Chapter Text
The only thing Lee was aware of was darkness around her. She struggled to remember the events that led to her being there, but she was having difficulty grasping onto any kind of concrete thought. It felt like she was afloat in the darkness, without a single anchor to hold her in place; she was completely alone. She would’ve been worried or scared, but she felt detached from everything, even her own emotions. She was unsure as to how much time she’d spent in the darkness when she felt a ripple of energy from somewhere in the emptiness.
As she turned to look, she saw a faint light far off in the distance. She felt something deep inside her urging her towards the light, and as she got closer she began to hear a faint voice calling her name. Warmth spread through her as she recognized the voice, and she pushed herself faster, wanting to reach the person the voice belonged to. As she got closer the light got brighter, burning away the darkness, and forcing her to close her eyes.
When she was able to prise her eyelids open, she had to blink multiple times as she tried to get used to seeing more than just darkness again. Once her vision had cleared, she saw a familiar worried face hovering above her.
“Lee!” Keith exclaimed relief replacing worry as the predominant emotion on his face.
“Keith?” She questioned, moving to sit up. As she did she looked around, realizing that she was cradled on Keith’s lap in the cockpit of the Red Lion. She looks outside only to see an unknown landscape stretching out around them. “What happened?”
As she looks around she catches a glimpse of the new suit she’s wearing, that Coran gave her so she could go out and join the fight, and with a gasp she remembers the events that led here: Allura being taken prisoner; attacking Zarkon’s base; being trapped inside and unable to escape; her fighting as the white lion to try and protect Keith; and finally, their desperate escape through a wormhole only for something to go wrong, and them all being scattered across the universe.
“After we fell through the wormhole we crash landed on this planet. I remember seeing the Black Lion falling with us, and I think it crashed not too far away from us. So I guess, we’ll go rendezvous with Shiro, and figure out our next move from there.” Keith says, but instead of moving to pilot Red away, he just tightens his arms around her, gaze staying locked on her face.
“Keith? What’s the matter?” She asks, and his brows furrow as he shakes his head. He leans forward, kissing her gently, and she grasps his shoulders, returning the kiss. It is sweet and gentle; an assurance that they are okay, that they made it, and are safe together. Keith pulls back slightly, and he rests his fore head against hers.
“You’re okay?” He asks, and she pecks his lips again, a smile spreading across her lips at his blatant worry; she finds it endearing. One of her hands slides up to cup his cheek, and when his eyes open, she makes sure to meet his gaze with her own.
“I’m fine, really. You saved me, you kept your promise, and got both of us out safe and together.” She says, warm smile on her face. Keith scoffs, pulling back slightly.
“I saved you? Lee, you- once again you show up and just, amaze me with what you can do. I mean, you were inside the lion that time right? You bailed me and Red out of a tight situation, and you were holding your ground against Zarkon. All I did was manage to pilot Red right into Zarkon’s path. I didn’t get us out of there, I almost got us killed. If it wasn’t for Shiro, we wouldn’t have made it out.” Keith says, and she can see the frustration on his face. Lee leans up, wrapping her arms around the back of his neck, and tucking her face into the crook between his neck and shoulder.
“Don’t be ridiculous. You saw how Zarkon was going after my body, he knew that that was my weak point. If it hadn’t been for you going out and risking your life, who knows what may have happened to my body, to me. And it wasn’t like you were the only one who wanted to go after Zarkon at the end there, I wanted to just as much. As far as I’m concerned, we got out safe, and together, and you kept your promise. So, how about you just accept the fact that I’m right?” Lee suggests, her lips brushing against the skin of his throat as she speaks, sending pleasant shivers down his spine.
He huffs out a breath, unable to stop a grin from spreading across his lips. “Alright, fine, I guess I can’t argue with you.” He acquiesces, and she giggles.
“Exactly.” She says, pressing a kiss to the side of his neck. Keith jolts slightly at the unexpected, but pleasant sensation, but Lee is already leaning back and away, grinning broadly at him. “Alright then, let’s go and find Shiro, and then we can try and figure out where the rest of our wayward teammates may have ended up.”
