It's here, chapter seven! We're so close to finally being able to meet Allura and Coran that I can almost taste it. Which means that we're getting even closer to meeting the first of the lions! I am just so excited, y'all! I've got fun things, fun things planned for this fic. I love me some fantasy AUs even if they do seem to be among the least popular of my fics. But I guess fantasy isn't always everyone's thing, which is understandable, but it sure doesn't take my love for the genre away.

Anyways, thanks for reading! Until next time!

under the pale moonlight

chapter seven

under the protection of the fortress

When they arrived, the gates of the Southern Fort were firmly shut.

Leaping off Lieutenant Rizavi's horse, Pidge glowered up at the watchtower. She could see people in it, but they were very obviously trying to ignore them. As ominous and foreboding as the clouds just off to the distance were, she doubted they were so focused on them that they hadn't noticed them at all.

"Hey there!" Rizavi called up. "Remember me?"

The soldiers on duty flinched, looking down at the young lieutenant and what to them probably looked like a common village boy. It was an image that she had been careful to cultivate, in hopes of evading anyone that her mother had sent to search for her. Not only would she be in a heap of trouble if she was found, she'd also doubtlessly end up dragged back to the palace- and that had been the last thing she had wanted.

Until she'd gotten some answers, she'd had no plans of going back home.

Well, she'd gotten those answers now- or at least, some of them. She'd also gotten an entirely unexpected destiny flung at her- for all that she had read and studied the prophecy countless times since the disappearance of her father and Matt, she never once stopped to think if it could be about her. She'd always thought that her role in life would be to one day become her brother's personal advisor, seeing as she had zero intentions of marrying into another family, diplomatic relations be damned.

"Lieutenant Rizavi!" One of the soldiers awkwardly saluted. "First Lieutenant Benedict didn't say you would be returning!"

He looked kind of young, Pidge thought- older than her, but still young. They both did, she noted, glancing over towards the other guard, the one that remained staunchly silent. Maybe new recruits?

Rizavi's nose crinkled at the mention of the First Lieutenant's name. It wasn't hard to guess that he was the guy who had turned tail and ran as soon as it was revealed that Commander Linwood was actually Sendak, a Galra imposter and skin-wearer sent across the boundary to spy on them. Unfortunately, if he was First Lieutenant, then it also meant that he was the one in charge of the Southern Fort in the absence of its commanding officer.

Great. So a coward was in charge. Maybe Miss Lia had been right to ask her to come with the lieutenant.

"Well, I'm back." Rizavi said. "And I'm not alone. We've got several dozen refugees looking for sanctuary- and fast. Trouble's on its way."

"Trouble, Lieutenant?" The guard asked anxiously, glancing nervously back towards the dark clouds. "Is it... is it, you know...?"

"Galra trouble?" Pidge finished for him, sensing that he was dancing around the subject.

As soon as the word Galra left her lips, both guards flinched. Pidge huffed. So not only had the First Lieutenant presumably sealed the gates, but he'd also put a pair of rookie cowards in charge of the watchtower. That made things infinitely more difficult.

"Ssh," the guard hushed her, almost comically frantic, "-what if you bring them here?"

"It's broad daylight." Pidge rolled her eyes, pointedly ignoring the presence of the dark clouds off to the distance. It definitely wasn't daylight there, and there were definitely Galra forces taking sanctuary in them, but the guards definitely didn't need to know that.

"The Galra are on their way." Rizavi said, apparently having an entirely different estimation of the guards than she did. "That's exactly why we need to get those gates open. The lives of innocent people are at stake."

The guards exchanged a glance, before the one that had been silent up until now finally spoke up. "We can't do that. First Lieutenant's orders. Nobody is to come in."

"Your commanding officer would have innocent lives put in danger?" Rizavi asked.

The guards shifted uncomfortably, clearly not okay with that. "But if Commander Linwood was... you know, then whose to say that these innocent people are all human?"

Pidge bristled, narrowing her eyes. "So you would just let them all die?!"

The pair flinched, exchanging a glance. "Well... no. But the First Lieutenant's orders-"

"Forget the First Lieutenant's orders!" Pidge yelled, loud enough to make them flinch. "I order you to open these gates!"

