Keith felt a cold breeze hit his cheek. The Galra standing in front of him was taller than he was, yet her features were gentle. Her eyes were so deep, swirling with emotions that Keith couldn't quite put his finger on.
Swallowing he quietly asked, "What did you want to say?"

Krolia gave a soft nod, "It's something I'm not sure how to say." she admits. She was a woman of action, not emotion. Things like this were always difficult. How she managed to ever convey anything to Keith's Father, she had no idea. He just understood, even if she didn't say it.

She had a feeling though it wasn't going to be that easy with Keith. Not after all these years.

So to prepare, she had rehearsed this in her head so many times. Each speech changed after the next. Now that she was here, she was speechless.

Her, the unflinching Blade, shaking in her boots.

"Keith…" How could she explain? There was so much to say and so much time lost. Suddenly, all she could think about was her husband and her little baby, tucked safely in her arms. The small house in the country away from the rest of the world.

She felt so alive there. Never knowing joy until that strange human saved her from her ship.

Now standing as a man, looking so much like his Father, was her son. The Hero.

Taking a deep breath, she began her tale. "Over 20 years ago, I was scouting near a planet called "Earth"."

Keith's attention was caught, eyeing her carefully. "Earth…?"

"As a Blade, it was my job to ensure none of the Lions fell into Zarkon's hands. In an attempt to ensure that, I cut off communications with my acting officer and the Blade. It was the only thing I could do before anyone could report the Blue lion. Yet this resulted in me crash landing. I was stranded there for a long time." She waited for Keith to ask questions, and when he didn't, only stared at her, she continued. "I was lucky and rescued by a man in the middle of nowhere. He helped me, saved me… And in turn, I fell in love with him."

Keith slowly sat on the bench behind him, the blood leaving his face. He exhaled deeply, silent.

"I stayed with him for a long time, guarding the Blue Lion with him from any other Galra that would stumble upon the planet. Just as I feared, they attacked, injuring my husband. Nearly killed him. I knew then I needed to leave, to make sure no harm came to him… Or my son, ever again. To do that I had to report back to the Blade, and ensure the Galra empire would never go near earth ever again. And I managed to do that. For the next 20 years the Galra never approached Earth. Yet, my Son seems to have followed me into Space."

Keith hunched forward, burying his face against his palms. "What was your Son's name?"

Krolia slowly sat beside him, looking up to the stars, "I wanted to name him Yorak, but his Father thought Keith sounded better. I thought it fit him perfectly."

There was a shudder through Keith's shoulders. When he spoke next it was broken and crackly. "Are you trying to tell me what I think you're telling me…?"

Krolia attempted to keep her face neutral, her only shield to the storm of emotions going on within her chest. "Yes." she answers. "I left you with a blade; my blade. And somehow, though I tried to keep space from you, you came out to space instead. "

Keith erupted with a yell, voice tight.

"Where have you been this whole time? H-How did you- I mean, how are you here? Why Didn't Dad tell me you were an alien? He hardly spoke of you…!"

Krolia glanced away, "Well, I suppose he wouldn't have told you. It must have been hard to talk about an alien mother caught in a universal war…"

Keith bit his lip, "I.. yeah, you might be right about that. He probably wanted to wait till I was older." A cold thought hit him, wondering if his Mom- If Krolia was aware of what happened to him.

Krolia cleared her throat, "I'm not excusing the fact that I left you. I just wanted you to know why, and to know who I was. For you to know I've never stopped loving you, and I'm proud of the man you've become. The Hero of the universe." she smiles.

Keith turned his head slowly, those deep eyes he admired before suddenly looking at him and only him.

Realizing that emotion he couldn't' quite place before, was for him. Soft, and gentle, yet also desperate.

It reminded him of himself, searching for anyone to understand and accept him. To love him.

Then he found Lance.

"You're telling me the truth."

Krolia nods, "Every bit of it."

"This.. This is a lot." he shakes his head.

Krolia gives a similar shake of her head, "It is." She tilts her head to the distance, watching the Castle of Lions. "Can I ask how you ended up here?"

Her son gave a little shrug of his shoulders, "It's a long story."

"I'm not going anywhere." her words startled him. "If you're okay with it, I'd like to be part of your life. I know it might be too late but if there is even a chance…" she trails off. "I would be honored to even be part of a small moment of your life."

