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It was supposed to be a fun party, a celebration for Team Voltron’s victories against the Galra Ship and the giant robot monster. The local Arusians were all gathered in the castle and refreshments floated around as the people mingled. It was supposedly happy, but it was also bittersweet. Today they would party, but tomorrow the team would have to leave to continue the war against Zarkon and his tyrannous hold on the universe.
Lance gulped down his glass of Nunvill and immediately regretted it. Shaking off the overwhelming disgust as Keith and Hunk stared in worried confusion over his reaction, Lance gagged and frowned. Once the worst of it was gone, Lance spoke his mind.
“I guess we should get used to this space juice. Who knows when we’ll get back home again?”
Hunk immediately returns a half thought-out “Yeah, if ever,” while frowning and sloshing his own drink around the glass.
“What do you mean?” Lance responds, totally oblivious to the full reality of their situation.
“I mean, if this Zarkon guy has been ruling for 10,000 years, how long do you think it will take for us to fix it? You know, if we live.”
“Right. That.” A cold, paralyzing realization comes to Lance at the thought. He never had a chance to fully process the amount of danger was involved in this task; how could he when he hasn’t had a moments rest in days? Still, Lance can’t imagine that they would be stuck in space forever!
We will get home eventually; we have to, right?
Hunk, not realizing Lance’s sadness—or maybe trying to change the subject to a more lighthearted topic—says to Lance, “Hey, what do you think the chances are of us landing on a nacho planet?”
Smiling again, Lance reminisces about his home planet: “Well, there’s only one planet with Veradera Beach, pizza shack looking over the water and garlic knots and my mom’s hugs…”
As Lance mentions his mom, he registers the fact that he might not ever see his family and his home again. This thought makes him sad all over again.
Sniffling, Lance mumbles an excuse—“I’m sorry. I think this Nunvill is getting to me. I gotta go”—as he pushes past to get some air and collect himself. He walks past Hunk, the Arusians, Coran, and up the stairs to the observation deck.
Coran watches with a concerned expression as Lance leaves the crowded room.
Alone on the observation deck, Lance rests with his face on his fist, finally meditating on their situation. He sits with a sullen expression as he realizes everything he ever knew and loved is inexplicably far away from him. Just then, Coran breaks the silence.
“Mind if I join you?” Coran states as he hops down from the platform.
Lance lifts his head slightly and asks Coran, “How far away from Earth do you think we are, Coran?”
Moving towards the controls, Coran says “Let’s take a look.” There is a slight pause as he turns on the display; then, “Earth is over here. And we’re all…” he continues his elongated “all” for a few seconds, “… the way over…” he drags on as he continues scrolling to their current location. Lance watches as it sinks in that he is impossibly far from Earth, eyebrows raising with the realization.
Before Coran could finish scrolling, Lance interrupts. “You ever notice how far the planets are from each other, Coran?”
Still scrolling, Coran replies “Yes. Haven’t you been paying attention?”
“Yeah, but I mean, like, they’re really, really far away. Like, say, Earth. It’s so far, I can’t even see it. The… The blue oceans, the white clouds, green grass… I—. I—. I—. I can’t see any of it.”
Coran watches Lance with an understanding and melancholy look. “You miss Earth. I understand. I miss Altea.” Coran says as he moves a hand to Lance’s back in a comforting manner.
Honestly, the way they both felt… The utter despair of knowing everything they loved is so far out of their reach—they lost everything, but they were still expected to fight.
“I know we’re supposed to be brave paladins and Defenders of the Universe or whatever, but, honestly, I just want to go home.” Lance enunciates with hand gestures until he slumps down as he confesses his desire to be home again.
“If I could go home, I would.” Coran sympathizes, also turning his head down. They stare down at the floor and reminisce about the places they called home.
“I miss rain and splashing in puddles,” Lance chuckles at some unknown memories.
“Rain?” Coran asks, not understanding.
Lance happily explains, “Yeah. It’s water that falls from the sky.”
“Oh, we had that on Altea,” Coran states. “Only, it wasn’t water, more like rocks. Razor-sharp and boiling-hot. Oh, they could knock a hole right in your head.” Coran laughs at his own memories of Altean rain.
Disbelieving, Lance says “Sounds fun,” half sarcastically.
“Yeah,” sighs Coran as they fall into a comfortable silence as they think about their homes.
Feeling better, they decide they should get back to the party. Lance smiles on his way out, even waving to Rover as the robot flies into the room.
“Hey, Rover,” Lance greets as he continues walking. However, as his eyes follow the robot who was speeding by, he realized more and more that something wasn’t right. He stops walking as he realizes what was odd about seeing Rover. “Wait. Where’s Pidge?” Lance turns towards the imposter robot as it got ready to detonate against the crystal. Lance gasps and lunges for the unsuspecting Coran, knocking him down and out of the way of the blast. “Coran, look out!” Lance yells as the bomb explodes, ringing in their ears and shaking the castle as the power goes out.
