Chapter Text
Shiro took a deep breath and tried to keep his hands from shaking. He didn’t want to disturb Pidge. She had only fallen asleep a short while ago, clearly sensing that something was happening and not liking it. He’d soothed her into sleep at last by carrying her around the room, rocking the kit gently the way his mother had said she had done to him, when he was an infant who would not go to sleep any other way.
Pidge wouldn’t be this small for much longer. None of them would be. Coran and Allura had finally figured out how to undo the magic or science or whatever it was that had turned four-fifths of Team Voltron into children of incorrect species.
It was a good thing, Shiro reminded himself. They couldn’t fight like this, couldn’t do anything at all. Shiro needed his team back and ready to go, not stuck as small children with soft fur and glowing marks on their faces.
That didn’t keep him from feeling some weird soft kind of sadness. He’d met Keith when the future Red Paladin had been a young angry teenager, and Pidge when she’d been just a bit older and only slightly less volatile. Lance and Hunk he’d never even laid eyes on until they rescued him from the Garrison upon his return to Earth. He had never known them as children, mostly only as warriors, fighters in a battle far too big for them.
But like this – like this, Hunk was still worried but less so, more comfortable and confident, willing to try silly things. Lance was less brazen, and underneath less insecure. He was more honest, gentler. Pidge, of course, was literally a baby now so it was hard to get into her head. She still didn’t seem to like sleeping, but she was far more physically affectionate, and would happily babble at Shiro for hours even though he had no idea what she was saying (actually, that was basically regular Pidge too, now that he thought about it). But she was more relaxed, more trusting, more interested in interacting with the others. Keith had new anxiety in the form of being the only purple one besides Pidge (although that was accurate for grown Keith too, minus the Pidge connection), but he didn’t bury it quite as much. He let Shiro in, trusted him in ways that even full-sized Keith didn’t. There was less rage, too. Things that made him angry and mistrustful in his real mind didn’t exist in this form.
Part of Shiro would be sad to lose some of the aspects of what his Paladins had now, as children of Altea or Galra. But there was no way to let them stay like this. It wasn’t who they were, not really, and besides Voltron could not be piloted by a group of children. Well. A group of even-younger children than they really were. They had to be turned back, and Coran and Allura had finally figured out how. So it was happening, today, now.
“You promise it’s okay?” Lance trusted Allura, even moreso because she looked like him and clearly adored both him and Hunk, but being told to go into the pods seemed to be making him nervous. Hunk clung to his hand, looking twice as anxious.
“I promise,” Allura said, reaching out to him and the Yellow Paladin, both of whom instantly latched on to her like limpets. “Just a few vargas in the pods, and you’ll be all better.”
“But we don’t feel sick?” Hunk said, although it came out more like a question.
Coran bobbed his head. “Just a tuneup, Number Two! After this you’ll all be right as razgars on a full moon!”
Neither Hunk nor Lance seemed to know what that was (apparently getting turned into an Altean didn’t automatically grant one understanding of Coran’s comments; nothing in the universe could do that), but they went with it, as they always had.
Keith watched the interaction with muted suspicion in his flat yellow eyes. Shiro nudged him. “You too, Keith. Everybody in a pod, just for a little bit.” When the kit turned those eyes on him, he took a breath. “It’s okay. I’ll be right here, I promise. You’ll be okay.” You’ll be back to being okay.
Keith didn’t blink. “Pidge too? It’s safe for her?” The closeness between the Arms of Voltron had expanded tremendously during their time as Galra kits. Keith was ferociously protective of the now-even-tinier Pidge, and despite being essentially an infant Pidge clearly adored the other fuzzy purple being of the castle, and sometimes would only settle if he was near, not Shiro or Allura or Coran.
Shiro had had the same fears. Pidge was so much smaller and had been turned so much younger than the others, and he had been deeply concerned about whether the process would work properly on her even if it did for the others. Coran and Allura had sworn that they had checked everything three times, and that even a tiny Galra could be turned back into a slightly-less-tiny Human completely safely. “Yes, Keith. She’ll be fine. You’ll see her in a couple hours.”
It was time for the four to go into the pods. Despite all reassurances, they still knew something was up and were all more than a little stressed. Pidge fussed until she got to see the other three. She poked Hunk’s shiny-gold eye markings, pulled on Lance’s long pointed ear (cackling at his squawk), and petted gently at Keith’s purple crest of fur before allowing herself to be placed in a pod. She didn’t make any sound as the door slid shut, only clung to her tail and watched Shiro with a terrifying amount of trust in those glowing yellow eyes. Then the pod closed and she fell asleep.
