"How do you know my name?" Matt squinted his eyes at Lance, scrutinizing him. "You're human?"

"Yes Matt! We came from the Galaxy Garrison! And we found Shiro!" Lance was standing and limping towards Matt now.

"Whoa, whoa Takashi is with Voltron?"

"Yeah and Pidge too! She's been looking for you." Lance grabbed Matt's shoulders and shook him in his excitement.

"Pidge? She's here?" Matt stared at Lance with shock.

"Yeah! She's the paladin of the green lion of Voltron and now we have all the lions and all we need is the red paladin and then-"

"I have the coolest little sister in the world." Matt wasn't paying much attention to Lance anymore as he mumbled to himself.

"Matt, she's going to be so excited to see you!" Matt finally turned his gaze towards Lance. He smiled.

"I'm excited to see her too." He sighed. "We'll have to wait until we can contact Voltron though. The Council wants to see you."

"Council?" Lance finally let go of Matt and took a step back. Keith and the others were standing not far off, watching the exchange with mixed reactions.

"Yes, I was sent here to 'fetch' you." Matt made air quotes around the word fetch.

Then suddenly, as if a switch had been flicked on, "Stop trying to make 'fetch' happen, oh my god." Lance said in a harsh voice as his face twisted in a snarl.

Keith was confused. What was wrong with the word fetch? Why was Lance so mad? He looked between the two of them with his eyebrows furrowed and his ears held back.

Matt's eyes widened in surprise and his mouth formed a small 'oh' before he was suddenly laughing loudly as he bent over his knees. Lance joined him, smiling and laughing happily.

It was nice seeing him smile like that after what they had been through, even if Keith had no clue what was happening. He glanced over at Chorrol to see if he understood what was happening but he looked just as confused as Keith.

"God, I missed earth jokes."

"How have you survived without them?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen a meme in over a year and sometimes it feels like I'm a druggie without his fix." Matt chuckled and wiped the tears from his eyes. "I can't wait to see Pidgey."

"She's gonna freak out." Matt nodded his head and swiped his hand in a motion that meant 'follow me'

Lance glanced back towards Keith with an expectant look and Keith quickly made his way to Lance's side. Z and Chorrol fell into step behind them.

"It's a good thing that your brother has such a strong influence on the rebels Z." Matt commented over his shoulder as he guided them through the twisting hallways. "I had asked the Council to execute a break on the ship as soon as the broadcast was sent out but they weren't having any of it."

"Yeah, Lynic can have that effect on people…" Z made a tsking sound in the back of her throat. "After I convinced him to talk to the Council he tried to make me stay out of 'harm's way.'" She chuckled. "I pretty much told him where he could stick his complaints. His strange mesmerizing, convincing ways don't run in the family, that's for sure."

"It's gotta be magic." Chorrol added. "Sometimes I won't even know what he wants but I'm already agreeing to whatever it is he could want."

Chorrol and Z continued talking about Z's brother, Matt occasionally chiming in with a short story. Soon enough Keith and Lance had changed places with Z and Chorrol and were trailing in the back of the group.

"I can't believe that Matt is here." Lance said quietly to Keith to keep their conversation somewhat private.

"It's a small universe." Lance smiled brightly at him.

"We have a saying like that back on earth, but we just say 'small world.'" Lance subconsciously pushed the sleeves of the shirt up to his elbows, pooling the fabric together. "What do you think the Council wants?"

"Probably just simple questions. How to get in contact with Voltron. Where Voltron is. If you all should form an alliance."

"That sounds really boring." Lance complained as he sighed forlornly. Keith rolled his eyes.

"Life can't always be action packed." Keith nudged him.

"Oh, I'm not saying it needs to be action packed. I'm just saying that if I could skip over this super boring political stuff and get straight to saving the universe and getting the girl- or boy- then I would totally go for it. Allura can handle all this dull, mundane crap for all I care." Lance shrugged.

Keith understood that. He was never one for politics either, but he would tolerate it if he had too.

"What do you…" Keith took a breath. He was no good with expressing his feelings, but he would have to start figuring it out sooner or later. There was no better time than the present after all… "What do humans look for in mates?"

