Chapter 7

Keith and Lance were making their way to breakfast the next morning when Pidge stopped them in their tracks.

"Explain."

The two of them shared a glance before turning back to the little gremlin before them. She didn't give them a chance to answer before she was launching into a volley of questions.

"You said a Kalan was a Galra 'soulmate' right? What does that mean? Do you guys have superpowers when you're together or something? Did you know the whole time? Are you dating now? Or are you just automatically married?"

"Pidge-"

"Is there going to be PDA on this ship!?" Pidge pointed her finger at them with this statement and narrowed her eyes. "If you guys get gross and gooey I'm gonna kick my foot so far up-"

"Woah!" Hunk's deep voice called out from behind Pidge as he walked a bit faster towards the group. "What's happening here?"

"I want answers!" Pidge's small but intimidating form demanded.

"We aren't married and we won't 'PDA' around you." Lance said as he rolled his eyes.

"Lance…" Keith whispered and leaned closer as his eyes darted around the others. "What's a PDA?"

Lance smiled. His poor alien soulmate had a lot to learn. "Personal display of affection. Hand holding, kissing, hugging."

"Oh. So, we won't do that… around Pidge?"

"She doesn't like it, but we can do it when she isn't around if you want-"

"I'm standing right here!"

"Okay guys!" Hunk stepped between everyone with his hands up in a placating manner. "I made breakfast, why don't we all go eat?"

"But I have more quest-"

"Ah-ah-ah, ask and eat. Ask and eat." Hunk began to push Pidge in the direction of the dinning room. She grumbled but picked up her feet and complied. Keith and Lance followed behind. They hadn't even been awake for an hour and they had already been attacked by the Pidgeon.

Lance nudged Keith's shoulder with his own and smiled. "Guess we'll be playing 20 questions over our Hunk improved space goo."

"She seems pretty serious about getting her answers."

"She's the paladin of the green lion for a reason." They both laughed, the feeling of contentment bouncing back and forth between them.

When at breakfast Pidge had to be reminded to eat as she grilled the two of them for details. And then she had to be reminded politely by the princess that she shouldn't yell with a mouth full of food. Then she was told that some questions were off limits and that if she kept talking about it that Keith would probably spontaneously combust.

All in all, it was a relatively eventful breakfast that involved embarrassment and outing themselves to the entire team, but it wasn't too bad. Everyone was pretty much their family after all. Though there was some concern about how this relationship would be progressing and evolving in the middle of a space war everyone was still happy for them.

Before everyone left the table Allura informed them that they would be worm holing shortly and the other groups would be following through. They would be landing on Genopia within the hour and the paladins needed to be ready to be planet side before then.

As a group the paladins suited up and started towards the lion's hangars, but two of them stayed back.

Red and Blue stood in a private hallway and began to carry a soft conversation.

"So, I was thinking last night about like, relationship stuff, and I guess I have some questions?" Lance rubbed at the back of his neck nervously as he voiced his thoughts.

"Was that a question too?" Keith smirked, teasing him in a way that made some of the tension in his shoulders fade.

"Yeah, yeah, smart ass. But really."

"Ask away then."

Lance took a breath. "So, I know we're all 'soulmates for life' and everything, but last night it was awkward and neither of us really knew what was happening and I thought we should maybe… I don't know- set boundaries or something. Or talk about what we're cool with and what we aren't." Lance's eyes had wandered over every part of the hall before they came back to Keith's face.

"Oh. Yeah. Okay."

Lance hummed his affirmation and continued. "Good, so…" In a matter of two words Lance's face grew darker and he lowered his head into his hands to hide his cheeks. "Nope not good. This is still really awkward."

"I'll start." Keith offered. Lance just nodded. "I'm cool with sharing a bed."

"Me too." Lance sighed out his nerves and forced himself to look up.

"Cuddles are okay but I get really hot and can't keep on the covers and you all night. Also, I get really embarrassed about it and I liked it when you started it."

"See- That's really good to know! I got really hot too, so maybe next time we won't use the blanket at all." Keith hummed his agreement.

"You're turn."

