Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Are you certain we should be doing this?”

“I hardly think they’re going to ground us for being curious about stories. It’s this way, right?”

“Yes, but Your Highness—”

“Come on, Princess! If we’re fast, they won’t even know we were here.”

Princess Allura let out a fretful sigh as she followed after her best friend, Prince Lotor. She truly did not think they were supposed to be doing this, especially so late at night! Their fathers told them to go to bed and even saw them to their quarters themselves, but nothing would keep Lotor from finding out just what it was they were doing.

And Allura had gone along with it because she was as curious as Lotor, but only so daring alongside him.

Thankfully, the royal library of Altea was never locked at night so the two were easily able to sneak inside.

“I know I read that name somewhere…” Lotor muttered as he began scouring through the shelves.

“Are you certain you’re not simply imagining it? There’s a lot of books here,” Allura reminded him, hoping he’d listen to her. He was far too adventurous tonight for her liking and the last thing she wanted was for her father to find them.

“Princess, where’s your sense of adventure?” Lotor smiled at her as he pulled out a book at last.

“Back in my bed,” Allura huffed, crossing her arms. She was unable to help herself, however, and drifted closer to see the book Lotor had pulled out. “Altean myths? How would this help?”

“I don’t know yet, but I swear I saw that name in…here!” Lotor grinned as he found what he was looking for. He pointed to the page and began to read aloud. “’Voltron was a legendary robot, undefeated by all who challenged it in the universe. But then there came the day it challenged the goddess of space, seeking to overthrow her and proclaim itself the strongest in the universe. But the goddess was not so easily beaten and instead she sought to humble the robot, breaking it into five lions. The lions fell to Altea, where they slept until their destined paladins arrived in the time of Altea’s greatest need.’”

“And what are you two doing awake?”

“Father!” Allura gasped, whirling around to see her father, King Alfor, and Lotor’s father, King Zarkon, standing in the library doors, staring down at the two. She had been so lost in the story that she hadn’t even heard the two come in.

But it had been so enthralling, as if she knew this story by heart and could almost picture it right before her eyes. Almost as if the mighty Blue Lion had been staring directly into her eyes.

“It appears we have some troublemakers on our hands, Alfor,” Zarkon commented, his tone joking as he gathered Lotor up and held him close. “What am I going to do with you, hmm?”

“We just wanted to know what you were working on,” Lotor argued, pouting. “I remembered hearing Voltron before, but the princess didn’t believe me.”

“I didn’t say that!” Allura cried, glaring at her friend. “I simply said we shouldn’t go now!”

“And you had no curiosity whatsoever?” Alfor questioned as he picked Allura up. He raised an eyebrow at her and Allura felt her cheeks burn in shame. “Come now, let’s get you two off to bed. Perhaps a bed time story will keep you from slipping out of your beds again.”

“Shall we share the story of Voltron with them if they’re so curious?” Zarkon proposed. Allura would deny it for the rest of her life, but she did perk up at the idea just the same as Lotor did.

“I suppose we have no choice now,” Alfor sighed fondly. He pulled Allura close and kissed her forehead. “I pray your mother doesn’t hate me for this.”

Allura giggled quietly, wrapping her arms around her father’s neck.

She fell asleep that night dreaming of five mighty lions, a familiar cockpit and the warmth of someone’s hand holding hers.

The worst day of Keith’s life had been the day his father died. But the second?

That was the day when Shiro was declared MIA.

“There’s no way he’s dead!” Keith insisted as he paced around his dorm at the garrison. Thankfully, his room was empty save for him and Adam so there was nobody to give him pitying looks.

“Keith…” Adam whispered, his voice hoarse from hours of sobbing.

“You’re giving up on him, just like that?!” Keith cried, whirling around to face Adam, his fists clenched at his side. “You’re supposed to be his boyfriend, aren’t you?! How can you give up on someone you love so easily?!”

“I’m not, but…it was a dangerous mission, Keith,” Adam explained. He was probably the hundredth person to explain this to him, as if Keith were a child who didn’t understand. “I begged Takashi to say no, but he wouldn’t listen. And you know him just like I do. If anything went wrong, he’d…he’d make sure the Holts came back…”

Adam choked on a sob and if Keith were anyone else, he’d hug the older man tightly and share in his grief.

But Keith wasn’t someone else and he had never grieved like that.

Instead, he punched the wall as hard as he could.

“Dammit!” he cursed, uncaring for the throbbing pain in his hand. “I don’t give a fuck what any of the higher ups say, there’s no way in hell Shiro’s dead! I won’t believe it until I see his body myself!”

The garrison hadn’t officially declared Shiro dead yet, but Keith heard the whispers. Kerberos was so far from Earth, there was no way they’d be able to get another ship out there fast enough to find them, let alone any evidence of what happened. Instead, they’d simply wait out the required time and then declare all three members of the mission legally dead unless they managed to reestablish contact.

“Keith, you know Takashi wouldn’t want this for you,” Adam stated. He stood up from Keith’s bed, walking over to wrap Keith in a hug which went unreturned. Keith was too stiff with anger to even consider it, even as the arms wrapped around him and the ring pressed cool against his skin grounded him. It was hard to remember that he wasn’t the only one who lost someone he loved today and Adam had it worse than Keith by a long shot.

They were going to be married in a month, after all. Now Adam was a widower before he’d even gotten the chance to say, ‘I do’.

“Please, don’t let hold you back,” Adam pleaded, tightening his hold on Keith. “I know it’s gonna be hard, but we’ll get through this and…and make Takashi proud.”

“I just…I can’t,” Keith denied, gently pushing Adam away. The anger, the grief, was still boiling under his skin, but he didn’t want Adam to think it was directed at him. He was too important to Shiro for Keith to ever consider that. “He’s out there, Adam, I know he is. I just…don’t know how to find him.”

“We may not know for a long time,” Adam sniffed, his face blotchy from his tears.

Keith was an asshole who didn’t like people touching him, but not even he was that much of a dick to ignore Adam in the state he was. He wrapped his arms around Adam for the briefest of moments, hoping the touch would bring some comfort to the older man, before silence fell between them, each stewing in their own grief.

That same night was when Keith first heard someone calling him out in the desert and blue eyes, unlike any he’d seen before, filled his dreams.

He flunked out of the garrison a month later, returning to his childhood home, determined to figure out what happened to Shiro and just what exactly was calling him.

She stirred for the first time in thousands of years.

At first, she didn’t know what exactly woke her…all she knew was that she was awake.

It took a little time, but her memory was well known amongst the universe and it cleared before long. That was right, she was on Earth, where she had been resting, waiting, for the past ten thousand years.

She had wanted to stay with her paladin at first, but that had been denied before long. Her leader had insisted he would keep her paladin safe while entrusting her to find the remaining four. After all, their paladins had been so closely tied since time immemorial that she was as likely to sense his paladin as he was to sense hers.

And so she had come here, resting and waiting for the paladins to awaken, to find her. But perhaps they needed a bit of guidance as well.

And when her leader’s paladin was within her range, she began to call for him, for the other half of her paladin’s soul.

Keith couldn’t remember when he had first started having the dreams. It felt like he’d been having them his whole life, honestly. Sometimes they were nothing more than a vague wisp, just out of reach of his understanding, while other times they were as bright as the sun in their clarity.

None of the dreams stayed once he woke up thought. All he ever remembered was a pair of blue eyes.

After Shiro vanished and Keith’s subsequent flunking out of the garrison, however, the dreams came more frequently and their corners became clearer than they had been.

The owner of the blue eyes had been a princess, though her name was just out of Keith’s reach, but he could clearly remember her tears as she pleaded with him to help her. In the dream, he had knelt on one knee and kissed her hand, promising to serve her.

The dreams were always interrupted, however, by a call that always woke him up. Keith couldn’t explain it, it barely felt like he was hearing words, but he knew what it was all the same.

Come to me…come…

The same words over and over again, the kind that Keith knew Adam’s therapist would get a field day out of psychoanalyzing him for. But Keith never did take Adam up on his offers of going to therapy, even if he did continue spending time with the older man.

He didn’t think he could stand actually hearing someone say he was crazy for thinking Shiro was still alive, never mind the conspiracy board he’d been putting together in his home.

It had started with the voice calling him and when he actually bothered to follow it, Keith had found himself standing in a cave system filled with carvings of lions and writing he couldn’t understand, yet he knew it was important. And then there was the strange energy he felt whenever he passed through the cave system. He couldn’t find anything, but both the call and the energy told him something was there.

He just couldn’t find it.

Keith wasn’t going to give up though, even more so when he started picking up repeating patterns in both the carvings and in the garrison frequencies he…borrowed before he left. Keith wasn’t a superstitious person by nature, but things were getting freaky the more he looked into everything.

The lion carvings he couldn’t read had a map that looked similar to the desert near the garrison. The frequencies got even more varied and nonsensical until he found the pattern that made…not sense but seemed familiar. And completely on a whim, he set up some long distance explosives near some mountains by the garrison.

The last one would really make him sound crazy if he tried to tell anyone about it. After all, who wouldn’t think ‘the voice I hear in my head is telling me he is coming back and I need to prepare a distraction’ sounds insane? Keith barely believed it himself, but he followed his instincts anyway.

And then, on the night every cell in his body was practically screaming at him that it was time, an alien ship crashed onto Earth.

Right near where Keith had set up his explosives.

And, well, after that, how was he supposed to just let it all go?

Instead, he donned a mask, grabbed his mother’s knife and jumped on his hover bike. It was about damn time he got answers.

Everything went off without a hitch, at first. The explosives went off as planned, Keith managed to sneak into the camp and even took out the hazmat guys who stayed behind.

All that remained was whoever they were examining. Keith ran to the table and turned the man’s head, getting a good look at his face before freezing.

“Shiro?” he whispered, unable to help himself. His friend who’d been missing and presumed dead for a year was suddenly right in front of him, in the exact location that he had marked out after studying lion carvings and a frequency he still didn’t understand in that time. Keith didn’t believe in things like fate, but this was pretty freaky even for him.

But he didn’t have time to have a meltdown right now. So instead, he took out his mom’s knife and cut all the restraints holding Shiro to the table, lifting him up with an arm around his shoulders.

“Nope. No, you—No, no, no. No, you don’t, I’m saving Shiro,” a familiar young man argued as he entered the camp. He pushed the table Shiro had been on to the side before taking his other arm around his own shoulders. And while it lessened how much Keith was shouldering by himself, cause god was Shiro heavy, that didn’t mean he trusted just anyone with his friend, let alone this guy and the two strangers just…watching them.

“Who are you?” Keith asked, genuinely confused.

“Who am I? Uh, the name’s Lance,” the guy, Lance, scoffed. He blinked, as if waiting for Keith to recognize him, to no avail. “We were in the same class at the garrison.”

“Really? Are you an engineer?” Keith asked. This guy was familiar but Keith had no concrete memories of him whatsoever. He wasn’t even trying to be rude this time!

“No, I’m a pilot! We were, like, rivals. You know, Lance and Keith, neck and neck,” Lance corrected, seemingly disappointed Keith didn’t recognize him at all.

“Oh, wait. I remember you. You’re a cargo pilot,” Keith realized, the pieces finally clicking together in his brain.

“Well, not anymore. I’m fighter class now, thanks to you washing out,” Lance spat, glaring at Keith. Geez, what did Keith ever do to him?

“Well, congratulations,” he deadpanned as he and Lance finally moved to get Shiro out of the camp.

“Uh, do you mind if we catch a ride with you?” the big man asked as Keith and Lance moved to get Shiro on the hover bike. The pipsqueak helped out too, grabbing onto Shiro’s arm for Keith as he took the driver’s seat. Of course, then they all climbed on top and the hover bike tipped to the side.

“Is this thing going to be big enough for all of us?” the pipsqueak yelled, his voice high.

“No,” Keith stated, feeling annoyed now. God, if he got caught because these three idiots decided to tag along, he was going to scream. And maybe kill someone, probably the three idiots, but scream for sure.

But he really didn’t have time for this now since the garrison officers were almost on them, so instead he revved the hover bike and took off.

“Why am I holding this guy?” Pipsqueak cried out, almost indignant.

“Hey, we did all fit,” Big man declared, sounding as if he was smiling.

“Can’t this thing go any faster?” Lance asked. If Keith weren’t so stressed right now, with the garrison literally on his ass, he probably wouldn’t be as snappy as he was.

“We could toss out some nonessential weight,” he snarked, because he was stressed right now, thank you very much.

“Oh right!” Lance agreed. It took him a few seconds, but he seemed to catch on to Keith’s snark. “Okay, so that was an insult. I get it.”

“Big man, lean left!” Keith ordered. Thankfully, big man understood things better than Lance and followed instantly. The garrison vehicles tried to follow them only for some of them to crash, unable to make the sharp turn Keith’s hover bike made.

“Aw, man! Mr. Harris just wiped out Professor Montgomery!” Big man cried before he seemingly got another look. “No, no. He’s fine.”

“Big man, lean right!” Keith ordered again. This time, they went over a ravine, landing safely on the other side, though Keith couldn’t say the same for one of the vehicles on their tail.

Good…they were almost there.

“Guys? I-Is that a cliff up ahead?” Big man stuttered, his voice panicked.

“Oh, no, no, no!” Lance shouted as the others also saw the cliff they were racing towards.

“Yup,” Keith smirked, revving the handlebars again. Lance, pipsqueak and big man were all screaming, but Keith didn’t even hesitate as they flew off the cliff edge.

“What are you doing? You’re going to kill us all!” Lance screamed, his voice reaching an even higher pitch than pipsqueak’s had.

“Shut up and trust me!” Keith yelled. He’d never done this with so many people on board before, but if he timed it just right…

Now!

He revved the handlebars once more and pressed on the foot rests, causing the hover bike’s wheels to turn and catch just enough air that they didn’t crash and were able to continue on flawlessly into the desert. There was stunned silence from Keith’s three unexpected passengers, but he grinned at them all the same, high on the thrill of escape and getting Shiro back.

When Shiro had closed his eyes against his will, drawn by the pull of the medicine coursing through his body, he’d been terrified that he’d never open his eyes again. It seemed so stupid now, considering it was the garrison who’d found him, but that’s what happened when the mind was panicking. Anything and everything put the body in fight or flight mode and, unfortunately for the garrison, Shiro had always favored fight.

But now he didn’t have to worry about that, standing on the sand dune which counted as Keith’s backyard and breathing in the desert air, trying to reorient himself.

First the important parts: he was alive, he was on Earth, and he had a metal arm. Outside of that, all he had were the few pieces of information that had been seared into his panic stricken brain, everything else simply a haze that he couldn’t reach through no matter how much he tried.

The one thing he kept coming back to was Voltron and the aliens who were after it, the aliens who’d held him captive for a year.

His entire train of thought was broken, however, when he heard footsteps approaching him. Shiro turned around, expecting to see Keith, but instead he got the shock of his life.

“Takashi…” Adam whispered a second before he threw himself into Shiro’s arms. Instantly, Shiro hugged him back, even as his brain struggled to understand that it truly was Adam, his Adam, he was holding in his arms. “Takashi…you’re…you’re alive!”

“I’m here, I’m right here,” Shiro whispered. He could feel tears forming in his eyes, but they didn’t start falling until Adam let out a ragged sob and clutched onto him tighter, as if he would vanish if he had even an inch of space. Shiro couldn’t blame him, it felt the same to him.

He never thought he’d see Adam again, much less be allowed to hold him in this way.

“I’m sorry, I never should have left you like that,” Shiro whispered, his voice catching on the words. He couldn’t apologize for accepting the mission, no matter what happened, he knew it was the right thing to do.

But he had always regretted how he and Adam had ended things, with screaming words neither of them met and so much pain that made the entire year they spent apart even worse.

“I should’ve gone with you…dammit, I never should’ve let you go alone, you and Keith are useless without me!” Adam sobbed. His voice was muffled against Shiro’s shoulder, but he could feel the vibrations of his words and his heart ached all the more for it. This was real, Adam was here, in his arms. This was real.

