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When he was little, Keith and his dad would sit outside for hours on the clearest of nights, watching the sun go down and waiting for the sky to fill with stars. His dad would tell him story after story of his mom, a new one each night. Keith always loved those stories.“Your ma belongs to the stars, sweet boy.” He'd say. “She's just out there, see? Right there in the Little Dipper. I bet ya she's waving to us.”“Why does she have to be so far away, daddy?”“Because she's savin’ the world, Keith. She's protectin’ us from all the bad things."“Like the monsters under my bed?”“Silly boy, you know there's no monsters there! She already got ‘em. She took ‘em away with her, and locked ‘em up in the constellations. That's why she's out there. But she'll come back some day, love. She will. When it's safe.”“What does she look like, daddy?”“Like the universe itself. And her eyes are like the Milky Way.”“You said my eyes look like the Milky Way!”“Because you got them from her, sweet boy. You look so much like her. You remember that, kay? And you never, ever hate yourself. That face of yours is your mama's too, and she was the prettiest woman I ever did see. You're the prettiest boy.”“But boys can't be pretty! Boys are s’posed to be handsome!”“Naw, Keithy, boys can be very pretty. But y'know, you're the handsomest boy too.”“That ain't a word, daddy.”“Ah, you got me, you got me. You smartiepants. Never change, you understand me? You stay precious like this forever, so your ma can squish your cheeks when she gets back.” ———“I'm afraid he's gone, Keith.”Those were the words that would haunt Keith for the rest of his life. His dad was gone. He hoped his mom would come back, hoped she'd take him to the stars with her, but she never did. The night he got placed in his first foster home, he prayed. He never had before, and he wasn't really sure how to, but he did it anyway.Pried the curtains open and looked out at the light-polluted sky, hardly any stars visible, and asked God to tell her that she needed to come home. And he did it again the next week. And the week after that. And every week after that as he was placed in his second home, his third, his fourth, and eventually his fifth.She never came.He hated his mom. Sometimes, he hated his dad too, for lying and getting his hopes up. He stopped praying for his mom to come back. He'd never believed in God before, and he certainly wouldn't now. He wished he could; he wished he could tell himself that someone was out there fetching his mom for him, but he knew better. He had to stop hoping for something that’d never come. He had to.And then he was placed in his sixth home, and then the seventh, and then the eighth. And then he met Takashi Shirogane.Shiro was everything to him. Shiro was so sickeningly similar to his dad in every way. He told the same kinds of jokes, loved the same constellations, and he gave Keith the same firm hugs his dad always used to. Sometimes, Keith swore they even kinda looked the same. Same jawline, same thick eyebrows, same smile. Keith really liked Shiro.It wasn't until after Keith got moved into Shiro and Adam's private Garrison flat that he finally opened up about his dad. One night, during winter break, the three of them had gone out camping. Keith sat in front of the not-yet-started fire, watching the sun go down. When it was nearly gone and the first few stars began popping out, Shiro quite pathetically attempted to start a small flame with some rocks.When he failed miserably, Adam stepped in and did it in under 15 seconds. Then they all cozied up around the growing flame, and Keith began to feel the same warmth in his heart that he always used to get watching the night sky with his dad.“My dad used to tell me my mom belonged to the stars.” Keith started quietly. Neither Shiro nor Adam expected Keith to open up like that, their heads snapping over towards him the moment they registered what he'd said, but it was the very first time he'd ever mentioned his dad and they didn't want to ruin it. “We'd watch the stars every night and he'd tell me that she was out there waving at us.”“That's- that’s…lovely, Keith.”“….yeah.” ———“Daddy, why are my eyes purple? No one else's are. Not at school, not in none of those movies, no one!”“They're your ma's eyes, Keith. I've told you that, haven't I?""Well yeahhhhh, but you didn't tell me why!""It's because she’s special, y'know. Not like anyone else on the whole entire planet. Those eyes are the eyes of someone fierce, and brave, and strong-willed, and smart. She’s all of that, and you are too. And it makes you special. You ain't like anyone else and that's a beautiful thing. You’re the very first of something entirely new.”“What if I don't want to be special? The other kids are mean to me. I want to be like them but I'm not.”“No, kiddo, you'll never be like them. You'll be better. Your mother is someone who transcended the skies we know, and you'll be just like her. She’s incredible, sweet boy. She looks like nothing you've ever seen before. She looks like if the whole universe were a person. She’s my whole universe. She’s beautiful, Keith, in a way that not one person on this Earth will ever be. Bein’ special is what made me love her so much. Bein’ special is what makes me love you so much. If someone can't see that, then they aren't worth being like anyway.”“Do you miss her, daddy?”“More than anythin’. But I don't mind waiting for her ‘till the end of time. We'll see each other again someday. When she's done savin’ the world.”“Can't we go up to the stars and help her? I'm strong, I can kill monsters too!”