Take Me Home

by Reader115

Home Series - Part II - "We're going to see them today," Lance said in a continued whisper. Keith's ears flicked towards him, as much an indication that Keith was listening that Lance was likely to receive this early in the morning. - A sequel to the story "Make Me Your Home", in which the paladins get to return to Earth for a visit. Keith/Lance

2. Chapter 2

Lance knew he had a pride-filled smile on his face when he told his family about the blue lion's reaction to him. Him being the first to find his lion meant that he didn't even know the significance of such an event when it happened, while Pidge, Hunk, Keith, and Shiro all had the advantage of knowing what a momentous deal it was when they first connected with their lions.

He played with Keith's fingers as he spoke, and hoped that with time, his family would come to appreciate this major event in his life as well. For now, however, they were all staring back at him with confused, almost doubtful expressions. One glance to Keith, where he received an encouraging half smile, settled his disappointment for now.

He continued the story and made it as far as flying into space, leading a Galra warship away from Earth, entering the Castle of Lions, and meeting Princess Allura and Coran before his father interrupted and asked if he and his mother could speak to him alone. He hadn't even made it to forming Voltron or Voltron's purpose yet.

Admittedly, his mother looked a little ill, and his father was doing that thing where he steepled his fingers together, which meant he was gearing up to say something he knew the listener wouldn't like.

His siblings had stood slowly, obviously upset about being kicked out, but unwilling to go against what their father wanted right now. Even Mark stood and led the way for the rest of them through the sliding doors to stand out by the pool.

But when Keith began to stand as well, Lance pulled him by the hand to land him back on the couch beside him.

Keith sent a confused glance between Lance and his parents before switching to Altean once again. "I really think they mean just you," Keith murmured softly.

Lance took a deep breath and let himself be calmed by the soft look in Keith's pretty purple eyes. Then he nodded and squeezed Keith's hand before letting him go. He watched Keith stand up and then debate between heading back towards the bedrooms or outside where Lance's siblings all stood. Lance could see them all huddled together, and resigned himself to being stared at through the glass for as long as they were forced to stay out there. But for now, Lance smiled when Keith turned and went outside, choosing Lance's siblings over being alone.

His parents waited until the door slid shut behind Keith before turning back to Lance.

"Giant magical lion robot spacecraft?"

"Space, Lance?"

Lance rubbed at his eyes. His head was pounding and his eyes stung, no doubt from all the tears he'd shed that day. It was dark outside beyond the well-lit lanai, and he vaguely remembered Mark saying something about putting Laney to bed earlier, which left him wondering how late it was. Pile on top of the stress of the day the fact that none of them had eaten dinner, and he was counting himself lucky that he didn't have a migraine.

He glanced through the glass again at Keith, who was currently looking adorably awkward as he stood with his ears pressed back and his hands in his pockets as he stood talking to Gabby. He hoped Keith was doing okay. If he felt this physically drained while being surrounded by his own family, then he could only imagine how Keith was doing surrounded by strangers, especially when one of those strangers had been a tiny toddler intent on ripping his ears off.

"Okay, the space thing shouldn't be such a stretch, right?" Lance asked, looking back to his parents as his mother stood and moved across the small space so she could sit next to Lance and rest a hand on his arm. "I mean, I was training to be a pilot in the Galaxy Garrison program. I was going to eventually end up in space."

"Yes, Lance, but on scheduled deployments," his father said. "Even if we didn't hear from you every day like we were used to, at least we would know where you were."

"What we've been through the last two years." His mother stopped for a moment to press her eyes shut. "Couldn't you have reached out to us?"

Oh, quiznack, his mother was crying again. The sting in his own eyes grew stronger then, and he was pretty sure his tear ducts were protesting their overuse. He ran a hand through his hair before pressing his fingertips against his eyes.

"I asked that, when we left Arus." His voice wobbled. How many times had he stared at Earth on the viewfinder while wishing he could see his family again? Or even just call them on a space phone? "But, there was a chance that any transmission from us could be traced, which meant if we tried to contact you, we could make Earth a target. And I preferred thinking that you were all safe." His tears dried up — which also unfairly stung — as his eyes filled with determination as he spoke. He, Hunk, and Pidge had been adamantly following the rule that the three of them had created: No contact with Earth.

His mother looked like she wanted to protest further, but it was his father who managed to speak first.

"What matters is that you made it back to us."

And then Lance felt a cold chill run through him. Because he hadn't managed to make it through the entire Defender of the Universe story, which meant his parents didn't yet know that he wasn't here to stay. That he was just here on a visit. And how was he supposed to tell them? They were already hurting, even in their relief to see him.

His eyes lifted and when he searched out Keith again in the group out on the lanai, he found Keith's purple eyes full of concern and already pinned on him.

"It's late," Ray continued. "It's been a long day and I think it would be best if we all got some rest. You can tell us more about your time in space tomorrow."

Your time in space. Lance thought about the way his father had said those words. As if all Lance had to share were some good-natured stories from a summer space camp. But he was exhausted and wasn't about to argue with his father about getting some rest. All of this would probably be better in the morning and he could finish his story then. For now, he brightened at the thought that he was about to curl up with Keith and forget about the sad, pained expressions his family members wore every time they mentioned what it had been like while he'd been gone.

Lance stood then and his parents followed, pulling him into a small group hug. When he was released, the door to the lanai was already sliding open, the hug obviously being enough of a sign for the others that they could come back inside.

"Enough for today," Mora announced. "Everyone off to bed."

Lance got a hug from Gabby, who announced she was staying over, as he watched Keith scoop up their bags. Theo and Mark stood at the entrance to the hallway that led to the bedrooms, and while their gazes lingered on Lance for a few moments, Mark turned towards the guest bedroom —now his and Laney's room — without saying goodnight. Theo and Lance watched him go before Theo at least offered Lance a goodnight wave before walking back towards his own room. Lance's thoughts were distracted away from his brothers as he got a fierce hug from Rosie, her apparent anger at him forgotten long enough for the show of affection. Then Lance hugged his parents once more before he led Keith back to his own room.

When he was back in his own bedroom, he immediately slumped against the back of the closed door. Keith hustled him away from it, though, and pulled him towards one of the beds.

"What'd your parents want?" Keith asked as he slipped his fingers under the hem of Lance's shirt and began to lift it over his head for him.

Lance's lifted his arms to assist. "I think they've got this idea that I've been playing in space all this time without having a second thought to what they've been going through here," Lance responded quietly, giving voice to the fear that had begun to take root earlier during the family meeting.

"They won't think that when you get to tell them the rest," Keith murmured. His gaze dropped to Lance's broad chest, eyes jumping from one familiar scar to the next, visible reminders of how hard their life had been over the past two years. Then he went after the button and zipper on Lance's jeans before he began to push them off his boyfriend's hips.

Lance couldn't help the grin on his face as he watched Keith's look of deep concentration as he pushed Lance to sit on the bed before crouching so he could remove Lance's shoes in order to tug the jeans off all the way.

"Not that I'm complaining, babe, but why are you undressing me?"

Keith pulled him back to his feet so he could pull back the blanket that covered the bed. Then he pushed Lance back onto the mattress just as quickly and covered him with the blanket.

"The only thing I can think to do that will help right now," Keith muttered. He let both hands drop to either side of Lance's shoulders and leaned down to kiss him. He grinned as Lance's lips tried to follow his mouth as he stood again, but he still turned and began to cross the room.

"Wait! Where are you going?"

Keith pointed to the other bed in the room. "To sleep?"

Lance quickly propped himself up on an elbow. "You can't sleep there!"

"You think Mark will be upset if I sleep in his old bed?"

Maybe, Lance thought based on Mark's earlier behavior. But that wasn't his main point right now. "You can't sleep way over there."

Keith glanced dubiously back at Lance. "Lance, these beds aren't meant for two full grown —"

"Keeeith," Lance pleaded. "I can't sleep without you."

Keith opened his mouth as if to protest, but Lance was pretty damn sure Keith couldn't sleep without him anymore, either. And a small smile pulled at his lips the moment he saw Keith give in and head back towards his side of the bedroom.

Then an even broader smile spread across his face as he got to watch the muscles in Keith's torso shift as Keith pulled his own t-shirt over his head. Keith kicked off his boots and tugged off his socks before he could finally remove and toss away his own jeans.

Lance was watching Keith head towards the light switch when he suddenly shot up in bed and threw one of his hands in the air.

"Wait!"

