Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Lance’s ears were still ringing as he focused on the path ahead of him, his clutch on Red’s controls were so tight, it turned his knuckles white.  Lance was a mix of emotions, first absolutely relieved that Red came on time-but was also a mix of dread, fear, and anger.  Dreaded this his life was gonna be over once again, fear over what would’ve happened to Veronica after he had thrown himself in front of her, but mad at:

1. How did the Galra soldiers come out of nowhere and almost got both Veronica and himself killed?
2. Why did it take Red so long to get to him?

Again, grateful that he came when he did, but wanted to know why the delay.  Was it Lance himself?  Was his connection to Red not as strong as he thought it was?  These are all thoughts and questions that were cut off when he felt a firm grip on his shoulder letting out a soft gasp.

“Lance you okay?” Veronica’s voice was soft and a little bit shaky.  Probably a mild concussion because of their vehicle being thrown.  Lance relaxes his focused brow, looking at his concerned sister.

“Yeah just a bit shaken up but I’ll be fine.  I should be asking you that. Is your head feeling okay?”
“My head’s swimming a little bit after the crash, but I should be fine after we settle this and I get a couple weeks rest.  But none of that Lance,what was that earlier?”

“What?  What was what?”

“Don’t play around.”  Although serious, there was a plea in Veronica’s voice.  A few seconds of silence fell between the two, awkward as to who will be the first to say or do anything.  When Lance took a tiny breath to say something Veronica sighed.

“Like I said it’s sweet how you wanted to protect me, but we have our missions to do.  Lance, my most important mission is you.  You are my little brother-so please let me help you.  Trust me to fight with you-not behind you and watch as you throw yourself in front me again, I can’t-” Veronica’s eyes got a bit teary which then made Lance react in the same if not, more.  

“...scared…” a quiet strained whisper left the paladin’s lips, tears collecting onto the visor of his helmet.  He sniffed looking up at his sister, lip trembling but still staying as strong as he could
“I was scared.  I wanted to help you and protect you like you had all these years-just this once.  But look where that almost ended both of us huh?”  Lance tried coping before hearing a sniffle from Veronica followed with a strong grip on both his shoulders.
“Then together.  We’re in this together.  No more protecting one over the other-we do this side by side.”
“‘Side by side.’”  Lance nodded.

His eyebrows raised when Veronica placed her hands on the sides of Lance’s helmet.  Removing it gently, letting the messy curls fall on his face feeling the cool wind rush against his tears which felt cooler on his face.  Veronica scanned her little brother’s face for any other injuries, recognizing a small scar on Lance's eyebrow-a memory from what feels like forever ago.  The 2 press their foreheads together firmly as they’ve reached an understanding before embracing tightly: a force to be reckoned with a family as loving as the McClains.  

“Your eyes are getting puffy.”
“Oh yeah?  Well, whose fault is that?” Lance hiccuped while pulling away from his sister, she still gave those gentle eyes no matter how much time has gone by, he chuckles-feeling like he was being looked at like a baby boy still.  The two joke some more before Veronica leans back a little, holding the side of her temple gently, still sensitive.  Lance looks in concern for a split second before Veronica shakes her head.

“I’ll be fine, I’ll go to the medical wing and get this examined as soon as we’re back home and safe, okay?  The same goes for you too.”  Veronica said in a serious tone, almost as if she was giving an order-but Lance knew deep down, it was just out of concern if he was also having a concussion.  Oddly enough though, despite his head pounding a few minutes ago, he felt perfectly fine now.  

After Lance and Veronica had landed back at the Garrison-the medical team immediately came by and helped deliver the 2 from the Red Lion to the makeshift medical facility.  Luckily, Veronica had suffered only from a minor concussion.  Thanks to her helmet, all damage was minimal-as for Lance, if only the results were just as likely.

There was no brain damage nor trauma which was great, no scratches or cuts nor bruises, which again, all of that is great for someone so important that needed to get back onto the fronts..however…

Lance wasn’t getting any readings whatsoever.  No matter how much the doctors had tried listening to Lance’s breathing, getting his heart rate, or getting a feel for his blood pressure-any and every test came out completely zeroed.  Not even low or negative, just, nothing.  As if he himself was flat-lined.  Lance saw the expressions on the Doctor’s faces, and they were not subtle at all.  He cleared his throat, putting his shirt back on, covering the scarred tissue all across his back-which now mirrored a new scar, an electrical shock shaped like a star on his chest that went down his biceps.  Lance propped himself to sit up straight on the medical bench, clearing his throat.

“Is Veronica okay?  Veronica McClain, she’s the officer that was brought in with me?”

“Rest assured Mr. McClain, Officer McClain will be just fine.  As confirmed, she does have a mild concussion.  As for you, our results are…concerning.”
Lance gulped before hearing a knock on the door frame of his room, he turns around, seeing Veronica being wheeled in by a nurse.
“Veronica!  You’re okay!” Lance smiled, Veronica nodded while giving a gentle punch to Lance’s shoulder
“I told you!  How about you?”
“Uhhhhh…”Lance looked off to the Doctors that were talking amongst themselves while looking at their notes before walking over to the McClain's.

“Mr. McClain. What we’re about to disclose to you 2 now is done with deep concerns from your recent physical exam results.”
“What?”
“We understand that this is a cause for concern, but with more time-we can examine once more and hopefully have some results then-”
“What do you mean ‘examine once more’ and ‘have some results then’?” Veronica looked at the doctors with a serious expression, Lance being absolutely clueless, he just had a simple physical exam-why were the doctors so unsure?
“When we had your first results, we didn’t believe it at first, which ran into us needing to retake the tests multiple times.  Mr. McClain, your heart had completely stopped.”

Silence.  Deafening silence.  So quiet it was almost humorous, if it wasn’t for the ringing happening in Lance’s ears once more.
“What are you talking about?  Lance is here right now-alive right now.  I can feel his warmth, what are you saying?” Veronica was more scared for her brother now, grabbing his wrist, making Lance jump at first.

His heart stopped?  Lance laid his hand over where his heart was…his eyebrows raised at the shock.  The doctor’s were right, his heart was stopped, he couldn’t feel a single beat.  But it’s odd, although his heart wasn't beating-he still felt that familiar warmth throughout his body, if not, more. 

The doctors excused themselves after explaining to Lance as to how any future research and exams will go.  Nothing that will take him out of the front lines nor take up all his free time, but enough to where some questions are answered.

Veronica and Lance sat in silence once more as they reflected on the information they’ve just been told.  Lance was looking back and forth, slowly connecting the dots as to what happened, how, and when.  That’s when it dawned to him, the horrific truth.

He died when the Omega Shield exploded.

He died.

He has been injured and blown to unconsciousness in his travels in space-but how exactly do you explain to somebody that you died and somehow got risen from the dead?

That was it!  Allura had saved him after he pushed her away from the explosion back then-so maybe, what was coursing through his veins, was pure Altean energy.  Lance looked down at his palm, wondering if he squinted hard enough, he could possibly see pure light, but alas.

“Lance…Are you?”
“Y-yeah, I’m good.  I've thought about it for a good while now…I just hope myself and the docs are wrong.”  Lance sighs, hoping he was in denial of him actually dying and coming back..well…mostly back.  

He squeezed his sister’s hand, reaffirming to her that despite everything they’ve been told, he’s still here with her.  He looks out the window, feeling a tug-almost like the connection between himself and Red had a bit of a wake-up call.  He wonders if Red knew, if Red felt that same exact way he did-if the others knew, but if they had, they would’ve asked him, made sure he was okay.  At the time, Voltron was busy with so many things, Lance never had the time to bring it up to the entire team for discussion, let alone sit down and process everything himself.  But maybe now would be a better time than ever.  The paladin clutched over where his heart was before looking at Veronica.

