Chapter 13

Mara and Shiro ended up in the cryo replenishers for just a couple of hours for their injuries to heal up. As they began to walk out of their pods, they were helped to their feet by Keith and Allura, Mara spared a glance over her shoulder and saw Lance still laying down peacefully in his own pod. His injuries were a lot more severe and would still take a while to heal. Mara then asked Coran how long she and Shiro had been in the pods for. "It's been about six of your earth hours. "Mara nodded and thanked Coran, before another thought popped up in her head. "How long would it be in Altean hours?"

"It's not just Altean, it's how the whole galaxy measures time!" Coran replied, with a smile on his face. Mara titled her head to the side in wonder. Back on earth, most things were measured the same, but with a few differences. That mainly being the metric system versus standard measurement. Most countries in the world used the metric system, whereas the United States used standard measurement. Mara remember it was a bit confusing to transfer from ach system when she and her family moved from France to the United States, and then back to France again just a few years later. Antoine seemed to pick up on it a bit easier, even though he was younger than Mara. But then again, Antoine was always gifted when it came to science and mathematics.

"And to answer your question, it would be four vargas." Coran said, with a smile on his face. Mara slowly nodded in response, before she slowly found herself swaying to her left side. Allura was quick to catch on and helped pull Mara back upright before she fell over. Mara shot the princess an embarrassed look. "Sorry, I'm still a bit dizzy…"

Allura shrugged her shoulders as she helped Mara regain her balance. "It's not a problem at all."

Mara on the other hand quickly looked to Shiro, to see if he was also having issues with his balance. But instead she saw Shiro talking with Keith, with perfect posture and balance. Mara let out a huff, she just wasn't used to being through so much activity like this. "Will you be alright from here?" Allura asked her, as the pair began to walk out of the room. Mara stretched her arms out before she slowly nodded to Allura. "Yes, I'm sure. Nothing a little bit of rest and a good shower can't fix."

Allura blinked for a moment before she gave herself a small hit on the head in realization. "Oh, you wish to refresh yourself! Let me show you where to go later." Allura then began to take a detour from Mara's bedroom, as the pair headed for the bathroom. In the back of her mind, Mara made a mental note to ask Allura if the bathrooms were communal or not. When the pair finally reached the room, Mara's eyes widened with surprise. The room was huge, easily three times the size of her university dorm room back in France. The floors and walls were white and pristine, and all of the sinks, showers, and toilets were metallic. Allura couldn't help but look at Mara's face and let out a small giggle at her reaction. "I take it this room pleases you?"

Now it was Mara's turn to let out a small giggle. "Yes, this room is amazing." Mara replied, as she began to look around the room for towels. Allura stepped aside for a moment, before she whistled for Mara to follow. Mara gave her a nod of thanks. "If you need anything else, please let me know."

As Allura left the room, Mara grabbed one of the fluffy white towels and put it under her arm as she walked over to the nearest shower stall she could find. She then began to strip out of the cryo pod suit as she turned on the hot water. Thank goodness Allura had shown her how to use the shower and what the correlating symbols meant, otherwise she would have probably ended blasting herself with a bunch of cold water.

She folded and placed her suit neatly on the bench before she stepped inside of the stall, with the door automatically closing and sealing behind her.

When she was finished, Mara placed her hand on the door and it automatically unsealed and opened, as Mara was greeted with a small stream of cold air. She quickly reached for the fluffy white towel on the bench, and wrapped herself up eagerly inside of it. That was when she heard the noise of water running not too far away from her, and she felt herself freeze in place. Someone else was in the bathroom with her. Panic began to rise in Mara's chest as she clutched the towel closer to her form, and reached out for the cryo pod suit. But to her horror, the suit was gone from the bench! Mara wondered if during her shower, Allura had possibly come in and taken the suit to be either cleaned or recycled. Mara shook her fist in the air at her bad luck, now she had nothing to change into, which meant she would have to exit the bathroom in just her towel! And she still hadn't figured out who was in the bathroom with her.