“I doubt Keith would appreciate hearing that,” Shiro laughed, unable to help himself. That earned him a punch to his good shoulder.

“Shut up, you just came back from the dead, I’m allowed to be angry and call shit how I see it and that includes calling Keith our trouble making child no matter how much you two fuck heads deny it,” Adam grumbled, tightening his grip on Shiro’s waist.

Shiro could do nothing but laugh, burying his face in Adam’s neck, breathing in his crisp, pine scented skin. God above, he missed him.

They stood there for a bit longer before Adam slowly pulled away. He didn’t go far though, instead gently holding Shiro’s mechanical right arm between them. His eyes were so sad that Shiro wanted to punch himself for putting that look on his face.

“Takashi…” Adam whispered.

“You know,” Shiro cut him off gently, raising his left arm and cupping Adam’s cheek in his hand. His skin was warm under Shiro’s touch. “when I lost it, I think I remember the one thing I had back then: thank god it wasn’t my left one.”

Adam froze as he processed the words and Shiro could do nothing except smile helplessly. Slowly, as if Shiro would break if he moved too fast, Adam took off the glove on Shiro’s left hand. And right there, glimmering in the desert sunlight, was the gold engagement ring Adam had bought specifically when he proposed. Shiro hadn’t taken it off ever since.

“Takashi…” Adam trailed off, tears falling from his eyes once more as he had seemingly no idea what to say.

“I love you,” Shiro whispered. They were the truest words he’d ever spoken and he could feel his heart in his throat as he said them. “I will always love you, no matter what.”

Adam let out a choked noise, letting go of Shiro’s mechanical arm only to pull the chain he wore under his civilian clothes out, revealing the diamond engagement ring he wore there. It had been Shiro’s grandmother’s, a family heirloom passed down for generations, and even though he had offered to buy Adam a new ring to wear, one that actually fit, he had insisted on wearing it on a chain around his neck.

“It’s your family’s tradition. I’m gonna be your family someday so I want to honor that.”

Shiro wanted to break down right then and there, scream to the heavens that he was in love with this man, and kiss him until neither of them could think of anything but each other.

In the end, he did none of those things.

Instead, Adam gently cupped his cheeks and pulled him in to a soft kiss, not doing anything except gently kiss him, as if to reaffirm to both of them that this was real. They were here, together, and made it out alive.

The kiss ended far too soon for Shiro’s liking, but he’d never force Adam to continue as he pulled away.

“Keith, lovely child of ours, get over here already,” Adam called out. If Shiro wasn’t still dazed by kissing Adam again for the first time in far, far too long, he would have laughed at the grumpy look on Keith’s face as he approached the two of them. He looked so much like Adam in that moment that Shiro had to resist the urge to tease him.

“Not your kid,” he grumbled, to which Adam simply rolled his eyes. Ignoring him, Keith came closer and hesitated for a second before he hugged Shiro tightly. “It’s good to have you back.”

“It’s good to be back,” Shiro smiled into Keith’s shoulder, hugging him just as tightly.

The three of them were silent for a few moment, basking in the reunion none of them thought would happen, before Keith pulled away and met Shiro’s gaze, his own serious.

“So, what happened out there? Where were you?” he asked.

“I wish I could tell you. My head’s still pretty scrambled,” Shiro admitted. He leaned into Adam’s side while keeping on hand on Keith’s elbow, anchoring himself to the two of them. “I was on an alien ship, but somehow I escaped. It’s all a blur.”

“That’ll be your brain protecting your from the trauma and PTSD,” Adam sighed, running a gentle hand through Shiro’s hair. “Don’t worry, we’ll be here to help you get through it.”

“Thanks,” Shiro smiled slightly before he turned serious, his eyes focusing on Keith. “By the way, how did you know to come save me when I crashed?”

“You should come see this,” Keith admitted, gesturing back to his home.

Shiro could feel a churning in his gut, telling him that something was obviously wrong, but he didn’t let it show. Instead, he followed his ‘son’ back inside, prepared for whatever he was about to learn.

He hoped.

Keith took a deep breath before he pulled the fabric covering his conspiracy board down, showing the various clues he’d gathered in the last year which all led to the previous night.

“Keith…” Adam whispered, his eyes wide in shock. Keith could barely look at the older man, knowing full well the worry and disappointment he’d find there.

“What have you been working on?” Shiro asked, sounding just as shocked at Adam did. The two of them…even a year apart couldn’t wreck their ability to be perfectly in sync. Keith almost hated them for it, almost because right now he was too damn happy to have Shiro back.

“I can’t explain it, really.” Keith shrugged. “After getting booted from the garrison, I was kind of lost and found myself drawn out to this place. It’s like something…some energy, was telling me to search.”

“I’m sorry,” Adam apologized. He stepped closer to Keith, placing a protective arm around his shoulders. “I understand why you kept this from me and I’m sorry that I wasn’t there.”

“Not your fault,” Keith denied firmly, glaring up at Adam. “You were grieving your fiancé, I’m just the punk kid the two of you took under your wing.” Adam glared down at him for that, but this time it was Shiro who scolded him.

“How many times do we have to tell you you’re not some punk kid,” he sighed, rubbing at his eyes. “We’ll talk about this later, what was this energy telling you to search for?”

“Well, I didn’t really know at the time…until I stumbled across this area,” Keith explained, pointing at the map where he had circled the source of the energy he felt. “It’s an outcropping of giant boulders with caves covered in these ancient markings. Each tells a slightly different story about a blue lion, but they all share clues leading to some event, some arrival happening last night. Then you showed up.”

“Speaking of,” Adam cut in, “I’ve only been aware that Takashi is alive for an hour, so could someone explain to me what happened last night?”

“Sorry,” Keith apologized, looking down at the floor. “Figured it’d be easier to just say Shiro was back then get into the gritty details.”

“You mean how you set off explosives, snuck into a garrison camp, took out three trained officers, snuck Shiro out and got all of us out on a single hoverbike which you flew over a ravine and off a cliff?” Pipsqueak drawled sarcastically, earning a glare from Keith as Adam stared on in shock.

“What did I say about pulling stupid stunts?!” Adam scolded, his hands on his hips as he glared at Keith. Keith opened his mouth to argue, but Adam’s sharp look caused any and all words to dry in his mouth. “God, what the hell am I going to do with the two of you? You’re gonna give me gray hair before I turn forty!”

“I mean, you’d match,” Keith pointed out, which only earned him another glare and he winced. Adam was the type of person who got angry when he worried about people, especially those he cared about, which was also why Keith hadn’t told him all the details right away.

“I should thank you all for getting me out. Lance, right?” Shiro asked, turning to the three idiots who’d joined Keith’s rescue mission the night before, neatly changing the subject as he held out his right arm. Keith could only watch as Lance hesitated for a moment before he took Shiro’s hand in a strong but steady grip.

The glare Adam sent Keith’s way promised they weren’t done yet, but thankfully he remained quiet.

“The nervous guy’s Hunk. I’m Pidge,” Pipsqu—Pidge smiled, patting Hunk on the back as he introduced the two of them. He, like Lance, shook Shiro’s hand. “So, did anyone else from your crew make it out?”

“I’m not sure. I remember the mission and being captured. After that, it’s just bits and pieces,” Shiro admitted, his eyes remorseful.

“Yeah, sorry to interrupt, but back to the aliens. Where are they now?” Hunk cut in, his voice pitched with barely concealed panic. “Are they coming? Are they coming for us? Where are they at this very moment?”

“I can’t really put it together. I remember the word ‘Voltron’. It’s some kind of weapon they’re looking for, but I don’t know why,” Shiro explained. Keith watched him, feeling his own heart clench in his chest.

Voltron…something about that name struck Keith’s heart. It was important, but he couldn’t explain why.

“Whatever it is, I think we need to find it before they do,” Shiro added, bringing Keith back to reality.

“What?” Adam deadpanned, staring at Shiro with wide, disbelieving eyes. “You just got back from being held captive by aliens for a year and your first thought is ‘we should go find what they want before they do’?”

“Adam—”

“No, don’t ‘Adam’ me!” Adam snapped, glaring at Shiro now. “Can’t you think about yourself for just one minute? Just one!” He marched forward, grabbing onto both of Shiro’s arms and shaking him slightly. “This mindset, this goodness of yours, it’s exactly the reason I lost you for a year, that Keith lost you for a year! And now you’re planning to go after what those aliens want? Takashi, you’re putting yourself directly in their sight and you may not be so lucky next time to get out! And you’re still willing to risk that?”

“Somebody has to do it,” Shiro explained, his voice pained as tears began to fall from Adam’s eyes. Keith looked away, knowing this wasn’t something he was meant to see.

“But why does it have to be you?!”

“Because nobody else knows and anyone I tell wouldn’t believe me. Adam, please, we can’t let innocent people die, not when we can prevent it,” Shiro pleaded. Adam let out a sniff and Keith squeezed his eyes firmly shut.

He was not meant to see this.

After several long, agonizing seconds of silence, Keith heard Adam let out another sniff before he spoke.

“Fine. But this time, I’m coming too,” Adam stated firmly. “You don’t get to leave Keith and I behind, not again. At least if we’re there, we can make sure you stay alive.”

“Of course. I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Shiro agreed, using that soft, quiet voice he only ever used for Adam and Keith, the one that made Keith’s heart ache with how much he had missed it.

“Well, last night, I was rummaging through Pidge’s stuff, and I found this picture,” Hunk explained, causing Keith to open his eyes at the bizarre change in subject, catching sight of the picture in question as Hunk removed it from Pidge’s backpack. “Look, it’s his girlfriend.”

“Hey, give me that! What were you doing in my stuff?” Pidge demanded. He snatched the picture and his backpack away, glaring up at Hunk.

“I was looking for a candy bar. But, then, I started reading his diary,” Hunk continued, taking the diary in question out of his pocket.

“What?” Pidge cried, snatching that back as well.

“And I noticed the repeating series of numbers the aliens are searching for looks a lot like a Fraunhofer line,” Hunk finished, paying Pidge no mind.

“Frown who?” Keith asked, confused.

“It’s a number describing the emission spectrum of an element, only this element doesn’t exist on Earth. I thought it might be this Voltron,” Hunk explained. “And I think I can build a machine to look for it, like a Voltron Geiger counter.”

“Hunk, you big, gassy genius!” Lance praised, smiling at his friend proudly.

“It’s pretty fascinating, really. The wavelength looks like this,” Hunk smiled as he took out a chart from his pocket, where he had mapped out the wavelength. Keith’s eyes widened as he stared at it, taking in the familiar shape.

“Give me that!” he demanded. Keith grabbed the chart and held it just below the picture of the cliffs he’d taken, near where he’d found the caves filled with lion carvings. Slowly, he raised it up so that it covered the map and when he compared the two, there really was no denying it.

The wavelength matched the landscape perfectly.

Ahh…he was here again.

Blue felt herself rouse once more, as she done each time Black’s true paladin had come near her. She’d called him to her many times, but he wasn’t the one meant to truly find her so he’d never entered her den.

He wasn’t alone this time though. Blue could feel five others standing alongside him. She could identify them if she focused enough, but she had always been more in tune with the paladins connected to her.

And she recognized one such paladin instantly.

They hadn’t known each other for long, but that familiar aura of her first paladin was a relief to feel once more. If he touched the walls of her den, she’d allow him entrance easily.

But it wasn’t her first paladin who dared touch her den.

It was Red’s, but there was something…familiar about him.

He almost reminded her of her true paladin, as if he was…

…

Blue’s den lit up, accepting Red’s paladin as her own, allowing the six of them to enter the heart of her den. She focused, instantly, on her new paladin, watching his every move.

Yes…that was most certainly Red’s true paladin, but there was something about him that spoke of her own true paladin, some familiarity that made Blue’s heart ache with loss.

The first of the six to touch the force field surrounding Blue was her true paladin’s soulmate and Blue purred at the familiarity of his touch. Though she would not lower her barrier for him, she was still very glad to see him after sensing him for so long.

But then…then her paladin touched her barrier.

And Blue allowed all six of them in.

Lance could admit he expected a lot of things on this little escapade into the desert to find some alien technology that the evil aliens wanted.

What he hadn’t expected was to find a robot blue lion who stared at him, opened its force field when he knocked and showed him a vision of five lions coming together to form a giant robot.

“Uh, did everyone just see that?” Lance asked aloud, stuck somewhere between awe and wondering if he was crazy.

“Voltron is a robot. Voltron is a huge, huge, awesome robot!” Hunk cried.

“And this thing is only one part of it! I wonder where the rest of them are,” Pidge added.

“This is what they’re looking for,” Shiro stated firmly.

“Holy shit,” Adam whispered.

“Incredible,” Keith trailed off.

But then the robot moved, bending down and opening its mouth so they could step inside. For a second, nobody moved, too scared to actually do anything.

Lance was the one to break the stalemate though. Come on, it was a giant robot that could fly! No way was he gonna pass up the chance to pilot that! The other five followed after him, standing behind Lance as the robot came online, allowing them to see the cave from the cockpit.

“All right! Very nice!” Lance grinned, already examining all the controls in front of him. This was so freaking cool, best thing that ever happened to him, ever!

“Okay, guys, I feel the need to point out, just so that we’re all aware,” Hunk stated, killing the mood like he was doing a lot lately. “We’re in some kind of futuristic alien cat head right now.”

Lance had no idea if it was on purpose, but just then, he heard a voice.

“Hello, my paladin.”

“Whoa. Did you guys just hear that?” Lance asked, glancing back at the others.

“Hear what?” Keith questioned. Not that he was allowed to talk, considering he got them out here by claiming he heard something talking to him.

“I think it’s talking to me,” Lance explained, glancing back down at the controls. Controls which were starting to make sense in his head instead of being an unfamiliar imitation of the flight simulator he’d been in only a day ago.

“You know this quite well, my paladin. Follow your instincts, they will not fail you.”

Lance wasn’t sure if he was going crazy or what, but with just the press of a few buttons, he was flying Blue across the desert as Hunk and Pidge screamed in his ears.

“You are the worst pilot ever!” Keith cried out as Lance got his grip on the controls.

“Isn’t this awesome?” Lance grinned, glancing back at Hunk as Blue ran across the sand.

“Make it stop. Make it stop,” Hunk begged, tears in the corner of his eyes and god, if he was gonna throw up again, Lance may just lose it.

“I’m not making it do anything. It’s like it’s on autopilot,” Lance explained. Blue seemed to decide then that they were leaving the ground as it launched into the sky, as if to leave Earth behind.

“Where are you going?” Keith demanded, sounding frayed.

“I just said it’s on autopilot! It says there’s an alien ship approaching Earth,” Lance translated, listening as Blue spoke. “I think we’re supposed to stop it.”

“What did it say, exactly?” Pidge stressed and Lance just knew he was glaring at the side of his head.

“Well, it’s not like it’s saying words. It’s more like feeding ideas into my brain, kind of,” Lance said, unsure of how to explain it. Blue barely said a word outside of the two sentences it said when Lance first started doing stuff. Now it was like it didn’t want to speak at all, almost as if it trust Lance to understand exactly what it meant.

“I’m really not sure how that makes sense,” Adam sighed. “How the hell can an alien lion even talk to you in your brain? You’re not even physically connected to it for that to be possible…”

“I’m not sure if logic applies for aliens, Adam,” Keith sassed.

“If this thing is the weapon they’re coming for, why don’t we just, I don’t know, give it to them? Maybe they’ll leave us alone. Sorry lion, nothing personal,” Hunk suggested, panicked as always. As soon as the words left his lips, Lance felt as if every part of him revolt against the idea, as if doing so was sacrilegious. It didn’t make any sense and yet Lance didn’t feel strange about the thought at all. Actually, his head was starting to hurt from all this thinking…

“You don’t understand,” Shiro argued. “These monsters spread like a plague throughout the galaxy, destroying everything in their path. There’s no bargaining with them. They won’t stop until everything is dead.”

