Remember Me

"Can you believe what I'm seeing?"

"I can't see what you're seeing."

"I can't believe it!"

"What, Lance?"

Pidge and Hunk were staring at their friend, who was standing stock still in the middle of the Terra store in the Space Mall. The look on his face was one of surprise and awe, even as his arm slowly lifted to point a finger towards the back of the counter.

Team Punk's eyes followed where Lance pointed, though neither of them were sure exactly which thing in the jumble of items on the back counter caught his attention. Lance glanced around, looking for the owner and schooled his expression into one of disinterest. Thankfully the owner was trying to pawn off what looked like a leaf blower to a tri-pedal alien who was trying to politely leave the store.

"Good," Lance said in a low tone to his friends. "He didn't see how much I want that."

"Ok, first of all, what is it you want? And second of all, do you have any money?" asked Pidge.

"Pidge! It's a guitar!"

Hunk and Pidge stepped up to the counter. "It looks pretty banged up," Hunk commented.

"It's beautiful! And it's a guitar. I HAVE to have it!"

"You didn't answer my second question, Lance," Pidge said patiently. "Do you have money?"

"No," Lance answered with a frown.

Pidge sighed, "It looks like we're going swimming again."

Lance's features lit up. "You'd help me?" he asked, looking at his two friends.

"Of course," Hunk said. "I liked listening to you play back at the Garrison."

"Hunk-a-licious, you are the best friend ever!"

"What about me?" Pidge grumped.

"You are too, Gremlin," Lance said, pulling Pidge in for a side-hug. "Let's find out how much."

The tri-pedal alien had escaped and the disappointed owner made his way over to the three humans. "Didn't you buy something from me before?" he asked them.

"We did," Lance answered, gesturing between himself and Pidge. "A video game."

"Well, I don't know what it was you bought, but you got the free Kaltenecker. I'm sorry, I don't have any more Kaltenecker's at the moment."

"That's ok," Pidge said. "We're actually interested in that," and she pointed at the guitar on the back counter.

"This thing?" the owner asked, stepping around the counter and taking the instrument up in his hands before turning around to display it for the Paladins.

"Yes," Lance replied a little casually. "I've seen something like this before and I'm intrigued. How much are you selling it for?"

"Oh, I priced it at 900 GAC, but if you have a better offer, I will listen," he said with a shrug.

"Do you like cookies?" Lance asked.

"Lance!" Hunk protested.

"I do not know what a cookie is?" the owner answered.

Lance poked at Hunk, who reluctantly pulled out a bag from his sack. Hunk had been a little nervous about returning to the food court, so he had packed a lunch for the three of them. His experiments in the Castle kitchen resulted in what was roughly the equivalent of cookies that had a slight lavender taste and color to them. They were delicious and a favorite of the Castle crew, so Hunk had packed a large sack of them in addition to the other foods he had prepared.

"They are delightful treats that my friend here makes. Want to try a piece?" Lance asked.

"Hmm, are they safe?"

"We eat them," Pidge assured him.

"We are not the same species," the proprietor pointed out.

"True, but the ingredients in these are benign and should not affect you."

Lance had taken the sack of cookies from Hunk, reached in and pulled out a round lavender disk. He broke it in two and gave half to the owner. "Salud!" he said, holding up his half before taking a bite.

The shop owner took a bite slowly, but once he did his eyes opened wide. He tried to hide the pleasure the taste gave him, but all three Paladins saw him nearly roll his eyes back in his head. "This…this is not bad," he tried to say.

Lance knew the owner was trying to look uninterested to fool the Paladins into thinking that the cookies weren't worth anything. "We can probably spare these cookies if the GAC is lowered enough."

The friends could see the owner thinking it over as he took another bite, again unable to hide the pleased shiver that went through his body at the taste. "How many of these cookies are in the bag?"

Lance peered into the bag. "It looks like Hunk here packed a few dozen. About forty." He looked at Hunk, "You honestly thought we'd eat forty cookies?"

"I was hungry when I packed lunch. Never pack lunch when you're hungry," Hunk said with an offended sniff.

"Forty cookies? Hmm," the owner said thoughtfully. "If you give me all of those cookies, I would lower the price to 200 GAC."

"That seems fair," Pidge answered, even though Hunk shot her a sad look. "Give us a bit and we'll bring back the money part."

"It's a deal," said the owner, even though he frowned when Lance handed the bag back to Hunk, who in turn stuffed it into his knapsack.

