Just found this and decided to upload it. Had completely forgotten about it so just gave it a quick read through. Can be viewed as a one shot or I may continue it if anyone is interested enough. Post season 6 of VLD with my own spin on things.

When Olkarion came into sight on the black lion's view screen, with its titanic mountains jutting out through the sphere of the planet's atmosphere, Keith felt himself slump a little in his seat. After a week of flying in tight formation, or occasionally forming Voltron so they could pass through more dangerous areas in as little time as possible, they had finally reached a quadrant of relative safety.

No more stopping off on random moons and sleeping with one eye open, expecting a galra battlecruiser to appear around every asteroid or celestial body to attack them.

The lions landed in the centre of the capital with gentle thuds and powered down, leaving only essential systems running in the background. Like their paladins, they were equally on edge since the loss of their home.

Ryner met Allura and Coran as they exited the blue lion, having already been made aware of their situation through an encrypted communique Pidge had sent.

'Castle destroyed. Requesting permission to land. Medical treatment required.'

No doubt the Olkarion leader would be wanting to know more details now they were on the ground, so Keith was more than willing to let Allura and Coran fill in the blanks. He was tired, still achy from bruising and cracked ribs that were in the process of healing, and understandably overwhelmed.

Turning his seat, Keith stared across Black's cockpit to the lone stasis pod slotted into a space by the door, and its precious cargo within. Shiro lay motionless, eased into sleep by the pod that had kept his vitals stable for the past week. Keith had been reluctant to return him to stasis following his revival, but after carefully considering all other options, it was the safest course of action.

Had Shiro remained out of the pod and taken a turn for the worst while they were still in deep space, it was unlikely Keith would have been able to help him. There was no telling how much damage Haggar had inflicted on the clone's body when she'd activated him, or what the now severed galra tech prosthetic had done. Any further risk to Shiro was unacceptable.

Keith had to keep Shiro safe, now more than ever. To let him rest. He owed him everything, and the battle weary black paladin deserved all the tender loving care his team were able to give him. Shiro's health was the main reason they had made the decision to return to Olkarion.

They were guided inside one of the pristine buildings with its floor to ceiling windows, cast in golden light by Olkarion's ever present sunset painted sky. Keith trailed at the back of the group with Krolia and Shiro's pod, watching the others with an attentive eye. Their fatigue was clear in their slow, plodding movements and appearance; Allura's hairbun unusually messy, Hunk flapping his feet as he walked, Pidge removing her glasses to rub at her eyes, and even Lance walked with a noticeable hunch in his shoulders.

It wasn't just Shiro. They all needed the rest. Shiro just needed it more.

A young Olkarion by the name of Laysha showed them to their rooms, all on the one floor and next to each other, much like the castle bedrooms had been. The group lingered in the hallway and shared uncertain looks, silently turning to Keith for direction. Even exhausted, none had forgotten about their fallen comrade still caught within the unnatural sleep of stasis. Seeing their concerned faces, shadowed with fatigue, Keith managed a soft smile.

"Everyone get some sleep. Shiro won't want you staying up on his account."

The smile didn't reach his eyes, strained with his own weariness, but no one chose to argue. They all knew that Shiro would be well taken care of with Keith standing guard, and none of them had the ability to change the younger black paladin's mind. One by one room doors slid open and their chosen occupants stepped inside, until only Keith and Krolia remained with their Olkari hosts.

Ryner turned and gestured towards an elevator door further down the hall - the direction towards the medical centre. "This way." Keith drew a breath, shared a glance with his mother, and turned Shiro's pod around.

-o-o-o-

Shiro knew, even before he was fully conscious, that he was no longer on board the black lion. His time in the astral plane had allowed him to establish a deep bond with the head of Voltron, on a higher level than any other paladin had ever achieved, past or present. Every thought they had shared, every heavy decision made had been felt by both. Shiro had been a part of her for so long that the quietness now in the back of his mind felt a little off putting.

But where he had once felt broken and incomplete, there was a sense of happy relief that wrapped around him, and it nearly lulled him back into sleep. That other part of him that had been lost, and initially gone unnoticed, was finally back, leaving a sense of completeness in the black paladin's tired body.