“I’m telling them.Today.”

Chapter Text

“I’m telling them.Today.”  Lance firmly stated, looking to his sister, who looked at him with an almost mortified expression, hand covering her mouth.

“D-Do they not know?” Veronica whispered out, so not only is this a shock to hear that her brother had died while he was off in space: but now its uncertain if the team he was with don’t know either.  Lance shook his head, rubbing his palm in an uneasy manner, he took a shaky breath before clenching his fist.

“Allura saved me back when we were trying to fix an Omega shield, I noticed something the rest of the team didn’t-so I pushed Allura out of the way before the explosion would get her…which…” Lance couldn't bring himself to admit the last part, not outloud atleast, not yet.  

The sound of Veronica adjusting her glasses broke the silence and sniffling in the room before looking at Lance-funny, as a kid, Lance would have freckles that put the night shy to shame, but right now?  Lance’s sunkissed face looked more faded than ever.  Veronica takes a deep breath before leaning her head against Lance’s shoulder.

“Do you know how much time you got?”
“Nope, not a clue.  Which is all the more reason we have to end this, now or never.” Lance looked down at his clenched fist before looking at Veronica.  The two bumped their fists gently, looking at one another softly before making a gesture like a jellyfish swimming away from one another.

“You better get back home safe and sound, ya hear?  You need to tell the story to Nadia and Sylvio how their Uncle Lance became the Phoenix Paladin.”

“Now is this a request from my sister, an order from Officer McClain?  Or????”
Lance tried to get all smug before Veronica pulled Lance in a tight embrace-almost pulling him off the bed.

“Consider this a plea from someone who loves you very very much Lance-and wants him to return back to our family.”

And there it is, from being so touchstarved from being apart from his home and family-being here in his oldest sister’s arms, his hero he looked up to, it could break Lance right now if given the chance.  He cried into his sister’s arms as she held onto him.  

As Lance left the medical facility, he had checked to see if he had any messages: in which he had.  Pretty much the team had checked up on him after him and Veronica could’ve ended up as casualties today.  Lance looks at the messages fondly, before looking up to see Allura talking to some passerby pilots.  As she saw Lance, she beamed, immediately made her way towards Lance.

“Lance!  Are you alright?  We’ve been told that you and Veronica were sent here after you 2 got back.”  Allura looked at Lance who just smiled at her, a somewhat strained smile-which made it look more obvious it was strained thanks to his face looking a little red.  Allura scanned his face a little more before grabbing his sleeve, gesturing for them to find someplace more private so nobody sees.  After they had found themselves in a private area, Lance let out a heavy sigh, leaning against a wall before sliding down onto the floor.  Allura mirror this gesture, doing the same action across from Lance, she had known Lance for a while these past decaphoebs now-and seeing how the bright social lad is now, is a call for concern.  Before she began to ask what was going on, Lance broke the silence first.

“When the Omega Shield exploded…the time when I pushed you out of the way, the time when I…” a pause, a silence that Lance relished in, because at least with that moment of silence, it’s not confirming nor denying his theory.

“...What, h-happened to me Allura?” Lance looked at Allura, who just looked hurt and sympathetic, she frowns before taking a sharp inhale.
“Lance.  When you took that hit for me, all any of us heard was you cry-no-scream out.  When I had gone into Red…you…there was no noise, no lights…there was not a single life signal to be seen.  I’m…I’m so s-sorry Lance.”  Allura looked at Lance with so much hurt in her eyes, as for Lance, he huffled while smiling, he pulled his hair back while inhaling deeply.

“Maaaaan…I figured as much.  I just, I didn’t want it to be actually true.”Lance sighed,  leaning his head on his knees as he curled to make himself smaller.

Allura scooted up to Lance, poking his hand to grab his attention.  When he lifted his head, Allura slowly lifted Lance’s curls covering his forehead back before pressing her fingertips to his forehead.  The 2 closed their eyes before a familiar light emerged from them-and a familiar warmth surrounded Lance: the same one that he had felt when we woke up from his painful slumber from so long ago.  As the glow subsided, the 2 gasped as Allura looked at Lance in shock.

“When I brought you back, I didn’t know what I did...or how..I just knew that I had to do anything in my power to do so.  Lance…”  Allura looked at him with so much awe and surprise

“I believe you have pure quintessence flowing all through you.  That is what’s keeping you alive, even now!”  Lance gasps in surprise-that most certainly explains a lot, why the pain he would feel from injuries would heal almost instantly, and signs of fatigue will go away sooner than if he’d slept it off.  Discovering this now, having these thoughts being questions finally being confirmed, it did fill Lance with a closure of sorts.  It’s not peace whatsoever, but it is closure and answers he had been seeking ever since he woke up in Red after feeling like his life got torn from him.

The 2 took a moment, taking in the information that they only know.  Lance looked at Allura with slightly worried eyes, his brows being slightly upturned.

“Y-you…didn’t tell the others what happened, right?”
“N-No.  That wasn’t my place to say Lance.  Though, admittedly, parts of me wish I had.  The paladins of Voltron are too important, you are too important-to keep secrets from one another: especially one as crucial as this..it’s…I cannot imagine how long you have suffered.”  Allura grabbed Lance’s hand, still looking worried at Lance.

“Oh please Princess, I haven’t suffered.”  Lance scoffed, still wanting to keep up the cool demeanor, but he looked down at his hands.

“I do plan on telling them, today in fact.  I was waiting to see if it was true or not, but since that it is…” Lance fidgeted with his sleeve cuffs before looking at Allura.

“I’m gonna tell them, the team that is.  I’m gonna need some support, can you help me?” Lance looked at Allura with hurt in his eyes, Allura tightened her grip on Lance’s hand, giving a firm nod before pulling him into a strong hug.

“Helping you with this, is the least I could do for what you've done for me and the team Lance.”

It didn’t take too long to get the team all together.  Pidge and Hunk came in together, while Keith and Shiro walked into the meeting room from the opposite entrance.  As for Coran, he was the one who had sent the message for everyone to meet up in this very room.

“Coran, what’s going on, everything okay?”  Shiro asked Coran, whose usual peppy charm was more serious and hurt.  The others took note of this, and got serious as well.

“...Coran, what’s wrong?” Pidge asked the taller moustached man, as he cleared his throat.

“Ahem…unfortunately Paladins, nothing about this announcement was okay-and this couldn’t have been more wrong.” Coran choked back a hiccup, his voice already breaking.

“Hey man, what’s going on?”  Hunk asked in a soft tone, immediately going to the older Altean, comforting him.  Lance and Allura have been quiet through this ordeal so far, guilt had been strewn on their faces for they had told Coran as to what this meeting was about before it had even gotten called for.

“Coran, what is this meeting for, why did you call this meeting?”Shiro asked softly, concerned for the older man's demeanor twisting to anguish and hurt.  It wasn’t until Lance had finally spoken up, which had immediately grabbed the attention from the whole team.

“It was me.  I called for this meeting to be made.” Lance’s voice was strong, yet gentle to where it didn't seem stern and was forced.  The others had immediately sat back down and recomposed themselves-giving their undivided attention to their second in command.

“Many months ago, we went to a Galran shield station to repair their Omega shield to stop any radiation from hitting the innocent planet.  It was from here when a panel short-circuited and exploded…which led to me…”

Say it.

C’mon Lance, you’ve been thinking about it for how long, and you just got the have the confirmation of it…it can’t be that hard to say now…

“Which lead me to…” Lance was slowly losing the confidence to finally admit what had happened to him, but why?  It wasn’t like he was scared of what their reactions would be…no…He was scared of admitting to himself that he was disposed of, even if it was for a split second that felt like forever.  He started to pant a little heavier, words on the tip of his tongue but he couldn’t say, he couldn’t even look his team in the eye anymore until all the noise in his head went quiet except for a familiar growl, no, not growl, a purr.

