Hello, darlings!

So you know when I said that Episode one was only going to cover two or three chapters? Yeah, I lied. There's going to be one more after this, and then we should theoretically be getting to episode two.

And boy, did I have a field day with this one!

Um, there are a couple of scenes in this portion of the episode that I didn't write. They still happened, and they're alluded to, but I needed to cut down a little on length and time to get this episode done, so yeah. I will probably be doing that in several places throughout this story, so if there's ever a scene that I cut that you want to see, drop me a review or a PM, and I'll write in into a oneshot. It won't be put into this story, because that would totally negate the whole point of taking it out in the first place, but I will be more than happy to write it!

Here we go, chapter four!

Sorry, sorry. Before I forget:

"speaking in Altean"

A Paladin mentally speaking to a Lion

Lions speaking to each other or the Paladins.

Also:

WARNINGS: Mentions of bad injuries, character death, and blood.

SPOILERS: Still just season 1, ep 1.

And Still I Wander On

..."Not so alone after all," she said with a smile, turning to the other Alteans. They smiled back at her, and for the first time in a long time, Lance felt like he had a home again...

The Alteans reluctantly separated, but both Coran and Allura maintained contact with Lance, which he was beyond grateful for.

Allura took a deep breath, wiping her eyes. "Well," she said briskly. "Let's get to it then. We can have a more in-depth discussion of all that's happened later, if that's alright with you, Lance."

He nodded. "Definitely. You deserve to know."

She smiled at him. "But for now, first thing's first. We need to—"

Alarms blared through the Castle, red lights flashing, and Plachu bristled, growling at the ceiling.

"Oh come on," Lance groaned. "We've been here for like, ten minutes!"

"A Galra cruiser has locked onto our location!" Coran said.

"How did they find us?!" Allura asked, stepping forward.

Lance winced. "Um, that might be my fault."

Everyone turned to look at him, and he shrugged. "Hey, I haven't opened a wormhole in over ten thousand years. I'm a little rusty. Sue me. I probably left behind a good amount of quintessence residue. Any of the Druids could have tracked it."

Keith's mouth twisted on one side. "I'm not going to pretend to understand what any of that means." He turned to Coran. "How long until they get here?"

Coran held up his fingers. "Um, seven….carry the two…four…..Um, at their speed, I'd say about two quintents?"

"For the humans in the room, a quintent is a day." Lance frowned. "And I'd bump that down to one, Coran. From what I saw on Earth, they've really upped their ante where technology is concerned."

Coran gave him a bewildered look. "Upped their…what?"

"It's an Earth figure of speech," Shiro explained with a grin. "It means they've improved."

"Ah, got it."

Allura's fists clenched. "Let them come," she all but snarled, and Lance felt a shiver run down his spine at the fury in her eyes. "By the time they drag their carcasses through the atmosphere, Voltron will be waiting for them." She turned to face them.

Shiro frowned. "Princess," he said, "there are five of these Lions. Where are we going to find the rest?"

"If I may," Lance shot a glance at Allura, and continued once she nodded. "Black is here in the Castle. We locked her in to keep Zarkon from getting his claws on her. The catch is—"

Shiro gasped suddenly. "You've been saying that name—Zarkon—and I've been trying to figure out why it sounds familiar, but…I remember now. I was his prisoner."

Lance felt all the color drain from his face, and he staggered. Hunk and Pidge quickly latched onto him on either side, and he clung to them. "What?" he croaked.

Allura's hands were gripping the console tight enough that it was starting to crumple. "He's still alive?" her voice was shaky.

Coran's eyes were wide. "But if he's still alive," he started, "then that means that—"

"Honerva is as well," Lance gave a hysterical laugh and raked his fingers through his hair. "Oh, quiznak. I'm not—I can't—"

Allura took a shaky breath. "Let's cross that bridge when we come to it, alright?"

He nodded. "Right, right, right." He cleared his throat. "And for those of you who don't know, Honerva was Zarkon's wife."

Shiro winced, and the others made varying sounds of disgust.

Lance laughed. "Yeah. Anyway, there was an accident, and….well, it changed them, and not for the better. I'm honestly not even that surprised that they're still alive, I was just….really, really hoping they wouldn't be."

Shiro rested a gentle hand on his shoulder and gave him a compassionate smile. "That really sucks," he said.

Lance offered a small smile in return. "Yeah."

Allura straightened. "But back to the subject at hand. Ayu, the Lions?"