Keith's hand instinctually went towards his waist, momentarily forgetting that he was only in his boxers, and that his bayard was currently sitting next to Lance's on Lance's desktop. He turned towards Lance and found Lance hopping out of bed and heading towards him with a deep frown on his face. Keith could feel his ears flatten against his hair and he quickly glanced around the room to see what could've set Lance off.

With the element of surprise on his side, Lance was able to bend quickly, grab one of Keith's calves, and hoist his leg up high enough so he could get a good look at Keith's reddened ankle without any resistance from Keith. He ignored Keith's curse and the way Keith flailed backwards, catching the corner of Mark's old dresser with one hand to keep himself upright.

"Quiznack! When did Gus-Gus bite you?"

Keith tried to pull his leg free, but when Lance's death grip made it clear he wasn't going anywhere, he sighed in resignation before saying, "Uh, two seconds after you said, Oh, by the way, we had a dog."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because it's not a big deal."

But anxious, blue eyes met his own and before Keith could point out that they had had more pressing matters to attend to that day, Lance dropped his foot so that he could press the back of one hand to Keith's forehead.

"How are you feeling?"

"Uh, tired?"

Lance dropped his hand away from Keith's forehead so that he could pace back and forth for a few ticks. "Last time you got bit by a dog it was, what? Four or five vargas before you developed a fever? It's been way longer than that now, right?"

Keith grabbed Lance's arm to still him as he finally realized what it was Lance was so worried about.

"Lance, I'm fine. I've been bitten by Earth dogs before and never had the same reaction as I had to that bite from those weird space puppies."

Lance stared back at him, not entirely convinced that Keith wouldn't brush off a little canine saliva poisoning with everything else that was going on right now.

"I am part Earthling," Keith reminded him, even as his fuzzy ears popped up at the same time that he raised his eyebrows. "I'm likely immune to Earth dog bites."

Lance still had his doubts, but after running the back of his hand across Keith's forehead once more, confirming that he hadn't developed a fever in the last twenty ticks, his worry relented and he pulled Keith into a quick hug. Then he told him to stay put while he ran to the bathroom, returning a few moments later with some neosporin and the biggest band-aid he could find.

Lance pushed Keith to sit and propped his ankle up on the bed so he could kneel beside it and quickly patch him up.

"Why are you scowling at me?" Lance finally asked as he smoothed the band-aid over the bite. "You're the one who should've told me earlier you'd been bitten."

"I was trying to take care of you tonight," Keith grumbled. He fought the urge he had to cross his arms over his chest and pout.

Lance grinned over at him as he threw away the wrapping from the band-aid. He turned the light off and when he returned to the bed, he crawled up Keith's body on purpose, forcing Keith to lie back before he plopped down beside him.

"Come here," Lance whispered as he wrapped himself around Keith and pulled him in close.

"I can't believe we're squeezing ourselves into a twin bed," Keith said, the smile evident in his voice.

"We don't need that much space," Lance murmured into Keith's soft, dark hair.

"Space," Keith parroted back dryly with a frown. "Space got you into this mess."

Lance was so exhausted he wasn't sure if he should laugh or cry at Keith's remark. In the end, his shoulders shook for a moment in a strange combination of the two reactions.

He spent the next hour or so listening to Keith's steady inhales and exhales, while breathing in Keith's familiar scent — the rest of his room smelled slightly foreign to him now. He struggled to clear his mind so he could finally get to sleep. When that didn't work, he tried to remind himself of the comfort that came from knowing his parents were just down the hall, which was something he'd missed often while in space.

Then he thought about how strange it was to actually be lying in his old bed. There was a familiarity here that warmed him, even if it wasn't enough to let his mind rest enough to sleep. With his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he let his gaze wander over to Mark's empty bed. The two of them used to talk in this darkened room after they'd been sent to bed each night. And as much as he'd raved about the wonders of having his own room when Mark had left for college, in truth, he'd missed his brother. But, he reminded himself, even though he had missed Mark, he'd at least been lucky enough to know exactly where Mark was. With the added benefit of being able to call him any time he wanted.

If it had been Mark who'd disappeared — or any of his siblings — Lance wasn't sure how he would've managed. His arms tightened around Keith as he thought about how angry Mark was right now. Well, Mark and Rosie. And maybe Theo, although Theo was leaning more towards just being happy to see him, much like Gabby. Thank goodness for Gabby. Even his parents were torn somewhere between grief, sadness, relief, and probably anger.

And, well — he sighed into the darkness — he couldn't really blame them. After all, he did jump into Blue without a thought about his family. Of course, he hadn't expected to fly into space, necessarily. And he certainly hadn't expected to be caught up in a ten thousand year old war to save the universe.

"You're thinking too loud," Keith murmured as he twisted himself around on the narrow mattress to face Lance.

Keith didn't say anything else to him, though. He just slid a hand up to Lance's neck and ran this thumb along the line of Lance's jaw before pressing their lips together. He kissed Lance until Lance's mind finally ceased all other thoughts. He kissed him until Lance finally gave in to sleep.

---

Lance's eyes protested the second he tried to open them the next morning. And he didn't need a mirror to know that his eyelids were swollen. And as much as he'd wanted Keith in this bed with him, his body felt sore from the inability to move or stretch in his sleep.

He'd been awake less than ten seconds and he already he felt cranky. He thought about the difference in his mood between first thing yesterday morning — being excited to come home and see his family — to this morning — where he had absolutely zero clue what he was going to face when he left this room.

He had no intentions of hiding, though, and forcibly decided that he was not going to be cranky. He was the blue paladin of Voltron. He was reunited with his family. He had his hot boyfriend currently snuggled into his side. He was going to be cheerful. And he was going to hope that a good night's rest had brightened everyone's outlook for a happier day today. He let a smile cross his face and stretched his arms above his head, nudging Keith in the process as he let out a deep groan.

Keith's face tucked further into the pillow they'd shared as he released a muffled growl in response. Keith was a strange combination of always waking up early, but being grumpy as hell in the process. Kind of like if Oscar the Grouch woke up before the sun rose everyday. Keith had not appreciated this fun analogy when he'd mentioned it to him a few months ago. But Lance smiled every time he thought about it.

"Come on, babe," Lance murmured into Keith's soft hair. He let his fingertips trail up the line of Keith's spine and earned himself a soft noise from Keith's throat in response. "Come to the kitchen with me and I'll feed you breakfast."

Keith turned his head far enough out of the pillow so that one purple eye could focus on Lance's face.

"Earth food breakfast," Lance added.

Keith stretched himself out then as well, and if he was also sore from their cramped sleeping space, he didn't mention it. And while Keith slowly sat up and slid his legs over the side of the bed, Lance jumped up and began pulling dresser drawers open. He tossed a pair of shorts and a t-shirt in Keith's direction and pulled out some clothes for himself as well.

"What's wrong with my clothes?" Keith asked as he eyed the khaki shorts Lance had thrown at him. He'd never worn khaki shorts in his entire life.

"One," Lance said as he pulled on his own shorts, "even in October, you will die in the Florida heat if you try to walk around in those black pants of yours." For good measure, Lance snatched the dark jeans off the floor and threw them across the room.

Keith frowned at him. "You think I won't walk over there to get them?"

"And two," Lance continued as he pulled on a tank top, "I'd like to see you in a color that is not black."

"My paladin armor is not black."

Lance shot him an unimpressed look.

Keith sighed and pushed his feet into the shorts he'd been given before he stood and buttoned them. Then he turned the t-shirt over so he could see what was on the front of it. It was a soft, and blue, and the picture on the front was —

"Is this an alligator riding a surfboard?"

Lance moved back to his side and pulled the t-shirt out of Keith's hands so that he could pull it over Keith's head. Keith resigned himself to wearing this as well and pushed his arms through the short sleeves. Then his eyes rose back to Lance's face, because while he was now dressed, Lance still hadn't stepped away. Keith slowly met those bright blue eyes and felt himself grow warm.

"And three," Lance breathed out as he eyed Keith with a hungry look that had nothing to do with promise of Earth food. "I had a feeling you'd look really hot wearing my clothes."

"I thought the whole point was to keep me from overheating?"

Lance's lips quirked up. Keith's tone of voice was innocent, but those purple eyes were not.

"I'm pretty sure you're always in danger of overheating around me, Keithy," Lance teased back.

Now it was Keith who moved quickly, and they were kissing before Lance even fully recognized that Keith had shifted into his space, fitting perfectly against him with practiced ease. One hand went to Keith's neck while the other began combing through his hair. Keith's own hands landed on Lance's hips, allowing his thumbs to slip under his shirt and tease his skin.

