Chapter Text
Shiro had been fond of Pidge ever since he’d met her the night of his escape from the Galra, sure, but even before that. Hearing stories about her from Matt during their Garrison days and knowing how much his best friend’s little sister meant to him made her an amazing person in his book.
But it was different now. They’d been through so much the past three years. Yes, he was gone for over a year of it — stuck in the Astral Plane, trying to find his way back to a team that thought he was right there with them, though it was a clone controlled by their enemy. He remembered the day he stepped out of the cryochamber after his new family had saved him and gotten him safely back to the castle ship. Six faces beamed up at him. Keith, his best friend, practically his brother, the one he cared for the most in the world, caught him as he fell to his knees and let him down gently so he wouldn’t hurt himself. They all hugged him in turn and he looked around for the one left — the one whose smiling face occupied his dreams while he slept suspended in time, body healing in the magical pod.
Keith called for her, and as Allura and Coran stepped back, he could see Pidge at the controls of the med room, looking up from her rapid typing and meeting his eyes. She slid from the chair, tank top and knee-length spandex and no glasses, and hurried to him, dropping to her knees before him and throwing her arms around his neck. Surprised, he hugged her close and closed his eyes as his heartbeat picked up. He was startled by her actions, that had to be it. But Keith looked at them with a soft smile, and he looked at his friend curiously for a second before turning back to press his cheek against the side of Pidge’s head as she sniffled and whispered, “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
That was a few months ago. Now, he stood watching over his team in the training deck, arms crossed as he offered pointers to Hunk and Lance as they sparred using no weapons but only their fists and feet. He’d tear his eyes away when Keith, taller and broader since he’d come back to the team with some more prominent Galran features, gave some suggestions as well for how the Blue and Yellow Paladins could use their body types to their advantage in the fight. Shiro nodded in agreement each time and urged Keith to give them the advice, but Keith insisted on Shiro helping out instead. He’d been gone, he was their leader, and they all needed to get used to the real Shiro leading again.
He peeked away from the boys to look in the corner of the room where their smallest teammate, Pidge, was twirling and stepping in a tuneless dance, eyes closed in concentration. She’d taken to doing so only recently, when she wasn’t directly training with the team. Shiro found it a welcome retreat to watch her serene, fluid movements instead of the crude punches thrown about while Lance and Hunk trained.
“How long have you been dancing?” he wanted to ask her. Was it recent? Did she dance when she was younger? He didn’t recall Matt ever mentioning it. Maybe it wasn’t an important detail. But when he slept at night, between the nightmares that inevitably crept in, he sometimes had a brief, peaceful interlude wherein he was dancing, smiling from ear to ear, with a younger, happier Pidge, her hair flowing long behind her as she twirled between his arms and moved smoothly with him to music he couldn’t hear.
“You should offer to dance with her.”
He looked to his left. Matt, having just returned from his sparring match with Allura, grinned tiredly up at him. Shiro chuckled softly.
“I haven’t danced in years. Don’t wanna throw her off.”
“It hasn’t been THAT long,” Matt teased, folding his arms across his armored chest. Matt cringed when Hunk’s fist landed a hard punch across Lance’s padded shoulder. Lance staggered backward and let out an unattractive grunt. Shiro tore his eyes from the gliding Green Paladin to make sure his teammates were okay.
“Sorry, Lance, expected you to block that — you okay?” Hunk asked, breaking form and watching as Lance readjusted his padding.
“Yeah, m’fine. Keep going.”
Shiro looked back to Matt when he nudged his side and said, “She’d appreciate a partner.”
“It’s fine.” Shiro laughed softly, a little uncomfortable. He wanted to dance with her — badly — but there was something tugging at the back of his mind, some nagging feeling that something was off, that he always got when confronted with the idea of being close to Pidge, that prevented him from accepting the idea. “She’d probably be weirded out.”
“He’s been staring at you, you know.”
“Who?”
“Who do you think, dummy?”
