggar and Sendak and the other rogue warlords who were still causing havoc within the empire. Keith wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, if only for the sake of their goal to achieve universal peace. But the more he thought about it, the more his unease grew.

Well. Whether Lotor was a good guy or a dangerous enemy, they'd find out soon enough.

Keith took them up into the air, peeling away from the surface and gliding towards the bay doors in the sky high above the colony. Romelle had pointed them out, saying that Lotor's ships always entered and exited through them. Upon detecting their approaching ship, the hatch slid open with ease, allowing them to slip out of the colony.

Having never seen the outside world, Romelle couldn't help but gawk in awe at the stars and the rusty-red planet that was her home. She didn't let her intrigue distract her though as she drew her attention to the largest of the gray and lifeless moons orbiting the planet, where Krolia was picking up more of the strange quintessence readings.

"There's something down there," she said, and as they began their descent, a Galra facility came into view, almost hidden amongst the dense clouds and craggy landscape.

"Is that the second colony?" Romelle wondered, squinting at it. "It looks very different from mine."

"It looks more like a standard Galra base. Without the heavy artillery," Keith said, noting the lack of ground cannons and how they weren't being shot out of the sky.

"Take us down," Krolia instructed, pointing out a flatter space to land.

Keith did as he was told and they disembarked. The air was chilly and damp with fog while the roaring winds whipped around them. But the atmosphere was breathable, thankfully, and they quickly made their way towards the base of the building. They crept through an empty entrance tunnel until they reached a set of heavy double doors. Keith wedged his knife in between them, and together he and Krolia pried them open, granting them access to the vast room beyond.

It was dark and eerily quiet inside, the only sounds the steady and faint humming of machinery and Romelle's anxious panting. Stacked in rows along the wall were large cylindrical containers that stretched down the walkway out of sight. They cautiously ventured into the room, on the lookout for any guards and a control board.

"The readings here are higher than I've ever seen them before," Krolia murmured, checking her screens. "Whatever's inside these units is the source of the quintessence strain we found."

Romelle paused in front of one of the containers and lifted a hand to the fogged-over glass. She wiped away the condensation, revealing a torso and then the face of an Altean man. His eyes were lifeless, his face thin and wrinkled and veiny, like a raisin. Multiple cables had been embedded in his body, draining him dry. She gasped and stumbled back, horrified.

"No! Petrulius!" she cried out, her voice shaking with an uncontainable terror. She hugged her arms to her chest, frantically glancing at the other containers filled with Alteans. "What's happening to them? These people were supposed to be headed to the colony!"

The rare and unusual readings of the strain of quintessence, how similar they were to Romelle's quintessence signature, the information Lotor had withheld from the other Alteans on the colony, this horror-show of an extraction facility…All at once it clicked into place. There was no second colony. And Lotor was not a friend of the Altean race.

"Lotor is harvesting their quintessence," Keith realized, a fresh wave of dread washing over him.

Romelle looked like she was going to be sick. "He's been doing this for generations," she whispered. "My brother, my parents, everyone…He's – He's a liar! A murderer! He's a complete monster!"

Her eyes welled with tears and she pressed a hand over her mouth to stifle her sobs. Rage and betrayal burned in Keith's core. Lotor had tricked them all. He was no better than his father, using people, lying to them, killing them to get what he wanted.

A new fear struck Keith then: that same monster was with his family now, with Shiro, Allura, Coran, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge. He was a snake thriving off their kindness, their decision to trust him as an ally, and the power and protection they provided with Voltron. He wanted a steady supply of quintessence so desperately, he'd manipulated and murdered thousands of innocent Alteans, Allura's own people. And now, the princess was building him ships that could give him access to an endless supply of the stuff, ignorant of all the nightmarish things he was keeping from her.

Keith had to warn them. They couldn't let him gain access to the Quintessence Field. And he absolutely would not let Lotor use his friends anymore.

"We can't stay here," he decided, already moving for the exit. "We need to warn Allura and the others."

"But what about these people?" Romelle asked, a desperate light in her eyes. "What about everyone at the colony?"

"I'm afraid there's no saving the ones here," Krolia confessed, her expression grim as she stared at Petrulius' withered form. "They're on the verge of death. Even if we take them out of their units now, they will still die in dobashes."

Romelle bit her lip. She turned to Keith, pleading.

"We'll save the other Alteans, but we can't do it on our own. We need to warn the paladins and stop Lotor first," he said, firm but not unkind. When she didn't respond, he gently pressed, "Romelle, you need to come with us. It's not safe for you to go back to the colony. You're the only Altean who knows the truth. Allura will listen to your story."

Romelle hesitated a moment longer, absorbing their words. She took a deep breath, her brow furrowing and her jaw setting with determination.

"Lotor has torn my family apart. He killed my brother. He killed my parents and my friends," she stated finally, her hands falling to her sides. "And for that, I will never forgive him. I will do anything I can to help bring the truth to light."

Keith granted her an encouraging nod. She may have admired Allura, but Romelle contained an admirable bravery herself. She questioned the norm when no one else would and followed her instincts. She was putting her faith into people she barely knew, choosing to trust them with the hopes that they could help her. She was willing to venture into the unknown, leaving behind everything she knew to protect the people she loved from perishing. She was risking death by exposing and confronting Lotor, but she had chosen to do what she knew was right nevertheless.

"Thank you," he said, glad to have her on their side. "Let's get going."

Departing from the Quantum Abyss in their little Altean pod, Keith and Krolia contacted Kolivan to make a report on their findings. Apparently for the rest of the universe, only a few days had passed since Keith had left on his mission to extract Krolia from Ranveig's base. It was a little unnerving to discover this bit of information, but the Quantum Abyss was a place where the flow of space-time was unnatural. In a way, it was a good thing two years hadn't actually passed for the rest of the universe. It meant they still had time to stop Lotor before he completed his ships and could access the Quintessence Field.

They informed Kolivan of Lotor's Altean colony and the laboratory base he was using to siphon their quintessence. Then they gave him the coordinates for the hidden planet and moon so he could send out a recovery team.

"Do you know where Lotor is right now?" Keith asked.

"The last we heard, he departed for the remains of Daibazaal with the paladins," Kolivan replied. He was as stoic as ever despite finally learning the disturbing truth behind the source of the strange quintessence. "I'm sending you the coordinates now."

Their displays chirped and Keith input the information into the navigational systems, their maps locking onto the location of the destroyed Galran homeworld.

"We'll contact you with an update once we've detained Lotor," he said. His heart was racing with urgency as they headed for their new destination, where their friends and the enemy would be waiting for them.

"Affirmative," Kolivan replied. He hesitated before adding, "Good luck."

Keith gave him a small smile. "You too, sir," he said, and their transmission ended.

Without the luxury of a wormhole, it took them several days for them to reach the galaxy that once housed Altea and Daibazaal. They had to make a couple stops for supplies, naturally, doing their best to land in neutral or coalition territories. Despite the circumstances of their trip, Romelle and the wolf seemed to delight in getting to experience more of the universe, seeing new species of people, tasting new foods, hearing new dialectics. She commented that once this whole incident with Lotor was done and over and the Alteans had been saved, she'd love to explore different worlds and make lots of different friends, all without living in fear of the Galra. Keith hoped her dream would come true one day soon. With Voltron, he was positive it would.

Finally, they arrived. The fractured remains of Daibazaal laid before them, and as Keith zipped past the stray asteroids, bringing them ever closer, the Castle of Lions came into view. It hovered there, unmoving, but it was still very much active and intact. He let out a sigh of relief knowing that the Voltron team hadn't left the area yet.

Suddenly, his panel chirped with an incoming call from the Castle.

"Attention, Altean pod. Identify yourself."

It was Shiro. It had been so long since Keith had heard his voice. His actual voice, not the rage-fueled yelling of the Shiro in his visions. He activated their line, and the bridge of the Castle of Lions popped up on his screen. Shiro, Lance, Hunk, Pidge, and Coran were all there, looking exactly the same as when he'd last seen them two years ago. But there was no sign of Allura anywhere. Or Lotor.

"Shiro, it's Keith," he said, desperate to cut right to the chase.

Shiro's eyes widened, understandably shocked to see him. It had been a while since they'd met in person. Not since the Battle of Naxzela.

"Keith! A-Are you okay?" he couldn't help but stammer.

"Where have you been?" Pidge gasped, just as surprised.

"And how did you get your hands on that pod?" Coran piped up.

"Does he look bigger to you guys?" Lance wondered. "He's bigger, right? …No?"

Keith had almost forgotten he supposedly looked different than he had two years ago. But he didn't let Lance's question distract him. He couldn't afford to waste time right now explaining where he'd been.

"Where's Lotor?" he asked.

"He's in the Quintessence Field," Hunk answered.

"Oh, no," Keith groaned. Allura had finished his ships. Lotor was getting exactly what he wanted. They'd been too late.

No, no, it was too early to give up and give into despair. They could still stop him.

He circled around the Castle and entered the pod hangar. Two of Lotor's completed Sincline ships were housed there as well, he noted. As he landed their pod, the rest of the Voltron team was already standing there, waiting for him. Deactivating the cockpit windshield, he hopped out to meet them.

Shiro blinked at him, trying not to gape. "Keith, it's so good to see you," he managed, a new round of surprise washing over him now that he was seeing him up close and in person.

"Hold on," Lance said, suspicion in his gaze. He stepped forward and raised his hands in a stopping motion as Keith approached. "How do we know you're the real Keith and not his bigger, cooler, grizzled older brother?"

Keith's irritation flared. Lance's tendency to make little jokey comments in such serious situations definitely still got the better of him. "I don't have time for this, Lance!" he snapped, brushing past him.

Lance scowled, displeased with his reaction. "Hey everybody, Keith's back!" he dryly exclaimed.

Keith ignored him. "We need to stop Lotor. He's been lying to all of us!"

Shiro frowned at the accusation, unsure. "Lying about what?"

"Everything!" Romelle exclaimed, and Keith turned to see her, Krolia, and the wolf disembark. She stood there with her fists at her side, a nervous but insistent gleam in her eyes.

Coran inhaled sharply at the sight of her. He looked like he'd been punched in the gut. "You're – You're Altean!"

"And who's the Galran?" Lance wondered, his attention laser-focused on Krolia.

"Is that a wolf?" Hunk squeaked, nervously eyeing it.

"Where did you come from?" Coran asked.

They were asking so many questions, none of which Keith wanted to delve into answering at the moment. Not until he was sure they were all safe.

"I promise I'll explain everything once we get to Lotor," he began, but Pidge was quick to intervene.

"We can't get to him," she said. "He just entered the Quintessence Field with Allura."

That wasn't good. "We traveled through realities before. Can't we fly in there and attack?" he pressed, hoping he didn't sound like he was begging.

"She said Allura is with him," Lance adamantly reiterated. "We can't risk hurting her."

"Why are we even attacking?" Hunk wondered, his frustrated confusion starting to show in his tone.

"Look, Keith, everyone, calm down," Shiro struggled to reel in their growing tension and discontent. "When they return, we'll get this all sorted out."

Keith grit his teeth. Each second that passed was one more moment Lotor got away with his misdeeds. But they were right – if Allura was with him, they couldn't attack him recklessly. Besides, with the way the paladins were all looking at him right now, so perplexed and doubtful, he was sure they wouldn't even dare try to hurt a single hair on the emperor's head. They wouldn't understand or be on Keith's side until he told them exactly what was going on.

"Fine," he relented. "We'll explain everything."

Chapter Text

They moved to the bridge while they waited for Lotor and Allura to return to the Castle. There, Keith got right to the point, briefly summarizing how his extraction mission turned into a journey through the mysterious Quantum Abyss. It was a little irritating trying to get to the most important part of the story though, considering everyone kept interrupting with their own comments and questions.

"Dude, you look…so old!" Lance wheezed, unable to get over his matured appearance. "We just saw you a few weeks ago. How the quiznak are you taller than me now?"

"Lance is right," Shiro smoothly intervened, taking notice of the nasty look Keith was throwing Lance's way. "You have changed."

Keith pulled his attention away from the Red Paladin to give Shiro a tiny smile. "Time is different where I've been," he said with a helpless shrug.

Krolia regarded Shiro for a moment, no doubt recognizing him from all of the visions of Keith's childhood. "Shiro, I am Krolia. Keith has told me all about you," she said, stepping forward and holding out a hand. Shiro blinked at it in mild confusion, but took it in greeting nonetheless. "Thank you for raising him to be the man he is today."

Keith pressed his lips into a thin line, the heat rising to his cheeks. "Krolia is with the Blade of Marmora," he explained curtly. "Also…she's my mother."

Shiro's face lit up in pleasant surprise. For the first time since Keith had returned, he smiled, small but full of an honest delight. "It's an honor to meet you," he began, only for Lance's sudden interjection to cut him off.

"WHAT?!" he shrilled. "Okay, this is nuts! You come back with your MILF Galra mom, a wolf, and an Altean? What the heck is going on?"

Keith raised a brow. "MILF?" he repeated. "What is that?"

Lance opened his mouth, ready to blurt the answer out loud, only to think better of it as Krolia frowned at him. He sidled up next to Keith and whispered the meaning of the acronym in his ear. His annoyance flared again, and if Lance hadn't quickly scurried out of reach, Keith would've strangled him for saying such a thing, especially about his mom.

"So, you traveled through the Quantum Abyss to find the source of the strange quintessence and you aged in the process," Pidge summarized from what he'd managed to share of his journey so far. "Did you ever find it?"

"And I'm still waiting to hear the story of how you found this Altean," Coran added.

"And why we're supposed to be attacking Lotor," Hunk chimed in.

"We did find it," Keith grimly confirmed. Then turning to Romelle, he introduced her. "This is Romelle. And I think she should tell her own story."

So, she did. She carefully explained how Lotor had saved the Altean race and how she was one of many Alteans who lived in the colony on the planet hidden in the center of the Quantum Abyss. She explained how her people came to worship Lotor for saving them and how he had begun taking a select few to a supposed second colony. She explained how her parents and brother had been taken and how Bandor had returned saying it was all a lie. She explained how she came to meet Keith and Krolia and how they had discovered the lab on her planet's moon. She explained how it had been stocked full of dying Alteans who were said to have gone to the second colony, all of them being drained of their quintessence for Lotor to use.

Alteans were the source of the strange quintessence. He'd manipulated them and killed countless innocents for generations, treating them as livestock. As disposable, living batteries.

Coran swallowed thickly, his face pale. "That's…horrifying," he whispered, thoroughly shaken up.

"All this time…" Pidge's voice trailed off as a shiver ran down her spine, and she crossed her arms tightly over her chest.

"I can't believe he fooled us," Lance murmured, his brow pinching with worry.

"He's a monster," Keith said, not missing how Romelle's eyes pooled with fresh tears after having to relive such horrors once more.

Suddenly, the Castle's main displays beeped, drawing their attention to the front. One of Lotor's Sincline ships was zipping away from Daibazaal and coming towards them.

"They're back," Coran realized, voice thick with dread.

Romelle stiffened, her fear of Lotor returning. "What are you waiting for? Open fire!" she exclaimed, almost pleadingly.

"No!" Lance shouted, incredulous, as if he actually expected Coran to do such a thing. "Princess Allura is with him!"

"We're gonna let him back onboard?" Hunk fretted.

"We must!" Coran insisted. "As long as the princess is with him, we cannot risk any sort of attack."

"Coran and Lance are right," Shiro agreed, a righteous fury blazing behind his eyes. "We can't do anything until the princess is safe. Once Allura is secure, we will take Lotor down."

Lotor's ship landed in the hangar, prompting them to wait at the ready by the bridge entrance. They outnumbered Lotor. They would catch him off guard and could take him down easily.

The doors swished open and everyone tensed as a smiling Allura and Lotor entered. Their shared mirth didn't last long though and their giddy beams were quick to fade in the face of everyone's furious scowls.

"What's going on?" Allura asked, genuinely confused by the hostile reception.

Krolia whipped out her blaster and Keith his blade, aiming them at Lotor and blocking the door in case he tried to escape. Allura startled at the sight of them, her alarm only growing.

Lance's bayard manifested in his hand, following suit as he pointed the barrel at the emperor. "Allura, step away from Lotor," he ordered.

"I will do no such thing," she denied him, promptly placing herself between Lotor and Lance's blaster. "Tell me what's happening here."

"Lotor is a monster and has been harvesting Altean quintessence for generations!" Romelle blurted out, stepping forward and making her presence known.

Lotor whirled on her, his eyes widening in horror to see her here. He grit his teeth, panic flashing across his features, and Allura's jaw dropped.

"An Altean!" she breathed in disbelief, and when she turned to Lotor, his shoulders hunched defensively beneath her bewildered stare.

Romelle gave him no time to form an explanation. "You killed my brother and thousands of others," she pressed onward, her fury overflowing.

"Lotor has been lying to us the whole time," Pidge pitched in, coming to her defense. "He's a murderer, just like his father!"

"You know nothing about what you speak," Lotor snapped, trying to silence them. But it was too late. The truth was already out there and Allura had heard it all. The proof was right in front of her, straight from the mouth of a witness, of one of her own people.

"What are they talking about?" she demanded, confliction boiling beneath the surface.

"Allura, listen to me," he pleaded. "I've dedicated my life to preserving Altean culture. Now that we have unlocked the Quintessence Field, all of your people, who would have been hunted down long ago had it not been for my intervention, can live in peace. Were some lives lost in the process? Yes. But they were martyrs to a noble cause. I sacrificed a few to preserve the future for millions."

Romelle bit her lip, her eyes bright with fear and anger and sorrow. She met Allura's gaze, desperately begging her not to agree with him. Pain and betrayal tugged at the princess's features and she screwed her eyes shut, turning away from Lotor.

"Allura, do not let this ruin everything we've worked for," he urged, his voice gentle as he drew nearer. "Think of what we experienced in the Quintessence Field."

He tried to tenderly take her hand in his, but Allura didn't let him. She had made her decision. And she had chosen her team and her people over him. Grabbing him by the arm, she flipped him and threw him so roughly onto the floor, he bounced like a skipping stone. He skidded to a halt near the cosmic wolf, rendered unconscious.

Choking back a sob, she regarded his fallen form, all the respect and budding affection she may have felt for him now snuffed. Without a word, she shuffled over to him and bent down to remove the glove of his suit, revealing a golden Quintessence Ring.

"You do not deserve this," she whispered, broken but sure. Then she slid it off his finger and its glow died out, officially ending their alliance. She clutched it in her hand and took a shaky breath before stowing it away in one of her belt pouches.

The Castle's main displays suddenly beeped again, startling all of them. A live security feed of the hangar's popped up, showing Lotor's ex-generals, Acxa, Ezor, and Zethrid, running towards the Sincline ships.

"The hangar's been breached!" Coran shrilled, scrambling to his control panel.

"It's Lotor's troops," Hunk realized. "They're stealing the ships!"

He turned to Shiro, awaiting orders on how they should react. But their leader provided no guidance. Out of nowhere, he seized up and screamed, clutching his head and kneeling over. Keith's heart nearly skipped a beat, his internal alarms going off all at once and his attention threatening to divide itself with all the new problems they were facing.

"Shiro?" he tentatively called out to him.

Shiro didn't respond. He only continued to grunt and tremble in pain. Hunk knelt down next to him, his hands hovering and unsure of what to do.

"What's happening to him?" Coran wondered, frantic.

No one had an answer for him, each of them shocked into stillness. But Lance was the first to snap out of his stupor and get the rest of them moving.

"Allura and I will secure Lotor. Hunk, help Shiro," he quickly ordered. "Everyone else, get down to the hangar and stop those guys."

None of them argued with him as they hurried to do as they were told. With Keith leading the way, he, Krolia, Pidge, and the wolf sprinted down to the pod hangars. But unfortunately for them, they arrived too late. Acxa and Zethrid had already taken off in the first two Sincline ships, and as Ezor seized the last one, she aimed her blasters at their little party. She fired relentlessly at them, forcing them to duck for cover. The scream of lasers pierced the air, and the floor quaked violently with each explosive blow that made impact. Even when the assault stopped with Ezor's swift escape, Keith's ears continued to ring, his head throbbing from the rattling attack. He couldn't even move as Shiro sprinted past them into the hangar, Lotor slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Shiro's gone mad! He's escaping with Lotor!" Allura shouted over the Castle's intercoms, sounding more shaken and shrill and desperate than Keith had ever heard her before. "Stop him before he leaves the ship!"

Shiro loaded Lotor into a pod and took the pilot's seat. Pidge scurried to do something, her arm quivering with indecision as she aimed her bayard at their leader. But her hesitation to attack their friend gave him the chance he needed to seal himself in the cockpit and stream out of the hangar, disappearing from sight.

Pidge growled in frustration, guilt pinching her features. She hurried back to Keith, helping him to stand as he finally regained his senses.

"Keith, I – I'm sorry, I couldn't do it," she rambled, her voice torn and tight with fear. "What do we do?"

Keith's own heart was racing with terror, his mind reeling a mile a minute. Something was very, very wrong with Shiro. He would never betray them like this. He was a paladin. Their leader. Their family. They had to help him, no matter what.

"We have to stay focused," Keith urged her, and he surprised himself with how calm he sounded. "Lance, Hunk, can you still pilot your lions?" he asked, tapping into the Castle's comms.

"Yeah, I'll manage," Hunk replied, a determined anger dripping from his tone.

"We've got this," Lance agreed, sounding just as pissed.

"Then let's go!" Keith rallied them, his own blood boiling. "If we're gonna fight Lotor's ships, we'll need Voltron."

"Shiro's gone. Who's gonna pilot the Black Lion?" Pidge asked.

Keith turned, already marching out of the hangar. "I will."

She hesitated before trailing after him. "Will Black take you back?"

"It will," he said, more certain of it than ever. He could already feel Black calling for him, a faint but familiar roar full of encouragement echoing in the back of his mind.

His paladin armor was right where he'd left it in its case. He discarded his Blade of Marmora uniform and tugged on his old suit. It stretched to accommodate his grown body, fitting him just as perfectly as it once had. Then he booked it to the Black Lion's hangar, making a beeline for its head as it opened its jaw and lowered the ramp.

As he sat in the pilot's seat and gripped the controls, a joyous warmth coursed through him. Black straightened and let out a bellowing roar that shook the hangar, relieved and rejoicing to have him back as its paladin. This entire time he'd been gone, Black had patiently been waiting for him to return, he realized. And now, it was finally welcoming him home.

Launching from the Castle, Keith joined the other lions in their pursuit of the Sincline ships and the stolen pod. Despite the circumstances, it felt good to be back in Black, to be back with the other paladins. Piloting the lion was easier somehow, its intense power no longer overwhelming and threatening to crush him. He could finally breathe freely inside the cockpit, calm and in control and having finally grown into a suitable head of Voltron.

This was where he was meant to be. And he was done running away from it.

Catching up to the enemy ships, he fired upon them. The blue blast slammed into the wing of the one in the center, throwing it off balance. The three ships whirled to face the approaching lions, but before they could retaliate, Keith surged past them, his sights set on the Altean pod where Shiro was escaping with Lotor.

"Shiro, it's Keith!" he said, opening a line with the pod. He just had to talk with him. He could help him. Together, they could figure out what was wrong. "Shiro, it's gonna be okay. We just have to – "

He was abruptly silenced as Shiro cut off their link. He was refusing to listen to Keith. Refusing to talk things out. Refusing his help.

Keith would have been lying if he said Shiro's response (or lack thereof) didn't hurt him. But he didn't let it deter him. He wasn't going to leave Shiro. He wouldn't give up on him. One way or another, he was going to bring him back to the Castle and help him, whether he liked it or not.

Chapter Text

Keith's main objective was getting Shiro back. And if they retrieved Lotor in the process, then great. But his number one priority was saving their leader, their friend.

Unfortunately, that mission wasn't going very well. The Black Lion's wing thruster got damaged in the fight against the three Sincline ships. And when a wormhole appeared, presumed to have been created by Haggar, they escaped with Shiro and Lotor. Only Keith had managed to follow after them, just barely making it through to the other side thanks to the propelling energy created by Voltron disconnecting.

An entire fleet of Galra cruisers had been waiting for him. They'd attacked and he'd had to focus on retaliating, especially when one of the Sinclines began to relentlessly chase him around. It had kept him at bay while the Altean pod and other two ships landed in the hangar of the command cruiser.

Now, just as he was getting frustrated with the lack of access to his target, the Altean pod reemerged from the ship. It zipped away from him and the Galra fleet, going off to who-knows-where. Shiro was piloting it again, Keith was sure of it. He couldn't let him get lost to the mysteries of space again. He absolutely would not lose sight of him. They would just have to find Lotor and deal with him and his generals later.

Peeling away from the battle, Keith shot after him. Shiro had activated the pod's additional booster fuel, keeping a growing distance between himself and the Black Lion. Keith tried opening a comm line with him again, desperate to reach him.

"Shiro! Shiro, come in," he practically pleaded. "I know you're there!"

There was no response. But, to Keith's relief, the call was accepted. Shiro's face popped up on screen, but he looked right past Keith, ignoring his presence on his dash. His expression was unfriendly and stoic. The warmth that always lit up his eyes had been replaced with something cold and dark and unnervingly indifferent. It sent a shiver down Keith's spine, and the pool of dread in his stomach expanded.

"I don't know what's wrong, but I know we can fix this," Keith said, careful to keep his rising unease from creeping into his voice. He had to stay calm. He had to stay focused. "Let me help you."

Shiro didn't answer. He didn't even indicate that he'd heard him. He just kept his gaze forward, his pace steady as he continued to flee the Black Lion.

Black's displays chirped in warning, alerting Keith to the heavy damage it had sustained. He could feel the lion's frustration and weary spirit, unused to such impairing battles. He grit his teeth and ended his transmission with the unresponsive Shiro.

"I know you're hurting," he murmured, trying his best to console Black. "We just need to keep it together a little longer."

After hours of travel with no luck catching up to Shiro, Keith tracked the Altean pod to a massive asteroid hovering over a bleak, gray planet. He touched Black down next to the pod, now empty and abandoned. A single set of footsteps made a trail away from it, going straight down into a nearby cavern. Disembarking, Keith was quick to follow them.

The cave was cold and deathly quiet. Stalactites hung from the ceiling, jagged and sharp like the teeth of some beast. A lake of black water stretched out next to Keith, and he was careful to keep his distance so as not to disturb the surface and any weird creatures that may be lurking beneath.

The footprints brought him to a ramp that led to a set of double metal doors of Galra design. Pressing his hand to the panel, they slid open for him. He stepped inside and the elevator cabin hummed to life, bringing him down, down, down to a laboratory that had been built into the bottom of the asteroid. His senses on high alert, he slowly ventured through the facility.

He moved down the main walkway that jutted out from the rock and hung in the air over the planet. Large containers sat in lines on either side of him, their glass surfaces dark and dormant. The place was eerily empty but perfectly intact, as if it had recently been deserted. And something about it felt…disturbingly familiar.

Keith stopped in front of one of the tubes when he came to the end of the line. A control board sat in the wall next to it, but he hesitated to touch it. He wondered what was being stored inside all of these. Quintessence? Or more Alteans, like from the lab on the colony's moon. He inched closer to get a better look, lifting his hand and brushing his fingers against the glass.

Suddenly, the tube illuminated, glowing a bright purple. Keith quickly retracted his touch, only for his jaw to drop as its contents were revealed. It wasn't quintessence inside this thing. It wasn't an Altean either. It was Shiro. Without the nose scar and without the tuft of white hair. He looked like he had right before he'd left on the Kerberos mission.

And there were more of him. Dozens and dozens more of him.

The rest of the containers in the lab lit up, each one holding a sleeping Shiro. Keith stood there, frozen in shock. His mouth went dry and his heart dropped into his stomach as everything clicked into place. These were clones. Created by the Galra as a twisted experiment of Haggar's, no doubt. Why had they made so many? What were they going to use them for? To build an army? Were any of them even alive and conscious of where and who they were?

"Hello, Keith."

Startled, he whirled on his heel to see Shiro standing before him. Decked out in his paladin armor with the glowing purple tubes stretching off into the distance on either side of him, he glowered at Keith. His eyes were bright with a malicious light and his face was twisted with hatred. A terrifying sense of déjà vu washed over Keith until the realization hit him like a ton of bricks: this was the first vision of the future he'd seen in the Quantum Abyss. He was living through it right now. His life or death battle with Shiro was coming to fruition.

Shit.

A million frantic questions stormed in his brain. How did he get out of this? How could he save himself and Shiro? Was this even the original Shiro, the Shiro he had met all those years ago on Earth?

No, no, he had to stay patient and focused! He couldn't lose his nerve now. Original or not, the man facing him was still Shiro. He was the only Shiro they had. And Keith had already decided that he would save him, no matter what. They would both come out of this together. Alive.

Keith braced himself as Shiro started to move towards him. His hand hovered over his luxite dagger, but he refused to pull it from its sheath just yet. He swallowed thickly, his heart hammering against his ribcage.

"Shiro, it's gonna be okay," he began. He sounded much calmer than he felt, and he vaguely wondered if Shiro could pick up on his rising fear.

Shiro's steps didn't even falter. "Yes, I know," he replied, unsettlingly sure and even.

"We just have to get back to the Castle," Keith tried to persuade him.

Maybe he could still save this. Maybe they could avoid their fight if he could just snap Shiro back to his senses. His mind was reeling, vying for the extra seconds to throw a plan together that didn't end in their deaths.

But Shiro refused to give him that precious time.

"We are not going anywhere!" he growled, diving into a full-out sprint as he charged, hand aglow.

Keith just barely activated his shield as Shiro slammed his fist into it. The force of the punch was enough to send him rolling backwards, and he scrambled to his feet just in time to block the next attack. The second punch threw him into the control board and shattered his shield, forcing him to duck and run as Shiro's fist smashed the spot where his head had been milliseconds earlier. With the controls fried, the tubes containing the other Shiros fritzed and went dark, their life-giving systems going dead.

Shiro whirled on him, leaping towards him to try and land another strike. Keith whipped out his dagger, transforming it into a sword to defend himself. He dodged and parried, forced to back up and dance out of the way of Shiro's scorching fist. Shiro was so fast, too fast, never letting him get too far out of reach. He was too angry and determined to see his end to let him retaliate, and the intense brutality of his attacks kept Keith on the defensive. It was infuriating that he couldn't get a hit in, but it was even more maddening how he wasn't sure he actually wanted to. He didn't know where to strike without hurting Shiro.

But Shiro clearly had no such qualms, and in Keith's hesitancy, he finally landed a punch to his face. Thankfully, his helmet visor protected him from getting his face melted off, but the blow was still powerful enough to send him flying right over the edge of the walkway. He flipped through the air, free-falling towards another platform below, and he activated his jetpack to cushion his impact. He landed heavily on his feet and he winced as the pins and needles of protest ran up his legs. But, at least nothing had been torn or broken.

Above him, Shiro launched himself off the walkway, fist raised to obliterate him. Keith scrambled out of the way just as he pounded into the platform, sending up a cloud of smoke as the metal dented and burned. When Shiro emerged from the settling dust, he was unharmed from such a perilous fall.

Keith's grip tightened on his sword, silently terrified as Shiro's gaze locked onto him. An energy blade manifested from his wrist, glowing and sizzling with heat. It was that same awful blade that would end Keith's life if he wasn't careful, and he braced himself as Shiro barreled straight for him.

Their swords clashed and clanged, sending up orange sparks in the air. But even with Keith's years of swordsmanship training, Shiro was still far stronger than him. The intensity of his blows kept Keith stumbling back, forcing him to flee down the walkway. Shiro was always right on his heels, slicing through railings and furiously stabbing for a critical hit. At one point, when there was an opening, Keith tried to strike him in his unprotected face. But Shiro expertly deflected him and landed an uppercut punch that sent his brain rattling around in his skull and his helmet flying off.

This was too much for Keith. He needed some room. He needed a second, just one second, to breathe and think. He activated his jetpack again and jumped off the walkway, hoping to put a good amount of space between them. But Shiro wouldn't let him escape their deadly game of tag. He hurled himself right after Keith, grabbing him tightly around the waist and screwing up his entire trajectory. They careened through the air, the scenery spinning sickeningly around them. Keith grunted, desperately trying to right himself and find a stable place to land.

They crashed into a hanging set of cables and he latched onto one, shaking Shiro off of him. Shiro cut through the second line and held on tight as he swung to another platform down below. With the gracious space and the few seconds to breathe and think that were given to him, Keith dove into the offensive. He slashed his own cable and swung down to meet Shiro. His feet slammed into his chest, sending him crashing through the railing and tumbling to a lower walkway.

Keith launched after him, sword blazing. His ears were ringing and his eyes stung. He was starting to see red, his stubborn anger and frustration boiling over from having held back for so long. He wouldn't let Shiro get the upper hand again (pun not intended). He wouldn't let Shiro hurt him again.

His blade screeched against Shiro's as he cornered him, pressing him against the walkway railing. There was nothing below them except the planet. If he pushed Shiro off now, he could do nothing but plummet to his death. And for a moment, Keith was sure he would do it. But Shiro didn't seem frightened or even worried in the slightest. Instead, he grinned, a sort of manic pride in his eyes.

"That's the Keith I remember," he grunted, struggling to push back against him.

Freak.

Keith blinked, the comment snapping him out of it. No…No, what was he thinking? He had to save Shiro, not kill him. He couldn't let his rage control him like this.

Shiro smirked, noticing the change in his demeanor. He angled their blades away from them, swiftly bringing them down and around before knocking Keith's right out of his hands. The sword spun through the air and embedded in the metal floor several paces away.

His target now weaponless, Shiro wasted no time trying to decapitate him. Keith ducked out of the way by a hair's breadth and had to somersault to complete his mad dash to retrieve his blade and avoid getting cut open. He scurried to his feet to face Shiro, dodging and running and unfortunately put on the defensive again. He raised his sword to block an attack, and the force of the impact threw him back into a lift holding several of the purple clone containers. Not a second later, Shiro went for his neck. Keith just barely dipped out of the way as he proceeded to slice the lift completely in twain, sending it crashing to the floor in a brief mess of sparks and lightning.

With the barrier between them, Keith had another moment to breathe. He vainly tried to calm his thundering heartbeat and frantic thoughts. His chest heaved, every cell in his body burning from the strain of their fight. At this rate, he really wasn't going to win. But he had to do something, anything besides taking the murderous path of uncontrolled rage.

"Shiro, I know you're in there," he called out to him, trying to reason with him again. "You made a promise once. You told me you'd never give up on me."

Shiro straightened, regarding him with a look of disdain. "And I should have abandoned you just like your parents did," he growled, the bite in his tone cutting right into Keith. "They saw that you were broken. Worthless. I should have seen it too."

His words stung more than Keith would ever admit. He'd always feared this sort of rejection from Shiro, dreading the day he'd give up on him and realize that taking him under his wing had been a mistake. But this wasn't the Shiro he knew. The Shiro he knew would never, ever say those hurtful things to him. And the Shiro standing before him wasn't himself. He didn't really mean what he'd said, and Keith wouldn't let his verbal jabs throw him off.

"I'm not leaving here without you," he insisted adamantly, holding his ground in the face of Shiro's cruelty.

Shiro chuckled, dark and low. "Actually, neither of us are leaving."

Suddenly, the facility hummed to life. The machinery above them sparked as they activated, washing everything in a menacing red glow. Shiro's energy blade dissipated, and purple bolts of light laced up and down his arm. The entire limb turned white-hot, ripping his armor and suit to shreds. He screamed in agony and fell to his knees as the metal prosthetic transformed. Its surface covered in glowing purple veins, it crept up the rest of his arm, eagerly consuming the flesh and bone all the way to his shoulder.

"Shiro!" Panic clutched at Keith's heart, helpless and hesitant as he watched Shiro writhe and shriek. But he knew better than to risk getting closer. Shiro was still in a murderous state, and whatever was happening to him and his arm was no doubt another means to kill Keith.

Then without warning, the floor beneath Shiro's glowing palm rumbled, bubbling and melting as a laser blast shot through it. The beam lifted, angling back up to catch Keith, and he rushed out of the way as it burst through the walkway. It carved through the heart of the facility upstairs, taking out a chunk of the asteroid with it. Keith watched it fall behind him, petrified. This was what he was up against: an unhinged superweapon overflowing with a reckless rage. He had nothing else to lose in this fight. And now, he had an arm that could unleash attacks on par with that of an ion cannon.

When Keith numbly turned back to Shiro, there was a wild and triumphant gleam in his eyes. He grinned at Keith and raised his arm, ready to dive into the final round of their fight.

There was no way he could hold his own against Shiro now, not with that crazy thing he had for an arm. Shaken out of his stupor, he whirled on his heel and leapt off the edge of the platform just as Shiro released another blast that never landed.

Keith fell, down, down, down to yet another walkway containing cloning tubes. Pinned beneath Shiro's watchful gaze, he stumbled and ran for his life along the platform as laser after laser rained down, each shot intent on destroying him. One beam cut through the opposite end of the walkway, dislodging it from the asteroid and sending him and the rest of the structure falling. He slid along the floor as it tilted, throwing himself off the end before he could get crushed by two plunging containers.

He aimed for a satellite platform that was held up by cables beneath him, the last and lowest level of the lab. The wind roared in his ears, and as the floor rushed up to meet him, he almost feared he would miss it. Transforming his sword back into a dagger, he threw it at the surface and it embedded in the metal. Then with his arms outstretched, he managed to latch onto the edge, bringing his descent to an abrupt and jarring halt. A yell slipped from his lips, his burning shoulders howling in protest. If it weren't for the compressing and absorbing capabilities of his armor and undersuit, he was sure his arms would've been dislocated.

Still, it was an effort hauling himself up and over the ledge. Keith rolled onto his back, out of breath and his stamina rapidly draining. He'd been pushed to his absolute limits and he was exhausted. He stared up at what remained of the facility through blearily eyes, just barely able to make out Shiro above. It would only be a matter of seconds before he made his way down here to finish him.

His dagger was to his right, only a few steps out of reach. He could make it. Mustering every last ounce of energy he had left, he pushed himself onto his stomach and began to crawl towards it. Grunts and groans spilled forth, every part of him begging for him to stop. But he knew he couldn't. Not yet. He couldn't let that vision come true. He couldn't let Shiro kill him. He couldn't die.

But his body wouldn't listen to him. Black spots danced across his eyes and he seized up. As if his brain short-circuited, he went limp and fell forward, collapsing just inches away from his only weapon. He could feel himself teetering on the verge of unconsciousness, even as the floor shook beneath him with Shiro's arrival. The whine of his energy blade manifesting crackled in the air, ready to end this.

Get up! A faint voice was screaming at him, and for a second, he thought it was Shiro. Get up! Get up, get up, get up! GET UP, KEITH!

A lion's roar echoed in his mind, pulling him back to the realm of consciousness and injecting him with a fresh round of adrenaline. Tapping into the very last reserves of his strength, Keith snatched his dagger just as Shiro brought his blade down. Their blades sparked upon collision, and once again, Keith found himself living through the vision of the future. He was lying on his back, pinned beneath Shiro and blocking him from slicing into his body. His arms were trembling from the strain, no match for Shiro's leverage and brute strength.

It had been one thing to watch it happen, but it was a totally different experience living through it. He could see everything more clearly now, from the vexation in Shiro's eyes to the intricate design of his transformed prosthetic. He could smell the burning blade growing ever closer to his face. He could taste the cold and dusty and dry air this high up in the atmosphere. He could feel each and every hurt he'd sustained, how his aching arms shivered like leaves in the wind. He drank it all in, not missing a moment of it.

This was it. This was his moment between life and death.

"Shiro…please," Keith begged through his grunts and gasps. His voice was thin, his throat closing with emotion. Desperate tears threatened to pool in his eyes. "You're my brother," he croaked, his honest feelings pushing past his lips, unable to be contained. "I love you."

Shiro flinched and let out a startled breath. His eyes widened just a tad as some of the anger contorting his features diminished. But his brief moment of reluctance was quick to fade, his senses diverting back to killer mode as he snarled at Keith.

"Just let go, Keith," he ground out, pushing down harder. "You don't have to fight anymore. By now, the team's already gone. I saw to it myself."

No…What did he mean? The team was gone? Lance, Pidge, Hunk, Allura, and Coran…What had he done to them?

A new sort of dread squeezed Keith's heart, sapping his strength. Voltron would be no more. Lotor would win. He'd get the lions. He'd have his Sincline ships. He'd get access to the Quintessence Field. The Galra Empire would be free to take over more territory. The Alteans on the colony would continue to worship him and live in ignorance, bred and used for eternity just for their pure quintessence. Lotor would be the most powerful emperor in Galra history, even more than Zarkon. If the team really was gone, then hope was lost.

Don't give up.

No, he couldn't listen to Shiro. He couldn't believe him. Shiro had to be lying. He had to have faith in the others. He had to have faith that their team was alive and okay.

Don't give up!

Shiro's blade was inches from his face now. He could feel its intense heat burning deep into his skin, searing his cheek. The pain made Keith's blood boil, his stubborn and indignant rage returning in full.

You fight like a Galra soldier.

His eyes were stinging again and red clouded his vision.

Freak.

Black roared in his ears, rooting for him, reminding him of who he was. Who he had always been.

