yo quick an: so basically this is a really angsty drabble i wrote, it's not entirely done because i got the idea from my gf and this first part is kinda just me making everything way more hurt/comforty than it really needed to be. I won't spoil it but there are some mentions of blood and previous violence. also, credit to the original composers of "you are my sunshine" for the lyrics and title, Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell. it's actually really hard to just search "you are my sunshine" and find the original there are so many copies. but here we go:
You Are My Sunshine
"Lance?" he breathed, his voice barely above a whisper, "Lance? Lance are you there?" he was gasping for breath now. He prayed Lance was still alive and that he was okay. His eyelids felt heavy, he wanted to close them, to sleep for an eternity. His entire body burned, he wanted to sleep, but he needed Lance to be okay. "Lance?" Keith gasped, his body convulsed as he choked and felt a thick warm liquid spill out of his mouth. He realized it was blood, his blood. He cried out again in desperation, "Lance!"
But there was no reply.
…
Lance could smell the remains of the battle. Dust choked him as he took a breath, his throat burning. He could smell the sickening scent of blood and guts that hung over what was left of the Galra fortress. He shifted and pushed himself upwards, groaning from the burning sensation in his ribs. He looked around, his entire body felt stiff and sore, Lance wondered how long he'd been out. He looked upward intending to determine whether it was night or day before remembering that he was no longer on Earth. He was almost dazed as he looked up at the pitch-black sky above him. The smell of the blood seemed unreal, the whole battle seemed unreal, any moment now he would wake up at the Garrison and- "Lance!"
Lance's feeling of being in a daydream abruptly stopped. That was Keith, the voice was Keith. Lance tried to remember what had happened, he'd be knocked down, he'd taken a shot, Keith had come and…Lance couldn't remember. "Keith!" Lance shouted, trying to locate where he'd heard Keith from. "Keith!" he shouted again, but there was silence. Lance began to worry; Keith's voice had sounded weak when Lance had heard it. Was he injured? Lance felt a cold sweat consume him at the thought, "Keith!" he screamed louder than before, "Keith!" panic was creeping into his voice. "Keith!" Lance shook as he tried to force his heart to beat in a normal rhythm. His chest felt heavy, he thought he almost had to remind himself to breath. It was like the wind was knocked out of him. He tried to force breath after breath, but his lungs wouldn't respond. The breaths he took in were useless, his heart was beating too hard, Lance feared it might burst. Was he dying? Could he be dying? Where was Keith? Lance slumped to the ground, gasping for breath.
…
"Lance…" the voice was faint but Lance just caught it above his own breaths. The weight on his chest seemed to decrease a little.
"Keith?" he asked, looking around. He searched the damaged terrain until he saw a hand among the rubble, it was disguised with the dust that covered it but Lance could make out the black paladin armor. "Keith!" he yelled as he rushed over to where he presumed Keith lay. It looked as though part of the Galra fortress had collapsed on the boy leaving him prone beneath the rocks. Lance felt a shot of adrenaline rush through him, he gripped the rocks and tried his best to move them aside. His muscles strained as he pushed and pulled at the rubble, but eventually he removed the majority of it from Keith.
Lance looked down at the paladin, Keith looked pale, he right leg was bent at an unnatural angle telling Lance that it was broken. His face was bloody, his lip was bleeding and a trail of blood leaked from his nose. His left eye was black and he had a nasty scrape across his forehead, but what concerned Lance the most was Keith's torso. His armor was cracked and soaked with blood, there was a hole directly through his armor right above his heart. Lance froze when he saw it. Keith was still conscious but barely. He needed help, Lance could see that Keith wouldn't make it very long without proper medical care. He swallowed and bent down next to Keith. "Hey," he said quietly.
"Hey," a faint smile crossed Keith's face, "You okay?"
"Yeah," Lance replied though he couldn't bring himself to return the question. "It'll be okay," Lance whispered instead.
"Yeah," Keith mumbled, "It'll be okay." His voice slurred towards the end and Lance felt a pang in his chest.
"Thank you," Lance murmured.
"For what?" Keith asked, his voice fainter than before.
"You came to help didn't you, you saved me."
Keith shrugged, "Why wouldn't I?"
"I don't know, I just didn't think…" Lance trailed off.
"You didn't think that anyone cared? Lance, we all care, I care. You're a paladin of Voltron," mumbled Keith.
Lance smiled, "Hey, maybe it's my turn to cradle you in my arms."
"I knew you remembered that," Keith laughed weakly.
"'We had a bonding moment! I cradled you in my arms!'" Lance mocked jokingly.
Keith smiled up at him, it was subtle but his lips curves upward ever so slightly and Lance saw his eyes soften. He'd never really looked at them before, they were dark but Lance had never realized how he could see the slivers of violet in them. They were like the sky after the sun had just disappeared over the horizon. "Lance?" Keith's voice broke his trance, "what are you doing?"
Lance blushed, "Nothing."
They were both silent for a minute, "I tried to contact the rest of the paladins, but there was uh-they didn't respond, I don't know if we can reach them," Said Lance quietly.