The guards merely exchanged a befuddled look, prompting Pidge to sigh and roll her eyes. Grabbing her hood, she yanked it down, brushing aside her cloak to display the green jewel set on the hilt of Matt's dagger that she wore at her waist. Taking off Matt's glasses, she reached into one of her traveler's pouches, pulling out a green gem emblazoned with the Holt family crest on it. It was the one thing that she had brought with her to prove her identity- everything else she had left behind at the palace. Holding it aloft, she let the sun shine on it.

"In the name of Katherine Holt, first princess of Garrison kingdom, I command you to open these gates."

For a few seconds, all the guards did was stare- before they burst into a flurry of activity. She might have cut her hair in an attempt to not be recognized, but there was no denying the Holt family crest, or the green stone set on her brother's dagger. They were all signs that she was royalty, dressed as a peasant though she might be.

She heard the sound of the gates being opened before she actually saw them move. Satisfied, she tucked the crest stone away, putting Matt's glasses back on. She wasn't keen on revealing her true identity, but it had been the fastest way to open the gates.

"Hah," Rizavi had the audacity to laugh, and the further audacity to smirk, "-I knew it. You are the princess."

"Well don't go telling the whole world about it." Pidge grumbled. "I'm incognito."

"And you're doing a great job at it." Rizavi said, in a tone that left her unable to decipher if she was being sarcastic or not. "You might want to keep that crest handy. I don't imagine the First Lieutenant's going to be too happy about the sudden influx of people into his base."

"I could always order you to be put in charge." Pidge suggested.

"Oh, that would really make him mad." Rizavi said, grinning like an imp- and for the first time, Pidge got the feeling she might actually like her. "But no. Believe it or not, I actually like the perimeter scouts."

"Wow. That makes exactly one of you." Pidge remarked- the perimeter scouts were well known for being an unpopular position in the military. There were no good assignments- you either scouted the area around the Deep Forest, where the weather was typically decent, but carried the threat of Galra, or you were positioned on one of the other two land borders. The climate to the north was cold as balls year round, and to the east, they either had to deal with the massive rift that divided part of their country from their neighbors, or the vast desert that didn't seem to know how not to be hot.

Basically, nobody wanted to be a perimeter scout.

"Hey, what can I say?" Rizavi shrugged. "It lets you meet interesting people. Like paladins."

Pidge just snorted, biting back a comment that she sure didn't feel like a paladin. Sure, she could hold her own in a fight if she absolutely had to, but her? A legendary hero? All she wanted to do was find her family, not fight the Galra. She'd never even been in a real fight in her entire life, just sparring sessions with her tutors back at the palace.

At least she had Shiro with her. She might have some doubts about being a paladin, but Shiro? He was perfect for the part.

"Come on," Rizavi said, "-let's go make sure those gates stay open."

By the time they arrived at the Southern Fort, the gates were wide open. He and the rest of his family were escorted inside the fort by soldiers, but instead of depositing them just inside the gates, they were lead deeper into the fort itself. It looked like older construction- they must have been the warded areas that Miss Lia had told Pidge about. It didn't look that different from the rest of the fort to him, but hey, he wasn't the one with magical Seer powers.

Speaking of Pidge, he couldn't find him anywhere- or Nadia, for that matter. He'd expected them to be with the other villagers, but he guessed maybe they were still dealing with some important business or something like that. Still, it was nice to see so many people that he recognized- he knew that there were still some stragglers, but otherwise almost everyone was accounted for at this point. For the first time since he had learned they were going to evacuate the village, Lance felt himself actually relax a little. Even the clouds, once so dark and ominous, looked like they were starting to fade.

He had to promise his mother that he wasn't going to go anywhere before she let him go, but eventually, she did. Seeking out Hunk, Lance spotted him with his parents, sharing a loaf of bread between them. It smelled so good that his stomach announced his presence long before he could call out his friend's name.

"Want some?" Hunk asked, offering a piece of the loaf to him.

"Please." Lance said, taking a seat next to his friend. Taking a bite, an expression of bliss crossed his face. Miss Lia's cooking might have an exotic flare that made it irresistible, but there was something to be said for the classic, homey cooking style of Hunk and his parents. Even now, after having fled their homes, it still somehow managed to taste like it.

"Hunk, pal," Lance began, swallowing his food, "-you're the best."

"I try." Hunk said. "So how's your family holding up?"