Mara wrapped her towel closer to her body, just as she heard the water shut off. Her body tensed up as her mind began to run at a thousand miles per hour. She then decided that she had better hurry up and get out of the room before she saw who else was in here. As she tip toed across the room, she could hear the sound of the automatic door opening, and somebody releasing an exhale of breath as they got out. And the exhale sounded like it was coming from a male. Mara could feel her face burning up with embarrassment as she tried to ignore what was happening in the stall nearby, and continued to walk forward.

But she was not paying attention to where she was walking, and ended up slipping on the floor with a loud yelp, and landed flat on her back. Mara tried to hold in her moan of pain, but she knew that somebody would have heard her yelp of surprise. She quickly looked down to see that her towel was still around her, and let out a sigh of relief. She then began to steady herself on her hands to push herself upwards, while trying to be careful about the wet surface of the floor.

Only to hear the noise of somebody clearing their throat, as she felt a wave of dread come over her. She ever so slowly began to turn around with her eyes squeezed shut, before she fully opened her eyes and was totally taken off guard by the person in front of her. There was Shiro, clad in only a white towel, with tiny droplets of water still running down his skin. Mara couldn't help but stare at Shiro, while trying to keep her mouth from hanging open by biting her lip. Her entire face felt like it was on fire, no doubt giving her the appearance of a red and ripe tomato.

But Shiro also appeared to be staring at her

There was a moment of silence between the pair, as they went back and forth with making eye contact with each other. Finally, having been flustered enough, Mara quickly muttered out an apology before she ran past Shiro. She almost ended up slipping on the floor once again, before she felt a hand grab around her waist to keep her upright, before she was pulled right to Shiro's chest. Mara froze on the spot, and was now clutching her towel super close to her body.

Mara briefly looked up and made eye contact with Shiro before she regained her balance once again. "T-Thank you Shiro…" Mara quickly stuttered out, before she wiggled out of his grasp and began to briskly walk out of the room. Just as she reached the exit, Mara looked over her shoulder to see that Shiro was still standing in place, probably trying to figure out what and how exactly this all happened.

Mara picked up her pace as she continued to walk through the hallway, until she finally made it to her room. Mara quickly slipped inside, and the door automatically shut behind her. Mara let out a deep breath as she placed her back against the wall of the door and sunk downward. That moment with Shiro in the bathroom definitely made the list of her top three most embarrassing moments ever. She should've asked Allura if the bathrooms were communal. But at the same time, how was she supposed to know Shiro would be in there the exact same time as she was? Mara let out a groan as she thought about how she would be able to look at Shiro after this. It was definitely going to be awkward for a while, but hopefully something else would come up that would take both of their minds off of it for a while. Mara removed the towel and slipped into her pajamas, before she laid down on her bed.

She needed to calm herself down from the previous string of events. But her mind couldn't stop racing at the thought that Shiro had almost seen her naked! Well, she had been in a towel, but she was naked a few minutes before that! And then there was the fact that Mara had seen in in nothing but a towel, right after he had emerged from the shower!

Of course, she then had to almost slip and slide on the floor while trying to make her escape from the situation, and he had ended up preventing her fall… And pretty much burying her face in his chest! The heat in Mara's checks intensified as she thought back to it all, and she quickly began to fan herself with her hand. Thank god neither of their towels had fallen off… Who knows what could have happened from there…

Mara couldn't help but bite her lip at that thought though, the more she thought about it. Did she want him to see her naked? Did she want to see him naked? Yes and YES! Mara's brain seemed to scream, before she quickly shook her head out of her thoughts, and cursed her raging hormones. She thought she was done with the boy crazy phase of her life, in that she had gotten that all through her system back in University. But now it seemed to be rearing its ugly head again, and of course it would be with one of the most handsome men Mara had ever met in her life!

Mara clapped her hands to turn off the lights in the room, as she situated herself in her bed. She just needed to get some sleep now, and forget everything that just happened to her. Yes, sleep and recover some of the strength she had lost back when she was fighting against the Galra, and trying to protect Lance and Shiro from the wrath of Sendak… Mara slowly found her eyes fluttering and begin to close, as she began to drift off into sleep.