Lance turned his head to look Keith in eyes. "Humans? Like in general? People like different things."

Don't be embarrassed. Don't blush. I swear- "Well then, what about you specifically?" A cheeky grin spread over Lance's face.

"Are you asking me what kind of Space partner I'm looking for? You got someone in mind, huh?" Lance teased, bumping Keith's shoulder gently and hiding a grimace when it made the marks on his shoulder flare in pain.

"…" Keith averted his eyes, staring at the back of Matt's head as he laughed at something that Z had said. Why can't Chorrol be paying enough attention to help me now? What a terrible wingman.

"Well, since you asked so nicely." Lance let out in a sing song voice. He tapped his lip in thought. "I don't really know." This made Keith's mind come to a standstill.

"Don't… Know…" Keith's ears folded back and he unconsciously pouted his lips as he thought.

"Yeah." Lance rubbed at the back of his neck. "I figured I'd know when I met them."

Keith's heart sank with his gaze as he stared at his feet. Left, right, left, right. Don't get upset…

"But really, people of the universe are so diverse and interesting," He looked directly at Keith, trying to catch his eye, "and beautiful." He held his gaze for a silent second before Lance was back to watching Matt turn the corner. "I want someone who I'm going to be able to talk to and laugh with. I want them to be just as strong and smart as me so that we can help each other get stronger together. They'd have to be able to handle how talkative I can be… how insecure I can sometimes get." There was a soft light in Lance's eyes that Keith had never seen before.

"I guess what I'm saying is that I'm just looking for someone who will fall in love with me just as much as I will with them." Lance finished.

Love.

Curse the above. Why was Lance so cheesy?

"That's grossly romantic…" Keith said in a weak voice he hoped came off as teasing.

"Well I wouldn't have it any other way." Lance said with fake offense as he stuck his nose in the air. After a moment he smiled and broke character. "You and Chorrol both keep grilling me about my love life, what's with that, huh?"

Keith's eyes immediately widened. Stupid Lance not being clueless. It wasn't like Keith wanted to keep it a secret forever, but if Lance found out and rejected Keith… Well, mates who are rejected never live long after that.

He needed to ask the humans about human courting traditions ASAP.

"Wh- I don't- nu-uh." Keith stumbled over his words before finishing with, "We aren't grilling you… Just- making conversation…" Lance raised a knowing eyebrow. He opened his mouth to say something more but Matt cut in before he could.

"Alright Paladin… What's your name actually? I can't believe I forgot to ask," Matt asked, his back to a large door that Keith assumed would lead them to the Council.

"The names Lance," Lance grinned as he shot finger guns at Matt, who shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"Alright Lance, the Council is through here. They only asked for Lance so you guys are gonna have to stay out here." Matt looked at Chorrol and Z and gave an apologetic look to Keith. "Not my rules. It shouldn't be too long. Follow me Lance." When Matt turned to go in the room Lance leaned closer to Keith.

"No fair, I'm the only one who has to do the boring political stuff." Keith just grinned and crossed his arms.

"You better go." He warned, the doors slowly closing behind Matt. Lance let out a little squeak and shimmed through the quickly closing gap sideways.

The doors would have opened back up for him. Keith laughed along with Z and Chorrol who had also been watching Lance.

Keith turned to his friends. He didn't speak, he just looked at them for a moment as he let everything sink in. He was safe off of the Galra ship with Chorrol and Z. Lance was going to talk with the council and form an alliance and once Lance got back to Voltron they could form an alliance with the Blade as well.

He wasn't going to dwell on the fact that he would probably have to go back to the Blade at some point and leave Voltron to their own devices.

For now, he would count his blessings and allow himself a momentary respite.

Keith wandered over to the nearest wall and slid down it until he was sitting on the floor, facing the door that Lance would come back from.

Chorrol watched him for a moment before he joined Keith with Z at his side. Keith glanced over at him. He leaned his head back against the wall, smiling gently with his eyes closed.