"As well as anyone, I guess." Lance frowned, glancing over in their direction. "Luis' kids are starting to get kind of fussy. I think it's finally dawned on them that we're not going back home. Dad's trying to explain that we're all going to see Veronica, but..."

"...but they're not that stupid, huh?" Hunk asked.

"Nope." Lance said. "I mean, yeah, that's probably where they'll end up, with Veronica, but the kids know better than to think that's the reason why we're all leaving."

"Mm, yeah." Hunk said. "Guess that would be pretty hard to explain."

They were all gathered in one big room, large enough to contain a sizable chunk of the village's population. There were windows cut into the walls, from which bright sunlight filtered in, and a single staircase on the far end that led up to the roof. He glanced in its direction, tempted to go up and check the status of the clouds for himself, but for the moment he remained where he was, enjoying what might be the last piece of home-cooked food he'd be able to enjoy for awhile.

Hunk caught his look, frowning. "So... do you think Miss Lia and Yorak are okay?"

"I mean... those shadow things haven't come to attack the fort yet, so I guess?" Lance shrugged.

"Good point." Hunk admitted. "Did you see Captain Shirogane?"

"He stayed by the gates." Lance said. "Said he wanted to wait and make sure everything was clear before he joined us. I'm assuming he'll come back when Miss Lia and Yorak do."

"Guess he really doesn't like not being part of the action." Hunk said.

"Guess not." Lance said.

He wasn't sure how he felt about it. Part of him felt bad about sitting here and doing nothing, but the rest of him sort of knew that there was nothing he could do. Maybe he was a paladin, like they said, but that didn't mean he knew any magic or could conjure any spirits or anything like that. All he could do was fire a bow, and somehow he didn't think that would be very useful against a bunch of formless shadows, no matter how good of a shot he was.

And part of him... part of him just didn't want to leave his family. Leaving his home was one thing, but his family? Lance had never been apart from them. Even when he'd visited the capital, he'd been with Veronica almost the entire time. He'd never been by himself before, and he wasn't so sure if he even wanted to be.

Lance's gaze flickered towards Hunk's parents, again wondering what he had told them. Eventually he gave into temptation, leaning closer to Hunk and dropping his voice down to a whisper. "So, uh... did you tell your parents?"

"You mean about the whole paladin thing?" Hunk asked, glancing over towards his parents. "I mean... yeah, of course I did. Didn't you tell yours?"

Lance winced. Honestly, the conversational tone with which Hunk had chosen to answer his hushed question should have been answer enough, but it kind of stung to know that he was the only one who had lied to his parents. Except he hadn't actually lied to them, he was quick to correct himself. He just... he just hadn't told them everything yet, that was all.

"Not yet?" Lance said weakly.

"Lance," Hunk said carefully, "-buddy. You need to tell them."

"I know, I know!" Lance said. "I just- not yet. But I'll tell them."

Hunk frowned, but didn't press the issue. Biting back a sigh of relief, Lance glanced guiltily over towards his family. He knew Hunk was right, and that he should tell them sooner than later, but... he just couldn't stop thinking about the way his mom had held his wrist like she was afraid he might disappear.

She wasn't exactly wrong.

Chewing on his lip, Lance stared down at his half-eaten slice of bread. It wasn't like he'd never be coming back, right? He just had to do this paladin thing first. And it wasn't like he'd be alone! Hunk would be with him, and sure, maybe his first impression of Pidge hadn't been great, but he was starting to kind of like the guy. And Captain Shirogane! He'd be working with one of his heroes!

But who knew how long defeating the Galra would take. What if he couldn't do it? What if he died, hundreds of miles away from his family, without them ever knowing? What then?

"Hey." Hunk gave him a pat on the back, giving him a reassuring smile. "You know worrying's my job, right?"

That got a laugh out of him, which he suspected was Hunk's intention. "It's just a lot to take in."

"No, I hear you." Hunk said. "I mean, me? A paladin? I'm not about to question a Seer, but I'm the type who runs away from fights, not towards them."

"Hey, you'd be a great paladin." Lance reassured him. "And besides, you didn't run away back in the village with Sendak."

"Well yeah, but all I did was hide on the roof and shoot arrows at the ground." Hunk said. "You're the one who actually shot Sendak."

Lance just snorted. "Yeah, for all the good that it did. I think all I managed to do was just make him angrier."

"Hey, at least you did something." Hunk insisted. "I was too scared to even move."

