Don't forget, Kidgezine pre-orders end on April 1st!

Haven't heard of the Kidgezine yet? Go check it out! (kidgezine. com) You can pick a physical zine or digital or go for one of the bundles with super cute merch! If you scroll down past all of the bundle options, you can also see examples of the included merch. I wrote a little fic for it and everyone worked so hard on it, so give it a look if you can!

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Chapter 2

As far as holding cells went, the one they put her in wasn't awful. There was a bed, an enclosed space for a bathroom, and a table for her to sit at. And despite the tension running between them, Shiro and Allura were nothing but gentle as they guided her inside.

Katie understood the reasons why Coran suggested it. She was a stranger with a familiar face to them and they couldn't take the risk that she could be working for the enemy. Locking her away meant everyone would be safe, including her.

None of that made it hurt any less.

She settled on the bed, assuming they were waiting for Coran and the others before they began questioning her.

"Who are you?" Shiro asked.

Evidently, she was wrong.

"Katie Holt, paladin of the Green Lion," she said promptly.

Allura frowned. "Then you're not Pidge?"

"'Pidge' is my nickname. Matt gave it to me when we were kids. I always hated being called that, but after Kerberos it was kind of comforting. Like I had a piece of him with me." Katie paused, looking at Allura curiously. "You didn't know?"

"I did," Shiro spoke up. "But I don't think you've ever directly told anyone else. Or not you – Pidge. Our Pidge."

Katie took a deep breath. "Okay, so-"

"How did you get on my ship?" Allura interrupted. "The alarms didn't go off or anything, but you made it all the way to the bridge. How did you do that?"

"I'm not sure. Look, the last thing I remember was Slav showing us this invention; this 'trans-reality extrapolater'. He said it would let us see into alternate realities, but something must have gone wrong, because I blacked out and woke up here, alone," Katie explained.

"There's someone else with you?" Allura asked, sounding alarmed.

"I-I don't know! He wasn't there when I woke up. He could still be with Slav or somewhere else on this ship. I wish I did know."

Stars, what if he was on the Castle? Coran said they were at war with the Galra, so if anyone found Keithir, they'd think he was an enemy invader! What if they hurt him? It would be all her fault for asking him to go with her to see Slav's invention!

Katie looked at them, her eyes wide with fear. "Please don't hurt him if he is. I promise, we don't mean any harm."

"What would we harm him?" / "He's Galra, isn't he."

Shiro and Allura spoke at the same time and Katie dropped her gaze to her knees, unsure of what to do. She wanted to trust her friends, but knowing that they were at war with the Galra in the awful reality she'd fallen into made her feel like that wasn't possible. Not fully, anyway. She had to protect herself and Keithir and figure out how to get them home.

"Katie," Allura gently began, "we want to help you, so I need you to trust that we will not hurt you or your friend. Believe it or not, we do know that not all Galra are evil. Some of them want peace just as much as we do."

"We'll search the Castle for your friend and bring him here if we find him," Shiro assured her. "Will he recognize us?"

Katie nodded and made no attempt to correct them on the "friend" aspect of her relationship with Keithir. She lifted her head to watch the two of them leave, taking note of the distance between them. They were still close enough to converse quietly, though she could make out bits of what they were saying. (Something about "finding Pidge" and "informing others", which Katie assumed meant they would also be filling in Lance and Hunk on what was happening.)

She sighed and laid down, taking a moment for herself while everyone was away.

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Shiro dropped them off at a room, told them not to leave under any circumstances, and then left without another word of explanation. Keith and Pidge stood there for a moment, thoroughly confused.

"So much for an explanation," Pidge grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. "What is this place anyway? Someone's bedroom?"

Keith turned away from the door to take a better look around. His eyes fell to a nearby photograph of all of the paladins, minus himself, and his heart constricted. "Maybe it's Shiro's."

He stepped closer to the short dresser for a better look, mostly aware of Pidge's half-hearted "maybe" as she began to snoop around as well. Everyone looked the way he remembered in the photograph. Shiro's hair still had a tuft of white in the front and the sides were shaved. Lance was grinning and had an arm slung across Hunk's shoulders. Pidge was on the other side of Hunk, caught in the process of adjusting her glasses. Allura stood in the center, dressed in her flight suit and smiling.

"Could we be in the future?" he asked, glancing at Pidge.

"That would explain Shiro's hair and Allura's baby."

Keith blinked. "Baby?"

Pidge raised an eyebrow. "You really didn't notice? She was holding him in her arms when they came running up. Though I guess Shiro did get us out of there pretty fast..."

Okay, so Shiro had white hair and Allura had a baby. That was two checkmarks for the probability of them being in the future. Also, he suspected that Slav was somehow involved, which was a solution for the "how" part of them being there.

Keith moved on to the next framed photo. There were only two people in it, one of whom was Pidge and the other...