"We'll be back," Lance promised, then led the other two out of the shop.

"All my cookies?" Hunk lamented as they strode through the mall.

"Hunk you should be proud! Your cookies are worth 700 GAC on the market! You should open up a bakery or something!" Lance said, grabbing Hunk's arm.

"Uh, kinda busy with this Voltron thing," Hunk said, giving Lance the side-eye.

"We should be able to collect 200 GAC super quick! That's a lot less than the video game," Pidge crowed.

Lance slung his arms around Pidge and Hunk. "You guys are the best. I can't believe you're helping me get this guitar. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it," he said, his tone more serious than usual.

"Like I said, I liked listening to you at the Garrison," Hunk said. "I wouldn't mind hearing you again."

"I remember too," Pidge said. "It will be nice to have another little piece of home."

They returned a varga later with handfuls of wet coins from the fountain. The proprietor had stored the guitar under the counter on the off chance that someone might come in and be interested in it, though anyone interested in his stock was rare. Lance counted out the money on the countertop, Hunk retrieved the sack of cookies, and the owner eagerly grabbed their payment.

"That seems to be well in order," he said, pulling out the guitar and handing it across the counter to Lance, who handled it gently and expertly.

"I had one of these on Earth," he told the alien. He pulled the worn strap over his head, positioned the guitar, and plucked a bit at the strings, making a face at the sour notes. "Definitely needs to be tuned," he murmured, adjusting the pegs and plucking away until the notes sounded smoother. "Not perfect, but damn close."

Lance then closed his eyes and started playing. Neither Pidge nor Hunk recognized the song, though the fast and lively notes were definitely something Lance picked up from Cuba. He sang softly, in Spanish, and the three in his audience couldn't help but tap their fingers and feet in time to the music, as it was catchy.

When he was done, the owner said, "I didn't recognize any of those words."

"It's Spanish, a dialect from Earth," Lance answered.

"Whatever it was, the song was beautiful. I didn't know that object could produce such beautiful sounds. I knew it was used for music, but it always sounded bad when I touched those strings."

"It just needed to be tuned," Lance said, mimicking the action with the fingers of his left hand near the tuning knobs. "Thanks for the trade. This means a lot to me!"

"Come back any time. Hopefully I might be able to provide you with another Kaltenecker! And don't forget these cookie things!"

Lance played for the other Paladins and the Alteans, mice included, that evening in the Paladin Lounge. The trip to the Space Mall was a special treat for Lance, Hunk and Pidge. They needed a break and Pidge had suggested the Mall as a mindless getaway. Allura and Shiro had to confer with Lotor on the next stage of their plans, so the two had agreed on a short break for the three younger Paladins. Lance had been happy for a break from Shiro, as the Black Paladin was not acting like himself, and Lance had become nervous around his hero; half-afraid to state his opinion anymore, though he still did. Each time he expected Shiro to lash out at him.

The guitar would be a great distraction. He often played at home in Cuba, picking out songs for his sister and Mom to dance to. Everyone in his family played something, mostly guitar, although Luis preferred the trumpet and Veronica went more classical with the flute. The family home was always filled with music, classic and modern Cuban music, but also pop songs that Lance loved to teach himself on his guitar.

Playing this guitar was soothing to him. It was well-built and old with a sweet, honeyed sound. It reminded him of a guitar his Abuelo had – one of the first Lance had played. He smiled as his fingers danced on the instrument, remembering how he sat on Abuelo's lap as a little kid, the huge guitar in his own lap and Abuelo's hands over his, showing Lance how to hold the precious instrument and coax the music out of the strings.

"That is absolutely lovely, Lance," Allura said in her soft and light voice. She smiled at him, her eyes a little wet from unshed tears. "Something about that sound is just so emotional!"

"Truly, young Paladin. That was beautiful," Coran agreed, sniffing suspiciously as he twirled his mustache.

"Thanks guys. I'm so happy to have a guitar back in my hands!"

"We had something that made a similar sound," Allura mentioned. "It did not look at all like your guitar, however. I never did have any musical talent, though I remember my mother played the Erdin."

"What's an Erdin?" Pidge asked.

"It was a small instrument that one played with the mouth. You have listened to some of the Altean musical recordings?" she asked, and when they nodded, she continued, "It's the sound that sort of sounds like wind blowing. Like a whistle."

"Similar to a flute on Earth?" Lance mused. "Or sounds like a flute anyway. My sister, Veronica, plays the flute."

