A/N: guess I'm writing for Voltron now XD

"For fuck's sake, Lance, can't you focus for once in your life?!" Keith yelled.

Lance grimaced and rubbed his aching backbone after being knocked to the floor for the utmost time today. "I am focusing," he said through gritted teeth.

"If that'd been true, we would have finished this exercise by now," Keith snarled. "But apparently you can't even follow the simplest orders - "

"Keith, that's enough," Shiro said, and the Red Paladin huffed in exasperation and crossed his arms, his foot tapping impatiently against the floor.

Shiro reached out his arm and helped Lance to his feet. "You okay, buddy?"

Lance nodded, even though he was anything but okay. "Peachy."

"Good. Think we can try this one more time?"

"I - " Lance looked around. Pidge and Hunk were sitting on the floor, breathing heavily, their legs sprawled in front of them. They looked utterly exhausted, and Lance couldn't blame them; They have dedicated all afternoon to this super-complicated team exercise, in which - according to Allura - they were supposed to work as if they were forming Voltron, only without their Lions. Their goal was to defeat a group of five gladiators - not with separate attacks like they were used to, but by combining their attacks, working in perfect sync and having each other's backs all the time.

Now, Lance was never strong in physical, hand-to-hand battles, but at least he could always rely on his bayard to take the enemies down before they got too close. However, it appeared that in this particular exercise he needed to be more than a good sniper. He needed to sync his shooting with the other Paladins, make sure he didn't shoot any of them by mistake, and avoid being hit by the gladiators' or the Paladins' other attacks, all at the same time.

And boy, did he suck at that.

At the first couple of trials his teammates reassured him that it was okay; after all, it was a very high-level exercise, so no one really expected him to grasp it immediately. But after five, six, seven trials, which all failed miserably because of him (he even managed to graze Pidge's helmet with his bayard, even though he had no idea how that happened since he wasn't aiming at her at all), they started to lose patience.

Allura scolded him for not paying attention to orders (but he did, he truly did, never in his life had he listened so hard to her instructions, but somehow they all flew out of his mind the minute she started the simulation again); Pidge screamed at him for grazing her helmet, and was practically ready to pounce at him if it weren't for Coran, who caught her by the armpits; Hunk and Shiro didn't say anything, but their expressions slowly became from friendly and patient to tired and annoyed; and Keith was simply being his regular self, yelling at Lance indignantly after every round.

The last round left Lance on the verge of tears. He was trying so hard - there was no way they hadn't seen that; but even if they had, it didn't matter, because he still ended up disappointing them.

Lance swallowed hard and blinked the tears away. This was the last thing he needed - to cry and make fun of himself more than he already did. "I can go for another round," he said as steadily as he could.

"Alright," Shiro said and ordered Pidge and Hunk to get up. They followed with a groan. "Back to positions, everyone. Allura, you can re-activate the gladiators."

It barely two minutes later when Lance collided unceremoniously with Keith, while trying to escape from a gladiator's hit and at the same time shoot another one who was about to attack Hunk. He was so close to get it right this time - that is, if Keith hadn't stood in his way. Both Paladins rolled to the floor, their bayards sliding away from their grip and disappearing into the air. Their helmets collided with a loud rattle, and black spots danced in front of Lance's eyes for a few seconds.

Lance barely managed to catch his breath before Keith wriggled out of their pile of tangled limbs and jumped to his feet. His face was nearly as red as his armor. "WHAT THE FUCK, LANCE?!"

"Keith," Shiro warned, but Keith was beyond listening. "No!" he screamed and pointed at Lance. "We are not letting this pass, Shiro! He needs to hear it so he can pull himself together and stop slowing us down already!"

Lance felt the blood roar in his ears. He stood up, ignoring his aching bones and burning muscles, and threw his arms in the air. "Well, why don't we just end this stupid training and that's it! I'm clearly incapable of doing anything useful anyway!"

"Lance, buddy - " Hunk began, but Lance ignored him.

"Does any of you guys disagree with Keith? Does anyone think that I'm not slowing you down?" Lance turned his gaze from one Paladin to another, hoping deep down that somebody, anybody, will open his mouth and speak up, say at least one thing in his favor, so that he can stop feeling so ashamed and hurt and useless.

Their silence hurt him harder than any of the hits he took since the training began. Keith and Pidge still seemed too furious to throw him a bone, Hunk stared uncomfortably at his own feet, and Shiro looked concerned, but also disappointed. Disappointed at Lance.