Always peace first before resorting to fighting.

Always give people the benefit of the doubt.

Always help those in need, no matter how small or large their problems.

Always consider the lives of your teammates and civilians before your own.

Always keep your guard up.

Always be prepared for anything.

You are a paladin.

Fight this.

Save him.

With a furious shout of effort, Keith reached for the weapon that now awaited his retrieval. In a flash of blue light, the black bayard appeared in his grip. Back in the hands of the Black Lion's chosen paladin, it automatically morphed into a sword. He swung it up, and in one swift movement, he severed Shiro's prosthetic right at the bicep.

Shiro howled in a mixture of pain and shock as the lower half of his arm clunked to the floor. He staggered back and Keith rose to his feet, both swords clutched in his hands. He pressed his lips into a thin line, holding back the tears as his heart swelled with regret. He'd had to do it. He'd had no other choice. He had to get rid of that arm, no matter how much it may have hurt Shiro.

But what was done, was done. And Shiro was okay. He was alive, at least, cut free of the very thing controlling him.

Shiro fell to his knees, his breathing labored. Keith transformed his bayard back to its dormant state, stowing it away in his armor. He hesitated, hovering over Shiro and waiting to see what he would do next. A tense beat of silence passed before Shiro brought his gaze away from his sparking arm to look up at him.

To Keith's relief, the bloodthirsty light in his eyes had disappeared, replaced with the familiar warmth he had come to cherish over the years. His expression was pinched with a flurry of emotions: sorrow, remorse, pain, and confusion hit him all at once as he realized what he'd done. What he'd been about to do.

"Keith…" he whispered. He sounded so small, so unbearably thin and pleading.

Shiro was back to normal. Or at least, that seemed to be the case. Either way, with Shiro rendered weaponless, their fight was over. They could go back to the Castle. They could get healed up. Coran would check Shiro to make sure he really was alright. Together they would fix this. They would make things right.

Keith reached for him, ready to help him up. But before he could even touch Shiro, a massive explosion erupted from the facility overhead. The machinery systems were beyond damaged from initiating Shiro's arm upgrade and from suffering as collateral damage to his reckless and relentless cannon firing. Debris rained down around them as the lab began to collapse. Several cables supporting their platform snapped, sending it tipping dangerously sideways. Without wasting a second, Keith grabbed Shiro by the wrist as the two of them slid along the floor. Then with his free hand, he thrust his dagger into the floor, stopping their fall just as the platform became vertical.

Shiro dangled beneath Keith, now unconscious and unresponsive. Keith's arms flared with rivulets of pain as he struggled to hold up his own heavy body and Shiro's dead weight. His fingers were numb, he was gripping his blade handle so tightly. He took several unsteady breaths, his heart hammering with fear anew.

How would they get out of this without falling to their deaths? Maybe if he could just lift Shiro up…

Keith instantly regretted trying, the movement dragging his blade through the metal and dropping them lower. He bit back a scream, his shoulders throbbing.

No matter how he looked at it, there was no way out of this situation. No more platforms to land on. No ships waiting to catch them. He may have avoided death in their fight, but he couldn't escape it now. He had only been delaying the inevitable, for both of them.

He'd failed the team. He'd failed Shiro.

…No. He hadn't failed him. He'd saved him, just like he said he would. He had saved his best friend. His brother. His family. They were alive and together. And that was all he could ask for in these last moments.

Another explosion ripped through the facility above and the final cables snapped. Keith's dagger was shaken free of the platform, sending him and Shiro free-falling away from the asteroid. They dropped towards the planet, gradually picking up speed. They'd burn up before they hit the ground. It would be a painful death, two fallen stars lost to the merciless universe.

There was a lot he still wanted to do. He wanted to stop Lotor. He wanted to free the Alteans. He wanted to thank his mom for all she had taught him. He wanted to rebuild the house in the desert on Earth, finishing what his dad had started. He wanted to see Lance and Hunk and Pidge and Allura and Coran and Scarlett. He wanted to see Mari one last time and tell her how much she meant to him.

Maybe in another lifetime, in another reality, such things would come to pass. But for him, the Keith who lived here and now in this world, his time was up.

The planet seemed to glow the closer they got. Its white light illuminated them, and he closed his eyes. Memories of his past flashed across his mind, his short life of twenty-one years summed up into a handful of images.

Sitting on the porch with his dad, talking about Mom and the constellations. Standing by his grave, waiting for him to come back.

Being chosen by the Red Lion. Training as a paladin with the others. Fighting against Zarkon and saving countless worlds.

Becoming a Blade. Meeting his mother. Learning about her past. Coming to understand her and himself.

Meeting Mari in the Blue Lion's cave. Their late night research meetings. All their arguments and banter. How she'd accepted him and loved him, flaws and all. The moment she gave him the Quintessence Ring. The comforting sight of its glow on his finger.

"Just…Just please promise me that you won't die. That when this whole war is all said and done, you'll come back to us alive."

Watching the birds outside and wanting to fly like them the day Shiro first arrived at his school. His first hoverbike lessons with him. Being told he had potential. Being truly believed in and cared about by someone for the first time in a long, long while.

"Keith, you can do this. I will never give up on you. But more importantly, you can't give up on yourself."

Keith…

Don't give up.

You can live through this.

Don't give up on yourself!

Keith opened his eyes, a steady and determined flame lit in his heart. In the back of his consciousness, the Black Lion roared, loud and clear and bellowing. Its presence grew stronger and stronger the more he focused on it, more in sync with its spirit than ever before as he called for it.

The air rushing past him and Shiro was growing hotter by the tick. It was starting to steal his breath away, making it harder to focus. Their fall was turning nauseating, and the edges of his vision tunneled. But he could feel the lion drawing ever closer, even as he began to slip away.

I've got you, buddy.

Suddenly, a blur of black flashed across his eyes and he and Shiro crashed roughly onto a cool metal floor. Keith groaned and let his head loll to the side, his muscles reduced to jelly. Utterly spent, he finally succumbed to the sweet relief of unconsciousness.

Chapter Text

Someone was calling for him.

"Keith."

He knew this voice. It was Shiro.

"Keith."

Where was Shiro? Was he still trying to kill him? Or was Keith already dead?

In a surge of panic, Keith pried open his eyes with a gasp, ready to face whatever Shiro would throw at him. But he was nowhere to be found. And Keith was now in a place he had never seen before.

He stood in a dark and empty landscape, the horizon stretching endlessly all around. The ground was black and glassy, reflecting a deep purple sky dusted with twinkling stars and wispy clouds. Everywhere hummed with a mysterious but familiar magic and life energy, stealing away the pain he'd sustained from the battle in the lab.

Where was he? Was this the afterlife? It…certainly was not what he'd expected.

"Keith."

A shiver ran down his spine. Shiro's voice echoed all around, a ghostly whisper that was gentle but insistent.

"Keith."

This was starting to freak him out.

Keith frantically glanced around for any sign of Shiro, fearing the moment he'd pop out and possibly try to take his life. "Where are you, Shiro?" he called into the void, his guard rising. "Show yourself!"

If Shiro was still intent on trying to end him, Keith was ready to fight him all over again. He summoned his bayard, waiting on edge for a response.

A heavy sigh breezed past, tired and sad. "I know this must be confusing for you."

"What is this place? Where are we?" Keith demanded, scanning the area for anywhere he could possibly be hiding. "You – You were trying to kill me. The others! You – You said you – "

Keith stopped himself, unable to finish that awful thought. He swallowed thickly, his heart racing a mile a minute. He took a breath, trying vainly to compose himself and stop his anxious stammering. Then he inhaled sharply as the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. A wisp of warm energy reached out to him from behind, and he spun on his heel to see Shiro manifesting from a glowing ball of purple light. His prosthetic arm had returned, no longer cut off. Keith stiffened at the sight of it and took an involuntary step back, waiting for it to turn into a cannon that could turn him to ash in a second.

"I'm not here to harm you," Shiro gently promised him, as if sensing his rising unease. "Everyone is fine. Just let me explain."

Keith hesitated. He sounded sincere enough. And he was being mindful to keep his distance. The Shiro standing before him wasn't like the one he'd fought in the lab, now exuding that familiar air of endless patience and kindness. This was the real Shiro. His Shiro. The Shiro who had taken him under his wing all those years ago. The Shiro who was his best friend and his brother.

When Keith didn't respond, Shiro continued. "The thing that attacked you wasn't me," he said. "Since my fight with Zarkon, I've been here."

"When you disappeared?" Keith asked.

He could still remember the moment after their battle when they had rushed into the Black Lion only to find it empty. But that had been months and months ago, at least for everyone else. This whole time, while they had lived in ignorance with the clone, Shiro had been here, alone in whatever this place was.

"Yes," Shiro confirmed. "I didn't know where I was or how much time had passed. My physical form was gone. I existed on another realm. …I died, Keith."

That news was like a slap to the face. Keith stared at him, eyes wide and mind reeling as the truth of Shiro's words settled over him. Shiro had…he'd died. Really and truly this time. His body had been obliterated in the last agonizing moments of that battle. After all his struggling, after all the fights he'd endured, after all the sacrifices he'd made, Shiro had been ended in an instant, just like that.

Keith hadn't been able to do anything to protect him. He'd only gotten himself fooled by a fake Shiro.

No, he couldn't think like that and be swallowed by guilt. He hadn't known back then. No one had, not even Mari, Shiro's own sister. He couldn't have done anything differently during that battle, not when it had been a fight solely between Shiro and Zarkon. What was done, was done.

Besides, it clearly wasn't the complete end of Shiro if he was standing right here in front of him, explaining everything. But if Shiro had died, and Keith was seeing him now, did that mean he had perished too? Was this really the afterlife?

As always, Shiro seemed to see right through him, reading his shocked and confused expression like an open book. "But the Black Lion somehow retained my essence," he clarified.

Keith blinked, taking in their flat and endless surroundings. "Is…Is that where we are?" he wondered, unsure. "In the Black Lion's consciousness?"

Shiro nodded. "I couldn't reach you," he admitted. "I met Mari here after her fight on Vurelle. I tried to tell her where I was so she could tell you. But seeing her here scared me. I thought I was going to kill her by pulling her consciousness into the Black Lion, and I pushed her away. I tried to warn the others about the imposter while on Olkarion, but our connection wasn't strong enough…"

Shiro's voice began to trail off, his form fading and dispersing into tiny sparkles.

"Shiro?" Keith glanced around for him, a new fear gripping his heart. No, no, not now! Shiro couldn't disappear on him again. He still didn't know how to help him. How was he supposed to save him from the quiet and lonely realm that was Black's vast consciousness? "Shiro!"

Suddenly, the darkness of the world around him gave way to a blinding white light. He braced himself as it swallowed him whole, and a moment of weightlessness washed over him before his senses returned.

A cold metal floor was pressed against his back. With each soft inhale and exhale, he could feel how sore his body was, each cut and bruise and sprain aching and throbbing dully. His right cheek especially stung, like dozens of fiery needles were scraping against his skin. He pulled open his heavy eyelids, his vision slowly coming into focus. Then he rolled onto his stomach, a moan escaping his lips as he hoisted himself up on wobbly arms to take in his surroundings.

He was in the Black Lion. He and Shiro – the clone – had been snatched right out of their deadly free-fall and were now cradled in the lion's mouth.

"You saved us," he murmured, and Black's relieved purr sounded in the back of his mind. He smiled. "Thank you."

A soft groan from his right drew his attention to Shiro, who was sprawled out on the floor. He was still unconscious, his prosthetic still gone. Scrapes and bruises and cuts covered his body, and his face seemed paler than usual in the dim bluish lighting of the Black Lion. A quick scan of his vitals confirmed that he wasn't doing well, his life force weak and gradually draining.

They needed to get back to the Castle. Real Shiro or not, he was still a part of the original. Keith wouldn't let him die. He would get him to a healing pod as soon as possible, and then…well, they could figure out what to do next later.

Keith grimaced as he stood, his battered body crying in protest. He shuffled over to Shiro, bending down and draping his arm over his shoulders before hoisting him off the ground. He dragged him into the small storage hangar and gingerly laid him down inside of the hover transport he used to get to the Black Lion from the Castle bridge. Then rummaging through one of Black's first aid kits, he produced an emergency blanket and snuggly wrapped it around him before sealing him in the transport.

With Shiro ready to go, Keith retreated to the cockpit and took his spot in the pilot's seat. As he grasped the control sticks, a familiar and gentle energy seeped into his fingers: it was Shiro letting him know he was still there, right by his side from within the Black Lion's consciousness.

Keith took a deep and steadying breath. First things first: get back to the Castle. He scanned the nearest quadrants and picked up on the four energy signatures that were the other Voltron lions. They were all still near the remains of Dabaizaal, right where he'd left them. He put the coordinates into his nav system and prepared to leave when his displays suddenly chirped, alerting him to three similar signatures that were quickly making their way towards the Castle.

They had to be the Sincline ships. Lotor was coming back.

Laying on the controls, Keith spurred Black forward, pushing the lion to the fastest it could go with a damaged thruster. It would take him longer than he wanted to get back, but he could still warn the others.

"Hailing the Castle of Lions. This is Keith," he announced, opening a line with the ship.

To his relief, his call was immediately accepted, and Lance and Allura popped up on his screens.

"Keith!" Lance grinned, glad to see him. "You're okay!"

Allura was beaming as well. "Where've you been? Did you get Shiro?"

"I got him, but he's not the Shiro we know," he admitted. "The Shiro that took Lotor was a clone."

Their smiles fell in an instant, understandably disturbed.

"Well, then where's the real one?" Lance asked.

"It's complicated. I'll explain everything later, but right now, you need to focus on Lotor," Keith said, feeling rushed as he diverted their attention to the incoming threat. "I've picked up the Sincline ships on my scanners. It looks like Lotor's headed back to your position. Right where you are."

He sent them the map readings for them to see. The ships were maybe an hour or two from reaching the Castle. Allura's frown deepened, her brow furrowing as her anger with the emperor began to return.

"He needs to get back into the Quintessence Field," she realized.

"I'm on my way to you now," Keith promised them. "But without a wormhole, it's gonna take me a while. You'll have to hold off Lotor without me.

Lance nodded, his jaw set. "We'll do what we can," he assured him before their comms went quiet.

Keith silently urged Black to try going even faster, and he was met with a soft and strained roar. As much as it wanted to help him, Black was already flying as fast as it could with just one wing. He sighed and closed his eyes, his restlessness ever growing.

"Shiro, if you're here, I could use your help," he murmured. He reached deep inside of himself, searching for Shiro's trapped soul and trying to tap into the bond they shared with Black. "I need to get to the team before Lotor."

Shiro didn't respond, at least not verbally. A faint tingling sensation ran up Keith's arms in passing, and Black let out a rumbling growl. It surged forward in a burst of extra speed, but to Keith's disappointment, it still wouldn't be enough to reach the Castle before Lotor.

Patience yields focus.

Keith reopened his eyes, his gaze locking onto the window as countless stars streaked past. He would just have to trust Black and keep trying to reach his team.

Keith could hear the battle as it unfolded. And it wasn't going well for the paladins.

The linked comms between the lions activated when the fighting began. He heard how Lotor's ships merged to create a mech that could rival Voltron. He heard how Lotor was easily throwing around the lions. He heard how Lotor was beating up his friends, threatening to end them as screams were ripped from their throats with each hateful attack that landed. They were losing. And Keith was still so far away from them.

"Coran, shoot it with the cannon again!"

"I can't! That was our last shot."

"Pidge, get out of his line of sight!"

"He's locked onto me – GAAAH! I'm taking heavy fire!"

"Get out of there! I'm coming in! Form jaw-blade!"

"Lance!"

"We can't take this much longer!"

Keith had tried and tried and tried tapping into Black's power over the past hour or so, but it was to no avail. He bowed his head, his breath seething and his frustration climbing as the despairing shouts of his friends rang in his ears.

It made his blood boil as he realized this must've been what it was like when he'd been gone with the Blades. When the others had been in dire trouble in his absence, it had given the imposter Shiro the chance to pilot the Black Lion.

But things would be different this time. He was the only Black Paladin now. He wouldn't abandon them like he had before. He was determined to be there for them, no matter what. He was coming to help. But first, he needed help. Shiro's help. He couldn't do this on his own. And he needed any assistance he could get to reach their team. NOW.

"Shiro, I have to get to the paladins," he called out to him for the umpteenth time. "I need your help."

There was no response. Keith tried again to find and grasp that mystical connection they shared through Black, but it always seemed to slip out of his reach. His grip on the controls tightened so much, his fingers hurt.

"Shiro…Shiro," he begged. His impatience and fear for his friends was peaking, and the pain and anger and frustration of it all collided in a desperate shout. "SHIRO!"

Suddenly, something sparked inside his chest, and a comforting warmth tugged at his soul. Keith blinked and inhaled sharply, now back in the strange realm of the Black Lion's consciousness. Finally, he'd reached it.

A hand rested on his shoulder, and he turned to see Shiro next to him. He was smiling, proudly and knowingly.

"Keith, you can get to them," he said, sounding more sure of it than anything. "But you must see them first."

See them? Keith's brow pinched in uncertainty. "But how?"

"See through the lion's eyes," Shiro gently instructed him. He looked out across the dark landscape, his gaze thoughtful. "Patience yields focus."

Keith faced forward, trying to see what he was seeing. On the horizon, like a brilliant and otherworldly sunrise, a golden light washed over everything, illuminating the dark and quiet scenery. It grew brighter and brighter, its soft rays extending towards him, calling to him. Black growled in his ears, opening itself up to him. And deep in his core, as he let himself open up to the lion, Keith could feel Black. All of its immense power, might, and wisdom coursed through him as their energy and spirits truly synced. Paladin and lion were closer than ever before. Bonding as one, anything was possible now.

Then, like a match being lit, Keith was back in the Black Lion's cockpit and flying faster than they ever had before. They were traversing lightyears and lightyears in seconds, and the force of such a great speed pressed him into the back of his seat, sending his hair whipping all around him. It was terrifying just as much as it was thrilling. At the end of the tunnel of stars, an image came into view: still just out of reach were the other lions, the paladins still struggling in their fight against Lotor's Sincline mech.

"I see them," Keith breathed, and Black hummed in reply.

Good, Shiro whispered encouragingly in the back of his mind. Keep going.

Keith started to push on his controls, ready to boost them forward in the final stretch. The sticks strained and trembled against the intense speed, and he grunted from the physical challenge that was just moving them.

He could see Lance, Pidge, Allura, and Hunk now, each of them giving it their all as they waited for his return. But they wouldn't be able to wait forever. Without Voltron, they were doomed against Lotor.

Come on, come on…He was almost there. He just had to do this one thing. He just had to crank these stubborn sticks!

His hands tingled and the strength in his arms seemed to double with his stubborn determination.

Just a little more, Keith.

The controls budged, slowly starting to move. With a final surge of effort, Keith let out a shout as he laid on them, shifting them forward.

Black roared in triumph, the sound shaking Keith down to his very bones. The lion's thrusters were restored, glowing and transforming into a set of grand wings. With their appearance, Black activated its unique ability, boosting them faster and faster and faster until they were just a blinding burst of light. They were propelled through countless star systems in seconds, defying time and space itself as they zipped straight for Lotor.

Finally, they reached their destination, moving so fast that they zipped right through the Sincline and sent it sprawling. They returned to the physical realm as Keith slowed down Black, its wings vanishing. He circled around to meet the other lions, relieved to see that they were all still in one piece.

"Keith, how did you get here so fast?" Lance exclaimed, shocked and in awe at Black's sudden appearance.

"I had some help," he admitted.

He could feel Shiro's presence retreat back into the lion's consciousness. But at least this time, Keith knew he wasn't disappearing somewhere he couldn't find him. Shiro was still here, with him until the very end. He had his back. And Keith had his. Somehow, they would figure out how to free his soul and bring him back to the world of the living. But first came dealing with the monster in front of them.

Keith took a deep and steadying breath. He could do this. They would defeat Lotor. Together.

"Now hurry. We don't have much time," he urged the others. "On me! Form Voltron!"

After Keith had sent Shiro – the clone – to the Castle for Coran to place him in a healing pod, Voltron's battle with Lotor had commenced.

It had been a difficult fight, and it had only ended when he'd lured them into the Quintessence Field. His Sincline had the ability to access it at will thanks to the magic of Allura's alchemy, and Voltron had no other choice but to follow him inside. Fortunately, they'd won their fight, at the cost of nearly being driven mad by the endless flow of quintessence around them. Unfortunately, with Voltron on the verge of being destroyed by such immense raw energy, they'd had to leave behind the unresponsive Lotor and his Sincline to perish in the Quintessence Field.

The second unfortunate thing was that all of his jumping in and out of the realm had opened multiple rifts in reality. And these tears were only expanding. According to Pidge, if they weren't closed, they would continue to grow until they destroyed all of existence.

Obviously, they weren't going to let that happen. But none of them could come up with a solution to sealing the rifts. Hence, came the third unfortunate thing: the decision to sacrifice the Castle of Lions to close up all of the tears. Coran had suggested it, saying the teludav reactor could be overloaded to create a temporary burst of infinite mass that would seal them. As hard as it was going to be to leave their home, it had to be done. They had no other choice.

So, they began preparations to evacuate. They had roughly fifteen dobashes to clear out, and everyone rushed to collect their things.

Krolia and the wolf brought Shiro onboard the Black Lion, having transferred him to a portable healing pod. Romelle assisted Allura and Coran with packing up Blue, and Keith was left to venture into Shiro's room. There wasn't much inside in the way of personal belongings, except for his Black Lion robe and slippers and the casual clothes Keith had given him when they'd brought him back to the shack in the desert. He smiled, running his fingers over the vest that had once been his father's, before stowing it and the other items inside an unused duffel bag. Then slinging it over his shoulder, he moved on to the next room.

A quick duck into Scarlett's and Mari's rooms confirmed there was nothing of theirs left behind that would be destroyed. He wasn't going to bother checking his room. He'd cleared it out long ago when he'd left to join the Blade of Marmora. The only things he'd had to gather from the Castle besides Shiro's stuff were a new paladin helmet to replace the one he'd lost in his fight, and his discarded Blade of Marmora uniform. He didn't really need the uniform itself – he'd mostly just wanted to retrieve it to get back his belt and the three important items he'd left in it: his phone, the shack keys, and the rock the little girl from Vurelle had given him (Danua was her name, Mari had mentioned to him the last time they'd talked).

He paused in front of Mari's mirror, vaguely thinking of his favorite red jacket he'd left with his other clothes on the Blade of Marmora base. He began to wish he had it on him, only to realize he probably couldn't fit it anymore anyway. One look at his reflection revealed all the changes he'd been so oblivious to for the past two years.

He'd certainly grown taller and broader, just as Krolia and Lance had said. His hair was a longer mullet, but still comfortable and not unmanageable. His eyes were just as they'd always been – white sclera and bluish-gray irises, not a hint of yellow in sight. And now, besides the scrapes and bruises decorating his face, there was a triangular scar adorning his right cheek. He pressed his fingers to the skin, the wound stinging dully beneath his touch. It was his first blatantly visible battle scar, given to him by Shiro in their deadly fight in the lab.

But Keith decided he was okay with it. He didn't mind how it looked, especially since it sort of resembled Krolia's own facial markings. It would always remind him of who his family was, what was most important in his life, and of who he was and what he had lived through. An eternal mark to encourage him to stay strong, to keep going even in times of uncertainty, and to have hope.

As he entered the observation deck, he took one last look through the window. He stood in front of the glass, grimacing at the beautiful and terrifying display that was the glowing and swirling rift outside. He'd never get to stargaze in here again, enjoying the peaceful solitude the room provided. He'd never get to work out against the Gladiator on the training deck either. No more late night food goo snacks with the others in the kitchen. No more healing pods or particle barriers. No more lion hangars and ziplines. No more bridge meetings or games in the lounge. No more teludav or wormholes or Balmeran crystal. No more Altean pools they could never figure out how to use.

He was losing another home again. At least when he'd left for the Blades, he'd known the Castle would always be there to welcome him back. Now, it wouldn't be anywhere anymore.

Keith sighed, his heart aching. They'd had a lot of fun here. Even if it hadn't at first, the Castle of Lions had felt like a real home to him, far more than any other foster home he'd ever lived in. It had brought him to worlds he had never dreamed of reaching, and it had helped him grow closer to his found family.

He was going to miss this place.

The rifts were closed and Lotor was gone. The Castle of Lions was no more, crushed into an infinite mass diamond that was collected by Hunk and given to Coran. With all realities saved and nowhere else to be at the moment, they touched down on a nearby planet to see how they could help Shiro.

The healing pod reading hadn't been good. Slowly but surely, the clone was dying. Maybe he was naturally expiring now that Haggar had her use of him, triggered with the destruction of his prosthetic. Keith grimaced at the thought of it and refused to look at the metal shoulder that remained. Removing him from the pod, he carefully laid him out on the ground, cushioning his head on his hand as the others disembarked from their lions and gathered around. Allura knelt across from Keith, her bright eyes sad as they scanned over Shiro's prone form.

"This body is barely living, but Shiro's spirit is alive," Keith said, finally able to explain it all to them. "It's inside the Black Lion. I've heard him talking to me."

"He – he tried to tell me, but…I-I didn't realize." Tears welled in Lance's eyes and he collapsed to his knees with a shaky breath. His shoulders trembled as he crouched over the body, guilt and sorrow pinching his brow. "I'm so sorry, Shiro," he croaked. "I – I didn't know. I could've…"

His voice trailed off, too choked up to continue. Allura placed a consoling hand on his shoulder and granted him a small and reassuring smile before she rose to her feet. She wordlessly moved over to the Black Lion and placed her hands against its mouth, closing her eyes and bowing her head as she concentrated. The metal beneath her palms began to glow and Black's eyes lit up as she reached into the depths of its consciousness. The seams of the mechanical beast illuminated with purple lights, each one moving along the length of the lion and coalescing at Allura's fingertips to be absorbed into her body. When she turned back to the team, her entire form was glowing, radiating a second life. She knelt in front of Shiro's head and held it in her hands, the skin beneath her touch brightening until the light spread to every inch of him.

A tense beat of silence passed. Then two. Then three. All the hair on Shiro's body turned a snowy white, making him look even more like an old man than ever. Everyone waited with bated breath as the magical glowing faded, Allura and Shiro's bodies gradually returning to normal.

Suddenly, Shiro's eyes flew open. He gasped, pitching upright and taking in shuddering breaths that quickly escalated into a coughing fit. When his breathing had finally calmed, he groaned and slumped against Keith, totally exhausted.

Black and the other lions roared, the sound thunderous and vibrating through the air as they celebrated Shiro's return. Coran and Hunk cheered and laughed and hugged. Allura beamed at their joy, and Pidge and Lance swiped at the tears of relief pricking in the corners of their eyes. Keith smiled at them. With Shiro back, their family was almost whole again. Finally, things were starting to look up for them.

Shiro shifted slightly in Keith's arms, pulling his attention back to him. He looked up at Keith with tired eyes, but they were bright with a familiar warmth. "You found me," he whispered, unable to express just how grateful he was to finally, finally have escaped the lonely void of the Black Lion's consciousness.

This was his Shiro. The original Shiro who was his best friend. His mentor. His brother. Keith's heart swelled, relieved to have him back in the realm of the living where he could see him, hopefully never to get lost to the mysteries of space ever again.

"We're glad you're back, Shiro," he said, more sure of this than anything else. The corners of Shiro's lips quirked up briefly, too drained to respond with much else.

"Rest," Allura gently encouraged him.

Shiro was more than happy to comply. His eyes slid shut with a content sigh, falling into a much needed sleep to adjust to his new body. Handling him as if he were made of glass, Keith tenderly reclined him along the ground once more.

"So what are we gonna do?" Hunk asked after a long moment. "The Castle is destroyed."

The others straightened, their joy fading with the realization of this new problem that laid in their path. Lotor may have been defeated, but there was still chaos within the empire. Sendak and the other warlords were still running amok. And there was Haggar, hiding in the shadows and scheming who-knew-what sort of dastardly deeds. And then there were the Alteans left on the colony, waiting to be told the truth about their so-called savior and his demise. Keith wondered if Kolivan and the Blades had reached them by now. Hopefully he could eliminate that worry at least.

Still, there was so much left to be done. There were more enemies to face. More innocent lives to save. The Voltron Coalition still needed them and the lions to finally bring peace to the universe.

Keith took a deep breath, trying not to get overwhelmed by it all. One problem at a time. Patience yields focus, remember? First, they needed to make sure Shiro made a proper recovery. Then, they needed to check the lions' systems for damage. And after that, they needed to figure out a more secure and feasible way of traveling across the universe to help their allies.

Pidge must've been thinking the same thing. "There's only one place that has the plans necessary to build a replacement for the Castle of Lions," she piped up, her eyes brightening with an idea. "Coran gave them to my dad."

And Sam was currently on Earth, having departed after he'd been freed from Zarkon's clutches. Using the Altean tech blueprints Coran had given him, his goal had been to work with the Garrison and build the planet's defenses to protect against alien enemies. And now, he'd get to build a ship on par with the Castle of Lions.

Keith's heart was racing at the thought of returning to the planet he had once wanted so desperately to leave. The planet he had felt he'd never belonged on. His past would be waiting for him there, James and Iverson and Adam included. But he no longer feared meeting them again. He understood how bratty and unruly he'd been back then. He admitted he'd been in the wrong. He could work together with them if it meant protecting Earth and the rest of the universe. Besides, he would get to visit his dad again. And their little shack in the desert was still there waiting for him. He'd go and face them all, no matter how much it may hurt.

So, it was decided. Keith stood, his resolve set.

"We're going home."

Chapter Text

Sometimes, the Shirogane siblings were too much for Keith to handle.

Shiro had given him a near heart attack, almost dying again when the clone's body had begun rejecting his consciousness. Then when they finally started their journey home and visited Vurelle along the way, Keith had been on the brink of despair thinking that Mari had died. And now, after Scarlett and Acxa had saved them from Ezor and Zethrid's pirate crew, Mari was trying to kill them. If Krolia hadn't stepped in and knocked her out, Lance would definitely have gotten a blaster beam shot through his head.

"Holy shit," Lance wheezed. His whole body was shaking and he sank to his knees, prompting Allura to drop next to him, her hands worriedly hovering. "What the quiznak was that?! She was gonna murder me!"

No one replied as Krolia carefully handed off Mari's unconscious body to Acxa and Scarlett. Keith swallowed thickly, massaging his sore stomach as he watched them prop her up against a nearby cargo crate. He'd gotten off easy with an elbow to the gut, unlike Shiro who had gotten punched in the face. He moved over to his dazed friend, helping him to sit up and stand.

"Are you okay, Shiro?" he asked, frowning at his busted lip and swollen cheek.

Shiro blinked at him, slowly coming back to his senses. "I – I think so…" he stammered, thoroughly shaken. He paused and pressed a hand to his bruising flesh, wincing. "I didn't know her punches were that hard."

"She's been training more with Acxa. Guess it's paid off if she was able to floor someone as big as you in just one hit," Mitsubishi explained, seemingly unperturbed by their confusion and distress. His orange hair stated otherwise though as he sifted through the med pack. "Although, I suppose you are old. And you were off your guard. And you're missing your cool arm."

Shiro grimaced at the jabs, but said nothing. Pulling out a cold patch, Mitsubishi peeled it open and firmly applied it to the human's fresh wound. Keith watched as Acxa and Scarlett confiscated Mari's cloak and weapons. They placed them well out of her reach before securing her to the cargo crate with a set of energy cuffs. The knot of dread in his stomach expanded upon seeing her have to be restrained by her own comrades. She was a danger to them. Maybe even to herself.

What the hell had happened to her?

Three years had passed in a time-slippage caused by the destruction of the Castle of Lions sealing the reality rifts. They'd found the Vurelle base destroyed by the Galra, leaving nothing and no one behind except Anka, Orix, their kid, Rika, and the twin half to Keith's Quintessence Ring, now back in his possession. Mari and Scarlett and the others had been forced to abandon the planet and live on the run. Acxa was good now and had joined up with their friends as a member of the coalition. And now they were here, faced with a hostile teammate.

For a terrible moment, Keith feared she was being controlled, just like the clone Shiro had been. Was she a clone too? Haggar had tortured her before, she could've collected DNA samples at any time.

No, that was impossible, he decided. Scarlett and Mitsubishi and Treble had been by her side everyday since she'd arrived at Vurelle. She had never disappeared for an extended period of time like Shiro had. They knew she was the original. Besides, she didn't seem to have any magical Galra tech grafted onto her. Unlike with Shiro's arm, Mari had nothing that could be used by an outside source as a direct link to her brain.

So what was wrong with her?

Lance huffed, exasperated. "Will someone please explain to me what's going on?" he asked, fed up with no one answering him.

Scarlett sighed, her expression troubled. She turned to him, opening her mouth to speak, when Mari suddenly groaned and shifted. She was waking up.

Treble and Mitsubishi scrambled to gather their group closer towards the door, putting as much distance between them and Mari as possible. Fear clutched at Keith's heart. Just how violently was she going to react?

"Back up, back up, back up, please," Treble urged them. When she had almost shoved them through the door, she stopped them. Then without another word, she and her brother joined Scarlet and Acxa to face the stirring beast.

She was hurting. She felt betrayed. Scared. Abandoned. Left behind by the family who had promised to always be there for her. Add that to Sendak nearly crippling her and the second bout of torture she'd endured at the hands of a rogue Druid, and it was no wonder she had tried to kill them.

Mari had changed, that was for sure. Yet at the same time, she hadn't.

She engaged in banter when Keith was brave enough to provoke it, but her smiles were rare and never quite reached her eyes. She was still stubborn and quick to anger, but a newfound confidence and caution reeled in her fiery temperament. She was still daring, willing to break out of her comfort zone to finally face Shiro and listen to him explain about the clone and their disappearance. She was still kind, apologizing to Lance, helping Hunk to prepare their meals everyday and giving him advice during Keith's training simulation drills. She was still loyal, mapping out the known danger zones of the universe to ensure their trip back home was as safe as possible. She was still brave, fighting side by side with Keith and the wolf (now named Kosmo collectively by the team) to take down the Druid, Macidus, who had twice tormented her. She still enjoyed flight and soaring amongst the stars more than anything, the breathtaking light in her eyes sparkling brighter and brighter as their journey home continued, no longer the dim orbs they had been when they'd first returned to her.

Every time they stopped for supplies, Keith couldn't help but stare at her every so often. He'd catch every change in her face, how her brow furrowed in concern, how her lips quirked up at a joke, how her expression softened as Kosmo went to her for pets. He hoped she'd laugh one day on their long trip home, honest and pure and comfortable with all of them once more. His heart raced whenever she'd turn to him, her gaze locking onto him and only him as she ventured to engage in conversation.

I like you.

The words threatened to bubble forth almost everyday. He wanted to tell her how he felt right now. He wanted to tell her about his time in the Quantum Abyss and everything he'd seen of their potential future. But deep down, he knew he couldn't. Not yet, at least. She was still warming back up to them. She was still too focused on the war and her own survival. Besides, he still wasn't certain she would accept his words. Her Quintessence Ring sat in his belt pouch for days and days, waiting for him to return it to her, but he could never find the right moment. The last thing he needed to distract him during their long journey home was the weight of her rejection.

For now, all Keith could do was wait and be there for her.

"Don't touch those. They're highly poisonous to Galra. Even half-breeds will get ill."

Keith retracted his hand from the scraggly bush bearing a handful of neon-yellow berries. Mari's gaze was laser-focused on him, her shoulders tense until he had taken several big steps away from the plant. They had stopped on a planet covered in a luscious temperate forest for a quick supply restock. And it was one of the rare occasions when they had been paired up to scrounge for food. Just the two of them. Alone. Together.

Keith trailed after her as she continued to search for edible goodies to bring back to their team. "How'd you know that stuff was poisonous?" he asked after a minute.

"From experience over the last three years," she answered, pausing to carefully inspect the purple leaves of a plant by her feet. "Unfortunately."

"What happened?"

Mari firmly grasped the clump of leaves. "Acxa accidentally ingested one. She was out with a fever for a whole week," she explained. "She couldn't move or eat…I've never seen her so vulnerable before. If she'd been full-blooded, she would've died in a day."

She pulled on the stem, uprooting a mess of dirt and blue potatoes. She separated them from the roots and brushed them off before placing them in Keith's arms.

He swallowed, unnerved by how close he'd been to bringing such dangerous fruit back to the team. He was sure Coran would've known and warned him during their food inspection, but still…

"Shit," was the only thing he could manage to say.

Mari brushed off her hands and straightened, on the move again. "According to Acxa, Zarkon wiped out the planet they were native to," she continued. "But I guess some managed to make their way to the back markets. Now they grow elsewhere, like here. They don't reproduce very well, though. And most Galra know they're bad."

She smiled then to herself, as if reliving the memories of this long-passed conversation she'd had with Acxa. She always got awfully talkative whenever she spoke of her. She always looked happy, a sort of fond light shining in her eyes while she shared the many admirable qualities of the ex-general.

"If you're not careful in the future, someone else just might take her for themselves."

Acxa's warning echoed in Keith's ears, making him grimace. She'd gotten to spend three years with Mari, living with her, adventuring with her, getting to know her better. Three years! That was way longer than any of them, save for Shiro, had even known her. And if Acxa's borderline threat was any indication, she clearly felt a very, very certain way about Mari after having spent so much time with her.

"Can I ask you something?" he said, the words spilling from his mouth before he could stop them.

Mari cast him a brief glance. "Sure."

He hesitated, struggling to bite back his jealousy and remain nonchalant. "Did you and Acxa ever…become more?" he wondered, and he internally smacked himself for how lame that had come out.

She faltered in her tracks, taken off guard. She turned to him, her brow raised. "What, like, date?" she asked. "Where'd that come from?"

Keith shrugged. "I was just…wondering."

She frowned at him, doubtful. But she didn't question him as she looked him right in the eyes. "No. We didn't," she answered. "Acxa is the best. I love her dearly, but only as a close friend. Like a sister. Like how I feel towards Pidge and Allura and Scarlett and Treble."

Keith's heart lifted in relief. He kept his face neutral though as she waited for his response. "Oh. Okay," he said, suddenly feeling awkward for having even asked.

Mari waited a tick before returning to the task at hand. She didn't say anything for a long moment.

"Did you ever crush on Romelle?" she finally muttered, her voice tight with a forced indifference.

"What?" Keith nearly tripped over the roots of a tree, feeling like he'd been slapped in the face with that inquiry. "No! She's — No. Why would you think that?"

Mari hummed, refusing to look at him now. "She's pretty. Funny. She's got that alluring Altean charm. She looks at you like you're a superhero," she stated, easily listing them off. "You're her savior who killed Lotor and is helping her and her colony."

Keith huffed, his irritation sparking. "It's just admiration and mutual understanding," he insisted, leaving no room for doubt or arguing. "We still barely know each other."

She stopped again, throwing him a small smirk over her shoulder. "I know," she said. "I was just teasing you."

Damn her for getting a rise out of him so easily. Still, he couldn't be mad at her, especially since he'd brought up this topic. She was smiling and engaging more and more with him in conversation. It was a sure sign she was feeling more comfortable with him, like how they'd used to be.

"So, what else did you learn from Acxa?" he asked, matching her pace now to walk at her side rather than behind her. If she had a problem with how their shoulders nearly touched, she didn't mention it.

"Galra battle formations and strategies. More flexible combat maneuvers. Some Galra history. Things like that," she vaguely provided. "What did Krolia teach you on your two-year bonding trip?"

"Meditation techniques. More advanced swordsmanship. Stuff about the emperors and empresses of old," he said.

"Did she tell you about the Galra empress Eleta?" Mari asked. "Acxa talked about her a lot."

The name sounded familiar. Keith was sure his mom had mentioned her a few times in their lessons. The old Blade of Marmora texts spoke of her extensively as well.

"She was their first empress. Wife of Emperor Brodar," he recalled. "She helped end the war between tribes on Daibazaal before the empire was established."

Mari nodded. "She was intelligent and brave. Deadly efficient and merciless in claiming the planet for her tribe," she drawled, flat and dry as if she were repeating a line straight from a Galra textbook. She frowned in disdain at their path. "She scares me, in a way. She reminds me of Zarkon."

Really? The Blade records praised Eleta for a multitude of achievements over her lifetime. They described her as a strong and just ruler, a saint compared to Zarkon and his reign of tyranny.

"I don't think she's anything like Zarkon," he disagreed. "He fought out of greed. Eleta fought to establish peace and order on the planet."

"By completely annihilating the other warring tribes?" Mari scoffed. "Just so she could control the planet for herself and Brodar?"

"That's how the Galra teach it today. The Blade of Marmora have ancient records from back then, collected before Zarkon changed everything. Kolivan made me read a few of them," he gently elaborated. "They say the war with the other tribes had been going on for generations. There would be no end to it. Eleta tried speaking with the leaders of the other nations to discuss treaties, but she was met with anger and violence. None of them were willing to share the planet with others who weren't like them. The only thing she could do was gather their bravest and eliminate the opposing leaders. After that, what remained of the other tribes was absorbed into their own, ending the war."

Her eyes widened at him, a mixture of surprise and uncertainty tugging down her features. "So, her whole 'Vrepit Sa' strategy, the Killing Thrust they used in battle, is a lie?"