"I wish I could play something," Allura laughed. "I never had time to learn with all my other duties."

"Anytime you want to learn, the guitar is here Princess," Lance said, shooting her his best flirty smile. "I'd be more than happy to teach you."

She just rolled her eyes, laughing. Lance's flirting by now had become more of a shared joke between them. Allura knew he wasn't serious, just as he knew she didn't take him seriously. All of them already knew how he felt about a certain someone else, though Lance never spoke about it to any of them.

"On that note, no pun intended, I'm going to bed," Pidge said, standing up and stretching.

"No you're not," Hunk said. "You know you're going to your room to hack around on your computer for the next few hours."

Pidge gave Hunk her best glare as Shiro said, "Get some rest Pidge. All of you. Except Lance, of course."

Lance nodded. "I know, I know. Bridge duty," he said, shaking his head. They all took turns on the bridge on an 'overnight' shift, to keep an eye for anything that could be an emergency, to make sure the Castle stayed on course, and to be available should any incoming messages arrive. Tonight was Lance's turn.

The bridge was quiet as Lance stepped into the large room. Eerily quiet. He was glad he brought his guitar with him. Now that he had one in his hand, he was reluctant to set it down. His fingers itched to play. He figured that he could amuse himself, and stay awake throughout the night, by playing. While he never minded bridge duty – it was a way to be alone with his thoughts – it was often difficult for him to not fall asleep once he was in the quiet space.

He sat in his normal Paladin chair and called up the screens he would need to monitor the space around the Castleship as it calmly sped toward their next destination. Lance vaguely recalled Allura mentioning a planet called Itaxlia, where the Blade had informed them held a fairly important outpost for the Galra. There would be prisoners there, at least, that needed to be liberated. The description from Kolivan sounded like the concentration camps that had been part of Earth history and Lance shuddered at the thought. He hoped that Voltron could right that wrong.

After checking all the reports he needed to check and running diagnostics on the Castle itself, he settled back into his chair and positioned his guitar again. Before they left Earth, he had been practicing a song he had heard in a Disney movie that had come out a couple of months before they found Blue. It had been almost a year, but the song played in Lance's head quite a bit and he had nearly perfected it on the guitar back at the Garrison. He briefly wondered whatever happened to the guitar he left in his room.

Lance was pleased that his fingers seemed to remember the song and the notes danced in the silence of the room, making the sterile bridge seem warm and lively. It wasn't a long song, and the lyrics were simple, but they moved him so much. He remembered when he played it once for his Mom over the video chat and it made her cry.

"That is beautiful, Mijo!"

"You listened to the words, Mamá?" he asked. "I mean them."

"As if I would ever forget you, Mijo," she scolded him, to his delight. He loved to rile up his Mom.

As he played the song now, however, he wasn't exactly thinking of his mother or the rest of his family. He was, they were always in Lance's thoughts, but he was now thinking of the lyrics in regards to someone else. Someone he missed. Someone he hoped hadn't forgotten about him.

Lance played the song over and over, his voice becoming a little rough from the number of times he sang it. He was pleased though. He thought he captured the song well. At least it sounded like his copy of the song from the movie soundtrack. How he wished he had thought to load THAT song on his phone before they took off. Not like he PLANNED on leaving Earth or anything.

He stood up, placed the guitar on his seat, and stretched his arms over his head. "Water," he said aloud. "I need water." Lance usually talked aloud to himself when alone on the bridge, if for no other reason than to hear something other than the soft whirring and pinging from all of the equipment. "I'm sure I can dash to the kitchen real quick," he reasoned with himself. "I'll run."

Lance made it to the kitchen, grabbed a couple packets of water, and ran back within five doboshes. He groaned when he ran into the bridge, however, as the comms was blinking with an incoming call. "Shit shit shit," he chanted as he rushed over to Coran's console and slammed his hand on the screen.

"Took you long enough."

Lance's insides did a few weird little flips as he immediately recognized the voice, lightly teasing in tone. He straightened and sent a glare at the screen, trying not to let it show on his expression how happy he was to see the caller. He didn't answer right away as he was still catching his breath from his dash to the kitchen.

"Why are you out of breath?"

Lance swallowed, stepping back to get a better view of the screen. He tried to smoothly cross his arms, forgetting that he still held the packets of water in his hand, which caught on his sleeve and almost made him drop them. 'FUCK!' he screamed in his mind as he saw the amused grin in front of him.

