Keith examined you from afar, watching you as you interacted with Hunk. Hunk was making all these gestures with his hands, looking down at you as you laughed into your own hand. His grin faded as Lance came up behind him and said something probably annoying by the look of Hunk's face, but you were still laughing. Pidge got up from the couch, holding up some device and said something that made Hunk smile and nod in agreement before they all started laughing together.

A lot of laughing lately…

Keith stood in the door frame, arms crossed as he took in the scene. No one seemed to notice he was there, or if they did they didn't say anything.

It looks like you're really starting to fit in.

But Keith's bad feeling never settled from the first time he came in contact with you. He wasn't sure yet what was going on, but there was something wrong with you. He didn't trust you, even though it seemed like everyone else did. You fit in like a glove there-

But so did Lotor, for a while, and look where that got them. So did that Shiro clone. It's like everything is restarting from the very beginning. Had they really not learned anything? You looked human, but were you? How would you have gotten this deep into space, anyhow? Why have they stopped asking questions? Did you really have no memories at all?

When Voltron fought against Voltron, how were you able to predict their moves? The fight had been a impossible one- let's face it, Voltron, against twelve Galra ships, alone? There's just no way that could have worked. Especially without the Castle of Lions, and especially not when Haggar seemed to be on their side.

This was a trick. Keith didn't trust you and he was sure he had good reasons not to. Whether you were some fake human Haggar made up, or just a pilot with amnesia, he was going to find out. He'd talked about his suspicions with Shiro and was glad he wasn't the only one feeling off.

"I get headaches around them a lot, but it could be a coincidence. I don't want to make any assumptions, but they do have a aura around them that I just can't wrap my head around…" he said.

He hated to do it, but some investigation was in order.

.

What are you supposed to be doing right now? You looked down at your hands, watched them glow white as a piece of paper, unable to see your skin. You still weren't used to it.

You'd been formulating a plan to help Kuron, but the problem was that you have to wait for something to trigger him for him to come out. He could turn into Kuron when you weren't around, or turn back into Shiro mid-conversation. It was extremely inconvenient, but that's why it is important to help him get his own body. And yet you still don't know how to summon him.

Summon him, ha, sounds like we're trying to take the demons out of Shiro.

"Raider!" You hear your name called from behind you.

Shiro's standing at the entrance to the lobby with his arms crossed and a distinct frown on his face. This time you knew it was Shiro because his iris were round instead of sharp and cutting. Kuron couldn't help having such evil looking eyes, he was made that way. But you guess so is everyone…

"Would you care to walk with me for a bit?" And then he smiled, despite the dip in his brows.

"Did I do something?" You ask after walking a bit with Shiro by your side. The sky was bright, as always, and resembled a Earth afternoon, whatever that looked like where you lived. They should change it up. Wasn't there an episode where Coran learned about rain or something? Shiro wasn't too in the mood for talking about the weather, though, it seemed.

"Oh, no, no," he shook his head and smiled naturally. "I just wanted to see how you were doing."

"And we had to leave the hotel for that?'" you rose a fictional eyebrow.

"I just thought you'd be more comfortable without a crowd."

Well, he's half right.

"And also...I know what you're going through."

"Huh?"

"Being stuck in space with no idea where you are? Or when you'll get back home?" He turned his attention to the little alien noodles walking passed them. "Living around..whatever these are?" He smiled sheepishly. "I'm saying that I get it. Or maybe you're completely fine and I'm pestering you for nothing." He turns his attention to where he's walking. You wonder if he has any place in mind that he's taking you to.

A frown dawns your face. "Well, when is anyone completely fine?" You look down at the rocky surface. "You know, I feel like you and Lance are the only ones I spend this much time with compared to the others."

"I'm included in that?"

"Yeah, all this talk about helping you get better, and how we can fix this whole situation at hand-"

You feel Shiro's eyes on you. "We? Look, you don't need to feel obligated to help us. You're a stow away with amnesia. Speaking of, have you triggered any of your old memories yet? I know that at this point I was getting visions of my time as the Galra empire's captive." He quickly adds, "But don't worry, this isn't the type of thing to rush."

Don't say anything, you think.

Say something, you think.

Lie, you think.

He'll get suspicious, you think.

You change the subject. "I can't let you guys do all the hard work for me. I can be useful too."

No I fucking can't.

Language!

"Reed-" Shiro starts.

"No, I get it. I'm a newbie. I'm not even a paladin. Heck, I don't even have all my memories and I'm indecisive as all hell. But I made a promise to you, Kuro, and I'm not-!" You pause.