Lee slides out of his lap, moving to stand at the side of his chair with an arm wrapped around the top of it. Keith moves his attention to his lion, moving the controls as he tries to get a response. He exchanges a worried glance with Lee when nothing happens. As Keith tries again, Lee closes her eyes in an effort to reach Red telepathically. When she reaches out for the connection with Red, she has to reach deep into the connection. When she finally reaches Red, she receives a tired grumble. She reassures the lion, saying that it deserves a rest. She retreats back out of her mind, looking down at Keith who is still trying to get Red to move.
“Red won’t be moving anytime soon. It’ll take some time, and maybe even some repairs to get back to full power, but for now, if we want to find Shiro, we’re going to have to do it ourselves.” Lee informs Keith, who slumps dejectedly. He sighs, before reaching forward and patting the console.
“Don’t worry, we’ll get you all fixed up. That was a tough battle, so you deserve a break anyway.” He says, giving one last pat before standing up and turning to Lee. “Let’s head out.”
Lee takes off the suit of armour Coran gave her, choosing to leave it inside Red. If she's going to need to be moving around at all, then she doesn't want the unfamiliar weight of the armour slowing her down.
A hatch opens up in the top of Red, and Keith climbs up and out first. He takes a quick look around, before turning to offer Lee a hand as she climbs out. Lee accepts it, keeping hold of it once she’s out. She moves to stand beside Keith, also looking out at the landscape.
“So, do you have any idea where we are?” Keith asks, turning to look at Lee. She shakes her head, biting her lip slightly.
“No, sorry. We could be anywhere in the universe, and the rest of the paladins, and the castle, they could be spread anywhere too. We could be light years apart from each other.” She says, a worried look taking over her face, as she thinks about their lost team.
“Well, we at least know that Shiro is somewhere on this planet, so we’d better go find him. If he crash landed too, he may even be hurt somewhere.” Lee can see that Keith is really concerned about Shiro, and she is worried about their team leader as well. She squeezes his hand, and when he looks over she gives him a reassuring smile.
“We’ll find him.” She says determinedly, and he nods, determination taking over his face as well. The two climb down from atop Red, and begin running towards where Keith’s helmet is showing coordinates.
“Shiro, can you hear me? Shiro! Shiro, are you there?” Keith tries to reach Shiro over the coms, but all they hear back is static.
“Shiro if you can hear us, we’re coming to find you. If you can, stick with the Black Lion and we’ll be there as soon as we can.” Lee says hoping that somehow he may be able to hear them. As they keep running, Keith continues to try and reach Shiro over the coms, when eventually they get a response.
“Keith? I’m here, I’m okay.” He says, and Lee can’t stop a relieved smile from appearing.
“Shiro, you made it.” Keith replies.
“It takes more than a glowing alien wound, a fall from the upper atmosphere and crashing into a hard panned surface at what I’m guessing is probably 25 metres per second squared to get rid of me. How are you?” He asks, and Lee pauses, for one because they had run out of flat terrain to run on, and for two, because she had no idea Shiro had been wounded in the fight. Keith turns to her, swiftly sweeping her into his arms and leaping off the edge, firing up his thrusters.
“Not good. My lion is busted. Wait-what wound?” He asks, pausing on a small outcropping, he looks down at Lee, brows furrowed. She gives him a matching worried look, and Keith takes off again, a renewed sense of urgency taking over. Once they hit the bottom and see flat land again, Lee makes Keith set her down, getting on her disk while Keith continues to use his thrusters, so that they can get to Shiro quicker.
“It’s nothing” Shiro says, but the groan he lets out afterwards comes through the coms as well.
“Hang on, we’re coming.” Keith says, and there is a pause, and then they hear Shiro whispering.
“On second thought, you better hurry.” He tells them, and Lee feel her heart stutter a second as her thoughts race, trying to figure out what could have made Shiro sound so worried, but the possibilities whirl with no idea what may actually be happening.
“Shiro, what happened?” Keith asks, and as they continue rushing towards Shiro, Lee’s instincts send a quick pulse of warning, and she rushes to the side, pushing Keith over, and a geyser erupts where he just was. The two pause, looking backwards, then register Shiro’s quiet response to Keith’s question.
