Marco sat in front of his tripod. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The rest of his family was downstairs, preparing for the dinner with the other parents. Marco could hear his mother cooking in the kitchen. He heard his father and brother cleaning the garden outside and someone else was vacuum cleaning. The house was as lively as ever, but is it was still missing something, or rather someone. Marco stood up and walked over to the mirror for the hundredth time. He flattened his short curls absently as he went through all everything he wanted to say.
Marco sat back down on the desk chair. He'd connected his camera to his laptop. Everything was ready. Marco had wanted to make this video for a long time, but he never had the courage to actually do it. This time, it was going to be a livestream. No editing, no hesitating, no chickening out.
A soft breeze came through the open window. He was ready. Marco started the livestream with a click of his mouse. He made sure to greet his fans with a bright smile. 'Hola mis armores!' he said. 'I know you guys were expecting a new video, but I've decided to do a live show because I wanted to tell you guys something that's very personal and important. I've wanted to tell you guys earlier, but the time never seemed right. So yeah today- Oh I forgot to tweet the announcement! One sec.' Marco grabbed his phone and opened Twitter. Hey guys! He typed. Come join my livestream. I have something very important to say… And sent.
Marco answered a few comments while he waited for more of his fans to come online. 'No, I'm not quitting Youtube', he answered with a chuckle. 'And no, this isn't my coming out video. I completely support the LGBTQIA+ community, but I'm just a boring straight guy… I think.' A million people were watching now. It was time to begin.
'Okay, so imma start now', Marco announced. 'I-' Marco was nervous. His heart was beating faster and his palms were starting to get clammy. 'I- okay, this is harder than I thought it would be.' He took a deep breath and tried again. 'I wanted to tell you guys about my brother. Not Luis- you guys already know him- but Lance. He's the one some of you asked about when I posted that family picture some time ago. There have been a lot of conspiracy theories going around online and I'm going to clear the air. Lance is my older brother, he's the third child in our family. He's the one who encouraged me to start a YouTube channel, and he was the one who helped me film and edit my first video. He was a great help since I didn't have all these equipment back then. Lance he… he's funny, caring, and basically just the best brother I can have- sorry Luis.' And now the hard part, Marco thought. 'Lance was a student at the garrison. He was a fighter pilot, chasing his dream to explore the stars one day. But then-' Marco could feel himself choke up a bit- 'he went missing. Last year, there was an incident at Garrison, maybe you guys saw it on the news. But uhm.' Marco had to pause for a few seconds before he could continue. 'After the incident, a couple of Garrison agent knocked on our door and told us that Lance snuck out of his dorm during an emergency lockdown. They told us that he's missing along with Hunk, his best friend, and Pidge, another student. It's been a year since they've gone missing, and-' there were tears streaming down his face. It was a bit embarrassing, but when he glanced over at the comments, his fans were nothing but supportive. He dried his tears with his shirt. 'A couple of weeks ago, Sam Holt, the leader of the Kerberos mission, who everyone thought was dead, came back to earth. The government and the Garrison have both been very vague and secretive about everything. But Sam dropped by last week and he brought us a video message from Lance. In the message, Lance said that he was part of Voltron, and they were doing their best to free the universe from furry space Nazis called the Galra. I- I don't know what I should believe. His message seemed a bit far stretched to me, but it's the only thing we have. Part of me hopes that it's true, because that means that Lance is living his dream. But another part of me worries that maybe he's stuck in a criminal gang and the message was his only way to call for help.' Marco sighed, he should wrap it up. He needed to help his mother with dinner. 'Anyway guys-' He was cut off by a gust of wind coming through the window. The house shook and Marco could hear loud whirring outside. 'What the…' Marco dashed to the window, he couldn't believe what he saw: Five gigantic mechanical lions were standing (sitting?) in abuelo's field and- oh shit, is abuelo running towards them with his shotgun?!
Marco plucked his camera from his tripod and grabbed his portable Wi-Fi router, cursing under his breath as he rushed out of the house.
Marco stood next to Veronica when the gunshots stopped. He made sure that he was filming everything. There were people coming out of the lions' mouths. Were they aliens? Marco stopped thinking about it when he finally understood what his mom was shouting. Lance was home.
