A/N: Hello! Welcome to The Light at the End. To all new and old readers, this is the 10th and FINAL story within my series featuring Mariko Shirogane and Scarlett. If you'd like to catch up or recap what's happened so far, please read the first 9 stories: Rise of Voltron; Turmoil Begins; Fights and Flights; Scarlett and the Blades; What's Been Lost, What's Been Found; Beneath the Sand and Stars; Rifts and Realizations; A Fallen Star; and Face the Day (in that order). I'll be posting chapters for this twice a week. I sincerely hope you enjoy this finale!
Also, Happy Birthday, Keith! Here's the first/an extra chapter for the week to celebrate!
Full Summary: Earth has been saved. And between figuring out dating and fighting for their lives, Mari and Team Voltron return to space to continue freeing the universe from the Galra. But when Honerva becomes a bigger threat than they anticipated, their mission for peace, stability, and the future of all realities is put at risk. The ending is on the horizon. It's time to finish this war once and for all.
**I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender (duh)
Several more months passed before Voltron was finally ready to return to the war. And much had happened in that time: all the pieces of the robeast had been collected, and an Altean named Luka had been retrieved from its power core. She was unconscious but stable, and Allura and Romelle waited anxiously for her to wake up. Whether Haggar had sent her to destroy the planet remained unknown for sure, but they hoped they'd find some answers after interrogating her.
Meanwhile, Earth had finally finished its recovery efforts from Sendak's invasion. Cities had been rebuilt, businesses were up and running, and people had healed. Matt, Mari, and their rebel comrades had ventured across the globe to the other Garrison facilities, lending a hand in preparing Earth's defense systems. Then Mari and her crew had started traveling off-world once more, helping with repairs on coalition planets. She had brought Ellosh, Treble, and the other Vurelleans home, assisting them in Vurelle's reconstruction, and had been gone for a couple months. But now that it was the day before the Atlas and the rest of Team Voltron would be launching back into space, she was due to return.
Keith tried not to be excited about it. They'd been separated for way longer than this before. It shouldn't have been that big of a deal getting to see her again. But despite telling himself this, he couldn't stop his heart from racing. He couldn't stop himself from getting up at the crack of dawn and waiting with Kosmo at the landing port for the Kintsugi to make an appearance.
A loud yawn from behind made Keith stiffen. He turned to see Scarlett approaching, drowsy and slouching, but forcing herself to remain awake.
"Good morning," she mumbled in greeting.
Keith nodded, curt and instinctually on alert around their resident mind-reader. "Morning."
She groaned, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and stretching. "You waiting for them to come back too?"
"Yeah."
"Should be any tick now." She hummed, watching as the sun rose higher over the horizon, brightening their world. "I hope Shiro's briefing doesn't take too long. I've got a date with Mitsu planned afterwards."
"Where are you two going?" he asked, allowing his guard to drop a little as he indulged her attempt at making pleasant conversation.
"We're gonna check out the mall and try some of that fancy 'creamed ice' Pidge keeps recommending."
"You mean ice cream?"
"Yeah, that," she nodded. "And then tonight, I'm gonna show him that new show they made about us. It's so silly, they got so much stuff wrong! It's almost just as hilarious as the Voltron Show!"
Keith had heard about the television series created in their honor. It was called Voltron: Defender of the Universe. He hadn't watched a single episode, but he'd heard enough about it from Hunk and Pidge to know that he wouldn't ever. It was weird enough knowing their war stories were being turned into a form of universal entertainment. He didn't want to see how they'd twisted things. It almost seemed far too soon for anyone to capitalize on their efforts when Earth had only just been freed by Voltron not too long ago.
"Ah, it's gonna be so fun roasting it together," Scarlett giggled. She sighed and wiped a tear from her eye before looking at him. "You have any plans with Mari today?"
He shook his head. "No. Why would I?"
"Oh, come on! It's our last day on Earth together! Our last day of peace before it's back to fighting." She placed her hands on her hips and tsked. "Sometimes I wonder if you two really are a couple. Have you even gone out on a date yet together?"
There was a long pause from him. "...No."
"Good grief, man."
"We've been busy," Keith insisted in his defense. It was true, after all. Whether it was meeting with overseas leaders, reconstruction projects, or making plans to begin work on another planet's defense system, there had always been something for them to do. He crossed his arms as he huffed, "Why does it matter anyway when we'll be seeing each other everyday after tomorrow?"
Scarlett slapped his shoulder, making him scowl. "Do you want her to get snatched up by Acxa?" she threatened, exasperated. "Don't let her lose interest in you! Be her one and only! Take her out, woo her, do something to remind her that you're still constantly thinking about her!"
