Summary: Keith's only half Galra. He never thought his other half was all that important, given that his mother described his father's planet as "a backwater hunk of rock literally named Planet Dirt," until he finds out that his fellow paladins are human.

Keith isn't quite sure what to do with that.

Rating: K

Notes: Part 4 of the It's a New Start series, following A Reason to Believe. This one is kind of a filler piece, though. I'm honestly really tired right now and I'm pretty sure nothing flows right but I'll edit it later -.-

Feel free to comment with thoughts or constructive criticism!

"You know," Lance mused, leaning in close, "you're actually shorter than I thought."

Keith leaned away and very, very carefully did not bare his teeth. It was a close thing, though. "Shut up."

"No, seriously!" Thankfully, Lance shifted back into his own seat, seeming to sense that Keith had a large personal space bubble. "I mean, you're shorter than me! Aren't Galra supposed to be tall? Like, most of the ones we've seen have been taller than Hunk!"

Keith glanced at Hunk, seated on Lance's other side. He grinned and gave Keith a tiny wave. "I know."

Lance poked his arm. "So, what, are you just a midget or something?"

No need to remind me, Keith thought. Ears going flat against his head as he bit back a cutting retort, he grumbled, "Hey, not my fault my dad was a shrimpy alien from planet Dirt."

Silence.

"Wait." Lance squinted at him. "You're not Galra?"

"Half," Keith admitted. He'd honestly forgotten that they hadn't already known. "My mother's side."

At the head of the table, Allura paused, spoon halfway to her mouth. Lowering it, she looked at him with obvious interest. "You're only half Galra?"

"Yeah." Keith resisted the urge to hunch his shoulders, picking at his breakfast. "Believe me, it's not as fun as it sounds."

On his other side, Pidge adjusted her glasses and peered at Keith. The intensity of her expression was honestly a little unnerving. "If you're only half Galra," she said, "what's the other half?"

"Pidge," Hunk sighed, "boundaries, remember?"

Pidge opened her mouth as if to retort, then took a look at Hunk's raised brow and thought better of it. "Fine."

Keith gave Hunk a small nod. He appreciated the gesture, even if it would likely be a wasted effort in the end. His half-breed status came up on all standard medical equipment, anyway, so it wasn't as if they wouldn't find out. But–

Across the table, Coran cleared his throat to address Keith. "Actually," he said, "it might not be a bad idea for you to tell us, if only so we're aware of any health issues and so we know how to calibrate the healing pods. They'd calibrate themselves in an emergency, of course, but it's faster and safer if we can get the species settings pre-programmed in."

...Well, fair enough.

His first instinct was to refuse, even when he knew it would be futile. Regardless, Keith had known far too many people who judged him for who his father had been, for what traits he'd inherited from an alien who came from a planet so far out in the middle of nowhere it hadn't made contact with a single other world yet. He'd had to fight tooth and nail to earn every ounce of respect that his peers reluctantly gave him, had to put up with commanders constantly dismissing his abilities when he knew he could outfly everyone else in the squadron, had to–

Cub. Red's voice was a low rumble of shifting flame. Trust. He means well.

Keith forced himself to take a breath. In, out, and the fire in his chest simmered back down to a manageable blaze. Red had a point. Coran did, too. And it was going to come out eventually, anyway.

"Fine," Keith said, and was proud of himself for how steady he kept his voice. "My father was from some backwater planet literally called Dirt or something; I don't really know. My mother never really talked about what species he was. I think it was something like Marlen? Looman?" He thought about it for a moment, casting his mind back to old memories faded with time. "Human? I think that was it."

There was an abrupt, weighted pause. Pidge made a noise like she was choking, and Hunk dropped his fork with a clatter.

"What?" Keith kept a wary eye on the low, dancing humor and anticipation that Red was projecting, not quite sure why she was feeling so amused and not in a hurry to find out. Somehow, he had a feeling it wouldn't bode well for him.

Shiro leaned around Hunk. "Sorry," he managed, eyes visibly wide, "but did you say human?"

"...Yeah?" Keith wasn't sure what all the fuss was about. Nobody he'd ever met before had even heard of humans, much less had such strong reactions to the word alone.

Shiro looked at him as if he'd just turned green and started sprouting leaves. "Keith, we're humans."

Keith swore his pulse actually stuttered. "What."

Hunk squinted at him, head tilted as if staring from a different angle would suddenly reveal his human appearance. "You don't really look human, except for maybe your height. I guess you took after your mom?"

"Uh." Keith's vocabulary had, apparently, been reduced to about three words total. He coughed, both to clear his throat and gain a few precious moments to compose himself. "I mean, not really? I'm a lot smaller. But I'm also a lot faster. Probably the best thing I can thank her for is that I can pass for being more Galra than anything else."

Lance raised a brow. "Is that a good thing?"

Keith bristled before he could help himself. "In the Empire, it is," he retorted, and then clamped his jaw shut before he could dig himself into any deeper holes.