"...Kuro?" Shiro's voice interrupts the mental backlash you're giving yourself in your head. Your paused brain resumes.

"Shiro! Sorry, messed up my words. I stutter when I'm nervous." You recover, smiling what you thought was convincingly. "As I was saying-"

"Kuro..? That name...sounds familiar." He squints his eyes at you, but not in a threatening way, more like he's thinking. "Raider, where did you hear that name?"

"It was," you gulp, some of you being bad liars and some of you anxious when put on the spot. "It was just misspeach- I mean misspoke..!"

Hell, where'd that confidence go?

I've never had confidence in my entire life-

I dunno, probably the same place where my will to live went.

"I've heard that name," Shiro starts to sweat; his temple is visibly throbbing and his right eye twitching. His hand is now grasping your shoulder, keeping you still with just the implication of danger. It would hurt if you could feel anything. "Where have I heard that name!" He's talking to himself, but it's still like he's expecting an answer from you. His iris are switching from sharp to round.

A personality is petrified and it's affecting your whole body. You can't move even if you wanted to. You try to calm yourself down.

Hey, hey! Are you having a panic attack? One personality yelps in your head.

I- I can't breathe? This is just a fanfic, right?

Of course it's just a fanfiction, calm down. You got this!

We'll get out of this.

What happened to Shiro?

I'm scared? I can't-

Babe, you can leave at any time. It's ok. It's just a story. You can take a break. We'll wait for you right here.

Yeah, it's just a fanfic.

Just a fanfic?

Yeah. Just take a deep breath, lie down, and come back when you're ready.

You come back to your senses. Kuron's right in front of you, head hanging, hand still tight on your shoulder.

"Kuron, babe, are you alright?" you push his shoulder, and he gives way just a bit, but still doesn't let go. His grip is loose.

He lifts his head, left eye squeezed shut and right in a squint. "Kuron? Why do you keep calling me that?" And then something seems to come to him and your heart rate spikes painfully. "Wait, you're talking to it aren't you? Keith was right, you are one of them!"

"Shiro, what are you talking about?" You feign ignorance, but he isn't buying it. You back up out of reflex.

Then he's grabbing for you again.

Your key instinct is to fight. You punch him in the stomach and, in his weak state, he's caught off guard. He bends down in pain, cradling his torso. You immediately feel bad about it and run.

Why did you do that? You yell.

I panicked!

We could have salvaged this!

I know, I'm sorry! I don't like being grabbed at, ok!

Honestly I would have did the same thing.

You did! You did do the same thing! We're one person! Whatever some of us think we'd probably realistically do in this situation the most is gonna friggin happen!

How did you figure that?

Isn't that how most reader inserts go?

Have you ever read a reader insert?

You have no idea where you are or where you're going, but your legs are pumping down this strangely long street. Some Bi's ignore you and others are staring in what you weren't sure was amazement or judgement, but you weren't very focused on that right now. You had endless stamina and you wove through whatever alleyways you could find until somehow you found yourself nearing the hotel.

You run straight forward, dipping your head in a laugh, before you crash into something that wasn't there before. You back up, out of breath and nauseous.

I'm glad at least one of us was on track team, but holy heck, I'm tired already!

I really need to exercise more.

Dude, I don't even go outside!

You look up, about to move around whatever struck you when you see exactly what, or who, it is. Lance, clad in casual clothing, has a wince on his face and a hand on his forehead.

Oh gosh/fuck.

Lance has a clear cup in his other hand filled with something pink and slushy. He must've just turned the corner when you ran into him. "Reed? Are you ok?" He asks as he looks at you worriedly, his walkie talkie-like device in his pocket dinging impatiently. He reaches into his pocket with his free hand and gets it out as Shiro's breathy and distressed voice chokes its way through.

"Raider is working for the enemy. They are now a threat," it cited. "They're hiding somewhere. Don't let them escape! Search the whole city if you have to."

Oh, I wouldn't have been that smart.

"Reed?" Lance voice draws your attention back to the situation. He's standing in front of you, lips parted and eyebrows knitted, eyes...betrayed. To the left is where Lance came from, into town; behind you, however far away, is Shiro; ahead is the hotel and to the right is space to run, but there's no way you're much faster than Lance.

You try anyway, busting a right while Lance seems startled, but of course it leads to nothing. Lance grabs your wrist and pulls you back, keeping you still as Shiro did with both hands on your shoulders instead of the one. His drink was spilling on the ground.