"No, that part is true. It was their winning move. That's why Eleta established it as their salute after the war," he said. "She did it to remind her people to keep moving onward despite the pain. To learn from their past and their mistakes so they could build a better future for themselves and others."

Mari was quiet, mulling over this new information. "I think I trust the original records more than whatever twisted lessons Zarkon drilled into his soldiers for millennia," she said with a huff of a bitter and humorless chuckle. "Eleta's probably rolling in her grave seeing what her empire's become."

Keith couldn't argue with her there. Still, even once great empires had their downfalls and bouts of terrible leaders. Nothing stays the same. And whether it was for the better or not, all things changed, people included. Just like they had.

"But, I guess this means she wasn't a cruel and bloodthirsty empress, after all," Mari concluded. "She sounds like a total badass."

"She's admirable," he agreed. "She reminds me of you."

Mari stiffened, unsure how to take the comparison that was meant to be a compliment. Keith almost wished he hadn't said it, but the words were out there now nonetheless. He watched her out of the corner of his eye, waiting for her reaction with a racing heart.

Her brow was furrowed, her gaze carefully kept forward. A dusting of pink colored her cheeks, but whether it was out of anger or embarrassment, he couldn't tell. He decided it was the latter when she didn't retaliate with a punch to his arm.

"We should probably head back now," she murmured. She quickened her pace, but not enough to break away from him. "Don't want to keep the others waiting."

Keith stifled a smile. "Sure thing."

Chapter Text

Just when Keith thought they had a chance to reforge their bond as paladins, just when he thought they could've mustered up enough unified power to reform Voltron, of course some new space danger threw his hopes and plans all out of whack. That space cloud or storm or nebula or whatever it was that hit them had drained their lions of all power. And whatever energy it contained to do such a thing had completely shocked their unprotected passengers, leaving Shiro, Mari, Scarlett, Coran, Romelle, and Kosmo in a frozen and unresponsive state. Luckily their vitals were stable, but for how long, no one knew.

To make things worse, the thing had come back when they'd been in the middle of trying to tie the drifting lions together. In the chaos that ensued, they'd managed to grab onto one another, but they'd been separated from the lions in the process. Now it was just them: Keith, Lance, Hunk, Pidge, and Allura, all floating listlessly in the middle of space. Unprotected. Lost. And without any resources.

But this would be okay, Keith tried to assure them. Tried to assure himself. They would be fine. The life of a paladin was full of the unexpected. They'd faced many deadly challenges and situations before. They could figure this out. They just had to stick together. They could handle this.

The timer on Keith's helmet chirped. He'd set it to chime every hour, helping him keep track of time in the daunting and inky vastness around them. This was the fifth time it had gone off, signaling their fifth hour lost in space.

He swallowed back a tired groan. Be a leader. Stay calm. Check on the others, he reminded himself. "Everyone sound off."

"Lance here."

"Pidge here."

"Allura here."

They all sounded miserable. But at least there was still some energy in their voices. At least they were still alive and with him. The only one who hadn't answered though…

Keith's heartbeat escalated in the long pause that ensued. "Hunk?" he finally prompted.

"...I'm hiding."

Keith sighed, his fear ebbing. "I need you to sound off, Hunk," he urged him, firm but not unkind. "It's important to maintain discipline and mental acuity in these situations. These techniques helped my mom and I through the Quantum Abyss."

"Keith is right," Allura agreed, coming to his aid. "Being lost in space has been known to drive one mad. Too much time contemplating infinity is not good for the mind."

"I like to keep busy calculating pi out as far as I can," Pidge said, if only to make conversation after such a long hour of silence. "The record is four quadrillion, but that's using the Hadoop parallelization framework. I'm just using my brain."

"Pfft…Hadoop," Hunk chuckled weakly.

Well, at least she had something to keep herself busy, Keith thought to himself. He'd been so bored, he'd carefully gone over every Blade combat technique and move that had been drilled into his brain during training. Then he'd resorted to internally reviewing the Blade archives Kolivan had made him spend hours memorizing, flipping through his mental pages of ancient writings, blueprints, and old intel. But even that was starting to get tedious, and he was grateful for the timer's interruption.

"Wait. Guys!" Lance suddenly exclaimed, startling their whole group. "Look! Lights!"

"Told you Lance would go crazy first," Hunk smirked.

"No, no, no, no! I see them!" Pidge gasped, turning to where Lance was pointing. "There really are lights!"

Everyone shifted in their linked huddle. Sure enough, a fast approaching cluster of tiny white lights was illuminating the once endless darkness.

"Perhaps it's a ship," Allura said, a hopeful smile gracing her features.

"Oh, yes! Yes!" Hunk cheered, eagerly pumping a fist in the air. "We're rescued!"

Keith could feel everyone's excitement spike in an instant. Even his own doubt was ebbing, relief threatening to take him.

But as the light drew closer, they turned out not to be a ship. Rather, they were a fluttering flock of some sort of space…bird? Fish? Bug? Keith wasn't quite sure. He hadn't seen anything like them before, not even in the years he'd spent in the Quantum Abyss. As they swirled around their small group, unbothered by the human presence, he was stunned into silence, content to just watch them fly by with breezy ease and elegance.

"Amazing," Pidge breathed in awe.

"They're beautiful," Allura whispered, tempted to reach out and touch one.

"We should follow them," Hunk suggested.

Keith's sense of caution instantly returned. "What?"

"Yeah. They must be heading somewhere. Like a hive or something," Hunk explained. "Wherever that is, it must be better than floating around here just, like, starving to death."

He had a point. And as the others looked to Keith, he realized they were waiting for him to make a decision. This wasn't the rescue they'd been hoping for. And there was no guarantee these things weren't dangerous or would actually lead them to a safe location. They weren't the familiar comfort and protection that the lions provided, but…they were something. And something was better than nothing.

Keith frowned, his hesitancy wavering. "Hunk's right. Let's follow them," he decided. "Everyone stay together."

They activated their jetpacks, ready to go. But the second they did, the flock of creatures abruptly disappeared in a glittering burst, forcing startled gasps from their lips.

"Where'd they go?" Lance shrilled, looking desperately all around them. The strange beings were nowhere in sight, leaving behind not a single trace of their presence. It was like they had never been there in the first place.

"Were they even real?" Allura wondered, the confusion and creeping despair evident in her question.

"I guess they could've been a hallucination," Pidge said, slowly and unsurely. "But that usually only happens when you're…going mad."

An uneasy silence engulfed them at the implication that they were all slowly starting to lose it. A shared hallucination. Space madness. The loss of a sliver of hope and safety. It all made Keith's irritation flare, and he had to grit his teeth to hold back a furious curse.

As they resigned to floating listlessly once more, he struggled to calm down. Breathe in, hold, breathe out. He couldn't lose his nerve in front of them. He was their leader again, remember? He had to stay cool. Stay calm. Stay patient and focused. He couldn't lose hope.

But as the hours dragged on, it quickly became apparent that such a thing was easier said than done.

This was nothing like the two years he'd spent in the Quantum Abyss. At least back then, he'd had Krolia to have meaningful conversations with. He'd had plenty of food and water and air to thrive off of. He'd had enrichment, fishing and hiking and hunting and training and cooking and exploring and playing with Kosmo. He'd been grounded, his own two feet set firmly on the ground.

But out here, he had none of that.

Sure he had the company of Lance, Allura, Hunk, and Pidge. In their initial nervousness, they'd all been chatty too. But there was only so much they could talk about in a sea of nothingness, and now they were dead silent, their energy and hope draining with each passing minute.

It was a terrible thing, being trapped with his thoughts for so long. His mind had long since begun to wander, dipping dangerously into his old pessimistic nature and the dreadful mess of 'what ifs' and worst-case scenarios.

What if they never got out of this mess? They would never reach home. Their bodies would be lost forever in space. Without their paladins, the lost and powerless lions would easily get scooped up by pirates. Shiro, Mari, Coran, Scarlett, Romelle, and Kosmo would be captured and imprisoned with no hope of revival from their frozen state. They would die.

He and the others would all fail at saving the universe. It would be such a lame and tragic and disappointing way for the legend of Voltron to end. Krolia and Kolivan would never know what happened to them. Matt and the rest of the coalition rebels would continue to be hunted by the enemy. Sam, Pidge's mom, Hunk's family, Lance's family, Adam, Shiro and Mari's parents…they'd continue to wait on Earth, never to see their lost loved ones again. So many people who had been counting on them to return and save them would suffer because he and the others had all been swallowed by the mysteries of space.

It made Keith so angry. So irritated. More than he'd felt in years. Why was he so helpless now? Why was he still so weak? After all he'd been through, after all his struggling and enduring, he would fail as a leader. He'd die here and disappear and be forgotten to the universe. They all would. And it would be all his fault.

The sudden beeping of his alarm dragged him out of his dark and heavy thoughts. He blinked, his eyelids heavy as he tried to focus on his visor display. They were into hour ten now…Or was it twelve?

…Whatever. It was time to check if everyone was still alive.

"Everyone…" Keith paused and swallowed thickly, his voice hoarse and unexpectedly weak. "Everyone sound off."

"Allura here."

"Lance here."

"Pidge here."

They sounded no better than him. And once again, Hunk hadn't answered.

A fresh spark of frustration ignited inside Keith. For the love of – How hard was it to give a simple "Here" so he wouldn't be sent into a panic attack thinking one of them was dead?!

"Hunk, sound off immediately!" he snapped, craning his neck to shoot a nasty glare at the Yellow Paladin.

"Keith," Allura briskly began to scold him. "You don't have to – "

"It's okay, Allura. It's okay," Hunk quickly piped up, snuffing the argument before it could begin. "I was just kind of, you know, lost in this fantasy that we'd get to Earth and, you know, the Garrison would throw us a parade and all that stuff, and then, you know, maybe I'd meet some hotshot pilot who wanted to check out the Yellow Lion, and then maybe the Yellow Lion would take a shine to her, obviously, and I'd be like, 'Whoa. Whoa. I can't stand in-between you two. The bond is strong here.'"

Keith pressed his lips into a thin line as he listened to Hunk. Like it was that easy to shirk such an important duty, such a heavy burden. Keith himself had tried to escape it, certain it had been the right choice. But it hadn't, and as a result, he'd been pulled back to their team, returned as the Black Lion's paladin.

They all shared a complex bond that had developed and strengthened over the years. After all the battles they'd fought together, after all the adventures they'd been on, they were all more than just teammates and friends. It was supposed to be undeniable now that they were supposed to be the heroes of the universe, chosen by the mystical Voltron lions. Nobody else could take any of their places.

And yet Hunk was talking about leaving the team. Leaving them. Now, of all times. How could he even think about something like that? Why would he even think about something like that? Unless their so-called space family really meant nothing to him. Unless the bond they shared really meant absolutely nothing.

"Hunk, what are you talking about?" Lance sighed, his own patience thinning in the face of his friend's rambling.

"Fantasizing about quitting Voltron," Keith drawled, blunt and with a scathing bitterness in his tone.

"No, no, no, no, not quitting. No," Hunk hurried to explain himself. "Just, you know, being the bigger man. Just stepping aside to pass the baton down to a younger generation."

Keith's vexation only grew. What younger generation? What the hell was Hunk even talking about? He was only eighteen, for fucks sake, he wasn't old! No one else could do this but them. They had to keep going. They had to keep trying! If they did, they would defeat the Galra and they wouldn't need a younger generation to pilot the lions. The war would be over. They wouldn't need Voltron anymore. Only then could they call it quits.

"Am I quite wrong or is Hunk still very young by Earth standards?" Allura asked after a moment.

"No, I think time is different for me," Hunk said, a hint of amusement creeping into his tone. "Like I'm on dog years or something."

Hunk's optimism, the way he was cheerily escaping into such a ridiculous fantasy while he ignored them and their current dire situation…it was all bringing Keith to the verge of completely losing his cool. But before he could lash out with an order to shut up, their group was assaulted by a storm of red.

It appeared out of nowhere, winds raging and lightning flashing across their vision. Bolts of energy wrapped around their legs, pulling apart their back-to-back formation and threatening to separate them completely. They kept a death grip on one another's hands, but they could only last so long against this unknown entity.

"What's happening?" Pidge screamed, terror bright in her eyes.

Lance grunted, visibly struggling. "What is this?"

Allura tried bringing herself closer to the others, but the lightning kept tugging her back. "I'm being pulled away!"

"Something is attacking us!" Hunk exclaimed.

"Yeah, no shit!" Keith wanted to retort. But he was too busy trying not to lose his own hold on them. His eyes stung, his rage flooding his thoughts. His ears rang with the hammering of his heart against his ribs, and the others' voices faded, drowned out by the sound of his own seething breaths.

Don't let go, don't let go…

They don't really care about you.

"Keith, what do we do?"

You can't do anything.

Shut up! Just shut up and don't let go!

"I can't hold on!"

You're alone. Just let go.

DON'T LET GO!

Keith's hand tore away from Pidge's in an instant. Manifesting his bayard, he tried to summon his sword, but nothing happened. Still, he didn't let that stop him from swinging wildly, furiously, at the invisible force attacking them. He desperately tried to chase away the lightning and the voices that threatened to tear them apart, ignoring how his wrist was slipping out of Hunk's fingers.

Then as soon as it had happened, the red storm faded, bringing them back to the empty pitch of space. Keith panted hard, barely registering how he'd disconnected from Hunk, and how Pidge promptly boosted herself forward and latched onto his arm. She hugged it tightly, using her whole body to link him back to their line before he could float away. The others were staring at him, flabbergasted, eyes wide with fear as they waited for him to speak. They were looking at him like he was crazy, and it was enough to make him snap.

"My bayard won't work. We don't know where the lions are. We're being attacked by things we can't even see!" he growled.

His frustration was overflowing, but he couldn't tell if he was pissed at the others' lack of anger at what had just happened to them, or if he was simply dissatisfied with the way that entity had fled before he could land an actual hit.

The others were quiet for a painfully long second.

"Keith, what are you talking about?" Lance asked, and his voice carried an honest concern and confusion that Keith so rarely received from him. It was a sure sign that Lance was being one hundred percent serious. "There's nothing out there. It's just us."

Keith wordlessly stared at Lance, slowly processing his words. He scanned their surroundings in search of any remaining signs of their enemy, ready to retort and prove him wrong. But to his dismay, he saw nothing, as if…

…As if it had never been there in the first place.

He was hungry and thirsty. He was angry and irritated. But more than anything, he was just tired. Tired of waiting around for nothing. Tired of thinking. Tired of leading. Tired of hoping for a rescue that would never come.

Keith's timer chimed again. He ignored it. He'd stopped paying attention to it a while ago. He'd stopped counting the hours. It didn't matter anymore anyway, now did it? They were all screwed, and the ticking clock just reminded him of their inevitable and approaching doom.

"Keith, shouldn't we sound off?" Lance asked, breaking their hour-long quietness.

Keith was almost tempted not to respond. Almost. "What's the point?"

Lance let out a soft huff, but didn't argue with him. He'd gotten verbal confirmation that Keith was alive, and that was all he really needed. "Lance here," he sounded off.

"Pidge here."

"Allura here."

"I am Hunk."

A beat of silence passed. Then two.

"I wonder how my dad and Matt are doing," Pidge said, once again trying to keep their conversation going before they were all submerged in their own gloomy thoughts until the next check-in.

"Better than us, hopefully," Keith said, indulging her attempt. It was easier talking kindly to her. She was the only one in their group he wasn't currently annoyed with.

"My father had something he always said in dire situations," Allura piped up, still trying to remain painfully optimistic despite everything.

"'Give up'?" Keith muttered, the hollow words slipping from lips without a care.

She stiffened beside him. "Sorry?"

He'd hit a nerve. …Good. He wanted to keep going. He wanted to unleash all his pent up frustration and the bitter thoughts that were relentlessly gnawing away at him.

"It just doesn't seem like he was a real fighter when the chips were down," he continued, unfazed as Allura's whole form started to quiver with her escalating indignation.

"Keith, come on," Hunk gently scolded, vainly trying to keep their diminishing peace.

"You have a lot of nerve questioning someone's leadership," Allura spat back, ignoring him. "Seeing how you left us!"

"Allura, please," Hunk begged.

Keith's fury blazed anew. The nerve of her for trying to shift all the blame onto him! For one, none of them had even tried to stop him from leaving for the Blade of Marmora. None of them had even truly cared or acknowledged how hard leading had been for him back then. As soon as he wasn't needed anymore, as soon as they found someone better, they had just let him go, tossing him away like he was nothing.

Secondly, she was so damn hypocritical! She was supposed to lead the Voltron Coalition to victory. Yet she got distracted building Lotor's Sincline ships. She practically ditched Lance, Pidge, Hunk, and Shiro to help the enemy get exactly what he wanted. And who came back to fix everything when it all went to hell? Who had discovered and was trying to save the last remnants of her people? Who saved her and everyone else from being used by Lotor? Keith. Keith did that. He came back to lead them when he could've easily abandoned them, just like they had to him.

"As I recall, you were the one who got us all cozied up to Lotor," he fired back, raring to go and refusing to back down now.

"Keith, you ran away," Lance ground out, Keith's own supposed right hand turning against him in favor of defending the princess. "Maybe you should have just stayed away."

"Lance, Keith, everyone, stop!" Hunk shouted, adamant in intervening. Their linked group separated as he forced them to face him and hear his words. "Look, guys, I understand what's happening here. You're all brave heroes who don't know how to react to being scared, and it's causing you to attack one another. That or you're all going space mad. Hopefully, you're just scared. I'm scared all the time. I can talk you through it."

Keith glared at him, unmoved. "Sorry, Hunk. I guess I just don't know how to be a coward."

He'd intended for such words to be hurtful. Dry and offensive. Something intentionally mean enough to get the Yellow Paladin to shut up and back down. But Hunk didn't even flinch. Instead, he smiled.

"Right! That's what I'm saying," he said, sounding relieved.

But Keith's insult hadn't gone unmissed by Lance, who was all too familiar with his sarcasm and cruel jabs.

"Why don't you leave him alone, Keith?" he snapped, his eyes narrowed into a cold glower. "Just drift off by yourself, Mr. Lone Wolf."

It really was always meant to be this way, wasn't it? Him being alone and having no one or nowhere that truly wanted him. He'd simply been given these last few years to live in a false sense of hope out of pure luck, or perhaps, out of pity from the universe. But now, fate had finally caught up to him. And who was he to defy something as unstoppable as that?

"Fine."

Too tired to care anymore, Keith turned his back to them and activated his jetpack, propelling himself up and away. But before he could really get anywhere, Hunk surged forward and grabbed him. His grip was like a vise around Keith's ankle, and he easily pulled him to a stop.

"No, don't!" Hunk insisted. "We have to stay together!"

Together. What a fragile and meaningless thing that word had become. Keith stared down at Hunk, a numbing emptiness expanding inside his chest. Doubt and indifference weighed like a ton of bricks on his frazzled mind, but he didn't try freeing himself from the Yellow Paladin's clutches just yet.

"Why, Hunk?" he demanded. "Are we really even friends? Is there anything holding us together besides some messed up series of coincidences? I mean, what are we? Some chosen saviors? Do you really believe that? What are we even doing out here?!"

All at once, his deepest insecurities came spilling forth in a series of angry and unfiltered questions that made even Lance and Allura look taken aback, if not a bit regretful. Pidge looked so small as she gazed up at him, her brow pinched with a hurt uncertainty. Hunk was quiet for a moment, taking a steadying breath to steel himself and power through the pain of Keith's disbelief.

"We're doing what we have to," he said finally.

Keith tsked. That wasn't good enough. That wasn't the answer he had wanted. Doing what they had to…Hunk was only stopping him now out of obligation. Because he was their leader and Hunk thought they needed him. Needed him just for Voltron.

But they didn't need him. Not really.

Keith was done. He was done with being afraid. He was done with being a leader and worrying about them. He was done with this whole situation. He'd leave, just as Lance had suggested, living and dying on his own out here. He'd give them exactly what they wanted. And this time, he wouldn't bother coming back.

He tried to escape again, this time thrashing for freedom. "Let me go!" he growled, booting up his jetpack again. But even with its extra boost, Hunk wouldn't release him.

"No!" His hold on Keith remained infuriatingly firm. He stubbornly tugged him back, and Keith huffed, drained and without the energy to seriously kick him off.

"Uh, guys?" Pidge squeaked, interrupting their fight to draw their attention to a pinprick of light that had appeared in the distance.

"Is it more of those creatures?" Lance wondered.

"No, it appears to be a single source." Allura paused, squinting at the illuminated point as it came into focus. "It looks like a planet."

Sure enough, the light was indeed a planet. Covered in deep blue oceans and a familiar landscape of brown and green, it looked just like…

"No way," Lance whispered, his jaw dropping.

Keith blinked, wondering if he was seeing things again. But each time he reopened his eyes, it was still there, waiting for them. "It's…Earth," he realized in complete shock.

"That wave must have knocked us all the way across the universe!" Pidge grinned, a hint of a relieved laugh making her voice quiver.

"We're home!" Lance boosted himself forward, prompting the others to follow as he led the way towards their home planet. "We're gonna make it, guys!"

For once, Lance was right. Earth was right here in front of them. No more of this listless floating around in space. They were going home. They were going to be safe. They were going to live. A wave of relief washed over Keith, filling him with a giddy joy that made the dark clouds dissipate from his mind. He didn't even hear Hunk telling them to stop until he physically blocked their paths, placing himself between them and Earth.

"Stop! Everybody, stop!" He held up his arms in a pleading gesture, his expression tight with panic.

"Hunk, what are you doing?" Allura shrilled, incredulous, as if this was some sort of betrayal on his part.

"Stop it, Hunk!" Lance barked, and the unhinged impatience in his voice was piercing.

Still, Hunk didn't back down. "No, no, something is wrong!"

"Hunk, you're hallucinating! You're going space mad!" Pidge persisted, her cool all but lost. "Just let us take you home!"

They started pushing him towards the planet, refusing to listen to him and refusing to leave him behind. He thrashed against them, struggling one against four.

"No! Listen to yourselves! You're letting all of this get the better of you," he desperately pleaded for them to see reason. "There's no way that can be Earth!"

"Just trust us, Hunk," Allura urged, ignoring him with a delighted grin. "You'll thank us when we get there."

But despite their insistence, Hunk wasn't having it. He continued to fight back, pushing his jetpack to its limits. "Let…me…go!" he ground out, and with a final grunt of effort, he broke through, zipping behind them to freedom. He summoned his bayard, his cannon manifesting in his hands before he fired at Earth.

The scorching beam took them all off guard as it soared past, startling them into a halt and interrupting their trek home. The shot landed with a dull explosion, and the planet suddenly shimmered and shifted. The illusion of Earth melted away, revealing the massive blue eye of a gigantic, cosmic sting-ray-like creature. And its sights were trained solely on their tiny team of five.

"What the quiznak is that thing?" Lance groaned, his disappointment quick to be replaced with dread.

Pidge swallowed thickly, her own fears rising. "Hunk was right."

Allura looked just as disturbed by the creature's reveal. "He saved us."

Hunk continued to hold his blaster at the ready, a steady reminder that they weren't in the clear just yet. "Here it comes!" he warned them just as the thing opened its humongous mouth and revealed several glowing sets of sharp teeth.

They screamed, naturally. Who wouldn't be terrified of such a thing? It didn't help that the stressful events of their past hours lost in space had frayed their nerves and jumbled their minds, driving them nuts and preventing them from thinking straight. They scrambled to fly out of the way, scattering themselves before they could get swallowed whole.

"Guys, that thing is hunting us," Lance grimly concluded, watching as the creature shifted to circle back around. "It's gonna get us all unless we do something!"

"Like what?" Allura pressed. "We can't even use our bayards."

"How did you manifest yours, Hunk?" Pidge asked.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I just knew that I needed to."

"What are we gonna do? We don't stand a chance!" Lance lamented, the despair threatening to return.

Hunk didn't reply right away. But when he did, he was boosting himself right towards the creature trying to kill them. "Get out of here!" he ordered them, his expression set with an unshakable determination. "I'll buy you some time. Go!"

"Hunk!"

"No!"

"Hunk!"

He was screaming, firing relentlessly at the beast before him. It did absolutely no damage, but its attention was locked on him, just as he'd hoped. The thing roared, jaws opened wide to snap him up, but it never got the chance. Forming a chain, they grabbed Hunk, stopping him from following through with his suicide mission.

Always consider the lives of your teammates and civilians before your own.

"What are you doing?" he exclaimed.

"Fire jetpacks!" Pidge yelled.

Keith, at the end of their line, swiftly did so. They were all abruptly yanked backwards, just narrowly escaping being gobbled up by the monster. When they all brought themselves to a halt, they hovered around Hunk.

"What are you guys doing?" he asked again, and he almost sounded mad at them. "I told you to escape!"

Lance frowned at him. "Why would we ever do that without you?"

"Yeah. You can't expect us to just leave you," Pidge agreed, as if this should have been obvious.

"We're a team, Hunk. We have to stick together like you said," Allura reminded him, before casting a hesitant glance Keith's way. There was an apologetic gleam in her eyes, her brow furrowed with guilt and a flurry of unspoken words and feelings.

Keith's own regret was welling inside him in full now. He couldn't believe he'd lost his nerve like that, snapping at everyone, yelling at them, thinking and saying such awful things that weren't even close to being true. He'd almost made Hunk, brave and kind and shining so bright in even the darkest of times, do something he could never take back. Keith was still their leader. They trusted him and looked to him for guidance. They didn't want him to leave, nor did he want to be apart from them. He had to keep calm for their sakes, to make sure their hope never died out. And they would always be there for him to make sure he didn't lose himself either.

"I'm sorry I said those hurtful things earlier. I was wrong," Keith said finally, suddenly feeling very small beneath their watchful gazes. But this needed to be said, and he meant every word with his entire heart and soul. "This series of messed up coincidences did happen for a reason. They brought us together as paladins. But more importantly they brought us together as friends."

He mustered a small but sincere smile, and he was glad to receive four in return. A familiar energy pulsed through them, and the roaring of lions echoed faintly inside their minds as the invisible thread tying them all together seemed to reinforce itself infinitely. Grabbing their bayards, their respective weapons appeared in their hands. With five ready to fight as one, they surged forward to face the beast.

"All right, team. We have to attack this thing with our bayards from every side possible," Keith instructed them, hashing out a quick plan on the spot. "That way it can't target us all at once."

"Yeah!" the others chorused, their resolve unified and unbreakable.

Keith still didn't know how just the five of them would take down this thing, small as they were. At most, they might be able to scare it away or make it lose interest. But at least they were working together now and no longer at each other's throats. They would survive this, just as they always did in such impossible situations. They would all get through this.

They besieged the creature with the firepower of their bayards, ducking and weaving and gliding to safety to avoid its hungry mouth and swishing tail. But no matter what they tried, the thing was just too big for them to handle on their own.

"It's toying with us," Allura huffed as they regrouped.

Lance grit his teeth, shouting furiously and unleashing a string of blasts upon the creature's eye. The blue beams uselessly pinged off its tough skin, and the beast shrieked as it turned on them once more to snap them up.

Suddenly, a brilliant beam of energy slammed into the thing's head with a rattling explosion that sent it ducking away. Surprised, the five of them turned to face the source of this unexpected attack, and they were immediately greeted by the Red Lion, with the remaining lions right on its tail. Yellow and Blue landed their own hits, eliciting furious screams from the creature. Then Black let out a ferocious roar that was chilling enough to send the thing running. Fleeing from the protective force that was the Voltron lions, it disappeared into the depths of space, never to bother them again.

"Yeah, you better run!" Lance called out after it, a satisfied smirk stretching out across his face.

"I think he might actually be running from that!" Pidge cried out, and the resurgence of fear in her voice drew their gazes behind them to where she was pointing. In the distance, the strange energy pulse that had thrown them all into this mess in the first place had returned, and it was fast approaching.

"Again?" Hunk squeaked.

"We know we can't outrun it," Allura said, uneasy and restless in the face of their next predicament.

Black's growl rumbled softly in Keith's ear, and he glanced up at the lions hovering over them. They had reforged their bond as paladins and had even been able to call their lions to them. They were stronger than ever now, and he had a good feeling they'd be able to handle this strange energy pulse just fine.

"We're not running this time," he decided, and everyone promptly boarded their lions.

The friends they'd left in the cockpits were still there, frozen but stable, much to his relief. Now it was time to get all of them out of here. The fire within him burning hotter and hotter by the second, Keith gripped his controls, ready to go.

"Form Voltron!"

Chapter Text

They came back home to an Earth that had been overtaken by the Galra. Sendak, to be specific. God, Keith was seriously going to kill him for all the pain he'd caused and was continuing to cause them.

Sneaking past the fleet of cruisers guarding the planet had been easy. Trying to get to the Galaxy Garrison stronghold to meet up with Pidge's dad was not.

As they walked through the ruins of Plaht City, the devastation of the Fire of Purification's invasion hit them all in full. Buildings had been toppled. The trees and grass were long dead. The buses Keith used to take as a kid were crumpled and thrown on their sides. The juvenile detention center was dark and abandoned, doors blown open and windows smashed. The fire station where his dad had worked was empty, stripped by looters and the alien invaders.

But what was most concerning was how quiet everything was. Not a single human soul was in sight, casting the once thriving city into an eerie silence. All the people who had been left behind on Earth while they'd fought Zarkon – innocent lives like Hutch, Ms. Lisa, Ms. Debbie, Jane, Lance's and Hunk's and Pidge's and Mari's and Shiro's families, and countless others…they were all gone. Whether they were captured, forced into hiding, or killed was anyone's guess.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Galra drones and sentries emerged from the ruins and swarmed them. Bayards were in hands in seconds and blaster fire filled the air. But with every enemy they brought down, only more seemed to appear. Keith grit his teeth, his frustration rising as the sentries pinned them down from both sides. They'd only been on Earth for a few hours, and they were already getting their butts kicked by Sendak's stupid robots.

Suddenly, the screeching of wheels pierced the air and two Garrison trucks barreled onto the scene, crashing into sentries as they went. When they pulled to a stop, their hoods dropped and the drivers emerged, pistol and rifle blazing. More drones and sentries dropped, scattering bits of alien tech across the street.

"Stay down, we got this!" one driver ordered, taking out opponent after opponent with her partner's help.

Keith reached up to slash the last drone hovering about his head, but she swiftly blasted it out of commission, beating him to it. He whirled on her, his irritation getting the better of him.

"I had it," he growled, and she cast him an unimpressed look.

Her partner tsked, and the sound made Keith bristle. He marched over to him and the other paladins, his rifle cradled in his arms. "Drones send distress signals when attacked," he snapped. "Our weapons neutralize those signals. So unless you wanna deal with a swarm of those things, let us handle it."

Keith stiffened. He knew that voice. He knew that scowl. This was James Griffin. His old bully, his old enemy before Shiro had really entered his life. He was still here, alive and working for the Garrison.

Of all the people to save them now, why did it have to be him?

He and James glared at each other for a long moment. Then James' expression relaxed just a tad as he pulled his gaze away and jerked his head towards their two vehicles. "Now let's get out of here before more show up," he pressed, leading the way.

"Not a very kind welcoming party, is he," Scarlett muttered, and Romelle and Allura nodded in agreement.

Everyone hesitated, looking to their leader for the go-ahead. Keith regarded James for a second longer before letting out a quiet huff. "Let's get moving," he ordered, and they hurried to do as they were told.

Keith was quick to take the shotgun seat of the second driver's car – he would absolutely NOT be sitting next to James for the half-hour it would take for them to reach the Garrison. Pidge, Hunk, Lance, and Kosmo hopped in after him, leaving Shiro, Allura, Coran, Romelle, Scarlett, and Mari to ride with James. A few minutes of tense silence passed, everyone seeming to hold their breath until they finally broke free of the city remains and began to venture out into the desert.

"Hello, Garrison runaways, alien allies, and Officer Shirogane!" James' comrade suddenly exclaimed, making Keith startle next to her. "I'm one of your lovely drivers, Lieutenant Nadia Rizavi, a senior cadet and one of the best pilots in the Galaxy Garrison. Now, if you look on your right and left, you'll see nothing but desert and all the dust and rocks it has to offer. Oooh, it's so exciting to be back home, right?"

Her comms crackled, but no one answered. Hunk, Pidge, and Lance shifted awkwardly in the backseat, and Rizavi pouted at everyone's lack of enthusiasm.

"Geez, tough crowd," she muttered. "Just trying to lighten the mood."

"It'd be better if Sendak wasn't here," Lance grumbled, but whether she heard him or not, she made no indication.

From the other car, Allura awkwardly cleared her throat. "Are you a pilot of the Garrison as well, then?" she tentatively wondered, trying to make casual conversation with their own driver.

"Affirmative. Name's Lieutenant James Griffin," James stated flatly, and there was no missing the unfriendliness dripping from his tone. "You'll call me Griffin."

Rizavi made a disgusted noise in the back of her throat. "Geez, you're so rude. Would it kill you to be nice to her?" she scolded him. "This is why you don't have a girlfriend yet."

James let out an audible sigh, presumably more than used to her prattling and spritely nature. A beat of silence passed before he addressed Shiro.

"It's great to see you again, sir," he said. "We're glad to have you back."

He sounded noticeably kinder than when he'd spoken to Allura, full of nothing but respect for his idol and superior officer. Keith rolled his eyes, but said nothing about it as Shiro responded.

"It's good to be back," he replied, polite and at ease with his former student. "Thank you for your help, Griffin and Rizavi."

"Of course, sir!" Rizavi chirped, just as James said, "It was no problem, sir."

The rest of the ride dragged by in relative silence, leaving Keith to his own thoughts. He stared out across the desert landscape, taking in its warm and familiar hues. He could see the mountains and canyons in the distance, reaching up for the pale blue skies. Somewhere out there were the remains of the Blue Lion's caves, all its carvings no doubt destroyed from when Lance first ejected them from the earth. And of course, assuming it hadn't been wrecked in the invasion, the little shack he'd shared with his dad was also out there, waiting for him to return.

Unfortunately, it would have to wait a little bit longer.

Keith couldn't remember seeing Lance and Pidge so happy before. Their families had been amongst the welcoming party outside the Garrison, and when they had unloaded from James' and Rizavi's trucks, they clung to their loved ones, tears streaming down their flushed cheeks as smiles lit up their faces.

Shiro and Mari were a bit different. They didn't cry. They looked more shaken and relieved as their parents embraced them and fretted over them. Keith watched as Mari's friend, Magdalena, tackled her in a suffocating hug until her other friend, Jia, pulled her off. Released, he helped her to stand so she could reconnect with them. The outsiders in everyone's reunions, he, Kosmo, Allura, Coran, Scarlett, and Romelle could only observe their joyful reunions in silence.

And then, there was Hunk. Awfully quiet and crestfallen without his family here, he lingered by their vehicle, forcing the tiniest of smiles as he engaged in conversation with Sam and Colleen. Keith watched him carefully, his heart aching for him. Hunk had been so excited to return home, to see his parents again. He didn't deserve this sort of extra agony, not after everything he'd done to help them get home.

Kosmo nuzzled his snout into Keith's hand, sensing his worry. He absentmindedly scratched him behind the ears, promising himself he'd find a time to console Hunk later.

"Cadet!" Iverson barked, pulling him from his thoughts and nearly making him jump. Only, he wasn't addressing him – he was speaking to Maggie. "Watch your language!"

Keith hadn't caught what she'd said, but she obediently stood at attention and grinned nonetheless. "Yes, sorry, sir!" she and Jia replied in unison.

Iverson sighed. He turned to Keith then, making him go rigid and shift on high alert. "And you, Cadet."

On instinct, Keith saluted him, the years of Garrison training coming back to grip him like a vise. "Yes, sir."

He braced himself, waiting for Iverson's lecture. The last time they'd met, he'd sabotaged a military operation and punched the senior officer in the face, after all. If he knew Iverson, he was still pissed about it, no doubt. Still, Keith's gaze didn't waver from his, more than ready to take the beratement and apologize. If they were going to work together to defeat Sendak, the last thing they needed was for bad blood to remain between them.

But, to his surprise, Iverson's brow unfurrowed, his harsh expression falling away. "I…owe you an apology as well," he stated finally, sincerely. "I've heard about all you've done. I was wrong about you. It's an honor and privilege to see you again."

Keith blinked, almost unable to believe his ears. Iverson…was apologizing to him? After he'd been such a crappy student and had assaulted him twice? It relieved him almost as much as it surprised him. Maybe this meant Iverson hadn't hated his guts in all the time they'd known each other. He supposed he wasn't the only one who had grown and changed over the last few years.

A small smile pulled up the corners of Keith's lips. "Thank you, sir," he said. "I guess I wasn't exactly the best cadet back then. I probably owe you a bit of an apology too."

He held out his hand in truce and Iverson took it, more than happy to forgive their past conflicts. Kosmo padded forward, sniffing at Iverson curiously.

"Ah, and who's this little fella?" he asked, his face breaking out into a grin as the wolf let him rub his back.

"Oh, Kosmo likes you," Coran mused as Iverson happily caressed the cosmic creature. "But be careful. If you touch him, he could zap you to a different universe. Seriously."

Iverson paled and straightened, suddenly very reluctant to interact with the wolf, and Keith stifled a chuckle. Kosmo didn't seem perturbed in the slightest by the older man's shift in reaction, and proceeded to move on to inspecting the Shiroganes' cat, Kage.

Suddenly, Keith's skin prickled and he could feel a pair of eyes on him, boring a hole into the back of his head. He pulled his attention away from Kosmo and Iverson and the others, his gaze landing on James. He was behind Keith, still hovering on the edge of the gathering next to his vehicle. When their eyes locked, James' scowl deepened and he tugged off his helmet, but he said nothing. Didn't even try to engage with him or Iverson as he marched towards the facility.

Keith's own frown returned. Was James still jealous of him? He was sure he'd been ecstatic when he was kicked out of the Garrison. He'd gotten to do what Keith couldn't and had become a senior fighter pilot. Or was it because Keith was a paladin now? Because he was some chosen hero of the universe. Because he'd turned his life around and had real deep space adventures that James' couldn't even fathom. Or maybe he was just standoffish by default after they'd spent so many years apart. Whatever his deal was this time, they clearly still had some lingering tension between them. It was almost like nothing had changed.

"He's still like that," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else, but it had drawn Mari's attention. She tilted her head at him, a hint of worry in her eyes, before her gaze locked onto James' retreating form.

"What's his problem?" she wondered. "You have beef with him?"

She'd sounded casual enough, but there was no missing the concern creeping into her tone. Keith shrugged, unsure of how to answer her.

"Sorta."

She regarded him for a second longer, but she didn't press him for the details. He was grateful for that. He didn't want to burden her with the problems of his past, especially not now. What was done, was done. He and James were both adults now. They were both on the same side of a bigger crisis, this war with the Galra. And if James couldn't grow up and get over whatever issues he still had with him, then that was his problem.

Just as one problematic person disappeared, another emerged. A young man in a white hazmat suit exited the building and swiftly approached their group. Beneath his mask, Keith could see his messy brown hair and narrowed eyes. He looked familiar somehow, although Keith was sure he'd never met this guy before.

But Mari seemed to recognize him. She stiffened at the sight of him, and that alone put Keith on edge.

"Speaking of beef…" Jia hummed, and Maggie tsked.

"Aaren, you are so late to the welcoming party," she gripped.

Aaren? The Aaren from Mari's memories? The Aaren who had liked her and had kissed her without consent the day before Shiro returned to Earth? The Aaren Keith already despised despite not actually knowing him? Even now, Keith couldn't help but glare at him, his hands fists at his sides as he watched him carefully, taking in his every movement.

Aaren didn't seem to notice his bubbling hostility. In fact, his eyes seemed to skim right over him and Mari and the others as he threw Maggie a glower and turned to Iverson. "Preparations for the decontamination process are ready, sir," he dutifully reported.

Shiro frowned. "Decontamination?"

"The admiral insists on it," Iverson sighed, helpless if not exasperated with the decision.

"It's nothing dire, sir," Aaren said, turning to Shiro next. "We don't have time to waste quarantining you. The best we can do is a shower and new clothes while we sterilize your...outfits."

"It's armor," Mari blurted.

Aaren's attention flicked to her. He stared at her for a long moment, much too long for Keith's liking. Then he slowly nodded. "Right. Armor," he corrected himself.

As if finally sensing Keith's glare, he briefly glanced at him. For just a split second, a wary fear flashed across Aaren's eyes, but he was quick to hide it as a tight smile pulled up his lips.

"Welcome back to Earth, Mari," he said, sounding a bit clipped. But before she could respond, he produced a tablet and tapped on it impatiently. "Now, let's get the decontamination process moving. We don't have all day, people."

Another handful of his hazmat suit-clad colleagues exited the building. They stood in front of them, splitting into two groups.

"Boys, you're with me," one of them announced, his hands placed authoritatively on his hips.

"Ladies, if you'll follow me," another one gently encouraged the girls, gesturing towards the entrance to the building.

No one moved right away, hesitant to leave and face whatever the decontamination process really entailed. The medical team took that as their cue to step in and swiftly guide them away from the welcoming party, ushering Lance away from his family and pulling Pidge away from her dog.

