Work Text:
"Strong Bonds"
Shiro was in his Black Paladin seat on the bridge. He had been there for several hours and knew he should go to bed but he wanted to finish compiling the information, so Pidge would have an easier time finding what she needed. He didn't even bat an eye when the door to the bridge opened. However, when something clamped onto his Galra arm, he looked over but didn't get a decent look at what had him in its grasp before he was dragged out of his chair. As he was dragged off the bridge, Shiro looked at what had him. To his immense surprise, it was a fluffy, black lioness. She was quite large; so large Shiro was quite certain he could ride her. He wondered how a lion got into the castle and why she had dragged him off the bridge. To his surprise, he was taken to the lounge. He was sitting in the space between the couches in a mass of blankets and pillows. The lioness curled around him and laid her tail across his lap, effectively keeping him there.
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Pidge had fallen asleep in front of her lap top. A fluffy green lioness approached the sleeping Paladin. She used her tail to close the lap top. She carefully maneuvered the Green Paladin onto her back and walked to the lounge. She laid down, allowing her Paladin to continue to sleep on her back.
Shiro watched as a green lioness brought Pidge into the lounge. The green lioness was smaller than the black one but was still large enough for Pidge to lay comfortably on top of her. He still didn't know what was going on.
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Hunk was stressed, and when he was stressed, he baked; mostly sweets. He baked cookies, cakes, cupcakes, and brownies. He knew he should be asleep, but he was too keyed up to rest. He just finished pulling a tray of brownies out of the oven and set them to cool. He turned around to grab another bowl when he came upon a large, fluffy, yellow lioness that was standing between him and the counter behind him. "Whoa!"
She approached him, causing him to back up into the counter. She managed to still maneuver her head behind him and push him out of the kitchen. Hunk had no choice but to walk lest he fall over and possibly get trampled by the lioness. Surprisingly, she pushed him into the lounge, where Shiro, Pidge, and two other lionesses were. Hunk sat down next to Shiro, and the lioness curled around him, her front paws laid across his lap.
Shiro watched as a yellow lioness pushed Hunk into the lounge. The yellow lioness was smaller than the black one but larger than the green one. He had an inkling of what was happening, but there was no way that could be true, was there?
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Lance was splashing water on his face, trying to wash off the face mask residue, when there was a strange scratching noise at his door. He dried his face and hands off after turning off the water. He opened the door and stared at what was on the other side of the door. There were two fluffy lionesses, one blue and one red. The blue one was larger than the red one, but that didn't mean the red one was tiny. Why were there two lionesses outside of his door?
The red lioness gently latched onto his Altean robe while the blue lioness pushed him out of his room and down the corridor. To his surprise, the lionesses led him to the lounge, where three of his fellow Paladins were along with three lionesses. The red lioness gently pulled on his hand to tell him to sit down next to Pidge. He did so, and the blue lioness laid down with her head in his lap.
Shiro looked at all of the lionesses and knew his earlier assumption was correct. These lionesses were indeed the robot lions, but why were they real and could they become the robot lions again? He watched as the red lioness approached the black lioness. Red growled softly, Black responding with a rumbling sound. Black stood up, and Shiro heard in his mind, 'Stay here, Paladin.'
Shiro stayed put as he watched Black and Red walk out of the lounge. Where were they going?
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Keith walked to the training deck. He was a bit shaken up by his nightmare. He figured he would take out his nerves on a few gladiators before trying to get some more sleep. He entered the training deck and stopped short. In front of him was a fluffy, red lioness. She was sitting in the middle of the training deck. Keith's right hand was reaching for his bayard when he saw the red lioness approach him. He relaxed when he heard the lioness purr but tensed again when she was right in front of him. She rubbed her head against his legs. He cautiously reached down and petted her. Suddenly, he felt a larger head rubbing on his other leg. He looked over and saw a fluffy, black lioness, who was larger than the red lioness, rubbing her head affectionately against him as well. In his head, he heard two voices.
'Hello, cub.'
'Hello, little one.'
Keith looked at the two lionesses in shock. "Red? Black?" He got two purrs in response. "What-? How-?"
'All will be explained in time, little one. Just go with Red, and I will be back shortly,' Black said, leaving the room.
Keith nodded and walked out of the training deck with Red by his side. When they entered the lounge, Red laid down first, and Keith reclined against her. They were between Shiro and Lance, who was still sitting a fair distance away from Green. Shiro noticed that Black hadn't returned yet. He looked at Keith, who simply said, "She'll be back soon."
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Allura was brushing her hair before bedtime. There was a strange yet familiar scratching at her door. She set her hairbrush down and opened her door. Standing there was a large, fluffy, black lioness. She gave a soft gasp. It had been so many deca-phoebes since she saw the physical representation of one of the lions; a lot longer since she had seen Black's. She reached out and gently petted Black's head. "Is it everyone?" Black nodded. "Are they gathered?" Once again, Black nodded.
Allura left her room with Black at her side, Black leading her to the lounge. When they entered the room, Black immediately went back over to her Paladin and curled back around him, tail laying across his lap again. Allura's eyes roamed over the five Paladins and their lions. She saw Red and Keith were on Shiro's left side, and Blue and Lance were on Keith's other side. Hunk and Yellow were on Shiro's other side. However, Pidge was still sleeping on top of Green.
"If you haven't guessed, these are the lions. Each of you Paladins have such strong bonds with your lion, that they are able to take on smaller forms to ensure your well-being. Each of the original Paladins were able to establish strong bonds as well."
"I had two lions come get me," Lance mentioned. "Red and Blue."
"I had two as well. Red and Black," Keith added.
"Both of you have strong bonds with both lions, though I do wonder why Black came to me instead of Blue," Allura replied.
She then heard in her mind, 'I had to make sure Lancey Lance stayed put. Black offered to go in my place, Princess.'
Allura smiled at Blue, sat down on Lance's other side, and proceeded to pet Blue's head. All of the lions lulled their Paladins (primary and secondary) to sleep by purring softly.
In the morning, Pidge woke up slowly. She could feel that she was laying on something soft and fluffy that was somehow moving. She opened her eyes, and her mouth fell open in shock. She was laying on top of a fluffy, green lioness. All around her were her teammates surrounded by four other fluffy lionesses; a red one the same size as the green one, a blue one and a yellow one that were larger than the red one and the green one, and a black one that was still larger than all of the others.
"Would someone tell me why I'm on top of a fluffy green lioness?!"
Fin