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Inside of the Garrison common room came an explosion of noise.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Lance yelled out as he rapidly pushed buttons on his control.
"Come on Pidge!" Hunk half whined as he tried to maneuver his character out of the way. "We already said that move's illegal to do twice in a row."
"Oh don't be such wusses," Pidge cackled as she launched her bazooka again. "Matt and I never restricted moves."
"I died again." Romelle wrinkled her nose. "This isn't as entertaining as you made it out to be, Lance."
Allura and Keith sat on the couch as spectators while the other three were on their feet. Kosmo yawned then placed his head on Keith's thigh. He idly rubbed his ear while looking at his messages on his phone. They all had the same orange Garrison phone for ease of access. They couldn't wear their helmets all the time. Allura tilted her head as she watched the figures on the tv screen attacking each other.
"Who is the enemy again?"
"They're each other's enemy." Keith looked away from his phone to see the screen. "It's a melee."
"So the purpose is to..."
"Beat the crap out of the other." Keith's phone pinged, bringing his eyes back down. "Do you have your phone on you?"
"No. Whatever for?"
Keith turned his screen to her. She curiously peered at the photo.
"Is Shiro in an MFE fighter?"
"Yeah. They let him try one." Keith half grinned as James sent him a video. "This should be good."
He turned his phone horizontally so they could watch better. The fighter jerkily moved down a stretch of land. A text appeared at the top from James, saying 'take off attempt three.' Keith shook his head before flicking the message away to get back to the video. The MFE fighters were hybrids of Earth and alien technology - mostly Altean but Sam wasn't picky about borrowing from other races. None of the paladins had to deal with something that was a mix of both their worlds.
"It's gaining speed," Keith murmured.
Allura put her hands together in anticipation. The MFE was rolling much smoother for the takeoff. Both the paladins held their breaths as the fighter shot off suddenly.
"He's not lifting yet," Keith started critiquing but then the back flaps on the wings adjusted, bringing the fighter into the air.
There were exclamations as Shiro took off into the sky. The video followed Shiro as he weaved uncertainly for a couple of seconds but was quick to adjust. They could tell the moment Shiro was used to the fighter as he rolled into a spiral before smoothly swooping down into an air current and shooting up into the clouds.
"You've got to be freaking kidding me!" Rizavi yelled out in the background half in anger and half in excitement. "It took us three months to learn how to spiral in that death trap!"
The fighter was coming back to them and circled. Then circled again. And again. Kinkade was looking into the sky with his hand blocking out the sun. Leifsdottir stepped up to Kinkade to look with him and then turned to the video to address Griffin.
"Did someone inform Captain Shirogane how to land?"
"..."
"..."
"...Crap."
The video cut off. Keith's phone had pinged again earlier. He went back into his text messages to see another photo. It was a selfie from Shiro this time sent to a group message to the paladins. The nose of the MFE was buried in sand. Despite that, Shiro had a grin on his face as he rubbed the back of his neck.
'Landing needs work,' was captioned under the photo.
"Oh Shiro," Allura lightly laughed behind her hand.
Lance looked back upon hearing the laughter but did not say anything. He turned forward with neither of the two on the couch aware that he had looked back. Keith had a wide smirk as he typed a reply back.
'Getting rusty old man?'
Shiro immediately replied with, 'Captain Old Man to you, kiddo.' Then another message came but not to the group thread.
"Allura."
She looked at the screen, seeing her name.
'We'll be staying overnight. Tell Allura I'll be back before sundown tomorrow.'
She felt her heart flutter a little with the reminder that they had another meeting set.
"I should get my communication device," she murmured.
Keith handed his phone before she could get up.
"Just don't text anything gushy. I don't want that on my cell."
She gave Keith a sharp nudge in the ribs.
SL
Dusk was coming.
Lance stayed by the window of his hospital room in a rare moment of solitude. He loved his family to bits but sometimes a guy needed some space especially after almost exploding into pieces nearly a week ago. This makes the third time. Or is it the fourth? He lightly shook his head. He was starting to lose count of his near misses.
Guess I am a soldier now.
"Pidge and Hunk are waiting for you."
Lance's shoulders twitched upwards. "How many times are you going to scare me half to death?"
He heard the slight shuffle of the hospital slippers. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Keith standing next to him but he couldn't pull his eyes away from the window. Keith was going to see what had his attention and undoubtedly snort about it. But Lance was too drained to really care what Keith thought.
The Black Paladin easily spotted what had Lance's attention.
Down below was a hover cycle. Shiro's blue glow from his shoulder could be seen once he turned around with the helmet in his hands. The woman's hair was a fluffy dark brown, making Keith frown.
"Is that your sister?"
"Pfft, she wishes."
Keith watched as the woman let Shiro put the helmet on her head but she took over the strapping. Keith's keen eyes zeroed in on the black racing jacket the woman was sporting. Shiro outgrew most of his clothing and had distributed it to him, Lance, and the MFE guys. But obviously not all of it. It had to be Allura in disguise.
Who else would Shiro lend his favorite jacket to?
Now that he knew, he could clearly see that it was her profile. From behind she certainly looked like Rachel but he was certain other people could tell who it was once they saw her face. Technically the paladins were to stay indoors until their checkups at the end of the week but who was going to stop the Captain of the Atlas? Keith leaned along the window's edge so he could half face Lance. His dealings with Hunk was making him more aware of the moods of his team.
Otherwise, he doubted he'd be here as this can of worms opened itself.
