Lala Norisu – Oh, it's just Shiro. It is just a headcannon of mine that Shiro's family adopted Keith as a kid.

Spnwinchester125 – I love your pen name!

NinjagoKaiLover3456 – I'm glad you loved it!

I hope the first chapter was enjoyed. I know there wasn't much of the actual story to it. It was more of the set up for the story.

Chapter 2: Fully Healed… Maybe

"No, no, no. Hunk's is more like a cannon. A hand held cannon."

"No, Lance, it's a tank gun."

"Actually, I like Pidge's description better."

"Hunk you traitor!"

"Well, it sounds better than yours. It's just a laser gun."

"I prefer the term blaster."

Shiro and Keith had just walked into the common room to find Lance, Hunk, and Pidge arguing about something. "What are you guys talking about?" Shiro finally asked.

"We are comparing weapon names." Lance points to Keith. "See, you have the classic sword and shield. Hunk has a cannon," he glares at Pidge then points to himself, "and I have a blaster."

"Yea, see, we haven't really come up with a name for Pidge's weapon yet." Hunk held up Pidge's green bayard.

"It's a spade," Keith said it like it was so obvious. The other three just stared at him.

"Well, it's also a grappling hook." Pidge smiled proudly.

"Ok, what about mine?" Shiro held up his artificial right arm.

"Ha! That's the ultimate bitch slap!" Lance never missed a beat.

Shiro laughed.

Most everyone was asleep when Keith woke up from the healing pod, but not Shiro. He refused to leave the healing room, except to get food, which is what he was doing when Keith did finally wake. He had walked in just in time to see Keith fall to his knees. In slight shock at first, all Shiro could do was call out his name. He saw Keith look up and smile at him. Shiro dropped the plate of green goo he was holding and ran to his friend's side. He helped him up and into a nearby chair.

"H-how long was I in there?" Keith's voice was raspy from lack of use.

"Almost a week. That last attack from Haggar really messed you up." Shiro decided it best not to tell him what he looked like before going into the healing pod. He looked back to normal now anyway, so it didn't matter now… right?

"A week?!" Keith shot up but with shaky legs, fell right back down into the chair.

"Careful. Coran said it would take a while for you to regain your strength after being in there for so long."

"How are Lance and Pidge?"

Shiro was puzzled at first. Oh, right, they were both unconscious when Keith was attacked. "They are both fine. They woke up not long after we got back to the castle."

Keith looked relieved. "What about the ship and the witch?"

"The ship was destroyed thanks to your particle cannon, but… the druid got away."

The growl that escaped Keith was almost animalistic and Shiro could swear he saw his eyes flash yellow. No, it was just the light… it had to be.

"Come on. You can head to bed for now. The others will be happy to see you in the morning." Shiro helped him up and to his room.

Only about a week has passed since then.

"No, way. Mine is the smallest, therefore it is the fastest." Pidge waved a hand to emphasize her point.

"No, mine is way cooler, so it has to be the fastest." Lance had both hands on his hips proudly.

"What kind of logic is that?" Keith was ready to prove them both wrong. "Allura said that our lions mirror our quintessence, whatever that means. So whoever wins in a race on foot, will probably win in their lions too."

"Alright! Let's race!" Lance jumped up and pumped a fist in the air.

Pidge jumped up too, ready for the race.

Shiro and Hunk shrugged but followed the others out to the training room.

Pidge, Keith, and Lance lined up at one end of the room. Allura and Coran had heard about the races and decided to join them. Hunk stood in front of them while Shiro stood at the other end marking the finish line. Hunk held up a small flag.

"On your marks! Get set!" He dropped the flag down. "Go!"

All three of them kicked off as hard as they could but Keith was already halfway across the large room before any of them blinked. He finished the race while the other two were only about halfway. They both came to a halt and just stared at Keith, who also seemed to be a bit surprised.

"How the hell did you do that?" Lance all but yelled in shock.

"I-" Keith paused, staring down at his hands. He quickly regained his composure and put on a fake smile to hide his own shock. "I'm just faster than you. Time to race our lions now. See if you can beat me out there."

"Ha! You're on, mullet! Blue will definitely beat Red."

"I think I'll sit this one out. I was gonna come in last anyway." Pidge smiled.

A few moments later and everyone was outside. Keith and Lance were inside their lions as well as Hunk. Shiro, Pidge, Allura and Coran watched the ordeal on the video coms inside the Castle.

Hunk called over the coms, "First one to that asteroid," Yellow motioned a paw to an asteroid a few miles away, "and back wins the race." Yellow raised her tail. "On your marks! Get set!" Her tail swished downward, "Go!"

The two lions' jets roared to life and they sped across space towards the targeted asteroid. Red was able to make it back to the castle before Blue even made it to the asteroid. The three of them headed back to the castle and landed in the Hangar where the other four were waiting for them.

"That was a good race paladins!" Coran congratulated. "But as Allura said before, Red is the fastest of the lions," He laughed, "It was a good effort on your part, though."

Lance just crossed his arms in a pout. Just as he was about to say something, he saw Hunk handing some of his space root to both Shiro and Pidge. Hunk discovered this space root on a small planet. It is the closest thing they have found to taste like beef jerky back on Earth. "Wait! You guys made a bet?!"

"Of course." Pidge grinned.

"We've gotta get some entertainment out of this," Shiro said before taking a bite of the root he had just won.

"Yea, and Hunk was the only one who bet on you." Pidge's grin started to look more mischievous.

Lance just glared at her.

"Alright paladins. Today was fun but I think we all need our rest." Allura gestured to the door.

They all took the hint and headed to their rooms.

At the moment, Keith felt like he could run a marathon and not get tired. He wasn't sure where all this energy had come from. He couldn't even try to sleep at the moment. He began removing his armor and noticed something odd. The tips of his fingers had a slight purple coloring, just far enough up that it surround his fingernails.

I am having a lot of fun writing this story and am very excited to continue! I hope all of y'all are as excited as I am! Until next chapter,

NyteXade