"Well!" Coran broke the tension before Lance could snap back, which was probably for the best. "I think there's a way we can clear all this up. Paladins, come with me."

Keith hesitated as Coran rose from the table. "What? Why?"

"Why, for a blood test, of course!" Coran blinked at him as if the answer was obvious. "Why else?"

...Clearly, these people had never dealt with druids.

"Fine," Keith sighed. He had to admit, he was kind of curious about whether he really was half human or not. If he was, that was a weird coincidence, though. What were the chances that he, the only half human that he knew of, would somehow end up on a ship full of other humans? The only gathering place of so many humans besides their native planet in the universe?

If Keith didn't know better, he'd say that Marmora had pulled some strings with Fate.

"Why do you need all of us?" Shiro's plate of food goo was nearly empty, one last spoonful hovering near his mouth. "Not that I'm saying that a blood test is a bad idea, but shouldn't you only need one to compare DNA?"

Coran shrugged. "Technically yes, but since our systems don't have any baseline for the human genome besides you four, I thought it would be better to gather samples from everyone first. Besides, then your blood will be in the system, which will make it easier to calibrate healing pods later on. Two unledais with one throw, and all that." He gave Shiro a sympathetic look. "Of course, if you're not comfortable–"

"No, no. It makes sense," Shiro allowed, pushing back his chair. He was a little pale, but his jaw was set in a way that Keith was beginning to realize meant that no amount of convincing or cajoling would sway him from his course. "How much blood do you need?"

"Only a couple drops from each of you, really." Coran's tone was upbeat, but the slight crease across his brow spoke of concern. "It's quite painless, just a little prick."

Shiro visibly swallowed, but nodded. "Okay. I can handle that."

For a moment, Keith frowned, trying to figure out why Shiro seemed so nervous about a simple blood draw. It hit him, then– Shiro, the Champion, had been well-known as one of Haggar's subjects. Which meant…

Ah.

No wonder Shiro didn't like needles.

"I'm game," Pidge announced. Her glasses flashed in the light as she set her plate aside and rose. "I mean, if Keith is half human, that means that aliens really did visit Earth, and in recent history, too, which… why? And it brings up all sorts of other questions…"

Keith shrugged as Pidge continued muttering to herself. "How am I supposed to know? I wasn't even born."

"Well, conspiracy theories aside," Hunk said, nudging Pidge before she could get too wrapped up in her own thoughts, "are there any health issues we should be concerned about? Actually, for that matter, I don't really know much about Galra physiology at all. It would be a good idea to get us all in the system, I think."

Coran clapped his hands and grinned. "It's decided, then! Off to the med bay!"

Keith stared at the holoscreen. Data was scrolling off to one side in an endless loop, numbers and percentages and medical jargon that he didn't understand, but he had eyes only for the bolded words that were looking him straight in the face.

50% match, it read. Subject: Keith, Red Paladin. Species: Galra/Human Crossbreed.

"Huh," Lance murmured behind him. "Would you look at that."

Well, Keith thought. Vannek. Guess I really am half human.

He wasn't quite sure how to feel about that.

Along their bond, Red was sending him a smug sense of ha-I-knew-it, which, what? How had she known? Keith hadn't even known for sure, and it was his heritage that they were talking about.

...Had Red been hiding it from him?

Keith tried to disguise the sharp prick of betrayal that the thought elicited, but he was pretty sure he failed because Red's mood shifted so fast that he nearly got whiplash.

No. I suspected, Red told him, all traces of amusement evaporated. Not know for sure. Just… your quintessence, feels similar. Species-similar, not self-similar. I knew you only half Galra already, so– there was the impression of a shrug. Not hard to guess.

Really?

Yes. A brief pause, and then hearth-fire coiled around his chest. I never lie, Cub.

Oh. Keith's pulse was just a hair too fast to be normal, but Red was a steady presence at his back, solid and imposing as a volcanic mountain. Never?

Never. There was a flicker-flare of mischief, the only warning Keith had before she added, But misdirection… no promises.

Keith's lips twitched. He'd almost forgotten, but fire as an element could be a heat-mirage in the desert, too, not just open flame. Of course.

The impression of laughter, curling smoke like a tail wrapped smug around tucked-in paws. Trust your team, Red told him. Learn your heritage.

And… he could actually do that, now. Keith could actually learn what culture his father had come from, could learn about how they lived and what his father's planet was like. That– that wasn't something he'd ever expected to know, and before, he hadn't had the desire to try and find out. But…

His fellow paladins were of his father's people. That changed things.

Keith looked down at his hands. Purple skin, clawed at their tips, marked with thin scars from years of battle and weapons training. From what he'd seen with the other paladins, their skin ranged more along earth tones, light tan and darker brown and even a slightly yellowed tint. Their nails were soft and blunt, the same as their teeth, but their eyes were less sensitive to harsh light and their ears less affected by every high-frequency noise. The only color in a human's eyes was a single ring around black pupils, contrasted with their white sclera.