.⋆✦⋆.

A few hours later, Mara felt herself waking up to the sound of somebody pounding on her door. Right away, Mara's eyes popped open and her heartbeat increased. Was it possibly Shiro? Oh god, she really hoped it wasn't Shiro. Her face felt like it was getting warm again as she thought back to how Shiro looked coming out of the shower… Or how he had caught her by her waist and brought her right to his chest…. Shaking her head out of her thoughts, Mara slowly got up from her bed and made her way towards the door. She hesitated for a moment before she activated the door, hoping that it would not be Shiro on the other side of the doorway. To Mara's relief, it was Keith how was standing out in front of her door. "How are you feeling now?" Keith asked, as he leaned against the doorway. Mara let out a sigh of relief as she smiled at Keith. "I'm feeling much better, thank you."

Keith gave her a nod, before there was a moment of silence between the two. All Mara could think about was if Shiro had talked to Keith since their encounter in the bathroom. She knew that Keith and Shiro were very close to each other, having a bond like brothers. But if Keith had talked about it, he didn't say anything, as he cleared his throat a few seconds later. "Lance should be coming out of his cryo pod soon so…."

"Oh okay, just give me a second…." Mara said, as she quickly walked back over to her bedside dresser, and began to change out of her pajamas and back into her day clothes. When she was finished, she re-appeared back at the door and smiled at Keith. "Let's go!" Mara cheered, as she began to jog down the hallway to the medical bay. Keith stared at Mara blankly for a second, before he gave a shrug of his shoulders and began to jog after her.

Within a few minutes, Keith and Mara entered the medical bay and saw everyone else was already waiting in front of Lance's cryo pod. Mara briefly made eye contact with Shiro before quickly looking away, her mind flashing back to their encounter in the communal bathroom.

"Glad to see you're all rested now!" Coran said to Mara, giving her a pat on the back and breaking her out of her thoughts. Mara slightly recoiled in surprise from Coran's pat, before she cleared her throat. "Yes, I am feeling much better now. Your healing technology is simply amazing!"

"Why thank you! But it's not just technology, it's actually a combination of alchemy and technology." Coran said, as he began to go on a mini tangent about how his grandfather was one of the pioneers when it came to forging together Altean technology with alchemy. As he spoke, Mara couldn't help but think back to how the Castle seemed to also operate on a mixture of technology and alchemy, as could be seen with how Allura's quintessence could create wormholes and pilot the ship.

By the time Coran was finished with his spiel, all of the Paladins were right up against the glass of Lance's pod as they tried to see how he was doing. "I can't tell if he looks healthy or not!" Hunk said, as he stepped forward and back trying to get a better perspective. "I think he's breathing weird!" Pidge said, her face literally pressing up right against the glass.

"Oh, come on!" Keith said with a groan, as he tapped on the glass of the pod for a moment. Allura quickly slapped his hand away and shot him a glare. "Not yet! Just a few more ticks." Keith rolled his eyes and crossed his arms in response. "How much better do you think he's gonna get in a few more ticks?"

"And what exactly is a tick?" Pidge asked, pipping up. Allura gave a shrug of her shoulders as she continued to type on the console. "You know, a time slice." Shiro gave a confused look to the Princess. "Is that like a second?"

Allura turned to face the Paladins, this time with a confused look on her face. "What is a 'second'?" Pidge quickly retrieved a portable clock out of his pocket, and held it up in front of Allura. "Like this!"

The clock began to beep with each passing second, as Allura titled her head to the side as she looked at the clock. "I'm not sure. I think ticks are bigger. Coran, do you have a ticker?" Immediately, Coran was right at Allura's side with the 'ticker' in his hands. "Right here, Princess." The ticker then began to beep with each passing second, as Pidge and Coran held their devices right next to each other to make it easier for everyone to compare. Hunk leaned in closer to the ticker, trying to hear which was which. "I think ticks are a little slower…" Hunk concluded, as Pidge shook his head. "I can't tell. We have to start them at the same time."

