Well guys ;-;
This is it.
This is the end.
It has been quite a journey and I love you all
Allura couldn't believe her eyes when a transmission filtered through to her controls. Not recognizing the coordinates it was being sent from, she looked into the planet's information before looking into the message.
Iespion
With time, she remembered that name from a long time ago, back when she was a child. They had taken a trip to that planet with her Father, back when Alteans still traveled to many worlds and held many alliances.
Iespion had been a world caught in a dark war between the two races that lived there; Coeihns and Traveks. Coeihns had been the more friendly of the two, and despite her Father needing to prove his worth to the Coeihn King, he grown to be good friends with them. Allura even recalled her Father attempting to end the war there, but only able to go so far before Zarkon made his move.
Wondering if that alliance made by her Father still held strong, despite their King being a different person now, she looked into the message. It wasn't a distress call, but more of an announcement and request for their arrival.
The message seemed to be from an old type of transmitter, so it had taken some time for it to get picked up by the ship.
Placing it into the Universal translator, it read the following:
(To the Paladins of Voltron, I am King Manson of the planet Iespion. I reach out to you today in hopes of reuniting you with your missing companions.)
Allura held her breath
(The Paladins known as Keith and Lance are here and are waiting for you. They arrived on our planet many months prior to this message and are eagerly waiting for you. Please come as soon as you are able. P.s. Lance says Hi.)
Allura had never slammed her hand down on the alarm button so fast. A few moments later her paladins rushed into the room, exhausted and confused.
"Are we being attacked?" Hunk panicked.
"N-No…" Allura shakes her head, tongue-tied in her explanation.
"Princess?" Coran rushes to her, concerned to see her so flabbergasted.
She can't seem to speak, and motions to the message, knowing it would be easier if they just read it themselves. Coran, being the first to look it over, starting squawking, screaming and throwing himself about the room.
The others soon followed.
"Lance and Keith!?" Hunk demanded, tears already pooling in his eyes, "Really?!"
"Everyone, hold on," Despite looking thrilled, Shiro calmed himself to say, "We have to make sure this is real. For all we know, this could be the Galra trying to trick us," They had already gone through a moment like this before, drawn out to a planet through rumors of Keith and Lance being there. They had been ambushed, and luckily made it out alive, but it had made them weary of any other information regarding their missing friends.
"He is right," Allura agrees.
Looking up what information he can on the planet, Coran announces, "I've never received any information of Galra taking over this planet. It's been Galra free for thousands of years as far as I can tell." running a long distance scan he adds, "I also don't see any Galra ships surrounding the planet, but I can't say for any that might be on it,"
"Then we have to go there to see for ourselves," Pidge concludes.
"For now, I say we don't get our hopes up till we can learn the truth," Shiro instructs, knowing his team had been through enough as it is. It had been hard with Keith and Lance around. They couldn't form Voltron anymore, but they at least had the Blade of Marmora around to help them out.
Of course, they still fought against Zarkon when they could, but they made all attempts to avoid his main fleet till they could find some means to find Keith and Lance- or find someone to replace them till they could. Allura ended up being able to pilot the Blue lion after some time, but the Red was very picky on their paladin.
She let no one in but Keith, so forming Voltron had been a no go for months. Four lions were better than none at least, so they managed to get some good from it- taking down small fleets and freeing rebellion groups.
It wasn't the progress they would like in this war, but it was something. Most of their time had been spent on finding their missing friends.
Hearing this after half a year…
It sounded too good to be true. None of them wanted to admit it, but the thought that they might never find the two of them had crossed their minds.
"Everyone sit down. I'm worm holing us to the coordinates," Allura said. Doing as told, they wormholed there, welcoming the sight of the planet a few seconds later. Eyeing it wearily, the team glanced at each other.
"Are you sure this is the right location?" Pidge inquired, exhausted. "I don't see anyone,"
"Not surprising," Coran tells her, "If the information we have on this planet is still correct, then Coeihns aren't really known for travelling off world; so there wouldn't normally be space crafts around their planet."
"Traveks on the other hand are, though they were never known for having very advanced technology." Allura looks down at the scanners, "It's been a lot time though, so I'm sure they've grown more sophisticated. Keep your eyes out for them. They were never the most friendly group of people,"
Taking that in, the team scans the area, jumping when a transmission began to come through.
Glancing at each other, Allura nods to Coran to let the message through.
("State your business,") the being said from the other side. Allura motioned for Coran to activate the universal translator. Typing it in, Coran replayed the message, "State your Business,"
Stepping to her controls, Allura held down one of the buttons to translate her own message to the alien tongue, "I am Princess Allura of Planet Altea. We bring you no harm. We received a message from this planet a short time ago informing us that two of our paladins, Lance and Keith, were here," she holds her breath as she waits for a response. It had been the only lead to Keith and Lance for weeks, and all of them were anxious to see just how this played out.
For all they know, this could be a trap set by the Galra, but they had to wait and see.
Another message comes through, the voice different from before. This voice did not require a translator, and already seemed to be able to speak English, "Welcome, Princess Allura. I am King Manson of the Coeihn Kingdom. I have been expecting you. Lance and Keith have told me many things about you." the voice says gently.
Hunk jumps to his feet, "Are Keith and Lance there?! Like- really really there?"
"Yes," Manson chuckles from the other end. "I'll send you the coordinates where you can land and fetch Keith and Lance to greet you. Those two have saved our lives, so I welcome you with open arms."
With that said, Allura looks to Shiro to see what he wanted to do.
"There is a chance they could really be there," he folds his arms, staring down at his feet. Looking more exhausted than Allura would like, Shiro sighs, "I say we give it a try, but stay alert incase things go sour."
The team nodded in agreement, rushing to get dressed.
Putting on their paladin armor, not willing to chance that possibility that this still might be a trap, the team shoots out of the castle in a small pod. Landing on the ground, they step out to be welcomed by Coeihns. They had never seen these types of aliens before, and were quite amazed by their height alone.
One in particular, already waiting for them down below, was the tallest of them all, with sharp green eyes. He approached them slowly, dressed like one would dress a King and they knew he had to be the guy who sent the message in the first place.
"Princess Allura," The King held out his palm. Allura took it, startled when the King kissed the back of her hand in a charming manner. No one had done that since Altea, so it strangely brought back some nostalgic memories.
"King Manson, is it?" She smiles.
"That would be me," he nods, "Thank you for coming. It is an honor to meet you," his eyes trail up to the castle, amazed at the sight of it. "You have a very lovely ship,"
"Thank you," she nods,
Manson chuckles, "It is strange, when I was told that Paladins of Voltron had come to my planet, I wasn't quite sure if I could believe it. Voltron was more of a fairy tale I heard as a child, but seeing such an amazing ship, actually seeing an Altean in person, and not to mention seeing your paladin's in action- I can't help but think that it must be true."
"You're talking about Keith and Lance?" she asks.
"Are they here?" Pidge and Hunk chip in, looking around wearily.
"They are on their way," The King nods, "They saved my entire people,"
"They did?" Shiro raises his eyebrow, wondering how the two managed to do that without their lions.
"Yes, they were quite exceptional," Manson says.
The team share a shocked look, "Really?"
"Quite a team, those two," he continues, "My son adore them. He often tells me he wants to grow up to be like the Blue champion,"
"The blue what?" Shiro inquired.
"Oh, I apologize. I am referring to Lance. The Blue champion is what my people praise Lance to be after he defeated me four strongest warriors and right hand,"
"Wha-" the team doubled back, shocked. "He did what?"
Before the King could elaborate there was a faint sound of screaming coming from the distance that had them all pausing. The King straightens and turns, amusement filling his eyes, "That seems to be them now,"
A moment later, a strange looking beast shot over the hill, barreling down it with two passengers riding on it's back.
"Slow down, Keith!" a voice shrieked
"I got this!"
"No, you don't! TREE! TREE!" The creature barely maneuvered around a purple tree of all things in time to avoid damage to the two riders.
Sliding faster than the two seem prepared for, they lurch forward, grunting. "Ugh…." the one in the back smacks the one who had been steering the Parlog, snapping, "Under control, huh?"
"We're here, aren't we?" they bark back.
