Been awhile since my last effort at writing for this show. Hope I've improved since then. Enjoy!


It was difficult for Keith to feel the same excitement about returning to Earth as the other paladins. They all had families to return to. They all had a place on the blue rock they could call home. He had an empty shack occupied only by memories of sad and lonely times. His mother, who he'd only recently got to know, had to leave him once again for the greater good. He accepted this and respected her decision, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to miss her. His father had long since passed away, and that was the extent of the family that was known to him.

Over time, he had come to think of the paladins and Blade of Marmora as his family. However, the blades were no longer with him, nor was his only tie to them. And seeing the other paladins so eager to return to their real families wasn't making him feel any better.

"Has it been a year yet?"

"Even if it had been, we still wouldn't be there, Lance." You could hear the eye roll in Pidge's voice.

"I'm just so bored! My brain is going to fossilize before we even get there."

"Your brain would have to be dead first, Lance." Hunk sounded cheerful despite the long journey ahead of them.

Keith's less than joyful mood didn't stop him from adding: "Well, then he's on the right track."

"HEY! Don't be upset with me just because by the time we get to Earth, your emo haircut will be about a decade out of style."

Shiro sighed, forever their leader even without a lion. "Alright you two. Bickering isn't going to make us get there any faster."

"Shiro's right. Why don't we find a more constructive way to pass the time?" Allura wracked her brain for something that wouldn't cause an argument. This was difficult. Tensions were high as they essentially drifted through space towards a very distant destination. They all spoke so highly of their home that even she was getting impatient to see it. Of course, that's it!

"Why don't you tell us more about Earth? Coran and I have heard some of your stories, but we've never had time to discuss it at length. And Romelle hasn't heard anything at all."

"I'm glad you asked, princess. Allow me to fill you in on the best planet in the Milky Way." Lance's flirtatious smile resonated through the comm.

"…Milky…Way?"

Keith tuned out the laughter and talk of Earth to return to his sulking. Even aliens who had never been anywhere near the planet were more eager to get there than he was. He'd never say it aloud, but part of him wished he would have gone with his mother and left the black lion to whoever could handle it. It would have been an extremely selfish move, and the second time he'd abandoned Voltron completely. He wasn't proud of these thoughts. That's why he kept them to himself.

Wolf sat in the cockpit behind him, grooming himself. He'd outright refused to let the other paladins name him Kosmo. It was his pet after all. Or rather, his friend. He'd been much too helpful and loyal to be considered just a pet. Keith left his seat momentarily to scratch the space canine behind the ears. Maybe Wolf was part of his family. His mother had loved the beast just as much as he did. That counts for something.

Suddenly, Keith heard shouting behind him. Returning to his seat, he quickly prepared himself for the worst.

"What's wrong? Are we under attack?"

Collective laughter followed. Keith felt a little embarrassed.

Shiro filled him in. "Everything's fine. Pidge detected a planet nearby with an atmosphere similar to Earth's and we've decided to stop there for a short break."

Coran chimed in. "It will give the lions a much needed rest too. Not to mention I'm starting to feel my legs cramping up."

"Don't worry, Coran. That's normal for older Altean's. Have you ever had the slipperies?" Romelle's comment sounded innocent but had sent Coran into a dramatic spiel about how age is only a number, only causing more laughter at his expense.

As they changed their course towards their new destination, Keith felt a little more at ease. It would be nice to get out of the cockpit, and Wolf could probably use a good run. Hopefully he could find something on this new planet to throw for him.

Lance's voice broke him out of his positive thoughts. "We won't be there for long, right? Sitting around on some rock is only going to prolong the time before we get home!"

"It's a tropical planet. We'll be landing on a beach." The green paladin smirked.

"Well….I guess that's cool. But we-"

"Oh! I should be able to extract some bathing suits from the castle in its current state. We can all go for a swim!"

A few beats, and then a reply from Lance. "Are we there yet?"

Pidge and Hunk laughed and soon the aforementioned planet was in sight. As they descended, Keith could see that the green paladin had been correct. Sandy shores and miles of water everywhere the eye could see. A little vegetation was also visible, but not much in terms of animal life. Or any native intelligent species. A shame that such a nice place was uninhabited. Places like this on Earth were often overcrowded.

