Just a quick one-shot for our boi Lance's birthday. Enjoy!
If Lance could describe his emotional state at that moment, he would say that it was a cocktail of exhaustion, frustration and confusion.
For the past month or so, Voltron had been hopping from planet to planet, sometimes travelling non-stop for days to reach the next habitable one. Unfortunately, the loss of the Castle had not only deprived them of their beds and seemingly-endless supplies, but also their Wormholes. A journey that would have taken them just a few hours was now taking them weeks to complete. The upside was that they were travelling back to Earth. Sam Holt had the blueprints they needed in order to rebuild the Castle of Lions and regain their maximum strength and defences. Even better was that Allura had given the Paladins permission to visit any family and friends during their stop.
Lance had been ecstatic at first, but his excitement gradually dwindled as he thought about his family more. He wondered if his siblings would recognise him, if his Mama her son. The more Lance thought about it, the more he realised that he was now a different person to the boy who had left Earth all those months ago. Now he was far more cautious and less happy-go-lucky. His physical and mental strength had also increased substantially as a soldier. The biggest change Lance had noticed was that he smiled less. The smiles he put on for the team no longer reached his eyes. His face didn't dazzle like it used to. War had changed him. But would his family accept the changes? Lance was both impatient and not eager to return home. He was afraid to see them, but he also wanted to see them desperately. Hence his frustration.
But his confusion came from the slight detour that the team was taking. Instead of travelling the full day to Xianir to collect food and other supplies, they were taking an alternative route to Catara instead and adding an extra day to their journey. No reason was even given! All Keith said was: "We'll be stopping at Catara. Follow your coordinates." Then he cut off without an explanation! And here Lance thought the Mullet couldn't get any more annoying.
Red purred comfortingly in his mind.
"Sorry Red." Lance smiled as he patted Red's console. "It's just been a tough few weeks, you know?"
Red's growled with agreement. She hadn't had a good wash in ages and was now stained by the foreign goops she had come across. Lance patted her again sympathetically, silently promising to give her a good scrubbing once they reached Earth. Maybe he would even spoil her with a new coat of paint! The thought made her purr longingly and contentedly.
Red continued to swerve left and right, weaving through the asteroids like a needle. The other lions were just ahead. Green weaved in and out like Red. Yellow, on the other hand, was covered in small dents from where he had collided with smaller rocks. He was sure that, if the comms were on, he would hear Hunk grunting and screaming with every bump. Black and Blue simply flew around each rock, albeit slower than Green.
"Look alive everyone." Shiro voice echoed over the radio. "Catara's just coming up."
Lance urged Red to speed up slightly now that the asteroids had thinned out. Red swerved to the right to come up alongside the other Lions. However, just before Catara came into view, Red's screen blacked out completely.
"Huh!?" Lance yelped. "Red? What's going on!?"
Red sent reassurance along their bond, urging him to trust her.
"I can't see anything!" Lance protested. "I can't see where we're going! Red! RED!"
Red ignored his whines and proceeded to fly herself onwards.
"Guys?" Lance cried over the comms. "Red's not listening to me and she's flying herself somewhere!"
Silence was his only answer.
"Guys? What's going o-AAAAAAAHHH!"
Lance screamed when his entire body was suddenly forced back into his seat. His hands held the controls with a death grip as Red dipped and dived at high speed through the atmosphere. The horrific memories from the 'Look-Through-Your-Lion's-Eyes' from their first training session flashed before him as he envisioned the ground coming closer and closer! Lance closed his eyes and focused on his bond with Red, desperately trying to look through her eyes. Red denied his attempts and purred comfortingly again.
"IT'S HARD TO FEEL CALM WHEN YOU CAN'T SEE WHAT'S GOING ON!" Lance yelled at his stubborn Lion.
Red eventually slowed down and lifted up to land on the ground.
"Lance? You coming out buddy?"
Lance shivered in his seat, still gripping the steering rods tightly. With a shaky voice, he muttered: "Yeah, yeah, just coming out now."
Lance eased his stiff fingers open and stumbled out of his seat and down the ramp.
