Disclaimer – I don't own Voltron: Legendary Defender. This one-shot contains spoilers for season two. This is also written for prompt 8 of my 2017 prompts, the prompt being to write a story between 2,500 to 5,000 words. I'm still tossing around the idea that Keith and Shiro are biological siblings, particularly since I've got more material to work from and a wider range of options.

White Nightmare

Whiteness surrounded Shiro, his mind going a complete blank as he sank into beautiful nothingness. His head began to nod down, the last memory he had before everything whiting out being the turning of his bayard so the blazing sword could cut Zarkon down, and then nothingness. All of the painful emotions he felt over the last few months melted away into oblivion and someone projected the thought of resting into his head.

As he relaxed, his mind drifted to another memory, and his head jolted upright. "I forgot."

The last time he saw Allura and Keith together, the princess was giving the red paladin a dirty look. The look in Keith's eyes was the exact same look when they first met years ago, and Shiro knew what it meant. He felt his anger surging forward, and he found himself walking through the whiteness with a purpose, finding himself on the ship, clapping a hand on Allura's shoulder while they were alone. She turned around, her eyes bright, a much different look than she gave Keith.

"Shiro!" Her smile faded. "What's the matter""

"I wish you'd stop giving Keith a hard time." The words came out of Shiro's mouth unbidden.

Allura's facial features twisted into deep ire. "This is none of your business."

Shiro's jaw set firmly, his dark eyes glaring into Allura's crystal blue ones as he started to develop a dislike for the princess. "Keith's done nothing to deserve your ire."

If Keith had done something to deserve Allura's ire, Shiro knew the younger teen would have done anything to regain the Altean princess' trust to prevent her from abandoning him, but in this case, he'd done nothing. He knew how much her ire was eating Keith up inside, but he should have also known Allura's temper. "Nothing? He's Galra."

"He's also human." With the human side came very human emotions.

"That doesn't change the fact the Galra killed my family, destroyed my people." She then said something which stung deeply. "You don't know what it's like to hate someone that much."

"Actually, I do." Shiro narrowed his eyes at the princess. "I hate him far more than I had the Galra."

"And who would that be?"

"Keith's father."

Shiro felt himself being pulled away at the point, yanked around his bellybutton. A groan escaped his lips as he found himself floating on his back in the middle of whiteness. A familiar voice echoed in his ear. "So, this is really about me, isn't it?"

The black paladin felt his blood grow cold, as his head turned to look at the familiar face. His dark eyes widened, remembering how much he hated those dark eyes, dark hair, firm jaw, scared face and a scruffy beard. A shudder ran down his spine, not liking the fact looking at that person was like looking in the mirror at himself. "That's why I never grew a beard."

"Well, Keith must have picked up on it. He did imprint on you rather quickly. Shouldn't that have been a clue to you that something was up, that he used that word of all things? To him, imprinting is done because something is similar to yourself." The man walked forward, his hands shoved into his pocket. "Or did you not want to know?"

Shiro took a deep breath. "I'm fine with the fact Keith is Galra."

He found himself in the Castle of Lions and felt a hand placed on his shoulder, making him turn to look at Allura. "Why can't you?"

The memory of him hugging Keith right before they went on their missions came fluttering back, and he realized he was preparing to go on the lion. It had been a very long time since the two shared a hug, and it made him feel really good to have that kind of intimate contact. Now, Allura was ruining that moment by approaching him with anger in her eyes. "Allura…"

"How can you hug him as if he weren't keeping a secret from you this entire time?"

"Keith is family."

"I know that you and he are like brothers, but how can you defend him?"

"Allura, Keith and I aren't like brothers, we are brothers!"

It was then that Shiro found himself falling, the gut wrenching emotions which came with the falling sensation making him want to vomit. Soon, though, the whiteness gave way to another memory. One of the members of the fringe group they were trying to form an alliance with had Keith on the ground, and the feeling of panic that someone might hurt his brother set in, and yet there on the tip of his tongue he'd not been able to say it.

"No. You were too busy focused on the mission to realize what Keith really needed." The voice of that man floated there just as the knife came out, and the panic of finding out about the knife he'd never known about sunk in. Yet, he knew Keith wouldn't lie about such a thing, so why was he in such shock, so unable to defend Keith at that moment when he needed him most. "See. You didn't want to know about Keith's mother. You do hate the fact he's Galra."

"No!" Shiro would have covered his head with his hands if he weren't stuck in another memory, this time of watching his fake self. The memory of Keith saying they were like brothers, not actually were brothers. His hand trembled as everything faded to whiteness.

"See, you do hate the fact Keith is Galra, not that you wouldn't admit that to him. Anything that might potentially hurt him, you avoided telling him. Like about me, and you."

"Shut up!" This time Shiro did manage to cover his head with his hands. "I don't need to hear this from you!"

"But you do. You don't hate the fact Keith is Galra because you hate the Galra. No, you hate the fact Keith's mother is Galra because she isn't your mother. All this time, you've been in denial about the fact you two don't share the same mother. And why? Because you fear he might reject you? Isn't that the real reason you didn't tell him the truth!"

