Over the next few days, Rayzor and Coran spoke regularly over the comms. Allura sometimes joined in on the conversations, but she was also taking stock of the Castle's condition, so she was never able to stay for very long.

Once Keith declared himself completely restored to health - and after Coran had agreed with his declaration of health - the Paladins trained together on the training deck, the invisible maze, and the mental exercises. Shiro was proud of the the way the Red Paladin threw himself back into the normal way of things, but he kept an eye open for any signs of his friend pushing himself too far.

"I'm fine, Shiro," Keith told him one day as they were walking towards the dining hall after training. "Really, I am."

Shiro glanced over, one eyebrow partly raised. "See…I'd say I believe you…" he said, his voice just a tiny bit skeptical. "But sometimes in the past, you've underestimated the damage you've gone through."

Keith pointed to Shiro's chest, a smile coming into his eyes. "Pot." Then he pointed to himself, still grinning. "Kettle."

Shiro had to give credit where credit was due. "Fair point," he agreed. "Still - let me know if we need to change something, okay?"

Keith shrugged and nodded, and then they'd reached the dining hall where the others were already waiting for them.

As they all began to eat, Coran beamed over at them all. "How was Paladin training today?" he asked.

" 's good!" Lance said, his mouth full of noodles. Coran and Hunk had managed to whip up something remarkably like spaghetti, and it was really good.

Pidge nodded in agreement, spearing another purple meatball with her spork. "Feels like we're operating more efficiently than ever," she said. "Hunk was really on top of his game today."

Hunk grinned over at her as he swallowed and reached for his drink. "Aw, thanks, Pidge," he said. "You were great at guiding me through the maze this morning - I didn't get shocked once!"

Lance inhaled another sporkful of noodles and sauce as he lifted his eyebrows at Keith.

"What?" Keith asked, his own sporkful of space spaghetti halfway to his mouth.

Lance swallowed and put an elbow on the table, gesturing with his spork in Keith's direction. He had to cough before answering, but he managed. "I'm just sayin', man, we could work on our coordination - I got shocked three times today - "

Keith rolled his eyes, but Shiro smiled to himself. It was clear Lance was trying to get a rise out of Keith - like usual - but Keith seemed to know Lance's methods and was choosing not to respond.

That, or Keith just really wanted to eat. One of the two options.

As Keith chewed, he picked up his knife. He held his two utensils up together in Lance's direction as if trying to communicate non-verbaly, and the Blue Paladin amended his statement grudgingly.

"Okay, fine, it was only twice - but dude, it sucks! How come you never get shocked?!"

Keith swallowed, but before he could answer, Allura had begun speaking.

"Paladins, Coran and I have some news."

Everyone went silent, their full attention coming to rest on the Princess.

"We've spoken with the Council again - and to Rayzor - and they've requested that we make a formal visit to their planet."

You could have heard a spork drop.

"Are you KIDDING me?!" Lance asked, jumping out of his seat in indignation and something resembling panic. "After what happened last time?! Keith nearly died!"

"We all nearly died," Keith corrected him. Lance turned to glare at him, and Keith was surprised to see that Lance's hands had begun to shake, and his usually friendly face was almost fierce.

"No, Keith - you almost died," Lance said. "Hunk and I had to break you out of that - that ice cave - and you - you were hurt real bad - and it was all the Council's fault - "

Keith's automatic reply of "No shit, Sherlock, I knew all that," died away before he said it, because Lance's whole body was shaking now, and Keith suddenly realized that Lance was - Lance was - really, really upset. Keith didn't know how to respond to that.

"Lance," Shiro said, and he'd risen out of his chair and come over to the Blue Paladin to put a hand on his shoulder, a reassuring touch, one that conveyed strength and support.

At his touch, Lance's shaking seemed to subside just a little, and he sat back down in his chair, breathing hard and raising a hand to his face to scrub at his eyes as Shiro continued.