"Reed, what's going on?" He shakes you, nonetheless more concerned than angry. Shiro's voice is still playing over the communication device trapped between Lance's hand and your shoulder, but to your surprise, he pulls his hand away and flings it down on the ground, away from you. The voice stops. Lance continues, calm and direct. "I want to understand. All you need to do is tell me."

.

Lance can't believe he's going through with this. He knows he'll be chastised later, if not completely kicked off the team, for this, but it seemed to be one of his noble duties to help this guy. This guy, meaning Kuron. Mostly Shiro. He could care less about Kuron, really, if it weren't such a short difference, apparently. He mostly had to take your word for it. He couldn't be wrong again.

Not again.

He let Shiro down once, he wasn't going to do it again. If helping Reed and Kuron get him a new body would help Shiro become himself again, then he'd "betray" the rest of the team a thousand times over. And he got to know you over these last few months. You weren't a bad person. Heck, if Nyma and Rolo could get a second chance, then so could you.

"You guys!" Making his way towards you was Shiro. Lance was quick to cover you with his arm and move you behind him. Once Shiro got closer, though, he noticed something was off about him.

Lance had taken you away from the city, a few miles out into the mountains somewhere far behind the coalition base. The paladins wouldn't be looking for you there. They may have had a chance if Krolia were still here, but she left that morning to regroup with the Blade of Marmora. With Keith in charge, he was mapping out orders through the comms like he'd been waiting for the chance his whole life. Lance lead them away with discretion. He was a natural liar all of a sudden, taking the chance to drive the paladins away from the base where they needed to be.

But Shiro found them, and Lance recognized those eyes.

Sharp, black, and penetrating. And tired. Extremely tired.

Lance loosened up as Kuron slowed to a stop in front of them.

"Lance," Kuron's features softened into something like awe. "You're here…does that mean you're willing to help?"

"Uh, yeah...I decided," he scratched at the back of his head, eyes wandering to his side, before he pulled his hand out to him. "I would stop doubting my instincts."

Kuron smiled and shook his hand.

"Is it really you? The Shiro that talked to me that day?" Lance asked, suddenly feeling desperate. "When we saw the white lion… Was that you?"

My..My head..I'm just feeling so confused..about myself.

Kuron gave him a long look, before nodding once. Lance felt unsure of how to reply back now that he had his answer. Hug him? No, that would be too awkward. Make a joke? Nah…

"Well, ok then." Lance glanced back at you before starting passed Kuron, heading to the hotel's holding bay. "We should get going. It's not gonna take long for the other's to figure out what's going on."

.

So not only were the paladins after you, but you were wanted by the residents too. It's not like they had to struggle to recognize you if they saw you. You didn't even know what you looked like, and it's not like they have any pictures of you. Luckily you had two dudes to cover you as you inched across the courtyard like you were in a cartoon. The Bi's looked at the two young men weirdly but inevitably wrote it off as alien shit/z and went on about their business. Finally you made it to the red lion and was gladly welcomed in by the beast, or Lance, whoever. Lance plopped down in his seat once you reached the cockpit and started up his sweet thang. Red was quick in leaving the holding bay and getting out into the air.

"Lance, where are you going?" Pidge asked through the comlink, startling you. You stayed deathly quiet.

"It would be quicker to find them using Red. I can cover more territory that way." Lance made up an excuse on the spot and was glad that it was even slightly plausible. Kuron, Lance, and you fly out of the city, over sand dunes, before lifting up into the sky, into the clouds, and into the stratosphere.

"Did you see that thing go into the clouds over there?... Lance?" Pidge called.

"Was it them? Did they just get away? We gotta follow them!" Allura's voice began.

"No! I'll go, I'm closest!" Lance argued nervously.

"I'll come along as back up." Hunk volunteered.

"What if you run into Haggar like the last time? No, we should all regroup and follow it." Allura pointed out.

"That's stupid! What if they're still here? We'd be giving them a chance to escape!" Lance sighed in relief as Pidge unintentionally took his side.

"Coran and Shiro will stay here and keep an eye out for them." Allura ordered.

"Uhh…" Lance trailed, eyes flickering to his peripherals where Kuron stood. Kuron frowned with teeth. "Shiro's with me! Anyway, I don't see anything, so, there's no need to come up here..!"

There was a good pause. "Lance..?" It was Hunk's voice. "That's your lying voice."

