Keith was terrified of water.
As a paladin of Voltron who represented the fire element, Keith never had a particularly good connection with the ocean and water. Just the sound of waves could bring Keith into a terrified, shocked state. After years of having this fear, it had grown into severe hydrophobia, which he kept a secret from his team members (perhaps he didn't want to appear as weak to them).
This was really a problem because the planets they usually resided on mostly consisted of forests and water, making it hard for him to avoid the substance completely.
Though, today was different. They needed to go on mission under water, on a planet basically containing only water. Lance had dubbed it "one of the easiest missions they'd had so far". Keith, however, was not excited at all.
It was a nice and peaceful summer day, Keith and his dad had gone to a small beach to test the water, swim and have fun. Keith was only 7 years old at the time, happy to go on an adventure with his father. Since they practically lived in a desert, there was no real way to feel the water besides diving into the nearest ocean, which was kilometers away. But Keith and his dad were practically willing to do anything to escape the overwhelming summer heat.
The sun was at its brightest, as little Keith had a smile glued to his face. His dad had picked a small beach, where there was almost nobody in sight. The whole day was going to be wonderful. Keith had tried to swim for the first time, played football and built sandcastles. He couldn't imagine a better way to spend a Friday afternoon.
Later that night, an orange sunset had come to sight. Keith was sitting next to his father on the white, soft sand, admiring the beautiful view. Keith was still in his red swimming shorts, with his dad's gray t-shirt (which was waaaay too big for him, but hey – it was comfy!). They had taken their shoes off so that they could feel the last bit of sunlight reflecting on their feet.
It had started getting windy and Keith started to get a little uncomfortable. Keith's dad had stood up, reaching out a hand.
"Come on Keith, let's go home."
The waves had suddenly started getting bigger, not suitable for a little kid like Keith.
"Dad! I want to stay!" Keith pouted.
"Keithhh", his dad replied, in a strict, albeit kind way.
Keith gave up with a sigh, ran towards his dad, then grabbed his big hand as they walked away. They had almost reached their gray car as Keith stopped and turned around.
"I forgot my football", he exclaimed as he sprinted back towards the beach.
The sky had turned into an orange and dark blue color. The wind had an incredible strength, blowing in all directions. A loud blowing noise rang in Keith's ears as he ran faster and faster towards the football, laying amidst the sand. Waves had started coming in big portions, forming big, horrendous beasts of water. The small wave that started a couple of minutes ago, had turned into a huge, watery trap.
The football had floated off into the water, as it was very light. Keith needed to get almost his entire legs in the water before reaching the ball. The water was cold, and the ground was hard with sharp rocks sticking out of it. Little Keith was desperate to get his favorite football back, so he did what he had to; he started taking small steps, one at the time, into the ice-cold water. He had taken off his red socks before doing this, afraid to get them wet.
Every single step, was another ice cold feeling. The water kept surging towards him, slowly going up his legs. He took short breaths, trying not to think about it. Sometimes he would run a little just to make the situation a tiny bit shorter and more bearable, but he regretted it soon after. The weird feeling of cold was dripping down his sides making him want to scream, but of course he didn't. He was supposed to be strong.
The waves got bigger and bigger as he tried to get towards the floating football. Finally, at the end, he got the ball and did a little victory dance to celebrate it. Now, the only thing he had to do was to get back to the shore, put on his socks, and leave with his dad. He turned around as he started getting out of the water. Suddenly, he heard an ear-penetrating, scary sound hurling towards him. It sounded like thousands of thunderstorms combined. A huge wave had started coming towards him.
He turned around and looked at what was behind him. A dark night sky with an enormous wave was there. Keith's eyes widened, as he turned around and attempted to run out of the water. The thick layer of clothes he was wearing, combined with the heaviness of water was slowing him down a lot. He was utterly terrified.
"DAD!" He called out desperately, before everything went black for a moment.
