Nayni's head was still throbbing. She'd cracked her head on the floor of the bridge when she'd passed out. The pain wasn't going to stop her though. No one was stopping her. A thousand questions were swirling around in her head. Tomyko was dead. She'd been dead for so many years. It couldn't really be her in that footage. It sounded like her voice and it looked like her. But something felt off. Shiro and Allura had tried to get Nayni back to her quarters but she'd refused. She was marching straight for the brig. She would not rest until she'd gotten her answers from that slippery Galra Prince.

She hadn't been exactly sure where the brig was though so the Paladins ended up having to escort her. They roared down the halls, their footfalls echoing like thunder off of the walls. The lower levels of the Castle weren't as well lit as the rest of the vessel. Her rage and confusion kept building upon itself. The Paladins had told her that they'd encountered an alternate reality before but she still couldn't believe this. Why would these forces converge now? Why would Tomyko be a part of all of this? It was all too perfectly timed to be real. It had to be a trick.

They came upon Lotor's cell. The Prince was calmly sitting on a bench. The blue light of the cell barrier cast an eerie glow on his lavender skin and silver hair. He seemed far too calm. Nayni was vibrating with the rage that was coursing through her veins. She would kill him if it was necessary. Nayni crept right up to the barrier. The tip of her button nose was inches away from touching the electrified surface. Her nostrils were flared and she was fuming.

Lotor just smiled. She wanted to punch that slick little bunghopper in the face. His mane of silver hair swayed about him as he got to his feet. He barely made a sound as he moved.

"You're much shorter than I was expecting," Lotor teased.

Nayni slammed a fist into the barrier. Blue sparks jettisoned off of the barrier and it flickered. The shock rushed through her fist and she let out a growl.

"Shut the quiznack up!" Nayni snapped. "I'll kill you right where you stand."

Lotor just laughed at her. Allura pulled Nayni back. She rubbed the Guard Captin's shoulders in a vain attempt to soothe her.

"Nanny, please, you're going to hurt yourself. You must calm down," Allura cooed.

Nayni yanked herself from Allura's grasp. She paced along the barrier like a beast trapped in a cage.

"You're going to answer my questions. Every. Single. One," Nayni seethed. "And if I even suspect for a tik that you're lying, I'm throwing you out the airlock."

Lotor just rolled his eyes.

"No need to make threats. I could've escaped by now if I truly wanted to," Lotor said. "I'll tell you whatever you like-though it'd be nice to get out of this cell afterwards."

Nayni clenched her jaw. If Allura wasn't standing right next to her, she'd already be in that cell beating him bloody. This was his filthy trick. Only he would be willing to stoop as low as this. Nayni didn't know how he'd found out about Tomyko but somehow he had. He was trying to exploit her greatest weakness. Shiro came forward. The expression on his face was stern. He could be rather intimidating without much effort.

"We'll talk about that later," Shiro said. "Right now, we all have quite a few questions."

Oh, Nayni had quite a few words for this young man. Quite a few. Nayni cracked her neck.

"Why play a trick like this? What do you have to gain?" Nayni snapped.

Lotor threw his head back and laughed. Nayni clenched her fists. It was taking a great deal of restraint to stop herself from throttling him.

"You think it's a trick? You think I spent weeks locked up in a prison just so I could trick you all?" Lotor said. "No, I assure you this is all very real."

Nayni started to tremble. He wasn't lying. She hated him with such passion already but the look in his eye was sincere. Shiro reached forward and tried to push Nayni back away from the barrier. His cybernetic arm was strong enough that she couldn't really fight him.

"They captured you? When?" Shiro pressed.

Lotor flexed his fingers. His golden eyes flickered over their faces.

"I was trying to help you take Terrapin," Lotor explained. "It didn't exactly go as planned, though, I don't think I could've seen any of that coming."

They all were hanging on every word that slipped forth from his lips.

"It just looked like a Teludav jump at first, I honestly thought it was you," Lotor went on. "But as you saw, that Castle is nothing like yours. They left no survivors, except for me of course. Apparently, my counterpart from their reality also has quite a bounty on his head."

Their reality. He said it so matter of factly. It was as if it was a casual conversation about a change in the weather. Lotor folded his hands behind his back.

