A/N: So this is a bit different than my normal writing, you guys know that I don't normally write a story where it could possibly take place in a 'canon' world (I know it's fanfiction and is not 'canon' but what I mean is it is not a slice of life where they are just on earth (big example is my first Silver and Blaze story how it resembles no semblance of canon at all) I hope I explained this well enough if not sorry)
A/N2: Sorry about that trash intro basically what I'm trying to say is that in this story we will have the Galra proper, the lions, the whole shebang. Not just a story like my other Kidge story. Anyways I hope to see positive reviews when I finally post this whenever I get finished. Also I don't know what the rating will be, but I plan on a fair amount of cussing and brutality in the dramatic portions.
Without further ado, on with the story!
I'm Here For You
"Computer, increase difficulty." Keith said with a smile on his face, slicing left and right between his opponents.
"ERROR: MAXIMUM ALLOWED DIFFICULTY REACHED." The computer responded.
"Computer" Keith growled through clenched teeth "Increase difficulty! Now!"
"ERROR: MAXIMUM ALLOWED DIFFICULTY REACHED." It said once more.
"By who?!" he yelled in agitation.
"PRINCESS ALLURA AND THE BLACK PALADIN HAVE SET IT TO WHERE YOU CANNOT PUSH YOURSELF TOO FAR."
"Why? We need to be at our best! That's stupid!" he screamed walking out of the training room, leaving the remaining robots to look at themselves confused.
"AAGRHH!"
"I think Keith found out what we did." Allura solemnly said.
"Three… two…" Shiro started counting "One." He pointed to the now opening door.
"What the hell?! Why would you limit how much training I can do?"
Shiro sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose "I know you're upset Keith, but Allura and I both know that if we didn't set a limiter you train until you collapse. You know that, too." Shiro placed his hand on Keiths shoulder "Just keep with this difficulty, 'kay?"
Keith yanked himself away from him "Forget it. I've already gotten to the point where this is too easy." He said clearly angry. "Maybe I'll go do something progressive, oh wait I can't! Because the only progressive thing I'm capable of is fighting and flying! Maybe I'll go to sleep then."
"What am I going to do with that kid?"
"Keith will calm down Shiro, he always does." Allura tried comforting him.
"Oh, what's wrong with him?" Coran asked as he walked in.
The three could hear the sounds of banging and metal clanking as Keith continued yelling down the hall.
They all sighed together as Shiro started walking after him "Keith-"
"No, let me go after him." Allura said softly.
"So… will you tell me what's wrong?"
Shiro just lightly groaned as he looked at Coran.
"Keith, get back here this instant!" Allura commanded. "What is the matter with you?"
"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you two?!" he snapped "We have the Galra as a constant threat! And you two are stopping me from doing one of the two things I can to help?!"
Allura took a step back, but then stood her ground once more "We do it to keep you and the others safe! What would happen if one of the arms of Voltron pushed themselves so hard they can't go to battle? Or died?"
"I can't get better if you two stop me."
Allura grew a smile on her face "Well then don't improve yourself."
"What?"
"Grow with the team. Spend time with Hunk, or Lance-" she got cut off by a scoff from Keith, who turned away in annoyance "Or spend time with Pidge."
Keith started to walk away "What would she and I even talk about?"
"I don't know, I do know you two share a bond, as the two arms you are connected with each other. Please amuse me, spend time with her. I also know that you two are already becoming closer friends than when you started, but that is mainly from all of your fights together."
He thought on it for a second and smiled "You know princess, I will. Actually I already I have a plan for the two of us."
"Good, and please stop hitting your sword against the castle walls." She told him as the two walked in separate directions.
Keith walked into Pidges workspace in the green lions hangar, much to her surprise, though she gave a small wave. "Hey, Keith. What's up?" she asked looking away from what looked like a small robot she was working on.
Keith greeted her back "Hey Pidge. Not much, just wanted to see what you were doing." He said casually as he stood next to her table watching her work on the little robot.
"Hm" she said "that's a surprise. Though a welcome one." She laughed.
"Okay Obi-Wan." He said snarkily.
"You heathen! It was Palpatine that said it!" she yelled at him.
"You sure? I'm pretty sure it was Obi-Wan…" he smirked.
"You… you did that just to get a rise outta me, didn't you?"
Keith smiled at her "Of course I did, you think I'd get a character wrong from Star Wars?"
"You're right. If anybody would get something wrong about Star Wars it'd be Lance. Damn Trekkie."
Keith let out a laugh louder than he intended to "Haha! Definitely."
"Wow, an actual laugh!" Pidge smiled "You should do that more often." She told him as she went back to her robot "You're always training. You know there's these things we humans call 'relaxation' and 'human interaction'." The two shared a laugh at that.
"What can I say, I don't relax unless I'm asleep, fighting or flying. It's not like I have amazing skills, like your hacking. By the way, wanna put those skills to good use?"
Pidge raised her eyebrow from curiosity "What'd you have in mind?" she smiled.
"Think you can hack into the training room computer for me? There's a block on it stopping me from going to the next training level difficulty. Think you're up for it?"
"Let's go and find out!" she said with an evil smirk, as she grabbed her computer and ran off to the training room. "You coming?"
Keith smiled back at her as he ran passed her "Slow poke!"
After their little race, the two made it to the training room in no time. Pidge was pretty out of breath, and Keith surprisingly out of breath too. "Heh, I- heh- wasn't expecting you to- heheh- keep up with me that well." He said in between gasps of air.
"I'm not- heh- as unfit as- heh- you'd might think." She too said in between breaths. "So" she took a deep breath in "Let me get a good look at what they have going on. Go ahead and train at the maximum allowed level. If I can, I'll slowly increase the strength for you."
"Sounds good. Computer, go to max training level." Keith said as he summoned his bayard.
"MAXIMUM LEVEL INITIATED."
"Interesting. Okay, I guess they didn't plan on you asking me for help."
"What makes you say that?" he responded in between parrying the robot.
"This." Pidge told him as she put in one last key.
"MAXIMUM DIFFICULTY: INCREASED."
Keith instantly saw the robot he was fighting got better, the swings were faster, the stabs more forceful, and it began to block even more of the attacks Keith threw at it. "Whoa! Now this is what I'm talking about! Finally an opponent on my level. Thanks Pidge!"
She gave a thumbs up in return "No problem. This was child's play really."
As soon as she got done talking to Keith, Allura rushed back to the bridge.
Shiro saw that she was moving with a mission "Whoa, what did you two say to each other."
"Just watch." She responded as she turned on multiple cameras in the castle, one showed Hunk in the kitchen baking something, another showed Lance waiting in the lounge apparently waiting for Hunk. "There he is." She said as she zoomed in on a camera of Keith walking towards the green lions hangar. "So, he did go there after all."
