"Our memory is a more perfect world than the universe: it gives back life to those who no longer exist."
― Guy de Maupassant

Chapter Six:

Keith wasn't sure what woke him. He had been sleeping soundly when his body jerked him awake. His limbs were tangled with someone else's, and he was the most comfortable he had been in a long time. Keith looked up at the face of the body he was tangled with, and a strangled noise came out of his throat as he panicked for a second. Lance was sound asleep, a bit of drool coming out of the corner of his mouth. Keith drew in a deep breath and thought back to the previous evening's events and a small smile came upon his face. His imagination took over, wondering what it would feel like to have Lance inside him as he moved slowly, all while they kissed and touched and watched each other. Keith felt the blood rush to his cheeks and mid-section.

Keith shook his head as Lance snorted and turned over, his legs still tangled with Keith's. Keith wanted nothing more than to snuggle up against Lance's back, kiss him along his hairline, nibble at where his shoulder meets his neck. Instead, he traced the muscles along Lance's shoulders and upper arms with his finger. Keith wondered when Lance had become so fit.

Did he think about Lance the whole time he was in the Quantum abyss? Lance did occupy a good portion of his thoughts. Shiro took the other part, which left Keith in a conundrum – he still gets goosebumps whenever Shiro shows him any type of affection, even though he thinks of Shiro as a brother. But he also gets butterflies whenever he hears Lance's laugh or his stupid comments; was it possible to have these feelings for two people at the same time? Keith found it perplexing that he could have feelings even for one person.

Keith sighed and turned over onto his back. He glanced over at the window and saw through the small opening in the curtains that the Olkarion sun was going to rise at any second. He had told his mother that he would meet her early today in the training annex – maybe he could get in some practice with the drones before that.

Knowing he wouldn't be able to fall back asleep, Keith planted a kiss on Lance's shoulder and rolled out of bed. He found most of his clothes, except for his jacket – where was that damned thing? Keith decided to give up on the search for his coat and threw on his clothes and tip-toed out of Lance's room and into his bedroom. He took a quick shower, the events of last night's romp evident on his hips where Lance gripped him hard. Throwing on clean clothes, he ran his hands through his unruly dark hair and ran out of his room to the common room to grab something to eat. It was still early, and no one was in there as Keith dug in the fridge for the snacks that Hunk had made for their excursion to see the meteor shower the previous evening.

Keith opened the door to the training annex and found himself jumping at every little noise. There weren't very many Olkarions out and about; he hadn't realized the Olkari were not early morning aliens. He also had to remind himself that this was not Earth – things didn't run the same here.

As Keith finished eating, he set the drones for level five. It proved to be enough to keep him challenged until his mother joined him.

"Good, but you need to keep your elbow in and your stance a tad bit narrower," Krolia said after observing her son for a few minutes.

"Geez, mother!" Keith started when he heard her. "Stop simulation."

The drones powered down as Keith walked over to her and they hugged.

Keith brought out his blade and donned the same armor that he and Lance had worn the night before. Krolia did the same and found the sword that she had left the previous evening.

"Where did you find that blade?" Keith asked after parrying for a few minutes.

"I went on a hike around the City, doing a little recon," Krolia started as she blocked Keith's parry. "And I found a cave that housed some of the Blade of Marmora. It was abandoned, and when I asked around about it, the Olkari were not forthcoming with their information."

Krolia and Keith did some fancy footwork against each other, then took a break.

"Was it because they thought you were Galra?" Keith asked before taking a drink of his water.

"I thought that too," Krolia wiped her face with a towel. "but when I inquired in the city, the Olkari weren't as wary of me. But none gave me a straight answer."

Keith furrowed his brow. "That doesn't sound right."

"Well, it seems they are afraid of something more powerful and darker than the Galra, but they won't say anything more." Krolia took a drink of her water. "Does Shiro remember anything?"

Keith shook his head. Krolia could see the sadness in his eyes. "No, he doesn't."

"I'm sorry, Keith. I'm sure he'll come around soon," Krolia said as she placed a hand on his shoulder. He gave her a small smile, and she pulled him in for a hug. Keith squeezed his eyes shut, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to fall. Having his mother here with him was a relief, more than Keith expected. She was honest and loyal, and Keith found that he could trust her with his deepest, darkest secrets. He suspected it was mostly because she was his mother, but Keith knew Krolia was a good person.

"Listen, why don't we practice some more, then have some lunch and we can go visit Shiro, how does that sound?" She smiled at him.

"That sounds perfect, mom," Keith smiled back at her. Krolia placed her hand on his right cheek, gently rubbing her thumb over the scar. "Are you ever going to tell me how you got this?"

"I will eventually. I'm not ready to talk about what happened," Keith looked down. "I haven't even told Shiro yet. I'm afraid of his reaction."

"Hmm…that's probably for the best," Krolia paused. "You love him, don't you?"

"Like a brother, yes,"

Krolia slipped her hand under his chin and forced him to look her in the eye.

