Clear Day

by jalpari

The team needs a break as they make their way to the swap moon.

A/N:

I had a lot of fun writing this filler chapter. Clear day was definitely one of my favorite episodes in between all the battles and missions!

Comments, suggestions, feedback are always welcome!

"Clear day?" Noor questioned. "What is that?"

"It's a carnival! On planet Drazan", Pidge squealed in delight.

"Its citizens can only come out on one day per year when the weather is clear. And that's why the celebration is called….", Hunk looked at her expectantly.

"...Clear day?" Noor muttered hesitantly.

"Yes!" Hunk and Pidge high fived each other.

"The last time we were there", Hunk continued, "we had so much fun!"

"Really?" Noor seemed intrigued. "What kind of stuff do they have? Is it like Earth Carnivals?"

"Do we really have time for this?" Keith interrupted with a frown. "We have to get to the swap moon today. We can't afford to..."

Hunk and Pidge turned to Shiro pleadingly. Keith looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Umm...", Shiro began.

"What if the terrorists are there right now and leave by the time we get there?" Keith groaned.

"He has a point", Shiro shrugged at Hunk and Pidge.

"Actually", Bani joined the discussion, "it may not be such a bad idea. We're getting faint energy levels from their ship in the general vicinity of the planet and Drazan fits their needs given its terrain and weather conditions. Most of the population will be gathered at the festival and there are enough places that make for a good hideout for repairs."

"Yes!" Pidge squealed. "That's also a good point."

"Maybe it will be a good break", Shiro chuckled.

"It's literally on the way to the swap moon. It will only be a few hours. We need a break, Keith", Pidge pleaded.

"Noor needs a break", Hunk added, holding her shoulders and turning her to Keith and Shiro.

"I do?" Noor muttered her eyes darting from Hunk to Shiro to Keith.

"She's been through so much. Just look at her."

"I have?" Noor spoke with difficulty as Hunk squished her cheeks lifting her face up towards them.

Pidge looked at her imploringly.

"Oh...uhh...yeah", she mumbled following their lead. "I have...I do...need a break."

Keith looked at her unimpressed. She shrugged and smiled. He sighed in resignation and threw his head back.

"Fine!"

Noor's mouth was agape as Pidge led her through the carnival. The lights, the colors, the sounds, the smell of all the food stalls, everything overwhelmed her. She felt a playful joy all around her and let herself be drawn in by it. It was easy to forget about everything else. The disturbing visions, the frightening thoughts, the incessant worrying, the exhausting anger.

"What do you want, Noor?" Pidge stopped in front of an arcade. "I can win you whatever you like!"

"Guys", Hunk ran over, "you gotta check this out. Shiro is back in the arm wrestling battle!"

"What?" Noor asked as she followed them into a huge yellow tent.

As soon as they entered, they heard a loud booming voice surround them. They ran up and joined Keith, Luten, and Bani by the ringside.

"Ladies and burrowmen! Boy, do we have an exciting match for you! Give it up for our former arm wrestling champion, the Black Paladin of Voltron, and the current captain of the IGF Atlas. Shiro!"

Noor watched in awe as a spotlight shone on Shiro, who had a confident grin on his face. His prosthetic arm shot straight up and zoomed back to him, falling into position as he flexed both arms. He stepped forward to the table with an attitude Noor had never seen on him before.

"Wow", Noor whispered, "I never realized what a badass Shiro is. Or how hot he is!"

Everyone looked at her surprised and Luten raised an eyebrow.

"What?" she grinned. "He is!"

"I agree", Pidge nodded in agreement.

Noor laughed and cheered as Shiro took a seat and his hands were bound to his challenger's, a gigantic angry looking alien. They watched the match progress excitedly. Shiro and the alien seemed equally matched in strength. Every time Shiro would gain ground, the alien would push back and gain just as much ground, only to lose it once again to Shiro's arm.

They roared and grunted and exclaimed as the two battled it out. Much to Noor's amusement, even Keith seemed to be completely invested in the match. Keith heard Noor scream the loudest and chuckled at the girl's aggression. She was yelling out some rather creative curses.

A few seconds later, Shiro growled and with a final push, slammed the alien's hand against the table. Roars spread throughout the tent and the team erupted into cheers and fist pumps and laughter. Noor rushed ahead on to the stage and hugged him.

"THAT WAS AMAZING!" Noor exclaimed gleefully. "You totally owned that loser!"

Shiro laughed at the girl's enthusiasm and was soon engulfed in more embraces by Hunk, Pidge and Bani who rushed onto the stage as well.

"Now that's what I call a true champion, Ladies and burrowmen", the host continued, "looks like he's got the attention of all the girls...and boy!"

Luten snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Any of you in the audience willing to step up to this challenge? Anyone out here ready to fight for the badge of the champion?!"

