p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"emHey guys! I'm still working on my other stories, but as I was thinking about story ideas, I kept thinking that the end of Season 8 (I know, we don't talk about Season 8, but it frustrates me to no end that it was canon) and how Lance was so alone. Yes, he's surrounded by what he loves, but a lot of that was memories of Allura and his past - his future didn't look forward to anything at all. I can't imagine that the others would have left him like that. There would have to have been times they reached out to him to try to help him move on. So I decided to write about one of those times, using Pidge as she's my favorite character. Hope you enjoy!/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"Laughing, Pidge went on to describe how she beat the final boss in Ultimate Mega-Strike in an all-night video game marathon. Rizavi groaned, "Oh man, I haven't got to that level yet! I keep getting stuck trying to sneak past the water monster – the simultrons that mirror your character's fighting style are so hard to get around!" Pidge swung the car around the corner, used to the rhythm of mid-day traffic. "Oh yeah, those gave me some trouble too, you have to…"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"Out of nowhere, a car swept into the intersection, ignoring the red lights and honking cars. In what seemed hours but in reality was merely a split second, her brain went from "That car is going awfully fast," to "Is it stopping?" to "BRAKES!" Slamming her foot down as hard as possible, Pidge spared a moment to wonder if she could stop in time or if swerving was better, but before the thought was fully formed, the car was upon them. It managed to swing around her, passing within inches of her front bumper, and she was left stopped in the middle of the road, with her heart pounding in her ears. Rizavi looked shaken, but still trusted that Pidge had had it under control./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""What were they thinking?! We clearly had the right of way and they could have died! Impatient drivers…" Pidge mumbled in agreement. As she began to move again, albeit slower than usual, she tried to keep up a confident façade so Rizavi wouldn't freak out any further, but inside, little by little, she let herself feel the emotions the near miss had brought to the surface./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"When she got home, she opened her contacts to Lance's number. Her finger hovered over the button. They hadn't talked in a while and this was out of the blue… still, she felt the need to say something. She hit "Call." The ringtone sounded faintly in her apartment before the answering machine cut in, "Hey, this is Lance McClain, I'm out right now but if you leave your name and number I'll know how to reach you when I get back."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""Hey, Lance, I just wanted to let you know that I- that all of us – we care about you."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"She spoke quietly, shifting onto her knees as she looked out at the stars, a vast ocean before her. They shone distantly in her eyes./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""I know things haven't been easy lately. Allura was close to all of our hearts, but especially yours. I can't imagine what you're going through, but if you ever want to talk, I'm here."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"Those stars, so far away, and her family was scattered among them. Why must the pieces of her heart be in peril so frequently?/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""I was reminded recently that time and chance happen to us all."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"Her eyes dropped to the tiled floor and she absently began tracing the outlines as she spoke./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""We don't know the number of our days, how long we have to live. We don't know what tomorrow will bring. I think I fooled myself into thinking we wouldn't die under normal circumstances because we're Voltron, you know?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"Her fingers stilled and eyes unfocused as she remembered past times./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""We've been in so many dangerous situations and lived. It would be so anticlimactic to die from slipping on a wet floor and hitting your head or something. But things happen. Life's messy. Nothing's wrong, I just… wanted you to know that I care and if you're okay with it I still want to be a part of your life, however that may be. You've helped shape me into who I am today, and I'm really thankful for that."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"Shaking off the memories, she realized she was running out of time./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""Anyway, that's all, feel free to call me back, we should hang out sometime. Bye, Lance!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"Hitting the "End Call" button, she exhaled slowly. Hopefully he wouldn't misread it. Honestly, though, a phone call out of nowhere talking about how we all die someday is a huge warning sign that something definitely happened. There's no way he'd miss that. Oh well. She'd explain if he asked. At least then she'd hear from him…/p