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Keith sighed as he looked across the landscape of Olkarion - the dimming light of early evening casting shadows upon the looming forests. He knew that Allura, Coran and Lotor would be trapped in talks about the new Galran emperor with Coalition for quite some time, so he sat atop of the castle and reflected on the events of the last few days. Finding his mother was...unexpected, reuniting with his friends was much more rewarding, and seeing Lotor working with Voltron was definitely a sight he never thought he'd see. He thought back to his mother, and sighed at this newfound predicament until he saw movement from the corner of his eye that altered his train of thought completely. Lance walked towards him, half-smiling with an expression almost as though he were in pain.
"Hey, man." Lance spoke as he sat down next to Keith on the roof of the castle.
"Hey," Keith replied, sending a small smile back in his direction. Sure, they'd seen each other when Keith had reunited with the entire team just hours earlier, but this felt much more personal than that had. There was a small beat of silence and Lance had immediately joined the dots and realised what Keith was thinking about.
"You wanna talk about it?" Lance said, eyeing Keith's face sheepishly to judge a reaction.
"Talk about what?" Keith deadpanned, looking out of the corner of his eye at Lance.
"You know what." Lance kept eye contact, as he raised his eyebrows at Keith. Keith simply just sighed and visibly deflated a little, feeling (not that he'd ever admit this) kind of glad to have someone to talk to.
"I don't know what you want me to say, Lance. That I'm happy because I've found my mother - the same mother who abandoned me? And yes, I get why she left. She had to. But still. I can't forgive her - not yet."
"No-one's asking you to Keith." Lance smiled, a friendly gesture which made Keith tense slightly, and look away.
I can't believe I just said all that Keith thought as he looked back across the forest filled horizon. Goddamn you Lance for making me talk about my feelings.
"I guess I just can't believe her when she says that she loves me. I mean, why would she leave me like that if she loved me?" Keith spoke with vulnerability in his voice that Lance had never heard, and it made him double take for a second.
"Well, when you left team Voltron to join the blades, did that make you care for us any less?"
"Of course not, but that's....It's not that same thing, Lance." Keith's voice had returned to normal, as he used the sleeves of his jacket to wipe his eyes before the tears could fall down his face.
"Isn't it?" By this point, Lance had turned his body to fully face Keith, and he leaned forward slightly as Keith withdrew the hand from his face.
"Lance, if you're trying to make me feel better it isn't exactly working." Keith smirked slightly as he watched Lance's taken aback expression to that comment.
"Keith, I just think you have more in common with your mother than you first thought." Lance paused, as if waiting for a reply, but when he received a confused expression he continued, "You left us because you didn't feel like you could be a good leader - which you're wrong by the way but that's another discussion - and your mom, well I don't know her very well, but she probably left because she didn't feel like she could be your mother. Like, you deserved better than what she could offer you. She must have passed that mentality onto her son. Because, really, it kinda is the same thing. Yeah, she made one bad decision, but I honestly think she regrets it." Lance said, as he attempted to make eye contact with Keith once more, but the other boy had his eyes closed. He then spoke so softly, that Lance could barely hear him,
"You're right." Keith sighed, as he opened his eyes and looked directly into the blue irises of the boy sat next to him. "Since when did you become so insightful, eh?" Keith joked, lightly punching Lance on the arm.
"Oh, didn't you hear? I HAVE GREATNESS WITHIN!" Lance gestured wildly as he relayed the story of Allura telling him exactly that, and also revelling when Keith seemed impressed about his broadsword. The two spoke for hours in that position, sharing stories and joking - their rivalry long forgotten almost as a distant memory.
When a comfortable silence finally fell between the two boys, Lance spoke up, looking deep into Keith's eyes,
"I really did miss having you around, you know. Pidge and Hunk are always making up gibberish science words and discussing inventions, Allura's always talking about the Galra, and Shiro's....I don't know something's up. But, it's really nice to have you to talk to Keith." Keith smiled, looking directly back into Lance's eyes making direct eye contact,
"Yeah, you too Lance."
"You're gonna stay, right?" Lance asked, slight apprehension creeping into his voice.
"You sure you want me to stay? We're like rivals, y'know? Lance and Keith neck-and-neck." Keith chuckled back, earning a laugh from the other boy too.
"Well, if you stay, then maybe we can train together and have sparring matches, then we really will be neck-and-neck." Lance smirked, leaning forwards slightly and raising one eyebrow in a slightly suggestive manner. Keith blushed slightly and nodded, not trusting his voice at that moment in time. As the light began to drain from the surrounding landscape, the two boys were left with the bright stars above. In that moment, they both knew - everything would be okay.