Lance was miserable. To put it simply. He loved Allura but she sacrificed herself for the universe. It had been seven years since the war ended. Seven years since Allura died. Seven years since the lions flew away. Seven years since the gang had stopped hanging together all the time. They still met up for lunch sometimes but they had their own lives now. Pidge was an engineer tech or something for the Garrison. Shiro was a teacher for the Garrison and had a family. Hunk was a professional cook with a chain of popular restaurants. Keith is still with the Blade. Coran works in a museum of Altea leading tours and explaining their ways and such. Yet Lance was stuck on a farm with his family. They moved to the farm a year after he returned. He was tired of it. He loved his family dearly and loved that they let him keep Kaltenecker. But the farm was starting to get suffocating. So one night he grabbed a bag and packed. He snuck into the Garrison, stole a space suit, then went to the Altea Museum. He swiped the "keys" to the Castle of Lions. He hopped into an escape pod. From there he flew off to outer space. When his family woke up, they found a note explaining that he had to take some time to get away and that he loved them very much. That he'd be back in a few years or so. Skip ahead a few weeks, the McClains finally said they should tell the Paladins. They all lost it. Some cried (Hunk), some just sat processing it(Shiro), some just stood up and left(Pidge), some just yelled "what the quiznack was he thinking" at the top of their lungs over and over(Coran), and others just stayed silent waiting for it to end(Keith). When the news and discussion was over, Keith grabbed Cosmo and hopped into his single pilot ship, sent a message to the Blade explaining that he needs to take a trip on his own, and takes off to find Lance. He prays that Lance is safe and ok. Hopes that he knows how much pain he just caused even after he left. "Ugh! Cosmo, where the hell is that asshole?!" Keith shouted heading into the space mall they went to with Coran and Allura a while ago. When they were still in space with no idea what the future held other than knowing they had to win the war. Where Lance had gotten Kaltenecker. Keith smiled at the memory. He stopped by the familiar shop. A piece of paper in the window caught his eye. He looked closer.
Wanted! Space Pirate! Goes by White Paladin! Call the Space Crime line with information!
Attached was a rough surveillance video still. The guy was in a white spacesuit, had a bag, and his face was just barely visible. Tan skin, dark hair, and those unmistakable blue eyes. The ones that pierced Keith's soul on so many occasions. Suddenly so many emotions rose up inside of him. Tears threatened to spill but he forced them down. He went inside. "Hey, can I get a copy of that wanted poster in the window? Just so I know what to look for, y'know." The clerk smiled and pulled out a copy. "Of course! Don't want him out and about for much longer. He came in a few weeks ago and swiped a few ship parts. Reported it and apparently he's high risk now. Swippin' more than a few parts." Keith accepted the flyer. "Thanks. Sounds like he was just trying to fix his ship. Maybe the rush of thievery got to him." He left without another word. He hopped into his ship and flew off. "Damnit, Lance! Couldn't even keep a low profile. That bastard!" He ranted to Cosmo the rest of the ride till they got to a new destination which took some time.