"Wha- Allura, what's Keith doing in the green lions hangar?" Shiro asked confused.
"I talked him into bonding with the team more, specifically Pidge. Those two need to learn to have more fun apart from their usual hobbies, besides as the two arms they need to become closer." Allura answered him, not taking her eyes off the camera. She smiled watching the two of them laugh together.
"Keith actually bought that whole 'Two arms need to be connected.' line?"
"Yes, and I believe my work here is done." She said pointing at the screen, now empty of either paladin.
"Um, Allura. You may want to take a second look at your handiwork."
"What do you- where did they go?" she asked swiping through cameras. After going through multiple she finally found them racing down the hall. "See just a simple race."
"Yeah, but can you guess where they're racing to?" he asked with a smile, clearly having already figured it out.
"He wouldn't…"
"Of course he would. That boy is the most stubborn kid I've ever met, pair him up with Pidge, the second most stubborn kid, and you have an issue." Shiro laughed, pinching the bridge of his nose "But you have to give him credit for finding a work around, plus they are bonding."
"I will give him no such credit! You and I both explicitly told him why we set a limiter!" she growled staring at the camera.
Shiro joined her in watching "Oh, looks like she finally did it." He said as Pidge pushed in one final key. "Maybe Keith was right, he was handling that last level ridiculously well. Now it actually seems like he's getting a workout in. See" he said pointing at the camera "he's having to react a little quicker, and it looks like he's actually breathing harder."
Allura crossed her arms in a pout "Whether he was right or not, it does not matter. He disobeyed a direct order from the both of us. No matter how remarkable his fighting prowess is."
"Let's just sit here and watch, if he goes overboard we'll cut it off and talk to the both of them. Deal?"
"Fine. But I'm still not happy about it." She answered.
After minutes of training Keith was surprised to see that he and the computer were about equal at this level. But he wanted more, he wanted the computer to push him, make him go on the defensive. "Next level Pidge!" he shouted over the swords clashing.
"I don't know Keith… you're not fully adapted to this training level yet." She told him hesitantly.
"One hit."
"What?" she asked.
"If I can land one hit on this guy, you increase the difficulty. Okay?"
"Fine, but it has to be a clean hit. Not a little scratch. That's your challenge." The little green paladin replied.
"Deal."
Almost immediately after, Keiths intensity skyrocketed, Pidge was amazed that Keith had the robot on the defensive. Allura was just dumbfounded from the scene she was seeing, astounded that Keith had reached this level of fighting capabilities, remembering how in the old days very few of the castles guards ever reached it.
"He's about to go to the next level." Shiro said in a flat tone.
"What do you mean? It's amazing he even reached this."
"As soon as he beats it, it won't be enough. He wants to lose so he can have something to work for." He told her, getting ready to shut it down.
"Wait, if it's true that you think he can go on, let him. We both thought he shouldn't have even done this, but look at him! If he wants to lose let him, as soon as it is done we can shut it down like you said." The princess watched in amazement as Keith blocked the robot into a corner and stabbed it.
"Done!" Keith said in victory "I'll admit" he said taking a deep breath as he walked back to Pidge "that was a bit more of a challenge than I thought it would be." He finished taking off his helmet.
"Not surprising, according to the castles computer, that was supposed to be the benchmark for the elite guard recruits. But you rocked it!" Pidge said excitedly as she offered him a high five.
"Haha, thanks" he said accepting the high five "but if this was for the recruits, than I need to go farther. Next level." He told her drawing his sword, helmet still in hand, ready for the next opponent.
"Elite guard recruits!" she reminded him "Besides, I know I agreed to give you the next level but at least catch your breath first. If you aren't at your peak than we won't get an accurate measurement."
Keith put his helmet on "Fine." He said as he fell backwards with a loud thud. "Probably a good thing I put this back on, else that would've hurt." He said tapping his helmet and laughing.
"Oh my god, Keith." Pidge laughed as she walked over to him "I'm going to get you some water, I have the next level blocked because I want to be here to watch, and stop if necessary."
"Yeah, yeah." He gave a thumbs up still laying down.
"Why'd he fall down? He wasn't that tired, he was ready for the next match."
"As far as I can tell, Pidge forced him to take a break… Maybe I can actually get some audio too." Allura said under her breath, messing with many different buttons that Shiro could not even begin to guess the purpose of.
"Hey guys! What's going on in here?" Lance shouted as he came walked into the bridge.
"Keith had Pidge hack into the training rooms computer to access more difficult training levels. Now we're watching how good he does."
"Ha! And he couldn't handle it? Obviously because he's on the ground." Lance laughed, resting on Hunk who now entered the room as well.
"Actually, Lance" Allura spoke "Keith did rather amazing. Far better than we predicted. He is only on the ground because Pidge made him take a break for a moment. Oh, she's back. Quiet now, let's watch." She said hushing them as they all watched the camera, now with audio so they can hear too.
"Catch." Pidge said as she tossed the water at him.
"Thanks" he said, catching the drink. After taking a couple sips he hopped back up, ready to go. "Alright, start it up Pidge." He said summoning his sword.
"Okay, okay. I'm already on it. Ready? Start!" she said activating the new simulation.
"ACCESS GRANTED TO ELITE LEVEL." Immediately a new gladiator robot spawned in frot of him.
"Whoa!" he shouted barely managing a block "I guess it's elite for a rea-" the robot then disappeared "Where'd it go?" he asked as the robot reappeared behind him knocking him to the ground. "What the hell, Pidge?!"
"Sorry, hold on let me see if I can get a description on this simulation…" she said scrolling through her computer trying to figure it out. "Apparently it's capable of teleportation, it's to test your ability to predict enemy attacks as well as counter them. Also the strength and speed is increased even farther than the last level."
"Well" he laughed, quickly regaining his focus as the robot once again disappeared "One, two, thr- ah" he growled as he got hit once again, as he tried to swing at it the robot once again teleported away. "One, two, three, four, fiv- erg!"
"ERROR: RED PALADIN IS NOT READY FOR THIS LEVEL. RECOMMENDATION: FORFEIT." The computer spoke as the robot hit Keith over the head with the hilt of its sword.
"Maybe you should listen to the computer, Keith. It's been training people for generations." Pidge suggested as she was getting ready to shut the simulation down.
"Like hell, I'm losing before I forfeit!" Keith shouted swinging his blade around violently.
"He's getting desperate…" Shiro said quietly.
"What do you mean?" Allura asked.
"He's getting aggravated that he's failing. Watch his movements, does that look like Keiths normal fighting style?"
"You're right." Lance said closely examining the footage.
"He's even stopped trying to find the pattern. He has no plan of attack anymore… I'm shutting it down." Shiro said as he reached for the button.
