Chapter Twenty:
Shiro spent the rest of the day in a healing pod, but everyone was glad to know that—while the injuries were bad—by the time Shiro's session was over, he would be perfectly healthy again.
"I imagine that it would be much worse if it hadn't been for your quick thinking and the hard reboot, Pidge." Coran said as he finished adjusting the settings on the healing pod, Pidge standing beside him as they watched Shiro's eyes close and his breathing even out as the session began. "As it is, he should be out just in time for some dinner."
"That's great." Pidge said. "Coran, can you tell if the nerve endings in his arm are damaged? Particularly the ones that make his arm able to function?"
"We may need to test the functionality after he pops out, but otherwise I don't see any indicator that there's too much damage." Coran answered. "Now, speaking of that arm, how bad is the damage?"
Pidge sighed.
"It's going to take a day or two to fix." They said. "Which, is probably actually a good thing. Amputees aren't supposed to wear their prosthetics as long as Shiro does. It's incredibly difficult to get off, too, and I'm just glad that we did figure out how to get it off."
"For repair reasons?" Coran asked.
"That, and a couple other reasons." Pidge said. "You're supposed remove a prosthetic before bathing and sleeping, but Shiro doesn't like that; he's always on high alert in case we're attacked. But I think the psychological reasons are more important."
"Ah." Coran said with a nod. "It isn't permanent."
"Exactly." Pidge said with a nod. They sighed and adjusted their glasses. "Coran, I'm going to go back to help the others."
"Unless you need me, I'll stay here with Shiro." Coran said.
Pidge nodded, and prepared to leave the infirmary when they saw Shinji standing at the doorway, leaning against the doorframe, arms folded, eyes on the healing chamber, mouth set in a scowl.
"You can come in, you know." Pidge said.
To their surprise, Shinji actually did so.
"I thought you said that this mission was safe." He said evenly as he walked past Pidge, going to stand in front of the pod, staring at Shiro.
"I also said battle-wounds aren't unusual." Pidge said. "Shiro will be completely healed in a few hours."
"Will he?" Shinji asked, his eyes going from the scar across Shiro's face to where the sleeve of the healing-pod suit dangled limply at Shiro's right side.
Pidge opened their mouth, but Coran cut them off.
"Go on ahead, Number Five." He said. "I'll answer any questions Shinji may have."
Pidge was pretty sure that the one Shinji had just asked was a rhetorical one, but didn't tell Coran that.
Instead, they left; they were well aware that their presence was only going to make things worse.
"The burns are not too severe." Coran told Shinji. "And while he may be a bit dehydrated when he emerges, his kidneys escaped any damage. He'll be back to one-hundred percent by tomorrow morning."
"No, he won't." Shinji said, not turning to look at Coran. "He won't ever be one-hundred percent again." Then Shinji hesitated, and looked over his shoulder. "Will he?"
Coran looked at both of the brothers, one in front of the other.
"No." He said after a moment. "I suppose not. Not in the way you once knew him."
Shinji turned his back on Coran again.
"I guess these things can't fix scars, then." He said.
"Not for a lack of trying." Coran admitted. "Shiro's never asked, but the few times he's been in these pods, Allura and I have tried to lessen the amount of scar tissue around the stump and across his face in particular." He studied Shinji for a moment. "Would you like to see how the pods work?"
"Not particularly." Shinji said. He hesitated, then said, "But I do have some questions. You might be the one with the answers."
"I can certainly try." Coran said.
"This bond thing, that Takashi and the others have with the Lions and each other… What happens when it's broken? Are they no longer Paladins?" Shinji asked. "Or do the Lions, I don't know, stop working for them or something, and they have to find a new pilot?"
"Depending on the cause of the bond's breaking, it is possible for the Lions to reject their pilots. If the Paladin takes a course of action that the Lion does not agree with." Coran said.
"Is that what happened with Zarkon?" Shinji asked.
"No." Coran said, both quickly and harshly, so that Shinji turned to look at him with a bit of surprise. "No. Zarkon broke the bond with his Lion purposefully. And even then we're not even sure how severed it is. Zarkon has on one occasion gained control of the Black Lion. His bond with the Black Lion was very strong, strong enough to temporarily sever the bond that was only still in the early phases with Shiro."
