heytherehoyhoy: Thank you, I was shooting for something fresh! Keeping them in character is a big goal of mine, especially since this is my first chapter fic with all of the characters.

gemsofformenos: "I'm glad to hear that. In that case, I'll continue these dialogues here, cause it's something I really enjoy," Cool and same, talking to readers is one of the best parts of fanfictions. To be honest though, I do wish fanfic was set up more like Archive of our Own in the way that commenting works. It would make things easier.

"While she has risked her life and this has made a great impression on the others. It's heart-warming to see how happy the team can make her, by showing her so much support." It was one of those risks that paid off. As someone who had been alone for so long, it's what Acxa kind of needed. "I think it could be the solid base to trust each other more than before." That it is. :P "And it seems to help her to dare the step to talk about her own doubts and worries about herself and the transformation, at least with Keith." Displays of venerability are very hard for her, but she kind of pushes through that too, because she knows that it's how she can get the help she needs. "He seems to know instinctly, how he has to deal with her, how he could comfort her and how he could help her to open up to him a bit more." Part of it is because he has quite a bit in common with her. He was a bit of a loner. "I don't know, if this is canon or not, but due to your story she was used to cause mixed feeling at other Galras because she's only half Galra (I think this is definitly canon, right?)." Yeah she's only half-Galra and in canon it has been shown that the Galra don't like half-breeds. She has also stated in canon that she has always been an outsider and is used to not fitting in. So the logical part of her has to admit, that this transformation might be hold up something positive. Now she can say, she truly belongs to one part of her heritage. "But on the other hand it's a fact, that she's not herself anymore and in my opinion, she might get used to be a human 'only'" But yes, this is the comfort she has found in her transformation. "But I think she'll only be truly happy if she can be half-Galra she used to was." She has to be herself, that's for sure. "What counts is the person you are and the things you do, not what you look like!" Exactly! This is actually a theme that will be addressed! Thanks again and I hope that the first day of your new year is going well!

It is nice to wake up to Keith and even nicer to wake up knowing that much of the bad blood has been cleared. She is still rather sore but the weariness is slowly ebbing away. She sits up and stretches her arms. With any luck, she'd have her energy back in another day. Evidently, she still feels rather refreshed; asking her silly question had lifted a weight that she didn't know she had carried and she intends to lift another.

Keith is still asleep as he usually is when she awakens. She brushes her hand over his hair and kisses his ear. The CD she had chosen had run out of songs during the night, but she wants to start her morning with another. She thinks of waking Keith but she doesn't want to wake him for something so minor. So, making as little noise as possible, she tip toes over to the radio and looks it over. The little symbols on it, have no meaning to her, so she tries to recall what buttons Keith had pressed. She pokes at a few of them, but the CD compartment does not open. She tries twisting the knob on top, until it can be turned no more. She rubs her chin when it still does not open. As a last effort she tries pushing on the latch, this is what opens the compartment. Satisfied with herself, she puts the Led Zeppelin album back in its place and finds a new one. She does not know what an Iron Maiden is, but the album cover looks interesting enough. She puts the disk in and presses numerous buttons until the music beings.

What she didn't expect was the volume of it. She jolts as Keith bolts up, nearly leaping right from the mattress. He scrambles up to the radio and turns the knob in the opposite direction she had.

"Sorry…" She mumbles.

Keith laughs. "Well, gee, if you wanted me to wake up you could have just shook me or something." He rubs the back of his head and then rubs the sleep from his eyes. "I'm going to have to teach you to use the radio, aren't I?"

Acxa nods, she has been curious about it from the start. But that isn't what she wants to do today. "Keith, I have to ask you something."

"Go for it." He seems like he is in such a good mood and she doesn't want to ruin it by brining up dismal subjects.

She doesn't exactly know how to ask, just thinking of it brings a tinge of pink to her cheeks. But she is curious no less. "Do you like half-Galra me or human me better?"

.oOo.

He doesn't know why she asks these kinds of questions. It doesn't particularly bother him any, but he doesn't understand the need. These questions always take him by surprise because throughout their battles she always had such an impeccable air of confidence. It is strange to hear her vocalize her insecurities. Strange, but oddly reassuring; he knows, ultimately, that she is comfortable with him. And he supposes that, maybe—probably, she harbored these uncertainties all along. It was simply safer to keep them to herself.

