title: light, endlessly
summary: I'll see you in the next lifetime, and in every one after that.
notes: for all the new and old-school voltron fans out there who still believe in soulmates
notes 2: order of operations: DotU, Devil Due, Voltron Force, Legendary Defender. is this considered crossover? i have no idea, really.
disclaimer: disclaimed
—
He dreams of her. She is always different, but deep in his bones, he knows it's her.
—
He dreams of her with curls of harvest gold hair, lying in a field of grass still covered in spring dew. He extends his hand out to tap her on the shoulder, gently waking her from slumber. In the distance, he hears Coran and Nanny call out her name.
The title of the Blue Lion pilot suits the princess. She is inexperienced, but strong, he thinks, in her own way.
Before he knows it, he is picking rare flowers from the face of cliffs no one else dares to scale.
Perhaps, it's more simple than he thought. They could all stay here, in the Castle of Lions, and live out their days peacefully.
—
Falling in love is grim nightmare from which he cannot awake.
He is, as everyone puts it, a bad omen embodied in flesh. He fixates himself on martial arts and trains until he can no longer feel the cuts on his fists or the feelings for her growing like relentless weeds in a garden. Shadows of the dead-his mother, father, and fiancé-dwell ceaselessly in his memory, slowly eating away at his soul. He is not certain he can love her when his past is hooking claws into the arctic of his skin, whispers from ghosts always in his ear.
Give love an inch, and it takes a mile, he tells himself.
Even then, he still kisses the princess sometimes, always desperately. He kisses her as though he doesn't want to lose her, but knows he will someday, when the planet goes dark around them.
Because love is all he knows, and love is what always leaves him behind.
—
When he steps back onto Arus, it is still as beautiful as he remembers it, even after all these years.
He walks out of the parlor with a fresh haircut, mullet begone. She finds the scowl on his face amusing, but tells him she likes the new look, regardless. He can't remember when he last heard the chime of her laugh, but he remembers how it feels when it lifts weights from shoulders.
In this dream, her eyes are different; they aren't the light sky after dawn, but electric green at full charge. She is the leader of her people, traces of self-doubt no longer to be found.
(then)
They are floating through infinite space, whizzing and spinning as the fortress self-destructs beneath them. With his hand in hers, she tells him it's destiny—and he believes her, he truly does. He would no longer be the pilot of the Black Lion, but serve as the king of Arus serving alongside his queen.
But everything goes to chaos when the sickness takes hold of his protégé, the youth who was supposed to carry the legacy of Voltron.
The world sets on fire before he gets the chance to tell her.
—
It's a feeling all too familiar.
He gazes around the strange castle, getting a hold of their current situation. The walls and pillars cascade beautifully, unlike anything he'd ever seen.
"I am Princess Allura, and this is my castle," she announces confidently.
He thinks he has met her before, but doesn't know where. He has never seen anyone with hair of moonlight and skin tracing across an evening sky, yet he feels his heart mapping through time and space, trying to recall a memory of her somewhere.
He crosses his arms across his chest and doesn't speak to anyone about it.
—
They couldn't be any more different from one another.
Where her posture is pin-straight, he slouches lazily. When she is confident and assure of her duties as Princess, he is unsure of his place in the universe. Where she is willing to make peace with every creature in the galaxy, he couldn't be bothered.
So when they lose Shiro, they all come undone at the seams. The war isn't over yet, even with Zarkon gone. There is still work to do, battles to win, planets to liberate. The universe needed Voltron, Black Paladin or not.
Allura is going through the star charts again, arms moving ballet-gracefully as she swipes her hands across the screen. Keith is the first to break the silence.
"So, what now?" he asks.
Allura doesn't stop. "We do what we must until we cannot anymore, Keith."
"Right," he breathes. "So, we fight."
They couldn't be any more different from one another, but maybe sharing the same resolve is more than enough, for now.
—
No one in the castle has seen her that day, but perhaps they hadn't tried to.
The red lion was there the moment Allura's father passed, they all discover. Keith finds her sitting in front of the Red Lion, gazing up at it with her back against the wall. He knows that look filled with self-blame all too well.
Allura looks up at him, her eyes ocean-deep and universe-empty. He feels as if he could be swallowed whole by them.
"You found me."
"I did," he says simply, moving to sit beside her. He fumbles with the hem of his gloves before finally pulling them off. He doesn't have to ask her if it hurts.
"You know, I used to sit in the cockpit while my father flew," Allura exhales. "I dreamt that I, too, would be able to pilot a lion someday. Silly, isn't it?"
Keith shakes his head. "Not at all, princess."
They are silent for a moment before Keith knocks his knees against hers, his lips curving upward.
"Besides, if we got Slav to do it, he wouldn't even make it past the zipline, right? He really hates those, you know."
Allura can't help but laugh. "Yes, I rather agree with you on that."
