Keith had changed…

Shiro took that to heart, and let the notion settle. For the rest of the day, he thought about the changes he had seen these last few weeks. He supposed he had just been blind to how mature Lance had become through his antics. He goofed off during training… but all for the sake of getting Keith to laugh.

And Keith did. Usually, those silly antics never even interested the red paladin, but now he seemed to smile all the time when he was with the others. When he was with Lance.

It made Shiro wonder just how blind he really had been to not see this earlier.

Not sure what else to do, he went to see Lance. He had talked to Keith about this a thousand times and had practically memorized his side of the story. But what about Lance's?

What did Lance think about all of this?

He went to his room to figure out. Relieved to see Keith wasn't there and actually somewhere else, he took the chance to talk to Lance privately.

"Can we talk?" he asked when the Blue paladin opened the door. Lance hesitated, then smiled warmly, welcoming him inside.

"What's up boss man?"

"I think you know what I want to talk about," Shiro says.

"I do." Lance nods, "But I don't know what you want me to say. I've already said everything I wanted to weeks ago and I'm still going to say exactly that."

"So nothing has changed," Shiro notes

"I still love him, if that is what you mean," Lance purses his lips. His frown morphed into a smile a second later, easy-going and welcoming. "Wanna sit down?"

Shiro nodded, the two sitting at the edge of the bed. Shiro glanced over the covers, motioning to an interesting plush of the Red lion. "Where did you get that?"

"I gave it to Keith as a present," Lance stated proudly.

Shiro glances around, "...But it's in your room."

"I also steal it from time to time because it reminds me of him," Lance mumbled, embarrassed. "And it smells like him so… you know…"

"N-No need to explain." Shiro says quickly, "Where is he anyway?"

"He wanted some alone time." Lance says, "He doesn't want to tell me what he talked about with Allura, but I don't think it was good."

"I got the same feeling." Shiro frowned. "I haven't seen Allura since then."

"Me either." Lance sounded indifferent to that though, like he didn't care if he ever saw Allura again.

Shiro bit his lip, "Do you… hate us now?"

"What?" the question caught him off guard. "Hate?"

"Allura. And… well, me. Do you hate me for what I did?"

Lance's eyes softened, "I… No. No, I don't hate you. I was mad at you. Really mad. But I don't think I could ever hate you."

"I see…" Shiro nodded solemnly.

"I guess I'm more of… curious." Lance explained, "Why were you so insistent that what Keith and I had was fake?"

Shiro runs a hand over his face, rubbing his eyes, "Well… Keith always pushed everyone away. Everyone. It took me years to get him to open up to me. But to see him open up to you so quickly, within just a few months? Way more than he ever had with me?" Shiro wasn't sure where he was going with this. "Part of it upset me I guess. Upset me because I never seemed to help him the way you did. So part of me worried that it wasn't real. That all this change was just temporary and when it ended, it would leave Keith more secluded and hateful than ever."

"I see…"

Shiro swallowed thickly, hands gesturing around as he talked, "You don't know the Keith that I know. You don't know the kind of kid he was,"

Years of Keith getting into fights flashed in Shiro's mind. Skipping classes, distancing himself from everyone around. Staring up at the sky with those lonely eyes of his.

Through his thoughts of the past, he heard Lance chuckle. The blue paladin gave him a look Shiro had never seen before on the young man. It was bright and confident, love pulling at his lips.

"I don't know what kind of kid he was," Lance agreed, "But I know the man he's grown into,"

Shiro whirled. Lance, standing tall, eyes clear, stared back. For a moment their eyes met—and Shiro looked at Lance.

Really looked at him. Shiro realized it was the first time he had ever looked Lance in the face and saw him for more than just some goofy young kid. The first Shiro had seen him as something that was strong, and perhaps even wise.

"Lance," he says. "You really do love him… don't you?"

Lance nods. "With everything I have."

Shiro felt himself choke up. Someone loved his little brother, and his brother loved them back. God, he was a fool.

Such a horrible fool.

His voice cracked when he spoke, "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I caused all of this."

Startled, Lance lifted his hands, tears already building. Because that is just how much the apology meant to him. "No, I-" he cut off, surprised at just how overwhelmed he suddenly was. Shrio leaned forward to hug him.

The Black Paladin felt like nothing could make up for what he did and how quickly he pushed aside their feelings, but he was going to give everything he could to try. "Thank you for loving my brother."

Lance hugged him back tightly, sniffling. "How could I not love someone like Keith?" he smiled.

"Even his mullet?" Shiro teased tearfully.

"Even that!"