"They didn't particularly care that I wasn't the same Lotor," he said. "You'd find their leadership to be rather-familiar."

He flashed Nayni a silver smirk. She wrinkled her nose.

"I believe the Princess's counterpart is their Queen. It's hard to tell, ten thousand years haven't been nearly as kind to her as they have to you," Lotor said. "Your Royal Advisor was there too."

This sent a chill down Nayni's spine. Somehow, Lotor noticed the shift in her mood. His eyes flickered over to her and he smiled.

"Tomyko explained quite a bit to me about their reality," Lotor said.

Hearing her name being uttered by his sinister voice filled Nayni with disgust.

"They killed her wife long ago and ever since then she's had it in for the two of them," Lotor said.

Allura reached for Nayni's hand. If Tomyko had still married Nayni in this other world, she now knew she was dead there. But there was no way of really knowing that yet. It all sounded so different that the possibilities were limitless.

"The Queen and her Advisor have had their fill of their universe," Lotor went on. "They're hungry for more. They never constructed a Voltron. Instead, they've built a Castle that's capable of traversing between realities. And they've set their sights on conquering ours."

They'd been worried about enemies from within their own realm when something else was hiding in the darkness the whole time. Zarkon was a formidable enough enemy on his own. They didn't need another player stepping into the fray. Hunk was just staring wide-eyed at the floor, shaking his head back and forth.

"This is all so crazy," Hunk said. "We don't honestly believe all this do we?"

Nayni still had her doubts but she couldn't deny what they'd seen. They'd all seen that black, twisted version of the Castle and they'd all seen Tomyko's distress beacon. Pidge was stroking her chin. She seemed to be the only one that was perfectly calm.

"It's not that crazy. We've been to another reality, Hunk. Theoretically, there's just an infinite set of realities and possibilities. If we have the tech to travel through those rifts, it's not impossible for another reality to have come up with something similar," Pidge explained.

Lotor appeared to be deeply satisfied with the Green Paladin's response. Nayni didn't want this to be real. It was too much. It was all too confusing. She started to feel sick again. Lotor leaned against the cold wall of his cell.

"It doesn't matter if you believe me or not," Lotor said. "They're coming and I don't know about you but I rather not deal with them and my father's entire army."

As slimy and revolting as the Galra Prince was, Nayni had to agree with him. But after what they'd witnessed, where would they even begin? They had Voltron. That was one asset that their enemy didn't possess. It might just be what saves them. Lance cocked his head to the side. He kept staring at Nayni awkwardly.

"So—we have to fight an evil version of Coran and Allura and our only ally is another version of Nanny's dead wife-who hates them," Lance said. "That won't be weird at all."

No one found his sarcasm very amusing at the moment. Nayni was starting to feel dizzy again. She'd wanted these answers so desperately but now they were too much. It had been one thing to hear the stories the Paladins had told her but having it right in front of her face was overwhelming. This wasn't a trick. This was real. Lotor narrowed his golden eyes.

"I suggest we get in touch with Tomyko—if she's even still alive," Lotor said.

Allura had been rather aloof after Zarkon and Honerva's funeral. The Princess had been quick to remove the pink streaks from her hair and it seemed that her morbid fixation on the color had passed. She'd just been unusually quiet. Allura hadn't been sassing Nayni nearly as much as she was used to. Nayni didn't want to push her. She knew something had been troubling Allura but she knew if the Princess really needed to address something she'd come to her. The current state of things was so delicate. Coran still hadn't left his spot on her couch, though Nayni rarely saw him anymore. His schedule had only grown more hectic.

Allura had decided to study out in the Royal Gardens. The young Princess was curled up under a great tree, her nose buried in a datapad. She was nibbling nervously on the nail of her thumb. The twisted mass of ebony branches created a canopy that enveloped the two of them. The lavender leaves rustled in the wind and drifted slowly to the ground. A thin layer of the fallen leaves carpeted the green grass beneath them. Nayni toyed with one of the fallen leaves between her fingers. They hadn't been out much since the funeral. It was a nice change of pace to get some fresh air.

