Finding Home

A Voltron: Legendary Defender Fanfic

Galaya

Written: 12-19-17

Published: 12-29-17

This is fanfiction – I don't own anything. Unless you count headcanons and the exact sequence of words comprising this fic.

Sorry for the delayed update. I meant to have this up about a week ago, but my dad and my brother came home for Christmas and I barely got any time to myself to write or edit anything for the first few days. The updates should be more regular now. I have up to chapter seven already written, but I still need to edit them. I'm trying to have at least four chapters written ahead of time so I don't feel pressured to write something and get it posted immediately.

Also, as a note on the shack, it's never explained in the show how Keith came to live there, or how he has the hoverbike thing. I gave an explanation for it, but who knows? It did occur to me that maybe the shack was formerly Keith's dad's place, as that is where he imagines his dad being in the Blade of Marmora episode, but this makes more sense for the fic. I don't imagine Keith is earning any money, so how was he able to afford a place to live and a hoverbike? Again this isn't canon, just me making up possible explanations for things in ways that make sense in this context.


Chapter Three: Welcome to the Galaxy Garrison

The letters swarmed on the page. Keith couldn't focus on any of the words through the blurry liquid filling his vision. He didn't have to. He knew what they said.

"Shiro!" he cried in delight, shaking his shoulder to wake him up. "Shiro! Get up!"

Shiro slowly blinked his eyes open. "What is it?"

"I'm accepted! The Galaxy Garrison accepted me! I'm in!"

He couldn't help the purring in his throat. For once he didn't even want to try. His face felt as if it would split under the force of his grin, as if his own muscles were trying to tear his face apart.

Shiro sat up and rubbed at his eyes to wake himself up. "Congratulations!"

Keith narrowed his eyes. "Did you have anything to do with it?"

"I may have sent them a letter of recommendation. The Garrison won't even look at someone without one, though, so you got in on your own, kiddo. But…" Shiro grinned, "Commander Holt might have let it slip a few days ago you were on the list for next year."

"And you didn't tell me? I've been stressing over it all week!"

"I wanted to let you have the surprise."

Keith couldn't even pretend to be irritated. He was getting his dream! The Garrison had accepted him! Maybe he'd even be a pilot. The joyful energy buzzing inside of him threatened to have him bouncing around in excitement.

He was never more glad that he had decided to approach Shiro at the bench.

V

Keith pressed an ice pack to the side of his nose. The nurse opened the cabinet to pull out a bottle of Tylenol.

"No thanks." Keith shook his head lightly. "It doesn't hurt that bad, and Tylenol doesn't do anything for me anyway."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Well, your brother's here now."

The teachers and other school staff had assumed that Shiro was Keith's older brother. It felt nice, to be called someone's brother. Someone's family. Being Shiro's made it that much better. So Keith hadn't bothered to correct them.

Through the nurse's door, Keith could see the principal's office. Shiro stood at the desk, talking quietly with the secretary. Keith sighed.

So much for not getting onto a fight.

Keith thanked the nurse as he stood up and joined Shiro at the front desk. Shiro faced him with a concerned frown. Keith wasn't sure if he even registered the hand he reached out to gently touch the growing bruise on Keith's face. He stopped himself a few inches short.

"What happened, Keith?" Shiro asked.

"They told you over the phone, didn't they?"

He knew it wasn't fair to Shiro, but he was upset. He didn't feel like being polite.

"I want to hear your side of it."

"It's stupid."

Shiro didn't answer for a moment, focused on signing the checkout sheet. He set a hand on Keith's shoulder as they walked out of the office.

"I still want to know, Keith. You have a right to defend your own actions."

"We were playing a game in gym. We'd just scored a point. One of the boys on my team punched my shoulder. I grabbed his fist. And…" Keith's shoulders slumped. "We fought. I don't even know why. We were laughing, and then…"

"Was it something like this?" Shiro gently, slowly, bumped his fist against Keith's shoulder.

