Chapter 10

THE ASTRAL PLANE

Keithir watched as Shiro's form grew more solid the longer he stood in front of him.

"Keith, is that you?" Shiro asked, his confusion plain on his face. "What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

"Find you?" Keithir repeated.

Shiro nodded. "I tried to reach you before, but I wasn't strong enough. This form is a recent discovery. I think the Black Lion is helping me maintain it."

Keithir held up a hand, unable to follow what Shiro was saying. "Wait, what are you talking about? You were just with me, remember? And I'm Keithir, not Keith."

Shiro paused and looked him over a second time. "So I didn't just imagine that... It's difficult to keep up with what's happening outside of this place. I get these flashes, I think from the Black Lion, but it's hard to piece things together. Your appearance..." He averted his gaze. "I left Keith in a bad place, when he was just starting to come to terms with who he is. I never wanted... This place reflects the way you feel inside, so when I saw you, I thought it could be that he was starting to see himself as more Galra than human."

As Keithir watched, Shiro's form flickered and for a moment he could see a Shiro who bore no scars and whose hair was still entirely black. He blinked and Shiro looked the way he had when they first met.

"I don't understand, if you're in here, then who is with us outside of this place?" Keithir asked, trying to focus on what was the most important.

"I don't know," Shiro answered honestly.

Keithir crossed his arms over his chest. "Whoever he is, he seems to have all of your memories and mannerisms. He has everyone convinced that he's you. He can pilot the Black Lion too!"

"Because of me."

"Because of – but why?"

"He wanted to," Shiro said with a shrug. "I could hear him pleading with Black, so I gave him the chance. Look, whoever he is, wherever he came from, he honestly believes that he is Takashi Shirogane. There's nothing I can do about it from here, so I just have to hope that nothing goes wrong."

Keithir's head spun. The last thing he expected was a third Shiro in the Astral Plane, but there he was! He was going to need a new way to differentiate between them if things went on for much longer.

"You said your name is 'Keithir', right? You and your Pidge crossed over from another reality?" Shiro asked, trying to get his limited facts straight.

"That's why I'm here," Keithir said, holding off on his other questions for the time being. "We're hoping that the connection between the Lions will be strong enough for us to follow it home, but if this is as far as I can go, then it looks like we've hit another dead end."

Shiro made a sound of disagreement. "I wouldn't say that. I've been here for, well, a while, and I still find new things. Doorways and windows into different levels of the Astral Plane, all with their own unique purpose. This place is only the surface."

"So if we find the right doorway..."

"It could lead us to your reality," Shiro said confidently. "But we have to be careful. The deeper you go, the more dangerous it gets."

Keithir's excitement began to rise as it sank in that he really had a lead on how to get home. He couldn't wait to get back and tell Katie! But at the same time, a more sobering thought occurred: Shiro couldn't leave.

Shiro was stuck there with no hope of escape, while his doppelganger walked freely, and that wasn't something Keithir was okay with. Shiro was always willing to help him and it was his turn to repay that. All he had to do was figure out how.

"Do me a favor and don't tell the others about me when you go back. I don't want to add to their worry," Shiro said.

"But what if there's something they can do to help? Shiro, they deserve to know!" Keithir protested.

"Not this time," Shiro refuted. "At least, not yet. Look, I don't want to keep this from them either, but for now it's best to stay quiet. You can tell your Pidge if you'd like, but not the others."

Keithir still hated it, but acquiesced to Shiro's request. He could stay silent about it for a little while, so long as Shiro planned on eventually letting the others know. Getting permission to tell Katie helped as well.

Before he could ask any questions about how Shiro ended up as a bodiless entity inside the Black Lion's subconscious, the air behind Shiro began to shimmer oddly. Keithir raised a hand to point out the abnormality, prompting Shiro to turn and look.

"Is there anything dangerous that comes here?" Keithir asked.

Shiro shook his head and frowned. "I've never seen anything like this. The Black Lion is enough to keep things away, but maybe both of us here is too tempting. Stay on guard."

Keithir nodded, though he wasn't sure what he could do if there was something coming for them. Would his blade be enough?

They watched as a tall, rectangular space continued to distort before them, forming what almost resembled a doorway, in which two figures began to take shape. It took a few doboshes, but slowly the figures came into focus and Keithir could make out some familiar details on the taller of the two.

"Shiro?" Keithir took a small step forward and lifted his hand, hesitating mere inches from the abnormality. "Can you hear me?"

"Keithir?"

The rectangular space rippled violently before smoothing out, revealing the crystal clear image of a Shiro with pure white hair and matching Altean markings. Next to him was Keith, who stared up at him with wide, shocked eyes.

"It really worked!" Keith breathed in amazement.

The four of them took a moment to let their success sink in and then it was onto business and figuring out what their next step would be.

"It's clear that the Black Lion is the connection we've been looking for," said white-haired Shiro.

Keithir shook his head. "It isn't only that. None of this would work if we didn't have the two of you in the correct reality." He gestured to the two Shiro's. "Both of you working with the Black Lion is what gives us the connection we need. The question is: how can we use it to get home?"

"I know Slav and some others have been working on some kind of machine over here," Keith spoke up, casting an unsure look in white-haired Shiro's direction.