The two laughed. Pulling away, they gave some sheepish smiles.

"You got a nice love tap." Lance gestured to Shiro's bruised face.

"Is that what you call Keith pummeling me?" Shiro chuckled.

Lance nodded, "Aggressively affectionate. I'm sure he's upset he actually hit you instead of just talking to you."

"You think so?"

"Keith adores you, Shiro. You're his hero and his brother. He wouldn't be who he is today without you." Lance's eyes were distant for a moment, "He hates how angry he gets. How he isn't able to control his own feelings better. So as angry as he may seem, deep down, I know he is upset that he hit you."

Shiro rubbed his cheek gingerly, nodding, "I... get the same feeling." he agreed. "I feel like shit that I pushed him to that extent." he glanced at Lance, feeling oddly comfortable to ask advice from him. "Do you think he'll ever forgive me?"

"Of course he will." Lance patted his shoulder with a chuckle, "Especially if you agree to some vacation time."

Shiro quirked an eyebrow, "Vacation time?"

"I'll correctly call it "Keith and me" time." Lance nods, "Not long. Two days maybe~ Totally understand if we need to wait with everything going on but~ it would really be appreciated if we could squeeze it in somewhere." he grins.

Shiro felt himself slowly smiling back, "I'm sure we can figure something out. Let it be a sort of honeymoon for you too. You two said you were... married, kind of. Right?"

"Equivalents." Lance nodded, leaning back against the bed with a fond smile. "Which, is basically that, yeah."

Shiro's expression fell to a somber frown, "I wish I had been there for the ceremony."

"I don't." Lance paled, "Geez, that whole ordeal was terrible. I was blind and fighting for my life." definitely not the fairy tale kind of story you'd want to be telling your grandkids. "Things worked so differently on Iespion. We didn't even have it the normal way because we weren't citizens. There aren't marriages or normal happy ceremonies at first. It is all honored combat and stuff. No church wedding insight."

"Oh." Shiro realized. "Then, did you two accept that as marriage?"

Lance thought about that for a moment, "Well, I want to spend the rest of my life with Keith. So... yes? I'm not sure. He is my equivalent in every way. But, in earth terms, I don't fully feel married." he frowns, "Would still kind of like that big ceremony and stuff. Is that silly of me?"

"No. It's not." Shiro's smile was soft.

"Heh. I don't know how Keith feels about it though. He said he wanted to plan the honeymoon. So we'll start with that and maybe I'll bring up marriage stuff when we eventually get back to earth. Too many things to focus on right now."

"Well, I'll talk to Keith about the honeymoon thing. See if we can get in those two days with whatever he has planned so far."

"Really?" Lance gasped

"I owe you, after all." Shiro nods.

"YES!"

Nothing was resolved yet. Shiro and Keith still needed to talk. And things were still tight with Allura, but Lance felt like things would start changing now. Things were going to get better.

Allura refused to leave her room. She didn't deserve to see the other paladins.

She was disgusted in her actions earlier, choosing to lock herself away instead of dealing with them. She couldn't approach Keith now.

Well, she could, but she felt some distance was needed for a while. She needed time to work her thoughts out.

She tried to justify her actions with the past, but now because of it, she's tarnished any good future she might have with her friends.

The Paladin code.

She curses it. She hates the side of her that still wants to follow it. The weakness she held for it from fear.

The Paladins didn't know why the code was made. Not many did. It was a secret King Alfor never talked about. The moment it was brought up he would grow cold, distant and angry.

Very angry.

Now that she was older, Allura understands that it was to block the hurt her father felt… but as a young girl, that angry terrified her…

Her father showed no mercy in his words when it was brought up. Despite being so little, her father would yell in her face of the code. Would ensure her that everything she loved would be taken from her if she dared to break even a single law of it.

Especially the law in which no relationships were allowed among paladins. That was the most important one to her Father after all.

It was the one he made...

In truth, she always knew the real reason. It was just hard to think about it.

Her Mother, Melenor, Queen of Altea, had been the Blue paladin before the hero Blaytz. There had never been anyone so perfectly matched for the lion. It's speed increased to its full potential, their bond stronger than any paladin could ever hope for.

Melenor stood side by side with Zarkon and Alfor, the guiding light to Voltron's journey. She was the very heart of their team, bringing hope even in the darkest of times.

Allura could remember a time when Alfor looked to her mother as the light in his life. She was his dearest love, cherishing her above all power and riches. The look she gave Alfor in return burned as bright as any star. Nothing rivaled their love.

The term soulmates was the only word most could use to describe the pair.