Allura rested her datapad on the ground. She looked up at the canopy above her. Her brows were furrowed. Nayni had noticed that the Princes had been having trouble concentrating on anything for terribly long. Her mind seemed to be wondering off quite a bit lately. Allura let out a sigh, it was something she'd been doing more and more. It always sounded so angsty. Her large indigo eyes fluttered over to Nayni. She seemed to be pleading for some kind of attention. Nayni attempted to flick the small leaf at Allura but her aim was off. It just fluttered to the ground.

That didn't even draw a giggle from Allura. The Princess sighed again and nestled her face in her slender brown hands. She ran her fingers through her silver hair. The Princess hesitated for a moment. Her face was still partially buried in the crook of her elbow when she spoke.

"You never met my mother did you, Nanny?" Allura asked.

Nayni went rigid. It had been so rarely that they'd discussed the Queen and the topic hadn't come up for many years. Nayni shook her head.

"I only ever saw her on the newsfeeds, unfortunately," Nayni said.

She'd been a rather low ranking Guardsmen when she'd nabbed this promotion. She'd barely even seen the King in person. It had been a bit of a scandal when she'd gotten the job. Allura leaned forward. She was toying with the hem of her sleeves.

"I barely remember her at all," Allura said. "I don't even remember what if felt like when she passed away but I still miss her."

Nayni could've told her that. She'd seen how Allura looked at other children growing up. That sense of longing and jealousy was always hiding behind her little eyes when she watched them run around with their mothers.

"I don't think anyone truly heals after a loss like that," Nayni said.

She was speaking from experience. So many years had crept by since she'd lost Tomyko but her wife still haunted her. Sometimes it was huge gaps of time that would pass by before the pain would return but it always did. It was numb and dull but the ache always came back. Allura furrowed her brow.

"Do you still miss your wife?" Allura asked.

Nayni felt like her throat was closing up. This had never ever been brought up. She hadn't even been aware that Allura knew. Maybe it'd come up during a private talk with the girl's father but it hadn't been Nayni who'd revealed that to her. Allura was clearly nervous to pose this question. Nayni knelt down by the Princess. She draped an arm around her slender ward.

"Yes, I do," Nayni said.

She wasn't sure what else there was to say. This was a topic that required honesty and a fair bit of tenderness.

"Father still misses mother too, I think," Allura said.

She seemed to be struggling to try and sort out her feelings. Allura scratched at the bridge of her nose. A stray lavender leaf fluttered down from the tree and landed quietly in her hair.

"It's only natural to feel that way," Nayni said.

She plucked the leaf from Allura's hair and tossed it aside.

"I understand that part," Allura said. "But I never knew her. You knew your wife, father knew mother. You both miss them. But why do I miss mother? I can't remember the sound of her voice. If I didn't have any pictures of her, I wouldn't even remember her face."

Allura had dealt with death in her early life but the funeral must've shaken her. Seeing it face to face again for the first time must've been harsh. It was the only reason Nayni could think of for this conversation to be coming up.

"It's still the same feeling I have," Nayni cooed. "You think about all the things you'll never do with them. You think about all the things you would've wanted them to be there for. It doesn't matter how well you knew her, Lurie, its the missed opportunities that hurt the most."

She stroked Allura's hair gingerly. Allura was definitely sad but it was a deep old sadness. The girl didn't look as if she was going to cry.

"But we all just keep going," Allura said. "The world just keeps moving forward."

Nayni felt like she hadn't done very much moving forward. She should've been beyond those old fears but she just kept piling on new ones to strengthen them. Nayni was a prisoner to them. She'd been well aware of that for years now.

"If the mechanisms of the universe stopped turning for every pain we've experienced than there'd be no life at all," Nayni said. "We learn something from loss. It helps us grow stronger and helps us survive."

She felt like such a hypocrite. Her mother had said these words to her when Nayni first lost Tomyko. She should've heeded them.

"What did we learn from Zarkon? Or Honerva?" Allura asked.

Nayni gave Allura a gentle pat on the shoulder. She didn't quite have an answer for that one. She was starting to find that she didn't have answers to a lot of Allura's questions anymore.

"That has yet to reveal itself," Nayni said. "It'll become more clear with time."