"And… what would happen if Zarkon did take control of the Black Lion again?" Shinji said, being very careful in the phrasing of his question. "And what would happen with the Lions and the other Paladins if he did? Would the Lions have to find all new Paladins for a new team?"
"'Fraid I can't give you a straight answer there." Coran admitted. "I'm not sure what would happen. But previous experience seems to indicate that the Lions prefer having one team at a time; you can't replace a Paladin that easily and expect the machine to run as smoothly, both in the literal and metaphorical sense. May I ask why you're making these inquiries?"
"I just want to understand how this magic stuff is supposed to work." Shinji said. "It sounds a little complicated."
"In some ways, it is." Coran admitted. "But I believe that in other ways, it is the most simplest, naturalist thing in the universe."
"Maybe it is. But it's still kind of weird." Shinji said.
Nevertheless, he was planning on putting his newly-gleaned information to use.
He was going to get his brother back to Earth, and soon.
But first, he was going to need to track down a new Blue Paladin.
Or, perhaps more accurately, the old Blue Paladin.
Pidge approached Hunk, who was probably enjoying himself a little too much, making the Galra drones fetch everything from the ship and bring it into the hanger. He had previously been on guard duty while Allura, Keith and Lance forced the living, furry Galra into the Castle and into cyropods as prisoners of war. No one particularly liked having the cryogenically frozen Galra inside the Castle, especially after the Castle's invasion back on Arus, but they detested the alternatives, which were to either kill the Galra, let them go free, or maroon them the planet.
"So, what is this stuff?" Pidge asked Hunk as they stood next to him, standing on their toes to peek over his arm at his tablet, while also looking at the large cylinders filled with purple… well, goo but not quite goo. Definitely not the edible stuff.
"This is what the top-secret basement lab has been working with." Hunk said. "Based on the info I gathered, this stuff is enhanced quintessence. It's, like, five times more deadly than regular quintessence."
"Okay," Pidge said. "Any idea how they make it or what they use it for?"
"Not so sure about how to make it, but definitely know what it's being used for." Hunk said. He tapped a button on his tablet and the information appeared on Pidge's holographic wrist computer so that they can look at the same thing. "Actually, you and I have messed with this stuff a little before."
"We have?" Pidge said, frowning up at their friend. Hunk nodded.
"Yep." Hunk said. "Look."
Hunk brought up the lab log.
Pidge's eyes widened as they scanned it.
"No way…" Pidge said. "This is the stuff that powers Shiro's arm! Shiro's arm was built here!"
Hunk nodded again.
"And Sendak's." He said. "See? The Witch Haggar placed the orders for both the arms. Apparently, Shiro's was the prototype and Sendak's was a later model."
Pidge nodded, remembering hearing Sendak taunt Shiro, making a comment about how Shiro had spent times with the Druids and their experimentations. Though Pidge had a feeling that Sendak was a volunteer, unlike Shiro.
"But, apparently, that's not what this lab initially specialized in." Hunk explained. "It was originally laser gun and ion cannon prototypes. It's not what currently powers the drones' guns from the looks of it, because this stuff is basically too expensive for the drones to have to keep reloading. But apparently they switched when Haggar told them to make utilizing this new quintessence top priority. Remember that first Robeast on Arus? This is what powered his weapon, one of the first made with this stuff, actually. I'm guessing they tested them in the Arena, which makes sense why Shiro was a candidate for the arm as both replacement limb and weapon."
"Makes sense." Pidge said. They frowned. "But it also looks like Haggar was trying to see the compatibility between this new quintessence and living beings."
Hunk and Pidge both grimaced at this, realizing that Shiro—as a prisoner of the Galra Empire—was probably one of the first of her lab rats. Once Shiro survived, they could test it with other Galra, thus how Sendak acquired his arm filled with the same substance.
"So, what exactly is Haggar planning beyond new weapons?" Pidge said.
"Well, if quintessence is life force energy, and if they gather it by literally sucking the life out of things… Then technically that energy can be transferred." Hunk said. "Which could explain how seemingly immortal Zarkon and Haggar are."
"And maybe the first Blue Paladin." Pidge added. They frowned. "But if quintessence is already a bio-weapon, and this enhanced quintessence is an even stronger version of that, then using this quintessence on a Galra or other living being could turn them—maybe quite literally—into a living weapon."
