Two days had passed since Keith and Lindsey reached Altea. Coran immediately recommended getting her into one of the sleep pods to heal her fragile and worn body. the entire group had converged on the planet for their annual dinner in honor of Princess Allura. Keith seemed a bit more distant than usual as his mind wasn't really with the group. He didn't feel like himself. His gaze kept shifting towards the castle as the conversations around him muffled out.

"Keith..."

"Keith"

"Hey KEITH!" Lance growled and threw his napkin at the raven haired boy. He glared as Keith snapped his attention back to the group. They had finished eating a while a go and were just reminiscing now. " like I was asking... you remember that time we were all stuck in space, right?"

"Which time..." Keith cocked an eye brow at him and hunk chuckled.

"Good one Keith. Oh man there were so many times I thought we were going to die!" Hunk laughed a bit

"Well you didn't! and that's the important part! besides it would have been impossible to find replacements for you. you were chosen by the Lions after all. So it's a good thing you didn't!" Coran chirped in as he sipped his Nunville. the group laughed, but Keith's attention returned to the castle again.

"Keith, just go see her." Shiro stated. Keith sighed and shook his head.

"There's no point. she still has a day to go before she's done healing." Keith returned.

"It would ease your mind. You're too distracted. Just go." Shiro smiled to him as he urged the young man to go see his childhood friend.

"Hey, let's all go! Maybe you can tell us about her? you know how you fell in loooove" Hunk wiggled his eye brows and made Pidge snort. Lance turned bright red.

"Wait what!? They're in love!? when did this happen?" Lance squeaked out.

"What? no! we aren't in love! she was just a good friend when i was little that's all!" Keith replied frantically. his voice an octave higher than normal. He stood quickly as a blush rose to his cheeks. the others followed suit and they headed towards the castle.

"That proves it right there, you're reaction says it all" Pidge said coolly as she put her arms behind her head as they all walked. she gave Keith a sly smirk that made him glare. The group laughed as the teased Keith. He's never really shown interest in a girl or well, anyone before. So the group took advantage of that.

"There's nothing wrong with it, Keith. I'm happy for you. Honestly. I just don't know why you never mentioned her to me when I was taking care of you." Shiro walked into the castle first as he looked over at the young man.

Keith stomped passed them all and turned to look at Shiro before he looked forward and down a bit. "I thought she was gone or worse.."

"So, this is Keith's girlfriend? she's pretty cute." Hunk pressed his face against the glass of the sleep chamber. His breath fogging it up slightly. He pulled away and looked towards the others.

"SHE'S NOT MY... oh forget it. you're not going to stop anyway." Keith put a hand in one of his pockets before tapping on the glass of the pod making her stats come up.

"See? She's fine. Nothing to worry about here. So, you told us how you met her. but you never told us how you got so close to her." Pidge stated.

Keith sighed. His life at the home wasn't the happiest time. In fact even with Lindsey being there it was hellish. the abuse every child received was un paralleled and he was happy to hear that it was decommissioned only a few years after he was in high school. He often thought of what happened to her. She disappeared right before he joined the Garrison. The head mistress of the home simply said she had been sick and was sent to the hospital. He had checked all local hospitals and none of them had any record of her. it was like she had dropped off the face of the earth. He recently found out that she was abducted my Galran researchers. Was she even the same person he remembered? As the data on the glass disappeared he simply peered at her still form. He suddenly got anxious. She was in another damn pod. She did look healthier as Koran calibrated it to also inject nutrients and vitamins. Altean tech was truly marvelous. Not only did it accelerate her healing but it also was making her healthier. The dark circles under her eyes were gone. He smiled slightly.

"Hey, Earth to Keith!. I mean you don't have to tell us but at least just tell us if you don't wanna! it's rude dude!" Lance remarked.

"Sorry." Keith blinked the day dream of memories away. He leaned against the side of the pod and looked down. " I guess it was a year or two after my dad died. Lindsey came to the Home in the middle of the night. I guess her dad just dropped her off and left without a word. She never really told me why she ended up there. Unlike the other kids... I dunno. she felt the same as me... abandoned, and alone. I never made friends with the other kids cuz none of them stayed for very long. They all pretty much got adopted pretty quickly. Lindsey and I... there was something about us that prospective parents found off putting. Foster parents wouldn't even take us. So I guess we just clung to each other. When I entered school she started to get sickly so she couldn't attend. Something told me that what they said wasn't true. honestly, I felt lost without her. Even though she had this sadness that seemed to go to her very core she saw the beauty in things." He smiled gently to himself before closing his eyes. Maybe it was love? all of the memories he held with her he had cherished and sometimes they were what kept him going. He'd act out because he didn't know how to handle something. "Then, she disappeared right before I joined the Garrison. you guys know the rest." he looked at them flatly then blinked as the myriad of expressions over took him. he took a step back. Hunk was crying like a baby, Lance was shocked, Pidge was tearing up as well, Shiro had a sad smile on his face and Coran was also crying. Why the hell?

"That's so beautiful! You really do love her!!" Hunk burst out sobbing harder. Keith turned a deep shade of crimson no earthling had ever seen before.

"Wow, Keith we weren't expecting you open up like that. She must have a hell of an effect on you. she's not even awake you it's like you're a different person." Pidge wiped a tear and smiled. "it's not a bad thing. We just aren't used to it." Keith blushed more and looked away.

"Can't help it" he said barely at a whisper. He crossed his arms. "Anyway, so yeah apparently her disappearance was from being kidnapped by some Galra researchers. It's strange though. Wouldn't they have picked up on the Blue Lions signature?" He suddenly had a thought.

"Well, not if they weren't looking for it. Your mom was probably able to cover up the event that led her to find it and meet your dad. So, Earth was never recorded.

"Makes sense. Which is why it took them that much longer to find the Blue Lion when the Kerberos mission incident happened. They were blindly searching and just happened upon Earth. Just like your mom did." Pidge chimmed in. "Hm."

"What is it Pidge?" Shiro asked.

"Well, If they experimented on Lindsey, they would have scanned her memories right? and they would have learned about Earth." Pidge answered.

"Yeah, but she wouldn't have had any knowledge of the Blue Lion, right?" Lance stated. Everyone looked at him a bit surprised. " What! I now things! I'm not just a devishly handsome sharp shooter!"

"Who can't seem to get over his ethereal ex-girlfriend." Keith smirked. "When was the last time you had a date again? oh yeah when we were at war on Earth." Lance growled and ran ta Keith attempting to tackle him to the ground. Keith simply side stepped as Lance went crashing into the wall.

"You take that back!" Lance rubbed his head and stood up going after Keith again but a large white robotic hand stopped him by holding his head.

"That's enough you two." Called out Shiro. Let's leave her to finish healing." He motioned for everyone to leave as Lance lowered his fighting stance and eyed Keith who was looking solemn again and had made his way back to the pod. Lance knew how he felt and his anger instantly faded. The many times that he worried over Allura. Afraid she wouldn't come back. and then when she didn't. Keith had a chance to know that kind of love. Even though Lance had lost Allura, he wouldn't trade his time for his feelings for her for anything in the universe. He simply put a hand on Keith's shoulder.

"You should stay. She'll want to see you when she wakes up. Just send me a message if you need anything man." Lance smiled sadly and walked off leaving Keith alone with the pod and his thoughts.

Chapter end.