**I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender (duh)

With Mari and Treble gone, the paladins returned to their seats around the fire. No one said a single word, their hearts heavy with a plethora of conflicted thoughts and feelings about their hostile companion.

Besides how she'd physically changed in the past three years – she'd grown a couple inches, she'd started keeping her hair short, and she'd become thinner – Keith had noticed that the 'V' on her pauldrons had been intentionally scratched out. And when she'd looked at him, the light from her once sparkling eyes had all but disappeared. It was like she had been looking at a stranger. Bitter and hurt beyond his imagination, Mariko Shirogane was no longer the same girl he'd met on Earth four years ago in the Blue Lion's cave.

But then again, all of them had changed since they'd first been launched into space. Nothing stays the same, after all.

"I can't believe she doesn't want to go home," Pidge said, her despondent voice breaking the silence.

"It's not that she doesn't want to go home," Scarlett corrected her. "It's just that she doesn't want to go home with you."

"But why? I know she's pissed at us for being gone, but we couldn't help it!" Lance piped up, exasperated. "I mean, what was that with her trying to kill us?"

"And why did she think we were Druids?" Keith asked, and for a horrified moment, he wondered if they'd had an unfortunate run in with Haggar sometime in the last three years.

Scarlett hesitated. "It's a long story. And it's not exactly mine to tell..."

"Please, Scarlett. We just want to understand," Shiro pleaded. "We want to help her."

The Utearen sighed, rubbing the back of her neck as she considered it. "I guess I'll start at the beginning then," she decided, sitting on the edge of the crate next to Acxa. "Sendak and the Fire of Purification were the ones who attacked Vurelle. He thought we were hiding the lions. Even when Mari insisted that they weren't there, he still destroyed everything. It was like his sick form of revenge for everything Voltron had done to him. He almost took away everything she had left. The attack left her paralyzed from the waist down. The only thing allowing her to walk normally now is a spinal cord implant."

Scarlett's eyes shimmered with suppressed anger as she recalled the memories, and she paused, allowing this new information to sink in. Shiro's expression had turned grim at the mention of the Galra commander. Out of all the possible warlords, of course Sendak was responsible for Vurelle's fall. Keith's own rage flared as he envisioned the massive fleet laying siege to the peaceful planet, destroying an entire culture in seconds. The Blades should've finished him off at the Kral Zera. He silently swore he'd kill him if they saw each other again.

"On top of that, a Druid found her shortly after with the help of a shape-shifting bounty-hunter," she continued. "He kidnapped her. Tortured her for a movement. He messed with her memories of you, pretended to be you. He played with her emotions, trying to twist how she sees you. With that and relearning how to walk, it nearly broke her. It took her about a decaphoeb to make a full recovery. But for a long time, she…she really hated all of you."

"It doesn't seem like that's changed," Lance noted sourly and Scarlett shook her head.

"She doesn't hate you now. She's had three decaphoebs to heal. She knows those memories aren't real," she tried to assure them. "Now, she's just being cautious. She's afraid of getting close to you again, afraid to trust you. She's been left behind by Voltron too many times already. She doesn't want to be left alone again."

The cave was silent for a long minute. Shiro stared at the floor, his face rigid and tight with pain. "We're still a family. We promised we'd be here for her," he said, low and even, as if he were struggling to convince himself of this more than the others. "We won't leave her now."

"I know you mean well," Scarlett began slowly, carefully. "But…Well, no offense, Shiro, but even if you tell her that, I don't think she'd believe you. She feels hurt by you the most, especially since you've left her so many times already. I know you're being honest and want her to open up to you again. But it's best not to make another promise you can't keep."

It was blunt and maybe a little harsh, but it was the truth. Regret swam in Shiro's eyes, unable to deny Scarlett's claim.

"We'll try talking to her more about it," Acxa offered, trying to alleviate the growing frustration and guilt in the room. "But you can't force her to go home with you if she doesn't want to."