Lance felt the familiar sting behind his eyes again. No. He will not cry in front of everyone.

"Fuck this," he spat, pulled his helmet off and tossed it aside, not caring where it landed. Then he stormed out of the room.

"Lance!" Hunk cried, but Lance was already outside, slamming the doors so hard they nearly broke.

It didn't took Coran too long to find Lance. No one noticed him sneaking out of the training room, as the others were too busy arguing about everything that had just happened. Coran didn't particularly desire to stick around and hear the accusations; none of it was important right now as finding Lance.

First he checked Lance's room, then the showers, and then the Blue Lion's hangar. The boy was in neither of those places, and after a short self-debate, Coran decided to go to the control room. He was not surprised to see Lance seating on the floor and leaning against the back of the control panel, knees pulled to his chest, arms wrapped tightly around them. He was still wearing his armor, all grazed and battered in countless places.

Only then Coran noticed that Lance has activated the star map, which was floating all around the room, flickering and shimmering in the darkness. A closer look showed that he activated one particular galaxy that Coran recognized as the Milky Way. The Solar System...

Earth.

Coran sighed and stepped into the room slowly, not wanting to startle Lance. "Mind if I join you?"

Lance didn't move or looked at him. "It's not my castle, do whatever you want," he muttered.

"Alrighty then." Coran took his place next to Lance.

They sat in silence for a while, and then Lance spoke. "So, back at home we used to play soccer." His voice was low and flat.

"Soc - cer?" Coran scrunched his forehead. "I have never heard of such game."

"It's a type of ball game," Lance said. "Pretty popular on Earth. You have two teams, each team has a goal, and the purpose is to kick the ball into the other team's goal. You can only use your legs to touch the ball. We played it in my neighborhood every day after school. Me and my brothers and cousins and all the other kids from the street."

"Fascinating," Coran said. "We had a similar game back on Altea, only that it did not involve a ball, but a huge, triangle rock, and you could only use your nose."

On a regular occasion, this sort of anecdote would extract a snort of laughter from the Blue Paladin. But he barely huffed a breath before continuing his story. "Anyway, I didn't exactly... excel in this game. I mean, it's not like I was the worst, but I wasn't really good either. I kept losing the ball, or passing it to the kids from the other team, or touching it with my hand by accident..." he hugged himself a bit tighter. "But you know what? No one really cared about all of this. Sure, they laughed at me all the time - my brothers would never shut up about it, not even when we got back home - but they weren't... mad at me. They didn't blame me for our losses, or yelled at me, or said that I was slowing them down..." he spat the last three words so bitterly, as if they physically hurt him. "It was just a stupid game. No one made a big deal of you screwing up." He laughed humorlessly. "Well, I guess it's easier when it's really just a game, and not, you know, saving the universe and stuff."

Coran released a long breath. "I know it's easier said than done, but I would strongly advice you not to take too seriously things that were said in the heat of the moment."

"But it's the truth," Lance said simply, and Coran's eyebrows shot up in surprise. He was expecting Lance to swear at Keith and brag about how he will prove them all him wrong. He wasn't expecting him to sound so... defeated.

"I don't really know how to do... well, anything that's helpful in a fight," Lance said.

"That is simply not true," Coran said cheerfully. "You are a great sniper! The team's sharpshooter, no less!"

Lance's mouth twisted in contempt. "Yeah, I know how to hide like a coward behind a gun and shoot people from a safe distance, hooray for me. We saw how useful that was today."

Coran tried to comment, but Lance just kept talking and talking, as if the words were poison that he wanted to rid himself of as fast as possible.

"Everyone on this team is so strong and smart and talented. Even Hunk, who couldn't survive a simulation without throwing up, is now a better pilot than me, not to mention that he's a genius engineer and all... it's like everyone just knows what to do all the time, except for me. I'm the one who needs things to be explained to him ten times, and even then I don't get it and screw everything up. I..." His voiced cracked. "As much as I love Blue, they might as well find another Paladin to pilot her, because if they let me stay, we will never be able to defeat Zarkon, and the whole universe will be doomed." A single tear rolled down his cheek.

There was a moment of silence, and then Coran burst out laughing, his voice roaring across the room.

Lance scooted away from him, looking utterly disgusted. "What the hell, dude?!"

"I'm sorry!" Coran screeched, barely able to speak. "Oh, my dear boy... I apologize... it's just that... that was so dramatic! I mean, 'the whole universe will be doomed'? Only because you didn't do so well in training today? HA! That's a good one," he wiped a tear of laughter from his eye, snorting giddily as he tried to compose himself.

