Published November 1, 2017, in honor of All Saints Day.

Author's Note: I wrote most of this a long while ago, but waited to post it after it was revealed how Pidge's nickname originated and whether the others know about it. It could take place at almost any point in the series, but considering Lance's development this short story cycle, I think it would make most sense placed between "Holy Laughter" and "On the Willows," so that is where I will move it.

"What's In A Name"

Love everyone and trust His providence, and you will find peace. I have tried it and can assure you it is so. ~ Takashi Nagai

The topic of names came up during a meal, when the paladins and Alteans were sharing funny stories about their families. Pidge described an experiment she and her brother had attempted that went horribly wrong, and Shiro mentioned her father, Commander Holt.

Hunk frowned thoughtfully. "Hey, Pidge, is your last name Holt, or Gunderson? I just realized your last name is different from your dad and brother's."

"It's Holt," Pidge answered. "Gunderson was just an alias I made up to get into the Galaxy Garrison."

"Is your first name really Pidge?" Lance asked.

Pidge squirmed. "No. It was Matt's nickname for me. Since I needed an alias, I thought I should use a name I was already used to hearing people call me."

"So what's your given name?" Lance inquired.

Shiro started to intervene, "She doesn't have to say it if she doesn't want to," but Pidge cut him off:

"Katherine. Katie for short."

"Aw, that's so cute," Lance cooed.

Pidge glared at him distastefully. "I was named after Katherine Goble Johnson. She was a black mathematician who worked for NASA back when the U.S. was segregated."

"Really? Wow."

"'Katherine' sounds elegant," Allura complimented.

"The hard consonant sound indicates strength," Coran put in. Pidge looked mildly surprised, then smiled, pleased with this idea.

Allura looked around at everyone seated at the table. "Does anyone else here go by a—what did you call it?"

"A nickname," Hunk supplied.

"Yes, that."

Keith, Lance, and Hunk shook their heads, but Shiro spoke up. "Shiro is actually my nickname. It's short for my family name, Shirogane. My given name is Takashi."

"Takashi," Allura repeated, testing the sound in her own mouth. "I like it."

Hearing Shiro's first name brought a memory to Lance's mind. "Weren't you named after a saint, or something?"

Shiro was surprised. "Yeah, actually. How did you know?"

"My Sunday School teacher knew I was a fan—I mean, that I wanted to go to the Garrison, and that I looked up to you." Lance's cheeks reddened slightly as he tried to gloss over his past idolization. "She found out your name was the name of a saint, and she sent me this article about the guy."

"What is a saint?" Coran asked.

The Earthlings all looked to Lance, the token Catholic, who felt rather put on the spot. He decided to forego the Church's technical definition and tried to come up with a simpler description. "It's … a person who's really holy, or spiritual, or virtuous. Someone who did something really selfless or important because of their faith."

"Oh. What did the other Takashi do?" Allura asked.

Shiro answered. "Takashi Nagai was a doctor and a soldier. While he was studying medicine, he stayed with a family who invited him to go to—a ceremony at their church, a place where they worshiped their god. The next day, the daughter of the family he boarded with, Midori, got appendicitis."

"What is that?"

"It's a fairly common disease on Earth," Pidge answered. "Basically, an organ called the appendix almost bursts, so it has to be removed surgically. It's not too uncommon, and the surgery has a high success rate, but if it isn't done in time, the person can die."

Shiro nodded. "So Takashi Nagai diagnosed Midori, called the hospital, and carried her there on his back through the snow. He saved her life. When he was serving in the military, she sent him a copy of the Catechism—that's a book listing religious beliefs. That book helped him decide to join the Church. He and Midori later got married. He was working at a hospital in Nagasaki when the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb there."

Allura and Coran did not know what this meant, but they saw the other paladins' expressions conveyed surprise and a solemn kind of appreciation, which was enough to tell them that the event to which Shiro referred must have been a well-known, dark day in Earth's history.

"Takashi is a common enough name," Shiro informed them. "But when I first heard about Takashi Nagai, I felt kind of glad to know I shared his name. He sounded like a good role model."

"Yeah, he actually kind of sounds like you," Hunk observed. Then he looked to Lance. "I got a question for you, Lance, something I've wondered. Were you named after a weapon?"

"I wish," Lance chuckled. "I was named after the wrong Armstrong. My dad thought he was naming me after the first guy who went to the moon, but he named me after a guy who got famous for riding his bike and making a bracelet brand."

"And cheating in his races," Pidge pointed out.

Keith stifled a sound that might have been a laugh. "That sounds fitting."

Lance leaned over to look indignantly at him. "What? I've never cheated in my life!"

"It could've been worse," Hunk offered. "You could've been Louis, after the musician."

Pidge spoke up. "Did it occur to anyone else that Sendak has the same name as that children's author?"

"Oh, yeah! Maurice! Where the Wild Things Are!"

Lance cast a flirtatious glance at Allura, saying, "Your name sounds like an English word."

"Really? What word?"

"Yeah, allure. It means really interesting or attractive."

Allura stared at him, her brows and the corners of her mouth turning downward. "You made that up."

Pidge pushed the bridge of her glasses up. "Actually, it's true. The word can be used as a noun, meaning 'the quality of being powerfully and mysteriously fascinating,' or a verb, meaning 'attract, charm, or tempt'."

Keith had been silent throughout most of the conversation, but now he thought of something. "Coran has the same name as a book."

"Do I?"

"Yeah, it's this sacred text … there's a whole religion founded on it."

Lance looked to the Alteans and asked, "Do the lions have names?"

"No," Allura answered, but then she frowned thoughtfully. "At least not that I know of. I suppose the paladins may have named them, but in company they were always called by their colors."

"Maybe we should give them names."

"Why?" Keith asked. "Colors work just fine. It doesn't have to be complicated."

"If I had to name mine," Pidge mused, "I'd name her after a scientist."

"Her?" Hunk repeated. "Since when do the lions have gendered pronouns?"

"Well, they're all built like female lions. None of them have manes."

"Well, can you really expect them to? All that faux fur would get in the way in a fight."

"How about Jerome?" The others looked quizzically at Lance, who explained, "It's the name of a saint who had a pet lion."

Pidge was confused. "You don't mean Daniel?"

"No, that's a completely different story from thousands of years earlier."

Hunk shared an idea. "Would it be weird to name a lion Leo?"

Lance replied "No" at the same moment Pidge asserted, "Yes."

"What's the significance of that name?" Allura inquired.

Shiro explained, "There's an ancient Earth legend about a lion named Leo. And there's a constellation in our solar system named Leo because it's shaped like a lion."

Hunk nodded. "Doesn't that make it doubly fitting? It has to do with lions and outer space."

Pidge frowned thoughtfully. "But the constellation Leo represented the Nemean Lion, killed by Heracles as one of his Twelve Labors. You'd be naming your lion after a loser."

"Oh."

Lance thought about his lion's affinity with water and ice. Maybe a name that had to do with that would suit it. What did water have to do with outer space, planets, stars …?

Star of the Sea. Lance was surprised to find the memory of that name so clear. It was one of the Virgin Mary's titles. In Latin, Maristella. In Spanish, Estrella de Mar. He remembered a picture, too, a stained-glass window with a lighthouse leading a boat into a safe harbor. The church itself had been designed to look like an ship's interior, to help parishioners place themselves in the analogy of being led to Christ through Mary.

It was too much to explain to the others, though, without drawing attention to himself and making them think he was actually interested in that kind of thing, so he kept the idea to himself.