His thoughts were filled with how soft Keith's hair was, how well his lips moved, how good he smelled, and how adorable the purring noise was when Lance's fingers began to rub over one of those purple fuzzy ears. Just Keith. Keith keeping him grounded in what had become a stressful situation.

The growling of Keith's stomach interrupted them and Keith smiled apologetically at him when they broke their kiss. Lance just kissed his nose, took an actual brush to his and then Keith's hair, agreed to keep his bayard on him only if Keith agreed to borrow a pair of his flip flops, and finally led him by the hand out to the main rooms, which were empty except for Gabby who slowly sat up upon their arrival from where she'd been couch surfing.

"What are ya doing out here, Gabs?" Lance asked as he swung Keith around and sat him on a stool at the island. He moved to the pantry and heaved a happy sigh of relief at the sight of all the real food inside.

Gabby stood slowly and began to gather and fold the blankets she'd borrowed the night before. The crick in her neck had her half wishing she'd just gone home to her own apartment last night. But the sight of Lance strolling casually into their parents' kitchen reassured her she'd made the right decision to stay. Although, she was slightly confused as to why he was currently hugging a box of cereal.

"I wasn't about to try to share Rosie's twin bed, and Mark took the guest room when he moved back in," she responded finally through a yawn. "Even added a crib in there for Laney when she was born."

Lance pulled out some bowls and spoons, muscle memory telling him where everything was in this kitchen. He thought about asking the when and why of Mark moving back into their parents' house, but the thought left him as he glanced out the windows that led to their backyard.

"Wait!" he said suddenly, startling Keith who was holding his bowl up patiently as he eyed the cereal box Lance was still clutching, "We have to go to the beach!"

"Huh?" Keith asked as Gabby froze in her steps towards the kitchen island.

"Come on," Lance said, zipping around the island and grabbing Keith's hand. "Beach sunrise first. Breakfast after."

"But —" Keith murmured as he was tugged towards the back door. "Earth food, Lance."

"You coming, Gabby?" Lanced asked, ignoring his own stomach's growls as well as Keith's protests.

"Bip, bip, bip!" Gabby threw one hand around like a stop sign for a moment before she dug out a pen and paper from a drawer. "Unplanned excursions require a note."

Lance froze then as well and felt a pang of guilt. He hadn't thought about how the others would feel when they woke up and found him missing from the house.

"I didn't think about it, either," Keith murmured to him, seeming to read his thoughts. "Is Gabby your Shiro?" he asked with a grin.

Lance scoffed and let Keith's teasing chase away the guilt. "No one needs as much help as you, space cat."

"Are you sure you want to go to the beach?" Gabby asked, managing to call out to him while still keeping her voice low enough not to wake the entire house.

Lance glanced over to her and found her still standing at the island, fiddling with the pen. The way she wasn't meeting his eyes was making him nervous. Plus, she had that look on her face, like she was internally debating whether or not she wanted to tell him something.

"The beach is still there, right?" he asked, unconsciously tightening his hold on Keith's hand as he did his best to add an element of teasing to his voice.

Appearing to make a decision, Gabby offered a small smile and a nod as she moved across the kitchen and followed the boys out the back door. They moved through the lanai into the back yard and then through the back gate. Lance could feel himself getting lighter as he walked the familiar wooded path. He could forget his worries about his family and how much his absence had hurt them at the beach. The beach was a source of fun and good times. And now he'd really have it all, because he could show one of his favorite places off to Keith.

The sand dunes began as the trees thinned out, and Lance kicked off his flip flops before taking his first steps into the sand. There was an audible exhale of pure happiness from him that pulled Keith's lips into a grin. Then he took off in a sprint towards the water, kicking up cool sand behind him until his feet hit ocean. The low tide allowed him to walk out a considerable distance and he stopped when the crashing waves finally reached his knees. Keith and Gabby followed, although not at the same speed, and he took a moment before they reached him to just close his eyes, breathe in the salt air, and listen to the waves.

He didn't leave them shut for long, however. There was a sunrise that needed his attention. The pinks and oranges of the sun shimmered over the waves of the incoming tide, and Lance wrapped one arm around Gabby's shoulders and the other around Keith's to pull them both into his sides as he grinned openly at the scene in front of them.

"This is better than breakfast, right?" he teased over to Keith without taking his eyes off the sunrise.

"Earth food," Keith muttered, but he wrapped his own arm around Lance's waist and dropped a quick kiss to Lance's bare shoulder.

They stayed just like that until the sun's rays began to make them squint. And when he turned to look at Keith, he couldn't help the slow smile that spread across his face or the pull in his gut. Keith's crazy black hair shone in the sunlight, his ears were relaxed, and his eyes were closed in the middle of a purely content expression. Lance was pretty sure he could get a purr out of his boyfriend if his fingers made a move towards those ears right now. But given that his big sister was standing with them, he refrained. But, damn, his space cat looked good in the light of the rising sun. He made a mental note to bring Keith out here another morning. Alone.

It was when he looked past Keith to glance down the beach that he noticed a strange collection of items, mainly wreaths and flowers, that he'd never seen on their beach before. Even from this distance, it looked — it looked like a memorial.

"Gabs, what happened down there?" he finally asked as his first thoughts went to their neighbors. He hoped there hadn't been a tragedy on their beach while he'd been away.

Gabby glanced up at him before she looked back out at the water again, not even sparing a glance towards where Lance had nodded.

"Gabby?" Lanced asked again as he felt Keith's fingers tighten protectively around his waist. A cold feeling was seeping in, chasing away the warmth that had filled him from experiencing his first beach sunrise in over two years.

And then all his hard work to stay positive this morning was gone as soon as he saw tears begin to stream down his big sister's face.

Gabby's voice was hoarse as she forced the words out. "You just disappeared, Lance." She finally shifted her eyes towards the one area she'd been trying to avoid seeing since she'd first stepped foot on the beach. "We didn't want it, but the community felt like they should honor you," she choked out the last words and viciously tried to wipe the tears from her face. "None of us thought you were — but we couldn't stop them. So, we just don't come to the beach anymore."

She offered a little shrug, as if we just don't come to the beach anymore was in any way okay for a McClain family member to say. It was right up there with Your papá and brother have been gone for a year looking for you.

Lance dropped his arms from both of them and took off in another sprint towards the memorial — his memorial. His own eyes filled again as he felt pure anger at the visible representation of his family's grief, just propped up here in this sacred beach of his childhood. It had no right to be here, tormenting his family. He stopped just short of it to take in the full picture. There were stacks and stacks of seashells, some which had his name visibly written across them. But even more chilling than that were that the wreaths and flowers he'd spotted before — some old and wilting while others looked fresh — were all surrounding a brand new concrete bench.

His hands began to shake when he saw his name engraved across the seat of the bench with a quote etched in beneath it:

I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly
I'll do what it takes till I touch the sky

He threw himself at the wreaths and flowers. He ripped and shredded until they were destroyed as Gabby's tears refused to leave his vision — the first he'd seen her cry that were actually pure sadness since his arrival. Then he raged against the seashell displays as his parents' tears and near disbelief of where he'd been filled his mind. Followed by Mark's anger. The fact that he was a complete stranger to Mark's daughter. He flung what he couldn't destroy, sending bits of wreath and seashell pieces to land in the dunes or towards the ocean. The direction didn't matter as long as it wasn't all still congregated here in one spot. His hands continued to shake because Theo was suffering, obviously unsure of which emotion to settle on for Lance's return. And then Rosie, the little one they'd all protected and watched over, who was now clearly filled with relief, but also righteous anger as she'd had a front row seat to their mother's suffering.

He shredded the final wreath as he finally admitted anger at himself. He hadn't known when he'd stepped into Blue what he was getting into. But he'd still jumped through a black hole and flown away into space without looking back. And while he may have thought that his family was missing him, he obviously had no fucking clue how much his sudden, unexplained absence would've shook them.

He turned to kick and attack the bench next. But before his foot could connect, strong and familiar arms wrapped around his waist and spun him. A few curses flew out of his mouth as he was pulled away from the next object on his destructive path.

"You'll break your foot," Keith grunted as he yanked Lance backward. He lost his footing in the sand and ended up on his ass with a lapful of Lance. Keith didn't push for them to stand again, however. Instead, he used his palms to wipe away the tears on Lance's cheeks before he grabbed Lance's hands in order to examine them. "You really did a number here," he murmured, looking over the small bloody cuts that came from destroying plants and shells.