“Oh. Never mind then,” Hunk said in the face of all five men glaring at him for such a stupid ass suggestion in the first place.

Lance turned back to the front only to find that they’d escaped Earth’s atmosphere in the time they were all distracted by glaring at Hunk. He barely had a second to admire the stars when suddenly there it was right in front of them.

An alien space ship.

“Holy crow! Is that really an alien ship?” Hunk demanded. Blue flew past the ship before turning back and staring at it.

“They found me,” Shiro whispered, real fear in his voice. Lance could feel Blue’s reaction to the fear as if it were his own, the urge to destroy what left Shiro so afraid racing through his mind before he tamped it down. No way could he beat this crazy ass ship on his own.

Even more so when the ship started shooting at them!

“We’ve got to get out of here!” Pidge shouted.

“Hang on!” Lance ordered, moving the controls in what he could only describe as what felt right. Since they managed to dodge the lasers firing at them, he felt like he was doing something good at least. “All right. Okay, I think I know what to do.”

“Be careful, man. This isn’t a simulator,” Pidge warned, his nails digging into Lance’s arm.

“Well, that’s good. I always wreck the simulator,” Lance grinned. He’d aimed to help Pidge calm down, but that only made his glare worse. Ah well, he had to focus!

Lance pushed the controls forward, causing Blue to open her mouth and shoot out her own laser, hitting the side of the ship and causing a series of explosions.

“Let’s try this,” Lance grinned. He maneuvered Blue out of the line of fire before throwing her towards the ship, using her nails to dig into the side of the ship. He flew away, the scratches he caused setting off another series of explosions, leaving them home free.

“Nice job, Lance,” Shiro praised and Lance was man enough to admit he preened a little at that. Hey, it’s not everyday your hero praises you.

“Okay, I think it’s time to get these guys away from our planet,” Lance stated, guiding Blue away from Earth. Now that…that was a really cool line. He should remember that when he told this story to girls to impress them.

But of course, a single lion had nothing on a huge alien ship.

“Oh no!” Hunk cried.

“They’re gaining on us,” Pidge warned, frantic.

“It’s weird. They’re not trying to shoot us. They’re just chasing,” Lance noted. None of that lined up with anything he knew about aliens or…really, the military in general. Why were they just chasing them?

“Could it be they want us alive…? Or maybe it’s the lion they’re worried about damaging,” Adam mused thoughtfully.

“Okay, seriously, now we think having aliens follow us is good?” Hunk questioned, as if they were all crazy. “I am not on board with this new direction, guys.”

“Where are we?” Keith asked, changing the subject to something that probably was important, not that Lance would ever tell Keith that.

“Edge of the solar system. There’s Kerberos,” Shiro pointed out, awe and fear mixing in his voice.

“It takes months for our ships to get out this far. We got out here in five seconds,” Pidge cried, incredulous.

Before anything else could be said, a weird circle that looked like magic suddenly appeared directly in front of Blue.

“What is that?” Hunk asked.

“This may seem crazy, but I think the lion wants us to go through there,” Lance explained. Blue was practically itching in his mind, pushing him to keep going because home was on the other side.

“Where does it go?” Pidge asked, his voice somber.

“I don’t know,” Lance admitted, equally serious. “Shiro, you’re the senior officer here. What should we do?”

“Whatever is happening, the lion knows more than we do,” Shiro stated firmly, no hesitation in his voice. “I say trust it, but we’re a team now. We should decide together.”

Silence fell over the cockpit, with no one raising any protests. Lance waited a bit longer until Pidge laid his hand on his shoulder. Glancing his way from the corner of his eye, Lance could only read pure determination in the younger man’s gaze, one that left his own resolve strengthening too.

“All right. Guess we’re all ditching class tomorrow,” Lance declared.

And with that, they flew through the portal.

Flying through the portal was probably the worst experiencing of Keith’s life. It was to the point that he was grateful when they finally left it, only to find himself staring down an unfamiliar planet.

But despite how unfamiliar it was, Keith’s pulse raced under his skin with the same sort of itch that he had felt in the desert as Blue called him.

“Whoa. That was…” Lance trailed off. He never got to finish his sentence because Hunk threw up then.

“So sorry,” he apologized.

“I’m just surprised it took this long,” Pidge drawled sarcastically.

“I don’t recognize any of these constellations,” Shiro admitted, his gaze focused on the space outside the lion. “We must be a long, long way from Earth.”

“That’s both terrifying and a relief,” Adam admitted. “Maybe we’ll have some time before those guys come after us again.”

“The lion seems to want to go to this planet. I think…I think it’s going home,” Lance explained.

Keith’s heart was in his throat, even though he didn’t say a word. He couldn’t explain why but there was…something about this planet, this lion, this whole…situation that left him feeling both more off balanced than he’s ever been in his life and yet like this was an old dance he already knew.

Home…

Why did that word fit this planet so well when Keith stared at it?

The lion started descending through the atmosphere and instinctively, all six of them grabbed on to Lance’s seat.

“Guys, personal space. Hunk, your breath is killing me,” Lance complained.

“Um, is it just me or is anyone else having second thoughts about flying through a mysterious wormhole?” Hunk asked. “Why are we listening to a robotic lion anyway?”

“It got us away from that alien warship, didn’t it?” Lance argued, glaring up at Hunk.

“I don’t know if you noticed, but we’re in an alien warship,” Keith pointed out. Because seriously, why else would this thing exist if not for war?

“Oh, are you scared?” Lance teased.

“With you at the helm? Terrified,” Keith deadpanned.

“All right, knock it off,” Shiro cut in, using his senior officer voice. “No one’s happy to be in this situation, but we’re here now. If we want to get through this, we’ve got to do it together.”

“So, what do we do?” Pidge asked.

“First, we find out where we’re headed,” Shiro answered. “Lance?”

“I don’t know,” Lance admitted, almost sheepishly. “I’m sorry. The lion’s not talking to me anymore. Wait! Wait, wait, wait! Shh! Listen! I think I hear something!”

“I’m hearing it too,” Keith whispered, focusing on it carefully.

“It’s, uh—It’s kind of a—a high-pitched squeal?” Hunk stuttered as he tried to make sense of it.

Of course, that was the moment Keith smelled it and all five of them covered their noses, glaring down at Lance.

“Come on, Lance!”

“But seriously, there’s a castle up ahead,” Lance smirked.

Keith looked up and his heart practically stopped in his chest. Not because the castle was beautiful or awe inspiring, though it was, but because he knew it as if it were his own. For a moment, he remembered his dreams, where he served the woman with blue eyes. The castle looked…it almost looked as if it were taken directly from his dreams and that was all kinds of fucked up.

The castle lit up as Blue approached until she landed safely right in front of the doors.

“Keep your guard up,” Shiro instructed, as if they were entering a battle.

“Something wrong?” Pidge asked.

“My crew was captured by aliens once. I’m not going to let it happen again,” Shiro answered, every line of his body tense. Adam reached out to gently squeeze his shoulder, only to use that same grip to hold Shiro back from leaving.

“Before we leave the safety of the somewhat breathable air, how about we check if we’re about to choke to death as soon as we step outside,” he pointed out, a bit sarcastically. Shiro smiled a bit sheepishly, which caused Adam to roll his eyes before he dragged Keith over to a monitor. “We’re looking for air composition, if you see anything, let me know.”

“Got it.” Keith nodded in understanding before getting to work. It took the two of them a bit, but they managed to get confirmation that wherever they were, it was safe for humans.

“All right. Now we can go,” Adam agreed.

With firm nods of agreement, the six of them left Blue behind and, with a roar from the lion, entered the unknown that was the castle.

The castle itself was incredible in Keith’s opinion, obviously made with a lot of high tech, but it was also so…empty. It didn’t feel right, seeing such a large place that should have been full of people stand so lifelessly.

“Where are we?” Lance asked when the six of them reached wherever it was the castle wanted them to go.

“It’s some kind of control room,” Pidge answered. Keith hummed under his breath as he examined the room when suddenly he heard a click.

Turning towards the sound, his eyes widened when a pod rose from the ground right next to him with an obvious silhouette inside. Another identical pod rose up shortly after, this one next to Lance instead and with a completely different silhouette. Meaning…there were people in there.

“Are these guys…dead?” Hunk asked from where he hid behind the control panel.

Just then, the first pod seemed to dissolve, revealing a young woman who looked to be Keith’s age standing inside.

“Father!” she shouted, stumbling forward only for her legs to give out. Instinctively, Keith lunged forward and grabbed her, preventing her from hitting the floor. After a moment, her hands found his shoulders and she weakly pushed herself up, her blue eyes meeting his.

Instantly, Keith’s heart stopped in his chest.

She looked completely different, but her eyes…her eyes were exactly those he dreamed about on a nightly basis. For the briefest of moments, images of an entire life flashed before Keith’s eyes and he could only watch as he swore himself to a princess, fighting for her and then alongside her until, eventually, he married her.

And through it all, all the struggles and joys, there were her sparkling blue eyes.

“Akira!” the princess within his memory smiled up at him, his birth name falling so beautifully from her lips. Fala…yes, that had been her name. And in the end, she hadn’t been a princess at all.

Instead, her life ended long after Keith had known her as a princess and she had died as Queen Fala Kogane…his wife.

It was so overwhelming that for a moment, a single insane moment, Keith almost kissed the woman in his arms right then and there. Thankfully, he managed to hold himself back, but by then, the two of them had been staring at each other for an almost uncomfortably long time.

“Where am I? And…who are you?” the woman questioned. Even as the question left her lips, Keith could see in her eyes that she had to force the second question out.

“I’m not sure where we are, but I’m Keith,” Keith answered. Without his doing so, his arms tightened around the woman as she began to right herself, keeping her from falling but loosening once it was clear she wished to step back. It was so instinctual, as if he had done it a thousand times before.

But the woman’s eyes hardened and suddenly she was twisting Keith’s wrist behind his back, forcing him to his knees as she restrained him. Her grip was tight, but not enough to the point where he couldn’t escape, except that every atom in Keith’s body absolutely refused to let him hurt her. He grunted, both from the feeling of his shoulder struggling to stay in its socket and from the sheer revulsion the thought of hurting the woman gave him.

“Who are you? Where is King Alfor? What are you doing in my castle?” she demanded, her voice as hard as a diamond.

“Listen, princess, all we know is Blue brought us here, okay?” Keith spat out, gritting his teeth.

“How do you have the Blue Lion? What happened to her paladin?” the princess continued, finally letting Keith go. Both of them straightened up and Keith turned back towards her, watching as terror filled her too familiar blue eyes. “What are you all doing here? Unless…How long has it been?”

“We don’t know what you’re talking about,” Shiro answered, his voice calm in the face of the princess’ volatile emotions. “Why don’t you tell us who you are? Maybe we can help.”

“I am Princess Allura of planet Altea,” the princess, Allura, stated. Before anything else could be said, she turned her focus to the control panel Pidge had noticed before and made her way towards it. “I’ve got to find out where we are and how long we’ve been asleep.” She placed her hands on the panel and holograms opened instantly for her.

“Okay, that’s how that works,” Pidge noted, sounding impressed.

Just then, the second pod opened, revealing a man who gasped as soon as his eyes landed on Lance.

“Enemy combatants!” he shouted, throwing himself towards Lance with a swift kick. Lance, however, just stepped to the side to easily dodge it and the man ended up kicking Allura’s pod instead. “Quiznack! You’re lucky I have a case of the old ‘sleep chamber knees’. Otherwise, I’d grab your head like this, wrap you up like so—One, two, three—Sleepy time!” The man demonstrated each movement as he spoke, snapping his fingers when he finished counting.

“Well, before you did that, I’d—” Lance did some…weird karate based moves which he probably thought looked cool.

Honestly, as the two continued going back and forth like that, Keith just lost interest, turning his focus back to Allura instead.

He just…couldn’t stop looking at her. She was the complete opposite in appearance of the princess he’d been dreaming of and yet there was no doubt in his mind that she was the same. Either way, she was just as beautiful as Fala, her white hair reminding Keith of the moonlight and contrasting against her dark skin and blue gown. For the briefest moment, Keith wondered what it would feel like to bury his fingers in her hair, but he shook off the urge as soon as it crossed his mind. This was so not the time for anything like that.

The beeping of the computer snapped him back to reality.

“It can’t be,” Allura whispered, her voice breaking with tears.

“What is it?” the man questioned.

“We’ve been asleep for ten thousand years,” Allura explained. “Planet Altea and all of the planets in our solar system have been destroyed. Coran, Father is gone. Our people, our entire civilization…” A dark look entered the princess’ eyes as she spat out a name. “Zarkon.”

“Zarkon?” Shiro repeated, his eyes wide.

“He was the king of the Galra,” Allura explained. But even as she spoke, Keith shivered at how familiar this information felt, as if he had known it his entire life. “A vile creature and enemy to all free people.”

“I remember now…I was his prisoner,” Shiro stated. Adam grasped his hand, squeezing tightly.

“He’s still alive? Impossible!” Allura cried.

“I can’t explain it, but it’s true,” Shiro insisted. “He’s searching for a super weapon called Voltron.”

“He’s searching for it because he knows it’s the only thing that can defeat him, and that’s exactly why we must find it before he does,” Allura stated firmly, with all the confidence of a queen.

“Us?” Hunk asked, pointing at himself. “Uh, Princess, I know we just met and all, but we’re not the right people for this, we just want to get back home.”

“You’re exactly the right people for this,” Allura argued, glaring at Hunk which caused him to shrink down. “The lions are not found by accident and they don’t let just anyone inside. Blue allowed you all into her cockpit and brought you here, to Coran and me. I should think this suffices for proof that it can only be you who do this.”

“Okay, gorgeous, but how do we find the other lions?” Lance asked, raising an eyebrow as he stared at Allura, probably with what he thought was a flirty look. Allura’s glare became even harsher as she stared at him and any unreasonable feelings stirring in Keith’s gut died instantly.

“Funny you should ask that,” Coran cut in, smiling brightly despite the grim situation. “Now then, who’s hungry?”

Allura loved Coran, she truly did see him as a second father and she was eternally grateful that he was by her side during this massive upheaval in both of their lives.

But that did not mean she appreciated his hovering right now.

“Princess, you must eat. It’s been ten thousand years,” he insisted, his voice soft so as not to set off her temper. Allura couldn’t blame him, after all, he too was suffering from the truth that everyone they had loved was gone along with Altea.

“I’m not hungry.” Allura shook her head.

“This is what you call food? Is it even nutritious?” Adam questioned as he stared at the plate Coran had brought for her.

“Oh, it certainly is!” Coran smiled, instantly launching into an extremely in depth conversation about the benefits of the slime looking food which Allura truly hoped Adam was interested in.

“Man, ten thousand years? That’s like one thousand plus ten,” Lance mused.

“That’s times ten,” Keith corrected.

“Whatever, dropout,” Lance scoffed, glaring at the other young man.

“I haven’t eaten since breakfast and I’m starving,” Hunk groaned.

“Yeah, but you’ve thrown up like five times,” Pidge pointed out.

“Hmm, good point,” Hunk agreed before he began to eat the food Coran had brought for Allura, not that she minded.

Honestly, she could barely stand looking at the men surrounding her. Everything about them was so familiar and yet not at the same time, as if she were viewing their reflections through a pool of water. The first moment she’d laid eyes on Keith, she’d wanted to call him Akira and bury herself in his arms, to share the weight that now rested heavily on her shoulders with him. Even now, she still wished to, but she knew she couldn’t.

She was the princess of Altea, the last living member of the royal family and one of the two remaining Alteans in the entire universe. This was a burden for her to carry and no one else.

“I can’t believe your civilization created such advanced technology ten thousand years ago,” Shiro said, awe suffused throughout his voice. “It must have been an incredible place.”