Coran gave a nod, and restarted the ticker. "Okay. Ready, go!"

Both devices then began to beep, as everyone crowded around Coran and Pidge to watch over the devices. Mara couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the current situation before her. Leaning over to Keith, Mara whispered into his ear, "Are they seriously trying to see the time difference between a second and a tick?"

Keith slowly nodded his head, and whispered back to her, "It's not like we have anything else better to do while we wait for Lance to come out of the cryo-replenisher..."

Mara couldn't help but give a shrug of her shoulders at Keith's response. "You may have a point there..." Mara said, as Hunk quickly let out a small cheer. "Yes! I think we're winning." Keith looked at Hunk with a confused look on his face as he watched the group continue to hover over the counting devices. "You're winning what? The intergalactic time-measuring competition?"

Mara let out a groan and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Oh my god they were serious..."

"Dead serious!" Hunk chimed in, causing Mara to let out yet another groan of annoyance. But all of a sudden, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, and her hearing intensified and became more focused. Somebody was walking right towards them… Mara slowly turned around, and her eyes widened in surprise.

"You guys having a clock party?" Lance called out, still sounded quite drowsy from his time spent in the cryo pod.

Everybody jumped in surprise at Lance's voice, and quickly turned to face him. Coran and Pidge put their tickers away, and Hunk pouted. "Aw, Lance, you just ruined it…." Hunk then realized that Lance was out of his cryo pod and walking around, as his quickly enveloped him into a hug. "Hey, Lance!"

Lance let out a grunt, surprised by the strength of Hunk's embrace. "What happened?" Allura let out a small giggle as she gave Lance a pat on the back. "We can tell you all about it while you get something to eat. Are you able to walk?"

Lance raised an eyebrow at Allura's question, before a smirk slowly appeared on his face. "Talking? Eating? Are you asking me out on a date, Princess?"

Everyone in the room let out a groan at Lance's poorly timed response, and Allura crossed her arms and turned herself away from facing Lance, with an annoyed look on her face.

"Wow, Lance" Mara said, sounding totally unimpressed.

"Yep, he's okay" Shiro said confidentially, as he smiled at the Blue Paladin.

"Classic" Keith muttered, as he crossed his arms and looked away.

"Yep, there he is." Pidge finished, as Hunk began to lead Lance back to his room.

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About half a varga later, Lance was seated in the dining hall, eating a plate of food goo as everyone brought him up to speed on what happened while he had been unconscious from the explosion. "We'd all be Sendak's prisoners right now, if not for Pidge!" Allura beamed, as she looked over to the youngest of the Paladins, who was sitting down next to Lance.

"Well, Lance wouldn't have survived the explosion if Hunk and Coran hadn't gotten a new crystal…"

Lance took another bite of his food goo as he looked around the room at everyone in gratitude and amazement. "Wow. Thanks, everybody!" Lance then looked down at the space mice, who were also sitting on the table with him. He extended his hand out, and one of the mice hopped right onto his palm, nudging his fingers. Lance softly smiled at the mouse's gesture, before he turned to look at Keith. "Sounds like the mice did more than you, though."

Keith quickly shot an accusing glare at Lance. "I punched Sendak!"

Lance rolled his eyes at Keith's comment, as the mouse hopped right out of his palm. "Yeah, apparently after I emerged from a coma and shot his arm off!"

Keith stood up from his seat at the table, and took a step closer to Lance. "But we had a bonding moment. I cradled you in my arms!"

Lance let out a scoff at hearing this, and began to shake his head. "Nope. Don't remember, didn't happen."

Mara couldn't help but let out a small laugh at the antics between Keith and Lance in that moment. As she thought back to the night before, she did recall that Keith had been indeed, cradling Lance in his arms just after they had defeated Sendak. Was it possible that Lance did not have any memory of this event? Or was he just trying to ignore it, in order to avoid thanking Keith?