His entire body was under water. The water was twirling him around at all places, pulling him deeper and deeper into the water. His eyes were open, but he closed them fast trying hard not to get sand in them. Having very poor swimming experience, he had no idea how to get out of this. He was silently panicking, and was scared he might die. His arms and legs were moving constantly as he tried with all his might to get out of the water.
The waves had pushed him far into the ocean to a point where he could no longer feel the ground. He reached his arm out as far as he could up in the air. Half of his hand came out of the water feeling the cold air. His head almost reached the surface as his vision started to blur. He managed to get his head out of the water just in time before losing too much oxygen. He started coughing, with almost half of his mouth filled with water. He spat most of it out as he tried calling for help. The taste of salt water was permanently in his mouth as he drank more and more water. His body went under water again as his legs got incredible tired. He couldn't handle this.
His vision went black again, as his lungs got filled with water. His body got tossed to the side as the waves never stopped growing. The lose clothes on him felt like air as he was floating in the water. The last thing he saw before closing his eyes was the water surface got further and further away from him. His arms were limb, unable to move. The slight shine of the moon could be seen, as he still had his eyes half open. He felt tired. He closed his eyes. He had no more air before everything went black.
The memory of his first, and last time, near the ocean entered Keith's mind. It was a terrifying experience which he had been haunted by for a long time. He never once had stepped foot into a beach again, and therefore always seemed to be in his little house in the dessert; rarely stepping outside it. There really were few things that would bring Keith down, he was truly a strong person. But, the water was something he really didn't like.
As he grew older, he never really told anyone about his fear. Neither about the fact that he couldn't swim. All the members of Voltron thought about Keith as a guy who didn't get scared of anything and that he could save himself from any situation.
They were so, so wrong.
When he almost drowned it was his dad, not himself, who saved him. He must have heard him screaming for help and saw his son drowning. Keith had been seen as weak and scared, which was too much for him. He thought about this as a weakness. Something nobody should ever know about.
Sometimes, when Keith had nightmares, he would dream about this incident. He would end up crying or shaking as he thought about it. He hated the sounds he heard, the feeling he felt, everything. It also didn't help that he blamed his father's death on himself.
A few years after the incident, his dad had died from lung cancer. Everything Keith could think about was that he died because of himself. He, Keith Kogane, had killed his own father. Of course, it was never actually his fault but you couldn't blame a kid on thinking like this. Keith didn't know what else to do. It is already awful losing someone you love, but to blame it on yourself is worse.
Now, Keith had to face his fear.
It was early in the morning and everyone was getting ready to go on the mission. There was a plant growing on the bottom of the ocean, which, according to Shiro and Allura, was easy to find because its right, neon green color. The black paladin decided to take Pidge, Lance and Keith to go with him so that if anything happened, they would be able to help each other out.
Yay. Fun.
Allura had just gathered all of the Paladins for a quick meeting to explain what we were supposed to do. Hunk, Coran and Allura were going to stay at the castle just in case if something happened. Hunk really wanted to go, his explanation was that he thought it would be boring to just stay in the castle all day, but changed his mind as soon as Coran invited him on a bake-off. Keith secretly wanted Hunk to take his place, but got let down after the decision. Stupid Coran.
They were all sitting in chairs around the big dining table. Keith's legs were trembling out of nervousness the entire time as Allura spoke. God, he did not look forward to doing this. Lance must have notice his unfamiliar behavior and tendency to bite his lip and fidget. He looked Keith quickly up and down as he continued listening to what Allura said and trying not to think about being underwater. Keith couldn't think about anything else but this trip. Luckily, they hadn't decided who was going to go under water and who was going to watch out for the others yet. At least it wasn't completely final.
'Please, please, please, let Shiro and Lance go in the water, PLEASE!' Keith silently begged for himself, only muttering it underneath his breath.
"...and that's about everything you need to know. Are you ready, Paladins?" Allura asked eagerly.