“Yes, it was…” Coran agreed, cutting off his conversation with Adam as sorrow and grief entered his voice. “But now it is gone and we’re the last Alteans alive.”

The grief slammed into Allura anew and she clutched her heart as she met Coran’s eyes. He didn’t need her to say a single word, instead easily approaching her and wrapping her in his arms as if she were a child once more. For that moment, Allura allowed her tears to fall and her heart to scream with all the agony she felt at just how unfair and cruel the universe was.

Her parents, her younger siblings, Coran’s wife and son, their friends, her aunt, uncle and cousins…they’d never see any of them again. And that made the pain of still being alive even worse.

The sound of squeaks brought Allura out of her grief and she made her way back to the pod she had been asleep in. And there inside were four Altean mice.

“Looks like we’re not the last after all,” she smiled, her heart warming at the sight of them.

The moment, however, was broken as an alarm rang out.

“A Galra battleship has set its tracker to us!” Coran cried as he read the report.

“How did they find us?” Allura gasped. She and Coran had barely been awake for an hour and yet already Zarkon knew exactly where they were? It seemed impossibly fast.

“I’m not sure, but I bet it’s Keith’s fault,” Lance stated.

“Say whatever you’ve got to say to make yourself feel better.” Keith glared, annoyance radiating off him. “After getting us stuck on the other side of a wormhole!”

“I’ll stick you in a wormhole!” Lance cried, matching Keith’s glare and looking seconds away from swinging at him.

“Children!” Adam shouted, pushing the two away and placing his hands on his hips. “This is no time to be arguing! I’d hardly see it fit to even call you cadets if you continue acting like this!”

“It’s time to work as a team. How long before they arrive?” Shiro asked, glancing at Coran and Allura.

“At their speed? Oh, well, carry the two…I’d say probably a week,” Coran answered.

“Good. Let them come,” Allura stated, feeling her resolve harden. “By the time they get here, five of you will have reformed Voltron, and together, we will destroy Zarkon’s empire!”

Hunk let out a burp, breaking the heavy atmosphere.

“Sorry. Food goo,” he apologized with a smile.

“Princess, there are five of these lions. How are we going to find the rest and be certain they’ll accept us as pilots?” Shiro questioned, turning to her for guidance.

Allura remained silent, gesturing for everyone to follow her as she made her way to the castle’s cockpit. Her heart thundered in her chest a she stepped under the central control crystal.

This was the last place she had seen her father standing before her entire world ended. But now it was her turn and she would not fail him.

“King Alfor connected the lions to Allura’s life force,” Coran explained as Allura began connecting to the lions and the castle. “She alone is the key to the lions’ whereabouts.”

Allura opened her eyes and the map of the lions filled the entire cockpit, to the humans’ awe.

“These are coordinates,” Pidge realized. “The Black Lion looks like it’s in the same location as the Blue Lion.”

“Look at your primitive synapses firing away in their little brain cage,” Coran praised.

“Very observant. That’s because the Black Lion is in the castle, here on planet Arus,” Allura smiled.

“To keep the Black Lion out of Zarkon’s hands, King Alfor locked it in the castle,” Coran explained. “It can only be freed if the other four lions are present.”

“As you have found, the lions choose their pilots,” Allura continued, moving the map of stars as she spoke. “It is a mystical bond and cannot be forced. I can, however, sense each lion’s most likely choice of pilot as the quintessence of the pilot is mirrored in his lion. Together, they form something greater than science can explain. The Black Lion is the decisive head of Voltron. It will take a pilot who is a born leader and in control at all times, someone whose men will follow without hesitation. That is why, Shiro, you will pilot the Black Lion. The Green Lion has an inquisitive personality and needs a pilot of intellect and daring. Pidge, you will pilot the Green Lion. The Blue Lion—”

“Hold up, let me guess. Takes the most handsome slash best pilot of the bunch?” Lance cut in, smirking at Allura.

She couldn’t determine if he was joking or being entirely serious, but all the same, she was unimpressed. Why Blue had chosen him of all the potential pilots before her was beyond Allura’s comprehension.

“The Yellow Lion is caring and kind,” she said instead. “Its pilot is one who puts the needs of others above his own. His heart must be mighty. As the leg of Voltron, you will lift the team up and hold them together.” Hunk pointed to himself, seemingly shocked that the Yellow Lion was floating near him. “The Red Lion is temperamental and the most difficult to master. It’s faster and more agile than the others, but also more unstable. Its pilot needs to be someone who relies more on instincts than skill alone. Keith, you will fly the Red Lion.”

“What? This guy? C’mon, I think Adam will be a better fit then him,” Lance scoffed.

“While I appreciate the vote of confidence, I’m not gonna question the princess. Besides, if I’m not flying one of those lions, then I can help keep you idiots from killing yourselves,” Adam stated, not looking put out in the slightest and even smiling in encouragement towards Allura.

She wouldn’t dare tell anyone, but his confidence in her decisions meant more than she could properly put into words, even as she ignored the conversation going on, her eyes focused entirely on Keith.

“Unfortunately, I cannot locate the Red Lion’s coordinates yet,” Allura explained, regretful. “There must be something wrong with the castle. After ten thousand years, it might need some work.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll find it soon,” Coran stated, confident. “They don’t call me ‘The Coranic’ for nothing. It’s because it sounds like ‘mechanic’. So…Coranic, mechanic. It’s not—It doesn’t sound…exactly like it. It’s similar.”

Allura honestly didn’t have the heart to tell Coran that even Leda had agreed with that nickname, even if she always said ‘sure honey’ when he mentioned it. The hole at Coran’s side where Leda should have been struck the knife in Allura’s heart anew and she was grateful that Red’s hologram let out a roar just then.

The five lions left their pilots behind and flew up in the air.

“Once all the lions are united, you will form Voltron, the most powerful warrior ever known, the Defender of the Universe,” Allura stated, full of confidence as the lions combined into Voltron, showing the robot to its new paladins.

“Awesome!” Hunk smiled.

“Oh…” Pidge whispered.

“Wait. Okay, we’re going to be in there and flying lions. Got that part,” Hunk cut in, his anxiety seemingly catching up with his mind. “How do lions turn into legs? Also, is this going to be a long trip? Because I have to pee. Do you people pee?”

“We don’t have much time. Pidge and I will go after the Green Lion. Lance, you take Hunk and get the yellow one,” Shiro directed. “Keith, you and Adam stay here. If you locate that Red Lion, go get it.”

“In the meantime, I’ll get this castle’s defenses ready,” Allura added. “They’ll be sorely needed.”

“I’ll ready a pod and load in the coordinates so that you can reach the Green Lion,” Coran smiled.

“All right, then let’s get to work,” Adam declared, causing everyone to nod in agreement.

It took a bit of time, but soon both Blue and the pod were off while Allura stood at the controls, prepared to open the wormholes to Green and Yellow.

“We can only keep the wormholes that lead to the other lions open for two of your Earth hours, so you’ll have to be quick about your work,” Coran warned the groups over the comms. “The good news is that according to my readings, both planets are relatively peaceful. So if you do get stuck, they could be relaxing places to live out the rest of your lives. Enjoy the trip!”

“Wait! What? No!” Lance cried.

“I did not receive the memo on this,” Hunk added.

But before anything else could be said, the two groups entered the wormholes and they vanished from sight.

It was time.

Green felt her senses stretch out as she became aware of her true paladin’s aura. He…no, she was right on the edge of her senses, only just clearing the atmosphere, but getting closer with every second.

It had been a long time since Green had had a paladin and even longer still since she had felt the brush of her true paladin’s aura. She wondered just how it came to be that her true paladin had arrived in this time, her aura both so young and so old at the same time. Perhaps it truly was fate that worked in mysterious ways, guiding them all back to where they belonged.

This was something Green would have to investigate, no doubt, and she looked forward to doing so with her true paladin at her side.

Yellow did not enjoy strife and chaos.

This was something that had been true for as long as the five lions had existed and Yellow suspected it would be true until the end of time itself.

Which is why he has come to regret settling in his den. The auras of the Galrans attempting to mine this planet for resources and for him as well were grating to his senses and he could feel all the terrible echoes of what they had done to the beings this planet belonged to as clearly as if he had seen them himself.

But this was the den Yellow had chosen and it was where he would wait. Which made it all the more gratifying when he at last felt the aura of his true paladin brush against his senses.

He was so close that Yellow had no doubt he would be found on this day. And soon, soon, Yellow would leave this once peaceful planet behind and return to where he belonged so that he could help prevent other such planets from falling to this one’s fate.

Now he simply awaited for his true paladin to return to where he belonged.

Keith was, admittedly, pretty bored while waiting for the others to get back with the other two lions and there really wasn’t much to do while the princess was concentrating on the wormholes and Coran and Adam were looking into repair jobs.

Which was how he found himself wandering the castle almost aimlessly, not really paying attention to where he was going. He couldn’t explain why, it was just…he couldn’t stay still. Not when something in this place was guiding him, similar to how Blue did in the desert.

And…Allura did say that Red’s pilot needed to rely on his instincts as much as his skills. Might as well keep trusting those.

At the very least, it wouldn’t end with him killed and it gave him some breathing room from Allura before he accidentally called her ‘Fala’ or something equally as insane. That would definitely not go over well.

He stirred as a familiar scarlet aura brushed against his senses. At first, he had thought it was a trick of his own mind, wishing for the return of an age he had long left behind.

But no, that truly was Akira’s aura brushing against his mind. It wasn’t exactly the same as he remembered, but the familiar fabric that made Akira who he was remained. He had not known he could miss a soul so much until this one returned to where he belonged.

“No, my dear, you cannot claim him,” his mate called out and oh, the heart hidden deep in his mechanical body ached at hearing her voice once more.

“I understand,” he agreed. After all, he could feel that Akira was not yet ready for him and he was all too aware of what his mate had done. “If Red agrees, I shall accept this new paladin.” He knew he sounded unhappy, but he couldn’t help it.

Akira had been so intrinsically connected to him that for a time after his passing, he had been unsure if he’d ever choose another paladin again.

“Trust in him, my dear. He shall return to you someday.”

He held those words close, even as he felt Akira approach the door to his den.

Not yet, not now, but soon. If he repeated it enough, he could believe it.

Pidge hadn’t known just how much she needed her father until Shiro was repeating his favorite piece of advice. Those words and those alone were all that she needed to silence all the anxieties screaming in her brain, telling her that anything and everything could go wrong, leaving her simply with the quiet confidence that she could do this.

And when Green’s eyes lit up under her feet and she jumped down to enter the cockpit with a cry, Pidge believed that she could do this.

Not even ten seconds later, she sat in the cockpit and felt Green connect to her mind.

“Hiroshi…it has been too long, my dear paladin.”

Pidge shivered as she stared at the controls. They should look barely familiar to her in the slightest, but they didn’t. Instead, it was like she had opened a well loved novel, one she knew entirely by heart, and was simply starting it all over again.

She knew how to fly this lion.

And with an exhilarated cry and her father’s reassurance beating in her heart, Katie Holt did exactly that.

Hunk had never been a brave person and he knew that quite well. But sitting in the cockpit of Yellow, feeling as the lion connect to his mind just like Lance said, he felt like he’d done this a million times before and was all the braver for it.

“Tsuyoshi. It is good to have you once more, my paladin.”

Hunk was breathless as Yellow came online, only to become starkly aware that Lance was in danger.

“All right, let’s go!” he cried, moving the controls instinctively.

And just in time, Yellow leapt from the ground and shielded Blue right as the missiles hit. Hunk barely felt the tremors from the blow before he was rushing forward, causing Yellow to belly flop on the three Galra ships that had been causing him and Lance so much trouble, destroying them.

“You okay, Lance?” Hunk asked as Yellow turned towards Blue, worried.

“Hunk! I thought you were dead! You jumped in front of all those shots to save my life!” Lance cried, his voice filled with overflowing relief.

“Well, actually I was trying to get out of the way,” Hunk admitted as the comms opened, allowing him to see Lance. “Thankfully, what this thing lacks in speed, it more than makes up for in armor. Man, can it take a beating! Ooh.” Yellow shook and Hunk glanced over his shoulder. “We’ve got incoming!”

“Paladins, please hurry back. I can’t hold the wormhole much longer,” Allura pleaded as her own comm opened.

“Let’s get out of here!” Lance cried.

Hunk couldn’t agree more as he flew into the sky, heading for the wormhole above them. But of course, just his luck, one of the Galra ships got a lucky shot on him and sent Yellow spinning.

“Not this again,” Hunk groaned, feeling his space goo lunch coming back up his throat. He really hoped Yellow, or worse Allura, wasn’t gonna kill him for this.

“Quit screwing around, Hunk! The wormhole is closing!” Lance scolded.

Like Hunk had a choice in this! He spun all the way through the wormhole.

“I’m surprised to find you here.”

Keith did not jump at Allura’s voice, but it was a near thing. She smiled slightly as she approached him, staring up at the large black door he had been staring for probably far longer than was necessary.

“The others get back okay?” he questioned, strangely uncomfortable with the silence between them.

“Yes.” Allura nodded. “Everyone is safe and taking a much needed rest before we attempt to locate the Red Lion. I…apologize I couldn’t do it sooner.”

“It’s not your fault, you’ve been asleep for ten thousand years.” Keith shrugged, as if it were no big deal. “Wherever Red is, we’ll find it.”

“You’re right, of course,” Allura agreed, nodding slightly. God, if Keith kept staring at her, he was gonna do something stupid. But at the same time, there was something almost magnetic about her, as if he couldn’t look away no matter how much he wished to. “It seems you’ve found the Black Lion though.”

“Black’s behind this door?” Keith questioned, both surprised and not.

“Indeed.” Allura nodded. “My father wasn’t very subtle in hiding it, but the method of opening the door is what has kept Zarkon away from it all these years.”

“Hey, if it works, it works,” Keith smirked slightly. The princess laughed and he refused to acknowledge the little flutter in his chest. “So did everyone know this was here?”

“No. It was only those my father deemed as required to know who did,” Allura explained, glancing up at the door. “Which is why I was surprised to find you here. It’s remarkably difficult to find Black without the other lions or a guide if you’d never been here before.”

“I dunno, I guess it’s kinda like how I knew Blue was in the desert.” Keith shrugged, feeling a bit sheepish. “Like I was being guided by this energy. Sounds stupid, I know.”

“Not at all.” The princess shook her head emphatically. “I completely understand it. The first time Blue ever visited the castle, I found her almost immediately. Scared my poor father, I’m afraid, he hadn’t meant for me to find her.”

Keith let out a huff of laughter, finding it easy to imagine a young Allura causing such trouble. He smiled at her, surprised to find she was already smiling softly at him, the pink markings under her eyes seemingly brighter than he thought they’d been and pink coloring her cheeks.

It would be so easy to reach a hand out, to feel the warmth of her cheek under the palm of his hand…

Instead, Keith clenched his fists at his side and turned away from Black’s door entirely. He’d already spent far too much time just standing here, staring at it.

“Where’s everyone resting then?” he asked. Allura was all too happy to lead him away, probably grateful her own blush had not been commented on.

Not that Keith could talk. His cheeks had been blazing from the first moment the princess smiled at him.

God, he was so screwed.

Coran wasn’t sure what to make of these squishy humans who’d woken him and Allura from their ten thousand year long sleep. He was even less sure of what to make of them when he awoke the next morning to begin searching for the Red Lion once more, only to find Adam already awake.

“You’re up bright and early!” Coran commented, causing Adam to glance up at him.

“I’ve never been good at sleeping in new places.”  Adam shrugged. He was sitting near one of the control panels, a piece of paper on the table beside him as he copied the star map from the screen. “Besides, I’m not piloting a lion, might as well make myself useful.”