Lance blushed deeply, his mouth becoming a thin line. "Unbelievable," he muttered. "Here I am, spilling my heart out, fucking crying and shit, and you think it's all one big joke." He turned his back to Coran and hugged his knees again. "Is there anyone on this ship who actually takes me seriously?"

"Now, hold on, young man," Coran shifted closer to Lance. "Perhaps my reaction was out of place, but it does not mean that I don't take you seriously. I simply think that you are not looking at the whole picture here."

Lance did not answer, apparently too tired to argue. Coran sighed. "You know, there was a time, far, far in the past, that I felt just like you. Like I didn't belong. I mean, as the main technician and first advisor to King Alfor I was officially part of Team Voltron, but for a long time I did not feel like an actual part of the team."

The mention of Voltron caught Lance's attention and he slowly turned back to Coran. "Are you talking about... the old Paladins? When Zarkon was still a good guy and all?"

"That is correct," Coran said. "Those were good times. The Paladins were united in their purpose of defending the universe, but their bond was much stronger than this. They were practically like brothers and sisters, hanging out together between missions, having inside jokes... it was delightful to watch them, but it also felt a bit lonely at times. Of course, they have never looked down on me or tried to shut me out, but I knew that it would never be the same as being an actual Paladin of Voltron. As long as I couldn't acquire that, I always felt left out, and I had no doubt that the moment King Alfor found a better technician, he would not hesitate to replace me."

"That sounds depressing," Lance said quietly.

"Ah, but that's not how the story ends," Coran said. "There came a day when I finally realized how much the Paladins of Voltron cared about me, and that I wasn't dispensable as I thought. It was the day I got kidnapped by the Unalu."

Lance blinked in confusion. "The Unalu? Wait... are those the space pirates you got the teludav lenses from at the mall?"

"That's correct," Coran nodded. "A nasty bunch, indeed. You do not want to get on their nerves, believe me! I was in their captivity for less than a Quintent, but it still was a very unpleasant experience."

"You were kidnapped by space pirates?!" Lance looked horrified. "What the hell did you do to piss them off so much?"

"Well, let's just say that it is advisable not to make a deal for four million Gaks if you don't actually have four million Gaks..." Coran scratched the back of his neck, and Lance nearly tumbled to the floor.

"Anyway," Coran continued, "King Alfor did not let it pass, nor did the rest of the Paladins. Oh, the look on the Unalu's faces when they saw Voltron for the first time in their lives! That was definitely something to remember!"

Lance's jaw dropped. "Are you telling me that Alfor's Paladins formed Voltron just to rescue you from pirates?"

"Yes indeed! I wouldn't believe it myself if I hadn't seen it in my own eyes. I mean, Voltron didn't actually do anything at that time - it was mainly for show-off purposes, I suppose - but it still gave the Unalu quite the scare. They let me go right away, as if those four million Gaks suddenly slipped their minds."

Lance shook his head in disbelief. "This is one of the craziest stories I've ever had."

"Well, life with Team Voltron is always crazy. I guess this is one thing that never changes, not even after ten thousand years."

"But wait..." Lance said. "After all of this was over, weren't they, like, really angry at you?"

"Oh yes," Coran sucked in a breath. "After we all got back to the castle, King Alfor and Zarkon pretty much took turns at yelling at me for my utter lack of responsibility... their lecture went on for Vargas! I thought that we were going to miss dinner at some point."

Lance winced at the thought. "This experience sounds way too familiar. Except for the Zarkon part, that is just too weird to imagine."

"At first I was too ashamed to even look them in the eye. But after a while I gathered the courage to raise my head, and you know what I noticed? That behind all this anger, there was also a genuine concern. That they weren't only scolding me for being reckless, but also for making them worry. I remember King Alfor saying to me those exact words: 'Don't ever do anything like this again, Coran. We can't afford to lose you. I can always find another technician, but not another friend."

Coran's voice seemed to crack at this point, and he fell silent, lost in thought. Lance did not push him to go on. For a few minutes they both just sat there, looking at the countless stars that twinkled all around them.

Then Lance spoke. "So, what you're saying is, I need to get kidnapped to make the others care about me?"

This time, Coran was the one who nearly tumbled to the floor. "Quiznack, of course not!" Lance smirked, trying to make it clear that he was joking, but Coran still looked anxious. "I won't wish anyone to go through it! The point of this story was not to encourage you to do stupid things like I did," he waved his finger aggressively in front of Lance's face, "but to show you that even if you feel like you're not important to the team, you are important. The fact that your teammates sometimes get mad at you does not mean that they don't love you or won't do anything for you. I mean, don't you feel the same about them?"