Pidge glared over her laptop screen at Keith as he hovered over the workshop table, hood pressing against his face and making the new scar on his cheek stand out, glaringly obvious, against the black fabric. He didn’t wear a smirk as she’d expected, but an honest expression — his eyes pierced her own, his mouth rested in its default pout.
“So what?” She tore her eyes from her old friend’s and returned to the soft blue glow of her new laptop, typing away in Altean.
“So it means something,” Keith urged. He pulled his hands into his sleeves. “He may be remembering.”
“I won’t hold my breath.”
“Pidge, come on.”
“You come on. Aren’t you supposed to be heading out to meet your mother?”
“Not til tonight. Stop trying to get rid of me. Pidge, I mean it. Stop typing. Pidge.” He leaned across the table, grabbing her wrists around her laptop with either hand. “Katie. Stop.”
Pidge sighed and glared at him again. She sat up straight on her stool. “Drop it, Keith. I’m not in the mood. Lotor is coming in a few days to discuss our next moves, and Allura wanted me to compile all the Alliance data before then. On top of that, I have to train every day and do the stupid Voltron shows for Coran. I’m tired.”
He frowned, sliding back down the other side of the table, his hands retreating back into their sleeves. “You don’t care that there’s a possibility his memory’s coming back? Ask him about it.”
“No. He needs to come to ME when he’s ready. Besides, as much as I care, we don’t have time for that. Protecting and restoring peace to the universe is more important.”
“Yeah, but—”
“Drop it.”
Keith sighed, eyebrows furrowing til they almost formed a single line. He stood straight and tilted his head to the side. “Remember when we said we were gonna be friends again? Friends talk to each other about the shitty things bothering them.”
Pidge shrank back in her stool a bit, matching his expression but adding a bit of a pout to her own. With an unexpected tremble to her voice, she muttered, “I will talk to you about it. I just honestly… I can’t handle it right now. Okay?”
Keith slowly nodded while sliding around the table. He pulled her into a one-armed embrace and Pidge’s face buried into the shoulder of his hoodie as she wrapped her right arm behind his back as well. She let out a defeated sniffle, but no tears to accompany it.
“Okay,” Keith said, giving her a gentle squeeze. “Get enough sleep while you’re working, okay? Matt can take over compiling data for a while if you need. Let him help. I’ll see you in about a week.”
“Stay safe. Say hi to Krolia for me.”
“I will. I’ll try to get her to come back with me.”
Keith pulled his arm back. He gave Pidge a meaningful look, his lips upturned only the slightest amount in a smile, but his eyes were sad for her. She looked away, not wanting the pity — she was fine, and he should know it.
“Get to work and get some rest. I’m gonna go say goodbye to the rest of the team.”
“Got it, captain.”
Pidge pulled herself back fully onto her stool, lifting her small frame into the air with her arms, and folded her legs tightly beneath her. She took in a deep breath, hunched over her laptop, and read over the screen once more before typing away rapidly.
She loved working on her laptop, especially now that it was fully upgraded and integrated with the castle. She could open extra screens — as many as she wanted — as holograms all around her and really get immersed in her work. It was easy to lose track of time that way, and lose track of everything else around her. Her teammates found it irksome at times, especially when Lance and Hunk wanted her to come and hang out with them. But she felt at peace. Watching the strings of Altean numbers flowing on one screen as she pulled and translated data being transmitted from around the peaceful planets, another screen filled with Alliance members’ profiles waiting for her to categorize them by color based on rank and role, let her push away any… unimportant other thoughts that might make their way into her head.
It was going to sleep at night that she didn’t like. When she escaped the others’ urging to hit the sack, she’d stay awake as long as possible, comfortably curled into a small corner of the castle. She would run scans on their surroundings, do research on new cultures they’d encountered, or brainstorm possible upgrades for the Castle, the Lions, or Lotor’s Galran ships until she fell asleep from exhaustion and didn’t have any chance to let her mind wander. But when they forced her into her bed, and sometimes even took her laptop away as assurance she’d get rest… that’s when the thoughts haunted her.