"Uh. Okay, I'm cool with hand holding. Actually, I would really like it if we held hands. Not around Pidge because it really bothers her, but just in general."

Keith grabbed his hand.

They stared at each other for exactly two second before they both began to laugh, tearing their hands away.

"Not right now then?" Keith asked with a smile.

"Maybe when we're done talking, that was kind of weird. It's your turn by the way."

"I'm fine with just going along with Human courting traditions instead of galra."

"Seriously? That's a pretty big thing, Keith." Lance looked genuinely surprised at this news.

"Yeah, it seems like human courting is less complicated and I figure both of us are at least part human so it makes sense."

"Are you sure you don't want to mix and match or something?" Lance pushed. Keith could tell how much it meant to him so he took a second to run over everything one more time.

"You know, there is one thing that I want to keep from the Galra tradition."

"What?"

"Hunk told me that the humans have divorce. Galra don't. We can't because the loss of a mate is unsurvivable. They have to work through all of their problems and find compromises. I'd like to keep that Galran aspect if you don't mind." When Keith looked at Lance, he could see his mind working in over drive. He didn't say anything for a while and it was almost to the point of making Keith regret speaking at all when Lance finally opened his mouth.

"You know Keith, if it was anyone else, I don't know how I would feel. But it's you, and I can't think of a better person to be stuck with forever." With a smile Lance melted away Keith's fears. "So, are hugs good?"

"As long as there is warning."

"Hey, I'm warning you that the hug train has arrived." Lance closed the distance and his armor clanged against Keith's in a short embrace. It wasn't very comfortable with the neck pieces awkwardly connecting but it was the thought that counted.

"We should start walking to the hangars or else we'll be late."

"But we aren't done?" Lance pulled away to look Keith in the eyes as he spoke.

"I've never noticed that walking rendered you speechless." Keith commented sarcastically and started moving, tossing a smirk over his shoulder.

"Hey!" Lance shouted and caught up, punching Keith lightly in the shoulder. "It does not!"

"I see that."

There was a moment of thoughtful silence between them before Keith spoke. "I really like it when you rub my ears but you can't do it when other people are around."

"Is that some sort of galra thing?"

"Yeah. It's a really intimate action done only with close family or a mate and is almost always done in private."

"Oh, wow sorry. Won't happen again."

"It's fine, you didn't know."

Another moment of silence, this time interrupted by Lance. "I'm not ready for sex."

"I'm so glad you said that." Keith let out a loud puff of air he seemed to have been holding and glanced at Lance. He looked surprised, confused. "I'm not ready either." Keith elaborated. "I've never done anything like that, and when galra have sex sometimes they go uh… A little off. Mostly if it's their first time because of the mate marking process."

"What do you mean by off?" Lance said an octave higher than his normal voice.

"Possessive. Aggressive towards others… some of them act feral during… Well you know." Keith tapped against the helmet he held in his arms.

"Do you think you will? You know, cause you're only half galra?"

"I don't think I'll be feral, but I know that I'll really want to mark you and I'm afraid of what will happen if I want to and you don't."

"Oh," was the only word Lance supplied. Keith averted his gaze, watching his boots click against the floor. "Hey." Lance's hand pulled his away from the helmet and tugged him to a stop. "This is why we're talking about these things. I'm not ready in general. I mean. I haven't even kissed a guy yet and I've only ever kissed a girl once. Maybe by the time we're ready we will both have grown and learned a bit about ourselves. Maybe I'll even be ready for the mark." Lance pushed reassurance to Keith and saw his eyes soften as he felt it.

"You're getting really good at that." Keith finally met his eyes. "And you're right. We have time, so there's no need to worry."

"Look at us, talking things out like we know what we're doing." Lance nudged him and threw an arm over his shoulder. They were getting closer now, maybe just a dobash away from joining the others in the command room that lead to the hangars.

"Speed round, go."

"Uh."

"How do you feel about pet names?" When Keith gave him a confused look Lance explained. "Cutie, babe, sweetie, love, mi cielo, precioso-"

"D-depends on the situation." Keith's face had turned bright red and his words were shaky.