"No Shiro don't!" Allura commanded as she stopped him from going any farther "You do that and he'll blame Pidge for shutting it down. How would you feel if he got angry at her for your actions?"
"Fine. But what are we supposed to do?"
"Just sit here and watch. He said he wants to lose, well let's let him lose." She finished as they all turned back to watch.
Pidge sat there quietly as she watched in shock that Keith was getting beat up so bad.
"ERROR: RED PALADIN IS NOT READY FOR THIS LEVEL. RECOMMENDATION: FORFEIT." Keith heard again as the robot disappeared and reappeared in quicker succession.
"Shut the hell up!" he screamed.
"Keith get a hold of yourself!" Shiro and Pidge shouted at the same time, Shiro speaking through the castle speakers.
Keith growled as he glared at Pidge, but once he got a look at the fear on her face he snapped out of it "Shut it off…" he said quietly as he ran out of the room.
"Now I'm going for him." Shiro told them "And I'm not suggesting, I'm commanding. None of you follow."
"Shiro, just be careful about what you say. Something seems to be bothering Keith, just be sure not to make it worse. I'm sure he already feels bad for shouting in front of Pidge."
"I have to agree with Allura, you know I don't care about Keith too much, but even I can tell something isn't right. And that look on his face? He hated himself for it, almost immediately." Lance said as Shiro walked out, not giving a response to either of them.
As he was walking down the halls he ended up crossing paths with Pidge.
"Have you seen Keith?" she asked worried.
"No, I'm going to go talk to him right now." He responded with a straight face. She could tell he knew what happened.
"I'm coming with you, I need to make sure he is okay."
"No, you're not Katie."
"Yes, I am." She commanded. "I swear, if you try to stop me I will taze you."
"Why do you want to go?"
"You weren't in there Shiro! You didn't see him. Now, either you will let me go with you, or you aren't going at all."
"Fine, but you will wait outside until after I'm done talking with him. No ifs, ans, or buts. Got it?" he told her.
"Got it." She pouted as they walked down the halls together.
With nothing but silence Pidge got more anxious, she wanted to know what Shiro was going to say to Keith, but she didn't want to press her luck as to how lenient Shiro would be with her.
"I know Keith is beating himself up over how he acted, but what about you? I'll admit he looked pretty scary, and I wasn't even in there."
"I was more worried about him, have you noticed how angry he has gotten lately? Or how stressed he always seems?" she asked.
"Yeah, and that's exactly what I'm going to talk to him about when I see him. I'm happy you're fine after that ordeal, and he'll be happy to know that too." Shiro finished as they walked up to Keiths bedroom door. "Keith, open up." The door slid open but he didn't see him in the room so he walked in.
Then Pidge got an alert on one of her devices "Strange… but if this is what I think it is I better dress the part." She said as she went to her room and put on her armor.
"Pidge, I don't know where he's a-" Shiro started as he walked out of the room "But I guess you do… What am I going to do with you two?" he said with a sigh.
Pidge ran to the Red lions hangar and saw Keith loading up "I knew it." She muttered under her breath as she snuck in after him. After she felt the lion activate she went into the head and saw Keith ready to fly. "So where are you going?"
"Pidge? What are you doing here? You need to go, now." Keith told her.
"Nope, not until you tell me where you're going and what you're doing." She told him as she strapped herself into the seat behind him.
"I need to get away from everyone and clear my head, I am not the most stable right now and I am a danger to the team until I calm down."
"Which is exactly why I am going with you, so either fly before Shiro finds out where we are, or we can get out of Red and go to your room and talk."
Keith let out a long sigh and thought it over for a moment "So why are you here?" he asked her, as he sat the lion down.
"You said so yourself, you are not the most stable person right now, and everyone can see somethings bothering you. I can't leave you alone right now. What kind of friend would I be then?"
Keith smiled "Thanks Pidge that means a lot."
"So, talk time?" she asked offering to help him out of his seat.
"That sounds really nice." He said taking her hand, following as they left the Red lion together.
"First we need to stop by my room though, since we aren't going flying I need to get out of my armor real fast."
As they walked down the corridors of the castle they did not realize they still had each other's hand, they also did not know that they were being watched by five other people on the bridge.
"Well" Allura said calmly as she took a breath in with a smile "It seems that the situation is much better now, though I wonder where is it that they are going?" she asked no one in particular as she focused on how Pidge almost seemed to lead Keith to their destination.
"Who knows…" Lance said with a shrug "But is it just me or does Keith seem happy? Or at least very at ease and in comfort? It's not natural."
"Maybe he just needed someone to talk with" Hunk replied "and who's better to talk with than her? I mean she has a lot on her plate looking for her dad and brother, so whatever is bothering Keith, I am sure she'll be able to help."
"You're right Hunk, but maybe we should all take an opportunity to just talk with Keith, or let loose a little steam. For example, Lance when this is over why don't you and Keith go on a fly together or do some training with each other? I'm sure deep down he'd love the company or the competition." Shiro smiled putting his arm around the Cuban boy.
"Eh, as much as I hate to admit it, I'd actually like to go for a fly with him. Prove I'm not as bad of a pilot as I used to be in the early days."
"And Hunk, you said who'd be better to talk with than Pidge, right? Well, you have the biggest heart out of all of us, that's why you got the yellow lion, remember? Just don't be surprised if Keith is suddenly wanting a heart to heart after he and Pidge get done talking, and my gut instinct tells me that that might be the case."
"What makes you say that Shiro?" Allura asked.
"I've tried helping to raise him since I found out he was alone, one thing I tried teaching him was you can't keep everything bottled up or eventually it will have consequences. I think he realized that today." He said as he walked up and swiped the camera feed away "Let's leave them be for now."
"Wow." Pidge said flatly as the door into Keith's room opened.
"What?"
"Nothing, you just keep it really dark in here." She said looking around trying to get her eyes to adjust.
"Sorry, I just find it cozy." He said with a smirk as he turned the lights on for her.
"Ah, much better." Pidge smiled as she sat on Keith's bed, patting it for him to sit down too.
Keith did as she requested and just shifted his eyes between her and his room awkwardly, clearly not knowing what to do here. "So, what do we do now?"
"Now? We talk, it doesn't have to be anything in particular, and it doesn't have to what's bothering you. We can just talk about anything you'd like."
Keith blinked not knowing what to talk about threw him off. He was expecting her to have a bunch of questions like 'why did he shout earlier?' or 'what the hell is wrong with you?' but the fact she was leaving it up to him to open himself up threw him for a loop.
That's when he did something neither of them saw coming, he just hugged her and buried his head in her shoulder, at this point he was just going off what felt natural "I don't know… it's just been hard y'know?"
After Pidge caught her bearings she returned the hug, wrapping her arms around him "Just tell me about it."
