Author's Note;

Updates will be slow. REALLY slow.

King is by Lauren Aquilina.

Keith closed his eyes, letting the wind ruffle his long locks. He inhaled, a slight smirk spreading across his face. Peace.

In…and out. Patience yields focus. Keith repeated this to himself, crossing his legs and spreading out his arms, giving him the impression that he looked like Jesus on the cross. Keith let himself fall backwards, the soft grass cushioning his fall as he let the warmth of the double Suns beat down upon his face.

"There you are!" A cheerful voice broke his concentration, and Keith rolled into his side, frowning slightly at the imposter.

The intruder was a young girl, her blond locks billowing in the breeze as she waved at him, one hand cupped to her cheek bone as she smiled. "Keith! Good news!" Romelle, as was her name, called to him enthusiastically.

Keith sighed, standing slowly as he used his fingers to comb through his hair, brushing out any leaves and bugs that may have gotten inside his black curls. "What is it?" Keith snapped, instantly regretting it as Romelle's face fell. He admitted silently to himself that he sounded a bit more harshly then he intended, but, honestly, he had good reason to be cross. Romelle thought everything was good news. She had lived an awful life, after all. Anything good seemed like bliss to her.

"What's the news?" Keith asked, trying to sound more cheerful but mostly failing. He was bad at hiding his feelings.

"Oh! Uh…" Romelle hesitated, cocking her head as if trying to remember. "Ah!" She slapped her palm against her temple, grinning warmly again. "Krolia and Coran say that Shiro will be waking up soon! They're trying to round everyone up so we can all be there!"

Keith felt his chest squeeze, his heart doubling its normal speed in a instant. "That is great news! Thank you, Romelle! I'll join you in a moment."

"Okay!" Romelle nodded, her golden hair falling around her shoulders elegantly as the breeze slowed. "See you later!"

As she left, Keith turned his head towards the forest, breathing in the fresh air. The most recent planet the had landed on, Volsroy, was very similar to Earth. It was covered with lush, green plants and dense forests, bodies of water varying from oceans to creeks scattered throughout the celestial body.

Keith placed two fingers to his mouth, and whistled five, short blasts.

A moment later a large body of glowing blue quintessence appeared, forming the shape of a large wolf. Instantly it was set in motion, collapsing with Keith's face as the two rolled to the ground.

Keith spat out the wad of hair currently in his mouth, and laughed. "Missed playing with me, huh?" He asked his wolf as the alien licked his face energetically. "Ack! Boys don't kiss boys." He spluttered, shoving the dog from his body. Keith pulled himself to his feet, using the wolf's back as a brace. "Com'n, Yorak. Shiro's waking up."

The former leader of the Paladins of Voltron, Shiro, had been asleep for over a movement, one week, after being resurrected. And now…

Keith bit the inside of his lip as worry and nervousness tugged at his stomach, turning so he could see the Lions in the distance, about a quarter of a mile away. What if, by the time he got back there, Shiro was already awake?

With this thought in mind, Keith's jetpack sprung to life, propelling him several meters forward as he broke into a jog. The gravity was strong enough on this planet that his jetpack couldn't propel him into the air, but weak enough that it could still act as a boost.

Keith ran faster then usual, passing Romelle, and arrived at the campsite in almost three minutes. He panted for a moment, deactivating his jetpack as he whipped sweat from his face. Yorak, still hyperactive, appeared in midair above Keith, landing on his head with a heavy THUMP.

"Ow." Keith grunted, having to shove Yorak off him once again. Rubbing his neck, which had been twisted strangely from the sudden weight of Yorak, the dog was about fifty pounds, deadpanned, "That's gonna leave a mark. Thanks for nothing, you useless mammal." Yorak looked at him lovingly, the teasing obviously lost on him. At this, Keith had to laugh, scratching him. "Okay, yeah, fine. You're the best, buddy."

Romelle walked up to them at that moment, running her fingers through her gorgeous locks, smiling at Keith and his dog. "You're so cute together, Keith." She sighed merrily, looking from his dog to the Black/Red Paladin and back again. "I wish I had a pet."

"Maybe you can adopt one of the next monsters we fight." Keith sarcastically grunted, blinking at her.

"Nice try, fly boy." Romelle huffed, using her right pointer finger to tap his nose. "I'm not that gullible."

Keith had to admit that she looked dashing, with her inquisitive purple eyes and her turquoise markings, but Keith wasn't looking for a girl yet. Instead of admitting she was pretty, Keith smiled at her weakly. "Never said you were."