Only the Above knew how much he had missed Chorrol. Keith hesitated only a moment before leaning against Chorrol, resting his head on his shoulder and closing his eyes. He was still exhausted and he figured it would be a while before he was back in good health. As of right now, he just wanted to rest his eyes while he waited for Lance. Maybe sleep for a few minutes…

Chorrol pulled his arm out from under Keith's head and for a moment Keith was afraid that he had just made things awkward. Luckily, Chorrol was just adjusting so that he could wrap his arm around Keith's shoulders to allow him to rest his head more comfortably against him.

"I'm so glad you're okay," Keith said on a quiet breath, eyes still closed. Chorrol squeezed him just a bit tighter in response. They stayed like that for the half a Varga or so while Lance was talking to the council. Chorrol and Z spoke in soft voices and Keith drifted in and out of consciousness, never quite falling asleep but still unable to keep himself fully awake.

"Keith?" Z called out to him from the other side of Chorrol. Keith pushed himself off of Chorrol to turn his gaze to hers.

"Mhm?" He hummed, eyes only half open and still heavy with tiredness. Z gave him a gentle smile before handing him a small handhold Blade communicator.

"I think you should talk to your parents. They started asking questions after they found the data chip in your room and I had no choice but to tell them what happened. They know that you're safe now but…" Z looked guilty as she waved the communicator again when Keith didn't grab it immediately.

"Oh." Keith gulped and took the communicator. "I'll just-" Keith pointed off to the side, indicating that he would move away for some privacy. Z just nodded and shot him a sincere smile, Chorrol gave him two thumbs up.

When Keith found a nice secluded spot, he sank to the floor and turned on the communicator. With a few taps of his finger the communicator was sending off quiet blips as he waited for his fathers to answer.

It only took two rings before he saw his parents faces in the small screen. Thace was holding the communicator and Kolivan was looking over his shoulder. Neither of them looked thrilled to see him. Before Keith could even open his mouth for an explanation Kolivan was leaning over Thace and filling the screen with his face.

"You knew that we didn't want you going. You knew that we didn't tell you about the ship so that you wouldn't go storming in and getting yourself hurt or killed and yet you deliberately disobeyed us." His voice was shaking and Keith couldn't tell if it was from anger or something else.

It was probably anger. Keith would be angry too.

"Keith, I don't know what's gotten into you lately, but you can't keep at it." Thace piped in, putting a hand on Kolivan's shoulder to pull him back. "We were terrified."

If Keith wasn't so tired he might have felt his eyes welling up. However, it seemed he was out of tears.

"I'm sorry. I had to find Voltron again. And I did." Keith set his mouth in a firm line of determination. He would do it over again if he had too. He might change one or two things (Like stopping Lance's carving sooner) but he would still do it again.

"We could have found a different way. We could have waited," Thace tried to reason with him with a growl. Keith frowned and looked away from the communicator, unable to meet his dad's gaze.

"Pidge wouldn't have lived if I hadn't been there to stop the druid. Lance would have come in to try to help Pidge and he would have been attacked by the druid… I had to be there. I had to help Voltron. To help my friends." He turned back to his parents. They were both frowning so he continued.

"You knew that Lance was my Kalan, didn't you?" His tone was accusatory and he knew he was right when both of them turned to each other and Thace bit the inside of his cheek, one of the only tells that Keith had ever seen from him. "Why didn't you just tell me?"

Kolivan sighed. "Ulaz was the one who told us. We know that he wouldn't have told us if he wasn't 100% sure that he was your Kalan. But, it was not our place to tell you. You needed to figure it out for yourself." Keith pouted his lip out.

"Yeah, it only took me being held captive by the witch herself for me to finally accept it." He said sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he did so. When he caught his fathers' gaze both of them were horrified.

"Haggar was on the ship? But that ship didn't have any of her labs or interrogation rooms. Why-"

"Don't you know what was on the ship?" Keith asked. When both of them shook their heads he let his head tip to the side in confusion. "It was the red lion. The last missing lion."

"Voltron was able to recover it?" Kolivan's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Yeah, right before Lance and I got captured so that Pidge could get away." There was a moment of silence as all of them thought over what that meant. "We're still forming the alliance right? With Voltron we might actually have a chance of defeating Zarkon."

