Chapter 1
Her eyes scanned the page over and over again. Try as she might she couldn't even finish one page, let alone the entire chapter, not with Shiro talking up a storm as he went from room to room. With a sigh, she closed the book with a light snap and placed it next to her before adjusting her sitting position to crisscross. She leaned forward, placing her elbows on her knees as she watched him move about the apartment.
He was busy packing and she was doing her best to keep her mind off things. That was what the book was for, but a lot that was. Here he was, talking and talking and talking about the trip. What he would be doing, what he hoped to see, and space and space and space. She was happy for him, putting on a brave face. Today was a day that she had been dreading for months now. It was the day they wouldn't see each other for who knows how long. Months? Years? Just the thought of it made her heart constrict in fear and anxiety.
"Do you have to go?" she finally spoke, standing up from her seat and walking over to him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face into his back.
"Lyra," he sighed, placing a hand over hers. He smiled lightly when he felt her arms tighten around him. Turning around, he looked down at her giving her a reassuring smile as she stared up at him. "I'm going, you know that."
"I know," she said, rolling her eyes before bringing them back to look at him. "I can't stop you. You've always wanted this. You've always wanted to travel and explore and now's your chance." She paused taking a deep breath before blowing it out in a huff. "It's just I'm going to miss you, Shiro."
"I'm going to miss you too, gorgeous," he said, placing a kiss on the top of her head. He smiled down at her and brushed a strand of her honey colored hair off her forehead. "It's just a quick mission to gather information about the moon and bring back some samples. It's nothing dangerous."
Lyra shifted her gaze to stare at their feet. She knew it was a simple mission, he had said it more than once since he got the assignment, but it still didn't stop her from worrying.
It had been years since Shiro had gone to the Garrison and graduated. Now here he was, an officer and preparing for his first mission out into space, something he had been dreaming about his whole life. She couldn't stop him no matter what she said.
"Well you guys are just collecting ice from what you've told me so that's the least likely thing to be dangerous," she commented lightly, trying her best to lighten the mood, more so for herself than for Shiro. But it did work on him, she got a chuckle out of him.
"Like I said, it's nothing dangerous," he stated, rolling his eyes at his girlfriend.
"I know, I know." She glanced up at him with a smile before returning her gaze back to the ground. Her attempt at cheering them both up worked only for a moment before the tension from earlier returned, her heart clenching in her chest.
The expression on her face didn't go unnoticed by the dark-haired man. "I'll be back before you know it," he said. He lifted her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes as he gave her one last smile before letting her go and starting to pack his bag once more. Zipping up the small duffle bag he glanced over his shoulder with a smirk. "If you're so worried you should have joined the Garrison when I did."
The light colored haired rolled her eyes with a huff. "And have to face my mom hovering over my shoulder and having me follow in her footsteps? I don't think so."
This made Shiro laugh. "She's not that bad, Lyra. She's an excellent medic and she just thought it was something you'd like."
"Sorry," she replied, shaking her head. "I'd rather get the chance to write a story about what happens in the Garrison than experience them. Journalism is much more fun in my opinion. Speaking of, I'll be expecting an interview with the pilot from the Kerberos mission." She grinned up at her boyfriend which resulted in a chuckle from him.
"I think I can arrange that," he said, grabbing the car keys off the counter. "Come on, I have to get going." He slung an arm around her shoulder as he led her out of the apartment. "You'll get to watch the takeoff, you know."
"I think you've told me this before," she laughed, closing the door behind them. "Let's go, pilot."
ooO0Ooo
She stared at him as he walked into the room, pilot suit and all. He had a bright smile on his face as he walked over to her and she couldn't help but smile with him. She could feel the knot in her stomach tightening with each step he took towards her. She was going to miss him. She was going to miss seeing him every day and talking with him. However, she was beyond happy for him. He was finally going into space just as he had always talked about.
Her smile grew bigger.
"You look great, Shiro," she said as soon as he reached her. "The uniform looks good on you. It suits you."