It was a gesture Keith had seen others use. He'd even watched Shiro interact with his friends like that. He nodded.

"Bit harder, but yeah."

"It's just a friendly thing," Shiro said. "He was probably trying to congratulate you. Celebrate."

"I know. I just… I didn't think. It felt… It felt like a challenge. To me. It probably wasn't. I know that."

They exited the school building and crossed the parking lot. Shiro fished his keys out of his jacket pocket. The car's lights flashed as the doors unlocked. Keith slid into his seat.

"So, what's my punishment?" asked Keith.

He fiddled with the seat belt as Shiro started the car.

"The school's suspended you for a week. They expect you to apologize to the kid. He's getting the same, so don't feel too bad."

"Are you…?"

"Nope."

Keith looked up. "Why not?"

"Because, from my perspective, you really didn't do anything wrong. It was a misunderstanding. You don't need punishment, Keith. You need someone to understand and help you understand." He gave Keith a smile. "Someone to listen to your side of things. That's what I'm here for."

Keith let his head rest against Shiro's shoulder as they began to drive home.

V

The rest of the school year preceding his first year at the Garrison as a student somehow both dragged on forever, and passed by in an instant. Shiro went of a few more, shorter, missions. The longest lasted a month, in May. The Garrison had decided to give Shiro a break from the longer missions while Keith was in school. Which Keith appreciated.

Keith spent much of his free time training, and building up his strength. He was already one of the strongest boys in his grade, despite his smaller size, but the Garrison expected cadets to be in top physical condition. Keith had the advantage of knowing from Shiro what sort of exercises and drills the Garrison would assign. Often, Shiro would train with Keith.

Summer rolled around finally, and Keith could hardly contain his excitement. It was finally happening. He was so close. It would still be a few years before he could go on missions, but that didn't matter.

His dream was coming true.

When the school year finished, Shiro took him out to a small shack in the desert, miles away from the Garrison. Apparently, it belonged to Shiro's family. They'd bought it to give him a place to go, if he didn't feel like staying at the dorms. It was in a state of heavy disrepair, having been abandoned for year, but it was livable.

He took Keith around to the back of the shack. A large shape rested in the shade, covered by a heavy tarp which had been nailed to the ground. Shiro pried it up, and flung the tarp off.

Keith stared at the hoverbike.

Shiro grinned at him. "Want to practice a bit before you go to the Garrison?"

"Heck yeah!"

Keith nearly gave Shiro a heart attack almost every time he drove, whether or not Shiro was riding with him. Flying across the desert on the hoverbike felt right in a way Keith had never really experienced.

He loved it.

V

The weeks leading up to freshman orientation felt busier than Keith could remember the Garrison ever being in the time he'd lived with Shiro. He was fairly sure that wasn't true, that it was just his own excitement warping his perspective. After all, there was a swarm of new cadets every year. Keith had avoided last year's swarm, having spent most of his time tucked away in his and Shiro's room.

He wondered if he would be assigned a different room now. Hopefully not. He'd gotten a bit better at dealing with people thanks to Shiro, but he still wasn't comfortable with it. Part of him feared he'd fall back into bad habits if he was reassigned.

The unspoken fear of being taken away from Shiro, like he'd been taken away from his father, haunted the back of his mind.

Keith stuck close to Shiro's side up until the day of orientation. Even then, the only reason he willingly separated was because Shiro was helping with the orientation, and therefore couldn't stay with Keith.

It went smoothly. The other new cadets stared at everything in awe. They asked questions. A few were familiar with the facility, having family and friends who had attended and worked for the Garrison. Keith stayed quiet. He already knew much of what they were being told from Shiro.

He was partnered with three other boys. Two of them bonded almost immediately. The third largely ignored them in favor of pestering their guides with questions and random facts.

When they took a break for lunch, the smaller of the two energetic boys turned to them. "What are your names? I'm Lance."

The larger boy grinned at him. "The name's Hunk."

"Really? Is that, like, a nickname, or something?"