Keith was next. He stared at Pidge’s pod for a long time before turning back to the others. “Okay,” he said quietly. Shiro picked him up, trying to memorize how his brother’s tiny form held onto him, claws digging securely but not uncomfortably into his shirt. He’d never known Keith as a Human child of this size, and although he had turned out to be part-Galra, he had never been purple, with big batlike ears or yellowy eyes. This was different, and now it was over. “I’ll be right here when you come back,” he said quietly, and Keith nodded. He didn’t know what was going on and he didn’t exactly like it, but he trusted Shiro. So when the Human placed him gently into the pod, Keith let go, closing his eyes before the door fully closed.
Then it was Lance’s turn, although he was clearly torn between going before Hunk to check the pods out or after to make sure his friend went in safely. In the end, he seemed to decide that he trusted Shiro and Allura enough to watch Hunk for him, and climbed in. First, though, he hugged the other peep fiercely, rubbing his aqua-blue mark gently against Hunk’s matching gold. “See you soon,” he whispered, and Hunk gave his fellow Leg a watery smile and murmured the same. Lance squeezed both of Hunk’s hands tightly, and then released him to get a lift up into the pod from Allura. He smiled reassuringly at Hunk until the door sealed and frost crept over the surface, hiding the Blue Paladin from view.
Hunk turned to Shiro, although he took Allura’s hand as soon as she stepped away from Lance’s pod. “They’ll be okay?” he asked, trying for calm but unable to hide the wobble in his voice.
Shiro couldn’t help but smile. Even small and a completely different species, Hunk cared about the others in a way that Shiro would have been amazed by even before Kerberos. Now, after seeing all the cruelty the universe had to offer, he valued Hunk’s compassion and empathy even more. “You’ll see them again very soon,” he reassured, wrapping Hunk in a tight hug. This would be the last time he could fully reach around the Yellow Paladin, the last time he could pick him up and balance him on his hip. “They’ll be fine, and you’ll all be back together before you know it.”
“Okay,” Hunk murmured, pressing his face into Shiro’s neck. He reached out for a last hug from Allura, waved shyly to Coran at the controls of the pods, and then allowed Shiro to place him in the last pod. “See you soon,” the Yellow Paladin said, smiling at Shiro.
“See you soon,” Shiro murmured, and watched until the door had closed.
Now all there was to do was wait.
They emerged in reverse order of going in. Coran explained something about the work the healing pods were having to do to undo the age and species changes, but Shiro was too busy hugging Hunk.
Hunk who, only hours before, had been small enough for Shiro to pick up with one hand, whose ears had been pointed and whose face had been marked with splashes of glimmering gold. Now he was Human, with a Human face and Human eyes. And he was back to being big enough to pick Shiro up, instead of the other way around.
“I’m not sure what happened or why we were in the pods,” he mumbled in Shiro’s ear, “but I remember not being scared, because you were there.”
Shiro muffled a laugh in Hunk’s shoulder, squeezing him tighter even though his feet were barely on the ground. “A lot happened. I’m glad you’re back.”
Then Allura rushed in, sweeping the re-sized and re-specied Yellow Paladin into a crushing hug. Hunk reciprocated, despite his evident confusion.
“Okay, so something has clearly been going on while we’ve been out,” he said when the Princess released him. “I don’t even really remember what happened to put me in a pod, much less the rest of the team.” Anxiety flickered across Hunk’s face as he glanced over the other three pods. “So how about we go have some lunch and catch this Leg up on what the heck has been happening, because I am very confused.”
“A brilliant plan, Number Two,” Coran said as he entered. “There is much to be explained, and we have at least enough time to prepare some food before Number Three is scheduled to be ejected from his pod.”
So the four made their way to the kitchens, and Shiro played helper as Hunk made up the best lunch the castle had had since the Event. Cooking was not really in Shiro’s skillset, although he was a good enough assistant when given clear and simple tasks, Allura had never needed to learn, and Coran… well, Coran’s tasted did not run in line with those of the rest of the castleship inhabitants, to put it simply.
As they worked, Shiro, Allura, and Coran caught Hunk up to the events of the past week. The mission, the body Paladins getting separated from Shiro, and how when he finally found them, they were… not themselves.
Hunk was flabbergasted. Coran showed him pictures, and Shiro got to see Hunk, brilliant, babbly Hunk, at a complete loss for words.
“I was… a kid?” he murmured, gazing at the static image on the pad screen. “And,” he squinted, “Altean?”
“Yes,” Allura confirmed. She was wearing a strong-set mask of composure, keeping all her emotions about her team being de-aged, and two of them becoming Altean young, buried. For now, it was all facts. “You and Lance became Altean peeps, while Keith and Pidge were turned into Galra kits. We still do not fully understand how, although we were able to turn you back after about a week in those forms.”