But Lance barely heard him as his chest continued to heave and his limbs shook. He didn't notice that Gabby was gone as he turned a glare back towards the death bench.

"Focus on me," Keith whispered. He slid his hands up and down Lance's arms and began to press a few kisses to Lance's jaw. "Focus on me, baby," Keith whispered again.

Lance shuddered out that anger, along with the sadness that was its root, and let his muscles finally relax in Keith's hold. He ducked his face into Keith's neck, away from the memorial, and shook his head.

"Still can't believe now is when you decided to pull out a pet name," he mumbled into Keith's skin as one of Keith's hands moved up to card through his hair. He stared past the black hair curled around Keith's neck to watch the waves. There was a soft pressure at the base of his skull that almost felt like Blue, although he wasn't sure if he'd ever felt anything from her at this distance before. He did his best to match his inhales and exhales to Keith's as he wrapped his own arms around Keith.

He wasn't sure how long they sat there like that, but Keith didn't seem to mind, so Lance stayed. He stayed until his mother's sad blue eyes filled his vision and her hands cupped his face. And when he glanced up, he found his entire family standing there in the sand, all looking as if they'd been dragged out of bed, even little Laney was still in her pajamas. Gabby looked slightly guilty, but he couldn't really blame her for running back to the house to fetch everyone. He'd probably have done the same thing if one of his siblings had suddenly gone nuts.

He slowly stood and pulled Keith up as well. He felt like he owed them all an apology, but before he could even begin to think about how to word it, Keith grabbed his attention by shaking his shoulder and nodding towards the sky.

Lance's mouth dropped open as he watched Blue beeline straight for them. She landed rather gently in the surf, his girl was at home in the water after all, and then sent a low rumble down to the small group standing on the beach. With the pressure he'd felt earlier now confirmed to have come from Blue, Lance was next treated to a soft buzzing over his skin. He stood still and let Blue check over him for injuries as he sent a small, although genuine, smile up to his lion.

He heard Keith's phone ring and listened with only half an ear as Keith answered the call, just to make the castle wasn't under attack.

"Hey beautiful," he murmured up to Blue. "Did you come to check on me?" The rumble she sent in response almost knocked him back a step. Clearly, she didn't appreciate being worried about her paladin.

"Yeah, Shiro, she's here." Keith said as he turned back to Lance. "We're okay, Lance was just — upset. Blue must've sensed it."

"Pfft," Lance said, allowing himself another small grin up to Blue. "Of course she sensed it. I knew Keith and Red weren't bonded tighter than you and me big girl."

Blue sent her paladin an indignant sniff. There was no way any of the paladins were as bonded as she was to her boy. Just because she wasn't being constantly forced to fly off to fetch a wayward, floating-through-open-space-AGAIN-paladin — seriously, how many times had Red had to do that at this point? Anyway, she was getting side-tracked — just because she'd never had to do that before, didn't mean she wasn't ready to jump if Lance needed her. And based on the level of anguish she'd felt earlier, he needed her now. And while there was happiness to see her, she could still feel the anguish rolling over him, even if he was beginning to do that thing where he was going to shove it down deep and cover it with one of his charming grins.

"We'll figure something out," Keith said before hanging up the phone and then nodding over Lance's shoulder in order to send Lance's attention behind him.

Lance turned and was presented with absolute shock on every single one of his family member's faces. Kind of like when they'd first seen him yesterday, only without the tears. Laney, too, appeared highly confused by the giant metal lion who stood staring down at them.

"This is Blue," Lance finally said to them. He glanced between his shocked family and his best girl before settling his sights back on Blue. "Feel like giving my family a ride?"

Blue lowered herself on her front paws and dropped her jaw in response.

---

"And, uh," Lance said under the confused stares of Shiro, Allura, and Coran. "That's how we ended up here."

Keith smiled to himself as watched Lance try to explain how it was that the entire McClain family had ended up in the Castle of Lions. Although she was larger than Red, he'd been slightly surprised that they'd all fit. But the looks of amazement and awe directed at Lance as he'd piloted them off that beach and up to the castle had been worth being squished into the middle of a group of loud, chattering McClains.

"Blue, say hi to everyone," Lance had asked as soon as they were all onboard, and they'd each been treated to a soft purr at the base of their skulls, distinctly different from what Keith was used to from Red.

"Oye! What the hell was that?"

"Language, Theo."

"Are we actually going to into space right now?"

"What's this button do?"

"Are there seatbelts?"

"Like outer space?"

"The size of this lion and there aren't any more places to sit?"

"What happens if I push this button?"

"Is there a radio?"

"Can I steer? You'd let your favorite little brother steer, right?"

Lance had remained unusually quiet as he piloted them towards the castle ship, and since there wasn't much Keith could do for him in their current setting, he let himself admire how good Lance looked in just a tank top and shorts in that pilot seat. Lance's long, pretty fingers also captured his attention as they moved smoothly over Blue's controls. It was a much better image than Lance crying and tearing apart that awful memorial on the beach.

He refocused and thought about the last time he'd been squished into Blue's cockpit like this, on the very day they'd found Blue. He thought about Lance's crazy piloting that first time out, and the way he'd pressed his forehead into Lance's soft hair as they'd all held on for dear life during Lance's crazy maneuvers. He wondered if Lance had even noticed the closeness at the time.

The five of them really hadn't known what they were getting into that day. Voltron was important. That was a given. The bond between lion and paladin was important. Their team and what they'd accomplished and what they were going to accomplish in the future was important. But, there were times when Keith wondered if the whole point of the energy he'd felt in the desert and the way they'd all been thrown together was more important than all that. Because sometimes he thought Lance's smile was more important than saving the universe. Or hearing Lance laugh. Or kissing him. He let himself selfishly think in those moments that maybe the whole purpose of his joining Voltron was just to give him something good in his life. Like maybe the universe finally noticed that he'd been all alone and had decided to correct that mistake.

Then he vowed to never say these things out loud to Lance. Lance liked to say that he was the sappy one between the two of them, and Keith was fine with keeping it that way.

Once Blue was happily sitting in her hangar again, Keith watched Lance's family slowly exit the large lion and stare with wide eyes at the new surroundings. Of course, they'd all briefly met Coran the day before, but now they also stared not only at Princess Allura, but they were also openly staring at Shiro, and Keith reminded himself that most Earthlings thought Takashi Shirogane was dead.

"You haven't even been gone a whole quintent," Shiro murmured with a smirk as he moved over to Keith's side while Lance officially introduced his family to Princess Allura. There was some awkward bowing going on, followed by some happy exclamations from Gabby about Allura's hair.

"Shiro," Keith said sharply on an exhale as he turned his back to the McClains. "It's — it's not what either of us were expecting." There was a pull on the bottom hem of his — Lance's — shorts and he reached down and picked up Laney without a second thought. He situated her on his hip and maneuvered his head a bit to avoid tiny fingers on his ears as he continued to speak. "They've been so worried," Keith continued, "and they don't really understand yet what any of this is about. Lance hasn't even been able to tell them the whole story. Like, I don't think the word Voltron has even left his mouth yet."

Shiro was trying to be a good friend, especially since Keith looked sincerely worried. But it was currently difficult to keep a giddy smile off his face. Because Keith had just picked up a toddler. Like it was no big deal. And he didn't even seem a tiny bit put off by the fact that the little girl was going after his ears like it was her full time job.

"They're relieved and happy to see him, but they're mostly — angry?" Keith shook his head as he continued, and his ears flicked back tight against his hair. Laney finally gave up on her quest and stuck one thumb in her mouth as she let her head cuddle against Keith's shoulder.

Amused or not, Shiro was listening, and he turned his attention to Lance's family. He could understand their worry, but wished the reunion was going a little smoother for everyone. He made eye contact with Allura and lifted one eyebrow in question. She nodded back to him quickly.

"I think we have something that can help," Shiro said in a low voice to both Keith and Lance, who had made his way over to them. "For now, Lance, why don't you give your family a tour?"

"Sure," Lance said, only half-listening. Part of his brain was struck by how unfairly adorable Keith was right now as Laney cuddled against him, while the other half of his brain was trying to listen in on Coran's worryingly enthusiastic conversation with his parents.

"I'll take her," Mark announced as he appeared in front of Keith.

Keith avoided eye contact as he gingerly handed Laney over to her father.

