So I've thought of this AU for a while and then I saw some fanart on tumblr that pretty much illustrated how I viewed the pair in the SE world. This is just a pilot chapter. If you guys think that you'd like to read a full length fic about this, hit me up through a quick PM or dropping a review at the bottom of this page.

Disclaimer: I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender or Soul Eater.

Soul to Soul

Lance McClain was a popular guy. His lighthearted, easy to get along with, and clearly superior looks made him the envy of the school; at least, he'd like to think so. Still, after almost two months here at Voltron Academy, he expected to have a partner already. He'd asked plenty of pretty, younger weapons to partner up but they all seemed either taken by another (clearly less) capable meister or was simply not interested (another ridiculous notion).

"I just don't get it," Lance complained to Hunk one fine afternoon. He'd honestly been hoping that Hunk would partner up with him given their history. They were best friends and Lance already knew that they'd no doubt resonate well together.

"Well, you've got to give them some time," his friend said from over his sandwich. "We're far away from actual missions. There's lots of time still."

"But what if I don't find a cute weapon to pair up with? What if they all turn me down?"

"Not gonna happen," said Hunk, ever supportive. "There'll be someone desperate enough to partner up with you. Just you wait!"

The look Lance served back was flat. "Gee thanks."

"You know what I mean. Besides, I think you're being too picky."

"Picky?! Me?"

"You know you are. You can't just keep going after the cute female weapons. There are others out there that could be perfect partners for you."

"Dude, no. I don't want a dude weapon. They're fickle and not loyal at all."

"But I thought you wanted me to be your partner."

"Yeah, before you dumped me for Shay."

"Shay's a great meister," Hunk began to protest before Lance waved him off.

"I know. You guys have been set since day one. Hell, if she didn't nab you, I think anyone that you said hello to at orientation would have jumped at the chance to wield you."

"Lance-"

"You're ridiculously powerful, smart and nice. What's not to like? You probably resonate well with everyone!"

"In case you forgot, so you actually do resonate well with everyone," said Hunk. "You've been able to resonate with almost every single person that allowed you to hold their weapon form."

"I know, and I'm awesome for that," Lance said, "but it doesn't matter if they don't agree to be my partner. In fact, there was this one girl that-" Lance launched into a story about his latest failed attempt at getting a partner and had the luck of being pulled into a Hunky hug that warmed his heart.

"You'll find someone," Hunk promised. "Just you wait."

Lance nodded into his friend's jacket and prayed that it would be true.

Lance is starting to think Hunk's foreshadowing was for nothing. He was sitting in a large lecture hall full of meisters and weapons exclusively with only one teacher sitting by the front. He was a tall man with a head of bright hair and a curling mustache. It was like he walked straight out of a cartoon with the exception of the serious look upon his face; stern and contemplative. He continued to survey the class, slow and calculating, and Lance got the feeling that he was planning something; something that wouldn't end well for him.

"Hunk. Do you think he's the prof?"

Hunk broke away from his no doubt riveting conversation with Shay and said, "Sure. Why wouldn't he be?"

"I don't know. Our regular professor just disappears and then we get this guy?"

"I don't appreciate your skepticism, Mr. McClain."

Almost every set of eyes in the class shot to Lance in an instant and he found himself staring itnto the bright blue ones of his professor. He plucked up his boundless courage and tried to play it off. How could he know that their teacher would have incredibly good hearing. "Soyou are our new teacher?"

"For the moment," he said. "My name is Professor Coran and you will address me as such."

"Where'd out other professor go? Professor Iverson?"

"Iverson is... indisposed for the moment," he said before breaking into a smile, "so I'll be teaching you until he's fit to return." Everyone seemed pretty accepting of the fact except for Lance who couldn't quite let it go. Professor Coran can see his hesitant and after Lane gives out one too many smartass quips, he's called to the front for a demonstration.

"Have you ever actually had a weapon partner, Mr. McClain?"

"I've fought with one before," he says, thinking about fighting with Hunk as a weapon after a particularly embarrassing bet led to a loss on his part.

"This is more than mindless fighting, Mr. McClain. This is resonance when two souls and two minds meld together. Like a machine, both weapon and meister fit together to become a powerful combination to battle. You haven't yet found your partner yet, but that'll change soon enough."

