Summary:Takashi Shirogane thought he was done being a parent to lost space children. Literally done. That is, until the paladins bring back the lone survivor of a Galra attack, and she's really too cute for him to say no to. Besides, how much trouble could it be? A lot, apparently, when Honerva wants to get her hands on the new member of his family, and one of the crew members has a fleeting crush on him. He should just retire by now, right? (Rated T just to be safe)
IMPORTANT: Shiro (and the other paladins) show up in the second chapter. This is a backstory chapter for Ayla, the main character, and she doesn't actually meet Shiro until Chapter Two. Please read this chapter, since it will be relevant to the story later on, but doesn't actually have anything to do with the paladins. If you feel it necessary, continue to that chapter, otherwise, happy reading!
Chapter One- The Attack
(Warning: Mild language at some points)
Her mother had always told her that everyone had a little drum beating in their chest, and the only way to stop it from playing was to destroy it. That was what the Galra did. They destroyed planets and had been weighing down on her people for many decades now. Only the oldest remembered a time when they were free of their overlords, when they had open skies and could travel off world, to see the stars. Even so, their planet, Kiamia, was ripe with life, and the clouds were a soft sunset purple and pink color that hovered low over the small villages which dotted the lush green landscape. Crystal water stretched over half the planet, and beautiful mountains of navy colors stretched on the horizon, soft peaks highlighting the pale rust colored planet that circled just out of the orbit of the tiny planet. The two suns in the sky shone a pale white, and a faint blue sky stretched over the elaborate landscape. They were just a small planet with trees of all kinds of blue, violet, turquoise, rose, and a whole pallet of other colors that the galaxy considered a "backwater planet". Ayla Dylis had always lived on this planet, ever since she was born. She knew all the nooks and crannies around her small village, and the forest around the small valley she lived in was her only escape from the prying eyes of the galra as they patrolled her small village, looking for any sign of trouble.
Ayla herself was well known around the village, being one of the only children who hadn't been taken away for four years in a row at the local reaping, where the galra recruited soldiers for their arsenal. Luckily this year, like always, Ayla had been of no interest, her almost white, partially translucent skin and scrawny form being of no interest to the recruitment team. Her mother had practically collapsed in relief when her daughter wasn't selected to be taken away to the training camps on the other side of the planet. The galra had been taking children for the past two or three decades, turning the passive Kiamians into a full armada within a few decades. The village had been in a time of peace when a conspicuous rumor began to spread. The village had heard word of a new force, the voltron coalition, fighting against the galra. To most, this seemed impossible. The galra couldn't possibly be defeated!
The only sign that these rumors were true was when a small pod crashed in a nearby swamp, with no survivors. They'd managed to find the database before the ship sunk into the depths of the planet forever, but it was all encrypted beyond the powers of the small survey tablets the locals used. The pod still rested where it had crashed, half sunk in the mud, and the locals had steered clear of it ever since. Everything seemed to be in it's normal sorts in the months afterward, the reapings and patrols on normal schedule as always. It seemed the galra had turned a blind eye to the pod, and the "Voltron".
Until the day when tears of fire rained from the sky. She was just carrying laundry with her mother, going down to the pristine stream near the village, her cute white and blue dress clearly defined against the trees as she followed her mother's dark skin and ashy hair. Her mother's deep earth brown and red clothing always reminded Ayla of the nearby planet that always hung low in the sky above them. As they approached the stream, she suddenly heard a loud sound. The sound of something exploding, not too far from where they were standing. The trees even seemed to shed leaves as another explosion made the ground shake under Ayla's bare feet. After a few beats of silence, her mother looked up, before dropping her basket. Ayla, unable to help herself, looked up.
Fire rained from the sky, the large shadowy shapes of the galra cruisers under fire by some mysterious force. She couldn't tear her eyes away as one of the low orbit cruisers began its descent downwards, its beam at the ready. The deep purple on the edge of the ship glared down on her as she dropped the basket she'd been carrying on the ground, the colorful textiles falling out onto the damp soil. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Cruisers never came this far down into orbit, and by the looks of it, it was landing. Fear suddenly gripped her stomach, beginning to choke up her throat.
