Everything hurt, pain ran through him in waves, spreading from the wound in his abdominal. The stretchy material had not been enough to protect him when the sentry had shot and he had jumped in front of his teammate, rival, friend without hesitation.
And now, Lance was dying.
He imagined his death many times before. Sometimes he was floating around in open space, waiting for his oxygen to deplete. Other times, he had died a death to ensure the downfall of the Galra Empire, died after defeating Zarkon himself. There were times where he had risked his life, traded his breath to protect his planet, his family. There were times where he died al alone.
But he had never imagined this, dying to save the boy with purple eyes and a bad temper.
In an instant, he was warm, held in someone's arm, the call for help echoing the empty space station. He could see those eyes again, eyes that appeared in his dreams, eyes that glared at him with determination. Eyes like the deepest depths of the universe itself. Eyes that blurred with tears now, begging and afraid. The rage was long gone like the sentry that lay on the ground motionless. Like the smell of the salty Varadero ocean and the green of the grass. Like the rest of his team, and Lance's chance to live. He could feel tears on cheeks, tears that weren't his. Tears like the cool of the waves and the rumbles in his mind. Blue was begging him to stay, to hold on longer. But he was so tired.
"K-keith, Keith…" that was his name, the name of the boy with purple eyes.
"Stay, PLEASE!" that was his voice, the voice of the boy with the bad temper.
"I'm s-sorry," Lance was so so sorry, "tell Blue that… she has to find a new one…"
"No, no. Lance, you're gonna be ok. HELP!"
"I so tired Keith…"
"Hold on, just a little longer. SHIRO, PIDGE!"
"Tell my family I died protecting the universe, m'kay?"
"Lance, Lance… ALLURA, COME IN!"
"W-when I say Vol.. you say?"
"Tron… Lance, LANCE!"
In all the months he'd known Keith, never had the boy looked so broken. Tears streaming down his face, voice raw with grief. He didn't like it, not one bit. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on his voice, not the cursing of their leader or his heavy footsteps through the comm. Not the choked pleas from their youngest paladin. Not his best friend's silent cries or the princesses urgent yet diplomatic directions. Just him, just Keith.
"Don't do this to me, Lance," his voice had lost its fighting spirit.
"Protect Earth, 'kay?"
"Uh-huh… a-and you'll be there with us too."
"Do you really believe that, Keith?"
"Of course!"
Lance smiled, waves of bitterness passed through his mind. For once, Keith was optimistic but so was he.
He just already accepted the truth.
"Well, you're wrong…"
"N-no, NO! You can't die on me, y-you're supposed to live. Please…"
One word.
"Why?"
"B-because…"
"Because?"
"W-we had a bonding moment… I cradled you in my arms!"
He chuckled.
"I know…"
He opened his eyes, focusing his eyes onto Keith, uttering words he had kept to himself.
"I remember…"
Sounds and sights failed him, everything was a blur. So this was what dying felt like. His chest constricted, his heart slowed down, at last. Too tight, too slow. His everything calmed, loosened. He could see how the sobbed shook through the boy with the purple eyes and bad temper. His purple eyes and bad temper.
He could hear the other paladins come closer now, he could hear their desperate voices. He could hear Pidge's high-pitched shrieking, Shiro's low muttering, Hunk's strangled cries. He could hear Keith as he teared up, hand still wrapped around his dying friend.
"Lance…"
"LANCE!"
"W-we've got you…"
"Omygod omygod omygod…"
"Don- g-go…"
"Where are… Blue lion…"
"No, no, no…."
"Who's gonna… our sharpshooter…"
"L-ance, ...ance"
"C'mon, Lan...ance."
"Holy sh-"
"Allur-... C-ome i-..."
"Hol- on…"
"He's pass- out."
"Too mu- blood"
"Stay, plea…"
"Wha- are… Shi-o?"
"ALLUR- a"
"LANCE"
"Lance"
"... Lance…"
Silence. And then one last voice reached out to him, trying to hold him back. It was the voice of the boy with purple eyes and bad temper. And it tried to stop him from falling into this darkness that is death.
"I love you!"
Lance smiled, letting his final words died on his lips as everything went numb and dark and quiet.
"Love you too, Mullet."
…
And that was the day, the Blue Paladin lost his smile. The day blue suddenly had a whole different meaning to Team Voltron. The day Coran lost the son he never had. The day Allura lost the brother she never knew she needed. The day Shiro lost another of his crew. The day Pidge lost the person who reminded her to get some sleep every now and again. The day Hunk lost his pillar of support. The day Keith lost what was meant to be, but never became.
It was the day the universe lost its Sharpshooter, the day Earth lost their first soldier. The day Blue lost her dear paladin, the day the Castle of Lion lost its resident flirt. The day the McClain family lost their youngest son.
It was the reason Coran refused to clean the pods, asking Pidge to instal the self-cleaning feature Lance had wished for all those months ago. It was the reason why Allura refused to take his armour when the Blue Lion opened her cockpit again, for the first time. It was the reason Shiro couldn't look Veronica in the eyes after they came back to Earth, he couldn't tell her he lost her baby brother. It was the reason Hunk would make garlic knots every single night, and his eyes would not stay dry. It was the reason Pidge hugged her family when they reunited but still sobbed and sobbed because Lance could never see his again. It was the reason Keith put his knife to James Griffin's throat when he had made fun of Keith's hair and no one dared stop him. Because no one was allowed to call him that after the name died on the blue paladin's tongue.
And his last words will haunt them to their graves…
"Love you too, Mullet."