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Hunk." Lance said. "I know better than anyone that you can be brave where it counts."

Hunk gave him a faint smile in reply, though Lance couldn't shake that he hadn't taken his words to heart. Instead of pushing, Lance just squeezed his shoulder, before glancing over towards one of the windows. He sure hoped everything was going okay out there, because he'd rather not have to find out the hard way whether or not they were actually cut out to be paladins.

Shiro watched the sky with the expression of an impatient man, his hand hovering over the hilt of his sword nearly the entire time. It was only once the clouds started to slowly break up that he allowed some of the tension he'd been holding to leave him, but even then, he held onto it until Lia and Yorak were both in sight. Yorak was leaning on his mother for support, half-dragging his left leg behind him, but otherwise they both appeared to have emerged from the ordeal relatively unharmed.

Against those odds, he'd expected worse.

Striding forward to meet them, Shiro extended a hand to help take some of Yorak's weight off of his mother. She merely held up a hand, shaking her head, so he just as quickly withdrew his offer. Up close, the leg injury looked painful, but he wasn't about to force them to accept his help. He'd already started to get the impression that these two were pretty stubborn.

(Could he say any different of himself? Not if the prince and princess had anything to say about it, he couldn't.)

"I heard from the village elder's son." Shiro said instead. "Everyone's present and accounted for, including the merchants."

Lia gave him a curt nod of her head. "Good. Help me get Yorak inside."

"Should I ask for a doctor?" Shiro asked, glancing down towards his leg.

"No." Yorak hastily said, through grit teeth. "No doctor. I can take care of this on my own."

Glancing up towards Lia, she merely shook her head. Biting his lip, Shiro had to admit he didn't like the idea of leaving his leg untreated, but that wasn't his call. Instead, he just paved the way for the pair, just in case anyone decided to prevent them from entering the safety of the fort. He didn't miss the apprehensive looks the soldiers cast towards Yorak, and he had to admit that with his strange armor and masked appearance, he did look kind of suspicious. He held his tongue, unsure of how much they wanted to share with the general populace of the fort.

"Shiro!" Pidge called out to them, spotting them from across the way. Taking one look at Yorak, she excused herself from Nadia, who was talking to what looked to be the Southern Fort's Second Lieutenant. He didn't have to ask what had happened to the first- he'd already heard the chatter. Apparently he'd been removed of his position henceforth, leaving the mantle of leadership to fall to the third in command.

The gates might have been open when he'd arrived with the villagers, but apparently they hadn't always been that way. He'd be surprised if the man went without punishment, but somehow he got the feeling that the queen would be far more interested in the fact that someone claiming to be her daughter had been the one to order the removal.

He cringed a bit at the thought. He knew he still needed to report back to Colleen. Nadia had sent a messenger falcon to the capital to inform her of recent events, but he wasn't sure how much she had told her about him and the princess. He could only imagine that she would have a regiment of soldiers marching out here posthaste if she heard about Katie being here.

He didn't even have to ask to know that she was probably worried sick about her daughter. With her husband and son missing, Pidge was all she had left. It was a testament to how strong she was that she'd managed to hold it all together.

"Pidge," Shiro greeted her, "-any chance you can find us somewhere Yorak can lay down?"

"That shouldn't be a problem." Pidge said, glancing down at Yorak's leg, then up at the now clear blue skies. "So what happened with the weird shadow things?"

"They're gone." Yorak said curtly. "And the witch who sent them won't be able to send anything else like that for awhile. We should be safe."

"You should still tell the soldiers to burn bonfires tonight as a precaution." Lia added, that part mostly directed towards him.

"Understood." Shiro nodded. "So about that room...?"

"Without windows, if possible." Lia quickly added.

Pidge cocked a brow at the addition, but still turned to look in the direction of the Second Lieutenant. They had been speaking loudly enough for them to overhear, so the man gave them a curt nod of his head, summoning a soldier to show them the way. Yorak grunted a little as they changed direction, but he otherwise didn't complain.

"Should I get a doctor?" Pidge asked. "Because that looks pretty bad."

"It's fine." Yorak said. "I can treat it myself."

Pidge glanced up towards him. It was all Shiro could do to shrug his shoulders. There was clearly something going on here, but whatever it was, it was also true that at every turn, Lia and Yorak had saved them. If it hadn't been for them, he might have already been recaptured by the Galra, and they might be well on the way to breaking not only the seal that kept them in the Deep Forest, but also breaking the seal on their Emperor.

