**I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender!

"Mari…don't," Shiro pleaded, his voice sounding heartbreakingly weak over the comms. "Don't listen to him. You have turn off—"

He was cut off as more ear-splitting shrieks of pain pierced the air and Sendak chuckled darkly. "Time is running out, little girl," the Galran commander taunted. "I suggest you make your decision in the next few ticks."

Mari froze, her heart beating rapidly as one finger hovered shakily over the button that would lower the particle barrier. The mice squeaked in her ears, jumping up and down on her shoulders fretfully, but she barely heard them as a flurry of panicked thoughts rushed through her mind.

She knew she had to press that button. She had to! The fate of the universe depended on Voltron; she couldn't just give up and let Sendak take the lions. But if she resisted and shut off the barrier, not only would Lance be killed, but Shiro would die for real this time. And their deaths would be all her fault.

Two lives given up to save countless of others…She couldn't do it. She wouldn't do it. Although Lance could be incredibly irritating at times, he really wasn't all that bad of a guy. He was kind and selfless (usually) and he was surprisingly sensitive. And Shiro…she had already lost him once; there was no way she was going to risk losing him for good this time. No, there had to be a way out of this.

Patience yields focus.

Taking a deep breath, Mari regained some of her composure and began to sort out her options. Sendak could easily be bluffing about his threat to kill off Shiro and Lance, but it seemed unlikely. He seemed like the type that relished the suffering of others; she had no doubt that he'd slaughter the paladins on the spot if she lowered the barrier. Figuring out the best course of action was something she couldn't do alone, not when she had seconds left to decide. The team, her new family, needed her and she needed them now more than ever. And the only one currently available to lend assistance was…

"Pidge." Mari had barely whispered it, but the Green Paladin had managed to hear her somehow.

"What is it?" he replied, his voice just as quiet. "I'm almost to the bridge. Did you get the barrier lowered?"

"Not yet," she admitted. "Sendak's threatening to kill Takashi and Lance if I shut it off. I need you to distract him, get him away from them."

"I'm on it. Get ready to lower the barrier in twenty seconds."

Taking another steadying breath, Mari began to silently count down, her hand never wavering over the control panel. Over the loudspeakers, Sendak growled lowly, indicating his ever increasing frustration.

"Tick tock human," he snarled. "You're running out of time and my patience is thinning."

When she remained unyielding, the faint sound of electricity crackling filled the air as Sendak prepared to deliver another torturous blow to Shiro. The mice squeaked and quivered fretfully on Mari's shoulder and she bit her lip nervously, her fingers inching closer and closer to the shut off button as she neared the end of her countdown.

…16…17…18…19…

"Foolish girl," Sendak chuckled darkly. "You really are—YOU!"

There were several scuffling noises on his end followed by Pidge's shout of "Now!"

Fast as lighting, Mari slammed her hand against the control panel and there was a slight whine as the particle barrier generator shut off around her. The mice began to squeak in success but they were cut off as Mari bolted out of the room and headed towards the bridge. It wasn't time to celebrate just yet; she still had to help Pidge deal with Sendak.

Meeting up with Allura and Keith on her way, the trio (along with the mice) hurried to help the youngest paladin. As they approached the central control room and the sounds of a struggle became increasingly louder, Mari drew her spear and Keith his sword. They both held their weapons at the ready as they surged forward, but they came to an abrupt halt as they reached the entrance of the bridge. Sendak was waiting for them, his lips curled into a victorious snarl as he gripped Pidge in his claw-like prosthetic arm.

"Stand back!" he warned the newcomers, tightening his grip on the Green Paladin and causing the human boy to cry out in pain.

"It's over, Sendak!" Allura snapped, her regal tone radiating anger and authority. "You've lost. Let her go this instant!"

…Her?