"Right." He cleared his throat. "Black is here in the Castle, like I said. The catch is that her hangar can only be opened when all four of the other Lions are present. That would have taken the cooperation of all four other Paladins, which meant that Zarkon really couldn't get to her even if he managed to get the Castle."

"That's…actually really smart," Keith said, sounding surprised.

"It was Ari's idea," Lance said, eyes going distant.

Pidge frowned. "Ari?" he repeated. "Who's that?"

Lance shook his head, trying very hard not to think about the way that Allura's hands were over her mouth, and Coran looked decades older. "The Green Paladin," he answered Pidge. "Speaking of which, Green is on Irathu. Yellow is on Fialyn, and…."he bowed his head. "I don't know where Red is. Zarkon could have hidden her anywhere in the Galra Empire."

"Fortunately," Coran said, "we've got a shortcut to finding her. Follow me!"

He led them to the main control room, and Allura stepped up, activating the crystal and the star-map.

"King Alfor connected the Lions to Allura's life force," Coran explained to the wide-eyed humans. "So she can always track the Lions."

"Wait, when did he do that?!" Lance exclaimed.

Coran frowned at him. "When you were utterly unconscious and barely alive in a cryo-regeneration chamber," he said shortly, and Lance swallowed hard.

"Oh."

"If your injuries weren't already ten-thousand deca-phoebes old, I'd drag you down to medical and lock you in a pod for the rest of the movement on principle alone," Coran said grumpily. Then he got a gleam in his eyes. "I might just do it anyway."

He moved towards Lance, who quickly backed up with his hands in the air. "Whoa, hey, Coran, let's take it easy, there, bud. Allura, help!"

She looked over at them and snorted. "Help Coran?" she said. "Gladly. You looked awful when Blue brought you back the first time, and then you went and jumped straight back into battle!"

"What happened to 'No such thing as pushing too hard'?!" Lance yelped, diving behind Shiro as Coran lunged at him. The humans were laughing.

Allura snickered before growing serious again. "Step forward, all of you," she said. "Coran, leave Lance alone."

Sulkily, Coran stomped off to the side and crossed his arms as the new Paladins lined up in front of the Princess.

"As you have found," she said, "the Lions choose their pilots. It's an incredible bond, and actually quite mysterious. We don't fully understand it, but we do know that it cannot be forced in any way. The quintessence of the pilot is mirrored in his Lion."

Hunk frowned. "Quintessence?" he muttered.

"Life-force," Lance answered. "Basically, it's just a really concentrated form of energy that is generated by all living beings. The Alteans knew how to directly manipulate it. It looks a lot like what you Earthlings call magic, though up here, it's just basic science."

"The Black Lion is the decisive head of Voltron," Allura said, turning the star-map until Black's hologram was in front of Shiro. "Her pilot must be one who is a born leader, always in control, and someone whose men will always follow, no matter the circumstances."

Lance closed his eyes.

/ "Atreyu! I need you to kick backwards!"

"Backwards?!"

"Do you trust me?"

"Always!"

"On my mark, then. One…two….three….Now!"

A massive crash, a close shave, and then five voices whooping in victory.

"You did it!"

"Way to go, Ayu!"

"Well done, small one!"

"Thanks for directing me, Kon."

"No, Ayu. Thank you for trusting me enough to follow my directions."

"Hey, I'm your leg, boss man. You say jump, I say how high!"

A collective groan.

"Where you go I go!"

"Please make him stop."

"We're attached at the hip!"

"AYU!" /

He shook the memory off, clenching his fists and blinking back the tears.

"Shiro," Allura said. "You will pilot the Black Lion."

Lance reached out to Blue. Totally called it.

I'm so proud, she deadpanned, and he grinned.

"The Yellow Lion is caring and kind." Allura lightly shoved Yellow's hologram, and it floated over to Hunk, who looked amazed. "He requires a pilot that has a heart as loving as his own, one who will put others before himself. Yellow is the left leg of Voltron, and as such, his Paladin must lift up and support the others. Hunk, you will pilot the Yellow Lion."

Lance shook his head with a laugh. "Could not have picked a better person in all the universe, my man. I kid you not."

Hunk blushed and stammered, but his eyes were practically glowing with pride and excitement.

/ "I'm—I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up—"

"It is not a problem, small one. What is on your heart? I sense that it is restless."