Romelle nodded in amusement, walking into the Blue lion, where Shiro was resting.

Keith hesitated at the jaw of the lion, taking a deep breath. Patience yields focus. Shiro needed him.

Keith entered the lion a moment later.

On his way to the speeder's hanger, he caught up to everyone else in the hallway. Well, save Pidge.

"Where's Pidge?" Keith asked, crossing his arms as he took in the fact that he was the second to the last one in.

"She's with Shiro now." Krolia told him, cracking a smile.

"Figures." Keith sighed, rolling his eyes as he entered the speeder's hanger. Pidge hadn't drifted from her leader's side for more then a varga the entire time Shiro had been asleep, not even leaving the room for her own rest.

She glanced up when he came in, her head leaning against the back of the chair. "Yo." She greeted Keith, waving half-heartedly. "Welcome back."

"How is he?" Asked Keith, slipping into the seat besides the youngest member of the team.

"Coran said he's stabilized, and Krolia says that means he'll be waking up. She also told everyone that he'll probably want to see you, first, so I'm planning on leaving when he wakes up."

"You can stay, if you want."

"I don't want." Pidge admitted, a frown tugging at the corners of her mouth. "I just want to make sure he's fine."

"Okay." Keith crossed his arms, exhaling as he watched his sleeping leader. He noticed how Shiro's eyelids twitched every few moments, groaning slightly after several ticks.

"See you later, Keith." Pidge told Keith, ruffling the older man's mullet with a smirk.

Keith grumbled mildly, shooting her a half-hearted grin as he pushed her hand away. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

Almost as soon as the door whirred shut behind Pidge, Yorak appeared in her spot, blinking at Keith.

Keith scratched the dog between the ears, closing his eyes as he sighed, leaning his head back.

When he was younger, he hadn't understood family. He hadn't understood those children who had lived a pampered life, because, he had been raised by a poor man, and, when he died, had mostly either lived on the streets, or had been put in foster care with some awful people. It's better not to go into detail in things like this.

Keith blinked his eyes open, turning his gaze onto his older brother. Keith reached out his hand, resting it into Shiro's left one. Yorak also leaned forward, but instead sniffed the former Black Paladins' face curiously. Or at least, Keith thought it was with curiosity. Who knew with dogs?

Shiro stirred, turning his head sleepily towards the dog, who drew back in surprise. As soon as the Paladin settled again, the dog resumed sniffing.

Keith sighed, dipping his head. If he was being perfectly honest, he hadn't got much sleep, either. He couldn't blame Pidge for being so worried, or anyone else for that matter. There had been several instances where Shiro's new body, Kuron's old one, had faltered in health, his breathing stopping for a few minutes. It had always resumed on its own, but it had been a jump scare all three times it happened.

Keith felt a jerk underneath his palm, raising his head. He half-feared the worst, but his heartbeat soothed when he saw his leader's wide brown eyes, staring in obvious confusion sat Yorak.

The dog, oblivious to Shiro's shock, began giddily licking his face. Shiro spluttered, unconscious of the weight on his left hand as he pulled it away from Keith's grasp to push back the dog.

Keith, not exactly ashamed by his wolf's actions, laughed. "Stop, Yorak." He told his dog, who hesitated only a second before subsided his actions, sitting up and looking at his owner, tail wagging.

Shiro sat up in bed, still a little confused and wondering if he was hallucinating. Who was this…dog? Why was Keith there? Wasn't he still in the Astral Plane? What was going on?

"Hey." Keith smiled, leaning past his dog as he stuck out his hand. "How you doing?"

Suddenly everything came back like a wave. Everything. Insuring Keith that everyone was fine, explaining to Keith the Black Lion's nature. Allura summoning his spirit, the brief moment spent where their two spirit's fused, the feeling of…being alive.

Shiro blinked at Keith's hand, the limb still looking a bit blurry. Then, with some hesitation as he decided where his younger sibling's hand actual was, he reached out and clutched it. Needless to say, he accidentally clutched Keith's wrist, but, after a tick, the two managed to figure out what was wrong and fix it.

Shiro thought back to Keith's question and smiled a bit shyly. "I'm fine. How long have I been out?"

"A week and a half."

Shiro felt struck suddenly by a sense of awe. He hadn't even realized a human, without medication or drugs, could be asleep for so long, even if they were on death's doorstep.

"It's good to see you again." Shiro chose his words carefully, letting Keith help him to his feet. "How's everyone else?"