"YEAH!" everyone shouted, except for Keith who mumbled "Sure".
Keith and the others started walking towards the lions. They zip-lined onto their lions as Shiro pep-talked through the microphone in his helmet. "Guys, are you ready to do this?"
"Yeah!" Lance replied cheerfully from his lion, accompanied by Pidge in hers.
"Y-yeah", Keith said a little quieter. They turned off the microphones so that everybody could drive to the planet. It didn't take long, and the paladins arrived in almost no time.
Keith looked towards his red lion friend. She was currently laying on his stomach with her head down low. Keith rested his head towards the lion's metal paws and sighed heavily.
"How is this going to end, Red?" He said insecurely.
The red lion purred in response.
They were now on the blue planet. It contained very little land, as 90% of the planet was water. Shiro's plan was to dive underwater with their lions, take the plant and go back home, and the others agreed on it right away. Seemed simple enough, right? Not for Keith. He was cold-sweating just by thinking about it.
"It's okay Keith, water isn't that bad", he told himself, trying to lighten the mood and comfort himself like his psychologist had told him to do.
'Yeah. It would just kill you, that's all', His consciousness answered. It easily won.
A sudden "beep" rang through Keith's helmet, and Shiro's voice appeared. "Guys, we are almost there. Is everybody ready to do this?" He asked.
'No. Tell him no, Keith. Tell him that you can't swim and that you're scared. He won't judge you', the rational part of his mind screamed.
"I'm ready." Keith said.
Keith shook his head. Why did he say that?
'Good job Keith, now basically you will drown and die'.
"I'm more ready then Keith! Hear that, Keith?" Lance exclaimed, making Blue dive into the water below them. He didn't seem to notice how quiet Keith was. He didn't even take on the challenge as he usually did, being both hot-headed and competitive.
"Let's do this", Pidge said, stirring her lion downwards as well.
"Okay, good, everyone is ready. Don't stay too far from each other; god knows what creatures could live down there" Shiro informed.
Keith took a deep breath. He really didn't like the idea of going under water. Shiro's last comment – whether it was meant as a joke or not – honestly just scared him more.
He just wanted to turn Red around and go back home, but couldn't. He needed to help his team get this stupid plant.
He looked at the controllers on his lion. Everything was set and he was ready to go, he only had to tell Red to dive, and that was it. He could see Pidge already heading for the water as she barreled down with full speed. Using all his willpower, Keith finally spoke.
"Red.. go down into.. the water", He said unwillingly.
Red went into full action. She buckled Keith up so that he was strapped to the seat with some sort of seatbelt. Red turned around in the air so her head was pointing to the ground. In a split second, she turned on the power beneath his feet. Red was blasting through the air with a terrified Keith on the inside.
'Oh god', Keith thought seconds before they broke through the deep blue surface. He could see water surrounding him as Red swam deeper and deeper into the ocean.
The light gradually dimmed as they traveled downwards. Keith tightened his grip, trembling. He felt a disgusting feeling grow inside his stomach. He bit his lower lip, trying not to think about where he was. The taste of spit in his mouth got a sour taste and he felt light-headed as he tried not to freak out.
Red turned on her front lights so that they could see where they headed. A small blue light shone to the left. Keith turned around only to see Lance and his lion, Blue. Lance's face looked calm, the exact opposite of Keith's.
He really wished he didn't have this strong fear so he could make this experience a lot less frightening.
Lance turned his head so that he could see both sides from him. There. They made eye contact. For Lance, it felt as if he never made eye contact to Keith, he was always hiding. The eye contact felt like forever, until Lance shook his head and broke it. Amusement and embarrassment remaining in his eyes, Lance dove further into the dark blue mass.
There were big rocks at the bottom as well as strange purple plants. The ocean sounds beating in his ears would be relaxing to anyone else who was in this situation, everyone but Keith. Keith's head hurt from the overwhelming sound of water.