"Oh…" mumbled Keith, "It'll be okay though, right?" Keith's voice suddenly sounded much more childish than it had a second ago. Lance could hear the vulnerability and weakness in his voice.
"Yeah," said Lance, "Yeah it'll be okay."
"Are you sure?" asked Keith weakly, Lance worried that he was growing fainter by the minute.
"Yeah, I'm sure," but Lance knew he was lying. He needed to find some way to care of Keith but he had no bandages and Keith was losing blood fast.
"Lance?"
"What?"
"Please don't lie about it."
"What do you mean?"
"Look my chest really hurts and I think I got hit and there's blood everywhere…" Keith looked like he was going to cry. Lance was always so used to seeing Keith so cold and emotionless, the boy in front of him was almost a stranger. But he wasn't a stranger because he was Keith and he was right. Keith was almost always right.
Lance hesitated, "Okay I don't know, Keith. You've got a really bad cut in your chest, and your right leg looks broken, and I think some of your ribs are too. But we just need the other paladins to answer, okay? They'll answer and they'll help us, you're going to be okay."
Keith nodded but Lance could see that he was ever worse than before. His skin was so pale, Lance swore he could see Keith's bones. The only color on Keith's body was the blood leaking out of his armor. Lance needed to do something.
…
He eventually worked the chest piece of the armor off Keith and managed to use some fabric from his own shirt to try and stop the bleeding. He worried about Keith's leg too, and with Keith's ragged breaths, Lance worried one his Keith's ribs could be puncturing his lungs too. Lance just needed the other paladins to come, he sent out a distress signal and everything. He tried to COMM them over and over again but each time there was no answer.
…
"Lance?" Keith asked, his voice quiet.
"Yeah?"
"I just wanted to make sure you were still there…" said Keith, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Yeah," said Lance, "I'm not going anywhere." He carefully placed his arm under Keith's head and lifted the paladin up until Lance was holding him. He saw a faint smile flash across Keith's face.
Lance could feel Keith's hampered breathing against his chest, he looked upward and found a sky full of stars above him. Lance felt a small smile cross his face, back on Earth he could remember sitting on the roof of his house and watching the stars all night. Of course, he didn't recognize any of the stars way out here, didn't know of any constellations but still looking at the stars made this strange wave of calm wash over him. Perhaps it made him think of home or maybe he just liked the view, but he felt calmer.
…
Lance was six, he was sitting in his mother's lap with his arms wrapped around her neck. He could hear his older siblings still downstairs but he was tired. He could hear his mother's steady heartbeat, her breathing, in and out. And he could see the stars. A great glistening galaxy awaited him. He was going to go there, he was sure of it. Lance watched as a shooting star flew across the sky in a perfect arc. He watched as another one came, and another. He felt his mother kiss his forehead as he watched in awe of the meteors shooting across the sky.
Then he heard his mother's voice, it was soft at first but then louder.
"You are my sunshine. My only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray.
You'll never know dear, how much I love you."
Lance turned his head towards his mother and smiled. She returned the smile. Then Lance turned back towards the meteors. "I love you mijo," she said.
"I love you too, mamma," Six-year-old Lance replied.
…
Lance heard his own voice, but he didn't even realize he was singing. He was signing the same song his mom used to sing before he went to bed.
"You are my sunshine. My only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are grey.
You'll never know dear, how much I love you."
Lance's voice cracked, the song had never had meaning until now. Lance still didn't know why he was singing, his voice wasn't as sweet as it had been the last time he'd sang and Lance realized that it had been a long time. His voice slipped over the notes but now it stopped. Lance's voice cracked, he couldn't bring himself to sing the line. Then heard another voice replace his, a weaker voice but a voice trying to gain strength.
"Please don't take my sunshine away.
The other night dear, when I lay sleeping
I dreamed I held you in my arms
When I awoke, dear, I was mistaken"
Lance finally brought himself to sing another line,
"So, I hung my head and cried."
Then he heard their voices join together,
"You are my sunshine. My only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are grey.
You'll never know dear, how much I love you."
Keith's voice was barely audible, but there was no one there to hear them anyway.
"Please don't take my sunshine away."
Lance sang the last line before he realized he could no long hear Keith's voice at all. He looked down and Keith's eyes were barely open. "Keith?" he said worriedly, "Keith?"
Keith smiled faintly,
"Please don't take my sunshine away," Keith murmured.
Lance bent down until his face was directly above Keith's, their lips parallel. He looked down into Keith's eyes, their color seemed to have faded and they were almost a violet now. Lance blinked and Keith closed the distance. Their lips met perfectly, and Lance could feel Keith's breath against his. Lance wanted the kiss to last forever, he wanted for this moment to last forever. He didn't want to face the reality of what might happen next.
But then the kiss ended.
Lance felt Keith break away, he wanted to go in and kiss again but Keith's eyes were closed, his skin was pale, and to Lance's horror his breathing had stopped. Lance was frozen, his entire was a statue except for his lips. He was locked in time, Keith's body in his arms. Keith's blood staining his armor.
"Please don't take my sunshine away."