It was Red, it was as if he linked his mind to Lance for this very moment, to help steady his mind.  Lance gasps, taking his breaths easier, relaxing his fists before he takes his last deep breath and looks up at the team.

“I was killed at that moment, protecting Princess Allura from getting hit with the blast herself.”

Silence

“Give or take…” Lance tried to chuckle, scratching the back of his head.  The team was silent, expressions unreadable at first.  Oh boy, this was exactly what Lance wasn’t afraid of up till now.  It wasn’t until his best friends Pidge and Hunk stood up from their chairs and walked their way over to Lance-Lance stood up from his chair, looking at the two.  Hunk who was clearly in tons of pain and hurt for his friend, as for Pidge-they had bit their lip, not that it stopped it from quivering.

“Is..is that what happened?  Is that why you were quiet for so long for that moment?” Pidge asked Lance, tears collecting in their eyes as they did everything in their power to stop them from falling down.

“I can confirm this.  When I had gone into his pilot area, there were no life signals whatsoever..it…” Allura confirmed as fear spread across the entire team’s face.  Hunk immediately pulled Lance into a tight embrace, and Pidge did not hesitate for a single second as they also smooshed Lance in this trio hug.
“I’m so sorry Lance!  I should’ve checked up on you after everything went down, I was right there!”  Hunk cried onto Lance’s shoulder, feeling so much guilt for his negligence.  As much as a clear yapper Pidge was, they couldn’t find any other words except for a scattered "I'm sorry” and “never again” as they buried their face onto Lance’s chest.  Lance's heart did hurt for how much his best friends were crying for him but it also made him feel so grateful to be here in this moment in their embrace then what would’ve been his end how long ago.

“You’re not in pain right now, are you?”  Shiro asked Lance, who would probably be in the same boat Lance is, just a different boat.  Lance shook his head, which made Shiro exhale in relief.

“Just some phantom pains across my chest here and there, but nothing too-too bad.”  Lance admitted, there have been nights where he woke up from nightmares, reliving the pain from dying that day-but it has happened less and less the more he focused on other things that were more important, like that he was here and alive.  Well, more or less alive.

After some more questions regarding Lance’s death and symptoms went around as well as research moving forward, Lance felt so relieved.  As if a huge weight on his shoulders had been lifted.  One by one, each of the paladins left the meeting room since it was getting closer to sunset, and everyone deserves to be well rested after a day like today.  As almost everyone else had left, it was just Lance and Shiro in that meeting room, Shiro looking tired, but Lance?  Exhausted.

“You know, when you said that you saw and sensed me in the Lions?  Same goes for you too.” Shiro looked over at Lance, who just adjusted his sitting position to a more relaxed one.

Oh?

“...I guess I should say…the same goes for when I sensed a split disconnect.  I remember being in Black’s consciousness and feeling a shock of pain go through me and just a part of me, of us, of Voltron just sever with no warning.”

Oh… Oh.

Lance looked at Shiro in shock-it’s almost as if he knew, or at least had an idea already of what happened to Lance.  Lance chuckled, trying to break that tension of negativity.

“Man, gee…nothing gets by you Shiro, huh?” Lance scoffs jokingly before getting cut off by Shiro grabbing his shoulder.  It’s crazy, it’s ever so slightly similar to that same hurt and concerned expression Veronica had on her face, that same expression of an older sibling looking out for the little ones.  Before Lance could read the expression on Shiro more, he pulled him into a 1 armed hug that was surprisingly very strong.

“So sorry Lance that you had to go through all this alone, I of all people understand what it's like dying and then waking up and having to act as if nothing has happened because of this war.  You’ve done a fantastic job looking after the team since I’ve been gone, I’ve seen it all.  Thank you Lance, for everything you have given for the team and more.” Shiro holds onto Lance and Lance smiles into the hug-he hugs Shiro back just as tightly.  Lance missed this, hanging out with the old Shiro-the time with Kuro had honestly taken such a toll on Lance to question his own confidence in himself as a paladin.  So hearing all of this from the real Shiro meant a lot to him.

“So…you reckon my hair is gonna turn white like yours?”
“Oh, so stealing my look Lance?  Sorry, claimed dibs.”
“OH?  Well, just give it some time Shiro, I'll own that look and make it look even better!”

The 2 joked more and spoke about their experiences of being brought back from the dead-very different circumstances, but both had the same causes of being brought back and the feeling of it all.  It was just about to hit sunset when Shiro called it a night for his and Lance’s discussion.  As Lance looked up at the warm sky, he saw as Red flew overhead of him, towards a particular direction and of course Lance is gonna follow him.

When Lance finally found Red’s destination, a familiar mullet was blowing in the gentle breeze on top of Black.  Lance worked up a sweat as he climbed his way up the Black Lion before huffing and catching his breath.

“Wow, you are a hard guy to look for when you want to be sometimes, you know that?” Lance joked, taking off his uniform jacket, having his blue-gray tshirt help with cooling off.

“Hey Lance-woah!” Keith was taken back by seeing Lance’s exposed biceps, seeing the scars that resembled lighting down to his elbows.  Lance chuckled, sitting himself next to Keith.  Lance looked off at the warm sky as the sun set, making the sky turn red-very fitting for the 2 red paladins for a moment such as this.  Although the sunset looks pretty, Lance couldn’t help but notice Keith taking quick glances at him.

“I know you’re not one for convo Keith-the team meet and right now is proof of that but say something atleast!”Lanced smirked at Keith, who was lost in thought, before looking back at Lance, that same look of hurt that never made Lance feel good-especially with how much he’s been on the receiving end of such look all day today.

“Back when I was at the Blade, even though I was away from the team, the Lions, I still felt a connection to both Red and Black.  One day, when I was on a mission, I felt as if my heart stopped for just a moment.  Like, as if something very important got severed from me…”

“Yeah…Shiro said that too.  Even he had a clue as to what happened…so…you knew?”
“I knew, I just…didn’t want to believe it.  I didn't wanna believe you…” Keith sharply inhaled, clearly not comfortable with saying those kinds of words outloud.

“Well, I’m here now, aren’t I?  Your Sharpshooting, charming, 2nd in command has been here and is here with the intention to stay!”
“Heh…I wouldn’t necessarily say charming.”
“OH!  You wound me so, cannot believe you would betray me like this Keith cannot believe you!”  The 2 laugh, just enjoying each other's company again-felt like forever since they got to banter like this, felt nice.  For the first time today, a comfortable silence sat in the air as the 2 saw the sun set.

“Watching the sunset?”
“Yeah, might be a while before we see it again”
“Man, I'm really gonna miss this place.”
“Thats why we gotta end this war.  And we’re gonna do it with the Lance that's a Paladin of Red Lion, the Lance that always has my back, and the Lance who knows exactly who he is and what he’s got to offer.”  Keith warmly smiled at Lance, grateful that Lance is still here-despite it all, despite everything.  Lance taken back from Keith’s sincere words, all Lance could muster up was a warm smile back and a laugh.  The two continued to stare off into the sunset as the 2 leaned their backs against one another as they watched the sky go from red, to night sky.

It is here, where team Voltron will see their first and last night sky together for a long time.

But for one of them, it was for the first time, and the last time.

Allura had sacrificed herself for the means of the universe.  Nobody on the team wanted this, Lance especially given how much Allura has already done for them.  This was unfair, it was unfair with how much they all have given, just for the universe to take Allura away from them too but Allura loved this universe, and she wanted to see it live and prosper, even when she won’t be around to see it in person.   One by one, each of the paladins had said their goodbyes to Allura, and then came Lance.