Her mother cursed under her breath, before grabbing Ayla's hand. "Damn Galra. Come on!" She said, her smooth voice suddenly gruff. Ayla barely had time to squeak in pain before her mother dragged her into the woods, their bare feet crushing the grass, and dark branches catching and tugging at their hair. Ayla could hardly keep up, her fair hair getting caught in several branches, and having to be untwined before they could continue. The roots seemed to catch her feet, tripping her up and throwing her to the ground. Each time, her mother dragged her back onto her feet, telling her to watch the finally got on the path back to the village, racing along the compact dirt path before coming over the small rise, to the hill overlooking the place Ayla had lived for as long as she could remember.
Her mother looked out over the village, smoke coming from the half destroyed huts, and screams drifting through the air as something awful happened to their people. Galra centuries marched down the streets, firing at anyone who came near their gleaming metal shells. Her mother covered her eyes before Ayla could see the horrors, turning around as quickly as she could. The faint ivory markings on her mother's arms glimmered in the light as they hurried back into the safety of the woods woods, leaving the bloody chaos behind. "Mommy! Where are we going?" Ayla whined, exhausted from running so far. Her mother dashed off the path, calloused feet gripping the moss underfoot as they continued through the dense undergrowth.
After what seemed like hours of running, Ayla's mother finally stopped, in the middle of a small clearing. The tall trees were ancient, layers upon layers of woven roots sticking out of the ground, and pale pink and green leaves casting thin shadows in the faint light of the sun. Ayla collapsed to the ground, sucking as much air into her lungs as possible before looking over at her tall, rugged mother. The woman knelt at the base of a tree, digging amongst the roots for something. Ayla crept over to see what it was, as her mother pulled a small, old sack out of the roots, tossing it in the shadows nearby. "Listen to me, Ayla." She began, crawling over to inspect the contents. "You have to go."
Ayla sat on her knees watching as her mother drew a pistol, military grade, out of the sack, setting it on the ground. The pistol was like a pocket sized version of the ones the galra carried, and had an old, almost dated look to it. "But where, mommy?" She asked, giant eyes filling with tears. "I don't wanna leave!"
Her mother scoffed. "You're going to have to grow a spine, girl." She tossed the bag into the roots of the tree once again, frowning. Up close, Ayla could see that her mother's deep green eyes matched the tree nearby, and that her mother's earth colored skin was as soft as it had always been, only disrupted by a long scar that ran down from her eye. A piece left over from the war, her mother had always said. Rich gray curls and long, curving markings on her mother's cheeks and neck glowed softly in the shadow of the large tree above as she handed Ayla the pistol. "Take this."
Ayla looked down at it, confused, until she noticed her mother's serious expression, the scary one that always made Ayla think her mother would kill someone if they even spoke. Ayla handed it back, her tiny mind trying to process what her mother was doing. "Ayla." Her mother's voice had a hint of warning. "Take the damn gun right now."
When her mother cursed, she meant what she was saying. Ayla took it back, her expression guilty as a child who'd been caught stealing sweet buns. Her mother smiled, that rogue smile that always made Ayla soar a little inside. "Now, you're going to stay right here until I come back for you. Shoot anything that moves." Her mother kissed her head softly, getting to her feet. "Understand me?" Ayla nodded, her lips pursed as she held tears back. "Yes, mommy."
"Good." Her mother lifted her up, balancing Ayla on her hip like she'd done a million times before, walking up to the base of the tree. The ancient tree had thousands of roots that her mother climbed over like she'd been there a thousand times, and the deep olive green leaves obscured the branches and anything that might be up inside them. She stood on her tiptoes, placing Ayla in one of the lowest branches of the tree before smiling up at her daughter. Ayla grasped at the branch with her free hand as tears finally overcame the barriers of her eyelids, pouring down her usually soft cheeks, that were now smeared with grime from falling so much.
"You're so brave, my little star." Her mother said, caressing Ayla's cheek. "I love you so much." Her mother's hand rested on her cheek for just a moment, before her mother backed away, running out into the woods without anything. Ayla thought her mother was abandoning her, before she realized:
Her mother was fighting back.
The discovery was heart wrenching at best, since everyone knew that the galra were basically impossible to defeat alone. Ayla began to cry harder, sobbing as she clung to the ancient tree her mother had left her in.
"Mommy… come back.."
Silence was her only answer.
Note: Hello! This is my first fic that I've (literally) ever posted! Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter, and please comment down below if you feel the inclination! I'm also looking for a beta reader, since at the moment, this is entirely once edited by me. So, with that said, let me know what you think, and don't be afraid to throw some ideas at me if you're interested. Also, I do not own Voltron.