Keith face tightened, emotions making his lips curl. He looked away, worried he wouldn't be able to stay strong. "I was… I was looking for you. I wanted to find you." he says weakly. "So much was going on so I couldn't look for long, and the Blades never gave any information."

"They are always terrible about that." she agreed, frowning. "I've been on a long mission and wasn't made aware that you had been located. But…"

"Wait, you knew I went missing?" Keith asked.

Krolia sighs, "More than that. I'm sorry Keith, I knew you were a paladin. I knew for well around a year. The mission I mentioned before, I've been on board with it for three years now. Even when I learned you had ventured out to space, I didn't come see you. I'm sure I could have made it work somehow, but I didn't. I'm sorry." she bowed her head, voice tight.

Waiting for Keith's rage, for him to walk away, instead he asked, "Would it have risked the mission if you came to see me?"
Krolia freezes, "I suppose it could have…"

"Would it have risked your life?"

She didn't respond, but her silence was louder than words.

"You could have died if you tried to see me." Keith concludes. He gave a small little nod, "Than this is better."

She rose from her spot, her chest, "Better?"

"I would much rather have met you when things were safer than you to risk your own life. If you had died I never would have gotten the chance to see you right. So this is better." He shakes his head, "This is all still a lot. But, thank you for coming to see me. Approaching me."

Krolia opened then closed her mouth.

She didn't know how she expected to feel.

Relieved? Happy?

It was awkward for sure, so much unknown waters between them.

Yet he wasn't pushing her away. There was hope.

Her lip quivered, "Thank you, Keith."

His soft eyes meet hers and there is a fragment of a smile. "I look a lot like you."

"You have your father's hair and eyes though." she adds.

Keith's smile faltered. Pain echoed behind his eyes and he spoke, "M...Mom." he tests out the name. "About Dad…"

Krolia lifts her hand to cut him off. No. No she didn't want to talk about it.

Whether Keith realized or not, she knew.

She already knew.

The Chosen bond had almost killed her when she first left her husband.

It was only through quintessence injections that she managed to keep going. The toll on her body was something she could never recover from.

And then, when Keith was around eight years old, she had felt it.

His passing.

The pain had left her, only to be replaced by a much harder weight.

Emotions like Joy hardly crossed her mind anymore.

Only the hope of seeing Keith again gave her any ounce of will to keep going.

"You're mate." she speaks quickly, not wanting to discuss Keith's father at this point in time. "The Blue paladin."

Keith's eyes widen, "O-Oh. You know about him?"

"Yes." she nods, "I actually wanted to apologize for what I said when I first approached the Blue paladin. I meant to approach you first and introduce myself the right way, not put in my two cents to your relationship."

Keith blinked, "What?" he asked. "What are you talking about?"

"My talk with the blue paladin, your mate. L-Lovely boy, by the way." she added quickly. "He cares deeply for you. Nearly chewed off my ear in anger. He had every right too."

Keith was still at a loss, "You meet Lance? When?"

It was Krolia's turn to look puzzled, "A few days ago." she answered "Perhaps two or three by now? Hard to keep track. I approached him on the matter of your courtship to him. W-Which was wrong of me." she cleared her throat.

"Did Lance know who you were…?"

"Yes, I told him my name. He actually figured out for himself that I was your Mother." Krolia says, smiling. "It surprised me how quickly he caught on. Clever boy and an excellent fighter. I wouldn't want anyone less for you." she lathered on the praise, feeling terribly guilty for how she handled the situation with Lance.

Keith was tongue tied. "Hold on. Hold on. He met you? But didn't tell me?"

Krolia's expression changed, pursing her lips. An expression Keith often made himself when he realized something wasn't right or that someone else was in deep trouble. "Oh… I thought he would have." she says slowly. "I- Well, I did approach him rather suddenly, and the conversation didn't end in the best way." she was defending him.

For all purposes she was defending the Blue paladin as quickly as she could because her son looked ready to Kill the next thing he saw.

"All the more reason to tell me! Especially when he knew I was looking for you!" Not that he had really delved into the search quite yet with everything going on, but it would have been great to know that he didn't even need to bother searching.