"No! Bae Bae!" she cried, desperately reaching for her canine friend while a medic held her back. "I want more cuddles!"

"She'll be right here after you get cleaned up, Katie," Colleen promised her, and Pidge pouted, sagging in defeat.

Another woman tentatively inched towards Keith, stopping him from stepping inside the facility. "Your, erm, wolf will have to be washed, as well, sir," she said, glancing nervously at Kosmo by his side.

Kosmo stared at her, unimpressed. He liked playing in the water, but he'd never had a bath with soaps and intense scrubbing. Not that he really needed one. No matter what sort of messy environments the cosmic creature got into, he never seemed to get smelly.

Keith placed a protective hand on Kosmo's head, rubbing him between his ears. "It's okay. He's not dirty," he assured her.

She shuffled from foot to foot, uneasy and unsure. One of her older colleagues sidled up to her, arms crossed. "It doesn't matter," he stated flatly, insistently. "Let us wash him or he won't be allowed to enter the building."

Keith scowled at him, but the man remained adamant, pursing his lips in challenge and daring him to argue against him. Lance, Hunk, and Shiro paused in the hallway just behind the guy, attentively watching and waiting in case he started giving Keith trouble.

Keith sighed. The damn ruling adults around here were still the same: hard-headed, arrogant, and smug towards anyone younger than them. He almost felt bad for the girl, who seemed to shrink in her superior's shadow. For his sake and hers, he decided he wouldn't cause a scene over this. It was just a bath, after all. Starting a fight over something like that wasn't worth it.

"Fine," he ground out, and he hated how the man smirked in triumph. Keith ignored him though, looking down at Kosmo and granting him an apologetic frown. "Be good, bud. Cooperate with them. I'll come find you later."

Kosmo blinked at him in silent understanding. But from the way his tail swished, restless and playful, Keith got the feeling he would be anything but good and cooperative. Nevertheless, Keith didn't stop him as he padded next to the woman.

"Thank you, sir," she said, smiling in relief. "We'll take good care of him."

Keith nodded. As they walked down another hall away from him and the other paladins, he could hear her superior reprimanding her.

"You need to grow a spine, Tammy," he barked. "I don't give a damn if he's a paladin, he can't just break the rules."

"I-I know, I – " There was a familiar zapping sound, followed by Tammy's gasp. "What the – Where'd he go?"

Another zap. Another startled yelp, this time from the man.

"I-It can teleport?" he shrilled.

Keith smiled. Good boy.

It felt strange to be back at the Garrison, wandering the bland halls of his teenage years, seeing the same crisp orange uniforms worn by cadets, passing the familiar faces of his old teachers and classmates. They stared at him just as they had back then, when he'd been a well-known troublemaker, a genius in the simulator, and Shiro's mentee. But now, instead of jealousy and disdain, awe and hope filled their gazes. They were surprised to see him, Shiro, Lance, and Hunk back on campus, alive after having survived their harrowing adventure in deep space. And of course, there was Coran, the first alien they'd ever seen up close and in person. He didn't seem to mind their staring though. As always, Coran walked with purpose, unbothered or perhaps reveling in the fascination he was eliciting from the humans.

Aaren and his team shoved them into the communal showers, confiscating all of their clothes and armor and weapons to be sterilized. The water was warm, and Lance whooped as he let it run down his face. Keith had to admit, he understood his delight – it had been weeks since they'd all had a normal shower, forced to bathe in freezing lakes and rivers on stops they made during their trip home. The hot water felt great as they washed off the sweat and grime of their brief fight in Plaht City.

They were given cadet uniforms to wear, even Coran. He was pleased with how the orange nearly matched his mustache, but he complained about the rest of the earthy colors. He claimed they washed out his dazzling aura, and wore it with reluctance. The only one who wasn't forced to wear the thing was Shiro, who had been provided with a gray officer's uniform. He stared at himself in the mirror, frowning at the floppy right sleeve.

"Need a hand?" Keith asked, gesturing to it, and he ignored how Lance giggled and went, "Ba-dum-tss!"

Shiro granted him a small smile. "Yeah. In more ways than one," he chuckled. He paused as Keith took the empty sleeve and began to neatly roll it up to his shoulder. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Keith snapped the button shut, pinning the extra cloth firmly in place. His eyes wandered to the three golden stripes adorning the uniform. "They kept your rank," he noted.

Shiro nodded to the two stripes on Keith's uniform. "They kept yours, too," he said, almost relieved.

"Not bad for a drop-out," Lance mused, and Keith rolled his eyes.

"I was kicked out."

"That's even worse."

Lance gave himself one more look in the mirror. He grinned, satisfied with what he saw. "Alright, let's get outta here!" he cheered, spinning on his heel. "You ready to go, Hunk?"

From the edge of the room, Hunk was still unusually quiet, having removed himself from their banter. He was fully dressed and waiting by the door, hands clasped together as he stared at the floor. He didn't answer, too lost in his own troubled thoughts.

Lance's smile fell in an instant. "Hunk?"

Hunk blinked, startled, and looked up at him. "Hm?"

"You ready to go?" Lance asked again, gentler this time, not even bothering to hide his rising concern.

"Oh. Um. Yeah," Hunk mumbled without even a hint of enthusiasm in his response. "Let's go."

Lance and Coran frowned and Shiro's brow pinched with worry. But before any of them could comfort him, Hunk hurried to escape the steamy and stuffy room. All they could do was follow suit.

Iverson was waiting for them outside in the hall. He briefly glanced at Hunk as he leaned against the wall in front of the girls' shower entrance, waiting for the other half of their team to finish cleaning up.

"We still have time before the debriefing," Iverson said, turning to Shiro. Then he hesitated, his expression softening with something akin to pity. "Shiro, there's…something I need to speak with you about. Privately."

It wasn't an order so much as it was a request. Shiro exchanged a look with Keith, and he could see the dread beginning to creep into his dark gray eyes. Whatever this was about couldn't be good, not with how apologetic the usually hard-faced Iverson was looking now. Still, Shiro didn't refuse him, and nodded.

"Sure," he slowly agreed, struggling to hide his unease. "Lead the way."

The second he and Iverson had turned the corner and were out of sight, Lance groaned. "That can't be good."

Keith couldn't argue with that. A heavy silence settled over them, the minutes ticking by. Hunk continued to frown at the floor. Lance opened and closed his mouth several times, wrestling with what to say to him. Coran pinched his mustache, eyes closed and lost in deep thought as he patiently waited for the girls. Out of habit, Keith crossed his arms and regarded the door to the showers, waiting and waiting and waiting for them to come out so they could go to this meeting already. The sooner they could get Sendak and the Fire of Purification off of Earth, the better.

Finally, they exited, Allura, Mari, Pidge, Scarlett, and Romelle, all clean and dressed in the cadet uniforms. Lance visibly brightened as his gaze landed on the princess, his worries about Hunk forgotten for the moment.

"You guys are rocking the uniform," he complimented them.

Pidge was not impressed. "Don't lie."

"I'm not!" he promised. "I'm being a hundred percent serious."

Allura smiled at him sweetly, gratefully. "Thank you, Lance."

Mari's eyes skimmed over them before scanning the rest of the hall. "Where's Takashi?" she asked.

"Iverson had to show him something," Keith provided. "We're supposed to head to the conference room for debriefing."

She scowled. "Lovely. We get to face all the hardheads now," she drawled, placing her hands on her hips.

Keith stifled a smile, taking in how different she looked in the cadet's attire. She looked so strange wearing it, almost childish and out of place, like she'd outgrown it. Like it wasn't meant for her anymore.

He'd never seen her around on campus in the short time she had attended the Garrison. He'd never thought of seeking her out back then, too jealous and uninterested in her. But now, things were different. Sometimes he wished he had met her here. He once tried to imagine it, the two of them running into each other in the hall and realizing who the other was. She'd challenge him to a competition in the simulator. He wouldn't back down. They'd fly. He'd get nervous at how good she was for a new recruit, only for her to lose. She'd challenge him again and again, certain that she would win next time despite their difference in skill and years of practice.

She'd insist on sitting next to him in the cafeteria so he would never have to eat alone. He'd study in the lounge with her, giving her tips on her homework for the classes he had already taken. She'd help him with the research papers and practice reports they sometimes had to write. He'd show her tricks in the simulator. She'd get better at flying, becoming the best in her class. She'd be promoted to Fighter Pilot Class in no time.

She'd invite him to the roof after curfew to stargaze one night. He'd say yes. They'd point out all the constellations they could see in the sky, turning that into a competition too. He'd share how worried he was about Shiro, gone far, far away to Kerberos. She'd say she understood exactly how he felt. She'd be sure that Shiro would safely return and would continue to teach them at the Garrison. She'd remind him then that they were the next generation of pilots, and Shiro would cheer for them as he witnessed them fulfill their dreams.

Maybe she could've helped reel in his anger a lot sooner. Maybe he could've truly gotten to know her, just like he had with Shiro. Maybe they could've been friends long before their meeting in the Blue Lion's cave.

But of course, these were all only "maybes" and "what ifs." They didn't matter and would never come true, no matter how much Keith thought about it. They were here now, in the strange reality that was their current relationship situation. With him liking her much more than a friend, and her…scowling at him. He'd been staring at her too long, he realized, lost in his imagination.

"What?" she demanded.

Keith grappled for a casual reply. "Nothing," he managed. "I just…I never did see you as a cadet."

Her suspicion faded. "You didn't miss much," she admitted. "Cadet life never really suited me anyway."

Keith couldn't hide his smile now. "That makes two of us," he said, and he teasingly, knowingly, nudged her in the ribs. The corners of her lips pulled up, and she nudged him back before they followed Lance and the others down the hall.

Chapter Text

Adam was dead, much to Keith's shock.

Despite his broken relationship with Shiro, Adam had been a good man. He'd always been nice to Keith. He'd been a great teacher. And he'd never had any qualms when Keith had stolen his boyfriend for the weekend to squeeze in some extra hoverbike lessons and rounds in the simulator.

But now, he was gone. He and many other pilots had been killed by Sendak when the invasion had begun.

Keith could only imagine how Shiro was feeling. Even if their engagement had been broken off, Adam had still been family. Guilt and grief stormed in Shiro's dark eyes all throughout their debriefing, the news of his ex-fiancé's death still weighing heavily on his shoulders, even if he'd never admit it. Beneath the mask of calm bravery he forced himself to wear as they pushed forward with their plans to face Sendak, Keith could see the tired and troubled man that was hidden from sight.

To make things worse, the Garrison higher-ups were treating them like outsiders, speaking to them if they were ignorant about the state of the world and the terrifying strength of the Galra army (even though they so clearly weren't). Admiral Sanda and her colleagues were seriously considering sacrificing the lions if it meant Sendak would leave Earth (even though it so clearly wouldn't), and that had sparked a fresh round of indignation from Allura.

First Hunk and his missing family, then Shiro and his deceased ex, and now the rising tensions between Team Voltron and the Garrison leaders…Sendak was already dealing mental and emotional blows to their team, threatening to shake them up and break them apart before even a day had passed since they arrived on Earth.

Patience yields focus, Keith had to remind himself. Don't lose hope. Sendak would get what was coming to him, he promised himself that much. They just had to focus on one thing at a time.

Finally, when their meeting was over and they had reached a plan of action – Pidge and Allura would search Sendak's memories from the Castle to see if they could figure out what he was planning, and Shiro, Scarlett, and Coran would see what they could do about the MFEs and the Atlas' power situation – everyone was dismissed. And the first problem Keith decided to tackle in their bout of free time before their next round of discussion was finding and talking to Hunk.

He wandered the halls in search of the big guy, who had quickly made himself scarce after the debriefing. He passed by plenty of rigid officers and doey-eyed cadets, but there was no sign of the Yellow Paladin. Then, just as he was hurrying by an out-of-the-way storage room, he heard Hunk's irritated grunt from inside. Keith pulled to a stop and paused in the doorway to see him with oil splashed on his face from the machine he'd been fiddling with on the table.

"Is everything okay in here?" he asked.

Hunk glanced at him, his usually kind and bright eyes now full of frustration and gloom. "Yeah," he groaned. He turned his back to him, wiping the black liquid from his face and indicating he was not in the mood for a conversation.

But Keith stood his ground. He wouldn't be shaken off that easily. Still, he'd hardly ever been on the opposite end of these sorts of situations, where he had to broach the touchy subject of talking about feelings, and then provide comfort. It made his skin prickle as awkwardness took hold, and he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the door frame, steadying himself and bracing for the uncomfortableness that was to come.

"Look, I'm not really good at talking with people," he began, slowly and unsurely. "And I don't expect you to open up to me, but…if there's ever anything on your – "

"This situation stinks!" Hunk snapped, cutting him off as he slammed his fists against the table. "I-I can't believe we finally get back to Earth and it's taken over by Galra."

He looked back at Keith, a helpless fury burning in his gaze. Keith blinked at him, surprised by the rare and straightforward expression of anger from the usually mellow gentle giant who was Hunk Garrett. At least he was still being honest, as always. It would make their conversation much easier.

Keith lowered his arms. "I guess there is something on your mind," he said, venturing deeper into the room to stand by Hunk's side.

"I-I know it's stupid, but I used to daydream about coming home to a peaceful Earth. And that would've been great," Hunt continued, stammering as he vented and put it all out there for Keith to hear. "But I realized that nothing – nothing would been greater than seeing my family. But I can't. And all I keep thinking about is that I wasn't there for them. And I don't even know if they're okay. And I-I see Pidge and Lance and Shiro and Mari with their families, and I-I mean, I'm happy for them. I am. But it just…it makes me miss my family more. I-I just…I've never felt so alone and scared."

Hunk let out a shaky breath, biting his lower lip as his eyes shimmered with unshed tears. Keith was left to mull over his words, his heart aching. The loneliness, the guilt of betrayal and abandonment, the fear of never getting to see your most important people, your family, ever again…He understood it all. He knew exactly how Hunk was feeling. And he wouldn't let him be eaten away by guilt and swallowed by despair, not when any of this had been his fault. Not when that was the last thing he deserved.

"Look, Hunk. I never told you this, but of all the paladins, you're the one I'm most impressed by," he said, honest and gentle as he spoke. Even as Hunk looked at him, doubtful, Keith pressed onward, really and truly meaning every word. "It's no secret that you've been the most scared, but you've never backed down. Never. And to be brave is to go on in spite of fear. And that's who you are, Hunk. I know you're scared, but your family…they need you to be strong right now."

Hunk stared at him in stunned silence, eyes wide as he absorbed the truth. His gaze dropped to the floor, and Keith could see a newfound resolve spark and burn brighter and brighter behind his eyes. He was relieved to see it – the courageous and loving Hunk he knew and trusted with his whole heart was coming back to him. Maybe this talking-about-feelings stuff wasn't too bad after all.

Hunk lifted his head, his smile wide. Then without warning, he wrapped Keith in a tight hug that squeezed the air out of his lungs and nearly lifted him off his feet. It sent a shock through his system, his skin prickling again and his body whimpering in protest. Clearly, physical touch was still something he had yet to get used to. But he made no move to shove Hunk away, especially not when this was his way of expressing affection and gratitude.

"Okay. All right," he wheezed, forcing himself to just let it happen. He smiled helplessly in Hunk's iron hold, tentatively returning the embrace. "Now we're hugging."

"Thank you, Keith," Hunk said, a renewed happiness in his voice.

Keith nodded as best he could. They stood there like that a couple seconds more before Hunk set him down on the floor and pulled back. Then without another word, he raced for the door.

Keith scrambled to stop him, confused by his sudden urgency to leave. "Where are you going?" he called after him.

Hunk paused in the doorway. "I'm going to get my family."

His expression was set with an unwavering determination, practically screaming, "Don't try to stop me!" Keith smiled again. Like he'd even think of doing that.

"Not without me," he said, and he followed Hunk, the two of them walking side by side down the hall.

"Curfew starts in three hours," Hunk said, quickly going over his makeshift plan as they swiftly navigated the Garrison facility. "We'll take a car, search my house and my sister's place and maybe the city if no one's home, get them, and come back before anyone ever notices we're gone."

Keith grimaced. He hoped it would be that easy. But things never were for the Paladins of Voltron, now were they? There were a lot of potential dangers and holes in Hunk's plan, especially in the event they couldn't find his family at their houses. But it was a starting point. And Keith couldn't come up with any better course of action.

"We'll need our armor and bayards," he pointed out. Their plan may be vague, but at least they'd have their weapons and protection and a way to communicate with the others if things started getting hairy.

"I know where the decontamination room is," Hunk said, picking up speed. "Come on!"

He led Keith to an empty hallway in the main building. He marched right up to one locked door in particular and crouched down to inspect the keypad. Then he promptly pried the panel off, exposing the wires keeping it attached to the wall. He began to fiddle with them, creating little sparks as he hacked their way in.

Keith stood watch over him, looking up and down the halls in case a cadet, or worse, an officer, rounded the corner. But this area of the Garrison was, thankfully, quiet at this hour. Until two familiar sets of steps sounded to his right, growing louder by the second. He almost let out a sigh of relief knowing it was just Kosmo and Mari.

She did not look pleased though as they came into view. Her eyes widened at the sight of them in the midst of breaking into the room, and she made a beeline for them, frantic.

"What are you two doing?" she hissed.

"We're getting our armor," Keith said simply, and he pet Kosmo as he rubbed against his leg in hello. "We're going out."

"Going out where?" she pressed.

"I'm getting my family. I don't care what Mister Holt says, I need to find them now," Hunk piped up. He paused, casting her a pained look. "Don't try to stop us."

The tension in her shoulders faded, visibly relaxing at his response. "I won't," she promised him. "Go get your family, Hunk."

Hunk smiled. "Thank you, Mari." Then, the keypad chimed and the door slid open. "I've got it!"

He barreled into the room and Keith hurried to follow him. There were a couple minutes left on the sterilization chamber's timer, but that didn't stop Hunk from unlocking and opening it, making it cheep in warning that the cleaning process hadn't been completed. Mari and Kosmo lingered in the doorway as they shed their cadet uniforms in favor of their paladin suits, and when they were dressed, she stepped aside for them to leave.

"I'll cover for you if anyone asks where you went," she said, glancing at Hunk as he fixed the keypad to proper working order.

God, Keith loved her. "Thanks," he said, and she rewarded him with a small smile. "We'll be back before curfew."

"What are you doing?"

Even Keith jumped as (ugh) Aaren rounded the corner, catching them just as the door slid shut. He'd ditched his hazmat helmet, revealing the full extent of his tousled hair and angry eyes. He looked like he was on the verge of strangling the water pouch in his hand as he marched up to them.

"The sterilization process isn't finished yet!" he snapped, and Hunk rose to his full height to face him.

"We didn't bring back any space germs, man," he said, his tone friendly but firm. "The machine was almost done anyway. The timer had, like, two minutes left on it."

Aaren's scowl didn't even waver. "I'm not taking any chances. You guys aren't even supposed to be leaving the premises." Then facing Keith he growled, "Just because you're Voltron doesn't mean you can do whatever you want here. I'll report you."

Keith clenched his jaw, his own irritation flaring. This little…Would it be wrong for him to punch a medic? Maybe. Probably. It'd give Aaren even more of a reason to run crying to Iverson about his and Hunk's unpermitted escape from campus. Maybe he could just scare him into submission. Keith was bigger, stronger, and, frankly, physically more threatening than him. Even if Aaren wanted to start a fight, he had to know he would lose, right?

Keith put on his nastiest glare and took a step forward, staring down at Aaren. He had to give him credit when he didn't even flinch. His hands were curled into fists at his side, ready to defend himself in case Keith tried anything. But before the tension could rise any higher, Mari stepped in.

"Okay, that's enough," she intervened, her voice sharp and commanding and making even Keith go rigid. "You two, get outta here and go," she said, looking at him and Hunk and jerking a thumb down the hall. Then glaring at Aaren, she added, "And you, you aren't going to report them. You're going to stay here and keep your lips zipped."

Keith exchanged a worried glance with Hunk, neither of them wanting to leave her with him. But after one look at her narrowed eyes, brilliant with their fiery and protective fury, they knew she'd be okay. Besides, Kosmo would be with her to keep Aaren in check. They'd handle things here.

So, without another word, they ran down the hall towards the vehicle hangar.

As they'd hoped, the hangar where the Garrison kept their vehicles was empty as the evening hours approached. It made sneaking inside all the easier, and they hurried to snag a car close to the exit. But before they could even think about opening the doors and hopping in, the headlights of the truck behind them flicked on, illuminating them in a stark white light.

Keith whirled to face the cadet or officer who had discovered them, only to swallow a groan. It was James, leaning casually atop one of the wheels, and Veronica McClain, Lance's older sister and one of the Garrison's top analysis officers.

Damn it. Of all people to find them, why'd it have to be these two ?

"You two heading somewhere?" James asked, and there was no missing the hint of accusing and overbearing authority in his tone.

Hunk hesitated, frozen in the spotlight as the hope threatened to drain from his heart now that they were caught. But Keith wouldn't let him give up that easily. He stepped forward, his eyes narrowing dangerously at James.

"This doesn't concern either of you," he stated lowly, warning them to back off. Even if they were allies, they didn't give him orders. This was purely paladin business. It didn't involve two Garrison personnel who had refused to rescue just one more innocent family at Hunk's request.

If Veronica was fazed by his hostility, she didn't show it. "No, but you'll probably be concerned with the patrol drones that will spot you within seconds," she said with a shrug, a small and friendly smile tugging up the corners of her lips.

James hopped down from the wheel and leaned back against it, arms crossed. "And you might be concerned with the blast from Sendak's automated low-orbit, long-range blaster satellite that takes you out," he added, matter-of-fact.

God, Keith wanted to punch him.

Hunk looked just as irritated. He frowned, the warmth gone from his eyes. "What's your problem?" he demanded.

"My problem is I don't wanna see our only hope for saving Earth get hurt," James fired back. Then with a smirk, he continued, "That's why we're coming with you."

Keith stared at him, unsure if he'd heard him correctly. Hunk blinked in surprise, opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water.

"You – W-Wait, what?" he stammered, dumbfounded as Veronica scaled the wheel and opened their truck.

"You heard us. We're coming with you!" she said, hopping into the driver's seat. "Now, come on, get in! I've already got clearance to go."

Hunk hesitated, before climbing in next to her, forcing Keith to take the back with James. Neither of them said anything, opting to glare out the windows so they wouldn't have to look at each other.

"Veronica, you don't have to do this," Hunk began, a new worry creasing his brow. Nevertheless, he buckled himself in as she started the car.

"Yes, I do, actually," she said, pulling them out of the hangar and bringing them through campus towards the particle barrier gate. "Hunk, we grew up together. You, your sister, and your parents are practically family. Besides, Lance would never let me hear the end of it if I just let his best friend walk out into danger. Do you really think I'd let you go alone?"

"But – but, but, I don't want to see you get hurt," Hunk fumbled for a reason to get her to back out.

James snorted. "If anyone was gonna get hurt, it would've been you two," he claimed, and Keith scowled at him. "You don't know the extent of what's out there. Do you even know where to start looking for your family?"

"Yeah. Kinda…Maybe," Hunk mumbled, deflating with each word, his confidence wavering.

Veronica cast him a sympathetic look. "I've already checked your house, Hunk. There was no one there," she gently informed him. "We haven't found them living amongst our resistance allies in the city, either. If we knew where they were and could get to them, we would've brought them here by now."

"Then – Then where are they?" he asked, his distress from earlier returning. His face paled and his eyes widened as he squeaked, "Th-They're not…dead, are they?"

"You gotta have faith that they're alive, Hunk," Keith piped up, placing a reassuring and grounding hand on his shoulder before he could start spiraling. "Don't give up on them."

"He's right," Veronica tried to encourage him. She paused, throwing a knowing wave to the gate guards before they zipped through the tunnel and exited into the open and unprotected desert. "Most of the people in the city were rounded up at the start of the invasion. There's only one place I can think of where they'd be, and that's where we're headed."

Hunk didn't respond. He chewed on his lower lip until he forced himself to take several deep and steadying breaths. Again, Keith's heart hurt for the poor guy. He hated seeing Hunk like this, so sad and scared. He didn't deserve any of this pain. He deserved to be reunited with his family. Keith hoped wherever Veronica was taking them, they'd find them alive and together, ready to return home to their son.

Veronica took them to the ruins of Plaht City, stowing their car amongst the rubble of a parking garage before she and James led them down a series of back alleys. They climbed to the rooftop of an empty storefront, laying low as they monitored the patrolling sentries in the streets below.

"There's a gap in their patrol schedule in two minutes," Veronica murmured, double-checking the time on her helmet visor. "Griffin, cover me while I send out the signal."

"Copy that," he affirmed, his rifle trained on the ground and ready to go. Then she retreated back down the steps, disappearing from sight.

Using a set of binoculars from the truck, Hunk watched as she inched along the street, ducking behind rubble and cars when sentries passed.

"What's the signal for?" he whispered.

"Veronica's been keeping in contact with members of Earth's resistance group. They're the Garrison's eyes and ears out here," James explained. "If anyone knows where your family is, they will."

Keith was silent, his eyes trailing after her. He and Hunk had no clue about Earth's rebels, nor the patrol patterns of the sentries in the city. Maybe it wasn't so bad that Veronica and James had come along with them. They had certainly saved them a lot of time from checking Hunk's house and wandering aimlessly around the ruins.

Hurrying out from one of her hiding spots, Veronica approached the doors of an abandoned shop. With a piece of chalk, she drew a triangle above the handle and threw them a victorious beam before making her way back towards their hiding spot.

"She did it," James said, letting out a small huff of relief. "The signal's sent."

"Okay, now what?" Hunk wondered.

James lowered his rifle as she ducked out of his viewfinder. "Now we wait."

Stealing down the stairs, they met with Veronica on the ground floor. She pulled up a map of the area on her screens, highlighting a section of road a couple blocks away.

"The rendezvous point is here," she informed them, the dot sitting in the middle of the street blinking soundlessly. "We need to take the sewer tunnels and wait out of sight."

Hunk grimaced at the sound of that, but he made no complaints. They followed her to a nearby manhole, lifting the cover and dropping down into the tunnels below. She led the way down the twisting and turning paths until they reached another manhole exit. She and James scaled the ladder rungs, but didn't remove the grate overhead. They kept watch for their rebel informant as sentries milled by, leaving Keith and Hunk on standby beneath them. Several agonizingly long minutes passed before a flashlight shone down through the grate. A human man stood over them, his brow furrowed with a worried urgency.

"Come with me, quickly," he hissed.

Veronica and James didn't waste a second removing the grate. They all climbed out of the sewers and hurried after the man as he led them to the safety of a nearby apartment complex. He brought them up to a dingy room at the very top and turned on the lights. They weakly flickered on, revealing a wall covered in charts, maps, and notes. Guns were set out of the way beneath them, and a makeshift bed sat in the corner. A table in the very center was strewn with even more maps, stacks of notes, journals, coffee mugs, and a computer. The whole scene reminded Keith very much of his own research mess in his shack, only this place was a lot more frugal and wartime bunker-like.

"Amazing," the rebel said, drawing his and Hunk's attention away from the setup. The corners of his lips had turned up as his eyes raked over their paladin armor. "The rumors are true. Word of the paladins' return has inspired the resistance."

"Thank you for your help," Hunk said, trying for a smile. "Tell the resistance we're gonna get rid of the Galra."

The rebel nodded. "Words we've waited a long time to hear."

Veronica peered out the window. "Is this where they've taken all the prisoners?" she asked, prompting them to join her at the sill.

Just outside the city, a massive Galra structure was being constructed. A giant pit had been dug nearby, and heavy machinery was only working to make it deeper and wider. A few smaller, walled-in facilities had been built right next to it, overseeing the project.

Keith's stomach knotted with dread. "What are they doing down there?"

"They have work camps operating day and night mining ore for Sendak. It's been nonstop for months," the rebel replied grimly, disgust dripping from his words. "He's building something, but no one is sure what."

"I thought the labor force was outside the encampment," Veronica frowned.

"They were, but they've been moved in," the rebel reported.

Hunk glanced between him and Veronica, frantic. "What does that mean?"

"It means…we can't get you to your parents," Veronica admitted, her gaze pooling with remorse.

"No…No," Hunk croaked. His face twisted with desperation, angry and heartbroken and too upset for words. His shoulders hunched, his body threatening to quiver. "Please."

"Believe me, if there was a way, we would do it," Veronica promised, but she was just as helpless and troubled as him. She'd done all she could. There was nothing they could do now to help his family until Sendak was defeated. Keith knew this. And Hunk, reluctantly, had to accept this too.

He sagged, his eyes bright with unshed tears. "Can I at least see them from here?" he asked.

Keith wordlessly brought the binoculars to his face. He adjusted the zoom and focus and zeroed in on the walled-in buildings in the camp below, squinting as the images came into view.

"I see movement," he reported, following the shuffling lines of people as they were herded out into the night. "It looks like the workers are exiting."

He handed the binoculars to Hunk then, allowing him to see. He was quiet for a long moment, watching the activity below and searching for a familiar face. Then he gasped, quiet but shaken.

"That's them," he whispered, sounding unbearably small and thin. "My mom, my dad…Uncle Filo…They even have my sister and her kids…" His voice trailed off, horrified by it all. He forced himself to take a breath, steeling himself. "Don't worry. You just need to hang on a little longer. We're gonna get you out," he murmured. "I'm going to get you out."

When he pulled the binoculars away, Keith could see the tears running freely down his cheeks. His jaw was set and his brow had furrowed with a righteous fury and an unshakable resolve. Sendak had hit Hunk where it hurt the most. He'd attacked their home and the people most important to him. And that had been a huge mistake. Hunk was unstoppable when he made up his mind, and he was more determined than ever now to bring down the Galra warlord. Keith was glad he wasn't on the other side of that unyielding force. He was glad he'd be fighting right alongside it.

Sendak would be sorry he made the mistake of invading Earth. Keith would make sure of it.

They arrived back at the Garrison half an hour before curfew. It would give them plenty of time to find their team and report on their findings with their individual tasks.

Once Veronica parked them in the hangar and they disembarked, she and Hunk hurried to find Shiro and Lance. James was left to make sure the technicians started the process of recharging the car they had used, and Keith lingered by the door, waiting for him. James lifted a brow as he approached, but said nothing. He stopped and stood in front of Keith, waiting for him to start whatever this was.

Keith grimaced through the awkwardness clawing at his chest. James could've easily reported their attempt to sneak off campus. He could've gotten them in a hell of a lot of trouble, painting Voltron in a bad light to the higher-ups. He could've made them look like a bunch of stupid, reckless, and disobedient troublemakers who couldn't really be trusted with saving the world.

But he hadn't. Instead, he'd chosen to help them. Protect them. He'd shoved all of their past differences aside and had shown them kindness by lending a hand. Maybe he was just trying to be a good ally. Or maybe he just felt bad for Hunk after he'd snapped at the poor guy during the debriefing. Either way, he had indulged one ally's personal concern and had been willing to risk their bigger mission as a whole to do it. And it had brought Hunk so much comfort learning his family was alive, even if they were still out of reach. As much as Keith was still wary towards James, he felt he needed to say something to clear the air between them.

"Thank you," he said finally, firm and formal but honest. "For helping us."

James shrugged, as if it were nothing. "It's the least I could do," he said, almost nonchalantly. "We're all in this together, right?"

Then, to Keith's surprise, he held out his hand. He searched James' face for the lie, for the barb of reluctance or insincerity, but he couldn't find one. James simply stared back at him, waiting, his form relaxed and casual and open.

Maybe he really had grown up from the jealous, goodie-two shoes brat that had bullied him. Maybe time and maturity had changed him, just as they had changed Keith.

Keith felt the corners of his lips tug up as he relented. "Right," he agreed, and he took James' hand.

A smile graced James' features. "It's good to see you've changed," he mused. "The leader of the universe's mighty hero…You finally got your act together, Kogane."

Keith smirked, stifling the urge to squeeze his hand harder. "It's good to see you've changed too," he noted. "A top fighter pilot who sneaks out with an unruly drop-out…You finally learned to bend the rules, Griffin."

"Oh, yeah?" James hummed. "Well, I learned from the best troublemaker the Garrison's ever seen."

Keith rolled his eyes, but didn't argue with him as their hands separated. They headed out of the hangar and walked down the hall in silence until they came to a split in the path. It was time for them to go their separate ways for the night.

"Hey, Keith?" James stopped him before he could get too far.

Keith paused in his trek, turning back to face him. "Yeah?"

James' grin had faded and had been replaced with a truthful seriousness. "I'm sorry for everything I did back then. I was a jerk. I shouldn't have treated you like that."

Keith blinked at him, struck with a fresh round of surprise. First Iverson's apology and now James'? Was today his birthday? Had he entered an alternate reality when he hadn't been looking? …Nope. This reality's James was actually apologizing. To him. Right here and right now.

"Thanks," Keith said, a happy sort of warmth blooming inside of him. He managed another smile, adding, "I'm sorry for kicking your ass so many times, too."

"Thanks," James chuckled.

Despite the little jab, he looked relieved nevertheless, like a great weight had been taken off his shoulders. Keith's own chest felt lighter, the dark cloud of tension and turmoil that had been hovering between them for years finally dissolving. Their paths and attitudes in life had changed. They'd both grown up from the arrogant kids they had once been. They could finally get along now. Maybe not as friends, but at least as comrades. And Keith was more than okay with that.

Chapter Text

Shiro had been fitted with his new arm. Pidge and Allura had figured out Sendak's strategy for controlling Earth. And after an infiltration mission into the Galra base near Plaht City, they'd determined Sendak was building six Zaiforge cannons to complete his takeover of the planet. They'd decided the paladins would call their lions from where they'd left them on Saturn's moon, and with the help of the MFEs, they'd take down each base before the cannons could launch. Once those were out of commission, Voltron would finish off the rest of the Fire of Purification.

Thus, the plan to defeat Sendak was underway.

Keith was nervous. There was a lot riding on their shoulders. But he was positive they could do this. The lions had saved them when they'd gotten stranded in space on their journey home. Their connection with them was stronger than ever now. The Voltron lions would come to Earth for their paladins.

The morning of the assault, Keith, Pidge, Hunk, Allura, and the MFE pilots gathered in the hangars, bidding their farewells before launch. Aboveground, waiting to drive off towards Base One, Lance and Veronica were no doubt being smothered by hugs and kisses from their family. Keith scratched Kosmo behind his ears, giving him his final pets before he left.

"You ready?" Shiro asked, drawing his attention away from the cosmic canine.

Keith mustered a small smile. "Yes, sir."

The corners of Shiro's mouth quirked up, glad to hear it, but beneath the fondness shining in his eyes, there was no missing the endless worry that lingered beneath. He placed a firm hand on Keith's shoulder, squeezing it gently.

"You've come a long way," he reflected. His voice was thick with emotion, his mask of controlled leader inching down. "I'm proud of you, Keith. More than I think I can ever express through words."

Keith's heart swelled. Shiro was always so kind. So patient. So encouraging and calming, even during anxious times before battle. He really did love him. He would always be his brother.

"Thank you, Shiro," Keith managed, his throat threatening to close. "For everything."

He held out a hand to Shiro, who warmly clasped it and drew him into a comfortable hug. They stood like that for a moment, just enjoying each other's presence, until they both drew back, grinning.

"Good luck. Be safe," Shiro ordered. "And please be careful."

Keith nodded, determined to keep that promise. "I will."

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Mari wrapping up her goodbye with Hunk. His heart involuntarily skipped a beat as she approached them, and his hand fell to Kosmo's head once more, easing his nerves as he petted his fluffy fur. Shiro smiled at his sister and then at Keith as she came to a stop amongst their group. He patted Keith on the shoulder again before addressing Mari.

"I'll be in the control room," he said, already inching towards the elevator doors. "Meet us there when you're done."

She nodded and Shiro was off. She watched as Keith lovingly stroked the cosmic wolf, both of them unsure of what to say.

Finally, Keith broke the silence. "Take care of him while I'm gone?"

"Of course." She paused. "Good luck. Lead Voltron to victory."

"Thanks."

He granted her a tiny smile, hoping it would quell the restless concern he could practically see radiating off of her, but it did nothing to lift the frown on her face. This was a major battle they were heading into, after all. And the last time Voltron had had one of those, they'd been without her and had vanished on her for three years. As much as it made his heart ache, her apprehensiveness was understandable. Still…he wanted to help make her feel better. He wouldn't be leaving her again, no matter what.

"I promise we won't disappear on you again," Keith said, the words tumbling out before he could stop them.

Mari scowled. "Don't make promises you might not be able to keep," she replied coolly, and it was like a punch to the gut.

Keith swallowed thickly, unnerved by that implication. But he pressed forward, refusing to let her or himself start despairing just by thinking of the worst-case scenarios.

"I mean it. We're all gonna come out of this alive," he insisted. "Together."

She didn't respond. She just crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him, unable to believe him. But she still stood there, waiting for him to convince her otherwise.

I like you.

Keith was very much aware of the ring on his finger, hidden beneath his glove. He was very much aware of its twin still sitting in his belt pouch, heavy with the weight of his feelings and waiting for him to reveal it to its owner. To make a new promise with her. To confess to her. To keep her hope alive so he wouldn't lose her ever again. Whatever it was, he had to do something. It was now or never.

Keith took a deep and steadying breath. After months and months of mulling it over, he was finally taking the first step.

"I thought about it a lot since I left the team," he began, speaking almost hesitantly as he struggled to reel in his racing heart and mind. "What you mean to me, and how I feel about you. And I think I'm ready to give you an answer."

Mari stiffened, her eyes going wide. She pressed her mouth into a thin line and her cheeks colored with pink, but whether it was with anger or embarrassment, he didn't know. All he knew was that he'd taken her off guard and she wasn't happy about it. She shook her head, the denial on her lips.

"Keith…I…"

Keith didn't let her finish. He refused to. He didn't want to hear a denial, especially if she was only rejecting him out of fear to protect herself. Especially if she didn't truly mean it with all her heart.

"It doesn't have to be now. It can be after we take down Sendak," he rushed to intervene, adamant on saving this. He reached into his belt pouch, fishing for the ring. "I promise I won't die, as long as you promise to hear me out after this."

His fingers wrapped around the cord and he pulled it out, ring and all. He held it out to her, and she blinked at it in surprise, gaping as a flurry of emotions flickered across her faces in mere seconds. Recognition, confusion, panic, and…relief. She was glad to see it. Her gift from Ellosh hadn't been lost.

"Where – How did you get that?" she finally squeaked.

"We found it on Vurelle," he said, already slipping off his glove and showing her his own matching band. "I couldn't find the right time to return it until now."

That triggered a whole new round of fleeting feelings. Realization. Fear. Hope. Determination. They all shone in her eyes, the fire caught beneath their glassy surfaces burning brighter and desperately trying to break free.

Mari regarded the ring for a moment longer. Then she hesitantly took it. "Okay," she relented, quiet but sure, and Keith watched as she removed it from the cord and slid it on. "It's a promise then."

Aligning with their quintessence signatures, the two rings began to glow a soft and steady blue. Keith's heart instantly lifted. He'd missed the familiar sight of it, this reminder of her thrumming life. He smiled, soaking it in for as long as he dared before putting his glove on and hiding it from sight.

"God, just kiss already," James muttered behind him, sounding impatient if not a tad amused.

"You're just jelly you don't have a partner yet," Rizavi chirped from the pilot's seat of her MFE, and Pidge grinned as she hopped in behind her.

Keith scowled, pulled out of their private moment. He'd almost forgotten there were other people here, watching them. He took another breath, steadying himself for the mission ahead. It was time to focus. Time to say goodbye for now.

He held out a hand to Mari for a handshake, only to hesitate and lower it. She was still wary towards him, if her hunched and guarded stance was any indication. She was still scared of them leaving her again. And now, here he was, trying to say goodbye with a silly handshake. Much too formal and awkward considering the weird in-between status of their relationship.

He was so lame. Forget the handshake, he'd just say a quick verbal farewell and hop in James' MFE. Then they'd fly off and he could forget all about –

Suddenly, she closed the distance between them, startling Keith's thoughts into silence as she wrapped her arms around him. For a moment, he was sure he stopped breathing, trying to process such intimate closeness with her. Then his arms seemed to move on their own, returning the embrace and hugging her tighter. He was desperate to hold her closer, deeper, if that were even possible, but he restrained himself for fear of breaking her.

"I'll see you later," she whispered into his shoulder. She sounded so small, so unusually vulnerable. She was terrified for him, for the others, more than she would ever admit out loud. "Stay safe."

Keith hummed in affirmation, relishing her warmth and presence in his arms. She was finally within his reach, and he had no intention of letting her go. He wouldn't lose this. He wouldn't lose any of his family. Sendak was as good as a deadman.

"See you later," he murmured, more sure of it than anything else. "I promise."

Admiral Sanda had betrayed them. Then she died a hero in Keith's arms, shot trying to free him and the paladins from Sendak's brig. She'd protected them from being killed before they could escape. Hope wasn't lost just yet, thanks to her sacrifice.