"No, it's more, but you're afraid…" She furrowed her brow. "…afraid of losing him and losing your friends."

"I-I…maybe…but…" Keith paused. He hated that this woman, who even though they've only known each other for a couple years, had him unraveled in two ticks. "But I can't tell him how I feel, it would destroy him and our friendship. He has someone, A-Adam, back on Earth and I don't want to ruin that."

"You get that from your father – that undying loyalty. I suppose some of it came from me as well," Krolia let go of her son's chin. "You also get your lack of trust from me. I can tell you though, when I first laid eyes on your father, I thought he was the strangest looking alien I'd seen in a while. But he was handsome at the same time. I just thought it was my imagination going overboard – this human male rescues me, so he's automatically cute – I don't give out my heart so easily. But this man, he was the whole package, and I'm glad I let my heart guide me instead of my head."

Keith frowned.

"I guess what I'm trying to say," she paused. "Whenever you are struggling with matters of the heart, it's best to listen to your heart. I'm not saying to pursue anything with Shiro, especially with the state he's in, but the chance to tell him how you feel is going to slip from your fingers, and you're going to regret it. Who's to say Adam is going to be there when he gets back, anyway?"

Keith bit his lip as he looked down at his boots. "Adam…Adam didn't want him to go on the Kerberos Mission. But he came to me one evening after Shiro left and told me how proud he was of Shiro and how he didn't get to express that to him. He even told me how proud he was of me and how I flourished under Shiro's tutelage. So, I vowed from then that if I ever saw Shiro again, I would keep my feelings for him under wraps."

The side of Krolia's mouth tugged up into a smile as she brought her son into a tight embrace. "You are impossible, son of mine. You have so much to give. I hope you find someone whose heart is as big as yours and knows what they have when you give your heart away."

He returned the embrace and sighed, thinking about Lance. Was his heart big enough to give to Lance and Shiro? And would they even want it?

"Alright, enough of this," Krolia said as she gently pushed him away. "Let's practice some more."

"Sounds good to me," Keith said as he grabbed his blade and walked into the practice ring.

Two hours later, Keith and Krolia were walking down the hospital hallway, when Keith saw Lance stepping out of Shiro's room and to the receptionist's desk.

"Hey, what's going on?" Keith said after catching up with Lance.

"I need to get a hold of Doctor Presscott," Lance rubbed the back of his neck. "Hello, Krolia."

"Hello, Lance," she nodded and stepped away to peek into Shiro's room.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Keith placed a hand on Lance's shoulder.

"Shiro's memory…is worse than we thought," Lance looked away.

"What…what do you mean?"

"He doesn't remember Romelle," Lance looked back at Keith who shook his head. "Shiro and I had encountered Romelle and Coran and Allura on a walk that the doctor had suggested. He just looked at Romelle with no recognition at all."

"It might be just his brain protecting him from himself," Krolia said as she stepped back into the conversation. "What did you call it Keith, PST…something…"

"PTSD and yeah, it might just be his brain protecting him from the memories. It wasn't long after he met Romelle that he was attacked by Haggar," Keith said as he peeked into Shiro's room.

"Lance?" The receptionist asked as Lance turned. She held out a com device. "Doctor Presscott for you."

"Thank you," he said as he took the device. Lance turned away to get some privacy to talk to the Doctor.

Krolia crossed her arm across her midsection as she tapped her chin thoughtfully with her other hand. "Do you think Shiro will remember me?"

"I don't know?" Keith said slowly. "I guess we can test this theory about his brain."

He turned to Lance and told him to hold off telling the Doctor the whole situation. Lance put them on speaker and Keith explained that Krolia was introduced at the same time Romelle was and if he doesn't remember Krolia, then that could be a sign of PTSD and not long-term memory loss. Presscott agreed with the assessment and Lance lingered outside Shiro's room as Keith and Krolia walked inside.

Shiro was sitting on the edge of his bed, staring at his hand as he flexed it, a sad look on his face.

"Shiro?"

"Keith," Shiro's face lit up like a lantern when he saw Keith. A small smile crossed Krolia's face. "It's good to see you again."

"It's good to see you too," Keith gestured to his mother. "Shiro, do you remember my mother, Krolia?"

Shiro's eyebrows shot up to his hairline as he held his hand out to her. "But your mother…"

"It's a long story that we will fill you in on," Krolia said as she shook Shiro's hand. "It's nice to finally meet the man that took a chance on Keith. Thank you for taking safe care of my boy."

Keith blushed and looked back toward the door. He gave a subtle shake of his head to Lance.

"It was my privilege and pleasure, ma'am. Keith started out as a wild child, but I saw his potential. I knew he could become a good man." Shiro's smile was broad as he clapped Keith on the shoulder. Keith's face flushed again as Shiro and Krolia laughed at him.

"He probably gets the wild streak from me," Krolia said. Keith bowed gracefully out of the conversation and walked out to find Lance finishing up his discussion with Presscott.

