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The Paladins all sat on the couch in the lounge, looking at Keith with concern. She merely stared at the ground.
Shiro was the first one to speak up, “Do they know?”
“No,” Keith said quietly, wishing for the conversation to be over.
“Why didn’t you tell them?” Lance asked.
“Because they love someone else,” She replied.
“How do you know that?” Pidge demanded.
“They introduced me to their fiance," Keith stated without emotion.
She was stating a fact. There wasn’t anything they could say to refute that. All they could do was stare.
“Well…” Hunk began nervously, “maybe it is a platonic bond?”
Keith gave a huff of a humorless laugh, “It isn’t if the fact that I love them means anything.”
Shiro wrapped an arm around Keith’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. He had no idea what to do. He hadn’t even known that she had found her soulmate. Today proved that.
Previously…
“Now, Shiro! Your final question! Who all on team Voltron has found their soulmate?”
“Hunk and Pidge,” Shiro said, confidence pouring off of him.
A honk sounded and the host said, “That is inaccurate! Keith has also found her soulmate! I will give you a second chance question! How many times has…”
Now…
Keith stood giving a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, “It’s fine guys. I accepted it a long time ago.”
Allura walked over to her, “If this offers any comfort, you may always come to me. I may not understand what soulmates mean, but I do know what it is to love someone and then lose them.”
Keith nodded her thanks and left. The other paladins sat down. Pidge wanted to return to Earth and find this person to beat them up. Hunk wanted to bake a cake for her, maybe try to get her mind off of it. While Lance, Allura, and Coran all wanted to know who it is. They felt that was the only way to help her through this.
“So Shiro, have any ideas on who it is?” Pidge demanded.
“That is what I was thinking about. She didn’t have many friends on Earth, so that should narrow it down. The only person that I know of, that she knew, and had a fiance was me, but we broke off the engagement before I left for Kerberos,” Shiro replied. He shrugged, “I guess I don’t know all of her friends.”
Pidge looked at Shiro thinking, Could it be? … No. She would have told him. Right? Yeah, she would have told him.
They all left to their tasks, and Keith sat in her room, staring at her mark. It was on her wrist, always hidden under her glove and a bracelet. It was a simple mark. She used to think it looked like the Roman numeral for five with a star over it, but now, she realizes that it looks like the v on their armor with a star over it. The star had four long points almost forming a plus sign if the small points in between weren’t there. She smiled down at her mark sadly. It looked just like her soulmate’s. It looked just like Shiro’s. His was on his left wrist while hers was on her right, They were still the exact same. She had first seen it when he had reached out to shake her hand all those years ago. She had been trying to figure out how to tell him before he introduced her to Addison, his fiance. She looked at the door. She would just be content being his friend. She shouldn’t ask for any more than that.
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They were on their way back to Earth. They were finally going home. Shiro couldn’t believe it. He was finally going to see his parents. They all were. Keith’s mother was with them. She was going to show her around and help her understand Earth culture more. They watched as Earth showed up in front of them. The beautiful blue and green planet neared and they began their descent. It was quick, and within moments, they had landed outside of the Garrison. There was a team waiting for them. Addison included. Keith felt her heart drop to her stomach. She knew she would want to keep Shiro as far away from her as possible. Addison knew the truth. Shiro is her soulmate. Shiro was nervous. He had no idea on how Addison felt about him anymore, but he knew he didn’t love her in a romantic sense. He would love to be friends but not boyfriend and girlfriend. They all exited, and the moment Shiro stepped out, Addison ran up to him, pulling him in for a kiss. Keith gave a strained smile and walked up to them.
She tried sounding normal as she said, “Hi, Addison. It’s good to see you.”
"Hello Keith," Addison greeted with false warmth as her eyes were filled with cold daggers, "I can not tell you how great it is to have you and Shiro back."
"Yeah, it must be great. I believe I need to go and talk to Iverson," she replied awkwardly.
"Wait, I should probably do that. Let m-," Shiro began in a desperate attempt to get away from Addison.
"No, no, it's fine. I am your right hand after all," Keith insisted.
