The team took the journey back to earth at a leisurely pace. They stopped at planets when they needed to resupply, then continued on, taking time to rest and recover. They were all injured, but Keith and Shiro especially.

Keith was banged up from his brutal fight with Shiro, more than he had let on when he had led Voltron. Once he was satisfied that Shiro was safe, he had almost collapsed into the pilot's seat. They had decided to stay on that planet for the night before flying off.

Shiro... he slept most of the first few days. There had been a scary moment when one of his wounds had become infected and he'd developed a fever, only two days out from Earth, but Coran had intervened in time.

"Isn't there anything else we can do?" Keith asked Coran restlessly, one hand resting protectively on Shiro's forehead. The former paladin blinked listlessly, only partially aware of his surroundings.

Coran shrugged his shoulders helplessly.

"I'm afraid not, number four. The only healing pods we had were on the... castle," he hesitated a bit at the mention of his ship. "It's not anything he can't recover from, but he's going to have to do it the old fashioned way."

"Well we can't take him to the garrison like this." Keith scowled, "He didn't handle it well the first time, and he was stronger last time. It would be really stressful for him."

"It might be better if we were able to prepare and contact commander Holt ahead of time, but Earth's technology is still too primitive and can't connect with Altean technology."

"Um, actually Keith, Coran," Lance popped his head in the door, "I might have a solution."

"What is it?" Keith searched Lance's face for any sign of joking, but he was actually... really sincere. And... anxious? That was weird.

"Well, there's my family in Cuba?" Lance looked hopefully at both of them. "I c-I could take Shiro and stay with him while he recovers and then join you back at the garrison."

Keith looked to Coran, who raised his hands placatingly.

"I don't have any objections. You know him best, though; it's your decision."

"Would that be alright with them?" Keith asked uncertainly. Lance laughed a little and nodded vigorously.

"Yeah! Yeah, it would be fine. There's so many of us, and with friends staying over all the time, one more won't make a difference."

Keith bit his lip and looked down at Shiro, considering.

"Please, man." Lance pleaded softly, and even Keith picked up on the homesick desperation in his voice. That brought the black paladin up short.

What if he knew his mom was so close, and it had been three years since he had seen her? What... what if it had been his dad there too? Keith was starting to understand, and his eyes softened a little.

"Sure, Lance. That'll be better for Shiro than the garrison."

"Thanks, Keith," Lance breathed, relaxing significantly. He smiled a little, but it grew until even Keith even smiled back. Coran smiled with them, but his was a little sad too. As if he was thinking of his own family.

"What?" Shiro moaned softly, his eyes finally showing some coherence. Lance and Keith quickly shuffled around until they were in Shiro's line of view.

"How are you feeling, Shiro?" Keith asked quietly, his eyes sharp with concern.

"...Better than yesterday." Shiro decided on after a moment. "You?"

"I'm recovering too," Keith nodded, then he turned to Lance to start.

"Um... Keith thought it would be better for you if you came with me to Cuba for a while instead of the garrison. Would that be alright?" Lance spoke softly and slowly so Shiro could follow him, but his eyes shone brightly and his fingers tapped rapidly against his leg with suppressed excitement.

"Of course," Shiro agreed, his lips quirking up at Lance's happiness. "I can't wait to meet everyone."

Lance couldn't contain himself. He jumped up and started skipping, his hands in his pockets.

"You're gonna love it there, Shiro! There's mis primos y tios, and-and mi mama! Oh my gosh, I can't believe we're actually going!"

"You alright, Lance?" Keith asked with growing concern. The light in Lance's eyes was becoming almost feverish, and his hands were shaking.

"Yeah, I'm great!" Lance laughed, raking a and through his hair and spinning around happily. "I'm better than I've ever been! Let's go now!"

"Just give us a moment to move Shiro's things into Red, and then you should be good to go, number three."

"Ah, shoot, I gotta go move Kaltenecker over-"

And then Keith and Shiro were left alone.

"That's alright with you?" Keith studied Shiro's face for confirmation.

"Lance's needed this for a while," Shiro murmured, closing his eyes as he drifted off to sleep, "And... 's better than the garrison."

After lots and lots of clarification, (and a scribbled family tree on one of Red's tactical note screens) Shrio finally sorted out that Lance's mama had three brothers and one sister, while his Papa had two brothers and two sisters. He didn't try to keep the cousins straight, but Lance had four older siblings and three younger.