Hunk squinted harder at the picture. It was one that Coran had taken while Shiro had had all the Paladins piled on him for a movie naptime, taken maybe two days ago. Shiro looked exhausted but content, with Pidge tucked against his chest and Lance nestled underneath his Human arm. Keith was burrowed into his other side, mostly buried beneath Shiro’s Galra arm and Pidge, only a side and most of a leg visible, plus one purple ear tufting out from somewhere near Shiro’s shoulder. Hunk was tucked close to Lance’s free side, leaning against his best friend and clearly mostly asleep, Shiro’s living hand laid on his head.
A lovely picture, but four of the five were much smaller than their usual sizes. Also, Pidge was purple and very obviously a baby and a Galra, her big yellow eyes staring, pupil-less, at the camera and her enormous ears up and open, one brushing Shiro’s chin. Her tail was looped around one ankle and held delicately in both tiny paw-hands. What was visible of Keith was purple too, and even though the Red Paladin was relatively small for a Human, he never would have fit under Shiro’s arm that easily in his normal form. Lance’s eyes were too shiny and clear, and on his cheekbones blazed two bright blue marks like tiny headlights. Hunk was far smaller than his usual size, clearly a child, and his ears showed under the ruffling of Shiro’s hand, long and pointed. His face was different too: it looked like someone had pasted gold-leaf V’s beneath each eye.
“We were all…” Hunk trailed off, staring at the photograph with a look of total loss.
“You’re back now,” Shiro said, laying one hand on Hunk’s shoulder, “and the others will be out soon. No harm done.”
“I… I don’t really remember anything,” Hunk said. “A whole week? That’s… that’s a lot missing. – I mean,” he sputtered, glancing at Shiro apologetically, “I meant–”
“I understand,” Shiro smiled. “It’s a strange feeling. I can promise you though, it was a nice week, even if a little strange. You were a lifesaver as usual. I would never have been able to handle the others without you, even though you were almost as young as they were.”
“Besides,” Allura added, “you may regain some of those memories over time. We still don’t fully understand the magic and/or science that altered you, but the memories may come back over the next few days.”
“Entirely possible,” Coran agreed. “For the moment, however, I recommend we go back to the pod room. Lance – and Keith as well – should be emerging soon.”
Lance and Keith did, in fact, emerge. Lance was first, and was caught before his feet could even touch the ground by Allura, who held him close for just longer than might be considered normal. Lance was too surprised and startled and confused to do anything about it other than hug the princess back. At least, for a moment. Then he smiled into her shoulder. “Well hello, Princess. Are you really so happy to see me?”
She finally pulled back, gazing at him with a smile that was at once tremendously relieved and astoundingly sad. “I believe I am,” she said softly, tracing one fingertip along his cheekbone.
The moment over, the two separated. Allura smothered the sadness in her eyes as she turned towards Keith’s pod, and Lance just stood there with a baffled smile on his face, at least until Hunk descended on him with a hug that lifted the Blue Paladin off his feet. “Lance, this is nuts, you won’t believe–”
Lance had to wait to find out what exactly he wouldn’t believe, because Keith was always a party pooper and chose that moment to come out of his Healing Pod.
He was caught the same way Lance had been, by Shiro this time. “Shir – what–” Keith mumbled into his brother’s chest, hands fluttering confusedly until they settled on the Black Paladin’s back.
“Welcome back,” Shiro said, pressing his nose into Keith’s hair. “We have a lot to catch you up on.”
Pidge still had a while before she was set to come out of her pod, so the group returned to the kitchen to eat the food Hunk and Shiro had prepared and explain the events of the previous week to a very confused Lance and Keith.
Lance stared at the picture, face slack with astonishment, and almost subconsciously lifted one hand to trace where, only hours before, blue marks had shimmered like the ocean on his cheeks. He leaned slowly against Hunk. Hunk wrapped his arms around his friend and Lance put a hand over Hunk’s joined ones, and Shiro was struck by the position – they had done just the same thing as tiny Altean peeps, only hours ago.
Keith didn’t say anything at all, but Shiro could feel the tension coming off him in waves. The Red Paladin looked nervous, withdrawn, gazing at the image of tiny purple-him with unreadable eyes. Finally he glanced up, not at Shiro but at Allura and Coran. Allura was eating, focused on her plate and doing her best to maintain restraint even though the events of the day were clearly affecting her, but Coran looked up and met his eyes. The mechanic smiled at him, open and kind, and all of Keith’s tension melted.
