She was the most incredible girl he had ever met. And that was why he had never spoken to her.

To be fair, James Griffin didn't have much experience in this area. He'd always been too focused on his studies, too focused learning to fly, too focused on a mission…in general, he was always way too focused on everything else except romance.

And sure, he'd had a couple crushes before. Leifsdottir never let him forget that he'd asked her to the seventh grade winter dance (and barely gotten the sentence out, too).

But none of them compared to her.

First of all, she was tiny. Literally the smallest person he'd ever met, and of course he found it adorable, how could he not? Not to mention that she was obviously very pretty, but that didn't really matter when compared to her intelligence. He could never keep up with all the facts and figures she'd rattle off during meetings, but that didn't stop him from finding it impressive. But then, best of all, he'd see the fire in her eyes. She was passionate, unstoppable, born and ready to complete whatever challenge was in front of her.

In short, James Griffin was completely besotted by her. Oh yeah, and he'd still never spoken to her. That is, until today.

He was leaving the MFE hangar and looking over his mission report. It needed a few more details before he'd be happy with it, but overall he thought it summarized their recent patrol rather succinctly.

And of course it was because he was so focused on something (again, for the millionth time in his life) that he ran into her.

Well, not entirely, he didn't knock her over, but he did definitely have to put his hand on her arm to keep her steady, and that was enough to make his entire face erupt in a bright red hue.

"I'm so sorry!" he apologized, removing his hand as quickly as he could.

She just laughed and brushed the invisible dust off her sleeve. "It's alright, I wasn't paying attention, either." She lifted an orange tablet as proof, and he laughed maybe just a bit too much.

"Y-Yeah, I was kinda zoned out," he managed to get out. Crap, what did he say next? He had no idea! Maybe he should leave? Try to think of something funny? But he wasn't funny, Rizavi told him that all the time when he'd try to do his (apparently really bad) puns!

"You know, we never really got formally introduced," she said, and it brought James out of his head and back into the present. She held out one of her petite hands. "I'm Katie, but my friends call me Pidge."

He shook her hand out of politeness, and again, he maybe overdid it by holding on just a little too long. "I-I know! We, uh, you— your dad talked about you a lot," he said lamely, then chuckled. "And you were kinda legendary, you know, sneaking in and disguising yourself as a boy."

The young woman in front of him flushed. "Yeah, I kinda figured everyone knew about that by now."

James suddenly felt like he'd offended her. "Don't worry about it! That's not all we talked about, I mean, your dad always said that you were really smart and how you were, uh, sweet and stuff, and yeah…" Gosh, he wished he'd shut up. James scratched the back of his head. "So…it kinda feels like I've already met you, in a way."

Pidge was smiling at him now. "Must be weird, huh? You guys heard so much about us, and then you meet us, and we're just a bunch of teenagers running around hoping we know what we're doing."

"I mean, we were kinda the same way," he admitted. "Most of our technological advances were trial and error— ask Kinkade about the time I nearly electrocuted myself trying to recharge our power cores, and I'm sure he'll be glad to tell you."

She laughed at his little joke, a sound that made his heart start beating quicker than he was sure was safe. Pidge glanced down at her tablet again, then looked back at him. "Well, I'm sure you've got plenty to do, but it was nice meeting you! Maybe we can run into each other again sometime— you know, without the actual running into each other part."

James laughed bashfully. "I have to agree."

She seemed satisfied with his answer, and with that, she began to walk off.

James stared after her in a daze. His brain was screaming at him to say something, do something, but what? What could he possibly say or do without coming off as a creepy stalker who'd been thinking about the color of her eyes late at night before he'd drift off to sleep?

…man, he was in over his head.

Before he knew it, James was shaking his head, reaching out a hand, and calling, "Wait!"

Pidge paused and turned to look at him with curious eyes. His mind went blank.

"I-I just, um," he stammered. She raised an eyebrow, and he groaned, slapping a hand to his face. "Look, this might sound weird, but…I've admired you from afar for a while, and um…I just…didn't know if you'd…I don't know, want to do something?" he squeaked. "Maybe? Sometime soon? The two of us?"

Her face was carefully blank, and it stayed that way for what felt like ages. But then she smiled a little. "Well, I'm free right now, if you want."

James' eyes widened. "Oh! Well, I, ah— I just got back from patrol, and I kinda need a shower because I'm all gross, and—" Pidge's eyes sparkled in amusement. "Not disgusting, though! No! I just— ugh, I can't speak today," he muttered.

She laughed, and he gave her an embarrassed smile.