“It's precisely because you're strong that you need to stay here. We have to protect Earth! There are so many monsters that she may miss a few, ya know, so we have to protect our home and our people. Everything out here? All of it matters, Keith. All of it makes a difference in this world no matter how small, and it all ought to be protected.”“Is that why you fight fires?”“It sure is, sweetpea. Gotta get all those nasty little fire sprites.""I thought that was a soda?" ———When Keith found himself inside a strange alien castle, who knows how many light years away from Earth, he couldn't help but think of his mother. He's long since given up hope of her return, at some point just convincing himself she was dead. He found out that some people told themselves a loved one lived in the stars after they died, and he nearly threw up.Had his dad been covertly telling him of her passing all this time? But a part of him still wondered if his dad were telling the truth. What if she was out here? What if she really was a hero?He'd just been flown on a giant blue lion spaceship to a strange alien castle, where a strange and very human-looking alien princess lived. Clearly anything was possible. Maybe his dad was right. Maybe his mom was out here. Maybe he'd find her someday.Of course, he wouldn't go looking. A part of him desperately longed to steal a ship off the castle and go find her, but he knew he had to stay. His dad always told him his mom was off fighting monsters, but now he really would be.He had a war to end, and if he came out whole on the other side of it all then maybe he'd go looking then. But for now, he just had to focus on saving the world. Being the hero. Just like his mom. Protecting the Earth just like his dad said they had to.That's why it enraged him so much when Pidge attempted to leave to go find her family. There was a vicious war raging across the whole universe, with Earth soon to be in danger. They had to protect the world. They had to protect their home. How could she just leave? Especially when Keith was staying despite his gut screaming for him to run off and find his mom. He stayed. Why couldn't she?Would finding her family even matter if the Galra destroyed the universe? She had to stay. She had to. She just needed to learn patience. Her family was smart, they'd be okay. She'd just have to trust that and wait for the war to end. Why wouldn’t she? ———“When will ma finish saving the world and come back, daddy?”“I'm afraid I don't know, Keithy.”“Why not?”“Well, there's a lot of very evil things out there, and she has to keep us safe from all of it. She has to fight all of it, and she don't got too many folks helpin' her. It could take a long time, but she will come back. We just have to be patient.”“But what if she doesn't?”“She will, Keith, she will. But ya know, if she doesn't, if, then we'll just have to build a spaceship and go find her ourselves.”“We should do that now!”“Aw, kiddo, you know it's bedtime. You’re just tryin' to get out of it, huh?”“No!”“Ya know what? I've got something for ya. I was gonna wait ‘til your birthday, but I ought to give it to ya now.”“What is it?”“This here is your ma’s special blade. She used to kill monsters with it. When she left, she told me to give it to you.”“Woaaah. And it's mine now?”“Yup. All yours.”“But. Wait. How is she fighting monsters now if she doesn't have it?”“She's got her fists now, sweetpea. She throws a mean right hook. Those monsters don't stand a chance. Now listen, boy, don't you lose that knife. You gotta keep it safe until she comes back.” ———Keith protected his mom's blade with everything he had. It was so precious to him that he never even told Shiro he had it until right before the Kerberos mission. So precious that he had it on his person at almost every waking moment, and carefully tucked under his pillow if he was sleeping.When the paladins met that Blade of Marmora guy, or ‘marmorite' as Lance insisted on calling him, Keith's mind nearly went blank. The man carried a weapon wearing the same odd symbol his mother's did. His mind flooded with thoughts, questioning everything he knew one after another.Is this what his dad had meant when he said his mom belonged to the stars? Is this what he meant when he said she was fighting monsters to keep Earth safe? Was she a monster? Was this all a fluke? Some weird coincidence? Were the symbols just strangely similar? Was his mother really a hero who fought monsters or was she one herself? Was he a monster? Was he like them? What did this mean?When he went to the BoM base with Shiro and nearly had his blade confiscated, he felt an anger he hadn't in a long time. They were accusing him of stealing the blade he'd spent his entire life cherishing. If it were really one of their own, why in the world would he have had it? He wasn't an alien, after all. He wasn't.And then he went through their trials and activated the blade. His dad wasn't lying. But then, where was his mom? Was she on base or was she out doing some mission? Had she died at the Empire's hands?“Keith, are you okay?” Shiro asked him as they were returning to the Castle of Lions.“No.”“I know this must be really difficult for you, but don’t be too hard on yourself. You couldn't have known about this. And I'll stick up for you if anyone tries to give you a hard time about it, okay?”“That's not…that's not the problem, Shiro. It means a lot to hear, but that's not the problem.”“Then what is?”“I didn't know, but I should have. My dad always told me my mom was in the stars fighting monsters to keep Earth safe. I should have known. I should have understood.”“Oh, Keith…” ———“Daddy, did ma ever go there?”“Where? To Orion?”“Yeah!”“She sure did, sweet boy. That's where she wrestled a giiiiiant space whale.”“A space whale?!”“Yeah, a space whale. A big space whale. It was so big that it could eat whole entire planets! It had a bunch of eyes, and shot giant lasers out of it's mouth! And it had would fart out little floating jelly fishes.”