"You really need your rest, Yseult, you're still injured—"

"Come here, small one." Strong yet gentle arms giving a loving embrace. "I am here. I am fine. Rest easy, small one. I have you."/

"The Green Lion," Allura's voice went soft, and Lance's spine snapped straight. "The Green Lion is curious and brave. She is—well—"

"I would say reckless," Lance put in. "Ari always said that 'daring' sounded much nicer."

Allura laughed. "That does sound familiar. Green requires a Paladin of intellect and daring." She smiled and spun the map. "Pidge, you will pilot the Green Lion."

/ "Ayu! The weird robot-cat thing is looking at me!"

"No way! Ari, the Green Lion is like Blue! She never responds to anyone!"

A deep laugh. "Well, well, well, what do you know!"

A broad grin. "Welcome to the family, Green Paladin."

A moment of silence. Then…

"What the quiznak is a Paladin?!"/

Lance forced back the wave of sorrow that always accompanied thoughts of Ari. Pidge glanced up at him, fidgeting nervously with his glasses, and Lance set a gentle hand on his shoulder. "She would've loved you," he said softly, and Pidge straightened.

"I'll do my best to make her proud," he promised, just as quiet, and Lance felt tears sting his eyes.

"You will," he said.

Allura blinked hard a few times and cleared her throat. "The Blue Lion—"

"Is the handsome-est and best pilot of the bunch," Lance broke in, shooting her finger guns, and she glared.

"The. Blue. Lion," Allura enunciated, narrowing her eyes at him, "Is the right leg of Voltron. She supports the entire team. She is the most loyal, and she is the heart of the team. As such, her Paladin must also be loyal. He supports the others through simple ways, perhaps making them laugh when tensions are high, or bringing them food when they've been buried in paperwork all day."

Lance blushed, staring at the floor.

/ The particle barrier vanished in a starburst of blue quintessence, and a voice roared in his mind.

MINE /

Allura's eyes dimmed slightly, then. "The Red Lion," she said, and Lance swallowed hard, "is temperamental and the most difficult to master. He is—"she broke off, closing her eyes.

Coran stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder, and Lance seamlessly took over for her, moving to the front of the group so all the other Paladins could see him.

"Red is incredibly fast and very agile, but he's much more unstable than any of the others," he said. "His pilot cannot rely on skill alone—he has to rely on instinct. Red doesn't give you much time to think. You kinda just gotta wing it."

/ "Ancients above, Alfor, watch where you're going!"

"Sorry! He's just really fast!"

"We've noticed!"

"Stop thinking so hard and just trust Red, you quiznaking moron!"

"Oh, fly your own Lion, Ayu!"/

"Keith," the boy looked up and met his eyes. "You will pilot the Red Lion."

Keith swallowed and nodded.

Allura cleared her throat. "I cannot locate the Red Lion's coordinates just yet, but I think that's more of an error within the Castle systems. After ten thousand years, it might need some work."

Lance snickered and quickly put Shiro and Keith between himself and Coran. "Sounds like a job for The Coranick," he said as loudly as he could.

Coran's face turned as red as an exploding sun. "Why, you little—"

Red's hologram let out a roar, cutting off the irate adviser. All five of the holograms sprinted together over their heads, connecting and forming Voltron.

"Once you've all come together with your Lions and each other," Allura said, "you will form Voltron, the most powerful warrior in all of existence."

"The Defender of the Universe," Lance said softly.

Hunk laughed. "Awesome!" Then he bit his lip. "Okay, we're in the Lions, got that part. But how do Lions turn into legs and arms? Also, is this going to be a long trip? And I have to pee. Do you people pee?"

Shiro ignored him like a pro. "We don't have a lot of time," he said. "Pidge and I will go after the Green Lion. Lance, you—" He hesitated suddenly, and Lance tilted his head.

"You alright, Shiro?" he asked.

"Well, it's just," Shiro sighed. "You're the senior officer here. Technically, you should be calling the shots."

Lance smiled at him. "But I'm not the Black Paladin, am I?" he shook his head. "You are my leader, Shiro. If I have a problem with something you say or do, I'll come talk to you about it. But you are the head of Voltron. Where you tell me to go, I will go."

Shiro looked a little overwhelmed and a lot touched. "Thank you," he said. "In that case, you take Hunk and go get Yellow." Then he turned to Keith and put his hand on his shoulder. "You stay here. If you find the Red Lion, go get it."

