Anna carefully picked up Keith and slung him over her shoulder. Shiro showed her where his room was and allowed her to lay him onto his bed. "That was amazing," he told her. "I didn't expect you to beat Keith with just one hit."
Anna smiled. "The Galra trained me nonstop for years when I was kidnapped. From when I was eight years old to just a month ago I had bruises all over my body."
"I can't even imagine," Shiro whispered while walking her down the hall to her room. "I was with the Galra for a year and I thought my time was tough."
She stopped in her tracks and stared at him intently. "You don't remember, do you?"
His brow furrowed together. "Remember what?"
"We used to share a cell."
A memory flashed through his mind of them talking and laughing as they sat on a filthy floor. The next was him pinning her against the wall and kissing her firmly. A blush settled on his cheeks when he looked back up at her. "We dated?"
She grinned. "Yes; you kept getting into fights so you were moved to share the same cell as me so that I could protect the others from you. After a few weeks we started to like each other and we decided that since it was unlikely we would survive we dated." When his eyes slightly widened she laughed and shook her head. "No, we didn't go all the way."
"What happened after?" he inquired, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the wall.
"I was moved to the ship I had been at beforehand. But I escaped and left for earth and saw a fight going on and met you guys."
"I…don't really remember much from before," Shiro muttered, avoiding her eye contact. "Could you help me?"
She smiled gently and placed her hand on his cheek. "I will do everything in my power to help you. If you need me I'll be there."
Shiro stepped in front of a room just a few steps away. "This is your room. I'm right across the hall, lance is on your right, Keith to your left, Pidge is on my right, and Hunk is on my left. Come to any of us if you need anything."
"Thanks, Shiro."
Anna entered her room to see the entire room a soft white with stationary, a bed, a small chair and table, couch, closet, and a door that she assumed led to a bathroom. She looked inside the closet and found a small tank top. After pulling it on, she crawled into bed with only a shirt and underwear and fell fast asleep. Her memories filled her dreams. She was forced away from Shiro and stuffed onto a ship. She remembered crying for what felt like hours until a Galra soldier entered. "Prisoner 888, welcome back to the mothership," he sneered. "Someone will come and take you soon." Later, the door to her cell slid open to reveal and intimidating Galra. "Who are you?"
"My name is Zarkon," he answered gently, his deep voice rumbling throughout her entire being. "I do not wish to harm you. Will you come with me?"
He held out his hand to help her up. She gingerly took his hand as he pulled her to her feet. He led her through what seemed like a never-ending hallway filled with twists and turns. As he did, she trailed slightly behind to hide behind his tall figure. "Where are we going?"
He glanced over his shoulder down at her. "To meet a close colleague of mine."
When a group of sentries walked by, she tensed so much so that Zarkon could not move her further. I'm scared."
"You're safe with me," he told her. "I promise."
He led her to a large empty room with a woman draped in a cloth hiding most of her features in the middle. "What's going on?"
Zarkon let go of her hand and stepped out the door which slid closed. "Good luck," he smiled.
A zapping noise behind her reached her ears. She turned to see purple lightning surrounding the woman's hands. It shot towards Anna only to have her dive out of the way. "Please, stop!" she screamed.
"Fight back!" the woman ordered.
A sudden burst of anger flowed through Anna as she readied her prosthetic arm. "Ahh!" She lunged forward and was able to slice the woman's arm. A small smirk graced her lips until her magic hit her straight on ten-fold. But no pain came. Instead, she could feel the power flowing through her body.
Anna could see her eyes widen when the purple lightning turned to a blinding white. "It can't be true!"
Anna thrust her hands forward and the lightning struck the woman and threw her against the wall. "Very good," Zarkon told her as he stepped back into the room.
Anna's breathing was ragged from the power still coursing through her. "What's happening to me?" she whispered with wide eyes.
Zarkon stepped forward and knelt down to be eye-level with her "You are a being who was been reincarnated over thousands of years. You have been blessed with a type of magic only few could mimic at the fraction of your power," he explained. "I'm sorry you were forced into it, but I needed to see how you would do without knowing."
"That's insane."
"No," the witch snarled. "Fight me again and it will prove even more so our theory." Once again, the purple lightning burst from her hands. This time, the pain surged throughout Anna's body forcing a scream of intense pain to tear through her throat.