The Atlas was up and running. The lions were back in the fight. They were destroying the Zaiforge cannons one-by-one, with the Atlas blocking the combined deadly beam before it could destroy Earth. Thankfully, Shiro and Mari had taken out one by sneaking onto Sendak's command ship, permitting Sam to hack the systems and shut it down remotely. But now, the cruiser was listing towards Earth, its crystal destroyed. And Shiro and Mari were still stuck on board.

The lions were doing what they could, their backs pressed up against the underside of the cruiser to guide and slow its descent. Keith grit his teeth, straining against the weight of an entire battleship. A storm of priorities flooded his consciousness: Don't let it crash into the city. Don't let two of the most important people in his life die like this. Don't let them go out in a horrible burst of scorching orange flames, just like his dad had. Just a little more…Just a little more, and…Now!

He cranked on Black's controls, pulling away at the last possible second and prompting the others to do the same. They zipped out of range just as the cruiser drove into the ground, bow first, ripping up the rock. Then it tilted and slid on its side, sending up thick clouds of dirt that blocked their view.

"Come on, come on…" Keith searched for any sign of Shiro and Mari, his eyes frantically darting back and forth along the wall of dust hindering his sight. He growled in frustration, impatient for it to settle. "Where are they?"

The Black Lion's displays chimed, picking up on three biorhythms hidden beneath the mess of clouds. Two were right next to each other, unmoving. The third was marching towards them.

Sendak.

It had to be him. He was still alive. Even to the very end, he was intent on finishing them off…

But not if Keith had any say in it.

His eyes stinging and his rage boiling, he surged forward, cutting straight through the dust clouds and clearing the skies in a great blast of wind. He could see them now, Mari kneeling on the ground with Shiro in her arms, both covered in dirt and bruises and looking on the verge of passing out. And Sendak, his prosthetic arm glowing, was looming over them, ready to finish them off. They all had turned to gawk at the Black Lion's abrupt arrival, and Keith leapt from his seat, not wasting a moment. Black opened its jaws and he jumped, bayard blade raised in his hand as he soared right towards the shocked and injured Galra warlord.

Sendak had no time to react. With a furious grunt, Keith unleashed all his hatred for him as he sliced into his throat, slashing it open as easily as cutting butter. He nimbly rolled along the ground to cushion his fall, bringing himself to a smooth halt. Behind him, he could hear Sendak gurgle and choke on his own blood. There was a heavy THUNK. Then there was definitive silence. Keith stood, and when he turned around, Sendak laid face-first on the ground, his blood soaking into the soil. Finally, the ruthless and cruel monster that had caused them all so much pain and loss ever since their meeting on Arus was gone for good.

Keith wished saving Earth had ended there.

But nothing was ever simple for the Paladins of Voltron. And no sooner was Sendak defeated did a new threat crash into the planet.

It was a komar-like robeast, no doubt sent by Haggar. It fought Voltron and the transformed Atlas with terrifying grace and skill. It mercilessly sucked them dry of quintessence several times, leaving them on the brink of exhaustion. But still, they fought. They didn't give up. Because that's what a paladin does.

Finally, they stopped it. Or they thought they did. It was put out of commission, but…

"What is that?" Lance asked, the alarms in their lions going off in unison in urgent warning.

"Surge indicators…coming from that thing," Pidge said, turning Green to face the fallen robeast.

"I thought it was down."

"It is," Hunk stated slowly. "...Oh, no."

"What?" Lance pressed.

"It's powering up," he realized. "It must have some kind of self-destruct mechanism."

"According to my readings, the blast radius alone will envelope half of the Earth," Pidge reported, unable to hide the horror in her voice.

Keith's heart dropped into his stomach. Destruction on that level…all the deaths it would cause…Earth wouldn't survive that. The human race wouldn't survive that.

Always help those in need, no matter how small or large their problems.

No, they wouldn't let that happen. This was just another deadly obstacle presented to them in their path to victory. They could take care of this, just like they always had with their problems. They would get through this, all of them, no matter what.

"Then we need to get it out of here," he instructed his team.

No one argued with him. Together, they wedged the lions beneath the robeast, lifting it off the ground and taking it to the skies. The thing was incredibly heavy, and after such a draining battle, the lions were struggling to hold it up. But none of them stopped. They kept going, climbing higher and higher into the atmosphere. The timer on their displays was ticking down until the beast's destruction. By the time they carried it a safe enough distance into space, it would explode. They wouldn't have time to escape the blast radius.

Keith swallowed, his mouth going dry at the realization. The lions were strong, but…could they withstand an explosion that could obliterate half a planet? He could feel the others' worry in his mind, their fear and heartache at the thought that this would be their last battle. Keith himself was terrified. Terrified of breaking his promises. Terrified of the inevitable explosion that was only a few minutes away from engulfing them. Terrified of the unknown. Terrified of the darkness that would consume them.

Always consider the lives of your teammates and civilians before your own.

He inhaled and exhaled, vainly trying to calm his own spiraling thoughts and trembling soul. He had to stay brave, at least for the others' sake. He had to stay positive for them. He wouldn't let them go out sad and regretful. The universe still needed Voltron. They wouldn't die here. He wouldn't let them give up hope.

"It's been an honor to fly with you all," he said, infusing every last bit of his strength into his final rallying words. "Now, everyone, give it everything you've got!"
A spark of determination ignited in their hearts. The lions' thrusters surged, giving them an extra boost into the sky. They were picking up speed, shaving seconds off the clock.

Always keep your guard up.

Black's dash crackled with static, a comm line opening up. "Paladins, are you there?"

It was Mari. Keith's eyes stung at the sound of her voice, her panic barely kept below the surface.

"We're here," he answered her. "What's the status of the Atlas?"

"Everyone's fine. We've just lost power. What's going on?"

Keith let out a shaky sigh. "The robeast is about to self-destruct. We're getting it away from Earth before it can take out half the planet."

"But what about you guys?"

No. No, he didn't want to tell her. He wasn't ready for her reaction. He didn't want to make her sad.

"We won't be able to escape the blast radius in time," he admitted, thin and quiet.

The lions breached the clouds. The ground disappeared from sight, but Keith could still hear her panicked breaths loud and clear over his speakers.

"No…No, no, you can't do this to me again," she whispered, her voice breaking. She choked on a sob, and Keith's grip tightened on his controls. "Don't leave me alone again. You promised you wouldn't…"

They were entering space now, leaving the Earth behind. They pushed the robeast further and further, straining as it began to burn up leaving the planet's gravitational pull.

"I'm keeping our promise," he murmured. He could practically see the tears dripping down her cheeks now, flushed in a mixture of anger and grief. "I won't break my word."

"You can't control that anymore," she fired back through her gasps. "How am I expected to trust you now?"

They released the robeast, letting it float away until it became a speck in the distance. Keith sat back in his seat, arms trembling. He was so tired. But they had done it. And now, he could do nothing but smile sadly at the darkness of space filling his vision.

"Because I still need to confess to you," he finally admitted. "And I'm not missing that for anything."

He could hear Mari's breath catch in her throat, but he didn't have the energy to laugh. He wished he could see her face right now. Those startlingly bright eyes that rivaled the brilliance of stars, burning with a fiery disbelief and a warm joy that was meant just for him.

Always be prepared for anything.

Only a few seconds remained. This was it.

"I'll see you soon," he whispered, bracing himself for impact. "Remember to catch us when we fall."

He turned off the comms, not wanting her to hear what was to come next.

In a blinding burst of gold, orange, and white, the robeast blew with a deafening BOOM. The scorching light and hungry flames and thundering blast swallowed them in an instant, but none of it reached Earth.

Keith could feel himself slipping away, his body jostled violently as it was lit aflame. His head was numb with an indescribable pain. His scream was lost in his throat, his body threatening to break. Something shattered, the fragile sound grating in his ears and rattling him down to his very bones.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if this ended up killing him, he thought vaguely. He would die amongst the stars, the one place he had yearned to be since he was a kid. He'd die in a burning burst of glory, a hero.

Just like his dad.

Black's roar echoed faintly in the back of Keith's mind as he let go. Then everything went utterly quiet and he was immersed in darkness.

Chapter Text

Keith was on the observation deck, standing before the massive window. He stared out at the stars gliding past, feeling oddly at peace. Oddly sleepy. And overall, oddly untroubled by the fact that he was somehow here again, on the Castle of Lions that had been destroyed a while ago.

…How had he gotten here again?

His memory was hazy. He could've sworn the other paladins had been here with him only a second ago. He thought he had felt their individual presences. He thought they'd been talking about something, like how confused they were at being here.

He thought Lance and Hunk had been freaking out, nervously clinging to one another. Pidge had been muttering to herself, theorizing that this place was some sort of in-between realm. Initially, Keith had tried to break them out, but the door to the room wouldn't budge no matter how much he tried to pry it open. Then Allura had suggested they just wait and rest to replenish the quintessence they'd lost during their battles with Sendak and the robeast. Besides, it wasn't like they could go anywhere anyway.

But now, Keith wasn't quite sure any of that had happened. He just couldn't remember now that he was alone and left with his own fleeting thoughts. Maybe he'd actually been by himself here this entire time. It wouldn't have been the first time. He often wandered to the observation deck when he needed some solitude to think.

Like a fish, his moment of lucid concern slipped out of his grasp. He returned to gazing out at the stars, relaxed and unbothered by whatever this place was.

"Grandpa says you can't stay here."

Keith nearly jumped out of his skin, his heart leaping into his throat. A little boy had appeared right next to him and was staring up at him with a pair of familiar dark gray eyes. It unnerved Keith how similar he looked to him as a child, down to the same grin and nose and unkempt hair. It was almost just as unnerving as he realized the kid didn't have a reflection in the glass nor a shadow cast on the floor by the dim blue lighting.

The kid beamed, taking no notice of his shock. "The others have left. Now it's your turn," he stated, matter-of-fact. "They're all waiting for you."

Keith frowned at him, his sleepiness long gone. "Who are you?"

"I'm waiting," he replied simply.

"No, I mean what's your name?"

The boy tilted his head. "Name?"

Keith sighed. "Never mind," he muttered. There was no use questioning a dreamscape ghost or creature or whatever this kid was. Maybe he should just ignore him.

But the kid refused to leave him be.

"I'm waiting," he repeated rather proudly, almost urging him to respond again.

"Waiting for what?" Keith indulged him.

The boy gave him a shy and knowing smile. "I'm not supposed to say."

"Okay…" Keith crossed his arms and drew his gaze back to the window. Kids were weird. This little guy spoke in riddles and was, admittedly, a little creepy. Hopefully he wasn't a manifestation of Keith's unconscious mind or his inner child or his soul.

The boy stared out the window with him. "Grandpa's waiting with me," he announced after a moment. "So is sis."

"Good for you guys," Keith drawled.

"Grandpa is nice," the boy continued. "He's worried about you. He says you should go home."

Home. The word struck a chord with Keith, making his heart ache. Where was home, exactly? Earth? The Garrison? Space? Or his little shack in the desert? Where should he go? What would he find there? What would happen when he left this place?

Go home, Keith.

Keith stiffened. That was his dad's voice. He whirled on his heel, searching for him, but the room was empty. Even the little boy had disappeared, leaving him alone once more.

Wake up, Keith.

His dad again. Where was his voice coming from?

Keith.

No…That was Shiro's voice this time.

Keith!

Shiro. He wanted to see him again. He wanted to see him and Mari and Krolia. He wanted to see Lance and Allura and Hunk and Pidge and Scarlett and Coran.

Keith, can you hear me?

They were waiting for him.

KEITH!

He had to go home.

The first thing that hit Keith as he was dragged back into the realm of consciousness was the blinding white light. He pried open his heavy eyelids, only to wince and blink, squinting through it and struggling to focus. Blurred shapes and colors slowly came into view: nurses dressed in scrubs, all of them swarming around him. The deafening rush in his ears faded, morphing into separate voices, all garbled and muffled until they gradually formed words and sounds that hit him all at once.

It was too loud. Too many people were here. Machines were beeping, their rhythms picking up. The nurses kept poking and prodding him, peering into his face and getting much too close for comfort. He tried to move away from their touch, but his body wouldn't listen to him. He could hardly move, numb and sore all around.

Keith panicked, the cotton starting to clear from his muddled head. He was in the hospital. He'd been hurt. Where were the others? Were they okay? And why couldn't he move? Why did it feel like his bones and muscles had been replaced with lead?

The smell of antiseptic leaked into his nostrils, making his stomach churn and his unease rise. He could hear his heart rate spike on the monitor next to him, and the nurses exchanged frowns. They softly began to encourage him to calm down, but he ignored them. He shifted, hoping to grab at the IV drip in his arm, but a gentle hand held his firm.

"Hey, buddy." Shiro's warm and welcoming face entered his field of vision, freezing him in place. His eyes were shimmering with happy tears, and his smile was full of relief as he spoke. "It's okay, you're okay. You're safe, Keith."

"What about the others?" Keith tried to ask, but it came out weak and slurred, almost an unintelligible mumble of noises. His throat felt thick and swollen, his tongue heavy. He swallowed and huffed in frustration. He couldn't even talk normally.

But somehow, Shiro seemed to understand him. "The others are okay," he assured him. "They regained consciousness a couple hours ago. You were the last to wake up."

The others were alive. They were okay. Keith sagged back into the pillows of his bed, relieved. He stared blankly at the dark television screen on the wall, his racing heart and mind beginning to calm. Slowly, it all came back to him then: their fight with Sendak. Their fight with the robeast. Getting caught in its explosion. He almost couldn't believe they had actually survived all of that.

"What…happened?" he managed, turning to Shiro again.

"The lions fell back to Earth. You and the other paladins were badly injured," Shiro explained, some of the joy fading from his eyes. "You've all been comatose for the past two months."

"Two months?!" Keith exclaimed, trying to bolt upright, only to groan as his body throbbed in protest. He slumped back, jaw clenched as he glared at the ceiling.

The nurses shot Shiro a scolding look, a silent warning not to shock their patient anymore. Shiro gave them an apologetic smile before turning his attention back to Keith. He gently squeezed his hand, massaging the feeling back into his cold and numb fingers. His touch was warm and admittedly soothing, and Keith felt himself slowly relaxing, his eyelids starting to grow heavy again.

He sighed. He hated how he was already exhausted. After two months of being asleep, how was he still so tired?

"A lot has happened while you were out. We'll catch you up to speed later," Shiro promised him, his voice starting to sound distant. "Rest for now. I'm sure you'll have a lot of visitors when you wake up."

Keith's head lolled to the side to look at him. "Thank you…Shiro," he murmured, on the brink of slipping away.

Shiro smiled, that familiar warmth and tender kindness in his expression always able to put Keith at ease. "Anytime."

When Keith woke up again, it was to the soft humming of his mother's favorite Earth song. Opening his eyes was less of an effort this time, and when his vision cleared, he saw her sitting right there on the foot of his bed, watching him fondly. He blinked, unsure if he was dreaming or not. A small smile graced her features, and the humming stopped as she leaned forward and brushed his long hair out of his eyes. Her hand was warm and real. She was actually here, on Earth once again.

"Good morning," she greeted him, her voice quiet in the peaceful air of the hospital. "How are you feeling?"

Keith mulled over her question, struggling to assess his own condition. The drowsiness had faded and most of the soreness had subsided. His limbs still felt like jelly, but he had the strength to move a little bit now as he sat up straighter.

"I'm good," he croaked, thin and raw, and he clumsily scratched at his throat. It still ached, but at least his voice had returned for the most part. "I've felt a lot worse."

Krolia reached for a water pouch that had been set on the bedside table next to him. She stabbed a straw into it and held it out to him. "Here. Drink something," she ordered.

Keith did as he was told, taking it gratefully with shaky fingers. The water was cool and refreshing running down his burning throat. He sat back against the pillows, sipping gradually and taking in the rest of his surroundings.

He'd been moved to a private recovery room. The IV drip had been taken out and there was only a vitals monitor hooked up to him now, but a bandage was still wrapped around his head. The golden rays of the morning sun shone through the window, where he realized Kolivan was sitting on the ledge and watching him soundlessly with a rare smile.

It was so strange and unexpected seeing the two of them here, so soon after Earth had been freed. How had they gotten here?

Before he could ask, the door to the room suddenly opened, and Immea entered, followed by Scarlett and Mitsubishi.

"So, the Sleepyhead is finally awake," Immea mused. "Did you have a nice rest?"

Keith stared at her, dumbfounded. Sometime in the last three years, she'd chopped off her long braid and had gained a scar that ran from her cheek all the way down to her neck. But she was here, alive and in good health and radiating that haughty attitude of hers. He was glad she was alright.

"Immea…You're okay," he said.

She hummed, leaning against the wall next to the TV. "Obviously."

"We located her and several more of our junior operatives soon after we parted ways," Kolivan elaborated.

"We brought them here when your friend invited the coalition to Earth," Krolia added.

The members of the Voltron Coalition had been invited to Earth? Keith frowned. "Is it really safe enough for them to be here?" he wondered.

"Don't worry. Shiro and Sam have got it covered. They know what they're doing," Scarlett waved away his concern with an encouraging nod. "You've missed a lot."

Then, she proceeded to tell him exactly what he'd missed, with Mitsubishi injecting his own input here and there.

Earth was well on the road to recovering from Sendak's tyranny. Work camps had been demolished. Cities were slowly being rebuilt. Repairs had begun on the Atlas. The blown-up bits of the robeast were gradually being located and recovered. The lions had been collected and moved within the Garrison grounds. And Mari had sent out a message to their remaining allies, inviting them to the safety of Earth.

The Blade of Marmora had arrived first, followed by Shay and her people and their Balmera, which now hung in Earth's sky. Then Matt finally made it home, along with Captain Olia and many more squadrons of rebel fighters. And just yesterday, Acxa, Mitsubishi, and Treble had brought Ellosh, Korlis, and the other Vurelleans to the planet.

The Galaxy Garrison had become the main hub for the Voltron Coalition. Mari and Matt had been collectively chosen by the Garrison heads across the globe to be Earth's official representatives for the Voltron Coalition. And Shiro had been made the official captain of the Atlas. With everyone's help, Earth's defense systems were growing and strengthening. A sense of peace and stability was gradually returning to the planet, enough so that the Garrison felt comfortable holding a memorial service for all those who had fallen in the war against the Fire of Purification.

And it was being held today. Right now.

Scarlett had paused in her rant, turning on the TV so they could view the live broadcast of the service. Keith quietly watched and listened as their leaders spoke, Shiro included. All five Voltron lions were displayed grandly behind the stage, and thousands and thousands of people, human and alien alike, gathered to honor their comrades. Flowers and decorated photos stood behind the speaker's podium on stage, Admiral Sanda's image included. Her body had been collected from Sendak's ship and she'd been given a proper burial, Scarlett had said.

All throughout Shiro's speech, Keith could tell he was thinking of Adam. His voice was soft and full of a sad and steadfast understanding as he spoke of Earth's loss. He put on a brave face as he wrapped up with words of hope and inspiration, but Keith could still see the sorrowful light shining bright in his dark gray eyes.

"...Earth is now stronger than ever, and it stands as a beacon of light to help guide those fighting against tyranny and oppression," he announced finally. "From here, we will spread peace, and together we will hold strong as the defenders of the universe."

The crowd erupted in applause, touched by his words. As soon as he stepped down from the podium, allowing the concluding speeches of the ceremony to be given, Scarlett turned down the volume and turned to Keith.

"Shiro was a worried mess after you guys were admitted. We all kinda were," she said, the mirth diminishing in her gaze. "He visited you everyday. Even made sure you were always wearing that."

She pointed to the Quintessence Ring on his finger, still glowing softly. He stared at it, his heart aching with a twinge of guilt. He knew she wasn't blaming him, or even scolding him for that matter. But he couldn't help but feel bad for scaring her and Shiro and everyone else for so long.

"You and the others were really slow to heal," she continued, nodding to his bandaged head. "Coran thinks it's because of the severe quintessence draining from the robeast. And, you know, the whole perilous battle with Sendak and getting slammed into Earth's surface with that big explosion. But I'm glad you're back now. Don't do anything that scary again, okay?"

Keith sighed. "I'll try not to," he promised her, and she grinned in approval.

A soft knock on the door drew their attention, and when it opened, Mari and Kosmo were waiting on the other side. The cosmic wolf bounded inside, vanishing with a ZAP and reappearing not a second later on top of Keith. He wheezed, the air squeezed out of his lungs as over a hundred pounds of space wolf glomped him, cuddling and licking every inch of his face.

"Hey, bud. I've missed you, too," Keith managed, grinning as he wrestled with him. Kosmo's scratchy tongue ran up his cheek, covering it with drool, and Keith grimaced, pulling away to wipe it off. "Gah, you're so slobbery."

"The nurses wouldn't let him visit until today," Scarlett said, her face twisting in disgust at the wolf saliva. "Now I see why."

"No wonder he's so excited," Immea said. "He's been forced to wait this long."

He wasn't the only one. Keith's gaze flicked to Mari, who was hanging back in the doorway, arms crossed as she watched them. She was smiling, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. She and Krolia exchanged a quiet nod in greeting before his mother stood from the bed.

"That ceremony should be ending soon. We should check on the troops," she said, briefly glancing at the TV before turning it off.

The room was cast in silence as she and Kolivan moved towards the door, prompting Immea, Scarlett, and Mitsubishi to follow suit. Mari stepped out of their way, allowing them to pass into the hall. Krolia paused though, granting Keith one last small smile.

"We'll give you two some privacy. We'll be back in a varga," she promised him, a knowing glint in her gaze.

Then, she promptly left him alone with Kosmo and Mari. She stared at him, waiting, and Keith hesitated, unsure of what to say to her. It had been two months since they'd last spoken. Two months since he'd almost left her. …Again. But if she was pissed and wanted to yell at him, she didn't show it.

"I promise I won't die, as long as you promise to hear me out after this."

He swallowed thickly. Despite getting stuck in a two-month-long coma, he'd kept up his end of their promise. He'd made it out of the battle alive. Now she had to keep her end of the promise. Maybe that's why she was here now. Maybe she was ready to hear him out. And if not, well…Keith was ready to tell her anyway. He was ready to make his confession. He was done waiting.

"Hey," he said finally, if not a bit awkwardly.

"Hey." She cautiously moved further into the room, inching closer. "How was your rest, Sleeping Beauty?"

He smirked at the tease. "Too long," he replied. "Sorry for making you wait. Again. …Thanks for finding us."

She shrugged, coming to a stop next to the bed. "You're welcome."

He stared intently at her, refusing to say anymore until she took a seat in one of the visitor's chairs and made herself comfortable. When she did, the tension slowly leaving her shoulders, he said, "I hear you're one of Earth's official representatives for the coalition. Good job bringing everyone here."

"I had help." She paused, her gaze flicking to the window as rebel ships took to the skies. Her bright eyes were troubled and she sighed. "A lot has changed in the last two months, but there's still so much we have to do. I thought things would be over when we came home, but now it feels like this is only the beginning."

She was right, in a way. They'd returned to where their entire adventure had started, to the very world they had both wanted so badly to escape. But it was different now. So, so very different. Earth had changed. They had changed. And although Earth was free and the Galra Empire was falling, there was still much more they had to do to bring peace and stability to the rest of the universe.

Voltron's mission was long from being over. But they could do it. They'd come this far, surviving and thriving against all odds.

"We'll get through it. We always do," Keith promised her, more sure of this than anything else. "We're stronger than ever now."

She cast him a half-hearted grin. "Says the man confined to his bed."

He rolled his aching shoulders. "Give me a few weeks and I'll be back to full strength."

She chuckled. "I don't doubt it."

Another beat of silence ticked by. Kosmo had settled down in the bed, his tail swishing happily every so often. Mari watched as another group of ships flew by. Keith watched her closely, his skin starting to prickle with an anxious heat. This was it. He had to say it now. Before she got bored and left. Before he lost his nerve.

"Can I ask you something?" he almost blurted.

She drew her gaze back to him. "Sure."

Here it goes. "Do you want to go out?" he asked.

She didn't respond right away, her brow furrowing as she processed his question. "Go out?" she repeated. "Like…outside on a walk, or…" Her voice trailed off, the realization hitting her like a ton of bricks. A dusting of pink colored her cheeks, and she blinked twice at him, her eyes going wide. "Wait. Are – Are you confessing to me right now?" she stammered.

Keith nodded. "I said I would keep our promise," he said, unable to look at her as the heat rose to his face. "Look, I'm not…I'm not good with this sort of stuff. Talking about feelings is still kinda weird and uncomfortable for me. But I know if I wait any longer with this, I'm going to regret it. And I don't want to mess up with you."

The words came tumbling out, unpracticed and nervous and lame. His heart was racing with his escalating embarrassment, and he hated how the cheeping monitors gave him away. He ran a hand through his hair, struggling to calm his nerves. He inhaled and exhaled deeply, steadying himself as best he could to deliver the final part of his confession.

"I'm just gonna come right out and say it," he huffed, his irritation getting the better of him. He looked her right in the eyes, refusing to back down even in the face of their fierce brilliance. "I like you, Mariko. Stubborn attitude, fiery spirit, and all. Can I go out with you?"

She gaped at him, frozen in shock. A second passed. Then two. Then tears pooled in the corners of her eyes, spilling down her cheeks. Keith's heart dropped into his stomach, his panic and confusion rising.

"Are – Are you crying?" he stammered, fumbling to save this. Why was she crying? Why was she crying?! Was he really that much of an unlikeable ass? Did she hate him that much? "...You can say no if you don't want to."

"No! That's not why I'm…Shut up! I'm not crying!" she snapped a little too quickly. She furiously rubbed at her leaking eyes and dragged her palms down her cheeks, now as red as cherries. She looked so small hunched over in her chair, a flurry of emotions struggling to sort themselves out. She took several deep and steadying breaths before she finally squeaked out her answer. "I – I like you too, Keith. And…Yes, you can. Go out. With me."

Yes.

Yes.

She'd said yes!

Keith's heart lifted, a wave of relief washing over him as months of worrying about her response melted away. It was like an invisible weight had been lifted off his chest, freeing him from the stupid lovesick chains that had been restraining him for so long. He sighed and leaned back into the pillows, unable to stop himself from grinning.

Yes!

"You're cute when you're embarrassed too," he teased, and she groaned.

"Shut up."

Chapter Text

The following weeks were a whirlwind of work.

Thanks to the wonders of modern medicine, alien tech, and the mystical and protective bond they shared with the lions and one another, Keith and the other paladins recovered quickly. In only a few weeks, they were permitted to leave the hospital, jumping right back into the field.

Pidge helped Sam, Scarlett, Coran, and the Olkari in repairing and upgrading the Atlas. Hunk, Lance, and Allura assisted in the remaining reconstruction of Plaht City. With the Atlas' new teludav, the princess even brought more rebels to Earth to help with its restoration. Shiro, Keith, Mari, and Matt worked across the globe, getting in contact with the overseas Garrisons and helping them to prepare their own defense systems. Then Mari began traveling off-world, assisting more coalition planets with their restoration and mapping out more Galra-occupied territories to prepare for Voltron's eventual return to deep space.

On top of all this, they were swarmed by entertainment companies vying for interviews and photoshoots and looking to start branding the paladins. A studio had even started producing a television show based on Voltron. Sometimes, Shiro encouraged them to indulge the media since the publicity helped Earthlings and their alien allies get to know the heroes of their universe better. They agreed to merch deals and to participate in events when the proceeds went straight to refugees and charities helping to rebuild communities. But the rest of it was nonsensical stuff – fashion shows, gossip blogs and magazine spreads, beauty product lines, etc., all trying to objectify the five chosen knights of the legendary hero to make a quick profit.

Keith loathed all of it, especially considering Earth was still rising from the shambles of Sendak's destruction and there were more important things to do than play celebrity. But of course, Lance had no qualms about their rising popularity. He got really into it, eagerly sharing their adventures in space with the public.

"You know that interview we did with Plaht City Today? They finally published it!" he announced one afternoon, a giddy grin stretched out across his face. Sprawled out across the couches of a private lounge within the Garrison, the others looked up at him as he began to distribute the stack of magazines in his arms. "I got each of us a copy."

Hunk's eyes lit up. "Ooh! Lemme see, lemme see!" He flipped through the pages and gasped when he found their group picture laid out above the article. "Whoa, we got two two-page spreads? Fancy!"

Pidge snapped her laptop shut and opened up to the first spread. She grimaced. "Ugh, I hate this picture," she griped, sharply tapping a finger over the photo. "Couldn't they have chosen a different one?"

"What's wrong with it?" Hunk wondered, squinting at the image.

"The lighting makes my nose look funny."

"You always look like that, Pidge," Lance said, and she shot him a scowl.

Allura ran a hand over the pages, smoothing the magazine across her lap. "I think it's a nice photo. We all look wonderful," she chimed in, casting the Red Paladin a smile. "Thank you for the copies, Lance."

He beamed, his cheeks reddening. "You're welcome, m'lady," he chirped before promptly sitting down next to her. "Get this: they're letting us keep a portion of the sales! The rest goes to restoring the community center and the observatory."

Keith rolled his eyes. "All of it should be going to rebuilding the city," he muttered, plopping his copy onto the coffee table and returning his attention to the email he was typing out to one of the overseas Garrison facilities.

"It is, in a way," Lance insisted, quick to defend himself. "I'm giving my earnings to my family. Our house got blown in half during the invasion, so I'm covering the repairs."

"Same here," Hunk pitched in. "My mom and dad were worked to the point of exhaustion in the labor camp. I'm making sure they have a nice, warm, and comfortable home to live in."

Keith didn't argue with them. Helping their families return to a semblance of normalcy was putting their money to good use. He'd never even considered using it to rebuild their broken homes, and he vaguely wondered if the shack was still standing. He hadn't had the time to visit the property since Sendak had been defeated. Maybe after this he could go check on it.

"If you're worried we're gonna start focusing on the money, don't be," Pidge said, taking note of his frown. "We all know our mission to end the war is way more important than that."

"Yeah," Lance agreed. "I know I talk up the parades and junk, but we didn't go into this seeking glory. We aren't saving the universe just to be paid." He paused, glancing at the photo again. "Buuuut…it is nice to have some sort of income. We should save up. We aren't gonna be paladins forever, after all."

A heavy silence settled over them as the truth of his words hit them. They wouldn't be paladins for the rest of their lives. After the war, the universe wouldn't need Voltron anymore. It wouldn't need the lions. It wouldn't need them. They still had the rest of their lives to figure out. And that…was a very, very scary thought, filled with a whole new round of unknowns and uncertainties and a gnawing dread.

The others shifted uncomfortably, including Lance, smiles falling with the change in mood. Keith paused in his task, his mind wandering.

He tried to imagine it, a life without having to fly the Black Lion, a life without having to fight the Galra. But he couldn't. He thought his future had been set. He thought he'd finally figured out his place and purpose in the universe. He was a pilot. He was a paladin. He was a leader. What would he be without Voltron? What would he be without the others? Would he just go back to being a loner? Would he wind up living alone in his shack in the desert?

…No.

No, the future was never set. Voltron had brought them together as paladins. And although it couldn't last forever, they would still always be family. They would still share that unbreakable bond with one another. He wouldn't be left alone again. There was hope for the future, even for him. He'd figure out what to do in time. They all would.

"Let's not think that far into the future just yet," Keith said, smoothly breaking their silence. He tried to sound optimistic as he encouraged them, "Let's just focus on one day at a time."

Mari smiled at him. "I agree. And right now, I'm more interested in this interview," she piped up, rather chipper as she skimmed over the spread. "Let's see, what sort of questions did they ask you…"

Some of the dark clouds hanging over their heads seemed to clear as the others' faces relaxed, their attention returning to the magazine.

"Lame ones," Pidge stated flatly, although she was reading over the interview now too. "Shiro screened all the questions, so they're kinda boring."

"What is the hardest part about being a paladin? What challenges do you face living in a world unfamiliar to your own? What advice would you give to the next generation of aspiring astro-explorers?" Mari read them off, wincing in sympathy at the paragraph-long answers that were written down. "Wow. That's some heavy stuff."

"Yeah, but they added in some fun questions to cushion all the serious, inspirational stuff," Lance said with a shrug, clearly unbothered by it. "What's your favorite color? What makes you smile? How would you describe yourself in three words? I said 'handsome, cool, and sensitive' for that one."

He granted them a dazzling smirk and Mari stared at him, unimpressed. "Of course you did," she drawled.

"You forgot 'ditzy,'" Pidge deadpanned.

Lance made an offended sound in the back of his throat. "That's because I am not ditzy!"

"Well, at least you didn't give an answer like Keith's. 'Bored, annoyed, and leader,'" Scarlett read it verbatim. She cast Keith a doubtful look. "That doesn't really let the public get to know you on a deeper level."

"Yeah, it just screams how much you hated having to participate in the interview," Hunk nodded in agreement.

"I don't want them to get to know me on a 'deeper level,'" Keith said, feeling very defensive and certain of this. Like a bunch of strangers needed to know one of their heroes was once a troubled foster brat with a mark on his record. Or that he was a Galra half-breed, a part of the same species that had oppressed them not too long ago. "My personal life is none of their business."

"Geez, you're such a grouch," Lance grumbled.

Keith huffed. There was no use explaining to someone who wouldn't understand, to someone who already knew him and accepted him. He frowned at his laptop screen and continued to type away, pausing only when Mari consolingly patted his knee to grant her a tight smile.

"Oh! Oh! This one's a good one!" Hunk exclaimed, moving on to another question. "For 'What's your favorite animal?', I said dogs, cuz they're so cute and fluffy and loyal. Lance said shark – scary. Pidge's is an owl, which is perfect, cuz like, they're all cool and wise like her. Allura said the space mice, and Keith's is…" He paused, caught in a fit of giggles. "...a hippo!"

"That's probably his most interesting answer," Lance chuckled.

"I thought for sure he was gonna say a wolf," Pidge grinned, casting a look at where Kosmo sat next to Keith.

"A hippo? Really?" Mari raised a brow at him, a hint of amusement twinkling in her eyes, and he felt his cheeks warm in a mixture of irritation and embarrassment.

When he was really young, his dad had taken him to the zoo once. They'd watched a keeper feed an entire watermelon to an adult hippopotamus, and with its massive and powerful jaws, it had crushed it with terrifying ease. That was when Keith had realized hippos only looked tubby and innocent and cutesy on the outside, unassuming in appearance. In reality, they were scary. Aggressive. Temperamental. They were incredibly strong with a deadly bite that could take out crocodiles amongst other threatening animals. Hippos were badass. And ever since then, he'd had an affinity for the creatures.

But he wasn't about to explain all of that to them. They were all grinning and waiting expectantly for his answer, and he could practically hear them brainstorming the teases that they'd send his way.

"I just think they're cool," he muttered finally, and Kosmo whined beside him, indignant. He petted his head, apologetic. "But not as cool as you, bud."

Mari dragged her finger down the page to another question. "Oh, I like this one: What's your favorite ice cream flavor? Dulce de leche, juniberry, chocolate chip mint, coconut caramel fudge, and cherry vanilla," she hummed, pleasantly surprised. "I personally like raspberry."

"What's Shiro's favorite?" Lance wondered.

"Cookies n' cream," she and Keith replied in unison, and they exchanged a surprised look while Lance snorted.

Scarlett's face scrunched up in confusion. "What's ice cream?"

"It's a frozen dessert," Hunk provided. "It's super good, you've gotta try it!"

"There's an ice cream parlor in the mall. We should go sometime when it reopens, before we leave Earth again," Pidge suggested.

Mari shifted on the couch. She sighed, sitting up straighter and snapping her magazine shut. "Speaking of which, I should probably start packing and preparing for tomorrow's departure," she said, rising to her feet and stretching. "It's gonna take a couple months to get Vurelle back in order."

That's right, she and several other rebels were going to bring the Vurelleans home to begin rebuilding. She'd be gone until the Atlas was ready to launch and bring Voltron back into the war. Satisfied with his work, Keith sent the email and closed his laptop.

"Need any help?" he asked, hoping to secure the extra minutes with her.

She smiled at him, grateful, but shook her head. "Thanks, but I've got it," she assured him. She patted Kosmo on the head before heading towards the door, throwing the others a wave over her shoulder. "I'll see you guys later."

"See ya!" Scarlett said, and Pidge gave her a salute.

"Have fun!" Hunk called out as she disappeared into the hall, the door sliding shut behind her.

A beat of silence passed before Lance turned to Keith.

"Dude. You've gotta try harder than that," he scolded, and Keith's irritation flared anew.

"Like you're one to talk," he snapped, and Lance and Allura flushed, unable to look at one another. Keith ignored them though and stood to leave, prompting Kosmo to hop off the couch and follow after him.

"Where're you going?" Pidge asked, watching as he swiftly moved for the exit.

He paused in the doorway. "I'm gonna visit my dad."

It had been years since Keith had visited the cemetery. It was clean and intact, having sustained no signs of damage from the invasion. The dead pose no threat to a conquering alien warlord, after all.

The evening sky washed the gravestones in a warm golden light as Keith picked his way over the rows and rows of now familiar names. Krolia and Kosmo followed right at his heels, letting him lead the way. This would be the first time his mother was reunited with his dad after she'd left Earth, and Keith's heart clenched painfully as he recalled how sad her eyes had gotten when he'd asked her if she wanted to come with him.

When they reached the grave, Keith stopped in front of it, his chest suddenly hollow as he read his father's name carved into the stone. A few stray leaves had settled over it, and he carefully brushed them away before standing back, Kosmo dutifully sitting beside him.

"Hi Dad," he said quietly. "Sorry I haven't been able to visit sooner. The last few years have been…crazy. But, I finally got to meet Mom. She's everything you said she is and more."

Krolia managed a small smile. Her gaze settled on the dates written beneath 'Heith Kogane,' and she didn't say anything for a long moment. Then she knelt before the stone, letting out a soft sigh.

"Hello, again. It's been a long time," she greeted him. Her smile fell away, her features softening with grief and remorse. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you from this."

She paused, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. When she reopened them, her expression was set, her regret replaced with a steadfast love and gratitude.

"Thank you for raising Keith. Thank you for protecting him and loving him for the both of us," she continued, serious but sure. "Until we meet again, rest well."

Krolia fondly ran her fingers over Heith's name before she rose to her feet. Kosmo tenderly bumped his nose to her hand, and her smile returned, small and sad as she rubbed his head. A warm breeze whispered through the trees nearby, their leaves gently rustling and filling the silent air with a comforting rush of noise.

The back of Keith's neck suddenly prickled, and he shot on high alert. He turned, searching for the presence he'd sensed, for the pair of eyes that were boring into him, until he spotted Acxa leaning against the trunk of a tree several rows of graves away. She was casually watching him, and her lips quirked up in amusement when he found her.

He knew she had arrived on Earth weeks ago. But he hadn't seen her since their groups had separated on their journey back home, when she, Mitsubishi, and Treble had departed for Kythra in search of the Vurelleans. His shoulders relaxed, the tension fading with the realization that it was an ally and not an enemy watching them, and he stepped away from Krolia and Kosmo to approach her.

"Hey," he said, coming to a halt a couple feet before her. "What are you doing here?"

"There are rarely any people here," she replied, thoughtfully regarding the quiet landscape of gravestones. Not another soul was in sight, save for the four of them. "It is a quiet place to think."

Keith couldn't disagree with her there. "How are you liking Earth so far?" he asked.

"It is not an unpleasant planet," she decided, although there was a wary edge to her response. "I heard how you defeated Sendak. …Thank you."

He nodded, as if it were nothing. "No problem."

"How are you feeling?"

"Much better now that he's not around anymore."

"I share the sentiment." She hesitated before continuing, "I hear you're finally courting Mariko too. Congratulations."

Acxa's smile was gone, the relaxed mirth in her gaze having faded. Out of habit, Keith crossed his arms and stared back at her. "Thanks."

"Don't hurt her again. If you do, I will make you regret it," she warned him, a chilling certainty in her tone.

Keith pressed his lips into a thin line. Maggie and Jia weren't the only protective friends to worry about, it seemed. He didn't doubt for a second that Acxa would absolutely murder him if Mari wound up hurt in any sense of the way and it was his fault. He silently promised himself he'd never, ever let it come to that.

"I won't," he promised her. "Don't worry."

The coldness in her eyes diminished, their friendly light returning. "Good."

Keith was quiet for a minute, watching as Krolia and Kosmo began to walk along the rows of stones, heading back towards the cemetery exit. "So, you're going to Vurelle with her tomorrow?" he asked finally. When Acxa nodded, he said, "Look out for her there."

"Of course." Then she cast him a knowing smile. "Although, I don't think she'll need the protection. She's stronger than she's ever been before."

The corners of Keith's lips quirked up. Hope had been reignited. Their family was together, happy and whole and reunited. Capable and confident with the support of countless people throughout the universe, Earthlings included, the members of Team Voltron and the Voltron Coalition were stronger than ever now.

"I think you're right."

By the time Keith had dropped Krolia and Kosmo off at the Garrison and was cruising down the desert road, the sky had darkened, the stars gradually beginning to peek through the blanket of night.

He had left their Garrison-issued vehicle in the safety of the hangars, switching out the car in favor of his hoverbike. Apparently, it had been found along the canyons near the wreckage of the Blue Lion's cave, left there when Hunk had tracked Blue's energy signature and Keith had taken everyone to find it. Iverson had initially confiscated it, having it dragged back to campus with the hopes of using it as evidence for when they caught Keith and could try him for attacking their lab and stealing Shiro away. But of course, that plan went out the window when it was discovered that they had all disappeared into space, only to return as the saviors of the universe.