"We've had some great adventures up here!" Coran was currently saying to Lance's parents. "Why, on Lance's second day, he jumped like a sprightly clovenheifer to save my life from a massive explosion!"

"So," Lance said, slapping his hands together loudly as his parents gaped back at Coran. Lance furrowed his eyebrows and vehemently shook his head at Coran, while he also thought about Mark's continued coldness towards Keith. "Tour time?"

"We'll meet with you in the main common room after you've shown your family around," Allura said with a nod to Lance. "We think we have something that may be of interest to everyone."

Lance watched them walk off before shooting a look at Keith who shrugged his shoulders in response, also confused by what Shiro and Allura could have for them.

"Okay, well, each of the lions have their own hangars, and this is obviously Blue's place to spend all her free time on the castle," Lance said, waving his hand around the large hangar. He glanced from one face to another quickly before he turned to lead them out. Most were wide-eyed and slightly confused, although Gabby and Theo looked openly excited.

"What's your lion like, Keith?" Theo asked as they walked.

"Her name is Red," Keith responded.

"They wield the sword," Lance added with a quick, proud smile in Keith's direction.

"A sword?" Rosie asked. She trailed behind Mark and Laney while their parents took up the rear of the group.

"Yup," Lance answered proudly. "He's pretty badass in direct comba —"

Lance cut himself off, although probably not soon enough to hide that last word. But his family probably needed to be eased into this a little more slowly.

"Keith's bayard becomes a sword," he finally added.

"What's a bayard?" Ray asked.

Lance raised his eyebrows to Keith, and Keith responded by pulling his bayard from his belt, while mumbling something about how he bet Lance was happy they'd had them on them when they left the house. Then he activated his bayard only long enough to display the sword for Lance's family.

"Cool," Theo breathed out while Mark did his best not to look impressed by shifting Laney to his other hip and unnecessarily adjusting her little footie pajamas.

"What about you, Lance? Do you have a bayard?" Rosie asked, suddenly much more interested in hearing more from her big brother.

"Every paladin has a bayard," Lance said with a nod.

"And a paladin is?"

"Paladins are the chosen pilots of Voltron's lions," Lance said as his two younger siblings suddenly crowded his sides, quickly reminding him of how much taller they'd both grown while he'd been away.

"So what does your bayard magically change into?" Theo asked.

"Lance is our sharpshooter," Keith said with a prideful grin of his own.

Lance grinned back, easily bolstered once again by a few words from Keith. He pulled his own bayard and activated it for a moment to let his family have a look at his rifle.

"Lance is also often our eagle eye," Keith added. "He provides cover for us."

Lance's eyes softened as he watched Keith do his best to try to reassure his family that — although they were often in danger out in the field, something the rest of the McClains didn't need to necessarily know right now — that maybe they'd feel better knowing that sometimes Lance was in an infinitesimally less amount of danger than the rest of them as he sat perched above the fighting.

"This is the med bay," Keith was forced to say since Lance had stopped outside of it a few moments ago, but had done nothing since but stare at him with a look that was turning Keith's neck and face a little pink.

"Right, right," Lance said, swinging on his heel in order to lead them inside. He activated a healing pod, his hours helping Coran clean giving him detailed knowledge of how everything in this room operated.

"What are these?" Mora asked as she watched the strange tube rise from the floor.

"Well, Coran mentioned that I was involved in a —" Lance paused, finding it difficult to continue when faced with his family's concerned faces. "A small explosion," he finally said, although there had been nothing small about it. "So they stuck me in one of these and it fixed me right up."

Gabby peered closely inside the tube. There didn't seem to be anything inside that would qualify as medical equipment. "Can it fix any medical condition?"

"Everything we've needed so far. Cured Keith of some nasty bacteria he got from a space puppy bite. Oh, and this other time, Keith had a pretty nasty shoulder injury —"

"Like a dislocation?" Theo asked, thinking about how one of the guys on his soccer team had had a shoulder dislocated during a game a couple weeks ago.

"More like a deep — cut," Lance said, deciding that deep cut sounded better than almost had his arm lobbed off during a weird alien 'Knowledge or Death' ritual. "And it fixed him right up too. He barely has a scar. So, plenty of health care options. We've been well taken care of in that regard."

"What's with the sign?" Rosie asked, pointing to their Days since Paladin Required a Healing Pod sign.

"We think it's meant to be motivating," Lance replied.

Keith nodded in agreement as he eyed the number — they were up to 26 days.

Lance's mother stared with wide eyes at the healing pod before it began to lower back into the floor. Her brain had provided a heartbreaking image of her son, unconscious from an explosion, placed into one of these contraptions. She glanced around the large, somewhat cold room. He'd been seriously hurt and she hadn't been there. How was any of this even possible?

She slipped her fingers into Ray's hand as they followed Lance out of the medical bay. She had understood and encouraged Ray's absence over the last year — they couldn't just not look for their son. But she had missed him dearly. And she felt a familiar wave of reassurance now as she felt Ray's fingers curl in response around her own. Lance was back. Ray and Mark were back. This whole spaceship castle — complete with a princess — was a little surreal, but they'd all get through this. Together.

And as they walked down another hallway, she considered the way Keith's fingers fit effortlessly into Lance's hand as they walked ahead of the group. And she watched the way Lance tugged gently on Keith's hand as he murmured something into one of Keith's fluffy ears. Keith responded by chuckling and shaking his head in response.

Mora took a few breaths to loosen the tightness in her chest. Because maybe he didn't say much, and maybe he was part alien — that story hadn't been told yet — but with Keith here, Lance hadn't been alone. Lance had had someone watching over him, someone to be himself with, and obviously someone to dote on, something she knew her Lancito would excel at. That boy was loving, easily the most loving out of all of her children. The truth was, Lance thrived when he was sharing affection with others.

It was one of the reasons the family had fallen apart in his absence.

"Now, here is a room where we have not been well taken care of as well," Lance said as he led the way into the dining hall.

Gabby frowned at him as she ran her fingertips over the fancy chairs at the long table. "Like they didn't feed you often?"

"They are fed three solid meals a day!" Coran said, suddenly joining them with a tray full of food. He set the tray on the table and indicated that the McClain family should be seated. "Keith mentioned none of you had had breakfast yet, so I whipped you up an Altean breakfast."

"Which, if you're here long enough, you'll realize bears an uncanny resemblance to Altean lunch and dinner," Keith muttered. But he led the way and took his seat at the table.

Lance sat next to him and could only smile as the rest of his family sat down as well. It wasn't his family's dinner table in their home, but it was the first time they'd all been at a table together since his return. He grabbed Keith's hand again as he took a few moments to let his eyes drift from family member to family member. They were all staring curiously at the bowls Coran was placing in front of them before their eyes moved to Lance and Keith. Keith was already digging into his food goo. Lance picked up his spoon and began to eat as well.

"How about some nunvil for this special occasion?" Coran asked.

Lance lightly choked on the goo he was trying to swallow. "No! No thank you, Coran."

Coran frowned lightly at him, but then spun on his heel and called out over his shoulder, "Alright, well, I'll see you in the common room in about one varga!"

"Thanks, Coran!"

"What's a varga?" Theo whispered over to Gabby. She shrugged in response.

"So, Coran, the one who picked me and Mark up in the desert, is the one you called the space uncle, right?" Ray asked, once the alien had left the room.

Lance nodded. "He's Princess Allura's royal advisor. He's kept us fed, oversees us in the healing pods, helped direct some of our training exercises, keeps the castle running, and does his best to teach us about different alien cultures as we encounter them."

"Does his best?" Mora asked.

"He dressed us all up like space pirates once," Keith said, feeling comfortable enough to jump into the conversation while he was seated in such a familiar setting. "Because he said we were going to a shady swap meet."

Lance chuckled. "Instead we ended up in a shiny, modern space mall," Lance added. "It's where I got Kaltenecker. I'll introduce you to her later."

Rosie shot a look to her other siblings and Lance only grinned when it was clear his little sister wasn't sure she wanted to know what his Kaltenecker was.

"Anyway, dig in," Lance said, lifting his spoon as a silent cheers before taking another bite.

His family slowly followed. The looks and sounds of disgust that followed next might've been funny if the food had actually been a joke — his dad had even dropped his spoon in shock — but since the food goo had been his reality for the past two years, Lance just shrugged and took another bite.

"How are you both still eating that?" Gabby stared across at Lance and Keith after she'd forced her own bite down and slid her bowl a few inches away from her.