So, he did. Keith talked to her about everything, what it was like for him as a kid knowing his mom abandoned him and his dad, how that made him feel thinking she wanted nothing to do with him. What it was like for him after his dad died and he was left alone for the longest time, and how after he had grown close to Shiro what it was like to feel lost again after they disappeared on the Kerberos mission.
Pidge took in everything Keith was telling her, being sure not to lose focus for even a second. This was the first time she had seen him open up to someone and seeing that he just so happened to choose her made her feel obligated to listen, more than that she felt happy that she was the one. After every story Keith told her, she made sure to comfort him the best way she could. She had to admit, she liked seeing this side to Keith, it was very human to her and she liked seeing him not be his normal lonesome self.
There were moments when they were talking Keith almost broke down and started to shut her out again, but when that happened she'd hug him instead and wait for him to start talking again.
It wasn't all just sad parts of Keith's life that he shared though, he also talked about going hiking or fishing with his dad and how much fun it used to be, they had gone on like that for hours, eventually they fell asleep talking to each other.
In the middle of the night Shiro decided to take a walk, get a drink and head up to the bridge for a moment. Once he entered he saw a very tired Allura looking at the video feed of the outside of Keith's room.
"Allura, what are you doing?" Shiro asked with a yawn.
"Neither Keith nor Pidge has left the room since they entered hours ago. I'm waiting for at least one of them to walk out." She said trying to hold back a yawn from herself.
"They probably fell asleep talking, sleep is something you could use too. What if we need to warp somewhere and you are worn out because you stayed up to look at a camera?" he said with another yawn.
"You're right…" Allura admitted as she was starting to doze off "Fine I'll go sleep for a few Vargas." She said finally releasing the yawn she was holding back "Come along little friends." She told the space-mice that were right next to Shiro's feet.
Shiro had a look of concern on his face as the small creatures followed after Allura I didn't even know they were there… I could have stepped right on them. He thought to himself as he walked up to the still rolling video footage, he gave a smile before he swiped it off.
When Pidge woke up she was very confused, she wasn't in her room but she was alone on the bed that she explicitly remembers passing out on while talking with Keith, she rubbed her eyes as she fully woke up and realized Keith's jacket had been draped over her, this made it all the more confusing to her that there was no Keith to be seen.
She decided to gently get off the bed when she nearly tripped over something, as she looked down she saw Keith asleep in the floor shivering from the lack of blankets or jacket. She knew she wasn't strong enough to lift him up onto the bed, so she sat and thought for a second. Not really coming up with anything she decided to check the time.
"Hm, it's relatively early in the morning but Hunk should be starting breakfast any minute now…" Pidge whispered "Keith, Keith wake up." She lightly nudged him awake.
"Huh, wha-?" he jerked back in shock apparently forgetting there was someone else in his room "Oh, Pidge. Did I wake you?"
"No, I woke you. Why are you sleeping in the floor?"
"I woke up a few hours ago, you were practically in the floor yourself, so I decided to switch spots, and you also seemed cold so I gave you my jacket."
"Oh, thanks." She said with a smile. "But now you're the cold one so take this back, and let's go get some breakfast." She told him punching his arm and pulling him along to the lounge where Hunk was serving breakfast.
"Pidge?"
"Yeah, Keith?"
"Thanks for last night, I think I really needed that." He said with a smile as he wrapped his arm around her for a light hug.
Pidge returned the hug with a smile "You're welcome, though I don't think you ever got to what's been bothering you recently." She said with a light pout.
"It's fine we can get to that at a later point, right now I am just better off after all we talked about last night."
"Okay, just anytime you need someone to talk to, promise you'll come to me and talk. 'Kay?"
"I promise" Keith answered with a smile "Now let's go see what Hunk cooked up. Whatever it is, it smells amazing from here."
"Agreed, come on." She said excitedly as she started pulling him by the arm again.
"Hey, guys! You two are up early. And together?" Hunk said rather confusedly as the two entered the lounge where he was serving breakfast to Shiro, Allura, and Lance.
"What can we say? We had a relaxing sleep, right Keith?"
"Except where I decided to sleep on the cold floor? Yeah, really relaxing." He said smiling at her. "So what smells so good Hunk? We could smell it almost all the way from my room."
"Oh, I found these weird eggs on that last planet we were on, so I decided to make a space-omelet! Go ahead, tell me what you guys think." Hunk told them as he placed food on some plates for them.
"I have to say, you really outdid yourself this time Hunk." Lance said in between bites "Come on, dig in guys!"
Both Keith and Pidge did as they suggested and dug right into their food, both surprised at how much it tasted like a normal omelet from back home.
"You weren't kidding Lance." Keith started.
"Yeah this is really amazing Hunk." Pidge finished.
"I don't know what an 'omelet' is, but this does taste rather good." Allura said with a smile.
"Thanks Allura" Hunk said as he started to put seconds on everyone's plates "I really love cooking for you guys, and it makes it all the better when you all like it."
After eating and conversing with the rest of the Keith got up and stretched letting out a very satisfied groan "Okay, I am going out for a fly before I get ready for some more training. Thanks again for the great food Hunk."
"Actually Keith, we picked up a signal just a few vargas ago, it did not appear to be urgent so that is why we did not wake you all sooner. So if you will please stay in the castle, we will be departing for the location soon." Allura spoke calmly as she finished her plate.
"Hm, alright. Just call for me when you need me." He replied as he walked out of the lounge and going back to his room.
In the time that he waited the other paladins continued their breakfast, Shiro and Allura scooted in close to Pidge, much to her discomfort, and asked her how the talking with Keith went. She explained how everything seemed to have went great, she talked about how they talked until they passed out, though she was careful to leave out the bits where Keith cried for his own sake.
After they had all finished, the five walked towards the bridge calling for Keith to meet them there as they did so. Once they had all reconvened Allura and Shiro began the debrief for the mission.
"As I said earlier, a few vargas ago we received a low priority signal. There was not any sign of urgency, nor a sign of imminent danger. Though as Voltron, we must look into it nonetheless." Allura spoke firmly.
"You heard her, team. Let's move out!" Shiro shouted as they all went to their individual zip lines.
"How long have we been out here?" Lance complained resting his head on the console of the lions cockpit.
"About twenty-minutes. Stay alert Lance." Shiro said calmly as he surveyed the area.
"He's not the only one that's bored. I'm pretty sure Hunk fell asleep." Pidge said as she pointed towards the yellow lion, which was now slouching. "Are we sure this is the source of the signal?" she asked.
"Positive." Allura cut in through the comms. "Now, as Shiro said stay alert."
"Say, Lance?" Keith started.
"Yeah Keith?" he responded.
"That sound cannon thing of yours, can it actually act as a sonar and let us know if there's anything out there?"