Meanwhile Lance had just swiped some food from a store. He was sitting in his ship now. "Man those people are kinda dumb. At least they made my next meal easier. Then he saw it. The billboard. It was for a planet that was getting a new reservation. The picture was of a desert like area with housing. It looked so familiar. He was drawn to the planet for some reason. So he input the coordinates into his device before taking off heading to it. The billboard had said it was once a beautiful planet before the war. He knew that's where the alteans used to live when Lotor took them and harvested their energy. He didn't realize how the war had taken from it, reducing it to a desert planet. When he landed, it was far away. Tucked in his pocket was a picture of all of them in front of Keith's shack. So he went to the reserve where he stole some supplies. He built a similar shack by a lake. He settled in just fine. He felt the connection to Red. The Lions were here. He knew it. Could feel it. Keith landed on a planet and went to a grocery store. He had to stock back up on food. When he went back to his ship, he saw it. The billboard. He knew where Lance was. He hopped in and quickly put in the coordinates before taking off. He flew over the surface, searching. Then he saw the shack. A replica of his. There was a lake too. And an escape pod from the Castle. He wouldn't forget what they look like. He knew all of them by heart. This was the one Lance liked. It had heater seats. And AC. He chuckled to himself. "Classic Lance." He landed and got out, followed by Cosmo. He went to the door and knocked. After a few minutes, Lance answered. "Keith… Why are you here? You're supposed to be with the Blade." "I've been looking for you for three years. Everyone was looking on satellites and not actually looking but I did. I followed every lead through space! Then I saw the billboard. I knew you'd come here. I see you got creative with your shelter." He smiled. Lance pulled him inside. The door was slammed and Cosmo teleported inside. "The Lions are here. Can you feel it, too?" Keith stood for a minute, feeling the energy around them. He nodded. "We should try to find them!" "Lance. That's not going to bring her back. I know you miss her, but the Lions can't do anything about it. We should leave them alone until they're needed again." Lance looked so broken in that moment. "I know you're right but I can't help to think that if I go to them I'll see her again. She'll be alive and ok." Keith did the only thing he could think of. He hugged Lance. Lance hugged back and sobbed. He cried until he couldn't. Eventually Keith calmed him down enough to sit on the ground. "You miss space?" Lance nodded. "You can join me in the Blade. We could explore together." Lance nodded. "That sounds fun. But uh…. I think you already know how that might go considering what I've done in the past three years." Keith laughed. "I looked into it and it was only essential. I'm sure it'd be fine." Skip ahead to seven years later, they're both sitting on the porch of Lance's space shack. They just sat in silence, watching the stars. Lance drifted his gaze to the boy, no man, beside him. So pretty with the stars reflecting in your eyes. Maybe mullets aren't so bad. It frames your face so perfectly. Lance thought. Wait. that's kinda gay. What am I saying? I'm bi. But since when did I think about how pretty Keith is. Pretty? Keith? What the fuck? I- "Lance? You ok? You spaced out for a minute. Do I have something on my face?" Keith's hand immediately went to rub at his face. "Sorry, just thinking. Thank you for finding me. I probably would've ended up in space prison if you hadn't." He laughed. Keith joined in. Beautiful. You are absolutely beautiful. His eyes met Keith and he wondered if Keith could tell what he was thinking. Keith looked into those electric blue eyes. His breath hitched as he heard the laugh of his best friend. Hah. Best friend. If someone had told him that Lance would become his best friend 17 years ago, he would've punched them and told them off. When he was 18 and ended up in space with this goofball, he slowly started to fall for him. But Lance had Allura and always flirted with girls. He never had a chance. So he pushed it down. He managed to ignore it without issues for 17 years. He never worried about it. But now, everything suddenly came rushing back as he looked at Lance in the moonlight, stars glistening in his eyes, leaned back, so at peace. That gorgeous sound rang in his ears even though they had stopped laughing a few minutes ago. "Keith, I think I like you. More than a friend, y'know?" Lance's words breaking the silence. This was almost too good to be true. At first Keith thought he heard wrong. But the look on Lance's face said he hadn't said something else. "Really?" He hated how shaky his voice sounded at that moment. He inhaled sharply. "I like….. You too…" He coughed. The air shifted. It felt less intense. And more like they could both breath properly again. Skip ahead to where they had been together for a few months. Keith and Lance were back at the shack. It was their 8 month anniversary. They were staring at the stars again. "Lance?" Keith broke the silence. "I think I want to marry you." Lance looked to his boyfriend. He held a ring out. It was a plain band with diamonds. On one side was red and on the other was blue. They were small, but in the middle was a bigger one that was purple. He looked Keith in the eyes. He was serious. "I definitely want to marry you." Keith said. Lance nodded, held out his shaky hand, "Yes." The ring was slipped onto his finger and then they were kissing. It was sweet and passionate. It was soft yet rough. Full of love.
?Four Years Later?There was a 7 year old girl running with her 4 year old brother and their dad chasing after them. "The tickle monster is gonna getcha!" A cuban yelled after his kids. "He's great with them." Shiro said. "Yeah. I'm lucky, aren't I?" Keith responded watching his husband Lance chase their kids. He felt content. They both felt lucky and content. Especially since they had their friends to help out. Lance couldn't have asked for anything better. If he knew this was the outcome of running away to become a space pirate, he would've run away sooner.