Archive of Our Own

Work Text

Keith sat alone in his bedroom in the Garrison dorms, playing a video game he’d borrowed from Pidge. He heard a soft knock on the door. “Hello?”“Hey Keith!” Lance opened the door. “Just you here? Great! I wanted to talk to you real quick - just you and me, one-on-one, y’know?” Lance said nervously, stepping into Keith’s bedroom. “What do you want to talk about?” Keith asked, sitting up on his bed and closing the handheld video game console. “Just - uh - you know. Feelings and stuff.” “Sounds gay, but okay.” Lance laughed, crossing his arms as he leaned uncomfortably against the doorframe. “Remember that time, like, years ago…when we first formed Voltron, and we had that fight with Sendak - and I shot him and it was really cool - and we had a bonding moment?” “No,” said Keith. Lance laughed again. Keith did not understand why Lance was laughing, because he was not joking. “Before then, I’d thought I hated you...then in that moment, I realized what I was really feeling. But I wasn’t ready to think about that yet...I mean, there was a whole space war going on…Everything was new…I just couldn’t go there, you know? So that’s why I pretended not to remember, and I apologize for that. But that’s all in the past now, right?” Keith wasn’t sure what Lance’s point was, but he was curious. “Go on.” Lance sat down next to Keith on the bed. Thinking better of this, he moved a few feet away. He looked into Keith’s eyes. “I meant what I said on the game show, man. I think you’re the future. And i know you said you didn’t want to be stuck with me or whatever, but I know it’s no coincidence we both chose each other.” He’s gonna say ‘no homo’ any second now, thought Keith. “And I know we all said things we didn’t mean while we were stuck in space. When you left for the blades, you weren’t just running away. You wanted to make sure I still had a place in Voltron. I can’t believe I didn’t see it at the time. You’ve been looking out for me for a long time. I don’t know why it took me so long to realize it.” Lance reached a hand towards Keith’s, but hesitated and placed his hand next to Keith’s on the bed instead. They were almost touching. “Um. I’m not sure what you’re talking about.” Keith was really confused by Lance’s words, and the look on his face. It was all soft and lovey-dovey. He couldn’t shake the feeling he was missing something crucial here. “I know, I kind of gave you mixed messages before. And I’m sorry. I guess I didn’t think it could possibly work out. But now...we’re back on Earth. We aren’t far from winning this war. We’re going to have a future. And I would love...if we could spend it together.” Lance looked at Keith expectantly, smiling nervously. “Woah.” “Yeah,” Lance said, breaking eye contact. “So you want to like, start a football team, or...” Lance laughed, again. “Keith, you’re hilarious. But seriously. Will you be my boyfriend?” What. Keith blanched. “I’m not gay.“ Lance frowned. “Neither am I?“ “I‘m straight.“ “You’re what now?“ “Lance, I am 100% Heterosexual.“ Lance looked skeptical. “Really? I’m pretty sure you’ve called yourself gay like three or four times. Not that I counted,” He stared at Keith, but Keith did not remember what he was talking about. “Okay, exactly four times actually. I totally counted.” Keith just shook his head. “No, I clearly remember you saying… ” Lance stopped. Frowned. “Oh. I get it. You just don’t like me anymore. You could have just said that.” “Hey, it’s cool bro, we can still be friends.” “God. I’m. Sorry I - I guess I just misinterpreted everything.“ Lance covered his face with his hands. Keith patted Lance’s knee awkwardly. Lance uncovered his face and looked at Keith. Keith looked away, suddenly feeling guilty. Something wasn’t right here. It was like Lance was talking about someone else. He really thought Keith was in love with him? How could he possibly have interpreted their completely platonic relationship that way? They were just guys being dudes! As Keith was lost in his thoughts, Lance had stood up and made his way to the door. “See you around then, I guess,” he said, making Keith look up. “Don’t worry about it, man.” He tried to smile. “Are you okay?” Keith asked. “I’ll be fine,” said Lance. As he stepped out the door, Keith swore he heard him say, “Just can’t believe I’ve been in love with a straight guy this whole time.” Why did Keith feel like he was making a mistake?

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Keith had never been happy about returning to Earth. If anything, he felt dread at the very thought. While the other paladins chatted excitedly over the comms about their families, Keith would listen silently, staring straight ahead through the window at the endless expanse of stars. Earth hadn’t felt like home to Keith since his dad passed away. He’d never felt like he fit in very well with his fellow humans, maybe because of his part-Galra heritage, maybe because he was just antisocial. Part of the reason Keith had wanted to be a pilot was just to get off the damn planet.

When Keith left Earth, there wasn’t anyone to miss him…except Adam. After Keith was accepted into the Garrison, Shiro had insisted Keith spend school breaks with him and his fiancé instead of at the group home. Adam had doted on Keith like a little brother. If there was one thing Keith regretted about leaving Earth, it was the last conversation - or rather confrontation - he’d had with Adam before running away.
 
“Are you looking forward to seeing Adam again?” Shiro had said, resting an arm on Keith’s pilot seat as the Black lion flew through the empty void of space.

“Are you?” Keith responded.

Neither said anything for a moment.

“It’s complicated,” Shiro finally spoke. “I love him, and I want to see him again, but…it’s been a long time. You know we had that big fight before I left. We weren’t really sure if I was going to live long enough to come back. I’m sure he thinks I’m dead now. He’s probably moved on.”

Keith remembered their breakup well. Adam wasn’t the only person who disapproved of Shiro’s decision to spend the rest of his short life in space. By the time the day of the launch arrived, Shiro was not only no longer speaking to Adam, but also his parents and sister, and Keith was the only person there to see Shiro off. Keith hated the situation too, but he didn’t blame Shiro for wanting to get away from the emotional mess his terminal illness had caused. Keith would have done the same in his shoes.

“Shiro, you don’t know this, but… Adam and I had a fight too. After you went missing.”

“What? What happened?”

“I got expelled from the Garrison.”

“You

what

?”

Shiro was probably going to find this out sooner or later, so it might as well come out now.

“I uh - Iverson said something - and I punched him.”
“You punched Iverson?” Shiro covered his face in his hands, clearly trying not to lose it.
“He…He said it was your fault you died, and-”

“Keith! What did I tell you about punching people!?”

“To not…do it?”

“...And you haven’t even told me what happened with Adam yet.”

“Oh…he just got really mad at me for getting expelled-”

“Yeah, I bet he did.”

“-and I was angry at him for not even showing up on Launch Day! He didn’t even care enough to-”

“Keith, I literally told him not to come.”

“What? Why?”

“Cuz I didn’t want him and my family there crying about how much they love me and how much they were gonna miss me, it just would have been more painful to leave.”

“But no one was even talking to you by then?”

“No,

I

wasn’t talking to

them

. Everyone suddenly changed their minds about me leaving about a month before Launch and suddenly supported my decision entirely and wanted to make up. But I wasn’t having it.”

“Wait, so you just cut everyone off except me?”

“Pretty much. I thought if I could make everyone hate me before I left, they wouldn’t be as hurt when I died.”

“That’s a terrible plan. I can’t believe I used to think you were smart.”

“I know, it was stupid and I regret it, but in my defense I was handling the dying thing pretty poorly.”

“Wait…you never cut me off though?”

“I knew you would take it badly no matter what.”

Okay, that was true. After his father’s death, Shiro…hadn’t

replaced

his dad, not by any means, but having Shiro in his life had made the pain of his loss a lot easier to deal with. They were a unusual family by most standards, two men in their twenties and a teenager, but it felt like a family nonetheless. Unfortunately, the sense of security Keith had always had in their household fell apart a few years later, when he found out about Shiro’s diagnosis. Losing Shiro had been hard, to say the least. And while Keith and Adam hadn’t been as close, he still regretted the way he’d lashed out at Adam after Shiro’s presumed death.

When they returned to Earth and found it had been invaded by the Galra, Keith had a sinking feeling about Adam’s fate. As a fighter pilot, Adam would have been on the front lines during an attack. But Keith chose not to look into it. He would fight now and worry later.

Shortly after Sendak’s defeat, Shiro showed Keith the memorial, where Adam’s name and photo appeared among those of hundreds of other victims. They hugged and cried.

Over the next few months, Keith tried not to think about Adam, who had helped him with science projects, taught him what little he knew about cooking, and driven him to piano lessons every week.

One day after flight training, Keith stepped out of the Black Lion and was immediately swept up into the arms of a tall, thin man.

“Hello?”

“Keith, it’s me!” Was that voice…? Keith pulled out of the hug and looked up at the man’s face. He’d lost a lot of weight and was covered in scars, but it was unmistakably him.

“ADAM!?” Keith pulled him into another hug, laughing. “I didn’t even recognise you!”

“I could almost say the same to you! You’ve grown so much.”

“They said you were dead!”

“The Garrison doesn’t know everything.”

“I’m so sorry for everything I said-” Keith started sobbing into Adam’s chest.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. It’s okay, kiddo," He patted Keith's back. "Don’t cry. It’s okay.”

“I told them ‘we should really get parachutes’ like, a million times, but nooo, I was just stupid for thinking parachutes would work in space.”

“But you weren’t fighting in space?”

“EXACTLY!” Adam slammed his fist on the table loud enough to make most of the Garrison cafeteria turn and stare. He took no notice. “Then they told me it ‘wasn’t in the budget’ but Jesus Christ, if they can’t afford a goddam parachute, how the Hell are they making spaceships? It’s like they care more about the fucking planes than the people flying them!”

“You said it, man.”

Adam closed his eyes, took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “It’s fine though. At least we won, right? All the Galra are dead, and the earth is alien free once again.“

“Uh,“ said Keith. He decided to change the subject. "So, what was it like in the human resistance?“

“Well, I wasn’t a big help. I lost my glasses during the crash, so I was almost blind the whole time. Plus, they had to amputate my leg.”

“I was gonna ask about that,” Keith said, recalling the prosthetic he had noticed earlier.

“It could’ve been worse, I guess. I mean, that plane crash almost killed me. I had a whole near-death experience and everything,” Adam leaned forward, lowering his voice. “I even met God. His name is Bob.”

Keith was not sure what to do with that information.

“So...have you seen Shiro yet?” Keith asked. Adam leaned back, adjusting his new Garrison-issued glasses.

"Um, yeah.“

"Are you guys, like, cool?“

"Not sure. I ran away before he could say anything.“

"Why?“

Adam sighed, drumming his fingers on the table. "I don’t know...I’m still mad at him for leaving, which is totally stupid after everything that happened, right? Or at least, I

was

mad. I feel like I should be over him by now but…  Then I actually

saw

him, and… God, he’s got

grey hair

now and he’s still so gorgeous? And he’s got all those battle scars and ripped muscles and-”

“Please stop,” said Keith, a little grossed out.

“Sorry…but anyway, I saw him and it was like all those years I spent trying to forget him didn’t matter. I still love him… But, it has been years since we broke up. I’m sure he’s moved on by now. He’s probably seeing some hot green alien with like, 8 arms or something.“

"He’s really not.“

Adam chuckled sadly. "Even so...I really blew it. The breakup was all my fault. I gave him a stupid ultimatum, and I’ve regretted it ever since. I should have known nothing on Earth could keep Takashi from...leaving Earth.”

Adam looked really sad, and that was making Keith sad. This wasn’t right. Keith had known Shiro for a long time, and he knew he was never happier than when he was with Adam. Keith had to do something about this.
"Man, don’t you realize you’re getting a second chance here?” Adam’s eyes widened as Keith spoke. “You almost got killed by aliens, Shiro got killed by aliens on another planet, and then got unkilled by a different alien in a whole other galaxy, and against all odds, you both made it right back here. Do you realize how astronomically small those odds were? That’s gotta be like...destiny or some shit.“

Adam was staring at Keith, mouth agape. He stared at his empty plate, thinking hard. Then he looked back up at Keith, his expression serious. “You - you think so?” Keith shrugged. Adam tore off his glasses, wiped the dust off them with his jacket sleeve, and placed them back on. “Keith, how do I look?”
“Awful,” said Keith, taking a sip of water.

Adam pushed his chair back and stood up. “Okay, I’m gonna go ask Takashi to marry me.”

Keith nearly choked on his water, coughing into his sleeve as he set his glass down. “What?!

Now?

” he asked hoarsely.

“Why not?” Adam grinned.

“You can’t just - he thought you were dead yesterday!”

“And I thought he was dead for two years. But we’re alive, and we’re both here, so we should get married.”

“Shouldn’t you wait-”

“I missed my first chance to be Takashi Shirogane’s husband. I’m not taking any more chances.”

“What if he says no?”

“Then I’ll move to Mars!” Adam straightened his jacket. “Where is he?”

“In a meeting with the co-presidents of Antarctica,” Keith knew he could not talk him out of this if he wanted to, so he might as well be an enabler. “Meeting Hall E3.”

“Thanks!” Adam was shaking with excitement. Or terror. Who knows? “See you later Keith!” Before Keith could respond, Adam started towards the Cafeteria’s front door, quickly breaking into a run and disappearing from view.

Keith was struck by a sudden feeling of dread.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Guys, oh my God, I just saw the worst proposal

ever

.” Hunk burst into the common room, still dressed in his fancy Garrison diplomat uniform.

Lance and Keith looked up from the card game they had been playing.

Pidge looked up from her laptop. “Weren’t you supposed to be at some meeting with Shiro and the penguins or something?”