Keith didn't look very human at all. Sure, he was scrawnier than a regular Galra, shorter and more narrowly built, but that was it.

Behind him, Allura was staring at the holoscreen, and something about her expression made Keith suspect that she hadn't been surprised by the results.

"Well," she said a moment later, "I'll admit, I'd had some suspicions that you weren't a full Galra, but I never would've expected that you were half human. It feels almost like fate."

"Wait, you knew? How?" Lance, seated on a cot, swung his legs back and forth. His head swiveled between Keith and Allura like a luxarian nightbird. "He looks pretty Galra to me."

Allura shrugged. "Only a lucky guess, nothing more. I've simply had a lot of experience recognizing people whose parents were of different races." The edge of her mouth kicked up in a slight smile. "After all, Alteans were among the most widespread peoples of the universe. It wasn't uncommon for diplomats to fall in love on other planets and settle there to raise families."

"Oh, that makes sense. Like one of my cousins– she always says that like recognizes like." Lance laughed, and if it had a faint edge of sadness to it, everyone was polite enough not to comment. "One of her parents is… German, I think? Something like that. But she takes way after her other parent, who's Cuban, so a lot of people are really surprised when she tells them she's half German."

The other paladins were nodding as if this made perfect sense. Keith blinked at him in confusion. "What is 'German'?"

Pausing, Lance's face scrunched up as he thought about how to answer that. It was kind of hilarious. "Who is German," he corrected after a tick. "It refers to people from Germany, which is a country on Earth. Wait, Galra have countries, right? Or do you not?"

Keith gave him a flat look. "Humans still have separate countries? No wonder you haven't made real contact with other sentients yet."

At that, Lance squawked indignantly. That was also hilarious, but in a different way. "Hey, now hold on a minute–"

"Guys." Shiro had his knuckles pressed against his forehead, eyes squeezed shut. There was a purple square of healing tape over his bicep where Coran had drawn blood, and even though the procedure had been painless, he still seemed exhausted. "Can you please not fight? At least not right now?"

"Sorry." Lance backed down with a sheepish grin. Keith, belatedly remembering why Shiro was in a bad mood, kind of wanted to slap himself.

"It's fine, I'm just tired." Shiro looked at Keith, then at Coran. "So, are there any health issues we should be aware of? Allergies or something?"

Coran hummed, sifting through data. "I'm running a test on that now. Doesn't look like there's anything significant so far, though."

"I'm allergic to deiumin," Keith volunteered. "I don't really think there's anything else, though."

"Deiumin?" Coran noted that down. "Right, I'll be sure to get blaxine rations next time we resupply. As for anything else, we'll see what the blood work turns up. And I'll go calibrate the healing pods in a tick, too."

Pidge, standing next to Coran, peered at the screens. "Huh," she said. "Hey, Keith, how did your parents even meet? Do you know?"

Keith shrugged. "I think my mother might have crash-landed on Earth they met then, but I don't know any details. She never really talked about it." He hesitated, then, curiosity bubbling up in his throat. "What– what is Earth like?"

The other paladins all shared a look.

"Well," Hunk began, "I'm Samoan, so I grew up on an island…"

One by one, the other paladins shared stories of their homes and their families. Earth, it sounded like, was a wildly varied place– there were oceans and deserts and forests and mountains and everything in between, lakes that boiled and endless plains of ice. The planet was on a tilted axis so that some places had four seasons while others had two, and there was only one sun to orbit around and only one moon to orbit them. It was beautiful in some places and ugly in others, full of different people and creatures and cities.

Keith listened, learned, and, after a while, was even coaxed into revealing some of what it had been like growing up for him. He had been raised on the bare fringes of the Empire, a child of the deserts that stretched endlessly under a limitless grey sky. He didn't say it, but thinking back to those days brought to mind one of his earliest memories– his mother, pressing her dagger into his hand before she left, and how infinitely tall she had seemed as she had turned away to stride up the ramp to her ship.

(It been a long time since they'd seen each other. He hoped she was doing well.)

Instead, though, Keith told his team about the stray felisnaen that prowled the alleyways and how they'd purr and rub against his shins whenever he set out table scraps for them. He told his team about how the wind echoed through the canyons and wailed as if mourning some great loss, about the dust storms that blotted out the sky and all the little creatures that ventured out at night. Nothing too personal, because he wasn't quite ready to share that much yet, but… enough.

It was more than he'd told anyone else in a long, long time.

I'm half human, Keith thought, taking in this new facet of his identity and tentatively slotting it in with all the others. It sat awkward and prominent still, rough in its newness, but he'd get used to it. He always did.

And… he wondered how his father's blood would change his future.

Hey, Red.

Yes, Cub?

Someday, can we visit Earth? I– I don't know if my father's still alive, but I thought– I want to see it. Please.

Of course, Cub. You never had to ask.

...Thanks, Red. You're the best.