She wanted Shiro to be happy. She had just seen them kiss, so she figured that she could give them time to talk. After giving a small wave, she approached Iverson.
Shiro turned to Addison, his voice serious as he said, "Look, Addison, I am happy to see you, but I don't appreciate the kiss. I don't feel that way about you anymore. We broke off the engagement before Kerberos, and you told me that you never wanted to see me again. I got over you. I would love to be friends, but I do not hold any romantic feelings for you."
Addison's face grew red with anger, "Is this because of Keith?" She demanded, "That little freak is the cause, isn't she."
"No. How on Earth did you get that idea?" Shiro said, "This has nothing to do with her. What I feel for her has nothing to do with this. She is my friend and one of the few people that didn't give up on me."
Addison huffed, and Shiro left before she could respond. She glared toward Keith thinking, It is all Keith's fault. It had to be. She is his soulmate. That must be why Shiro didn't want to be in a romantic relationship. She smirked as a plan came to her. All she had to do was get Keith out of the way. With that thought in mind, she left to prepare.
Weeks passed and Keith was surprised that Addison was so friendly. She was bringing her lunch if she happened to miss it, and was trying to get Keith to laugh. It made no sense, and that made Keith suspicious. She was on guard, so the moment she felt a prick on her arm, she grabbed Addison's arm. Unfortunately, she hadn't been fast enough to prevent a quarter of what was in the syringe from entering her blood stream. Moving fast, Keith dragged Addison and the syringe to the infirmary.
She grabbed the nearest doctor that wasn't busy and said, "Officer Worth here injected me with some of the liquid in this vial. Can you, please, run some tests on-"
"It's Anima Languorem," Addison interrupted proudly.
The doctor stared at her in horror, "Addison, that is incurable! Why would you do that?"
"To get her out of the way," she replied before leaning into Keith's space and whispered, "I can't risk Shiro's soulmate getting in the way as I rip Shiro from Courtney, now can I?"
Keith was in shock. She had noticed Shiro and Courtney getting closer, but she had thought that they were just friends. She had thought Shiro was still with Addison, "W-what? They're just friends."
Addison gave her a pitying look, "I don't think so. I saw them kiss."
Keith shook out of her shock, "Well, as long as Shiro is happy, I'm happy."
Security barged through the doors, having been called by a nurse that had overheard, and took Addison into custody.
The doctor turned to Keith, "I am so sorry Ma'am. The only way to cure it is to find your soulmate and your soulmate knows you two are soulmates forming the soul bond. There is nothing I can do."
Keith nodded, "I know."
The doctor continued on as if she hadn't spoken, "I mean, with how rare it is to find your soulmate, the chances of you finding yours are infinitesimal."
He guided her to a bed and ran to contact the paladins. Less than five minutes later, they ran in panicking.
"I heard you were sick. What do you have?" Lance demanded.
"Anima Languorem," Keith said quietly and the other humans gasped.
Coran looked at them, "What is this 'anima languorem'?"
Shiro's eyes were sad as he said, "It means 'soul sickness' in Latin. It is an incurable disease unless you meet your soulmate and both realise that you are soulmates and the soul bond forms."
Allura's face brightened, "Well, it's a good thing that Keith knows who her soulmate is."
The others all said at the same time, "That's right!" "What a relief!" "Who is it, Keith?"
Keith shook her head, "I'm not telling him. He is still in love with someone else. I was talking to his ex and she told me that he kissed someone he had grown close to in front of her."
"Don't you think they would want to know?" Pidge demanded.
"I am not going to ruin their happiness," she said quietly, "Even if that means I don't get better."
"You are close to him, aren't you? He introduced you to his fiance. How will your death affect him?" Hunk asked softly, hoping to sway Keith.
She gave a forced smile, "They'll get over it eventually." She broke into coughs that sent her hunching over and gasping for breath. She slumped back against the pillows and said, "Look, it was injected right into my bloodstream. I don't have long. I- I just want to spend it with you guys..."
Shiro sat in the seat next to her, finally speaking, though his voice was soft, "Okay, Keith. We'll respect your wishes."
