When he finally found his way back to the large room that he had started in Lance was waiting for him.

"Are you cold?" He asked, watching as Keith rubbed his hands up and down his arms. Keith had shifted so that he was in full Galra form to try to retain some heat but the longer he walked the colder he seemed to get. He needed some more food and rest.

When Keith didn't answer him, Lance grabbed the blanket and stood on his tiptoes to wrap it around Keith's shoulders.

"The castle will be here any minute now, they'll probably try to get us in the healing pods as soon as possible." Lance smoothed the blanket down Keith's shoulders patting out the wrinkles. After a few moments of doing this his eyes widened and they snapped up to Keith's face, which was quickly regaining its heat. He pulled his hands away and took a step back. "Sorry." He cast his gaze to the floor. "Anyways, Matt said he'd come and get us as soon as-"

"Lance they're here!" Matt called out not far off.

"-they get here," Lance finished his sentence. "Well. That answers that." Lance smiled as he stooped down to grab his armor. Keith grabbed his helmet for him when his arms seemed too full to carry anything more. Lance grunted his thanks and followed Matt as he led the way to the Castle ship.

Their steps echoed loudly around the narrow hallway they were walking through, but not loud enough to cover the sound of Keith's stomach rumbling.

"Do you think they'll have any food ready when we get on board?" Keith asked Lance as his stomach growled again.

"Maybe- Hunk might have prepared something. He cooks when he's bored or nervous or… well he cooks a lot." Lance huffed out as he hefted his armor into a new position. The leg piece was scraping across the floor, so Keith grabbed it out of Lance's hands.

"What? I got it-"

"Shut up and let me carry it. It's not even that heavy." Keith said as he flung it over his shoulder. It folded at the knee joint and the connected boot smacked his butt. "Ack!" Keith let out an involuntary sound of surprise and Lance began to laugh.

"What are you guys doing back there?" Matt asked more to himself than the two of them. Keith frowned and gave Lance the stink eye, ears folding back and what little fur he had poofing out. This only seemed to make Lance laugh harder.

"You look like an angry cat!" He doubled over to laugh harder, and in that moment let one piece of armor slip from his grasp, a stray arm flopping onto the floor. He stopped, laughter subdued to a giggle as he tried to pick it up without putting any of the other armor on the floor. After a moment of struggling and squatting awkwardly without bending over, he managed to pick up the armor.

Just as he dropped his glove armor.

Lance pouted his lip out and narrowed his eyes at it. When he let out a frustrated groan Keith decided to take over.

"Need a hand?" He asked, struggling to keep a straight face as he grabbed the glove and held it in front of Lance's face. Lance held his lips in a tight line, but Keith could tell he was struggling to not laugh at his genius pun. When Lance didn't crack he struggled to think of something more.

"Oh wait, you already have one." Keith pointed to the other glove on top of Lance's pile of armor and that was all it took for him to break.

"That's such a stupid pun!" He shouted, trying to cover his laughter, but Keith could see his smile.

"You're the one laughing!" Keith shot back, smile wide.

"Guys? Are you okay?" Matt questioned. The two of them turned to face him, quiet for just a moment before they began laughing again.

"Uh…" Matt didn't seem to know how to respond. "The uh. The pod from the castle is right through here." Matt gestured to the docking bay they had been standing in front of since Lance dropped his glove. The two of them glanced at each other and composed themselves.

Lance nodded to Matt to lead the way, wobbly smile still on his face.

A pure white Altean pod sat waiting for them. As they approached Lance began shifting around his armor, presumably to open the pod for them as Matt probably didn't know much about the Altean tech and Keith definitely wasn't confident in his knowledge of how the thing worked. But Lance never got the chance to put down his armor because the pod suddenly came to life, veins of bright blue illuminating the immediate area.

"What…" Lance muttered quietly to himself with an air of confusion.

The pod opened, revealing-

No one.

Keith cocked his head to the side and shrugged before getting in. He was tired, hungry, and in pain. He wanted to leave as soon as possible. Matt followed close behind, Lance trailing in after him.