There were no volunteers.

"Looks like this champion is…."

"I'll do it!"

Everyone muttered and gasped as they tried to look ahead at the person who was challenging the champion. Noor, Bani, Hunk and Pidge stood stunned as they watched Luten get on the stage. They looked at him in confusion as he passed them and stood at the table.

"Alright, girls….and boy...get off the stage", the host gestured to them.

"What's up with him?" Pidge muttered under her breath.

"No idea", Hunk mumbled.

They returned to the floor and joined Keith who stood with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Noor stood by his side and her eyes jumped from Lutent to Shiro and back.

"Who do you think's gonna win?" Hunk asked.

"Shiro, of course", Keith and Noor spoke simultaneously.

They glanced at each other and grinned.

"I don't know", Bani spoke in a serious tone, "Look at Luten's face. He looks quite determined."

"Yeah...almost pissed off", Pidge observed, "where did that come from!?"

"Maybe he wants the attention of all the girls on him", Hunk chuckled and nudged Pidge and Noor.

"Shut up, Hunk", Pidge snorted and adjusted her glasses.

"Maybe Hunk is right", Bani smirked, "look…"

Luten glanced down towards Noor for a brief moment before turning his attention back to Shiro.

"Looks like he wants a hug from Noor too", she chuckled.

Noor felt her face heat up and she scratched the back of her ear and looked away.

"Aww", Pidge chuckled, "are you blushing!?"

"Zip it, Pidge", Noor snapped.

"There's no way Luten is gonna win this anyway", Keith retorted.

The match began and Shiro's face turned from surprise, to readiness, to determination, to amusement, and finally to a chuckle. Without breaking a sweat, he pushed Luten's hand towards the table. Luten was grunting because of the sheer effort it took to resist the final push.

Shiro caught Luten look towards the team from the corner of his eye and thought he saw his gaze rest on Noor. He grinned to himself as he realized why the young man had challenged him. He shook his head and reduced the force with which he was pushing down on the boy's arm. Luten glanced at him in surprise and saw Shiro wink at him. He blushed and shot Shiro a grateful smile. With one swift motion, he swung Shiro's arm back and onto the table.

Silence reigned and the team froze. Their jaws dropped as they saw Luten slam Shiro's hand on the table in triumph. Shiro sat back and sighed, half in disappointment and half in amusement. Luten stood up beaming with joy.

"Well whadya know", the host found his voice, "looks like...we have a new champion!"

Shiro laughed and walked over to Luten. He handed him the badge of the champion and patted him on the back.

"You owe me", Shiro leaned in and whispered.

Luten nodded and laughed back. They stepped off the stage and joined the still astonished group. No one moved for several seconds. Eventually Hunk spoke first.

"Wow...uh...yeah that was...amazing. Way to go, Luten!" He hugged the boy and lifted him off the ground.

"Yeah", Pidge's eyes opened wide, "I can't believe someone beat Shiro!"

"What can I say", Shiro shrugged, "guess I'm getting old."

"Congratulations, Luten", Bani shook his hand. "That was quite a comeback", she threw a sly smile at him.

"Uhh...yeah…", Luten cleared his throat. "Adrenaline, I guess."

Luten turned to face Noor who looked at him in disbelief.

"That was...quite a win", she smiled and patted his shoulder, not noticing the laughter that Bani and Shiro were trying to contain.

She quickly left the group and exited the arena. Luten caught the sympathetic expression on Shiro's face. Hunk and Bani noticed the exchange between them and covered their mouths as they realized what had happened. They stifled their own chuckles so as to not embarrass the flushed boy.

"C'mon, Luten!" an oblivious Pidge grabbed on to his arm, "you seem to be on a roll. Let's put that luck to good use!"

She dragged him outside and headed to another stall.

"Wait, where's Keith?" Hunk looked around.

"Hmm…", Bani scanned the tent, "I didn't see him when Shiro and Luten joined us. Perhaps, he left around that time."

"Let's get out of here", Shiro began walking. "I need some fresh air."

"You need to win something", Hunk chuckled.

Shiro rolled his eyes and playfully nudged the giggling chef.

Noor left the tent hastily. She just wanted to get as far away from the group as possible and in her haste, had not paid any attention to where she was going. Several minutes later, she stood outside another tent looking around trying to spot the others.

"Looking for someone?"

She jumped at the sudden voice and nearly tripped over the rope that was behind her.

"Woah, watch it", Keith exclaimed grabbing her wrist just in time.

"Oh...thanks", Noor straightened herself. "I didn't see that. Who leaves a rope in the middle of the…"

"Next…"

They both turned to see a grumpy alien in a green uniform.

He stood in front of them, hands on his hips, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Come on! You're holding the line up. Let's go…"

"Line….", Noor mumbled, "line for what?!"

"Not this again!" Keith groaned.