"Fine. If you're up to it, we could go see them." Keith nodded his head toward the door.

"That's be great. Who's the space wolf?" Shiro questioned, wondering if Keith was tiring of all his inquiries.

"That? That's my dog, Yorak. Now, we're not sure if you have Kuron's memories, because we basically added your mind to his mind, but, depending whether you do or don't, there's going to be some new faces. Like my dog. And two aliens. So…yeah. Be warned."

"Okay. Thanks." Shiro let Keith position himself to where the younger Paladin was stationed underneath is arm. He found that Keith was…taller. Maybe by half a foot. His mullet was longer, too, by several inches. Shiro inhaled deeply, and Keith opened the door.

There was…everyone on the other side of the door. And Keith was right. There were two female aliens he didn't recognize. One had a very familiar mullet, and the other looked suspiciously like a Altean and had donned a blue, white, and pink dress.

Shiro blinked in slight confusion, realizing that he remembered them very, very dully in the back of his mind.

Hunk didn't wait for Keith or Shiro to talk, instead squishing the latter into a bear hug. "Shiro! You're awake!" He cheered, setting him down after a moment.

"Are you hungry?" Allura asked, tilting her head at him curiously.

"It's so good to see you up and at 'Em." Lance cheered, pumping one of his fists.

"You look as fit as a Yalmor!" Coran piped, playing with his mustache hairs.

"Shiro, this is Romelle, she's an Altean." Keith gestured to the colorfully dressed woman, and Shiro nodded to her. Romelle smiled back a bit shyly, waving nervously. "And this is Krolia. She's a fellow Blade, and my mother."

Shiro paused, blinking at the older woman in surprise. Honestly, he shouldn't be shocked. They looked very similar, to be honest, and Keith's scar only helped with the illusion.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Krolia greeted him, nodding curtly. "Again."

Shiro wasn't entirely sure what she meant by that, but it probably had something to do with the clone.

"It's…its good to meet you too." Shiro told her, still mildly confused. He promptly turned to the Paladins, who seemed very worried as they hovered nearby. "It's good to see you all." He told them, smiling slightly. "But…where's the castle? Why're we in the Blue Lion?"

Everyone exchanged a look, sadness pulling over their features. "We…we had to use it to save all of the realities in existence." Coran told him, blinking in sorrow.

"Oh."

"But…it's not all bad! We're going back to Earth to make a new one, and the Castle…" Hunk broke off mid sentence, rummaging through his belt pockets. He finally pulled out a diamond, displaying it with an even amount of defeat and victory. "…it all got compacted into this little diamond. So, it's still here! Kind of." Hunk handed Shiro the crystal, and the leader held it carefully.

It was about as big as his palm, all sorts of rough, jagged pieces penetrating from every end. It was…sad.

Shiro handed it back, rather numbly, to Hunk, blinking as he tried to process the information. He lightly recalled the Black Lion whispering something of the sort to him, but, it hadn't been the top priority on his list at the time, so he hadn't said goodbye. Seemed awfully pathetic, being so attached to the ship, but it was like a thirteen year old saying goodbye to their house that they had dwelt in for nearly nine years.

There was a moment of mourning as everyone silently agreed not to speak. The grief hung thickly in the room, practically dripping off the ceiling.

"Why Earth?" Asked Shiro once a few minutes had passed. "Why not Olkarion?"

"Commander Holt has the plans necessary to build a new Castle." Keith told him. "And he's on Earth."

Shiro decided not to ask about the 'Commander Holt' thing until later.

"Besides, it'll kinda be like a vacation from all the universe defending stuff." Lance grinned, stretching.

"We can answer any more questions you may have over a bowl of food." Allura told him, wincing slightly in sympathy. "My apologies, but until further notice we only have food goo."

"You look as skinny as a sick Xznly Squiwl." Coran added, obviously still finding his mustache entertaining.

"Um…thanks…?" Shiro had no idea what that meant.

Coran looked at him oddly, quirking one eyebrow curiously. Wrong answer.

"Let's go, then." Keith let his grip on Shiro loosen, feeling his leader strengthen the longer he was awake.

Keith, when they were halfway to the Yellow Lion, released Shiro fully, feeling a fleeting moment of pride when he noticed that Shiro didn't even falter.

"I'm going to go check on something." Keith told them, splitting from the group when Krolia gave him a simple wave of her hand.

Keith headed for the Green Lion, curiosity burning in his stomach. Since Pidge had departed from Shiro's side earlier, he hadn't seen the youngest Paladin. Was she alright?