Keith tried to ignore the fact that Acxa had gone with Mari to Vurelle and would be returning with her. "I wouldn't even know where to take her," he muttered, racking his brain for possible date ideas and coming up with none. He wouldn't even know what to do on a date. Hold hands? Cuddle? Kiss? As much as he wanted to hold her, touch her, kiss her, he'd never engaged in such intimate activities before. He feared any such advancements would result with him getting punched in the face.
"I'm sure she'll be happy to go anywhere with you," Scarlett tried to assure him, her tone gentler this time. "Just make it meaningful."
Make it meaningful. It sounded easier said than done, but he'd consider it. Even if he still wasn't quite sure what he was doing, he was determined to try his best.
Their attention was brought to the skies as a wormhole opened up above them. The Kintsugi emerged from the portal, traversing lightyears in an instant thanks to the new and fully functioning teludav on the Atlas. The ship landed in front of them and the hatch popped open. Mitsubishi, Acxa, and Mari hopped out of the cockpit with their luggage, allowing the Garrison engineers and maintenance technicians to move it into the hangars to be inspected and eventually transferred to the Atlas.
"Welcome back!" Scarlett beamed, giving Mitsubishi a hug as they approached. "How are things on Vurelle?"
"Fantastic," Mitsubishi replied, his tone and expression as flat as always. His hair shifted from brown to yellow as he returned her embrace. "Everyone says hello. Clean up and reconstruction on the palace and base are going well."
"Vurelle's defense system is secured and operational," Acxa pitched in. "If the Galra try to attack again, they'll be more than ready to fend them off."
"That's great!" Scarlett exclaimed, pulling away from Mitsubishi to grin at her. "Nice work, guys."
Mari remained oddly quiet. She frowned sourly at the ground, bags beneath her eyes. She was slumped forward, not quite steady standing on her own two feet. Kosmo nuzzled into her hand and she weakly granted him a few pets on the head.
"Hey," Keith said, inching closer to her. "You look exhausted."
"I am exhausted. It's been a hectic past few days, and I was up all night finalizing some last minute things," she admitted, kneading her palms into her eyes. "I left Agamate in charge of running the base and rebel operations. I wanted to make it as easy as possible for her."
"You want to lay down?" he offered.
"No, I've gotta stay awake. I still have to write up a quick report," she said with a slight shake of her head. "And Takashi's meeting is soon, I can't miss that."
Keith stared at her for a long moment. Then, hesitantly, he dropped his arms to his sides. "Would…you like to lean on me for a bit?"
She looked up at him, surprised. "...Can I?" she asked, sounding small and almost pleading.
He nodded, encouraging her to close the distance between them. She buried her face in his shoulder and he tentatively wrapped his arms around her. He could feel her breathing even out as she relaxed into his hold, and he wondered if she could hear how rapidly his heart was beating. They stood like that for a few minutes until Mari was ready to be released.
"Okay, I think I'm good now," she said, and Keith let her stand back. She still looked incredibly tired, but her eyes had regained some of their dazzling fire. She jerked her thumb at the doors leading into the building, adding, "I'm gonna go find Curtis and get that report submitted."
"Have fun," he said with a half-hearted smirk. "I'll see you later."
She smiled and let out the tiniest of chuckles. "See you later."
The conference room was crowded as rebels and Garrison personnel alike gathered for their last meeting. As soon as everyone had filed inside, taking their seats or standing around the table, the doors slid shut. A hush settled over them as Shiro and Veronica took the front of the room, ready to begin.
"Everyone, welcome to our final briefing here on Earth," Shiro said, cool and casual and friendly. "It's been several months since we began to rebuild, and tomorrow we launch and continue our liberation efforts across all planets still under Galra rule. Commander Holt, what's the latest from your team?"
"We've confirmed that there's still no Galra activity within several galaxies of the Milky Way," Sam replied. "It appears Earth was Sendak's only target."
"Where are we with Earth's defenses?" Shiro asked next, turning to Keith.
"I've finished my check-in with all the Garrison facilities around the globe," he answered. "All defenses are up and running. Earth has everything in place to keep itself safe."
"Great," Shiro nodded. "And Atlas preparations?"
"Repairs to the IGF-Atlas were completed early last week and it has since passed every test protocol we've put it through," Veronica provided.
"Good. And the MFEs?"
"Each one's been successfully repaired and upgraded with a Balmeran crystal," Scarlett reported.
"They've passed all our test flights," James added, exchanging an approving grin with the Utearen. "The MFEs are ready to go."
"Perfect," Shiro noted. "Any updates on the Altean pilot?"