Shiro steps closer, his tongue thick and breathing coming short, "K…" his knees almost buckle, "Keith? Lance?"
The two turn their heads, and Shiro knows it is them. They both look a little tanner, covered in bruises and other injuries and dressed in this worlds clothing, but it was them all right.
Hunk is already crying, shaking his head in disbelief, "Lance!"
Lance is waving frantically, "Hunk! Pidge! Shiro!" He slides down from the back of the creature and turns to run. Pausing mid run, he turns back quickly to help Keith off. They were confused about why he had to do this till they realized Keith's ankle was bandaged and set, most likely broken.
Letting Keith lean against him, the two are moving towards the team as fast as they could
Hunk and Pidge made the distance for them, sprinting to tackle the two to the ground.
"You're alive!" Hunk wailed, "You're actually alive!"
"We thought we would never see you again!" Pidge grins into Keith's shoulder. The two paladins are laughing, tears pouring from Lance's eyes.
"Us too," he hiccupped, "I'm so glad to see you guys."
"Lance! Lance! Lance my dear buddy, dear pal-" Hunk was suddenly screaming, "Your eyes!" This close to Lance, and not even realizing he was wearing glasses, he can see the healed over scars that covered his eyes. "Oh my god…" he covered his mouth at the sight.
Pidge was just a horrified, "Who- how did that-?"
"A druid snagged me that day I disappeared," Lance explains to them, "I-It's okay though. It's healing. I can see if I have these on," he pushes up his glasses.
"Ah-oh- Lance," Hunk sniffles, hesitant to even touch the injury, his hands trembling, "Did it hurt?"
Pidge elbowed him, "Of course it hurt,"
"It's okay," Lance assures him, "I'm fine now,"
"Lance! Keith!" Allura comes running a second later, kneeling down to pull the two into a hug. "Oh you foolish paladins, you had me worried sick. What in the world happened to you two!?
Pulled into a massive hug consisting of the entire team, Lance glances at Keith, "It is a long story," they say.
"Yeah," Keith looks to Shiro, reaching out to smack their hands together. Pulled into their leader's chest, Shiro laughs, his voice trembling.
"I… I stared to think that we would never-" he cuts off, sniffing, "You two just love worrying me, don't you?"
"Always, space Dad," Lance sniffles.
"Sorry, Shiro," Keith mumbles into his shoulders, holding him close. Letting Shiro pull them to their feet, they hit the ground again when Coran flew at them, tackling the two.
"Coran!' they gag, happy to see him
"It's nice to see you lads!" he sniffles. "You don't know how much we missed you,"
The next few minutes were filled with tears, hugging, fretting over unknown injuries, and pure joy to be reunited.
Stepping towards them, smiling at the sight, the King clears his throat to catch their attention.
"You all must have travelled a long way. Allow us to make you all a feast to welcome you to our world. That should give you all plenty of time to catch up," Manson offers."
"Thanks Manny," Lance grins at him. Getting up, Lance and Keith lead the team back to the city, showing them as much as they could on the way.
They explained about so many different things that the team struggled to follow.
"S-Slow down," Allura says, "How about you explain how you two go here in the first place?"
"A druid," Keith tells them. "They had attacked Lance from behind-"
"Which is how I got this injury," he motions to his eyes.
"And then when I tried to get him back to the ship, they managed to teleport us here. I don't think they even meant to and just kind of cast the first spell they could think of to stop us." Keith shrugs.
"I can't believe it," Pidge murmurs, "We had no idea what happened."
"You didn't?" Lance asks.
"The spot where you disappeared had no surveillance," Shiro tells them, "When you disappeared, we have virtually no clue to what happened. You two were just… gone," he reaches out to pat Keith's shoulder, ecstatic to see him alive.
"That's why you weren't able to find us for so long. You didn't have any leads," Lance realizes.
"Yes. We had to go off of rumors we received from travelling around or from the Blade of Marmora. No one knew where you two went," Allura agrees.
Keith says, "We were just a shocked. We had no idea where we were when we came here."
"And it sure took a lot to convince the Coeihns we were on their side," Lance agrees, finding it surprising how he could laugh at the memory now. That first day had been terrifying, and he thought he would lose himself to the insanity of the dark more times than once... but Keith had been there to help pull him through it.
"How come it took you so long to contact us?" Coran inquired, looking up when they began to approach the Kingdom. The Coeihns guarding the gates bowed to them as they passed, welcoming Keith and Lance with bright smiles, like they were heroes amongst them. If what the King has said earlier was true, they probably were.
"We had to earn the Coeihns trust first, of course" Lance explains, "I had to go through a big test to get their respect cause I was an outsider,"
"Wait- I thought you said you injured your eyes though?" Pidge asked.
"He did," Keith nods, looking to Lance with a proud gleam in his eyes, "He was completely blind for the first couple months we were here. The challenge was for the rite of citizenship-"
"I'm technically a Coeihn citizen right now," Lance quickly added.
"Yeah. To get the citizenship he had to fight five of their strongest warriors one after another. He beat them all,"
"Blind?" the team gasps.
"Well," Lance shrugs, embarrassed, "Not the last one. He kind of threw the match for me so I could win. He is a good friend. I probably wouldn't have beaten him otherwise,"
"Is that so?" Manson inquired, catching their attention, "I suppose I found the match kind of fishy, but I wasn't aware he threw it for you,"
Lance pales, "I-Is that okay?"
"You are my friend, I'm not mad," The King chuckles
"Plus you won the other four all on your own. And you were blind." Keith puts a hand on his shoulder, "It was the coolest thing I've ever seen,"
Lance turns to him with a shocked look that morphs into a touched smile, "Really?"
"Blind," Coran tutts, "How incredible. Good on you, my boy," he pats Lance's back, looking like a proud parent.
"That does sound impressive," Allura praises. Blushing a little, Lance scratches the back of his head and laughs,
"It wasn't that big of a deal. I just did what I had to so I could save Keith,"
"Save him?" Shiro asks.
"Yeah, he was a pure at the time," Lance says, like that should just explain everything. Realizing none of the team understood he cleared his throat, "He was- um… He had black hair and Coeihns have a thing for people with black hair, so they choose me to go into the ring instead."
"And then he opted for the citizenship to get us both out of there," Keith says quickly, a little shy about the topic.
"When we did, we tried to get into contact with you guys, but the Galra had some weird signal thing that was cutting off all form of communication. It took forever to find it. We only managed to destroy it a few days ago,"
"Then the Galra were here?" Allura looks around, "This planet doesn't seem to be overtaken by them."
"They tried to a few days ago" Keith and Lance glance at each other, "With the Coeihns help we managed to push them back." Stepping into the Kingdom hallways, Lance grins brightly.
"Yeah, it was nuts! It was just this big battle! Coeihns against Galra! And let me tell you, these guys can put up a fight! It was so cool!"
"Lance took out the communication blocker with the King," Keith points to him.
"The King?"
Yeah, I teamed up with him." he glances back at Manson, who nods.
"I was imprisoned by the Galra and Lance came to my aid. I was so unfamiliar with the Galra's ship that my people and I would never have escaped without him."
"Aww," Lance looks away, "It was nothing, Manny,"
"To my people, it was far from nothing, my friend," Manson turns when someone calls to him down the hall. Bowing to the others, he makes his leave, running off to finish preparing the feast.
The team was left in utter shock, not sure whether to be more amazed that Lance managed to go through all of this of this on his own, or that he was close enough friends with a King to call him by a nickname.
"And Keith was there too! He started a rebellion group with his own Coeihns- oh but Keith almost died…"
"What?!" Shiro gasps.
"Yeah, I know. I was totally freaking out," Lance says in a way that looks like he is trying to act natural about it, like it was in the past, but he puts a hand to his heart and stares at his feet- the memory clearly still horrifying him. "His heart stopped and everything. The guy gave me a heart attack,"
Keith reaches out for him, gripping his arm, "I'm sorry,"
"It's okay- you lived so it's good," he nudges Keith, who nudges him back, "Though if you ever do that to me again and I'll kill you myself."
"Well, now you know how I felt since we got here. Everything here tried to kill you!"
"But my heart never stopped! You were dead Keith! Legit dead!"