"Went all the way to Earth, still didn't get any real food to eat," Keith murmured as he side-eyed Lance.

"It's pretty much our only option up here," Lance said around a bite as he ignored Keith's complaint. "You get used to it."

"This is all you've been eating for two years?" Mora asked, her hand was back on her chest and her eyes were dangerously close to watering.

"It's really not so terrible, Mamá," Lance insisted. He couldn't have his mother also crying over the food he'd been eating! "Plus, occasionally a planet will have a celebration in our honor and it will include their own versions of food," Lance said, scratching the side of his face as he thought about it.

"Wait, celebrations in your honor?" Mora asked. Most of the others around the table seemed to sit up and take interest in this as well.

Lance smiled back at her, happy that this topic was warding off her tears. "Just to say thank you."

Ray frowned. Lance was obviously eager to share his experiences with them, and admittedly, he'd cut Lance off last night before he could get very far. It was enough for him to have Lance back in front of him, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know the truth of what Lance had been doing in his time away. Especially now that he knew there really were magical robot lions, and transforming weapons, and aliens. Although, even knowing that Lance had been doing something that warranted thankfulness from entire planets was uplifting, it still left him with a sour pit in his stomach. Because his son had been in way more danger than he could've ever imagined.

"So, yeah, we've had some other food options at these celebrations. Although, even then, it's alien food, right? So we always have to scan it first because sometimes its —" he shot a look to Keith for help.

"It can be unintentionally poisonous to humans," Keith provided.

"But you're not human," Mark said, eyes focused intently on Keith. Laney was seated in his lap and was happily scooping goo out of Mark's bowl with her fingers, apparently the only one of the visiting McClains who was enjoying the meal.

"Not entirely," Keith said, and Lance watched Keith's face go blank — his defense mechanism when he was holding back another, less favorable expression. "It's still bad for the part of me that is human."

Keith's warm fingers landed a hand on the tight fist Lance was forming on the table top between them and Lance exhaled a sharp breath. "Well, if you're not going to finish, we can keep going." Lance rose and pulled Keith up with him, unwilling to let go of his hand. He ran his thumb over the back of Keith's hand as he led the way to the main control deck.

His family members were wide-eyed once again as they stared out into space while Lance gave a brief explanation of how most of the things seen on Star Trek movies could be accomplished from this room, a comparison which received an eye roll and a fond smile from Keith. Mainly, he showed them Allura's spot and explained black hole jumps before he showed off his and Keith's chairs as well.

Then he guided them out of the control room and around the winding hallways towards their next stop.

"And now we come to Keith's favorite room," Lance said, throwing his arms out in front of him as they walked into the training room. "In here, we spar with gladiators and each other. Plus there's this crazy attack droid simulation. Um, what else?" he asked, turning to Keith.

"There's the electric maze."

"Oh, yeah! There's an invisible maze that has an electrical current running through its walls."

"That sounds — awful," Gabby said.

"Yeah, it definitely was at first," Lance said with a nod. "I'd give you a demonstration, but it's probably not a good idea with Laney here."

"Gladiators, weapons, and electrocution, yeah let's keep moving," Rosie said, backing her way back towards the doors.

---

Keith stepped back as Lance led his family into their bedroom. He didn't really mind Lance's parents and siblings seeing their personal space, or the bed he was sharing with Lance, but decided maybe he didn't need to be standing right next to it at the same time? He rubbed the back of his neck a little as he thought about their large, comfortable castle bed compared to the narrow twin they'd shared last night. Lance was right when he said they didn't really need that much space. They did generally sleep fairly close to each other. But damn, that bed had been narrow, and Keith was pretty sure Lance underestimated just how broad those swimmer's shoulders of his were.

He looked up when the door slid open and Mark entered the hallway. Keith caught a glimpse of Laney running around the room behind him before the door slid shut again. Mark immediately appeared surprised upon seeing Keith, and Keith realized Mark had likely not even noticed that Keith wasn't among the crowd inside. He appeared to debate whether or not he should stay or go, but after a moment, Keith watched Mark sag against the opposite wall.

This was the first time Keith had been alone with Mark, and he chewed on his lower lip as he waited to see if Mark was going to say something. But when Mark proceeded to just stand there and glare lightly at the wall beside Keith, Keith began to wonder if maybe he should say something. Normally he'd avoid small talk with a stranger at all costs, but since this was Lance's brother, he decided to make an effort.

"There's not much to see in there," Keith finally said and watched as Mark's eyes flicked over to his face. "I mean, we didn't have a chance to pack or anything when we left Earth. Although, Lance does pick up rocks and things from some of the planets we visit." Keith wondered if he should stop. Mark didn't look all that interested. For some reason, his mouth kept going. "Lance was talking about bringing family photos back with him after this, though, so I guess we'll have —"

Keith's hands flew up suddenly as Mark launched himself across the hallway towards him. He let Mark grab fistfuls of his shirt and knock him back against the wall.

"What do you mean bring photos back?"

Keith swallowed carefully and stared back at Mark's angry face. Mark's eyes were a slightly darker shade of blue than Lance's, for which Keith was grateful, because there was a hardness in Mark's eyes that Keith never wanted to see in Lance's eyes.

Mark shook him a little when he didn't answer. The two were practically the same height, and Keith knew instinctually that he was stronger than Mark. But he couldn't raise his fists to Lance's brother.

Don't fight. Don't fight. Don't fight.

"He's not yours," Mark growled. "You don't get to just take him away! You don't get to just scoop him up out of the Garrison! He's not supposed to vanish into space!"

One fist let go of Keith's t-shirt so that it could fly towards Keith's side. Keith twisted and blocked the blow aimed for his rib cage, forcing Mark to let go of him completely, which just meant that now Mark had two fists flying towards Keith. Keith shifted away from where Mark had cornered him against the wall and began to move backwards down the hallway, using his own hands to knock away Mark's fists as Mark followed and continued to shout his frustrations out at Keith.

When Keith ducked under another fist, one of his flip flop-covered feet slipped on the floor, sending him sprawling to the hard ground. Mark took advantage of his sudden flailing to land on him, and Keith gasped as Mark's full weight on his chest knocked the wind out of him. He tried to curl his legs up or roll to the side to help force air back into his lungs, but Mark's weight stayed there, pinning him in place as he coughed.

"He doesn't belong to the fucking universe!"

Mark's hands grabbed at Keith's shirt and jerked him forward, and while it was uncomfortable, Keith was thankful he didn't have to try to block any more punches while he was still trying to force air back in his lungs.

"He belongs to us!" Mark continued. "He's —"

Then Mark's weight left him as Lance suddenly tackled Mark from the side, sending the two McClain brothers to wrestle next to Keith.

Mora and Gabby dropped to the ground next to Keith and helped push him into a seated position as he continued to gasp and cough. He reached an arm out, a sad attempt in his state to try to reach Lance, but Mora shook her head and rested a hand on his forearm while her other hand gently patted his back. So he sat with the others and watched as Ray and Theo did their best to jump in and pull the two brothers apart.

"You take it out on me if you're mad!"

Pure fury contorted Lance's face and Keith flinched as Lance landed a tight fist — Lance learned that technique from him — into Mark's right cheekbone. Mark would be feeling it later, but right now it looked like his anger was protecting him from the pain.

Ray pushed his way in between his two feuding sons and pressed a hand to both of their chests to separate them while Theo tried to pull at Mark's shoulders.

"Mad? I'm way past mad, hermanito! Have you told mom and dad yet that you haven't actually returned to us? That you're just down on Earth for a visit? That you're planning on coming back here?"

Ray visibly shuddered and turned his full attention to Lance with shock all over his face, while Keith had the unhappy position of being about six inches away from Mora's immediate tears. He dared a glance over at Gabby and knew from her own heartbroken face that they weren't going to get much help from her on this one.

With his breathing finally under control, he slowly stood and offered a hand to Mora to help her stand as well. He glanced briefly over at Theo and Rosie, plus Laney who was in Rosie's arms. They were standing by silently, neither able to make eye contact with anyone else.

"Is that true?" Ray finally whispered out to Lance.

Lance visibly swallowed. But his shoulders lifted as he managed to stand a little straighter. He took a step back, away from the hand his father had had pressed to his chest.

"I haven't been able to finish telling you the story about where I've been or what I've been doing."

Lance sounded determined, despite the fact that his voice shook as he spoke, and it made Keith stand a little taller as well.

