He couldn't sleep.

Keith rolled over again, trying to get comfortable in the- his bed. No such luck. He tossed and turned for a few moments more in a fruitless attempt to fall asleep. Finally, he gave up and sat upright. He sighed, rubbing his face. He was so, so tired; yet sleep would not come. He stared ahead at the basic appearance of the room. It was too dull, too grey. It reminded him of the Garrison. He stared at it a few moments longer before getting up. He padded softly over to the closet. He eyed the soft nightgown on the rack. He thought better of it and pulled on his shoes before moving towards the door. He carefully glided through the hall, hoping no-one would notice his excursion. When he met the door he was looking for, he quietly knocked twice. After nothing happened for a few moments, he tensed to turn away, only to hear the sound of the door opening.

"Keith? What are you doing?"

Keith looked up at Shiro, his usual indignance gone. It was instead replaced by a heavy despondence that Shiro recognized.

"You wanna come in?"

Keith didn't answer, but stepped in nonetheless. Shiro looked on, noting that his best friend looked something akin to a zombie. His movements lacked his usual effortless grace and his eyes were ridiculously tired. Shiro closed the door and gave Keith a stern look.

"Alright, what's wrong?"

"Can't sleep."

Shiro eyed his companion with worry, Allura and Coran had drilled them through training from the depths hell for hours straight. If that didn't tire him out enough to sleep, something was definitely wrong.

"Why not?"

Keith looked down at the floor like it had the answers to everything, but Shiro saw the younger boy's face tinge pink.

"Keith?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry Its just that… We're who knows how far away from Earth and…"

"And?

"AndIkindaforgotPolarisathome," he hissed in one breath

It took Shiro a moment to make sense of that. Polaris. Suddenly Shiro was brought back to his childhood, watching four-year-old Keith stare out at the streets.

"Keith, it's getting late." Takashi called. "Mama says you should take a nap."

The younger boy shook his head at the idea. Takashi turned to his elder twin with a look of dismay. The elder boy sighed and took a turn.

"Keith, you can't stay up all night."

"Yes I can," the toddler countered, not tearing his eyes away from the window.

The twins shared a look of confusion before the elder moved forward and tried again. Keith was not having any of it and very soon, a full-blown argument was happening. Takashi quickly shuffled up the stairs to his room and pulled a box out from under his bed. He looked down at the stuffed brown bear. He took it and scurried back out. He bumped into someone on his way down.

"Aniki, what's all the noise?"

The youngest in the Shirogane household stared up at her older brother, trying to rub the sleep from her eyes.

"Its nothing Aguri, go back to sleep."

"Okay."

He watched carefully as his dark-haired sister tumbled back into her room before rushing back down the stairs. He found his brother and his friend were now rolling on the floor, pushing and shoving one another pretty violently.

"Ryou, knock it off!" he hissed

"He started it!" the older twin hissed back.

The two finally disentangled themselves and Keith immediately moved back to the window. Sitting in the too-big chair he stared out at the empty street yet again with stubborn determination.

"Keith, you know your dad has to work," Shiro said gently.

"And I'm gonna wait 'til he comes back."

"I give up! Good-night!" Ryou hissed as he ambled off to sleep.

"Bye," Keith returned curtly.

Keith never looked away from the window, waiting for the familiar face to walk up the sidewalk. Takashi sighed as he walked up to him.

"Keith, I have something for you."

"What is it?"

"Look and see."

The toddler turned and craned his neck to see. When the bear caught his eye, Takashi didn't miss the way they lit up at the sight. Takashi moved closer and held out the bear.

"This is Polaris, he used to help me look out for stars, so I thought you might need his help to look out for your dad."

"I don't need help," Keith responded indignantly.

But he eagerly took the bear anyway. It was soft, and he leaned against it as his eyelids slowly grew heavier, and finally sleep became too strong for him to fight off. He slept soundly with the bear cradling his head.

"You still kept that?" Shiro asked.

Keith couldn't hide his face turning scarlet red.

"It… It made sleeping a little easier… After I left the Garrison."

After you disappeared.

Shiro didn't need to hear more. He sat back down in his bed and lifted the covers in invitation.

"C'mon, it'll be like when we were little."

After a few moment's deliberation, Keith yanked off his shoes and fell onto the bed. I was a bit off a squeeze, they weren't as small as they used to be, but it worked. Suddenly, he was back at Shiro's old house, in Shiro's bed. He could almost hear Ryou's snoring on the other side of the room, almost see the glowing star-stickers on the ceiling.

"Good-night Keith," Shiro whispered.

"Good-night, Taka."

Keith closed his eyes, the silence and stillness of space overshadowed by the sound of Shiro's breathing. For so long, after so much time alone in the Garrison and in the desert. He found that up in space, among the lonely stars for company,

He wasn't alone.