And then one day, her Mother was gone. Killed during combat. At least, so her Father had told her.

It had been many years later before Coran told her in private what had actually occurred that day.

"Alfor believed it should have been he who perished, not her," Coran explained. "Your Mother had been safe, told to escort refugees off a dying world. Her orders were to stay with the civilians, but she turned back."

"What do you mean?" her younger self had asked, tears already building in her eyes at the slightest talk of her parted mother.

"It had been any normal day." He began. "Zarkon, Trigel And Gyrgan were helping deal with a routine escort mission. Your Father and Mother had gotten a signal from a nearby traveler's planet. It was a place to trade and rest for the night. The planet seemed stable but the temperature of the core was rising rapidly. No one knew what the cause was, but Alfor had a feeling it was for everyone's best interest to leave. He planned to evacuate the galaxy if need be, and with that planet being the only inhabited one, it was rather simple to get them to pack their ships and head out."

"Then… what happened?" she was confused on how something as simple as that could have gone so wrong.

"They began evacuation, your mother leading in front and your father taking up the rear to ensure everyone go off the planet. Your mother- She had been worried about Alfor. I recall hearing them on the comms. Your Father had joked and teased, trying to keep things light. He told her to keep going. She turned back, instructing the citizens to keep going without her. When she arrived the planet's magma core had self-combusted."

The blast had nearly taken out half the system.

"Then she died shielding Father…?" Allura whispered quietly, horrified.

Coran's expression fell, "No, she wasn't even close to him. He didn't even know she was there until a second before the blast went off. The Red Lion's capabilities to intense heat matched that of the explosion. The red lion was perfectly fine with no damage. But the Blue lion… it…" he sighs, struggling to finish. "It couldn't handle the pressure. The heat was too intense and the damage to the hull was too great. If she had just stayed in her position the blast wouldn't have reached her. Alfor predicted the planet eruption might occur, but not as early as it had happened. Neither were prepared. Before they realized what was going on it was too late."

To be told her Mother had died just like that, it was hard to swallow. A rather abrupt conclusion for a hero so idolized and loved. A mother, wife, and friend- just gone within seconds.

Some might say it was a rather dull end.

A pointless death that held no meaning. Sometimes Allura felt that it was and then hated herself a moment later for harboring such horrible thoughts.

She was just upset she lost her Mom when it could have been avoided. Yet at the same time, there was a point in her death. At that time, they had no way of knowing what the Blue or Red lion could survive.

The capabilities of the lions were still in testing. It was only from this accident that they learned the Red lion was the only one in the pack that could handle intense heats. Or that any of the lions were connected to certain elemental fields.

Melenor had been worried for her husband and like any person in love went to make sure he was okay. That was not meaningless. That was love.

She died wanting to keep her loved ones safe.

In Allura's mind, that was noble.

It had taken months to rebuild the Blue lion's front hull after that blast, while the Red lion went untouched. Nothing like that had been experienced, so in truth, it could have happened at any point.

The paladins of old thought themselves to be invincible, safe inside their metal beasts. Yet it had limits, like all things. From that point on they fought with caution in their mind. They had avoided countless injuries and moments of death with the idea of their lost blue paladin in their thoughts.

And since then, her father had added a new rule to the paladin code.

No romantic relationships between paladins.

A decision made in mourning of his loved one, she concluded. Perhaps Alfor thought "if he had never married her, she wouldn't have needlessly died".

Allura knew her mother though. She might have gone back even if her Father was just "A friend" and Ally.

At the end of it all, her mother was gone, and her father had been heartbroken. To deal with his mourning he made a skewed law within the code and instilled his own daughter with a fear of that law.

With a heavy sigh, she slouched against her bed. When she heard someone knock she sat up. "Come in…"

Coran was hesitant to enter Allura's room that day. He had something on his mind and wanted to say it before he lost the courage to.

"Allura?" Coran says gently.

"Hello, Coran." she beckoned him in. He paused, stepping in carefully. "What do you need?"

"I wanted to talk about the paladins."

Allura's eyes grew heavy, tired and sad. "What about them?"

"Perhaps we should try a different means about going about this?" he offers quietly, hoping for her to see reason without fully going against her wishes.

She turns her head to acknowledge his suggestion, "Different means?"

"We aren't able to form Voltron, the team is breaking apart…. I think perhaps if we could just sit down and talk about this, things would work out?"

"We already tried talking about this, Coran." Allura says, her voice void of emotion, exhausted.

"That was the very first day when emotions were high and we were all tired." Coran insisted. "Can't we give it another go? Try to be understanding to each other?"