He stared for a moment and then picked it up. The sight of Pidge in a beautiful, shimmering gown was one he hadn't expected, but even less than that was her on the arm of a Galra with fluffy ears, wearing red armor disturbingly similar to the armor worn by Galra soldiers. He looked familiar, in a way, though Keith couldn't place where he'd seen him before.

Keith put the picture back where it belonged. There were so many featuring Pidge and the Galra. Some with the other paladins. Some with Matt and who he could only assume were Pidge's parents.

He couldn't look at them any more.

There was one thing that stood out to him above all else: he wasn't in a single one of those pictures.

He closed his eyes and steadied his breathing. He wouldn't think of Naxzela. He'd spent far too much time reliving that moment – he could see it every time he closed his eyes. The massive ship. The barrier around it. The desperation he felt after all of their failed attempts to take down the barrier. He didn't have a choice.

To save everyone, he had been willing to sacrifice himself, and there he was, in a future where it appeared he'd done exactly that. Why else would there not be photographs with him?

Unless...

Unless Pidge was angrier with him than she let on.

He had abandoned the team when they needed him to lead. He had chosen the Blade over Voltron and backed out on promises to help with Coalition shows. All of that, after he yelled at her for trying to leave the team to search for her family.

She had every right to be mad.

"What's this?" Pidge asked, coming up next to him. Her eyes widened as she looked at the collection of photographs. "Is that me?"

Before Keith could answer, the door slid open and Shiro and Allura walked in. He took a good, long look at both of them, trying to figure out how far into the future they were.

"Lets start with the basics, shall we?" Allura suggested. "Slav says that he has been testing a machine that will allow its user to view alternate realities. He recently added components similar to the ones used in a teludav, likely an attempt to gain more control, and it seems to have caused a... malfunction, of sorts."

"Alternate realities... So this isn't the future?" Keith asked, restraining his relief until he had an answer.

"No, I don't believe so," Allura said.

It wasn't the future.

It was startling how much better that made him feel, but at the same time, what did that mean for the version of him in the reality he landed in? Was there a Keith?

"So, why us? I mean, why did it specifically bring the two of us here?" Pidge asked. "And how? We weren't in the same place when we left, but we were once we got here!"

"The two of you may have been apart in your reality, but you were together here. We believe you must have swapped places with them," Allura explained.

Keith didn't intend to say anything, but the words slipped out regardless. "There's a version of me here?"

Shiro looked concerned. "Of course there is. Why wouldn't you think so?"

"The pictures," Pidge said, glancing at them again. "Keith's not in any of them."

Allura and Shiro shared a troubled look, neither sure of how to answer that. After a moment, Shiro cautiously asked: "Does the name 'Keithir' mean anything to you?"

Keith frowned and shook his head.

"Perhaps the two of you should start from the beginning. The more we know about the reality the two of you come from, the better chance we have at sending you back," Allura said.

"The beginning..." Pidge mused.

There was only one place to start. It was how both of their stories began.

"The Kerberos Mission."

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Kolivan wasn't sure where to begin. Keith stood in front of him, head bowed and shoulders slumped, clearly struggling under the weight of his almost sacrifice. Kolivan hated having to lecture the cub, but there was still so much he had to learn. There was no other way to get through to him.

"I don't need to list the reasons why what you attempted was wrong, Keith," Kolivan said, watching the youngest Blade flinch. He pressed on. "You must learn that every action has a consequence. A sacrifice for the greater good may seem like the easy- Keith?"

Kolivan reached out in time to catch Keith as he passed out. Words were lost on him as Keith's form shimmered and then blurred, becoming smoke-like before reforming. However, it wasn't Keith who he held in his arms afterward, but a Galra in hand-tailored silks and a pair of fluffy ears sticking out of black hair.

There was something familiar about him. The structure of his face. His smaller build. The unusual coloring to his hair.

The Galra groaned as he began to stir, slowly blinking open his eyes. "Kolivan?" he asked, his voice heavy with confusion. "What...? Why are you here? What's going on?"

He struggled to stand on his own and Kolivan watched him, ready to catch him again as he swayed on his feet and tried to get his eyes to focus.

"How did I get here? Kolivan, where's Katie? Is she alright?"

Kolivan was silent for a moment as he debated what to do. He liked to think that he was prepared to deal with a great many things, but one of his Blades disappearing in his arms and a stranger appearing in his place was not one of them.

The other Galra didn't seem dangerous, just worried and on the verge of panic. He was also under the impression that he knew Kolivan, though he was sure they'd never met before.

"Kolivan?"

"How do you know my name?" Kolivan asked curiously.

The Galra looked taken aback by the question. "What do you mean? Why wouldn't I...?" He paused and took a good look around for the first time. "This is Blade headquarters, but how am I here and not on Altea? That machine... Slav!"