“D-don’t do this.  There has to be another way!”
“Lance, please.”  Allura pleads Lance, who starts to tear up and shake.

“We don’t want to see you go…and never be with you again…”

“Oh Lance, where I’m going?  I will never be gone, because I'll always be with you.  All of you”  Allura looked around with such a proud smile of all of her paladins, her knights, her friends, and her family.  

She turned back to Lance to brush the messy curls away from his forehead once again to give an affectionate kiss, to follow up with one peck on his cheek, to then follow it up with one last one on the other.  Lance allowed those heavy tears to fall, as a familiar warmth made its way onto his cheeks-glowing to then turn into the familiar Altean marks onto his own cheekbones.  As all the paladins circled around Allura, grabbing and embracing her one last time-also feeling the same warmth on their cheeks like Lance, however, their marks are only temporary.  As everything around the Paladins of Voltron flashes white.

A couple painful years passed-as all of the now former Paladins of Voltron spent this time to mourn.  However, there was one member who mourned the deepest of all of them, the one who was never a Paladin to begin with, but the Princess’s father, Coran.  He had spent every night since the Lions left looking at the night sky, in hopes of finding Allura’s galaxy up there…somewhere.  All is quiet and somber before some soft footsteps made their way next to Coran.

“Any sign of her?”

“Sorry son, but no.” Coran sighed, he hated this.  He hated the amount of what he had lost, the friends and family that he originally had are gone-he was alone now.  The child he raised, had gone and become part of the universe far before her time.  It wasn’t fair but even Coran knew the universe had a beautiful way of balancing things.  Yes, he had lost his daughter-but thanks to the universe being saved, he has been able to help out a lot of the Altean children from the colonies and many other orphaned children from the war.

“I'm sorry Coran.”

“Huh?  Whatever for lad?”

“Just, everything up to now.  You’re life and Allura’s would’ve been less hectic if we weren’t around”
“Son, you have given myself and the Princess a journey of a lifetime!  We have both seen and done so many things that entire generations can manage to accomplish.  You say hectic, I say it’s added so much more to our lives!”
“You never did get to say goodbye to her, Princess Allura” There it is, that uncomfortable silence.  Should Lance not have brought that up? That’s probably a sensitive topic for Coran.  Lance was about to apologize and take it all back before a soft chuckle and sigh left the older Altean gentleman.
“Oh Lance.  Hasn’t our travels taught you anything?  It's never truly ‘goodbye’ or ‘farewell’, it's always a ’in the next world’ or ‘till we see each other again’!” Coran smiled while looking up at the stars, same with Lance.  Slowly, one by one, more and more members of the team walked up to the two and made themselves comfortable while looking at the night sky, seeing what Allura had prepared for them.

Chapter Text

A few more somber years had passed without Allura, without the need of the Paladins of Voltron, without the need for any more fight because almost all the after-effects from the war had subsided.  All of the Paladins had moved on with their lives, either: continued onto other branches of study, moved up in rank of leadership of another coalition, helped bring others together through shared interests and passions, or enjoyed an early retired life with their family and loved ones.

Lance has been a freelance these past 5 years, taking in the peaceful life.  He helped with his family’s farm thanks to the seeds Hunk collected, aided in teaching the piloting students back at the Garrison, as well as studied marine biology in his own time.  Overall, while his friends were here, there, and everywhere-he had been just here.  On Earth, where he’s been wanting to be for so long since being stuck in space for how many years-oh so he thought.  Don’t get Lance wrong, he absolutely loved being able to spend every waking moment being with his family, seeing the sun rise on the waters of the beach he lived at, and able to spend as many hours he had wished chilling on his surfboard, riding the gentle waves…but, he would be lying if he didn’t miss exploring space, even just a little bit.

There was a never-ending wonder and discovery when he was out there, and he misses that.  He misses being able to see so many things, and meet so many others, and experience so many traditions.

He makes his way from his home back over to the McClain household where many of his sisters and brothers had also come over to visit. Nadia and Sylvio immediately ran from their parent’s car, running into their Uncle’s arms, who was wide open and ready for both of them.  He smiled, rustling both of their hair, hearing them giggle and laugh made him smile, his heart full.  Luis walked over to his brother before the 2 fist-bumped and made the similar jellyfish-like gesture.

“Veronica not coming huh?” Luis asked his little brother, to the family’s disappointment, he shook his head.

“Veronica and Axca are out helping the Blade with helping out a planet that had been struggling with reforming” Lance said, looking up to the sky.  He wondered if they were in her universe, and if his sister was helping Keith’s group.  

As the brothers made their way to the family household-Lance’s attention was grabbed at the garage side door being opened, he took a peek inside, seeing Marco and their father both working on an old car.  It was a beautiful vintage one, a minty-green color, and it was very very close to being able to take to the roads-just needed some fixes here and there.

“What else needs to be done???  I feel like this is missing something else…maybe starting the engine might help give it that kick-start?”
“No, if something goes out, we don’t know what will happen, then all the work will be for nothing.” 

The 2 grumbled in confusion, but luckily for Lance, he had spotted what was missing and got to work.  He grabbed the wrench he needed and got between the two before loosening a piece before adding some missing parts and screwing it back on.

“There we go!  Maybe start it now, and see if that works!”  Lance smirked, as both Marco and their father looked in amazement.  As they did what Lance suggested, the car engine started-took a couple tries, but once it had a consistent purr, the car seemed to be ready to go whenever the McClains were ready.
“Thank you Lance!  Your brother and I were stuck on this for the past couple weeks!” Mr.McClain patted both Lance’s and Marco’s back after wiping off his car- oil-ridden hands.  The 3 smile, happy and proud at the family achievement.  Marco left to go help with whatever needed to be done around the house; while Lance stayed back and helped his Dad with cleaning up any spills, messes, and any tools laying about.

“Where did you learn to adjust and add parts like that?  Especially at that speed-WHEW What I could give to have speed like that!” Mr.McClain asked his son, who smiled proudly at his growth.

“When we were out in space, we had to learn all the tech in a short amount of time.  Of course it’s all different, but it’s all kinda similar to other parts we have here!  Plus, Pidge and Shiro were the ones who taught me how to point out certain parts from others.” Lance smiles fondly, though it was a lot of information to hold-over time, it got to him.

“...Oh, I see.” Lance’s Dad was of course proud of his son, and the amount of growth he went through, but there was a slight hint of disappointment in the comment he just made.
“Dad?”

“No, don’t get me wrong Lance! It’s just…I wished that we had built this car together-moreso, me teaching you.”  There was a sadness in his voice, as so much time had passed when Lance had gone missing for all that time.  

Lance remembers his excitement when his Dad showed off the new car that the both of them were gonna work on, he remembers how much time he and his brothers spent finding the perfect parts for the car, as well as pestered his twin sister for so long to pick a color with him.  He remembers all of this, but when he came home for the first time ever since leaving Earth, he noticed that there was a sheet on top of the car-completely unmoved, a layer of dust collected on it.  Lance looked at his Dad, who looked fondly at the now finished car after closing the hood, proud of the work being finally completed.

“...But I’m always up for a refresher course if you’re willing to teach me?” Lance crept next to his Dad, offering him a warm smile, which made his Dad chuckle, patting Lance’s shoulder.
“Only if you promise to not ditch me for surfing instead!” Lance’s father joked-leading the 2 to laugh because the both are fully aware that if they mutually didn't wanna work on the car anymore that day, the 2 would go and surf the waves.  Lance had wondered last time his father surfed-considering his board was also in the back of the garage.