"Well I'm cool with it if you toss any of those back at me."

"Okay, I like it when you explain human things to me and don't make me feel dumb when I don't get it."

"You aren't dumb for not understanding a culture you've never been a part of before."

"And I don't feel like that when you're around."

"Good. I probably should have asked this 30 seconds ago, but what about casual friendly touches like this?" He wiggled the arm he had swung over Keith's shoulder. Keith nodded.

"Kissing?" Lance asked next.

"Yes." Keith answered much faster than he had with any of the other questions.

"Now?" As soon as Lance asked, they turned corner to the command room and caught sight of the others. Pidge included. "Not now." Lance answered himself.

"Later?" Keith asked boldly. A goofy grin spread across Lance's face and he nodded as he pulled his arm back from Keith's shoulders.

"It's a date."

They joined the others in the command room and watched the castle sink into the worm hole that Allura had created before moving along to their respective lion hangars.

They reached Genopia within 10 dobashes of making contact with the planet. Rebels, Blades, and members of Voltron alike joined together to meet the Genopian contact. They seemed a little overwhelmed at first, but took it in stride and directed them to a near by tunnel for shelter from the blasting sands around them. A group of five more Genopians joined them as they followed the first down through the winding rocks.

When Keith saw the glowing orange crystals, he didn't feel the same comfort that he enjoyed before. Now all he could think about was how deceitful they were. Soft and glowing and innocent. Helpful, even, in his time of need, only to turn into his downfall when he needed help the most. He made sure to keep his distance and walk in the middle of the path. Though they couldn't affect him without skin to skin contact, he would still rather not have any interaction with them at all.

They walked long enough that they could no longer hear the howling winds from outside. Instead their ears caught sounds of low humming and laughter. They passed by a few open chambers that held families of Genopians. Some had lakes not unlike the one that Keith and Lance had crashed into. Most of them had carved out nooks in the rock that resembled homes.

The entire atmosphere of this underground world had changed in a matter of days. No more repression and anger. Just family and growth.

The group of Genopians leading the way stopped in front of a closed door, one of the only doors that Keith had seen thus far. One of them traced a pattern onto its surface and the door cracked open, shaking and shuddering until there was an opening wide enough for them to fit through.

One by one they filtered into the room which held a massive red crystal in the center. It was growing out of the ceiling and was hundreds of feet long and hundreds wide at the base. However, it tapered down to a point in the center of the room, a few feet above the ground. Directly below it there was a pedestal of orange crystal just shy a foot of touching it.

As soon as Keith stepped into the room he felt sick, nausea washing over him. The glow of the orange crystal throbbed as if to greet him and when he saw he wanted to turn around and leave.

A sturdy hand gripped his armor and he found one of the Genopians was guiding him forward. He couldn't be sure but if he had to guess it might have been the Genopian who helped him give up his crystal before.

They guided him closer to the center of the room past where everyone else was standing. Every step closer to the crystal had his stomach turning and his body aching. He started sweating as a heat over took him and, finally, he was standing directly before the crystal.

"Touch the orange and red stone at the same time. Your crystal is in the pedestal and has been cleansed, but you have not."

"Please stay back sir." A voice sounded from somewhere behind him. When he glanced back, he saw a Genopian holding Lance back. He was looking worriedly at Keith as he tried to push past the large alien.

Realizing that Lance could probably feel how the crystal was affecting Keith he closed their connection as best he could and turned back to the imposing rock before him.

With no reason not to trust the Genopian he pulled off both of his gloves and placed his hands on the crystals.

At first nothing happened. He stood there, nauseas, sweating, and pinned in place by all of the eyes on his back.

Then the world stopped existing. Everything faded away and he was standing on nothing, breathing in nothing, seeing nothing. Silence existed, he existed.

He existed.

He couldn't move.

A light flickered before him and he tried to blink when it brightened but he continued to stare.

He couldn't move.

Images rushed before him. They were familiar but he had never seen them before.

The point of view was strange and, in his mind, he knew that it was his own. He was standing and staring forward. There was nothing in front of him but a dark hallway and he knew that he had been going somewhere.

