You can choose to:

A) Work on one of your ongoing fics that you promised to update soon even though you really suck at keeping that promise

B) Do something productive with your life

C) This is the worst option, procrastinate on everything and start a new fic of an entirely different fandom because you have no self control

*aggressively chooses option C without hesitation*

Hey it's FandomQueen713 here with a Voltron fic! Surprise? It'll probably be a series of random moments so uh yeah, here.

I don't really have much to say, there's literally no plot and this chapter is a one shot taking place right after Season 6, Keith's POV. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: idk why i do this but hi, I own none of the characters, if I did there would be so many plotholes, let's be honest here

Keith fidgeted, grip tightening on the controls as he flew the black lion back to Earth.

This past year (or few years, Keith should say, considering he aged 2 more years than the rest of the paladins) had been chaotic. He found the mom that he'd despised so much for so many years, and now Keith could say without hesitation that he would die for her. Pidge Gunderson was actually Katie Holt, sister of Matt and daughter of Sam Holt. She too had found her family. Shiro, was- well, he'd disappeared on the Kerberos mission, forced to fight aliens in some sort of prison arena, made it back to Earth, got saved by Keith from being kept under experimentation or whatever, had to escape from his home planet because of an intergalactic war, died, had a bunch of clones take his place, got revived by Allura, revived without a muscular disease, and was currently in a healing pod. Keith's almost brother definitely deserved a break at this point. Allura was an alien princess who found out that her race wasn't dead, Coran was a butler who also had some kind of issue with buying things at a mall, Hunk Garret got an alien girlfriend!- though he'd totally deny it- and Lance? Lance had been through a lot too..

Keith swallowed hard, realizing the other paladins were silent too, seeing as he couldn't hear anything coming from them through the headgear. Keith cleared his throat, speaking calmly and clearly. After all, Keith was now the Black Paladin, he needed to fill Shiro's role so he could finally get a break.

"Everyone okay?"

"Definitely! I can't wait to see my moms once we get back!"

"Coran and I are doing well. I'm so excited to see Earth, you have all told me so much about it. Oh, and Coran wanted me to inform you that he is looking forward to seeing the rain there."

"I'm ecstatic! I can't wait until I start incorporating all the information I learned from the alien tech into devices back home and use it to take over the world." A pause. "You heard nothing."

There were a few chuckles over the intercom, and Keith gave a small smile to himself. He then stiffened for a second, realizing he hadn't heard one paladin's response.

"Lance? What about you?"

There was a long silence, and Keith couldn't help but turn the Black Lion slightly to make sure the Red Lion was still among the group. Luckily, it was.

"Yeah.. just-" His voice was sort of disappointed, before he cut himself off, forcing a blast of fake enthusiasm into his next words. "I'm great! All the ladies back on Earth are gonna be all over me."

Something was off..

"Pidge, Hunk, Allura, would you mind if you turned your mics and stuff off for a bit?" There were some murmured words in understanding, and then a few clicking noises indicating that they had done so.

"Lance, what's wrong?"

"...nothing."

"Cut it out, no one's here, just you and me. What's going on? I figured you'd be the most excited of all of us to go back."

"I am! Don't get me wrong, I'm really happy to be able to see my family again and let them know I'm okay. And I have so many adventures to tell them about! It's just.. I gotta leave after."

Keith said nothing, giving Lance a moment to take a breath and explain.

"This war isn't over. And we are not leading them to Earth, we can't. This is a temporary visit.. and that means I have to leave them again. Knowing I could likely not end up coming back. I'm not chickening out, I'm definitely coming back with everyone, you're all like my second family after all, I just- how am I supposed to come back and greet them knowing I have to leave again?"

"Enjoy it in the moment, don't worry about the future."

Lance let out an exasperated sigh. "I don't expect you to understand! I have to tell my siblings that I'm leaving them again. Willingly. You don't really have anyone or anywhere back home that you're leaving. You don't have annoying Veronica who's bratty and rude but also the most overprotective sister ever, who will and has beat up anyone who messes with her siblings. You don't have Marco who's a child at heart and smiles so brightly and always tries to brighten the day with laughs and jokes. You don't have Luis, who looks up to you and aspires to be you, who does everything he can to follow in your footsteps, and-"

"I don't need you telling me what I don't have, Lance. I don't have a huge family, you're right. I didn't have a place to really call home when I was on Earth. The only person I had back then was Shiro, and he left. But he's back now, and I have my mom again, and you know what? Yeah, I might die. But if I die, I'm going to die for them. For the people who haven't left, for random people on Earth and aliens on other planets who I don't know, who I'm fighting for. And if I die, it'll be to protect the rest of Voltron. And yeah, I might be leaving those I care about! But that's why I'm making every moment count."

Lance was quiet for a while, giving Keith a moment to think. Maybe he shouldn't have rambled like that, but he needed to make his point clear.

"Lance, your family would be proud of you. They are proud of you. You not only went to the Garrison to pursue your dream of being a fighter pilot, and got in, but now you're saving the universe. You're protecting them. Yeah, it's gonna be hard to leave. But tell them that you're leaving to do anything you can to keep them safe, and that you're going to try your hardest to get back to them. Veronica is proud of you for protecting your family like she did with your siblings and you. Marco is only able to keep smiling and laughing and sharing happiness because you're keeping everyone safe. And Luis? He's looking up to you more than ever, and he wants to make a difference too. Your parents are so glad for raising you to be such a great person, I promise you that much. And? You family is going to be even happier when you do get back. Because you will, I- all of Voltron has your back." Keith swallowed, trying to stop that choking sob in his throat that had come for no reason. "You aren't alone."

Lance was breathing heavily, soft sounds erupting unwillingly from him. "I'm scared, Keith."

"You can only be brave if you're afraid."

"I- thank you, Keith. I- I needed that. All of this. You." Lance coughed. "I needed you to tell me all of this. I'm, I'm okay. Or I will be, at least." He sounded a little better, stil off, but Keith trusted him.

"Anytime."

:) Hi I'm sleep deprived I wrote this at 3 am, went to sleep after, had to wake up at 6, and now 7 hours later I finally posted it. Hope you liked it, let me know if there's any moment or something you want me to write? This is kinda a trash fic but yeah, anyways,,

Favorite, follow, review, all that! I love criticism, as long as it's constructive!

~ FandomQueen713