Lance scratched the back of his head. "Okay, this is going to sound really bad after what I just said, but…."

Shiro grinned at him. "Go ahead."

Lance turned to Keith. "Don't go alone," he said firmly. "I don't care if the Castle says that Red's on a beautiful planet five minutes away with no sentient beings that's been abandoned for two thousand years. Do not go alone. No matter what. Promise me, Keith."

Something in his voice or face must have been pretty convincing, because Keith immediately gave his word. Satisfied, Lance turned back to Shiro with a sheepish look. "Sorry."

"No, no," Shiro shook his head. "That's actually a really good point, and I'm a little embarrassed I didn't think about it myself."

"While you're gone," Allura said, "I'll get the Castle's defenses ready. They'll be sorely needed, I fear."

"This way, Shiro, Pidge!" Coran said cheerfully. He started for the door. "I'll get a pod set up for you so you can grab the Green Lion!"

"Wait!" Shiro caught Pidge's shoulder as he walked after Coran. "Lance, what can we expect from these planets?"

Lance winced. "I honestly can't tell you, Shiro," he said. "It's been ten thousand years, and I've had no contact with anyone outside of Earth. When I was there, Fialyn was a peaceful planet covered in grasslands. Irathu—"he pursed his lips. "I don't remember much, but I know that it's a jungle planet. The natives are incredibly kind and helpful. If they haven't changed, there should be a specific clan of them that can lead you straight to Green." He shrugged. "That's what they said they'd do, anyway."

Shiro nodded. "Got it. Good luck."

Hunk waved. "You too!"

The door to the bridge opened, and Lance and Hunk walked in, rubbing their backs and groaning.

"Whoa, are you guys alright?!" Pidge asked, scrambling over to them.

"We're good," Lance groaned. "Ugh, geez. That was a nightmare."

"Yeah," Hunk complained. He shoved Lance—gently—in the shoulder. "What happened to peaceful, dude?"

"It's literally been ten thousand years!" Lance yelped, flailing his arms. "It's been a while! When I was there, the entire planet was covered in grasslands as far as you could see, and there were packs of yalmors everywhere! It was wonderful and beautiful and yes, it was peaceful, Hunk!"

"Yeah," Pidge looked up at Shiro. "We had a rough time, too." He grinned.

"Oh, don't you lie to me, you little gremlin," Lance growled, crossing his arms and tapping his foot. "Irathu is just as Galra-free as it was in my time."

Pidge shot him a smug look. "But it's been ten thousand years. How do you know that if you weren't there?"

Lance froze, and Allura turned to look at him in concern. He cleared his throat. "Because Green's Paladin is buried there," he said, very carefully. "And she would tear apart any who dared to desecrate her resting place."

Allura's hands clapped over her mouth, and tears flooded her eyes. "Ayu," she choked out. "You said that you hid Green."

He nodded. "I did."

"But that means—Ancients above, Ayu, did you have to bury her?!"

He closed his eyes, and Allura threw her arms around him. "I'm sorry," she gasped. "I'm so sorry, Ayu. I've been sitting here this whole time, thinking why didn't he do more, and you had to—you had to—"

He held her tight. "It's alright, sister," he murmured. "For you, the war was yesterday. You just lost Altea this morning. I've had over ten millennia to get used to it. And—and I should have done more, I could've overpowered his commands if I had tried. I could've gone back for him."

"No," she pressed a kiss to his forehead. "My father knew the risks. You all did. And you all gave everything to keep Voltron and the universe safe." She took his face between her hands and made him meet her eyes. "My father would have been so proud of all that you accomplished," she said firmly. "Of this I have no doubt whatsoever."

He touched their foreheads together and murmured a quiet thanks before drawing back again. "Did we manage to find Red?"

Allura winced but nodded, and Coran nodded. "Yes!" he said cheerfully. "Good news is, he's very close! Bad news, he's on board the Galra ship that's orbiting Arus. But wait! Good news again! We're on Arus!"

Shiro surged forward, restrained panic in his voice. "They're already here?!"

"Yes, well," Coran rubbed the back of his neck. "Finger counting….it's more—it's more of an art than a science, really."

Lance snickered, and was about to say something that would probably have gotten him stuck on cleaning and maintenance duty for the next three movements when the Castle was hailed.

"Princess Allura, I am Commander Sendak of the Galra Empire," said the massive, enhanced Galra that appeared on the screen.

