Chapter Text
The stars were always Keith’s favorite thing to look at.
His first look at them was leaning back against his father’s chest, head tilted up as the stars littering the Arizona desert sky filled his eyes. He remembered the way his mind had filled with awe and the way his father had pointed upwards with a rough calloused finger at the stars, talking about constellations and their meanings. His mother, who sat beside his father with their hands intertwined, spoke about the stars beyond those in this galaxy, and Keith ate up every word about stars that exploded and ones that littered the sky around planets that housed different life forms. She spoke softly, wistfully almost, and his father would squeeze her hand three times with a smile on his face that she would immediately return before pressing a kiss to Keith’s nose, making him giggle as he begged for more space stories.
She told him of planets with mermaids —which, apparently, did not look like Ariel from The Little Mermaid— and planets with aliens that could fly, and planets with more than ten moons orbiting around them. She told him about sacred planets that people only went to get married on, of planets that held dangerous wildlife that could eat you in one gulp, and planets that no longer existed but still lived on in the memories of those in the galaxies behind the Milky Way. She told him of how she had personally met many aliens, and Keith believed her with every fiber of his being because, duh, his own mother was an alien. Of course she had met more aliens!
She fueled his love for the stars, and his dad encouraged it.
“What do you want to be when you grow up, Keith?”
“A space explorer!” Keith had exclaimed loudly at five years old, pointed excitedly up at the starry night sky. “I wanna meet aliens!”
“You’ve already met one,” Krolia said with an amused grin. She poked her finger at Keith’s stomach, tickling it and making him squeal with laughter, and laughing herself, she said, “you’re part alien yourself, sweetheart.”
“I’m gonna find more aliens!” Keith declared when his mother retracted her finger, using it to instead tuck a strand of his hair behind his ear. “Momma, will you take me to meet the aliens?”
“One day, sweetheart,” she said with a kiss to his temple and a wistful look in her eye while his father chuckled softly behind him, wrapping his arms around Keith to pull him in for a tight hug.
“One day you’ll get to explore space to your heart's desire, but now it’s time for bedtime. Say goodnight to the stars for me, Keith.”
“Why do I gotta say goodnight to the stars?”
“Because when people die, they become stars,” his father whispered like it was a secret, and Keith stared at him with wide eyes.
“Really?”
“Yes, so you have to say goodnight to everyone in the stars, Keith.”
“Oh, okay. Goodnight stars!” Keith called out loudly in the dry desert night, and Krolia and his father would chuckle before bringing him inside to sleep while he caught one last look at the stars over his father’s shoulder, and then he’d fall asleep with the promise of seeing more stars the next night.
The stars, however, became a thing he feared when his father died and his mother packed all their things into an old battered bag that had gathered dust in the back of his father’s closet for years, faded haphazardly slapped on stickers from California, Texas, and New York peeling off the sides and a zipper that didn’t fully close. Not much fit inside it; only a blanket, a few spare t-shirts, shorts, and a few large books nestled at the bottom fit, a photo book full of Polaroid pictures of them all laughing and living together tucked away safely at the very bottom.
When they left the house, it was in the middle of the night when the stars shone their brightest above him, sparkling in the sky and tormenting his heart. His mother’s hand held on tightly to his, the bag hefted over her other shoulder, determination in her violet eyes as she whispered to Keith, “come along, sweetheart. We’re almost there.” He stumbled along, legs short and eyes blurry with sleep, his other hand holding on tightly to his stuffed hippo plushie, pressing it tightly against his chest as the desert night air whistled around them, like it was laughing at their escape.
The ship they eventually got on was a small one that lit up red when his mother powered it up, Keith curled up in a corner of the ship with his blanket tucked in around him and hippo plushie against his chest. When they took off, Keith almost cried because it was so fast that thought they might die. He closed his eyes, ignoring the rumbling of the ship and the beeping of the screens his mother maneuvered around like it was second nature to her.
The stars didn’t look like stars when they shrieked past them, blurring into long lines, the sky a deep purple and not sky anymore but instead space, large and unforgiving. Eventually the ship stopped shaking and his mother got up to pick him up into his arms, cradling him against her chest as she ran her fingers through his hair, saying softly, “this is space, sweetheart. This is your second home.”
He didn’t remember much after that. All he knew was that one moment he was asleep in his mother’s arms, and the next they were getting off the ship, him still cradled in her arms and the bag slung over her shoulder. There was someone speaking in a low tone, and Keith couldn’t quite understand what he was saying, but he didn’t sound upset or mad. He sounded…concerned.
“The boy cannot stay here, Krolia. His home is on Earth.”
“His father is gone. His home is with me,” his mother replied hotly, her embrace growing tighter. “He is my son, Kolivan. I will not leave him, not ever.”
Silence.
“Very well. You know where the sleeping quarters are. Settle in and rest. We’ll speak of your return when you awaken.”
“Thank you,” his mother said, relief evident in her tired voice, and she pressed a kiss to his temple. “It’s alright, sweetheart. We’ll be alright.”
He drifted off to sleep after that, and when he awoke for good the next time, he was alone in a room with dim purple lights and on a bed much too big for him, the covers draped lightly over him and disheveled to his right where his mother had probably been sleeping. The bag they brought was on the far side of the room on an empty chair, but the rest of the room was bare, like it was meant to stay that way.