"This thing is fully automated then. I figured someone would come out." Matt mused aloud. Lance tossed his armor into a haphazard pile in a corner before seating himself in the pilot's seat. Keith placed the armor he held on top of the pile and grabbed the co-pilot's seat. Matt sat himself on the floor in the back.

Before Lance could even touch the controls, the pod was moving.

"Well I guess you won't get to see my a-mazing pilot skills," Lance smirked over at Keith. Keith rolled his eyes but allowed himself to smile.

"Sure," Keith answered in a flat voice, teasing him.

"Uh! I'm a boss pilot. I'll show you. When we get back I'll take you on a ride in Blue and then you'll have to eat your words!" Lance crossed his arms pouting his lip out. If his back wasn't injured Keith was sure that he would have thrown himself dramatically back into his chair. As it was, he sat perched on the edge of his seat, sitting up straight and tense.

It must have been tiring.

Keith was slouching lazily against his chair, eyes beginning to droop along with his ears which he no longer felt like holding up at attention. He wanted to curl up and sleep but the pod would be at the castle soon and he didn't want to have to wake himself up and feel worse than before. So, with a sigh, he sat up and rubbed his eyes. He pushed the blanket off of his shoulders and folded into a pillow before slotting it behind Lance.

"What are you doing." It sounded less like a question and more like an accusation. Keith furrowed his brows and gestured vaguely. Lance held his hand up in a way that said, "I don't know what that means."

Keith gestured again and said, "Lean back." Keith watched as Lance bit the inside of his cheek before he leaned back. He said nothing more but Keith felt a breath of relief leave his lips as the tension in Lance shoulders faded away and he allowed the blanket to be a cushion for his back.

It wasn't too much longer after that when the pod flew around a distant moon and the rebel base left their line of sight, only to be replaced with the Castle of Lions. A small gasp could be heard from behind them as Matt stood and moved closer to the view screen.

"Wow. That's…" He didn't even finish his sentence, trailing off with his mouth slightly open. As the pod docked itself the small group gathered their things and waited for the door to open.

"Ready to see Pidge? She's gonna freak when she sees you," Lance says.

"I know, I almost regret surprising her like this."

"It'll be great. Can't wait to see the look on her face."

With that the door opened, a soft hiss whispering through the air. Keith tensed, feeling a sharp stab of last second anxiety. Would the group really be happy to see him? Or would they blame Keith for getting Lance captured. They might even blame him for Pidge's injuries-

Lance nudged him with his elbow, not letting his thoughts get too out of hand and grabbing his attention to offer him a smile. A feeling of reassurance ran through Keith and he had to stifle a gasp.

Lance had just projected reassurance to him, just like any Kalan could do. He might not have even realized that he had done it but Keith was still in shock as the door moved away to give them full view of their welcoming party.

Allura, Shiro, and Coran were standing back with wide smiles, Coran quickly pushing his way forward to the front of the group with a, "Lance! My boy!"

Hunk was standing by a cart piled high with strange looking foods, Pidge was standing beside him, her mouth opening and closing as she caught sight of Matt.

She took a hesitant step closer before breaking into a full-on run, beating Coran up the ramp to their little group.

"Matt!" She squealed and buried her face in his chest armor, which didn't look comfortable. Matt wrapped his arms around her and let out a laugh.

"Hey Pidgey," He said into her hair.

"Lance!" Coran had finally made it to the pod and had shining tears in his eyes as he stopped abruptly in front of the dark-skinned boy. He paused before wrapping his arms around him in the gentlest, most caring hug.

"Hey Coran," Lance said in a soft voice, patting him on the back. Keith heard Coran's soft sobs echoing around the quiet room.

"Lemme get in on that!" Hunk said as he jogged over to join the hug. Shiro and Allura surprisingly weren't far behind. Pidge and Matt broke away from each other to join the giant group hug. (Though Pidge didn't let go of Matt's arm)

Keith watched the reunion with a genuine smile, but he couldn't help the sadness creeping into his gaze. He felt a pang of homesickness. A wish for a time in the past when Aubr and Chorrol would hug him like that after a mission or when his dads decided he was being too moody so they would crush him with affection until he caved and smiled.