With that promise made, the 2 made their way back into the family house-making their way into the kitchen where Lance saw his Mom prepping ingredients for the soon-to-be BBQ.  As Mr.McClain went outside to go prep the grill, Lance stood next to his mother and grabbed an extra knife and some of the vegetables she was currently prepping.

“Here Mama, let me help you.”

“Oh Lance, thank you!” She smiled softly, continuing to prep ingredients.  The 2 fell into a rhythm of cutting the ingredients in a comfortable sync with one another.  For Mrs. McClain, this was the usual-as for Lance, being home, helping his family and hearing them all around him?  All he could ask for and more.

“What is it Mom?” Lance sighed, knowing that very loud silent face she was making.

“I didn’t say anything~”  She sang, still looking where she was cutting.
“C’mon Ma, you’re making that expression you do whenever you wonder what us kids are doing, or will do.” Lance huffed, continuing his work-just slower since he’s now distracted.

“Oh goodness Lance-of course I think, and worry for my kids-that’s what Mother’s do.” She smiles.

The two almost finished prepping all the ingredients when Mrs. McClain broke the comfortable silence.

“Do you ever want to go back up there Lance?” The sudden loaded question took Lance off guard to where he jumped, accidentally cutting one of his first knuckles.

“Oh god!  I’m so sorry Lance, are you okay? Here, I’ll grab the bandages, I’ll be right back!”

“No Ma, it’s fine!  It’s okay-and you’re already gone…okay…” Lance tried reaching out to his Mom as she left the room.  He went to wash the wound, winced slightly when the warm water hit the open cut, making sure to clean it beforehand.  It didn’t take long before Mrs. McClain came back into the room, she had her mini health kit ready to go.  As she rummaged through it, she gently took Lance’s hand to see how badly the cut was, but to her surprise, the cut was completely gone.  She gasped up in surprise, Lance looked at her with a sheepish grin-almost like a secret had been found out.

“Pretty neat trick, huh?  I picked it up when I was up and out there!” Lance made his previously injured hand into a fist, looking at his Mom with a gentleness in his eyes.  Mrs. McClain looked at her son with such a wishful expression, she missed her son growing up in his teen years up till now.  Seeing him not need her as much anymore without seeing that growth did hurt her in ways that could not be explained.

“Oh my boy.  Look at you, grown so much…where will life take you?” Lance’s Mom rubbed Lance’s knuckles gently, thinking fondly of when she held her baby’s hand for the very first time.  She then reached her other hand and cupped her son’s cheek, rubbing it gently, looking at the Atlean marks left by his dear friend.  Lance giggled, leaning into his Mother’s touch-he grabbed her hand before kissing her on the cheek.

“That’s just for life and the universe to know, and for me to find out Ma!” Lance smiled knowingly, before reflecting back on the question she had just asked him.

“I do miss it Mom-being out there, with the stars.  After being gone from you all for so long, everywhere I went just reminded me of all the stories and updates I could’ve told you all about…but…” Lance paused, why was there a ‘but’?  He looked out the window, seeing Nadia and Sylvio run and play before he heard his Mom clearing her throat.

“Well, you’re here now-and we’re here for you now.  We’ve been here waiting for you to come home back then, and we’ll always have the door wide open for whenever you come back.  If you do miss it, and you have thought about it-follow your heart.  Look at where it’s gotten you up to this point, you have seen and done things nobody could have ever imagined if you haven’t.  I say, go!” Mom smiled so warmly, kissing her son’s forehead.  Lance pulled his Mom into a tight embrace.

Hours passed by, family dinner then turned into a typical family evening.  The karaoke machine was brought out as the McClains had sung their hearts out, Lance’s stories were told, and family catch-up was in the process.  As the time passed, Sylvio and Nadia fell asleep leaning against Lance, he sighs warmly at the sight.  Knowing that his niece and nephew will grow up peacefully without the war that ravaged their home and for so many others.  Luis bumps his shoulder, smiling at his not-so-little brother.

“They really look up to you, y’know?”
“I mean, can you blame them?  They only have the coolest Uncle known to mankind!”
“Heh, yeah.  I do have the coolest little brother known to mankind!” Luis chuckled, the brothers huffed.  Luis sighed, brushing his hand on his kid’s head-as they sighed to the touch, moving closer to it before going back to sleep.

“I’m glad that you’re with us brotha-and here for them too as they grow older.” Luis smiles warmly at his twins, and Lance smiles too, looking at the shelf of all the souvenirs he brought home-recalling all the stories he told the twins.

“Yeah, me too.” He whispers, gently messing with the hair on the twins heads.

As all the McClains called it a night, Lance couldn’t help but feel a lack of connection with his own twin: Rachel.  He made his way upstairs to grab something from his old room, but when he made his way-he noticed the door was already open.  Did Nadia and Sylvio go in there again?  As he went inside, the moonlight shone in his blue-themed room, with sea-life memorabilia decorated here and there.  Everything in here was familiar to him, his old bed, the old space posters and newspaper trimmings from the Kerberos mission launch, the glowing stars on his ceiling, and even the sight of Rachel on the floor, looking up at said ceiling.

“Scooch over!”  Lance smiled, as Rachel did so-the McClain twins laid on the carpet, staring up at the ceiling with identical stars softly lit up the dark room.

“Wow, these do not compare to the ones out there”
“I can imagine, but back then-these were the galaxy”
“True true!”
The two reached their hand up towards the ceiling, reaching for the stars.  A sigh left Rachel as the 2 lowered their hands.

“When we received the news that you went missing, we didn’t wanna believe it-I didn’t wanna believe it!” Rachel looked at the Kerberos newspaper clippings Lance had up at a bulletin board.

“I felt deep down, that you couldn’t have been gone-but it did hurt not being able to see you.” Rachel admitted, even though Lance did get on her nerves-not being able to see nor hear from him got on her nerves even more.  Lance looked away, feeling sad about the guilt of the 2 drifting apart, even years before he left for the Garrison.  Before he said something, Rachel beat him to it.

“Before you say ‘sorry’ for something we’re both guilty of-I’m sorry too.  Admittedly, both of us haven’t talked to each other in a while, have we?”  Lance hummed in agreement.

“Yeah…ever since we got separate rooms, we both haven’t really caught up much, have we?  Just the two of us?”
“Nope.” Rachel emphasized with a pop, as the 2 sighed at the same time.  Lance tapped his finger on the back of his palm, thinking on what to catch up on first.

“Noticed your nail art has gotten better, been practicing?”
“Yeah, been hard cuz nobody’s been around except for Ma, Lisa, and the kids-but y’know, I make do!”
“Think you can squeeze me in for an appointment like old times?”
“Hmmm, I’ll think about it, I’m booked for the next how many years.”
“Wow, busy~ How will you keep up with all that fame and popularity?  Surely you need someone to lighten that load for you”
“If you mean yourself, keep dreamin-you got enough!”

The 2 laugh, before sighing once more.

“I got accepted to be a model for that brand your one friend Romelle is making.”
“REALLY?  That’s amazing!  Congrats, I know you’ll do great-you’ll make whatever Romelle throws at you look good!”

“Heh, yeah-she’s got quite a fashion taste, but it’s fun!  REALLY FUN!  It’ll be a really cool experience to have since I’ll also be traveling abroad soon!”
“Oh yeah?  Where to?”

“Romelle said it’s supposed to be a Frozen Planet of sorts, supposed to have some water-y elements that inspired Romelle’s upcoming summer line!”
“Really?!  I was actually there with Hunk once-upon-a-time!  It was a really cool place, it honestly reminded me a lot of home when I was there, you’ll love it!” Lance looks back at the time he was there, surrounded by the water and all of the colorful reefs-Lance should probably go back there, say hi to the Mer once again.  Rachel took note of her twin going quiet for a good bit since their last comment.

