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Keith breathes in.

The air gets caught in his throat. It’s difficult to keep his breaths even, his lungs feel constricted.

“

I left you once, I’ll never leave you again.”

The words ring in his ears. He navigates around the shots being blasted at their ship with ease. He expertly avoids ships and debris. The knowledge that Commander Trugg has been handed over to the secret weapon- whatever that means- barely registers in his brain. It can’t. Not with the presence at his back.

His mother.

She’s standing right behind him, calling orders and slamming buttons on the dashboard like the news she just dropped didn’t tilt Keith’s entire world on axis. His heart is pounding, and for once it’s not from the adrenaline of narrowly escaping death. He has a

mom.

For 18 years, he couldn’t put a face to name. Now she’s within three feet of him.

For the first time in 12 years, he’s not an orphan.

The reunion is not joyful. It’s not full of tears. It’s not like every daydream he used to have when he was little. Keith fires questions at Krolia the second the shots at their ship stopped.

“How is this possible? A-and why were you on Earth? Why didn’t you come back?”

“We’ll talk about it later, we’ve got more important things to deal with right now,” She says. Her voice has no inflection. It sounds like she doesn’t care.

It hurts. The sting of rejection is just as poignant as he remembers. She doesn’t care- the mission before the individual. The task before her son. The war before Keith. It’s why she left him in the first place, after all. It wasn’t the first time someone who was supposed to care about him more than anything left anyways, in all honesty he should be used to it.

He’s got a pit in his stomach. He never thought he would find her, but now that he has, he wonders if he should’ve been searching at all.

—-------------

They go back to the Blade of Marmora base. Krolia needs to check in with Kolivan, she says. Did he know? Did the entire base know? Was he walking around those halls looking like a fool compared to his mother?

They walk to the bridge. Kolivan is staring at the star map where one planet is highlighted with a bunch of arrows pointing to certain areas. He turns when he hears them enter.

“Krolia. Was the weapon secured?”

She nods, “Trugg and Ladnok will never get their hands on it.”

Kolivan’s gaze drops to Keith, then slides back to Krolia, giving her a meaningful look, “It’s… good to have you back, no extended vacations this time.”

The entire conversation is extremely formal, but they look at each other like they have some secret mutual understanding. Keith stares between the two. It clicks. Kolivan

knew.

From the moment his knife turned into a sword, he knew. Months he had been training with the blades, and never once did Kolivan mention his mother despite knowing Keith was looking for her. Something akin to betrayal sits in his chest.

“Keith, you did well. Be back here in three vargas for debrief on the mission next week,” Kolivan says. It’s a dismissal if he’s ever heard one. He takes one last look between the two Galrans and stalks out of the room.

His room is cold and bare, just like it was when he was here before. His room in the castle may have lacked personal items, but at least there was temperature control. He paces back and forth around the room. She didn’t even have the decency to say sorry for pushing back an explanation. She left him to face the cruelty of the world alone, if she had been there he wouldn’t have gone through what he did. He knows he shouldn’t be surprised, his mother is a soldier, there’s no room for any luxuries like love and emotions. But if that’s true, why did she have him in the first place? Why did she stay with his dad?

It’s all too much. He should call someone. Call Lance. He’s about to pick up his communicator and dial for his boyfriend when he remembers the event Lance talked about last week. The last time they got a chance to talk, Lance told him about another airshow they were putting on in a nearby galaxy. He tried so hard to convince Keith to just pop over for a bit, and he’s thinking now that he should’ve. Either way, Lance isn’t available right now. Which means neither is Shiro. God, he needs to talk to Shiro.

He stews in silence. Keith had had so many dreams about the day he’d reunite with his mom. He dreamt that she would apologize for leaving him, that there was some force keeping her away. Maybe the war was a force, but was Krolia the only operative available for the undercover mission? He knows there’s plenty of other blades who could do the job just as well. An uncomfortable feeling begins to boil in his gut at the thought that his mother

could’ve

come back, but chose not to. It feels a lot like anger.

His brother would know what to do. Lance would definitely have good advice too. He needs to go back to the castle.

—-----------------------

Keith walks into Kolivan’s office and sees his mother with one hand braced on the desk between them and one pointed at Kolivan, speaking in a harsh tone. It goes quiet when Keith enters the room. Krolia straightens up, “I want a full explanation. You owe me, Kolivan.”

And she walks out of the room, her eyes softening as she passes by him.

Kolivan’s lips are pursed, like he’s regretting every life choice up until this moment. “Keith, do you need something?”

“I’m requesting leave,” Keith does not beat around the bush. Seeing Kolivan and his mother talk has pushed his anger to the surface.

Kolivan’s eyebrows raise. Keith has never requested time off before, not even after a bout of the Galra flu had him swaying on his feet in the middle of a mission. Kolivan stares at Keith like he’s trying to read his mind, “Any particular reason?”

Keith scoffs, “Oh I don’t know, maybe finding out my mother has been undercover and you knew about it the entire time has me rethinking a few things, could be anything really.”

Keith would never label himself as sassy, but if there was ever a time to be it, it was now.

Kolivan sighs, “Keith, it was what your mother wanted. She thought it would be better if you didn’t know, so as to not interfere with the task.”

Keith is stunned.

So it doesn’t interfere with the task?

Are they actually fucking kidding? His mother chose to keep him in the dark so he wouldn’t be the fuck up he always is. His hands are shaking with anger, never before has he wanted to yell at a superior officer so badly and he threw a chair at Iverson one time.

“I’m not requesting it, actually. I’m telling you. And you know what? I’m leaving right now,” he sneers, turning about face and storming out of the room. Kolivan mumbles something about similarities and headaches but he doesn’t chase after Keith, so he thinks he’s in the clear.

In his haze of anger, he isn’t watching where he’s going and bumps into someone. He’s about to apologize when he sees his mother looking down at him. The air between them is tense, the only sound comes from the base itself. Keith feels nothing but rage. She stares down at him sorrowfully, eyes filled with regret and sadness.

“Keith I… you need to know I never wanted to leave. I left to warn the Blades about the Blue lion, Keith I missed you every day I was gone, you and your father-”

He’s heard enough. Keith pushes past her, ignoring her calls for him to stop. He pushes the tears that have built in his eyes down. She missed him. A whole lot of good that did.

Missing him didn’t stop the abuse. It didn’t stop the bullying. It didn’t stop his father from dying.

He enters the hangar and jumps into the nearest ship. If Kolivan cares which one he takes, he can shove those thoughts up his ass. His hands shake as he presses the buttons for the start sequence, whether it’s from anger or something else, he doesn’t know. He takes a deep breath to settle himself and enters the last known coordinates of Voltron. The Ovorna system.

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

Keith gets within viewing distance of the castle before his body calms down. The sight of the white ship is a familiar comfort- and knowing his family is on board is even better. He hails the castle.

“This is Keith. Requesting to dock on the castleship.”

An image pops up of the bridge. Only Coran is there, fiddling with some tools underneath Allura’s magic stand. The mice scurry around him, running in circles playing what appears to be a game of tag. Coran’s head pops up at Keith’s voice.

“Number 4! It’s great to see your face, young man! I wasn’t aware you were visiting.”

“Yeah, no, this is kinda spontaneous, sorry. Is… is it a bad time?”

“Not at all, my boy! The rest of the team will be delighted that you’re home! You can dock in bay 3, alright?”

“Yeah, thanks Coran. I’ve missed you guys too. ETA in 20 doboshes.”

Coran salutes- as do the mice- and the video shuts off. Man, he even missed Coran and his stupid number system (He and Lance are the

same

height.) 20 doboshes later and Keith is entering the hangar area. He lands his ship in the designated bay and exits the craft. He never thought he’d miss the scent of recycled air, but here he is, sniffing like an idiot.

Keith makes his way up to the bridge, the distinct feeling of being home settles in his bones. He enters the bridge and is treated to seeing that things have gotten… rowdier, since he cut the call with Coran. The advisor is running around chasing the mice, who have gotten ahold of a tiny screwdriver. Alluras stand is sparking and smoke billows out of it.

It makes Keith smile. He really missed this. Coran notices his entrance and halts in place. “Number 4, welcome back! If you’ll just give me one second, my screwdriver has been stolen.”

“Take your time,” Keith laughs. He walks around the bridge, brushing his hand over his old seat. He stares out at the planet they’re in front of, and gets a glimpse of five distinct colors leaving trails in the stars.

“So… how are the airshows going? Making new alliances?” He asks.

Coran doesn’t stop running, but he says, “Fantastic! I really have an eye for these kinds of things you see, so we’ve gained many new members to the coalition, in fact- AHA!” Coran dives for Chulat, taking the screwdriver out of his paw, “we’ve gathered enough support to finally take a rest from all the public appearances.”

Coran stares triumphantly down at the mice, who look disgruntled.

“That’s- that’s great Coran, you guys are doing good work,” Keith voices.

Coran looks over at him, his mouth curving into a small smile, “They would’ve liked doing it with you too, you know.”

“Nah, that stuff isn’t really my thing,” He laughs, “I’ll leave the dramatics to Lance.”

Coran lets out a chuckle, “Well, then, be prepared because the paladins are making their way back now.”

Adrenaline floods Keith’s system. It’s been about four months since he’s seen them in person last, and it was only for two days. He's not sure how long he’s staying this time, but he has a feeling it’ll be longer than before.

He hears the team before he sees them. It’s such a familiar feeling it brings a smile to his face. Their voices get closer and as the door opens, he can pick out a voice he’s missed hearing.

“And then I was like PEW PEW and Hunk was all like boom! Then Shiro swooped in and we were all like- OH MY GOD” Lance spots Keith and lets out the loudest gasp he’s ever heard.

“Oh my god? I don’t remember anyone saying that,” Pidge frowns.

Lance is at a loss for words it looks like. He’s half choking, half pointing at Keith. “Y-you, wha- h-how-”

“Oh hey, Keith’s back!” Hunk smiles and waves. Keith grins and sends a small wave back.

Shiro’s smile is widening. His brother is such a comforting sight, it makes his shoulders relax. He’s about to say something, probably a hello, when Lance finally regains his ability to speak.

“Keith?! You’re here! Oh my god, Keith!”

Keith rubs the back of his neck, “Yeah, s-something happened and I thought it’d be good to come home and-”

And then he’s got an armful of Lance. His boyfriend winds his arms around his shoulders, squeezing his upper back and burying his face in his hair. He smells the same- like the ocean and the strawberry shampoo he likes. Keith grips on to Lance’s back, breathing into his neck. Lance is so warm and he can feel him breathing and nuzzling closer into him.

“Missed you,” it’s muffled, but Keith hears it all the same and holds Lance tighter.

“I missed you too.”

They pull apart and smile dopily at each other, Lance tucks a strand of hair behind Keith’s ear.

