Kacxa Week 2018 Day 5

Quiet/Tender Moment in Chaos

For Want of More Time

NOTE:

My favorite prompt this week and one that I have been eager to post. When I saw the list of prompts, this is the first one I had an idea for so I'm glad that it's time to put it out there.

I'm lousy at writing action sequences and detailed schemes so I hope that this will make some sense. It's all about the emotional payoff for me and I enjoy making myself and the characters suffer. And, like most of my entries this year, this is told mostly from Acxa's point of view because I find her the more fascinating of the two.

Nevertheless, I hope that you are entertained by this one-shot.

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A loud crash and a series of explosions sent them running. This was their most challenging mission yet, and they needed to succeed. The safety of Voltron depended on their destroying this ship, the one place that contained all of Haggar's atrocities. If the craft survived, they were all doomed.

Acxa and Keith had set up explosives all over the vessel, trying their best to cover as much ground as they could. The first phase of the plan had gone smoothly. They had infiltrated the ship and gotten rid of most of the guards. They had planted the explosives and evaded capture. But then, something had gone terribly wrong and they were forced to flee within an inch of their lives.

They lost contact with the rest of the paladins and they ran into more obstacles than they had prepared for. When they reached the rendezvous point, they were horrified to see that there was only one escape pod left. The way the explosive devices had been configured also required someone to stay behind to manually activate them.

Keith was already frantically thinking of a workaround but Acxa had always been the more practical of the two. She knew that only one of them would be returning to the Voltron Coalition and she had already decided who it would be. And she was not going to brook any arguments.

The moment she made the decision, with her usual efficiency and calm, she also felt overcome by a profound sadness. She looked at the paladin beside her, bravely trying to find a way for both of them to leave that terrible place in safety. But she already knew it was hopeless and she would not let him risk his life for hers. His heroism was admirable, but she would not let him become a martyr.

She allowed herself a moment of indulgence, to look back on their complex history, and all they had been through together. In such a vast universe, some unseen force had allowed their paths to cross so many times, until they finally walked the same one. And, much to Acxa's chagrin, this wonderful confluence was about to end only just as it had begun.

But she quickly resigned herself to her fate. Brief though their time together had been, she was grateful for it. And she was determined not to waste a single moment.

"It's no use, Keith," she told him gently, "You already know what we have to do."

"No," the paladin replied firmly, "There has to be another way."

"There isn't time," Acxa said with a sigh, "I wish there was, but I know now that this is how things have to be."

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

But Acxa had silenced him before he could protest further, grabbing his face with both of her hands and bringing her lips to his. Keith's eyes widened incredulously at this but Acxa held him firmly, almost desperately, trying to convey a multitude of emotions in one simple gesture. The timing wasn't ideal, but this was the only chance she was going to get.

Despite his initial shock, Keith managed to regain his senses enough to return the kiss, putting his arms around the Galra general and pulling her closer to him. He was new to this kind of intense emotion, but he had been aware of the connection between them ever since the Weblum, and with her saving their lives and joining the coalition, their bond had only grown. The current circumstances had prevented them from acting on their feelings, but he had hoped that there would be a chance for a future, if they survived the war. He desperately wanted there to be more to it than this.

"Acxa," he whispered, when they finally, reluctantly, pulled away, their foreheads resting on each other. They allowed themselves to bask in this precious moment, when their deepest longings had been revealed, and their hearts laid bare in the midst of chaos.

"It was an honor to fight by your side," Acxa whispered back before shoving Keith into the escape pod and strapping him in.

"Wait, what?" he asked, his moment of confusion giving Acxa enough time to set the coordinates on the pod and to initiate a course to safety. The escape pod closed, leaving Keith punching at the window, suddenly realizing what Acxa had planned all along.

"Acxa! No!" he protested, banging his fists against the glass. Tears began to stream down his face as he tried to reach her. Why did things have to end this way? Why did she have to sacrifice herself?

"Goodbye, Keith," Acxa said calmly, but unable to stop her own tears from falling down her cheeks, "Go and save the world!"

"Acxa, no! Don't do this!" Keith cried, but the vessel had already launched into space, leaving Acxa behind in the wreckage.

She watched him disappear into the distance, a bright point in the vast emptiness of space, a glimmer of hope in dark universe. Once she was convinced that he was far enough, she took a deep breath and set herself to complete the mission. One by one she activated the strategically placed explosive devices.

Acxa focused on the tasks at hand, acutely aware that the clock was ticking fast. Her hands trembled but she used every last ounce of her strength to move forward.

She had been lucky enough to share that one, wondrous moment with the person she had come to care about most in the world. Their time had been painfully short and she could not help but wish they had been granted more. But this was probably already more than she deserved.

She would not let herself be weighed down by regret, not in these final, crucial moments. If this was the price to pay for her sins, then so be it. Her final act would be to destroy the thing that was preventing Voltron from saving the universe. She had to believe that this would be atonement enough.

"Victory or death," Acxa said softly as she activated the final device.