Kolivan frowned as he watched the stranger begin to pace. He still couldn't shake the feeling that he was familiar, but his memory was hardly so bad that he would forget having met him before. And how odd that he mentioned being on Altea, when everyone knew it was long destroyed. It was all fascinating, but Kolivan wanted a clear answer on who the Galra was and how he knew his name.

Kolivan cleared his throat. "Who are you?"

The Galra stopped pacing, his ears flicking back nervously. He slowly reached back and withdrew a small blade, which he held out with both hands for Kolivan to view. "My name is Keithir, and where I'm from, you helped train me. I guess that's not the same here."

All at once, Kolivan understood why the Galra looked so familiar. The answer was with the blade he carried; small and easily concealed, with the mark of Marmora clearly displayed. There was only one member of the Blade who carried a weapon of that size.

Keith.

"There was a machine. Slav built it and told us that it was to build other realities, but I think it brought me here instead. Katie, my wife, she has to be here somewhere. I can't feel her, but she must have been brought to this reality with me," Keithir babbled. "I have to find her."

Kolivan looked him over and quickly came to a decision; one which would give him time to evaluate whether or not Keithir was a threat. (Regardless of him being Keith, he still had to be careful. It could be a trap or a trick.) "I will help you, but first, calm down and start from the beginning. You say Slav built a machine?"

Keithir took a deep breath and began again, slowing down to give Kolivan a chance to take in all of the information he was giving. Kolivan was more interesting in his body language than the words he was saying, searching for any tell that would reveal a lie or an omission of truth. By the time Keithir finished, all Kolivan could think was that either he was being fully honest or else was a very good liar.

He had heard Slav mention alternate realities before, but had never put much thought into the theory for himself. If Kolivan wanted to know more, he'd have to contact the reclusive genius, but in the mean time, perhaps there was someone closer he could talk to about the matter.

"Come, we will contact the paladins of Voltron."

Keithir's expression lit up. "Shiro and Allura?"

Kolivan nodded and wondered for a moment how many similarities their universes shared. He supposed he would find out in time.

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Katie exited the bathroom to find Allura waiting for her inside the cell. She paused, unsure of what to expect. "Is everything alright?"

"I want to apologize for my reaction earlier. It was unfair of me to jump from conclusions just from hearing the word 'Galra'," Allura said.

"You did it to keep everyone safe. You never need to apologize for that," Katie told her. She hesitated and then asked: "Were you able to find Keithir?"

Allura shook her head. "We all searched the ship, but there is no sign of him. Pidge isn't here either, which makes me think the two of you swapped places. It's likely the same for your friend."

White hot panic raced through her veins. He could be anywhere. Without their connection, how would she be able to find him? How would he find her?

Katie's head spun. She needed to sit down.

Allura watched her, sympathy clear in her expression. "I'm sorry. We're still looking for him and we will keep looking until we find him, I promise."

"Thank you, Allura," Katie said sincerely. "I know this isn't easy and it's strange and just... Thank you."

Allura sat down next to her on the bed. "I wanted to ask you more about your friend. Keithir, you said? What can you tell me that will help us find him?"

Katie knew she needed to tread carefully. Telling Allura that he was the crown prince of Daibazaal was unlikely to go well. It was a detail that could wait. Luckily, she had something that would be far more useful than simply telling Allura about Keithir.

She untucked her necklace from her dress and held it out in her palm. The Marmora Blossom gifted to her by Keithir served as the facing, but she'd added a locket to the back to contain her favorite photographs. Katie opened it up and showed Allura the first picture, which had been taken on their wedding day.

"This is Keithir."

Allura looked at the picture, curiously at first, and then her brows furrowed in confusion. "Is that...? But it can't be Keith!"

That was a name Katie hadn't heard in a while. But then, it had also been a few years since their last visit to Earth, which was the only time Keithir adopted his human persona. The fact that Allura recognized him as "Keith" made hope bloom in her chest.

"You know who he is?" she asked eagerly. "Where is he?"

Allura looked gobsmacked. "You mean that's really Keith? But he's Galra! I mean, he is half-Galra, but he's never looked that way."

"He can't shift forms here?"

Allura shook her head. "He just looks human. I never even thought he'd be able to shift forms. It doesn't seem possible."

"Keithir can," Katie said with a shrug. "So where is he?"

"He's gone with an ally of ours, doing covert missions to help end the war," Allura explained.

Katie didn't have to put much thought into puzzling that one out. "The Blade of Marmora? Does Kolivan lead them? Can you call them?"

Allura looked a little flustered. "I- yes. I will do that. I think you should come with me. It doesn't feel right making you stay down here when you've done nothing wrong. Do you feel comfortable joining us on the bridge?"

Katie nodded, more interested in seeing Keithir than getting out of the cell. She hopped up and followed Allura, knowing that she was one step closer to finding their way home.