Mari blinked at the princess for a moment, wondering if she had heard her correctly. Had…had Allura addressed Pidge as a 'her'? Did that mean…Pidge was a girl? Thinking about it now, she could vaguely remember that the one time Shiro had talked about his crew's family, he had shared that Matt had a little sister too. She couldn't recall him ever mentioning that the Holts had another son besides Matt. Holy crow, she knew something had felt off about Pidge!

But before she could dwell on the matter any longer, a laser beam hit Sendak in the back, and he stumbled forward from the resulting blast, releasing Pidge in the process. Lance had regained consciousness long enough to shoot the Galran commander, but that action alone had completely drained him as he sat back limply while the others pounced on Sendak.

Despite his handcuffed wrists and weakened state, Shiro charged the Galra, only to be pushed back by the clawed prosthetic. But Keith quickly followed up with several attacks of his own, managing to land a few good blows before Sendak grabbed him with his massive metal limb and threw the Red Paladin across the room, the purple energy binding his arm to his shoulder now stretched out and exposed. And before he could retract his appendage, Pidge promptly summoned her bayard and severed the connection between Sendak and his arm.

The Galra roared in absolute fury and stomped towards the Green Paladin who was scrambling to get her shield up. Sendak kicked it uselessly and Pidge stumbled before firing her bayard at the commander's ankle. The hook wrapped around his leg tightly and electrical shocks were sent throughout his body, causing him to convulse and shriek in pain. Keith hurried to his feet and raised his sword to strike the impaired enemy, but despite the voltage coursing through his body Sendak stopped the attack, gripping the blade with his remaining hand and straining to pull it away from the Red Paladin. His left side was completely exposed now and Mari jumped at the opportunity.

Leaping up, she brought her staff back before swinging it at full force at Sendak's head. There was a dull crack upon impact, his false eye shattering as the metal weapon collided hard with his face, and the Galra commander let out his loudest scream yet. He stumbled back, disoriented as he clutched and clawed at his broken and bleeding face. In one swift and final move, Mari swept Sendak out from under his feet and he fell onto his back, the air being forced out of his lungs.

Meanwhile, Allura had hurried to the central control panel and had been putting in several commands during the fight. And now that Sendak was right where she wanted him, she didn't even hesitate to activate the forcefield that trapped him and his crystal in the center of the room.

Sendak was moved to a prisoner cryo-pod in the lower levels of the ship and the Galran crystal was transferred to the Green Lion hanger so Pidge could fiddle around with it later (she needed something to distract herself after Rover's untimely demise). Hunk and Coran returned not long after with a new crystal from the Balmera, and as soon as it was in place, Lance was set up in a regular healing pod.

"Mari? I just wanted to say thanks for all your help. I don't think I could've done this all on my own," Pidge said while Allura programmed Lance's pod. Then grinning sheepishly she added, "I guess it was a good thing that we ticked each other off, huh?"

"Heh, yeah," Mari smiled. "I guess so."

"Are…Are we all good now?" Pidge asked hesitantly. "You and me, I mean?"

"Yeah. We're all good. Us little sisters have to stick together after all," Mari chuckled and Pidge's smile faltered.

"S-sisters?" she hissed. "I-I don't know what you're—"

"It's okay, Pidge," Mari whispered, pulling the Green Paladin to the side. "I won't tell anyone, I swear."

Pidge sighed and a relieved smile crossed her lips. "Thanks," she said. "But how did you figure it out?"

"Before the Kerberos Mission, Takashi told me a bit about your family."

"Ah. Figures."

"That and Allura called you 'her' earlier…"

"What? She knows too?"

"I guess so. But I'm sure she won't tell anyone," Mari said but Pidge didn't look convinced in the slightest.

"Have you two made up?"

The girls jumped at Shiro's sudden intervention and they turned to give him reassuring nods. He looked exhausted, completely worn out from his fight with Sendak and from the torture that had been inflicted upon him.

"We can't thank you enough for all you two did," he said. Then turning to the youngest paladin he continued, "I can't help but feel that you were meant to be a part of our team, Pidge. But I understand if you still want to leave."