Shiro's black lion had almost made it to the bottom until a beep came from all their helmets. Keith heard it as well, turning on his speaker. It was Allura, talking through the intercom from the ship.
"Paladins! There seems to be a huge storm up ahead", Allura warned, immense worry in her voice. "Be careful and stick together!"
Another beep was heard; the call was over.
'A storm? But we're underwater, how could there be a storm here?' Keith thought to himself. When none of the other asked or seemed bothered by the question, Keith brushed it off.
He carried on deeper and deeper until a strong force suddenly knocked him backwards. It came out of nowhere and Keith was not ready. The lion was roughly slammed to the right, a wave of water washing over it fiercely. Keith looked to his right, trying to figure out what was going on. Doing this, he saw a big rock slowly floating towards them. His eyes widened as he tried to readjust red and stir her away from the danger-zone. Red had just escaped the big rock crashing into them by a second.
"Are you blind, Mullet?! That big rock could have smashed you to bits if you hadn't moved at the last second! What were you thinking?" Lance yelled through the intercom.
"I don't know… I wasn't concentrating", Keith excused himself in a nervous tone, averting his eyes although he wasn't sure if Lance could even see him.
"Well, you better concentrate now, Keith. Another storm is coming towards us and we can't have anybody sleeping", Shiro said, emphasizing at the last word. He may have been Keith's brotherly figure, but that didn't mean that he couldn't be strict with him. Nevertheless, Keith felt uncomfortable when he heard the cold tone in Shiro's voice.
"What are those storms, exactly?" Keith asked, recomposing himself.
"They are huge waves who bring big rocks, the size of cars and sometimes buildings, into a storm. They get dragged and thrown around, and the friction makes all of it swirl with a massive force. Kinda like a tornado", Lance said in an excited but calm tone. He didn't seem scared at all, as usual. How typical of Lance.
How was he able to sound so confident, when they could die at any moment?
"Lance is right", Pidge acknowledged. "If we're not cautious, we've only got a 12% chance of surviving."
"Well, of course I was right!" Lance replied confidently. "After all, water is my specialty."
Keith swallowed. He couldn't concentrate under these surroundings, it was too hard. He looked down at Red's control panel as he let the lion guide him. The water was just a reminder of the past, he couldn't handle it. The back of his head was hurting. He wanted to leave. A disgusting clump stared forming in his throat, and he felt like he couldn't breathe.
"Team, there are rocks ahead of us! Stay alert!" Shiro shouted suddenly, startling Keith.
Keith looked up from his seat to see big rocks floating towards them with massive speed. Water was drumming in his ears as the noises got louder. Pidge and Lance were dodging around the rocks as if it was a simple game. They had no problem at all with the rocks that came towards them. However, Keith was having a difficult time. His head was dizzy, making it incredibly difficult to focus on the task. He swore he could throw up at any moment. He avoided a couple of rocks at the last second before getting absolutely destroyed.
Keith was breathing hard and rapidly, making him feel awful. His mind was hurting, he couldn't control Red for much longer. He laid back in his chair, trying to calm himself. It was difficult as the world was practically spinning. He looked up again to horror.
"LANCE!" Keith yelled as he stomped on the brakes, trying frantically to get control over Red.
"Yeah?" Lance answered bluntly.
BOOM!
A huge rock had hit Red. It created a huge sound that Pidge, Shiro and Lance could hear. Bits and pieces of the lion fell apart, and and lots of them were glass. The rock had smashed Keith's front window, which was now cracked. It was only a matter of seconds before water would start rushing into Red.
"KEITH!" Lance shouted, terrified and panicking. His voice was growing distant, muffled. "Are you there?! Keith, please answer me!"
"Can you hear me?" Pidge yelled.
"Keith!" Shiro called in a nervous tone.
They all waited for a reply, holding their breaths.