What if something had happened to Earth while they were too far away to contact her father at the Garrison with the communications setup she, Matt, and Hunk had built? What if her parents got hurt? What if, when Matt went away to help with other Alliance members instead of being by her side in the Green Lion, he got hurt, and she couldn’t save him again? What if one of her friends got hurt? What if the Galran Empire turned on them again?
Those thoughts troubled her enough. They kept her tossing and turning under her thick green covers in the night. But the thoughts she really wanted to escape were the ones of her past. The ones from before Voltron, even before she got accepted into the Garrison -— the ones she wanted to forget about so they wouldn’t tear at her when she least expected it.
She snapped from her trance, cursing herself only briefly for reflecting on such things during her work before she looked up into the gentle eyes of the Princess, whose hand upon her shoulder had woken her from her thoughts.
“Sorry, Pidge. I didn’t mean to startle you. How’s it coming?” Allura asked. She looked up and around at all the glowing blue screens Pidge had summoned subconsciously as she worked lost in thought.
“Alright. I’ve still got quite a few hours ahead of me, but I have a system. Color coordinated, of course.”
“Of course,” Allura said. Her lips curled up into a grin as she rolled her eyes. “Did Keith tell you goodbye? He’s heading out soon.”
Pidge nodded. Allura moved around the table to grab an extra stool, sliding it nearer to Pidge and pulling herself on top. Pidge continued typing, more slowly than when she worked alone, so she could still pay attention to her company.
“If I’m pestering you, just let me know,” Allura said.
“You’re fine. What’s up?”
“I’m just nervous,” Allura confessed quickly, tucking her hands tightly between the knees of her white sweatpants. “I haven’t seen Lotor in a few months. I know, it’s silly. He’s our ally, but —”
Pidge chuckled a little. Her hands paused on her keyboard long enough to tilt her head and give Allura a teasing grin. “You really like him, don’t you?”
Allura’s eyes darted to the side as a tint of red grew beneath her Altean markings. “Is it that obvious?”
“Well, aside from the fact that you all but told me last time he was here, yes — you get so worked up whenever he comes to the castle. Just keep your mind off it. You’ll be fine. We need to do business, anyway.”
Allura sighed. “I know. I’m sorry. You’re the only girl I’ve got to talk to about this and —”
“I don’t mind. Really. I just don’t want you to be stressed out.” Pidge gave her a softened smile, reaching a hand out to pat the Princess’s shoulder. Allura gave her a thankful, sheepish smile. It’d been a good year since they were able to talk comfortably as friends — not only about the happenings in the universe and the progress of Team Voltron but about personal things as well.
Pidge turned back to her screen and let out a small sigh again before stretching her fingers and returning to her laborious typing.
Allura remained quiet for a while, hands still tucked between her knees, shoulders hunched, as she tried to sink into her stool.
“How’s the storage on your laptop holding up?”
Pidge slid into the control room late at night to find Allura standing on her podium as she flipped between frames on a giant holoscreen, the blue light reflected on her loose curls. She carried her laptop gently, careful to make just enough noise to alert Allura to her presence but not disturb her work.
“Princess?” she asked, sliding her laptop onto the Green Paladin control pad. She hovered near her spot tentatively, lest Allura be in a mood and round on her. The Princess turned calmly, though, tired eyes meeting her, a soft smile overtaking her lips but not reaching her eyes.
“What is it, Pidge?”
“I was wondering if you could help me with something.”
“Yes?”
“I… it’s my laptop. I’ve upgraded it a ton of times since coming out here, but it’s getting a little old and worn, and I’m worried that…I mean…the storage is nearly full. Is there anything I can use to back up my files with? Just in case?” Pidge looked up at her pleadingly, picking up her laptop and nudging it through the air as if offering it as sacrifice.
Allura looked between her Paladin and the laptop, smile being replaced by pursed lips, her brows knitted in thought.
“Well, the Castle Ship itself has an enormous storage. You could always back files up in this system. You should know that.”
“But would they be secure?”
“As secure as the rest of our information.”
Pidge lowered her eyes, inching a little closer to Allura. The princess looked at her curiously, puzzled by her hesitation, until Pidge quietly admitted, “Some of the things I want to back up are…personal. I don’t want the guys to see them.”