"Nice thinking Keith!" Pidge said excitedly.
"Great idea Keith. So, think it will work Lance?" Shiro asked.
"Only one way to find out…" Lance said as he planted his bayard in the slot and activated the sound cannon.
After the first shot they waited, at first nothing happened and Keith started internally hating on himself for what he thought was a stupid idea. Then something appeared on the blue lions console.
"Hey I'm getting something, good going Keith." Lance told the other boy.
"What do ya got Lance?" Shiro asked.
"I'm picking up a small cluster of ships, should we investigate?"
"Yeah, someone wake Hunk up." The black paladin told them as they started flying again.
"On it… Combine!" Keith shouted happily, way more so than was characteristic of him, as he rammed into the yellow lion.
"Huh, what happened?!" Hunk panicked as he woke up from the impact.
Keith could hear Pidge laughing through the comms as he followed after them "You fell asleep, I woke you up. Come on we found something."
"Got it." Hunk spoke as he followed Keith and the others.
As they flew in between some stray asteroids and other space debris, they finally came across what the sonar picked up.
"Uh, guys?" Lance started.
"That's no 'small cluster'…"
"That's an armada." Shiro finished, gritting his teeth.
There, right before their eyes, were three Galra warships, what appeared to be hundreds of small fighters, and every sized ship in between.
"Guys? What are we going to do? We were supposed to just investigate a low priority distress signal, not this." Pidge said worriedly.
"Calm down, Pidge." Keith responded, he and Shiro were both trying to keep a level head and figure out a plan. "Shiro you got a plan?"
"I'm thinking… Keith, I want you to use the Red lions speed and your piloting abilities to blitz the small fighters and draw the warships main fire. Pidge, you and Lance follow right after, he takes a hit you give one back to them two-fold. Hunk, you and are going to power right through them."
"Got it!" the four others spoke confidently.
"Here I go!" Keith shouted as he and the Red lion flew forward.
The Galra were surprised, they scattered before they even knew what had hit them. Lasers were flying in every direction. Lance and Pidge honestly thought for a moment they would not be needed, but before they knew it the Galra regrouped and started to swarm Keith.
"Lance!" Pidge shouted.
"On it! Let's move in Pidge!"
Keith was doing his best to evade every shot he could, but he could only do so much and each shot from the Galra were starting to graze the Red lion hull. That's when the console in the lion started to go on high alert, and Keith realized that the main ships were starting to aim their cannons at him.
"Guys, I know Red's supposed to be the fastest, but there's only so many blasts I can evade at any given moment!" Keith yelled as he spun, doing every maneuver that came to him on instinct.
"We're right behind you!" Pidge said as she and Lance blasted through, catching up to him as best they could.
As those three were cutting through the small fighters, Hunk and Shiro began to take on the warships.
"Now Hunk! Time to take out that cannon." Shiro yelled as he and the yellow paladin rammed the first of the three, knocking it off target just in time to save the others.
The battle continued like this for a while, after a long battle the five relaxed for a moment. "Sound off, is everyone alright?" Shiro asked.
"I'm good."
"Yep."
"We're fine, right Keith?" Pidge asked.
"Yeah, but we shouldn't let our guard down. For all we know, they could've called reinforcements."
"Argh!" Pidge screamed.
"What was that?!" the other paladins asked.
"Pidge! Pidge, are you alright?" Keith asked in a panick.
"I'm fine, but me and Green can't take another hit like that. Where'd it come from anyways?"
"The cannon! It's still operational!" Keith shouted as he turned around to see that the cannon was powering up another shot, not only that but reinforcements did indeed arrive and started to surround the five.
Then the cannon fired at the Green lion once more.
"Pidge be ready to go stealth!" Keith told her as he flew in front of the beams path.
"Keith?!" she asked as the laser made contact.
"Keith!" Lance, Hunk, and Shiro screamed as a cloud of smoke formed from the impact.
"Pidge, stealth now! They'll think they got both of you if you disappeared." Shiro commanded.
"R-right." She said as she activated her camouflage.
On the Galra warship the species in question congratulated themselves on a direct hit "Commander! We managed to take out the green lion, we also caught the red lion in the blast and caused it to be disabled. What's your next order?"
The grunt was greeted with a sinister smile from his commanding officer.
"Team, circle up and defend Keith until he regains consciousness."
"We can't do that" Lance growled through his teeth "Even if the three of us were to circle up, there's too many. If we defend Keith, we'll be open. If we protect ourselves, Keith is left wide open…"
"I'll guard Keith." Pidge cut in "You guys focus on yourselves, if anything happens to him or Red I'll take care of it."
"Right, thanks Pidge." Shiro said gratefully.
With a plan to follow the three lions and their paladins that were still in the fight began to take on as many ships as they could, while a small fleet closed in and started to take the red lion away.
"Shiro? They are taking him to the main ship, do I follow or fight?"
"Do not engage! They don't know you and Green are still alive, you are our ace-in-the-hole, follow as close as you can. If you have to, land your lion on a small asteroid and sneak aboard. When we're done here we'll mount a rescue to try and distact them long enough for you and Keith to get out."
"Got it!" she said firmly as she followed after, and just as Shiro predicted she did have to leave Green just outside. "Don't worry, I'll be back girl…" the paladin said softly as she exited.
"Pidge to paladins, I'm on board…" she whispered in to comm "Pidge to paladins, do you read me?" no response was given to her. "Must be blocking all non-Galra communications… that's one more thing to take care of." She sighed as she began to sneak throughout the ship, narrowly avoiding Galra patrols.
After a few minutes, she managed to make her way to where they were keeping the red lion. "Hey, I know I'm not Keith but he's in trouble. If there's any way you can help me find him… please, you have to!" she pleaded as she placed her hand on the paw of the lion.
With nothing happening, she began to get upset "Please! Help me save Keith!" after hearing her plea the red lions eyes lit up and Pidge was surprised, but then she began to see through the halls of the ship, and the proper pathway to take, eventually she saw Keith with his arms strung up in chains and bruises forming on his face.
"Keith…" Pidge gasped as she exited from the trance "Thank you, I'll bring him back to you as soon as I can." She told the lion, who lit its eyes one last time before they dimmed again.
Pidge ran as fast as she could to the room where Keith was being held, not really caring for a full on stealth approach. Eventually she ran into some sentry bots which she had to eliminate.
"Halt!" "Outta the way!" she sliced her bayard through them as she kept running.
After the small encounter she had, she made it to Keith in no time "It's locked… Good thing I know how to hack Galra systems pretty easily by now."
Once he broke through she was shocked at the state she found Keith in. She was only minutes behind them taking him in, fifteen at the most, but they managed to bust his lips, give him a black eye, and swell his cheek up. All in such a short amount of time.