Suddenly Lance was rushing past him.

Keith wanted to reach out and touch him.

He couldn't move.

"What are you doing Keith!"

Lance's voice echoed and Keith wasn't sure if it was the light making the sound, or if it was his mind supplying the words that Lance's lips formed as he skidded to a halt.

Lance's gaze turned to something over Keith's shoulder and his face contorted into one of rage.

"Paladins. Or rather paladin. The other one isn't really here right now."

The words were chilling for a reason his mind couldn't supply. They hadn't come from Lance, someone else had spoken them with a deep smooth tone.

"What did you do to him?!"

Who?

Keith wanted to turn around and see who Lance was talking too.

He couldn't move.

"You obviously didn't come to this planet very informed. Do you even know what this is?"

Lance came closer to Keith in a protective manner. Keith tried to ask him who was talking, but to no avail.

"Ah-ah-ah. I wouldn't do that if I were you. Lance froze. Sentries, stand down. Go and quell that little rebellion that the Genopians think they can get away with." Metallic footsteps faded away. "You may have noticed that the Genopians never touched these crystals with their bare skin while mining."

Was this about his crystal? Where did he leave it again? He needed it.

"These crystals are special. They have healing properties and bind themselves to an owner-"

Lance looked into Keith's eyes, but he couldn't match his gaze which was focused on a point further up the passage.

Then Keith was moving. Lance was tugging him to a side passage and Keith didn't even get the chance to see who Lance had been talking to before he was collapsing to the ground, his knees feeling nonexistent beneath him.

All of his body feeling nonexistent.

Lance waved his hand in front of Keith's face but the words Keith tried to use to reassure him didn't move from his thoughts. They didn't exist.

He couldn't move.

"Keith come on-"

"You're not going to be able to speak to him. He can't hear you."

I can hear you. He's lying.

Keith wanted to be mad but his emotions were just out of reach, right beside his voice.

"You fix him right now!"

Dark laughter met Lance's outburst.

"Now why would I do that? I think I'll just-"

Pain.

He could feel every nerve ending in his entire body seize and burn at once. His voice spilled out of his lips suddenly in a scream and his knees shot into his chest in a spasm. Vaguely he could make out Lance's voice under his own.

"Stop! What are you doing!" And just like that the pain stopped. He couldn't speak or feel anything. He knew that he was breathing heavy but he didn't feel like he was in control of his lungs.

He couldn't move.

"I'm showing you what these crystals are capable of."

Lance was scrambling for a solution. He could see it in his eyes as he fought desperately for an answer. He took a heavy step towards the voice of the man and then suddenly all of the pain was back again and Keith's screams were surging forward.

Lance stopped. The pain stopped.

"This isn't even the best part."

Trap Him

The anger that surged threw him felt artificial and wrong.

He couldn't move as his body stood and tackled Lance to the ground and sat heavily on his stomach, growling in the back of his throat and baring his teeth. Couldn't feel anything as he grabbed Lance's arms and pinned them over his head, his shoulder cracking, causing Lance to scream and his eyes to pinch shut.

"You see, the crystals bind to a person like a mate is bound to a Kalan. You look pretty dense so I'll explain."

Lance. Kalan. This was his Kalan that he was hurting. His friend whose cheeks were darkening to a color he couldn't discern with his fully Galran eyes. But even with his Galran eyes he could see the acute fear shining back at him. Could see his sharp teeth and pupil-less eyes reflected in Lance's shiny tears.

There was a new figure on the edge of his vision. He could only see his armored feet. He tried to look up.

He couldn't move.

"When I hold this crystal, I can tell the bonded to do something and they will do it. No ifs ands or buts. It's amazing really. And just like a Kalan I don't even have to speak out loud. I just think something and then It's happening. Perfect for uncooperative races."

The words were meaningless to him. The only thing that mattered was keeping Lance still.

"Keith."

Lance's voice quivered and he tried to call back.

"I told you he can't hear you. Anyways. I'm getting bored so I think I'll move this along."

I can hear him! He's lying Lance!

Kill Him.