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Marco plugged his phone into the charger. He'd turned it off earlier. It was a family night, the internet could wait. Marco passed Lance's room on his way to the bathroom. The door was closed, but he could still hear the bickering. It was good to have his brother back.
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Lance didn't know why he ever thought that this was a good idea. He had only been in the same room with Keith for ten minutes and they had already argued twice. The first time about the sleeping arrangements, Lance had insisted that Keith would get the bed because he was the guest and mamá didn't raise an impolite son. But Keith had dumped his bag on the extra mattress on the floor and ended the (somewhat one-sided) argument. Their second argument was about whether they should open the window ('It's hot in here, Lance. You want us to suffocate?' 'The window screen has a hole in it, Keith. We'll be sucked dry by the mosquitos. Just keep the door open.'). Lance was proud to say that he won that argument. Needless to say, Lance could handle their bickering. But he couldn't handle Keith snooping around in his room.
Keith frowned as he reached out to grab a piece of paper from the desk. Lance's heart stopped when he remembered what was on it. He yelped and threw a towel in Keith's face before he jumped off his bed and snatched the paper out of Keith's hand.
'Go take a shower', he told Keith, pushing him out of the room. 'You smell.' Keith simply shrugged and walked towards the bathroom. Once he was gone, Lance carefully placed the piece of paper –which definitely didn't have a doodle of him and Shiro standing next to a spaceship on it- in his old biology textbook. Keith returned ten minutes later and nothing could've prepared Lance for the sight of Keith standing at the doorway, wearing nothing but a too short towel around his waist. Lance didn't stare at the way Keith's dark hair hung in front of his eyes, dripping beads of water onto his bare chest and gliding down to his toned abs, and of course, Lance didn't let his eyes wander further before mentally berating himself and storming out of the room blushing madly… He definitely didn't go back to his room a moment later because he forgot his towel.
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Lance bolted upright in bed when the alarm blared in his ear. He jumped out of bed, ready to suit-up and head to the bridge. In his still half asleep state, Lance noticed two things: one, his room was brighter than usual, which was strange since he was in space; two, the ground beneath his feet was moving. The ground jerked and Lance lost his balance, he was wide awake the moment his head hit the soft bed. Where was he? Lance heard groaning and he turned his head towards the sound. Why was Keith lying on the ground? Disorientated, Lance took in his surroundings before the memories of the night before came back to him. He was home! He was sharing a room with Keith and- 'Dude,' Lance drawled, looking down at Keith, 'your abs are rock hard! Did you even feel me stepping on you?'
'Of course I felt that', Keith scowled. 'You jumped on me. Now turn that fucking alarm off.'
'Oh yeah.' Lance hit the snooze button before found the switch to turn it off completely. 'Why did it even go off?' Lance mused. 'I didn't set it yesterday.'
'I adjusted the clock last night', Keith said. 'I must've accidentally set the alarm as well.'
Lance smirked. 'Keith Kogane, the Garrison's golden boy, defender of the universe, can't even properly adjust a clock.'
'Shut up.'
The smell of coffee and breakfast drifted into the room. Lance's stomach started to rumble. He hopped off the bed, careful not to step on Keith again, and walked over to the dresser. 'Race you downstairs!' Lance called out, before pulling open a drawer, grabbing a random shirt and stepping into yesterday's jeans. He was still struggling with his pants when he hopped out into the hallway. Lance could hear Keith rushing behind him. 'Wait! I don't have a clean shirt!' The black paladin called after him. Lance smirked. 'Just grab one of mine!' Lance called back as he rushed down the stairs.
The sight of his mother cooking was one he'd taken for granted before. Lance leaned against the doorway, just watching and listening for a moment. He could hear the waves hitting the shores in the background. The ocean breeze came through the open door, bringing the salty smell of the sea with it. Lance's mother walked over to him and greeted him with a hug. She tiptoed to kiss him on his forehead. 'Good morning, mijo', she smiled. Lance pulled his mother into another hug. 'Morning, mamá', he said. 'Do you need help?'
'I'm almost done', his mother answered. 'Go set the table.'
'Sí mamá.''Lance grabbed the plates from the cupboard and carried them to the dining table. 'Oh, and Lance?' His mother called. Lance set the plates down before turning to look at her. 'Don't flirt that loud this early in the morning', she said with a wink. 'Abuelo y abluela need their rest.' Lance's cheeks heated up as he sputtered to find a response. Luckily, the others were starting to come down the stairs, so Lance did what he did best: pretend like nothing happened.
