Friendly reminder that the poll to vote on what fanfics I'll write next is still up and running, and will be until I finish writing this. The link is on my profile. For one-shots, Instinct has pulled far ahead of the others, so I've already started working on that one. Under multi-chapters, there are two fics that are only 3 votes apart.

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Chapter 6

ALTEA – CASTLE OF LIONS

Pidge tried to roll over, but there was a heavy weight across her middle, anchoring her in place. Soft puffs of warm air tickled her neck and she frowned as her slumbering brain struggled to compute what was happening.

She knew before opening her eyes that it was Keith, but how he had latched onto her in his sleep without either of them waking up was a mystery. Pidge watched him for a few minutes and tried to decide the best course of action.

Should she wake him?

Should she let him keep sleeping?

If the situation was reversed, what would she want Keith to do?

None of those questions led her to a satisfactory answer, though she did come to the conclusion that staring at him was mildly creepy and she should stop doing that immediately.

Keith inhaled deeply and Pidge went still and shut her eyes, making the split second decision to pretend like she was still asleep. She felt him tense against her as he woke up and took in their positions, and then, with a mumbled curse, he moved away from her.

Pidge involuntarily shivered as that side of her body went cold without Keith's heat pressed against her. She opened her eyes again and turned her head to watch him get out of bed and head straight to the bathroom. He didn't take long, unlike the day before, and exited a few minutes later.

"Did I wake you?" Keith asked when he saw her.

"Oh, no. No, you're okay," Pidge responded, taking a moment to sit up. "It's time to get up anyway. Allura said she'd bring news with breakfast, right? She'll probably be here soon. So even if yu did accidentally wake me up, it would have been for the best, since I want to be awake and ready for whatever she has to say. But you didn't! Wake me up, that is."

Well that was awkward.

Pidge thought she'd like to sink into the floor after that disastrous attempt at putting him at ease.

Keith stared at her in obvious confusion, but before he could say anything else, there was a knock at the door.

"News delivery!" Allura cheerfully called from the other side.

Pidge slid out of bed and made herself look as presentable as she could in rumpled, day-old clothing while Keith went to let Allura in. Pidge was in the act of finger combing her hair into a more manageable mess when Allura walked in with Shiro right behind her, both of them with their arms full.

"Breakfast and new clothes," Shiro said, noting their confusion.

"Yes, we can't have the two of you wearing the same thing all the time! That's unhygienic." Allura crinkled her nose as she passed off one bundle to Pidge and the other to Keith. "I'm afraid we had to guess at your size, Keith. I hope it all fits. You don't have to try them on now, of course. Please, eat while the food is still warm!"

Keith was already in the act of setting aside his new clothing in order to take a plate from Shiro, happy to dig in. Pidge did the same, though she was briefly tempted by the thought of wearing something clean. (It would be much nicer to shower first, then change clothing.)

The pair sat down on the bed to eat while Shiro and Allura began to fill them in on what had happened since they last talked.

"Slav has been running more tests with help from Coran and Hon – ah, other trusted individuals," Allura told them. "Apparently, he added scaultrite mineral to his device just before showing it to Katie and Keithir, but didn't take into consideration adding a stabilizer for the discs, which we believe is what led to the malfunction that brought you here. On the bright side, we believe it's the key to sending you back and retrieving our friends, however... the discs were shattered and we have no scaultrite currently in reserve."

"Coran's putting together a team to go collect more, but it will take time," Shiro said reassuringly.

Keith grimaced. "If he needs help, I'm not volunteering this time. Once was enough."

Allura looked excited. "I've always wanted to see a weblum for myself, but mother and father have forbid it. Is it really as exciting as they say?"

"It was awful," Keith said bluntly, and went into no detail after that.

Shiro quickly moved on. "Coran knows a few people who are familiar with the process and they'll be taking care of gathering scaultrite, so there's no need to worry about that. Our task is less dangerous and won't take us out of the Castle, but it's the most important one. None of this is going to work if we can't find the right reality to send you back to."

"But how?" Pidge asked. "We've told you everything important that we could think of. What more can we do?"

"That we're not sure of, but Slav insists that he needs more data. I'm sure that between all of us, we can figure something out," Allura said.

Pidge went back to her breakfast and tried to think of what else could help them. There had to be something more. Something they were missing. Something nagging at the back of her mind, like a forgotten whisper.

"We're still closing off the paladin wing of the Castle, so it will be at least another day before you two can leave this room," Shiro said apologetically. "We're also cleaning up one of the spare rooms for you. It'll be ready by then."

One of the rooms.

So, they'd still be sharing. The thought filled Pidge with more comfort than she expected. As odd as it was to suddenly share a very confined space with Keith, she didn't know if she'd be able to handle being all alone. He, at least, was familiar, even if he was acting more distant than usual.