"So, what happened to Sendak?" Lance asked, bringing Mara out of her thoughts abruptly.

"He's currently frozen in a cryo-pod in an isolated part of the Castle. We're going to keep him here for a while." Allura replied, as Lance slowly nodded.

Lance titled his head to the side in thought, before he looked back up at the Princess to speak what was on his mind. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Allura was fast to nod her head. "He's too dangerous to be set free. Besides, we might be able to get some information about Zarkon from him."

Mara even had to admit, the plan to keep Sendak as a prisoner was risky, but it was also a smart tactical move in giving them an upper hand in the war against Zarkon. Sendak was one of Zarkon's top commanders within the Galra army, so he would have to have some valuable information inside of his head. It was just going to take some time for them to figure out how they could extract that information though….

Lance pushed out himself and his chair from the table and stood up, stretching out his arms. "So, what's the plan now?" Lance asked, point blank, as the space mice soon descended onto his plate of food goo and began eating the rest of it.

Hunk was quick to respond to Lance's question. "We have to get back to the Balmera and save Shay and her people!"

Lance raised an eyebrow at Hunk's declaration. "Wow! You are really hung up on this lady!"

Hunk let out a sigh as he shook his head. "No, it's not like that. Look, guys, when you see how Zarkon has treated these people and destroyed their home... they've been under his thumb for so long, they don't know what it is to be free. It's up to us to set this right. This is what being a paladin of Voltron is all about. It's time to man up!"

Out of the corner of her eye, Mara saw Pidge freeze up for a second, before he looked off to the side with a distant look on his face.

"Then let's get moving. Time to go defend the universe, team!" Shiro said, as everyone began to walk away from the dining table. But Pidge soon called out to them to stop for a moment. "Wait, I have something to say first. I need to come clean. And I'm afraid this may change the way you all think about me. Just so there are no secrets between us anymore, I can't "man up." I'm a girl. I-I mean, I can "man up" because that's just a figure of speech. I don't have to actually be a man to "man up." I just have to be tough. But what I'm saying is-"

Lance was in complete shock at the new revelation. "W-W-Wha...?! You're a girl?! How?!"

Mara wanted to hit Lance on the back of the head for his poor response, but managed to hold herself (and her annoyance) back. Everyone then began to sound off on how they had already known the truth about Pidge.

"I've known for some time, but I'm glad you've shared it with everyone!" Allura said, with a pleased smile on her face.

"Yeah, I figured." Hunk said, with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

"Oh, yeah, me too." Keith said, totally nonchalantly.

"Wait, we were supposed to think you were a boy?" Coran questioned, tilting his head to the side. Mara shook her head and let out a small laugh at Coran. "I figured it out a while ago..."

It was true, Mara had begun to suspect Pidge back when she had teased him about the girl in the photograph being his "girlfriend". Pidge's somewhat panicked and grossed out expression led her to believe that there was something else going on… Then there was the striking resemblance between the boy and girl in the photo…. When she thought Pidge wasn't looking, Mara looked closer at the details of the photo, when it all came back to her. Pidge had mentioned he had a brother, a brother who had gone on the Kerberos mission along with her father and Shiro. The boy in the photo was her brother! Which meant…. The girl in the photo had to be Pidge, or whatever her real name was!

Shiro took a step forward, towards Pidge. "Owning who you are is going to make you an even better paladin now."

Pidge nodded, and let out a sigh of relief. "It's good to get that off my chest. Now, let's launch this Castle-ship!"

Lance was still frozen in place, as all of the information began to settle inside of his head. He quickly found himself looking from left to right in a desperate attempt to find out what was going on now around him. "Wait, what? Pidge is a girl and the Castle is a ship? How long have I been out?"

Mara rolled her eyes and grabbed Lance's arm, tugging him along with her. "Not long enough, I'd say!"

.⋆✦⋆.

Shortly after their small break, Allura then instructed for all of the Paladins to suit up once again in their armor as she and Coran prepped the Castle ship for liftoff. When the Paladins entered the armory, they found that their armor was back in fine and pristine condition, showing no signs of wear from the previous battle with Sendak.