James cleared his throat and tried again. "Maybe in thirty minutes?" he suggested. "I could meet you at the north entrance?"

Pidge nodded, still smiling. "Sounds good. I'll see you then." A cursory glance passed over him, then she turned away and kept walking, leaving James Griffin standing there completely frozen and not sure of what just happened.

And then it hit him.

'Crap, crAP, CRAP WHAT DID I JUST DO?!' he screamed in his head as he dashed for his quarters. He flung open the door and began looking around his room in a panic. Wait, what was he doing there— he needed to go to the shower!

James ran into his bathroom, tossing off pieces of his armor and nearly slipping on the tile floors as he did so. He made quick work of taking a shower and ruffling his hair dry with a towel.

Picking out what to wear was the worst part, because what were they even going to do? He had no ideas, and all the ones he'd fantasized about were so ridiculous that they weren't even possible (example: visiting a planet he'd heard she liked called Olkarion, which yeah right, like that was ever gonna happen). Plus, he hadn't even told her, so who knew what she would wear and what if he dressed up too much and she didn't, or even worse what if she dressed up a lot and he looked like a slob and—

James shut his eyes and forced his brain to stop talking. Breathe. Relax. It's going to be fine. Just wear something normal.

He settled on dark jeans and a plaid flannel shirt, which he had to admit felt weird because he was rarely out of uniform these days. But it was approaching autumn, so it was seasonally appropriate, right? Gosh he was overthinking things again.

James checked his watch, his anxiety skyrocketing when he realized that he needed to leave now or else he'd be late. One final check of his hair in a mirror later, he was exiting his room and trying his best not to walk too fast.

When he turned the final corner to the north entrance, James could see that she was already there waiting for him. He double-checked his watch just in case, but no, it seemed that he was on time.

Pidge must have seen it, because she was grinning at him when he finally reached her. "I have a habit of being early wherever I go," she told him with a shrug. "Either that, or I'm ridiculously late, and there's no in between."

He chuckled, feeling a little dazed by how easily she'd read his thoughts. "It's okay," he assured her. Then he noticed that she'd gotten changed (obviously, like she would keep on her uniform for a date— oh crap, it's a date) and he blinked. "You, uh, you look very nice."

She glanced down at her outfit— a soft looking cream sweater and dark green skirt— shyly. "Thanks. You look rather handsome, yourself." She fiddled with the fabric of her skirt self consciously. "I didn't really know what to wear because I didn't know what we're doing. Which, by the way, what are we doing?"

His mind flew into a panic. He couldn't believe he'd forgotten that part!

James knew he probably looked like an idiot, standing there with his mouth hanging open. But then something came to mind, and he quickly said, "Oh! Sorry, I-I, um, I thought we could walk around the outdoor markets? Sometimes I go there when I have time off."

'And sometimes I imagine you walking with me,' he added on mentally. It sounded like a dream to him, but maybe it was corny? It was literally just walking around looking at different stands, after all. He should've thought of something better for a first date.

But then to his utter joy, Pidge smiled brightly. "That sounds perfect! I haven't had a chance to go in a long time."

He held in a relieved sigh. James stepped up to open the door for her, gesturing for her to go ahead with his hand. "After you, miss."

She laughed at his little display as she walked past him. He moved to join her, and the two set off in the direction of the markets.

James wished that he could stay calm, but his mind was whirring endlessly. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes— she was staring around at the environment with a contented gaze. He couldn't help but smile. She always seemed to be in wonder of everything she encountered, almost like she was calculating every detail of it in her brain.

James turned back to focus on the path ahead of them, and was just starting to feel at ease, when his mind threw a new idea at him— he should offer her his arm. After all, wasn't that what people did in the movies? That's what he thought they did, anyways.

He looked at her again, feeling nervous. Maybe it was a bit old fashioned, true, but…maybe it would be okay?

After a few moments (during which he gave himself a mental pep-talk), James cleared his throat. Pidge turned her eyes to him, and he held out his arm for her. She laughed, and then, she linked her arm loosely through his.

James felt his heart leap with joy, especially when he saw the silly grin on Pidge's face. He put his hands in his pockets in an attempt to look casual, but on the inside, he felt like he was about to freak out in the best way possible.

They continued walking until they got to the market, and he lightly pulled her toward his usual route through the stands. The two began their journey wandering around in contented silence, but then he realized that they'd been quiet almost this entire time.

'Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, now what? I should say something, right? Before it's been silent for too long? Oh crap, what if it already has been? It definitely has been! SAY SOMETHING!'

