Written for Sheith Positivity Week 2017. Day 1: Sky/Sea.

Disclaimer: If you recognize the character, it isn't mine. Just playing in Dreamworks' sandbox.

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To Touch the Sky

Shiro was the first person Keith had let into his perimeter in years.

Shiro just got him, understood him. Bit by bit, Keith lowered his shields around Shiro and relearned what it was like to have a friend, someone to trust.

That first night had been a revelation. Shiro held him back after the combat practice he ran for the younger students, saying he had something he thought Keith should see. Shiro had led him up an out-of-the-way staircase, not bothering to hide the code that opened the door at the top, and out onto the roof of the Garrison.

"If you stay here, close to the wall, you can't be picked up on security cameras." Shiro sat, his back to the wall, and looked up at Keith, a bright expression on his face.

"Why did you show me this?"

Shiro reached up and tugged at the hem of his tee shirt. Keith sat.

Shiro pointed up. "For that. I thought you'd enjoy it, given how much astronomy you knew going into the class."

Keith looked up. The inky expanse of the sky stretched above them. It was an even better view than in astronomy class, where you had to wait your turn for one of the telescopes. As they watched, planets shone and stars winked. Keith spied a satellite zipping across, losing it in the aura of light from the moon.

They played spot-the-constellation until curfew, reaching up and pointing and pretending to touch the sky. For the first time since arriving at the Garrison, Keith felt like this could be home.

Two weeks after Shiro's graduation and commission, he found Keith in the library. He pulled the book out of Keith's hands, glanced at it, and closed it.

"Hey! You lost my place!"

"You were on page 387. Make a note of it and come with me."

"Unlike you, Sergeant, I have more classes coming next quarter." Keith stood and made a grab for his book.

Shiro held it out of reach and Keith growled. It was so unfair for Shiro to sprout up another few inches in months, after Keith had needed over a year to gain on him.

"Seriously, come on. It won't take all that long and a break will help."

Keith growled again as he gathered his things. As soon as Shiro lowered the book he snatched it and took it over to the checkout desk, planning to lock himself in his dorm room for the rest of the night once he had seen whatever Shiro wanted him to see.

Shiro led him to the garage that housed the compound's ground fleet and personal vehicles for the Garrison staff. Keith followed as Shiro threaded through several parked hovercars, growing more confused by the minute.

"Shiro, why are we here?"

Shiro reached a space, a tarp covering something underneath. "So, you know my uncle, the one in Kyoto who is stupid rich?"

"Yeah, you've mentioned him."

"He arranged this for my graduation." Shiro pulled off the tarp and Keith couldn't hold in his gasp. The hoverbike was a thing of beauty, gleaming with chrome and red, a white "01" painted on either side. "Let's go for a ride!"

Keith glanced out at the gathering dusk. "It's going to be dark soon."

"Which means no sunburn! Come on, put your bag in the hold." Shiro held out a helmet.

In a few minutes they were through the gates and out on the road, Keith holding on firmly around Shiro's waist. Shiro veered off the tarmac and shot across the sandy terrain. He skimmed across the ground for a few miles, then took advantage of a sharp rise and vaulted it, boosting the hovercells to send them into the air.

Keith let out a yell of delight and he could feel Shiro grinning from ear to ear even if he couldn't see it. This was flight like he had never experienced before: no pre-programmed paths in simulators, no roaring engines and windows surrounding them. Just the ground far below and the air rushing around them.

After a while Shiro brought the bike down and to a halt. He lifted the visor of his helmet and asked, "Want a turn?"

"Are you kidding?" Keith dismounted and pulled the helmet from his head.

"Um, what are you doing?" Shiro raised an eyebrow.

"Putting this away for one ride. I want to feel the wind with nothing in the way."

Shiro considered, biting his lip, but lifted his helmet off as well. Keith tried to stamp down a sudden jolt like electricity in his stomach, seeing the blossoming color in Shiro's lips and the dark hair falling across his forehead.

"If you kill us, I am haunting your ghost."

Keith laughed, and the unsettling excitement waned for the moment. They stowed the helmets in the hold and Keith straddled the bike. Shiro slid behind him.

"Start slow, get a feel for it."

Keith obeyed, quickly familiarizing himself with the controls and adjusting for Shiro's weight behind him. Then they took off and Keith immediately shot up the first hill he saw to launch them into the air.

Shiro yelped in his ear and his hands slid past one another across Keith's ribs to tighten his hold.

Keith laughed, relishing the feel of the air pushing past him and accelerated. He worked to keep the ride smooth and even for Shiro's benefit. Shiro felt confident enough to take one hand and push Keith's hair, whipping in the breeze, to one side. He tucked his chin onto Keith's shoulder and slid his hand across Keith's stomach. The touch awoke the tremors from before and he swallowed hard. Was he imagining it or did Shiro's grip get a little tighter?

He pushed the hoverbike as high into the air as he dared and now Shiro was definitely holding him tighter. Keith knew Shiro wanted to tell him to take them down. But he trusted Keith.

That knowledge drove the quiver in his insides higher; he had to let it out somehow. Keith took one hand off its handlebar and raised it as he shouted, reaching to touch the sky.

Thank you for reading!