Krolia was at a loss for words, realizing that she might as well have been holding the shovel for the Blue Paladin's grave. "He… You two have been through a lot, perhaps he didn't have time to tell you."

"He has had plenty of time to tell me!" Keith's face burned red, just thinking of the multiple moments they could have spoken. Before bed, when they woke up. When they were eating, training, talking… Or even during the love making!

He could have brought it up during any of those! Though, yeah, it would have been awkward had Lance chosen to do it during their time in bed, but there was plenty of time otherwise!

"He's dead!" Keith turned around before Krolia could even form a coherent sentence, storming back to the castle in a mad fit of rage.

Krolia smacked her forehead in frustration. Once again, she felt as if she messed up big. First with the Blue paladin and well, now a second time with the Blue Paladin. She was certain he would have told Keith of their meeting. That he would have told Keith she was horrible and was gone from his life for so long just to come back and try to tell him how to live it.

Yet he hadn't…?

Hadn't even mentioned he saw her?

Either Lance had a very short memory, didn't have time to tell Keith, or just didn't want them meeting.

Or, perhaps, and this might be wishful thinking, maybe he did it to protect them both. To give her a chance to meet Keith the right way. The way she had wanted for so long now, and to start new without any arguments or bad memories staining the reunion.

She would never know unless she asked him herself. Yet she worried she might not see the Blue paladin ever again once her son gets his hands on him.

"It was a dirty move." Pidge insisted.

"I think someone is just a sore loser." Lance replied, cracking his knuckles. He stared down at Pidge, who was sprawled out on the training floor and glaring at the ceiling.

"I am sore!" Pidge screeched, "You tossed me over your shoulder like a bag of potatoes." She pointed at him, accusingly.

"Honestly, a bag of potatoes probably would have been heavier." Lance teased. He reached down to give her a hand up, only for his knees to give out when the green paladin gave a sharp jab at them.

Falling back he yelled, "Now that was dirty!"

Smacking at each other, the growl of the stomachs was enough reason to call a cease fire.

They had been getting some good training in as of late. Lance had never trained this well with the others before Keith and him got sent to Iespion.

"Good work today." he praised her.

Pidge gave a tilt of her head, "Well I wasn't just slacking off while Keith and you were on your vacation."

"I hardly call what Keith and I went through a vacation." he rolls his eyes. "Well… at least not at the beginning. Maybe towards the end. After the Galar attack. It was a lot of on and off."

"Vacation." she nods. Turning down the hall to the kitchen, the two pause. It was the strangest sight they had ever seen.

Shiro was guiding a handcuffed Lotor and his crew down the hall, Kolivan and Relo taking up the rear.

"Where is he going?" Lance asked, frowning at Lotor.

"To talk to the Coalition." Pidge answered. "I guess we're going to attempt… "trusting" him." she sighs. "Hunk is actually working with Coran on these special cuffs. It'll let Lotor and his team walk free without us needing to constantly guard him. But, it'll keep him from using any technology, weapons, or leaving the planet."

"Sounds complicated."

"Nah. I'll even show you how they work." she nudged him. Pidge? Wanting to explain technology to him?

Things had changed.

A lot of changes.

Pidge and him just felt closer in general. Before there was this large wall that separated them. He had felt like she had no interest in him at all.

Yet now, whenever it was time to train, she came running to him.

They could talk and laugh and joke.

She reminded him a lot of his siblings.

"Okay, anyway. Back to the plan. We'll have a quick lunch, then you're coming down to the labs with me. You gotta see what I've been working on." she grinned, grabbing a plate from the kitchen.

"Oh? What is it?" he asked.

"I dare say it's my best invention thus far." she smirked smugly. "And it'll really help the ship's defenses."

"Sounds great, Pidge-"

"Lance!"

Lance nearly dropped his plate, turning abruptly. Keith was back and storming through the hall angrily, in search of him.

"You do something to piss him off?" Pidge inquired casually

"I- No." he paused to rethink it. "I-I don't think so?"

"If you don't think so, then you probably did." Pidge pushed up her glasses.

" Lance you get your ass out here right now!"

At Keith's angered call, Pidge collected her stuff, "And that is my cue to leave. Goodluck my friend." she scrambled the opposite way, leaving Lance to his fate.