“Oh. Well. You could back up the other data and keep those on your computer.”
“That’s just it - I don’t want to lose them if the computer fails. We’re low on money and supplies right now so I won’t be able to buy material to upgrade for a little while and my laptop’s making REALLY sad noises, and —”
Allura stepped down from her podium, setting a comforting hand on Pidge’s shoulder. Pidge stopped talking abruptly and looked up at Allura with worry in her eyes.
“How about you and I program some extra security in tonight so the others can’t access it - just you. Unless you don’t want me to see tonight, either. I understand.”
Pidge pursed her lips, lowering her laptop slightly and looking away, cheeks just slightly pink. She really…didn’t want Allura to see. But the extra help with the Castle Ship’s technology using Allura’s budding alchemy powers would certainly be helpful…
“I’d… like the help. The Castle’s still a big mystery to all of us and you can control it best, so it’d probably be a good idea for you to be there, even just in case.” Pidge looked up into the Princess’s eyes. Allura removed her hand from her shoulder and gave her a small smile.
“I’m sure you could handle it just fine, Pidge. But I’m happy to help. Let’s get to work.”
Allura returned to her podium, dismissed the Alliance files she was reviewing, and pulled Pidge instead to the main panel that Coran typically manned. Pidge set her laptop down and hooked it up to the Castle’s system and they got to work immediately. Allura shooed away anyone who tried to enter the room throughout the night.
They stayed up late, working on setting up a separate storage system specifically designed to house important Alliance and Voltron-related intel. Allura assigned a specific branch just for Pidge’s personal items behind extra securities. They talked only a little while they worked at first, about their project mostly, but over time Pidge asked Allura about her life on Altea. The girl, with saddened eyes but a fond, reminiscing smile, told Pidge quiet stories of her friends from her youth. She spoke about different games they’d play, Altean traditions, and holidays.
When morning broke and they had slid down to the floor, exhausted and leaning against the control panel, they spoke more, mostly to stay awake while Pidge did her best to write code in clumsy Altean into the ship’s system, but also because, to both their surprise, they genuinely were enjoying the conversation.
“I think we can start to transfer files now,” Pidge admitted. She stifled a yawn. “Just let me write in a few more things and double-check my work.”
“While you do that, I’m going to fix us some coffee. I’ll be back in a tick,” Allura said. She pulled herself roughly to her feet. Pidge nodded thankfully, her tongue dry and cottony from the long night of talking. She looked up at the holoscreen before her and scrolled through the coding she and Allura wrote. With a yawn she concentrated on fixing some things she’d misspelled and thinking of better ways to organize the strings.
Allura came back shortly with coffee and some leftover wildberry muffins for breakfast. She sat on the floor next to Pidge and set a large cup of coffee beside her, split the stacked plates, and divided the small bite-sized treats between them. The Green Paladin thanked her eagerly and shoved one of Hunk’s special-recipe muffins into her mouth hungrily. Allura yawned as she lay her head back against the control panel and sipped her coffee.
“Let me know when you want me to look away or leave so I don’t see your personal items,” Allura said, picking up a muffin and chewing slowly.
Pidge eyed her and sipped her own coffee, cringing only slightly against the strong taste. She wondered if she should bother going to get milk. She just pulled her knees to her chest, though, and set down her cup to rest her chin on top of her knees. She looked down at her laptop as it transferred her work into the Castle Ship’s main system to find that the status bar dragged much more slowly than usual.
She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly through her nose. “Allura?” she asked barely above a whisper. “Can you keep a secret?”
Allura sat forward slightly when she heard the unease in Pidge’s voice. “Of course I can. What is it, Pidge? Are you okay?”
Pidge’s lips tucked in and her eyes lowered. Her shoulders rose just a bit in an unsure shrug. She reached for her coffee and took another long swig, setting it down when her laptop finished the upload. Reaching around her knees, she tapped away the tabs she no longer needed.