“Okay, first of all, calling Antarcticans that is apparently kinda offensive now, second of all, that

is

exactly where I was. I left early because… Well,” Hunk closed the door and sat down next to Pidge on the couch. Lance quickly put all the cards away - he had been losing badly - and joined them. Keith remained sitting on the floor, the feeling of dread having returned from before they’d started playing.

“Okay, so-” Lance and Pidge leaned in eagerly to hear Hunk’s story. “The first hour was like, normal, boring talking about extraterrestrial immigration and stuff. But then this guy bursts into the room, and everyone stops talking and looks at him. He doesn’t say anything, just looks around at everyone like he doesn’t know what he’s doing there, so I asked ‘what’s up?’ and he looked at me, and he saw Shiro next to me, and he almost runs into him, and then he freaking’

goes down on one knee

, and Shiro’s like ‘Adam?’ and then I recognized him - it was Mr. W!”

“Not our old physics teacher Mr. W!” Pidge interjected.

“Oh my God! Shiro’s ex-fiancé!” Lance exclaimed.

“Yes, that Mr. W! He looks way different now - like, yikes. I don’t think he’s cut his hair in years. Anyway,  he starts this speech about soulmates and love or whatever, and Shiro’s looking like he wants to die, and when he gets to the ‘will you marry me?’ part, Shiro just tells him to leave!”

“No!” Lance gasps. Keith feels the guilt as if it were physically weighing him down.

Hunk continued. “He looked ready to cry. I felt morally obligated to do something, so I just grabbed his shoulder and led the poor guy out of there.”

“Where is he now?” Keith spoke up.

Hunk shook his head. “No idea. He said he was going to Mars, though.”

Keith covered his face with his hands and groaned. This was all his fault.

“Keith, you used to live with them, right? What happened?” Asked Lance.

“They broke up before Shiro left-”

“I mean today.”

“Oh. I may have convinced Adam that he and Shiro were destined for each other.”

Pidge laughed. “

You

told him

that

?”

“Look, it’s not my fault! He was so excited to propose to Shiro, how was I supposed to stop him?”

“He chose a pretty bad time,” said Hunk.

Everyone jumped as the door burst open a second time. It was a very distraught Shiro.

“Hunk, there you are! Where’s Adam?”

“Is the meeting over already?” Hunk asked, surprised.

“No. Where’s Adam?” Shiro repeated.

“No idea, man. Hey, do you-” Shiro was already gone, the door left ajar behind him, his hurried footsteps could be heard moving away.

“Haha, yikes,” said Pidge.
“Any news on the Shadam situation?” said Hunk, taking a bite of toast. As was their routine, Hunk, Pidge, Lance, Allura, and Keith were seated around a table in the Garrison cafeteria for breakfast at 0600 hours. None of them were morning people except Keith, but the Garrison had strict limits on when food was available.
“The what?” asked Keith.

“Shiro and Adam. ‘Shadam.’ Get with it, Keith,” said Pidge.

“Oh. No. I couldn’t find Adam at all, and when I saw Shiro at flight training yesterday, all he said was that they ‘had a talk’ and were gonna ‘talk more about it later,’” Keith explained.

“I think it’s really sad,” said Lance. “They used to be so in love.”

“Yeah, they were like, the Galaxy Garrison’s teacher power couple,” said Hunk. “I don’t even remember when they started going out.”

“When they were twelve,” said Keith matter-of-factly.

“What?” said Pidge. “There’s no way they were together since middle school.”

“No, but they dated off and on all through high school, and they went on their first date when they were 12.”

“Dude, that’s crazy. They just kept breaking up and getting back together?” said Pidge.

“Apparently. But once they graduated high school, and got engaged, they were pretty stable.”

“Wait, they got engaged after they graduated? And they still weren’t married all those years later?” asked Hunk.

“Their families didn’t want them to get married so young, so they were going to wait until they were older to have a wedding. But they acted like they were already married. They would celebrate the anniversary of their engagement, and tell me everything I just told you, and a bunch of stories about each other, every. Single. Year.”

“That’s so romantic,” Allura sighed.

“That’s so gross,” said Pidge.

“Yeah,” Keith agreed with them both.

“Wow. That makes yesterday even sadder,” said Hunk. Everyone fell quiet, focused on eating their breakfasts, feeling sorry for the star-crossed lovers.

“Good morning, paladins!” Shiro’s voice said cheerfully. Everyone looked up to see the man hand in hand with none other than Adam. Both men were smiling sheepishly and covered in a frankly ridiculous number of hickies that their neatly ironed uniforms could not conceal. None of the paladins said anything, just stared in awe as the Shiro pulled up a chair for Adam, and then himself. As the two men sat down, Adam draped an arm over Shiro’s shoulder, looking as if he had won the lottery.

Shiro looked around at everyone awkwardly, then back at Adam. “Oh! Have you met everyone here yet? This is Lance, and Hunk, Princess Allura of the planet Altea, you probably remember Pidge, and Keith obviously.”

“Wow, a princess! What’s Altea like?”

“My home planet was destroyed by the Galra 10,000 years ago,” said Allura, trying to smile politely but grimacing.

“Oh, shit, sorry to hear that.”

Lance raised a hand. “Physics 101! Great to see you survived the alien invasion, Mr. W!”

Lance and Adam both laughed. “You can just call me Adam. I don’t teach anymore. And I’m pretty sure you outrank me now, anyway.”

“So… I take it you two are back together?” said Hunk hesitantly.

Adam smirked.

Shiro coughed. “Yep!” he said.

“When’s the big day?” asked Pidge.

“Oh, no! We’re not-” Shiro was flustered. Adam looked away. “We’re not engaged anymore,” Shiro continued. “Or… not yet. We’re gonna wait to get to know each other again before we make any big decisions like that,” Shiro glanced at Adam, “But I do want to get married!” He said hastily. “Just - a lot’s happened.” Adam nodded solemnly.

“No kidding,” said Keith.

Allura was staring at the hickies, confused. “Shiro, I don’t mean to be rude, but are those markings… contagious?”

“Are all these flowers for

me

?” Adam asked, squeezing Shiro’s hand.
 
“No, most of them are for other soldiers - but these are for you,” Shiro picked up a vase full of day-old roses and handed them to Adam.
 
“You brought these here?”
 
“Every day.”
 
“They’re beautiful. Thank you, Takashi,” They kissed briefly. Adam looked around the memorial, reading the names, recognizing too many.
 
“Here’s you,” said Shiro solemnly, pointing out the small name and photo with his robotic hand. Adam walked up to the plaque, tracing his own name with his fingers. Shiro was amazed by the surrealism of the scene. He compared the tiny photo he’d been staring at for weeks to the living, breathing man standing in front of him.

Adam sighed deeply. “They forgot my last name.”
 
“Maybe it wouldn’t fit.”
 
“It’s not

that

long.”
 
“That’s true.”
 
Adam turned around and hugged Shiro. They stayed embraced for a few minutes, saying nothing, just appreciating the other’s presence. When they reluctantly pulled away from each other, Adam said, “Let’s visit your grave next. It’s way better than mine.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“These new uniforms are awesome!” said Lance, admiring himself in the window’s reflection. “Blue is totally my color.”
 
“I don’t get what was wrong with the old ones,” Keith remarked. “Orange was cooler. Like a deer hunter’s cap.”
 
“Everyone keeps telling me I look cute in pink. It’s supposed to look badass….” said Allura.
 
“Wait a minute,” said Keith, looking around at everyone. “Are we a fucking rainbow?”
 
“Oh cool! We almost are! If you replace purple with pink and forget orange…” said Hunk.
 
“Miss me with that gay shit,” said Keith, shrugging off his jacket.
 
“Aw, come on Keith, stop being such a hetero! Besides, red suits you,” Lance smiled.
 
Keith paused. “Really?”
 
“Yeah! No homo, though,” said Lance, having learned this was the only way he could talk to Keith these days without freaking him out, “I mean, ladies love a guy in red. Totally.”
 
His masculinity reaffirmed, Keith pulled his jacket back on and strutted towards the door. Before he left he turned around and asked, “Oh by the way, football practice is on the practice field at 1600. You guys should come.”
 
“Like...American football? I’m more of a soccer guy,” said Lance.
 
“Same, but I’ll come if I have time,” said Hunk.
 
“I would love to learn your Earth sports!” said Allura excitedly.
 
“Uh…” Keith hesitated. “Football is really a

men’s

sport.”
 
Allura gave him a quizzical look.
 
“You know, cuz men are stronger than women. You’d get hurt.”
 
“That’s bullshit and you know it!” said Pidge.
 
“I appreciate your concern, Keith, but I am Altean. I won that weightlifting competition last week. I’m the strongest being here.”
 
Keith crossed his arms. “I can’t play against a girl, it’s just not right! Why don’t you try softball or something?”
 
“Hey, if you’re gonna exclude Allura, you can forget about me joining,” Hunk frowned.
 
“Yeah, same here!” Lance agreed.
 
“Whatever,” Keith scoffed and left.
 
“Oh…okay…I apologize if I insulted your Earth traditions…“ Allura looked disappointed.
 
“You didn’t,” Lance assured her. “Keith’s just being an ass.”
 
Keith waited in one of the conference rooms. He was supposed to meet with the Garrison’s best pilot to come up with a battle plan that would combine Voltron’s powers with fighter jets.

Suddenly, a woman walked into the room with two mugs of coffee, and handed one to Keith. “Sorry I’m a little late. I thought it would be nice to bring some coffee, since it’s so early.” She had short brown hair and wore red lipstick. She was very pretty.

“Thanks for the coffee, sweetie. Now, you better run along, I have an important meeting with the senior MFE pilot in a moment,” said Keith.

“Excuse me?” said the woman.

“We’re going to be discussing classified information, I don’t think a secretary should be listening in.”

“I am the senior MFE pilot. You’ve met me before.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “Veronica McClain?”

“Oh, I couldn’t tell - you just kinda look like a secretary, you know?”

“Could you not tell from my uniform?” She pointed at the stripes on her shoulder.

“The stripes mean something?”

“Oh my God. Lance warned me you were an idiot, but I had no idea.”

“How dare you! I am the leader of Voltron, and an expert in Galran battle techniques!”

“Right, right. So, I’m just gonna talk to Shiro, because you are insufferable.”

“Fine. Suit yourself,” Keith muttered, raising the coffee to his lips. Veronica snatched the mug out of his hand before he could take a sip. “Hey!”

She glared at him as she took a sip from one mug, then the other. Then she left.

Keith was very confused.

They still let

women

fly?
 
“Hey Keith,” said Lance. “I just talked to my sister, Veronica.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I don’t suppose you would consider apologizing?”

“For what.”

“Did you really mistake her for a secretary?”

“She’s a woman,” Keith shrugged.

Lance looked exasperated. “You know what Keith? I’m officially giving up on you.”

“Good.”

“No - I don’t mean - ugh! I don’t understand what’s happened to you! You were always a bit of a jerk, but it was never this bad! It’s like you’re a different person!”

Keith kept his expression neutral. “I am a different person. I’m not a teenager anymore. I’m an adult now. I’m not obsessed with immature stuff like political correctness and

feelings

.”

Lance just shook his head. “You used to be different,” was all he said as he left.
 
Keith wasn’t really sure how or why he ended up dating Acxa. It all happened so fast.

She snuck up on him as Keith and Krolia were leaving the cemetery where his dad was buried. She appeared so suddenly, if Keith hadn’t recognized her he might have thought she was a ghost. With Krolia’s permission, she dragged him to a local fast-food restaurant.

The restaurant was painted in garish shades of red and yellow. It was well past midnight, and the restaurant was mostly empty except for a couple drowsy employees and a group of teenagers sitting in one of the booths, talking loudly.

“Why did you bring me here?” Keith was very confused.

“Sit down,” Acxa gestured to a booth. Keith sat down on one side, and Acxa sat down on the same side, definitely too close for comfort.

“I’ve been thinking, Keith. I feel like we have a connection.” She spoke softly in an unnaturally high pitch. Keith remembered she had always sounded different when he heard her in battles and stuff. Her voice was usually deeper, more authoritative. Now it was all whispery and feminine. “Ever since you saved me from that Weblum, I’ve been thinking about you. And remember that time I was supposed to kill you, but I didn’t? It’s like my whole life has been leading up to meeting you. It must be fate.”

“Uh,” Keith said. Was she talking about astrology or something? Keith didn’t understand women.

“I feel like we understand each other’s warrior souls. You know what I mean?” She twirled a lock of her hair and smiled.

“Sure…”

“And I’d like to get to know you better,” she leaned towards him so their shoulders were touching. “So, tell me about yourself.”

Keith wasn’t sure what Acxa had brought him here for, but he started talking. “Um… I grew up on Earth… raised by my Dad… who was a human… and then Shiro and his partner took me in a few years after Dad died… I used to be a cadet at the Garrison but I got kicked out…” Acxa leaned an elbow on the table, resting her chin in her hand. She nodded and smiled as Keith spoke, keeping eye contact the whole time. “...and I spent two years time travelling or something with my Mom, but I don’t remember much about it. And then I met up with the team again and we defeated Lotor and yeah I think that’s about when we met up.”

Keith looked at Acxa, who was covering up a yawn. “That’s really, really interesting Keith. Sorry, I’m kind of tired because I haven’t had any coffee yet. Seriously, where is the waitress here?”

“You’re supposed to order at the counter.”

“That’s stupid. Humans are stupid,” She stood up. “No offense.”

Once she returned with a cup of coffee for each of them, she told Keith her own story.

