Entry Two: Shiro

"Number two. Shiro…" the video Lance took a deep, steadying breath. "Shiro, you were my hero." His face turned thoughtful for a moment as he said, "Hey, that rhymed…" He shook his head, further messing up his already messy hair. "Not important. Anyway, ever since I was just a little kid, I looked up to you. Even in Cuba, I heard stories about the youngest pilot in Garrison history shattering the simulator record and every other record there was to break." Shiro felt a few eyes turn to him. Heat rose to his face at the praise and attention of the lost paladin. You made me fall in love with space, you helped me realize that I wanted to be a pilot, exploring the universe with my trusty crew behind me. So I enrolled in the Garrison. I wanted to fly, I wanted to be remembered… I wanted to be great. Just like you…" The boy's holographic face fell into sadness.

"Lance…" Shiro whispered. He desperately wished that he could reach through the recording and console the boy.

"I tried and tried as hard as I could. I didn't care when people told me I'd never do it. Eventually, I made it. I was a fighter pilot!" Lance beamed at the memory, and that made everyone else smile, if only for a second. "When I told Mamá over the phone, she would have hugged me to death if she could have. My brothers and sisters were proud of me, and older siblings can be hard to impress. Even my two-year-old nephew was excited for me! Dios mío, that child is adorable…" His face fell again as he realized something. His expression said it for him, and so did Hunk.

"Sylvio… He's never going to see him again…" The crack in Hunk's usually steady voice was heartbreaking in itself, let alone the words that caused it.

"Shiro, I always thought I would be able to meet you once I got into the Garrison, but then Kerberos happened… and… well, you know the rest. No, you lived the rest. Meeting you that day, the five of us in Keith's little desert shack, it was literally a dream come true. That feels like it was so long ago, when we first came together and then I…" Lance furrowed his brow. "I flew us across the universe in a giant psychic alien warship shaped like a lion… That is a really weird sentence now that I say it out loud…" A few of the paladins chuckled.

"It is a little crazy…" Keith muttered. A ghost of a smile pulled at Shiro's lips.

"I mean, the three of us just snuck out of the Garrison that night…" Pidge added. "How would we know that one broken curfew would lead us… well, here…"

"It was my fault that we all got stuck halfway across the universe," Lance said suddenly. Any lightheartedness in the room vanished as he spoke again. "Everyone on the team has their thing, you know? Pidge is the tiny, adorable genius who can make anything work," Pidge squeaked, embarrassed, "Hunk's the engineer, the most amazing cook, and my best friend in the whole universe," Hunk blushed, "You're the steadfast leader and our awesome space dad," Shiro huffed a quick laugh, "Allura's a freaking alien princess and an amazing paladin," Allura smiled sadly, "and Keith's a damn good fighter and a first-class pilot." Keith's jaw clenched.

"He… he really thought that about us?" Shiro asked.

"Space dad…" Pidge giggled despite the somber atmosphere.

"But me?" Lance continued, "I'm none of that. I'm the one who launched us into space. I'm the placeholder, the loose end. I'm just… I'm a first-class letdown."

"Lance, no!" Hunk yelled. "That's not true!"

The recording didn't acknowledge him. It just kept playing. "When we joined this war, you were so… cool. About everything. You were the last one to panic and the first one to jump into a fight with both feet. You were the serious one, and I… wasn't. I just made everything into a joke. You probably thought that I was just immature, that I wasn't good enough to be called a paladin of Voltron."

"Shut up! You know none of that is true!" Hunk yelled, surging to his feet. He slammed both of his huge palms on the table, making the entire thing shake. Shiro grabbed the recorder from the center of the table, freezing the video with the press of a button, then setting it on the table again.

"Hunk," Shiro said, laying a steadying hand on his shoulder. "I understand how you're feeling, I really do, but this is just a pre-recorded message. He can't hear you."

"But you guys can, and that stuff isn't true!"

"Of course it's not!" Pidge cried. "Lance was the one who always supported whatever I was doing, even if he just pretended to understand."

"He helped me with whatever I asked, no matter how obscure," Coran added.

"He made sure we never lost sight of who we are in the middle of war," Allura said.

"We would have gone insane a long time ago without him." Keith muttered.

"See? He was the glue that kept us together. Everyone here understands, even if we didn't realize it at the time." Hunk's lip quivered, then he sank back into his seat. Silver tears welled behind his eyes. He nodded to continue, and Pidge gently patted his hand under the table. The image of Lance stirred again, taking a deep breath before continuing.

"Shiro, I can't thank you enough for being there for the team. You're everything I aspired to be, a born leader. First, the black paladin of Voltron, then Captain of the Atlas. You have a long road ahead of you, as long as you don't die again." Lance laughed at his own joke. "Anyway, it was an honor to work beside you. I'm going to miss that… and you. All that's left to say is goodbye… So, goodbye Shiro. And thanks for never giving up on me." Lance smiled sadly as he reached forward, ending the video. Everyone in the small room was silent for a long moment.

Shiro took hold of the device again, carefully cradling it in his human hand.

"So… Now…?" Hunk asked, breaking the silence.

"Mine is the next one…" Pidge whispered. She drew her legs up into the chair with her, curling into herself. "I don't know if I could handle it alone…" Shiro handed her the little recorder, and she gripped it gingerly with both hands like she was afraid it would break.

"You're not alone, Pidge. We're all here." Allura said with a smile.

"Here goes nothing…"

A/N:

HAHAHAHAHA I'M DYING!

Semester finals are next week and I haven't slept more than an hour or two at a time since... Wait, it's Friday? Fuck.

Anyway, finals are killing me physically, mentally, and emotionally. I'm pretty sure my blood is like 95% caffeine by this point... Plus I'm in like the busiest part of the year! Goodbye sanity! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHELPMEHAHAHA!

Moral of the story, it might be a few weeks before the next chapter is ready.

Until next time...

-Ash