"What?" Noor looked at him bewildered.

"It's a stupid ride...we should go…", Keith began.

Just then, Noor caught sight of Luten and Pidge walking in their direction and before she knew what she was doing, she grabbed Keith's arm and dragged him inside.

"Ride? I love rides! Let's go."

"Huh?" Keith looked at her as she led them into the tent and pulled him into the car. Within seconds, the ride began and they moved forward through a dark tunnel.

"Oh yeah", she continued feigning excitement. "I just…", her voice trailed off as they came out the other side and she saw ugly robotic creatures sing a dreadful jingle, "...love rides."

Keith rolled his eyes as she looked at him confused.

"I tried to warn you", he grumbled and sat back, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Clear Day, Clear Day, Clear Day What do we say? Clear Day, Clear Day, Clear Day…."

"Oh. My. God." Noor whined. "What is this!? I'm going mad!"

"I can't believe I'm going through this ride for the second time in my life", Keith gritted his teeth.

"What? Two times?"

"The last time we were here, Hunk and I got dragged onto this ride."

"Wow, that's really bad luck."

"It was worse than bad luck...not only did we get dragged onto this ride...but we also got stuck in it...because the ride broke down and…"

Just then, the car and the singing slurred to a stop and the robotic creatures froze mid-dance.

"Umm….", Noor whispered, "I think you're luck hasn't changed."

"This is like a recurring nightmare", Keith groaned, "except now, instead of Hunk...it's you!"

"Uhh...OUCH! Wow!" Noor sat up straight and glared at Keith.

"No...I mean...I didn't mean…"

"Relax", Noor giggled. "I'm just messing with you."

Keith scowled and sat back once more. Noor looked around and sighed. She leaned on the railing that locked them into their seats and began counting the creatures.

"So…", Keith broke the silence as he leaned forward and rested his elbows on the rod. "Why did you drag us here in the first place?"

"Oh…", Noor curled her lips inwards and racked her brain for a good excuse. "I...I told you...I really like rides."

"Uhuh", Keith turned to her with a smirk on his face. "So you weren't trying to hide?"

"Hide?!"

"You know...from someone?"

Noor exhaled and sat up straight.

"Fine...you got me. I was hiding from Luten."

"I know", Keith shrugged and stared at the creatures.

"Don't you want to know why?"

"I mean...if you want to share...go ahead."

"Never mind", Noor grunted and leaned back into the seat.

Keith turned around and looked at her. She was gazing off into the distance with a frown on her face. He leaned back and rested against the seat as well. Noor's eyes glanced sideways and saw the expectant look on his face as he waited patiently. She huffed and snapped her eyes back into the distance.

"I think he has a crush on me."

"You think?"

"Yeah...I mean...I'm not sure…"

"You're blind then."

"What?"

"That stunt he pulled in the arena...you do realize it was for you, right", Keith snapped.

"Alright...so I wasn't sure...don't get annoyed at me!"

"Arrghhh", he groaned, "let's just get out of here, already!"

He stood up and began to push against the railing when he felt her hand on his arm.

"No, wait. You'll break their ride."

"It's already broken!"

Noor saw the annoyed, grumpy expression on his face and began giggling.

"What?"

Her shoulders shook as she doubled down with laughter.

"What! What is it?"

"You're…", she hiccuped as she tried to get words out, "you're being…", she tried catching her breath as she clutched her sides, "you're being such a baby right now!"

"Wha...I AM NOT."

With that Noor burst into laughter again and pointed at his face.

"You should...see your face...it's all...pouty like a child."

Keith's face turned red and he was about to yell again when he noticed the way her eyes wrinkled into two tiny dots as an innocent laugh spread across her face. He exhaled and shook his head, sitting back on the seat once more with a lopsided grin.

"It's not so bad", Noor finally controlled her laughter, "if you want the ride to turn back on, I can help…"

"How?" Keith's head perked up.

Noor's smile turned into a mischievous grin as her hands slowly rose up in front of her.

"Clear Day, Clear Day, What do we say? Clear Day, Clear Day, Clear Day…."

She began singing, mimicking the dance and the sound of the ugly robots. Her singing was interspersed with giggles and croaky laughter as she went on, swinging back and forth and side to side with every 'clear day'.

Keith tried really hard but in the end, gave up. He couldn't control his laughter and let loose as he watched her face transition from one ridiculous expression to the next. Eventually, she couldn't continue the performance and they convulsed in laughter.

Soon, their laughter was drowned by pitchy, squeaky voices all around them. The ride began moving again and they sighed in relief as they saw the exit some distance away.

"Thank the stars!" Noor joined her palms and gestured to the ceiling above.

"Finally!" Keith sighed in relief.

"Sorry I pulled you into this...for a second time", she chuckled softly.

"It's okay. You were right. It's wasn't all that bad."