Shiro was lying in his bed unable to sleep when a scream of pain from Anna's room reached his ears. He threw off his blankets and sprinted inside to see her sweating with her body writhing. He gripped her shoulders and began to shake her. "Anna! Anna, wake up!"
She jolted awake and stared at Shiro in horror. "I-I'm so sorry," she stuttered.
"It's okay, but do you want to talk about it?"
She nodded gently and pulled off her covers. A blush settled on his cheeks when he saw the minimal amount of clothing she was wearing. She pulled on a pair of sweatpants and followed Shiro out into the hall. I'm sorry I woke you up."
"I couldn't sleep anyways. We can go to the living room if that's okay," he said quietly so as not to wake anyone up.
"That's fine with me."
They made their way to the living room, turned on the fire place, grabbed some blankets, and took their seats next to each other. Anna-not caring how he reacted-rested her head on his chest and listened to his steady heartbeat. "What's wrong?"
"My nightmare was a memory. After I was taken away from you I was sent to Zarkon's ship. I had never met him when I was there beforehand and he was nice to me and took me to Haggar… we fought for a little bit and then I found out that…I am a reincarnation of an ethereal being who is capable of incredibly powerful magic. And then that's when Haggar-for the next few months-tested my powers and pushed me to the limit multiple times a day." Shiro listened intently to her story. He wished that he could just go back to how they apparently used to be. She was so beautiful and strong; he envied her resilience. He wanted to love her again. "Zarkon…he tricked me into caring for him and…I used to love him."
His heart stopped. Zarkon tricked someone into loving him to exploit their powers for his own gain? "Anna, I'm so sorry."
"But I held on to what we had," she whispered, looking up at him but keeping her head on his chest. "I just kept thinking about us."
Shiro lifted her head by gently gripping her chin and pulling it closer to him. "I want to be able to hold onto it as well," he muttered.
A mischievous glint flashed in her eyes. She moved to straddle his lap and began to nibble at his neck. She found his sweet spot when a guttural moan parted his lips. His hands flew to her hips and he pulled her closer to his own body. She moved up his neck to leave bite marks all over to claim him as her own. "Anna," he gasped.
Shiro could feel the smirk on his neck from her mouth. He needed to show her who was in control. He flipped them over and pinned her down on the couch. A squeal of surprise escaped her lips. He grinned down at her and sent a wink her way before beginning to suck on her neck. After a minute or so, he lifted himself up to admire his handiwork: Anna was breathless with her breathing ragged and face red, bite marks littered her skin, and she knew that she herself had been claimed as his. "You're cruel," she panted.
"And you're mine," he growled. He pressed his body hard against hers and slowly began to grind his hips on her own. A quiet gasp sounded in his ear. "Say my name," he ordered.
He lowered his hips slightly to nudge her forward. "Shiro."
He moved up the gently press his lips against hers. Her hands snaked up his chest, up his neck, and tangled into his hair. Shiro turned them over so that the two of them lay on their side and he wrapped his prosthetic arm around her waist while the other cupped her cheek. "You're…so…beautiful," he said in between kisses.
"Stop lying," she giggled, breaking away from him.
He became serious. "I'm not lying. Anna, you're the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. I'm so happy to have lucked into having you."
She blushed furiously. "Oh, stop it you."
He planted kisses all around her face and a laugh filled the room. He began to tickle her side and she squirmed under his touch. "Do you believe me now?" he demanded, a wide smile on his handsome features.
"Yes! Yes!" she squealed. "Please stop!"
When he didn't she managed to grab his arms and kissed him firmly. Her legs wrapped around his waist and pulled him closer. A low growl rumbled in his throat when Anna's hands tugged at his shirt. Shiro obliged by sitting up for a second and pulling off the piece of clothing and throwing it to the side. She kept him away from her and took the time to admire his muscled chest with many scars. "I know…" he whispered. "It's ugly."
She looked up at him with shocked eyes. "'Ugly?'" she repeated. "Shiro, you are so handsome. I have just as many scars if not more."
"How about we both agree we're attractive and that we totally deserve each other, okay?" he joked.
"Agreed," she nodded. "I'm actually really tired, do you mind if we go back to bed?"