“You thinking about going back?  Up there I mean.”
“Yeah, really thinking about it…”
“Well, I say-stop thinking about it, and go!”  Rachel sits up and looks at Lance, who is surprised by that sudden attitude.  He mimics her, sitting up as well.

“Wait, for real?  Whatever happened to us wanting to catch up and stuff?”
“Lance, it’s different this time!  We can all communicate and keep tabs with one another-so no more radio silence, or wondering when we’ll ever see or hear from each other again!” Rachel groaned at the ignorance of her brother, who just ‘oh-ed’ silently, but still had that expression on his face.  Lance coughs embarrassed by his own lack of awareness.

“So…what will you do?”
“I dunno!  Maybe help with the Blade with Keith, try out any new recipe’s Hunk’s troubleshooting, I will however leave any and every tech-stuff to Pidge, help out Coran with the Alteans-or maybe just do my own thing, just exploring the universe, my own research, help out people as I go.  I really don’t know, just, really leave it up to the universe to guide me!”
“‘Free-Lance if you would’?”
“Free-Lance indeed!”
The 2 reminisce at this, these future promises, wishes, and dreams.  It reminds them of when they were little, when they shared this room-sharing their own thoughts and wishes for the future.  Here they are now, doing the same exact thing, in the same exact room.

“I’ll miss you, again.”
“I know.  I’ll miss you too, again.”

The 2 smiled softly before hugging.

“Pat-Pat!” the 2 enthusiastically say, patting each other's shoulders.

As the twins left their room, Lance took one last glance around, remembering any and every moment in there, smiling fondly at all the old memories-before closing the door, and looking forward for new ones to be made.

Chapter Text

It didn’t take too long for Lance to get everything sorted for his decision to get back into space for his own explorations and journeys.

Thanks to Pidge, they were able to set up Lance with a top-of-the-line ship made for a solo-pilot.  When Lance went to try on the suit needed-it was shaped very similar to their old Paladin armor, but it wore design aspects like Princess Allura, as well as both the Red and Blue Lion.  Lance smiles at the armor, feeling both nostalgic and giddy at the excitement of trying this on.

Lance looked in the mirror, and pride filled his chest.  He looked amazing, Pidge did a fantastic job with the ship, the tech, the armor, all of it-he’s really gonna be in their debt during his journey.  He looked as the blue and red worked really well with eachother-the more he stroked a pose and did his fingerguns pose in the mirror, a call prompt suddenly appeared in front of him, earning a scream from Lance.  After composing himself, he clicked confirm, and in front of him had all of his friends, ‘ooo’ing and ‘aaa’ing at the look of the new suit and background of the ship.

“You look great Lance!  And fantastic job with getting him set up with everything Pidge!” Shiro excitedly cheered for Lance as well as complimenting Pidge.

“Agreed, that new suit of yours looks very dashing Lance!” Coran gave a thumbs up to Lance in his new clad.

“Oh, you know this was nothing-especially given what I will get in return!”Pidge evilly chuckles, rubbing their hands together like a menace.

“Well, whatever he promised you-we wish you the safest of travels Lance, make sure to send plenty of photos!” Shiro smiled, while Lance rolled his eyes in a ‘yes Dad~’ kind of way.

“OH Lance!  Before I forget, I did send in some prepped meals, so in your supply closet, I had both your Mom and myself prep some meals for you!” Hunk smiled brightly, gesturing to the food supply closet behind Lance.

“Oh?” Lance’s interest was piqued, so he opened up the supply to find frozen meals both Hunk and Mom McClain made, smiling fondly at finding a note on each and every one of them, probably personalized by each of his family members for each one.

“By the way Lance, if you’re ever passing by-there’s Blade outposts every so often scattered all throughout, and if you ever stop by one of them-hit me up if you ever need help or catch up with anything.” Keith offered, as Lance messaged Keith prior, that he’ll happily help with Blade stuff if need-be.

“Oh don’t you worry, I will keep you all updated, news, pictures, destinations and all!” Lance promised everybody.

“By the way, what will be your first stop?” Coran asked, which had the rest of the call also curious, since Lance never texted anybody his whereabouts just yet.

“Believe it or not, I’m gonna go to Altea-figure out if I can tap into this quintessence in me!” Lance clutched his hand into a determined fist.

“OH!  I cannot wait to see you then my boy!” Coran excitedly said, a smile beaming.

“I cannot help in terms of magic and energy, but there are a good number of Alteans who have been teaching themselves the way of the Altean magic Allura had left for us-so do feel free to learn what you can!” Coran explained to the team the updates of the new Altea, which made Lance think about it before nodding in approval.

“Will do!  Well then, I best start making some distance into the trip!” Lance smiled, as the entire call gave him ‘Good luck Lance!” ‘Safe travels!’ and ‘We love you!’ before everybody disconnected.  Lance started up the ship, closing his eyes as he placed his hands on the handles, remembering the feeling of piloting Blue and Red.  As his ship started to lift off the ground, Lance looked out the window, seeing his entire family wave goodbye from the visiting window, heart clutching, Lance flipped a switch, turning on the loud speaker.

“Just you wait for me, I’ll have so much more to tell you all!  I LOVE YOU ALL!” Lance shouted happily, some tears going down his cheeks, especially after seeing his family shout back-although he couldn’t hear it, he could tell they were shouting ‘WE LOVE YOU TOO!’ and his Mother mouthing ‘Fly my star’.  After wiping his tears, readjusting his ship before putting on the Voltron music playlist before setting course for New Altea.

As time had passed, Lance was happily adjusted to his current life of a freelance traveler and storyteller.  While he stayed at New Altea, he did tap into his quintessence and inherited Altean abilities-it’s nothing nowhere as strong as what Allura could’ve done, let alone the other Alteans could do.  However, Lance tried his best every single day tapping into that light energy-and sooner than expected, Lance did figure out a way to do some very light quintessence magic.  Soon thereafter, he set course to traveling to whatever planets might still need help, and tell stories of Voltron’s legacy.  Lance looked at himself in the mirror, smiling at the Altean marks, and his freckles which had made a comeback thanks to the Altean sun-but what else made a comeback was his hair getting way too long for his liking..too…mullet-y.  As he grabbed some scissors, he hesitated, not too sure as to the best way to do this without butchering his hair-since it did carry his charm.  He winced as he was about to make the first cut, Romelle and Rachel charged into his room and yelled at the same time.

“ABSOLUTELY NOT!”

“AH!!!”

“ROMELLE, GET THOSE OUT OF HIS HANDS, NOW!” 

“HEY WHAT GIVES?!  I’M JUST TRYING TO CUT MY HAIR?!”

“YEAH!  And last time you did, you butchered it so bad-Mom and Dad had to give you a buzzcut.”  Rachel cringed at the memory, Lance screamed like bloody murder as it was happening, first time and last time Lance ever tried to cut his own hair.

“Okayyy okayy~” Lance surrendered the scissors as he left his fate in both Rachel’s and Romelle’s hands.

As they prepped Lance’s hair to start cutting, they cut away at some areas that were too long, shaved under areas so it faded and laid nicer for his hair texture.  However the more they worked on it, a gasp left Romelle.

“WHAT?  Did you chop too much-what’s happening?” Lance asked concerned, while taping his foot, nervous now.

“No, nothing bad Lance!  It’s just, we noticed some white hairs” Rachel lightly put it, oh, her poor twin-so young, but already so so stressed and gonna be at death's door sooner than planned~.
“...Oh god…I’m old…I’m not even in my 30’s yet, and I’m already getting white hair…” Was it stress?  He knew he made the joke about pulling off white hair better than Shiro, but this was WAY too soon.