Keith had always been the lone wolf of the team, and really only talked to Shiro when he needed help. That had only become worse after he discovered his Galra lineage and they lost Shiro immediately after. But he'd pulled it mostly together to lead them for a while and she thought for sure that things would go back to the way they once were the day Keith and the Black Lion picked up a distress signal, but it was almost like Keith completely reverted once Shiro was back as leader.

Or maybe he was worse.

Pidge lowered her gaze to her food and tried to focus on eating instead, as bitter feelings began to rise up the longer she let her mind stray to events of their recent past.

It was best to focus on the present. She needed to focus on the present and deal with the problem set before hr. Getting them both home safely was paramount.

"We'll leave you two to yourselves for a bit," Allura said, exchanging a meaningful glance with Shiro. "There are a few things we have to oversee, but we'll send some company your way. Enjoy breakfast! And once you've changed clothes, just toss your old ones into the chute and we'll make sure to have them cleaned and returned to you."

"We'll see you later for lunch," Shiro promised before he and Allura left the room.

Pidge and Keith finished their food in silence.

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OLKARION – CASTLE OF LIONS

Keithir felt nothing from the Red Lion.

He sat and spent what felt like hours meditating and trying everything he could to reach her, but no matter what he did, he received no reaction. While not surprised, it didn't stop him from feeling as though he'd failed.

When he met up with Katie, who'd been trying to do the same with the Green Lion, he could tell by the look on her face that she'd gotten the same result.

Nothing.

"We knew it was a long shot," she said with a tiny shrug. "I just hoped... I mean, they have to know we need their help, right? Or can they not help and this is their way of showing us that?"

Keithir opened his arms and drew his wife in close as she gravitated towards him, needing comfort. "We'll keep trying. Maybe there's something we're missing. Maybe our other selves need to be in the Lions too."

"But then you'd need to be in the Black Lion, wouldn't you?" Katie said, sounding unsure. "Or would he need to be in Red...?"

Keithir kissed the top of her head. "We'll keep trying. You never give up on a piece of tech just because it doesn't work out the first time, and we won't give up jut because this didn't work the first time. We're going to get home, Katie. We'll find a way."

"We always do, don't we?" Katie said, pulling back to look up at him fondly. She stood on tiptoe to kiss him, relishing in the offered comfort, and then stepped away. "Thank you."

Keithir held her hand as they walked back to rejoin the others on the bridge. It was still a surprise to him that Allura gave them such free reign to roam the Castle as they pleased. He had to assume it was because there were only the seven of them aboard the ship – occasionally more when Kolivan and the rest of the Blade of Marmora boarded to discuss their next plan of action.

He'd never considered the Castle of Lions to be particularly large, especially in comparison to the Daibazaal citadel and the Altean royal palace, but it felt massive with so few people populating its halls. It was a stark reminder of just how different their realities were and of the horrors Allura and Coran had been forced to go through at the hands of his people.

Katie squeezed his hand and he let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

No.

Not his people.

He couldn't think of them that way after everything that they'd done to the universe. His people would never-!

He thought of Lotor.

Of the Galra who openly mocked his father for marrying an Altean. Those who called it a weakness. Who thought Zarkon weak.

Of the ones who threatened Katie.

Of those who betrayed their emperor, claiming to support the old ways of the Galra – the ways of war and conquest, over peace and prosperity.

If they had someone they trusted as leader, someone to rally behind, it wouldn't be difficult for his people to stumble down the same path, however much he hoped otherwise. It terrified him to think about.

Keithir wondered if Allura ever felt the same way. Keithir had heard from Katie and his mother of devices capable of shutting off a person's free will, turning them into obedient slaves. The worst part was that the victim would be aware of everything, locked away in their own mind to suffer through the injustice. Allura and her father, King Alfor, quickly shut down the program and ordered the destruction of all research on the subject, but the possibility of such abuse of power had still existed, born from the mind of an Altean alchemist.

Maybe he had nothing to worry about and thinking about such things would only lead him down the path of constant paranoia.

His father was a strong and proud leader, whose friendship with King Alfor was known far and wide. No Galra would dare rise against him. Keithir himself had won the loyalty of the majority of his people, if not for his tireless pursuit to keep the peace, then for his foresight to adopt Yorak and name his his heir.

Keithir had to keep faith in his people. He knew them. He'd grown up with them. He knew they were more than capable of great things, and, aside from the rare few, all preferred the peace that covered their part of the universe.

They would be fine.

And so would the Galra of the reality he found himself in. They'd been led down the path of war for far too long, but seeing Kolivan and the Blade working hard to change that gave him hope.

Kolivan could change it all.

Voltron could change it all.

But first they had to get Pidge and Keith back.

Keithir glanced down at Katie. 'We always find a way.'