Lance had been restless since Keith had first mentioned going back to earth, but now he looked ready to explode. He would sit for a few moments, humming happily and jiggling his leg absently, then he would suddenly turn to Shiro and tell another story about a cousin or nephew.

"-And then there's my cousin Maria, she's studying to be a nurse. Come to think about it, she's probably graduated by now. She wants to travel though, so she'll probably talk to you to practice her English." Lance smiled, "She's quiet, but it's nice because she listens to all my stories. You know, one of those people who smiles and nods when everyone else has stopped listening?"

Shiro smiled tiredly, letting Lance talk. His excitement was contagious.

A non-dangerous sensor popped up, and Lance suddenly... just stopped. His leg stopped bouncing, and his eyes went wide. His breath caught in his throat.

"There it is." he choked, his hands starting to tremble again.

Red dropped out of the clouds, and they could see an island surrounded by deep, royal blue water. There was a sprawling city right on the water's edge, but they flew right past it, over forests, along the water's edge. Shiro even sat up a little to see better.

Eventually the deep green gave way to lighter, coarse grasslands. Lance's knuckles were white from gripping the joysticks as he pushed Red forward.

At last, at long last the lion touched down, resting gently on the patch of land close to an interconnected house system. The roof was made of burnished red roof tiles, and the walls were pale plaster. Shiro thought it was really pretty.

"You doing alright, buddy?" Shiro asked softly. Lance swallowed and shook his head. He looked a little pale.

"Shiro, it's been so long." he whispered, "Do they even know I'm alive? All the little cousins won't know me..."

"It'll be alright," Shiro assured gently, "Commander Holt will have gotten word to them by now. And I'm sure all your older cousins will have told the little ones about you. Yeah?

"Yeah- okay." Lance took a shaky breath and stood. He took a step towards the door, then paused and looked back guiltily at Shiro.

"Umm... I'll-"

"It's okay, I'll wait here. Go see your family Lance," Shiro assured him.

Lance gave him a little grateful smile and walked a little unsteadily down the exit ramp. Shiro saw the door to the house open as Lance approached and a middle aged woman stepped into the doorway, and covered her mouth with her hands.

The Red Paladin stopped.

Shiro watched both of them exchange a few words, then they both broke into a run and closed the distance between them.

Lance must have been a good foot taller than this small Cuban lady, but he collapsed into her arms and buried his head into her shoulder. His mama's face was shining with happy tears. Shiro looked away for a moment to give them some privacy.

"Lance! Lance 'sta aqui!" he heard young voices calling, and then suddenly the courtyard was filled with family members, laughing and hugging and cheering. Lance turned to see everyone, and Shiro saw the brightest smile Lance had ever worn. He was laughing and crying and talking all at once, crushed by the flood of people trying to hug him at the same time.

Whoops of joy drew Shiro's gaze, and he saw several grown men running at full speed into the group. They looked like genuine cowboys. Jeans and boots and hats and everything. But then, they were genuine cowboys, Lance had told him. His family owned a ranch.

The family finally started to draw Lance into the house, but the boy resisted for a minute. He gestured to the lion, and then left the group, trailed by one of his older brothers. Or cousins. Shiro wasn't sure.

Lance stepped into the lion, still grinning broadly.

"You ready to meet them, Shiro?"

"Yeah," Shiro agreed, smiling back at the boy.

"Dios, Lance!" The man poked his head in after him, twitching his mustache and wiping his forehead. "Vives en esta?" he blinked and gestured to Kaltenecker. "Eh, que es esta? Donde encontra una vaca?"

Lance laughed and shot something funny back at him, and they were both laughing. Shiro smiled awkwardly, enjoying the camaraderie between them despite not understanding a word. Lance gestured to Shiro at last and appeared to introduce them.

"Ah, bienvenidos a Cuba, S-Shiro," Lance's cousin smiled broadly, testing the name out carefully and extending his hand.

"Um... Gracias...?"

"Javier."

"Well, gracias Javier," Shiro smiled too, accepting the hand and shaking it. He butchered the accent, he was sure, but they didn't seem to mind.

"Come on, let's get you inside Shiro," Lance said, and the two of them lifted Shiro and supported him on either side. They made their way slowly to the house.