“No, Lance this is…I can sense quintessence flowing through these strands, I think over time, you’ll grow more of these hairs over time-your power has really grown!” Romelle was surprised, before smiling at the mirror.  After the 2 finished up Lance’s hair-he at his reflection, surprised that he didn’t even spot the white hairs at first cuz they were buried under his other hair.  Romelle and Rachel had cleaned his hair up to be very similar to his typical haircut, but just a touch longer at the top so the new hair has more room to grow.

As Lance finished setting up and cleaned up, he opened the door to his ship before turning around and walked over to Coran before giving him a deep hug.

“Thanks for being a great host and helping me through this Coran!”
“Oh please Lance, it was a pleasure seeing you again and spending time helping you with this!”

As the 2 pulled away, Coran gasped at Lance’s head, seeing the white strands pointing at his head, and Lance gave a confirmation nod.

“Romelle said it had something to do with my power growing-I’ll make sure to keep practicing!” Lance smiled as Coran nodded, rustling his hand through Lance’s hair, which earned him a chuckle.

“Gonna miss you lad.” Coran smiles sadly, not wanting to be left alone again for too long, and Lance had an idea.

“Coran, can you hold out your hand real quick?” As he did, Lance cupped his hands around Coran’s open one before a light started to glow underneath.  As the light glowed to its brightest, blinding the 2-the glow soon subsided.  Coran and Lance opened their eyes, and Lance lifted his hands to reveal a crystal made of pure light shaped like a miniature version of a triton shell.  Coran gasps at the beauty of this, and clutches it to his chest.

“Thank you Lance, it’s beautiful!” Coran smiles in gratitude.

“Until next time I see you, okay?”

“Until next time indeed!”

The 2 separate before Lance gives one more look and farewell wave to the people in New Atlea before he sets off into the universe once more.

Throughout Lance’s travels, he did just as he said he would.  He helped where he could, aided in the Blades outposts, caught up with planets he had previously gone to, and told stories of Voltron’s effort with a show of story, song, and light.  It’s with these stories and support, Lance shone brighter than ever, figurative and literal.  The more he saw of the universe left by Allura, the more his power grew.  With that, his hair grew significantly faster as well as the whitened strands grew in number-it soon grew to the point where Lance stopped cutting his hair extremely short, and let it grow to a point.

Years passed by, and Lance was so happy and fulfilled in his life.  He had his family back, he was in a happy spot with his team and his friends, so many planets absolutely adored Lance, his heart felt so full with the amount of people he got to help and bring hope to people who desperately needed it during times like these.  Even with himself, he felt more confident in his own skills and his independence-being able to find and do things for him.  However, Lance McClain, ecstatic extrovert and people-person, would be lying if he didn’t say he felt lonely by himself-especially today of all days.  Lance opened up his messages box to see if he got something, but to his surprise, nothing?  At first he thought it was on his end for possibly having a cruddy connection from being so far from everybody, but that couldn’t be it, cuz Pidge set him up with the best stuff.  A familiar beep sounded into his system, oh!  A new message!  Lance checks it, seeing it’s from Veronica.

Mom made Garlic knots, you better hurry or else they’ll be gone!

((Gotta be fast in this house!))

Lance gasps at the audacity of the message, everybody in his household loves his Mom’s garlic knots as if they were the holy goblet.  He was about to send a full-on paragraph why they shouldn’t because of the special day rules until he saw a sentence at the bottom.

P.S. I saved some for you in the back of the middle drawer for you, Happy Birthday Little Mans! <3

P.S.S. You and Rachel gotta fight over for what’s left though~ XP

Lance’s thought of sending the paragraph immediately went out the window when he saw that last message, his smile growing big as he set a course for home.

As Lance got home in hours flat, he exited the ship to see his Dad already pulled up to the pickup area in a familiar minty-green car.  The 2 gave a strong hug as he ruffled his son’s hair.

“Happy Birthday son!” Mr. McClain smiled warmly, welcoming his son home, which Lance responded with a laugh, before turning his attention to the car.

“Oh my god! Dad, it looks amazing!  How did it feel driving here?” Lance bombarded his Dad question after question.

“Well, why don’t you find out?” Rachel emerged from the back seat of the car, throwing the keys at Lance, who caught them to his surprise.  He then ran his way to Rachel as the twins jumped into each other's arms in a tight embrace.

“Happy Birthday little sis!”
“Happy Birthday to you too little-er brother!”

The two gave the ‘McClain Sibling Fistbump’, making a jellyfish motion afterwards.  The 2 squealed out of excitement of seeing each other again, especially today on their birthdays.

“When did you get here?  I thought that you-”
“Well, Romelle knew what today was, so she decided to drop me off back home-I got here maybe an hour before you got in!”
“OH!  Well, I guess we better get home then, I assume Veronica sent you the message?”
“Mhmmm!  Guess it’s a fight for both of us!”
The family of 3 made their way to the car as Lance got adjusted in the driver's seat..and…it’s a blank to him, which earned a loud boisterous laugh from his father.

“Oh don’t tell me all those years piloting off in the galaxies, and you never learned to drive a car?”

“What?! No!  I just…uh….” Lance had the first steps down of turning the key, starting the car, it’s everything else that’s hard.  Papa McClain huffed, waiting for this day before learning over and showing Lance what each part did, before leaving Lance to try driving out in the parking lot before they started making their way home.

As the 3 started driving a lot more smoothly on the highway, the 3 looked over in the distance, seeing the sun reflect on the ocean-and god Lance was excited for when he would go in and swim for how many hours.  The rest of the ride was smooth, as for parking, Lance left that for his Dad to do for him, a later day for that kind of test.  Lance noticed other cars pulled up to the house, but that’s weird-he doesn’t remember any of his siblings having cars and vehicles like these, let alone talk about them.  As himself, Rachel, and Mr. McClain made their way into their house-they were greeted with confetti and cheers.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!” In almost every nook and cranny in the McClain household held loved ones, neighbors, allies, and screens of alien planets scattered across the house emerged from everywhere.  This earned a squeal of excitement from the McClain twins, hugs, wishes, and kisses came from all around.  The entire day was filled with fun, games, stories, food and drink, and catch-up-and Lance was so overwhelmed with so much positivity that he needed some much needed time for a quick breather.  He made his way upstairs into his old room and saw Rachel in there too.

“Wow...I thought we were loud!”
“Right?!”

The 2 laid on the floor like how many years ago when they caught up last time they were like this.

“So, how’re you feeling?”
“Full. Fulfilled. I feel amazing, I’ve done so much, seen so much-I would say I’m done, or ready to finish up...but…I’m not, I don’t think I could grow tired from this.” Lance smiled as he looked at that stars ceiling, but now with the added floating orbs of light he made himself from his powers.

“You?”

“I didn’t realize how huge the universe was!  I mean, yeah,  I HAD an idea-but geez, the amount I’ve seen is CRAZY!”

“RIGHT?!”

“And Romelle has been great at easing me into learning all this space stuff, as for me-I’ve discovered a new part of myself I never would have imagined.  She discovered something beautiful that I was capable of and…” Rachel smiled at the comment before she went red in the cheeks a little bit, which earned a hum from Lance.

“Uh-oh~ Is that the sound of-”

“SHUT UP! NO! DON’T YOU DARE!” Rachel went to throw one of Lance’s pillows at his face
“Oh noooo, killed by my own twin, how could you~” Lance fell back, which led to Rachel to lay next to him, head propped up on her palms.

“Well, what about you?  Couldn’t help but notice that you’ve been looking quite yearning little Mr. McClain?”
“Oh yeah?  And yearning for who would you say my dear little-er Ms. McClain~?” Lance tried acting smug, as if his sister had a clue.