Lance quickly slid behind Shiro, shifting his features back to human. He did not want Zarkon to learn of his whereabouts—or that he was even still alive, really.

Sendak continued. "I come on behalf of Emperor Zarkon, Lord of the Known Universe. I am here to confiscate the Lions. Turn them over to me, or I will destroy your planet."

The message ended, and Lance couldn't help but start to laugh. "Oh, wow. Yeah, how about no."

Hunk made a tiny, terrified sound, and Shiro hastily said, "Okay, guys, let's not panic."

"Not panic?" Hunk repeated. "Not panic?! The scary, purple alien thing—"Allura snorted, and Coran just looked offended on the Galra's behalf. "—is driving—"

"Piloting," Lance corrected in a bored tone.

"—is piloting his battleship straight towards us. We only have four Lions—"

"Technically only three working Lions," Pidge said.

Hunk stopped and looked down at him. "That's right, thank you, Pidge," he said, sarcasm just dripping from his voice, and Lance started snickering as Hunk continued. "Three working Lions, and a Castle that's, like, 10,000 years old!"

"Actually," Coran said, "it's 10,600 years old. You see, it was built by my grandfather—"

"Thanks, Coran," Hunk said, slapping a hand over Coran's mouth. "Thank you for that. See!?" he turned back to Shiro. "Now is the perfect time to panic!"

And Lance lost it. Howling with laughter, he doubled up with his hands on his knees. "Oh, Hunk, buddy," he gasped. "Have I mentioned recently how much I love you?"

Hunk glared at him. "This isn't funny, Lance!"

"Actually," Pidge snorted a little bit. "It really kind of is. You're seriously freaking out, and it is pretty funny."

"Wait a minute!" Allura cut them off. "I forgot about the particle barrier!"

"Oh, yeah," Lance and Coran said together.

Lance jogged forward and tapped a few things on Coran's console. "Okay, problem. Sendak's cruiser is outfitted with an ion cannon. The barrier won't hold up against that for long."

Hunk swallowed hard. "Panic now?"

"No," Shiro said. "All we need to do is come up with a plan of attack. Quickly."

Lance rubbed the back of his neck. "Allura," he said seriously. "I'm not sure if we can even get Red right now."

She looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean—"he groaned. "Okay, guys, this is going to sound horrible, but I swear I'm not trying to be offensive. Pidge and Hunk aren't pilots. Hunk is the best engineer I've ever met—even better than some of the Altean Engineering Corps—and Pidge has a way with technology that I've never seen. But they're not pilots. And even though Shiro and Keith are, piloting a Lion is nothing like piloting an Earthen ship."

Allura frowned. "You could teach them."

"Allura, we have a half varga, at most," he said. "Do you actually think I can teach them what they need to know about piloting a Voltron Lion in thirty doboshes?"

Her hands tightened into fists. "Are you suggesting we run away?" she asked coldly.

Lance raked his fingers through his hair. "Yes. No! I don't know. I just—"

Pidge glared at him. "We can't just leave! The Galra are going to keep enslaving people until we stop them!"

"Well, yeah, but Lance has a point," Hunk said. "We tried to find all the Lions. We really did. But I say we wormhole away and live to fight some other time."

"No!" Pidge said.

"Sendak would follow us, and leave Arus alone," Lance said.

"Or," Keith snapped. "He could destroy the planet and then come after us anyway. Staying is our only option."

Lance could've screamed. He just wanted them safe, couldn't they see that?!

"Allura, this is a war that you're asking them to fight," he said, desperation beginning to leak into his voice. "A war we couldn't win ten thousand years ago, when we knew each other inside and out and had been flying Voltron for years. How do you expect five strangers to be able to do it in a day?"

"We have a duty, a duty to protect the freedom of the universe, Atreyu!" Allura said, anger beginning to build in her tone. "Or did you forget that, when you ran away the first time?"

Coran sucked in a breath, and Lance felt his face go pale.

"I have forgotten very little, Princess," he said, soft and cold as the element he commanded. "I have not forgotten watching Yseult's body fall to the ground with no light in his eyes. I have not forgotten barely escaping the flames of Altea with Arianwen's body in my arms. I have not forgotten watching Red's flaming body being dragged up into Zarkon's flagship. I have not forgotten how it felt to look Zarkon in the eye and see nothing but hate as he plunged his bayard through my chest. I have not forgotten what it feels like to die."