"I know compatibility is important, but being able to fight together more important?"

"I-" The door to the lecture hall opened and soon everyone's attention was on the late comer instead. "Ah, Mr. Kogane. Joining us now?"

"I was talking to Lord Alfor," he said coolly and, just like that, Lance felt like he was burning up. Keith Kogane was a weapon, a sword one at that, and wielded himself with ridiculous accuracy. He was the most sought after weapon, but had rejected every meister he'd been presented with. Had Lance asked him? Absolutely not. But that was more to do with the fact that Keith thought he was too good for a meister and less to do with the fact that Lance was ridiculously jealous of Keith's hand-to-hand combat scores and the plethora of exams he'd aced with ease since their middle school days.

Coran seized upon the moment to 'ask' Keith to be in the demonstration. The boy complied and soon Lance was facing Keith and trying to keep himself from saying anything stupid.

"Alright boys. Now neither of you have partners at the moment. Is that correct?"

They both nodded. "And can either of you tell me why that is?"

"Lance doesn't come off as a serious pilot. He thinks everything is a joke, and that's why he doesn't have a partner."

Lance gaped. Forget self-control. "Are you kidding me? That's not what this is about."

"Coran just asked us why we don't have partners."

Lance bristled. "Well then the reason you don't have a partner is because you're too stuck up to hide the fact that you can't resonate well with anyone."

"I resonate fine with meisters!"

"Doesn't look like it from here. It's not like you have a partner either, buddy."

"Because I don't need one."

There was a thick silence that fell over the class at Keith;s exclamation. Lance pursed his lips and looked pointedly at Coran who was stroking his mustache.

"Mr. Kogane, at the DWMA, we do not recommend working alone. Teammates are far more useful and make the missions easier to accomplish. You know that." Keith glanced away and Lance felt his victory just for a moment. "But Keith is right, Mr. McClain. Other weapons do not perceive you ass a capable meister and thus reject your offers of partnership. Honestly, the pair of you are a mess." He clapped his hands. "Ah-hah! I've just gotten a great idea."

"Is it that I get to fight Keith?" Lance asked hopefully.

"Almost. While I do want you two to spar here briefly, I'd like to see you both next class with partners to spar again so that you," he looked at Keith,"remember the value of teamwork and you," Lance got a similar glance, "need to learn how to carry yourself. You're too loose and free willed. It doesn't matter how serious you know you are. Your partner needs to see it too."

"Now, do you both understand? I want you both back in here with partners and then you'll be able to have a rematch. If you fail to do that, you'll get kicked out of this class."

Lance gaped and when he looked over at Keith, the boy's expression mirrored his own. "That's a bit extreme don't you think?"

"Not at all, Mr. Kogane. You both need a bit of strictness in your lives. We are at war here. The Galra continue to experiment and make human souls into kishin eggs. We don't have time to be waiting around." Lance shot a glare over at Hunk and his friend simply shrugged. So much for having ample time to find a partner.

"Yes, sir," came their chorus, and at Coran's instruction, they lunged forward to fight.

"Can you believe that guy?" Hunk leaned against the bed in the infirmary as Lance placed a fresh bag of ice on his cheek.

"Keith or Professor Coran?" asked Hunk.

"Both of them. But seriously, get a partner in a week? That's impossible."

"Well... he did have a point."

"Hunk."

"What? I'm just saying that perception plays a bigger role in first impressions and partnerships than you think."

Lance groaned. "I'm never going to find someone begging him to resonate. I'm doomed. I'll get kicked out of the academy or worse, get demoted to the NOT program."

"For one, the NOT program isn't bad. I was in it for a year or two until you convinced me to transfer into the EAT program. Still thinking that it was a mistake, by the way. Two, Keith may be a super gorgeous weapon with a crap-ton of female meisters hanging off of him-

Lance groaned. "Not helping."

"Hear me out, bro. I think Keith may be a great weapon, but a weapon partner? He's never been wielded."

Lance mumbled something into his pillow that had Hunk straining to hear what had been said.

"Wait, what?"

"Keith's had a meister before."

"What? Who?"

"I don't know," Lance said slowly. "I just ran into him talking to Professor Allura about the guy and they both seemed really upset about it."

"Do you think his meister... you know..."