“Momma?” Keith called out, frowning when he scanned the room and didn’t find her. Draping his legs over the side of the bed, he hopped down, hitting the floor with sock covered feet.
He padded out of the room, hippo plushie pressed against his chest as he glanced at the walls that glowed purple. He was about halfway down the long hall when he saw a group of people in dark purple suits standing at the corner, speaking in hushed voices.
As he drew near, he heard one of them say, “he’s been in there a long time with her. Do you think he’ll send her away?”
“I doubt it. He’s always praised her work as a blade,” another person spoke, a male with a tail. “Perhaps he’ll reprimand her for returning without a word.”
“Or for disappearing for five years without so much as a word to Kolivan,” another person said. “Or for returning with a kit in tow.”
“Have you seen the kit yet?”
“No, but I’m curious as to how he looks like. I heard he’s a product between her and an earthling.”
“She disappeared for years to settle down with a part of the most primitive species in the universe?” The blade scoffed. “Why Kolivan wants us to be like her is beyond me. She’s a failure.”
“Watch your words, Vanix. She is still higher ranked than us.”
“She also came back with a kit in the middle of a war,” Vanix deadpanned. “I hope Kolivan sends her away.”
Keith glared at the blade, his hands curling into fists that shook with anger at his side. His mother had just lost her husband and had left a peaceful earth to come back to space to help them, and they were treating her like she had done something wrong.
Stepping around the corner, almost immediately all the four hooded figures turned to look at him. They stood up straight, tilting their heads curiously to stare at him. Keith stared back at them until one dissolved their mask, revealing a purple face with yellow eyes, a sharp nose and a myriad of tiny horns sticking out of the side of her head with hair between them. A long blue braid fell over her shoulder, her angular ears pointing upwards as she leaned down to stare at Keith, brows relaxed.
“So this is the kit. He doesn’t look like much.”
Keith glared up at her, indigo eyes sharp as he said, “and you look like too much! Why is your head full of spikes? And why are you freakishly tall? You look like an ugly dead tree!”
Vanix’s mouth comically dropped open, and the three other blades at her side stared at Keith for a solid five seconds before bursting into loud laughter, clutching onto their stomachs while their masks disappeared to reveal wide grins and amused looks.
“I like him.”
“Of course you would, Regris,” Vanix replied with a flushed face, embarrassment clear in her tone.
“He reminds me of Krolia,” another one, the tallest one in the group, said with an amused upwards curl of his lips. “What a tough kit.”
“Do not encourage his behavior, Antok!”
“You were the one who insulted him first,” Regris pointed out with a raised brow, yellow eyes glowing. “Am I right, Yaxel?”
“You are.”
Antok kneeled down to Keith’s level, an amused smile on his face. “What is your name, kit?”
“My momma said to never tell strangers my name,” Keith replied with a haughty glare. “ Especially strangers who don’t like her!”
“Your mother was wise,” Regris said with a sage nod. “But we’re not strangers. We work with your mother.”
“How do I know you’re not lying?”
“Why would we lie to you?”
“Because you don’t like her!”
Regris let out an irritated huff while Antok sighed. “Kit, we like your mother. She is fearless and also a brave warrior. Don’t let Vanix’s words make you dislike us. We want to get to know you.”
“Hey!” Vanix protested.
Keith eyed him warily. “Are you sure? ‘Cause if you’re lying, I’m gonna tell my momma you don’t like her and she will fight you.”
“There’s no need to do that,” Vanix said, kneeling down to look at Keith. “I’m sorry, kit, for insulting your mother. It was wrong of me to do so. Now, will you tell us your name?”
Keith glared at her before turning his attention back to Antok. “My name is Keith.”
“It’s very nice to meet you, Keith. How old are you?” Antok asked.
“Five and a half,” Keith proudly declared with a grin. “Momma says that I’m gonna be as tall as her soon.”
“Soon might be a bit of a stretch,” Regris snickered, followed by Yaxel doing the same. “Why did you come up to space, Keith?”
Keith’s smile slipped and he frowned, fiddling with the edge of his shirt with his hands. Tears pooled in the corner of his eyes, and he stubbornly tried to blink them away. “Momma said we had to go ‘cause…’cause we’re all alone…”
Vanix and Antok exchanged looks before the taller blade nodded, gently patting Keith on the shoulder. “That’s alright, kit. You don’t need to say anything else.”
Keith sniffled, wiping his nose as he glared at Antok. “My name’s not ‘kit,’ it’s Keith. ”
A startled laugh escaped Antok’s lips and he nodded, lips curling up into an amused grin. “I’m sorry, Keith.”
Keith nodded, satisfied. Then, realizing he was alone in the hallway with four people he didn’t know, he turned shy and nervously twisted the edge of his shirt around his fingers.
“Do you know where my momma is?”
“She’s speaking to our leader,” Vanix said with a small smile. “His name is Kolivan.”
“I’m afraid she won’t be out for a while,” Yaxel said, his long blue tail flicking behind him. “Kolivan likes to talk a lot, especially when it comes down to Krolia.”
“Shut up, Yaxel,” Regris said with a slap of the hand to the back of Yaxel’s head, a short glare on his face. His expression then turned cheery as he looked back at Keith. “Your mother won’t be out for a while, so how would you like to explore the Blade of Marmora headquarters with us?”
“We have training,” Antok started, only for Regris to wave him off. “You know how rambunctious kits are. Kolivan will thank us for keeping this one entertained and out of trouble.”