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Lance almost spit out his orange juice when Keith entered the room. 'Oh my god', he wheezed. 'Is that my grumpy cat t-shirt?' Keith's frown was exactly like the cat's on his shirt. Lance quickly snapped a picture with his phone and sent it to Pidge and Hunk. 'It's the only thing that fits', Keith grumbled as he sat down next to Lance. 'Keep it', Lance told him, still snickering. 'It suits you.' The shirt was Luis', but he passed it down to Lance. The last time Lance wore it, it was still too big, but now it would probably fit perfectly. Lance looked down at his own shirt. It was too short and a bit tight. He had to buy some new clothes soon, or steal some of Luis'. Who would've thought that he'd get his growth spurt in space? It must've been the goo.
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Lance wasn't used to family breakfasts anymore. The conversations were light and relaxed, but Lance kept expecting someone to bring up the next battle plan or some scientific rant that went way over his head. He expected to taste nunvil or something equally disgusting when he takes a sip of his cup but was always met with sweet juice or coffee instead. Everything was familiar, and yet so different. Lance knew it would take him some time before he was completely readjusted to earth again, he'd known it before they were even close to coming home. So he joined the conversation and he joked like he always did. That way, his family wouldn't worry more than they already did.
Lance's hand shot to his side when the door suddenly slammed, only to find that he wasn't carrying his Bayard. He saw Keith and Krolia react as well. 'Sorry!' Luis called from the hallway. 'It's windy outside.' Lance relaxed again. He mentally curses himself for reacting like that. A moment later, Luis entered the room, giving both Leah and Sofía a kiss as he passed. 'Where did you go?' Lance asked, hoping that his voice sounded normal. 'Went for a jog on the beach', Luis answered, taking a piece of toast from Veronica's plate. She slapped his hand in protest. 'Need to keep in shape. Cosmo is an amazing jogging partner by the way, though he kept teleporting away when he got distracted.'
'You're sweaty', Veronica told Luis when he tried to steal her coffee. 'Go take a shower first.'
'It's true', Leah agreed. Luis placed a hand on his heart and faked being hurt by their words. 'You'll get the leftovers when you're done.' Leah joked. 'Now hurry.'
'Now I know where you get your personality from', Keith said, just loud enough for Lance to hear. Lance was about to get defensive, but the words died when he saw the gentle smile on Keith's face. 'And I finally know where you got yours from', Lance smiled, looking at Keith and Krolia's matching expressions.
'What do you mean?' Keith asked, as oblivious as always.
'Nothing', Lance shrugged, earning himself a playful shoulder shove from Keith. Lance caught Veronica's eye across the table. She gave him a knowing smirk. Lance stuck his tongue out at her.
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Lance was clearing the table with Marco when Luis came down again. 'Your food is on the kitchen counter', mamá told Luis.
'Thanks, ma', Luis said, walking into the kitchen. 'Hey Marco, is this your phone?' He asked when he sat down, he held up a buzzing phone. 'It's been going off non-stop.'
'Yeah, I know', Marco answered, taking it from Luis. 'It's been like that since I turned it on earlier, and honestly, I'm too scared to check now.' Lance, being the heroic older –and definitely not overly curious- brother that he was, offered to check it for Marco. 'The password is still your birthday, right?' Lance asked. Marco nodded. But before Lance could do anything, Keith called from the living room, 'Lance, you have to see this.'
'Not now, mullet man!' Lance called back. 'I'm helping Marco.'
'No, Lance, you really have to see this', Veronica urged. Lance sighed and handed the buzzing phone back to Marco before he walked over to the couch. Leah, Sofía, and Veronica were sitting on the couch, while Keith, Krolia, and his father were standing nearby. They were all staring intensely at the TV. 'What's going on?' Lance frowned. 'You guys are on literally every news channel on this planet.' Veronica told him, switching from one channel to the other. She was right, the only thing Lance saw were footages of him, his team or the lions. Where did they get it from?
'Did they credit my video?' Marco asked. 'I swear, if they didn't…'
'Of course they did', Veronica answered. 'Well, most of them did.'