"My what?" Lance screwed up his face, honestly confused. Kuron slapped a hand over his face.

"Your lying voice. The one you make when you're hiding something."

"I'm not hiding anything!" He assured with a dangerous crack in his voice.

"Lance," this time it was Keith. "Why don't you want us to follow you?"

"Anyway, when did you even go up there anyway? I didn't see you follow it." Pidge recalled.

Lance was starting to panic so Kuron took over. "Look, guys, it's fine. We don't see anything around but we'll keep looking just in case. You all know Lance." he said the last line tiredly.

"Hey!" Lance furrowed his eyebrows as he started his route into deep space.

You hide a snort behind your hand.

And then, "...Did you guys hear that?" Pidge spoke.

Legitimately what? You thought, heart beginning to thump hard in your chest.

"It sounded like them," Hunk, oh so beautiful, gentle, and at the moment way-too-bothersome Hunk pointed out.

There's no way.

"They're on our comm frequency?" Pidge's pitched voice exclaimed in shock.

I'm calling bullshit/crap! Right now! That's not fair!

Dude, what the hell! Some of you thought.

"How could you have heard that?" Lance exclaimed before thinking, clapping a hand over his mouth after the fact.

"What do you mean? Lance? Dude, where are you?" Hunk was getting suspicious. They all were getting suspicious.

This is what I get for having fun. Holy heck.

"I'm," Lance took in a quick breath, annoyed. "I'm in space! In space!"

"Come back. If you haven't seen anything yet then there's no reason to stay up there. Come on down and we'll regroup." Keith said, calm and collectively.

Lance sucked in air through his teeth.

"You're just making it worse," Kuron mumbled.

"I know I'm making it worse, shut up!" Lance pouted angrily back at him. "Hey, are you guys sure Reed is a bad guy? I mean, why do the same trick twice?"

"It was Shiro who saw them last. They attacked you, you said? Why else would they do that?" Pidge replied.

Both Lance and Kuron looked at you with confusion and slight irritation.

"You attack him?" He whisper-yelled at you. You bared your teeth slightly and shrugged.

"It could have been a friendly punch, or kick, or whatever...happened..!" Lance laughed it off, turning back to the front window.

"Shiro, what exactly happened?" Allura asked.

Kuron froze before turning his gaze to you. He had no idea what was actually going on, did he?

"Seriously, dude?" Lance shook his head at him.

"What? I'm not Shiro, remember?" Kuron whispered back.

"Come up with a convincing lie, it shouldn't be too hard. Ow!" You hit him aside his head.

Kuron's eyes went downcast, before he leaned over Lance's shoulder and talked into the com. "We were talking and...and things got fuzzy," he looked at you and you gestured for him to go on. "I remember feeling like I was..fading out of existence, and then-"

"I accidentally said your name…" you admitted in a low voice, so no one but the two could hear you.

"-I heard a name...Kuron, or something. It's...it's what they called my clone."

"Shiro…" Keith exhaled. Kuron flinched visibly.

"You ok?" Lance asked, frowning in worry.

"You should come back," Keith said in a low voice. "We'll figure everything out when we find them."

You wanted to groan but didn't. Kuron sighed, exhausted. Lance clutched the controls, looking down at his feet. He couldn't believe he was about to do this. "I can't."

"Huh?"

You and Kuron stared at him with wide eyes.

"I can't come back. I'm helping them."

You let out that groan, seeing as the cat's out of the bag now.

"What!" Pidge exclaimed. "Wait, what? Where's Shiro? Shiro, are you there?"

Kuron made a noise. "Uehmm..kinda?" he rose a eyebrow at you. Should I just say it?

You shrug. It's your choice.

"I'm..not..Shiro." And for the first time, he actually believed it.

You could hear the paladins start to question him, but one voice stuck out, silencing the others. "You're him, aren't you?" Keith didn't say it like a question. He knew. He knew something was up, he knew something was out of place, and it was right in front of him. He never got through to Shiro, not fully. He felt dread slowly start to seep into his heart, but he ignored it for the more present anger bursting through its chains. "How long?" His voice was cold.

Kuron hesitated, peeked at Lance and you looking at him, then at the neverending abyss of space in front of him, going so fast that the stars were blurs of white streams. "Since the fight."

There was deafening silence. And then the comm went mute.

"Keith? Keith?" Pidge called for him.

Hunk's voice picked up. "Dude, what is going on?" He was asking Lance.

"Lance, what exactly do you think you're doing? They're with the enemy!" Allura's distress was evident in her voice.