"Smooth move, Sharpshooter."

"Shut your quiznack," Lance grumbled.

"Someone's in a great mood today."

"I was until a few ticks ago," Lance retorted.

Keith, however, just laughed. "It's been awhile, Lance. How are you?"

"You remembered my name. Nice," Lance said a little sourly, then regretted it when it brought out a small frown from Keith. The former Paladin looked away for a few moments and Lance regretted saying that. Keith hadn't been back to the Castleship since he left to join the Blade half a deca-phoeb ago, and Lance had no contact with Keith while he was gone. Keith was generally there when they talked to Kolivan, of course, but it wasn't like Lance and Keith could have a conversation in the middle of planning strategy with the team.

Lance was still bitter about Keith leaving, though he thought he understood Keith's reasons. It was just that Lance had thought their relationship was developing into a good friendship, overtaking the stupid rivalry Lance had created in his own mind. Lance also thought it could have developed into more, or at least he hoped it would. There were just too many times when their gazes locked on each other, too many times their shoulders brushed together, too many times their faces turned red for it to be merely a coincidence. Then Keith was gone and Lance felt abandoned in a way. And while Keith said he left to train with the Blade and possibly look for answers about his parents, Lance had a feeling that it had something more to do with him than anything. His suspicion was that Keith could probably tell that Lance had a crush on him and he ran away rather than have to reject Lance in person.

These thoughts ran through Lance's mind in the few moments that Keith was looking to the side. He heard Keith sigh as he reached up and tugged his fingers through his dark hair. "As if I could forget, Lance," he said softly.

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to be a grump," Lance apologized. "What's up? Why the call in the middle of the night?"

Keith's eyes returned to Lance. "I have some plans I need to upload to the Castle. They're of the installation on Itaxlia. I'm sure Pidge can get them to your wrist comms. Allura wanted them."

"Ah right. Send away, Mr. Blade," he said, stepping up to the console to prepare to receive the transmission. "Ready when you are."

Lance watched as Keith looked down, presumably at his own console. Within a few ticks, Lance got a notice on the screen that was in Altean, but with a symbol he knew meant that a transmission was being received. "Looks like it's coming through," he said. "Pidge should know how to access this. God knows I can't."

That got a small chuckle out of Keith. "The file's pretty large," he said. "It may take a few doboshes."

"That's ok. I've got all night." Lance looked back up at the screen. "So, what's new in Keith's world?"

"Not much," Keith replied, his eyes still down and focused on his screens. "I found my mother," he added off-handedly.

Lance's mouth dropped open. "What!?"

Keith looked up, grinning. "I found my mother. She's a Blade member."

It took a few moments of Lance sputtering before he was able to form a complete sentence. "Like, what? How did you find her? Did Kolivan know? Why didn't he tell you? What's she like? How can you just nonchalantly throw that out and not tell me what happened!?"

"I can't tell you what happened if you're asking a million questions," Keith pointed out.

Lance held up his hands, "Ok ok ok, I'll shut up."

"Did you get the transmission? It says complete on my end."

Lance glanced at the screen in irritation. "Yes, but who cares about that? You have more important things to tell me!"

Keith pressed a few more things on his screen before crossing his arms. Lance couldn't read his expression. Keith was apparently in his I-have-no-emotions zone. "It's a long story," Keith began.

"I told you, I've got all night."

Lance listened intently as Keith told him about the mission to meet up with the Blade member Krolia, who informed him she was his mother. Keith told the story in a fairly emotionless voice, though Lance did detect SOMETHING in it when Keith figured out that Krolia was, in fact, his mother.

"What did you do?" Lance asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

"I didn't know what to do or to think. We've talked about it a few times - why she left and never came back, that sort of thing," Keith answered, then shrugged. "It's...weird. I want to get to know her and I want to understand everything, but this isn't easy. I wanted so much to find answers and now I have them, I guess I just don't know what to do with them."

"Is it, like, awkward being with her?"

"Very. She's being very patient and I'm trying. But you know me, I'm not one to be all touchy feely and emotional. I have trouble talking to her without getting angry." He sighed, running his hand through his hair again. "I don't want to be angry, but..."

Lance nodded, "I can understand that." He thought for a few moments. Lance had a pretty good handle on Keith and his issues. Keith had told him enough about his background so that Lance knew the abandonment of first his mother, then his father, had taken its' toll on a young kid who had no idea why he was suddenly alone in the world. "You know, you have every right to be angry, Keith," he said seriously. "I know I would be pissed. Her leaving...well, it helped to shape your whole life, especially since you had no answers until now."