'Wait', Lance said, looking at his siblings. 'What's going on? What video?' Marco and Veronica were too busy arguing about copyrights to pay attention to him, so Leah explained everything. 'Marco's a famous youtuber now', she told Lance while she pulled Sofía back onto her lap. 'And apparently he posted a video of your arrival and now the world is freaking out because aliens exist.'
'CNN is still debating whether is real or not', papá said, 'Fox News is having the time of their lives, and the Garrison refuses to give a statement. It's the same for the White House. But apparently, the UN is having an emergency meeting so people believe that Voltron is real.'
'Wow', was all that Lance could manage. Then, after processing everything, he turned to Krolia. 'Is there some kind of protocol for this? I mean, this never happened before. All those planets basically accepted Voltron right after we arrived.'
'All those planets were enslaved by the Galra, of course they accepted Voltron', Keith said.
'Keith's right', Krolia said. 'Earth has never been invaded by anyone. This corner of the galaxy has been left alone by all other civilizations, it's only natural that they react like this. And there's no protocol. The Blade operates in the shadows, we do our best to avoid these situations.'
'HOLY SHIT!' Marco exclaimed suddenly behind them. 'MY VIDEO HAS A BILLION VIEWS!'
'Oh my god, give me your phone', Veronica demanded. 'I need to see it.' She tried to grab Marco's phone but he stepped away. 'My subscribers tripled, I have three hundred new emails, nine hundred messages, eighty missed calls, and my Instagram and Twitter have crashed because of all the DM's, tags, and retweets', Marco said, gawping at his phone.
Lance was startled by his own ringtone. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and answered it. 'Hello?'
'Does your TV have Wi-Fi?'
'Well, good morning to you too, Pidge', Lance said sarcastically. He could hear Pidge sigh through the phone. 'C'mon Lance, answer the question', they said impatiently. 'I don't know', Lance answered honestly. 'I think it does. Why?'
'That's not important right now', they answered. 'Is your phone connected to the Wi-Fi?'
'My phone has Wi-Fi?' Lance didn't think that his phone would have that feature. 'Did Alteans have Wi-Fi?' Lance could practically hear Pidge roll their eyes. 'They had a similar variation of it. But I updated it before I gave it to you. Now hurry up.' They hung up the phone. 'Wow,' Lance muttered, 'rude.' But he still did as Pidge instructed. Luckily, no one changed the Wi-Fi password while he was away. The TV froze right after he connected to the Wi-Fi. A moment later, a familiar icon showed up on the screen. 'Is it supposed to do that?' Luis asked. He walked over to his wife and lifted Sofía into his arms.
'Don't worry', Lance said. 'That's just Pidge hacking our TV.' Pidge's face popped up on the screen right after the words left his mouth. 'Can you see me?' They asked.
'Yeah', Lance answered.
'Great', Pidge said. 'Can you balance your phone on the TV? We're using the camera and the mic.'
'Sure.' Lance threw his phone at Keith, who caught it effortlessly, and told him to do what Pidge said. One by one, the faces of the Voltron team members showed up on the screen. Shiro was the first one to speak. 'All secure?' He asked.
'Yes', Pidge answered. 'No one can tap in on our conversations. But you guys need to keep an eye out if you head out, I'm pretty sure the Garrison and other agencies are spying on us.'
'I hate it when people spy on me', Hunk grumbled. 'Don't we deserve some privacy?'
'Says the one who read my diary', Pidge said pointedly.
'But that was different', Hunk argued. Lance huffed a laugh. 'You can't talk your way out of this one, buddy', Lance told him.
Keith cleared his throat. 'Let get to the point', he said. Lance mentally rolled his eyes. Always the serious one, he thought. 'We need to discuss our next move', Shiro said. 'Voltron is on every single media platform, people are demanding answers. But we can't go in without a plan.'
'They have to understand that we're not the bad guys here', Lance said. 'If we can get Earth to join the coalition, then we can set up base here until we rebuild the castle.'
'That might not be as easy as we hope', Allura said. 'This is the first time your planet has come in contact with anyone outside its own solar system. It's perfectly reasonable if they don't want to join our coalition. We can't force them to participate in a war they're not involved in.'
'Does it mean we'll have to leave if they refuse?' Hunk asked anxiously. 'We just got back, I don't want to leave yet.'