"I'm sorry, Princess, but I have to do this. There's no way I can believe that." Lance started to fly the red lion faster. I won't make the same mistake, again.

"Lance-!"

He cut off his comlink.

.

You weren't surprised by the Time-skip this time. You saw it coming from a mile away. The red lion now floated in front of a grey planet covered in clouds and a large strange shaped comet that looks like a shard of black diamond. Around it is a bunch of debris picking off a oddly smooth-looking edge of the comet.

"Here it is." Lance said. "The others are right on our tails. You better hurry up before they get here."

We were getting chased?

We missed a chase scene?

The author must've been too lazy to write it.

How do they know where we're going?

Keith… Remember? He fought Kuron here.

And also possibly Pidge. She probably has a tracker on us.

They have trackers on all the lions. They're connected. Like, spiritually.

"Let's go." Kuron taps your shoulder and starts out the back.

You both put on some leftover space suits from the cargo hold and once the lion lands you make your way onto the surface of the comet.

"This way," Kuron says and leads you through the many corridors and open spaces of the old Galra base. He doesn't talk the entire way. Kuron's walking quite fast, and you jog to keep up his pace. You observe him. The hand he has left is gripping the walkie talkie Lance gave him before you left the lion and his eyes are glaring into the distance as he walks.

"Kuron? Are you ok?"

"Huh?" He seems to snap out of it and looks at you. "Oh, uh, yeah..sorta…"

"We're almost there, dude. Then we can be out of here and done with this whole mess." You assure, looking ahead of you. There's nothing but a black corridor, leading to a pink door at the far end. The Galra sure love their black, don't they?

He looks down. "What'll happen when we separate? Me and Shiro?"

"You'll be free?"

"No, but, what will happen to me? Where will I go?" His feet came to a stop. His sharp black eyes struck you. "I doubt the paladins would welcome me with open arms."

Oh shit, we didn't think this out, did we?

No, the author didn't think this out.

You guys, I just wanted to hang out with my Garrison kids.

Ok but Lance is on our side, right? He'll figure something out.

Why do we have to come up with something? That's the author's job, right?

"Lance!" You end up screaming. You cough. "Lance will help us out. Look, you don't need to worry about that. This is what you wanted! To be your own person, right?"

He takes a minute to smile. "Right."

You both start for the door again.

"During the fight, most of them got lost." He says as you walk in behind him. You're outside and he's facing the stairs that you climb up to a deck filled with dark containers and the planet on the horizon. "But fortunately, there's still some left." He walks up behind you. "We'll have to destroy the rest when we're done here."

You turn to ask why but the look on his face says it all. You close your mouth. After a few moments of silence with Kuron directly ignoring facing any of the containers filled with basically mannequins sharing his face, you sigh. "Ok, so.." You look around. "How are we gonna do this?"

"...I have no idea." Kuron admitted, suddenly embarrassed. "I didn't think this far."

"You guys, they're here!" Lance's voice picked up from the walkie talkie. "I'll try to hold them back as long as I can. Whatever your plan is, you should hurry it up!"

You grin at Kuron, ignoring the urgent news. "Didn't think we'd get this far, huh? You gotta have more faith in me." You joke around and elbow his side, despite your internal panic.

"Yeah, I do. It's just…" Kuron's gaze stick to the clone in front of him, eyes closed and hair fully black, both arms by its side.

"Seriously, why are you doing this, dude?" Hunk's voice comes through the walkie talkie, drowned by the sound of explosions.

"I can't let a friend get hurt again because of me! I ignored Shiro's cry for help the first time, I'm not doing it again!" You hear Lance defend.

"But you're not helping Shiro, Lance! Don't you get that? They're with the bad guys!" Pidge presses. The clangs of fighting persist.

"You wanna know who tried to tell me that Shiro was in trouble?" Lance yelled back. "Kuron!"

You saw Kuron perk up. The communication device in his hand drops to the floor. You pick it up and idly check for bruises, listening to it all the while.

"Kuron, who had no idea what was going on, came to me to tell me his problems." Lance admitted. "We played Monsters and Mana with him, you guys! You seriously don't believe that for one second- no, for the months that he was here in place of Shiro, that he was just as oblivious as us?"

You kept your focus on Kuron, but he was still, eyes frozen to the creature in the test tube before him.

There's silence, Until you hear a especially loud, "No! Wait!"

More shooting. "Keith!" Lance again. Then he's talking to you. "I'm sorry, you guys, Keith's coming your way!"