"So how was your day?" he asked, immediately wanting to slap himself afterward. Seriously? That was the best he could come up with?

Pidge hummed and looked up toward the sky in thought. "Well, I woke up late and got to training late, which Keith wasn't really happy with. But then I told him that I'd been up all night in the lab, and he dropped it. After that, I had to work on some new integrated tech with Hunk and my dad, and that took until lunch time. Then I was bonding some with my lion, which I don't think we ever explained to you guys how that works, but it's super cool, and—"

James listened as she rambled on and on about astral planes and physics and things he could never understand, idly noting how her eyes lit up every time she mentioned one of her fellow paladins. They truly must be closer than any of them could ever realize. He almost felt a hint of jealousy at the thought.

"—and then I got done with some routine system checks, and that's when I bumped into you!" she finished. Suddenly, Pidge blushed a little. "I'm glad I did," she admitted. "It's nice to be with someone other than the people I was stuck on a space ship with for who knows how long."

James chuckled, any jealousy that started to creep in melting away in a second. "I know the feeling— sometimes my team can drive each other up a wall. It's good to have space," he said, then grinned. "Pun intended."

"Oh my gosh," Pidge snorted. She used the hand that wasn't draped next to his forearm to slap her forehead. "You have good looks and puns? This date is gonna be the death of me."

The young man felt his face burning. He scratched the back of his head, not entirely sure what to say after such a statement. "So…you mentioned being stuck in space. Do you, uh, know how long you guys were there?"

Pidge shrugged. "Honestly, we have no idea. From the time we left Earth in Blue to the time we fought Lotor, I think it was…two years?" she guessed. "And then the time jump made us disappear for three years, and then it took several months to get back without the castle ship."

James frowned sympathetically. "And I'm sure it wasn't easy to keep track of the days, either."

"Yeah, Altean time works different from ours, so their days were a bit longer and things got screwed up," Pidge sighed. "I tried to keep up with it, but eventually we were so busy that I couldn't worry about it. Honestly, I don't even know how old I am, at this point."

"Huh," James hummed. "I hadn't even thought of that. W-Well, I mean, I had kinda, because it'd be weird if I was a lot older than you— not weird weird, but like—"

He stopped rambling when he heard Pidge giggling. "It's fine, I know what you mean," she reassured him. "We all sat down and kinda agreed on a timeline a month after we got back. We decided it'd been about three years in our time— well, and two extra years for Keith while he was in the quantum abyss— so I'm eighteen."

James blinked, trying his best to wrap his head around all of that. "Well, um, I'm twenty-two if that's…okay? With you?"

Pidge smiled up at him and pulled herself ever so slightly closer to him. "It's completely fine with me," she said, before she added on, "So long as you're fine calling me Katie. It's been ages since I've heard my real name, and my team still can't call me anything other than Pidge, and that used to be a thing just between my brother and me."

"Katie it is, then," he grinned. Gosh, it was cute when she rambled. He hoped she did that more often. She gave him a winning smile, and James felt like he was on cloud nine.

They continued in a contented silence for a little while longer, occasionally commenting on the items at the stalls as they passed. Within a couple minutes, however, James noticed that Pidge— no, Katie was staring at something with renewed interest.

"Wanna go over there?" he asked.

Her eyes widened upon his recognition of her staring, and she nodded excitedly. James allowed himself to be dragged over to the stall. He couldn't help but chuckle at her enthusiasm— and it was quite infectious, after all.

"Hello, Tynor!" Katie greeted the alien at the stall.

The alien turned and blinked at them with large green, blue, and red eyes. "Oh, my Green Paladin!" she greeted, inclining her head. "It is so good to see you, my Paladin. It feels as though it's been deca-phoebs."

Katie laughed. "It does! James—" his heart skipped a beat upon hearing his name come from her lips, "—this is Tynor. She's from Olkarion, my favorite of the Coalition Planets."

Tynor waved a hand. "You speak too kindly of my home world, my Paladin." Pidge gave a knowing grin, and Tynor responded by gesturing to her wares laid out on a table before them. "What can I offer you today? I have recently designed new jewels upon comparing them to Earth designs— they are more accessible than our old fashioned head interfaces."

The alien's slim green fingers moved to refer to what looked like a wooden crown with a bright blue gem on her head. James' eyes took it in, then flickered down when he saw how Katie was inspecting the items in front of her. They looked like miniature versions of the crown, though they came in a variety of bracelets, rings, and necklaces. Each one had a glowing gem embedded inside them, but one in particular seemed to be glowing brighter than the rest.