Whoever- whatever- they might be, it was obvious they were allies.

Thankfully the trek to the room wasn't a long one. The soldier who had guided them said something about fetching a bedroll, but Yorak gave him a firm shake of his head, carefully lying down on the hard floor without complaint. Judging from the fine layer of dust, he was going to guess the room hadn't been used in awhile- understandable, given the fact that it was so dark in here. Although the soldier quickly moved to light a trio of dusty lanterns, it only lent so much light to the room.

Mother and son, he noted, seemed completely unbothered by the lack of light. It made some sense- he'd heard tales of there being places up in the north where it stayed dark for months on end. The lands there were apparently sacred to many of the Northern Tribes, forbidden to outsiders. The souls of ancient warriors gathered there, waiting for the next big war.

Exhaling, Yorak removed his mask, hooking it on his belt. He was once again struck by just how pale the Northerner was. It made his already dark hair look even darker by comparison. Catching him looking, Yorak narrowed his eyes, which managed to look visibly purple even in the near dark.

"Something on my face?" He asked.

"No, it's just..." Shiro trailed off, uncertain. "Have we... have we met before?"

He might have been the one to ask the question, but he still found himself caught off guard by it. It was true that Yorak didn't look familiar to him at all, but there was something about him that felt familiar, he just wasn't sure what.

"No." Yorak said curtly. "We haven't."

Shiro frowned, for some reason having a hard time believing that, if only just because he rarely doubted his own intuition. Still, he couldn't say where he would have met Yorak- there was only one time period he had a tough time recalling, and that was when he had been captured by the Galra. A human like Yorak would have stuck out like a sore thumb, and he somehow doubted that he was a fellow prisoner, so suffice to say, it couldn't have been where he'd met him.

"If you don't mind," Lia spoke up, "-we would like some privacy."

Exchanging a glance with Pidge, who had just been watching the pair silently, all Shiro could do was shrug again. "You heard the lady."

"Sure, I guess." Pidge frowned. "If you need anything-"

"We will be sure to let you know." Lia finished.

Pidge just shrugged, already turning on her heel to leave. He hesitated for just a second, before he bowed his head, hurrying behind his princess. The soldier that had shown them to the room had already left, leaving the mother and son pair alone in the room.

"Is it just me," Pidge began, once they were out of earshot, "-or does Yorak seem like he's trying to avoid the sun?"

"I'm sure he has a good reason." Shiro said, not too shocked that she'd picked up on it. He already knew how clever she was.

"Well, yeah, but... don't you think it's strange?" Pidge asked, coming to a stop and glancing behind her. "I mean, I thought aversion to sunlight was a Galra thing."

"I think we would know if Yorak was Galra." Shiro pointed out. "Besides, we all saw Sendak walk in sunlight before he lost his skin."

"True." Pidge admitted, before glancing at his right arm. "So how is...?"

"It's fine." Shiro said, a little more curtly than he meant to. Heaving a sigh, he gave her an apologetic glance. "It stings a little under direct sunlight, but the bandages keep it pretty well hidden. I don't think it'll be a problem."

Pidge nodded, chewing on her lip. "I just don't like thinking about what they did to you. What if dad and Matt-?"

"I'm sure His Highness and the prince are fine." Shiro reassured her, resting his left hand on her shoulder. "They're both fighters, just like you."

"Please," Pidge rolled her eyes, but she still cracked a smile, "-dad couldn't fight his way out of a group of blind children."

"You know what I mean." Shiro told her, arching a brow at her choice of expression.

"I do." Pidge said. "And thanks. It's good to have you back."

"Believe me, it's good to be back." Shiro told her. "Now come on. We should check on the others."

"Are they gone?"

"They're gone." Krolia said, sitting down next to him. "How's your leg?"

"It's been better." Keith remarked, grimacing as he tried to move it. Definitely broken. "Thanks for putting me down, by the way."

Krolia just huffed, the edges of her lips twitching upwards in amusement. "You have nothing to be embarrassed about. Mothers carry their children all the time."

"Yeah, but not their adult children." Keith pointed out.

Krolia merely scoffed. "You are barely over two hundred. Still a child."

Keith's lips twisted into a frown. "I've been through the rites of adulthood."