That evening, they find comfort in one another, and Keith lets Allura tell stories of her childhood, of the lions, of her father. He listens attentively to her every word, as if they were a secrets only meant for him.
—
She's never seen rain before, though he isn't surprised.
They've landed on a lush planet, in the fields miles outside a metropolis. The rest have gone in to restock on supplies, leaving Keith and Allura to take watch over the ship.
Allura looks through the window, fascinated by the droplets pattering against the glass. Without saying a word, he taps her shoulder and gestures to follow him to the door.
At first, she is hesitant, gingerly extending her hand to feel the falling drops on her skin. Then, she moves forward and pushes past the threshold, tugging Keith along with her into the rain (he doesn't resist).
He moves to stand under a tree, quietly watching Allura as she sways, no, dances under grey clouds, happily tapping her foot into puddles every now and then. He wonders when it was exactly when they stopped being two kids angry each other, angry at everyone, angry at the universe.
They head back as soon as the rainfall is over. As they make their way up, Allura abruptly spins around to meet his eyes, wet hair whipping around her and sending droplets in every direction.
"You are welcome to stay for as long as you like," she proposes hastily. Allura bites her lip nervously, yet is careful to hold his gaze.
For a moment, he stares back at her, puzzled.
"You're worried," he murmurs. It's not a question.
The other paladins have been discussing about making a short visit to Earth to see their families, yet Keith had remained oddly silent about the matter.
He offers a smile. "Thank you, princess."
Keith looks up towards the castle and wonders if he was always meant to be here all along anyway.
—
Hunk has always been the most perceptive of the subtle changes between his friends. So when he walks in to hear Keith and Allura laughing from across the deck, he turns to Slav, who is busy tinkering away at the control panel.
Hunk crosses his arms, tilting his head. "Hey, just curious, but what do you think the odds are of Allura and Keith… you know, falling for each other?"
"In every reality, including this one?"
Hunk nods. "Yeah."
"One hundred percent," Slav responds curtly, not once looking up.
"Wow, really. Well, guess I can't argue with you there," Hunk shrugs.
Slav continues to work, and Hunk leans against the side of the wall, smiling longingly at his friends who have yet to notice his presence.
—
"I had a dream," he says, finally.
"You did?"
Keith nods. He drags his fingertips along the stone-white cavernous walls as he and Allura make their way to the dining hall. He's not sure if this is right timing to bring it up, not sure if there ever will be.
"I dreamt I was somewhere far away. Places I had never been to, but seemed familiar. And you—you were there," he continues. "You were there, but you were...different."
Allura blinks at him. "Different?"
"But the same," he tries to explain.
Keith imagines a castle surrounded by a lake drenched in glittering sunlight, of pink chiffon dresses, of shining blue arrows, of wedding bells at twilight, of death, pain and sorrow. Yet, some things never change: the courage in her voice, the glint of hope in her eyes, the way she grips his heart. He's known this for a long time, perhaps for much longer than he'll ever know.
"Hm, maybe it was you, maybe it wasn't." He shakes his head. "Anyway, they're dumb. My dreams, I mean."
Allura tilts her head to look at him, smiling sadly. "Are they, Keith?" she asks, voice impossibly soft.
He stops in his tracks and averts his gaze. It is his turn to frown.
"I… I don't know anymore."
—
Allura lays fast asleep beside him, whorls of her hair spread across the sheets.
Gently, Keith brushes her cheek, tucking a pearl-white curl behind her ear. He watches her chest rise and fall and wonders if she had always glowed the way she does now.
In his heart, he knows this is going to be the only way.
He knows.
"I'm sorry," he murmurs quietly, barely a whisper. He doesn't think she heard him.
In his entire life, Keith had never asked for anything. Everything he wanted needed to be earned in sweat, blood, and tears. That's how he was taught, that's what he has learned.
Yet, his heart beats steadily at the sight of her and begins to think not of what-ifs and could-have-beens, but how lucky he is to have met her. So, he decides to take that chance, do something he's never done before: He counts on the stars to give him courage.
Because nothing is lost forever, after all.
—
It's a long, treacherous descent, but it's as close as they will ever get.
"You don't get to do this," Allura argues.
"You said so yourself," Keith retorts. "It's the only way to get our friends back. I have to do it."
Allura nods slowly, tears falling from her cheeks. Keith stands before her, bearing his soul made of hearth and flame.
"But...I know. I know I can't stop you, I just—"
He moves to cup her face with both hands and kisses her goodbye.
"Don't worry, I'll find you again. I always do," he tells her.
And then he dives down, down towards the enemy ship below.
—
Keith dreams of Allura.
He dreams of her with eyes of sapphire, emerald, and opal.
Her hair of glimmering gold and brilliant moonlight,
Of skin tracing across an evening sky.
Her soul the infinite universe,
Her heart all the light of the stars.
He knows that he'll always find her,
And love her,
endlessly.