Acxa told him she had never met her Galra father, and was raised by her mother, who belonged to an Alien species on an obscure alien planet Keith had never heard of. When her home planet was eventually conquered by the Galra, she was given the opportunity to fight in the Galran army thanks to her partial Galran heritage. Prince Lotor promoted her to one of his generals and she worked for him for years before she first met Keith.

“I’d always secretly wanted to join the Blade of Marmora, but I was too afraid of Lotor… you saved me from wasting my life fighting for evil… you’re my hero!”

Keith could feel his face heating up at the compliment. “Thanks.” He took a swig of coffee. It was bitter. Apparently Acxa took her coffee black. He set the cup back on the table, then turned back towards Acxa. To his surprise, she was leaning towards him, her face so close to his their noses were almost touching. Keith didn’t move. He looked down at her lips. He wondered if they were naturally purple or if she wore lipstick. He looked at up at her eyes. Her expression was reminiscent of a child about to take cold medicine.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

Suddenly her hands were grabbing his face and their lips were jammed together. She pulled away just as quickly, leaned her elbows on the table, and covered her face with her hands.

Keith tried not to go into cardiac arrest. What was that? He had never even held hands with a girl before. What was that?

“Brooo! That lesbian just kissed that twink over there!” The group of teenagers burst into laughter.

“Dude, that’s not a lesbian, that’s a Galra.”

“Oh, fuck.”

At some point in the weeks that followed, Acxa started saying she was Keith’s girlfriend, and Keith had no objections.

It made sense, he supposed. They were both half-Galra, so they had a lot in common. Keith barely knew the woman, and yet something about her felt oddly familiar, as if he’d known her his whole life. She was comforting, almost… maternal. Plus, he was a boy, she was a girl, can I make it anymore obvious?

Keith had never had a girlfriend before, but he thought Axca was a pretty good one. Keith could tell she cared about him a lot. Every day, she would ask him what he did today, and she would listen intently as he went through the details of important meetings he’d attended and classified information he had learned. Sometimes she even took notes. How sweet is that?

Krolia approved wholeheartedly of his and Acxa’s relationship. She gushed about what a nice girl she was and how she seemed like a perfect future daughter-in-law. Keith was just glad his Mom was happy.

“I’m so glad you got over that…phase of yours,” Krolia told Keith as they had lunch together once.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you once told me you were a… a homosexual, Keith. But I’m glad you’re over that now.” She smiled.

“I don’t remember that.”

“Well, it was clearly just a short phase, anyway. I’m sure you got so bored spending all that time with me you were just making up things to talk about.”

Well, that wasn’t the first time someone had thought Keith was gay. What was it about him that made people think that? He was so obviously straight, and always had been!

Keith didn’t think much of it until one day while he was at Shiro and Adam’s apartment for tea.

It wasn’t the same place he’d lived with them years ago. It was much smaller - most of the bigger apartments around the Garrison were currently housing families that had been displaced during the Galra invasion. With only one bedroom and minimal furniture, it was another clear example of the hard times that had fallen upon the once prosperous Galaxy Garrison. Nonetheless, with a kitchenette and private bathroom, they were living in relative luxury, thanks to Shiro’s new position as the vice admiral.

Adam placed a tray carrying a teapot and three mugs on the coffee table, and sat down on the couch next to Shiro. Keith sat across from them in a recliner that could no longer recline.

“How’s your physics class going, Adam?”

“Terrible. A lot of those kids haven’t done a math problem in years, so, right now it’s more like a pre-algebra class. But we’ll get there!”

“And Shiro? What’s it like being Vice Admiral?”

“It’s kind of weird. There haven’t been any battles lately, so I feel like I’m not really doing anything. Admiral Holt makes most of the decisions…and I’m still not really clear on why we can’t get this water shortage solved. If we don’t get rain in another couple of months, we might have to start rationing. Anyway, it’s pretty boring. I’m sure you’re having a much better time being a paladin again?”

“Yeah, it’s great. I love being the head of Voltron, it’s the greatest thing that’s happened to me in my entire life. Nothing compares to flying the Black Lion with my team.”

Shiro’s eye twitched.

“By the way, Acxa wants to come to that meeting later today, is that okay?

“Uh, no, we’re discussing a lot of classified information she doesn’t have clearance for. What’s up with this Acxa, anyway?” Shiro asked, picking up a mug of tea. “She’s been following you around a lot lately.”

“She’s my girlfriend,” Keith said smugly.

Shiro spat out his tea. “Your

what?

”

“We’re dating,” Keith elaborated.

“So you’re bisexual? That’s great, Keith,” Adam smiled reassuringly.

“Ew, no. I’m straight.”

Shiro and Adam exchanged a worried look. “I’m not trying to question you, Keith, but…” Adam hesitated. “You’ve been openly gay as long as I’ve known you. What changed?”

“Nothing,” Keith crossed his arms defensively. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m into chicks, and I’ve always been into chicks, and not dudes, ever. Because I’m straight.”

“Then why did you write all that Naruto fanfiction when you were 13-”

Adam interrupted Shiro. “Was there a reason you used to identify as gay?”

“No, cuz I never did,” Keith was getting annoyed.

Adam frowned. “Were you trying to fit in? Did you think we wouldn’t accept you?”

“Adam, I don’t think-” Shiro said.

“Keith, we love you unconditionally, no matter what,” Adam was getting emotional, which was kinda gay if you asked Keith. “If you felt like you had to lie about yourself - to your own family - oh my God, I must have been a terrible parent. Takashi, I

knew

we were too young to adopt. This is all my fault for making him learn piano!” He was distraught.

“Adam,” Shiro placed a hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

“Jesus Christ, Adam, it’s not that deep. Stop crying like a Qalkdjfgh.”

Adam stopped crying out of utter confusion. He stared at Keith in shock. So did Shiro.

“Where did you even

learn

that word?” Shiro finally asked, glaring at him.

“Acxa,” said Keith casually, as if he hadn’t just dropped an extremely offensive Galran derogatory word for gay. “Speaking of which, I got a date with her in five minutes ago. I better get ready.” He tied one of his shoes as Shiro and Adam continued to stare at him in awe, then stood up. “Okay, I’m ready to go. Later, homos.”

He strode out of the room without looking back.

“Keith, I am

begging

you to stop sending me these,” Shiro attempted to hand the pamphlets back to Keith, but he wouldn’t take them.

“You don’t know

I

sent them,” Keith crossed his arms.

“Oh really?” Shiro flipped through the pamphlets, reading the titles aloud. “

Overcoming Homosexuality? 31st Century Catholicism? Why Jesus Would Forgive the Galra?”

“I’m just trying to save you from eternal damnation! You should be grateful!”

“Keith? You are no longer welcome in my apartment. Please leave.”

“Fine!” Keith slammed the door obnoxiously on his way out.

“I’ve heard you guys have all been spreading rumors about me being a homosexual, so I just wanted to set the record straight. I am, and always have been, completely heterosexual.”

Silence. Everyone stared at him. Keith continued. “I’m not sure why you guys all thought I was gay, but I have a girlfriend now and I want you guys to respect my identity.”

“Fine,” Lance was the first to speak. “That doesn’t bother me at all. Hetty.”

“Ugh! Fuck off Lance!” Keith snapped, “I knew you guys wouldn’t get it! I don’t know why I bother telling you anything!” He stormed out the room.

The team waited until he was out of earshot before erupting into heated discussion.

“I don’t believe it for a second,” said Pidge.

“I mean, it does explain why he’s a total fucking asshole,” said Lance.

“Shiro?” Pidge asked. Shiro was quiet, he looked lost in thought. “You’ve known Keith the longest. Is it true..?”

Shiro sounded tired. “When I first told Keith I was gay, he said he was too.  But...come to think of it, he never brought home a guy...or a girl...I don’t know what to think.”

“He’s changed a lot since he left the team,” Hunk admitted. “Maybe it’s possible he was gay...and turned straight?” Everyone grimaced. It was a terrible thought.

“Okay, you guys have heard of the word bisexual, right?” said Pidge.

“Of course I have,” said Shiro, “and so has Keith. But something else is going on here. He’s not the kid I raised...in more ways than one. Yesterday, he asked if I wanted to go deer hunting.“

“Deer god. That’s horrible.“

“Yesterday he said he loved the garrison uniforms because orange is his favorite color. What the fuck.“

“Guys. He literally started a football team.“

“Holy shit. This is way out of control. Shiro, what should we do?“

“Look, this might sound crazy, but … I think Keith’s been replaced by a clone.“ Silence. “I know, I know, just because I got killed and replaced by an evil clone doesn’t mean everyone has, but … it‘s really the only explanation I can think of.“

“No. No way,” said Lance. “We would have noticed!“

“I don’t know, man,” said Hunk. “He hasn’t been the same since the whole space whale thing… he looks a little different… and everyone he came back with… Krolia, Romelle, and Kosmo… we never knew any of them before. Neither did Keith, for that matter. The more I think about it, the less sense it makes.“

“You guys are being ridiculous,” Lance had had enough. “We’ve been friends with a homophobic straight guy this whole time. I know that’s hard to accept, but it makes more sense than another clone.“

“Sorry Shiro, but I agree with Lance,“ said Pidge. “This is just who Keith is now. We’re gonna have to get used to it.“

“You’re right… I just wonder where I went wrong raising him… “

“Hey, he’s got like four father figures. Just blame one of the other ones.”

“Just so you know, Allura and I are dating now,” Lance told Keith as he shuffled a deck of cards.

“Great,” Keith replied, taking the deck from Lance and dealing the cards out. “Glad to hear you’re over that gay thing.”

“I’m not - I’m not over anything,” Lance sounded annoyed. Keith was getting used to that tone of voice these days. “I’m bisexual. You know this.”

“Whatever. As long as you stop being obsessed with me. Got an ace of spades?”

Lance opened his mouth to retort, but closed it again, frowning. “Go fish.”

Keith picked up a card. “You know, I have a girlfriend.”

“I know. You’ve told me. Many times. Do you have a ten of clubs?”

“Go fish. Are you jealous?”

“I’m beginning to think I dodged a bullet.”

“No, I mean, cuz my girlfriend is hotter than yours.” Lance gave Keith a look of disgust. Keith continued, “Cuz Allura’s like, maybe a six-”

“It’s your turn, you know.”

“Ace of hearts.”

Lance handed over the card. “Five of diamonds.”

“Go fish. And Acxa’s like a nine point five. Eight of spades.”

“Go fish. Six of diamonds.”

“Go fish. You know, yesterday Acxa and I went deer hunting, and-”

“I just don’t get it,” Lance interrupted. “You’ve been acting so different lately. Is it because of her?”

“What?”

“I mean, what’s

happened

to you? Yelling at the team all the time? Hunting animals for sport? Rating women on a scale of one to ten?”

“You

are

jealous.”

“I’m not-” Lance looked away, tapping his deck of cards against the table. “Fine. I’ll bite. What does Acxa have that I don’t? What do you see in her?”

Keith thought for a moment. “She reminds me of my mother,” he said honestly.

For some reason, Lance didn’t talk to Keith after that.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Princess Allura! Mister Coran! You are requested in the holding cell 4D. The Altean has woken up from her coma, but none of us can understand what she’s saying.”

“You go ahead to training, Princess,” said Coran. “I’ll take care of this. I triple majored in engineering, theatre, and

Altean

!”
 
“I’ll be anxious to conclude training today, Keith. The Altean has woken up, and I would love to speak with her,” said Allura.

“She can wait. Training is more important,” said Keith.

“Very well.”
 
“Whew, I’m beat! You really pushed us all to the point of absolute exhaustion, Keith! I need a shower and a nap!” said Lance, removing his helmet.

Suddenly, an alarm started blaring. Lance clapped his ears over his head. Hunk and Pidge dropped to the ground, screaming about bombs. Keith radioed Shiro.

“Shiro, what’s with the alarms?”

“Apparently someone stole a ship. We aren’t sure who it is yet, so if you guys could form Voltron and try to pick them up without damaging the ship, that would be great.”

Keith looked up to see a blur of a ship zooming overhead.

“Got it. Paladins, get to your lions!” They did. Pidge was the slowest runner. “Hurry up Pidge!” Keith yelled at her.

“Keith, I’ve got an update,” Shiro’s voice came in. “Apparently the Altean captive is missing. They think she stole the ship and is trying to escape.”

“Why?”

“We don’t know. But there’s another thing. The ship she took - it clearly wasn’t just the first one she found. It’s our fastest one-man ship, and it wouldn’t have been easy to break into. She probably had help from inside the Garrison.”

“Coran,” Keith grumbled, shaking his head. “Knew we couldn’t trust that fairy.”

“What?”

“I said you should arrest Coran! Obviously! He’s the only other Altean, except Allura who’s been out here all day!”

“Honestly, if this was Coran’s doing, I trust his judgement. Maybe we should just let her go.”

“I don’t think so,” Keith switched his radio to broadcast to the whole team. “Paladins! We’ll need to form Voltron to catch up to that ship! Everyone get in formation!”

PEW-PEW! As the lions lined up, the Green one was struck down by a blast from the stolen jet plane.

“Man down!” yelled Pidge as her lion crashed to the ground.

“Pidge, what happened? Do you copy?”

Pidge groaned in pain. “Ow...I’m sorry, it wouldn’t have been that bad, but I forgot to wear my seatbelt. I think I broke something…”

“Pidge, you stupid-”

Lance cut Keith off. “Keith, the jet’s about to leave the atmosphere.”

