Disclaimer - I don't own Voltron: Legendary Defender or One Day at a Time 2017. Note - This is written for Open Novella 2019. The prompt is Thrilling 1: Saved. The prompt is, "An army sergeant is making his way home from the war overseas, and more than anything he is looking forward to seeing his wife and children for the New Year. Rather than taking the flight home with his comrades he opts to fly commercially, and that decision saves his life. But why did he make that decision? Was it just dumb luck, or is there something more sinister afoot? " I'm working with my head canon that Shiro and Keith are siblings, but that Ryo and Keith are twins.

Wings of Home
Going Home

"Am I the reason you're taking a different flight from the rest of us?"

Adam's voice made Shiro pause. The young man of Japanese descent turned and looked at his best friend from academy days. Adam's normally light-brown skin gained a rather ashy look. Shiro watched the eyes of his companion not make eye contact. His best friend's look of discomfort made Shiro swallow; he knew all too well where Adam's uneasiness came from.

"If I was inappropriate..."

"Don't. Don't apologize for the way you feel." Shiro felt his own smile relax when Adam finally looked him in the eye.

"Thanks. Thanks for saying that."

"Besides... while I've got to admit the entire situation was a bit awkward for both of us, I didn't say no either." Shiro watched Adam's eyes widen in confusion.

"Wait. I knew full well when I..." Adam stopped speaking and instead looked away. The goodbye between the two at the airport became another awkward moment for him.

"Kissed me while you were drunk and confessed you've had feelings for me since we were cadets?" One of Shiro's eyebrows shot up with his mouth twisted into a smirk.

Adam's head turned back, but he attempted smiling at Shiro. "Come on. You're into girls, not guys. You've had quite a few."

"That doesn't mean I don't swing both ways." Shiro watched a slight blush appearing on his best friend's face but found himself glad the color began coming back to Adam's face. "Look. You know my history. I've never been able to stick with a relationship. I don't want to ruin our friendship if things go south like all the other times. I need some time to think."

"So, I am the reason?"

"Uh... no." The corner of Shiro's mouth twitched, but the situation was now awkward for him instead. "Taking the commercial flight will definitely give me time to think, but that's not the reason I'm not flying back with everyone else." Shiro's dark eyes glanced nervously at the ground. "Look. I'll tell you when we're both back at the garrison. It's kind of a rather silly reason, truth be told."

Glancing up, Shiro saw a smile spread across Adam's face. He watched his best friend lean forward and give him a hug goodbye. The smile remained when Adam pulled away. "I'll hold you to that."

Shiro did a two-finger salute before hoisting his carry on over his shoulder and headed through customs. He found himself in a rather good mood when he arrived at the terminal, but he arrived in time for boarding. For a brief moment, he pondered the fact he wasn't the piolet for the given flight but reminded himself he wouldn't have piloted the flight home for the rest of his unit.

Stepping onto the plane, the garrison soldier saw an elderly lady lifting her carry on but failing at lifting the bag into the luggage racks above. He stepped over and gently lifted the bag up much to the woman's delight. She looked up at him. "You're in a good mood young man."

"Yeah, well, I'm headed home. I've not seen my family in some time."

"Isn't it a bit more than that? Isn't there a special someone?" The old lady poked Shiro in the arm.

He thought about what the elderly lady said when he sat down. On one side Shiro knew he didn't want anything which might ruin his and Adam's already existing relationship. On the other hand, Adam wouldn't walk out on Shiro when he found out Shiro was a parent to his younger siblings as Adam already knew. In fact, Adam was always there for him particularly when Shiro found himself stepping up to care for his siblings.

A laugh escaped his mouth. Shiro suspected another reason he couldn't keep a steady relationship came down to Keith chasing away anybody he didn't trust, but Keith, in fact, trusted Adam. On the other hand, he didn't know if either of his siblings suspected he was bisexual, yet he didn't know how Ryo or Keith would react to finding out. Somehow in the back of his head, Shiro still kept thinking things would work out.

Shiro found himself nodding off in hopes of some peaceful dreams, but instead, he found himself jolting awake when one of his dreams ventured into a memory of battle he'd rather forget. Shiro glanced around in an anxious manner as his breath stalled slightly, yet none of the other passengers noticed the episode. His mind registered the dinging sound which startled him awake as the sound of the airplane speakers coming on when a crackling sound and the flight attendants voice echoed through his brain,

The passengers followed the instructions of buckling up. Shiro found himself savoring the feeling of landing, yet the garrison piolet felt a slight tingling emotion from not being the piolet. Letting out a deep sigh he grabbed both his and the old ladies carry on from the overhead, but the thought of being home brought a wave of relief. He found himself helping the old lady at baggage claim before heading off towards the exit to meet his family.

