Prologue: I don't own Voltron Legendary Defender. The only character I own is my OC Maya.
This story is set following the events of Season Two and my story The Protector. Thanks again to Puff the Ninja for helping me come up with the title. Everything I was coming up with was too depressing.
Maya walked into her room and glanced at the medal again. A star sat in the middle with various smaller branches of stars shooting out from the center in a golden weave that hung from a ribbon.
She remembered Allura telling her to rest in the infirmary but that was about it. When she woke several varga later she found Coran by her side. She remembered the princess's majordomo, royal advisor, and friend explain the significance of the honor.
After he left, she fingered the medal but found no joy in it. Shiro was gone. He was like a second father to her. Her thoughts kept coming back to the realization she was alone again. Her own father taken or killed by the Galra and now Shiro.
She opened the closet and put the medal on the top shelf sliding it to the back. She didn't want a reminder. She sighed. The others would expect to see her moving around but she felt hollow inside like there was nothing there anymore.
She pulled out her suit similar to Coran's clothes and peeled off the under armor stepping into the show. Maybe that would make her feel better, but it did nothing. As she stepped out her stomach twisted. She didn't want to face the others.
When she stepped out of her room, she heard a squeaking at her feet and glanced down to see the smallest of the space mice. She didn't smile she just turned and walked down the hall.
Chulatt followed her around for three Quintants until the little mouse worried about his blue-skinned friend ran off to find Allura.
Allura glanced down as Chulatt ran up to her and squeaked as loudly as he could. "What is it?" she asked as she knelt.
The mouse squeaked again in alarm. Allura's head jerked up as she glanced around. "Your right, something must be done."
Allura stepped into the Red Lion's hanger as Keith returned from another search of the surrounding area for any sign of Shiro. "Keith, I need your help."
He almost turned from her but something in her voice stopped him. "What?" he asked simply.
Allura took a deep steadying breath. "It's Maya, she's making herself sick. She won't eat, she doesn't sleep. It's been three quintants since Shiro disappeared and I know as well as you do this isn't healthy. You need to speak to her, she'll listen to you."
Keith ran a gloved hand through his raven black hair and set his blue-gray eyes on Allura's face. "What makes you say that?" he asked.
"Because, in a family setting Shiro was not only like a brother to you, as you've said before, but he was like a second father to Maya, so in a roundabout way you are the closest thing to a sibling that she has."
His mouth opened for a minute, he closed it, glanced up at the ceiling and then down at the metal deck as if he were mulling her words through his brain. He raised his eyes up to stare into her blue eyes with the purple pupils. "Shiro told her that we were all like a family. Can't you talk to her?"
Allura placed a hand on Keith's armored arm as she shook her head, "Sadly, she's not acknowledging anyone. Not even Hunk or Pidge."
"Okay, I'll give it a try," he said. "Any idea where she's at?"
"Coran said he saw her go into her room earlier," Allura replied. Softly she added, "Thank you, Keith."
Keith stopped outside Maya's door. He knocked first, straining his ears he heard nothing from inside. He waved his hand interrupting the eyebeam and the door opened. He saw her lying on the bed. "Maya?"
She didn't move, staring up at the ceiling with those silver eyes.
Sometimes they unnerved him, but this time they appeared to be hollow. Philosophers often quoted that the eyes were the windows to a person's soul, but these seemed to not even hold any spark of life.
"Maya," he walked over to her bed and sat on the side and took one of her hands in his. "I know you miss Shiro. I do too."
Maya blinked and sighed. "It hurts," her voice rasped from disuse.
"I know it does, I miss him so bad. You know Shiro was the only one on Earth who actually reached out to me and gave me a chance. Then he went on that mission to Kerberos where he and Pidge's family were captured. He came back, and now I've…" he paused, "now we've lost him again."
A sob tore its way out of Maya's throat. "I'm sorry," she said as her voice quavered. She released the older teens hand and sat up scooting herself next to him. He reached out to her and she pulled him into an embrace and they both shed cleansing tears.
Keith whispered, "I'm going to find him and bring him back. I swear."