"... I got better," Keith says in such an oblivious way it is almost comedic.
Lance laughs, throwing his head back and wrapping his arm around Keith's shoulder. He leans into him, shaking them both a little. Keith can't help but snort too, resting his head back on Lance's shoulders, nuzzling close in a tight hug.
"Um..."
Keith froze when he realized the others were staring at them, their eyes wide. He wasn't sure what their problem was, but it didn't take long to figure it out.
He forgot- they had been gone for months. While Lance and his relationship had been something they grew into and accepted- the last time the Voltron crew saw them, they were at each other's throats.
"L-Lance," he warned him. Lance cuts off and goes red in the face with embarrassment, realizing the team had probably started to figure out what was going on. However, Hunk proves him wrong by laughing.
"Aww, I'm glad to see you two finally getting along,"
"They have been stuck together for months- they probably didn't have a choice," Pidge snorts, "Though I am surprised that you two managed to go this long without killing each other."
"We're a team guys," Shiro chides them, "If they didn't have some sort of bond we wouldn't have been able to form Voltron. Stop teasing them."
"But it is a nice change," Allura chuckles.
"Oh uh-" Keith laughs awkwardly, realizing they didn't quite get it. They had just assumed they had grown to be good friend instead of… "We should probably explain to them," Keith mutters.
"Why? Are they staring?" there is something in Lance's tone. Months of Lance inquiring that question then kissing him came flashing back and Keith had to hold up his hands. He wasn't thinking of just doing that in front of them- was he?
"N-Not in front of them," he whispered shyly so only Lance could hear.
Lance was chuckling, "You seem embarrassed suddenly, Keith." he teases, "It was just a simple question."
Keith hit him a few times in the chest, knocking him back, "Lance," he hisses, "You know what I mean."
Lance leans in a little to quietly say, "Hey, you were the one who made out with my in front of King Manson when we first met him. I don't think you have any right to be embarrassed,"
"I- that was different," Keith insists.
"What's different?" Coran inquires, the team looking back to listen to two.
"N-Nothing," Keith stammers. "We were just- the food is almost ready. We should go join the King." he points down the hall where Manny had disappeared to.
'Yes," Lance grins impishly, "After you," he does a graceful bow that makes Hunk and Pidge snort at him. Allowing the team to go first, Lance follows them- but not before giving Keith's ass a good smack for good measure. With an indignant squeak, Keith shoves him back.
"We have to tell them eventually, you know. My dear Equivalent," Lance informs him, quiet enough so the team wouldn't hear.
"I know. We will. I just-" Keith blushed, "It's embarrassing. I've never done this before so I don't know how to just tell somebody that you're- you know, that you're mine,"
"Well usually boyfriend suffices, or that we are going out, or that we're lovers- but you can completely go ahead and tell them that I'm yours. That works too," Lance smirks.
Keith hits him, "Shut up,"
"Aww, Keithy-boy is shy," Lance leans over to kiss Keith's cheek before any of the team could notice.
Pouting, but happy all the same, they joined the team in the dinning room. When they arrived, they were thrilled to see that Tellru had rushed off to fetch Dravla and Ruru and were there waiting for them.
"So these are your friends," Dravla says, eyeing the group with a smile. Grinning from ear to ear, Lance runs to him.
"Dravla! Oh! Oh guys, this is Dravla. He is one of the Coeihns that helped us when we first got here. He's great,"
"Aww, thanks Lance," Dravla chuckles, turning to shake Shiro's hand, "Nice to meet you."
"You speak English?"
"Thanks to me," Tellru peeks out from behind him, Ruru right at her side.
Lance was overjoyed, happy to introduce the team to the family he had befriended here on this planet, "Everyone, this is Tellru. She is a translator here and learned the English language to help us. If it wasn't for her, we probably wouldn't have survived."
"Hello," she bows respectively. "Lance has told me a lot of you all."
"I am Ruru!" Ruru lifts her hand.
"Yes, this lovely little lady is Ruru," Lance lifts her up, "She saved my life,"
"I saved Lala's life!" she cheers, "I awesome!"
"You are awesome!"
"Aww, cute," Hunk waves to her. Grinning Ruru went to each one of the team to greet them.
"Ruru," she says, holing out her hand.
"Hey there. I'm Pidge," Pidge takes it.
"Pudge," Ruru nods.
Pidge's jaw drops, "Pidge," she corrects.
"I wouldn't even try, Pidge," Keith says, "To this day, she still calls me Keef and Lance, Lala,"
"It's a cute name," Lance shrugs, "I don't mind it."
"Well then, I'm Hunk," Hunk greets her.
"Huk,"
"This is Shiro," Keith points to him. "Shi-Ro."
"She-row," she nods, looking determined. She was close but seemed to emphasize each word a little too much.
Keith leans a little closer, "Shiro."
"She-row."
"Shiro."
'She-row."
Keith sighs and pulls back, "I give up."
"It's fine, Keith," Shiro chuckles, kneeling down to shake Ruru's hand. She takes it and shakes it enthusiastically.
When she looks at Coran, she was absolutely enthralled by his beard. She even asked to touch it, which Coran allowed. "Hello there Ruru, I am the great Coran!"
Ruru blinked a few times, struggling with the name, "C...Coan?"
"Coran!" he declares proudly.
"Coan…?"
"I accept such a name too," he pats her head. Finally, Ruru turns to let Lance introduce her to Allura. Allura is thrilled to meet the child and waves to her.
"Hello Ruru,"
Ruru stops cold, her eyes widening. Lance can see a sparkle in the child's eyes and realizes something…
"Ruru," he says, like he is about to tell her a secret, "This is Princess Allura," he stressed the first part. Ruru covers her mouth
"Pr-Princess?" she gasps, hoping excitedly on her feet. When Allura holds out her hands, Ruru is fanning her face.
"Oh my gosh," Tellru chuckles behind them, "She's is so happy."
"She is meeting a princess, dear. Of course, she is happy," Dravla laughs.
"H-Hello Princess," Ruru takes her name. "I-I Ruru."
"You may call me Allura, Ruru." she chuckles,
"O-Okay... Allura," she says so perfectly that Keith throws his hands up.
"She can say Allura, but she can't say Keith?" he demands.
"You aren't a Princess, Keith," Lance teases, pinching his cheek. Keith turns to try and take a nip at Lance's finger, making the blue paladin laugh and quickly retract his hand. If he had been paying attention, he would have noticed that Coran was staring at them curiously.
"(Princess Daddy. I met a princess,)" Ruru runs to her father to tell him, "(A real Princess! She is so pretty! So pretty!)"
"She is calling you pretty," Dravla tells Allura when she raises her eyebrow,
Ruru buries her face in her father's shoulder to hide her embarrassment.
"Awe," Allura cooed, touched and loving the small child already. "I think you are very pretty too, Ruru."
If Ruru wasn't happy already, she was thrilled now. Insisting that she wanted to sit next to Allura, they all sat down at the table to eat, talking about everything they could.
The Team explained to Lance and Keith everything they had been doing while Keith and Lance did their best to tell them everything that happened to them.
Realizing it was a lot to go over, Lance felt a little overwhelmed.
"Thank you again for contacting us," he pauses when he hears Allura talking with Kind Manson. "You don't know how much it means to us to have Keith and Lance back.
"Of course. It is an honor for you all to be here and you may stay as long as you like," King Manson tells her.
Lance smiles when the two begin to discuss the possibility of becoming allies, loving the idea of being able to stay in contact with the Coeihns.
Overall, the evening was perfect. Though it was kind of hard to go into detail about everything that happened with how nervous Keith was about telling everyone they were in a relationship. Well more of, he was nervous to tell Shiro.
Lance understood, knowing how embarrassed he was to tell his parents the first time he ever went out with someone.
Hoping to calm his nerves, Lance held Keith's hand below the table, running his thumb over each of his knuckles, and brushing their thumbs together. Keith glanced at him, relief and love burning deep in his eyes. His foot nudges Lance and the two share secret smiles.
"Keith?" When their leader spoke up, the red paladin turns his head, curious.
"Yeah?"