No!

He couldn't move.

The artificial anger was back, pumping into his mind. He fought it. He wasn't angry at Lance, he loved him.

"Come on now," the deep voice growled.

Kill. Him.

He couldn't move as he released Lance's hands and wrapped his fingers around Lance's neck. His other hand braced against the floor by his head.

He couldn't move.

Kill Him.

Anger.

Blue eyes.

Kalan. His love. His soul.

He should squeeze. Choke him.

He should kiss him.

He moved his hand away from his Kalan's neck, leaning down to nuzzle at the mate mark. There was fabric in the way. He mouthed over it, feeling his Kalan shudder. He couldn't feel any scar build up. Where was the mate mark? Why hadn't he been marked yet?

He grazed his teeth over the spot, feeling them almost vibrate in anticipation.

"Keith."

That was his mate's voice. It was wavering and unsteady like he was upset. Why? Was it because they weren't fully bonded?

He could fix that.

He pushed down harder against the fabric. In an instant his mate whimpered.

"Keith! This isn't you."

Yes, it is. He was here. Somewhere. And his other half was right below him. Soon they would be whole, they would feel whole with the mark finally in place. Why hadn't he done it sooner? Why-

There was a hand on his chest.

It pushed him away.

It belonged to his other half.

The anger didn't feel so artificial any more as he let out a furious growl. Was his soul mate rejecting him?

When he glared down at his Kalan though he didn't see rejection. He saw fear. Terror even.

It broke his heart.

Kill HIM!

-How dare his Kalan break his heart like that! He would have given him everything. Anything. He loved him with his entire being but that wasn't enough.

He couldn't move as one of his hand roughly pinned his mate's hips to the ground and the other wrapped tightly around his throat. His hand covered his entire neck and his Kalan's human hands didn't even fit all the way around his wrist.

Anger. Fury.

Hurt.

Drool started to run out of his mouth as he slapped at Keith's arm pathetically. His mouth opened and closed in an attempt to pull in air through a blocked airway. His eyes seemed unfocused but he forced himself to look at Keith. He could see how scared he was.

Suddenly though, he was feeling it.

The terror slammed into him like nothing before and his heart started to race and his lungs stopped and all of the anger from before was replaced with fear and loathing at the knowledge that he was making his soul mate feel this.

He pulled his hand from Lance's throat like it burned and pushed off of him. Lance rolled to the side, coughing and hacking and breathing in large gulps of air.

"What are you doing! Kill him! You had it, just a few seconds longer and he would be dead!" Keith could see the Galra man now. A commander based on the armor. He was holding Keith's crystal.

Lance pushed himself up shakily and grabbed something from the ground.

"Oh no you don't!" Keith watched blankly as the galra raised his crystal up threateningly. When Lance didn't stop moving, he dug his sharp nails deep into the crystal.

Pain. Again.

It had him curling in on himself and pinching his eyes.

And screaming. So much screaming.

And then it was over and he could see again. There was Lance, holding Keith's Bayard, blocking the commander's sword. His other arm hung limply by his side and Keith knew, he could just tell, that Lance wasn't going to win this fight. Something in him could see how weak he was, how tired.

His crystal was on the ground, but that didn't matter.

He was moving.

Lance managed to push the blade to the side and gain a moment of reprieve before the commander raised his own sword up and sneered.

"You piece of-"

And in that moment Keith broke through and tackled the commander to the ground. It took everything he had to do that and he found himself out of motivation once he was on the ground. Once again, he was immobile, but this time he was useful- keeping the commander on the ground with his dead weight alone.

He watched blankly as the commander stretched his fingers to grab Keith's crystal by his side. He could hear a swishing sound behind him to his left where Lance was before a sword was swinging down hard onto the commander's outstretched arm.

The sound of bone meeting metal was sickening and the screams were piercing.

Lance snatched the crystal from the commander's useless hand and stared at Keith. After a moment he shook his head, as if remembering something, and placed the crystal on his cheek.

Follow me.

Keith couldn't move, but he followed Lance. He shoved Keith's Bayard into his hand and Keith grabbed it.