"Don't leave me." He mouthed, pleading.

Honestly, he felt terrified. Keith and him had never really argued before. No, that was a lie, they have argued since getting together.

But those were petty arguments. Lance upset Keith was being reckless, Keith upset because he was also being reckless. Common things between them, but this was the first time Keith was coming towards him pissed and Lance didn't know what the issue was.

"H-Hey, babe." Lance gave a nervous smile when Keith rounded the corner. He wondered if that was the first time he had ever called Keith that before. It was hard to tell since Keith didn't react to it, only quickening his pace.

His slender fingers were wrapping around the collar of Lance's shirt and pushing him back against the table with a growl.

It was hot, but Lance knew better then to say that out loud.

"You've got a lot of explaining to do McClain."

McClain? Shoot, he really had done something to piss Keith off. So he should begin explaining himself, but the problem, once again. is that he had no clue what the issue is.

"Um…" he swallowed, prepared this time for the anger he knew he was about to receive. "E-Explain what?"

The animosity in Keith's eyes flared to life, his fist tightening, "While I was out I ran into someone." He seethed.

"...Oh?"

"She was nice. Friendly. And then, she said the strangest thing."

Lance pursed his lips, feeling sweat already accumulating on his brow. "Okay…?"

"She said her name was Krolia."

Oh no

" And that she was my Mother."

The blood was draining from Lance's face, leaving him feeling numb and cold. Shit.

Shit shit shit.

He was kicking himself in the can now. He knew he should have brought this up to Keith first to avoid any anger towards him, but it had just been so hard to do that! Especially with how much Keith had been struggling already.

And Lance wanted Keith's meeting with his Mother to be… special? Or at least better than what had happened between her and himself.

But that still doesn't change that it probably would have been better for Keith to hear about this from him rather than someone else.

Keith's voice was livid, "She said she met you a few days ago. How crazy is that?"

Lance lowered his gaze, "Keith… "

It was confirmation enough for Keith to understand. "You knew." He accused.

The blue paladin offered a small nod, "I did."

"You knew!" Keith shoved Lance to propel himself away from his equivalent, turning to pace a few steps side to side.

"Keith-"

"How could you not tell me?" Keith demanded, using all his will power not to show the hurt he felt. In a way he felt betrayed, but more than anything, he just felt confused. Why would lance keep this from him? Why? The more he asked that question in his brain the worse his anger rose, drowning out any other emotions or thoughts.

"Keith I wanted to…! I was going to, I promise! I just didn't know how to say it with everything going on…" Lance pleaded weakly.

"You knew I was looking for her! You knew how important it was to me that I find her!"

Lance flinched a little, nodding, "I know… I know that. I- I can't even begin to explain what was going on in my head. She just showed up so suddenly and- and I argued with her. Right when you fainted and I just- I didn't know if telling you might make it worse-"

"Bullshit! You just weren't thinking! Don't decide what I can or cannot handle!"

'I-I didn't mean it that way..!" Lance disagreed. "Keith you were bed ridden!"

"So? You think me laying in bed would stop us from having a conversation? It sure didn't stop us from having sex…!"

Lance glanced around, motioning for Keith to lower his voice. That was embarrassing… "Keith, shh-"

"Don't SHHH me!" He barked.

Lance held his hands up in surrender, "Okay. Okay…!" He tried to speak calmly, to ignore the shaking he felt in his legs. "Keith, I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry. I didn't mean for this to drag out. At first I just wanted to gather my thoughts about it. I should have just told you straight out. The more I held off the harder it became to tell you."

"You think that makes it any better? What if I didn't tell you about your parents? Or family?"

"Keith-"

"Fuck you, McClain!" Keith lifted his hand and turned away. He made a noise of frustration, running a hand through his hair before saying through gritted teeth, "You're right about one thing. Too many things have been going on." he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm in no mood to deal with any of it."

"I'm sorry…"

Keith's head jerked towards him with a dark and warning look, "Stop talking. Don't talk to me. I just- I need some space. I need to think things through." With that, he turned and left before Lance could stop him.

Lance stepped to follow, his hand hanging in the air. Unable to move any further, he lowered his hand, cursing at the ground.

WHOOP! I"M BACK!

And with terrible terrible angst XD