Even still he can't give her the answer she is probably looking for. A definitive one.

"I guess I don't have a preference." He starts.

She tilts her head.

"Half-Galra or human, I don't see a difference."

"I can ask Veronica if you can borrow her glasses." Acxa replies.

He has to laugh because he can't tell if she is joking or if she really has taken his word literally. "Okay, you look different. But that's not what I meant. I meant that you're still you. Half-Galra or human, you still act like you." He stares at her for a second, "why?"

She runs her fingers through her hair before answering with a question of her own. "Would you be upset with me if I said that I didn't want to be half-Galra again?"

The question throws him off guard. He has been under the impression that, that was one of her many motivations for going on missions with them. "Why would I be?"

She shrugs.

"That's your decision to make, not mine. Do what makes you comfortable."

.oOo.

But that was just it, she doesn't know what would make her feel comfortable. She looks to the floor, on one hand she missed aspects of her Galra self; the horns, the look of her eyes, and, more than anything, the battle perks of her Galra blood.

On the other hand, she thinks that her fully human self is easier to love. It brings her a sense of security in fully belonging to one species. She thinks that she can work around human physical limitations.

"Do you have even a slight preference?"

"Acxa, I like you the way you are." He cups her cheek and tenderly strokes it with his thumb.

She could take that as him telling her that he liked fully human Acxa, but she knows better. She knows exactly what he means. She knows that this is another rephrasing of, 'whatever makes you happy, makes me happy.' "I don't know what makes me happy." She confesses. Years ago after parting ways with Lotor, she vowed to forge her own path and her own goals. She didn't realize how many of her desires, how much of her personality, had been shaped by others until then. Until she found herself truly free. A few years and she still doesn't know exactly what leaves her feeling fulfilled and stable.

Acceptance, she decides. She craves unconditional love and acceptance.

But that was just one thing.

One thing of many.

"How about this." Keith interrupts her thoughts. "Whatever happens, happens."

"Hmm?"

"You don't know if you want to stay human or go back to being half Galra, so just see what happens." He rephrases. "If we manage to get our hands on Haggar's research notes and equipment go back to being half Galra. If we can't, then we can't and it's no big deal, right?"

It seems so simple. So simple, yet so logical. "Right." She agrees. She isn't one to just let things fall into place, in fact she doesn't care for the lack of control that comes with leaving things to fate. But perhaps it is time for another risk.

A risk has earned her, her freedom.

A risk has earned her companionship.

She slides her arms around Keith's middle and squeezes. "Thank you, Keith."

.oOo.

He can't help but grow somber in Acxa's embrace. Truth be told, despite his words, he was worried about her and the decision she would make. He frets that she will make a choice that she will regret, one that she won't be able to come back from.

She pulls out of their embrace and splays herself across the bed again. She is wearing his sweater—something that made one perk of her having a smaller build—and a pair of fuzzy slippers. All in all she looks cozy.

"I'm going to be going to a meeting with the paladins about Haggar. Coran thinks that he found her main laboratory. It's in a few hours, do you want to come or should I fill you in?"

"I will come with."

He hadn't expected any different of her. "Alright, well I'm going to go grab a shower."

He turns the knob and lets hot water run over his naked skin. It runs in rivulets over the curves of his muscles and a relaxing feeling settles in. He needed a good shower it gives him time to clear his head. All in all, he decides that he doesn't regret anything that has happened so far. He still feels bad for snapping at Acxa, but he is happy that it happened all the same. Somehow, he feels as though it was what was needed to get her to let down some of her walls. She is a hard woman to crack but he thinks that she is finally letting people in. People who aren't just him.

And she needs that. He wants her to bond with others.

Steam is beginning to curl around him as he lathers his hair. He is anxious for the meeting because he doesn't know if he's ready to lead the paladins into Haggar's laboratory. They had just barely made it out the last time. He likes to think that he is a solid leader, but having a good five or six recent failed missions and only two successes doesn't do his confidence nor stress levels any good.

What if he can't make the right call when it matters the most? What if he will lead his friends to destruction and save no one? He knows the answer. And he knows that it is grim. He knows that to fail this mission is to fail the universe. If they can't stop her, Haggar will have a full-blown Galra army and probably the resurrection of her son.

