It's OK

by DeetsViBre

Lance is not OK. He needs to reach out to his teammates for help, but hes afraid. Rewriting yourself cost something, a deep pain with every edit. When Keith walks in on Hunk and Lance talking late into the night, things begin to change. Space is dangerous. (written during season 3, canon divergent after that) COMPLETE!

7. Red words, Blue thoughts

AN-So here we are... I'm back, time has lost meaning, most everything in the world is terrible... but I have finished this story. I have three final chapters (including this one). The next one only needs a final edit (don't expect no errors, my editing is terrible), and the final chapter has probably a page left to write plus editing. So I expect this story will be done in the next two or three weeks (maybe a month).

To all the peeps that stuck around and reread this fic, thank you. All you new peeps... HELLO!

Part7- Red words, Blue thoughts

Grudgingly, Lance sat at the kitchen table in the Castle. He traced the copper wires cutting up the white walls and avoided Keith's eyes. Despite his irritation, he kept Keith close with an arm over the back of his chair. Bitter dread coated the back of Lance's throat, twisting his lips into a frown. Lance had wanted to enclose himself in a tiny ball of shame and regret in his bedroom, but Keith refused to indulge his self pity and dragged him here, literally. Now Lance waited for the awkward breakfast he would have to endure.

Except it never came.

One by one the team wandered into the Castle's kitchen and greeted Lance completely normally… for the most part. Hunk smiled warmly. He looked tired, but happy. Under the dark circles of their long day and late night there was a looseness that hadn't been there before. He sat across from Lance and Keith, glanced at the lack of space between the two and smiled wider.

Pidge glowered, still salty about not bonding with them, but otherwise behaved as usual. "You look like a nerd," they informed Lance and plopped down next to him. Lance side eyed Keith with vindication, but the response was an appreciative glance with a zing of attraction. Maybe he would wear this more often.

Shiro eyed the arm Lance had draped over the back of Keith's chair, but didn't comment on it. He followed that up with a stiff and stammered morning greeting to Keith, and for the first time in months, Keith returned it, awkwardly.

Coran entered with an abundance of energy and treated everyone to a jolly morning salutation that reeked of overcompensation, but with good intentions.

And then there was Allura… she seemed to have recovered from the emotional trials of the previous day. Now, she stared at Lance and Keith like they were the cutest thing she had encountered in the entire universe... and Lance wasn't sure how he felt about that. He pulled at the high collar of his shirt, nervously trying to loosen the hold it had on his neck.

Lance was pleasantly surprised by his team's silent support. Slowly, he settled into breakfast, allowing the food goo to wash away the bitter taste of dread.

When Lance had first woken up that morning he'd floated in a hazy state of peace and dreams courtesy of the still sleeping Keith. The warm weight of his boyfriend was draped over his chest and his body ached in a pleasant way that enticed him to stretch his long limbs like a cat. He had trailed his fingers up and down Keith's back and stopped to rub the still growing velvety patch.

Then he had remembered, and the peaceful haze was split open by the harsh reality of their failed mission and the conversation afterward. The anxiety had been so bright and sharp, that it cut through Keith's sleep and jolted him awake.

After that Lance had tried everything he could think of to avoid leaving their room. "I can't go out, I don't have a clean shirt that covers your love bites," he whined..

Keith's response had been instant. He rolled off the bed, reached into a random pile of clothes and pulled out a sleeveless blue turtleneck. "How about this?" he suggested.

"Absolutely not, I'll look like a nerd," Lance complained, ignoring Keith's mental prodding.

Keith looked at the sweater and then back at Lance. "You made this," he countered, and threw the turtleneck at Lance as if that closed the argument.

But Lance hadn't given up, he fought all the way through the dressing process, repeatedly trying and failing to seduce Keith back to bed. "Babe, baby, Rojo, come here, let me love you!" He cooed in a final desperate attempt, running his hands up Keith's chest and over his shoulders, leaning in for a kiss.

Keith stopped him with a hand over his face. "You know I can hear your thoughts, I know what you're doing," he grumbled, unamused.

Lance tried to dodge around Keith's hand to kiss him. "Stop being irritated, I'm trying to love you."

Keith yanked himself out of Lance's arms and grabbed his wrist. "You don't need to try, you already love me," he corrected while dragging Lance towards the door.

Lance struggled and pulled, reaching for the edge of the bed. "Noooo!" he protested as Keith jumped forward and snatched his outstretched arm, pulling him by both wrists.

"You can't stay in here forever, Lance!" Keith yelled as their tug-of-war turned into a grappling match.

Lance had tried his best, but close range was Keith's domain. He twisted and turned, tumbled and rolled, but somehow ended up in a Full Nelson with Keith dragging him backwards. "Keith, NO! Don't make me go!" he begged loudly, digging his heels in, but the tile floor offered no traction.

He only had one choice.

Keith froze. The edge of Lance's intentions giving away his next move. "Lance, don't," he warned.

"Too late!" Lance declared and then went boneless, letting his entire body become dead weight.

Keith grunted, straining to hold Lance up while slowly dragging him towards the door.

It had been a slow process. Keith ended up dropping Lance in order to pull him by one arm while Lance grabbed at every passing object and death-rolling like a crocodile. Inevitably, Lance had lost, because no one could out stubborn Keith Kogane.

Now, he was tugging at the collar of his turtleneck and avoiding Allura's sparkling eyes. Her head was propped up on her hands with her elbows on the table. The large sleeves of her pink sweater slid down her forearms and her smiling face was topped with a messy bun. Other than the Princess's new interest everything had turned out fine.

Keith was quietly rubbing it in…

Lance ignored the smug little flames that trailed down the bond as the conversation began to flow.

"You two are so cute!"

"Uh… thanks?"

"So, Keith, do you just have fangs now? Forever?"

"I guess so? I don't really know."

"I have some files in the archives about other Galra hybrids if you want to read them?"

"Yeah, that would be great, Coran."

"What about Lance?"

"What about me?"

"Are you turning Altean?"

"Keith said my eyes look different."

"Really?!"

"Personal space, Allura!"

"A little territorial, aren't you?"

It was nothing groundbreaking, perfectly ordinary, but Lance basked in it like a lizard in the sun. It felt like a dip in time that they all rolled back into and pooled, back to when things were alright. Maybe they were healing and when it was over they would be better than before. Shiro and Keith were a bit stiff, Hunk was exhausted, Pidge was a little put out, and Allura was leaning close, staring again… but it was progress.

Lance let go. He fully released the tight line that had run from the top of his head, down to his toes. It was an unconscious tightening of his frame, preparing for retreat, but now he could relax.

"Well," Hunk chirped, startling everyone. "we should probably figure out plan B," he suggested, clapping his hands together with zeal.

Allura blinked and sat back in her seat, an appropriate distance from Lance's face. Her cheeks flushed and she looked off to the side, embarrassed. "Yes, of course," she agreed, clearing her throat in a professional manner.

Pidge pinched the bridge of their nose, pushing their glasses up. They sighed a long and silent breath through their nose. "Plan B, right…" they lamented. Their energy was low, likely discouraged by yesterday's failure. "Technically it's plan C…" they muttered snidely under their breath.

"Yes! Plan B," Hunk went on enthusiastically. "I suggest a good old fashioned infiltrate and retrieve, we've done it dozens of times," he suggested, but the response was underwhelming. Undeterred Hunk pressed onward. "No undercover," he pointed at Keith with a goo filled spoon, dribbling some on the table. "Or seducing," he continued, wiggling the spoon and almost hitting Keith with goo. "And absolutely no shooting guns into populated areas," he chastised, directing his empty spoon at Lance accusingly.

Lance shrugged, unapologetic. He didn't regret a thing since Keith came out safe and sound. "sure, buddy," he placated, then side eyed Keith. "And no bond blocking," he added.

"AND no throwing radio's away," Shiro chimed in with his disappointed dad voice.

Lance ducked his head a little, almost by reflex, but didn't argue. That was something he did feel a bit guilty about. If he had been one of the people back at the ship he would have freaked out when the communication suddenly went down. When it came to Keith, Lance didn't always make the most rational choices.

"No," Coran's objection was deep and unbending. It dropped into the room like a stone, sending a ripple through the team. "I can't see anyone else die," he confided.

"Coran…" Allura whispered.

Coran shook his head. "Listen, we don't know exactly where Vii's base is, and no one survives Yeppeo Six. I refuse to send any of you to your death!" He stood up as he finished, shedding the last of his jovial front.

Allura jumped to her feet and took a hesitant half step towards Coran. She looked worried, but the set of her shoulders was firm. "Coran, we have to think about the war, the universe is at sta-"

"To QUIZNAK with the universe!" Coran yelled, slapping his open palm on the table and turning to face Allura. He pushed back with desperate eyes, a glare sharpened by loss. "I would rather be stranded here and abandon the war, than see any of my family go to certain death," he said with confidence, looking at each member of his family one by one. "There is a difference between taking a risk and throwing your life away."

Corans' heavy words landed on Allura's shoulders and pressed her back down into her seat. Across the table Shiro wasn't burdened, but instead uplifted. The slow scrape of his chair on the floor cut through the thick silence as he stood up and walked around the table. "You're right," he agreed, and Coran smiled gratefully.