The Arusians panic as the castle is hit by the explosion. The paladins and Allura turn toward the blast as the Arusians run away and the castle loses power. Once the team gets to the control room, Coran is already gaining consciousness and sitting up. The paladins cough as they enter the smoke-filled room, rushing to Coran to steady him while asking “What happened?”
Slightly injured and in pain, Coran groans out, “I’m not sure.”
The smoke clears away and Allura gasps, noticing the state of the control room. “The crystal!” She walks towards it until she notices something else. “Lance!”
Shiro runs towards Lance and lifts his upper body. “Lance? Lance!” However, Lance’s eyes remain closed and all he can do is groan in pain in his semi-conscious state.
He looks worse for the wear and Pidge looks concerned, saying “We have to get Lance to the infirmary!”
“Without the crystal, the Castle has no power.” Allura points out.
Still holding Lance, Shiro stares down. “He doesn’t look good.”
The Arusian ruler runs in, telling them of the attack. Everyone moves out in different directions as Sendak moves in.
Lance stays unconscious for Sendak taking over the castle and the mice lifting the barrier Sendak placed on the castle as Pidge messes with the castle defenses.
The world around me… I hear this metallic screeching and there is this odd pressure in my ears. My body feels so light, but it is so heavy that I can’t move. Where am I? What is happening?
The world becomes nothing but a bright light. Lance remembers the explosion and jumping after Coran. He remembers the Arusians, the party, Earth. How he wanted to go back to Earth. How he was tired of fighting as a paladin of Voltron.
Voltron! The other paladins! Keith! Is everyone alright? Is Coran alright? I hope he was far enough away from the blast.
My body feels so heavy. It’s hard to move… I can’t even open my eyes… but it is so bright. I kind of want to stop fighting and just rest.
But, Voltron! The team needs me! They need me… Don’t they?
Did they ever need me?
I… Maybe they never did need me. All I did was cause trouble for Hunk, and I was never as good as Keith. Keith never even looked twice at me. He didn’t even remember me. How can I say the team needs me when I have done nothing but hold them back?
Shiro? He sounds like he is fighting against someone, but I can’t really tell. He sounds so far away.
Lance feels his body being lifted forcefully and dropped roughly onto the floor.
What is happening? Am I dying? Am I already dead? No, I can’t be dead since I can still feel my body. It hurts so much, like I am encased by a suffocating pressure.
Lance struggles to keep thinking, fearing he might not come back if he lets go now. To keep himself occupied, he thinks of why he should keep fighting to survive.
How could I let this happen? My parents will worry about me. My little sister… Who will help take care of everyone if I am gone?
But…. I am gone. For all they know, I could be dead already. I may never get home again, even if we do defeat Zarkon.
That’s another thing. I am one of five paladins, chosen to defend the universe. I can’t die here. I’m part of a team—a team that needs me.
Am I needed? Are we really a team?
Does Keith even care?
I don’t get what Keith’s deal is. If he just stopped acting like he was better than everyone, maybe we could actually work together. He won’t even look at me unless it is to look down on me and laugh. God, I want to punch him in his stupid, pretty face. How can he even look that great with that stupid mullet? He has a mullet! Who has a mullet these days? But… Maybe it is partly my fault that we don’t get along. I guess I should have been more cooperative, but he just really gets me mad! I just want to show him that he isn’t so great; that I can be just as good as, if not better than, him. But, I want to work with him. I want us to be a real team. Keith and Lance. Lance and Keith. Not just rivals, but friends; teammates. We could be great together. I know it.
Yeah. Yeah! Let’s do it! I have stuff to do; I can’t just give up now! I have a universe to save, people to protect. Someone has to make sure Earth stays safe from Zarkon, and who better to do that than me?
Nobody, that’s who!
The sound of fighting rings through the fog.
What is that? Is someone fighting? Pidge? Is that Pidge? Pidge needs help! I have to do something!
Keith and Allura rush into the room as Sendak fights with Pidge. Sendak grabs Pidge, and Pidge groans and struggles to get out of Sendak’s grip. Adrenaline rushes through Lance as he hears Pidge’s struggle. He fights his way to consciousness and shoots at Sendak. Sendak drops Pidge as the shot connects with his back. Once Lance sees that Pidge is safe again, the adrenaline wears off and he faints again.
After Sendak is detained, Lance sits awake. Keith checks up on Lance, giving him his hand as he says, “Lance, are you okay?” Keith kneels down and pulls Lance up to a sitting position, but Lance makes no move to get up further. Instead, Lance just keeps his hold on Keith’s hand and smiles at Keith. “We did it. We are a good team.” Keith smiles back at Lance, content to just let Lance rest and hold his hand.
Lance smiles again as he falls unconscious in the healing pod. Yeah. We really are a good team, aren’t we?