“Ewwww!”“Mhm. Ew. But it was big, and strong, and majestic too. Very majestic. So she wanted to be friends with it. She flew her spaceship all the way to him, but when she asked to be friends he shouted reaaal loud. He said, ‘no! You're so pretty, why don't we get married instead?’”“What?? No! She has to marry you, daddy!”“Exactly! And that's what she told him! She said, ‘I'm sorry, space whale, but I've got me a handsome man back on Earth and he's waiting for me to return. I can’t marry you! Can't we just be friends?’ But he simply couldn't bear the thought of such a beautiful woman marrying someone else, so he yelled, ‘no! We are to marry! And if I must, I'll just have to go and eat the whole Earth!’”“Nooooo!”“But she didn't let that happen, Keithy. No sirree, she didn't! She climbed on top of him and started wrestling him! She said ‘you leave Earth alone, you mean whale! I'll never be friends with you now!’ And your ma's a strong one, boy, so she started wailing on him!It was all, BAM BAM! POW! She threw a nasty punch right in his eyeball, and then she hit him again in the other eye! And then she liiiiiifted him up and threw him into the sun! Now, he'll never ever threaten Earth again.”“So she saved us, daddy?”“She did save us. That's why she's a hero, my sweet boy. She's the greatest hero of them all.”“I want to be a hero too!”“You already are, precious. You're the big, strong boy that scares the monsters away. You keep us safe too.”———When Coran asked Hunk and Keith to go collect scaultrite from a weblum and Lance called it a space whale, Keith twitched at the familiarity of it.Space whale.His dad must've told him that story a thousand times. It was one of his favorites. The big, mean space whale that tried to steal away his mom. He tried not visibly react when he found out it shot lasers out of it's mouth and ate planets. He wouldn't dare bring it up to Hunk, though.Shiro was the only person on the whole Castleship to take the revelation of Keith's heritage in stride, and the only thing he had going for him was the lie that he never could have known. If they knew he'd spent his whole childhood hearing stories about how his mom was fighting space whales and other crazy monsters in space, Princess Allura may very well lose her mind. But Shiro didn't mind helping Keith keep it a secret. Shiro was a good, honest man, but even he knew when to keep things to himself.Although Keith nearly broke and told Hunk anyway when they realized the Weblum was farting out jellyfish-looking things. ———“…and that's when the tentacles took your ma and flung her half way across the galaxy!”“Oh no! Was she hurt?!”“Only a little, baby, don't worry. She's one tough nut so she got right back up, and with her blade she cut the monster's head right off!”“Wowww, she's so cool.”“She is. That's why I loved her so much.”“Uhm, daddy, I have a question.”“What is it, hm?""What if ma comes back when you're fightin' a fire, daddy? How will I know it's her if you ain't there?”“You'll know, Keith. You'll feel drawn to her.”“But I'm real! I'm not a drawing! What are you talkin' about??”“No, sweet Keithy, I'm not sayin' you’re a drawin'. I'm sayin' you'll wanna be close to her. You remember how I told you them coyotes out here have instincts and that why we can't get mad at them if they wanna eat us?”“Yeah, that we just gotta avoid them.”“Exactly. Well, we got instincts too. And your mama. And you got a heck of a lot of ‘em from her. When she gets near, you'll just wanna snuggle up to her. She'll seem warm like a fire and comfortin' like a blanket and you'll want her to hold you ‘till you die. You won't want that with anyone else, so that's how you'll know.” ———Keith stopped resenting his mother after finding out she was likely a Blade of Marmora, and for the first time in a very long time allowed himself to fantasize about meeting her.He remembered how his dad used to tell him about certain insticts he'd gotten from her, and he figured they must be true. He wondered what they would be like. If they would feel overpowering, if he'd really jump into her arms.For a while, he let himself get his hopes up thinking he might get to meet her if he kept going on Blade missions. After so many missions, after quite literally moving into the headquarters after leaving Voltron, he let those hopes simmer and fade. He should’ve known better than to get so excited. He didn't even know if she was still alive, fighting a war so vicious. It'd been 18 years, after all.And then he really did meet her. He was sent on a mission to extract a fellow Blade named Krolia from a base belonging to a man named Ranveig. When they finally met, her pointing a gun to his head and him holding his blade to her throat, he suddenly found himself overtaken by the urge to hug her. An unusual urge for him, as touch-starved as he was.He fought it, of course, and while he simply didn't have the time to question it mid-mission, a voice in the back of his mind called out to him, telling him he knew what those feelings meant.When they were inevitably caught by a Galran Commander attempting to overtake the base, Krolia offered her a deal.“What are you doing?!” He demanded.“I left you once; I'll never do it again.”His stomach lurched. Ma. She was ma. ———When he was little, Keith and his dad would sit outside for hours on the clearest of nights, watching the sun go down and waiting for the sky to fill with stars. His dad would tell him story after story of his mom, a new one each night. Keith always loved those stories.“Your ma belongs to the stars, sweet boy.” He’d say. “She's just out there, see? Right there in the Little Dipper. I bet ya she's waving to us.”“And she's so far away because she's savin’ the world. Because mama's a hero.”“She is. And you'll grow up to be just like her.”