CRACK!

The sharp sound of wood on metal snapped the warm moment in two. "What are you idiots talking about? People don't die from just entering Yeppeo six!" Dam-Saeg barked from the doorway with her cane still resting against the wall she had smacked. Her gaze slid around the room and she sneered at each of them as if they were imbeciles, until her gaze landed on Lance and Keith. She smirked at them, amused. "That was a rumor Vii started, the sadistic, perverted, Doro-ni that he is. He killed every one of the Zuko he sent there." She focused her sharp eyes solely on Keith. "You should have killed him," she said, and then glanced at Lance, "and you should have let him."

There was no pleasure in her words. Saeg didn't revel in the idea of her rival's death, but she obviously longed for it, despite the mournful waver that blurred the end of her words. To Lance it sounded like she wanted him put down, like an old dog put out of his misery.

Saeg sauntered into the room the best she could with her cane. "I heard what happened yesterday. All my little Yep-nari were buzzing about it." She took the seat Shiro had vacated earlier and hung her cane on the arm of the chair, owning the room. "Everyone's been whispering about the Galra-Yep-nari that was drugged by Vii and then kidnapped by a dirty Zuko," she waxed dramatically, waving her hand in Lance's general direction.

"How-" Lance tried to ask, but was cut short.

"One of the Dan-iro thugs Vii hired was still alive," Saeg supplied, anticipating his question.

Lance slid forward in his seat. "The one Keith-"

Saeg scoffed as if he was being ridiculous, interrupting again. "No, that one's very, very dead. The one you shot managed to survive."

An awful wave of disgust polluted Lance's mind. Keith hadn't thought of the yellow thug since he'd strangled him. He had been drugged and everything had gone so fast. Lance had no regrets, he would have killed them all, including Vii, to save Keith. But the acrid shame that sloshed around the bond told a different story about Keith. He wasn't guilty, but he was ashamed of how he had done it, how he had enjoyed it. Lance grabbed Keith's hand and soothed him the best he could. He had been drugged, it wasn't his fault, and he let Keith feel it.

Coran was still standing and used his height to tower over Saeg, but the small old lady didn't bend. "You seem like you have a question, old man," she acknowledged his looming presence with little concern.

"How can you be sure that Yeppeo Six doesn't kill people?" he asked, dead serious.

Saeg lifted her shoulders and rolled them back, taking her time. She was controlling the pace of the conversation. Lance rolled his eyes, Saeg never did this when they were alone, it was a power move purely for show.

With a final roll Saeg dropped her shoulders. "I was born there," she answered simply, and in the moment of silent shock that followed, she added, "and so was Vii."

"You knew this entire time and you couldn't have just told us?" Lance snapped. Saeg had slapped him down whenever he'd mentioned Vii's name, and because of that they went through that entire catastrophe of a mission yesterday.

Saeg's response wasn't particularly loud, but the small hum of acknowledgement she offered was piercing. It was the sound Lance would make when Hunk tried to pry something painful out of him.

Saeg took her cane off the arm of her chair and placed it between her knees. She gripped it with both hands as if it would anchor her, and looked at the floor. "Yeppeo Six became isolated by happenstance, and then later by choice," she started, this time skipping the formalities and power moves. "The Great Suppression began in Yeppeo Six. The force of its power is so strong in Six that even electricity doesn't run, but that doesn't matter." She lifted her head and found Lance's face, finally answering his question. "What matters is that the people of Yeppeo six are fanatics that isolate themselves. I left behind everything and prefer not to think about it." Her words were dense and Lance found it hard to move as she continued speaking. "I left because the people there remain the same, always. Even when it's a detriment to themselves they continue to stagnate, because the only alternative is change, which they reject because of fear."

It was simple and understandable, but it was also vague. "You left everything?" Lance asked.

Saeg clenched her hands around the cane handle, her knuckles were white against her pink skin. "I left my family," she admitted, and took a breath before expanding. "I left my daughter, and my grandson... named Vii." She ignored their shocked expressions and waylaid their responses. "You." she looked at Coran, "refuse to leave your family behind. I respect that, so I'll help you. Plus, I will finally get all you troublemaking imbeciles off my planet," she barked, falling into her crotchety old lady persona, detering any pity or judgment.

"Then tell us what we need to know about Yeppeo Six," Shrio insisted. He was comfortable brushing off Saeg's sad story, their relationship had always been... strained.

Saeg pressed her lips into an irritated line and glared for good measure, but she answered. "Walking into Yeppeo six is like walking into another world. Electricity doesn't run outside of living matter, and whatever trace amount of quintessence is left on this planet is non-existent in that place. The people are primitive, devoted to their way of life, and worship the origin point of the suppression," she explained, grudgingly.

"Do you know where Vii's hideout is?" Keith pushed. He was anxious for a second chance, it was clear on his face and itchy under Lance's skin.

Saeg rubbed the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut. She screamed reluctance with her body, but sighed and muttered, "Yes, there's only one village and he has to be near it for supplies."

"Alright team, we have another shot. Let's get organized!" Shiro jumped in enthusiastically. Since crashing on this planet his experience had been the worst, and Lance could practically feel his desire to get off this rock.

"I'm going on this mission," Keith volunteered.

"Me too," Lance joined him.

"Wait," Pidge put their hands up, trying to slow the conversation. "We have no way to monitor any of this!" they fretted.

"Maybe we should all go, " Allura suggested, glancing at Coran.

SMACK!

Saeg slapped her cane flat on the table, shutting everyone up. "There are two rules you must follow if you are going to do this!" she snapped. Her eyes slid across their faces, narrowed with unease.

Everyone sat up straight or ducked their heads, even Shiro.

Saeg nodded in approval. "Rule one, DO NOT touch the barrier."

Hunk peaked from under his bangs. His mouth was opening to ask the obvious question.

"You will know it when you see it." Saeg shut him down and moved on. "Rule two, DO NOT speak to a Seon-shi. Actually, to be safe, don't speak to anyone." She pointed at Keith and Lance. "Especially you two."

Pidge shot up from their chair looking as frustrated as Lance felt. "What the hell is a Seon-shi? Why doesn't anyone explain these things to us?!" They snapped.

"It's better if you don't know, removes temptation," Saeg warned, radiating tension.

But Pidge wasn't satisfied. "But what does any of that me-"

Saeg's glare cut their argument short like a sharp slap to the face. "Do you want my help or not?" She snapped.

Pidge leaned away a little, nodding.

When no one yelled, or smacked the table, or revealed more shocking truths, the planning commenced with a reluctant Dam-Saeg.

Lance reveled in the chance to do something productive and ordinary, well... ordinary for Voltron. This was the type of mission they knew how to do and Lance had the type of mind that wanted to organize it. "So, here's how I think we pull this off," he began.

They would set the operation in motion tomorrow.

oOoOo

It was Lance reflected in the mirror. A Lance with hair growing out of control, curling around his ears and out from the bundle of his hair clip. A Lance with piercings he never thought he'd get because he was too afraid. He tapped the metal ball of his labret piercing and remembered how his Uncle used to threaten him, "If I see a piercing on you I'll rip it out while you sleep," Lance whispered to his reflection. He had never tested the truth of those words while on Earth.

Lance's skin was dry and neglected; he had been successfully avoiding the long bathroom hours. He was afraid that he would lose himself to his insecurities if we went back to old habits, but there was an uncomfortable heat just under his skin and a tightening band around his chest. Slowly, Lance reached for a face cream and started replenishing his skin, blending his pores, and wiping away his anxious lines.

Unease chewed its way into his heart and he tried to resolve his worry by displacing it. Don't worry about the plan B mission, fix your dry skin. Don't think about the crumbling cast system of this planet, focus on smiling right. Lance sighed, big and empty, and put the cream jar down.

If everything went right they were going to leave this planet. Lance would never have to put up with the chrome of Yeppeo One, or the copper of Yeppeo Two bullshit again. He would leave behind the comforting rust of Yeppeo Five, but escape the structured society he had been molded into... just like Earth.

Lance had saved planets, rescued them from the Galra, or riled them up during Voltron rallies, and then left thinking everything was fixed. But his time on Yeppeuda showed him the truth, that Voltron only fixed the immediate problems. Now, Lance might be leaving this planet and it will be just as broken as when he found it.

A part of him didn't want to go through with it, Yeppeuda might be a hell hole, but it's where he began to heal. Plus the Plan B mission was more of a crap shoot than anyone wanted to admit. Lance didn't want to delve into the mystery and dirt of Yeppeo Six anymore than he had wanted to climb the inscrutable, white buildings of Yeppeo One. If they fail, someone might die, and if they triumph they would leave a broken world to go back to a war that broke the universe, and someone still might die… On top of that they could end up killing Saeg's grandson. No matter how much she played up not caring, Lance knew better.

With a huff he washed his face and started again. He let the repetition of his actions close his mind, and lull him into the beginnings of mediation. His surroundings dimmed as the floor began to crumble into soft sand...

First the cleanser.