“Alright I’ve had enough, our turn!” Pidge exclaims, running over and butt bumping Lance out of the way to wrap her arms around Keith. He chuckles and rubs her hair, laying an arm around her shoulders.

He’s then subjected to a group hug consisting of Pidge, Allura, and Hunk- who lifts them all up in the air. He can’t breathe. It’s the happiest he’s been.

Shiro stands aside for all of it. As much of a butthead his brother can be, Shiro always wants Keith to himself when he comes home. The rest of the paladins back off and Keith is left staring at his brother, who is pretending to wipe his eyes. Oh, here we go.

“You never

call,

you never

text,

you could’ve been

dead

and I would’ve had to be the one to answer to Iverson once we get back to Earth.” He’s got the hand flaps and the fake tears to go with it.

Oh, brother.

“I called you, like, three days ago you big baby.”

“It felt like

ages!

” Shiro walks over and gives him a noogie. Asshole.

Shiro acquiesces and pulls him into a bear hug. Ever since he was a kid, Shiro’s hugs have always felt like the safest place to be, like nobody could ever hurt him there. Shiro sways them back and forth dramatically and it makes him laugh. He keeps one arm over his shoulders when he pulls away..

“You said something happened? Is everything alright?” Shiro asks.

And it all comes rushing back to Keith. The mission, Ranveig’s base, his mother, Kolivan. It must show on his face because the team immediately looks more concerned.

“Yeah, I- uh,” He coughs, “um, it’s nothing really.” He looks up at Shiro pleadingly. Understanding fills Shiro’s eyes and he addresses the group.

“You guys go get some rest, we’ll join you in a second.”

The paladins stare worriedly at him, he makes eye contact with Lance, who furrows his brow questioningly and tilts his head. He gives Lance a weak smile and a small shake of his head, which hopefully gets across

I’ll tell you later.

Lance seems to understand because he gives Keith a supportive smile and follows the group out of the room.

It’s just him and Shiro now. He looks down at Keith questioningly, “Is everything okay?”

Something about seeing his older brother and reveling in the comfort he’s been deprived of for so long has tears pressing against his eyes again. It’s hard to speak around the lump in his throat.

“I met- I met, but she didn’t, she said- and I know, but I thought it would be different and-”

“Whoa whoa whoa, hey, hey, Keith look at me.” Shiro’s eyes are wide with concern, his gaze scanning over Keith’s face for answers, “I need you to take a deep breath. You’re okay. You’re safe with me.”

He’s with his brother. He’s safe. He can feel Shiro’s hands on his upper arms, keeping him steady. He can feel the fabric of his shirt that he’s wearing. The lump dissipates slightly, he looks back up at Shiro.

“What happened, kid?”

He takes a breath. He’s not sure how Shiro is going to react to this. He and Adam spent so much time caring for him, he doesn’t know if Shiro will understand why Keith is so angry.

“I- I found my mother,” he stutters.

Shiro’s eyes go wide, his mouth falls open slightly. “W-what? You- you found, you- what?”

Keith explains the base. He explains the mission and the Blade he was supposed to extract. He tells Shiro about the knife and the secret weapon. He talks about Kolivan and the reason he even made it to the castle. But most importantly, he tells Shiro what Krolia said to him- both on the ship and at the base.

Shiro is fucking livid. He’s known Keith since the boy was twelve. He and Adam practically raised the kid. They were there for him when other kids made fun of his lack of parents- when they taunted him about his mother leaving. Shiro has comforted his little brother through nightmares of his mother, has held him while he cried about why she left- why everybody leaves. So to brush him off the way she did? After inadvertently causing him so much pain? Pain he’s sure she has no clue about? Shiro is practically shaking from rage, if Adam were up here, he’d be throwing shit. Shiro wants to. But that’s not what Keith needs.

“Hey, hey, look at me. We’re gonna figure this out, okay?”

“Okay,” Keith sniffs, looking up at Shiro with watery, panicked eyes.

“Okay. Why don’t you wash up and get changed, and I’ll meet you in the lounge. Is… can I tell the team what’s going on?”

The rest of the paladins are well aware of Keith’s situation. He used it as a reason when he originally left. And he knows they’ll probably have good advice. “Yeah, no, it’s fine, you can tell them,” he replies quietly.

Shiro nods and pats him on the shoulder, leaving him to walk back to his room. When he gets there, it’s warm. There’s something familiar about it that he didn’t have at the base even though it lacked any possessions of his. It looks the exact same as when he last visited. He spends too long in the shower, letting the scalding water ricochet off his body and swirl down the drain. When he steps out into the frigid air of the bathroom, he catches a glance of himself in the mirror.

Ugh.

He’s definitely had better days. His eye bags could go grocery shopping right now. It’s days like these where he wonders how he managed to get Lance to fall in love with him. He examines his face, which is a little weird because he never cared too much about his looks. His jaw is slim, he slides his fingers across the pointed edge near his ear. He’s got high cheekbones and a straight nose, his eyebrows are full and dark. His gaze moves to his eyes and their unnatural purple color. There’s a thousand comments ringing in the back of his mind about their abnormality and he can only think that they were all right. Only one thought remains.

He looks exactly like his mother.

Keith physically shakes the thought from his head. He’s gotta get out of his room if he wants any chance of not breaking down right now. He changes quickly into his day clothes- his jacket is missing- and leaves his room. With the knowledge that his friends are aware of his situation, he finds himself dreading walking into the bridge.

The door swooshes open and immediately he can feel the tension in the room. He expected to see worried faces and consoling gestures, he did not expect to see them all on a call with Kolivan.

“W-what’s going on?” He asks.

Heads swivel in his direction and panicked looks appear on many of his friends' faces. Shiro’s face is stormy, his hands are white with the effort of holding on to the console. He grits out, “Kolivan called to update us on the mission situation.”

Keith knew the upcoming mission was a joint one with Voltron. The base they were infiltrating was large and there were many moving parts that needed backup. The joint debrief, however, wasn’t for another two days.

“O…kay, what happened?”

The team exchanges glances, Lance stares at him worriedly, opening and closing his mouth like he doesn’t know what words to use. Nobody says anything. Keith’s eyes dart from person to person, then to Kolivan. “What’s going on,” he demands.

Kolivan sighs, “Voltron may need extra support for your- their side of the mission. I was merely suggesting that having them acquainted with your team may be beneficial.”

He’s said a whole lot of nothing. Another operative, though, is odd now that he thinks about it. Voltron has done just fine on its own on missions much more convoluted than this one. And Kolivan wouldn’t send anyone random. The pieces come together slowly in his brain, and dread curls in his stomach. “Who’s the operative?” He dares to ask.

“I’m sending Krolia to the castle.” Kolivan replies. The team winces at the blunt tone. That’s one way to drop the bomb.

Fury roils in his gut. The one place,

the one place

Keith feels safe, and Kolivan decides to send her here, knowing how he feels.

“Are you fucking joking? Y-you didn’t even ask, how could you- how could you just decide this without talking to me?” Keith spits out. He feels Lance come behind him in silent support.

“Keith, your mother is an essential role to ending this war, we need her on this mission.”

The mission could take weeks. He’s going to be stuck in the castle with the woman that abandoned him for who knows how long. “You

know

how I feel about her,” he pleads.

“This is final Keith, Krolia will be there within the varga.”

The call shuts off and Keith sits down, burying his face in his arms. Lance comes forwards and puts a hand on his back, rubbing up and down in soothing repetition. The rest of the team stand silently, exchanging hesitant glances.

“Keith,” Allura starts, “You know we do not have to do this. There are plenty of other groups who can take on this task. Your mother does not have to come here.”

Keith shakes his head from where it’s resting on the table. He knows that this mission could be a lead to helping them end this war once and for all. How could he turn that down for the sake of his feelings?

“I’ll… I’ll be fine,” he sighs, “I’ll just get used to it, I guess.”

“You shouldn’t have to though, this is a big deal, Keith,” Lance says from directly behind him

“You think I don’t know that? You think this is fun for me?” Keith snaps. The look on Lance’s face has him instantly regretting it.

“Keith.” Shiro says sternly. He gives Keith a warning look.

“I’m- I’m sorry. Sorry, Lance. This… It’s a lot.”

Lance smiles at him sympathetically. He leans down and presses a kiss to Keith’s cheek, tucking stray hairs behind his ear. “It’s gonna be okay, we’re all here to support you.”

“Yeah,” Hunk pipes up, “if you wanna steer clear of your Galra mom, we'll body block her from any room you're in!”

Keith laughs, “You say that now, wait ‘till you see her.”

A pinging sound fills the room, and the castle’s radar system locks in on an incoming ship. Keith doesn’t need to look up to know who it is.

His mother has arrived.

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

Keith keeps his head down whilst Allura and Coran speak to Krolia. He hears her voice come through the speakers and the anger that resurges makes his fingers tingle and his head pulse. Lance must sense a change because he sits down on the seat beside him and throws an arm around his shoulders, squeezing.

“You gonna be okay?” He asks.

Keith shrugs, “We’ll see when she gets here.”

Lance rubs his shoulder with his thumb. Keith turns his head to look up at his boyfriend, and Lance smiles down at him fondly. He’s insanely lucky he has all these people here to back him up, he doesn’t know what he’d do if he had to do it alone. The call going on in front of them shuts off.

“She’ll be here in about ten doboshes,” Allura says, looking at Keith.

The waiting is killing him. He has no idea what’s going to happen once she arrives. He doesn’t know if she’ll try and talk to him or just leave him be. He doesn’t know which one he’d hate more.

The door to the bridge opens and everyone jumps. The tension in the room increases tenfold. Krolia’s footsteps are even and slow, she doesn’t hesitate even in a room that is showing blatant hostility towards her. She speaks calmly to the group, “Hello, my name is Krolia.”

Allura, ever the diplomat, responds with a strained smile, “Hello, I am Princess Allura of Altea, welcome to the Castle of Lions.”

Allura goes down the line, introducing everyone, until her voice gets caught when she reaches Keith. The silence becomes much more prominent. It’s awkward, glances are exchanged, Keith still does not look up. If she wants to make this right, she’ll have to do it without his help.

“Keith.” Krolia’s voice echoes in the cavernous room. He tenses. He really doesn’t want to look at her. The anger that simmers in his stomach lurches at the thought, but he has to do something. He knows Shiro would kill him if he bolted out of the room, so he reluctantly drags his eyes to his mothers figure. Everyone in the room fades away, Keith feels nothing but fury.

“What.” He says flatly. He sees Pidge wince.

“Keith,” her eyes dart to his friends, “Can we please talk about this? Maybe somewhere private?”

Keith is astonished by her audacity. Talk?

Now

she wants to talk? She ignored him for hours, deliberately hid his existence from her, came to his home, and now she wants to talk. It’s laughable. He doesn’t want to be in a room alone with her.