"Y-yeah…" Keith stuttered after a while. He got knocked off his chair as he got hit by the rock. The floor was hard making it an unpleasant feeling, and his arm hurt like hell. Glass was everywhere, leaving small cuts and bruises all over him. Red was still functioning, just a little slow. Keith lifted his head and looked up to the worst thing.
The front glass was broken leaving a gaping hole in the front. Water was now entering Red.
"Oh my god!" Keith cursed as he got on his feet as fast as he could. He let out a sob as the water hurdled towards him.
"Keith, you have to swim out of there! Quick!" Pidge shouted loud.
"GUYS, H-HELP ME P-PLEASE, I'M GOING TO DIE!" Keith cried out as he watched the water enter. The water was already up to his knees as he took of his paladin armor. The armor was heavy, which would slow him down a lot if he was going to swim to the surface. His heart was racing, beating faster than ever before. He breathed hard, almost choking on his own words. Coughing and choking, Keith started holding his neck with his hands, afraid to lose his own breath.
"Keith!" Shiro explained loudly. "Calm down and get out of there!"
"GUYS, I CAN'T FUCKING SWIM OKAY, PLEASE HELP ME!" Keith shouted fast as the water was almost to his shoulders. His mind was screaming for help, and his eyes were constantly flickering from left to right.
His head was almost out of the water as his vision started to blur. He put his head out of the water just in time before losing to much oxygen. He started coughing, with almost half of his mouth filled with water. "AhGGG" He managed to spit out as he tried screaming for help.
A shaky breath was heard from Keith. The water had made it up to his neck, almost making his full body go under water. Keith couldn't do this. The awful feeling of water had spread to his entire body. " Lance.." his shaky, scared voice said.
That was the last thing the paladins heard from Keith before water sounds took over.
"KEITH!" Lance cried. Lance was sobbing, his voice was weak, trembling and scared. "NO!"
"KEITH, HANG IN THERE! LANCE, GO SAVE KEITH FAST, I'M TOO FAR DOWN IN THE WATER TO GET TO HIM IN TIME. PIDGE, GO HELP LANCE." Shiro demanded.
Lance had already started swimming towards Keith before Shiro was done talking. He couldn't just sit back and watch Keith drown, he cared for him way too much. He dodged all the small pieces of glass and rocks while he swam towards the lion. His chin was covered in tear stains from earlier.
"Please Keith, don't just die now." Lance whispered.
Keith could feel his lungs fill up with water. He was weak, telling himself that he deserved this destiny. His arms where floating beside him, looking lifeless. His face was turning pale, he had little oxygen; he was slowly suffocating. His mouth was slightly open while his body fell to the floor. The sharp glass on the floor was digging into his back, slowly but painfully. They left tiny, white scars on his body. Keith had lost hope.
Lance had finally made it into the lion. He got shocked as he saw what was in front of him. Keith was lying down on the hard floor. Lance swam fast towards him, determined to save him. He slid his arms under Keith's legs and back, carrying him in a bridal-style. He jumped out of the lion and into Blue, looking down at Keith.
Weak and lifeless.
The opposite of what he usually was. Lance's heart was hurting, like somebody had shot a bullet right through it. It ached horribly, and it was
"Please don't leave me, Keith" Lance said in a petrified voice. He had managed to drive Blue up to the surface, and parked on a small, nearby island.
"KEITH WAKE UP, YOU DUMB ASS MULLET! DONT LEAVE ME ALONE!" Lance screamed. He was on his knees, besides Keith's empty body. Lance had started crying again, as he looked at his poor soulmate. His voice was quiet as he didn't have words. He was sitting on a patch of land, with Keith's head in his lap. His hair was ruffled all around the place from having grabbed his hair in anger.
"CAN'T Y-YOU UNDERSTAND THAT I FUCKING LOVE YOU!?"
Lance grabbed Keith's torso, shaking him. He was now trembling, shaking as he stopped shaking him. He slowly put his head on his chest, trying to find a beat. He didn't. His grip tightened on his shirt as his tears started staining it.