“There’s several creatures.” Keith and Lee quickly look to each other before taking off again. This time, Lee goes first, her instincts allowing her to lead them around the geysers, and Keith follows her exact path. Lee reaches a cliff’s edge, and she quickly skids to a stop. She hears Keith cry out, and turns to see a geyser spring up behind Keith, which knocks him off balance, sending him rolling across the ground. He’s headed straight for the cliff, and as he passes her, Lee lunges, grabbing onto his wrist.
Keith dangles above a deep chasm, Lee’s grip the only thing keeping him from falling. She hangs half over the edge of the cliff, and Keith’s eyes widen as he realizes the close call he just had. Lee reaches down and grabs him with her other arm as well, straining to hold his full weight. Keith quickly fires up his thrusters, which sends him flying up. Lee jerks backward as he flies up, sprawling flat on her back. After that quick burst Keith turns off his thrusters and comes crashing down right on top of Lee. The two lay like that a few moments, both their hearts racing at the close call. Lee throws her arms around Keith’s neck, clinging to him for a moment.
“Keith are you okay? What happened?” Shiro asks, and they come back to their present situation. They both take a deep breath, then Keith pushes himself to his feet, extending a hand to pull Lee up as well. They walk to the edge of the cliff, trying to find a way to get across.
“Minor delay.” Keith says, and Lee pipes up, finally jumping into the conversation.
“Don’t worry Shiro, I’m here to save Keith’s butt.” Lee nudges Keith’s side, grinning at him.
“Oh, Lee, that’s right, I forgot you were with Keith in the Red Lion when it crashed. You’re alright?” Shiro asks.
“I’m fine. It sounds like you should probably be worrying about yourself though, what’s happening over there now? Are you still okay?” Lee inquires.
“Yeah I’m alright, but now I’m trapped in a cave, and some nasty looking creatures have me cornered.” He tells them, and Lee sees Keith’s hands clench into fists.
“Just hang on Shiro, we’ll be there soon.” Keith says determinedly, before he looks back down at the massive crack in the ground that stands between them and Shiro. “I just have to figure this out.”
“Hey, it’s not just you, remember, we’re in this together. And I think I’ve got an idea.” Lee steps forward, taking Keith’s clenched hand and gently prising his fist open to thread her own fingers through his.
“What’s your idea?” He asks, and Lee hesitates a minute, looking to the side briefly, before firming her resolve and meeting his eyes.
“I’m not sure you’re going to like it.” She says, and he nods, urging her to tell him. “Well, in that fight against Zarkon, I was inside my white lion. I could see through its eyes and I was the white lion. It’s the first time that’s happened, so I don’t know a lot about exactly what I’m capable of like that, but I think I may be able to form it on the other side and then go into it. Then I could go after Shiro myself and at the least I could protect him from the creatures until you can get there.”
“But, will you even be able to go that far away? Because your body would still be here right?” Keith asks, and Lee bites her lip.
“Yeah, but you could just leave it here while you get yourself across.”
“Are you serious? Lee, Shiro is being attacked by creatures right now and you want me to leave your defenseless body out in the open all by itself? No way! I’ll figure out a way to get both of across I just need a little time.”
“What if Shiro doesn’t have that time. He’s already hurt, and now he’s being attacked. I can do something, I can help him, and I know you’re worried but it’ll be okay. The only thing is that I won’t be able to take my com with me, so I don’t know how I’d be able to talk to you-…” Lee cuts herself off, her brows furrowing slightly as a thought occurs to her.
“What? What’d you just think of?” Keith asks.
“Well, remember when I helped you find your lion, and we connected our minds? Well that connection is still there, even though we haven’t been using it. It was only a bare, shallow connection, but if we opened it up more, connected more deeply, we could communicate through it.” Lee explains hesitantly, worried over what Keith’s reaction will be to finding out that the connection was still there.
“Wait, so we can talk to each other in our minds?” Keith asks, and she is too afraid to meet his eyes, looking to the side instead.
“We could, if we furthered the connection.” She says.
“That’s awesome!” Keith exclaims, and Lee looks up to him in surprise. He is grinning at her, but then he suddenly purses his lips, looking carefully at her. “Wait you can’t read my mind right?”