Keith shudders.

He has to toughen up and be the leader everyone is expecting.

He has to put on his brave face, though he is feeling anything but courageous.

.oOo.

Little beads of moisture cling to his hair, giving him a charm that flutters Acxa's belly. "You take long showers." She notes.

"Yeah, I have a lot to think about." He said glumly.

"What were you thinking about?" She asks. Whatever it was, it had sapped away the morning's optimism.

"I'm worried about the mission." He admits. "I don't know why I'm the group leader…"

Acxa puts a hand on his shoulder. "Because you are good at it, Keith."

"Good at it?" Keith questions. "I yelled at you and helped isolate you from the team. And then, during the last mission, I let them argue with you again and you ended up on your own and…"

She can tell that he doesn't want to say it so she cuts in, "I can handle myself."

"But a good leader wouldn't have forced you to."

"You didn't force me to do anything." She sternly objects. "You could be a lot worse. Look at what happened to my old team. Narti is dead. Lotor killed her. I betrayed Lotor and then I abandoned Zethrid and Ezor. At least you didn't kill your own comrades. At least you didn't abandon or double cross them. You're honest and you do what you think is best."

"Right, I'm not a murderer, at least I have that. At the rate things are going I might just turn everyone against each other."

He has missed the point, "a team is going to have falling outs." She pauses. "Believe it or not, I talked to Ezor and Zethrid again. We worked some things out. Even if your friends fight me again…or fight each other, I'm sure you can help sort things out."

"When did you talk to Ezor and Zethrid?"

"When I was taken by Haggar. She was experimenting on them too. "They were taken to a different laboratory than I. I think it is the one we plan on infiltrating." She knits her brows and her expression changes entirely, "don't change the subject on me, Keith!"

He gives a soft chuckle. "You caught me."

"You're a good leader." She locks eyes with him. "I've been under so many leaders and none of them have treated me as well as you. You have something that they don't."

"What's that?"

"Compassion." She answers. "You are patient and encouraging. You treat your comrades as equals. That is important, Keith. That is why our team can afford fights and fall outs, because there is a lot of trust and respect."

"Are you sure that you don't want to be the team leader." Keith offers.

"I apricate the offer, but I am more of a follower." She is more comfortable being second in command.

Keith looks at the time. "Hey, I think you should grab a shower before the meeting."

She shoots him a stern glare.

"I'm not trying to change the subject, I swear." He lifts his hands. "I just need time to think about what you said."

She folds her arms, she doesn't entirely believe him. But she gives in regardless, she really could use a shower. Truth be told she has been avoiding the shower because it always left her even more room to dwell on her transformation. "Knock, if I take too long."

He nods and with that, she closes the door and slips out of Keith's sweater. In the mirror she notes that most of the bruises are gone, there are only faint traces of them on her hips. She supposes that this is a good thing. But it alarms her all the same, because they should be fully gone by now.

She also notes that it is becoming easier to look at herself again, there is no more unease nor surprise. She is growing somewhat used to her reflection; it is becoming familiar though she still discovers new aspects of it every now and again.

As she stands in the shower, she makes such a discovery. It is a birthmark, much like many of her freckles, it had been so faint on her Galra skin that she hadn't noticed it before. It is a small blotch on the side of her elbow and she notices it while sweeping the soap down her arm. She wonders if Keith had noticed it. He had certainly noticed the freckles. She smiles to herself, now that she has had some time with her human body, she finds that she rather enjoys these little discoveries. These little things that make her who she is.

She hears a knock on the door and hurries to wrap things up.

.oOo.

He feels sort of bad for dragging Acxa with him while her hair is still dripping. He asks her if she is sure that she doesn't want him to fetch another towel. She hushes him and tells him that they don't have time for that and that wet hair is probably the easiest struggle she has to deal with.

Shiro stands at the head of the table. "Very recently, Coran and Allura have picked up a Glara transmission. A very important one, and that is what we are here to discuss." He opens the floor to Coran.

"By chance, we happened upon a signal that came from one of Haggar's labs." Coran explains. "We managed to trace it before we were discovered. What we found out is that we had come across a laboratory much bigger than the other ones we've infiltrated so far."