Lance did know. Losing a meister in battle was not uncommon despite how much the academy tried to prevent it. Some losses were unavoidable.

"I don't think he died," Lance said carefully, "but that's what it sounded like. Like, I know Keith is picky, but it could be good for him to find another partner, you know?"

Hunk blinked over at him. "One minute you're cursing his name and the next you're hoping he gets a partner?"

Lane ruffled his hair and slumped into the bed. "I don't know, dude. Maybe. I got hit in the head too many times."

"Yeah, maybe."

Lance spent the whole week trying to get a partner, but nobody wanted face Keith, it seemed. They were cowards, the lot of them, and time was running out. He'd seen Keith in the hall a few times and he'd always been surrounded by people. Despite this, he seemed so uncomfortable with the attention, and looked to be actively leaning away when people put their hands on his shoulder. Lance caught Keith's eyes across the corridor and he saw Keith trying very hard to hide his discomfort. Shrugging, Lance pressed forward and, trying not to let it bother him, continued on his quest for a partner.

Success occurred when Lance was approached by some random girl he'd seen hanging around Keith for the last month or so. He'd ended up turning her down knowing that she probably wanted to be wielded to show off to Keith in the vain hope that he would date her.

Hunk was reassuring Lance about his inevitable downfall and promised to let Lance wield him if it meant staying in the program when Pidge traipsed forward.

"Lance," she drawled.

He wrinkled his nose down at her. "Pidge."

"What 're you up to? Why not go in?"

"You know full well why I'm not going in."

"Look, I wasn't here last week. Why don't you enlighten me?"

"Don't tease him," said Hunk with an arm still slung around Lance's neck. "We both know that you know."

"Well, then you caught me." She smirked up at him. "So, Lance, I guess you failed."

"I still have Hunk," Lance shot back.

"Nope."

"What do you mean no?"

"I mean that Coran will know you're just borrowing Hunk. Shay and Hunk already submitted their paper contract so you can't use him without some kind of backlash."

"Oh. Then-"

"You can use me instead," Pidge continued. "I'm pretty sure it'll work out since we've spent so much time together."

"Wait, are you serious?"

"I mean, it's only temporary, and you'll owe me big time."

"I will!" He swept Pidge up into a hug and grinned wider when she squirmed in his arms. "We're going to be awesome."

"Enough of that. We're going in, fighting Keith, and then you're doing my laundry for the next two months."

"Two months?"

"It's better than getting kicked out."

"Yeah."

Lance steeled himself and held out a hand. "Could you transform? I realize we didn't train."

"When do you ever though?"

"That's rude and I resent that. But let's go!"

Pidge closed her eyes and in a flash of light, she was a smooth green weapon; One that Lance had never seen before.

It was curved with one side clearly a handle while the other seemed to buzz with energy. He marveled at the shape, slashing the air and grinning at how easy she was to wield.

"Don't even think about it."

"But I didn't say anything!"

"We may not be resonating but that doesn't mean I can't tell what you're thinking. This is temporary okay?"

"Right, right. This is kind of like brass knuckles. Or maybe a curvy dagger?"

"I'm a hook shot," said Pidge, voice ringing metallic from within the weapon, "but the edge is surrounded by whatever wavelength I'm getting from you."

"It's kind of light. And small."

"Hey!"

"Don't be mad, Pidge. It's a cute little weapon." Her scowl flashed on the flat of the weapon and he felt a jolt of pain up his arm. "Hey!"

"Yeah, it is pretty cute," she said. "Now let's get on with this fight. I honestly can't wait for you to lose."

"Pidge!" he cried out, thoroughly scandalized.

"What? You won't get kicked out because you have me as your partner but I don't think we'll win. Doesn't mean I won't put up a good fight," she added upon sensing his hesitance, "but I'm just calculating our odds."

"You'll do your best," soothed Hunk. "Go get him."

"You both have such great faith in me," said Lance. "I'm going to beat Keith in this, just you wait."

The classroom was full of its usual chatter. Surprisingly, Lance spotted Keith waiting at the front of the room. A beautiful girl clung to his arm and Lance held himself back. Mostly because Hunk was physically holding him back, but his half-hearted attempt had to count for something.

"Finally decided I was worth showing up on time for?"

"I can come to class on time when I want to."