"The human rites, yes." Krolia agreed.

"And the trials." Keith added.

"Perhaps." Krolia agreed. "Now let me see your leg."

Keith grumbled at the change of subject, but still relented. He tried not to wince as Krolia ran her hands over it, so feather-light that he could barely feel their touch, and yet it was more than enough to send a spike of pain through the broken limb. Now that he was away from the heat of battle, he had to admit that it actually was kind of painful.

"I can set and splint the limb." Krolia told him, rather matter-of-factly. "Alfor's daughter should be able to heal it."

"Just have to get up there first, huh?" Keith asked.

"You could have someone carry you." Krolia suggested, the edge of a smirk on her lips.

"No thanks." Keith said firmly. He couldn't imagine asking either Shirogane or the big one to carry him. There was little chance the beanpole and the human princess would even be able to. "I'll just use a summon."

"A fire summon on a snowy mountain?" Krolia asked, arching her brows. "Just try not to set the whole thing on fire."

"Please," folding his arms in front of him, Keith rolled his eyes, "-I have more control than that."

Krolia merely hummed, carefully tracing the broken bone through his armor. There was no attempt to remove it, as a human doctor might have tried to do. "Tell that to Antok."

Keith flinched, and not just because of the pain this time. "That was different. I was still learning then."

"Hm." Krolia said, resting her hands against his leg in preparation for setting it. "You're just lucky he took the armor, or you might have actually done some damage."

Keith huffed, looking away. He'd definitely admit that controlling his fire magic had taken some time, but he'd mastered it since then. He'd gained the power after his first attempt to visit the Castle of Lions- he hadn't been able to get in, but he hadn't walked away empty-handed either. He could only imagine that once he bonded with his lion, his power would grow even more.

"Do you think they'll be able to handle it?" Keith asked.

"The paladins?" Krolia asked, her gaze briefly flickering up towards him even as she expertly set the broken bone back in place. "Perhaps. It may take them time, however."

Grunting, Keith clenched his teeth, trying to ignore the sharp spike of pain that shot through his leg. Once it was set, it felt a little better, but Krolia was right- it probably would need to be splinted, at least until he could get Alfor's daughter to heal it. He hated to think how long it would take to heal naturally- he might heal faster than a human, but he was still much slower than a full-blooded Galra.

Any time spent recuperating was lost time. They'd already lost enough of it as it was because of his blunder at the barrier.

"I don't know if we have time." Keith said. "Haggar and the Galra are getting restless. Kidnapping the king's expedition was just the start."

"So we are all aware. The weakening barrier has given them cause to chafe at their chains more than ever." Krolia observed, rising to her feet. "But we also don't have much of a choice."

Keith grunted, unable to say anything to that.

"Stay here." Krolia said. "I'll find something to splint your leg with."

Keith just nodded, watching his mother leave. Once he was gone, he turned his attention back to his leg, grimacing as he rested a hand on his knee. Without his armor to protect him, it could have been much worse, something which he was keenly aware of. Thinking on that, he lifted his arm, staring at the gauntlet it was encased in. He ran two fingers over the length of it, checking on the overall status of his armor's enchantment. It needed to be renewed periodically, especially after taking damage, but everything seemed to be in order. The blood it absorbed from Sendak must have helped.

Good. The less blood magic he did around humans, the better.

"I'm pretty sure it just means killing Galra, Hunk. They aren't exactly people."

Narrowing his eyes at the recollection, Keith clenched his fist. He just had to keep reminding himself that they didn't know that there were Galra who fought against Zarkon, then and now. It wasn't common knowledge here, like it was up in the North, where Haggar's spies were few and the Blade of Marmora could operate freely. But here, in this kingdom? She'd done everything she could to erase the true history of the great war, reducing it to mere legend. Much like the Blade, she knew the value of knowledge, and had turned it into a weapon.

But it still chafed at him to hear the magic that was his heritage spoken about with such disgust. And he'd have to fight alongside these people?

But Krolia was right- they didn't have much of a choice. The lions had chosen them, and there were no substitutes.

He would just have to make do.

He was still talking with Hunk when Pidge and Shiro came back, but he noticed them come in right away. The captain cut a hard to miss figure, even more so with that white patch of hair and the scar on the bridge of his nose. Pidge was easier to miss- he was so small, he almost didn't see him standing next to Shiro. Flagging them both down, Lance called out to them.