'We're not sure what their final answer will be', Shiro said calmly. 'But we have to prepare for the worst if necessary. They won't be able to ignore us this time since we've managed to make ourselves known.'
'Yeah', Pidge agreed. 'Apparently, someone caught us on film, I think it was a youtuber or something. I didn't have the time to check it out yet, but it's pretty much everywhere.' Lance pulled Marco closer and ruffled the boy's hair. 'Marco did it', Lance announced proudly. 'He's gotten pretty famous while we were gone.'
'I'm sorry', Marco apologized. 'I should've asked before I filmed it. I'm really sorry if it brought you guys more trouble.'
'Don't worry about it', Shiro reassured him. 'They can't hide us from the world like they tried the last time now everyone knows. If we have the public's support, it can work in our favor.'
'When are we supposed to talk to the world leaders?' Keith asked. 'They probably want answers as soon as possible.' Sam's face appeared on the screen. Pidge moved to give him more space. 'The Garrison contacted me this morning. We've agreed to meet tomorrow morning at the UN headquarters in New York so they'll have the time to prepare.'
'But what are we going to say?' Lance asked. 'Shiro, you're the leader. Any ideas?'
'Technically', Shiro said, 'Keith's the leader.'
'No', Keith argued. 'I left the team, you're the leader.'
'Can we sort this out later?' Pidge asked. 'You know, when we're sure we won't be kicked out of this planet?'
'Pidge is right', Allura said. 'This is no time to argue. Coran, Shiro, and I will prepare the speech today and send everything to each one of you. I know it can intimidating now you're back on your home planet, but this is just like every other diplomatic mission we've been on. Keep that in mind.' The paladins nodded. 'So we can just relax today?' Hunk asked. 'I kinda feel bad about letting you guys do all the work.'
'Don't be', Shiro told him with a gentle smile. 'Enjoy this peace while you can. We'll sort this out.'
'Oh, and before we end this call', Pidge said. 'The connections on our phones are secured so no one will be able to hack into them, and I've made some modifications to the helmets since we're not all under the same room anymore. They're now connected to my scanners, so they will sound an alarm when my scanners pick up any distress signal or any dire request from the rebels.'
'Great job, Pidge', Shiro praised. 'We'll keep you guys updated.' And with that, they ended the call. No one said a word for a while, only Sofía, who didn't understand the conversation continued to play with her stuffed dolphin.
'So, you're not staying', Veronica said, breaking the silence. She sounded betrayed. Lance didn't answer. 'You're just a kid, mijo', his father said. 'You should be studying, not fighting. Let someone else fight the war.' Everyone seemed to agree with him. They all tried to talk him out of continuing the fight. All except Krolia, Keith, and Luis. Because they knew what it was like.
Lance didn't know what to say. He'd had this conversation in his mind a thousand times before, but now he couldn't find the words. His family continued to try and talk sense into him, telling him about the dangers and all the other things he already knew. 'Stop', Lance said finally. 'Please, just stop.' They did. 'I know what you're thinking, and I know the risks. But I can't let someone else fight in my place, it isn't right. We're close to winning the war and bringing peace to the universe and I can't quit- no, I won't quit before we've done exactly that. I don't expect you to understand right now, I just want you to respect my choice.' Lance took a deep breath. He wanted to get out of the house and sit by the ocean. 'So, yeah, there's a chance that I might have to leave sooner than I wanted, but doesn't that mean that we should enjoy our time together instead of arguing?' It fell quiet again. His father sighed. 'You've grown, Lance', he said. 'And I don't know whether that's a good thing or not. But you're right. We should stop wasting our time on arguments.'
Lance smiled. 'Gracias papá.'
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Keith loved the way the wind blew in his face as he sped past the sand dunes. His mom held on to his waist as they made their way to their old home, neither of them spoke. Keith could see his shack in the far distance.
They stepped off the speeder when they arrived. Krolia kept her eyes fixed on the empty space next to the shed. 'It's really gone', she said softly. Keith didn't know what to say, so he said nothing. 'It was the only place I ever thought of as home', his mom said after a while. 'I'm sorry, Keith. I left you alone.'