His spirit had been split, torn savagely in two in those last few seconds of his battle with Zarkon. An eternity ago almost, and yet the time also felt so fleeting. Before his body had been vaporised by the raw energy of their clash, with the black lion desperately trying to save her new paladin, and Zarkon refusing to yield or let go. Shiro, powerless between two immense forces, had simply been torn apart. The majority of his spirit had been retained by Black, tucked away safely into her own consciousness, where no more harm would come to him. The other, smaller piece had been stolen away by Zarkon, perhaps by accident, and then violated by Haggar when the first clone body had fully matured.

Clone. Such a horrible word. Fake. A carbon copy. Was that how the others had perceived him once they'd learned the truth? Shiro couldn't really blame them if that were the case - he'd thought the exact same, and said so to Keith in the astral plane.

Imposter. Thing.

How wrong he had been.

It had taken some time for the fragmented pieces of his soul to realign and join again, during which Shiro's body had been kept asleep in stasis and allowed to dream. Plenty of time to work through all the confusion, anger and fear.

When Allura had pulled his spirit from the black lion, by means far beyond Shiro's comprehension, the fragment of him within the clone body had been waiting. Just as confused, and terrified of being erased. A shadow of their former self, the Shiro who had been toyed with once again by Zarkon's witch was severely weakened and close to death. The prosthetic arm, with all its power, had been the tether keeping him in this realm. It was how Haggar had been able to manipulate him so easily, directly linked to his brain through the galra tech, and why he had slipped into a coma almost immediately after Keith had finally severed the grotesque limb.

Dying alone and in unbearable pain, this small piece of Shiro's own soul had stared at him with distraught eyes, waiting for his greater self to wipe him from existence and take over. Erase all traces that he had ever been, and lose the precious memories the clone's body had experienced and built up in the events that had followed that last devastating battle with Zarkon. From his desperate journey to get back to the paladins following his escape, his saddened acceptance of watching the team he loved so much fight on without him, his pride in seeing Keith grow as a leader and a man, and the simple happiness of sitting down with the others to play a game of Monsters and Mana.

All those stories, all those memories, ready to be snuffed out by the part of him that conceived him as nothing more than an empty shell put in his place, with no rights and no feelings. Like he hadn't mattered.

But Shiro, the one who had come from the black lion, had surprised his broken shadow. Both parts of him had suffered long enough at the hands of Zarkon and Haggar, to the point where they would forever be scarred and damaged - where was the sense in letting that continue?

He'd knelt before his fragmented other half, at first hesitant to reach across the invisible line that still kept them separated, and then blundered right through it. The two arms he'd possessed in the astral plane wrapped around his damaged mirror image, holding tight like a long lost brother, until he'd felt the hesitant grip of one lone arm return his embrace. With that had come a wave of relief, exhausted happiness and acceptance. The last thing astral plane Shiro could remember before he'd sunk into peaceful oblivion had been his own voice whispering brokenly in his ear.

'Thank you.'

Shiro opened his eyes slowly, eyelids heavy and gaze clouded as he woke for what was only the second time since leaving the black lion's consciousness. His body… His new body, identical in almost every way to the original he had been born with, felt heavy and ached. The bed beneath him was comfortable, the clothes he had been dressed in soft against his scarred skin. He made an attempt to move his hand, but even a twitch of his fingers was currently beyond his capabilities.

The room around him was relatively dark, low lighting providing just enough visibility for others to navigate safely. Even confused and dozy, Shiro was still able to recognise the architecture. Olkarion. A place of safety. A place only Keith and the others would have taken him. He relaxed and turned his attention back to his silent self diagnostic.

The headaches which had tormented his other half from day one were gone at last, cured now that he was complete again and living from the energy within his own body, and not the prosthetic. Memories from two different sources clicked together to form something solid and whole. One had not stepped aside for the other. Both Shiros, as strange as that sounded, had finally been able to reconnect. He remembered everything, from both parts of his spirit. He hadn't killed his other self. They were one and the same again, a single entity.