The sight of Ryo and Keith made Shiro breathe deeply, but the positive feeling continued prevailing and overriding all negative feelings. Neither of the twins noticed him at first, but eventually, Keith looked up. Shiro watched Keith surge forward and felt his brother collide into his body. The reaction made Shiro feel ecstatic and his arms wrapped Keith into a solid hug, but eventually, he motioned for Ryo to join them.

"Yeah, no. Way too old for that Takashi."

Shiro felt Keith tense up before pulling away. Shiro watched a slight pink color appear on the tips of Keith's ears. Keith pulled away and darted towards Ryo and nearly got into his twin's face. "I'm driving home."

"No." Ryo pulled the keys from his pants pocket while Keith's hands started towards the pocket. "I'm driving."

"How come? You already drove." Keith's mouth's twisted into a frown and his thin fingers accentuated by the fingerless gloves he wore reached for the car keys. Ryo simply lifted the keys up and took advantage of the slight height advantage he held over his twin.

"I have the keys, and unlike you, I have a driver's license."

Keith attempted grabbing the keys. "The garrison lets me pilot their aircraft. I'm one of their top cadets after all."

Shiro found himself tired of the argument and walked over and snatched the keys from Ryo. "I'm driving. Argument settled. And Keith? We're going to see about actually getting your drivers license now that I'm home, okay?" His good mood kept going, yet something started nagging at the back of his head when he put his bags into the back of his car. When he got into the front seat, he saw Keith sulking in the back seat. "Let me guess? Ryo got to the front seat first?"

"No. It's not..." Keith quieted down, almost as if he wanted to say something yet quickly clammed up. For some reason, he was withdrawing.

"So..." Shiro let the engine roar to life and closed his eyes for a few seconds to take in the experience. He turned towards Ryo, who he figured might have the hardest time adjusting to a relationship between him and Adam. "I want to ask you two if you're okay with me getting into a serious relationship for once."

"About time," Ryo muttered before looking out the window. For some reason, the less emotional of the two twins didn't make eye contact either.

"Yeah, but you didn't let me finish." He definitely felt a headache coming on but hoped one of his episodes wouldn't occur while driving, particularly with his two brothers in the car. "The person – well, you already know them. They're an old friend."

"So? Isn't that a good thing? They can support you with..." Ryo paused. Shiro caught sight of how Ryo started turning his head so he might look at him but darted his head away instead.

"Except here's the thing. The person I'm planning on getting into a relationship with is Adam."

"What?" both twins exclaimed at the same time.

He, of course, expected the surprise from both of the twins. Ryo, of course, continued speaking, yet choked out his next response. "But you're not gay!"

Shiro glanced up into the rearview mirror at Keith and saw the boy tremble slightly. "Keith..."

"Are you crazy?" Ryo's voice raised up. "You're into girls. You like girls."

"Yeah. Ryo, you do realize there is something called bisexual you know." Shiro shook his head in amusement but glanced up at Keith who simply became even more agitated. "Keith. You okay buddy?"

He heard Ryo twist around so he might look at Keith as well but saw a bit of worry on the face of the twin in the front seat. Shiro watched Keith turned forward and saw the tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry. It's my fault. I'm so sorry Shiro. I'm really, really sorry."

"What?"

"Pull over."

Shiro didn't like Ryo's demand. "I am not going to pull over just so you can take off on me just because you're mad, I revealed to you I'm bisexual."

"Shiro, pull over before Keith completely freaks out and we get into an accident."

He found himself taking a deep breath before pulling the car over to the side of the road. Shiro turned towards Ryo but didn't hold back his tone. "Alright. Tell me what's going on. Did Keith get in trouble again at the garrison school?"

"That..." Ryo looked out the front window. "Keith and I were going to let Iverson tell you, and no. It doesn't have anything to do with Keith getting in trouble."

"Tell me what?"

"Takashi-nii..." The twin who normally held his emotions in now turned towards Shiro with a rather pained look on his face. "Adam's dead. Your entire unit is dead."