He glances over at Shiro. His brother is staring at Krolia with thunder in his gaze. He turns to where Keith is looking at him. They make eye contact and Shiro knows exactly what he’s asking- it makes him want to smirk. Shiro nods imperceptibly.

“Anything you want to say, you can say here.”

If Krolia is shocked or unwilling, she doesn’t show it. The only indication of her discomfort comes from her hesitation. It’s unlike her, even in the 48 hours he’s known her, so it’s a glaring change. She takes one last look around at the team before she begins to speak.

“Keith, you have to understand, the Galra were coming to Earth, they knew about the Blue lion's whereabouts. I had to leave to warn the Blades. And Kolivan sent me on the undercover mission because he thought I was best suited for it. I had a duty, I needed to help end the war- for you, for your father, for everyone on your planet-”

It’s rage inducing. The heat building in his stomach grows unbearable. It feels like excuse after excuse, empty apologies and meaningless platitudes. They could’ve sent another operative, she wasn’t the only blade capable of taking on an undercover mission. She could’ve come back to take care of her son, but no, the war in which billions were already fighting back was more important.

“I never wanted to leave you-”

The rage boils over.

“BUT YOU DID.” He finally responds. The room is quiet.

“You left. You could’ve come back, you could’ve passed the mission on to somebody else. You could’ve at least checked to see if I was alive. But you didn’t.” His words are strong. It’s the first time he’s ever gotten to show anger towards his mother.

“Keith, there was nobody else as good as I was. Who could be trusted like I could.”

“There were blades who were

good enough.

I understand the war was going on, but you should’ve thought about that before- before,” he falters.

“I thought I was done, Keith. I thought there was no way back to space because my ship was wrecked. I chose to protect the lion from Earth until the Galra came one night.”

“Then you could’ve come to check on me, on us. You never once thought to see if we were even still alive.”

“You think I never thought about you?” She’s getting angry, “I thought about you everyday since I left. You have never once left my mind.”

“Well isn’t that reassuring. I’m

so

glad to know you missed me, that really makes everything better. You know, missing me doesn’t really help when I didn’t even know you existed in the first place.”

“Keith, I knew things would be more complicated if you knew who I was-”

“Oh, so the next best option was leaving me with a fucking knife? Y’know what that got me? Nothing. In fact, I had

more

questions than answers.”

The others around them are watching like it’s a tennis game. They watch the back and forth, how Krolia’s voice gets more regretful by the minute, and Keith's voice grows in volume. Lance turns to Shiro, wondering if they should intervene, but Shiro shakes his head, eyes narrowed.

“I told your father to tell you the story when you got older-”

“Well that never happened.” There’s a finality in his tone that stops Krolia in her tracks.

“What? Your father promised he would explain everything.”

“Yeah, well he never got the chance.”

Confusion fills his mother’s eyes, “How is that possible?”

“Dad died when I was six. Got crushed under a burning building.”

The air in the room shifts. It becomes sorrowful, full of tragedy and anger. The tension that had taken up every inch of the space dissipates under the weight of regret.

Krolia’s eyes widen with horror. She takes in a shaky breath, letting it out harshly, “Keith-”

“I was alone. Completely alone.” His lips begin to tremble. Krolia stares at him heartbrokenly.

“I had no one, nothing. Nothing, except some strange knife that gave me no clues about who I was,” his voice cracks with emotion.

“Of course you didn’t know,” he says harshly, “You

weren’t. There.

You know who was? Shiro. Adam. They saved me, they raised me.” He points at his chest emphatically.

“If it weren’t for them, I’d be dead by now, and you would have no idea.”

Krolia stares at him silently. Tears roll down her cheeks. The lump in his throat grows and he knows it’s time to leave. “I don’t want anything to do with you. I lived eighteen years without you, I can do a lifetime more.” He says, his tone attempts to be angry, but pure misery shadows it. He leaves the room silently, followed quickly by Lance.

The feeling in the room stays despite Keith’s departure. Guilt radiates from Krolia’s person, and she doesn’t even know the half of it. She turns towards Shiro.

“You… are you Shiro?”

The rest of the team flinches at the flatness in Shiro’s eyes. The guy is normally pretty laid back, but as with anything that comes to his brother, Shiro has fierce protectiveness. “Yes.” He responds.

“Thank you, for raising him to be the man he is today. I am in your debt.”

Shiro’s jaw clenches, “I shouldn’t have to be.”

He gives her a once over. “Allura will debrief you on our side of the mission,” he looks up at the paladins, gaze softening slightly, “I’m going to talk to Keith.”

He stalks out of the room.

—-----------------------

Shiro finds his little brother sitting with Lance in the observation room. The blue light illuminates both their faces, and he can see Keith has tear tracks down his cheeks. Lance is holding Keith close, whispering into his ear and pressing small kisses to his temple and hair. Despite the emotions roiling in his gut, Shiro can’t help but smile at the two. He’s so glad they’ve managed to find each other in the middle of the war. God, he misses Adam.

Lance perks up at the sound of Shiro’s entrance. They make eye contact and Lance immediately understands. He whispers to Keith, who looks up at Shiro, before giving him one last kiss and standing up to leave the room. As he passes by, Shiro gives him a thankful smile and nod. Once the door closes, Shiro makes his move.

He sits next to his brother. Puts an arm around his shoulder. Keith immediately buries his face in Shiro’s chest. They sit there for a while, listening to the humming of the projection in front of them. When Keith finally speaks, it’s muffled, “I don’t wanna forgive her.”

“You don’t have to.”

Keith pulls back slightly and looks up at Shiro, “I should, I know she had to leave for a good reason, she was saving Earth. She did it to protect me.”

“Maybe so, but you were right. There were other options. There was no reason it

had

to be her on that mission. She could’ve gone back.”

Having his reasoning confirmed seems to break something in Keith. His demeanor becomes smaller, like when he was a kid. When he speaks again, it’s thick and mournful, “Why-why did she stay away then? Why didn’t she love me enough to come back?”

Tears cascade down his face once more. Shiro brings his little brother closer. Keith clings to Shiro’s shirt, whimpers escaping his throat. This kid. He’s got such a big heart that gets beat up too often. He wishes, not for the first time, that Adam was here. He was always better with words and calming Keith down. Soft sobs echo around the room, Shiro coos reassuring words and rubs his little brother’s back, trying and failing to hold back tears himself.

Shiro will stay with Keith for as long as he needs, and then for a lifetime after that.

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

When Shiro re-enters the bridge, the team is talking to Krolia about the mission. The debrief is normal, but there’s a tenseness to it that makes everybody a little uncomfortable. The paladins and Krolia glance to Shiro’s side- which is empty. They’ve noticed Keith’s absence, but won’t say anything about it. Shiro makes eye contact with Lance and he nods meaningfully. Krolia, however, does not know the team nor her son, so she does ask.

“Will Keith be joining us?”

“He’s taking a nap, leave him be.”

Anyone who knows Keith at all knows he would never be caught dead sleeping during the day. The man has to be corralled to sleep at night. The team knows him well enough to assume that he’s probably slashing at the gladiator as they speak. Krolia does not know that. Of course she doesn’t.

“Shouldn’t he be here to debrief?” She asks.

“I’ll give him the rundown later, he could use some time alone right now.”

There’s no room for argument. Shiro is going to keep Krolia away from his little brother for as long as he needs to. Allura explains the plan. There’s a base on a small planet in the Arafina System, the planet was hidden using some magic that Shiro has no clue about and they’ve only recently discovered it. There’s energy emanating off the planet, so the plan is to infiltrate it and the base to see what’s going on.

There’s two parts. The Blade of Marmora will cover the surrounding planet and deal with any civilians. Team Voltron has the task of getting inside the base. Once they figure out what is causing the energy influx, they get out. It’s pretty simple, only the large elephant in the room is going to make this mission difficult.

They finish up the debrief and everyone stands around awkwardly, not quite knowing where to go from here. Hunk, who has never been one for tense situations and the past three vargas have been exactly that, can’t stand it any longer.

“Alright I’m gonna go cook something. This- this has been a lot.”

Pidge walks out right next to him, followed shortly by Lance who walks in the direction of the training room.

Allura looks at Shiro, who inclines his head towards the door. She nods and walks out as well. It’s just him and Krolia left. It’s awkward. Shiro has a bad taste in his mouth when he thinks about Krolia. When he thinks about what Keith went through without his mother, however, his chest boils with anger.

“Is he… alright?” She asks, deceptively relaxed.

“He’ll be fine.” He says curtly.

It’s silent again. He wants to yell at her. To make her understand the hurt she’s caused. To explain the physical and emotional pain Keith went through as a result of her absence. Shiro understands duty. He understands being a leader is making tough decisions. But if Kerberos taught him anything, it’s that he will never, ever, choose a mission over his family again. He can’t comprehend why Krolia never went back, why she never even checked up on her son. She needs to know the magnitude of her mistake.

“Keith was thrown into foster care when he was six years old.”

Krolia’s head snaps to Shiro.

“Do you know what that is?” He asks.

She nods, “The place they send children with-without parents to find new ones.”

“Yeah,” he nods, “Keith went to over twenty homes in six years. Most of them abused him. They wouldn’t let him eat, or-or talk, or have privacy. Some of them would hit him, burn him, or verbally berate him.”

Shiro talks about the abuse as cold, hard facts. Krolia’s mouth is gaping. Her eyes scrunch up in shock and dismay.

“The only reason Keith got out of the foster care system is because I happened to go to his school and pick up on it. He had bruises all up and down his arms and torso. His back was a mess of cuts and boot marks. It took

months

for it to heal.” His voice cracks at the end of it.

He and Adam were horrified the day they brought Keith home. The boy couldn’t even lift his hands above his head to remove his shirt, so Shiro had to do it for him. Adam spent weeks applying creams to the injuries. Keith had to sleep in odd positions to let his ribs and spine heal.

“I- Shiro, please-” Krolia’s eyes were filled with tears. It was with sick satisfaction that he finally heard Krolia stumble over herself. She had been so nonchalant for a lot of her time in the castle, it was a change to hear her stutter. He wasn’t done yet.

“And you know what? Keith was a powerhouse despite it all. A spitfire. A naturally talented pilot. He blew the entrance exams to the Garrison out of the water, he,” Shiro laughs, “he got the highest scores the school had ever seen.”

The tears fall down Krolia’s cheeks. Some part of him feels bad for shoving this on her all at once, but he will protect that kid like his life depends on it.

“But he’s quiet, always has been. And quiet and talented have never gone right together, not for him. He was bullied and mocked relentlessly. And once the other kids found out about his mother being gone, oh, it got so much worse.”

He says it all and more. He says it bluntly, the way Krolia needs to hear it. So she understands why Keith is the way he is. Why he’s not ecstatic to see her. Why Keith understands her logic, her commitment to duty, but his heart won’t keep up.