"I can be angry?" Keith asked in a small voice, frowning as he looked down again.

"Of course you can. But," he said, and Keith looked back up at him, "you should still try and forgive her. At least listen to her. I mean, you may or may not be able to build a great mother and son relationship, but at least you can get peace of mind. Forgiving her will only help you. Now that you have answers you can at least move on in a way. Closure and all that. Ugh, I'm not explaining this right."

"No, you're right."

"Were her excuses at least good?"

Keith actually smiled again at that. "Yeah. I understand why she did what she did. I probably would have done the same. She said it killed her to leave me and Dad, but she had to and she's apologized over and over. It's just..." he trailed off with a shrug.

They didn't say anything for a few minutes. Keith just gazed at Lance with that little smile and Lance fidgeted nervously. Finally, thinking he had to say SOMETHING, he blurted, "So what's she like?"

"She's nice, really tough, a good fighter. She's high up in the Blade. Smart, quick thinking, amazing skills," Keith listed off.

"She sounds like you."

Keith then laughed. "I look a lot like her, too. It's kind of eerie. I mean, she's Galra, of course, so she's got the coloring, the yellow eyes, the fur and all that. But my face is just like her. I didn't get her height."

Lance laughed too. "And here I thought a tiny little Galra kitty was running around trying to carry you in her mouth by the scruff of your neck."

Keith shook his head, though his expression was amused. "No."

"What's her name again?"

"Krolia."

"Pretty name. Fitting, I guess, for a pretty lady."

Keith raised an eyebrow, "How do you know she's pretty?"

"You said you looked like her."

Lance said that boldly, a little surprised at himself for that move. He was pleased at the blush that he could see creeping up Keith's cheeks. To cover for himself, he backed up to his chair. "I need to sit, if you don't mind?"

Keith shook his head. "Not at all, though I probably shouldn't talk much longer."

"Aw come on Keith, we haven't talked in ages," Lance whined, turning to pick his guitar up off the chair so that he could sit down.

"What's that?" Keith asked. "Is that a guitar?"

Lance was bent over the arm of the chair in order to lean the guitar against it and he looked over his shoulder at Keith. "Yeah, I bought it today."

"Where on Earth did you buy it?"

Lance laughed, settling back in his chair, pulling the guitar onto his lap. "Not on Earth," he said. "I got it at that Terra store at the Space Mall. Pidge, Hunk and I went shopping today."

"The Space Mall?" Keith laughed. "They let you guys back in?"

"We were careful," Lance objected. "And we didn't dress like space pirates, so that helped."

"I remember you playing at the Garrison."

Lance tilted his head, eyes narrowing. "You said you didn't remember me. The most you gave me was you remembered I was a cargo pilot."

Keith, who had crossed his arms again, lifted his shoulders in a shrug. "Maybe I did remember you."

Lance huffed, pretending to be angry. "Nice."

The side of Keith's mouth quirked up in a grin. "You used to play in the common room sometimes. It was nice to listen to."

Lance just hummed to himself, his right hand resting in his lap and his left hand resting on the strings.

"Thank you for listening to me," Keith said a little awkwardly.

"Thank you for talking to me. I'm always here for you, if you need an ear," Lance said, looking down at his guitar.

"I miss you."

Lance hardly believed he heard that. Keith said it softly enough, so he wasn't sure. He looked up and Keith wasn't looking at him. His eyes were also down. "I miss you, too, buddy." He thought for a moment, then said, "Hey, want to hear me play something?"

Keith smiled as he looked up and nodded. "Sure!"

Lance chewed on his lower lip for a few ticks. Was he brave enough to do this? The song he'd been practicing all night seemed to fit perfectly for this moment and he wanted to convey to Keith what he felt right now. "Ok. This is for you. Prepare to be wowed."

He decided on the more melancholy version, sung at the end of the movie. The song had played throughout the movie, sometimes in an upbeat way, once as a lullaby, but the last time it was sad, and Lance thought that version was fitting. He brought out the sad melody from the strings, closed his eyes because he just could not watch Keith watching him, and opened his mouth to sing.