“Anything to get out of training,” Vanix said with a crack of her neck. “So? What should we show him first?”
Keith’s stomach chose to rumble as soon as she finished speaking, making her snicker. “Alright. Our first stop is the kitchen, it seems.”
The kitchen was large, far larger than the one Keith was used to having in his own home. The stove was huge, as was the fridge, and there were hose-like objects in the wall. Purple goo came out of them into a bowl when Vanix picked one up, and she passed it to Keith, who had been placed up on the countertop by Antok.
Keith wrinkled his nose. “This looks like poop.”
“Yeah, it tastes like it sometimes too,” Regris said with a shrug before being whacked in the head by Vanix.
She flashed Keith a small smile. “Trust me, kit, it doesn’t taste like poop. And it’s a temporary meal while we wait for your mother to make you something.”
“Momma can’t cook,” Keith said with a weary glance at the space goo before sticking a spoonful of it into his mouth, grimacing as he swallowed it. “My pop was the one who cooked. Momma burned water once.”
Vanix let out a small chuckle. “That’s…that’s great, kit.”
“My name is Keith, not kit,” he said with a glare.
“I know, but you are a young child by Galra standards,” Vanix explained with a crooked smile. “We call young Galra such as yourself, ‘kits.’ You are a kit, Keith.”
“I’m not a baby,” Keith said, stubbornly shoving the bowl into Antok’s hands. “I flew in a spaceship! An alien spaceship!”
“But you didn’t fly it,” Regris said with a grin that made Keith flush red with embarrassment. “You’re a kit, Keith. Has your mother never called you that before?”
“No,” Keith scowled, “ ‘cause I’m not a kit! I flew a spaceship!”
“Alright,” Antok said, shooting Regris a look over his shoulder, “that’s enough. Keith, finish your food.”
“It tastes funny. I wanna see something else!”
“You have to eat your food, Keith.”
“If you don’t take me to see something else, I’m gonna tell my momma you guys only hung out with me to get out of training,” Keith said with a glare, and within seconds, they were walking out of the room.
The group introduced him to the training room, which many blades were currently using, fighting one another while Keith watched with wide eyes, feeling slightly panicked. They introduced him to the bathroom shortly after that when Keith complained that he had to pee, in which Keith almost fell into the toilet because it was too big. They then introduced him to the lounging room, and Keith didn’t like the hard couches and didn’t like how there was no TV. They introduced him to the hangar where a few small ships were stored, and at this point Keith was fed up.
He had been in space for a total of twelve hours and already his momma was missing, he had to eat weird food, there wasn’t a normal toilet, people were fighting, and the couches were rock hard. There was no way to entertain himself, and he didn’t like it. This was nothing like his home back on earth, and with a pang in his heart, he realized he missed earth. He missed his pops. He missed home.
“That’s the ship momma and I came in,” Keith said, pointing at the familiar ship. “I left my blanket there. Can I get it?”
Regris shrugged. “Don’t see why not. What do you say, Vanix?”
Vanix gnawed on her lower lip for a few seconds, glancing between Keith and the ship before ultimately sighing. “Alright, but I’m going to be behind you the whole time. In and out, alright, Keith?”
“Okay.”
Vanix lifted him up into the ship first, letting him step inside while she remained outside. “I’ll be right up–”
Keith then popped his head through the opening, glaring at her. “No! I’m leaving!”
He promptly pressed a button, shutting the only opening into the ship, leaving Vanix to shriek and pound on the door. “Keith? Keith, get out of that ship!”
“I’m going home!”
“Keith, please, your mother is going to kill me!”
“I don’t care! I wanna go home!” Keith shouted as he climbed up into the pilot’s seat, staring at the red screen in front of him. He couldn’t read anything there, and he couldn’t even reach the handles. He squirmed around to try and reach them, but he ended up falling, whimpering when his forehead hit the ground.
“Great going, Vanix. You just sent Krolia’s kid into a Galra fighter jet.”
“It wasn’t my intention–!”
“Keith, open the door!” Antok called out.
“What do we do?!”
Keith glared frustratedly at the screens, rubbing his head with his hand, frustrated tears pooling in his eyes. Why were alien ships so complicated? Why was he in one to begin with? Why couldn’t he and momma have stayed back on earth? Space sucked; things were too different. Why would she ever think he would possibly like it up here?
“Keith? Sweetheart?”
Keith let out a whimper as he jumped off the floor, pressing the button to let his mother in. Krolia jumped in and quickly brought him into a tight embrace, and Keith let himself wail loudly, clutching into her desperately even as she climbed out of the ship.
“We’re so sorry–”
“We tried to get him out–”
“He’s really stubborn!”
“It’s all Vanix’s fault.”
“Hey!”
“Get to training,” a rough male voice spoke up. “Krolia, you may take whatever time you need to deal with the kit.”
Keith only sobbed further into her chest, even as she began to move, presumably walking back to their room. The doors swished open then closed behind her, and when she sat on the bed, it dipped under her weight. She placed Keith at her side, and then he pressed his head onto her lap, and eventually his sobs turned to whimpers, then hiccups, and then he was breathing alright once again.
Krolia sighed, gently threading her fingers through Keith’s short hair, his head resting on her lap. “You miss home, don’t you?”
Keith nodded, eyes wet with fresh unshed tears. “Space is scary.
