Hello everyone! This is a companion piece to More than Machines which is a Voltron retelling fic. To understand these side pieces you'll need to read the main one first. This one is set directly after chapter seven, The Wrath of the Black Lion. This will be giving hints of Pidge's growing relationship with the Green Lion. I do not own Voltron. Enjoy!
It was done. The Castle was finally up and running on a trusted power source, and they could all rest easy. Castle defenses were back online, the lions were accessible again, and Lance would be just fine.
Pidge still felt like killing something. The black mood had pounced the second there was no longer anything for her to do. Sleep was not an option, and Rover… Nope, not thinking about that.
Even the hangar bay for the green lion did not seem like a good option. Pidge sighed. She hated it when her emotions backed her into a corner. That meant the only recourse was to actually face them. SSSssssssuuuuuuuuccccccckkkkkk!
Well, of all her options, there was one in particular that she was duty bound to face. Pidge started walking towards the green lion's hangar. She had already guessed how the others would react to her leaving team Voltron. Shiro, predictably, had wanted her to stay where he could protect her. Hunk had wanted to join her if it meant he could go home, and… Keith had actually been the wild card. She almost hadn't been prepared to deal with his temper. Not that it had any weight in her final decision either way.
She was done letting other people intimidate her into deciding against what she actually wanted. There was only one person in the castle who had any real say in her decision to stay or not, but she hadn't even considered that person's feelings. The black anger resolved itself into guilt as she entered the hangar.
The green lion sat proud and tall, a cold metal marvel of magic and technology. Pidge gazed up at the lion and sighed again. After all this… was she still worthy enough to be the green paladin?
Apologies never worked if they were never spoken.
"Hey um," Pidge said, and it felt like her voice was sucked uselessly into the void of space.
She cleared her throat and tried not to feel silly.
"I think you probably already know what I tried to do today," she said. "But I'll explain anyway. My father and brother are out there in space somewhere, and I really need to find them. I got a lead as to where the trail starts, and…"
Pidge took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment before looking the green lion straight in the eye.
"I was going to leave," she said. "I even told the others that I was going. I told everybody… except for you."
Pidge lowered her head again. "You… you were depending on me to be your paladin. I was gonna leave, and not even say goodbye, because I knew, if I had to face you… I don't think I could have left. So, I was gonna run away quietly without saying anything."
She shook her head. "It sounds so cowardly now… I just want you to know…" Pidge looked up at her lion. "I'm sorry."
The green paladin stood there for a little while longer, and was about to turn away, when the green lion's yellow eyes flashed. Pidge's mouth dropped open as the lion moved on its own, lowering itself down so that its head was even with its paladin.
Pidge smiled and leaned her head against that metal snout, and that was when she felt it. It was like a tug in her mind, kind of like whenever they did the mental exercises with the weird altean headgear.
"The connection is already there," Shiro said thoughtfully. "It was probably formed when the lion first accepted you. You just have to… open the door."
"Really specific Shiro," Pidge murmured as she did her best to open her mind, whatever that meant.
It seemed to happen all at once. The presence of the green lion came down on her like a warm cloak, and Pidge was brought to tears. Love, forgiveness and complete acceptance were the last things she'd been expecting from the lion, but there was not a single negative emotion to be found. No matter how hard she looked, there was no anger, only understanding.
"Thank you," Pidge said with a quiet sniffle. "Thank you."
Later that night, when Coran had finished with the last diagnostics test, he looked around to find that Pidge had disappeared. He had just wanted to let her know that her hard work had the castle running better than it ever had. She wasn't in her quarters, which had him a little worried, but he knew she had turned her hangar into a lab space for her own use.
It turned out she was there alright, but the sight that greeted him when he entered the hangar put a smile on his face. The green lion was curled up around a comfy looking nest of blankets and pillows which was occupied by the smallest paladin. It looked like Pidge had fallen asleep sitting up, and her laptop was in her lap, still glowing. The light from the screen was reflecting off the lenses of her glasses, which had been knocked askew.
Coran tiptoed closer and gently removed the computer, closing it up and setting it aside. Her glasses soon followed, and he set them on the computer where she would easily find them. Pulling a blanket up to her chin, Coran tucked her in for the night. He missed doing that for Allura…
"Your paladin did a splendid job today," he said to the green lion. "Looks like I'll have to tell her in the morning though…"