Disclaimer: Characters/factions/items that were not mentioned in the Voltron franchise belong to me. I do not own any characters/factions/items that do belong to the Voltron franchise (e.g. Voltron Lions, Allura).
Keith was the first to be found. Surprisingly as a part of a group of rebels in their battleship, a collective of different species working together. Their captain Durkan, a Galran long said to be a legendary veteran of many naval battles, saluted at the two Alteans as a greeting when introduced. The shock Allura and Coran felt at the discovery of Galrans working along with them was nothing compared to the worry they felt for Keith. He seemed to have 'matured so much' since they last saw him, as Allura put it..
"Burdened more like it." Coran muttered under his breath.
The dark bags under his eyes and the thinness of his frame betrayed the strain he tried to hide. A testament to how much stress he really was under. It seems his battle with Zarkon had not been forgotten. (And Allura sees the flinches and twitches when one of the Galrans walk past, or when they raised a hand in greeting. Despite their convictions, no one could really be comfortable around their kind.) Ever since Keith's chanced rescue by the crew, he's been pushing himself harder in training and piloting, more often than not the reason for the rag tag group's narrow escapes. For all the good spirits and hope they have for their fight for freedom though, their trials wore them down.
In the end, a single lion would never been enough.
Like a fly caught in a spider's web, the rebels were caught in an ambush by the Galran forces, the enemy's firepower far superior than their own. Even with their two ships and the Red Lion, they were severely outmatched and outgunned. The last order was given: give the Alteans and Red Paladin a chance to escape.
"It has been an honor, to fight alongside a Paladin." Had been the indigo-skinned man's last words.
One last charge; one last stand. Allura was intimately familiar with this sense of loss, as the Altean princess saluted the crew. Corran, the kindhearted man, sang their war songs, the ones used for the warriors never returning from the battlefield.
Keith did nothing but scream; he was a boy losing his friends to war. New to emotions like survivor's guilt, the agony of losing more than just his pride.
She heard him swear he won't ever lose his Voltron team this way.