“It is,” Krolia admitted, “but it’s also beautiful. Why don’t you give it a chance before you try to run away on another ship? Please? For me?”
Keith wanted to scream, to say that he hated space and he wanted to go home because everything sucked, but he realized that if he left, he wouldn’t have her at his side. He would be completely alone, and Keith hated being alone. He had already lost his father; he couldn’t his mother too, not when she was doing her best to take care of him.
Keith wiped his tears away, nodding with determination. “Okay. I’ll do it for you, momma.”
“Thank you, my precious kit,” she whispered, pressing a kiss to his temple. “Do you want to eat something?”
“Something that isn’t that ugly goo.”
Krolia laughed, and it was the first time she laughed since her husband had died. Keith smiled widely when she laughed, and hugged her tightly.
“Alright, Keith. We’ll find you something that isn’t goo.”
Ten minutes later, Keith was sitting on the counter eating a sandwich with some weird yellow substance slathered between the bread, kicking his feet back and forth while his mother served him water.
“Are we gonna live here forever?”
Krolia set the cup of water at his side, delicately patting his head with a large gloved hand. She was no longer in the suit she had worn last night —or whenever it was that they first got on the ship, Keith wasn’t really sure how time in space worked— but instead a dark coat with purple shoulder pads, light grey accents along the edge and circling around her waist, as well two glowing purple streaks on the right side of her chest. A dark grey pouch was tied around her waist, closed, and the coat fell to her mid thigh area. Her hands were gloved, covered by long wrist guards that went up to her elbows, and she had a dark bodysuit underneath the coat-suit with boots built into them. Keith really had no idea what it was.
“Not forever,” she said, a small smile on her face. “At least I hope it isn’t forever.”
Keith frowned. “Will we ever go back home?”
Krolia’s smile turned sad. “I hope so, sweetheart. I’ll do my best to make sure you make it home one day.”
“Okay, but I’m only going back if you go, too!” Keith said, pointing at her. “We have to stick together, momma!”
“Oh, I would never dream of leaving you alone.”
Keith nodded, satisfied. Then, he tilted his head curiously to the side. “Are we gonna have to stay in that room? It’s so empty! Can I get some toys? And some coloring books? Can we get a bigger room?”
“I still have to talk to Kolivan about that.”
Keith wrinkled his nose. “Who’s that?”
Someone cleared their throat at the kitchen entrance, and Keith swiveled his head around to stare at the intruder. He blinked slowly, staring upwards into yellow glowing eyes that stared back at him, wide open. The intruder in the doorway was tall, taller than Krolia, and he had a white braid wrapped around his neck. He had red marks between and over his eyes as well as large ears, a large slanted nose and a frown on his face. Most of his face was purple, except for the white patch under his nose and around his mouth. He was wearing almost exactly the same outfit Krolia was wearing, except for the two purple glowing marks.
“Who’s that?” Keith whispered to his mother, who chuckled lightly. “That’s Kolivan, sweetheart. He’s the leader around here.”
“Why do you need a leader? Are we living in a castle?” Keith gasped. “Is he the king? Are you one of his knights?”
“That’s…not exactly how it works, Keith.” Krolia’s smile turned tired as she turned her attention to Kolivan. “Is there something you wish to speak to me about?”
Kolivan cleared his throat, gaze shifting from Keith to Krolia. “I wanted to make sure the kit was alright. Antok told me of his stunt in the ship you brought back.”
“It was touch and go for a while, but he’s alright.” Krolia turned to Keith, nodding sideways at the blade leader. “Are you going to introduce yourself, sweetheart?”
Keith frowned, eyeing Kolivan warily. “Do I have to bow? ‘Cause if I do, I’m not gonna do it. I don’t like kings.”
“He’s not a king, Keith.”
Keith huffed before nodding at Kolivan. “I’m Keith. I’m five and a half, I hate space food goo, and I like painting. Who are you?”
Kolivan blinked. “I am Kolivan, the leader of the Blade of Marmora.”
Keith wrinkled his nose. “What’s the Blade of McDonalds?”
“Marmora,” Kolivan corrected. “We are a secret organization of rebels against the Galra Empire, which has been ruled by Emperor Zarkon for thousands of decophoebs. He is a tyrannical ruler who wants to conquer the entire known universe. Our mission is to stop him from the inside and outside of his troops.”
Keith blinked slowly. “Huh?”
“Let’s revisit this conversation when he’s older,” Krolia said in a tone that left no arguments as she shot Kolivan a look. “There’s no way he’ll understand that now. He is still a kit.”
“I’m not a kit! I’m a big boy!”
“Sweetheart, you still need my help tying your shoes.”
Keith pouted, turning his face away from his mother. “That’s ‘cause shoe laces are dumb.”
Krolia huffed out an amused laugh, ruffling his hair with one hand. “Of course they are.”
Kolivan cleared his throat. “Well, I see the kit is fine. I’ll leave you two alone.”
“You don’t have to leave,” Krolia said with a sideways glance at him. “We don’t mind your company.”
“I’m very busy.”
Kolivan left the room without another word, and Keith stared at his mom curiously when he saw her roll her eyes and glare at the spot where Kolivan had been just a while ago.
“I can’t believe him. Ten years of my best work, and then he shuns me when I return with a kit. What a fool.”
“Are you friends, momma?”
“It depends on the day,” Krolia answered with a tired smile. “Now finish your food, sweetheart. It’s time for your nap.”