'I've already forgiven you a long time ago', Keith said. 'Not much was left after the fire, but I saved what I could.' Krolia nodded and they walked over to the shack. Keith was lost in his thoughts. They'd visited the graveyard earlier. It was weird to see his father's headstone again after all these years. He'd never thought that he'd visit it with his mom. In the two years that Keith spent with his mother, he'd learned that she wasn't one to let her emotions show, just like him. So he was a caught off guard when he saw the tears glimmering in her eyes in the graveyard. He'd left her alone to given her time to grieve privately. But now he wondered whether he should've stayed. Keith had never been good with words and comforting others, so maybe it was the right thing to do.
Keith's hoverbike was exactly where he left it. Keith pulled the cover off. His mother walked over to take a good look at it. 'Your father loved this bike.' She said with a fond smile. 'He'd spend hours fixing and waxing this thing.' Keith remembered it as well. His dad was the one who taught him the basics of mechanics. Those were his fondest memories of his father. 'It broke not long after he died', Keith said. 'It stayed here for a few years, but Shiro and I fixed it up one summer and now it's working perfectly again.' They spend the rest of the day talking. She even showed him the place where she crash-landed her jet.
Krolia told him to go back first when the sun was finally setting. She'd head back later, she said. She kissed him goodbye -something he was still getting used to- before he mounted his speeder again. Keith took a huge detour on the way back. It was already pretty dark when he arrived back at the McClain's family farm. The hoverbike was still nowhere to be seen, meaning that Krolia hadn't returned yet. Keith looked up at the starry sky. It was weird knowing what it was like to live out there between the stars. He shook himself out of his thought before entering the house.
It was dark and quiet inside, everyone was probably already asleep. There was a light on in the kitchen. Two plates with dinner were left on the kitchen counter with a note next to it: Don't forget to eat dinner! You can warm it up in the microwave. – Maria.
Keith smiled at the kind gesture. He grabbed a plate and fork and started eating, not bothering to warm it up. He did the dishes after he finished and sneaked up the stairs, careful not to make any sound. He brushed his teeth in the bathroom and walked into the bedroom. Lance stirred in his sleep and woke up when Keith accidentally bumped into a drawer while changing. 'You're back', Lance said sleepily, sitting up in the bed.
'Go back to sleep', Keith told him.
'I wasn't sleeping', Lance mumbled.
'Liar', Keith snorted.
'I was just resting my eyes for a bit okay', Lance huffed. 'I had a very adventurous day.'
'Really?' Keith asked, sitting down on his mattress. 'Tell me about it.'
'I went to Varadero beach with Marco', Lance told him. Keith could vaguely see him smiling in the dark. 'He told me he wanted to film a video at the beach, and we had to do it in Cuba, obviously. A lot of people recognized us. Well, they recognized Marco, I was just his strange alien brother. But we didn't deny them the pictures. And when we got back, Veronica insisted that we did something cool as well, because she missed our brother-sister time together, so we went to Paris for a pedicure.'
'You what?!' Keith whisper shouted.
'Yeah, we crossed the Atlantic in like half an hour', Lance continued. 'It was really nice.'
'Do you even speak French?' Keith asked.
'No, but Veronica does', Lance said. 'Sort of. She joined some club in college, I don't really know the details.'
'We were supposed to lie low, Lance', Keith sighed. 'Flying across the world to get a pedicure isn't exactly lying low.'
'Yeah, I know', Lance said, lying back down. He laid on his side to face Keith. 'Shiro called, he sounded pretty pissed. But I made it up to him by bringing him fresh croissants and macarons. I dropped some off at Pidge's and Hunk's as well. Yours is somewhere on the desk.' Keith could see Lance's eyes drooping. 'How was your day?' Lance asked.
'You're tired', Keith said. 'Just sleep.'
'No, I'm not', Lance protested. 'I'm listening with my eyes closed. I'm very talented, you know.'
'Yeah, you sure are', Keith smiled.
'Now tell me about your day', Lance urged. So Keith did. He told Lance about his dad, his mom, the visit to the graveyard, and even about the talk with his mom in the shack. 'You've changed', Lance mumbled when Keith finished. 'You're more open about your feelings.' He paused, and Keith thought he might've fallen asleep, but then he added, 'I'm glad you found your mom.' Keith heard soft snores coming from the bed a moment later. Keith laid down on his own bed and closed his eyes. For some reason, he wasn't able to fight the smile that was tugging on his lips.