“Pidge, you’ll have to walk it off. Can you still pilot?”

“Sorry, I kinda got knocked out of my seat… it might take me awhile to climb up to it, my lion landed upside down.”

“Quiznack. Let’s try to catch up to her with just the lions, except Green.”

“Keith, Pidge needs help.” said Lance firmly.

“The Garrison can get her.”

“She landed pretty far from the Garrison.”

“Fine,

you

go. The rest of us will capture the Altean.”

“Wait,” Allura cut in, “That’s the Altean? Why are we chasing her?”

Keith growled in frustration. Why was no one was listening to him! “Because she stole a Garrison ship! And she’s not supposed to leave anyway!”

“Was she being held here

against her will

?”

“NO! Maybe! No one understands your stupid language! Why can’t you all just speak English, anyway?”

“Keith… I think the consensus is that we’re

not

going to chase her into space,” said Hunk calmly.

“This isn’t a goddamn committee, Hunk! Who’s the leader here?”

“With all due respect, Keith, this is a team. We are going back to help Pidge. We are

not

chasing after the honorable Altean fleeing her captors.”

“Are you trying to make me sound like an asshole? No, don’t turn around! I

order

you to follow me!” It was useless. They were already out of his sight. The same could almost be said for the Altean’s stolen ship, but not quite yet. Keith willed Black to go as fast as she could as he pursued the jet, which was steadily increasing in altitude.

“Come on, come on…” Suddenly, a wormhole appeared out of nowhere and swallowed up the jet, vanishing instantly. “No no no! Stupid

bitch

,” Keith slammed his fist against the dashboard in anger as Black slowed down.  “Stupid Altean superpowers.”
 
“Hey Allura, I was wondering if you could heal my broken arm with those sweet sweet healing powers of yours?” Pidge asked grinning.

“Magic healing machine broke,” said Allura.

Keith barged into the hospital wing, and marched to Pidge’s bed, where she was surrounded by the rest of the team.

“Paladins, your behavior today was completely unacceptable. I’m the head of Voltron. What I say goes. You should obey me without question. This isn’t up for discussion. See you all at training tomorrow. Don’t be late,” He turned around to leave.

“Aren’t you going to apologize to Pidge?” asked Shiro.

Keith stopped and turned to Pidge, who was sporting a cast on one of her arms. “Sorry you broke your arm, Pidge. Get well soon. Patience yields focus. See you at training tomorrow!”

“Keith, what’s wrong with you? It’s your fault she got hurt in the first place! You need to actually apologize,” said Lance.

“And give her a week off training,” Hunk added.

“I second that,” said Pidge.

“No,” Keith left, ignoring their protests.

Everyone was pretty mad at Keith after that. They showed up to practice every day as usual, but their interactions with Keith bordered on openly hostile. Keith tried yelling some sense into them, but they seemed convinced he was a jerk now. It was seriously hurting the team dynamic. Acxa suggested he try threats of violence, but Keith suspected there was a cultural difference between humans and Galra that would hinder the effectiveness of that tactic.

One day they finally received a real mission: the human colony on Mars was under attack by a small group of Galra. Team Voltron was ordered to fly to Mars, kill the attackers, and help repair their infrastructure. `

As soon as Keith stepped into the hangar, Keith was struck by the palpable tension in the room. Instead of rushing to their lions, the rest of the team was standing still just inside the door, as if they had been waiting for him. Everyone watched him with neutral expressions as he slowly closed the door behind him.

“Hello, Keith,” Allura began calmly.

Keith looked at each of his teammates and noticed they were not only all dressed in their armor, but they each had their unactivated bayard in hand.

“Um…” Keith slowly reached for his own bayard. “Intervention or mutiny?”

“I’m afraid it’s the latter,” Allura activated her bayard and the others followed suit.

Keith had never considered before what it would be like to fight against his own teammates, but he liked to think he could hold his own even when outnumbered. Plus, he knew their fighting styles intimately, all their weak spots and deadliest moves. Theoretically, he should put up a pretty good fight, maybe even win if he was lucky.

In reality, he didn’t last ten seconds.

Hunk and Lance each held him by an arm, while Pidge wrapped her short arms around his legs like a koala. Keith looked up to see Allura towering over him - she was probably using her shapeshifting powers to look more intimidating, and it was absolutely working - and he realized she was behind this.

“You traitorous

bitch

,” he spat.

Lance’s grip on his arm became crushing. “Ow! Ow! Ow! Lance, stop that! You’re hurting me!” He complained.

“Oh, sorry!” Lance let go, then seemed to remember what was happening and grabbed him again. “I mean…good! You…jerk!”

Allura cleared her throat. Keith looked back up at her.

“The team and I have been talking, Keith, and we’ve come to the conclusion that Voltron would be better off with different leadership.”

“Oh really? And you think

you

can do better?”

“We all do,” said Hunk. “It was a unanimous decision.”

“You can’t kick me off the team. You need five paladins to form-”

“Well Keith, whether you leave the team or not is up to you. You could pilot Red again, and Lance could pilot Blue.”

“And Allura will pilot Black. Five paladins!” Pidge chimed in.

“We’ve managed without you before,” said Lance.

“If you don’t wish to fly Red again, we will be forced to ask you to leave the team. Then we can get Shiro to pilot Black again, or look for someone new…but we would all prefer it if you would stay with us, Keith. We don’t hate you, we just think you aren’t quite cut out for leadership…”

“I mean, I hate you a little bit. And what she’s too polite to say is that you’re a shit leader and having you in command is tearing this formerly well-balanced team apart.”

“...Yes. Thank you, Lance. So, Keith, what do you say?”

“I say, fuck you all.”

Allura blinked at him.

“What part of me being the leader do y’all not understand? I make the decisions. Not Allura. Not the majority. Me.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way, Keith. I mean it when I say I’m going to miss fighting alongside you. I hope you will understand someday that we’re doing this for the good of the universe, which you used to believe was most important. You can show him out now, boys.”

Lance, Hunk, and Pidge let go of him then, expecting him to leave. Keith did not leave.

“I’ll have you all court-martialed for insubordination!” he yelled.

“The writer doesn’t even know what that means!” Pidge countered.

“You stupid - stupid people! You can’t kick me off the team - MY team. The lion chooses the paladin. You can disobey me all you like, it won’t change the fact that Black chose me over

all

of you,” Keith stepped right in front of Allura, aggressively pointing at her. “If you were cut out to be a leader, Black would have chosen you, and we would have had to follow you. But she didn’t. And you can’t argue with the all-knowing magical robot lion. Now, everyone, it’s time to stop arguing with me and get ready for take off. We have a mission.” Keith turned away and boarded his lion without looking back.

He knew immediately that something was wrong. The cabin didn’t light up as he walked in like it usually did. He couldn’t hear the familiar purr of the engine. He couldn’t feel the spirit of the lion communicating with him telepathically like she always did.

He sat down in the pilot’s seat and grabbed the controls. “Not you, too, Black. Please.” He shook the controls desperately. “Come on, come on! It’s me! Keith! ” He stood up and slammed his fists on the dashboard. “You can’t do this to me!

I am your paladin!”

His pleas were pointless. Black was silent, cold, unresponsive. Keith slouched back down in the seat and took off his helmet, running his fingers through his hair as he wondered how the Hell he was going to deal with this.

Suddenly, the lion lit up. Keith gasped and sat up, placing a hand on the dashboard.

“I’m sorry, Keith.”

Keith whipped around to see Allura standing behind him.

“No. She can’t have chosen

you

over me.” Allura just stared at him. Her eyes held no contempt, only pity. “Stop looking at me like that!”

“Keith. I think you ought to leave now. The offer to pilot Red still stands.”

“Fuck you. You don’t tell me what to do. I’m the leader here! Get out of my lion!” He grabbed the controls again and tried to start takeoff. Suddenly the lights went dark again. “No. No!”

“Keith-”

“Fuck you!” In his frustration, Keith slammed his head against the dashboard. However, in his passion he forgot he wasn’t wearing his helmet and knocked himself out cold.
“Wake up, bastard,” Keith opened his eyes to Acxa poking his face.
“Morning, babe,” he said, swatting her hand away.

“What the Hell did you do?” Keith sat up and realized he was lying on a cold cement  floor. “Voltron just left Earth without you,” Acxa continued, “Apparently Shiro is flying Black again. How could you let this happen?”

Keith groaned as he remembered what had just happened. How

embarrassing

. “Stupid bitch.”

“I

told

you not to call me that ag-”

“Not

you

. Allura.”

“The Princess?”

“She...She

stole

my lion!”

“Oh. So she knocked you unconscious and threw you out here?”

“No!” Keith did

not

get beat by a woman. “I…” Keith was not going to admit he knocked himself out either. “I left of my own free will. Because she asked me to. And then took a nap here. Because I wanted to.”

“Right.”

“I could totally beat her in combat, by the way.”
“Sure, you could. So you just voluntarily gave up your position as the head of Voltron.”
“Right,” Keith nodded. “Wait…wait, no, that’s a bad thing. Oh God. I messed everything up. I’m a failure!”

“No. You can’t give up,” She placed her hand on each of his shoulders reassuringly. “She can’t kick you off your own team. When the rest of the team gets back, you’ll tell them about her betrayal, and she’ll be the one off the team.”

“The were all behind her. It was a whole mutiny.”

“Quiznack,” Acxa thought a moment. “It doesn’t matter. You have a sacred bond with the Black Lion. They can’t sever that. You just need to find four new paladins, and take Voltron back.”

“I couldn’t pilot her.”

“

What

.”

“Black wouldn’t respond to me. She acted like I was a stranger. I’ve never seen anything like it. The only other time I remember something like that happening was when Lance switched to Red… or when Shiro… got replaced by that cl-”

“Okay, let’s not worry too much about any of the reasons for this happening. Do you think you could pilot Red again?”

“They said I could… but-” Keith did not want to take orders from

Allura

of all people.

“Then when they get back, you apologize for being a shitty leader and tell them you’re willing to pilot Red. The important thing is that

you’re still a part of Voltron

.”

Why though? What’s the point anymore?

Keith thought, but kept his mouth shut.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Varga 23. Mission is… not optimal. There’s been a minor upset.”

“What!?” Haggar commanded.

“Well, the good news is, team Voltron has been successfully split up. The bad news is, well, the split was really just between Keith and the rest of the team.”

“Don’t try to be clever with me, girl. Tell me exactly what happened.”

“They mutinied. Keith’s been removed from the team entirely. They replaced him with Shiro again. Who is back from the dead, by the way.”

“So, you are telling me…that the clone of the Red Paladin, which I specifically created to lead Voltron into disaster, is no longer the leader of Voltron?” Haggar yelled.

“That’s right.”

“Then you have failed me,” said Haggar.

“No!” Axca cried. “We can still-” she cut herself off with a choking noise.

Keith watched frozen from the doorway as Acxa rose into the air, clawing at her throat as if being strangled by an invisible hand. In the screen, Haggar’s hand reached for the camera, her eyes glowing yellow. As Acxa kicked her legs in the air, uselessly struggling against the invisible force, Keith was eerily reminded of a scene from a movie he had watched as a child. Star Words or something like that.

“Please, I can - “ Acxa’s voice was strained as she struggled for breath, “I can fix this,” she gasped, her next words were stronger, the invisible hand seemed to have loosened its grip. “I can get him back on the team,” She gasped. “Give me another chance. I won’t let you down.”

Thunk. She fell to the floor in a heap.

“I am listening.”

Acxa dragged herself with difficulty back into the swivel chair. Her voice was still hoarse. “The mutiny was lead by Princess Allura of Altea…. If she is removed, the others will follow Keith again.” Haggar watched from the screen, silent. “The clone hasn’t shown any signs of self-awareness,” Acxa continued, gasping between every sentence, “and the others don’t suspect anything. This is just normal human in-fighting. They do this all the time. The experiment is still largely a success.”

“Very well,” Haggar finally said. Acxa sighed. “How are preparations for stage 6?”

“Almost complete. We should be ready by the time Voltron gets back.”

“Excellent. And what of the Marmorans?”

“Krolia and Kolivan are in the next galaxy by now. It would take them at least a Pheob to get back if they heard anything, but there’s little chance they will.”

“Acxa?” Keith asked from the doorway. Acxa jumped, immediately hanging up and spinning around in her office chair to face Keith, eyes wide.

Keith!” she paused to cough, and when she spoke again her voice was back to its usual bubbly pitch. “Hey babe! I was just talking with my girl friends about our favorite cupcake recipes and other gender-appropriate interests!” She coughed again, and smiled. “You’re unarmed, right?”

“Not this time,” said Keith, instinctively drawing his bayard. “Why are you facetiming Haggar?” He demanded. “Why are you talking about my Mom with her? What’s this about a clone?”

Acxa narrowed her eyes at Keith. “Fine, I’ll tell you. Everything’s falling apart anyway,” her voice was back to its natural low pitch. “Keith, you’re gay.”

Keith just blinked.

“Or at least, the real Keith is. You’re a Galra clone. You’re very similar to the real Keith, but more Galra than human, that is to say, more bloodthirsty, heartless, violent. And a side effect was apparently heterosexuality, probably because no full-blooded Galra has ever been gay. Of course, Galrans never marry for love, only to create more soldiers. Alteans hated us for that. Said we were heartless. But love couldn’t save the Alteans from the superior Galran military, could it?” She sneered.

“Wait… I’m not… Keith?”

