A/N: So... I haven't posted in... Fuck, like... 3 months? Well, I'm alive! Only on the outside.
Anyway, I wanted to post something before season 8, and I got really angsty and this idea popped into my head. So... Angst! I hope this breaks your heart as much as it broke mine while writing it...
"Keith, wait up!" Lance shouted from behind him. Keith jumped, casting a look over his shoulder. Sure enough, his fellow paladin was jogging toward him. He let Lance catch up before continuing toward his room.
"What is it?" he asked, trying to keep his nerves out of the question.
"There's… something I need to tell you. You know, before we go and… Uh..." Keith's gut twisted for the hundredth time that day. The day they would finally take out the Galra witch.
"Kill the witch?" Keith supplied.
Lance rubbed the back of his neck, saying, "Uh… Yeah. That." A short silence descended. "Can… Can we go somewhere more… private?" Keith felt the red rising to his cheeks. He gave a quick nod, then they ducked into the first room they came to. Coincidentally, it was Lance's.
"So…" Keith said after a long moment of looking at the floor.
"Keith, I like you!" Lance blurted. Keith snapped his head up so fast his neck hurt. Something… strange… settled in the pit of his stomach.
"What?" he whispered. Thoughts started warring in his mind.
"I… I like you… A lot... I don't know when it started, but for some reason, after you left for the Blades, I just… figured it out, and I needed you to know… I really care about you…"
"No," Keith said, whirling and striding to the door.
"Keith, wait!" Lance lunged and seized Keith's wrist. "Please…"
"No. You should stay away from me…" He looked back to the Cuban teen, and immediately regretted it. Lance's expression was pure heartbreak.
"Stay away from you?" he said, weak and defeated.
"Trust me, it's better this way."
"No!" Tears streamed from Lance's ocean eyes. "You can't keep pushing people away!"
"But every time I open up to someone, they leave!" he yelled. The room was still and silent in an instant.
"Keith…" Lance let go of his arm, but Keith still stayed.
"My mom left, my dad died, the foster families didn't give a shit about me, then Shiro came and he left and I thought he was dead, then he came back and died again and when I found my mother, she left just like everyone I cared about!" Keith was a mess. A crying, vulnerable mess with a cracking voice, bearing a heart that had been broken too many times over. "That's why I build walls, why I always distanced myself… I can't let you in… I don't want to lose you, too…" Without warning, Lance wrapped his arms around Keith. He buried his face in Lance's shoulder and cried.
"You won't. I'm not going anywhere. First, we're going to kill that witch, then I'm gonna help you work out all your shit and I will see you smile again. If you don't let me in yet, that's fine, but please… You have to try." His voice was so kind and his arms were so warm…
Keith lifted his head and kissed Lance. Hard. His anger, his frustration, his worries, he threw them all off and let his walls crumble. Lance carefully threaded his fingers through the hair at the nape of Keith's neck. After what seemed like forever, the paladins broke apart, both breathless. Keith buried his face in Lance's chest, sobbing again.
"Keith…" Lance whispered. "I won't leave you. I promise." He pressed another, softer kiss to Keith's forehead. "Now, how about we take out that witch once and for all?" Keith nodded silently, and the two parted to prepare for battle. For the first time in a very long time, Keith had a thread of hope to hold onto.
Voltron won. The witch died, thanks to Lance and a clean shot from above. The paladins fought their way back to the Lions and lifted off, taking out as many fighters as possible. Still, they were overwhelmed. Everyone was absorbed in protecting themselves, so no one really noticed the ion cannon aimed at the Black Lion. Well, no one but Lance.
"Keith, watch out!" he yelled. Without a second thought, he took the hit.
"Lance!" everyone screamed. The beam from the cannon rammed into the Lion, throwing it into the surface of a nearby planet. Keith took out the ship with his jaw blade while the others finished off the remaining fighters.
"Everyone, find Lance!" Keith shouted. He tried not to let his fear show. The remaining Lions rushed to the Red Lion, half buried in a crater. The paladins all exited their Lions, rushing into the cockpit. Lance wasn't there.
"Lance? Lance, come in!" Hunk shouted. Everyone waited, desperate to hear the boy's voice. Nothing came. A somber silence settled over the paladins.
"Start searching the planet for any sign of him," Keith ordered quietly. "I'll take the Red Lion back." Everyone nodded, but no one else said a word. Keith climbed into his Lion, carefully lifted Red, and headed for the ship. He placed Red in his hangar, then returned Black to hers. He didn't know what to do. What to think. He couldn't bring himself to look for Lance, not after what happened earlier. Whatever hope, whatever faith he'd made the mistake of having, was crushed and scattered to the winds.
He wandered the ship, alone with his thoughts. He found himself outside of Lance's room. His heart broke a little more as he stepped in, seeing Lance's favorite jacket on the bed. Tears blurred his peripheral vision. The fabric of the jacket was well-worn, well-loved. It… It still smelled like him. Keith clutched the jacket with white knuckles and fell to his knees, sobbing.
"Why?" he whispered. "Why you? Why now? After… After what you said… And…" His voice caught in his throat. He cried, he screamed, but no one heard. "Dammit, Lance… Why did I have to fall so hard? It happened so fast…" A painful sob wrenched itself from his throat. He rose the jacket to his eyes as the tears came faster and faster. His throat was so raw, he could only choke out two words:
"You promised…"
... Sorry not sorry. This whole thing was inspired by a really vivid image from a dream. It was a sad Keith on his knees in full armor, holding Lance's jacket in the dark while crying into it and saying 'You promised.' Someone who has actual artistic skills, please make this picture in my head a reality so I can keep it forever and cry when I look at it. I probably won't continue this, but I have a vague idea of where this could go... If you're interested in a second part, please tell me, cuz I won't do one otherwise.
Until next time!
-Ash