Remember me,
Though I have to say goodbye
Remember me,
Don't let it make you cry
For even if I'm far away
I hold you in my heart
I sing a secret song to you
Each night we are apart

Remember me
Though I have to travel far
Remember me
Each time you hear a sad guitar
Know that I'm with you
The only way that I can be
Until you're in my arms again
Remember me

Lance let the notes trail off as his fingers stilled on the strings, though he didn't open his eyes right away. He felt like crying and he felt a little foolish for doing this. What must Keith think? The song was a little too suggestive of his feelings. The silence on the bridge was loud and Lance swallowed. His eyes fluttered open and he glanced quickly up, only to see Keith staring wide-eyed at him with his hand over his mouth. 'Fuck,' Lance thought, focusing his own eyes on the floor in front of him.

Keith was the one to break the silence, but only by saying his name. "Lance."

Lance tried to force a laugh. "So, did I wow you?"

"Uh, you could say that."

Lance reached up to rub at the back of his neck, a nervous habit he could never break. "Well, I am kind of amazing, yeah?"

"Lance, I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything. I probably shouldn't have sung that song. I was just practicing it most of the night and it was fresh on my mind and I really like it and I think I almost got it perfect and it reminds me of you..."

"Lance..."

"It's just I miss you. I haven't seen you in, like, a million years it seems and I thought we were becoming friends and then you just left and I miss you. I miss your stupid hair and I miss your scowl and I miss watching you train and picking on you and laughing with you and I miss your face."

"Lance..."

"And I know you left because I think you figured out that I like you. Like you as in like you. Like as more than a friend and I think that freaked you out and you just had to get away from me and I know that you also wanted to find your family and all that, but I just know that I chased you away."

"Lance!"

"And I haven't seen you in so long. I said that already. But I miss you and I said that already too. And sometimes I think you forgot about me. I mean, I know that you don't like me back in that way, but I thought we were at least friends, but I'm sure you don't want to be anymore and that's why you never come back because I'd be too weird and it would be too weird and oh Dios Mio I'm rambling and I can't stop."

"Would you shut up, you idiot!" Keith finally yelled.

Lance, who had just blurted out this verbal firestorm, snapped his mouth shut. His cheeks burned, because he couldn't believe he had just said everything he had said. He had confessed to Keith. Sung that stupid song and then just let everything out. Everything pent up burst out of him before he could stop it. Keith was right to call him an idiot. He tried to remember the location of the nearest airlock, because he was sure that he wanted nothing more at this moment than to shoot himself out into the vacuum of space and die.

Then he heard Keith laughing, which was the last reaction he wanted to hear. Lance hadn't looked at Keith the entire time he was spouting all the nonsense he spouted, and his eyes jumped up to Keith and gave him his best glare. Keith was almost bent over, his arms now crossed over his stomach as he laughed. Keith hardly ever let himself go like that and Lance was mortified that his feelings were being treated this way.

"You are such an idiot!"

"Stop calling me that!" Lance cried.

"I will because you are!" Keith gasped, trying to control his laughter. He straightened, wiping at the tears that had come.

"Well, I'm glad I entertained you. I have to go," Lance growled, reaching a hand to the screens in front of him to sever the communication.

"Wait wait! No!" Keith shouted, holding his hand out, palm facing Lance in a stop gesture. "Don't'!"

Lance paused, hand still raised in front of him. "Why shouldn't I? You said yourself you couldn't talk long."

"I know, I know. But I need to talk to you about this," Keith said, his tone turning a little more serious, though his violet eyes danced with amusement.

Lance leaned back in his chair, pouting and with his crossed arms resting on the guitar. "I think I've said enough."

"You did, you did," Keith affirmed. "But there's a couple of things I need to correct in all that mess you just said."

Lance just waved a hand in a go ahead sort of motion.

"First of all, I didn't leave Voltron because I thought you had a crush on me."

"You didn't?"

"No! I had no idea until a few minutes ago that you like me like that."

"Fuck," Lance said, moving his hand out of the crossed arm position in order to cover his eyes.

"Second of all, you didn't chase me away. I left for a number of reasons, and yes, one of them had to do with you, but not the way you think. You were right when you came to me and pointed out there were more Paladins than Lions. I saw how awesome you were in Red and I wanted you to stay with him. I knew Shiro would be better as the leader with Black. There was nowhere for ME. I left so you could stay in Red because I thought it was a better fit. You belong in Voltron. The team couldn't function without you, even though I know you doubt that. But it's true. You are the heart of Voltron and needed to stay with Red. So I left for YOU."