"What happened there?" Shiro motioning to Keith's arm. Not sure what he meant, Keith looked down to explain that it was most likely from the Galra attack, when he realized Shiro was pointing to the bite mark along his wrist.
Keith froze up, his eyes doubling in size and cheeks flushing red.
"T-That's from- uh…"
"Did A Galra bite you?" Pidge asked incredulously, "Jeez,"
"Oh yeah, he definitely got bit," Lance nods, smirking smugly, "You should have seen the look on his face when it happened. He was beat red,"
"With rage?" Hunk guessed.
"Sure,' Lance smiles, and Hunk frowns in confusion.
Keith quietly pinches Lance below the table.
"Yeah, Keith got into all sort of trouble here." Lance continues without missing a beat, "There were a lot of cool things too. Keith did most of the crazy things though,"
"Crazy?" the team question, but kind of expected that.
"Yeah, crazy, but the cool kind. Like the festivals and events and-"
"Lance went seashell collecting at the beach." Keith suddenly tells Shiro, recalling the memory.
"Oh my gosh, the beach was so nice and the-"
"And the Kraken," Keith nods vigorously.
"The Kraken!" Lance exclaims, laughing, "That thing was crazy!"
"But it was nice and guards the people," Keith tells the team, who blinks at them wildly.
"And you have to see the Kever's," Lance adds
"Lance was too afraid to go on them at first," Keith points to him.
"I couldn't see, and it was a bug, Keith. My fear was well warranted,"
"You had to hold my hand," he teases
"It was a bug! A huge bug!"
"And that time you accidentally stepped onto one and Dravla had to go and help you," Keith snickers.
"That was terrifying, don't laugh," Lance says despite nudging him. "And the Parlogs!" he suddenly gasps. "Keith went to ride one! He was insane!"
"I beat it. We become friends,"
"After it almost killed you," Lance points to him.
"We shared a bond. It was a bonding moment,"
Lance is snickering, and Keith is too, and the both of them yell, "Sweet Parlog!" and burst into a fit of giggles.
The Team was speechless.
The two talked about too many different things for the team to understand or follow what they meant without being there themselves, so they just nodded as the two talked excitedly about their time here.
It was strange to them to see Lance and Keith getting along so well. They had never seen the two talk so much without bursting into an argument. In fact, Keith never talked this much in general. How much had they changed since coming here?
"And then Ruru stabbed the guy in the play, cause apparently, he killed her in her past life as a tree," Lance pretends to stab Keith,
"No no- she stabbed the Duke who worked for the guy who cut her down," Dravla corrects.
"Oh, right right. He turned out to be her long lost brother or something, right?" Lance asks.
Tellru shakes her head, "Cousin twice removed,"
"Ah, gotcha. Difficult to remember when the play was in a different language," Lance waves it off. "And then I got kidnapped,"
"And Ruru impaled a man with a bar from her braces," Keith adds in quickly, "Saved Lance's life,"
"She is my hero," he points to her, and she gushes, grinning brightly. "Love ya, sweetpea!"
She makes a heart with her hands, and the team just stares, pale and not quite understanding anything that was being thrown at their faces.
"Y-You were kidnapped?" Hunk stammered
"And almost killed," Lance nods
"He almost got killed several times," Keith points out, grumpy with this fact
"So did you," Lance huffs at him, "I will remind you that one time they succeeded in killing you."
"Yeah but you were there, so it was fine. I'm alive. And that is not as many times as people have tried to kill you,"
"Oh right, because you were the precious pure that everyone wanted to get a bite out of," Lance made an ugly face that has Keith laughing,
"Don't say it like that. It's weird,"
"Why? Aren't you a fan of biting?" Lance says in a weird way and Keith starts stammering, smacking Lance with his spoon to shut him up. Lance came back at him with his own spoon.
"No spoon fighting at the table," Tellru scolds them seconds before a spoon tapped her cheek. Turning her head, she narrowed her eyes at her Equivalent, who blinked innocently.
She took up her own spoon and held it threateningly over her head. The three boys quickly lowered their eating utensils and cleared their throats, mumbling apologies
"R…Right," Allura nods awkwardly, "I understand nothing that you two are talking about, but I'm so happy you two seemed to have a good time."
"Yeah, you two are almost like completely different people… at least Keith does," Pidge motions to him. Confused, he tilts his head.
Lance hadn't really thought of it, but perhaps she had a point. Keith had always been considered the loner, almost never talking or interacting with the group unless he needed to. But now, he was so much more open to everyone.
Nudging Keith's foot with his own under the table, the two share a smile.
"Guess so," they shrug.
After dinner, they moved to a lounge sort of area to sit down and talk, discussing many different types of topics. Allura spoke to Manson about Zarkon and their fight against them. Coran got into a discussion with Tellru about languages- and Dravla was admiring all of the paladin's weapons. He seemed to really take a fancy to Shiro's arm, completely losing his mind when he activated it to show how it glowed and could slice through most metals and other things.
Lance was content enough to simply watch this go on, happy that everyone was getting along.
But then…
"Nooo!" Lance turns suddenly when Ruru screams. Tears are pooling in her large eyes and her cheeks are turning a shade of orange, "No no!"
"Ruru," Keith chokes out. They seemed to have been talking, and Keith said something to upset her. When she turns to leave, Keith tries to follow, but his ankle only lets him get so far.
"Hey," Lance runs to help him, taking his arm, "What in the world was that about?"
"I- she- I didn't mean to upset her," Keith sighs, looking guilty, "She asked if the others were staying forever and I told her that they had to go… then I told her we had to go to fight Zarkon."
"Oh dear," Tellru sighs, "She must have thought you two would be staying forever. She loves you two so much,"
Keith frowns at his feet, looking torn, "I love her too…" he whispers to himself.
Lance wraps his arms around Keith's shoulder, "It's okay. Come on, let's go find her."
"It would probably be best if you two explain," Dravla agrees.
Knowing he was right Lance and Keith shuffle off, making their way after the Coeihn child.
As the two left, Pidge leans over to Hunk. "Hey,"
"What?"
"Have you noticed… how strange they seem?" she asks
"You mean Keith and Lance?"
"Yeah. They are both just so different… And they are getting along so well,"
Hunk reaches up to rub his chin, "Oh hey yeah, you're right. Well, I mean, I guess they kind of have to get along if they were trapped on a planet together."
"True," Pidge can't help but stare at the door where they just disappeared. Honestly, she always thought if they put away their pride, they could be good friends. But something about the two of them seemed more than just that…
If they looked to Coran, they would see him looking in the direction the two boys went, a distant look in his eyes. As if understanding something, he smiles.
"Ruru!" Lance calls, managing to locate her along the balconies down the hall. Curled up along one, she sniffles, turning away.
"Ruru," they approach her slowly, their hearts aching at the sight of her puffy eyes and orange cheeks.
"Go away," she barks at them, "Leave me alone…"
"Ruru, please, let's talk," Lance pleads
"No! You gonna leave! You gonna leave me alone and forget about me!"
"Never," Keith shakes his head, "We would never forget about you."
"You gonna leave!"
"I'm sorry, Ruru," Keith tells her, "It's…" he sighs, not sure how to explain this. "I have to go. I mean I - I want to stay but I can't. We have to go."
"Why?!" She screams, tears pouring from her small face, "Why no stay forever?"
Keith was unsure of what else to say, never having to calm Ruru down when she was mad at him before. In fact, Ruru had never been angry with them the entire time they had been here. He was at a lost, unsure of hating himself for having brought these tears to her eyes. "Ruru..."
Lance on the other hand, held a calm expression, and even managed to smile at her. "Ruru," he says softly, "Listen to me closely. We can't stay forever, at least not right now. But that doesn't mean we would ever forget you or not come visit,"
Sniffling, she wiped a few of her tears away, ready to turn away and go back to her sulking.
"You know how your dad is the Fifth champion?" Lance inquires softly, catching her attention.
Ruru nods, "Yeah,"
"It is like that," he smiles, lifting her chin to say, "He has a duty as the fifth champion to go into that ring everyday. He has a duty as a good friend to be there for Manson as his second in command. And he has a duty as your father to always be there for you and do whatever it takes to protect you. As paladins, we have a duty to stopping the bad guy,"
Ruru blinked a couple of times, nodding slowly.