“If you want… I’ll show you. But you can’t mention it around the guys ever. Not even if you’re being vague.”
Allura quirked an eyebrow and leaned forward just enough so she could look at Pidge’s face - sleepy, anxious, and covered in messy, curled bangs.
“Only if you’re comfortable with that. I’m glad to keep any secret you want. And if you need someone to talk to, I’m here.”
Pidge nodded and took in another deep breath. She dug through the files on her computer, expression growing more perturbed as the folders took longer than they should have to open.
“I… have all this stuff from Earth. It was on my laptop back then and I keep transferring it between upgrades and I’m terrified of losing it. I really hope the castle keeps it safe for me, because I’ll want it again, but I also just think… it’d probably be good if I can’t look at it anymore.”
Allura folded her legs in front of her, sliding closer to Pidge. She cautiously rested a hand in between Pidge’s shoulder blades and rubbed small circles in comfort.
Pidge found her target folder and highlighted all of the files. She waited impatiently for them all to load, her fingers tapping impatiently on her knee, before looking at Allura, whose eyebrows rose in surprise.
“Is that you, Matt, Keith, and Shiro? On Earth?”
“Y-yeah. It is.”
“You all look really happy.”
“We were best friends.”
Allura’s eyes darted to her. Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion and she stared at Pidge with doubt. “But you all acted so...unacquainted when you arrived here.”
“Yeah, well…Kerberos happened.”
Pidge pointedly flipped slowly through a few more pictures. Allura leaned close to look, surprise growing on her face more and more. She saw a photo of Pidge getting a piggyback ride from Keith, both beaming widely, perfectly comfortable next to one another; one of Shiro and Matt flexing shirtless in front of a mirror, Keith clearly taking the picture behind them; another of Pidge and Shiro making funny faces at the camera; then one of Pidge blushing and grinning from ear to ear while Shiro hugged her from behind, his face nuzzled lovingly into her cheek.
Pidge paused a bit too long on that one when she heard Allura make a small, surprised gasp, and scrolled to the next, and the next, each pictures of Shiro and her hugging or nuzzling or making heart-hands at the camera. She paused again at the final one, a candid she’d stolen from Keith when she got into the Garrison, where he’d captured Shiro and her kissing in front of his car.
“That’s… that can’t be you and Shiro.”
“It is.”
“Well, your hair was beautiful,” Allura said.
Pidge gave a somewhat harsh chuckle. “Thanks.”
“It’s really cute now, don’t get me wrong, but it was so long back then. It’s pretty.”
“That’s really all you have to say?”
Allura frowned, looking at Pidge. Her heart sank as she saw the Paladin’s distant expression. She couldn’t pin the emotion Pidge was possibly feeling, but she knew it wasn’t a positive one.
“What… happened?”
“He forgot about me,” Pidge said with a very small shrug of one shoulder.
Allura took in a slow breath and let it out silently before asking, “Was it the Galra?”
“I assume so. We were together when he left for Kerberos, and when he got back — no memories of me. I was disguised at first, sure, even though if he remembered who I was at all he’d have for sure seen past it. I know he would. But even when he called me Katie, he showed no indication that he actually KNEW me.”
“Oh, Pidge. I’m so, so sorry. That’s awful. Do any of the others know? That you and Shiro used to…”
“I’m — it’s… it’s fine. And no, they don’t… I mean, Keith does, but he won’t say anything… I just… I don’t wanna look at these anymore, but I don’t want them deleted, either.”
“I understand.”
Pidge nodded, scrolling through a few more pictures. Her eyes darkened a bit before she closed the picture window. She reselected everything in the folder and started a transfer to the Castle’s new storage system. The two remained quiet for a while, Allura holding her knees as she watched Pidge transfer file after file to the castle, both sipping coffee and nibbling on their breakfast.
Allura finished her meal, stretched her legs out, and slowly stood. She looked down at Pidge with a soft smile. “Thank you for sharing this with me, Pidge. I’ll keep it between us, I promise. And please — if you ever need someone to talk to… I’m here.”