Tiredness dragged him back under again before he could dwell more on everything that had happened, his spirit now bearing the brunt of exhaustion from two sides. But he was alive, somehow, and he owed this second chance he was now getting to all of his friends. One in particular. One Shiro couldn't wait to see again.

-o-o-o-

Keith stared at his hazy reflection in the fogged up mirror beside the shower, dark eyes lingering on his right cheek and the burn scar that now marred his skin. After sitting in with Shiro for hours while the other slept, the olkari healer had reluctantly chased him away to tend to his own needs. At first Keith had protested, loudly, but one look from his mother when she'd appeared from the hallway and he'd quickly shut his mouth.

Those two years they'd spent alone on the back of a space whale had provided them with plenty of time to bond as mother and son, and while Keith would forever be grateful for that opportunity he'd previously been robbed of, he'd learned one very valuable lesson. Getting on Krolia's bad side was not recommended - in fact, it should be avoided wherever possible. The last time Keith had managed to annoy his mother she'd put him through the most physically demanding training exercise he'd ever experienced, to the point where each individual muscle in his body had spent the next two days crying.

So, reluctantly, he had stalked away to the room he'd been given and headed straight for the shower. Set the water to its highest temperature and stood underneath the full pressure spray, letting it near scald him and disguise the tears he'd stubbornly refused to let fall until now.

Tears shed for Shiro.

Keith was having a hard time processing the tumultuous storm of emotions currently running rampant inside him, caught on a knife's edge between crying his heart out and tucking all of his feelings back deep inside of him. Safe where no one else could see.

'I died, Keith.'

His head hit the mirror with a dull thud, chest tight and stomach contorting painfully as those words echoed in his mind. Words he had never wanted to hear, only for fate to have other ideas. Shiro? Dead? His Shiro?

Keith's hand quickly darted out and slammed the shower controls, changing the temperature abruptly from scalding hot to near freezing cold, and staggered back into it. The sharp gasp he drew in as goosebumps rushed up his skin hurt his throat, but at least he felt like he could breathe again. The shock banished the tears as well, allowing a fragile sense of calm to return and relax his aching shoulders.

He switched off the water and left the shower, wrapping a towel around his waist. Once he was changed he'd pay a quick visit to the black lion and check on her systems, then return to the medical centre where Shiro was. He took his time getting ready, changing into the clean clothes Krolia had brought in for him from Black's cargo hold - deciding to forego his red jacket when he realised it was a bit tight across the shoulders now - and making a half hearted attempt to comb his fingers through his unruly hair.

Once he felt presentable and less emotionally unstable he ventured out of his room and headed down the corridor, navigating his way through the building from memory until he found a way out. The lions were in the plaza where they had landed, imposing figures as they sat in a circle, like they were discussing something of the utmost importance. Some olkari children were lingering nearby, staring up in awe at the magnificent robots and daring one another to get a little closer. They all saw Keith coming, but the paladin didn't have the energy to acknowledge them other than to flash an empty half smile, before heading straight for the black lion.

She bowed her head and opened her jaws to receive him, the children chattering excitedly as they watched, before their voices were drowned out by the mechanical whirring of Black's movements once Keith was inside.

"At least I know you'll still power up for me," he commented, sitting down in his seat and watching as the display screens flickered to life around him. He'd honestly had some doubts, and who could really blame him after what had recently transpired.

He'd been piloting the black lion since the castle had been infiltrated by Lotor's Generals, and he'd formed Voltron on several occasions since then. Before that he'd flown her consistently following Shiro's...disappearance, and even before that he'd piloted her to rescue Shiro from the lizard creatures when they'd both crash landed on that rocky planet. Everyone else believed it was because the black lion had chosen him as a paladin worthy of her power. Unbeknownst to them all, Keith was starting to have doubts.

There was one consistency they had failed to overlook, one single detail that Keith was now keenly aware of. The recurring factor every time he had flown the black lion...was because Shiro had not been able to.

On the rock planet Shiro's life had been in danger, so Black had allowed Keith to wield her controls in order to save her paladin, unable to manage on her own. When they had all tried sitting in her cockpit after the battle with Zarkon she had refused every one of them, until Keith had mentioned Shiro's name and expressed his own doubts. When black had answered by powering up, had it really been her? Shiro had been inside her the whole time, possibly watching or at least hearing what was going on. Who could say he hadn't influenced Black's decision, or convinced her that Keith was worthy?