During the entire time she was suiting up however, she couldn't help but steal glances over at Shiro. Internally she was cursing herself for letting her hormones try and takeover her mind again, but at the same time, how could she not look after what she had seen earlier? And that had been Shiro with zero armor or clothing on!

Once they were all finished, they began to walk back to the main control room together. Mara found herself walking right next to Pidge, when a question that had been on her mind all morning found itself coming out of her mouth. "So… Do you want to be called Katie or Pidge?"

Pidge titled her head to the side in thought, as Mara waited for a response. "I think I'm gonna stick with Pidge." Mara nodded and smiled down at Pidge. "I'm glad, I really think Pidge suits you." Pidge looked up at Mara slowly before she smiled, and began to run ahead of the group. They all exchanged a look with each other before shrugging their shoulders, as they all ran to catch up with Pidge.

As the Paladins entered into the main control room, Allura was already in the center of the room with her hands on the consoles. Six chairs emerged from the floor, each lighting up with a color that matched each of the Paladins.

Mara couldn't help but notice that she was to be seated directly behind Shiro, as she let out a small groan. To her, it felt almost like the entire universe wanted her to be constantly looking over Shiro, no matter how hard she tried not to. They all took their appropriate seats as Coran nodded to Allura to begin the liftoff process.

Mara could feel the ship begin to vibrate beneath the floor, as the Castle configured itself to lift off from the surface. Soon the ship was being thrusted through the Arusian atmosphere at a high speed, breaking through the clouds. Mara couldn't help but clutch onto the sides of her chair a little bit tighter, she was still getting used to the feeling of flying, after all.

When the ship finally began to leave the atmosphere and reach the outer orbit of Arus, Allura gave the all clear for everyone to be able to get up and move around the room. Mara couldn't help but feel like it reminded her all too much of her experiences on a commercial airline.

The Paladins were soon all sitting in a circle, as they began to discuss a plan of action.

"Okay. So, when we get there, what do you think? Do we just roll up and start blasting? Or do we land and have some kind of public address system, like, 'Attention, Galras, this is Voltron. Turn yourselves in'? No… Start with blasting them, right?" Hunk said, speaking fast and using lots of hand gestures as he spoke to them all.

Keith was wide-eyed for a moment as he tried to process all of the information Hunk said, before he placed a hand on Hunk's shoulder. "Hunk calm down. And, yes, blasting." Shiro let out a chuckle as he shook his head, turning to face Keith. "It's our first big rescue mission. He's excited." Pidge couldn't help but smirk, as she began to tease Hunk. "Yeah, excited to see his new girlfriend!" Lance snickered along with Pidge, and eventually had to close his mouth with his hand to cover up his laugh.

Hunk spun around and let out a gasp at Pidge's declaration. "She's not my girlfriend! She's just a rock that I met, and I admire very much."

Mara gave Hunk a soft smile of understanding, before she titled her head to the side, now slightly confused at Hunk's statement. "Wait, she's a rock?"

Hunk rubbed the back of his head, trying to figure out a better way to describe Shay and her peoples' physical form. "Well she's part rock... You'll see for yourself." Mara slowly nodded, and flashed Hunk a smile. "Oh, I'm looking very forward to it!"

Suddenly, Alarms began blaring all over the room, as the Paladins raced back over to their seats. Mara looked towards Coran, who was typing furiously at the console in front of him. "What is it? Are we being attacked?" Shiro spoke up, as the rest of the group waited for Coran to give them a response. He shook his head, as he pulled up a hologram of one of the monitors. "No, it seems to be a distress beacon!"

Allura pulled up the hologram in front of her, and began to zoom in on the signal. "It's coming from a nearby moon. Apparently, a ship has lost power."

Hunk was quick to shake his head. "Whoever it is will have to wait. Shay has first priority. We can check back on them when we're done."

