Keith admitted; he has so-so emotional range on a good day. But this; learning that his deceased father of 12 years is back and, possibly, in the hospital? Can you blame him for freaking out a little?

His shock and inevitable freak-out must have shown on his face because the man gave him a sympathetic look.

"I understand your worry and hesitance over this event, but if you could come in when you get back to Earth, we can get this mess figured out." Keith numbly nodded his head and agreed to visit the man when he gets back to Earth. The screen disappears, and Keith continues to stare, mind frozen.

Keith was sluggish through dinner, mind like molasses. His friends continued talking; inside jokes from the castle or the Garrison. Keith picked at his food, not having an appetite but needing the food.

Lance tapped his shoulder, a smile on his face. His eyes were a little dull, but from what he was like on the day after Allura's death, he was doing great.

"Hey," Keith turned his head in his direction. "You doing okay? You're kind of.. out of it, man. All day."

Keith looked down at his food and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not feeling well. I think I'm gonna head to bed. Night." He pushed from the table, throwing his trash away.

Everything feels like it's underwater. Keith slowly walked to his quarters, hearing the muffled sound of crewmates talking and laughing. When he got to his quarters, his eyes started to burn. He sat on his bed, mind repeating the words from this morning. He didn't hear the door knocking the first time, lost to his thoughts.

His dad could be alive, but it could always be a scam, a fake. What if this is another one of Honerva's tricks, her torturing Voltron from beyond the grave? Keith didn't want to give his hopes up again and have them be broken by someone with the same name as his father.

"Keith. You okay?" Lance, of course. He was the one to notice Keith was off, obviously, he would make sure he was fine. "You left in a hurry, I just wanted to make sure nothing happened." Keith contemplated keeping quiet, acting like he was asleep, or telling Lance that he was fine (he was fine), but the knocking came again, and Shiro's voice after, and he cracked.

"Come in," he says, voice shaky. The door opens, revealing Shiro, Lance, and Romelle. "What's up? You get a video call, space cadet out for the rest of the day, and leave during dinner? You look like you've seen a ghost, man." Lance sat down next to Keith. Keith looked at him, then to Romelle and Shiro, and then to his lap.

"I got a call from a hospital on Earth. Apparently, they have been getting cases of people who were previously dead coming back to life, and… a-and my dad was one of them. They're not sure, and when we get back, I have to identify him." His throat felt tight, and his eyes stung slightly. He didn't want to look up, and show how vulnerable he felt. Out of the three of them, Shiro knew the most; not the complete story, but enough to understand why Keith was upset.

Shiro rested a hand on Keith's shoulder, squaring down in front of him. Keith looked up through his dark bangs, meeting Shiro's concerned gaze.

"Do you need us to do anything? I could come with you tomorrow, for moral support." Keith's first instinct was to say no, that he was okay, and he nearly did. But then the night that Heath died started playing in his head, and tears threatened to spill over.

"I'm fine." His voice came out in a broken whisper. Romelle, who stood at Shiro's side, walked to Keith, and crouched down to his level, and hugged him fiercely.

"You don't have to say 'you're fine' Keith. You were there for me, and have done so much for so many people. Let us help you."

The first tear spilled over, and his arm's found their place around Romelle.

Keith ended up crying the whole night. Even though he had grieved his father's death 12 years ago, the idea of his father made all of those emotions that he thought were done resurface.

They landed late the next day, and after a debrief from the Garrison officials, the paladins were free to go. Shiro drove Keith to the hospital and would drive and, ultimately, make sure Keith was okay after the meeting.

So, that was where Keith stood now, awkwardly outside of his (most likely not) dad's hospital room. Talking in a breath, Keith knocked on the door. A voice (his voice) replied, allowing him in.

Heath looked exactly how Keith remembered. That scared Keith; because he grew up, changed, and got older from his childhood.

What if he's mad about the person I am now? Would he express his disappointment, or would he accept them? How is this going to affect their relationship? Keith isn't 11 anymore, he grew out of most of the things he was a fan of at that age. Where were they going to live? They tore down the old house years ago, because of all the damage it took that night-

Keith stopped that train of thought. He wanted to think about anything that has to do with them. This was now, and now, he wanted to actually form words to say to his father, who was deceased a week ago but was not now.

"I- uh." Hs tongue felt heavy in his mouth. His head was full of cotton. "I guess you h-have questions about what happened, and uh, why I'm not 11." He chuckled, eyes burning. His dad laughed softly, looking away from Keith and to the picture in his hand.

"Yeah, heh. Imagine my surprise to hear I've been on my ass for 12 years, and my son is a Power Ranger from space." The joke pulled a wet laugh from Keith. He sniffed, rubbing his wrist under his eyes quickly. Heath noticed, and leaned forward, patting his bed.

"Come sit, Keith. We've got a lot to talk about." Keith hesitantly sat on the edge of the bed. Heath sat forward, meeting Keith's nervous gaze. "How are you doing with all of this? You were," He paused, looking down. "All of that happened. Do you have a foster family or something?"

Keith shook his head and then paused. "I kind of have a brother. He took me in, and I stayed with him through High School. His name is Shiro; well, Takashi Shirogane." Heath hummed, smiling. "He actually got me into the Galaxy Garrison. I don't know if they got you caught up yet, but; we both are- or were, paladins of Voltron. The uh- blue lion that you and Mom were hiding."

Heath froze, looking Keith in the eyes, there was a pang of guilt in them. "You know about your mom?" Keith nodded. "I met her; in space. She's gonna come see you when everything gets settled with the Galra. She uh, she misses you. A lot."

Heath continues to look at Keith, worry, and guilt showing plain as day. "How are you doing?" God, why did everyone have to say those words? Couldn't he have one day where people didn't ask him those annoying invasive questions?

"I'm fine." Heath glared, ever so lightly. "Seriously."

"Boy, I may not have gotten to see you in a while, but I still know you. You're upset, I can tell."

Keith's lip trembled against his will. Damn it, he was going to cry again. "It just hurts that everything happened. You died, and I was sent into foster care, a-and.. and I didn't know anything about you, o-or Mom- I didn't know anything about my missing family- no one was there and I felt so stupid-," his throat stopped him from continuing, blocking his speech.

Heath put his hands on Keith's shoulders, turning his body so Keith had to look Heath in the eye.

"You are not stupid. You were an 11-year-old boy who lost his parents and was alone. Nothing that happened, nothing that almost happened, and nothing you did or did not do since then was your fault. You did what you had to do to survive." He took a deep breath through his nose, eyes glossy.

"I'm sorry about what happened that night; it was not fair what happened to you; and even worse, you must have been blaming yourself all these years. God, I don't know what I would do in your situation. I- and I left you alone, with no answers. Shit-."

Heath leaned forward and trapped Keith in a warm embrace, and hot liquid hitting the top of his head. Keith's eyes started to blur. He gasped and wrapped his arms around his father, shoving his forehead into his father's shoulder. Finally releasing 12 years of morning and anger.

Hello, and welcome to the second chapter; and the father and son are reunited! I'm being honest, I am completely spit-balling with this one, so any suggestions would be awesome. Well, as always, comment anything that you have to say about this, and see you next time!

-Blue