Lance wasn't easily excited. Well that was a lie.

But he was excited. Like super excited. And he was making sure everyone knew.

Well everyone already knew and Pidge and Keith were more than tired of hearing about it.

Without the castle, Allura couldn't wormhole them closer to Earth, so they had been flying for days with Lance getting more excited the closer they got.

"And you guys have to taste my mom's fricase de pollo. My mom always makes it because there are so many of us. And she adds something to it that even Hunk hasn't figured out yet!"

Hunk makes an affirmative noise but doesn't say anything beyond that. He's happy his friend is so happy. Keith lets him babble on, rolling his eyes and turning his comms off to converse amongst Shiro and Krolia. Allura also has her comms off, talking amongst the other two alteans. That left Pidge, who, though excited to be going home to her family again, was getting annoyed by the constant noise coming out of Lance's mouth.

"And then I have to show you sun rises on Varadero Beach. And then.."

"Lance! Can we please just fly in silence?!"

Lance flinched at her tone. "..Oh. Sorry. I'm just getting excited." He slumped in his chair.

Hunk finally spoke up. "Aww we know, bud. We are all excited too. This is just a very long road trip… Space trip? Or flying trip?"

"No, I know." Lance went quiet.

Hunk frowned. He quickly switched his comms to private between him and Pidge. "Hey Pidge. He was just excited. There was no need to go off like that."

Pidge sighed. "I know. I am just getting anxious about being back. It will be completely different, you know. We are completely different people than when we left."

"Yeah but we are still friends. And because we are different, we have to be there for each other, especially when we get to Earth. Re-entering our society will be really hard."

"Yeah, you're right." Pidge switched her comms back. "Hey Lance, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to go off like that. I'm just anxious. You fit in better with people back home than I did."

"No you're fine, Pidge. I have been babbling a lot. And don't be scared. Just think about how your mom will react when she sees you."

Pidge laughed. "I'm pretty sure she might put me under house arrest so that I can't run away again."

Lance smile grew across his face. "I can't imagine that you would stay that way for long. You can hack your way out of anything." Pidge grinned. "And hey, by the way, did anyone get in contact with Matt to let him know we were heading back?"

"Yes! Of course I didn't forget Matt! I messaged him right after we took off. He should be arriving about the same time as us if we don't meet him along the way."

Hunk smiled while listening to his two best friends talk. He would do anything for these two. "Hey Lance, do you think your mom will tell me the secret to that stew?"

Lance laughed loudly, bringing the black and blue paladins out of their conversations. "Hunk, I doubt she will ever tell anyone her secret. She will take her recipe to her grave most likely. If you ask, she might just tell you that it's 'love' again."

"What are you all talking about?" Allura asked, smiling at the excitement in the other paladins voices.

"Lance's mom makes this incredible stew and she won't share her recipe with me! Allura, you will love Lance's mom! She is an incredible chef and just a wonderful person in general, kind of like Lance."

Lance blushed but smiled, thinking of his mom and how hard he was going to hug her when he got home.

Keith broke in to the conversation. "We should be arriving in a few dobashes. Get focused. We are heading straight to the garrison. After we deal with business there and meet up with Sam Holt, then you may go see your families."

Earth was in view and now it wasn't just Lance excited. The whole team was feeling the anticipation.

—

Landing in the-middle-of-nowhere Texas was simple. Keith sent out a signal to let Sam Holt and the Garrison know they were landing and not to shoot at them.

There was a welcome party waiting for them.

Well, not exactly. The Garrison obviously took precautions and had a lot of their military there. You know, just in case.

Sam Holt was the most welcoming, running to his daughter who was literally flying out of her lion.

"Welcome home, Katie! And welcome back to Earth everyone."

The other paladins and Voltron crew stepped out into the sunlight. Lance tentatively stood at his lions mouth, not having stepped out yet. He took in his surroundings and stared at the earth that he had missed. He breathed in the fresh air and took his first step back on Earth. He would have fallen to the ground and hugged it if he didn't think he would be teased for it. Slowly he made his way to the others who were introducing the group of Alteans and the Galra woman to the heads of the Garrison.