Most recent of all, after their near fight to the death at Haggar's twisted clone factory, Black had swooped in to save them both and then activated her wings to get them back to the other lions in the near blink of an eye. Keith had summoned the strength to activate her hidden power only after he'd literally screamed for Shiro to help him, and then had the older paladin guide him in exactly what he needed to do. Keith was still convinced he'd been able to feel Shiro's hands gripping his own as he'd clutched at the controls.

So was he really worthy? Had the black lion genuinely accepted him as a pilot who deserved her power and respect, or was she just tolerating him until her true paladin was fit to return to the helm?

The screens in front of him gave Keith no answers to his questions, and he released a heavy sigh. His eyes shut and his head dropped back against the seat. He just needed a moment to gather his thoughts and decompress, and hopefully stop worrying about every little thing so he could focus instead on the positives. They'd been through hell, the whole team, but they'd all come out of it alive at the end. He should be grateful.

Okay, so Shiro had cheated death a little bit with the help of Black and Allura, but at least he was back now. Keith had a lot to be happy about. He had his mother, Kosmo his space wolf, his team, and the single most important person in his life had just been returned to him, again.

Yes, he was happy. But as he dwelled on everything that had happened since he'd returned to the castle of lions, Keith realised it was a lot more complicated than that.

The line between loving someone like family and something more was very hazy these days, and Keith didn't know how to handle it. He'd been honest with Shiro. Clone Shiro? Real Shiro? Keith wasn't sure, but the words he'd spoken had been genuine. He did love him, from the bottom of his heart and the depths of his soul. It was that love which had allowed him to connect with Shiro inside the black lion - Keith was sure of it.

But what was love really, when considering someone who wasn't family? Keith had referred to Shiro as his brother on multiple occasions, but had those words really done their bond any justice? Was it genuinely the kind of affection real siblings had for one another? Keith only had Pidge and Matt's interactions to draw comparisons from, and he wasn't sure if he and Shiro fitted into that same slot the way the Holt siblings did so naturally. It was obvious how much Pidge and Matt cared about one another, but when analysing his own feelings and thinking about the way Shiro spoke to and treated him, Keith had to wonder if he'd confused the meaning.

As if picking up on his thoughts, the black lion suddenly purred in his head and brought up a new screen in front of him, forcing Keith's eyes open so he could take in what she was showing him. He sat up straight when he saw it was a live feed from inside Shiro's room being projected to him. The black lion had accessed the olkari mainframe.

Keith felt himself smiling. He could have teased the black lion for snooping, but it was comforting to know that she was also thinking about Shiro, and more than likely missing him. It seemed that Keith wasn't the only one.

"I know you're worried, but he's in safe hands now. Ryner and her people will look after him. You can rest easy - the galra are too caught up in civil war to even consider coming near us here."

He relaxed back into his seat as Black continued to gently rumble in his mind, and watched as Laysha, the young olkari they had been introduced to earlier, assisted a more experienced physician as they made routine checks of Shiro's condition. One of Keith's hands moved of its own accord and zoomed in on the image, until Shiro's sleeping face filled the screen. He looked so calm and relaxed, though still completely washed out.

His white bangs hung down between his eyes, and Keith felt a sudden urge to reach forward and try to touch them through the screen. To see if Shiro's now full head of white hair was as soft as it looked.

Keith jolted in his seat and quickly closed the screen, trying to squelch the warm bubbling sensation that had started up in his stomach. He felt the faint rumble of the black lion's response rattle through him, and jabbed at some buttons on the console in retaliation.

"I came here to check on you," Keith muttered gruffly, irritated that a giant mechanical cat seemed to be getting to him with next to no effort. He wasn't about to give her another opportunity.

It wasn't until he caught himself running a third diagnostic on her systems that Keith realised he was now actively avoiding visiting Shiro again.

He had a lot to think about.

If you took the time to read this I hope you enjoyed it. Reviews are always appreciated but please be nice. I may continue this if I find the time and motivation.