Iverson had returned the firetruck-red hoverbike to Keith. Had even had it cleaned of all the desert dirt and grime. Keith had almost hugged the thing, he was so glad to see it again. He'd missed the familiar thrum of its engines, the wind rushing in his face, the way it glided smoothly just above the surface, permitting him to fly at incredible speeds and make daring jumps and turns. Even now as his hair whipped around him, the crisp night air cooling his skin and the handles vibrating beneath his fingers, his heart lifted with the elation of it all.

Pulling off the road, Keith ventured deeper into the desert. The ground widened beneath him, and he couldn't help but grin as the land became very familiar. Revving his thrusters, he surged forward, dodging the jagged rocks in his way. The ground inclined, bringing him up to the canyon tops. He jumped from one side to the other and landed on the narrow path carved into the rock wall. He streamed down the trail, going faster and faster and faster towards the cliff until he shot right off the edge.

The moon and the Balmera glowed in the inky sky above, two pies of celestial brilliance. The stars sprinkled all around them were dazzling, twinkling across his vision as if they were cheering him on. A laugh bubbled up from his lips, his racing heartbeat rushing in his ears as he soared through the air. No matter how much he grew and changed, this feeling of flight, pure and thrilling and beautiful and free, would never get old.

When gravity took hold, preventing him from flying away, he brought his gaze back down to Earth. He focused on the ground rushing up to meet him, counting down the seconds. Then, right on the dot, he pulled up. The hover mechanisms kicked in with a groan, straightening him out and allowing him to zip along the dusty desert floor. With a grin on his face, he sped off into the night, making his way towards his hidden little home in the desert.

Everything was just as he had left it, albeit, now coated in years of dust. The flimsy couch, his dad's old computers and machinery, the makeshift curtains, their books and albums, the slab of wood sitting atop cinder blocks that had functioned as their coffee table – it was all here. Even the photos, sticky notes, maps, and star charts he and Mari had collected were still hanging on the massive bulletin board and stowed away in binders and boxes on the floor. He chuckled at the messy sight, the old memories of their late-night arguments and research sessions quick to come to mind.

He walked around the table, absentmindedly jingling the shack keys in his pocket as he bent down and pulled out one of the albums. He moved outside to the porch and sat down on the edge, the old wood creaking beneath his weight. In the light of the moon and the Balmera, he flipped through the photos of grandparents he'd never met, his dad, even himself as a baby. Not a single one of them featured his mom. But now, he knew what she looked like. He knew she hadn't wanted to leave him and his dad. He knew she loved them. He'd have to take her photo sometime and place it next to one of his dad.

Keith paused on the last page, his fingers hovering over the last photo he and his dad had taken together: the "Before" image of the day his dad had settled the deconstruction contracts. The "After" picture still had yet to complete the set, the space empty beneath it. He frowned, pulling his gaze up to the flat land next to the shack, the tree with the tire swing still standing there, alone.

He could do it now, if he really wanted to, he realized. He could finish what his dad had started. He still had money left in the bank, and if the media continued to be persistent about branding the paladins, he could always earn a little more that way. After the war with the Galra ended, after Voltron wasn't needed anymore and peace reigned…he could rebuild the house.

Would there be a point to rebuilding it, though? What if it only brought up sad memories of his dad? Besides, it would be lonely if it was just him living there, by himself.

" – start filling that album – "

"Maybe we should wait until – "

" – test the camera. We'll take another one together with them – commemorate the finished rebuild and all our hard work."

Keith hadn't thought about that Quantum Abyss vision in a long time. He could still see Mari's grinning face, he could still feel how his future self had pulled her close. He wished he had seen more of that future.

But, as he recalled it now, he decided he wasn't going to build a house if living in it didn't feel like home. And home was wherever Shiro, Krolia, Scarlett, Lance, Hunk, Allura, Pidge, and Coran were. It was wherever Mari was. He just wanted a future with her, with them, whether it was here or elsewhere.

He sighed, snapping the album shut and pulling his gaze away from the empty land. He'd have to think some more about what he wanted to do later.

Chapter Text

Keith was freaking out.

He'd never gone on a date before. He'd never formally met Shiro and Mari's parents. He'd never even set foot in the Shiroganes' house. But now, here he was with plans to eat dinner there on their last night on Earth. With their parents present, inside the unfamiliar territory that was their home. And without Mari even knowing he was coming over.

What the hell was he thinking when he'd agreed to this?

Keith paced back and forth in his dorm at the Garrison, irritated with himself more than anything else. At least Krolia had accepted Shiro's invitation and would be going with him to the dinner. It made him a little less anxious knowing he'd have another person on his side there. Now all he had to worry about was finding a suitable outfit for the thing.

His dad's clothes were still too big for him, but his old clothes were now too small. The only attire that Keith currently had that fit him were his paladin armor, Blade of Marmora suit, and the Garrison-issued uniform, none of which were appropriate for a semi-casual family dinner. He sighed, dragging a reluctant hand down his face.

There was no other choice. He'd have to go shopping.

The Plaht City Mall had been turned into a bustling marketplace full of makeshift stalls and merchant spreads, managed by humans and aliens alike. A few of the original stores had reopened, including the ice cream parlor Pidge had mentioned, and as Keith passed with Kosmo, he could see Scarlett and Mitsubishi gawking at the assortment of flavors on the menu. He smiled to himself, glad that their own date plans were working out.

Focus, he reminded himself. He was just here to find a set of casual clothes, that was it. Get in, get out, get on with preparing for tonight's dinner.

Walking down the long stretch and doing his best to ignore the stares and giddy whispers being cast his way by passerby, Keith glanced amongst the shop wares. There were plenty of colorful garments with intricate patterns that were, literally, from out of this world, but nothing that fit his style.

Finally, he found a department store that seemed to sell regular human clothes. It was relatively empty inside and the racks didn't have much to offer, but the clothes looked new and they came in his size. He browsed for a while, carefully selecting a dark gray shirt and jeans. He even found a red jacket he liked, along with a pair of matching boots. Satisfied with his find, he approached the checkout counter where an older, muscular woman was typing away on a tablet. She grinned at Keith, wide and full of a brilliant joy that seemed impossibly bright in the washed-out lighting of the mall.

"Whoa! That's one big dog you've got," she joked, taking note of Kosmo waiting patiently beside him. "He's got such a pretty coat, too."

Kosmo's tail swished at the compliment. "He's, uh…a cosmic wolf," Keith said, suddenly feeling very awkward as he placed the items on the counter for her. It had been forever since he'd talked casually with a stranger like this. It was a little weird.

"Ahh, that explains it," she chuckled, nodding as if she understood completely. "Did ya find everything you were looking for, sweetie?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Perfect!"

She scooped up the clothes one by one, checking their price tags and scanning them. Keith's gaze drifted along the rest of the counter, his eyes glimpsing over a photograph of three happy girls and their dog before landing on the small sign that had been propped up next to the register. It announced that the store was donating money to the Plaht City Fire and Rescue Department to help them rebuild the station and purchase new equipment.

Keith blinked at it, surprised. "Do you work at the fire station too?" he wondered.

"Yep!" she chirped. "My husband retired a couple months before the invasion, but I'm still an active firegal. My kiddos and I help him out here on our days off. It's been easier now that they're all grown, ya know? I've gotten a buncha new recruits, but the station still needs a lotta work. So, we thought we'd open up this place and raise a few more funds to get it back up to snuff."

"Wow. That's great," Keith said, impressed if not a little overwhelmed by all the information she'd thrown his way. "My dad was a fireman."

"Really?" she mused, her eyes glowing with great interest. "It's a noble job, but a lotta hard work. He must be glad to be retired."

Keith hesitated. "He…actually died in the line of duty," he admitted, grimacing. "Years ago, when I was a kid. It was an electrical fire."

The woman froze, her smile falling immediately, and Keith internally smacked himself for ruining the friendly atmosphere. God, why couldn't he talk to people?

But if the woman noticed his growing mortification, she didn't mention it. She squinted at him for a moment. Suddenly, she gasped, her eyes as round as saucers as recognition flashed across them.

"Wait. You're – You're Heith's kid! Keith!" she realized, her exclamation loud and excited and bouncing off the walls. She dropped the clothes back onto the counter, her dazzling smile returning. "I didn't recognize you in that Garrison uniform! I'm so used to seeing you in your fancy paladin armor in all the articles. But oh my god! The last time I saw you, you barely reached my knee. Now look at you! You're all grown up!"

She hurried around the counter, and before Keith could stop her, she wrapped him in a tight hug that lifted him off the floor and squeezed the air out of his lungs. He instinctually stiffened, struggling to breathe and process just exactly what was going on. Was he supposed to know this woman? She clearly knew his dad. They'd probably worked together. But Keith had only met just a few of his dad's coworkers as a kid.

Then it hit him: that wide grin, that loud personality, that air of boldness she radiated, this crushing strength…this was Jane.

She set Keith down and he sucked in a wheezing breath, staring at her in shock and taking in her weathered features and graying hair. He scrambled to find something to say to her in response, but she beat him to it, calling out to the back of the store.

"Baby, c'mere!" she laughed. "Heith's kiddo is here!"

From the back room, another familiar face emerged.

"...Keith?" Captain Hutch gaped at him, his tired eyes wide with disbelief. "My god…It really is you."

He moved closer to them, a noticeable limp in his right leg. But he still stood tall and broad before Keith as he sidled up next to Jane and held out a warm hand in welcome. Keith's mind was reeling in the face of these people from his past. They'd hardly contacted him since the funeral, save for the occasional birthday card or polite check-in email. He hadn't met them in person in years, hadn't even considered that he would. It almost felt like they were even more strangers now than ever.

Keith numbly shook Hutch's outstretched hand. "It's good to see you again, sir," he said, almost forcing the words past his lips.

Hutch let out a shaky sigh. "It's been a long time." His voice was thin and uncertain, but a sort of relief had crept into his tone. He glanced at Kosmo curiously, who was watching him through intense golden eyes. "How – How are you?"

"I'm alright," Keith replied. He was surprised by how true those words felt, the hollow sensation in his chest subsiding. "Just getting ready for tomorrow."

"That's right. The launch day is tomorrow," Hutch realized. He chuckled, a sad sort of nostalgia in his look. "A Paladin of Voltron, a savior of the universe…I knew you were a good kid, but I never would've imagined that was what the future had in store for you. Your dad would be so proud. You're every bit of the great man he was."

Keith's heart clenched and he could feel his smile fading. "Thanks," he managed, and it took every ounce of his willpower not to cross his arms over his chest. He glanced at the abandoned clothes on the counter. "Um. How much do I…?"

"For you, it's free, sweetie," Jane beamed, moving back behind the counter and proceeding to bag the items.

Keith shook his head, the denial quick to form on his tongue. "Oh, no, you don't have to do that for me," he began, but Jane wouldn't hear it.

"It's the least we can do," she insisted, handing him the bag. "It's our way of saying thank you for saving Earth."

"And the rest of the universe," Hutch added.

Keith huffed. They wouldn't take no for an answer. It felt wrong, like he was taking advantage of his status. Like he was deserving of free handouts. He'd hated those sorts of things as a kid and he hated it now, even if now it wasn't out of pity for the poor foster kid.

Well, unfortunately or not for Jane and Hutch, he was just as stubborn. Pulling out his phone, he transferred his earnings from the Plaht City Today interview to Jane's register.

"Then…this is a donation for the fire station," he said, watching as the numbers popped up on their small screen. "I hope you get everything back up and running soon."

Jane gawked at her screen and Hutch blinked at Keith, at a loss for words. "K-Keith…" he stammered. His eyes were shimmering with tears, the weight of a million unspoken worries lifting from his shoulders. "Thank you."

Keith stashed his device, his heart feeling lighter now that the interview money was gone and going to be put to good use. "It's no problem," he assured him. Kosmo nudged his arm, impatient, and he ran a hand over the wolf's head, taking that as their cue to leave. "Thanks for the stuff. It was nice seeing you again."

"Of course! Come back anytime, sweetie," Jane replied, beaming from ear to ear, and she waved as they headed for the exit.

"Hey, Keith?" Hutch called out to him, stopping him in the doorway. His expression was full of worry, the guilt and regret of the past never so easy to fade. But when he spoke, his words radiated a sincere hope and encouragement. "Good luck out there. Stay safe. We're rooting for you."

Keith granted the old captain a small smile. He took one last long look at his father's friends before nodding. "Thank you. I will."

Keith sat in front of his dad's grave for the next few hours, catching him up on the last four years. He told him of Voltron and the lions and how he'd once piloted Red before being chosen by Black. He told him of Shiro, of Lance, Allura, Hunk, Pidge, Scarlett, and Coran. He told him of Mari, his girlfriend, and how nervous he was to be having dinner with her and her parents tonight. He told him of the Blade of Marmora and how he'd met Krolia. He told him of Zarkon and Lotor and Sendak and Haggar, or Honerva, as they now called her by her original name. He told him of the Atlas and how Earth was now welcoming alien visitors and refugees. He told him of the universal war he would be reentering tomorrow and how it might be a while before he could visit again.

He ranted and ranted and ranted until his mouth was dry and his throat was sore and he could think of nothing else to say. It felt good just to talk like this, letting it all out into the open air and releasing all of his frustration and uncertainty in the process.

Keith stared blankly at the gravestone, his mind going back to his unexpected meeting in the mall. He hadn't interacted with Hutch or Jane or any of his father's friends in person since the funeral. There had been so many people surrounding him at that time, but he had never felt more alone. He'd carried the pain of their abandonment with him for so long, he hadn't even noticed it had faded until now. That hole in his heart had been filled long ago when he'd met Shiro. When he'd met Mari and Krolia. When he'd met Lance and Hunk and Pidge and Allura and Scarlett and Coran. When he'd found his pillars of support, the best family he could've ever hoped of finding.

His phone vibrated in his pocket, startling him and making Kosmo's ears perk. Pulling it out and glancing at the screen, he realized Shiro had sent him the address to his parents' house. Keith sighed, stowing it before rising to his feet. Only a couple more hours until it was time for the dinner. It gave him just enough time to catch the sunset.

Returning to the Garrison, he parked his hoverbike in its designated spot inside the hangars. He'd asked if he could keep it stored on campus while he was away in space, and the technicians were more than happy to hold onto it. Then finding the Black Lion tucked away within the Atlas, he entered the cockpit and took it to the skies.

Black purred in greeting, happy to be out of the hangars and soaring through the air with its paladin back at the controls. Keith relaxed in his seat as the golden light of the approaching evening washed over them. As always, such leisurely flights calmed him just as much as they lifted his spirits. He cruised for a while, spinning and gliding and zipping past departing cargo ships. It wasn't until the sun had begun to lower that he landed Black atop one of the desert canyons near campus. He stood from his seat and rested a hand on Kosmo's back.

"Take us up, buddy?" he asked.

Kosmo blinked at him, and in one tingling flash of blue light, they found themselves on top of Black's head. Keith sat down and Kosmo followed suit, the two of them staring quietly at the sun dipping below the horizon.

The warm air was dry and cooling, making for a comfortable atmosphere. The sky was painted in purples, oranges, reds, and golds, soon to give way to the darkness of night and an array of stars. He could breathe easily up here, away from the hustle and bustle of the city and the Garrison. Worries of the house, dinner, and his meeting with Jane and Hutch dulled, fading to the back of his mind as he enjoyed this peaceful moment.

The sudden clanking and clattering of metal against metal, mixed with several breathy grunts of effort, shattered the calm.

"Man, you can be a real hard guy to find when you wanna be."

Keith swallowed back a sigh as he was brought back to reality. "Hey, Lance," he began, throwing the Red Paladin a glance as he finally dragged himself up onto Black's head, only to do a double-take. "Whoa! WHAT are you wearing?"

Lance was decked out in a mess of capes, pots and pans, and a sausage link wrapped around his neck. That explained all the noise with his arrival, at least. If he didn't look so irritated, Keith just might have laughed.

"Coran made it for me for my date with Allura," he groaned, his outfit eliciting a new round of clanging as he took up the spot next to him.

"A date with Allura? Wow!" Keith was grinning now, unable to hide his amusement. Finally! It had only taken the guy forever to ask out the princess. Still, he played it cool, feigning ignorance as he nonchalantly complimented, "Well done, Lance."

"Thanks, but it could be our last," he said, taking the pot off his head. He frowned, dejected. "I can't keep all these Altean customs straight."

Was it really an Altean custom to wear cookware on a date? Knowing Coran, Keith doubted it. But even if it was, he was sure Allura wouldn't mind if Lance wore something that was more comfortable to him. They were on Earth now, after all. This would be an Earth date. And those did not require dishware attire.

"Listen, if she's going out with you, it's because she likes you," Keith tried to reassure him. "The annoying, stupid, Earth version of you."

Lance laughed at that, and some of the worry lessened in his gaze as he brought it up to the lowering sun. "You watching the sun set?"

"Yeah. Might be a while before we get to see it again."

"Man, I'm really gonna miss this place."

Keith couldn't agree or disagree with him. But he understood Lance's feelings, and he knew this world and all its inhabitants were worth protecting. "That's why we've gotta end this war," he said, infusing as much encouragement into his voice as he could muster. "And we're gonna do it with the Lance that's the Paladin of the Red Lion. The Lance that's always got my back. And the Lance who knows exactly who he is and what he's got to offer."

Lance looked at him, genuinely surprised. Then he smiled, small and still a little unsure, but consoled by his words nonetheless.

The tension left Keith's shoulders, glad to see it. This leader stuff still wasn't easy, especially when it came to having heart-to-hearts with his teammates. With Lance, it was even tricker, considering their differing personalities and ongoing rivalry. But Lance was more open with his feelings, and Keith had learned that he'd come to him out of all people whenever he was really, truly troubled about something. He trusted Keith, and Keith trusted him. Despite their differences, despite how they got on each others' nerves, they'd grown to be true friends. He was relieved he could help his right-hand man.

"So, what are your plans for our last night on Earth?" Lance asked, pulling Keith from his thoughts. "You staying up here to watch the stars?"

"Actually, you're not the only one with a date tonight," he admitted. "I was invited to have dinner at Shiro and Mari's parents' house."

Lance's grin widened. "Ah, way to go, my man!" he whooped. "Guess we're kinda in the same boat tonight, huh."

"Yeah."

Lance leaned back on his hands, eyeing Kosmo as he began sniffing at the sausage links around his neck. "You nervous?" he wondered, wisely removing the meat and forking it over to the cosmic wolf, who gratefully snapped it up.

Keith shrugged. "A little bit." He rubbed the back of his neck, his restlessness about the whole thing starting to return. "I've never…done any of this dating stuff before."

Lance was quiet for a moment. "You'll do great, man," he said finally with a sure nod. "Despite how hotheaded and reckless and mulleted you are, you're a good guy. Mari sees that. Just be yourself, the Keith she fell in love with. The Keith who is brave and big-hearted and stubborn to a T. The Keith who has always been resilient and is worthy of love."

Keith blinked at him, now his turn to be surprised. Lance easily could've teased him about his lack of experience in the love department, but he hadn't. He'd sounded so sure of himself, like he'd spoken the indisputable truth. And in a way, Keith supposed he had. Despite how annoying he could be, Lance always spoke his mind and he was always honest with him.

A smile pulled at Keith's lips. "Thanks, Lance," he said, some of his unease receding.

Lance beamed, more than happy to help. "By the way, if it makes you feel any better, your popularity polls are off the charts! In real life and in that stupid TV show!" he exclaimed, incredulous. "How the quiznak is that even possible?"

Keith smirked. "Everyone always likes the bad boy," he drawled.

Lance scowled and nudged him in the ribs. Keith nudged him back. Then they both laughed, content in the final evening rays of their last day on Earth.

Getting through dinner had been the hard part. Bringing Mari to visit her grandfather and his dad had been a bit easier, a thoughtful gesture that she had appreciated. And their escapade through the drift race course had been the easiest, the funniest and most carefree, until it eventually brought them to the desert and his little shack.

"I can't believe this place survived the Galra attack," Mari said, hopping out of their Garrison vehicle.

Keith led the way to the front door with Kosmo trotting by his side. "It's not exactly a big and threatening target."

"True." She followed after him. "Whatever happened to your hoverbike? Did someone snag it during the invasion?"

"The Garrison took it after we left Earth. I asked them to hold onto it until we come back."

Fishing the keys out of his pocket, Keith opened up the small abode, permitting her to enter and revealing the mess they'd left behind. She took in the massive bulletin board of their research, smiling fondly at it, before moving to the couch to sit, only to grimace at the sight of the dust coating the cushions.

Keith shrugged at her, sheepish. "I'll have to clean this place up later." He paused before casually adding, "I was thinking about building a house next door. Once the war is over."

His heart was racing now that he'd broached the topic. After their talk of the future over dinner, he'd wanted to hear her input on it. Maybe it would help him determine whether or not it would be worth rebuilding the house he'd lost. Maybe it would be worth it if it meant it would be a home for the both of them.

She raised a brow at him, surprised. "You want to live all the way out here again?"

"I did grow up here. There used to be a house here anyway. A real house."

"What? Where?"

Keith crouched down and pulled out the album from beneath the table. He pulled out the "Before" photo and gestured for her to follow him outside. They stood on the edge of the porch, facing the lone tree with the old tire swing. Then he held out the photo for her to see, giving her a good look at the old house and his dad and his younger self.

"It used to be there," he said, pointing to the flat and empty space that sat between them and the tree. "It was in my dad's family for generations. But it was getting too old and starting to develop some serious maintenance issues. He said the last straw was when I almost fell through the upstairs floorboards."

He remembered he'd been stomping up and down the hallway, mad that his dad had put him in timeout for some naughty deed he'd done that he couldn't quite remember. But he remembered just how terrified he'd been when the soft wooden boards had caved and splintered beneath his socked feet. He remembered how loudly he'd shrieked when he'd started to fall, just barely catching himself as his feet dangled from the ceiling below. He remembered how startled his dad had been, how he'd leapt off the sofa and scrambled upstairs to pull him out of the floor. He remembered how he'd sobbed and shook in his dad's trembling arms, never so scared before.

Keith chuckled at the memory, a tiny smirk tugging at his lips. "So he decided to start over from scratch. Same design, just new materials. Had the whole place taken down and was ready to build a new home for us," he continued, his heart aching. "…But the fire happened before he could get all the contracts settled, and I was taken away. Now there's just an empty lot."

He stared at the empty land full of broken dreams of a future he had once longed for. Mari was quiet for a long moment, absorbing everything he'd told her. Then she carefully sat down, her legs dangling off the edge of the porch.

"Well, you certainly can't keep living in a shed for the rest of your life. And it's good that this place is so close to the Garrison," she said finally. She looked up at him, granting him a supportive smile. "If you want to build a house here, I say go for it. You can finish what your dad started and turn this place into a real home again."

Keith blinked at her, a burst of comforting warmth coursing through him with her words. He shook away the memories, dragging himself back to the present and sitting down next to her. This close to her now, he could feel the heat radiating off her body. A beat of comfortable silence settled over them before he spoke again.

"I know you don't want to think that far into the future – I don't either," he began, slow but sure. "But, if you want…there will always be a home for you here."

He waited with bated breath for her response, his words hanging in the air between them. He'd decided right then and there, if he was going to do this, if he was going to finish what his dad had started and live on Earth, he wouldn't just be rebuilding a house. He was going to make a home. For himself. For Shiro and all the others, if they needed it. And most importantly, for her. For Mari, who feared being left alone more than anything and wanted a place to belong just like him. And maybe they could belong here together. Even if their paths changed and they were no longer a couple, he'd make sure she always had a place to call home on Earth. A place to belong.

Finally, she smiled, glowing and pure and emitting a sincere joy that was just for him. "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind," she said, and Keith knew she would.

Another pleasant silence settled between them, drawing their attention up to the sky. It was gorgeous, waves of deep blues and purples speckled with countless dazzling stars. This was one of the many reasons Keith loved it out here. He got to see such clear and beautiful displays every night.

"It's so peaceful here. I forgot how pretty Earth's sky can be," Mari said. "It wouldn't be bad to live out here."

Keith hummed in agreement. "Yeah."

"I'm almost sad it's back to work mode tomorrow. Jumping right back into the mess of war."

"It'll be for the last time. We'll end it once and for all." He pulled his gaze back to her, settling on her sparkling eyes still burning with light even in the darkness. He swallowed, his face heating with his hammering heartbeat. "But right now, I just want to enjoy this moment."

She looked at him, their eyes locking. The fire flickered, growing warmer, brighter. "Have I ever told you that you have very pretty eyes?" she asked, her voice coming out uncharacteristically small and shy.

Keith smirked, vaguely thinking he should've been the one to say that to her. He still thought his eyes were nothing special, still bluish-gray and very much like his dad's. Not even a hint of yellow anywhere to be found.

"Nope," he murmured, and his body seemed to move on its own as he leaned in closer.

"Well, you do." She didn't move, letting the distance between them become smaller and smaller. "Have I told you your smile makes my heart race?

He was all too familiar with that feeling. "Not once."

"It does. It's racing right now. You can probably hear it."

A breath of a laugh escaped him. Even with his advanced hearing, it was impossible. The only things he could hear now was the blood rushing in his ears and her uneven breaths as she struggled to maintain a sense of cool. Their foreheads were almost touching now. Only a thin line of space separated them, nervous but energized with anticipation.

"Can I ask you something?" Keith whispered.

"Yes."

"Can I kiss you?"

She swallowed. "Yes."

Unable to stop himself, Keith popped their personal bubbles, pressing his lips against hers. He'd never kissed anyone before. He'd only seen it done in movies and the few times he'd stumbled upon Garrison cadet couples rendezvousing in the halls after curfew, making their affectionate relationships everyone else's business. They'd all been so sloppy and hungry from what he'd seen…It had disgusted him, initially. But this, this first kiss of his, was tentative, gentle, both of them unsure but eager. Mari's lips were soft and warm and delightfully plump. This joining of flesh between them was so tender, so comforting, it made Keith's chest oddly hot. For the first time in his life, he realized just how special such intimate physical contact could be with the right person.

When his mind started to go numb, on the verge of being drowned in the experience, Keith pulled himself away from her. His lips tingled pleasantly and he had to force himself not to touch them. Neither of them said anything for a long moment, at a loss for words as their rapidly pounding hearts slowed.

Finally, he dared to speak first. "How – How was it?" he asked, and he internally smacked himself for stammering.

"It was great," she blurted, almost a little too quickly. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "How was it for you?"

Keith didn't even hesitate. "I liked it. A lot."

Almost too much. He wanted to kiss her again, longer and deeper. But he was worried he'd get lost in it this time, worried he'd cross a line somewhere along the way. Besides, he was too nervous and awkward to initiate again, his boldness fraying.

Mari smiled at him, a new bubbly and animated light gleaming in her eyes. "Was that your first kiss?" she asked.

"Yeah." He grinned and laced his fingers with hers. "Thanks for making it special."

She beamed, knowingly. "Thank you for asking for permission."

"Of course."

He tapped his shoulder against hers and she playfully nudged him back. He was content with this, just the two of them together without a care in the world. A wonderful first date. A wonderful first kiss. The wonderful firsts of many.

Chapter Text

Following their launch back into space and the universal war against the Galra, many battles and negotiations ensued as they liberated territories one by one. Keith had a hell of a time discussing alliances with the subdued Galra forces. Often the words "traitor" and "disgusting half-breed" were spat back at him before Shiro and sometimes Krolia and Kolivan stepped in to assist. It was difficult getting such war-hardened warlords and pirate scoundrels to see reason, and their long hours of round and round talking frustrated Keith to no end. But he always kept trying, kept pressing for peace. Everyone deserved to live in harmony in this vast universe they shared, he constantly reminded himself. Everyone deserved a second chance, a helping hand. Even them, the stubborn Galra who wanted nothing more than a stable life.

But sometimes, this mentality of his was really tested. With the wary Commander Lahn. With Honerva, who was sending out more robeasts and enacting a who-knew-what sort of evil plan. And especially now with Zethrid, who was bent on killing him and the rest of the paladins.

She had cornered Keith on a cliff overlooking Fuigo's volcano, the bubbling lava pit at his back. He was drenched with sweat, the heat of the planet scorching him from all sides. His breaths came in short gasps, the oxygen scarce in the toxic atmosphere. Without air, without his armor and bayard, without the strength he needed to seriously pose a threat to Zethrid, he was exhausting himself in this losing battle against her. She was too big. Too strong. Too angry with him. He wasn't going to win this. She was going to kill him.

"You took Ezor from me!"

Ezor. She was doing all this for Ezor. Had she died when he and Acxa had escaped from their pirate cruiser? …No, she couldn't have. If Zethrid and the rest of her crew had lived, then so had Ezor, no doubt. But where was she? Why wasn't she with Zethrid? And how was her absence now his fault when she and Zethrid had both tried to kill him and the others first?

Keith panted, struggling to regain his bearings as Zethrid marched towards him, ready to finish him off. He wouldn't go out this way. He had to buy himself time.

"I don't know…what you think I did," he ground out, thin and ragged despite all the bite he'd tried to infuse in his tone.

Zethrid grit her teeth, her rage boiling at his ignorance. "You took away everything," she snarled. "And now my face will be the last one you see!"

With a furious shout, she charged, and Keith brought up his luxite blade to stop her blow. But she grabbed his wrist, almost too easily, and twisted it out of his grip. Her massive hand slammed into his face, her fingers curling around his chin and upper neck as she lifted him into the air. Keith grunted, clawing uselessly at her arm. Her grip tightened and his jaw screamed in protest as she squeezed him, ready to break him.

Then, the familiar whirring rush of the MFEs sounded overhead. Zethrid lowered him, shoving him into the crook of her elbow and locking him in a one-armed chokehold. She produced her blaster as Shiro and Acxa departed from James' hovering ship, hesitating in the face of the sudden hostage situation. Keith's heart raced, his eyes stinging from the heat and the embarrassed fury of being made a prisoner. Still, he didn't dare move lest Zethrid snap his neck.

Acxa was the first to risk shattering the tension, taking a step towards them. "Zethrid, don't do this!" she pleaded with her.

"I knew you'd come," Zethrid spat, her form rumbling all around Keith. "Now you will feel what I felt."

Acxa's frown deepened. From the indignant look in her eyes, Keith could tell she was just as confused and irritated as he was at what Zethrid was implying. Nevertheless, she continued, "It's over. You're surrounded."

"You think this deters me, Acxa?" Zethrid scoffed. "I welcome death, now that Ezor's gone."

Acxa was quiet for a moment. Then she closed her eyes and removed her helmet so she could confront her old friend face to face. "Zethrid, I know you hurt," she said, her tone gentle and deeply understanding. "Ezor hurt too. That's why she left you. She couldn't keep holding on to the anger."

Zethrid's stiffened, her teeth gnashing. "Stop!"

"Hear my words," Acxa insisted. "Remember how we first met. We were all so full of hate and rage, half-breeds rejected by the Galra. Lotor used us. He led us down a painful path, a never-ending cycle of destruction and loss. Now's your chance to break that cycle! With me, with Ezor. She wants you to leave the rage behind."

Zethrid hesitated, her resolve wavering. "I'm too far gone," she growled. "She'll never take me back!"

Her grip on Keith tightened and he screwed his eyes shut as her arm dug deeper into his jugular. He grunted and gagged, the little air he'd sucked in being squeezed out of him.

Panic flashed across Acxa's face. "Wait! Please!" she begged. "Don't let the rage control you!"

"All I have left…is revenge!"

Zethrid trained her blaster on Acxa and let loose a beam of deadly energy. It whipped past Acxa's ear, missing its mark. Not even a millisecond later, another shot rang out, the laser soaring from the darkness of the volcano's rocks and piercing Zethrid's shoulder. She screamed, losing her grip on Keith and her blaster as she stumbled backwards. He turned just in time to see her slipping off the edge of the cliff, destined to perish in the scorching lava below.

But it never happened. Before he could stop himself, before he could really register what he was doing, Keith was throwing himself after her. He clasped one of her outstretched hands just before she could fall out of his reach, and his heart leapt into his throat as he was nearly yanked over the ledge. His palms were sweaty as the intense wave of lava fumes engulfed them. His shoulders burned and his arms trembled from Zethrid's weight, threatening to slip from his grip at any second.

Thankfully, Shiro, Acxa, and Veronica were at his side in an instant, helping him to haul her up onto stable ground. The MFEs landed, prompting the Atlas' recovery teams to collect and treat their final pirate prisoners.

Keith sat on the ground, his hold tight on his recovered luxite blade. He watched as the crew dragged away an unconscious Zethrid, refusing to relax until she was out of sight. His inhales and exhales were heavy and deep as he struggled for a proper breath, and it didn't help that his throat was throbbing from where she had tried crushing him. When she was finally secured, the last remains of his energy drained and he let himself slump into Shiro's hold. Draping one of Keith's arms over his shoulders, Shiro lifted him to his feet with ease, leading him towards James' MFE.

"You okay, buddy?" he asked, his voice tight with worry.

"I'm fine," Keith wheezed between breaths, his voice painfully hoarse. He blinked past the stars in his vision, forcing himself to keep going, to keep walking.

"I'm sorry, Keith," Shiro whispered. "I should have realized sooner."

Keith shook his head. He wouldn't let Shiro blame himself for this. They had all been tricked by Zethrid's team. "It's okay. It's not your fault," he mumbled, casting him a scolding frown.

Shiro gave him a small smile in return and didn't argue with him. They loaded into the back of the MFE and they were off, leaving Fugio's harsh surface far behind them.

The sweet, sweet relief of clean and fresh and plentiful oxygen being drawn into his lungs really helped to clear Keith's mind. He hadn't expected Ezor to be on the Atlas now, along with a bunch of Galra runts. They'd all been rescued from an abandoned military academy on the frozen planet of Thoh while he and the others had been out searching for Honerva's robeasts. Mari, Acxa, and Veronica had promised them that they were on their side now and wouldn't cause any problems. Keith trusted their judgment enough to let the matter be.

Grimy and gross and wanting a shower, he laid in his med-bay bed, his limbs like jelly. The oxygen mask was still hooked to his face and the cooling patch on his raw throat soothed the irritated flesh to a pleasant numbness. In the nearby beds, the others conversed softly with their own visiting families and friends, frazzled from their ordeal on Fuigo.

"You smell like smoke," Mari noted, drawing his attention to her where she sat next to him. Then with a wry smile, she added, "And reckless hero."

Keith snorted, only to regret it as his throat flared with a fresh twinge of pain. He didn't think what he'd done was particularly heroic, especially considering Zethrid had been trying to murder them. His body had simply moved on its own, on paladin instinct to save a life, enemy or not.

Or maybe it was more than that. Zethrid had been misguided. She'd been hurting her whole life, ostracized and uncertain of her place in the universe. The one she loved the most, the one person who had accepted her and had been her solace, had left her. She was hurting, unsure of how to manage her anger and sorrow. She was just misunderstood. And like many of the other Galra in the universe, Keith was simply giving her another chance to start over, to make things right and find happiness in living the life she truly wanted.

He said nothing though, letting Mari hold his hand in her own. She soothingly rubbed her thumb over the back, rhythmic and gentle and warm against his skin. He let out a quiet breath and relaxed against the pillows, focusing on the comforting touch. He closed his eyes, unable to fight the encroach of sleep.

"I'm glad you're back," she whispered, giving his fingers a light squeeze.

Keith squeezed hers in reply. "Me too."

Honerva had put up a hell of a fight against Voltron and the Atlas. She'd torn her way through realities in search of her perfect one, only to be rejected and wind up in the strange realm that was the source of time and space itself. She had destroyed all other realities except for one, and now, they faced her in the heart of everything.

Home and hope for the future had never felt so far away before in this bright and blank place. Even if they did stop her here, there was only one reality to go back to. And the chances of it being their own were slim. Coran, Krolia, Matt, Acxa, the Blades, the rebels, their families, their homes…they'd all been destroyed by Honerva's selfish and merciless wrath.

Keith's anger flared and he struggled to stuff it down, very much aware of the mental connection he still shared with the others. He couldn't give in to the dread yet. He had to stay positive. He couldn't lose hope. He had to be patient and focus on the task in front of them, taking it one step at a time.

Always peace first before resorting to fighting.

They talked to Honerva, trying to get her to see reason.

Always give people the benefit of the doubt.

Honerva was in pain. She'd lost hope for the people of the universe, her perspective darkened by the violence of war and destruction. In all the lifetimes she'd lived, she couldn't find true peace and joy. She couldn't find her family, the one thing she truly wanted more than anything else.

Always help those in need, no matter how small or large their problems.

Allura reminded her of who she was, who her son was, how the two of them had once wanted nothing more than to preserve and cherish life. She reminded Honerva that she had once been a fiercely curious and caring woman. She reminded Honerva that there was more to life to love and enjoy.

Always consider the lives of your teammates and civilians before your own.

Allura held out a hand to Honerva. She asked her to help her fix this. To repair what had been lost. Keith couldn't imagine the details of how they would accomplish such a hefty task, but from the way Allura frowned, he had a feeling whatever she was planning wasn't good.

Always keep your guard up. Be careful who you trust.

Honerva agreed. She took Allura's hand, ready to start anew. Ready to give the universe a second chance.

And always, always be prepared for anything.

Allura and Honerva were going to sacrifice themselves, using what they'd learned in Oriande and the vast quintessence within themselves and Honerva's mech to restore all realities.

Keith was no stranger to changing plans, but he was not prepared for this. They were so close to the end. He was so sure all of them were going to come out of this alive. But now…this was happening. This new and abrupt curveball was flying straight towards them, and it was going to shatter their family. He couldn't lose someone important to him again. He had to stop this. But for once, he had no idea how he could. This was something that only Allura could do, and there was no deterring her from saving all realities, saving all of life itself.

Lance wasn't having it though.

"What?" He looked like his heart was being ripped right out of his chest, fear and agony etched into his expression. He shook his head, refusing to let her go. "No. No, no, you can't! What about us? What about our promise?"

"I'm sorry, Lance," Allura whispered, her eyes shimmering with sorrow. "But this is our only chance to undo what has been done, to save all of existence. …I have to take it. It is my purpose. Your paths go on. Mine ends here."

"But…But there is no Voltron without you," Hunk sniffled, the tears falling fast.

"Voltron isn't needed anymore," she said, standing before her Yellow Paladin. "The rest of the work is up to the people."

"And that is why we will be going in your stead."

Suddenly, a warm and golden light washed over the space. Black's roar rang in Keith's ears and the lions appeared before them, the five paladins of old standing at their feet. Queen Melenor, Allura's mother, was amongst them as well. Even Lotor was there, standing side by side with Zarkon.

"My son…" Honerva murmured.

"It's the original paladins!" Pidge exclaimed.

"And Lotor," Hunk squeaked, skeptically eyeing the Galra prince.

Keith stared at them, just as wary as he was surprised by their arrival. "What are they doing here?"

"We're in the consciousness of all existence. We're all connected here, with the lions and with the souls of the dead," Scarlett realized.

Allura blinked at her parents, swallowing back her confusion. "Father…What are you saying?"

Alfor's eyes crinkled as he looked at her. "I created the lions using the knowledge I gained from Oriande. And the quintessence within them has only grown stronger through the bond you share with your friends. I am so proud to have seen how much you've grown," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. He regarded the five lions looming over them, a sad but steadfast resolve in his expression. "But the universe no longer needs a power as great as Voltron's. I brought the lions into our world, but now it is time I use them to help restore what was lost. It is time for you, Allura, to finish what was started and unify our people, without the Voltron lions."

Allura looked at her father and then at the souls of his closest companions, each of them granting her an encouraging smile and nodding in agreement. She glanced at her own team, her fear and uncertainty wavering, before turning back to him. "Father…Mother…Everyone…"

"Our time is up in this world. It has been for a long while." Melenor smiled softly as she took Allura's hands in her own, giving them a gentle squeeze. "You do not need to needlessly sacrifice yourself. Live out the rest of your life, Allura. Be with your family."

"We will always be with you," Alfor assured her.

Allura's tears flowed, the light returning to her once despairing eyes as she embraced her parents. "Thank you," she whispered. "I love you both, so much."

Alfor and Melenor held her close, relishing their final moments with her. "Goodbye, Allura," they murmured.

They kissed her forehead before pulling away from her, permitting Allura to step back. Lance came to her side, slipping his hand into hers and holding it tight.

"You'll take care of her, won't you?" Alfor asked, addressing their group as a whole.

"We will," Lance spoke for all of them, sounding more certain of this than anything else. "Always."

Alfor smiled. "Thank you," he said, his fingers intertwining with Melenor's. Then turning to Honerva, he jerked his head towards Zarkon and the others. "Are you ready for another adventure, old friend?"

The tension left Honerva's shoulders and she smiled. "I am," she decided, and Zarkon and Lotor welcomed her with open arms.

Casting them one last look, Alfor and Melenor turned to join her and their friends. "Say hello to Coran for me, once you return," he called over his shoulder with a half-hearted chuckle. Then he and his companions entered the light, their forms dissolving.

The lions stood, their eyes bright as they locked gazes with their respective paladins. Keith glanced between Black and Red, caught in the yellow glow of their intelligent eyes. His heart ached as their growls rumbled in his mind, grateful. Protective. Loving.