“Nap time doesn’t exist in space, momma!”
“Nap time exists as long as I say it exists. Now come on, eat.”
As Krolia carried him out of the kitchen in her arms, his chin hooked over her shoulder and arms wrapped around her neck, he caught sight of Kolivan standing at the far end of the hallway.
The man stared at him, head tilted sideways and an unreadable expression in his eyes. His gaze then shifted over to Krolia, who was singing a lullaby under her breath while patting Keith’s head gently, and his eyes turned downcast before he walked away. Keith didn’t understand what just happened, but he was tired and just a kit, so he closed his eyes and let his mother’s singing soothe him to sleep.
It was a few days later when Keith was eating some sort of space cereal at the dining room table that he saw Kolivan again.
His spoon was halfway into his mouth and Mr. Wiggles —his hippo plushie— was on top of the table when Kolivan walked in, making a straight beeline for the cabinet. Keith watched curiously as Kolivan grabbed a plate of food goo and poured into a bowl before bringing it to the table, not noticing Keith until the boy stuck his spoon into his mouth and crunched loudly on the cereal.
Kolivan immediately looked up, eyes widening momentarily before returning to their normal state. He sat back in his seat, plate of purple food goo untouched.
“Where is your mother?”
Keith shrugged, chewing on his cereal as he said, “I dunno.”
“Kit, don’t chew with your mouth open.”
Keith narrowed his eyes and proceeded to stuff another spoonful of cereal into his mouth, chewing it with his mouth open. Kolivan’s left ear twitched, and Keith stared shamelessly at it.
“Your ears move?”
“Occasionally.”
“Mine don’t move.”
“You aren’t full Galra, kit.”
Keith hummed, feeding a cereal flake to Mr. Wiggles. “I wish my ears moved. All they do is get dirty, and momma has to scrub them hard at bath time. Pop made fun of her for using too much soap.”
Kolivan stared at him blankly. “Alright.”
“Is momma a soldier in your army?”
“I don’t have an army. These soldiers don’t belong to me.”
“But you’re their leader!”
“Yes, but we are all equals. We all have the same goal in mind, which is to defeat Zarkon. Your mother is a vital part of that mission.”
Keith narrowed his eyes. “Is she gonna fight the evil guy?”
“We’re all fighting Zarkon.”
“Momma can’t fight an evil alien alone.”
“I just said we’re a team.”
“Do you like working with my momma?”
Kolivan stared blankly at him. “Your mother is one of the most talented blades here. Of course I enjoy working with her.”
Keith slammed his spoon down on the table, shooting Kolivan a glare that, unbeknownst to him, reminded Kolivan a lot of Krolia. “You can’t like my momma! Only my pops can like her!”
“I enjoy working with her, kit. That is very different from whatever you are imagining.”
“You can’t replace my pops!” Keith shouted, throwing a handful of dry cereal flakes at Kolivan. “I don’t like you! Momma needs better friends than you!”
“Please calm down.”
“Why?!”
“Sit down, kit. It is much too early for you to be making a mess and throwing a tantrum. Finish eating and go back to your room to wait for your mother.”
“No!” Keith blew a raspberry at Kolivan. “You’re not my pops! You can’t tell me what to do!”
“I was under the assumption you liked spending time alone in your room.”
“No, it sucks!” Keith said, glaring at Kolivan. “I got nothing to do all day! Momma goes to train and so does everyone else, and there’s no toys or crayons! All I do is sleep and eat, like I’m a baby but I’m not a baby! I’m a big boy!”
“A big boy wouldn’t be throwing a tantrum over breakfast.”
Keith scowled, pointing his spoon threateningly at Kolivan. “I’m gonna tell momma you’re being mean, and then you’re gonna be sorry!”
“By all means, go ahead.” At this point, Kolivan sounded more amused than irritated, and that bothered Keith.
Huffing, he hopped off the large chair and dragged Mr. Wiggles out of the room. Shooting a glare over his shoulder at Kolivan, he said, “I don’t like you, Koleman!”
“Kolivan.”
“I don’t care!” Keith said, plugging his fingers into his ears as he sang obnoxiously. He slipped back down into his and his mother’s shared room, plopping down on the floor before throwing himself into his back, sighing.
He missed his momma. Maybe he could sneak down into the training room and watch her train. Maybe today she was training a cat or something to do cool tricks!
The next morning, when he woke up, it was to someone knocking on the door.
Slowly, Keith stood up and opened the door. He was met with Vanix standing in the doorway, a bag full of things in her left hand while her right hand rested on her hip.
“Hi, Keith.”
“Vanie!” Keith shouted, hugging her leg, much to the woman’s surprise. “I’m so happy you’re here! Mr. Wiggles and I are gonna die if we don’t go exploring today!”
He missed the way Vanix’s shock melted into a soft fond smile, her hand coming up to pay Keith’s head. “Sorry, kit, there’s not going to be any exploring today.”
“Then why are you here?” Keith asked bluntly.
“I’ve been tasked with bringing you down to the lounge. Kolivan has rearranged it into an area for you to spend time in.”
“I don’t like that room. The couches are ugly and there’s no TV!”
“A holoscreen has been installed with child appropriate films for you to choose from and toys have been brought for you. There’s also many coloring books and crayons to play around with, if that’s what you desire.”
Keith blinked. “Did momma make you do this?”