"Hey where's Keith?" Hunk piped up from somewhere within the huddle. Keith felt his smile wobble a little as Pidge chimed in.

"Hey!" She looked over her shoulder at him. "Get over here. It's a group hug you fool." A following of, "yeah" and "Come on" rang out from the group until Keith had no choice but to join in. He was quickly absorbed into the open arms of team Voltron.

He smiled so wide that it hurt and he told himself that was why he felt tears prickling his eyes. He refused to let any fall. He was happy, and he didn't feel like crying anymore.

He didn't get to stay there long though.

"Okay guys, I love you all, but you're crushing me," Lance said, squirming from somewhere to Keith's right. Keith couldn't help but to agree, his ribs were howling in pain. The both of them could really use a healing pod right now.

The group reluctantly dispersed and gave them enough room to move away from the pod. Lance didn't even bother picking up the armor that he had dropped. He was about to start kicking it away from the pod when Shiro stooped down and grabbed it for him, Allura by his side.

"I'll take this for you." He said when he passed by Keith, grabbing the rest of Lance's armor with a smile. Keith let him take it and followed Lance towards the cart of food that Hunk had made. Keith didn't recognize any of the foods but Lance squealed as he looked over them.

"Is this some kind of earth food?" Keith asked with a raised brow as he scanned over the food. He decided now was as good a time as any and slowly changed back to the human form he had grown accustomed to on the castle ship.

Lance turned to answer him and flinched back a step before letting out an embarrassed breath. "God, warn a guy before you just go from tall-ass-purple-alien to a kind-of-short-normal-human-person." Lance reached out a hand and poked Keith's shoulder, pulling his hand back quickly as if he would suddenly return to his Galra form. When nothing happened, Lance stood up straight.

"Ha. I'm taller than you now." He put his hands on his hips triumphantly, straining slightly to make himself as tall as he could be. Keith simply rolled his eyes. He was used to being the short one and he was too tired to bicker with Lance at the moment. His stomach gurgled in annoyance and he looked up to Hunk, still waiting for an explanation of the food.

"What was your question again?" Hunk laughed good naturedly.

"Is this some kind of earth food?"

"Oh! Well, since all I know how to make is earth food I tried to mimic some of the recipes and these are the only things that worked out okay. Most of them ended up not cooking right or being very… disruptive to the guts. Anyways," Hunk directed the next part to Lance. "I managed to make a space fajita." Lance's face immediately lit up.

"Where!" He was pushing the platters around, searching for this 'space fajita.' Hunk pushed his hands out of the way and pulled a platter from the group. Lance gasped and took it from Hunk's hands as if it was the answer to all questions of the universe. Lance's wide eyes looked away from the food for half a moment to connect with Hunk's gaze.

"You're a god among men. Praise you," Lance cradled the food to himself but didn't eat it. Keith finally tore his eyes away from him long enough to examine the other foods. He grabbed a random platter, he wasn't very picky and at this point would eat just about anything. Hunk handed him a spoon and Lance a fork.

"Coran has the healing pods ready whenever you guys finish up." Hunk said as he began to push the cart away. Before he could get too far away Keith grabbed another plate of food, thanking Hunk, and returned to Lance.

He still hadn't touched the food but Keith was already halfway through his first plate, something with layers of cheese and a sweet red sauce. After a while Lance took a hesitant bite from his food.

The resulting moan didn't really match the tears in his eyes.

"Lance… um-"

"Shh." Lance shushed him.

How was he supposed to respond to that? Keith didn't really know what to do so he just kept eating. When he finished his second plate he felt like he had satisfied his hunger for a little bit longer. In the background Keith could hear Matt and Pidge talking excitedly about something, their footsteps growing closer.

Lance was fiddling with his fork, staring at his plate but not really looking at it.

"Hey guys!" Pidge said, pulling Lance from his thoughts.

"Hm?"

"I'm gonna show Matt around, want to come with?" Pidge gestured to Matt, a large smile on her face.