“What? No! It doesn’t work like that. It’s sort of like the coms, you’d open up the connection and say what you want me to hear, and leave it closed most of the time and I wouldn’t hear anything. It’s just that instead of out loud, you’d be speaking it inside your head.” She explains, and Keith nods, a thoughtful look on his face.
“Okay then, let’s do it.” He says, and Lee’s eyes widen in surprise.
“What really?” She exclaims, shocked he would so readily agree to it, especially when as far as she is aware humans don’t communicate telepathically at all.
“Yeah. It makes sense, I mean there is no way I’m letting you go off by yourself with no way of knowing whether or not you’re okay. I’m sure about this, and we don’t have time to wait anymore, so let’s do it.” Lee studies his face, seeing the absolute conviction and trust, and knowing that he is sure, she agrees.
She closes her eyes, reaching into her consciousness for the faint trace of their shallow connection. When she finds it, she reaches deeper through it, opening it further and strengthening it. When she reaches the barrier of Keith’s mind, she prods gently at it, and is pleasantly surprised when he immediately opens it up to her. She guides Keith’s consciousness to the connection, showing him where it is, then retreats back down their connection to her own mind. She opens her eyes only to see Keith with an awed, dazed look on his face.
‘Keith, can you hear me?’ She asks down the connection. He jerks, surprised, blinking rapidly at her.
“Wait, your lips didn’t move but I heard you. Did you say that in my mind?” He asks, and Lee smiles, nodding.
‘I did. Now you try, reach out for the connection and just sort of push what you want me to hear down it.’ Lee instructs, and Keith nods, biting his lip in concentration.
‘Lee, can you hear me?’ She hears Keith’s voice echo through her mind. She can’t stop the wide grin from stretching across her face.
‘Yes! You did it Keith!’ She cheers, and Keith returns her wide grin.
‘This is so cool.’ He says, and Lee feels a pleased warmth within her at Keith’s, not only acceptance of this, but his enthusiasm for it.
“Okay, now that we’ve got that figured out, time to go save our leader.” Lee says, speaking out loud now, and Keith nods, the awe and excitement fading as they come back to reality. Lee moves her hands in front of her, concentrating as white energy flows out from her hands, forming into her white lion on the other side. She closes her eyes, pushing herself down the connection until she opens her eyes and sees Keith standing with her body back on the other side.
‘Can you still hear me Keith?’ She asks, and she can see him nod on the other side.
‘Yeah I hear you.’ He answers, and she turns, ready to set out and find Shiro. ‘Be careful Lee.’
She begins running, her massive form practically flying over the ground as her four legs eat up the distance beneath her. As she’s running, Keith’s frantic voice rung through her mind.
‘Lee, Shiro says the creatures have started trying to dig in to get to him, you’ve gotta hurry up. I got myself and your body across the chasm, but it’ll still take a while for me to be able to fly both of us to Shiro.’ Keith says, and Lee cuts him off before he can say anymore.
‘I’m almost there, tell Shiro to just hang on a little longer.’ She pushes herself, moving even quicker than before. Then, she suddenly sees another cliffside appear, and digs her claws into the ground skidding to a halt. She looks down into the chasm, seeing the Black Lion crashed down at the bottom, and seeing some creatures gathered around trying to dig into what must be the cave Shiro is hiding out in. As she is looking, she realizes that the massive size of the lion is now to her disadvantage as she isn’t sure she’ll even fit down there, let alone be able to maneuver around in order to protect Shiro.
As she is thinking about this, and wishing she could be a little smaller, she realizes that the ground is suddenly getting closer. She looks around herself and sees white energy drifting off her form, shrinking down to a third of the size she was before. Now smaller and able to maneuver, she stalks down into the chasm. As she gets to the bottom, she sees a few of the creatures heads turn in her direction. She lets out a low, deep growl, and they snarl back at her.
When she still comes closer, all the creatures turn their full attention to her, snarling and getting into defensive positions. Lee doesn’t stop, only prowls closer and closer, until when she is about 10 feet away one of them leaps for her. She grabs the back of its neck in her mouth, using her grip to send it flying into a cliff wall. The others snarl louder, and Lee stands to her full height, taking a deep breath in before releasing a loud roar. The creatures freeze, before turning and running off.