"We aren't going to be gone forever," Lance promises her, "But there are a lot of people, a lot of little girls out there just like you, who need us. We're heroes, after all. And what do heroes do?"
"S-Save the day," Ruru whispers.
"That's right, sweetpea," Lance ruffles her hair, "So I promise we'll come back to visit whenever we can. I'll even take you flying,"
"Flying?!" she gasps, perking up.
"In the Blue lion of Voltron."
Ruru leaps to her feet, bouncing excitedly, "The blue one! They big?"
"Blue is huge! Bigger than your house!" Lance laughed.
Ruru threw her arms up, amazed, "Bigger my house?! Bigger my house?! W-Will you come back super soon?" her excitement dies a little, and she grows shy.
Lance lifts his pinky out to promise her, shaking firmly, "We'll be back as soon as we can. That's a promise," Nudging Keith to join in on that pledge they connect their pinkies and shake on it.
Retracting her hand back, Ruru smiles, "I go tell Papa!" she runs off a second later to tell her Father the exciting news on how she was going to go flying in the Blue Lion.
"How did you do that?" Keith asks, watching Ruru run back inside.
"I have a lot of little siblings," Lance shrugs, "Sometimes you just have to assure them that something isn't as bad as it appears to be."
"I never had any younger siblings so I'm not too used to smaller kids- at least not when they get upset like that," Keith scratches the back of his neck.
"Oh..." Standing in a small silence, Keith realizes Lance is staring at him, "What?" he smiles.
"You look handsome tonight," Lance announces, admiring his Equivalent in the light of the full moon. Lulling his head onto Lance's shoulder, looking out to the Kingdom, Keith sighs contently.
"You do too,"
Tonight might be their very last night here on the Coeihn world. It was kind of bittersweet.
"Did you know this planet is called Iespion?" Lance inquired quietly between them, wrapping his arms around Keith's waist and bringing him close.
"Is it?"
"Yeah. Tellru said it earlier and I realized I never bothered to ask what the planet was called till now,"
"Huh," Keith nods, "Me either. It's nice to know,"
There is a long pause between them as they stare up at the moon.
"...Werewolves come out at this time," Keith announced.
Lance leans into him, snorting, "You just had to add that into this perfect moment,"
"I'm just stating a fact," Keith smirks.
Titling Keith's face back, Lance presses their lips together for a kiss. Melting into it, Keith sighs again when they pull away. "We should get back," Lance whispers.
Keith knows they should, but he can't seem to be able to move his feet. As much as he loved the team, he preferred to stay right here, entangled in Lance's arms.
"Do we have to?" he mumbled, lifting himself a little to brush their lips together. Lance is falling apart at the touch.
"We should,"
"But do we have to?" Keith's tongue flicks out, catching Lance by surprise when it dances against his lower lip. Inhaling sharply, he groans Keith's name.
"You'll have me to yourself later tonight," he murmurs, knowing they wouldn't leave the planet till tomorrow. "You just have to old out till then,"
"That sounds like too long of a wait," Keith admits.
Giggling, Lance turns them to start heading back into the castle, "Patience yields focus,"
"You play dirty," Keith gawked at him for using those words. Reaching out to snatch Lance's wrist, the Blue paladin is too quick for him. Lance is already sprinting back into the doors, satisfied when he heard Keith wobbling after him, put at a disadvantage with his leg.
"You get back here!"
Rejoining the others, Keith following slowly behind, Lance was relieved to see Ruru in happier spirits. Tellru gave him a nod of thanks, returning to talk to Hunk, who excitedly told her of other worlds they had travelled to.
The rest of the night was filled with joy, a very happy reunion between both groups. When the hours began to grow late, Ruru yawned, climbing up into Lance's lap to lay her head on his chest. Cradling her, he patted her back till she fell asleep.
Dravla noted this and cleared his throat, "I think it's time we all head to bed,"
The paladins, feeling their own exhaustion, nodded.
"You coming back to the castle, Lance?" Hunk inquired.
"Actually, if you guys would mind, I kind of want to stick around at the place I've been staying at for one more night. Kind of like a way to say goodbye," he says.
"Of course," Allura smiles, understanding. "Then we shall see you tomorrow,"
"We can meet up at the Castle," Lance agreed, waving to the team when they turned to head back to the ship. Watching them disappear into the night, Lance sighed, tilting his head back to enjoy the breeze.
Now that they were leaving, how long would it be until he could enjoy an atmosphere like this? They never tended to stay at planets too long, so he was never able to just enjoy his time on it.
"Hey," Keith's hand slips into his, 'You okay?"
"I'm good,"
Smiling, they followed Tellru and the others, letting their friendly Coeihn family walk them home. Since Ruru fell asleep in Lance's arms, he offered to carry her the entire way back, savoring their last moments together.
Lance was sad to realize this would be the last time they took care of her for a while. "So um… what are you two going to do about nanny's?"
Tellru and Dravla paled, "We have no idea- but we'll try to work something out. She's matured a lot since meeting you both, so maybe it won't be as tough now,"
"Hope so," Keith says. Realizing they were matching Keith's speed, taking the trip slow, Lance was grateful for the time. It would be his last time walking back with them.
His last time walking through this city at night.
Last time…
All these thoughts were making him depressed.
"We'll have to come back and visit," he announced when they stopped in front of their apartment.
'You will," Tellru tells him. "This apartment will still be yours for when you return,"
"It will?" Lance asked, surprised
"Manson made sure of that. Consider it a gift for when you decide to visit. You two are welcome here at any time of course," Dravla grins.
Touched, Lance carefully handed Ruru to them.
"Thank you,"
"No, thank you," They bow to them, "Goodnight, Klance," The wink, and Lance can't help but roll his eyes.
"Those two..." he sighs.
As they climbed the steps for the last time, Lance felt a wave of sadness wash over him. Reaching out to take Keith's hand he says, "This will be our last night here,"
"For a long time probably, yeah,"
They had shared so many memories here. Some bad, some good- all together.
"No more strange food," he sighs.
"No more Kever's,"
"Not too upset about that, but yeah," Lance chuckles. "No more Parlogs," he glanced at Keith, "No more alone time,"
Keith looked startled at that, not realizing that would be a thing till now. They wouldn't be able to just spend their days in bliss and peace. Every day would be a fight for their lives. Training, fighting- Keith recalled some days barely even able to slip in some sleep. How would he find some alone time with Lance?
"The beds in the castle aren't that big either," Keith agrees softly, his heart aching at this realization.
"Well," Lance steps closer; curling his fingers through Keith's hair. The red paladin shivered, "I guess we'll just have to use our bed for all it's worth before we leave,"
Slipping a hand around Lance's waist, tugging him close, Keith smirks, "I can arrange that," Without another word, Lance is pulling Keith in, kissing him hard on the mouth.
Stumbling into the room, entangled in each other's arms, they almost trip into the table, Lance falling half on top of it.
They kiss like that, giggling and giddy and impossibly high off each other, and it feels like a welcome home. With a few desperate gasps, tilting his head back when Keith began to kiss his throat, Lance chuckles.
"This isn't the bed, Keith," His thumbs circle around Lance's chest, enticing a gasp from the blue paladin. "Keith," he repeats, "The bed,"
Keith agrees after a short while, pulling them from the table so fast they end up tripping into the mattress. Landing in a large heap, the two snort, cut off with their tongues push into the other's mouth.
"Keith…?" there is a tug on his hair.
"Hmm?"
"How you want this to go?" Lance inquired between them. Pausing, puzzled, Keith shrugs.
"How it usually goes,"
"Top or bottom?" Lance inquired with a grin.
Realizing what he meant, Keith's cheeks brightened as he reached over Lance to turn off the lamp light, enveloping them in the darkness of their apartment. It didn't take long for their eyes to adjust. "I don't know,"
"Well what do you want?" Lance husks, leaning closer to brush his lips to Keith's chin, teasing him.
"You," he groans.
"And what exactly does that entail?" Lance muses
"I- geez Lance, I dunno. You." Keith mumbles, his mind already feeling fuzzy.