He raised his head, eyes frozen. Allura was staring at him in horror. "I remember losing them all, one by one, as I could do nothing but watch. And now you ask me to take children and throw them headlong into the same situation."

"We must—we must fight," Allura said, but she sounded much less sure of herself.

Lance only tightened his jaw. "As you command," he murmured, slightly bowing his head. "You are my Princess, and I will follow you to whatever end."

Allura swallowed hard. "I don't—Coran?" she turned to her adviser, who was looking back and forth between the two of them like he didn't know who to hug first.

He gave her a gentle smile. "Maybe your father will have some advice for you."

Lance choked on air, and Allura's eyes lit up with hope. "My…father?!"

Coran held out an arm. "Come with me, Princess. Ayu, do you—"

He shook his head almost desperately, backing up so quickly he ran into Hunk.

Coran's face twisted with pain, but he nodded, respecting the Paladin's decision before leading Allura out of the room.

"Hey, buddy, what was all that?" Hunk wrapped an arm around his shoulders, and he realized he was shaking.

"Nothing," he managed.

"Um, no." Pidge shoved his glasses up his nose. "That was a lot of things, Lance, and nothing isn't one of them. Also, it's very rude to speak a foreign language in front of others who don't know it."

Lance had to snort a laugh. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever, gremlin."

He growled at him. "I am not a gremlin!"

"Well, when you really think about it…." Hunk trailed off as Pidge shot him a murderous look.

"I AM NOT A GREMLIN!"

Lance shook his head as Pidge literally tackled Hunk. Those two.

"Hey," said a quiet voice beside him. Shiro.

"Hey, oh fearless leader," he said with a grin.

Shiro snorted and rolled his eyes, but a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth before he grew serious again. "How are you holding up?" There was a hesitation in his eyes, like he wasn't sure it was really his place to ask this, but there was also genuine care and concern.

Lance's shoulders drooped, and his smile disappeared.

Shiro sighed. "I figured."

He didn't say anything else, but a big, warm hand landed on the Altean's shoulder. Lance leaned into it, and Shiro just wrapped the arm all the way around his shoulders and tugged him over. Lance went without really thinking about it, and just let Shiro support him.

They decided to fight.

Stepping into the armory of the Castle was like stepping back in time—for, like, the sixtieth time that day.

"Each Paladin has their own suit of armor," Allura said, gesturing to the cases around them.

He heard the others making surprised and impressed noises, and couldn't hide his smile.

"But we are missing the blue and green armors," Allura admitted. "Ayu, do you know what happened to them?"

/Broken, burned, bloodstained pieces slicing into skin, burned into the bones, trying to get it off/

Lance blinked hard. "They're in the Lions," he answered.

She nodded briskly. "Excellent. Pidge, if you'll go and retrieve—"

"Um, I think it'd be best if I got them myself," Lance interrupted.

Pidge frowned at him. "I think I can handle finding a suit of armor, Lance."

"No, it's not that, it's…." he sighed. Then he clenched his jaw. "Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you." He spun sharply on one heel to make his way down to Blue's hangar.

He was back in ten doboshes, his all-but destroyed armor in a bag over his shoulder. He strode over to the machine in the back that fixed the armor—he knew it had a technical name, but he was a pilot, not an engineer—and opened it.

"Ayu?" Allura sounded confused. "What are you—" her voice cut off with a hoarse gasp as she got a good look at the twisted, blood stained, and broken armor in his hands.

The blue portions were burned and cracked, and the white was stained with so much red it was unrecognizable. There was a massive, ragged hole in the middle of the breastplate, and a corresponding one in the back.

"Ayu…." She whispered. "How are you alive?"

He shrugged, starting up the mending process. "I shouldn't be. But Blue helped me freeze the wounds over until they healed, and shared her quintessence with me to keep me young."

"That's—" Keith swallowed hard. "Is all that blood…..yours?"

Lance nodded. "Yeah."

Shiro took a sharp breath. "All those stains in the cave. Were those…"

"Mine? Yes." Lance sighed. "I was having a bad day."

Coran snorted, walking over and punching another code into the machine, speeding up the process. "A bad day. That's what you're going with."

Lance snickered. "Well, it's true."

Coran rolled his eyes.

That was when Pidge came staggering into the room, face white, with a bag over his shoulder. He looked up at Allura. "It's kind of….broken," he said, voice very small, hands shaking.

"Over here, Pidge!" Lance called. "There's another—what are these things again, Coran?"