"There you all are," Allura's voice reached them from the other end of the hallway. If she noticed all the tears streaming down faces as everyone turned towards her, she didn't comment on it. "If you're finished with the tour, I'd like to invite you to come with me. We have something to share with you."

"I think we're finished with the tour," Lance said quietly before he half-heartedly lifted a hand towards Allura, indicating to his family that they head towards her.

Keith watched the McClains pass glances back and forth that he couldn't decipher before they seemed to make the group decision to follow Allura. Keith stood back and waited as they trudged past him, keeping his eyes on Lance the whole time. Lance looked like he was in physical pain and Keith felt his own chest grow tight.

And then Lance was in front of him, cupping his face in both of his hands and looking him over. His fingertips were gentle on Keith's skin and it took Keith a moment to realize Lance was checking for damage from Mark.

He slowly pulled Lance's hands down and apologetically shook his head. "I'm sorry, Lance," Keith whispered. "I fucked up and I'm so sorry. I didn't realize — I didn't even think about them not knowing that you weren't going to stay —"

There was a soft growling noise from Lance's throat as he pulled Keith into a hug. "It's my own damn fault for not telling them right away." He exhaled a frustrated breath and dropped his head to Keith's shoulder. "I just — I just didn't know how to do it."

Keith let his fingers card through Lance's hair while his other arm wrapped tightly around Lance. "I don't blame you, Lance. We've both seen them. Your return alone has been — overwhelming."

Lance nodded, but didn't say anything else on the subject. "You're okay, though?" he murmured into Keith's neck.

Keith nodded. "I'm not recommending flip flops during combat," he tried to tease, "but yeah, Lance, I'm fine."

Lance didn't laugh, though. Instead he pressed his face further into crook of Keith's neck. "I'm sorry Keith."

"For what?"

"You trusted me," Lance murmured with a small shake of his head. "You trusted me and I stuck you right in the middle of this huge mess with my family."

"Hey." Keith nudged Lance's face with his shoulder, forcing the other to life his head and meet his eyes. "We fought in a war against a tyrannical ruler who managed to reign terror for ten thousand years over entire galaxies."

Lance lifted an eyebrow in question.

"We can handle a little family drama," Keith stated simply.

A few ticks went by before Lance said, "Who are you, optimistic stranger, and what have you done with my grumpy space cat?"

Keith looped his fingers in with Lance's and began to lead him in the direction the others had gone. He let a small smile pull at his lips if only because Lance had allowed one on his own face. They walked in silence through the hallways, with Keith peering up at Lance's serious face from time to time.

Mainly because he was concerned about Lance. But, maybe also because serious Lance was seriously handsome, and Keith let himself drink in the image before switching back to being concerned.

"You don't have to be the optimistic one all the time, you know," Keith quietly said when they'd reached the doors of the main common room. "We're in this together. And I can try to pick up the slack when you need me to."

The urge to hide himself and Keith away somewhere slipped away with every second that Keith stared up at him with that earnest, open expression. Lance's brother had just attacked Keith and Keith was still trying to stay optimistic for him. He dipped his forehead to Keith's before whispering, "I'm lucky to have you, space cat."

"Back at ya, sharpshooter."

Lance's lips crushed onto Keith's, but Keith met the insistent kiss by pushing right back into Lance, sharing the strength he had with the most important person in his life. And when the kiss was over, Lance was standing tall again. And he was smiling.

"Not gonna lie, I'm slightly worried about what Allura has set up behind these doors."

Keith just grinned in response and bravely hit the panel to slide the doors open. And then their mouths dropped open when they got their first glimpse inside.

"Hunk!" Lance beelined for a hug from his friend, and Keith did the same as he happily headed towards Pidge and Matt. Had it really been less than a day since they'd all seen each other? Then they swapped and Keith got a Hunk hug while Lance greeted the Holt siblings. The surprise didn't end there, however, as they were quickly introduced to Mrs. Holt, as well as Hunk's parents and his own little brother.

"Allura really wanted to talk to everyone's families," Shiro said, coming up behind the small group and taking a spot next to Keith. "And since we were hearing from everyone that the reunions were a little rougher than expected, she asked that I go pick up everyone else while you and Lance gave the McClains a tour."

"Talk to everyone about what?" Keith asked.

"She'll explain in a tick. Hey, did Lance's brother have that bruise on his face earlier?"

Keith's eyes drifted over to Mark. He stood near his parents as Ray and Mora hugged Hunk's parents. And there was definitely a large bruise forming on his cheek.

"I didn't do that," Keith said.

"I didn't say you did," Shiro said around a half-grin.

"Rule two: no fighting," Keith added begrudgingly.

"But you've wanted to fight?"

Keith offered a half shrug. Shiro patted his shoulder. "We'll see if this little meeting helps."

---

When everyone was seated on various couches around the room, Allura stood in front of the group, hands clasped together in a friendly gesture, warm smile on her face.

"I would like to thank you for sharing your family members with us," she stated. "I know it was completely unintentional, and if given the choice, you may have chosen differently for them. And I thought it might be a good idea to share with you what they have been doing since they left Earth. You see, my own father left me to walk in his footsteps with a legacy he left behind called Voltron. And as magnificent and powerful as Voltron can be, its nothing without its paladins. Hunk, Lance, Pidge, Keith, and Shiro," — she paused to look at each of them — "they were thrown into this life and into a ten thousand year old war. And they stepped up and not only bonded with their lions, which is something mystical in nature that cannot be forced, but they also bonded with each other as a team. They defeated Zarkon. And their names will forever be included in our history books."

Lance perked up at that. "Wait, can we see these books? Are there going to be pictures of us?"

"I can do you one better than that, Lance," Allura said with a smile. "In fact, the reason I invited you all here is because we're about to approach Earth's officials in the hopes that they will also want to join the Voltron Alliance. However, as the paladins recently pointed out to us, Earth is one of the few places completely unaware of life on other planets."

"Yes, very very true fact," Hunk's dad stated. He sat with one hand resting on Hunk's shoulder and still looked a little wide-eyed about being on a spaceship himself.

"So, Coran and I thought the best way to break the news to them would be to actually show them some footage."

"Where did the footage come from?" Pidge asked with narrowed eyes.

"Oh, we've got cameras here and there," Allura said with a nonchalant wave of her hand that had Lance, Keith, Pidge, and Hunk all exchanging a suspicious look at this new information. "Including in the training room, the main deck, the eyes of the lions, outside the castle —"

"We've got some excellent Voltron formation footage from those cameras, actually," Coran interjected with a grin.

"— plus that footage you pulled from Beta Traz, Pidge," Allura added with her own grin in Shiro's direction.

Shiro averted his eyes and suddenly became very interested in the hem of his shirt, much to both Allura's and Keith's amusement. Allura decided to let Shiro sweat it out a little, and not tell him that none of his interactions with Slav made it into their final video.

"Wait, so you, like, made a promotional video about Voltron?" Lance asked.

"It's a video highlighting the bond between a paladin and their lion," Coran stated with a twirl to his mustache. "And demonstrates the ability of a team to work together for a common goal, which we will show the Earth officials so they have an understanding of what it is we're doing."

"Oh, okay," Lance said. "That's a promotional video."

"It will be added to our history books," Allura said firmly. "Altea may be gone, but Voltron's history will be shared with all alliance members so that this legacy will never be forgotten."

"Would anyone like something to snack on during the show?" Coran asked.

"No!" several McClain family members answered.

Coran frowned at them and then glanced to Pidge's mother and Hunk's family. They appeared a little startled by the outbursts from the McClains and finally decided to slowly shake their heads in response.

"Well then, let's hit the lights!"

Keith sat perched on the edge of his seat on the couch, his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward to watch exactly what kind of movie Allura and Coran had pulled together. He felt Lance's hand land on his back as Lance leaned back into the couch beside him.

The beginning footage was something none of the current paladins had ever seen. It was King Alfor himself as he described the dream of creating a bonded team that would explore the universe together.

"I'd like to be gentle explorers mapping out the universe, but we will also be a powerful team, ready and available to help those who need it."

This was followed by additional video diary logs from King Alfor, where he explained that one of Voltron's paladins, Zarkon, had defected, and had revealed plans to lead a Galran army intent on destruction. He then explained that he was going to hide his daughter, as well as Voltron's lions, away from Zarkon.

The paladins' heads seemed to move as one then as they all glanced towards Allura, as it was likely her father's final diary entry. She met their concern with a small smile and a shake of her head to indicate she was fine. Her father's dream was coming true because of these five people, and she hoped that she could help repay them by sharing their good deeds with their families.