“I-I’m so sorry, I never knew. Of course I didn’t. I truthfully never wanted to leave him, but I thought I had no other choice. I thought- I thought I was doing right by protecting him from afar. And his

father-

” She cuts herself off there, one hand covering her mouth.

Seeing this side of her, the part that is a mother not a soldier, softens something in Shiro. He doesn’t feel that rage when he looks at her. He will always be on Keith’s side no matter what, especially in this, but a part of him understands- even relates- to Krolia.

“He has every right not to forgive you,” he says.

“I know.”

“But I think, if you really try, you might just get through.”

She looks at him again, her watery eyes thankful, and nods. Shiro turns to leave, but before he goes, he hears her say, “Thank you Shiro, I see a lot of you in him.”

He stops in his tracks, shocked, before turning his head slightly. “He’s actually a lot like Adam,” he murmurs, walking the rest of the way out of the room.

Guess genes aren’t necessary for inheritance after all.

—------------------

There are more Alteans. Lotor is a liar.

Those are the two things Keith understands from the horror show of a mission. They arrived on the planet, expecting an ambush, but were immediately greeted with the sight of men and women who look exactly like Allura and Coran. The Blades were astonished, awkwardly putting away their swords due to the lack of a threat.

One girl stepped forward. Her name is Romelle. She feared something was wrong inside the base. Prince Lotor had been sticking around here for months, overseeing the progress of the village he created. Her brother went missing a month ago with a few other villagers, the same as last month, and the month before that, dating back to almost eight years.

When the paladins entered the base, they expected some resistance. They didn’t expect, well, nothing. No guards, no generals, no commanders. Keith entered a large room filled top to bottom with rows and rows of glass coffins. They were dusty, so Keith swiped his hand over one of them. The sight of an Altean sucked off all his body mass- quite literally only skin and bones- was enough to give him nightmares for the rest of his life.

It’s horrifying. Lotor has been harvesting their quintessence for years. It makes Keith nauseous. Lotor is trying to gain control of the quintessence field- they need to fight back. It’ll be the fight of their lives, it could be the end of Voltron if they don’t play it right.

And to top it off, Krolia has yet to speak to Keith. For the past week and a half the tension in the castle would need a chainsaw to be cut. Keith has made little effort to make contact with his mother, and Krolia seems like she is teetering between keeping her distance to make him more comfortable and cornering him in a room until they talk it out.

They leave for the quintessence field in a varga, Keith is in his room, staring at his knife. He hears a knock at his door.

“Come in!” He calls.

The door slides open. Krolia stands there silently.

Truth be told, Keith is tired of the anger. He’s been angry his whole life- at his mother, at his father, at his peers, at his foster families, at himself. This anger is exhausting to hold on to, but he’s not quite sure what to feel towards his mother without it.

“Can I come in?” She asks.

He nods. She walks in and the door shuts behind her, but the anxiety he thought he’d feel doesn’t show up. She stays standing awkwardly in front of him. He knows she’s been trying, over the past week he sees her open her mouth in preparation, but then close it after some time. He’s been an asshole about the whole thing, and the grudge is getting seriously old.

“Can- can we just, like, talk normally?”

She looks at him softly, her eyebrows scrunching up. She takes a breath and says, “That would be nice, yes.”

He nods and it becomes silent again. Well, he’ll extend the olive branch if it gets this mountain sized gap between them slightly closer. He pats at the spot next to him on the bed.

Her eyebrows raise in surprise, but she walks confidently over to the bed before sitting on it with a careful distance between them. She’s close enough that Keith can smell her. He doesn’t know if aliens have perfume, but she smells a little bit like cherries and vanilla. It kickstarts a memory in the back of his head of lullabies and cradles and he has to swallow down a lump in his throat. He needs to explain his side of the story, where all the anger came from and why it’s so hard to get rid of. Keith has never been good with words, but he’ll try his hardest.

“I… I didn’t have a great childhood,” he starts.

“So I’ve heard. I know I’ve said it a million times, but truly Keith, I am so sorry you went through that.”

He nods. “Yeah, it-it kinda sucked,” he takes a large breath in, “but, I met some good people because of it, so.”

“Shiro is a wonderful person. He’s very protective of you.”

Keith snorts lightly, “Yeah, him and Adam have always been like that.”

The silence is slightly more comfortable now that they can at least agree on one thing: Shiro is great. (God, if Shiro ever heard Keith say that, his head would inflate so much he’d fly away.)

He turns to look at his mother, “You…you understand why I’m so angry, right?”

“Yes. I shouldn’t have left you. If anything, I should’ve given you a bit more insight into who I was.”

He nods, biting his lip. “Yeah, that would’ve been nice. Maybe like- like a note or something.”

Krolia smiles, but it falls just as quick. Keith stares at her and wonders what it would’ve been like if it was all three of them. Obviously, there would’ve been the issue of Krolia’s less than human looks, but they lived in a shack miles away from society. Would he still have gone to school? Would he have met Shiro? Would they be in space right now?

“I’m kinda tired of being angry, to be honest,” he says instead.

She can sense he has more to say, so she stays quiet.

“I… understand why you left. Why you stayed away. You thought you were protecting us. You could’ve never known that would happen to dad, I- I can’t blame you for that. It’s just hard for my heart to keep up with my brain. Like, logically I know the war was so much bigger than us and you had to be a shield between the Galra and Earth, but so much of me wishes you were just…

with

me.”

“I understand. You have every right to never forgive me. The things you’ve been through-”

“Weren’t your fault. I mean, yeah, maybe if you stayed things could’ve been different, but who knows. It’s not like you told those families to hit me.”

She flinches at the reminder. Her lips are pulled tight, her face the picture of sorrow. She says, “Even so, I kept you at a distance when there was no longer a reason to. Do not feel obligated to forgive me merely because we share blood.”

Keith sits there thoughtfully for a minute. This is the longest conversation he’s had with his mother. They’ve, weirdly, learned a lot about each other in the past ten minutes.

“I want to forgive you. Eventually. You’re here now, and that’s more than I can say I ever thought happening. It’ll just… take me some time.”

“I understand, Keith. I’ll be here whenever you need me,” she smiles gently at him.

He gives her a half-smile back.

He leaves for the quintessence field feeling lighter than he has in weeks.

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

Things, as always, go to shit during the battle. Keith had intended to go into the quintessence field in a ship with his mother, but during the fight with Lotor and his generals in open space, Shiro took a heavy hit and was knocked unconscious.

His bout as the leader of Voltron while Shiro was missing was months ago, but here he is, sprinting to the Black Lion to take up the mantle again. There’s no time to feel any apprehension, not when Lotor is minutes away from getting control of the quintessence field.

It’s chaotic. It’s dizzyingly white. Lotor has gone mad with power. He’s laughing maniacally, pushing Voltron to its absolute limit.

A particularly violent hit unbuckles Keith from his seat. He’s thrown from the chair, bouncing around like a pinball in the cockpit. In his haste to get to the Black lion, he neglected to put on his helmet- it wasn’t like he was planning on taking any trips outside of his pocket of air in the lion. It did, however, leave his head susceptible to injury. He’s got no control of his movements, so he can’t stop himself from running face first into the pointed corner of the console, slicing open his cheek. He lets out a yell of pain, prompting worried remarks from his teammates. His final impact against the wall slows him down enough to regain control of his body.

He’s able to finagle his way back to his chair, buckling back in. He can feel blood running down his face like a waterfall, but there are more important things to deal with.

“Hold it together a little longer, guys, we can do this!” He calls.

The push and pull of a fight is usually something Keith thrives in, but this is too much. Allura voices those same thoughts. Their systems are overloaded, too much longer in the field and they’ll destroy themselves. Lotor is merely a blink of color, chasing them with a one track mind.

They have no choice. They leave Lotor to his madness. But in doing so, he’s turned into an even larger threat. His continuous jumps across the quintessence field are causing rifts in space and time- if he goes for any longer, the universe will collapse on itself. All of existence will be annihilated.

Allura has an idea. The castle. It has some power or another that would stop the collapse of existence. Keith didn’t pay much attention to that part, more of the sacrificing the only home they’ve known for the past two years. There’s no other way, the energy in the field gets more unstable by the second, they’re running out time.

The paladins pack up the castle as quickly as possible. Krolia stares at Keith’s face, taken aback by the gash on his cheek. He waves away any concerns with promises to deal with it later. Animals are corralled into the lions, essentials and keepsakes are thrown into the storage compartment. His mother and Shiro (who is still completely knocked out) climb into his lion while Coran hops into Blue.

They all watch as the castle enters the field, the brightness of the implosion forces them to look away. When they look back, only the stars in the distance greet them.

And all that’s left of their home is a tiny diamond.

—--------------------------

The lions land on some random planet. Shiro started waking up as they entered the atmosphere, but Keith worked carefully to make sure his brother didn’t see his face. He also hasn’t seen Lance since they originally left for the quintessence field- apparently he was struggling with Kaltenecker the entire time they were evacuating. Keith snickers thinking about it, then winces in pain. He finds a secluded spot near the edge of the forest and holds his knife up near his face to use as a mirror.

Whoa, that’s deep.

How the hell did the corner of the console manage to do that? He grabs some towels he brought with him and begins wiping away the blood surrounding the wound. He can hear the others puttering about their makeshift camp, finding wood and bandaging cuts.

“Hey, has anyone seen Keith?” He hears Shiro call.

Fuck.

His brother is gonna be pissed when he finds out. Keith doesn’t think anyone saw him sneak away though, so maybe he can hide out a little longer.

“Ah yes! Number four went out near the forest carrying some towels and bandages,” Coran says cheerfully.

Well. Someone build Keith’s gravestone. Here lies the world's biggest idiot who thought he could escape the wrath of his brother.

Shiro calls his name, he can hear the footsteps gradually get closer to him until they’re about 10 feet behind him. The silence tells him everything he needs to know. Shiro knows he’s hiding something.

“Keith.”

He hesitates, “Yes, Shiro?” He doesn’t turn around.

“Why do you have bloody towels all around you?”

“I wanted to get an early start on the Halloween decorations.”

“It’s May.”

“You can never be too proactive.” He says, sounding more sheepish by the second.

Footsteps sound even closer and Keith winces in preparation. The shadow of his brother appears on his left side- where the cut is- and he slowly looks up. Shiro is staring down at him in disappointed disbelief. His eyes are wide and accusing, mouth slightly open.

“Keith,” he admonishes, crouching down next to him, “What the hell happened?”

“Got thrown from my seat, hit my face on the console.” Keith says defeatedly.

“Why didn’t you say anything? And- and you’re trying to bandage it on your own? Kiddo, that cut looks like it needs stitches.”

“Everybody was busy, I can handle it on my own.”

Shiro takes the gauze out of Keith’s hands. He sprays disinfectant on a towelette and begins dabbing it over the cut. Keith grimaces at the sting of it. “Sorry,” Shiro murmurs.