"Nope. It's my actual name."

"Cool. What about you two?"

"Jared," answered the third boy, not really paying attention to anyone. He had a book open on the table and was eating his lunch carefully to avoid spilling on the pages.

Lance turned to Keith expectantly.

"Keith," he supplied.

"So, what are you guys hoping for? Pilot? Engineer? I want to be a fighter pilot!"

Hunk shook his head, mouth stuffed with food. "Not me. I'm shooting for engineer."

Jared ignored them, too engrossed in his book.

"Er, pilot, I guess." Keith hoped. "Fighter, ideally."

"Maybe we can train together." Lance's grin was as warm and real as Shiro's smile.

Keith found himself relaxing. He was content to let Lance and Hunk control the conversation. He'd add something in now and then, and answer when they addressed him directly. Their laughter drew a smile from Keith.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

Maybe he could even follow Shiro's advice and try to make a friend. The idea scared him as much as it excited him.

Keith was relieved to learn, when the dorm room assignments were handed out, that he wasn't moving. He would stay with Shiro. He wondered if Shiro had requested that. He made a mental note to thank Shiro later, if that were the case.

The first days of class were interesting. More than a few of his classmates complained about the rigorous, intense training thrust upon them, and the strict rules and regulations. Most of them kept the comments away from the ears of the teachers and other staff, though.

He kept an eye out for Lance and Hunk. They shared most of their classes. He shared a few less with Hunk, as they were on different tracks, but he saw Lance every day. They even worked together on a few group projects.

Of course, it didn't last.

The class had just finished a round of training. Everyone was breathing hard. Keith had gotten the highest score on most of the exercises. One of the burlier boys in the class – whose name Keith hadn't bothered to learn – stomped up to him.

Keith paused, lowering the water bottle from his lips. "What?"

"Think a runt like you has a right to show off?" demanded the boy, shoving Keith's shoulder hard enough to force Keith to take a step back.

Water sloshed out of his open water bottle. Keith quickly set it on the table to his right. He glared at the boy.

"I'm not showing off."

"It's not a contest."

"No. It isn't. I just know what I'm capable of, and I like pushing myself. That's the whole point of training."

He refused to back down, to shrink away as his instincts screamed at him, as the larger boy loomed over him. This boy might be bigger, but Keith knew he was stronger, and faster. Today had proven that.

"How's a pipsqueak like you so strong, anyway?" The boy jabbed a finger into Keith's chest. "Drugs? Should I tell the higher-ups that you've been taking-"

"I'm not," Keith growled. "I've just been training longer than you."

"I don't believe you."

"I'm only telling the truth."

"Hey, hey, hey!" Lance shoved himself between them.

Keith blinked. He hadn't noticed Lance walking up.

"Break it up. We're classmates, not enemies. No need to go around picking fights with each other," Lance said.

"Then tell this runt to stop cheating!"

Keith ground his jaw. "Pushing yourself isn't cheating. Training isn't cheating."

"I don't know what started this, but fighting isn't going to help anyone. Unless you want to get suspended, or kicked out, or something. I won't judge." Lance held his hands up in a harried gesture.

The other boy huffed. He sent one last glare Keith's way, before turning away and stalking over to the locker rooms.

Lance turned to Keith. "You alright?"

"I'm fine," Keith sighed.

He knocked his shoulder against Lance's in an unconscious gesture of thanks as he walked by. Lance squawked indignantly, drawing Keith's attention back.

"What was that for?" Lance demanded.

Keith frowned. "What?"

Lance crossed his arms with a scowl. "Fine. Be that way. See if I help you next time."

Keith stared as Lance left. What had he done? His shoulders slumped. Of course. No one ever actually wanted to be Keith's friend. The moment he reached out, they shut him back down. It was always the same. Keith swallowed the brief pang of disappointment and hurt. He really shouldn't have expected Lance to be any different.

He grabbed his water bottle and screwed the lid back on. Oh, well. At least he had Shiro.

V