Shiro spun around then, his hand slashing the air. "I didn't tell Keith because I didn't want his adoration of you replaced with complete and utter loathing like it was for me! So what if I can't handle the fact you cheated on mom! That has nothing to do with Keith! That's got to do with you, and his mom!"

"So, there are two people you hate. You hate me, you hate his mother. You hate anyone who tries to hurt that precious baby brother of yours. In fact, right now you're hating Allura. Unlike her, you don't group all people into one group with your black and white thinking. You can never forgive someone who's ever hurt Keith, can you."

Shiro shrunk back, the words stinging.

"That's why you can't go back. Things between you had finally gotten to the point where Keith was willing to physically touch you again, because he'd dealt with the issues that surfaced because of your jaunt into space, and yet there was still the fact you knew something that you can't tell him. The fact he thinks of you like a brother is getting to you."

"Keith and I are brothers."

"Are you? If you really thought that, why didn't you tell him."

"I told you. I didn't want to see him disappointed in you."

"Or is it that you don't want him disappointed in you? See, the way I see it is, he's already disappointed in me because I abandoned him. Isn't what's really going on here the fact you don't want him to think you abandoned him, that you are a disappointment to him?"

"What…"

"Hush. Children should listen to their elders Takashi." The man stepped closer, making Shiro flinch as their faces became inches apart. "You didn't tell him in the first place because you didn't want him to think you abandoned him as well and was only stepping in because of some brotherly obligation."

"No. I didn't know about Keith until you died."

"But still, you didn't want him to think you knew. Self-centered much. And am I really dead? Nobody, people telling you I'd walked out on him like you."

"See! I didn't want Keith to think that!"

"That's not very sound logic!"

"It's a lot easier to handle the idea of you walking out because there's something important you need to do rather than you taking off with a third woman!"

"But what about now? Doesn't that put you in the same boat as Allura, who didn't tell you that Zarkon was the black paladin?"

"Stop. I'm not concerned with what Keith thinks of me."

"Then why did you pretend like nothing was wrong, even going full military mode on him rather than giving him the affection you know he needed, craved even. You ignored him."

Shiro felt himself sinking, unable to say anything in retort. His eyes drifted to the ground. "That doesn't matter. Keith needs me."

"No, he doesn't. When did you start realizing your little brother no longer needed you? At the trial? No, when he ended up rescuing you. It's not Keith that needs you, you need him. You need him to need you. That's the real reason why you prepared him to take over. You knew you would be fading away like this."

A laugh escaped Shiro's lips. "What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about. You were questioning not that long before that whether you were a monster, or whether the strongest part of you was that Galra arm of yours. Why?"

"You tell me."

"What is your purpose Takashi."

"My…" Shiro felt like throwing up, panic setting in. "No. It wasn't an issue of being a monster, or the Galra arm being the strongest part. No, it's the fact Keith's grown up, and I've served my purpose." The black paladin felt a tear drift down his face.

"Isn't Keith going to go look for his mother now?"

"I'm his parent! Not either one of you who abandoned him!" Suddenly, Shiro felt like he was drowning. The memory of a thought which kept pounding in his mind, keeping him sane while with the Galra lurched forward. The drive to keep him going was the fact he was a parent to Keith, taking care of everything. He went to parent teacher meetings, to school productions. Everything.

"Come now. You've been slowly dying inside, emotionally that is. That's why the urgency to make sure there was some kind of contingency plan came about, to have Keith take over as leader of Voltron. You didn't know how much longer you could last. The only other purpose you had left was taking out Zarkon. Now, you have nothing."

"I…"

"Let's face the fact your fighting spirit is gone."

The sinking feeling continued to grow. "Because I have no purpose." Shiro's eyes closed. "I've also been lying to myself, trying to pretend I'm Keith's stability in life. That's why I hate his mother. Obviously, she had reason to leave, unlike you. But it's because her not being mine, it makes me feel like I'm less a part of Keith. I've…"

A thought flickered through his mind. "You know, I actually don't hate her. You, yes, but her." A laugh escaped his mouth. "She took off, yes, but how is that any different from a parent on Earth going off to fight in a war. I just wish…" Shiro's eyes blinked a few times. "… that she could know how wonderful her son turned out."

The man still glared at him, his arms crossed this time. "Yes, but it's Keith's purpose to find her."

"Yeah, but he can't tell her what she missed and gave up on to keep her safe. Only I can do that. Only…"

Shiro's eyes opened, coughing as he did so, his entire body aching. His vision was fuzzy, and he saw a figure in front of him. His body was against the hard ground, telling him that he wasn't in the lion. "Keith, I need to tell you…" His eyes blinked as the figure came into view, his breath drawing short. "You…"

"You're awake." Matt Holt smiled down at him. "They'll be pleased to know. Your little brother's not here, by the way."

The black paladin looked around, noticing he was in a bedroom, stripped of his paladin uniform. His dark eyes blinked. "Where am I?"