“It’s not that bad. ‘S okay.” Keith mutters back.

“It’s not okay. I thought you got over this, kid. You can always come to me- and Adam- for anything, you remember?”

He nods. He hates when Shiro is disappointed with him. Shiro gently applies the gauze and wraps the cut. “We’ll keep an eye on it, but you’ll be okay.”

“Thanks.”

“Mhm. Keith, you have so many people who love you around here. You don’t have to deal with these things alone, alright?”

Keith nods again and Shiro ruffles his hair exasperatedly. They get up to go back to camp when Keith spots Krolia sitting not too far away, staring at them. They make eye contact for a second before she tears her eyes away.

Things between them have been… awkward. Now that the air has cleared and the anger has dissipated, they’ve both been left fumbling. There’s no easy dynamic, no way to start a conversation. Keith has very mixed feelings towards her. He was being truthful when he said he wanted to forgive her, but starting that process has been extremely trying.

Lance has an absolute fit at the state of Keith’s face.

“Your cheek got

sliced

in half and you didn’t tell me?”

“It- it wasn’t sliced, it was more of a graze if anything-”

“Who cares?! Keith, you should’ve told me, I would’ve helped you,” Lance says incredulously.

“I’m- I’m sorry Lance, you know it’s hard for me.”

Lance’s shoulders drop as the tension leaves his body. He shuffles closer to Keith and brushes his hand over Keith’s bandaged cheek. “I just don’t like that I didn’t know.”

Keith holds onto the wrist that Lance has in the air by his face, “I know, I know, I won’t do it again.”

Lance leans in closer and presses a kiss to the bandage, then to his nose, his forehead, and then lightly on his lips.

“I’m gonna hold you to that.” He smiles pointedly at Keith.

It’s a year and a half home. Keith can’t believe it, they’re finally headed back to Earth. Shiro was practically prancing in excitement of seeing Adam again. The team figures out lion arrangements- somehow Pidge managed to get a lion all to herself, the little devil- and they start the long journey home. Keith has Shiro and his mother in his lion. It’s as awkward as he thought it would be.

One evening, though, Shiro passed out early like the old man he is, leaving Keith and Krolia sitting together wide awake. They sit in silence for a while, both lost in their own worlds. It hits Keith that he doesn’t know a thing about the woman sitting next to him. His mother is a complete stranger, and as angry as that made him before, it just leaves him sad now. He realizes he doesn’t want it to stay this way, he wants to find a reason to forgive her.

“My favorite color is blue,” he blurts out.

Krolia looks over at him, tilting her head in confusion. He realizes his comment is completely out of context.

“I just mean, like, I know nothing about you. And- and you don’t know anything about me, right?”

Understanding lights up Krolia’s eyes. Her lips tilt up slightly in amusement.

“Your father’s eyes were the most beautiful shade of brown.”

The mention of his father makes him tense slightly, and Keith realizes that she recently found out her husband died- if they even got married.

“I’m sorry for telling you about dad the way I did. I forgot that he was a part of your life just as much as he was for mine,” he says regretfully.

“It was certainly shocking to hear what happened. I loved him very much. He was kind and protective,” she says wistfully.

They sit in silence for another minute, letting their shared grief connect them. Keith speaks up once more, “Can… can you tell me about him?”

She tells him about her version of his father. A strong man with even stronger morals who was willing to help an alien who dropped from outer space. She tells him about how his father was a fierce protector, but one of the most gentle people she had ever met. How, when Keith was born, he held him close and sung him lullabies, rocking Keith to sleep against his chest. Keith finds that Krolia’s version of his father isn’t too different from his own.

The room is quiet when she finishes, but it’s comfortable. She turns towards him, her face full of apprehension, when she asks, “What about you? How did everything happen after he died?”

She’s asking about foster care, he knows. He’s aware that Shiro told her all about the abuse he suffered. “It’s… hard for me to talk about it.” He says.

She nods in understanding, “Well, then how about Shiro? And who is Adam?”

Keith becomes visibly more relaxed after that. “Shiro came to my school one day and he had us try out flight simulators that cadets usually get to do. Nobody was able to get past level three, but I got to level five,” he says proudly.

“Then I stole Shiro’s car, but it was whatever,” he flaps his hand emphatically, “and he paid for my entrance tests into the Garrison.”

Krolia startles at the mention of stealing the car, and it makes him grin. “Flying the real simulator for the first time was so cool, it felt completely natural, like there was nothing but me and the sky,” he says.

“I met Adam through Shiro, of course, but once the kids at school started picking on me, Adam became the one I went to to help patch me up.”

He tells stories of Adam and Shiro and how they took care of him and supported his dreams. He talks about flying a real aircraft for the first time and it’s the first time Krolia sees his full smile. It’s blinding. There’s so much she wants to tell him: How proud of him she is, how resilient he’s been, how sorry she is. Her son is beautiful.

She thinks he may look like her, but his spirit is all his father.

—-------------------------

It’s hard not to make a connection in such close quarters. Shiro notices the difference. Keith opens up more to her, telling her stories about his version of her husband. He laughs at Krolia’s blunt jokes. It’s a far cry from when they first met.

Until they find Kolivan with Macidus, and Krolia needs to leave again.

They’re crouched on either side of the Galran when Keith looks up to find his mother already staring at him. Her eyes are full of sorrow and he knows what’s about to happen. The situation is different this time, the Blade of Marmora

genuinely

needs Krolia now. It doesn’t hurt Keith any less.

“Keith,” she says, “I’m sorry to have to leave you again.”

He smiles wryly at her, “It’s alright Krolia, I understand.”

And he does. He’s learned a lot from her, he’s made a real connection. That’s more than he ever could have hoped for. Especially when, this time, he knows she’s coming back.

He clasps his arm with hers in goodbye, but before he turns to leave, he makes his decision.

“I forgive you.”

Krolia’s eyes water, she squeezes his forearm three times. She gives him one last smile before turning away.

He watches her fighter jet fly away until it’s barely a speck in the sky.

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

They made it to Earth. It’s surreal. It’s unbelievable. It’s

horrifying.

Their home is destroyed. Cities have been leveled, homes demolished, civilizations permanently lost. Most of the city surrounding the Garrison has been reduced to rubble. The paladins can only stare around in horror at the state of their planet. The Galra have invaded. They were too late.

Through the whole ride to the Garrison- which managed to stay standing thanks to the technology devised by Commander Holt- Shiro was in complete disbelief. The planet was wrecked. And according to the MFE pilots who had taken them in their cars, the Galra are capturing more civilians every day.

They enter the Garrison grounds and immediately Pidge spots her mother, launching straight from the car into her arms. Lance does something similar, sprinting to his family and getting dog piled on. In his periphery, Shiro sees Commander Holt speaking to Hunk, who stares at the ground dejectedly.

All this information registers in the back of his mind. But only one thought is getting through. Adam. Shiro is scanning the crowd, his eyes have never been sharper than this very moment. His first run over yields nothing, and neither does the second, and only then does the panic begin to set in. His third run through the crowd and still nothing, he doesn’t see Adam. This can’t be happening, no, please, please, no, Adam please-

“Takashi!”

Shiro’s head whips around at the sound of his name. His eyes lock on the caller and there he is. Adam. His sandy brown hair and stupid glasses, his crooked teeth and a burn scar that covers half his face. Oh god. Relief and horror flood Shiro’s system, a lump forms in his throat. Adam is

alive.

And then he’s sprinting faster than he ever has before. The disease that attacks his muscles has nothing on the need to be next to the love of his life. He crashes into Adam at light speed and Adam is crushing Shiro to his chest, breathing heavily. It feels unreal. It’s been years. He smells the same. They’re both sobbing freely, hands gripping at shoulders and backs and hair and necks.

Shiro pulls away minutely to cup Adam’s cheeks, god he’s missed his fiance

so

much.

“Hi,” he whispers shakily.

“Hi, Takashi,” Adam murmurs.

He pulls Adam forward so their foreheads are touching, whispering thank you’s and I missed you’s. The overarching feeling of pure relief is overwhelming. They pull themselves together slightly and stare at each other's eyes, prompting chuckles from the both of them.

“I’m gonna kick your ass,” Adam says wetly.

Shiro tilts his head back and laughs out loud. When his gaze turns back to his fiance, his eyes are full of love and comfort. They relish in each other's company for a little longer, just standing there and holding on for dear life. Shiro’s about to ask if Adam wants to go inside when he tenses.

“The kid. Shiro, Shiro where’s the kid? Where’s Keith?” Adam asks frantically.

Shiro lets out a small breath of amusement before turning around, spotting his brother shaking hands with Commander Iverson- guess they’re not in trouble after all. “Keith! Get over here," he calls.

Keith looks over at Shiro, his eyes rolling. Dickhead. Then his gaze travels to Adam and his eyes widen comically. His jaw drops and then he is absolutely booking it to the two adults. The force of which he rams into Adam sends the two of them to the floor.

“Adam! Adam!” Keith is repeating, his hands grappling for purchase on the older man's back.

Adam thought he was done with tears, but seeing the kid alive and well gets him going again. He practically pulls Keith into his lap, cradling his head, thanking every god out there that his two boys survived space.

Keith’s voice is muffled in Adam’s shoulder when he speaks again, “I found Shiro.”

The resurgence of tears has Shiro sitting down next to them and wrapping an arm around his fiance. Adam pulls away and cups Keith’s cheeks- a mirror of what Shiro did for him- “You did. You found him, kid. I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you. Thank you.” He breathes, knocking his forehead with Keith’s.

Adam pets Keith’s hair and smooths away his tears. He rubs at the scar on Keith’s cheek in worry. He’ll get the story later, right now he revels in having the two people he loves most in the world right next to him (He has a horrible feeling he knows where Shiro’s scar came from.)

Keith is dizzy with relief. Adam is okay, his basically-parent is alive and the burn on his face is horrifying, but he’s alive and breathing. The three of them stand there, laughing, a family fully formed after so long apart.

—----------------------

They’re preparing the Atlas for takeoff. The past week has been hectic, but Shiro’s managed to find time to spend with Adam. He tells his fiance everything, from being captured on Kerberos to the quintessence field. Adam is stunned by the sheer force of will Shiro has had to survive. He wonders how Shiro preserved through it all.

“I knew you were back on Earth. So was Keith, well, at least until he followed me up here.”

Having Shiro back by his side again is overwhelming. Having Keith back by his side is a reminder of what a little rascal the boy can be. Adam learns about Keith’s trials in space too, but not all of it.

Shiro and Keith privately agree not to mention the whole mother situation. They decide to wait until things are less stressful.

Adam is aboard the Atlas when it takes off. He’s aboard the first time a space monster tries to attack them, and gets a front row seat to Voltron in action (he also gets a front row seat to his fiance calling orders as the captain of the Atlas. It’s hot.) He’s also aboard when Sendak finally attacks Earth.