Pidge hesitated, glancing at Mari for a moment. The older girl simply shrugged but was smiling slightly nonetheless. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Pidge said, "Dad used to tell me how close he was to his crew members. They were like family. Now I understand what he was talking about. I'm staying with you guys. Let's stop Zarkon for all of our families."

While Lance healed in his pod, everyone went their separate ways, taking the rest of the day to recover from their recent fight. Having been up all night, most of the team retired to their bedrooms to sleep, except for Shiro, who was kept awake by nagging worries despite his fatigue.

He was concerned about Lance's recovery of course—the poor kid had almost died on them. Although everything had worked out in the end and Lance was going to be perfectly fine, Shiro couldn't help but feel guilty about the whole situation. He should've been more alert, done routine perimeter checks, maybe even persuade Allura to shut the front entrance. Then maybe Sendak's bomb wouldn't have snuck inside, blown up the crystal, and injured Lance.

Then there was the fact that said Galra commander was now an inhabitant of their new abode. Sendak was locked away in the depths of the castle, frozen and completely unable to escape unless he had outside help, but his mere presence on the Castle of Lions unnerved Shiro to no end. He was afraid of waking up one day to find the beastly commander looming over his bed, freed and ready to slit his throat. The thought alone send a shiver down Shiro's spine and he quickly shook the thought from his head.

And then there was Mari, who seemed to be straying further and further away from him. She was constantly avoiding him nowadays, dodging his questions about the past or changing the subject. A year ago she was like an open book to him, easy to read and ready to share her thoughts. But now she was so much more defensive and secretive, and from the way she had lashed out at Pidge, it was obvious that she was quicker to anger as well. Yes, his little sister had some aggressive tendencies, but she never physically acted without thinking, not unless something had truly and deeply upset her. And her tears were an indication that there really was something bothering her.

Shiro needed to know what happened to Mari while he was gone. He wouldn't let the subject go, not when keeping it all in was just going to cause her more and more pain. His resolve to confront her stronger than ever, he marched down to her bedroom only to find it completely empty. Shiro groaned quietly; Mari was so sneaky these days as well.

Let's see…Where else could she be?

Shiro thought about it carefully for a moment. The kitchen and the training deck momentarily crossed his mind, until he remembered her keen interest in the observation deck. With a new surge of determination coursing through him, he walked down a series of corridors before approaching his sister's favorite room in the castle.

The door slid open silently for him and he stepped into the darkened area. The large window on the far end of the room had been tinted black, blocking out the Arusian sun's bright morning rays. And sprawled out on the middle of the floor, dozing soundly on top of a comfy layer of blankets and pillows, was not only Mari, but Pidge, Hunk, and even Keith.

Shiro simply stared at the teens in surprise; he hadn't been expecting all of them to be in here, and sleeping no less. The whole scene seemed like something Lance would enjoy, and Shiro could already imagine the Blue Paladin pouting and whining once he learned that the team had had a slumber party without him. He smiled at the thought tiredly before quietly making his way towards the group and gingerly laying down next to his sister.

Mari's face scrunched up at the slight movement of the blankets and Shiro waited with baited breath for her to wake up. She was always cranky when she woke up too early, as he had learned over the many, many years of having to drag her out of bed to go to school. But when her expression returned to normal and she showed no signs of getting up, Shiro relaxed, staring at her sadly.

She looked so peaceful and small curled up in the downy Altean blankets. It reminded him of their younger days when they'd snuggle in front of the fireplace during the winter or when Mari would crawl into his bed after having a nightmare. What he wouldn't give to go back to those days, back to when he wasn't physically, emotionally, and mentally scarred. Back to when she relied on him wholeheartedly and told him everything.

Shiro could feel himself gradually giving over to sleep, and he sighed to himself. "We'll try talking tomorrow," he murmured almost inaudibly and he kissed Mari's forehead lightly before falling into a dreamless sleep.