"Like, potentially have the powers of Shiro's arm without the limb replacement?" Hunk said. Pidge shrugged.
"Maybe. But whatever Haggar's end-goal is, we may have just derailed it a bit. We've got all of the enhanced quintessence." Pidge said.
"So, what do we do with it?" Hunk asked.
"Let's ask Allura if we can keep a bit to play around with on the Castle, but we'll track down a star going supernova or a black-hole and dump the rest." Pidge suggested.
"I like that idea." Hunk said with a nod. "The Galra have the upper-hand on the weaponry around here. This can give us some time to beat them at their own game."
Pidge nodded, already having a few ideas. Then, they straightened and a cat-like grin spread across their face.
"Hey, Hunk…" They said, barely able to contain their excitement.
"Yeah?" Hunk said nervously, looking down at Pidge. That smile and tone of voice rarely led to good things.
"Do you wanna build a lightsaber?" Pidge asked in a sing-song voice.
Hunk's eyes widened as he grinned.
"Uh, only since I was five!" He exclaimed.
"Did I just hear 'build' and 'lightsaber' used in the same sentence?" Tali asked, coming up behind the two. "And does that mean what I think it means?"
"It means we're going to need Keith to give us fencing lessons!" Hunk said, excitedly punching the air.
Allura and Coran agreed to keeping some of the enhanced quintessence, though a bit reluctantly and on the condition that it was kept in a very secure area of the Castle, with a hastily added condition that it could only be worked with after having a full-night's worth of rest (Pidge thought that was a bit of a personal affront against them, but agreed to the terms).
Lance, however, had a better idea for disposing of the rest: blowing up the base.
"That way, the Galra can't send in more workers, they're done in drone production, and we could potentially play it off as an accident." Lance explained to Shiro over dinner.
Though it had annoyed Hunk that they were now back to green food goo for the meal, but agreed that it would be a bit lighter on Shiro's just-out-of-healing-pod stomach, and stayed on a spork well enough so that Shiro could feed himself with his left hand while his right was out of commission. Plus—as Lance pointed out—everyone eating it was a show of solidarity and emphasized how awesome of a team they were.
But none of the Paladins wanted to admit that they were actually starting to miss the stuff. Even if just a little bit.
"We should have a celebration movie night." Lance suggested as he helped grab up empty bowls and dirty sporks. "I mean, technically, we need to make up for the ones we didn't have and get caught up."
Everyone else readily agreed, but the other three Paladins had been watching and waiting for Shiro's response, having discussed this with Allura and Coran before Shiro's healing session was finished. They had figured that Shiro wasn't going to rest easily for a while after the day's events, and knew from previous experience that he would often relax more with everyone else close by.
But everyone was in the lounge not a half hour later, waiting for the movie to be picked.
"What should we watch?" Hunk asked as he helped Pidge set up the equipment.
"I set up a random-number generator and have all our movies listed with a number," Pidge said, laptop balanced on their knees. "Once we watch it, I'll remove it from the list and reset the parameters. That way, we don't end up picking the same movies over and over again."
"And keeps us from having to vote on a film or keep up with a turn-taking system." Allura said with a nod. "That should save us some time."
"Alright, so what's our first lucky number, Pidge?" Lani asked. Pidge grinned and punched the 'enter' button on the keyboard.
"Alright, and the lucky winner is…" Pidge said, cross-checking their spreadsheet. "Disney's Frozen!"
"Can we sing-along?" Lance asked excitedly. "Please tell me we can sing-along?"
"Why bother watching a Disney movie if you don't sing-along?" Tali said with a grin as Pidge started preparing the movie.
"Yeah, especially since someone got 'Do You Want to Build a Snowman?' stuck in my head earlier…" Hunk said, gently poking Pidge in the side of the head.
"Sorry not sorry." Pidge said with a grin.
"So, what exactly is this film about?" Coran asked.
"About the magic of love and why you shouldn't agree to marry men you just met." Keith said.
Lance gasped dramatically.
"Keith, you've seen Frozen!" He exclaimed.
"Believe it or not, I didn't exactly grow up under a rock in the middle of the desert." Keith huffed. Everyone looked at him and he rolled his eyes. "Okay, it may have been one of my foster sister's favorite movies. She watched it three times in one day on one particular occasion."
"Alright, let's get this movie night officially on!" Pidge said, pressing the play button.
