"You hot-wired a bus." Shiro said as Keith climbed into the car behind him.
"Uh-huh." Keith mumbled, staring down at his hands.
"What was the thing you wanted to prove when you did it?" Shiro asked, glancing back at Keith.
"Don't wanna talk about it." Keith grumbled, slouching in his seat.
"The only way to move on is to discuss it. I don't want to be the pushy guy, but it seems like the best way to mend old wounds."
Keith was silent for a moment, and Shiro wondered if he had said the wrong thing.
"We were visiting the grave sight." Keith whispered, so quietly that he could hardly be heard over the roar of the engine. "To honor fallen veterans in World War IV. We went to the monastery that housed Dad's grave. I told them…I told the teachers that I wouldn't be able to handle going there. But they made me go anyway. I ended up standing in front of Dad's grave…and something inside just snapped." Keith closed his eyes, not wanting to continue. "I stole a bus, and got as far away from there as I could. I was just about to…to just…"
"Keith, are you okay?" Shiro asked, thankful that there was a red light so he could turn to look at the American kid.
"…I wasn't. Not then. I missed Dad so much that I was ready to end everything…I was driving straight for the empty building when the police arrived." Keith curled up, closing his eyes while he remembered. "That was the worst day of my life, but not because I got expelled for two weeks. Because I…I was…"
Shiro reached back, putting a hand on Keith's knee. "I'm sorry. No kid should have to go through that."
Keith blinked at Shiro, his eyes wet with tears. "I miss him so much…" he whimpered.
"I know." Shiro told him gently. "I miss my own father everyday."
Keith cracked a smile. "I can't decide if you're more of a father or brother."
"I think of myself as a-" A horn blast interrupted Shiro, and he started, realizing that the light was green. "Dang it." He hissed, starting forward again.
Keith smiled, finding Shiro's sudden change in attitude hilarious.
When he was younger, Keith's father often told him of a wish he had, a dream that seemed magical. Keith's father had always taken him out at nighttime, pointing at the stars, the moon shining down on their faces.
"Keith." His father would say, "you know how you've always wanted to be a pilot?"
"Yeah." Keith would respond, knowing full well what was coming.
"Keith. There's more up there then just stars." His father would continue, putting an arm around his son's small shoulders. "Your mother's up there. She's waiting for us to join her. And, one day, under God's loving eye, we'll all meet and be a family again."
"Is mom an angel?" Little, naïve Keith would ask, believing that his mother was something wonderful.
"Ha, ha. Well, she came from the sky, and she had the prettiest voice you could imagine. And, oh, I often asked the Lord if I was dreamin' when I looked at her heavenly face. So, Keith, what do you think?"
"I think she was an angle!" Keith would croon. "And she gave up her physical form so I could come into this world!"
Keith's father would laugh, squeezing his son tightly. Then, glancing up, he would murmur, "your mother really was something else."
And Keith would smile and lean into his father's arms…
"Keith. We're here." Shiro touched Keith's leg gently, and the boy jerked awake. When had he fallen asleep?
"Okay." Keith nodded, unbuckling himself. He gazed up at the all-too familiar building, frowning. He had been here so many times…each time more depressing then the last.
As they entered, the secretary waved to them, smiling kindly. "Hello! Dip-, uh, Mason will be with you in just a moment." She told them, ringing the man in question to inform him of his new guests.
Then she walked over to Keith, holding out a straw basket to him, filled with lollipops. "Have one while you wait!"
Keith glanced up at her, then grabbed a red one, unwrapping it so it looked like a superhero, the stick being the body, the wrapper still loosely hanging on like a cape, and the candy being the head.
Keith looked at it, almost longingly, before putting it in his mouth as he stared out over the waiting room. How he hated this place, with its seemingly looming walls that seemed to whisper 'Failure. Nobody wants an orphan boy like you.'
Keith shuddered, sinking lower into his seat.
"It's okay, Keith." Shiro said quietly, putting a hand on his shoulder. "This time it's not you switching families or taking an adoption interview. Right now, it's going to be a happy occasion."
Keith blinked at Shiro, nodding. "Yeah. Um…thanks."
"No problem. I have some other business to attend to, here, so you may have to wait in here for a little bit after our meeting with Mason."
"Okay." Keith nodded, not really wanting to ask what the 'business' was.
A few minutes later, they were allowed into Mason's office, and he greeted them readily, smiling. "Hi, Keith. Congratulations on being accepted into the Galaxy Garrison."
"Thanks, Mr. Pines." Keith nodded, sitting down on one of the chairs opposite the director of the RFCF, Shiro sitting down beside him.
Keith and Shiro waited while he read through the papers, chewing on a pen while he did so. He signed each paper with the same pen, and Keith wondered if any of his slobber ever got on the paper or ruined the ink.
Mason finally pushed over his signatures, giving them a double thumbs-up. "There we go. Have a good time at the Garrison, study hard, work hard."
Keith nodded, glancing at Shiro curiously.
"Head on out, Keith." Shiro smiled. "I'll be out with you in a moment."
Keith left the room, walking down the hall slowly. Normally he would be heading towards Mrs. Pines, Mason's wife, car, waiting for her to take him to another family that would try to manage his 'demon attributes'. But now he was heading towards his future. A future that looked epic, yet secure.
And, by-dang-it, he was ready to face it.