"Then I suggest you make a habit of it," came Professor Coran's voice from his desk. "I give as much as I believe you deserve and right now, the pair of you aren't proving to be deserving much of anything. Now, you've both prepared to fight. Keith you've brought your partner."

He nodded tightly.

"And Lance, you've managed to find a partner as well. I'm glad you could do something if you focused hard enough." Pidge snickered from inside her weapon form. "I'd like to thank both of your respect partners for taking the time to come out and support these two. I look forward to seeing all of you in action. Are you prepared?" They nodded, glaring at each other in front of their class."Meisters, stand alert." Lance posed to fight as Keith disappeared in a flash of light and reappeared in the girl's hand. A smooth sword in weapon form, Keith appeared mostly white with large red accents spread evenly along the blade. Even Lance couldn't deny that Keith looked amazing as a weapon. "You may begin."

The girl lunged forward, no doubt at Keith's insistence. He was eager for a fight and Lance's grin grew more pronounced.

"Let's do this, Pidge."

"Roger," she said and the energy that made up eher blad flared a bright green. The hum of it was loud and as it connected with teh other girl's weapon, it held bit back with the crackling of electricity.

"What"

"Nice one, Pidge!" called lance as he forced the sword back and went in for a jab himself. She flipped back, Pidge's blade barely missing the other meister, and looked at her weapon anxiously.

"What next, Keith?"

"Don't give her the chance, Lance," snapped Pidge, but lance was already moving forward. His opponent might have been flexible, but so was he. She dodged a hit, her leg sliding out to trip him, but he jumped to the side and stunned her with Pidge's blade. The meister crumpled a little and Lance jumped away from her with an anxious glance towards the teacher.

"Um, do I-"

"One hit does not account for a win. In battle your enemies will be aiming to kill you, not paralyze you."

"Unless they're a spider," Lance said as his opponent stood up. "They paralyze you and eat you for a snack later."

"We'll increase the wavelength shock incrementally," muttered Pidge. "It might knock her unconscious if she can't take it, but it should immobilize her."

"Okay. No blood?"

"I don't do blood," said Pidge. "It's kind of against Academy guidelines. Let's get it quick and easy."

Their blades connected over and over but Lance was a fluid meister. He moved in smooth lines, in ways that his opponent didn't expect, until he was suddenly behind her, shooting her body full of his wavelength. When she cried out in pain, she fell a little and Lance paused.

"Oh, sorry. Sorry," Lance said reflexively.

"All part of the battle," the girl huffed but seemed unable to stand.

"All right, we're done here." Keith reappeared in a flash of light, a scowl fixed upon his face.

"We aren't done," he snapped.

"Dude, your meister is clearly done. It's over."

"It's not."

Lance helped Keith's partner up into a nearby chair and frowned. "You really need to lighten up."

"In battle, every second counts. Even with my meister down, I can still fight. Coran, permission to fight Lance without a meister?"

"While I generally approve of training alongside your fellow academy students, this might not be the time, Keith."

Keith's eyes seemed to burn with something more than old age competition. His gaze asked for a fight, but it wasn't to win. There was something else lurking there too. Lance just didn't know what.

"Something's not right, Lance," Pidge began softly. It almost startled him out of his previous line of thought. Lance made a questioning noise and she continued with, "I didn't increase your wavelength by that much. We stunned her, sure, but with a low level hit and she went down fast. Something else is wrong with her."

"Something else..." Lance raised his gaze to Keith arguing with Coran, and then to the meister who was breathing deeply to calm herself. She look far more exhausted than they had anticipated and Lance grit his teeth as the realization dawned for him.

"You were stressing her out."

"What do you want now, Lance?" Keith faced him, cutting away from their professor.

"Your meister. You guys weren't compatible. Your wavelengths don't match and it was stressing her out and she wielded you."

"She could handle it."

"That's not the point! You guys are a team. You have to think like a team and care about the kind of pressure your wavelength puts on her."

Keith glared at Lance fiercely, more so than before if it was possible.

"Perhaps you both need a better opponent. Perhaps I will be a greater substitute." Coran rummaged around in his bag before pulling out two smooth swords. "You both will fight me."