Once they’re all out of view, Lee walks over to the opening they were trying to create into the cave. She extends her large paw in, swiping out a massive amount of rocks. She then leans her head down into the now wide opening, and gives the best approximation of a smile she can manage with her lion face. She sees Shiro leaning against the cave wall, and he gives a relieved sigh at her appearance.
‘I found Shiro.’ She lets Keith know, and she can practically feel the relief he lets off.
‘And is he okay?’ He asks. Lee takes another look in at the black paladin, who is taking the opportunity to calm down, leaning his head back against the wall. She sees him grimace, looking down to see his hand holding his side. She can just barely see part of the wound, but she can’t tell how serious it is from there.
‘Well he’s alive. I managed to chase off the creatures before they got to him, but he still looks like he may be in rough shape.’ She replies, worried about how even the slightest move seems to hurt Shiro. She definitely wants to get a closer look at the wound, and try to heal it, but she can’t do that until she can get back into her body.
‘Okay. I’m almost there.’ He says, and she can see Shiro nod, realizing that Keith must’ve said that over the coms to let Shiro know as well.
Suddenly, Lee feels a weight on her back, and a sharp pain. She whips around, able to catch a glimpse of one of the creatures clamped onto her back, biting at her. She is unable to reach the creature on her back, so she turns in a quick circle, bucking to throw it off. She hears Shiro cries out, and spins back around to see him get dragged out of the cave and flung by another of the creatures.
She moves to help him, but is attacked by two more of the creatures. They keep biting at her legs to trip her up, or jumping on her back, and they are quick. This is only the second time she’s been in this form and this is their home turf, so they definitely have the advantage. She tries to keep a close eyes on Shiro, as he takes down one of the creatures, but then another one knocks him down a small rise, and she gets angry. She came to protect him, and she won’t let these stupid creatures hurt him, or keep her from protecting him. She bunches her hind legs, leaping up and over the ones she was fighting.
She sees Shiro sprawled out on the ground and she leaps down to him. She crouches in front of him, placing herself between the creatures and him. She snarls, enraged, and the creatures pause at the top of the rise.
‘Lee? What’s happening?’ Keith asks frantically, and then Lee notices Shiro’s helmet near her. Realizing that Keith probably has no idea what is going on, and is likely freaking out, she quickly replies.
‘The creatures came back and attacked us. They managed to distract me and drag Shiro out of the cave. I’m back now with him, but they seem really determined to get him.’ She informs Keith, snarling again when she sees one make as if to come down towards them.
“Uhh, Lee?” She hears Shiro say, and turns to look at him. He has stood up, and now he backs into her side, as more of the creatures have appeared around the back of them. Realizing they are being surrounded, Lee knows she won’t be able to protect Shiro like this. Leaning down she bites the back of the paladin’s suit, getting a firm grip on it. She straightens from her crouch, then races away, dodging the creatures that had been trying to close them in. She hears Shiro cry out, but she has to focus on avoiding the creatures coming after them.
She doesn’t know what to do; she can’t put Shiro down because then the creatures will go after him and she won’t be able to protect him from all of them, but if she just keeps running they’ll only keep chasing. Or, she’ll run into a dead end. She skids to a stop, cornered now. She sets Shiro down gently, nudging him right back against the cliff walls, then turns to face the creatures.
‘Keith, Shiro and I are in a bit of a tight situation here.’ Lee tells him, looking around at the creatures which stand all around her. She roars, but this time they don’t even flinch.
‘I’ll be right there Lee, I’ve got you, just buy me one more minute.’ Keith pleads. Lee sends out a blast of white energy, knocking a few of the creatures away and clearing a space. She turns, once again grabbing Shiro by the back of his uniform, and runs through the opening. The creatures surround them again, this time in the middle of the chasm. With creatures on all sides, Lee is continuously turning, trying to keep an eye on all of them.
One of them leaps for Shiro hanging from her mouth, and she rears back, drawing Shiro out of range, while she swats it out of the air and knocks it into another one. As she drops back down to all fours she hears one growl from behind her. From the corner of her eye she sees it leap for her back, but is unable to do anything to protect herself, when suddenly a massive paw lands on the creature, slamming it into the ground. She looks up to see the Black Lion standing there. It fights off more of the creatures, before standing over the two of them.