"Of course." Shiro pulled his shirt back on and walked her to her room. "I'll see you in a few hours, Anna." He planted a gentle kiss on her lips before walking to his own room.
Anna woke the next morning and headed to the bathroom to see all the marks on her neck. A blush settled on her cheeks. "I wonder how bad his are," she laughed.
She walked to her closet and pulled on a pair of black leggings, black tennis shoes, and a gray hoodie. "Anna?" Hunk called. "May I come in?"
She pulled up the jacket to cover some of the hickeys and pulled her hair forward to hide the rest. "Yeah!"
Hunk walked in and pulled her into a hug. "I've got a whole day planned out for you. First, Lance is going to show you around the Castle, Keith will train with you, Pidge wants to work on the Galra messages, Shiro said he had a surprise for you, Coran and Allura wanted to show you how everything works, and at the end of the day I have a big dinner for us."
She grinned. "Sounds fun."
"Come on!" Hunk led her to the main control room to see Lance in his usual outfit. "Don't forget, Lance, you have one hour."
"Sure thing, Hunk. Ready to go?"
"Yep! Lead the way."
He walked down a hallway and pointed to the door at the very end. "That is the library. I don't read very much do I've never been there except for one time I got lost trying to find a bathroom," he joked.
Anna fell into a fit of giggles. "You're a hoot!" she laughed, following him down a flight of stairs.
"'A hoot'?" Lance laughed. "What in the world are you talking about?"
"It's just a figure of speech," Anna giggled.
"Well, Anna, you're a hoot as well."
After leading her through the rest of the Castle, he took her to her room so that she could change into an outfit to spar-she made sure to wear a high collar to cover her neck-and led her to the training room. "Thanks, Lance." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before entering to see Keith standing in the middle of the room. He slowly turned around and a horrifying image flashed through Anna's mind: Haggar's hands were surrounded by purple lightning. "Keith," she whispered, taking a step back into the wall. "Please, stop."
Keith's voice morphed with Haggar's. "You must face your fears to become stronger."
"Stop it!" White lightning burst from her fingertips and shot towards Keith. He dove out of the way and stared at her. "I-I'm sorry."
"Anna, are you okay?" he asked, carefully stepping towards her.
She held her arms close to her chest and knelt down. "I just got reminded of my time with Zarkon's witch. She forced me to use magic nonstop. When I first met her she just stood in the middle of a room before attacking me. Sorry I attacked you."
"If someone should be apologizing it's me," he said tenderly while taking a seat next to her. "I had no right to be so mean to you. I guess I felt threatened by this totally random person claiming to be a teammate's little sister. I guess I should figure you out first before I ask you to spar again, huh?" he chuckled.
A warm laugh burst from Anna's lips and echoed in the room. "That would probably be the best course of action. How about we get some swords and spar? I've been needing some competition."
Keith left to grab two standard swords and they both got into position. "Ready?"
Without a response she lunged forward and swung her weapon at him.
Pidge entered the training room an hour later to see Anna and Keith both drenched in sweat. "Whoa," she whispered. "Not even Shiro can fight Keith this long."
Anna laughed breathlessly and wiped the sweat off her brow. "We should do this every day," she panted. "This'll really keep me fit."
Keith nodded and weakly slid down the wall to sit on the floor. "You're quite a challenge."
"Thanks, Keith. I'll see you at dinner."
"If you want you can take a quick shower," Pidge told Anna. "We have three hours to decode this."
Anna could literally smell her stench and felt bad. "Thanks, Pidge."
Anna let Pidge sit on her bed while she took a shower. Anna's room was spotless which Pidge was not used to while being surrounded by five boys and one girl. Although, when passing his room one day, she saw Shiro's room the perfect example of how someone in the Garrison should keep their room. She was surprised when Anna walked out in a towel five minutes later. "You got done that quickly?"
Anna shrugged and began to put lotion on her shaven legs. "As a prisoner, I only had five minutes to do my daily hygiene routine. It sort of sticks with you."
Pidge's eyes landed on the hickeys on her neck. "Who did that?" she smirked.
Horror flashed over Anna's face. "Pidge, you can't tell anyone!" She sat next to her on the bed. "Please, you have to promise not to tell."