"But do they have a pilot for the red lion?"

"Not yet, but I'm sure they'll be able to find one." Keith assured them. He saw a momentary flash of hesitance in the two of them so he added in, "You were on board before why so hesitant now?"

"Keith… Zarkon and Haggar both are obsessed with Voltron. If we form an alliance now it will just make to target on the Blade all that much bigger. We have to consider-"

"You weren't saying any of this before. What's the real reason?" Keith cut him off.

Thace sighed and rubbed a hand down his face. "I suppose we are too close to the issue now. We won't be able to make unbiased decisions. Keith," He took his hands off of his face to fix Keith with a hard stare. "Working with your Kalan will either be effortless or impossible. There is no in between. If we form an alliance all you're going to want to do is work with Voltron, even if it would impede progress. Not only that, but Voltron itself seems to have different ideals than the Blade. They have more of a 'charge in and bash through things' kind of approach and we would probably fight over many issues."

"You and I both know that the Blade has made worse decisions than forming an alliance with someone who we might potentially butt heads with. Ask anyone else in the Blade and they'll tell you that its time for a change. Our approach isn't working. Not fast enough anyways. It's time for a revolution and you both know it." Keith's voice didn't waver.

When Thace let out a quiet chuckle Keith felt his face heat up in anger and embarrassment. Why was he laughing at him?

"He's definitely your son Koli." Thace gave a pointed look to Kolivan.

"You know its funny, I was just thinking the same thing about you." They did the thing where they talked without talking and suddenly Keith realized how they were doing it.

"Hey, how do you guys control the telepathy thing?" He chimed in. They turned their attentions back to Keith.

"Do you know how to push emotions?" Kolivan asked.

"Yeah, that's easy enough."

"Okay, well you don't push thoughts like you push emotions. They are connected to each other. If you're feeling a strong emotion sometimes thoughts can carry over with them, depending on how strong the emotion is. Once you get older and your bond with your Kalan gets stronger you'll learn how to control the words you push. I assume that you'll only be able to push minor thoughts with the current of extreme emotions."

Keith nodded, bringing his hand up pull at his lip as he thought. When a jolt of pain shocked through his fingers he suddenly remembered the claws that had been ripped off and the bandages over his fingers. When he refocused his attention on his dads he could tell they were looking at his injured hand.

"I'm fine." He answered before they could say anything about it. "I'm fine, and we are going to form an alliance with Voltron." Keith tried not to let how tired he was show through his voice as he spoke. He needed to be confident and sure of himself right now. He had to convince his fathers that Voltron was a worthy ally and he needed to stop getting distracted.

"Keith-" Kolivan started.

"I'm going to go back to Voltron with Lance. I promised I'd help him with something before he was healed with the Altean's healing pods. I can talk to Allura about an alliance while I'm there, but you'll have to come or call at some point to finalize things. I'll…" Keith sighed. "I'll come back to the Blade once all of that is over."

"Keith, I know that you haven't been able to make friends easily. Not after…" He didn't say their names, but he knew what he meant.

"Aubr and Chorrol." He said for him. Thace winced but shut his eyes as he let out a steady breath.

"I know that what happened to them affected everyone, but it hit you especially hard. I'm happy that you were finally able to make new friends, but we are in a war. You can't stay with Voltron if you can't help them. You'll be so much more helpful here at the Blade of Marmora." Keith said nothing for a moment, chewing on his lip as he thought.

"You won't believe who rescued Lance from the prison." Keith said. Thace narrowed his eyes at what he thought was a sudden change in subject.

"…Who?"

"Chorrol."

Once the name made it out of his lips Keith knew he wouldn't be able to take it back, but it was time that Chorrol came out of hiding. His family deserved to know that he was alive.

Kolivan and Thace stared at Keith, neither of them speaking. They didn't seem to believe Keith.

"Really. It's Chorrol. The rebels rescued him from where he had been floating in free space, his suit automatically activated. Aubr… She didn't make it."

"You're sure?" Kolivan asked. Keith scoffed at him and Kolivan nodded his head as if that was the only answer he needed.