The man beamed, stroking his mustache. "So glad you asked, Ayu. These are high-tech, crystal-powered, Mendakons. They were built over 10,543 deca-phoebes ago by—"

"Got it, thanks, Coran," Lance cut him off. "Anyway, they fix the armor. There's another….Mendakon….over here."

Pidge nodded, making his way over. He pulled the green armor out of the bag, and Allura let out another sound. Coran turned pale and looked away, tears stinging his eyes, and Lance sighed, stepping forward and taking it from Pidge.

"I've got it," he murmured, and with a nod, Pidge bolted for Hunk.

Lance tried very hard not to look at the wreckage in his hands, and he mostly succeeded, only getting little glimpses of blood-soaked white and burned, buckled green.

He took a deep breath as he started the cycle. "Right," he said. "Those should be done in about twenty doboshes, give or take a few ticks." He spun around. "What's next, Lura?"

"Bayards," she answered, reigning her emotions back in. "The traditional weapon of the Paladins of Voltron. It will change its form according to its bearer." She activated the containment unit in front of her, revealing the Red and Yellow bayards. Lance handed Pidge the Green one, and lifted the Blue one for the first time since he'd crashed on Earth.

He watched Keith's transform into a wicked sword, Hunk's turn into an awesome shoulder cannon, and Pidge's turn into a—what even was that? It was adorable.

"Aww, you got a cute little bayard," he said teasingly.

Pidge glance up at him, then planted the thing in his ribs and dearquiznakancientsabovethat'selectricity!

He hit the floor with a muffled shriek, and over his pained groaning, heard Pidge's satisfied, "Yeah. It is cute."

Allura laughed.

Hunk came over and helped Lance pry himself off the floor.

"Ow," he muttered. "You'd think that I'd have learned not to underestimate the Green Paladin at this point."

Hunk snickered. "Dude, I'm glad you're okay, but you totally deserved that."

He sighed. "Yeah, I did."

"Ayu," Allura said, holding out his bayard.

He reached out and took it, and—

/ A beautiful longbow surged to life in his hands. The string was made of brilliant blue quintessence, and when he pulled back on it, an arrow made of the same simply materialized on it. He ran his hands down the bow, then jerked his fingers back with a hiss. One of them was bleeding. He examined the bow more carefully, and found that the upper and lower curves on either side of the grip had blades facing forwards. He drew back the string, aiming across the training deck with a smirk.

Can't aim, eh, Alfor?

Let's see how well you fight with an arrow in your podex./

Lance's eyes widened at the sleek, powerful sniper rifle that formed in his hands. "Oh, wow," he murmured, and Allura echoed him.

"I thought for sure it would take its old form," Coran said, thoroughly interested.

"Maybe it depends on—" Lance stopped. He shifted back to his true form, and sure enough, his bow formed in his hands.

"Wow!" Pidge said, eyes wide.

Keith whistled, and Shiro just grinned.

"That is so cool!" Hunk said with a huge grin.

Allura shook her head and laughed. "You would have a bayard as complicated as yourself."

He grinned at her. "Hey, it works. That's all I'm asking for."

She rolled her eyes. "Your armor should be mended by now."

"Um, not to sound ungrateful or anything," Pidge said, "but that armor was like, two feet taller than me."

"It'll adjust itself to you," Lance told him.

"Oh, okay."

Ten doboshes later, there were five Paladins of Voltron, ready to set out and free the Lost Lion from the Galra Empire.

"You look wonderful!" Allura clapped her hands. "Now, all we need is a plan."

This is a terrible plan! Lance panicked, even as his flight path stayed steady.

Peace, pilot, Blue rumbled in return.

Lance glared at his console as Sendak's ship grew larger and larger in his viewport.

We're pretending to give up two of you. The Paladins are all going to die, Sendak is going to capture all of the Lions, and the UNIVERSE IS GOING TO END!

Blue snorted. I doubt that, Paladin. You are surrounded by three other Paladins. And inexperienced though they may be, they are good and strong and true.

He sighed. I know. But I miss my family.

Green eyes sparkling with mischief flashed through his mind, and pain tore into his heart.

Blue let out a soft sound of sorrow as well, and Green answered from the other side of the moon. Lance felt a gentle tug on his mind as Green nudged him, but he couldn't bring himself to respond just yet. Later, okay? He told her. I promise.

She accepted his offering, and went back to her own mission.

Somehow, the mission went off without a hitch.