"Well then- we'll just see which direction it takes us," Lance concluded, yanking Keith back down
Keith chuckles in agreement.
When dawn arrived, Lance felt exhausted but satisfied. With Keith rolled into his side, his hair tousled in all directions, he smiled lovingly at him. "Morning, sweet heart," he kissed his forehead.
Keith hummed against him, "Morning…" he pauses. Not sure what his hesitation for, Lance raised and eye brow, "….Buddy?" Keith cringed.
"Did you just call me buddy?" Lance frowned.
"I-I didn't know what else to say." Keith insisted, "I'm not good with pet names…"
Lance snorts, "I'm definitely not letting you call me buddy during sex-"
"Making love,"
Lance purses his lips, correcting himself, "I'm definitely not letting you call me buddy while we make love, so you gotta pick something else,"
"Pal?"
"No."
"…Amigo?"
"Those are all things you call friends, Keith! Something better. More romantic,"
Looking horrified that he would have to go romantic on this topic, still trying to work out the details on it, Keith says, "Sharpshooter?"
"Better," Lance nods, "Though that is more of something cool to call me rather than sweet,"
"You gotta give me something here Lance," Keith sighs
"I call you sweetheart, go with something cute like that," Lance pats his arms.
"Sweetheart," Keith deadpans.
"Something different than what I say,"
He purses his lips, "Sweet…eyes?"
"Sweet eyes?" Lance's lower lips curls when he snickers.
"Sweet feet?"
"Sweet feet!" Lance cackled
"I'm trying!"
"K-Keeping going," Lance pleads, turning to laugh, "This is brilliant,"
"I'm not if you are just going to mock me," he huffs.
"I'm really trying not to," his Equivalent insists, "You are just cute. Picking a pet name isn't that hard. There are so many to choose from."
"Like what?"
"Sweetheart, for starters. You can't use that though, cause that is my thing," Lance pokes his nose
"Fine,"
Snuggled together on the bed, Lance rubs his chin, "Let's see… There is honey. Love. Beautiful. Hot thing~" he grins. Keith rolls his eyes, "My Mom always called my Dad, pookie."
"Pookie?"
"It's cute," Thinking of a few more names, Lance winks at Keith, making finger guns at him, "Hey, sexy~" he tries.
Keith snorts, "No,"
"I had to try it," Lance cuddles closer, smiling contently. "Today is the day we leave,"
Keith is quiet for a long time, staring up at the ceiling.
"Are you nervous?" Lance asks him when he doesn't reply.
"Kind of,"
"I am," Lance admits.
"Why is that?"
"It's been so long since we've been with the team. What if things are awkward?"
"They weren't awkward with Shiro when you first met him. We got a long just fine when we first started the team and we hardly knew each other," Keith points out
"That was different, and I wouldn't say we exactly got along. We didn't know anything about each other. Heck, I didn't even know Pidge was a girl,"
"Still don't know how you didn't figure that out," Keith says
"Excuse me for not noticing," Lance pouts, "The point is, it's been months."
"They're our friends Lance,"
"I know that,"
Keith sits up, tilting Lance's chin to look at him, "Then what is the problem?"
Lance hesitates, crawling a little into Keith's lap for comfort, "I don't know," he whispers into his shoulder, "I just feel really nervous about this. I'm worried we aren't going to be able to form Voltron, or we're gonna go back and the galaxy is a mess-"
"It technically already was a mess,"
"Even worse now that we've been gone so long. What if Blue is angry with me?"
Keith blinks, "Why would she be?"
"I've been gone for so long! What if she doesn't accept me as her paladin anymore?" Lance sniffed.
Realizing Lance's fears, Keith smiled. Patting his Equivalents head, he tells him, "Blue loves you, Lance. She'll be thrilled to see you. Everything with the team will be fine. It's been some time, and maybe we have to regrow our bond a little, but they are still our friends. Everything will work out fine,"
"You think?"
"I know it will," Keith lifts Lance's chin, "Wanna know a secret?"
Lance blinked, nodding.
"For a while… I thought that maybe it wouldn't be so bad if the team never found us,"
Shocked to hear him admit such a think, Lance's jaw fell open, "Really?"
"Being here with you- It was like a dream," Keith announces, "It wasn't always easy, but most of it was peaceful. It was just you and me. I loved that. I would be happy to have just that the rest of my life,"
Lance inhaled, feeling his hands tremble. Amazed how easily Keith always managed to move his heart, he reached up to cup his Equivalents face, sharing a long and very soft kiss.
If Lance had to be honest, he would have been happy with that too.
But despite this thought, they both knew they had a duty as paladins. Just because everything was peaceful here on Iespion now, that didn't mean that Zarkon wouldn't eventually target it within the next couple years. If they wanted to protect this planet, their home planet, and all the people they had grown to care for, then they needed to get rid of Zarkon.
With one last kiss, the both of them force themselves up from their position to get ready. Refusing to leave behind any of the clothes Tellru had made them, loving them too much, Lance packed their clothes in a bag, taking whatever they could.
They purposively drew out this process, walking slowly through the room, gathering their belongings. Keith plopped down on the bed at least 3 times, his head buried in the pillows, just lying there.
"Up we go," Lance grabbed his leg without the cast and dragged him out. Plopping on the floor, Keith sighed.
"Do you think they have bigger beds in the castle somewhere?"
"Allura's bed is pretty roomy, so probably?" Lance shrugs. "What's wrong with the bed being smaller,"
"We won't both be able to fit on the bed if it is smaller," Keith stands up with a grumpy pouty face.
Tilting his chin, Lance suggests, "I guess we'll just have to snuggle close together while we sleep,"
Keith opened then closed his mouth, like Lance had just given him an epiphany, "That could work,"
"You're cute," Lance mused, "Come on, we have to go,"
Moving to the door, turning off the lights, Lance thought it would be best to rip it off like a band-aid and just get a move on.
Keith, on the other hand, lingered at the door, getting one last look at their apartment. Stepping into his arms to join him, Lance sighs.
"This is it,"
Keith nods, "It hard to think we're finally leaving. Apart of me thought we never would,"
"The time went by so fast. We made so many memories,"
Keith tightens his grip saying, "We'll make new memories now,"
"Right…"
Hand in hand, the two turn to start their new journey, together.
It was terrifying, but Lance thought that so long as Keith was here, he could get through it.
Taking their time through the Coeihn kingdom, they met up with the group to say their final goodbyes.
"I can't thank you enough for helping us reunite with our team," Shiro says to Manson, shaking his head.
"No, it should be I thanking you. Without your well-trained paladins, my Kingdom would have been lost. The best of luck on your travels. If you should need anything, you can come to us,"
"Thank you," Allura tells him, happy to add him as an ally in their alliance against Zarkon.
As they talked, Lance and Keith approached their Coeihn friends. Many of the citizens had come to see them off, offering gifts to the paladin as thanks, and welcoming them back any time they wished.
Feeling like he might cry, Lance thought it best to say his goodbyes with a straight face before the waterworks showed.
"Thank you Tellru, for everything." He tells her.
"Think nothing of It." she says kindly, "I am glad I got to meet both of you. While I know our ways of life are different, I have come to see both of you as family"
"Us too." Keith shook her hand, "If you ever need any help against the Galra Empire, or the Traveks if they show up again, you know who to call."
Tellru nods, then tugs the two into a tight hug. "You two be safe. Come back and see us soon,"
"We will," they tell her.
"Stay warm. Don't go swimming after dark. Don't work yourself too hard," Feeling like he was talking to his Mom, Lance tears up a little, nodding.
"Will do, Tellru."
Dravla was a bubbling mess when they turned to him.
"Aww, Dravla," Lance's heart breaks at his tear streaked face, "Don't make such a sad face,"
"I'm not crying," he tries to insist, scrubbing at his eyes. "I just- there is something in my eyes."
"Dravla," Keith tells him, reached up to pat his shoulder. Dravla scooped the two into his arms.
"You two stay safe out there," he sniffles. They embrace him as tightly as they can, nodding into his shoulder. "C-Come to visit, okay?"
"We will," they promise him and Lance can feel himself getting choked up. The first weeks he was here, he wanted nothing else but to leave this planet. But now- he wanted nothing more than to stay.