It’s chaotic, people are running around, alarms are blaring. The five paladins are working together to stop the fleet from entering the atmosphere. Shiro makes the executive decision to fight Sendak one on one.

That man is actually going to be the death of him.

He has no idea what’s happening. He can’t see Shiro or Keith. It’s only when he hears cheering from the comms when his shoulders relax. Of course Keith swooped in to save his brother. He’s gonna kick Keith’s ass too, now that he thinks about it. But that’s not the end. There’s a giant robot gunning towards Earth, and the paladins have to stop it.

They drop Shiro back off to the Atlas. Despite his less than ideal condition, he takes up captain again and the Atlas

changes.

It becomes the Earth-Altea version of the White Lion. Voltron is being struck left and right, so the Atlas rushes in to help. It’s all a blur, Adam can barely remember most of it. But what he does remember is seeing that the downed robot is set to self destruct and destroy their whole planet.

He remembers seeing Voltron disband and pick up the limbs of the robot. He remembers watching the lions fly up, up, and out of the atmosphere. He stands next to Shiro, looks over at him. They’re sharing the same thought.

Keith.

When that robot implodes, it’s going to take down whatever it can with it, including the lions. They can do nothing to stop it.

The robot implodes. All the two men see are five different colored trails as they fall back to Earth. Adam’s heart is in his throat, he’s sure Shiro feels the same way. The Black Lion lands not 500 feet in front of them- it’s eyes no longer glowing. Keith is either unconscious, or dead.

—--------------------

He hasn’t woken up yet.

Of course he hasn’t. The little shit. Of course all the other paladins have returned to the land of the living, but Keith

had

to go and hit his head the hardest.

Shiro was out of his mind with worry when the paladins were rushed to the hospital. Luckily, not too much harm was done. Nearly all of them had some grade of concussion (except Allura, guess she has a hard head) and all of them had bruises painting their bodies where they landed the hardest. It was difficult to look at, but they were all doing better, spending time with their families.

Except Keith,

Shiro thinks. He’s always gotta be difficult.

He’s walking through the Garrison’s med bay halls towards Keith’s room when he spots Adam standing outside the door.

“Hey, why’re you just standing out here?”

Adam is looking intensely inside the room, his brow furrowed. “Who are those people?” He asks, pointing inside the room.

Shiro peeks inside Keith’s hospital room and- oh. Uh oh. Krolia and Kolivan made it to Earth, why did he never get a ping? Shit, he has to explain this to Adam without Keith.

He sighs, “The man is Kolivan. He’s the leader of the Blade of Marmora and is kinda like Keith’s mentor.”

“Mentor? I thought the Blade of Marmora was for Galrans only.”

Shiro purses his lips, looking at Adam sheepishly. Understanding dawns in his fiance’s eyes. “So he’s…”

“Half-Galra. Yep. He was a little scared to tell you, so I wanted to let him wait ‘till he was ready, but…” he trails off.

“That explains… so much.”

Shiro chuckles, nodding. With that issue set aside, Adam turns his attention to Krolia. Shiro tenses in anticipation.

“And the woman? Who’s she?”

Shiro hesitates. Adam clocks it immediately. His eyes narrow in suspicion. “Who is she, Takashi?”

Shiro winces. Guess he’s gotta rip the bandaid off, “Her name is Krolia. She’s Keith’s mother.”

Adam’s eyes go wide. And then they narrow once more, this time with an edge of hostility. He stares into the room, his lip curling. His tongue scrapes the front of his teeth slowly. Adam’s always been so protective of Keith. If the paladins thought Shiro was angry at the revelation, they have no idea about the wrath of Adam.

“Adam, listen to me-”

“Where the hell has she been all these years, huh?”

Adam’s fists are clenched, his jaw is tight, and he’s turning red. Shiro has to practically drag him to a private room so he can explain everything without Adam throwing something important.

“Adam- Adam, hey. Look at me.”

“She has the

gall

to show up here? After leaving like she did? After what she put him through?” Adam is livid, he’s pacing back and forth.

“Adam,” he says forcefully, “Look at me.”

His fiance finally looks up. “I was angry too, when I first found out.”

Adam takes a breath like he’s gearing up to argue back, but Shiro cuts him off.

“It’s fragile. The relationship they have. The first time they had a conversation Keith started yelling and then broke down in my arms ten minutes later.”

That probably wasn’t the best thing for him to say because Adam starts to shake from the force of his rage.

“But! But, things are getting better. It’s been hard on the kid, Adam, it really has. She stayed with us in the castle for about two months before she had to leave again.”

“Of course she

had

to leave again, what was it this time? She can’t bear to look at him?” Adam responds sarcastically. Shiro understands where he’s coming from, but he doesn’t want to hinder the progress Keith and Krolia have been making.

“Keith forgave her.”

“What?” Adam breathes out, shocked.

“Before she left, he told her he forgave her. I know it’s hard to believe, but she genuinely wants to make up for her mistakes.”

“Why are you on her side, Takashi? Why are you defending what she did to him?”

“Because I did the same thing.”

It stops Adam in his tracks. He quits pacing, staring up at Shiro in shock.

“Don’t look at me like that. I did the exact same thing as her. You and Keith both told me that it wasn’t a good idea. And I did it anyway. I chose the mission over my family. And all three of us paid the consequences. I’m just as bad as her, so yeah, I understand her side of things.” He looks away from Adam, staring resolutely at the floor.

Adam pads quietly over to Shiro, cupping his cheeks and lifting his head so they make eye contact. “It’s okay,” Adam says softly, “I never blamed you.”

Tears spill over Shiro’s cheeks. “I

left

you,” he whispers mournfully.

Adam pulls Shiro close, running his hands through his hair, rubbing a hand up and down his back. “I’m sorry, Adam, I’m-I’m so, so sorry for everything,” he weeps.

Adam cradles him closer, cooing and comforting as Shiro heaves for breath. All the sorrow and shame he’s felt for leaving pours out of him. His sobs turn to hiccups and whimpers, and then slowly peter off after an hour. Adam lifts up Shiro’s head, thumbing away any remaining tears.

“I will… try with Krolia. It’s just- it’s hard, I care so much about the kid and the things she caused is just-” he lets out a hard breath.

“All I can ask is that you try, at least for Keith.”

Adam nods, “For Keith.”

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

Shiro and Adam make their way back to the room Keith is staying in. The kid looks rough, he’s a touch too pale and he’s got a bandage wrapped around his head. Shiro walks over to Kolivan and clasps his arm in greeting. Shiro can’t help but comment, “You done with lying to Keith?”

Kolivan sighs heavily, “It was never my intention to hurt him, I was merely doing what his mother asked of me.”

“You’re lucky it’s turned out as well as it has, it could’ve been much worse.”

“Yes, you’re right. They are extremely similar. I wouldn’t have been surprised if they ended up dueling.”

“Krolia would never,” Shiro scoffs.

“She would if Keith demanded it, but you’re right, it never would have come to that.”

They stand silently for a minute. Shiro smiles, “They’re also, like, identical.”

Kolivan’s lip curls slightly. It’s the closest to a smile he’ll get, “Not only in looks. I see much of her in him.”

Shiro nods, “He’s a perfect mix of his father and mother, I’ll give him that.”

They hear a squeak of a shoe on the floor and turn in time to see Adam making his way over to one side of Keith’s bed, the opposite of Krolia.

Adam raises his hand, “You must be Krolia. My name is Adam, I helped Shiro raise Keith.”

It’s curt, it’s a little cold. Shiro winces. To her credit, Krolia does not falter. She grips Adam’s hand, “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for everything you’ve done for my son.”

Adam smiles back, it is not kind. Kolivan takes the awkward silence as an opportunity to introduce himself to Adam as well, whose response is much warmer. They all sit, waiting for Keith to wake up. The boy is so still, he almost looks dead. Only the rise and fall of his chest and the near-silent breaths indicate his liveliness. Shiro takes his free hand and holds on to one of Keith’s limp ones while Adam rubs Shiro’s back soothingly.

It feels like it did a couple years back, when Keith contracted some illness and had to go stay at the hospital. The two men were worried out of their minds, they stayed by his bed as long as they could.

With nothing else to do, Adam stares at Keith. He couldn’t help but notice the changes in his kid. Keith’s hair was longer, he was taller and had broader shoulders and a strong jaw. He was a completely different person than the scrawny, angry kid that Adam knew. He wasn’t a little boy anymore. The thought makes him choke up a little bit.

Unfortunately, they can’t all sit there forever. Shiro has to go be a leader and make a speech to the entire coalition that has gathered on Earth. Kolivan and Krolia have to leave as well- their presence as good Galra is indispensable. However, Adam

can

afford to stay. And he’ll be damned if he lets Keith wake up on his own. But he’s not alone for too long because Lance walks in after about an hour.

“Oh! Hi, Adam, sorry I didn’t mean to intrude,” Lance says, rubbing the back of his neck.

Adam smiles warmly, “Not at all Lance, come in.”

Lance pads into the room, barefoot. He’s still wearing his hospital gown and he’s got bandages wrapped on his arms. He sits where Krolia did, taking one of Keith’s hands into his own. He looks down at Keith with a sad smile, rubbing his thumb back and forth.

“Did-did they say anything about when he’s gonna wake up?”

“Sorry, kiddo, they don’t know.”

Lance nods shortly, swallowing a couple times.

“You care about him, huh?” Adam asks.

Lance jerks his head up, eyes wide. Adam’s got a knowing look in his eye and a sly smile, and Lance deflates. “More than anything,” he mumbles.

It makes Adam want to cry

again

(what is up with that?) He knew Keith struggled with making friends, finding people who accepted him with all of his quirks. And to know he’s not only found five real, amazing friends, but also a boyfriend who cares so much, it makes Adam feel nothing but pride.

“That’s good,” he smiles, “I’m glad he has someone like you by his side.”

Lance lets out a shy laugh, “For as long as he’ll have me.”

Lance stays a little while longer, they chat lightly. Eventually, his mother is calling him back to his room for another check up and he has to go.

“Tell me when he wakes up?” Lance asks.

“You’ll be the first to know- well, actually, Takashi might sense it from five miles away and come sprinting but

I

will tell you,” he corrects.

Lance lets out a loud laugh, “Yeah, those two are something else.” He leaves the room with a wave.

Adam is left alone, watching over Keith, watching his deep breaths. The kid is usually restless when he sleeps, moving and kicking. One time, he had a nightmare and they were able to convince him to sleep in their bed for the night. He finally obliged, but ten minutes after he fell asleep, he punched Shiro in the face. Adam was laughing his ass off until he got a kick to the groin. Keith still doesn’t know about it. The memory brings a smile to his face.

This Keith, though, is absolutely still. Adam doesn’t know if it’s because he’s unconscious, not asleep, but it’s unsettling either way. He’s turned the TV on, watching Shiro give his speech to the massive crowd. Shiro sounds confident and proud, his words are inspiring and Adam knows that every person watching hangs on to his every word, like a true leader. He’s so tuned in to his fiance’s words, he doesn’t see the sheets on the bed shuffle around.