"As if I wouldn't be able to recognize him," Keith mumbled under his breath.

"Why didn't he come back?" Thace asked.

"Shame. Of losing Aubr. Fear of disappointing anyone when he came back without her. They were almost mates, he's lucky her death didn't kill him." Keith said quietly. He glanced down the hall where he had left Chorrol and Z, making sure they were still out of ear shot. He felt bad for outing Chorrol like this, but he needed to move on. His family deserved to know he was alive.

"Should I inform his kin?" Kolivan had a hand on Thace's shoulder, steadying himself with his Kalan.

"Not yet," Keith sighed. "I'm going to try to convince him to do it himself first, but if that doesn't work and he won't speak to them, we have to at least let them know that he's okay." Kolivan nodded his head and glanced weakly over to Thace.

"I can't believe it…" Thace put his hand over Kolivan's and hummed out a tone of agreement. With this lull Keith saw his chance to escape.

"I think I should go now. I'll talk to Chorrol as soon as I get to him. I'm sorry that I scared you guys, but I'm alive. I love you."

"Oh no you don't. You're still in trouble boy. I'm not done-" Kolivan's voice cut out as Keith ended the call with a sigh. He was already in deep water, what was another drop gonna hurt? He'd deal with it when he got back to the base.

For now, it was Chorrol's turn.

The short trek back to his friends wasn't difficult by any means, and should not have been considered a trek. But, when Keith finally made it back to them he was breathing heavy painful breaths through his semi-healed broken ribs.

"Your turn," He said as he dropped Z's communicator onto Chorrol's crossed legs.

"What?" Chorrol cocked his head to the side and watched as Keith collapsed beside him against the wall.

"Your. Turn." Keith panted. "Call your family. Tell them you're okay. Let them know that you're alive and helping the rebels and that you're eating three meals a day like you should be."

Chorrol chuckled nervously. "They're better off thinking I'm dead," He cast his gaze to his lap, to the communicator.

"You meant the world to them." Keith had to keep himself from screaming. "They all came to your name scratching ceremony in light blue robes and your mother still wears a blue pin everyday for you. Your siblings became distant and they still seem stuck in a daze. Your father hardly speaks unless spoken to but he still works in the Blade database systems. Call them, right now, and tell them that you love them."

Chorrol's lip quivered. "I can't…"

Keith could feel his anger welling up. Chorrol would rather let his family grieve him for the rest of their lives than confront them.

"You can, and you will." Keith's voice let no room for argument. Chorrol looked over at Z and then to Keith.

"Will you… Can you do it with me?" Chorrol's face was fearful and meek. Keith nodded his head. Chorrol set his mouth in a firm line and handed the communicator to Keith. "Do it."

Keith dialed Chorrol's parents.

It took quite a few rings before they picked up, and in that time, Keith could see Chorrol slowly getting cold feet. Just when Keith thought he was going to bolt Z grabbed his hand.

"Don't even think about it," She threatened. Chorrol gulped and laughed nervously.

"I wasn't thinking about anything."

"Hello? Keith?" Everyone's attention was drawn to the communicator in Keith's hand and the female voice that rang out from it.

"Hi there-"

"Whose communicator are you using? Have you called your parents yet, they've been worried sick about you!" Keith cringed and nodded his head.

"Yes, I just finished talking to them."

"Why did you call me then?" Her blue pin shimmered in the light from her room. Keith looked pointedly at Chorrol who was currently off screen. He was staring at his mother with tears in his eyes.

"Are you ready?" Keith asked him. He gave him a lost look before he swallowed thickly and nodded, holding his hand out for the communicator. Keith handed it over.

"Who's there? Who's ready?" Chorrol's mother was asking. Chorrol finally steadied the communicator so that it was clear and she was able to see him. Her jaw snapped shut audibly and she brought a hand over her mouth. Her other hand reached out towards her side of the camera, touching the screen of her communicator which was most likely mounted on the wall.

"This doesn't make sense. I'm dreaming." She said in a calm voice, unsure of what was real and what she was imagining.