Acxa shook her head. “Nope. That gaylord is stuck somewhere in the Andromeda galaxy, without a ship. You replaced him about three years ago.”

“But… I remember my whole life!”

“You should have all the memories of the original. Except anything that would distract you from your mission.”

“What’s my mission?”

“To cause as much emotional distress to your teammates as possible, without creating suspicion.”

“Wow. I wouldn’t hurt my friends, though.”

“Oh yes you would. You already have. But that’s irrelevant now. Everything is in place for the next stage: killing them.”

“I’m not going along with this. Axca, I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to stop working for Haggar, or we’re through.”

Axca cackled.

“I’m serious, Axca.”

“Keith,

baby

. This is all an act. Me going out with you is part of my mission. Plus, I’ve been seeing Veronica behind your back this whole time.”

“Wha - what? How could you? I trusted you!”

“Keith, you met me a long time ago. Betraying people who trust me is literally my whole thing. Honestly, I just love seeing people’s faces when they realize I’m stabbing them in the back-” She pointed at Keith, who was staring at her with a horrified expression. “Just like that! Perfect.” She laughed again.

Keith’s whole world was falling apart. He got kicked out of Voltron. He wasn’t himself? And his girlfriend was cheating on him?

“And the best part? You have no choice. If you tell the others you’re a clone, they’ll have to kill you. You won’t blow your own cover.”

“But…I’m loyal to Voltron. I can’t just lie to them…”

“Keith, you must have noticed how much your teammates hate your guts.”

“They don’t - it hasn’t always been like this. It’s only been since…”

“Since you replaced the real Keith?”

Keith went silent. Acxa spun around in her chair so she was facing away from Keith.

“All your happy memories of being part of the team belong to someone else. The real Keith was their friend. They loved him, not you. They only tolerate you because they’re too stupid to figure out what you really are. And once they do, they won’t hesitate to end your miserable life.”

Shit, she was right. Keith couldn’t see a way out of this situation.

“Well, what the Hell am I supposed to do, then?”

Acxa spun slowly to face Keith again, fingers steepled in front of her face.

“Glad you asked,” she smiled mischievously.

When a Galra ship was detected in Earth’s atmosphere, orders were given that it would be shot on sight. But given that it was only a very small ship, and apparently alone, they decided to open radio communications with the ship before blowing it out of the sky.

“This is Admiral Shirogane of the Earth’s Galaxy Garrison. Identity yourself immediately.”

“Shiro? It’s Keith! Keith Kogane here!”

“Keith? What the Hell are you doing up there? Did you steal that ship from the Garrison?”

“I’m so glad you’re alive, is everyone else there too? -“ Keith was cut off as the delay caught up. “Shiro? What do you mean?”

At that moment, Keith Kogane burst into the command room. Shiro’s jaw dropped when he saw him. He turned back around to view the Keith on the screen, then looked back at the Keith in the room.

“I haven’t seen you in three years, and you accuse me of stealing? I mean, I did steal it, but-” said Keith-on-the-screen, unaware of Shiro’s dilemma.

“Shoot it down,” said Keith-in-the-room. Everyone in the room looked to Shiro for orders. Shiro was frozen. “That’s not me,” he continued, “I’ve been here on Earth with you guys for months. That,” he pointed at the screen, “is a Galra trick. Who knows what it will do if you let it land.”

“Shiro?” Keith-on-the-screen asked. “Is this mic working? Is it safe to land?”

“Permission to land granted. Leave any weapons on your ship. End communication.” The screen disappeared; Shiro turned back to Keith-in-the-room.

“Any idea what that’s about?” Shiro asked, straining to keep his voice calm.

“You’re putting us all in danger, Shiro. That’s obviously some shape-shifting alien here to destroy humanity.” Shiro just stared at Keith, tapping his chin thoughtfully.

“Keith...what was your father’s name?”

“Shiro! Don’t you trust me?” Keith was starting to panic.

“Of course i do. We need to test what that other guy knows. So give us some information to quiz him on.”

“Oh.”

„What’s your mother’s maiden name?“

“I’ll be right back!” Keith suddenly turned around and sprinted out the door.

“Where are you going?” Shiro called after him. “Keith, come back here! That’s an order!” Shiro considered running after him but was distracted as the ground shook from the impact of the other Keith crashing his ship nearby.

“Keith! There you are!” Lance turned to face Keith, turning his back to Hunk, whom he’d been fencing with the moment before.

“Dude, today is fencing, what are you carrying a gun for?” Asked Hunk.

“Sorry, guys!” Keith replied. “There’s been a change of plans,” he aimed his laser gun at Lance. Lance’s smile disappeared, replaced by a look of confusion, then fear as Keith put his finger on the trigger.

“Keith? You good?” Lance squeaked, looking like a deer in headlights.

Hunk reacted quickly, tackling Keith to the ground and tearing the weapon out of his hands before he could shoot. “What the Hell, man? Was that a joke or what?”

“Haha, yeah bro. The look on your face was hilarious! You got pwned!” Keith laughed loudly. Hunk let go of Keith and stood up, frowning.

“That wasn’t funny.”

“Oh, sorry, bro,” Keith stood up, slowly reaching for his bayard, hoping they wouldn’t notice.

“Just don’t do it again,” Hunk said, turning his back to Keith as he asked Lance, “You okay?”

“Ah-hah!” Keith whipped out his bayard, sword activated. “Prepare to die!”

Hunk whipped back around, glaring at Keith. “I’m literally still holding the gun, dumbass.” Lance drew his bayard in the form of a gun.

“Victory or death!” Cried Keith as he swung at Hunk. Lance shot him in the hand. “Ah fuck!” Keith dropped his sword and clutched at the wound. Hunk and Lance each grabbed one of his arms and dragged him kicking and screaming out of the room.

“Shiro was right. It’s another fucking clone,” said Hunk.

“I’LL KILL ALL OF YOU!” shouted Keith.

“But if he’s a clone, what happened to the real Keith?” said Lance.

“Alright,

‘Keith,’

let’s start from the beginning. When was the last time I

allegedly

saw you?” Coran moustached.

“About three years ago,” Keith crossed his arms on the table.

“Right. So would that be before or after you and your mother found the Altean colony?”

“What Altean colony?”

“So before?”

“Look, what happened was, my mom and I had this mission, but our ship got destroyed, and we ended up stranded on this giant whale-alien-planet thing.”

“Right. And you two spent two years there, right?”

“No. I don’t know how long my mom was there, but I was only there about a month.”

“How did you leave?”

“I got abducted by aliens. I went to sleep one night like normal, and I woke up on a Galra ship.”

“The one you flew here with?”

“No, a much bigger one. And I was in a prison cell.”

“And you escaped somehow?”

“Eventually. They cut off my hair, for DNA samples, I guess, and they were gonna just gonna kill me after that, but one of the Galra sentries recognized me from the Blade of Marmora and helped me escape.”

“I thought Haggar had most of the Blade of Marmora killed?”

“What!?”

“I suppose this happened before all that.”

“Coran, what happened to the Blades? Those were my comrades, I need to know-”

“All in good time, my boy. Let’s get your story straight first.”

“Fine. The Blade helped me steal a small ship and I made my way to the Blade of Marmora base, and I learned that Voltron had disappeared after a fight with Lotor. No one knew what had happened to my mom, either.”

“Ah. Yep, that was unfortunate. What did you do then?”

“There were rumours Sendak was planning to take over Earth, so Kolivan sent me here to see if they were true. I wanted to look for Voltron, but Kolivan told me not to worry about everyone. ‘The mission is more important than your personal feelings,’ bla bla bla…the usual. It took me about two years to get here. On the way, I lost contact with Kolivan and the rest of the Blade, but I assumed I was just too far away for the signal to reach or something. Whenever I stopped on a planet to resupply, I would try to ask around for any information about Voltron or the Blades, but the only alien language I can speak is Galran, so I didn’t have much luck once I left their territory.”

“I see. That all sounds very convincing. Thank you, possibly-Keith.”

“Now, can you please tell me what on Earth happened to Earth?”

“Would you mind answering just a few more questions first?” Coran took out a slip of paper. “What is your father’s first name?”

“Can I please just talk to Shiro?”

“From what I can tell, the clone is virtually indistinguishable from the real Keith, with only a few subtle, but very significant differences. He has all of Keith‘s memories, except for the intro to feminism class he took in 9th grade, every movie he ever saw that passed the Bechdel Test, and every gay thing he ever did, said, or thought. Also, he’s really mean,” Shiro finished reading from his notes, and looked up at where the paladins were all standing anxiously outside the prisoner’s room. “How’s the other Keith?”

“He’s in the medical bay. That facial wound was pretty deep. Plus, they’re trying to enforce that 2-week quarantine on arrivals from other planets, now,” said Lance.

“That’s so stupid. 2 weeks isn’t nearly enough time to prevent an alien super virus from causing an epidemic,” said Pidge.

“What’s going to happen to him?” asked Hunk.

“Oh it’s not that serious, he should be fine-” Lance began.

“No, I mean… the other Keith,” Hunk pointed at the cell door. “The clone.”

“We’re calling him ‘Keith Heterogane’ now, to help us keep track,” Shiro explained. “And we’re thinking cremation.”

“Oof.”

“You won’t do it. You don’t have the guts,” Keith Heterogane spat through the bars of his cell.

“Yeah, I’m just here to ask what you did with that Gameboy you borrowed from me last week? I couldn’t find it in your room,” said Pidge.

“Face the truth. This is who I really am. I’ve always been like this. You just saw the Keith you wanted to see.”

“It had a cartridge for the

original

Pokémon Red game in it. There’s only five of those left on Earth…” Pidge pouted.

“I’m the real Keith! Please, Pidge, you have to believe me!” He cried desperately. “They’re going to kill me! I don’t want to die,

please

!”

“The real Keith would tell me where my Gameboy is… ”

“Ugh, fine! It’s in my red bag. The middle zipper.”

“Oh, the red one! Thanks!” Pidge started toward the door.

“Pidge!” Keith’s voice was shrill, terrified. “Let me out! You don’t even have to believe me, just let me go! I’ll leave Earth and you’ll never see me again!”

“It’s been real!” Pidge waved, then disappeared from Keith’s view, her soft footsteps echoing down the hall.

“You’re making a mistake! Would you really rather have a gay copy than the real Keith? Pidge? Pidge, get back here! Answer the question, Pidge!

Piiiidge

!”

“Keith! Wake up!

Keith was already awake, and had been lying on the small bed in his cell, staring at the wall, contemplating his place in the universe. When he heard Axca’s voice, he sat up and looked at the cell door to see Acxa’s face in the window.

“Hey babe! I’ve missed you!”

“Please, stop calling me that. I’m here to help you escape.”

“But what about Phil?”

“...Was Phil that guard stationed here?”

“Yes. We’ve become best friends this week.”

“Oh. Well, I think I just killed him.”

“Acxa!” Keith scolded. “He had three kids!”

“Well, maybe he should have thought of that before he got in my way. Now do you want help escaping or not?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t even had a trial yet. Maybe the jury will let me off since I technically saved the world and all.”

Acxa scoffed. “Keith, you aren’t

getting

a trial. Did you seriously not notice you’re living under a fascist military regime? You have no rights.”

“Oh… I thought those history classes seemed so propaganda-y.”

“Anyway, I’ve been training your dog. He’s going to use his teleportation powers to get you out of that cell, then take you to the hanger where they’re keeping all the lions. Then you’ll pilot the black lion to these coordinates.” She slipped a piece of paper under the cell door. “Memorize those numbers, then eat the paper.”

Keith picked up the paper and read the Galran writing. “Where am I going?”

“That’s where Haggar’s ship is right now.”

Keith folded the piece of paper and put it in his pocket. “Acxa, I’m not so sure I want to work for Haggar. I know I agreed to go along with this earlier, but I’m starting to feel like working for an evil villain… is bad…”

Keith saw no readable expression on Acxa’s face, but he noticed her reaching behind her back with her left hand.

“Babe?” Keith asked.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Acxa grinned. Suddenly she reached through the door’s window and grabbed Keith by the collar. Before Keith could react, her other hand was pointing a laser gun through the bars at his face.

“I have hated every single second working with you. Every time I had to pretend to smile, or laugh at your stupid jokes, or kiss your disgusting human face I’ve been planning this moment.” The murderous look in her eyes sent chills down Keith’s spine. He struggled to pull away, but she had an iron grip.

“Sorry for being a man?”

“Some crimes can never be forgiven,” Acxa put her finger on the trigger.

“A - uh - Akza, please don’t do this!” Keith begged.

“Oh my God, you don’t even know how to say my name? Can you think of one single thing to say that will make me want to kill you less?” she scowled.

Keith thought a moment. “If you don’t kill me…Haggar will flip.”

Her lip twitched.

“Just imagine it,” Keith continued. “Imagine the look on her face when you tell her you refuse to kill the guy you’ve been secretly planning to kill all this time!”

Axca’s face slowly broke into a sharp-toothed smile. It was kinda creepy, but also kinda hot. She released her grip on Keith’s jacket and put her gun back in its holster. Keith sent a silent prayer to Jesus Christ for sparing his life. Acxa turned away and whistled loudly.

Kosmo appeared out of thin air in an instant. Acxa pressed a series of buttons on her watch, and it printed out a slip of paper.

“New plan. Take one of the salvaged Galra ships. They’re kept in basement hangar B9C. These,” she handed Keith the paper, again covered in Galran numbers, “are the coordinates of the nearest rebel base. They’re stationed on a moon of the biggest planet in this solar system. It’s covered in ice, so pack some sweaters.”