Allura didn't speak for a long time. She stared at herself in the mirror, eyes dull. She hadn't gotten much sleep lately and her thoughts were all over the place. "You're… completely right Coran." She says. "Call the team. We need to make sure they are all aware of Keith's genetics and understand. Also, get that info Kolivan sent us. With the tips on Keith's condition."

Coran nods. "Yes, Princess!" He nods

"Also… I… I should tell them. About the Paladin code." She says weakly. Coran's hand gripped her shoulder.

"I'll be there with you when you do." He assured her

She nods, "Thank you, Coran. For everything." Grateful he has stayed in her life she offered a weak smile as he left. When he was gone she moved the chair in her room. Opening her jewelry box she grabbed the earrings from within, placing them back on her ears.

Her eyes focused on her reflection, pausing.

Sometimes, when she looked at herself long enough, she could see her Mother staring back. They looked so similar after all. It was hard to say if she looked more like her mother or Father since to her she felt she looked like the spitting image of both.

She wondered what her parents would say if they could see her now? She felt so petty and small, hardly a Princess of Altea. Hardly the kind of person who should be helping to lead a revolution of freedom.

Her mind screamed at her to rush down to the paladins and pull Keith and Lance apart once and for all. The paladin code demanded it. Years of being told this made her feel irrational panic, the voice who screamed this chaos sounding like her father in her head

Yet her heart cried in sorrow, hating herself for knowing that Keith almost died because of her actions. Sobbing to know that even she could tell that Lance and Keith deserved each other.

That when she looked at them, she was reminded of her own parents back when they were happy.

She had no one to blame but herself. She could have chosen to go against the rules for her paladins.

She had the nerve to go against their hearts, the very things that gave Voltron it's strength.

Now it was time to deal with the consequences. Whatever those were, she was ready to accept them.

It was time the code was put to rest. It was a new age, one that should be decided by the minds of those around. Whatever her paladins decided, she would follow without complaint. And hope along the way she could earn their forgiveness.

Krolia could count on one hand all the times she has ever felt afraid. Most of them occurred after she met a certain man from Earth and fell in love. Then once Keith was born, she felt it more often then she would like.

Fear for him, for her husband, their planet. She wanted them all to be safe. It was the hardest decision of her life to leave them behind to ensure Zarkon never found them.

Yet here she was, preparing herself to talk to her son after he ventured out into space on his own and found his way to her anyway.

She had tracked him down, glad he had left the castle so they could talk in peace.

Yet for some reason, she couldn't find the courage to walk up to him and introduce herself. What was she supposed to say?

Hi, I'm your Mother. It's been a few years.

Not that any of that was inaccurate, but it felt a little too straight forward.

So she has been stalking him for the last few minutes, following him around Olkarian. If that wasn't bad enough, the oh so pestering Relo decided to join her. Along with Kolivan, of all people.

"Remind me again why you two insist on following me?" she grumbled, kneeling behind a bush and peering over to keep an eye on Keith as he ventured around.

He was so beautiful. A little smaller than his own Father, but Krolia felt he must still be growing. Despite being an adult he still had room to grow. Such dark hair and warm eyes. His smile small and not often crossing his face, but absolutely dazzling when it did. To think, it felt like just yesterday that he was just a little bundle in her arms.

"You beat me up when we didn't tell you, so now we are just making sure you actually approach him." Relo huffed at her, rubbing his sore cheeks from when she had decked him earlier.

"I either stay or go back to the Blade." Kolivan says, like that was enough of an answer and reason to avoid work.

"It's sort of like a date." Relo smiles eagerly, "The blue paladin told me about those."

"Yes, I'm familiar with the earth concept. Yet I do not believe this is considered one of those." Krolia rolled her eyes.

Relo looked shocked, "It's not? But the blue paladin said a date is when you go on an outing of sorts with your significant other." he motions around. "We are on an outing, my significant other is here." he gestured to Kolivan who nodded. "How is this not a date?"

"It's just not." she huffed. "If you two could leave that would be great."

"Or you could just approach your son." Kolivan countered.

She sent him a sharp glare which he returned. He wrapped an arm around Relo, still not pleased to learn that Krolia had ganged up on him the other day. "You were upset we didn't tell you, but look at you now. You learned of this information days ago and have still avoided the red paladin. You can no longer blame us for keeping you separated from him when you are what is holding yourself back."

Relo nodded, "Exactly~"

Krolia grit her teeth, looking back at Keith. He was looking over a stand set up and selling clothes. He looked over the assortment of designs curiously, not finding anything of interest he would want.