The sadness in Lance's eyes was palpable when he looked up at Keith. Keith swallowed hard as he held his arms out for Lance. Lance all but fell into them, a sob escaping his lips as he nuzzled Keith's neck. They held each other, safe in their little cocoon until Keith softly stepped away and kept the other at arm's length.

"What did Presscott say?"

"They aren't sure what to do," Lance said as he sniffed. "They said the Olkari don't experience anything like this, and if they do, again it's sleep that the Doctor recommends, and when they are ready to talk, a loved one is there for them. I told her that there are therapists that deal with these kinds of situations on Earth. They asked what a therapist was and in the back of my mind, I laughed. I wish I didn't know what a therapist was."

Lance sighed and looked down at his shoes, missing the incredulous look that Keith gave him.

"Lance, what would you need therapy for?" Keith asked as he slipped a finger under Lance's chin, forcing the other to look him in the eye.

"It's a long stupid story that you'll just laugh at me for. Let's focus on Shiro."

"I wouldn't laugh at you for seeing a therapist. We all have our demons,"

They looked at each other for a minute before Keith let go of his chin. He glanced around, then gave Lance a kiss on his cheek. Lance's eyes went wide as saucers as a dopey grin came over his face.

Keith shook his head. "You're such an idiot."

"But an adorable, idiot, am I right?" Lance winked as Keith smirked at him.

"Let's get back in the room before my mom gives Shiro the third degree."

They stayed and chatted with Shiro for a couple hours until a Doctor came in and said she was going to do some routine tests on Shiro and against their best interests, they agreed to leave Shiro alone for the next hour.

"I'm going to try to find everyone and apprise them of Shiro's situation," Lance started.

"We will help you," Keith said, glancing over at Krolia. "Mom has some information, small as it may be, it might be important."

Lance looked over at Krolia with a concerned look on his face. "Okay, this doesn't sound good."

"We're not sure how to take it either. It doesn't fit with anything that we've faced so far," Krolia answered.

"Huh, sounds kinda like our whole lives the past couple years," Lance said.

"Well, it certainly does fall into that category," Keith gave a small chuckle as Lance smiled brightly.

An hour later everyone gathered around in the common room listening to Lance inform them about Shiro and the information that Krolia had gathered.

"I have been experiencing some odd interactions with the Olkari," Pidge offered. "Like they hesitate before greeting me, or Rhynar will correct herself in the middle of a sentence before moving on. I know they are just small things, but now they seem significant."

"I've experienced the same interactions," Allura joined in. "I've even had a couple of them tell me that they were surprised to see us here."

"Hmm..." Krolia rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "I am going back out tonight. If some of you would like to join me, I would be grateful. We could get more ground covered if there was more than just me out there."

"I'll go with you," Allura said.

"Me too," Romelle offered. "I'm getting restless around here."

"I will join as well," Coran said.

"Pidge and I can gather information from the citizens here in town," Hunk said as he leaned forward in his chair. "They seem to be more active in the night time now than they were before."

"I've noticed that as well," Keith said as he crossed his arms. Pidge shook her head in agreement. "I went to the training annex early this morning, and there were hardly any Olkari out and about."

"Okay, so the one conclusion I can draw from all this information is that the Olkari are afraid of something attacking them during the day – something dark and unseen," Krolia stood. "I'm going to refresh my supplies and gather my equipment, I will meet you guys outside the city in about one dobash?"

"Sounds good to me," Allura said as the others nodded.

"Keith, you and Lance should talk to Shiro, see if you can jar his memory, or at least get some information from him," Krolia gestured to her son who nodded. "We'll meet here at noon tomorrow with what we've gathered, how's that sound?"

Everyone nodded in agreement and stood and moved out of the room.

Except for Keith. He sat, running his hand through his hair, blowing out a breath of frustration. Lance was almost out of the room when he noticed Keith wasn't following him. He looked back and saw him a frustrated and sad look on his face. Lance nodded at Krolia as she passed by him. She smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

"You're a good man, Lance," she said. "You're going to make someone very happy one day."

Krolia paused then walked away as Lance gaped at her.

He shook his head and walked into the room. He pulled out the chair next to Keith and sat his butt on the table and placed his feet on the chair, crossing his arms over his knees.

"What are you thinking?"

Keith looked up at Lance, confused at what he was doing.

"Can't you sit on something the normal way?"

"Well, what's the fun in that?" Lance shrugged.

Keith growled and shook his head.

"Talk to me, Keith," Lance reached out and played with a stray curl that hung around Keith's face.

"Stop it, Lance," Keith said through clenched teeth.

"Geez! Alright," Lance put his hands up in surrender. He hopped off the table and started to storm out of the room.

"I'm afraid,"

Lance stopped just inside the door. He turned and crossed his arms.

"What did you say?"

Keith looked up at Lance who almost recoiled at the fear and sadness in his friend's eyes.

"I-I'm afraid of losing Shiro."