Once again, the lions were saving him and the others. Voltron really was the key to saving the universe, to saving all of existence. He had so much to say, so many things to be thankful for, so much to reflect on. He'd only been a paladin for a few years, but that short time had changed his life forever, more than he ever could have imagined. And now it was coming to an end with the lions.

Goodbyes were so hard. But he had decided long ago that he would rather say goodbye than leave things left unsaid, emotions unshared and moments taken for granted.

He thanked Yellow for its sturdy spirit, for always protecting Hunk and holding up the rest of their team.

He thanked Green for its daring and curious heart, for connecting Pidge to the world around her.

He thanked Blue for finding him, for calling out to him in the desert when he'd been at his lowest point. For waiting so patiently for Lance to find it. For helping Allura discover her calling as the heart of Voltron.

He thanked Red for accepting him, for saving him so many times without question, for cherishing his life when he hadn't. For choosing Lance and boosting his confidence, bringing out his full potential as a pilot. For giving Keith the best right hand he could ever ask for.

Finally, Keith thanked Black for saving Shiro. For guiding him. For being patient with him. For helping him find himself. And most importantly, for believing in him when he hadn't believed in himself.

The lions purred, low and tender and warm, accepting the complex emotions churning within him. No words were spoken, but a wave of sensations and a proud and all too familiar energy washed over him in a symphony of triumphant roars.

Thank you for your hard work.

Thank you for your sacrifice.

Thank you for hearing us.

Thank you for bringing everyone together as a leader.

Thank you for being our precious paladin.

All these feelings and more surged through him, bringing him comfort in their unexpected farewell. They gently tugged at his soul, engraving themselves in his very being, a silent reassurance that their bond would remain, even after they were long gone. Keith's eyes stung, but the tears never fell. No matter how much time passed, he would always be a paladin. A cherished member of Voltron and a wonderful part of their strange lives, never to be forgotten.

Letting out one last roar, the five Voltron lions took to the air, flying in formation and leaving streaks of color in their wake as they followed after the souls of old into the light.

A beat of silence passed. Then two.

The core of existence suddenly shuddered, and with a deafening BOOM, countless strands of restored realities webbed out all around. Another flash of white engulfed them, and weightlessness overtook them as they were expelled from the source of everything.

Existence was getting another chance. They were getting another chance. Another chance at life and creating the peaceful future they had always wanted. Keith promised himself they would never take it for granted.

Chapter Text

Despite Honerva's defeat, their mission to bring peace and stability to the universe was far from over. The Voltron Coalition became the Galactic Coalition, led by Shiro and the representatives from each of their allied planets and territories. Hunk assisted in their negotiation meetings, cooking up delicious meals for warring groups to bond over. Allura, Coran, Romelle, and Lance had departed for new Altea, taking the rest of the Altean colony with them to begin rebuilding their civilization. Pidge, Scarlett, Mitsubishi, and the rest of the Holts returned to Earth to continue establishing the heart of the coalition and begin constructing the aircraft and vehicles for their projects: Vehicle Voltron and The Titan Class Initiative. And Mari, elected as one of Earth's representatives for the new coalition, kept herself busy traveling the universe with her team and bringing more people to their cause.

As for Keith, he had his own beast to conquer: determining what to do with the Galra Empire. With the help of Krolia and Kolivan, they had brought the remaining Galra back home to the newly returned Daibazaal and had begun rebuilding their cities. They wouldn't have to worry or fight over territory and resources any longer. They could leave behind the violent ways of Zarkon's reign. But there was still the problem of who to lead them. There was no more emperor or empress. No next in line for the throne. Many wondered if they should hold another Kral Zera to determine a new leader. Even more were looking to him for leadership, content with simply appointing him as their new sovereign.

New ruler. King. Emperor. The words the commanders threw around in their meetings made Keith's head spin. Being the leader of Voltron, of a team of five, was one thing. Being a monarch of an entire race, of an entire planet, was something completely different. That was way too much power. Way too much responsibility. Way too much pressure on his shoulders and too much spotlight in his eyes. As much as it honored (and surprised) him that the majority of the Galra trusted him and respected him enough to choose him for such a grand position, he couldn't accept it. Besides, the empire had ended. They didn't need a new emperor. And he had his own home to return to, his own goals for the future to follow through with.

On Feyiv, the sacred coronation grounds of the Galra, Keith met with the leaders of the Galra. Lotor's flame had long been snuffed, the ancient pyre forever to remain unlit. With Krolia, Kolivan, and Kosmo by his side, he stood on top of the steps and addressed them as a whole, broadcasting his decision back to the citizens of Daibazaal.

"With the return of Planet Daibazaal, the Galra Empire is at a crossroads," he began carefully, but more sure than ever of himself and the choice he'd made. "For too long, the people of this extraordinary civilization have been manipulated by a dictatorship that placed a misguided sense of self-preservation above all else. It was a tragic, unfortunate series of events that led us down this dark, never-ending path of power and greed. But now we, the citizens of the Galra Empire, have an opportunity to make right all of the injustices set into motion by our forefathers. With the sacrifice of Voltron, we have been given a second chance to come together in rebuilding the Galra Empire by joining the Galactic Coalition and ushering in a new era of peace across the universe."

To his relief, he wasn't met with fighting ex-warlords, commanders, and soldiers. No one tried to reach for the fire and charge up the steps to light the flame. Rather, they grinned, cheering and clapping and raising their fists in agreement. They were ready for peace, ready to move forward from their violent pasts and living each day in fear. Keith smiled, glad to see it.

"I propose an election on Daibazaal for the Galactic Coalition's Galran representatives," he continued once their hollers had died down. "Together we will right the wrongs of our past and bring unity to the Galra and all our allies across the universe."

Another round of fervent cheers ensured. Kolivan nodded in approval, and Krolia cast Keith a small smile, more than proud of the son who had changed and grown up so much right before her very eyes in just a few years. He hadn't given up on his people, refusing to choose one over the other. He was Galra just as much as he was an Earthling, and he wouldn't be abandoning either half of himself, no matter how horrible and cruel each race could be. Had been. He'd put them on the right path, on the road to achieving a shining future for all.

"I can't tell if you've become incredibly wise or have just gotten stupider," Immea hummed after his speech. She watched as the other commanders headed for their respective ships to return to Daibazaal. "To think you would decline ruling the all-powerful Galra."

Keith rolled his eyes at her. "Not like me being a king would make you listen to me, anyway," he replied dryly, and she smirked.

"But you would be a great king!" Penibrae, one of the young Thoh cadets and new Blade of Marmora recruits pouted at him, her arms crossed indignantly over her chest. "You could have made your human a queen."

"Ooh! Fancy! She'd look nice in a crown," Ezor beamed, leaning against Zethrid.

Keith didn't respond, watching as Zucksar, another ex-Thoh cadet and new Blade member, petted the now horse-sized Kosmo – it was almost scary how much the cosmic wolf had grown in the year since Honerva had been defeated. He tried to imagine it, Mari as an empress. For one, if he had become emperor, they'd have to get married for her to even be granted that title, and a relationship milestone as significant as marriage wasn't even on Keith's radar. She'd be tied down to one spot as a ruler, reigning over an alien people on an unfamiliar planet. She'd have to learn Galra customs, culture, and traditions, and perform in royal ceremonies. She'd have so many duties not even he could fathom, and he grimaced at the thought of it all.

"I don't think it would suit her," Acxa said finally, a sure frown tugging at her lips. She glanced at Keith, adding, "Neither does it suit you. You made the right choice."

He managed a smile, unable to agree with her more. "Thanks."

"So, if you won't take over the Galra, what will you do now?" Zethrid huffed.

"You're a pretty boy," Ezor drawled, a mischievous glint in her eye. "You could become a model! Veronica gave Acxa some neat magazines full of silly Earth stuff. She says the humans on the covers are 'attractive' by Earth standards, but you look waaay better than them."

"They all look ugly to me," Zethrid grumbled. "Humans are too small and scrawny."

"That's why we're going by Earth standards," Ezor reminded her. "Even if they are ridiculous and don't make any sense."

Keith was absolutely not going to model. His life as a paladin may have been over, but there was no way he was going to sit around and do nothing while there was still work to be done for the coalition. And he already had a few ideas brewing on what he could do next. With the end of the empire, the Blade of Marmora was no longer needed, at least not in the same way they had been operating. There would always be those in need throughout the universe…maybe the Blade could still help them. He'd consider it more after the election. But for now, he and Kosmo had somewhere to be.

"Right now, I'm going to Altea," he said. And with that, he excused himself to head to Coran's Celebration of Voltron, their first anniversary dinner of Voltron's sacrifice.

In the dim lighting of the second Castle of Lions' observation deck, Keith stared at his phone, the group photo Hunk had taken after dinner filling his screen. He'd sent the picture to each of them, a memento of their progress to cherish forever. Keith smiled and fondly ran his fingers over the display.

Beside him, Mari's foot tapped against his and he stashed the device, averting his gaze to her. She was watching him carefully, her short hair a dark and unkept halo around her head. They were sprawled out on the floor on top of a pile of blankets and pillows they'd placed next to the window, watching the sparkling scenery of Altea's starry night sky while Kosmo dozed behind them.

"Whatcha thinking about?" she asked, her voice just soft enough not to disturb the quiet atmosphere between them.

"Nothing," he said. "Just thinking I want to print out that picture next time we're on Earth."

"You never did like digital stuff," she mused.

"I like the physical stuff. It feels more real when it's on paper and I can hold it in my hand."

His fingers intertwined with hers and she smiled. They laid in silence for another long moment, content just to be in each other's company. She absentmindedly played with his hand, gently tracing his fingers and going over every callus, scar, and line. Her touch was soft and soothing, her skin warm against his, and the heat rose in Keith's chest.

Mari sighed. "Is it weird if I'm nervous about tomorrow?" she wondered finally.

Keith almost chuckled at that. "Why are you nervous?" he asked, casting her a small smirk. "You're not the one being crowned the queen of an entire planet."

"I know, but it's just…I've never been to a celebration as grand as a coronation." She kneaded his hand, taking her nerves out on him. "Allura becoming a queen is gonna be a big change. I feel like after this, it's just gonna be harder and harder for all of us to see each other again."

Keith couldn't disagree with her there. Shiro was busy leading the coalition and captaining the Atlas. Hunk was building the foundation for his own culinary empire. Allura would be a queen to her people, with Coran working right by her side as her advisor. Pidge was an engineer for the Garrison while Scarlett was inventing for their cause. Lance was helping with his family's farm, speaking for the coalition and spreading their message, and he was spending more and more time with the princess on Altea, preparing to establish a Galaxy Garrison base and program for aspiring Altean cadets. Mari was one of Earth's representatives, traveling all over the place for conferences and negotiations. And Keith was still busy handling things with the Blade of Marmora and the Galra on Daibazaal.

Now that Voltron was gone, now that the paladins were no longer needed in the same way, their connected path in life had already started to split. They were no longer traveling together, no longer working towards a unified goal as simple as defeating Zarkon. So much had changed. They had changed. But Keith supposed this was all a part of growing up, an unavoidable truth of life.

Nothing was meant to stay the same.

But it was just as Coran had said earlier after dinner: no matter how their paths changed, no matter what the future had in store for them, the nine of them would always be family. No matter how much time passed, no matter how great the distances between them, nothing could ever change that fact.

"We'll be okay," Keith said, giving her hand an encouraging squeeze. "We always are."

She hummed, unable to dispute him. Another minute of comfortable silence passed before she said with a wry grin, "Guess I should be glad you're not becoming the Emperor of Daibazaal. I don't know how I would've handled that."

Keith cracked a smile. "Me neither."

"Oh, but you'd go down so wonderfully in intergalactic history," she drawled with a dramatic flourish of her hand, and he rolled his eyes. "You'd be a paladin, a great savior and peacemaker of the universe, and a mighty Galra emperor from the nowhere planet of Earth. How crazy would that be?"

Keith snorted at how ridiculous it all sounded, and he nudged her. She laughed, nudging him back, the delightful sound of her giggles filling the air and making his core burn even hotter. She sighed, relaxing back into the cushions again.

"I still don't know if you could pull off the purple, though," she added as a final tease, only to squeak as he suddenly rolled over.

Placing his hands on the floor on either side of her head, he hovered over her, trapping her against the mess of pillows and blankets at her back. She froze, their noses just inches apart and his bangs threatening to tickle her forehead. Keith's heart was hammering inside his chest, the heat expanding and moving to every inch of his body.

"I think I can handle it just fine," he murmured with absolute certainty, and her cheeks instantly reddened.

She tentatively lifted a hand to his face, cupping his cheek in her palm. Her thumb moved across his scar, impossibly tender and oddly stimulating as she drew small circles. Keith leaned closer, pressing against her and letting her bring his face down closer to hers. Just as the soft and energized flesh of their lips brushed against each other, Kosmo stirred and the door to the observation deck opened with an infuriating SWISH.

Keith practically threw himself off Mari just as she shoved him over, the two of them struggling to regain their composures. Faces scorching and hearts racing, they turned to face whoever had come here this late at night.

Decked out in their pajamas, Lance stood in the doorway with Allura, pillows and blankets clutched in their arms and their expressions scrunched up in mortification. Pidge, Hunk, Scarlett, and Shiro waited behind them, ignorant of the scene the other two had stumbled upon.

"What the quiznak! Why do I always gotta find you two canoodling?" Lance hissed, marching right up to them. "There are other spots on the Castle, why do you have to hog this space?"

Mari huffed, her brow furrowing at him. "Why do you always gotta ruin the moment?" she grumbled, indignantly crossing her arms over her chest.

"This isn't your castle, Lance," Keith scowled as he plopped his stuff down next to them.

"Not yet, at least," Pidge muttered and Scarlett wiggled her eyebrows at the blushing princess who refused to make eye contact.

"Yeah? Well, it's not yours either, Mullet," Lance fired back, reclining across his body pillow.

Keith sighed heavily as the others followed suit, making themselves comfortable. So much for having a private moment. They all stared out the window, the awkward air gradually clearing.

"So, what made the rest of you guys come here?" Mari asked, unamused.

Allura shifted, restless as she frowned at the ceiling. "I cannot sleep, I'm afraid," she admitted.

"Me neither," Hunk piped up.

"Same here," Pidge agreed, and Scarlett nodded.

"Tomorrow's a big day," Shiro pointed out, giving them a helpless smile. "It's normal to be anxious."

"Yeah! And what better way to ease the nerves than having a slumber party?" Lance grinned. "It's been forever since we had one like this."

Pidge folded her hands over her stomach and crossed her legs at the ankle. "You remember the first time we had one? We were so exhausted after taking the Castle back from Sendak, we sorta just passed out here," she recalled with a fond smile.

"Yeah, you guys had it without me," Lance noted flatly.

"Hey, we included you in the next one," she shrugged, unbothered. "That was when we had Mari's intervention."

Mari dragged a hand down her face, her embarrassment flaring. "Ugh, don't remind me of that," she groaned.

"Ha ha! We were all still so green around the edges back then," Hunk chuckled. "Do you still have that stone? The, uh…Geez, what was it called…The Puta – The Petra – …The Peterram Crystal?"

"Putaverunt," she corrected him. "I do. It's sitting on my dresser back home."

"Wow. Such a place of honor for such a cherished relic," Scarlett huffed and shook her head in disappointment.

Mari rolled her eyes. "I remember when we first found out you could read minds," she said, smoothly changing the subject away from her. "You were such a little gremlin back then."

"Oh my gosh, that was so freaky!" Lance shivered and hugged his arms at the memories, eliciting an innocent grin from the Utearen. "You almost outed my crush on Allura, like, a million times."

"And yet you still took forever to confess your feelings to her," Keith muttered, and Lance made a miffed sound in the back of his throat.

"It's alright," Allura chimed in, coming to his defense. "Lance was very silly back then. I couldn't see him for who he truly was under his mask of bravado. I wouldn't have taken him seriously if he had tried courting me earlier." She paused, her smile fading. "But, he's not the only one to blame. I was scared to give him a chance, even though I realized how wonderful he is. We were so different…I was scared to admit that I was falling in love with him."

Lance gingerly took her hand in his in an unspoken understanding. Her eyes brightened and she held him tight, her joy and warmth returning. "But I'm so glad that I did," she continued, an unmistakable sincerity overflowing in her words. "I'm happy, more than I've ever been in a very long time. I'm so glad to have met you all. I cherish the time we spend together."

The others smiled in agreement. A beat of silence passed before Shiro spoke up again.

"You've all come a long way," he reflected, quiet and content. "Even through the darkest moments, none of you ever gave up hope. None of you lost sight of what was really important. …I couldn't have asked for a better team."

He took in each and every one of them, the light in his gaze thoughtful and proud and nostalgic. He'd watched all of them grow up, had watched all of them change into better people, into the individuals they were today. And in turn, they had gotten to experience and learn from his never ending patience and kindness and guidance. They supported him just as he supported them.

"We couldn't have asked for a better leader," Keith said, and the others nodded, inching closer to reward Shiro with dazzling grins. "We couldn't have done any of it without you, Shiro."

Shiro looked at him, surprised. Then he let out a startled "Oof!" as Pidge glomped him, prompting Hunk and then the rest of them to envelop him in a giant bear hug. Shiro blinked, the controlled mask he often wore falling as the tears pricked. He smiled, accepting the warmth of their embrace and all their unbridled appreciation. He loved his family, and they so dearly loved him.

"Thank you," he whispered, more grateful than words alone could ever express.

As they all pulled apart, Keith leaned back against the pillows, his attention drifting to the stars and the city lights outside. A new chapter of their lives began tomorrow. And an unending series of new beginnings would only follow.

Chapter Text

With Krolia and Kolivan having been elected as the Galran representatives for the Galactic Coalition, Keith had been more than happy to take over as the leader of the Blade of Marmora. And in the couple years that had passed since Allura's coronation, he'd transitioned the rebel group to a humanitarian relief organization. The war had ended, and it was time for the countless residents of the universe to heal and live the peaceful lives they had been deprived of for ten thousand years.

"Still so stubborn and selfless," Mari had noted.

"Just like his father," Krolia had added, the two of them smiling.

Like father, like son. Keith couldn't disagree with them there. He was always busy traveling to and fro across the universe, determined to help as many planets in need as he could. It could be dangerous work, and the challenges he faced weren't always as easy as fighting a fleet of enemy ships and near-immortal emperors. But the work was worth it. If it meant he could extend a helping hand to just one more person, to just one more innocent and helpless and lonely child, then it was worth the risks.

Besides, he was never working alone. Acxa, Ezor, and Zethrid always had his back, as well as the many other Blades, Galra and alien alike, who had joined their cause. They were always well-prepared and well-trained to handle every sort of situation they faced in the field, largely thanks to Immea. She had taken over Zarkon's massive central command ship, left abandoned after Lotor's fall, and had turned it into a training facility, supply hub, and temporary refugee camp (when needed) for the Blade. Their headquarters, of course, had been constructed on Daibazaal, where Keith often managed their missions and Krolia and Kolivan coordinated with their Galactic Coalition allies.

In between all the Blade projects, he did manage to go home whenever he could. When home wasn't on Daibazaal, it was on Earth, in one of the Garrison's on-campus living units. He'd moved in with Mari months ago when she'd asked, her not wanting to live in her parents' house or in the dorms and him not wanting to live in the shack in the desert by himself. It was a quaint living space, very close to work. It was private and perfect for just the two of them, although Kosmo was so big now, he'd been forced to take up residency in the garage with their bikes.

Nevertheless, life was good. And now, back home again for a month-long vacation Acxa had partially forced him to take, Keith could finally relax for a little bit…

…Yeah, right.

Shiro was getting married in a few days. He'd asked Keith to be his best man months and months ago. And he was still reeling about it.

He'd never gone to a wedding before, let alone participate in one. Thankfully, Shiro and Curtis had wanted a smaller ceremony, something simple near the beach. And even more thankfully, Matt and Lance and Hunk had been more than willing to assist as fellow groomsmen, the latter two far more experienced with these sorts of things after having attended their siblings' weddings. They helped Keith write his speech and throw the bachelor party (Lance mostly did that). Then Pidge and Allura and Scarlett had stepped forward with ideas on attire, their group ultimately deciding on white tuxedos and colored vests (because the wedding party HAD to be color-coded, according to Pidge).

Still, despite how prepared he was, Keith couldn't help it as his nerves flared. He paced back and forth in the living room, reciting the speech he'd written over and over inside his head, committing it even deeper to memory. He couldn't mess up Shiro's big day, he absolutely would not screw this up.

"You're going to wear a hole in the floor at this rate," Mari said, relatively unbothered as she watched him. She sat on the couch with Kosmo curled up on the floor at her feet, her laptop open in front of her. She was a maid of honor along with Pidge, Allura, and Scarlett, but she had opted out of the speech-giving, leaving that hard task up to him to complete.

"Are you sure it sounds alright?" he asked, having already practiced it in front of her at least a dozen times.

She nodded, endlessly patient with him about this. "Yes. It's perfectly fine," she replied for the dozenth time. "It's very sweet and thoughtfully written. They'll love it." She paused before snapping her laptop shut and setting it on the coffee table. "Come here, hothead," she said, encouragingly patting the cushions. "Relax a little."

He sighed, relenting and bringing his restless walk to a stop. He plopped down on the seat next to her, trying to forget about the speech for now as she cuddled up next to him. She rested her head on his shoulder and he pressed his cheek onto the top of her soft hair, soaking in her warmth and comforting presence. Several peaceful minutes of silence ticked by, his heart and thoughts gradually calming.

"Who was supposed to be the best man for Shiro and Adam's wedding?" he asked finally.

Ever since Shiro had asked him to be his best man, Keith had wondered who had been the original. There was no way he had been the first choice back then, right? He couldn't imagine Shiro asking him, an unruly, hot-tempered, Garrison cadet at the time, to fill that important role. Maybe it had been Matt. Or Sam. Heck, maybe even Iverson.

"They never got to choose one," Mari answered, shutting down that mystery and all his theories. "They didn't get too far into planning when the Kerberos mission was assigned and they broke up."

"Oh."

She smiled at him. "He couldn't have chosen a better person for the job now, though."

Keith smiled back at her. "Hm," he hummed, neither agreeing or disagreeing as he brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

Another comfortable beat of silence passed before Mari spoke again.

"I remember my mom got so mad after their engagement was canceled. She'd been looking forward to the wedding." A bitter sort of laugh escaped her lips, her brow furrowed as she recalled the past. "Sometimes I think the real reason she initially wanted Takashi off the Kerberos mission was because she wanted him and Adam to get back together and get hitched, not because he was sick."

In the last few years, Keith had gotten more acquainted with Mai Shirogane. From attending family dinners and events, he had garnered a better understanding of her character and why her daughter had such a difficult time getting along with her. He would never know Mai like Mari and Shiro did, but from what he had noticed about her, it was undeniable that she was uptight. Narcissistic. A perfectionist. Over-protective. Especially when it came to her two children. Maybe Keith was being too judgmental, but he wouldn't put it past her to have once cherished attending a grand wedding for her son more than his dreams and personal health.

"How is your mom about all this, by the way?" Keith wondered cautiously, already braced for her response.

Mari sighed, heavy and annoyed just having to think about it. "She was originally still trying to micromanage everything. The venue, the menu, the music, the dancing, the schedule…she was looking for a say in all of it," she said, listing them off on her fingers. "Takashi finally got her to stop when he said she could sing one song at the reception."

Keith grimaced. At least Mai Shirogane was a splendid singer, he'd give her that. "Fun."

"I know she's just excited. It's her first kid, finally getting married. But it's still so aggravating with her," she huffed, crossing her arms and pouting. "I hope she doesn't do that for my wedding."

Keith stiffened, his heart nearly stuttering to a halt. "...Your wedding?" he repeated, raising a brow at her.

Mari glanced up at him, a hint of embarrassment flashing in her brilliant eyes as she registered her slip of tongue. "I mean, if I get married someday," she smoothly clarified, but there was no missing the forced nonchalance in her voice.

Keith smirked, struggling to maintain his cool as his heart raced and the heat in his chest burned hotter by the second. "Bold of you to assume I'm gonna propose to you someday."

She cast him a smirk with just as much smug amusement. "Bold of you to assume you'd be the one I'd get married to."

Keith stifled a chuckle. "We'll see about that," he murmured.

"How do I look?"

Keith looked Shiro up and down, taking in his pristine white tux and crisp black vest and tie. Not a thread was out of place and not a wrinkle or stain was to be seen. And somewhere else within the venue, Curtis was putting on one just like it. Despite the joyous light in his eyes and his confident stance, Shiro's prosthetic arm quivered ever so slightly at his side as he awaited his best man's answer.
"You look great," Keith assured him without even a hint of doubt.

Shiro glanced at himself in the mirror again. "Really? The tie's not crooked or anything?" he wondered, straightening it unnecessarily.

Keith nodded. "I'm positive." When Shiro didn't stop frowning at his reflection, he said, "I don't think I've ever seen you this nervous before."

"Can't get anything past you," he chuckled, staring at Keith through the glass. "I never thought I'd reach this day. But now that it's here, it…it feels a little surreal. Like – Like I'm still stuck in the Black Lion's consciousness and this is only a dream."

He let out a shaky sigh. Without a word, Keith placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, a silent reminder that he was here and Shiro was no longer trapped in that dark and lonely landscape. This was the physical world, and Shiro wouldn't be snatched away from it anytime soon. He'd left the war a long time ago. Nothing but peace and good things were ahead of him now, Keith could feel it.

Shiro's attention flicked to Keith again. He inhaled and exhaled deeply, grounding himself and clearing the dark and swirling thoughts before they could overwhelm him.

"But it is real. I'm here and this is finally happening," he said, the steadfast certainty in his gaze returning. Turning away from the mirror, he faced Keith with a grin, the familiar warmth in his expression bright and inextinguishable. "Thank you, Keith, for always being there for me. I couldn't have made it this far without you."

Keith smiled, his own emotions swelling and threatening to get the better of him. "I should be the one saying that to you," he said, and Shiro gave him a helpless smile in turn.

A light knock on the door interrupted them, followed by Mai Shirogane peeking her head inside. Her cheeks were rosy with a giddy elation as she beamed at her son. "It's time, Takashi," she announced, her voice filled with excitement. "Everyone's waiting."

This was it. Time for this wedding to really begin. "You ready?" Keith asked, throwing Shiro one last encouraging look.

Shiro took another steadying breath. Then he grinned and nodded, the sparkling joy in his eyes lighting up his features. "Let's do this."

The ceremony had been short and sweet and heartfelt, just as Shiro and Curtis had wanted. Washed in the golden light of the setting sun with the rush of the ocean right next to them, they had exchanged their vows. With two happy lives now bonded as one, the Shirogane Family was now one member larger.

The real fun began afterwards during the reception. The venue was right on the beach, hardly a minute's walk away. Family and friends gathered and were seated in the dining hall, eagerly chatting with one another and exchanging words of congratulations as the two grooms milled about to greet their guests. Curtis was practically glowing, beaming from ear to ear and radiating an infectious joy. He was hardly able to take his eyes off Shiro, who was relaxed and smiling just as openly. His mask of serious and calm leader had fallen away for this special day amongst loved ones, able to truly be himself without judgment. Keith was glad to see them so happy.

Dinner and the wedding cake had been made by Hunk and his team of culinary geniuses. He'd almost insisted upon it, actually, and of course Shiro and Curtis had agreed. He'd taken everyone's taste preferences and dietary restrictions into consideration, carefully putting together a spread that was mouthwateringly delightful.

After everyone had their fill of food, the moment Keith had spent so long preparing for came: the best-man speech and toast. Lance threw him an encouraging grin and Mari gave him a reassuring squeeze of the hand before he stood in front of the guests, mic in hand. A hush fell over the hall, all eyes on him as they awaited his words. Taking a deep breath, Keith began.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Keith Kogane, Shiro's best man." He stopped as several exclamations of greeting were vocalized, followed by a few whistles and claps. He stifled the urge to roll his eyes at the interruption before proceeding.

"Shiro and I have known each other since his piloting days. He was my mentor at the Galaxy Garrison. He's my best friend. And he's my brother." His attention pulled away from the masses, turning to Shiro and Curtis now. "Shiro…you believed in me when no one else would. You were there for me when I had no one. You were willing to help a reckless kid who went so far as to steal your car the first time we met. It still shocks me that you did that."

A wave of good-natured laughs washed over the room. Shiro chuckled at the memory, and a smile of his own pulled up the corners of Keith's lips. "But despite such an odd first impression, you stuck by me and took me under your wing anyway," he continued. "You reached out your hand to me, someone you knew nothing about, and you gave me a future. I will never forget that gentle patience you first showed me. I can't explain enough in words how grateful I am for all you've done in my life. And I can't express how glad I am that you've finally found joy and peace in yours."

Keith paused again, steadying himself as he looked to Curtis next. "Curtis, over the few years we've gotten to know each other, I've seen just how much you love Shiro. You're supportive and endlessly patient and kind. You know exactly how stubborn he can be, when he's hurting and how to comfort him, and when to stop him from pushing past his limits. I know you'll take care of him, just as he'll take care of you. Thank you for being a part of his life. And thank you for being a part of the happiness he's finally found." Taking his glass, he raised it to the grooms. "Welcome to our weird little space family. Congratulations to the both of you."

Shiro blinked, his eyes bright with tears, but he was grinning, honest and pure as the emotions built. Curtis was already wiping his own tears away as he lifted his cup. A symphony of "Cheers!" and the clinking of crystal echoed across the room. The second Keith set down his glass after taking a sip, Shiro stood and drew him into a tight embrace. No words passed between them. Nothing more needed to be said. A lifetime's worth of trust, love, and understanding had already been exchanged between them in a million different ways over the years through their words and actions. Such cherished things in their relationship would only continue to grow as their lives went on, and for that, Keith couldn't be more thankful.

With the rest of the speeches given and Mai Shirogane having sung especially for her son and new son-in-law, the evening came to a close with dancing. Leaning against the railing of the veranda with the scenery of the night beach and all the twinkling stars in the sky at his back, Keith watched through the open doors as the guests jammed out to a playlist of party favorites. He smiled as Shiro and Curtis laughed, pure joy in their hearts as they spun each other around without a care in the world.

"It's a nice way to end the night."

Keith's gaze flicked to Mari as she stepped out to join him. Almost slumping against the railing, she inhaled deeply, taking in the fresh air and cooling down after escaping the heat of the dance floor. Her cheeks were flushed and her hair was disheveled in several places, but a smile played on her lips nonetheless.

"Still not much of a dancer, I see," she noted, not missing how he'd fled outside the moment Shiro and Curtis' first dance had ended. "But I guess neither am I."

Keith hummed. From the safety of the sidelines, he'd watched her dance with her parents, Curtis, and Shiro several times out of obligation. He thought she'd moved quite well in time with the music and her partners – she'd looked just as nimble and graceful and beautiful as when she was cutting down enemies with her staff. But her face had been pinched with a just barely concealed embarrassment throughout it all, and it was as clear as day to him how awkward and uncomfortable she had felt putting on such a display in front of so many watchful eyes.

"Still too many people watching and not the right type of music," he replied finally with a shrug.

"Aw, even though you have someone to dance with and we're relatively alone now?" she wondered jokingly. "I've been swung around all night, what's waltzing with just one more person?"

Keith cast her a smirk. "I think I'll spare you."

"Maybe next time, then," she said with a coy grin.

"Maybe. When we're actually alone and the music's right."

A comfortable silence settled over them as they continued to watch the guests, the only sounds the din of the music and the crashing of waves against the shore. A warm breeze tickled their skin and blew through their hair, bringing the salty taste of the ocean with it. Keith sighed, feeling lighter and more content than he had been in months. He reached up and tugged at his collar, loosening it with another unfastening of a button. He'd already removed and pocketed his red bowtie, fed up with how constraining the thing felt.

"Your speech was great. I told you they'd love it," Mari said after a moment. "You look very handsome in your tux, by the way."

She was looking at him now, those dazzling eyes of hers ever ablaze and nearly making his heart skip a beat. The golden lights of the venue were reflected in their glassy surfaces, like cosmic dust or hot coals had been trapped within and were making them glow even brighter.

"So do you." Keith paused, the warmth in his chest expanding as he looked her over head to toe. "Glad you got out of wearing a dress?"

She chuckled. "Very much."

Another beat of silence. She sighed, tired but not unhappy as she turned away from the venue hall. Clasping her hands together, she faced the ocean and leaned against the railing, looking out into the inky darkness of the horizon.

"Let's see…the next wedding is Jia's and Maggie's," she recalled, almost to herself. "And then there's Allura's and Lance's."

"That's gonna be a big production," Keith noted dryly.

Lance and Allura had gotten engaged a few months ago and would be tying the knot next year. And if his excited ramblings over the last couple months were any indication, Lance lived for the idea of a perfect wedding. He'd already brainstormed a bunch of ideas, enough so that Keith could practically imagine it now: the main hall of the Castle of Lions decorated to the nines, elegant gowns and garments adorning every guest, swanky drinks and food, and ballroom-esque music and dancing. All of Altea would be celebrating the union of their beloved queen and their famous Garrison pilot and instructor.

"Think they'll have a parade?" Keith wondered.

"Wouldn't that be lavish," Mari snorted. "Allura's gonna have her hands full reeling in Coran and Lance from going overboard with the planning."

Keith crossed his arms, feeling a twinge of pity for the ever-busy Queen of Altea. "I still can't believe Lance is gonna become a prince," he said, watching in amusement as the engaged couple in question glided across the dance floor inside.

Mari grimaced. "Think we're gonna have to start calling him 'Your Highness'?"

"I hope not," he groaned. "Like his ego needs any more inflating."

She laughed at that, unable to argue with him there. She spun on her heel, facing the warmth of the party again and folding her arms over her chest. Her gaze was nostalgic, the smile on her face relaxed as the evening came to a close. She observed the gleeful partygoers for a long minute, her eyes following Shiro and Curtis in particular around the room.

"You know, for my first wedding, this was actually kinda fun," she admitted, her voice soft and honest in the serene atmosphere between them. "Everyone's so happy and carefree…It was nice just forgetting about work for the day."

Keith nodded. He couldn't agree more. It had been chaotic and stressful at first with all the planning, but in the end, it was all worth it. He'd do it all over again if he had to, if it meant Shiro would be happy. If it meant they all would be happy. Now that they had a future, new adventures to look forward to as they all grew and changed, it made celebrating moments like this all the more special.

This really was a good start to a new chapter of their lives.

Chapter Text

Taiki Shirogane was a quiet and kind man. He was also stubborn and deadly efficient when it came to his work, and it was then that Keith realized where Shiro and Mari had gotten their diligent and selfless attitudes from. Despite his age and bad leg, Taiki showed up each day on site, determined to see their project through to the end. Of course, Keith was right there with him, helping out where he could.

He was finally doing it. He had settled all the necessary contracts and had made all the necessary preparations. With Taiki overseeing the project, the last one he would be taking on before he retired, the construction of the new house was well underway.

The rebuild went startlingly fast. Thanks to the once alien tech that was now well integrated into Earth machinery and thanks to the help of many inhumanly skilled construction workers, it only took several months for the project to be completed. It almost didn't seem real to Keith, watching as his childhood home was reconstructed piece by piece right before his eyes. In no time, it was the final day. The place he had longed to return to with his dad was now finally standing before him, finished.

"How's she look?" Taiki asked, leaning against the open front door frame of the house. The morning rays streamed freely through the entrance and windows, already warming up the air in the rooms. They'd have to turn on the air conditioning soon lest they be baked alive.

Keith stood in the center of what had been and would be the living room. He took in all the walls and floors, their materials brand new. Everything was bare, not a single piece of furniture or decor in sight. But even with all its emptiness, he could see his old home in the identical layout and structures.

"Everything looks…exactly the same," he said, his heart clenching with the long-missed familiarity of it all.

Krolia fondly ran her hand along the fireplace mantel. "Well, almost exactly," she decided, her fingers coming back free of the dust and splinters that had adorned the original.

She was right. With the brand new and longer-lasting materials, this house would never be the same one that had been in the Kogane Family for generations. No matter how similar it looked, it would never have those ancient scratches and stains, dents and bumps. But their loss was the price to pay for a safer, more comfortable home. And Keith was more than happy with the final outcome.

"It's still missing that lived-in character that comes with old houses," Taiki admitted with a helpless shrug, unable to dispute her. Then looking at Keith, he added, "But that's the fun of breaking in a new place. I'll leave it up to you to give it some new character."

Keith nodded in agreement, more than sure that he wouldn't be doing it alone either. "Thank you for all your help, sir," he said, moving towards Taiki and holding out an appreciative hand to him. "This means a lot to me."

Taiki warmly took it, giving it a gentle shake. "It was my pleasure, Keith," he replied softly. His dark gray eyes were tired, but full of an understanding light. A knowing gleam flashed in them as he said, "I'm excited to see this place turn into a real home for you."

Keith's smile widened, his nerves flaring a bit at the sight of that encouraging glint. Over the past few months during the construction, they'd had many long conversations about certain things coming in the near future. And that thing had been sitting in his pocket for even longer, right next to Danua's little rock. Even now, he had it on him, ready and waiting for the right moment to be popped out to a certain someone.

"I am too," he said just as the screeching of tires sounded outside.

Taiki chuckled. "Sounds like the move-in party is here earlier than expected."

Moving to the porch and standing next to where Kosmo was sprawled out, they watched as two Garrison vehicles pulled to a halt in front of the house. Detachable cargo trailers had been hooked up to their rears, and the clouds of stirred-up dust were already settling behind them. Several familiar forms emerged from the cars, each one with varying levels of enthusiasm.

"Geez, Pidge," Lance groaned, massaging his temples. He'd donned casual Earth garb today, yet he still wore the shiny Altean circlet that announced his princely-hood. "You can't call me a reckless pilot when you drive like that."

Coran sighed with relief, bending over on wobbly legs. "Oh, thank the ancients Allura rode with Shiro," he wheezed.

Hunk clutched his stomach, his face looking green around the edges. "I think I would've preferred Chip to drive us here," he nodded weakly.

Pidge looked like she wanted to strangle them. "Oh, shut up, it wasn't that bad," she snapped, pushing her glasses further up the bridge of her nose. "If Chip wasn't helping Matt upgrade the Garrison's satellite systems today, I would've made him play chauffeur."

"Wow. What a wonderful mother you are to him," Scarlett drawled as she and then Mitsubishi hopped out of the second vehicle. Mari was quick to follow while Shiro helped Allura to disembark.

"Ha ha! Whoa! It's so weird seeing a house here!" His queasiness gone in a flash, Hunk beamed as he glanced between the little shack and the new building next to it. "Man, it feels like it's been forever since we were last here."

"Yeah, not since we rescued Shiro and found the Blue Lion," Pidge said, a small smirk tugging at her lips as her gaze landed on the red hoverbike parked outside.

Their group of new arrivals stepped onto the porch, joining Keith, Krolia, and Taiki as they entered the house. Lance whistled, a grin stretching out across his face as he stood in the center of the empty living room.

"Whoo! This place looks nice!" He placed his hands on his hips, his eyes sweeping over the space. "I mean, it's nothing compared to a castle. But this fits your rugged, lone wolf style. Could totally see you as a cowboy out here. If you ever decide to start up a ranch like your ancestors, I can hook you up with some livestock."

Keith rolled his eyes. "Thanks, but I'll leave the farming stuff to you."

"I quite like it," Allura chimed in, her eyes sparkling in the morning light as she took in the humble abode. "It's wonderful that you rebuilt such an important part of your family's history."

"You guys did a great job," Shiro said, casting his dad and Keith a congratulatory nod.

"Yeah," Keith agreed, his smile returning as Mari sidled up next to him. She slipped her hand into his and he gave it a small squeeze. "It was worth the long wait."

Mari hummed, quiet for a moment as she regarded the unfurnished room. "So, what's the first thing on the agenda for spiffing this place up?" she wondered.

The others turned to him, waiting for his orders. Now that the house was complete, the next daunting task awaited him: actually moving in. Keith took a steadying breath, ready to get this done and over with.

"My dad put most of our stuff from the old house in a storage unit downtown," he explained. "We'll see what's salvageable and go from there."

After taking Taiki back home, the rest of their move-in crew tackled the storage unit. Old furniture, appliances, and boxes of miscellaneous home goods were stacked from front to back inside, having been left untouched for years. It would've taken Keith weeks to go through it all and take it back home. But thankfully, with the others here, hopefully they could get it done in just a few days.

Hour after hour ticked by as they gradually began to load up the cargo trailers and empty the unit. Two additional piles were created as well: one for trash and the other for items to donate to charity and the Plaht City community center. Dust filled the air and sneezes ensued. Accidents happened and a few things wound up broken and chucked. But despite the hiccups, Keith found the whole process admittedly enjoyable. It was a relief finally clearing out the place, a weight several long years in the making finally lifting off his shoulders as he got to return everything back to where it belonged.

"Are you sure you've got it?" Lance was once again hovering over Allura as she easily lifted an armchair that had been covered with a sheet. "Hunk and I can carry that for you."