Lance finally broke the moment, snapping everyone out of the weird introspective lull they had dropped into. “Look, Princess,” he said, his smile back to being clear and clever, “we matched!”
Before all this, Allura might only have sniffed at him, or rolled her eyes or turned away. Now, though, she nearly smiled back, a tiny twist of her lips that had Lance’s eyes lighting up. “Indeed we did,” she replied, “and even your ears were normal for once!” Her playing along left Lance wordless, bright and grinning helplessly back as he leaned heavily into Hunk with joy. Something had changed between them, and Shiro thought it might be for the better.
Keith was quiet, but more relaxed now. As the Alteans and… former Alteans? – bantered, Shiro leaned over to him. “You know,” he said, pitching his voice so that only Keith would hear, “it was okay. You were Galra, purple and everything, and Allura and Coran were completely fine. Nobody hates you for it.” The unintentional sort-of favoritism that the Alteans had held had been only a product of the tremendous longing and sadness of losing one’s entire species, not because they loved Keith or Pidge any less. “I think… I think it might have even helped them, in the long run,” Shiro confided, finally voicing the thoughts he’d been having for days, “to remember that the Galra aren’t all monstrous Empire soldiers. Galra children are just like any other kind. Some Galra are just people – or kids.”
The Red Paladin didn’t respond, but he glanced at Shiro from the corner of his eye, visibly thinking about his brother’s words. Shiro knew Keith. He would process this concept for a few days, and at some unpredictable time in the future he would come to him, ready to talk. That was fine. Shiro was patient.
Meal finished and Paladins updated, they returned to the pod room. Pidge was due out any minute, and they all wanted to be there. Lance was still gushing about the pictures of her fluffy ears and long wiry tail, but Hunk finally got him to shut up when the door to the pod holding the last Paladin finally slid open.
Pidge had time to take exactly one step on her own out of the pod before Shiro had caught her up in his arms. Unlike with Keith, he lifted the Green Paladin straight off her feet the way Allura had done with Lance, holding her close and reveling in the feeling of her being bigger, normal again. Yes, part of him would miss the enormous unblinking yellow eyes and the squeak-babbles she had made constantly as a kit (not to mention that tail), but it was also a strange kind of relief to feel the only Holt he had be the right size and shape again. He’d never thought Pidge could feel big in his arms, but after a week of holding her terrier-sized self, five-foot was a giant. He loved it.
“Hi Shiro,” Pidge said into his collarbone, obliging the surprise cuddle by koala-ing, wrapping her arms and legs around Shiro’s body like she was some kind of overlarge starfish. “What’s going on?”
“Apparently we’ve been kids for like a week,” Lance said with no preamble. Pidge pulled back from Shiro to stare in confusion and he carefully put her down, still unused to her now large-feeling size. Not to mention her being able to stand on her own. Kit-Pidge had crawled, climbed, scooted, slid, or demanded carrying for her movement; Shiro couldn’t remember the tiny creature actually walking anywhere, or bothering to properly stand up. But Pidge was big again now (at least, relatively big), and her ferocious independence was not to be challenged. That hadn’t changed when she had been transformed into a kit, but she had at least been more interested in cuddles.
That part, maybe, hadn’t quite faded, because as soon as Shiro let go Pidge took a few steps, wobbled, sort of tilted, and ended up leaning against Keith’s side. The Red Paladin wrapped an arm around her shoulders without reaction and they both looked at Lance, none of them noticing that the two least-touchy people on the team were just kind of melting into one another. Apparently, being the only two purple ones had strengthened their bond as well, like with Lance and Allura.
“Lance what the quiznak are you talking about,” Pidge said tiredly.
“Show her the pictures!” Lance gesticulated at Coran. “You won’t believe this, Pidge,” he said. “We got turned into kids – actually, I think you were technically a baby – and Hunk and I were Altean and you and Keith were Galra, and I had blue face-mark-things and Hunk had yellow ones, because duh, and you had a tail, and Keith was fuzzy, and–”
Shiro cut him off before the Blue Paladin could get too excited. Pidge was looking very lost. This was definitely a lot to have thrown at you thirty seconds after exiting a healing pod. “A lot has happened,” he said gently, laying one hand on her back. “Why don’t we all sit down, and you can get caught up on everything.”
“And now that everyone is awake, we can fully go over the events of the last week and the events that caused them, and perhaps better understand how this happened,” Allura added.
“I want to hear everything,” Lance said as the now-complete team made its way to the common room. “I can’t believe I was an Altean for a week and don’t remember anything!”
“A little Altean,” Hunk reminded him. “Man, I’m glad there are pictures, because that must have been wild.”