Fuck!

Holy hell..

I'm so fucking done with this shit, man.

What is this, a video game? Did we lose?

You return your attention to Kuron, whose eyes are closed and his head tipped down.

"We're gonna fix this," you try to assure.

Something breaks in him, and he falls to the ground, sitting with his legs crossed and his head low. "These used to be me."

You try to walk up to him but he stops you with a raised palm.

At the same time, you see Keith running down a dark corridor you went through on the way here. Keith's run slows into a walk, before he stops completely. Then you see Pidge, face in shock, then Hunk, then Lance. They're hearing you over the walkie talkie.

"I don't deserve this, Raider….This life isn't mine. Look at this!" He gestures to the coffins. "This is what I am! I'm just glad that when Shiro gets his new body..this will all be over…" his voice falls into a mumble, his white bang swaying over his face. "They're going to kill me anyway, just let them get it over with."

Someone, you're not sure who, or how many, but a part of you gets angry. So angry, that it flows throughout you. You may or may not have been the one who it was coming from, but you could feel it, hear it, maybe even smell it. It was such a powerful feeling that you could barely keep it from seeping out into your voice.

"What, so you're just giving up?" You asked, to no avail. He didn't answer. You waited just a few more seconds before it became unbearable to someone. ''Stand up."

He looks at you through the corner of his red and glittering, sharp eyes.

"Stand up and bend down so I can slap you!" You glare with such ferocity that Kuron even flinches. Another personality adds, "You're way too fucking tall, man." Your grip on the communication device tightens. "We didn't come this far, risk Lance's and our relationship with the paladins, just for you to sit there and feel sorry for yourself! Who cares that this is where you're from? You're your own person! We've talked about this, Kuro!" Your voice cracked and you felt a stray tear fall down your face, loan and rare for a great many.

Dude, I do this everyday, who you playin?

I don't even have the energy to cry anymore, to be honest.

What is crying? Is that a snack?

You continue to fume, press your words into him as much as you can, dig them in deeper. He's not going into his new body just to die. Not your son. You'll make sure of that or you'll kill him yourself. "I'm not giving up on you so you're sure as hell not gonna give up on yourself. Now stand the fuck up and let me figure this out."

.

In the back of your head, you see Keith turn around and head back to his lion.

.

"Dude, you don't have to cry about it," Lance said afterwards, a little smile on his face.

Kuron does get up. He's still a little miserable, but it's more of a dull ache than anything. It was better than he was used to. Actually, the headache he usually always felt thrumming on his temple was gone for once. He guesses that Shiro is finally on his side.

You, on the other hand, have no idea where to go from here. You walked around the deck, to the edge, where you looked out into space. Space was the new blue sky, stars the baby clouds. You could see the whole planet from here. It didn't help you think much. You turned around and looked at all the clones, tapping their glass tube and watching them all light up pink. You kneeled down and inspected all the clones, just out of pure restlessness that you weren't coming up with any ideas.

Another few minutes pass. You hummed to yourself, wrinkling your nose and tapping your cheek. "We need Allura."

"Did someone say Princess?" A voice says from beside you. Walking up the stairs to the deck was no other than the Altean princess and her noble steed Keith.

Kuron's eyebrows shot up in surprise, but he couldn't help but joke after his stunned silence. "They said Allura." It seems your humor was infectious.

You stand up and face her. "You decided to help us?"

She stops in front of you, arms crossed and a bit of irritation on her perfect features. "I came to help Shiro. If we didn't have him, who would put some sense into the rest of these fools- I mean darling companions." She smiled when Keith looked at her.

My daughter.

"Then let's get started, huh?" A warmth kindled in your chest. You grinned at Kuron, who had a look of amazement on his face.

.

He feels like death, but also has never felt more alive. He keeps his eyes closed as he sits up in his- his, not Shiro's- body. He can still feel the warmth from Allura's heavenly touch on his temples. He felt it. He felt when Shiro was guided out of him, the moment he became his own. It was like waking up and drinking water first thing in the morning. It was like peeling back the wrapping of a Christmas present. It felt good. Good to be alone.

Finally, by himself.

Kuron groaned, putting a hand on his forehead. Allura, Keith, and you were so close he could feel your body heat. It was a comfort.

In seconds it was all gone. The comfort, the peace. All of it, when a vision came to him. He gasped so lightly, you barely caught it, but just as quick he was breathing fine again.

And then he said, "I know where Honerva is.."