Stranded on the islands of fire, Lance seized one last breath before collapsing parallel to the paladin in red. The boy in blue gazed at his shaken grip on the sniper rifle before Zarkon himself. Zarkon and his evil followers were no more in this universe. Keith lay in the puddle of his own victory made purely of his deep-red blood, try as he may to catch his breath as well. If it hadn't been for the now-serious Cuban boy pushing him out of harm's way, he might have lost red for good.
Smiling in relief, Lance knelt to assist Keith to his feet. "Come on, man" he assured "let's get back to the castle for those wounds". With a "tsh" the wounded boy smiled and lifted himself up weakly, mostly relying on his lover's form for support. It's amazing just how far they've come together; starting off bickering and then defeating the galaxy's greatest danger as lovers. The other paladins of compatible colors rushed to rescue them both, shouting concerns and relief. Once in the castle, they traveled light years elsewhere from the now broken battlefield.
Weeks swam past now, and Lance still couldn't believe the triumph his team accomplished. Of course, it had nothing on Keith being out of danger, all thanks to his swift action..." oh, and the healing pods!" he smugly thought. Lance planted himself next to that pod for days, waiting for his dear to finally wake. Fortunately, the pod process only lasted a few days; two, to be precise. When the thrilled boy constricted Keith again after the pods granted release, the world was complete. The other sobbing paladins finally left the two alone, letting them reunite, and went off to bed.
The brown-haired boy returned to his room and plopped down next to his now-well love. "So, while you were unconscious back there, I totally shot Zarkon and his ugly hag down!" Lance gloated. Keith shook his head in a playful manner. "Oh yeah? Well if I hadn't been down, you wouldn't have gained the adrenaline to do so!". Lance then puffed his cheeks, not denying what the boy had to say. Keith laughed at the reaction of his tease, followed by an exchange of "I love you" 's. Soon they would return to Earth and settle down, like they had always planned together. Lance's chest sang in sync with his lover's until they finally fell asleep in each other's arms.
The morning arose, the paladins tucked away in blissful slumber. Today was the day the princess and the hilarious mustached-friend would announce the arrival to Earth. After months of discussion, Allura and Coran agreed before the fall of Zarkon, they would be returning to Earth with the five; they were all an inseparable family. As the princess stepped over to the alarm to wake her crew, she sighed in deep grief; She really hoped to live the rest of her days with the five pilots. Coran noticed her sonder and placed his hand on her stiffened shoulder. She nodded and proceeded to press her nervous finger on the alarm.
It didn't take long for Pidge, Shiro, and Hunk to spring up from their rest; they were beyond excited about today. The trio sprinted to the meeting room in their day-clothes; they didn't even bother to change out. Allura and Coran smiled warmly to each of them, but exchanges didn't live long. Soon the room was full of confusion as to where the missing person was. Pidge volunteered to wake Lance in her "special" way (as in jumping straight-up on the scrawny boy). Rushing to his location, she slid in front of the sleeping man's room, the automatic doors greeted her in. "Lance! I thought you of all people would be up already! I even found out it's going to RAIN today, so get up-" but she paused in absolute horror.
The smell that slapped her, she could hardly withstand. Lance spent a lot of time in his room since a week ago, but the team never bothered to ask him about it. The realization hit her like a bullet in the chest as she gazed upon the corpse in Lance's grip. The boy, still blissfully asleep, seemed unaware of his decaying lover wrapped in his sheets. The young girl's screams were more horrid than all Zarkon's actions in the past century. Wailing, she sprinted as fast as her legs would allow her. The ship reverberated as it planted itself on Earth. The green paladin skidded into the family room, tears blinding her; "ALLURA!".