They brought their lions down and everyone piled out, taking in the fresh air that seemed very reminiscent of Earth. Keith watched as Wolf went to get a drink from the water. He turned to Pidge.

"Is the water safe?"

"Yep. Totally drinkable."

"And swimable! Allura, bring on the bathing suits!" Lance earned himself friendly eye rolls from the rest of the paladins (or maybe not in Keith's case) with his shameless pursuit of seeing the princess show some skin. She seemed a bit oblivious and obliged, taking the crystalized castle from Coran and closing her eyes to focus her energy.

Keith strayed away from the group to join Wolf at the waters edge, getting a drink for himself. Pidge had been right. The water tasted normal. Not that he'd had water from Earth in a while, but the water the castle of lions had provided was pretty similar. He stared off into the horizon, looking for any other landforms. All he saw were rolling waves and a blue sky. If he didn't know better, he'd have thought they had already arrived on Earth.

He almost didn't hear Shiro come up behind him, joining him at the shore with a smile. "Thinking about something?"

Keith almost felt guilty that he hadn't thought about Shiro when trying to piece together a family in his head. "Not really."

"Right." Shiro turned his attention to the horizon too. "You missing your mom?"

"Yeah."

"She'll be alright. She's tough, like you."

"I know."

The older man turned to him again, studying him. "Anything else?"

"I'm fine, Shiro."

He felt a hand on his shoulder, turning to meet Shiro's eyes for only a second. That look had always gotten him to tell the truth. Shiro had plenty of years to master it back at the Garrison.

"I just feel weird about going back to Earth. Everyone else has someone waiting for them there. I don't."

Shiro had to think for a moment on how to phrase his reply. He sighed. Keith wasn't exactly wrong.

"That doesn't matter. Just because you don't have any family on Earth doesn't mean you don't still belong there. All of us are your family too, and we aren't going to just abandon you once we get there. We have a mission there. And even if the others go off to visit with their families, I'll still be with you. And did you forget about the three Altean's with us?"

Trying to hide an obvious smirk, Keith imagined himself leading the three aliens through an Earth city, showing them how humans live. Shiro beamed, happy that he'd been successful in at least giving Keith something to smile about. The younger man nudged him with his shoulder.

"Sure you won't be spending time with someone else?"

Shiro's smiled faded, and Keith worried he'd said something he shouldn't have.

"Adam was very upset with me when I left for Kerberos. I'm sure after I was presumed dead for so long that he's moved on."

"Maybe, but I know he'll still be happy to see you. He actually came by to see me a few times after you disappeared."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Keith scratched the back of his neck, feeling guilty for not bringing this up sooner. "He knew how upset I was about it. After I dropped out, he found my shack. It was nice to talk with someone else who was close to you. He seemed to really miss you."

Letting that sink in, Shiro let his mind drift back to the good times he'd had with Adam. Even if they couldn't pick up where they left off, maybe he'd still be interested in seeing him again.

Coran ruined their moment, slapping his arms around the pair and startling them. "What're you two standing around for? Come get into your water suits and see who's the fastest swimmer!"

The Altean man tossed them both their suits, Keith having not seen it since the time he and Lance had gotten stuck in the elevator shaft. Not the most pleasant memory. Coran had dragged Shiro away with talk of his supreme swimming technique, so Keith returned to his lion to change. Although he wouldn't say swimming was his favorite pastime, anything would be a nice change from piloting and fighting.

Slipping into the suit, he noticed how pale he was. Keith was never one to care about how he looked much, but they definitely hadn't had time for tanning at any point during the war. Pidge had mentioned something about this planet having multiple sun-like stars, so hopefully he wouldn't burn. Stepping back outside, he felt the hot sand on his feet. He looked to where Pidge and Hunk had started to build a sand castle, Romelle watching and looking curious as to why this was a human custom.

Coran had already begun to demonstrate his supposedly superior swimming technique. He dove in and out of the water like a dolphin, admittedly gaining a lot of speed. Allura cheered him on, and Keith realized he hadn't seen her with her hair down since she became a paladin. He could see why Lance liked her. She radiated beauty and joy.