Well, if he didn't count Keith being blasted out an airlock, that is. (He didn't)

They made it back to the Castle in one piece, all of them piling out of their Lions with huge grins and excited chatter.

All conversations stopped, though, when Red pushed himself to his feet and strode towards them.

"Whoa, whoa, wait, they can move on their own?!" Hunk gasped.

Allura's eyes were wide. "Yes, but they usually choose not to!"

Keith's eyebrows went up. "Red came flying to save me. I thought that was normal?"

"Huh." Shiro tilted his head. "What do you know."

But Lance couldn't speak. There was a lump in his throat, and he knew Red was coming straight for him.

Red, what are you doing? Blue rumbled at her brother, and when he didn't answer, she rose to her paws as well.

Allura gasped, and Lance started backing up.

Red paused at Blue's clearly threatening stance, then lashed his tail and kept going.

What business have you with the Blue Paladin? Green snarled, standing as well.

When Red didn't even bother to answer, the Guardian of the Forest leapt in between Lance and Red and roared. You leave him be! She crouched low, tail lashing in warning.

"Whoa!" Pidge squeaked, windmilling his arms and almost falling over.

"What's happening?" Shiro demanded, and Keith gripped his arm, looking three parts confused and one part angry.

Red stopped, then lowered his head and made a soft sound. Neither of the girls were letting Lance in at the moment, so he had no idea what Red had said to them.

Yellow stood and rumbled gently, Peace, my sisters. Peace, Paladin. No harm shall come to Atreyu. He carefully nudged Blue out of the way, then curled his tail around Green's forepaw and tugged. She reluctantly stepped aside, but she swung her head around first and oh-so-carefully nudged Lance with her nose.

It's later, she told him, and he choked out a watery laugh, throwing his arms around what he could reach of her.

"I missed you too, you great big tree root," he said.

She purred, then knocked him over. I am not a tree root!

He laughed again. "Right, right. Whatever you say."

Red stepped forward again, and Lance quickly pulled himself to his feet, laughter dying. But Red stopped in front of him, and slowly lowered his head, opening his mouth. Lance's eyes widened, and he heard an outburst from the others in the room, but he wasn't paying attention to them.

"What…."

Message, Red told him. For you.

Lance swallowed. For just me, or…?

For you, Red said, but if you wish the other Paladins to hear, they may enter as well.

He nodded unsteadily. "Um, Allura?" he called. "Red's saying that he's got a message."

Allura all but sprinted over to him. "From who?" she asked breathlessly, as the others scrambled to catch up with her.

Lance looked up at the mighty Lion. Well?

Red's eyes dimmed. From the one you mistakenly believe you betrayed. Lance's heart skipped a beat. No. No, he couldn't listen to this, he couldn't face the man he'd as good as murdered—

No! Red roared, tail lashing. His eyes blazed. You did no such thing! You saved my sisters, and my brother you honored. You had a duty, you promised my Paladin that you would save them, and you did. You kept your word, Blue Pilot, and you kept it well. He lowered his head again, and nudged Lance's shoulder. I do not blame you for the death of my Paladin. There is only one to blame, and it will never be you. You did all that you could and more. He let out a pleased sounding purr. Did you know that Zarkon now has a scar all the way down the side of his face from where you struck him with your bow?

Lance just gaped at him for a moment, and then tears flooded his eyes. He leaned forward, thunking his head against Red's nose. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm still so, so sorry."

Red let out a soft keen. You have no need of my forgiveness, but it is yours anyway. He nudged him a bit harder. Now are you going to straighten yourself and stand like a warrior, or sit there and weep like a cub, you pathetic son of a Yaverian vlitnick?

Blue growled at the insult, but Lance and Green snickered. "Fine, fine," he said. He turned back to the others. "Come on, guys. Red, if you're done insulting my lineage?"

Red yowled. If you think that was an insult, you just wait till I really get started! You heljip vlackart of a nimpat trelani!

Lance snorted and followed Keith up into the cockpit.

"Okay, boy," Keith said, running a gentle hand over the console. "What do you need us to see?"

The view port flickered to life, and when Alfor's face appeared, Lance all but stopped breathing.

Alfor looked up and smiled.

"Ayu…"

Oh, look at that. I've got a lot of homework to do, and I've got work, and...Oh, wow! 16 pages? I'm sure that's enough to keep them happy for a few days...I think I'll just end it here...

XD