She smiled a genuine smile in gratitude and slowly fell asleep.
Shiro looked up, "Pidge, I want you to dig into any and all records you can find of before we left Earth. Find anyone in, or associated with, the garrison that had a fiance. Then, Lance, I need you to talk to them and ask them if they were friends with Keith and if they have found their soulmate." They both nodded and hurried out. Shiro turned to Coran, "Coran, if I get you all the research we have on this, can you see if you can find either an alternate cure or a way to slow down the process?"
"Yes, though I will need Allura's help," He replied.
Shiro nodded and turned to Hunk who said, "I am going to be with Pidge. She needs me right now. I can feel it through the soul bond."
Shiro smiled, "Go be with your soulmate, Hunk."
Hunk left Shiro sitting beside Keith's bed, contemplating soulmates. He was still there an hour later when Keith opened her eyes and saw the deep furrow between his brows. She reached up a weak hand as if to try to smooth it out.
Her voice was weak as she said, "It isn't your fault. No matter what happens this wasn't your fault. Don't blame yourself for not being able to save me. It was my choice to not tell you, my soulmate."
Tears fell down his face, "I know. I just- I just wish there was something I could do."
She smiled at him before a cough shook her body and brought blood. She stared at the blood as if she couldn't believe it. He grabbed a disinfectant wipe from nearby and wiped off her hand. It was her right hand. He grabbed it with his left before clasping his prosthetic over the top of hers. She fell into sleep once more and half an hour later all of the others came back looking grim. They hadn't found anything. Fifteen minutes later, Keith's heartbeat slowed and eventually stopped. Shiro clutched her limp hand tighter as he sobbed. The doctor quickly arrived and confirmed that she was dead. Shiro felt his heart shatter.
He looked up at Pidge, "Pidge, I know you looked it up in her file. Where is her soul mark?"
"Why do you want to know," Pidge asked, wanting to make sure that he wasn't going to do anything rash.
"That way, if I see someone with the same soul mark, I'll know who she loved so much"
"Right wrist."
Shiro carefully pulled off her glove and bracelet, revealing a mark that matched his. His eyes widened as his mind connected things from the past. Him being her only friend that had a fiance. Addison's belief that Keith was the reason he chose not to pursue a new relationship with her. Then, Keith's last words. She wasn't just saying that it was her choice not to tell him her soul mate. She was saying that it was her choice not to tell him he was her soul mate. Shiro felt a warmth build up in his chest. The pressure building until it burst, and Keith's heart began beating once more. Everyone stared in shock. It had never happened before. Once they died, they stayed dead.
"Oh, you noble fool," Shiro muttered.
"What just happened?" Lance asked in confusion.
"I'm Keith's soulmate," Shiro replied, "and the ex she was talking about was the person that injected her with the Anima Languorem."
Everyone crowded around the bed, and the doctor checked her over, "I can't believe it," he said, "She is in perfect health now. She still needs to rest, to ensure she stays that way, but there are no traces of the symptoms."
They all thanked him as he left and sat to wait for her to wake up. When she did, she noted that her glove was gone. She knew Shiro now knew.
"I won't apologize for not telling you, Shiro."
"I know. Just so you know, I haven't kissed anyone since Addison forced a kiss when we arrived back on Earth, and I informed her that I wanted to just be friends."
Keith smiled and asked the one question that was most important to her, "What do you want our soul bond to be like?"
"I was hoping romantic," Shiro admitted.
Keith nodded, and Hunk said, "Aww, we both have romantic soul bonds! Isn't that amazing?"
"It is Hunk. It really is," Keith replied absentmindedly.
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Shiro and Keith stood, her right hand in his left and his left in her right, staring into each other's eyes. Keith smiled and looked down at their joined hands before going onto her toes and pressing a kiss to his lips.
There were cheers, and Shiro said in a lowered voice, "I love you, Mrs. Shirogane."
She leaned in until their foreheads were touching, "I love you too, my husband."
They finally had their happy ending, and it made all the years of pain and war worth it. After all, it all led up to this moment. The beginning of their happily ever after.