"No mom. I'm-" The damn broke and Chorrol let out a sob. "I'm right here. I'm sorry. I'm so so so sorry. I-" He stopped talking as his breathing got out of hand. Chorrol's mother had silent tears running down her face.

"Keith." She called out. Keith gently tilled the communicator so that she could see him. "My boy. That's my boy? My baby boy is-" her lips began to tremble. "-alive?" Keith gave her a small smile.

"Yes ma'am," He answered before turning it back to Chorrol. His mom finally let out a sob and Keith could tell that the only emotion within it was love.

"Baby? Baby when are you coming home?" Chorrol tried to wipe the tears off his face. They were just replaced with newer ones.

"Mama I can't…"

"Why not? Please, we've missed you so much."

"I'm helping the rebels now. I'm a failure to the Blade. To you, to Aubr-"

"Chorrol never in your life have you been a failure. A runt maybe, but never a failure." A wobbly smile made its way onto Chorrol's blotchy face. "Baby please, you don't even have to stay, but I need to hold you in my arms. I thought I'd never be able to hold you again…" She broke into another sob.

"Mama…"

"Your dad and sisters aren't gonna believe me if you don't come back. They'll think I'm having another psychotic break. We've all missed you so much." Chorrol's lip wobbled.

"…Okay. I'll see what I can do." Chorrol promised.

"Oh, my baby is coming home!"

Z put a hand on his shoulder and Chorrol glanced over to her. "I can take you back to the Blade with me when I go." Chorrol nodded his head and muttered.

"I'm going to have to get a few days off then…"

The sound of a door opening grabbed Keith's attention. Lance walked out with Matt right behind him. He was smiling and he made a bee line to Keith.

"Voltron is going to be here in half an hour!" Keith grinned at his enthusiasm.

"Good." Keith pushed himself to his feet and glanced to Chorrol. He was still talking to his mom so he led Lance off to the side to allow him a bit of privacy. "So, the meeting wasn't as boring as you thought it was going to be?" He teased.

"What? No, the meeting was all politics and 'who does this,' and 'why not do that, blah blah blah' but they had sent out a small distress beacon in hopes that the Galra would ignore it and Allura would answer it and it worked!" Lance threw his hands up in the air as he talked acting out what he was saying. "And I didn't get to talk to everyone because it was all 'official business' but everyone was there and Pidge was okay."

"That's good," Keith let out a sigh of relief he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"They asked about you too, you know." Lance nudged Keith with his elbow, raising his eyes brows.

"…They did?" Keith tried not to let his heart swell as much as it did.

"Yeah. I told them that you were okay and that you would be going back to the Castle with me when they finally got here. Pidge said she had something important to tell you."

Keith narrowed his eyes and racked his brain for what Pidge could possibly need to tell him. He came up empty. "What was it?"

"I don't know, she didn't want to say it over the open line. You'll just have to wait and see." Keith huffed out an impatient sigh. He hated waiting. He glanced at Lance and sighed again.

He had no choice but to wait.

Lance chuckled at him and then turned to Matt. "Hey Matt?" Matt was standing a bit away from them, closer to Chorrol, as he tapped at something on his wrist.

"Yeah?" Matt asked as he looked up from what he was doing.

"Could you show me back to where you found me? I left my armor in there." Lance asked sheepishly.

"Sure, no prob." He clicked on the screen a few more times before lowering his arm. Lance started towards him and we he realized that Keith wasn't following he turned back with a frown.

"You coming?"

Keith shook his head. "Nah. I'm gonna stay here for a bit longer." He cut his eyes to Chorrol and then back to Lance. "I'll catch up with you before the Castle gets here." He promised.

"Alright." Lance gave a weak wave as he followed after Matt.

Once they were gone Keith made his way back to Chorrol. He was saying his goodbyes, much to his mother's dismay. She only allowed him to hang up once Z promised to 'get her boy back home in a timely manner.'

"Bye mom, I love you."

"I love you too baby," She waved goodbye as Chorrol ended the transmission. When she was gone Chorrol let out a shaky breath before pushing his fists against his eyes as he let out an unsteady laugh.