Keith looked at Lance, expecting him to answer. When he didn't say a word, Keith spoke up. "Actually, I think we're going to go to the healing pods for a while." A darkness flew across Pidge's eyes and she nodded her head once, then twice, before coming closer to throw her arms around Keith.

Keith hugged her back and she pulled away to wrap her arms around Lance. As she stepped back she spoke, "I'm so glad that you're okay."

Lance seemed to finally break from his trance and smiled. "Same goes to you, Pidgeon." He ruffled her hair and she shouted out in protest. "Hey, if you're showing Matt around that means that you'll swing by the kitchen, right?"

Pidge raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Good! Can you drop off our plates on your way there?" Lance held out his plate to her with a devilish grin. She narrowed her eyes at him and Keith was sure that she would refuse when Matt chimed in.

"Sure, why not." He grabbed the plate from Lance's outstretched hand and then took the two that Keith was holding. "You guys go get in the healing pods." Pidge seemed mildly annoyed at Matt, but she wasn't actually doing any work so she didn't say anything. She turned and led the way to the kitchen.

"Feel better!" Pidge yelled over her shoulder on her way out.

"I honestly thought we were going to have to go all the way to the kitchen to put those back." Lance said as he turned to Keith with a small smile. "You ready?" Keith nodded.

"You still want me to make those symbols?" He asked lowly. Lance worried his lip for half a moment before nodding.

"I'll get Coran to find something to block the pain when we get in there." Lance was already turning and walking (His limp was starting to return as the old medicine began to wear off) towards the door before he even finished his sentence.

Keith caught up and walked by his side. So… Lance was ready to do this.

But was Keith?

He shouldn't be having second thoughts about this right now. He had already promised that he would do this but… The thought of cutting Lance's skin just like the soldiers who had already caused him so much pain… it made his stomach turn.

He glanced over towards Lance. He held his shoulders straight and tall but the slight quiver of his lip told Keith that the projected confidence was false. He was just as nervous as Keith was, but he seemed dead set on following through.

Keith had no choice but to do this favor for Lance. For the Blue paladin of Voltron.

For his Kalan.

Lance's big blue eyes turned towards Keith and caught him staring. Keith averted his gaze, slightly embarrassed and started walking faster.

They walked the rest of the way in silence. When they arrived, Coran was waiting for them with two pods ready to go.

"Alright boys. Hop in and I'll set you up." Coran clicked a button on the panel before him and the two pods opened invitingly.

Lance took a step forward and put his hand on Coran's shoulder. "Coran… can I talk to you for a second." Lance leads him to the side and begins talking to him in a hushed voice. Keith doesn't bother listening in as he approached one of the pods, examining the place he would be stuck until he was healed.

"Are you sure?" Coran's voice echoes louder than he intended. Keith glances back and sees the concern ridden man reach out hesitantly and hover over Lance's shoulder. When Lance nods Coran sets his lips into a harsh line and gulps. "I'll… Go and…" He doesn't finish his sentence, just goes to get what Lance asked for.

Lance bites his lips for a moment before he takes a breath and walks to the opposite side of the room. He pushes his hand against the wall and a waist high platform as long as an average sized person slides out.

He places his hand against another spot on the wall and a large box extends outwards. Lance reaches into the box and procures a body suit that Keith remembered the others wearing when they were in the healing pods. He places it on the table and then grabs a second suit, placing it on top of the first.

Coran's footsteps pull Keith's attention away from Lance. In his arms he holds a small bowl, a rag, a scalpel, and a vial of clear liquid.

Keith takes a few quiet steps closer to Lance, heart beginning to pound painfully as he steeled himself for what was a about to come. He would do this for Lance.

"Are you doing this by yourself?" Coran asked Lance as he placed all of his things onto the edge of the table. Lance gave him a small smile.

"Keith is going to help me." Coran's eyes shot over to Keith who was standing a few feet away.