Pidge looked up at her, eyes filled with gratitude. She nodded. “Thanks, Allura. Going to bed?”
Allura nodded too, and Pidge said goodnight, looking back down at her laptop to continue her work.
“It’s holding up just fine since I was able to integrate it into the castle. Plus, finally being able to buy supplies for an upgrade definitely helped.”
“I recently made sure the securities are holding up, but you may want to work with Matt to really back up all of your data. Especially the Alliance files. I’m not sure how well what we did before will hold against a new intruder.”
“Already on my list. But thanks, Princess.”
“Will you be working all night? Would you want to hang out together for a little bit?”
Pidge’s face softened again and she turned to look at Allura. “What are you doing tomorrow night? I want to get as much of this done as possible. But if you’re busy tomorrow then I can switch things around.”
Allura shook her head, lips curling up just a little. “I’m clear tomorrow, too. At least for now. But we can plan on a girls’ night. I think we both deserve it.”
“Don’t I know it,” Pidge chuckled, stretching her arms high above her head and arching her back, abused joints cracking loudly. Allura giggled at the noise.
“You’d think with our training that wouldn’t happen.”
“It’s my gremlin posture while I work. Definitely not good for my body, but a good thinking pose.”
“Wouldn’t having proper circulation to your brain help more? Whatever works, I suppose. I’m going to go and make some calls to Alliance members. Please at least come to dinner, Pidge. We’d all like to have you there, and you need a bit of a break.”
Pidge nodded. “I will. Couple hours, right?”
Allura slid from her stool, nodding. She gave Pidge a little smile. “I’ll send the mice in to fetch you. Good luck, and let me know if you have any problems with the files I may be able to help with.”
Pidge said a small thanks as Allura strode smoothly from the room, rubbing her hand across her elbow quickly.
Sighing, Pidge cracked her back this way and that, then slouched with her hands hanging limply at her sides. She looked between each of the screens and tried to pull her brain back into her work. Her unexpected flashback a few minutes prior had caused intrusive thoughts to try and crawl back into her mind, and she shook her head quickly, making her glasses slide down her nose as she tried to push the thoughts back.
She slammed her hands on her keyboard and growled, but she then swore loudly when she accidentally closed the progress she’d started on downloading some surveillance files. She hunched in on herself again, starting her work from scratch.
“Take care, okay, Shiro?”
“Yeah, yeah. You’re the one going off into battle right now,” Shiro chuckled. He wearily rubbed Keith’s ponytail, messing it up a bit. Keith yanked his head away and glared at Shiro as he reached his arms back to fix his hair.
“If you have nightmares, don’t hesitate to reach out to someone. I won’t be here.”
“I’m well aware.”
“Matt will be here, at least for now. And Lance and Hunk will help if you ask, I’m sure.”
“I don’t want to wake anybody up. I’ll be fine.”
Keith searched his friend’s face doubtfully. He reached out for Shiro’s cheek, Shiro waiting for a gentle touch, but Keith just gave him a tiny smirk and patted a few times. Shiro cringed slightly with each impact.
“Hey.”
“What? You used to do that to me all the time.”
“Be the bigger man, Keith.”
“I nearly am. Give me a bit more time to grow into my Galran heritage.”
Shiro pouted and looked into Keith’s eyes. “I’m supposed to be the big brother.”
Keith grinned more widely then, teeth and dimples showing — a rare occurrence. It made Shiro’s expression soften, too, and he smiled back. He reached for Keith’s shoulder and reeled him in. Both grasped at each others’ backs in a warm embrace.
“How long are you gonna be gone this time?” Shiro asked, his chin rested on Keith’s Blades armor.
Shiro wished they could just pause their duties for a week or two so he could really talk to Keith. To learn about what happened with his mother, what caused him to grow more mature, calm, and even-tempered, and let him know that he was so, so very proud of all he’d done as the Black Paladin, a Blade of Marmora, and of his growth as a person. But they were busy with helping the Alliance and Lotor’s new Galran Empire return peace to the universe. They had time together, sure, but it never quite felt like long enough to Shiro to delve into that topic. He wanted time.