"Pidge! Captain Shirogane! Over here!"

Shiro caught his eye and smiled. "Lance. Hunk. Good to see the two of you made it okay."

"I'll admit, it was pretty touch and go for awhile there." Lance said. "But I'm guessing that since you're here, things are fine now."

"They should be." Shiro nodded. "The clouds are gone, and the shadows with them. Lia and Yorak made it back too."

"Yeah?" Lance asked, glancing behind the captain, half-expecting to see either the tavernkeeper or the masked paladin there. "They didn't come with you?"

"Yorak injured his leg, so they're treating that right now." Shiro said.

"Injured?" Hunk asked. "Is it bad? Because if it's bad, my parents can-"

"He said no doctors." Pidge cut him off, a tight frown on his face.

"Huh," Lance frowned, "-guess it must not be that bad then."

Shiro looked like he wanted to say something, but decided to hold his tongue instead. "So, the two of you ready to trek up the mountain? I was thinking we should head out first thing tomorrow morning, with the sun. That might have been the last big assault the Galra will be able to muster for awhile, but there could still be a few lurking around past the barrier."

Lance flinched. He knew he'd have to separate from his family soon, but he hadn't expected it to be so soon. The sun was already starting to set, so if he subtracted the time he would spend sleeping, that didn't leave him with an awful lot of time to say his goodbyes.

Shiro must have caught it, because he frowned, looking down at him. "Something wrong?"

"I- uh," Lance began, unsure of what to say. He didn't want to tell his hero that he had been too afraid to tell his family that he was a paladin yet. "I haven't-"

"Lance hasn't told his family that he's a paladin yet." Hunk blurted out.

"Hunk!" Lance glowered at his friend. "I was going to tell-!"

"Lance?" His mother's voice was so soft, that he nearly missed it. "What did Hunk just say?"

Pivoting on his heel, Lance gaped at his mother. She was right behind him, shock visible on her features- and in the corner of her eyes, he could see a tinge of fear. He hadn't even heard her approach.

"Mom, I-" Lance began before faltering, glancing behind him towards the other three. They all inched back, even Shiro, though whether it was out of consideration or just because they didn't want to get involved in this conversation, he couldn't tell.

Guess he was on his own.

Swallowing, Lance looked back at his mother. That was fine. He'd always planned on telling her, he just... he just thought he'd have a little more time, that was all.

"Mom, I'm sorry, but I can't go to the capital with you." Lance finally got out.

"What are you talking about?" His mother asked. "Don't you remember? We were going to stay with your sister."

"I know, mom." Lance said. "And I would love nothing more than to go with you and everyone, but I can't. You know that whole prophecy thing? Turns out I'm one of the chosen paladins."

"I am too, by the way." Hunk chimed in.

His mother stared up at him, disbelief clear in her features. "But you're just a child. My child. You should be sticking with your family, not putting your life at risk."

"I know." Lance told her. "But I think... I think this is what I'm meant to do."

He'd just said that to reassure his mother, but something about it sounded so right to him that he couldn't help but believe it.

His mother stared up at him for a few seconds more, before setting her lips in a hard line. "As your mother, I don't want you to go."

"I have to-"

"No, let me finish." His mother cut him off, holding up a hand. "I don't want you to go, it's true. You are my baby, and I want to see you safe, not throwing yourself in harm's way."

"But," his mother continued, cupping his cheek affectionately with one hand, "-I have also always known that you were destined for great things. I'd just always hoped that those great things wouldn't take my baby from me."

He couldn't help but be profoundly moved by his mother's faith in him. "Mom, I-"

"Just promise me, Lance." His mother said, taking him into an embrace. "Promise me that you will come back to us."

Lance didn't hesitate to return the embrace, feeling tears prick at the corner of his eyes. "I promise. I'll come back home, no matter what. And I'll make sure- I'll make sure we can all go back home. To our real home."

"Oh Lance," his mother said, "-anywhere we can be together is already our real home. But even apart, we will always be a family."

And that was it. He couldn't hold it back anymore. Recounting the story, he wouldn't be the least bit embarrassed to admit that he'd cried. Who wouldn't? He was leaving his family behind.

But that was okay. He wasn't leaving his family forever. He'd be back one day.

And that was what mattered the most.