"Keith," He didn't remove his hands when he spoke.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you." Although he only said two words Keith understood the expansive meaning behind them.

Thank you

For coming back.

For accepting me.

For making me get my head out of my ass.

So, he might not have meant that exactly, but it was close enough.

Keith smiled as he came to Chorrol's side. "Seems like you've got some packing to do," He said as he reached down a hand to help Chorrol up. Chorrol took his hands off of his eyes with a sigh.

"Yeah." He took Keith's hand. Keith ended up being less help than he had intended, to weak and short to boost Chorrol up even the slightest.

"You need to get some sleep man," Chorrol noted gesturing first to the bags under his eyes and then… the rest of him.

"You just gestured to all of me," Keith said as he crossed his arms over his chest. The words brought back the day the two of them were waiting for Aubr and Keith smiled fondly at the memory. Chorrol also seemed to have gotten the reference and he simply grinned and shook his head. "Plus, I've barely been awake for more than two and a half Vargas. I can't just sleep forever."

"You need to let your body heal."

"Then it can tough it out and do so while I'm awake." Keith stuck his nose up at him. When he heard Chorrol sigh he knew that the matter had been dropped.

"Chorrol," Z piped in, "You really should start packing. I've got to get going soon." Chorrol spared her a glance before nodding. "I'm gonna go get my ship ready. Meet me in the docking bay when you're done." Keith thought that Z was going to leave but she changed directions at the last second and jogged quickly over to stand before Keith.

"Bye Keith. I don't know when I'll see you again, but it feels like it won't be anytime soon." With that she threw her arms around his shoulders (gently, because Keith still looked like a tired corpse) and gave him a small squeeze. Keith hesitated only a tick before wrapping his arms around her.

"Bye Z." He whispered into her chest.

"Go catch up with your boy." She told him as she pulled away. Keith gave her a toothy smile and nodded.

Once she turned the corner it was only Chorrol and Keith. They stayed quiet for a few moments before Chorrol closed the space between them in two steps. He wrapped his arms around Keith much tighter than Z but Keith didn't care. He buried his face in Chorrol's shirt and grabbed fistfuls of the fabric on his back in a vice like grip.

Neither of them spoke. They didn't need words right now, they just held each other.

Keith let himself be reminded of how it had felt to watch Chorrol and Aubr die. The impossibly overwhelming grief that came with it was almost to much for him to handle on his own. By the time he had finally excepted their deaths he had sufficiently numbed his mind to the pain they brought on.

But Chorrol was here, and he felt like it was a dream. And even though Aubr wasn't here with them it felt like she was. It felt like she was visiting from the Above to wrap them up in one last group hug as they finally let her go.

As Chorrol finally let her go, with the help of Keith and his other loved ones. Aubr would run her hand down the side of Chorrol's face and kiss him on the top of his head before giving Keith a kiss on his cheek and waving goodbye to the both of them with a grin to join the spirit world.

"Did you feel that?" Chorrol whispered. Keith nodded his head.

"She was saying goodbye." Keith forced himself not to cry. She wanted them to be happy. Chorrol couldn't help but to let out one dry sob, but that was all he allowed himself.

It was a full dobash before Keith loosened his hold, his ribs screaming to be free from Chorrol's crushing hug.

"Go pack before Z leaves without you," Keith told him.

"I'll miss you too Keith." Chorrol answered. Keith was only a little bit angry that Chorrol was able to read him so well. As Chorrol turned around and made his way down the hall Keith rubbed his hands up and down his forearms, suddenly feeling cold.

Maybe he did need some more sleep.

He trailed off down the hall that he thought would bring him back to Lance.

Sorry for the delay. I ended up getting a REALLY bad bought of depression and was trying to find ways to get out of the house and YADDA YADDA anyways, thanks for sticking with me, it really means a lot :)

Also, I have art for Galra Keith! it's on my art tumblr renncandraw Along with the link to my Ko-fi account (Which is also renncandraw) Please, if you like my art and writing, consider supporting me!

Also again lol this fic just hit a year old on feb 11! its been so long guys.

As always, I love you guys, and I will try to update ASAP!