Most of their alone time these days happened when Keith heard Shiro having a nightmare, and he would slip into Shiro’s room to hold him close in comfort. Shiro appreciated it like no other. Before he’d disappeared, he suffered the dreams alone; pushed away the dark thoughts and torturous memories while awake in favor of staying strong for his team. But when he returned, when Keith was home with the Paladins instead of out with the Blades of Marmora, the friend he’d long considered closer than a brother had begun to make much more of an effort to be sure he was alright whenever he could. They’d sleep in the same bed together after Keith calmed him out of a panic, or lay awake late into the night talking about Keith’s missions with the Blades or what Team Voltron had been up to while Keith was away. It was nice, to not be alone. The team’s bedrooms were all close together, but the empty, white walls made the room feel suffocatingly lonely when memories plagued him.
“Mom says just a week or two. But we’ll see. Shouldn’t be too long — if it gets to be longer, you may wanna track us down.”
Shiro pulled back and his hands moved to grab Keith’s arms. He narrowed his eyes seriously. “Not funny. Nothing’s going to happen. You’re just spying on the rebels, aren’t you?”
Keith chuckled. “Yeah, we are. It’ll all be fine. I’ll be back before you know it. Train hard and keep busy. But get some rest, too.”
Keith pulled himself away. Shiro’s hands fell to his lap as he watched Keith stand and turn away, picking up his duffel bag from the lounge couch. He leaned back in the cushion, keeping an eye on his little brother as he walked to the door to leave, and quirked an eyebrow as Keith turned back to him.
“Try to… talk to Pidge a bit, okay?” Keith said, eyebrows raised just slightly, his eyes meeting Shiro’s.
Shiro pushed his lips to the side and back, then gave Keith a defeated look. “She’s been mad at me again lately.”
“She’s not mad. She’s just tired. You know she’ll listen to you if you try.”
“It hasn’t been the same since I came back, Keith. Not like when we first came up here.”
At the beginning, aside from Keith, Pidge was the Paladin who was the most comfortable with him. He didn’t know why at first, but he appreciated how respectful she was toward him. It wasn’t a formal respect, either, but one that seemed familiar — like they were instantly friends. When he found out she was Matt’s younger sister, it all came together for him. She’d probably heard plenty about him as he’d heard about her. There was a brief time, after they’d fought Zarkon for the first time, wherein she seemed somewhat irritated with him, but it lasted only a few days, and she wasn’t temperamental with him even once. She’d talk to him happily after each mission, and smile any time he spoke with her. She was always the first one to ask him to join in a fun team activity. She looked up to him on missions and worked well with him on a team.
Not anymore. Since returning from the Astral Plane, she’d be normal with him some days but kept her distance and was quiet around him on others. Her eyes only met his when absolutely necessary. She’d even snap at him every now and then. He wasn’t sure what happened to change it all while he was gone. He’d asked Matt about it, but Matt brushed him off, saying she was behaving like she always did. But Shiro denied the rebuttal. She wasn’t the same. Keith would always deflect. Lance, Hunk, Allura, and Coran would just shrug when he asked if she was acting strange.
It hurt him. He had no clue why, other than knowing he missed his friend. He tried to tell himself that things would go back to normal over time, but he became more impatient with each interaction. He stopped trying to be overly friendly toward her to try and get her to reciprocate. Maybe she needed space — so he gave it to her. He spent more time with Lance, Hunk, Allura, or Coran while Pidge spent her time alone in the workshop on her laptop with only Matt or Hunk occasionally accompanying her. But he missed her.
Keith sighed. He looked back to the door, down to the floor, then back to Shiro. “She has her brother back, and she rescued her dad. She doesn’t have a reason to… she’s just got different things on her mind now, okay? Just… talk to her. Nothing will go back to normal unless you guys talk. It’s not good for the team to have this ice between you two.”
Shiro chuckled a little nervously. “I didn’t really say there was ice…”
“There is. Break it.” Keith looked at him pointedly before turning again. He adjusted his bag over his shoulder, then retreated down the hall.