"You two are- you two are going to do great out there," Dravla sniffs, "Zarkon doesn't stand a chance,"
Smiling up at him, they nod.
Place to the ground, Lance knew his composure wasn't going to last when Ruru approached them. With wide eyes, similar to when they first met her, she looked up at them.
Lance could hardly meet her stare without crying. Sniffling, he stepped back towards Coran, who patted his shoulder. "Lance?"
'Y-Yeah?"
"Are you alright?"
He shrugs, "I… this is just hard," he whispers. "I'm going to miss them a lot."
"I see." Coran's eyes soften. When an idea strikes him, he reaches into his pocket, "May I offer something?" handing him two small white devices, he says, "That is a communication device. With that, you can contact anyone anywhere in the galaxy."
Lance inhales, realizing Coran meant to give it to Ruru. Grinning, he knelt down to her, holding the device out to her.
Taking it, she eyed it curiously. "Ruru- if you click this button, you can call Keef and I whenever you want," he explains to her. She gasps, her eyes widening
"Really?"
"Yes," he tells her. "So you'll still be able to talk to us,"
Shocked, Ruru stares at the device for a long time. Accepting the gift, she places it into her bag and pulls something out in return.
Like two leather strings, they hung down for them to take. Each taking one, they inquired what the gift seemed to be.
"Good luck charms," Tellru says, "It is customary to give them to family when they leave for battle. They will bring you luck and safety,"
Admiring the crystal bead that hung from the strap, Lance lifted it over his head, admiring how it seemed to be a sort of necklace,
"Oh, Ruru," he says. "I love it,"
Keith mimicked him, kneeling down next to Lance when Ruru didn't seem to want to look at them, "Ruru?" he asks.
She gripped the bottom of her shirt, and for a moment Lance feared that she might cry.
"Ruru," he whispers, reaching out to take her hand. When she lifts her head, she surprises both of them when she grins.
"Keef and Lala… are heroes," she says, reaching up to touch their faces, "You have a duty." with more brilliance than Lance can handle, he knows his composure has faltered, and the tears are pouring from his face.
Hugging her together, they thank her for everything she has done.
"I love Keef. I love Lala," she whispers to them. For the first time that day, Lance could see tears shinning at the corners of Keith's eyes. He holds Ruru as tightly as he can, closing his eyes and burying his face into her hair.
"I love you too, Ruru."
"We'll come see you again, Sweet pea," Lance promises her. "You have the communication device, so you can call us whenever you want, okay?"
She nods, sniffling. "All the time,"
"All the time," they agree.
Putting her down, Keith turned away from the others to wipe his eyes, composing himself.
"Are you two ready?" Allura inquired.
Taking one last look at the Coeihns, who smiled at them, encouraging them to take the next step forward, the two paladins nod.
"Yeah. We're ready."
Lance was grateful when Allura offered they take some time to rest up in the healing pods after they left the planet's atmosphere.
"We probably should," he agreed, glancing down to Keith's broken ankle.
"Hold on," Keith interrupts them, "I want to see Red first,"
"Oh! Right! I want to see Blue!" Lance grinned. Chuckling, Allura nods and leads them down to the Lion's loading bay. They second Lance stepped into the room, the fear of Blue not accepting him faded away.
She came to life the moment he got close, leaning down and opening her mouth in welcome. Rushing forward, he put a hand to her mouth, whispering, "Hey girl. I'm home,"
Feeling the connection, her thoughts purring against his own, he sighs. "I missed you too,"
Dashing inside, given a moment alone, he moved to sit in the paladin seat, feeling so nostalgic and safe. "Blue, you won't believe everything that has happened," he tells her, going over everything he could. He told her about the Coeihns, the Galra, Rashra, his friends- he found himself mostly talking about Keith, explaining how that had happened.
Blue was purring in praise, and he swore she was almost squealing at the news.
"Yes yes, it is exciting," he rolled his eyes. "And Keith is great." He holds up the ring, "We are like- kind of married?"
He laughed when she went quiet with shock, and then exploded with joy a moment later, her tail wagging back and forth. After a few beats of rejoice, Blue lowered herself back down, telling Lance to head to the pods. Knowing she was right, he made his way back to the others, finding Keith was already there and getting prepped to be placed into the healing pod.
Putting on his own suit, they stepped into the pods.
Lance ended up waking up from it 2 hours later, a lot earlier than Keith. Bruises healed faster then broken bones after all.
Stepping out, knowing he should probably return to his bed, Lance couldn't help but linger in the room, pressing his back to Keith's pod and waiting for him.
"Lance?" Shiro couldn't believe his eyes when he found the young blue paladin a few hours later, unmoving from his spot, "You're still here? Didn't you finish healing? Why didn't you go to bed?"
"Oh uh-" Lance stretched a bit, glancing at the clock, "Yeah, I am. I just- wanted to make sure Keith was okay,"
Shiro smiles, "You should get some sleep,"
"I tried." he sighed, "I couldn't really do it. I was so used to-" he trails off, a little pink in his cheeks. After sharing a bed with Keith for so long, he had forgotten what it was like to sleep in a bed alone without the second body next to him, "Just couldn't sleep."
"I see. I feel restless too." Shiro moves to sit next to him, "I keep expecting to wake up and find out we never really found you two," he sighs.
"You do?" Lance tilts his head.
"We looked for you both for so long- to finally have you back…" he chuckles, "It feels like a miracle,"
"Shiro," Lance says, touched.
"I'm glad you are both okay. We missed you,"
"We're glad to be back."
So, what all happened?" Shiro inquired. He didn't want to ask before so Lance and Keith could rest, but if he was going to stay awake anyway they might as well find something to fill the time. There was so much time, and he knew Lance and Keith hadn't explained everything about what had happened on that planet. They were keeping something quiet, he knew, he just wasn't sure what.
"A lot," Lance snorts, "That planet was weird. Not bad- I suppose, but definitely super odd,"
"All different cultures seem odd to those who aren't apart of it," Shiro agreed with a chuckle.
"Yeah. I almost got killed a lot, now that I think about it. Assassination attempts,"
"Whatever for?" Shiro gawked at him.
"Eh- this Coeihn guy was being a jerk. We took care of him," Lance says, forcing the topic to drop at that. Not wanting to push it, Shiro nods.
Not sure what else to say, he motions to Lance's scar, "We kind of match now," he offers, realizing he had never really spent so much alone time with Lance. It was usually the entire team that was there, so it was almost a struggle to push for conversation.
Glancing down at his scar, Lance suddenly laughs, "Scar buddies," he agrees.
The healing pod only worked so far with damaged skin, and couldn't seem to really remove scars, from what Lance could tell. Strangely enough, he didn't mind that he would be keeping the one on his eyes. It had grown to be apart of him, and he didn't want to get rid of it.
Plus, it what has started his connection with Keith, so he wanted to, in a sense, cherish it.
A few hours later, the team emerged, smiling at Shiro and Lance.
"Thought we would find you here," Hunk chuckled, "How are you feeling, Lance?"
"Tired, but good. Oh, and Pidge?" He says to her, noticing something.
"Yeah?"
"I think you grew,"
She gasps, her eyes sparkling, "Really?!"
"Now that you mention it, I think she has," Hunk agreed. "It's just hard to tell when I see you everyday,"
"Growth spurt!" she pumps her fists into the air.
"I'm not saying much, I'm just saying you grew a little," Lance laughs.
"A little is still more than what I was previously!"
A moment later, Allura and Coran joined them, "There you all are," she huffs, "What are you all doing?"
"Discussing Pidge's height while we wait for Keith to wake up," Hunk answered.
Looking over his vitals, Allura nods, "He should be waking soon. In fact-"
Seeing Keith's eyes fluttering Lance rushes to his feet before anyone can say anything, "He's waking up!"
The pod opened and Keith fell out. Not expecting him to just fall forward, Lance yells and was tackled to the floor. "Keith!" he grunts
He blinked hazily, still caught in his sleep, "Sorry," he yawns.
"Get off," Lance wheezes, finding Keith's weight crushing him. Keith doesn't move. "Keith."
"..."
"Keith." he frowns.
Keith smiles
"Keef!" Lance kicks his legs feebly, "Get off you fatty!"