“He looks dumb,” Keith croaks out.

Adam’s head whips over to the bed. Keith’s eyes are cracked open, hazy with exhaustion. It’s not his best roast, but he’s coming out of a week long coma, sue him. Adam brings his chair closer, pulling one of Keith’s hands into his own.

“Hey kid,” he smiles, rubbing Keith’s head affectionately, minding the bandages.

“Wha’ happen’d?”

Adam explains everything. The fight with Sendak, the robot, the crash. When he gets to the part about all five lions falling from literal outer space, Keith nearly jumps out of bed.

“What about Lance? A-and Pidge and Hunk, and Allura?” He panics.

“They’re all fine, sweetheart. They’re all awake, Lance came in to see you earlier. Some bruises and concussions like you, but everyone is okay.”

Keith relaxes back into the bed, nodding. He glances back up at Adam hesitantly, “Um, has- did you uh, did a female Galra come by?”

“Your mom came by, yes Keith,” Adam’s face darkens slightly.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about her, or about being- being Galra, it was a lot and I was scared you were gonna be angry and-”

“Keith, hey, hey, slow down. It’s okay, I get it. Takashi explained it all to me. It’s… a lot to take in, I’ll admit.”

Keith drops his gaze, fiddling with the blanket, “I was angry too at first. So angry. I’m still not sure if she made the right decision back then. I mean, she was supposed to take care of me and she left anyway.”

Adam nods in agreement.

“But,” he breathes, “She’s trying. Like genuinely trying. We’ve gotten kinda close these past few months.”

Keith looks up at Adam again, his purple eyes boring into him. Keith has always had a hard exterior, a metal shell to keep everyone from getting too close. When he finally let Adam and Shiro in, they saw that he was using that exterior to hide a soft inside. The kid bleeds love like he’ll never run out of it, he just never got the opportunity to trust someone enough. It’s why Adam is so hesitant about Krolia. He doesn’t believe that she won’t break that trust.

“It’s hard… for me to believe her,” he starts, “You’ve got a heart of gold, Keith, and I’ve seen firsthand what not having a mother did to you. It’s difficult for me to imagine how she could ever make up for that.”

Keith looks down again, nodding slowly.

“But that doesn’t mean I won’t try. If Takashi can find a reason to keep her in your life, then I’m sure I can find it too.”

Keith perks up again, smiling slowly, “You mean it?”

“Of course kid, anything to make you happy. You are happy with this, right?”

“Yes. You’ll see. She’s made mistakes, but I think- I think she’s a good person.”

Keith understands that it’s hard for Adam. It was hard for Shiro. It was hard for him. Adam squeezes Keith’s hand tight and gives him a fond smile. It’s enough that Adam wants to

try.

Adam’s smile curls further and turns into something closer to amusement, “I promised a… friend of yours that I would tell him the second you woke up.”

Keith flushes red. He starts blabbering about Lance just being his friend and no, nothings going on, is he in the hospital still, by chance? Adam snickers at the kid. Shiro’s already told him all about their rivalry turned romance and he’s gonna tease the boy until the end of time.

He pats Keith’s head one last time and says, “I’m gonna go get him, you gonna be alright?”

Keith nods and shoos him out of the room, his face still flaming. Keith sits in silence for a while, thinking about all that’s happened and all there is still to do. Honerva is still an issue, he has no clue where to even begin with that, but he figures Allura will have some idea. He’s a little antsy to see his mom since it’s been a couple months. He’s still lost in thought when a loud shriek comes from down the hall.

A blue of white and brown tears around the corner of the door and stares directly at Keith. Lance is standing there, breathing heavily, “Keith! You’re awake!”

“Sure am, you alright?”

“Am

I

alright? You’re the one who took a million years to wake up,” Lance complains, walking over to the bed and plopping in a chair. He takes a hold of Keith’s hand and starts playing with his fingers.

“Well, I’m awake now. You talk to everyone else?”

“Yep,” Lance sighs, “Everyone is okay, Pidge and Hunk and all them have started planning our next move. Allura says Honerva is gonna be even more of a headache then Sendak and Zarkon. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

“I figured. Even falling from the upper atmosphere and crashing our lions doesn’t get us a break.”

Lance smiles slightly, but sobers just as fast. He won’t look Keith in the eye, staring at their intertwined fingers.

“Hey, you okay?” Keith asks worriedly.

“Yeah, yeah, I just- um,” Lance swallows, “You- you really scared me.”

“I mean, the doctor’s had no idea when you were gonna wake up, and they said you hit your head the hardest and you’ve been so still this whole time it looked like you were dead-” Lance chokes out.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Keith grips on to Lance’s hand, “I’m right here. I’m alive, you’re alive, we’re all okay.”

Lance nods, wiping his eyes. Keith has really never been an emotional guy, but with Lance it comes easy. The nature of their relationship and the way it came about was due to a lot of anger and misplaced resentment on both sides which forced them to have many,

many,

heart-to-hearts. A lot of conversations about their feelings and the past and how their behavior came to be. It all ended up being worth it in the end, there’s no one he’d rather do all this with then Lance. Keith makes a- probably dumb- decision.

“Come here.” He says.

“What?”

Keith pats the other side of the bed, “Come here, come lay with me.”

“Keith, you’re still injured, I don’t wanna hurt you.”

“You’re not gonna hurt me, I promise. Please, I want to lay with you.”

Lance stares at him for a second more. He puts on his best puppy dog eyes. Lance lets out a harsh breath and shakes his head. He stands up and climbs into the hospital bed beside him. Lance curls up next to him, laying his head on Keith’s collarbone and placing one hand on his chest, feeling his heartbeat. Keith puts one hand into his boyfriend's hair, stroking back and forth.

“You scared me too, y’know,” Keith says softly, “When the robot imploded, all I could think about was you.”

Lance nuzzles his head closer into Keith’s neck, pressing small kisses along the length of it. Keith thinks about that moment when they pushed the robot a safe distance away from Earth, when everything went white- his eyes had glanced over to the Red lion, he thought of Lance, of the moments they shared, of the chance that he would never hear or see him again. A tear slips down his cheek at the memory.

Lance cranes his neck up, looking at Keith concernedly. The hand that was on his chest moves to wipe the tear away. “I’m okay, we both made it,” he whispers.

Keith nods, a tight smile on his face. Lance moves his head closer, kissing his cheek, his nose, and his forehead before pulling back. He smiles gently down at the other boy, their foreheads knocking. Keith can feel the ridges of Lance’s spine where he rests his hand, can feel Lance’s breath fan his face, the heat radiating off his body.

“I love you,” he murmurs.

Lance’s eyes are gleaming as he brushes his lips with Keith’s, “I love you too.”

He leans in fully, kissing him properly. It’s soft and slow, something to prove that both of them are alive and together. There’s nowhere else Keith would rather be.

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

Keith wakes up to the sound of a door opening. The first thing he feels is a soft breath against his neck and warmth on his right side. Only then does he remember the conversation he and Lance had hours prior. They must have fallen asleep without thinking about it. It makes the sight of his mother walking into the room much more embarrassing.

Krolia takes one look at the two boys in bed and smiles, tilting her head to the side.

“Oh… Hi, I, uh, didn’t think you’d be back so soon,” Keith says sheepishly, turning an alarming shade of red. He feels Lance shuffle underneath his arms, his nose pressing deeper into his neck.

“Wha’s goin’ on?” Lance’s sleep-addled voice murmurs from where it’s tucked into Keith.

“Um, my-uh, my um, Krolia is here.”

Lance nods and buries deeper into Keith’s side. He stays like that for a second, sighing contentedly, before shooting up from the bed. His eyes wide and a hand slaps to his mouth.

Krolia’s eyes are full of amusement, her lips quirked up in a smile.

“Oh! Hi Mrs. Kogane- or, sorry, um, Krolia, I, uh, nothing happened! We just slept together, I MEAN- we like, literally slept, like cuddled,” Lance is flushed in embarrassment. Keith feels the same way, but he can’t hold back a snort from his boyfriend’s rambling.

Lance hears it and slaps Keith on his bicep, it only makes Keith snicker more.

“It’s alright, Lance. I’m glad you two have each other.” Krolia says, crossing her arms and leaning against the doorway.

Lance crawls out of the hospital bed painstakingly slowly. The bed is cushy, so there’s no easy way for him to roll out of it and keep his dignity. Keith puts a hand on his lower back to help him ease out of it. He straightens up once he’s fully detached from the bed, “Cool! Well I- uh, I should, y’know, get going. People to see, things to do, and all.”

He turns to Keith and presses a quick kiss to his cheek, “See you later!” And he bolts out of the door.

They watch him go and Krolia turns to Keith with mirth in her eyes, “He’s cute.”

Keith rolls his eyes, “You are well aware we’ve been dating for months. That’s not the first time you’ve caught us cuddling.”

“It’s fun to watch him squirm.”

Keith lets out a laugh. His mother walks closer to the bed and sits on the chair beside it. The air in the room is comfortable, the lack of tension is something they were both happy to be rid of. Keith feels, not for the first time in these past couple months, that he actually has a mom. She cares for him and acts like a mother would. It’s different, the circumstances are… peculiar, to say the least, but they’ve made it work.

“How are you feeling?” She asks.

“Better, a little sore.”

Krolia smiles, “I beat Shiro here, he’s going to have a fit when he finds out you’ve been awake all this time.”

Keith lets out a soft breath of amusement. He honestly can’t wait to see his brother again- it feels like it’s been forever. “Yeah, he’s gonna be so annoying about it too, I already know.”

Krolia chuckles, but when she looks up at Keith, her brows pinched and her lips turned downwards.

“What’s wrong?” Keith asks.

Krolia hesitates, “You… scared me. I was afraid that- I was so worried when the lions fell, and you weren’t responding- and then the first responders were talking, and-” She can’t seem to complete thought. She’s a practical woman, but it seems that Keith got his lack of eloquence from her.

“Mom,” he cuts her off.

Krolia’s eyebrows jump up. It’s the first time he’s called her that. He thought it would be a more monumental decision, but it just feels right.

“I get it. I’m sorry for scaring you.”

She smiles, lifting her hand towards his face, but stops about a foot away. Her fingers curl back towards her hand, and she begins to drop her arm, but Keith stops her. He holds up his own hand and brushes his fingers with hers. He gives her an encouraging smile. His version of an affirmative.

Krolia moves her hand closer to his face. She brushes the stray strands of hair on his forehead back and behind his ear. Her hand is warm and he can feel her claws scrape lightly against his cheekbone. Her hand stays behind his ear and she hesitates again, before finding her resolve and scratching his scalp.

“Keith,” she pauses, staring intently at him, “I need you to know that I am so, so sorry. For everything.”

“Mom, really it’s okay, I forgave you a while ago-”

“No, Keith, listen to me. I need you to understand. I will never leave you again. I meant it when I said it then and I mean it now. I will

always

be here from now on.”

He nods at her, smiling. He knows. He can trust her this time, because he knows who she is. He’s content to feel the scrape of her nails against his head and fall into a lull of sleep with her next to him, but he’s bombarded by his idiot gaggle of friends.

“KEITH,” Hunk barges through the door, for some reason he’s already in tears. He pulls Keith in for the tightest hug yet, forcing a small squeak out of him.

“Hunk, hey, I’m glad you’re alright,” He wheezes.

Pidge comes up to him with a smile, jumping on to the bed and clutching his waist.

“Hey, Pidge,” he rubs her back, petting her fluffy hair. He thinks he hears a ‘hello’ back and also a long string of swear words that threaten his life.

Allura smiles sweetly at him, “I’m so glad you finally woke up. You took ages, it really worried us.”

“Hey ‘Llura, I’m sorry, I can’t control my unconscious state.”

“You could

try.

” Lance says from the other side of the bed, reaching his hand over to smooth back Keith’s hair.

Krolia laughs and gives his boyfriend a pointed look and Lances blushes to the high heavens. It makes Keith chuckle.

The rest of the paladins make a home in Keith’s room. They use this time to forget about the war they have to finish. They talk about their families and the food they’ve eaten since they got back to Earth (

“My mama made garlic knots, I actually almost cried-” “Dude, you did cry, I was there.”)

It’s nice. It feels normal. His friends and his mom are here and everything feels right.

“Shiro’s gonna freak out that he was the last one to see you awake,” Pidge snickers.

Right. Not everything. Not yet. His brother still has to get here.

“Yeah, I saw his speech on the TV when Adam was here. Four out of ten, the lapels on his jacket were crooked.”

They all chat lightly, laughing, and talking when a loud voice echoes from down the hall.

“HE’S BEEN AWAKE HOW LONG?”

Footsteps going too fast for his -most likely brother’s- old, decrepit body start racing down the hallway.

“Oh no,” Keith groans. The paladins giggle and stare at the doorway in anticipation.

The sight of Takashi Shirogane bracing his hands against the doorway with a wild look in his eyes is too much for the paladins. They fall into rambunctious laughter, tears coming from their eyes.

Shiro’s gaze snaps to the bed, where Keith stares sheepishly at his brother, “You’ve been awake

how

long?”

Keith looks over to Lance, “How long were we asleep?”

Shiro’s jaw drops, “This is the deepest act of betrayal, I will never forgive you.”

“Yeah, yeah, yadda, yadda, get over here old man.”

Shiro marches over to Keith and wraps him in his arms. One of his hands curls in Keith’s shirt and the other cradles his head. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” Shiro whispers.

The mirth dies down a little bit, the paladins turning to give them some privacy.

“Yeah, well, y’know, takes more than a fall from thousands of miles up to make me kick the bucket.”

Shiro takes in a sharp breath, “Don’t do that again, please, kiddo. You had me and Adam so goddamn worried.”

Keith tightens his grip on his older brother. Truth be told, he was scared too when it happened. He thought of Lance of course, in those last moments, but he couldn’t help but think of Shiro too, that he was doing what Shiro (almost) did and dying up in space. Keith buries his head as deep as he can in his brother’s chest and lets out a small sob of relief. Shiro holds him tighter, whispering reassurances to him and rocking them slightly.

“I love you, kid.” Shiro says shakily.

“Love you too.”

Shiro places a kiss on his temple and his forehead before pulling away. Keith sees the tear tracks down his brother's face and wipes them away. Shiro smiles and ruffles his hair. The other paladins crowd around his bed, it’s only a little claustrophobic.

“So… we're doing this?”

“We’re gonna kick Honerva’s butt!” Lance says.

Allura gives Lance an exasperatedly fond look, “Yes, we are doing this. We will do it together.”

Keith smiles at the people around him, when did he get so lucky? He’s half expecting them to do, like, a cheer or something when Adam pokes his head in.

“Are you guys done with your heart-to-heart so I can come in and see the kid?”

“You already

saw

him when he woke up, you traitor,” Shiro admonishes.

Adam walks into the room, shrugging, “You were the one giving the big speech, not my fault.”

Adam comes to his bedside as well, giving his hair

another

ruffle (what is with these people and his hair?) and kissing Shiro on the cheek.

Keith lied. Now everything is perfect. There’s no war in this room. Just his family.

—---------------------

They did it. The war is over. It feels unreal.

It was terrifying. Allura had made the decision to sacrifice herself to prevent the universe from collapsing. Keith’s mind had been going a mile a minute trying to figure out an alternative, something to stop one of the fiercest women he knew from dying. He had come up empty. She had hugged him and said goodbye. He didn’t know true panic until that point.

Until Pidge, the little genius, perked up. The lions, she said, what about the lions?

And it worked. They traded the lions to save Allura from that awful fate. In a ship they had commandeered quickly, they watched as a bright light swept through the dark expanse of space. When it was over, a new planet had appeared. Allura had gasped, her eyes alight with tears. Altea, she cried.

It was sad. They had made connections with the lions. The lions spoke to them and gave them comfort and advice. But the universe never needed a weapon that big in the first place. It was worth it to save the princess. She could get the universe back in working order faster than any of them ever could. The bond they forged with the lions would never leave them, their spirits remaining in the hearts of each paladin. It will never fade.

The return to the Garrison is celebratory. From painful goodbyes to excited hello’s and congratulations. The mood was joyous and it seemed everyone on Earth was celebrating. Keith landed on the dirt floor, kicking up dust. Shiro had an arm wrapped around his shoulders, searching for Adam.

He came quickly. His voice was shouting from the back of the crowd.

“Takashi! Keith!”

Keith is pulled into the tightest group hug yet- and he’s hugged Hunk. The two men sandwich between him, practically crushing him. It’s the safest he’s ever been. Adam is running his fingers through his hair, swiping dirt off his cheek.

“I’m gonna wrap you both in bubble wrap.” Adam says. Keith can’t tell if he’s joking or not.

Shiro laughs at Keith’s disgruntled expression and presses a kiss to his hair. They squeeze him so hard he feels like he’s gonna burst. He lets it all happen until Shiro and Adam start giving each other googly eyes.

“Alright, that’s enough. If you two kiss with me between you I’m actually gonna yack on your shoes,” he says, sliding out of their grasp.

Shiro rolls his eyes and reaches out to give him a noogie, “You’re such a little booger, you know that?”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, keep it PG in front of my eyes, thank you.”

Keith turns away when he sees Shiro lean in closer to Adam.

No thank you.

He spots his mother staring at him from across the yard. Her arms are up and slightly away from her body. Keith wastes no time.

He wraps his arms around her torso, burying his face in her chest. He had a growth spurt, but his mother is full Galra, he can’t compete with that. She holds him close, her arms tightening around his back and shoulders.

“I’m so proud of you,” she whispers. It brings tears to his eyes. His whole life, he’s been waiting to hear those words. He squeezes her tighter.

“Thank you, mom.”

There’s words they don’t say. They’re still not quite there. It’ll take more than a couple months for them to reach that point. But they’ll get there, he’s sure of it.

They pull away from each other and have genuine smiles on their faces. He begins to tell her what happened, but he gets pulled away before he can get into it.

“Keith!” Lance calls.

Keith perks up, getting ready to walk over to his boyfriend. He stops, though, and sends a glance at his mom. She smirks (Iverson, who’s walking past, actually does a double take because it looks so similar to Keith) and nods, flapping her hand in confirmation. He smiles and waves before running over to Lance.

Lance pulls him into a tight hug. They survived. They’re all alive. The statistical likelihood of that happening was next to nothing. But it doesn’t matter because they’re all here. He pulls Lance closer, running his hands through his hair. Lance noses closer into Keith’s neck, pulling

Keith into him by his waist. Lance smells like strawberries and dirt and sweat and he’s so alive, it’s all incredibly overwhelming.

Lance pulls back slightly, staring at Keith in the eyes, “We made it.”

“We did. We make a pretty good team, huh, sharpshooter?” Keith smiles.

Lance grins at him, “I can’t believe we’re all alive. It feels impossible.”

“It was close back there, I thought for a second…” Keith falters.

“Yeah, that was… thank god for Pidge, right?”

“Oh yeah, no, we gotta, like, do something for her, get her some fancy technology.”

Lance laughs, pushing their foreheads together. “I’m so glad you’re alive,” he whispers.

Keith cups his boyfriend’s cheeks, bumping their noses together, “I’m glad you’re alive too, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Their lips brush, and they just stand there for a second, taking in the fact they’ve made it out of this war together. Everything they’ve been through, in the war, in their relationship, has led to here. It’s been painful and trying and all around awful, but Keith would never do it any other way.

He presses his lips to Lance’s fully. Lance responds eagerly, tilting his head to make it more comfortable. He can feel every point of contact where he and Lance meet. Their thighs, their hips, their chests. He can feel Lance’s hands on his bicep and the back of his neck. His lips are warm and comforting, and he wraps his arms around Lance’s neck to deepen the kiss.

He can hear Lance let out a soft sigh, like the contact has him melting. They’re practically making out in the middle of broad daylight in a courtyard where hundreds of other people are mingling, but Keith doesn’t have a care in the world, and obviously neither does Lance. He could stay like this for several hundreds years, but Keith doesn’t get what he wants.

A wolf whistle sounds from a couple yards to their right.

“Okay Keith!” Shiro yells, and Keith

knows

he’s got a stupid shit-eating grin on his face. Not breaking the kiss, he holds up one hand and gives his brother the bird. He can hear Shiro guffawing, and laughs against Lance’s lips. Lance also lets out a giggle and then they’re cackling in each other's faces.

He can hear Hunk and Pidge making smooching noises close by and he’s pretty sure he heard the snap of a camera where Adam is standing. All of the people in Keith’s life are devious fuckers. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

Keith hooks one arm around Lance’s waist, he feels his boyfriend’s arm come up across his shoulder, and he can’t help but smile at the life he’s created.

Keith never thought he’d be here. Not ten years ago, not one, not even five months ago. But he is. And he has a family. A real family. The people that surround him fully, genuinely,

care

about him. His brothers and his mom, his best friends, and his boyfriend.

The war has been hard. It’s caused irreparable damage and suffering. It’ll take longer than his lifetime to recover from. But there’s hope now. There’s a future they can all look at. And he will never take for granted what he now has- the people in his life. They crashed into it and stayed, despite his attempts to keep them out, despite everything that he’s ever thought makes him unlovable. They love him. They’ll stay by his side throughout everything. He can take anything head on as long as he has his family with him.

It’s his own life anyways, he’s going to make the most of it.

Keith breathes out.