"She's still unresponsive," Allura admitted, a deep frown pinching her regal features. "But she could wake any day now. Perhaps if we had a little more time, we could find out if Haggar…if Honerva really sent her here."
"There's no way to know when or if she'll regain consciousness," Keith carefully pointed out. "We can't wait any longer. We need to get back out there and end this war before the Galra can reorganize."
"Keith's right. We'll be in constant communication with Earth. When the Altean wakes up, we'll know," Shiro said, trying to assuage the princess's worries the best he could. "And if Honerva really is behind this, we'll find her during our journey."
A round of uneasy murmurs rippled throughout the room. Dealing with the remaining Galra warlords would be challenging enough. Now they had to worry about confronting the space witch. Still, she had to be dealt with, there was no doubt about that. No one argued with their leader, prompting him to continue.
"I have one more item to discuss," he said, reeling in their wavering attention. "It's our last night on Earth and we've got a lot of hard work ahead of us. We may not be back home for years. So, I'm ordering you to take some time for yourselves. Be with the ones you love. You've earned it. Dismissed."
Relieved smiles lit up the faces of many crew members, glad to be able to rest their last night home. As the room quickly emptied, Scarlett cast Keith a knowing look. She tilted her head towards Mari, who had already made it out the door, silently ordering him to get up and go for it. Shoving down any lingering doubt, he stood from his seat and followed after her.
"Hey," he said once he had caught up to her and could match her pace. "Do you, uh…have any plans tonight?"
Keith internally scowled at himself. That had come out so lamely. But whether Mari had noticed or not, she made no indication of showing it.
"Just a long nap at home," she said, stifling a yawn. "And then a family dinner. My parents want me and Takashi to be there. They're making it special since we'll be gone for a while."
His heart instantly sank. He couldn't ask her on a date now, not when she was practically nodding off and had familial obligations. He kept his expression neutral and unbothered though as he reluctantly stated, "Oh. Well, um…enjoy your nap. And dinner. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Thanks," she murmured, her lips twitching up into a tired smile for a brief second. She yawned again and gave him a small wave before rounding the corner, leaving him to sulk in the hallway.
"Date plans fell through?"
Keith turned to see Shiro walking towards him with a sympathetic grin. He huffed and leaned back against the wall. "They didn't exist to begin with," he muttered.
Shiro stopped in front of him, humming in understanding. "So what are your plans for tonight now?"
"I don't know," Keith shrugged. "Visit my dad. Watch the sunset. Wait until tomorrow comes."
"Well, after you're done with that, why don't you and Krolia come over for dinner?"
Keith stared at Shiro, a sudden uncertainty gnawing at his gut. "What? Are you sure?"
"Absolutely."
"But I thought it was just a family thing."
"You are family, Keith," Shiro said, his smile full of warmth and a steadfast conviction that made Keith feel a bit better. "Besides, my mom's been looking forward to formally meeting you."
His confidence wavered at the thought of Mrs. Shirogane and all the things he'd come to know about her and her relationship with her children. "Great," he deadpanned, unable to hide his lack of enthusiasm.
"And I invited Curtis," Shiro quickly added, trying to lighten the mood. "It won't just be you and my parents."
Keith mulled it over for a second. Shiro was trying to help him here. If he couldn't go out with Mari, then maybe this was the next best thing. He supposed he could endure a night with their relatives if it meant showing her that he still cared and wanted to continue moving their relationship forward.
"Okay," he relented. "I'll go."
"Good!" Shiro beamed. "I'll see you tonight then. I'll send you the address later."
He began to head down the corridor, and it struck Keith just exactly what he had agreed to: A nice dinner with his mentor and his girlfriend and their parents at their house. He had willingly agreed to leap into unfamiliar, potentially dangerous, territory and he had no clue what to expect.
"Wait!" he called after him, and Shiro stopped and faced him, waiting for him to continue. Keith swallowed, panic making him flustered as he awkwardly stammered, "Do – Do I have to dress up or something? What should I do?"
Amusement twinkled in Shiro's eyes as he considered his questions. "Maybe ditch the cadet uniform," he suggested, pointing to the orange garb that had been Keith's "casual clothes" for the last several months. "And just be yourself."
With that last bit of advice, he disappeared down the hall, leaving Keith to prepare for dinner with the Shiroganes.
A/N: Shoutout to Dotalot345! I'm thrilled you're loving the series! Yes, the ship has sailed (only took 9 parts for them to finally get there lol). I always look forward to your comments, so thank you again for taking the time to leave such kind words. :D
**Check out my tumblr to see some cool art: pufftheninja