Thunder rumbled in the distance. Lance could smell it in the air...

Then the moisturizer.

He heard the rain before he saw the gray sheet behind him in the mirror...

Then the smoothing cre-

"Ace." One of Keith's arms slipped through the curtain of rain and snaked around Lance's waist as he rested his chin on Lance's shoulder. The other arm reached up and took the cream jar from Lance's hand and placed it on the sinks edge. "Come back."

Lance wasn't startled, they could hardly surprise each other anymore. He smiled as fire cut through his meditative state and softened the bands around his lungs. The warm embrace soothed the itch under his skin, replacing it with Keith's red affection. "Time for bed," Keith whispered, not commenting on Lance's small relapse.

"Yeah."

The jar remained on the sink 's edge and Lance left the bathroom.

oOoOo

Sometimes the ideology of a population can be reflected in their structures as an unintentional monument to themselves, about themselves. The unconscious desire for "good enough" and the fanatical belief in "never enough" clash and take form. Lance was looking up at that phenomenon. Whims and faith, practically and theurgy, overlapped.

The wall around Yeppeo Six was impressive. Dominating and chaotic, made of scrap and sentiment. It could be seen from every Yeppeo like a distant warning. The center of a dying flower. For miles around the wall there was nothing but empty buildings; it was abandoned on one side, but growing on the other. The foundation was ancient stone that flowed up into younger and younger layers of semi organized scrap metal, until it came to an abrupt end. As if its builders had just vanished and left behind deserted barracks and empty towns like dead petals. But the wall didn't stop building. It continued from the inside as uneven, weaving, heaps of wood and clay that reached up far past the metal. It was speckled with random objects, crude wooden effigies, scraps of paper, strange circular ornaments made of string and sticks that were hung, and tired, and glued with mud and straw, all stacked by age like sediment. They begged for purpose the same way Lance strived for contentment.

Keith's hand grabbed Lance's as they stood on an abandoned dirt road looking up at the wall. Even from this distance they could feel it, the suppression was palpable. If Lance hadn't known what caused this sensation he might have thought he was feeling something profound, the way he imagined he was meant to feel in church.

"I think that's everything," Pidge stopped on Keith's other side. Their arms were filled with small packs made of patchwork fabric. They handed one to Lance and another to Keith. It was Hunk's idea, an emergency kit for all of them. It contained first aid, food and water, to give them a fighting chance if they got separated.

None of them had been this close to the wall before. The vast jungle of vacant houses of varying ages was foreboding, as well as the scattered symbols painted everywhere and the creepy structures of the more superstitious. Lance had asked Kal about the wall once, and all he was told was to stay away. That same day their territory had been attacked and he never brought it up again.

"Does anyone else get the heebie jeebies from this?" Hunk asked, rubbing his own forearms.

Pidge tossed a pack at him. "That's just the intensified suppression field," they explained without looking up from the pack they were strapping closed.

"Not that," Hunk argued, shifting from foot to foot clutching his pack. "I meant the wall on the inside. I get why the wall was made, I think, and the abandoned towns, sure, there wasn't work here anymore… but the people on the inside making more wall? And covering it in… are those wards?" He shivered and inches away from the wall.

With a flippant motion Pidge waved off Hunk's concerns. "Don't be a baby, Saeg said the people in there are just a bunch of fanatics," they reasoned as they swung their pack over their shoulder.

"I don't know…" Lance muttered, thick with ambiguous worry. His own breath shook his words. "I'm with Hunk on this one."

Pidge snorted. "I didn't realize you were all so superstitious," they mocked lightly.

Allura stepped up to Lance's free side. "We should respect the beliefs of the people here, sometimes there's more to it than we think. Remember the Balmera?" She lectured.

"Yeah, I do," Pidge retorted. "That was some mystical Quintessence bullshit, and there's no Quintessence here." Their tone was toeing the line of aggression. Their back was a tense and their fists were clenched around the straps of their pack.

Pidge was scared. The thought washed over him and Keith. Without tech Pidge was in the dark. Lance had a pistol at his side, and a rifle over his back, Keith had a sword, Allura a staff, and Hunk a blunderbuss. But Pidge only had their knives and their wits. They could have stayed behind with Coran and Shiro, but the waiting would have driven them nuts.

"Let's just find the entrance Saeg mentioned," Lance defused the situation, calmly.

"Fine," Pidge grumbled. "She said it was in a work shack near this area. One of the original builders dug a secret tunnel for direct access, so let's split up," They suggested, and glanced at Lance for approval.

At his command, everyone scattered, searching the rows upon rows of identical shacks. The correct one was easier to find than Lance had anticipated. At first it seemed daunting, but each shack was filled with dust and obviously unused, except one.

"Over here!" Allura yelled, waving her arms in the doorway of her forth shack. Inside was a path wiped clean by footsteps that lead to a shabby wooden chest. Underneath the chest was a trap door that hid a tunnel very similar to the Zuko paths. Single file they dropped into the darkness.

oOoOo

There was nothing on the other side.

Flat deserted land. Barren, but not like a desert with beautiful rolling dunes that harbor life in unlikely places and unusual ways. It was achingly empty, heartbroken and abandoned. A melancholy wind blew through Lance gripping his heart in a way that even the vacuum of space had not. Keith took his hand and shared his fire, but it was burning low under the oppressive void of life.

There was no road or worn path, the land was wind swept smooth, but there were markers. Little stakes that poked up from the thin soil like faux sprouts, each one had a sun bleached ribbon of muddy pink that had once been red. A pilgrimage path. Saeg had told them about it; the locals followed the markers twice a year, or what counted as a year here, to leave clay and tribute to the wall.

The sight of the ribbons slithering in the wind made Lance's skin crawl. This place was burrowing into his chest and making a home. He didn't like it.

"What happened to this place?" Hunk's question was carried on the breeze.

"The Great Suppression, I guess?" Pidge shrugged and marched onward.

Lance jogged to catch up, dragging Keith with him, the rest of the team trailing at his back. "Wait, are we sure we want to go directly to the settlement?"

Pidge looked over their shoulder, irritated. "We are burning daylight," they barked and marched onward.

They all followed their angry little pigeon in silence. Pidge set a punishing pace through the sun tanned husk of Yeppeo Six, unyielding to their basic needs. The team sipped water and nibbled rations along the way.

From post to post, step by step Lance went on, tired and hot. He slid the faded ribbons between his fingers as he passed and tried not to think about his sore feet. Maybe they were pushing too hard. Letting Pidge drive them out of fear, but Lance couldn't think of a good reason to slow down.

Their speedy travel paid off as the sun began to set. A large shadow peaked over the featureless horizon. Lance almost didn't believe it. Maybe he was hallucinating because what was rising before them seemed impossible.

In the center of decay there was something alive. Lance had lived in rust, visited the rot of excess, traveled through the long dead bones of this planet, and found life. The rest of this world was lapping at the residue of its resources, sucking up the droplets that leaked from the planet's tight fist, while they walled in the only pocket of life that remained. The people of Yeppeo Six also built a wall, and used it to cup their hands and cradle life.

It was a forest. Lance suddenly realized he had never seen a tree on this planet until now. The team stopped despite the trail of markers that called them onwards around the edge of the woods, and without any resistance they allowed the forest to draw them in, lured by the shade.

The forest was built from tall trees that twisted like great oaks, their leaves were teal, trunks thick, and bark white. They formed winding corridors carpeted with moss that cut through the sparse undergrowth. The air became damp and green the moment the team crossed into the shade. Lance took a deep breath and felt it coat his lungs. He wanted to lay in the leaf litter and stare up at the canopy lagoon, but the edge of Keith's sharp mind skimmed over his skin, a warning moments before his harsh whisper.

"Do you hear that?" Keith asked, as he looked to the right.

"No?" Hunk stage whispered back.

Lance was about to agree, until he heard it too, faintly. Footsteps, a lot of them, but they were oddly soft. "I hear it," he confirmed, looking to the right as well.

"Me as well," Allura confirmed.

"I don't-" Pidge began, but stopped abruptly. "Over there!" They whispered and pointed into the trees.

The forest was dark. The dense canopy was like brocade lace over the setting sun, but Lance could see figures moving towards them, only visible as they crossed the fiery dots of sunlight.

"Hide!" Hunk hissed and gestured at a log on the edge of the forest. Everyone quickly scrambled to crouch behind it, peeking over the top to watch.

Lance starred, eyes wide and mouth open.

Colorful people, young and old, weaved between the trees. They were ghosts in white robes. Monsters in the light of their lanterns; paper balls cradling flames on long woven ropes that hung from graceful fingers. The forest flickered and the herd flickered with it. Walking slowly and silently, they moved as one, slipping between the branches on a devout journey. They were an unfaltering wave of conviction waiting to crest, delaying its inevitable break on the rocks of reality.

The tip of the sun wobbled on the edge of the wall. Rays of orange and pink streaked over the treetops. Bundles of polished wooden ornaments hung off the bottom of the lanterns, trembling in the hands of the faithful. They twinkled in the last breath of the day, imitating the stars in anticipation.