"Lance, how is Keith doing?" Shiro asked quietly through the intercom.
Lance sobbed. "Not good", he barely answered. His voice was full of hurt.
"Lance, do you know CPR?" Pidge asked hopefully.
Lance immediately perked up, nodding although he wasn't sure if Pidge could see him. "Yes. Yes, I do!"
"Try preforming CPR, Lance! He just got out of the water a few minutes ago, maybe you can save him." Pidge answered, waiting for Lance's respond.
"Fine", Lance turned off his microphone.
He looked down at Keith. He really needed to do this. A tiny blush appeared on his face as he laid Keith in the right position. His hands were crossing each other on his chest with his head slowly got put on a rock. Lance moved himself a bit so that he could start the process.
He started pushing down on Keith's chest, counting every time he did so. "1... 2… 3… 4…" He counted shakily. His hands moved fast as he really hoped this would work.
"27... 28… 29… 30!" He stopped and moved a little towards Keith's head. Slowly, he tilted his head back a little and got his chin up. Lance pinched his nose a bit before putting his lips on Keith's. He started blowing air into Keith's mouth as he tried to see if his chest rose any bit. It did. This lasted about for one second before he removed himself from him. He did this two more times as his mind went crazy.
He had always wanted to kiss Keith and it was really hard to resist the urge sometimes. However, he didn't expect it to be like this. Never in a million years. He continued performing the action a couple of more times, always looking at Keith in hope that he would wake up.
Shiro and Pidge arrived shortly with their lions, looking nervous to see how Keith's condition was. Pidge was really quiet, looking at Lance performing CPR, probably scared out of her mind. So was Shiro, and especially Lance.
Lance intertwined his fingers with Keith as he finished. He couldn't help but cry. Big, round tears trailed down his cheeks. Lance put on of his hands up to his chin, wiping away all of them. His eyes were red and puffy, he couldn't believe what was happening. Shiro and Pidge were standing behind him trying hard not to cry as well. Pidge looked broken and Shiro, for the first time, was at a loss for words.
"Come back", Lance whispered.
Keith's hand twitched. Lance looked at their hands. He could definitely feel something.
"Keith...?" Lance asked hopefully. Shiro and Pidge looked up at Lance, wondering what he was doing. Their faces looked still broken and hurt. Lance took slowly his hand up to Keith cold, ashen neck. He closed his red, puffy eyes as he searched for a sign of life.
A tiny pulse was there. Just a tiny one though. It was small and choppy, but it was still there. Lance's eyes widened.
He threw his arms around Keith's head as he clashed their lips together. Blowing air into Keith as he tried saving him. "Come back... come back... come back...!"
Lance's jaw fell as he glanced down at Keith. He was breathing. Shiro's face lit up, and Pidge cried tears of joy.
"Come on Keith, you can do this. Voltron needs you… I need you!" Lance said fast, hoping that Keith could hear him.
Keith's breaths got deeper and steadier. Suddenly, he bolted up and started coughing. His body shook as he squirmed a little around. One of his eyes cracked open, and sea water trailed down his chin.
He could see light. He was cold and uncomfortable, but he could finally see the light.
A pair of arms pulled him into a warm embrace.
His head was in Lance's chest as he started crying. Now, Lance wasn't crying from how sad and scared he was anymore. He was crying tears of joy as he saw Keith finally breathing again. His hand started brushing through his soft hair as his other one cupped the back of Keith's head.
"Lance, yo-" Keith begun, but Lance cut him off.
"Never leave me", the blue paladin said, snuggling the other boy. "Never leave me ever again. You will never understand how scared I was. Just promise me… Never again."
Keith pushed Lance a little way so that he could see his eyes.
"I promise", Keith softly said, gazing into those brilliant blue eyes. Lance's eyes held so much hope, happiness and relief, but also freedom – they reminded Keith of the sky.
They both leaned their head towards each other. Their noses touched slightly.
"I promise."