"It's an absolute pleasure to be here on the planet my paladins have talked so much about!" Allure went straight into her diplomatic princess routine.

Commander Iverson stepped forward. "We will need to bring you back to the base so you can each brief us on all of your information." He turned his head in Lance's direction. "McClain!" Lance snapped to attention, right hand in a salute, scarred of the older man. "I hope your flying isn't as shitty as it was when you were a cadet here."

Lance flushed in embarrassment. Luckily Shiro spoke up, "I can vouch for Lance. He is one of the best pilots I've ever met."

Iverson huffed and turned his back to them, motioning for all of them to follow him back to base. Lance stood stock still for a few moments, before finally breathing again and catching up with the group.

When they got into the headquarters, Iverson went to separate the group. Allura, being the charming diplomat that she was, argued for a moment and convinced the Commander the it would be best and quicker for them to be together to be able to fill in any holes. Sam stepped up and explained that he had already done his part in explaining as much as he could. There was very little else to explain except for the lions and Alteans and the random Galra member amongst them. Iverson relented and let them stay together.

The talking was mainly between Shiro, Allura, Sam, and Iverson, with Keith speaking up occasionally. Lance, Pidge and Hunk were standing off to the side, after having to explain how they snuck out of the Garrison, which earned them several tsk's from the rest of the group.

The blue (red?) paladin was getting fidgety. He just wanted to go home. Was that too much to ask? This had nothin to do with him. Well, a little bit of it did, but Allura and Shiro were doing a great job on their own. He just wanted to see his mom. Yes, he wanted to see the rest of his family as well, but he missed his mom the most.

Finally, Iverson let them go, letting them know that they would be watched closely and would be called in if more questions arose. The team finally got to be alone to relax and it almost felt like a pressure was taken off their shoulders.

Sam smiled at the group before turning to his daughter who had practically latched on to his side. "Katie, is Matt coming too? Your mother really would like to see both of her children."

Katie giggled. "Of course he is coming. His pods aren't as fast as the lions. I thought we might pass him on the way, but he may have stopped at one or two planets to refuel."

"Uh, Mr Holt, sir," Hunk stepped up anxiously. "I was wondering if our messages home made it to our families."

Sam smiled but it wasn't full, like he was thinking about something. "Yes I did deliver them like you asked."

Lance perked up from his spot against the wall. "Can we go now? Can we go see our families?" He started bouncing around the group, looking between Shiro, Allura, and Sam. "Can we go? Can we go? Can we go? Please oh please oh please oh please?"

Shiro caught him by the arm, "Stop bouncing and we might."

Sam looked down at Pidge, and looked back up at the group. His smile was gone. He looked to Lance, who stopped short at the sight. "Mr. McClain," Sam took a breath.

Lance had heard this voice before, when there had been an accident at his father's work. Lance tried not to shudder, but Shiro definitely felt it as he loosened his grip on Lance's arm.

Sam started again. "Lance, my boy, there's something you should know."

"You delivered my message didn't you?" His voice sounded foreign, almost like a child's, as Lance spoke. "You saw my mom, didn't you?"

"I went to your island to deliver your message." Sam's voice caught. "There's something you should know."

Lance stepped back into Shiro, who caught his shaking shoulder's in his hands. "My family is fine. I know they are."

Sam took a breath. "I went to your island, to your town. I never found your family. I never found anyone." He had to take another breath. "Your town was completely destroyed. There were no survivor's in sight."

"No!" Lance started hyperventilating. He turned to run towards the door but ran into Coran and fell against him into his arms. "No! Their fine! They're there! You went to the wrong place!" His breathing quickened more and before long, he had fallen against Coran, completely blacked out.

Hey everyone! I haven't written in so long! And I haven't had anything that I love until now! Lance is my baby Cuban boy and I love him with all my heart.

Let me know what you think!