Lee crouches slightly, in order to fit under the Black Lion’s underbelly, and it lets out a loud roar, sending the remaining creatures running. Seeing as now it’s finally safe, Lee lowers Shiro to the ground before closing her eyes, and going back to her body. She blinks her eyes open to see the inside of the Black Lion, with Keith sitting in the passenger seat.
“Keith!” She exclaims, causing the boy to turn down to look at her.
“Lee.” He says, standing up from the chair. She stands as well, and they wrap their arms around each other.
“You showed up just in time. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t shown up when you did.” She murmurs, pressing her face to his neck. He removes one hand from around her waist to take off his helmet, then presses his lips to the side of her head.
“Hey, I told you I’d be here, didn’t I?” He asks, and she huffs out a laugh.
“Yeah you did.” Lee says, and the two stand there, holding each other close a few moment longer. Suddenly, Lee gasps, pulling backwards and staring wide eyed at Keith. “Shiro!”
After they collect Shiro, they bring the Black and Red Lions together, starting a fire as it is beginning to get dark. Keith and Shiro lean up against a rock, but Lee remains standing, fidgeting nervously as she stands to the side of Shiro.
He looks up at the girl, his brows furrowing in worry. “Lee? What’s wrong?”
“Shiro, I-…I’m sorry. I didn’t do a very good job of protecting you down there. If it wasn’t for Keith showing up when he did then-…” Shiro cuts her off before she can get any further.
“Hey, hey, hey, what are you talking about? If it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t have even lasted until Keith showed up. You guys both saved me.” He says. Lee finally looks at him, and he gives her a smile, which she returns.
“Of course we did.” Lee says, and Keith jumps in, speaking up as well.
“Yeah, you would do the same.” He says, and they all soak in the warm moment for a minute. Lee is reluctant to break it, but there are still some important things to take care of.
“Besides, you aren’t completely out of the woods yet.” She says, and steps over between the two of them. She kneels down to get a closer look at Shiro’s injury. “What made this wound?”
“It was Haggar.” Shiro informs her, and she nods, serious look on her face.
“Okay. I’ll have to be careful then.” She says.
“Because she’s a Druid?” Keith asks, and Lee turns to him in surprise, a grin appearing as she nods.
“Yeah exactly. There is still traces of her magic in the wound, like an infection. So first, I have to use my magic to burn hers out, and then I can focus on actually healing the wound.” Lee explains, and the two paladins nod in understanding. “May I?”
She asks Shiro, who nods in permission. A soft white light appears, and she lowers her hand to his wound. As her hand touches the wound, the white light spreads to cover the glowing purple. The white steadily glows brighter, the purple glow disappearing beneath the brilliance of the pure white. The white flashes with intensity, then slowly fades to the soft white once again, with no trace of the purple glow on the wound. After a minute or so, the light fades, and Lee removes her hand. She looks closely, and sees that other than a minor scratch, the wound appears to be healed. She looks up at Shiro, and smiles at him.
“So? How’s it feel?” She asks, and Shiro shifts around a little, before grinning back at her.
“Much better. Thank you Lee.” He replies, and she shakes her head.
“No need to thank me.” She says. She then turns to look at Keith, who holds his arm out to her. She shuffles back towards him, tucking herself against his side. He wraps his arm around her shoulders, pulling her in close. After Lee is settled she looks up and sees Shiro giving them a warm smile. She blushes, sort of embarrassed at being so affectionate in front of another person. But when she leans her head against Keith and feels him drop a kiss to the crown of her head, she decides she doesn’t care about a little embarrassment if it means she gets to be like this with Keith.
They’re all sitting quietly watching the fire when suddenly they hear a noise. They look to the sky only to see a portal open, and the Green Lion come flying through. They all jump to their feet, relief and excitement coursing through them. Lee looks over to Keith, only to find him already looking at her. They smile, and reach out, grabbing hands and entwining their fingers. They look back up to see the Green Lion coming down, and are happy to know that they are finally safe and will be reunited with the rest of their team.