Chapter Text
"Mini Shiro"
Shiro stared in the mirror. He had to sit on his desk just to be able to see. He had hung the mirror a few months after launching the castle ship. Now, he couldn't even see himself in it without sitting on his desk. He was a child again. He had been injured on a mission and stuck in a cryopod upon his return. He came out younger. Somehow his armor shrunk with him. He had both of his arms back, and his hair was completely black again. Everyone was there when he came out, and Keith had caught him when he came out. The second his senses came back to him he jumped out of Keith's arms and ran to his room. He still had his memories; just his body was younger.
He didn't know if the team would even listen to him, or if Black would still let him pilot her. He supposed he could go down to the hangar and see if she still responded to him. He opened his door and peeked out. There wasn't anyone nearby. He sighed in relief and stepped out, heading for the hangar. The trip there was uneventful, which Shiro was thankful for. The second he stepped into Black's hangar she activated and turned to him. She paused for a tick before lowering herself so he could climb aboard. He entered his lion and sat down in the pilot's seat. He opened his mind to his lion and heard her ask, "What happened to you?"
"Somehow one of the cryopods turned me back into a little kid."
"You are quite adorable, Shiro."
"No, I'm not. I take it we can still fly together until they figure out how to reverse this?"
"Of course. I chose you, my Paladin." Black purred to him.
Just then, Red busted into the hangar with Keith dangling from her mouth. She gently set him down but prevented him from going anywhere by trapping him with her tail. "So, Black, I heard your Paladin is just a cub, now. I want to see!"
"Red, did you have to bring me here? Shiro is fine. He just needed time to adjust to his situation," Keith called out, trying to escape Red's tail.
"Cub, shush. I want to see the littlest cub myself, and I'm not letting you out of my sight due to you pulling that stunt earlier."
"It was just a stray comet! I wasn't trying to get hit. It was an accident!"
"And I saved you, so shush."
Shiro had been watching the back and forth between lion and Paladin with interest. It was no secret that Red was very protective of her Paladin. She had been more than willing to destroy the Blade of Marmora's headquarters during Keith's trials. He grinned as he saw Keith give up struggling and simply pout.
"And I thought I was the child, Keith," Shiro couldn't help but point out.
Both lion and Paladin looked up as little Shiro had appeared in Black's mouth, even though she was still sitting. Spotting him, Red nearly bounced on her claws. "Ooo! He's adorable!" She looked at her cub, then at Shiro, then back at Keith. "I wonder."
Keith caught on to what his lion was thinking. "Oh no. Don't give it another thought, Red!"
"I already did, Cub. I bet you would be even more adorable, and maybe a little easier to control."
Keith crossed his arms. "You handle me just fine."
"I want to see what you look like, Cub!"
"Shiro, a little help, please?"
Shiro held his hands up. "That's your lion. I have no say in what she does or doesn't do. It's all you."
"I don't want to be a kid again! It wasn't good the first time around."
Black lowered her head allowing her Paladin to step out and go over to his second-in-command. "Keith, everything's okay. I'm sure Red isn't going to force you to do something you hate."
Red lifted her tail, allowing Keith to sit up. Shiro sat down next to Keith, who automatically put one of his arms around Shiro's shoulders. "I was in Foster Care for most of my childhood. It wasn't pleasant most of the time. I almost always had injuries of some sort visible to the naked eye. If any of the others, especially Lance, hears about Red's idea, they may force me to anyway, and I don't know what condition I would be coming out of the cryopod in."
"I understand. I'm sure Red won't be talking to any of the other lions about her idea. She likes you too much to put you in such distress."
Keith gave Shiro a rare little smile. "This is pretty weird though. You talk like your regular self but you sound and look like a little kid. You're not the dad of the group right now."
"Nope," Shiro quipped, leaning against Keith. "That's you."
The color drained from Keith's face as he realized he was currently the eldest of the Paladins. "Oh no. I'm no leader, and I'm definitely not a dad!"
Shiro chuckled as his eyes slid closed, unaware that he would be woken up an hour later by Coran saying he could fix Shiro's situation.
Fin