Chapter Text
“It seems as though you’re ceasing to exist. If Lance and Keith never saved you that means you… uh….” Coran tried to explain.
“Died?” Kora helped.
“Perished on Nayases.” Coran corrected
“That’s not much better.” Lance rolled his eyes.
“Well, it's true.” Pidge crossed her arms.
“So what do we do?” Kora asked.
“We can't do anything.” Hunk sighed.
“There has to be something! We can't just let her… Ya know…” Lance trailed.
“You’re not even her father.” Shiro spoke up.
Lance gritted his teeth and walked up to Shiro. “What does that even matter? She was raised by a version of Keith and I. Keith was my family and she is too. I will not lose another.”
“Shiro,” Allura softly said. “Lance is right. Just because we…” Allura stopped and gulped. “He deserves to keep what he has left.”
“The princess is right.” Pidge agreed.
“We can do this.” Hunk encouraged.
----
Kora ended up in a lab of Pidge’s for hours. Hunk, Pidge and Coran were running around and testing everything they could think of. Eventually they decided to hook Kora up to the castle to see if the lions or the castle had retained some information.
They were right.
A few moments after they stuck a few things on her head and in her arms, a video loaded on the screens of the castle.
It was Keith.
“I don't know how this exactly works but Coran told me to do it for record.” Keith sighed.
Halfway across the castle, Lance was sitting up in bed looking at the TV screen.
Keith launched into the explanation. “Recently we had a mission on Nayases which collapsed. A few years ago, someone claiming to be mine and Lance's daughter came to us and said that we saved her upon collapse of the planet.”
“Keith?” Lance asked quietly. He never allowed the thought that he’d see Keith alive and moving again even if it was just a video.
“I never managed to find Kora and neither did Lance. I didn't want to remember that I failed her so I asked Pidge and Hunk to do this. I asked them to erase the memories of Kora so that I wouldn't have to live with the fact that I basically killed my daughter because I-” Keith started crying.
“Because I failed to save her and her planet. Lance doesn't want me to do this. He thinks that by living those mistakes I’ll be able to learn from them. Except I'll never be able to fix or make up for those mistakes. Coran also doesn't want me to do this but he gave up arguing with me. He understands what it's like to lose a child I suppose.” Keith took a deep breath and wiped his face.
“I am sorry Kora.” he said and the video ended.
“No!” Lance cried. “Come back!” he shook the TV and when it inevitably didn't follow his command, he kicked the TV.
----
“I guess now we know why none of us remember you. I mean we would have forgotten anyway because of what happened of Nayases.” Hunk bit his lip.
“More like what didn't happen.” Pidge scoffed.
“I’m gonna go to my room and think for a bit.” Kora said.
Pidge, Hunk and Coran nodded and she walked away.
She kept looking at her hands which seemed to be flickering like an old light bulb. She groaned and shoved her hands in her pockets.
She got to her room and flopped on the bed.
“Why is it always me who deals with the shitty stuff?” she thought. “I’m like Xander from that old vampire show papa likes.”
Kora was in her room for a while. She was on her bed, at her desk, just trying to think of ways to prevent the very erasure of her existence.
When she got up to simply pace the room, she fell.
She looked to her legs and they were barely there. They looked like someone had lower the opacity and they were flickering like her hands earlier.
“Help!” She called.
No one came to her aid.
After a minute, her throat was scratchy and her voice hoarse. In the time she had attempted to crawl to the door and pound on it but to no avail.
Suddenly there was a knock on her door.
“Kora?” Lance asked through the door. “You okay?”
“Help me Papa!”
----
“Fuck,” Lance panicked and tried to force the door open.
He tried to ram his body into the door until his sides were sore.
He tried pass codes on the door but nothing worked.
“Screw this,” Lance gave and whipped out his Bayard. It transformed into a gun and he shot the door open.
He opened the door and saw Kora on the floor reaching out for him. He dropped to his knees. “Kora?” his voice squeaked.
“Bye, papa.” she whispered and her form was gone completely.
A tear fell from Lance’s eye and then he asked aloud. “What the hell am I doing in here?”
He looked at the Bayard in his hands and the door, destroyed behind him.
“What the hell did I do?” Lance shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Man, I should ask Pidge to give me a sobriety test.”
Lance couldn't remember what had just happened.
•••
Kora had an inescapable fate. To live and be loved unconditionally but to die unknown.