The wormhole was successful. They ended up galaxies away, although Nova really had no idea where she landed them. It was just an endless space of stars.

Nova sighed and went to sit next to Allura. "Don't think I did terrible." She quirked her lip.

The paladins walked in and all sat around them, Coran sat on the other side of Allura.

"I'm so sorry about your father, Princess." Shiro patted Allura's shoulder.

"Thank you, but that was not my father." She stood up. "The real King Alfor was a great man... and a great father."

"He may not be here with us any more, but his dream lives on through us all, and his legacy is Voltron." Nova concluded.

Allura nodded with a small smile. She sat back down.

Keith sighed and sat next to Nova. "Hey..."

She met his gaze. "Hmm?"

"Are you okay?"

She nodded. "I little sad about my uncle... but..."

"No... I meant the other thing. Him bringing up your past. Showing that memory to all of us."

She looked at her hands. "I rather not talk about it."

Allura looked to her. "Why didn't you tell me you tried to take your own life along with his?!"

"I said, I don't wanna talk about it. Please drop it." Nova snapped, standing up. "Please. I need time alone." She walked off.

Allura felt herself shake. "Nova..."

Coran put an arm around her. "Princess, Nova is strong. She is with us now, right? That's because in the end she wanted to live."

Allura looked in thought. "I just wish she trusted me enough to tell me stuff."

"Maybe she just didn't want you to worry." Hunk said.

"So... she really was in love with a Galra." Lance mused. "And... he was in love with her too."

"Loved her?" Keith spat, clenching his fists. "Zarkon's orders or not, he had a choice and he chose his own skin and to betray her." He sighed. "I'm gonna go to my room."

"Not like him to be so riled up for someone else." Lance raised a brow.

"He's right though." Hunk stated.

"I wonder where she hid her memory safe." Allura pondered.

"Allura... you're not thinking of looking?!" Pidge glared. "That box will be like a diary to her. It's wrong to snoop."

Allura felt taken aback. "Yes, you're right."


Keith sighed, laying on his bed. Why am I so worked up?! He recalled the look on Nova's face when Xen's face appeared on the screen. She's... still in love with him... after everything. She's been locking away guilt, betrayal and grief ever since then, and she hasn't even been able to tell Allura. He stiffened when he heard tapping from above. He held his breath and listened. Footsteps? He raised a brow.

"I know the inner walls like the back of my hand."

He shoved his boots back on and followed the sound.

He got to the Lion's bunkers, where there was silence. She's stopped. Did she sense me following? He looked up at the Red Lion. "Do you know where she is?" He asked in a low voice.

Red Lion's eyes flashed and he lowered his head.

"What?"

Red didn't move.

Keith looked around and then up to see a panel in the ceiling that differed from the others, only slightly. "You're gonna give me a boost?"

Red gave a grumble.

Keith swallowed and climbed onto Red's nose.

Red Lion stretched up so Keith could access the panel.

He carefully opened the hatch and scrambled in.

To his surprise, he was able to stand tall in the tunnel. He looked down to Red. "Which way?" He whispered.

Red moved his head, pointing left. Towards the Black Lion's hanger.

"Thanks." Keith tread carefully.


A few hundred metres in, he heard a sniffle.

"I'm sorry..."

Keith held his breath and listened.

"Xen... I dunno what to do. I don't even know who I am any more. I know nothing about my mother... and little about my father, even though I thought we were close when I was a child. Now my only lead to answers is gone..."

Keith peeked around the corner, to see her curled up next to a box, holding what looked like a ring.

"We... should've been married now... but Zarkon... he tore us apart... and I dealt the final blow."

Is that an engagement ring? Keith felt his heart thunder. I shouldn't be here... it's none of my business. He turned to leave.

"Red?"

He stopped in his tracks, feeling his heart thud against his chest. "Princess?"

"How did you find me?" She asked.

He scratched the back of his neck. "Um... I heard you walking around within the walls... then Red showed me how to get in."

She sniffed again and went back to staring at her ring. "He wasn't evil you know... Xen."

Keith inhaled deeply. "But he..."