"Who are you calling fat?" he lifts himself a little, frowning at Lance.
"You," Lance sticks his tongue out. Keith frowns, looking ready to wipe that smug look from Lance's face, but Allura cuts them off.
"Glad to see you two are on good terms," She chuckles, folding her arms. "Are you able to stand Keith?"
Keith glances down at his ankle cautiously. Rationally, he should know his ankle is healed, but kept convincing him to fear the idea that it wasn't. That when he tried to move it even an inch, it would send an uproar of pain along his senses.
"Try, Keith," Lance coaxes him gently, "You can do it," he smiles is encouraging, and Keith feels lighter.
Taking a few steps, not taking long to readjust to walking again, Keith smiles, "It's healed,"
"Of course it is," Coran says proudly.
Laughing, Keith took a moment to hop on his previously injured foot, smiling at the team warmly and laughing without a care in the world. They- took the action by surprise.
Keith smiled, but never as often as he had been today, or even yesterday. Not even Shiro managed to get Keith so happy for so long, and the results made the team feel just as bubbly and joyful.
They were thrilled to see Keith in such high spirits, and hoped he would remain to be a bundle of joy. Of course, it made them wonder too what exactly changed for Keith on Iespion to make him such a way.
Knowing the people there were so nice, and seeing how close Keith had grown to that Coeihn family, most of the team thought it had to be because of that.
Except for Hunk.
To him, he thought that perhaps Keith had changed due to his time spent with Lance. Lance naturally just brought some life wherever he went, and most couldn't help but smile when he was around.
His bubbly nature was infectious, so perhaps not even Keith could help himself from being affected by it?
Accepting whatever the reason was, Hunk chuckled when Keith tripped into Lance, who squawked at him. "Why you-!" he pinched Keith's cheeks.
Keith made a face in rebuttal, pushing into Lance so that the two fell over again. The team laughed at this, a sense of peace washing over the group.
Lance felt hope. He had been worried for nothing, thankfully. Sure he had spent time away from the team, but he hadn't felt any distance placed between them because of this. It was the same team he had grown to love and care for.
And now, he had Keith by his side too. He still missed Earth, and now he missed Iespion and all the people he had meet there- but he didn't feel lonely this time.
Caught in Keith's gaze, so happy to see him bruise/injury free and just there with him, Lance couldn't help himself from cupping his face. Keith eagerly met him, rushing upward to kiss him.
They pulled apart when someone in the team gasped. Puzzled, they sat up and turned to find the whole group staring at them, shocked and bewildered.
The two blush, frantically jumping to their feet when they realized what they had done.
"W-What?" Hunk motions between the two, not understanding what was happening.
Reaching down to take Keith's hands, realizing his poor Equivalent was blushing and unable to form words, Lance clears his throat, "We're together," he says, deciding it was best to just be straightforward about this.
The team let out a shared, "What?!"
Keith lowers his gaze, tightening his grip around Lance's hand and nodding, "W-We're going out," he clears his throat, "We're Equivalents,"
"What in the world are Equivalents?!" Pidge demanded.
"It's a Coeihn thing," Lance summarizes, deciding to get into more detail later. He wasn't quite sure what else to say about this now. They did everything they were supposed to and told their friends of their relationship.
So how come he felt so much anxiety from this? Hunk and Pidge both knew he was into both genders. For Pete's sake he openly walked around with his "My Bi-fi signal is strong" so what were they shocked about?
Maybe that Keith was gay? Or Bi? He's never asked- correction; Keith never answered. He probably didn't even know actually, now that Lance thought about it.
Honestly, he kind of expected shock. If he had told himself a year ago that he would be dating Keith Kogane, he probably wouldn't have believed it either.
"Equivalents…" Coran says softly. Then, he looks to their hands, motioning wildly between them. Knowing the Coeihn culture more than the others, he gasps, "You are!" They lift their hands for the others to see the rings.
"Are you two married?!" Hunk shrieks in surprise.
"No- I- I mean- yes? Kind of?" Lance shrugs.
"What does kind of mean?" Hunk threw his arms up
"It's like Vegas!" Lance yelled
Keith was puzzled, "What?"
"In some case, you two are married though?" Shiro was trying to wrap his mind around the situation.
"...Yes," Lance nods.
"You… are what?" Allura is shaking her head, the blood draining from her face. She is backing up, and pointing at them, her eyes growing cold. "No." she shakes her head, "You can't be,"
"Yes, we are kind of married. Things happened, and to Coeihns you are technically married when you... uh..."
Coran, once again being the only one informed of Coeihn tradition, blushed, "Oh my goodness!" he covered his ears, "Pg-13!"
"YOU TWO DID IT?!" Pidge realized a moment later. Hunk started screaming, and Shiro had to cover his mouth, looking embarrassed.
Keitha and Lance were not much better.
With everyone out in the open, a heavy silence falls between them. It was chilling to the bone.
Lance wanted Hunk to laugh it off- to make some joke about Lance being some flirt or something- like he always did when he announced he was dating someone.
He didn't want everyone to be staring at them like they had lost their minds.
Why were they acting like this? Was it really that shocking that they would be together? Hell, even Pidge and Hunk looked like this was just some weird dream to them. Not disgusted or anything but just… confused? And Shiro had this solemn look like he was almost disappointed.
What the hell was wrong with them?
"We spent a lot of time together on that planet,' Lance says quickly, his voice wavering, "Things just happened."
Allura turns away, furious, and for reasons neither of them could understand. "This can't be..."
"What is your problem?" Keith demanded, less embarrassed at this point and more of pissed off. "I love Lance," he declares, shocking the entire room speechless. "And he loves me. That's all there is to this."
"That isn't all there is to this!" Allura turns around so suddenly that they jump, "This is- how could you- No!" she sounds almost delirious, "I didn't have to worry about this with you two! You hated each other! How- how could this have happened…?"
"Hey," Lance shakes his head, subconsciously linking his fingers with Keith, terrified at what she meant. "Allura, it is okay-"
"Silence!" Allura jabs a finger at him, "You've broken the paladin code, Lance!"
"The paladin- what?" he tilts his head.
"Relationships between paladins are forbidden!"
Lance and Keith felt their world shatter.
Continue the story at the Sequel: Suffocation (Which is out and posted)
Review: I don't know how to reply to any of these reviews with a straight face
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Guest: Tooth rotting fluff is the best kind of fluff! Thank you so much for your review ;-; It makes me so happy.
AirenLag: Hahahahahahah... *painfully akward laughter* It was a roller coaster. Will probably continue to be one too... *nervous sweating*
LoadedEel: Friend! Thank you so much! That means so much to me and you are so sweet ;-; Thank you for taking the time to both read and review my story
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Ewink18: Thank you so much! It was definitely a blast writing this story! And I can't wait to carry it on to the sequel! :D
Thecolorfulmonster: Oh my gosh XD I'm so happy you laughed at that part. I know it definitely made me laugh writing it. Aww, you are so sweet! Thank you so much!
AngiMK: HOME IS SOMETIMES BITTERSWEET!
Phoenix51: You are so amazing ;-; Thank you so much for such a heartfelt review. That really made my day and put a smile on my face. Thank you. I am definitely going to try and continue this world. Thank you so much
Adrianna Agray: Thank you so much! That neatly wrapped ending kind of... imploded, but thank you so much! XD
Pinkdoughnuts: Thank you so much! Yes, every ending of a story is the opening for a new beginning. One that is sometimes depressing, but still an opening. So thank you so much!
DevilWolf Girl: That was definitely fun to write them pointing out the bite marks! XD So much of this chapter was both fun and depressing to write, so I hope you liked it!
DeathLord-92: Aww, DeathLord ;-; Thank you. Sorry for the ending, but I am so glad you liked this story and stuck with it for so long. It makes me so happy! :D
KnightOwl247: Rashra be dead! YESSSS! I will kick his butt right over to your place! Bwahahah
DeityOfDeath: THANK YOU SO MUCH!
MickeyTRN: One more chapter... Chapter showed up... nothing is okay
Booknerd637: IT IS THE LAST! BUT IM AFRAID THE STORY ISN"T OVER YET!