"I could help you, I have a bit of training in this-"

"Really Coran. It's okay." Lance gave him a quick hug and continued. "Would you mind waiting outside? I just don't want you to have to-"

"Don't worry son, call me back in when you are ready." Coran's gentle smile was haunted by a darkness that both of them could see. "Keith, wet the rag with the collep and dab it over where ever you need to numb the skin. It should reduce bleeding as well." Coran gave Keith a stern look as he said, "Be careful." And with that he turned and left the room.

"Ten cuidado," Lance muttered under his breath. Shuffling some of the items about.

"What?" Keith asked, ears flicking forwards. Lance furrowed his brows and narrowed his eyes.

"Could you hear that? I barely spoke."

"Yeah, I mean-" Keith gestured to the Galra ears atop his head. "Much more efficient than human ears."

"You've had super hearing this whole time and failed to tell any of us!" Lance scoffed in disbelief.

"Well I thought that you would have figured it out by now." Keith smirked. "What did you say though? I've heard you say those words before, I just don't know what they mean." Keith briefly recalled the time when Allura was piloting them towards the soon-to-be super nova and Lance had been saying his goodbyes. What were his exact words?

"Buena suerte, ten cuidado. That's what you said." Lance frowned, looking down at the space he had made on the table so that he could sit. Before he responded he removed his shirt and pushed himself up onto the table with his back facing Keith. His carvings took up all of Keith's vison and for a moment Keith's mind was elsewhere.

"It was something my mom used to tell me. I'm from Cuba and people there usually speak Spanish. But, the other paladins, they only speak English so that's what I usually use." Keith said nothing taking just a moment to let Lance's words sink in before he grabbed the vial of collep and poured it into the bowl. So, earth had many different languages then? Maybe the Galra language interpreter that Keith had only knew English.

"Anyways, it means good luck, be careful. It was just something… I don't know. I've always heard it and returned it. No one on the ship speaks any Spanish and I feel like…" Lance trailed off, his shoulders sinking and his hands gripping the edge of the table tightly. Keith dipped the rag into the collep and began to dab at Lance's left shoulder. Lance let out a quiet hiss, tensing before his shoulders slumped again.

"Sometimes it feels like, if I don't use it, I'll forget it. And… and I can't forget it. It's the same way that I'm afraid that I'm going to forget my family-" Lance's jaw shut with an audible click with the word family.

Keith couldn't imagine being stuck in space for so long without talking to Thace or Kolivan. Without them supporting his decisions or being by his side when he made them. In the time that they had believed Keith was dead and had no communication with him Keith had learned how much they mattered to him.

But here Lance was, stuck in space for so long without his family. Keith had never seen him call them or talk about them freely, so he assumed that he wasn't able to speak to them. Did they even know that he was out here in the first place?

Keith dabbed at his back a bit before he finally spoke up.

"If you wanted to, you could teach me some Spanish. That way you wouldn't forget and you could always have a bit of home with you. I'm not super patient or the especially good at learning that sort of thing, but I'd love to give it a try." Keith moved on to Lance's other shoulder as he waited for a response.

When one didn't come he set down the rag and called Lance's name.

"Thank you." Was all that Lance said, his voice heavy with emotion. "Thank you, Keith."

He knew he shouldn't, but Keith pushed at their bond, trying to dig into Lance's exact feelings and he found himself faced with immense relief and gratitude. It was too overwhelming to be in for too long so he forced himself out.

"Of course." Keith grabbed the scalpel. "Are you ready?" He asked. Lance reached up and tapped the skin on his shoulder and nodded.

"Can't feel a thing, do it."

So, he did.

He changed the symbols of useless, stupid, and annoying to those of starlight, gentleness, and Raegela. Keith felt as if Raegela, soul strength, fit Lance much more than the others.

"Done." Keith placed the red stained scalpel into the bowl of left over collep with a soft clink.

"Should I look?"

"Maybe you should wait until you get out of the healing pod." Lance nodded his head and pushed himself off of the table to stand.

"Guess we should get to it then." He shot Keith a blinding smile and tossed one of the healing pods suits at him.

And his heart melted just a bit more.

lol I forgot to post this here sorry