It sure was, Shiro thought. Part of him thought he might miss it. He had no experience with children, true, but there had been something wonderful about that week, despite the worry and fear.
They settled onto the couches, nestling close like they had before despite the now very different size. It was irrationally funny to watch, really, because everyone sat down the way they had been doing for a week, and four of the seven had no idea why and the other three hadn’t really intended to do so.
Shiro had Pidge tucked against his side and Keith just past her, pressed against her so as to be as close as possible to Shiro too. Lance was beside Allura and she didn’t even protest, and Hunk was close to him like Keith was to Pidge, so as to be near to the other Altean as well. They, at least, had that urge somewhat mitigated by Coran placing himself on Hunk’s other side, and the Yellow Paladin relaxed before he even realized he’d been tense.
The next hours were filled with talking. The Paladins were confused and curious about the events of the last week, and Shiro, Allura, and Coran were more than happy to fill them it. It was such a relief to get to interact with them as people again – as adults (sort of), instead of small children. They remembered essentially nothing, but the others had plenty of stories and pictures to go with them, filling in the blanks with ridiculous tales of bathtimes and hair brushing and naps and adventures.
Strange, but familiar. Just like before. Shiro hadn’t realized how much he’d gotten used to the other Paladins being small, and although it was of course a tremendous relief for them to all be back to normal, things had changed again and it was going to take a while for him to get used to it. Pidge didn’t fit in one hand anymore, Hunk was nearly as tall as Shiro was, and although he could still pick up Keith and Lance with one arm each it would now take considerably more effort.
The Paladins were intensely curious, but they were also completely exhausted. They hadn’t exactly been themselves the past few days, and healing pods took a lot out of you. Warm and together on the couches, it didn’t take long for them all to fall asleep, one by one. Once Lance finally dozed off with his head on Allura’s shoulder, there was a moment of quiet.
“Thank you,” Shiro said, keeping his voice low to avoid waking his finally-returned-to-Human friends.
“I’m glad we were finally able to do it,” Allura said, and although there was a trace of sadness in her eyes as she looked at Hunk’s sleeping face, cheeks no longer marked with gold, she sounded honest. She had loved the peeps, but she loved their true Human selves too. She knew.
“It was a group effort, and well done,” Coran said. His smile was tired but genuine. “We may have found the cure, but you handled more than your share of caretaking, and we appreciate it. I think they do too.”
As alien children, the Paladins had always been making noise. Even in sleep they had chirped, chirred, and purred, peeping and squeaking and mumbling and grumbling. Now it was quiet. Hunk’s head was tipped back in a way that suggested he might start snoring soon if someone didn’t move him, and Pidge always made little sighing noises in her sleep, but there was none of the sleepy cacophony that had filled the days since their initial transformation. Of all the details to fixate on it was kind of strange, but sometimes it was just the little things.
This had been big, and it would take a few days for everyone, transformed and not, to readjust. It had been a big day. The castle now held only two Alteans, and there were now four Humans and one part-Human part-Galra. Magic, science – it didn’t really matter. Whatever happened had been undone. It could have been the ruin of Voltron, but they’d fixed it. Fixed it, and maybe grown even closer in the process.
Although the Paladins had been turned back to normal, some things were similar to how they had been when they were changed. Lance accidentally totally destroyed his food one lunchtime, only noticing once everyone was staring at him and the smushed spread-out remains of his food painted across the table. Keith found himself stuck in the semi-nocturnal sleeping pattern the Galra kits had maintained and kept falling asleep in odd places. Pidge went into a vent to do maintenance but came scrambling back out four ticks later straight into Coran’s arms, and wouldn’t go back in for days. Hunk kept getting distracted by the lights when he worked on Shiro’s arm, which needed quite a bit of maintenance after being used as a chewtoy and for carrying children around for days.
Shiro had to admit it. He was going to miss Keith’s big bat-ears, Lance’s water-rippling blue cheek marks, Hunk’s familiar-but-definitely-not-Human hands, Pidge’s tail. The past week had certainly been an experience. But he was also indescribably relieved to have them back in the forms that truly belonged to them. Hunk was no longer small, but rivaled Shiro in size and was the sturdiest backup one could ask for. Keith – thank god, Shiro’s brother had been returned to himself with no negative effects. He wasn’t fully Human, but it didn’t matter. And maybe after some time to process, this could even be good for him. Lance’s eyes weren’t the shiny-glowy that Altean eyes were, but the blue was the same. Pidge was fine, and Shiro could not put into words how glad he was that Katie was herself again, body and mind. She was Human, and she was safe. They all were.