Disclaimer: I don't own VLD!

A/N: I was listening to 'King and Lionheart' by Of Monsters and Men and Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat's 'Lucky' and thinking about Lance and past paladins, and this pretty much evolved from there. I'm sort of just bobbling around with it, but I thought it could be a neat project.

Updated 8.6.17: Edited to fit with what we learned about the original paladins from S3Ep7!

Whisper Across the Sea

Chapter 1

Lance drifted.

He floated on slow currents through a star-clad ocean, one that he had been in before. There were vague memories of being rushed into a healing pod after that last mission on Odera. Coran and Shiro had both looked panicked while they strapped him in, which wasn't a good sign. But the ocean around him was still deep blue and comfortable, not black and swirling in oblivion, so he was fairly certain he wasn't dying.

His wound was… Huh, he couldn't exactly recall what had happened to get him here. Was it important? Nah. Or at least is wasn't as long as it wasn't something dumb or embarrassing, like getting shot in the ass.

Letting go of his worry, Lance watched the starry night dance over his ocean, picking out familiar constellations. If he could find the right ones, maybe he could go home. Sailors could navigate using stars alone and that's all that was around him since each star above was reflected in the dark water. He was surrounded by a thousand paths that could lead to Earth, if he could only remember the way.

Or maybe he was just feeling a little existential and loopy and homesick. Maybe Coran had given him Altean drugs before popping him into the good ol' magic healing cocoon.

Damn, his life was so weird now. Awesome, but weird.

He spread out on the surface of the sea, the cool waves lapping at his skin. This place was peaceful and relaxing but it was lonely. There wasn't anyone to talk to or joke with or pester, and Lance thrived off of contact with people.

Something rough bumped against his back, and Lance put his arms down through the water to touch sand. Smiling, he dragged his fingers through the sand and flipped over, pushing himself up and out of the water.

"Hey, beautiful," he said to Blue, saltwater dripping from him as he walked toward her.

The waves had carried him to an island where Blue was laying, her head resting on crossed paws. Here in this strange healing dreamscape she looked like a real lion. Except she was twice the normal size and blue with starlight threaded through her fur. She purred like an old muscle car starting up when she saw him, the rumble growing louder as he walked toward her. Then she suddenly stood up and gently batted him with a paw, sending him tumbling back into the sand. It didn't hurt at all, but it was surprising.

"Whoa! Hey, what'd I do?"

Pouncing at him, she stood above him, one paw on his chest, pressing him into the sand so carefully, even though he was certain she couldn't actually squash him here. Not that she ever would. She lowered her head and looked at him intently. An image of him bloody and wounded on an alien battlefield flashed in his mind along with an intense sensation that he was being lovingly scolded for getting wounded.

Again.

Lance reached up and put his hand on Blue's nose. "Sorry, girl. I swear, I don't mean to keep freaking you out." He grinned apologetically and sat up, pressing his forehead against the lion's. "We have to stop meeting like this."

She huffed, and her warm breath blew threw his wet hair before she nuzzled him, bumping her head into his chest.

"I apologize, girl. I'll try and be more careful. No promises, though."

It was a male voice, edged with humor and a bit of chagrin. Lance looked up, wondering where it was coming from, but then he realized he hadn't heard it. He had…sensed it? It was like remembering someone speaking. "Blue?"

"Look, I'm sorry, but I'm not the only one that got hurt this time. What're we going to do about your poor tail?"

He realized it wasn't Blue talking.

It was someone who had apologized to her in the past.

"I said I was sorry. Really, really sorry? I mean it. Quiznak, stop giving me that look!"

The last one ended in a laugh and sounded like a girl. Bright and silvery, happy but tired. She must have been the person that piloted the Blue Lion from Altea to Earth.

"So, I'm guessing that's your way of telling me you've heard that before?" Getting into rough situations seemed to be a running Blue Paladin theme. One of their superlatives would be 'Most Likely to Find Themselves in a Bad Spot'.

Lance hugged Blue's neck, feeling a deep, ancient ache through their bond. She had loved those people just as much as she loved him, and she had lost them. "Those were your other paladins, right?"

Blue got up and then curled up around him. She laid her head in his lap, and he stroked her soft fur, wondering what the other blue paladins would have thought of him carrying on the legacy.

The last one, the girl…Coran hadn't mentioned her. She made it to Earth, didn't she? Why did she go there out of all the random planets in the universe? Was she Galra or Altean or did she belong to another alien race? Who was she? Her laugh had sounded young and weary. He knew the feeling.

Blue lifted her head and looked at him, their eyes meeting. It felt like his heart was falling through the stars, the rest of him following in a comet's trail. Blue didn't have a voice, but he knew what she was trying to tell him.

I'll show you, my paladin. Come with me.