"What?" squawked Lance while Keith, wasting no time, transformed his hand into the red and white blade and jumped into action. Coran fought back easily, like Keith was nothing more than a child with a pointy stick. Lance watched it all and glanced at Pidge. "What should I do? Are you up for fighting the professor?"

"Let me go."

"What? Then I won't have a weapon."

Pidge returned to her physical form and landed lightly on her feet. "Your weapon is out there."

"Keith?"

"Me?" The words distracted him and Coran sent Keith flying with a kick. He landed at Lance's feet and Lance bent to check on him.

"Hey, are you-"

"I'm fine. I can do this."

"But-"

"You never wanted to help in the first place," snapped Keith, ever abrasive. "I'll handle it."

"No chance. If it's you and me then you have to work with me. We might be rivals or whatever but I know we both hate losing." Keith surveyed him curiously.

"Is this some sort of trick?"

"Trick? Dude, are you kidding? The prof is trying to kill us and I'm trying to trick you? Ridiculous." he offered Keith a hand. "Let's beat him and you can go back to hating my guts. Deal?"

Keith's hand paused over Lance's. "I don't..."

"Don't what, dude? You've gotta hurry it up 'cause I don't want to be shish kabobed by Coran."

"Just one time."

"What else would it be?" Lance asked with a dismissive shrug "Don't shock me now."

"Like you could take it."

He felt Keith's warmth briefly before smooth skin and cloth became heated metal. The hilt seemed to pulse into his palm like he could feel each of Keith's heartbeats. Like they were Lance's own. Like they were connected.

"Whoa."

"Are you-" began Keith before Lance's face split into a grin.

"You're crazy light! Lighter than Pidge, even. That's awesome."

"O-oh?"

"No wonder your girl could do flips. You must be a smooth wield."

The pulse against Lance's skin quickened.

"Just don't drop me."

"You? Fall on my watch? Not a chance." Lance glanced at Coran who twirled his mustache idly. "You ready?"

"I'm ready to see you try."

"Let's go!"

"Ugh. Again?"

"This is what you get for trying to fight a losing battle," said Hunk, handing Lance an ice pack he was growing very familiar with. He thanked his friend and held the compress to his shoulder. "That goes for you too, Keith." Keith nodded from across the room, sitting in a chair generally reserved for the nurse. "You guys probably should have just conceded. I mean, Coran's a master swordsman. He trained with plenty of legendary meister-weapon pairs.

"Gee thanks, Hunk. That would have been great to know before we fought him." Lance groaned. "He's a beast with swords. They weren't even demon weapons and he bested us."

"It was your first time fighting together." Hunk said, "so don't be too hard on yourself." Once he seemed satisfied that Lance was taken care of, he stretched. "Well, I have training with Shay before I go home. You going to wait?"

"Sure. I'll text you if I change my mind."

"Okay. Later, Lance. Bye...Keith."

Keith waved to him weakly and maintained a smile until Hunk disappeared around the corner. Alone, Lance continued to soothe his bruises as Keith fidgeted in the waiting chair. He looked like he wanted to say something but refrained for some reason. Lance sighed.

"How're you doing?"

Keith blinked at him, startled. "What?"

"I said, how are you doing? I tried to make sure I didn't drop you but I think your blade might have nicked the floor a bit."

"I'm fine," Keith said, "but I should be asking you that."

"Eh, I've had worse." Lance leaned into the pillows that sat nice and white on the gurney that Nurse Haggar always kept in her office. "Back in middle school, whenever someone tried to bully hunk, I'd try to beat them up."

"And you didn't win?"

"I mean technically yes, but not before I got pummeled." Lance sighed wistfully. "Ah, the good old days."

"Why would that be good?"

At first, he thought Keith was joking, but saw nothing but genuine confusion in his face. "Don't even worry about it." they sat quietly together again. They could hear other students running through the halls, some going to class and others heading to club rooms. Lance and Keith remained, trying not to look at one another. Every time Lance glanced up, Keith's eyes were decidedly away from him, but when he focused on the large bruises dotting his skin, the distinct feeling that Keith was looking was washed over him.

"You-"

"I-"

They stopped short as their voices overlapped. Lance gestured for Keith to go first. "I didn't think you'd be able to wield me."

"'Cause I'm too awesome?"

"Because you're too loud," said Keith, "and too cocky. You're always picking fights."