Then their attention was whipped back to the screen as Coran's voice was suddenly heard as a narration added to the footage. "Ten thousand years went by before a new set of paladins arrived, awakened Altea's Princess Allura, and reunited the lions."

Lance leaned forward so that his shoulder brushed Keith's as footage of their first day appeared on the screen. Allura stood on the main control deck and began describing the features of each lion's personal paladin. He glanced at each of his teammates as he listened once again to the descriptions, words he'd almost forgotten. It was incredible to think how well they encompassed the qualities Allura described, and what perfect matches they'd each been for their lions.

"You have human ears there, dude," Theo whispered from Keith's other side. "Do they, like, retract?"

Keith huffed out a noise, although he was also struck by the image of himself before the Galra-ear transformation. The Keith on screen, the one seen bickering on and off with Lance, had had no clue what was in store for him.

"No, they don't go back and forth," Keith answered quietly in return. "They just didn't appear until later."

"Oh, cool," Theo said before he went back to paying attention to the screen.

Coran's voice continued to narrate, as clips from the training deck was shared, including Keith and Lance working together against the drones, Hunk sending Pidge through the invisible maze, the entire team fighting together through a battle simulation, and then Keith sparring alone against two of the gladiators.

Keith's sword sliced the leg off one before spearing through the other, and Lance heard Mark huff out a swear from his spot nearby.

"Yeah, you're lucky he didn't kill you earlier," Lance murmured and then refused to meet Mark's eyes, even though he could feel them on his face for a few moments.

There were clips of the lions flying and running around the castle back when they were on Arus, including one embarrassing lion pyramid — oh how their lions had laughed at them for that maneuver — with Coran's narration in the background about the five of them learning how to work together. And then finally, there was clip after clip after clip of the lions coming together to form Voltron, followed by several videos of Voltron in action.

Allura watched the shocked expressions of the paladins' family members as they watched and learned exactly what it meant to form Voltron. The shock gave way to worry, but then awe and a few expressions of pride appeared as Voltron dismantled Galra battle ships and destructive Galra-sent robots.

Allura had included some clips from Beta Traz, which had Lance's entire family sending him amazed looks after watching him not only fight some giant alien creature, but then make the shot that saved the little alien guy they were supposed to be rescuing. And on top of that stolen footage, there was also video of some of their hand to hand combat battles inside several Galra bases, as Pidge had learned how to easily hack their security feeds and pull what she wanted.

The next video clip was centered on Keith and Shiro, fighting together to hold back a group of Galra sentries as Pidge worked at a console behind them. Hunk and Lance weren't on-screen, but Lance remembered them both being perched nearby, providing cover when they could. The team had gotten pretty good at infiltrating Galra bases undetected to pull information from their consoles, but this one had been more heavily guarded than most. Keith and Shiro's grunts could be heard as metal struck metal in their efforts.

Lance tensed as he watched the mission. Even though this event was in the past and they had clearly all made it out of there safely, it was hard to watch his friends in danger. He glanced around the room and found that everyone had their eyes glued to the screen, so even though this was difficult to watch, this video idea of Allura's seemed to be doing its job. Surely, his family could no longer think he'd been off playing in space after seeing all this.

Hunk's on-screen voice brought his attention back to the video clip.

"Shiro, on your six!" Hunk called out and they all watched as Shiro spun and took down the sentry that had tried to sneak up on him.

"Keith, back!" Lance yelled next and Keith automatically jumped backwards, allowing Lance a clean shot at the three sentries coming towards him.

"Pidge?" Shiro called out.

"I got it!" Pidge called out and was soon coming around the console to join them.

Keith turned towards her then, ready to clear a path so she'd have clear access to join them.

"Keith!" Lance yelled out again as a sentry took advantage of his distraction and rammed its way into Keith's side. The force knocked Keith's bayard out of his hand and it landed several feet away.

With the sentry on top of him, Keith took advantage of the robotics lesson Hunk had supplied them with, and quickly pulled at two small wires in the neck area before rolling the newly-disabled robot off of him. Then he ducked under another in order to race towards his weapon. All sentries who tried to attack him as he ran were quickly shot down from an unseen rifle.

Rosie glanced over at Lance then. "Is that you doing that?" she whispered.

"Sharpshooter," Keith whispered back while Lance nodded.

Meanwhile, Hunk's mother murmured, "You all need a way to automatically retract your weapons."

And even though she was clutching Pidge's hand within both of her own as she watched, Mrs. Holt nodded as well. "The bayard can appear from your suit and transform into a weapon, but you have no way to call it back to you when it's knocked across a room?"

Pidge met Hunk's eyes and they grinned at each other, perfectly clear on what their first project would be when they returned.

The big battle against Zarkon was included as well, and although there wasn't footage of the paladins inside their lions, their family members could clearly hear their voices as they encouraged each other through the fight.

With Zarkon defeated, the next clips switched away from battles and instead focused on some more personal images of the paladins themselves. Included was their initial food fight, Hunk baking in the kitchen with Pidge seated on the counter making faces at his efforts, Lance walking around in his blue bathrobe and lion slippers, Keith and Lance grinning at each other from their seats in the dining hall, and all seven of them settled in to watch a movie together.

And as this video was meant to bridge a relationship between Voltron and Earth, and possibly future planets as well, the final clips included some images taken from diplomatic meetings that had secured previous alliances between different planets.

When it was over, Mora wiped the proud tears from her eyes as she replayed for herself the image of her boy, looking handsome in his paladin armor, floating through space but still able to make a shot that rescued a prisoner. She looked to Ray and saw a similar level of pride on his own face.

"He's quite a shot," Ray murmured back to her. "And quite a pilot. Armed with a strategic mind."

Mora squeezed his fingers. She couldn't help the tears that rolled down her cheeks, but still managed to whisper back, "He's where he should be, then."

Ray swallowed over a lump in his throat that he was trying to ignore. He knew it wasn't really their decision to make, but he still felt like they were jointly deciding to essentially let go of their son so that he could follow his true life calling.

It hurt, though, Mora admitted to herself, to think that they had raised him and loved him within the safely of their family, only to be forced to give him up, even if it was for the greater good of the universe.

"Princess Allura," Mora said, and the din of the other voices chatting in the room died down. "Since Lance interrupted you before you could discuss the qualities of the blue paladin," — she paused to shoot Lance a pseudo-glare — "would you mind sharing them with us now?"

"Of course," Allura said with a beaming smile for Lance's mother. "The paladin of the Blue Lion has always been responsible for bringing the team together. In Lance's case, this was literally true, as he connected himself, Pidge, and Hunk with Shiro and Keith back on Earth. But Blue's paladin also brings the team together on a daily basis, and I imagine coming from such a large family has aided Lance in his ability to take six additional, extremely different personalities and easily bring us together to live and work not only as a team, but — and I think I can speak freely for everyone — as a family. And we have Lance to thank for laying that foundation down for us.

"Plus, as a both a leg of Voltron or as a young man sitting at our dinner table, Lance has lifted us all easily on multiple occasions, which has helped us grow as individuals, but always helps with team morale as well.

"And finally, Blue and her paladin have their beliefs firmly rooted in the idea that good will prevail, which also provides the stability Voltron requires in a leg."

Lance had ducked his eyes as soon as Allura had begun speaking. He knew why he'd interrupted Allura on that first day, and it wasn't because he wanted to boast about himself. Truthfully, he couldn't believe that he was suddenly being asked to defend the universe with some of the most talented people the universe had to offer. And he'd been sure if Allura described what Blue's paladin should be like, that the others would've immediately deemed him unworthy of such a description. He was sure he'd be kicked out before he even got a chance to try.

But now, after listening to her not only describe Blue's paladin, but him directly, he lifted his eyes and found Allura still smiling at him. Found Keith smiling at him. Shiro, Pidge, Hunk, and Coran all smiling at him. Plus, there were the good kind of tears in the eyes of many of his family members.

The thought that he'd been a seventh wheel had been inadvertently squashed by Keith some time ago. Still, additional confirmation that it wasn't the case was nice.

Apparently he wasn't a seventh wheel. Apparently he was the bus driver.

---

Chapter 2 author notes:

Yes, I had them on Earth less than 24 hours before they were all back in the castle!

Lex and Tim are still living on the castle ship, and I tried to include them somewhere in this story, but there just wasn't space as I worked through this. Sorry kids!

Etched into the seat of lance's bench:

I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly
I'll do what it takes till I touch the sky

- Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway"