A/N: Hey paladins, sorry for the delay. Reality has been overwhelming, but things have gradually settled down and giving me more time to write. Plus with summer around the corner, more time to write I hope. Anyway, chapter is a bit dialogue heavy, but it's Klance based so I think it's good. Hope you guys enjoy and have an awesome Monday.

Italics is flashback :) and ignore the spelling or grammar mistakes. I doubled checked, but possible I could have missed some.

Summary: Allura has been hiding a secret from the Paladins, something painful from her past forced her to remain quiet. However that all changes when she finds a beloved object of someone she held dear. A simple pendant that hangs around the Blue Paladin's neck. Altean!Lance

Chapter Twelve

It was late, or maybe it was just really early. The battle with Zarkon had happened, but he couldn't remember it, any of it. All he had was headache, an aching chest, and black spots in his mind. Lance couldn't remember the mission. He couldn't remember much of anything, only that he was hurt and that the one with black hair and a missing arm had gone missing. The name of this man, the Black Paladin, he wasn't sure and couldn't remember them. Though he knew he was important, not just as the head of Voltron, but as if he were a friend, someone he looked up to.

Lance looked out the window beside, he released a heavy breath that fogged up where his mouth was closest to. A throbbing pain in his ankle came to life, he glanced down at it to see what happened. Nothing was wrong with it and he knew he didn't hurt before during the battle. It had started hurting after, when everyone had left to go to their rooms and deal with the loss and victory of the day. A sharp pain went through Lance's skull-

The day had been like any other for the young prince of Altea. He trained, went to his tutors, had fight with his sister, played with Coran and caused trouble. It was just another day. He had been sitting in his room sharpening his dagger when everything shook, all of his stuff falling about and moving. Panic gripped his heart. The castle was taking off, but he couldn't imagine why. He figured they needed to go somewhere and tried not to let his imagination get the best of him, but when the alarms came alive, he could only assume the worst.

An attack was happening, Galra soldiers were coming. He raced out of his room, he had his sniper rifle and the dagger that Zarkon had given him. Allura hated that dagger, she tried on a number of occasions to take it from him, but Casimir could never part with it. This dagger was a reminder that Zarkon had been his friend, his godfather, his teacher.

He ran down the hallway, he stumbled with each explosion that rocked the ship, but still he pushed on. One explosion came to close to him, he flew through the air and tried to catch himself only for his ankle to take the brunt of it. In a push up position he looked up to see several Galran soldiers, fully armed and ready to attack. He jumped to his feet, ready to face them down.

He pointed the sniper at them, he could hit one or two at a time, but with all of them firing at once, he would be hit no problem. They shouted in Galra, he was certain they said something about waiting to fire or get ready to fire. He wasn't sure, but he couldn't wait to find out. Casimir glanced up to see the chandelier he would climb up to all the time, this would save his life instead of risk it. Quickly he raised his sniper and fired at the orb in the ceiling holding it up. A clean hit, the lights flickered and it fell. He ran, trying to ignore the pain in his ankle, but he fe-

"Lance!"

Lance jumped in his spot, he turned away from the window to see a pale skin teen with jet black hair. He was wearing a black t-shirt and grey pants without any shoes or socks on his feet. The name of him escaped Lance, he couldn't remember what his name was, but for some reason he knew this guy was important. An ache in his chest formed, guilt for forgetting who he was.

Coran and Allura said his memory would get worse, but that hadn't been to long ago when they talked about this. Why was it getting worse so soon? How long would he have until it was completely gone and all he had left were the Altean memories? Not to mention he had shrunk another inch since he left the Blue lion earlier. It didn't sit well with him at all.

"I called you like ten times," said the black haired teen, "You going deaf or something?"

Lance blinked, "Uh no, just lost in thought."

The teen walked over to wear he was sitting and sat down on the ledge with him. Lance tilted his head to the side, he didn't know why, but this seemed out of character for the teen despite not being able to remember who he was. However he knew that this was unlike the black haired teen. This was not something he would do and Lance didn't want to ruin the moment.

Though continuing to stare at him as he tried to remember his name would ruin the moment as well. The teen looked at him, Lance realized after a few moments that his eyes weren't a dark shade of blue, but they were violet. That was interesting, most Galrans had that same eye color.

"What are you staring at," he asked with a raised brow.

Lance looked away, "I'm sorry. I can't, I don't know who you are."

Out of Lance's periphery, he saw the teen's shoulders sag at his words. The ache in his chest grew. He was really sorry that he couldn't remember, it must be a horrible thing for someone you know, not to know you. He wondered if him and this guy were close, that would make it worse if they were best friends and he couldn't remember him..

"I'm Keith," said the teen forcing Lance to look back at him, "We went to the Garrison together, you thought we had a rivalry. You became a fighter class pilot when I was kicked out-"

"Oh yeah," Lance said his blue eyes lit up, "Of course, mullet! I remember that. And you're the red Paladin of Voltron. You were such a jerk, but seemed cool enough I guess."

Keith nodded his head with a weak smile, "Yeah… do you, do you remember what happened today?"

Lance frowned, "In pieces. Coran and Allura mentioned I'd be losing my memories, but they didn't think it would be this fast. What, what did happen today?"

Lance inhaled sharply, he leaned his head against the glass and stared at the stars. The ache in his chest had refused to leave, something else had happened today. Why was it so hard for him to remember? What exactly did Haggar do to him? And what happened today that left him feeling so down? That was when it hit him. The black Paladin was gone, their leader, Shiro.

"I can't remember the battle," Lance said softly, "I remember waking up in blue and coming back on the ship, but the black Paladin, Shiro wasn't with us."

"Yeah," Keith whispered as he clenched his hands into fists.

Shiro should have made it, they all should have survived and celebrated the victory of Voltron's destruction. But he was gone, vanished without a trace. Keith felt anger that Shiro was gone, he was furious that this had happened to only family he had left. If he didn't think of his anger, then the sorrow would take over along with the guilt and all the pain for the loss of a great friend, of a big brother he never had. Lance noticed a shift in Keith, he knew Shiro and Keith were close. They were essentially each other's family.

Lance couldn't imagine losing anyone of his family or friends that way. That they just vanished without a trace. As if they were never there, except in the emptiness. Lance tried to ignore the beginnings of a memory returning, but as it came to him he realized it was from earlier in the night. He found Allura sobbing in the hangar, the one holding the black lion which had lost all power. He remembered Pidge's heartbroken expression as Hunk did his best to comfort her. He remembered Keith storming off, trying to hide the tears that were falling down his cheeks.

"I'm so sorry Keith," Lance said gently.

"Why," Keith asked, "We're going to find him. I, I'm sure he's out there."

Lance offered a slight grin, "Think he's playing hide and seek among the stars? One quiznak of a hiding place."

Keith sighed, "I still don't think you're using that word correctly. And you're Altean."

Lance chuckled, "Well you're Galran and can't tell me what vrepit sa means."

"I do know what it means," Keith countered folding his arms over his chest.

"Whatever you say mullet," Lance replies dismissively.

A silence settled over the pair. Keith switched between watching the stars and watching Lance. Even though Lance couldn't remember the battle, Keith could remember every bit of it. There had been a moment, or several moments actually, when he didn't know if Lance was okay. That Lance wasn't there anymore and scared him. True terror had struck his heart when Lance didn't answer his call. It turned out that Lance was having a moment where his memories of the past were overwhelming his mind and he didn't recognize his name for a minute.

Lance had been fine, he was still fighting through the memory flashes and doing his job, but when he didn't answer and Keith could get a signal from him, he feared the worst. Even though the two weren't exactly friends, they had an understanding between the two of them that seemed to go a bit deeper than friends. And still, he didn't understand why panic had taken over him when Lance didn't respond. He told himself he would have responded the same with the rest of the team, but he wasn't so sure.

"You freaked me out today," Keith said, offhandedly as far as Lance was concerned.

Lance raised his speckled white eyebrows, "I freaked you out? Weren't you the one who went on a suicide mission?"

"You remembering," Keith asked, he leaned forward a bit.

"Just a bit," Lance said with a smirk, "How did I freak out the great and temperamental red Paladin?"

Keith leaned against the column behind him, "You didn't answer my call."

Lance snickered, "You serious? I didn't answer your call and you got freaked out? You sound like mi mama."

"I'm serious Lance," Keith said, his expression focused, "We all called and checked in, you didn't for several moments and I thought something bad happened to you."

Lance frowned, "Sorry about that. I just didn't recognize my name for a bit, though how could not when it's such a good one."

Keith rolled his eyes, "It's an okay one."

"Better than Casimir if you ask me," Lance said killing his knees up to his chest, "It's so weird you know, to have the different names and different lives."

"How are you handling that by the way," Keith asked.