Vanix’s lips twitched with amusement. “No, Krolia didn’t. We just felt like the base was too bare for a kit like you. So long as you clean up after you’re done playing, you can stay in the lounge as long as you want.”
Keith stared up at her with his wide eyes. “I love you,” he said seriously.
Vanix let out a startled laugh before patting his head again. “Alright, don’t be overdramatic, kit. Let’s get along before our leader changes his mind about changing the room around.”
Keith slipped his hand into Vanix’s hand, holding Mr. Wigfles with the other one. The woman took his hand with a smile, leading him down the hallway while Keith silently mulled over her words.
Before our leader changes his mind. Had Kolivan been the one to give the order for Vanix to buy him some toys? Why had he done that? He didn’t even know or like Keith!
Still, Keith decided as he picked up a space coloring book with a wide smile on his face, it was pretty cool that Kolivan had bought all that stuff just for him. Even Vanix seemed to agree that it was all pretty cool, especially when she sat and played with him and his toy blocks for the better part of the day. Even when Antok came in to cart her back off to training, Keith waved her off with a sweet smile and a, “bye, Vanie!”
(He missed the way she let out a whimper when the doors shut behind her, hand pressed up to her chest and her head bowed to hide her overwhelmed smile.
“Vanix, are you crying? ”
“The kit calls me Vanie, Antok. Vanie .”)
“Momma! Vanie brought me a bunch of toys and played with me today!” Keith later told his mom as he skipped down the hall, hand in hand with Krolia.
Krolia chuckled, her smile fond. “I’m glad you had fun today. Do you want me to send Vanix down to play with you some more tomorrow? I’m sure Kolivan won’t mind.”
“No, she’s gotta train to be the best blade,” Keith said, puffing out his chest. “That’s what she told me! Can you send Tok down?”
“Antok?”
“Yeah!”
“I’ll see what Kolivan says.” With a quick glance down at him, she said, “I talked to him after you told me you hated him yesterday. Kolivan told me you yelled at him over breakfast. What was that all about?”
“He said you’re a brave soldier, but I don’t want you fighting the evil space alien alone,” Keith said nonchalantly. “Koleman said he won’t let that happen, though.”
“And what do you think of Kolivan? Do you still not like him like you said yesterday?”
Keith pursed his lips, casting a glance at the wall as he mumbled, “I guess he’s okay. He’s not pops, but he’s not an evil space king.”
Krolia let out a startled laugh, eyes swimming with sadness. “You are right, my little space explorer. Let’s get your bath water drawn up.”
“Ugh, no! Momma, I hate bath time!”
It took a while, but one by one, the blades —Kolivan excluded— warmed up to Keith.
Vanix warmed up relatively fast to him, being the one who took care of him most days in what the rest of the blades nicknamed “the nursery.” Krolia did not find that funny.
“Kit, what are you drawing?”
“Vanie and Keith,” the boy mumbled, tongue sticking out sideways in his mouth, red crayon gripped tightly in his hand. “ ‘S done!”
Keith sat up quickly, proudly holding up the drawing in Vanix’s face. “Look! That’s you, and that’s me! We’re floating ‘cause we're space explorers.”
Vanix smiled widely, lightly tracing the painting with her index finger. “It looks wonderful, kit. Am I the one in blue?”
“Yeah, ‘cause your hair is blue!”
“And why are you red?”
“Um, ‘cause red was pop’s favorite color and it’s my favorite too,” Keith said, shyly looking down at his lip. “I wanna be just like him one day.”
Vanix smiled softly and reached a hand out to ruffle Keith’s hair. “Well, if he was a great artist, then you’re already like him. I love the drawing, Keith. It’s the best drawing anyone has ever made of me.”
“You can keep it.”
“Really?”
“Yeah!”
“Thank you, Keith.”
(Later, when Regris entered her room to drop off a book he had borrowed, he caught sight of the drawing pinned on the wall. It was the only thing on the wall.
“What is that monstrosity?”
“The kit made it for me! What was I supposed to do, throw it out?”
“Um, yeah. You look like a rectangle.”
“It’s the thought that counts, Regris. The kit made it for me and I am not going to throw it out!”
“It’s your funeral. Have fun with the nightmares that’ll come from it– alright, alright! Geez! Don’t throw your blade at me!”)
Antok was next, and it all happened when Vanix brought Keith into the training room with his animal crackers and juice pouch. She left him in the corner of the room, telling him that if he stayed quiet and didn’t tell Krolia, she would bring him back. Keith was very pleased with those words.
“Why did you bring the kit?”
“He complained about being stuck in the lounge every day. Says he wants to see me train.”
“You did explain to him that training means physically fighting and not training a cat to roll over, right?”
Keith let out an irritated huff at that. He had only asked Kolivan one time if he trained a cat or dog, and that was all it seemed everyone could talk about. Even his mother couldn’t stop bringing it up when Keith asked to watch her train.
“He knows, and he wants to watch me win. How could I say no to that?”
“You mean he wants to watch me win, right? You’ll never beat me.”
“Want to wager?”
“Fight!” Keith shouted, pumping his fist in the air.
Antok looked at him expectantly before letting his face cover back up, Vanix doing the same thing. Both assumed fighting positions, and Keith wiggled in his spot, his anticipation at an all time high.
Vanix threw the first punch, fist drawn, and Antok evaded it easily. Keith watched with awe as they moved effortlessly around one another, Vanix going for the offense while Antok went on the defense. They fought for what seemed like forever, and Keith watched it all happen with an open mouthed smile, slowly popping animal crackers into his mouth.