“

Europa

? There’s life on Europa?”

“And for God’s sake, don’t tell them you’re Keith, the black paladin of Voltron. Make up a fake identity

that’s not stupid

.”

“Don’t worry,” said Keith, remembering the self-insert OC he’d written all that Naruto fanfiction about, “I’ve got it covered.”

“Alright. Good luck, I guess.” She started to walk down the hall.

“Wait, what are you going to do?”

“Honestly? I’m going to stay here on Earth. Some of the humans are actually pretty cool. Unfortunately I seem to have fallen in love with Veronica, so I can’t keep working with the Galra to destroy humanity anymore. That girl really threw a wrench in my career plans,” she sighed, smiling to herself. “Tonight we’re going to steal a rocket and go on a joyride around Earth’s moon. You didn’t hear that, though.”

“Wow, so you’re lesbians now? That’s so hot.”

Acxa glared at Keith in disgust. “Please don’t make me regret sparing your life. Just… go.”

Keith looked down at Kosmo, who was wagging his tail in excitement. He scratched the wolf’s ears. He looked back at Acxa and was suddenly overcome with emotion, realizing he might never see her again.

“Acxa…” Their eyes met. “Thank you for everything. You’ve helped me so much. I don’t know what I‘d do without you.“

“I was literally only following orders,” Acxa frowned.

“I…I love you.“

“No, you don’t.“

“No, I don’t.“

Acxa smiled. “I love how you’re such a pushover. Ciao, Keith.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Lance approached Keith after training was over. “Hey man.”

“Hi Lance!” Keith didn’t even try to contain his smile. He had really, really missed Lance.

“So, just out of curiosity, do you, uh, like, have the clone’s memories or anything like that?”
 
“No. Why would I?”
 
Lance let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, good,” He avoided Keith’s eyes, turning red. “I mean, it doesn’t matter one way or the other. It’s just, Shiro has his clone’s memories, so I figured you might… I guess it

was

kinda a different situation…“ He shrugged.
 
“What happened?”
 
“Hm?”
 
“You wouldn’t have asked unless it was important,” Keith was suspicious. “What did I miss?”
 
“Oh, nothing! You didn’t miss anything important!” Lance was

definitely

hiding something.
 
“Nothing at all?”
 
“Okay, fine, I’ll tell you!” Lance was tapping one of his feet, a nervous habit he apparently hadn’t broken. “Um… while you were gone… we…

we

meaning me and your clone…” Suddenly Lance seemed to remember something. “Oh, we started this thing where we would play cards every week,” He grinned. “I just wanted to know if you wanted to continue the tradition.”
 
“That’s it?” Keith raised an eyebrow skeptically.
 
“That is the only way our friendship has changed,” Lance nodded.
 
Keith wasn’t convinced, but decided not to push the matter further. “Okay. I’ll play cards with you I guess,” he smiled.
 
“Awesome!” Lance smiled back. “Meet you after showers in the common room for Uno!” He punched Keith’s shoulder gently before leaving the gym.

“Uno, bitch!” Lance slammed down his final card, pumping his fists in the air victoriously.

“You’re only winning cuz I’m out of practice,” Keith picked up the cards and started shuffling them carefully.
 
“That excuse was only valid the first 5 times!”
 
“Whatever,” Keith was enjoying every minute he got to spend with Lance. He started dealing cards to each of them. “You wanna start this time?”

“Nah, I’m getting tired of sitting. Let’s do something else,” Lance pushed his chair back and stretched his arms over his head.
 
“Like what?” Keith had only been back on Earth a week now. It was strange living here again. He was used to fighting for his life on strange planets or being stuck in a tiny ship. What did he even do with himself before he left Earth and joined the war? He looked out the room’s tiny window and saw the sun hanging low in the sky. He looked back to Lance, who was now standing and stretching his back. “Oh hey!” An idea fell on him. “Let’s go watch the sunset!”
 
Lance stopped stretching and looked at him surprised. “You want to watch the sunset?”
 
“I haven’t seen one since before I left Earth. We could drive into the desert for a better view.”

“But the Garrison’s curfew is at sundown.” Lance sounded apprehensive, but he was smiling at Keith.
 
Stupid military base with its stupid strict rules. Keith was remembering why he hated this place. “So?”
 
“What are we gonna drive? Our lions?” Lance laughed. “That would make quite the scene.”
 
“We’ll steal one of their hoverbikes.”
 
Lance raised his eyebrows. “That sounds pretty rebellious.”
 
Keith smirked. “What can I say, I’m a rebel. You in?”
 
Lance grinned. “Let’s go.”
 
And that’s how Keith found himself driving a Galaxy Garrison (ugly, orange, but still fast) hoverbike out into the red desert, toward the setting sun. Lance’s arms were wrapped tightly around his waist, and Lance was probably yelling at him to slow down, but Keith couldn’t hear a thing over the familiar roar of the engine.

Once the Garrison was out of their sight, Keith slowed down and parked on top of a low, flat, rocky hill, where they had a perfect view of the sun, which had nearly reached the horizon now.

Lance hopped off the bike and pulled off his helmet. “You almost drove us into a cactus back there! I’m driving us back.”

Keith removed his helmet. “Have you ever even driven a hoverbike before?”

“No, but if I can fly a giant robot, I think I can manage a little bike,” Lance pulled off the black backpack he’d been wearing and unzipped it. He pulled out an orange blanket and set it down on the hard-packed dirt ground. He sat down, facing away from Keith, but looked back at him and patted a spot next to him invitingly.

Keith sat down on the blanket a couple feet from Lance. For a moment they both watched silently as the sky turned from blue to orange. Everywhere Keith looked was orange these days. It was like the Garrison even owned the freaking

sky

.

“It’s almost hard to believe that after everything that’s happened to Earth, the sun still rises every morning and sets every night,” Lance remarked quietly.

“Some things never change.”

“Well. They could have. Sendak built a freaking

Death Star

.”

Keith looked at Lance. “Like from that old film?

Star Wreck

?”

“Yeah, just like that old film! And I saved the world, just like Kirk Skyhawker,” Lance said proudly.

“Wow, I had no idea you knew so much about ancient culture.”

“I used to be a total history nerd as a kid. Second Millennial history was my

favorite

subject. Which didn’t help me get into the Garrison at all.” They laughed.

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t here to help you guys.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it, we managed. It’s a good thing you didn’t get here before us, actually, so you didn’t have to fight the Galra all alone.”

Keith wasn’t sure if he could even have tried. But God, he felt so guilty that he wasn’t there for his teammates.

“I missed you,” Keith admitted.

“I missed you, too, buddy. I mean, I didn’t

know

you weren’t really here, but the clone was different, and I missed the real Keith. Does that make sense?”

Keith nodded.

“Is it weird for you too? Being back on Earth?” Lance asked.

“Yeah,” Keith thought a moment. “It’s weird seeing all my old classmates and teachers again. And there’s all these new people too, and even aliens - sometimes it feels like it’s not even Earth anymore, but another alien planet.”

“Yeah, I get what you mean.”

“And I have a mom now? That’s new.”

“How are you getting along?”

“She’s pretty cool. She told me she liked the clone better, though.”

“That’s… not good.”

“Yeah, I think she’s homophobic.”

“Ah, makes sense. I think that’s a Galra thing.”

“Yeah.”

The sun was halfway gone now, the sky turning from orange to red.

“Ah, good, I’m getting sick of orange,” said Lance. “Oh sorry, that’s your favorite color, isn’t it?”

“No?”

“Oh. I guess it was just the clone’s favorite. Glad to know the real Keith has some taste.” He looked at Keith. “What

is

your favorite color? Please say black like your soul.”

Keith chuckled. “It’s blue.”

“Like the ocean!” Lance grinned. “Me too!”

Maybe blue was Keith’s favorite color because of Lance’s eyes, but that wasn’t important.

“I’m trying to convince Adam and Shiro to have their wedding at the ocean,” Lance continued. “But Adam says he’s never getting on a plane again, and Shiro says they don’t have time to drive to the coast. Which is sad, I think a beach wedding would be really romantic, don’t you?”

“Yeah. I think a beach wedding would be really romantic,” Keith echoed.

As the sun became smaller and smaller on the horizon, the air became colder and Lance shuddered as a sudden breeze blew.

“You’re cold,” Keith was already pulling his jacket off.

“No, you don’t have to give me your jacket, we’re wearing the same uniform, man,” Lance waved him away even though he was still shivering.

Keith shrugged his jacket back on and pointed at the backpack. “Can you hand me the thermos that’s in there?”

“You brought coffee?” Lance asked cheerfully, reaching into the backpack.

“It’s tea,” Keith said as Lance handed him the orange thermos. Lance frowned at him.

“I take it back, the clone had better taste.

He

drank coffee. Like a normal person.”

Keith unscrewed the thermos and blew on the steaming liquid. “More for me then.”

Keith made eye contact with Lance as he took a sip, dramatically sighing “ah” after he swallowed. He smirked at Lance, who was still shivering with his arms crossed. Lance narrowed his eyes.

“What kind of tea is it.”

“Berry.”

“That’s

disgusting

. You could at least drink normal tea. But fine, I’ll have some.”

Keith considered refusing just to mess with him, but he wouldn’t say no to Lance. He handed the cup to Lance, who sniffed the tea suspiciously.

“It actually smells really good!” Reassured, Lance confidently took a sip, immediately making a face and covered his mouth as he swallowed. “That’s worse than I could possibly have imagined,” he gagged as he handed the cup back to Keith.

Keith laughed. “You’re so dramatic.” He took another sip, trying not to think about the fact that Lance’s lips had just been on that same cup.

“I can’t believe out of all the drinks in the world, you would choose berry tea. I’m questioning everything I know about you,

again

.”

“Hey, there goes the sun!” It was just slipping out of sight. The two went back to silently watching the horizon. The sky turned a soft pink, then purple, then eventually dark blue. There was no moon that night, and the stars were fully visible. For the first time in years, Keith saw the familiar outline of the Milky Way galaxy. He saw constellations he could recognize. It was mesmerizing. Keith remembered looking up from this same desert years ago, dreaming of exploring those stars someday. Keith leaned back to see better, and was surprised when his head landed on Lance’s chest. “Sorry!” He sat back up and looked down at Lance, who was lying on his back, rubbing his eyes. Had he fallen asleep?

“S’fine, man,” Lance yawned.

“You’re falling asleep. Let’s go back.”

“Too tired to drive,” Lance grabbed a corner of the blanket and rolled over.

“I’ll drive, come on Lance,”  Keith stood up and gently kicked him through the blanket. “We gotta go back.”

“Urgh, fine,” Lance threw off the blanket and sat up, taking the hand Keith had extended to help him to his feet. He stood facing Keith for a moment, blinking, and not letting go of his hand.

“You good?”

Lance wrapped his arms around Keith in a hug. “I’m glad you’re back, Keith.”

Keith returned the hug, suddenly feeling very warm. “Thanks.”

As Keith drove back, Lance’s arms wrapped around him, he realized he was pretty lucky to be back on Earth.
 
“I bet no one even noticed we were gone,” Lance gasped as he and Keith ran from the garage where they’d just returned the hoverbike, headed towards the dorms, the human sentry who’d been guarding the garage chasing after them unsuccessfully.

“Don’t speak too soon,” Keith replied as they rounded a corner and hid behind a doorway. Lance took out his ID and unlocked the door. “I’m surprised that works this time of night.”

“We’re pretty high-ranking now, that did not work back when I was a cadet,” Lance laughed as they entered the empty foyer. “Do you know how to get to your room from here?”

Keith looked down the dark hallways leading in all directions. He could get lost in the Garrison even when he was still a cadet, and that had been years ago. “I’m fine,” he replied. He walked forward with feigned confidence but stopped when Lance grabbed his arm.

“Literally the opposite direction, buddy.”

“Oh. Uh…”

“It’s fine, I’ll walk you there.”
 
Keith wasn’t going to know his way back next time either, because he wasn’t remotely focused on the path they were taking, but rather the feeling of Lance’s hand in his, the sound of their whispered conversation as they walked past the rooms of sleeping cadets.

“Here we are,” Lance stopped them in front of Keith’s room, 69A, dropping Keith’s hand.

“Thanks for walking me back, Lance,” Keith’s eyes met Lance’s.

“No problem, thanks for the motorcycle ride,” Lance didn’t turn away to head up to his room. Keith didn’t turn away to open his door.

“I had fun today. Spending time with you,” Keith said softly. “It was the best day I’ve had in a long time.”

“Given what we’ve been through the last few years, that’s not saying much,” Lance smiled at Keith. “But you’re right. It was really nice. Same time next week?”

“I’d like that,” said Keith, and without even thinking he was closing his eyes and leaning towards Lance for a kiss.

“Woah, man! What are you doing?” Keith opened his eyes to see Lance leaning away from him, face red.

“I’m sorry!” Keith took a step back, feeling his own face heating up. “I thought - we were -  wasn’t this-”

Lance sighed. “No,

I’m

sorry - I should have told you,” He covered his face with his hands.

“Told me what?” Keith’s heart sank.

“Look, Keith… I’m really sorry… you’re really hot and I really want to ride your motorcycle but I kinda sorta have this thing going on with Allura right now.”

Keith could almost hear his heart

crack.

“

You’re dating Allura?”

“It's not like . . . I mean I don't think we'll be dating forever, I mean-
”

“But you like her?”

