Alarms blared throughout the castle, signaling the impending Galra attack. Lance's head swam. Zarkon. Lance had flown with him, had followed his orders as the head of Voltron; and he had faced him in his lion after the betrayal. A bright-eyed, long-haired girl in red and white armor filled Lance's vision—the red paladin. His mouth turned downwards in a scowl. Zarkon had not only betrayed the paladins; he had taken her from Lance. Every day after that had felt like an eternity. And before he could fully come to terms with her loss—with a universe without its brightest star, with Voltron without an arm—his father, King Alfor, was walking towards him and everything had blacked out. When he'd awoken, it was with the knowledge that 10,000 years had passed. What upset him more than anything else was that there was no one alive in the universe who remembered her. Every time she had put her life on the line to battle the forces of evil, and had ultimately sacrificed her life in the line of duty, and no one knew anymore, apart from himself, Allura, and Coran. She had no legacy. When they awoke, Allura had tried convincing him that that last part wasn't true, that there had to be people who celebrated her for the hero she was. But Lance knew better. In a totalitarian regime that spanned almost the entire known universe? A 10,000-year-old opponent of the emperor would most surely be forgotten. They'd be lucky if Voltron itself wasn't considered a fairy tale by now.

Lance's eyes flitted up to the unsuspecting ragtag group of Earthlings who'd shown up at the castle. Allura and Coran were leading them to their armor and bayards. Lance's gaze lingered on the boy in the red croptop jacket. He was pretty—with striking violet eyes and a sharp cut figure. Lance wasn't blind. But these thoughts were vague—buried under stronger feelings of instinctive dislike at the sight of him donning her armor. When it molded itself to fit Keith's body, Lance averted his eyes. This was wrong. No one could replace her. Lance put on his own armor and grabbed his bayard. He looked up in time to see Keith swinging his sword, and his stomach twisted. He knew his anger was misplaced, but Keith's soft smile at wielding the bayard, the lovely spark in his eyes as he felt it's power—it was all severely out of place. He must have been staring daggers because his sister threw him a concerned look. He gave her a small reassuring smile before pulling on his helmet. He'd have time to sort these feelings later. There was a battle to win.

a few months later

"Keith, that was highly irresponsible of you." Shiro was having a go at Keith's decision to face Zarkon alone.

"You ignored every one of Coran's warnings and went ahead," Allura added. "It was extremely foolish!"

Keith could acknowledge that Coran had been right about how powerful Zarkon was. But he stood by his decision to take a chance at attacking him when exposed. Had it worked, it would have been worth every risk. Keith was about to say as much, when Lance stormed into the room. The Altean prince had changed out of his armor and now wore his suit, coat tails flying out behind him as he advanced into the room. Keith felt the familiar flutter in his heart at the sight of his teammate. But then Lance started yelling—something he seemed to do a lot of at Keith—and Keith's face fell.

"What the quiznak were you thinking? Oh that's right. You probably weren't thinking. How stupid can you get, Keith? I know you're a dropout, but don't you have any brains?"

Anger flared in Keith. Who does he think he is? "I was thinking about my duty, Lance, you know, as a paladin of Voltron." He was yelling to match Lance's tone. "Zarkon was just standing there, completely exposed! I saw an opportunity and I took it." He was breathing hard. Being rebuffed by Lance hurt more than he'd care to admit, and right now, Keith wanted to hurt him back. "You're just mad that you've never done anything like that. You're over 10,000 years old dude! There's no need to be jealous of me."

"Jealous?" Lance was indignant. "You think I'm jealous of you?" He spit out every word like it was venom. He had completely invaded Keith's personal space by now, and his face was mere inches from Keith's. His voice dipped low, urgent and fierce, as if he needed Keith to understand. "How can you be so reckless? You don't know what it's like to lose someone you—" He cut himself off abruptly before he said too much. His face was alight with rage, and with another emotion that burned even more strongly. He'd felt that emotion before—centuries ago—and she had felt it for him too. To feel it again, now, for Keith… The realization shocked him into taking a few steps back.

Keith watched Lance leave the room. The moment he was gone and the doors slid shut again, Keith rounded on Allura. "What's his problem?" He realized he was yelling. He steadied himself with a deep breath. "How are we supposed to work together as a team when he hates me so much?"

Allura bit her lip, seemingly contemplating how to respond. Coran came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. He gave her a look so paternal and soft, Keith felt like he was intruding on a private moment. Then Coran turned to him, and said kindly, "Try not to take it personally, my boy."

"How can I not?" he demanded. "He's clearly got some problem with me. It's not just today. He's always at my neck, and finding excuses to pick fights with me!"

Allura found her voice; and when she spoke, it was with a sadness that went beyond words. "He doesn't hate you. My brother has his reasons for how he acts towards you, and those reasons actually have nothing to do with you." Her sad smile held regret. "I know that doesn't excuse his behavior, but I ask that you allow him some time to get over his…" She trailed off then resumed, "...to warm up to you."

All the fire was gone from Keith, replaced by curiosity. This story ran deep. "What happened?" he asked simply.

"It's not for me to tell," she replied. "But I do hope that, given some time, Lance will share that with you himself."

Her words left Keith with a lot less anger and a lot more intrigue than before. What was this guy's deal? Based on how sad Allura had seemed, it was something tragic. The thought of someone hurting Lance made Keith's heart ache. He wished there was something he could do. But if time was what Lance needed, that's what Keith would give him, even if the curiosity and the wait killed him.