Allura frowned, her patience thinning. He'd been fretting over her ever since they'd opened the storage unit and had begun moving things. "I am fine, Lance," she assured him for what was probably the hundredth time. "You don't need to worry so much. I am quite capable of carrying things on my own."

She moved towards the exit and he was quick to follow. "I-I know," he stammered, no doubt sensing her irritation as he restlessly rubbed the back of his neck. "But…I just don't want you to accidentally hurt yourself."

Allura grunted as she set down the chair in one of the trailers. "Lance, that is very sweet of you," she began, granting him a small smile. "But I'm pregnant. Not completely helpless. I can handle this much."

"She's right, Lance," Coran piped up, swiftly loading another armchair. "I've told you, Altean bodies are much sturdier than a human's, especially during pregnancy. And Allura has much more stamina and strength than most Alteans." He paused, casting her a worried look before adding, "Still, be careful not to overexert yourself, Your Majesty."

Allura huffed, her annoyance returning. "I'll be fine," she insisted, marching past them to grab another item to load. "You two worry too much."

Coran hurried after her, but dared not question or lecture her again. Lance's brow remained pinched with worry, looking like he wanted to argue. But he said nothing, settling for casting her quick glances every few minutes while he moved on to his next task. Hunk patted his shoulder sympathetically and the others exchanged helpless smiles.

Lance, the big family man, was understandably nervous. Not only for Allura, the love of his life and his most precious person, but for the new life they had created that she now carried. They would be their first child, the first prince or princess of new Altea. They would be the next heir to the Altean throne, the first one to have been born in over ten thousand years. Suffice it to say, all of Altea was overjoyed and excited for their queen, almost to the point where all of their eager and overprotective attention was becoming rather smothering to Allura. She'd practically jumped at the opportunity to escape to Earth for a few days when Keith had mentioned he'd need help moving in.

"The Space Family keeps growing," Mitsubishi stated, his hair a mellow yellow as he watched Allura pluck up an end table and carry it out. "I wonder if they'll be a boy or a girl."

Scarlett shrugged. "Either way, let's just hope for the sake of Altea, they take after Allura instead of Lance."

"Hey!" Lance shrilled, his worry twisting into indignation. "I am a great leader, for your information!"

When Scarlett raised a doubtful brow, Coran came to his defense. "Lance has actually become quite knowledgeable about the Altean culture and lifestyle ever since Altea's return. Naturally, he's our best pilot too," he provided, pinching his mustache with pride. "I must say, even I'm impressed. If I didn't know any better, I would think he was born and raised on Altea."

Allura nodded in agreement. "Sometimes even I half expect his ears to point and for markings to appear on his face one day," she teased.

Lance scowled at her, self-consciously brushing his fingers against his rounded ears as if to make sure they hadn't suddenly transformed. Allura chuckled and tenderly patted his cheek. "The people love him," she assured them with a smile. "They find his charismatic attitude and knowledge of Earth very fun and refreshing. Lance is a much loved ruler and teacher to our people."

Lance's expression softened as he looked at her, the confident light returning to his gaze. "Thank you, Allura," he murmured, and their Quintessence Rings seemed to glow brighter the longer they stared lovingly at one another.

Pidge rolled her eyes and stifled a gag before turning away from the lovey-dovey scene. "But the planet would still totally fall apart without you, Allura," she said, and Allura's grin widened.

"Oh, absolutely," she agreed without even a hint of hesitation.

Lance pouted. "Hey…Well, actually, I can't argue with that," he admitted, and the others laughed good-naturedly.

Inch by inch, Keith continued to unpack a surplus of family history and long-forgotten keepsakes from his childhood. Heirlooms, picture frames, boxes filled with his dad's clothes, even baby toys and his old bed, now much too small for him. In the way back of the unit, Krolia had even stumbled upon his high chair and crib.

"I remember when your father first put this together," she murmured. Her gaze was soft and sad as she regarded the empty cradle, picturing the precious infant she had laid there countless times. Then she smiled and shook her head. "He really kept this thing…So sentimental."

Keith couldn't disagree with her there. He remembered how it had sat in his dad's bedroom for years, unused. He never understood why they'd kept it considering his dad had no plans to fill it with another occupant. It was just a crib, but now, for some reason, Keith felt an odd attachment to the thing as he watched his mother stand over it. There was no use keeping it, he knew. But it was in great condition and he at least wanted it to be used by someone else who needed it. Someone he knew would take good care of it.

"Allura, do you want a crib and a kid's bed?" he asked, turning to her.

Allura blinked at him, almost surprised. "Thank you, Keith, that's very generous of you. But we've already gotten everything we need for the baby," she politely declined.

"Can always just put them in the donation pile," Scarlett reminded him.

Keith's heart ached at the thought. "I…don't want to part with them like that," he barely uttered, his face heating up in embarrassment as he realized this, but he hadn't gone unheard.

"If your dad built these, you should keep them, then," Mari piped up, giving him a warm and reassuring smile. "For the memories, at least."

"Yeah. You can always make them into a bed for Kosmo too," Pidge pitched in. "Bae Bae loves her lil doggie bed."

Keith frowned. He wasn't even sure if Kosmo could fit in either one of the beds. Still, he said nothing, unable to admit his lingering sentimentality for the things that he'd inherited from his father.

"So…into the trailer with the kiddie beds?" Hunk wondered finally, breaking the silence.

Keith sighed, caving. He had plenty of space in the house. He could just keep them in an empty room with all of his dad's things.

"Sure. Why not."

With the storage unit cleaned out, the next few days were a flurry of unpacking, rearranging furniture, decorating, and running to the store to purchase new decor and appliances when old ones turned out not to work anymore. The important documents and albums from the shack were moved inside, leaving the space as a sort of storage shed and backup house. His and Mari's things were transferred from their Garrison living space and placed in their own respective bedrooms. And after the living room, kitchen, bathrooms, and dining room had been filled, two extra bedrooms were left in the house to be used as guest rooms or offices.

Then finally, finally, they were finished with the house. Warm and welcoming and up to code, it was more than ready to be lived in. Keith hoped his dad could see it now from wherever he was. He'd finally completed the long-awaited project that had been started all those years ago.

Kosmo was still full of surprises.

The first night Keith had spent in the house, the cosmic canine had whined and whimpered on the porch. He was too large now to fit through the front entrance, but he could easily teleport inside. Yet even then, the ceilings were too low for him, forcing him to constantly crouch. He couldn't move around freely without threatening to knock something over, and it didn't take long for him to retreat outside. He'd stared at Keith and Mari through the window for a long moment, his golden eyes bright with a frustrated determination to join them.

Then, his massive form had glowed. But instead of trying to teleport inside again, he'd started to shrink right before their very eyes, initially scaring the daylights out of them. Thankfully, his transformation had stopped and he hadn't shrunken out of existence. But now, he was as small as he had been when Keith and Krolia had first found him as a puppy. He freely milled about the house and snuggled up to his humans without any crushing discomfort. Later, they discovered he could continue to change his size like this at will, now that he was a matured adult. It was just another wondrous ability of the cosmic wolf from the Quantum Abyss.

The next morning, while they were waiting for the rest of their group to arrive for the official housewarming party Lance insisted they have, Mari presented Keith with a surprise of her own.

"An album?" He stared at the brand new photo book, taking in its warm red color and how 'KOGANE' had been printed in gold letters on the spine.

"Yeah." She was sitting across from him at the kitchen table, tightly clasping her mug of morning tea. She said nothing more, watching him intently through nervous eyes and waiting for his reaction.

Keith ran his fingers over the cover, the leather smooth beneath his touch. When he opened it to flip through the many empty pages, he stopped short upon seeing the photo already placed in the first slip. It was his dad holding him up in front of the old house, the two of them posing and grinning from ear to ear. It was the "Before" photo, and the space beneath it was empty and ready for the "After" shot. Keith blinked at it and then at her, at a loss for words as his heart throbbed.

"I-It's just a little gift to celebrate things coming full-circle for you. …You know, sorta to mark a new beginning in your life," Mari stammered, awkward and sheepish as she quickly filled the silence he had created. "But! But, we can put it back in the original album if you don't want it there."

Keith smiled at her, an amused chuckle escaping his lips as the fire burned hotter in his core. She really was too kind…He loved her so much. "No, it's perfect here," he assured her, more certain of this than anything else. "Thank you, Mari."

The tension instantly left her shoulders and she grinned. She took a chipper swing from her cup, all aglow now that her initial apprehension had disappeared. The longer he looked at her, the heavier that thing in his pocket seemed to get, reminding him of what he was planning to do today, what he'd been planning to do for months and months once the house was finished. And now in their peaceful moment of silence, Keith found himself reaching for it, his heart racing erratically as he prepared to go for it.

But before he could, Mari chugged the last of her drink and let out a satisfied gasp before firmly returning the mug to the table. "Let's take a picture!" she suggested.

Keith's attempt was instantly snuffed. "What? Right now?"

"Yeah!"

The caffeine clearly kicking in, she jumped from her seat and marched for the door with Kosmo following right at her heels. Keith hesitated before standing and trailing after her. From the cool shade of the porch, he watched as she set up her phone on a tripod outside, the morning rays roasting the surrounding desert landscape. When she bounded back to meet him, a giddy grin was stretched across her face.

"You ready?" she asked, the timer she'd set no doubt already counting down.

Keith grimaced. He wanted to go back inside, follow through with his plan before he completely lost his nerve and delayed it another day. "It's too early for this," he weakly protested.

"C'mon, we gotta start filling that album somehow," she pressed.

"Maybe we should wait until the others are here."

She rolled her eyes at his stalling, but she wouldn't cave. "This one will just be to test the camera," she insisted. "We'll take another one together with them when they get here to commemorate the finished rebuild and all our hard work."

She pointed to the camera then, and Keith was suddenly struck with a sense of déjà vu. This was it, that vision of the future he'd seen in the Quantum Abyss. It was finally coming to fruition. It was his reality now. He and the paladins had saved the universe. He'd rebuilt the house. He'd achieved the future he had been striving for.

He'd finally found his home.

All at once, Keith felt his restlessness fade away. Wrapping his arm around Mari's shoulders, he held her close, the two of them smiling freely as the camera flashed. But unlike in the Quantum Abyss, the scene didn't fade in a burst of white light. His life was continuing, right here and now. A future of possibilities awaited him, and he was ready to take the next step and share it with the precious person standing right in front of him.

As Mari scooped up Kosmo, ready to take another picture with him, Keith reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring he'd been holding onto for so long.

Chapter Text

Life was full of the unexpected.

A loved one could disappear in an instant. A complete stranger could lend you a helping hand. A Blue Lion that had been sitting for millennia in a cave right next door could take you into deep space on a life-changing adventure. You could find out aliens existed, living countless lightyears away from your primitive planet. The mom who had been absent from most of your life could be an alien, making you a half-breed. Your best friend could have been cloned. All of existence could thrive on a nearly unreachable plane of webbing strands that had almost been wiped out for good. A girl you had once loathed could become your wife.

At this point, after what he'd lived through, Keith expected almost anything to be possible. But the most recent curveball life had thrown at him was very much unlike the others. It surprised him, and made him more scared than he had been in a very long time. And that was because he was going to be a father.

A father.

A father.

Him!

Keith was still reeling about it even though he'd been given the news months ago. And even now, he was overwhelmed by a mixture of conflicting emotions. Shock. Disbelief. Happiness. Excitement. And fear. Lots and lots of fear.

He didn't know the first thing about raising a child. And neither did Mari, to tell the truth. They both had a little experience from taking care of Ryou, Shiro and Curtis' son, and Ariella, Allura and Lance's firstborn. But birthing and taking care of your own kid was a completely different experience from babysitting someone else's child. It was a twenty-four-seven job, a constant worry in the back of your mind. It would be a lifetime commitment to be a parent, and that daunting thought alone absolutely terrified Keith.

The two of them took parenting classes to prepare. They even sought extra advice from Shiro, Curtis, Allura, Lance, and Ellosh. Taiki granted them bits of wisdom here and there. And Mari ignored most of what Mai had to offer in her nagging, grandmotherly rants. But despite the endless support of those around them, Keith couldn't shake his building dread.

He was plagued by nightmares of the day Captain Hutch and the officer had come to his door to tell him his dad was dead. He relived the moment they lowered his dad into the ground over and over again. He could hear his mournful screams before he was tossed into the foster system without a care in the world by the people he had thought were his dad's friends. And with the recollection of such terrible memories, Keith's mind always wandered, picturing a series of worst-case scenarios.

He imagined a child very much like him answering a late-night knock at the door. The red and blue flashing of police lights would illuminate their small face, and their smile would fade upon realizing the people on the porch weren't either of their parents. An officer would kneel before them, expression pinched with sorrow as they delivered the news: Keith and Mari were gone. And they weren't ever coming back. Their child would cry. They would scream. And as they were taken away from the house, the home their father had built after waiting so long to do so, their peaceful life would shatter, never to be the same again.

Just thinking about such a thing was too painful for Keith. He knew he and Mari had difficult and dangerous jobs. What if something happened to them one day? What if their child was left alone, just like him? What if they were subjected to an endless line of terrible foster families who never truly loved them? What if they couldn't make any friends? What if they became troubled and reckless and unruly and misunderstood? What if no one ever reached out a hand to them, never gave them a second chance? What if they became lost, unsure of their place in the universe?

Over and over again, to quell his anxious heart in such times, Keith had to remind himself that he and this child were not the same. Back then, he had been helpless. He'd truly had no one to rely on, no one to love him. But this child…this child would be different. They would still have a family, even if he or Mari were gone. They had uncles in Shiro, Lance, Hunk, Coran, Curtis, and Mitsubishi. They had aunts in Allura, Pidge, and Scarlett. They had grandparents in Krolia, Taiki, and, he supposed, Mai. They had friends in Matt, Maggie, Jia, Immea, and Acxa. Before they had even been born into this world, they already had so many people who loved them and would care for them endlessly.

Still…He didn't want this child, his child, to ever become like him, once lonely and parentless and angry. He didn't want them to ever suffer like he had.

So, he promised himself that he would never let it come to that. He would never make them feel abandoned. He'd make sure they felt accepted and loved, no matter where life took them. And most importantly, he promised himself he would always come back home to them.

The weeks leading up to the due date, Keith found himself visiting the cemetery more and more often. According to the doctors, the baby was going to be born around the same date his dad had passed away. The possibility unnerved Keith to no end – he saw it as a bad omen, a dark cloud over the baby's life. But Mari, striving to be the optimistic one despite her own worries, insisted it was nothing to worry about, that it was just a coincidence.

"Maybe it's a sign that your dad's watching over his first grandchild," she had even suggested. "I'm sure he's protecting them to ensure a safe delivery."

Keith could only hope that was the case. Until then, he swung by to visit Heith Kogane's grave as often as he could, catching him up on his life and requesting he protect the baby from whatever realm he resided on, if he could.

One evening, as the sun was setting and the cemetery was washed in warm golds, Keith sat before his father's stone, his album in his lap. He flipped through the pictures he'd placed inside so far, new and old, telling his dad about each one: Allura's coronation, their annual celebrations of Voltron, Shiro and Curtis' wedding, Lance and Allura's wedding, the house rebuild, his and Mari's wedding, the "Before" and "After" shot set he'd finally completed. The latter picture had been taken after he'd proposed to Mari, once the others had arrived for the housewarming party. It showed all of the beloved members of their space family huddled together on the new front porch, grinning ear to ear in the midst of their celebration. Of course, the photo he'd taken with her before he'd pulled out the ring had been placed right alongside the set, always to remind him to have hope for the future.

And of course, he told his dad about the newest image in the album: the ultrasound photos of the Kogane baby. They were a boy, according to the doctors.

"Ugh, there are too many men in this family. I'm gonna be outnumbered even more now," Mari had jokingly griped, beaming nonetheless at the reveal. "Well, as long as he's healthy, I'll be happy."

Keith quietly shared the sentiment. Knowing they were a boy made brainstorming baby names a heck of a lot easier for them, too. Mari had compiled a list of possibilities, at the top of which was the name of her grandfather, Kai. Keith had pitched a few ideas of his own, as well.

"We are not naming him after your Monsters and Mana character," she had scolded him when he'd suggested it.

"Yorak isn't just my character," he'd insisted with a roll of his eyes. "That was what my mom wanted to name me before my dad suggested Keith."

"Riiiight. Sure."

With her not believing him and with Krolia not being around at the moment to back him up, Keith had relented and had given up the name. Not that he was too attached to or very fond of it in the first place. He just struggled with coming up with other names. But if he was so bad at such a simple yet important thing, then what else would he screw up with this whole parenting thing?

"What if I mess this up? What if I mess him up?" he worried aloud to his father's stone for the umpteenth time. Of course, he received no response, and he sighed, running a hand through his hair in an attempt to keep a lid on his rising frustration. Now more than ever, he wished he could speak to him, to understand just what he was in for. "I don't know how you did it all by yourself, especially with a kid like me."

The soft thud of approaching footsteps suddenly pulled him out of his thoughts, and he snapped his head up to see a woman and her toddler. She had a mess of curly brown hair, and in the hand that wasn't being occupied by her child's, she carried a small bouquet of flowers. She stiffened and squeaked as their eyes locked, freezing in place several paces from him. She glanced between him and his dad's grave before swallowing thickly.

"You're…You're Keith Kogane," she said, her voice thin and small and clearly nervous.

Keith's guard instantly shot up. Casually closing his album, he pushed himself off the ground and stood before them. "I am."

The toddler stared at him, one finger in her mouth. "Momma, he's from the TV!" she whispered loudly, and Keith couldn't tell if she was mistaking him for his character on reruns of the Voltron television show or if she'd seen him from recent interviews and charity events.

Her mother ignored her though, her gaze never leaving him as she fumbled to take a step back. "Oh! I-I'm sorry, we don't mean to disturb you, I-I just wanted to leave these here…" She shifted the flowers in her hand, but made no move to set them before the grave. She shuffled from foot to foot, uneasy and at a loss. "O-Oh, this is awkward."

Keith frowned at her. Who was she? She clearly knew him and his father, somehow. But he didn't recognize her from the fire department. Maybe he'd met her in the foster home once? Or at the Garrison? Or at some interview? He racked his brain for a name, but nothing came up. Yet she looked vaguely familiar, a blurry image from a memory that had been buried long, long ago.

When he didn't respond, she seemed to lose the last of her courage. "I'm sorry, I'll just come back later," she decided, the words spilling from her lips in a rush. She turned to leave, ready to drag her gawking kid along, but Keith was quick to stop her.

"Wait! It's fine. I was thinking about leaving soon, anyway." He moved several gracious steps away from the stone, allowing her to edge forward and set the flowers down. A tense minute passed before he asked, "How did you know my dad?"

She winced, sheepish almost. "I don't – didn't, exactly," she stammered. She hesitated. "...You don't remember me, do you?"

"I'm sorry. I don't."

"Well…It has been a long time. And we never really met until now," she murmured almost to herself. "…I'm Angie."

The name didn't ring a bell. He wasn't sure if it was supposed to or not. But the longer she looked at him, the more her shoulders started to quiver. And to his utter surprise and panic, tears began to pool in her eyes.

"You and your dad have done so much for me and my family…I've been meaning to express my thanks, but I was always so scared to try," she croaked, just barely above a whisper. "I also wanted to say…I-I'm sorry."

Keith blinked at her, uncomprehending. "For what?"

She sobbed, completely losing it as the tears flowed freely now. "I…I'm sorry! The fire that killed your dad, it – it was in our house!" She hunched over and choked up, furiously scrubbing at her face while her child watched her in silent confusion the entire time. "He died because of me!"

Keith waited patiently as Angie sniffled and wiped her tears. He'd moved them out of the cemetery to an empty playground that had only been a couple minutes walk away. Now as they sat on one of the benches, watching as her toddler gleefully crawled and slid and jumped along the equipment that was hers to have free rein over, he numbly listened as Angie began her tale.

"My parents and I used to live in an apartment above a bakery. It was the only place we could afford at the time. The building was very old and had lots of problems with it, but the landlord never seemed to address any of our complaints. We were planning on moving earlier that year, but my parents kept running into problems with work and finding a new place, so we kept pushing it back." She paused, blowing her nose and scrubbing at her stained cheeks "…It wasn't such a bad place, though. It always smelled like fresh bread, and all the running ovens downstairs kept us warm.

"But then one day, out of nowhere, we started noticing changes. Weird burning smells, flickering lights, overheating appliances, shocks from the outlets, regular power outages…We didn't think much of it at first, until the bakery started complaining too. It was disrupting their business." Her fists clenched in her lap as she glared at the mulch-covered earth. "The landlord said they'd have someone come in to inspect the wiring soon, but I never knew if they did. It just kept continuing until one early morning the bakers turned everything on to begin preparing for the day and…and everything just sort of…sparked and caught ablaze.

"We were trapped upstairs. I couldn't get to my parents. There was so much heat and smoke…I was terrified. I couldn't move. I could only hide in the corner hoping the flames wouldn't reach me. Even thinking of it now makes my heart race and I get all sweaty." Her eyes were swimming with fear as she relived the memory, and she took a shaky breath to try and control her breathing. "I don't know how long I waited there, but by the time your dad found me, I was the last to be saved. And he looked…so, so tired, running on his last reserves. The building was in danger of collapsing. We were choking on the smoke and fumes. I was so dizzy and sick to my stomach, I couldn't walk. But he was still so kind and gentle and patient with me. He carried me out. He smiled, saying I was really hard to find, but that it was okay because he was an expert seeker from playing with his son so much. He promised me I was safe now that I was found. Even as he stumbled out of the building, he kept talking to me about you, kept trying to reassure me that I was alright. He wouldn't let go of me until we passed the threshold and he made sure I was on my way to the hospital. …I-I didn't know he collapsed right after that. I-I didn't know he died until my parents told me we were going to his funeral. If I hadn't been so slow and helpless and scared back then, he…he could've lived."

Her sobs returned and she pressed her palms into her leaking eyes. Keith was quiet, letting her get it all out. A lump had formed in his throat, his heart aching with an old and familiar pain as he once again was forced to recall the fragile memories of his youth. Hutch coming to his door. The casket being lowered. His screams and the hatred he'd once felt towards Angie and her family. Hollow and threatening to be whisked a million miles away, Keith forced himself to stay in the present, opting to focus on Angie's daughter as she tentatively crossed a wiggly suspension bridge.

When she had finally regained her composure, Angie continued, her face held in her hands. "At the time, I was so glad it wasn't me," she whispered, just loud enough for him to hear. Her voice was thick with sorrow, laden with guilt. "And yet I had the nerve to go to his funeral, to be scared of you when you screamed at us. I tried to ignore it and forget it had ever happened, but I have never been able to get that sight of you out of my head. I hated you for making me remember everything, for making me remember all of the trauma. But it was never your fault. I didn't even think about what you were going through. Then when the Galra attacked Earth and I realized you were a paladin, I had the gall to get angry at you for abandoning the planet, for being gone for so long while we'd been enslaved. But you risked your life to save all of us. You and your dad gave me and my family a future, but I've been nothing but stupid and selfish. I'm a terrible person. I-I'm so sorry, I took your dad away from you."

Another round of bawling was on the verge of pulling her back under, but she bit her lip and rubbed away the encroaching tears. Hunched over and shivering, she was unable to look at him, choosing to frown at the tips of her shoes instead. Despite not knowing her, it was clear as day to Keith just how much the guilt had been eating away at her all this time. Just as his own loss had haunted him, she had been suffering through such inner turmoil all on her own as well.

For a long moment, he didn't say anything, absorbing the weight of her story. Even in his last moments, his dad had thought of him, the child he'd unwillingly left alone in the desert. The child he'd loved to play with and reminisce with as they looked at the stars and the family photos. The child he'd wanted to rebuild an entire home for. The special child who was his last reminder of the woman he'd loved so much.

The child who had been his entire world.

Keith's eyes stung. He stared hard at the horizon where the sun was setting and had enveloped everything in a comforting light. Finally, he took a deep breath and some of the rigid tension left his shoulders.

"I was angry at you and my dad for a long time too. I didn't understand why he'd chosen someone else over me," he admitted softly, his words full of an honest and sure warmth. "But that's just who my dad was: selfless and endlessly stubborn. It just happens to run in the family to want to preserve the future."

A small smile tugged at his lips as Angie's child slid down a slide on her stomach and was sent into a fit of giggles. He could feel Angie looking at him now, eyes wide with surprise and an unmistakable uncertainty. Whatever she'd expected from him, it hadn't been a calm kindness. Keith was sure if they'd crossed paths earlier, his younger self would've had quite a few misguided, rage and grief-infused choice words to throw at her. But that old anger had long since faded. He'd healed. He'd changed as his family had grown. And now, he was no longer that unruly boy from the desert who had scared her so.

"His death wasn't your fault. He wouldn't blame you for it. I don't blame you for it. And neither should you or anyone else," he said, turning to face her now. "You're allowed to have felt the way you did. You were just a kid. And he was doing his job. Saving others who can't defend themselves is a part of being a firefighter."

Angie didn't respond right away. Then, hesitantly, her form straightened a bit, years of self-blame lifting from her conscience. "And…is it a part of being a paladin?" she wondered, her voice raw from crying.

Keith nodded. "Yeah. It is."

She stared at him, the nervous and regretful shadows in her eyes began to give way to relief. She sniffled and swallowed thickly, her cheeks suddenly darkening. She watched her daughter for a minute, her eyes carefully tracking her as she clambered up the steps to go down the slide a second time.

"Thank you. …For everything," she murmured finally, sounding incredibly small but sincere. "For your service as a paladin. And for your reassurance today. It's been a weight on my chest for a very long time."

"I'm glad I could help," Keith said, and when the words left his mouth, he realized they were true and just as real as the newfound lightness in his heart.

A beat of silence passed between them, the sky ever darkening with the ending day. A squadron of cargo ships flew overhead, and Angie's daughter clapped and cheered as they passed.

"So…you're going to be a father soon?" Angie asked. When she noticed Keith's frown, she quickly fumbled to add, "S-Sorry, I overheard you talking…"

He sighed. No use keeping it a secret if she already knew. "Yeah."

Angie's eyes sparkled with delight. She opened her mouth to respond, but was abruptly interrupted as her kid sprinted back to her, crashing right into her legs and holding tight.

"Momma! I'm hungies!" she whined, her face flushed from play. "Can we go home now?"

Angie chuckled and tucked a stray strand of her daughter's hair behind her ear. "Okay. Daddy should be done making dinner soon."

"Yay!" she chirped, jumping for joy. "Let's go, let's go!"

Without wasting a second, she grabbed her mom's hand and struggled to pull her to her feet. Before she could be dragged towards the park exit, Angie stopped and faced Keith.

"Congratulations to you and your spouse," she said, granting him one last timid grin in farewell. "I know it's not much coming from me, but…I think you'll be a great dad. Just like he was."

Keith smiled back at her. "Thanks."

After he watched her leave, he brought his attention to the sky to calm his thoughts and clear his head. They'd both been given a second chance to understand and forgive today, some of the weight of their pasts lifted. Now the only way to go for them was forward, taking it one day at a time.

He stood, ready to return home as well, where Mari and the baby were no doubt waiting for him.

"I think you'll be a great dad. Just like he was."

Keith hoped so too.

Kai Kogane was his name.

For the entire day, as family and friends alike milled in and out of the hospital room, oohing and aahing and fawning over the newest member of their Space Family, Keith was dumbfounded. He couldn't take his eyes off Kai. And when he did, it was to look at Mari to give her a wordless grin. She'd smile back at him, tired but overflowing with pride. Her eyes sparkled with that all-too-familiar fire, of which now seemed to cheer, "Finally! We did it! Look what we did!"

The first time Keith held Kai, he thought his soul would leave his body. This new life, this small and squishy and fragile thing in his arms, was a whole new person that he'd helped to create. He looked unnervingly like Keith, almost to his disappointment. But the first time he opened his tiny eyes, struggling to focus on his father, Keith startled at how bright they were. Kai had Mari's eyes, a breathtaking dark gray color that burned with a fierce light that was directed solely at him.

…And then of course, Kai started crying, a newborn who just wanted to be fed and couldn't care less for Keith in that moment.

As they took Kai home and the first days turned into weeks and then months, Keith kept wondering what he would be like when he grew up. What would he like? The stars? Space? Dancing? Animals? Would he like Kosmo or Kage Jr. more? Would he get along well with Ryou and Ariella and Joran, the newest member of Lance and Allura's family? Would he want to become a pilot? Would he want to learn to fight? What sorts of things would they do together? Would he want to go to the zoo? Look at old photos? Stargaze? Play hide n' seek and tag? Ride the hoverbike and explore the canyons? Explore the universe? Would he be interested in his Galra heritage? Would he want to know about their old days traveling in the first Castle of Lions and fighting Zarkon with Voltron?

There were so many questions, so many possibilities, it was enough to make Keith's head spin. But for now, as he laid Kai in the crib that had once been his, making a mental note to set up his old kid bed in one of the extra two rooms for later, Keith decided to simply enjoy this moment. He would raise and love and protect this precious child with all his heart.

He could do this. They could do this.

Chapter Text

Quiet and sweetly shy and thoughtful, Kai was nothing like Keith as a kid, a fact he took as a great relief. Even at only three years old, he was impressively patient and level-headed and already so smart and selfless. He was fascinated by the stars and the vastness of space, and he loved traveling to Altea for their annual get-togethers, and to Daibazaal to see Krolia and Kolivan and the rest of the Blades, all of whom became big softies in his presence.

Despite practically being his mini clone, Kai reminded Keith so much more of Shiro or Taiki or even his own dad. The only times he truly saw Kai lose it and actually get angry was whenever Joran picked a fight with him.

"They act like this because they learn this sort of behavior from you two quiznaking fools!" Allura had scolded, scowling at him and Lance after she'd interrupted their argument over who had the better child.

Obviously, Keith knew Kai was the better kid. But for the sake of Allura's sanity, he and Lance had gone quiet, settling on shooting each other nasty glares while Kai and Joran had gone back to playing their separate games.

But even with the universe at their fingertips, Kai still loved their home on Earth the most. He liked playing in the yard with Kosmo, the two of them wrestling around in the dirt and teleporting here and there. He liked hiking through the canyons and seeing the last standing remnants of the Blue Lion caves with Keith, held up high on his shoulders so his small fingers could brush against the ancient markings. He liked watching Keith work on the hoverbike, perched on the seat and asking over and over again when he could ride it for himself. He liked dancing around the kitchen, insisting he help whoever was cooking before politely asking them for a snack. He liked when his uncles and cousins visited, his shyness ebbing away in the face of Ryou and Krik's patience and inclusive encouragement. He liked stuffing and rolling egg rolls with Mari and Shiro, a family recipe that had now been passed down to him. He liked waiting by the door for his parents to come home, practically leaping onto them and latching on like a koala the moment they stepped over the threshold. And in the evenings, when the hot air would become pleasantly cool and Earth's grand celestial display showed itself high above in the darkening skies, he liked to curl up in Mari's arms as she sat on the porch in one of the rocking chairs.

Sometimes, she'd point out the constellations they could see, teaching him more and more about the stars and their solar system. Other times, Keith would tell him stories about their Voltron adventures and tales from his journey through the Quantum Abyss. And still other times, the three of them would simply sit in silence, enjoying the view they shared while Mari carded her fingers through his messy hair, lulling him to sleep.

Kai was another desert-born child, similar but so very different from the two of them. He was happy and honest, both of his parents loving and very much present in his life. No matter what, Kai would never feel alone in this world…

…Especially since he would be getting a sister soon.

With the announcement of a second kid, Keith's initial trepidations about Kai's birth returned. But this time around, it wasn't as bad as before. He had a better understanding of what to expect, and he knew how to properly care for a baby now. Even if this new baby would be a girl, he felt a little more confident with the general experience under his belt.

Mari, on the other hand, did not.

This pregnancy was harder on her than the first. She was more tired and irritated and got sicker much more often. She had odd cravings and was always hungry, especially for meat. And the baby was incredibly restless as she grew, constantly shifting and kicking her mom in the spine and bladder.

On top of this, Mai was insistent on visiting more and more, ecstatic that she was getting her first granddaughter. It made Mari's own worries and fears escalate and spiral as time passed, until Keith ended up taking her and Kai to Daibazaal for a couple weeks to escape her overbearing mother, leaving Shiro and Taiki to have a stern talk with Mai.

"What if she grows up to hate me?" Mari wondered as she laid in bed next to him one night. "I don't want to hurt her. I don't want her to be like…like me."

Her eyes were unnaturally dull, darkened with her growing anxiety, and it made Keith's heart throb. She was so worried that she would find herself on the opposite end of another broken and strained mother-daughter relationship. Keith understood that feeling well, that gnawing concern that their pasts would somehow repeat themselves with them and their children.

"She won't hate you. You are nothing like your mom," Keith gently yet firmly promised her as he took her hand. "You're a great mother, Mariko. I know she'll be every bit as kind and loving and spirited as you."

From the bottom of his heart, he'd told her this countless times. And he would continue to reassure her of this as many times as it took until she believed him. Mari was quiet, neither confirming or denying his claim. But she squeezed his hand in return and granted him a small smile nonetheless.

With Kai down for the night, a peaceful ambiance settled over the kitchen. From the radio, the soft and soothing tune that was Krolia's favorite song just barely whispered through the speakers. Where she stood at the counter, eating a late-night snack of egg rolls mostly stuffed with chicken, Mari shuffled from foot to foot, grimacing through her discomfort. Meanwhile, Kosmo and Kage Jr. sat expectantly at her feet, waiting for the scraps that would inevitably fall.

"She keeps kicking me in the spine," she hissed, sensing Keith's stare from where he sat at the table. She grunted and squished the roll in her fist to suppress a string of curses from escaping her lips, prompting the cosmic wolf and black cat to pounce on the fallen meat.

Keith watched as she sourly munched on the squashed remains of her food. "Is there anything I can do to help?" he asked, although he was sure he already knew the answer.

"If you can make her come out of me right now, that'd be great," she muttered flatly.

There was still at least a month left until the baby's due date. "I can't do that. Sorry," he apologized.

She shrugged, unoffended. A minute passed before she groaned again. "I swear, if she's like this the rest of the night, I'm not gonna get any sleep."

Keith hesitated for a moment. "Maybe…she's just gotta dance it out," he suggested, closing his laptop and quitting his work for the night.

She raised a brow at him, uncomprehending. "Dance it out?"

"Yeah." He stood, moving over to her and taking her hands in his. "We're alone. The music's right. And I'm with the right person. All three requirements are met, so why not?"

A smile pulled up the corners of her lips and she let him guide her to the center of the kitchen. They ungracefully waddled around the room, and she eventually laughed when he kept bumping into her big belly.

"We still suck at this," she chuckled. "She seems to like it though. She stopped kicking."

"See?" Keith grinned. "We're getting her energy out."

She laughed again. "I don't think that's how that works."

Their feet glided along the sturdy and smooth floorboards, their steps clumsy and out of rhythm with the music. But they were content in the peaceful warmth of each other's company, simply swaying along with the comforting sound.

"I love you," Mari whispered, leaning her head against his shoulder.

Keith placed a kiss on her temple before lightly resting his head against hers. "I love you, too."

Eleta Kogane was her name.

Keith had chosen it, paying homage to his Galra heritage. And it turned out to be a rather appropriate choice considering Eleta took after her grandmother. She had dark violet hair, just like Krolia's, and she had a feisty and short-tempered attitude. She had Keith's sharp bluish-gray eyes as well, but her sclera…were yellow.

Keith's heart dropped into his stomach, frozen in shock at the sight.

"Her sclera are yellow due to the stress from birth," the doctor cheerfully explained. "From the research that's been gathered on Galra half-breeds over the years, particularly those without observable yellow sclera, it's been concluded to be a common trait of theirs that comes out in times of extreme stress. Eleta's should change to white within a day or so, considering she's more human than Galra."

"You were born with yellow sclera too," Krolia added, glancing between Keith and Eleta fondly, as if comparing them.

"Now that I think about it…your eyes were like that for a few seconds during our fight at that lab," Shiro chimed in, the realization dawning on him after all this time. "Your fight with the clone, I mean."

"I knew I wasn't seeing things when we had that bad fight!" James shrilled over the virtual call that had meant to be just for Immea. "I thought you hit me so hard, I was hallucinating!"

Keith stared at them, baffled. The stinging eyes, his vision flooding with red as his anger boiled over…he'd been subjected to extreme stress all those times in his past. His eyes really had been yellow, could turn yellow.

His attention turned back to Eleta, at an absolute loss for words as a long-awaited relief washed over him. She blinked and stared back at him with eyes that nearly matched his own.

Freak.

A defensive anger flared within him and he instantly squashed the thought of that word and all the painful memories it held. No. This wasn't freakish. It never had been. This was normal. Eleta was perfect just the way she was. She wasn't a freak.

And neither was he.

Keith hated being late. He knew he couldn't help it sometimes, his job could be that unpredictable. This mission had lasted an entire month, after all, several weeks more than he would've liked. But still…every second he wasn't back by the time he'd promised, he knew Kai's worry only grew. And Keith hated having to make him wait for longer than he needed to.

At least he would be on vacation for the next few months. There were no big missions coming up that he absolutely had to go on. He trusted Acxa, Ezor, Zethrid, and the others had everything covered.

With Kosmo easily keeping pace at his side, Keith tried not to rush towards the courtyard park where they held their annual celebrations. The Altean droids guarding the entrance silently moved aside to permit them entry before taking up their tight formation once again.

Rounding the Voltron sculpture, they came upon the courtyard lawn. A party of people were already there, sitting on blankets and pillows and chatting with one another while a handful of giggling kids ran amongst the juniberry blossoms several paces away. They hadn't started without him, he noted, a smile tugging at his lips. It had become a rule of theirs not to begin until everyone was present.

As he and Kosmo approached the setup, Eleta's eyes locked onto him. She squirmed in Shiro's arms and squealed in delight, bringing everyone's attention to them. From where he played with the other children, Kai gasped and skidded to a halt, ignoring how he nearly knocked over Joran when the young prince ran right into him.

"Daddy!" he exclaimed, making a beeline for him.

Dad. Keith didn't know if he would ever get used to being called that. But he accepted the title and all its worth, grateful to have been given the chance to have it. He knelt to catch Kai in his arms and he held his son close, letting him cling to him and nuzzle his small face into his neck.

"Hey, bud," Keith murmured, unable to hide his relieved grin. "I missed you."

"I missed you more," Kai whispered, only to squeak and be sent into a fit of laughter as Kosmo licked his leg. "Eww, Kosmo! That tickles!"

Kosmo playfully flicked his tail before leading the way to the blankets where most of the others sat. He sniffed at Eleta in greeting and promptly plopped down in front of Mari, permitting her to pet him behind the ears.

"You're late, Mullet," Lance noted with a teasing smirk.

Keith frowned at him, unamused. "So sorry, Your Royal Highness," he drawled, stifling the urge to roll his eyes.

"Welcome to the celebration, Keith," Shiro said, granting him one of his warm smiles. "How was your latest mission with the Blades?"

Keith shrugged. "It took longer than we expected," he admitted. "But it wasn't anything we couldn't handle. It's good to be back." He paused, sitting down next to Mari. Then leaning over, he kissed her in tender hello. "Hey, beautiful."

"Hey, hothead," she said with a huff of a chuckle.

When Eleta was promptly placed in his other arm, he gave her a kiss as well, right on the cheek. "Hi, sweetie."

She wriggled in his hold, restless and vying for a comfortable position. It wasn't until she'd snatched the bottom tuffs of his hair that she finally settled down, bouncing contentedly on wobbly legs.

"You and Kosmo are gonna stay home longer this time, right?" Kai asked, drawing Keith's gaze back to him.

Keith nodded, answering with a confident, "Yup."

"Can we ride the hoverbike?"

"We'll see," he replied, exchanging a helpless look with Mari. That had become their go-to response whenever Kai asked about the hoverbike. He was still too young to ride the thing, even with an adult. He was only four, after all. For now, Keith would simply continue to let him sit on the parked hoverbike seat while he taught him how it worked and how to perform maintenance on it.

As their celebration passed with delicious food and drink, courtesy of Hunk and his team of chefs, laughter and jokes and words of pleasant conversation filled the air. The kids played games and listened to Coran's stories. The Vehicle Voltron pilots put on a spectacular show for them and all of Altea. And then, finally, came the tradition Hunk had started all those years ago.

"Okay guys, huddle up. Squeeze in as close together as you can," Hunk encouraged everyone as they gathered beneath the Voltron statue. An Altean droid stood in front of them with his phone, waiting patiently for them to arrange themselves so it could snap their photo.

With everyone crowded together, sharing a familiar warmth and joy in the experience, Keith found himself feeling more relaxed than he had been in a long time. Carrying Kai in one arm, he slipped his free hand into Mari's, squeezing it gently. She smiled as her eyes met his, startlingly bright with flames trapped just beneath the surface. He was certain he would never tire of seeing them. She squeezed his hand back just as the camera flashed, his heart full with a fiery confidence and a much longed-for peace that was finally all his own.

Keith Kogane wasn't alone anymore, this much he was sure of. This was where he belonged, with these people, with this mismatched space family he'd found. No matter the distances between them, no matter what separated them, they would always be together, connected by an unbreakable bond.

They were his entire world. They were his home. And he wouldn't have it any other way.

THE END.