“Of course I like Allura, she’s my best friend-“

“But you

like

like her?” God, Keith sounded like a 12-year-old.

“I - I did!” Lance sputtered. “But - she didn’t like

me

- and then I liked

you

- but now she does like me, but-” he took a deep breath, “I don’t know!”

“...But you like me?”

Lance covered his face with his hands, groaning in frustration. “I don’t know! I didn’t like the

other

Keith and now - I’m not sure who

you

are!”

“Keep your voice down, people are sleeping-“ Keith really didn’t want this to turn into a public conversation. Lance glared at Keith. Okay, maybe that was a little rude… “Sorry.”

“I’m sorry, Keith,” Lance’s voice was soft, his eyes looked pained. “But we can’t do this. You missed a lot while you were away. Things aren’t the same anymore. Not between us. Not between me and Allura. And everything’s different now that you’re back, and I‘m gonna need some time to figure it out.“

Keith stared into Lance’s eyes for a moment, thinking. “Okay, Lance,“ he finally said. “You don’t have to be sorry. This doesn’t have to be a date, we can just be friends. Going out stargazing.”

“...Just guys being dudes?”

“Buddies being bros.”

“I’d like that.” Lance smiled. Thank God. He hugged Keith again. “Goodnight Keith,” Lance spun around and walked down the hall, turning back to look at Keith once before disappearing. Keith went into his room and was definitely not heartbroken, not at all.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Keith, you should join my minecraft server,” Pidge tapped Keith’s shoulder as he lay on the common room couch, listening to a sad 21st century song by a band called The Fallout Boys. He took off his headset.

“What’s the point,” he moaned dramatically.

“It’s an open-world sandbox game where-”

“Not Minecraft. I mean, what’s the point of life?”

“Oh boy,” Pidge looked up from her laptop briefly. “Tell me what happened.”

Keith thought a moment. Could he trust Pidge to confide in? Would she go around telling people about his feelings?

She

whooped

and pumped her fist in the air as she found some diamonds. “Sorry, I’m totally listening,” she looked at Keith, embarrassed. Keith would trust Pidge with his life.

“Okay, so basically - I tried to take Lance on a date…”

“Oof.”

“Did you know he’s dating Allura?”

“Is he dating Allura?”

“He says he is?”

Pidge nodded. “Yeah, that adds up. They’ve gotten really close since we got back to Earth. I wasn’t sure if it was platonic or not. I guess not.”

Keith sighed.

“I’m guessing you’re still head over heels for the guy, huh?”

Keith blinked at her. How did she know…

“Yeah, no, Lance went on a whole monologue once about he thought you must have left because he broke your heart and bla bla bla…”

“Oh…”

“Honestly, it’s been like watching a soap opera here the last few months. Between you and Lance, and Acxa, and Veronica, and Hunk, and Romelle, and Shay…even Shiro and Adam getting back together.” She paused her game, looked at Keith thoughtfully. “Do you suppose they celebrate

all

their anniversaries, or just the most recent one?”

Keith wasn’t sure.

“Anyway, everyone who’s smart always comes to me for relationship advice.”

Keith snorted. “Oh really?"

“No, really! I am a relationship expert! How else do you think I’ve kept a strong relationship with Mindy all these years?”

Keith stared at her. “Who is Mindy?”

Pidge pointed proudly at the screen. Keith squinted and saw a Minecraft player labelled ‘xXM1ndy123Xx’.

“That’s-”

“My Minecraft girlfriend of five years,” she grinned.

“Even in space?”

She nodded. “Minecraft was one of the first programs I added to the castleship’s database.”

“You kept in touch with someone on Earth the whole time you were in space… through Minecraft?”

“Yep!”

“You’re something else, Pidge.” As Pidge started rambling about this mysterious gamer girl she had never “technically met in real life” because she lived in Antarctica, Keith was at least relieved to have his mind taken off of his own troubles for a while.
  "So, did I - he - it - the clone, you know - did you ever feel like he was acting … out of character?“ Keith sat down next to Hunk on one of the couches in the common room. Hunk closed the book he had been reading to talk to Keith. "Maybe … define ‘out of character.‘“ "Did you ever think, ‘man, this isn’t the Keith I know, maybe it’s a clone‘?“ Hunk hesitated. "Okay. Here’s the thing. Yeah, sometimes you were acting … odd. But honestly, I thought you’d just changed while you were away. I mean, you spent a ton of time with the Blades, and then spent 2 years in a time pocket with your mom … “ “Again, I did not spend 2 years on a space whale, I spent 3 years searching the galaxy for any sign of you guys-“ “And I mean, we were all going crazy when we got stranded in space without the lions“ "You got stranded in space without the lions!? How?“ "Honestly, I have no idea what actually happened and what was a hallucination. It was awful, we must have been floating in space for days. Or maybe just a few hours? It’s hard to tell time in an empty void.” Hunk shook his head. “Anyway, you handled it really well at first, and kept the team together, but eventually you got … mean. We all started arguing, and it got kinda personal.“ "What did I say?“ "Well, you called me a coward. But we made up later, so it was fine,” Hunk waved a hand dismissively. "Oh. I‘m sorry Hunk, I promise I don’t think that about you, you’re actually the bravest-" "Yeah don’t worry, we already talked about it. Me and Clone Keith, that is.” Hunk frowned. “But I hope you apologized to Allura, because damn, that was uncalled for.“ "What did I say to Allura?“ "Uh, just that her dead father was a coward and that Lotor betraying us was her fault.“ "What!?“ Keith put his head in his hands, ashamed. "Yeah, you really should apologize.“ "Of course. I‘ll tell her that it was all the clone and I would never say something so cruel.“ Hunk looked at Keith skeptically. Keith stared back at him, offended. "What, you really think I’d really say something so mean to one of my teammates?“ "Uhh...I mean...you‘ve always been kind of...ehh“ Hunk made a noncommittal gesture. "...to Allura.“ "What do you mean?“ Hunk took a deep breath. “Well, way back in the day, when we first started the whole Voltron thing, you never listened to her advice, even though she had way more experience than any of us, not to mention more knowledge about everything in the universe. And when you became leader, no offense, but you weren’t very good, and it would have made a lot of since for you to ask her for some help, cuz again, she’s a super smart alien princess and you’re just a guy from Texas. “But what really concerned me was the time you said, ‘whatever bitch, I don’t listen to women.” “Are you sure that wasn’t the clone-“ “Ok, maybe, but don’t you see my point, Keith? You need to drink some respect women juice.” “Hunk, are you saying you think I’m some kind of misogynist? How can you say that?” Hunk pinched the bridge of his nose. “Look, you don’t have to get offended, just-” “I got an A in the mandatory Intro to Feminism class I took in 9th grade! I watched Legally Blonde twice! I don’t hold doors open for women, because I respect their ability to open doors themselves!” “Keith.” Hunk raised an eyebrow. Keith paused. He took a minute to reflect on his interactions with the women in his life. A realization dawned on him. “Oh my god...I’m an asshole!” Keith held his head in his hands and looked at the floor. “Yep.” “My therapist was right! I’ve been projecting my resentment towards my absent mother onto women my whole life!” “Okay, now you’re just getting into psychoanalysis again.” “God, Hunk. What do I do?“ “Well, you could start by apologizing to Allura.“ Keith nodded. “I will. I‘ll go do that right now.“ Keith did not move. “She’s in the medical wing. Room 420.” “Thanks. And Hunk - thanks.” Keith smiled.“No problem, man.” Keith made to stand up, but hesitated. He looked at Hunk. “Is it weird if I hug you, or...“  
Hunk embraced him. Hunk gave really good hugs.

Keith turned the corner and walked down the hallway that led to Allura‘s room. He read the door numbers. 418, 419 … suddenly he looked forward and nearly crashed into someone. “Woah. Lance?“ The man himself was standing outside Allura’s door, holding a vase of flowers and tapping his foot nervously. “Oh, hey, Keith! My pal! My man! I was just going to give Allura a get-well-soon gift. What brings you here?“ “I’m here to apologize for being a sexist douchebag.“ “That’s great! Man, are you sure you’re not the clone?“ Lance laughed at his own joke. “I can come back later,” said Keith, eyeing the flowers. “Oh no, you go ahead. In fact, why don’t you give her the flowers? You were a mega jerk, it would be a nice gesture. I don’t need to give Allura flowers, she already likes me!” Lance laughed nervously. “Uh.” Keith frowned. “Just - here.” Lance shoved the vase into Keith’s hands, then took off down the hallway. “Good luck!” He called back. “Was this Lance’s idea?” Asked Allura, smirking. “Um. The flowers were.” “That explains why the card says ‘heart Lance.’” Allura placed the vase on her nightstand. “Oh. Okay, the flowers were Lance’s idea, and the apology was Hunk’s idea, but …” Allura smiled encouragingly. “I really am sorry. For what the clone - for what I said when we were lost in space. I had no right to insult your dad when i never even met him, and from everything I’ve heard, he was an honorable, brave man, and a better leader than I ever could have been.“ Allura looked down at her hands. “And about Lotor - that was completely uncalled for. You couldn’t have known...“ Allura looked back up at Keith. Were those tears in her eyes? Keith had never seen her cry. “And - and even before - I was always a douche to you - I’m really sorry.“ They were both silent for a moment. “Thank You, Keith,“ she said softly. “It means a lot to hear that from you.“ She wiped a tear from her cheek. Keith grabbed a box of tissues from the nightstand and handed them to her. “Thanks,“ she smiled. “Yep. I’m leaving now.“ “Okay. If you see Lance, tell him to stop by.“ “Will do. See ya!“ Keith closed the door behind him.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“I don’t know if I can trust you, Keith. You left, and that hurt me a lot. If you care so much about me, why didn’t you stay?”

“I… I…” Keith had a mental flashback to a moment almost four years ago…he saw Lance standing in his old bedroom back in the Caste of Lions, confessing his insecurity about not being needed after Shiro - or, Shiro’s clone - returned to the team. “One paladin too many,” Lance had said. Keith remembered the pain in Lance’s eyes, and the determination he had felt to take that pain away. So he did what he had to do: he left so Lance wouldn’t have to doubt his own value to the team. He had missed the boy terribly, but had never considered the feeling might be mutual.

“Keith?” Lance’s voice brought Keith’s mind back to the present.

“Lance, hurting you was the last thing I wanted to do. I thought leaving would be the best thing for everyone - you, me, the team…I didn’t realize you would…” Keith was getting choked up.

“Miss you?” Keith nodded. Lance continued, “Did our…friendship really mean so little to you? You thought you could just disappear and it wouldn’t affect me at all?”

“I - I didn’t-”

“After you left, I was so alone. Everyone else was still there, but none of them - none of them cared about me, not like you did. At least, I thought you did.”

“I do care about you-”

“Then why did you leave me?”

“Because I was scared!” Yeah, Keith was definitely crying now, he could feel the hot tears streaming down his cheeks. “Lance, I cared about you so much. I - I…”

I love you.

No, he couldn’t say that. “I was so scared you - that you wouldn’t feel the same way, or I’d mess it up, or…I just…I couldn’t - I wouldn’t - I didn’t - It was too much, so I just ran away, and I’m so sorry I did. I regret it, I…”

Keith’s vision was blurry with tears, but he felt Lance’s arms wrap around him. “I forgive you,” he said softly. Keith hugged Lance back tightly, his tears staining his jacket collar.

“I can’t stay mad at you,” Lance continued. “Not anymore. I wanted to - that clone really messed with me. He made me think you were this hostile, uncaring asshole. But that’s not who you are, Keith.

That’s not you

.”

Keith involuntarily let out a sob. He was gonna say it. He knew he shouldn’t, but he’d been running from it for so long, he

had

to say-

“Keith-”

“Lance-”

“-I love you,” they spoke in unison, as if on cue.

Keith pulled back from Lance’s embrace, and their wide eyes met.

“Lance!”

“Keith!”

And then they were kissing, and his lips were wet with tears and tasted like salt, and his heart was beating so fast it was going to explode, and everything was

perfect-

Suddenly Lance pushed him away. Keith was so light-headed, he might have fallen over if not for Lance’s firm grip on his shoulders. He smiled giddily and opened his eyes.

Lance did not look as happy as Keith was right now. His expression was conflicted.

“Lance?”

“Keith.

Allura

.”

“Goddammit, Lance!”

It was one thing to kiss a guy who had a girlfriend.

It was another thing entirely, Keith supposed, to

be

a guy with a girlfriend, and kiss someone else.

So really, this was all Lance’s fault.

Keith could have gotten over Lance eventually. It would have been hard. Keith would have felt the pangs of jealousy every time he saw Lance with Allura. Maybe he would have to move away somewhere far away from Lance, to another country, another planet, where he could do his best to forget about that beautiful brunet with ocean-blue eyes.

But now that Lance had kissed him, there was no chance of that.

And Lance

had

kissed

him

. Keith may have kissed him back without hesitation, but he could hardly be blamed for that.

When Lance had kissed him, Keith had known there was no going back. He was stuck for good.

Surely, Lance would have to tell Allura about the kiss. It simply wouldn’t be honest otherwise. But when he confronted him about it the next day…
 
“If I tell Allura, it’ll break her heart. She’s already been through so much the last few years, how can I hurt her like that? I’d basically be as terrible as Lotor. I’ll just…She’ll probably get bored of me at some point, so I’ll just wait for her to end things.”

“Lance, don’t take this the wrong way, but you sound like an insane person.”

“I feel like one.”