"You think?" he asked, chuckling lightly with a sheepish grin as he rubbed the back of his neck. The grin softened to a lighter smile as he stared down at the woman. "I'm going to miss you, Lyra."
"I'm going to you too, Shiro," she said as she wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his stomach.
"I'll be back before you know it," he said, kissing her. He grinned down at her. "Wish me luck."
"Good luck, pilot. You'll do great," she said, laughing as she smiled up at him.
"I love you, Hoshi," he said, placing one last kiss on her forehead.
She looked up at him when he pulled away from her. "You're never going to tell me what that means, are you?" she asked, rolling her eyes.
"Maybe I'll tell you when I get back, and we can start planning our wedding," he said with a wink before dropping a kiss to her forehead and he slowly backed away from her, offering her a wave and smile before he exited through a door as a voice over the intercom called for Shiro and the other two explorers to head for the loading dock.
Lyra stood there, frozen and wide eyed as she watched him walk through the door.
She couldn't move.
She couldn't think.
What had he just said? Did she hear him right? Did he just propose?
She blinked. Her heart was pounding. Breath was coming out ragged and she rushed to the wall of floor to ceiling windows that overlooked the launch pad. She wanted to pound on the glass and shout his name, demanding an explanation, for him to repeat himself. But she held her tongue. It was no use.
He said that and now he was leaving her for who knows how long!
Her heart clenched as she waited. Any minute now she'd be watching the spacecraft leave. She didn't know if she could watch anymore, knowing that her fiancé(?) was about to go up into space.
Soon the large room was quickly filled with chatter of excitement as cadets began filing in. Many began shoving their way into the room trying to be front and center to watch the takeoff while senior officers stood to the back to avoid the rowdy teens. Their voices grew louder and louder as they all began talking over each other with their friends. Some were still in their cadet uniforms and others were in casual wear. It was a sea of orange and other colors thrown together.
A woman and a young girl stood a few feet away from Lyra, both at the front with a clear view of the launch pad. The girl practically had her face pressed into the window, a wide smile on her face.
"Do you think Dad and Matt will bring me back a sample?" she asked, looking up at her mom with bright, shining eyes.
The mom could only laugh lightly as she shook her head. "I don't think so, sweetie. They're getting them for the Garrison. You know that."
They must be the family to the other two pilots Lyra guessed. It brought a small smile to her face as she watched the young girl practically bounce with excitement as she stared out the window, ready to watch the launch.
The light-haired woman brought her gaze back to the window, doing her best to drown out the noise all around her. Her smile had fell and she took a deep breath to try and calm her nerves.
He'll be back before you know it. she thought to herself, doing her best to ease her worries.
The sound of engines starting up and the large cloud of smoke coming from the launch pad brought the woman's attention to the ship. Her eyes widened as she watched the engines light up and the rocket ship began to slowly rise off the platform.
She felt her heart clench once again as tears begin to pool in her eyes. Her eyes followed the rocket ship as it rose further and further into the sky, slowly becoming less visible and more of a spec in the blue sky.
I've had this idea for a story in my mind since season 1. It slowly developed more and more in my head and after watching season 2 I started writing it only to give up two paragraphs into this chapter. It wasn't until I watched season 3 that I decided to try this again.
Lyra was originally called Elle, but then I heard the name Lyra in a comic I'm reading and thought it sounded better. Being honest here when I say that I didn't realize that her name was the name of a constellation until my friend Looop (fanfiction)/be-a-super-human (tumblr) told me. Didn't want to change it because I thought it was pretty and it resulted in the cute nickname Shiro has for her. The nickname was the idea from the same friend.
I want to also thank my other friend puffandproud (tumblr)/em3kitty (fanfiction) for helping me with this chapter. I was struggling a lot and without your help I wouldn't have finished it. I appreciate your help even though you haven't watched Voltron haha.
Anyway, I hope you guys liked the chapter. I really wanted to post this and I was nervous about doing it. Any feedback is appreciated so I'd love to hear your thoughts :)