"Keith" she ran to him and tried to loosen the restraints on him "Come on, we have to get you out of here!"
"Pidge…" she heard him whisper, his voice hoarse "Pidge, forget me. You have to go, get out of here, they don't know you're here yet." He coughed, slightly raising his head to face her. "Go."
"I'm not leaving you behind!" she growled as she started to punch the chain with her bayard, hoping to cut it. "I already lost some family out here, like hell I'll leave another one!" she yelled as she continued to punch the chains.
"Please! Leave before they realize you're here!" Keith begged her.
"Hahaha, it's too late for that paladin." A large Galra male walked in with two sentries accompanying him. "I will admit, I honestly thought we killed you little paladin, but now I can give Lord Zarkon an even bigger prize with two of you here."
Pidge took a defensive stance, readying for any attack. If he charges, I could probably slide under… but he could easily go for Keith. I might be able to wrap his legs up, but that will leave me open to the sentries… come on Katie! Think! She thought to herself, but before she could come up with a solid plan the Galra commander started charging at her and swinging a sword.
On instinct she tried going with her first plan to slide under but he grabbed her part way through "Not so fast little paladin." He told her as he lifted her up and slammed her down with force.
"PIDGE!" Keith screamed as he started flailing around to try and break free from the chains."
"Hahaha, please. Those shackles would be hard for even a Galra to break free from let alone a small creature like you." He laughed as he picked up again, and once again she was slammed down.
"Ah-" Pidge gasped as the hit knocked the wind out of her.
"PIDGE!" he screamed again "I swear to God, you hurt her one more time… I'LL RIP YOUR FUCKING HEAD OFF YOUR SHOULDERS!" and much to the Galras surprise Keith started to actually pull the bolts off the wall.
The Galra commander was intrigued by this and ordered one of the sentries to carry over a gun to him "I'd love to see you try." He said as hit Pidges helmet with the hilt of the gun, actually breaking open the glass part in the process.
Ever so slowly the chains were starting to give way, and a familiar yellow glow began to form in Keiths eyes, though the look he was giving with them was one of pure hatred.
"Keith…?" Pidge let out before she fell unconscious.
"Oh? And here I was hoping she'd be able to watch as I pull the trigger on her. I guess she'll die not knowing you were too weak." The commander spoke as the gun began to charge up as he aimed it at Pidges face. "Oh well, at least you will live knowing that little bit of information.
*BLAM*
"PIIIDDDGGEE!" Keith let out one last scream as he finally broke free from the wall and tackled the much larger Galra to the ground "I'll fucking murder you!" he growled as he repeatedly punched the purple face before him.
"HAHAHAHA, I knew it! Your eyes! Haha" the Galra commander laughed with each blow dealt to him.
"YOU! WILL! PAY!" Keith screamed over and over, completely overcome by rage and bloodlust, he eventually began to start tearing at the Galras throat, that's when the commander began to fight back.
"Come on then, make me pay!" he shouted gleefully as he caught one of Keiths punches and threw him off.
"Argh!" Keith growled, no longer was he talking, he was out to kill the bastard that just murdered his friend right in front of him. Even though he was not able to actually think straight he still managed to summon his sword, he began to start slashing aimlessly, until he backed him into a corner, and tried to stab him in the heart, though all he managed was to stab through the shoulder and pin him to the wall.
"Go ahead… finish it. Finish me like a Galra!"
Just as he was about to pull the sword out to land the killing blow- "Keith, stop!"
"Pidge…?" he asked, confused and broken from his blood rage he turned to where she was laying and what he saw only confused him more. There she was, leaning over trying to get up, no evidence of being shot at all. "Pidge?" he asked once again "Is that really you?" he started to tear up at the site of his friend. He ran over to her, he dropped down and hugged her.
"I thought I saw you die…" he sobbed.
"Apparently he missed, I'm fine. I'm alive." She said softly with a smile, returning the hug.
"Thank Go- agh!" Keith let out, before he and Pidge both looked down to see his own sword run through his chest.
"Keith?"
"Pidge…" he said softly as he placed his hand on her face before he dropped.
"Hrm, the soft fool should have killed me when he had the chance." The commander said as he clenched onto his bleeding shoulder wound, he looked down to see the shock on Pidges face. Shock, that turned to rage. She summoned her bayard and slashed for him.
"Vrepit Sa…"
The commander closed his eyes. He didn't reopen them.
Pidge huffed as she watched the commander drop, she was not sure whether she actually killed him or not, she didn't care either. She was focused on one thing. "Keith?" she whispered as she dropped to her knees, her head hanging over him.
Keith coughed, blood was spurting from his mouth "Pidge… y- you have to get R-Red out of here… You have t-to save yourself." He coughed once more before his body went limp.
"Keith…"
"Keith…?"
"KEEIIITTTHHHH!"
She screamed as she cried over him, she stayed there craddling him close to her.
Then she heard a roar.
She stopped crying, if only for just a moment, and wiped the tears away. She picked up Keith and carried him, she knew she was running off adrenaline, it had to be, she knew she couldn't normally carry him like this, but she didn't care. She ran as fast as she could, to the red lion who was waiting for them. It roared one more time before letting her enter with Keiths body. "Come on! We have to get to the Castle!" and instantly the lion began on autopilot to the Castle.
"Guys! Guys! Do you copy?" she yelled as she entered the cockpit, out of breath.
"Pidge? Is that you, my lion shows that this is coming from the red lion, does that mean you and Keith are safe?" Shiro asked.
She didn't give a response, but the others could hear her huffing… and crying?
"Pidge?" Shiro asked again.
"Keith…" she cried some more.
"Pidge, what's wrong? What happened to Keith?" Lance asked in a panic, as he, Shiro, and Hunk caught up to the red lion and began flying back.
"He's- he's-"
"No…" Shiro let out.
"No way… not Keith. Not-" Lance started up again as started to choke up and sob.
"Are you… are you sure? Pidge?" Hunk asked, trying to fight back tears of his own.
"Yes! I watched it happen! Right in front of me!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, tears flowing freely "I have him right here with me… I- I couldn't leave him."
The rest of their full speed flight, though it may have been only a few seconds with how fast they were going, was silent with no one able to speak, either from shock or sadness they didn't know.
Once they reached the castle they were greeted in the hangar by Coran and Allura, though the two didn't immediately notice the sadness.
"Hello paladins. You were gone longer than expected, did everything go alright?" Allura asked.
Shiro, Hunk, and Lance didn't even look at her. Their eyes were fixed firmly on the red lion, waiting for Pidge to bring out Keith.
"What's- what's wrong?" Allura asked, finally realizing something was not right, she too turned to the red lion.
"Keith-" Shiro choked out before Pidge limped out, still carrying Keith in her arms. As they fully exited the lion, Keiths sword which was still impaled into him, finally slid out of the wound and clanked to the floor.