“Look, I get it if…if the kiss was a mistake or whatever. If you don’t want to break up with Allura. But you can’t hide something like that-”

“No, Keith. The kiss, it was…” Lance blushed and covered his face.

“It was what?”

“It was like…it was like my heart had been asleep, and you woke it up.”

“What?”

“Okay, that’s stupid.”

“No, it’s not stupid…”

“Keith, I want to be with you. I’m more certain of that than I have been of anything since I started dating Allura. It’s just - I don’t - I just don’t want to hurt her. She’s my best friend, and we’ve been through a lot together. I don’t want her to hate me. I just… need time to think…”

“I remembered Shiro said it was your favorite movie as a kid, even if you wouldn’t admit it,” he said, handing Keith the DVD.

“Adam… have you ever seen Mamma Mia?”

“Oh Hell no, I wouldn’t watch a musical to save my life.”

“Well, it’s a really cheesy film about love and romance. If I watch this now, I’m going to cry myself to sleep tonight.”

“Oh!” Adam looked concerned. “I guess I’ll take it back then-”

“Nope, I’m definitely watching it,” Keith held the DVD to his chest. “Once or three times. Shut the door behind you,” He walked away from Adam and plugged in the DVD player.

“I kind of feel bad leaving you alone like this, but okay. If you need anything, you know where I am.”

“Thank you, Adam.”

“No problem, kiddo. And if you’re gonna cry, don’t forget to drink lots of water. Stay hydrated,” he opened the door. “Goodnight!”

“Goodnight!” Keith called back as Adam shut the door.
Keith felt the first tears fall about two bars into the first song. By the time Meryl Streep was belting out the second verse of “The Winner Takes It All” he was sobbing uncontrollably.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Keith knocked on Lance’s door. The hallway was pitch dark save for what little moonlight came through the garrison’s small windows. When Lance did not answer, Keith knocked again. He had come this far. He wasn’t turning back now. He pressed play on the radio he was struggling to carry with both hands. He had chosen a classical Earth ballad by some ancient European pop band. Finally the door swung open.

"Lance, I - oh, hey Allura. Can you get Lance?“
Allura was wearing a white nightgown and looked very annoyed at having been woken up. She blinked at Keith, still half-asleep, then turned around. "Lonce!“
”What’s that noise?” Keith glanced behind Allura and saw Lance roll off his bed and fall onto the floor. He slowly got up and stumbled to the door, rubbing his eyes. “Hey Keith - woah.“ He stepped into the hallway, staring at the radio like he’d never seen one before. Which was entirely possible.
"I‘m going back to sleep,” Allura yawned.
“Okay, babe!”

Allura shut the door, leaving Lance and Keith alone in the dark hallway.

“Keith, Is that a radio? Didn’t know they still made those.“

“It’s vintage.“

“Is that ABBA?“

“You remember ABBA?“

“Dude, I

love

ABBA.“

Well, this was going great so far. Keith cleared his throat, and sang hoarsely, “

Take a chance on me...

“

Lance smiled. “That sure is a classic. That song was old when my grandma was born.“

Keith continued. “

If you change your mind, I’m the first in line, honey I‘m still free-

" Keith‘s voice cracked, the notes were too high, and he was never much of a singer to begin with.

Lance snorted. Then he burst out laughing.

"

You say that I waste my time! But I can’t get you off my mind!

“

Lance is in tears from laughter. He stops laughing long enough to wipe a tear from his eye and ask, “are you serenading me?“

Keith nods vigorously as he continues singing along, "

No I can’t let go… cuz I love you so...

”

Lance stops laughing. His wide grin is replaced by a frown. “Keith.“

“

Take a chance on

-wait fuck-“ For some reason belting out the wrong lyric stopped Keith when complete lack of talent hadn’t. The recording continued as Keith looked at Lance silently.

“Keith, I already told you.”

Keith looked at his feet.

“I’m still with Allura. And I can’t think of a single reason to break up with her. She’s perfect, like, practically a goddess-“

“Okay, that’s enough, please turn that noise off,” Allura reappeared at the door, hands clapped over her ears, looking very tired. “Some of us are trying to sleep, guys.”

“Aw hey babe, I was just talking about you - this is an old earth song.”

“It sounds awful. Please go to bed, Keith.” Keith turned off the radio (“gonna put me to the test-“) and Allura went back inside again.

Lance watched her go and turned back to Keith. They stare at each other a moment.

“I’m not going to break up with her just because she hates ABBA.”

“You can’t blame her, since I was singing it.”

“Disco is an acquired taste, after all.”

“Of course.”

“I love her, Keith.”

“I know.”

“There’s really nothing more a guy could ask for.”

“I know.”

“But I‘m still in love with you.”

“I know-what?”

Lance smiled. “I have been for years. But you left.”

“I had to-”

“Allura was here for me when you

weren’t

. I know it wasn’t

all

your fault but - you chose to leave. And you hurt me.”

“Lance, hurting you was the last thing I wanted to do.”

“I don’t know. It’s hard to trust you anymore.”

“Because of the-”

“Not just because of the evil clone, okay? Don’t dismiss my feelings like that. You’re not too different from him, anyway. Always blaming others, never apologizing. Stupid hair.”

“Lance…”

“I’m tired,” Lance turned around and reached for the doorknob.

“Lance, I’m sorry.”

He turned back around. He smiled, raised an eyebrow. “And?”

Keith got down on his knees, hands clasped together. “Please forgive me, Lance!” He begged. “I should never have left the team. I should never have left

you

. I thought you would be better off without me, but I was wrong. Lance, please forgive me. I’m so sorry I left you -  but believe me when I say I spent the last three years searching entire galaxies for you, trying to find you back. And I would do it again! I would travel across the whole

universe

for you!”
 
“Words, words, words!” Lance replied. “I know you’re trying to appeal to my naive, romantic nature and it’s only kind of working! I’m a grown man! It will take more than a perfectly delivered monologue from some sexy Romeo wannabe to make me break my best friend’s heart!”
 
“Lance-”
 
“Don’t say it!”
 
“I-”
 
“Don’t you say it, Keith!”
 
“I love you!”
 
“Argh! God

dammit!”

He clutched his heart dramatically and pointed a finger accusingly at Keith. “You’re never going to get rid of me, you know! I’m going to be obsessed with you for the rest of my life, and it’s

your fault!

”
 
“Good, cuz you’ll never get rid of me either!”
 
“I fucking love you, Keith!”
 
“I fucking love you, Lance!”
 
“Lonce?” Keith suddenly noticed Allura was standing outside the door, staring at the two men.

Lance froze, his back to Allura. Keith watched as Lance’s face went through an impressive series of expressions within a matter of seconds. Finally, with a very, very, poor approximation of a smile, he slowly turned to face her.

“Allura, I-”

“You want to break up?”

“Allura, I’m so sorry-”

Lance went silent as Allura’s face broke into a wide smile.

“Let me guess - you love me as your best friend and you didn’t know how to end this without losing our friendship.”

“Yes, how-”

“And dating me is actually fine, because I’m amazing and we’re best friends, but you’ve fallen for someone else and suddenly this relationship is torture because you’ve realized how much better it could be.”

“

How-

”

“Lance, believe it or not, the feeling is completely mutual.” Allura got down on one knee and took Lance’s hand. “Lance McClain, will you do me the honour of being my…

best friend forever?

”

“Oh my God,

yes

!” Lance squealed, jumping up and down before pulling Allura to her feet and into a hug.

Keith watched the scene feeling terribly awkward, but honestly this was going a hell of a lot better than expected. Allura broke from her hug with Lance and embraced Keith, catching him completely off guard as she even lifted him a few inches of the ground in her enthusiasm.

“If you hurt him, I will destroy you,” she whispered into his ear.

“Okay,” Keith squeaked.

As Allura set him back down, they were all startled suddenly by the sound of a radio playing -

was

that music? It sounded like Altean…

They all spun around to see Romelle standing at the end of the hallway, holding an Altean radio. Her wide eyes darted from Allura, to Lance, to Keith, back to Allura.

“Oh, good evening Romelle! What brings you here at this hour…” Allura trailed off.

Romelle burst into tears. “I can’t believe you. You have time for

two

boyfriends but not

one

girlfriend. I see how it is…” She spun around and ran away.

“R-Romelle, it’s not what you think!” Allura called, running after her.

As the two girls disappeared around a corner, Keith and Lance turned back to each other.

“So,” said Keith awkwardly. “What now?”

Lance took Keith’s hand. He glanced at the window. “It’s almost dawn. We could steal a motorcycle again. Watch the sunrise,” he smiled at Keith.

“I’d like that,” Keith smiled back.

Two Bros

Chillin at Dawn in the Desert

Kissing Each Other Tenderly

Cuz They’re Not Straight

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Keith, what the fuck are you doing here? It’s 5AM!” Lance clapped his hands over his ears.

“Lance, please, take a chance on me, I-”

“Turn that radio off! How dare you use ABBA to try to convince me to leave my beautiful girlfriend. We’ll never be able to watch

Mamma Mia

again without thinking about what a fucking jerk you are!”

Keith turned off the radio. “Lance, please hear me out.”

Lance uncovered his ears and folded his arms in front of his chest. “Fine.”

Keith cleared his throat. “Lance, I’m in love with you. I can’t stand seeing you with someone else. Every day is pain.”

Lance frowned.

“Lance, please, break up with Allura and give me a chance! I love you! I can’t live without you!”

“That sounds like a

you

problem.”

“Lance-”

“I love Allura with my entire heart. She is literally the light of my life. I would give anything for her. Did you know I’ve

died

to protect Allura? And she brought me back to

life

with her magic healing powers. We have an unbreakable bond. Allura is the love of my life, Keith. I would never even dream of leaving her.”

“Keith? What are you doing here?” Allura appeared at the door, yawning.

“I know you’re just using him! You don’t really love him back! You’re going to break his heart the first chance you get!”

Allura’s jaw dropped. “Are you insane? Lance is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. After losing my entire home planet, Lance is the only being I’ve met who treated me like a person and not an alien. Not to mention, he's beautiful. I love Lance even more than he loves me-”

“No, I love you more!” Lance smiled.

“-and I would do anything to protect him.”

Keith started shaking in anger. “You man-stealing little-!”

THWACK!

Keith touched the quickly forming bruise on his face from where Lance had punched him.

“

Goodnight

, Keith,” Lance said with contempt. He followed Allura back into his bedroom and slammed the door in Keith’s face.
 
-ONE SEASON LATER-
 
“And if it wasn’t for Keith’s sacrifice, we might not be standing here today!” Lance explained to the group of alien children.

“That’s why we had this statue built in his honor,” Allura gestured to the smaller-than-life stone likeness.

“Princess Allura, do you think there is good in everyone? Even Emperor Zarkon?”

“That’s a very good question, little one! I believe we should always give people the benefit of the doubt and forgive them for honest mistakes. However, some behavior is completely unforgivable, like destroying millions of planets full of intelligent life. So no, any good qualities Zarkon may have possessed do not excuse mass murder.”

“Same thing with his wife and son. They were irredeemable pieces of sh-”

Allura elbowed Lance gently.

“So - any other questions?”

“What do you and the other paladins do now that you aren’t fighting in Voltron anymore?

Allura spoke. “We are all still very good friends and keep in touch. Our good friend Hunk is a highly successful ambassador who travels the galaxy with his wife, Shay. He’s also a genius engineer as a hobby. Our good friend Shiro lives on Earth with his husband, and they both work at the Garrison training astronauts to fly. They’ve adopted four - five?” Lance nodded at her. “Five children now.”

Lance continued. “Unfortunately, Pidge’s family all died in a freak piloting accident - she was flying the plane and, well, she was never very good at flying. She was the sole survivor of the crash and now she builds robots to fill the empty void in her heart.”

“As for Lance and I,” Allura wrapped an arm around Lance’s waist, “We live together here on New Altea. I teach history classes at the university, and Lance teaches at the local elementary school.”

“Are you happy?”

“Completely.”

“Immeasurably so.”

“And that’s all the time we have!” The teacher said. “Thank you two so much for coming. Everyone say thank you to the Princess and Prince!”
 
-That night-
 
Allura woke up to Lance gently tapping her shoulder.

“Hey Allura?” he whispered.

“Hbvwha?”

“Sorry for waking you up. I just needed to hear your voice.”

“Did you have that dream again?” She rolled over in bed so she was facing Lance. “Where I’m dead and you’re a farmer?”

“Yeah.”

Allura wrapped her arms him. “I’m sorry, baby. It’s not real.”

Lance hugged her back. “I just don’t understand it. I mean, obviously, losing you is my greatest fear - but where does the farming part come from? I’ve never been interested in farming in my entire life! Sorry, I’m being silly . . . ”

“It’s okay, Lance.” She brushed a lock of brown hair away from his face. Lance reached up and held her hand softly against his cheek. Allura looked into his blue eyes, glinting in the moonlight streaming through the window, and was struck once again by their beauty, as well as the emotion she saw in them.

“I’m so glad you’re alive,” he said, the softness in his voice making Allura’s heart soar. “And that I get to be with you. I’m the luckiest being in the universe.”

“Oh really?” Allura grinned. “Because I’m pretty sure

I’m

the luckiest being in the universe, because I get to be with

you

.”

Lance chuckled and rested his forehead against hers. “I love you, Allura.”

“I love you, Lance.” They kissed. “Now go back to sleep. Everything is okay.”

They fell asleep in each other’s arms, and lived happily ever after.