"We think that this larger laboratory is the heart of her experimentation. If Haggar has any research notes left, we think that they will be in there." Allura adds. "The problem is, the witch knows that we know where she is hiding. Which is why we have to act fast."

"Fast but with a plan." Shiro puts in.

"We may have more time then we think." Lane points out. "She can't move a whole laboratory in one day."

"Yeah, but she can move her notes." Pidge says.

"Who cares about the notes, it's the prisoners we need to save." Hunk replies.

"Acxa cares about those notes." Veronica speaks up and faces turn to look at the former half-Galra.

"The notes are a low priority." She says smoothly. "Keith and I have discussed this earlier. If you can retrieve the notes safely, get them. If you can't, then I suppose that I will figure something else out."

"So, like, no hard feelings if we can't turn you back?" Hunk asks hopefully.

"No hard feelings." She confirms. "I would rather have Ezor and Zethrid back."

"Oh yeah…I forgot about them." Hunk winces.

"We'd all rather have the prisoners safe." Shiro concludes, "everyone is in agreement there."

"We'd also all rather make sure everyone on this team makes it out safely." Keith notes. "I know that we try to put the universe first, I also know that this was a bit controversial, but Acxa had a point on our first mission together. We have to look out for ourselves and each other too."

This initiates a soft mutter and he sees Acxa tense up next to him. But he feels confident so he explains himself further.

"She was right; if something happens to us then there is—I won't say nothing standing between Haggar and domination. But losing Voltron would give her a huge advantage. Prioritize the public but look out for each other."

This time the mummer is more positive. He leans closer to Acxa and whispers to her. "It's all about how you phrase it. Humans like explanations and feelings, they don't just obey commands like Galra soldiers."

Acxa nods and then smugly whispers, "see, you're a great leader."

"So we've laid down our priorities and the kind of mission we'll be on." Shiro said. "Now for the tough part. We're going to need a plan."

.oOo.

They scream at her and they beg her. They ask her why she has left them as they burn away in a flash of blinding magenta. The fur on Zethrid's head falls out in clumps as the UV takes her over. Ezor screams, pleading with Acxa to stop, but her hand is stuck on the lever. She wants to pull it up and off but her arm won't let her.

Because it is not hers.

The flesh of her hand is much too purple and her claws are more pronounced. She can't see them but she knows that her horns jut out much further and more majestically than they ever have. She knows that her eyes lack irises and pupils and that they glow a very vibrant yellow as she watches Ezor cry and melt away.

"Why are you doing this to us?" Zethrid growls.

Acxa doesn't know. Why is she doing this to them? Why can't she stop?

The magenta glow intensifies and she is somewhere new entirely with her former companions' screams still echoing in the distance. She is trapped within a sticky ooze of quintessence. She tries to pull her arm up, but it is still stuck. Even with a fully sculpted and bulky Galra build, she doesn't have the strength to pull herself out of the mess. It is her turn to scream as the quintessence creeps up her arms, pulsing like the innards of a weblum.

She calls out for Keith but she is alone and she knows that she is alone.

Keith promised her that she'd never be alone again. She promised that she would never isolate herself again. Yet the quintessence attacked and she hadn't a companion to help her. She thrashes with as much force as she can, but it seems to only drag her deeper under.

She cries out again as the goo tightens around her legs and arms. It has reached her stomach now and the weight of it restricts her breathing. She struggles against it but it still manages to get in. It flows into her mouth, clogging her throat and cutting off her cries. Even if she had kept her mouth closed it would have gotten in. She know so because it enters her ears and her nose.

She can't breathe.

Higher powers, she can't breathe.

She squeezes her eyes shut.

And they burst open. The blankets twisted unpleasantly around her and her hands are clutching the blanket to the point of puncturing small holes with her nails. She still can't breathe and the panic sets in. It takes her too long to realize that the blanket had wrapped around her neck in sleep. Quickly she claws it off and sucks in generous breaths. She looks at her hands, her un-clawed, lightly tanned hands. She still her.

Her breathing settles so she gets out of bed and creeps down the hall. She doesn't mean to be a bother but she needs to remind herself that she isn't alone. Keith answers the door. "Still having trouble sleeping in your own room?" There is a slightly humored look in his eyes. "Come on." He beckons her inside, slings an arm over her shoulders, and leads her to his bed.