"No…" Allura said in shock.
"Oh, oh dear…" Coran said quietly.
Pidge tried inching closer to the group, and right as she reached them she collapsed to the ground, still holding Keith in her arms.
"Medical Bay, now!" Allura commanded.
"R-right." Shiro said firmly as he picked up Keith and Allura grabbed Pidge. All five of them ran as fast as they could to the infirmary, every second counted. Allura knew that but there was no time to explain as they hurried to their destination.
"Put him in a cryo-pod immediately!" she said as she laid Pidge down on a table. "What happened?"
"We don't know, Keith took a shot in the red lion that was meant for Pidge and was taken aboard a Galra warship, Pidge snuck aboard since the rest of us were outnumbered to rescue him, we lost contact for a bit until she came out with the red lion in a panic, with Keith… with Keith like the way he is." Shiro explained, he had to stop himself from actually saying the word. He couldn't bear to hear it out loud.
"So you don't know how long he been dea-"
"Don't say it Allura!" Lance snapped. "Don't." he whispered.
"No, the only one who would have an idea is Pidge, and well…" Shiro turned to the short green-clad paladin "she is not so well either."
"Well, I need to know." Allura said firmly as she walked over to Pidge and healed her, it was slow but her face twitched until she finally awoke.
"Keith!" she jumped up, looking around in a panic for him.
"Pidge, you have to calm down." Allura said, but she was ignored.
When she finally saw Keith in the cryopod she ran over to him "No, it was real?"
"Pidge, how long has it been?" Allura asked, trying to get her to calm down.
"I-I-I don't know, how long have been in the castle?"
"Two doboshes or so."
Pidge tried working the math in her head, she ran Keith to the red lion as fast as she could, and the flight was very short "An estimation is probably eight minutes or so, why?"
"Coran, go to the bridge find us the nearest Balmera!"
"Right away, Princess." Coran said as he ran as fast as he could to the bridge.
"Princess, what's going on?" Shiro asked.
"I might have a way to save Keith, but it is an ancient Altean technique, not to be taken lightly. And it won't work if he has been… deceased, for an extended period of time. The cryopod should halt that at least a little bit." She told them as she started messing with the control panel for Keiths pod "This timer determines how much longer we have at a chance of saving Keith, with it halting the ceasing of his brain activity, we have approximately twenty doboshes. I wish it were longer, but I will try my best."
"Please, you have to save him!" Pidge begged as she gripped on tight to Allura "It's my fault this happened! I distracted him! He had the fight won, but he came to check on me, it's my fault!" she cried as she buried her face into Alluras chest.
"I promise Pidge, I will do my best. Coran, have you found us a Balmera yet?" Allura asked.
"Just now Princess, and it's actually the same Balmera that Shay and her people live on. I'll open a line so you can speak to her, and let her know how to prepare."
"Hello?"
"Shay? It's Princess Allura, we need a very important favor from you and your people."
"What is it, how can we help?" Shay asked concerned.
"I can't explain in detail now, but I need you and your people to summon a very large crystal from the Balmera. We have less than twenty doboshes."
"Okay, how large?"
"Larger than the crystal you gave us to power the Castle."
"We will try our best but that is a difficult request. You will need to give a lot back to the Balmera."
"I know, but ths is to save a life."
"Understood."
While Allura went up the bridge, Pidge stayed behind to watch over Keith. Not wanting to leave her alone Shiro, Lance, and Hunk stayed behind as well. She stared at Keith blankly, placing her hand on the pod. "It's my fault."
"No it wasn't Pidge, I'm sure of that." Shiro told her as he placed his hand on her shoulder.
"You don't understand, Keith had that commander dead to rights, he was about to win but I stopped him. He came to make sure I was okay, and- and- then that bastard stabbed him in the back!" she said, her face heating up with anger.
"Katie, you have to remain calm." Shiro told her, gripping both her shoulders. "If Keith comes out of this alright, he won't want you blaming yourself."
He was right, and she knew he was right. But she also could not help but to blame herself still. "But what if he doesn't?" she hated to ask that, but she still had to.
"Then he wouldn't want you to blame yourself while he's watching over us." Shiro smiled.
She thought about it for a second and smiled back "I didn't know either of you were religious." She said as she wiped her eyes.
"We're not overly so, we believe but we don't preach our beliefs. Make sense?"
Pidge nodded her head, and turned back to Keith one more time.
"Attention paladins, prepare for a warp." They heard Allura announce "And bring Keith's pod to the Castle entrance."
They did as commanded and slowly moved Keith to the exit of the Castle of Lions, by the time they made it there with him the warp had finished and Allura and Coran were waiting for them.
"Quickly, we haven't any time to lose." Allura rushed them out, and before them was a massive Balmeran crystal "Take him to the base of the crystal."
"Allura, what are you doing what's the plan?"
"It's a simple task to heal someone, but to bring them back to life would require a massive source of energy, and that too much time hadn't passed."
"What happens if we waited too long?" Pidge asked worried.
"The damage to his psyche could be catastrophic, there are thousands of cases of people dying and being brought back in short time frame. But if you are on the other for too long? You might not be able to accept coming back…" that was the end of the discussion as they reached the crystal with Shay and her grandmother waiting for them.
"Now what is wrong?" Shay asked before she saw Keith in the pod "Oh, my…"
"Thank you for asking the Balmera to do this, I know it must have been very tasking for it and you all." Allura said with a smile as she placed her hand on the crystal. "You four must place yourselves on Keiths pod, it will more than likely take you all to bring him back."
The four other paladins did as they were told and closed their eyes as they placed their hands on Keith. Allura took a deep breath in as she placed her own hand on Keith and began to transfer the energy from the crystal and through her body to him.
"Where are we?" Lance asked as they looked around, hearing the echoes of their own voice.
"Limbo, Purgatory, your people have many names for it." Allura spoke.
"Where's Keith?" Pidge asked as she looked around.
"He could have already began to pass on, we must hurry and find his spirit." Allura responded.
"KEITH!" Pidge screamed hoping that he would hear her.
The five looked around fervently for their friend. It felt like hours and they began to lose hope, until one of them saw something in the distance, not one something but two or maybe even three.
Keith laid there with his eyes closed, but he felt the warmth of a bright light "Hey boy." He heard a familiar voice with a familiar strong accent.
"It can't be…" he said in disbelief as he opened his eyes.
"Long time no see." A man with a muscular build smiled down at him.
"Dad…?"
"I missed you son." Keith's father said as he reached out for his child.
"Dad!" Keith shouted with joy as he hugged his dad tightly "I don't understand… how are you here? Where is here?"
His father had a saddened look on his face "What's the last thing you remember son?"