"I know. And I won't," Shiro reluctantly agreed. "If she still doesn't by the time we're ready to leave, I…I at least want to say I'm sorry to her."

"She might punch you again," Scarlett warned and Shiro nodded.

"I can handle it," he said, cupping his injured cheek in his hand. "I probably deserve another hit anyway."

An hour passed before Mari and Treble returned, their arms full of bags of ingredients.

"We got lotsa stuff," Treble chirped, placing their goods in front of Hunk. "Veggies, fruit, meat…Should be enough to last a few meals."

"We've all been kinda terrible at cooking the last three decaphoebs," Scarlett confessed, and Mitsubishi nodded. "I hope you don't mind, Hunk."

Hunk grinned, not at all offended that their hosts were asking him to cook. "Oh man, this is perfect. I'm thinking a warm and hearty stew will do us a lot of good for dinner tonight," he said, inspecting the items they had bought. "Thanks, guys."

Treble beamed and helpfully tossed another log into the fire. Mari shed her cloak and draped it over a cargo crate near the back of the cave. "Sure," she mumbled, avoiding eye contact with any of them. She moved back towards the entrance and lifted the blanket. "Call me when it's ready," she instructed, casting a sharp look over her shoulder before disappearing outside again, leaving them to sit in another awkward atmosphere.

"She's gonna be like that until we leave, isn't she," Lance realized, crestfallen.

"Your friend is terrifying," Romelle noted.

"Let's just give her some space," Keith suggested, stifling his own urge to go after her. "She needs time to adjust."

"Um…your wolf certainly doesn't think so," Pidge said, and she pointed to the door where his blue tail was just vanishing beyond the flap.

Keith cursed under his breath. Sometimes that wolf was way too nosy and stealthy for his own good. Sighing, he stood and left the cave to retrieve him before he could get himself hurt.

The cosmic creature had followed Mari. She was standing in front of the Blue Lion, cautiously pacing around it and brushing her fingers against its legs, making sure it was real. She startled when she noticed the wolf trotting up to her, fearless and unfazed by her wariness. Her hands hovered over the weapons on her hip, preparing herself in case he attacked, but he never did. He circled her, sniffed her curiously, and closed the distance between them to rub his head against her stomach.

Mari hugged her hands to her chest, unsure of how to respond. "Okay, Mister Space Wolf. Please go away," she quietly requested. "I don't wanna play. Just go back to your owner."

She tried stepping away, but the wolf just kept following her, insisting on establishing a friendship. A smile tugged at Keith's lips at the sight.

"He wants you to pet him," he said, making his presence known as he approached, and both the wolf and Mari's heads snapped up to look at him. The murderous glare that instantly twisted her features warned Keith not to come any closer, and he stopped maybe ten feet away from her.

She hesitated, pulling her gaze away from him as she muttered, "I know what it wants. I'm just not much of a dog person."

"Oh. Right," Keith replied lamely, recalling that she and Shiro had a cat. Kage was its name, if his memory served him correctly.

A tense beat of silence passed between them. Mari pressed her lips into a thin line and she slowly lowered her arms to her sides.

"Did you need something?" she asked, clearly growing uncomfortable if not annoyed with his silent staring.

"Oh, I, uh, came to get the wolf," Keith began, just as said wolf plopped heavily onto the ground, laying on top of Mari's feet. He gazed up at the paladin with steady yellow eyes, daring him to try moving him now. Keith sighed, and out of habit he crossed his arms over his chest. "...I don't think I can drag him back."

Mari rolled her eyes, but her features softened as she looked at the wolf. "Stubborn guy," she murmured. She crouched down and gave in to the animal's pleas for pets, stroking his head and back. "You're lucky you're cute."

Keith waited a tick before crouching down too. "Yeah," he agreed, looking fondly at the cosmic canine. "He's like that."