In the sun's final moments a voice rose as the light sank. A long continuous note was born and lived, then like the tone of a bell it trembled and tapered. The sun faded and the note died. Its life was honored by the dull toll of the ornaments shaken and the wavering light of lanterns.

In the dark another voice rose, higher and younger. Its life was shorter and mourned by the blunt rattle of wood, like a final struggling breath. Next there were two voices, then three, and then countless. All of them rising and falling, leaving behind only the wooden death rattle.

The herd passed and Lance let out a shuddering breath, but his heart jumped with the fading rhythm of devotion. The quieting forest felt abandoned and he was struck with a sudden longing.

"Follow them," Allura whispered, moving with stealth.

Yes, agreed Lance's entire body, and he felt it in Keith as well. They looked at each other before going after the Princess. Their bond rose up as they followed the pale glow through the trees, like the tide following the moon. Lance couldn't think of his team, or the danger, or even the feel of his feet on the forest floor, but he could feel Keith's hand in his and the tug behind his sternum that led the way. He could follow the distant light with his eyes closed as if led on a leash.

"What is this?" The heated question skimmed up Lance's spine, while his own bracing confusion asked Keith the same.

There was no way to find answers now, they had to find Vii and hope for the best. The team thought they were isolated when they had crashed on this rock, but they were wrong. Lance realized that they hadn't known what isolation was, and now they were cut loose in the uncharted wilds, destitute without the barest form of technology, learning what isolation really meant.

Without Technology they couldn't separate, or plan a path, so they swung wildly in the dark as a team, sliding through the trees, blind and quiet. Pidge was the most on edge and it drove them ahead past Lance, looking for the end of the mission. He watched as they crouched low with shoulders bunched high, jumping at every little sound. Voltron had continued training while trapped on this planet, especially Keith, but it wasn't the same as experience. As Gi-shu and Yep-nari the team had been off the field for months, except for Lance. While he had grown hard, they softened, and where they had become subtle, he became bold. For Keith and Lance it evened out. Brash Keith gained a crafty grace, while snipper Lance gained uncompromising hand to hand. But the rest were off kilter, bodies a little too tense and footsteps a bit too hard.

A sharp SNAP ricocheted through the air and wriggled up the trees. Lance reacted as quickly as the branch had snapped, moving behind a tree with Keith close at his side. He threw a glare at Hunk, who shrugged, and mouthed 'sorry' from behind his own tree next to Allura. Lance skimmed the area looking for Pidge, carefully he peaked around his tree and found them. Pidge had frozen farther ahead on the trail, and in their anxious haste they had faltered with no hiding place.

A single cloaked figure looked back from the herd directly where Pidge stood.

Lance coiled, ready to sprint, but Keith was a step ahead and sprung forward in a single sleek movement. Lance was right behind him, rifle drawn. Keith was beside Pidge in an instant, sword out at the ready, and Pidge pulled their dagger holding it in a reversed grip, stance low. The paladin bond clicked into place, barely there, allowing them to skim each other's minds.

Lance drew up short to their right and dropped into a long range cover position with a steady hand aiming at the slowly nearing white figure. He could sense Allura and Hunk in the cover of the trees moving to flank.

The rest of the herd noticed the disturbance and turned. The eerie singing slowed to a trickle one voice at a time, until they were silent, but their hands remained in motion. They watched the scene unfold, their muted chimes ringing in a slow and even tempo. The lantern light flickered and waved with their rhythmic beat and it matched the pace of the approaching footsteps.

This was bad. Lance tightened his grip on his gun, how did they fuck up so bad already? He took a calming breath as the moment of reckoning drew closer.

The stranger stopped, and with them so did the chimes. They were a few feet away, just out of Keith's sword range. Their lantern arm was outstretched with shining wooden chimes swaying slightly. Close up Lance noticed that this cloak wasn't just white like the others, it was embellished with light blue embroidery that trimmed the hood, sleeves and bottom. On the chest of the robe, in the same blue, was a circle with a starburst in the center. The star had six points, one traveling up leaving the circle, and five shorter points fanning down and out, stopping at the circle's edge. It looked just like the stick and string wards scatter over the wall.

The figure shook their lantern once and asked, "Who do you look to?" Their voice was a light, raspy wind through the forest.

Keith edged forward, fangs bared, fist tight around his sword like a protective dog. Lance could feel the Galra instincts, raised and prickly, and the slight surprise Keith felt at his own actions. This was new, an unknown factor Lance hadn't accounted for and it was growing. Apparently some Glara traits other than fangs decide to stick around and something about this place was pushing them to the surface.

Lance opened up and let his own cool waters wash over the red welt of new instincts. Keith glanced at him and took a step back, but didn't lower his sword. Pidge felt the shift in their connection and swiftly looked at Lance before moving slightly behind Keith, hiding their still drawn knife.

The cloaked figure had keen pink eyes that followed the flow of their small interaction from the shadow of their hood. Lance didn't miss them watching, and did his best to not look where Hunk and Allura hid. The figure adjusted their position, only a slight tilt of their body, but now their attention was directed at Lance. They lifted their arm with the beige paper lantern a little higher and turned their palm up, showing the glossy black braid twisted between their golden fingers. The action was small, but its implications were clear, it was an offer and a declaration to the leader. Lance wasn't sure if it was a good offer or a bad one. Everything he knew told him it was bad, but it didn't feel bad.

Everyone's minds slid over Lance's in sharp warning, except Keith's. He mentally pressed the flat of his red blade against Lance, confused. He felt the same pull and wanted Lance to take the lantern.

The team wanted to escape and pushed their fear against Lance and Keith's defensive stance. Lance knew he should listen to them, but the final choice was his, and he wanted answers. "What do you want?" The question wasn't aggressive, but it was wary.

"I am Seon-shi," the stranger answered immediately, as if that explained everything.

Well fuck, there goes rule two… 'Fucking balls…' Keith agreed mentally, and Lance held back a snort of laughter.

Saeg had refused to explain what a Seon-shi was, and had only said to avoid them. But all of Lance's instincts told him that this was safe. Even Keith's Galra instincts calmed when the lantern was offered. Lance stepped forward past Keith, within arms reach of the stranger and lowered his gun, but didn't put it on his back.

Seconds passed with no aggressive movements, only a silent offer. It was time for some common decency Lance decided. "I'm Lance, and we're not here to cause any harm."

The figure didn't move, but reciprocated. "My name is Jin-dam." Then Jin shook their lantern lightly. "Please, come. We are going to be late," they softly requested.

"Lance!" Pidge gasped his name in a surprised warning.

Lance was confused. Why were they yelling?- He looked down at his hand wrapped around the black rope just below Jin's tangled fingers. When had that happened?

"Come," Jin beckoned, slipping their fingers from the lantern's rope, letting it fall fully to Lance. They turned to leave calling over their shoulder. "Invite your friends in the trees."

The paladin bond tapered off as Allura and Hunk revealed themselves. Ahead of them the herd began to move on, willowy voice's and empty chimes trailing behind them.

"I guess we should follow them," Hunk commented. He sounded as lost as Lance felt.

"Yeah," Lance mumbled, still staring at the lantern he held. What was going on? He rubbed his thumb over the glossy weave and took a breath. He had to focus, center himself, he was the leader. "Lets go," he announced, and despite his odd behavior the team followed without question.

Lance didn't shake his wood chimes, and none of them sang. They followed in silence. The distance between them and the herd was their only buffer. They must have walked for miles, but Lance felt them closing in on their destination. It pulled on the bond which was taut between him and Keith. It grabbed the center and dragged them by it.

They continued until they could see a distant glow that grew brighter as they approached.

The trees couldn't block the blue light as it bloomed from between them, the same shade that trimmed Jin's robes, bursting from the cracks of the forest and turning the trees to shadows. Soft footsteps reached Lance only moments before a cloaked figure was next to Keith. Their robe was pure white, and the hood was lowered hiding their face. Without a word they offered Keith a lantern, the braid woven between their orange fingers the same as Jin.

Keith took it, and the figure left as quickly as they had come.

The ghostly herd slipped into the light, leaving only Jin behind. They stood at the edge of the trees and looked back at Lance and Keith, daring them to follow, before slipping away with the rest.

Lance turned to face his friends. They had followed him all the way here without understanding why Lance went along with these strangers, so he gave them an out. "If any of you want to go back and wait with Coran and Shiro, now's the time," he offered.

Pidge scoffed, offended by the implication, but Allura stepped forward. "I only felt the very surface of the pull that is drawing you and Keith here, but I know you're going and we won't abandon you," she spoke for the group, and they didn't deny her word.

Lance almost wished they had decided to leave, he was afraid of dragging them into a trap for his own selfish whims. But their bond was too strong, and if this situation were reversed he would have done the same.

Lance nodded, sharp and nervous, then turned to face the light. He was shoulder to shoulder with Keith, and they linked their hands. With strides more confident than he felt, Lance led the way. He passed through the line of trees, shielding his eyes from the violent glare.