Mara couldn't help but step back in surprise at Hunk's declaration. Hunk was normally seen as being somewhat nervous and a bit afraid when it came to their missions or fights against the Galra. But this one mission seemed very important to him, so important that it made him actively push aside his own nerves and fears. But Hunk was also very kind and compassionate, and was always looking out for everyone. So to hear him just want to disregard somebody who might be in need of help, made Mara feel somewhat conflicted about her previous thoughts on the Yellow Paladin.

Allura stood firmly, as she turned to face Hunk with a serious look on her face. "The Paladin Code states that we must help all those in need."

Hunk seemed like he wanted to speak out against what Allura had said, but decided to let out a small grunt and nod. Mara let out a sigh of relief, while next to her, Lance seemed to be even more excited about the current situation. "Wow! This is so cool. It's like we're space cops on space patrol. Coran, do we have a siren we can turn on?

Coran turned away from the console and shook his head. "Uh, no, but we could record you making a siren noise and broadcast that to them."

A big smile appeared on Lance's face. "Perfect!" He then cupped his hands around his mouth and began to wail like a siren noise. But it only lasted for a few seconds, before Shiro placed his hand over Lance's mouth.

"Nope, not doing that."

Lance pouted in response as Shiro removed his hand. Out of the corner of her eye, Mara could see Keith rolling his eyes at Lance's antics. But what Mara was more sure of that Keith had on his mind was how he thought a siren would actually sound like.

.⋆✦⋆.

As the Castle ship began to enter the atmosphere of the moon, Allura pressed a button on the main console, activating the speakers on the ship. "Attention, damaged craft, this is Princess Allura. We are coming to assist you!" On the surface of the moon, three figures could be seen sitting around a small fire. Each figure appeared to be a different kind of aliens.

As the Castle finished its landing sequence, Allura took a step back from the controls and looked towards where Coran was stationed. "Coran, stay aboard and try to get as many of our systems clear of that Galra crystal energy as you can. We'll see who hailed us."

Coran gave her a nod. "Yes, Princess."

The Paladins and Allura began to board a small pod that would then take them to the surface of the moon. As the Paladins each placed their helmets on their heads, Mara noticed that Allura was not putting on a helmet of her own. "Allura, aren't you going to wear a helmet?"

Allura turned to face Mara, and shook her head. "No, I don't need a helmet." Mara titled her head to the side, confused by how calm Allura was with her response. Allura simply winked at Mara, the pod door began to open. Mara held her breath as Allura took a step outside, and walked like nothing was wrong. Was the atmosphere of the moon breathable for Alteans? If so, what about humans?

Mara experimented by taking off her helmet, and found that she was able to breathe! The other Paladins looked at her with confusion, before they realized that Mara was following Allura's lead. The girls both smiled at the others before they walked forward to meet with the stranded aliens.

.⋆✦⋆.

A/N: Back with only one chapter for this week, I'm so sorry everyone. I think at this point I'm just going to stick with one chapter per week, I've been tired from work and also having some writers block. But I'm still determined to keep writing the story, even if it takes me a bit longer to add scenes/dialogue incorporating Mara better into each episode.

I was also able to look more into the space terminology for how time is measured, at least according to what we've been told by Allura and Coran on the show. Google was very helpful in giving me links to various blog posts and even entries from official Voltron companion books.

As for the shower scene, I just wanted something that was funny to be added into the chapter. The moment reminds me a lot of the scene in 2009's The Proposal, when Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds accidentally knock into each other completely naked… And then freak out over it and pretty much run out of the room. But since we're still in the PG part of this story, I gave them towels to cover up their nudity.

Next chapter we will officially meet our three favorite space fighters/bounty hunters! And can I just say I love that Norman Reedus was the voice of Rolo in this episode? Such a shame they couldn't bring him back when Rolo made a couple more appearances on the show though….

I do not own Voltron Legendary Defender, but I do own my original characters. I hope you will give them time and get to know them and love them as I have over the course of their creation/development.

So please, feel free to favorite, follow, and review! I look forward to getting constructive feedback from all of you as the story progresses.