Lance looked aside. "I... of course I am," he mumbled.

Coran sighed. "Besides, you've already been once through a near-death experience, so there's truly no need for you to go through that sort of thing again."

Lance looked confused. "Huh?"

"The night the Galra took over the castle," Coran said gently. "The explosion... don't you remember? You pushed me out of the way."

Lance frowned. "Oh. Right. Um, I honestly don't remember much of that night... everything kind of turned black after the explosion, and the next thing I remember is stumbling out of the pod and watching you guys having a clock party or whatever that was."

"Well, I remember it perfectly," Coran said solemnly. "And I will never be able to thank you enough for saving my life back there."

Lance shifted uncomfortably in his place. "Oh, that's... I mean... you're welcome, but I didn't really think about what I was doing..."

"No, but you did it anyway. You risked your life in order to save mine. And that alone is enough to show what a true friend you are, and what a great asset to our team." Coran hesitated for a moment, then placed his hand on Lance's shoulders and squeezed it lightly. "Also, I should probably tell you this now - everyone was truly worried about you. After we got the castle back and put you in a pod, the other Paladins were nearly falling off their feet from exhaustion, but they refused to go back to their rooms and leave you alone. Allura and I managed to shoo them away only after making it perfectly clear that your life was no longer in danger, and even then, they returned right after they changed into their everyday outfits. They even spent the night next to your pod! I believe Hunk had called it a... 'slumber party', if I'm not mistaken?"

Lance's eyes widened in shock. "They... they threw a slumber party at the med bay?!"

"Yes. Took nearly all the blankets and pillows in the castle and dragged them all the way to your pod. It was quite amusing, I must say, especially when Keith ended up sleeping on Hunk's belly. Too bad I didn't take any photos..."

Lance opened his mouth and promptly closed it, unable to speak. He seemed completely overwhelmed by this new information.

"Speaking of Keith," Coran said, "He was really on edge through the time you spent in the pod. At some point he tried to press the buttons to make you come out faster, but luckily Allura was there to stop him from causing any damage."

Lance released a shaky laughter. "Keith? You mean, the same guy who just swore at me and blamed me of slowing down the team?"

"You see," Coran smiled. "Even our greatest rivals can surprise us from time to time."

"Nah, I wouldn't call Keith 'my greatest rival'," Lance said. "He's just... well, he can be a real pain in the ass sometimes." His face fell. "And so can I, I guess."

"But him being an occasional 'pain in the ass' does not make you think of him as weak or useless, right?" Coran asked gently.

"What? No!" Lance called. "Of course not. He's an amazing pilot - maybe even more than Shiro - and he has some really kick-ass moves with that giant sword and - " he blushed all of a sudden, embarrassed by his sudden blabbering. But Coran's smile only grew wider, and Lance sighed. "I should probably go talk to him or something."

"Oh, I'm sure he'll come to you," Coran said. "I saw him after you left, and he seemed pretty regretful."

Lance raised to his feet slowly, stretching his arms. "Guess it's time to stop sulking and get my ass back to the training deck, huh?"

"That sounds like good idea," Coran said. Then he added: "Lance?"

Lance turned around, already on his way out.

Coran cleared his throat. "I know you have a big family back on Earth," he said quietly. "And although our small group might not to compare to this family... maybe you would consider seeing us as one? I know I do. Not only Allura, but all five of you. You are my family now, just like the other Paladins were, and in a family, every person counts. I want you to remember that."

Lance stared at him for a moment. Then his face broke into the widest, warmest smile Coran has ever seen him smile. "If you guys are my space family, then you're the crazy space uncle who always comes up with the weirdest stories."

"I humbly accept that role," Coran bowed theatrically.

Lance laughed, a true, happy laugh, and his expression softened . "But also with the smartest advices." He approached Coran and, without warning, pulled him to a bone-crushing hug. The Altean choked in surprise, but then relaxed and returned the hug, patting the boy's back awkwardly.

"Thanks... for everything," Lance murmured into Coran's shoulder. I... I feel better now." He pulled away, smiling sheepishly. "Hey, whenever we have some free time again... do you think you can tell me more about your days with Alfor's Paladins? It sounds like you guys had some pretty awesome adventures."

Coran's face brightened. "I would love to."