“Why, it’s almost as if your tiny brain is actually figuring something out! Good for you!” Coran praised. Adam gave him a somewhat shaky smile, as if he was unsure how to take Coran’s words. Was that not a compliment? Clearing his throat, Coran stepped closer to Adam and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Flying a lion is not the end all of this war. Voltron is our greatest asset, but not our only one. I am certain you will be of use as well, Adam.”

“Thanks, Coran,” Adam smiled. His eyes lingered on Coran, taking on a sad edge. “And…I’m so sorry for what’s happened to your people. I can only imagine it is a million times worse than what I felt when I grieved for Takashi.”

“No two people’s grieving can be compared as they are all equally painful,” Coran gently corrected, squeezing Adam’s shoulder. “But thank you.”

It was a nice moment of connection and understanding…so of course the alarm went off just then, disrupting the entire thing.

Coran and Adam both ran over to have a look at what was happening and as soon as he did, Coran couldn’t help but shout,

“Quiznack!”

Keith’s heart dropped into his stomach when he and the others reached the main cockpit of the castle, finding the princess, Coran and Adam already awake and examining everything carefully.

“Did we find the Red Lion yet?” Shiro asked as the alarm finally shut off.

“Allura just located it. There’s a bit of good news and bad news,” Coran confirmed. “The good news is the Red Lion’s nearby. The bad news is, it’s on board that Galra ship now orbiting Arus.”

“Which is the planet we’re on, by the way,” Adam stated. He was bent over a star map, looking for all the world like he hadn’t slept that much at all, but his eyes were still sharp.

“They’re here already?” Shiro cried, his eyes wide in shock.

“What happened to a week?!” Lance shouted, his voice reaching an insanely high pitch.

“Guess my calculations were a bit off,” Coran admitted, sheepish. “Finger counting—it’s more of an art than a science. Hmm?”

Keith felt his spine straighten as the castle’s comm system activated, revealing an alien who was both a stranger to Keith and familiar in the same way a fairy tale character was familiar.

“Princess Allura, this is Commander Sendak of the Galra Empire,” the alien, Sendak, declared. “I come on behalf of Emperor Zarkon, Lord of the Known Universe. I am here to confiscate the lions. Turn them over to me, or I will destroy your planet.”

The comms disconnected and Keith felt his anger spike in his blood. This asshole thought he could get away with taking the lions as if Allura were a misbehaving child who was being punished. There was no respect for her as a person, let alone as someone who outranked Sendak politically.

But Keith bit his lip and kept silent, all too aware that his thoughts were not something anyone would ever consider normal.

“All right, let’s not panic,” Shiro ordered.

“Not panic? The scary purple alien thing is driving his battleship toward us,” Hunk argued. “We only have four lions.”

“Technically, only three working lions,” Pidge corrected.

“That’s right. Thank you, Pidge,” Hunk said, his voice exhausted and even more fearful than before. “Three working lions and a castle that’s like, ten thousand years old.”

“Actually, it’s 10,600 years old. You see, it was built by my grandfather—”

“Thanks, Coran. Thank you for that.” Hunk shoved a finger in Coran’s face as he cut him off. “See? Now is the perfect time to panic!”

“Wait! This castle has a particle barrier we can activate,” Allura pointed out.

“Girl, you’ve already activated my par—” Lance started.

“Lance!” Shiro and Adam cut him off at the same time, glaring at him.

“The particle barrier won’t hold Sendak’s ion cannon forever,” Coran argued, pulling up the schematic for the battleship in question. “The Galra technology must have advanced since we fought them last.”

“Panic now?” Hunk questioned.

“No. We’ve just got to figure out our plan of action, and figure it out quickly,” Shiro insisted. Keith glanced at the princess, his answer already on the tip of his tongue as her eyes found his.

“I say we pop through a wormhole and live to fight another day,” Lance suggested, cutting straight through whatever connection it was Keith and Allura had established.

“I second that. Yes. I mean, we tried to find all the lions, right? We gave it the old college try. Couldn’t do it. We only have three. We can’t form Voltron. I mean, I guess we could form a snake. Or a worm! To go through that hole, Lance, that you were talking about,” Hunk summarized.

“Then it’s settled,” Lance stated, walking towards the princess. “Allura, you ride with me. One of you take the old guy.” Coran’s head steamed at that and Keith couldn’t say he was too far behind.

“We can’t just abandon Arus!” Pidge argued. “The Galra will keep destroying planets and capturing prisoners until we stop them.”

“Okay. If we run, then maybe Sendak will follow us and leave this planet alone, like when we left Earth,” Hunk suggested, hopeful. “We form the snake-worm thingamajig and we—hissssss out of here.”

“Sendak could destroy the planet then come after us anyway,” Keith argued. “They don’t care who or what stands in their way, just getting Voltron and conquering the universe. Staying is our only option.”

If this had been one of Keith’s dreams, the others would have agreed with his plan, not just because Keith was their commander but because they all knew it was the right thing to do and agreed with it.

But this wasn’t Keith’s dreams and Lance would have disagreed just because it was Keith suggesting they stay.

“Here’s an option: shut your quiznack!” he cursed, causing both Allura and Coran to look as if a part of their souls had died at Lance’s use of the word.

“I don’t think you’re using that word correctly,” Keith argued, his own frustration reaching a boiling point.

“What do you know, mullet?” Lance spat.

“We’re staying!” Keith shouted.

“Leaving!” Lance countered.

“Staying!” Pidge cried.

“Snake!” Hunk declared.

“Guys, stop!” Shiro yelled.

“For god’s sake, you’re acting like children,” Adam groused, getting in the middle of the four cadets and pushing them apart. “Shouldn’t we let the woman in charge decide what we do?”

“Adam’s right. Princess Allura, these are your lions. You’ve dealt with the Galra Empire before. You know what we’re facing better than any of us. What do you think is the best course of action?” Shiro asked.

“I…I don’t know,” Allura admitted. In that moment, she looked less like the queen Keith remembered Fala to be and more like the princess he had first encountered, all alone in the world with an entire people’s hopes on her shoulders, facing down an enemy not even her father could defy. Keith wanted nothing more than to take her aside and whisper to her, talk it out between the two of them and help her feel confident in her own decision, completely without his influence.

But he couldn’t.

“Perhaps your father can help,” Coran suggested, his voice the softest thing in the entire tension filled cockpit.

“My father?” Allura repeated, her eyes wide in shock.

“Coran, what is this?” Allura asked, her voice faint as she stared at the room Coran had led her to.

“King Alfor knew there was a chance he might never see you again,” Coran explained. “So his memories, his very being, were stored in this computer for you.”

Allura slowly approached the computer, her heart racing within her chest. It seemed so impossible, that she could still have even just a piece of her father when everything she’d ever known and loved had been killed, that she couldn’t bring herself to believe it.

But when she touched the small white light on the computer, it burst apart and revealed an entire field of juniberries, as if Altea had been resurrected right before her eyes.

Allura turned back towards the computer, watching as her father’s hologram appeared.

“Father!” she cried, tears stinging her eyes. “Father, it is so good to see you.”

“Allura, my only daughter, how I’ve missed your face,” King Alfor greeted her. For a moment, Allura allowed herself to bask in this moment of joy until the reality of her situation crashed upon her anew.

“I’m so frightened,” she admitted, falling to her knees at the base of her father’s hologram. “A Galra ship is set to attack and I don’t know what to do. Please, Father, I need your help.”

“I would do anything to take this burden from you, my child,” Alfor sighed, regretful. After all, for all that he had her father’s memories, they were still separated by the veil between life and death.

“I don’t know if we should run to preserve what we have or stay and risk everything,” Allura elaborated. “I want to fight, but the paladins of old are gone and the ones before me are nothing like the men I dreamed of so often. I know what you would do.”

“I scattered the lions of Voltron to keep them out of Zarkon’s hands,” Alfor confirmed. “You urged me to keep them and fight, but for the greater good of protecting the universe, I chose to hide them.”

“I think I understand,” Allura said, glancing down. She could run, keep the lions safe and hope Arus remained the same until they had a better plan. The castle staying where it was, defending Arus with so little guaranteed success, would only bring danger to those who called this planet home. Last time she had faced this same decision, a lifetime ago when she had born a different name, she had people looking to her for leadership and hope.

None of those factors were here now. Fleeing truly was the more prudent decision.

“Princess Fala, I promise, I’m with you until the end. Just give the order.”

Akira’s voice echoed in her mind and Allura wished for nothing more than the confidence he saw in her to be real.

“No, daughter, you were right,” Alfor disagreed, causing Allura to glance up at him. “I made a terrible mistake, one that cost the universe countless lives. Forming Voltron is the only way to stop Zarkon. You must be willing to sacrifice everything to assemble the lions and correct my error. Just as you did in your last life, Queen Fala.”

Allura entered the castle’s cockpit, her hair pulled into a bun and wearing her flight suit, determination in every line of her body.

There was only one choice and in the end, she just needed that last vote of confidence from Alfor in order to make it. It was, after all, the same decision she had made under a different name.

“You five paladins were brought here for a reason. The Voltron Lions are meant to be piloted by you and you alone,” Allura declared, Fala’s memories only strengthening her conviction. “We must fight and keep fighting until we defeat Zarkon. It is our destiny and I know that you all know it. Voltron is the universe’s only hope. We are the universe’s only hope.”

“We’re with you, Princess.” Shiro nodded in agreement.

“Good. Now follow me,” she insisted, turning to lead them to the armory. “Your suits of armor.”

The five approached their designated colors, in awe of the uniforms and the enormous destiny they represented. Adam stood between Shiro and Keith, teasing them both good naturedly.

“Princess, are you sure about this?” Coran whispered, quiet enough so only she would hear. “They aren’t exactly the best and brightest the universe has to offer.”

“No, but they’re all we’ve got,” Allura stated firmly. And I have dreamt of them my entire life. It can be nobody else but them.

“Boys, it’s time to suit up!” Shiro declared.

Once they were all dressed, Allura placed her palm on the panel before her and revealed the bayards which rested within.

“The bayard is the traditional weapon of the Paladins of Voltron,” she explained as the four in front of her floated to their respective paladins. “It takes a distinct shape for each paladin.”

They each took their bayards in hand, showing them off though Pidge shocked Lance after he made fun of the green paladin’s. Allura’s attention shifted away from them, focusing instead on Shiro and his lack of bayard.

“Shiro, I’m afraid your bayard was lost along with its paladin,” she apologized.

“I guess I’ll have to make do,” Shiro smiled. Adam scoffed behind him.

“Oh please, nobody at the garrison could beat you in hand to hand combat. Just dodge the lasers and you’ll be fine,” he encouraged in what Allura thought was a joking manner. She could see worry in the lines of Adam’s face, as if he would rather they all be anywhere but here. She couldn’t blame him, she remembered all too well how terrifying it was to be the one left behind.

From there, creating a strategy for how they were going to retrieve Red was easier than it would have been otherwise. Allura found herself almost relaxing into the familiar back and forth between herself and Shiro, directing each paladin where they needed to be in order to give them the best chance of success.

It was a simple plan on the surface: Lance and Hunk act as decoys while Pidge snuck Shiro and Keith onto the ship, covering them as they hunted Red while Lance and Hunk took out the ion cannon. Once they got Red and came back, they’d open the door to Black and the five paladins would form Voltron with Allura, Coran and Adam acting as their backup on the ground.

But right before the paladins were about to leave, Allura was unable to stop herself from speaking once more.

“Akira,” she whispered, soft enough that only Keith could hear her when he passed her by. He froze for a second, staring at her, but Allura wouldn’t—couldn’t—meet his gaze. “If we survive this, we need to talk.”

“Yeah…all right,” Keith agreed, his voice just as soft as hers. But despite how miniscule the words he spoke seemed, his light squeeze of her hand as he walked away more than made up for it.

They would survive this, they had to.

So the day had finally come.

If there was one thing Red had never expected when he had gone into hibernation ten thousand years ago, it was that he of all the lions would be the one that Zarkon found. He had been furious when they first discovered his den but had refused to give the Galra even an inch.

They may have removed him from his den but he would not be giving them even one fifth of Voltron’s power. It had been a lucky coincidence when he’d felt Blue’s first paladin step aboard, just as much of a prisoner as Red himself was.

But now, it was different.

He could sense the three lions surrounding him and the paladins within. He growled a bit under his breath when he sensed his true paladin already tied to Blue, but it seemed that he had no choice. All that remained was Blue’s original paladin and Black’s true paladin.

Very well then. If either of them proved themself worthy of him, Red would claim them as his paladin for now.

Even with the universe on the line, Red refused to settle for anything less than the best.

So far, so good…

If Shiro was any sort of gambler, he’d know not to think that at any moment. Unfortunately, he was not, and as soon as the thought crossed his mind, he got a good look at the far too familiar Galra ship.

Instantly, images flashed through his mind as pain stabbed him in the head. For a moment, it was as if nothing was real and then suddenly everything was. Shiro was only vaguely aware of the sweat clinging to his brow as he panted for air.

“I’ve been here before,” Shiro breathed, unable to believe it. How was it possible that it was this same ship? The one he had been captured on, the one the Red Lion had been taken to…was this even a coincidence anymore? “After I was taken by the Galra cruiser off Kerberos, they brought us here.”

“So that means your other crewmembers, they might be held captive here,” Pidge realized, his eyes wide. “We…We’ve got to rescue them.”

“Pidge, we don’t have time. We have to get the Red Lion and get back to Arus,” Shiro insisted, even as his heart shattered in his chest. He couldn’t remember how he got separated from the Holts and he hated that he couldn’t confidently say whether they were alive or dead. He was a failure, especially to Matt. He was just a kid and Shiro couldn’t protect him.

“But we can’t just leave prisoners here!” Pidge argued, glaring up at Shiro.

“Look, no one understands that more than more than me, but in war, we have to make hard choices,” Shiro explained, practically pleading with Pidge to understand. “Now let’s get moving.” He moved to follow Keith down the corridor, intent on finding the Red Lion before they got caught.

“No!” Pidge shouted, his eyes blazing with the force of his anger. “Commander Holt is my father. He and my brother were the ones on the Kerberos mission with you.”

“Commander Holt is your father?” Shiro repeated, shocked. But…Sam hadn’t mentioned a brother during their mission, he’d only ever mentioned…

“Yes. I’ve been searching everywhere for him and my brother,” Pidge confirmed. “And I’m not gonna give up looking when I’m this close. I won’t!” Pidge turned to head down the opposite end of the corridor, intent on going alone.

“I’m coming with you,” Shiro stated, firm and leaving no room for doubt.

“What?” Keith asked, surprised.

“I remember where the prisoners are held. Keith, you go find the Red Lion,” Shiro instructed.

“By myself?” Keith asked, looking for a moment like the lost kid Shiro had met all those years ago and not the man he had become. There was uncertainty in his eyes, as if he didn’t think he could do this, when Shiro knew better than anyone just how little help Keith truly needed.

“Minor change of plans. You’ll be fine,” Shiro reassured. He wanted to hug Keith close, to reassure him until he felt confident enough to go on his own, but there was no time for that now. So instead, all Shiro could offer him was a piece of advice. “Just remember, patience yields focus. So—run!”

Shiro and Pidge took off toward the cells while Keith ran the other way. Shiro just hoped this ended with all of them leaving in one piece, preferably with Matt and Sam included.

Keith would never tell anyone except maybe Allura, but he was genuinely nervous about finding Red. Not only was it difficult as fuck to find him on the battleship, but there was no guarantee Red would accept him as its paladin.

After all, Keith had never piloted Red before. In his memories, he only ever piloted Green and Black, never any of the others. And with how picky Red was, he was unsure of how this was going to go.

But he didn’t have a choice and if he wanted to keep Arus safe then he had to earn Red’s trust.

So dammit, that’s what he was gonna do! Now if he could just find Red…

“Patience yields focus,” Keith whispered to himself, closing his eyes and stretching out his senses as far as they would go. Red…he was here, Keith could feel him. And if he followed the source of Red’s energy then he was… “Gotcha,” Keith smirked before he took off down the corridors once more.

Pidge had put a lot of hope into finding her family here as soon as Shiro said he had been here and she was unable to deny the crushing disappointment when neither her father or Matt were among the prisoners.

It felt like they just kept slipping away from her no matter how close she got, always just out of reach.

But…she had no plans on giving up on them. Not now and not ever. She would find them and she’d bring them home, no matter what it took.

Besides, these were still innocent people, even if they weren’t who she was looking for. Getting them out was worth it, even if she still felt disappointed.

Keith honestly should not be surprised it took him falling out of the ship to earn Red’s trust, but there he was anyway, getting swallowed by the lion before they left the Galra ship behind.

But despite that, the feeling of connecting with one of the lions was familiar and he breathed a sigh of relief as the connection settled between him and Red. It wasn’t the easy slide into place that Keith had always experienced with Black, as if the two of them had been two pieces of one single soul, but it was a weight of his shoulders to feel so connected, so grounded once more.

“Perhaps this is why Black has chosen you, Keith Kogane,” Red growled in Keith’s mind. “We shall see how you compare to your previous self in due time.”

“Yeah, I know,” Keith smiled, refusing to acknowledge the weight his memories suddenly pressed down onto him. One crisis at a time, he could break down later.

Green, Red, Yellow and Blue.

They were all gathered together, all bonded to a paladin, whether their true one or a different one. The requirements had been met and Black had already decided on the course of action he would take.

The door to his den opened and Black let out a roar, which the rest of the lions returned. He accepted Takashi Shirogane as his paladin and allowed him to enter his cockpit.

There was, after all, little time to be picky when enemies were approaching.

“Sendak is entering the Arusian atmosphere. We need Voltron now!” Allura ordered over the comms.

Shiro led the charge, flying the lions out of the castle and into the courtyard, taking in the attack from within the safety of the particle barrier. Thankfully, the barrier seemed to be holding against the smaller fighters which were shooting at them, but the relief was short lived as the ion cannon caused the entire castle to rock when it struck.

“Man, those Galra guys repair things fast!” Hunk sighed, frustrated at seeing all his effort go to waste.

“The barrier gets weaker with every blast,” Coran warned. “Once that shield goes down, the castle will be defenseless.”

“I can give you cover with the castle defenses for a while, but you have to form Voltron or we’ll all be destroyed!” Allura exclaimed, her voice grave.

“No pressure or anything!” Adam chimed in sarcastically.

“Adam…” Keith sighed in fond frustration, but Adam only winked from his comm channel.

“Love you boys, don’t come home to me in pieces,” he stated. Before Shiro could even think to respond, the ion cannon fired once more and he had to clutch onto Black’s controls tightly in order to keep the lion standing. Damn, that cannon packed a punch.

“Listen up, guys! The only way to succeed is to give it all you’ve got!” he shouted. “This looks bad, but we can do this! Are you with me?”

His four teammates nodded from their individual screens and Shiro allowed himself just a moment of pride in them.

“I’m nodding. Is everyone else nodding?” Hunk asked nervously.

“Yes,” Keith, Lance and Pidge all deadpanned.

“Let’s do this!” Shiro cried, charging forward with Black as the rest of the lions followed them.

“Uh, how?” Lance asked, sounding admittedly as lost as Shiro was in all this.

“Good question. Does anyone have any ideas of how to form Voltron?” Shiro questioned, glancing at all the screens available to him.

“Why didn’t we discuss this earlier?” Adam groaned, burying his face in his hands.

“I don’t see a ‘combine into giant robot’ button anywhere on my dashboard,” Hunk stated, panic entering his voice again. Thankfully, the fighter ships had focused on the five lions rather than the castle, following them out into the wilderness.

“This is insane! Can’t they just cease fire for one minute so we can figure this out?” Pidge cried, frustrated. “Is that too much to ask?”

It seemed Pidge decided to take his aggression out on the fighter ships as he turned Green around, jumped up to grab one of the ships and threw it back into the other. Keith followed his lead, turning Red back to shoot down another two ships with his tail.

“We’ve got to do something,” Keith insisted. For a moment, Shiro would have sworn he was about to say something, but his voice got cut off as Yellow slammed into Red’s side, sending him falling to the ground.

“Combine!” Hunk shouted as Keith grunted from the blow.

“Hey!” he shouted.

“Okay, that didn’t work.” Hunk barely got the words out before more fighter ships were shooting at them, sending the five lions running once more.

“Quickly, paladins! Our energy levels are getting low!” Allura cried, frantic in her own way now. She let out a grunt as another blow hit the castle’s barrier.

For a moment, Shiro could have sworn he saw a flash of the five lions flying in formation before they vanished and Voltron appeared in their place. It felt familiar, as if it were a scene he witnessed a thousand times before and it felt right.

“Maybe if we fly in formation, we’ll just combine,” he suggested. “Take off on my cue. One, two, three, Voltron!”

The five lions took off and flew into the sky.

“Here we go!” Keith grunted, as if he knew this was right.

“Come on, come on!” Lance pleaded.

They kept pushing but still remained as five lions.

“Nothing’s happening,” Shiro reported as his console flashed red suddenly.

“Hey, wait, wait, wait! I feel something!” Lance cried.

“I do too. I feel it. It’s like we’re all being pulled in the same direction!” Hunk agreed.

“Uh, guys. I think I know why. Look up,” Shiro directed.

“What the cheese?” Lance groaned.

“Sendak’s ship is sucking us in like a black hole!” Pidge shouted, panicked.

The five lions had been caught in Sendak’s tractor beam and…honestly, Shiro felt dumb having not only missing that but for leading his team towards the battleship in the first place. It was such a rookie mistake and on a mission like this, he couldn’t afford those mistakes.

Not with these guys, these children, counting on him to lead them.

The ion cannon fired once more and Shiro heard Allura, Coran and Adam all cry out as it hit. He glanced at the comms, his heart in his throat when he saw the particle barrier absent.

“Oh no!” he gasped.

“I don’t care what you say, Shiro, I’m panicking now!” Hunk shouted, tears in his eyes.

“It can’t end here!” Pidge screamed.

“This is it!” Lance grunted, sounding pained.

“It’s been an honor flying with you boys,” Keith declared.

They were all speaking as if this was it, the end of the line. But Shiro…he couldn’t, no, wouldn’t let this be it. Not now, not ever. These bastards have already destroyed enough of the galaxy and Shiro had escaped them in order to prevent them from getting their hands on Voltron. There was no way in fucking hell he was letting them win!

“No! We can do this. We have to believe in ourselves,” he insisted, using the most authoritative voice he had. “We can’t give up. We are the universe’s only hope. Everyone is relying on us. We can’t fail! We won’t fail!”

More images flashed through Shiro’s mind then, of people who lived amongst ruins, staring at the five of them with hope in their eyes. Of a beautiful planet, torn apart by war and suffering, but unwilling to give in. Of a woman who had lived amongst war her entire life and yet chose peace.

Of Adam, smiling at him with tear filled eyes, relieved that Shiro had returned to him even after all the cruel words they had thrown at each other the last time they saw each other.

“If we work together, we’ll win together!” Shiro insisted, putting all of his faith into the words.

“Yeah!” Keith, Lance, Pidge and Hunk shouted in agreement. The five lions all roared in unison before they suddenly grew even stronger, breaking away from the tractor beam.

At last, it was their time to fight back.

The ion cannon fired again, but Adam could only blink in surprise when it just barely missed the castle.

He had thought that was it, they were all going to die, here and now. But instead…he turned towards the screen where just moments ago, the five lions had been trapped in a tractor beam, pulled into the Galra ship.

Instead, there now stood a giant robot made of five lions on the ship, the ion cannon destroyed under its grasp.

Voltron.

“I can’t believe it!” Keith cried, sounding the most joyful Adam could remember ever hearing him.

“We formed Voltron!” Pidge cheered, equally as excited.

“I’m a leg!” Hunk beamed proudly.

“How are we doing this?” Lance asked, as if he couldn’t comprehend it.

“I don’t know, but let’s get that cannon!” Shiro beamed.

And Adam could only watch with the brightest smile he’d worn in over a year on his face as Voltron grabbed the ion cannon, threw it off the Galra ship to the ground below and then punched its right arm, the Red Lion, into the body of the ship and blew it up.

They weren’t done though, as Voltron jumped into the center of the ship, smashing before another blast blew it up from the inside.

Voltron then jumped into the air, flipping around to face the ship head on and Adam heard all five of the paladins yelling as they flew towards it with everything they had. They crashed through the entire ship, causing the entire thing to explode, utterly destroyed.

And Voltron landed back on the ground, completely intact with its pilots as safe as can be.

Adam could have cried from the sheer relief he felt. He was pretty sure he did, at least a little bit, as he hugged Allura and Coran tightly in celebration.

They’d done it. Their boys had really, truly, done it.

Keith was riding high on the adrenaline of their victory, but that wasn’t the only reason he couldn’t sleep that night following their defeat of Sendak’s fleet.

Instead, the real reason he couldn’t sleep was the princess he was sneaking out to meet, right in the middle of the lions’ hangar. It probably said something about Keith that he felt like this was something that needed to be hidden, but he really couldn’t think about that right now.

Not now when he was staring at Allura, who wore her flight jumpsuit with her hair falling loosely to her shoulders, neither a princess nor a fighter but simply…herself. Keith’s heart just about stopped when he saw her, but he kept his cool as he cleared his throat so as to avoid surprising her.

“Princess,” he greeted her. He wanted to gather her into his arms, to call her by whatever name she wished he use and to hear his birth name slip from her lips once more, but that wasn’t his call to make.

In all things between them, the final call always came down to her.

“Keith,” Allura smiled as she turned to face him. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with me tonight. I…hope I’m not disturbing your sleep too much.”

“Couldn’t sleep much anyway.” Keith shrugged, unsure of what to say. Silence fell between them, but it wasn’t the comfortable one Keith was used to experiencing with her, so he cleared his throat once more. “Is there something you wanted to talk about?”

“I think you know what I wish to speak about,” Allura said, her voice softening. “Akira.”

“Fala,” Keith whispered, the name falling from his lips involuntarily. “I mean, Quee—Princess Allura, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have called you that.”

“And why not?” Allura questioned, crossing her arms and raising an imperious eyebrow. It was such a familiar expression for her to wear that Keith wanted to melt into a puddle at her feet, which was absolutely ridiculous. “I should say it is a husband’s right to use his wife’s name, after all.”

“Is that what I am to you?” Keith questioned. His heart raced, but he couldn’t quite say why. While part of him rejoiced at the thought of Allura still considering him her husband, another part that felt so young revolted at the thought. He barely knew her and was already ready to marry her? It was insane.

“Well…” Allura trailed off, looking a bit uncertain. “It’s what Akira was to Fala. I was hoping…you’d be willing to try with me? I feel as though I know you entirely and yet not at all at the same time. I don’t know yet if I, as Allura, could love you like Fala did…but I would like to try. Would you?”

Keith stared at her for several moments, dreams and memories flashing through his mind as he tried to decide what he wanted to do. But in the end, there was really only one option, even if his brain was screaming at him for being an idiot for even considering it.

“Yeah. I would,” he admitted, holding a hand out for her to take.

Allura bypassed his hand entirely, instead running into his arms and hugging him with all she had, burying her face in his neck. Keith froze, his arms hanging unsurely around her for a moment before he slowly returned the hug, his hold loose on her.

“Is this okay?” Allura whispered. Her breath ghosted Keith’s neck and he shivered.

“Yeah,” he whispered, tightening his grip on her, as much as he dared. “It’s more than okay.”

Who knew what would become of the two of them in this life compared to their last? Keith certainly didn’t. But if he knew nothing else, he knew that as long as Allura was by his side in any capacity, as a friend or as a partner, it would all be all right in the end.

So for now, he stood there in the hangar, holding his reincarnated wife against him just as tightly as she did, while the five lions watched over them, like guardian angels to their fated reunion.

Chapter Text

When the day had finally come, he hadn’t expected to be as nervous as he was.

He shouldn’t be nervous at all, actually, he fought in wars, traveled through space and had been on death’s door more times than he cared to admit. Compared to that, marrying the love of his life should be relatively easy and yet…

And yet…

“Akira! You ready or not?” Isamu called out, opening the door before Akira could even think of an answer.

“Not bad!” Hiroshi whistled, grinning as he looked at Akira from all angles. “If I didn’t know you already, I say you were already royalty in that get up.”

“Thanks, Hiroshi,” Akira smiled, or at least tried to. His stomach was tied in so many knots, it was ridiculous.

“Hey, what’s wrong? Ya look like you’re about to fall over,” Tsuyoshi said, his eyes concerned as he examined Akira closely. “You feeling okay?”

“Just nervous,” Akira admitted, feeling shy even as he said the words aloud. God, what would his men think of him, knowing their commander was more nervous on his wedding day than he was flying into battle?

“C’mon, it won’t be that bad,” Isamu scoffed, patting Akira on the shoulder. And then, like the best friend he was, he smiled softly as he gripped Akira’s shoulder. “You love her, don’t you?”

“Of course I do,” Akira insisted. He couldn’t even imagine a world where he didn’t love Fala and if one existed, he never wanted to see it.

“Then just focus on her,” Isamu smiled reassuringly.

“Yeah!” Hiroshi agreed brightly. “As long as you stare at the queen, you won’t do something you regret.”

“Like what?” Akira questioned, curious.

“Like run away. We’d have to hunt you down then, for hurting our queen ya know,” Tsuyoshi answered, sticking his chest out far too proudly at the thought of hunting Akira down.

“Now, now, that won’t happen,” Sven laughed as he lightly pushed Tsuyoshi to the side, taking his place on Akira’s other side.

“How did you do it?” Akira asked. “How did you…marry Amae and not feel terrified about suddenly being the king of Pollux?”

“I did what Isamu said,” Sven smiled softly. “I focused on Amae and simply forgot everyone else was there. Before then, the two of us were already prepared to rule, we’d been doing it for quite some time even before I proposed. Altea already sees you as her king, Akira. Just focus on your queen.”

It was reassuring in ways that Akira couldn’t quite put into words, but when Raible peeked in, he finally felt ready to do this.

And when he saw Fala walking down the aisle on Raible’s arm, everything was worth it. He barely heard the priest, too focused on his wife-to-be until he was asked to repeat the vows. Fala simply laughed at him, smiling the whole way through, even as they kissed in front of all of her people—their people.

And when she asked him to kneel before her, Akira only felt a wave of calm as a sword touched his shoulders.

“Do you, Akira Kogane, swear to serve the planet Altea with justice and virtue in your heart, protect her from all harm that comes her way and lead her into a brighter future?” Fala asked.

“I swear,” Akira confirmed, his fist firm against his heart. He didn’t even need to look at Fala to know she was smiling, just as beautiful as the day they first met.

“Then by my power as the queen of Altea, I declare thee to be known, now and forevermore, as King Akira Kogane of Altea,” she announced. The crown which had not been worn by anyone since King Raimon passed away now laid upon Akira’s head. It was a heavy weight, but as he met Fala’s blue eyes, he knew he would bear it until the end of time itself.

When she extended her hand to him, there was no question in Akira’s mind of what he would do next.

He stood up and kissed her for all she was worth. Cheers filled the throne room, but in that moment, nothing mattered except for the two of them.

It was a terrifying thought, all these people counting on him to lead them in times of peace now instead of simply during war. But at the same time, with Fala in his arms and the cool metal of her own crown pressed against his skin, it didn’t feel quite so impossible anymore.

“I love you,” Akira whispered, the words only for Fala, only for his wife.

“I love you too,” Fala whispered back, her smile brighter than he could ever remember seeing it before.

And, well, what else was Akira supposed to do other than kiss her again?

Adam loved Shiro, truly he did. They’d been through a lot together over the years and Adam had been entirely serious when he accepted Shiro’s proposal. He was it for Adam, no questions asked.