"What the heck just happened?" Lance asked everyone over the comms. "Did Red suffer a malfunction or something? I couldn't see a single thing through the…"
Lance froze at the bottom of the ramp as his annoyed ramblings faded. He drew in a shuddery breath as he tried to hold in a sob and a cheer with all his might. Catara's sky was dark, completely blanketed in black clouds. The view before his was dim and misty, but Red's eyes provided him with enough light to see what was before him. Lance's next step would land him in a puddle for Catara's sky was pouring large drops of rain onto the dirt and mud.
Lance blinked once, and then again just to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. He pulled off his gloves and chucked them back up the ramp so that he could hold out his hand and feel the water pooling in his palm. It was wet. And freezing cold. Just like the rain back on Earth. Lance giggled giddily and pulled off his helmet, also chucking it back up the ramp. He greeted the stinging on his face like an old friend. He could feel his hair grow heavy as drips hung on the ends of the strands. He looked up to the sky and saw how the falling drops blurred and distorted his view of the sky. And because he couldn't help himself, Lance closed his eyes and laughed cheerfully. The pattering of the rain was loud in his ears, but to him, they were as soothing and welcome as his Mama's lullabies or the dorky songs from the disco. His warm tears were a distinct contrast to the cold rain running down his cheeks.
"Hey, Tailor."
Lance slowly opened his eyes with the same smile still plastered on his face. His team were grouped together at the end of Red's ramp. Pidge and Hunk were huddled underneath one umbrella while Romelle, Allura and Coran shared another. Krolia, Shiro and Keith stood contentedly in the rain. Keith's Wolf was leaping from puddle to puddle and occasionally rolled around in the wet mud.
"It-it's rain!" Lance gasped tearfully. "It's actual rain! I thought I would have to wait until I got back to Earth to see it again!"
"Catara rains for most of its day." Coran explained. "I remember how much you missed the rain – the water type, of course, obviously not the rocky kind – so we thought we would take a small detour and hang around here for a while."
"Wow guys, I can't believe you did this for me. But why?"
Pidge and Hunk's eyes widened.
"You don't know?" Pidge blurted.
Lance shook his head.
"Lance, it's your birthday." Hunk said.
Lance's eyes widened, and his body shuddered with a chill that wasn't caused by the rain.
"My…my birthday?" He echoed.
Hunk nodded and held up his phone: 28th July, Lance's Birthday.
"My birthday." Lance repeated thoughtfully. "I hadn't realised so much time had passed."
"Neither had we." Hunk admitted as he put his phone back into his pouch. "It came up on my phone last week. We really wanted to do something for you since I obviously couldn't bake you a cake and we couldn't throw you a surprise party, so we looked for a planet with rain instead. Do you like it?"
Lance held up his hand again to feel the rain. His birthday. He thought about his poor Mama and siblings back on Earth. It was saddening to think that his family were celebrating his birthday without him being there, hoping and wishing desperately that he would return soon. Just past his hand, he gazed upon his quirky Space Family. Sure, they had some kinks to work out, but over the past few months, battles and laughs and near-death experiences had brought them all impossibly close. He loved them just as much as he loved his other family. He figured he could live with them until they returned to Earth. For now though, he felt like he could truly be happy.
"It's great." Lance gave them the first real smile in months.
Sorry if this seems sloppy, I just came up with it really quickly before the day ended. LAEAST should be updated soon. Also, who else is excited for Season 7 of Voltron!? They're finally going back to Earth! I'm excited to see more Shiro development, but I also hope that Lance and Hunk will get some background development as well. Also, I really want Lance's Altean broadsword to make an appearance in the new season. We didn't even see it last season!
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this quick one-shot. I'll see you next time my wonderful readers!
WarrynSparklegem
Bonus Scene:
Lance: DID YOU SERIOUSLY HAVE TO MAKE RED BLACK OUT THE SCREEN THOUGH!?
Keith: We wanted to keep this as a surprise!
Lance: OH **** YOU MULLET! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW ******* TERRIFIED I WAS!?
It was on this day that Keith wished he could run just as gracefully and steadily as Lance did in mud and rain.