All went well for the first ten minutes of the movie. 'Do You Want to Build a Snowman?' was sung-along to with various dramatics, although Allura demanded to know why all of these Disney movies seemed to want to kill the parents.
"Wait, hold on, pause it!" Shiro said suddenly as Anna danced along the palace halls, singing about owning eight-thousand salad plates. Pidge quickly did, but everyone looked at him confused as he stared at the screen, brow furrowed.
"That dress…" He said. "It looks familiar…"
"Well, she's a Disney princess." Lani said helpfully. "And it's one of her signature outfits. It's pretty much everywhere."
"No, it's different than that." Shiro said, leaning back into the couch, frowning. "I recognize her and the dress, but I'm not quite sure what else the dress is trying to get me to remember. It feels like something I shouldn't have forgotten."
Pidge suddenly went very still and very white as Tali started snickering.
"I think I know what it is!" She said. Her snickers became full laughs, and she was unable to continue.
However, across from her, Keith was starting to put two-and-two together, a grin spreading across his face to Pidge's horror.
"Full Disney princess regalia." He said in a breath, his face having an expression as if he had just been told that there was a new photo of the Loch Ness Monster, his eyes lit up.
"What?" Lance said, his brow arching as he looked at Keith, who was now starting to laugh too.
Pidge buried their face in their hands, the tips of their ears bright red.
"Oh, oh my gosh!" Tali said breathlessly, arms around her stomach. "Oh, this is just too perfect!"
"Someone mind explaining what the heck is going on?" Shinji demanded irritably.
"When Shiro and I…" Tali giggled. "When Shiro and I first met Pidge… They were… Oh my gosh, I can't believe you forgot that, Shiro!"
Shiro's eyes suddenly widened and he glanced between the princess on the screen and the mortified Pidge, who exclaimed,
"Oh, come on, I was eight and it was almost Halloween! It's not funny at all!"
"No, but it was cute as quiznak. Hang on, I've still got that saved on my phone…" Tali said, still giggling as she dug out her phone. She quickly scrolled through her photos, then turned the screen around to show everyone.
"Awwww!" Lance, Hunk, Lani and Allura exclaimed.
Pidge groaned.
Keith laughed harder.
Shiro, Matt and Tali—all twelve years old at the time—were all in the photo, along with Pidge—then aged eight, and wearing a replica costume of Anna's coronation dress.
"Pidge, you're so adorable!" Hunk said. "You look just like Princess Anna, too!"
"It was the first time Matt brought Tali and I to the Holts for the weekend." Shiro said, his expression a bit distant as the memory came back, smiling faintly. "Matt was barely in the door before he got barreled into by this small, green and glitter projectile."
"Then they dragged us upstairs, where they had a tea party prepared. It was so adorable and they were so proud of themselves." Tali added, still grinning.
"You prepared Shiro, Tali and Matt a tea-party!" Allura exclaimed with a delighted squeal. "That is so cute! And why cannot I convince you to do those with me more often?"
"I was eight!" Pidge exclaimed loudly. "And when you're eight and your mom tells you that you better get your room clean because your brother's bringing friends home for a weekend away from space school, you apparently decide to make your room even fancier and be the best princess hostess ever, okay!"
"Shiro, this is both the weirdest and cutest thing that has brought back your memories thus far." Lance said, face split with a huge grin.
"I can't help that." Shiro pointed out.
"Apparently not." Shinji said, his voice having just the slightest bit of ice to it. "Are we actually going to finish this movie or not?"
They did, though Pidge ended up spending most of that time watching Shiro and Shinji. The latter had been more sullen and distant than usual that evening. Or, more accurately, had been keeping a distance from his brother, frequently eyeing the stump of Shiro's right arm, though it was covered by his shirt sleeve and carefully tied in a knot so the extra fabric didn't get in his way. Pidge could understand his reaction to some extent; this was the first time he was seeing Shiro without the prosthetic, and didn't know exactly how to act around him.
As for Shiro, he slowly seemed to relax a bit more, and towards the end of the film it looked like it was hard for him to keep reopening his eyes every time he blinked.
Pidge smiled softly as the credits began to roll, and Lance insisted everyone stay for the after-credits scene.
They had a feeling Shiro was going to sleep well that night, and they were glad for it.