"Pidge said," Lance idly murmured as Shiro got on the hover cycle, Allura's arms easily going around his waist for support, "her mom helped Allura for a dinner date."
Keith grunted. "I'm sure they planned to tell you."
"...Allura and I talked yesterday after our game." Lance half smiled. "Said she cared about me but not the same way I do for her."
"Oh," Keith scratched his neck a little. "That's...blunt, but truthful."
Lance shrugged. "I was getting that vibe from her anyways so it's not a shocker." He looked at the dust cloud the hover cycle left as they made their way off the Garrison grounds. "Gonna hurt for a while though."
Keith shifted a little. "If you need to let off some steam -"
Lance's head whipped around. "You'll finally play a video game with us?"
"...I was going to suggest training but -"
"We're meeting with Nadi after dinner." Lance jumped a little at the idea. "And now we can rope in James. He said he'd join once you did." His eyes widened in realization. "Maybe now Ryan and Ina will come too. Oo this is going to be awesome!"
"Uh. Who's Nadi?"
"Nadia Rizavi. Wears glasses. Super competitive." Lance was already walking away, "The MFEs call her Riz. I like Nadi. Plus, it's the same as my niece's name so I need to make it different. Ryan's the cool sniper dude with dreadlocks and Ina's the crazy good strategist. James is the guy you decked out in cadet training."
"We almost died defending Earth. I know their names."
"I'm just checking," Lance lifted his hands up. "You used to think my name was Taylor."
"Because that's how you introduced yourself."
"No, I used to say, 'I'm the Tailor.' Like a nickname. You don't say 'I'm the Keith' do you?"
Keith half rolled his eyes but followed Lance out.
"Nothing you do is normal."
"You either."
Keith grunted at that. "None of us are normal."
Lance nodded. "Valid point. But normal's boring anyways."
The evening air felt cool against Allura's face.
She sighed as she closed her eyes and breathed it in. The Garrison wasn't so bad but there was nothing like fresh air. Behind her she heard Shiro moving around. Then she felt his presence right next to her. She opened her eyes. They looked out across the canyon in silence. He didn't say it, but she had a feeling today was personal. She waited. He did not stay quiet for long.
"Five years ago...I left for Kerberos."
She didn't turn to face him.
Out of the corner of her eye she could see him looking up to the sky. She tilted her head to do so. The sun was almost gone, letting the inky darkness of night take over. This far out they could see stars starting to appear. The two rings around Altea would partially block out the skies. She greatly appreciated Earth's unrestricted view.
"Adam was alive but we broke up," Shiro murmured wistfully. "My body was still breaking down. Keith was still a cadet in the Galaxy Garrison. Sam, Matt, and myself were making history." His prosthetic fingers curled into his palm. "Then my deterioration rate increased unexpectedly, affecting my heart halfway through the trip. Even without the Galra, I didn't think I'd make it back to Earth."
Allura's eyes closed. She didn't think he meant to, but she could feel the heaviness in his essence. She merely stood by. She did not push to invade his soul. He had not beckoned her in.
"Five years later...I'm alive. I'm healthy." Slowly his essence lightened, making her frown ease. "I'm not alone."
She turned to face him. The last glow of daylight faded a couple of minutes ago. The large, full moon made his gray eyes glow.
"You're not," she quietly agreed.
"...Thank you, for giving me a second chance."
A second chance at life or...us? she had been about to ask. But then she felt his right hand along hers. The hand she had strengthened and completed thanks to Sam's initial work. She gripped his hand firmly. I suspect for a bit of everything.
"Thank you," she gave him a small smile, "for taking the risk."
He looked at her expression for a moment before smiling back.
"Thank my reckless Garrison days." He lightly pulled at their hands. She followed him to the blanket he laid out. "Back then," he sighed as they laid down side by side, "I was a mix of Lance and Keith. Corny jokes and cocky." He lowered his voice secretively. "Don't tell them I said that."
"I won't if you stay on my good side." She kept their hands connected but turned her head towards him. "I'd say you still are like that but with Hunk's heart."
He felt his smile widened. "Except I can't cook or bake a damn thing."
"Neither can I."
"Princesses aren't expected to."
"My mother and grandmother could. But I gravitated towards father's adventuring." She tilted her head curiously. "Is that not expected of Earth princesses?"
"Nope. Though I'm sure some might as a hobby."
"Earth is very curious."
He looked up at the million stars in the sky. "It is but it's home." Pause. "And maybe someday, you can see it as your home too. You, Coran, Romelle...anyone else we run into."
Her eyes softened and then her eyelids lowered. "I pray we find the colony."
He leaned the side of his head on hers. "We will," he promised.
She turned her face into his shoulder. "Okay," she quietly murmured.
If he felt the niggling doubt he kept it to himself.
"I'll have to visit the other work camps around the globe. Make sure they know how to handle the Galra tech. If you're feeling better by then, I'd like you to join me." His thumb rubbed along the edge of her hand. "As the Altean diplomat with the MFEs and the paladins, of course."
He continued tracing the bone of her thumb. The little shivers continued up her arm.
"Of course," she echoed.
They looked back to the stars.
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AN: Honestly, Shiro's a pilot at heart. Why wouldn't he be tempted to try out an MFE fighter? And then crash it because, hey, it's new tech, but still send a photo to his space family? XD
I couldn't resist the "Tailor/Taylor" joke. XD
World tour here we go!
Unrelated note: Who else has seen pictures of the Paladin's new Garrison outfits? :D