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Blue was the color of the sky on a warm day.
It was the color of crystal clear waters along a white sand beach waves lapping gently at the shore.
And it was the color of Lance’s eyes when he held Keith’s hand and told him he loved him and that he was family, something he never had before, and told him he protected his family.
If only Keith had realized.
It was halfway through a battle with the Galra, when it happened. It had been a surprise attack on the castle, which although they had prepared for, left them thoroughly surprised due to the Galra putting down almost all of the castle’s defense systems.
Keith had been in the training room when it happened. The bot had suddenly gone limp, only to be replaced with red, flashing sirens and blaring alarms. It had only been a few seconds when seven Galra soldiers came pouring in through the doors. But Keith was ready, catching the first one with a quick slash across the chest, sending it crashing to the floor.
It was a bloodbath after that. Keith was lost in a flurry of slashes, jabs, and dodges. He felt a blast brush past his arm from one he hadn’t quite managed to dodge, and he knew it had left a major burn on his bicep, but he couldn’t even feel it.
He was quickly delving into a mode which Lance had lovingly named “Scary Keith”, where he was so pumped full of adrenaline that pain was almost an unknown concept to him, and he was filled with an almost consuming need to battle. Keith was basically unstoppable in this mood although they usually only lasted a few minutes.
And because of that it was almost no trouble killing the rest of the soldiers, and Keith felt no remorse as he cut the last one down with a quick stab in the gut. He was about to clean his bayard off when he heard a frantic voice echoing down the corridor on the other side of the door.
“Keith!?”
Keith watched as Lance came skidding down the hallway before screeching to a stop at the doors. Lance’s expression melted from worried into relief.
“You’re fine,” Lance let out a sigh, his entire body slackening.
Keith raised an eyebrow.
“Why wouldn’t I be fine?” He asked, letting out a snort.
Lance’s eyes hardened.
“Oh I don’t know maybe it’s the fact that you had to be Mr. Angsty Mcangsterton and train all by yourself even though Shiro’s been telling us to work in pairs, basically leaving yourself vulnerable and alone in the middle of an attack!” Lance crossed his arms and refused to meet Keith’s gaze.
Keith could feel himself soften. Lance had clearly been worrying about him, although the stubborn idiot wouldn’t admit it. Keith was stepping towards Lance, when Lance looked up at him.
Keith watched as Lance scanned his face before catching something behind him, his eyes widening. Keith turned around just as the last Galra soldier had thought he had killed raised a blaster with the last of its strength right at him.
Keith barely had time to think before he saw a flash of brown in front of him and he sound of the blaster going off.
He watched in horror as he saw Lance collapsing in front of him, a loud thunk sounding out as his body hit the ground.
“Lance!” Keith kneeled on the ground, turning Lance over and pulling him onto his lap. Lance had pressed his hand up against the large wound on his chest, blood welling up through his fingers.
Keith stared as a red patch seemed to blossom on Lance’s shirt and blood just endlessly dripped between Lance’s fingers.
It looked fatal, not even the healing pods could fix this.
“Fuck, no Lance”
Before he realized it he had covered Lance’s hand with his own, red staining both their hands, as his other went to cup Lance’s cheek and pull their foreheads together.
“You fucking idiot, why would you do that?” Keith asked roughly, his voice cracking from the unshed tears.
Lance let out a weak chuckle.
“I said I protect my family didn’t I?” He whispered giving Keith a small smile. As if Keith’s heart could’ve broken anymore.
It was all his fault.
Him and his stupid need to train alone, even though Shiro had told him multiple times that it was always better to stick around in pairs.
It was his fault for not checking to see if every soldier was actually down.
It was his fault for Lance even being here in the first place.
And now Lance, stupid, idiotic, beautiful, Lance was dying in his arms.
And it was his fault.
He hadn’t even known he was crying, till a shaking hand gently brushed his face.
“Hey, hey it’s okay mi amor, at least now I get to die in your arms right?” Lance said obviously trying to cheer him up, his signature grin weak on his face
Keith let out a wet laugh, because of course this selfless asshole only thought about others even as he lay dying.
He leaned in closer and brushed his lips against Lance’s, once, twice, before he just fully gave in and dove into the kiss. He tried to say so much with every touch their lips, all the emotions he couldn’t express.
Keith finally stopped when the metallic tang in Lance’s mouth got to be too much and he pulled back wiping at his mouth, sickened when he saw Lance’s blood.
Keith didn’t know what to say, so he said nothing, instead taking time to press Lance closer to him, forehead to forehead.. He could steadily feel Lance’s breaths getting weaker and weaker. Keith couldn’t help but let out a muffled sob.
“Hey Keith,” Lance’s voice said weakly. “We had a good run didn’t we?”
Keith attempted to smile.
“The best.” He responded, voice cracking.
Lance raised his hand and gently entwined their fingers.
“Te amo”
“I love you too” Keith whispered back.
Lance’s hand went limp in his.
No.
This was when everything he had been storing up came rushing out in a wave of anguish.
No, oh god no please
I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry Lance.
Please don’t leave me.
We’re family, you asshole, that’s what you said
I love you.
And god there was so much red, it covered both him and Lance. His hands stained red with Lance’s blood.
Red seemed to be everywhere and for the first time in his life he hated it with every ounce of his being.
He heard a quietly muttered ‘shit’ a few minutes later as the rest of the team found them, Keith’s body curled over Lance’s, quietly sobbing, muttering apologies under his breath.
They only managed to get Keith off of Lance by sheer force, and when Lance’s body disappeared from sight, Keith went on full “Scary Keith” mode. He got rid of the rest of the Galra onboard, his rage fueling his every action until there was no more Galra left on board.
And when he finally came down from his high and looked at his hands, he let out a hysterical laugh.
Purple skin and fur, greeted his eyes.