James took one hand out of his pocket and reached for it. "Seems to me that this one stands out for a reason," he commented.

Tynor nodded. "Your companion is very observant, my Paladin. He is right— the gem is bright because it has chosen you. The quintessence has the same makeup as your own."

Katie blinked in awe before she turned to look at James expectantly. He blushed, quickly untangling their arms so that he could face her properly. He slid the bracelet onto her wrist and stood back.

The gem pulsed twice, then settled down. James watched as Katie closed her eyes— wait, did the bracelet just tighten on its own? He shook his head. When Katie re-opened her eyes, she was grinning brightly.

"It feels wonderful," she told Tynor. "Can I have something to test it out?"

Tynor inclined her head, bent down to grab something, then came back up with a stick. Katie took it gratefully and was about to close her eyes again when she must have noticed the puzzled look on James' face. Katie laughed.

"Confused?" she asked.

He gave her a wry grin. "Just a bit."

Excitement in her eyes, Katie took a step closer to him. "The gem acts as an interface to my mind," she explained patiently. "The Olkari are master engineers, and when the Galra took over, they had to flee to the forests. They learned how to manipulate nature in order to survive, and their leader taught me when we liberated their planet."

James blinked. "Wow."

Katie giggled. "Yup. Now watch—" Her eyes fell shut, and the gem flickered. The stick suddenly had lines of blue running through it, and before his very eyes, she willed it into a rounded shape.

She opened her eyes again and smiled when she saw the look of amazement on James' face. And then, ever so gently, she took his hand and slipped the stick around his wrist. "See?" she said, holding up her own wrist to show him her bracelet. "Now we match!"

That was the moment where James understood the phrase "butterflies in your stomach."

He grinned, never feeling so happy before in his life. Katie smiled back at him before she turned to face Tynor. "How much for it?"

"Fifty of your Earth dollars," Tynor replied. "Though I would be happy to reduce the price for you, my Paladin."

Katie moved to reach for a pocket, but seemed to realize something. "Quiznak! I left my money back in my room!" she groaned. Her eyes cast down to the bracelet, disappointment clear as day in them.

James felt his mouth moving before his brain realized what he was doing, "I'll pay for you."

The young woman spun around and stared at him with wide eyes. "James, no! It's too much, I don't want you to spend that much on me. It's only our first date!"

He already had his wallet out. "And considering I didn't take you out for anything that actually cost something, I'm more than happy to pay for this," he insisted. James handed over the money, trying his best to keep a straight face while Katie covered her blushing face with her hands.

"Thank you, my Paladin's companion," Tynor said, then smiled mischeviously. "You are more than welcome to keep the piece your Paladin made for you."

Upon the words "your Paladin," James felt his face heat up. "Thank you, Tynor," he replied. He shifted his attention back to Katie, who still looked embarrassed. James smiled softly and held out his arm. "Ready to go?"

She looked up at him, her honey eyes glittering in the setting sun, and he felt himself go weak at the knees. Katie silently put her arm through his and let him guide her away.

It felt like forever until she spoke again, but when she did, she brought her other hand to wrap around his forearm. James nearly jumped at the action, and he stared down at her with wide eyes.

"Thank you," she whispered shyly. "That was really sweet of you."

A soft smile settled on his lips. "You're welcome, Katie. I…" he glanced at the ground. "I was serious when I said I've admired you for a while, so…if you're happy, then I'm happy."

Her eyes fell down to the rough stick bracelet on his wrist, and she let her hand drift to rest on it. His heart skipped a beat when she looked back up at him. She cracked a grin. "I'm really glad you nearly ran me over in the hall," she giggled.

James groaned out loud. "Please don't tell everyone that's how we actually met. It's so embarrassing."

Katie snickered. "I thought it was funny," she teased. "And like I said, I'm glad it happened because it led to this."

His heart warmed. "I'm glad, too," he murmured. "I would've never gotten up the courage to talk to you, to be honest."

"I'm just me," Katie insisted, shaking her head.

Surprising even himself, James shifted his arm so that he could lace his fingers through hers. "Trust me, you're much more than just you."

She blinked up at him, biting her lip in intrigue. A moment later, she leaned her head over to snuggle into his shoulder. "So, James, when can we do this again?"

James' heart wanted to burst with joy. "Whenever you want, Katie, and I won't almost run you over next time before I ask."

She laughed and squeezed his hand. "Good."

Me? Writing something other than Plance? How dare I! Don't worry, I haven't abandoned my main ship, but some head-cannons on Instagram made me think of this! Hope you guys enjoyed!