But that also meant he had the honor of knowing just how restless Shiro could be when he had a mission, so he wasn’t surprised in the slightest when he woke up to a cold bed. Once Adam managed to fumble his glasses on, the world came into sharp focus, revealing that Shiro was in his paladin uniform and already exercising despite how early it was.

It was, at least, a familiar start to the day for the two of them and Adam would have basked in it, in the fact that he had this back after a year without it, but in the next second, an alarm suddenly began to blare.

“Everybody up! Zarkon’s attacking!” Allura shouted over the intercom.

Shiro was already up and running into the hallway and Adam wasn’t too much further behind. He didn’t bother getting dressed, instead simply running to the cockpit after his fiancé as Allura continued to shout.

“The castle’s about to be destroyed! Go, go, go! We need Voltron now! Hurry! We can’t survive much longer!”

“Oh no! Allura is dead! Aw, it’s horrible! Her head fell off!” Coran shouted now. It sounded so fake that Adam knew none of this was real instantly. And when he entered the cockpit with Shiro, Keith, Pidge and Hunk, he was unsurprised to have his thoughts confirmed. “Wait! What? Her severed head is trying to speak to me! What is it, Allura’s head? What are your final words?”

“Coran,” Allura called as she noticed the four paladins and Adam staring at her.

“Oh yes, Princess, I’m listening,” Coran urged, still in character.

“It’s over,” Allura stated, her entire posture deflating.

“Oh, I know! If only Voltron had been formed!” Coran shouted dramatically. It was only then that he noticed the earthlings staring at him. “Oh! Time!” He shot up like a jack in a box, throwing the timer he held into the air.

“I guess this isn’t an actual attack,” Shiro stated, biting the bullet.

“And it’s a good thing it wasn’t because it took you…Coran?” Allura questioned, glancing at her advisor.

“Seventy-five degrees,” Coran reported. It took a minute before he seemed to realize what he just said. “Oh, sorry. No, this is a meat thermometer.”

“However long it was, it was too long,” Allura sighed. “You must always be ready to do battle with Zarkon. Look at you! Only Shiro is in uniform. Keith, Pidge, Hunk, where are your bayards? And where is Lance?”

Just then, the door to the cockpit opened and Lance stepped inside, wearing his pajamas with Blue Lion slippers and holding what Adam thought was a cup of coffee in his hand.

“Good morning, everybody. What’s going on?” Lance yawned.

“Coran and I have been up for hours getting the castle back in order,” Allura explained, a scolding tone in her voice. “We had to run a test on the alarms, and we decided to test you as well. Guess which one failed.”

“I don’t count here so I’m just gonna…” Adam trailed off as he moved towards the steps, sitting down and letting out a yawn. “Sorry, sleeping in new places takes me a bit to get used to.”

“You still did pretty good, considering.” Keith shrugged, as if he was trying to reassure Adam, which only caused him to smile up at the red paladin.

“Hey!” Hunk cut in, yawning through his words. “You got to sleep for ten thousand years, man. Monday night, I was on Earth. Now I’ve flown through space, fought some evil alien named Zarkon, eaten goo in some weird castle. That’s a lot to process in, uh…I don’t know. What day is today?”

“It’s the third quintant of the Spicolian movement. Hump day!” Coran grinned as he answered.

“So…Wednesday,” Adam translated.

“It’s a lot to process,” Hunk reiterated, sounding genuinely tired.

“You must understand the stakes of our mission,” Allura countered. She pulled up a hologram keyboard and used it to open a map of the universe as she continued to explain. “Over the last ten thousand years, the castle picked up distress beacons from the following locations.” Far, far too many places on the map turned orange and Adam’s heart dropped into his stomach. “So we have to assume that Zarkon has conquered almost the entire known universe. Earth is here.” Allura spun the map as she spoke, showing their home in one of the few still blue areas of the map. “An attack on your planet is inevitable.”

“Oh no,” Hunk whispered.

“Exactly.” Allura nodded. “Our mission is to free all those planets.” The map vanished then. “Coran and I are getting the castle ready to leave Arus. During that time, you have to learn to form Voltron, so we can begin fighting Zarkon.”

“The princess is right. Let’s get to our lions and start training,” Shiro declared.

“Wait. But I want to talk to the prisoners we rescued from the Galra ship,” Pidge protested, glancing up at Shiro.

“Negative, Number Five. I have you ranked by height, okay?” Coran cut in. “The prisoners need to remain in the cryo-replenishers until tomorrow.”

“I’ll keep an eye on them, Pidge,” Adam promised. “I’m trained in field medicine, I’ll see if I can help them at all.” Pidge nodded slightly in gratitude.

“Now, get to your lions,” Allura ordered.

With a quick kiss to Shiro’s cheek, Adam sent them off before he made his way to the pod room. At least they couldn’t get themselves killed while training…

Keith’s heart raced in his chest as he made his way to Red. The entrance to the lions was exactly the same as he remembered it being and even if he wasn’t heading towards Black like he was used to, just the fact he was once again part of Voltron more than made up for it.

Of course, they didn’t get to start working right away at first, since Hunk was running late.

“Uh, should someone go in after him?” Lance questioned.

“Hi guys. Sorry, everybody,” Hunk apologized as Yellow finally flew towards them, landing next to Green. “Seriously though, can’t they park these things, like, a little closer to the bridge?”

Keith bit his tongue, resisting the urge to explain that was never how the castle had been designed. But this wasn’t the same castle he had lived his life out with Fala, no doubt it had been destroyed centuries ago, but a new one designed in a far too familiar way.

“All right, guys. Let’s just fly in tight formation until we’re totally in sync,” Shiro instructed.

“Feel the bond with your lions and your fellow pilots until five become one unit and you form Voltron!” Allura encouraged as her own comm line opened.

“Yeah!” All five paladins shouted as they took flight. “Yeah!

“Yeah!”

“Yay.”

With each failure to form Voltron, their excited cries became less and less enthusiastic and not for the first time, Keith found himself missing that sense of comradery and friendship he remembered from his first life, where forming Voltron was…not easy, but it felt as if it were. All they had needed was five and Voltron would come.

But now…

“Whoo,” Hunk cried dully, only to realize he was the only one speaking. “Am I the only one who’s still pretending to be excited?”

“Clearly, this isn’t working. Let’s set down for  little bit,” Shiro sighed, sounding just as exhausted as the rest of them were.

“Maybe we should be building Voltron from the ground up,” Keith suggested. He honestly didn’t know what to do, he had no words of wisdom that could explain why they weren’t forming Voltron. All he could try to offer was an idea, stupid as it may sound.

“What do you mean?” Shiro questioned.

“I mean, let’s try literally building Voltron, like stacking on top of each other,” Keith elaborated.

“Like a cheerleader pyramid?” Lance scoffed. “We’re not girls, Keith.”

“I heard that!” Allura shouted down the comm line, causing Lance to wince.

“You got a better idea?” Keith questioned, raising a skeptical eyebrow. Lance’s face fell at that.

“It’s worth a try,” Shiro agreed.

They stacked one on top of the other…though it wasn’t correct the first time, considering the fact that Blue and Green were on the bottom, Red on top of them and Black using Blue in order to stand up straight on Red…and Yellow was on top of Black.

“Hunk, what are you doing?” Shiro questioned dully.

“What do you mean?” Hunk asked, playing stupid.

“You’re supposed to be the leg over there,” Shiro pointed out with far more patience than Keith might’ve managed in his place.

“What? No. No, no, no. I’m pretty sure that when we did it last time, I was the head. Right?” Hunk said.

“You yelled ‘I’m a leg!’” Lance argued.

“Yeah, I was yelling a lot of things,” Hunk hedged.

“Shiro’s the head,” Keith stressed, feeling his patience run thin.

“All the time?” Hunk questioned. Keith really almost bit through his tongue then, keeping absolutely silent.

“Let’s just try it my way for now,” Shiro sighed, sounding far more like Adam then himself in that moment.

“Okay, but next time I call head,” Hunk swore.

Keith was pretty sure his eyes were gonna roll out of his sockets that time, but soon enough they were in the correct formation for Voltron, with Red on top of Blue and Green on top of Yellow while Black slowly lowered on top of Red and Green.

“Okay. Arms and legs…and I’ll form the head.”

Keith shivered as the familiar words washed over him. He’d said them so many times a lifetime ago, he was practically saying them in unison with Shiro. But no, there was no time for that now. He had to focus.

“Feel the bonds with your lions,” Shiro instructed. “Now channel your energy into forming Voltron. Focus. Focus.”

Silence hung over the five of them, but in the end…nothing happened. Keith was pretty sure he heard a sand gust blow by.

“Is everybody bonding and focusing?” Shiro asked.

“Why was this so much easier before?” Lance questioned, voicing all of their frustration.

“Let’s take a break,” Shiro sighed.

“Sorry to interrupt, but I may be able to help,” Allura cut in, her comm turning back on. “Yesterday, you weren’t able to form Voltron until you were in the heat of battle.”

“Yeah,” Pidge confirmed.

“I’m listening,” Lance said, glancing up.

“You’re right.” Shiro nodded.

“Yeah, I guess,” Keith conceded. His wife—former wife?—was smiling and Keith knew that nothing good ever happened when she wore that smile.

“Perfect. Because I need to run a diagnostic test on all of the castle defenses,” she explained as she tapped something off screen. “This should help!”

The next thing Keith knew, the particle barrier had surrounded the castle and missiles were shooting at the lions. Keith focused on getting Red to move as fast as he could right before the ground exploded right where he had been.

“Okay, go, go!” Lance screamed in panic.

“Allura, what are you doing?” Keith shouted, trying very hard to not lose his shit on his wife. She could handle it, yes, but they’ve only known each other for two days, he doesn’t want to fight with her right away!

“Running a diagnostic test on the castle defenses and inspiring you!” she beamed at him. “I believe in you, paladins! Let fear be your guide! Form Voltron!”

Keith reached out and quickly switched his public comms off, instantly turning his private one with Allura on, thankful that at least Red’s controls were the same as Black’s were.

“Fala, I love you, but you’re going to kill me,” he whispered fiercely, slightly terrified that the others would still overhear. They’d need to discuss this at some point, but dammit, not now!

“You know I’d never do that, Akira,” Allura whispered back, her voice as soft as a juniberry petal. “Trust me, love. When have I ever steered you wrong?”

“Probably just as many times as I’ve done it to you,” Keith admitted. Oh, he very much wanted to throw at least a few names in her face, including ‘Prince Bambara’, but he was more focused on making sure she didn’t kill him first, either physically or figuratively when he returned to the castle.

Allura felt a bit uneasy as she entered the castle’s library, as if she were doing something forbidden. But she wasn’t, not really. This was, after all, her castle and the books she was looking for was her history in every sense of the word.

It just…meant something more now that she could confirm it was hers.

“Your Highness?”

Allura did not jump at the sound of Adam’s voice, but his chuckle at her expense probably left him thinking she had.

“I’m sorry, I just didn’t expect to see you. I thought you were helping our boys train,” he explained, walking towards her with an open, easy posture that reminded Allura so strongly of Sven that her heart ached, even though she knew Shiro was right outside the castle walls.

“I was, but I put them on an auto lock for now while I handle the rest of the diagnostics,” Allura answered.

“And you’re in the library because…?” Adam trailed off, confused. Allura felt her cheeks flush.

“I just…wanted to review some Altean history, is all,” she explained, glancing away. “Keith was also curious so I thought I’d find the earliest records that involve Voltron to go over with him. And besides…this place was one of my favorite hiding spots as a child.”

“I can see why, it’s amazing,” Adam complimented, glancing around.

Allura practically preened at the praise, because it was. The shelves went up to the ceiling and there were several floors too, all filled with books with everything from Altean history to children’s fairy tales. Nanny had read quite a few of those books to her growing up…Allura’s heart ached again with the still too fresh loss, but she brushed it aside.

“So, you said Voltron was used by Altea before?” Adam asked, neatly changing the subject.

“That is correct.” Allura nodded, heading to the section in question. “From what I remember, there was a time when Altea almost fell to the old Galran Empire. Thanks to Voltron, not only did it survive, but it was led to a time of prosperity under the rule of Queen Fala and King Akira.”

“Akira?” Adam repeated, looking surprised.

“Yes. Why, is it an unusual name?” Allura asked, trying to keep her mask of calm up even as her heart rate tripled in her chest. Had she just exposed both herself and Keith before they could even discuss it with the other paladins?

“No, it’s just…that’s Keith’s birth name,” Adam explained, shrugging lightly as he took the books Allura pulled from the shelves to her gratitude. “Most Americans mess up the pronunciation, similar to Takashi’s name too, so he goes by ‘Keith’ instead. I’m just surprised to hear an Earth name is all.”

“I should expect it to sound like an Earth name,” Allura chuckled, a bit nervous as she climbed back down the ladder to meet Adam. “King Akira was an earthling, after all. For all that our two planets are—I mean, were far apart, our history is quite tied together.”

“It’s interesting, isn’t it? All the things you can learn about this sort of stuff when you really look for it,” Adam commented.

“Indeed it is,” Allura agreed. It seemed she had dodged the connection between herself and Keith and Fala and Akira well enough for now. Now she simply had to keep it up for a bit longer.

Lance was pretty sure he had never felt so miserable following a training session in his life, and that’s including all the failed simulators too! He laid collapsed on the couch in the castle’s lounge, Hunk near his head and Keith near his feet with Pidge next to Keith. And for all that Lance could reach out to them in that moment, it felt like they were a million miles away.

He just couldn’t understand why that bugged him so much. It was similar to how he felt before his parents told him he was adopted, as if no matter how much he felt he belonged there was just something a bit off about how he understood the world.

And of course, that was the moment Allura, Coran and Adam entered the lounge, talking about logistics of the castle.

“You did it! You formed Voltron!” Allura cried as she no doubt realized the paladins were inside the castle.

“No. The shooting stopped and the particle barrier shut down, so we just flew in,” Keith corrected. Lance was unsure if he was grateful for honesty or if he wanted to kick Keith in the side for making the bright smile on Allura’s face fall.

“What?” Allura demanded, her voice flat.

“Oh, right. Sorry, Princess,” Coran apologized sheepishly. “I had to turn off the castle defenses to test the fire suppressors.”

“I mean…that’s just as important as outside defense.” Adam shrugged, somehow ignoring the princess’ glare as he came to sit between Keith and Lance.

Before anything else could be said, however, the door on the other side of the lounge opened as Shiro stepped inside.

“What are you guys doing in here? We’re not taking a break,” he scolded, hands on his hips as if he were a dad. The whole scene felt as if it were tinted with a weird nostalgia, as if the image Lance had been picturing was slightly tilted to the left.

“Shiro’s right. You should be training,” Allura insisted.

“We’ve been training. When are we going back to Earth?” Hunk whined.

“I’m not going back until I find my family,” Pidge argued, leaning forward almost petulantly.

“Guys, there won’t be an Earth if we don’t figure out how to fight Zarkon,” Shiro reminded them.

“How are we going to fight?” Lance demanded, finally sitting up. “We can’t even figure out how to form Voltron.”

“Well, I’m not surprised,” Coran commented lightly. “You know, the original paladins fought hundreds of battles together, side-by-side. They were like a pack of yalmors linked at the ears.”

“Wow. Yeah, that’s definitely not us,” Lance scoffed, falling lazily back onto the couch.

“Chief! Can you hear me? This is Hiroshi, pick up!”

“I’m here. What’s wrong?”

“As if anything’s right now. I’m completely surrounded!”

“What?”

“Hey, Shorty, hang in there! We’re gonna come save you! Shorty!”

An explosion and a far too familiar scream.

“What happened? Respond, Hiroshi!”

“We’ve been cut off!”

“What?”

“Hiroshi!”

“Please, deploy Voltron!”