She laughed and patted her shoulder. "Your secret is safe with me. So…Who did it?"
"Shiro," Anna grinned. I had a nightmare last night and he comforted me. One thing led to another and he kissed me. We ended because we were both super tired."
As if on cue, the door to Anna's room opened and the man of the hour poked his head in. "Hey is Anna-" His gaze landed on her and immediately roamed over her body hungrily. "Hey, I just wanted to tell you to meet me in my room when you and Pidge are done."
Anna nodded. "Okay," she winked. "I'll see you in s few hours."
While Anna pulled on her clothes, Pidge worked on her computer. "That was intense," she commented.
She laughed softly. "Sorry for that. Let's go!"
They walked to what Anna assumed to be Pidge's workroom and plopped herself onto the desk. She hooked up the computer to the Castle and watched as large screens filled the room. Anna approached one and stared at it intently. "So?"
"This isn't even Galra," she muttered while rubbing the back of her neck. Anna turned around and placed a hand on her hip. "This isn't even an actual language."
Pidge furrowed her brow. "Then why was it being sent back and forth between Zarkon and his Commanders?"
Anna turned back to the screen and inspected it some more. Suddenly, a lightbulb turned on in her head. "It's Zarkon's made up language! He uses it so that in case his messages are found no one can interpret them! Okay, get ready…'Prisoner 888 has escaped once more. I want them found alive and unharmed. Make this your first priority,'" she translated. "This next one says 'Zendak, I believe the prisoner is near you and may attempt to contact Voltron. If you are to fail, Thace will take over the investigation.'"
"Who is Prisoner 888?"
Anna sighed and sat down in an extra chair. "Me."
For the next few hours, Anna decoded more messages from Zarkon to his Commanders. "Thanks for this, Anna. I really appreciate it." Right as Anna was about to leave, Pidge smirked. "You and Shiro have fun!" she called.
Anna walked over to Shiro's room and knocked on the door. He opened it with a wide smile and took her hand to pull her inside. "I have some things I want to give you." He sat her down on his bed and asked her close her eyes and keep them closed. She heard some things being placed on the ground and waited anxiously. "Okay, open them."
When she did, she saw several items of clothing including, several jackets, shirts, and boxers. Along with that was cologne, three small boxes, and several books. "What is this?" she giggled.
He sat next to her on the bed and took her hands in his; it was somewhat funny because his real hand was holding her metal one and his metal one held her real one. "I know I only remember us being together for less than a day, but I have a strong feeling that we were very close beforehand. So, I want to give you some of my clothes because I know that girls usually like that," he chuckled nervously while glancing down at the neat pile. "My cologne, because…I don't know the same reason, I guess. The books are some ones that we bought a while ago at a swap shop that are from Earth, so I figured you'd like them."
Her gaze landed on the boxes. "What are those?"
He reached down and gently put them in her hands. Anna noticed his hands were slightly shaking. "This is weird, but a while ago we were shopping and I felt a strong need to buy these and now I know why."
She smiled warmly up at him and opened them to reveal, and anklet, bracelet, and necklace. All of them were silver and had small infinity signs on them. "Shiro, these are beautiful," she gasped. "How much did these cost?"
"Not a lot actually. I got it from a store that sold earth stuff and they were really cheap since they didn't get much business," he shrugged.
Anna looked up at him and pulled him into a tight hug. "Thank you so much! I need to make this up to you somehow." A wicked thought popped into her mind and she set down the boxes on the floor. "I actually might have a way," she smirked.
His brows furrowed together. "How so?"
She gripped the collar of his shirt and pulled him down so that she could firmly press her lips against his. He made an audible gasp which caused her to grin into the kiss at the control she had over him. Shiro wrapped his arms around her waist and moved her to sit on his lap. This kiss wasn't like the one from the previous night, but, instead, was full of passion and love. She pressed her hands against his chest to look him in the eyes. "Do you want to just talk to a while? I want to try to help you remember everything from before."
He nodded excitedly and leaned back against the wall with her still in his lap. She pulled the blankets on top of them and for the next hour talked about how things were before. "Oh, I better start heading over to Coran and Allura: Hunk said they were going to teach me how to operate the Castle."
Shiro smiled and stood up with her. "We'll put this stuff in your room and I'll walk you there."
