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Keith stirred when she felt small soft chubby hands pat her face and a slimy liquid smear on her cheek. She brought her hands up to automatically support the small body on top of her and opened her eyes to see big purple ones staring intensely at her. She couldn't help the smile that formed on her face in which the baby returned ten times brightly despite the early hour. her chubby face glowing as if a ray of sunshine passed through the window.Keith looked at the clock on the wall, 4:45 am. It’s still dark outside.She usually wakes at 5 but her baby wakes just a little earlier than her and then goes down like a log at noon. She unbuttoned her shirt to fulfill the reason why she was even awoken by a cheerful baby so early in the morning, Mahar immediately latched onto a nipple and began to suck.If you were to ask Keith who the father is, she won't be able to give you an answer. She only likes girls and never had sex with a man before so it was a complete mystery for her on how she got pregnant in the first place, hell, she didn’t even know she was pregnant until the baby popped out of her womb.She was an unexpected but welcome change, Keith is wholly unprepared but she managed and Mahar never expressed any distress unless she’s hungry or wants to change diapers. She’s a pretty cheerful baby compared to Keith. Sometimes it worries Keith, especially considering the time during the pregnancy that she did not know, she was not eating healthily.She always consumed meat because she finds the taste and texture of some vegetables incredibly disgusting, so it was a surprise when the doctor declared Mahar as a perfectly healthy baby and because of it, She’s always on edge and expecting the effects of her unhealthy lifestyle to strike her baby but every trip to the clinic they always say that her baby is healthy and even giving her a lollipop to slobber on.It was a struggle, Keith never imagined herself to become a mother, there were many times she wanted to quit because her priority of finding out what really happened to Shiro went to taking care of a baby she never wanted. Putting Mahar up for adoption was never an option, Keith knows what it's like to be in the system and even if Mahar was never intended to be here, Keith loves her the moment she laid eyes on her and she doesn't want her to experience what she had.Eva was there to help her when the baby first arrived, she helped Keith alot and even gave up her vacation just to be there for Keith until last year. Eva was a test pilot for a new prototype ship and it blew up. She’s been in a coma ever since, her left side was scorched and she lost a leg on the same side, the condition of her arm was still unknown. It broke Keith and only fueled her hatred for the garrison ever since. She lost both of the people she cares for and cares about her because of them. Keith very much does not regret being kicked out because of disciplinary issues. It’s hard not to glare at every higher garrison personnel that she encounters every time she visits Eva.Mahar unlatched from her nipple and opened her mouth widely to release a burp, it was cute, endearing to Keith. Somehow every move that the little creature she created becomes so adorable in Keith's eyes, It’s ridiculous.She never felt the same to other younger kids in foster homes, often times she's one of the older kids who had to take care of the younger ones but she never felt any adoration towards them, maybe it's because she was just a kid back then, maybe it's because she never got to properly mourn the fact that her mother is dead and the only way she got to release frustration is through aggression after long a time of never been tended to properly and thus she never learned how to grieve or handle her emotions at all.Nevertheless, she's sure that what she's feeling is love for her baby.Mahar's chest rumbled followed by a “mamm!” Which is her version of mama, Keith finally sat up and chuckled when Mahar's purring was replaced by a surprised “omf” as she slid down to the bed from Keith.Back then she thought that purring was normal, it's just something sensitive or intimate until one day Eva pointed out that Mahar can purr like Keith. Keith remembered saying “isn't that normal?” Eva looked at her like she was crazy and told her that humans cannot purr and in fact, does not have the tools to produce purring sounds like a cat, somehow it's Keith who broke those laws and has a larynx similar to cats.Making breakfast to start the day was pretty easy considering Mahar is already awake, she just sits on the baby chair Keith made for her and makes eager baby noises while she drools all over her table and tries to reach Keith as she fries chicken nuggets for them.“uggy!” Mahar demanded, despite being already done with her breakfast via Keith's tits.
Babies have an endless stomach, or she just got that from Keith. Well, her genes are definitely strong in her baby. They both can inhale an endless amount of food but Keith has to limit Mahar or else she'll get indigestion, that's what happened last time and she doesn't want to see her baby suffering again.The moment Keith set the bowl of cooled down, sliced nuggets, Mahar shrilled and grabbed a piece with her bare hand to munch on. Keith placed her plate down on the makeshift coffee table and began to eat her fill, after this will be getting the both of them ready and then packing Mahar's essentials to get to work.Keith does not have any Permanent work, most she tries to find are those that don't care that she has a baby strapped to her so any customer services are out of the question. She doesn't care at all really, she just needs one that can get them through the week. Fortunately, there's a couple of elders who live alone that appreciate her work and have no problem looking after a baby whenever her work needs her to handle something hazardous to tiny little humans.Running errands for sweet elders that dotes on Mahar is definitely not a trouble. Many elderly reside just outside of Plat City and due to their old age and their defiance to registering to a retirement home, They need a little helping hand in which Keith dutifully fulfills in exchange for money, which they overpay and has a skillfully crafted reason that those are spendings for their self proclaimed grandchild, Mahar.Mahar squealed when Keith strapped her to her front and mounted the hover bike, she loves this so much that whenever Keith placed her to the carrier she starts kicking her tiny little feet in excitement, Keith's Gene's are really dominant in this baby that the only thing that differentiate them is the curly hair, other than that she's literally a clone of Keith.Mahar's shrieking could be clearly heard as they zoomed through the desert, she has a little black helmet and purple goggles on to protect her eyes. She's facing Keith's chest but she makes no move to turn her head backward, content on staring at the sky and its moving clouds that she tries to grab.Mahar's shrieking died down when Keith slowed to park her hoverbike on the designated parking lot, but her eyes lit up in recognition when she saw the familiar house that they often visit. It belongs to an elderly couple who has Keith's number and has no shame in contacting her often in case they need help for something, this time it's getting a ton of groceries since they're preparing a feast for a son that works for the Garrison who was overseas and just came back.After a quick greeting, Keith gets the list and hopped on the hoverbike again to head inside the City. Making sure the straps of her carrier is secure and praying that Mahar will be distracted at the new sights inside the City but not enough that she’ll want to run off, Despite not having many words in her vocabulary, Mahar can run pretty fast and stable the moment she’s set down, she started walking pretty early according to Eva and all her physicals -coordination, balance and such- are too advanced for a baby.She stopped at a stall first to order a meat barbeque and gave them to Mahar -after she snapped the sharp end of the stick- to munch on and keep her distracted before going to scout the area for the things to buy on her list. She missed the weird look the vendor gave her when they saw the baby happily gnawing on the meat.While back then she had to google certain brands or sometimes have the call on the entire time just to make sure she was getting the right product, now she knows the brands her elderly clients prefer like the back of her hand since the most thing she does for them anyway is to buy groceries.They claim that having her go is cheaper and faster since she already knows the specifics they want to buy and they won’t have to fiddle with the confusing layouts of the apps that provide delivered groceries, Keith doubts that, she actually used the app once and the layout and delivery is fast and simple since the drones are the ones that drop them off and the fee is close as hers- no, those grandmas overpay her! She tried saying this but the grandma just shoved a cookie in her mouth and pretended that she never heard her and then continued to dote on Mahar that is vibrating in her seat from the amount of cookies in front of her and absolutely sending cookie crumbs flying everywhere.Many people stopped to coo at Mahar and try to get her attention but the baby ignored them and kept gnawing on her stick of meat, Keith just sent a stiff smile their way and continued on with her shopping. Usually from what Keith saw in public and in foster care is that babies revel in attention, babies love attention when not upset. It’s different for Mahar though, She tolerates anyone that is not Keith but has some sort of close connection with her but she despises strangers.When Mahar first met Eva, She clung to Keith and never let herself be put down, even eyeing Eva across the small space of room with narrowed eyes. There was also one time when Keith just ordered food because she did not have the energy to cook something then took a nap and when she woke up, the door was ajar and Mahar was standing in front of the gap stock still but Keith can see the vibration on her little body as she growled at the poor delivery guy who is nervously calling -probably many times- that their food is delivered -despite there being drones available to deliver food, almost none use them since there’s a lot of bumps on the road and food won’t be directly monitored when using them-Keith thought it was normal okay?! Until Eva told her that again, humans do not have the same abilities and organs as a feline. Keith does those things too since childhood and her mom never told her it’s not normal and the kids just bully her back at the foster home so again, she thought it was an intimate thing, but now she knows it’s just a weird abnormality that she got from either her mother or other parent that is possibly an alien.She can control them but most of the time when she’s alone with Mahar, both of them are purring uncontrollably. Eva once joked that everytime she comes over, there's an engine running that suddenly stops when she knocks.Taking care of a baby with needs far different from a normal one is pretty terrifying. Keith got her fair share of experience back at the system where she was expected to help take care of the younger ones, namely babies, even spent sleepless nights to tend to some of them when workforce was lacking and one particular baby got sick and needed full attention. Even Eva told her that Mahar is a unique one.The large cart is halfway filled as well as her grocery halfway done when Mahar finishes her barbeque and is now chewing the stick instead, Her eyes was boredly looking around when she perked up and tried to swing her body in the carrier to look behind Keith but then deflated after a second of searching.The action did not go unnoticed by Keith and she patted her head “saw something you like?” She turned around so Mahar could see whatever she was searching for but oddly, Mahar did not move and continued to sulk, sadly gnawing on the stick.That was…Keith did not know what to think of it, That was the first time that Mahar acted like that in public. Whenever she sees something she likes, She will point or run to it. It’s usually colorful toys or interesting things like an oddly shaped rock so there’s no doubt that what she wanted was definitely not a toy and they already established that touching pets is a no no. Keith shook her head, better to just dwell on this later and then finish the groceries.After the groceries were done, she had to reassemble a table while Mahar was free to roam the elderly couple's garden. Thinking about it now, it’s funny seeing them dote on Mahar because the first time that Keith bought her here, she was growling at them and clung to Keith while the same elderly couple that told Keith that her baby may be a demon child now dotes on Mahar just like they would their own grandkids.Keith roams the neighborhood to do the jobs assigned to her, this neighborhood only consists of elders so there's plenty of things she can do and get paid well. She's lucky they're even here and don't have to spend her time away from Mahar just so she can afford a meal for the two of them especially after Eva's accident.Before she ran chores for the elders, She once got hired for a construction job but that one did not go well, she got home to a Mahar that passed out from screaming her lungs out, she could only whimper when she woke up and clung to Keith with fat tears rolling down her face.She quit the job right after, even if the pay was slightly higher than what she received back then.Keith still has not quit searching for Shiro even with the added work of taking care of her child, in fact, it only fueled her when she found something inside the cave that she's been investigating even before Mahar arrived. It happened the first time she brought Mahar to the cave. The markings lit up with a faint blue and she followed the trail until she found a small opening. It was a long way and the drawn markings on the wall fascinated Mahar so she did not cry in boredom during the trek, she kept cooing and tried to touch the wall in which Keith complied.When she entered the second cave, she was grateful that she had Mahar in a carrier or else she would have dropped her. There standing in its full glory, is a giant mechanical blue cat- no, lion. Something corrected in her that it's a lion.It's inside a particle barrier, Keith can feel the glowing yellow eyes watching her, and instead of feeling wary, suspicious about the giant robot, she feels neither of those and kept calm, gone was the anxiety she was feeling while exploring the cave. She's still cautious as she walks towards it, she has a hand on the back of Mahar's head in a protective manner though Mahar is trying her very best to look behind her.She placed her palm on the particle barrier, there was no change aside from the ripple that cleared when she placed her hand. Something appeared amused in her head that she can guarantee is not hers.Mahar squealed when she succeeded in escaping her mother's hand and thumped the barrier as hard as her little fist could do. That foreign thought happened again and appeared as a laugh in Keith's head before the barrier flickered again for a bit and then completely disintegrated.Keith stood there, shocked. The lion's eyes glinted mischievously while Mahar's happy shrieking doubled in volume inside the spacious cave when Keith stepped inside the space where the particle barrier should have been.This was a new territory that could potentially be a step further to know what happened to shiro all those years ago, but also could be the opposite, something that can cause harm for both her and her baby. There's no doubt that this robot is sentient and there's nothing stopping it from lifting a paw and squishing them both seeing as their size is miniscule compared to the giant robot.This calming feeling it's sending her could also be a fraud, to lure them inside for whatever reasons an alien ship can think of. Mahar's screeches of joy said otherwise, for a baby that hates anyone that's not Keith, she sure is loving the big suspicious blue robot cat-lion. Maybe because It looks like a toy just a thousand times bigger than her, whatever it is.Keith shook her head as she thought to herself, patience yields focus, that's what Shiro has been drilling in her head ever since she became her mentor and practically adopted her. Despite wanting to know why an alien ship is here, it's better to assess the situation before diving in headfirst.Visits to the Blue lion become a common occurrence, there's also a steady stream of running water that Keith made a project to connect it to her home -That’s just a shack she upgraded a bit to fit Mahar- rather than going back and forth to collect water and have a screeching baby impatient for her return.There's something about that sentient alien ship that Keith uncharacteristically dropped her guard down whenever they go inside its cave. It's just there, sending waves of calming sensation and the occasional amusement. Keith never lets Mahar touch the ship though, there's still a lingering suspicion in her and it's the only thing she's holding on to not touch the ship and find a way inside there other than the curiosity of how the ship ended here on earth.Well until one day. It was a complete accident. She let Mahar down because one of the grandma's bought her a new tiny pair of shoes and Mahar is very excited to use it well. The first thing she did was run to the blue lion when she thought Keith wasn't looking and Keith had to chase after her. She realized Mahar is dead set on body slamming the Blue lion's giant paw and plucked the chubby little body off the ground and turned in time so it was her back that hit the hard metal surface.Flashes of images are what she saw the moment her back touched the Blue lion.The most clear of them was that the blue lion is apparently one of the parts that make up a giant robot. There were other flashes. It's definitely a human but the face is blurry, but she does know that the hair is brown other than that it's a mess of blur.Keith doesn't know what to make of this, does the robot want her to find the human? But Keith can't, her hands are already full of finding out what truly happened to Shiro because she knows she was not dead yet when the garrison announced her death -she's sure of it-, taking care of a baby and earning money to buy necessities. She can't squeeze in finding a single person inside a planet with billions of human population.A soothing sensation, the lion is telling her that she doesn't have to do it, just merely showing her that Keith has interacted with this person at least once in her life. It's a weird feeling, the lion is projecting ideas rather than words in her brain but Keith understood it- or her…This ship is not a lion but it's the closest earth animal that the blue lion can think of that resembles it the most.Some sort of understanding formed between the two of them and Keith finds herself visiting the Lion without any reason more frequently, the blue lion doesn't mind, it likes the company seeing as it had been stuck here for thousands of years. It confessed about having fondness for the two of them, though it won't tell the reason why. Maybe it's because Keith and Mahar are the only living creatures it came across after a long time.Mahar absolutely loves the blue lion, despite it not moving an inch, she babbles to it and sometimes just sits In front of it and gazes up. And when they go back home, Mahar tells her about her conversation with the blue lion as best as she can with her baby babble and loud purring.It came to a point where Keith is setting up a playpen for Mahar in the Blue lion's cave, it's not much of a pen but just a space to put all her toys without it getting dirty with a padded floor so Mahar can roll around or sleep in it if she ever got tired.It also came to a point where Keith’s renovating the way to the cave so it led to completely different paths and almost like a maze as the original path she went through was now blocked off and led to a confusing way that just sends them back outside.The new path she carved just for herself was shorter and easier to navigate since it was her who made it, anyone who goes there just ends up outside. Keith knows only bad news will happen once the garrison got their hands on this alien ship so being extra cautious is worth the time and effort it took to make this.It seems that the blue lion understands her sentiment because when she revisited the paths, carvings were added. It confuses Keith on how a non-moving giant lion was even able to do them and the lion sent a simple not so simple answer that being bound in one place for so long caused its quintessence to spread far and it can manipulate objects limitedly that were exposed to this element.Keith’s the top pilot back at the garrison but she cannot for the life of her, understand a single thing it was relaying to her, much less know about what the hell quintessence is. She can feel the lion laugh at that thought.Keith sometimes wonders if Mahar thinks that the blue lion is just their pet. She knows that the blue lion indulges Mahar because she’s been giddy every time Keith rides the hoverbike and no familiar house is nearing until they arrive at the cave entrance.The blue lion sometimes sends Mahar’s emotions to her and it warms Keith's heart every time, The occurrence is random. One time the both of them are inside the playpen and Mahar is draped on top of Keiths chest, fiddling with one of the rocks that one of the grandma’s painted for her when suddenly the blue lion told her that Mahar is feeling contented and loves mama very much.Keith now knows how to differentiate the blue lion's thoughts and hers, at first Keith thought that this way of communicating is very invasive but then later found out that thoughts that she wants the blue lion to know is what it will hear aside from physically speaking to it.The same goes to how the blue lion communicates with Mahar so actually having a confirmation that Mahar loves her and that she doesn’t think that Keith’s failure of a mom, well, makes Keith want to cry for many reasons. She knows she’s a mess but she’s doing her best for her baby.There was also a time when the Blue lion thought it was funny to send what Mahar was thinking of when Keith was rinsing a bottle near the stream, so Keith was a little bit far from Mahar. Her baby apparently hates sand when she’s not playing with them. She climbed out the playpen and got her hands dirty in the process so she just sat there, outside the pen, trying her very best to wipe the dirt off.Her stream of thought consisted of ‘hate this, where mama? Mahar hate this, Mama help’ It was not the exact line of thought since the blue lion can only send ideas as a way to communicate but that’s how Keith interpreted it. It was so adorable that Keith just stood there watching Mahar try to clean the sand and dirt that got to her hand but somehow making it worse. Keith washed Mahar’s hand after much to the baby’s relief.Keith began talking to the blue lion alot, not just a stream of thought that she sends but actually opening her mouth and using her vocal cords. She tells the blue lion about random things that occurred that day that she thinks are amusing, unexpected random thoughts -which the blue lion laughs at- sometimes her insecurities that involve Mahar, and stories from her past that relates to taking care of a baby and that Mahar is so different from them.The last one gave the lion a surprise, not because it's the first time it heard about it, but because it reminded it of a species back when it still wasn't bound here. The kind is very similar to the felines on earth it said and guess who's very similar to felines according to Shiro and Eva? Keith and Mahar. At this point Keith just accepts the possibility that her mom fucked an alien and is slightly greatful that her human genes is more dominant than the alien one or else she might be subjected to being experimented by the government but that still doesn't explain the magical pregnancy. - The Lion crouched down and opened her mouth.Keith had stared, startled when the lion suddenly shifted from its unmoving position that should have stayed that way until now. Mahar is asleep on her carrier, her little claw-like fingernails gripping the front of Keith's shirt so she did not jostle when Keith flinched nor did she wake when the sound of creaking metal began. The blue lion is not saying anything, just there with its mouth wide open and beckoning Keith to enter. It's a sign that it trusts Keith, she is not its pilot but there is a bond that has formed between them as well as her youngling.There was something different the instant Keith stepped on the ramp that led to the inside of the lion's head, she can't quite place it but it's like how Keith imagines being inside the ocean is like, how she imagines it must be cooling and relaxing but without the drowning factor, just letting all the tension in her body go and let herself be swept through the waves.But only in her head because she can't imagine herself actually doing that, full on relaxing, she meant. There's always something that needs to be done so she can't indulge in such luxury. She already has plenty of time releasing a bit of tension when it's just her and Mahar.There's a faint grumbling in the back of her head, the blue lion. The feeling is everywhere, the ramp leads to a cockpit where blue lights illuminated the space. Keith traced her finger on the back of the chair, it's mesmerizing. She knows she's not the lion's pilot but something tells her she'll be flying something very similar soon, she's excited. The blue lion purred in response.It does not mind when Keith takes a seat at the pilot's chair, even encouraging her to get familiar with the controls so Keith did. She can see the interior of the cave through the lion's eyes from up here. The controls did not work but the blue lion gave her ideas on how each of them function, compared with the ships from the garrison, this was easier to navigate.Now, instead of just hanging out In front of the lion, they spend their time inside. The lion was slightly apologetic since it does not have the right materials to house a youngling but Keith did not mind, it did say that it was a warship so it will be more surprising if it did have necessities for children.Keith made a new, smaller play pen that looks more like a crib and placed it inside the lion. Mahar likes it here so much that when she woke up during the first time they got inside she kept cooing at whatever she saw, her big eyes roaming the small space with wonder until she saw outside, she shrieked with delight. So now she chills inside the pen and the occasional baby babbles tells Keith that she's probably talking to the lion, or not, maybe just talking to herself. Keith doesn't know.And her search for Takami Shirogane, her mentor, her guardian, her big sister, finally took a big step forward. The flickering hope that she's still alive burns brighter because she knows that Shiro won't give up on them despite the rocky farewell between her and Eva.Keith sometimes gets glimpses of the lion's memory when it wishes so, it tells Keith about a species that its planet was once peaceful with suddenly betrayed them and accusing them of a crime that was not entirely their fault, it was a decision that was agreed upon by all the representatives that were present that day.The ruler became a tyrant, and the blue lion was hidden away because of this so it would not end up in their hands. It was sure that the ruler is still alive to this day, it has proof of it but won't tell Keith so she trusts the Blue lion to tell her the truth. It's a matter that concerns her sister, she'll take anything that the blue lion tells as long as it makes her closer to finding out about what happened to Shiro.The Blue Lion once asked if Keith or humans in general are an asexual species, where they can produce offspring even with just one parent because of the lack of Mahars supposed to be father. Keith might believe that she is if not for the curly hair that Mahar has, and again, not her genes or even any of her recessive genes. The blue lion just rumbled in understanding after Keith said that she got magicko preggy. Actually no, it's as if the blue lion knows something that she doesn’t.It’s been months since Keith stumbled upon the blue lion. It's hard to keep track of time when your everyday routine is repetitive and has hardly changed, sure the blue lion was a change back then but eventually those visits also became a repetitive element. Not that Keith minds, she doesn’t care even way back then at the garrison and the repetitive changing of foster homes, she had to adapt quickly.In fact, the first big -non-traumatic- change she received was when Takami Shirogane, a famous pilot, poster girl for the garrison, took her under her wing and basically adopted her along with Eva. It took a lot of getting used to being able to ask for help and not just helplessly figuring things out on her own.Over time, things that Keith and Mahar own end up in the blue lion’s head, some drawers are filled with Mahar’s supplies and Keith even has her notebook where she records her findings just tossed on top of the control panel. It's funny to see the unmoving ship actually feel so homey and not just a ship intended for war.Mahar squirmed and tries to bury her whole body underneath Keith’s shirt, her little hands has a tough grip on her skin and by this point Keith is already so used to having a clingy baby that she just let Mahar do whatever as she has an errand to do, again, groceries but just for them. But she needs to put Mahar down to sleep first or she’ll scream and cry in the middle of the store because of overstimulation.There’s only one place where Mahar's eyes won’t snap open the moment Keith’s body heat left her so to the blue lion they went. It’s funny seeing Mahar try to fight the sleepiness, her eyes would roll to the back of her head and jolt after, clearly fighting to keep her eyes open but with a few hushes and Keith rubbing her back she succumbed to sleep. The strength in her tiny little fist left her so her hand flopped to the side when Keith lowered her to the crib/playpen.Mahar slept like a log inside the blue lion in contrast to her screaming like a tiny little devil when she can’t feel Keith’s touch in their own home. She trusts the blue lion to watch over her child for the time being as she needs to restock mainly Mahars supplies and she wants this to be a quick trip.If you told Keith from before she found the blue lion that she trusts an ancient mechanical alien warship to watch her baby more than a babysitter, she’ll most likely deny and then punch you in the face for ever thinking that she will neglect her own baby. But she really does, she can’t afford a babysitter and even if she can, she heard too many stories that ended up with the child traumatized so she doesn’t trust them even if there are actually a good amount of them out there, the bad just outweighs the good.Plus the blue lion can entertain Mahar if she ever woke up and Keith is still not back, it has happened many times and everytime she’s greeted with a happy baby, no tear tracks and everything except that Mahar won’t let go of Keith for the rest of the day.She shrugged her jacket on and zipped the front, there’s this thing that when other babies cry, her own breast will produce milk and she hates when that happens, it's not like she’ll go over there and offer her own milk to stop the baby’s crying plus Mahar would probably shred the baby to bits if she did.She got to the store fast and grabbed a basket that’s situated at the entrance. She has a mental list of everything she needs to buy that's within budget and has run through it several times just to make sure. She was so focused on her task that it took her a while to notice the feeling of someone watching her, when she did she turned to look in their direction and raised a brow.It was a girl her age and is a garrison officer according to her uniform, Keith mentally rolled her eyes, she should have worn a mask if she knew that someone from the garrison that knew her during her student days would be here at the same time, normally she would have ignored them but too many encounters and insults made her learn that she actually needed to care especially if she’s bringing Mahar with her.The girl did nothing but flush in embarrassment and duck her head at being caught, this time Keith really studied her appearance. Long dark brown hair and brown skin, a bit of freckles dusted her reddened cheeks. A memory arose from the pits of Keiths brain, the time where she was desperate and needed to unwind so badly that she resorted to going to bars and making herself drunk on alcohol.She remembered that same girl but clearly drunk, taking a seat next to her and gently taking her glass from her hand and setting it on the counter. She was wearing a bracelet with pink, purple and blue stripes and Keith remembered that she was wearing the lesbian flag one to ward off any men who tries to hit on her -and attract other girls-She remembered the girl telling her that she looks so much like someone that she’s in love with but will never get together and Keith at that time didn’t care, so they both rented a nearby motel and had plenty of fun until Keith woke up -she never got any hangovers no matter how many she drinks, thanks alien dad- and saw the girl still asleep and naked so she took a quick shower and left.The sex was great but theres something there that made Keith want to forget and even regret it, maybe its the gentle touches, how soft and fragile that girl treated her and payed attention to her reaction and being her only focus with those eyes, those love struck eyes, she recalled how the girl told her she looks so much like someone she’s in love with.It sucked, how no one will truly look at her the same way that girl is imagining Keith as her loved one and the fact that Keith can't even bother to search for one due to her trust issues and her focus being on finding out what happened to Shiro.Keith’s whole week soured after that, she hated how she kept remembering the girl’s voice, her lips on her neck and jaw but never on her own lips, her soft hands feeling her body and parting her legs, those striking blue eyes that’s not even seeing Keith at that time.Fortunately, it got her to start talking back to Eva just so she can ignore those memories until she actually forgot about it, which succeeded because she completely forgot it especially after she gave birth to Mahar.Keith cringed at the memory and went back to picking her groceries. Lana’s eyes went back to Keith and never left, in fact she disregarded her list and is now focused on trailing after Keith and prays that the additional stealth training they got after Keith got kicked out, worked. She was not expecting to see her rival and -still- crush back when she was still a student at the garrison.She almost did not recognize Keith because she chopped all her hair off but her perfect eyebrows and pretty eyes made it easy for Lana to recognize her.She was not letting this opportunity slip away, this was the first time that Lana saw Keith after she dropped out. She fully knows that she's impulsive, even Hunny and Pidge told her, but she can also make a plan on the fly. She may be believing in herself too much but that's what she needs in these bizarre trying times.She passed Hunk and Pidge at some point and she shoved the things that she managed to find on the list at them and continued to stalk Keith, the store is thankfully not that crowded so it was easy to follow her.“What's up?” Pidge asked in a whisper, they popped out from behind Lana but the girl didn't budge and continued to move, her eyes focused on someone. Pidge moved to follow behind Lana and Lana only spared them a glance “You know about Keith Kogane?” “The top pilot student who dropped out a year before I joined and also your crush back then?” Lana nodded “yeah, she's here” She swiftly took a step back to hide behind an aisle when Keith turned to their direction.“oh wow really? I'll finally get to see her in person” Pidge laughs darkly “Hunny is already at the checkout, we'll see her again on the way out” Lana at this point is not listening to them anymore, actually, her mind is filled with other things that are mainly questions when she noticed the majority of the things that Keith is buying are baby stuff, mainly biscuits, diapers and baby powders. Lana felt her shoulders sag at the obvious implication. The action did not go unnoticed by her friend.“you know she could be running errands for someone else right?” Pidge said and Lana felt the sudden weight on her back lift the moment Pidge said those soul saving words, right no need to come into hasty conclusions. Pidge is totally right and Lana won't have that heart crushing realization that she's still in love with Keith even after all those years. “or she could also be buying those for her own baby” Lana hates Pidge.Lana notes that Keith still wore the cropped jacket that she often see's Keith in whenever they're not in garrison uniforms, but this time it was zipped up to her neck. She also got taller, not as tall as Lana of course, she doubts that Keith can get taller than her.It was weird seeing Keith with none of the long hair that Lana often imagines running her fingers through, but it was also a good look on her and accentuates her pretty face. If it weren't for the massive rack -she's bigger than Lana therefore it is massive!- that Keith has, she could probably be confused as a guy, a pretty one.She knows she eventually has to talk to Keith at some point during this encounter, she doubts that Keith even remembered her. She hoped Keith remembered her, Lana was the one to start a rivalry and after many years to think about it, it may be just one sided.Keith had a hard time since Shirogane was announced dead and Lana was a lovestruck hormone filled teen so blinded by her in denial of crush that she failed to notice that Keith stopped responding to her advances.For a long time Lana had a hard time accepting that Keith is no longer in her life after she dropped out, it was lonely even when Hunny and Pidge were there. That was when she realized that she was crushing on Keith, a big one that failed to disappear.She kept thinking about Keith even when they graduated, will she stand beside her now that Lana is also one of the top pilots? Or when they were starting their job inside the garrison, what station would she be assigned if she wasn't kicked out.Pidge told her that she's incredible for managing to stay in love even when she hasn't seen or heard the person in affection for years, Lana doesn't even know it's possible, maybe because she used Keith as her biggest motivator -aside from her family- throughout her time here and until she got promoted to a higher position.It was kind of a blow to the gut seeing and assuming that Keith already settled with someone else, but being in denial is Lana's specialty so she won't acknowledge it until she sees it with her own two eyes.At some point they had to hurry back to their car and shove all the things that Hunny had been carrying all by herself, inside. Pidge had filled Hunny to what they were up to, or what Lana was up to while the Latter drove them with a reasonable distance between Keith's hoverbike and their Car. “Can't you just talk to her while you were inside and not stalk her like someone creepy?” Hunny is sweet and makes great points but Lana won't acknowledge it for now.Keith's hoverbike stopped at the opening of a cave, Lana watched as Keith got out the bike and her form disappeared as she entered further into the cave. She parked the car at the side and ushered the two out as she hurried to follow Keith, despite being bright and hot outside, the moment they stepped inside it felt cool. Pidge's white ass sighed in relief at this.“Now where are we and where is Keith?” Hunny asked, Lana squinted her eyes and let her legs carry her deeper inside the cave. There are carvings everywhere, she noted. Even Pidge can't help themselves from commenting “The garrison occupies this area, no wonder this hasn't been recorded anywhere”They were so occupied being amazed that they didn't realize they had been aimlessly walking further in and just making random turns to look at the markings that were somehow telling a story that doesn't make much sense to them.“Fuck, Guys, we're lost!” Pidge cursed, they were the first one to notice they were too far in the cave and no light from the outside was being emitted but somehow there was a soft glow that made them able to see inside.“Oooh no! What if we get stuck here forever and no one will be able to find us and we'll starve to death! I told you this is a bad idea!” Hunny cried and for the first time, Pidge actually thought that Hunny made sense and they held each other crying and cursing Lana for being a love blinded dumb woman and leading them to their deaths.“pshh, we'll get out of here fine plus it's your fault that you followed me inside” Lana rolled her eyes and leaned against the wall, she felt the moment the sturdy wall magically became brittle, The rough surface stabbed her back as it crumbled under her weight.Hunny and Pidge scrambled to pull Lana back to them but the floor chose that moment to give up on holding itself and crumbled as well making the two fall with Lana.Why is fate cruel and kind to them at the same time? Lana thought as she felt water hit her back and softening the impact of the short fall, that relief was short lived when she saw her two friends falling straight at her, she panicked and scrambled to get out as she does not want to be pancaked by the weight of two people combined.Fortunately she got out in time, the loud splash of her two friends was ignored the moment she turned her back and caught sight of what was hiding in the depths of the cave. “Ugh, Hunny get off! I cant breathsvdsh” Pidge gurgled as they tried to push the girl away only to get their head submerged in the shallow water again, Hunny tried her best to get off the poor tax-paying kid“Are you okay? I am so sorry Pidge!” she quickly pulled the latter up once she stood upright, Pidge's head almost snapped off their neck. This was made worse when Hunny decided to shake the poor short gremlin when she didn't receive a response.Hunny could very well be the death of Pidge at this point.Lana still wasn't paying attention to them, too enamored at the sight before her. “Lana?” Hunny asked then Pidge regained their short lost consciousness “Am I fucking hallucinating or is that real?” “What is- whoaaaaaa” Hunny cut off as soon as she saw what Pidge -and Lana- was looking at.Before them stood a giant mechanical Lion, Bigger than any of the ships at the Garrison. Lana was approaching the lion before she could even stop herself, like she was in trance but at the same time not.She is always impulsive as what her friends have described her and this time is no different. “Lana, Wait! That Lion could eat you for all we know- aaaand she's gone” Hunny sighed and pulled a limp-and lazy- Pidge out of the water to catch up to her friend.It feels like the Lion is watching her, no matter where she circled around the cave, she felt the two yellow glowing eyes burning holes in her head. But she's not afraid, something is telling her to not be afraid and it certainly is not her impulsiveness.“I swear if we get eaten here, I will haunt you in the afterlife!” Hunny whisper yelled, Lana paid her no mind now that she's just an arms length from the Lion's barrier.“Woah, I wonder what this is made of, will it even open?” Pidge thought to themself as they reached and rested their palm on the glowing blue barrier. Nothing happened other than a faint ripple, Hunny hissed at Pidge to knock it off, believing that their deaths will come closer with every second they stayed there but Lana and Pidge knows it's just Hunny's way of worrying over them especially when she's the only sane one in their little friend group.
“Maybe you just have to knock?” Lana teased and formed a fist to knock on the barrier, the second her knuckle hit the barrier two things happened at once, First, The barrier immediately went down and second, A vision.
The Lion is only one part of a giant robot.
“Uuuh, you guys saw that too right?” Hunny asked, she rubbed her eyes disbelievingly. The silence confirmed Hunny's question, the other two were too stunned to say anything.
In Front of them is one of the five lion's that make up Voltron. They don't know how long it's been here on earth but the Garrison have not found it yet.
“I remember something” Pidge muttered. “Back when we were still cadets, my scanner picks these signals and most of them repeat this Voltron” Hunk and Lance know who Pidge really is, after years of being friends with each other, something is bound to spill.
It was their little secret, Pidge is the child of Sam Holt and the sibling of Mattea Holt. None of the other Garrison personnel knew this because they registered under a fake name and data they had forged for themself. Just like a certain someone, Pidge hasn't given up on finding their family.
They also found out that the Kerberos mission did not fail because of pilot error.
“Well this is certainly a huge step forward huh?” Lana mused, she stepped forward and the Lion moved -Hunny had yelped and hid behind Lana, saying a mantra of things like the Lion is definitely gonna eat them- It willingly lowered its head and opened its maw to reveal a ramp. Lana did not hesitate to walk inside, even keeping a firm grip on Hunny's arm so she wouldn't miss out on the fun.
The moment they went inside Lana could hear a purring in the back of her head, sending a familiar-but at the same time unfamiliar- comforting presence.
Upon seeing the Giant Lion, Lana's first thoughts were how it was obviously stuck here for a long time. Her eyes focused only on the lion itself and failed to notice the crib just across the cave, it was the same for Pidge and Hunny so it came as a total surprise when they saw that the cockpit looked well lived in.
Plushies were thrown haphazardly everywhere, pens and notebooks, a grocery list, and even a rock(?) Are placed randomly on top of the control panel. Stickers littered the lower half of the wall and a soft velvet blanket draped over the seat, a is crib situated just behind it.
Lana stared in disbelief, a sense of pride that she definitely knows is from the lion filled part of her head. A nudge from Pidge made her continue moving especially when they heard a coo from the crib, They carefully made their way to take a peek, too scared of making a single noise to startle whatever is inside it.
Big purple eyes stared back at them, soft messy curly hair framed the baby's face and it gnawed on the corner of the blanket that the baby managed to reach from the item being draped over the seat.
“What is a baby doing here?” Hunny asked as the three of them had a stare off until the baby released its grip on the blanket and opened its mouth to release a bloodcurdling scream.
“What did you do?!” Pidge screeched as they jumped back far away from the baby as if it had burned them, Hunny panicked even more as she hovered around the crib and tried to helplessly cheer the baby up by doing pick-a-boo but it only fueled the baby’s will to cry even harder.
Lana at this point picked the crying baby up, she has many experiences with handling one and usually they like her but it's completely different with this little one when it's still screaming its lungs out.
The baby growled as soon as she lifted it up, Hunny definitely heard it “This is a trap, this is a trap and we'll get killed” she has tears in her eyes now and Lana is trying to calm the baby by rocking the sweet little screaming demon in her arms but it apparently has claws and has a firm grip on Lana's arm. She can feel the tiny sharp nails digging painfully through the sleeve of the uniform and into her skin.
The baby is still screaming AND growling, it never stops even when fat globs of tears are rolling down its chubby cheeks and its snot is bubbling. Nevermind the cool lion they discovered, this new discovery made them even more stressed.
The baby isn't faring any better, it's intent on tearing her sleeves apart and wounding her skin. Lana even swore the baby's eyes turned yellow for a split second.
With this happening at once they failed to notice the fast heavy footsteps, Pidge screeched as they were harshly pushed aside and almost fell down if not for the nearby wall. Lana also failed to hear Hunny's yell of surrender when the baby's currently busting her eardrums so she absolutely did not expect the fist that connected to her face and the baby's sudden switch of emotion.
It laughed sweetly as if it was never crying in the first place at the same time as pain exploded on her face originating from her cheek.
The weight of the baby was gone from her arms the moment she stumbled and fell from the impact, she winced, she could already feel the bruise forming. Hunny is kneeling with her arms up and a worried expression on her face as she glances at Lana and Pidge, Pidge is not moving from their awkward position on the wall and staring at their attacker. This made Lana dare to look up to the person in front of her.
“who the fuck are you and what are you doing with my baby?!”
The first thing she saw was the tip of the dagger pointed so closely at her face, the second was how the baby is now sleeping peacefully with a deathgrip on the jacket that Lana is oh-so familiar with, the third is Keith's furious face.
“We mean no harm!” Now more aware of the sharp weapon that can gauge her eyes out, Lana threw her arms up in surrender just like Hunny and shifted so she was sitting in a more comfortable position.
She can’t take her eyes off Keith, despite being in actual danger with Keith as their murderer, She still finds the other girl breathtakingly beautiful.
It’s like they were cadets again and Lana spotted Keith for the first time and a feeling bloomed that made her chest feel warm and stomach feel tingly. But Lana is an adult now and she is fully aware that what she feels is attraction rather than envy.
“Actually, you should be thankful that we got here in time or else your baby might be crying even harder than that” which is a lie and Lana knows, the baby cried like the world is ending in just a few hours.
Keith only narrowed her eyes at her and kept the dagger pointing at Lana, her eyes did a quick scan around the place and lastly her baby who is basically holding itself up with the deathgrip on Keith’s jacket. “What are you doing here?”
“Wow Keith, What a great way to greet an old rival” Rivalry that is only one sided, Lana added mentaly. Keith actually sighs at this “I don’t give a fuck if you knew me back then at the garrison and I don’t care about how high your position there now” she recited, like she repeated this a hundred times and actually lost fire in that sentence.
“Oh…Uh, the name’s Lana, Lana Mclain we were in the same class back then”
“I figured”
Ouch, it actually hurts being the person that Keith acts cold to. The underlying exhaustion in Keith’s voice told her that the other had already experienced this a lot of times.
There was no recognition in Keith’s eyes even when she looked at Hunny who was also in the same class as hers along with Lana, add to that is the look of disdain that she does not even try to hide when she sees the uniform they have on.
Even now, Lana thinks that she can read the other pretty decently, but it’s obvious with how many years have passed, people change and Keith is no exception to this. She can only try to guess that Keith is itching to kick them out of the Lion.
Which is correct and she can easily do that without the three of them walking but something is stopping her from doing so, she only stood there assessing the situation with a permanent frown on her face.
Lana has to sit on the pilot seat beside Keith, the lion supplied. She guessed that the lion also told this to Keith as her frown only deepened but she tucked her dagger back in its sheath and moved to the side.
Lana is still sitting there, frozen like a statue even with the Lion's encouragement. Keith looked confused for a moment, just staring at Lana before her face returned to a frown “ Get in the seat, You heard her right?”
The spell vanished and she can move again, this feels awkward. Lana feels the need to apologize to Keith but the Lion is eager for Lana to sit on the Pilot seat. Keith just pointedly stared at the window.
So she did just that, sat on the Pilot's seat even when Keith's attention turned to her. Lana swears her head is on fire with how intense Keith is staring at her.
Pidge and Hunk still have not moved from their position, too scared to move with how Keith surprised them earlier. Until Pidge decided they wanted to actually be comfy and slid down the wall with a stressed sigh, so they're just half laying in a weird position that Lana doubts is actually comfortable.
Lana yelped as the seat slid forward to the control panel and the panel lit up. The ideas continued to be fed to her and she got the basics of how to control the Lion, she leaned forward in interest and her hands hovered over the panel.