When it hits her, it hits her hard and fast.
Her Paladin is close by. She can feel them reach out, can feel the wisps of a consciousness curl around hers, for the first time in ten thousand years. After so long (too long), her Paladin is here, they've come for her. Does resistance live on? Is it possible?
She nudges gently at the tendril of that soul, feels it push back with the spark that matches hers.
Tremulous joy and impatience fills her, and she cannot wait a second longer (too long, it's been too long).
Find me. Find me.
A figure enters her prison, and she's ready. Her Paladin has proven himself, she knows already, his quintessence sings with his worth-
No. No, it can't be. She sees him, she feels him, but this cannot be him.
Something jolts in her and a wave of anger and dismay washes over her mind.
This cannot be what she was looking for. This cannot be the one she'd reached out for. But his quintessence is clearer now with proximity, and there is no mistake.
Her Paladin is strong, her Paladin is worthy. Her Paladin is Galran blood under Terran form.
And all at once, she is viciously struck down with the pain of her failures. She is flung back, back to that Galran who had destroyed everything; that Galran who had taken Black's trust and devotion and twisted her for his purpose; he who had so easily disposed of her siblings' dear bonded ones. Her own bonded one.
The decision is made without thought. She will not accept this Galran scum, she will not be led to heartbreak as her sister once was. He has the armour, he has the bayard, but he will not have her.
Through the rush of rage, she watches the figure move forward ('bingo'?), watches him place a hand on the barrier, watches him trying to reach her. He is smiling already, as though he's attained victory with that mere act.
"Let's get out of here. Open up."
Leave.
She wants him gone, wants to roar it until there's no doubt of her judgement, but she remains quiet. She will not give him the satisfaction of further connection.
Still he tries, a puzzled frown creasing his face at her lack of response.
"It's me. Keith. Your buddy."
She finds herself cruelly amused by his attempts to connect, by his frustration.
"It's meee. Keeeeeiiith. Your- I am your Paladin!"
No. No he is not. She will not let him be.
Then there are sentries attacking him. His shield is up but he's still trying to persuade her, shouting hoarsely for her approval. She doesn't move, and he pushes away, fighting back with bayard drawn. The short battle is a messy, confusing affair.
She doesn't understand. What are the Galrans doing? Why is he fighting his own-
"You're not getting this Lion!"
…He's protecting her.
He launches himself towards the sentries, slashing at them with enough competence to let her see that he has skill, though he is not yet used to his blade.
He is young. Younger than her previous cubs had been, yet he shines.
But he is outnumbered and cornered, sword against gun, thrown back as his shield dissolves under the barrage and the sword retracts to mere sheath once more. And she will not help him.
He slaps a hand on a console and activates the airlock, feet flying out from under him as the Galran sentries are pulled into the void.
Fool. What is he doing? He will die, he will die so easily, fragile creature that he is.
Her thoughts are frantic and disjointed suddenly, and she does not understand. No, she does not care. She is not this weak.
Let him fall.
He's struggling to hold on to the console, the last one standing in the fight against the vacuum. Slowly but surely, his hands are slipping. He's still reaching out, out, out, and then he is struck by debris caught in the inevitable pull of space, and he loses his grip. She hears him cry out as he's drawn out through the airlock.
What is she doing?
She is losing her Paladin.
No. NO.
And with a roar, she awakens.
Good kitty. Affection and a light pat. Let's roll.
Has she judged well?
Her little Paladin's heart beats hard and loud, and as he takes her away, back to the Castle (her home), she catches the tail end of his fear.
He'd been afraid, swung into space with no hope to hold on to, absorbing the sting of rejection from she who had called out to him, only to turn him away just as quickly. She had allowed him to feel that.
He had been afraid and alone for too long (too long); kin to her, with her years of solitude (an empty Terran shack, a barren Galran ship).
She makes her vow, silent and strong. She will never arouse such emotions in him again, never by her own actions nor that of others.
She will keep him safe.
She is home, she is with her sisters and she is whole; they are whole, their very being linked so complexly with that of the Terran Paladins.
They form Voltron, over and over, together at last after ten thousand years, and they keep fighting and breathing and living. She has never felt more alive, never felt her purpose ring through her with such conviction.
Her vow is a difficult one. Her Paladin is happy (Keith, she rumbles, and his smile is shy and bright), but he is lonely. He is an odd creature, even to the other bonded ones (but not the Terran with shadows in his eyes and holes in his mind; not him. He is important to her Paladin, he is good).
The revelation comes later. Keith does not know his parentage, does not know the bloodline he shares.
She will not be the one to pain him.
The Galran. The Galran! The Galran who would call himself Emperor is within her reach; impatience bites at her once more, for she has her role and this is it. Her Paladin knows it too, knows that she has awaited this for so long (too long); in the short time they have been bonded, that same desire has filled his heart.
It is their chance to end this.
She is weak and she cannot move, even as they are flung away through the wormhole. Her Paladin is safe, she will keep him safe, but her sisters are out of her reach.
She cries out for them as they disappear, one by one.
Not again, not again, she cannot lose them-
Black is with her. Black is here, and it fills her with comfort, enough to cleanse away her panic.
They are pulled apart, but she knows where Black is now, knows where the other Terran is and where her own cub is. He is safe, he is strong and he is hers. She can rest.
She had failed this time, failed to protect her cub, her Keith. But never again. She will be by his side, this odd Galran Terran mix, and he will never again have to reach far to find her.
Her sisters have always told her she is reckless. The Paladins of old have said she is untrusting and indifferent. But her little ones knew her best, just as this cub knows her now.
When she trusts, she does so with all the depth and mass of a black hole, until pulling away is no longer a choice, willing or otherwise. The Red Lion and the Red Paladin have always chosen that path, all or nothing, long since her form was first carved from the stars and meteorites that littered her home.
Reckless? Most certainly. They say 'impulsive' and she hears 'I can act, I will act'. It is why they are five and not one, for the ability to act is just as essential as the ability to wait, to think, to plan, to support.
For her cub, she will awaken with a roar. For her cub, she will never hesitate to act again.