"A rebel stronghold."

Shiro's eye widened as he heard the voice, and his head turned slightly to see the man standing there. "No…"

"Takashi…"

"Not you." The black paladin shuddered as saw the man leaning up against the wall. He found he could only move his head, his body not wanting to function properly.

"Is that any way to greet your old man?"

"Fuck you."

The man sighed, before moving forward. Matt's lips pushed together, but he stayed near his friend. The man leaned over, patting Shiro on the cheek. "You're so lucky we got you out of whatever situation you were in. It was as if some major electrical current ran through your body."

"It did." Shiro looked up at the ceiling. "And I don't want to talk to you."

"What's up with that armor your friend and I removed."

The black paladin flinched, realizing he was no longer dressed in his regular clothing, but instead nightclothes. He turned his head to glare at the man. "I didn't ask you for help."

"What's with all of the animosity?"

"Why don't you tell him, Matt?"

"You mean the fact he abandoned you and Keith on planet Earth. Yeah, there is good reasons for the animosity."

The man sighed, leaning back. "She should be back soon with the healing supplies. As soon as we let her know we succeeded in transporting you, she left leaving us to get you into this room."

"Who are you talking about?" Shiro looked the man in the eye, wondering if he were dreaming. The door to the other room creaked open.

"Ah, well, she's here."

The black paladin tilted his head, his breath drawing tightly at the sight of a Gaara female. Except, in this particular case her features appeared to have some Altean traits. Her hair, for example, was white, and her eyes lacked the yellow glow. Instead, they reminded him of Allura's crystal blue ones. Her ears were also pointed like an Altean Her mouth broke out in a smile as she carried over her basket, walking with major grace. Shiro's eyes closed, his breath drawing in tightly with the pain his body was in. "Takashi. It's good to see you awake."

"You're Keith's mother." He felt Matt move from his side on the bed, only for someone else to take his place.

Soft hands reached out to touch his face. As a member of the Blade of Marmora, he couldn't help but not hate her, knowing everything she went through, and yet there was still some problem. "You don't recognize me Takashi."

"Should I?" Shiro heard the man clear his throat.

"Perhaps this would help?" The hands pulled away for a few minutes, only to tap his face when he didn't open his eyes. "Takashi…"

Shiro's eyes snapped open, noticing the color of her face having shifted from purple to a human color. His eyes narrowed. "You…"

"You also died your hair, and used it to cover your ears."

The black paladin took a deep breath. "Oh god. No."

His eyes snapped closed. "Something the matter?"

Shiro's jaw clenched shut, not wanting to say something. Only, he needed to. "How did I get here?"

"We used an Altean device to pull you to safety."

The black paladin's stomach lurched. "But how did you do that? You can't just randomly do that?"

"Mother's instinct. The bond between mother and child carries a lot of power for an Altean able to use magic. I knew you were in some kind of trouble the last year, and when Matt told me you'd been taken prisoner with him, I knew I needed to do something. So, I gathered material to build the device to pull you out. We're lucky that your brother is still on Earth."

"You mean the brother who thinks I'm like a brother, not that I'm really his brother?" Shiro's eyes opened, looking the woman in the eye. "And you've not sensed him in trouble?"

He watched her eyes widen, almost as if he must be joking. "Your brother is always in trouble, doing crazy things like jumping off high shelves and such. He's simply up to normal teenage hijinks."

"Keith found the blue lion." Shiro looked her in the eye. "That's your lion, isn't it? Or was."

"How?"

He could see her worry growing. "I'll tell you if you tell me if Keith's okay."

"He is. I felt him in danger at the same time as you, but he's safe now."

"Yeah, and what possessed you to give a child a blade to a secret society."

"You are the eldest, so by tradition, you inherit your father's legacy, which means your brother as the second born inherits… wait." Her breath drew in deep. "Don't tell me…"

"What's going on?" The man spoke up

"Is Keith the pilot of the blue lion?" Her voice strained.

"Red, now black as something's happened to me."

"And he took the trial?" Her voice strained even more.

"What do you think?"

"Why didn't you stop him!"

"Stop Keith?" Matt piped up. "There's no stopping Keith when he puts his mind to something. Shiro goes, 'Keith, no' and Keith pushes back with 'Keith, yes' until he gets his way."

"That's beside the point. Your brother is still a child. The thing he should be worried about at this age is having a crush on a girl, but also whether it will turn out okay."

"Keith's not…" Shiro felt his entire body run cold. Things kept getting worse. "Oh quiznack. Let me wake up from this nightmare. It's got to be one of those crazy quantum realities Slav goes on about, except it's one of those realities where something weird is going on where I find out both my parents are alive, but that Keith and I have by chance the same parents, which is why I avoided telling him the quiznack that I'm his brother. He also manages to start noticing girls at one of the weirdest moments ever, but it also has to be a girl who just so happens to hate Galra, and since she knows he's part Galra, she hates him. Quiznack, can this get any worse?"

He honestly wondered if it could.