Chapter 1: The Aftermath

The time had come, and they only had minutes left to gather what they could before leaving the Castle of Lions for the last time. It was a very sentimental time for all of them. But also, very bittersweet. They were going home at last, but Allura and Coran were losing theirs. As for the paladins, they were losing their temporary home.

While everyone was packing, it came across to Lance that Keith had been too busy taking care of Shiro and getting things in order, so they could leave. So, he took it upon himself to collect his belongings. Even though, from what he knew, Keith hadn't had much to begin with.

As soon as Lance was done with packing what he had, he quickly ran next door to Keith's room and began to gather his things. Once he was done, he placed everything in the red lion and finally was able to get Kaltenecker into the lion as well. By this time, everyone was packed up and ready to go.

The journey back to Earth had just begun.

**Time skip to after the war**

After the battle and peace had been restored, it was time to rebuild. Since many homes had been destroyed, they had to start all over. They began to rebuild around the Garrison area because many felt safe knowing that the Garrison was close and had their back. Homes began to pop up everywhere.

To the paladins, it felt natural to live in close proximity since they've been through so much together. It felt wrong to not be a few doors down, so some of them built their homes next to each other.

Lance's family built theirs next to Hunk's. Pidge's built theirs close to Shiro's. But for Keith and Krolia, they weren't sure what to really do.

Keith had always been a loner and was so used to living in close quarters. His small shack was surely no place to worth going back to, even if it was still there. He also felt that it wasn't worth building a home like the others did since it was just him and his mother, and Kosmo of course. Keith felt that he could just live in his lion. It was convenient, he didn't have to worry about depending on Shiro to house them. He felt Shiro needed his rest after all he went through and wanted to give him his privacy and peace.

With that thought in mind, Keith wasn't sure where to go. Everyone had others to go home to. Even Shiro had his friends, the Holt family, which he had a long history with. Longer than he knew Keith. He didn't want to get between that. He didn't know the Holt family enough to live with them, even though Pidge was like a little sister to him. Hunk was a great friend but knew he would just be a burden to him and his family. As for Lance, even though they had been going out for quite some time, he also didn't want to depend on his boyfriend to house him and his family so that was out of the question. But, what he didn't know was that Lance had an opposite opinion.

Keith was hardheaded, and Lance knew this too well. Keith was also very considerate, and he knew Keith would never ask such a thing because he never wanted to inconvenience someone. Lance loved this about his boyfriend.

Lance would sometimes bring up the conversation of where he would live, and Keith would just say that his lion was sufficient enough and the conversation would always stop there. But Lance would not have it.