Astral Shiro spoke up next, offering what advice he could based on his limited knowledge of everything that was happening. "Your first step will be to tell the others about what you've found. From there, they can find a way to test it. Maybe Slav has some ideas. I'll be here to relay messages, so we don't have to worry about timing."

Keith frowned. "You're staying here? Is that safe? What about the team?"

"Keith, I..." Astral Shiro swallowed and looked away. "I can't leave. I've been stuck here since our battle with Zarkon."

Keith's blood ran cold as he stared at his oldest friend. "What? But... but I found you!"

Astral Shiro wore a pained expression as he explained what he remembered about it all. There wasn't much, just pain as he and Zarkon fought for full control of the Black Lion, a feeling like floating, and then waking up in the Astral Plane.

The more he spoke, the more awful Keith felt.

He hadn't even questioned it when he found "Shiro". He should have. What were the odds that he would escape from Galra captivity a second time – and without any help? He'd been so caught up in the euphoria of finding Shiro alive...

"Shiro..." Keith choked on his name, unable to say more than that.

"It's not your fault, Keith. You couldn't have known," Astral Shiro said gently.

"I should have!" Keith protested, finding his voice. "The moment that we saw the Black Lion wouldn't respond to him, we should have known something was wrong! I should have known!"

White-haired Shiro placed a hand on his shoulder. "You can't go around blaming yourself. It sounds to me like no one could have known. Now that you do, we can find a way to put things right."

Astral Shiro shook his head. "You all have enough on your plate right now. Don't worry about me. I'm fine here."

"I'm not leaving you here like this!" Keith said fiercely.

"And neither am I," Keithir agreed, crossing his arms over his chest. "I think all of the answers to getting us back to our realities are with Slav and his machine. We don't have a clue how it works or what went into it on this side, so let us focus our energy on how to set this right."

"I still don't think it's a good idea to let the others know. I don't want them to panic. The only thing I know for sure about this other Shiro, is that he really believes he's me, but will that last if he knows the truth? Or say you don't tell him, do you really think everyone will keep acting as though everything is alright? Will they still treat him the same? We don't know where he came from. For all we know, this could be part of an elaborate trap. He could turn on everyone and we wouldn't be at full strength to stop him."

He had a good point and Keith felt sick just thinking about it. Still, he wasn't sure he could keep it a secret from Pidge and stay sane.

"Keith," Astral Shiro softened his voice. "I'll tell you the same thing I told Keithir. You can talk to Pidge about this, but I'd rather no one else knows."

"I'd like to talk to Allura about this as well. She may have a few ideas," said white-haired Shiro.

Astral Shiro sighed the way he did when he was struggling to keep his composure and not let anyone know he was feeling frustrated, something Keith saw most often lately when Lance was feeling particularly playful.

He reluctantly agreed that the other Allura could know, but to hold off on telling anyone else. Keith wished he could tell everyone; he didn't want Shiro to spend another second alone in the Astral Plane, but there was nothing they could do about it at that moment.

"I'll be back," Keith promised as he and the white-haired Shiro prepared to leave. "We're going to find a way to get you out of here. I won't give up until we do."

Astral Shiro looked at him fondly. "I know."

The world turned to smoke around him and then went dark. Keith breathed in deep and opened his eyes to find himself back in the Black Lion's cockpit, his limbs stiff as though he hadn't moved in hours. Next to him, Shiro carefully stretched, likely feeling the same stiffness.

"I need to get back to Allura and tell her what we found out," Shiro said. "But first I'll walk you back to your room."

Keith stayed quiet as he pulled up his hood and activated his mask in preparation for the walk back up through the Castle. He followed behind Shiro, thinking about what he could do to help his friend. Despite his promise that he would get him out of the Astral Plane, Keith didn't think it was possible for him to do anything. Most likely it would be up to someone like Pidge or Allura. Maybe even Coran.

That wouldn't stop him from trying.

He wasn't going to lose Shiro. Not after everything he'd done for him. Not after everything Shiro had been through.

"We'll figure this out, Keith. I'm sure Allura will have an idea that we can try. I'll let you know the moment she does," Shiro said.

Keith nodded, suddenly noticing that they were standing outside of is room. "Hey, Shiro? Thanks."

"Any time, Keith."

Shiro smiled and then left Keith to face Pidge on his own. He took a moment to think of how he would tell her and then went inside, where his words promptly failed him at the sight of his dad and Pidge chatting at the tiny dining table.

"Keith!" Pidge stood up to greet him. "How did it go? Did it work?"

"It did, but-"

Pidge squealed and ran up, throwing her arms around his neck in pure joy. "That's great! What happened? Tell me everything!" She drew back, confused by his lack of excitement. "You... you aren't happy. What happened?"

Keith focused on Pidge as he tried to remember how he wanted to break the news to her. "What if I told you the Shiro we found in that Galra ship wasn't the real Shiro?"

"What are you talking about? Of course it's Shiro. Who else would it be?" Pidge asked, her brow furrowed.

"Pidge... The real Shiro is in the Astral Plane. He's been there ever since our fight with Zarkon."

For the first time since he'd known her, Pidge was shocked into silence.