“Oh, I dunno…a possible..older, grizzled…long-haired…space-wolf enthusiast…Red and black clad-” Lance pushed her face aside, while his other hand covered his mouth and cheeks as much as he could.  Not that it helped at all, considering his Altean marks started to glow out of pure embarrassment. 

“OKAY!...You think he knows?” Lance blushed intensely, whispering to Rachel.

“I dunno, do you think someone such as Commander Keith of ‘not good at reading emotions without being directly told’ Kogane, would know?  I think you’re in the clear.” Rachel shrugged, which led to Lance sighing.  Lance looked down at his unopened bottle of a new brew Coran had been testing with juniberry blossoms, nothing strong whatsoever-but it did have a very nice floral sweet taste that reminded him of the juniberry flowers back at New Atlea.  Rachel sees this, and she pulls out some very familiar little blue plastic cups from her bag.  They were a pair of cups that had a logo from their local Aquarium, both having mini jellyfish painted on them, however, one of the cups had 1 sea otter on it, while the 2nd cup donned the other-cuz when you put the 2 cups together-it shows the sea otters holding their paws so they don’t drift off into the sea.  Lance gasps in surprise.

“NO WAY!  Where were these?!  I thought they got lost when we separated our rooms!” Lance questioned out loud, but then he thought about it. OH? He looked at Rachel who just shrugged while embarrassed

“Y-yeah, I was…kinda mad at the fact that you wanted to separate our rooms so badly, so, I stole the cups many years back…I had completely forgotten about them until our last talk.  So, cheers?” Rachel held out one of the cups which Lance happily took, they opened their gift bottle, pouring just a little bit of the brew.

“To liquid courage?”

“The most courageous!”
“To another year to celebrate?”
“To another year and many to follow!”

The sound of plastic clinking followed by the twins tasting their gift from Coran, the 2 caught up about their past year’s travels and achievements and plans for the rest of the year.

Hours passed as the celebrations and festivities came to an end, the McClain house moved out to the beach for the fireworks about to happen, but as Lance made his way outside, he was tugged to the side by a familiar grip of leather gloves.

“Sorry, I just wanted to get your attention like this since the entire group has been here.” Keith sheepishly looked away, shy about the way he approached this.

“Hey man, it’s fine!  What’s up?” Lance tried reading Keith’s face, who just kept glancing back and forth, almost like he was thinking of something, but just can’t quite say.

“There’s this cliff Veronica told me about that…had a really good view of the fireworks, and…did you want to-”
“Yeah!”
“Yeah?”
“Mhmmm!  Let me just tell the team about it and they can meet with us there!” Lance smiled as Keith made an ‘uh!’ before Lance laughed.
“I’m kidding!  I gotcha-besides, wouldn’t want everybody to know about this ‘secret cliff’~” Lance smirked while walking towards the garage where Keith huffed amused, walking towards Keith’s bike.  

As the two got onto Keith’s bike and put on their helms, Lance wrapped his arms around Keith’s waist.

“You ready?”
“Are you?” Lance tried acting smug before Keith suddenly started his bike, and the 2 went full speed.  Lance desperately clutched onto Keith from the sudden speed, but slowly loosened his grip, seeing the sunset start to hit against the waves on the beach, before leaning his head against Keith’s back, appreciating the view and space.

It didn’t take long for the 2 to reach their destination, and Keith and Veronica were right, this was a pretty secret area considering the kind of climb the 2 had to do.  After the 2 made themselves comfy, Lance opened up his phone and put on some comfy tunes as they waited for the fireworks to start.  Keith stole some glances at Lance as he saw how happy he was, before clearing his throat.

“So, uh…did you have a Happy Birthday?” Keith shyly asked, trying to find out where to start since they talked on a day-to-day basis, so no use in asking how his travels have been.

“Huh? Oh! Yeah!  I’m really happy!  Really.” Lance smiled warmly as he looked off into the distance, he clutched his hands together as he closed his eyes-the Altean marks on his cheeks started to glow as the gaps between his hands began to glow as well.  When Lance opened his hands, little bundles of soft light began to scatter around the 2-almost like a personal fireworks show for just the two of them.

“Good! Cuz you deserve to.” Keith said so softly and warmly, it could’ve been missed by anybody.  Well, almost anybody, but not Lance McClain.  Lance looked at Keith with surprise, but surprise slowly melted into a fondness, as he reached his hand out and brushed Keith’s bangs up, clearly seeing a very obvious blush on his cheeks and eyes not making any contact out of shyness.  It was cute, and if Lance’s heart could-it would’ve exploded at the sight.  Lance lowered the bangs slowly before making his way down to cup his left cheek, gently rubbing his scar.  Keith then moved his free hand on top of Lance’s, which made the both of them gasp, but more so out of a ‘is it okay I did this?’ then a ‘what are you doing?’ gasp-and Lance silently answered that question by intertwining his fingers with Keith's.  The two stayed like this, just the flushed faces like a couple of giddy teenagers, stealing quick glances at one another before they stared at each other at the same time.  Lance took a deep breath, okay liquid courage from earlier…

“Then show me how much I deserve it then.” Lance whispered, looking back at Keith with a determined and loving look.  Keith was completely flushed before starting to uncontrollably smile.  Keith moved his hands, lifting Lance’s hand which earned a soft peck, to dance his fingers up the back of Lance’s neck softly following another soft kiss on his neck and edges of his back scar, to then cup the side of Lance’s face so so gently, thumb rubbing his cheek.  Keith paused, the 2 breathing heavily, high off of the pure excitement and happiness the 2 were mutually feeling right now, but the pause made Lance groan in impatience.

“Just please kiss me Keith Kogane!” Lance declared out before Keith suddenly went to move in, Lance closed his eyes out of shock-but another pause.  Lance opened his eyes ever so slightly, just to see Keith Kogane with the most smug smirk, before he could make another complaint, Keith went in with the softest kiss, finally closing all the distance between the 2.  Lance was so surprised at what a quick approach Keith had, just to give the softest, slowest, most gentle kiss known to man-but he was all for it and more.  Lance melted into the kiss, pulling Keith in closer to deepen this moment, even if it was for a couple seconds longer.

When the 2 broke apart for a breath, Lance’s marks were glowing, but the feeling was indescribable.  The 2 looked at each other and began to laugh so lovingly and warmly before hugging each other deeply.

“Wow, I kissed the Keith Kogane!”
“Yeah, given by the plea from the Lance McClain!”

The 2 laughed once more as the fireworks had suddenly gone off, painting the night sky in multiple different hues and sounds.  As the 2 looked up at the sky, as exciting as fireworks are given the perfect view they were in-nothing could beat the happiness and excitement they just experienced with their first kiss.

As time passed of Lance and Keith enjoyed each other's company, they figured it was time they made their way back to the family and team.  As they have, a lot of ‘Where were you 2?’ and ‘You missed the fireworks!’, not that it mattered because they had the best feeling and views from where they were.  As Lance made his way to the surfboard brought by his family, he swam out to his siblings.

“You look happy, something happened?”
“More like someone?”

“Oh!  Has our little brother been rendezvousing with someone on his special day?”

“Oh, don’t be teasing just him-a little miss special day has also been keeping something from us, hmmmm~?”

“WHAT? NO!  Stop!” Rachel pushed Marco into the water, earning a laugh from the McClain siblings.  Lance was smiling so much, his cheeks would’ve started to hurt-but he could not describe the happiness he was feeling.  He looked over at the shoreline, seeing Keith talk with his Mom and Dad before making his way to Lance along with the rest of the team.

“Yeah, I guess you could say something happened~” Lance sang, for his life?  Finally felt so full, practically completed.