When his vision adjusted and the involuntary fluttering of his eyelids stopped, Lance was faced with an ancient display of power, breathtaking and disturbing. A gaping wound in the planet, stretching upward with arching tendrils. Ambitious progress for progress sake, running blindly forward despite the consequences. Around it gathered people stuck in time, those who were chastised by the past and became ghosts who remembered.

Saeg had been right, Lance knew when he saw it. The barrier encased a sick imitation of nature, a white, faux chrysanthemum that burst from the ground into a horrible maw. The massive and intimidating fangs of a civilization past. It struggled against the forest. Inch by inch nature was reclaiming it with grass, moss, and vines that bloomed with mocking white flowers.

The spikes were covered in a light blue circuit pattern, much like a Zuko tattoo.

The barrier was transparent and thin, in the same blue that accented everything else. The light radiated from it's edge and was devoured by its center. Sheltered in the middle of the chrysanthemum was a large and jagged black boulder. Veins stretched over the dark surface, spiderwebbed and cyan. It glowed with power.

Lance took a sudden, hitched breath. It glowed with quintessence.

"Oh, my!" Allura gasped. She covered her mouth with both hands, stepping back, shaking her head.

"Princess?" Lance asked, and everyone turned to her, but she kept her hands firmly in place, shocked into silence.

In the moment of distraction they were surrounded. Cloaked figures led by Jin closed in, and with gentle hands they grasped at Lance and Keith's arms, pulling them forward. The team hesitated, outnumbered, but protective. The calm and unthreatening nature of the strangers created a knife's edge of indecision.

Lance and Keith didn't struggle, but resisted enough to slow down the entourage. Their lanterns swung, and the chimes clattered as they attempted to come to a halt.

Lance looked over Jin-dam's shoulder and saw that the barrier was their destination. He dug his heels in, almost pulling himself free. "Whoa, whoa! What's going on!?" he yelped as more hands grabbed on, pulling harder this time.

Red fear choked Lance, overwhelming him, and he heard Keith yell with a cracked voice. "What are they doing?!"

Pidge and Hunk ran up behind the group, still wary of starting a fight with so many enemies.

"I don't know?!" Hunk answered, trying to bully his way through the crowd, but it closed ranks as he tried to push through.

Keith didn't like being restrained or touched, this was like a moment from a nightmare for him. Lance stopped trying to escape. He tipped off the edge of indecision and pushed towards Keith with a violent yank at the hands of his captors. Strangely, he was allowed past without a problem. He grabbed Keith's hand and tried to ground him.

"I think they want you to touch the barrier!" Pidge yelled, out of sight as they attempted to get through by going low.

Lance panicked, and it shot up to levels rivaling Keith's fear. "But Saeg said not to do that!" He shouted, grabbing Keith arm and pulling with all his might as he continued to ramble. "It was rule one, and we already broke rule two! We're really bad at this, guys!"

Keith anchored himself with the might of their bond and helped Lance struggle against their captors. Jin and their followers were slowed almost to a halt as the strange scuffle unfolded. Lance and Keith tried not to instigate a full out brawl, and the cloaked people seemed determined not to hurt them, only herd them.

They were at a stalemate. Lance and Keith were being jostled about in the center of the crowd, while Pidge and Hunk prodded from the outside. But it was Allura who broke through first. She pulled herself from her shocked daze, and with little care for injury, plowed through the white cloaked people. "Unhand my Paladins!" She commanded with all the authority of her status.

The struggling shuffle stopped in its tracks, but not one cloaked figure was looking at Allura. In the sudden silence Lance could hear a low buzz, and it had the attention of every person. Jin-dam made their way to the front of the crowd, and called out over the growing hum. "We are out of time my friends, this pair is not ready, we must begin now."

Lance, Keith and Allura were suddenly alone. The herd drained away to pool around the barrier, filling a recessed dip that circled the entire structure. They began to walk around the blue dome, feet shuffling, wearing the moat deeper.

Flowing, and swaying, they sang and flickered in their lantern light. In their movements they formed pairs of disconnected chain links, one person with a hand on the back of the person in front and then a space before the next pair. Their lantern laden hands were closest to the barrier, dangerously close.

Their voices grew louder, their empty chimes faster, and the buzzing of the field almost drowned it all out. The bond resonated with the buzzing, rose in pitch to match it, and rattled in Lance's bones. It vibrated in his chest, and threatened to throw his heart off beat. Lance could tell the others didn't feel what Keith and him felt. They covered their ears, blocking out the sound, but Lance thought he might love it.

The sound was peaking, melding with their voices. Each pair raised their Lantern hand, the chimes stopped as they reached out. With only the very tips of their fingers they touched the barrier, skimming it's surface. Like a glassy pond it rippled, and where skin met blue it glowed brighter. A white bloom of light covered their bodys, they stopped shuffling and closed their eyes, falling silent.

Lance wanted to touch the barrier.

Before he could put thought to action, it was over, leaving him in a fog. The glow faded and the herd slid away from the barrier, but remained in their pairs. They spread out, lounging on the ground and against trees, resting in each other's embrace. They were all couples, Lance realized.

Jin went directly to Lance and Keith, hand in hand with a blue individual. Their hood was down, showing off a bright smile of gold, bright pink eyes, and such light pink hair it was almost white, but Jin wasn't looking at either Paladin, their unfocused gaze was fixed on the space between them. "It is beautiful," they whispered.

"What color is it?" the blue person asked, squinting their pale eyes trying to see something that wasn't there. They bounced on the balls of their feet, bubbly and relaxed. "They are a very talented Seon-Shi to be able to see color," Jin's partner explained quickly.

Jin's smile melted into a serene tilt of their lips. "It's a rich purple, and the brightest I have ever seen. I wish I could see them fully joined," they lamented quietly.

"Uhhh…" Lance tried to speak up through his daze, he didn't like the sound of anyone watching him and Keith "fully join."

Jin ignored him, transfixed. They reached out and touched the space between the couple. With a soft sigh, they whispered. "It must be ancient."

"WHOA!" Lance yelped, and both him and Keith jumped back simultaneously.

"What the fuck was that?!" Keith demanded. He moved in front of Lance, protective, and baring his fangs. His spine was a fierce curve of aggression.

For the brief moment that Jin's hand was between them the bond reacted like sandpaper rubbing on more sandpaper. It sent a tight and unpleasant sensation up Lance's spine and into his neck where it settled behind his ears and in the back of his teeth. He clenched his jaw, a knee jerk reaction to try and dissipate the sensation.

"What happened?" Allura asked. Her and the others flanked Lance and Keith, prepared to defend them.

"They touched our bond!" Lance gasped, and looked at Keith for confirmation. "Right?"

Keith nodded, and his stance softened a bit, but his sharp eyes were locked on Jin. He dragged Lance a little closer. The static of Keith's instincts raised the hair on the back of Lance's neck and sent a shiver down his spine. He wasn't sure if Keith would always be like this... but he kinda liked it… NOT the time. Lance blinked away his distraction, Jin was saying something, he should probably be listening. He shouldn't be thinking about running his fingers through the hair at the base of Keith's neck, and maybe laying down on the soft grass and basking in the warm current that was always cutting through his mind's ocean. But first they should go touch the barrier… Lance blinked again. What the actual fuck?

"...we will all be heading back to the village after we rest. Maybe tomorrow your friends will be ready." Jin smirked and turned on their heels to leave, taking their significant other with them to join the other lounging couples.

Pidge stomped a foot in the plush grass with a dull thump. "But what is a Seon-shi?!" They yelled, frustrated. Lance noticed their red face and smoldering eyes, and assumed this wasn't the first time they had asked while he was distracted. "They just fucking ignored me!" Pidge squawked indignantly, and threw their hands in the air with a distorted grunt of anger.

Allura and Hunk attempted to calm their smallest paladin, and Lance tried to help, he really did… but his eyes kept sliding to the blue glow in the distance.

"Hey, does anyone else like, really want to touch the barrier? Or is it just me and Keith?" he asked, trying to sound offhand, as if it wasn't a big deal.. he wasn't thinking about making a break for it. Keith's hand slid up Lance's arm ready to run if they needed to.

Lance turned to Pidge, but they were gone.

"Umm, no?" Hunk tentatively answered for the group. His large shoulders hunched with concern. Lance whipped around to find Hunk on the opposite side of where he had been a moment ago.

"Right…" Keith mumbled, still staring at the barrier. Lance didn't even bother responding, he looked around, surprised at how quickly they had all switched positions. Or maybe…

The large gathering of hooded people began to regroup around Jin, preparing to leave.

"We should probably go with them?" Hunk asked. "We don't really know where we are..." He pointed out, still looking at Lance and Keith with worry, but also glancing at the retreating group of strangers.

"But didn't Jin say they were going to rest first?" Lance asked, even as he was starting to understand. How long had he been staring at the barrier? He looked at Keith again... He was still transfixed by the glow, he hadn't looked away once.

Allura made the final choice with bold actions. She grabbed Keith and Lance by their free hands and began to drag them behind her. With wild eyes she pulled them away from the clearing. Everyone else scrambled to catch up. Lance trusted Allura, he trusted her almost as much as he did Keith. So why did he want to lash out? His hand twitched and his feet faltered. His body was trying to draw him away, and he could feel Keith's hand twitch where it still held onto his arm. He felt tethered to the barrier, and it yanked on his core to be pulled away...