"I was with Pidge, she was hurt and I was checking on her… I- I got stabbed… am I dead?"
"Your times almost up, let's talk for a minute."
"I don't understand, is mom here? Is she with you, can I see her?" Keith asked excited.
"No, your mom isn't here. She's still alive son. You'll have to wait to see her a little longer. But believe me, time flies over here. Minutes feel like hours, hours like seconds."
Keith had a hard tie wrapping his head around all of it, but he wouldn't question it, he was happy to get the chance o talk to his dad one more time, so he told him everything that happened since he died, not leaving anything out. He talked about Shiro watching out for him, his time at the garrison as brief as it may have been, finding Voltron with the others and all the friends he's made.
"KEITH!" he heard off in the distance.
"What was that?"
"It's fine, come on let's go son."
"Keith!"
"Pidge?" he asked "Dad we have to wait."
"Son, we're running out of time. Let's go."
"No. It's not his time yet." A tall dark man with white hair said softly.
"King Alfor? You're here to?"
"Hello Keith, it's good to see the man that took the Red lion after me. I can tell he made a good choice." Alfor smiled.
"Alfor this is my son, how can I not take him with me? He's here that means he can come with me right?"
"Wait how do you two even know each other?"
Keith could hear the calls for his name growing closer.
"When you became a paladin, and started working with my daughter, I wanted to know what kind of person you were, so I searched for the relatives of the other paladins that were here."
"Other relatives? Pidge! Is her family here? Her dad and brother?" Keith asked.
"No, like your mother, they too are still in the realm of the living."
"Son, this is your last chance, I can't make you come with me, but if you go back you may not be the same."
"I've missed you dad, and I'll miss you every day." Keith said sadly.
His father smiled "I know son, but I'll see you again one day." He told his son before he gave him a hug. "Oh, and I approve."
"Of what?"
"Keith! Oh my God!" Pidge said as she ran up to hug him, not getting a good look at the two other shapes, one of which was now fading away.
"Pidge, what are you doing here?! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, we came to get you and bring you back." She said not letting go of her grip on him, feeling as if she were to let him go he'd slip away too far to bring back.
"We?"
"Keith!" Shiro and Lance said at the same time as they and Hunk and Allura ran up to give him a hug too.
"You found yourself a good family boy."
"Keith, is that who I think it is?" Shiro asked.
"This is my dad, Dad meet Shiro, Pidge, Lance, Allura, and Hunk."
"You raised my son, after I died, didn't you?"
"Yes sir." Shiro stiffened up as "Keith told me all about you, you were a real hero."
"Thank you, not just for that but for taking care of my boy." He then turned his gaze towards to Pidge. Keith felt he was staring a little to sternly and instinctively pulled her closer to him, even though it was his own father. "You're the young lady, that this happened to Keith for?"
"Yes sir."
He immediately lightened up and smiled at her "You must be important, and special then. Thank you for being in my sons life, now I ask that you watch after him in return."
"R-right I will!" she smiled back at the man.
"Besides thank to you, I got to see my son one last time."
"I'm afraid we must go." Allura cut in "The longer we wait the higher the risk."
"Let me guess, Alfors daughter?"
"How do you know my father?" she asked.
"Everybody knows everyone here on the other side." He let out one last smile "Good bye, and take care of my boy for me."
"We will." They all said at once.
"And Keith? Take care of them too."
Keith nodded, as he and the other paladins walked away "Bye dad." He whispered as a lone tear ran down his cheek as they made their way back.
"Keith before we go back, just try and stay calm when you wake up." Allura said as she faded away.
"We'll be right there with you-" Started as he disappeared.
"When you wake up." Lance finished for him with a smile.
Hunk just patted him on the back as he too went away.
"Aren't you going back?" Keith asked Pidge.
"I had to stay back for a minute to talk to you."
"About what?" he cocked his head to the side.
"I just had to say I'm sorry, if I didn't stop you the-"
"Stop Pidge, it's not your fault. Don't even think like it is, I don't and won't ever blame you."
"But-" she started before he cut her off again.
"Pidge listen, I'm coming back because of you. If it weren't for you I'd be staying here."
"Keith…" she said she jumped up, wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him, then she gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Wait?" Keith questioned as she grabbed onto his hand and pulled him back with her.
One by one the paladins awoke, they awaited eagerly for Keith to wake up as well. Though he and Pidge took longer than expected, but when they did wake they found themselves holding hands. Something they weren't doing before they crossed over to bring Keith back.
"Come on, wake up…" Pidge whispered as she and the others got in closer to examine him.
Slowly Keiths eyes fluttered open before he jumped up in shock. He gripped his chest as he tried to catch his breath.
"Keith, Keith! Come on I need you to calm down." Pidge said as she tightened her grip on his hand. "Allura, do that calming thing you do."
"I- can't" she groaned "that was a tremendous amount of energy and I must pay back the Balmera for its contributions. You must calm him yourself."
Pidge freaked out for a second, trying to think of how she could help. Finally she decided just to try and imitate Alluras method, she gently placed her hands on Keiths cheeks and spoke calmly to him. "Keith, I need you to calm down, your body can't handle the stress of all this, now do what I do." She told him as she started to taking in slow deep breaths, and over time he started to follow her actions.
"Pidge." He smiled.
"Your back!" she cried burying her head in his neck.
The others couldn't help but cry too. Lance and Coran were helping keep Allura balanced but all three of their eyes started to water. Hunk, was next to Shay and her grandmother, the latter of the three were comforting the crying boy. And Shiro, who just stood over them smiling.
"I'm never letting you out of my sight again." The green paladin continued to cry. "I made a promise and I'm keeping it."
"I can live with that" Keith laughed as he hugged her "Besides I'm pretty sure I'll need someone to watch after for the next couple of days while this stab would in my chest heals." He finished laughing.
Time passed and eventually Hunk and Shiro helped take Keith back into the Castle, after a small recovery period Allura did as promised and repaid the Balmera.
"With that, let us take a much deserved rest." Lance suggested.
"Wait, there's one last thing Pidge and I need to do." Keith said "We have to recover the green lion, it's still in hiding. Pidge and I will take Red, Allura don't even worry about warping. You have spent way too much energy in a short period of time."
"Very well, but stay safe." She smiled.
"Ready?" Keith asked as he stuck out his hand for Pidge.
"Ready." She smiled accepting his hand as they walked to the red lion, Pidge resting her head on Keiths shoulder as they walked away together. The red lion let out one roar, and even though they did not know it, the green lion roared with it.
Done! I hope every enjoyed this story, I may one day come back to this if I can come up with anything for it but I feel that was a very satisfying ending to what I feel is one of my best stories ever. I hope to see some feedback in either the reviews or my PMs. And I hope everyone has a Happy New Years!