"He betrayed me yes..." She dried her eyes. "But... it wasn't him. It was his body and voice... but his mind... it was corrupted."

"What do you mean?"

"Zarkon has a witch and druids. No doubt he ordered them to mess with Xen's head."

"So why did you...?"

"I didn't realise until it was too late."

He sat down beside her. "Did you really try to take both of your lives?"

She sighed. "We were in the caves. He had been ordered to kill me, along with my squad, who apart from the paladins, were the best fighters. Zarkon figured out that I was Uncle Alfor's ace, and knew that Xen was loyal to me and that he was always by my side, so he was an easy target." She explained. "Whilst in there, Xen started to act strange, turns out he had been planting explosives around the caves to destroy us."

Keith listened carefully. It was clear that he was the first person that she'd opened up about this to, and he didn't want to miss a word.

"When I figured out his plan, I knocked the detonator from his hand and told the others to get out and alert the king that we had a traitor... and I fought him. He cut me with his dagger..." She pointed to her bionic eye and the scar across it. "Gave him enough time to grab the detonator again." She bit her lip. "We were outside of the cave, on the cliff. No way was I gonna let those soldiers get slaughtered in such a way. So I summoned all of the lightning I could..." She hugged her self. "He must've woken up, just as a boulder hit him, he looked me in the eyes... apologising... telling me that he loved me. But the look in his eyes were telling me what I was doing was for the best... but... I didn't want him to go alone, so I slammed my staff down onto the cliff edge, causing it to collapse underneath us." She swallowed. "Next thing I knew... I was in the infirmary... with a bionic eye... and he..." She shuddered. "He didn't need to die..."

"Princess..." Keith hesitated before putting an arm around her shoulders. "You did what any other leader would've done. You selflessly put your people before yourself."

"But wasn't it selfish of me to want to stay with him and not my people?"

He sighed. "You were in love, nobody blames you at all. You were protecting them as well as trying to be with him."

She felt herself leaning against his shoulder. "Red..." She mumbled. "Don't... say anything to the others..."

He smiled. "You have my word, Princess." He gripped her shoulder. He looked to the box. "So... that's your memory safe?" He asked.

She nodded and sat up, putting the ring inside. She pulled out a cylinder. "This contains most of my memories of him. I come back to the good ones when I need them. Sometimes the bad ones help too."

Keith stared as blue nano lights swirled around within the glass container.

She put it back and pulled out a device and pressed a button. "My father."

Keith looked closer at the mini holographic picture. "He's Allura's mother's brother?"

Nova nodded. "Apparently I'm a souvenir from his last adventure." She quirked her lip. "Went missing for deca-phobes and came back carrying me."

He stared at the man in the hologram. "How did he die? Allura said it was from a broken heart."

She shrugged. "Well... that's what they told us. I don't know exactly how he died. I... really don't know anything do I?" She put the photo-gram into her pocket. "I don't even know what my mother looked like." She sighed, closing the box and casting a spell on it. She opened a panel beside her and put the box inside, before closing it again.

"It's a good hiding place."

"The Lion's keep it safe... well... mostly." She added.

"I think it'll be good to go and talk to Allura." He stated.

She ran her hands through her starlight hair that reflected a lavender hue. "I... don't want to burden her with anything else. In fact... kinda wish I never told you. You have enough on your plate being the Red Paladin."

Keith shook his head. "Don't worry about me. For the record, I have no idea who my mother was either."

She looked to him.

"She left when I was a baby and my dad died a few years ago, been a loner since."

"Until now..." She smiled softly.

He returned her smile with one of his own. "You're right about that."

"You can come to me whenever you need." She assured him.

"Same here." He stood up and held out his hand. "C'mon."

She took his hand. "Thank you... Keith."

He blushed hearing his name, it had a nice ring to it when she said it. "Anytime, Nova." He said softly, pulling her to her feet.


They walked down the corridors towards the sleeping quarters in a comfortable silence.

Half way down, they saw Allura turn a corner and spot them.

"Keith, you found her!"

Nova snorted. "I wasn't lost."