“Go, Vanie! Go, Tok!”
In the end, Vanix won, pinning Antok to the ground on his stomach, his hands pinned behind his back by her own. “What happened to all that confidence, Antok?”
“Be quiet, Vanix.”
Vanix hopped off his back before grinning over at Keith. “See, kit? That’s how you win!”
Keith clapped for her, eyes sparkling. His gaze then fell down to Antok, who was kneeling down on the ground massaging his left hand, his lips curled into a grimace. Feeling bad that Antok had lost, Keith stood up, and with Mr. Wiggles in one hand and an animal cracker in the other, he walked over to Antok.
Antok looked up at him when he approached, brow raised. “What is it, kit?”
“Eat.” Keith presented the animal cracked in his face, blinking owlishly. “Momma says that to win you gotta be strong, so you gotta eat a lot. I want you to win, Tok! Here. Eat!”
Antok stared at him bewilderedly before taking the animal cracker and popping it into his mouth. After chewing and swallowing it, he flashed Keith a warm smile. “Thank you for the sustenance, Keith.”
Keith shrugged. “ ‘s gotta be better than food goo! And you’re welcome, Tok!”
(“Antok, get off the floor. Krolia is going to come in here in a while to train with Kolivan and you know she won’t hesitate to physically throw you out.”
“He called me Tok, Vanix. He called me Tok and he gave me a snack so I could do better!”
“Oh, but when I cry over the kit, everyone says it’s simply because I’m a female.”
“ Tok! ” )
Regis and Yaxel were next.
They were stuck on babysitting duty while Antok and Vanix went out together to a planet for a week-long mission to infiltrate the Galra troops present and send them on their way. As the youngest, they were still in training, so they brought Keith down to the training deck with them despite Krolia’s loud warning not to, “or else.”
“What are we going to possibly teach him here?”
“I wanna learn how to fight!” Keith said, jumping up and down in his spot. “I wanna beat up bad guys!”
“These ‘bad guys’ are different from your cartoons,” Regris said with a glance over his shoulder at Keith, a lopsided smile on his face. “Stay in your spot, kit. Let us train.”
Keith huffed but nonetheless sat down on the ground, foot tapping against the floor impatiently. He watched Yaxel and Regris fight with their blades, chin resting in his palm. His impatience then turned into him standing up. With his eyes in Regris, he mimicked how he stood, and with a grunt he threw a punch at the air with his fist. When he didn’t fall, his face lit up and he threw another punch, moving his feet like Regris did.
“You have an imitator,” Yaxel whispered to Regris.
Regris paused, watching as Keith experimentally moved his feet before throwing another punch. When Keith turned to look at him with a smile that could rival the sun in brightness and said, “Look, Ris! I’m just like you!” he felt his heart turn into pure goo while Yaxel tsked.
“Poor form.”
“Yax!” Keith shouted, hopping in place, “I can jump like you, too!” He practically beamed at the man, and Yaxel felt his own heart turn into mush.
“That’s…that’s wonderful, kit.”
“I’m gonna be just like you two!”
(“Yaxel, please stop. You’re turning the goo into soup.”
“He wants to be like me when he’s older,” Yaxe whimpered, tears falling rapidly. Regris nodded, his own tears falling. “He thinks we’re amazing!”
Both young men cried, clutching into each other, and Vanix shook her head as she popped a spoonful of goo into her mouth.
“His opinion will change.”
“Be quiet, Vanix!”)
Months passed. Keith watched many blades come and go, some staying for a while to recuperate while others only appeared for an hour and left in the same one. Each one, however, eventually met Keith, and their reactions never failed to make him snicker with laughter.
Some stared at him like he was an alien —which, to be fair, he was— others stared at him curiously, and others with disdain. That, however, was soon soothed over when Keith invited them to play with his blocks or gave them a sticker for “good luck.” It turned out that the scary aliens really, really liked stickers.
(Unbeknownst to Keith, most blades began to recognize one another through those stickers that they kept hidden on their pouches. His name was known all the way in the Galra Headquarters, though only by the blade members which had infiltrated it successfully. He was actually a rather popular topic of gossip amongst the blades who had seen too much monotony.)
Most of the blades warmed up to Keith in the first six months he was in space. The young kit, however, soon realized that Kolivan himself had not warmed up to him at all.
“Why are you moping, sweetheart?”
“Kolivan doesn’t like me,” Keith mumbled as he walked hand in hand with Krolia down to the kitchen, lips pouted.
“Why do you think that?”
“ ‘Cause he doesn’t play with me and he doesn’t even talk to me!” Keith said, exasperatedly throwing up his free hand. “He doesn’t even keep the stickers I give him. Momma, he hates me!”
Keith honestly believed this was true; he had tried everything to try and get Kolivan to like him. He had made him a bowl of cereal —to which Kolivan said, “I don’t eat cereal, kit.”— and he made him a bracelet that he never wore, and he made him a drawing of him in purple which he never put up on the kitchen fridge, unlike his mother who threatened anyone who dared try to take it down.
“I’m sure he doesn’t, sweetheart. Kolivan…” His mother sighed. “Kolivan just needs some time to adjust to new things. That’s just the way it’s always been.”
“But I’m not a new thing! I’m five!”