The older Altean emerged from the water, taking a bow. "Alright, Shiro. Top that."

"I don't know if I can, especially with no prosthetic, but I'll try. Let me stretch first."

Keith stopped dead in his tracks. He'd been too distracted with other things to mentally prepare himself for seeing Shiro in a bathing suit. He looked away, then back again, shame engulfing him. He felt guilty doing things like this. When he'd been younger in the Garrison, he looked up to Shiro and appreciated all he did for him. Standing up for him and encouraging him to do better. But as he came of age in his early teens, he'd noticed that he wasn't interested in girls. And thus, being around Shiro had been… difficult.

It was no secret that Shiro was an attractive guy, but Keith had felt weird checking out someone who looked at him like a younger brother. Of course, his raging hormones hadn't made it easy to ignore, and he did catch himself looking from time to time. Luckily, he couldn't recall Shiro ever noticing it. Eventually his little crush faded away and he was able to appreciate Shiro for his guidance and friendship once more, only occasionally jealous of Shiro's blossoming relationship with Adam.

Now, seeing him in swim trunks and stretching his muscles was causing those hormones to flare up again. Keith allowed his eyes to trace down the older man's lethal jaw to his broad shoulders. His missing arm and plentiful scars took nothing away from his appearance. He wore it with pride. Keith continued downward to his amazing pecs and abs that would make any man squirm with jealousy (and in this case, delight). The real show stopper was revealed when Shiro turned away to face the water and bent down to touch his toes. Keith's shame reached new heights as he blatantly stared at his mentors perfectly sculpted rear end. He was sure his face was redder than any sunburn could ever make it. As embarrassing as it was to admit, he'd definitely checked out this beefy posterior at least once since they'd been in space. He couldn't help himself, and Shiro's choice of pants weren't the loosest.

Suddenly, Keith felt himself being sprayed with a cold substance. He let out a small shriek and turned to find a chortling Lance holding some sort of spray bottle.

"Pidge made this sun blocking serum for us to wear while we're here. Thought you'd probably want it, you looked like you needed to cool down."

Keith softened his glare, only slightly. "Thanks."

"So, whatcya looking at?"

"Nothing." He realized how guilty that sounded but crossed his arms as if annoyed with the question anyway.

Lance's sly smirk didn't bode well for him. "That didn't look like nothing to me." He followed where Keith had been staring and found Shiro doing his last stretches. "Checking out Shiro's goods, huh?"

"I was not!" His angry retort fell on deaf ears. Lance continued to smirk.

"That's just what someone caught in the act of ogling would say."

Knowing his face was still red and sufficiently embarrassed at this point, Keith turned away from his fellow paladin. "Just leave me alone."

The Cuban boy came to stand beside him. "Relax, Keith. I won't say anything. Not like anyone would blame you. He's quite the sight."

Keith glanced at him, expression softening a bit. Was Lance genuinely agreeing with him? He wasn't great at reading social cues, and Lance could very well have been joking.

"You won't tell?"

"Have I ever lied to you before?"

"You've definitely taken any chance to make fun of me."

"So have you!"

Keith crossed his arms again. Lance sighed and continued.

"I won't say anything. But like I said, I don't think it would matter anyway. It's not your fault he's hot. I mean, he's no Allura. But I definitely wouldn't mind cozying up to him either."

The black paladin couldn't believe Lance admitted that so casually. Was he the weird one for keeping thoughts like this to himself? "Really?"

"Totally."

Keith felt his embarrassment fade as he made himself comfortable with the fact that Lance had just discovered he was into guys, and didn't seem to care. Did Lance's comments mean anything about his own sexuality? Or was it just something he'd said in the moment? Keith turned his attention back to Shiro, who had swam out to a sandbar he hadn't noticed earlier. Coran and Allura were in pursuit. With his mood slightly better after his conversation with Shiro and now Lance, he turned to the latter and smiled.

"Race you to the sandbar?"

"You read my mind."


Reviews follows and favorites are always appreciated. This story is also being posted on my AO3 account. Next chapter coming soon :)