Allura strode towards her, before throwing her arms around her. Hugging her tightly.

Nova felt the older girl start to shake, hearing quiet sobs.

"I'm so sorry, Nova. You carried so much on your own... I'm forever counting on you to be the strong one, the one with all the answers... I forget that you're still young... I forget that you're hurting all the time."

Nova raised her arms and patted Allura's back. "Allura. I'm alright. Red was right, I shouldn't have let him get to me again."

"Don't blame yourself, he deliberately targeted your weakness." She pulled back and looked at the redness around Nova's eyes. "Trust me, okay? You can tell me anything and everything."

Nova met Keith's gaze before returning it to Allura. "I'll... tell you everything... just not right now."

Allura looked between the two. "Alright, just know that I am here."

Nova reached out and took Allura's hand, giving it a squeeze. "I know. I'm going to bed." She gave a smile. She looked to Keith. "Night, Red. Thanks." She patted his shoulder and went off to her quarters.

Once she was out of ear-shot, Allura rounded on Keith. "Where did you find her?"

Keith swallowed. "She was within the walls." He stated. He didn't want to give too much away. That place is Nova's sanctuary, he didn't wanna compromise it.

"You like her don't you?" Allura raised a brow.

Keith blushed. "What? No! Not like that anyway." He folded his arms.

Allura gave a knowing smile. "As long as you're able to mend her broken heart, I have no objections."

"I'm telling you, Allura. We're just friends. In fact I thought she hated me until recently."

"Hate you?" Allura laughed. "You challenge her, you feed her the energy that she thrives off. I've not seen her so animated since... well... him." Allura felt an ache. "Since the incident, she was a cold shell of her self, rarely opened up to anyone, least of all me. But since you and the other paladins landed in her life, she seems more alive and slowly getting back to her old self."

Keith could see the admiration within Allura's eyes when she spoke about her cousin. "That's what the paladins are meant to do, right? Bring hope to the ones who feel beat down by Zarkon."

Allura smiled. "Exactly." She headed off to bed too.


Keith sighed. He wasn't really that tired after his talk with Nova. It just made him more awake if anything. He changed course of direction and headed towards Pidge's room. He knocked and waited.

"Yeah?"

"It's Keith. Can I come in?"

"Sure."

Keith walked in. "Hey, Pidge. I was wondering if you have anything from the Princess' blood sample?"

Pidge's eyes widened. "Matter of fact, yes." She sat at her desk and brought up a data grid on her laptop. "She definitely has Altean blood, it matches with Allura's so yes, they are related. But her other half. It shows evidence of human blood but it's structure is different from you and I. It has the same components, but also some added extra."

"So, she's part Altean, part human and part something else?"

"Looks that way. Like the Altean part of her blood holds magic, which we know is normal given what we know of Alteans. But the human part also seems to have traces of a different kind of magic. I'm still working it out. But having human DNA in her system does confirm that her mother was human... or at least in part."

"So her dad really did visit Earth and fall in love with a human..." Keith breathed. "So humans existed over ten thousand years ago?"

"According to this. Maybe humans knew how to use some kind of magic way back then and the magic dissipated over time."

"Maybe. Thanks Pidge. She'll be pleased with even a little bit of information right now."

Pidge looked up at him. "You really care about her don't you? Here I thought you two were too similar to get along."

Keith gave a grumble. "Of course I care. I'm not heartless. I'd be the same with any of my comrades."

Pidge smiled a little. "I've noticed she doesn't bite your head off for calling her Princess any more."

Keith smirked. "Me too. Think she's given up on wasting her breath."

"Why do you insist on calling her that?"

He shrugged. "Because... I get to see her reaction, it's amusing." Its adorable.

"Reasonable."

"Anyway, thanks Pidge." He patted her shoulder and headed out.

"I'll tell Nova when I get more intel." Pidge called.

"Yeah, alright." He closed the door behind him. Humans used to have magic? Why did it disappear? Is that why Nova can control the electricity from her staff and her dad couldn't? Many questions flooded in his mind as he headed for his room.