Krolia hummed, lips quirking up into a small smile as she came to a stop in front of the kitchen doors. “Give it time, sweetheart. Now, come on. It’s dinner time.”
“Sandwich?”
“Yes, sandwiches again.”
Keith bit back a groan as his mother pushed the doors open, forcing a tight smile on his face. He loved the space sandwiches his mother made but after six months straight of nothing but sandwiches and the occasional soup, he was starting to miss the earth pasta his dad used to make.
Keith frowned as they entered the dark room.
“Why are the lights off?”
“SURPRISE!”
Keith let out a scream as the lights flickered on, revealing a group of thirty blades in their suits, smiling with their arms folded across their chest. A few looked a bit awkward, not knowing what to do, and others —Vanix, Regris, Yaxel and Antok— held gifts in their hands. But perhaps the most important person standing in that room was Kolivan, who stood in the middle of the blades, a cake with six candles held in his hands.
“We don’t usually celebrate birthdays,” Kolivan said when Keith tilted his head to stare at him. He cleared his throat, eyes lowered a bit. “But today, we will make an exception for you, kit.”
“Happy birthday, sweetheart,” Krolia said with a kiss to Keith’s cheek.
“Did…did you do this?”
“It was Kolivan’s idea,” Vanix said, smirking as she glanced sideways at the blade leader. “He was the one who sent us out to buy you a few gifts and gathered every available blade here.”
“Vanix.”
“Sorry, sorry,” the young woman said with a chuckle, shooting the blade leader an apologetic look. She then turned to wink at Keith, making him grin.
Keith then turned his attention to Kolivan, smile slipping into a small sideways pout as he tilted his head to the side. His indigo eyes sized the man up, starting from the top of his braid to the claws on his feet, then returning to his eyes which finally met his own without any ounce of weirdness that had plagued them for the past six months. He looked…happy, if Keith had to put a label on it; fond, even.
“What do you say, Keith?”
Keith glanced at his mother before glancing back at Kolivan. All the blades around him waited with baited breath as he walked up to Kolivan, lips pressed firmly together and brows scrunched up.
Kolivan raised a brow when Keith came to a stop in front of him.
“What flavor is the cake?”
“Vanilla. The cake mix came from the earth store.”
Keith furrowed his brows, eyeing the cake with messy red frosting and those six candles burning bright. He then met Kolivan’s gaze, the older man staring at him expectantly.
Huffing, Keith folded his arms across his chest before looking up warily at Kolivan. “It’s not my favorite, but this will suffice.”
“Where did he learn the word ‘suffice?’” Keith heard a blade member whisper to Yaxel, who whispered, “his mother is Krolia, where else do you think he learned it from?”
Kolivan’s shoulder relaxed and he nodded, the barest hint of a smile on his face. “That’s good enough for me.”
The affair was relatively short; nothing was ever discussed longer than five minutes at the Blade Headquarters, so Keith was pleasantly surprised when his small party lasted an hour before the blades began to filter out, citing the need to return to their missions. Kolivan was the last one out, placing a box in Krolia’s hands before telling her something in a low tone that made the barest hint of a smile appear on her face.
Keith didn’t like the way Kolivan made his mom smile. Only his dad was the one allowed to make her smile.
“What’s that?” Keith asked, suspiciously eyeing the box. “A present?”
“Yes, it’s a present.”
Keith had already received many presents; he had a new toothbrush, a soccer ball, new beads and thread for his bracelet kit, stickers, a pack of two-hundred crayons, and a whoopee cushion which Regris had given to him, saying, “I have no idea what it does, but I assume it’s for you to sleep on if it says cushion.”
(Keith, on the other hand, knew exactly what a whoopee cushion was —courtesy of his classmate James in pre-school who got in trouble for bringing one into class one day— and knew exactly who his first target would be.)
“Lemme see!” Keith demanded, prying the box out of Krolia’s hands. Setting it on the dining room table, he pushed aside the cake platter. Without a second to waste, he picked the lid off the box, and with a gasp, lifted a piece of clothing out of it.
He was about to complain about the super lame present when he recognized the design. It was exactly like the training suits that the rest of the blades wore, except it had something to cover his feet with soft padding on it, like a onesie. Correction; it was a onesie, complete with a hood and everything.
Keith took everything back; this was actually the coolest present he had ever received. (The whoopee cushion was a close second, though.)
“This is so cool!” Keith gushed, holding it against his chest while he beamed up at his mother. “I’m gonna wear it every night! Do I get a sword, too?
“Not if I have anything to say about it,” Krolia quickly replied with an amused brow raise. “Kolivan had this custom made for you as a pajama.”
“Kolivan? Really?”
“Uh-huh,” Krolia nodded, lips twitching with amusement. “I guess he isn’t so bad now, huh?”
Keith wrinkled his nose. “ I guess, ” he said, sighing dramatically. “He’s not bad, momma, but he’s not super cool either.”
“Why not?”
“ ‘Cause he keeps trying to make you laugh!” Keith spluttered indignantly while his mother laughed. “I’ve got my eye on him!”
“I don’t doubt it,” Krolia said, still giggling as she ruffled his hair. “Happy sixth birthday, sweetheart.”
“Happy sixth birthday to me and Mr. Wiggles!” Keith said, laughing.
(He silently hoped the next one would be back on earth, but with the custom blade suit in his hand and money from the other blades in his mother’s hand, he wouldn’t complain too much if his next birthday ended up being in space too.)