"Speak for yourself. You've done so many solo fights against two and three star meisters and we've only been in the EAT program for a month and a half."

"That's not what I'm trying to say," he said quickly, no doubt sensing how riled up Lance seemed to be. "I just didn't think our wavelengths would, you know, mesh."

"Neither did I," said a new voice and into the infirmary came Professor Coran. Keith shifted instantly, getting up and angling himself towards Lance.

"Oh, hey," said Lance watching as the tension eased from Keith's shoulders. Man, that guy was wound tighter than a yo-yo. "Come to congratulate me on my superior skill?"

"Close, actually. I just wanted to congratulate you and Keith on your win today."

"Win?" Keith scoffed. "You almost cut us in half. Multiple times."

"True, but you each succeeded in finding compatible partners."

"Um, Keith and his partner weren't compatible at all," piped up Lance.

Keith cringed. "Wow, thanks."

"I'm not talking about Maria," said Coran. "I'm talking about the two of you.."

"Us?"

"Of course. You both moved in a way I haven't seen in a long time from a meister-weapon pair. How many times have you fought together?"

"Together or together?" They exchanged a look and frowned. "We've never been partners," said Keith.

"A first time partnership!" exclaimed Coran. "I'm more than impressed. The pair of you will make a formidable team with proper training."

"Team?" began Keith while Lance scrambled upright.

"Hold on there, sir. Me and Keith were just trying to beat you. It was a one time thing."

"Ah, but didn't you both feel the connection? Keith's wavelength is volatile and vibrant. It's too strong and determined to be deterred and you, Lance, have an open and friendly personality; it's enough to encompass and cool the parts of Keith's wavelength that would otherwise hurt potential meisters. It's a match that works remarkable well. Could you not feel it?"

The pair looked at one another, face full of mixed emotions. He couldn't make out the expression Keith was showing, but he knew himself. Sort of. He'd sort it out with Hunk and Pidge later. For now...

"I couldn't feel much except for the bruises you gave me which, by the way, still hurt a lot."

"Those'll heal up in a could days," said Coran cheerily, "but what's important here is that you two have the potential to resonate quite well. You're a great pair. It'd be a shame to waste it."

Lance and Keith hadn't stopped looking at one another. It looked like a stare down to the other person, but both meister and weapon contemplated the idea. It was curious. Lance felt rather than knew that this probably would end terribly. But the other part of him, the part that was genuinely curious, entertained the idea of taking up this legendary weapon. Keith was skilled and cunning. Isolated and aloof, yes, but he was an asset in battle and had no doubt been in successful missions before. As much as he hated to admit it, he could learn a lot from the weapon. Keith didn't have that much to gain from partnering with Lance, no matter how much Lance convinced himself that he was better than Keith in every conceivable way.

Keith broke the deadlock first by speaking. "We'll think about it."

"We will?" choked Lance. He couldn't quite believe that Keith was actually considering becoming his actual partner. "I mean, yeah, we will."

"That's a relief!" Professor Coran was beaming. "I thought you two wouldn't be up to the challenge of growing to be such a powerful team and qualifying to be on Voltron."

"Wait, Voltron?" Lance was practically inches away from jumping out of bed. "As in the secret special group of meisters and weapons that Lord Alfor uses to stop the Galra and take out Kishin world wide Voltron?"

"That would be the one." The teacher grinned. "I have to admit, I've never heard of some other Voltron."

"Do you really think we'd qualify for Voltron?" asked Keith.

"I mean, if the pair of you worked together and become a successful meister-weapon duo, I can't see why you couldn't be selected for Voltron. Lord Alfor's been thinking of revamping the task force, especially with the Galra seeming to dominate major cities across the world. Even so, I can understand if you're both interested in taking down small fry kishin eggs and aiming for Death Scythe. The title is quite prestigious on its own. All in all, you boys have an important decision to make."

Keith and Lance looked at one another again and, this time, seemed to share some understanding.

"So boys? The verdict?"

Keith and Lance nodded to one another and, upon looked at Coran again, seemed to be completely in sync. Maybe it was a coincidence and maybe there was some of Keith's wavelength lingering by Lance's soul, but the words came out of their mouth either way. They were firm and clear. They were in sync and simple. They had the potential to change everything.

"We'll think about it."