But the father they got from the barrier the easier it became.

"-That rock is!" Allura's frantic voice cut through the fog Lance had been lost in.

Lance shook his head to clear dregs of confusion and asked. "What?"

Allura stopped pulling them and made a silent gesture for them to wait quietly. She glanced over her shoulder at the robed figures drifting away and didn't start talking until they were out of hearing range. "I know what that rock in the barrier is!" She hissed urgently.

Lance looked at the people they needed to follow and knew they had to make this quick before they lost their only guide in the dark trees. "I'm listening, it's easier now that we're away from the barrier," he assured.

Allura didn't waste any time. "I know what's happening on this planet." She made a sweeping motion with her arms. "I've seen pictures of a similar rock in the Castle's archives, it's a trans-reality comet. It's what Voltron is made of!" She finished frantically.

Hunk and Pidge were standing a little farther away, keeping an eye on the herd, but they both whipped around wide eyed.

Lance swept his gaze from Allura's toes to the top of her head. He tried to find even a single twitch of her body or tightening of her expression to indicate she was joking, possibly holding back a laugh. But she was dead serious.

"Uhhh…" Hunk found his voice in the shocked silence. "When you say trans-reality, do you mean moving between realities? Because that's what I think when I hear that, but I could be wrong…" He shifted his weight back and forth and whispered, "Please be wrong," under his breath.

Allura turned to Hunk, leaving Lance with only a view of the back of her head, but the slight twitch of Hunks face and his downturned lips was all the answer he needed. Lance could easily imagine the serious set of Allura's jaw, and her hard eyes silently letting Hunk know how right he was.

"I don't have time to explain everything." Allura gestured at the dimming light of the lanterns through the trees. Her meaning was clear, and the group took off to catch up to Jin.

oOoOo

Lance's shoes were muddy. He stared down at them, one in front of the other, collecting more mud with every step. He sharpened his focus to only the ground, only his feet. It was almost like he was in a forest on earth, except the soil was wrong. Deep in Lance's mind, deeper than he could ever reach, the wrongness buzzed. He thought it might have been the shiny flecks all throughout dirt that made it wrong.

The heavy cowl of formality and ritual had been shed in the clearing with the barrier. Something about the airy aftermath left Lance agitated. "Does the dirt look sparkly?" He blurted out into the relative silence.

Keith was struggling with the same feeling and jumped on the distraction offered. "It does, wonder why." He murmured back.

Pride swooped down and scooped a bit of mud onto their finger. They squinted at it and rubbed it between their thumb and index finger. "It's mica," they concluded offhandedly.

"Well, it's weird," Lance huffed. He felt himself tip over the line, irritated without a reason. Keith took his hand and rubbed his thumb over the back of it, calming and understanding.

Pidge continued to explain while walking in front of them without turning or looking back. "There are places on earth like this." They raised their hand with a single finger extended, as if they were pointing to the thoughts as they came. "One time I was in Maine and mica was everywhere there. Even some of the asphalt mixtures contain it, so some of their roads are glittery." They let their hand drop.

Lance looked back down at the mud on his shoes and felt conflicted. It was still wrong, but it was also just like Earth. The thoughts fought a war of attrition, grinding down Lance's mind.

"All the same cosmic dust," Keith whispered, and the phrase settled Lance's thoughts. It was a simple and satisfying answer.

Keith was so close. His shoulder was bumping into Lance's, his dry heat dispersing over Lance's skin. Something physical in the storm if their psychological coalescing. Real evidence that they were still separate beings, while their minds slowly merged. Together and separate, Lance found both idea's reassuring, he wanted both… What was that concept called again? He wondered.

"Cognitive dissonance," Keith answered quietly.

Pidge did look over their shoulder this time, making a questioning face at Keith and received a look in return that silently answered. Yes, Keith did just experience Lance's cognitive dissonance, and yes, he will describe what that's like to them later.

Lance smirked and opened his mouth to free the witty comments he had stored in there, but he never got the chance.

Hunk interrupted with a tense undertone in his voice. "I think we're here… wherever here is." He pointed ahead, directing everyone's attention. They all stopped and stared.

The robed people were sliding off the open path out of sight behind the trees. For the second time that night there was a distant glow through the cracks in the forest, but it wasn't blue and glaring like the barrier. This light was warm and soft. It wavered, casting long shadows and bending the forest to its breezy whims.

The white hem of many robes fluttered as they vanished between the tree trunks, leaving the team motionless and alone. This is the place that Saeg had run away from. That strong, weathered old lady. Lance could only assume that just ahead was where she had lived. There was only one village in this strange and isolated place.

As a collective the team began to move, slowly following the herd.

They entered a pocket of light cradled in the dark of the imposing trees. Lance hadn't thought much about what they would find behind the walls of Yeppeo Six, even as they crossed into the mysterious place. He had been too focused on the mission, on Keith, and on the mysterious pull they both felt. But from the moment Saeg had explained why she ran away, somewhere in the back of his mind he expected something different than what he was looking at now.

The home of people that reject change even when it's a detriment to themselves. People in long robes with eerie songs, and strange gaping maws of ancient technology. Without realizing it he had imagined something oppressive, and drab. He didn't find a village that matched any of his expectations.

This was a village for the ghosts of the past, but also people very much alive.

Wood and stone huts and packed dirt roads, but also gardens, bright colors and beautiful lanterns. Not a single bit of technology was present, every inch of each hut was obviously hand hewn, and the colorful cloth door flaps hand woven. Jin was standing at the village entrance, under a large red wooden arch with no writing to indicate the name of this place. The rest of their people had scattered back to their homes, but Jin waited patiently while their guests looked around.

Lance didn't want to look directly at Jin, not after his last experience with them. Just thinking about it made his skin crawl. He let his eyes wander past Jin and to a bright orange spot in the distance. He couldn't tell what it was, but he could see a crowd around it. There were people everywhere, milling around, chatting, and working. All of them smiling, all of them relaxed… This was unexpected.

"Come, friends!" Jin called out. Their arbitrary amount of adjustment time apparently finished.

Lance walked over. And could hear his team following. He felt railroaded. Everyone was following him, but he had no other option but to follow Jin. It made his skin feel tight, and his breaths fast. He wanted to run, sprint in any direction away from-

Keith pushed a wave of calm over Lance, as he looped their arms together. Lance clung to the clam, and Keith's arm, using both to steady his resolve.

Jin smiled at them, but their eyes lingered between Lance and Keith rather than on their faces, or any other person present. "I will take you to your logging for the evening," they announced, and turned to leave without any further explanation.

The torch light blinked and Lance blinked back to focus. It was very different from the cold lights of the castle, or even the warmer incandescent lights of the scrapyard. With darting eyes Lance took in as much as he could. From the content expressions of the villagers faces, to their nimble hands as they all worked. Every single one of them was being productive. Carving, cutting, cooking…

A drag and a thump on Lance's left grabbed his attention. A young woman was weaving on a large hand operated loom. She reached forward, dragging the wooden bar towards herself, gave it two tugs and let it go. She was making a door hanging, Lance noted as he passed. The woman met his eyes and smiled. Lance didn't return the gesture and looked away.

A swoosh and a tap had Lance snapping his head around to the right. A large man was couched over a spinning table. With one foot he would kick a large wooden wheel below him, and the attached table would spin. He leaned back to examine his work. It was a simple bowl. With another kick he went back to shaping his pottery.

There was so much sound, and motion. Lance couldn't catch everything in detail. He glimpsed a blacksmith, a woodworker, and a basket weaver.

Jin was taking them through the middle of the village, and the large crowd Lance spied earlier was close. The bright orange light peaked from between the people gathered around and Lance slowed down. As if sensing his curiosity Jin stopped and gestured for Lance to take a look. He craned his neck, but couldn't see over the crowd. Jin came forward and parted the people, making a space for him and his team.

The orange light was an oven, or maybe a kiln. There was a tall, forest green man with leathery hands, and goggles protecting his eyes from the bright almost white glow at the center of the kiln. He dipped a long metal pole into the oven and spun it. He twisted a perfect burning sun from the furnace. His weathered hands turned the pipe and he rolled his little sun on a smooth table. It cooled from bright and blinding to deep and rich. The green man blew into the pipe and his sun expanded and thinned.

It was glass, Lance realized.

He couldn't pull his eyes away. The glass blower would shape his work with large wooden tools, reheat it, and blow some more. Then with an impressive twirl of the rod in a large circle the glass became oblong. Slowly something resembling a wine goblet took form as the man added a fresh gather of glass and pulled out a stem.

Like the breath of silence between an orchestra tuning and the first note of their song, Lance felt the sharp awareness of existing in this moment. It tumbled to Keith and back, settling into the bond between them. They were here, now, and they were together. They had their friends and were alive, removed from the rioting chaos of black and white, and war. No one was yelling empty words and no one was commanding. Lance was walking and being followed.

He could see himself as one of the people on the side of this road. He could be knitting, living, and not fighting anymore. He could be at peace with Keith and have a quiet life here.