Allura didn't seem very satisfied with Nayni's response but she had nothing else to give her. She couldn't lie to Allura about matters of this nature. She felt it was wrong on a spiritual level. Allura nibbled on her thumbnail again. If she kept it up there'd be nothing left for her to nibble on.

"It's just scary," Allura said. "A whole planet is gone. I just keep thinking about how that could've been Altea. It could've been us so easily. Why did it happen to the Galra and not us?"

Nayni rubbed Allura's back. That thought pattern was a slippery slope. It had come across Nayni's mind. It had been something she feared even before when it seemed so unreasonable and crazy. Allura didn't need to waste any more energy on that though. She already had enough on her plate being a Princess.

"Don't get caught up in all of that," Nayni said. "It will drive you mad if you let those ideas run wild. Things just happen. There may not always be a reason. Awful things and good things. They just happen. There's no stopping them. You can't spend your whole life fretting about them."

Nayni really felt like a hypocrite now. She'd spent a huge chunk of her life fretting over the different possible outcomes of every decision she'd made. She'd mostly fixated on the awful possibilities. She never really thought about the good. Allura was the only thing that really gave her hope for the future. Nayni hopped to her feet and extended her hand out to Allura. The Princess braced herself on Nayni as she got to her feet.

"I think after all this grim talk you're in need of a sweet icicle," Nayni teased.

Allura was trying to fight off a smile but it wasn't working out very well. She twirled her skirt around coyly as she mulled it over.

"I suppose that would be nice," Allura said.

It would be nice for them to share this again. It'd been quite a while. Allura had been far too caught up in trying to be a grown Altean woman to waste her time with such childish delights anymore. Nayni gave Allura a firm pat on the back and smiled.

"It'll be all right, Lurie," Nayni said. "No matter what happens, things will work themselves out."

Allura scooped up her datapad from the grass and nodded. She seemed to be feeling a bit more chipper after their chat. It was a beautiful sight to behold. There was only one other smile that Nayni cherished as much as Allura's but she would never speak his name aloud and especially not to Allura.

Coran had finally stirred by the time Nayni returned to their quarters. She was glad of it. She still didn't know what to feel. She didn't know how she was supposed to feel about all of this. She'd just been drawn back to him. She'd been so blinded by anger and fear earlier. Now that same fear had pulled her back to him. Nayni nearly lost it when she saw him. She'd managed to hold herself together in front of Allura and the Paladins but she just couldn't in front of him. He had no idea.

Coran sat in his bed. He was slowly flexing his fingers. He still seemed to be drained from the Teludav jump. When he smiled at her she thought her knees were going to give in. His expression fell. Was it really that obvious that she was falling apart? She didn't even know where to begin. She just needed to tell him. She had to unload the storm of emotions inside of her. Nayni's bottom lip trembled. Her eyes were already starting to well up with tears. Coran started for her.

Nayni ran to him. She couldn't let him get out of bed. He was still too weak. She engulfed Coran in her arms and buried her face in his chest. She couldn't bear to look at the photo of her and Tomyko that was propped up on his shelf. Nayni felt his hands running along the curve of her back. Nayni's body wracked with every sob.

"It's okay, Nayni, I'm fine," Coran said.

They had that to hang onto. It was all she had to hang onto right now. Nothing else made any sense right now. She clung to him like a child. She just couldn't keep herself together long enough for the words to come. She sobbed because she was confused. She sobbed because she didn't know how to feel. It felt like she was being torn in half. Anger, fear, and sorrow were all fighting within her. Coran stroked her hair. His mustache brushed along her olive skin as he planted a tender kiss on her forehead.

"It's all right," Coran cooed. "It's all right now."

It wasn't possible for her to cling to him more tightly. She could've waited for one of the others to debrief him but it wouldn't have been right. It had to be her. She had to face this with him. Nayni pulled away. She wiped the tears and snot away from her face.

"You're all right," Nayni said.

Her voice cracked as she spoke.

"You're all right but we are up against something I can't even begin to understand," Nayni said.

Coran pulled her back against him. Her nose was filled with the scent of his dried sweat.

"What's happened?" Coran asked.

His tone was so gentle. She could feel his long, slender fingers weaving through the strands of her brown hair. It had only been a few vargas ago that she had been cradling him like this.