They made it around the corner when Lance ran into Hunk. They spoke quickly, Lance sounding relieved to have found another paladin.

Keith just awaited his next order.

"Where are your helmets?"

"I'll get them. Tell the others that we'll meet them in the main mine."

With that Lance was pulling him away. They went into a holding cell where two helmets laid on the floor. Lance picked one up and tossed the other to Keith.

He didn't catch it.

He bent down to pick it up, because that had been the point, right? For him to hold the helmet.

Lance approached him like he was dangerous. He was shorter than Keith right now, which was strange. Lance was surely taller than him. Keith's human form was short after… He wasn't human right now? He was Galra.

Lance stood half a step away appraising him. When he met Keith's eye he shuddered and looked away. The dejection was easy to read.

So was the way his slumped shoulders suddenly straightened and his head snapped up. He had an idea. Lance pulled Keith's crystal from his pocket. Without ceremony he slapped it against Keith's bare skin and suddenly-

He didn't exist anymore.

His vision blacked out instantly and all sound disappeared.

He wasn't standing on anything. There was nothing around him.

He couldn't move.

It was numbing. The loss of sense. It wasn't like floating or anything peaceful.

It was terrifying.

It was terrifying to not exist.

The panic had only a moment to set in before his vision returned.

He was standing in front of a massive red crystal, an orange crystal pedestal below it. His hands were touching both. He was panting. His heart was racing. His chest was hurting.

But he could move.

He forced himself to turn around and meet the room's eyes. All were on him. He wondered for a moment if the Genopians knew anything about privacy, but all of his thoughts halted when he saw Lance. He was in the same place as before, a Genopian holding him back with a hand on his chest plate and a worried look on his face.

Keith tried to shoot him a reassuring smile but felt his knees weaken and give out a bit. The Genopian by his side stopped him from falling to the floor and he thanked them quietly.

Lance and Hunk both rushed over, quickly followed by Pidge and Shiro. Thace and Kolivan were next, then Chorrol. At some point the entire group just shifted closer.

"Are you alright?" Hunk asked and pulled him the rest of his way to his feet. Lance handed Keith his gloves which he had thrown to the ground earlier and Keith quickly put them on. There was no way he was risking touching another damn crystal.

"Yeah." Keith answered Hunk, forcing himself to stand tall. Lance put his hand on his shoulder.

"What happened?" Lance asked Keith, as if he knew the answer.

The Genopian answered for him, "He just saw everything that the crystal blocked from his memory. Everything that happened while he was under its control."

Lance grit his teeth but didn't remove his hand. A show of forgiveness.

"So, he just got his memories back?" Pidge confirmed. The Genopian nodded.

"Can you explain how that works?" Pauli, the rebel leader spoke up.

"The red crystal, which we call the Lark, acks like a key to the Polenit crystals, the orange ones." When a few people raised their eyebrows at the vague description the Genopian continued. "We believe that at one point all of the polenit crystals were connected to the Lark. Eventually a piece of the Lark broke off and the piece that landed in the ground spread itself to other parts of our planet. When a polenit crystal binds to a person it has various affects- Healing, DNA modification, and mind control. The Lark doesn't change those things, it just shows the polenit user what's been happening behind the scenes."

"And how did you cleanse his crystal?" Pauli asked.

"We bound it to the Lark to weaken the connection, then we soaked it in a dissolving fluid until all traces of DNA were removed. Then we rebound it to the Lark, which reset it."

There was silence. No one moved except to share uneasy glances with the ones beside them. This was going to be difficult.

Even if they could find a way to get crystals away from Galra soldiers, the process of cleansing them was long and tedious.

"Are there more of these Lark stones?" Kolivan asked.

The Genopian shook their head. "No, this is the only one and it is revered in our culture."

"Would you mind if I ran some tests on it?" Pidge asked. The Genopian seemed wary. "I won't hurt it or anything, I would just bring some equipment down and hook it up, read its vitals or whatever."

"I suppose that would be acceptable."

Pidge grinned. "Great. Me and my team will get started on bringing it down."

Boy did they have their work set out for them.