The tilt of his head reminded Krolia of Keith's father. They looked so much alike.

With a soft sigh, she leaned back. "He… won't like me."

"He might." Relo nods. "He almost killed himself when he first came to the blade just to learn information about you. I think he'd definitely give you at least a chance."

"Agreed," Kolivan says. "Allow me to give you an incentive if it is an extra push you require."

Relo and Krolia looked at him curiously. "Incentive…?"

"Either you go out there right now, or I send you on another undercover mission tonight and you won't be seen again for several months."

Relo's mouth fell open, "Kolivan…."

"You're horrible," Krolia growled at him

"You're beautiful." Relo corrected her, eyes shining with pride. "You heard the man, Krolia! Get your butt out there!" with a firm kick he tossed her out of the bushes and into the crowd.

Relo snickered the moment she hit the ground, the crowd pushing Krolia forward the moment she stood. Leaving her unable to approach the two Blades and get revenge. Instead, it was forcing her closer to her son.

It was now or never…

Zaheen felt like he was pushing his luck here. Deciding to visit Slav of all people was hard enough. Yet this monster of a staircase seemed to beg to differ.

Why in the world would he put his lab ALL THE WAY at the top of the tower?

This entire building was focused on the world science, Olkarian folk and off worlders, all gathered here to discuss new projects and work tirelessly to aid Voltron and the Coalitions battle against Zarkon as much as they could.

He wasn't eager to even consider getting back on the operation table, yet here he was, weighing the options in his mind.

Past feelings driving him to at least try.

Try for what exactly, he wasn't sure. Try to stand on his own two feet again? Try and face Lotor with a proud look on his face? Or just be able to look himself in the mirror again without instantly being reminded of Haggar and everything she had done to him?

His thoughts were bouncing around in his brain so frantically that he found himself coming here subconsciously.

An Olkarian seemed to notice him after a while, head tilting in confusion, "Can I help you?' he asked, recognizing him as a member of the Blade.

On edge, Zaheen gripped the handles of his chair, "Um..." he tossed around a few ideas in his head, eventually saying "I'm here to see Slav." he explains. "He said that there was a chance of... of getting me back on my feet."

The Olkarian looks surprised then offers a kind smile, "Oh of course!" he rushed around to the back of the wheelchair, gripping the handles to start pushing Zaheen up one of the side ramps. "I'll get you there in no time! If you need anything don't be afraid to ask."

Leaning back in his Zaheen the smile he tried to give felt a little forced, pushed through his nerves. "Uh.. t-thanks.' he says. He couldn't believe he was even considering this. Not that anything was decided, of course. He just wanted to talk to Slav about it. Figure out if it was possible and if so, what exactly it would entail getting it done.

"It takes a lot of courage to want to go through such a big change." the Olkarian speaks up, drawing Zaheen's attention. "It takes a lot of work and patience."

"Yeah..." Zaheen had already gone through this once after all. The only difference there is that he wasn't allowed that patience. He had to adjust and adapt as fast as he could to survive.

"Don't you worry about a thing." the Olkarian chuckled, "Slav is the best of the best. He'll take good care of you."

Zaheen frowned, mumbled, 'If he doesn't talk my ear off first."

The Olkarian laughed good-heartedly, "That is true!"

Keith stood, staring up at the stars. Olkarian was beautiful at night. The streets were clean and peaceful, coalition workers slowing down their rushing around to take a break for the night.

A few people waved excitedly to him, giving him a few thank yous and smiles for his hard work.

The air was crisp and cool, a slight wind brushing his hair back as the stars welcomed him above.

It reminded him of when he would go outside at night to watch the stars with his dad. His father was convinced one day his son would travel the galaxy. How right he was…

"Excuse me." A voice spoke up behind him.

He turned, a small breeze hitting his face. A woman stood before him, dressed in the black armor all Blade members wore.

Her eyes were sharp, yet hesitant, holding more emotions than Keith had ever seen a Galra give. "Hello." she speaks

"...Hi?" he offered awkwardly. "Is there something you need?"

"Yes." she swallowed. "A chance to talk with you." she looked him up and down, her eyes softening. "You've grown into quite a strong man."

Keith was puzzled, "Thank you…? Do I know you?"

She shakes her head, "No. My name is Krolia." she placed a hand over her heart. Whatever she wanted to say, she was struggling to get it out. "There is something I wanted to tell you…"

COMING BACK STRONG WITH A MOUNTAIN OF UPDATES! CAUSE I"M TERRIBLE AND KEEP FORGETTING TO UPDATE HERE!