But the thought was like an old band-aid, sticky and used up, and it pulled on Lance's skin as he threw it away. This was someone else's peace… an institutionalized concept. Lance glanced at Keith's profile and smiled, because his peace was something else, hidden under war and struggle, but always with Keith. That was OK, he didn't need to be like everyone else.

Keith looked at Lance and smirked, "We'd be so bored," he commented on Lance's train of thought with a little tip of his head, and like always it filled Lance with warmth.

"Yeah," Lance sighed, breathing out the image of that life. He turned and started walking again, following Jin to their accommodations.

oOoOo

Lance's mind sputtered and stalled in the absolute silence that followed Jin's explanation. There had been hardly a moment between their arrival at their destinations and Jin launching into what felt like a huge exposition drop. They laid out the purpose behind the events in the forest clearing and explained what a Seon-shi was...

Life couldn't get any weirder... Robots, mystical technology, space, aliens... Now it's magic space rocks, and bonds through time and space. Embarking on an adventure out into the vast universe should have dispelled the idea of magic, or souls, or god. Lance should be surrounded by cold hard science, numbers and equations that he didn't understand and could only label magic. The type of stuff someone like Pidge or Hunk could use to prove the fabric of reality. Instead, Lance found that everyday he spent in space he collected more doubt and his uncertain thoughts became louder.

But now it was souls…

Souls might be real, and he may be living proof.

Jin sat on the wooden floor on one side of the small cabin and the Voltron team sat on the other, a sunken fire pit sat between them. Except Allura, she was on her feet, angry and glaring down at their seated host. "Absolutely not! Neither of them will be going anywhere near that comet again!" she barked.

Jin didn't react and never took their eyes off of Lance and Keith; serene eyes that reached into Lance's chest and squeezed.

The explanation that Jin had just given was what drove Allura's anger, but the words simply floated around Lance. He couldn't breathe in their meaning past the tight hold Jin's gaze had on his lungs.

"This is your decision," Jin spoke around Allura.

Lance blinked. Looking for something solid to grasp and his mind went back to the core of their mission. Somehow it had been lost in this mysterious new place. "We didn't come here because of the comet, we came to find Vii, and get what we need to leave this planet," he said firmly.

Allura nodded, and the rest of the team followed suit.

Jin never took their eyes off Lance. "But you were drawn here for a reason," they argued.

"Yeah, we're looking for Vii!" Keith snapped, and a whip crack of fire flickered in the bond.

With a deep breath Lance cooled the heat. "We want to get off this planet, we didn't come here because of your mystical Noye bond thing," he explained with a level voice.

Allura dropped back to the floor with little grace, irritated at being ignored. She let out a huff and shot Lance a look that screamed, 'you better know what you're doing!'

Lance pushed aside his guilt. He hated ignoring the Princess, but Jin wasn't acknowledging anyone other than Keith and himself, and they needed information. So Lance stared Jin down, unmovable. The bond shivered with Keith's writhing irritation and the vibration harmonized with Lance's barely clinging resolve.

Jin's pink eyes slid to the space between the two boys and their lips thinned with frustration even while lifting slightly. With a long, very long, sigh they looked away for the first time and bored a hole into the wall to their left with their calculating gaze. "Fine." Jin relented, their voice wasn't mysterious or kind. The mask of an enigmatic leader and friendly host was revealed as a veil, blown aside by the unyielding determination of team Voltron.

"Fine?" Keith repeated when Jin didn't elaborate or look at them again.

With a puff of breath like an angry cat Jin glared at Keith. They crossed their arms defensively revealing how desperate they were. Their hands were tight fists, their jaw twitched, and their back stiffened. Lance could practically see the words of compromise climbing up Jin's throat, and when they spoke, it was with the acidic bite of injured pride. "You don't know where Vii is, or how to get to him and-" they snapped, but bit off the end. They had tipped their hand, and knew it. This failed attempt to regain control was the final straw.

Lance jumped in before Jin could regroup. "But you know, don't you? So a deal? We both get what we want," he offered, putting on the perfect act of confidence.

From his peripheral Lance saw the sharp jerk of Allura's body as she aborted whatever involuntary reaction she had. He was grateful for her control, any more arguments would undermine his authority, or perceived authority.

Jin unfolded their arms and nodded. "I will give you what you want from Vii, and you and your Noye will participate in the final night of the ceremony."

"No, I want Vii in person," Lance practically growled, leaving no doubt he wanted revenge.

"No," Jin argued. "I don't know what he did to you, but Vii will not be directly involved."

This time Lance actually growled and it surprised him, but he pointed at Keith and snapped. "It's what he did to Keith that he needs to pay for!"

A hitched breath fell into an echoing silence. Jin looked torn. Their mouth became a thin line and they twisted their hands together. Their breath quickened, pupils shrank, and the skin around their eyes tightened in a familiar way. Comprehension slammed into Lance. Pink eyes, pink hair- the shade of pink connected them. A line started by Saeg was drawing itself through the story that was unfolding. Now that he knew what to look for Lance could see it. The bridge of the nose, shape of the lip, even the curve of their jaw...

With eyes on Keith, Jin spoke to Lance, and the stuttered, desperate words cemented his theory into fact. "I can't… I understand… but-"

"It's a term I refuse to compromise on," Lance cut in coldly. Even as understanding swept through him, it didn't melt the ice cold fury he felt when he thought of Keith, drugged, and helpless... if he wasn't Galra… what Vii would have done...

Lance felt the rage surface in his eyes, and when Jin finally looked at him they bent under the weight of it. "Please..." they begged quietly.

"Lance," Keith whispered, sharp, but warm. The only heat that could soften Lance's righteous anger.

In a ruby red rush of thoughts and feelings Keith argued without words.

Lance tried to harden his resolve, clung to his reasoning, his justification, but Keith battered at his walls until Lance was forced to look at him. "But-" Lance tried to argue out loud to avoid the rampant fire that was burning his arguments to ash, but Keith's heat stole the air from his lungs.

"Keith-" Lance tried again, only to snap his teeth together under Keith's fierce glare. 'Rojo,' The name rolled down the bond as a soft blue wave.

"No," Keith put his foot down verbally and sent pleading words, crimson hot, into Lance's mind.

'I don't want revenge, I just want to get off this plant. Ace, please just let this go.' Keith's thought crackled like smoldering wood, full of torrid vulnerability.

Lance's fury collapsed, leaving a hole that howled with the wind of Keith's desperate need to flee. He took a breath and filled the space again, but this time with compassion. "Fine," he whispered.

When a very small smile graced Keith's face in response, Lance had to clamp down on his desire to return the gesture. With an empty expression he turned back to Jin.

Jin's eyes were floating between Keith and Lance again, keen with interest, and wide with astonishment. It made Lance cringe inside, the idea that someone could see the bond and deduce from that some sort of insight. It felt like someone peeking into his bedroom while he was changing. A part of him wished he had never learned what being a Seon-shi meant.

Lance cleared his throat to get Jin's attention and then nodded slowly. "We'll take your offer," he announced and ignored Allura's gasp. He motioned at Pidge, and they pulled a scrap of paper out of their pocket and offered it.

Jin beamed. "Oh!" they let out an involuntary sound of excitement and jumped to their feet. "There is much to prepare!" they declared and snatched the paper from Pidge's hand. They read the contents and nodded. "You shall have this-" they waved the paper, "As soon as you and your Noye hold up your end." Without waiting for a response Jin scurried out of the hut.

Lance watched them go with a pinched glare. His body ached for sleep, but he had to turn and face his next challenge. Keith scooted closer to his side in support. Every angle of his body was pointing towards Lance like a compass.

Allura jumped to her feet as soon as the door hanging stilled. She was pale, almost grey with worry. Her clothes were dark for stealth and her hair dull in the shadowy hut. Despite her wane appearance she was fierce ."You can't do this!" she commanded and threw her arms out helplessly. "You don't understand what you've just agreed to do! You could-"

"We watched a bunch of people do it tonight and they're all fine! If this gets us off this planet then I'm willing to give it a try!" Keith snapped back with a snarl.

Allura sank to the floor. "That comet, it's…" Her words tapered off and her exhaustion won out over her panic.

Lance reached out and took her hand in both of his, trying to comfort her. "I know, you said it's the same material Voltron is made of. But Jin just wants me and Keith to participate in that weird religious ritual we saw them do." He shrugged. "I guess we're lucky it's a three day long festival, and you know I've never been particularly religious so it's-"

With a burst of exasperated zeal Allura cut Lance off. "No! It's not just a religious ritual, it's real. That rock isn't 'magic' it's a trans-reality comet!"

"I was hoping I misheard you earlier..." Hunk muttered.

Allura pivoted sharply and practically spat at Hunk. "You heard me! A trans-reality comet! It should be ripping this planet apart like the last one almost did to Daibazaal! The barrier must be what's keeping it together, and these people's ritual was once just a maintenance routine that's turned into some sort of fanatical religion!" She was almost raving by the end. Breathing hard she rubbed her free hand over her face, and Lance was suddenly reminded of the early morning he found her in the kitchen. Her puffy pink sweater had been loose, her hair a mess, her face troubled and tired. He let her hand slip from his.