Lance roughly shook his head, forcing the far too familiar voices and the desperation which had been grating under his skin away. It wasn’t real, whatever the hell that was, it wasn’t real.

“During the last attack, your survival instincts forced you to work as a team, but that will only get you so far,” Coran elaborated, his voice jarring Lance from his hallucinations. “You’ll have to become a real team to have any chance of forming Voltron and then beating Zarkon next time. You should try working out on the training deck.”

“There’s a training deck?” Hunk repeated. Honestly, Lance agreed, why the hell hadn’t they heard about that sooner?

Adam had to admit, Coran’s training methods may seem strange at first glance, but he could see where they would benefit the boys.

That is…if they actually managed to complete any of them.

But unfortunately, this was a raggedy group of selfish boys who never learned to be a team, so Adam was left focusing on the injuries they gave each other instead.

Thankfully, their armor protected them for the most part, but he still checked them all for any concussions or worse.

“Adam, I’m fine,” Pidge huffed as Adam looked him over following the first exercise.

“You fell through who knows how many feet in a free fall, as soon as I make sure you didn’t break an ankle, you’ll be fine,” Adam huffed.

“Sorry, Pidge…” Hunk apologized sheepishly. His exam had been much shorter since he’d landed pretty well all things considered. Pidge, however, had buckled as soon as his feet touched the floor.

“It’s fine, Hunk,” Pidge sighed, relaxing a bit. “I’m fine, promise.”

Adam had raised an eyebrow at that, but otherwise remained silent, focusing on making sure Pidge was actually fine, before he moved on to Keith, Lance and Shiro.

The second exercise had involved…probably far too much electricity for Adam’s taste in an otherwise invisible maze, especially since Lance and Keith were paired up first.

“I swear he did that entirely on purpose!” Lance pouted as Adam examined him for any burns. “He just wanted to make me look back cause I’ve been showing him up so much.”

“It’s not my fault you don’t listen!” Keith scoffed from his side of the room.

“You said two steps forward!” Lance cried.

“Before you got turned around like an idiot!” Keith countered.

“Children!” Adam shouted, cutting both of them off as he glared at them. “I understand it has been an adrenaline and stress filled few days, but if you keep this up, I will join Coran in forcing the two of you to spend every waking moment together until you get along. Understood?”

“Yes,” Lance and Keith answered in unison. It was only when he heard them both speak Spanish that Adam realized he’d slipped into it himself while he was scolding them.

Honestly, he couldn’t be blamed for laughing at the two of them in that moment, it was just so ridiculous. Maybe it wasn’t the fact that they hated each other.

Maybe, just maybe, both Keith and Lance realized they were far too similar for their own good.

“How the hell do you know Spanish?” Lance questioned, baffled.

“I learned it from him.” Keith shrugged, gesturing towards Adam. He looked a bit embarrassed which was honestly even better in Adam’s opinion.

“Geez, you really are his and Shiro’s kid,” Lance mumbled, still looking completely shocked at this turn of events.

Adam, truly, had no other option than to laugh even harder.

When Coran practically tricked them all into performing a nose dive training exercise blind, Shiro had spent probably a few seconds frozen before he was able to do anything.

He could hear the others freaking out, Hunk especially, and then Keith and Lance bickering like they always were. But if he was going to do this correctly, Shiro knew that he couldn’t focus on the others.

If he did, he’d start worrying too much and crash into the ground. Adam would definitely kill him if he did that.

So instead, once he got his bearings, he closed his eyes and…felt for Black within his mind.

Everything became quiet as Shiro did that and for a few precious moments, it was as if he was floating in space itself, all alone with the vastness of the stars and planets he didn’t know the names of around him.

“Takashi…”

He felt, then, as a piece of himself he hadn’t been aware of until that moment slid into place. And then…he could see it.

He could see the canyon as he flew down into it, approaching the ground at a steady speed until…now!

He pulled up, flying straight through the floor of the canyon, dodging rock formations with almost an ease.

“I think I’m getting this…” he said or thought or growled. He couldn’t tell anymore just who he was, where he ended and where the lion began. Or perhaps neither of them had ever simply been two.

Perhaps they were always meant to be one.

“Excellent, Shiro!”

“Finally, some progress! Now, as for the rest of you…Keith, Lance, get your asses back in my infirmary!”

Pidge had been all right with most of Coran’s training methods. Sure, they were unorthodox, but she could deal with it since this whole situation was unorthodox.

But this one…this one was too much. Because the last thing she wanted was for any of these guys to be rooting around in her mind, finding her secrets and using them against her.

So even as Coran honestly encouraged them, Pidge couldn’t bring herself to open her mind entirely, to expose the truth of who she was to these…these strangers who just wouldn’t understand.

“Pidge, stop thinking of your girlfriend!” Keith scolded harshly, which felt both typical and atypical in a way Pidge was not ready to describe yet.

“I wasn’t! Hunk was rooting around in my head!” Pidge protested, glaring at her friend.

“I thought we were open. You can look in my head hole,” Hunk offered, as if it were that easy, as if Pidge’s mind, her secrets, weren’t something detrimental to everything she’d worked towards.

“Everyone has to be able to look in everyone’s head holes!” Coran scolded. “Clear your minds!”

Pidge let out a small sigh under her breath as they all tried again. This time, Green came to her easily.

“Good! Almost there!” Coran encouraged. “Now, form Voltron.” It was working. Blue and Yellow formed the legs, Red the right arm to Black’s body. “Yes!”

But just as Green connected as the left arm, Pidge’s mind turned fuzzy and Green vanished, replaced with her own memory.

“Pidge!” Lance whined.

“I’m done with this!” Pidge shouted, ripping the head piece off and throwing it onto the floor. “Look, I don’t like everyone grubbing around in my head!”

“Oh, come on, Pidge, we’re starting to get the hang of this,” Shiro protested, his voice too soft and too like Matt’s for Pidge to be comforted by in that moment. But even still, she deflated, feeling bad for shouting when they were just trying to work together.

“I’m just…I’m just tired, okay?” she sighed.

“Okay. Let’s take a break,” Shiro conceded and Pidge would have hugged him if she could have. Her mind was too frazzled right now to focus the way she needed it to and if they kept up this exercise specifically for much longer, she’d blow her own secret and ruin everything.

“What are you doing lying around? You’re supposed to be training!” Allura scolded as she entered the training deck only to find the paladins on a break.

“Just resting a bit. You know, you can’t push too hard,” Coran explained. Allura’s eyes, however, were focused on her husband as Keith very dramatically lifted his water to his mouth and began to drink.

“They’d all sooner kill each other if they kept this up,” Adam added, glaring at Keith and Lance himself. Not that Allura blamed him, considering the parts of the training she had seen.

Just what had occurred in this life to cause the friendship and trust she remembered between Akira and Isamu to become…this?

“What do you mean ‘can’t push too hard’?” Allura demanded, glaring at them all now, even if her gaze kept returning to Keith almost involuntarily. “Get up, you lazy lumps! It’s time you faced the Gladiator!”

Once everything was set up, Allura watched the five paladins with calculating eyes, far too aware of Adam’s assessing gaze on her. Even with Coran telling them that the five of them must fight as one, they weren’t focused on that and instead took turns going after the Gladiator.

Allura watched carefully, studying the openings they all left in their defenses which someone else could have reasonably closed had they been working as a team. The only successful moment of teamwork she had seen was when Shiro had frozen before attacking the Gladiator only for Keith to block the strike which had been meant for him.

Allura felt frozen where she stood then, remembering the last time Sven had been left to fight by himself. She could see the same memory in Keith’s own eyes, except it was no doubt worse for him because he had been a witness to it while she had only seen the aftermath.

They had almost lost Sven that day. To this day, she didn’t know what would have happened if they had actually lost him in that moment.

But the moment was broken as the Gladiator broke away from Keith’s hold and then quickly took down both him and Shiro before powering down. Allura took a deep breath before she marched into the center of the training deck.

“That combat simulator was set at a level fit for an Altean child!” she cried, glaring down at the paladins in abject disappointment. “You’re not even close to working as a team, let alone ready to face Zarkon.”

Keith loved his wife, he did. He may need to remind himself of that every once in a while, but he did love his wife.

It was because he loved her that he was both extremely hurt and extremely fucking annoyed with how she was acting. It got even worse when she joined them for lunch for Coran’s final bonding exercise, with the paladins handcuffed together and forced to try and feed each other if they wanted to actually eat.

Keith wasn’t surprised when they all began to bicker amongst themselves as they struggled to figure out how the hell to even do this, but Allura’s quickly threading patience was not helping!

“Do earthlings ever stop complaining?” she scowled.

“Can’t you just give us a break? Everyone’s been working really hard today,” Shiro reasoned, obviously growing frustrated as well. Keith was almost surprised at how quicky he was feeling the stress too, considering Sven had been well known for rarely losing his cool, even when he was too injured to even move.

“Yeah! We’re not some prisoners for you to toy with like…like…” Keith trailed off.

“Like a bunch of toy prisoners!” Lance cried, pointing at the princess.

“Yes! Thank you, Lance!” Keith nodded at his second-in-command, grateful for the help.

“You do not yell at the princess!” Coran scolded, glaring at Keith now.

“Oh, the princess of what?” Pidge scoffed. “We’re the only ones out here and she’s no princess of ours!”

In the next second, food goo slapped Pidge in the face, leaving Keith blinking at Allura, who glared at them with her fork raised from having thrown the goo with deadly aim.

“Oh brother,” Adam sighed.

“Go loose, Pidge!” Keith shouted as he took his own plate and flicked it towards Allura. The princess, who clearly hadn’t been expecting that, flinched right before Coran jumped in front of her, using a towel as a shield to protect her before he took a large soup spoon full of goo and flung it at the paladins, covering all of them.

“Welp, you’ve done it now,” Adam laughed this time, ducking under the table.

“Oh, it’s on now,” Hunk smirked. He plopped his face straight into the goo and gobbled a bunch of it up before he straightened and spit it directly at Allura and Coran, covering them in the goo.

From then, it was war.

The paladins flung goo at the Alteans who flung their own right back, Adam shouting random scores under the table like some sort of referee to a game only he knew the rules to.

Keith couldn’t remember having so much fun in ages by the time they all finally calmed down, Allura collapsing into the one still standing chair on her and Coran’s side while Adam at last crawled out from under the table.

He shared a look with his fellow paladins and couldn’t help the laughter he let out, just like the rest of them. For a moment, it was as if they were back in their first life, laughing at something so stupid and just…being friends. It was nice.

“Enough! Do you see what you’re doing?” Allura demanded, cutting their laughter off. The paladins froze as they stared at her, only for the princess to raise her head, revealing the bright smile that Keith was more than willing to die for. “You’re finally working together as one!”

“Hey, she’s right!” Keith grinned, turning to Lance. For probably the first time in this life, Lance actually smiled back at him.

“I actually don’t hate you right now,” he admitted.

“You guys thinking what I’m thinking?” Hunk grinned.

“Let’s go form Voltron!” Shiro declared, smiling the brightest of them all.

“Yeah!” the four of them all shouted in agreement.

“Actually, I was thinking dessert. But yeah! Let’s do it!” Hunk cheered.

“If you form Voltron, I’ll figure out how to make my mom’s chocolate cake,” Adam offered with an indulgent sigh.

“Ooh, deal!” Hunk beamed, looking far happier at the prospect of food than of forming Voltron like they’d been trying to do all day.

But somehow, even that couldn’t kill Keith’s high and he found himself laughing instead. Coran took their handcuffs off while he was laughing and with bright smiles, the five of them ran off to their elevators to head to their lions.

It barely took them a minute this time. As soon as they were flying through the air, the five lions came together and before Keith knew it, he was staring at the sky from Voltron’s hand.

And as he stared down at Allura, Adam and Coran, he knew without a doubt that his wife was bragging that she did exactly what she set out to achieve.

God, but did he love her.

Of course, considering Hunk later said the exact same thing to him and Lance while hugging the two of them, that also could have been the G-forces talking.

“Keith,” Allura called out, stopping him right before he went into his bedroom. She was so glad that he turned to her instantly, no trace of the anger he’d worn earlier that same day. “I have those books you were asking about earlier.”

“Pffft! Books? What a nerd,” Lance laughed, though it didn’t feel nearly as mean spirited as it had earlier to Allura’s ears.

“You’re all free to borrow them if you wish, the castle’s library has quite a lot,” Allura offered easily. She could play politics just fine, even with someone like Lance who sputtered at her reply.

“It’s true, it’s amazing,” Adam agreed, smiling at her. He stood beside Shiro, the black paladin’s arm wrapped around his waist.

“We’ll have to check it out together then. I’m sure you’ll find plenty of new books to crowd our beside table,” Shiro chuckled, which only caused Adam to punch him in the shoulder. Allura smiled at them, happy in the face of their happiness.

“Don’t wait up for me, I’ll catch you tomorrow,” Keith called out as he began to follow Allura.

“What happened to ‘as soon as I touch my pillow it’s gonna be lights out’?” Lance asked, a bit of a mocking tone to his voice.

“Why else would I be collecting them now?” Keith quipped sarcastically a second before the two of them turned the corner, leaving the paladins behind.

As soon as they were free from prying eyes, Allura allowed herself the indulgence of intertwining her fingers with Keith’s, pulling him  along behind her easily. Once they reached her room, she let go only to replace her hand with the first of the books, watching as Keith swallowed upon reading the title.

Allura knew all too well what it said and she smiled as she said it aloud.

“King Akira the Lionheart, it has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?” she asked. Keith flushed under her words, always so shy when it came to praise for his own political career. “Oh come on, it’s not that bad. They actually got a pretty decent grasp of your history prior to coming to Altea.”

“Allura…” Keith trailed off, looking uncertain of what to say. But even with having spent most of her life this time without him, she could still read him all too easily. Allura stepped closer to Keith, lowering the book so it hung between them and gently cupped his cheek with her hand.

“I know how terrifying this is,” she whispered. “And I understand just how quiznack overwhelming it is, thinking about all you have to live up to from our last lives. But Keith, I don’t want you to be the Akira I remember. I simply want you, my Keith, my Akira, in whatever way that you want it. The books are more so to help you remember what you were capable of then and what I believe you are capable of now. I grabbed my own books too.”

“Let me see,” Keith insisted, a teasing smile pulling at his lips. Allura wanted to stop him, to protest, but fair was fair and the two of them had always played fair. Besides, it was pretty easy to find the book in question. “Queen Fala the Gentle…okay, if that’s all they remember you for, I’m offended on both your behalf and Blue’s.”

“Now you’re just being dramatic,” Allura chuckled. She stepped closer to Keith and he easily opened his arms for her, allowing her to bury her face in his neck.

“Ugh, we got so much goo in your hair…if Nanny could see you right now, she’d kill us,” Keith gagged, carefully running his fingers through her hair in an attempt to untangle it.

“Oh most certainly,” Allura chuckled, her heart aching as she remembered her dear nanny. “She would have bench pressed you the instant you yelled at me, let alone what she would have said to Pidge.”

His grip tightened on her then, surprising Allura.

“You know it’s not true, right?” he whispered in her ear, causing her to shiver. “Even if Altea is gone, you’re still a princess. You’ll always be my princess until the day you become my queen.”

Tears burned in Allura’s eyes, ones she had refused to let show earlier when Pidge had declared her to not be the paladins’ princess. Even if that was true, that didn’t mean she was a princess of nowhere and no one.

Until the end of her days, she was Princess of Altea, to Coran and Keith if to nobody else. And that…that was enough.

“Help me wash my hair?” she requested aloud, smiling up at Keith to show her gratitude, even if she couldn’t voice it just yet.

“Sure,” Keith laughed, squeezing her tightly. “I’ll even try to braid it for you, see if my skills crossed lifetimes.”

They didn’t, but Allura still enjoyed the time she spent with Keith that night, even as she undid all the hard work he put into braiding her hair. She preferred not waking up to a tangled mess, after all.