The wolf rolled over, exposing his tummy for belly rubs. Mari let out a tiny chuckle as she obliged. "Where'd you find him?"

"The Quantum Abyss," Keith replied. "Lotor's colony was hidden there."

"And that Altean girl is from there?"

"Yeah. Romelle was the one who helped us figure out what he'd been up to. He killed her family."

The corners of Mari's mouth twitched down. There was another beat of silence and Keith mentally slapped himself. Wow, way to darken the mood.

"Who's the Galra then? Another Blade?" she asked, pushing forward nevertheless.

"Yep. Her name's Krolia."

"Oh?" Her tone was light and nonchalant, feigning disinterest.

A smirk played on Keith's lips as he elaborated, "She's my mom."

"...Oh." Her attention flicked up to him, unable to hide her surprise. "Congratulations on finding her."

"Thanks." He paused before frankly adding, "You called her hot."

Mari's cheeks instantly colored with pink. "I know. Shut up."

Keith swallowed a snicker. "Is she a MILF to you?" he wondered, nearly knocking her off balance.

She shot him an embarrassed scowl. "Stop making it weird," she growled. "Where'd you even learn that word?"

"Lance."

She sighed heavily and he grinned. He'd missed their banter. After several years apart, he was glad that one thing still remained the same between them. But looking at her now, knowing all the hell she'd been put through in Voltron's absence, there was no ignoring that things were undeniably different. They could never go back to the way they used to be. They'd both changed too much.

"How'd you miss out on the time slippage?" Her sudden question pulled him from his thoughts. "You're the only one who seems to have aged."

"Time passes differently in the Quantum Abyss. I spent two years there," he explained. "We're the same age now."

Mari visibly did the math, counting off her fingers. The one year they'd both spent in space with the rest of the team. Then the two years he'd aged and the three years that had passed for her while Voltron was gone. They were both twenty-one now.

She frowned. "So what?" she asked, her walls on the verge of shutting him out. "Are you saying you can't look down on me and boss me around now that we're the same age?"

Keith looked her dead in the eye, unmoved by her suspicion and annoyance. "Besides in the literal, physical sense, I've never looked down on you," he promised in all sincerity.

She stared back at him. She made no indication of whether she believed him or not as she dragged her attention back to the wolf.

"Well…at least that explains why you look more like a man now," she said, scratching the creature behind his ears. A bitter, almost saddened edge crept into her voice as she added, "We're not stupid little kids anymore. You've grown up and found your place as a leader. And I…well, I'm trying to move forward."

"You're doing the best you can."

Mari didn't respond for a moment. "Sometimes I wonder about that," she murmured, and before Keith could reply, she gave the wolf one last pet and stood up. She brushed the blue hair from her boots and slapped the feeling back into her legs, involuntarily wincing as she rose to her full height. She briefly massaged her lower back, and with a twinge of pain, Keith was reminded of the implant that now lay somewhere within her, allowing her to keep going.

"I'm gonna go collect some more firewood," she said, her attention already drifting away from him as her guard shot back up. Her gaze was cold and the light had dimmed in her eyes. "I wanna be alone for a bit. I'll be back for dinner."

"Okay." Keith straightened and the wolf hopped to his feet, the two of them quietly watching her march off through the canyons surrounding the abandoned Galra mining structure. Neither were going to try and stop her.

When Mari returned to the cave later, she had reverted back to not looking at him or any of the others. She took a bowl of Hunk's steaming stew to eat by herself in the Kintsugi, and she didn't return to the cave until the paladins decided to turn in and sleep in the lions.

The ring on Keith's finger felt heavier as the night wore on. He stared at it in the darkness of the Black Lion, its twin still sitting in the pouch of his belt. It definitely wasn't the time to return it to her, let alone give her an answer to how he felt about her. He didn't even know whether or not she still felt the same way about him as she had three years ago. But he wasn't willing to try his luck and push her any more than he might've already.

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