"That vessel we battled-" Nayni began.

Tomyko's face seemed to be permanently imprinted in her mind.

"It's not from here." Nayni

She took in a deep breath. She needed to calm down if she was going to explain this to him. She looked up at him. His brow was furrowed. His unkempt hair was sticking out in odd directions.

"Lotor said they're from another reality," Nayni stammered.

She knew it was possible. The Paladins knew this was possible. But it still was so absurd. Never in her entire life had she imagined she'd be witnessing something like this. But she'd never imagined that she'd be reunited with Mister Smythe either. Coran didn't seem as shaken by the news as she was.

"Well, that wouldn't be the first time we'd seen something like that," Coran said.

What would he have to say when he found out the rest? She was worried. She was terrified.

"Tomyko helped Lotor-" Nayni started.

Coran's eyes widened. He didn't look scared. He just seemed surprised.

"Not my Tomyko." Nayni went on. "I know it's not my Tomyko but-"

She couldn't stop shaking. Nayni had seen a ghost. She'd expected to go the rest of her life never seeing that gorgeous woman ever again. She'd finally moved on. She'd finally let go of the weight left behind from Tomyko's death. Now she was back. It didn't matter that it wasn't really her. It felt so wrong and unnatural.

"It's not my Tomyko," Nayni repeated.

She'd have to keep reminding herself. She was so afraid. Nayni didn't know what she'd do if she had to face this Tomyko in person. She was already feeling overwhelmed with guilt. It was nonsense. It didn't make any sense at all but she still felt it. The real Tomyko, her Tomyko, wouldn't want her to feel any guilt. She'd have wanted Nayni to have set herself free years ago. Coran cradled her in his arms. He nuzzled his face into her brown hair.

"It's okay," Coran said.

She could feel the soft rhythm of his breathing on her ear.

"It's okay to feel scared," Coran said. "I'm not going anywhere, Nayni. We'll get through this. We've made it this far, I'm not letting you go at this alone."

She clung to his shirt as a fresh wave of sobs ran over her.

"I'm always going to be here," Coran cooed. "No matter what happens, I'll be here for you."

Coran laid her down in their bed gingerly. She curled up on her side. Coran wrapped his lanky arms around her. She could feel him pressed against her back. Their bodies fit together like the pieces of a puzzle. He reached over her and wiped away the tears from her plump cheeks.

"I love you so much," Nayni sobbed.

She needed him to know. She wasn't going to allow some ghost to steal her away from him. He brushed his fingers along the curve of her face.

"I never doubted it," Coran cooed.

Nayni rolled over. She grabbed him by the neck and pressed her lips to his. It was a sloppy and desperate kiss. She'd smeared a good portion of snot and tears on his face. He didn't seem to mind terribly. The smile on his face made her feel as if her heart was going to burst. There was no fear in his violet eyes. There wasn't a shred of doubt. He was all ready to dive back into the fight again.

"Now if she tries to put the moves on you-we might have to have an old-fashioned duel for your hand," Coran teased.

He was such an idiot but it made her laugh. She kept trying to wipe her snot away on her sleeve even though she'd lost that battle quite a bit ago. She was starting to smile through the tears. He wouldn't have to fight for her affection. Though she was willing to fight tooth and nail for his. Nayni cupped his face in her hands as she giggled like an idiot.

"I'm not going anywhere, Mister Smythe," Nayni said.

Coran just smirked.

"Sounds like we might be making a trip to another reality, so we will, in fact, be going somewhere," Coran said.

The forces of the universe had already brought them back together after ten thousand years. They'd already beaten all the odds. As crazy as this turn of events had been, as much as it terrified her, she felt like they could make it through now. As long as she could hold onto him at night, they could do this. They could keep this family together as long as they had each other. His expression softened. She felt so warm and safe in his arms again.

"I love you, Nayni," Coran said.

She felt her bottom lip trembling again. She'd fought so hard and waited so long to hear him say that. She'd been so scared and desperate to be with him. They'd conquered that. She'd finally overcome that fear and it had seemed so impossible to her for so long. He was right. They'd made it this far. Nothing was going to stop them now.