Across the Universe

Part 9

[All standard disclaimers apply.]

Allura watched Lance as he faced off against the practice drones in the training room. Usually he moved so gracefully as he aimed his sniper rifle from one target to the next. But today he lacked his usual elegance.

She winced as he took another blast from a practice drone. Growling, he made his bayard transform into a blaster. He was taking multiple shots to take out a single target, taking more hits in the process.

With a roar, he transformed his bayard into a sword. He took out the rest of the training drones in a matter of seconds. He took a moment to caught his breath.

"Next level," he ordered, shifting into a defensive stance.

"End training sequence," Allura commanded as the first practice drones appeared. They hovered in the air for a moment before disappearing.

Lance whirled to face her. "Allura?"

"What are you doing?"

"Training practice," he muttered as his bayard disappeared.

"Lance," she persisted, clearly not buying the excuse.

He sighed. "I wasn't much help to Coran upgrading the particle barrier. Or to Shiro as he plans possible rescue missions. Or to Hunk as he upgrades the weapons systems. I'm pretty much useless."

"You're not useless."

"Really? I can't help with the technical stuff. I'm no good with strategy. The only reason I was upgraded to combat pilot training at the Academy was because Keith quit and I was screwing that up. Hell, I still crash sometimes."

"You're being too hard on yourself," Allura said.

"Am I? I couldn't even protect Pidge on a simple recon mission. Even after I told Hunk that I would watch her back. I told you: I'm useless."

"Oh, Lance. It's not your fault. Pidge chose to save you and Shiro."

"But she shouldn't have needed to do that," he said. "I should have protected her."

"And why is that? Because Pidge is a girl?"

"What? No! Shiro said that he was bringing me because I was going to be the one to help get us out of trouble. But when we got into trouble, it was Pidge, not me, that got us out."

He sighed. "The worst part is that Hunk doesn't even seem to be mad at me. I wish he would just yell or punch me in the face or something. But he just keeps disappearing into their lab."

He ran a hand through his hair, looking miserable. "At least he's probably doing something useful."

Sometimes she forgot how young the other Paladins were. While Shiro was an adult, he was still a young man, white hair not withstanding. The others had still been students when they had climbed aboard the Blue Lion back on Earth.

They had all taken on their roles as Paladins so quickly, seemingly so easily. It was easy to forget that they were just young people caught up in a war that had been waging for 10,000 years. A war that they didn't sign up for but fought in, usually without complaint, because it was simply the right thing to do.

"Okay, that's enough," Allura announced.

Lance stared at her, obviously confused. "Allura?"

"Lance, you are a Paladin of Voltron," she informed him. "You've been chosen by both the Blue and Red Lions. No other Paladin has ever been chosen by both of those Lions. Ever. Only you."

"I'm not anything special."

"Yes, you are," she persisted. "You do what needs to be done. Because it's the right thing to do. It's that giving heart the Lions saw when they chose you, Lance."

He stared at her with wide eyes. "Allura, I ..."

"You're a good man, Lance," she continued. "And one day, I think you'll be a great one."

She gasped as he suddenly hugged her to him. "Thank you, Allura," he murmured into her shoulder. "I really needed that."

With a soft smile, she hugged him back.