"Lance, it's okay - none of us like the Council - but we're allies now - both parties took an oath. But trust me - we understand how you feel. We all do."

Pidge saw Shiro's cybernetic hand clench into a fist down at his side, but when he spoke again, it was in the same gentle tone. "How about we let Allura tell us more about this? I'm sure - I'm sure we're all going to discuss our reply to the Council as a team."

Lance raised his eyes to see Allura nodding over at him, smiling encouragingly. "Of course we are." she said. "Of course we'll decide on what to do together - we're a team, aren't we?"

Shiro gave her a grateful smile, patted Lance's shoulder one last time, and went back to his seat. As Shiro sat back down, Lance stared down at his plate and said, very quietly, "I'm sorry, guys. I just - I just really, really hated all that."

Hunk reached over and patted Lance on the back.

" 'S okay, buddy," Hunk said. "We understand."

Lance glanced up, looking at Allura. She and he shared a nod, and then she continued.

"As you know, we've already received the shielding devices from Rayzor, and Pidge has just finished installing them on all of the Lions. So transportation to the planet's surface is already something we could manage."

"What about the Castle?" Pidge asked.

Allura nodded at Pidge, acknowledging the validness of the question. "I've been thinking about that," she said. "There is a moon only a short space flight away - Rayzor tells me it's uninhabited, and sometimes their ships land there and replenish supplies. We could land the Castle there, and Coran and I could attend to some long overdue maintenance on the Castle."

"Well, that sounds okay," Hunk said. He looked over at Coran. "How exactly does the Council expect this visit to go?"

Coran sighed, fiddling with his knife as he answered. "Well, to put it simply, I think they would like very much to see you form Voltron."

Pidge scowled, pushing her glasses further up onto her nose. "What, they don't trust we can do it? They have to see it for themselves?"

Coran smiled at her to show he shared her annoyance at the Council, but he nodded. "Yes," he said. "They haven't said as much in so many words - Allura was in the room at the time, and I think their sense of self-preservation kicked in - but that was the impression I got."

Keith looked over at Shiro, and saw the Black Paladin's face was thoughtful. "Well, it's not like it would be difficult for us to form Voltron," he said. A smile crept across his face then, and he looked over at Keith. "And anyway - can you imagine the look on their faces when they see us working as a unit?"

Keith grinned back. "Too bad we don't have our bayards. I would have loved to show them how we can have a sword…"

"Or a gun!" Hunk agreed, and his face fell slightly then. "Oh, man…that's actually a good point. How can we fight off monsters as Voltron without our bayards?"

Pidge patted his shoulder. "We're working on that. There's a chance I can reverse engineer our bayards…but it's taking time. At least we've got weapons we can carry, eh?"

Hunk nodded at her, looking slightly reassured.

"Well," Coran said, looking around at the group. "It seems that most of us are agreed." He looked over at Lance, who bit his lip before answering.

"…Okay…" he said, but his voice was less than enthusiastic. "Just as long as they don't try anything."

Coran smiled encouragingly at him. "I assure you," he said, "they will not. Rayzor has sworn to help us, and I trust him." He blew out a breath then, and his mustache fluttered a little. "Mind you, I don't exactly like him," he said, "but the crystal showed me that we can trust him."

"That's settled, then," Shiro said. "Tomorrow we'll take the Lions to the planet's surface. Coran and Allura will land the Castle on a nearby moon and make some repairs. Though, Allura, you have diplomatic experience - shouldn't you come down to the planet with us?"

Allura tapped her fingers on the table thoughtfully, looking over at Coran, speaking thoughtfully. "Having an Altean presence during the meeting would show the Council that Paladins and Alteans act together as one."

She smiled then, and it was almost a fierce expression. "And, that means I could see the looks on their faces as you all show them your strength as a unit."

Everyone smiled then, even Lance.

"Okay," he said, and he grinned over at Keith. "That is something I'd like to see."