Pidge slid forward on the floor to join the small huddle that they were forming. "What do you mean by maintenance routine? Jin was talking some crazy stuff about soulmates, and past lives..."

Hunk closed the final gap in the circle and his shoulders dropped with the mellowing mood of the room. "Yeah, I'm still stuck on the 'souls are real' part…" he admitted.

A sigh that was worthy of a stressed out, overworked mother slipped from Allura's sagging body. "Of course souls are real," she lifted her arms in a vague motion of exasperation. "what do you think we have been talking about when we discuss quintessence and life energy? Everyone has a different name for it, is all." She waved one hand, apparently giving up on any two armed gestures. "But it used to only be the Galra who's energy reached out far enough from their physical being to find their partner. Then they discovered that Altean's had a bit of range, enough for Galra to sense and bond with. Then their offspring discovered they could bond… and well, the rest is history. Apparently ten thousand years of it."

Hunk choked on his surprise and coughed. "Wait… are you saying this is all happening because of the space Nazi thing Coran explained? These people's religion exists because Zarkon boned an Altean?!"

Allura looked at Hunk, unamused. "Yes, Hunk, that is a very crude way of putting it, but essentially you are correct. The spread of Glara genes is the cause of all of this," she gestured around vaguely. "And probably countless other culture's beliefs. The bond many species feel originated from the Glara and likely weakened over time. Its existence on many planets may even predate their culture's written word. Ten thousand years is a long time." she expanded.

Pidge, who had fallen into a deep place of thought, likely about how souls are science and science wins... blinked and interjected. "Hold on, the Lions have souls?!"

Allura glared halfheartedly. "Of course the Lions have souls, how do you think they find their pilot? The entire theory used for finding a pilot is based on Galra mating, it was an innovation thought of during their creation... by my father," she confessed, visibly flagging in the face of this conversation, she rubbed the space between her eyes as if she was soothing a headache.

Lance wondered if he should be more curious, or afraid. He just signed himself and Keith up for some strange, magical, space ritual, that in reality was a sciency trans-reality thing. But as he listened he knew Hunk and Pidge would ask all the relevant questions, and when he reached out in the bond for Keith, he knew they were doing it no matter the cost. The desperate need to get off this planet was gnawing away at Keith. He listened to Allura's explanation of Galra bonding, which was apparently a real life soulmate situation, with only half an ear. From the bright eyed expression on Pidge and Hunks face he would probably get a repeat of it later anyway.

"Coran and I explained life energy and its relation to quintessence. You all know that pure quintessence exists, and that it is in many forms in all living and nonliving things. I know that comet is giving off a massive amount of pure quintessence, and I theorize that the barr-"

"-Is dampening it! And its effects spread over the planet, but only affecting pure quintessence!"

"Yes, Pidge, you are correct… and very loud. As I was saying, the barrier dampens pure quintessence, but not other forms of it... as much, although its influence is more pronounced when you are close, but so is the influence of the comet."

"OK, and this has to do with souls how?"

"I'm getting there, Hunk. Your life energy, or soul, has a 'frequency' for lack of a better term. All different forms of quintessence do, it is how we track other ships and can tell the difference between life forms in our readings and such."

"Oh! I get it. Like how Coran explained why we couldn't wormhole here, his chart with all the squiggles and-"

"Yes, Hunk, yes. Just let me finish, please… A Galra finds their mate when they find the person their 'frequency'... sort of... resonates with. Coran is much better at explaining this… Anyway, the Lions use pure quintessence, and can reach into the very being of a person, even though by this point, according to Coran's research, the majority of planets have been touched by some Galra genes over the last ten thousand years. Most beings are capable of bonding on some level, some more easily than others, some bonds come with no noticeable effects other than contentment, while others are like Lance and Keith. When you all bonded with the Lions it was because your life energy and their quintessence… sort of harmonized. I'm not sure how else to explain it. But the point is, there are people out in the universe that have life energy that you can harmonize with as well. Some beings have more than one person, and some only have one. The type of relationship formed from this harmonization is up to the people involved. Our two here have an unusually strong bond, which is in part because of their Galra and Altean heritage being so prevalent, but that doesn't explain it all..."

"So, I assume that what Jin said about past lives isn't true then?" Keith's voice pulled Lance from the depths of his mind.

"No, it's not, not entirely at least," Allura said, weary and soft. "At this point I can only offer conjecture." She ran a slow hand through her long hair, and looked at Lance as her braid fell loose.

Lance apologized for his harsh behavior with a smile, and she accepted with a shallow nod. "Well, I think your conjecture is probably more useful than anything we can come up with." Lance smirked and glanced at Hunk and Pidge. They looked as if they were going to burst, but were trying not to over run Allura with theories.

Finally a smile returned to Allura's pretty face and she offered her opinion. "No, I highly doubt that what occurs when soulmates touch the barrier is as simple as seeing past lives. It's likely something much grander than that. Past lives are very limited, and the comet is…" She paused, took a breath, and the next word laced her exhale. "Infinite."

Pidge was the first one to crack and burst out in excitement. "you called it a trans-reality comet, what they see when they touch it is… its… oh my god."

"Other realities! Alternate realities!" Hunk yelled, waving his hands frantically, when Pidge became overwhelmed by their own conclusion.

Allura nodded. "Yes, that is the conclusion I came to, as well."

Lance thought back to the ritual they had witnessed. He had seen something amazing, in the literal sense of the word, and now he was going to participate in it. The massive scale of what he was going to experience was… unfathomable. Holy shit, what had he gotten them into? A fragment of his truly meaningless existence in the infinite multiverse began to pierce his lungs. But, then it stopped, and the shard of panic melted away. He really was a spec in the grand scheme of things, even his role as a part of Voltron wasn't important compared to unlimited realities and the vastness of spacetime... and that was oddly comforting.

It was also comforting that there was something out there for him, tugging on the fabric of who he was and who he became with Keith. He could admit to himself that the pull they experienced was reassuring, it felt like their bond, but bigger.

"But, why is it only- soulmates?" Lance asked suddenly, almost stumbling on the word soulmate. The word had meaning that towered over the ambiguous term 'Noye' that this planet's people used. He hadn't grown up with the idea of a Noye. There were no prepackaged concepts of 'Noye' in movies and television, but soulmates, he knew what that was, or what it was supposed to be.

Keith was Lance's soulmate.

The truth broke like a sunrise. None of them had considered the implications in all the chaos. Pidge looked between Lance and Keith with a strange expression, and Hunk was actually pointing back and forth, mouth open wide and silent. Then he took a deep breath.

"You two are SOULMATES!" He yelled.

Lance let out a chuckle. "Yeah, I figured that o-"

"All that crazy stuff you said about horror movies and Final Destination was true!" Hunk exclaimed over top of Lance.

"Hunk, buddy. I wasn't making it-"

Hunk continued, not even acknowledging that Lance had been speaking. "This makes so much sense! You two were always together even though you claimed to hate it! Always looking for each other, glaring at each other, finding a reason to yell at each other! And then-"

Lance didn't try again. A swift spark preceded Keith's sharp comment. "Hunk! Yes, we were always attracted to each other, you're right!"

"I would think it was obvious," Allura muttered to herself and released a sigh through her nose, then she said louder. "I have a theory about why it's only soulmates if anyone cares to listen." She waited for silence as the team settled down. "You see, when two people that harmonize find each other, their bond forms a new frequency, and their own is also altered. When bonded couples touch the barrier their frequency is probably reaching for the identical frequencies and sharing energy, possibly creating a positive energy feedback loop, there are infinite versions of the bonded people and thus infinite energy to pull from. But, if someone unbonded were to touch the barrier…" Allura paused to collect her thoughts, and wrinkled her nose at what she said next. "I would think that the comet's power would send that person's life energy out across the infinite realities just like it does with a bonded pair, and their frequency would seek out their mate only to find… all of them. But I can't even imagine what that would do to a person." She shivered at her own ponderings.

Silence reigned heavily. Lance assumed everyone was involuntarily picturing what that horrible fate might look like, he certainly was.

Keith's hand landed softly on Lance's leg. "We're doing this, right?" He asked, but his wide purple eyes said 'we won't if you don't want to', and Lance believed him. Regardless of the maelstrom Keith's intense desire to escape was stirring up, he was offering an out. The churning waters under Lance's skin raised the hair on his arms, and he knew he would risk being ripped apart molecule by molecule and spread over endless universes for this man. A man who was willing to stay in his own personal hell if only Lance asked him to.

Allura threw forward one last warning. "You might be exposed to an unprecedented amount of quintessence, who knows how it might change you, or how it changes the people here."

Lance ignored the final well meant deterrent, placed his hand over Keith's, and locked eyes with him.

"Yeah. We got to stay strong, right, Rojo?"

With a tight, short breath Keith nodded

Red words, "I'll follow you anywhere."

Blue thoughts, 'I'll always keep you.'

oOoOo

AN- See you in the next chapter (my favorite one of the final three). It will be posted in a week or two...