Lance was stunned. He had no idea. Keith did that for him? Lance knew how much Keith loved Red and that the two had formed a tight bond. Then again, Lance had formed a strong bond with Red himself.

"Third, how on Earth can you think I'd ever forget you? You're the most impossible person to forget! And you think that I don't miss you too? I miss all your teasing and your stupid flirting and your laugh and the way your eyes light up when you're excited about something and your kindness and the way you're always there for everyone. You think I never noticed how you take care of everyone on the team? How you always make everyone feel better?"

Lance blinked a few times behind his hand, which still covered his eyes. Keith noticed this much about him?

"And, lastly, though there's probably a bunch of other things I could contradict in all that crazy talk you just gave me, you think I don't like you as much as you like me? In the way that you like me? Well guess what, you're wrong again!"

Lance dropped his hand, finally looking at Keith. He was half glaring, half laughing at Lance as the Red Paladin processed this in his mind. Did Keith really say that?

"You...you like me too?"

"Of course, you idiot! I never said anything because I thought you didn't like me. You were always insulting me and flirting with every alien female that walked by!"

"I never meant the flirting thing!" Lance cried. "That's just me!"

"Well you still insulted me!"

"Well I didn't want you to know I liked you!"

"That's the stupidest logic I've ever heard."

"Well, you said I'm an idiot. I guess that just proves it."

Lance looked away in a huff, still embarrassed. Keith just watched him with an amused grin. "Don't be mad. We like each other and we both know. That's a good thing."

"Well, yeah, of course it is," Lance said in a grumpy tone. After a moment, however, he looked at Keith, his expression softening. "So now what? You're probably a million light years away."

"Actually, if you had waited to hear the other part of my message, I was going to ask you to tell Allura that Kolivan, Krolia and I are coming to the Castle."

Lance sat bolt upright in his chair, then lunged to catch the guitar that almost tumbled from his lap. "What?"

"Yeah. Kolivan wants the Princess to look at the schematics I just sent and to start formulating a plan. We're going with you to Itaxlia. Krolia has been there before, so Kolivan thought it was a good idea if we work with you to infiltrate the base."

"You're coming home?"

"I'm coming home," Keith affirmed. His eyes now held an emotion that Lance had only ever dreamed about and he felt his heart beat painfully against his ribs. "And..." he added, slowly, "Krolia actually suggested I stay."

"Stay?" Lance asked blankly.

"I, um, told her about you. She's anxious to meet you."

"You did?"

"Mhm. I told her I didn't think you liked me that way, but she insisted on meeting you to assess my choice of a mate. Her words." Keith blushed as he said that and it made Lance melt just a little more.

"I can't wait to meet her," Lance said softly. "I...I hope you do stay."

"Krolia might stay too. We can do missions for the Blade from the Castle just as well as we can from the Marmora base. Besides," Keith said, smiling at Lance. "I have even more reason to be on the Castleship now."

Lance grinned up at the screen. "Yes, you do."

"So, mi amor," Keith said, surprising Lance with his use of the Spanish endearment, "we haven't hugged all that much, but, as the song said, until you hold me in your arms again? That will be soon, I promise."

"I'll do more than hug you, mi amor" Lance said, winking and giving Keith his signature finger guns. "That's my promise to you."

"I would expect nothing less. Goodnight Lance. I'm glad you were here to take my call," Keith said, looking longingly at Lance. "I planned on telling you how I felt when I got back, and I guess it would have been better in person, but I'm glad you know."

"I'm glad too," Lance agreed. "This way we can skip to the good stuff when you get here."

"I look forward to that, Sharpshooter. See you in a few quintants."

"G'night, amor,"

They looked at each other, smiling, for a few moments before Keith cut the connection. Lance sat, staring at the space where the hologram had appeared, a smile fixed upon his face. He didn't think that smile would ever go away. Keith liked him and he said aloud, "I think I have a boyfriend!"

He became aware of his hands, which were resting on the guitar. Then, laughing in pure happiness at this momentous night, he jumped up from the chair and danced around the bridge, playing the same song only now in an upbeat and bright key, singing at the top of his lungs in a joyous way, "Remember Me!"

Notes:

I was listening to the Coco soundtrack at work and Remember Me is on it, I think about 359 times or something like that. That may be a slight exaggeration, but it seems like it! I do love the song and I thought it fit Lance and Keith's situation with Keith gone with the Blade. Comments, kudos (if you liked it), and constructive criticism are ALWAYS welcome!