"Why," Lance said instead.

This caught Keith off guard, "What do you mean why?"

"I just mean why are you asking about it?"

"Because I want to know how you're doing with it."

"Yeah and why? You asked before, I think, said something about being worried. That was when the news was recent, why you asking now?"

"Because it messed with your head during a battle and you didn't recognize me for a few minutes."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"What? Yes it does."

"No, it doesn't."

Keith groaned, "How, that doesn't make any sense!"

Lance learned forward, "I might be having some head issues, but even I know you're trying to distract yourself from what happened today."

"What are you talking about," Keith questioned, his heart pounding.

"You lost someone really close to you and you want to distract yourself from thinking about it," Lance said matter factly.

"That's, that not it," Keith argued.

Lance shook his head, "Nope it definitely is. Look, you don't have to pretend that you're okay or that you care that much about my pretty head."

"What is that supposed to mean," Keith said, his expression looked hurt and offended, "You think I don't care?"

Lance frowned, "Well we aren't exactly friends. I'm pretty sure you guys would forget about me if I wasn't so talkative. The only reason you guys care now is because the mind games messed with the mission. I'm a Paladin if Voltron with a job to do, all of us have a job and we can't afford to be caught off guard. And karma face it, I'm basically a seventh wheel."

Lance looked back at the stars, appearing unbothered by the words to leave his mouth. As if he believe it. Keith couldn't believe the words coming out of Lance's mouth. How could he possibly think like that? Everyone did give Lance a hard time, but most of it was good natured and after the revolution they had dialed down a bit so as not to overwhelm him. And over time things had seemed steadier and smoother, though Lance was struggling he seemed brighter and not as weighed down. Keith could never forget Lance, even when he was quiet it would be impossible for Keith to not see him or notice him.

"You definitely aren't a seventh wheel, besides we need all the help we can get and you are our sharpshooter," Keith said honestly, "Yeah, we all have jobs to do, but we have each other to lean on. Don't doubt your value here, because none of us do. Shiro didn't doubt you either."

Lance returned his gaze to Keith, "I'm pretty sure he was my hero. The reason I wanted to become a pilot in the first place."

"Well we have that in common," Keith said with a slight grin, "Shiro believed in you, we all do. So you can't stop believing in yourself."

Lance chuckled, "Aw, Keith does have a heart."

"Yeah, you mention this to anyone and I'll have red eat you," Keith said rising to his feet.

Lance smiled, "Blue wouldn't allow it."

Keith sighed, "I wouldn't be too sure. Anyway, I'm going back to bed. You just going to stay out here all night?"

"No," Lance answered, "Though why were you up?"

Keith shrugged, "I was restless and needed to walk around and that's how I found you. What about you?"

Lance stood from his seat, "Some bad dreams and maybe some bad memories, still kind of hard to tell the difference."

"You ever need help, I'll be there," Keith told him, his tone and expression showed how serious he was.

Lance could only nod, "You ever need to talk about your grief, I've been told my shoulders are great to cry on."

"Yeah, I'll remember that," Keith said dismissively, "Thanks."

With that Keith was gone leaving Lance alone in this room. He slipped his hands into his pajama pockets, a slight smile on his face. Even though a lot of the memories in his mind were spotty and he was struggling to piece them together, he felt better knowing that Keith would be there to help him through it. He hoped that if Keith needed him, that he could offer the same help and it be good for him.

Lance looked over his shoulder out the window to look at the stars again, as if it were far away, but he heard something. It sounded like water, like the ocean waves were out in the distance. His smile grew then as he focused on the sound and continued to stare at the stars, his blue eyes glowing brighter the longer he watched the twinkling lights and listened to the sounds no one else could hear. He shook his head and released a slight laugh, his mostly white hair brushed against his forehead as he turned away from window.

An idea came to mind, there was in fact a pool in this castle and he wanted to take a swim for a bit. If his hunch was correct, he had a feeling the water would be the place that would keep his memories as Lance in tact. Or at least he would have a way to access those memories in the water, again he had to prove if this theory was right.

"Hey Keith," Lance called and raced out of the room to see the red paladin at the end of the hall.

"Yeah, what's up," Keith asked as he walked back over to Lance.

Lance met him halfway, "I think I have an idea on how to keep my memories in tact and if it checks out, there might be a way to find Shiro.

Keith raised his eyebrows, "Are you serious?"

"Yeah. Now come on, I'll need your help."

"Alright, what do you need?"